Vegas, Baby!

Suddenly he stirred, as if from a deep sleep. "Oh mama," he exclaimed, "it's time to make some new choices because the old ones bite! One thing's for sure though, this cat was made for finer things. The King is just going to have to find some other brave knight to kill the Dragon." And with that the knight of cool leapt up onto his steed and barreled down the mountain peak the way he had come. Paulito had decided to head for Vegas!

Vegas was a city-state known throughout the land. It was infamous for its carnal delights and endless gaming halls. The city was built on an oasis found in the westernmost region of the Calamari Desert, not far from the borders of the Kingdom of Mornom. The King of Mornom was a just and righteous man. He would have burned Vegas to the ground if he could, for he hated its corrupt and debauched ways. But there was nothing he could do; the hired mercenaries and the legendary CosaNostra guardsmen kept the city well protected from attack. And the harsh desert clime made extended military campaigns almost impossible. But the good King Saltus believed that it was just a matter of time before all the weight of Vegas' greed and depravity would bring its walls crashing down around it. And when that happened the King would be there, laughing.

In the meantime, King Saltus kept watch. He had to. Vegas was more than just a city of games and pleasure. It was a place where people went to make plots and plan intrigues. And with Vegas almost within his "backyard" Saltus knew he could not afford to turn a blind eye to it. Doing that just might cost him his throne.

The King paid special attention to all of the traffic that moved into and out of the desert that bordered his realm. Along the hard packed roads that led out to Vegas, he posted guards and spies. He knew when caravans from the Near West made their way down from the passes of the nearby Carpathia Mountains or moved along the avenues up from the south. They came for the business of trading with the countries of the East; Mornom, Gala, Allaria, Hespan and the others. But sooner or later they all headed straight to Vegas. Saltus had no taste for foreign schemes and so kept his most vigilant eye on them. But his watchers didn't forget those threats closer to home. They could count the number of hillmen that left their mountain enclaves to make the trek to the city of sin. They knew which merchants came to play the games of chance and the names of all the lords that traveled there from their castles in the east and the south.

Now while everyone knew that the King kept a constant watch on his border, the incredible scope of his surveillance was a closely guarded secret. The King had no desire for his court to become a trading house for blackmail secrets. But if he had ever wanted to, King Saltus could have made the men of half-a-dozen kingdoms squirm. And more than one high-born man's life had been saved from secret assassination by the keen vigilance and sound actions of the wise King.

Meanwhile...

Paulito had traveled clear across the Great Kingdom, from its southern border with the Shreken Mountains to its northern boundary along the Calamari desert. It had taken him many weeks. Along the way he had sold his armor and everything else that could have given his identity away. He had no desire to be found out as a deserter. Being lynched just didn't sound that good to him. The only thing he kept was his family sword; it had been passed down from father to son for generations and he could not bear to lose it. But he did take care to wrap its well known silver duck-head pommel with a strip of soft wool.

Once he had made it to the edge of the Calamari, Paulito headed west. He passed through the Three Kingdoms and then crossed over into Mornom. From there he followed the dusty Flamingo Road and it was with a sigh of relief that he finally beheld the glittering domes and shining towers of the city men called Vegas. "Groovy!"

1. Paulito entered the city.

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