Transcribed by Michelle Kelly (@Michellicopter)
##Intro
Rhi: Welcome back to Duskwall. As always, thank you so much for joining us. We’re getting close to the end of Season 3. It is amazing how much this show has grown from my earliest plans for it and it means a lot to me and the rest of the cast to have all of you supporting us. Things that also mean a lot to us, reviews! We love reviews and we got some really lovely ones last month. If you like the show, please tell us and any other potential listeners about it by leaving a review on your podcast listener of choice.
A quick note about this episode. Josie was unable to join us for recording, so there’s no Minx in this one. Never fear, The Magpies’ most fashionable member will be back next episode.
Also, in case you missed it on our Twitter, I was a recent guest on Party of One Podcast. If you’re not familiar with it, Party of One is an actual play show in which host Jeff Stormer plays through games with a single player, usually himself, and a guest GM. Sometimes the games are designed for two players, and sometimes it’s more of an experiment to see how games that are meant for groups handle just a single player. One-player Blades in the Dark works really well, and I had an absolute blast running this game for Jeff. It ended up also being about being gay and doing crimes. You can find a link to the episode in the show notes.
Next, Josie is going to tell us about this month’s call to action.
Josie: Hey, coronavirus sucks. Donate PPE to people and institutions that need them, and also money. Uh, support people where you live, maybe organize a rent strike or something. If you can do it, stay inside.
Rhi: I also don’t really have a lot new to say here. I think everybody knows what we’re all going through, what actions we need to take to help each other. Support the Post Office, fight for protections for essential workers, keep fighting for a better world.
Now then. Let’s get started, shall we?
##Story continues [00.02.18]
Rhi: We open up in Charhollow on a quiet residential street. There’s a lot of kind of run-down apartment buildings, a little worn, paint is chipping, things like that. The streets look like they probably haven’t been swept in a few weeks. And in the midst of this street there is a house. It is a large house, clearly very newly built. It doesn’t have the sort of coaldust grime on it that most buildings in Charhollow and Coalridge seem to acquire after a little bit of time. It’s much, much nicer than any of the buildings around it and it is surrounded by a tall wrought iron fence.
And we can see through the fence a figure moving towards the house. They’ve got a hood up, a coat on that kind of disguises what they look like. And this person gets up towards the house and reaches into the satchel at their side and pulls out a bottle. They open it up and start pouring out the liquid that’s inside, and it’s some kind of oil that they’re splashing on the wall of the house. And they do that with a couple more bottles, circling the house, splashing oil on the walls. And then they pull out a fourth bottle that is a bottle of a cheap Skovlan vodka that has a rag stuffed in the top. And the person takes out a matchbook, strikes a match, lights the rag and then, once it’s caught, they hurl the bottle at the wall of the house, and it bursts in a flash of flame which catches the oil that’s on the side of the house.
And very quickly, the house starts burning. And the person stands there for a minute, watching as the flames catch and start taking the house, and then they reach into their pocket and flick something through the air towards the flames. And we see as this thing kinda tumbles through the air that it is a Magpie pin.
We cut to Blaire and Myra, who we find at The Hound’s Paw at their usual table. It’s been not too long since the incident at The Red Lamp when The Magpies went after and assassinated Madame Tesslyn, the former owner of The Red Lamp brothel and a member of The Circle of Flame. Minx has been keeping— all of The Magpies have been keeping a low profile, but Minx especially so. And right now, she is continuing to lay low at The Nest and recover from her various injuries. So, Blaire and Myra, what are the two of you doing here at The Hound’s Paw on this kind of quiet afternoon?
Minna: Myra and Blaire are playing cards at the table.
Rhi: Nice. Yeah, so I think it’s kind of getting— starting to get back into that old routine you had where, you know, you would hang out at The Hound’s Paw and wait around for a little bit to see if anybody came in who needed your particular services. Rigney’s at the bar, as usual. Not cleaning glasses for once. He is just hanging out there and updating the— I think he’s updating the staff schedule for the next month, getting all the shifts worked out.
Kim: The next month?
Rhi: He’s a very— listen. You get a predictable schedule from Rigney. He is a good boss.
Kim: Thank God.
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim: Because when I worked retail, I never got more than a week’s notice.
Rhi: I know. Rigney is a good boss!
Kim: Thank you.
Rhi: He pays well, and you know your schedule a month in advance. [laughs]
Minna: That’s amazing.
Kim: My God, the bar is in Hell, and yet…
Rhi: Yep. So, there’s a lot of sort of muttered grumbling and erasing as he’s trying to, you know, get this schedule to work out, but he’s working on it. And as you’re hanging out here, the door opens and familiar figures come in. It is Briggs, Minx’s and really now kind of The Magpies’ contact in Charhollow, and he is accompanied by his seeing-eye dog, Mallory. And he kinda comes in and stops a little bit into the room and, like, cocks his head to the side, sort of listening to the conversations in the room.
Minna (as Myra): Briggs.
Rhi (as Briggs): Ah, good, you’re here.
Rhi: And he comes over to your table and will take a seat. Kinda scritches Mallory behind the years and is like:
Rhi (as Briggs): [sighs] Well, I, um, I’m glad I caught you. I needed to talk to you about, well, that house you burned down a few days ago. I understand the motive, but—
Minna (as Myra): Sorry…
Kim (as Blaire): Huh?
Minna (as Myra): The house? That we what?
Rhi (as Briggs): That you burned down.
Minna (as Myra): We didn’t burn down any houses.
Kim (as Blaire): I mean, I did a ritual two days ago, but I had an extinguisher on me, I didn’t burn down The Nest, so…
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi (as Briggs): Well, unless The Nest is in Charhollow, I don’t think that’s… a business owner’s home, new, very expensive home, got burned to the ground, and this was found at the scene.
Rhi: And he sets down in the middle of the table a lightly charred Magpie pin.
Minna (as Myra): That does sound like us. But it wasn’t.
Kim: Are there any discrepancies between this pin and our actual pin, if I inspected it further?
Rhi: Yes. I had that planned in my notes.
Kim: Oh my God.
Rhi: So yeah, if Blaire picks up the pin and examines it more closely— at first glance, if you just were looking at it quickly, yeah, it looks like a Magpie pin. But when you pick it up and study it, you can tell, one, that it’s made of a much cheaper metal. Like, you can almost bend the pin with your hands. And two, you know, with Minx in the mix, the pins that you get are very nice. They’ve got, you know, high-quality metal, enamel for the colors, like, they look good. This looks like it was just somebody painted it. You know, it is not the same level of quality that you all have in your pins. So, it looks very similar, but it is not one of yours.
Kim: Hmm.
Kim (as Blaire): So, we have a fan club. An extremely enthusiastic fan club.
Rhi (as Briggs): I mean, I… well, I suppose, but if you do have a fan club, they’re causing quite a few problems. The owner of the house that got burned down is a business owner, Darien Nuncio. Kind of a scumbag to be honest. He owns some shops and some apartment buildings, and if you work at one of his shops, he makes you rent an apartment from him too, and he takes most of your paycheck in rent. And then if he catches you shopping at some place that isn’t one of his stores, you get fired and evicted. So, he ends up taking pretty much the entire paycheck back from anybody that works from him.
Kim (as Blaire): Well, that’s kinda bullshit.
Rhi (as Briggs): Yeah. So, can’t say that I’m real torn up about him losing his house, except for he’s pretty pissed about it. He’s hired some Bluecoats to come around when they’re off-duty and rough people up, look for information. Fortunately, one of my contacts got on the scene before they did and found the pin. So, they haven’t quite tied it to all of you yet. Or, I guess, whoever your fan is. Ugh, are you sure it’s a fan? Maybe somebody’s trying to frame you.
Minna (as Myra): Both are possible. But it does sound like somebody who would agree with us. Unless it’s a really elaborate plot by this Darien person.
Rhi (as Briggs): Mm. I don’t know if he’s the type. He spent a lot of money on this house.
Minna (as Myra): Yeah, it— hmm. So, the problem is the Bluecoats that are coming into the area?
Rhi (as Briggs): Yeah. They’re dragging people out of their houses for questioning and roughing up people in the streets and just generally being a menace. So, I know that you’re not behind the house fire, but we could use your help in dealing with the fallout from it. If you could figure out who is behind it too, that would help a lot.
Kim (as Blaire): We can look into it.
