The Terrans head past the Ship - where they arrange for the mining convoy (along with sufficient guns and guards to ensure that the bandits can't and won't cause problems). There's some news from there - Sir Bevier flagged something that had been overheard via Felix' bugs in the palace.

The Primate Raven, it seems, has been very cautious not to say anything at all incriminating within the range of the bugs (but if he knew about them, then why are they still there?) but there is a rumour that's been spreading through the palace that Arch-Prelate Cluvonius is on his deathbed.

At the same time, the Primate has left the Capitol, heading out to Chyrellos to (according to what the palace servants are saying) pay his last respects to the dying Arch-Prelate.

Zalasbra is doing well, and has been using the tablet that he was given to make extensive notes - writing them in an alphabet that is neither Latin nor Elene. Sir Bevier (on being shown the notes; naturally, anything that Zalasbra does on his tablet is immediately reported to and stored on the ship's servers) professes that he has never before seen those characters written down - the language is a mystery to him.

Anything else you want to do or ask about before moving on to the Capitol?

Felix will ask Zalasbra about enchanting items, artificing in general, and whether or not he can make enchanted bullets for demon slaying.

Zalasbra has a lot of questions about guns and bullets and exactly how they work. How guarded will Felix be in his answers on this subject?

Felix will explain the basic mechanism of the bullet but won't go into too much detail about the guns themselves. It's the bullets he's concerned with after all.

Zalasbra, it seems, is concerned with the guns themselves. Eventually, he explains why...

"To do as you request - to create a weapon permanently imbued with magic in some or other form - is at least theoretically possible. It is not something I can personally do - I am no weaponsmith - but it is something that can be done, with the right help. But even then... it would require a truly significant use of resources. To put all of that in an item that is spent after a single attack? This - does not seem to be a good idea. Much better, I imagine, to imbue the weapon itself with magic, and not merely the ammunition."

"That's a shame, I was hoping to provide the entire colony with demon slaying ammunition. But if it requires that much resources I guess I'll have to stick with a personal weapon, should it ever come down to it."

Felix asks about where he could go or what he needs to do to enchant a rifle. He explains about guns only as necessary to his needs.

"I am almost certain that there is no-one on this world who makes a habit of creating enchanted guns," says Zalasbra, with a wry grin. "Enchanted weapons, in general, are so rare as to be near-universally unknown; the crafters of such weapons or devices, such as the troll Ghwerek, are almost all lost in the mists of antiquity. It is possible that - with the right resources, and the aid of one who knows every last step in the production and use of a gun - that I might be able to create a single enchanted gun. It would be a long-term project, and - to say the least - quite challenging. But your project has caught my interest; it is a challenge that I would like to attempt."

"I happen to be a master at building things," Felix says. "If this is something we can work on a little bit at a time, I'd gladly make the attempt with you between adventures or, failing that, when I have a long stretch of time where I'm not running around panicking."

Felix ponders a moment.

"Would the resulting artifact be powerful enough to save the queen?"

"One of the steps in the construction of such a weapon would probably involve finding a previously existing magical item and working it into the gun," says Zalasbra. "That item could possibly be used to save the Queen before being worked into the gun - it could not be used afterwards, as a weapon would be - well, it would be a thing that kills, not a thing that saves. It would be... wrongly attuned, for use in a healing spell."

"But the first step is one that can presumably be done fairly easily. I need the full details on the manufacture and use of guns - every last bit. I need to be able to study the entire construction process, from start to finish, in order to work out how it would need to be changed."

Felix provides those details. He informs Captain Argent of the trade beforehand, though. Information for a weapon to protect the colony.

Arkady notes this, then asks Zalasbra: "Would it affect the enchantment if one part of the weapon is replaced with an unenchanted part? And is there any way to enchant it without destroying something else for it's power?"

"That will depend on the details of how the enchantment is set up. It is possible that only some parts of the weapon will be enchanted, and some parts unenchanted - the unenchanted parts can be freely replaced if that happens. And yes, it may be possible to create an entirely new enchanted object - but that will be orders of magnitude more difficult than merely adjusting an existing object."

Zalasbra's questions about the manufacture of guns are deep and detailed enough that Felix will either have to spend a day or two tutoring him, or persuade David to unlock the wikipedia files on guns for Zalasbra.

Felix would like to tutor him.

Would anyone else like to do anything over the next couple of days, while Felix and Zalasbra hash out plans for a magic gun?