[Stomoxys]

The other chapel was located in a wealthier part of town, meaning traders and minor nobles were living there. Hired soldiers stood guard outside more or less every house and we got some long, suspicious stares. We finally reached a large building and entered on the ground level, where we were met by a clerk. Outside, across the street, two guards were keeping an eye on us. Giving a sign of Ashtar, Nuur-Karif was told that it was closed and instead was asked if they wanted to take a mission. Agreeing to take a look, the clerk handed Nuur-Karif a piece of paper with five names on it. The first was Nefalonia with a bounty of 150 gold pieces, followed by another council member called Garold for 200 gold pieces. I had not heard the last three names before and they had smaller bounties attached to them. Everyone on the list had to die before Ajaw rose twice. When asked about the human in charge of the missions, the clerk at first refused to answer, but thought better of it when Nuur-Karif grabbed them and revealed their fangs. The human was called Robal and had given Nuur-Karif the mission earlier. They were now in hiding in a secret basement under a house nearby. Robal had the same rank as Nuur-Karif, but did not perform missions themselves, instead delegating them to poorer Ashtarites in the slums and taking a cut of the bounty. The clerk was not happy about working there, and terrified of the repercussions, and asked for help getting out of there. Leaving through a side door, we escorted them out of the wealthy area and Nuur-Karif sent them to meet someone named Riko in the slum. Before leaving, the clerk told us there were Ashtarites with higher rank than Nuur-Karif connected to the chapel.

We returned to the chapel and I was reminded of the events in Sulla. When Palongi had raged across northern Arland, someone had murdered some of the leading priests of Mitra in the city, throwing it into chaos. At the time, we did not believe that it concerned us, but this situation seemed very similar. We made it back to the chapel undetected, but the side door was closed and we had to enter through the main door, possibly raising suspicion from the guards. Down in the actual chapel, a human was sleeping and Nuur-Karif knew them from Sam, calling them Podo. Podo was there to kill the people on the list and collect the bounties, but there were few murderers in town and they could not do them all alone. Nuur-Karif said they could take Nefalonia and asked me to fetch the book with the bounties. When I returned, the bounty hunter claimed that the city had already fallen to Larma and the five people on the list were the only ones who would resist. However, they were somewhat suspicious because it seemed like someone was manipulating events to keep Ashtarites away from Ur. Usually, there should have been lots of murderers there. Nuur-Karif said they had to pray on the missions and we sat down on the floor. The snakes in the room were unusually happy about this and crawled all over us, as if they were not used to anyone praying there. I opened my eyes before Nuur-Karif and started studying the book. There were many names and notes, indicating that jobs had been done and money paid. Interestingly, there was a spike in the number of murders on the night Guling was attacked and since then, there had been a high volume of jobs. Ur had also been attacked that night and someone must have been working hard since then to wipe out any opposition. I showed what I found to Nuur-Karif and they returned to their prayers but soon opened their eyes and spoke with new conviction in their voice. They informed Podo that we would take Nefalonia and the last three while the bounty hunter could take Garold and we left through the side door. Sneaking out of the wealthy area, I made sure nobody followed us.

Back at the inn, Nuur-Karif confirmed what I thought and announced they had gotten a mission from Ashtar. The Ashtarites at the chapel were apostates, killing for gold, not Ashtar. To purge the apostates, Nuur-Karif would have to enter the cellar Robal was hiding in before sundown and could not leave while anyone was left alive in there except Nuur-Karif and their companions. Attacking a cellar having no idea who or what is in there, or even the basic layout of the place did not sound like a pleasant task, especially since we had little to no time to gather intelligence. Discussing how to get in, we decided that the best way to get to the house was with a fancy wagon. Nuur-Karif said they could get some fake hired soldiers from the slum, as this seemed to be a requirement in the wealthy area, Hopefully, we could borrow a coach from the council. The wagon would also be useful if we had to flee in a hurry. We should also contact Nefalonia or, if Nefalonia was already gone, Garold. Perhaps they could provide some intelligence and if nothing else they could warn the people on the list. At least whatever was down there should have the decency to bleed and die when cut.