Transcribed by Tyler (Twitter: @Tyler_MoonSage)
## Intro
Rhi: Welcome back to Duskwall. As always, thank you so much for joining us.
We are about ten days out from the end of our Kickstarter, and we cannot thank you enough for all your support so far. We have hit our first stretch goal and we’re well on our way to our second which will allow us to pay our performers for the entire first season of Project Bluejay.
And we’re hoping we can hit our third stretch goal, Josie’s own actual play podcast, Love and Hellfire, which combines White Wolf’s Demon the Fallen with her own custom Forged in the Dark game. We’ve posted a few threads about Love and Hellfire on our Twitter at @Clever_Corvids, so go check it out.
And of course, if you haven’t backed us yet, please check out our Kickstarter page and consider doing so. We’ve got some amazing rewards available including a few limited availability slots. You can add a personalized message to your friends at the end of a future Project Bluejay episode, play in a Blades in the Dark game with Josie as the GM, or even be the final person to help create an NPC for Project Bluejay.
Next, I’d like to tell you about this month’s Featured Charities:
As you probably know, numerous states here in the US are pushing violently transphobic legislation primarily aimed at trans youth. This legislation seeks to deny trans kids the ability to seek transition-related medical care, the ability to participate in sports, and in some cases the ability to act in a way that isn’t aligned with an extremely narrow restrictive view of gender.
In places like Arkansas, the legislation has already passed and is being challenged in court. In other places like North Carolina and Minnesota it’s still being debated. We’ve linked to some organizations that are fighting for trans rights in those specific states, but no matter where you live, look up information on what might be going on in your state legislature.
If you find bills like this, reach out to your state representatives and tell them, in no uncertain terms, that you oppose these bills and that they must do the same. If you’re able, donate to your local trans rights groups or check the #TransCrowdFund hashtag on Twitter to directly support trans people in need. Trans people have to watch as their very existence is questioned and argued for cheap political points. The rest of us need to stand up, push back, and say no more.
In addition to supporting these charities, if you’re in the United States, please contact your representatives and the White House and demand that the US lift the vaccine patents and send excess vaccines to nations in the global south, especially India.
The vaccine rollout in the US has gone very well, and many of us are on our way to being fully vaccinated if not fully vaccinated already, but a handful of wealthy powerful nations are currently in opposition to measures that would allow vaccine distribution throughout the rest of the world. This is a humanitarian crisis and a nightmarish failure of ethics. We must demand that vaccines and other critical medical supplies be shared with every nation around the globe.
Now then, let’s get started. Shall we?
## Story Continues [0:03:58]
Rhi: So, it’s been about a week, week and a half, since the Magpies broke into—well, didn’t break in, since the magpies infiltrated Bellweather Crematorium and had the Spirit Wardens destroy the Relics of Kotar for them, removing ancient and powerful and dangerous occult items from the world permanently. Where do we find the Magpies at this point?
Kim: Are we in The Nest?
Josie: I think Minx is in her room for the moment getting herself put together. She’s still a little bit charisma drained, so she doesn’t feel like makeup today; a rarity. [chuckles]
Rhi: Mm-hmm.
Josie: Then she looks meaningfully at her new sword.
Kim: Hmm.
Rhi: The camera lingers on it as she leaves the room. Myra, what are you up to?
Minna: I think I’m trying to get Hex down from a high shelf.
Rhi: [laughs] Draw on real life inspiration. Yeah, the funny thing here is Hex can fly.
Kim: Oh yeah.
Rhi: [laughing] But he’s refusing…
Minna: It’s not the fact that he can’t get down, it’s that he won’t come down and it’s bugging me.
Rhi: Ah! Okay. Hex has decided that he lives up on the shelf now.
Kim: Yep.
Minna: Myra has to put the dishtowels there.
Kim (as Blaire): Hexy!
Rhi: The dishtowels are now on the floor.
Minna: They are.
Rhi: Except for the one that Hex is sleeping on.
Minna: Exactly.
Kim (as Blaire): Hexy, do you want a cookie? Do you wanna come down?
Rhi: Hex is sleeping, and ignoring all of you.
Minna (as Myra): We’re not rewarding this behavior.
Josie: [laughs]
Kim (as Blaire): No, I’m trying to lure him down not reward him. It’s different.
Minna: Myra goes and gets a chair.
Kim (as Blaire): Hexy~! Pspspspsps.
Minna: Clunk. Sets the chair down.
[laughter]
Rhi: Hex is doing that thing where he’s pretending to sleep but his ears are flicking towards you every time you talk.
Kim: Oh yeah.
Rhi: So you know that he’s listening to you, he’s just making it really clear he’s ignoring you. Can you tell we all have cats?
[others chuckle]
Rhi: I like the idea that this is the scene Minx comes down the stairs to, Myra clambering up onto a chair and Blaire standing there holding out cat treats.
Kim: Yeah.
Josie: [laughs] I think Minx will just look up at Hex, look at them doing that thing, just smile and go get herself some tea.
[laughter]
Rhi: So I think you are, with a fair amount of yowling and the last dishtowel ending up on the floor…
Kim: [irritated cat noises]
Rhi: …you are able to extract Hex from the shelf.
Minna (as Myra): [sweetly] I’m going to have to clean those dishtowels now. Look what you did.
Kim: [apathetic meow]
Rhi: [laughing] Hex attempts to climb back onto the dishtowels to just continue napping.
Minna: Myra goes and dumps him in Blaire’s room.
Kim: [angry cat snarling]
Josie: I love how Hex is just horrible and we love him anyway.
[laughter]
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim: Of course.
Minna: It’s cats!
Rhi: Yep.
Kim: So why do you think his name is Hex?
Rhi: Yeah. Listen, Nevan knew what he was doing when he named him.
Kim: Yep.
Rhi: So yes, you finish dealing with this minor domestic crisis, Myra gets the dishtowels into the laundry hamper, Blaire probably sneaks Hex a treat at some point in all of this chaos, and yeah, things are settling back down for mid-afternoon tea.
Josie: Minx finishes sipping her tea.
Josie (as Minx): The relics are gone. Now it’s just the Circle, yes?
Kim (as Blaire): Seems like it, yeah.
Josie (as Minx): Who do we want to start with?
Kim (as Blaire): Mora. We should go after Mora first.
Josie (as Minx): Hmm. Yes, he’s powerful and will give me a chance to try out my new sword. Tesslyn is… We need to let our personal rivalry fester for a bit more before we end it, get nice and dramatic.
Kim (as Blaire): I’m gonna be honest, I have no idea about the first thing of going up against a demon. I mean, I’m still trying to research with you know who, but I haven’t gotten any leads or had any breakthroughs yet.
Josie (as Minx): Well, the good news is that Mora will be, in so much as a rich person is bound, somewhat bound by needing to keep it a secret.
Kim (as Blaire): So, what? You’re saying we expose him?
