Transcribed by Michelle Kelly.
##Intro
Rhi: Welcome back to Duskwall. This is a very special bonus episode, unlocked when we reach 600 followers on Twitter. It features Blaire and guest star Seeks on a really cool occult adventure, set sometime during the couple months after Phin’s arrest and the Ink Row riot. Thank you all for listening, supporting the show, and spreading the word about us. It truly means a lot.
Now then. Let’s get started, shall we?
## Story begins [00.00.41]
Kim: So Blaire is in The Nest in her room and she is doing a ritual of sorts. And the thing is, is that she doesn’t even recognize what the ritual is or what it’s for, but it’s almost as if intuitively she just knows what she’s doing, even though as soon as the symbols on the floor are scrawled in front of her she doesn’t understand what it is. It’s coming from a place that seems very right. And as she’s doing this, just sitting in her room and scrawling things on the floor, The Nest begins to crumble. The bricks are just flying off the wall piece by piece, one by one, until she is in just a very bright void, almost unnaturally so. It hurts her eyes because she has, like, never seen this intense natural light before. But she is standing in a white void and at her feet is the Void Sea.
It is actually unnaturally still, and it is just this black, mirror-like, reflective surface. And she is walking on it. And she’s not sinking. And then, just a few feet ahead of her the surface starts bubbling, almost as if there’s something underneath. And Blaire just moves forward and investigates, and as she does, the bubbling intensifies. It’s almost as if it’s growing more and more restless the nearer she gets to it. And she’s crouching down, she’s hovering just above it, and she puts her arms into the water, like, elbow-length deep. And she realizes as soon as she’s done that, she’s stuck. And after a moment the surface underneath her, it almost starts sinking. Almost as if there’s a valley formed before her. And it’s not until then that she realizes it’s not water that’s underneath her anymore, it’s these jaws coming up to engulf her. And then, just complete darkness. And that’s when Blaire wakes up from her dream.
Rhi: So, we see Blaire in her room, for real this time. This is probably about six weeks after the riots in Ink Row, a week or two after the remaining Magpies’ kind of botched attempt at infiltrating Lord Mora’s estate. And for the last probably week or so, Blaire has been having these dreams kind of along these lines, just sort of unsettling dreams about the Void Sea and things like that. After your waking up from your dream, what do you do?
Kim: So, Blaire is sitting up in her bed now and I think she’s just going to rub her eyes, because she’s very tired of this. She’s sick of it. She’s had enough at this point. Because weird dreams I don’t think are an unnatural occurrence to her, but this type of dream, of the Void Sea and just facing oblivion is definitely something that gets to her. It gets under her skin a lot. And I would say at this point she’s starting to get a little shook up about it. I think she’s gonna get out of bed and she’s going to walk to the other side of her room where her bookshelves are, and she’s going to start flipping through one of her books that she knows has information about the Void Sea in, see if there’s any correlations to any imagery that she’s seeing to any information in her library.
Rhi: Okay. So, in flipping through the books, you don’t really— like, you definitely don’t find anything about, like a bright light. That part is just kind of weird. There’s some imagery of, like, sea monsters and of course leviathans, you know, having great jaws that can swallow people whole. Leviathans can take out a whole ship. But nothing that really matches exactly the sort of things you’ve been seeing. And you also know, like, you’ve talked a little bit with Minx and Myra, kinda casually asking if they’ve been having weird dreams. And Myra had just said that she hasn’t had any strange dreams at all lately. Minx told you about a weird dream she had a couple nights ago where she was clothes shopping and the clothes all came to life and she had to fight her way out.
Kim: Yeah, that’s right. That’s how it’d happen.
Rhi: So, I think we leave Blaire on her just kind of continuing to flip through her books and trying to figure out something of what is causing this. We cut across the city to Coalridge, sort of towards the end of the day. The embers of the sun are visible above the horizon as it sets.
Waffles: And then a small hole-in-the-wall clinic in a back alley somewhere. Young kid is leaving, they’ve got, like, their arm wrapped in a brace with some seaweed sticking out and Seeks yells at them not to poke it and closes the door, and then goes and sits down in a rocking chair. And is just, like, very tired. And then looks at the small jar of money, because she doesn’t make any profit off of this.
Rhi: [laughs]
Waffles: Because she’s real bad at business. [laughs]
Kim: She needs an agent.
Rhi: No wonder she and The Magpies get along so well.
Kim: [laughs sarcastically]
Waffles: Yeah, no, this is her vice. Helping people.
Rhi: Aww.
Waffles: And it begins to rain outside and the rain outside is coming down in sheets, crashing against the cobblestone. The whirr of factory whistles and the sound of hammering steel can be heard just a few blocks away. Coalridge never sleeps. The fire of industry churns through people like kindling, and it cares not for the ashes it leaves behind. And then she’s outside, moon above her, and it’s snowing. The cobblestone beneath her feet turns to ice, and the canals nearby are frozen solid, the city silent. And voice cries out and the ice cracks beneath her feet. Her steps take her nowhere. There’s a person, face down, half buried in the snow, and she reaches out, turning the body over. She knows this person, but the name hides at the edge of her mind, inky and foreign, sloshing around in her skull, pouring out her eyes and flooding the street, drowning her in memories that she can’t quite place. And it’s dark. Frigid. And she sees herself reflected in a wall of ice. Shimmering blue light peeking through the other side. She’s so small. So very, very small.
[three quick knocks]
Waffles: And then she wakes up.
Rhi: As there is a knock at the door, startling her awake.
Waffles (as Seeks): [startled] Coming, coming.
Waffles: And she gets up an crosses over and opens the door.
Kim: And it’s Blaire at the door.
Waffles (as Seeks): Ah, hello Blaire.
Kim (as Blaire): Hi.
Kim: Blaire is hunched over and you can tell, even though her hair is normally messy and her makeup, like, for lack of a better word, makeup, hides most of her features around her eyes, you can tell her eyes are sunken and her hair is messier than usual. She looks kinda shook up.
Waffles (as Seeks): Come in, come in, it’s wet.
Kim (as Blaire): Okay.
Waffles: Seeks will go behind her counter and pull out a small tea kettle.
Kim (as Blaire): Thanks.
Waffles (as Seeks): Ah, yeah, no worries. Are you okay?
Kim (as Blaire): Um… no, I wanted to talk to you. I’ve [sighs] I don’t know, I think something’s wrong with me? I don’t know. I feel like I’ve been having trouble sleeping recently and I don’t know. I’ve been having these really weird dreams. I don’t know if you have anything for that?
Waffles (as Seeks): Uh…
Waffles: She had a little electric burner thing and she just clicks it off, and then is like:
Waffles (as Seeks): Um… no. But— but dreams… yes.
Waffles: And then clicks it back on.
Waffles (as Seeks): But I do have nice tea. I have nice regular tea for regular problems, and we will talk about dreams.
Kim (as Blaire): Okay, I mean, I like… tea’s good. [nervous laugh]
Waffles (as Seeks): Tea is great.
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah. I dunno, I… I don’t think anybody else in The Nest really gets it, so I thought I’d come to you.
Waffles (as Seeks): Mm?
Kim (as Blaire): Like, I’ve gone to Minx and I’ve got to Myra and I’ve gone to Phin—well. Mm. Can’t. Never mind. I’ve gone to Minx and Myra and I don’t think they really understand.
Waffles (as Seeks): Uh… I mean, tell me about your dreams. Dreams are important and not everyone can help. But, um, I have a book for this.
Kim (as Blaire): You do?
Waffles (as Seeks): Uh, maybe?
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim (as Blaire): Okay…
Waffles (as Seeks): I pick up things from Ojak occasionally, when I have the time. I get all my medical books from him, and I got some other books too because, you know, Mom didn’t teach me everything and there’s lot to learn. Here, yes.
Waffles: Thud, and this big dusty tome.
[laughter]
Kim: How thick? On a scale of, like, Yellow Pages to…
Waffles: Calc Two. [laughs]
Kim: Yeah, okay.
Rhi: [laughs]
Waffles (as Seeks): [sings tune to herself] Flip, flip… do you think it’s prophecy? I think it’s prophecy. I am pretty sure it’s- because it’s, like, cryptic? Right?
Kim (as Blaire): I… well… what do you mean by prophecy?
Waffles (as Seeks): Dreams are prophetic. That’s the point of dreams.
