RF - I travel by boat soon

[David R. Hoffpauir]

>  Greetings to allI have spent some time now following the shores of
> this great sea on foot. I am starting to pick up their language a bit.
> I have found a great deal of a soft stone in this area When I rub this
> stone on some cloth, then hold it over my arm, it makes the hair on my
> arm rise toward it. I have no idea what essence would cause this. It
> does not seem to be a property of earth, fire, water, or air. This
> might be a manifestation of the spirit that Uric and others keep
> talking about. I have found many new and exciting things during my
> walks. I have seen inks that are the purest blue. They make them by
> crushing stones and sorting the blue parts from the clear part. After
> they finish grinding the pigment, the make an ink that is the color of
> a high mountain sky on a clear spring day. I was going to send some,
> but they want fifteen weights of gold for each weight of the ink. I
> showed the ink maker how we make ink with Ox bile. He seemed most
> impressed. As much as I hate to do so, in the morning, I am going to
> ride a trader's boat to Byzanth. The boats here are much larger than
> the ones the traders sail to our villages. I am sure I will spend a
> great deal of time spewing over the side of the ship. I have heard of
> many great libraries in Byzanth, I hope I can find something to help
> you make great siege engines Gundiock. Another interesting thing, The
> eat this strange tentacled creature here. I think Theodigiclose would
> like it a lot. It is called a squid. Amalla Sweintha, I have found a
> perfume that is created from the leaves of a plant that I think you
> would love. It is called patchouli. The silk traders claim it will
> keep the bugs from eating their cloth. It has a very sweet and cloying
> odor. Some of the silk traders travel for over three years to bring
> their goods this far. They tell of passing a Mountain range that is so
> tall that they can see the stars even during the day. I do not believe
> them though, because they claim that the stars are still just small
> points of light. I would think if they were telling the truth, they
> would be able to see the actual fires that are on the dome of heaven,
> if they were indeed that close to it. Your searching scholarAthaulf