Rhi (as Briggs): Appreciate it.
Minna (as Myra): Does feel strange to be asked to help The Bluecoats do their job.
Rhi (as Briggs): I don’t know if I’d say you’re helping The Bluecoats do their job. Depending on who this person is, you might not necessarily wanna turn them in, just convince them to not pull stunts like this anymore, you know?
Minna (as Myra): Yeah.
Rhi (as Briggs): Mostly, we just need The Bluecoats to back off. But anyway, you can keep the pin. Don’t really need it and it’s probably safer with all of you. Don’t have to worry about it falling into the wrong hands and somebody getting the wrong idea.
Rhi: Is there anything else you wanna ask Briggs before he heads out?
Minna: Are there any, like, rivals of Nuncio that he knows about?
Rhi: Um… let’s do some kinda Gather Information roll for that.
Minna: That’s a 6.
Rhi: He doesn’t really have rivals. Like, he’s kinda— the stores he runs are, like, grocery and home goods type things, and he kinda has a monopoly on that sorta stuff in Charhollow. Like, you can find some much smaller businesses, but he’s run a lot of other people out of the district, and Briggs can tell you that, like, people who work for him, like, if they go to The Weeping Lady for food, he’ll fire you. You have to— he wants his employees to be 100% dependent on him.
Minna: Well that sounds predatory.
Kim: Fucked up.
Rhi: Mm hmm. The only reason that he doesn’t pay them in, like, company scrip is then The Empire couldn’t take out taxes on it. We can’t have that, you’re not gonna deny the Emperor anything. So, Briggs is gonna head on out, say goodbye to Rigney. Rigney will kind of distractedly look up from his notes. [laughs] Did not realize that Briggs had entered, only realizes that this is happening as he’s leaving. Waves. Goes back to his scheduling.
Minna: [giggles]
Rhi: So, yeah, if you two wanna do some more gathering of info on this whole situation?
Kim: Yeah, absolutely. I wanna go to— if it won’t gather too much heat, I wanna go to Charhollow, to the scene of the crime, and do some ghost field inspection.
Rhi: Yeah. Yeah, um, I think… I’m gonna have you— so, I’m gonna have you make two rolls.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: One of those rolls is gonna be the actual Gather Information roll and the other roll is gonna be for kinda how stealthy you can be while doing this.
Kim: Hmm. Okay.
Rhi: And the stealthiness roll, I’m gonna add that into— I’ll keep that in consideration when I do the Engagement roll. Like, if you do well on this, that’ll help, if you do poorly on it, that’ll hurt.
Kim: I see.
Rhi: So, yeah.
Kim: So, which one would you like me to roll first?
Rhi: Let’s do the stealth. However you wanna do stealthiness first.
Kim: Okay, this is probably gonna be Prowl.
Rhi: Probably. That sounds reasonable.
Kim: It’s a 4?
Rhi: Doesn’t hurt, doesn’t help. So, you are stealthy enough that you don’t attract attention. Or you don’t attract too much attention, we’ll say.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: But yeah, so you head over to the scene of the crime. You know, we again see that quiet residential street, the tall, wrought iron fence. The gates have, like, a chain and a padlock around them now, and there’s like a police barricade sign thing in front of them. A Bluecoat barricade in front of them. The brigade, you know, got out here before it completely burned to the ground, but it is… it got pretty well gutted. It looks like the roof collapsed, it’s blackened, windows are blown out, you know. It’s not gonna be livable. It’s gonna have to be torn down. So, if you want to look into the ghost field and see what you can see?
Kim: Yes. I would like to roll Attune and see, brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?
Rhi: Oh.
Kim: [laughs]
Rhi: If you get a 6…
Kim: 6. [laughs] My other rolls were a 3 and a 2.
Rhi: Okay. So, I think that you concentrate and look into the ghost field and— you know, the ghost field, as we have discussed, can do a great many things. It can show you a great many things. And in this case, it kind of shows you the memory of this house dying.
Kim: Cool.
Rhi: The house, when you look into the ghost field and you kind of concentrate on this, the house is actually very faint in the ghost field. It was too new and hadn’t been lived in enough to sort of really imprint on the ghost field. Really old buildings that have— that are well lived-in, that have a lot of people come through, they can leave a very strong imprint in the ghost field, even after the physical structure is torn down, sometimes you can see the memory of a building. This one, not so much. It was too new for that. So, there’s just kind of a very faint outline of the house. And what you do see is a person, the silhouette in the ghost field of a living person, moving towards the house.
You basically kind of see in very faint silhouette that opening sequence of someone throwing, you know, oil or throwing liquid onto the house and then throwing something burning. And then you can kind of see these ghostly flames consuming the house. But what you’re also able to see is this person fleeing from the burning home. What information—like, you got a 6, so what information would you like to get from this?
Kim: The arsonist.
Rhi: Okay. So, I think like, the person, kinda where you’re standing you’re off to the side and they, the figure runs towards you and you can’t see, like, the fence in the ghost field, because the fence doesn’t have any kind of imprint.
Kim: Right.
Rhi: Nor does— you’re guessing it’s a rope, based on how the person is moving and climbing to get over the fence. But you do get, kind of as they come up to the fence, you do get a look at their face. It’s a young woman, you know, you’re guessing probably around your age, Blaire. Maybe a year or two older.
Kim: Oh, really? A baby?
Rhi: Mm hmm. A wee bab.
Kim: Wow. Usually everybody’s older than me, so that’s a surprise.
Rhi: Light skin, freckles, you can’t see her hair because of the hood that she’s got on. She has a scarf kinda pulled up over her nose. She’s got, like, freckles all over her skin.
Kim: So, me?
Rhi: You can still see them— yes. [laughs] You can still see them even with the scarf covering her nose. You don’t recognize her. This is not a face you’ve ever seen before. But you’re pretty sure that if you saw her again, you would know who she was. You get a very clear—
Kim: I’d be able to pick her out of a Bluecoat line.
Rhi: So yeah, you get a good look at her face and then she kinda— she scrambles over the fence and drops to the ground, kind of this ghostly image next to you, and then runs off and fades away. And then the memory of the house burning down fades as well and you’re just kinda left looking at this burned-out husk. I mean, with a 6, you can ask me follow-up questions if there’s any other details you would like to get about the incident.
Kim: Okay. Do I have a sense of which direction the arsonist ran?
Rhi: She— you’re like standing in an alley beside it. She ran down the alley and turned west. But that just leads out onto another major street.
Kim: It doesn’t really tell me, like, what town she would have bailed to next?
Rhi: She probably— you can guess she probably lives in Charhollow, Crow’s Foot, Silkshore, or Barrowcleft.
Kim: Really narrowing it down, okay.
Rhi: Yeah. [laughs] If she lived in, like, Coalridge or Nightmarket or Six Towers, she probably would have turned east.
Kim: Mm hmm.
Rhi: As much as you’re able to get from what you see, so…
Kim: Great. Okay. Um… the only trace they’ve left at the scene of the crime was the pin? Nothing else?
Rhi: So, I think, yeah, if you circle around the house to the side where you saw her throw the bottle and kinda peer through the bars, there is a piece of glass just within arms reach of the fence. It’s curved and it has, like, paper stuck to it. It doesn’t look like a window. And you stick your arm through and you manage to grab it and you pull it over, and it is a chunk of a bottle that has a label for a cheap Skovlan vodka on it.
Kim: Hmm. Okay. I assume I can take this?
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim: Okay. Blaire collects it.
Rhi: A little videogame inventory pops up.
Kim: Shing!
Rhi: You’ve acquired.
Kim: Press Y to inspect.
Rhi: [laughs] So, let’s go over to Myra.
Minna: I’m going to do my little thing where I help people out with, like, little legal papers and things and I’m going to kind of, just like, bring it— slip it into conversations that I heard some whispers about some young people who had some rather fiery ideas and I was wondering…
Rhi: [snorts]
Minna: You know, I was a little bit worried, and I was just wondering if there was any way I could help them deal with that. [laughs]
Kim: Way not to sound like an undercover cop.
Rhi: [laughs] Myra does sound like a cop when you phrase it like that, shit.
Kim: [laughs]
Rhi: No, it’s fine.
Minna: I’m at least a tiny bit known to these people, so like—
Rhi: Oh yeah. Yeah, if you’re asking around—
Minna: I’m phrasing it a way that I’m trying to help them.
