Transcribed by Michelle Kelly (@Michellicopter)
##Intro
Rhi: Welcome back to Duskwall. As always, thank you so much for joining us. If you missed it, we were able to unlock the Descent into Midnight bonus episode thanks to very generous donations from our audience. It’s available on our feed now, so go check it out if you haven’t yet. And if you haven’t left us a review, now is a great time. Whenever you are listening to this episode, it’s the best time for a review. Next, Josie is going to tell us about this month’s featured charity.
Josie: Southerners On New Ground, or just SONG for short, is an intersectional queer liberation organization working to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights in the southern United States. They work to empower queer people, especially those who are immigrants or people of color, against often hostile governments and communities.
I always hate when people joke about kicking out the southern states or saying they lack education or something, because there’s a lot of marginalized people living in those states too, and they’re working to survive some of the most hostile environments for them. And a lot of that comes down to gerrymandered Republican governments and stuff like that. I have a lot of trans friends in the south especially, and I worry about them getting adequate medical care and being able to change their name and stuff like that. So, please consider donating or becoming a member of SONG if you’re able to. Thanks.
Rhi: Tomorrow is the inauguration if a new president here in the US and I’ll admit, after January 6th, I’m pretty afraid of what might happen. The forces of white supremacy have been empowered and emboldened after the last four years, but their roots run all the way back to the founding of this country. I’m not gonna say this isn’t what America is, because this is what it is. A nation built on stolen land and stolen lives. But we can be better. We can’t undo the past, but we can work together to build a better future for everyone. Its going to take organizing in our communities and continuing to contact our representatives. The work isn’t over just because Biden will be president and we have a democratic majority in Congress. The work is changing, but it still has to be done. So, we’re going to do what we can.
Now then. Let’s get started, shall we?
##Story continues [00.02.51]
Rhi: The Magpies are standing in an alley in Charterhall, the satisfaction and triumph of a score well done immediately vanishing in the face of the now-repaired hull, Ojal, standing in front of them, arm blades deployed. Ojal has just demanded that the puzzle toy that belonged to her in life that Myra claimed as the centerpiece of the ritual needed to free her spirit from this hull, and yeah, she’s gonna start trying to kill you all. So, you’re starting in a desperate position.
Josie: Great.
Kim: Uh…
Rhi: Okay. [laughs] So, have at it! [laughs]
Josie: Um…
Kim: Ideas?
Josie: [laughs] Minx is gonna… [laughs] Minx has some stuff to say.
Rhi: [laughs] Okay?
Josie (as Minx): Wait, wait, wait, you don’t have to listen to her anymore, right? We have your thing.
Rhi: Uh… unfortunately, not how it works.
Josie: Really? [laughs]
Rhi: Yep. [laughs]
Josie: Okay.
Kim (as Blaire): Just because we have it doesn’t mean we know how to use it, Minx.
Rhi:[laughs]
Minna: Well, I know how to use it— rather, Myra knows how to use it. I have no idea. So, what does…
Rhi: Yeah, we’re gonna figure that out. [laughs]
Josie (as Minx): Uh… use it, use it, use it! Use it!
Josie: [laughs]
Minna: I feel like I’m going to have to get to close and/or immobilize her to make this work.
Rhi: Yeah. So, basically what’s gonna happen here Minna, is that I have the Blades in the Dark book open on the page on how to do rituals. And you can— I will give you this choice. Myra being the person that she is, I think it is reasonable that if you have the load available, that she would have brought the stuff she needed to do this ritual with her. That’s gonna be— you’re gonna have to take arcane implements and then basically spend another point of load on extra stuff.
Minna: I have enough load for that.
Rhi: Okay. You can then decide if, like, you want to just try and do this ritual while Blaire and Minx hold her off, or if the three of you wanna work together to incapacitate her and then do the ritual.
Kim: I feel like we might be better off splitting our efforts.
Minna: Yeah. The only thing we have to do is make sure the ritual happens.
Josie: Mm hmm.
Minna: And hopefully nobody gets hurt in the process, but we can’t promise that.
Rhi: Mm hmm. Well, that’s what resistance rolls are for. Or armor. [laughs]
Kim: The one thing we always forget.
Rhi: Yep. [laughs]
Josie: In that case, I think Minx just says:
Josie (as Minx): Do it, do it, do it!
Josie: [laughs] And will draw her sword and not try to, like, active— she’s gonna be on the defensive, but try and keep Ojal occupied.
Rhi: Okay. While Myra works.
Josie: Uh huh.
Rhi: Okay. Blaire, do you think you’re gonna be backing up Minx or helping Myra?
Kim: Probably backing up Minx. Ojal’s kind of a two-person job.
Rhi: Yeah, at minimum.
Kim: At least a two-person job. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah. [laughs] And yeah, let’s start with Minx and Blaire as they are moving to defend Myra while she sets up this ritual. How do you wanna go about doing that?
Josie: Well, Minx is just gonna try and deflect any arm blades and try to quip to keep her attention.
Rhi: [laughs]
Josie (as Minx): You know, we could free you. You don’t need to keep doing this.
Rhi: Um, yeah… I mean, she is— does not seem to be listening. Taking in your words. She is going to swing at you with her blades. So, I think that it’ll probably be Skirmish. Because you’re still fighting. Desperate position, reduced effect.
Josie: Okay. Um…
Rhi: [laughs]
Josie: What’s my harm look like? My harm is good. Yeah. Just gonna roll Skirmish here. Got a 6.
Rhi: Okay. So, yeah, uh, I think she is— it’s tough, because she is— Ojal’s hull frame is a humanoid form, but she was not built with sort of human physical limitations, so she is able to move her limbs and body in ways that a human can’t. And you really only trained to fight humans. So, it’s hard and you are instantly kind of, I think the reduced effect is that you hold her own, you don’t get hurt, but she does push you back a few steps, just right off the bat. So far, you’re okay. [laughs]
Josie (as Minx): Now Ojal, this won’t be any fun if we don’t have any witty repartee.
