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Issue Summary

Escaping from Serrea (see last issue), Cerebus sells his sword to Turan Genn. On patrol in the Red Marches, he takes shelter from the constant rain in a tree stump. A group of Pigts find him and want to take him to their leader, Bran Mak Mufin. Put off by their "disturbing" attitude, but hoping to get out of the wet, Cerebus follows them to their underground city. Along the way they retrieve their swords, and Cerebus notes their high quality. They climb down a tunnel in a hollow stump. The sentinel, Fret Mac Mury, lets them pass.

Bran greets the aardvark with reverence. He explains the mission of the Pigts: "We exist only to topple the empire ... you name it and we've toppled it." They have a grand total of fifty men. Cerebus thinks he is "crazy as a Panrovian monk" but agrees to stay the night. Bran shocks him by correctly guessing his age (twenty-six) and says they will talk further the next day. That night a faint sound wakes him. Wary, he follows it to a temple, where the Pigts are worshiping an idol in the form of an aardvark. Bran announces that they have found their "god-king" again and that he will lead them to victory.

Stunned, Cerebus waits until the Pigts leave. He considers the possibility of leading them to conquest and plunder, but he can't see himself as a religious figure. He destroys the clay idol, finds an exit, and climbs back to the surface.