Oh!  Two things:  The armed mercenaries would be pretty unusual, in that it's very rare for people in the city to be licensed to carry swords.  It's understandable that Thalia would have bodyguards, but it would be more normal for them to have heavy clubs and daggers, or the like.  They'd be allowed into the lower levels of the tower and housed and fed there to wait the end of the meeting, rather than escorting her up.<br/><br/>Second:  Every one of the PCs can know this, the only one who even possibly wouldn't is Glim, and even she's been around long enough to have caught the word on the street, or heard about it from Thalia off-screen.  One of the problems Breezeport is facing is rabid Byakhees dragging people off into the sky.  This is because Hastur is pissed about something.  It's high on the agenda to do something about.  Byakhees are really seriously not fun, although a single one is probably not a major problem for any one of the PCs, and especially the fighter types (even without the risk of criminals, they make a good reason for Thalia, frex, to have bodyguards.)  This is part of the reason why it would not be possible for a normal flyer to simply land in Korrok's audience chambers - the windows etc. have been made quite thoroughly Byakhee-proof.