Transcribed by Tyler (Twitter: @Tyler_MoonSage)

 

## Intro

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

I want to give an extra thank you to our patrons whose support is now just above $400 a month. That’s absolutely amazing, and it’s allowed us to pay for even more transcripts. We’re very, very close to having all of Season 2 transcribed. Check out our website to see the transcripts we finished so far.

One quick note about this pair of episodes. I meant to include this in the intro of last episode, but I completely blanked on it, so I’m making up for it today. These two episodes center around the Red Lamp, a legal brothel in Duskwall. I have always tried to run this game as one that is positive towards a whole vast array of experiences with sex, gender and attraction. For the Red Lamp I did some research into legal brothels and read articles written by women who work at them. My hope is that, even if there are some inaccuracies, this has been at least a respectful portrayal. Sex work is real and legitimate work, and sex workers deserve respect, support, protection and payment.

Next, I’m going to talk about this month’s Featured Charity:

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.

If you’re in the United States, contact your elected officials about saving the post office. The post office is absolutely critical to the infrastructure of the United States with millions depending on its inexpensive, reliable mail delivery, and somehow we have ended up in a place where it might collapse in a few months. So call, send messages, demand that the next relief bill through Congress includes the full funding that the post office needs. In addition, contact your state officials about universal mail-in ballots for the general election in November. This pandemic isn’t likely to go away any time soon, and we need to be prepared for a socially distant election. Mail-in ballots must be provided to everyone so no one has to choose between their right to vote and their health.

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

 

 

## Story Continues [0:03:24]

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.

Rhi: Nyryx… her expression kind of goes through a bit of a journey. There’s a lot of little micro expressions that you can’t entirely read, because you don’t know her that well. Minx probably would be able to recognize the warning signs here, but Myra, I’m not sure that you necessarily do.

Minna: [nervous, uneasy noise]

Rhi: Actually, I’m gonna have you make a resistance roll.

Minna: I was gonna say, I’m…

Rhi: Yeah. Roll me an Insight here.

Minna: It seems reasonable for her to put her hands up here and try to stop her.

Rhi: Well, what happens here is she kind of goes on this face journey and then is like…

Rhi (as Nyryx): Well, since we’re gonna be here for a while, do you want a drink?

Rhi: …and goes over to the little mini bar to start pouring you something.

Minna: That’s a 5, so I’m gonna take 1 stress?

Rhi: Yeah, then you will take the 1 point of stress, and Nyryx will come over and will offer you a drink. She has a glass in her hand.

Minna: I think Myra sets it aside and reaches up. She doesn’t touch her, because she doesn’t want to startle her worse or touch her without her wanting her to, but she just kind of has her hands up in a very placating gesture.

Minna (as Myra): Minx cannot be stopped right now. It’s going to be safest for everybody if you just stay here with me.

Rhi: She looks down at the glass that you did not drink out of, sets her glass aside, and just looks you square in the eyes.

Rhi (as Nyryx): I have known Minx since I was eight. I know what she can be like, and I appreciate that she wants to keep me safe, but it is my life, and she is my partner, and I am not going to be held prisoner here.

Rhi: She darts across the room and kinda flips a curtain aside and you can see that she has a hand on the security—like, there’s a lever there that you’re guessing is gonna summon the security, and she hasn’t pulled it but she’s basically just looking at you.

Rhi (as Nyryx): Are you going to let me go or am I going to have to have you removed?

Minna (as Myra): If you pull that then it is very probable that Minx, and Blaire, and possibly I will all die tonight. Do you want that?

Rhi (as Nyryx): I trust that you, and Minx and Blaire, are good enough at what you do to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Minna: I think that Myra maybe will go to physically pull her away from the alarm.

Rhi: Okay. Nyryx, as you close in, her hand shifts. She lets go of the lever and she comes out with something in her hand that she basically throws in your face, and it is a very fine, familiar powder.

Minna: [delighted] Trance powder to the face.

Josie: [laughs and claps]

Rhi: Minx accidentally—Yeah, I mean, listen. I feel like all of them did this.

Minna: [giggles]

Rhi: Or Minx got it from Nyryx, learned that trick from her. But yeah, she hits you square in the face with it.

Minna: Failed to poison me once. Did not fail the second time.

Rhi: Yeah.

Josie: [chuckles]

Minna: This is the second time she’s been trance powdered!

Rhi: Yeah. The first time was an accident, but yeah. The first time it happened it was kind of an indirect, you got hit with sort of the… What is the word I’m looking for?

Minna: Shrapnel…?

Rhi: Yeah, more or less. You were the collateral damage. This is directly targeted at you, a full dose straight to the face.

Minna: Mm-hmm!

Kim: Oof.

Rhi: Yeah, so… do you wanna resist?

Minna: No.

Rhi: You kinda start to fall, and Nyryx catches you and sort of leads you over to the couch and gets you laying down, and just sort of looks down at you.

