Transcribed by Tyler (Twitter: @Tyler_MoonSage)

## Intro

Rhi: Welcome back to Duskwall. As always, thank you so much for joining us. In very exciting Patreon news, we hit our $300 per month goal! This means that we can pay for even more transcripts. We’re close to having all of Season 1 transcribed thanks to the generosity of our backers. At our next goal of $400 a month we’ll be able to buy better recording equipment for the whole cast so our episodes can sound even better. Once those purchases are made, we’ll be able to set up a merch store! Do you want Magpies t-shirts? Because I know I do. Help us make all of this a reality by heading to Patreon.com/MagpiesPodcast. If financial support isn’t for you, please leave us reviews and tell all your friends about the show.

GenCon event registration is open and there are still lots of seats available at the panel I’ll be moderating, ‘So You Want to Start an AP Podcast.’ If you’re interested in hearing about how I and several other awesome podcast hosts got our start, come check us out.

Next, Josie is going to tell us about this month’s Featured Charity.

Josie: This week’s featured charity is The Sandy Hook Promise, a non-profit that builds at the community level to push for gun control legislation, provide mental health and wellness programs, and policy aid for victims of gun violence. That being said, gun control is something I’m very passionate about. The amount of gun violence in this country is disgusting. So, really, any charities, any fundraisers you can find in the wake of these disasters is part of this. I feature The Sandy Hook Promise because I like what they do and they’re fairly widespread. So yeah, stand up against gun violence this month.

Rhi: The hardest part of choosing a Featured Charity is deciding where to shine a spotlight each month. There are so many real, existential threats facing so many people in the US and around the world. Reach out to organizations supporting racial justice, reproductive rights, trans rights, and immigrant rights, and contact your representatives to tell them to uphold and expand protections for all marginalized communities.

Now then, let’s get started. Shall we?

 

 

## Story Continues [0:02:29]

Kim: Blaire finds herself in the middle of The Deathlands finding herself surrounded by around ten to twelve ghosts, and they are all swirling around her, they are all looking at her, circling her, surrounding her, watching her every single move. Blaire looks around, and this is not something that she’s phased by, this is something that she’s used to, but at the same time it’s different. There’s a sense of unity to all of the ghosts’ movement, a kind of coordination that is very uncanny, very unlike anything that she’s seen before. In a split second, two of the ghosts just pass right through her as if they were about to possess her. She shields herself, raises her arms, looks down, closes her eyes, does everything that she’s used to when shielding herself from an arcane attack, but when she opens her eyes she is faced with cold, dark nothingness. She can just sense the amount of density that’s surrounding her ears. As she looks around she knows that she’s alone, and she is cold, and there’s no one there, and that this is the absence of absolutely everything she knows. It’s in that moment when she immediately snaps awake and bolts upright in her bed.

Rhi: So, Blaire is gonna start things off with level 1 harm, Exhaustion, because you haven’t been sleeping super well lately.

Kim: No, no I haven’t.

Rhi: Since your run-in with a spirit in the catacombs underneath the Lampblacks headquarters. Last couple of jobs that The Magpies have done have been a bit rough on the crew, to put it mildly. I know right now you all are kind of giving The Hound’s Paw some distance. That is still the place where if people want to contact you they send notes. So, I’m imagining that even though you’re not hanging around there for hours like you used to, somebody is going down there once or twice a week to just sort of pick up messages.

Josie: Mm-hmm.

Rhi: I am betting that someone is Myra or Blaire.

Kim: Probably Myra, I would think.

Rhi: Okay.

Josie: The people who can pass unseen.

Rhi: Minx is perfectly capable of disguising herself, but I think she’s…

Josie: Right, but why would I do that? Have you seen me? [chuckles]

Rhi: [laughs] “Why would I cover up these looks?”

Kim: “Do you know who I am?”

Rhi: I think Myra has recently come back from The Hound’s Paw with your latest collection of messages. You’ve gotten two notes in the last couple days. One of them Rigney says just got dropped off last night, the other has been there for a few days. Which one does Myra start with?

Minna: The older one.

Rhi: Okay. The older one is a letter from Tuhan, one of the Silver Nails that you have worked with previously. Basically, this letter is saying that debt that you owe, of a favor, they are calling it in. Previously Myra had cut a deal with the Silver Nails where they would call in some debts that they were owed by a factory owner after the Magpies had relieved said factory owner of most of his liquid cash, so he wasn’t able to pay them. It worked out well for you, you took down the factory owner, foiled his plans – didn’t go so hot for the Silver Nails, because they’re out a lot of money. So, they now are asking you to acquire some objects for them. In the note it says that the deadline for acquiring these objects is tonight.

Josie: Oh!

Minna: What objects does it say?

Rhi: It doesn’t. It says to come speak with Tuhan for more details.

Minna: Ah.

Rhi: Yeah. They’re not gonna write down all of their crime plans in a note.

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: But yeah, it’s basically like we need you to get some stuff for us, come to The Mustang for more details. So, that’s item one. Item two is in a very messy scrawl, and there’s a note at the top that says that this is written by Teagan on behalf of Briggs. Briggs sent you a note late last night. The unions, the unionization efforts rather in Charhollow and Coalridge have once again started running into some trouble with some of the factory owners and merchants. One of the union leaders, a person by the name of Artus is being blackmailed by someone. They refused to bow to the blackmail, and the person who’s blackmailing them plans to publish the information. Artus feels like they can weather this storm. Briggs isn’t so sure. Briggs is concerned that this is going to turn a lot of the people in the area, so they need to support these unionization efforts against them. So, Briggs wants you to break into the blackmailer’s house and steal the blackmail material. The problem is she is sending the information to the papers first thing tomorrow morning, so it also has to be taken care of tonight.

Josie: [long exhale]

Kim: Woof.

Josie (as Minx): If we must choose one, I do think it needs to be the Silver Nails simply so that we don’t get our kneecaps removed.

Minna (as Myra): I would prefer not to gain a reputation as somebody who does not repay her debts.

Josie (as Minx): Mm-hmm.

Minna (as Myra): However, I am concerned about the situation in Charhollow.

Josie (as Minx): Do you think our former North Hook Mirror friends would be able to do something about the information being published?

Minna (as Myra): Oh, that’s interesting.

Josie (as Minx): I do not know where it’s being published or if they have connections there, but it would be—

Rhi: Pretty much the only paper in town now is the Doskvol Daily which was the North Hook’s main competitor.

Josie: Right.

Rhi: They, I think, did hire on some of the North Hook mirror’s former staff, but you’re not sure in what kind of positions or if Lani and Roxanne have any kind of pull with them.

