Transcribed by Michelle Kelly (@Michellicopter)

##Intro

Rhi: Welcome back to Duskwall. And welcome to the fourth and final season of The Magpies. Yes, this will be our last season. I know it’s probably really disappointing for a lot of you to hear that, and it’s definitely been an emotional thing for all of us making the show, but I’d always planned The Magpies to be a show with a definite end point. I want us to be able to tell a story that has a conclusion, not one that drags on long past when we have anything interesting to say, or that fizzles out because it stopped being fun or sustainable. So, this season is gonna be our last. I wanted to tell everyone early so it’s not a huge shock when we do reach the series finale.

That doesn’t mean we’re going away though. We’re already making plans for our next projects. I can’t tell you anything about them just yet, because we’re still very early in planning and development, but once we have something more official, you’ll be the first to know. And all that said, we still have a full season of Magpies to go, so don’t start bidding Blaire, Minx, Myra and all the rest of our characters goodbye just yet. You’ve got plenty of time with them, still.

September continues to be International Podcast Month. My episode of Mission Accomplished was posted last week, and to quote Jeff Stormer, the game’s creator, “Your manager voice hurt me in my soul, and that is the highest compliment I can give for a game of Mission Accomplished.” So, you have that to look forward to. In addition, Waffles’s game of Delver has been released as well. I’ll link to both in the show notes. And be sure to keep an eye out for our other episodes later this month. Next, I’m going to tell you about this month’s featured charity, which was suggested by Josie.

With protests against police brutality and white supremacy continuing across the nation, we recommend donating to your local bail fund. Bail funds are organizations that pay bail for people that can’t afford it, and who also often provide legal support for people once they’re out on bail. Right now, many of these organizations are supporting protesters who have been arrested, but they’re important to support at all times, as cash bail unfairly harms black and brown people, especially those living in poverty. You can find your local bail fund by searching online for your city or state plus ‘bail fund’. We’ll link to a few in the show notes.

As always, please continue to do what you can on a local level to defend voting rights. Make sure you’re registered, make sure your friends and family are registered and have a plan for how they’ll safely vote this November. You can check out Fair Fight, linked in the show notes, for more information. And please continue to contact your representatives, especially your senators, about the next COVID relief bill. We need funding for people who have lost their jobs and their homes, and we need funding for the Post Office. Keep up the pressure.

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

##Prologue [00.03.16]

Rhi: From humble beginnings as a band of thieves and ne’er-do-wells, The Magpies have grown into more than just a band of vigilantes. They’re a symbol of hope in Duskwall. A sign that change is possible. They’ve converted an experimental clinic into a place of true healing and care. They’ve helped employees of the oldest brothel in the city take control of their place of work. They’ve supported residents of The Docks as they’ve created a space free from Bluecoats and other violent gangs. All throughout Duskwall, wherever people struggle and suffer, they speak of The Magpies and of what can happen when you fight back.

But not everyone appreciates their work. The wealthy and powerful of the city see The Magpies as a threat, and rightly so. The Magpies and their supporters seek to upend the established order, an order designed to protect a wealthy few at the top. Embodied best by The Circle of Flame, the upper echelons of the city use their influence over the press and the police to hunt The Magpies down. The remaining members of The Circle, Lady Penderyn, Lady Drake, Lord Mora, Salia, and the now-vampiric Madame Tesslyn seek nothing less than the eradication of The Magpies and all they stand for.

Blaire, Minx, Myra and all their friends and allies have begun to build a movement in Duskwall. Will they lead the change that remakes the city? Or will their vices, histories and mistakes drag them under? Only one way to find out.

##Story continues [00.05.15]

Rhi: It’s been a little over a week since the, what people are now referring to simply as “the incident in Six Towers”. No one is really entirely sure what happened that caused the strange dreams and stranger hallucinations throughout the district. Nobody knows, that is, except The Magpies. In this time, I think the three of you have spent some time recuperating, keeping a low profile, as the Spirit Wardens are still searching for answers as to what caused this strange incident. But for right now, the three of you are at The Hound’s Paw. It’s, you know, late afternoon, kinda just before the evening rush comes in. Nyryx has joined you. She had the day off and met up with you all at the bar.

Josie: [squeals]

Rhi: And it’s been a fairly nice, calm afternoon. I think Rigney, you know, brought over your drinks, a few letters and notes from your various contacts and allies throughout the city and for right now, from, you know, Seeks clinic, your contacts in Charhollow, in The Docks, in Silkshore, it seems like things are as calm as they ever are in Duskwall. No one is facing existential crises for once. So, what are you all up to right now?

Josie:  I– I think Minx is mostly focused on Nyryx and is mostly like:

Josie (as Minx): Oh, oh, dearest, I have a few ideas!

Josie: And showing her a few sketches and outfits to be used in the Red Lamp, and Nyryx is just like, “Uh huh. She has no ideal what sells in a brothel, does she?” [laughs]

Rhi: [laughs]

Rhi (as Nyryx): I’m… sure there are some people who would find this enticing. Um…

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: Nyryx has also been, you’ve learned during this conversation, that Nyryx has, with great hesitation, accepted a sort of management role in the now employee-run brothel. Yeah, so I think that she, yeah, she’s in charge of kind of, like, not necessarily supervising all of the other employees, but kind of, uh, she’s the one that people come to if they’re having a problem, if they need to change up their schedule, things like that. She has been doing this for about three days and is still kind of terrified, which is why she came over here to have a few drinks with all of you on her day off, because she needs the break. Myra and Blaire, what are the two of you up to?

Kim: I think Blaire is just kind of looking out the window and keeping an eye on the exits and everything. She’s still kind of…

Josie: Aww.

Minna: Oh, honey…

Kim: Shaken up after things happened.

Rhi: Yeah.

Kim: So, she’s watching y’all’s backs right now.

Minna: Myra, since it’s a quieter time, I think she’s been taking the time to, like, make visits to people and keep up relationships, stuff like that.

Rhi: Yeah, so you’re probably sorting through all of the notes and reports that people have sent over.

Minna: Oh, sure, absolutely yes. Following up where I need to, and stuff like that.

Rhi: Yeah. So, yeah, you’re just having a pretty chill afternoon. The door’s opened a few times while you’ve been here and it’s usually just other patrons, but this time when it opens it is the familiar and welcome sight of Kay strolling in. She looks around and spots your table and kinda waves and comes over. She grabs a chair as she goes, cause all four chairs at your table are occupied for once. Definitely spins the chair around and sits in it backwards.

Josie: Yes. [laughs]

Rhi (as Kay): Glad I caught all of you.

Rhi: And she’ll look at Nyryx and be like:

Rhi (as Kay): Sorry, don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Kay, I’m a friend of The Magpies.

Josie (as Minx): [gasps] Oh, you two get to finally meet!

Rhi (as Nyryx): Oh, uh, yes. I’m Nyryx. Minx has mentioned you a few times.

Rhi: Under the table, Nyryx has suddenly grabbed Minx’s hand in a death grip.

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: Like, her face is just this perfectly friendly, warm smile, but she has just this crushing grip on your hand.

Josie: [laughs] Minx has a less perfect mask and kinda has a knowing smirk.

Rhi: [laughs] So, Kay kinda looks around at the three of you and is like:

Rhi (as Kay): So, I’m hoping that I can ask you all for another favor. We’ve run into a bit of trouble and you seem like the best folks to help us with it.

Josie (as Minx): Of course. You’ve been helping us for… years now, I think?

Rhi (as Kay): Feels like. [laughs]

Rhi: So, she kinda glances around at the rest of the bar, sort of making sure that there’s nobody too close and is like:

Rhi (as Kay): You might remember back when we first met I, uh, mentioned that me and a lot of the other Gondoliers follow a Forgotten God, the Father of the Abyss.

Josie (as Minx): Oh. Oh, that’s why the symbol was around, okay. I didn’t know you were followers.

Rhi: Yeah, most of us are. He’s a watcher of the waters and deep places. Not a benevolent deity exactly, but not evil. Just someone it’s better to be on his good side. You don’t wanna go out on the waters without saying a prayer, making an offering to him.

Josie (as Minx): I suppose that would make sense. We haven’t been doing that. Should we?

Rhi: [laughs]

Minna (as Myra): I mean…

Rhi: Kay kinda like waggles her hand back and forth in a kind of like, “Eh maybe” sort of gesture.

Josie: [laughs]

Minna: Our time on the water has not been super great.

Rhi (as Kay): For the most part, you know, we don’t really have a lot of very big, elaborate rituals like some of the other Forgotten Gods require. But one thing that we do is we have a few folks in our group who can read the stars and make predictions and meaning from them. And once a year, the stars guide us to a particular place where we gather and sort of rededicate ourselves, I guess, is a good way of describing it. Make offerings as a group.

And, you know, we’ve found this year’s point and the, uh… it’s in one of the canals just into Silkshore. I can show you on a map specifically. And we’re supposed to be in there in a couple nights, but the Bluecoats have the whole canal locked down. They’re claiming that there’s some murder investigation that they’re doing. Nobody’s been murdered there. I mean— nobody’s been murdered there recently. They’re blocking it. They know that we’re supposed to be there, we’re pretty sure. And they’re blocking it on purpose.

Minna (as Myra): Why would they do that?

Rhi (as Kay): No idea. That’s kinda what I’m hoping you can find out. I mean, truth be told, the why of it matters a lot less tat just getting them out of our space.

Josie (as Minx): Ah. I see.

Rhi (as Kay): But doing that effectively might involve finding out why.

Josie (as Minx): Yes. So, you need us to clear them out?

Rhi (as Kay): More or less, yeah.

Josie (as Minx): Uh, by when, and for how long?

Rhi (as Kay): Tomorrow night. The whole night.

Josie (as Minx): Alright.

