Transcribed by Tyler (Twitter: @Tyler_MoonSage)

 

## Intro

Rhi: Welcome back to Duskwall. As always, thank you so much for joining us.

You can continue to support us in all the usual ways: tweeting about the show, backing us on Patreon, buying a pin, leaving a review. We appreciate all of it.

I don’t have a lot of extra announcements this episode which feels a bit weird. We are continuing to work through our backlog of episodes that need transcripts, and I’m cautiously optimistic that by the end of next month we’ll have all of Season 2 transcribed. So, if you or someone you know does better with transcripts than pure audio, you can find them on our site.

Picking the Featured Charity each month is always difficult because there are always so many good causes in need of support, but I don’t think I’ve ever had as much of a crisis about what cause to highlight as I did this month, so I’m going to talk about a few things that are no cost or low cost and then onto what I settled on as the charity.

First, MakeMasks2020.org is organizing people to sew face masks to donate to medical professionals and essential workers, so if like me you have a sewing machine and a stash of scrap fabric, particularly cotton, check that out. They have patterns and a lot of other really good resources for getting started on that.

For those of us in the US, please continue to call your representatives to demand universal basic income for at least the duration of the lockdown, mandatory paid sick leave for all workers, and as much protection in terms of employment, payment, and health care for the essential workers who are keeping society running right now. Calling doctors, nurses, delivery drivers and cashiers “heroes” is meaningless if we can’t make sure that they’re given the support and protection they need.

Finally, if you’re in a position where you can spare some money, my Featured Charity this month is your local food bank. With millions of people suddenly unemployed food banks have become a critical way for people to feed themselves and their families, and donating money is a much better option than donating food, because food banks have agreements with wholesalers and grocers to buy food at extremely low prices, meaning they can stretch a dollar a lot farther than you can.

If you do want to donate something tangible, consider things like diapers, formula, toothpaste, menstrual products, toilet paper, or pantry staples like cooking oil or spices. Many of these things aren’t covered by food stamps, and so many recipes rely on you having basic ingredients that not everyone can afford to keep stocked. This month I donated to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, but look for food banks in your area and see what you can do to support them.

Stay safe, stay in touch with the people you love, and take care of yourselves as much as you can.

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

 

 

## Story Continues [0:03:25]

Rhi: We open up on Nyryx who is dressed in very clearly nice and tailored but fairly simple clothes, and she is climbing the stairs in a very fine, richly appointed building. There’s sort of like a red carpeted runner up the stairs, the handrails are polished wood. As she’s climbing these stairs, about halfway up the stairs, a shadow falls across her. She looks up and smiles a little bit and nods, and Madam Tesslyn descends the stairs towards her and also smiles back.

Rhi (as Tesslyn): Ah, Nyryx. Wonderful to see you. How has everything been with you? Are you doing well?

Rhi: Nyryx will smile and nod.

Rhi (as Nyryx): Yes, yes, I’m doing very well. I’m just heading up for my break now.

Rhi: Tesslyn nods.

Rhi (as Tesslyn): You have a couple days off coming up. Are you planning on spending that with your, uh, partner? What was her name? Minx, right?

Rhi: Nyryx, her smile before had been kind of a… It’s the smile you give your boss. [laughs] It’s kind of a, you know, a polite smile, but when Minx is mentioned it becomes a lot more genuine, brighter, and she nods.

Rhi (as Nyryx): You know, it’ll depend what she’s up to, but probably. I hope so.

Rhi: Tesslyn’s smile fades a little bit, and then her brow furrows, looking a little worried.

Rhi (as Tesslyn): You know, you… I worry about you sometimes, seeing someone who is so… unpredictable. I know people like that can be very exciting, but very dangerous too, and I don’t want anything to happen to you.

Rhi: She puts a hand on Nyryx’s shoulder, and that genuine smile disappears and goes back to a very polite one. Nyryx gives her a nod and steps back away from her hand.

Rhi (as Nyryx): I appreciate the concern, Tesslyn, but I can take care of myself.

Rhi: They nod at each other, and Tesslyn tells her to have a good break, and they part. We first see Nyryx ascending the stairs and she just kind of rolls her eyes really dramatically and shakes her head a little, and then we cut over to Tesslyn who is continuing down the stairs with sort of a contemplative expression, and they part and go their separate ways.

So, where do we find the Magpies as they are plotting their next move now that they have learned that Madam Tesslyn is a member of the Circle of Flame?

Josie: First of all, Minx isn’t unpredictable, she is reckless and unstable, thank you.

[laughter]

Rhi: [smiling] Of course. My mistake. How could anyone equate those with unpredictable?

Josie: Like, we’ve seen what happens with Minx when she’s getting ready for a “party.”

Rhi: Yes.

Josie: Stuff leaks out of her room. There’s a lot more stuff than should really be able to fit in there, and where does she get or afford it even?

