Tim M.  said:   Simon - Just wondering; at level 4, would Erasmus still be considered an initiate or would he have been granted a new status within the order (and some new threads to o with it)?  Thanks!        You're now Immaculate! :D Same robes though.       The Monastery of the     Yellow Rose    Population: ca 200   Notables:     Kane , Grand Master Emeritus, Monk-10    Cantoule , the Grand Master of Flowers, Monk-9    Temmenische  the Venerable (age 95), Master of Spring, Monk-8.     Afrafa , Mistress of the Wind, Monk-7   Also known as the Citadel of the White   Worm, the Monastery of the Yellow Rose   was founded before either Vaasa or Damara.   The monks who established the   monastery more than a thousand years   ago crossed over land that would become   Damara when that unborn nation   was still overlain by the Great Glacier.   Their order is devoted to Ilmater, the   god of suffering and endurance. These   fanatical devotees sought the most inhospitable   and difficult region they   could find as the place to locate their   temple. Not surprisingly, they eventually   came to the highest peaks of the   Earthspur Mountains.   The building itself is enormous. Each   generation of monks adds new structures   and digs out deeper chambers.   Built on the stony side of a jagged mountain   peak, the monastery overlooks the   Glacier of the White Worm. About half   of the rooms look out into the daylight;   the other half are underground chambers   dug right into the mountain.   The monks of the Yellow Rose are ascetic   and simple, but they are determined   to create beauty in hardship.   Their toils are matched by their stamina,   and both seem boundless. No monk   works less than 16 hours each and   every day. The lower initiates are responsible   for the bare necessities of   survival. They labor in the meager gardens,   haul ice to be melted for water, or   forage on the bleak mountainsides.   Their efforts enable their more skilled   superiors time to concentrate on creating   sculpture and tapestries.   Few visit this place casually, for the   trails are not easily found or followed.   Those who do manage it, find the journey   worthwhile. The monastery is a   spectacular museum, with every room   exhibiting artwork and architecture reflecting   the supreme discipline of the   order. It is a monument to the ages, an   ever-growing tribute to the painstaking   stubbornness that has allowed mankind   to rise to dominance in the   Forgotten Realms.   Extensive catacombs twist through   the mountain under the monastery,   threefold in purpose. Some sections   serve as burial vaults for deceased   monks. In another wing, a vast cellar   holds vats of wine that the monks make   from blueberries they collect. Finally,   the catacombs house the most complete   archives of the Bloodstone Lands to be   found anywhere.   Each year, mid-level monks lead expeditions   down the mountain to   the cities of Damara, Impiltur,   and in even Vaasa and Narfell. They   concern themselves with news of local   births and deaths, travelers passing   through, and newcomers settling in the   region.       Monks of the Yellow Rose, Damara     Novice - Level 1     Brother - Level 2     Disciple - Level 3     Immaculate - Level 4     Master  - Level 5     Master of Dragons - Level 6  - a  Master of Dragons  must have 'Ridden the Remorhaz'. (Patrick - former)     Master of the South Wind (max 1) - Level 7 (Afrafa)     Master of Spring (max 1) - Level 8 (Temmenische)     Grand Master of Flowers (max 1) - Level 9 (Cantoule) - heads the Order     Grand Masters Emeritus - Level 10+ (Kane)