Literally half a minute before the flood came in, a female Shean who thought she was too late to bring herself to safety, screeched at the top of her voice when the water touched her foot. Luckily for Klaus, her piercing scream jolted him up from his slumber. It took a while for reality to settle into his groggy, sleep deprived brain which was blissfully unaware of impending doom. With the water gushing towards him just metres away and the panicky Sheans climbing up all around him, the only thing that came into his mind was to save the precious books of knowledge. With his relatively petite build and lack of agility, Klaus manages to salvage most but not all of the books by gathering them and swiftly placing them in one of the Riahs. He has enough faith in the Riah to keep the books safe but not enough for him to seek shelter in it, worrying that the Riah will be washed away, along with him in it.

Whilst all those were happening, Kappa, who was nearby collecting nitrogen, started his descent from his 35th trip of the day. He was considering a break before heading for a well deserved meal when the signs of impending flood came. Even though he probably had sufficient time to descend fully and find a proper shelter if he picked up his pace, he was too lazy and tired and decided to just hold on to where he was. It was a height high enough on the Riah for him to stay dry from the flood anyway. From where he was, he could clearly see what Klaus was doing. From the time when he jolted up from his sleep to this very moment when he entered the Riah to keep the books safe, he witnessed it all. This whole time Kappa was worried and he thinking to himself how ludicrous Klaus was, putting the safety of the books in front of his own life. He eventually heaved a sigh of relieve when he saw Klaus entering the Riah with the books.

But to Kappa’s disbelieve, Klaus comes dashing out of the Riah and attempts to scale it to safety. He musters all his strength and tries to get a grip but fails terribly and fell back to the ground as he had used up all his strength previously in getting the books to safety at the quickest time possible. Bewildered by Klaus’s choice of actions, but having a bird eye’s view of the impending flood, Kappa’s instinct kicks in and brings him leaping towards the Riah Klaus is at. He releases his grip, slides down the Riah to get down low enough to reach out to Klaus and shouts out “Grab my hands, I’ll pull you up!”

Klaus instantaneously seizes Kappa’s hand and gives his all to try to climb the Riah again. He knows that if he fails to do so on this attempt, he will not have sufficient time to seek shelter in the Riah even if he wanted to, and he will definitely end up like the Shean who got washed off. As for Kappa, he cannot even start to imagine how is it like to have another one of his own getting washed off right in front of him. And so, even with his burnt hands from sliding down the Riah, sore muscles from the climbs and the doubt that he can actually save the both of them with whatever leftover strength he can muster, he did not hesitate a single second to try save Klaus.

With Klaus’ fear and Kappa’s resolve, they garner just enough strength to ascend high enough to be safe from being washed away. Luckily for them, the flood water was raising slower than usual and the water only rose up to their knee level, not quite enough for the gushing water to wash them away. While waiting for the water to fully reside, both of their muscles started to tremble with fatigue and they both burst out in laughter at each other, seemingly forgetting how they just narrowly escaped death. Just as they are laughing, the water fully resided and they made their way down to the ground.

Klaus was immensely thankful for Kappa’s help and bravery. If not for Kappa, he would have been washed off from face of the world for eternity. As they were introducing themselves, a thought came up to Klaus’ mind. “Why don’t I bring Kappa to meet the Chieftain and get him to try and run as a candidate for the second role as a Henchman? He has what it takes to be the second Henchman. Physically inclined, courageous and has very good situation awareness.”

Despite the fact that they just met moments ago, they had that affinity which kept them chattering on and on throughout the journey to the Chieftain’s place. Klaus was overjoyed at the thought that Kappa will possibly be his partner as the second Henchman and he could not wait to tell Alda about him.

For Kappa, roll two dice and add the value to your intelligence. If it adds up to a value greater than 6, Alda will accept you as his second Henchman. Thereafter, describe how the two of you manage to convince the Chieftain to accept Kappa as his second Henchman and being the second in command for the whole of Shea or what did the two of you decides to do if Alda finds you unsuitable.