Rory and Tanieta rush to the Mages' Guild Hall of Babel on the back of a rakhtor, and are ushered inside, shortly before the mob converges on the tower – held at bay momentarily by some delayed-effect spells. While Rory frets about what he should do to make himself useful, a fire mage by the name of Nuri bar Emmanuel heads out to hold off the mob to buy time for the other mages in the Guild Hall to make spell preparations. Rory, torn over what to do, at last rushes out, convinced that the fire mage is going to sacrifice his own life to buy the time, and tries to plead with the crowd. Although he does not sway anyone, he still buys enough time for some latecomers to the scene to arrive – several gang members, including the friend of the man that Rory had helped Tanieta heal earlier that same day. The armed gang members succeed in holding off the mob for a bit and stealing some of the rabble-rouser's steam, and the mob at last disperses – sparing the Guild Hall for now.