Josie (as Minx): We could, but I’m also saying he will have to be restrained if we go about it the right way. I do not think Setarra especially cares if people know she’s a demon.
Kim (as Blaire): No. No, she’s not shy about that at all. What you’re suggesting is that we get Mora in a situation where he can’t use his full power and then take him down that way?
Josie (as Minx): Right.
Kim (as Blaire): I mean, it could work, but at the same time… it could reach a point where we push him over the edge and he just, you know, goes off on us anyway.
Josie (as Minx): True, but that might be a time to rightfully run away and let him face the consequences.
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah, but that’s publicly shaming him. That’s not gonna do enough to, you know, actually get him out of our business.
Rhi: If he were revealed to be a demon, the Spirit Wardens would come down like the fist of an angry god.
Josie: Oh right.
Rhi: Yeah. The Spirit Wardens would—
Kim: Oh, and they’re equipped to deal with that?
Rhi: It would be… They would suffer some losses, but…
Kim: But they would still be able to do it?
Rhi: Yeah. They would be able to deal with that. Like, it’s not something that they do often, because there’s not a lot of demons roaming around, that they know of, but they are equipped to do so. They go about it, like, in a more… They would approach it in a more militaristic point.
Kim: Right.
Rhi: Where it’s like, we’re just gonna throw people and occult power at this thing until it goes down, whereas you all have to be a little bit more creative about your approach.
Kim: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: Minx’s idea is not a bad plan, of force him into a situation where either his options are blow his cover or limit his powers.
Josie (as Minx): However, we only need to pin him down, because well, I had this.
Josie: She lifts the sword in its elegant blue sheath and its hilt is sort of the golden filigree thing like an epee has, and places it on the table.
Josie (as Minx): I’m pretty sure this can kill him if we go for that route.
Kim (as Blaire): Really?! How are you so sure?
Josie (as Minx): Well, I had it made to do exactly that. But it’s a matter of getting a good clean blow off on him.
Kim (as Blaire): How does it work? Can I touch it?
Josie (as Minx): Ah-ah, patience dear. All will be revealed.
Kim (as Blaire): [squirms] But… Minx, this is huge. I wanna—
Rhi: Blaire is vibrating in her chair.
Kim: She is.
Kim (as Blaire): Minx, I wanna know how this works. If this can actually do the job, this is huge.
Josie (as Minx): I will let you study it after I have my dramatic reveal, dear.
Kim (as Blaire): [groans]
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim (as Blaire): Minx, you’re killing me.
Josie (as Minx): I love you, Blaire.
Kim (as Blaire): [smiling] Eh. Don’t. Not right now. I need to know what this does. Can you at least tell me?
Josie (as Minx): Well, it should reflect his essence?
Kim (as Blaire): Really?!
Josie (as Minx): And by reflect I mean push it away. It can’t really be directly confronted, so I figure perhaps a roundabout fashion.
Kim (as Blaire): Fascinating. Where did you get this?
Josie (as Minx): I have a few artistic friends.
Kim (as Blaire): Well, can I meet them sometime?
Josie (as Minx): Yes, of course.
Josie: Have you met them?
Rhi: I don’t think Blaire has met your goth friends, no.
Josie: Oh.
Kim: Oh my god! Really?!
Rhi: Yeah, I don’t think they’ve met.
Kim: Yeah, no, I don’t think… All right, well, I know what my downtime scene is.
[laughter]
Minna: Friendly goth friends.
Josie (as Minx): Now, there is the issue that we would be killing him and/or harming him in some amount of public view. I don’t know how we will manage the heat of this. Like… I don’t know.
Kim (as Blaire): Well, if he gets exposed as being a demon then that takes a lot of the heat off of us, so maybe that’s something that we should be going for here.
Josie (as Minx): Hmm. So yes, perhaps we need to make sure he is revealed and then ensure he is slain.
Kim (as Blaire): Yes. Exactly.
Josie (as Minx): And as much as I loathe the Spirit Wardens, now at least, being evil brainwashing cops, I did rather enjoy having them do our work for us.
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim (as Blaire): I wouldn’t turn it down a second time, yeah, at least for this. Because I don’t know if we can do this yet.
Rhi: Myra.
Minna: Hello.
Rhi: You’ve been doing a long-term research project on how demons work.
Minna: I have.
Rhi: Basically, yeah, this was a long-term project that you recently finished, and so I will, at this point, so that Myra can contribute the information she has… Basically, this long-term project I’m treating as a critical success on Gather Info, because you spent a lot of time and resources on it.
So, basically what you know about demons… Demons are elemental. All demons are tied to some kind of element. They are not visible in the ghost field. Their blood contains electroplasm, or electroplasmic essence more specifically, and that gives them eternal life. They just don’t age, they don’t die. They can be killed, but it’s exceptionally difficult.
In mechanics terms, exceptionally difficult means that anything less than a fine quality item is going to have zero effect. A fine item will have reduced effect. Minx’s new sword will have standard effect.
Minna: Good to know.
Rhi: Yeah. Demons are very tough to fight.
Minna: Is there any way to lessen or counter their abilities?
Rhi: There’s a few things. One, each demon is obsessed with its particular desire. Demons are not people in the traditional sense, they are an embodiment of this desire given elemental form. When you saw Mora you briefly saw his demon form, and he was basically a humanoid mass of rocky ground, rocky blood-soaked ground run through with weapons of every kind. He is a demon of earth and metal, and his desire is for war.
So, based on what you know about Mora, in order for him to pursue his overall goal of war he may want to keep his identity as a demon a secret. On the other hand, you may be able to coax him into a fight more openly and publicly if you can kind of play off of that.
Minna: Ooh~
Kim: Hmm~
Josie: Huh.
Rhi: In terms of suppressing demonic powers, that is a little trickier because it tends to be kind of specific. Like, there’s not a general thing that will work against demons. You kind of need to know what demon you’re specifically targeting or at least the element that you’re dealing with. So, there may be things that you could find, this could potentially be the acquire asset thing that could work to suppress or weaken his powers. It’s unlikely that you’re gonna be able to nullify them completely.
Another thing that you could consider is that they are stronger when they’re kind of close to their element that they have an affinity for. So like, Setarra is at her most powerful when she is in or near a body of water.
Minna: So put him in the sky.
Rhi: Unfortunately yes. It’s gonna be very difficult to get Mora into a space in, you know, the cobblestone streets of Duskwall where he’s not in contact with earth or stone or metal.
Josie: Now hear me out… trebuchet.
Rhi: Hmm…
[laughter]
Minna: The demon.
Kim: If only.
Rhi: Go on~
Kim: “What if we took this demon and pushed him somewhere else?”
Rhi: We’re just gonna yeet him into the ocean. He will go through the air and then into the water. At no point will he come—
Minna: But then we have to deal with him in the water, and we don’t want to deal with him in the water.
