Transcribed by Michelle Kelly (@Michellicopter)

##Intro

Rhi: Welcome back to Duskwall. As always, thank you so much for joining us. I am recording this intro on my brand new microphone setup, which includes exciting features like a boom arm and a pop filter. It’s so much better than the seven-year-old taped-together headset I was using before. We have been able to order new mics and accessories for all the cast members of Project Bluejay thanks to our amazing Kickstarter backers. So, if you are one of those backers, thank you so very much.

For those of you backing us on Patreon, I posted an announcement on Sunday about our plans for what’s next. The short version is that the Patreon is currently paused and will relaunch alongside Project Bluejay later this year. When the Patreon relaunches, it will be the Clever Corvids Productions Patreon, supporting the entire company. We’ll have all-new branding and content, and most importantly a new pay-what-you-want approach for our backers. Rather than having tiers of content separated out by how much you can pay each month, if you give us any money at all on Patreon, you’ll have access to all the content there. We hope that’ll make it easier for folks to continue supporting us and for new folks to join us.

Next, Minna is going to tell us about this month’s featured charity.

Minna:  Hi, this is Minna. So, it is 4^th of July weekend and I know not all of our listeners are Americans, but I am, so right now I’m thinking about history and about community. So this month I’m going to make me donation to the Carter G. Woodson African-American Museum is St Petersburg, Florida. They’re a really great space, they preserve African-American

history in the city and they provide education, they provide a community space. And I would like to encourage you either to donate to them or to donate to a local organization or museum or somebody who is preserving and spreading the word about history where you live. Thank you.

Rhi: For our US audience, please continue to contact your representatives and advocate for voting rights, both at a state and federal level. As more and more Republican controlled states pass bills designed to limit people’s ability to vote, it’s critical that we fight back in every way we can.

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

##Story continues [00.02.46]

Rhi: We open up on the lightning barrier reflecting on a river. It’s one of the branches of the river Dosk, the one that runs along the eastern edge of the city, separating it from the Deathlands and the Lost District. And we sort of pan up to see a rowboat being rowed across the water and sitting in this rowboat, rowing it, is Oskar Scurlock, who doesn’t get paid enough for this shit, I’m just gonna put that out there.

Kim: [laughs] I love this boy so much.

Josie: [laughs]

Kim: I love that he’s here. That’s great.

Rhi: Sitting at the very front of the boat is Lord Scurlock, whose expression is as inscrutable as always. And then our metaphorical camera kind of pans around to the other side of the boat, where The Magpies and Needle are sitting. What is kind of the emotional state of everybody?

Kim: I imagine it’s very tensely quiet. Everybody is just kind of steeled over emotionally, thinking about what they’re about to, you know, head into. I feel like if you looked at Blaire you can kind of tell that, you know, she’s just trying to put on a brave face even though she’s a little nervous. I like to think that she’s probably like, very much clutching at Needle’s hand while she just stares into the middle distance.

Josie: Minx is having mixed feelings. On the one hand, she doesn’t like this situation. On the other hand, she’s gonna get to finally use Wavebreaker and look really cool. So, she’s kind of got her hand on her sword the whole time and is in general trying to put on a smiling face and look reassuring to everyone else in the boat.

Rhi: Yeah.

Josie: Even though internally she’s also very nervous, cause she doesn’t like going outside the lightning barrier.

Minna: Myra is definitely kind of nervous about this. They have managed to fight a demon before but they had, like, they were in a circumstance that is much more favorable to them. This going out to fight, or at least to try to bind Setarra and potentially fight her in the Lost District could go very badly.

Madge: Needle is holding Blaire’s hand, since Blaire is holding Needle’s hand, and I feel like she has intertwined her fingers with Blaire’s and is, like, giving her reassuring squeezes every couple of steps that they take.

Rhi and Josie: Aww.

Rhi: So, we kind of flash back from the boat to not too long ago in Lord Scurlock’s study where the four of you are gathered. Oskar is there as well and Scurlock is kind of explaining the ritual. And he says:

Rhi (as Lord Scurlock): Blaire and I will be focused on completing the ritual itself. The three of you will need to keep Setarra from intervening until we are complete. In addition, we need demon blood to begin the ritual.

Rhi: And at that point, Oskar will step forward and basically hand each of you a fairly large glass vial. [laughs]

Kim: Oh.

Josie: Mm…

Rhi (as Lord Scurlock): If you can make her bleed, get some of the blood in this and get it over to where I have set up the ritual as quickly as possible so that we can begin.

Kim: Okay…

Josie (as Minx): Alright.

Rhi (as Lord Scurlock): To power the ritual we are going to need more energy from the ghost field than is normally available, so we will be using the relic that you all acquired recently to make that happen. It may cause some local distortions in the ghost field. It’s likely that we will see additional spiritual activity in addition to the, well, obvious problem of Setarra. When the ritual is complete, Setarra will no longer be a threat. For your lifetimes, anyway.

Kim (as Blaire): That’s kinda what we’re aiming for.

Josie (as Minx): I would like to point out that last time we fought a demon he was rather restraining himself. Setarra’s under no such compunction here. Are we mostly relying me for her not to instantly kill us?

Rhi: So. [laughs] Madge, I’m gonna put you on the spot here.

Madge: [laughs]

Rhi: Uh, previously we had established that Needle has acquired some kind of thing or things that can help in dealing with demons. Do you wanna have something more offensive that would help do damage to a demon, something more defensive that would help protect all of you from a demon? What do you think Needle would have gotten her hands on?

Madge: I think she would have gotten something more defensive, just because one of the things that she has picked up recently is that she can do better when she’s attacking from like, hiding or springing a trap or something on somebody. So, I think something that could cause cover for all of them in some sorta way could be useful or would act as a shield for them would be useful.

Rhi: Okay. So, I think that towards that vein, Needle, you’ve basically gotten really souped-up smoke bombs that you can deploy that will, like— the smoke bombs are laced with ground-up demon-bane charms.

[laughter]

Kim: Oh, cool.

Madge: I love it!

Rhi: So, like, if a demon— yeah, so like if a demon tries to look through it, it’s just kind of static-y. So, you have two of those. You also, as a group, have one regular smoke bomb available to you. So, Needle can kind of share that she has that as a way to sort of help with tilting the odds. And Oskar is also— there’s a couple boxes of equipment and stuff behind Scurlock.

Kim: Oh, jeez.

