Transcribed by Michelle Kelly.
##Intro
Rhi: Welcome back to Duskwall. Today, we’re going back in time, both in the history of Duskwall, and in terms of recording. This was actually one of the very first bonus episodes I ever recorded for The Magpies, back in May 2018. I’ve been waiting for the right time to release it ever since. This episode stars my good friend Paulomi, who is also the showrunner for the Iron Hides Podcast. It’s a weird west Monster of the Week Actual Play, and stars several past and present Magpies. There’s a link to the show in the notes and I highly recommend you check it out.
In this episode, we’re not playing Blades in the Dark. Instead, we’re playing a really cool two-player RPG called A Scoundrel in the Deep. In this game, one person plays the Scoundrel: an adventurer, treasure-hunter or thief who has ventured into the depths to claim a valuable prize. The other person plays the Deep: the threats and challenges that the scoundrel must overcome to escape with their treasure and their life. And the game isn’t played with dice, cards or even a Jenga tower. It’s played with burning matches.
I’d like to take this moment to give a special thanks to James and Mel D’Amato, who let us play with matches around their very nice recording equipment in their apartment. Thanks for letting us use your equipment, and for trusting us not to set your table on fire. For this story, I reskinned the game to line up with the setting of Duskwall. If you’d like to hear a playthrough of the original version of the game, check out the excellent One Shot episode of A Scoundrel in the Deep, starring James D’Amato and Jeff Stormer. I’ll link to that episode and to the game itself in the notes.
Other announcements: our Patreon backer drive and giveaway contest is still ongoing. When we hit 100 backers on Patreon, five of those backers will win 3D-printed Magpies pins. We’ve picked up a few new backers recently, which is fantastic. Plus, we’re now less than $50 away from our $400 per month goal. If we hit that goal, we’ll be able to buy better recording equipment for the whole cast, and then work on setting up a merch store with t-shirts and other Magpies gear. So, if you’re able, check out our Patreon and back us.
It’s still international podcast Month and there are tons of great episodes to listen to. I hosted an episode on accessibility in tabletop RPGs, and I played in a really delightful game of Good Society. The Scum and Villainy episode run by friend and guest star Waffles is another great one to check out. I will also be at AcadeCon in November, ready to play games and give away Magpies bookmarks. I am looking forward to seeing folks there. Next, Josie is going to tell us about this month’s featured charity.
Josie: On August 31st, many peaceful counter-protesters standing against the white supremacist “straight pride parade”, big air quotes on that one, in Boston were assaulted by police unprovoked and wrongfully improved. The Solidarity Against Hate Legal Defense Fund is an ongoing fundraiser to post bail for these brave individuals. Fortunately, the goal for bail was met within a few hours, but you can still help. All further proceeds will be split between donations to the Mass Bail Fund, a national organization that works to free people from incarceration and end money bail, and Boston GLASS, which provides all manner of vital services to queer trans people of color. Please donate to the fundraiser and/or directly to those groups. Thank you.
Rhi: The specific fundraiser that Josie mentions has ended now, but you can still donate to the Mass Bail Fund and Boston GLASS at the links in the notes.
Now then. Let’s get started, shall we?
##Story begins [00.04.07]
Rhi: Welcome to a very special bonus episode of The Magpies. I am joined by my good friend Paulomi.
Paulomi: Hi everyone.
Rhi: And we are going to be playing a game called A Scoundrel in the Deep. But before I get too much into describing the game, Paulomi, do you want to tell the listeners a little bit about yourself, plug anything you wanna plug?
Paulomi: Yeah! So, I mostly scream about Padme and other Star Wars things on twitter.com @PaulomiSP but I’m also currently recording, hopefully releasing at some point, a weird western podcast called Iron Hides. So, you should tune into that on the pod networks.
Rhi: Yes, and it will probably be out by the time this episode airs, so I will definitely put a link to that in the show notes.
Paulomi: Yes, fingers crossed.
Rhi: Yes. [laughs] So, A Scoundrel in the Deep is a very interesting roleplay game. It is also one that would be basically impossible to play online, so I had to wait until Paulomi came to Chicago to visit so that I would have a reason to play it. Because the central mechanic of A Scoundrel in the Deep is not dice, or cards or anything like that. It is burning matches that we will be passing back and forth. So, the game is about a scoundrel who has set out to claim some kind of treasure. And they have succeeded in claiming this treasure. However now that have to survive the journey back. And this game is the story of that journey. And in this game, I have sort of applied a Blades in the Dark flavor to A Scoundrel in the Deep, so I have been referring to it as A Scoundrel in the Dark. In this, I will be playing the part of the Dark. I will be all of the terrors of the Deathlands that are trying to keep Paulomi’s Scoundrel from making it back to Duskwall successfully and alive and with the treasure. So, I think on that note…
Paulomi: Yes.