Kim (as Blaire): Oh… I mean, not always. I don’t, I mean, at least I don’t think so.
Waffles (as Seeks): Oh.
Kim (as Blaire): But I guess it’s possible.
Waffles: [laughs] Considers this new information.
Waffles (as Seeks): Mm…
Kim (as Blaire): I mean, dreams don’t always have to be foretelling some future events. Sometimes it’s just, you know, your head’s way of processing where you are and where to go. You know what I mean? It’s a little, I don’t know. I think of it a little more that way, I think.
Waffles (as Seeks): Hmm.
Kim (as Blaire): But yeah, maybe this is important destiny and I’m, like, destined for heroic sacrifices or something. The dreams always have to do with the Void Sea. And light. But mostly, I think, the Void Sea. Do we have anything on that in here?
Waffles (as Seeks): Oh, I mean, I know a lot about the Void Sea.
Kim (as Blaire): I mean, yeah, me too, but…
Waffles (as Seeks): I mean I grew up there.
Kim (as Blaire): Okay. So, tell me about the sea monsters. What are the really big things?
Waffles (as Seeks): Do you want big things, or the gods?
Kim (as Blaire): Uh… that’s a good question. I guess start with the big things, because I know some of the big things, but nothing I’ve really turned up feels quite right to what I’m seeing. I think there’s a sea monster in my dreams, but I don’t, now that you bring it up, I don’t know if it’s a sea monster or if it’s a god.
Waffles (as Seeks): Hmm. Is it like… does it have, like, teeth?
Kim (as Blaire): Several.
Waffles (as Seeks): Okay. Um, well, there are sharks, and—
Kim (as Blaire): Well, no, this is not a shark. It’s bigger than a shark, whatever this is.
Waffles (as Seeks): Oh. Hmm…
Kim (as Blaire): What’s bigger than a shark?
Waffles (as Seeks): Lots of things are bigger than sharks.
Kim (as Blaire): Okay.
Waffles (as Seeks): Sharks is a good place to start though, because smaller than a shark isn’t that scary.
Kim (as Blaire): Okay, I see, alright, sliding scale. Bigger than a shark. Go past, way, way, way past that. Way past shark.
Waffles (as Seeks): Okay. Um, would you live on it?
Kim (as Blaire): Would I live on it?
Waffles (as Seeks): Is it big enough to live on? You know.
Waffles: Stretches arms out wide.
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim (as Blaire): Uh… yes? But would I personally live on it? I wouldn’t like to, no.
Waffles (as Seeks): Hmm.
Kim (as Blaire): I mean, most of the time it kinda eats me, so I guess yes, I could live in it, or on it. In, on, I dunno.
Waffles (as Seeks): Does it say anything before it eats you?
Kim (as Blaire): No.
Waffles (as Seeks): Okay.
Rhi: So, Seeks, kind of casting back in what you’ve sort of taught yourself and what you remember learning from your mother, Tycherosi tend to dream a little differently than the rest of the population of the Empire. And for all Blaire’s skepticism, typically if somebody who is demon-blooded is having repetitive dreams, it’s a sign that something bigger is going on. Not necessarily a prophecy, but you sort of know the principle of “like calls to like”, so if there is a powerful demon active in the city, then this can kind of wake some things up in any other demons or demon-blooded people.
Waffles (as Seeks): I think we can do some tea readings.
Kim (as Blaire): You think that would help?
Waffles: I think she doesn’t even ask. I think she takes your teacup when you’re done with it and pours it on a plate. And I would like to roll Attune.
Rhi: Yeah.
Waffles: [laughs]
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: Yeah, go for it. We’ll start gathering some info here.
Kim (as Blaire): I mean, I do tea readings too, but I never thought they would help with this. I dunno. It seems this is a little bit out of tea’s league, you know what I mean?
Waffles (as Seeks): Tea always helps.
Waffles: I rolled a 4.
Rhi: 4, okay. So, you look at the tea leaves on the plate, and a couple shapes emerge. The first is a circle, and kind of unusually perfect circle given what you’re dealing with here. But you’re kind of looking at it and tracing the outline of it with your eyes and then you see that even though it is perfectly round, it’s not quite perfect. There’s a section at the top that is missing, so it doesn’t fully close. And then, within that, there is a sort of large head with its jaws open and the jaws are open towards that break in the circle. And you can, with a 4, you can ask some follow-up questions, if you would like.
Waffles: What does the circle represent? [laughs]
Rhi: So, you study it for a little bit and it finally clicks. You know of a cult in the city that follows the teachings of a forgotten god that they call The Broken Circle. You don’t really know a ton about what exactly they do, there’s so many little cults and forgotten gods in Duskwall that, you know, it’s hard to keep up with all of their belief practices. But you do realize, like, “Oh, Broken Circle, yeah, I’ve heard of that before somewhere”.
Waffles: Is that the cult that my rival is in?
Rhi: I don’t know, is it?
Waffles: It seems like a good villain. [laughs]
Rhi: That one’s up to you.
Waffles: Yeah, sure.
Rhi: Yeah, okay. What is your rival’s name?
Waffles: Malista, a priestess.
Rhi: So, yeah, that is the information that you get from your tea reading.
Waffles (as Seeks): Sounds like we need to figure out where Malista is. I don’t like her.
Kim (as Blaire): Who’s Malista?
Waffles (as Seeks): She is a follower of an old god and she makes fun of my spots.
Kim (as Blaire): Well, that sounds kinda racist.
Waffles (as Seeks): I thought it was just mean.
Kim (as Blaire): Well, it can be both.
Waffles (as Seeks): Yes.
Kim (as Blaire): So why do we need to meet with a mean racist?
Waffles (as Seeks): Because of The Broken Circle and she’s— I don’t know anybody else. Do you know people in The Broken Circle?
Kim (as Blaire): Uh… I did, but I think he got sacrificed, like a couple months ago.
Waffles (as Seeks): That is very unfortunate.
Kim (as Blaire): I mean it was his choice. Still kinda sucks though.
Waffles (as Seeks): Oh. Okay. As long as he died doing what he loved.
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah. I mean that’s how I think of it. But to answer your question, no, I don’t know anyone in The Broken Circle anymore.
Waffles (as Seeks): Oh. Hmm.
Rhi: So, you have some information. At least assuming that you’re trusting the tea leaves.
Kim: Can I do a tea reading and roll Attune?
Rhi: Yeah. Are you gonna use the leaves from Seeks’s cup?
Kim: Yeah, okay.
Rhi: Sure.
Kim: Oh. [laughs] My highest was a 2.
Rhi: Okay. So limited information. You, following Seeks lead, you do the same with her leaves. And you study it for a little bit and you don’t see anything right away, and you kinda like shift the plate around, and then all of a sudden, like, this image of open jaws coming towards you kinda like appears in the leaves, but it also flashes you to the dream that you had and you jerk back.
Kim: Blaire’s gonna, like, jolt back in her seat. She’s not even thinking at this point. She grabs the plate and she hurls it across the room and it shatters against the wall.
Waffles (as Seeks): Oh.
Kim (as Blaire): Sorry.
Waffles (as Seeks): No, it’s okay. I only had two plates.
Kim (as Blaire): I’ll get you a new one.
Waffles (as Seeks): No, that’s fine. I can find more. But what did you see?
Kim (as Blaire): [sighs] It was just more of the same.
Waffles (as Seeks): More jaws?
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah.
Waffles (as Seeks): Well, I think you need to stay away from jaws.
Kim (as Blaire): …But I like that movie [laughs]
Waffles (as Seeks): Nope, and definitely not Jaws 2 and avoid Jaws 3D like the plague.
Rhi: Yeah, so I think you had said, “stay away from jaws” and then we started doing bits. So, what do you guys wanna do next?
Kim (as Blaire): Guess we’re seeing Malista.
Waffles (as Seeks): Mm….
Waffles: Grimace.
Kim (as Blaire): No? We can think of something else to do.
Waffles (as Seeks): No… it’s a good plan.
Kim (as Blaire): Well, what about the leviathan hunters? What if we talked to them?
Waffles (as Seeks): I don’t like them.
Kim (as Blaire): I mean, I kinda don’t either, but they’re on the Void Sea all the time.
Waffles (as Seeks): I mean, we could go to Jul.
