Shuttle intro

Hearing a scratching sound behind you you exit an alleyway at top speed, stumbling past a group of street urchins and head first into a bail of hay. Pulling yourself out you look around to see the hideous creature: a large dog chasing after you and the sausage that you just stole from it's master's food stall.

The dog bares down on you menacingly, and you can hear the shopkeeper running up the alley. Saliva drips on your face.

I lash out at the dog wildly with my foot, perhaps not considering that I may lose said foot in the process.

You hit the dog in the nose, however it was only a glancing blow and the dog only jumps back slightly, yelping. You can hear the owner drawing even closer.

Yelping "SORRY!" over my shoulder, I dive out of the hay and run at full speed down an ally, determined not to stop until I've put as much space between me and the dog as I can.

You burst around the nearest corner at high speed, and realise that you've ran yourself into one of the numerous dead ends of the slums. Ahead of you is a pile of litter that you can see would grant you leaping access to the roofs above.

"This could end very badly..." I pant to myself, but hearing the dog in the distance, I decide I have no choice and climb the pile as fast as I can, just praying it won't collapse beneath me. I reach the top, close my eyes, and jump from the litter pile, hoping against hope that my feet will come into contact with the rooftop instead of the sharp teeth of the dog I can hear is metres away...

You manage the leap to the nearby rooftops, landing relatively safely and rolling to preserve your momentum. Looking around you can see that there is a myriad of rooftops that you can now jump to, and wonder why you never thought of this before.

Possible directions:

North: Towards the nearby exit form the slums, near to the church of Erona.
South: Towards your home, also back towards the market.
East: Towards the naming grounds, where the undivided church stands.
West: Wall. No route.

You can hear the dog barking below, but the market owner has already given up and is calling the dog back. You see some abandoned bedding next to you where a couple had been making out a few days previous.

Looking south, I feel a cold feeling deep inside. There's nothing left for me back there, nothing but memories. The naming grounds... I could head there and, could there be any clues there?

"She won't be there..." I think to myself. I know only one route makes sense. I have to get out of here, get out of the slums and find her, wherever she is.

I head north, towards the nearby exit.

As you approach the church you hear the sounds of a pitched battle, before the front end of the church explodes in a pillar of flame. You see a gathering of people in front of the church who were watching through the windows and open door get blasted away, a single lone figure standing where they once stood, a glowing shell surrounding her. She turns to face the fallen people, an amused expression on her face. She then turns back and begins preening herself in a hand mirror.

In the ruins of the front of the church is a strange blue creature, crouching in a quadrupedal stance, yowling and writing in agony. The rest of the church interior is in shadow from the ruins.

The creature suddenly turns to face you and begins sprinting out into the light, its entire body fading as it runs. The lonely figure in the glowing shell pulls out a knife, before flinging it at the creature, the knife passing through thin air where the creature had now vanished. A man stalks out of the church to speak to the figure. He appears to be wearing a large brimmed hat and a trench coat, the former of which he tips in greeting. In his hand he carries a monstrous stone scythe, which he slams the top of into the ground.

You recognise the shell around the first figure to be a spell commonly used by high priests and priestesses of the church.