A sunny day helps to offset the chill wind that whips through the street, leaving only the bravest or most determined of street performers to ply their trade along the sidewalks.

At an open-air cafe along the way, the proprietor has dropped his prices to help offset the diminished customer base when the weather is a bit too cold for the tastes of the nobility and middle class. Thus it is that we find a few people stopping between errands for a cup of tea or whatnot who wouldn't necessarily be part of the usual clientele.

A group of Public Utilities workers congregates at some of the tables, on their break, awaiting a wagon to come and ferry them off to their next chores.

Among those Public Utilities workers are members of Sewer Maintenance Crew Number Thirteen.

A black-feathered Vartan walks into the cafe and takes a seat at a table. He's wrapped up in a warm cotton shirt that Jezebel patched up for him that manages to keep most of the chill out.

Jynx sits at a table away from the rest of the workers. The smell is bad enough on him alone, never mind the rest of the crew. He sips at a cup of tea and broods.

A broad-antlered Cervani in a cheap but well-maintained suit walks up to Zoltan, presenting him with a card of a menu, listing the drinks. "Our prices, as advertised, are half of what you see listed here," the deer says to the hippogryph.

Zoltan eughs to himself as the odor reaches him. He quickly starts to scan over the menu, hoping to find something strong smelling enough to clear the air, and perhaps a little something to sate his hunger until he finishes his errands.

A Fox sits near Jynx, looking sullen and dejected. Once again, he was taken in for questioning, and, once again, inexplicably he was let right back out again. Perhaps the authorities see him as 'mostly harmless' despite his knack for showing up in the midst of trouble all the time. Not as if that happens to anyone else around here…

The deer says, "I highly recommend the Xienti Tea, imported from the far east. Very exotic, and just a tad on the spicy side."

Perhaps it is spicy enough that, even if it has to be imported, the deer still has plenty in stock…

The black Khatta just sips his tea quietly. Although the fox had tried to talk to him, Jynx won't give him the time of day. The cat scans the cafe in a bored fashion, trying to find something to occupy his mind.

"Sound good," Zoltan replies, glancing at the familiar-looking Khatta. "Bring sugarbowl as well, and basket of bread." He reaches in his pouch and pulls out a ten shekel piece.

"At once, sir," the deer answers, accepting the menu and shekel piece and heading off to fill the order with moderate haste.

The Fox yawns, then looks as if he has suddenly been struck by a thought. "Jynx, I hear you're a hero now! You saved all of Rephidim from a fiery doom!"

A Jupani and a Skreek at the table exchange looks, then pantomime plugging their ears, groaning, and shuffling to look the other way as they nurse their cups.

( Is that Fuzzball talking to me? i think I hear noise… might be language… ) "Yeah, something like that… " Jynx replies.

The Fox says, "Well, you see, I happen to be a bard. And, bards, as you well know, are destined to compose great ballads to celebrate the accomplishments of great heroes!" He positively beams, and fumbles for his everpresent and curiously indestructible lute that is slung over his back.

Zoltan leans back in his chair and lazily looks at the crowd in the cafe, he sneezes loudly and squints at Jynx again, he looks familiar… although the smell sure isn't anything he can recall except for when the plumbing went bad.

Jynx sighs, of all the people to get stuck with… "Well, shouldn't you be off composing or something then?" ( Preferably around an eep aviary… )

The Fox squeals, "That's a SPLENDID idea! I shall start at once!" He strums his lute, and croons, "mimimimimiiiiiii!"

Jynx oh nos… and reflexively covers his ears.

With due warning given, the Fox begins to sing…

The Vartan idly goes through his satchel, looking over the items he bought today. He pulls out a shortened arrow and turns it over in his hands, then places it back into the bag.

"Rum-tum-tiddle-tum-tiddle-aye-ay!"

"Jynx is the Khatta who always saves the day!"

"Never would I have known, in deepest sewer murk,"

"That terrorist Babelites with explosives would lurk!"

"Rum-tum-tiddle-tum-tiddle-oh-ted!"

"They didn't stand a chance, they should'a turned and fled!"

"For Jynx the lucky Khatta went down and down and through,"

"And blew up their airship, until those flappies flew!"

The pain! The horror! The off-key notes!! "I'll tell you what," says Jynx loudly, "you compose here, and I'll listen over there. Better, uh, acoustics… "

Zoltan ears perk at the mention of the Khatta's name. "Feli… that you, Feli?" he scrawks over the noise of the lute.