Rhi: We will get into the game proper. It is the year 797 of The Imperium. Nearly 8 centuries has passed since the cataclysm. And through it all, Duskwall has lived on. You are a scoundrel of Duskwall. What kind of scoundrel are you?
Paulomi: I feel like I am a thief. Just a regular old thief who goes around stealing things and somehow ended up in this tomb-raiding situation.
Rhi: So, yes. You have left Duskwall and ventured into the Deathlands, seeking a legendary relic. What drove you out here?
Paulomi: Desperation, I feel like. I, for whatever reason, was at the end of my rope in Duskwall, so I decided that the best way to seek my fortune was leaving it and finding something that can allow me to do that.
Rhi: Well, you found it. You hold in your hands a simple wooden box that contains the Heart of Kotar. It is said to be the mummified heart of an ancient hero, or sorcerer, or demon. Someone powerful whose heart contains much of that power. Now, you just have to make it back to the city. Your supplies dwindle, the electroplasm that fuels your lantern has long since run out. Luckily, you still have…
Paulomi: A spiritbane charm for all the ghosties and my length of sturdy rope, which I have had since the beginning of this journey.
Rhi: Alright. So, you have emerged from the small, unassuming tomb where the Heart was hidden. The tomb itself is one of several in the little valley, tucked away amongst some kills far from Duskwall. And as you emerge, you can see the faint broken shards of the sun fading from view. It’s just past dawn and the Deathlands are plunged into infinite, unceasing darkness.
Paulomi: My lamp has died. Tired and hungry, I must scramble in the pitch dark. Only a few matches separate me from endless inky blackness. My fate is in my own hands.
Rhi: But peril lurks in the dark.
Paulomi: I just need to make it back to Duskwall.
Rhi: So, I have described the first location. You light the match, hand it to me, and I will tell you the first peril that you are encountering. I should also, before you light that, one other thing. If we, either one of us, does two pulls with the match and it doesn’t light, then if I do that, if it fails to light after I strike twice, then the peril does not manifest. It was just a weird noise, it was just the wind, it was a cat.
Paulomi: [laughs]
Rhi: And you are able to walk on unscathed and, I believe, claim an item. That basically counts as a win for you.
Paulomi: Cool.
Rhi: If you strike twice and it doesn’t light, then the peril catches you completely off guard and will just take you out. Not kill you, but, you know, you suffer from it.
Paulomi: Okay, gotcha.
Rhi: So.
Paulomi: Okay! [laughs]
Rhi: No pressure.
Paulomi: Here we go.
[match strike]
Rhi: Alright.
Paulomi: Yay!
Rhi: You make your way across the courtyard and you hear footsteps, first on one side, then the other. Then in front of you. And you see a feline shape. An umbra-lion, phasing in and out of the ghost field as it stalks you.
Paulomi: Um… I… what just happened?
Rhi: It burned out, and so—
Paulomi: No!
Rhi: This one is mine. I’m gonna dunk it in here, just so that I don’t, like, light anything on fire.
Paulomi: [laughs]
Rhi: Alright. So yeah, it burned out while you were holding it, before you could describe how you defeated it.
Paulomi: Rude!
Rhi: [laughs] So, you see the feline shape of the umbra-lion in front of you, and before you can react, before you can run, it disappears and then reappears already pouncing. It tackles you to the ground, it tears at your skin and at your clothing. You manage to throw it off and run, but you, rather than, you know, taking the path that you knew led you to this place, you just run off into the dark.
Paulomi: Crap. [laughs]
Rhi: So.
Paulomi: Well, crap sandwich.
Rhi: But the umbra-lion does not follow you. Perhaps there’s easier prey closer by? But that’s of little comfort as you are now somewhere out in the dark.
Paulomi: Okay.
Rhi: So, the matchbook comes to me, and I will describe the location you find yourself in. You run across the fields and low hills for a time, hoping to lose the umbra-lion, and eventually your footsteps begin to splash as you find yourself in the remains of a swamp. There’s not really a lot of plant life here. A fair amount of fungus and mushrooms growing. You remember skirting around the edge of this place when you came out to the tomb, because in the darkness you can’t see where there sinkholes and deep pools of water that you could just fall into and sink forever. But now, you are sort of faced with having to make your way through it. Now I’ll light the match, describe the peril, and pass it to you. As you begin to make your way across the swamp, you hear overhead the flapping of wings. Great, vast wings. Deathlands crows that seek your spirit to feed their hunger.
Paulomi: So, I think what I do is I take my spiritbane charm and basically chuck it at one of those crows.
Rhi: Okay, yeah.
Paulomi: [yelps]
Rhi: Okay, yep, that counts for you. That was very close.
Paulomi: My fingees! [laughs]
Rhi: Yep. Okay, so you now have lost the spiritbane charm. You do not have that. So, the charm flies through the air and the crows shriek and dive out of the way and go wheeling back off into the darkness. They don’t wanna challenge you. So, it’s back to you and now you get to describe after you make your way through the swamp, the next place you that find yourself in out in the Deathlands.
