As the dark priestesses circled in and were joined by more weretigers, Dolorous thought it was time to call in reinforcements. With a flick of the magical talisman, Koresh appeared in the middle of Habib's Spiced Meats stall in the city bazaar. Deftly assessing the situation (with some screaming assistance from Captain Bonkers) Koresh unleashed a flurry of cutlery on the assailants in an effort to save the day.
Unfortunately, Koresh's one follower, Rodant Kapoor, was soon after called into the plane at a great height above Habib's. He plummeted through the genuine imitation silk awning and into a pan of hot frying oil, and hilarity ensued.
It remained to Captain Bonkers to save the day, and after a rampage of random proportions (sparing not even Koresh or Dolorous from the axe) all was soon a quivering heap of gore at his feet, and there was much rejoicing.
It was then that the weretigers gathered the party together and led them to a ramshackle apartment at the base of Temple Hill. There they were informed that the overlord of Sri Raji, Arijani, was a foul, evil-spirited collector of all things malevolent and mighty. It was believed that he had somehow obtained part of Dolorous' soul, and the group of weretigers, who want to be rid of Arijani, are willing to help the party in their quest if they will strike down Arijani in return.
To that end, they have reforged the porcelain and silver tiger Dolorous recovered into the Fist of Vishnu - a powerful silver weapon that can strike down Arijani where he is most vulnerable...
The next day, the four adventurous heroes head out to the temple. Kapoor was sent in to reconnoiter as Koresh led the others to the rear entrance. A holy fit of sneezing caught Koresh unawares, and the resulting expulsion eradicated an entire section of the temple wall, revealing a great golden egg within.
As the egg began to roll out of the temple and toward the party, Dolorous recognized the need to make herself scarce and assess the situation.
Captain Bonkers stood transfixed - hypnotized by what looked to be about three years' worth of deep mining...
Koresh was surprised and stunned - and frozen right in the egg's path. Only a large, Stonehenge-shaped flash of light told Dolorous that he probably wasn't crushed to death. Only my brother, she thought, could just stand there in the path of a ten-ton golden egg and have something good come of it...
And when the egg rolled over him, only a distant thundering sound and a flash of octarine light told her that something had happened, that things weren't exactly what they seemed.
And as the egg rolled over the Koresh-shaped hole in the hillside before coming to rest in a garden shed, a dozen local villagers emerged from the surrounding jungle. It was apparent that they had observed the tableau, and as they approached what was left of Koresh, they began muttering, chanting something amongst themselves.
They circled his prone body when, with a start, Koresh coughed and began to move. The villagers cried out and began to gesture wildly amongst themselves while chanting "Kalki! Kalki!! Kalki!!!"
"Oh, damn," Dolorous cursed under her breath as she emerged from her hiding place. "This is JUST what we need..."
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