Rhi: [laughs]
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: I think the response you get— and she doesn’t speak out loud, you just hear this kind of faintly echoey in your head, kind of transmitted through the ghost field it seems, is just:
Rhi (as Ojal): Shut. Up. And. Die.
Rhi: And each of those words is punctuated a blade swing. [laughs]
Josie (as Minx): I’m very bad at both those things.
[laughter]
Rhi: Blaire.
Kim: Yo. Uh, trying to think. So, while Minx is on the defensive and has her distracted, I wanna actually try and like, make some progress to if not make the hull take some damage, at the very least try to trap her down.
Rhi: Okay.
Kim: I’m trying to see what on my weapons sheet would help with that. I mean…
Rhi: Let’s take a look at gear.
Kim: I’m thinking like, unusual weapon. If I mark that off and maybe I had some kind of whip or chain and I just try to rope her.
Rhi: I kinda love the idea of a length of chain that’s like— cause you’re in like, a back alley, and it’s just something that like, you just— it’s sitting out there. [laughs]
Kim: Oh, and I just grab it? I like that.
Rhi: And you just grab it, yeah. Yeah, I think a length of chain, you can absolutely mark unusual weapon and have a few feet of chain that you can try and whip around her legs.
Kim: Okay. And this’ll probably be a Skirmish, right?
Rhi: Yep. Desperate, reduced.
Kim: Okay. It’s a whole one dice for me.
Rhi: Would you like to push yourself or get a Devil’s Bargain?
Kim: Nah, I already rolled. I got a 3. [laughs] I’m not good at fighting.
Josie: [nervous laugh]
Rhi: Alright, so 3. It’s the worst outcome.
Kim: Oh no.
Rhi: I think what happens is Blaire, you like, you wind up with this chain, you’re kind doing the, like, you know, spinning one end of it to get it going and you whip it out and Ojal, like, holding Minx off with one of her blades, whips the other one around and the chain, like, wraps around the arm and she yanks and pulls you in. And as she pulls you, she swings her sword around and basically runs you through on it.
Josie: [sucks air through teeth]
Rhi: You’re taking level 3 harm.
Josie: Uh, can I protect?
Rhi: You can.
Kim: Thank you.
Josie: Okay.
Kim: I would like to not be absolutely skewered here.
Josie: Because I have this Bodyguard move that I constantly forget about.
Rhi: Yes.
Kim: Oh, that’d be nice. Yeah.
Josie: So, in this case I just get plus 1d to my resistance roll.
Rhi: Okay. Lemme see. “Protect: you step in to face a consequence that one of your teammates would otherwise face. You suffer it instead of them.” Yeah, so tell me how— what does that look like for you, Minx? You see Blaire being yanked in towards this raised sword and that does mean that the level 3 harm is gonna hit you, Minx, so—
Kim: Yeah, what is going on, Minx?
Josie: So, she’s yanking with one arm and stabbing with the other, or stabbing with the same arm?
Rhi: I think stabbing with the same arm. I think I like that visual better.
Kim: Oof.
Josie: I think my defense is I strike, like, in the joint of her other arm to pull her back, but that means the arm she was gonna stab Blaire through gets to wheel around a strike at me.
Rhi: Yeah, yeah. So, in that case, Minx—
Josie: So I’m like spinning her, kind of. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah. Minx, you’re gonna take level 3 harm. And you can roll to resist.
Kim: Is there anything I can do to lower that?
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: Uh, no. Minx has transferred the harm to herself, and so…
Josie: Uh huh. And I think I would like to use— hmm. Do I wanna use the rest of my load on armor? Because armor only applies to this hit, right?
Rhi: Yes. Yeah.
Josie: Um… I’ve got a 5d6 here, I’m just gonna try and dodge it.
Rhi: Okay. Yeah. So, resist it.
Josie: Uh, that’s 6.
Rhi: 6, okay.
Kim: Oof.
Rhi: So, you don’t take any stress, it’s gonna knock it down to level 2 harm.
Josie: Uh huh.
Rhi: So you’re still, like, I think instead of it, you know, being a sword straight through your gut, it’s a gash, pretty deep one, hurts a lot, along your side. But you know. There’s a lot of blood on that Umbra Hunters uniform, so you’re down one.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: And…
Kim: Yeah, but they’re dark. Who’s gonna notice the stains?
Rhi: Yeah, it will not be immediately obvious. [laughs] This potentially gives Minx the opportunity to do the hiding the wound thing until she collapses.
Kim: Oh…
Josie: Yeah, I think the other hand is—
Kim: I do love that trope.
Josie: –on top of the wound and she’s like:
Josie (as Minx): [catches breath] Stay picking on someone your own size. Blaire’s very small.
Rhi: Oh…
Kim: Aww. [laughs]
Rhi: So, while that is transpiring, Myra.
Minna: Hello.
Rhi: You have— you had spent a lot of time doing a lot of research on how to unbind a soul from the hull it’s attached to. So, we are going to walk through the ritual that you learned in doing that. As I was reading this, normally rituals are supposed to be down during downtime, but, eh.
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi: This is more fun.
Minna: [laughs] Do it in the middle of a fight instead.
Rhi: That is my ultimate rule. Yeah, listen. My ultimate rule is “make the choice that’s the most fun”. So, we know what the ritual the does. The question that you were sort of pondering is, “How is it weird?”
Minna: It requires a physical connection with the hull.
Rhi: Yeah, I’m trying to think of a way to make the physical connection a little…
Minna: I’m trying to think of something that isn’t blood magic.
Rhi: A little weird.
Kim: You need to kiss the hull.
[laughter]
Kim: Only true love’s kiss can—
Rhi: No.
[laughter]
Minna: I mean, it’s kind of interesting to think about like, that maybe it requires actual compassion for the hull? I don’t know if that would be useful, though.
Josie: Or like, you need to open your soul up to it too?