The Fox continues singing,

"Rum-tum-tiddle-tum-tiddle-tee-tohm!"

"He even went through ol' Faraon's Dome!"

"Through the sewers, through the caves, through water and more!"

"Nothing could stop Jynx from finding what fate had in store!"

Unable to hear Zoltan over the noise, which some strange individuals would call music, Jynx blindly gets up and runs to the other side of the cafe, nearer to the Vartan.

Zoltan whistles loudly at Jynx to get his attention, especially now that the lyrics seem to be getting a bit more interesting.

The Fox sings on,

"Rum-tum-tiddle-tum-tiddle-ah-yo!"

"Into danger, into hazards, would Jynx the Khatta go!"

"Saving all of Rephidim from a wretched fiery fate,"

"We have only Jynx to thank, for he did death abate!"

Jynx yikes! Now he really IS off key! Wait, that wasn't singing… The Khatta looks up to find the source of the whistle. He spies Zoltan, "By Dagh… "

The Fox finishes his melody with some loud, rapid strumming, then hops up on top of the table, and begins bowing in all directions. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you one and all! You've been a LOVELY audience! You are too kind!"

The Fox then sees Jynx's cup untended, and surreptitiously hops down, quickly taking care of it. Waste not, want not…

Grabbing some napkins to cram in his ears in case the singing starts up again, Jynx makes his way over to the Vartan. "Zoltan? That's your name, right?"

"Nice to see you again. Look like you found a job after all." The Vartan motions to an empty seat at his table.

Jynx takes the offered seat with a grimace, "Yeah, if you can call it that. Sometimes I think the First Ones are punishing me for something. What are you doing here?"

Now that things are much more quiet, other sounds of music can be heard – these sounds of a more subtle and decidedly more popular sort. A panther-Khatta walks down the street, cranking at some sort of music box, while some small, fuzzy, remotely humanoid puffball-like creatures bounce on his shoulders and dance on the sidewalk around his feet. Occasionally a passerby tosses a coin into a wooden cup held by one of the animated fuzzballs.

"Shopping for supplies." Zoltan answers, giving his bag a gentle pat. "So what this talk of you defeating Babelite invaders?"

Jynx tries to sip a tea, only to remember he abandoned it. "Oh, I got, uh, flushed sorta, and dropped in on an airship. I accidentally ripped their bag and made them crash, and it turns out they were raiders. Seemed pretty scrawny to me to be warriors though."

"Eeee are fragile likes that." The Vartan offers Jynx his menu, "Pick what you want… my treat as long as you no order whole Rughrat." He rubs his chin, pondering. "And you went to Faraon's Dome too? This where invaders were?"

A Jupani guard walks along, though his patrol is of a rather odd composition. He has no Zelak with him, but rather is leading along a few Savanites. He looks this way and that, as if searching for something, and pauses at the music-grinder, talking in low tones with him, as the fuzzy little creatures continue to bounce and leap about in play.

Jynx points to just a normal cup of tea, "No, they weren't Eeee, they were Savanites, and I guess that's where I was. I got attacked by some Vartan there. Weird place."

Zoltan glances back at the Savanites, curious to see if they're serving the guard or if they look like prisoners. He frowns a little at Jynx's words, "Savanites you say? How you know it was Babelite then?"

Jynx shrugs, "I don't know, its just what the Jupani on the ship that rescued us said." The Khatta glances at the Savanites outside as well, "It was strange, there were only six of them on the whole ship. I don't even know how they were running it."

The Vartan keeps his eyes on the group of slaves, wishing for once that he had the ears of a Babelite so he could hear the guard's words. "So how you end up in the dome? You no have any wings," he scrawks to the Khatta.

"You mean that place down under?" says the Khatta, still tea-less. "I'm not really sure how I got there. Me and floppy over there, " he motions to the fox, "were supposed to clean a sewer tube, but he forgot it was supposed to be flushed. We got caught in it, and I got swept down below into a cavern. From there, I found that domey place."

The Fox somehow notices that he's being referred to, and waves vigorously in Zoltan's direction, wearing a broad smile.

Jynx makes a 'guh' sound, and shudders…

A Cervani comes to Zoltan's table, bearing a steaming hot cup of tea, a basket of bread and a sugarbowl on a tray.

Zoltan casually flips a five shekel piece onto the table. "You think you could remember way you went?" ( It might be good to have an escape route if Moon-Brow raises an alarm when I mention Third-Eye, and I still have to hope Faraon would be interested in selling her.)

"Here you go, sir," the Cervani says, as he sets down the items from the tray. "If you need anything else, I am at your service."

