yup... the people dont get turned into slimes... the slimes were summoned...

And the rumor is heard in Beregost and not in BGCity

Summoned by who? The bartender always turns into this green guy before he dies.

Yeah, I think he's being engulfed or something.

The slimes were summoned by an indignant mage, I believe.

<font color="cyan">There was no mage in there when I entered...</font>

Wasn't the story that some sort of mage was slighted and called up the slimes? I think a townsperson tells you about that... Or perhaps a rumor.

It might just be a certain mage experimenting on them and sends them after you if you want a copy of his work...

Ramazith, the one with the big tower apparently summoned a bunch of slimes because he was angered at the bar for some trivial reason. As far as I know, the slimes kill most if not all of the people in the bar, the bartender dies instantly. As for the sewer meeting, you meet a slime and some random creatures, like an ogrillon, that follow him. He is found in a vertical tunnel on the far right side of one of the sewer maps. Upon seeing him he will start to dicusses something along of the lines of that he has been watching you, and finds you interesting. More often than not, you end up battling him, like a regular fight, but sometimes you agree to go your seperate ways. As far as the abandoned quest, that's news to me!
-Brainless One

Yep, Ramazith gets mad and summons all of the creatures. I've tried every single clerical spell, from cure serious wounds to slow poison, but to no avail.

Being a cleric of Paladine, I try to do my best