The Danger Gang Auxiliary Meet The Baroness Kosmina

At dawn, the Danger Gang Auxiliary bids adieu to Gerbertus and Manole, who head into the Taramul Kalalalt on their mission of mass distraction. A little later, the DGA heads in to the barony of Dumatrescu. They find their way to the town outside the castle of Baron Ovadu, and Arben tracks down the barber that passed on the invite from her previously. He gets a shave and a haircut and asks if he can get her a message. The barber says she'll track them down if she's interested. He also mentions that a black dude has been looking for him. They rent a room for the afternoon with one Widow Flavia, who seems to be a bit of a creepy MILF. They decide to migrate towards the vampiress's castle rather than stay with her.

They arrive at the castle at around dusk. There's still the moat full of black starfish. The drawbridge lowers and they head in. They head down a right hallway (noticing that the interior walls of the rooms they're in are clammy and damp). Past a grand hallway, they find themselves in a parlor, where they decide to take a seat, so as to not go tromping about the home of their host. Soon the door behind them gets locked and a suit of platemail comes to life to fight them. Olibrius starts picking lock the lock and the rest of the gang starts fighting it. They take care of the armor without too much trouble (Cyril gets an Agethersi suit of armor out of the deal). They decide to head back the other way, this is probably a sign.

Back down the other end of the hallway, down another great hall. Soon they encounter a great big staircase. An elegant woman in a black evening gown practically floats down the stairs. She introduces herself as the baroness Kosmina. She invites them to join her other guests for dinner. They incline, Arben all the while trying to keep up the charm.

At dinner they are introduced to the long lost Cardinal Valentine dining with to delightful looking St. Pauli Girls; Gretchen and Heidi. They all sit down to a sumptuous feast (Kosmina merely sips something from a goblet) and pleasant conversation. The following topics are covered:

• Some black guy is looking for the Danger Gang.

• A masked man from the East recently has arrived in the Kalalalt. Several theories are bandied about (Al-Hassan? Phillip IV?)

• The Gang did send Phillip IV into the Kalalalt. If anybody runs into him, don't mention the Danger Gang.

• The Little Book of Al-Wathiq is produced; Kosmina finds the inscription quite amusing.

• Gretchen and Heidi came from Germany to learn the fine art of being a lady from the Baroness.

• Cardinal Valentine thinks you can no longer get spells above the second level in the Kalalalt. Wirshen suspects he's just having his levels drained.

• Everyone is kind of glad that the Agethersi got fucked so bad, except maybe Cyril, but he doesn't speak gypsy, so he gets left out of that part of the conversation.

Continuing on the last topic, Arben pulls Kosmina aside to tell her of his little plan for revenge. He can't stand jerks like the Agethersi, and is now itching for his own, private revenge. He heard that Zombur Fotfrumous's wife, Ilyana, was quite lovely, and since she's now technically a widow, he would love to comfort her. Perhaps take her from the Kalalalt so that she's once more out of his reach forever. Kosmina seems mildly bored by this line of conversation, but she offers a letter of introduction to the Mummy Queen of Arthropodia, who she believes might be holding Ilyana. Or hosting her.

The dinner soon winds down. The gang gets shown to their room. The Baroness apologizes, but explains that she has assorted duties to attend to. The gang decides to stay up until dawn (just in case) and then start resting in shifts the next morning.