[@BBeast]

The thing is that the civillians are locked inside their houses. The guards won't just cower in the middle of the town (the town square not being that defensible of a spot anyways) while all their family are burned in the fires or slaughtered.

They're trying to organize themselves in all this chaos and once they do, they will go where they feel like they can save the most people or make the most difference. That's probably going to be where Balothiss and the first fires are, but if Torrens somehow managed to create an even bigger commotion they'd go for him or better yet, split up.

Do what you like, I'm just saying don't think that avenue is blocked if it's what you wanted to do.