Arf, arf. Here we go!
The dogs leave the Pause Four resort and consider their next move. They need to find Dorr's ring, and their research indicates that Talina Poodle probably has it. They have Bivi, their trustee, send her a message asking for a meeting, and she agrees to meet them the next morning.
Petunia and Peppa go and speak to Talina in the morning. They explain the situation, and ask to borrow the ring in order to continue their exploration. Talina agrees, on the condition that anything of value they find belongs to her. Petunia and Peppa agree to this, and Talina goes into her room and opens a glass case containing the ring. She gives it to Petunia (reminding her that she'll want this back), and Petunia and Peppa take their leave. On the way out, they speak to Pumly and ask him to hold the ring for them - they don't want to take it off the grounds.
The dogs get some rest, but figure they should try and learn a little of the cat side of the history. Their best source of cat-formation is Mr. Meow, so they swing by his shop for some grooming. Sausagedog asks about Swifty von Rex, and Meow, perhaps a little nervously, informs him that Swifty was a figure from the pre-War days of the Monarchies. He doesn't know much more than that, however. He gives the dogs the name of a cat historian: Xerses Abyssinian von Siberian.
The dog finish their grooming. Boomer, getting a manicure, reflects that living out in the wilderness afforded him freedom but it came at the expense of comfort. The car doing his nails notes that one of his claws is split, and she can fix it but it's gonna hurt. Boomer takes Dire's paw for support and gives a little yelp when she pulls the split nail.
The dogs head over to the north end of Riverwall and find Xerses' door. It identifies him as a historian, researcher, and artisan, available by appointment only. Petunia knocks, and an annoyed-looking cat in robes that were probably expensive ten years ago answers. He surveys the characters and allows Petunia, Peppa (who has just been groomed, so is cleaner than usual), and "one of them" (meaning Dire, Boomer, and Sausagedog). Boomer goes, and Dire and Sausagedog wait outside.
Xerses' home is full of books and scrolls; there's probably a system but it's not obvious. Petunia asks about Swifty von Rex, and Xerses explains that Swifty and Dorr were the best of friends and fellow adventurers. And then the War of Dogs and Cats broke out, and Swifty kind of disappears from dog history, but this was due to Dorr being visible (on account of being a founding Pioneer). The two remained friends, though, and set up the "hidey-hole" in the limestone caverns. Xerses theorizes that Dorr's ring would bypass Swifty's "threshold," a device that dispels any low-level magic going down the pit. Feather Fall or Spider Climb, the two obvious spells to use there, would switch off.
Xerses also makes a request. There's a portrait of Swifty von Rex, made by the same artist that painted the one of Dorr Poodle that hangs in the Royal Pioneer's Guild. He suspects that the portrait is in the hidey-hole, and asks to have it if the dogs find it. He wants to return it to the Monarchies. They agree, and reunite with the others.
The dogs gear up and head for the resort. Pumly once again descends into the caverns with them. They spend some time thinking about how best to descend (how do all of them do it? How will they get back up?), and with a little experimentation, determine that the ring only works on the wearer. Anyone else is dead weight.
Finally, Petunia screws up her courage and jumps. She floats to the ground and lights a torch, and finds herself in an alcove leading to a circular room full of stuff. The "stuff" is various boxes, books, and objet d'arte; Petunia is thrilled, but does need to figure out how to get the others down. She finds a small hole in the wall in the alcove, too perfectly round to be natural. She slips the ring into it and a lid slips over the hole. There's a whoosing noise and the noise is sucked up a tube, and drops into the hallway next to the pit.
The dogs descend, one after another, and start exploring. Dire finds a locked box and, unable to pick the lock, rips off the lid. Inside, he finds a circlet with an opal set into it, and slips it into a pocket in his cloak. "Weird to have a lock on an empty box," he says aloud.
Meanwhile, Peppa is the last one at the top of the pit. She tries to work up the courage to jump, but she's having trouble. But then behind her, she hears a weird scraping sound. She calls up a Shield of Faith and hides in a corner, and sees something horrible coming toward her. It's a mass of metallic tentacles or cables, slithering along the ground, giving off sparks. The creature ignores her entirely and slips down the pit. She overcomes her fear (or rather transfers it) and jumps in, but it's taking time to fall and the creature moves much faster.