Josie: Right.

Rhi: Definitely worth inquiring. That’s a good idea.

Minna (as Myra): Maybe it’s just worth talking to both parties.

Josie (as Minx): Yes. Let’s meet with the Silver nails first so that we can put that operation going in the back of our minds.

Rhi: Okay. So, you all finish breakfast. I imagine it’s kind of a later… I feel like you all are a pretty nocturnal group, so breakfast is at like 11 AM.

Kim: Oh yeah.

Josie: Indeed. [laughs]

Rhi: So, you head out up through Six Towers. I think that The Mustang, which is the tavern and inn that the Silver Nails own, it’s pretty slow mid-day. Their business picks up more in the evening. There’s not a lot of people there. After a few moments of waiting Tuhan comes jogging down the stairs and raises an eyebrow.

Rhi (as Tuhan): Well, better late than never I suppose. I thought you were just blowing us off.

Kim (as Blaire): Okay, first of all, rude.

Rhi (as Tuhan): Uh, first of all, I sent you a letter asking you to pay your debt three days ago and you’ve just now decided to show up.

Josie (as Minx): Our mail service was delayed. What is it that you need?

Kim (as Blaire): We’re very busy people.

Rhi (as Tuhan): Uh-huh…

Rhi: She leads you into the tavern area, sits you down at a table, and says:

Rhi (as Tuhan): We’ve learned of some old journals that were written by people who used to live in The Lost District, kind of during its collapse. There’s a lot of information about locations, we’re hoping cashes of… well, interesting items.

Kim (as Blaire): How interesting?

Rhi (as Tuhan): Interesting enough for us.

Kim (as Blaire): Okay.

Rhi (as Tuhan): The contents of the journals don’t concern you. we just need you to get them from the merchant who has recently acquired them before they are transferred to Saltford’s ahead of an auction. Once they’re in Saltford’s they’re untouchable.

Minna (as Myra): Which merchant is this?

Rhi (as Tuhan): His name is Liam Solar. He’s got a manor in Brightstone. A little security obsessed, so it’s not exactly going to be a walk in the park, but we feel that this is more or less a fair trade for the 10 coin that you all cost us.

Minna: [astonished exhale]

Rhi: She shoots a very pointed look at Myra.

Minna: She is keeping a straight face.

Kim (as Blaire): We’ve dealt with higher security threats.

Rhi (as Tuhan): Well then, this should be no problem for you to acquire before they are transferred to Saltford’s. Get them, bring them back here, and we’ll be even.

Josie (as Minx): Very well. Pleasure doing business once again.

Rhi: Yeah, and I think she just stands up and walks off.

Josie: A simple break and enter is probably just what we need to do there. The trickiness is gonna be doing the other thing at the same time.

Kim: Yeah.

Kim (as Blaire): So, how do we wanna go about this?

Rhi: Did you want to go talk to Briggs first and get a little more information there?

Minna: I would. Yes. I would like to get information first.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: Okay. You all pile out of The Mustang which is at the north end of Six Towers, and it takes you probably… even taking a gondola or a cab it’s gonna take you probably another half hour, 40 minutes to get all the way down through to Charhollow, to the market where Briggs is set up. Briggs is, you know, in his clothing stall at the market as always. He’s got Mallory, his service dog, sitting there investigating the coins of the people who are making purchases from him when you walk in. When you step in he’s like:

Rhi (as Briggs): I’ll be with you in just a moment. I just need to finish up with these folks here.

Kim (as Blaire): No rush.

Josie (as Minx): Very well, dear.

Rhi (as Briggs): Oh! It’s you. Wonderful.

Rhi: So yeah, the folks who are in there finish paying and he waves a hand in the direction of the privacy curtain that he’s got at the front of the shop.

Rhi (as Briggs): One of you mind getting that for me?

Josie: I’ll do it.

Rhi: All right. You pull that across with the little bell chiming as you do so. Once that’s closed, he says:

Rhi (as Briggs): Oh, I’m glad you got my message. This is a fairly delicate situation.

Minna (as Myra): Who is the woman doing the blackmail?

Rhi (as Briggs): Her name is Mila Lorent, and she’s a merchant, trader, businesswoman, one of those people who seems to have her hands and money involved in just about everything.

Kim (as Blaire): So definitely the bigwig kind of type?

Rhi (as Briggs): A bit. She has a townhouse in Nightmarket, fairly secured from what I understand. She’s a very wealthy person. Somewhere, we believe, in her townhouse she is keeping the blackmail material that she’s going to be sending to the Daily tomorrow, and we need you to obtain that material before it can be published.

Josie (as Minx): That is something we can do, however would it not also work to simply defang the information?

Rhi (as Briggs): What do you mean?

Josie (as Minx): If, for example, a tamer version runs or something else overshadows it, then many simply won’t care. Or if the credibility of the information can be cast in doubt in some way.

Rhi (as Briggs): I mean, those are good ideas, but I’m not sure we have the time. If you have some sort of idea for how to do that in—

Josie (as Minx): We may have some contacts. I mean, failing that we will simply remove the items, but…

Rhi (as Briggs): Anything that you can do to prevent this from damaging Artus too badly. They’re quite a popular leader with the anarchists, and I’m afraid that if we lose them from our rough coalition it’s going to set us back quite a bit.

Minna (as Myra): May I ask, I’ll understand if you don’t want to share, but what is the nature of this information?

Rhi: [whispers] I haven’t actually figured it out.

[laughter]

Rhi: I was thinking of something like, uh… I don’t know. I figured I was gonna just have you guys figure that out— [silly] You could figure that out for me when you found the information was my plan~! [laughs] Getting back into character. Briggs kind of grimaces.

Rhi (as Briggs): I would rather not get into specific details. I mean, you’ll see when you find it, but there are some things in their family that would make a lot of people in many of our groups unhappy. You know, family doesn’t determine who you are, but not everybody sees things like that around here, and I think if they know what Artus’s family was mixed up in, ugh, it’s gonna fracture a lot of groups.

Josie (as Minx): Quite. That could be rather problematic.

Rhi (as Briggs): Indeed.

Josie (as Minx): Well, either way this will be stopped.

Minna (as Myra): We’ll do our best.

Rhi (as Briggs): I appreciate it.

Rhi: So, are the three of you gonna head out of Brigg’s stall then?

Josie: Yes.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: Okay. Just so you know, I am gonna be paying close attention to how much time you all have, because basically your countdown timer is about dawn tomorrow. Saltford’s is gonna send an armored carriage to pick up the journals at dawn, and Mila will be leaving her home at dawn to deliver this information to the Daily.

