[Stomoxys]

At The Lame Mule, Grogg ran up the stairs when they heard Hylda, followed by Nuur-Karif rushing to Yana. I let the illusion end and the slave troll became Wolfram again. With a bit of relief, I saw that Grogg had also turned back to themselves when we got to our room.

I asked Nuur-Karif what had happened in the chapel. In a side corridor, they had found four dead apeoids. One was the priest in the chapel, two appeared to Elik and the last was probably an ashtarite. The priest had bitten one of the Elik corpses when they died and were still attached, while the other Elik had several bite marks. The ashtarites had had gruesome wounds, but judging from the struggle, they had kept going longer than would be expected. One would have thought that Elik was aware of the danger of attacking cultists in their own lair.

Nuur-Karif had taken a total of four knives, but given the Elik daggers to Wolfram, claiming they were unpleasant to carry. Wolfram's ashes had initially covered the chapel, but they had started to dissipate and there were noticeably less by the time I got down. Interestingly, the Elik corpses had not burst into flame this time.

Nuur-Karif wanted to go to the murderers' guild and see if that chapel had been attacked as well and get rid of the snakes. I agreed to come with them. We could go by the Elik slaves if the apeoid with the green hat was still there. Besides, I did not want to sit around at the inn if Tivito came knocking.

While we talked, Hylda acted increasingly strange, as if Grogg was ignoring them, even though Grogg answered all their questions. It ended with Hylda stomping out to get food with Grogg following. So much for a low profile. When Grogg returned, they said Hylda thought they were Wolfram. I could not see anything strange about them and neither could Nuur-Karif. It was very interesting, but I would have to investigate later and told them it would probably end before nightfall.

Nuur-Karif and I grabbed some food and got on our way. We gave The Cracked Pot a wide berth and listened carefully while we passed by. It was suspiciously silent and the rest of the city appeared more or less normal. Nuur-Karif wondered what had gotten the Ashtarites to run. I answered that they had finally gotten to their senses when Nuur-Karif appeared as a shadow creature. Nuur-Karif was disappointed and had wanted them to stay and keep the demon bear away, but at the time, Wolfram was just as likely to rip them to shreds. Besides, if Wolfram had run loose in the city, someone would have had to put them down.

At the guild, two of the bartenders were busy filling a cart and it looked like they were packing up. When Nuur-Karif asked, they said they had been instructed to clear out for some time and there was nobody left. Nuur-karif wanted to see the chapel and one of them led us down. There were no apeoids there, but someone had dumped a large pile of dead mice and rats in front of the altar. Nuur-Karif did not want to leave The Cracked Pot snakes there in case someone had carefully estimated the amount of feed required. I did not point out that the pile of rodents would be a putrifying mess long before the snakes would be able to eat them all, lest they decide to bring the guild snakes as well. I am glad it is not me who will have to clean the place.

We returned to the place I had last seen the apeoid in the green hat, but there was nobody there. It would not be surprising if they had retreated, so we decided to wait around a bit in a quiet corner in case anyone were still around. Nothing happened for about a quarter of an hour and we were about to leave when an apeoid in a cloak and hood came hurrying down a street. Reaching the corner where the apeoid with the green hat had stood, they produced a green hat with a brownish red feather. This was not the same apeoid, but we approached carefully. If this was a trap, Nuur-Karif and I should be able to spot it.

Walking past the apeoid, I said to Nuur-Karif that we had to find a table somewhere else since The Cracked Pot was closed. The apeoid started coughing wildly, but under the coughs, I heard my name. I asked them if they were fine and said that Nuur-Karif was a doctor and could take a look. After I let them touch my hand, they told us that a wagon would come to pick us up from The Lame Mule in less than half an hour. The wagon could take us to Nulius on their ship so we could evacuate. To prove who they were, they gave me a gold coin originating from the west before running off. Nuur-Karif thought we still had things to do in Byblos, but I convinced them that we could not stay at The Lame Mule either way, so we hurried back.

Back at the inn, Hylda was already busy packing. They still thought Grogg was Wolfram and vice versa and they did nothing to clear up the confusion. Both Nuur-Karif and I had kept our things in their bags, so we were ready to go when we heard a wagon approaching in the streets. Soon after, one of the servants knocked on the door and told us our transport was there.

Downstairs, a large couch was parked in front of the back door with two armed guards. I greeted them with "beautiful day" and got a nod to approach. Inside, the apeoid who originally brought us to The Lame Mule was waiting. I greeted them and motioned the others to enter before getting in myself. The apeoid signaled for the couch to move and we set off at a leisurely pace.

While we moved, the apeoid informed us about what was going on. They had heard that something had triggered Tivito and rumour had it that they had commandeered enough of The King's Guard to shut down a large part of the city. If we wanted, we could go to Nulius now and sail away with the fleet in three days. If not, they could stay around until nightfall, but after that, we would be on our own. If we went to Nulius, we could probably not return. Grogg mentioned a note they had received that had got Hylda packing. The apeoid said that this was a normal warning system they had in place for their agents and it would be very cryptic for.

We discussed what we should do and Nuur-Karif again said that we were not finished. I wondered what they meant and they brought up the law again. I again pointed out that it did not matter, and they again protested, Wolfram saying there would be a new king and Nuur-Karif saying something about other apeoids.

I changed the subject to Elik instead. We had specific leads on how to contact them and getting Elik to start stabbing Tivito instead of us would be useful. Nuur-Karif agreed and I suggested that we go by the northern gate to drop of the snakes that were still making Nuur-Karif's dress writhe and bulge. This suited the apeoid well because they knew a place they could park nearby. Wolfram, Grogg and Hylda wanted to stay in the wagon, while Yana was put under with the needle. On our way, I switched to my other cloak and asked Nuur-Karif to do the same, but they refused. Luckily, we were not going far, so the chances of anyone recognizing them from The Cracked Pot were relatively low.

At the northern gate, things seemed normal, except one of the guards looked sad, and we made our way down to the temple. There were six apeoids sitting in a circle near the altar. When they saw Nuur-Karif, they said they had something to tell them. One of them was shedding tears and said that they had been out patrolling with Audria when a Mitra priest and some of The King's Guard had approached. They had claimed that Audria were suspected of being in a conspiracy and had to come to the palace for interrogation. The other ashtarites had wanted to fight, but Audria had agreed to go. The name of the Mitra priest had been Iloro, the one who is also an Elik priest.

The had not heard anything about the guild chapel and they did not know where Enani was. They did not know where Iloro was either, but thought the priest had gone with the guards to the palace. After a short discussion, we told the ashtarites about Iloro being an Elik and that they should inform the Mitra priests if they did not hear from us. I am not sure how effective it will be as an insurance, but it probably will not hurt. Nuur-Karif handed the ashtarite daggers from The Cracked Pot to the other ashtarites and we set off towards the Mitra temple to see if we could find Iloro.