Transcribed by Tyler (Twitter: @Tyler_MoonSage)
## Intro
Rhi: Welcome back to Duskwall. As always, thank you so much for joining us.
Our Kickstarter wrapped up last Friday, and we not only funded but we hit our first two stretch goals. This means we can buy new audio equipment and pay all our performers for the first season of our next podcast. We’ve got a really solid foundation as we start building into the future, and it’s thanks to your support.
I also want to very quickly shout out a couple other Kickstarters. First up is You are the Dungeon, a solo tarot-driven RPG designed by Tracy Barnett. Tracy is a brilliant game designer and was our consultant throughout the Kickstarter. They also helped us out with video editing and document design. They’re a fantastic person, and I highly recommend checking out their latest game.
The other campaign is Court of Blades, a Forged in the Dark game about courtly politics and intrigue by Shawn and Navi Drake. It’s already funded and is blowing through stretch goals as we speak. The designers are also big Magpies fans, and we’re really hoping to work with them on a Court of Blades miniseries in the future. There are links to both campaigns in the show notes.
Next, Josie is going to tell us about this month’s Featured Charity:
Josie: Hi everyone. I’m just continuing the previous charities from last month, because as you can imagine the wave of anti-trans bills sweeping the nation, usually targeting kids, are really disturbing to me and I think they need more attention. For the record, those were InTRANSitive in Arkansas, EqualityNC in North Carolina, and OutFront in Minnesota.
Also, go ahead and look up any ones that are specific to your state, because more than half the country has proposed these bills and we need to stop them. We just need people to be vocal and outspoken and call people out and frankly get in the streets, because there has not been enough backlash to these and we can’t rely on the courts to overturn them every single time. They have overturned a few, but not enough. There shouldn’t be even one passed.
And just support your trans friends as well, and frankly donate directly to people, especially in these states, because a lot of trans people are in poverty and we don’t really have the resources to fight this. Thank you.
Rhi: In addition, please lend your support to people in India and Palestine. Even if you’re unable to donate, if you live outside those countries, raising awareness and putting pressure on your leaders to take action on the humanitarian crises occurring there can make a difference. If you are in those nations, please know that we see you, we support you, and we’re trying to do what we can to help.
Now then, let’s get started. Shall we?
## Story Continues [0:03:33]
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.
Rhi: Blaire!
Kim: Hi.
Rhi: And/or Myra.
Kim: Yeah, no, I want Blaire to…
Rhi: Myra is dangling over the side of the bridge. [chuckles]
Minna: Yeah…
Kim: Yeah, I want to help her up. Do I have to roll anything to pull her up?
Rhi: Since nothing is currently menacing you, no. I think you can just run over and help Myra up.
Kim (as Blaire): Okay. here, give me your hand.
Minna (as Myra): Oh… thank you.
Kim (as Blaire): You okay?! You okay?
Minna (as Myra): [winded] Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be okay.
Kim (as Blaire): All right.
Rhi: I think that as the two of you look back towards this fight you can tell that Mora is… Minx is getting to him.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: The catch here is that if he goes full demon form it’s gonna be bad for Minx.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: So you could, if you wanted to, start setting up some kind of possibly arcane stuff to maybe try to weaken him in some way.
Kim: Uh… Do we have demon bane charms or anything like that?
Rhi: You do.
Kim: Yeah, that is a me thing.
Rhi: Blaire, you have a demon bane charm. Yeah.
Kim: I guess I need to mark that off then.
Rhi: It doesn’t carry any weight.
Kim: Right.
Rhi: It’s an italicized item, so it doesn’t count against your load.
Minna: I don’t remember what we said about arcane things that help. I’m just imagining setting up a fucking giant pulley system which is not going to happen.
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim: Yeah, have we established anything yet about what could harm a demon?
Rhi: You all were able to fend Mora off with the power of friendship and this gun I found—I mean a demon bane charm, last time.
Kim: [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah. You haven’t really, aside from Minx’s cool sword, haven’t really delved into what can hurt a demon.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: However. I forgot to mention this earlier. Blaire, you know that you can summon a demon, which would imply that there is a way to banish them. Right?
Minna: Ooh~
Kim: Yeah, but Blaire’s still learning how to do that. Um…
Rhi: Well? Time to improvise, babe!
[laughter]
Kim: I guess. I mean, my long-term project is at a 7 out of 10, so Blaire can just use what she knows.
Rhi: Yeah! Yeah. If you wanna start trying to set up something.
Kim: Yeah, I’m totally down to roll an Attune and try to set up some kind of banishing ritual.
Rhi: Yeah, or even—I’m just thinking of maybe an arcane trap…
Kim: Oh yeah, that’s better.
Rhi: …that will slow him.
Kim: Because we don’t want him to disappear, because then the public is gonna be “what did you do, this heretic knows demon things, let’s put her in jail.”
Minna: Containment circle!
Kim: Yeah.
Josie: Also, aren’t demons technically of this world? Banishing them must be kind of hard.
Kim: Yes. Yeah, but it’s also hard to summon a demon, and Blaire’s done it, so…
Josie: That’s true.
Kim: Yeah. It’s hard but not impossible.
Rhi: I have a couple ideas for what banishing a demon means, so we’ll see how this goes.
Kim: All right, so I’m gonna roll Attune and try and set this up.
Rhi: Okay. Yeah, this is gonna be risky. I’m gonna give you greater effect, because you have been doing a research project and you know the opposite of this ritual.
Kim: Yeah, so we just reverse engineer it and then we’ll see what happens.
Rhi: Yeah! What if I just do the summoning ritual but backwards?
[laughter]
Josie: [says gibberish that sounds like speaking in reverse]
Rhi: Yeah, exactly. That’s what I was thinking, like a record being played in reverse.
Kim: Yeah. [says gibberish] I got a 5.
Rhi: Five, okay. You do it but there’s a consequence. This, again, I think is gonna be kind of a clock situation where you’re not gonna get it in the first go. You’re also gonna need to mark arcane implements.
Kim: Yes, I have already done that.
