Belaletrix, before they all even got settled in, told Arya this was the port he had been waiting for. His home island was only a day's sail northeast from here, so he said his goodbyes. He took a ride back into town on one of the many large wagons, coming and going, to and from town, and left. Within two weeks, he was back at the gate. Brienne, who was manning the gate, marched him into Arya, and his tale unfolded. He had hitched a ride on a fishing vessel to his home island. When he got there, he rented a room and swiftly discovered he was a wanted man. After going out for a bite, he came back to his room to see local officials looking for him; he had been listed as a traitor. He slunk around the island, hiding for a few days before catching a smuggler's ship, one that he still knew, back to Xi'an. He offered to swear fealty to the Sovereign and crew and to return to their home with them when they went. Arya nodded and took his renewed oath of fealty. "Welcome back," she said.
Thomas, Gendry, and the younger Mangana were up to something. They had a huge bunch of barrels and casks. They had taken trips to local caves. They returned with several wagonloads of soil. Then they had ordered a big supply of sulfur. They put the soil in barrels of water, which were soaked for many days. Then they poured the water off into vats and cooked them over open fires. They gathered up the charcoal from the fires and crushed it into dust. They took white crystals from the vats and mixed them with the sulfur and charcoal. They were making the powder they used in the thunder box. They took the powder, smashed it into casks with some cloth stuffing, and then placed the lids on the casks. They had driven long wicks into the powder, and they let the wicks hang way out as they placed the cask lids, with a small hole in them, back on. In some of the casks, they added nails and small pieces of iron before tamping the lids on. Then they took these casks and glued them to the bottoms of the barrels, marking the barrels with nails in the powder and an X. The barrel lids were loosely placed on, and the barrels were stored in an outbuilding far from the living quarters. A danger sign was hung on the building's door.
Jiemba had discovered a library in the town near the government buildings. She, Caelan, Calancy, Drena, and sometimes Thomas started making trips into town to browse the book aisles. Thomas found a book of maps and drew them on sheaves of paper he had in a folder. He needed Jiemba or Caelan to translate the names for him, and they also helped him with a book he found about the Zon military.
Bronn, Drena, Brienne, and Arya made trips to weapon shops and armories. Belaletrix came along to translate what they couldn't understand. They found a dealer in magically upgraded gear and bought several pieces. Brienne commissioned a piece of chest armor that would deflect spells and physical attacks. They took her measurements and told her to come for it in a few weeks. Tormund, who came along on one trip, bought an angry-looking warhammer that added ice damage on hits.
Beth continued to give classes on all of the languages along with Belaletrix and Jiemba. Oenel gave classes on magic use and tested all of the members from Westeros. He and several of the treekin scholars began training classes for those who showed affinity and promise. Arya discovered she had an affinity for disruption, and she found a slender black crystal in the chest Elanor had 'bought' the captured Zon ship with. There were many such crystals in the chest, and she handed them out to those who were training their affinities. Arya also commissioned a black weapon, like Needle, that she could use her power with. It was expensive because, to be sturdy and retain its disruptive power, a very rare metal had to be used.
After several weeks of training, Arya was able to cast a disruption spell some 10 yards away, which was very destructive. Drena matched her skill, and Arya had given her another slender black crystal. When they weren't doing something else, the pair trained relentlessly. The distance they could cast and the power of it slowly rose over the days. The downside was that it drained their power quickly. The classes helped them focus their ability.
At one point, Wen invited several members along for a hunt for giant cats that were harrying one of the farms in the area. Several workers and animals had been killed. Wen relayed that the cats had fur that metal couldn't pierce. That only obsidian blades could harm them. When shown a blade, the Westeros members all recognized it as dragon glass. Thomas, Gendry, and the younger Mangana arrived in a wagon, with one of their barrels in it. When the party reached a hill overlooking the cave the cats had been traced to. They motioned for everyone to stop. They wrangled the barrel out and lined up the cave entrance. They motioned everyone to step back. They lit the wick, which had been carefully coated with powder, tamped the lid back onto the barrel, and rolled it down the hill to the cave. The barrel bounced a little as it went, but disappeared into the cave mouth. Seconds later, a detonation happened that completely collapsed the cave. The wave of force could be felt up on the hill, and several staggered back from it. Wen was amazed and wanted the recipe for his ministers. Just then, one of the cats that had not been in the cave attacked them from below. The cat was gigantic, with foot-long fangs on either side of its mouth. Its fur was a tawny brown, and it sported a small ruff of fur around its neck. It was on them in three leaps, snarling as it came. Several retainers stabbed it with dragon glass spears, but Tormund killed it with a blow from his ice hammer to its head.