Rhi (as Kay): I know it’s short notice.

Josie (as Minx): I take it the stars didn’t tell you until just now?

Rhi (as Kay): Now. It’s usually pretty close. So, yeah. Otherwise, we’d have, you know, tried to deal with this sooner. And the Bluecoats didn’t move in until a little bit after we figured it out, so…

Minna (as Myra): Huh.

Rhi (as Kay): We’re also doing a it of an internal investigation of our own.

Rhi: And she kind of, she smiles, but it’s not a smile to show happiness. It’s a smile to show teeth. [laughs]

Josie: Ah. [laughs] Hmm. I’m gay about those smiles.

[laughter]

Rhi: She’s like:

Rhi (as Kay): Yeah, so whatever you can find out. If you can get them out of there, we’d appreciate it.

Josie (as Minx): I definitely think we can do that. What do you two think?

Minna (as Myra): I sure think we can.

Kim (as Blaire): Uh, it’s just canals, right?

Rhi (as Kay): Mm hmm. Just one canal.

Kim (as Blaire): Okay. Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good.

Rhi: So, I think Kay kind of catches that Blaire’s a little reserved right now. She doesn’t really pry into it, but I think as she’s standing up she kinda reaches over and like, squeezes Blaire’s shoulder for a second.

Kim: I think Blaire flinches at that.

Rhi: Oh… [laughs] Aw. Uh, she will pull back immediately and is just like:

Rhi (as Kay): Alright, well you know where to find us if you need any more info, or when you’re done. Thanks. Appreciate it.

Josie (as Minx): Of course, dear.

Rhi (as Kay): And good to meet you, Nyryx.

Rhi: She’ll kind of nod at all of you and then, uh, give Rigney a wave and head back out. And there’s a moment of silence after the door closes behind her, and then Nyryx just goes:

Rhi (as Nyryx): She’s so fucking hot! Minx, you didn’t tell me she was that hot!

Josie: I know!

Rhi (as Nyryx): [sighs dramatically]

Josie (as Minx): I’m sure I’ve told you of her.

Rhi (as Nyryx): You didn’t capture the…

Josie (as Minx): Muscles and…

Rhi (as Nyryx): Oh… alright. I’m good.

Josie (as Minx): She’s somewhat beyond words, yes?

Rhi (as Nyryx): I just wasn’t prepared. [sighs]

Josie (as Minx): [laughs]

Rhi (as Nyryx): Alright, well, um…

Josie (as Minx): Perhaps the three of us should hang out more.

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: Nyryx blushes. [laughs] Which you do not see form her often. She is a difficult woman to make blush. She’s like:

Rhi (as Nyryx): …uh… mm. Uh, yes. Um. That, that… would be fine. Um, I… I will let the three of you get to work, and I probably need to start getting back to work myself. I think my shift starts in a couple hours.

Josie (as Minx): I would like blood circulation back in my hand.

Rhi (as Nyryx): Oh! Oh, I’m so sorry!

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: And she’ll pull her hand away. Yeah, she’ll, like, stand up and kinda grab her bag and is like:

Rhi (as Nyryx): Alright, well good luck all of you. And be safe, okay?

Josie (as Minx): We will. See you soon, Nyry.

Rhi (as Nyryx): See you.

Rhi: And she’ll lean down and give Minx a quick kiss and wave goodbye to the other two of you and head out. So, yeah. You’ve kinda got your… get The Bluecoats out of a particular area for a night.

Josie (as Minx): So, there’s a couple ways we can go about this. We can go the subtle way or we can go The Magpies are causing trouble nearby, all hands on deck.

Minna (as Myra): For an entire night? I don’t know if we can keep a party going for that long.

Kim (as Blaire): We could try.

Josie (as Minx): I’m certain we can cause enough disruption to keep them looking all night.

Minna (as Myra): Wild goose chase, is that what we’re doing?

Josie (as Minx): It’s one option.

Minna: [laughs]

Josie (as Minx): The other is we go through the trouble to dig into records and pull on contacts to figure out what they’re investigating and stage something related to it. I do not know the status of our… of contacts that can actually do that.

Minna (as Myra): Hmm.

Josie (as Minx): I suppose Mr. Severin could be of help?

Minna (as Myra): Well, that assumes that they have a legitimate reason for doing it, which, you know, who knows.

Josie (as Minx): Right.

Kim (as Blaire): Severin’s not a bad start. We should make sure that whatever trouble we’re causing doesn’t actually play into the Bluecoat’s hands.

Josie (as Minx): Mm hmm. Could very well be a trap. If not for us, then for The Gondoliers.

Kim (as Blaire): Right.

Josie (as Minx): And I believe your friend, Myra, is not currently operating as a contact?

Minna (as Myra): Yeah, I don’t feel comfortable asking him for that kind of thing anymore.

Josie (as Minx): Very well. Well, I suppose it wouldn’t… no, we should decide our approach. Are we doing subtle or explosive? The presence of actual explosives to be determined.

Minna (as Myra): Let’s start with subtle and escalate from there. How’s that?

Kim (as Blaire): I’m fine with ruckus.

[laughter]

Kim (as Blaire): I mean, we can’t really top summoning an interdimensional monster, you know? That was mostly me. But you know what I meant.

Minna (as Myra): Now that you’ve said it, we’re going to have to. [laughs]

Josie (as Minx): You do set our standards very high, Blaire. Um… let’s, yes, I concur with Myra. Let’s start subtle, try to figure out what they’re doing.

Rhi: The plan is you’re gonna talk to Severin. Do you all wanna go together, do you wanna split up and pursue some different avenues of information?

Josie: Yeah, does anyone else have contacts that would be relevant?

Minna: Let’s see how Severin goes.

Rhi: Okay, so you just wanna all three of you start with chatting with him, and see what information he can give you?

Minna: Yeah, I like that.

Rhi: Alright. In order to talk to Severin, there’s a slightly complicated series of hoops you have to jump through, like you have to send him a message, he has to respond, it takes a little it of back and forth to set up the actual meeting location, because it’s not like you can meet—like, he’s not gonna come and meet you at The Hound’s Paw, because that’s known to be your turf, you can’t go meet him at his station because you’re super wanted. So, there’s some back and forth before you all arrange, like, I’m imagining, like, either a shady back alley or you’re, like, in a park… well, I dunno if there’s ducks. It’s the air of spies—

Minna: [laughs] St James’s Park.

Rhi: Yeah, it’s that vibe. [laughs]

Josie: [laughs]

Minna: There’s one in Six Towers that’s real spooky.

Kim: That’s right, yup.

Rhi: Yeah, and if I recall correctly, I think I put his station house in Six Towers.

Minna: Yeah.

Rhi: So, you probably end up meeting in that park. Like, under a tree, by a broken streetlamp so you’re all in shadows, and it’s the most cloak and dagger thing.

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: I think Minx is just like, living for this.

Josie: Yes. She has a sunhat pulled down low so her eyes are in shadow, and she’s leaning against a tree with a cup of tea in her hand.

Kim: Fantastic.

Rhi: I love it. So, yeah, Severin will show up. I think he’s got the collar of his coat flipped up. I think it’s just turned out to be kind of a chilly, foggy evening, because it’s getting on towards— like, it’s after sunset by the time you’re all able to meet.

Minna: Mistshore Park. So, extremely foggy.

Rhi: Yes. So yeah, very foggy. It’s a good place for secret meeting. Yeah, so he will come over the three of you and be like:

Rhi (as Severin): Long time no see. What can I, uh, do for ya?

Josie (as Minx): Regarding our mutual friends The Bluecoats. They are conducting an investigation into a canal in Silkshore and we need to know why.

Rhi: Give me a roll. We’ll find out what he knows. I was about to just start answering and I’m like, “Wait, this is a game! With dice!”

Josie: Dangit. [laughs]

Rhi: [laughs]

Josie: 6.

Rhi: Okay. Furrows his brow and is thinking a little bit and is like:

Rhi (as Severin): Oh, yeah. It came up real suddenly yesterday. I don’t know a ton about it, it’s not a case I’m working on, obviously. From what I understand, some noble’s kid got killed over there and the family put in a lot of money to keep it all very hush-hush.

Josie: I see, but what if we were to tell you that no murder has occurred?

Rhi (as Severin): Hmm.

Josie (as Minx): What other reason could there be?

Rhi (as Severin): I mean, any number of reasons. Could be that they’re trying to cover up their own crime, although usually they wouldn’t take days at doing that. They’ve got a lot more experience. They don’t need that long. Could be an extortion thing. Could be that someone hired them to shut down the canal. I don’t know. There’s a lot of reasons why they could be doing it if they’re not actually investigating a murder.

Minna: I’ve never— I don’t think I’ve used this contact before, but on my list I do have Jennah, a servant. Do we think there are any kind of like, gossip networks for the staff of these families that might help me find out?

Rhi: Oh, 100%, yeah. Servants talk.

Minna: Yeah.

Rhi: Yeah, you could try to lean on that. Tell me about Jennah. Who is this person? How do you know her?

Minna: Jennah… I wonder… maybe it’s someone who works for like, Greer? And like, that’s how we met.

Rhi: Okay, yeah.

Minna: You know, we just kind of chatted a bit and we’ve chatted since then, probably outside of her being at work. [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah, that totally makes sense. Yeah, so does Myra wanna kinda head of and tug on that contact?

Minna: Yeah.

Rhi: Okay, yeah. Go ahead and give me a roll.

Minna: It is a 6.

Rhi: Okay. Yeah, so you— I think that you’re able to catch up with Jennah, like, after her shift. So, you don’t have a huge amount of time to talk, like, you catch her as she’s heading home, kind of walk with her a little bit and ask about this rumor. She hasn’t heard anything along these lines. She has not heard any— yeah, the family might be able to pay the Bluecoats to keep it locked down, but if a servant was working for a family where one of the kids got killed, that would get spread. She hasn’t heard anything like that.