Rhi: Please, as if Minx pays for these things.

Josie: Now it’s like that but with weapons. No doubt she filched or bought some on the way back to The Nest. Her hair is down. She just like tore it out of her bun when she got back. She’s switched into plain black rogue’s clothes and is contemplating what to take.

Rhi: Mm-hmm.

Kim: Blaire is going to be going over to Minx’s room and knocking on her door, if that’s cool.

Josie: Sure. I think the door is open, but she’s got her back to it.

Kim: Oh, okay, so…

Rhi: So that knock on the doorframe thing?

Josie: Mm-hmm.

Kim: Yeah.

Kim (as Blaire): Minx?

Josie (as Minx): Oh, uh… yeah Blaire?

Kim (as Blaire): What are we doing?

Josie (as Minx): We’re going to kill Madam Tesslyn, that’s what we’re doing.

Kim (as Blaire): Well yeah, but… you can’t just storm off without telling us anything.

Josie (as Minx): I’m not gonna storm off. We’re going together, right?

Kim (as Blaire): Only if we discuss it. You just kind of rushed into your room and started changing.

Josie (as Minx): What is there to discuss? We know exactly where she’s going to be and when. She’s going to be vulnerable. We just need to do it.

Kim (as Blaire): We need to not be stupid about it if we really wanna get this done.

Josie (as Minx): Are you calling me stupid?

Kim (as Blaire): [squirms] No, I’m just… [huffs] What I’m saying is, Minx… you’re angry right now, and rightly so, but if we wanna get this done and really, really get it done, we gotta do this right.

Josie (as Minx): How do you propose we do it right? Honestly, we’ve been too hesitant, taken too long before with the Circle members. Every minute we wait is, at this point, more people in danger. I don’t want to wait when it’s Nyryx in the line of fire.

Kim (as Blaire): I know. Neither do I. So, why don’t you just finish up what you’re doing in here and then we’ll meet at the table, we’ll figure out a game plan, and we will do this tonight.

Josie (as Minx): Okay.

Kim (as Blaire): All right?

Josie: She’s gonna pick up a—This one isn’t a cane sword. I think she probably only has one “real” sword that she got a while ago.

Kim: Ooh.

Josie: Mostly just as a mantelpiece, essentially, even though there’s no mantle in her room. I’m thinking it’s like a saber. No, no, it’s—

Rhi: Ooh, like a caval—Oh, go ahead, go ahead.

Josie: No, never mind, it’s like an epee.

Kim: Yeah!

Josie: Is that how you pronounce it?

Kim: Yeah, that is how you pronounce it.

Josie: Yeah, like a nice dueling sword with the hand guard and stuff.

Rhi: Yeah, and I think it’s the kind of thing that a lot of people would think that it’s just a decorative piece…

Josie: Right.

Rhi: …but it is sturdy and it is sharp.

Josie: Right, because even when she’s in a bad place she makes sure the aesthetic is on point.

Rhi: Yep.

Josie: Even if it’s a murder weapon. [laughs]

Rhi: Yep.

Kim: Of course.

Rhi: Myra, where are you at?

Minna: I think that when Blaire comes out of Minx’s room she finds Myra coming out of her own room, and she kind of gives Blaire a worried look.

Minna (as Myra): How is she?

Kim (as Blaire): Eh… focused, but you know, I think I talked her down a little. We’re gonna work out a plan and pull this off tonight.

Minna (as Myra): That’s good.

Kim (as Blaire): Yeah.

Minna (as Myra): Meet downstairs?

Kim (as Blaire): Mm-hmm.

Rhi: The three of you can convene downstairs, and Minx, you actually just by virtue of having friends with and girlfriends with Nyryx for basically the entire time she’s worked at the Red Lamp, you know a lot about how the place works. It’s a four-story building, big stately place with a marble façade. The ground floor is like the reception area. There’s a bar and lounge area. You all have been to the lounge a few times. The ground floor also has a couple administrative offices for some of the support staff, the security office, there’s a small on-site clinic, and then a handful of rooms for employees or clients who for whatever reason can’t make it upstairs.

The second and third floor are primarily the rooms for the employees. The third floor also has a chunk that’s kind of like the employees only area. There’s a lounge with a little kitchen, private bathrooms with showers and bathtubs and stuff, you know, nice little relaxing area. Then the fourth floor is Tesslyn’s penthouse. Nyryx doesn’t know a ton about that. she has only been up there a few times, and only, when she’s been up there it’s pretty much only been in like the front parlor area.

You also know, Minx, that there’s a lot of—this place has a lot of security.

Josie: Mm-hmm.

Rhi: There’s a lot of security personnel, probably at least a dozen guards, and there are very high quality spark-craft security systems that specifically are silent alarms so that if, you know, an employee needs to raise an alarm without potentially alerting their client they can do that and the guards will be there very quickly. Minx, what you have kind of gotten from Nyryx is that whatever else Tesslyn may be involved in, whatever else she’s involved in being part of the Circle of Flame, it’s not good, but…

Josie: Mm-hmm.

