[Stomoxys]

When I got down for breakfast in the morning, Wolfram was already there and had cleaned their armour in the night. Grogg did not want to wake up, but they did want to eat and, to my dismay, I could see Nuur-Karif with Yana outside. When I was finishing my breakfast, Gromann and Ebsalon came in, with the dwarf looking tired and irritated and the human looking tired and excited. They wanted to share their discovery, so I woke Grogg and fetched Nuur-Karif. Comparing the books found in the tower with Gromann's books, Ebsalon and Gromann had partially translated the language used in the books and now knew the names of The Immortals; Jori, Volkir, Tuza, Gritt, Albor, Darwan and Krull. Each of The Immortals seems to have been associated with some kind of aspect and they had identified seven aspects from the texts. Gritt had a title that which meant something with guard and was associated with whims and empathy, while Volkir had something to do with the military and strong winds and light. Krull was probably the last immortal and was associated with emptiness and thoughts and were supposedly able to see the threads of fate. The last four aspects were more unclear and they did not know which aspect was associated with which immortal. One of them was associated with ash and anger, while another might have something to do with dancing animals. A third was associated with shadows and pale or blinding sands and the last had a title that involved vision and was associated with hot thoughts about bad smells. Some of these sound very odd and I suspect a full translation will make more sense. I informed Gromann and Ebsalon of the book Lunari had taken from the tower, which lead to a long search of Lunari's room. They had hidden the book well, but eventually found it and let Ebsalon have the bat box as well. Unlike us, they were able to control the bat swarm within. Nuur-Karif had gone to the chapel and asked me to bring Grogg and Wolfram. Grogg wanted to sleep with the needle, but Wolfram came along.

A strange incident happened when we arrived at the chapel. Nuur-Karif, Yana and Isa were inside washing themselves when we arrived, but were determined that Wolfram should not see them naked. The mammals are especially concerned with hiding their shame from members of the other sex. As a side note, they usually refer to me as male for some reason. After the short delay, we all got inside the chapel and I placed Wolfram on a bench next to Isa and Yana while Nuur-Karif was praying. Wolfram brought a staff as thick as a log and decorated with strange symbols into the chapel, but behaved very respectfully. After Nuur-Karif got the great snake to inspect Yana, Nuur-Karif proceeded to tell everyone about their childhood. It was not particularly interesting, but the mammals got very emotional. Nuur-Karif then told the others about their task of freeing the tortured spirits and Wolfram proclaimed they were willing to help. The closest burial ground on the map seems to be close to Ur and Isa had earlier hinted that there was a quick way to get there, but they were unwilling to elaborate. When I pressed the matter, they said it involved a high risk of just disappearing. Mir had used it earlier which was the cause of the strange star lightning I had observed. Isa then changed the subject by inviting everyone for lunch with cake and I went to wake Grogg, again. During lunch, I probed Wolfram on the Tiri cult and asked if they worship Amna or Sebak. They seemed confused by the question, but said they were worshipping Amna as seen in the sky and that Tiri has a spirit. I suspect they are worshipping Amna, but is focusing on one of Amna's aspects that we have no need of. From Wolfram's discussions with Isa, they seem to know quite a lot about magic and they were quite suspicious of Kra, but were willing to accept the spirit raven when assured that Grogg had not captures it. Nuur-Karif appeared to be mesmerized by Yana and did not make any intelligible contributions to the discussion. The lunch went on for a long time, so I got my writing kit and worked on a design for an inscription for Lunari. It will naturally be a bit absurd, but they were a bit of an absurd character. The other's went to do various things, Nuur-Karif going to the chapel alone, thankfully, and I was left with Isa. When I mentioned that Krull had told me of their parentage, they quietly left, leaving me alone with a sleeping Grogg. Again, I do not understand why such meaningless things cause so much drama among the mammals.

My design for the Lunari inscription was a complete disaster, the Slurping Fox does not fit at all with the Flower when I have to spell LuNaRi underneath, so I decided to go out and get some air. In the inner courtyard, I met Wolfram who wanted to inspect the cult tower and the attached building from the outside. I came along, as I doubt they would be able to climb it alone, even though it would not be a very high climb from the fortress walls. It turned out the access to the walls were locked. I could easily have picked the locks, but decided that now was not the time to annoy Lunas and Ebsalon further and convinced Wolfram to send a letter to Ebsalon. Instead, Wolfram wanted to teach me some of the principles of magic, which sounded useful and kept us occupied until dinner. When the servants started arriving with food, I went to fetch Grogg and sent a message to Lunas who wanted to speak with us. Nuur-Karif was reading a letter from Mir when I got back and showed it to me. It restated the lie that they were going to the capital, ordered us to visit their camp and told us not to mess with Isa, the last bit in basic code. I am not particularly inclined to follow any of those instructions. Lunas then showed up and told us that Madan's condition had deteriorated and they were starting to become dangerous. Wolfram might be able to do something about it, but sounded doubtful, especially when Lunas proposed to lock them in with Madan. While such an experiment would no doubt be interesting, I am not convinced it would be worth the risk. Maybe Wolfram can say something about the jar in the dungeon. We should investigate it first.