Transcript by Michelle Kelly.

Download a Word doc version of the transcript: The Magpies Season 2 Episode 11 Transcript

## Intro

Rhi: Welcome back to Duskwall. As always, thank you so much for joining us. If you enjoy our show and want to help us do more awesome things, please consider backing us on Patreon. The financial support we get there is currently helping us transcribe the show, and the more support we get, the more cool things we can do. If you can’t back us on Patreon, leave us a review, tell your friends, spread the word about our show. Those are the best ways for us to reach new listeners.

For those of you attending Gen Con this August, Minna and I will be there with Magpies bookmarks. I’m also going to be moderating a panel discussion about starting an Actual Play podcast. Keep an eye out for that panel if you’re going to be attending. We’re hoping to record the audio from it, but we don’t have those plans set in stone yet. Next, let me tell you about this month’s featured charity.

The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center is a non-profit dedicated to supporting indigenous women in the United States who are facing domestic violence, as well as helping Native American tribes and tribal organisations better respond to domestic violence. Their goals are to show that offenders will be held accountable, and that native women and children are entitled to; safety from violence within their homes and in their community, justice both on and off tribal lands, and access to services designed by and for native women based on their tribal beliefs and practices. Visit www.niwrc.org/donate to support their work. And there will be a link to their site in the show notes.

Now then. Let’s get started, shall we?

## Story continues [00.01.49]

Rhi: And then Myra, someone comes up beside you and slings their arm around your shoulders. And a voice that you kinda had hoped to never hear again says:

Rhi (as Voice): So sorry, my partner got here before me.

Rhi: And you turn to look and you see a very familiar young man–

Minna: Oh, it’s Wester [giggles]

Rhi: ­–dressed impeccably in a Sparkwright getup with a pin of his own, standing there, smiling brightly at the guards. This is Wester.

Minna: Yes! [laughs]

Rhi: This is the other of Salia’s apprentices–

Kim: Oh my God.

Rhi: –and he’s got his arm around your shoulders and is grinning at the guards, is like:

Rhi (as Wester): I know we normally don’t do this on the performance days, but the schedule got shifted around and we have to get this in now. My partner here’s new to the ranks of the inspectors, so she’s not clear on all the procedure.

Rhi: And the guards are just, kind of, like:

Rhi (as Guard): [sigh] Alright, alright, yeah.

Rhi: And they open the door and he looks at you and the grin doesn’t change, but the look in his eyes is just this absolute smugness.

Minna: Ew.

Josie: Ugh.

Rhi: And he gestures for you to go in before him.

Kim: Ugh.

Minna (as Myra): Thank you.

Minna: Very fake smile. [laughs]

Rhi: So, the two of you head inside. And we’re gonna cut over to Blaire.

Kim: Yeah, Blaire is just looking for Minx. She’s going to take her mask off, but leave her hood up, and go:

Kim (as Blaire): Hey. Hey!

Josie (as Minx): Er, yes dear?

Kim (as Blaire): Where’s Myra?

Josie (as Minx): She’s heading inside, on the other side.

Kim (as Blaire): Okay. I thought we were all heading inside.

Josie (as Minx): Well I thought you were heading inside as well, but me, I’m rather occupied with this puppet show at the moment.

Kim (as Blaire): Okay. Well, keep doing what you’re doing. I’m gonna try and look for Myra.

Josie (as Minx): Alright, as you wish.

Rhi: Alright. So are you gonna try and sneak inside, Blaire?

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: Okay. Where do you wanna try and sneak in?

Kim: Um, they didn’t leave the door open, did they?

Rhi: No. I’m picturing this as a two-storey building with a balcony, like, metal balcony cat-walk type thing going all the way around the second floor, so that guards can kind of walk around up on the top.

Kim: Let me go to a side where there’s a window and just press my face up against there and look inside.

Rhi: [amused] Okay, um, yeah, roll something to sneak up there.

Kim: Well, let me Prowl a bit to get there first, right?

Rhi: Yeah.

Kim: And I will push myself as well, so that way I get two dice for this. Okay, 5.

Rhi: You sneak on over to a window and press your face up against it, and you’re looking into, kind of, it’s an office with the door open on the other side. So, like, there’s a desk and some papers. No one is in there. And as you’re peering inside, you see walking past in the hallway, first you see Myra, followed immediately by a man you’ve never seen before.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: As you’re looking, you here a:

Rhi (as Voice): Hey! What are you doing down there?

Rhi: And you look up and there is a guard standing on the balcony above you, looking down at you. Hasn’t, like, drawn weapons or anything, is just looking down, being like:

Rhi: (as Guard): You can’t-, the performances are over that way. You can’t be over here.

Kim (as Blaire): Oh, sorry! I was looking for the guide? The tour house? The cabinet of curiosities. Do they have that tent here?

Rhi: (as Guard): [exasperated] Yeah, it’s over that way. By the food stalls.

Kim (as Blaire): I must have missed it, thank you!

Rhi: Okay, so Blaire darts off, having been foiled. Good bluff, though, good bluff.

Kim: Thank you.

Josie: [giggles]

Kim: I am pulling very deep from my Ren Faire knowledge.

Rhi: Blaire goes hustling away, kind of back towards the performance area that Minx is working at. And I think we stay on that window and move into the building to follow Myra and Wester. Wester sort of glances around and steers you into an empty office. Not the same one that Blaire was looking into, but one kind of across the hall, without windows.

Minna (as Myra): So good to see you, Wester. Since when are you Salia’s first choice for infiltrations?

Rhi (as Wester): Oh, Myra. Things have changed quite a bit since you decided to cut and run.

Rhi: And he crosses his arms and is standing in the doorway, so you’re blocked in.

Minna: Myra says:

Minna (as Myra): Well, just remember that in here, my name is Althea, and don’t get in my way.

Rhi (as Wester): Oh, [laughs smugly] why do you think I’m here? I don’t know what exactly you’re trying to do, but after your little stunt with that Sparkwright in the alley the other night? Oh no, no, no, I am exactly here to get in your way. You should have a seat. You’re not really going anywhere.

Minna (as Myra): And why do you care what I do anymore?

Rhi (as Wester): Oh, we have our reasons. Reasons that you might know about if you had stuck around.

Minna (as Myra): Would you care to enlighten me? You were never very good at that, though.