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim: But it’s still a little bit, “How do you do, fellow kids?”
Minna: It is a little bit, “How do you do, fellow kids?” [laughs]
Rhi: [laughs]
Minna: But also, I’ve been that kid.
Rhi: Yeah. Go ahead and make a roll.
Minna: Is this a Consort? Or is this a Sway. Okay…
Rhi: I think it’s Consort. You’re not trying to deceive the citizenry of Charhollow.
Minna: Well, I rolled a 3 on that one.
Rhi: Okay. So, you get a limited amount of information. What kind of information would you like to get from this? Because that’ll help me figure out how to give you a piece of that information.
Minna: Where those kinds of kids would gather or what things these kinds of kids would be affiliated with. Like, just a lead to, like, talk to some people who might know.
Rhi: Yeah. Where’s the local skate park where all the youths hang out.
Minna: [laughs and wheezes]
Kim: You either skate or you die.
Rhi: [laughs]
Minna: Where do all the angry kids go to talk about how angry they are?
Kim: Obviously the Blink 182 concert.
Rhi: [laughs] Um, so… oh man. See, now that you’ve said that, I do kinda wanna have it be somewhere where some kind of music…
Kim: [laughs]
Rhi: I think there’s a, like, there’s a dive bar where local musicians will perform, but they tend to be kind of the like…
Kim: It’s definitely like a self-printed zine.
Rhi: Yeah, I mean basically, it’s like, yeah, well it’s the like, anarchist… it’s the, you know, artists of the anarchist and unionization movements, basically. Because you— for any kind of movement like that there, you know, you have the artists and musicians and writers. And I think there’s a dive bar that hosts those kinds of performances. And I think that you learn that a lot of, you know, a lot of the disaffected youth will hang out there. Yeah, I’m gonna make you two come up with the name of this dive bar.
Kim: Mm…
Minna: Hmm.
Kim: That’s dangerous.
Rhi: And by “you two”, I mean Minna, because Minna is the one that I can trust to come up with names.
Minna: [laughs]
Kim: Oh, come on!
Rhi: [laughs]
Minna: I mean, my first thought was The Rusty Screw, which isn’t good. [laughs]
Kim: I mean, my brain was trying to come up with, like, a Red Hot Chili Peppers pun, so…
Rhi: [laughs] God help me. I’m gonna, okay, I’m vetoing all your ideas and I’m going—
Kim: No!
Rhi: For Chicago history. It is The Haymarket Tavern.
Minna: So, I obviously have to take the coolest youth I know with me, right? [laughs]
Rhi: Mm hmm, and that is?
Minna: The one with the most eyeliner.
Rhi: True.
Kim: Darkness Dementia Ebony Raven Way?
Rhi: [laughs]
Minna: Do you wanna go by that now?
Kim: [laughs]
Rhi: No! No, I forbid it.
[laughter]
Rhi: Alright, let’s get back on track. [laughs] So, yeah, you’re gonna head over to The Haymarket Tavern. I think— do you wanna, like, wait until it’s more into night properly and there’s, like, a show happening? Or do you just wanna head over now?
Minna: I think maybe let’s wait until there’s a show happening.
Rhi: Okay. You get there. The bar is, you know, pretty crowded. Lots of people hanging around. You know, there’s musicians performing, singing songs about revolution through clever allegory so they won’t get arrested for it. Lot of people at the bar, lot of people at tables. I think you might actually recognize a couple of, like, Belle Brogan’s people from the union movement here talking to some tables. And yeah, you’ve got a bar full of people, many of whom are disaffected youths. What would you like to do?
Kim: Um, yeah, Minna’s the only one here, right?
Rhi: No, I think you came.
Minna: No, I brought you specifically.
Rhi: Yeah, she brought you specifically.
Minna: Because you would fit in and I wouldn’t.
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim (as Blaire): Anarchy!
Rhi: Yeah, Blaire does, like, in terms of appearance look more— and age—
Minna: Wait. Wait. Wait. Did Blaire have to give me a makeover? [laughs]
Kim: [gasps]
Rhi: God, yes.
Kim: Yeah, probably. You’re probably looking a little goth right now.
Minna: I love it.
Rhi: Incredible. Minx absolutely contributed to this.
Kim (as Blaire): Grunge is in!
Minna: Myra’s definitely more grunge than fancy goth.
Rhi: Yeah. And this is not a fancy goth setting.
Minna: Yeah, so it works.
Rhi: So, yeah. Yeah, what do the two of you wanna do?
Kim: Uh, I think this might be the one occasion where Blaire mingles and it actually sort of works— well, we’ll see if the dice says it works out or not. But Blaire could mingle here.
Rhi: Yeah. Go for it.
Kim: Yeah. I’m gonna roll a Consort to see what info I get.
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim: Okay, 6 and a 1?
Rhi: 6. Okay. So, what kind of info are you trying to get?
Kim: Who did a good crime lately? Um, who really stuck it to the cops lately?
Rhi: [laughs] Are you presenting yourself as Blaire Culhane of The Magpies or are you just, like, kinda trying to mingle?
Kim: Fuck it, Blaire Culhane of The Magpies is here.
Rhi: Okay. Yeah, so I think if— yeah, you start chatting yourself up and introducing yourself that way, like, you get a fair amount of attention. You end up with a little crowd around you of people who are like, “Holy shit, you’re part of The Magpies? Are you for real?” Like, and you know, not everything that you all have done, but they know a lot of what you have done, especially in Charhollow and like, they really admire you and respect you. There’s a little bit of— and, like, somebody asks for your autograph and I don’t know how Blaire feels about that?
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah. Yeah, totally.
Rhi: They’re very impressed to meet you. And are, like, very grateful for what you and the rest of The Magpies have done. And yeah, like, when you start asking, you know, what have people done around her lately, somebody will mention that it’s a shame that Larissa isn’t here tonight because she would have loved to meet you.
Kim: Whomst?
Rhi: And you kinda ask after her and you get the name Larissa Dolbrev.
Kim: Mm hmm.
Rhi: You know, hasn’t been around for a little while. She was talking about, like, she had been talking about doing something big. Had been kinda vague on the details, but nobody’s really seen her for a little bit. She hasn’t been coming out to the sort of usual hangs lately.
Kim: Mm hmm.
Rhi: But yeah, you manage to get a name of a person who very much admires your work and may have been plotting something big.
Kim: interesting. Good to know.
Kim (as Blaire): Myra, I got a name.
Minna (as Myra): You got a name?
Kim (as Blaire): I got a name. Potential lead. Larissa Dolbrev.
Minna (as Myra): Did you get anything else, or just the name?
Kim (as Blaire): Uh, the name and that they’ve been missing in action a little while and that they’re a big fan of me.
Rhi: Well, fan of The Magpies, generally.
Kim (as Blaire): Oh, I shouldn’t let the fame go to my head. Big fan of us.
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi: Somebody has kind of trailed after Blaire and is like:
Rhi (as Youth): Oh my God, are you… are you Myra Keel?
Minna: [laughs]
Minna (as Myra): Hello.
Rhi (as Youth): [nervously] Hi! We’re huge fans of your work, like, I mean The Magpies work, all that you all do. Like, it’s just so inspiring and we’re just… yeah. You’re really cool. You’re like actually out there doing it! Like, sticking it to the authorities.
Kim (as Blaire): Fuck yeah, we are.
Rhi: [laughs]
Minna: I think Myra, like, thanks them graciously, but she is also like, her brain is, like, visibly dying.
Rhi: Yeah. [laughs]
Minna: Like, do not— does not compute. She has never had to deal with this before.
Rhi: Yeah.
Minna: It’s nice, but it’sweird.
Rhi: Yeah. I think, and some of it— like, some of it is just kind of a general like, “Hell yeah, you’re cool,” but some people, like, thank you for specific things. Like, somebody says that they, you know, had a relative who has been to the clinic that you all helped over and recovered from this cough that they’d had for a really long time and, you know, just, people are very grateful for the stuff that you all have done.
Minna: So, I think she is probably getting into these conversations, and like, occasionally she’ll be like:
Minna (as Myra): Well, I heard that this friend of yours, Larissa, maybe hasn’t been around in a while?
Minna: So she’s gonna be kinda like, asking questions about her, I think.
Rhi: Okay.
