@Ostarion: Accepted. Are you sure you want to be that underskilled? You may, of course, but I wouldn't recommend it. Being a child could open up some options for intrigue later; maybe Tarak wasn't accepted by the fellow travelers at first, but is tracking them up the mountainside? And then, when they're resting at soem point or other, he could put in an appearance. They couldn't exactly send a child down the mountain alone, so they'd have to keep him with them until later. And by then he could've proved himself useful, or something.
Just an idea. The child thing is an downside, but there are ways to make it good story-wise.