Rhi (as Wester): No, I think I would rather just wait here for, well, I dunno who it’ll be. Will it be The Bluecoats? Will it be those Umbra Hunters? Which one would you prefer?

Minna (as Myra): Well, if I’ve got a choice in the matter…

Rhi (as Wester): Oh, you don’t. I would just like to know which is the worse option for you. I mean, they’re both pretty terrible.

Minna (as Myra): You know me, Wester. I never tell you anything important.

Rhi: And he just kinda leans against the door frame.

Rhi (as Wester): You really ruined things for yourself, didn’t you?

Minna (as Myra): I don’t think so. Honestly, I can’t believe you’re all staying under her heel.

Rhi (as Wester): I’m not under anything. We’ve moved up in the world.

Minna (as Myra): Moved up in the world? Yes, as Salia’s pets, I’m sure.

Rhi: He kind of sneers at you, and moves in from the doorway a little bit, and is like:

Rhi (as Wester): She trusts me more than she ever trusted you. And she was right for it, since you don’t have an ounce of loyalty in you.

Minna (as Myra): I have plenty of loyalty to those who deserve it.

Rhi (as Wester): She is gonna love seeing you again.

Minna (as Myra): It’s so sad. You really think that you’re gonna become something in her ranks, when she has no intention of ever letting you get up there.

Rhi (as Wester): You don’t know anything about her. And you sure as hell don’t know anything about me, and what I have planned.

Minna (as Myra): I’m sure that will go wonderfully. Are we done here?

Rhi (as Wester): No. No, I meant it when I said that we were staying here until people come to take you away. Salia’s got big plans, and you are a part of them. A small cog in the machine, but part of that involves delivering you to the right people. And your friends. We’ll deal with them pretty soon, I’m sure.

Minna: I’m trying to think what Myra does here. See, I think the thing that makes the most sense here is to get mad and confront him physically, but that probably won’t go well because he’s probably always been better than her at that kind of thing.

Rhi: Yes, however he is also an arrogant white guy.

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: He’s not gonna expect you to attack him.

Minna: Yeah, no, I think that’s exactly, like, she’s still grinning, and like–

Rhi: Yeah, if you were to just whip out a pistol and shoot at him–

Josie: Kick him in the nuts!

Rhi: Or do that, you would have-, I would honestly say for the initial attack you would be controlled, because he is not expecting you to do anything to him. He thinks he’s won.

Minna: I think that’s the plan, because–

Rhi: Okay.

Minna: And she probably knows this about him, that he is an arrogant son of a bitch. And she spent so many years learning their weaknesses, and learning how to play around them.

Rhi: Yep. What are you rolling?

Minna: I’m rolling some Skirmish.

Rhi: Okay.

Minna: And I have rolled a 6. [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah!

Josie: Nice.

Kim: Woo! Yes, girl!

Rhi: So, tell me exactly how you–

Minna: So I think Myra’s still grinning in that pleasant, catty way, and then in a split second she is, like, lunging towards him. And I think she reaches him with, like, her knee up and into the soft bits.

Rhi: Mm-hmm. I think he had, just barely, when you moved he had just started to get his arms unfolded and had enough time to look surprised, and then your knee connects and he’s on the ground.

Kim: Yes.

Rhi: With a 6, you just nailed him. And he’s just down, curled up.

Minna: Can I…

Rhi: Yeah?

Minna: Dose him with slumber essence?

Rhi: Yes, you can.

Josie: Oof.

Kim: This is so good.

Rhi: I will just let you, like, yeah, if you just wanna slap a rag to his face while he’s down.

Minna (as Myra): You are going to learn very soon what it means when you come up against me.

Rhi: Yeah, he doesn’t really respond. You just kind of like put that on his face, and he’s breathing hard because you’ve just caused him a lot of pain so he inhales a whole bunch of it, and then is dozing peacefully on the floor.

Minna: [giggles] Such a fucking power fantasy.

Josie: Yes.

Rhi: Yeah, yeah, God that was good.

Kim: Yes Myra!

Rhi: Alright. Now what are you gonna do?

Minna: Proceed along to do the thing that I came to do.

Rhi: Alright. So you head deeper into the station. Let’s cut back out to Minx. Tell me about this puppet show.

Josie: I’m like, the assistant to the puppet show. So I’m thinking it’s kind of like those paper shadow puppets.

Rhi: Mm-hmm.

Kim: Ooh.

Josie: So it’s all these weird elongated shapes acting out, like, weird parables and myths and the like.

Rhi: Okay, cool. So yeah, you’re back there doing that and Blaire darts up to you.

Kim (as Blaire): I couldn’t get inside.

Josie (as Minx): Alright. Well, give me a moment, get by a window.

Kim (as Blaire): There’s a balcony. The guards will see me from above. I need a distraction.

Josie (as Minx): I know, I’m about to do a distraction.

Josie: I wanna do two things. One is I wanna, like, look up to one of the kite flyers, if they’re going.

Rhi: Okay.

Josie: And I kinda wanna make an X with my forearms and then make the signal for, like, go again. And kind of have an apologetic look on my face. And then I want to try to indicate to the person running the puppet show that another flash is coming, play into it.

Rhi: Okay, you’re gonna need to roll something to, sort of, do all of those non-verbal communications.

Josie: Yes.

Rhi: I think you’re in a controlled position with this, because there’s not really an immediate threat.

Josie: Uh-huh. Sway?

Rhi: Yeah, you could do Sway.

Josie: I got a 5.

Rhi: Okay. So, I think we’re gonna go with you do it with a minor consequence. What are you trying to achieve?

Josie: I’m trying to get another lightning flash pyrotechnic show going on and a bunch of people to be looking up at it, so that Blaire can sneak in through a window or something.

Rhi: Okay, so you’re trying to draw the attention of the guards as well.

Josie: Right.

Rhi: So you do it, but there’s a minor consequence.

Kim: I have an idea for a consequence, but it’s probably not minor.

Rhi: Let me hear it, we might be able to adapt it.

Kim: Yeah. What if one of the kite flyers gets, like, a little too close or caught in a blast, and the wing gets damaged or singed in a way?

Rhi: That could work, to where, like, Blaire has a much shorter window to get in.