Rhi: …she takes good care of her employees. She makes sure that everybody is safe and comfortable and well-compensated. You’ve always in the past been very grateful, I think, for the level of security on this place, but now you’re having to figure out how to overcome it. So that is kind of what you know going in. what other info would you like to have, or what other plans would you like to make?

Josie: I would be remiss if I didn’t ask about the buildings on either side of the Red Lamp.

[laughter]

Rhi: Of course. God, it’s been a while since you’ve done one of those, huh?

Minna: It’s been a while.

Josie: It may not be one of those, but we should know.

Rhi: Yeah, yeah, for sure. Why don’t you go ahead and make—This doesn’t have to necessarily be like you’re leaving The Nest right this moment to go look, because you’ve been there enough, you know what it is, but just give me some kind of roll for kind of what Minx has observed when she’s been in the area in the past. You can do Study, you can do Survey, you could do something else if you’d like.

Josie: Is this a Gather Info?

Rhi: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Josie: Five.

Rhi: So, yeah, I think that… You got a 5. On one side is a townhome that I think has been converted into apartments. It used to be a single unified thing and now it’s like a three flat. Yeah, so that’s a three-story building, but there’s a decent size alley between the two. On the other side is a four-story apartment building.

Josie: Uh-huh. Well, that’s good.

Rhi: But there’s again, like, they’re not right up on each other, there’s an alley wide enough to get a carriage down on either side, so ‘doable’ that you could get across, but it would be… you’d probably need to string some ropes and climb across it. It probably isn’t really jumpable.

Josie: Right.

Rhi: But yes, those are the buildings on either side. I will also mention—I forgot to mention this—about the security. The security there, they work for the Red Lamp. They are not like Umbra Hunters, or… as far as you know, not affiliated with the Circle in any way.

Josie: Right. So, a higher level entry is possible, although given the location it may be such that we can just walk in the front door, because she does not know that we know.

Minna: Yeah. I mean, we can walk in the front door, but getting up higher I think would be our issue.

Josie: Well that would be a simple matter of asking after the woman herself. She has no reason at the moment to suspect that we know, and if we make our reason innocuous enough…

Minna: Huh… [smiling] I guess we could just go with walking in the front door. That’s a possibility.

Kim: Is it?

Minna: It depends on how compelling we make our reason and whether she would see us on short notice.

Kim: Yeah. Yeah…

Josie: Right.

Rhi: She is—And also, like, she is a member of the Circle of Flame.

Kim: Mm-hmm.

Rhi: The Circle knows who you all are.

Kim: Right.

Minna: Yeah.

Josie: Right. She knows that I’m a Magpie, but she doesn’t know that I know that she’s a Circle member.

Rhi: Right. Right. Okay, yeah.

Josie: And last time we met she was keeping that illusion even though she knew, because she specifically gave me the ghost information to mess with me. I also think it’s at this point, around the table, that Minx realizes:

Josie (as Minx): Oh, she’s the one who told me. She absolutely told me that to mess with me. I…

Kim (as Blaire): What did she tell you?

Josie (as Minx): Something private with me and Nyryx’s relationship. Something she shouldn’t have known, but I didn’t think about that at the time because I was distraught. [sniffs]

Kim (as Blaire): How long ago was this?

Josie (as Minx): A month or two, although you would be proud of me, Blaire, I think. Looking after a spirit isn’t that difficult.

Kim (as Blaire): Yeah… I mean, yeah, there is that.

Josie (as Minx): What, no reaction?

Kim (as Blaire): Well, that’s not really my concern here right now, Minx. My concern right now is, you know, getting to stop Tesslyn.

Josie (as Minx): Drat. I was saving that to be dramatic. I’ll have plenty of opportunity tonight.

Kim (as Blaire): [as a sigh] Hoo-boy.

Josie (as Minx): I am of the mind that I should ask Bazso if he wants to help.

Kim (as Blaire): Do you think he’ll agree?

Josie (as Minx): For Nyryx, probably.

Minna (as Myra): We could do that.

Josie (as Minx): I’ve asked a lot of him, but this wouldn’t be for me, and this would solidify whether he still cares.

Rhi: I’m definitely interested to see how ‘that’ goes, but I think first, Myra and Blaire, is there any info that you two would like to…?

Minna: I almost wanna try and keep an eye on Nyryx while all this is happening, because she has the potential of being used as a pawn or bargaining tool.

Kim: Oh, that’s a good point.

Josie: Right. She would be working, wouldn’t she?

Minna: So how do we keep her safe, too? Are her appointments scheduled out, or could we get an appointment with her and just basically pay her to stay there and be safe with us? [chuckles]

Rhi: Minx, you know that the way that her appointments work is that sometimes she’ll have people book in advance and sometimes, you know, it’s just kind of like hang out in the lounge and people will come in for, sort of, like—She has scheduled blocks and then open blocks, basically.

