I'm afraid I don't have much time left, but I'll write down what I can before I go to put a final end to this matter.

I entered the Dunwall Sewers with ease. Weepers lined the streets outside, but I crept along inside the collapsed buildings until I found an old maintenance tunnel that dropped me right where I needed to be. Inside, I barely made it half a mile before coming upon a thug, one of the Bottle Street Gang. He was hurt and was leaning up on the walls for support. He didn't look sick, so I decided to approach him and see what he was muttering about under his breath.

The Dunwall Distillery was attacked and Slackjaw took a bunch of his boys and they went down after the thing that harassed them. The thug didn't even see who did it. All he can recount is a thick fog that set in, and then the rats went absolutely crazy. Good men died that day, he told me. Slackjaw wasn't happy with an attack on his own property, so he chased the rats into the sewers to see what he could do about it, and he took a group of his boys with him for backup. Needless to say, things didn't go over too well. This one told me that he had barely gotten out of there alive, but it was more of the same thing. A heavy fog set in and then they were swarmed by more rats than they had ever seen up on the surface. Seeing as I needed to get through the gate and the gate was locked and the key was only being held by Slackjaw himself, I decided to go and help the man. I'm sure that he would be happy to see me now that I swindled him with the vault back on Clavering Boulevard.

I should also mention here that this summed up a few things. I found a list of active bounties that Daud and his men were going after, and Slackjaw was on that list. I myself seemed to amass a bounty of over thirty thousand coin, which was rather impressive if I do say so myself, in spite of all these terrible circumstances. But in the ledger, it did say that Slackjaw suddenly disappeared one day without a trace. I suppose that must have happened during the attack on the distillery, they didn't get the chance to see him enter the sewers. It's a choice that unknowingly saved his life, though it might not matter now by the sound of things. Also, his man Crowley was certainly killed by one of the assassins themselves. That was the message that he was trying to pass on before being gutted for it. A real shame, too, but I suppose business is business. Slackjaw would be one to understand that. Maybe.

Leaving the thug behind, I started on the path to Slackjaw. Most of this section of the sewers were still flooded, so I had to swim a pretty good distance underneath everything. It was a nerve wracking experience to say the least. I thought that I was going to drown back there. I certainly wasn't looking forward to doing that on the way back.

I came out at a staircase winding up to an old gate. I made my way up there and proceeded with caution. On the other side of the door, I saw Slackjaw being held down as he was speaking to Granny Rags herself. The situation didn't look like it would play out in his favor. There was a boiling cauldron in the center of the clearing and it looked like Granny Rags was going through a sort of ritual, a sacrifice to the Outsider, I'm sure. This wouldn't be a good time for our poor Slackjaw, so I decided to step in.

Granny welcomed me back as her dear husband again. I guess we're on better terms now. And she asked me if I would be so kind as to prepare the vat for poor old Slackjaw here. I refused. She didn't like that one bit and told me to get out before I made her angry. I then spoke to Slackjaw, who was begging for his life. He did notice that I swiped a few things from Bunting's vault, though, and he wasn't quite happy about that. But he also figured that he had no right to complain now as his life was in my hands. He also called me by name. I didn't like that. Apparently one of the first things Lord Regent Havelock did was announce to the world that I was the masked felon running about the place. We'll have to have a little chat about that later.

As I tried and failed to free Slackjaw, Granny Rags became furious. She called down the fog that I had heard about and the entire floor started swarming with rats. Slackjaw was safe as he was up on a stone table of sorts while being prepped for sacrifice. I took a chance and ran for it. Slackjaw told me that there was an idol that was up in the room above that I had to destroy if I wanted a chance at subduing Granny Rags. I have no idea how he knew something like that, but I had no choice but to trust him.

There must have been hundreds of rats there in that clearing. It was like staring out into a moving, furry ocean. I ran as fast as I could, utilizing Bend TIme to give myself an extra chance. I made it up to the room before being torn to bits and saw the idol that Slackjaw told me about. I threw it in the furnace and as I did, a massive explosive took place before me, knocking me off my feet completely. I bounced up as quick as I could, a bit disoriented, only to look around and see that there were significantly less rats in the room. Good going, Slackjaw.

I drew my crossbow and put a sleep dart in Granny Rags' back. She fell, unconscious, and that was that. Nothing else to worry about from her, at least. Though I don't want to think about what will happen when she wakes up…

I freed Slackjaw and he said that he was in my debt, even though I had swindled him. I took the opportunity to tell him what I knew about Daud's men and what happened to Crowley. He gave a bitter smile in return. He was simultaneously proud that it took one of the legendary Daud's men to take down Crowley while also being terrified that someone like Daud was after him. He played it off rather well, but I could sense the fear in him.