Rhi: Ooh… yeah. I think that it requires vulnerability in some way. And I think that what you read, Myra, mostly referred to physical vulnerability. You know, not approaching with weapons or armor. But there was some implication that emotional vulnerability, metaphorically opening your soul, or maybe literally, depending on how you wanna do things in the ghost field, is required too. So, it’s a physical connection but also, yeah, I think an emotional openness or connection as well.
Minna: Yeah.
Rhi: So, what is Myra kind of doing currently to set up for the ritual?
Minna: What if there’s like a specially-treated cord that you tie into a complicated knot and then you cut the knot?
Rhi: Ooh… okay, yeah, I like that. That kind of is like, starting the ritual.
Minna: I do a lot of expressing magic as like, fiber-craft in this show. And I didn’t do it intentionally, but it seems to always be the most, like, apt metaphor. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah. Yeah, well even, I know when I was editing for this last— Kim did that, too.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: With the ward that Blaire kind of transferred. Kim described it as untangling a snarl. Yeah. That’s cool. So, I think that you take out from your arcane implements this cord that I think has been treated with like, quicksilver and electroplasm, and maybe has little, like, charms with runes tied to each end. And you’re sitting there like… quickly but carefully weaving it into a complex knot. And I think to get this set up correctly is going to require some kind of a roll.
Minna: Probably Attune, right?
Rhi: Attune or possibly Finesse.
Minna: Same roll for both, so hey.
Rhi: Alright. [laughs] And for you it’s going to be risky, because you are not immediately directly threatened.
Minna: Hey, that’s a 6.
Rhi: Okay, yeah, you, uh, I think, yeah— you get this knot tied with all of the correct, you know, order of cord going into itself, and then how do you think that cutting it looks? Like, what does Myra— how does she do that?
Minna: She has a knife.
Rhi: Yeah, just [slicing sound]?
Minna: Yeah. I guess I have to mark a blade or two now. [laughs]
Rhi: Yes, yes you do. So, I think that as soon as the knot is cut, this, like, thrum goes out through the ghost field and Ojal’s attention, like, arms are still fending off Minx, but her head snaps to look at Myra. Um, so, let’s go back to Minx and Blaire.
Kim: Hey.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: What’s up? How’s it goin’?
Kim: Peachy.
Rhi: [laughs]
Josie: Ah, let’s see here.
Kim: Yeah…
Josie: I’m not only trying to think of an action, I’m trying to think of an action I can quip or pun about.
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim: Well, I can give you more time while I do something. I could—
Rhi: The struggle is real.
Josie: [laughs]
Kim: I could… I could give my baby a gun, even though it may not work.
Rhi: Yeah. Give the baby a gun.
Kim: Okay. I’m gonna give my baby a gun. And I’m gonna roll—
Rhi: Oh, and also I wanna remind you, because I just looked at your character sheet.
Kim: Yes.
Rhi: That you all took this, and this is gonna be extremely relevant, you took Uncanny Preparation last time the crew advanced. “Twice per session, during a desperate action, improve your effect or position.” [laughs]
Kim: Oh…
Josie: Oh!
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: “Describe a flashback,” so basically it gives you two free flashbacks to get out of desperate or, you know, desperate reduced.
Kim: Oh, that’s nice.
Rhi: Yeah. I just, I was looking at this like, “Is there anything else that you all have, like, in terms of gear?” And then I saw that and was like, “I need to remind them immediately!”
Josie: [laughs]
Kim: Okay, so…
Rhi: Yeah, Blaire, what do you— what you doing? You’ve drawn a gun?
Kim: Yeah. Because what else is she gonna do. [laughs] And also, just the mental image of Blaire with a gun is very funny to me.
Rhi: [laughs] She’s used guns a lot throughout the show.
Kim: She as, but it’s still funny. It’s a small girl with a gun.
Rhi: Are you gonna use regular bullets or your electroplasmic?
Kim: I should probably use electroplasmic, right?
Rhi: It’ll bump you up to standard effect, rather than reduced.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: It’ll still be desperate.
Kim: Okay, so I’ll use that. I’ll use electroplasmic bullets and then, if I were to use Uncanny Preparation, or— oh, this is only twice per session. Okay, so we should save that. I could use a Devil’s Bargain for an extra dice, though. What does that look like?
Rhi: Yeah. Um, through sheer bad luck, or maybe exposure to all of the occult stuff that you have in you personally, Blaire, half of your electroplasmic bullets have kind of lost their charge. So, instead of having six, you only have three.
Kim: Oh, it’s kind of like keeping a magnet near your phone.
Rhi: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [laughs]
[laughter]
Rhi: Blaire just radiates an occult energy that just fried three of these bullets.
Kim: I accept that. That’s fair.
Rhi: Okay. Minx and Myra have six shots apiece, Blaire only has three and is about to use one.
Kim: Alright, let’s go.
Rhi: So yeah, this’ll be desperate, standard.
Kim: Okay, that’s a 6.
Rhi: Okay! So, you take a shot at Ojal and I think you fire the shot just as she’s, like, winding an arm up to swing down on Minx, and so you get a clear shot at kinda the gap in that joint.
Kim: Nice.
Rhi: And this electroplasmic bullet goes in and she kind of like, twitches and falls back a step from Minx while she’s, like— it’s clearly taking her a second to kind of rally and recover herself. So, I am going to start a clock that you will like.
Kim: Oh.
Josie: Yay!
Rhi: It’s basically the clock to defeat Ojal.
Kim: We don’t get many clocks that we like.
Rhi: You really don’t. So, Ojal Incapacitated, 1 out of 8.
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah, eat that!
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: [laughs] Yeah, you got a couple second of breathing room with Ojal having fallen bac.
Kim: Okay.
Josie: Uh huh. So, here’s the thing. I wanna try and disable one of her arms.
Rhi: Okay.
Josie: Like, either sever it or just make it non-functional.
Rhi: Okay.
Josie: I have a description for what I wanna do, but I wanna describe it after we figure this out.
Rhi: Yeah, yeah.
Josie: So, is it safe to say that Ojal counts as a small gang?
Rhi: Yes.
Josie: Okay.
Rhi: [laughs] Yes.