Rhi: Excellent. You start, like… you bust out some chalk and some mercury and start drawing symbols on the ground.
Kim: [laughs]
Rhi: I think that what happens is the other guards, there’s another three of them, see you doing something that looks unusual, and they are going to basically run past the duel.
Kim: To try and stop me?
Rhi: Yeah, to come down and go after you and Myra.
Kim: Oof. Myra, you might have to… yeah.
Minna: Yeah, that’s fine.
Kim: You’re gonna have to cover me.
Rhi: So, Myra.
Minna: Yes.
Rhi: You do have time to react. They’re not on you right away. You basically have a little bit of time to do something before they get here, but you can tell that these guards are running over, drawing weapons.
Minna: Are they drawing guns or swords?
Rhi: It’s gonna depend on how badly you roll. [laughs] Sorry, that’s just…
Minna: Yeah, I mean that’s…
Rhi: If you roll poorly they’re gonna shoot you.
Minna: That’s fair. I think that just depends. Part of that is part of how she would decide what to do.
Rhi: Some are drawing—We’ll say it’s a mix. Some are drawing swords, some are drawing pistols.
Minna: Okay. Let me think. What can I do to stop them? We are not using a Looney Toons arsenal here. I don’t know why my brain will only think—
Kim: We could though. We could. What’s stopping us?
Minna: My brain is only thinking in cartoon physics.
Rhi: Me.
Josie: Portable hole. Portable hole. Portable hole.
Minna: I mean, I was gonna say tripwire, but… [laughs]
Josie: Ah. [laughs]
Rhi: Tripwire is actually not bad. I think you would need to do a flashback to set that up. That’s not something you can just deploy instantly, but you could have set up a tripwire if you wanted.
Minna: I’m into that. How much stress would that be?
Rhi: Just 1.
Minna: Okay, I’ll do that.
Rhi: You would have had to come down here much earlier in the day.
Minna: Maybe it’s one that can be deployed with the flip of a switch. Like, it’s set up against ground level, but if I bend down and flick a switch it will go up to, like…
Rhi: Yeah, you pull.
Minna: Yeah.
Rhi: Mm-hmm! Yeah.
Minna: I’ll do that.
Rhi: Yeah, I know exactly what you mean, and yes. Okay, yeah, so it’ll be a 1 stress. I think in order to get the timing right to trip at least one of these people you’re gonna have to make a roll.
Minna: Okie-doke. That sounds good. What is that? Is that a Finesse, Skirmish?
Rhi: I think it could be either one.
Minna: Skirmish is better, so let’s do that.
Rhi: Okay. This is gonna be risky… standard.
Minna: That’s a 1.
Kim: Oh no.
Minna: I rolled three 1s.
Rhi: That’s a 1. Oh no.
Kim: Three 1s?!
Minna: Three 1s! When I fail…
Kim: Your dice just know no middle ground, do they?
Rhi: The luck is gone. [laughs] It’s all run out. So I think that you go to grab the lever but at some point during the day—this bridge is pretty heavily trafficked—the mechanism got jammed and it’s not going. So, you’re kind of still struggling with this thing when… I think they are gonna just shoot you. You’re gonna take level 2 harm. You get shot. You can decide where you get shot.
Minna: All right, well I’m going to… I’m heavy, I’ve got heavy, so I might as well do armor.
Rhi: Yeah.
Minna: So it’ll be a level 1 harm?
Rhi: Yep, that’ll bump it down to a level 1, so instead of getting shot you get bruised. The armor soaks most of the damage, but you still hurt.
Minna: Yeah. Let’s go for, um, probably Bruised Ribs, where armor tends to be.
Rhi: Yeah. All right. Minx, you saw these people go running past, but there’s nothing—you are having to put all of your focus into fending off Mora. There was nothing you could do to stop them, and you hear a gunshot behind you…
Josie: [seethes]
Rhi: …and you kinda just gotta keep going. [laughs]
Josie: [uneasy sounds]
Rhi: So, what are you gonna do?
Josie: I wanna trip him. I wanna make him fall flat on his fucking face.
Kim: Oh, very good.
Rhi: Okay. That sounds like a Skirmish.
Josie: Yeah. What’s my position and effect looking like here?
Rhi: Good question. I think desperate-standard.
Josie: Desperate and standard. Okay.
Rhi: Yeah. The way that I’ve been envisioning this is Minx has largely been on defense, aside from that one little taunting cut, and has mostly been focusing on the battle of wits, but now that you’re actually trying to fight him… like, the guy’s made of rock. [laughs] Tripping him is hard.
Josie: Yeah. So, I think I’m gonna push myself here to use Not To Be Trifled With.
Rhi: Yeah!
Josie: To perform a feat of physical force that borders on superhuman. I could get fancy here, but I think the fact that I am kicking a stone demon’s feet out from under him is superhuman enough, yeah? It’s like kicking a statue.
Kim: Yeah. Agreed.
Rhi: Yeah.
Josie: So like, I think Minx feints with her sword and immediately drops down and spin kicks to try and kick his feet out.
Rhi: Okay, so… you got desperate, standard, don’t forget to mark xp.
Josie: Yeah. A critical.
Rhi: … Jesus. [laughs] Yeah. I think he just completely falls for your feint. He takes a big swing, overbalances, and so when you drop and do a spin kick he just falls. I think he just falls on his ass.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: Almost loses his grip on his sword. What do you say?
Josie: Hmm, I gotta think.
Rhi: That does, by the way, because you got a critical, push it up to a 6 out of 8.
Josie: Woo.
Rhi: A critical gets you two ticks on the clock.
Josie: I think I’m gonna point my sword at him and say:
Josie (as Minx): Looks like I have the higher ground now.
Kim: Love it.
Josie: The idea is trying to bait him to use an earth power. [laughs]
Rhi: And he actually is going to, because for very powerful enemies I don’t have to wait for a consequence to act. He landed with his hands splayed out to catch himself, and he just kinda looks up at you, and you can see his fingers press into the stone, like actually sink into them a little bit.