Josie: I mean, are we sure…? We don’t know what sort of relationship he would have with Setarra.
Rhi: Yeah.
Josie: It’s possible they might fight each other if we do that.
Rhi: That would be hilarious.
Kim: It would be funny.
Minna: I feel like baiting him into a fight publicly would actually be a pretty good idea.
Kim: Yeah.
Minna: In so far as fighting him in general is a good idea.
Josie: And I personally am most in favor of that, because that is the most dramatic.
Kim: Yes.
Josie: I do not know if there are mechanisms in Duskwall for honor duels, but I prefer to have legal backing on this so I don’t simply get taken in by Bluecoats.
Rhi: I’m looking to see… Okay, dueling is not listed in here.
Kim: So… our city now. [chuckles]
Rhi: Okay. So, skimming through a single article on dueling in the Victorian era, basically what I’m gleaning from this is: officially illegal, but in certain spheres of society dueling still occurred and it was a massive dishonor if you did not accept a challenge.
Kim: In certain circles. So would this be a thing that existed in high society in the circles that Mora would be in?
Rhi: Yeah.
Josie: So, shall we go the formal letter route or shall we find an event at which he is socializing and hit him in the face with a glove?
Kim: No. I like the idea of sending him an anonymous passive aggressive letter.
Rhi: I mean yeah, you could do that.
Kim: Yeah. I think we should forge a letter to him.
Josie: Why forge a letter? He most likely hates us more than anyone else in the city right now. Why not just be open?
Kim: Spicy. I like it.
Josie: That is most likely to get him out here. So, perhaps while I face him in honorable combat you all could set up some sort of trap to pin him down.
Kim: But here’s the thing. If he knows it’s us, wouldn’t he be inclined to ignore it, because he might catch on that we’re goading him into revealing himself?
Josie: Perhaps, but he may also know that this is gonna be the best opportunity to end us he’s going to get for a while.
Kim: Yeah, it’s a gamble…
Josie: And if he has a particular lust for battle, that may overpower his better judgment.
Kim: True.
Josie: If I make the letter incendiary and with good enough calligraphy.
Minna: What if we publish the challenge in the paper?
Kim: [gasps] Yes! Oh, that’s ballsy.
Josie: Ooh.
Kim: Do you think Lani and Roxanne would publish, like… from the Magpies?
Rhi: You wouldn’t… So, in terms of societally, Mora does not read Lani and Roxanne’s publication. You would need to get it into the Doskvol Daily.
Minna: I also would propose putting it in the Doskvol Daily.
Kim: Would they publish us?
Rhi: The Doskvol Daily cares about one thing and one thing only, and that is selling papers.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: And having noted criminals, The magpies, publish an official challenge to a nobleman of the city—are you kidding me? That’s gonna sell so many papers!
Minna: That’s what I’m saying. And like, all of his friends read the Daily, and they will see if he does not face up to us.
Kim: I like to think that Blaire has a wax seal kit and she fashions a seal of the same symbol of our Magpies pin and seals the letter that way.
Rhi: Yeah~
Josie: Yes.
Rhi: Yes, yes, yes. Very good.
Josie: Minx is like:
Josie (as Minx): Eee! I’m gonna go get my inkwell.
Rhi: Yeah so, well… do you want to do any info gathering on Mora so that you can—?
Kim: I don’t think it would hurt.
Rhi: Because what I’m gonna say is that, like… yeah. I think that basically you can gather info, one, to make sure that this letter is going to get him to react the way you want, but also to kind of try and figure out what he might be bringing to bear on this fight.
Josie: That is true. I think Minx would like to look into his character a bit.
Rhi: Mm-hmm! Let’s start with that. How do you want to go about investigating that, Minx?
Josie: I want to try and find people who have been at events with him, parties, socialite events. It’s been a while since I pulled on noble contacts and stuff.
Rhi: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, go ahead and give me a Gather Info roll.
Josie: This is gonna be Consort I believe.
Rhi: Is it?
Josie: Or would it be Sway? It might be Sway.
Rhi: I think it’s Sway, because you’re not being honest about your identity or your purposes.
Josie: Right. That’s a 5.
Rhi: So… yeah, you kinda go track down your noble circles, your haunts. You haven’t been here for a while. There have been some new faces, people have left, new people are there. The folks who did know you before, though, are thrilled to see you and will introduce you to all the new people, tell you who got married, who got divorced, all the latest scandals. I will tell you that from past research, even before going into this, stuff you know about Lord Mora is that he is known for being kind of a boisterous, gregarious sort of person but also very short-tempered.
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: And in talking to—you know, you eventually steer the conversation in that direction. In talking to people here, most of this crowd, like, none of them are the sort of people who are friends with Lord Mora. They’ve been to his parties, they’ve been to events with him, but they don’t, like… nobody knows him super well, but they kind of have a general sense of his character.
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: He tends to be arrogant. He’s very ambitious. His business in addition to the leviathan hunter ships that he owns is arms manufacturing. He owns a few weapons factories. Your first encounter with him back in Season 1 was when he wanted to turn the burned down Ink Row area into a new weapons factory. A lot of people describe him as being very ambitious in his business plans. He is looking to obtain another leviathan hunter ship, either buy one off another noble family or have one built.
He doesn’t have any immediate family. He’s not married, no kids, doesn’t seem to have a significant other. Short-tempered, kind of prideful. Like, somebody that you’re talking to tells a story of how they were at a party and Mora felt like this person had insulted him, and so he just threw them out as in bodily picked them up and threw them out the front door. [laughs]
Josie: Oh geez.
Rhi: So yeah, arrogant, ambitious, not many close relationships, prideful, I think are kind of the main points that you get.
Josie: Okay. That’s good to know. He could have also been a very scheming non-confrontational sort of noble, so…
Rhi: Mm-hmm. Yeah, no, he seems like the kind of person who will throw down. [laughs]
Josie: Okay. [laughs]
Rhi: So Blaire or Myra, what kind of info would you like to dig into?
Kim: I think that might be as close to personal details as we’re gonna get.
Rhi: Mm-hmm. I mean, I would say some other things you can consider are where do you want to stage this duel.
Kim: Hmm, that’s a good point.
Rhi: Because I think by issuing the challenge you get to name the grounds.
Kim: Yes, I believe that’s correct. Um… where do we want to do this? It needs to be somewhere public, right?
Rhi: Mm-hmm.
Minna: My gremlin brain says The Docks.
Josie: I mean… Ink Row would be a poignant place.
Kim: It would. I don’t know how I feel about Blaire being close by there right now though.
Rhi: Also, you have to consider the effect—like, the bystanders.
Minna: Yeah. Right.
Josie: Uh-huh. Right.
[laughter]
Kim: Yes, that’s why I suggest Six Towers.
Minna: I don’t think it’s a good idea. Yeah, Six Towers is probably—
Rhi: Oh! The poetry of it? Beautiful. I love the poetry of it.