Rhi: Oskar will go to one of those and is going to give everybody a demon bane charm in addition. So, that will help. [laughs] Somewhat. And Scurlock, as Oskar is handing out the demon bane charms basically just says:

Rhi (as Lord Scurlock): You don’t need to kill her. You just need to keep her from interfering or running off. Be irritating.

Josie (as Minx): Now that, I can do.

Rhi (as Lord Scurlock): I’m aware.

Minna: [laughs]

Madge (as Needle) I was about to say, that’s something that we kind of specialize in.

Josie: [laughs] She gives Scurlock a wink.

Rhi: I think on that we cut back to the boat as it reaches the shore and this is basically the start of the score.

Kim: Aah! [laughs]

Josie: Alright!

Madge: Aah!

Rhi: Yep. [laughs] So, loadout. What do you all…?

Josie: Heavy.

Kim: Heavy.

Minna: Heavy.

Madge: Heavy.

Rhi: Yeah. That’s— that’s what I figured. [laughs] There’s not reason to mess around with anything less at this point. If anyone tried to give you shit on the streets Scurlock would just look at them.

Kim: Oh my God—

Rhi: And they would realize they had urgent business elsewhere in the city.

Minna: [laughs]

Kim (as Blaire): Thank you for your intimidating nature. It’s very helpful sometimes.

[laughter]

Rhi: He attempts to turn this intimidating look on Blaire, but it doesn’t work, and this is—

Kim: Blaire’s just continuing to grin back up at him.

Rhi: He can’t intimidate her and this is one of the great frustrations in his life currently.

Minna: [laughs]

Kim: Currently.

Rhi: Currently. Um, okay. So, engagement roll. You get one for luck. Is this operation particularly bold or daring?

Minna: Ha!

Josie: Yes.

Kim and Madge: Yes.

Rhi: Does the— well, let’s see. Your plan’s detail. This is definitely occult.

Kim: Yes.

Rhi: Does the detail expose a vulnerability of the target? I think that the detail— this one kinda cancels out, because like, on the one hand you are coming in with a fair amount of, you know, stuff prepared to move against Setarra. On the other hand, you are gonna be fighting her right next to the ocean.

Kim: Yeah.

Minna: Mm…

Rhi: And she’s a demon.

Madge: Yeah…

Rhi: So that sorta evens out.

Kim: We’re pulling up right into her territory.

Rhi: Yep. Friends or contacts providing aid, yes. You’re got Scurlock. Although he’s gonna be somewhat limited. Other elements you want to consider, you are fighting a fucking demon. So, we’re gonna take a die off there. So, it’s a 2d6 roll.

Kim: Come on, hot dice.

Rhi: And you got a 6.

Kim: Eyy!

Madge: Yay!

Rhi: So we’ll be starting in a controlled position, which is great for you.

Kim: Excellent.

Rhi: So, you step out of the boat, you know, grabbing your gear as you go. Oskar stays in the boat—

Madge: Valid.

Rhi: As you all—[laughs] Listen. Oskar doesn’t get paid enough to row the boat over here, Oskar sure as hell doesn’t get paid enough to fight a demon.

Madge: [laughs]

Josie: Uh huh. [laughs]

Rhi: As everyone steps out, he kind of, you know, pushes the boat back into the water and looks to Scurlock and says:

Rhi (as Oskar): I’ll wait for your signal on the other side.

Rhi: And then rows back away.

Kim (as Blaire): Be safe.

Rhi (as Oskar): You need that more than I do.

Rhi: Scurlock leads you all basically north along the riverbank and then you turn and kind of continue along the coast, right at the edge of the Lost District. And it’s eerie cause it’s very, very quiet. There’s a lot of, particularly right along the coast here, ruined manors that were obviously set up as kind of, you know, not exactly a seaside villa, because the weather doesn’t really support actual villa construction. It’s too cold for that. But it was definitely set up for, you know, a beautiful seaside view.

So you’ve got all of these what used to be big, open windows that are completely shattered and crumbled, just these dark holes into these buildings. And it’s probably about a good hour of walking before you reach a spot of coast that… doesn’t look like any more remarkable than anywhere else. There’s not any kind of landmarks or things. But Scurlock stops and looks around and kind of gestures to Blaire to put down the bag of ritual stuff.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: He’s not carrying that.

Kim: Yeah, no. Blaire complies.

Rhi: Yeah, there’s a spot, kind of a large, flat patch of gravel and stone a ways back from the shoreline. And then he, uh, will take out the fish hook, which is this, you know, one or two-foot tall leviathan bone fish hook with all these runes carved in it. And he jams it into the ground so the curved part is pointing upward. And like, this is… this is not soft soil. This is a layer of gravel and then hard earth. And he just slams it in without any trouble. Which is a little unnerving.

Josie: Uh huh. [laughs]

Rhi: He does that. He then takes out the piece of pre-cataclysmic coral that you all recovered and will very carefully set that aside on a— there’s like a chunk of stone rubble that’s probably a few feet high and he carefully sets that up there. And then takes out the last piece, that wasn’t something that he sent all of you out for and it’s a— Blaire, you would recognize this, it’s just a vial of sea water.

Kim: Okay, yeah.

Rhi: Very similar to the sort of things you used when you summoned Setarra. And he will take that out and look around at the four of you and go:

Rhi (as Lord Scurlock): Are you prepared?

Kim (as Blaire): Do it.

Rhi: So, he walks up closer to the shoreline and between the waves and, you know, the little bit of distance he has from all of you, you can’t hear what he’s saying. But the few, like, syllables you catch, he’s not speaking Akarosian. Whatever he’s saying is… it sounds like a very different language.

Kim: Is it demon speak?

Rhi: It’s not demon speak. You’re not sure what it is.

Kim: Interesting. Huh.

Madge: [gasp] Would I— I know you said we wouldn’t recognize it; would I recognize it from my time off on the… in Wintercliffs? Is that sort of in the region?

Rhi: Mm… no. It’s not a problem of region. It’s a problem of time.

Madge: Ooh.

Minna: Mm hmm…

Rhi: This is something that’s so old, none of you would have heard it.

Madge: Old as balls.

Rhi: And then he, just like, in his hand, just shatters the vial.

Kim: Oh dip.

Rhi: And lets the water and glass fall to the beach. And there’s a few beats of silence where nothing happens. And with the next tide that rolls in, one of the waves arches upward and flows into the form of Setarra. It’s her human form. Minx and Myra have encountered her in this form once or twice. Needle I don’t think has ever before. She looks like a Tycherosi woman, basically. She’s got long kind of slicked-back dark hair that looks freshly wet, she’s got pitch-black shark eyes.