Josie: So, I do want to take out her arm. I don’t know if that would be Skirmish or Wreck.
Rhi: Oh, interesting. If you use your sword to, like, kind of jam it into the joints and sever cables and disable her arm that way, that’ll be Skirmish. If you are hacking at the arm or just trying to bodily rip it off, that’ll be Wreck.
Josie: I wanna remove it.
Rhi: Okay. So, it’ll be Wreck.
Josie: Okay. But I am going to push myself using Not To Be Trifled With to engage her without any reduction in effect.
Rhi: Okay.
Josie: And then I kinda wanna use Uncanny Preparation to boost my effect up further.
Rhi: Okay. So right now, before Uncanny Preparation you are at desperate, standard.
Josie: Desperate, standard. Okay.
Rhi: Yeah.
Josie: So, with Uncanny Preparation it’ll be desperate, greater?
Rhi: Correct.
Josie: Okay. Then I’m gonna do that. And because of Not To Be Trifled With, I also get the additional die.
Rhi: Yes. And you’re doing this as Wreck.
Rhi: Okay. I hope this works, it sounds cool.
Josie: I got a 5.
Rhi: Okay.
Kim: Nice!
Rhi: So, you do it, but there’s a consequence.
Josie: Right, so what I was thinking…
Rhi: Yeah, tell me what it looks like when you do this and then I’ll tell you the consequence.
Josie: Well, she was bringing an arm down at me, right? So, I think Minx just sort of airily side-steps and says:
Josie (as Minx): Let’s give this a shot.
Rhi: Ugh…
Josie: And then just kind of presses the arm to the alley wall with her body, right? And the Uncanny Preparation is we get a brief shot of, oh, it looked like she was holding her wound shut, but that’s actually where her gun is.
Rhi: Ah!
Kim: Nice.
Josie: So, I’m marking off an electroplasmic bullet pistol to whip that out and just fire it right up into the elbow joint, point blank.
Rhi: Okay.
Josie: And seeing it like that.
Rhi: Yeah. Um, so there’s this second loud shot and the sound of basically exploding metal. And I think we get a shot of Ojal’s forearm with blade striking out of it skittering across the cobblestones. Now, you got a 5, so there’s a consequence. And the consequence is there have been two gunshots fired in Charterhall in rapid succession. Charterhall’s a nice neighborhood. They don’t fire guns here. So, we are going to start Bluecoats Arrive, 2 out of 4.
Josie: Wow, okay.
Rhi: [laughs] You’re in a nice part of town. [laughs]
Josie: Mm hmm.
Rhi: So, Myra, you are continuing to work. The next set of questions are actually for me to answer. “What must Myra do to perform the ritual and what is its price?” I’m basically gonna tell you the next step in the ritual and the price that Myra has to pay for this. So, let me see here, I gotta figure out the magnitude of this. Um, you’re gonna have to take four points of stress.
Kim: Oof.
Rhi: And level 2 harm. Basically just, the harm is kind of that opening yourself up, which is kind of the next part of this ritual, is you basically have to do something that Myra really doesn’t wanna do, I think, because it’s reaching into the ghost field and opening up.
Minna: Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
Rhi: Which is— that’s how you get possessed.
Minna: Mm hmm!
Rhi: [laughs]
Minna: Been a while since Myra did this on purpose.
Rhi: Yes, but that is the thing that you have to do. And it’s going to give you level 2 harm that you can’t resist.
Minna: What’s the harm?
Rhi: Uh, the harm, I think, is it’s just kind of…
Minna: Vulnerable.
Rhi: Yeah, vulnerable, or anxiety? [laughs]
Minna: Oh my God, yes, anxiety. [laughs]
Rhi: However you wanna, yeah, however you wanna frame it.
Minna: Me, constantly carrying a level 2 harm, anxiety. [laughs]
Rhi: [laughs] It’ll be a 2020 mood.
Kim: You gave her anxiety.
Minna: Uh, just so you know, that four stress puts me one stress away from another trauma. [laughs]
Kim: Oh my God.
Josie: Yeesh.
Rhi: I don’t think I’m gonna make you roll for this, I think as long as you do it and take the harm, it just happens. But what does it kind of look like or feel like? Like, what’s going on with Myra as she is kind of doing this next part of the ritual?
Minna: I think she’s, like, kneeling on the ground as she completes the next step of the ritual. Like, she has to, like, do that and close her eyes and, like, figure out how to relax and open up in that way.
Rhi: Which would be hard under ideal circumstances, but while your two best friends are fighting a killbot ten feet away…
Minna: Mm hmm. So yeah, the world’s most stressful meditation happening.
Rhi: Yeah. Um, and I think you’re also holding the puzzle toy in your hands as you’re doing this. Alright, back to our combat team. Ojal is down an arm.
Kim: Mm hmm.
Rhi: Good for you. You still have a lot of— oh wait, I need to update that clock because taking off her arm is going to have upped the clock. Did you do it with greater effect?
Josie: Uh yeah, greater effect.
Rhi: Yes, okay. So, the Ojal Incapacitated clock is now at 3 out of 8.
Josie: Okey dokey.
Rhi: So yeah, Minx, Blaire, what do you wanna do to continue working on?
Kim: I think we should try and go for another limb.
Rhi: [laughs]
Josie: Yeah, the other arm sounds good.
Kim: Yeah.
Josie: You’ve got that chain around it, right?
Kim: Nah, that failed.
Rhi: The chain fell, but you still have access to the chain. Like, you didn’t lose it.
Kim: Do you wanna try something with it, Josie?
Josie: Yeah.
Kim: Okay. What do you have in mind?
Josie: If you can pull it, pull her arm taut or like, throw her off balance, I can try and just strike through the elbow again.
Kim: Yeah. Okay. What would that be?
Rhi: Um, I think it’s gonna be a setup action for Blaire.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: And then if you succeed on it, Minx will get either, you know, depending on what you want Minx, either plus one effect or improved position.
Josie: Mm hmm.
Kim: So, what am I rolling for the setup action?
