Ullar whispers, to noone in particular: "Did he say bear? Or beer?"

"Flea-bitten beer?" Marika glances up at the tall gladiator, whom she has talked into carrying some of her heavier gear from the ship. "I've sampled some questionable brews here and there, but I draw the line at insects."

Ullar laughs, and that's the first time most of you have heard him laugh out loud. Not a pretty sound by the way.. it sounds like if someone has terrible stomach-pains :-)

"Sorry Marika, but when it comes to beer I don't draw lines anymore. I just drink, and drink.. and drink.. and get drunk..... I don't mind which way they have brewed it, as long as it tastes good!"

Marika walks on beside him, leaning heavily on her staff to compensate for her injured right leg. "You're right, though. Better to meet Misha and the beer-bear outside than make ourselves comfortable in their house. 'Who's been eating my porridge, quoth the bear,'" she intones in a deep voice, smiling fondly as she recalls one of her mother's many tales.

"Xania should rest indoors, though. Urak and I can take turns watching over her. Misha will understand."

Urak nods in agreement at the big man's words. "It would be wrong for us to intrude upon a woman's dwelling without her consent. Father would thrash me soundly for even thinking such a thing. Besides, among the People, many shamans spirit-bond with birds or other small animals," Speaker didn't approve of the practice either, he did allow that it was not a violation of the path so long as the animal was willing, "If Misha-human is powerful enough to spirit-bond with a bear, than it would be most unwise to risk discharging any wards she may have in place. I studied with Speaker for two years before I was allowed to enter his tent alone."

"Very well," Marika answers. "The weather is mild. I suppose the fresh air can't do Xania any harm." Urak's healing skills far surpass her own, and she is more than willing to defer to his judgment.

Ullar frowns at Urak: "Spirit-bond?" "What is that?"

"I'm sorry Urak, but things are getting rather confusing with all of you devoted to different Gods. Since the Catoliks surpressed the other religions I'm not acostumed to this wide variation of beliefs. And to be honoust, the few lectures I head about religion were mostly the lectures where I dozed away" he adds, with a big smile.

Urak returns the fighter's smile with a wry one of his own. "When I first began my apprenticeship, I sometimes found it difficult to stay awake during spirit-vigils. Speaker would snap at my ears with his staff to get me to wake up."

"But spirit-bonds are not exactly a part of the Khalid-kor. Some shamans make friends with animals, such as birds for example, and eventually form a close mental bond that allows the sharing of thoughts and memories. It is considered controversial, because the Path forbids forcibly imposing your will on another. Speaker has declared that if the animal can be shown to be willing, than it is not a deviation from the Path, but other, younger shamans argue fiercely over it."

"Well. I can make friends with animals, but I don't try to bond with them." "Ha! I see myself making love to a goat... I doubt it will be willing....." the big smile on Ullar's face making it clear the warrior makes a joke....

After getting the rest of the party settled and getting their packs and belongings organized and sorted out, Rhune, the ever curious begins to look around the cabin, totally ignoring the suggestions of Ullar and Urak. She touches nothing, though just looks for the moment trying to figure out what kind of woman this Misha is who has a bear for a pet. She continues to look around at the various items in the cabin until she finishes.

Rhune finds the cabin very drab and unbecoming. There is a simple table and chair along with a bookcase with only half a dozen books upon it, such things as poetry books and literature. There is a smallish bed in the corner and a great rug resting alongside it. The rug has some sort of fur embedded into it thickly, and appears warm and soft. Inside, Rhune notes that this would be a decent place for some of the injured party members to rest. She also notes that upon the topmost level of the bookshelf there is a glass jar full of assorted coins.

Rhune looks at the coins wistfully. As much as she would like to take them, as they would come in very handy right now she had better not. She may have questionable talents but she is an honorable person deep down. And it looks like this Misha person would miss the coins more than some rich merchant.

Other than that, there is nothing of note in the place. There is no fireplace nor cabinet for provisions. In fact, there is nothing indicative of long term habitation of the place other than the fact that the bed still has the indentation of a small humanoid form. She takes note of all this, taking care not to disturb anything, and walks back outside.

