In the Scholar痴 Quill the Mokers asked around to see if anyone could shed any more light on Lucius. Some other scholars were there and mentioned that he had been friendly with a Brother Egil. They also said that he had go himself into difficulty with the temple at some point a few years ago but that it all seemed to be settled now. Getting frustrated at their lack of progress the Mokers wanted to talk to Egil, but remembered that he did not want to be identified as the instigator of an enquiry. He was not due to see them for another two days. So, as an alternative, the next day they decided to try and talk to Thuron, the high priest of the temple of Vekik.
A novice greeted them at the entrance to the temple and took them to see Milos, Thuron痴 assistant. Milos, a slight man who wore horn-rimmed spectacles, flatly denied them access to Thuron, saying that all queries could be handled through himself, because the High Priest was too busy with his duties and his preparations for the dedication of the new lighthouse to be disturbed. The overbearing questioning of some of the Mokers raised Milos痴 hackles and Mezezar had to intervene in order to ensure that they obtained some information. When the others had left the mojh talked to Milos alone. Mezezar discovered that Lucius had donated a large amount of books in order to make reparations to the temple for his violation of the sanctum. These books were under study for their authenticity and would not be available to the public until the following year. Milos made it clear that he believed that Lucius would turn up again in a couple of days and that no one should be worried. The temple of course, did not have the resources to send out search parties for every librarian who failed to turn up for work.
Realising that they would not get to see Lucius痴 travel documents without stealing them or infiltrating the temple in some fashion the Mokers left to consider other options. They returned to Lucius痴 house for another look, with Mezezar opening the lock with a spell. They did not find anything new out there though, so they went off to see if they could obtain any more information from Captain Scarbelly. They were again refused permission to board the Bloody Vengeance. So, once again they went to the Rusty Hook in the hope of bumping in to the Captain having some food. This time, however, they were unlucky as the sibeccai was not present. After a frustrating day of going from pillar to post, the Mokers decided to return to the Quill to await their meeting with Lucius on the following evening.
As they approached the temple district, an armed group, who bore yellow shields, set upon them. They had obviously prepared their attack in advance, as a crossbowman was already in place on the roof a low building ahead of them. Below him, three others advanced towards them menacingly. When the Mokers turned to check their options for retreat, they saw two more opponents blocking the way they had come.
Mera was the first to react, but she missed with her crossbow, which shot at the advancing humans. But then the yellow shields were among them, striking out at Ke-Tant and Obur. Both attacks failed, as did a crossbow shot launched from behind them. The giant and the greenbond also failed to land a blow. After this, the Mokers took control of the situation. Mera summoned a cloud of iron scraps that swirled around the crossbow wielders behind the group damaging both of them. One of them also suffered from a crossbow bolt from Obur. Ke-Tant was focussed on those in front, managing to score a mighty blow with his greatsword, which took out one opponent immediately. Mezezar also managed to damage one of the swordsmen with magic. The Yellow Shields were no match for the Mokers and failed in most of their attacks, though Ke-Tant was scratched by a blade. One of the crossbowmen at the rear took a potion which seemed to heal him somewhat, before they took to firing again. Mezezar was sorely wounded by a crossbow bolt just before his acidic splash both blinded and damaged its sender. Mera employed her crossbow to great effect, bringing the enemy on the roof down to fall at their feet with one shot. Ke-Tant and Obur stood toe to toe with the enemy and came out victorious.
Three of their opponents were dead, but they managed to get some sense out of the others, learning that the leader of the gang, Nezalan, was one that had died. He had been hired to kill the Mokers by someone that the rest of the group did not know. However a scrap of paper that they found on his body indicated a meeting that was arranged at the Black Gull tavern, which would probably be with the person who wanted the Mokers dead. They decided to go there and discover who this was.