Rhi: Probably Skirmish again. It is gonna continue to be desperate, reduced.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: So, if you wanna do anything to bump that up.
Kim: Devil’s Bargain to change the effect?
Rhi: Yeah. Um, you’re gonna take level 2 harm, no matter what. Cause she’s just gonna get a hit in on ya.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: Alright. So, it’ll be desperate, standard.
Kim: 4.
Rhi: 4, okay. You do it, which means that Minx will get the benefits of your setup action.
Josie: Woo!
Rhi: But you take level 2 harm and there’s an additional consequence. So, I think the harm is as you are, like, kind of moving to get the chain around her arm, she’s still trying to fend Minx off with her remaining arm, lunges forward and basically jams the ragged, sparking stump of her upper arm into your chest. And so, you get electrocuted and a little bit stabbed, because there’s sharp metal and electricity. And it’s just a bad feeling. So, that’s the level 2 harm.
Kim: Is that two slots of level 2 harm, or just one?
Rhi: Just one.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: That’s from the Devil’s Bargain. Now I’m figuring out the consequence for the fact that you got a 4. [laughs]
Kim: Yeah…
Rhi: Serious complication occurs. The Bluecoats are at the end of the alley.
Kim: [sighs] Just what we need.
Rhi: [laughs] So, yeah, that Bluecoat Arrive clock is at 4 out of 4. There’s a squadron of them that have just reached the end of the alley and are shouting. They haven’t recognized all of you as The Magpies, they haven’t necessarily clocked the fact that you’re fighting a hull. They’re gonna work that out pretty soon, but [laughs] that’s the situation. But that said, Minx, you now can go about removing the other arm with— you can have improved effect or improved position.
Josie: Um, I’m gonna have improved effect.
Rhi: Okay. So, you’re gonna be desperate, standard.
Josie: Okay. I think I’m just gonna go with that.
Rhi: Okay, sounds good.
Josie: And can this one be Skirmish, or is this one still Wreck?
Rhi: No, you can do Skirmish. It just means like, again, the arm will be disabled but not necessarily detached.
Josie: Yeah. I think this one I’m wheeling around with my— I’m lashing out with my sword and cutting it at the join.
Rhi: Yeah. So, desperate, standard, Skirmish.
Josie: 6.
Rhi: Okay. So, yeah, you, you know, again, Blaire yanks the chain taut and it jerks her arm out, and you just jam the blades right into the elbow joint. And there’s a shower of sparks and then when both you and Blaire let go, the arm falls limply to her side.
Josie: Right. [laughs]
Rhi: So, that is going to move our incapacitation clock to 5 out of 8. Myra?
Minna: Yes.
Rhi: The last question that I have for you is “What new belief or fear does knowledge of this ritual and its attendant occult forces instill in you?” So basically, what does Myra learn from doing this that is going to either change her understanding of the world or give her a new fear?
Minna: Well, cause like, my first instinct when you said “new belief or fear” was that she would just be afraid that Ojal would be able to hitch a ride somehow, even if it wasn’t right now. But I don’t think that’s quite the intent of the question.
Rhi: Yeah, no, you have learned something about the way the world works by doing this ritual. And it changes Myra in some way.
Minna: That it’s not as hard to break a soul away from the physical thing it inhabits as she would hope.
Rhi: Yeah, yeah, I like that. So Myra, you’ve been holding this little puzzle toy in your hands and you can feel it sort of vibrating a little bit. And there’s a faint, like, electroplasmic blue glow to it. And you know that, like, basically, if you can get this in physical contact with the crystal in the heart of this creature, of this hull, that will basically slam the soul out of it. So, you can either go in, try and help your friends finish incapacitating her, or you can go in and try to just, you know, shove your hand into Ojal’s chest, which is going to be hard. You also have Bluecoats down the alley.
Minna: I feel like we’ve gotta go with as fast as possible. Also, I’m reckless, so… [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah, that’s true.
Minna: Think he’s just gonna charge the fuck in.
Rhi: Alright! Love it.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: This is gonna be desperate. I think it’s gonna have to be an Attune roll. Because you are doing some occult shit.
Minna: What does a Devil’s Bargain look like?
Josie: Can I assist?
Minna: Or I’ll take an assist.
Rhi: Yes. So yes, Minx, you can assist.
Minna: [gasps] It’s a 6.
Josie: Ooh.
Rhi: Okay. Okay. So, tell me what this looks like, as you rush up on Ojal with this—
Minna: So, I think the assist is that Minx has distracted Ojal with, you know, parrying her sword, basically. And I think Myra just does a running leap onto her back. [laughs]
Rhi: Yes…
Kim: I love that.
Minna: And presses the puzzle box where it needs to be. I think there’s, like, a moment where she’s trying desperately to cling on and to, you know, get the puzzle box in the right spot, where it’s just like, “Please, please, please…”
Rhi: And so, I think we see, you know, Ojal flailing around, Myra clinging to her, and you know, her hand shoved underneath kind of the chest plate. And then— I don’t— none of you can hear it, but there’s this very faint clink when it makes contact, and Ojal freezes.
And then, earlier, when Myra had sort of begun this ritual, there had been kind of a faint thrum in the ghost field. This is more like a sonic boom in the ghost field. There’s no physical effect. Nothing looks different in the, you know, world around you. But all of you just hear this agonized scream in your heads. And you can hear in the houses around you, a few other people cry out. The Bluecoats at the end of the alley all suddenly kind of, you know, shout and clutch their heads. And the hull collapses.
All three of you feel very cold. And if you look into the ghost field, you can see Ojal’s spirit, which doesn’t look exactly the way that she did in life. Apparently, being a hull had kind of an impact on her soul’s understanding of itself. It mostly looks the way Ojal did, but there are pieces of her, like one of her arms has that, you know, bladed forearm. She always had, you know, very short cropped hair. I think now it’s kind of this, like, smooth transition from her face into a metal plate over the top of her head. There’s just sort of these metallic pieces lingering in her spirit now.
