The Homunculus Flunks the Touring Test (ibid)

[ergo sum]

Oh I’ve been waiting on the 10K
All the livelong day.
On I’ve been waiting on the 10K
Just to pass the time away.

Not only had the 10k legion not arrived at the castle gates but suddenly overnight 10,000 people had just disappeared. Lists were posted about the castle and only people on the lists remained. Many moaned that they should have been on the list and threatened the kneecaps of the evil AMTD. Frantic phone calls to Mitch the Listkeeper were made. The harvest moon parade was canceled and the float was locked up in the stable. Fatwa the Kuwaiti wandered about the alleyways looking for potential joint ventures.

A vehement debate was going on in the Hall of Neverendings about the reliability of the Oracle of the Sarcophagus. Some it seemed had come to doubt his veracity. Others thought the whole thing was just a mirage created by smoke pumped out of a squealing pipe. Many continued to defend his prognostications citing the well known example of Phoenician engravings having been found in the jungles of Brazil.

Free toothpicks were handed out after every meal. Classes were held in the Palace Tutorium on ecology and global warming with an emphasis on the economic ramifications of carbon sinks and exotic hardwood bathtubs.

The repairs to the damage done to Manor by the recent hail and brimstone were going fairly well. Spirits were not so high among the serfs but their fortitude was not lacking.
“Oh we work eight hours
And sleep eight hours
And have eight hours of fun.....” They sang as they did their repairs.
Couriers arrived with death threats for the elusive Slovenean and for the even more evasive Slippery the Short.

The Bishop seemed preoccupied with other things. He spent most of his days on the phone with his banker in Florence. Running out now and then to do charity work for the ill and impoverished. His nights were dedicated to legal scholarship and a vacation he was planning on an Island in the new world.