While Erose, Hal, and I were dealing with this circus business, Vrba was having a spiritual crisis. He decided that his recent misfortunes (stoning, inn burning down, etc.) had occurred because he was out of favor with the god of his forefathers. He was particularly upset that he'd gone to Valhalla when he was stoned, and not to the afterlife promised by his own religion. Vrba decided that this disfavor was because he was consorting with somebody who bore the taint of the Drow (that woman Greta). So, he ended the relationship abruptly. He didn't even confront the woman, he sent her a letter. Since the Camel was destroyed, and he couldn't stay with his woman any more, he decided to accept Keef's parents' offer of lodging, at least temporarily.
Keef himself entered into negotiations to purchase a house near the Bloody Dagger.
After we learned that the grizzled old man was the killer, we (Hal, Erose, me, Keef, and Vrba) rode to Softcraft to collect him from the jail there. On the way back through Grosslangheim, Inga the innkeeper propositioned me yet again, and I turned her down again. Even if she wasn't known by every traveller who set foot in Grosslangheim, I'm not really feeling too enthousiastic towards human women right now. She then propositioned Keef, who took her up on the offer.
When we got back to RE, we took the fellow to the castle dungeon. Hal interrogated him with Lord Lara's cleric present to detect falsehoods. He agreed to talk, if we got a cleric to bless him (in the hopes that his soul wouldn't be taken by demons when he died). The assassin's story was that his name was Fenrerarglesplatsch (Fenrer for short). He was the one who killed the circus performers. The blond woman had set him up with the job, and the all-black outfit and mask. He met Blondie in Grosslangheim about a month ago. He'd been paid in advance to do the job, 50 gold. He also said that one time in the Velvet Glove (of which he was apparently a frequent customer) he saw Blondie "go in back" with one of the bouncers. He didn't know the bouncer's name, but said that he worked the early-evening shift.
We didn't want to rouse suspicion, so we summonned all the VG bouncers to take a look at Fenrer and tell us if they recognised him. They all did, saying that he was one of the VG's best customers lately. Fenrir identified the bouncer who he'd seen with the woman, one Sven Trober.
Then, we talked to Sven about Blondie. He told us that she was a horse trader from Lubeck who was in RE for a few months. As far as Sven knew, she didn't have any connection with the Thieves' Guild. She had told him that she used to work for a guy named Shadow, but they'd had a disagreement-- he fired her for doing something of which he disapproved. At this point, it seemed like she'd framed Shadow as revenge.
We thanked Sven for his time and sent him back to the VG. We hung around in the dungeon for a while, and then left. On our way out, we met Lord Lara and her entourage (some of whom were giving Vrba odd looks). Lara invited us to a court dinner 3 days hence. We accepted. Erose declared that she needed to get new clothes for the banquet. Vrba called her a clothes horse. She protested, saying that if anybody was a clothes horse, it was me. Vrba replied, "Mick isn't a clothes horse. Mick is a clothes herd." I ignored them.
It was late evening as we made our way back to the center of town from the castle. As we neared the VG/BD, a rain of arrows fell upon us from both sides of the street. I was almost a goner-- an arrow hit me right in the chest, but a freak stroke of luck caused it to hit the platinum cigarette case I'd recently acquired instead. The worst I got was a bruise. Hal was not so lucky-- he was hit and fell to the ground. Erose and Vrba were also hit in their arm and shoulder, respectively.
Erose and Keef ran off to attack our ambushers head on. I ran into the space between two buildings, to take cover. I looked around, but I only saw one archer, on the roof of the house across the street from me. Fortunately, I had the guitar with me (I don't dare leave it around where somebody could steal it). I played the chord sequence that summonned and controlled wind. I figured that if there was a stiff breeze blowing, they'd have trouble shooting, and they also might slip and fall. Vrba acted quickly to get Hal out of the way-- he cast a Dimension Door spell and shoved Hal through to safety. Then, he started casting destruction about. The fight lasted a few minutes; we killed a few of them, and captured two. Vrba thinks that several more got away. We found Hal, who was clearly suffering the effects of some really bad poison. We took him and the prisoners back to the castle. Hal was treated by the cleric, and the assassins were dumped in the dungeon.
Erose and Vrba interrogated the prisoners. They said that they'd only tell who hired them if they were freed. Erose met with Lara, who agreed to that, after asking if we'd made any enemies lately! As if that would narrow it down! We agreed to free one of them, and he said that he'd been hired by Sven Trober, who worked for the Lubeck Theives' Guild. Apparently, they are up to something, and don't want us to find out what it is. When we questioned Sven, he must have gotten spooked, and he arranged for the assassins (who he'd gathered for a different purpose-- to kill Shadow) to attack us. Blondie was working for Sven. The assassin thought that Blondie didn't know Sven was with the Guild, but she must have, since her ghost told us that they were behind the murders. He said that he'd been hired in Unterberg. On an off chance, Erose asked if he'd ever heard of Harris. The assassin said yes, he'd seen him in Unterberg a month or two ago.
We sent some guards to get Sven from his house or the VG. They found his house burned down and Sven gone.