Everyone in the party wears a special leather bib that Agatha handed out while camp was breaking, well before dawn. "To protect your clothes," the mare explained. Then came the cheese. Magic Cheese. It was kept in a wax-sealed jug, and was runny and awful looking – as if it had already been eaten once before. Agatha kept everyone from eating breakfast, and the dry heaving that resulted from the first whiff of the stuff was testament to why. A glob was stuck to each person's bib, where it steamed in the cool pre-dawn air. The smell was beyond foul, and caused earwax to run, sinuses to drain and eyes to tear. Luckily, the brain eventually just shut down its olfactory lobe altogether, no doubt to prevent permanent organ damage.

Robbed of any sense of smell, the forest seemed a bit less real to most of the party. The colored air even added a dream-like quality. It would have been almost relaxing, if Squeaky's bundled bat-hump would stop screeching for even a minute. The odor might not drive Chibix insane, but it certainly kept them from sleeping, even under the blanket covering their cage.

Alptraum has spent most of the time grumbling about the smell. "Couldn't we have just plugged our noses? This stuff is beyond vile," he comments, looking like he still wants to turn as green as Phlagaea is. "And can someone please shut those things up? They're going to make my ears bleed."

"For the first time in my life," Arkold begins as he looks down at his chest, "I'm glad I ruined my nose on drugs." He sniffs, wrinkles his nose, but shrugs. "If I 'ad the same sense of smell I 'ad when I was younger, this'd be the end o' me."

"Were does this cheese come from?" Phlagaea asks Agatha, walking along casually. "I'd like to have some for my new temple, once I get around to founding it." The mare shrugs and says, "I think it's someplace called Phlegmburg or something."

"Why would you want this vile stuff?" Alptraum asks the green Eeee.

Tulani seems to be beyond speech at the moment, with her muzzle wrinkled in a look of almost pained disgust that just might freeze that way if it stays too much longer. The Sphynx also seems to be breathing out of her mouth in a manner more fitting a canine than a feline.

"Oh, don't you remember the vats we had back in the Temple in Babel?" Phlagaea asks. "I think this stuff could be very useful for cultivating… umm… ritual… stuff," she trails off, not wanting to say 'plagues' in front of everyone.

"I s'pose the world works itself out," Arkold adds with an air of understanding. He lifts a hand and wafts it around, stirring the pastel insanity-air. He glances at one of the skeletons at his feet, then shakes his head. "Eh, well, sometimes better than others."

"I am interested in the flowers that elicit particular emotions," Mave says, staying close to Clancy the Rhian. Lilith follows Mave as well, keeping close watch on her. Ravenia, oddly, seems to keep near Squeaky, looking miserable. Even her pointy ears seem somehow wilted.

"I never saw the vats," Alptraum notes with a shrug. "Would it be worth searching the bodies for useful things? I know that sounds a bit macabre, but we're not exactly band wealthy."

Tulani glances over at Mave, as the Eeee states her peculiar interest, but doesn't say anything, looking quite ready to continue through the forest as quickly as possible.

Arkold laughs gruffly. "I bet you could make a 'ell of a drink out of this stuff," he considers aloud. He nods to Alptraum, saying, "Go ahead. Jus' wash the stuff off before you use it, and, eh, stab it with your dagger first – just in case. Watch out for ghosts, I bet this place is full o' 'em."

"Oh, I'm sure they've been picked over already," Agatha says. "Our own patrol group came through here, as well as a few others." Once the morning light begins to trickle down through the canopy, she takes out a folded map and studies it while they walk.

"We're always too late to get things," Alptraum grumbles after Agatha notes they've already likely been picked over. "You know, all you would have to do is lead the Gallisian army into here and the war would be over. I'd suggest sending them the cheese, but they would likely like it."

"No ghosts here," Clancy claims. "No nymphs, no animals. Just flowers and trees and bugs."

