The Danger Gang Investigate The Gaudy Dungeon Of Mount Salerno

The Danger Gang rises and shines bright and early, ready to take on the dangers of Mount Salerno. First, however, Martialis sends out some bird messengers. One goes to Ezio with the mysterious inscription from the monument to Wittiga. Another goes to Gershom telling him to meet them at Salerno. The last goes to Eorl as a request for aid should he not hear from them in a few days.

With that, they scale Mount Salerno. As they approach the ruins of the palace, a powerful rain comes out of nowhere. This rain seems wholly unnatural. They reach the palace and take cover in a bombed out tower. There's a trap door in the floor, leading to a winding corridor leading to a big old room. The bid old room's walls are covered in silver (it's all very tacky) with bas reliefs depicting Hermes (on the North wall), Saturn (on the West), Persephone (on the South), and Amphotrite (on the East). A 6" tall robot marches into the room and gestures that they should follow it. Hush can hear it giving off a high pitched whine. It leads them to a door with a tiny doggie-door in it. The plop a pot over him and head through a different door. After all, the Danger Gang are not sheep to be herded.

They find themselves in a huge room decorated with pearls and nets, with a mirrored ceiling and a giant pool. By the edge of the pool there is a stool with a red velvet dress upon it. They call out and a woman pops out. She introduces herself as Frystubinyiy, the duena of the Princess. She asks if they can turn around while she changes. Karl turns back around a little too soon for her taste, so she belts him one across the face, and I mean belts him. Everyone quickly apologizes and she seems placated. She leads through a series of opulent rooms to, they assume, the princess; each room more garish than the last. She claims to have been the duena (or nanny) of the princess since before the earthquake that destroyed the palace. They ask her if she's seen any cat people, to which she responds, "maybe this will answer your question"

Then a dozen or so Cat People burst out of nowhere, and Can is once more confronted by a towering image of his own worst nightmare. This time though, he knows it to be false, and the Phantom Killer has no effect. As recourse, he shoves a lightening bolt down the throat of his enemies. There is much fighting of cat people, and the duena gets in on the asswhooping for good measure too. There is much fighting going around, and the spellcasting Cat Man proves to be just as tough an opponent as they remember. This time, though, our boys seize the day. The individual Cat Men fall first, then the duena (who turns into some kind of old hag). An iris appears behind the spellcasting cat and he steps back through it, gone forever. Or so it would seem. The Danger Gang takes the duena hostage and return to the surface to plot their next move.