And she looks angry. She looks very, very pissed off. The hull is not longer actively trying to kill you. The Bluecoats are, for the moment, distracted. You have a couple seconds here in which to figure out your next move.
Josie: Anyone got smoke bombs?
Rhi: You actually do have two smoke bombs in your inventory.
Minna: Let’s do a smoke bomb and run.
Kim: Myra, do you want me to jar her up at all so you can, like, have closure, or…?
Minna: I think she needs to— oh. That’s true. Maybe just to make sure she gets released not where Salia will catch her.
Kim: That’s a good point. Yeah. I can attempt to try and jar her up.
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim: And since it’s the end of the score, I’ll push myself for it too. Even though I kinda don’t need to, but…
Rhi: Okay.
Kim: So, I’m gonna roll Attune for this.
Rhi: Yeah. Lemme think about what this is in terms of position and effect. I think it’s gonna be risky, greater, cause you’ve got your fine spirit mask and whatnot that you’re using.
Kim: Okay. One 6 out of that.
Rhi: [laughs] Alright, that’s all you need.
Kim: [simultaneously] All you need.
Rhi: You just need one. So, I think what you all see is Ojal looking furious, like, starts to lunge for Myra. And then Blaire just [wooshing sound] scoops her into a jar.
Josie and Kim: [laugh]
Rhi: But Myra, in that moment, you… you’re not exactly sure what she was planning on doing, but she did not mean you well. [laughs] And figuring that out, you know, I don’t know if you will get a chance to figure that out. I don’t know if she’ll be willing to talk to you. But she… yeah.
Minna: I don’t think Myra would be comfortable… frankly, I don’t think Myra would be comfortable being there once she is released. She just wants to make sure she’s released safely where Salia can’t get her.
Kim: Fair enough.
Rhi: So, the Bluecoats start to, uh, get their sense back and one of them shouts:
Rhi (as Bluecoat): It’s The Magpies! Get them!
Josie: Uh, smoke bomb!
[laughter]
Rhi: Yeah, go ahead and chuck a smoke bomb. I think if y’all wanna do a group Prowl to get away?
Josie: I’m down with that.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: Okay.
Josie: I only have two stress left.
Kim: Uh, as do I.
Josie: Oh no.
Minna: Yeah… I only have one left.
Kim: If we do a group action, one of us is taking a trauma no matter what.
Rhi: Not necessarily. It’s, if Blaire or Minx takes the lead, one of them is risking trauma if the other two roll a— like, two people would have to roll a 3 or below.
Kim: Right, yeah.
Josie: Mm hmm.
Rhi: You can also each roll independently, but there is gonna have to be a roll to get away.
Kim: Do you all feel better about rolling independently?
Josie: Yeah. Like, frankly, just from a drama perspective, this is kind of awkward timing to take a trauma.
Kim: It doesn’t make sense.
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim: Okay. So let’s just do it individually.
Rhi: Okay. I will say, with Minx throwing a smoke bomb, that’s gonna give everybody greater effect.
Josie: Okay.
Rhi: Let me mark down that you used— so you now have one left.
Minna: That’s a 5 for me.
Kim: 4 for me.
Josie: 6 for me.
Rhi: Okay.
Josie: Cool beans.
Rhi: Alright. So Minx, you throw the smoke bomb and run. And I think because you are closest to kind of the center of where the smoke cloud starts, when the bullets begin flying, none of them hit you. Blaire and Myra, you both get grazed by flying bullets, so you are each gonna take, uh, let’s see, this is risky, so it’s gonna be level 2 harm as you both get shot mildly
Josie: Yeesh.
Kim: It’s fine. It’s what it is.
Rhi: But all three of you are able to run with the jar containing Ojal. And my question is where do you run to? Do you run towards the clinic?
Minna: That’s probably—
Rhi: Because that’s actually gonna be close— Seeks’ clinic is gonna be closer than home right now.
Minna: Also, some of us got shot, so.
Rhi: Because the clinic is in Charterhall.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: Yes, yeah.
Josie: So, maybe let’s go there.
Rhi: Shot, stabbed, okay.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: So, uh, you take off running and you all know Charterhall pretty well at this point, you’re able to weave through additional alleys and make your way round to the back door of the clinic. You’re let in. Seeks is not there at the moment, she doesn’t work every night. She works some nights, but not this one. But you are ushered in. [laughs] I think that in like, in the employee break room there’s little portraits of the three of you and there’s a little note from Seeks that’s like, you know, “Treat without question, without charge.”
Minna: Aww!
Josie: Aww. [laughs]
Rhi: So everybody knows that you are to be taken care of. So, you get brought in and some of the physickers are taking care of you. You’ve been there for like, 15, 20 minutes and another, like, one of the nurses comes up and is like:
Rhi (as Nurse): Um, sorry to disturb you, but there’s a, um, a Clave looking for you.
Josie (as Minx): Oh. Uh…
Rhi (as Nurse): We can tell her that you’re not here if—
Josie (as Minx): No, she can come in.
Rhi: Alright, so yeah. She nods and heads back up front and then comes back with Clave, who looks frazzled, to put it mildly. And it looks like she, like, she’s winded, she kinda has a hand pressed to her side like she’s got a stitch in her side, her hair’s kind of mussed. It looks like she just grabbed the closest coat that she could find and the sprinted over here. Like, the buttons aren’t really done up properly.
Josie: Mm hmm.
Rhi: And she’s just like:
Rhi (as Clave): [breathless] Did you get her?
Josie (as Minx): We did.
Kim (as Blaire): She’s right here.
Kim: And Blaire shows the jar.
Rhi (as Clave): [sighs] That’s—
Josie (as Minx): Frankly took fewer cuts than I was expecting to take. Phew.
Rhi (as Clave): [breathless] Well, after the last time that you all faced her, Salia didn’t get her put together quite as solidly.
Rhi: I think one of the nurses gently steers her into a chair and she’s like:
Rhi (as Nurse): Sit down, please.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi (as Nurse): I’ll bring you some tea.
Rhi (as Clave): Um, Salia knows that something happened with Ojal.
Josie (as Minx): Mm hmm?