At the bottom, the creature emerges from the shaft and makes a beeline for Dire. Boomer sees his friend in peril and hurls his ax at the thing. It hits, but the creature keeps going and tries to entangle Dire. Dire, fortunately, is very strong and the monster can't gain purchase. Petunia casts a Web spell at it, but can't seem to entangle it, and switches to Acid Arrow. Dire and Boomer attack it with their respective huge weapons, and although it manages to beat up Dire pretty good, they hack it to pieces.
The dogs ask Dire if he has any idea why it went straight for him. Dire lies and says no, but Peppa sees through this BS and demands he fess up. Dire finally relents and hands over the circlet, and Pumly reminds him that anything they find down here is property of Talina Poodle.
The dogs figure that the tentacle-creature must have been the one that killed Fliss von Korat. Maybe he stole something, or inadvertently activated a guardian? They need to figure it out, but they also need to get back up the shaft. They search the room more carefully, and they find several items of interest. They find the portrait that Xerses asked about, and convince Pumly to let them take it without telling Talina (Pumly mentions that Talina is most interested in increasing her social standing, and a portrait of a cat won't do that). They find a hat and a ring, both magical, and Peppa finds a small box with six squishy cubes wrapped in parchment, each only the size of a dice. They're pink and smell sweet, faintly of sarsaparilla. Petunia identifies them as "fixes," one-use magic items.
There's no obvious way back up, though, so they theorize that the fixes are probably it. They give one to Dire, who's always eager to experiment, and he chews it up. Weirdly, it remains chewy indefinitely, but it also activates the Spider Climb spell and allows him to climb up the shaft. The others follow, strapping the painting to Boomer's back. Pumly takes the magic items, including the circlet.
Once at the top, Dire leans in to Pumly and snarls at him to keep "certain things" that happened down there to himself. Pumly nods, scared, and the others don't notice. They're busy looking at the tracks that the creature left. They follow the tracks back to a hole in the wall, much too small for a dog, but the creature could have use it. The hole stays small for a bit and then opens up, but Pumly says that there are a lot of unexplored tunnels here. The dogs advise him to keep people out of this area and plug up this hole.
Peppa asks if perhaps the magic items might be housed at the Guild, but still be "owned" by Talina, if all she wants is the glory. Pumly says that he will put that to Talina and offer his advice to her, and promises to send word in a couple of days.
The characters get some rest, and spend the next few days in their own pursuits. Peppa and Boomer study the religion of cats, talking with some of the felines of Riverwall and looking for intersections with their own faith. Dire takes pieces of the creature and shows them to blacksmiths; he eventually wants to work them into irom...or reanimate them into a servant? Sausagedog, inspired by the feeling of weightlessness, starts working on gymnastics and aerial combat.
Petunia goes back to Xerses and explains what happened. She actually was wearing the Master's Eye, and so shows him what she saw. When the battle with the creature starts, Xerses flings the device off in fear, and identifies it as "the etherkesh!"
After he calms down, he explains. The etherkesh is a servant of a much more powerful and evil creature called the nagayaga. The nagayaga is, according to legend, a cat that made a bargain with a horrible Unseen power to become half cat, half snake. It was after the circlet, which Xerses also identifies. It was created around the start of the War by a cat named Opaline von Korat, and the circlet is simply known as "the Opaline." The history isn't clear on what it does (something involving spycraft?). Xerses shows Petunia a picture of Opaline von Korat, and Petunia notes a strong resemblance to Fliss. Perhaps Fliss was a descendant, and his mere presence was enough to activate the Opaline?
Xerses warns Petunia to be very careful. The nagayaga is dangerous and evil, and it apparently wants the Opaline. Petunia thanks him and informs the others, and notes that they haven't heard anything from Talina - is everything OK?
They go to the resort, but it seems up and running. When they enter, though, the receptionist dog looks nervous and summons Pumly. Pumly informs them that Talina has decided to keep everything found in the caverns, and that they are not to be granted access to the items or entrance to the grounds. Pumly isn't explicit about why, but it's clear that Dire's attempted theft, along with his criminal connections (which Pumly has now investigated), are a big part of it.
Petunia asks Pumly if they can sit down and talk about this - Talina is in danger and they have information that Pumly should hear. Pumly agrees, hesitantly, and says he'll meet them at Hunter's Haven. They go on ahead, and Dire complains that he's left the criminal life behind. The others point out, though, that he's still stealing on a regular basis and that the distinction between criminal and former criminal might be lost on someone like Pumly.
The dogs arrive at Hunter's Haven, a famous inn in Southgate, and reserve a private room to have lunch and meet with Pumly. We shall pick it up there next time!