Asif quiet since leaving the ship looks to Rhune and in a quiet voice says.

"Speak me of all friends on ship. Well are all? Aquaintance I not have of all. You introduce me? Know them must I for what path does fate now take us? We all walk together now"

Rhune comes over to Asif and sits down next to him, "No. not all well, Asif. Many of us got injured in that fight with the brandeds." she looks around at the others, "Well, let me see. There is Ullar, he seems to be an ex-gladiator; Urak, who is an apprentice shaman; Marika, who is some sort of cleric; Jacobus, who is a merchant with some interesting talents; Xania, who seems to be a magic user of some kind she is new so I don't know that much about her, and there is Matteo, who I believe is a cleric also. Then there is me, Rhune, who has some questionable talents, and you, a very good Archer." she says with a grin on her face, her deep purple eyes, glittering like twin amethysts. Then leaning closer to him, "I am a thief, Asif. But I don't take from my friends or companions." she says in a low voice. She is well aware that most of her party members may have already guessed her profession but one can never be to careful. Her teacher had told her that.

Asif looks at Rhune with some incomprehension upon his face.

"Rhune, understanding is hard. Not all words are clear, but my heart is saddened by the plight of your people. Elfkind must be in a bad way that the women fight and that your people must take that which is not freely given. Why is this so? Is charity so scare here to the unfortunate? Did your Gods abandon you, or did war destroy your clan? Such cruel fate has befallen some of the Beoduin tribes of my homeland. There numbers have declined to such an extent that they are little more than brothers and sisters of the Cursed murderous Shrikes."

OCC - Shrikes = Bandits who plagued Egypt from ancient times.

She smiles at him. "no Asif, my people are not that hard off. True our numbers are not large, but we do well. All my people learn to fight not just the men. We have many racial enemies that we must be on guard against. As for what I do. . . well charity exists. But sometimes one has to deal with clever people who uses locks or creatures that hide treasures in hard to get places. That is where what I do comes in handy." she says with a smile

After a while, Ullar tries to get eye-contact with Rhune: "Rhune, could you get over here? I'd like to get my eyes on the tube while we're waiting. Perhaps there is some tricked way for opening it, like pushing the ends of it a little inside before trying to turn it"

Having explored to her hearts content Rhune had just come from inside the cabin when Ullar makes eye contact. She sighs at his rather abrupt way of asking her come over, but does so nonetheless. "Maybe you are right. It is worth a try." she replies crossing over to him. She hands him the blue tube and lets him work with for a few minutes. Seeing that his hands and fingers are to big to be doing what he is trying, "Here let me? I might be able to do it." she says laying her smaller hand lightly on the back of his. She takes the tube back and tries what Ullar is trying. When that doesn't work she sighs and puts it back inside her pouch making very sure that it it secure and safe.

The warrior, with his huge hands, tries all the sorts of possibilities he figured out for this problem.

Unfortunately, for all the twisting and turning, the tube does not move, open, or even budge, though Ullar is putting tremendous pressure on it. He only yields when it is clear he is going to crack the case rather than open it. Rhune's efforts to mimic him yield similar results.

Marika joins Rhune and Ullar at this pastime. "Can you hear anything moving inside it when you pull or turn the ends?" she asks Rhune, recalling the ingenious puzzle-boxes of a toymaker who had been a regular worshipper at the Temple years ago.

"And does anything make a sound if you shake it?" Ullar adds.

Rhune tries both, and does hear a brief scuffling noise when the tube is shaken. Pulling it or turning the ends is impossible, as the tube might as well be made entirely of one material for all the difference between the stopper and the case itself.

Dropping to the ground near Ullar, Urak watches as Rhune and Ullar try to open the mysterious tube. Trick devices were, for the most part, rare among the Urk, but a few of the wives were adept at constructing such devices, more for novelty than anything else. That it was used to send a message is something of a puzzlement to the young Urk.

"I do not understand this," he says finally, "could not someone just break the tube to retreive the message? Or could the tube be warded in some way?" Remembering the set face of the Bishop, he adds, "I do not think it would keep a determined or powerful foe out, and the Catoliks are both. So why lock it?"