Josie: Right. My thoughts are we have Lani and Roxanne either submit stories they’re already working on or come up with something have we can send to the Daily first so have it’ll look suspicious when the blackmail material comes in the morning after. The other option is to come up with a story even more scandalous and have that run so no one gives a shit when the other story runs.

Rhi: Yeah. You can definitely go chat with them. I’m gonna say at this point it’s early afternoon, it’s about 1 in the afternoon.

Josie: Can we… We should go to scandal grandma.

Minna: [excited gasp]

Rhi: Rose, I think her name was.

Minna: Oh my God!

Josie: Like, no, we should just get some gossip out of her that we can put in the paper and not have anyone give a shit about, you know, union troubles. Something really sensationalist and scandalous.

Rhi: Okay, I mean, you can…

Josie: [laughing] I know that’s kind of a cynical take on journalism and public appearance, but…

Minna: Yeah. We’re definitely talking an era inspired by an era where illustrated sensationalist papers were common.

Rhi: Yeah, and I mean, I can’t say that things are terribly different right now. [laughs]

Josie: Mm-hmm!

Minna: We’re just pulling a scandal right now.

Josie: Yes, I like that, and then we can have Lani and Roxanne then feed this to one of their contacts in the Daily.

Rhi: Assuming they have such contacts.

Josie: Assuming they have them, but it would be very good for that person, because they’d get their friend promoted, probably. But also failing that, we could probably simply deliver the story to someone working at the Daily.

Rhi: Yeah. Yeah. You can give this a shot.

Josie: And then once we drop that off, and we should make sure to do that tonight before dusk, we can just break and enter the other person, because we’re not splitting up again. We’re not doing that.

Kim: No.

Rhi: I had the idea for this, you know, competing scores thing well before you all, like—[laughs] I had this for weeks, and then you all were like “we’re never splitting up again,” and I was like… Oh my God.

Josie: Yes, but that is what friends are for.

Rhi: So, you head on over to Silkshore, it’s getting to be about mid-afternoon. You make your way over to the apartment where you remember Rose living. Somebody give me some kind of Gather Info roll to see how this goes.

Josie: Can I roll Consort?

Rhi: Sure.

Josie: Mmm!

Rhi: Hmm?!

Kim: How’d that go?

Josie: That’s a 2, 1, and a 2.

Rhi: That would be a 2, yeah.

Kim: Ooh…

Rhi: That is suboptimal. Okay.

Josie: Setting the tone for the evening. [laughs] Sorry dears.

Rhi: All right. So, limited information. I think Rose is home, and she’s delighted to see you.

Josie: Can I make a suggestion?

Rhi: Yeah.

Josie: That Minx and Rose, and possibly all of us, have a really pleasant tea and biscuits time and then just get way too deep into the weeds to actually get anything useful. [laughs]

Rhi: Oh yeah. Yeah! You have a great afternoon. Yeah, she gets you tea…

Minna: Oh God. Stress.

Rhi: …she’s got some more biscuits and cookies, she’s adopted a new cat which is really exciting.

Kim: AH!

Josie: Aww.

Kim: What kind of cat?!

Rhi: I am going to borrow from real life and give my friend’s new kitten a cameo, so it’s a little black kitten who has one of his back legs amputated, but it doesn’t slow him down any.

Kim & Josie: Aww~

Rhi: He just kind of weaves back and forth a little bit when he runs. He’s very cute.

Kim: [enthusiastic growl] Can I pet him?!

Rhi: Yes, you may pet him.

Kim: Blaire pets him! Blaire pets the cat.

Minna: [giggles]

Josie: Blaire is distracted by cats.

Rhi: Yeah. You all have a great time and you’re asking her for local gossip and she’s telling you about some weird, funny and weird stuff she’s seen in the street outside, and it’s all entertaining stories, but none of it is scandal worthy.

Josie: Right.

Rhi: And you also spend a couple hours there. It’s late afternoon by the time you leave.

Kim: Oh boy.

Josie: Oh dear.

Minna: [deep breath]

Josie: Well, at least failing everything else, we had a pleasant afternoon.

Rhi: Yeah, you had a really nice afternoon. [laughs] You had a good time. You got to hang out with some cats. You all each have a little baggy of cookies that she sent you on your way with.

Josie: I’ll have to ask her for the recipe for these.

Rhi: Told you to, you know, come back and visit anytime.

Josie: [smiling] Mm-hmm!

Rhi: But yeah, you didn’t actually get any scandalous information.

Josie (as Minx): All right. In that case, we might need to ask Lani and Roxanne to make something up. [laughs nervously]

Kim (as Blaire): Will they agree to do that, though?

Rhi: So, you head over to The Docks from Silkshore, and it’s getting late afternoon into evening by the time you get there, and you’re just gonna head up to their apartment?

Josie: Yes.

Minna: Mm-hmm.

Rhi: Okay. So, head on up, hit the door light, basically, it’s not really a doorbell, and it flashes. After a moment the door cracks open and you see Roxanne peering out, and then she sees you and brightens and opens it.

Rhi (as Roxanne): Oh, hello. I wasn’t expecting to see you here.

Josie (as Minx): Yes, it was rather unexpected on our end as well. It is some amount of time-sensitive business.

Rhi (as Roxanne): Oh. Do you want to come in?

Kim (as Blaire): If you don’t mind.

Rhi: Yeah. She’ll usher you in. The very small apartment is filled with a nice, hardy cooking smell. It’s about dinner time, and Lani waves at you from the kitchen where she’s cooking dinner, but she seems to be mostly focused on that. She does kind of split her attention between glancing at Roxanne, who is signing through everything, and paying attention to the food.

Rhi (as Roxanne): Yeah. What did you need?

Josie (as Minx): Yes. You are aware of the current Charhollow union situation, yes?

Rhi (as Roxanne): Yes. We reported on it a few times in the past.

Josie (as Minx): Right. We have gained word that some highbrow person wishes to sabotage this by submitting blackmail to the Daily. We were wondering if you had any friends or former employees who ended up there, and if you have any juicy scoops that can be run instead, because this would be very damaging if it were to run and the people of Charhollow deserve better.

Rhi (as Roxanne): Indeed…

Rhi: Let’s give them a roll and see what they’ve got. Oh…

Josie: [seethes]

Kim: That didn’t sound good.

Rhi: No, that would be the sound of a 3, a 2, and a 2.

Kim: Oh, the dice are cursing us tonight. Great! Great.

Josie: The funny thing is usually the Gather Information stage goes very well for us.

Rhi: Yeah.

Minna: Yes. This is the portion of the adventure we’re doing well, before the dice turn.

Kim: Consistently.

