Batu looked at the objects spread before him for a long moment without speaking.
"Walk me through them," Batu said.
Gunnar put it into Chinese. The merchant looked at Batu once more, and reached for the nearest bamboo tube.
"Fire arrow," Gunnar translated as he spoke. "The compound inside burns on contact with air once the seal is broken. You fit it to a standard arrow shaft and fire it from a bow. It lights on release."
He set it down and picked up the ceramic pot.
"Fire bomb. The mixture inside is denser. You light the cord and throw it or put it in a catapult. When it breaks, whatever it touches burns."
He set the pot down.
"Both of those most of your officers already know."
Then he picked up the cast iron cylinder. It was shorter than those, thicker-walled, the aperture at one end barely wider than a finger. He turned it so the touch-hole on the side was visible.
"This one is different," Gunnar said.
