Hamish
collapses the crack in the cave wall from where the cannibal hamsters emerged
with a well-placed bone grenade. Down in the ballroom a wave of Ka-Zombies
washes over the heroes’ henchmen, killing Eyetooth Ten and Eyetooth Ven – brave
but foolish Great Folk bone farmers - while Katusha drags the critically injured Amberto to safety, luring the
Zombies into the line of fire from the Gatling gun.
Saffron sniffs out the last remaining hamster in the ballroom. Grenades are thrown, mirrors are shattered and a precious organ destroyed before their foe is finally slain.
They explore
the magical testing site: giant alembics and pipes ooze neon green goo, two
hazard protection suits hang from the ceiling, a mysterious machine on wheels
sits in the middle of the room. There are two summoning circles one of which
has a stone slab at its center, the other – protected by a force field – holds
a fractal sword on a pedestal.
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Saffron and
Naida feel weakened and dizzy and climb into the suits. They decide to
overcharge the machine to blow up the force field. Saffron grabs the stone
slabs that are inscribed with binary code (that executes the program Astral
Projection when read) and Hamish snatches the sword.
Back at the
Behemoth Shell they bury the dead: The grieving relatives are personally compensated
by our Greenland Folk Hero. Naida visits Shiver Urbert who dreamwalks the
stories Naida wrote to Mencia, the shock peddler. Saffron studies their
cybernetic shell to learn about a safe way to transfer “Mother” to a new body.
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They leave
the Behemoth Shell. After two uneventful weeks they arrive at the Moon Facing
Ford. From the banks of the river they can see for the first time the
mysterious Near Moon hanging low over the horizon. Two other caravans wait to
cross the river: Tangerine Nomads in bronze masks herding mono-horned horses
and monks in robes dragging a covered statue on a sled. Their enigmatic leader
GeeGee Marine speaks of the Nexus of Cables, the pilgrim’s destination. In the
middle of the Moon River is the Pylon Kraal, a colorful dryland coral Toll-House
between two crumbling pylons that once held a bridge. They cross the river and
enter the Pylon Kraal.
After a week
of talking and dining Hamish seemingly strikes a deal with Post-Satrap 48 but
the deal falls through after a party that went out of hand. Hamish has a new
friend, though: Satrap 48, a network of interlocking symbiotic eels in a
triple-sealed suit of Naples yellow.
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