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Klik Klak jumps, skitters, scrabbles and dodges – its hunger driving it towards the Intulo capital city of Okun Nla, its fear of retaliation for trespassing driving it back. It moves at a shocking speed for its size, flashing between hiding holes, shallow waters, undersea caves and sloping shoreline. In the distance, the shining walls of Okun Nla and endless food and Amandla within. The capital of the Salamander is well-defended… but not impregnable. Klik Klak’s presence is noted nearly immediately – after all, tens of thousands of Intulo stream in and out of Okun Nla on a weekly basis. But its bizarre behavior – not obviously threatening, but certainly not conveying peaceable intentions either.
The High Council of the Salamanders wrestles with the correct approach, and at one point, physical violence breaks out amongst the nine Salamander Oligarchs, when one accuses the other of cowardice. Sadly, the High Council is often more concerned with the appearance of strength than the reality of it – many of the armaments dotting the defensive ziggurats on the four corners of the city are of questionable manufacture and the defensive budget for the city has been repeatedly slashed over the years…
Frantic assessments are made of the defensive emplacements, and ancient Amanzi-cannons are charged with reckless speed. Battalions of Intulo harpoon-wielders are pressganged into service – half of them simply unlucky citizens having been caught out in the open when the recruiting patrols passed by. But when the time comes to order an attack – no order comes. Klik Klak’s evasive maneuvers have demonstrated its agility – there is considerable doubt amongst the Intulo defenders whether their heavier armaments might be able to connect with the strange beast...
And so Klik Klak jitters on the outskirts of Okun Nla – every hour, dancing a bit closer…
