Here we are in the Flying City of the Uluka once again.
The heroes continue their investigation of the death of Yog-Ulum, the Ahl-at-Rab companion of Allunga, who (like Akala) is campaigning to be King of the Skies. They sketch out a map of Allunga's home and find where everyone was last night, but don't find any suspects. They find, however, that the back door's latch has been broken, so someone got in that way. That back door leads into the kitchen and opens to the outside onto a platform with no other access, so whoever did this can fly. They find a small feather in the broken latch, suggesting this was an Uluka.
The characters split up. Imani and Jengo go to talk to Callimachus, while Akala and Eithne find Chizoba. Callimachus is at his campaign headquarters, abuzz with activity, and he makes time to talk with them (if briefly). He knows nothing about Yog-Ulum's death, he says, and claims that he was visiting a hospital last night at the time of the murder (recall that Callimachus has helped bring in Uluka with medical training to the Flying City). He says that folks there can vouch for him, and the heroes are welcome to ask around. Imani and Jengo consider this, but getting to the hospital without wings is difficult and Imani is not comfortable tempting gravity.
Meanwhile, Chizoba is doing a demonstration on her sorcery kits. She tells them, once they get her attention, that the kits don't possess enough raw power to kill someone, though of course they could be used as a kind of scaffolding to cast a particular spell (as Eithne did to bypass her usual difficulties with sensory magic). They ask her to come over and have a look at the crime scene, and she agrees, but it's going to have to wait till this evening.
Akala spends the rest of the day campaigning, and discovers that there are weird rumors spreading about her time in Dabba (while there, the heroes attempt to stop the Lotus Cult, but it was dug in too deep to root out at the time). No one is outright saying that Akala is somehow involved in lotus trafficking, but people are making weird grumblings about it, and she isn't sure where these rumors are coming from...
That evening, Chizoba...doesn't show. She sends a note saying she can't make it, and the heroes track her down; she's doing a Q&A and trying to defend her "fly over Vril pyramids to siphon energy" plan. Jengo points that doing this might bring them into conflict with whoever controls these pyramids, and Chizoba claims she chose the pyramids in question carefully, but the question does put her on the back foot a bit.
After the Q&A is done, she returns to Allunga's house and looks at the room and the feather. She casts her vision back in time, and sees an Uluka, but not one she recognizes. She casts an illusion and shows the characters, but the Uluka just looks...generic. Maybe some similarity to Akala's uncle Inkata? But not exactly. They suspect some magic might be involved, and Chizoba doesn't know from divine magic.
Akala does, however, so she settles into prayer to Orunmila while the others take up guard positions. As they're watching, all of the Uluka in the household just...collapse. The heroes head inside, and Eithne sees a shadowy, wraith-like Uluka flying through walls. She gets to Akala and puts up a ward around her, and the shadowy figure turns and addresses them, briefly, before vanishing.
Akala does finish the prayer, and now armed with magic letting her be in the right place at the right time, lets instinct guide her. She winds up at the bar where she met her uncle yesterday. He's not there, but talking to the bartender, they learn that this bar is one of the few that serves snakes (as in, gives the Owl-people patrons snakes to eat; they're not native to the Flying City, obviously). Inkata is apparently a big fan. Imani buys a snake for Jengo and he eats it raw ("very crunchy! And wriggly!"), and the heroes speculate that maybe Inkata's predilection for ophidophagia might be relevant?
Akala asks around, and learns the Inkata always claims to have flown a good ways to get the bar, but he's not consistent as to where he's flying from. Trusting her instincts again, Akala takes the heroes toward one of the places Inkata has mentioned, a house high up in the city, accessible by rope bridges (and, of course, flight). The heroes are going to have a somewhat arduous time getting there, but perhaps Orunmila will guide them?
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