Ko and Brooke make their way out from the underground and northward, across the plains.

• -room for development-

After traveling for quite a while, the two approach the community of Daccha Vira. The establishment is a veritable city of shacks, tents, and aging structures that survived the end of the Protean-Antarean war. It sits on the edge of a broad bay that opens to the long, barren coastline of the continent beyond. Not very far away (relatively) is a treacherous mountain range that juts deep into the black clouds above; their peaks are hidden in a dark storm that never ceases and almost always casts a shadow over Daccha Vira.

• As Ko and Brooke near the edge of the city, a small band of thieves ambushes them, seemingly from out of nowhere. Brooke quickly turns to run and calls for Ko, but he doesn't come. (*Even though the player has control of Ko, for some reason he simply won't move. At this point, the part of him that just wants to end it has taken charge.)

• Moments before one of the thieves can reach him, Brooke has enough time to run back, touch Ko, and he seemingly disappears just before he is decapitated. As a result, the thief's weapon misses, swings wide, and hits Brooke bluntly in the head. She is knocked out. Having seen Brooke's magic technique, the group of attackers is very wary, very interested, and slightly frightened. Nonetheless, they pick Brooke up and carry her away.

• The only one left at the entrance of Daccha Vira is Ko. Brooke has actually transformed him into a skunk, which is not immediately apparent, but-luckily-we are aware of Ko's thoughts.

  • No, he's not all that happy about it either.

  • Yes, the player is actually controlling a skunk.

• From out of a dark crevice comes an even darker figure. He wields an amazingly elegant broadsword and approaches the skunk, with caution. Though, as he addresses the animal as "boy," we know that he had witnessed the latter part of the abduction when Brooke used her magic ability. Frustrated because Ko can't communicate, the dark knight reasons that whether or not the "witch" (as he calls her) is friend or foe, her powers now lie in dangerous hands. He also figures that she is most likely the only remedy for Ko's condition.

  (*Say hello to Rush. One fact that is not divulged right now is that Rush also recognizes Brooke as a Protean. He knows that just her presence may bring up complicated matters. Rush is part of an underground order of elders and knights who swore loyalty to each other during the Protean-Antarean war. This group was casually known among common folk as the ?Protectors,? because they often interfered in Protean-Antarean battles for the safety of innocent surface-dwellers. In that sense, they did protect, but there was something even more far reaching that was the true object of their protection: ancient knowledge of what the war was all about, and what it meant if one side won over the other. For this reason, the Protectors did everything they could to keep both sides on an even playing field, even if it meant assisting one side during one battle, and the other during the next. Rush is one of the remaining few that carry the knowledge withheld in oath by the Protectors.)

• Ko the Skunk follows Rush into Daccha Vira.

The two wander through the city, looking for any signs of the thieves or of Brooke. They also have access to the measly resources of Daccha Vira; there are a few shabby shops and a dirty but serviceable inn. The pubs are even worse, mainly for the crowd they attract. A few insane men and a group of drunks make up the majority, but a few know Rush, calling him the Nomad Knight. Most of the random people in the city tend to stray away when they see Ko waddling alongside. A few interesting situations may arise. [TODO: A few interesting situations]

• Talking with one of the drunks, Rush learns of a pub regular named Pomo. Apparently, Pomo is a "treasure hunter" (yes, a tip-of-the-hat that is) who just made his biggest find. Highly suspecting that Pomo is one of the thieves, Rush decides to hang out in the pub until he comes in.

• -room for development-

• Later on, the pub loudly cheers "Pomo!" as a scrawny man comes inside. He orders a drink, and notices that all the while Rush has been staring at him.

  • When asked, "You got a problem, pal?" Rush grabs Pomo, swings him around and pushes him against the wall. In a flash, his sword is out and against Pomo's neck. He demands to know where the "witch girl" is. Pomo denies any knowledge, but Rush pushes even harder; Pomo says Rush's show of force doesn't impress him any.

  • Knowing he has come to an impasse, Rush puts up his sword, grabs Ko from the floor, and holds the poor creature rear-end-up to Pomo's face.

  • Pomo quickly explains that his group sold the girl for thirty loaves to a (relatively) wealthy [Petrolan] Gygan named Paerda who lives in a large bungalow on the outskirts of town.

• Rush thanks Pomo for his help and drops him back where he was before.

• The two leave the pub and head for Paerda's bungalow.