Josie: Right.

Minna: Can I try and get a scheduled block? That way it gives Minx a good time to go where I can at least, somebody can at least keep an eye on her?

Rhi: Yes.

Minna: Also, one of us booking her for an hour is going to be fucking suspicious.

Rhi: [smiling] Yeah. Well, if you use your real name, yeah! [laughs]

Josie: [laughs]

Minna: Well, I assume one of us has to make sure she’s fine, like, this is partly so somebody has eyes on her to make sure she’s not being kidnapped by a guard.

Rhi: Yeah-yeah-yeah.

Kim: Right.

Rhi: Mm-hmm.

Josie: Right.

Rhi: Yeah, no, this makes total sense.

Josie: That’s a good plan. I think someone should, under an assumed name, book a meeting with her and then fill her in during that time.

Minna: Yeah.

Rhi: [giggles] Poor Nyryx.

Minna: Keep her there and safe.

Rhi: She’s just gonna be like, “Myra…?”

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: “I have so many questions, and also—” I mean, I feel like she would be like, I can’t, we can’t do this, you are too close to my girlfriend. I can set you up with someone else. [laughs]

Minna: “I don’t want to do this. It’s fine.” [laughs] Okay, now I want it to be Myra just to play out this awkward fucking scene. [laughs]

Josie: Yes. [laughs and claps]

Rhi: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. That’s gonna be really good. Okay, yeah, so Myra, if you wanted to do that… I mean, are you aiming to get something tonight, because you’re planning on doing this tonight?

Minna: Yes.

Rhi: Go ahead and give me a roll. You wouldn’t be setting this up necessarily with Nyryx directly.

Minna: What roll do we think this is?

Rhi: I would think maybe Sway?

Minna: It’s Sway, because I’m lying.

Rhi: [giggles] “Yes, I would definitely like to book an hour to… sleep with someone.”

Minna: Five.

Josie: [laughing] Yeah, fuckin’ aro/ace Myra.

Minna: [smiling] Leave me alone.

Rhi: [laughs] Yeah. Yeah. I love that it is the… our very ace character who is setting this up. It’s gonna be a great conversation.

Minna: [laughs, smiling] Listen, it’s fine. Nothing’s going to happen.

Rhi: [chuckling] No, for so many reasons. You got a 5, you said?

Minna: Yes. Yeah, I did.

Rhi: Okay. So yeah, I think that with that, basically this is less information… That roll was less about information and more about kind of like… Is there a particular time that you all are kind of aiming for with when you wanna do this?

Josie: Probably not peak hours.

Rhi: Okay.

Josie: Peak thirst hours.

Rhi: [giggles]

Minna: Three AM.

Rhi: Okay. So yeah. The early hours of the morning, probably that’s towards the end of Nyryx’s—I think that she’s got a night shift on this particular day. So yeah. You’re aiming for 3 AM. I think you get about, like, you get a little earlier than that.

Minna: Mm-hmm.

Rhi: So there’s a possibility there will be more people around than you would prefer, but it’s still late enough that it’s probably not gonna be a lot of new customers coming in.

Josie: Right.

Rhi: Or leaving. So yeah, I think that you’re able to get that. What name do you give?

Minna: Hmm… [smiling] I didn’t come up with a name. Give me a second. [laughs]

Rhi: That’s okay. [laughs]

Josie: Misha Koros.

Minna: That works.

Josie: That was your cover identity in Minx’s fan fiction.

Minna: Oh my God.

[laughter]

Kim: Wow.

Minna: Which fan fiction? Oh, is this the Lyra Langdon ID?

Josie: Yep, sure is.

Minna: Aw. Yeah, let’s just do that. Oh God. Now I’m curious if Minx has shared this fan fiction. [giggles]

Rhi: Mm-hmm~

Josie: Yes. That’s what she was—

Minna: [gasps] Wait! So, do we want Nyryx to know or no?

Josie: Oh, shared it with Nyryx.

Rhi: Yeah.

Josie: Oh. That would be funny. [laughs] Nyryx is like, wait.

Rhi: Yeah. I think when we get into the score the engagement roll may determine whether or not Nyryx remembers that name or recognizes that name.

[giggling]

Rhi: Okay, but point is, you are able to get your alias booked for an hour at about like 2 in the morning. Blaire, what did you have in mind?

Kim: Yes. I want to investigate specifically Madam Tesslyn’s superstitions and what to expect on the spiritual end of security, which I probably already know, but if I could get more info on Madam Tesslyn specifically…

Rhi: Absolutely. Yeah. You can definitely look into that. How do you want to go about that?

Kim: I mean, being a Circle member she’s probably too smart to leave a paper trail.

Rhi: Correct.

