The warmth of late spring sunlight woke Emmaline in a series of twitches. Eventually the gentle pounding in her head overcame her natural reluctance to open her eyes and she crawled out from under the covers long enough to snatch a jug of wine from beside the bed and down half of it in a series of swallows. That accomplished she took the water pitcher and filled the wine bottle back up, diluting the thick resinous vintage. She settled back the ache in her head fading from the fresh infusion of alcohol. It was several hours after dawn already but she didn't have anything more pressing to do than ponder the results of a night spent over imbibing as she sipped watered wine from the neck of the clay bottle. There were other more pleasant aches as well making her smile and glance at Neil's slumbering form. Pulling herself physically out of bed she half stumbled half crawled across to the wooden tub that served as the bath and wash tub. A slight sheen on the surface indicated the water had been used one too many times. Emmaline muttered a spell in the cracking language of spell craft and then plunged her fist into the water. It cleared instantly becoming pure. Without further delay she plunged herself into the tub with a splash, gasping at the icy temperature that had lingered over night. A second spell and the water warmed to near scalding, a pall of steam rising from the surface as Emmaline plunged herself under once again. As usual the combination of sudden cold with sudden heat purged her of the worst effects of the night. There were still a few sore spots where she had scraped herself in the abortive robbery but the water was rejuvenating in more ways than one. The cuts closed as the minutes passed and the bruises faded. Emmaline's command of her abilities was haphazard but she had been in the Tower long enough to work a few charms. She made the usual promises to actually study the next time she had the leisure and then lay back, breathing out a long breath which carried away the final impurities of the night.

Neil stirred from beneath the covers, looking considerably less worse for wear than Emmaline had felt. He looked over at her and the steaming bath tub suspiciously. She shrugged her shoulders and began running a wooden comb through her hair. Restorative the effects of the bath might be, but they didn't extend to removing knots from her hair. The various hair musing activities of the previous night demanded some attention before she would be presentable to go out in public. 

"You're up early," Neil murmered pressing himself up out of bed and casting around for his garments.

"It's nearly noon ja?" she asked, her Altdorf accent emerging to clip the end of her sentence. Neil shrugged, he had spent years as an apprentice engineer but for the first time his day was his own.

"I suppose..." he paused and sniffed at the air. Emmaline paused in mid stroke unsure what this portended.

"Something's burning," he said after a moment. Emmaline giggled.

"They probably set off a thousand pounds of gunpowder just last night," she pointed out. Neil smirked as he pulled on his shirt, covering his abs most regretabley.

"More," he admitted, "but its not powder, not cookfires either." Emmaline supposed that he probably knew enough about the city or combustion or both to know.

"You think the city is on fire?" she asked, genuinely alarmed. Fire was, literally, the great leveler when it came to urban life. Great blazes could spring up in minutes, incinerating hundreds or thousands of structures before they were checked.

"Something is... you don't think..."

____________

A half hour later they stood across the plaza from the towering inferno that had been a noble manor the night before. A chain of men were passing buckets up from the river and tossing it on the blaze. A group of bare chested dwarves had some kind of engine that was fed by copper pipework that ran all the way down to the river. The dwarves pumped furiously on a see-saw like lever, each compressing vomiting out quantities of water that, no pun intended, dwarfed the bucket brigade. Before the burning building stood the sinister form of a Witch Hunter. He held a hammer in one hand and a sword in the other as he harraunged the onlookers.

"...And so is Chaos always met by the strong of heart! With fire and with faith!" Emmaline made the sign of the hammer with the rest of the crowd. Pleased to be able to blend in, and pleased that she had dressed simply in a cream top with green corset and a skirt. This was no time to attract attention.

"... The foul denizens who lurked within this place thought that their wealth would protect them, but Sigmar sees the soul, not the purse!"

"... by his Holy name I have cast them into the fire that rages more eternally than any flame that burns here, into a pit deeper than any gravedigger could excavate! Sigmar, blessed be his name is..." Whatever Sigmar was was lost in a sudden rending crash as the building collapsed in a spray of ash and cinders. The Witch Hunter, to his credit, didn't flinch or even react, merely continued his litany as a storm of sparks raged around him.

"The God King is ever..." THere was a sudden chilling sensation and the flames turned a lurid shade of blue and began to twist in unnatural sinuous shapes.

"Magic!" Emmaline exclaimed.

"Yeah, we had already figured that out Em," Neil responded dryly, reaching for something in his coat. With shrilling cries burning shapes lurched out of the blaze. They looked like beastmen save that flame seemed to drip from them like candles cast into a fire. The burning beasts charged at the crowd, howling and brandishing flaming weapons. For all the fire that covered them their muscles and bones didn't seem to burn away. With commendable skill the Witch Hunter pivoted and smashed in the skull of the closest attacker with the hammer. Golden light exploded from the blow and flung the body back into the flames. His rapier slashed out at another cutting ineffectually. The crowd which had been gawking a moment ago was screaming in terror and rushing away now, bodies packing into the platz' few exits. One of the flaming beast men leaped into the fleeing civilians cutting down a pair with the swipe of a great scythe. Guns cracked, though they were as likely aimed at clearing a way through the panicked
 crowd as at the hell borne attackers.

"This isn't good," Emmaline whined.

"Yeah we figured that out too Em," Neil replied dryly.