Josie: Or yeah, maybe they, like, they’re losing altitude so they have to pull off and it’s not as spectacular as I was hoping?

Rhi: You’re basically at reduced effect for that. The thing goes and, like, there is a lot of popping and electric stuff, and the guard is looking up, but is not quite as distracted. So this is basically a set-up action. If your action has its intended result, any member of the team who follows through on your maneuver gets +1 effect or improved position. Okay. So, Blaire you can either be at greater effect or controlled position for your next sneaking in attempt.

Kim: I would like greater effect.

Rhi: Okay.

Kim: I’m trying to decide what to roll to open up this window while they’re distracted. I feel like it would either be Tinker or Prowl?

Rhi: Either one. You could do either.

Kim: I’m gonna do a Prowl and also push myself with 2 stress.

Rhi: Okay.

Kim: Okay, that’s a 6.

Rhi: Nice. Yeah, so you zip over there while the lightning is crackling above and you pop that open and slide inside.

Kim: Do I see Myra, or no?

Rhi: I’m gonna say, since you had greater effect, I think you climbed into like, the office across the hall from where Myra and Wester were. So you see that same guy that you saw briefly with Myra curled up on the floor, seemingly unconscious.

Minna: [giggles] Follow the breadcrumbs.

Rhi: You don’t see Myra anywhere, but like, you know more or less where Myra was gonna head, so you also head towards the loading dock.

Kim (as Blaire): Great work, Myra.

Rhi: Yeah, so you hustle off that way. And I think that you catch up with Myra in the hallway outside the loading dock area. The station doesn’t really require, like, constant monitoring, but there are a couple people in the loading bay area.

Kim: Oh, okay.

Rhi: They’re not guards, they look like they’re employees who just work here.

Kim: Yeah, still, it’s witnesses either way.

Rhi: Myra, what are you doing, peering in this doorway, how are you standing when Blaire sneaks up next to you?

Minna: I mean, I don’t think I’m, like, looking sneaky, I think I’m looking like a person who at any moment could walk in that door casually.

Rhi: Oh, yeah, yeah. So you’re, like, standing out there readying yourself, and then Blaire kinda comes up behind you.

Kim: I’m probably just gonna, like, tug at her vest, and be like:

Kim (as Blaire): Hey!

Minna (as Myra): Oh, Blaire.

Kim (as Blaire): Yeah, I figured you would need help getting this thing out.

Minna (as Myra): Oh, yeah, I could use help with that. Looks like there’s a couple people here. They think I’m an inspector, but they also think that I’m here with a partner. Not you, unfortunately.

Rhi: Well, here’s the thing.

Minna: Only the door person thinks I’m here with a partner.

Rhi: The guards were told that you were here with a partner.

Minna (as Myra): Well, I’m an inspector. You can be my assistant, maybe?

Kim (as Blaire): They thought your partner was the guy that you knocked out?

Minna (as Myra): Oh, you saw him, did you?

Kim (as Blaire): Yeah, I saw him on my way in.

Minna (as Myra): Uh, yeah, little bit of difficulty there, but we’re fine now, right?

Kim (as Blaire): Well, so long as the guards, you know, don’t get confused seeing a different partner than the one that you came in with, right?

Minna (as Myra): I think we’d better not take the front door out.

Kim (as Blaire): Okay, yeah, then that’s good.

Minna (as Myra): How are we gonna get one of these out of here?

Kim (as Blaire): We just need one. Um…

Kim: Should I roll, like, a Survey to try and find some kind of flatbed truck that could wagon this thing out?

Rhi: Yeah, it’s gonna be risky, because if you’re doing this while you’re still trying to be not spotted, you know, if they see you peering in the door they’re gonna come to investigate.

Kim: Just look? I mean, that’s fine.

Rhi: Go ahead and make your roll.

Kim: Oh wow, that’s a 6.

Rhi: So, opposite from the door where you’re looking there’s a set of big double doors that look like they would be pushed open from the inside by a couple people. And then there’s just like, kind of, boxes and crates and shelves of various equipment, and then there is a storage cage with a locked door that has several barrels of electroplasm.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: And then there’s a couple people there, and near the big doors there’s a couple, like, dollies, or flatbed carts, or things with wheels that you can put stuff on to use physics to make it easier to move heavy objects. [laughs]

Kim: Okay. Okay, at that point, then, I’m just gonna look back at Myra and be like:

Kim (as Blaire): There’s a flatbed truck, and I saw where the refined electroplasm was. I think we got this.

Minna (as Myra): Yeah.

Kim (as Blaire): We just need to head in there.

Minna (as Myra): I think I can probably brazen it out.

Kim (as Blaire): Okay. Well, I’ll let you do the talking. You just need to head in there. Follow your lead.

Minna: And Myra walks confidently into this room.

Kim: I follow.

Rhi: Alright. So, the two people working in here, they seem to be sorting through equipment and grumbling to each other.

Minna (as Myra): Is one of you in charge?

Rhi (as Worker): [startled] Ah! Oh!

Rhi: And like, the person who is talking, their eyes go to the pin on your vest, and is like:

Rhi (as Worker): Uh, oh, I didn’t know we were having an inspection today. Um, sorry, I guess I am? I’m Alma.

Minna (as Myra): Althea Morris, lovely to meet you.

Rhi (as Alma): Er, yeah, hi. Sorry, yeah, the station head I think is out watching the show. Um, what can we help you with?

Minna (as Myra): I’ve taken a bit of a walk around, the set-up seems fine. I need to take away one of these barrels. We got some testing we have to do, we’re kinda gathering from…

Rhi (as Alma): Oh.

Minna (as Myra): It hasn’t all gone out yet, we’re gonna try it with this barrel first.

Rhi: Gimme a roll.

Minna: Alright, that sounds like a Sway.

Kim: Do you want an assist?

Minna: Yes please.

Kim: Okay. Is that 1 stress, Rhi?

Rhi: 1 stress.

Minna: 6!

Kim: Woo!

Rhi: Jesus, hot dice.

Kim: They missed us.

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah. So, yeah, they’re just like:

Rhi (as Alma): Oh, um, okay. Frank, come on, you have the-, where are the keys?

Rhi: And so, like, yeah, there’s some rummaging around drawers and they go over to the thing and open it up, and they’re like:

Rhi (as Alma): Er, is there a particular batch that you need? What’s the testing for?

