You enter the washhouse. As expected, Magara is in the reception, but so is Agnai, currently handing off a huge basket of clean clothes in need of ironing. Seeing you enter, both greet you warmly, and Agnai demands to know how you’ve been. You saw Magara briefly yesterday, but it’s been several days since you saw the rest. Agnai gestures for you to follow her through to see the others. Looks like you won’t be able to avoid their attention today. But, you don’t have much else to do right now…

“Look who I found!” Agnai declares as she leads you into the washroom, where the other four are currently working. You greet them all, confirming that yes, you are still in one piece, and that you’re here to collect your clothes from yesterday. They ask after Ameronis while Agnai goes to search for your bundle, and Brinnet begins to fuss.

“You’d best keep that axe of yours sharp, love! It’s dangerous to walk around alone now, especially at night.”

Grace nods as she vigorously shakes out a shirt. “She’s right. If thugs are willing to murder people in Steelhaven of all places, then they’ll murder people anywhere at this point. Steelhaven’s just a stone’s throw from here, so who knows where those killers are lurking!”

Ah, The Steelhaven Slaughter.

Agnai re-emerges and hands you your bundle of clothes, then returns to her work, moving clothes between baskets and tubs.

“I don’t know what the world is coming to,” says Brinnet. “An honest man, walking home from work, stabbed to death for what? A few coins? And in the middle of the day, too!”

“There’ll be an even bigger spike in muggings now, mark my words,” says Morrie.

It is pretty concerning, and you consider your first encounter with the thief in Lanor. He did have a knife to your throat, and, if you didn’t have your own weapon to defend yourself, maybe your story might have ended there… Even Lomack was complaining about the increase in thieves, but it seems that murders have been avoided until now. Was this recent incident an accident or a deliberate escalation?

And what of the other crime scene? It seems that the Law Enforcer who tried to intervene paid the price. Not sure about who the third victim was, though.

“Innocent bystander, probably. That didn’t stop him from getting carved up like the rest of them,” says Grace.

What? What does she mean “carved up”?

“Oh, didn’t you hear?” says Agnai, “the victims all died from nasty knife wounds! And not a small pocket-knife either, something big, like a sword or carving knife. That poor lawman had his throat slit, and the other two were both stabbed in the heart.”

“And that was after being beaten, and before their bodies were set on fire,” says Grace.

You shudder slightly. The Royal Herald had implied the triple homicide had been horrific, but now, you wonder just how bad it really was. Just as you think that, Brinnet lets out an anguished cry.

“Oh, I don’t know how I’d manage seeing something like that! A pile of burning bodies in the middle of the street! Who would do something like that?!”

“Someone wanting to set an example,” says Ellie.

“Or a monster,” says Morrie. ”Whoever they are, they need to be caught and thrown before the Idhai. Let the Nethrimar sort them out!”

The women collectively agree, with a somewhat sombre mood settling over the group. They continue their lamenting. Aside from the murders, it really does seem like crime is going up in the city, not just in the common areas like Lanor and Whenley, but in formerly untouchable areas like Steelhaven and Greenbrook. At the mention of the latter, your ears perk up. Considering the crimes all took place within 24 hours of each other, they wonder if they’re connected, or, if it was a stunning coincidence.

They discuss the concept, but aren’t so sure; Brinnet heard that the burglary took place around the same time frame as the triple homicide. Maybe the burglars broke into the shop in Greenbrook first, then went to the store owner’s home in Steelhaven and attacked? Or perhaps they killed the store owner, then broke into the store?

You casually ask if they heard anything about any witness reports for the burglary; apparently, no one directly witnessed the murder in Steelhaven; surely the same thing didn’t happen in Greenbrook, too? However, none of the women has heard anything suggesting there were any.

“Last I heard, they were calling for witnesses to come forward,” says Brinnet.

You never saw a call like that in The Royal Herald, so you ask Brinnet where she heard that.

“Oh, it was in The Daily Observer this morning.”

Seems like that paper has different sources compared to the Herald, so you’ll have to see if you can find a copy yourself later.

