Multi-storied buildings rise on each side of the street in a cheerfully chaotic way, some of them seeming to balance precariously on their foundations, some of them not content to stay on one side of the street, but rather arching across to join another house on the other side by means of a second-story covered "bridge" connecting the two. Clotheslines stretch across the alleys, garments drying in the intermittent breeze. Stray dogs, cats, krenns, Creens, fuff'nars and other small animals – former pets, gone feral – wander about, begging for or stealing scraps of food.

Up on one of the bridges spanning the street, under a canopy of old sheets and what remains of a wooden roof, a gunmetal gray rat seems to be preaching to a small crowd gathered below in the shade.

A faded poster hangs on the wall just under the bridge, near where some cheetahs in robes seem to be engaging in some sort of signed argument. The poster reads, "Explore Safarland!" and features a woodcut image of a beaming Cris Creen and Barney Bromthen, and little "starbursts" with stylized renderings of some of the different attractions. "Thunder-Lizard Race", "Chiga Hunt", "Gateway World Adventure", "Gigantic Carousel", "Splash Canyon", "City of Hands", "Temple of Gloom" and so forth.

Nearby is a storefront that advertises "Trophies of the Savan", and through the cracked glass window, mounted heads, skins, tusks and skulls of wild beasts can be seen hanging from the walls and in display cabinets … for the "great poodle hunter" who doesn't want to bother having to catch his own trophy, apparently. A tent in the alley next to the store proclaims "Fortunes Told", and a smaller sign on the side lists prices and asserts "Happy futures only, guaranteed."

Up at the bridge, a Skreek's voice can be heard addressing the crowd. There are a few murmurs from some non-Savanites, and several begin to disperse … while some others walk over toward a smaller group clustered just underneath the bridge. Amongst the cheetahs congregated under the bridge, it looks like there's an armored warrior, a cheetah in white robes, a cheetah in brown robes, and what looks like a tribal shaman.

Down by one of the storefronts, a curious mix of Hekoye and Vartan (dressed in the garb of a Ranger of the Rephidim Temple) peers into the window – window-shopping for anything that's particularly shiny.

A green-robed, white-winged Earth Mage finishes her examination of the faded Safarland poster, and joins the small crowd under the bridge to hear the Skreek.

At last, the speech ends, and music starts up – the sounds of drums, Creen flutes and a beggar's whistle can be heard from the direction of the bridge. Several merchants alongside the street, having quieted down to listen to the goings-on, are emboldened to return to hawking their wares. "Sssssouvenirssss!" hisses a cobra, waving around cheap cloth dolls that look vaguely like Cris Creen and Barney Bromthen and others.

It looks like Envoy has just missed the tail end of the speech as she arrived. The gray Skreek has disappeared from her perch up on the bridge.

Turning her attention to the Savanites, Envoy tries to look in on their conversation in hopes of finding out what the Skreek's performance was about.

There doesn't appear to be anything in this store's window that's of enough interest to Lochinvar, and so he turns away to look for other possible stores. As he looks down the street towards the bridge, he notices the Earth Mage – a little surprised to see her here, and starts to walk over in her direction.

It seems that an armored Savanite and a few other cheetahs are passing out small booklets and pamphlets to several Savanites, lizards and others converging about the underside of the bridge.

Despite the small crowd, nobody gets in the way of the Temple Ranger as he heads over toward the Aeolun.

"Mage Envoy!" the Ranger calls out as soon as he's close enough not to shout.

Envoy nearly jumps at being called, and turns to see Lochinvar. Waving, she calls, "Hello! They're handing out free books and shade over here!"

Lochinvar stops just aside the Aeolun. "It would appear our paths cross again," he says. "Books? What kind of books?"

The beggar's-whistle music suddenly shifts style … sounding very Himaatian in style. In fact, it sounds somehow familiar.

In order to answer her friend's question, Envoy steps up to one of the pamphleteers and signs, "Hello, may I have one of those?"

A lady cheetah smiles and nods to Envoy, and hands her a pamphlet. It has a stylized Star on the front, and reads, "Is the true Star coming?" A small pocket-sized book is given to Envoy along with it.

The beggar-whistle music abruptly stops. The gunmetal gray Skreek stands up on her toes, scanning the crowd.

