Thrusting Miss Abernathy behind you, you charge toward the pirate! On the way, you oh-so-inadvertently trip and ram into a table of refreshments, sending punch and platters of honeycomb cascading to the floor and tripping up two plainclothes police officers.

Abu Aziz leaps the fallen table and sprints for the back of the house. In a moment you are on your feet and charging after him. He doesn't know this house. You do. You grab him by the shoulder and propel him to a small door leading into an abandoned garden. It always pays to have an escape route ready.

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"You have helped me," says the pirate, "so I will help you in turn if I may. The Aether Wind blows and madness descends. Trust not your own mother in the days ahead."

Before you can respond, a boom shakes the ground at your feet, and the mansion bursts into flames!

"Pyatnitsa!" says Abu Aziz. "The anarchist wanted to kill us all!"