Minna: Interesting.

Rhi: Which indicates—

Minna: That’s not true. [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah, yeah. It indicates that this cover story is just a cover story.

Josie: Did we get the family’s name?

Minna: No, we didn’t.

Rhi: Yeah, cause there isn’t— yeah, like the story is that the family paid for privacy, but the real reason there’s no name is because there’s no family. Because nobody was killed.

Minna: Hmm.

Josie: Oh. Oh. Well, they’re almost certainly trying to find something, yes?

Minna: Well…

Rhi: [shrugs]

Minna: Could be a lot of things, but that could be one thing.

Josie: I mean, it seems a little odd to keep this one seemingly random canal locked down for a few days unless they are specifically targeting The Gondoliers.

Kim: Or us.

Minna: The timing is what interests me, yeah. Because I think they’re— I do think they must be going after The Gondoliers, because it was right after they were guided there.

Josie: Right, which means they would somehow have to know.

Kim: Would it be a waste of my Gather Info turn to go to Aranna and ask about any Forgotten God activity or anything especially spooky happening in that canal?

Rhi: Oh. No, I think that’s definitely an avenue you could take.

Kim: So, I’m gonna roll Consort for that… alright, that’s a 4?

Rhi: Okay. A standard amount of information. You’re asking Aranna just if she knows of anything…

Kim: Anything that’s happened in that area, yeah.

Rhi: Yeah. So, I think that she’s able to tell you, her and a few of her other cultists have sort of sensed a… sort of a gathering of power in the ghost field around that area. Like, it’s a subtle thing and it’s not, like, a whole bunch of ghosts are converging upon that location, because that would not be subtle. It’s just sort of like, like the ghost field is getting heavy in that area.

Kim: Interesting. Okay.

Rhi: Yeah. That’s about all she can tell you. She doesn’t know a ton else about what’s going on.

Josie: I know who we can ask.

Kim: Who?

Rhi: Uh huh?

Josie: We can ask Bazso.

Minna: [laughs] Another cultist?

Rhi: Yeah… let me look up what his… he does have, his deity has similar requirements, they’re not identical. Let me find… man, we’re just getting deep into all the Forgotten God lore… The Empty Vessel, yeah.

Josie: There’s also that cult that I was sort of in.

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: Yes.

Josie: I forget the name of that god again, but I think it’s more fun if I go to Bazso about it.

Rhi: Yeah. The Dream Beyond Death, they probably wouldn’t be a super useful resource, just because their rituals are all about, like, creating things. It doesn’t really have to do with, like, specific locations. Going to Bazso actually does make sense because form what little you gleaned of his Forgotten God, it does have to do with specific locations.

Josie: Mm hmm.

Rhi: Since he was so interested in that specific place under his headquarters. So yeah, you wanna go ask Bazso about his religious beliefs?

Minna: [delighted giggle]

Josie: Yeah! Let’s do it, let’s finally figure some of that shit out.

Minna: Do you want someone to go with you? [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah, are you all gonna go and—[laughs] or do you want this to just be you, Minx?

Josie: Um, I’d say it’s up to y’all. I could see Bazso only feel comfortable— well, Bazso might feel more comfortable with all three of us there rather than just Minx, now that I think about it. So, maybe.

Rhi: [laughs]

Minna: I’m happy to go.

Rhi: Yeah. All three of you can head over.

Josie: Mm hmm.

Rhi: So, yeah, the three of you, I think that by this point it’s the next morning. So, it’s the day of this ritual. You head over to Lampblacks HQ and I think you actually have to wait until about mid-morning, because Minx, you know that Bazso is not a morning person and will not be available before, like, 10.30 in the morning.

Minna: [laughs]

Josie: It is literal, actual law that you do not talk to him until he has had coffee.

Rhi: Mm hmm. Yeah. So, you head over to Lampblacks HQ. I think you’re let in. The atmosphere there— like, the last few times that you’ve been there over the last several months it had kind of a very tense, war-footing sort of atmosphere to it, because they were fighting to hang onto their territory in The Docks. It feels a little better now. People seem a little more relaxed, you know, the guards are still being very vigilant, people are still working, but it doesn’t have that air of, like, desperate urgency to it. Like, people re cracking jokes while they’re moving stuff around and, you know, it feels a little calmer than it has lately. Which is nice to see.

Yeah, I think you’re brought upstairs to where Bazso has his office. You have to wait a little bit. He’s meeting with somebody else. The somebody else eventually comes out, I think it’s a woman you haven’t met before. She’s jotting down some notes on a notepad as she walks by you and doesn’t even look at you. And then, yeah, his guards will let you in. He kinda looks up and is like:

Rhi (as Bazso): Alright… what’s wrong now?

Josie (as Minx): Oh, I mean, not much is wrong— well, okay, something is wrong. But we were actually hoping you can tell us what exactly is wrong.

Minna (as Myra): It’s not as bad as she’s making it sound. You’re not going to have any headaches out of this.

Rhi: Yeah. [laughs] Bazso’s just sitting there doing the— the gears are spinning of like, “What did I do that’s pissed them off?”

Minna: [laughs]

Josie (as Minx): No, no, no! I mean, I just need information, is all.

Rhi (as Bazso): Oh, alright. Usually when the three of you show up in my office it’s a little more dire. You can’t blame me for getting a little paranoid.

Josie (as Minx): Yeah, well, figured it would be better to have some lower-stakes interactions, yes?

Rhi (as Bazso): Sure. [sighs] So, what information do you need?

Josie (as Minx): So, some friends of mine, as part of a thing with their Forgotten God, need to meet at this place. But The Bluecoats have locked down that place almost in anticipation, and we know their stated reason is fake. So, we were hoping with… you have connections with various Forgotten Gods, obviously…

Josie: She kind of, if there’s a picture in the room, she kind of points at it.

Rhi: Yeah, there is.

Josie (as Minx): We were hoping if you knew if there was some other entity moving against them, or if it’s the same entity leaking information or— I don’t really know how the gods work. I have some friends with The Dream Beyond Death but I’m not really in with that, and I don’t really know what yours is about either, but…

Rhi: Yeah. Go ahead and give me a roll. I think it’s at reduced effect because this is just a ting that Bazso doesn’t really talk about, with a lot of people generally and with you specifically.

Josie: Specifically, not. [laughs]

Rhi: So, it’s gonna be a little harder to get him to open up about this.

Josie: Well, I got a critical though, so—

Rhi: Of course you did. [laughs]

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: So, yeah, I think he kinda looks the three of you over. And I think his gaze lingers on Blaire a little bit and he’s like:

Rhi (as Bazso): I thought that she would’ve been a little better informed about all this.

Kim (as Blaire): I got a little held up.

Rhi (as Bazso): Hmm. Well, uh, so they’re— I mean, The Gondoliers are The Father of the Abyss, right?

Minna (as Myra): Yeah.

Josie (as Minx): Uh— yes.

Rhi: And he kinda does a swirly, spiral motion in the air with his finger.

Rhi (as Bazso): I mean, we don’t have any issue with them. I mean, I will be honest, I am not super tapped in to the politics of the various cults in the city, but to the best of my knowledge, The Gondoliers aren’t somebody you really wanna cross. They’re everywhere, they hear everything, they have connections in places that are useful for everyone. You don’t really wanna get on their bad side.

Josie (as Minx): Mm hmm. So, it seems rather odd that The Bluecoats would move against them deliberately.

Rhi (as Bazso): Yeah. The Bluecoats aren’t especially spiritual either.

Minna (as Myra): I mean, do you have any sense of any kind of gathering supernatural storm of any sort?

Rhi (as Bazso): Sure fucking hope not. After last week? We don’t need any more of that shit. To the best of my knowledge, there hasn’t been anything.

Josie (as Minx): Do you know of any groups with the influence to make this happen? Because it’s no easy thing to pay The Bluecoats enough to stage a many-day-long investigation.

Rhi (as Bazso): I would bet that pretty much any noble family in the city has the money for that. The Bluecoats are actually a lot cheaper than you would expect.

Josie (as Minx): Yes, but the noble family that has been stated to have paid them off… there isn’t one.

Minna (as Myra): Or if there isn’t one, they haven’t paid them off because of the death of a child.

Rhi (as Bazso): Yeah. I mean that is probably what you’re looking for. Noble family paid off the Bluecoats, used this rumor about a death to cover up whatever their real reason is. The Bluecoats may know the real reason, they may not, but I bet that there’s some nobility that’s financed this. Now why, I got no fucking clue. Again, The Gondoliers, not somebody you wanna piss off.

Josie (as Minx): Could there be something they’re trying to dredge up?

Rhi (as Bazso): Could be.

Josie (as Minx): I don’t if you’d know that, but you were, like, digging down for a little bit and…

Rhi (as Bazso): That was something specifically here.

Josie (as Minx): Okay.

Rhi (as Bazso): I don’t think— I haven’t heard of anything over there, but like I said, I haven’t been looking. It could be… shutting down a canal, they could be dredging for something.

Minna (as Myra): Interesting,

Josie (as Minx): Suppose we’ll have to check around and see what they could possibly be searching up.

Rhi (as Bazso): Yeah. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help, but I… I just…

Josie (as Minx): That’s alright. This has proven to be a surprisingly tough nut to crack for us.

Rhi (as Bazso): Yeah.

Josie (as Minx): Usually we’re not lacking in information.

Rhi (as Bazso): Yeah. I’d bet on, for the amount of money, because Bluecoats are cheaper than you’d think, but multiple days to occupy that many of them isn’t gonna be a small chunk of coin, almost certainly somebody in the nobility.

