The Temple of Hearth and Shell.

It wasn't the most creative name, but it served. Gerrick felt safe and familiar as soon as he walked in. He also became acutely aware of how tired and hungry he was, and how badly he needed a bath and a mug of hot tea. He dearly wished he could accept such hospitality, but he kept his mind steeled to an impossible fool's errand.

The priest, a man Gerrick had known for most of his own life as "Uncle Opus," greeted him at the door. "Welcome! Now there's a face we haven't seen in a good while! How's our young Lairdling been?"

Gerrick could not help but smile a little. "Hello, Uncle Opus."

"Look at you!" Uncle Opus patted his cheeks like he used to when Gerrick was much younger, but he gave Gerrick a disapproving look. "You haven't been back in many weeks. What keeps a young lad like yourself away for so long?"

Gerrick looked down, slightly ashamed, but trying to smile. "I've been busy."

"Aye, I just bet. Here." Uncle Opus guided Gerrick to a small couch next to a coffee table. "Can I get you some refreshments? You look hungry."

Gerrick shuddered. "I wish I could, Uncle. I...I came tae pray."

Uncle Opus cocked his head. "You aren't in trouble are you? You know you'll be safe here."

Gerrick nodded, feeling his stomach turn just a little. "well...ye ken how we are."

Uncle Opus clucked his tongue. "Ohhh, he's being evasive. It must be bad." He leaned in. "Gerrick, you know you have confidentiality with me, and you are safe within these walls. Tell me about it."

Gerrick took a deep breath, to admit the unthinkable. "Ma family is scared."

Uncle Opus nodded. "Aye. We've seen the signs of it."

"I'm...about tae do sommat crazy, tae try to help them."

Uncle Opus nodded seriously. He studied Gerrick for several seconds, and then nodded. "What can you tell me?"

Gerrick looked away. "A few a me friends are takin' the Glacier oot taenight, tae see what the enemy is like. I'd...Since I'm doin' this fer ma family, I hoped tae get a blessin'."

Uncle Opus closed his eyes, looking down. "Now Gerrick, you've known me a long time, haven't you?"

Gerrick squinted. "Aye."

"And you know that everything I tell you, I tell you with sincere concern for your best well-being."

Gerrick leaned back in his seat. "What are ye sayin'?"

"Gerrick...there's so much wrong with what you're suggesting. I'll start with a few of the basics. Your father is the head of household, is he not?"

Gerrick sighed. "Ye ken what he's like, ye know he'd say I'm doin' the right thing."

"Gerrick." Uncle Opus gave Gerrick a disapproving look. "If you believed that were true, you'd be in accord with him already."

"I have tae do this!"

"Why?"

Gerrick started to answer, but stopped. Uncle Opus looked genuinely attentive, genuinely interested. He waited patiently for Gerrick's answer.

Gerrick relaxed, sitting back. "Because I'm tired a' bein' scared."

Uncle Opus nodded. "And you're tired of your family being scared." Uncle Opus shrugged. "Hey, believe me, I sympathize. It's a scary thing to see that something can shake Laird Hamish off his balance a little. It must be even harder on you, the youngest son."

Gerrick tried not to show he was going to cry.

Uncle Opus leaned in, putting one hand on Gerrick's shoulder. "He's your rock, isn't he?"

Gerrick took a deep breath, and then nodded.

"The man you look up to, the man who taught you how to be a man. Right?"

Gerrick nodded again.

Uncle Opus nodded with him. "Gerrick...It's going to get harder. A lot harder."

Gerrick looked to him.

"I can't tell you what's coming, but we've had visions of your home. What you're about to do..." He stopped, thinking hard. "It's important. It's one of those things you're going to remember for the rest of your life, and it's going to change who you are. When a man steps up and demands to become a man, he has to choose what steps he takes carefully, because they're going to determine what kind of man he becomes."

He looked at Gerrick sincerely.

Uncle Opus went on. "This is the only blessing I can give you, Gerrick. You're about to make a choice, and that choice is going to decide who you are. You have to be clear in your mind and in your heart who you are before you make it."

"But..." Gerrick gestured impotently in the direction of the castle keep. "Fer ma family..."

Uncle Opus shook his head. "No, Gerrick. This isn't about your household. This is about you."

Gerrick searched Uncle Opus's face one more time, hoping for some opening, some indication that Gerrick might be able to get some boon from the Mother of the Hearth. But his face was resolute, calm in its finality.

Gerrick rose in defeat. "Thank ye, Uncle Opus."

"Gerrick, you should stay and rest."

"I cannae." He turned to go. "I have too much tae do."

Uncle Opus called after him, "Think about your choices, Gerrick! Be the man you should be!"

Gerrick exited into the night, hoping for a better outcome at the Vermilion Spear.