Josie: Yeah. [laughs]
Rhi: The practicality… eh. Yeah. If you would like, you can do maybe a Survey or something, or a Prowl, and I can give you some potential locations.
Kim: Sure. Let me roll that. I’ll do…
Rhi: Yeah, because Duskwall’s a big city, and narrowing it down is…
Kim: The highest I got was a 4.
Rhi: Four, okay, so standard amount of info. So yeah, kind of thinking, you’ve known Minx for a while, you feel like you have some sense of her flair for the dramatic. One idea you hit on is in a public square in front of a courthouse, so basically you could do kind of a public square in Charterhall would be one option.
Kim: Hmm.
Rhi: You could do The Docks, like in front of his section of The Docks where his leviathan hunters are kept. That gives you a little bit of the advantage of, you know, you get the poetry of being in The Docks, also being close to water could potentially be of use for possibly… you know, if you shove him into the water. That could be a problem for him.
Minna: Yeeting purposes.
Kim: It could also be hazardous, but yeah.
Rhi: It could also—yeah. Yeah, I mean, you’ve got the gamble there.
Minna: We don’t know if Setarra would help or hurt us here.
Rhi: Right. Yeah.
Kim: I feel like if she showed up, regardless of what she does with Mora, Blaire is a little fucked.
Rhi: I mean… probably. The other kind of thing you hit on is one of the big bridges that runs between Charterhall and Crow’s Foot. Those are pretty public, and while the bridges themselves are made of stone there’s a limited amount.
Kim: Right.
Rhi: He wouldn’t be standing on the earth. He would be on a stone structure that is in the air, suspended above water.
Kim: I like that.
Rhi: Which again might limit to some degree how much of his powers he’d be able to use.
Kim: I think that might be our best bet. I like the bridge idea. What do you two think?
Minna: Yeah.
Josie: Yeah, epic bridge fight.
Rhi: [giggles]
Minna: And listen, we have a lot of… we do a lot of plans with bridges. Bridges are good for us.
Josie: Where is this bridge?
Rhi: There’s one major bridge going between Charterhall and Crow’s Foot and one going between Charhollow and Charterhall.
Kim: I don’t know why, but I kinda like the bridge that connects Charterhall and Charhollow.
Josie: Yeah, that’s a good symbolism of the class conflict here.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: Mm-hmm, and it also means you have… The citizens of Charhollow are extremely well-inclined towards you.
Kim: Right.
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: So if you have to cut and run you’ll be running into friendly territory.
Josie: Yeah.
Kim: Okay, I think that’s the place then.
Minna: Yeah, I like that, us having a back door.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: So yeah, you do some scouting around the city and you settle on “bridge” as the site. Myra, is there any additional info you would like to gather? Or, if you want to use that acquire asset that is carried over from downtime.
Minna: I’m trying to think what the best acquired asset would be. [giggling] Would a group of paparazzi be an asset? Or the Duskwall equivalent thereof.
Rhi: Uh… I mean, maybe?
Minna: Because we want this to be very publicized, yes?
Rhi: Yeah… Yeah! I mean, you could. I think the question is what… So, usually acquiring an asset is something that is going to help you on a score, so what would be… what are you envisioning the benefit of…?
Minna: That it doesn’t matter whether we win the fight as long as we can get him to transform in front of these people that we have positioned to watch the fight, who have access to newspapers.
Rhi: Okay. Yeah, I can see that.
Minna: Does that make sense to you guys, too?
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: Yeah! Okay. Hmm… Go ahead and roll 3d6. You’re rolling the crew’s tier, and depending on the result you get you might get higher quality, or I guess in this case reputation.
Minna: I rolled a critical. [laughs]
Kim: Minna! Share the wealth.
Minna: I did not—I did not choose this.
Rhi: [shouting] Minna, what do I do with Tier 5 reporters?!
[laughter]
Minna: They’re gonna win a Pulitzer!
Rhi: Minna?! Minna?!
Minna: Maybe there are some people who stopped by from Imperial City. I don’t know.
Rhi: [covering her mouth] That’s just what I was thinking. Yeah. This is like the equivalent of, like, some people from the New York fucking Times are in town and are gonna catch wind of this.
Minna: [giggling] I just can’t.
Rhi: And will show up. I… Minna.
Minna: [laughing] “What do I do with Tier 5 reporters?!”
Rhi: Minna, I’m gonna challenge you to a fucking duel. We’re gonna throw dice at each other.
Minna: Do you think you’ll win?
Rhi: [weakly] … No.
Minna: What’s your plan here?
Rhi: I don’t have a plan, I’m just despairing. Why do I let you all acquire assets?! This is how it always goes. You all get critical successes and I’m sitting here going “what is a Tier 5 real estate lawyer?!”
Minna: [cackles]
Rhi: A Tier 5 journalist? Yeah, it’s a—
Minna: Look, our superpower is making weird friends.
Kim: Oh yeah.
Rhi: Yeah… So it’s gonna be—I’m gonna have to come up with a name. Oh, what was her name? There was a journalist in the 1800s who did a lot of—
Minna: Nellie Bly?
Rhi: Maybe?
Minna: She’s the one who went undercover.
Rhi: Yes. Yeah. Basically somebody like that who is going to be very well-known and sympathetic to the magpies is basically what you’re getting here. Good lord. Okay! Well, you’ve got some information about your guy, you’ve got a location, and you’ve got press who will be showing up to watch this.
So, we see a young man in a Cypher uniform accepting a sealed letter that has a—I want to say it’s blue wax with a Magpie seal stamped into it, and then there’s a cut to the offices of the Doskvol Daily where this letter is being handed over to, you know, basically just a clerk who later is sorting through the mail and opens this one up and then reads it and her eyes get really big.
Then they’re bursting into the editor’s office and hands over the letter, and the editor of the Doskvol Daily reads it also and they just get this big grin on their face. Then we of course get the classic newspaper printing scene with all the papers coming off the presses and see the papers. I think this is an above-the-fold thing with a headline of “Challenge: Noted Criminals The Magpies issue a challenge to Lord Mora.”
Josie (as Minx): Esteemed Lord Alistair Mora, we have truly enjoyed this month’s long dance and would gladly continue, however, the music, as all things, must end, and our mutual prize has left the dancefloor. What else then is there to take in this contest? Only dignity, and blood.
We, or rather I, Minx, challenge you to honorable combat, one last pirouette before the final bow. We have said many things of each other, but I could never call you craven, unless I have greatly overestimated your character? And so, I look forward to crossing blades with you. Meet us at the bridge between Charhollow and Charterhall this evening and join in the curtain call. Sincerely, The magpies.
Rhi: Accompanied by a magpies pin. And so, I think that the city is just abuzz with chatter about this. The magpies are quite well-known for their criminal exploits throughout the city at this point.