Josie (as Minx): Alright. Thank you anyway, Bazso.

Rhi (as Bazso): Yeah. Good luck with whatever you’re doing.

Josie (as Minx): Yeah. Well, wish The Gondoliers luck too, huh?

Rhi (as Bazso): Yeah. Alright, get out of my office. I got meetings.

Josie (as Minx): Alright… [laughs]

Rhi: [laughs] Shoos you out. Bazso sensed this was about to possibly get sentimental and he can’t have that so…

Minna: Aww…

Josie: Right. Emotions? What are those?

Rhi: [laughs] He was going to experience an emotion and he’s just not about that life, listen.

Josie: [laughs] But Bazso, I wanna talk about your faith… [laughs]

Kim: [sings] Somebody get Bazso Baz to… therapy!

Rhi: [laughs] Listen, if there were therapists in this city…

Kim: Are there not?

Minna: In the Victorian era I think psychotherapy existed, but it was like, Freud.

Rhi: Ah! So it exists, but it sucks! [laughs] Great.

Josie: Right. Everything… is penis.

Rhi: [laughs]

Minna: Yes!

Rhi: Great. Good. Loving it.

Josie: Yeah, I’m a little stuck.

Rhi: You could go check out the canal.

Minna: Mm hmm.

Rhi: And see what things look like over there.

Kim: That was gonna be my suggestion. I was gonna have, maybe, Blaire do an Attune over in the area to see what’s going on.

Minna: Yeah, I think eyes on it is a good idea.

Rhi: Yeah.

Kim: I get to roll four die.

Rhi: Go for it, roll all them dice.

Kim: 5, 5, 6, 6.

Rhi: Okay. Critical. Do all three of you head over there?

Minna: Sure.

Josie: Mm hm.

Rhi: Okay. You make your way over to the canal in question, and sure enough, the canal is shut down. The handful of, like, businesses along that canal are also closed. There’s a number of Bluecoats around. They have a, like, they have barricades at either end of the canal, but they’re not like… they’re basically like, floating buoys with ropes stung between them. It’s not— if somebody wanted to ram through it, they could, but then they’d be surrounded by a bunch of Bluecoats. But it’s not like a solid wall that could stop anybody, really. It’s just sort of putting up traffic cones on the water, basically.

Josie: Gotcha.

Rhi: Fair number of Bluecoats around, just kind of on the walkways on either side of the canal. A few of— there’s a few Bluecoat boats kind of patrolling around in the water. They do appear to be, like, running nets down and they’ve got a bright spotlight setup aimed at water like they are looking for something.

So, Blaire, I think you— the three of you are able to find like, a, um, there’s a bridge over the canal where there’s a lot of other people who are just kind of rubber-necking this, like, “Huh, there’s something weird happening here, let’s investigate and just watch for a little bit.” So, I think the three of you are able to just stand there and look down without drawing any suspicion, and Blaire you’re able to slip on your spirit mask and look into the ghost field.

And you—kinda the first thing you notice is basically verifying what Aranna told you. The ghost field is thick here. That’s kind of the only way to describe it, is if you think of it like, the ghost field sort of overlays—

Kim: Ghost field is soup.

Rhi: Yeah, your world, yeah.

Kim: [laughs]

Rhi: Now it looks like— it’s a heavier filter over the world. So that’s kind of— and it does seem to be centered on this canal, so there’s something going on here. You’re looking around for a little bit, and I think like, as you’re looking, you just notice a few stary hosts kind of also floating around and observing this scene. And I think you do that thing where, like, you make awkward eye contact with one them, and she will sort of drift over and study you, kinda of hovering in front of your face and is like:

Rhi (as Ghost): Curious.

Kim (as Blaire): How so?

Rhi (as Ghost): You’re curious. You want to know things. What do you want to know?

Kim (as Blaire): You’re willing to tell me?

Rhi (as Ghost): I don’t have much else to do, and I know lots of things.

Kim (as Blaire): Aw. What’s your name?

Rhi (as Ghost):  I don’t know that.

Kim (as Blaire): Oh. Would you like a name?

Rhi (as Ghost): I don’t know what I’d do with it.

Kim (as Blaire): Fair.

Josie: [laughs]

Kim (as Blaire): Um, can I just call you Friend?

Rhi (as Ghost): We’ll see.

Kim (as Blaire): Also fair.

Rhi: [laughs]

Kim (as Blaire): So, what are they doing down there?

Kim: And Blaire’s gonna point at the canal where, you know, there’s like, in the ghost field this heavy concentration of spookiness.

Rhi (as Ghost): Waiting for someone.

Kim (as Blaire): Who?

Rhi (as Ghost): Someone’s supposed to come and be in there and then… the net will close up.

Kim (as Blaire): The net?

Rhi: She kinda gestures with her hands, like pulling a— like if you were pulling a drawstring bag shut. That kind of gesture.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: So, something closing.

Kim: Yeah. Blaire’s still not familiar, but she’s gonna pocket that mentally for later.

Kim (as Blaire): This thing. Is it a ghost, or something else?

Rhi (as Ghost): Not a spirit. I think it’s people.

Kim (as Blaire): People? Are they looking to trap a ghost?

Rhi (as Ghost): No. They’ve been talking about when they get here and what they have to do when they get here. They haven’t said who, but they’re waiting for someone to come. And when the someone gets there, they close the net.

Kim (as Blaire): Oh.

Rhi: And then she leans in really close to your face and says:

Rhi (as Ghost): [whispers] It’s a trap!

Rhi: And then vanishes.

Kim (as Blaire): Oh… I was gonna send her to The Reconciled.

Rhi: Uh, yeah, that’s what this ghost tells you.

Kim: Hmm.

Rhi: That The Bluecoats have set a trap for someone.

Kim: Interesting. And they don’t know if it’s a spirit or not.

Rhi: She said that it was not a spirit. That it was people. Not a spirit. She said it was not a ghost.

Kim: Do they mean like a people person or a demon person?

Josie: I’m pretty sure they mean it’s a trap for The Gondoliers.

Kim: Oh…

Minna: Oh!

Kim: That would make sense.

Minna: That makes a lot more sense than portals suddenly exist in Duskwall. [laughs]

Rhi: [laughs]

Josie: Yeah.

Rhi: So, I think you probably leave that bridge to start talking over your options. So, what do you— what are you thinking in terms of a plan, for how you wanna approach this?

Minna (as Myra): So, I think we need to redirect them away from this canal.

Josie (as Minx): Yes. I think it should be a simple matter to leak information that it’s simply happening somewhere else.

Minna (as Myra): Yes. You know, perhaps the people who read the stars were wrong the first time, or the stars have changed their minds.

Josie (as Minx): But then it’s a matter of keeping them gone.

Minna (as Myra): It’s easier to do once they’re gone. I mean, we could set some kind of trap there.

Josie (as Minx): Right. Where do we want to redirect them to?

Minna (as Myra): I’m going to assume that another canal is the kind of location…

Rhi: Yeah. Um, probably not too far away.

Minna: Yeah.

Rhi: Like, there are a zillion canals in Silkshore, though, you an easily find another place to redirect them to.

Josie: Maybe we should say it’s in Crow’s Foot instead of Silkshore.

Rhi: Ooh. What— just out of curiosity— like, I’m not opposed to that plan, but what’s your thinking there?

Josie: Um, you know, far enough way to give us, like, time, but not so far away that it’s suspicious. I’m just looking at the map and Crow’s Foot is right across from Silkshore, so.

Rhi: Yeah, no, that totally makes sense. I was actually, um, I was picturing that it was a canal that was very close to the river there, so it was just like, “Oh, it’s on the other side of the river now. It’s over here, not over here.” So yeah, that totally makes sense.

Josie: Yeah.

Rhi: Yeah, I like that. So, did you wanna have— like, I think if you pitch this plan to The Gondoliers, they will be down for it. This makes sense to them. I think I’m gonna just take that into account in the engagement roll. You’ll get, like, a bonus die on the— instead of plus one die on the “are you getting help from contacts and allies,” you’ll get two.

So, this is a deception plan. Lure, trick or manipulate. Method of deception, you’re spreading the rumor that the location of the ritual is on— is in a different location. And then your plan is once the Bluecoats come over to investigate, you will keep them there so that The Gondoliers can do their thing.

Josie: Right.

Rhi: Alright, let’s do this engagement roll. Um, one for luck. “Is this operation particularly bold or daring?”

Minna: Hmm… I think so.

Rhi: Yeah. Uh, overly contingent— “Overly complex or contingent on many factors?” Uh, I don’t think so. “Plan’s detail exposes a vulnerability of the target or hit them where they’re weakest?” No. “Target is strongest against this approach… friends or contacts,” you get two for that, “enemies or rivals interfering,” yep…

Josie: Yay… [laughs]

Rhi: 1, 2, 5. So, you’re going to be starting in a risky position. Alright. So, it’s that night. The sun has set a couple hours ago.

Minna: Can we have borrowed a gondola for this?

Rhi: Yeah. I will allow it. You can have your very own gondola. Kay—[laughs] I think some point this afternoon, Kay gave you all lessons.

[laughter]

Rhi: On how to use it. Can I get— this is purely for my own entertainment. Can I get each of you to just roll a d6 and tell me what you get?

Josie: Sure.

Rhi: I promise nothing dire is gonna come out of this.

Josie: I got a 4.

Minna: I got a 6!

Kim: I got a 5?

Rhi: Okay. [laughs] Josie, I’m very sorry.

Josie: What?

Rhi: As the one who rolled lowest, you are the one who falls out of the gondola.

Minna: [laughs]

Kim: Oh no!

Rhi: While Kay is teaching you— not while you’re over here, this happened in the afternoon while Kay was teaching you all how to use the gondola, but you just went ass over tea-kettle into the river. [laughs]

Minna: Oh, and then you smelled very bad.