Kim: Oh wow.
Rhi: And the stone beneath your feet, Minx, kind of shifts and cracks like one of the stones underneath you is maybe about to drop.
Josie: Oh dear.
Rhi: So you are going to need to basically resist. [laughs] This will be Prowess resistance, or take the consequence of falling through a hole in the bridge.
Josie: Well, I got a 6, fortunately.
Rhi: Okay! You dodge to the side. A big chunk of stone splashes down into the water. There’s now a not-insubstantial hole in the bridge.
Josie (as Minx): Oh!
Rhi: And Mora gets to his feet, rolls his head, doing that cracking his neck thing.
Josie (as Minx): Phew. You don’t really care how this is won, do you?
Rhi: Let’s cut over to Blaire and Myra.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: Blaire, you are trying to draw arcane sigils on the ground while three armed guards are closing in on you. One of them just shot Myra.
Kim: Yeah, I still got…
Rhi: How would you like to proceed?
Kim: I still got work to do though. I’m so conflicted. I feel like I should… Well. Myra’s fine still, right?
Minna: Myra’s fine! Myra’s fine.
Kim: [laughs] I feel bad.
Rhi: [grinning] She just got shot a little bit.
Kim: We get shot at a lot.
Minna: You have to concentrate. Minx has to concentrate.
Kim: Yes.
Minna: Myra has this handled.
Kim: I have to do my thing. Okay.
Rhi: All right!
Kim: Yeah. I’m glad we’re on the same page. In that case, I’m just gonna roll Attune again.
Rhi: Okay. Yeah.
Kim: And I think I may… eh, yeah, I’ll push myself as well to give myself an extra fourth die.
Rhi: It’s now gonna be… yeah, risky-standard, because you have a distraction, in the form of people.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: Who are trying to stab and/or shoot you.
Kim: I rolled two 3s, a 2, and a 5.
Rhi: Good thing you pushed yourself.
Kim: Yeah!
Rhi: On a 5 we’re gonna tick that clock up one more, so you will be at 2 out of 4.
Kim: Hmm, okay.
Rhi: So you are continuing to draw your sigils and place your things, but… you know what, I like this. I think this is interesting.
Kim: Uh-oh.
Rhi: One of the guards takes a shot at you, and you dodge out of the way, so it doesn’t hit you but it does hit your case of arcane implements.
Kim: Oh no~
Rhi: And that just explodes.
Kim: No~!
Josie: [yelps]
Rhi: So, you’re gonna have to see if Myra packed anything and get it from her. [laughs]
Kim: [groaning] Oh no.
Rhi: Because the stuff you were using just blew up.
Kim (as Blaire): [whining] No. Oh, that was really expensive, too.
Rhi: [laughs] There’s shards of glass and mercury all over the place, and electroplasm.
Kim (as Blaire): Ugh… that’s gonna be such a bitch to replace.
Rhi: “You son of a bitch! I’m gonna have to spend two days shopping!”
Kim: [laughs] Yeah, Blaire’s angry now.
Rhi: Myra? [laughs] Yeah. There was another gunshot. You hear Blaire yelling, but it’s angry yelling, not pained yelling, so she’s probably fine.
Minna: The tripwire did not work.
Rhi: The tripwire did not work.
Minna: Three, and they’re all shooting at me.
Rhi: One of them shot at you. One of them shot at Blaire. One of them hasn’t decided where he’s gonna shoot yet. You know, he’s considering his options.
Minna: Right…
Rhi: Maybe he doesn’t even want to shoot. Maybe he wants to stab.
Kim: Maybe he just wants to go home and rethink his life.
Minna: [laughs]
Kim: [giggles]
Rhi: You don’t have the Force.
Minna: Are we ever gonna stop referencing Obi-Wan in this episode?
Kim: No, we will never stop referencing Obi-Wan.
Rhi: Apparently not.
Minna: That’s fair. I’m just glancing at what I have at my disposal really quick.
Kim: Please mark arcane implements.
[laughter]
Minna: I mean, I do want to do this thing, but also I have these three people.
Kim: Yeah no, take care of yourself first. It’s fine. I’m joshing you.
Minna: I’m gonna bulrush someone else and try and take their gun.
Rhi: Okay. Cool. Into it.
Minna: All guns go into the fucking river. The only person we’re here to kill is Lord Mora. I don’t want to deal with the rest.
Rhi: And you’re not even really here to kill him, you’re just here to expose him as a demon.
Minna: I think Myra might even, as she’s rushing towards the guy, go:
Minna (as Myra): The only person here whose death I’m invested in is Mora’s.
Rhi: All right. That’s probably the guy who shot you.
Minna: That’s a 6.
Rhi: And I assume that was a Skirmish?
Minna: Skirmish.
Rhi: I feel like that’s risky. Yeah, risky-standard. You said you got a 6?
Minna: Bruised Ribs, that’s probably less effect, actually.
Rhi: Oh yeah. With reduced effect, I think you’re able to tackle this guy, but he still is holding onto his gun and now you two are just grappling on the bridge, fighting over the gun.
Minna: Yeah, that makes sense.
Rhi: This does mean that the other two probably aren’t gonna shoot you, because they don’t want to hit their buddy… but you do not have control over his weapon. Let’s get back to Minx.
Josie: Hello.
Rhi: Hey. You have an angry demon man who wants you dead, nearly dropped you in the river.
Kim: Nice.
Josie: Ah, that’s true. You know what? Puns might just piss him off. It doesn’t need to be very clever.
[laughter]
Rhi: [defeated] He is one of my characters.
Josie: Uh-huh.
Rhi: All my characters hate puns.
Josie: I think as they clash blades again, Minx says:
Josie (as Minx): You know, if you surrender I’ll spare you and maybe we could get a drink after this… on the rocks.
Rhi: [sighs] Go ahead and roll.
[laughter]
Kim: Oh my God. I think we’re gonna wear Rhi down before we wear down Mora.
Rhi: It’s gonna be… Yeah.
Josie: It’s a 6.