Kim (as Blaire): Who?
Waffles (as Seeks): Jul. They deal in leviathan blood. I need it for some of my experiments and they get their blood consent-ly. Which is nice.
Kim (as Blaire): How do they get it consent-ly?
Waffles (as Seeks): You just ask.
Kim (as Blaire): Okay, we’re gonna go see them. That sounds wicked awesome.
Rhi: Alright, so are the two of you setting out now?
Waffles: Yeah. Seeks is gonna run back behind the counter and throw a bunch of stuff in a bag and pour the tea, the rest of the tea, into a thermos and put that in the bag.
Rhi: The two of you set out into Coalridge. It’s still raining a bit, so there’s just kind of this, like, there’s always soot caked on everything in Coalridge, and now it’s all like wet soot caked on everything and it’s not very pretty. Where in the city does Jul operate out of?
Waffles: Probably over by the docks.
Rhi: Yeah, that makes sense. Blaire, you probably lead in a more circular way around, giving Ink Row a wide berth.
Kim: True, yes.
Rhi: And tell me about the place where Jul works out of. Where do you find this person?
Waffles: I think it’s like an old, like, run-down ship repair place. It’s pretty much just like a warehouse on the water.
Rhi: Okay.
Waffles: Inside there’s just a bunch of barrels and like, a small ship that’s seaworthy, but on the…
Rhi: It’s the kinda ship where when people see it you have to reassure them that it’s seaworthy.
Waffles: Mm hmm.
Rhi: [laughs]
Waffles: It’s got a small pump on the back and a big old canister, and enough room for one, maybe two people to squeeze in.
Kim: One of the hulls definitely creaks in the wind without anybody stepping on it or anything, it just makes noise.
Rhi: As the two of you enter the warehouse and pass this “it’s seaworthy, I promise” boat that is painted with runes and has some masks kind of along the sides, both inside and out, you hear a faint clattering noise towards the back of the warehouse. You hear a voice call out:
Rhi (as Jul): Is someone there?
Waffles (as Seeks): Hello Jul. It’s Seeks, Seeks and Blaire.
Kim (as Blaire): Hi.
Rhi: So, rounding a corner of boxes is a person with long, sort of flowing dark hair. Greyish cast to their skin. Gold face paint on their forehead and down one eye and on their chin. And they come around the corner and smile brightly when they see Seeks and:
Rhi (as Jul): It’s good to see you again, The Rivers Lost But Seeking. And who’s your friend here?
Kim (as Blaire): Blaire Culhane.
Kim: And she holds out a hand to shake.
Rhi: Jul reaches out and shakes your hand.
Rhi (as Jul): So, what brings you here today? I’m afraid I haven’t been able to make a trip out to make any further requests since your last visit, so my stock is…
Waffles (as Seeks): Oh, no worries. My friend Blaire. She is having dreams of open waters.
Rhi (as Jul): Hmm.
Kim (as Blaire): And maybe ocean, like, monsters. Maybe leviathans, maybe gods?
Waffles (as Seeks): They’re probably gods.
Kim (as Blaire): You think so?
Waffles (as Seeks): I mean, if it’s in your dreams, it’s probably a god. Isn’t that how dreams go?
Kim (as Blaire): Um… I mean, I don’t think so. We talked about this. What do you think?
Rhi: Well, make a roll of some kind and we’ll find out what Jul can tell you.
Kim: Do you wanna do, like, a team Consort roll?
Waffles: Yeah. We can do a Consort. I have zero dice, but I’ll lead it.
Kim: Okay, I got a 3. [laughs]
Waffles: I got two 5s.
Rhi: Okay, so you’ll take one point of stress, Seeks, and the result you get is a 5. So, we have a standard amount of information. So, Jul asks you to describe your dreams and ends up asking Seeks if she’s been having any dreams as well. And after you both have described your dreams they sit back and study the two of you and are like:
Rhi (as Jul): My sleep has also been troubled of late, though not quite so vividly. And you said that you saw something of The Broken Circle in the tea leaves, and both of you saw these jaws.
Waffles (as Seeks): Yes.
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah.
Rhi (as Jul): I think that based on what I have heard from you and others and what I’ve seen myself, this is likely something to do with the great gods of the deep. Which is troubling. None should be so close to the city as to cause this in our kind.
Kim (as Blaire): Wait, explain that, though, what do you mean? Because this is, like, Tycherosi related and it’s deep water gods— what?
Rhi (as Jul): Uh, you would most likely know them as leviathans.
Kim (as Blaire): Oh, okay.
Rhi (as Jul): They have a great power and influence over those who share in their nature, even in part. So, those of us who have demon-touched blood will be influenced by them. You don’t see many Tycherosi on the great leviathan hunter ships.
Rhi: And she kinda sneers a bit when she says that.
Rhi (as Jul): But as I said, they are simply too massive to approach the waters near Duskwall. None should be able to influence us unless one was close, but I don’t see how one could be.
Kim (as Blaire): It could be maybe a lesser leviathan, I dunno.
Rhi: Jul just shakes their head and is like:
Rhi (as Jul): They don’t really come in lesser forms. They are simply gods.
Waffles (as Seeks): [gasps] What if it’s a baby?
Kim (as Blaire): What?
Waffles: She grabs her cheeks.
Waffles (as Seeks): What if it’s a baby god? Gods can have babies, right?
Kim (as Blaire): Is that possible?
Waffles (as Seeks): I mean, anything’s possible.
Rhi (as Jul): It is, yes. That is how—I mean, they are immortal, but that does not mean that they do not reproduce. It’s just terribly uncommon and I don’t know much about them.
Kim (as Blaire): It sounds like the only possible explanation we have got here.
Waffles (as Seeks): There’s a baby in the city.
Rhi (as Jul): With the jaws, it must… your descriptions of it, from your dreams, a leviathan is all that makes sense. I just—
Kim (as Blaire): No, I agree.
Rhi (as Jul): There may be a young one near the city, yes. That is possible. I don’t know what that would mean, or what that has to do with your Broken Circle that you saw. I too have heard of this cult, but I know little of it.
Kim (as Blaire): Well, I guess that means we have to go to our next stop.
Waffles (as Seeks): [grumbles] Okay.
Kim (as Blaire): I know. If she says anything racist, I’ll kick her. Don’t worry.
Waffles (as Seeks): Thank you, Jul. Here.
Waffles: Reaches into her bag and pulls out two mangoes.
Rhi: So Jul, like, their eyes light up and they take the mangoes, like:
Rhi (as Jul): You are generous as always, Seeks. I look forward to seeing you again.
Waffles (as Seeks): Can’t wait.
Rhi (as Jul): Wonderful to meet you, Blaire.
Kim (as Blaire): Yes, you too.
Rhi: Alright, so the two of you leave the warehouse that Jul works out of. By this point the rain has let up and the clouds have started to clear. The moon is overhead, very large and bright and has what are referred to as its dimmer sisters, that’s where the gang gets their name. These two sort of reflections, echoes, of the moon kind of either side of it. Almost as if the moon is being refracted through something. But it casts a fair amount of light as the two of you come out onto the docks.
Waffles: Yeah, we can either talk to her or Prowl after her, if we wanted to collect information that way.
Kim (as Blaire): Idea. We can do both. We can talk to her, and if it goes poorly, then we follow her.
Waffles (as Seeks): Alright.
Kim (as Blaire): Okay.
Waffles (as Seeks): Do you want to talk to her?
Kim (as Blaire): Um, I can talk to her, if you want. Do you wanna come with me?
Waffles (as Seeks): Okay, yeah.
Kim (as Blaire): Alright. Smile!
Kim: And Blaire gives a very wide, feigned grin.
Waffles: Seeks does like, her best grimace-y smile and her teeth are all messed up. They’re like, sharp and all over the place.
Kim (as Blaire): Um, okay. We’ll work with that.
Rhi: So, where do you go to find Malista?
Waffles: I figure she is… what’s that fancy part of town?
Rhi: Brightstone.
Waffles: Yeah. Probably somewhere in Brightstone. She probably owns, like, a small clothing boutique in Brightstone.
Kim: Ooh, bougie.
Rhi: Okay, yeah. God, Minx has probably window shopped there.
Kim: Ugh.
Rhi: So, you arrive at… what’s the store named?