Kim (as Blaire): There’s been word about a contamination that may have broken out, we’re trying to make sure if we don’t need to do a full recall or not.

Rhi (as Alma): Ooh. Wow, that would be really expensive.

Kim (as Blaire): Exactly. So, we could use one of refined, just to make sure that the best stuff isn’t, you know, contaminated at all.

Rhi (as Alma): Uh, yeah.

Rhi: So I think that there’s, like, kind of a lift system that they can use to move one of them down, and they’ll get it onto a dolly or something. They’re like:

Rhi (as Alma): Is there somebody here to pick you up?

Minna (as Myra): We got a ride arranged, don’t worry about it.

Rhi (as Alma): Okay, yeah, because, I mean, this would be…

Minna (as Myra): Oh, we’re not going to carry it across the city, don’t worry about it. [laughs]

Rhi (as Alma): I was gonna say, this would be miserable, getting back to the tower.

Minna (as Myra): Oh yeah.

Rhi (as Alma): Alright. And what did you say your name was, again?

Minna (as Myra): Althea.

Rhi (as Alma): Huh. Are you new?

Minna (as Myra): Yeah, we’re pretty-, I’m pretty new.

Kim (as Blaire): I’m her assistant, Adelaide.

Rhi (as Alma): Oh, good to meet you both. Um, I should probably get the station chief and just have her sign off on this before you go.

Kim (as Blaire): Sure thing. I can wheel this out to our ride while you sign that.

Rhi (as Alma): Uh, we should before you take it out. Let me go grab her, just so that she can sign for it.

Kim (as Blaire): Okay.

Rhi: So Alma leaves. Frank is still there, just kinda hanging out.

Kim: So what do we do?

Minna: We can either make a break for it, or sign off with the chief. I don’t know which one is going to be a better idea.

Kim: Well, did the chief see you when you first came in?

Minna: No?

Rhi: No.

Kim: Oh okay, then we’re good.

Minna: And I have fine cover identity, so I would have documentation forged.

Kim: Okay, I don’t have documentation.

Rhi: Yeah.

Minna: And if you don’t have documentation I can, like, scold you for having forgotten it.

Kim: That works.

Minna (as Myra): Must suck to be stuck on shift while the games are going on out there.

Rhi (as Frank): I mean, officially everybody’s supposed to be here. You know what? You should put this in your report, that the chief lets everybody go except, like, the two junior-most people. We’re supposed to hold down the fort here while the rest of them go have a day off. A paid day off, by the way.

Minna (as Myra): That’s very much against regulation, I’ll make a note of that. Thank you.

Rhi (as Frank): And it’s like, I don’t, you know, I get wanting to enjoy the show that’s happening right outside, but like, it shouldn’t be everybody expect the two of us.

Minna: Myra’s making notes in a little notebook.

Rhi: I think once you get him going on that, he’s just sort of venting about, like, all of the petty annoying stuff, just very standard workplace gripes.

Kim (as Blaire): They don’t even have dental.

Rhi: [laughs] This is Duskwall, no one has any kind of insurance, are you kidding me?

Kim: [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah, so Frank just, sort of, vents about workplace-, most of which is not actually that bad, it’s just like:

Rhi (as Frank): And the guy that I have to share an office with? He whistles. Constantly.

Minna (as Myra): Ugh.

Rhi (as Frank): Just under his breath. And I’ve told the chief how annoying it is and how distracting it is, but she hasn’t done anything about it. She says I just need to get over it.

Rhi: Minx, you are in a position where you can see the doors are open.

Josie: Mm-hmm. Yeah, okay, I think I’m just gonna double check, make sure people out here can’t see our faces as we leave. Like, it’s still obscured by the puppet show and stuff. And, I dunno, I wanna make sure our Cabbie people pull up.

Rhi: I think, like, leaning against a lamppost is the Cabbie, just kinda hanging out casually, and you make eye contact and do the nod of acknowledgement. Yeah, yeah, I think otherwise you can just kinda hang out and be ready for things. So, yeah, after a few minutes you hear footsteps coming and Frank, like, clams up real fast. And Alma comes back with-, let’s see, I didn’t really think about this person. Well here, I will pass the responsibility off to somebody else. Minna, tell me what the station chief looks like.

Minna: Um… I think she has dark skin and her hair in bunch of thin braids gathered into a ponytail at the back of her head.

Rhi: Okay, cool. And she is also wearing the, kind of like, general Sparkwright getup. There’s a lot of patches on her stuff and some, like, burned bits. But yeah, she comes in and is like:

Rhi (as Station Chief): Alma here says that you have to remove one of the barrels for testing?

Minna (as Myra): Yeah, we’re chasing up a possible contamination issue.

Rhi (as Station Chief): Hmm.

Minna (as Myra): Trying to keep it under wraps, but yeah. We’re hoping it doesn’t pan out to anything. We’re starting small.

Rhi (as Station Chief): Yeah, well that would be real bad for the Hunters, wouldn’t it? Do you have your papers? I just need to make sure everything’s in order.

Minna (as Myra): Oh yeah.

Minna: She pulls out some identification papers.

Rhi: Alright, I think you’re gonna need to make another Sway to convince this person that you are doing what you’re supposed to be doing. Still risky, but you’re going to be at greater effect because of your fine documents.

Minna: I rolled a 5.

Rhi: Okay. Alright. So, she looks at your papers for a second and is like:

Rhi (as Station Chief): Okay, let me just get the log book which is in my office. I’ll be right back.

Rhi: And she starts to walk towards the hallway that you came from.

Minna: Hmm.

Rhi: Where Wester is unconscious in a door.

Josie: Hmm.

Kim: Ah, fuck.

Rhi: So. You convince her, but there is a complication. In that she is about thirty seconds away from finding a sleeping man.

Kim: What do we do?

Minna: I can just, yeah, I can always say that he, like, went his own way and I don’t know what happened to him.

Kim: Do you think he woke up between now and waited? That’s unlikely, I think.

Rhi: No, no, it’s only been a few minutes.

Minna: Let me look at slumber essence, but I think you can be woken up like normal.

Rhi: Yeah.

Kim: But we don’t want her to.

Minna: They sleep for an hour, deeply, but they can be roused with some effort.

