There was a limited amount of collateral damage since most of the battle took place on the skyship itself. That ended up a bit of a mixed blessing, however, since that was the outstanding gift the Al-Danafis (Princess Tanya‘s family) wanted to give the Grand Caliph on his Ascension Day. Then, there was the matter of breaking and entering, a fairly serious charge. Fortunately, Yunnus swapped places with the district qadi to judge the case, even though it would almost certainly go to a higher court. The merchant tasked with keeping the warehouse, Masala, was understandably livid, and Yunnus was having a hard time keeping him calm. Extra guard were called in, led by One-eyed Kassad, who did not hide his glee at the opportunity to finally get at Azizulah.
So it was with great surprise that, a mere 30 minutes later, a group of royal bodyguards arrived with Princess Tanya bint Perijan. Imperiously, she walked through the assemblage and addressed Yunnus, asking what had happened. When Masala tried to interject, a steely glance from her silenced him. Yunnus described things as he had come upon them (honest to a fault, Yunnus) and then looked expectantly at the heroes. Thinking quickly, Tanya (somewhat too loudly) thanked the heroes for “completing her task,” confounding everyone else there. She then spun a tale about how she had suspicions about the ajami mage-merchant Aja, and had enlisted the heroes to discover his secret. When Kassad began to object, she turned on him with a barely contained fury, reminding him that a red dragon had been operating in an area where he was supposed to be head of security.
She then turned to Azizulah and whispered “I believe our debts to each other are now fulfilled, yes?”
Masala, despondent but not wishing to upset Tanya, asked about the skyship, and what could be done for it, since it was supposed to be a royal gift…everyone turned to look at you at that point.
(I know Azizulah has the rod, but he may or may not want to reveal that now)
However that scenario ends, since you’re in the area and you know it’s time for the midday break, you decide to take a chance to drop in on Aunty. Sure enough, she has just returned from prayers, but she asks you to look in on Sulayman, who she thinks is ill. Knocking on his door, gets you a panicked shout; when you identify yourselves, he lets you in, eyes darting about. He is clearly paranoid about something, so you ask about it.
He shows you a piece of parchment, burnt around the edges. It reads:
whenever I wish, but your end shall be slow and lingering, like wood
consumed by fire.
–Ali al-Lazan