The Juggler

So, I couldn't get the chest open, and soon I felt myself turned on the side, and being moved. Shit. Someone was taking *my* chest, with me in it! The mystery was soon solved when I was unceremoniously dumped out of the chest in front of the juggler from Magras' menagerie. I stood up and dusted myself off while some monkeys scurried off with the chest. We were in the large, open courtyard of some jungle ruin. I demanded to know why he had brought me here, and he informed me that he was going to trade me to my brother in exchange for Hanu's head. (Before we left Tortuga, the man had offered to buy Hanu's head. The offer was refused.) He offered me some food, but I wasn't hungry. I tried walking around, trying to find a way out, but any way I walked, the path just turned in on itself, and I ended up back at the courtyard. There were no good places to hide, either, or even a small niche or two in the wide courtyard.

I was becoming increasingly frustrated at being stuck in this plane, and lopped off the head of one of the monkeys, hoping to at least anger the juggler. He just laughed, and the monkey continued to scamper around, playing with its own head. The juggler seemed frustrated himself at Magras and Hanu's lack of alacrity, and offered to let me watch while they decided what they were going to do. I declined, and commented that I disliked the decor, so the juggler dressed the monkeys in pirate outfits, and they started firing cannonballs at me. After several minutes of this game, Hanu and Magras finally started approaching. They were both flying on the serpent over the labyrinth leading towards us, and as they flew, the monkeys started throwing exploding juggling balls at them. The serpent dodged them with ease, and after a small wait, Hanu and Magras arrived.

Hanu and the juggler agreed upon a riddle contest. If Hanu could not solve the juggler's riddle, he owed his head. If he solved it, I got to go free. Yay. I do so love being bargained for like a prize cow. The riddle was fairly easy - even I knew the answer, or part of it. He was to name the wise monkeys, and he named all four. After conceding the contest, the juggler started laughing hysterically, and turned in a small child. The real juggler, who is apparently the Monkey King, arrived, and told Magras that she said he would understand her game. The child then offered to put everything back to normal, somewhat dismayed at our lack of appreciation for her game. When asked about herself, she said her name was Magrasi, and she was quite excited that I was to be traveling with them. Alls well that ends well, I suppose. Now that I seemed to have two seconds to myself, I went back to my wagon, to mourn my losses.