Rhi: Okay. Okay, so…

Kim: So what do we do? What do we do, Minna?

Minna: I think we just hold tight and hope.

Kim: That’s a terrible plan.

Rhi: [giggles]

Josie: I say knock out the one guy who’s there and just bolt.

Rhi: Well, there’s two people back here now. Alma came back. So you have Alma and Frank to deal with.

Kim: But its two vs two. Do you think?

Minna: I dunno. Yeah, because I don’t want to get caught up in a whole thing about Wester and, like, getting him out of here too.

Kim: And just having the question of being like, ‘Hey, why is there an unconscious guy I don’t recognise in my hallway?’

Minna: Yeah, okay, I don’t like it, but…

Kim: So what do you say? You take one, I take one, we try to bolt with this barrel?

Minna: Yeah.

Kim: Okay. Okay, we’re doing this.

Rhi: She walks down the hall, and I think goes around a curve, and you hear:

Rhi (as Station Chief): What the hell?

Rhi: And I think that’s like, the two other workers are kind of like looking in that direction, a little distracted. So that would be a good time for you two to–

Kim: So what I think we should do is just try and knock them out over the head with, you know, what’s something you can knock off your load?

Minna: Yeah I think we’re gonna have to do that.

Rhi: Alright, yeah, so gimme some rolls.

Kim: I’m going to mark a fine lightning hook off my load.

Rhi: Okay.

Kim: Um, this would be Skirmish, right?

Rhi: Yeah.

Kim: Okay.

Minna: I think I’m gonna mark an unusual weapon, I think she has some kind of baton.

Rhi: Yeah.

Josie: Do I hear any commotion?

Rhi: No, but if you’re keeping an eye on the situation, you can see both Myra and Blaire draw weapons. So, yeah, you can see that things are going off the rails.

Josie: Okay, well fortunately this area’s obscured and our Cabbie person is right here. So, I think I’m just gonna run in and start getting the keg out.

Rhi: Okay. Yeah, so let’s start with the Skirmish rolls, which will probably happen as you’re sprinting in.

Kim: What did you get, Minna?

Minna: I haven’t rolled yet.

Kim: Oh, I rolled already.

Rhi: Okay, what did you get?

Kim: 4.

Minna: What would a Devil’s Bargain look like?

Rhi: Ooh. Um, Wester wasn’t bluffing about The Bluecoats being on their way.

Minna: Oh, fuck me. Yes.

Rhi: [laughs]

Josie: Womp womp.

Rhi: Yeah.

Kim: Why is this happening?

Minna: I rolled a 6 though.

Rhi: Okay, great. So Myra, you just clock your person upside the head.

Minna: Yeah, I think I clock Alma upside the head or something.

Rhi: Blaire, you hit him with the lightning hook and it zaps him real good, but he has just a bunch of random metal bits on his person, so some of the lightning arcs back and hits you, and you take level 1 harm, Zapped.

Kim: Okay, I’ll take that, that’s fine.

Rhi: Yeah. So you’re mildly electrocuted.

Kim: I can deal, I can deal.

Rhi: But both of them, like, they both make a little bit of noise, but not so much that the station chief is going to come running back to be like, ‘What the hell’s going on?’

Kim: Alright. So, at this point, though, we gotta start wheeling out that barrel.

Rhi: Yeah. So I think Minx has made it in just as those two people fall. And I think that I will need basically a group Prowl from the three of you to just hustle this thing outta here.

Kim: Okay.

Josie: Okey dokey.

Minna: Who has stress to spare?

Josie: I have 2 stress.

Minna: Can you lead?

Josie: Yes.

Rhi: This is gonna be risky because The Bluecoats are heading in the direction of the station house.

Josie: I got a 5.

Kim: I got a 4 and a 1.

Rhi: Okay, so a 4.

Minna: I got a 1.

Rhi: And a 1. Okay, so you’re gonna take 1 point of stress, Minx, for covering for Myra, and the result is a 5. Okay. So I’m gonna give you all a choice.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: You either have reduced effect, meaning that you do not make it. You make it about halfway to where you need to be, with The Bluecoats closing in. Or, as you are rushing this barrel along over bumpy ground, the stopper comes loose.

Kim: [gasps]

Rhi: It doesn’t fall out completely, but it’s loose, and refined electroplasm is starting to leak out and drip onto the cart and onto the ground.

Kim: And that would probably leave a trail, right?

Rhi: Little bit.

Minna: Is refined electroplasm dangerous?

Rhi: Uh, I mean…

Kim: In those small drops it can’t be, right?

Rhi: I wouldn’t ingest it.

Josie: [laughs]

Kim: But here’s my other concern though, is that I know Lord Scurlock is a man for details. He might notice that, you know, the stopper came loose and a few drops are missing, right?

Rhi: He might.

Kim: Yeah.

Minna: We might need those precious drops.

Josie: I think we should just, like, get halfway and roll again.

Minna: Yeah.

Rhi: Alright, so yeah, the three of you start pushing and wow, this is way heavier than you realised, holy crap. So, you are not moving nearly as fast as you expected you would be. And you can hear, kind of, some shouting from the front of the Sparkwright station. The Bluecoats have arrived and are starting to move in.

Minna: Is there any, like, really distinctive way to know by hearing that The Bluecoats have arrived? I assume they don’t have sirens.

Rhi: I could see them having a bell. Like, a bell that’s distinct.

Minna: Oh, like a hand bell. Ding ding, ding ding, ding ding, kind of bells.

Rhi: Yeah, I’ve said the brigade uses bells to alert people when there’s a fire, I could see The Bluecoats having something.

Minna: So, I think Myra groans:

Minna (as Myra): Ugh, he wasn’t lying.

Josie: Can I have a smoke bomb as an unusual weapon? I feel like I’ve asked this question before, I forget if that’s allowed or not.

Rhi: Um, I think I had said that you would need to burn a point of stress to get it in a flashback, from Seeks.

Josie: Yeah, I think I’m gonna do that to have a smoke bomb that I can just throw behind us, basically.

Rhi: Okay.

Kim: That’s good cover, okay.

Rhi: Yeah, go ahead and make a roll to throw a smoke bomb.

Josie: I’ll Skirmish that shit, I guess? I got a 5.

