[Stomoxys]

I was woken by somebody knocking on the door of the neighbouring room. It turned out to be Munir who said that Moggarif's tent were gone. We had been instructed to not come back before Ajaw had risen four times, so we were reluctant to go and investigate, but Hylda had not been there and volunteered to go.

They returned after 15 minutes and said that the tent was indeed gone and was replaced by a large jaguar. It looked like it was guarding something hidden under a blanket. Nuur-Karif thought we should wait another day and I was inclined to agree, but Wolfram wanted to go immediately and Grogg and I followed.

We reached the spot where the tent had been and saw the large, orange jaguar from Moggarif's tent. The apeoids stayed well clear of it and whatever it was guarding.

When it saw us, it got up and approached. Wolfram stood in front and the jaguar gently nudged Wolfram them in the direction of the blanket. Underneath was a crate with four items, Grogg's maul, a shield, a parasol, and a bag that could be used for torture through strangulation. All the items were full of energies.

Wolfram grabbed the crate and we headed back to the inn. With its task completed, the jaguar walked to the edge of the caravanserai and then ran into the desert. Just before it set off, it turned and winked at us.

Back at the inn, I asked Nuur-Karif to help me test the bag. It was likely to make me lose consciousness, so they would have to take it off after a few minutes. I then placed it over my head and tightened the strap. I passed out quickly and woke up with Nuur-Karif taking the bag off. They had cut the experiment short because the strap had cut off the blood circulation to my head. While I was out, I thought I heard strange, muffled whispers, but nothing I could identify as language.

I had to spend a few minutes to recover. We were discussing how to feed the bear when Munir knocked on the door and asked if they could come in. There had been strangers at the inn looking for someone that fit our description. Considering Grogg and Wolfram, there were little room for mistake. Munir thought the apeoid that asked were from abroad and had not said anything, but they could not guarantee that everybody at the inn had kept their mouth shut. After they were told that we were not there, the stranger had disappeared. There were also a ship down in the harbour in East Sam and another on the other side of the river. Presumably from the fleet.

Munir said they could try to find out more and indicated that they had a network of informants. Soon after, Nuur-Karif grabbed Yana and followed. They claimed they were also going to investigate, but had been in a hurry to leave. Wolfram were oblivious, and Grogg was suspicious, as usual.

I wanted to figure out how the bag was supposed to work, so I took it to the storeroom and began to study it. On my way out I saw Wolfram studying the shield intently, especially an impression of a jaguar paw on the front. There were no marking on the other items. Grogg was sewing.