[Stomoxys]

Wolfram had dreamt that a snake had sucked the poison out of their leg and when they tried to stand up, their leg was working again. Initially, they wanted to stay in the camp while we entered Ur, but we were planning to stay for two days until the dragons had passed and they reluctantly agreed to come along. Inside the city, we found an inn that looked relatively sturdy. Wolfram stayed there and I told them to guard the mirror shard closely. Nuur-Karif wanted to visit a chapel in the slum and I wanted to go with them, but Grogg wanted to go to the marked and letting them wander alone could be risky. We soon found a shop selling intoxicants. The human working there at first looked dismayed when a towering troll entered the store, but became very helpful when Grogg showed them a pouch full of gold. Moving on to a tailor's shop, Grogg bought some fabrics and I picked up some dyes. Grogg asked several indiscreet questions, but at least we heard a rumour that Mir had traveled north. Probably not something we can put any stock in. Mir seems to be moving around a lot, intentionally spreading confusing rumours. Back at The Evening Fortress, their plan had been to lure the Larma forces into Ur and then assault them or starve them here. Being in the city when either happens does not sound very appealing.

I wanted to contact Nefalonia, but it was unclear how and instead we went towards the slum to find some more purple incense. On our way we met Yana and they suggested we should contact a high ranking officer near the centre of the city. If I showed them what I am, we could probably get them to contact Nefalonia. Nuur-Karif was still in the chapel and Yana was getting medical supplies, so Grogg and I made our way to the city centre alone. As we got nearer, we saw barricades being erected in the streets and a large number of guards. Clearly they were preparing to defend the city and making it through the winding streets would be a nightmare for an attacker. Near the tower of the council, a guard in a shiny uniform with badges of rank hailed us. When they saw me, they told us to wait and soon a human called Lina appeared to escort us to Nefalonia. Instead of the tower, we were led to a nearby bar and Grogg and Lina chatted about dragons. They expected there to either be 0 or 2 dragons on their way. Grogg of course forgot to call themselves Mork, but I told them my name was Hisse. Surprisingly, they knew this is not a real name.

We were met by a shout from Nefalonia when we entered and they were happy to see us. The bar was a public place, but they did not seem bothered by this and we informed them of what had happened. They were happy that the wraith was destroyed, and it seemed they had expected the demon to escape. We could also confirm their suspicion that it was Darwan that was imprisoned in the crypt. Kra had never reached them. There was a rumour that someone wanted to kill Nefalonia and the mages had freaked out when an unknown familiar had appeared. Now, Kra was locked up, but Nefalonia would free them immediately. They became very interested when we told them about the mirror. Speculating, they said the mirror showed an image of Darwan's area of origin. It might be possible to use it to contact and even control the demon with the mirror. While this would be extremely dangerous, the mirror could not be left where Tivito could get hold of it. They wondered if we could fetch the mirror for them, but changed their mind when I said Wolfram should be kept out of it. Wolfram would be liable to attempt to destroy the mirror, but Nefalonia did not want to us to have anything to do with demons if we could not trust each other. I got the impression Demons work a bit like the discord among the stars, amplifying any conflicts among mortals. Considering that the mammal civilizations collapse in every cataclysm, I have to agree with them. Instead of sending us, Nefalonia would go themselves and thanked us for our service after releasing Kra. At least we got a letter giving us access to the tower. In a throwaway line, they also identified Tsovin and Vagan as Kama and Taxini. This makes sense when viewed through the usual lens of mammal confusion. I will attempt to visit one of their temples later.

After we had left Nefalonia, we returned to the slum to resume our search for purple incense. Wandering around for a while, we ran into Nuur-Karif and Yana who took us to an herb shop. A pungent smell wafted towards us when we entered and and the shelves were full of curios, including a human foetus and various animals preserved in alcohol. Grogg was mostly interested in what intoxicants were to be found in the shop, but also found some incense and I spotted some interesting ingredients for poisons. Slikk and Slakk's poisons do not appear to be very strong.

Nuur-Karif had some important news they wanted to share, so we returned to the inn to find Wolfram. Back in our room, they told us they had received a mission to kill Nefalonia, getting various degrees of shock and dismay in response. Wolfram wanted to know where they had gotten this mission and Nuur-Karif claimed they had gotten it from Ashtar, but they hesitated slightly, raising my suspicions. My suspicions were more or less confirmed soon after when Wolfram asked if they had gotten specific instructions and they answered negative. Seeing our reactions, Nuur-Karif agreed to investigate the source of the mission further and said they would go to the other chapel in the city. Not entirely trusting them, I offered to come along and to my relief, they agreed and welcomed me along.