Something was mingin' in the state of Kastor...

Just... why would assassins target the temple? It doesn't make any sense. Unless.... I think I'd best see what that letter was about after all. I ask the Father about Eglio and the other initiates - they were all in the dormitories and the soup kitchen, so made it out okay. I ask if anyone else had suffered in the fire: there are four bodies in the annexe - Sister Darda and Father Karstak, with perhaps two of their assailants? I can think of two possibilities. Either Darda and Karstak made it out alive and left the bodies of their would-be assassins to cover their escape (far-fetched, but one must have hope) OR they were the two targets of this job, and whatever they were looking into got them absolutely killed.
 
I tell the father that I was particularly grateful to Darda; he said it was such a shame she had never got over the loss of her sister. I'm not sure how much he thinks I know, but the more I hear of Darda, the more I realise how similar we seem to be. I tell him that I would be very glad to share good memories with him and he seemed happy at the prospect. Perhaps I could find out a little more and gauge his character in better detail. Trust is too fragile a thing here.
 
He says he's waiting for the chief of the watch (Watch Commander Elava) to remove the bodies... where is that wizard when you need him?! I could really, really, so with some help to find out what happened here. I tell him that he can find me at the Chieftain's Bell if he needs me - he looks a little disapproving and I am a little bit embarrassed. But we part amicably enough. There are... lots of guards next to the Bell.... I wonder if Agshela has anything she can add?
 
The mayor was apparently murdered in the Council House - apparently the Treasurer was murdered in the alley next to the Bell! Stabbed to death! Melando (the fire chief) is apparently MIA! Apparently the Watch has dragged some sorry lot in for questioning, but... ah well. The council have brought in a bunch of Blue Company mercenaries in to double the numbers. The Commander's not too happy about it, she says, but hey - what can you do. Says Ardetta (treasurer) was partial to the gambling den down the way... liked a bit of a drink that one. Seemed to be a solid bet she's be down that alley at some point in the night.
 
And Abeido appears! Behold! The shiny wizard!
 
I share some of concerns that there were already extra guards in place before the assassination - did they know it was coming? And if so, were they stopping it or facilitating it? Abe says he noticed some of the watch making hand signals at some of the others - says it wasn't the ones in Blue. Perhaps the standard Watch are less comfortable with their new comrades than they could be...
 
In the alley, one of them, kneels on the ground and starts pointing at something. The Watch look around and then all but one head off. Watching them from the window of the Bell, we hatch some plans - Abe will look into the ashes, Tak will see if Elava has any bounties on Melando's identity. I go to see if I can blag a favour from Eglio...He said he heard calls of fire in the night - shouted for the fire chief, but no-one could find him. I ask Eglio if there's an out of the way spot that Abe could sit in - he is a bit freaked out and suggests that Elava would want answers more than anything. Perhaps it would be worth talking to her after all? I hope I'm not setting myself up for a whole world of shit.
 
I leave Abe and Tak to deal with the more scrupulous authorities, and I decide to head into the slums to see if there's anything between the brickwork that might slough out. I tread the corners of the slums for a goodly while, seeing what's there. Lots of different stories are circulating about Melando - absolutely no-one knows what's going on around here. No-one from the slums has been brought in over this, though, or we'd all know. Though that said.... there's some new feeling around the slums today. Someone seems to have taken up turf in one of the older buildings. That's going to be worth keeping an ear out for. I make my way back to the main square and hang around for Abe and Tak and do a lurking in the Bell.
 
The Bell.... is insane. Agshela is a beauty and manages to scrounge me some food and drinks. I ogle amusedly at the ogre in the corner trying to armwrestle two people at once, then we head upstairs.
 
I give Abe as accurate a description of Sister Darda as I could. Abe says that the description matched, except that she has a wicked pair curved knives, killed three assassins, and legged it into the catacombs. Says she was talking with Father Karstak about someone who's been killed for being Corrupt, and was complaining that this person wasn't a heretic. (Possibly her sister?) The father said that she's been caught by the black cloaks and convicted - wishes she'd been able to deal with it, especially after her time at Thistlehold, and that she'd spend less time in the catacombs.
 
