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Cut Scene: In The Previous Episode Of Sythkyllya

The traveller, Sethkill, has come to the South American nation-state of Azatlan in an attempt to find his missing girlfriend Keselt and determine how exactly his estranged half-brother is involved in the events that have transpired. Sethkill and Keselt are not human; they are sethura, a species that resembles more than anything else a sort of carnivorous, wolfen gazelle. Nonetheless, Sethkill is welcomed in Azatlan, where sophisticated genetic and biological manipulation has become common-place, and he is seen as a most splendid example of the art.

Encountering a mysterious individual who seems to know the future, Sethkill is advised to find two specific individuals, Terrowne Kilroy Ziusuadra (last seen in a remote outpost in Hy-Brasil) and Cleo Ymaris Estar (celebrity exotic dancer, rumored brothel owner and confirmed menace to public morality). Taking a light aircraft to the outpost, Sethkill locates Terrowne, who appears perfectly normal and human but is in a melancholy mood and has presumably been exiled there for a reason. Terrowne is perfectly willing to come along simply in case something interesting happens.

Arriving back in Azatlan City, they go in search of Cleo, who is found in the club The Ranthuri's Lair engaged in a sort of sex-combat forfeit-match against Kirstine N'Marie, her old rival and the determined perpetrator of an ongoing grudge. Kirstine has agreed to the quite explicit terms of the fight in order to have her shot, but when Cleo wins she disdainfully refuses to claim her forfeit. She is extensively augmented with large sections of the genome from a lioness, and claims that she had a significantly unfair advantage in the fight, but her act of generosity angers Kirstine all the more.

Persuading Cleo to join up is harder, but mention of an imminent threat against the Nation of Azatlan as a whole triggers instincts from her military past, and she is persuaded to hasten with them to a safe place, a fortified tower designed to resist even the most effective strike. They arrive just in time, but the attack is far more severe than anyone could have anticipated. An entire spread of nuclear weapons takes out most of Azatlan, with enormous casualties. No normal human could survive the forces unleashed, and even heavily enhanced individuals are mostly killed. Only those who are underground at the time survive. Sethkill believes his brother is responsible.

After keeping to shelter for several days to allow the particulates to settle, Sethkill and his new companions emerge to meet with the ship Vermillion Dragon, which was supposed to return on that date with a cargo delivery. The ship approaches just long enough to pick them up, then hastily sets forth to sea again. Part of the cargo is a cryptic carved stone, like a grave marker for the nation of Azatlan, with a strange inscription. Sethkill is offended and smashes it, then suggests to Cleo and Terrowne that they travel overland with him to his species' base in Khem. He had planned to use air travel to get home, but given the stakes involved, caution is essential. Likewise, any extended ocean travel would also make them an easy target.

The proposed route of the journey is overland to the ancient trade city of Lacrunta, then through the mountains to a small village named Ypsilante, the highest end-point of a trade route serviced by large riverboats which carry goods and passengers back and forth. From the riverboat, it should be a fairly straight shot to the newly rebuilt Middle-Eastern city of Uruk, also a significant trading hub, and then onward to Khem. Blending in will make them a lot harder to find, but carries with it its own risks. Cleo and Terrowne agree to the plan, and the Vermillion Dragon drops them off at the nearest point on the coast before striking off on its own as a diversion.