The Sphynx walks near Arkold, giving him a look that just says, you're so lucky you've got no sense of smell.

"The Gallisians would try to burn the forest down if they brought an army," Agatha notes. The rear ranks would see the effects on the front ones."

"That's surprising. This place looks like a breeding ground for ghosts," Arkold remarks. He prods a skull, which promptly falls over and loses its jawbone. He looks up, then, and grins at Tulani. "Don' recommend losin' your smell the way I did. You'll jus' end up with the same 'ead-rush, minus your money."

"No ghosts," Clancy repeats. "This is Draco County now."

Tulani sticks her tongue out at the wolf and gives him a light punch on the shoulder, finally managing a small smile.

"What happens to ghosts here?" Alptraum inquires. He can't help but look down at the flask he's carrying, though.

"There are no ghosts here," the Rhian says, as if that explained it all. "No foreign ones, anyway."

Arkold just grins more at the punch. He reaches over and ruffles Tulani's hair after standing, then nods to Agatha. "Eh, right, your … death insurance plan," he tells her.

"That doesn't exactly answer the question, but I give up," Alptraum says, sounding irritated. Apparently the smell has not put him in the best of moods. "So, since there are no animals, I guess we just get to walk for a while, eh?"

"Yeah," the pony woman replies to Arkold. "Ghosts and spirits get collected and brought back to their families. And it's not a bad walk, once you get used to the skeletons and watch where you step."

Tulani gives Arkold a small purr as he ruffles her headfur before wiping one of her still slightly watering eyes.

"Well, let's hurry. The sooner this cheese is gone, the better," Alptraum mutters.

A break in the canopy caused by one of the giant trees allows a sheet of sunlight to pour in; falling on a patch of vibrantly colored flowers. "Mourning glories," Clancy says, naming the flowers. There are a lot of skulls strewn about around the patch.

"Do their ghosts stick aroun', then? Stay with the family?" Arkold looks suspiciously at his feet, keeping an eye out for whatever might try and snare him. He's walked through so many foreign lands that he's probably tripped over more thorns, roots, corpses, and wreckage than the whole party combined. When he sees the mourning glories, he asks, "Let me guess: poisoned? Or do they jus' grow on corpses?"

"Given the name, I guess they make you remember those who have died in your lives?" Alptraum asks. He approaches the flowers and looks down at them grimly. "There are some moments of loss in my life I would rather not relive, ever."

"Make you think of the dead, yeah," the Rhian explains. "Get really depressed, just lie down and give up."

The Sphynx does not even approach the small patch of flowers, skirting a bit around them.

"The ghosts get used somehow," Agatha says, shrugging. "Not sure how it works. My family is back in Chronotopia."

Arkold glances at Alptraum. "'Ey, good guess Bats. You're becomin' a regular grizzled traveler. I'll teach you yet," he remarks, sounding proud.

Both Mave and Phlagaea show passing interest in the flowers, but neither priestess tries to collect any.

Alptraum moves a fair distance away from the mourning glories. "I lived amongst death for a year," he notes to Arkold with a shrug.

"Can't think of anyone dead I miss, bu' I'm not about to tempt fate," Arkold says as he walks around the flowers. "An', you're gettin' gloomy, Bats. Chin up, we're still alive."

Agatha looks up at the tree, then at her map, and switches them all to a different path than the one they were on. More patches of flowers are encountered along the way, all of them colorful and lovely to look at but having sinister attributes. Even the 'Lust Lilies', with their piles of skeletons in compromising positions, seem a but too much even for Mave to try and collect a sample.

It isn't much further until the skeletons stop showing up, since nobody apparently made it past the outer patches.

Tulani keeps a cautious eye on Mave as the group moves along.

"Lust is useful," the Yodhinala says to Tulani, noticing her attention. "Uncontrollable lust is not."

"Remind me someday to tell you about how I witnessed children be used to set off bombs," Alptraum mutters darkly. The bat then spends his time looking at the various trees and plants, trying not to think about the skeletons and the like.