Josie: We usually come into a score very well-prepared, regardless of how it goes after.

Kim: Yeah, so this doesn’t bode well.

Rhi: No. [laughs] So, Roxanne frowns and is thinking for a little bit and then shakes her head.

Rhi (as Roxanne): I mean, we… Aside from the work that you have us doing for investigations, we’re not really looking for any sort of, those sort of things anymore. We just don’t have the time.

Josie (as Minx): Right. Yes, of course, that makes sense.

Rhi (as Roxanne): We know a few people who now work  at the daily, but they aren’t reporters. They hired some of the North Hook’s reporters, but they didn’t give them reporting jobs. They work in the printing room now, mostly typesetters and things like that.

Josie (as Minx): They work on the printers?

Rhi (as Roxanne): Yes.

Josie (as Minx): Work on the printers…

Minna (as Myra): How much quality control is there? Could we like… switch out stories somewhere in the process?

Rhi (as Roxanne): Um…

Josie (as Minx): Now that is a thought, or simply some printing errors occur.

Rhi (as Roxanne): Potentially, but if what gets printed is too different from what the reporter submitted or what editorial approved then the people in the printing press will be the ones punished for it, and I’d prefer not to…

Josie (as Minx): Right.

Minna (as Myra): [sympathetic groan]

Josie (as Minx): And then there’s nothing stopping them from simply issuing a correction the next day.

Rhi (as Roxanne): Precisely.

Josie: Hmm. Minx kind of has her hand on her chin and is nervously pacing a little bit.

Kim (as Blaire): You okay?

Josie (as Minx): I… I just really don’t want us to split up this time.

Kim (as Blaire): We won’t if we don’t have to.

Minna (as Myra): I agree that we shouldn’t split up. It may be that the time has come that we have to make choices.

Kim (as Blaire): Whatever we choose, it’s gonna be okay.

Josie (as Minx): The people of Charhollow deserve better than what they have gotten, however I don’t know if we can withstand the Silver Nails at this time. It wouldn’t do to have another enemy.

Rhi: Roxanne is looking back and forth amongst all of you, looking increasingly worried. [laughs] She doesn’t know all of the background of this conversation, but everything you’re saying sounds very bad.

Minna (as Myra): I wish… After this, we need to find a better way of getting messages.

Josie (as Minx): Right. Right. That’ll be something to look into. The unioners, would the movement be so severely damaged by one person being blackmailed? Briggs, he seemed to think so.

Rhi: So, the issue that the union organizers have been having is that you have all of these small groups that some of them have their own special interests. They have been trying to build these small groups that don’t all get along into a larger coalition. That fragile coalition is sort of holding together. Briggs is concerned that this news could break a lot of those groups apart. The individual groups will still exist, but they won’t all be working together towards the same goal anymore. It’s not going to completely decimate the unionization movement, but it’s going to undo a lot of the hard work that they have done.

Josie: And if we do not even so much as attempt the task Briggs will not be a friend anymore, most likely.

Rhi: It’s gonna damage that relationship. I’ll tell you, mechanically, like from a game mechanics perspective, you’re gonna lose your lookouts.

Josie: Yes.

Rhi: So, this is a thing that happens, again, with being vigilantes. When you get, on your claim map, those claims, you have to defend them, because again, you don’t have a gang that you can send and be like “hey, hold this turf, go be lookouts for me.” Every time you have a claim it starts a clock.

Josie: Right, but also for a similar reason, we really don’t want to start another gang war.

Rhi: Yes. [laughs]

Minna: Did we get a sense that it’s definitely like gang war if we don’t hold up our end of the bargain with the Silver Nails?

Rhi: The Silver Nails are going to expect you to pay one way or another.

Minna: Hmm.

Josie: Yes, this is the ‘do it or we break your kneecaps’ situation.

Rhi: Yeah. You cost them a lot of money. Ten coin is an enormous amount of money.

Kim: Yeah…

Josie: Yes. It’s a bit of a lose-lose situation, because we cannot lose too much credibility as a gang, otherwise we’ll simply be eaten alive, however we can’t really afford to be losing the trust of the people, because that is our whole point.

Minna: And it’s not just trust that we lose, it’s… I don’t want to set back all of that work, the vital work that we’re not able to do ourselves.

Kim: Right.

Josie: Yes. I’m starting to wonder if… Would there be able to be someone else that we could simply put up to replace this person? Is there anyone with that sort of charisma and clout?

Minna: It’s not just charisma and clout, it’s gotta be a relationship.

Josie: Right.

Rhi: I don’t think any of you are tied enough into the union movement to really know somebody that you could point to and be like ‘oh yeah, this person.’

Kim: Right.

Josie: And this is all still happening in front of Lani and Roxanne, by the way. [laughs]

Rhi: [laughing] Yeah. Roxanne has at some point recognized that the three of you are just off in your own little thing and has wandered off to help Lani keep making dinner.

Josie: Uh-huh. [laughs]

Kim: Oh no.

Rhi: [laughs] Well, I mean, she understands. “Yeah, okay. You all, you’re going through something. You need a private place to talk. This is fine. We’re gonna get back to our night. You all just hang out on that half of the room while we make dinner.”

Josie: [laughs] Okay.

Minna: [smiling] God, we’re imposing so badly.

Kim: We are very bad houseguests.

Rhi: [smiling] You are free to remove yourselves at any point. I’m just— [laughs] It’s fine. Roxanne was just kinda like, “I’m just- I’ll be over here,” and just walked off.

Josie: Well, we need to go back to The Nest anyway to prepare for some sort of job tonight, so we might as well do that while we talk.

Kim: Yeah.

Josie: I will excuse us and apologize for the intrusion, using some of my slowly improving sign language.

Rhi: Yeah! When you sign out that whole thing, Lani kind of brightens up a little bit, and then one of the words you got the sign a little bit wrong so she shows you the correct version, and then they both say goodbye as you head out.

Josie: Yay.

Minna: Yay.

Josie: Awesome.

Kim (as Blaire): Hope we weren’t any trouble.

Rhi: [laughs]

Rhi (as Roxanne): No, no, it’s fine. I hope this all turns out okay for you. it sounds like you have a lot going on.

Kim (as Blaire): We’ll keep you posted. It’ll be okay.

Rhi (as Roxanne): Okay. Be safe out there.

Kim (as Blaire): We will. You too.

Josie: Here’s the thing, being transferred to the Doskvol Daily, that was almost assuredly a lower security caravan. The thing going to the bank is gonna be in like an armored wagon or the like.

Rhi: Yes.

Josie: This is an independent person just delivering information to the paper. There will likely be security, but we may have to break and enter in to get the journals for the Silver Nails, and then, in transit, knock over whoever’s heading to the Daily.