Minna: I think that’s another Consort. 6.
Rhi: Okay. Myra, that name kinda pinged you a little bit, and eventually somebody mentions Larissa’s mother, Agnes Dolbrev. And that’s when it clicks, like, Agnes has come to see you a couple times about some legal paperwork. She is a Skovlan refugee. Akarosi is not her first language, so she can speak the language well enough to get by, but reading it is a struggle, particularly when your dealing with a, you know, complex legal document. So, she’s brought some things to you just to make sure that she understands, you know, what she’s signing before she signs it. And you do remember that a couple times she brought her daughter with her and I think you’re able to get an address for where the Dolbrevs live.
Minna: Oh, nice. So, I think it’s:
Minna (as Myra): Thank you. I’m just worried about her.
Rhi (as Youth): Yeah. Yeah, if you can go check on her, I mean, one, like, if she’s there and she’s okay she’ll be thrilled to meet you, but yeah. If you just make sure that she’s okay?
Minna (as Myra): Of course. Don’t spread around that we’ve been ask— that we’ve been interested in… I don’t think it would help their case.
Rhi (as Youth): Oh, yeah. Yeah. No, we won’t tell anybody that we saw you here, don’t worry.
Minna (as Myra): Thank you.
Rhi: Yeah, so do you wanna just pay them a visit?
Minna: Yes, I would love to pay them a visit.
Rhi: [laughs] Alright, so the two of you are gonna—
Minna: I’m gonna do it during daylight— well, not daylight hours. I’m gonna do it during…
Rhi: During the day?
Minna: Yeah.
Rhi: So, are the two of you gonna head over there?
Kim: Yep.
Rhi: So, next day you head on out and they, it’s a, you know, kind of a typical-looking apartment building in the area. They live on the sixth floor, so it’s a bit of a climb to get there. And yeah, you reach the apartment.
Minna: Myra’s gonna knock on the door.
Rhi: You can hear, like, footsteps inside and then there’s, like, a gasp, audible gasp through the door. And then the door flies open and Blaire, you immediately recognize the young woman standing there with huge eyes whos’ just like:
Rhi (as Larissa): Oh, wow, you’re actually here. Hello! My name is Larissa. Uh, it’s an honor to meet you!
Minna (as Myra): Hello, Larissa.
Kim (as Blaire): Pleasure is ours.
Minna (as Myra): [laughs] Yes.
Rhi (as Larissa): Um, I, uh, I guess you heard about what I did?
Rhi: Big excited grin.
Minna (as Myra): Let’s take this somewhere inside, away from prying ears.
Rhi (as Larissa): Oh! Yes, yes, of course, of course. I’ve been having to keep a low profile the last few days. Lots of Bluecoats prowling around.
Rhi: She will shut the door and lock it. It’s looks like it’s a one-bedroom apartment. Pretty small. There is a bed out in kind of the living area. You’re guessing that either her mom sleeps out here or… one of them sleeps out in the living room, the other one has the bedroom. Yeah, she kind like, you know, spins around is still just like, beaming, like rally proud of herself.
Rhi (as Larissa): Um, right, so how did you find out? Was it the pin?
Minna (as Myra): It was the pin. We wanted to talk to you—
Rhi (as Larissa): I have lots more!
Minna (as Myra): Oh. Okay.
Rhi: [laughs] She runs off to the bed, goes under it and pulls out a bag that clinks a lot.
Minna: Oh my God.
Kim (as Blaire): Okay…
Minna (as Myra): Larissa. You need to be careful with what you do with that pin. We have been gathering a higher profile and we’re having to be more careful as well of where we use our energy, because wherever our mark is, more people are gonna come sniffing around.
Kim (as Blaire): We’ve actually been taking a break. We didn’t know there was an arson until one of our contacts told us about it.
Rhi (as Larissa): Well, I mean, that’s sort of the idea is that, you know, we could, you know, me and some of my friends who really admire your work, we could help and do things when you need to take a break or hide from The Bluecoats or things like that.
Minna (as Myra): The sentiment is really, really admirable, Larissa, and I can understand exactly why you chose this target. I think we just need to talk about thinking through consequences before we act. Does that sound fair?
Rhi: She, like, [laughs] I think is finally picking up on the vibe of, like, you two are not 100% enthusiastic about this. And kinda deflates a little bit and is like:
Rhi (as Larissa): Um… yes, I suppose.
Minna (as Myra): We’re not here for a lecture. We just, we’ve been hearing about an increased Bluecoat presence in the area, and we were a little bit worried about that, about what that means for your neighbors.
Rhi (as Larissa): Oh.
Rhi: Yeah, so she’s just kinda standing there, like, looking back and forth between the two of you, like, starting to look a little worried.
Minna (as Myra): We’ve been reckoning with some of this ourselves recently. The more you act and get noticed, the more other people around you are going to potentially be brought in on some of the fallout. And that’s definitely something you have to weigh. Larissa, would you be open to being connected with other people who are doing work in this area?
Rhi (as Larissa): Like… what kind of people? [sighs] Mother keeps telling me that I should, like, volunteer with The Weeping Lady and they do good work, but like, it’s not— it doesn’t change anything the way that you do!
Minna (as Myra): Okay. Well, I can tell you a couple of people who are working to make changes that you might be interested in. We’ve got Belle Brogan and their unionization efforts—
Rhi (as Larissa): You know Miss Brogan?
Minna (as Myra): A little bit, yes, and I could see if she needs more help. We also have some people who are working to put out better news than the Doskvol Daily puts out. If you or your friends would be interested in helping them, I’m sure they could use help.
Rhi (as Larissa): Yeah. That— that sounds like it might be good. But, um, I mean, it doesn’t seem very… uh, direct. The way that you do things.
Kim (as Blaire): I know it doesn’t sound very radical, but changing the public opinion and working the press is one of the most vital things you can do to get the truth out there.
Rhi: Can I have you two give me, like, a group Consort? This won’t have consequences, I just wanna see how persuasive you are in convincing this young woman to turn her energy in a more fruitful direction.
Kim: That’s a 6, my dude.
Minna: I got a 5. So, nobody takes any stress and it’s a 6.
Rhi: Yeah. Yeah, so Larissa kinda nods really thoughtfully and is like:
Rhi (as Larissa): Okay. Um, I mean, I know I’d be really honored to meet Miss Brogan or your friends with the paper. That would be great.
Minna (as Myra): How about this? You said you have other friends who are interested, right?
Rhi (as Larissa): Mm hmm.
Minna (as Myra): Why don’t you talk to them, see what they’re interested in. We can try to arrange meetings, I mean, if you can find maybe a representative for people who wanna be meeting each group. And then we can try and arrange some kind of meeting.
Rhi (as Larissa): Yeah, that would be great. Um… uh…
Rhi: And she kinda looks down at the bag of presumably— it’s not like a huge bag. I’m picturing like, you know, sandwich baggie size. But it’s still pretty full. She clearly made a lot of pins. [laughs] Is like:
Rhi (as Larissa): Um, should we keep, like, leaving these around, or…
Minna (as Myra): I think that they could be a powerful symbol. You have to be careful about the power of the symbol.
Rhi: Looks very thoughtful and nods ands then, like, a lightbulb seems to go off and is like:
Rhi (as Larissa): Oh no, have you— are you all in trouble because of the fire?
Kim (as Blaire): Not yet, no. No, not yet.
Rhi (as Larissa): Oh dear. Oh.
Minna (as Myra): Our friends found the pin before The Bluecoats did.
Rhi (as Larissa): Oh, good. Oh… I didn’t even think about that.
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah, and maybe best if you just, you know, sell this as fanart? Or something?
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi (as Larissa): Alright. Yeah. I’ll be more careful about what we do with these.
Rhi: Yeah, she nods and looks, like, very thoughtful and, like, a little embarrassed.
Minna (as Myra): Hey, Larissa? Don’t look so down. It’s really impressive what you’ve already— that you’ve already started on this path. We’re just worried. We’re just worried.
Rhi (as Larissa): Okay. I am— wow, I really appreciate that. Um, I, uh… alright. I’ll talk to my friends and see what I can figure out.
Minna (as Myra): Okay. Do you know how to get in contact with us if you need to?
Rhi (as Larissa): Um… well, the couple times that I’ve seen you around was with my mother. So, that was around here. I don’t know where to meet with you necessarily.