Rhi: Okay. So, I think what happens, I’m gonna go with a complication for this. You throw the smoke bomb. Poof, smoke billowing out everywhere. You’ve just set off a smoke bomb at a festival, circus-type setup, where there’s already a lot of fire-adjacent things happening. This causes a bit of a panic, so now there’s a lot of people running away, and it sort of provides cover, but it mostly just slows you down further.

Josie: Ugh, okay.

Rhi: So you’re gonna be at reduced effect to start with on your next roll to get this out of here.

Josie: God dammit.

Rhi: But, you have created a lot of cover for yourself. You are obscured by both the smoke and the crowd now, so you’ve bought yourself some time.

Kim: I think we should do our next group Prowl then.

Josie: Yeah, let’s do it.

Rhi: Who’s gonna lead?

Josie: I’ll lead again.

Rhi: Alright.

Kim: I can bring us to greater effect if I accepted a Devil’s Bargain though, right?

Minna: Yes.

Josie: Oh yeah, what’s a Devil’s Bargain look like?

Rhi: Oh, interesting.

Kim: Because I’ve run out of spaces to really push myself before I take trauma.

Rhi: Yeah. Devil’s Bargain, Devil’s Bargain, Devil’s Bargain.

Kim: Does a Devil’s Bargain be that I take another level of harm, or…

Rhi: Yeah. Yeah, I think that’s gonna be the easiest.

Minna: You trip in the smoke. [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah, or this thing is heavy and you, like, wrench an arm doing something, trying to push this along. I think that’ll be it.

Kim: Sprain my wrist?

Rhi: Yeah, Sprained Wrist, level one harm.

Kim: Okay, along with Zapped.

Rhi: Yeah, you’re just getting kinda battered.

Kim: That’s okay.

Rhi: But yeah, you can use that to move the group up to standard effect.

Josie: I got a 2.

Rhi: Oof.

Kim: Oh my God, I also got a 2.

Minna: I got a 4.

Josie: Oh, thank you.

Rhi: Okay [laughs] so that’s 2 points of stress to Minx.

Josie: Uh huh.

Rhi: Okay, so you make it to the cab, you make it to the carriage. I’m thinking either you all take some harm from, just like, the strain of hefting this thing, or we go back to the complication of some of the electroplasm starts spilling.

Josie: I’m okay with spraining something.

Kim and Minna: Yeah.

Rhi: Okay. You can pick the limb. But everybody is gonna have a sprain of some kind, expect Blaire, who this is gonna be, because both of your level 1 harm slots are filled, it’s gonna be level 2 harm for Blaire. I think that, God, I think you like dislocate your shoulder.

Minna: [gasp] My baby! No!

Rhi: Like, it’s fixable, and you’re on your way out.

Kim: But it hurts like–

Rhi: But it hurts like hell.

Kim: Okay.

Josie: Mm-hmm. I think Minx hurts her back, because she’s the tallest and is trying to get it lifted in there.

Rhi: Yeah, and like, the cabbie is helping you. He helps heft this thing in, but like, it still weighs an enormous amount. So yeah, Minx and Myra are both taking level 1 harm, Blaire it’s level 2 harm. I think what happens is as you all are hefting this thing in, like, The Bluecoats start running towards you and drawing pistols and shouting and it’s like, ‘Oh God, we gotta go!’

Minna: I think Myra, like, briefly traps her fingers a little bit, so she has bruised fingers.

Rhi: Oh, oh no, the worst.

Minna: Yeah, yeah.

Kim: I think Blaire’s probably just taking on too much, than she knows she can lift, and you know, the stress of the The Bluecoats distracts her and her weight slips, and her shoulder dislocates.

Rhi: Yeah.

Josie: Aw, we got through this whole score without getting hit, and this fucking barrel. [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah, you all like, pile into the cab and the Cabbie tears off down the street. But you all make it away. So, for payoff you earn 1 coin per Tier of the target. If you walked away without taking anything for yourselves, you earn zero coin. I think you earned zero coin.

Kim: We earn zero coin.

Rhi: The Gondoliers will pay you once you actually get The Lampblacks to back off.

Kim: Right.

Rhi: So, let’s move into our downtime actions. Blaire, do you wanna go first?

Kim: Um, sure. I imagine this is probably at the docks. Blaire seeks out Setarra rather than summoning her. Setarra in the water, Blaire probably standing at the docks nearby, while Setarra just pores over this book with Blaire looking on.

Rhi: So, yeah, Setarra I think has been paging through this and, like, lays the book out on the docks, on the wooden boards of this pier that you’re standing on, and the pages that she has open-, it’s actually like, it’s something where the pages are, like, folded over, so when you open them up fully it folds out so it’s double the width of the book.

Kim: Oh, okay, yeah.

Rhi: And it’s just covered in a mix of mathematical equations and star charts and arcane symbols. And she’s just sort of looking at it, like, almost greedily.

Rhi (as Setarra): This is… you have brought me something truly valuable here, Blaire.

Kim (as Blaire): What does all this say? What does it mean?

Rhi (as Setarra): Are you familiar with summoning things not of this realm?

Kim (as Blaire): Um… I mean, besides you, no.

Rhi (as Setarra): You see, my kind, as strange as they may seem to you, are of this realm. We are natural. Elemental. We are the sea and the earth, we are stars and flame. But there are other realms, beyond this one that you and I walk in.

Rhi: And she kind of raises up on the water a little bit so that she’s more at eye level with you and she kind of moves her hands in front of her, and layers of water of different colours and depths are sort of hovering in the air before her. The central layer of water is the familiar deep ink of the void sea, but some of the other layers are, like, the bright glowing blue of electroplasm, or are totally crystal clear, or are just some other strange, bright colours.

Kim (as Blaire): How… how are you doing that?

Rhi (as Setarra): I have great command over water.

Kim (as Blaire): No, the colours, not all of this looks like it’s from the void.

Rhi (as Setarra): Some of it is not. The ghost field is not of this realm. It is separate, apart from this. It was supposed to remain separate, but it was pulled partly into our realm during the cataclysm.

Rhi: And as she speaks, there’s a glowing layer above the void sea layer, and that glowing layer kind of sinks partly into the black water of the void sea, and sort of gives it this bluish glow.