Rhi (as Clave): But without Ojal she’s a lot less protected.
Rhi: She looks at Blaire and kind of nods at the jar and is like:
Rhi (as Clave): I think she deserves some revenge. Can I take her?
Kim (as Blaire): Uh… where…
Kim: I think Blaire’s going to look at Myra as if, like, asking for permission, because she doesn’t know what Myra wants to do with her yet.
Minna (as Myra): What are you going to do?
Rhi (as Clave): I’m gonna take Ojal and I’m gonna go to Salia. I’m gonna open up the jar and I’m gonna take out a gun. And we’re gonna see what happens. You can come with us if you want.
Josie (as Minx): You’re aiming to get Salia possessed, or…
Rhi (as Clave): I want her dead. I don’t particularly care what becomes of her body after that. If Ojal wants to move in, that’s fine, but—
Josie (as Minx): I mean…
Rhi (as Clave): I’m not safe as long as she’s alive. Neither are the three of you, neither are anybody that’s ever had any dealings with you.
Josie (as Minx): Yes, but if this happens, is Ojal going to leave us alone, or more specifically Myra alone?
Minna (as Myra): How do we know if Ojal has any will left? Not all ghosts are people.
Kim (as Blaire): And who’s to say that, you know, Salia’s prepared to trap her again and then we’re just back to square one.
Rhi: Clave makes a face, but nods.
Rhi (as Clave): Well, I’m still gonna go find her with a gun. Myra, you’re welcome to join me if you’d like. I figure you’ve earned vengeance as much as I have.
Minna (as Myra): I don’t want revenge. I just ant to be free of her.
Josie (as Minx): Yes. Well, we need to do something with her.
Rhi (as Clave): I can take care of it.
Rhi: And I think Clave will stand up.
Rhi (as Clave): I know where she’s gonna be and she won’t be expecting it from me. I’ll send word to that bar of yours when it’s done. And if you don’t hear from me, uh, well, just hope Salia doesn’t have the funds to do this again.
Rhi: Kind of nods at Ojal in a jar.
Minna (as Myra): Clave.
Rhi (as Clave): Uh huh?
Minna (as Myra): What’s going to happen to her organization once you’ve removed the head?
Rhi (as Clave): What do you think would have happened to the four of us if she’d died when we were eighteen? They’re gonna eat each other alive. The only one left who could take control is Wester and, well…
Rhi: [laughs] She makes a face.
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi: His odds of being able to do that, she clearly doesn’t think he’s got the capability. And Myra, you know he doesn’t.
Minna (as Myra): As long as there’s nobody poised to take over. We don’t need another one.
Rhi (as Clave): She made very sure that nobody could ever challenge her. She didn’t want an heir.
Josie (as Minx): Clave, if it collapses, you’ve more than proven yourself. I don’t want to speak for Myra, but you would have a place connected to us if you wanted.
Rhi (as Clave): I’ll, uh, see how things look. After. [sighs] Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go commit a murder.
Kim (as Blaire): Have fun?
Josie: [laughs]
Josie (as Minx): Uh, happy hunting.
Rhi: [laughs] And she heads out and the physickers are clearly struggling under the weight of Seeks’ order to not ask questions. But they abide. They follow the rule, and patch you up. At some point, I think as you all are starting to get ready to leave, that same nurse comes back and mentions that there’s Bluecoats around and you might wanna wait for a little bit. So, you just hang out in a back room and have tea for an hour and then head home when the coast is clear.
Okay, so let’s do our downtime scenes. It’s pretty early in the morning by the time The Magpies make their way back to the safety of The Nest. There’s a lot of cleaning up, disposing of bloodied clothes, etc. But eventually you’re all safe to head out into the city to deal with the stress of everything that happened. And where do we see Minx head off to?
Josie: Minx has gotten all dolled up today. She’s in a blue, kind of like, sundress with a wide-brimmed hat. And she’s humming as she exists the door. She’s just going to, like, touch base with people. Socialize a little bit. Maybe have, like, I don’t know, tea with Nyryx after. She’s just trying to have a normal fucking day today.
Rhi: Yeah, yeah, so just like, stopping in on to see Rigney and probably Briggs and…
Josie: Yep.
Rhi: Yeah, I like that. So, Minx heads off for her social day. And I think a little while later we see Blaire leave The Nest and start heading towards the lightning barrier.
Kim: Mm hmm.
Rhi: How’s that going?
Kim: Uh, it’s going fine. Especially since this is like, very routine for her. And I think as she’s walking, she’s also muttering to the jar in her hands, just kind of like talking to Ojal a bit to prepare for, you know, what’s going to happen when she releases her. Just kinda like, you know, muttering reassurances as she opens up a gap in the barrier and slips her way out.
Rhi: Yeah, I think you can tell that she’s still unhappy. The jar keeps kind of like— you keep feeling it shift or like something is tapping on the inside occasionally. She’s still pretty mad and is not enjoying being in a jar.
Kim: Well, yeah. Nobody really does.
Minna: [laughs] [sings] Bottle up my rage…
[laughter]
Rhi: But I mean, admittedly, like, she went from being trapped in a hull, had three seconds of freedom and then got stuffed into a jar.
Kim: Yeah.
Minna: She’s about to get freedom again. Just where she won’t get curtailed in the end.
Rhi: So, what does it look like when you set her free?
Kim: I don’t think— I think there’s a little bit of hesitation, but not much. Blaire is just, you know, kind of bracing herself and wincing a little bit, but she’s still, you know, opening the jar and holding it outstretched and waiting for this spirit to just woosh out of there.
Rhi: Yeah, and she does, sort of with an enraged howl. And you can see that Ojal kind of like, whips around and is clearly looking for someone.
Kim (as Blaire): She’s not here. It’s just us.
Rhi (as Ojal): It’s her fault that I’m dead.
Kim (as Blaire): I know. And it’s not right. For what it’s worth, we are sorry.
Rhi (as Ojal): What am I supposed to do now?