Minna (as Myra): If you or any of your friends need something, take a note up, or if you need to, come up to The Hound’s Paw up in Nightmarket. We usually pick up our notes there.
Rhi (as Larissa): Alright. Um, is, wow… do you— oh gosh, do you all, like, do you want tea? Do you want something to eat? Um, I am a terrible host.
Minna (as Myra): [laughs] It’s alright, Larissa.
Kim (as Blaire): Oh sweetheart, sweetheart, it’s okay.
Rhi: Alright, so you leave, after a little while, the Dolbev home, having convinced your young fan to turn her energy in a more useful direction. Now you still have the issue of the Bluecoats who are terrorizing the district to try and figure out who’s behind the fire to contend with. So, you did Gather Info on dealing with your fan. Now you’ve gotta deal with your antifans. Your haters.
Minna: I hate the phrase “haters”, but you’re not wrong.
Rhi: I’m not wrong.
Kim: We do it for the girls and the gays, that’s it.
Rhi: [laughs]
Minna: How do we deal with the Bluecoat presence?
Kim: Do we get back in touch with Severin and see if he can put in a good word for us?
Rhi: You could try that. You could— so from what Briggs told you, this Nuncio fellow is basically bribing a bunch of Bluecoats to come down here and harass people until he gets the information he wants.
Kim: Severin is the only idea I’ve got.
Minna: So, is he particularly worried about it being The Magpies, or does he just wanna know who it is, no matter who it is?
Rhi: He wants to know who it is. Cause yeah, one of Briggs’s informants managed to get the pin before the Bluecoats saw it, so the Bluecoats do not suspect that it is The Magpies at this point.
Kim: Now, to me this just sounds like we have to do a Gather Info on this guy’s, you know, personal enemies.
Minna: Yeah. Personal enemies, people who are trying to get a foothold in Charhollow of any kind…
Rhi: Yeah. And you, I think that Kim, your idea of talking to Severin is also a good one.
Minna: Yeah.
Rhi: He can at least give you some insight on kind of Bluecoat operating procedures to see if there’s any weak points on that side.
Kim: Yeah. Um, I could try talking to Severin. I could roll a Consort.
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim: 1 and a 3.
Rhi: Ooh, okay. So, I think what happens is you are actually not able to meet directly with Severin at all. I think, like, you send him a note, high level, “Here’s the situation, can we meet?” And he sends a note back that’s basically like, “There is too much heat on you right now for me to safely meet with you,” but what he’s kind of able to convey in this short note of sort of general helping as much as he can is that the Bluecoats are profit-motivated. If they are not getting paid, they’re not gonna keep doing this thing. So, that’s kind of the weak point on that side. If the money is cut off, they will not continue to harass the citizenry.
Kim: Okay.
Minna: I’m trying to think who we know who would have the good gossip. Would it be Amancio?
Rhi: It depends on what level of society you’re looking at.
Minna: I mean, I’m looking at Nuncio’s level.
Rhi: So, Amancio is probably a little high-class for this.
Minna: Just trying to think who I could ask.
Rhi: You could try talking to some of the people who work for him, see if they’ve heard any gossip.
Minna: That’s true. Yeah, lets just try and talk to some of the workers.
Rhi: Yeah!
Minna: So, I’m gonna ask around and see if I can find somebody to talk to. Am I rolling Consort?
Rhi: Yeah, I think that’s probably Consort.
Minna: 5.
Rhi: Okay. So, a standard amount of information. You start asking around, you visit some of his shops, chat with some of the employees, you know, how things are going. And I think, like, it takes a little while. I think you have to catch people., like, when they’re on their break and a lot of them are pretty hesitant to talk initially, but you know, you, again, can kind of play up on your reputation here. People generally feel pretty favorably towards The Magpies. So, they’re willing to talk to you a little bit and Nuncio’s business and in particular, his side business.
Because what you learn from a few of the workers, particularly the ones who kind do the, like, inventory, so loading and unloading the shipments and things, is that he has a little side operation of smuggling. Specifically, he is trafficking spirits. He moves spirits from, you know, Whispers who collect them and generally sells them to other traffickers or alchemists who are converting them into ghost drugs. Probably a lot to The Dimmer Sisters, since they control most of the spirit-trafficking trade in the city. And yeah, they will tell you that, you know, a couple times a month some crates full of jars come in that are set aside, somebody peeked at them once and got possessed. [laughs]
Kim: Whoopsie daisy.
Rhi: And so, yeah, they will let you know that he’s got this thing on the side that, again, like, because he’s got his workers in such a precarious situation with their jobs and their homes and everything, none of them have dared speak up about it. Just cause, you know, if anybody steps out of line you’re out of a job, you’re out of a home. Things can go bad very, very fast.
Minna: So uh, also, do we get any kind of proof?
Rhi: Oh, I think, okay. So, I think that they will tell you the shipments show up kinda regularly, and they will tell you that the next one is supposed to show up in a few days.
Minna: So, either he stops playing off the Bluecoats or we alert them to the next shipment.
Rhi: Yeah.
Minna: Although, he could just move the shipment.
Rhi: He could.
Minna: If we take the shipment, it’s proof. Do we need to take the shipment? We need to take the shipment.
Kim: I think so.
Rhi: Blaire probably wants to take the shipment anyway. [laughs]
Kim: Yeah.
Minna: I think Myra comes back to The Nest.
Minna (as Myra): Blaire?
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah?
Minna (as Myra): Are you up for intercepting some spirit trafficking?
Kim (as Blaire): Fuck yeah.
Rhi: Okay. I feel like maybe this is— we are actually at the score.
Minna: Mm hmm.
Rhi: So, it sounds like the score is gonna be, I think, stealing the shipment and then delivering the blackmail note. Do you wanna try and hit it at one of his stores, do you want to try and intercept before it reaches?
Minna: Intercept before it reaches is kinda like our signature.
Rhi: [laughs]
Minna: Why mess with a good thing? It’s worked in the past.
Kim: Right.
Rhi: Okay. I think you may need to do another Gather Info to figure out where the route is.
Minna: Yes.
Kim: Should we both do that or cover our bases?
Rhi: Blaire, you might actually— this might be something where you could talk to The Reconciled, because they tend to be kind of aware of the spirit-trafficking that’s happening in the city.
Kim: True.
Rhi: So, they might know.
Kim: Yep. That’s a 5 and a 6.
Rhi: Okay. So yeah, you kind of describe this setup to one of The Reconciled and they’re able to give you a— I think there’s a particular, like, a section of catacombs that is pretty much only used by smugglers. And it tends to be specifically used by spirit-traffickers because its intensely haunted. There’s just tons of, like, ghosts and other spooky stuff down there.
Kim: Right.
Rhi: Most people don’t wanna deal with that, but if you’re already carrying jars full of ghosts you probably are equipped to deal with it.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: So, I think you can either hit them kind of as they’re going into this section, as they’re coming out, you can try and ambush them in the middle. It’s up to you.
Kim: I was thinking mid-point, unless you had any objections, Minna?
Minna: I like that.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: Alright. So, let’s figure out the Engagement roll. So, it’s gonna be 2d6 Engagement roll. Oh no.
Kim: Oh no?
Rhi: That’s a 3.
Minna: No!
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim: Oh, well. It could be 1.
Rhi: I mean, the other die I rolled was a 1. [laughs]
Kim: Eesh. Oh, no.
Rhi: Yeah… so yeah, you’re gonna be in a desperate position when the action starts.
Minna: Oh gosh.
Kim: Don’t like that.
Rhi: You make your way into these tunnels and you find a spot to lie in wait for this particular smuggler who’s supposed to be coming through on this day with a crate of ghosts in jars marked for Darien Nuncio. And… trying to think of what a good desperate situation here would be…
Kim: Um… maybe some of Larissa’s friends haven’t gotten the message yet and they’re here?
Rhi: Oh no!
Minna: Oh no… yeah, absolutely.
Rhi: I like that. Yeah.
Minna: Oh, buddies.
Rhi: So, I think the two of you come down here and you hunker down. And like, you got here, you know, a bit early so you would have plenty of time to catch this person. So, you’re a little worried when you hear, like, shuffling footsteps coming up behind you and you, like, peek out and you see a trio of teenagers who are sporting some of Larissa’s homemade Magpie pins on their jackets.