Rhi (as Nyryx): I’ll make sure you get out of here. Just stay put, okay?

Rhi: Then she leaves, and before you space out completely you hear the door lock from the outside locking you in. Let’s cut back upstairs.

Minna: [whispering, frantically] Why do the doors lock from the outside?! I don’t like that.

Josie: Imagine there’s just a key.

Rhi: Yeah, they lock from both sides.

Minna: Oh, okay.

Rhi: It’s basically—because this is like, that’s her…

Minna: Ahh.

Rhi: And she, you know, wants to be able to lock it when she leaves.

Minna: Yes.

Rhi: Yeah. They lock from both sides. So, back upstairs. Blaire and Minx, you are right outside the door to the employee lounge area. People may be in there. [chuckles]

Josie: Mm-hmm.

Kim: Yep.

Rhi: How do you want to proceed here?

Josie: Can we listen at the door and try to hear anyone?

Rhi: Yeah. You can do probably a Study or a Survey, whichever one.

Josie: It’s all the same to me.

Rhi: Then go ahead and make that roll. Still risky.

Josie: I got a 5.

Rhi: I think you listen really, really hard for a solid minute just with your ear pressed to this door, and all you can hear is the distant sound of a shower starting up and water running, so it sounds like probably not a lot of people in there and whoever is in there it sounds like just got into the shower so not necessarily gonna be out to see you. However, because you spend a good amount of time verifying that it’s empty, we’re gonna tick up that clock.

Josie: Okie-dokie.

Rhi: But yeah, you crack open the door. This is the employee lounge area. There’s kind of a central living room type setup with some couches and armchairs, some bookshelves. There’s some little what look like private nooks that have curtains hanging over them. There’s a little kitchenette area. It’s all very nice, it looks very comfy, nice relaxing space. Then, as you move in here and close the door behind you, there’s a hall that heads off and you can hear the running water from down that way, but nobody appears to be in here right now.

Josie: Mm-hmm.

Rhi: You have a little bit of leeway to keep looking for that fourth floor access.

Josie: Yeah, I mean, I wanna keep looking.

Rhi: Okay. Yeah. Go ahead and make a roll. If you wanna do this as a group thing again…

Josie: Well, I got a 2, so…

Kim: Ooh. Okay, let’s make this a group thing!

[laughter]

Rhi: Who’s gonna lead?

Kim: Me.

Josie: Okay.

Kim: Five?

Josie: Thank you, Kim, for saving my ass the whole way up here.

Kim: You’re welcome.

Rhi: So Blaire, you’re gonna take another point of stress. How are you doing on stress, by the way?

Kim: I have 5 to spare.

Rhi: Oh okay. So yeah, you both fan out and kind of look around. Blaire, you’re the one that finds it. Down the hall, you check a couple of the doors and it’s just storage, like towels and bars of soap and linen closets, and as you’re turning away you notice in one of the wall panels there’s just a little bit of light coming out from a little crack in the wall.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: And you kind of pat at it and press on the panel and then it kinda cracks open. You have located a secret door, on the other side of which are stairs going up.

Kim: Ooh.

Josie: Yay.

Rhi: But you did get a 5, so there is a consequence. I think I’m just gonna tick the clock up again.

Kim: [uncomfortable] Okay.

Rhi: So you’re at 3 out of 4 on security being alerted, but you found stairs heading up.

Josie: [grinning] Let’s go.

Rhi: All right, up the stairs you go. At the top of the stairs, it’s a secret passage but it’s still very nice. [laughs] The walls are painted, there’s a couple pictures hanging on them, there’s carpet on the stairs, and at the top is a heavy door that is painted red with some gold detailing on it. It’s a very fancy door.

Josie: So what you’re saying is we see a red door.

Rhi: … Yes.

Josie: And yeah, I do kinda want to paint it black.

Rhi: [amused] I actually rephrased, because I was about to say “you see a red door.” No! I’m not gonna make it that easy on them.

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: And then you got there anyway.

Josie: Making us work for it.

Rhi: So yeah, you’ve got this door in front of you. If you try the doorknob, it is unsurprisingly locked.

Josie: [sighs] I cannot really do lock picking.

Kim: I can kind of do lock picking.

Rhi: Yeah.

Kim: You know what, I’ll push myself.

Rhi: Okay. All right. This is gonna be risky, reduced effect, because she has really good security on her home.

Kim: Okay. Ouch!

Josie: Oh no.

Rhi: Ooh, that’s not a good sign.

Kim: A 1 and a 3.

Rhi: Oof!

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: Okay. Blaire, you start working at the lock. It’s a tough lock. This is a very complicated door. As you’re working on it, you hear a click, and for a second you’re like huh, got it, and then something pricks into your wrist…

Kim: [gasps]

Josie: Oh no!

Rhi: …as a little poison needle has just shot out from a plate under the doorknob. You look down, and yeah, there’s a little needle…

Kim: I can’t believe my ex would do me like this.