Paulomi: Okay. So, I think I’m basically following my best instinct when it comes to orienting myself. I’m kinda just going in the direction that I feel like I need to be going in. And eventually I feel like the swamp gives way to more of, like, a grassy sort of situation, with maybe a river running through it.
Rhi: Okay.
Paulomi: Or a small creek. And I’m walking alongside this river because knowing Duskwall, rivers have to lead to it somehow.
Rhi: Yes.
Paulomi: So, I’m just walking along that, I think. And so, I light a match now?
Rhi: Yes. Well, I’m gonna set up the peril.
Paulomi: Gotcha.
Rhi: Because peril lurks in the dark. As you are making your way along the side of this creek, you hear a sort of clattering and clanking. Looking around in the darkness, you can’t see it, but it’s getting louder and it’s getting closer. So, now you light.
Paulomi: Okay.
[match strike]
Rhi: Ooh.
Paulomi: Shit. [laughs]
Rhi: [laughs] So, you’re looking around and the darkness is impenetrable. The noise seems to be echoing, you can’t pinpoint a direction. Then, something slams into your back and you scramble away, twisting around to see a rusted metal frame, vaguely humanoid, with a blue, cold light burning in its eyes.
This is a Hull. A clockwork creation given a sort of unnatural life by the trapped spirit essence that fuels it. Normally they are servile. They are designed to carry out orders, to transport, to protect, to serve. This one, though, is attacking, and you’re not sure if it is a rage or hunger, but it continues to approach you, these metal arms swinging at you. And you scramble across the creek, the cold water just soaking through your boots and your clothes, and you scramble to the other side hoping to lose it. It is slowed down by the water, and you find yourself on the other side of this creek in the remains of what seems like a village of some kind. You know enough history to know that that’s something that used to happen. People would have small settlements outside the big cities. But it’s not something that’s even remotely possible now. But this looks like it was once one of those places. Some 800 years old. There’s not much left, just sort of low stone foundations outlining where houses and other buildings once stood.
But peril lurks in the dark. You realize as you’re making your way through this village that you aren’t alone. You hear footsteps, but not the footsteps of the umbra-lion that you heard before, or even those of the Hull. These sound like humans. And you hear low voices from somewhere up ahead.
[match strike]
Rhi: Oop.
[match strike]
Rhi: Um, so, for our listeners. Paulomi and I both on our last two match strikes have—
Paulomi: Whiffed it!
Rhi: Have failed to actually light a match, because I think, at least for me, I probably light a match maybe six times a year.
Paulomi: [laughs]
Rhi: It’s not a skill I have a lot of practice with. So, yeah. How do you evade this peril?
Paulomi: So, I think some of the structures in this derelict village are still standing and I feel like when I hear voices close to me, I duck into one of the small, sort of thatched huts and kind of hide there, crouched in a corner. Very much fetal position, knees to my chest, kind of with a box sandwiched between me. And just wait until those voices either fade away or they lose interest in me.
Rhi: Yeah. It seems like they hadn’t noticed you, weren’t necessarily interested in you specifically. You hear them talking about recovering supplies, bringing them back to camp, but they move past your hiding spot without giving you any trouble. So, this also means you are able to, because you defeated this peril without using an item, you are able to recover an item here. So, what is something that you find in this ruined village that will be of help to you?
Paulomi: So, I feel like this crew of people have been here, and maybe they were doing some researching or whatever, but they have forgotten about a small piece of equipment in this place that I’m hiding in. And when I kind of check around me, once I don’t hear the voices anymore, I think it is a flintlock pistol that someone dropped for whatever reason. And I kind of just take that, tuck it into my belt.
Rhi: Alright.
Paulomi: And move on with my day. [laughs]
Rhi: Okay. So, you have picked up a pistol.
Paulomi: Yes.
Rhi: And moving on from the village, what is the next location you find yourself in?
Paulomi: I think woods and stuff are still totally a thing out here? Or…
Rhi: Trees don’t grow anymore, but you can still find dead trees standing.
Paulomi: Okay, cool. So, I think I find myself kind of walking into what used to be a forest. It’s probably more mushroom than tree at this point.
Rhi: Yeah.
Paulomi: And it’s kind of tough terrain because there are, like, roots everywhere. It’s gnarled and it’s dark so I can’t really pick my way through.
Rhi: Peril lurks in the dark.
Paulomi: Oh shit.
Rhi: As you’re picking your way through this dark, dead forest, you see movement and light somewhere far up ahead. Just flickers of… not fire light, not even the glow of an electroplasmic lantern. This is a different sort of light, and as you get closer, you recognize it as the light that a ghost emanates as it manifests outside the ghost field. So, now you light it. We hope.
[match strike]
Rhi: There you go. The spirit approaches you, and you recognize with a start that you know this face. This is someone that you betrayed back in Duskwall.