Minna: [whispers] Oh my gosh.
Rhi: And then when they see that you’ve seen them, they kinda like wave and skitter over and, like, try to get into your hiding spot like:
Rhi (as Teenager): Hey!
Minna (as Myra): Ssh!
Rhi (as Teenager): Hey, Larissa said that, uh, you had work for us, so we followed to help.
Minna (as Myra): Ssh. Be quiet, as quiet as you can. This is a potentially dangerous situation.
Rhi (as Teenager): Oh, okay. Uh, yeah, I mean we figured, we brought— we’re ready for stuff.
Rhi: And like, I think the kid who’s talking holds open their jacket and they have, like, a kitchen knife. [laughs]
Kim (as Blaire): Oh… that’s… that’s not gonna cut it.
Minna (as Myra): I think Myra takes, like, the hands of the one closest to her and is like:
Minna (as Myra): I appreciate your desire to help. This is not a situation where more people is a good idea.
Rhi: And as you say that, two things happen. The first is that you hear the footsteps you were expecting. It’s like footsteps and, like, the clattering of a cart being pushed. And two, it gets really, really cold around you all of a sudden.
Minna: I think Myra, like, squeezes her eyes shut for just a second. Like, oh no.
Kim (as Blaire): Oh, friends are here. Okay.
Rhi: [laughs] Myra, you have a spiritbane charm. Blaire—
Kim: [laughs]
Rhi: You regard them as friends. You have no idea if these kids have any kind of wards or charms. One of them kinda like tugs their coat a little closer and is like:
Rhi (as Teenager): Ooh, chilly down here. I didn’t expect that.
Rhi: So, you have three teenagers who have followed you down here. You have the target approaching and you have apparently some number of ghosts. Let me see what number of ghosts.
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi: You have some number of ghosts about to man—
Kim: You’re— you’re not gonna tell us?
Rhi: No! Of course not. Where’s the fun in that? Um, about to manifest here.
Minna: Kim? Is it possible to throw up shields for other people from ghosts, because…
Kim: Hmm. Is that possible, Rhi?
Rhi: Let’s find out.
Kim: Oh, do you want me to roll an Attune?
Rhi: Yeah! Yeah, this is gonna be, this is gonna be desperate.
Minna: Can I help?
Rhi: Yeah. Yeah, you can do this as a group. A group Attune, group magic. Who’s gonna lead?
Kim: Blaire can lead. I think it’s a bit more on-brand.
Minna: Yeah.
Rhi: Okay.
Kim (as Blaire): Okay. I got a 2, 1, 6.
Rhi: Okay. So, a 6.
Minna: I got 4. So nobody marks any stress and we got a 6.
Rhi: Got a 6. Okay. What you see is things are getting really cold and, like, I’m imagining that the kids are kind of in a triangle, the leader has been sort of a little bit in front talking to you and then the other two are, like, a step or two back. And behind those two who are in the back, you can see one ghost behind each kid kind of manifests and starts moving in to them. And so, tell me how it looks as you extend some kind of big ward around yourselves.
Kim: Well, see, Blaire being Blaire, I have to feel as though the ward is— this is gonna sound bad— is less so to protect the people inside and more so to convince the ghost that there is something more interesting away from us.
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim: There’s still, like, that protective bubble, but I think what she does is try to conjure up some illusion. Maybe that there’s a scent trail of ectoplasm just around the corner when there really isn’t, something like that.
Rhi: Interesting. Yeah, I like the idea that with it being a Blaire thing, that it’s more of a deflection and distraction than protection.
Kim: I’m so bad at caring about living people.
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim: Blaire’s a bad person, you guys! [laughs]
Rhi: She’s not a bad person, her priorities are just a little questionable sometimes. It’s okay. The two of you working together kinda twist the ghost field to make it look like there’s something more desirable in another direction. The ghosts kind of, you know, move away from the kids, who have no idea what just happened. They’re just kinda like:
Rhi (as Teenager): Whoa, what’d you do?
Kim (as Blaire): Saved you from being possessed, actually.
Rhi (as Teenager): Whoa, really? You’re so cool.
Kim (as Blaire): N-no… you all could have actually been possessed by a ghost. This is not really a joking or a cool thing. This is us saving your ass, because you being here actually complicates things just a smidge. We actually truly enjoy your support and it’s so humbling and we love it. But it is getting a little bit in our way!
Rhi: The— all three of their faces kind of fall as the clattering of the smuggler is getting closer and closer.
Minna (as Myra): What Blaire is trying to say is thank you very much, but more people is only going to escalate the situation. Please go home and talk—
Kim (as Blaire): We love you, but please go home!
Minna (as Myra): Talk to Larissa, we will get you work that you can help with soon.
Rhi: Can I have— I’m trying to figure out how to do this.
Minna: Are we doing a group Consort?
Rhi: No, no, it’s…
Minna: Sway?
Rhi: I need to see if you all can detect the consequence that’s about to hit.
Minna: Oh…
Kim: Hmm!
Rhi: So this might actually be a resistance. It’s gonna be Insight. I need you both to…
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: Cause they all kind of, the three of them look very downtrodden and hang their heads.
Minna: Oh, babies.
Rhi: But—
Minna: 6!
Kim: Two 5s, a 1 and a 2.
Rhi: Okay. So, Blaire, in order to notice this, you’ll need to take one stress.
Kim: Okay. I can mark that. I can spare that.
Rhi: Myra, as usual, manages to take no stress on a resistance roll.
Minna: I don’t know how it happens.
Rhi: Like, I think— what I’m imagining is that these are catacombs, I’m imagining that you all are kind of off in a little side niche, and like, the three of them start to move towards the exit and the two of you simultaneously realize that if they go out there now, the smuggler’s gonna see them and that will blow your whole thing. Like, this ambush that you have carefully planned is gonna be ruined.
Minna: Yeah, I’m gonna reach out and grab some lapels and, like, pull them back. Or, like, scruffs of necks.
Rhi (as Teenager): [loudly] Whoa, what are you doing?!
Minna (as Myra): Ssh! Ssh!
Rhi (as Teenager): Oh, sorry. Sorry. What are you doing? I thought we were supposed to leave? You didn’t want our help.
Minna (as Myra): Change of plan. Stay right here until you don’t hear anything anymore, okay?
Rhi: I think actually I need you to make a roll.
Minna: I think it’s a Command.
Rhi: I think this is gonna be risky.
Minna: I’m gonna push myself.
Rhi: Okay.
Minna: 5.
Rhi: The kid you’re talking to nods and the three of them kinda slink to the back of this little niche. The consequence is that the sounds outside of the cart and footsteps stop for a second and then start moving really fast. Like, this person’s just taking off at a dead run and they go clattering past you. This person has heard that there are people here and is sprinting away. So, you’re going to have to, like, whatever ambush you had has been blown. You’re gonna have to chase this person down now.
Minna: Yep.
Rhi: What are you gonna do?
Kim: Uh, cue the Sonic the Hedgehog Green Hills music and go after them.
Rhi and Minna: [laugh]
Kim: [sings tune]
Rhi: Alright, so yeah. Somebody give me some kinda action roll for what you’re gonna do.
Kim: What would we have to roll to chase them, would it be…
Rhi: Prowl.
Kim: Prowl?
Rhi: Prowl is kind of the physical.
Kim: Hmm.
Rhi: I mean, you can also try other options. If you wanna do something to stop them that isn’t—
Kim: No, I’m running. I’m already shaking my dice, I’m rolling it.
Rhi: [laughs]
Minna: Consider that you could have the power of ghosts and anime on your side.
Kim and Rhi: [laugh]
Kim: That’s okay, I rolled a 5 for chasing after them.
Rhi: Okay, I’m going to give you a choice for chasing after them.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: Either it’ll be reduced effect and they’re still pretty far ahead of you. Like, this person is moving shockingly fast given that they’re hauling a cart. Or Blaire, you catch up to them just as you cross, the two of you make it across a, like, a bridge that’s across a pretty wide chasm.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: And it collapses behind you, so you and Myra and separated.
Minna: [squeals]
Kim: Hmm… I do like that drama. Minna?
Minna: That’s some Star Wars shit, I’m in.
Kim: Okay, yeah!
Rhi: [laughs] Yeah, Minna just made a sound of pure delight, so yeah.
Minna: [laughs]
Kim: Yeah, we’re doing it.