The Sphynx nods vaguely to Mave and admits in a quiet voice, "True… "

Arkold, too, seems interested in the 'Lust Lilies.' However, once he sees even Mave staying away, he edges away, too. "So, eh, Agatha: 'ow's livin' in Draco County? I've been thinkin' of settlin' down somewhere, an' Draco County sounds the best off," he asks.

The heart of the forest is quiet without animals. Insects buzz and crawl and chirp, but the sound just isn't as lively. "Settle down? Well, it seems a nice place, I suppose. You'll just have to judge for yourself," the pony answers.

"What are the people generally like? Do the farms do well and the towns prosper?" Alptraum inquires.

"They can be stand-offish," Agatha notes. "At least to strangers, like me. But they are polite, and seem to be well off compared to others I've seen in Sylvania."

"Heh, they'll run screaming from this group, then. You're normal compared to us," Alptraum notes with a smirk.

"Oh, judge I will. Look too," Arkold replies. He winks at Agatha, then looks around at the forest again. "This reminds me of the Deep Sea of Ashtoreth. Deadly silence all aroun', except for the creak of my ship."

Several paths cross the one the group is following, and others as well as they go further. Some are better traveled than others are, but so far there hasn't been any signs of anyone else in the forest.

Looking curiously over at Arkold Tulani asks, "Ashtoreth. That's where you found Raneah right?"

"I can wake up Chibix if too quiet for you," Squeaky offers.

"Isn't that Arkold's wife?" Alptraum asks. "I hope Draco County has a port, then, for her." Alptraum then glares at Squeaky and says, "No. Those things are like needles into the ears."

Arkold smiles at Tulani's question. "Tha's right. She's a Siren. In fact, the Sirens and the Mercats are at war, an' I kind 'o 'elped them both out with that. Jus' a bit, they're still at war, I think. The Triton – 'e's like a ruler of Sirens – gave 'er to me, 'cause she 'ad this scar," he runs a finger down the left side of his face, from his brow to his chin. "Damaged property. What an' idiot. Didn't kill 'im, bu' I did get us out of there."

"Arkold is married?" Ravenia asks, looking at the wolf in surprise.

"I don't know if it's marriage exactly… " Tulani comments, looking at Arkold with a small smile. " Raneah is very beautiful. That 'Triton' or whatever is a fool."

Arkold holds up his hands. "Don' believe everythin' you 'ear! I take care of Raneah, an' she takes care o' me. I don' think we're married. She's a fish, I'm a Jupani, I'd never … " he pauses, then shrugs and waves his hands, " … well I would, but … eh … "

"And here I was thinking of sharing your bed when we got to the inn," Ravenia says, shaking her head. "But if you have a woman waiting for you, I just wouldn't feel right."

"Sounds like marriage to me," Alptraum notes with a grin.

"Yeah," Clancy says in agreement.

"I think the vapors are gettin' to me. I'm hearin' things I want to hear, then they're tryin' to drive me insane," Arkold considers, frowning at Ravenia.

The dark skinned woman just smiles innocently at Arkold.

Tulani almost starts laughing at Ravenia's suggestion and ensuing commentary, but manages to hold it in… somewhat.

The sound of running water can be made out ahead, for those with acute hearing.

"I'm so glad you seem to attract this sort of commentary instead of me," Alptraum says to Arkold and pats his back. "Hm, water ahead. Can we drink the water here, or is that dangerous?"

"Ah, the river is safe to drink from," Agatha says, checking her map. "That'll be the River Pantsu. The mood flowers stop there."

"Jus' wait until I settle down, then it'll all be yours. My gift to you Bats. You're like a son to me," Arkold tells Alptraum, while frowning longingly at Raven.

"I could never accept it. It's far to grand a gift for the likes of me," Alptraum says in a grinning, polite, refusal.