Jynx eyes the tea, "Well… I might. I remember it was down access tunnel thirteen. I sorta spent some previous time down there… "

( I wonder if Ibis is back yet… ) Zoltan shakes himself out of his musings and nods to the Cervani. "Another cup of tea for Khatta friend, please," he scrawks and pushes the coin with a talon.

Jynx smiles, "Thanks. I suppose I could find my way again, that is if I ever actually wanted to go down there. The Vartans didn't seem to pleased to see me."

"At once, sir," the Cervani says, taking the coin and heading back for another cup of tea.

Something in the back of Jynx's mind tells him he might want to go down there again, but he can't remember the reason why.

"The dome is big place for rich people, heavily guarded from whats I remember." Zoltan drums his fingers on the tablecloth. "I just needs to find someone there, and they might no be happy to see me when I show up."

"You mean you've been down there too?" Jynx blinks. "I guess they would have to be rich, the whole place looked so expensive I was afraid I'd break it just by touching it."

Zoltan nods his head. "Yah, Captain Bog-has had honeymoon there. Needed help carrying wife's baggage." He takes a sip of his tea, "I was going to move near there… but plans changed. Now I just need to speak with one of workers." He glances at one of the little puffball creatures and fishes a sugarcube out of the bowl, tossing it to the closest one.

The puffball creature immediately LEAPS up into the air, several times its own height, and claps its oversized hands together. *SWAT!* It catches the sugarcube between its hands, and brings it quickly to its fuzzy face. No mouth is visible – just two beady eyes set in a 'head' that has no neck – but the sugarcube vanishes by the time the creature lands on its feet again.

Jynx shrugs, "Well, I suppose I could get you down there if you really wanted to, but I don't think those Vartans would be happy to see me again. Not to mention the fact that you'd have to crawl through a lot of the city's, uh, less desirable underside."

The Cervani comes back with a cup of tea, which he sets down before Jynx. "Here you go, sir." He then heads off to attend another table nearby.

Jynx ahhs, and quickly sips up half the cup (not to mention rather loudly).

"I been through worse. Could you draw me map or would you have to lead me there youself?" Zoltan grins at the antics of the fuzzy creature and tosses out another cube.

The Jupani guard, meanwhile, leaves the music-grinder alone, and meanders over toward the cafe. He heads up to the Fox, slaves in tow, and appears to be questioning the vulpine. The vulpine, in turn, hops up on top of the table in order to deliver his answers, and very proudly at that. "… Why, YES! As a matter of fact, I saw the WHOLE THING. It's dark and dangerous down there, you know, full of unseen terrors ready to rip an unwary Fox to shreds… "

Jynx thinks, taking another loud sip, "Well, I don't know if I could really draw a map. A lot of the way I'm not even sure where I wen. I guess I'd have to show you."

Jynx blinks at the fox, ( What's he going on about now? )

The animated puffball leaps up – but not before one of its fellows bounds up, bounces on top of the head of the first, and catapults up, catching the sugarcube instead. This cube, too, disappears in similarly quick fashion. As soon as the two fuzzballs land, however, they appear to be squabbling, slapping each other on what presumably might be the head.

Zoltan keeps his ears tuned into the conversation while looking the slaves over, just in case any of them happen to look familiar.

"… And, you see," the Fox narrates, "the Babelites realized just how patriotic we citizens are, and plotted to do away with us. Shrewd were they, to obscure the plate numbers on the tunnels, trying to fool us into wandering into the wrong tunnels! But, no, we were too fast for them! We … uh … yes! We weren't fooled at all! … "

Jynx inwardly uh ohs… I hope he's not talking about what I think he is…

"Hsst, Feli," Zoltan whispers. "Slaves with guard… they ones you saw on ship?"

"… so, dedicated citizens as we are, we concocted a plan," the Fox announces.

The Fox boasts, "I rushed out to alert the Guard immediately to the threat, while Jynx – that is, my associate – took the Babelite saboteurs head on, going in for the kill!" He punctuates this by slapping his fist against his other hand with much enthusiasm. He then whimpers, shaking the slapped hand. "Ow."

"I don't know," Jynx whispers in return, "Let me see… " The Khatta strains his eyes to get a better look, even though most Savanites look alike to him, not to mention he didn't get that good a look.

"Fine, fine, fine," the guard growls. "Now where IS he?"

A black form comes stomping up the street. Blue sparks shoot out from under her hooves and her expression is as chilly as the weather. She marches straight for Sewer Team #13's table and snarls, "Zsofi will kill you all for not helping her out of suit!"