In the upper classes, people are trying to figure out what relationship does Lord Mora have to the magpies, how are they connected, what is the cause for this duel. In the working class neighborhoods where the magpies have more friends, they are a lot of them refugees or friends of refugees of Ink Row, a lot of them are excited but also a little worried that maybe the Magpies have finally bitten off more than they can chew.
There’s a number of people who… I think we do get a cut to Bazso who is just sitting there with a paper on his desk with his head in his hands.
[laughter]
Kim: Oh no.
Rhi: And a cut to Nyryx who is sitting in the break room basically at the Red Lamp and is reading this with a lot of worry, chewing her lower lip as she reads this.
Kim: Aw.
Rhi: So, what time do the three of you head down to the bridge?
Josie: Sundown.
Kim: Yeah, dusk.
Rhi: Okay. All right. I think at this point we’re entering the score. [laughs]
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: Engagement roll… So that would bring you down to a 1d6 roll. I am gonna give you another one simply for the sheer—
Kim: Audacity?
Rhi: Well, yeah, yes. Yes, exactly. That is exactly the word.
Kim: [giggles]
Rhi: The sheer audacity of this plan [laughs] is gonna earn you another die, because I’m just that fucking impressed. So it’ll be a 2d6 engagement roll. … So that’s a critical.
Josie: Yes! [laughs] I knew it was coming.
Minna: Aaaah~!
Kim: Yo~! Nice! What happens when you get a critical on setting the score?
Rhi: Exceptional result. You’ve already overcome the first obstacle and you’re in a controlled position for what’s next. … I just need a second to center myself. [laughs]
Kim: Heh, yeah?
Rhi: I want to emphasize that while I am struggling right now I love every second of this. This is incredible.
Kim: Very good.
Rhi: But also, I’m just like, wh-what do I do…?
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: So, the three of you suit up and make your way down to this bridge, and I think even though Charterhall is the closer district, like normally to get to this you would just go from Six Towers to Charterhall to this bridge, you all loop around so you can come in from the Charhollow side, because that’s where your allegiance is. That’s the people you are fighting for. You want to approach from that side.
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: So, as you are making your way through Charhollow you hear footsteps behind you, human footsteps and dog footsteps, (pat-pat-pat) coming towards you.
Kim: [gasps]
Rhi: You turn around to see Briggs and Mallory and a young man, a teenage boy, somebody you don’t know, looks like a local, who’s kind of guiding Briggs along.
Rhi (as young man): Oh, there they are. Um, excuse me? Miss… uh, Magpies?!
Josie (as Minx): Yes?
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah, that’s us.
Rhi (as young man): [relieved] Ah…
Rhi: He kind of pats Briggs on the arm and steps back, and Briggs will walk forward with Mallory.
Rhi (as Briggs): Ah, good, I’m glad we were able to catch you. Um… Minx, this is absolute foolishness. I just want to say that from the outset.
Josie (as Minx): [smiling] Oh, we’re aware, but I think the outcome will surprise you.
Rhi (as Briggs): I don’t know if the fact that you’re aware how foolish this is makes it better or worse.
Josie (as Minx): Oh trust me, it’s more foolish than it appears.
Rhi (as Briggs): Ugh…
Rhi: He pinches the bridge of his nose.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi (as Briggs): In any event…
Rhi: Let me take that again.
Rhi (as Briggs): In any event, Lord Mora is already set up out on the bridge. He has a number of his own personal guards backing him up, and he had brought in two Bluecoat squadrons, one for each end of the bridge. But um… we took care of the one on this side of the bridge.
Josie (as Minx): Briggs, you are quite literally a lifesaver.
Rhi (as Briggs): I know. [exhales] Now, we have a number of our people on the streets on this side, so… I hope that you haven’t gotten any ridiculous ideas of honor in your head. If it’s a question of honor or your life, I expect you to run.
Josie (as Minx): Oh, of course.
Rhi (as Briggs): You’ll have safe passage and hiding places in the neighborhood.
Josie (as Minx): Do you really think I’m gonna let that craven bastard mess up this beautiful face?
Rhi: He shakes his head and kind of turns his attention in the direction of {Minx} and Myra, just sort of a, like, “why is she like this” sort of expression. [laughs]
Kim (as Blaire): We don’t know. Sorry.
Rhi: But he just kind of shakes his head.
Rhi (as Briggs): Be careful, all three of you, and we’ll do what we can from here.
Kim (as Blaire): Sounds good.
Josie (as Minx): Please do keep your distance, though.
Rhi (as Briggs): Don’t worry.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: So yeah, the boy who’d been with him will offer his arm to Briggs again and they will head off back into the neighborhood. So yeah, the critical success is, one, you don’t have to worry about getting past Bluecoats to get onto the bridge, and you’ll have a much easier time getting away when this is done with.
Kim: Nice.
Josie: Awesome.
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim: Love it.
Rhi: You, now unimpeded, head towards the bridge. The streetlights are on. There’s a low fog over the river beneath you. You can see at the opposite end of the bridge there are indeed a number of guards. They’re not Umbra Hunters, they’re not in those uniforms, they’re in Lord Mora’s house colors. They’ve got pistols and swords, and they look very well equipped. They look like the kind of people who know their way around any number of weapons.
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: And standing not too far from the guards, chatting jovially with the Bluecoat captain, is Lord Mora. He looks very relaxed. He’s in a suit. He’s got his hands in his pockets, a sword at his hip, and they’re just chatting, shooting the shit. They’re having a grand old time. Don’t really pay you any mind as you come onto the bridge, at least initially.
Josie: I think Minx approaches. I think she’s got a bit of a cloak or coat on at the moment.
Josie (as Minx): Lord Mora, thank you for coming this evening.
Rhi: He holds up a finger.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: To like—in a “wait a moment,” and then finishes whatever he’s saying to the captain and then claps him on the shoulder.
Rhi (as Mora): All right. Well, I supposed you should get to your post. Make sure you’ve got the wagons ready.
Rhi: And then he will turn and acknowledge Minx and just give her a quick onceover.
Rhi (as Mora): All right, well… shall we get this over with?
Josie (as Minx): I think we shall.
Josie: And with that she’s gonna cast her cloak off revealing her dueling outfit. [laughs]
Kim: Yes~
Josie: For dramatic effect, it can land on the edge or off the side of the bridge, because she doesn’t care.
Rhi: I think that as it falls the wind catches it and carries it off.
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Kim: And then the next camera shot it’s like a very slow pan starting from her feet and then going up.
Rhi: [laughing] Yes~!
Josie: Yeah. So, as I’m describing this, I want people to keep in mind that this is all thick heavy leather, enough to be armor against at least light blades. But Minx is wearing blue thigh-high heavy laced boots transitioning into tight combat pants and then sort of a blue trimmed with gold leather corset sort of thing covering a fair bit except for a bit of a boob window which can only be a deliberate taunt on her part.