Kim: Oh, it’s gotta have, like a cult-y name, but like…
Rhi: Yeah, it’s subtle.
Kim: Right, yeah. It wouldn’t scare off, you know, customers.
Rhi: Yeah, it’s not just called, like, “Broken Circle Clothing,” it’s gotta be something… maybe like Circumference?
Kim: Ooh.
Waffles: Shattered Corona.
Rhi: Yeah, so you arrive her shop, Circumference. It’s a clothing boutique. And unsurprisingly, given that it’s like ten o’clock at night now, it’s closed.
Kim (as Blaire): Oh.
Rhi: It’s closed, but as the two of you are standing out there, looking sort of sad, you do see sort of in the back of the shop there’s a flicker of light.
Kim (as Blaire): Do we wanna be those people?
Waffles (as Seeks): I mean, we came here to be those people.
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah but not… we were gonna be the people that talked to a cultist, not the people that show up to a store after it closes. I mean, are we animals?
Rhi: [laughs]
Waffles (as Seeks): Hmm, that’s fair.
Kim (as Blaire): They have to close. They have to clean the shop and they’re going home like an hour from now. Do you know how late they have to stay there?
Waffles (as Seeks): That’s fair, we don’t have to talk to them.
Waffles: Turns abruptly. [laughs]
Rhi: [laughs]
Waffles: Seeks is convinced. [laughs]
Kim (as Blaire): Okay, so we’ll just wait here and then follow her out, right?
Waffles (as Seeks): Oh. Uh, yeah.
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah. We’re not gonna be those people.
Waffles (as Seeks): Should we hide?
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah, yeah. Let’s go to the alley. Let’s go the alley and just, I dunno, stake it out there? I’m not sure if she’s gonna come out in the back or the front.
Waffles (as Seeks): Okay.
Rhi: So, the two of you head over to the alley, which is like, the cleanest, nicest alley. They probably pick up the trash here every day.
Kim (as Blaire): I could, like, lick this ground. Do you think it tastes rich?
Waffles (as Seeks): Compared to regular ground, I suppose. It probably just tastes like ground, actually.
Kim: Blaire’s gonna crouch down. She’s gonna press two fingers into the dirt and then she’s gonna taste her fingers.
Rhi: It tastes like dirt. [laughs] It tastes, or, well, it’s cobblestones in this part of town, so like, it tastes like a road.
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah, no, it doesn’t taste rich. It just tastes like floor.
Waffles (as Seeks): Oh. I’m sorry.
Kim (as Blaire): I mean, not your fault.
Waffles (as Seeks): Yeah, but I mean, disappointing things are disappointing, all the same.
Kim (as Blaire): I know, yeah. I was hoping to be an aroma, you know? At least a little salt. I dunno. It looked very clean. I thought it would taste good.
Waffles (as Seeks): I mean… are you hungry?
Kim (as Blaire): Uh… No, I’m fine. Are you hungry? Maybe we get something to eat while we wait?
Waffles (as Seeks): Uh, here.
Waffles: Reaches into bag, roots around, pulls out a sandwich.
Kim (as Blaire): Oh, okay. Do you wanna split that?
Waffles (as Seeks): Yeah, sure.
Kim (as Blaire): Okay. Thanks.
Rhi: So, the two of you are standing in this very clean, but not special-tasting, alley, splitting a sandwich.
Kim (as Blaire): Have you ever stalked a cultist before?
Waffles (as Seeks): Um… no. I’ve done a couple jobs with cultists. They seem like nice people, for the most part.
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah. I’ve stalked a cultist before. But it was not because I had any special interest in them, I was trying to get close with a cult. I’m not a creep, you know. She actually turned out nice. You know, once I got caught. But yeah, that went on for, like, months.
I was following her trying to figure out where the hell is this place, you know?
Rhi: Is this your vice purveyor?
Kim: You know what? Sure. This can be Aranna’s origin story, I like this. [laughs]
Rhi: [laughs] God, you fucking stalked this cultist until she was like, “What are you doing?”
Kim (as Blaire): This is a good sandwich.
Waffles (as Seeks): Thank you.
Kim (as Blaire): What’s in it?
Waffles (as Seeks): It’s got cabbages and fish and… it’s mostly the bread that’s good.
Kim (as Blaire): I can see that. Is it sourdough?
Waffles (as Seeks): I don’t know what that means.
Rhi: You’ve got, like, mushroom flour in these parts and that’s about it. But it’s like, it’s a high-quality mushroom bread.
Kim (as Blaire): It’s a nice rye.
Rhi: I don’t think you could have rye with mushrooms.
Kim (as Blaire): I don’t know much about bread.
Rhi: [laughs] So, the two of you are able to finish the sandwich before you hear the back door open. And then a couple seconds later you hear it close and you hear, like, keys jangling. And then you see a figure come into the alley and start walking off in the direction, like, away from you. She’s an average height, pale woman with bright red hair that is done up in a kind of elegant hairstyle and she’s wearing, you know, a very fine-looking black gown. And you can hear boot heels clicking on the cobblestones as she starts to walk away from you.
Kim (as Blaire): Oh, so she’s a fancy bitch.
Waffles (as Seeks): Yeah, that’s her.
Rhi: So, if you would like to follow her without being caught, you will need to make me a roll.
Kim: Let’s roll Prowl.
Waffles: [sing-song] Let’s roll Prowl as a friend.
Rhi: You guys wanna do this as a group action again?
Waffles: Yeah.
Kim: Sure. Oh, I got a 5.
Waffles: Nice. I got a 4.
Rhi: Okay, so it’s a 5 and you don’t take any stress, because nobody got a 3 or lower. You’re trying to follow her to the wherever the cult is hanging out, right?
Waffles: Mm hmm.
Rhi: So, the two of you creep along after her, keeping to the shadows, ducking into alleys. She doesn’t seem to be aware of your presence behind her at all. After about five or ten minutes, Blaire, you kind of realize with a start that she is heading along a path that you kind of know. She’s heading towards Six Towers.
Kim: Oh. Okay.
Rhi: And then she kind of turns down another alley and the two of you see her— like, as the two of you turn into the alley, you see the top of her head disappear from view as she is descending a set of stairs that lead down under the streets. You follow her down the alley, down the stairs, and when you come down the stairs and, like, peer out to make sure that she’s not gonna see you, you are standing along the side of one of the canals that runs through and under Duskwall. You don’t see Malista anymore, but Blaire, you recognize this area. This is gonna lead to a tunnel that will take you into the catacombs.
Kim (as Blaire): Oh. Oh, I think I know where’s she going. She’s going to the catacombs.
Waffles (as Seeks): Ah, okay.
Kim (as Blaire): You cool with that?
Waffles (as Seeks): Yeah, no, there’s catacombs under Coalridge that I use sometimes. So, yeah. No, it’s fine.
Kim (as Blaire): Okay.
Waffles (as Seeks): Should we go grab some stuff before? Because I don’t see her. And if we’re going to explore, I need a lantern.
Kim (as Blaire): Oh, I have a lantern.
Kim: And she unhooks her lantern from her belt. And she’s gonna stuff some electroplasm in there and it’s gonna give off a yellowy-green glow.
Rhi: So, my question was do you want to continue exploring now, or do you wanna, you know, kind of transition into starting the score?
Waffles: I think this is the start of the score, right?
Kim: I was gonna say, this feels like a good transition.
Rhi: Okay. So, both have normal load, this is definitely a stealth plan.
Waffles: I’m gonna go ahead and mark one of my normal load for snacks.
Rhi: Alright. Okay, so now let me look at the engagement roll. Okay, well. The dice really like the two of you, because I rolled a critical for the engagement roll.
Waffles: Nice.
Kim: Woo! Awesome.
Rhi: I have never done that. Let me see what this says.
Kim: Oh my God, we have blessed energy.
Rhi: You’ve already overcome the first obstacle, and you’re in a controlled position for what’s next. So, the two of you head down along the canal into the catacombs. And you’re actually able to kind of move in very quickly. You’re able to catch up with Malista. As you’re following her, you see some light starting to fill the catacombs and you see her reach an archway where there are a couple lanterns hanging and a pair of people standing blocking this archway. And she gets up to them and says something and they step aside and kind of incline their heads respectfully as she passes and then block it again.