Rhi: [laughs] …stuck in your arm.

Kim: [squirms]

Rhi: So, you’re gonna take level 2 harm, Poisoned, unless you want to resist that.

Kim: I do. What do I need to roll to resist?

Rhi: It’s gonna be Prowess.

Kim: Okay great. Two, three, six.

Rhi: Six, okay!

Josie: Phew.

Rhi: You’re able to resist it. It’s gonna drop it down to one. I think that you’re able to yank the needle out fast enough that you don’t get a big dose, but you still, like, you’re starting to feel a little shaky.

Kim: [uneasy grunt]

Rhi: A little shaky, a little woozy, your vision is swimming a little bit, you kinda have to work to focus. You’re gonna be at reduced effect on stuff that takes concentration, basically, so Tinker, Attune, Study, things like that.

Kim (as Blaire): [weakly] She really didn’t skimp out on the good stuff, huh?

Josie (as Minx): No she didn’t. Are you all right?

Kim (as Blaire): [groans] Yeah.

Josie (as Minx): Should I take a turn at the door?

Kim (as Blaire): No. No, you shouldn’t. If this thing gets both of us that’ll be bad.

Josie (as Minx): Well, I wasn’t gonna go for picking it.

Kim (as Blaire): Are you sure?

Josie (as Minx): It is up to you what you want to do. You’re the one who just got stabbed.

Kim (as Blaire): Eh… pricked.

Josie (as Minx): You know what I mean.

Kim (as Blaire): [exhales] Blow it open. Whatever.

Josie: [laughing] All right then.

Rhi: All right Minx, you’re up. What are you gonna do?

Josie: Minx is gonna go for a Wreck.

Rhi: Okay.

Josie: I don’t think it’s an explosion, I just think Minx has a fucking sledgehammer.

Rhi: [laughs]

Kim: Oh, so she’s just going Harley Quinn on this.

Josie: I have a heavy load.

Rhi: Yeah.

Josie: Yes. Like, I’m gonna mark that as demolition tools, but… [laughs]

Rhi: Go ahead and Wreck it. So, your effect is gonna be standard. I feel like this is gonna be desperate, and my reasoning on it is that you’re abandoning subtlety. She’s gonna know you’re coming. This is probably gonna trip some other alarms.

Josie: Okay.

Rhi: Does that make sense to you?

Josie: Yeah, that makes sense.

Rhi: Okay.

Josie: And I’ll mark xp about it.

Rhi: Yeah.

Josie: Got a 6.

Rhi: Yeah! Narrate this smashing down a door for me.

Josie: She takes her time. She’s not really an athlete, but she slowly practices her arc a little bit, and then just FWAM!

Rhi: Yeah, you wanna get this done in one shot.

Josie: Exactly.

Rhi: Which you do. I think that, yeah, you practice, you line it up, and just slam straight through the doorknob and the locking mechanism and it flies open. You see a very nicely appointed parlor, dimly lit at the moment, nobody’s in there. There’s a couple hallways branching off. There’s an archway that leads to what looks like a dining room area. You don’t see anyone in the dining room. So, you’ve got two doors and two halls that you can explore.

Josie: But no guards, so far.

Rhi: No.

Josie:  I’m gonna go down one of the hallways looking for a bedroom.

Rhi: Okay. Blaire, what are you doing?

Kim: Probably go the opposite way of Minx just to cover more ground.

Rhi: Okay. So you’re both heading off down opposite hallways. I kinda wanna check back in with Myra.

Minna: They’re not… Are they struggling? Are they gonna need help?

Rhi: They’re gonna shortly.

Minna: Uh-huh… Okay.

Josie: [smiling nervously] Oh boy.

Minna: I think there’s a slight sound and every one of her fight or flight instincts activate at once. Kind of the way you’re starting to have a bad dream so you’re like okay, time to wake up, that’s how she gets up off the couch.

Rhi: Jerk out of it? Yeah.

Minna: Yeah, just by plain willpower.

Rhi: The door is locked. [laughs] When you rush to the door and you try the door, it is locked.

Minna: I don’t think I’m good at picking locks.

Rhi: Yeah, that would be Tinker.

Minna: Yeah, I have 0 dots in that.

Rhi: There is a window in here.

Minna: Mmm, I’m gonna do that.

Rhi: Okay.

Minna: Climb out the window and see if there’s a room I can climb into that’s open.

Rhi: Okay, yeah. Give me a…

Minna: I think it’s a Prowl.

Rhi: it’s definitely Prowl. I’m trying to decide on the position. I think it’s risky, just because there are guards around, you’re climbing on the outside of a building, and you’re still a little woozy.

Minna: This is just like a person who’s slightly drunk deciding to climb out a window. It could end poorly.

Rhi: Yeah. You’re gonna be risky position, standard effect, climbing out a window.