Rhi: [laughs] And then Kay had to fish you out.

Josie: [laughs] Aha. A part of my cunning gay plan.

[laughter]

Rhi: That roll has literally nothing to do with anything that’s gonna happen in this score tonight. I just, as soon as I established that Kay was teaching you all how to gondola, I had the mental image of one of you falling out of the boat and I had to determine who had done it.

Minna: You know it’s always somebody.

Rhi: Mm hmm. So, that happens. And then several hours later, we find you all here. You’re in this canal over in Crow’s Foot. What are you all doing? What are you— where are you all hanging out? Are you in your gondola? Are you sitting at a dock?

Josie: I think I wanna be— you know what? I’ll be in the gondola.

Kim: I’ll be on the dock.

Minna: I think I’m also on the gondola. I don’t know why I feel it’s important to be in the water.

Rhi: I think it makes sense that Blaire is, uh, for the moment, a little reluctant to be on the water. Also a good idea to have somebody on the shore, in case things get weird. You’re hanging out here in the canal. You know, it’s not like, super quiet. There’s streets with traffic overhead. You can hear carriages rattling and people talking, the occasional loud shout or laugh. But down here, it’s a little quieter.

And so, it’s a little startling, even though you kinda knew it was coming, when that big spotlight from before just kind of like, swings into view on the bridge, kind of looking over this section of the canal, shines it almost directly at the two of you, Minx and Myra— like, it’s a little bit off-center, so you’re not just immediately blinded, but it still kinda lights you up. And several Bluecoats kind of come rushing up the walkways on either side. So, they’re here. [laughs]

Josie: Cool. [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah, you’re starting in a risky position, whatever you would like to do to deal with the Bluecoats. And this is, like I said, if you wanna do flashbacks to establish traps that you have laid, that’s your situation.

Josie: Well, I think Minx is disguised as a Gondolier.

Rhi: Okay.

Josie: So, I think she’s got, like, the sleeveless shirt thing going on and probably, like, a hat. When the spotlight drops on her, she’ll just kind of look around like she doesn’t know what’s going on and lean down to Myra in the boat and be like:

Josie (as Minx): Well Miss, it looks like I might need to drop you off a bit early.

Minna (as Myra): That would be fine with me.

Josie: And then start paddling over towards the side.

Rhi: So, they— not like, they’re not ordering you to stop but they’re gonna train weapons on you. Because obviously having you come out of the river is preferable.

Josie: Right.

Rhi: Blaire, since you’re on the dock, you’ve got a couple of them moving in on you.

Kim: Oh. Oh, I was gonna ask if I could throw something at the people shining a spotlight on them, but uh… now that I’ve got eyes on me… that’s not good.

Rhi: Yeah, you have— yeah. There’s a few Bluecoats moving on your position. Shouting at you not to move.

Kim: Is it too early for explosives?

Minna: Never.

Rhi: [laughs] Myra “let’s set it on fire” Keel.

Minna: [laughs] I think it’s really Minna “let’s set it on fire” Reilly.

Rhi: Fair enough.

Minna: [laughs]

Kim: Well, if we’re all in agreement, then I say it’s not too early for explosives. What kind of flashback would that be?

Rhi: So, well, tell me what kinda trap you’re setting up and then I’ll tell you how much stress a flashback it’ll be.

Kim: Hmm… I could set off something to detonate and make it look like there’s a fire happening nearby.

Minna: Can I make a suggestion, though?

Kim: Please.

Minna: You’ve set something up on the supports of the dock you’re on. As soon as enough Bluecoats are onto the dock, you jump off the end and set it to go.

Josie: I was actually thinking something similar for the boat.

Minna: [bursts out laughing]

Josie: Once we have it pointed at them, we jump off, and then it hits the shore and explodes.

Kim: We could try to time it.

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah. You can all… you could all set off explosives in all kinds of places.

Josie: [laughs]

Kim: Yeah, I say we go for it, if you two are down. Like, I set off an explosion on the docks and then you two try to blow up your boat? That’s fine with me.

Minna: Yes.

Josie: Uh huh.

Rhi: I don’t think that there’s— I will say I don’t think there’s remote detonation, but I think that there is, like, something that you can set with a long fuse so that, like, Blaire can, you know, pull something as she’s jumping that’ll set it off, and then similarly for your boat. Yeah, I think just if everybody marks demolition tools, that’s a no-stress flashback since we kind of established that you all were gonna be setting traps already. This makes perfect sense that you’d be able to do it.

Kim: Okay. So, do I have to roll anything to time tis right?

Rhi: I think you might— you’ll need to roll something to like…

Kim: Jump.

Rhi: Yeah, for like the timing and getting clear and not getting caught in the explosion or not getting grabbed by a Bluecoat.

Kim: It sounds like a Finesse to me, maybe?

Rhi: Yeah, I could see Finesse for that. I think Finesse or Prowl.

Kim: Ooh, okay. It’s a 4 and a 1.

Rhi: Kim, why don’t you tell me how this looks with Blaire doing a “cool guys don’t look at explosions” jump? [laughs] Or not, however she ends up doing this, this jump off the dock and then setting off the explosive.

Kim: Well, you gave me the option for her to be cool. So, of course I’m going to take it.

Rhi: Yeah.

Josie: [laughs]

Kim: The way that I think this works is that once spotlights have been put on the boat, Blaire knows that she’s probably going to be next, so she pulls the fuse then, before, you know, Bluecoats start getting their attention drawn to her as well. And as soon as they start closing in on her a little, um— how deep are the canals?

Rhi: Eh. As deep as we need them to be.

Kim: Deep enough to do a dive without, like, risking spinal injury?

Rhi: Oh, yeah.

Kim: Okay, cool. Yeah. Blaire’s just gonna dive into the water.

Rhi: Okay. So, yeah, I think we see, like, Blaire jumps in this perfect dive and then “fwoom” and she gets silhouetted by the explosion.

Kim: My poor girl going in water.

Rhi: [laughs] Some Bluecoats—

Minna: Oh no!

Kim: Yeah, yeah.

Rhi: There’s screaming and flailing—

Minna: I have a suggestion for the consequence. You take a stress because you’re in water.

Kim: Yeah. Yeah, that could be a consequence. [laughs]

Rhi: Ooh, yeah, I think it’s gonna be harm. That you are—

Minna: Oh…

Kim: Just like, psychic stress?

Rhi: I think it’s gonna be level 2 harm, just like, Fear. You’re very, very afraid being in water, to the level that it’s distracting.

Kim: I accept that, because like, it’s gonna be like “Oh my gods, can Setarra see me, can she hear me? What am I doing? What the fuck?”

Rhi: Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, I think we get a shot of like, Blaire, you dive under the water and then we see you underwater and your eyes pop open and like, dart around.

Kim: Yep. Yep.

Rhi: Minx and Myra. I think that we can— you two can kinda have whatever you do happen simultaneously with Blaire’s explosion, so we can roll back a few seconds if you would like.

Minna: So, I think that when Myra said “That sounds good to me” and Minx started to pull towards the side, that’s when Myra set the fuse.

Rhi: Okay. So, what I’m seeing here is that if you’d like to increase the number of Bluecoats that you effect with this, you can make some kind of like, social roll, probably Sway, to kind of like lure them over to where you are going ashore.

Josie: Mm hmm.

Rhi: Otherwise, it’ll just kind of be dependent on the die roll that you make when you are, you know, doing the timing thing of setting the explosive and bailing out.

Josie: Sure, I’ll roll Sway.

Rhi: Yeah.

Josie: Just trying to act as if everything’s normal until something explodes. [laughs]

Rhi: [laughs] 5, okay. Yeah, so I think for a 5, this is basically gonna be a setup action, I think. So yeah, I think that, uh, Minx I think that The Bluecoats are kind of like, moving towards you, being like:

Rhi (as Bluecoats): Alright, come on, get out of the— off to the side, out of your boat, move slowly—

Rhi: And you’re just being, like, making all the correct cooperative sounds, “Yes, of course, of course, let me just get over here,” and then yeah, if one or both of wanna make a roll for your kaboom?

Josie: I guess Prowl is the reason it’s not Wreck?

Minna: I thought it was to get out of the way in time, like to get into the water in time and it was the same roll?

Rhi: It’s however you want to approach it.

Minna: Okay.

Rhi: It could be Wreck, it could be Prowl, it could be Finesse.

Minna: I can’t help you on Wreck. [laughs]

Josie: Are you good at Prowl?

Minna: I’ve got 2 in Prowl.

Josie: Same, so let’s do that, maybe.

Minna: Okay.

Josie: I’ll lead it, I guess?

Minna: Okay.

Josie: Cause someone has to.

Rhi: Yeah. This is gonna be risky, standard.

Josie: 5.

Minna: 6.

Rhi: 6, okay.

Josie: Woo!

Rhi: Um, so yeah, I think that between Minx’s luring the Bluecoats closer and the two of you having impeccable timing, I think Myra just grabs Minx’s wrist and the two of you go over the side. Yeah, that other, “boom!” bomb goes off, a little—

Minna: Can I get give a little bit of flavor detail?

Rhi: Oh yeah, absolutely.

Minna: I think that they go plunging over the side together and you get an image from below them in the water of the, like, fireball, through the water’s surface.

Rhi: Ooh, yes.

Josie: Yes. [laughs]

Rhi: And I think it happens almost simul— like, I think Blaire’s goes and half a second later yours goes, so you just get these “boom, boom” big explosions. And so, now the three of you are in the water. You have blown up a lot of Bluecoats. There’s— nobody’s dead yet, because you’ve rolled well enough that you haven’t had to deal with a death, but like, people are injured, the people who aren’t injured are kind of rushing around, trying to deal with their injured comrades. Some of them are— that spotlight though, is still, it’s up on the bridge. You all have not done anything to the spotlight. So, it is locked on to the three of you in the water, and you can see, just kind of barely, on the bridge there are some Bluecoats aiming weapons at you. So, you all are still in a risky position.