Minna: [laughs] Leave me alone. You said “there’s a bridge across a chasm” and I got excited.
Rhi: Listen, why is there a big chasm underneath Duskwall? I don’t know. But it’s there now! I don’t think it’s like a, you know, Star War-esque 40-foot across chasm.
Minna: No.
Rhi: But it’s too wide for Myra to jump. So, Blaire, I think you sprint across and I think you’re able to just, like, jump on this person and stop them. But the wooden bridge just collapses behind you.
Kim (as Blaire): Myra!
Rhi: [laughs] Yeah, Myra, what are you— I imagine Myra had also taken off running?
Minna: Yeah.
Rhi: And you are now on the wrong side of the chasm. What would you like to try and do?
Minna: What is Blaire’s situation with this person?
Rhi: Blaire has just tackled them to the ground and they are momentarily, like, stunned. But I think that the person –
Minna: What’s the— okay, what does the, um, crate look like?
Rhi: It is a wooden crate that’s in a, like, a hand-cart. It’s not, like, waist-high cover crate, it’s not huge. Its probably, I’d say, maybe a foot tall and two feet wide.
Minna: Is it something that if we tied a rope around some part of it and then threw it into the chasm while I held one end of the rope, I could just haul it up?
Rhi: Yes… it’s full of glass jars that are full of ghosts.
Minna: That’s true. Never mind.
Rhi: You’re running a risk of those all breaking. [laughs]
Kim: I could try trapping some.
Minna: Is it— is this a risk you’re willing to take?
Rhi: Yeah. Here’s a— yeah, there is a chance you could make that work, but there is also a chance that it will—
Minna: I mean, we just know the consequences if we succeed but it’s—
Kim: Right.
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim: And I’m saying in the event that those break, I’m prepared to handle it.
Minna: I only want the crate, honestly. Because it would leave traces if the ghost escaped, and then I’d still have proof. So, I think she’s gonna yell across the chasm:
Minna (as Myra): Blaire, tie a rope around it and throw me the other end!
Kim (as Blaire): Uh— okay…
Rhi: Alright. So, Blaire, the person you have tackled is a man who is about a foot taller than you. [laughs] The only reason you were able to tackle him is because he was not expecting to be tackled and you hit him in the knees. He’s not unconscious, you just knocked him down.
Kim: Cool.
Rhi: So, you are going to have to contend with this guy still being in the mix in order to do this.
Kim: Hmm.
Rhi: So, I don’t know if you wanna try to deal with him first and then do the thing for Myra?
Kim: I mean, because Myra told me so, I feel like the crate first, might be first priority.
Rhi: Yeah. Go for it.
Minna: I mean, also, I can be covering you with a gun while you do this.
Kim: Right.
Rhi: Yeah. You could, if you wanted to aid Blaire in this rope thing, you could say that you have a gun that you’re pointing at this guy.
Minna: Yep, I’m gonna do that.
Rhi: Okay. So, yeah, you’re gonna need to roll something to tie the rope and I think on your end it’s going to be tying the rope around the thing and throwing it across. And then I think Myra’s gonna have to roll to grab it.
Kim: So, can I make an argument for Finesse?
Rhi: Hmm…
Kim: Or is this more of a general Prowl, Skirmish thing?
Rhi: Let me look at the description of…
Minna: I kinda like Finesse for this. Skillfully tying a rope and throw it.
Rhi: Finesse… “employ dexterous manipulation… what’s graceful or subtle about this?”
Minna: Hmm.
Kim: That’s true, this isn’t very subtle.
Rhi: Graceful stylish and subtle are kinda the tags for Finesse.
Kim: Yeah, see, I can make graceful and stylish, but subtle, no. So..
Rhi: Uh, you know what? Ill give you two outta three. You can do Finesse.
Kim: Okay. 5, 5, 3?
Rhi: 5. Okay. So, you do it but there’s a consequence. And I think the consequence is you are gonna end up in a desperate position. You really quick, you run over, you grab the crate, you tie the rope, you do it, like you’re just doing it very smoothly and quickly, you hurl it and the rope out into the void and then, you know, we’ll kind of as— I’m picturing this in, like, slow-mo— you throw it, Myra moves to grab the rope and we’ll resolve that in a second, and Blaire, you’re just grabbed from behind and this guy, like, basically bearhugs you and picks you up and is kind of using you as a shield so that Myra can’t really shoot him. And he’s got ahold of you. You’re in a desperate position.
Kim: Ah, fuck.
Rhi: Myra. [laughs] You gotta grab this rope.
Minna: Yeah.
Rhi: You’ll need to roll something to grab the rope.
Minna: I think this is— the roll on this is also Finesse, right?
Rhi: Yeah, I’d say so.
Minna: Dexterous manipulation. Well, I mean, Finesse is not my best roll, but it’s the one that seems to fit best.
Rhi: I mean, you could also do Prowl for this.
Minna: I’ll do Prowl, then.
Rhi: Okay.
Minna: I’m trying to think— I think I may actually take stress again for this.
Rhi: Okay, pushing yourself?
Minna: Mm hmm. Three dice. Because honesty, if we don’t have to deal with broken glass, it’s better. 5. We’re probably dealing with broken glass. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah. So, they don’t all break, but a couple of them do. And like, you catch the rope and it keeps swinging, but it slams into the side of this chasm. And you hear some glass shatter. It’s not all of them, but some of them broke. So, you’ve got a couple ghosties loose. Blaire is being grappled.
Minna (as Myra): Blaire, can you use this?
Kim (as Blaire): Uh, kinda busy!
Minna: Can I try to use it to help her?
Rhi: Yeah. Anybody can Attune.
Minna: Alright, Let’s try this.
Rhi: [laughs] So, what are you doing?
Minna: I don’t really know how much you can do with a ghost if you get control of them, but I’m okay with siccing a ghost on this guy.
Rhi: Yeah. So, specifically, like, there’s a particular Whisper power that gives you the ability to actually just control ghosts. You would be asking the ghosts to do something.
Minna: I’m fine with that. I’m fine with that. Make a bargain with them.
Rhi: Yeah.
Minna: Is it Consort if I’m making a deal with them?
Rhi: Yeah, it depends on— it entirely depends on how you want to approach it.
Minna: It’s mostly that I don’t know if I’m allowed, mechanically, to deal with a ghost with anything other than Attune.
Rhi: Yeah, you can Consort with ghosts.
Minna: I will Consort with a ghost, then. That’s a much better roll and also what Myra’s doing.
Rhi: Mm hmm.
Minna: [bursts out laughing]
Kim: What does that mean?
Minna: Three 6s. So that’s definitely a crit.
Rhi: [laughs and claps] Yep. Damn.
Minna: [laughs] Okay, so I’m gonna start off in character.
Rhi: Yeah, just tell me how you pull this off flawlessly.
Minna: Oh my… [laughs]
Rhi: I’m gonna say— hang on, let me do a quick roll to tell you how many hosts this is. Three ghosts. I think you look into the ghost field and you see three ghosts, kind of quickly surging up out of this pit.
Minna (as Myra): Listen to me. Listen to me. Listen to me. You don’t want me, you want the guy who did this to you. He’s right up there, holding my friend. If you don’t touch her, you can have him.
Rhi: The three ghosts swivel. They all look back at this dude. They look back at you. They look at the dude. And then Blaire, I don’t know if you’re looking into the ghost field right now?
Kim: She’s probably a bit too stressed to do that right now.
Rhi: Probably, yeah. Blaire, you just feel, like, a cold rush of air go past you. There’s sort of a gurgling scream from the guy and then he lets go of you and collapses backwards.
Kim (as Blaire): Thank you! Thank you.
Minna (as Myra): Yeah. Uh, I don’t really wanna stick around. Do you—[sighs] get you back across… can you—
Rhi: Well, so you can exit through opposite ends of the tunnel, basically.
Kim: Yeah.
Minna (as Myra): Meet me topside.
Kim (as Blaire): Okay, will do.
Rhi: Yeah. So Blaire, you’re able to skedaddle past this dude who is lying on the ground, twitching slightly, while his soul is devoured by three ghosts. Myra, you’re able to haul up the crate. You’ll have to collect the kids. [laughs]
Minna: Yeah.
Rhi: So, the three of them are doing the, like, you know, Scooby-Doo-style, like, poking their heads around in a stack to watch all of this, and their eyes are just huge.