Kim: I think Blaire just kind of gestures to the outside and she’s like:
Kim (as Blaire): It’s not much, but it’s freedom.
Rhi: I think she kind of surveys the area and some of the anger seems to fade a little bit.
Kim: Mm hmm.
Rhi: She’s quiet for a little while and then just says:
Rhi (as Ojal): Well, better late than never, I suppose.
Rhi: And will kind of start drifting off.
Kim (as Blaire): Is there anything… do you want me to like, leave a message for her, or…?
Rhi: I think Ojal kinda stops and turns back and just says:
Rhi (as Ojal): She knows what she did. She has to live with it.
Kim (as Blaire): Fair enough.
Rhi: And I think Ojal starts to move away again and then stops and looks back at you and says:
Rhi (as Ojal): Do you still have it?
Kim (as Blaire): Have… have what?
Rhi (as Ojal): The thing Salia took from me.
Kim (as Blaire): Um, yeah, yeah. Myra saved it.
Kim: And she’s gonna reach into her pocket and offer it back to Ojal.
Rhi: Yeah, so, I mean, she is incorporeal, but spirits can have some kind of poltergeist-y tendencies, so she— it kinda lifts out of your hand and drifts over to Ojal, and you can see the little interlocked rings starting to shift around. And she nods once and says:
Rhi (as Ojal): Thanks.
Rhi: And then will drift off into the Deathlands with that faint clacking sound, the metal rings clicking together, fading.
Kim: Whoa. I really like the idea now that a couple decades down the line there’s going to be an urban legend about like, a metal ghost with a clacking noise.
Rhi: Yeah. [laughs] Yep.
Kim: I love that.
Rhi: Yeah. And from there, we go to Myra. Myra, I think you, uh, checked in with Rigney for messages, probably straight away, since Clave said she was going to send word once the deed was done.
Minna: Yes.
Rhi: And you do, there is a note from Clave. It’s very short and it just is a time and platform number in Gaddoc rail station. And that’s about it.
Minna: Alright. Myra’s gonna go. She’s gonna tell the others. If they want to come, they can.
Kim: I might sit this one out. I feel like it’s nice to have it be a one-on-one scene.
Minna: Yeah. This is mostly in the spirit of not running off alone to potentially risky meetings.
Kim: Oh, yeah.
Rhi: Just in case, if I don’t come back, I’ve been kidnapped and I’m on a train.
Kim: Okey dokey.
Rhi: So, you get to the rail station and it’s, you know, pretty bustling. It’s always a busy place. And you head to the platform and spot Clave pretty quickly. She stands out in a crowd just cause of that, you know, white-blonde hair which now is pulled back very neatly. It’s clear that she has had a chance to kind of put herself together. She’s got a couple bags at her feet and a satchel over her shoulder, and she’s just kind of idly watching the trains as people are boarding and exiting.
Minna (as Myra): You’re leaving?
Rhi (as Clave): Oh, I wasn’t sure if you were gonna make it before I did. Um, yeah. It’ll be easier to start over somewhere new.
Minna (as Myra): I take it it worked?
Rhi: She reaches into a pocket and takes out a brooch that Salia always wore and will hold it out to you.
Minna (as Myra): You can keep your trophy, but thank you.
Rhi: Tucks it away.
Rhi (as Clave): Figured it’d be better to have proof. But yeah, it’s done. And I made sure the Spirit Wardens got tipped off right away, so she won’t come back.
Minna (as Myra): That’s good.
Rhi (as Clave): Well, she taught us to be thorough.
Minna (as Myra): She taught us that you’re not safe even once you’re dead.
Rhi (as Clave): [ruefully] Yeah, she taught us a lot, huh?
Minna (as Myra): I hope you do find whatever it is you want out there.
Rhi (as Clave): Yeah. Yeah, me too. I haven’t ever really had a chance to think about it. But right now, I wanna get on a train and go until they call a stop that sounds like somewhere I wanna be. I’ll see where I end up.
Minna (as Myra): Well, just a heads up, there’s apparently another of them in Imperial City.
Rhi (as Clave): Ugh. Thanks for the warning. So, not Imperial City, then.
Minna (as Myra): Whitehollow’s nice though.
Rhi (as Clave): [laughs] I didn’t get drafted.
Minna (as Myra): [laughs] Not to stay, but…
Rhi (as Clave): Yeah. We’ll see. Thanks. To all of you, for doing this. I know it was mostly in your self-interest to get rid of her too, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it by myself.
Minna (as Myra): I think Minx deserves the thanks, really. I don’t… I wouldn’t have trusted you.
Rhi (as Clave): Nah, I don’t blame you for that. Well, tell her I said thanks, then.
Minna (as Myra): I will.
Rhi: I think there’s a bell that clangs and a nearby train whistles and she looks up and is like:
Rhi (as Clave): Well, that’s me.
Rhi: Will hoist her bags and give you a nod.
Minna (as Myra): Safe travels, Clave.
Rhi (as Clave): Thanks. And uh, well, I’d tell you to stay safe, but it doesn’t seem to be exactly your thing anymore, huh?
Minna (as Myra): [laughs] I’ll try and stay alive.
Rhi (as Clave): Yeah. Yeah. Stay alive, the three of you.
Minna (as Myra): We’ll try.
Rhi: And she will head to the train. And Myra, you can watch as it pulls out from the station and carries her away.
##Outro [00.53.33]
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 resplendent Patreon backers.
Dario, thank you.
Cora Cole, thank you.
##Blooper [00.54.54]
Rhi: [bursts out laughing]
[laughter]
Minna: Kim just—
Rhi: I don’t know why that got me so hard, but it sure did.
[laughter]
Minna: Would anyone like to hazard an image description for how Kim just killed Rhi?
Rhi: Yeah, Kim just posted a gif from Toy Story of Woody standing there having just asked Buzz Lightyear to give him a hand and Buzz Lightyear has chucked his disembodied arm at him. And it’s very good.
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi: Perfect timing. 10/10.
Kim: Thank you. [laughs]
Rhi: Holy shit, that just… well done.
Kim: [laughs]