Josie: I have a flashback.

Rhi: Uh huh?

Josie: Can I have set something up on the bottom of the bridge?

Rhi: Yeah!

Josie: [laughs] More explosions?

Rhi: Yeah.

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: I think that that— yeah, absolutely. I think that that is probably gonna be a one stress flashback, because that is a— not so much because it’s more difficult to set up, but to get the timing to work out correctly.

Josie: Right.

Rhi: But yes. I think that that’s like a—[laughs] that’s dynamite with like, a timer stuck onto it.

Josie: Uh huh. [laughs] And I think I’m gonna push myself to Wreck it.

Rhi: Yeah. Risky, standard.

Josie: 5.

Rhi: 5, okay. “Fwomph!” you’ve just blown up a bridge. [laughs] Congratulations. There’s huge chunks of stone hurtling through the air, splashing down into the water, crashing down onto the streets around. You can hear screaming from overhead. And that spotlight’s gone. The consequence… I know what I want it to be, I’m just trying to figure out how much information to give you all right now.

Minna: Mm…

Rhi: Minx is the tallest of the group, right?

Kim: Yeah.

Josie: Yes.

Rhi: okay. So, I’m gonna start a clock called The Water Is Receding? Question mark. One out of three.

Minna: Uh…

Josie: Ah.

Rhi: Because Minx, as you’re treading water, you feel like, the bottom— like, your foot just barely brushes the riverbed.

Josie: Oh, this is not a deep canal.

Rhi: It is a deep canal, though, because Blaire was able to dive in safely. It previously was considerably deeper.

Josie: I see.

Rhi: So, the fact that, like, your foot just rushed the bottom a little bit is weird. That’s not great. What is happening?

Josie (as Minx): Ah. Alright, never mind dears. Everyone out.

Rhi: Yeah, so if you all wanna make some rolls to start getting out of the water…

Minna: Yeah.

Kim: Yes. What would it be to, like, climb outta here? Would it be Prowl?

Rhi: Probably Prowl, yeah.

Kim: Yeah, I’m still swimming too, so… Blaire really wants to get out.

Josie: Yeah.

Kim: Do I have minus one d to this? Probably?

Rhi: I think so, yeah.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: Cause I think, particularly if— when Minx points out that something weird is happening with the water, I think you probably just start panicking.

Kim: Mm, yep.

Josie: I got a 6.

Kim: I rolled a 2.

Rhi: Blaire got a 2. Myra?

Minna: I got a 3.

Rhi: 3. Okay, cool. Minx, I think you just like, you feel that and are like, “Hmm. Actually fuck this!” and immediately start swimming for sure.

Josie: Uh huh.

Rhi: So, on that two and that three. I’m completing the clock, because… and the clock’s title is changing now. It’s not that the water is receding. It’s The Riverbed Is Rising.

Minna: Ah!

Kim: Don’t like that!

Josie: What?

Kim: Don’t like that.

Rhi: Minx, you haul yourself out onto the edge of the canal and turn to see that both Myra and Blaire— the level of the water has not gone down, their heads are still at the same level that they were when you all got into the water. But you can see that they are stuck in— and the two of you can feel, now, you are stuck in mud and dirt and stone, basically up to like, above your knees.

Minna: [whines]

Josie: What?

Rhi: And Minx, coming from the opposite direction of the bridge, you hear footsteps and a cane tapping on the edge of the canal. And you look to see a tall, heavy-set man in a very fine suit with a  fine walking cane, who kind of stops probably a good ten feet away from you, and sort of rests his hands on his cane. Is like:

Rhi (as Man): Well… it is well past the point where we all should have made each other’s acquaintance.

Minna: Uh…

Rhi (as Man): Lord Alistair Mora.

Kim: Whoa!

Minna: Oh…

Kim: What?

Josie: Minx pulls a gun. [laughs]

Rhi: [laughs]

Josie: Well, no, a gun wouldn’t have worked, because all the powder’s wet now.

Minna: [laughs]

Josie: She’s gonna draw her sword.

Rhi: He sort of looks at the sword and kind of chuckles and is like:

Rhi (as Mora): I wouldn’t do that if you want your friends to stay undrowned or uncrushed.

Rhi: And Blaire and Myra, you both feel, like, that mud around your legs, it like, sucks you down a little bit so you’re in it up to your waist and the water is basically at your necks now.

Minna (as Myra): How are you doing this?

Rhi: He just grins.

Kim (as Blaire): Fuck you!

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi (as Mora): Mm. I suppose that’s about what I would’ve expected.

Josie (as Minx): So, I presume this was for us all along, then?

Rhi (as Mora): Oh yes, yes. The Gondoliers are…

Rhi: He sort of just waves a hand dismissively.

Rhi (as Mora): But you all are very soft touches when it comes to the people that you care about, so threatening one of them, good way to lure you in.

Josie (as Minx): Eventually we’re going to get tired of that tactic.

Rhi (as Mora): Hmm. I don’t think you’re going to have the chance. Backup is on the way to see you all arrested.

Josie (as Minx): I see.

Rhi (as Mora): And you won’t be a problem anymore.

Minna: Hey Blaire, do you wanna team up to figure out what the fuck is happening to us.

Kim (as Blaire): Mm-mmph.

Rhi: [laughs]

Kim: Blaire has shorter than Myra, so—

Rhi: The amount that you’re pulled down is different enough that you’re both, like, even though you’re— the water level isn’t changing, it’s how far into the muck you’re being pulled.

Kim: Right.

Minna: To be clear, that was an out of character question. In character, I think Myra’s going to be fumbling through the water for Blaire’s hand.

Kim: Aww.

Rhi: Yeah. I think you two are close enough that you can grab her.

Minna: I think she links hands and like, looks at Blaire and— do you wanna do a group Attune? I can lead it.

Kim: Ooh.

Josie: Ooh.

Kim: Yeah, what are you thinking of doing?

Minna: I just wanna figure out what’s happening and if we can free ourselves.

Kim: Interesting. Yeah, I was gonna— see, if the muck wasn’t up to her waist, Blaire at this point would reach for her belt and unleash a ghost, but yeah, let’s take a look. Let’s do an Attune.

Minna: Okay. Can I push myself while doing a group action?

Rhi: Uh, yeah.

Minna: Okay, so I’m gonna do that.

Kim: That’s a critical. That’s two 6s and a 2.

Rhi: Excellent.

Minna: 4. But yeah, so we take no stre— I take no stress.

Rhi: So, I think again, like, you’ve done this before, where you kind of join your mental powers to look into the ghost field and to do things. And Blaire, I think that you, like, Blaire usually just kinda has her spirit mask pushed up on her forehead, right?

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: On jobs, yeah. So, you’re able to pull that down and look. And you look at Lord Mora and your heart stops for a second. Because you recognize what he is. You recognize that absence in the ghost field. It’s the same hole that Setarra leaves. He’s a fucking demon. And, on a critical, I will give you that you’re able to guess by the fact that he is— he’s not manipulating the water, he is manipulating the earth underneath it, he is a demon of earth and stone.

Kim: Hmm.

Minna: Does that give us any ammunition to stop this happening to us?

Rhi: I think, again, since it was a critical, that you’re able to tell, Blaire, that what he’s doing, it’s not, like— it’s not a constant thing. It’s not like he is keeping a solid grip on you with this muck. He’s just moving it up and then leaving it. So like, you could try to dig yourselves out, particularly if Minx can kinda keep him distracted.

Josie: Mm hmm.

Rhi: You might be able to crawl out. And then at that point, like, based on kind of where, you know, where you’re at, the water’s only a couple feet deep, so once you’re able to climb out, you can probably scramble out pretty quickly. You just have to get out. Minx, I think that you can tell that the two of them are doing some spooky stuff. So, if you want to attempt to distract here.

Josie: Yeah. I’m just gonna say:

Josie (as Minx): Come now, if it was a mere arrest you wanted, you wouldn’t be appearing to us now. You’d be appearing to us dramatically from the other side of an interrogation table. What do you really want?

Rhi (as Mora): Oh, I just want to make sure that you actually get caught this time. You are… very slippery and keep evading us at every turn. And I have had it. Quite frankly, I just wanted to kill you, but Lady Drake made the sensible argument that if we killed you, then you’re martyrs, and we can’t have that. If we send you to prison, then you just fade away. She’ll be hearing your trial, by the way. She’s so looking forward to seeing you again.

Josie (as Minx): Right. Because prisons are so good at holding us.

Rhi (as Mora): There was only one of you inside before. There won’t be anyone to save you with all three of you locked up.

Josie (as Minx): As you said, we are very slippery.

Rhi: [laughs] Give me a roll, Josie. Because I think that this banter back and forth is you distracting him. So, let’s see how effective you are.

Josie: What’s a Devil’s Bargain look like here?

Rhi: Oh ho ho…

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: oh man, lemme think.

Josie: I ask solely because of who I’m talking to.

Rhi: You are gonna have to let him— like, in order to kind of stay engaged with him, you are gonna— either you’re gonna have to close to melee range with him— you’re gonna have to get close to him to—

Josie: I’ll take that

Rhi: Yeah, basically getting into range of him being able to hit you. [laughs] Physically.

Josie: I did get a 6.

Rhi: You did get a 6, which is awesome.