Rhi: My spirit is broken.
[laughter]
Rhi: No.
Kim: Really?
Josie: Eh?
Kim: Eh? Eh?!
Minna: Rhi is going to come there and murder you. [sighs in delight]
Rhi: As soon as this lockdown ends.
Kim: She can’t kill me. She wouldn’t dare. Oh, she knows where I live, but like… she knows me for this long and I’m not dead yet. She would have killed me a long time ago if she meant it.
Rhi: [cackles]
Minna: Maybe she’s been biding her time.
Kim: We’ve known each other for almost ten years. She would have killed me by now if she really wanted to.
Rhi: She got me. She got me dead to rites.
Kim: [giggles]
Rhi: Okay. For this, this horrible pun gambit, I think he’s still holding back some, so it’s gonna be risky-reduced. It’ll be desperate once he decides to start kicking your ass with the full force of his abilities.
Josie: I got a 6.
Rhi: Jesus God.
[laughter]
Minna: Rhi, a broken woman.
Rhi: All right… you people are monsters.
Kim: And you love us. We’re lovable monsters.
Rhi: I do. Yes, exactly. Okay, but it’s with reduced effect, so what does that…? I think it’s gonna be easiest for me if I just translate the reduced effect into a different consequence if you’re cool with that.
Josie: Sure.
Rhi: I think you’re gonna get knocked down to desperate, because he’s real close to snapping and he is hitting you with the full force of power here.
Josie: Uh-huh.
Rhi: So yeah, he is no longer verbally replying to your quips, he is just trying very, very hard to kill you with a sword.
Josie: Yes.
[laughter]
Rhi: Myra and Blaire?
Kim: Yeah?
Rhi: How’s things?
Kim: Not great. A lot of Blaire’s favorite toys just got kablooeyed.
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim: And I can’t imagine that I can continue with my clock until I have something else I can use.
Rhi: Correct.
Kim: Before I rely on Myra, I just want to see if there’s anything… I don’t think there really is anything on my equipment list that would substitute, or at least anything that I can make an argument for.
Rhi: Do you want to think about that and Myra can act?
Kim: Yeah, that’s a good idea.
Rhi: Okay. Yeah. Myra, you are wrastling.
Minna: Yeah… She’s gonna try and wrastle some more. I’m still trying to get guns to go away.
Rhi: [laughs] “No guns!”
Minna: I don’t know if I need to take a different tact this time? I don’t know what the deal is.
Rhi: No, no, I think this is continuing to be Skirmish.
Minna: That’s a 5.
Rhi: I think you are able to get the gun away and you toss it into the river, but the one guy who hadn’t been shooting is just gonna grab you and have you basically, like, arms pinned to your sides.
Minna (as Myra): [struggling] Ugh! Let me go!
Rhi: [giggling] He appears to be dragging you to the river, like towards the edge, to do the same thing.
Rhi (as guard): You can take a swim with the rest of them.
Rhi: Drag, drag, drag. Blaire?
Kim: Yeah, I need to stop this from happening.
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim: Can I tackle this guy? Probably not.
Rhi: I mean, you can jump on him, you can stab him, you can shoot him.
Kim: Yeah, I was gonna say, I could shoot him, but I don’t know if I want to shoot him with Myra being so close to him.
Rhi: I think that he is between—like, with the way that he’s moving, the odds of you hitting Myra is pretty low.
Kim: Okay, good. In that case, yeah, I’m gonna mark off a pistol, and even though I’m a lousy shot I’m going to roll… What is it, Hunt? To try and help out Myra.
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim: Cool. Okay. Devil’s Bargain?
Rhi: The other guy is gonna start, in the course of him moving around, he’s going to scuff up your chalk stuff and you’re gonna lose a tick on your clock.
Kim: I don’t want to lose the progress on that, because I’ve been making such slow progress and I’m already at a disadvantage to continue, so I’m gonna leave that be.
Rhi: Okay.
Kim: Push myself instead.
Rhi: Cool. Risky-standard I think for this.
Kim: I got a 4.
Rhi: Four. Okay, so you do it, but consequence. You shoot this guy, which is startling to him. He doesn’t enjoy it. I think the other guy… So we had guy on the ground whose gun is gone, guy who’s dragging Myra to the side of the bridge, so the third guy.
Kim: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: I think just pistol whips you.
Kim: Oof.
Rhi: Just smacks you across the back of the head with the butt of his gun.
Kim: Ouch.
Rhi: So you’re gonna take level 2 harm.
Kim: Hmm, Smacked.
Rhi: You did bring a heavy load, so you can have armor.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: If you would like, because we constantly forget about armor.
Kim: We do. Armor, that brings me at—hang on, I just want to double-check my load. Wait, heavy is 6+.
Rhi: So yeah, you still get hit upside the head, but it doesn’t hurt as much because you’re wearing a hat, I guess.
Kim: Heh, or something.
Rhi: All right. I think that the result there is that this guy gets shot in the shoulder and drops Myra to deal with that situation, so Myra you’re no longer being dragged to the bridge. Minx!
Josie: Hi!
Rhi: You’re at 7 out of 8.
Josie: I think Minx is really straining to not get hit now, but between heavy breaths she’s like:
Josie (as Minx): [winded] What’s with the stone-faced expression, Mora?
Rhi: [heavy exhale]
Josie (as Minx): Are you taking your victory for granite? Or do you want me to fall to my knees and gravel?
Kim: Ha!
Minna: [delighted shouting, claps] Can Mora take psychic damage?
Rhi: Josie, I’d just like to remind you that you’re fighting Mora, not me. I’m not sure why you’re attacking me in this way.
Josie: It’s just a game. I’m just being in character. There’s a separation between in character and out of character. I mean, I’m not metagaming.
[laughing]
Kim: You absolute shit.
Josie: I’m not metagaming at all.
Kim: God.
Rhi: [smiling] Roll it, you absolute monster. Christ. It’s gonna be desperate.
Josie: And what sort of effect?
Rhi: Oh God…! Standard. You get bonus points for hurting me with puns.
