Deja Vu at Dr. Lao's Tournament PLUS Cornish Adventures!

Unable to shake the strange feeling that they've done all this before, the Danger Gang heads to Egypt for Kolya's and Arben's Round One matches in Dr. Lao's Tournament. The not-at-all-bored rest of the party spends their time scoping out and jawing with various fellow adventurers friendly and foe...y? Zombres feels out the Jomsvikings for a hypothetical future raid on the Lady of Avalon; Arben manages to make a Faustian bargain with Evelake in, like, three minutes. Welsh bard Dylan ap Mabon has tons of good intel on the Lady's side-quests: Twrch Trwyth, he of the shears and comb, is in fact a giant boar, driven into the sea off Cornwall by King Arthur and co.; while the potent honey of Caer Oeth Anoeth can only be carried in the cup of Llyr son of Llyrion, which used to be in an ash grove on the Isle of Man but now, who knows? Ogrid the Ale-brewer (don't tell him his log-encased soul is hanging out in Chrysopolis now, OK?) also dishes on his patroness, who's apparently been acting weird and eating all the magic items she can get her hands on since talking to a fish a ways back. He also advises the DG to just go ahead and do her side-quests.

So it's back to Glastonbury Tor, where Arben generously harp-builds a spankin' new abbey for Brother Jago. Then on down the wang of England to the Cornish coast, where they rest (and chat in a language that isn't crazy) with the hospitable monks of St. Michael's Mount. There they learn that Twrch Trwyth is definitely an Aqua-Boar now, with fearsome ship-destroying tusks, and occasional boarlets, one of whom has shiny silver bristles; and that the self-playing harp the Lady covets likely belongs to Jack the Giant-Killer, who after killing local giant Cormoran, moved into his castle in the clouds. And sure enough, flying straight up, there's TOTES a castle up there--guarded by rock-hucking giants, of course. But a little magicked-up conviviality leads to a promise of a future appointment with Jack IV anon!