Msaka's sleep was interrupted by a knocking on his door. Blinking slowly as he awoke, still rather tired from having been up so late, he glanced out the window. It was daytime, and from the looks of things, the sun had only risen into the sky a short time ago. The knock came again, sounding rather forceful, and a gruff voice called out, "This is the city guard! This door is to be opened at once!"

"I am coming," Msaka called back, then climbed out of bed and paced over to the door. He unlocked it and swung it open, stepping back as he did. He didn't feel particularly sociable at the moment, but whatever followed would require a pretense of it, no matter how tired he was.

A pair of city guards strode into the room, followed closely by a harried looking man in robes. The apparent leader of the group, the one who had called through the door, fixed his stare on Msaka. "A theft has been committed, sometime during the night," he spoke firmly. "By the order of the Emir, the city is being searched. Where were you during the night?"

Msaka stared back. "I was in here," he stated. "What is it that was stolen that is of such great importance that you must intrude into my bedroom?" He noted the man in robes sweeping his gaze across the room as he spoke to the guardsman. The robed man had magical power in him, Msaka sensed. Not a tremendous amount, but he was obviously more than a novice at the craft.

"The water elemental which has occupied the city fountain for the last year was taken in the night," the guard replied. "What do you know of this?"

"I know it was placed there by the same person who came to my home later that year. I know that it provides water for your city. I do not know who took it, if that is what you are asking." Msaka saw the robed man quietly cast a detection spell while he was speaking, but kept quiet about it. There really wasn't anything to find in his room, so there wasn't any danger in allowing the man to do so.

"Did you see or hear anything last night?" the guard continued. "Or see or hear anything in the last few days which might suggest who was involved?"

Msaka considered the question for a moment. He might be able to throw suspicion on someone else with an elaborate enough tale, the problem being that it would inevitably come back to haunt him when it was discovered he'd been lying about it. On top of that, he didn't know anyone here well enough to make up a convincing story. He shook his head. "No. They must have used magic, but I have seen none who were capable."

The guardsman glanced back at the spellcaster, who shook his head slightly in response. Turning back to Msaka, the guard nodded curtly. "Very well. If you see or hear anything which might be involved in this matter, you will inform the city guard immediately. Good day."

With that, the three exited the room, pulling the door closed behind them. Msaka locked it, then walked over to the bed and sat down upon it. Apparently, he had handled the conversation well enough to avoid suspicion, but in truth, he was more puzzled as to what had taken the guards so long to begin questioning people. Perhaps they'd rounded up known troublemakers first, before moving on to the inns.

Either way, there was nothing more to be done for the moment, so he lay back down, intending to get at least a little more sleep. The elemental should be safe enough where it was, unless the guards began searching the rooftops. Even then, it might go unnoticed in the spot Msaka had placed it.

The sounds of the city drifted quietly in through his window, sounding much like they always had. Yet, very subtly, there was a difference to them. A tension that hadn't been present previously was definitely in the air, though the cause wasn't difficult to guess. It was, Msaka supposed, inevitable that tempers would flare in the next few days, as people became more and more nervous about the water supply.

There just wasn't any means he could think of to replace the lost water, other than placing the elemental back in the fountain, which simply wasn't an option. Perhaps the wizards of the land could solve the problem for themselves. Msaka thought about the idea for a while, and found it ironic that one possible solution would be for Aziza to summon another water elemental to replace the one he'd taken.

Such thoughts slowly faded, however, as sleep overcame him once again.