Why do people put up with these clowns? I know there is reference in the game to dissent against them, for instance among the city watch. But what good do they offer the society that people agree to keep them around?

And a smaller question- In the Overseer Back Yard, you can overhear a scene of a guy who's got the plague being killed by two other Overseers. In my previous games, this guy was always protesting that he wasn't sick and the other two killed him by force. In my current game, he admits he's sick and asks them to do the deed. What's the difference? Is it random which way the scene goes?

I think is random for that scene.

On the Overseers, I think people don't like them, but are too afraid to act against them.

The memorials in the cathedral tell of religious wars and expeditions and those who died in them. So, they are contributing to society by waging war against clans and the outsiders as well as leading expeditions.

I think a valid reason that the Overseers could exist and be accepted is that they fight against people with powers like Corvo's, who probably abused said powers extensively at the expense of the 'common folk' in the past. Whether having these (also abusive) Overseers as a countermeasure to this is rational is somewhat irrelevant, as populations do hugely irrational things frequently.

Good Point

The Overseers are basically the leaders of the Catholic Church in Medieval Times.

They control everything indirectly and everybody fears them, even people who can order them all killed.

As far as how they got power, they're a cult dedicated to hating the Outsider.

People are afraid of the unknown and (as others have said) if the Outsider gave powers to those who abused it with these cultists running around they could gain a considerable amount of backing.

The medieval church operated schools and hospitals.

The catholic church also didn't have any (real) scary magic people to point to for reasons that justify their existence.

...Or did they?

I think that could be comparable in that medievals tended to be quite spiritual people and believe in prayer and charms against diseases, demons, etc.

Yeah, this is why I put the 'real' there in parenthesis. Its one thing that everyone says they're afraid of demons, and maybe even legitimately believes in them. It's quite another when many people have actually witnessed a guy teleport around stabbing people and summoning swarms of rats, or whatever else the Outsider gave people the ability to do.

When put up against people like Granny Rags, the Overseers aren't that bad. Also they are the militant wing of the Abby of the Everyman, which is the main religion in Gristol.

There were no schools in medieval times, and the only ones who were educated were High classes and Monks

There were schools, they were run by the church and only children of important members of the church were allowed to attend.

If there were no schools then nobody would ever learn much more than how to speak.

There were schools. Yes you had to have some dosh to get in them. Not only nobility, but those attached to monastery lands and some prosperous laypeople sent their children there. For example, Martin Luther's parents were commoners, his father was a miner, and he sent his son to grammar school and later law school. Eventually Luther became a university professor.

Don't people study history anymore?

How often do they actually see this, though? If someone witnesses you using Blink, they say "impossible!" Like they have never seen anything like that.

It's possible it's an difference between high and low chaos choices. I've had it where he wasnt sick on my low chaos and was sick on the high chaos. havnt played more than that yet so not sure if its that.

It is just the difference in chaos level that changes the scene as you thought

That is a possibility, for sure. However, some books in the game describing 'ancient' times on the Islands though seem to suggest magic was once a more common thing. I can't bring up a specific example at the moment (I've been hooked on Dark Souls lately, if I'm honest, but I plan on playing Dishonored again soon) but a book about Whale Charms definitely gave me that impression, anyway.

Why does anybody ever put up with such clowns?

It's been happening in real life probably for as long as man has existed.

Isn't that how Christianity saw Paganism? Not too good at my ancient Christian indignation.

Not really. But getting into it is perilously close to getting into a religious discussion. And some people get nice and mad when others talk about what the church did to convert people way, way back during its rise to power.