After the rats were entirely dispersed, I went up through Granny's room and found an easier way out, a schute that would take me right back where I started this whole mess in the tunnels leading up to the first gate. I also found what would be the last shrine to the Outsider that I would visit with any luck. He appeared before me again as I took the Rune that was placed there. He congratulated me for my efforts so far, telling me that this whole twisted tale was nearly over. I was thankful to hear that at least. The Outsider gave a short recollection on the things that I had done, gave me the worst smile that I have ever seen in my life, and told me that he was fascinated by me. He vanished, and I was left with a supreme feeling of discomfort.

Back at the first gate, I made my way through and ended up in a small settling of survivors. They were all looking rather ragged, though I suppose that I was, too. None of them were sick, which was great to see. Some of them stopped me and asked if I had seen their wives, husbands, children, or friends. It was heartbreaking to shake my head and to say nothing more than a simple "I'm just passing through." I'm certain that they knew who I was under the mask, if Havelock made that information as wide known as I suspected, but that didn't matter to them. They were just so happy to have someone else around that also wasn't infected or anything. They gave me some supplies and some food. They barely had enough to get by themselves, but I took it at their insistence. With any luck they'd be back on the streets again in a day or two after this next Lord Regent was put down.

From there, I found the door leading out to the Hound Pits Pub. The door, by chance, that led right into the old abandoned apartment that Cecilia gave me the key to all that time ago. It feels like months, but it's probably only been a matter of days or maybe even a week or so. It's hard to tell anymore, things have been moving so fast. She was in there, though, locking the place out and making it secure. I scared the daylights out of her, the poor thing. And when she calmed down and realized it was me, she told me everything.

Things got real bad around here at the Hound Pits Pub after Samuel took me off. Lord Pendleton has Wallace assemble all of the servants that they had in the courtyard. They were to be recognized for their service to the Loyalist cause and rewarded for their efforts. When they got there, they were executed one by one. Wallace took his bullet with no words, I heard he just closed his eyes and let it happen. Lydia screamed as she realized what was about to happen, regained her composure in her final moments, and cursed Havelock's name as he pulled the trigger. Callista was spared due to an outstanding debt between her uncle Geoff Curnow and Havelock. She was locked in the tower and left alone. Lady Emily was gone along with Havelock, Martin, and Treavor. Cecilia didn't know where any of them were. And when I asked her how she got out of that mess, she said that Wallace told her that she wasn't going to receive anything so she shouldn't bother with attending in the first place. Maybe he knew, deep down, what was going to happen. That would certainly make for one tragic tale. Nearly everyone but Lydia abused Cecilia day and night as she worked. She's such a lovely young thing, too. She's not broken by any of this. She continues forward resolutely. I'm glad to have her by my side here at the end.

This was when I took my reprieve. Cecilia gave me some food and some time to rest and collect my thoughts and write them down here. After I was done last time, I got myself ready and set out to take back the Hound Pits Pub. Callista, Piero, and Sokolov were all there, and at the very least Callista was still alive. I had a feeling that Piero and Sokolov were able to make it through this alright for now, though. I had full confidence in them.

I made my way out of the apartment and into the streets around the Pub. To no surprise, I found a Tall Boy wandering the streets. I could feel the building shake from his footsteps, so I knew to expect him. I knew deep down that there would probably be some in the yard as well.

I Blinked up behind the banners when the Tall Boy had passed and listened in on quite a humorous conversation two of the guards were having. They were talking about being prepared for my return and what it would be like to have me around. The younger of the two assumed that they would be fine and that they had nothing to worry about. The older one told him that they'd be in some deep trouble. The younger guard, a bit worried now, asked what he thought I was doing right now. The older one responded by saying that he knew I was watching them at that very moment, creeping closer and closer until I drove my blade through his throat. The younger man cursed him and walked away. To be honest, while it was funny, it terrified me for a second because I thought I had somehow been spotted by this one guard. No need to worry, it seems. It's simply a matter of me being paranoid.

I slipped into the open window in the old servant's quarters and started sneaking around the interior of the Pub. I dove into Havelock's room after seeing no guards around only to find that the room had been completely emptied. Not a sign of life remaining here. It was sad to see. I was hoping to get some intel from the man's belongings. While I didn't see any of his stuff here, I did find a crumpled up blueprint of Piero's in the trash. It seemed to be for an improved Arc Pylon of sorts. I decided to hold onto it for now, just in case it might prove useful in the future. Lord Pendleton's old room was in the exact same state as well, so I left it be and proceeded to my quarters.

There were no less than five guards up on the top floor of the Pub, all in my room looking around for signs to point to where they could find me. It was strange to see a sight like that, but I ignored them and slipped out the window to visit Callista in the tower. She opened the door when I called out to her. I went inside, shutting the door behind me, and we had our talk.