Paulomi: I think I… gosh. Crap! Um, I think I’ve frozen in place for a little while, and then I bolt, basically, running towards the ghost and running past it.
Rhi: Okay. So, the spirit shrieks at you as you sprint past. The tree branches lash at you, but you don’t stop, you just keep going and going, and eventually you burst out of the tree line on the other side. This vengeful spirit somehow finding you all the way out here, remains within the boundary of the forest. And what item do you find as you are making your escape?
Paulomi: You mentioned that if there are people, they’re not going to make it. [laughs] But, I really like the idea of basically colliding, just headlong, into another person. Probably a straggler from that research camp that I was nearby earlier. And I think we both, like, go rolling for a second. And I jump up very quickly and kind of draw the pistol that I have tucked away in my belt. And I’m just like:
Paulomi (as Scoundrel): Who are you?
Rhi: Who are they? Who is this person? What do they look like?
Paulomi: I think they are, like, they’re a very petite lady. She’s got glasses on and her hair is, like, tied back very tightly. And she’s… [laughs] I love the idea of her having those horrible jodhpurs on as well.
Rhi: [laughs]
Paulomi: [laughs] But, she kinda dusts herself off, holds her hands up and introduces herself. Her name is Ora, and she is a mercenary, I think. Immediately I’m just like:
Paulomi (as Scoundrel): You don’t look like a mercenary.
Rhi (as Ora): You don’t look like the kind of person who should be out here at all. What are you doing here?
Paulomi: And then I try not glance at the box that I have kind of tucked under my elbow.
Paulomi (as Scoundrel): I don’t think that’s any of your business.
Rhi (as Ora): [sighs] I assume you’re trying to get back to the city?
Paulomi (as Scoundrel): Uh, yes, I am.
Rhi (as Ora): I got separated from the rest of my group and heading back there seems safer than wandering around out here, so shall we try to make the trek together?
Paulomi: I think I, like, eye her suspiciously, but I’m still tucking my pistol away while I do that.
Paulomi (as Scoundrel): Yeah. I think that’s fine.
Rhi (as Ora): Alright.
Rhi: And the two of you set off in this sort of uneasy, wary partnership. So, where do the two of you end up next?
Paulomi: So, I think we kind of make our way through these weird mushroom deadwoods and we reach a point where, sort of, the hills start up again. And it’s gonna be much more of a hike, I think, this next section. They are slightly more clustered together, they’re more like little hillocks, just sort of here and there, and we’ll occasionally cross a completely derelict or broken-down fence. I feel like maybe at some point, this used to be farmland. It is not anymore. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah. But peril lurks in the dark.
[match strike]
Rhi: Oops.
[match strike]
Rhi: Alright. So, the two of you make your way across an empty field, and you see a surging spirit well that is just ghosts pouring out of it and start coming towards you.
Paulomi: I think I… oh gosh… argh!
Rhi: Okay, yep, that one goes to me.
Paulomi: Yep.
Rhi: So, the spirits swarm you and surround you both. You hear Ora shouting, you hear the shrieking of the spirits. You can feel them trying to force their way into your mind to try to possess you, to take control. And you manage to resist and fight them off, but it is taxing and you are exhausted. You feel just mentally and emotionally and even physically just drained by the time you make it across this farmland and out. Ora is still with you, seemingly having had a bit of an easier time. She doesn’t look quite as drained as you do. But she seems to be stumbling a little bit as she catches up, and just sort of looks to you and says:
Rhi (as Ora): Alright, where… I don’t even know where we are. Where do we go next?
Paulomi: Yeah. I think I ask her if she’s okay and kinda like, put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. And then… I’m describing our surroundings now?
Rhi: No, I will.
Paulomi: Okay.
Rhi: Yeah, when you touch her, she startles a little bit, but then nods in answer to your question, and you continue on. And also, just as reference, so I have three out of the five matches that I need for the darkness to be triumphant here. And how many matches do you have?
Paulomi: I have three also. [laughs]
Rhi: Three out of ten. So, this is looking a little rough for our scoundrel here. So, the two of you continue on across the expanse of farmland outside of Duskwall. There’s basically nothing to see. There’s, you know, darkness and flatness, and you just keep walking until you come up to the top of sort of a rise in a small hill and you both almost plough into a half-crumbled wall. As you circle around it, you find— it looks like some kind of temple. It’s a small structure, but there’s some pillars, there is a, towards the back center of the space, there’s a pedestal with some sort of statue on it. The statue has been not just worn down by time, but it looks like deliberately destroyed and desecrated. There are runes engraved on it, there are pieces scattered across the floor to the point where you can’t even really tell what it used to be. And peril lurks in the dark of this temple.
[match strike]
Rhi: You hear a voice whispering to you from behind the statue.
Rhi (as Voice): Free me, and I’ll grant you anything you want.