Minna: I think Myra’s just like, storming down the passageway with a crate under one arm. And she like, just kinda like, beckons to them with one finger as she passes. Like, doesn’t even stop.
Rhi: They fall in line and they are dead silent. [laughs] Following you out. I think one of them starts to ask something and gets, like, swatted by the other two. Just like, “Don’t.”
Minna: I think as soon as they emerge topside, she turns and looks at them.
Minna (as Myra): This is serious business and I thank you for your enthusiasm. We will talk later. Go talk to Larissa.
Rhi (as Teenager): Uh huh. Yeah. Got it. Mm hmm. Yep.
Rhi: And they, like, just take off. [laughs] So, the two of you are able to meet back up and I think I want one final roll for this blackmail letter.
Minna: Yes. Is it a letter?
Rhi: I don’t know, how are you approaching the blackmail?
Minna: Yeah, are we doing it in a letter or in person?
Kim: A letter I feel as though would be the safer bet.
Minna: It is, it’s safer.
Minna (as Myra): Nuncio. You may be wondering what happened to the carrier of your latest acquisition. We intercepted him and we have it. Call off the Bluecoats, stop paying them, or we will tell them exactly where we found it and who brought it into the city.
Minna: Does that sound good?
Rhi: Yeah. I think that there’s, like, there’s some paperwork in this crate that’s kind of indicating where the different spirits are supposed to go. So you can include, like, a piece of that as kind of proof of, like, yeah, I actually have this. Yeah, go ahead and give me some kind of roll for what you’re doing here.
Minna: I feel like Command.
Rhi: Could be Command, could be Sway. Cause you’re also being manipula— you know what? This is Command.
Minna: Yeah.
Rhi: You’re giving an order. You are doing this, I’m gonna say this is controlled, greater effect.
Minna: Is this just me or is it a group?
Rhi: Up to you.
Kim: It can be a group thing.
Rhi: Yeah.
Minna: I’m down with that. I can lead, if you want?
Kim: Sure, go for it.
Rhi: Yeah. Alright, so both of you go ahead and roll Command.
Kim: I rolled a 4…
Minna: Okay, so that’s okay. And I rolled a 5.
Rhi: Okay. So, I’m gonna say that you do it with a minor consequence. And I think the consequence is just gonna be you’re gonna take some extra heat on this score.
Minna: Okay.
Rhi: The kids talked.
Minna: Mm hmm.
Rhi: Gonna tell people what they saw.
Minna: If it wasn’t for you meddling kids!
Rhi: Yeah. [laughs] I think that’s just gonna be the consequence, in addition to whatever other heat that you take, an additional plus one heat on top of that. But yeah, I think you send off this letter and Blaire presumably does something to get these ghosts to safety.
Kim: Yeah, she probably just Consorts with them until they leave.
Rhi: Well, they’re in jars if you wanna take them out into the Deathlands.
Kim: Yeah, Blaire can just take the jars. I have the load to spare.
Rhi: You send off your blackmail letter and we will see what comes of it after downtime. So, where do you wanna start with wrapping up your loose ends?
Kim: Well, where did those kids go back to? Did they go back to, um, The Haymarket Tavern, or?
Minna: We did tell them to leave us a note when they made a decision, at The Hound’s Paw. But we could go there to meet them.
Rhi: Yeah. I think that you can, you can go over to The Haymarket Tavern. And I think what you got back was basically that there were some of the kids who were interested in working with Lani and Roxanne, but most of them, Larissa included, were a lot more interested in the unionization efforts. I think that, as you said, it’s kind of, you know, you bring Larissa along as kinda the representative for your group rather than bringing eight over-excited teenagers to Belle’s doorstep. Yeah, you arranged to met with Belle Brogan. Where do you think you set up that meeting?
Minna: Even Haymarket? Like, because that is down in Belle Brogan’s area also.
Kim: Yeah, we can do that.
Rhi: Yeah. You know, you’re sitting there with Larissa. So yeah, I think the two of you— I’m imagining this is more like midday, so it’s not as many people there. Larissa is sitting at this table and is just, like, vibrating with excitement. She’s bouncing both her legs, fidgeting in her chair, keeps playing with her clothes to straighten things out.
Kim (as Blaire): Are you chill?
Rhi (as Larissa): Yes, yes! Absolutely, completely. Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?
Minna (as Myra): Because it’s a nerve-wracking thing to be meeting someone like Belle Brogan.
Rhi (as Larissa): [breathlessly] I mean, yes, she’s very well-known and she has done so much, but, I mean, I guess meeting the two of you went really well so maybe meeting her will also go really well. You should bring Minx next time. I’d like to meet her, too.
Minna (as Myra): I’m sure she’d love to meet you.
Rhi (as Larissa): She… um…
Minna: [laughs] She’s so relatable.
Rhi: She is. I mean you’re basically setting this kid up on an internship. [laughs] Yeah, so I think that the door opens and Belle comes in. As usual, she’s got a couple people with her, just because she’s such a target she can’t really go out without bodyguards. And I think Larissa, like, very abruptly stops fidgeting and sits up really straight. And Belle comes over and is just like:
Rhi (as Belle): Ah, Myra, Blaire. Good to see you again. It’s Larissa, right? Pleasure to meet you.
Rhi: And holds out her hand. And Larissa kind of is still a little frozen.
Minna (as Myra): Larissa here has been organizing some of the younger folks in this area. They’re needing a cause to point themselves at.
Rhi: I think that kind of like, jolts Larissa out of her shock and she, like, reaches out and shakes her hand and is like:
Rhi (as Larissa): I— yes, ma’am. That’s more or less what we’ve bene doing and it’s, uh, it’s an honor to mee to you, ma’am. Hi.
Rhi: And I think Belle kinda laughs and will sit down at the table and start chatting. And I think the conversation ends up being mostly between the two of them. But yeah, it sounds like Belle definitely will be able to point them in more fruitful and supervised directions.
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi: Rather than random acts of arson.
Minna: Or random acts of following us on very dangerous heists.
Rhi: Yes. [laughs] Yeah, and so I think after that the two of you make your way back up into Nightmarket, to The Hound’s Paw, to check in before you kinda call it a day. Had a busy few days. And there is a note waiting for you and it is from one of the informants working for Briggs. And it says that, “We’re not sure what you did, but the Bluecoats have departed very abruptly. And thanks. We appreciate it.” Basically is the gist of the note. You know, Nuncio is still running his shops and his apartments. He is not financially ruined. But he did lose a lot of money when he lost his house. So, maybe in the future you’ll be able to take him on, or maybe some of the people that you’ve inspired will be able to take him down, too.
##Outro [1.12.14]
Rhi: Thanks for listening. The Magpies will be back in two weeks. In the meantime, follow us on Twitter @magpies_pod and visit our Patreon at patreon.com/magpiespodcast.
The Magpies podcast is GMed and produced by Rhi. Follow me on Twitter @rhiannon42 and check out rpgskillcheck.net for my copy editing and accessibility freelance site.
Blaire Culhane is played by Kim Kogut. Follow her on Twitter @kimdianajones.
Minx is played by Josie. Follow her on Twitter @DragonGirlJosie and watch her art streams at picarto.tv/DragonGirlJosie.
Myra Keel is played by Minna. Follow her on Twitter @mynaminnarr.
The opening and closing theme music is from ‘Trio for Piano, Violin and Viola’ by Kevin MacLeod and is used under a Creative Commons license.
The Blades in the Dark roleplay system is the creation of John Harper and is published by Evil Hat Productions.
Next, I’d like to thank our stupendous Patreon backers.
Brian Vough, thank you.
Piotr Cupper, thank you. And if I pronounced your name wrong, let me know and I will do another take next episode.
Bob Hopp, thank you.
##Blooper [1.13.43]
Kim: One, one dice fell— may have fallen in my trash can.
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi: No! It hasn’t done anything to deserve that yet!
Kim: Yet. Where did it go?
Rhi: I know how you all roll.
Kim: Oh, okay. Oh, okay, I— swear on the force, I’m not lying. It didn’t fall in the trash can, it fell in, like, the plastic outside of the trashcan. It is face-up on a 6.
Rhi: Then keep it.
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi: [laughs] You know that’s my policy.
Kim: I know!
Rhi: [laughs]