I tried of course to save Sanik in the Vulgar Monkey, but ran into a strange case. I set my PC to attack the Assassin physically, and a couple NPCs to shoot him, figuring it would be enough. It took a moment to hit pause to set this up. (My reflexes aren't what they used to be.) Sanik fired off a magic missle, then went over to attack the assassin physically. Both died in the same instant, so Sanik obviously couldn't begin his post-fight dialog, and since the assassin was dead, the bartender didn't begin his either. At least I'm guessing that was the reason. In any case, there was no way to progress the game. Not a big deal, since the game autosaves just outside the inn, but fairly ironic