Msaka had a hard time falling asleep that night, as the anticipation of completing his task in this region would not let him relax for a long time. Nonetheless, he eventually managed to fall asleep. He woke up late the next day, feeling fairly well rested, but with a kink in one arm, apparently from having slept at a bad angle for part of the night.

He sat up in bed for a few minutes, massaging his arm to relieve the stiffness while considering what he should do that day. He still believed it would be best to wait a day or two before doing what he had planned, and that left him with a lot of time to make use of while he waited. Then too, he knew that being seen around the city, acting in what might be considered a normal fashion for the place, would help divert attention away from him more than if he remained in seclusion the entire time.

"Perhaps I should visit the Adventurers' Guild here," he thought. "Even if there's nothing useful there, it will be a place I would be expected to be seen. The guildmaster here might be able to tell me more about Silmaria as well..."

That thought in mind, he decided to work out the kink through a spellcasting session, and proceeded to spend the next ten minutes working on the spells he'd gained from Shapier's magic shop. The Calm spell had been successful yesterday, but he knew it wouldn't last all that long at his present level of familiarity, and neither would the Dazzle spell when it came time to use it. The Resistance spell would likewise be much more effective at keeping the desert heat off of him during his trip out of the region once he had improved his mastery of its use.

Feeling his power becoming depleted and his arm loosening up, he finally abandoned his work and headed out of his room, stopping at the dining room for a quick meal. While eating, he noted the same odd man he'd met there the other day, staring about the room as before. The man nodded a distracted greeting to Msaka, but didn't speak to him. Msaka felt mildly relieved at that fact, and finished eating as quickly as he could, just in case the man changed his mind.

Leaving the inn, he strolled through the streets and plazas to the Adventurers' Guild. Not being in any particular hurry, he set a slow pace and stopped to look over some of the merchant stalls along the way, though he didn't buy anything.

Eventually, he approached the guild hall. As seemed to be the case with many of the buildings in Raseir, it looked remarkably similar to its counterpart in Shapier, set into the side of the plaza next to the city wall. Msaka pushed open the door and stepped inside, letting his eyes adjust to the dim lighting inside the place.

He blinked in surprise at the interior. Rather than appearing like a normal room, the place seemed to have been constructed to resemble the interior of a cave, complete with an uneven stone floor, walls, and roof. The other exits from the cavernlike chamber were covered by beaded curtains, which shifted gently from the movement of air caused by the opening and closing of the door.

Aside from the unusual setting, the place seemed otherwise normal, or as normal as was approachable in this place. A low bookshelf sat against the left hand wall, its legs cut to the proper length to stay upright on the uneven floor, and the logbook of the guild set atop it. Several cushions were set around a low table, and the heads of a number of creatures adorned the far wall. To Msaka's right, a collection of implements was fastened to the wall, some familiar, others less so. He supposed that they were meant to represent the tools used in underground settings; some of them would certainly be useful in that pursuit. Several lamps were set around the walls, their light casting flickering shadows across the entire scene.

As Msaka gazed slowly around the room, one of the bead curtains parted. A tall, thin man with a ruddy complexion and incredibly bushy eyebrows slipped through it, letting the curtain fall closed again behind him. He stepped forward, nodding in greeting. "You are, I assume, the leopardman who travelled here on the caravan. Welcome to the guild, sir," he said in a somewhat nasal voice. "A couple of the other guards from that venture mentioned your presence. How many I be of service?"

"How travelled are you?" Msaka asked, noting that the man's mannerisms were a bit different than what he expected from the natives of the region.

The guildmaster's eyebrows wiggled, possibly in amusement, though it was impossible to be sure. "How travelled am I? Across the length and breadth of many lands, the better to find interesting tunnels to explore! As you have probably surmised, I am not a native of Shapier, merely a temporary resident while I plan out my next set of expeditions."

"I... err... you obviously like tunnels," Msaka replied, glancing at his surroundings again.

"Of course!" the man grinned. "Spelunking is a hobby and profession of mine, much to the annoyance of the denizens of many caves. I've found all manner of interesting formations beneath the ground, and no few interesting items to recover there too!"

Msaka nodded slowly. "You sound like the guildmaster in Shapier, when he talks about climbing," he said reluctantly.

"Oh, yes!" the guildmaster chortled. "He and I have even worked on the same project a few times, so to speak. He takes the top, I take the bottom, and we see what we can find between us!"

"I see," Msaka said. "Have you ever visited a place called Silmaria?"

"Yes I have, and it was one of our expeditions together," the guildmaster nodded again. "He spent his time fussing about the top of the volcano, while I went poking about the tunnels that exist below it. Dragon Blood Pool was by far the most interesting of those, though I didn't stay longer than I had to. Not the most cheerful of locales, to say the least. The Prince of Shapier caused quite a stir there last winter, of course, with his defeat of the dragon. I've yet to hear whether the eruption that caused opened any new tunnels, but it's always possible."

Msaka suppressed a frown. "He's as obsessive as the other one," he thought to himself, then asked, "What about the underwater areas? Anything interesting down there?"

"Oh, a few," the guildmaster replied. "It's hard to explore them, obviously, but it can be done with the right preparations. Unfortunately, I couldn't very well explore the one I most wanted to see, the great tunnel leading into Atlantis. The tritons wouldn't have taken too well to my barging in, so I had to content myself with more normal ones."

"Where is this great tunnel?" Msaka asked.

"Off to the southwest of Marete, near to the island of Skyros. I don't recommend poking about there without a purpose though, the inhabitants tend to get their flippers in a twist about it."

"I will remember that," Msaka replied. "If you don't mind, I am going to take a look at the books you have over here," he glanced at the bookshelf. "I will let you know if I need anything more."

The guildmaster nodded. "I'll be in back. Don't forget to sign before you leave!" he said. With that, he waved and walked back through the curtains, leaving Msaka to himself.

Msaka paced over to the bookshelf and began leafing through the works that lay collected there. Few of them were very interesting, although that was largely due to many of them being about the exploration of caves. It didn't help that his thoughts kept drifting to Silmaria, which he was now certain would be his next destination.

Eventually, he turned his attention away from the books and penned his name into the book sitting atop the shelf before leaving the guild. As had been the case in Shapier, his distraction prevented him from noting the flourish he'd performed in the signing.