Josie: [groans]

Rhi: You can see kinda shark teeth in her mouth when she speaks.

Josie: [groans louder]

Rhi: But otherwise, looks human. Her dress looks like its sort of made of ocean water. It’s dark and kind of frothy and shifts around her. And it’s in the style of like, you know, a very fine, flowing gown. And she surges up out of the sea and comes to stand on the shore a few feet away from Scurlock. And then her gaze kind of drifts past him to the rest of you and zeroes in on Blaire.

Kim (as Blaire): Miss me?

Rhi: She blinks in surprise and then grins and looks back to Scurlock.

Rhi (as Setarra): You brought me a gift.

Rhi: He just shakes his head and she studies him for a couple moments and then laughs a little bit.

Rhi (as Setarra): Ah. I should have known that after 700-odd years you’d get ideas of rebellion in your head.

Rhi: And he just kind of shrugs again and says:

Rhi (as Lord Scurlock): You’re not serving my purposes any longer and in fact are beginning to impede them. I just need a three or four century break and then we can revisit our arrangement.

Minna: [laughs]

Josie: Hmm…

Rhi: And Setarra kinda cocks her head to the side and she looks almost pitying and takes another couple steps towards him and says:

Rhi (as Setarra); You can’t kill him. That’s why they call him Immortal.

Minna: Oh.

Rhi: Scurlock shrugs again and says:

Rhi (as Lord Scurlock): Anyone can die if you put enough effort in.

Madge: Aah!

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: And then he is going to turn his back on her and start walking away.

Kim: Uh…

Rhi: And I think— yeah, exactly, that noise of paranoia, I think you’re all expecting her to lunge at him, but she doesn’t. And I think as Scurlock is kind of walking towards the ritual site he just says, loud enough that all of you can hear:

Rhi (as Lord Scurlock): Part of our arrangement is that we cannot directly physically harm each other.

Kim: Oh—! [laughs]

Rhi (as Lord Scurlock): She can’t touch me, I can’t touch her.

Josie (as Minx): Huh. Very interesting.

Kim (as Blaire): You could have told us that sooner.

Rhi: Listen. Scurlock is a lot of things, but he is a vampire.

Kim: I know.

Rhi: And he has to be real fucking dramatic sometimes, or he would die.

Kim: No, I respect this. I’m just saying this in character. I recognize his need to be dramatic and I love him for it. [laughs]

Rhi: [laughs] If a vampire is not allowed to be a little dramatic some of the time, they will expire.

Kim: What’s the point?

Rhi: Yeah.

Kim: What’s the point. [laughs]

Rhi: So, he walks away from her up the beach and Setarra watches him, clearly angered by what he’s said. And then she looks to the other four of you and says:

Rhi (as Setarra): That will protect him. But it won’t protect you.

Kim (as Blaire): You’re done taking control of other people.

Rhi: She doesn’t respond to Blaire. She just drops her human visage.

Kim: [through laughter] Oh… okay!

Rhi: Scurlock does not react to this. Blaire, you’ve seen this before and you have your Iron Will ability, so you know, you can kinda power through this.

Kim: Right.

Rhi: Minx, Myra and Needle.

Josie: [laughs]

Madge: [laughs]

Minna: Uh huh?

Rhi: You’ve never seen this before. It is profoundly upsetting. There is nothing human about Setarra anymore. Kim, can you refresh us all on what Setarra’s sea demon form looks like?

Kim: Absolutely. So it’s very much inspired by that of mostly a frilled shark. It definitely has the same length, the same coloration, the frilled gills, the very blank eyes and wide mouth. She does have, like, very spindly front limbs just so she’s not like, you know, an eel on land. So she has some dexterity there. And she is covered in this oozing slime that’s very hagfish-like, very translucent and slimy and gross. Her teeth, however, are not that of a frilled shark. She has a row of very spindly, long, very tall and sharp, very needle-like teeth, very much like a dragon fish. I believe we may have incorporated some bioluminescence into her as well.

Rhi: Yeah.

Kim: I think I may have given her, like, a mane or something. Like, something very spindly, hair that goes down a couple ways, the neck or so.

Rhi: So, it’s horrifying. And I am going to need the three of you to make Resolve resistance checks in order to keep from either running away at top speed or freezing in place out of sheer terror.

Josie: I would like to ask what a Devil’s Bargain looks like here.

Rhi: [laughs]

Kim: Interesting.

Josie: Although, can you do that for resistance rolls?

Rhi: You’re rolling dice, so I don’t see why not. You are going to be at reduced effect for your first action against Setarra.

Josie: Hmm. I’m not gonna take that, actually.

Rhi: Okay.

Josie: I’m just gonna roll my dice.

Rhi: So yeah, that’s gonna be Minx, Needle and Myra.

Josie: I got a 6.

Rhi: Okay. Minx takes no stress.

Madge: I got a 2.

Minna:  Oh no, honey!

Rhi: Needle takes 4 stress.

Minna: I rolled a critical. Do I recover stress?

Kim: Minna!

Josie: Yes, you do.

Rhi: [long-suffering] Yes, you recover one point of stress. Jesus Christ.

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: Alright. So, you all manage to power through and overcome the existential terror of seeing this thing. She’s gonna start moving towards you and you all can, uh, do what you’re gonna do.

Josie: Minx is going to start talking.

Kim: Oh God.

Josie: I think when she sees the demon fish mode she goes pale white. She’s still smiling confidently but something in her eyes changes and she just blanches white. [laughs] And she kinda has to steel herself a little bit and says:

Josie (as Minx): Come now. No coup de grace, why we should do this? No hostage, no confession? No monologue to us? That’s not fair.

Minna: [laughs]

Josie: I’m just trying to get her talking.

Rhi: Uh, okay. Okay. You’re gonna need to make a roll. Yeah, I don’t think I can— this is not… [laughs] this is not controlled.

Josie: No.

Rhi: Because you have a demon moving in on you. So for right now, she’s not in striking range just yet, so we’re gonna call this risky.

Josie: Okay.

Rhi: This is zero effect.

Josie: Zero effect, huh?

Rhi: Yeah.

Josie: Well, I’m gonna push myself to make that some effect.

Rhi: Yep. Okay, so risky, reduced.

Josie: Uh huh. This has to be Sway, right? Because she’s not a friend, I can’t Consort with her.

