The issue of the Betrayal was so central to that, I felt the need to comment upon it. My choices were to ignore the games and put them 'outside' of continuity or to integrate them. I chose the latter.

My dear dead mother wanted me to go into an honorable trade, like grave robbing. Would I listen? No. Be an assassin, like your uncle Gustav, she said. Would I pay heed? No. Apprentice to the Necromancer―

If you're going to risk dying, there's no sense doing it wet, cold and hungry unless absolutely necessary.

Life is problems. Living is solving problems.

Friends can betray you, but with an old enemy, you always know where you stand.

Every person you encounter, whom you interact with, is there to teach you something. Sometimes it may be years before you realize what each had to show you.

Some loves come unbidden like winds from the sea, and others grow from the seeds of friendship.