And so, Blaire, you’re just kinda like, “Uh, okay,” you look around and you’re like, “Oh, I know exactly where we are, there’s totally a way around.” So you backtrack a little bit and go through this other side hallway and you have to kinda crawl through a spot where the ceiling’s collapsed a little bit, but you’re totally able to just loop around the guards at the front of this little area of the catacombs. You crawl through and come up to another archway where you can see light kind of filtering through. You both creep up to this archway and peer out, and you see— I’ll put this to you two. What would be, of kind of a cultist hideout, what would be the most advantageous place for you to enter?
Kim: Hmm. I was picturing, like, the center ritual area, but if there’s already people in there I’m not sure if entering that area is gonna be best.
Waffles: Maybe there’s like a, um, maybe it’s a big old dome theater sort of thing that’s been sunk into the earth, built on top of. So we can enter up in, like, the rafters, almost.
Rhi: So, kind of like an amphitheater?
Waffles: Yeah, almost.
Rhi: So, would it be that you two come in to sort of the central area but you’re up above everyone else, so you’re got a… okay, yeah. I like that too.
Kim: A ceiling view of this sick-ass altar.
Rhi: So, are you had been going through the halls, you had to go up, like a couple flights of stairs. And when you get to this archway and look out, you are looking out into a large, circular room that does look like it was, at one point, possibly an amphitheater. There’s sort of these large, staggered, stone steps or seats kind of leading down to a central pit. Or, it was a pit at one point. Now it is about a 15 by 15 pool of water. And you can see there’s, like, stone scattered out across the steps, where it looks like something burst up from underneath, forming this pool. There are about half a dozen people in the room right now, walking around talking to each other. And you can see at the top of the amphitheater steps, painted in thick dark black, is a broken circle. And in the gap, the broken part at the top of the circle, is an altar that has been very finely carved of stone. And it has some candles on it, some vials, there’s a couple books, some other things on there that you can’t quite make out what they are. And as you’re both sort of looking down into this space, the water at the center— which you can tell it’s deep. It doesn’t have sort of that lightness that shallow water does, it goes down for a while. The water shifts a little bit. There’s sort of waves and ripples. And when that happens, everyone in the room freezes and looks at it and seems to be holding their breath, waiting. And then the water stills again, and they all kind of relax and, you know, a couple people shake their heads and are murmuring to each other.
Waffles: Seeks lets out a breath they didn’t know they were holding.
Rhi: [laughs] So yeah. That’s the scene you’ve got before you. And, yeah, no one has even glanced in your direction. Everyone is very focused on either the altar or the pool or each other.
Kim: Can I roll anything, like a perception or whatever, to gain anything about the water?
Rhi: In this case it would probably be Study because I already kind of gave you the Survey results, because you got a critical.
Kim: Yeah and I actually have two in Survey, so I’m just gonna do that.
Rhi: Or in Study?
Kim: In Study, yeah, I have two in Study, That’s the one I’m good at. Yeah, so this is gonna be a controlled roll.
Waffles: I’ll take a stress to give you a bonus die.
Kim: Oh, thank you. You don’t have to do that. I haven’t taken any stress yet. Oh no.
Rhi: What’d you get?
Kim: Um… my highest was a 2.
Rhi: Oh my. Okay.
Kim: [laughs]
Rhi: So, fortunately, this is controlled.
Kim: Right.
Rhi: So I think what happens is, Blaire you obviously get very interested in that water and you are staring at it, and you’re not really exactly paying attention to your surroundings. And you kind of move through the archway out onto the little bit of a balcony that’s out there and you get close to the edge of the balcony and your foot hits a loose rock that falls off the edge and kind of clatters. And you’re able to duck back out of sight, so either you have to withdraw and try a different approach, or you can continue to try and Study it, but it’s going to be risky.
Kim: Okay, yeah, no. I’m not gonna try anything. I’m not that ballsy.
Kim (as Blaire): I couldn’t see anything out there.
Waffles (as Seeks): Um…
Kim (as Blaire): What do you think they’re worried about?
Waffles (as Seeks): Probably what’s in the water.
Kim (as Blaire): Well, obviously, but what do you think is in the water? That was my implication.
Waffles (as Seeks): I mean, what do you think that’s in the water?
Waffles: Grin.
Kim (as Blaire): Uh…
Waffles (as Seeks): [whispers] Baby gods.
Kim (as Blaire): Hopefully it’s something cool. Maybe it’s a cool god? Maybe they’re cool. I dunno.
Waffles (as Seeks): It’s probably a cute god. Tiny baby god.
Kim (as Blaire): Okay, well if it’s a baby leviathan then yeah, that would be awesome. But we don’t know for sure.
Waffles (as Seeks): I can’t see what they’re writing.
Waffles: Seeks is gonna try and sneak up and get closer to listen in to what everyone’s saying.
Rhi: Okay. So, I will say you have two options for kind of where you wanna sneak. You can either stay up on the balcony overhead and kind of move around to get closer to people, or you can climb down and sneak around down on the same level as them.
Waffles: I mean, let’s risk it for the biscuit.
Rhi: Gonna climb on down?
Waffles: Mm hmm.
Kim: you have fun with that. I’m gonna take a point of stress and give you a bonus die.
Rhi: So, I think this is gonna be risky.
Waffles: Rolled a 5.
Rhi: Okay, a 5. You do it, but there’s a consequence.
Waffles: Thank goodness for that bonus die. 1, 1, 5. [laughs]
Kim: Ooh, you’re welcome.
Rhi: Alright, so I am going to start a clock.
Kim: No! [laughs] Stop it!
Rhi: Can’t be stopped.
Kim: No!
Waffles: Can’t stop, won’t stop.
Kim: I don’t want the clock.
Rhi: You are at 1 out of 4, Cultists Notice You. Cause there was that rock falling earlier, and then, like, there’s some weird moving in the shadows that hasn’t quite risen to the level where anybody’s gonna go investigate yet, but they’re a little more on edge. But you are able to—is there anybody, like, are you trying to sneak close to Malista? Or are you just trying to get close to a couple people who are talking.
Waffles: Probably Malista.
Rhi: Okay. She is over by the altar, holding one of the books in her hand and flipping through it, and is talking to a young man, it looks like he’s barely out of his teens, who as you get close, he is rambling on about how the ritual should be conducted and, you know, we need to be calling upon the power of the moon. And as he’s talking, she just doesn’t even, like, look at him. She’s just flipping through this book and cuts him off mid-sentence, like:
Rhi (as Malista): The leviathans have no relationship with the moon or anything out of the Void. If we are to manifest The Circle in our world, through the deep, not through the stars.
Rhi: And she just kinda rolls her eyes at him and goes to the book. And he just kind of like hangs his head and slinks off. So yeah, that’s what you’re able to overhear initially. What do you wanna do now?
Waffles: I think Seeks has their, like, back pressed to a column and is going to try and see if they can spot Blaire from here.
Kim: I’m still up in the balcony. So, I’m just gonna like, throw a hand signal. Like, yeah, I see you. I gotcha.
Waffles: Seeks points, like, behind them towards Malista, and then points at the hole, and then, like, does squiggly hands. [laughs]
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim: Blaire shrugs frantically like:
Kim (as Blaire): [whispers] What do you mean? What’s squiggly hands?
Waffles: Makes a grimace and does, like, big jaw with both hands.
Kim: Okay, does that means Seeks sees a leviathan or wants me to create a distraction, or what’s…
Rhi: No, I think Seeks is just being like, “There’s a leviathan in the pool”. [laughs]
Kim (as Blaire): Oh! Oh shit, okay.
Kim: I want to see if I can explore a little bit and branch out, and maybe there’s… not a war room, but I guess like a library or information room, to see if there’s any plan lying about.
Rhi: You want to also sneak and see if you can find some more info?
Kim: Yeah, but I’m gonna stay up here for as long as I possibly can.
Rhi: Okay. Go ahead and make a roll. This is gonna be risky. I assume you’re doing Prowl.
Kim: Actually, I’m gonna push myself to get a bonus die because I only have one in Prowl. Okay, my highest was a 4. I’m rolling like shit tonight.
Rhi: Okay. I am gonna advance that clock again. So you are at 2 out of 4.
Kim (as Blaire): [groans]
Rhi: So, you creep along the balcony, but, you know, your boots scuff on the stone a little bit as you’re going.
