NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carlo-One" data-source="post: 8242546" data-attributes="member: 7015827">The Ascetic One told them that he knew of a hidden place, outside the city, where he went once long ago as part of a personal trial. It was once a place of evil, and he expected that it remained so. Dermot and Shanni were bemused by the description and Shanni questioned how this could help them. The monk said that he would prepare a map for them, so if they returned in the morn, he would give it to them, with what else he could recall that might be of use. Aerikoth asked why the monk had need of this personal trial, a question that the Ascetic One found refreshingly intelligent, although he would not share much beyond the fact that the Ilmater monk needed to find the depths of his own suffering. The wizard then added some acerbic remarks on faith-based practices being of little value to others. (The trials of a monk are often misunderstood or incomprehensible to outsiders. Why would one voluntarily take on suffering? This seems to be a major point of conflicting philosophies. Although our Order does not emphasize the concept of suffering to the extent of Ilmater's, there is still a recognition that to achieve anything worthwhile, one must sacrifice something, sometimes at a profound level. --C)Despite Aerikoth’s philosophical criticisms and some more complaints from Shanni about the quality of the help they were receiving, the Ascetic One did not seem fazed, only warning them further that the place would be several hours away and could be dangerous, so they should be well prepared when they went. Darrow and Aerikoth thanked the monk, as did Dermot, although with an audible question mark. As the adventurers left, Shanni simply looked irritable and stalked out of the house, much as she had done at the Temple of Lathander. Once outside, she expressed at length her unhappiness with their religious interlocutors. After a few minutes, the others talked her into continuing on with their search for information. (Or perhaps the "petite rogue" simply ran out of steam. --R)Following a decision to split up for the evening, Darrow, Dermot and Shanni shortly after midnight arrived at Aerikoth’s home outside West Gate, looking for the wizard. They were first noticed by his raven familiar Zeluth, perched in a nearby tree, who cawed at Dermot meaningfully. The ranger then knocked on the door and was immediately met by Aerikoth, who asked if something was amiss.Dermot in response asked if anyone knew who was in the Hidden House these days, saying that someone was there now. Aerikoth recalled that large vermin typically resided there, adding that a priestess of the deceased goddess of illusion named Marise had been obsessed with the place, a former temple to Leira. Dermot explained that earlier that night, he had decided to watch over the sewer grate in the Temple district. The ranger didn't see anyone come out of it, but observed a pair of folk drop in on the Hidden House. They then came out complaining of the lack of "cattle", mentioning that maybe there'd be some in a couple of days. He tried to track them, but lost them. However, the ranger had noticed someone let them into the House, so he wanted to go see what was there.The others were in agreement, Aerikoth saying that the talk of cattle made him believe it was the parasitic undead servitors looking for food for their masters. Shanni tried to recall whether one of the former company members had owned it and Aerikoth explained that the house belonged to Lady Roaringhorn, as she possessed the deed to it. Her husband, the late Brok-Tul, had wished to convert it to a temple of Helm. The wizard did not believe anything had been done by her since Brok-Tul’s death. Dermot remarked that it looked like she had squatters, to which Darrow replied that eviction notices were served free of charge, the dwarf being eager to go find them a fight.</blockquote>

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