The path begins to widen, and the river is a silver ribbon ahead now. An arched bridge spans it, even.

"As bad as the smell is," Alptraum comments randomly, "It is still better than the forest where everything insults you."

"Who names these rive- … Eh, let me guess, someone stumbled out o' 'ere an' named the place, crazy as can be," Arkold remarks.

"I quite agree Alptraum," Tulani says with some enthusiasm as the forest of insults is mentioned.

"I think the river is named for the particular type of flora it hosts," Agatha says.

"What, does it try to steal your pants?" Alptraum asks jokingly.

"I don't know, but I wouldn't suggest wading out into it to find out," the pony suggests, her hoof clapping on the foot of the bridge.

"Hmmm," Arkold murmurs as he steps on to the bridge.

Tulani follows behind Arkold and looks over the bridge railing.

Alptraum looks over at Phlagaea before he heads onto the bridge as well.

The water of the Pantsu is clear, and the current is gentle enough for fish to be seen swimming against it. It couldn't be more than twenty feet wide at this fording. A lacy pink pair of ladies underpants floats gently down and under the bridge, followed by what might be a camisole suited to Babelite tastes. A cluster of pink garters seems to be caught up on a reed.

Alptraum blinks. He then blinks again. "I didn't just see that," he says. "That isn't possible."

Tulani double takes at the sight of the first article of clothing serenely floating by, before simply goggling slightly at the other 'delicate' articles that can be spotted floating about. "Actually… I think you did see it Alptraum."

"Uhhh … " Arkold's eyebrow raises, " … huhhh." He stares as he walks over the bridge, then asks, "Can I get a 'ouse on this river?"

More lacy objects parade past – not all of them recognizable as undergarments, but a good deal of them familiar. Mave, Phlagaea and Ravenia lean over the bridge rail wide-eyed, while Lilith seems unimpressed, and Lucy just looks around and wonders why people have stopped.

"No, you may not, Arkold. This river is too perilous for you," Alptraum says.

"Pink ones," Agatha comments after glancing at the river. "Not ripe yet. Whites or blacks or reds are the best. Less chewy."

"Er, what do you mean chewy?" Alptraum asks, fully aware that he probably shouldn't.

"I've heard of rare blue ones," Clancy offers.

"Hmmm," Arkold repeats, this time with the air of someone seriously considering something.

"They're plants," Agatha notes. "Seeds, really, of Fairy Lace Moss."

"It's probably just a hallucination brought on by the cheese," Alptraum rationalizes.

Blinking again at Agatha's comment, then simply shaking her head in a disbelieving manner, Tulani watches as a few more pieces of clothing drift by.

"I'm judgin', an' the judgement's good so far," the Jupani comments. He eyes a few pieces of clothing, then adds, "Now those bring back some memories … "

"They look like that to attract wood nymphs, I think," Agatha says, looking to Clancy for corroboration. "They're parasitic or something."

"What would happen if someone put them on?" Alptraum inquires, brow arched at the parasitic comment.

The Rhian soldier nods. "Grow into dresses and stuff on nymphs, would just shrivel and die on a person though. If you get them ripe, you can give them to your girl and eat them off though. Not that I would know for sure about that, being married."

"Wouldn't catch me trying to wear one of those," Agatha says, shaking her head. "Give me good old Zolk barfed up by a giant slobbering worm. This stuff here is disgusting."

Arkold looks Agatha over again, then makes the now-familiar, "Hmmmmm."

"Anyway, the customs house won't be far ahead now," the pony remarks. "We can get rid of the cheese there."

Tulani looks at Arkold, rolls her eyes and sighs faintly.

"Eating that would certainly make me barf," Alptraum says with a nod to Clancy. The Eeee then goes and starts nudging both Mave and Phlagaea to continue on and quit looking in the water.

The Sphynx looks positively ecstatic at the thought of finally getting rid of their burdens of magic cheese.