Kim (as Blaire): [whispers] Dammit, dammit, dammit.
Rhi: And you curse to yourself [laughs] as you’re going. And some of the people in the central area, like, start looking around. And a couple of them take lanterns and seem to be starting to look around the area. They seem to be getting a little more alert. They haven’t seen either of you yet, but they’re starting to suspect that someone or something else is here. But, on a 4 you do accomplish your goal. So, you edge around this balcony for a bit until you come to another archway. And you peek in. This is another kind of section of catacombs. There’s like, the large sort of shelves where bodies would have been laid out. They have all long since been cleared out. And a lot of the shelves are now holding books and lanterns and runestones and various, you know, jars and bottles and, you know. It’s your typical occult library setup.
Kim: She is tempted to have a little stick fingers.
Rhi: I mean, you are a thief, technically.
Kim: And this stuff is so cool! She doesn’t have this.
Rhi: What do you wanna do now that you’re here? I will say Seeks, I think you were able to—because you know Blaire is there, so you were to watch her creep along and then she gets to another archway and goes inside and disappears. So, she is out of your sight at the moment.
Kim: Can I roll a Study to see if there’s any leviathan information laid about in this room?
Rhi: Definitely. It is gonna continue to be risky.
Kim: Okay, there we go. 5.
Rhi: So, you start pulling books off the shelves and looking at them and, like, flipping through. And probably about half the books that you pick up, more than half, have to do with leviathans in some way. And it’s not just like, some of them you recognize are kind of like the standard academic texts, talking about—
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah, leviathans 101.
Rhi: Leviathans and how leviathan blood works and how it’s refined. But then there are things like, there are leviathan captain journals in here that like—
Kim: [excited gasp]
Rhi: They’re not published. These are just handwritten personal journals.
Kim: Can I take one?
Rhi: Yeah.
Waffles: You should take them all. Those are worth so much money.
Kim: I’m going to do that.
Rhi: Okay, and I assume you’re going to grab, like, three of the journals?
Kim: Oh yeah, I’m taking those journals.
Rhi: The other 40-50% of the books, they’re on a few different things. They’re on some different kinds of rituals, some of them are pretty old texts about some of the forgotten gods. You actually recognize one of these. It is another copy of the book that you stole from Arun the alchemist.
Kim: Oh, yeah.
Rhi: Some of the other books that you see here seem to have to do with summoning. Like, you recognize some of them as, like, “Oh, this is how you summon demons,” but some of them seem to be about summoning other things that you’re not familiar with. Stuff you’ve never heard of. And so, you’ve tucked three of the books away and I think you’re standing there. You sort of, kind of, forgot that you were infiltrating a cult hideout and your brain just went into library mode. And you’re just standing in the middle of the room in front of a shelf, paging through a book, when you hear a:
Rhi (as Voice): Who the hell are you?
Rhi: From behind you. You’re in a desperate position as you turn to see a person in just sort of like loose fitting robes that are in different shades of blue and black, standing there with a lantern in their hand and a hand on the dagger on their belt.
Kim: Blaire is frozen in position. She probably drops the book because she raises both of her hands and is like:
Kim (as Blaire): Uh, um, it’s… it’s Ectoplasm Girl season?
Rhi: So, I think on that we’re gonna cut back over to Seeks.
Kim: I tried to think of a Girl Scouts cult equivalent on the spot. [laughs]
Rhi: [laughs]
Waffles: Ectoplasm Scouts.
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah, it’s Ectoplasm Scout season.
Rhi: [laughs] So we’re gonna cut back to Seeks. What’s Seeks up to down there?
Waffles: I don’t know, because the person she was communicating with disappeared. [laughs] How many cultists are down here?
Rhi: There’s five down here. So as you’re been kind of watching, the rest of them have started to gather around the altar and they seem to be sort of arranging objects on there. A couple of them have taken jars that seem to be full of what looks like black sea salt from the Void Sea, that are in the process of walking sort of around the edge of the amphitheater and then down towards the pool. One other person has a jar of white paint and a brush and starts painting a couple runes on the altar. It looks like they’re preparing for some kind of ritual.
Waffles: I’d like to Study it to see if I know what’s going on.
Rhi: Okay. Just the ritual as a whole?
Waffles: Yeah, the ritual as a whole.
Rhi: Okay, yeah. Definitely you can do that. It is going to be risky.
Waffles: Mm hmm. That’s a good old 1.
Rhi: Cool… where was that clock at? 2 out of 4? Let me take a look. Is it risky?
Waffles: [nervous laugh] It’s alright, I have an awful plan.
Rhi: Alright, well, guess what time it is, you guys? It’s time for that clock to hit 4 out of 4, baby. Seeks you’re trying to get a look at what these runes are, but you can’t really get a clear look from your position, so you move forward a little bit and you move forward a little bit more until the person doing the runes finishes them and, like, straightens up and nods to themselves and then looks up and looks straight at you. Like, makes direct, unintentional eye contact. And there’s a beat of silence while the two of you look at each other.
Waffles (as Seeks): …Hi.
Rhi: [laughs]
Waffles: Just little, like, finger waves. [laughs]
Rhi: [laughs] Yeah. And then the woman who was doing the painting just yells:
Rhi (as Cultist): Intruders!
Rhi: And everybody else whips around. Seeks can act first, and then I’ll have Blaire do whatever action she’s gonna do. So, what are you doing now that you have been spotted?
Waffles: I’m gonna start off with smoke bomb.
Rhi: Okay, solid. Solid choice.
Waffles: It’s probably gonna be a Wrecking for a set up action, just to put myself in a controlled position. So, I’ll go ahead and roll to Wreck.
Rhi: Okay.
Waffles: And what’s a Devil’s Bargain look like here?
Rhi: Oh gosh. In the chaos that you are about to cause, the book that Malista is holding is going to end up probably in the water. It’s gonna end up destroyed.
Waffles: Well, I can’t be sad if I never knew what’s in it.
Rhi: [laughs]
Waffles: I’ll take that.
Rhi: Okay.
Waffles: I’ll roll my three dice. Yes! 6, 6, 6.
Rhi: [gasps] Holy shit!
Kim: Whoa!
Rhi: God damn. Okay, yeah. So, your goal here was to basically provide cover for yourself and Blaire, right?
Waffles: Yeah, it was to put us into a more controlled position.
Rhi: Okay. Oh, I think I know what happens. You throw this smoke bomb straight at the person with the paint who spotted you, and it lands in a jar of something on the altar, and whatever’s in your smoke bomb and whatever’s in this jar react in a really fun and exciting way. And it just fills the room. Like, normally your smoke bombs do not fill a room this large. But whatever this combined with, it has just filled the room with this thick… what color should it be?
Kim: Purple.
Waffles: Purple, yeah.
Rhi: Yeah, this thick purple smoke, that it doesn’t hurt to breathe. It tastes a little funny, but it’s not, like, burning your lungs to breathe, to move through it. But it just, like, billows out and fills the room very quickly. And there’s just, like, shouting and confusion and there’s a splashing sound and then there’s some like cursing and like:
Rhi (as Cultist): On no! Don’t disturb it, don’t disturb it! We’re not ready!
Rhi: And there is panic and confusion and so, Seeks, nobody knows where you are. Blaire, I am gonna say that because Seeks got three 6s, you are gonna be able to use, like, the smoke doesn’t reach into the library, but the explosion and then the shouting is enough of a distraction that you are gonna be able to run out and get away from this person.
Kim: Good.
Rhi: Basically as a freebie. You’re not gonna have to make a roll. So, you can get out to the balcony and the room is just full of this purple smoke.
Kim: Thank you!
Rhi: So what do you do?
Waffles: I mean, Seeks is gonna do a Prowl. You can use prowl for combat if you’re being sneaky and taking people out.
Rhi: Yeah, ambushing people.
Waffles: Assassin’s Creed style. [laughs] So, that is my plan.
Rhi: Okay.
Kim: I might try that after you. I’m not a punch girl though, I’m not very good at fighting.
Waffles: No, if this devolves into fisticuffs, I’m going to get my teeth kicked in.
Rhi: [laughs] Alright. Yeah, so I think what we see is Blaire, you’re up on the balcony kind of looking around and like, the smoke sort of parts for a second and you see Seeks down creeping towards a cultist with their back to her. The cultist is just looking around in confusion as Seeks does a sneak. So, go ahead and roll your sneak and yeah, you’re definitely in a controlled position.