Paulomi: Um… I think instead of listening to what that voice is saying, I am having none of this and smashing the statue to the ground.
Rhi: Okay. So, there is very little left of this statue, but you still sort of jump up on the pedestal and shove the remaining pieces to the ground. And as each piece shatters, you hear a distant echoing shriek.
Rhi (as Voice): No! No! Anything, I’ll do anything!
Rhi: But each piece keeps shattering. Ora just sort of has stood back and sort of watched you, this all happened so quickly she wasn’t even able to react. What useful item do you find in the remains of this temple that will aid you on your journey?
Paulomi: I think kind of adjacent to where the statue was resting there’s probably just like an arrangement of smaller pedestals. And I think on one of those pedestals is a small vial of some kind of oil. [laughs]
Rhi: [laughs]
Paulomi: If I were to hold it up to any sort of light, I think it would be very murky and yellow feeling. Feeling more like, I guess, lard than it would be oil. But it’s still very liquid inside, so I think I grab that after seeing it and I take a sniff at it. And I feel like it smells, like, lightly spiced, even. And I think I just tuck that away into a jacket pocket.
Rhi: This could be useful. [laughs]
Paulomi: Could be useful. [laughs]
Rhi: Alright. So, you conquered that peril, which means you get to describe the next location that you find yourselves in.
Paulomi: I think that we definitely rest here for a short amount of time, be it just like taking a quick catnap with my eyes closed and then head resting against a wall.
Rhi: Yeah.
Paulomi: But then we get moving again and we leave here and continue walking towards what I can only hope is the direction of Duskwall. And I think the next sort of area is… gosh. I’m like, thinking about English countryside still. Oh! We’re kind of reaching this patch of grouped ruins, where equally ruined fences are not really holding back people from kind of tramping over these really overgrown and then wilted beds of some kind. Like, flowerbeds. And I think we’re just kind of moving through here. There’s a lot of pieces of structures still standing, I think. Some brick and mortar and wood frames and such. But everything is mostly just a pile of rubble.
Rhi: But peril lurks in the dark. As the two of you are making your way through this, sort of, again, another ruined village, you hear footsteps running towards you, and this time you are not gonna get caught off guard. You spin around, that pistol raised, but before you can get a shot off, you see a man running towards you…
[match strike]
[groans]
[match strike]
Rhi: Okay. So, the man runs towards you and he stops and stumbles and a spirit lunges forward from him, surging towards you, shrieking:
Rhi (as Spirit): Something fresh!
Paulomi: And I feel like the way this works is it’s lunging towards me and I hit the deck and I think Ora is right behind me.
Rhi: Are you— so, are you using Ora?
Paulomi: I am using Ora. [laughs]
Rhi: Okay. So, you dive to the ground. Ora doesn’t scream, or cry out, she just:
Rhi (as Ora): [short gasp]
Rhi: And then, there’s silence. How do you react at this point?
Paulomi: I feel like there’s a moment where everything is just sort of frozen, and I’ve been her before, and I think I run at Ora and shove her to the ground, and run past her and basically just run for my life. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah. Yeah, Ora does not resist or move. She just sort of falls over when you push her. But as you get close to push her, you see her eyes that have gone just sort of flat and glassy. And there’s a faint blue glow in her pupils. She falls and you run on, and because you used an item to defeat that you do not get another item. But you do get to describe the next location. So, where do you run to after allowing a ghost to possess this person who was helping you escape?
Paulomi: [whines]
Rhi: [laughs]
Paulomi: Um, let’s see. I think I run for a while, as long as basically my body will allow me to before I have to, like, collapse and catch my breath. And I think at this point the first thing I’m going to do is check that I still have the box, and I think I kind of like crack the lid a little bit and see that everything in there is still alright.
Rhi: Yep. It doesn’t look like much. It looks like a kind of dried out husk of, like, leather, or meat. You haven’t touched it yet. You’re kind of afraid to, because you don’t know how it works or what’ll happen. But, it matches all the descriptions that you found of what this heart should be. So, you’re pretty sure that you’ve got the right thing. You hope.
Paulomi: I think I, like, snap it closed when I get a whiff of it, and then I tuck it back under my arm and stand up, still kind of trying to catch my breath, but still a lot better than I was. And I’m looking around me and I’m basically in just another stretch of, like, flat, grassy terrain I think. There’s not really any structures of anything to mention in sight. And I find that, like, underfoot there might be an overgrown trail. Like, wagon ruts, basically, on either side of my feet. And I think I’m just gonna follow that, moving forward.
Rhi: Alright. But peril lurks in the dark. You follow this path for a while and you think that you see, maybe on the horizon, there’s a flicker of light that maybe that’s the lightning barrier, maybe that’s Duskwall. And then you see, sort of silhouetted against that light, what looks like a lone tree, standing by the side of this path. And you’re about to just pass it by without a thought, and then the tree moves.