  (* Rush knows of Paerda, vaguely, but he doesn't know what the rich guy wants with Brooke. Paerda actually doesn't want Brooke at all, but he was the one who hired the band of thieves to abduct her as soon as she came to the city. It was an Antarean who instructed Paerda to do so, an Antarean that didn't want to risk fighting Brooke head-on and alerting her to that threat. In any case, Paerda is more or less a pawn, helpless at the bidding of an Antarean (not Kydran) who supplies him with a rare addictive drug that grows only in Antares. This is how Paerda has become rich.)

Following a path a little ways from the main part of Daccha Vira, Rush and Ko come to a brightly-colored structure sitting on the waterfront. At its grand main entrance, a guard stands watch and prevents them from walking on in.

• After a few formal addresses, the conversation between Rush and the guard turn slightly more sinister, and Rush eventually ends up bribing him for information. He pays more and more for each tidbit of knowledge the guard gives him:

  • Yes, Paerda has a girl in his custody that was brought in just a little while ago.

  • She is being held in a room which is well-guarded and off limits to everyone but Paerda.

  • She is under the influence of altom powder, an inhalant which immediately renders unconscious any person who smells it.

  • The guard might be convinced to allow someone in to visit Paerda, if he finds he's given something ?convincing enough.? Rush is out of anything he could use as a bribe and says that he'll be right back.

• Ko and Rush return to Daccha Vira momentarily to find something with which to bribe the guard. There are probably many things that can be obtained, and depending on what the guard is given, he will allow the visitor to look around more or less inside Paerda's bungalow.

• After bartering for something suitable, Rush stops to explain a few things to Ko. Rush is going inside, mainly as a distraction. It will be up to Ko to find another way in, since he is small enough to fit through otherwise prohibitive openings, and get into Brooke's room. Once there he needs to ... do his thing ... which should momentarily counteract the altom powder and give Brooke a rude awakening. Once resuscitated, Brooke could probably just handle everything from there, given her powers.

• Ko stays outside as Rush heads off. The skunk sneaks around the bungalow and slips in through the back.

  • The passages inside are being patrolled by Paerda's servants, and if Ko is seen, he will be thrown outside and need to start over. Eventually, he finds a way up into the space above the ceiling and is able to get into Brooke's room from there.

  • Holding his skunk breath, Ko drops in, aims, and fires. The Protean princess is quick to react to the sudden change in atmosphere, and wakens, quite revolted by finding a skunk right next to her doing its thing. Then she remembers: a skunk! It's Ko! She morphs out of her restraints, and then quickly reaches out to touch him, and he is morphed back into his original form.

  • Quickly, still holding his breath, Ko finds the open container of altom powder sitting near where Brooke is chained to the wall, and seals it shut. Having cleared that hurdle, he takes a breath of relief, only to realize that his own scent isn't much of a pleasant alternative.

  • Brooke is rather surprised to see Ko coming to rescue her, but finds it more comfortable to complain about his rather undignified methods. Ko retorts that she was the one who turned him into a skunk in the first place. Brooke argues that she panicked when the thieves attacked Ko and that was the best she could do in a matter of seconds. Their debate is cut short when the door to her room opens.

• Rush is led inside (given more or less freedom, depending on his bribe) and eventually taken to Paerda. The [Petrolan] Gygan looks like a demented version of Santa Claus, and his room is far more luxurious than any in the area. He and Rush engage in an interactive conversation really of no consequence, since the knight is only stalling for time. After a while, Brooke and Ko pop in and cause quite a ruckus. Many of the guards come in and there is much battling.

• Finally, as Paerda is defenseless, he pleads for his life to be spared in exchange for further information. He tells the group that he has an Antarean contact who wished the girl to be stopped from returning home. This Antarean did have a red stripe down its snout.

  • Rush is greatly disturbed by this news; the war may still have a good deal of life left in it. He promises to accompany Brooke back to Protea and assess the situation there. He is, in fact, inwardly very glad to have something to do with his life yet again.

The group rests for a night in Daccha Vira and then heads out early the next morning.

Brook directs Ko and Rush back to where her journey began, to one of the only remaining surface gates. She explains en route that since Protea is an underground kingdom, a large security network of gates and tunnels keeps the possibility of invasion miniscule.

• As the group nears the surface gate, they see two Protean guards waving them on frantically. Brooke cheerfully identifies one of them as Tyrus the Head Gatekeeper. Rush un-cheerfully identifies the cause of their hollering: a swarm of Antareans is making its way down from the clouds toward the surface gate.

• Ko, once again, is almost a liability, and Rush practically has to pick him up. As the group gets to the gate, Tyrus instructs them to go below with the guard and close the gate.

• There is a rather awkward period of darkness and confusion, until Tyrus comes in from the surface to inform them that he has deterred the swarm, to welcome Brooke home, and to lead them down into the heart of the underground realm.