Josie: I’m gonna push myself for an extra die.
Rhi: All right. Jesus Christ.
Josie: Six!
Rhi: Okay.
Josie: I was really hoping that would be critical.
Rhi: Well… Jesus Christ. I’m still just grappling with all of those puns.
Josie: [giggles]
Kim: I’m so glad you spent your time wisely, Josie.
Josie: I am too. You know, I am.
Rhi: That brings our clock to 8 out of 8.
Kim: Oh, we did it.
Rhi: Yes. So, Mora… You make all of these quips and puns, and hurt me, your friend, deeply in the soul. He stops for a second and looks at you, and then it’s just like a switch flips. The human illusion drops in an instant, and “everyone” sees the true shape of Lord Mora: humanoid form, doesn’t really have a head, and is just made of stone and blood-soaked dirt and weapons of every kind stabbed through this form. He is a battlefield made animate. How much metal is on Minx’s outfit?
Josie: Um…
Kim: Oh.
Rhi: You’ve got some buckles and…
Josie: Yeah, there’s buckles and stuff.
Rhi: Okay. Mora, having revealed his true form to the considerable alarm of everybody on the bridge, including the reporters who are taking notes slash backing away in a hurry…
Josie: [chuckles] Uh-huh.
Rhi: Mora appears to sink into the stones of the bridge, and Minx, you can see the stones cracking and popping up. You know when a tree root is growing under a sidewalk?
Josie: Uh-huh.
Kim: Ah.
Rhi: It’s like that kind of thing where the concrete is popped up but like fast coming towards you, and then right in front of you he pops back up, grabs you around the throat with one of those big stony hands, and you hear this grating rocky voice speaking a language that you don’t know but you somehow understand. It’s words of metal and sharpness and pain. Every piece of metal on your clothing turns into knives.
Kim: [gasps]
Josie: Oh!
Rhi: And is going to stab into you.
Kim: Oh my God.
Josie: Ow.
Rhi: That’s why I needed to know how much metal you have on you to determine what level of harm this is.
Josie: Uh-huh. That means it’s mostly on her extremities, but still. Ah…
Rhi: Yeah. I think it’s probably gonna be level 2 harm simply because you’re not getting anything to the chest.
Josie: Can I apply armor to that?
Rhi: Yes.
Josie: I would like to apply armor to that, please.
Rhi: Okay. Yeah, so you’ve got enough layers of leather and stuff that that’s kind of helping, but this is still very scary.
Josie: Uh-huh! I think Minx just lets out a worryingly soft yelp. Ah!
Rhi: So, to the other end of the bridge. Blaire and Myra, the fight has paused for a moment because the guards are also processing what’s just happened. So the two of you kind of have a second to decide do we keep dealing with these guys, do we go help Minx, do we try to finish this trap… what are you doing?
Kim: I think we should help Minx. What do you think, Myra?
Minna: I think we need to help Minx.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: Yeah, if you two want to go help Minx, the guards are so flabbergasted by what’s just happened they’re not gonna interfere with you running off to do that.
Kim: Right.
Rhi: They may give you problems later, but right now they’re just like “uh… what?”
Kim: Yeah. All I know is that I have a demon bane charm and no sense of self-preservation, so I think—
Rhi: [laughing] And by God that’s all you need in this world!
Kim: You’d think. So yeah, I think Blaire’s just gonna try and rush up to the pair of them brandishing that demon bane charm and hope for the best. Would that be an Attune roll?
Rhi: Yeah. If Myra wants to go with, I know you all had some success with a group Attune using the demon bane charm last time.
Kim: Oh yeah.
Minna: That sounds like a good idea.
Kim: Can you lead?
Minna: I can lead, yes.
Kim: Okay. Excellent.
Rhi: So yeah, go ahead and roll Attune. This is gonna be desperate… standard.
Kim: Does that mean we get xp?
Rhi: Yes.
Kim: Neat. Oh dear. I rolled a 1, a 1, and a 3.
Rhi: Oof.
Minna: [musically] Let me roll mine…
Kim: Let your hot dice come through, Minna~
Minna: Five!
Kim: Phew.
Rhi: You do it, but there’s a consequence.
Minna: That’s better than not doing it at all.
Rhi: Minna, you have a specific thing with paralysis, right?
Minna: Yes.
Rhi: Having your feet trapped? Is that a problem?
Minna: No, that’s fine.
Rhi: Okay.
Minna: My feet still have sensation and could still theoretically move.
Rhi: All right. So, the two of you rush over, and Blaire, you brandish the demon bane charm in Mora’s—well, he doesn’t really have a face anymore. You brandish it at him.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: You and Myra, putting your will behind this, he drops Minx and steps back a few paces and then kind of flexes his hands and the stones beneath all three of you shift and crack, and you all drop a few inches, and it basically locks, like, the stone closes over your feet like you’re stuck in the stone.
Kim: We’re trapped? Yeah.
Josie: Oh geez.
Rhi: This is a consequence that you can resist.
Kim: Cool. I would love to. Which resistance is this?
Rhi: I’m thinking. I would say Resolve or Prowess.
Kim: Okay. I am going to roll Resolve, then. That’s my higher.
Rhi: Yeah. I will allow everybody to choose what they want.
Kim: Ooh, I got a critical.
Rhi: Okay.
Minna: I got a 6, so I’m not gonna take any stress.
Rhi: Of course. Blaire, you are recovering 1 stress because you dodged so good.
Kim: Yay.
Rhi: Myra’s taking no stress. Minx, are you resisting this?
Josie: I have 1 stress left.
Rhi: Oh~
Josie: But honestly this might be a cool time to take a trauma, so yeah, I’ll resist.
Rhi: Yeah!
Kim: Is that a third trauma for you, Minx?
Josie: It would be. I got a 6.
Rhi: Damn! No you don’t. You dodge the trauma.
Kim: Eh, the night’s not over yet.