Paulomi: [whines]
[match strike]
Rhi: It lunges for you, now taking a more humanoid form. Thick, wooden arms swinging to strike at you, to knock you to the ground.
Paulomi: I think I basically whip out my pistol and shoot it straight in what I assume to be its face.
Rhi: Okay. How many do you have?
Paulomi: Six.
Rhi: Six, okay. You are catching up.
Paulomi: Uh huh.
Rhi: So, you shoot this thing and splinters fly everywhere. Ii recoils back. It doesn’t make a sound, but its arms are flailing and you, in its confusion, are able to continue running off down the path and escape. I think you’ve gotten 3 in a row.
Paulomi: I have.
Rhi: So, you let fate slip through your fingers. You’re pretty sure now, you follow this path for a while, for what must be hours. It’s impossible to tell, because there is no sun, there are no stars during day, you just are walking and walking, and you are, by this point, exhausted and hungry and you are just focusing on the spot of light on the horizon, that you’re now certain has to be Duskwall. And as you’re walking, you pass by a watchtower. Its old and crumbling, but there’s still enough of a structure there that it could provide some shelter. But peril lurks in the dark.
[match strike]
Rhi: And as you enter the watchtower, you hear the clanking of chains along the walls, and then the chains lash out towards you, trying to wrap around you and grab you and drag you into something.
Paulomi: I basically just, like, as I was walking into the clocktower, the chains were reaching for me and I basically run backwards out of the clocktower.
Rhi: Okay. [laughs]
Paulomi: [laughs]
Rhi: Alright. So you, once again, run.
Paulomi: Lots of running. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah. Well, I mean, it’s… you know. But now you’ve, you know, that was a place where maybe you could have gotten some rest, waited until the relatively lighter night, when the moons are out are there are at least stars to navigate by. But now you just have to keep pressing on. You do find either inside the tower before the chains attack, or outside of it, you find an item that can help you.
Paulomi: So, as I’m sort of backing up out of this tower, just doing a whole lot of nope out of this clock tower, I think I stumble backwards because I’ve tripped on something and I kinda looked underfoot and I pick up this lump of really tattered looking fabric. It’s very woolen. And when I kind of lift it up, bones sort of just tumble out of it.
Rhi: Jeez.
Paulomi: And I’m just kind of like, ugh, and shake it off to get any extra bone residue off of it.
Rhi: There’s a little bit of, like, dust that flies out that you don’t wanna think too much about the contents of.
Paulomi: Absolutely not. But I think there are starting to— it’s dark even though it’s daytime, so I feel like there’s a very pervasive sort of misty bone chill that’s going on, and I think I do end up turning this cloak inside out and then wrapping it around myself, just to keep myself warm. Because even that small bit of comfort makes it easier, I think, to forget how hungry and thirsty I am. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah. Alright, so you press on and where do you find yourself next?
Paulomi: I feel like I’m still following that sort of wagon path that’s all overgrown. And near this clock tower, I feel like there might be another, sort of, ruined town or hamlet. So, that wagon trail probably turns into, like, a really pockmarked cobblestone. And I think these houses, like, I think what got this particular town wasn’t time so much as, just, a terrible fire.
Rhi: Okay.
Paulomi: So, everything looks very gnarled and ashen and it definitely still has, like, that smell of smoke sort of clinging to it.
Rhi: But peril lurks in the dark. And you make your way through this burned, ruined town, and the smell of smoke gets stronger and stronger as you keep walking. And if you light the match…
[match strike]
Rhi: The smoke gets stronger, and it coalesces into a humanoid form that lunges towards you, claws out, lashing at you.
Paulomi: And I think, um, basically I— oh! Crap. [laughs]
Rhi: [laughs]
Paulomi: I panicked! You take that.
Rhi: Alright.
Paulomi: The match, like, flared up.
Rhi: Yeah, yeah that match went really fast.
Paulomi: Because there was a splinter, I think. So it just like… [woosh sound]
Rhi: Yeah.
Paulomi: [laughs]
Rhi: So, this creature, this demon of smoke, lunges at you, claws out, slams into you. And you already could barely see anything, but now you can’t see at all. The smoke is covering your eyes, filling your lungs. You’re coughing and flailing, trying to get this thing off of you. And it releases you for a moment and lunges away as if it’s going to sort of circle around and pounce on you again. And you scramble off into a building, climbing quickly through the ruins, and manage to break line of sight on it for just a moment or two. But that’s enough for it to lose track of you, and you rush off into the darkness, but you’re no longer on that path. So… I have four and you are at seven?
Paulomi: [cringes]
Rhi: Just to put that out there. You are able to kind of orient yourself. You’re able to find that smear of light on the horizon again and you start walking towards it, just walking and walking. And you feel like you have to be seeing, at some point soon, you know, the faint broken shards of the sun as it sets. But the darkness remains. You don’t really see anything, even as you keep walking. You start to hear whispers. Can’t make out words initially. But even just in this emptiness, you hear faint, whispering voices.