Rhi: Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Josie: [laughs] 5.

Rhi: 5, okay. She just kind of keeps surging forward. She doesn’t, like, walk or run. She just sort of, she moves like water. She just flows or surges as she moves around the beach. And basically, Minx, just slams into you bodily with enough force that you just kinda go flying backwards.

Kim: Oh God.

Josie (as Minx): [yelps]

Rhi: And you slam down in a pile of rubble. You’re gonna take level 2 harm.

Josie: Uh, resistance roll?

Rhi: Yes, you can resist or you can have armor. Armor is an option. We always forget about armor, but armor is an option. [laughs]

Josie: I’m gonna use armor later.

Rhi: Okay. But you do do it, you get her talking and what she says is:

Rhi (as Setarra): I do not care for the opinions of insects as meaningless and useless as you.

Rhi: And now you may roll Prowess resistance.

Josie: Uh huh. I got a 6.

Rhi: Okay. So, no stress.

Josie: So now it’s level 1, like…

Rhi: Yeah. Level 1, you’re bruised. You managed to like, in mid-air, kinda like, tuck and roll. So yeah, um, Minx has been knocked backwards. What do the rest of you wanna do? Scurlock is just kind of standing off to the side, waiting for one of you to bring him some demon blood. [laughs]

Madge: I was gonna say something and then Setarra called one of my girlfriend’s friends nothing more than an insect and:

Madge (as Needle): I take great offense to that, personally.

Madge: So we’re gonna—[laughs] we’re gonna do an attack, I think.

Rhi: Alright. Anything that’s not a fine weapon is going to have zero effect.

Madge: Mm hmm.

Rhi: You can push yourself to get effect, or take a Devil’s Bargain. You can also do a flashback if you want to have acquired a better weapon for this expedition, but—

Madge: Yeah, I would like to have acquired one, since I was aware that we were going to fight a demon.

Rhi: Yes. Okay. You can have a fine, like basically one of the weapon types of like, a blade or two, throwing knives, a pistol. You can pick one of those and have a fine version of it.

Madge: Um, I’ll do some, uh, a blade or two in fine condition.

Rhi: Okay.

Madge: Just cause I really like the ring knives that I’ve had for Needle. Just those but better.

Rhi: Yeah. You’ve had them treated with some kind of like special electroplasm stuff along the blade so that it can hurt demons a little more. So, yeah, are you charging in to stab?

Madge: Yeah.

Kim: Oh dear lord. Be safe honey.

Rhi: It’s gonna be desperate, reduced.

Madge: Okay. Desperate, reduced. I think I have a thing— yeah, when I roll a desperate action, I get— I add a d6 to my roll if I also take minus 1d6 to any resistance rolls against the consequences of my actions.

Josie: Nice. [laughs]

Madge: For being a daredevil. So…

Rhi: Yeah. If you wanna activate that, then go for it.

Madge: I’m gonna activate that.

Rhi: Alright.

Madge: What’s the skill, one more time?

Rhi: Um, you— it would probably be Skirmish?

Madge: Uh… my best dice is a 4.

Rhi: So, you dive in with your blades and you manage to slice into Setarra. And, you know, it’s a good, solid cut along her side. And I think the blood that starts oozing out, one, a lot thicker and oozier than blood traditionally is.

Madge: Ew.

Rhi: And it is pitch black like the Void Sea. However, before you can do anything about this, she, uh, just zips backwards a lot faster than she should be able to move considering her size and then lightning just arcs off of her body and slams into Needle. Again, a hard enough impact that it takes you off your feet, sends you flying backward. You’re gonna take level 3 harm.

Kim: No!

Josie: Yeesh.

Madge: [squeaky voice] Help.

Rhi: [laughs] Which you can resist.

Madge: I can— what would the resistance be?

Rhi: Prowess.

Madge: Okay. I will use armor because it is pretty early on.

Rhi: Yeah. So just mark your armor, that’ll knock it down to a level 2 harm. You’ve got, like, leather armor and you wore rubber soled boots.

Madge: Yay.

Rhi: [laughs] You were a little grounded.

Madge: [laughs]

Rhi: You still get knocked back. You are badly electrocuted. Everything hurts.

Madge: Yeah.

Rhi: But it’s just at level 2 harm.

Kim: Blaire just screams Needle’s name, I think, as she just watches her fly away.

Madge: [imitating Blaire] Oh no!

Kim: And—[laughs] this wee, five-foot-one little baby is doing her best to look intimidating. She’s looking Setarra squarely down and she’s like:

Kim (as Blaire): You wanna fight with lightning? Two can play at that game.

Kim: And I am going to roll… okay.

Rhi: New power! New power! New power!

Kim: Right, yeah. I’m trying to— believe it or not, I have to read. [laughs]

Rhi: Oh my God.

Kim: So I am going to use Tempest ability on my character sheet.

Madge: [laughs]

Josie: Oh no.

Kim: Which means I will push myself to unleash a stroke of lightning as a weapon.

Josie: We have lightning?

Kim: Yeah, Blaire has Sith fingers.

Minna: I love the Tempest ability.

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: Yep.

Josie: Lightning bolt.

Kim: So, do I have to roll anything, Rhi? Or do I just spend the stress?

Rhi: Yes.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: You… so reading through this, it says you make an action roll in the fight, usually with Attune. So, I’m gonna have you roll Attune.

Kim: Okay. I would like to roll Attune with an extra die, just to be safe.

Rhi: Okay. This is gonna be… you’re not in melee range with her, so this is gonna be risky, reduced.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: Risky, reduced.

Kim: Here we go, folks.

Rhi: Get her.

Kim: Ha ha… I can’t. I rolled a 4.

Rhi: Okay— hey, listen, you do it. But consequence.

Kim: I was hoping for at least one 6.

Rhi: [laughs] So, this burst of lightning. Is it coming out of your hands? Out of your eyes? Just full body thing? What are, how does it—

Kim: It’s coming out of her hands.

Rhi: Okay. So, this bolt of lightning, significantly smaller than the amount of lightning Setarra generated but still pretty impressive because, uh, none of you knew Blaire could do this—

Josie: Uh huh! [laughs]

Rhi: Cracks out of Blaire’s hand and slams squarely into Setarra. And it does catch her off-guard, you think. I mean, it’s kinda hard to read body language on this thing, but she kinda staggers back a little bit and then she kinda looks down at herself and then looks up at you and laughs.

