As evening starts to set in, Willow finishes her shopping and meanders into a familiar establishment. Her nose continues to twitch and sniff as she re-acquaints herself with the smells of the things around her. She remembers what a Vartan smells like now, and the difference between the smells of a Jupani and a Titanian – and the exercise distracts her from the smell of corpses and blood. She hops up on a barstool and puts a pair of ten shekel pieces in front of her. "Some ale… and anything meaty to save my stomach to go along with it." Her ears remain pricked up.

The grumpy-looking hippogryph bartender fills a mug and sets it down heavily on the bar, making the foamy head jiggle and threaten to fall off. "Be right out," she says, and snaps her talons. A fuzzy-looking young Vartan heads into the kitchen.

A Jupani next to the Skreek wrinkles his nose, involuntarily sniffing at the air. His ears flatten back, as he turns to regard the rat. Lacking any subtlety, he gets up, and moves one stool over, leaving empty seats on each side of the Skreek.

Willow slurps the head off the mug and smiles blissfully for a moment, enjoying the bitter taste. She looks sidelong at the wolf, "See how keen you smell after spending all day in Little Babel, bub," she scowls.

A Naga makes what approximates a grin, as a squirming yiffle is brought in front of him, its mouth plugged with a small Bromthen truffle (obviously not the pumpkin variety). Jakka also sets a tray in front of the rat. It's something meaty and unrecognizable. No chitin, so presumably not vermite. No bones, either, so that might narrow it down some more, as Jakka surely wouldn't go to that much trouble to de-bone it.

Even so, it smells spicy … and it's piping hot.

The Naga hisses to a shorter snake beside him, "Yessss … I saw it live on the Great Egg of Observation." The Naga flicks his tongue in what might be reptilian amusement, and covers one nostril with a claw. "Oh, the pain!" Both of the snakes bob their heads in silent laughter.

The rat pulls off a chunk of the meat and blows on it until it's cooled enough to eat. "Wha ish dish?" she squeaks, munching on it.

A couple of Jupani guards come in, clapping each other on the back and laughing at a punch-line that must have been delivered before they entered. A Zelak starts to follow them in, but a sharp glare from Jakka reminds them to instruct it to wait outside.

Jakka then looks to Skreek and, with a straight face, says, "Chef's Surprise. All you can eat."

The little Vartan pipes up, "Got a great deal on Gooshurms!"

Jakka clamps her beak tightly shut.

The Jupani's eyebrows raise. Looks like he got the same deal. He samples his meal again, then shrugs. "Only you could make Gooshurms taste good, Jakka."

Willow's eyes pop open. "Got any more?"

Jakka smirks at the Jupani's praise, then nods. "Said all you can eat. Fresh in the kitchen."

The little Vartan squawks, "You still hungry? I'll whack 'em and fry 'em!"

Jakka turns to the first Jupani. "More, Silas?"

"How many do you have back there? Live ones?" the Rat chitters.

Before the black wolf can answer Jakka, or Jakka can answer the rat, one of the guards sits down in the stool vacated by Silas a moment earlier, and the other sits on the other side of the Skreek. Both of the wolves – book-ending the rat – look at the Skreek's plate and point at it. Jakka nods. "Yep. Don't get much fresher."

The fuzzy Vartan heads back to the kitchen, smacking a tenderizer mallet lightly against his open claw.

"Hey, Rusty," says the pepper-furred guard, "what you think? We gonna see a ghost-fox?" He jangles a pendant of the Star-and-Anchor hanging around his neck. He smells of garlic – It seems that he has several bulbs of it strung around his neck.

Rusty says, "Dunno, Pepper. I just hope we don't see anybody getting the bright idea to start lynching every Exile in sight." He gestures at his own chest with a thumb. "What if they decide I've got fox blood in me?" His brow furrows as Pepper smiles. "Don't you go joking now! I'm serious!"

Willow looks back and forth at the wolves on either side of her. "You mean the ghost fox that torched that wacko doctor's tent?" she asks, munching on her meal a bit.

Rusty looks down at the rat. "Ah, yeah. A Skreek like you." His nose wrinkles a bit. Maybe he's just now realized that he's sat down by a rat. Or maybe something's really bugging his sense of smell.

Pepper says, "Seems it's a bad season for foxes. First we go on full alert for one, now for another. Seems like we ought to just round 'em all up and get it over with!"

"Look… I've been at little Babel all day having bugs tossed at me, and then there was that house with the stink in it that some folks were milling around. I'm really sorry my scent's not up to snuff right now, and I'll be happy to go roll around in the garbage bins behind the shop if it'll help at all." The rat scowls, taking a big bite from the Gooshurm this time.

Rusty says, "Uh? Waitaminute. You talking about Avram the Zolk Merchant's house? You were there?"