[match strike]
Rhi: And the voices say:
Rhi (as Voices): Give us the power that you hold and we will grant you rest and safety. Just hand it over.
Paulomi: I think I hear those voices. I feel like they are… I can’t tell if they’re something that I’m hearing or actually exist, but I think I walk through them. And I just pull my cloak tighter around myself.
Rhi: Okay.
Paulomi: I’m so tired! [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah, you’re so tired. It’s not even just like… just, like, “No.”
Paulomi: Just, so tired.
Rhi: “This is mine. Fuck off.”
Paulomi: I think I’m at… one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. You’re correct.
Rhi: You have three items left, so you could…
Paulomi: I do. I could do this.
Rhi: Yeah.
Paulomi: I could pull through on this.
Rhi: You could. What item do you find as you’re just sort of walking trough the rolling hills outside of Duskwall?
Paulomi: Oh gosh. I feel like I am walking trough these hills and there’s sort of this, this just hecked-up wagon off to the side of somewhere. And I kind of like, poke around in that while these voices are just happening around me. And there’s more skeletons, I think. It’s a little bit charred itself, but I think there’s a small bundle in the corner that I kind of pick up and investigate, and in it is just the stalest bread you have ever seen.
Rhi: [laughs]
Paulomi: And the moldiest cheese you have ever seen.
Rhi: Oh no.
Paulomi: But it’s better than having nothing to eat at all. So, I think I eat some of the bread and then tuck the rest away to much on later. [laughs]
Rhi: [laughs] Force yourself to choke down.
Paulomi: Yeah.
Rhi: Okay. And where do you find yourself next as you continue on?
Paulomi: This light on the horizon is sort of growing, I’m definitely imagining like, if you’re in the country and you’re kind of looking toward the city, there’s a faint glow in the sky around it, off the clouds.
Rhi: Yeah, just that aura.
Paulomi: Yeah. So, I feel like I’m kind of just, at this point, fixating on that aura to keep myself going. And I’m more stumbling than I am walking at this point, but I have this cloak pulled around me, I have the box tucked very close to me and I have all this stuff.
Rhi: [laughs]
Paulomi: And the next area that I find myself in, I look around. It’s much more stone and rubble, and I feel like I’m walking through maybe a quarry of some kind. It used to be, at least. There’s huge sort of stones that are— they’re more geometric, definitely chiseled off of the rock surrounding us, but there are stacks of them around still. And I’m kind of, just like, walking through this as my footsteps echo against the rocks.
Rhi: But peril lurks in the dark. So, you hear your footsteps echoing and then the echo sounds kind of strange. It sounds like it’s echoing too much. And you realize there’s a second step of footsteps echoing. And you turn to see a large, probably like eight-foot tall figure, draped in rags. It has sort of a vague suggestion of a face, with glowing blue eyes. So…
[match strike]
Rhi: Whoa!
Paulomi: Ooh.
Rhi: [laughs] You recognize this from stories. This is a harvester. It consumes spirits, and as it moves towards you, you get the sense that it wants to add your spirit to its collection.
Paulomi: And I think I grab for that oil that I found, and even tough I don’t have any rounds left in my pistol, I still sort of turn into a Molotov and throw it at the harvester. [laughs]
Rhi: Okay.
Paulomi: I’m at nine matches.
Rhi: Nice. Okay, so your next one.
Paulomi: Yes.
Rhi: So, you throw this oil at it, and the vial shatters against the harvester’s side and immediately bursts into flame. And the rags that cover this creature also catch aflame. You watch for a moment, assuming that it’s going to start shrieking or falling over, you know, as you would expect something that’s burning to do, but it doesn’t seem to be hurt by the fire. But it is distracted, and it is slowed as pieces of its form are burning and falling off. And you are able to, you know, quickly weave your way trough the rest of the quarry and evade the creature. And, yeah, describe where you find yourself as you face the final peril. As I have four matches, and you have nine. So, however this goes…
Paulomi: Is however it goes!
Rhi: Yes. So, where does the final peril confront you?
Paulomi: So, I think I book it out of the quarry. [laughs] And I feel like I’m running pretty ragged at this point. Like, I’ve had very little to eat and I’ve been walking for a long, long time. And I can feel it, sort of, in my bones of my feet. Just how tired I am. That glow is very much like the glow of hope that I am trying to hold onto on the horizon. And it still feels very far away, even though it’s growing steadily. And I think this next area… the creek that I was following, it kind of veers back into this direction that I’ve been heading, and it’s gotten wider, it’s more a stream, more of a respectable river, I think, than a rivulet.
And there is— I kind of, like, look down because the sound of my footsteps has changed, and I feel like I’m walking on what is essentially a boardwalk. And there are places where, like, the wood has rotted and fallen away, and I have to avoid those. But I’m kind of just looking down at my feet at this point and walking, just trying to put one foot in front of the other before I just collapse of exhaustion.