Callista had no idea where Emily was. She was still angry with herself for letting her go with Havelock, not that she had any choice in the matter. She told me of plans she made with Samuel to use a flare of sorts to call him back over to the shore if or when she found me. That was good to know, at least. I looked out and didn't see Samuel at all. He was hiding a good distance away, but he'd be able to show up on a moment's notice, knowing him. That's just the kind of guy he is. I told Callista that none of this was her fault, and she burst into tears from the anger, guilt, and frustration that she had been feeling up to that point. I took some time to comfort her and reassured her that she is still very much needed. Emily trusts her a good deal, and she would need a strong woman to look up to as she grows up. Callista gave me a hug when I told her that she'd be staying in Dunwall Tower with us to further tutor Emily and be with her as she gets older. Her work was far from over, as was mine. I bid Callista farewell, telling her to lock the door after I left, and I went outside to Piero's workshop to see what was going on there.

There was a strange new structure added to the top of Piero's shop that looked like an Arc Pylon but it was definitely different. I Blinked down to an open window at the side and crawled in. And this is when I was truly shocked beyond words. During this time of hardship, Sokolov and Piero had indeed become good friends. I found them huddled under tables as the building came under fire yet again, discussing their various theories and talking about how they could improve upon one another's experiments and tools. It was almost too much to take in all at once. I walked up to them and they were very glad to see me alive and kicking. Piero told me of his new invention, a device that would grant him the power to either knock out or kill anyone in a wide radius. It's a powerful new Arc Pylon system that requires a bit of fine tuning. He needed me to go into Havelock's old room and grab his blueprints for the device. I gave him the ones that I already found and he was more than a little impressed. He gave a hearty laugh, something that sounded a bit strange coming from him, and made his final fine tunings to the device. He told me to grab another whale oil tank and plug it in on the room next to the pylon itself. So off I went. There were two already up there, and when I plugged in the third, the device activated. It released a powerful enough shock to slam me into the ground, but when I came to everyone else around was unconscious. All of the guards were down for the count and Piero and Sokolov were celebrating their latest success. You know, with both of them working together like this, we might actually be able to stop the plague… Something to think about and motivate me in these final hours.

I stepped away from them for a moment and went back to my quarters. Emily left a drawing for me up on the wall. My furniture had been cleared out, but I did see a letter that she left me. She said that she was leaving soon to go with Havelock, Martin, and Pendleton to Kingsparrow Island, to the lighthouse that was recently built there. She didn't know much of what was going on at the time, this seemed to be written before all the killing started. I know that Emily saw the beginning of it, but I think that this letter was written shortly before that. Either way, it told me where I needed to go.

I went over to the apartment again to get Cecilia but all I found was a note telling me that she made a run for it. She thanked me for everything that I had done and told me that she would come back to see me again at some point, whenever she could. I prayed for her safety and moved on.

I said my goodbyes to Piero and Sokolov, telling them what was going to happen from here. They pinned all of their hopes on me and said that they'd get started looking into ways to combine their plague formulas immediately just in case I should succeed. We'll need their brilliant minds to save this city. I was glad that they were now so eager to work together. It seems that they both found someone who was on their level for the first time and they were rather happy with the results of their combined efforts.

Then I went to see Callista one last time. We fired off the flare, calling Samuel to the riverbank, and I gave her one last hug goodbye. Again I told her that Emily will still need her after all of this is over. It takes a city to raise an Empress. She gave a weak laugh at that and said she'd be here waiting for word of our victory.

I dropped down the side of the tower and approached Samuel Beechwroth. He had a wide smile on his face. He always knew I'd come back, and I appreciated his trust in me.

I told Samuel where we need to go: Kingsparrow Island. This would be our final fight. He sighed, he was about ready to be done with this quite a while ago, he said. I agreed. This is rather unpleasant business to deal with at all. But now that the light at the end of the tunnel is in sight, we can only keep moving forward.

One way or another, this ends tonight. Either Emily will ascend to the throne or Havelock and his boys will kill me and Dunwall will fall into their hands. I suppose it was always going to end this way. Real power tempts a man, to be sure. Maybe I've been around real power too much, though. I've seen all of its flaws and how much it weighs on the people who wield it. I have no desire to handle something like that for myself. I'd rather stay on the sidelines and do whatever I can to support people like Emily. She'll make a fine Empress if I'm able to pull this off tonight.

I've been writing this entry from Samuel's boat on our approach to Kingsparrow Island. The end is in sight. The rest is up to me. If I should succeed here, then Dunwall will have a chance to live and prosper. No pressure, Corvo. No pressure.