Kim: So… and I don’t think we’re going over there to investigate beforehand, right?

Rhi: It’s a busy enough area that if you wanted to do an Attune roll to kind of case the joint through the ghost field you could do that.

Kim: Oh! Oh. Would my vice purveyor, Aranna, would she know anything?

Rhi: Let’s find out. [laughs] That’s what the roll tells us.

Kim: Great. I’ll roll a Consort then. Let me do that.

Rhi: Yeah, go for it.

Kim: That’s a 3 and a 6.

Rhi: A 6, okay, great. So, yeah, you go and talk to Aranna who is a cult member of a forgotten god. Yeah, I think that you get really lucky with this and that the cult that Aranna is part of has provided some custom-made talismans and wards for Tesslyn.

Kim: Ooh.

Rhi: She has the building heavily warded but in very specific ways. Normally, majority of people who have middle class or higher money, you pay to have your home or your business warded against spirits. That’s just kind of standard operating procedure in Duskwall. Tesslyn has had these custom wards designed, custom talismans and charms.

Kim: Right.

Rhi: Aranna tells you that Tesslyn is pretty proficient with this sort of stuff. She kind of used these custom ones as the basis for wards that she set herself. It’s bound specifically against unbound spirits, so just sort of spirits that are freely moving around.

Kim: Oh…

Rhi: Spirits that are in jars, or people, can move through the wards without a problem. Additionally, the building has a lot of wards against demons, which most people don’t bother with. [laughs] And the way that they were set up is that… Normally when you ward a place you want it to just be like, you’re building a wall, basically.

Kim: Right.

Rhi: The demon wards are a gate that she has the ability to open and close.

Kim: Ohh… Interesting.

Rhi: On a 6 you can ask some follow-up questions if you’d like to know any more about that.

Kim: I do have a follow-up question. When you said the ward is against unbound spirits, does that mean it would still… if I were to unleash a spirit, would the ward protect against that, or because it’s bound to my command it’s fine?

Rhi: You would be able to bring it past the wards in the jar, and then from what Aranna knows, if a loose spirit got out she’s pretty sure that there are kind of like… I mean, honestly, I’m picturing almost like Ghost Busters style traps that will sort of trigger and hold the spirit.

Josie: [laughs]

Kim: Oh, okay.

Rhi: Not like on every square inch but throughout the space, that if there was a loose spirit roaming around it would not be able to do so for very long.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: Yeah. All of that strikes you as an odd setup to have. You’re not exactly sure what it means, but it’s odd.

Kim: That she would have demonic connections? Yeah. Possibly.

Rhi: Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Kim: Something to ask Setarra about, maybe. We’ll see.

Rhi: [laughs] Okay. Let’s jump back to Minx. You wanted to go talk to Bazso. How does this meeting happen? Do you go to…?

Josie: I think she goes right up to the HQ and knocks politely on the door.

Rhi: Okay. Yeah. There’s a couple guards outside, sort of the usual song and dance of one of them goes inside to tell Bazso that you’re here to see him, and I think that, yeah, after a couple minutes the guard comes back, you’re escorted up to his office. You have to wait outside for a little bit, and you can kind of hear low voices inside, and then, yeah, a couple people come out. One of them has what looks like a fresh black eye. [chuckles]

Josie: [laughing] Oh boy.

Rhi: But like, it doesn’t… Other than that, it doesn’t look too bad, like it doesn’t look like Bazso just beat the shit out of someone. It just looks like… This is something I feel like you know Bazso well enough to be like, oh, this person fucked up, Bazso punched him once, and now they’re cool!

[laughter]

Rhi: It wasn’t such a significant fuck-up that he had to kill him, it’s just you fucked up, pop him in the face, now we’re good.

Josie: Eh, sounds about right.

Rhi: So they leave. I think that they have some, like, it looks like a rolled up map that they’re carrying. They don’t really pay much attention to you. Yeah, you can head inside. Bazso is behind his desk sorting through some papers and stuff, looks up and just kinda like…

Josie: Minx is still disheveled, kind of, just in black with hair down.

Rhi: Yeah, he looks up and I think does a bit of a double-take. When you told the guards who you were, did you say that Minx is here to see Bazso or Ellie is?

Josie: That Ellie is.

Rhi: Thought so. So he looks up, and he looks a little worried.

Rhi (as Bazso): What’s going on?

Josie (as Minx): Not to sound patronizing, but you know what the Circle of Flame is, yeah?

Rhi (as Bazso): Uh, I mean, a little bit. I know that they’ve been fucking with you and you’ve been fucking with them back. Made my life difficult recently. Don’t know much more.

Josie (as Minx): Turns out Madam Tesslyn’s one of them. Wanna come help kill her?

Rhi: Give me a roll.

Josie: I think this is gonna be Consort.

Rhi: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.

Josie: It’s a 5.