Waffles: Nice!
Rhi: What’d you get?
Waffles: I got a 6.
Rhi: 6, okay, yeah. Those are some blessed dice.
Waffles: Oh, don’t worry, next roll it’ll be 1s and… [laughs]
Rhi: So, how do you take this person out?
Waffles: Seeks sneaks up behind, I think it’s the cultist who spotted me, because they’re closest, and they’re like, flipping back and forth and trying to find their way in the fog and Seeks just grabs them from behind and bites into their neck.
Rhi: Oh jeez.
Waffles: And—
Rhi: Are you trying to kill them?
Waffles: No, I’m gonna make them do a sleepy sleep.
Rhi: Oh! Right, you’re venomous.
Kim: Ooh, venomous? I didn’t know that.
Rhi: The leech is such a cool playbook. So, yeah. You are able to knock them out no problem. They go down in an unconscious heap. So, I think Blaire, you, like, the smoke parts enough that you see Seeks jump on this person and then it closes up again so you don’t see what happens, but you know that Seeks is sneaking down, taking people out. What do you wanna do?
Kim: I think I am gonna also to hop down from the balcony and do a Prowl and try to take someone out as well?
Rhi: Okay.
Kim: Even though I am not a fighty person, I gotta do something.
Rhi: Yeah. It’s controlled still.
Kim: Nope. 2. That one’s gonna be banished as well. I have three dice left.
Rhi: Okay, you jump down and you start to sneak towards a person, and as you’re getting close they turn in your dirsection and you have to duck back out of the way so that you don’t get seen. So, as with last time, you can push on and attempt to ambush them again, but it’ll be risky, or you can withdraw and try and different approach.
Kim: I’m going to withdraw and try a different approach next time, because I think I have an idea.
Rhi: Okay. Yeah. Then Seeks, what are you gonna do?
Waffles: I think Seeks pulls up one of their pants legs and pulls out a syringe. And we’re gonna say this one is filled with a spit mixture.
Rhi: Oh, okay, so trance powder?
Waffles: Yeah, so trance powder. And I’m gonna try and Prowl on somebody else.
Rhi: Okay.
Waffles: A 5.
Rhi: So I think for you it’s still controlled. So, you can do it with a minor consequence. I like having you end up in a risky position. I’m just trying to think of how that happens.
Waffles: I think, so I get person number two and then Malista has, like a candelabra and it taking swings at my head. [laughs]
Rhi: Okay, yeah. Yeah. Malista just kind of like jumps out of the smoke as this second person goes down, and takes a swing at you. Yeah. That works.
Waffles: Yeah, and I would like to resist the change in position. Um, like, ducking back into the smoke.
Rhi: I think that’s gonna be Prowess. Because it’s a physical thing that you’re dealing with that has put you in a bad position.
Waffles: 3. 3’s not bad.
Rhi: Okay, so you’ll take 3 stress.
Waffles: I’m about stressed out.
Rhi: [laughs] Okay. So yeah, you are able to dodge backwards and just disappear into the smoke again. So you’re gonna keep a controlled position. Blaire? You hear, kind of, there’s still yelling and running and shouting, and you also hear some, like, water sloshing sounds happening.
Kim: So, my idea earlier was can I just unleash a ghost in here and have it do the work for me? Because I’m not a fighter.
Rhi: So, do you wanna have a spirit jar on you?
Kim: Yeah. I always have got spirit jars on me.
Rhi: I will, yeah, mark a point of load to have a spirit jar that you can just crack open.
Kim: Got it. Should I roll Attune for this, since it does deal in the supernatural? Or should it be Command so I can be like:
Kim (as Blaire): Hey, take care of this.
Rhi: Up to you. You could do either one.
Kim: I think I should play it safe and go with Attune, because that’s what I have higher in. So, I’ll just crack it open and see what happens. Just unleash this Pokémon ghost type into the world. 6!
Rhi: Okay. So, you open it up and the ghost is barely visible with the smoke sort of drifting though it. And I think it just spots one of the cultists and just goes after him. I think it’s the cultist who was up in the library with you.
Kim: Okay, cool.
Rhi: It just sort of, this like, echoing ghostly shriek as it dives at this man, who lets out a shriek of his own. There’s just shrieking and disturbed smoke over in that area. So, three of the cultists have been taken down. There are still three out there.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: The smoke is starting to clear up.
Waffles: Okay.
Rhi: You’re still gonna have it as cover for a couple more actions, but it’s starting to dissipate.
Waffles: Well, it’s been going well so far, so I will mark another use of bandolier and try and take somebody else down.
Rhi: Are you going for a random cultist, or are you gonna go after your nemesis?
Waffles: I think I go for my nemesis, now that I know where they are. So, I’m gonna circle them like a shark. Two 5s.
Rhi: Okay. So, describe how you take her out. Because you succeed in drugging her and knocking her out. And then I will tell you what happens after.
Waffles: So, I think she’s, like, circling with the candelabra and probably cursing at me. [laughs]
Rhi: Mm hmm.
Rhi (as Malista): You filthy half-breed! You’ve ruined everything!
Waffles: And Seeks leaps out of the fog behind her just like [snarls] and sticks the needle in her back. And just, like, drags her off behind a pillar.
Rhi: The candelabra clatters across the floor, and as you straighten up and come out from behind the pillar you see another cultist, as the smoke has sort of started to clear up in the middle, has rushed over to the altar and is flipping open another book and kind of, like, leans over it and starts reciting something out loud. They’re clearly chanting something under their breath. We now have two cultists remaining. Blaire, the smoke has cleared up in the middle of the room, so you are able to see this person at the altar, and you are able to see the pool in the center. There’s a lot of ripples happening. It feels a little bit like the dreams you’ve had.
Kim: Oh no.
Rhi: Like, the water itself is quite dark, but you can see a darker shape moving in it, and it’s large. It takes up almost the entire pool.
Kim: What I think I will do… I mean, I’m definitely interested in the water. I wanna see what that leviathan’s about. But I feel like we should take care of these cultists first. I still have… is my ghost friend, is he done? Did he possess that one guy?
Rhi: So, your ghost friend has a new ride.
Kim: Got it.
Rhi: They have possessed a body and left.
Kim: Okay.
Waffles: [laughs] Just imagining, “Woohoo, I got legs again! Whee!” Does, like, the jump-heel-click and runs off.
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim: “I’m gonna have some chicken nuggets!”
Rhi: That 100% happens in the background.
Kim: I love it. This might be weird, but I think I’m gonna try Consorting, or at least Swaying. Some kind of social action with the cultist at altar and maybe try to get them to stop?
Rhi: Okay.
Kim: Because I can’t fight. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah, how do you wanna approach that?
Kim: I mean, I’m imaging this as I’m going to appeal to mutual interests in this case, so I guess it would be Consort?
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim: And what does a Devil’s Bargain look like for this?
Rhi: That ghost that you unleashed, who possessed that dude, that’s gonna cause trouble down the line. That’s gonna be a problem at some point. That guy’s gonna cause problems, and it’s gonna somehow get connected back to you.
Kim: Eh, I can handle it.
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim: Alright. I will take the Devil’s Bargain and give myself a bonus die.
Rhi: That’s the spirit! Oh, that was a bad pun, I’m sorry.
Kim: Eyy!
Rhi: That was unintentional. That was unintentional.
Kim: [claps] Good job!
Rhi: And I’m very angry. No, just don’t. Don’t applaud that.
Kim: Congratulations.
Rhi: Don’t. No.
Kim: Alright, I’m rolling Consort.
Rhi: Your approval fills me with shame.
Kim: Oh word, I got a 6.
Rhi: Yeah, so what do you say?
Kim: I’m basically just gonna run up to them and, like, try to grab their arm and be like:
Kim (as Blaire): What are you doing? Whatever’s happening here,
Kim: And she gestures to the water, she’s like:
Kim (as Blaire): This needs to stop.
Rhi: The cultist looks at you, looks around at the, you know, unconscious bodies of her fellows, looks down at the pool that is still, kind of, rippling and then just shakes her head and closes the book and is like:
Rhi (as Cultist): You’re right. It’s not time. There’s not enough of us to complete this.
Kim (as Blaire): If that things comes out it’s gonna swallow all of us whole.