Rhi (as Setarra): But, there are other realms, farther realms, that are strange and alien, with knowledge and perception that we cannot even imagine. As yet, no one has found a way to move from our realm to one of these others. But if you prepare correctly, if you send out the right call–

Rhi: And as she’s talking, a droplet falls from one of those brightly coloured water layers into the void sea and falls and sends ripples out.

Rhi (as Setarra): –something from another world can come to ours.

Kim (as Blaire): You really think we could do that?

Rhi (as Setarra): This book seems to have quite a lot of information about how we could bring such a thing here.

Kim (as Blaire): Wow.

Rhi (as Setarra): We could learn so much, Blaire.

Kim (as Blaire): What do we summon first?

Rhi (as Setarra): That will take further reading to see what this alchemist had uncovered, but we will find something suitable.

Rhi: And then she, kinda like, moves back down to the book and waves you down to start explaining the different symbols and runes and things. So.

Kim: That’s probably where the camera starts panning back.

Rhi: Yeah. So Blaire knows that she can summon aliens now.

Kim: Woo!

Josie: Neat.

Minna: Oh my God.

Josie: Time to summon great Cthulhu. Fhtagn, everyone!

Rhi: Yeah!

Kim: Aw [claps] yay.

Rhi: Yep.

Minna: That’s, uh, so much.

Rhi: Alright, so that’s what Blaire is doing with her downtime. Minx?

Josie: I think Minx is going to continue to enjoy her goth club outings, because I think it’s going to represent filling up that Rumours About Bazso clock. But yes, I’m gonna like, come in excited and very sure of myself and be like ‘I know. I know where it is’.

Rhi: Yeah, I think that you immediately get a cluster of these cultists from the same group that you’ve been hanging out with, they rush over and it’s like:

Rhi (as Cultist): What? What are you talking about?

Josie (as Minx): The hand. It’s with The Lampblacks.

Rhi: Yeah, there’s just like, people like:

Rhi (as Cultist): What, how? Are you sure? How do you know?

Josie (as Minx): I’m certain. I had tracked it to the docks before that hullabaloo, and now that they’ve moved in there, it is moved from its suspected spot, so they’ve taken it.

Rhi (as Cultist): I can’t believe it, I can’t believe that such a powerful relic would be in our city. Do you think…

Rhi: And then like, a couple of the people in this cluster sort of break off and are like, murmuring to each other. And you catch… let’s see, because you did get a critical, maybe I can give you a bit of extra information here. Hang on a second.

Josie: Ooh.

Rhi: So, yeah, the two of them move off and are whispering to each other, but you overhear like:

Rhi (as Cultist): Do you think we should tell Lady Drake?

Rhi (as second Cultist): No, no, go to Lady Penderyn, she’ll know what to do.

Josie: Interesting. Have we heard that name before, Penderyn?

Rhi: Er, Myra had some suspicions. Lady Eleanor Penderyn is married to one of the members of the city council. The Penderyn family is extremely powerful and wealthy and Myra had suspected that Lady Penderyn was part of The Circle of Flame.

Minna: I think because of the initials in the journal.

Rhi: Yes. The notes that you had found in their creepy basement cult room, there was some notes intialed ‘E.P.’ Yeah, you hear them mention both Lady Drake, who you know to be in The Circle, and Lady Penderyn, who you had suspected, who now it seems may also be involved. But yeah, those two people kinda hustle off pretty quickly to go tell certain people.

Josie: And then I think Minx is gonna enjoy the thrill of cavorting about secretly in black lace.

[laughter]

Rhi: Yes. So Minx, again, has a nice time with some goths and cultists.

Josie: Yeah!

Kim: Yay!

Rhi: Yay! Okay, so Myra. What do you do with your time?

Minna: I don’t know why it amuses me that she’d be in, like, the middle of cleaning common areas of The Nest.

Kim: Aw, that’s cute though. Blaire is already, I imagine, cleaning up in her room anyway, maybe she finished a project. So she’s wiping her hands, and she’s like:

Kim (as Blaire): Oh, okay.

Kim: She’s probably gonna start rubbing a cloth over the main table or something.

Rhi: Okay.

Kim (as Blaire): So, I’ve been meaning to ask. Who was that guy that you, you know, knocked out back at the score?

Minna (as Myra): Oh, that’s a very old-, I hesitate to use the word friend. We used to work with Salia together. He still does, and thinks I’m a fool for leaving I’m sure, but yes, he’s very basically a malicious little twit who’s got a little bit too much power now.

Kim (as Blaire): Urgh.

Minna (as Myra): [laughs] Yeah, he said some things that, I dunno, I suppose they might be a concern to the group as a whole.

Kim (as Blaire): Like what?

Minna (as Myra): It sounds as if Salia is not quite done with me. At least she believes so. Which means that she could very well be looking at all of us as potential targets. I don’t know what good this will bring her, or how she would intend to come at me, but maybe something to be aware of.

Kim (as Blaire): Well, you don’t think she’s gonna, like, come after us or anything, right? Try and recruit all of us? Recruit you again?

Minna (as Myra): Well, I dunno. She might still see me as hers by right.

Kim (as Blaire): But you’re not. You’re ours. And you’re your own person.

Minna (as Myra): Try telling Salia that people belong to themselves.

Kim (as Blaire): I wouldn’t much care to, I don’t know the lady.

Minna (as Myra): She’s not a person that you’d wanna meet, I think.

Kim (as Blaire): I agree.

Minna (as Myra): Anyway, there’s that to be aware of.

Kim (as Blaire): You don’t think that’s something that’s gonna hail down on us any time soon, do you?

Minna (as Myra): I will say he did sound as if things, as if something would be happening soon. I’m not particularly excited to find out what that is, but we have so many things that we know about that we can start dealing with that I don’t even know how to start dealing with the threat that we don’t know about.

Kim (as Blaire): He could have been bluffing.

Minna (as Myra): I suppose he could have, but he seemed a little bit too smug for just a bluff. You learn to read people’s faces when you live with them for so long.

Kim (as Blaire): I mean, with The Circle of Flame off our backs, it probably won’t be too much of a trouble for us.

Minna (as Myra): Yeah, I think we should concentrate on The Circle of Flame. I just, there’s not so much I can do without information, you know?

Kim (as Blaire): Yeah, I hear ya.