Pepper says, "Yeah, that's what I'm smelling. Skreek, you better clean up or something. You've got the smell of death on you right now. You're going to scare off every grass-eater that catches a whiff of you."

Silas grunts, and tears into his meal. Loud pounding noises can be heard from the kitchen.

"For a little bit of it… yeah." Willow shakes her head. "The poor family never had a chance. I hear that demon fox did it… "

A Naga can be heard to hiss, "And, get this … the airship he was on accidentally dropped the crate over the Roams … and he survived!"

The second Naga bobs his head hysterically. "Must be the chaos!"

Pepper says, "Yeah, well, the Collegia Esoterica isn't too happy that – uh… " He pauses as the two snakes turn to stare at him. They seem to be attired in rune-trimmed robes.

"Excussse me?" hisses the larger Naga. The smaller one just ducks his head and surreptitiously tongue-flicks at the larger one's yiffle while he's not looking.

The rat sniffs herself and makes a "phew" face. "I'll wash up tonight, although I think all of Darkside is gonna reek of death unless someone does something about that monster."

"That's what the Temple is afraid of," growls Rusty. "Either by that fox, or by a riot. Some Skreek was getting the crowd in the Bazaar whipped up into … a … frenzy… " He raises an eyebrow, as he regards Willow.

The larger Naga twists his body to lean around Rusty. "I would like to make it clear that this Exile is most certainly not a member of my Sphere. He's an Illusionist."

"Nor mine," squeaks the smaller snake.

The rat takes another swig of her ale, trying to look as calm as she can manage. "I heard about that, I think. Blasted gutter-rats giving the rest of us a bad name. I bailed before the crowd got too worked up." She eyes the two snakes, "What are your spheres, great sirs?" she hisses in her best Naga tongue.

Both snakes seem taken aback. The two wolf guards just laugh, thinking the rat is just making "snake noises" as some sort of joke.

"Mind," says the larger snake, pointing to himself. "And he is of the Sphere of Scrying," he adds, pointing to the smaller one.

The smaller one adds names. "I am Kassan. And this is Neetho. Over there," he gestures to a table, "is Iona, but she's just here to keep us out of trouble. Earth mages are so dull."

"And Wynona. Can't forget her," hisses the largest one. He flicks his tongue in annoyance.

"Such talents, great sirs. This humble rodent is pleased to make your acquaintance." Willow hisses and bows her head. "Are you with the College Esoterica?" She smiles to the wolves for a moment and then looks back to the snakes.

Pepper and Rusty exchange confused looks … but they're soon distracted as plates of Gooshurm meat are set in front of them. They start to … wolf down their food.

"Of course!" hisses Neetho, patting the smaller snake on the head.

Silas gets up, and slides a tip to Jakka. "Good cooking, Jakka." He grabs his hat and sets it on his head so his ears poke through, then heads for the door, glancing at the snakes, wolves and rat … and then jumping in surprise as he comes face to face with a Zelak. "Yaaa! Ugh … ahem … " He heads on, mumbling something under his breath, while the Zelak just clacks its mandibles.

Rusty gets up, moving his plate over to the place just occupied by Silas. That makes it a lot easier for the rat to converse with the snakes, not having to lean around the big Guard.

"How far are you in your studies, great sirs?" the rat hisses. She looks at her plate and then pushes it towards Rusty. "Here… I'm done. You're welcome to my leftovers, though." She picks up her mug and hops off the stool. "Hello," she clacks to the Zelak, nodding her head.

Kassan brags, "I have been aiding with an ongoing ritual at the Collegia Esoterica. The Sphere of Light shall shine into the darkness … and discover this miscreant, wherever he might be hiding!" He pauses, then adds, "It should be fairly easy, given how magical he must be, and since he's such a unique individual, but … "

Willow moves to stand closer to the snakes, eyeing the Zelak as she does so.

Rusty looks as if he might be tempted by the plate … but apparently he's not so hungry as to nibble at something that has already been sampled by a rat. He doesn't say a word in reply, but just goes back to chewing on his meal.

The front door swings shut again, nearly smacking the Zelak in the face. He's probably standing in that same spot just outside.

Outside, music can be heard. Well … maybe it's music. It sounds kind of … different. Scratchy? Grindy? Plus, it sounds like some wolves are singing along to it and banging on things.

( Blast… the Zelak probably scented me here and will arrest me the moment I pop out of this place. Hmmm… ) The rat fishes a few more coins from her pocket. "Hey Jakka… can I rent a room for long enough to shower? Your customers will probably prefer it."

Jakka eyes the shekels, then turns to look at a chalkboard with several boxes painted on it, some of them marked with an "X".

An acrid smell, just barely detectable, wafts through the main doors of the tavern, and is followed by a pale Rokuga, who makes his way through them, face shaded by a wide bowl-like hat.