You listen to them discussing the weekend crime wave a little longer, but nothing else of note comes up. They still worry about you, though, so you tell the ladies not to. The news is big and seems a lot more threatening than it is, but the actual risks associated are still very slim, and the chances of something like this happening again, let alone to you or any of them, are even more unlikely. By this point, public and private security have been ramped up, so things should be even safer now, not less.

Somehow you’ve gone from worrying about the situation yourself to being the one to tell others not to worry…

They suppose you’re right, but they still insist you take care, which you assure them you will.

To lighten the mood, Grace asks if you’ve been up to anything else interesting over the last few days. You give them an abridged summary; your tour of the fancy Central island, some visits to Stardust, another lesson at The Warrior’s Edge, some pleasant (and not so pleasant) walks along the canals, and a visit to Greenbrook University are some events that stand out.

They comment on your roaming and coverage of the city, with Agnai starting up more lamentations.

“Ah, I wish I could roam free and explore, and enjoy the sights and the good weather, instead of being cooped up in ‘ere, slavin’ away…”

Over yonder, Morrie rolls her eyes. “By all means, go and be free. And pick out a spot on the ground to sleep on while you’re at it; we’ll see how long your money lasts once you stop “slavin”!

The two begin to argue and banter about Morrie’s “cruel and unbearable workloads”, which Agnai seems to be managing just fine based on your own assessments, but letting them bicker in the background, Grace takes over instead.

“You went to Central? What’d you think? I heard that all the houses are mansions, and most buildings are lined with marble.”

That’s not true, but not entirely inaccurate either. You describe what you saw and the differences in the districts you passed through, expressing surprise that she, a resident, has never been there before. She shrugs.

“Ain’t no reason for someone like me to go there, and they’d not let me across the bridge anyhow,” says Grace. “Not unless I got a job working there as a private washerwoman for one of the upper folk, but jobs like that go quickly, and I’d have to fight tooth and nail for even a chance at it.”

You remember the toll bridge, but didn’t consider that simply being unable to pay the fee was the only reason you might be turned back.

Brinnet chimes in. “Being a traveller and all, I guess you didn’t have any trouble with the Lords and Ladies there? They love exotic new folk.”

You wouldn’t call yourself exotic, but you didn’t really have a chance to interact with anyone, so you can’t confirm. On the other hand, you do note the attitude of the students on campus in Greenbrook. Evidently they don’t think highly of travellers.

“Oh, them hoity-toity types have all their unspoken rules, proper ‘etiquette’, and ‘social customs’… You can blink wrong and offend everyone if you’re not careful,” says Morrie.

“Yes, like when Lord Davenmar almost ruined his reputation by wearing a necktie that was slightly the wrong shade of blue,” says Grace.

“That’s not worse than when Bendrick Cass offered the wrong hand to Madame Fornestra. “Savage” and “uncouth”, they called him!” says Agnai.

They recall a few more instances of the upper crust breaking unspoken social rules, giggling at the absurdity and the often outrageous fallout that followed. You wonder what they’d make of Lord Karven and his vomit-covered, knife-wielding outburst. From the sound of things, it would be a huge source of mirth for them for weeks to come. But, you think better of indulging them in that. The less you say about it, the better, especially before you hear back from Tansen. In any case, you’d best be off; you’ll be here all day listening to them gossip if these girls had their way.

With bundle in hand, you thank them for their work and bid them farewell, reiterating, once again, that you’ll be careful, and after a chorus of goodbyes from them, you take your leave.

---

Back in Lanor, you don’t see the paper boy near the taxi rank when you arrive, so you’ll either have to keep an eye out for him later or find a paper shop at some point.

At Slaryn House, Ameronis is still absent, so it seems you’ll have to keep yourself occupied. But what will you do? It’s only just past 10 AM, your plans aren’t scheduled until later today or tomorrow, and there’s nothing to follow up on just yet. Leif mentioned Marion Drexler should be around, so visiting her at lunchtime could be an option. You can continue your goal of exploring or meeting new people. Or, you can always rest for the day and prepare for another round at Startdust and whatever chaos that might bring.

You lie back on your bed, idly looking through the window at the buildings across the way, and the clouds drifting past overhead. Will tonight be as eventful as the last?