Jynx shrugs, "I don't know for sure… There were six of them on the ship, and there are six of them there… " he whispers.

Meanwhile, the two puffball creatures have stopped accosting each other, and appear to have linked arms now, dancing around in a circle. Perhaps they forgive quickly.

The Fox appears to be about to answer the guard, but then lets out a yelp of alarm at Zsofi's arrival. He dives down and slips under the table. "Don't kill MEEEEEEE!"

Zoltan nods his head. "I think that the guard going to want to talk to you. You think you could keep his attention long enough for me to sign something to one of the slaves?"

"Zsofi will kill you now! Come out!" she snarls at the cowering fox.

The Fox bawls!

Jynx is about to reply, then stops as he spies the cat demoness, "Oh great… " He tries to hide his face with a paw, and replies to the Vartan, "Well… if you think they won't want to try and make a rug out of me… "

The guard says, "I am trying to question the Fox. It would be most appreciated if you would cease threatening his well-being until after I am finished, miss."

The demoncat growls, crouching to glare under the table, "Zsofi will use your spleen for a tea strainer because you would not help Zsofi!"

The Fox bawls again.

Zoltan tries his best to smile. "No… not you. You save Rephidim from… er… Babelite invaders. They not normally skin heroes."

Jynx blinks, and shrugs, finishing off his tea loudly.

The Vartan offers Zsofi his mug of tea. "Here, it warm you up."

"She will make you all die slowly for leaving her stuck in suit full of sewer water, and she will kill you afterwards for interrupting," Zsofi informs the work crew, and the guard.

"Exiles… " the guard mutters, grimacing.

Jynx smiles, "Don't mind if I do." He takes the cup, sips it, then remembers a certain demon… "Uh, do you mind if we try and get their attention elsewhere? That roomstealer over there doesn't seem too happy… "

Zsofi halts with her mouth open, "An offering? A sacrifice? Someone bowing to Zsofi's power? Yes!" She takes the tea.

Zoltan pushes his backet of bread closer to Jynx and smiles, then casually changes to a new seat closer to the tail end of the Savanite chain.

Jynx ughs, so much for avoiding the exile menace…

The Fox pokes his nose out from under the table just long enough to spy Jynx. "Ah! There he is, Mister Guard, sir! Can I leave now, before Zsofi kills me?"

Jynx's heart sinks, then he scowls at tthe fox, ( If she doesn't kill you, I will! ) The cat tries to look small.

The Vartan gives the closest Savanite a nudge with his foot, hoping to catch his or her attention.

The Savanite jerks, then turns to regard Zoltan with a mixture of alarm and curiosity.

The guard looks toward Jynx, distracted from noticing Zoltan's antics. "Ah. Feli Kurai, I presume?"

Zoltan's hand flashes in a series of quick gestures in Formal sign.

Jynx looks around, "Uh, who, me? I g-guess you could call me that… "

The Demoncat is momentarily pacified with the offering of hot liquid. She takes several sips then announces to Zoltan. "Zsofi will remember this. It will not spare you from final destruction, but your supplication is acceptible to Zsofi and she spare you till last."

"Thank you," Zoltan replies to Zsofi. "You can have some bread if you wants as well." He points to the basket near Jynx.

The guard pulls out a parchment from a fold of his tabard, and reads, "In respect for your performance above and beyond the duties of a Citizen of Rephidim and for your exemplary performance in the Public Utilities Service System … " He drones on.

The Savanite pauses a bit, then moves his hands in a flurry of motion in response to the Vartan.

Jynx eyes the napkins he grabbed for the fox's singing… He might need them now.

Even though it resembles a frown, the demoncat has on one of the most pleasant expressions anyone can remember seeing on her – mainly because her mouth is closed, and not baring her teeth in a snarl. "Zsofi finds this acceptible also." She takes all the bread.

The guard continues, "… although you are responsible for the loss of a Complete Underwater Sealed Suit, and various other minor losses, it has been determined that, deducting such costs, you still are to be awarded a token of the city's and the Temple's appreciation for your deeds. Therefore, in light of the booty obtained from the Babelite terrorists … "

Zoltan's hand forms two quick signs.

The Savanite points at himself, signing something in the wavy phonetic sign back to Zoltan.

Jynx still wonders why they keep referring to them as Babelite…

The Savanite then points to the other five Savanites in turn, still signing to Zoltan.

Smiling, Zoltan shakes his head and signs something else.