Rhi (as Setarra): Oh, if only you had shown such potential sooner.

Kim (as Blaire): If only you hadn’t tried to hurt my friends.

Rhi: She’s going to surge forwards, and she doesn’t knock Blaire back. She, like, shoots a bunch of this goop all over you.

Kim: Oh. Okay.

Rhi: And it, like, one, it’s gross, it smells bad and it’s slimy and it’s all over you. And it’s starting to harden.

Kim: Oh no— oh.

Madge: Oh.

Rhi: So, I’m gonna start a clock for you need to get yourself out of this stuff or something. It’s gonna be a three-tick clock.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: We’re at one out of three. Or you’re basically gonna be stuck in place.

Kim: Okay. What kind of resistance roll— yeah, let’s start with a resistance roll. What would best fit here?

Rhi: Um, Prowess I think. Yeah.

Kim: Okay. Let me roll that.

Rhi: Yeah. Cause if you resist this consequence, then she does not get goop all over you.

Kim: Okay, that’s a 6.

Rhi: So, you manage to, like, dive out of the way and this goop just kind of splatters across the sand. Scurlock, from behind all of you, just goes:

Rhi (as Lord Scurlock): The blood, if you wouldn’t mind.

Kim (as Blaire): Working on it!

Rhi: Scurlock internally: “It doesn’t look like you’re working on it. It looks like you’re shooting lightning at a demon and being dramatic.”

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: He doesn’t say that—

Kim (as Blaire):  Oh you’re one to talk!

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: That’s why he doesn’t say it.

Minna: Scurlock really does not have a leg to stand on.

Josie: [laughs]

Kim: No.

Rhi: No, he doesn’t.

Kim: But I love him anyway.

Rhi: He’s a very judgey, judgey 800-year-old man.

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: Myra, what do you wanna do?

Minna: I feel like Myra’s been kind of like edging around the edge of these fights and she’s going to try and come at Setarra kind of from the side. Just like, very quietly and confidently just step up towards her and flick a blade across her skin. I don’t know if it’s going to work, but…

Rhi: Yeah. So again, if you’re not using a fine weapon it’s gonna have no effect.

Minna: Do I have a fine weapon? I don’t think I have a fine weapon.

Rhi: You can— I’ll let you do the same thing that Needle did. You can have a fine version of one weapon type. You just kinda pick what you’ve got.

Minna: It’s a blade or two.

Rhi: Alright. Everybody came in with all sorts of fun knives.

Minna: A specially-treated dagger. [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah. Yeah, so again, you’ll be at risky, reduced— or no, if you’re stabbing it’s gonna be desperate, reduced.

Minna: Cool Exciting. Is it going to be— you know, it doesn’t matter if it’s Prowl or Skirmish because they’re the same. Um, I am going to push myself.

Rhi: Okay.

Minna: For more effect.

Rhi: Alright. So desperate, standard.

Minna: 5.

Rhi: Okay. You do it, but consequence. So yeah, you dart in and I think like, slash at her other side, kind of— or maybe across her back where she’s not able to see you sneaking up. And she doesn’t turn back around. Myra, you just like, all of a sudden, hear this sort of weird watery noise and feel a couple water droplets fall on you and you look up as this massive wave crashes down on you and just slams into you.

Minna: [whines]

Rhi: Knocks you to the ground, drags you as it rolls back out, drags you along with it. And you are swept out with the tide.

Minna: Cool.

Rhi: [laughs]

Josie: Uh—

Rhi: Um, so… [laughs] I’m gonna start a clock for Myra. We’re gonna call that also, we’re gonna say 0 out of 3, Swim Back To Shore.

Minna: That sounds like a good idea. [laughs]

Rhi: Yep. So, fwoomph! Minx, you’ve probably gotten back to your feet by now, I think just in time to see Myra get washed out to sea.

Minna: Mm hmm.

Rhi: Setarra is bleeding from two cuts on her person.

Josie: Uh huh.

Rhi: You’ve all got glass vials that you can try and get some blood into.

Josie: Right. Okay. Believe it or not, I’m going to keep trying to distract her. Maybe Needle can slip in and get the blood.

Rhi: Okay.

Josie: Minx is gonna draw her sword and pulls herself up off the beach and says:

Josie (as Minx): [out of breath] You claim you don’t care, and yet you could have snuffed us out at any time. Instead you waited until I had this.

Josie: And she presents the mirrored blade which kind of, even like, the ambient water in the air kind of reflects off of a little bit. So there’s kind of a shimmer.

Rhi: Okay.

Josie: And she continues to say:

Josie (as Minx): And even now, you’re failing. So clearly, you feel something. Even if it is just a flair for the dramatic.

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: Alright, so we’re gonna treat this as a set-up action since you’re distracting so that Needle can sneak in. So, go ahead and make a roll.

Josie: Uh huh.

Rhi: It’s gonna be, I think, risky, reduced again.

Josie: Okay. Um… I’m going to push myself for greater effect. Or increased effect.

Rhi: Yeah. Risky, standard.

Josie: 6!

Rhi: Okay. It’s not so much what you’re saying that holds her attention as it is the blade. She probably doesn’t know what happened to Lord Mora, but she can tell that this sword is dangerous to her. And so, she kind of focuses her attention on you much more deliberately and is kind of circling around. Not— I’m kind of imagining the two of you are circling each other a little bit as Minx is talking. And so, Needle, if you want to sneak in and try to acquire some blood you can— it’s your choice, you can get either plus one effect or improved position.

Madge: Let’s do a plus one effect.

Rhi: Okay. So, that’s gonna make this… I’m gonna say risky, standard for this.

Madge: Okay.

Rhi: And if you wanna use any of your Lurk items to kinda help, because you do have specific…

Madge: Could I down a silence potion before I head on?

Rhi: Yes.

Minna: [gasps]

Kim: Yeah!

Rhi: Yes, absolutely, you can do that. And that will push you up to greater effect. Risky, greater.

Madge: Yeeeah. Let’s do it.

Rhi: Okay.

Madge: 4.

Rhi: Okay, so you do it but there’s a consequence. So, you sneak up on her as she and Minx are circling each other and manage to get, like, the cut that Myra left on her back and just kind of very carefully hold this vial out. And some of the blood oozes into it. And just as you start to step back, the silence potion wears off and you step on like, a piece of, yeah, a piece of driftwood that cracks under your foot.

Madge: Oh no.

Josie: Yeesh.

Rhi: And Setarra immediately whips around and you also get coated in disgusting goo.