Minna: I think I’m going to push myself.

Rhi: Okay.

Minna: That’s a 5.

Rhi: Okay…

Josie: Five ain’t bad.

Rhi: So, I think that you are able to scramble up the side of the building. There’s pipes. There’s window ledges. You make it up to… I think that you actually end up climbing into the lounge area. You climb into an empty space. However, we’re gonna fill up that clock. Security has been alerted that there are some kind of intruders on the third floor.

Minna: I guess climbing in a window was not my smartest move knowing there’s a security system.

Rhi: [laughing] Listen, Nyryx didn’t leave you a lot of options. You’re up there, and while that’s all happening we’ll cut back upstairs. Blaire, go ahead and give me a roll to search the hallway that you’re in.

Kim: You know what, I haven’t rolled an Attune yet this session. I’m gonna do that.

Rhi: You haven’t. Yeah. This is gonna be risky, and you’re using your spirit mask?

Kim: Yes.

Rhi: Yeah, so risky, greater effect.

Kim: Two, three, four.

Rhi: I think, actually, so here’s what it’s gonna be.

Kim: Mm-hmm?

Rhi: You put on your spirit mask, you attune to the ghost field, and you see, behind a door, this room that is just glowing with arcane and occult energies, and kind of on instinct you make your way over and you push at the door and it’s not locked. You go inside, and it is this, like, it’s honestly kind of… You’re sort of in awe. This is kind of a masterpiece of wards and summonings and bindings. There are thee glowing runes that are connected in ways that you haven’t seen before. There are shelves with glass fronts that contain all kinds of occult artifacts. There’s like books, these thick leather-bound tomes that you can just tell are full of arcane knowledge. You live for this shit.

Kim: Mm-hmm.

Rhi: This is exactly your jam, and if you want to resist giving into your vice and just forgetting about Minx and forgetting about Myra and forgetting about Nyryx and forget about everything, and just dive into this room, you’re gonna need to make a roll. You’ll need to make a resistance roll.

Kim: [groans] Here’s the thing, and this is very selfish of me, but I get xp if I give into this. [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah.

Kim: But at the same time, Blaire’s already on thin fucking ice when it comes to her own self-interests versus the crew.

Rhi: Mm-hmm!

Josie: I mean, you can make the resistance roll later?

Rhi: Yeah, you could do that, same thing that Myra did where you can kinda start to get into this and then pull yourself out in a little bit if you want.

Kim: We’ll do that!

Rhi: Okay.

Kim: I think Blaire just gets, you know, she gets very wide-eyed and takes off her spirit mask, and I think the camera just focuses on her hand reaching for her journal and then we cut away.

Rhi: Yeah, I love that. Okay, so Blaire is just like, she’s just walked into a treasure trove.

Kim (as Blaire): Oh fuck yeah…

[laughter]

Rhi: Minx?

Josie: Minx is just kind of striding down the hallway. Pretty normal for bedrooms to be at the end. She’s kind of resisting tapping the sledgehammer on the floor like her cane, and I think she’s drawn her sword in the other hand. She’s not being very thorough, she’s just kind of going for the end and if that’s not it she’ll work her way back.

Rhi: Okay. Go ahead and give me a roll for searching this end of the hall.

Josie: That’s a 3.

Rhi: So, you follow your gut, you stride to the end of the hallway, you throw open the door at the end there… it is the bedroom. It’s a nice bedroom, four-poster bed, this vanity that’s just laden with jewelry and makeup, big standing wardrobe. It’s empty. It’s dark. The bed is neatly made, nobody’s in it.

Josie: Minx kinda double-takes at the jewelry before forcing herself back into kill mode and turning around to keep looking.

Rhi: Yeah, like whoa. [laughs] You turn around and start checking the other doors. The first one you open is a bathroom. Nobody’s in there. You open the second one and you have a split second impression of a brightly lit study: nice big desk, couch and a couple armchairs. It’s that setup where there’s the desk and then there’s shelves behind it with all kinds of books and other things on top of it. You kind of have a split second to take this in and also Madam Tesslyn sitting behind the desk and then she fires the gun at you.

Josie: Oh boy!

Kim: Oh… oh… oh.

Rhi: Yeah. You are going to take level 2 harm as you get shot.

Josie: I’m going to mark armor.

Rhi: Okay, so that’ll drop it down to level 1. It goes from being you get shot in the torso to you get bruised badly in the torso.

Josie: I think I’m gonna try and resist it also. Can I do that?

Rhi: Yeah. I’ll allow it. That’ll be Prowess.

Josie: Very good at {that}.

Rhi: Six, okay, yeah. You just shake it off.

Josie: Yeah. I take the room in for a second and then fucking duck back behind the door and it sort of grazes Minx’s shoulder plate, essentially. She has a dueling pauldron on.

Rhi: Okay. I think, Blaire, you hear that gunshot.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: Gunshots are not subtle things.