Envoy blinks at the title, then signs her thanks to the cheetah and returns to Lochinvar. "It seems to be a religious pamphlet, but the title doesn't make any sense to me. Can you read Silent Speech?"

The Hekoye holds out his hand for the pamphlet. "Yes, I can," he says.

The Exile hands it over, and then stands next to the Ranger to read along.

The pamphlet reads, on the cover, "Is the true Star coming?" A quick perusal of the interior makes reference to a claim by the Priest-Queen Jade-Eyes, that someone calling himself the Star is coming to Sinai. The pamphlet has a few pictures in it, and seems to suggest that the ancestors of the Savanites were in fact some space-faring world-conquerors, and that this "star" coming to Sinai is actually a mortal claiming to be deity, spreading a false message of hatred, whereas the message of the Star is that of love … Yes, it looks like one part religious pamphlet, one part political pamphlet, with a bit of history (?) or wild theory thrown in for good measure.

Lochinvar relays that much to Envoy after briefly flicking through it.

"SEBAZHANNNNNN!" calls out the gunmetal gray rat suddenly, as she rushes over toward a black Khatta dressed in white, standing toward the back of the small crowd. He looks somewhat surprised, but then smiles at the running rat.

The rat shouts something at the cat, lost in the noise of the crowd, and then heads back to a staircase, heading back up to the bridge that crosses the street.

The Ranger raises his head from looking at the pamphlet, and watches the rat head up onto the bridge. "Wonder what that's all about?" he wonders out loud, loud enough for Envoy to hear.

The Aeolun turns to look at the shouting Skreek. "Well, I never really did grasp religion. But I'm pretty sure the Star is a supernatural force, from all I've heard or read. Perhaps I will be able to ask Jade-Eyes about it sometime. Have you been to Safar before?"

"Once before," replies Lochinvar, "though it was a fairly brief stopover for an airship contract I was on at the time. Wasn't here more than a day."

The crowd appears to be dispersing now, for the most part, although a few hang around to listen to the music, and a few others appear to be engaged in signed conversation with those gathered under the bridge. It looks at a glance as if they are discussing matters of religion – and personal differences on the topic.

"You mentioned asking this Jade-Eyes about these claims?" Lochinvar then asks. "You know her that well?"

Meanwhile, the gunmetal gray Skreek appears again, coming down the steps from the bridge. She heads over to the armored warrior and the priests and shaman.

It appears that the rat has struck up a conversation with the brown-robed cheetah – or at least is attempting to.

Lochinvar waits for Envoy to reply, but meanwhile tilts his head slightly, seeing if he can overhear the conversation between the rat and the cheetah.

"I haven't seen her in a few years," Envoy admits, "but we were on good terms then."

"Mm-hmm, right," the Hekoye says, moreso "eavesdropping" on the exchange of signed conversation.

Envoy follows Lochinvar's gaze towards the Skreek. "Do you think this could be important?" she asks the Ranger.

"I'm not sure," the Ranger answers. "Though, from what I saw, the rat – Willow, I believe I caught her name to be – seems to be the one responsible for these booklets."

"Well, I've been accused of poking my nose where it wasn't wanted in the past," the Aeolun says. "But I don't see how this would be of interest to Rephidim or the College. Even if there is an invading army of space-cheetahs on the way, they can probably come no closer than Abaddon."

Lochinvar mm-hmms. "Maybe so… does seem to be more of a religious discussion that they're having," he concedes.

A shout comes from the gunmetal-grey Skreek, "It's very important to both the College and to Rephidim! If these people say kneel or die, then they'll probably step beyond the Savan! And if a message is finally able to get out, then no doubt they can come in just as easily!"

The brown-robed cheetah turns to look in the direction the Skreek is shouting – that is, toward Envoy and Lochinvar.

Envoy blinks. "She has good ears … oh! That's Twilight-Wing, one of the original Twelve-Times-Twelve!"

The Temple Ranger looks momentarily surprised at having the shout directed at them, then looks at Envoy. "You know her too?" he asks, but then starts to walk over towards Willow and Twilight-Wing. "What's so important to Rephidim?" he asks the rat as he approaches.

The Aeolun follows along after Lochinvar.