Rhi: You all, I think in this case, you feel the stone crack and shift under your feet, and you all just jump and dive out of the way. [laughs]
Josie: Uh-huh. [laughs]
Rhi: There’s this rocky snarl from behind you and you feel the bridge shake as he starts stomping towards you. Meanwhile, you can hear the Bluecoats at the end.
Rhi (as Bluecoat): Get the Spirit Wardens! Get them down here now!
Rhi: There’s a little bit of panic. They’re not equipped to deal with demons. This isn’t in their job description. They were just supposed to arrest the three of you. That’s not how this goes. So, what would you like to do at this juncture?
Josie (as Minx): We need to get out of here. Ow… the knives. Please let’s just run.
Minna: Yeah, that’s a good idea.
Kim: Yeah, I think it’s time we hightailed it out of here.
Rhi: Yeah. You all can see that the guards have clustered up and are clearly trying to figure out what the hell to do. The reporters have already taken off. The way into Charhollow is open, but you will just need to make one last roll to get out of here.
Josie: Group Prowl?
Kim: Yeah, I’m down for that.
Rhi: Group Prowl probably, yeah.
Minna: That sounds good.
Rhi: Who’s gonna lead?
Minna: I’ve got stress.
Rhi: This is gonna be risky, greater effect because of the helpful people of Charhollow removing the cops and being ready to give you all cover.
Josie: I got a 3.
Kim: I got a 4.
Minna: I got a 6.
Rhi: All right! You take 1 point of stress, and yeah. The three of you, I think what ends up happening is the three of you start running down this bridge, and the footsteps stop, and then the bridge ahead of you starts just crumbling. You all manage to get just a running start and just jump across the gap that’s forming as half the bridge just falls into the water. But you run, and very quickly there are people in alleyways, you know, “psst, this way, this way,” and they will lead you through the winding streets of Charterhall. Basically, you eventually end up getting herded into somebody’s basement and given tea.
Kim: Oh, that’s so lovely.
Josie: [delighted sigh]
Rhi: [laughs] And it’s just like, “y’all can just sit here and wait. We’ll let you know when the streets are clear.
Josie: Minx is laying down and getting bandaged.
Kim: Aw, poor girl.
Rhi: If you ask, somebody will get you a change of clothes so you can be in a less stabby outfit.
Josie: Yeah.
Rhi: It’s probably honestly something from Briggs’s stall. There’s some second-hand stuff. But yeah, you made it out. Gonna have to hope the Spirit Wardens showed up in time.
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Kim (as Blaire): You okay, Minx?
Josie (as Minx): [scattered] Yeah, eh… I’m alive. Could have gone a lot worse.
Kim (as Blaire): You did a good job out there.
Josie (as Minx): Thank you, but it’s only because I knew I had you two watching my back. I also need to look good for the press, but you know.
Minna (as Myra): That was unbelievable. I can’t believe that we pulled that off.
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah. Let’s just hope next time we do this there’s a little less stabbing involved on our end.
Josie (as Minx): Well, ideally we’ll have a bit more options with the follow-up.
Kim (as Blaire): A little bit more backup would be nice. Yeah. That was close though.
Josie (as Minx): Yeah. I guess he really didn’t like my puns.
Kim (as Blaire): They were good though.
Josie (as Minx): You could say things got rocky out there.
Kim (as Blaire): All right.
Minna (as Myra): [giggles]
Rhi: The ceiling caves in on you and everyone dies.
[laughter]
Minna: At least you weren’t arrested for basalt.
Rhi: Goodbye everyone. No. Let’s do downtime so that I can stop being assaulted by puns.
Josie: Uh-huh.
## Downtime [36:57]
Rhi: Reputation though… uh, yeah, we’re just gonna fill that rep meter all the way back up, because God damn. [laughs]
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: Heat. This is complicated, because this was HIGH exposure, but…
Minna: But we did expose…
Josie: And yet it kind of makes us look good.
Rhi: Exactly. It makes you look good. So, I think this is gonna shake out to just 1 heat, because there’s still gonna be people who aren’t going to approve of you just no matter what. But ultimately you’re gonna get more good publicity than bad.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: And the Bluecoats are currently far more worried about the Fucking Demon than dealing with all of you. So only 1 heat.
Josie: Yay.
Rhi: So let’s do our downtime scenes. Let’s start with Blaire.
Kim: Yeah. So Blaire was going to go to Needle. Where is she? Is she at The Nest or somewhere else?
Rhi: Needle never knew where The Nest was.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: So I think you’d have to set up a date somewhere to meet up.
Kim: Does Needle have an apartment in Duskwall?
Rhi: Probably.
Kim: Yeah. Okay, so in that case, yeah. Blaire is going to go to Needle’s apartment.
Rhi: Okay. I think she’s probably… I think it actually probably is in Nightmarket.
Kim: Oh, that’s close by. Okay.
Rhi: Yeah. It’s a pretty small place because she’s been out of the city for a while, just kinda had to take what she could find, but it’s pretty nice. It’s a studio, but it’s in a nice building, so it’s small, but it’s nice, it’s well-furnished, it’s comfortable.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: She’s got some pretty nice furniture in there.
Kim: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: When you show up she’s going to wave a newspaper in your face.
Kim (as Blaire): [nervously] Hey…
Kim: Blaire’s just gonna—
Rhi (as Needle): What is this?!
Kim: Blaire’s gonna go in for a hug. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah. She will hug you with one arm while still holding up the paper.
Rhi (as Needle): I saw this yesterday. I couldn’t find any of you. You weren’t at the bar.
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah… yeah. We were a little tied up with that.
Rhi (as Needle): Uh… is this what you all are doing now? Dueling noblemen in the streets?
Kim (as Blaire): No, this is kinda new for us, but going after members of the Circle of Flame? Yeah, we’ve been doing that for a while.
Rhi (as Needle): All right.
Kim (as Blaire): I feel like you have a right to know. He’s not gonna be the last demon we go up against.
Rhi: She sets the paper down.
Kim: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: Puts a hand on your shoulder and will walk you over to the couch and sits you down.
Rhi (as Needle): Um… this sounds like a whiskey conversation, so you sit here.