Minna: Wait. So, blackmail… for money?

Rhi: I think Briggs would have explained this. It wasn’t a payoff, it was a like, leave town, basically. Leave your position in charge, like…

Minna: So more extortion?

Josie: Yes. I think we need to make a quick robbery.

Minna: Heh. A quick robbery of a high security place in Brightstone.

Josie: And then, get away from that quietly enough to stake out the Daily and knock over the other thing.

Rhi: Have I said where the Doskvol Daily is located?

Kim: I don’t know if you  have. I think it’s in The Docks.

Rhi: No, because if it was on Ink Row it would have burned too. I think it’s in Charterhall.

Kim: Oh damn.

Josie: We might just be committing to two scores in a row here.

Rhi: Yup.

Kim: Pretty much.

Minna: [deep breath]

Kim: Jesus.

Josie: We’re gonna have a Stealth score and then an Assault score.

Rhi: Yep.

Kim: Ugh, Christ.

Rhi: And you’re basically gonna have to, like, I’m gonna say, we’ll see how the first score goes to see if you’ll have time to switch your load out. You probably won’t.

Kim: That would be preferable. Mm, but I would like that.

Rhi: It’s gonna depend on how things go. Well, you know, there’s a lot of things that I’m sure you would like [laughs] that are probably not gonna happen.

Josie: One thing we need to commit to beforehand, because we won’t have time to argue it later, if shit goes south trying to get the Silver nails journals, are we bailing in favor of getting the blackmail or are we committing to getting the journals even if it means we miss the wagon? Because I hate to say it, it seems like the unionization movement sounds more resilient. It would set them back, but it wouldn’t destroy them, and we can help repair.

Minna: I can commit to helping repair.

Kim: Yeah. We may be able to help them bounce back. Yeah.

Josie: All right. So, if things do end up taking a long time paying off the Silver nails we should just commit to that and then deal with the fallout of the other going through. Ideally that won’t be a thing, but we must plan for a worst case scenario.

Kim: Yeah.

Minna: Survival has to be the first priority.

Josie: Yes, and we can’t afford to fail both. If we do, we may just need to leave town for a month or so.

Minna: I don’t think we can leave town.

Josie: I don’t know. I’m sure I could charm our way into some train tickets.

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: Generally speaking, yeah you could leave town, but you’re not gonna have anything to come back to. That’s kind of the nature of Duskwall. If you are not physically present to defend your territory you would not have a home to return to. Somebody else would move into The Nest.

Josie: Right.

Minna: We would be starting over.

Kim: Right.

Rhi: In general, if you’re gone for that long. You can leave town for a few days and things will probably be okay, which I’m establishing right now, because I’m gonna send you all on a train heist at some point. [laughs]

Josie: Unfortunately it’s a matter of what is ultimately hurt feelings versus our lives.

Kim: Our lives and a hurt cause.

Josie: And I hate to say that given what our cause is.

Rhi: Put on your own oxygen mask first is basically what Minx is saying here.

Josie: Yes. We’re  no good to the cause dead.

Rhi: By the time you all finish with your getting back to The nest and discussing your options and getting your gear together it’s about 9:00 at night. You haven’t actually done any reconnaissance on the house you’re planning to rob.

Josie: We can do that when we get there.

Rhi: You’re just gonna head up there, do a little bit of quick scouting, and then dive in?

Minna: [nervously] Mm-hmm.

Kim: Yikes. Big yikes.

Rhi: I see no way this will go wrong. Yeah, you make your way up into Brightstone, which is well-lit and well-patrolled by the Bluecoats. The Silver Nails did tell you where this guy’s house is. It’s a big, old manor house. You all can do some Gather Info on the manor.

Kim: Can I roll a Survey?

Rhi: Yeah.

Kim: Okay. My highest on that was a 5.

Rhi: Okay. What are you looking for specifically with this Survey?

Kim: Getting an idea of the groundwork of the area. Where are the main exit and entrance points? Where are places that are more highly secured? Some that may have some kind of vulnerability? Things like that.

Rhi: Okay. The whole manor is surrounded by a wrought-iron fence. There’s the front door, side door, back door, and then behind the house is a smaller carriage house. There’s a gate in the back of the fence where a carriage could pull in to go into the carriage house. Out front of the carriage house there’s a couple guards hanging out. It’s well-lit. There’s lights on both the front of the house and on the carriage house.

Josie: I would like to memorize some Bluecoat patrols.

Rhi: Yeah. How do you want to go about doing that?

Josie: Survey, preferably.

Rhi: Okay. Yeah, you can do that.

Josie: I got a 6.

Rhi: Six, okay.

Josie: Yeah. I don’t want us coming out, turning a corner, and running smackdab into a patrol.

Rhi: Yeah. Minx, I think that you are aided here by the fact that you spend a lot of time in Brightstone doing other stuff, your socializing and buying art, and I think probably your new vice is up here, so you are a little more familiar with how the Bluecoats operate up here. I’m not gonna give the details of “this is when this patrol comes by,” but you have a good sense of, you can look at a clock and be like “we need to lay low for another five minutes to wait for this patrol to pass” or whatever. Basically, you are in a position where you are unlikely to, if you leave quietly and haven’t alerted the Bluecoats in some other fashion, won’t run into the Bluecoats on your exit.

Josie: Mm-hmm.

Rhi: Myra?

Minna: This is a place that has servants and stuff, right?

Rhi: Yeah.

Minna: I think on the street I’m gonna try and like chat with some servants like I am a servant who’s on my rounds or like newish in the area and I’m just curious about the people around here, try and figure out who lives in the house and maybe some of their habits.

Rhi: Okay. You’re gonna be at reduced effect for this, because it’s like 9, 9:30 at night. There’s not a lot of people out on the street.

Minna: That’s fair.

Rhi: The best you can do is standard information. You’re just not gonna be as successful with this, but you can definitely give it a shot.

Minna: Well, I rolled a 5.

Rhi: Okay. That is gonna just get you limited information in this instance. I think you’re able to talk with somebody who is a driver in this area. What kind of questions would you be asking here?

Minna: I mean, first of all, who all lives in the house.

Rhi: Yeah. That kind of, yeah, leading around to that sort of thing.

Minna: Yeah.

Rhi: It’s Liam Solar and his family, which is a spouse and… I am going to roll a die to determine the number of children. One. Liam is a pretty security-minded individual.

Minna: Mm-hmm.

Rhi: Early on in his career as a merchant he had, you know, criminals broke into his house and robbed him pretty badly and he swore it would never happen again.

