Francisco, searching for one remaining material component to make the magical cloak promised to him by Amaranth, is directed to head into Darkside to find a Shiga skin. He prepares himself with a couple of illusions to alter the shade of his fur, and to hide the fact that he has five tails, with a "held spell" at the ready.

He finds his way to the Missing Shekel, and bravely heads right through a bar-room brawl to get to the back. There, he finds a few bodies of expelled patrons, among them a Shiga with a brightly-colored pattern on his scales, and a knife protruding from his back. Francisco goes about the grisly business of skinning the Shiga with the very dagger used to murder him, but there are witnesses in the form of a drunken Korv … and curious lurkers.

Francisco flees with the freshly-removed (and still bloody) lizard hide, prompting a "lady of the night" to start screaming, and an overly-confident Kavi hoodlum to investigate further. When Francisco shows that all he really DOES have is a Shiga skin – and a fresh one at that – the Kavi recoils in horror. When Francisco flashes his recently-acquired knife, the Kavi attacks. In the ensuing exchange, Francisco loses his dagger, but lets lose a spell … which creates the audio illusion of the Temple Guard coming down the street.

The Kavi flees, leaving Francisco free to depart with his gruesome trophy.