Kim: Mm-hmm.

Rhi: Myra, you hear a gunshot too, and I think you hear it just as you get into the lounge. So, Blaire, if you wanna make that resistance roll now…?

Kim: Yes. Is this going to be Resolve?

Rhi: Yes.

Kim: Okay: 4, 5, 3, 6.

Rhi: Okay, 6. So yeah, you snap out of it, drop whatever book you’re holding. Back to Minx. You’ve just been shot at, you duck out of the way, and you can hear the sound of the pistol being quickly reloaded.

Rhi (as Tesslyn): She was perfectly safe, you know. I always liked her. I wasn’t going to do anything until you forced my hand.

Minna: Oh no.

Josie (as Minx): No one’s safe around people like you.

Josie: Minx is going to toss, lightly, the sledgehammer into the room to try and fake her out, to get her to shoot again, and then charge in afterward.

Rhi: Okay. I feel like that’s a Sway, because you’re trying to bluff her.

Josie: Woo!

Rhi: [laughs]

Josie: I’m also good at those, another 6.

Rhi: Ooh, but just barely. The rest of that sucked. [laughs]

Josie: Uh-huh. [laughs] Sure did.

Rhi: Yeah, so that would have been risky-standard again. Yeah, so you throw the sledgehammer, gun goes off again, and you can charge into the room. The gun fires and then just:

Rhi (as Tesslyn): Shit!

Josie: Yep. I’m gonna just charge right at her.

Rhi: Okay.

Josie: I’ll go over the desk if I need to.

Rhi: Well, let’s see how this roll goes.

Josie: Uh-huh.

Rhi: Yeah, I mean, I feel like your options here are Skirmish or Wreck.

Josie: I feel like Wreck is thematic for this first part, because I think I just want to go over the desk and then pin her to the wall.

Rhi: Okay. Yeah, this is gonna be risky, since you eliminated the option of her shooting at you as you come through the door, and standard effect.

Josie: I’m thinking about pushing myself, but I would be remiss if I didn’t ask after a Devil’s Bargain here.

Rhi: All right. Minx is going to end up with a scar that she can’t hide.

Minna: [gasps]

Kim: Ooh…

Josie: I… I have to.

[laughter]

Josie: That’s so sexy.

[giggling]

Josie: That’s so sexy and poignant. I’m taking that.

Rhi: Yeah.

Josie: I am doing it.

Rhi: Okay, yeah, you’ve got that Devil’s Bargain.

Josie: All right, I got a 5.

Rhi: Yeah. Like you said, you rush into the room, she is halfway through reloading the pistol, sees you coming, throws it aside and grabs something up off her desk. You go over the desk and grab her. There’s a struggle. Are you trying to just pin her to the wall with your hands, or are you using a sword? How are you approaching?

Josie: Well, I wanna pin her to the wall with my hands so I can then pin her to the wall through the heart with a sword. That’s my end goal. [chuckles]

Rhi: Got it. So yeah, she’s putting up a fight. You, I think, underestimated her physical capabilities, and what she grabbed off the desk was a letter opener, and she, in the middle of this struggle, gets you across the face. We will determine exactly where the scar ends up later, but right now it’s just there’s a lot of blood across Minx’s face. I think it’s kinda dripping into your eye. You manage to knock the letter opener aside and get her pinned. She hisses something under her breath, and there’s this electric feeling in the air, and both her hands start crackling with electroplasmic energy.

Kim: Uh-oh.

Josie: Right, she is a Whisper, she can do that.

Rhi: Mm-hmm. You are gonna be in a… I think it’s a desperate position, because basically if you fuck up this next roll she’s gonna zap the hell out of you.

Josie: I’m gonna push myself on this Skirmish.

Rhi: Desperate, standard effect.

Josie: I got a 6.

Rhi: How do you do it?

Josie: Minx just… I wanna know what look she has in her eyes.

Rhi: She’s furious. She’s angry.

Josie: All right, then I think Minx, with no hesitation, just presses her sword right through her heart and into the wood behind her.

Rhi: Yeah. I think that she had been just about to release this blast on you, and then you run her through, and the electricity just kind of crackles out into the air harmlessly. She screams, because she’s just been stabbed in the heart, and blood gushes out over both of you, and then there’s this long silent moment… and then from behind you, you hear:

Rhi (as Nyryx): [shakily] Minx?

Minna: [breathy] No!

Josie: Minx wheels around and finally lets go of the sword.

Rhi: Nyryx is standing in the doorway, eyes wide. She’s dressed as she would be for work. She looks beautiful.

Josie: [pained] Mm-hmm.

Rhi: You can hear—I don’t know if Minx can hear this, she might not notice, but Myra and Blaire both sprint down the hall towards Nyryx who’s just frozen in the doorway, and Minx is just covered in blood.

Kim: Oh Jesus.

Josie: Minx… A corner of Minx’s mouth kind of turns up in a semi-smile, but it’s clearly one of those I am frantic and not okay sort of things.