Kim (as Blaire): [weakly] Okay.
Rhi (as Needle): I’m gonna grab some glasses and a bottle and we will talk about this.
Kim (as Blaire): Mm-hmm.
Rhi: So yeah, she will go and fetch a bottle and some glasses and y’all can have a conversation.
Kim: Yeah, so Blaire just relays everything. You know, the couple years back when she first summoned Setarra, the pseudo–one sided friendship that followed thereafter and the falling out and where they are now.
Rhi: Needle, pouring her second glass. [laughs] Tops off Blaire’s. I’m guessing Blaire hasn’t touched hers.
Kim: Oh no, she’s drinking.
Rhi: Okay. Yeah, she’ll top off Blaire’s then.
Rhi (as Needle): Well, you certainly don’t do anything by halves, do you?
Kim (as Blaire): [chuckles] I mean, you know me.
Rhi (as Needle): Yeah… Um, I don’t really know what help I’d be against a demon.
Kim (as Blaire): I mean, I don’t know what kind of help I’m gonna be against a demon. We did it with Mora, we came out on top, but it was mostly Minx and we didn’t even really finish him off. We just exposed him to the public and then bailed. I don’t know what chance we stand against Setarra, and I’m scared.
Rhi: She sets her glass down and will scoot-scoot-scoot over on the couch and put an arm around your shoulders.
Rhi (as Needle): I mean, I think being scared makes sense. It would be a lot worse if you were going into something like this not scared, because then you’d do something real stupid and end up dead.
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah.
Rhi (as Needle): You’re real smart, Blaire. You know more about this stuff than anybody I ever met, and you’ve got a lot of good people with you. I think if anybody could pull it off it would be you.
Kim (as Blaire): Thanks.
Rhi: And she will lean over and give you a kiss on the cheek.
Kim (as Blaire): So, I’m not gonna drag you into this if you don’t want to, but if you want to stand by our side for this one you’d be welcome on our team.
Rhi (as Needle): I can talk to some people. Maybe I can find some things that’ll be of more help to all of this.
Kim (as Blaire): Really?
Rhi (as Needle): Yeah. No promises, but I’ll see what I can do.
Kim (as Blaire): It’s better than nothing. You really don’t have to, so… thanks.
Rhi: She squeezes your shoulders again.
Rhi (as Needle): All right. Well, that’s enough of the depressing talk. Let’s get dinner.
Kim (as Blaire): Heh, okay. Hey, Needle.
Rhi (as Needle): Hmm?
Kim (as Blaire): Love you.
Rhi: And she will lean down and kiss your nose.
Rhi (as Needle): Love you too. Come on.
Rhi: Holds out a hand.
Kim (as Blaire): Okay.
Rhi: And off you go, for dinner.
Kim: [grinning] That was so cute~
Rhi: [hushed] Make it all gay!
Kim: Yes. [laughs]
Rhi: And now let’s head across town to our next set of girlfriends.
Josie: Mm-hmm!
[laughter]
Josie: SO Minx has a bag of tea under her arm. It’s heavily bandaged over the sexy bicep scar. She’s limping a little and she knocks on Nyryx’s door.
Rhi: Nyryx yanks the door open, yanks you inside, slams the door shut.
Josie (as Minx): [yelps]
Rhi (as Nyryx): What the hell were you thinking?!
Josie (as Minx): I must admit it was all a bit spur of the moment. I brought tea?
Rhi (as Nyryx): Minx! [stammers emotionally, huffs]
Josie (as Minx): I’m sorry, Nyryx.
Rhi: She will take the tea, point you at a chair, set the tea down, sit down across from you, and is just like:
Rhi (as Nyryx): You said before your last extremely dangerous, risky job that you maybe wanted to move in together someday, maybe you wanted to retire from this life, or something.
Josie (as Minx): That’s still true.
Rhi (as Nyryx): Is it?! Because you keep throwing yourself at these things, and… [exhales] Minx, I don’t want to hope for a future if—
Josie (as Minx): I’m… We’re trying to end it.
Rhi (as Nyryx): [sighs]
Josie (as Minx): The longer this drags out the riskier things are, and as fun as it is to have all the attention… I love the Magpies, I still want to be with them, but this needs to end and I’m just trying to end it.
Rhi: She sighs and rubs a hand over her face and then will look you over and nod at the bandages.
Rhi (as Nyryx): How bad is it?
Josie (as Minx): You know, not as bad as could be considered. But did you know earth demons can turn any metal into knives? That was fun to learn.
Rhi (as Nyryx): Earth demon…?
Rhi: She holds up a hand.
Rhi (as Nyryx): I’m… I’m gonna get us some tea, and possibly something stronger, and then you’re going to explain that statement.
Rhi: [laughing] She just holds up a finger and will go to the kitchen go get—Everyone’s response to this is “demons, huh? I need alcohol.”
[laughter]
Josie: Uh-huh.
Kim: Yep.
Rhi: So yeah, Nyryx is gonna make some of the tea that you brought and bring back tea and alcohol to put in the tea and then you can explain.
Josie: Uh-huh.
Rhi: She’s not really angry, she’s just freaked out, and I think having you there helps her feel better.
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: Let’s hop over to Myra.
Minna: Yes.
Rhi: I think Jeren reaches out to you.
Minna: Ooh, that’s new.
Kim: Oh.
Rhi: Yeah. I think he sends you a note through The Hound’s Paw and asks to meet at a location you—God, it’s probably in Charhollow actually. Probably just a bar in Charhollow that he asks to meet at.
Minna: Okay.
Kim: I’ll remind you, Panera is a chain.
Minna: [as a whine] No.
Rhi: They’re not meeting there.
Kim: [chuckles] Okay.
Rhi: [smiling] They’re not meeting at the Panera, the Duskwall Panera. He got kidnapped from the Duskwall Panera.
[giggling]
Minna: He did.
Kim: That’s right, he did.
Rhi: He doesn’t go there anymore.
Minna: Aww, buddy.
Rhi: Jeren is already there when you arrive, and he is completely out of uniform.
