Content wise there is not a ton to take notice of here.  Basically what we have is the group stumbling upon some strange sort of “black, greasy substance” and walls which appear to have “been baked at some hellish temperature” (157).  At this point it is very unclear exactly caused this pit and mess.  The denotation of “baked” implies that this area was changed in someway and this is not its natural state

The only thing that we should take notice of in the margin’s is Eric’s comment that “Texture ≠ Ink” (156).  There are a lot of instances in the novel where Straka uses black substances to show something about writing.  However, in this case, it seems Eric does not think this is about writing or ink.  It could potentially be saying something about the distortion of writing, into something similar but quite different.

Another thing to look into, if it has not already been examined, is the use of “Stenfalk,” “Corbeau” and “Ostrero.”  Stenfalk is Sweedish for a Merlin, Ostrero is Spanish for Oysterchatcher, a type of bird, and Corbeau is French for Crow .  The merlin and crows are found worldwide, so their reference should not mean much about Straka, and the Oysterchatcher is found on coasts all around the world, so again does not tell us too much about Straka.  On top of this, the whoisstraka blog claims that Piefer is a sandpiper.  With all four characters with S representing birds, there must be some sort of meaning behind these names.  These birds will most likely show up again later in the novel, so take note when you see them.