Rhi: [laughs]
Josie: And then a large blue pauldron on her left shoulder while her right is bare, and that’s accompanied with opera-length heavy leather blue opera gloves. The off-hand is fingerless, but the sword hand is fully covered.
Kim: This is so good.
Rhi: It’s so good.
Josie: [giggles]
Rhi: He doesn’t react much to the theatrics. Where are Blaire and Myra?
Minna: I would say maybe posted up like sentries on either end of our side of the bridge, like at the end.
Kim: Right.
Minna: Give them the bridge to fight on.
Rhi: Okay. So, I think that as, you know, this initial conversation is happening, there’s a bit of commotion on Mora’s side of the bridge with some Bluecoats being like:
Rhi (as Bluecoat): Excuse me. You can’t—This is closed off. The bridge is closed off.
Rhi: And then there’s a woman’s voice going:
Rhi (as woman): I will have every last one of your names published for obstructing the free press and the sharing of knowledge with the people of this city and Imperial City. Now stand aside.
Rhi: And shouldering through the Bluecoats is a woman who looks like she’s in probably her mid-40s, light brown skin, she’s got crow’s feet around her eyes and smile lines at her mouth, dark hair with a heavy amount of gray streaks in it. She’s quite short, like up to shoulder height on most of the Bluecoats, but is still just pushing through them. Dressed like… very smartly, you know, nice jacket, long skirt. She’s carrying a notebook in her hand that has a couple of pens and other pieces of paper stuffed into it, and she is trailed by a retinue of what you all recognize as Doskvol Daily reporters.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: She will, without—like… She ignores the guards. She ignores the cops. This woman fears nothing.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: She walks right up to the two of you and says:
Rhi (as woman): Ah, well, I’m glad that I was visiting the city for such an unusually historic event. I’m Eliza Ormaza.
Rhi: She kind of leaves the name there as if you’re supposed to recognize it, and I think actually everybody does.
She is a reporter in Imperial City who gained Imperial-wide notoriety when she published this scathing report on union busting and anti-union intimidation practices that were happening in Imperial City and just this massive reveal of the horrible conditions in the factories and how people who were speaking out against it were being treated. A couple murders were uncovered as a result of this. She is like public enemy number one for a lot of the factory owner merchant class.
Kim: I love her.
Rhi: I do too. We came up with her like ten minutes ago and I love her with my whole heart.
[laughter]
Kim: Ain’t that just the way with NPCs.
Rhi: The fact that she’s here in Duskwall means that she’s probably digging into somebody or something equally horrendous, but apparently she’s taken some time out of her busy schedule to come see this duel, so she introduces herself and looks between the two of you.
Rhi (as Eliza): [enthusiastically] So, what’s all this about?
Rhi: Flips open notebook.
Josie: I think I’m gonna fluff Minx’s charisma drain for this fight as she recognizes this person and is like “oh shit, I wasn’t expecting national attention. [laughs] Like, I’m happy, but… oh God! I better not fuck this up.”
Rhi: Yeah.
Josie (as Minx): Well, us and Lord Mora here have had our differences the last few months, and you can no doubt see the effect it has had on this city. And well, a dog like him needs to be put down.
Rhi: She arches an eyebrow, and you can see that she’d been taking notes quickly in a shorthand and then stops and is clearly very carefully writing that exact quote down.
Josie: Uh-huh. [laughs]
Rhi: Lord Mora rolls his eyes.
Rhi (as Mora): This woman is part of a band of criminals that have been plaguing the city for the better part of a year. There was a challenge to my honor, I intend to see it through, and then any of these scum that survive will be thrown in prison where they belong.
Josie (as Minx): Of course, Mora, you must realize we must make it a long dramatic fight, for the papers, you understand.
Rhi: He rolls his eyes again.
Rhi (as Mora): Miss Ormaza, I suggest you retire to a safer distance.
Rhi: And he gestures back at the Bluecoats and guards behind him. She kind of eyes him, nods, shrugs, and walks to the other end of the bridge where Blaire and Myra are. [laughs]
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: And you know, her little ducklings of reporters are following behind, also taking notes. Basically they’re all having the same response that Minx is of like “oh… she famous.”
[laughter]
Rhi: So, the bridge is cleared, Minx and Mora both walk to the center of the bridge. Mora gives the most cursory of bows. It barely qualifies as a bow.
Josie: Minx gives a deep flourishing bow with one arm out at her side.
Rhi: And then, turn your backs, ten paces… He draws his sword, which you would expect for a nobleman to have a pretty fancy sword, something that looks more like what Minx is carrying honestly.
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: That’s not what this is. This is a sharp piece of steel that has a single purpose, and that is to kill. So he draws and brings his blade up. Everything that he’s doing is kind of… sort of casual, like he’s not really invested in this.
Josie: Minx will dramatically turn around, drawing her sword, which as we’ve established has the gold filigree basket hilt, but the blade is kind of a long epee with a mirror sheen, and by that I don’t mean the metal is polished such that it has a reflection, I mean the blade looks like it’s literally made out of mirror instead of steel.
Rhi: Very cool.
Josie: So it kind of catches the remaining light and it kind of dances around a bit as she flourishes it. She says to Mora, intending to get under his skin:
Josie (as Minx): I know I talked big in the letter, but I must confess. You are practice for Wave Breaker here.
Rhi: All right. So, that actually segues perfectly into the main mechanic of this duel, which, since you’re not actually trying to beat him, you’re just trying to get him to reveal his true form. We’re gonna have a clock running that is Mora’s Demon Form Revealed.
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: So give me a roll.
Josie: Okay.
Rhi: You’re in a controlled position, and we’re gonna see if that, uh…
Josie: What’s my effect?
Rhi: …dig. Reduced.
Josie: Reduced. That’s including the charisma drain?
Rhi: Yeah.
Josie: Okay. I would like to push myself to standard. I want to start out good here.
Rhi: Yeah, go for it. Yeah.
Josie: That’s a 4.
Rhi: We’re gonna say you do it with a minor consequence. You have gotten under his skin a little bit, so the clock of Mora’s Demon Form Revealed is at 1 out of 8. When you are able to get him up to 8 he’s going to get pissed enough to stop caring about his public reputation and only care about beating you into a pulp.
Josie: Uh-huh. [chuckles] This is a good plan.
Rhi: So, the complication is… you are too focused on Mora to notice what’s happening behind him.
Josie: Okay.
Rhi: So, we’ll address that later. I think that he scowls in response to your comment, raises the sword, and charges.
Josie: I kinda want to dance out of the way and behind him, kind of like bull fighting a little bit.
Rhi: Yeah.
Josie: I want to lure him into that song and dance.
Rhi: Yeah. Give me a roll of some kind.
Josie: I feel like that’s a Sway.
Rhi: Yeah, I think with what you’re doing Sway makes sense. This is still gonna be controlled, still reduced effect. You’re gonna be at—you know, just with the charisma thing, reduced effect for a lot of this.