Minna: [as a groan] Aww…

Rhi: Yeah. You smile because you’re seeing the person that you love and you’re happy to see her and everything else is just kinda like, you don’t have the control to keep it from happening right now.

Josie: Yeah. She’s just like:

Josie (as Minx): Nyrie, you’re okay. Good.

Rhi: Nyryx takes a step back into the hall, and she looks scared.

Josie: Then I think Minx kind of looks down and takes stock of herself and just kinda walks over to one of the walls and slides down it into a sitting position. She’s really, really tired.

Rhi: Nyryx is frozen like a step back into the hallway as, Blaire and Myra, you both kinda get there. What are you two gonna do?

Kim: Well, if Tesslyn’s dead there’s—I think Blaire’s gotta have to work on capturing the spirit so that way, you know, they don’t have another problem on their hands.

Minna: [breathy] Yeah…

Rhi: Shit… uh, you’re right. Yeah.

Josie: Good call.

Rhi: Yeah. So Blaire, you’re gonna run over to the body and start dealing with that?

Kim: [tightly] Mm-hmm.

Rhi: Okay.

Kim: Should I roll an Attune to try and jar her up?

Rhi: Yeah. It’s gonna be… Normally spirits don’t leave the body right away.

Kim: Right.

Rhi: So, I think you’re gonna be at reduced effect… Well, no, because you’ll be using your spirit mask, and you’ve got a jar. I don’t think the spirit jars are fine spirit jars necessarily, but your spirit mask will help, so that’s gonna push it up to standard effect, risky position.

Kim: Great.

Rhi: I do want to remind, I think that, Myra, you’re kind of the last one up here. You heard running footsteps coming up the hall behind you as you were making your way up here. Like, the guards are on their way.

Minna: Okay.

Rhi: So, Blaire, go ahead and make your roll.

Kim: Three, three, five.

Rhi: Five, okay. You get—What I’m gonna go with is you’re able to get the spirit out of the body, but it flees before you’re able to get her into a jar.

Kim: Yeesh. All right, you know what, as long as it’s out of here. We’ll deal with that later.

Rhi: [laughing] That’s a problem for future Blaire.

Kim: Yup.

Josie: [uneasy] Mm-hmm.

Rhi: Okay, so Blaire’s doing that, Minx is sitting on the floor covered in blood, Nyryx is standing frozen in the hallway in horror. Myra?

Minna: Yeah, I think she stops to glance at Nyryx.

Rhi: Nyryx does not notice you.

Minna: Yeah, and then just kinda leaves her there and says:

Minna (as Myra): We need to get out of here fast. There are people coming.

Josie (as Minx): [weakly] Yeah… Nyryx should get out of here too. We should leave.

Josie: Minx kind of slowly inches herself up the wall.

Rhi: You leave some blood streaks behind. Like, using your hands on the wall you leave some bloody handprints.

Josie: Mm-hmm.

Rhi: Lucky for you, forensics isn’t a thing. [laughs]

Kim: Yep.

Josie: Yeah. She’s gonna slowly make her way towards the door.

Rhi: Nyryx kinda moves out of the way.

Josie (as Minx): Are you staying?

Rhi: I think she looks at you for a long, long moment, and there is fear and heartbreak in her eyes, but she swallows hard and kinda clenches her jaw and says:

Rhi (as Nyryx): Go out the window. I’ll tell them that I found her like this and I saw someone running away.

Josie (as Minx): Nyryx, please—

Rhi (as Nyryx): [forcefully] Go!

Josie (as Minx): Please be okay.

Rhi (as Nyryx): [shouting] Just go!

Josie: Minx takes a moment but doesn’t say anything before heading out.

Rhi: There are windows in this study. You’re able to climb down to safety and head off into the night.

 

 

## Downtime [0:32:24]

Rhi: You all make it out, you make it back to The Nest, and let’s do our downtime things. How… Hmm. When does Minx head out?

Josie: I think it’s a good long while.

Rhi: Okay.

Josie: She’s spends a lot of time showering…

Rhi: Oof, yeah.

Josie: …making sure everything’s clean, and then she’s in her room just quietly for a long time.

Rhi: You all did this… you probably, you know, if Myra’s appointment was at 2, so you all got there at about 2 in the morning, I would imagine it’s probably edging on towards dawn by the time you all get home.

Kim & Josie: Mm-hmm.

Rhi: So maybe it’s the following evening. Does that sound about right?

Josie: Sounds about right.

Rhi: Yeah. So Minx slips out and we’ll follow her later. Blaire and Myra, what do you two do back in The Nest?

Kim: We’re probably both in the common room I would think.

Minna: Yeah.

Rhi: Mm-hmm. Hex is sitting on Blaire’s lap.

Kim: Yep, on the couch.

Rhi: Purring up a storm.

Kim (as Blaire): I let her get away.