Minna: Wow.
Rhi: Yeah.
Minna: Well, I’ve seen him out of—
Rhi: He’s got enough sense to know that looking like a cop walking around this neighborhood ain’t smart.
Minna: Yep. Mm-hmm.
Rhi: But yeah, I don’t think you’ve seen him this dressed down in a while. He still doesn’t look like he belongs here. He’s getting some side-eye from the bartender.
Minna: I think she kinda sits down and leans in and whispers:
Minna (as Myra): If you didn’t want to stick out, maybe try looking a little bit less stiff.
Rhi (as Jeren): I did the best I could.
Rhi: He looks down. That’s the thing, he’s dressed down, but he’s still a rich boy.
Minna: [grinning] Mm-hmm. She pats his arm.
Rhi: He’s trying. He’s trying, bless his heart, but he’s still… he’s still, you know.
Kim: Oh no, he’s wearing Vineyard Vines.
Rhi: Yes.
Kim: Oh no~
Rhi: Basically.
Kim: And khakis.
Rhi: Uh-huh.
Kim: Ugh…
Rhi: He’s trying. He’s trying really hard. He’s just like:
Rhi (as Jeren): Uh… there was a lot of paperwork after your, um, incident the other night. So much that they brought me off of leave.
Minna (as Myra): That sounds like it’s probably good news?
Rhi: He kinda makes a face.
Rhi (as Jeren): Better than being bored. They don’t really know what to make of you all. I’m more worried about sorting out Mora’s affairs.
Minna (as Myra): What’s happening to those? Now, I don’t think you’re here to talk work, are you?
Rhi (as Jeren): I just wanted to make sure you were okay. None of the official reports really said anything about what happened to all of you.
Minna (as Myra): I feel like the newspapers would have screamed it to the heavens if we had died.
Rhi (as Jeren): They were screaming more than enough about the demon. To answer your question about his estate, the rest of the noble houses are circling like sharks. He didn’t have any heirs.
Minna (as Myra): Of course.
Rhi (as Jeren): The Spirit Wardens are claiming a chunk of his estate to pay for “processing fees” for whatever’s left of him.
Minna (as Myra): I have to say, I’m glad we didn’t have to do that ourselves.
Rhi (as Jeren): So am I… They don’t really trust me that much anymore, but um… I don’t know, a literal demon in charge of that much of the city, I don’t know.
Minna (as Myra): You know, the thing is I don’t think they even would have cared. I mean, it’s possible they knew, all of them, the people who worked with him.
Rhi (as Jeren): I don’t know. I talked to some of the Bluecoats who were there and none of them knew.
Minna (as Myra): I’m not talking about the Bluecoats. I’m talking about people higher than the Bluecoats. I know Avrathi knew.
Rhi (as Jeren): I don’t know. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, because that… uh, seemed like a lot.
Minna (as Myra): We’re not done.
Rhi (as Jeren): They’re not really letting me near anything that has to do with you and your people at this point, but I still hear things. The rest of this group, this Circle that you talk about, they’re not gonna take this quietly. There’s been a lot of pressure to come after you hard.
Minna (as Myra): Let me guess. Drake?
Rhi (as Jeren): I think so, yeah.
Minna (as Myra): [sighs] Thanks for the warning, but I guess it’s not really a surprise. We made our move; they’re making moves in return.
Rhi (as Jeren): Yeah. Just, uh… well I’d tell you to keep your head down, but I think we both know that’s not gonna happen.
Minna (as Myra): It’s only gonna get hotter from here.
Rhi (as Jeren): I don’t know that there’s much I can do to help, but I can at least tip you off.
Minna (as Myra): You know where to send the notes. I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t want to be seen near me.
Rhi (as Jeren): That’s probably better for both of us right now, but you know, they don’t patrol down here too much. I think we could probably have a drink.
Rhi: Awkward smile.
Minna (as Myra): [giggles] I’d like that, but if you’re planning on coming down here again you gotta let me get you a better disguise.
Rhi (as Jeren): I don’t… I, what? What’s wrong with this?
Minna (as Myra): This?!
Minna: She grabs a pinch of the fabric.
Minna (as Myra): Do you know how much this costs? Nobody down here can afford this. I’m going to take you to my friend Briggs and I’m going to get you better clothes for walking around Charhollow.
Rhi: [laughs]
Minna (as Myra): I don’t think I saw cloth like that until I was probably a teenager.
Rhi (as Jeren): Oh…
Rhi: Jeren looks down at his clothes.
Rhi (as Jeren): Okay, well drink first then clothes shopping.
Minna (as Myra): [smiling] Sounds like a plan.
Rhi: So yeah, the two of you have a lovely cultural exchange in Charhollow.
Minna: [giggles]
Rhi: We end on a copy of the Doskvol Daily and an article by Eliza Ormaza printed a few days after the duel. The headline reads: “Lord Mora and the Demons of the Noble Class.” It’s a long article covering multiple pages and including several interviews. It concludes:
“What one should truly take away from this incident is not merely that a member of the nobility was exposed as a demon but rather that the behaviors of the noble class are such that a demon was able to pass wholly unnoticed in their midst. What I witnessed on the bridge that night was bravery and heroism as these Magpies risked their lives to expose Lord Mora for what he truly is.
And, as the interviews here have demonstrated, I believe that is their ultimate goal: to expose the nobility for what they truly are. Do they work outside the law and resort to methods that some may find distasteful? Yes. But so do the factory owners and shipping magnates. And the Magpies, at least, break the law for the betterment of Duskwall’s citizens.
But no matter your stance on their other actions, it is clear to me that this city owes them a great debt of thanks for their actions, exposing not just Lord Mora, but the cruelty of those with power.”
## Outro [0:51:28]
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 [0:52:40]
Rhi: All right, I will count us off. Three, two, one.
All: Sync!
Rhi: … All right.
Josie: This hypnotic induction brought to you by The magpies.
Minna: I know! It’s so soothing.
[laughter]
Minna: Someday we need to put that into something.