Rhi: I think when you say it’s madam Tesslyn his eyes go wide. I think he’d been standing up, shuffling through some papers, and he kinda drops into his chair.

Rhi (as Bazso): Shit… Nyryx is okay? Is she okay?

Josie (as Minx): Yeah, she’s fine, right now.

Rhi (as Bazso): Yeah. Fuck.

Josie (as Minx): Me and the girls are planning on going after her tonight.

Rhi (as Bazso): Tonight? I mean, shit, Yeah. Fuck. Fuck! [heavy exhale]

Josie (as Minx): I won’t blame you if you don’t come, if you kinda just don’t wanna associate with both of us anymore, then whatever, that’s your prerogative.

Rhi (as Bazso): Come on! Ellie… [sighs] Look. You and me have had our problems, but it’s Nyryx. [exhales]

Josie (as Minx): That’s why I’m here.

Rhi (as Bazso): Okay. I can’t have somebody like that… I can’t have somebody at Tesslyn’s level’s blood on my hands for what I’m trying to do here. That said, I am not just gonna… I’m not gonna not do anything. What would help? What would make this easier for you?

Josie (as Minx): Really, it’s their guards we’re worried about. Just a sheer numbers thing.

Rhi (as Bazso): Got it. A few of my people who wanted to get out of this life, go a little more legit, Nyryx helped me get them jobs there. I can talk to them, see if they’ll let you in a side door. It’s not gonna get you all the way up, and I can… me and a couple of my people, we can hang around, cover the streets in case any Bluecoats decide to show up or anybody else that somebody like that can call on.

Josie: Minx’s face kind of softens a little bit.

Josie (as Minx): Thanks Bazso. That means a lot. Every little bit helps.

Rhi (as Bazso): Yeah.

Josie (as Minx): I’ll get as far as you can take me, and then I’ve got two hands and a sword, so…

Rhi (as Bazso): Well, you’re not going in solo. You got those friends of yours.

Josie (as Minx): [chuckles] That’s true.

Rhi (as Bazso): I don’t need to tell you this, and you’re probably gonna be pissed at me for saying it, but… you make sure she’s all right.

Josie (as Minx): Of course I will.

Rhi: He nods.

Rhi (as Bazso): All right. Get the fuck out of here. I got work to do, and I think you do too.

Rhi: He’s not saying it in like an angry way. He kinda gives you a half grin as he stands up.

Josie: Minx will give a weak smirk before leaving.

Rhi: Yeah. Okay. That went pretty good. Yeah, he’s gonna basically, if anything happens where outside interference would be coming in, he’s going to extend the clock.

Josie: Yay.

Rhi: Where maybe it would have been a 4 it’ll be a 6 or an 8. He’s gonna be able to slow people down, and you getting in will go a little better. So let’s do the engagement roll then. This is gonna be a 2d6 roll. Fun fact: If you roll dice on an open book, both dice will end up tilted at an angle.

[laughter]

Kim: Interesting.

Minna: Reroll, on a flatter surface.

Rhi: Okay, that’s a 6.

Kim: Oh, awesome.

Josie: Nice.

 

 

## Score [0:32:15]

Rhi: Let’s start with Myra. You show up at the Red Lamp at the appointed time and head over into the lounge. Nyryx is sitting in one of the lounge chairs…

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: …and her expression doesn’t change an inch when she sees you. She just gives you a warm smile and stands up and, you know, kind of takes your hands.

Rhi (as Nyryx): Misha, it’s so wonderful to meet you. Come with me and I can give you a tour of the place.

Rhi: She does not give you a tour.

Minna: [grinning] Mm-hmm!

Rhi: She walks you straight up to the second floor to her room. She opens the door, she ushers you in, she closes the door, locks it, turns around and goes:

Rhi (as Nyryx): You wanna explain what the fuck is going on, Myra?

[laughter]

Josie: I love her.

Minna (as Myra): It is not in fact what, uh, what it appears to be. You’re fine. Don’t worry.

Rhi (as Nyryx): I figured, for a great number of reasons.

Minna (as Myra): Mm-hmm. No, I’m just here to keep you safe, for an hour or so.

Rhi (as Nyryx): Keep me safe from what?

Rhi: [laughing] And I think on that, we smash cut so that Minna can decide how much Myra tells her. We cut over to a side door of the building.

Josie: Uh-huh.

Rhi: Minx and Blaire are coming down this side alley. There’s a couple guards standing outside, and they see the two of you and just kinda look you over. It looks like they’re kind of studying you to make sure that you match a description. One of them is like:

Rhi (as guard): Names?

Josie (as Minx): Ellie.

Kim (as Blaire): Blaire Culhane.

Rhi: They nod and open up the door, open it a crack and then they both look back and be like:

Rhi (as guard): Tesslyn’s the only one that you hurt here, all right? Anybody else gets hurt and we’re gonna do our fucking jobs.

Josie (as Minx): That’s the idea.