Kim: Oh no.

Madge: Yuck.

Rhi: So, you’ve got the blood but you are— and like, you’re not immediately frozen in place. It’s, you know, it’ll slowly solidify. But I’m gonna start a clock and if you can’t get this stuff off of you, you’ll basically kind of be stuck in place.

Madge: Okay.

Rhi: But you’ve got the thing.

Madge: I got the thing.

Rhi: Blaire, what would you like to do?

Kim: Is there any way that I can just grab it from Needle and just rush over to Scurlock and get this started?

Rhi: Yeah.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: Absolutely.

Kim: Do I need to roll anything for that?

Rhi: No, I don’t think so.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: You can just run, grab and then sprint away.

Kim (as Blaire): Thanks babe!

[laughter]

Madge (as Needle): No problem, just be quick about it.

Kim (as Blaire): Trying to!

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: Yea, you run back over to Scurlock, who looks… a little annoyed with how long this has taken. But he doesn’t say anything.

Madge: Bump off, you bumping grass-hoe! My God.

[laughter]

Kim: You what? You bumping what?

Madge: Grass-hoe.

Kim: Grass-hoe?!

Rhi: [laughs]

Kim: What is a grass-hoe?

Madge: I don’t know. Something bad.

Rhi: It sounds good though. Blaire, you go sprinting back to Scurlock with this vial of blood. He takes it immediately and I think he’s kind of set up in this flat patch. There’s a number of runestones, there’s a large silver bowl. He takes the vial and like, basically in the same motion, takes it and throws it into the bowl and the vial shatters. The blood splashes out and it immediately burst into this, like, blue-green flame.

Kim: Ooh.

Rhi: And he kind of points at you and gestures, you know, kind of stand here and the fish hook that is jammed into the ground kind of also in the center of this ring of runestones starts to vibrate a little bit

Kim: Oh, okay.

Rhi: And you and Scurlock are gonna start this ritual, which is gonna be an 8-tick clock.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: You are gonna be making the Attune rolls, but you are gonna get some boosts to it because of Scurlock and because of the fish hook relic.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: So, let me add that to my list of clocks here. Ritual… actually, should it be 8? No, it needs to be more than 8. It’s gonna be 10.

Kim: Oof. Oofa doofa. Okay.

Rhi: Yeah. Well, it’s complex.

Kim (as Blaire): Okay, so what are the next steps? What do we do? What are we doing?

Rhi: I think he’s kind of briefed you on the ritual.

Kim: Oh, okay.

Rhi: It’s just gonna be attuning to the ghost field, a lot of chanting. Possibly, you know, involving demon bane charms. I don’t know specifics on what the—

Kim: I like to think that Blaire has note cards because she didn’t have enough time to really memorize the chants.

Rhi: [laughs and claps] Oh my God.

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: [laughs] Just— I’m picturing that like, yeah, Blaire steps across. Scurlock looks across this flaming bowl of demon blood at her and she’s just got a handful of index cards.

Kim: [laughs] She’s like, shuffling through them as it’s getting warmed up. She’s like:

Kim (as Blaire): Okay. Okay. Uh, this one. Okay, we start here. I really shoulda numbered these.

Josie: [laughs]

Madge (as Needle): Follow the gold foil on the back of it!

[laughter]

Kim (as Blaire): Yes. You’re right. Thank you!

Rhi: [through laughter] Scurlock… just has the expression of a man who just realizes he’s probably made a horrible mistake.

Kim: [laughs] I’m surprised it took him this long to figure it out.

Rhi: Yeah. Let’s jump over to Myra who is out, not like, terribly far into the Void Sea, but probably farther than you’ve ever been. So, how would you like to proceed here?

Minna: I… hmm. I guess I’m swimming, right?

Rhi: Yeah.

Minna: Does that require a roll or is it just that I have to spend a couple rounds—

Rhi: Yes, yeah.

Minna: Okay.

Rhi: Do you think Myra knows how to swim?

Minna: I’ve been in the water before, so I feel like we should have established this, but I don’t remember what the answer is. Can I check the transcripts really quick on that one where I jumped off a boat with Clave?

Rhi: Oh, Jesus. Uh, yeah.

Minna: [laughs] I don’t fucking remember what happened in that one other than that happening.

Rhi: Yeah, well— so, I think for most of the time that you all have been in the water it’s been in the river. You know what? I think I’m just gonna say that you know how to swim well enough for this.

Minna: Let’s say I know how to swim, yes. Because it’s very complicated if I don’t. [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah. Well, you know how to swim well enough for this. I was mostly just gonna figure out your effect. So it’ll be risky, standard to start swimming back to shore.

Minna: It’s a 5.

Rhi: 5, okay. So you do it but there’s a consequence. How… how— does anyone have any particular aversions to, um, spooky sea creatures?

Kim: Never.

Minna and Josie: No.

Madge: I’m good!

Rhi: Okay. Alright, so you start swimming back and you’re doing pretty well, like, it’s not particularly choppy seas, you’re not having to work super hard on this. So, we’re gonna tick the clock up for Myra Swims to Shore to be 1 out of 3, so you’re making progress. But as you are swimming, you feel something brush against your leg.

Josie: [anxious] Mm…

Rhi: Something fairly large and like, there’s kind of a splash in the water beside you as something seems to move. The water is pitch black, so you can’t see what’s in there with you. But there’s some kind of creature nearby.

Kim: [sings Jaws theme]

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: Maybe it’s more scared of you than you are of it. Let’s hope that’s the case! Minx?

Josie: Uh huh?

Rhi: The blood has been carried away and now the job of, well, you and Needle – Myra’s out in the water – is to keep Setarra from interfering with this ritual. You can see that something has burst into interesting-colored flames over by Scurlock and Blaire. Setarra still has her attention mostly on you.

Josie: I think Minx is gonna hold the blade out in front of her and take a few steps forward.

Rhi: Mm hmm.

Josie (as Minx): We’ve already won this if this keeps going. Now is your chance to apologize.

Kim: Oh my God. Seriously?

Rhi: [laughs]

Josie: Yes, seriously.

Kim: I love it.

Rhi: Amazing.

Kim: That’s so good.

Rhi: Alright. What are you trying to do here? What are you trying to accomplish?

Josie: I’m trying to— honestly, Minx is not being insincere in asking for an apology there. She’s generally trying to get her talking and maybe try and talk her down somehow.

Rhi: Huh.

