Life in Owl's Nest

I had been living the quiet life of contemplation in the small hamlet of Owl's Nest for the past month or more. Nimla visits often, but I am enjoying my time away from the commotion of the city states. My business ventures have been on hold and I have spent most of my free time fishing and thinking of the Echo and trying to piece it all together. Recent news brought by Hero or Nimla has me reassured that the Grand Companies are going to be seeking new recruits soon and there's a chance that will get me to come out of my shell. I've even read some news that expeditions have been sent into remote areas of Coerthas and the Black Shroud, though the details remain a mystery to me. 

Hello, Patrick!

I've been helping out around the hamlet as much as I can. Just yesterday the shepherd Patrick sent me to frighten off some wolves so he could herd in peace for a time. He had lost his sheep and was reluctant to go find them. I asked him about the odd structure he usually frequented and told me it was a well where he drew water for his sheep and his family. I had seen these all over the countryside, not just Coerthas, but the rest of Eorzea as well. I was quite curious who built them. Although the water was quite potable he told me that Ashpool and Banepool to the northwest were poisonous due to the taint of the dragon lingering upon them. When dealing with men in and around Ishgard, one has to be ready to deal with superstition about dragons. I have yet to see one myself.

Coerthas Wolves are Fierce!

After we had frightened off half a dozen wolves plaguing the area around Owl's Nest we returned to Patrick who informed us his lost sheep had been recovered by another shepherd and he invited us to dine with him on grilled dodo. Over dinner he told us a strange tale of how he had come to lose his sheep to begin with as a large shadow passed over head and a strange howl filled his ears. He had thought it to be a dragon, but it was more likely an airship. Since no airships were landing in or around Ishgard anymore, it could only mean it was of the Imperial Fleet, but this far north? He did not want to think long on it.

Earlier today, I bumped into Arscelin who told me how he had found a wounded man but has not the means to medicate him. He sent us after sheepbur seeds. The burrs get tangled in doe-fur and so we set out to hunt antelope doe near Thordan's March, south of Camp Glory. They weren't hard to find. The area is widely populated by doe, making it a good hunting ground for the serpent Ureaus who springs up (despite Moogle Knights constantly fighting him off) nearly every night to feast on the doe while they are sleeping.

When we returned with the burrs, Arscelin let it slip that this man he is treating is actually an Ixal. I recalled my dread upon hearing how a healer had been excommunicated from the Black Shroud when I last did work in Gridania, and as it turns out Arscelin is the very healer I had heard about. He told me that he now practices his medicine under the rules set out by the Holy See of Ishgard rather than those of Gridania. Although he said his actions were more tolerated in Owl's Nest, he also kept to the cautious side and paid us handsomely to keep his secret safe as he tended to the wounded Ixal. I wanted to see the Ixal for myself, but I did not want to be (yet) branded an Ixal sympathizer.