As the door closes, it almost smacks the face of a Zelak, who is still staring, bug-eyed (as always) through the door. Presumably, he's still staring right at that door now that it has closed again.

The gray rat's nose twitches at the scent. She manages to keep her reaction to a simple head nod in the direction of the Rokuga, while she waits on the status of the room.

Both of the wolf Guards wrinkle their noses at the entrance of Qing. They look as if they'd scoot another stool down, if they had the chance.

The Rokuga's white mantle stirs in the draft caused by the open door, but doesn't obscure the spirit symbol emblazoned on the chest of his robes. Qing begins slithering toward the counter. His head bobs … perhaps acknowledging the rat, perhaps just part of the motion of slithering. He addresses Jakka, at any rate. "Ginseng tea."

Jakka pours a cup of tea and sets it up on the bar. Looks like there's an empty stool right next to the two Naga mages.

The pale mage accepts his drink, one of his lower hands leaving a few clicking shekels on the counter. The witch-doctor makes his way over to the stool beside the other two Nagai, coiling his body around it before supporting his upper half on the seat. He says nothing more, and instead, sips at his tea.

Willow adds a few more coins to her handful, eyeing the chalkboard.

Neetho hisses, "You must be weary, Mage Qing." Mage Kassan nods agreement.

Jakka shakes her head. "Sorry. Only two rooms left; plumbing needs fixing."

"So let me bring a bucket of water up there. I'm not asking for a hot shower… just a place to scrub some of the stench off," the rat squeaks.

"I have been awake longer than I care to think of, colleagues," replies the witch-doctor, stirring his tea with a small stick in the cup. "It is no matter. After I rest here a moment, I will return to my circle."

Jakka shrugs. "Sure. Half the night's rate. Still have to clean up after you." She points to the rates posted on the wall.

The rat nods and flicks a coin up on the bar, "Fine with me. Which room?"

Jakka clicks her talon on the chalkboard, which roughly approximates the layout. "Room Number Two. Upper floor." She tosses a big wooden key to the rat.

"Room number two," Willow hisses, glancing at the snake. "Thanks. And about that bucket?"

Jakka frowns. Apparently she forgot. She looks to the smaller Vartan (who has come back out of the kitchen), and he dashes off to fetch one.

The windows rattle from the ruckus outside. And then it stops abruptly. Jakka lets out a sigh of relief.

A bat sitting at one of the tables sneezes into a handkerchief. "First Ones bless you," says a Jupani seated across from her.

The little Vartan comes back out, holding a wooden bucket that sloshes with water. He smiles as he brings it up to the rat. Looks like he got half of the bucket's contents splashed onto himself or the floor, but it should be enough for starters.

The Rokuga studies the bottom of his tea for a moment, watching bits of root and leaf swirl around. His head turns enough to where he can look at the rat briefly around the edge of his dark glasses, then looks back at his cup. "It would seem this ordeal is mushrooming into some sort of morbid spectacle, Mage Neetho," he hisses. "The apprentices seem to think it's some sort of carnival, and are devising circles over most of the campus, should this fox and its entity blunder back into it."

Neetho bobs his head in reptilian mirth. "To think that the fox would be stupid enough to come back to the campus! How utterly absurd!" His tongue flicks amusedly.

Kassan adds, "Let alone to think that he could be led to stand right in the middle of a ritual. Not even a fox would do that willingly."

The front door opens, revealing the staring Zelak … and a very large armored wolf who has to stoop down to fit his head and arm inside. "ANY FOXES IN HERE?" he shouts.

"No!" scrawks Jakka, looking annoyed, as the glass mugs on the shelf behind her rattle from the sound of the Titanian's shout.

"Indeed," agrees Qing, still deadpan. He doesn't bother glancing at the door, though he seems to be referring to it in part when he hisses, "A festival of fools, this has become."

The Titanian scans the room, then shrugs and closes the door again, right in the Zelak's face.

The rat smile/grimaces at the Vartan and nearly drops the bucket at the sound of the wolf. She manages to recover her precious water and sidles over to the stairs. "Room two then. Hff!"

Jakka mutters, "I'd skin the fox myself, to get things back to normal." The Vartan then goes back to polishing a shiny glass mug.

With another sip of his tea, the witch-doctor uncoils from around his stool. "You will excuse me, colleagues. I must attend to some business before I return to my spell-casting. My time is not my own." Without bothering to wait for a reply, he uncoils from around his stool, and slithers toward the stairs.

"Francisco struck again," Willow mumbles through the closed door of the bathroom. The sound of sloshing water can be heard now and again.

After some largely incomprehensible muttering from Qing, he asks, "What happened?" A tiny, bluish creature, composed mostly of legs and eye, falls out of one of his hands. It skitters towards one of the walls, then appears to go vaporous and vanish just before it would have hit the wall.