Minna: Cool. Cool.

Rhi: Yeah. The high security level of the Solar estate is a little bit of a point of gossip. He has a little bit of a reputation for being paranoid, I think, among the other nobles.

Rhi (as Driver): Ugh, if you’re working there, it’s impressive that you made it past all the background checks.

Minna (as Myra): I live a very clean life.

Rhi (as Driver): You must have to, or you paid the right people off, but that’s none of my business. Anyway, I gotta get going.

Rhi: And you know, he’s gonna head off. So, that’s what you’ve got.

Kim: Cool, cool, cool.

Rhi: Whatcha all doing for load out?

Josie: I’m doing a normal load.

Kim: Normal as well.

Rhi: How about you?

Minna: I said yep, which meant normal.

Rhi: Okay.

Minna: Boy, I am stressed out about this score~

Rhi: Engagement roll~ Obviously this is, I’m assuming, a Stealth score?

Kim & Josie: Yes.

Rhi: What are you all thinking for your point of entry?

Josie: I want to go in through the back where the wagon would come.

Kim: The carriage house… Yeah.

Rhi: Okay. You get one for luck. You’re in Brightstone which counts as hostile turf, so you’re at reduced on that… Alright, this is gonna be a 2d6 and take the lower. Okay, so I have good news.

Kim: Okay?

Rhi: The lowest was a 4.

Minna: [gasps]

Josie: Excellent!

Rhi: So, you’re starting in a risky position. The other die I rolled was a 6. This is the best roll that I’ve had in ages. [laughs]

Josie: [laughs]

Kim: We could still deal with 4.

Rhi: I think you first, like, your starting in a risky position is that you’re at a back gate, it’s locked, it’s fairly well-lit, and there are two guards.

Josie: [tight] Neat.

Rhi: Yeah.

Josie: Okay. So, we want those guards away… The other option is through the front, because just going over the fence isn’t gonna work, most likely. Someone this paranoid has likely done something. Would it be ultimately detrimental to set off a distant distraction?

Rhi: I dunno.

Kim: I think we gotta do something like that, either toss a rock or some kind of minor distraction so that way their attention is drawn somewhere else.

Josie: Right. I was thinking almost like breaking the window in the house next over, but I don’t know if they will send help or merely batten down the hatches here, is the thing.

Kim: Hmm. That’s a good point. I didn’t consider that.

Minna: My brain is really awful today, because all it keeps screaming is “set fire!”

Rhi: Mine too!

[laughter]

Kim: Um… Eh…

Josie: I mean—

Rhi: [smiling] I was also thinking you should, that a fire is very distracting.

Minna: Like we could set fire to the carriage house.

Kim: [nervous noises]

Josie: That would certainly draw manpower away.

Rhi: [laughs]

Kim: What if we set fire close to the house next door and have it trail closer to the carriage house? Would that be better?

Josie: Yes. It’s a matter of how we morally feel about endangering an unrelated person.

Kim: An innocent.

Josie: Yes.

Kim: Ugh. That’s tough.

Josie: They are rich assholes, but there may be children in there or the like.

Kim: Yep. There could be children or pets in there. Um…

Minna: Wait. Could we do a Survey to see if there’s anything around the carriage house that we could set a fire under?

Rhi: Yeah.

Kim: Would that be a Survey to figure that out?

Rhi: Sure. Survey would work.

Kim: Alright, I’m gonna roll a Survey. I’m gonna push myself, too, for the extra dice. Okay, so these dice are getting banned. That’s a 1 and a 2.

Rhi: [cackles] Fuck me running.

Kim: I’m just looking! I’m not doing anything! I’m looking around!

Rhi: Things go badly. You suffer harm, a complication occurs, you end up in a desperate position, you lose this opportunity.

Kim: Rhi! [laughs]

Rhi: You walk up to the bars of the fence, wrap your little hands around it, and put your face up to the bars and look in…

Kim: [groans]

Rhi: …and one of the guards goes:

Rhi (as Guard): Hey! Hey, who’s over there? You’re not supposed to—What are you doing over there?

Rhi: And gets up and is walking towards you.

Kim: Can I fall back, or do they already see me and I have to engage?

Rhi: Uh, I mean, yeah. The guard has seen that there is a person at the fence.

Kim: Okay. I think if they’ve already seen me it’s more suspicious if I run away, so I’m just gonna play this card and hope that it goes well, if that’s all right.

Kim (as Blaire): [whining] I’m sorry, but I’m lost. I’m trying to get back to Six Towers?

Rhi: So, you’re still in a risky position.

Minna: Wait, I’m gonna spend a stress to assist you.

Rhi: Yeah? How are you assisting?

Minna: I think she’s gonna do a soft, far away sounding:

Minna (as Myra): Melly?

Kim: Melly?

Minna: Like there’s multiple lost people, including your character, Melly. [chuckles]

Kim: Okay, well, you’re gonna have to be my mom, or sister, or something. I’m gonna roll.

[laughter]

Minna: Uh-huh.

Kim: Okay, good, that’s a 5.

Rhi: Okay!

Kim: [laughs nervously] I’m banning…

Rhi: The guard sighs, and I think when the guard gets closer you can see that, out from under the brim of his hat, which you notice now that he’s closer, the hat and his head is kind of a weird shape because he also has horns.

Kim & Josie: Oh…

Rhi: He’s also Tycherosi. They’re not exactly like Blaire’s, his are more like the curled back over his ears type.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: He comes over and sees this lost little Tycherosi girl and feels bad, and he’s like:

Josie: Aw.

Rhi (as Tycherosi Guard): Ugh, all right, hang on a second…

Rhi: Someone give me a name real fast.

Kim: Ben.

Rhi (as Tycherosi Guard): Hey Ben? I’m gonna step out for just a couple minutes. Can you cover for me?

Rhi: And the other guy’s like:

Rhi (as Ben): Yeah, yeah, it’s a boring night anyway.

Rhi: So, he unlocks the gate, slips through, closes behind, locks it up, and is like:

Rhi (as Tycherosi Guard): All right. Come on, kid. It sounded like somebody was calling.

Minna: Yeah. I think Myra’s moved away from where Minx is and is kind of looking, seeming to look around in the wrong direction.

Kim (as Blaire): Jessabelle? Jessabelle, I’m over here.

Rhi: Yeah, so he’s gonna walk you away, but he’s walking with you and is going to meet up with Myra at the end of the street and then like…

Josie: Are we out of sight of the other guard?

Rhi: Those two are, it’s just Minx and this other guard right now.