Josie: She doesn’t think it’s gonna work, but she is trying.

Rhi: Aww.

Josie: But basically, again, despite how badly she wants to use the sword, she’s trying not to be bloodthirsty and trying to just draw this out.

Rhi: Okay. Yeah.

Kim: Interesting.

Rhi: So, you’re trying for a Consort is what it sounds like. Risky, zero effect.

Josie: Okay.

Rhi: You’re welcome to push yourself.

Josie: Um, I would like to push myself for some amount of effect.

Rhi: Yeah. So it’ll be desperate— not desperate, it’ll be risky, reduced.

Josie: 5.

Rhi: Oh man. So, your goal was to get her to back down a little, right?

Josie: Yes.

Rhi: How does this work? Let me think on this for a moment. She kind of shifts backwards a little bit to put more space between the two of you and her gaze, for a second, flicks from you over to Scurlock and Blaire, where this ritual is starting. And then she will say:

Rhi (as Setarra): Get them to stop and perhaps we can discuss making amends.

Kim: Ooh…

Josie (as Minx): To be clear, you are the one who needs to make amends.

Rhi (as Setarra): Scurlock has betrayed a long-standing arrangement between the two of us.

Josie (as Minx): Well, I suppose that is between you and him. Between you, us, Blaire and the city, that’s another matter.

Rhi (as Setarra): Persuade them to stop and we can discuss.

Josie (as Minx): Blaire, can it be paused?

Kim: I think Blaire just looks over her shoulder and just gives Minx a really wild look, like, you know, are you kidding me? And she says:

Kim (as Blaire): No?!

Josie (as Minx): Scurlock, you’re not going to, are you?

Rhi: I think that the chanting is going back and forth between Blaire and Scurlock, and so he is like, finishes up his piece and then looks and Minx and says:

Rhi (as Lord Scurlock): She cannot physically harm me directly. She still has a great many ways to make my life hell if she so chooses. No. I will not.

Rhi: And then I think it passes back to him and he picks up the chant again.

Josie (as Minx): It won’t be satisfying enough to see her apologize, maybe even grovel?

Rhi: I think that’s to Blaire.

Kim (as Blaire): Uh, no, not really what we’re going for here.

Rhi: Needle, what are you doing during this exchange?

Madge: Oh man. Oh man. I don’t know. I’m stressed.

Rhi: [laughs]

Madge: I feel like I’m trying to get out of the goop. [laughs]

Rhi: Okay, yeah, yeah. How do you want to go about de-goop-ifying?

Madge: Oh man, how thick is the goop? Like…

Rhi: So, it is less thick than like when people would get slimed in various Nintendo shows. Not Nintendo—

Josie: You mean Nickelodeon.

Kim and Minna: Nickelodeon.

Rhi: Nickelodeon, yeah, sorry.

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: I was like, “Nintendo’s the wrong word,” but it came out anyway. Yeah, so it’s not at thick as Nickelodeon slime, but it’s still pretty viscous. You could, like, you could try and scrape it off with a blade.

Madge: Yeah, that’s what I was thinking, was to take one of the knives that I had already used to cut her and just try and slorp it off.

Rhi: Mm hmm, yeah. You can do that.

Madge: Just cause it is a clock. I don’t wanna get stuck.

Rhi: Mm hmm.

Madge: Cause I feel like it’s sort of like that mud thing where you can feel it hardening on you and it’s not very comfortable.

Kim: Oh yeah.

Rhi: Exactly.

Kim: Like a clay mask, yep.

Madge: Yeah, exactly like a clay mask.

Rhi: Yep.

Madge: And if I’m to continue to be useful I cannot be stickified.

Rhi: Yes. So, I think, actually, for this it’s gonna be controlled. Because like, the active combat has paused while these negotiations are happening and no one’s really paying attention to you as you’re just like, shink, shink, shink.

Madge: [laughs]

Rhi: So, it’ll be controlled. God, I think— I feel like Finesse?

Madge: Yeah. I like Finesse. I’m good at Finesse.

Rhi: Feel like— yeah. Yeah, cause you wanna be careful.

Madge: [disappointed] 4 again!

Rhi: Okay. You can try a different approach or do it with a minor consequence.

Madge: I think I’ll do it with a minor consequence.

Rhi: Okay, so the good news is, because your clock was only at 1 out of 3, you basically are able to scrape all of this stuff off. So you are de-gooped.

Madge: De-gooped.

Rhi: That clock is eliminated.

Madge: Yay!

Rhi: The bad news is that the consequence is that this blade is now covered in the goop stuff and it’s hardening on there and so one of your blades is just not usable anymore. It’s just covered in this stuff.

Madge: Yeah. I think as soon as I realize that I just chuck it to the side.

Rhi: Yeah. Um, so, you’re good. Myra?

Minna: Hello.

Rhi: Continuing to swim?

Minna: Yes. Well, flail.

Rhi: Yeah. [laughs]

Minna: I am hoping that the fish does not take notice of me.

Kim: Demons want me, fish fear me.

Rhi: And—[laughs]

[laughter]

Minna: That’s a critical.

Rhi: Okay.

Minna: Suddenly I’m Michael Phelps. [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah, whatever was in the water with you scared you badly enough that you were just like, “Mm, fuck this, actually!” and swim very fast the rest of the way to shore. I think you also, like, weren’t as far out as you thought that you were.

Minna: Yeah, like my feet find ground under me pretty quickly.

Rhi: Myra drippingly emerges from the sea. Her clothes are soaked, hair is drenched, but the only clock left now is this ritual. Blaire, what would you like to do?

Kim: I would like to roll an Attune to get this clock up and rolling.

Rhi: Alright. So, it is going to be, um, risky, greater.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: Cause you’ve got all kinds of stuff assisting you in this.

Kim: Okay. Do I get an extra die for the assist or no?

Rhi: Oh yeah, you know what? That’s actually a good— yes. Scurlock is effectively giving you an extra die on this.

Kim: Okay, great. In that case I’ll be rolling four dice for this Attune roll. Okay, that’s a 6.

Rhi: Okay. So, we’re gonna mark 2 ticks on the clock. I think that the, like, as Blaire and Scurlock kind of both turn away from their conversation with Minx back to this ritual, the flames in this bowl flare a little brighter and bigger and for the other three of you, Needle, Minx and Myra, you kinda see this like, this faint warping of the air around Blaire and Scurlock. It’s like you’re starting to look into the ghost field, but just around them. It’s like these little sort of flickers of that green-blue energy that’s kind of the ghost field’s signature. Blaire, you can— this is way— like, even the lightning bolt that you shot off earlier. That had, previously, up to this moment, probably been one of the most powerful magical things you had done.