Josie: Mm-hmm. It’s a critical, with reduced effect.
Rhi: Okay, well that basically is gonna push it to standard effect, because critical is you do it with increased effect.
Josie: Cool!
Rhi: You dodge out of the way. Do you say anything? Do you do anything?
Josie (as Minx): Ah. Hmm. Perhaps you should’ve remembered to bring your spectacles for this fight?
Rhi: He turns around and is scowling again.
Josie: Minx just smiles and shrugs.
Rhi: Yeah, kick that clock up to 2 out of 8. He closes in , and the two of you finally cross blades, and as the ringing of steel fills the air we pan over to Blaire and Myra and Eliza who I think has spotted the two of you and walked over.
Rhi (as Eliza): So, I assume you’re with, uh… the tall young woman over there?
Kim (as Blaire): That’s right.
Rhi (as Eliza): Yeah, Lord Mora said that you’re part of some sort of band of criminals. What’s that all about?
Rhi: Notebook is out again.
Rhi (as Eliza): Oh! I’m so sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. I get so caught up in the story. My name is Eliza Ormaza, in from Imperial City.
Kim (as Blaire): Blaire Culhane.
Kim: Blaire offers a hand to shake.
Minna (as Myra): Myra Keel.
Rhi: She will shake.
Rhi (as Eliza): Ah, a pleasure to meet you both. So, what sort of crime do you do?
Kim (as Blaire): [smiling] Oh!
Rhi (as Eliza): Assuming you are criminals. Coming from a nobleman, a lot of things are defined as crime.
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah. We kinda get a bad wrap around here, but we’re just trying to do some good for the city. We’re more like vigilantes than criminals.
Rhi (as Eliza): Vigilantes? Fascinating.
Minna (as Myra): The noble class in this city got to where it is by exploiting the workers of the city. We’re just doing our best to even the gap a little.
Rhi: Nodding, writing things down.
Rhi (as Eliza): So, how did you end up in this feud with Lord Mora specifically?
Minna (as Myra): Some months ago Lord Mora attempted to build a new kind of workhouse along the docks, very innovative in that it would exploit the workers worse than we have yet seen in this city, which is saying something. We took issue with that, and I don’t think relations between us have gotten any warmer since then.
Rhi (as Eliza): Interesting. Was this the Ink Row thing?
Minna (as Myra): This was the Ink Row thing.
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah.
Rhi (as Eliza): Ah, heard about that. I have some contacts up here that talked about some sort of, uh… spirit riot? Bunch of—
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah, that was us.
Rhi (as Eliza): [intrigued] … Really?
Minna (as Myra): But I’m sure you also had colleagues who were working on Ink Row before it burned down.
Rhi (as Eliza): Did he burn it down on purpose to build his new factory?
Minna (as Myra): It was a retaliation.
Rhi (as Eliza): Fascinating.
Rhi: Cut back to the fight.
[laughter]
Rhi: What dramatic moment do we cut back to here?
Josie: I want to try and deliver a deliberately grazing cut, like, I want to just try and get a little cut on him but make it clear that I’m just playing, I’m not striking for real.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Josie: You know, like just whip it past his cheek or something.
Kim: Oh, very Princess Bride, yeah.
Josie: Yes.
Rhi: I feel like that might be Finesse.
Josie: Ooh. I actually don’t have a lot of Finesse. Um…
Kim: That’s surprising, actually.
Josie: Yeah. I intend to do it with my next level up, but…
Rhi: Yeah, Skirmish is, you know, actually fighting, but this is not. Minx is showboating.
Josie: Yeah. You know what, I think I’ll just take the 1d6, because I’m just showboating.
Rhi: So it’s still controlled, and because you’re using Wave Breaker it’ll be standard.
Josie: I got a 5.
Rhi: Five, okay. The consequence is I’m gonna knock it down to risky, but yeah, describe how you manage to just kind of nick him a little bit.
Josie: Well, I think she darts her sword in and he easily pulls back, right, because it’s kind of a weak, a bit clumsy blow, but he’s not expecting Wave Breaker to work on him. How I imagine it works is it just kind of… it doesn’t actually “cut” things, or at least it doesn’t cut demons, it just sort of reflects their element back on themselves. Even though it doesn’t actually touch him, a cut opens in his cheek, because the earth he’s made of is getting pushed away.
Rhi: Okay… Yeah, oh that’s cool. I think that, more than the social taunts that you’re doing, the fact that this sword cut him is what pushes this up to 3 out of 8.
Josie: Yay.
Rhi: He’s suddenly taking you a little more seriously.
[laughter]
Josie: Uh-huh.
Rhi: He figured you were some arrogant criminal who had gotten a big head and he was gonna just put you in the ground and go home, but you actually have something that can hurt him now. That’s a problem. He needs to take this seriously, and that’s why it’s risky, because he is suddenly going “oh, okay, I’m gonna stop holding back.”
You can tell that shift in his demeanor, like his posture shifts. I think actually what he does is he, uh, two-handed sword, manages to catch your blade and just shoves you back several paces. You don’t fall, but you go back a ways, and he, in that time, switching his sword from hand to hand, shrugs off his suit jacket and tosses it aside.
Josie (as Minx): Oh… cute.
Rhi: And is just like, “all right!”
[laughter]
Kim: Kinda hot.
Rhi: Yeah, he’s taking it very seriously now.
Minna: Now he’s done the Obi-Wan cape drop.
Josie (as Minx): I was wondering when you would start trying.
Kim: Yes.
Josie: [giggles]
Rhi: All right. We are going to cut back to our little interview that’s happening. I think in the interim Eliza has been asking you more questions about the Ink Row riots and everything that happened. You all can decide how honestly you want to answer. Can I have each of you give me Survey rolls? This is kind of a fortune roll.
Kim: Uh-oh. Okay. I got a 4.
Minna: Five.
Rhi: So, you two… I think the way you’re standing on the bridge one of you can see, one of you is looking towards the north side of the bridge, one of you can see towards the south side of the bridge, and you both notice in this conversation some figures very quietly hopping over. They seemed to have climbed along the side of the bridge and they are hopping over behind you. You notice as they hop over the edge of the bridge and start drawing weapons.
Kim: Uh-oh.
Rhi: These are Lord Mora’s guards, and they are here to fight.
Kim: How many of them are there?
Rhi: Two, one on each side.
Kim: Oh. Perfect. One for each of us then.
Minna: [giggling] I think Myra says to the journalist:
Minna (as Myra): Hold on a moment.
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah, I think we need to get to work now.
Rhi: She will glance past Myra, notice the guard drawing a sword.
Rhi (as Eliza): I see. I’ll go wait over here.
Rhi: And just walks off to the rest of the journalists and is just looking back and forth between these two fights.
[laughter]
Rhi: All right. So Myra and Blaire, you’ve got armed guards incoming.