Kim (as Blaire): Understandable.

Rhi: They open up the door, and you are kind of in a back hallway. This is a part that you haven’t seen, Minx, but it’s kind of back in the administrative office area. There’s storage closets, and the laundry room is down here, things like that, and then there’s the back stairs that wend their way up through the building basically so that the cleaning staff can move through the building without being seen out in the hallways very much.

Josie: Ah… okay.

Rhi: Now, I will point out that the two guards who let you in know what you’re doing, but the rest of the guards do not. [laughs]

Josie: Yes.

Rhi: So you will need to evade them.

Josie: Right.

Rhi: So, I think to kind of make it up to the second floor without detection we will need some kind of roll, or without risking detection.

Josie: Maybe a group Prowl here? I have 2 stress. I don’t know how much Blaire has.

Kim: I have completely 0 stress, so I can lead if you need me to.

Josie: Yes please.

Kim: Okay. What are we rolling?

Rhi: A controlled Prowl.

Kim: Oh, okay.

Rhi: This is gonna be standard effect. So yeah, both of you go ahead and roll Prowl.

Josie: [cringing] Well, I got a 2.

Kim: I got a 5?

Rhi: Five. Okay! So, you hesitate. Withdraw and try a different approach or do it with a minor consequence. I think what happens is you start up the stairs, and I think it’s not just a straight shot up, it goes up and then there’s a landing and then it turns and continues up. You’re about at the landing when you hear footsteps in the hall above you.

Josie: Mm-hmm.

Rhi: So, somebody’s up there, and you can either withdraw and try a different approach or you can continue with, you know, do it with a minor consequence, basically.

Kim: Mm-hmm.

Josie: I’m in favor of doing it with a minor consequence.

Kim: That’s what I was gonna say. Yeah.

Rhi: Okay. Let’s see… [reading] Minor complication, reduced effect, harm makes zero sense… I think it’s just that you’re gonna be in a risky position now.

Josie: Okay.

Rhi: You basically get to the landing and you can see shadow moving up above you, and you get a glimpse of a couple guards who seem to just be walking the halls. They’re just on patrol as it were.

Josie: Mm-hmm.

Rhi: You’ve got at least two guards that are moving around in this area. Yeah, as Minx and Blaire are kind of crouched on these stairs, waiting for the guards to pass, we cut back over to Nyryx’s room. What has Myra opted to tell her?

Minna (as Myra): Has Minx told you much about the Circle of Flame?

Rhi: I’m trying to remember. I don’t think that she has. Right?

Josie: No. I think Nyryx knew we were at war with someone for a while, but…

Rhi: Yeah. Minx has gone to great lengths to not tell Nyryx about a lot of what she’s tangled up in. Okay, so Nyryx folds her arms.

Rhi (as Nyryx): No. She doesn’t really tell me a lot about what you all get up to.

Minna (as Myra): They are a very dangerous organization, and their members have not shown much hesitation to hurt people we’re close with to get to us.

Rhi (as Nyryx): Is that… They went after Harker, didn’t they? A few months ago Minx came over and was really worried about something happening to me, and…

Minna (as Myra): They did.

Rhi (as Nyryx): She said that people…

Minna (as Myra): They’ve gone after multiple people. Now—

Rhi (as Nyryx): And you think they’re coming after me?

Minna (as Myra): Not yet, but there’s a large risk tonight that it could happen, so I’m here to keep you safe.

Rhi (as Nyryx): Why tonight? What’s happening?

Minna (as Myra): We found out the identity of the last member of the Circle of Flame.

Rhi: We jump back to Blaire and Minx on the stairs. You’re approaching the second floor. There’s guards about. I think to safely continue on to the third floor without being spotted it’ll need to be another roll, and you’re in a risky position.

Josie: Okie-dokie.

Kim: It’s probably gonna be another Prowl, right?

Josie: Yeah, I guess another group Prowl?

Rhi: Mm-hmm. Okay.

Kim: I can lead again.

Josie: Okie-dokie. You know what, I think I am gonna push myself on this one.

Rhi: All right.

Josie: Just to make absolutely sure.

Kim: All right, that’s a 6.

Rhi: Oh, all right.

Josie: And a critical.

Kim: Whoa!

Rhi: Jesus. Okay.

Josie: Woo. [laughs]

Kim: So, what does that mean for my stress? I don’t take anything?

Rhi: You take no stress, and you do it with increased effect.

Kim: Wow.

Rhi: Yeah. So, I think that the two of you just kinda wait there for a little bit, and the guards loop around the top of the stairs and then head off down the hall towards where the rooms are, and then you just walk up the stairs to the third floor, and now you’re on the third floor.

Josie: We have the power of dramatic timing on our side.

Rhi: Yeah. Yeah. You’re up on the third floor. There don’t appear to be guards actively patrolling up here right now. Now, the thing is, you have reached the third floor and you do not see any stairs that go up further.

