The Hippos could be scum, but this event makes that seem less likely to me, not more so. I'm curious as to why you think otherwise.
1- They've been connected to every incident of violence so far.
2- This incident clearly demonstrates such an incident with the Hippos as the aggressors.
3- From prior GM experiences, when players are meandering about cluelessly, it's typically the GM's fault, and to correct this it's not unusual for them to provide clues to try to nudge the players in the right direction. I am interpreting the blatancy of this latest event as such.
4- The Event resolution gives increased penalties for twiddling thumbs for foreigners if the Hippos win, but not the other way 'round. This, to me, implies that the scum were expected to participate but because they are outnumbered, also expected to lose (hence the no penalties for them) if the town fought back.
But even the scum might have chosen to avoid the battle if they have low combat scores. Or maybe they just rolled poorly on their RPS compared to the ones fighting with the dwarfs.
Private Night info, obviously.
So are you now saying that your objectives do >not require the elimination of other players?
~Master Splinter
Victorious in Bergioyn's legendary 'Reverse Mafia'. *MySmiley*