Marika nods. "Exactly," she answers. "Only the gnoll would have known for sure. But I'd be afraid to try to force the scroll tube. There are wards that destroy the message if not opened properly. Our Temple's historians lost far too many documents to them. Even whole books." Her voice drips with distaste at the thought...few things are more obscene or blasphemous than a spell designed to destroy written knowledge.

Urak considers the situation for a moment. If the tube was warded, then the information within must be dangerous to the rebel movement. Perhaps even the cause of the attack at the forum. "I am not sure," he begins slowly, "but could it be that the tube contains no information that is harmful to the Catoliks, but instead information that is harmful to their enemies? Why would rebels worry about anti-Catolik information falling into the wrong hands? There could be very little information in the tube that is useful to us."

Rhune looks at Urak for a moment. "No I don't think that would be it. I seem to remember that just before the gnoll fell he mentioned something about a place. If this contains a map or directions to that place then the rebels would not want it falling into anyone's hands but rebel hands." she pauses a thoughtfull look on her face, "No I think that there might be some command word to open it. We just don't know what it is. I wish that I knew what god he worshiped. He looked like some type of cleric. Come to think of he was wearing something to similar to Asif or did he?" she asks Urak and anyone else that happens to be near enough to hear.

The discussion of wards, and the fight on the water brings another, more disturbing thought to Urak's mind. "We assumed that it was a human agency that betrayed our movements to the mind-theives, but perhaps we are mistaken. Could the tube be warded in such a manner as to draw the scrying of the Catoliks?"

"Or, even worse, could some fell enchantment have been woven into Ullar's possessions whilst he was captive? It is possible that they could have allowed Ullar, along with Silus, Sam and Kreige, to escape, in the hopes that they would meet up with the rest of the survivors from the forum. Netting all the fish in one toss, so to speak. It would be well to find a strong shaman to examine such things. Otherwise, I fear our steps will be dogged with the 'branded'," Urak's pronunciation of the word echoes his loathing of the process."

Rhune replies, "I hope not. No there might be a more mundane reason than that. They could just have seen the boat from the hill top and made inquiries at the town or had a spy there." she says frowning at the thought. Since she can not get the tube open and she doesn't understand any of the symbols on it, she puts it away again.

"EXCUSE ME!?" "I've seen my possessions all the time when I was captured, and besides my weapons, they didn't do anything with it." Ullar let's out in anger.

Then, realizing that it is not Urak's fault for coming up with an idea that doesn't appeal to him, he shuts it down, mumbling a soft sorry for his outburst.

"Perhaps the Gnoll didn't trust the setting of the meeting as well. Don't we have anyone in the party" Ullar says, while staring at Rhune "who has those 'fast-hands'? I bet he or she could do the trick, unless this tube is protected by magic."

Jacobus looks at Ullar "fast hands ? that's the first time I've heard it called that." he grins "I have done a fair number of unauthorised entries in my time, perhaps I can help with that blue tube you all seem to be so fascinated with." Jacobus looks at the tube critically, "What's supposed to be in it anyway?" he says as he tries to appraise the tubes value. It does not seem to have any particular monetary value, though it is pretty. Once he has descerned all that he can about it he tries to open the sealed tube. However, his "fast hands" have no more luck than any of the others. Shrugging, he turns it back over to Rhune.

Uncertain what Ullar is talking about, Rhune simply looks at him. Then suddenly it dawns on her what Ullar is talking about. She smiles at him, "My hands are fast as you say, Ullar, and still I am having trouble with this tube. No I think it is protected by magic and if it is we will not get opened unless we know the right thing to do. And that could be almost anything. Can anyone remember what the Gnoll was talking about just before he was shot with the arrow?" she asks the party in general as she looks at the scroll case closer, perhaps there is writing on it that she missed.

"I only remembered that he said something about Jerboha getting stronger and stronger while more and more humans join in his belief. This goes at the cost of the other religions. I wouldn't dare to imagine what kind of powers the most loyal followers of Jerboha possess." Ullar responds.

"Perhaps we could find the master of this Gnoll, as it seems to me that he was talking about his master who discovered that. But where to start? I'm not going back to Florence now, I'm even having bad dreams about it!" he says with a shrug.