Minna (as Myra): That’s… There’s only so much we could have done to control the situation.

Kim (as Blaire): Yeah, but now we have that to deal with.

Minna (as Myra): We will deal with it then. Sorry, I… this was never going to go smoothly, was it?

Kim (as Blaire): No. No, it wasn’t.

Minna (as Myra): We rushed into it.

Kim (as Blaire): Well, believe it or not, it’s… you know, we could have rushed more into it.

Minna (as Myra): We certainly could have. I know some of us were fit to run directly off. I just don’t know how it’s gonna turn out.

Kim (as Blaire): Do you think Nyryx is gonna be okay?

Minna (as Myra): [exhales] I don’t know. The way she was looking at Minx, it worries me, but on the other hand I think she’s tougher than any of us give her credit for, really.

Kim (as Blaire): And they’ve known each other since they were kids. I don’t know… She might come around.

Minna (as Myra): She might. Are you gonna be okay?

Kim (as Blaire): Huh? Me? Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be fine. I mean, we took down another Circle member. That’s what we came for.

Minna (as Myra): Mm-hmm.

Kim (as Blaire): So yeah, I’m okay. What about you?

Minna (as Myra): I’m okay, I just… it’s not… These jobs aren’t easy, I’m trying to make my peace with them, but it still feels strange. Trying to explain to Nyryx and keep her in that place just kinda drove home how this is the life we’re living now.

Kim (as Blaire): I mean, yeah, and it is what we signed up for, so… you know.

Minna (as Myra): It just feels so much colder somehow planning it like this.

Kim (as Blaire): It needed to happen.

Minna (as Myra): I never killed anyone before I met you guys…

Kim (as Blaire): I would hope—

Minna (as Myra): Not to blame any of you for it, just… I guess I never cared about anything enough to kill.

Kim (as Blaire): I would have hoped that you hadn’t killed anyone before you met us, because it would be fucked up.

Minna: [laughs]

Minna (as Myra): You don’t know what kind of life any of us might have lived.

Kim (as Blaire): Yeah, I didn’t do great stuff either, but you know, I didn’t kill anyone before joining the crew either, so I get it.

Minna (as Myra): Do you wanna know something funny?

Kim (as Blaire): What?

Minna (as Myra): She got me with trance powder. Nyryx.

Kim (as Blaire): [laughs] For real?

Minna (as Myra): Yeah, completely in the style of Minx, so now I know what it feels like.

Kim (as Blaire): How was it?

Minna (as Myra): Hmm. I’d prefer that not happen to me again, frankly. Twice is too many.

Kim (as Blaire): Fair.

Kim: I think what Blaire does next is she kind of scoops up Hex in that very undignified cat way where the arms are sticking out.

Minna: [delighted] yes.

Kim (as Blaire): You want a kitty?

Minna (as Myra): I would love a kitty.

[giggling]

Minna (as Myra): Hello you strange little creature, you.

Kim: Hex is just squirming.

Rhi: [makes angry meowing sounds] Hex kind of, you know, does—

Minna: She definitely does the thing where she kisses the top of the cat’s head and kind of insults it.

Rhi: [chuckles] He’s just doing that cat that was just woken up and is being moved about grumble.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: But as soon as Myra sets him down on her lap he kind of shifts around and turns in circles and then settles down back into a little Hex ball.

Minna (as Myra): Who’s a sweet little monster?

Rhi: He’s purring very loudly.

Minna (as Myra): Yes you are.

Kim (as Blaire): Who’s my good little abomination?

[laughter]

Rhi: So, we leave the two of them…

Kim (as Blaire): The cutest crime against nature.

Rhi:. …gently and affectionately insulting this bat cat, and we catch up to Minx.

Josie: Now that she’s cleaned up, what’s her scar?

Rhi: Yeah. I was gonna ask. I mean, I’m gonna leave that in your hands.

Josie: If it’s up to me, I have to do the sexy over-eye scar. [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah, I’m down with that, although I think that means at this point, because it’s so fresh, I mean it’s not a scar at this point…

Josie: Right.

Rhi: So, are you thinking like the full, all the way down, bisects the eyebrow and then kind of continues under the eye?

Josie: Yeah.

Rhi: I think that she’s got some stitches and probably some bandages above and below the eye. I don’t think that it’s a full, like, you don’t have to have that eye covered, but I think it’s definitely swollen and bruised. It looks like you got kind of a black eye around there. So, it is not a sexy scar yet. [laughs]

Josie: Yes, with time. Give it time, dears.

Rhi: Yeah. Right now, you know, you look like you got slashed across the face 12 hours ago.

Josie: Mm-hmm. Yep.

Rhi: Yeah. But yeah, what’s she look like, how is she dressed?

Josie: She’s not dressed how she was, but her hair is still down. In fact, she kind of has it side swept a little bit to help cover up the bandages a little bit. She’s definitely in Minx clothes but very, very casual.

