Philomena does, indeed, seem to have fixed Elwood. "Truly, I would be honored to accompany you on such a venture. I owe a great debt to those who rescued me from my stony servitude." He seems embarrassed. "While you were certainly instrumental in my rescue, the ultimate thanks must go to Philomena who restored me to the flesh. So my first priority must be to remain here and guard her safety, but I wish you well in the Nameless City."
The Ninth Menegril has given instructions to his servants that he is casting a ritual and is not to be disturbed. Nothing has been heard from his wing of the palace for weeks.
His servants are arranging to find you and your fellow planar travelers assistance in gaining travel permits to visit the Foreigner's Quarter of the Nameless City. When those are arranged, perhaps you will find a buyer for the magic lips.
However, being (for the moment) confined to the Menegril's palace does not prevent you from shopping for unusual mounts. Once the necessary permits are purchased - with the liberal application of 600 gp in bribes to speed the process - the dealers fly their wares to the roof of the Menegril's guest wing. (You roll a 3 on your d20, x200 for the metropolis of the Lost City: you thus spend 600 gp, earning 600 xp, and not requiring a saving throw which is good because it would have been a 6.)
No fewer than a dozen beasts are shown to you. Nine of them are either unsuitable (the fire elemental does not come with an asbestos saddle) or unwilling to accept an elf as a rider. The remaining beasts, and their asking prices are:
- a giant bee, flies twice as fast as an unarmored man, capable of carrying you but not much else, has a poisonous sting but using it is fatal to the bee, costs 3,000 gp.
- a shadow drake, insubstantial, casts a heavy-metal-album-cover silhouette, could not be ridden by anyone other than K-Dubbs but has him very excited, costs 2,000 gp.
- a twenty-foot-long armored alien worm, being sold by a merchant who resembles it as a man does an ape; the seller's name for the beast translates as "Battledrinker"; it hovers in the air using some unseen force, inches forwards half as fast as the plate-armored members of your party did when laden with as much of the golden Thracian throne as they could carry, but could easily carry four humans on its back and perhaps more in a net slung underneath and has an eel-like maw fringed with nasty teeth; costs 5,000 gp.