Up on the roof of the Shoppe, a commotion starts to build. The smell of burnt Bromthen wafts from the rooftop as well as the laughing of several Vartans. Quite a few more can be seen heading in and out the door with boxes and barrels full of food, party-favor bugs, and drinks as the party starts to get underway.

Strangers from the street are invited up as well, even a few bards to liven up the atmosphere. The end result is a rooftop full of laughing, singing, shouting, squawking, and dozens of other merriments as the Shiny Shoppe throws the biggest party the Scholar's Quarter has seen in years.

There's no sign of Wynona. She said something about keeping an ear on the weather … and mages tend to make most Vartans nervous anyway. Moon-Brow has cleaned herself (and Pouncer!) up, and helps with the arrangements. Some foppish fox is amongst those providing the entertainment, as well as a brown Eeee flutist and her Vykarin drummer.

Zoltan kneels down next to Nicodemus and ties a small tethered butterfly to one of his antlers, glitter falls excessively from its wings… but that's what its purpose is for. "Couldn't find a hat to fit you; I hope this will do," the Vartan scrawks, winking.

Nicodemus chortles. "Perfect! I might need a second one, so I don't get out of balance!"

"You'll have to pry Pouncer away from the party favors… I think her bugbox will be a LOT fuller after this." Zoltan pats the Cervani-Vartan's shoulder and wanders out into the crowd to mingle for a bit. Each note, each smell, each taste… they all remind him how much he's missed his city and his home.

There are many familiar faces … Honest Shokar, the Jupani scrimshaw merchant … Avram the Zerda Zolk merchant … numerous frequent customers (the great majority of them Vartan) … a Vykarin bauble-maker … even a couple of guards that stopped by to make sure the Bromthen forest-hog wasn't poisoned, out of the goodness of their hearts (and sizeable stomachs).

There's a flash of magenta, and an armored Kattha comes into view, accompanied by her Lance of similarly-armored felines. She doesn't appear to be partaking of any of the consumables, but just makes her way through the crowd.

Zoltan wanders over to Enos and hands him one of the bugs he salvaged from the Babelite party favors. It looks remotely like a squibbit, except its skin changes color where you touch it.

Catching a flash of Magenta out of the corner of his eye, the Vartan rises back up to meet the Knight.

Enos mercilessly pokes the party favor over and over again, squealing gleefully at the results … and rushing around to show anyone who will look down at him long enough.

The Champion of Roses bows her head to Zoltan.

Captain St. Germain crows at anybody who'll talk to him. "… An' 'twere these 'uge bugs, th' likes o' which ye ne'er saw, what coulds do stuff like launchin' eggs what explode, an' suckin' out brains… none o' it scared me, a-course, why it was… " And on and on.

The Vartan returns the bow. "Was hoping to see you or someone from Golgotha soon enough. I gots something for you."

The mask hides the Champion's expression, but she looks at Zoltan.

Zoltan lets his hands drop to sign, "The Champion of Shadows has come to Sinai to join his lancers… or at least his armor. I have been asked to bring it to the other Knights."

The Champion of Roses nods, signing nothing in return.

"There is a matter regarding armor that I would like to discuss with those in Golgotha, but that probably for another time. Should I give you armor and sword now or would you rather I bring it later?" The feathers on Zoltan's neck stick up nervously.

The Champion shakes her head, and casually waves her hand in a sign for "Later."

Zoltan looks around at the crowd and then back to the Champion, "Are you here to stay for a bit or just checking on the noise?"

The Champion bows her head, then starts to walk away. One of the Lancers – Maybe that's Blossom? – steps up. "It's just her way of saying 'hello', Baron Cambio. Welcome back to Rephidim. We hope the Inquisition won't be too hard on you." Without pausing to explain that last point, Blossom strides off to catch up with the rest of the Lance.

Zoltan ears drop as he watches the Lancer leave. He wanders over to one of the barrels of ale near Kensington and fills his mug up… trying to get the lump in his stomach to float a little bit. ( I knew it was illegal… but I'd do it all again. Gah, just as long as I don't get put in that chair that Inquisitor Azrael was using on the Kavi… )

The Korv nearby laughs with a small group of partygoers, belching and then rasping, "So's th' Captain said, 'That ain't hardtack at all!'" He cackles a moment, then glances over at Zoltan. "Ahoy there! I… 'ey, what's rockin' yer boat, big fellow? Ye look like ye saw Dagh swimmin' in th' punch."

"We went into a Forbidden Zone, and I need to report what happened and what I saw to the Temple." The Vartan gulps down another swig of ale. "I suppose I should be happy that I wasn't arrested right here in the middle of everything."

Kensington rolls his eyes. "Faugh, th' Temple? Paper-pushin' busybodies, always pokin' their noses inta everthin'. I'd tells ye ta blow 'em off, iffen I thoughts ye could leave likes meself. I betcha they won'ts mind ye, iffen ye tell 'em bout th' Kampfzengruppe."

