How It All Goes Down
- The fire rages through the bifurcated city of Ankh-Morpork. It destroys the Wizards' Quarter, the Merchant Street, and the drugmasters' dens—less as a matter of principal, and more just because that's what fire does to medieval towns.
- Two figures stand on a hill outside of town, reminiscing as the places of their memories burn to ash. The thin one's named Weasel, and the Mr.-Universe-contestant-to-be is Bravd.
- Weasel spies two figures coming up the road, and Bravd intercepts them to help lighten their load (gold first, and then the other heavy valuables.)
- The first man is a gutter wizard named Rincewind, who seems to know the two.
- He explains he's in no mood for their antics, having just ridden through the scorched city with his companion, the one who started the fire, a fellow by the name of Twoflower.
- Weasel offers Rincewind dinner in exchange for that story.
- Rincewind goes to check on his companion while Bravd and Weasel investigate the trailing pack animal that looks like, "[a] box on legs" (1.1.62).
- He tells them to forget it. It's protected by a powerful kind-of-sort-of-not-quite magic called "reflected-sound-of-underground-spirits" (1.1.59).
- The gutter wizard sits down to tell his story. In the distance, the river gates of the Anhk are closed, and the water seeps into the city's streets and alleys, squelching the fire in exchange for toxic fumes.