Quoted By:
Well ... what, you are going to fight them? If this cleansing in the alley is any indication of their depth and breadth into the Many Mysteries, then you might just be better served by praying for deliverance than trying to carry the day with your wand. That doesn't mean that you intend to go in there like a lamb to the Slaughterers - you just aren't going to hobble yourself with a Socket when you have seen no indication that whoever is responsible for the state of the alley is still inside. The moment that changes, you will Socket your wand. Until then, you are going to keep your options as open as possible.
You get the wand with the Needle and its Conduit all wrapped up nicely, then slide it into one of the two empty pockets of your apron. Then you fish out all five of the fuel nodules. You get one on the lead of the Conduit, and the rest of the bunch go in the pocket loose. With your preparations complete, you slink out of your vantage point, keeping your eyes peeled - but for an ingress this time, not Strange-Stains. Though you are coming up empty handed here as well. On the back of the house, there is a door - a fairly substantial looking one, wide, tall and stout - but you would prefer an ingress in an area less likely to be trafficked. And the only windows on the first floor - on the back of the house and on the side facing the alley - are either slits or squares that are too small for you. There are windows on the second ... but those bricks don't look good for climbing, and after pushing your cart all over the Mount, you seriously doubt that you will have an easy go of it, getting up there. Not to mention the issue with potential witnesses.
Before you get serious about either climbing up to the second story or scrounging up a quantity of water to perform an Ice-Lock Pick on the back door, you decide that the front of the house warrants a closer look. The footprint of the front garden is a few feet larger than the front of the house - so there is a foot-and-a-half segment of fence that closes this gap, which if you press yourself up against the house will conceal you from the street. From you new vantage point, you peer through the bars of the fence. The thing you look at is the chairs set out, presumably for those standing vigil. They are all still empty of course - you aren't sure what exactly you expected. Pattern's Peace, you are a such a bundle of nerves. You then look to the front door - which is even more formidable looking than the back, and much much more exposed. Then the windows. To be sure, these are all on the first story, you wouldn't need to climb beyond pulling yourself through them ... but in addition to the issue of traffic inside of the house, these have the additional complication of being visible from the street as well - and the shutters that are underneath the torn sheets look substantial too.