"Edible lingerie," Mave muses, a smirk on her face, before turning away from the sight of the river.

"Fascinating, isn't," Arkold remarks to Mave. "The cheese smell, not so much."

"Alright, no plotting between either of you," Alptraum tells Arkold and Mave.

Agatha, Lucy and Squeaky are already moving on ahead, the sound of the pony's hooves echoing through the wooden bridge.

Tulani looks over at Mave, "It's been done before… I swear I saw some once in a port, made out of a sheet of sugar thread, but I've never seen something that grows… " She trails off and then suddenly looks straight ahead with a small cough.

Arkold gives Tulani a reconsidering look, brow raising, then he just grins at Mave. "We'll do some, eh, research later," he offers.

Alptraum shakes his head and just moves on. "The world is doomed. We're entrusted with a legendary weapon and the fate of many hangs on us, and here we are … discussing how to eat underwear. The world is doomed," he remarks to noone in particular.

The Sphynx just coughs again when Arkold looks at her, looking upwards slightly.

"You know," Arkold whispers to Alptraum loudly, "Tulani may jus' be my daughter … "

True to Agatha's word, the customs house is not much further past the river. It's a large stone square of a building, with slit windows and a heavy wooden door. Next to the door is a big covered bin with 'Dump Bibs Here' painted on the side.

"If so, then you owe her an apology for all the times you've looked at her backside," Alptraum tells the wolf. And when he sees the sign, the Eeee looks like he wants to drop to his knees and worship the bin.

Tulani suddenly twists her head around to look at Arkold in surprise, then just says in a gentle manner, "Wrong coloration… Sorry Arkold. And I saw my actual father when we met with Nala… I'm glad I've never actually met him." The Sphynx smiles as she continues, "You can be my most favorite uncle though – you keep rubbing off on me."

"I had an uncle like that," Agatha mutters. "They locked him up… "

Alptraum makes his way quickly to the building and discards the bib as fast as he is able.

"Mmm, eh, good point. Probably not my daughter," Arkold insists. He begins removing the bib as soon as he sees the sign, and all but hurls the thing in to the bin. "Another deadly danger escaped." He steps away from the bin and grins to Tulani. "Eh, thanks. You know you can count on me."

Once at the bin Tulani dumps the cheese-smeared bib with great enthusiasm, taking a deep breath of the now no longer fouled air. Smiling, she gives Arkold an friendly pat on the shoulder.

Clancy opens the wooden door once everyone has disposed of his or her bib, revealing a small courtyard. Another door waits, but next to it is… a device. The 'thing' takes up about half of the courtyard, mainly because of the three oversized bellows. Tubes and hoses and pulleys combine into something incomprehensible, connecting eventually to a spherical 'head' with a long rubber trunk-snout protruding from the middle.

Arkold smiles back, then pauses in the doorway to eye the contraption within. "I've been to many places, seen many machines … " he begins, then shrugs, " … but I 'ave no idea what that is."

"That's just the Snuffs-It-Up-O-Guster," Clancy says, and stands before the thing with his arms and legs spread. Something clicks in the mechanism, the bellows begin to pump, and the odd trunk comes to life and starts to snuffle all over the Rhian's form. "It sucks away any pollen or stray odors from the woods."

Alptraum looks up at the machine and rubs the back of his neck. "Er. I'm not sure I want anything sniffing around on me like that," the Eeee admits.

"You have to, otherwise you won't be allowed entry to the town," Agatha says, taking her place next before the thing, and trying to look serious. She still breaks out in giggles as the thing cleans her.

"Don't put this in the book," Alptraum tells Arkold.

Arkold's eyebrows rise when Agatha starts giggling, and he smiles benignly. "You sure?" He sounds distracted.

Squeaky goes next, grumbling something. He keeps his eyes closed tightly as the hose picks over him.

"Yes. How are you going to use your book to impress women if it has you in it being sniffled by a hose monster?" Alptraum asks flatly.