The guard rolls up the paper, still speaking, "… you are to be awarded these captured Savanite slaves as a token of our gratitude." He takes a breath, then says, "If you'll just fill out this paperwork… "

Jynx BLINKS, "I… uh… what?!"

Zoltan mimics Jynx's expression. Blink blink.

The guard furrows his brow. "You DO know how to write, don't you?"

The Savanites jolt a bit at Jynx's exclamation, but the first one signs something back to Zoltan.

"Zsofi wants slaves also to start her temple," she mentions, after she finishes one of the breadrolls.

The guard snorts, then looks to Zsofi. "Perhaps you can buy them off of Mister Kurai, here."

"Y-yes… but… " Jynx eyes the paperwork, ( How am I supposed to explain this to Dominic? )

Zoltan rises from his seat. "Or perhaps I can buy them… " He moves back to his seat near Jynx.

"Zsofi will kill your sister Eve slowly and excruciatingly for you in exchange for slaves," she tells Jynx.

Jynx takes the paperwork, "W-where do I sign? And who authorized this?" The Khatta gets sidetracked at Zsofi's offer, but tempting as it may be, he decides it's probably not such a good idea.

The guard sets down the paperwork on the table. "Sign here, here and here. The third one is your copy. As for authorization, you will note the signature of Quartermaster deMedici himself… " Actually, it's a rubberstamp, but that should be authentic enough. Illegal usage of a signature rubberstamp of a Temple official is punishable by immediate and painful death.

"Also," the guard says, pulling out some more papers, "you are to be awarded, under Article Seven-Hundred-and-Eighty-One of the Privateer Mandate, at the Quartermaster's pleasure, the captured Eeee airship. However, it does require a bit of work, and you would also inherit recovery and housing fees incurred so far, as the new owner."

Amazing how such a stack of papers can be hidden away under a guard's tabard. Maybe it's because of all the fur.

Jynx dumbly signs where he is told, not even bothering to read the paperwork. For the moment, a thought of slaves doing his work in the house and down in the sewer sounds inviting, but he thinks the better of it. "B-but… I can't afford all this!"

"You mean," the guard says, "you'd refuse a token of the Temple's gratitude?"

"How much is it?" Zoltan scrawks.

Jynx gulps! "No no no! Far be it from me to refuse the Temple, it's just, uh… "

The demoncat finishes her tea, and puts down the basket of bread. She faces the guard and announces, "Zsofi is still waiting for her token from the Temple."

The guard eyes Zsofi and says, "Very good, Miss Zsofi. And the Temple is still waiting for you to pay off your Processing fee and do something useful besides threaten children and frighten small mammals."

Jynx finishes the signing with a sigh. "So… what am I supposed to do with them?" He motions to the Savanites.

"Zsofi does not do useful things! She destroys! You should cower in fear for when Zsofi gets her power back, this will not be forgiven," she responds, her face returning to its usual snarl.

According to the paperwork for the airship, it was previously named by the Babelites "The Littlest Claw of the Night". The accumulated fees (that is, those that haven't been waived) amount to three hundred and fifty shekels for docking fees. A note attached to the bottom estimates a repair cost for the new owner of about two thousand shekels, or five thousand if it is to meet Rephidim Temple Air Fleet standards.

"Uh huh," responds the guard, nodding dumbly, then returning his attention to Jynx.

Jynx groans, wishing he had read that before he signed.

Zoltan peers at the paperwork, then gives Jynx a nudge under the table with his hoof. "Maybe we can make deal?"

Jynx looks to the Vartan, then to the guard, then back to the Vartan, "Maybe… "

"Well, whatever you please, I suppose," the guard says. "They're not terribly bright, though. And they don't understand a word of Rephidim Standard. Well, maybe a few."

The guard hands the end of the leash over to Jynx, then peruses the papers. "Appears to be all in order. I'll take it in for the Quartermaster Supreme's – or a suitable representative's – stamp of approval. Good day, Citizen!"

"Zsofi will turn you into a poodle before she kills you," the demoncat tells the guard, then takes up the bread and rips into it angrily.

Jynx takes the leash with a blank expression. "Uh, good d-day… " He watches with a blank expression as the guard leaves, then looks to the Savanites.

The guard blinks at Zsofi's threat. "Now THAT is low!"

The guard then urks! "I didn't say that!"

His ears blush, and he looks around ashamedly.

"You should fear Zsofi," she says with a mouthful of bread.

"That is," the guard says, "the suggestion that being turned into a poodle would be anything to be ashamed of! The NERVE! I shall have to report this immediately to my supervisor, Exile Zsofi."