Josie: For rolling five dice, I was very close to not succeeding on that roll, but…

Rhi: Yeah. [laughs] Um, yeah, but you did manage to pull out a 6. So yeah, he is, uh, he is bantering like a supervillain who’s convinced he’s won. He’s not paying close attention to Myra and Blaire. Which means, Myra and Blaire, you can now make rolls, or a group roll, however you wanna do it, to pull yourselves out of the muck. And you are gonna be— I’m gonna say you have greater effect on this, because of Minx’s success.

Minna: My terrible, terrible brain is telling me “Water is super effective against ground types.” That’s not how demons work.

Rhi: [laughs]

Kim: No, it’s not. It is remotely not. [laughs]

Rhi: How are you all getting out of this mud?

Kim: Fuck it, I’m just gonna roll a Prowl and try to climb up the old-fashioned way.

Minna: Same.

Rhi: Alright. Do you wanna group check and try to help each other?

Kim: Yeah, I can lead it.

Minna: Sure, I can run.

Kim: I have no stress.

Minna: Oh okay, go ahead.

Rhi: I think Blaire is leading, so go for it.

Kim: Ha ha, great. It’s a 4 and a 1. Minna?

Minna: Well, I got a 3. So, you take one point of stress and we do it with a consequence.

Rhi: Exactamundo. Um, okay.

Kim: That’s fine.

Rhi: Lemme think. Yeah, you climb up out of the mud and, you know, you’re able to like, as I said, the water is not very deep here because the riverbed has risen so high. You’re able to stand up once you get out of the pits you were in. But I think the complication is you’re not able to really make it much further than that before he notices that you are up. And so, you are both gonna need to roll Prowess resistance to avoid getting dragged back down. Because he just kind of like, lets out a frustrated sigh and waves a hand and you can feel the mud starting to grab at your feet again.

Kim: Ugh.

Rhi: So, you either can take that consequence, or roll to resist. Prowess.

Minna: I’m rolling and I rolled a 5. So, I’m gonna take a stress.

Rhi: Okay.

Kim: I’ll roll to resist.

Rhi: Yeah, so Myra takes one stress, but on a 6 you take no stress. So both of you, tell me how you both manage to evade this. Like, what do you do? You feel it start to come up on your legs again, and what, how do you get away from it?

Kim: Can I just give this guy the finger while I wriggle away?

Rhi: [laughs] Yeah.

Minna: I think for Myra it’s just like, a really strong, like, both arms stroke of the water. In the water.

Rhi: Yeah. So, I think that the two of you are able to, like— do you wanna rejoin Minx?

Minna: Yeah.

Kim: Yep.

Rhi: Yeah, so I think the two of you are able to scramble out onto the canal behind Minx. This does unfortunately put you all in fairly close proximity to him.

Josie: Did I see him do something to make the mud cling?

Rhi: Yeah. That last time, absolutely. He waved a hand and you saw it, because like, they weren’t in very deep water. You saw the mud starting to come up their legs again. So like, you know that he did that.

Josie: Right. Okay, so I don’t think that she’s put together that he’s a demon specifically yet, but he’s definitely magic.

Rhi: Yeah.

Josie: Um… Minx kind of—

Rhi: He’s got some magic bullshit going on.

Josie: Minx cocks an eyebrow and says:

Josie (as Minx): Alright then, so what’s your real name? I would like to shout it dramatically from behind the bars of my cell.

Rhi (as Mora): Mora will suffice.

Josie (as Minx): [sighs] You’re no fun. Well, you gonna take us or what?

Rhi: I think that you can hear the ringing of the Bluecoat bells as their carriages are clattering and he’s like:

Rhi (as Mora): I think I will.

Rhi: And uh…

Josie: How close is he?

Rhi: Stabbing range, for you. Cause you— I think that you see him start to make another gesture, so if you wanna react, you can.

Josie: Yeah, I think Minx is gonna try and slice his hand.

Rhi: Okay.

Josie: And we’ll see how that goes. [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah, I’m gonna tell you right now, desperate, zero effect.

Josie: Cool. Cool.

Rhi: Minx is about to learn why you don’t fist fight a demon. Make sure you mark experience.

Josie: Uh huh. I did get a 5…

Rhi: 5. I mean, that’s— you would have had to get a critical in order to do anything.

Josie: Uh huh.

Rhi: So, you slash at him, and he turns his gesture of whatever he was going to, do probably magic wise, into just backhanding you. And it feels like you just got hit upside the head with a boulder.

Josie: Argh!

Rhi: Like, he just smacks you, you crash into the stone wall of the side of the canal. You’re gonna take level three harm. Probably, honestly, Shattered Skull.

Kim: Ah!

Josie: I would like to resist that.

Rhi: Yes, yeah, yeah. [laughs] Go for it. Do not forget that armor is a thing. We’re real bad at remembering armor, so if you’d like to have armor you can use that as well.

Josie: Yeah, might as well.

Rhi: Yeah.

Josie: Uh, and I’m gonna roll Prowess resist. 5.

Rhi: 5, okay, so you’ll take one stress and between that and the armor that’ll drop it to level one. But like, I think that you manage to like, duck so that he punches the wall instead of fully hitting you. I think you still get clipped, so like, your head is a little bruised. But like, your life just flashed before your eyes.

Josie: Oh dear.

Rhi: You know that he could have just smashed your skull into a paste on that wall. And when he pulls his fist back, there is like an almost cartoonish, like, crater around where he punched. And he just looks back at you and is like:

Rhi (as Mora): Hold still, you slippery little things.

Rhi: And again, the stone around your feet, all three of you, is gonna start to close around you.

Josie (as Minx): Uh… Blaire, what’s happening?

Kim (as Blaire): He’s a demon. He’s a demon.

Josie (as Minx): Ah.

Rhi: So, you’ll need to— I think right now you’re all in a desperate position. He is trying to trap you with stone on your feets.

Josie: Well, fortunately I have a demonbane charm.

Rhi: You do.

[pause]

Rhi: [laughs]

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: That’s right.

[laughter]

Rhi: No, I know that I sound— I am so glad. I had forgotten about that, but I’m delighted that you remembered. That’s fan-fucking-tastic.

Kim: He was probably just barely tolerating that conversation.

Josie: Yeah. I’ve been waiting to whip it out, but like, I don’t know in character enough yet to brandish it.

Rhi: I will say that the way that I think of spiritbane charms and demonbane charms is that if they’re just on you, they don’t really have a super powerful effect. You kind of have to put your will behind it.

Kim: Oh, I see.

Rhi: Particularly, I think, for a demonbane charm.

Josie: You gotta go “power of Christ compels you” on it.

Kim: [laughs]

Rhi: Basically, yeah. Most people wear spiritbane charms, and that will fend off your average, not super powerful ghost, just because they wear it and they believe in it. But if you are, like, trying to get rid of a specific powerful ghost, or if you’re trying to deal with any demon, you have to put your heart into. So, yeah. Yeah, you have a demonbane charm.

Josie: Um, Minx is like:

Josie (as Minx): Well, good thing I remembered to put this on today.

Josie: And she’s just gonna shove it right in his face.

Rhi: Okay. You’re gonna need to roll something. Probably Attune.

Josie: I’m gonna push myself on that.

Kim: Would you like an assist?

Josie: Yes please.

Rhi: Blaire also has a demonbane charm.

Kim: Oh I— I do.

Josie: Oh.

Rhi: You do. [laughs] You have never used it because the last thing that you wanted to do for the last three fucking seasons was banish demons. But you have— that’s always been part of the Whisper’s inventory.

Kim: You’re right. Okay, I’m gonna mark that off, then.

Josie: Maybe it should be a group Attune, then?

Minna: Sure, I can help.

Rhi: Yeah. Okay, so in that case, who’s gonna lead?

Kim: Um, I can.

Rhi: Okay.

Josie: Cool.

Rhi: Yeah, so everybody go ahead and roll Attune. This is desperate. So, mark XP for your Insight track. Or not Insight. Is it Insight?

Kim: It’s for Resolve.

Minna: Resolve.

Josie: It’s Resolve.

Rhi: Thank you. Okay, you got a 4…

Kim: I got a 5.

Minna: 6.

Rhi: Hell yeah.

Josie: Woo!

Kim: So, do I take no stress?

Rhi: Yeah, no stress, because nobody got a 3 or lower, and you do it. So, tell me what it looks like as the three of you are doing this, and then I’ll tell you what Mora’s reaction is. Like, how do the three of you, uh, you know, by our powers combined, superpower these demonbane charms?

Kim: Do you think since I was leading, I like, vocally shout out like… you know?

Josie: Yeah, shouting something could work.

Rhi: I mean, and it could even be there is a language of demons. You could shout something in that that, like, repels them.

Kim: Oh my God, Blaire probably knows a little bit. It’s like, bastardized because she can’t like, you know, her vocal cords literally can’t speak it, but…

Rhi: Yeah, the human vocal cords aren’t meant for it, but yeah, you can shout something at him.

Kim: Yeah, I think she just speaks something in demon speak. It’s probably the equivalent of “leave us the fuck alone”. [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah.

Josie: Uh huh. [laughs]

Rhi: I’m also picturing that like, since I think that, like, Minx was standing up in front and then Blaire and Myra were behind her, I’m picturing that like, Blaire and Myra each have a hand on Minx’s shoulder while Minx and Blaire are like, brandishing their demonbane charms.

Kim: Yep.

Josie: I imagine since it’s kind of like, more powerful forces colliding a little bit, there’s kind of arcane crackling effects between us.

Rhi: Ooh, yeah.

Kim: I love that.

Rhi: There’s definitely some electroplasmic energy crackling in the air around you. So yeah, you brandish these and I think the first thing that we see is like, the stone that was starting to close over your feet just like, shatters into gravel. And Mora staggers backwards and his human visage flickers and disappears for a moment and you are able to see what he actually looks like, which is a… still humanoid, interestingly, no head, it’s just this mass of rock and dirt that is run through at almost every inch with blades and swords and all of these metal weapons.