Josie: All right. I’m gonna wait for things to resolve there, and hopefully this guy will come out looking, at which point I will trance powder him. [laughs]

Minna: [smiling] So, what I’m gonna do is, I’m playing a very effusive person who’s very worried and has just frantically hugged Melly.

Rhi: [laughs]

Kim (as Blaire): [sadly] It’s okay, I’m here.

Minna: And she’s gonna pull away and like hug the guard really tight, and then slip from out of her pocket…

[laughter]

Kim: This is very sneaky and very good.

Minna: And then after, in the midst of the guard flailing, just like press it to his face, press the cloth to his face. Wa-hey! I got a crit!

[someone claps]

Rhi: Jesus. Okay. So…

Minna: Do I just knock him out real good and he doesn’t wake up as easily?

Rhi: Well, you get—Yeah. He’s gonna be knocked out for a while. He is not gonna be a problem anymore. I am gonna say, okay, I’m gonna say this is the… This person has, aside from his oddly shaped head, a build that is fairly similar to Myra. Both of the guards were wearing long overcoats and caps.

Minna: Oh, so I just take the coat and cap and vaguely look like him.

Rhi: Yeah. You don’t have the right head shape, because he’s got those horns, but you know, it might be enough to get you through the gate.

Minna: Especially if there’s a distraction.

Rhi: I think that all happens very quickly. It’s before the other guard thinks that anything is wrong and is coming to investigate. Yeah, so how do you want to proceed here? I think Minx is still waiting to see if this guy is gonna come out.

Minna: Okay. I slide up beside her, still hidden from the other guard, and tip my hat up.

Josie (as Minx): [whispering] Oh, excellent.

Minna: She smiles.

Josie (as Minx): [whispering] Try to get the gate open, and I will take care of the other guy.

Minna: Yeah. Myra holds up her keys, puts a finger to her lips, and pulls out of the shadows to go strolling up casually to the gate to unlock it.

Rhi: Yeah, I think you’re gonna need to make a roll to not alert this guy that something’s wrong, because like, you have to imitate a walk and you have to be able to get the right key pretty quickly.

Minna: That almost feels like a Sway to me.

Rhi: Yes.

Minna: Okay. I got a 6, though.

Kim: Woo! Phew.

Rhi: Oh, okay. Yeah, so you unlock the gate. I think you feign locking the gate behind you, but you leave it open so that your compatriots can get in.

Minna: Mm-hmm. I think I go back silently to my spot.

Rhi: The other guard looks over at Myra and is squinting a little bit. I think Myra has posted up in some shadows, so like… It’s slowly starting to dawn on this guy that’s something’s off, but he can’t quite tell what yet, but he’s distracted by looking at Myra trying to figure out what’s off so the two of you could get in through the gate.

Josie: Yeah. I’m gonna go in through the gate, trance powder to that guy’s face.

Rhi: Okay.

Kim: I guess I’ll be sneaking behind Minx very carefully.

Rhi: Minx, go ahead and make a roll.

Josie: Is Skirmish appropriate for getting the trance powder into his face?

Rhi: Yeah. Sure.

Josie: Critical.

Rhi: Geez. All right.

Minna: Damn.

Josie: [laughs]

Kim: We’re doing okay.

Rhi: Yeah. Rough start, but you’ve turned it around.

Minna: The opposite pattern from usual.

Rhi: I think what happens, Minx, you like creep up in the shadows while this guy is squinting intently at Myra, and then it dawns on him, “this is not my guard partner,” and he [deep inhale, preparing to shout] at which point Minx throws the trance powder in his face and he inhales a whole bunch of it, so like his friend he is also going to just be out cold for the rest of the score. He will not be an issue going forward.

Kim (as Blaire): Well, that went smoother than I thought.

Josie (as Minx): Yes, quite, although we still must move quickly.

Josie: What entrances are on this side of the gate?

Rhi: There’s a back door and then a side door on the building, and the front door obviously, but the back door is closest.

Josie (as Minx): Yes. Let’s try the back door.

Rhi: Off to the back door. They would have a key to the back door, so you’re able to unlock it…

Josie: Excellent.

Rhi: …and slip into the kitchen. It’s a nice kitchen.

Josie: How many stories is this house?

Rhi: Three. It’s a big house.

Josie: Okay. I think the first order of business is to… where would he keep these? Probably in a vault of some kind, yes? Or safe?

Minna: A vault or an office or something.

Josie: Yes. Let’s look for a study.

Kim: Should we roll a group action to figure that out?

Rhi: Yeah, some kind of group thing for sneaking through the house, looking for what you need.

Kim: A group Survey or group Study, which one are you guys down with?

Minna: I have better Study.

Kim: So do I. Minx?

Josie: Okay. I don’t have any dots in Study, but since it’s a group action we can probably afford that.

Minna: I think Study works.

Rhi: Okay. Who is leading it?

Minna: I can.

Rhi: Okay. Everybody roll. This is risky still.

Minna: Six.

Kim: Four.

Josie: I got a 2.

Rhi: Okay.

Minna: One point of stress, and we have a 6.

Rhi: So, you are creeping around the ground floor of this house and you do find an office, and inside this office you find something even more interesting. It looks like the rest of the doors in the house, it’s just kind of a tastefully wood paneled door, but unlike the rest of the interior doors in the house that have very nice, those like crystal doorknobs, this door has a really, really heavy duty lock on it.

Kim: Oof. Does it look to be like it’s rigged to set off any kind of alarm?

Rhi: I don’t know, you would have to investigate it in some way to find out.

Kim: Okay. Can I roll a Survey for that?

Rhi: Study would be more apt for this.

Kim: All right, yeah, I have a higher Study anyway. My highest was a 5.

Rhi: Five, okay. Blaire, you crouch down and spend some time really intently studying this lock. It is rigged to an alarm system. If it is tampered with improperly it will set off an alarm.

Josie: Mm-hmm.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: And, you hear footsteps in the hall upstairs above you. I’m gonna start Household Guards, 1 out of 4.

Kim: Oh boy. I don’t like that.

Josie: Mm-hmm.

Kim: Would looking into the ghost field… I mean, out of character, mechanically the way it would work, would it kind of give somewhat, you know, Batman Arkham series kind of vision where you would be able to see someone who’s upstairs even if they’re living?

Rhi: Yeah, living people do have a signature in the ghost field, it’s not as bright.

Kim: Right.

Rhi: You can try, but… Ghosts you can see in the ghost field at much greater distances. Living signatures can be blocked by distance. They can be blocked by just material, like the floor could block them. So yeah, you can try to Attune to the ghost field and try to spot whoever’s up there.

Kim: I think that would be a good idea if you guys focus on taking care of the lock while I keep lookout.

