[Stomoxys]

With all the clay items in the room disintegrated, I feared that the chamber would be full of released spirits and my fears were soon confirmed by Isa screaming about seeing spirits everywhere in the room. It seemed like a good idea to withdraw out of Ebsalon's ward, but Nuur-Karif insisted we had to find the ring and I made my way towards the shack in the centre. From Isa and Wolfram I gathered that spirits were escaping, and when I turned around, Wolfram had started transforming. Their body started twisting and convulsing while their clothing and armour melded around them into a thick coat of fur. When their shape started to stabilize, they appeared as a huge, hulking carnivorous mammal that could only be a bear. At the edges, they appeared slightly translucent and shimmered slightly. This was a new ability they had not told us about but it was soon apparent they could interact with spirits, as they ran off and started swatting invisible things in the air. Seeing Wolfram in bear shape, I realized I had seen such creatures before. In the brown forest, a creature like this was lying close to Toltecatl, with the Great Priest's mace smashed through its skull. The implications are disturbing to say the least and I will watch Wolfram carefully from now on.

Nuur-Karif ignored Wolfram's transformation completely and reached the shack soon after me. The door fell in with a single kick and a blast of clay dust enveloped us, making me cough and sneeze. Nuur-Karif, on the other hand, must have held their breath and ran into the shack and emerged almost immediately with the ring in front of their eye and the silver key in their hand. We made to leave, but before we had taken a step, Isa gave out a shriek and Wolfram came charging past us, lunging at something in the air. Nuur-Karif followed up and stabbed something in front of the bear with their dagger, materializing an old human that came crashing down on the ground. The old human was clearly angry and shouted about small branches lacking respect for other's branches. Presumably the branches are related to some confused mammal religion. While they were still shouting, Grogg picked the old human up, and ran towards the gate were Kra was cawing frenetically. Luckily, Grogg heeded me and Ebsalon when we told them to drop their load and the old human tumbled to the ground a second time. Looking around, I saw Wolfram swatting invisible spirits in a corner while Nuur-Karif appeared to be praying. As the old human was trying to get on their feet, Ebsalon demanded to know their rank and title. This was met with derision and claims that the mysteries of the Kabalists were beyond comprehension for a young human like Ebsalon. Ebsalon again demanded rank and title and this went on for a while before I decided to put the creature out of its misery. The corpse crumbled to dust almost immediately. Whatever their mysteries are, it seems clear that they are not suitable for apeoids.

Ebsalon clearly did not appreciate having their interrogation interrupted, but did not make a fuss about it. Instead they brought Isa along to the shack, but Nuur-Karif barged past them through the doorway. Isa claimed there were a few spirits there, but I only noticed the Tivito paper slip that Lunari had brought and Ebsalon retrieved it. The frenetic energy of the chamber had subsided somewhat and Nuur-Karif pulled me aside as they left the shack. They had heard a cry for help from a female apeoid, but they did not know who it was or even if it was in the room. I suggested it might be the Ashtar priest possessed by Gritt, but they said it was someone on the island. Wolfram had apparently decided that there were no spirits in immediate need of swatting and turned back into human form. Now they wanted to conduct a ritual that would send the spirits in the room on to the underworld. This involved erecting their totem pole on the roof of the shack and drawing an elaborate circle of symbols around it. I helped them, trying to get insights into their ways, but they were either unwilling or unable to say much more than that the symbols were related to Amna and Tityra, as well as some other signs. The apeoid's representations of the stars makes little sense. While tying the ropes stabilizing the pole, I heard Yana shouting for Nuur-Karif outside and Nuur-Karif rushed out, throwing the ring to me. They also said something about the key and I found it in the dust on the ground. Nuur-Karif was gone for about a quarter of an hour and their return was announced by a shriek from Isa. Apparently, some bird spirit had emerged from Nuur-Karif as they came up the stairs. Nuur-Karif has an irrational distaste for birds and I assume this displeased them. The news they brought was much more disconcerting though. Yana had had a clay item they claimed they had gotten from their parents that had disintegrated which made them seek us out in the Kabal temple. While it is obviously concerning that they have knowledge and items related to Kabal, a much more immediate concern were the jar in the dungeon. Everyone dropped whatever they were doing when I mentioned it. As if to confirm my fears, Nujan appeared shouting for Ebsalon to come along and alarm bells started ringing as we stormed into the courtyard.

To my surprise, Nujan led us down towards the dungeon. The jar had been kept there, but I thought I had convinced Lunas to move it to a vault somewhere away from Irdol. In hindsight, that could have been even worse. The guard room at the top of the stairs to the dungeon was full and the door itself was barricaded. Keri was pacing back and forth and shouted to us that Lunas was down below alone and in mortal danger while the barricades were hastily removed. Worryingly, Wolfram hesitated in the staircase, seemingly frightened by the number of guards in the room, but Grogg came behind them and almost forced them through the room and down the stairs. If hysteria can make them hesitate in a moment of crisis, the consequences can be dire.

Down in the dungeon, Irdol was ranting in their cell, demanding to be released and threatening to murder Lunas twice. Otherwise, it was completely quiet and I saw nothing out of the ordinary through the ring. Ignoring the elf, I went straight to the cell where the jar had been, but saw only a pile of dust on the floor. Behind me, Nuur-Karif was asking for the key to Nami's cell with urgency in their voice. I still had the key and unlocked the door, but something on the inside kept it from opening completely. Through the gap, I saw Lunas' boots blocking the door and Nami was lying motionless on the bench. Nuur-Karif was making their way into the cell, but turned and gestured to get Isa out of the dungeon. Looking closer, I saw that a pool of blood had formed around Lunas.

Faint gasps for air could still be be heard from Lunas and Nuur-Karif shouted for Grogg's needle while sending me to fetch their medicine kit. In the staircase, Wolfram and Isa were arguing, with Isa trying to go down again and Wolfram holding them back. Who knows what Irdol would have done had they realized Isa was there and we were in no position to deal with that now. The bear human was clearly failing in holding back Isa, but Isa came with me when I told them to find bandages and first aid gear while I ran to get the medicine kit. I also brought some dirt Nuur-Karif uses for healing back to the dungeon and found them with a pile of bandages desperately trying to stem the flow of blood. Lunas' own dagger had pierced deep into their chest and appeared to be aimed for the heart. I helped Nuur-Karif as best I could, tying bandages and maintaining pressure on the wound at their instructions. Suddenly, Ebsalon, who had been off somewhere tried to contact Lunas and pulled out the needle. They must have suspected Lunas could be possessed, because they asked about Lunas' mother and a spot on Nuur-Karif's belly. As response, they only got a faint negative sign, but Nuur-Karif was satisfied and the needle was reinserted. Lunas did not wake up again.