Rhi: Okay.

Josie: And her collar is slightly unbuttoned, and she’s in general looking very tired.

Rhi: Yeah… Yeah. Spent a lot of time in her room but probably didn’t really sleep.

Josie: Mm-hmm. No makeup or anything.

Rhi: Yeah. I assume you’re showing up at Nyryx’s apartment?

Josie: Mm-hmm. I think she goes to knock like three times before actually knocking.

Rhi: Yeah… There’s a bit of a pause, and then Nyryx opens the door and just kinda looks you up and down, and then silently steps aside so that you can come in.

Josie: Minx goes in. She kinda looks like… She very much looks ashamed.

Rhi: Yeah, just very guilty.

Josie: Yeah.

Rhi: So yeah, she shuts the door behind you and closes, locks the door, and I think sits down on the couch and gestures for you to sit down too.

Josie: Minx does.

Rhi: I think Nyryx kinda, like, she does that thing where she takes a breath to speak and then stops and sits there for a minute, clearly trying to collect her thoughts, and then she finally says:

Rhi (as Nyryx): Myra, um… Myra told me why you thought you had to do it, and I don’t… I don’t doubt that you thought it was necessary, but I know there’s a lot you don’t tell me, and I know that it’s because you’re trying to protect me… and I kinda liked it, you know? Having my knight in shining armor.

Josie: [small emotional noise]

Rhi (as Nyryx): But I don’t think it’s helping anymore, and I think you need to tell me, because Minx, it’s not that you killed her. [exhales] There were things that she said, rumors about some of the things that she did, and you’re not a bad person. You wouldn’t have killed her if you didn’t believe it was the right thing to do, but the look on your face…

Josie (as Minx): I… I can share more with you. I can do that, but I just really didn’t want you to get hurt.

Rhi (as Nyryx): I know.

Josie (as Minx): You wanted out, and really I should have gotten out too, rather than trying to play keep-away. I don’t think it was the right thing. I think it was the necessary thing. We’ve been trying to figure out another way to do this, but we can’t.

Rhi (as Nyryx): Are you sure? You… I remember what it was like when we were kids and you and Bazso were always the ones with the blades and I was the one with the smiles distracting the marks.

Josie (as Minx): Heh…

Rhi (as Nyryx): And Bazso was always okay with it, but it always ate away at you.

Josie (as Minx): Yeah…

Rhi (as Nyryx): And you didn’t wanna be like that.

Josie (as Minx): I still don’t.

Rhi: I’m imagining that you two initially were kind of sitting on opposite ends of the couch, and I think she scoots over to your side of the couch and puts an arm around your shoulders.

Josie: Minx actually seems kind of surprised.

Rhi (as Nyryx): You don’t have to be. You’ve got choices still.

Josie (as Minx): What choices? If we leave that they’ll hurt who knows how many people, but then people we care about are in danger. I could leave, I could still do that, but I don’t know a way to stay in this life and have choices.

Rhi (as Nyryx): Have you killed all of them? All the people you’ve gone after.

Josie (as Minx): It hasn’t always been me, but most of them.

Rhi (as Nyryx): But not all. There’s other ways.

Josie (as Minx): How…? With other people, sure, but Circle of Flame… they’re relentless.

Rhi: She very, very gently, being careful to not touch the fresh stitches on your face, tucks your hair back and says:

Josie: Aw…

Rhi (as Nyryx): I don’t doubt that, just based on the little bits that I’ve gotten and been able to put together, but I don’t want you to fight them so hard that you lose all of the things that make you ‘you.’

Josie (as Minx): But they keep coming after people I love, the people we love.

Rhi: I think she keeps her one arm around your shoulder and then with her other hand she takes one of yours and says:

Rhi (as Nyryx): Tell me what we’re up against so that I can take care of myself.

Josie (as Minx): Are you sure?

Rhi: She just nods.

Josie (as Minx): I can do that, I think.

Rhi: What I’m picturing is Minx starting to talk, to explain everything, as we kinda pull back through the window and just leave the two of them, sitting together, hand in hand on the couch.

Josie: [as a whine] Aww!

Rhi: I think that’s where we’ll leave it.

Minna: [emotional hum]

Josie: Yay.

Rhi: You good? [chuckles]

Josie: Uh-huh~ [chuckles]

 

 

## Outro [0:44:07]

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.

 

Rhi: Next, I’d like to thank our splendid Patreon backers. Mark Williams, thank you! XYXLOC, thank you, and sorry I couldn’t pronounce your name.

 

 

## Blooper [0:45:31]

Rhi: And you’re gonna need to make an Insight check here.

Minna: [amused] An Insight check, huh?

Rhi: Err, an Insight—not Insight check, uh, an Insight resistance roll.

[giggling]

Josie: [mockingly] I roll to Sense Motive.

[laughter]

Rhi: Listen. That’s basically what’s happening here.