Rhi: But peril lurks in the dark. And as you are walking, you are so, so tired, and so hungry. Like, this is the most exhausted you have ever been. The most beaten down. And every step, your feet just feel so heavy. And you start to feel from that box that you’ve got tucked under your arm, that you have held onto this whole time, that you have given so much to acquire… you feel a sort of pulsing heartbeat.
Paulomi: [deep breath]
[match strike]
Paulomi: [grimaces]
[match strike]
Paulomi: [sigh of relief]
Rhi: And you hear a voice that says:
Rhi (as Heart of Kotar): Just open it up and use me. You can be anyone. You can leave this broken, ruined body behind, and you can be anyone.
Paulomi: I think that’s the point at which I’m like, this is no longer worth it. [laughs] Okay, so I think I take the rope that I have on me, and I tie it around the box. And, oh fuck…
Rhi: It still counts, you’re using the rope, so.
Paulomi: Okay. So, I, um… my fingees! My poor fingees. [laughs]
Rhi: [laughs] This is such a dangerous game!
Paulomi: [laughs]
Rhi: It’s very hot! Matches are hot! Fire is very hot! [sings] The more you know…
Paulomi: [laughs] But yeah, like, I don’t know if it’s just my exhaustion-addled brain, or what, but I no longer— like, the thing that I’ve been carrying and kept safe this long is also going to betray me in some capacity. So, I take my rope, I tie a nice tight knot around the box, like, over the lid, and there’s still a sturdy-looking pole that’s holding the dock up, basically. And I tie the other end of the rope around that and just fling the box into the river. Just like, I’m coming back for this later.
Rhi: Okay. So, you’ve thrown this relic into the river somewhere south of Duskwall.
Paulomi: Mm hmm.
Rhi: Tell us of your return. How you get back to the city, and what becomes of you. Why don’t you go back to get it?
Paulomi: I love the idea of just sort of cutting to someone opening up their tavern for the evening and the first customer that comes through the door is this tattered, worn-looking creature that just collapses onto the ground. And it’s me. [laughs] And I am very much just non-responsive when they rush over to try and shake me awake. And I think eventually I have to be carried upstairs and allowed to rest. And I think it takes a couple of months for me to fully recover. And I think for whatever reason, whether its I find a crew to join, or I find, like, a naval crew to join, doesn’t matter. I think I just get diverted. Something else happens and my fortunes change and I don’t need to pawn a possessed heart anymore. [laughs]
Rhi: I like the idea of you join a naval crew.
Paulomi: Yeah.
Rhi: And you just leave Duskwall entirely.
Paulomi: Yup, yup, yup. I like that too.
Paulomi: Yeah. And so, the Heart of Kotar is left out in the Deathlands, so close to Duskwall. At the bottom of a river. Waiting for 50 years. And that is the end of this tale. Congratulations on surviving.
Paulomi: I did it!
Rhi: You did.
Paulomi: Barely! [laughs]
Rhi: [laughs] I was very nervous for you when I got up to three matches so early on.
Paulomi: I pulled through! [laughs]
Rhi: You did. You did. So, The Magpies themselves will have to set out to recover this powerful, apparently somewhat sentient relic, and decide what they are going to do with it to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. Hopefully you all enjoyed this bonus episode, and thank you for joining me, Paulomi. This was a lot of fun.
Paulomi: Yeah, I had a lot of fun.
##Outro [00.49.04]
Rhi: Thanks for listening. The Magpies will be back soon.
A Scoundrel in the Dark was hosted by Rhi. Follow me on Twitter @rhiannon42 and check out my site for tabletop game design, copy editing, and accessibility at rpgskillcheck.net.
The Scoundrel was played by Paulomi. Follow her on Twitter @PaulomiSP and check out her actual play podcast Iron Hides on the One Shot podcast network.
The opening and closing theme music is from ‘Trio for Piano, Violin and Viola’ by Kevin MacLeod and is used under a Creative Commons license.
A Scoundrel in the Deep was created by Flavio Mortarino and Renato Ramonda of Janus Games.
And now, I’d like to thank our stupendous Patreon backers.
WritInWord, thank you.
Stuart McKay, thank you.
##Blooper [00.50.04]
Rhi: So as a side note, I’ll cut this bit, but um, so in the episode I’m going to be editing next actually, The Magpies run into one of these.
Paulomi: Yes!
Rhi: They’re out in the Lost District. And they also set it on fire. So, I have to go with the established canon there that fire doesn’t kill it. [laughs]
Paulomi: Okay. [laughs]
Rhi: But I think it’s gonna distract it enough to slow it down.
Paulomi: I mean, it’s on fire.
Rhi: Yeah. But it’s just, it’s hilarious that every time I present someone with this rag-draped thing full of ghosts, it’s like, “I’m just gonna set it on fire!”
[laughter]