Minna: Yeah. I mean, my goal is going to be trying to throw them off the bridge, frankly.
Rhi: Nice. I like it. I’m into it.
Minna: I don’t care about killing them in front of the nice reporter. I just want to get rid of them. I want them to go away.
Rhi: Yeah, that’s fair.
Minna: How does a 5 sound to you?
Rhi: You do it but there’s a consequence. You’re just trying to shove this guy back off the bridge?
Minna: Yeah. I’d just like to push him off the bridge, basically.
Rhi: I think as he is drawing his sword you just bulrush him and linebacker, shoulder to the chest—
Minna: And then I grab his leg as I get him against the rail and try and shove him backwards using that as a lever.
Rhi: Yeah, and you succeed. You are able to throw him over the side. Unfortunately, he grabs you as he goes over and pulls you with him.
Kim: Oh shit.
Rhi: You are now dangling off the side of the bridge in a desperate position. He splashes into the river below, but you are dangling by your fingertips.
Minna: [smiling] I love this.
Josie: [laughs in delight]
Rhi: Blaire.
Kim: Oh boy. Myra, I hope you can hang on, because I would go for you but that one other guy I feel like I gotta take care of him first before I can give you a hand up.
Minna: Yeah, go for it.
Kim: Okay, yeah. I think Blaire’s going to follow Myra’s lead and try to push the second guard off the bridge as well. Were they climbing above the bridge on opposite sides or were they coming up—?
Rhi: Nope, opposite sides.
Kim: All right, so I’m just gonna push him off the side that he came up from just so I, like, less of a distance I have to try and overpower him.
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim: This like… 5’1, 5’0 scrawny little child. [laughs]
Rhi: Heh, she so smol.
Kim: She’s the smolest. It’s not dumb to bring a knife to a swordfight, right?
Rhi: Eh, better than going in barehanded.
Kim: An unusual weapon is always interesting. I’m just trying to think of what weapon would be best.
Rhi: A long pokey thing. Blaire just rolls up on this—
Kim: You know that vaudeville cane that you use to yank bad acts off the stage?
[laughter]
Rhi: No!
Kim: Oh, you know what it is? It could be one of those Lampblack things.
Rhi: Oh! Yeah, yeah, the big iron poles that they have, that old lamp lighting…
Kim: Yeah, that an old Lampblack just happened to leave behind. I think that’s what Blaire grabs.
Rhi: Uh-huh.
Kim: I love that.
Rhi: Yes. Yes. Yeah, that’s real good.
Kim: Okay. So, am I gonna roll Skirmish for this to try and rush this guy and shove him off?
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim: Cool.
Rhi: Yeah, Skirmish, it’ll be risky-standard.
Kim: Cool. I’m going to push myself as well just to give myself an extra die for luck.
Rhi: All right.
Kim: Okay, that’s a 6.
Rhi: Yeah. I’m imagining that initially you turn on this guy and you’re this small unarmed person and he’s just like “yeah, this is gonna be nothing,” and then you reach over, grabs this three-foot-long chunk of iron and just whack him with it and he stumbles back and goes clear over the side of the bridge. Sploosh.
Kim: Can he have a Wilhelm scream as he goes over the side?
Josie: [makes a Wilhelm scream]
Kim: [giggles]
Rhi: Let’s cut back to the fight. I think the intensity of the fight has kicked up a notch, Mora now taking this somewhat seriously. So Minx, what are you gonna do?
Josie: I think in between blows Minx is gonna be like:
Josie (as Minx): [out of breath] Ah, you know, you should be thanking me for giving you the nemesis treatment. You’re not my nemesis in the Circle, you’re not the most dangerous criminal in the city, that’s us, and you’re not even the top “what you are” in the city, so really you should be grateful.
Rhi: [laughs breathlessly]
Kim: Oof. Oof!
Rhi: Damn.
Kim: Go off, queen.
Rhi: Yeah, go ahead and roll something…
Josie: I feel like that’s gotta be Sway.
Rhi: Yeah, you’re being manipulative. Risky-reduced.
Josie: Okay.
Rhi: Devil’s Bargains are available if you would like to increase the effect.
Josie: All right! What does a Devil’s Bargain look like?
Rhi: He stabs you.
Josie: Oh… Yeah, okay, I’ll take that. I want to bump my effect up.
Rhi: Yeah. It’s gonna be level 2 harm, but that’ll push it up to risky-standard.
Josie: But I did get a 6.
Rhi: All right. You say that…
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: For a split second you kind of see his… the illusion, humanity, that he has wrapped around himself ripples for just a second. If you weren’t this close you wouldn’t have noticed it. You don’t quite see what he actually is underneath, but you kind of get the impression of those shapes from what you remember from last time.
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: The weapons and the stones. That’s enough to just kinda throw you off your game that he gets in past your guard and gets a slice in across… um, we’ll go with a sexy bicep cut.
Josie: Yeah! [laughs]
Kim: Man, Minx is really racking up all of the sexy scars over the course of this entire show.
Josie: Uh-huh.
Rhi: Mm-hmm. I understand what Josie’s here for, and I support it.
Josie: I put Sexy Bicep Slice as my level 2 harm.
[giggling]
Kim: As you should.
Rhi: He gets that cut in and then gives you a toothy vicious grin.
Rhi (as Mora): First blood.
Josie (as Minx): Phew… fair enough, but we’re looking for last blood.
## Outro [1:06:24]
Rhi: Thanks for listening. The Magpies will be back in two weeks. In the meantime, follow us on Twitter at @magpies_pod, and visit our Patreon at patreon.com/magpiespodcast.
The Magpies podcast is GMed and produced by Rhi. Follow me on Twitter at @rhiannon42 and check out RPGSkillCheck.net for my copy editing and accessibility freelance site.
Blaire Culhane is played by Kim Kogut. Follow her on Twitter at @kimdianajones.
Minx is played by Josie. Follow her on Twitter at @DragonGirlJosie, and watch her art streams at picarto.tv/DragonGirlJosie.
Myra Keel is played by Minna. Follow her on Twitter at @mynaminnarr.
The opening and closing theme music is from ‘Trio for Piano, Violin, and Viola’ by Kevin MacLeod, and is used under a Creative Commons license.
The Blades in the Dark roleplay system is the creation of John Harper, and is published by Evil hat Productions.
## Blooper [1:07:36]
Rhi: How long do we think it’s been? Before one of you—
Josie: One week since you looked at me.
[laughter]
Rhi: Yep.
Kim: Just right out the gate.
Josie: I forget if I’ve done that before, because you usually say “it’s been.”
Rhi: You absolutely have.
Josie: Okay. Good.
Rhi: Absolutely, 100%.
[laughter]
Josie: Because you say that a lot and I have to restrain myself every time so that it doesn’t get old.
Rhi: I appreciate… I appreciate your restraint.