Kim: That’s fucking cool.

Rhi: That are all drenched in blood.

Kim: Yo! Yes!

Josie: Jeez.

Kim: I love it.

Rhi: Because Lord Mora, his elemental affinity is earth and metal, and his drive is war.

Minna: Oh…

Josie: Ooh.

Kim: Fuck. Yes. I love it.

Rhi: So, he looks like a piece of a battlefield made animate.

Kim: Oh, that is so cool.

Rhi: And he staggers backwards and then his human form flicks back into place. And he has backed up so there’s a good twenty feet between the two of you. And I think that he’s out of the range of that, like, crackling energy that the three of you had generated. And he just sort of stares at the three of you for a long moment.

Josie (as Minx): Sorry to disappoint, but we’ve handled your lot before as well.

Rhi (as Mora): Indeed. Well, I suppose the next time I’ll bring more backup.

Rhi: And he kind of raises his cane in a little bit of a salute. And then just jumps from the canal up to the street, which is a good twenty feet, and just strolls off.

Josie (as Minx): Alright, let’s get the fuck out of here, please.

Minna (as Myra): Uh huh.

Kim (as Blaire): Yeah, please.

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah, so the Bluecoat bells are getting closer, but they’re not so close that the three of you cannot fucking haul ass.

Josie: Mm hmm.

Rhi: Where— so, do you run home, or do you run to The Lampblacks? Because you are in Crow’s Foot and they’re closer.

Kim: We could run to Bazso.

Josie: Yeah, I don’t think there’s a safer place to be than with Bazso right now.

Minna: Yeah.

Rhi: Yeah. So yeah, the three of you just kind of show up at Lampblacks headquarters and—

Kim: Hello again.

Rhi: I mean, so, just to be clear, the three of you are soaking wet, two of you are covered in mud to the waist, and you all are like, out of breath from sprinting and look just like, wide-eyed and panicked. So, I think the guards see you and just like, they exchange a look and then just like wordlessly open the door and like, usher you inside and kind of like, herd you back into a back room and are like:

Rhi (as Guard): Just… wait here.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: [laughs]

Rhi (as Guard): We’ll let you know when the cops are gone.

Josie: Minx is like, shaking less from the cold water and more just like, “Oh God the adrenaline, oh jeez no.”

Rhi: But yeah, I think that The Lampblacks let you hang out there for probably like an hour. Somebody— Bazso isn’t around, somebody will come by and be like. “Yeah, boss is out,” but they’ll bring you, like, some towels [laughs] and some flasks, because you all look like you need a stiff drink. But yeah, they’ll let you hang out for a little bit until it seems like The Bluecoats have cleared out, and then you can make your way home.

Josie (as Minx): Uh, thank you. We’ll owe you, if that’s necessary. Uh…

Rhi (as Guard): Eh…

Josie (as Minx): Actually, can you leave a message for Bazso?

Rhi (as Guard): Sure.

Josie: I think Minx writes it on a slip of paper and folds it and hands it to him, but it’s just gonna read, “Mora is a demon.”

Rhi: Alright.

Josie: [laughs] Yeah.

Rhi: I mean, you don’t really need to elaborate.

Josie: Yeah. [laughs]

Rhi: Okay, yeah, and so then I think that the three of you can make your way back home. Alright, downtime! The Gondoliers are gonna be able to scrape together a little bit of money and give you three coin.

Josie: Okey dokey.

Kim: Oh, okay.

Rhi: For your assistance, even though—

Kim: So, that’s one for each of us.

Rhi: It is admittedly largely fueled by guilt. Because they feel like they fell for this trap and they led you into a very dangerous situation. But, you know, they were still able to like, conduct their ritual, because you did clear the Bluecoats out. [laughs] Uh, because they weren’t actually there for The Gondoliers. So, yeah, they get you some money. Heat. Let’s see here, you blew up a bridge.

Kim: We sure did. [laughs]

Rhi: You blew up a whole bridge.

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: That’s gonna be 4 heat. So you’re currently at Wanted level 2, 5 heat. So, you all make it home, take a lot of hot baths to get rid of all the river muck and mud and anxiety, to some degree. And you know, the Bluecoats kinda die down, things seem to be calm once again and you all once again head out into the city to deal with your various vices and other projects. And I think we first find Blaire and Myra. But yeah, so where— what is the scene with the two of you doing your demon research? Where are you at? What is the sort of mood?

Kim: I would say Blaire is just very focused. Like, you would have to snap her out of it to get her to talk, a little.

Minna: I think Myra puts a hand on her shoulder and sets a cup of tea next to her elbow.

Kim (as Blaire): Ah! Oh, thanks.

Minna (as Myra): Of course. How’s it coming?

Kim (as Blaire): Uh… just trudging along.

Minna (as Myra): Mm hmm. You know, I never thought I’d be learning how to fight demons.

Kim (as Blaire): Mm. Yeah, neither did I.

Minna (as Myra): Are you… I mean, how are you doing with this?

Kim (as Blaire): What do you mean?

Minna (as Myra): I mean, it’s kind of a new thing for you, and I mean, the Setarra thing.

Kim (as Blaire): I… I don’t really wanna think about it. Um…

Minna (as Myra): That’s okay.

Kim (as Blaire): I’m just trying to stop it before she gets me. And I don’t know when that’s going to be, but if… if I just stay focused on this and keep working on it, then… maybe I’ll have the upper hand. I don’t know, but…. I just don’t know.

Minna (as Myra): We just gotta arm ourselves with the best tools possible. And sometimes, that’s studying up.

Kim (as Blaire): I don’t know if it’s gonna be enough against her, but it’s all I know how to do, so. Whatever.

Rhi: I think Hex comes over and hops up into Blaire’s lap and curls up into a little ball.

Kim: Aww! Yeah, I think Blaire’s just gonna start petting him.

Kim (as Blaire): I just— I feel really stupid.

Minna (as Myra): You’re not stupid. You were taken advantage of, for sure. I don’t think that’s uncommon in people— well, I don’t think that’s uncommon.

Kim (as Blaire): Uncommon in people, but demons? Everybody said that. Everybody. I was kicked out of school for this.

Minna (as Myra): Yeah. Everybody says a lot of things that are wrong, though. I don’t think you’re wrong for questioning it.

Kim (as Blaire): I don’t know. I should have known better. There is a line with this stuff and I should have seen it sooner.

Minna (as Myra): Well, now you’ve seen it and we’ll do something about it.

Kim (as Blaire): Okay.

Rhi: I think a fade out from there and fade over to— I think it’s catacombs, I think is where The Dream Before Death meets up. How long has Minx been hanging out there, waiting?

Josie: Uh, too long?

Rhi: [laughs]

Josie: Pretty much all day for a few days now.

Rhi: Oof, yeah. Um, I think that word has kinda gotten around in the cult that— what you’re working on. Has Minx explained why she needs it to any of them?

Josie: I mean, it’s pretty obviously a blade to kill demons.

Rhi: Yeah. They’re kind of giving you your space, like occasionally somebody will come and kinda check on you, and be like, “Hey, do you wanna come see this sculpture of the void that I’m making?”

Josie (as Minx): Uh, later.

Rhi: Yeah. [laughs] They’re mostly just leaving you alone, because they can tell that you’ve seen some shit.

Josie: Mm hmm.

Rhi: Like, they’re a cult. Occasionally one of them also sees some shit. [laughs]

Josie: Yeah. One thing I learned, just looking it up right now, when you’re initiated into the cult of a Forgotten God, you gain a trauma.

Rhi: Mm hmm.

Josie: Like, what the fuck? [laughs]

Rhi: You see shit.

Josie: Uh huh.

Rhi: Um, and I think midway through the day on probably like, the third day that you’ve been pacing around here waiting, the— God, it’s gotta be like a Whisper blacksmith who can, like, imbue a sword with arcane power, um, comes out and they have this, like, large fabric-wrapped bundled that they— like, they look tired. [laughs] Like, they know that you kind of needed this urgently and they, you know, given what it is, they didn’t wanna make you wait any longer than you need it to. So, they’re just kinda holding it out and are like:

Rhi (as Whisper): Here she is.

Josie (as Minx): [gasps]

Rhi (as Whisper): Take good care of her.

Josie: Minx kind of reverently unwraps it.

Rhi: Mm hmm. And what’s the sword look like?

Josie: I think the hilt and guard are kind of like, a gold filagree basket guard. I think it’s— what it’s called? An épée? Or something, like that— it’s a French word.

Rhi: Rapier?

Josie: It— yes. So, the hilt is just sort of ornate and gold like that, but the blade is either polished to such a degree or thinly coated in silver, such that it is mirror coated.

Rhi: Ooh. I think it’s coated in silver.

Josie: Yeah, so like— it’s not like a cloudy mirror, either. It’s like a clear mirrored blade that just reflects whatever’s in it.

Rhi: That’s cool.

Josie: And Minx kind of gently sways it a little bit, tests the weight. I think it’s heavier than this sort of blade would normally be, and for her, because of the coating.

Rhi: Yeah.

Josie: But she slowly smiles and she says:

Josie (as Minx): It’s beautiful. For the honor of Duskwall.

Minna: [bursts out laughing]

[laughter]

Rhi: I think we close on—

Kim: Oh yes.

Rhi: We just— we’re seeing Minx’s smiling reflection in this blade as we fade out.

##Outro [01.29.00]

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.

##Blooper [01.30.12]

Rhi: Oh man, I should have prepped more of an opening for this. Here we go. [laughs]

Josie: Whoops, [laughs]

Kim: [hums a tune]

Rhi: So, it’s been about a week—

Josie: Since you looked at me.

Rhi: Give or take— yes.

Josie: [laughs] Sorry.

Rhi: [laughs]