Engineer stands near the door, cleaned and re-equipped. Bits of light and color spark out occasionally from around his armor plates and joints.
"I stand ready to assist in whatever tasks this group decides."
"Well, Satinder says, eyeing the strange object, "this is . . . more than a little incredible, I'd say. This band here," he says, tapping the third band of metal from the top, "is almost certainly gold, and those markings seem familiar somehow. Never mind the fact that it's a Khyber shard."
He strokes his chin for a moment, then leans forward suddenly as the realization hits. "Yes, of course. Those markings remind me of dead languages that Aemon pokes at every once in a while. Aemon Grahame runs the local bookstore and antiquary," Satinder says to Watches-Shadow-Behind-You by way of explanation, "and, unless I'm misremembering, he's scheduled to be at the dinner tonight."
He hesitates, looking at the metal-wrapped shard. "Of course, we can't keep it. Whatever it is, it came from Lord Kaijitsu's ship and probably belongs to him. We'll need to return it when the opportunity arises. Until then, though, I have to admit that I'm curious." He glances at the other two men, eyebrows raised. "There can't be any harm in learning a bit more about it before we give it back."
"What disturbs me greatly is the young man found dead on the boat. Who killed him and why? The solifugid may have been but an innocent pawn smuggled in a box and then set loose to distract from the murder and possibly this Egg as well. Perhaps finding the truth of one mystery will lead to the truth of the other."
Satinder hesitates briefly, then nods his agreement.
"I don't think Lord Kaijitsu would do anything to overtly endanger the city, but I agree with the need for discretion. There was definitely more going on on that ship than meets the eye. Hopefully Lord Kaijitsu is innocent of any subterfuge, but until we can gather more information I think we'll need to keep this"--he reaches out to tap the dragonshard--"close to the chest."
He shoots Watches-Shadow-Behind-You a baleful look.
"And I mean that figuratively, not literally. Don't go tying it to yourself or anything like that. I just mean that we need to be careful who we tell until we have more answers."
"Your language calls that creature a Rhagodessa," Watches-Shadow-Behind-You explains, "There was a body of a young man found dead on the ship. His heart had been punctured and lines carved on his head."
Satinder cocks his head and gives Watches-Shadow-Behind-You a curious look.
"Hang on. Earlier today you were confused about the difference between cranes that are birds and cranes that are machines. Where in the nine levels of Hell did you learn a word like 'solifugid'?"
"I learned your language from Doctor Brooke Madrigal. She was studying my people's history. That's the name she called them. Tell me your thoughts on the boy found dead on the ship."
Satinder hesitates, then nods, looking slightly abashed.
"Of course. I didn't mean to mock your grasp of the language, Master Halfling. As to the dead sailor . . ."
Satinder sighs and leans back into his plush chair. "I would have liked to examine the corpse further, but even if we could dive down into the wreck and retrieve the body, I doubt we'd be able to discover anything useful at this point. I don't suppose anyone remembers the symbols carved on him well enough to draw them . . ?"
** spoiler omitted **
[spoiler=White Deer]
"Yes," the shaman nodded in sage agreement, "but I do not know of it. Do you Satinder?"