Rhi: You’re the only one with Tinker.

Minna: You’re our lock pick.

Kim: Ugh. But I’m the only one with 2 in Attune!

Josie: I have none in Attune and Myra has some, yes?

Kim: I only have 1 in Tinker though, I don’t have 2.

Rhi: That’s more than anybody else has.

Josie: Well, I was gonna assist you.

Kim: Okay, and Myra, do you want to keep watch?

Minna: Yeah. I mean, I don’t think I necessarily have to use Attune to keep watch, do I?

Rhi: No. You can just keep watch with your regular eyes, not your special ghost eyes.

Minna: Yeah.

Josie: “They can’t have my brand, I have special ghost eyes.”

[laughter]

Kim: “My brand!” I’m going to mark off tinkering tools just to help me out a little. I’m gonna roll Tinker.

Rhi: Yes.

Josie: Actually, I was gonna have my way of helping be that Minx brought hers, and given that she doesn’t usually use them, and that she’s also an obsessive neat freak, they’re in really good condition. [laughs]

Rhi: Okay.

Kim: Oh! So in that case, I don’t have to mark off tinkering tools?

Rhi: Right. Yeah.

Kim: Okay, that works.

Rhi: Minx will carry that load for the team. You are in a risky position, reduced effect.

Kim: [nervously] Okay!

Rhi: Because you don’t have fine tinkering tools. This is a pretty hefty lock.

Kim: Gang, that’s uh… that’s double 2s.

Josie: That’s bad, that’s real bad.

Kim: So, what does that leave us with, Rhi?

Rhi: [slowly] That alarm’s going off.

Kim: [fearful] No!

Minna: Can I resist that effect?

Rhi: You can—Well…

Minna: Or can someone?

Rhi: Blaire’s the one who caused it, so you can resist that consequence.

Kim: Yes, I would like to.

Rhi: You could resist any consequence, so yeah, you can roll to resist.

Kim: And it’s my resistance to Insight?

Rhi: Yeah, Insight makes sense for this.

Kim: All right, my highest on that was a 4.

Rhi: Okay, so you’re gonna take 2 stress.

Kim: I can deal with that.

Rhi: You’re working with the lock, and you almost twist one of the picks in a certain way, and then you kind of see some wire in there and you’re like okay, no…

Kim: Needle taught me how to do this. She taught me how to recognize this.

Rhi: Yeah… You haven’t really made any progress in actually getting this lock open.

Kim: Right.

Rhi: So, you don’t set off the alarm, but you also are still gonna have to roll again.

Kim (as Blaire): This is a really tough one.

Josie (as Minx): Well, we have time.

Kim (as Blaire): Myra, how are we looking?

Minna (as Myra): I think we’re okay so far.

Kim (as Blaire): Do we have time?

Kim: I’m just asking in the general sense. Like, can we afford to keep at this?

Rhi: I mean, you have to. What choice do you have?

Josie (as Minx): I believe we can. We’re gonna push forward on this.

Rhi: There is a big grandfather clock in the office, though. It’s about 10:00 at night. Maybe between 10 and 10:30 at night.

Kim (as Blaire): I’m gonna have to try again, but…

Josie (as Minx): Take a deep breath. Remember Needle.

Kim (as Blaire): Minx, I’m nervous.

Josie (as Minx): I know. I know. I know, dear. Just take your time. We’re both here. We’ve both got your back here.

Minna (as Myra): You’ll be fine.

Kim (as Blaire): Okay…

Josie (as Minx): Yes, you’re good at this.

Minna (as Myra): We trust you.

Kim (as Blaire): [exhales] Okay.

Kim: [gasps, surprise and relief] Highest was a 6.

Rhi: Okay!

Kim: Whoa.

Josie: Phew!

Rhi: So, yeah, I think you’re able to get it open without setting off the alarm or anything.

Kim: Is there any consequence, though? Are we good?

Rhi: No, you’re good, I’m just fudging the rules in terms of what is interesting to do and listen to. Technically you’re at reduced effect, so I probably shouldn’t have had you get through the door in one go, but I don’t want to spend ten minutes of Blaire tries to pick a lock. That’s not good radio.

Minna: It’s basically a D&D combat for a lock at that point.

Rhi: Yeah. [laughs] Blaire VS the lock’s HP. So yeah, you get the door open.

Josie: Minx is gonna ruffle Blaire’s hair.

Josie (as Minx): See? Everything’s fine.

Kim (as Blaire): Thanks.

Rhi: And on the other side of the door, which opens on silent hinges, this is very well-oiled, there is a staircase descending down into some kind of basement. The stairs go down, there’s a landing, and then they turn and go out of sight, so you don’t know what’s at the bottom.

Kim: But do they go down, down in an earlier round? … And sugar, we’re going down swinging?

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: I know what you’re referencing, I just was staring blankly at you… as I do.

Kim: [proudly] I’m just asking.

Rhi: [grinning reluctantly] Are you going down the stairs or not?

Kim: Yes. [laughs]

Rhi: So, you head down the stairs and get to the landing and you turn, and basically there’s another kind of short stairs going down to a small, open room. On one wall of this small room is like a bank vault? Like one of those big, round, steel doors with a really complicated lock on it.

Kim: Oh…

Josie: Gods above.

 

## Outro [0:59:03]

Rhi: Thanks for listening. The Magpies will be back in two weeks. In the meantime, follow us on Twitter at @magpies_pod, and visit our Patreon at patreon.com/magpiespodcast.

The Magpies podcast is hosted and produced by Rhi. Follow me on Twitter at @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 at @kimdianajones.

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

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

 

Josie: And now, we’d like to thank our magnificent Patreon backers.

Rhi: Nekochi, thank you.

Minna: Matthew, thank you.

Josie: NeverSayDustin, oh shoot, I said it. Thank you.

[laughter]

 

## Blooper [1:00:25]

Rhi: So, I feel like I should warn all of you, and Minna can attest to this, the last several games I’ve been in I have been rolling like hot garbage.

Minna: Yeah… Can we roll for you? [laughs]

Rhi: No. [laughs] I gotta just ride this curse out! If I keep rolling I’ll get all the bad rolls out!

Kim: You might wanna like burn some sage or sprinkle some salt water around your desk.

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: [into hands] I don’t know. I keep cycling through new dice and it’s not making a difference?

Minna: Yeah. Even the trusty AcadeCon dice have turned against her.

Rhi: Yeah, yeah.

Kim: Okay. you definitely need to do some cleansing then.

Rhi: Yeah. Get some candles in here. I don’t know. But yeah, I’ve been rolling like garbage lately, and it so far is carrying over into this game. I apologize. [laughs]