"A whole family of Zerdas was slaughtered. They were supposedly friends of Francisco and he apparently had intentions towards their daughter. Avram, his wife, and his four sons were all dead and had their tails cut off. No other wounds except the missing tails." More sloshing. "The daughter, Rache, was missing. I'm assuming that he kidnapped her. Right before he did, Avram was writing a letter to the College, mentioning that Francisco had tried to take advantage of their daughter. He never finished writing it, and the page was torn off. Luckily, he pressed hard enough on the paper… "

The serpent nods almost imperceptibly, at no-one in particular. "The creases on a page below it were legible?"

The rat emerges from the room, dripping with water and carrying a herb bag in her hand. She wears her soggy shirt and trousers while the rest of her clothing is equally wet. She hangs it from the backs of some wooden bits of furniture and starts rubbing the herbs into her fur. "Yeah. Avram's last letter. The crowd was pretty easy to get riled up… Pretty much every merchant in the Bazaar is willing to lend a hand now. On the downside though, I think that Zelak outside scented me here and I'm going to get arrested the moment I leave this room, unless I can make myself smell different. Do you have any herbs or chemicals on you?"

By way of answer, a pallid arm emerges from beneath Qing's mantle, holding a vial of some clear fluid. "Among other things, I have this. This mineral distillation is normally used in embalming. It has a potent odor. Take it with you. Leaving it unstopped should suffice. If you choose to anoint yourself with a few drops, try not to let it touch your skin."

"Okay. I might just be acting paranoid, and the Rephidim Guard is probably spread somewhat thin right now… but I'd still rather not take chances. I've already had one bad experience with a Zelak scent-tracker and I'd rather not repeat it, not to mention I've got no identification to prove who I am just yet." The rat takes the vial and gives it a light sniff. "Do you know anything about the rest of the murders? Did any others of Francisco's victims have their tails cut off?"

Whoo. That embalming fluid goes straight to the head. "Nothing I didn't mention last night," monotones Qing. "The death toll's rapid climb leads me to believe that Francisco's condition has worsened. The entity is voracious in its need to sustain itself." He adjusts his glasses slightly, otherwise unmoving. "None of the other victims lost their tails. Coincidentally, none of the other victims were or were related to foxes." He looks over his glasses for a couple seconds. "Don't inhale those fumes more than necessary. It kills the brain."

"Gack!" Willow squeaks, holding the vial away from herself. She sets it down and continues rubbing some mint-smelling herbs into her fur and clothing. "Well, the College should be getting a big load of bugs. I've found a couple of Gooshurms – right here in fact – but Jakka seems more interested in feeding them to her customers than selling them… and with a bunch of guards in the room I wasn't about to press my point." She growls. "In case I do get arrested, which I'll to my best to avoid, be sure and tell the people in the Bazaar that I sent you. They'll help you any way you need it." She shakes her head angrily, "It was horrible, Qing. The smell, the way they were bent up… and they supposedly treated Francisco like he was their SON! He even supposedly saved their daughter's life, and now he tries to grab her on the street and kills her whole family. I'm starting to understand now what you mean by him being 'possessed'. This isn't the fox Avram's family loved."

Qing nods again. "Clearly not. His choices have led him to his undoing." He folds his arms over his chest, one pair after another, and turns away. "The point is meaningless. He is already dead."

Willow hauls out the bucket and starts wringing water from her clothes out into it as she tries to hurry their drying. "I've never met a monster before. I think that the puppy that came out of the gem had more compassion." She starts pulling on the rest of her clothing and paces around the room to dry it, still dabbing herbs into her fur. "How goes things at the College?"

"My spells near completion," hisses the Rokuga, finally removing his glasses all the way, and letting his hat tilt back enough to allow some light on his face. His lidless eyes are no longer totally crimson… rather, bands and ribbons of milky white twist across their surfaces like living flaws in carnelian. "The exorcism is prepared. With a little more time, I will devise a containment spell which will confine the manifested spirit to an object I will bring with me."

"Sounds like the Rephidim Guard is helping, and I'll be herding the bugs and Bazaar folks." The rat pats her herb pouch. "When I get back to the College, I'm going to give you a bottle… If you can splash some of the stuff in it on Francisco, every bug and vermite in the vicinity will become his best friend. I'll have a herbal pouch for you to wear as well, which should keep the bugs away from you. It'll also help you tell the good guys from the bad; all our boys will be wearing pouches."

Qing slithers in a tight circle, pointing himself at the door and replacing his glasses. "Excellent. I will return to the Collegia and finish my containment spell, if there is nothing else. Keep me informed. You know where my chamber is. Don't get arrested."

"Here… I'll go with you. Er… No offense, but you might be able to hide my odor a bit as well… or at least distract that Zelak while I make a run for it." Willow smiles sheepishly and gives the vial a shake. "I'm all done here.We'll see how it goes."