Six people dropped in through the windows, wearing weird bestial masks and carrying curved knives - one of them came through the main doors. They said "the girl doesn't matter; make sure the man dies." They skewered Karstak, but Darda seemed to have been habitually badass, caught a knife out of midair, draws her own knives and kills three of the assassins - the remaining three pull incendiary packages and leave her to die in the fire. Darda ran deeper into the temple - perhaps she is still alive in the catacombs? Gods, I really hope so. I can't believe she is so capable. That's just... mindblowing. I hope she's okay.
 
Abe has said that he's not told anyone outside of this room what's happened. I think we should keep it that way. Abe said that the incendiary devices looked like either water or powder - it looked like some kind of alchemical device. I suggest that the Watch Commander absolutely needs to know about the assassins targeting Karstak and setting the fire, just... leave out mentions of Darda. Tak says that there is an old clan myth of an outcast clan that are a beast clan. Just a recollection, but... our last three weeks have been a series of clan myths made good, so... I'm not ruling anything out at this point.
 
Abe and Take start to head out for the garrison to check in with the Watch Commander. I decide to head out and see if I can scope out some kind of entrance into the temple or annexe from the back streets of the slums. It's a long shot, but I can't think of anywhere else to start. The only other thing I can think of is trying to sneak in through the Temple proper... but I'd really rather not. I've... had enough of church magic to last me for a long while.
 
I take some time circling the Temple and look at the priest's housing behind it - there is a smaller entrance in the back of the temple through the priest house's garden, but there is no other way into the building other than the main door. The Town watch are still a lot more prevalent than would normally be spotted... not as much in the slums (who cares about the downtrodden here, at any rate) but definitely in the rest of the city. I can't see anyone home in the priest hole... I let out a troubled sigh. I think I'm going to have to use my excuse to talk to Father Belargo to get into the Temple and scope it out...
 
I meekly go in through the main doors - it's... impressive. Ornate. There are two smaller doors at the back of the temple - one to the left and one to the right. There's another smaller door half way down on the right. There's another outlay over to the left which I can't see yet... I try to position myself so I have a better look. There's a pulpit at the end, but no doors I can see. The stained glass window is pretty though. The statues are somewhat unsettling though. The wall that has the two doors on it is in the direction of the priesthole - there's obviously something else on the other side of the two doors. The door to the right, there must be another space to mirror the pulpit area for the dimensions to fit, and somewhere there's stairs to the first floor. One of the petitioners gets up to leave and looks really upset; they give my shoulder a squeeze on their way out. People can be lovely when they want to be. The little door on the right opens and a novice comes out, makes the sign of Prios, and then goes out through the right door of the two at the back. The other petitioner leaves and I'm alone... a handful of other initiates take the same route as the other novice. I quietly make my way towards the door no-one's used yet - there are voices coming from the right hand door, but nothing from the left - that will be one to check out in the daylight. I check that Tak made it back to the Bell, then go and find myself somewhere to slump until the morning.
 
I awake in a doorway with a crick in my neck, and rouse myself to go and acquire bacon. Agshela is hilarious and Abe is chancy. But there is bacon <3 Amazingness. Tak and Abe tell me that the they've been employed by the Watch Commander and Abe mentions in less than vague fashion that Adetta is still alive somewhere. A guy overhears and does a runner - and heads towards the bell tower where I can't see him. There are loads of guards around the bell tower - all of whom are wearing blue. I take a surreptitious look around to see... a dozen guards around the base of the tower, and another guard at the very top of the tower. There's some narrow windows inside the tower, and I can see someone wandering around inside as well. This is... very unusual. They really don't look like Baruks.... I wonder what happened to all the dwarves?
 
I head back and let Abe and Tak know that they might have been compromised... Abe very kindly buys me another bacon sandwich and frustratedly heads off to go and read some books somewhere. Tak and I relish in the prospect of bacon and finish our breakfast. We decide to go our separate ways for the day and pursue the avenues we need to go.