"I'm writin' it. Anythin' that makes me look too bad is out – I leave the little things, shows I 'ave a sense of 'umor," Arkold replies. Then, he steps forward to be next.

The hose-nose snuffles over Arkold, checking his pockets and behind his ears and making a mess of his hair. It's a bit like being gang-kissed by a mob of Hookas.

Alptraum rubs his temples, then gets in line behind Tulani. "Ever see anything like this before?" he asks Phlagaea.

"Are you kidding?" Phlagaea replies to Alptraum. "It is from a nightmare."

"It's ridiculous is what it is," Alptraum says, "I mean, isn't it just as effective to take a bath? I bet they made it to scare off visitors… "

"This remind- … reminds me of … of nights I've 'ad in … eh, never mi-" Continuously interrupted by the snuffling, Arkold gives up until it finishes.

Tulani lifts both her arms and wings as she steps up to the odd contraption after Arkold, a little worried about how the machine will handle her feathers, which have a slight tendency to trap road dust and pollen.

Snurf snurf snurf, goes the gizmo. It does have some difficulty with the feathers, tending to suck one up and then going into a kind of jittery convulsion until it can reverse the suction to blow the feather back out again.

Stepping off to the side once the machine finishes inspecting her, Tulani takes a few minutes to comb her fingers through her wings to straighten out some of the now rumpled feathers.

Phlagaea looks uncertainly at the device, and waits for Lucy to go first. The Fnerf bats at the hose several times as it sucks up her long fur. In the end, she looks completely floofed out.

Alptraum then raises his arms and steps in position when Lucy leaves the device.

Arkold stands over with Tulani, trying to get his hair back in shape. He settles for 'romantically tousled.' All that adventuring seems to have given him a knack for making his hair look good after disasters.

The snout reaches for Alptraum, sucking up his long hair first and then trying to snorfle at his wing and armpits, and just about everywhere else it can get to.

Alptraum can't help but twitch as the odd machine snuffles all over him. He tries to help by shifting, spreading his wings, and so forth now and then. When it finally finishes, he steps away and comments, "I vaguely feel like I've been molested. Mave, you should put one of these in your temple." He grins.

Mave just grunts at the suggestion. Phlagaea goes up next, and has to wrap her wings around herself to avoid having her baubles and bandages sucked off. Every twitch of the hose seems to make her squeak in alarm, and she dashes off to hide behind Lucy when it finally finishes.

Ravenia gets off lightly. The machine seems confused by her furless skin for a moment, then settles for vacuuming her hair. With Mave however, the thing seems to linger overlong, and makes a point of being very thorough, even though the Yodhinala barely bats an eye.

"I think there must be someone controlling it," Ravenia says to Alptraum. Lilith steps up, and the machine suddenly becomes very efficient and informal, barely tousling a hair on the Eeee's head.

Arkold looks up and around, trying to spot a controller. "Hmmmm."

"Most likely," Alptraum agrees with a nod. "After all, Lilith is one of the ruling family. My guess is, a male Eeee, given how it was going over Mave."

There are various dark windows in the wall overhead where someone could be watching. At ground level the wall is solid, save for the door. Once Lilith's grooming is completed, the door opens up and an Eeee pokes his head out. "Okay, you're clear to come in now," he says, smiling wide to show his fangs. His eyes glow red as well.

"Eh, I've seen worse welcomes," Arkold says with a shrug. He walks for the door, stuffing his hands in his coat pockets.

"After everything we've been through, that is a most welcome face," Alptraum comments when the Eeee appears in the doorway. "Just stay close to me," he tells Mave and Phlagaea, "and everything will be fine. Just imagine, we may have beds soon. Real beds. And a real bath!" He then smiles widely and heads towards the door.

"Beds and bath," Ravenia mutters, as if not believing it. "Finally."

Tulani follows the others in saying faintly, "I don't know about you Arkold, but I think I'd like a drink… "