Josie: Interesting, so we have to go looking for those.

Rhi: Yes.

Josie: Okay. Is it just like a hallway full of doors?

Rhi: Pretty much. So like, if you kinda go out to… What I’m picturing is that you’re in sort of a little foyer type area that has a door, and if you crack that door open and peer down, yeah, it’s a very nice sumptuous hallway with a soft carpet, and yeah, doors just kinda lining on both sides, and then the hallway turns about five or six doors.

Josie: Mm-hmm.

Rhi: You’re not sure what else is down there.

Josie: Yeah. I don’t have any clever ideas here. I think we just need to go through and…

Rhi: Start looking around?

Josie: Yeah.

Rhi: Okay. Make some rolls to see what you can find.

Josie: I’m gonna do a Survey.

Rhi: Yeah.

Josie: Do we wanna do a group Survey?

Kim: If you want. Yeah. Let’s do that.

Rhi: This is still risky.

Kim: Five.

Josie: I got a 2.

Rhi: Two, okay.

Josie: Sorry. [laughs]

Kim: That’s okay.

Rhi: Blaire’s gonna take another point of stress. Result is a 5. You do it but there’s a consequence. So, I think you creep down the hall, creep-creep-creep-creep-creep, and peer around the corner. What you can see is there’s a set of double doors. There’s a few more doors that go into private rooms, and then there’s a set of double doors that, Minx, you’re guessing that’s the employee only area, like the employee lounge and stuff. You see that, and Minx, you’re guessing that based on the layout of this place that probably the access to the penthouse would be somewhere back in that employees only area.

Josie: Probably.

Rhi: You’re standing, you’re kind of both peeking around the corner looking at these double doors, and behind you, you hear a door unlock as someone has finished a session and is going to be walking their client out.

Josie: Well, that’s behind us. We can duck around the corner, right?

Rhi: Yes, but the risk is that you’re going to get seen. Basically it’s kind of reduced effect in that you did not make it all the way to the place you need to get. You’ll need to make another roll to get to the lounge area, and then there’s a possibility that you’ll get spotted by these people.

Josie: Right. I think if we just move around the corner and are quiet for a second we can avoid being seen here.

Rhi: It will need to be a roll though.

Josie: Yeah, so I’m thinking Prowl, unless Blaire wants to do something different.

Kim: Yeah, definitely a Prowl again. No, Prowl for sure. I want to maintain stealth as long as we can.

Josie: Yeah.

Rhi: You gonna group?

Kim: Sure.

Josie: I got a 4.

Rhi: Okay. Is Blaire still leading?

Kim: Yeah. I got a 2.

Rhi: Okay, so Blaire, you’re gonna take a point of stress.

Kim: Uh-huh.

Rhi: You two, you hear this door starting to open and you whip around the corner and just kind of freeze, and you can kind of hear low voices talking as the door opens, and the conversation falters for a second, and then there’s a bit of a pause, and then it picks up again and you can hear them walking away down the hall. I think that you can kind of- The tenor- Like, you can’t hear the specific words, but the tenor of the conversation has changed from a warm, affectionate afterglow type conversation to a little more urgent and concerned, so I’m going to start a clock…

Kim: Uh-oh.

Josie: Yeah.

Rhi: …for Security is Alerted.

Kim: No~

Rhi: We’re gonna put that at 1 out of 4. Basically one of the employees is like, just saw, didn’t get a good look at you but saw people whip around the corner who don’t look like they belong here and is like, I’m just gonna let somebody know that something weird is happening up on the third floor and not be here.

Minna: Hmm…

Josie: Mm-hmm.

Rhi: But the two of you are able to kind of continue down to the lounge, and I think that as you reach those doors we’re gonna cut back down to Myra.

Minna (as Myra): So we’ve been looking for her for a while, and it turns out that your employer is that remaining member, which obviously means you’ve been in a lot more danger than we realized up until now.

Rhi: Nyryx is frowning really intensely and sits down on the edge of the bed, kind of twisting her hands together.

Rhi (as Nyryx): She’s always been so good to us, to me, to everybody here. Are you certain?

Minna (as Myra): Pretty sure, yeah. We’ve got some friends who have been doing research into this for gotta be months now and I trust their research.

Rhi (as Nyryx): Where’s Minx? Why isn’t she the one here? Why are you here?

Minna (as Myra): Because Minx has a job to do.

 

 

## Outro [0:44:41]

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 GMed 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.

 

 

## Blooper [0:45:52]

Rhi: Okay. Saying “sync” there took a lot of effort, because as I was counting down my brain suddenly was like “3, 2, 1, Minx.”

[laughter]

Minna: Aww!

Kim: That’s very cute.

Rhi: And I was just like,  no, that’s not what we say, brain! If you say that you’re gonna throw everyone off and we’re gonna have to do this again! [giggles]