The Vartan shakes his head and manages to smile again. "My days of running away from my responsibilities were over when I ended up half dead on Nicodemus' porch. I'm not a lawbreaker, and I'll offer as much help as I can." He drains the rest of his mug and refills it again from the cask. "I'll see how it goes. After the Progenitor though, I've had enough of wishing I could change the past."

"Eh, I don'ts see why ye'd be responsible to thems Temple bloodsuckers … I won'ts contest it," caws Kensington, shrugging. "I'll wager ye got nothin' ta worry 'bout wit' all yer heroin' and bringin' back all thems people trapped on Abaddon. Enjoy th' simplicity whilst ye can, laddybuck. There'll be waves high enough just wit' Abaddon meetin' Sinai, mark me words."

Zoltan rests his mug on the top of cask. "The Temple teaches my children at school every day, they nursed Nicodemus back to health after we were attacked by the Babelites, and they agreed to follow me on the whim of a dream I had when the Babelites tried to attack Rephidim with the thing that hit Himar instead." He smiles as one of the glitter-trailing butterflies lands on the lip of his mug. "I owe them a great deal… at the very least I owe them the lives of my family."

"GISH!" squeals Pouncer, as she attacks the glitter-trailing bug, narrowly missing Zoltan's mug! A spray of glitter lands on Pouncer's nose, prompting her to sneeze, as the bug escapes, unharmed (for the moment).

The Korv snorts to himself. "Pah. They never dones nothin' fer me… always hassles. Eh, but I s'pose t'ain't me place t'say. Best o' luck widdem." He shrugs again, and takes another beakful of his drink, then nearly spews it when Pouncer seems to come out of nowhere.

The Vartan scrawks and scrambles for his mug. He holds it to his chest and grins at the Korv. "One of these days you'll have a family… when you least expect it just like I did. And from there… WHAM! You've got to be a responsible person." He grins and blows glitter off of the cup.

Pouncer giggles, and runs off, chasing the bug.

Kensington chokes down his drink, and coughs a few times. "Responsible… (koff)… heh… " he croaks, then manages to clear his throat. "Ah, I t'ain't never gonna be responsible. It just don't be in me blood, Zoltan. 'Less th' sky sees fit to let me go, she's me wife from now till th' day I die. Cute kids ye got, though. I gots t'admit … Never seen anybody like 'em, either."

Zoltan's eyes scan around for Herbir. "They're from Paradys… and what they are has a bit of a long story attached, some of which shouldn't be said at a time when everyone's trying to be happy. Enos I think might be an artist some day – and Pouncer… well, I don't think I've ever seen a happier little girl on all of Sinai. I plan to do everything in my power to make sure she stays that way." His tone hints at some deeper meaning to those words, but he doesn't elaborate.

Herbir is still sloshing down liquid nourishment, over to the side. He hasn't chosen the most intoxicating of liquids, though. He must be saving space for some of that Imperial fuel once it gets broken out.

"Paradys, ye say?" The Korv tilts his head. "Yer pretty wide-traveled. I'd ask if ye wanted t'keep explorin', but I figure ye've 'ad enough fer a while. … Yer kids… 'ow d'they take ta Rephidim, looking like that, an' all, and comin' from where the did? Er, no offense."

"People mistake them for Savanites, so there's always some bit of bias, but they're still good children and… they have the amazing ability to win hearts over to their side without much effort. It worked on ME at least." Zoltan drinks the last few drops of ale in his mug, some glitter stains the side of his beak as he pulls it out of the cup. "As for exploring… I've mostly done it out of need, I think Paradys was the only exception and that… we… it was PARADYS! The legend of Shokar and all, the greatest Vartan airshipman that ever lived. I never did find out what became of him… but maybe I will someday. All adventuring has really done is show me how much I love my home." He pulls himself up to his feet. "Speaking of which, I promised to tell Pouncer about the Progenitor… "

Kensington squints at Zoltan through one eye. "Ye sure ye wanna? Might give th' tyke nightmares."

"She likes to gish bugs," Zoltan replies. "She'll like hearing about how her daddy and you gished the biggest bug of them all. I'm… not going to tell her about the other parts."

The corsair nods. "A good idea… " Then he grins in spite of himself. "By me blunt, black beak, but 'twas some battle, wasn't it though? The kid'll be proud. Ye kin tell 'er 'twas "Boom!" an' "Splat!" an' "Chop!" an' "Hack!". Kids was crazy fer that when I was a lad, heh, heh… "

Zoltan puts his mug away, "Maybe I can convince her to throw out that vermite she caught by telling her there's bigger bugs out there." He grins at Kensington and wanders out into the crowd, vanishing amidst the people.

Kensington shakes his head. "Bug-squishin' cubs… kids are weirder'n anythin' I ever sailed into." He wanders back into the crowd as well, a short while later raising his voice over the din. "Herbir! Crack open th' special keg, I feels like flyin'!"