“It is a balm for the weary, a shelter for the wayfarer, and so it has been for a thousand years.” The speaker stepped through the silk curtain that hung in the door way, a slim woman with wide, almond eyes and golden skin. “Or so I hope it is.”<br/>She executed a low, humble bow, her dark hair cascading past her shoulders. “I am Ecstatic Lily; I have the honor of being the thirtieth hostess of the House of Dying Light.” The hostess wore a simple dress, with a high collar, whose hem fell almost to her small, bare feet. The fabric, almost translucent, clung to her delicate frame, and was dyed a pale, azure shade sacred to Venus, the Maiden of Serenity, and to her priests and priestesses – it was also the traditional color of prostitutes, whose trade was consecrated to the Maiden.<br/><br/>Lily drew aside the silk curtain that hung in the House's doorway, revealing a long, high-roofed hall, almost bare of decorations, its walls painted a brilliant white, the beams of the ceiling exposed overhead like tree branches. “Please, enter, and be welcome.”<br/><br/>Two long trestle tables and a bar occupied the near end of the hall; further off there were small, low tables, with mats and pillows for their occupants to sit on and discreet silk hangings that granted a modicum of privacy. A dozen men, and perhaps half as many women, sat at the trestle tables and the bar; they were attended by a number of young women, clad in dresses of every shade of the rainbow except blue, and though their features and skin colors were varied, staring too long at any of them gave one the strange impression that they were all alike somehow.<br/><br/>As her visitor looked past her, the hostess took a moment to study her; Lily's dark eyes flickered laurel green, too quickly for human eyes to see, and the world obediently began to softly sing its truths into the sibyl's ears.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">Perception+Investigation = 2 successes.<br/>5m spent to activate Telltale Symphony.<br/></div></div>