Rhi (as Cultist): I know.
Waffles: “I know, it’ll be glorious” [laughs] I have a quick question. Can the last guy just, like, get up and run after one of us with a stick? Because I wanna spray him in the face. [laughs] There’s these old-timey, like, pressure cans, and I just wanna spray eyeblind powder in his face.
Rhi: Yeah. Yes, 100%, I will allow this. It’s very good.
Waffles: Just, “Argh!” [spraying sound]
Rhi: [screams] Like, falls to the ground, clutching his face. The other cultist just ignores him entirely. Is just like:
Rhi (as Cultist): Perhaps your appearance here wasn’t a curse, but a blessing. The time wasn’t right for this. We need to wait, let it grow in power and strength. And then the Circle will be complete.
Kim (as Blaire): Exactly.
Rhi (as Cultist): So glad you understand.
Kim (as Blaire): Of course.
Kim: Blaire does not understand.
Rhi: Yeah. [laughs]
Kim: [laughs]
Kim (as Blaire): But these things take time. You know that.
Rhi (as Cultist): Yes. Yes.
Rhi: I think people are starting to come to. Malista is still out, and this cultist kind of turns and claps her hands together and is like:
Rhi (as Cultist): Come, my friends, come. These messengers have given us a blessing this day. We were too eager, too quick. We will fall back and wait. Perhaps pass on what we have learned to the next generation. And when the time is right, the circle will be made whole.
Rhi: And there’s just sort of like a mix of murmured agreement and pained groaning as people are picking themselves up and helping up their injured fellows. Somebody, like, picks up Malista, because she’s still unconscious. And the cultist at the altar goes to start, like, collecting the books and stuff. Are you going to let her do that?
Kim: Yeah. Yeah, she can put shit away, that’s fine.
Rhi: Okay.
Kim: I can’t tell her what to do.
Rhi: So yeah, she’s just gonna take that stuff and kind of, you know, pack it away and put it in a bag. And she calls out:
Rhi (as Cultist): Lucius! Lu— hmm…
Kim (as Blaire): Lucius?
Rhi (as Cultist): Yes, he oversaw the library. I’m not sure where he is. Hmm. Adric, Thena, pack up the library and make sure that we bring everything. We’ll need it to prepare the others.
Rhi: And two people, like, nod and kind of head of to go up toward the library area. You are welcome to interfere at any point here, Seeks.
Waffles: I would like to try and, like, swipe a journal or something off the altar while she’s talking to people.
Rhi: Okay. You’ll need to roll something.
Waffles: Finesse? [laughs]
Rhi: I would say yeah, Finesse.
Waffles: Oh, a 4 and a 5.
Rhi: Oh, okay.
Waffles: Seeks is actively whistling while she steps back.
Rhi: I think it’s gonna be reduced effect.
Waffles: Okay.
Rhi: So, like, you grabbed for a journal that had a bunch of loose pages in it, but the woman at the altar kind of started to turn, and so you were only able to grab, like, a handful of those loose papers. You don’t get the whole journal. But you’ve got some papers that you now have, you know, you’ve got both hands behind your back and are whistling innocently. [laughs]
Waffles: [laughs] And then I guess the only other thing I wanted to do while we’re here is Attune with the giant pool of water.
Rhi: Yeah… okay.
Waffles: I’m into making poor decisions.
Rhi: Uh huh.
Waffles: [laughs] What’s a Devil’s Bargain look like here?
Rhi: Ah. I mean… God. The first thing that came to mind is no matter what, it works. That’s the Devil’s Bargain. [laughs]
Waffles: Yes! [laughs]
Rhi: No matter what you roll, it works. You’re going to connect with it. You may not want to.
Waffles: I rolled a 6.
Rhi: Ah, fuck.
Waffles: [laughs]
Rhi: Come on!
Waffles: [laughs] A 6 and a 2.
Rhi: Fine! [sighs] Alright. So, yeah, you Attune with the thing in the water. I’m trying to think of what this… because usually, like, when people Attune to the ghost field, it’s a visual thing. This is an emotional thing. This is something that you feel as sort of an empathic thing. You can tell that its asleep, but it’s a sort of disturbed sleep. It’s the same sort of feeling that you get when you have a dream and you wake up, but not fully. And you’re only partly aware of your surroundings before you drift off again. And the next morning, you would have a hard time saying if you even woke up at all. And there’s a faint sort of feeling of confusion and fear, and then a few moments after you kind of reach out, there’s a bit of curiosity.
Waffles: I think Seeks will start singing a lullaby.
Waffles (as Seeks): [sings gently] Hush now, my sweet. Close your eyes, and sleep. Watching the waves, and diving the deep. Stars are shining bright, the wind is on the rise, whispering words of lost lullabies.
Rhi: So, as you’re singing, this quiet falls over the room. The cultists kind of stop what they’re doing and look to you. And the feeling that you get from the sleeping baby leviathan, this sleeping, young god, the fear and confusion and even curiosity sort of fade away. And you get this feeling of contentment before it drifts back into a deep sleep. And as you finish singing, the cultist who had been at the altar just looks at you again, like at both of you, and just sort of nods in slow understanding.
Rhi (as Cultist): Yes. It is not time yet. We will wait until it has called us. Until it is ready.
Rhi: And she kinda like, gives you sort of a very respectful… not quite a bow, but it’s like a fairly deep nod. And then she moves off to join her fellows as they pack everything else away and prepare to leave. So, it’s just the two of you left in this big empty room with a sleeping baby leviathan in a pool underneath Duskwall.
Kim (as Blaire): Where did you hear that song?
Waffles (as Seeks): My mother used to sing it to me.
Kim (as Blaire): It was really nice.
Waffles: She smiles.
Kim (as Blaire): I think she liked it.
Waffles (as Seeks): I think they did too.
Kim: I want Blaire to crouch down and just put her hand in the water. Like, very contently.
Rhi: There’s ripples that are coming out from your hand, but nothing else in the water moves.
Kim: Aww.
Rhi: And then I think we fade back to Seeks’s clinic. The sky is starting to lighten a little bit in that brief sunrise moment where the shards of the sun are visible, as the two of you return to the clinic. It has been a very long night, but you both are feeling for the most part a little bit better. Although perhaps also a bit unsettled by the knowledge that there is a young leviathan sleeping under Duskwall.
Kim (as Blaire): Well, I don’t think we’re gonna have to deal with that in our lifetime. They said that they would wait another generation.
Waffles (as Seeks): Mm hmm. Also, it’s sleepy. Like, eh. There are scarier things in Duskvol. There are people.
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah. People are the scariest part. Because ghosts and monsters, those can be predictable. People… people can like, stab you in the back.
Waffles (as Seeks): Mm hmm.
Kim (as Blaire): I need to go to bed.
Waffles (as Seeks): Yes, get some sleep.
Kim (as Blaire): Is it alright if I crash here?
Waffles (as Seeks): Yeah, um…
Kim (as Blaire): Is that okay? I’ll leave first thing in the morning.
Waffles (as Seeks): No, you don’t have to leave at all. Here, I have extra blankets in the store room.
Kim (as Blaire): Aww.
Rhi: And you probably have a few cots set up, since you’re running a little clinic.
Waffles: Yeah.
Kim (as Blaire): Thanks, Seeks.
Rhi: So, the two of you get to bed and you both have a deep, dreamless, restful sleep.
##Outro [01.16.21]
Rhi: Thanks for listening. The Magpies will be back in two weeks. In the meantime, follow us on Twitter @magpies_pod and visit our Patreon at patreon.com/magpiespodcast.
The Magpies podcast is hosted and produced by Rhi. Follow me on Twitter @rhiannon42.
Blaire Culhane is played by Kim Kogut. Follow her on Twitter @kimdianajones.
The Rivers Lost But Seeking was played by Waffles. Follow them on Twitter @Mahaffay and listen to them on the Iron Hides podcast, on the One Shot 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.
The Blades in the Dark roleplay system is the creation of John Harper and is published by Evil Hat Productions.
##Blooper [01.17.21]
Rhi: Sorry, my cat got stuck to the chair.
Kim: Mrow! I heard a mrow.
Waffles: [laughs]
Rhi: She’s a dumbass.
Kim: Hi!
Rhi: [sighs]
Waffles: Aw, little Harley.