That's why I asked. I think I have it so firmly entrenched in my head to get merchant and disarm early on that I just couldn't make myself skip that. One thing about the NPCs though. It seems like you'd have to do a lot of juggling between a gatemaster and one of the other two early on. I guess it'd be worth it. Pretty much there now. Mastered light and about to do dark. Getting fire to master is probably the only important challenge at the moment. I already did master learning and I'm going to work on clearing outdoor areas to rack up some levels before I go much further. I only have Gharik's forge left for the council quests.