The guard makes a hasty exit.

The Savanite slaves all watch hungrily as Zsofi devours the bread.

Zoltan scoots closer to Jynx, "I willing to buy all six slaves from you, and if you let me have airship, I pay for all repair fees." His voice gets softer, "You would some out of it with money in you pocket… say, an iron for all six?"

Jynx looks back to Zoltan, "I g-guess that sounds good to me," he sees the Savanite's expressions, "Maybe we should feed them or soemthing, I've never had a pet before… "

The demoncat keeps chomping away oblivious to any hungry stares.

Turning back to the Savanites, Zoltan signs something to them.

The lead Savanite has a somewhat guilty look, for some reason, then signs something back to Zoltan.

Jynx blinks, "What are you two talking about? I never have gotten the hang of that sign stuff… "

Zoltan frowns and starts gathering chairs from the empty tables until he has six gathered together. He signs something to the six and then points to the chairs, then whistles to the waitress. "I ask them when last time they ate." he squawks to Jynx. "They no been fed since yesterday."

All six Savanites sit down in unison.

A Cervani waitress comes quickly over. "Yes, sir?"

Jynx nods, "Well, I guess we should give them some food then. I just don't want to be the one to clean up aftre them… "

The Vartan gives the menu a quick look-over, searching for something not too expensive but filling, and preferably warm.

"So… what are you gonna do with them? I thought you already had a slave," Jynx asks the Vartan. "And what about that dome place, why do you want to go back there?"

Some bowls of meal – normally a fare for breakfast, but still available all day – look like the cheapest source of nourishment.

"I can have more than one slave," Zoltan says as he places six orders of meal and some cheap sausages for the slaves, and another glass of tea for Jynx and Zsofi. "I looking for a slave in Faraon's dome as well."

The slaves all look at Zoltan, as if for permission…

"Even more slaves?" Jynx shrugs. A Khatta collects yarn, I guess Vartans collect slaves. To each his own… "Well, the ship is yours of course, and you can have the slaves too. Do you still need me to show you the way to the dome? I think you can get to it with an airship as well, as I unfortunately found out."

A wagon rolls up, drawn by some bored-looking Dromodons, with a Rhian driver who looks just as bored goading them along. It rolls to a stop.

Zoltan signs something else to the six Savanites. He smiles but makes a soft sighing noise.

A wolf hops off the back of the wagon. "All right, Sewer Maintenance Thirteen – We don't need a full crew for this pass. So, I'll take … you, you, and you… " He points at Zsofi, the cowering Fox, and the Skreek.

Zsofi finishes her bread, and hands the basket back to Zoltan. "You will be remembered in the days of the final destruction."

Jynx takes another sip of tea, "Besides, Mom would have my tail if I brought six new mouths home, not to mention Dominic… "

Jynx whews, guess he doesn't have to go back down, thank the first ones.

The Savanites pause a bit … and then in a few moments, the food before them is gone, and the bowls licked clean.

The demoncat scowls, and stomps towards the wagon, her hooves sparking as she climbs aboard.

Zoltan turns back to Jynx. "I think I might still need to know way to dome. Not know how important slave I looking for is, but there might be trouble. you know if tunnels big enough to fly in?"

The Skreek heads for the wagon, dragging the protesting Fox by one ear.

Jynx says, "You mean the sewer tunnels? You could probably fly part of the way, but I had to crawl through most of it. You might be able to use the airship to get at it, but I didn't see any docks."

"Zsofi is trading suits with you as punishment for leaving her in stinking one," she tells the fox, when he is finally aboard.

The wagon rolls away. As it does, a loud and pitiful wail can be heard from the departing Fox.

The Vartan hands Jynx an iron shekel, as promised. "I flew there once… is very heavily guarded." He pauses to flag down the waitress AGAIN and get the slave's bowls refilled. "Since I not sure how happy slave I want will be to see me, is might be good idea to have quick escape route… or way to sneak in."

Jynx smiles, money is always a pleasant sight to a teenage Khatta. "Well, as soon as you're ready I can show you."

Zoltan looks back to the six slaves, ( Well, Third-Eye tells me I'm the biggest slaveowner in Rephidim already… what's six more? I wonder where the heck I supposedly keep all of them anyhow? )

Jynx stands up, "Well, I guess I'm off work early today, so I'll see you later!" The Khatta starts off towards home. ( Wonder what I can buy for an iron… *sniff* – Ugh! I need a bath… )