Rhi: We pull away from that scene and move up through Six Towers, up to the Scurlock Manor, where a Cabbie has again dropped you off. And a couple of servants have actually emerged from the manor and are-, we didn’t, hang on. We didn’t establish if you actually got a heart. Let me make a roll real fast.

Kim: Yeah, no, we need that.

Rhi: You have a heart! I rolled a 6.

Kim: Woo! Yay.

Josie: Yay.

Rhi: They get you a heart. Well, they get you a body.

Kim: I dissected the heart.

Rhi: Oh, great. You got a heart.

Josie: Minx is several rooms away.

Kim: Wow, that’s probably what Blaire was cleaning up from too, she just finished the dissection.

Minna and Rhi: Noooo!

Josie: Oof.

Rhi: [laughs] God, it was! You did an autopsy in your bedroom.

[laughter]

Kim: It’s big enough.

Minna: No, are there spaces you could do that in The Nest? Like inside the vault?

Josie: [singing] This is fine.

Kim: But all my tools are in my room and I probably have a sterile space, it’s definitely big enough. I was sure I would have privacy and ensure full concentration, it’s fine. The body is disposed of. I’m not keeping the body in my room because that would stink. But yeah, no, Blaire definitely did the dissection.

Rhi: Cool. Cool. Cool.

Kim: [laughs] Cool cool cool cool cool.

Rhi: Anyway. So, I think you show up in a cab, one of The Cabbies gives you all a ride over there with your barrel of leviathan blood, and I imagine you have some sort of box to hold the heart in. And you are greeted again at the front door by Oskar, who looks kind of apologetic and says:

Rhi (as Oskar): Sorry, my uncle has other matters to attend to and could not come here to thank you for your efforts personally, but he did give me this.

Rhi: And he holds out a very finely carved and engraved wooden box, that he holds out to Blaire.

Kim: She takes it.

Kim (as Blaire): Thank you. It’s really appreciated.

Rhi: It has like a sliding lid, so you could open it up and see.

Kim: Yeah, I’m gonna take a look.

Rhi: Alright. So you slide it open, and inside is a skeletal human arm, from about the elbow to the hand, that all the bones are held together with fine silver wire.

Kim: Ooh.

Rhi: And there are runes etched into the bones that are, like, then filled in with silver. It looks very cool.

Kim: And it probably looks very cursed.

Rhi: Yeah, yeah. It looks spooky as hell.

Kim: Nice.

Rhi: And in effect, like, if you were for some reason to hang onto this or try to do anything with it, it basically has the same effect as a fine spirit mask. It lets you see into the ghost field better.

Kim: Oh, alright. That’s not that exciting.

Rhi: It’s mildly magical, but it’s not, you know, the super-powered relic that everyone is looking for.

Kim: It’s mysterious-looking enough.

Rhi: Yeah.

Kim: Blaire closes the box and:

Kim (as Blaire): This’ll do great, thank you.

Rhi (as Oskar): I will pass your thanks along next time I see him. Good luck with whatever it is that you’re doing.

Kim (as Blaire): Thank you. And here are the goods, of course, delivered as promised.

Rhi (as Oskar): Ah, yes. Much appreciated.

Kim: I like to imagine a couple of us are carrying what, like one person has the salt, one person, I guess me, has the heart, and someone is barrelling over the barrel.

Rhi: I think that a couple servants come out to collect the barrel, so that’s being taken care of in the background, but yeah, he will take the bag of salt and then whatever the heart is in–

Kim: The box.

Rhi: –and kinda makes a little bit of a face as he takes it, and is like:

Rhi (as Oskar): Thank you, I’ll get these to him as quickly as I can, particularly this one.

Rhi: And he, like, taps the box.

Kim (as Blaire): Thank you.

Rhi (as Oskar): Certainly.

Rhi: So, the three of you, on a job well done, make your way back to The Hound’s Paw to have some celebratory drinks. You head inside and again, this is sort of, I’m figuring, midday, so not a ton of customers. A few staff members around, including Sophia. But Rigney is not there. There’s somebody else, one of his employees is manning the bar today.

Minna: Oh no.

Kim (as Blaire): Um, hey, Sophia?

Josie (as Minx): Sophia, where’s Rigney?

Rhi: So, yeah, she comes over and is like:

Rhi (as Sophia): Oh good, there you are. Do you want your usual drinks?

Josie (as Minx): Uh, yes, although–

Kim (as Blaire): Where’s Rigney?

Rhi (as Sophia): Oh, he’s out sick today. He just said he was not feeling well.

Kim (as Blaire): Oh, okay, well I hope he feels better. We were worried.

Josie (as Minx): Perhaps we should send a card.

Rhi (as Sophia): He seemed to be just under the weather the past few days, not feeling very well. I’m not sure what, but yes, hopefully with some rest he will be better. Oh, he did–

Rhi: And she, kinda like, reaches into the pockets of the apron she’s wearing and pulls out a folded piece of paper and is like:

Rhi (as Sophia): He left this with a note saying to give this to you as soon as possible. It is from a Mr Harker.

## Outro [00.53.47]

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 GMed and produced by Rhi. Follow me on Twitter @rhiannon42 and check out rpgskillcheck.net for my copy editing and accessibility freelance site.

Blaire Culhane is played by Kim Kogut. Follow her on Twitter @kimdianajones.

Minx is played by Josie. Follow her on Twitter @DragonGirlJosie and watch her art streams at picarto.tv/DragonGirlJosie.

Myra Keel is played by Minna. Follow her on Twitter @mynaminnarr.

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.

Kim: And now, we’d like to thank our generous Patreon backers.

Rhi: Joe Robinson, thank you!

Josie: Kirby, thank you!

Minna: Prism Phoenix, thank you!

## Blooper [00.55.10]

Rhi: I said sync really quietly that time, so my waveform is very small.

Kim: That’s okay.

Rhi: Yeah, well usually when I’m editing, I find it by, I recognise on sight the waveform of me saying ‘3, 2, 1’.

Kim: Right.

Rhi: There was somebody on, just sort of like, podcasting Twitter that posted a meme that was a screenshot from the Matrix, where it was the, like, ‘I don’t even see the waveforms anymore, I just see um and ers’ and I was like ‘Oh my God, I’m in this picture and I don’t like it’.

[laughter]