Chapter 16, Part 1 "Certain Essential Salts"

The Adventurers:
Buzz Brazelhach - Womanizing Australian Fightin' Bloke
Corporal Radar O'Reiley - Naive Earth Boy Rocket Soldier
Dickie Dee - Bone Man Sorcerer Junkie
Jedediah - 1850s Hayseed Southerner Fightin' Man
Jek-Mor - Creepy Hyperborean Sorcerer
Mookla - Reeking, Deformed (yet very intelligent!) Mutant of the Slime Lands
Rodan the Scrounger - Zermish Green Man Fighting Scavenger

And Introducing:

"Doctor Death" - Mutant Sorcerer

Part II Here.

...the majority of the Gnoles come dashing forward in a pincer maneuver to attack the party's flanks while the rest stand back and fire missiles at the adventurers. The small spherical ceramic bomb activated by Dickie Dee appears in the midst of the Gnole artillery and several mangy bodies are sent flying and broken. Between blade and a sleep spells the remainder of the Gnole raiders are swiftly dispatched.

The party finishes their journey to Jakay and rests in the Bronze Engine where they see an aristocratic looking Sorcerer in luxurious glyph-embroidered robes sitting by himself. Buzz Brazelhatch attempts to make conversation; the Sorcerer is haughty, condescending, rude and does not wish to have his time wasted by the Australian adventurer. Over supper they discuss their next move; having heard that the Baron of Canyx collects fine firearms and energy weapons they resolve to meet with said Baron.

The party also takes notice of a strange looking gaunt, veiled mutant with a mass of bristling cili for hair. It bears the implements of a Sorcerer and soon it has joined the group. This mutant calls itself "Doctor Death."

They set out on Ornith-back the next morning and soon are before the gates to Agog City where they see the same arrogant Sorcerer hectoring the guards at the gate. "My time is too important for you waste any more! Let me through post-haste!"

The party next travels to the Lamia's Breath Intoxicating Vapour lounge where Dickie Dee the jittery Bone Man Sorcerer and Jek-Mor the creepy pale Hyperborean Sorcerer buy a variety of intoxicants. Jek-Mor also purchases an ornate tarnished silver syringe in order to fully enjoy the several lumps of acrid, brown Dream-Gum he purchased.

Next they travel the relatively short (by Ornith) distance to the mining settlement of Canyx, built at the head of a canyon cutting through the southern Iridium Plateau and composed of pleasant tan and cream simple buidlings with lush foliage on the rooftops. The blue-skinned guards are clad in simple beige robes and synthetic weave armor, they bear firelances with flickering heads.

The party is questioned by the guards who request a donation to help with the maintenance of Canyxs' beautiful rooftop gardens. Buzz graciously offers to cover the rest of the party and gives the guards twenty gold pieces.

The guards laugh and mock Buzz for his meagre donation. They tell of how other visitors to the fair town of Canyx appreciated their fine gardens and paid gracious princely donations for the upkeep of said gardens.

The Earth Boy Rocket Soldier Radar O'Reiley offers a larger sum and the guards again laugh, although kindly, "Oh son, it is heart warming to see a child like you trying to help out with the contents of your coin-bank and we thank you although this is the sort of thing that grown-ups take care of with real grown-up money."

Finally Buzz gives the guards are substantially larger sum which the guards graciously accept and provide directions to the out-of-towner's hostel, The House of the Eighteen Columns.

Traveling through Canyx, which is constructed descending down the canyon on either side, teh party sees lush rooftop gardens, pleasant simple well-maintained sandcrete buildings, and happy, clean looking populace, mostly blue-skinned hairless Kherulhi folk, mostly clad in simple tan, beige and cream garments that match the buildings, and many of them are miners.

These miners are very different that the ones the party saw in Pit. They whistle or sing jaunty mining jigs. They are substantially cleaner. They bear smiles and none of the signs of intoxicant abuse.

They come across two happy workmen bearing a large sheet of strange glass and singing a song about carrying glass "Carrying glass...in the sunlight..carrying glass...for the baron....glass for the baron's manor..." The party notices that in the shadows the glass is clear and that in the sunlight is goes dark and opaque. After questioning the good-natured labourers some of the party wonder if perhaps they should get some shields made from such glass which is apparently very hard to break and resolve to visit the Glasswights of Canyx.

They arrive at the House of the Eighteen Columns, surrounded by the eighteen columns. The proprietress is a no-nonsense puritan of an unattractive middle-aged woman. Unsurprisingly she reject's Buzz Brazelhach's advances.

The party goes out seeking carousing. They come across a clean, loud pub...The Cliff Cleaver, which is surrounded by and full of jolly well-scrubbed miners, mostly blue. The proprietress is an ancient wrinkled Zhaxxi woman crone with silver skin and gray hair. Buzz chides himself for considering her figure.

The party orders a round of gin...including the youth Radar O'Reiley who has previously refused any alcohol! Several large metal flagons of gin are placed on their table and all raise their beakers for a toast to the party before quaffing the liquor...which has a distinct flavour of urine!

As the party sputters and spits outraged demands for explanations are made of the proprietress who explains that the waste fluids of Canyx are processed by a Vat Guild facility. She buys certain essential salts lost in bodily functions from the facility and uses them to fortify the gin she sells for constitutional purposes.

The party is shocked and furious...aside from Rodan the Scrounger who has come across such practices in his scavengings and wanderings. While other discretely empty their beakers and pour gins from their own canteens into the containers (aside from Rodan who continues quaffing the gin of Canyx) Jek-Mor begins a loud, wheedling tirade about how terrrible Canyx is and hectors the shocked pub patrons at length before the party retires for the evening.