Far, far away in a secret bunker in Antarctica, Moses the Younger was somewhat worried. His ever-faithful cousin Mordecai had left him to become a helicopter pilot. His beautiful-but-deadly warrioress, Tzipora, had left his company at least for the moment, in order to take up the much more important responsibility of being a mother to a child she didn't even birth. The annoying-but-yet-still-mildly-interesting Frenchman who'd faked his own death some 25 years ago had departed to make his next film.
His great adversary and arch-nemesis, the wise-yet-tough-as-old-boots Empress E-Ruby, hadn't been heard from for weeks. "If her boyfriend Marxist, or Tommy, or whatever he calls himself these days, has stolen her organs, there would be h*ck to pay," the Chieftain thought grimly. "E-Ruby comes from a long line of Rubies, and if anyone has the right to eliminate such a worthy opponent as the current Empress, it can only be me."
The Great Chieftain secretly knew he would never actually "eliminate such a worthy opponent", but he said it to sound tough, in case anyone was listening.
It was a church day, but the Great Chieftain was still experiencing a sickness from last night, when he had cooked himself the Antarctic variety of Mosestaria's national food. Suffice it to say, there was little else to do except remain somewhat green, feel ill, mope around the bunker and worry.
Disturbing also were the accounts from the Lanolinland propaganda machine that accused Mosestaria of using Eden Island as a sanctuary for raising child-killing eagles. The Great Chieftain recorded a note in his diary to dispatch a team of crack Mosestarian eagle-marksmen to E-Ruby's island paradise, in order that any truth in the rumours of baby-eating eagles would be quickly put to sleep - permanently.
The Lanolinland propaganda machine had indicated that E-Ruby's radio silence was due to her internet connection being stolen. The Great Chieftain therefore knew that the radio silence was due to any cause other than a stolen internet connection.
"International Spy Vision, tune into E-Ruby!" the Chieftain exclaimed suddenly.
The screen flickered to life, and an informative-but-concerning image came into view.
"Ghastly!" Moses exclaimed. The woman on the screen was dressed in old, torn clothes, there was no trace of makeup, no watermelon lip gloss on her ruby-red lips, or lush mascara or her eyelashes. Her hair was an absolute mess, unkempt and bedraggled, and she was carrying a bow. Either E-Ruby was doing an excellent job of impersonating Baba Yaga, or else she had retrograded into a hippy.
Moses decided forthwith to send her several crates of watermelon lip gloss (made in Jennymaesia, given people's general revulsion these days to Mosestarian products), a bottle or two of makeup and lush mascara, and a hair brush.
He also sent her an encouraging note, with such phrases as "esteemed and wise E-Ruby of Rubyland", "you're a pretty good leader (for a girl)" and "if you need anybody to teach your boyfriend a lesson, I have some clones on the job". Also, some less encouraging stuff like "No one is going to judge you for not brushing your hair etc., but I've included a brush, a hair dryer and some all-natural shampoo in your package in case you change your mind" and "I can have my clones install you a heated spa in your hut, if you're short on natural pools". Also, some out-there conspiratorial type messages like "I know ivermectin is used for horses and your boyfriend hates it, but that's cos he's a parasite and it might kill him, so I've included enough to treat up to four adult mares."
The Great Chieftain put a stamp on the rather large package to Eden Island, and as it was taken away for delivery by the Antarctic Postal Service, reverted back to being a shade green.