Lonett worked shoulder to shoulder with Sir Marcus pouring over dusty books and ancient tomes. One in particular proved to be quite the treasure trove in terms of useful information. That is once Lonett and Marcus managed to get it open with the help of Lady Ada. If their hostess had not provided them with her expertise, who knew if the ancient book would have allowed them to peek inside it's pages. As it stood, they found quite a bit on the history of the Ghoul Empire and its rulers with the passage of time. They'd also managed to discern a location where apparently a large number of undead gathered. A specific location would be needed for the casters within the group to gather further intel with remote viewing spells.

	Lonett sighed and closed the ancient tome. "I believe we gathered some very useful information on the army of undead and the Ghoul Emperor. Maybe we should try researching the other matter of importance?" The monster huntress gazed at her research companion.

	"You are seeking to change subject? Perhaps it would be a good time for me to seek communion with my god, then. I thank you for your company and aid in this research. It has been enlightening. At least now we have an idea of where we should be heading". The paladin said in lieu of answer and excused himself.

	Lonett felt a bit unsetteled with the half-orc's attention directed solely at her. By force of habit she fidgeted a bit in her chair, but managed to stop herself from breaking eye contact. "Yes, and I thank you for the help and company as well. We did good work and any insight Tyr could bestow upon us on the current predicament would be most appreciated." Lonett managed to mutter before Marcus left.

	Not long after the paladin had left, his plate armor clanging in the quiet of the great library, the Duke came in to invite the heroes to dinner. Lonett looked puzzled outside a window and realized evening had come while she had been busy with research. [i]Well. It wouldn't hurt to eat. And it would be rude to decline our hosts' offer.[/i] Lonett thought. She was always self-conscious not to violate any social etiquette, since she was usually terrible at it living on the road most of the time with only Divna to keep her company.

	She stood up, stretched the stiffness of being seated for hours on end out of her body and announced her acceptance of the dinner invitation with as much social grace as she could muster. Which was not much at all. She seated herself at the table and waited for all the others to gather around. The Duke was offering the heroes to unwind for a bit from all that reading and share what they'd discovered so far. Lonett looked around and when no one made a move to be the first to talk, sighed, cleared her throat, and began speaking softly, yet quite audibly.

	"As I'm sure we all would agree, Valkyr's messenger left us with almost nothing to go on, but some vague information. Just the bare minimum from which to start an investigation." Lonett examined the faces of all who had gathered around the dinner table. "I'm sure each and every one of us has their own field of... experience... shall we say. And when I heard about a Ghoul Emperor, something in my memory stirred. As such it was the direction I needed to pursue a vain of research within Your Grace's library." The aasimar looked at the Duke and wondered where was Lady Ada. Apparently during her hours spent reading books the now former Duchess had gone off to somewhere. "With the messenger mentioning an army of undead I naturally began my research with anything that might connect to Orcus, the Demon Lord of the undead. But I didn't find any information about Orcus cults within the area specified by our celestial messenger."

	As more and more eyes fell upon her, Lonett felt quite uncomfortable and took a sip of her water to calm her nerves a bit and proceed with her exposition. "Still even without any tangible evidence of Orcus' involvement, I had this nagging feeling that his influence was connected somehow to this matter. And there was also the stirring of a memory of a legend about four great followers of Orcus who received tainted immortality. I decided to follow that lead. And I stumbled onto a very interesting ancient tome which I was able to open with the help of Lady Ada. What I found inside the book was a treasure trove of information for sure. But it was also deeply disturbing. The tome detailed the beginnings of a Ghoul Empire, it's rise and consequent prosperity over the years. According to the book the heart of this vile empire lies deep underneath the ruins of the Gardens of Carnessa, which is also a place purported to be the home of an Orcus cult."

	Another sip of water, another clearing of the throat and Lonett continued. "I don't believe in coincidences so there must be a connection between Orcus and the beginnings of this Ghoul Empire. I just haven't managed to find it yet. I do not wish to bore you with the particulars of this matter over dinner, but suffice to say that the existence of a strong underground empire of ghouls is indeed a threat not to be taken lightly. And if this is the Ghoul Emperor who's amassing undead armies to the West, then we should prepare ourselves well and depart post haste. I did manage to discover the name of a location that reports an amassing of undead if any of the casters in the group have means of remote viewing. It is a place called Caelmarth."

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