[Stomoxys]

In the morning, we could see Wolfram running around in armour. It seems like they are following a strict training regime and we joined them for breakfast in the fortress when they finished. After a while, Nuur-Karif came in looking rather bedraggled and wearing Lunas' clothing. Oddly enough, they were carrying a drinking glass full of their own poison. Before Gritt, they considered the poison holy and would not have treated it that carelessly. I had not slept all night, so I went to sleep on a roof after breakfast.

After a few hours, I was woken by Wolfram opening some wooden boxes containing weapons that Lunari had ordered, including a new bow for me. They then wanted to demonstrate the power of their totem claiming that it connects them to Amna and helps them perform rituals. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to study it more closely. Wolfram led me, Nuur-Karif, Grogg and Nujan to the ruined tower, where they erected the totem on the ground and drew symbols around it. Some of the symbols seemed to indicate the star constellation Tityra, that is not possible to see from The Homeland, but is represented by a large, carnivorous mammal called a bear here. Seemingly satisfied with the symbols, they proceeded to chant and invoke Tiri before suddenly opening their arms and an aura appeared around them. When I look at auras, they appear in a flash and are only visible to me, but this aura seemed permanent as long as they were close to the totem. It was much less intense and it looked like Wolfram's aura was influenced by something, possibly something related to Amna. When Grogg entered the circle around the totem, their aura appeared and it looked the same, but weaker than earlier and Kra's aura was dancing around on their shoulder. Nuur-Karif's aura, on the other hand, had changed considerably and did not appear to have any traces of the brightness that had surrounded the crown. It seems Gritt is truly gone. Surprisingly, Wolfram seemed to recognize the reflection of Sebak's aura in mine when I entered the circle. They still don't realize that Sebak and Amna are two, but perhaps there is hope. I finally convinced Nujan to enter the circle as well and it was prettier than the apeoids' and somehow more animalistic, but also seemed to be influenced by something.

A section of the floor was clearly newer the rest and I suspected it was a walled up staircase to a basement and got Grogg to smash it. However, it turned out whoever walled up the place had been thorough and we would have to smash through several meters of wall, which would probably attract too much attention. I decided to come back later and look for another way, so we returned to the fort.Back in the dining hall, Lunas appeared and informed us about their guests in the basement. Lunas had already questioned them and they claimed to be from Larma and had connections to Tivito. The strange part was that they had surrendered themselves willingly and claimed to have permission from Mir to come to The Evening Fortress. Now, Lunas wanted us to question the guests as well and we reluctantly agreed. Since Wolfram's order is more or less banned by the law here, they did not want to be identified and I shared the sentiment, so we both put on disguises, me with the beard and they as a troll.

In case the Tivito elf would attempt any spirit shenanigans, we brought purple incense with us and made quite the procession down the stairs. At the entrance, Nuur-Karif and I prayed and they received guidance from Ashtar/Ssuxxakan. In case they killed the prisoner, they would have to kill them again. Considering how the elf in the Guling tower had died and refused to stay dead, this seems important. The others entered the cell of the male elf and Grogg shoved the incense up in the prisoners face, but we could not see anything special. It seemed like they were almost expecting to be executed, while at the same time complaining about their poor treatment, leading to a strange interrogation. The elf, calling themselves Irdol Larma, claimed to have the same mother as Isa. This is supposedly very important and they had come to bring Isa back to Larma. In exchange, they would leave their mate, the female prisoner, as some kind of hostage and would keep Tivito from coming to Guling. They also insisted that they needed to talk to Isa, which would awaken Isa's power and make Isa understand what is right and wrong. While it all sounded like ape drama to me, they seemed unperturbed when they saw Kra in the light of the incense, indicating that they are familiar with spirits. We locked the door and proceeded to the next cell.

In the other cell, a female elf human hybrid appeared to be sleeping. The Larma are said to despise humans and one of them would not mate with a hybrid, so this immediately roused suspicions. Even more interesting, their aura appeared to be entirely human. When questioned, the female presented themselves as Nami and confirmed everything Irdol had claimed and stated that the signs were right and all would be released. They did not elucidate who would be released, but maybe they meant the immortals? Their subservient manner gave the impression of very thorough indoctrination, barely flinching when Nuur-Karif raised their hand as if to slap them. However, they did give Nuur-Karif a recipe that was a coded message; "asylum gives information".

Back in our quarters, we discussed the situation and concluded that the prisoners had to be on some kind of information mission. While they had seemed genuine, they could not be stupid enough to think the Alderas would agree to the trade. Especially when Nami was obviously worthless as a hostage. It is possible Nami is a spy and this was a sloppy attempt to get them into The Evening Fortress, but it seems more likely that the goal was to get Irdol inside the wards on the island. Who knows what their spirit can do if they kill themselves. Lunas and Keri showed up and Nuur-Karif explained what the prisoners had told us, which was more or less the same they had told Lunas. They mostly agreed with our assessment of the situation, but a lack of prison cells complicates an asylum negotiation. Some of Lunari's drugs may also be helpful in determining if the prisoners are telling the truth.

It seems that family ties is the source of much of this drama and I tried to get some clarification from Lunas, starting with Lunas themselves. Nulius, Mir's companion from the west had implied that Mir was the only offspring of Madan, while Irdol had consistently referred to Madan as Lunas' father. Frustratingly, Lunas only answered evasively when I asked them to explain. Thankfully, they were a bit a bit more forthcoming about Isa's mother, the king's mate, though not necessarily more helpful. A king's mate is supposed to be a female elf with special, if undefined magical abilities. These abilities are inherited by their offspring, especially the female ones. As a twist on the tale, each king's mate only had one daughter, and could only get female offspring if they were in "love", which is a term the apeoids use for a variety of feelings. Usually, like in this case, it means lust, but they also use it to describe friendship and the feeling that keeps them from leaving their offspring. I bet Nuur-Karif would say they love Yana. Clearly, the tale about the king's mate is rubbish and Lunas themselves did not seem to believe it. If they could only had one daughter, one of them would have fallen down the stairs before getting any daughters and that would be the end of the line. My working theory is that the elves use females with magical abilities as breeding stock and made up the tale to justify it. While incredibly cruel, considering their horrific method of reproduction, I don't believe it's beyond them. Perhaps it's even possible that the offspring drains some of their mother's abilities in the parasitic stage? Especially among the elves, as they seem to go pregnant for long time and seem to have some connection to the stars. If Isa were affected by powerful stars while at the same time draining their mother's powers, Lunas' claim that they are one of the most dangerous elves in the world might be true.