Kim: Right.

Rhi: This has just exceeded it by a lot.

Kim: Oh damn.

Rhi: This is a lot of power.

Kim: Wow. That’s pretty cool.

Madge: Wow.

Rhi: Yeah. Uh, so… Minx.

Josie: Yes?

Rhi: What would you like to do? It seems like the ritual is not stopping.

Josie: Minx is gonna shrug at Setarra.

Josie (as Minx): They’re gonna need to see something from you first.

Rhi: Gimme a roll. It’s gonna be, at this point, desperate, zero.

Josie: I’m… I’m just gonna push myself into effect.

Rhi: Okay. So, that’ll de desperate, reduced.

Josie: Come on! Aw, dammit. It’s a 5.

Rhi: 5, okay.

Josie: I was just hoping for that critical, because that would fuckin’ mess things. [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah… so, you said they’re gonna need to see something from you first. Oh Jesus, I know what she’s gonna do. Okay. She is going to say:

Rhi (as Setarra): Very well.

Rhi: Surge forward, grab you—

Minna: [gasps]

Rhi: With her spindly limbs and basically like— it’s not that her limbs are holding you so much as you kinda get stuck and then she opens her mouth of giant teeth—

Madge: Oh my gosh.

Rhi: And shouts up to Scurlock and Blaire:

Rhi (as Setarra): Stop it or I remove her head.

Kim: Oh God.

Minna: [alarmed]

Madge: Oh my gosh.

Rhi: So, you’re in a desperate position. There is your conseque— well, your— this is a serious complication.

Josie: Uh huh. Um…

Rhi: This is how she’s decided to interpret “You need to show them something”. [laughs]

Josie: Am I able… would I be able to do the classic thing of sticking Wavebreaker up into her jaw?

Kim: Oh!

Josie: Like, I just wanna go up through her lower jaw and skewer.

Rhi: Not from the— like, you could… she basically has you in the, like, grabbed from behind, your arms are kinda pinned to your sides hold. So you could, like, because Wavebreaker is a sword, you could try to stab her in the side.

Josie: Can I resist being held so tightly?

Rhi: Yeah. Yeah, you can give it a try.

Josie: Got a 4.

Rhi: Okay. So she grabs you, but is mostly relying on the sticky goop to hold you, so you could attempt to get an arm out and stab. I do wanna give everyone else a chance to react first though, cause—

Josie: Do I gain stress from that?

Rhi: Two stress, yeah.

Josie: I gain a trauma.

Kim: What?

Minna: [gasps]

Rhi: Oh.

Kim: Oh no. Already?

Josie: Mm hmm.

Minna: Oh no.

Rhi: Okay. Oh dear.

Josie: I’ve been pushing myself a lot.

Rhi: Yeah. Yeah, you have. Okay…

Kim: Did you not clear enough stress last session?

Rhi: No…

Josie: I started at zero.

Rhi: Yeah.

Kim: Oh my God.

Minna: Oh my gosh!

Josie: I’ve pushed myself and resisted a lot.

Madge: Minx…

Kim: So what, is this your third trauma?

Josie: This is my third trauma.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: Okay.

Josie: So I had one remaining and then the extra from the crew, so…

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: Yes. Yeah, why don’t you, yeah, describe how that looks. This is not gonna take Setarra out, but you can get a— I will allow you to get a good hit in on her before she gets a good hit in on you.

Josie: Mm hmm. So, Setarra lashes forward with her many winding, spindling limbs and then Minx brings Wavebreaker forward, cutting into the limb that’s coming at her. And since it’s hitting its intended creature type, it doesn’t really cut her. She just sort of splits like water around the side of it. Like, she doesn’t quite touch the blade. It’s more like she’s being pushed away from it to create the wound rather than being cut into. And then, so, it leaves this long gash, but that doesn’t stop her. She just brings the rest of her bulk and slams into Minx, knocking her down the beach. And she’s laying stunned in the surf, I think.

Rhi: Yeah. Yeah, and I think that some of those teeth do cut into your shoulder and arms, so like, your sleeve is ripped and you’ve got some bloody gashes.

Kim: Oh no.

Rhi: And I think Wavebreaker kind of skitters and scatters along the beach and is just kind of sitting there. So, yeah.

Kim: Can I zap her again?

Rhi: Not without resetting the ritual clock to zero.

Kim: Oh fuck. Alright.

Madge: I want to drop one of the smoke grenades, or smoke bombs.

Rhi: Yeah!

Madge: And try and jump on her back and stab her.

Rhi: Okay, yes. Go for it. So, it’s not— you don’t have to make a roll to drop the smoke grenade. That’ll just go. To jump on her and stab her… what— you said you had some abilities that if you were being sneaky?

Madge: Yeah. If I attack from hiding or spring a trap, I get plus 1d6 to whatever roll I make.

Rhi: Okay, so yeah. You… let me… so, it’s gonna be desperate.

Madge: Um, I’ll go ahead and use my Daredevil feat on that then. Not feat, but special ability, to get another d6.

Rhi: Yeah, desperate, reduced in terms of doing harm. And I think Prowl will cover both the jumping upon and the stabbing.

Madge: Okay. And what does a Devil’s Bargain look like.

Rhi: Hoo. [laughs] You are going to take level 2 harm no matter what.

Madge: Okay. I’ll take it.

Rhi: Okay.

Madge: I got a 6!

Kim: Woo!

Minna: yay!

Rhi: Nice. So, you throw this smoke bomb down, I think while Setarra is still kind of, you know, looking triumphant over this, having launched Minx across the beach.

Madge: [laughs]

Kim: Just yeeted her down.

Rhi: Yeah.

Madge: Oh my goodness.

Rhi: And then yeah, describe how Needle does this jump and stab.

Madge: I want it to be almost like someone… like a cross between the, um, Dukes of Hazzard slide across the roof of a car mixed with…

Rhi: [laughs]

Kim: Oh, nice.

Madge: You know, jumping onto a horse.

Rhi: Yes. I like it.

Madge: And a spinny with the one ring-blade that I have left, and then stab right into the back.

Rhi: Okay. Yeah, and I think because you got a 6, you’re able to like, hold onto her and just do some good stabbing. And she snarls and thrashes around and just, like, you can kinda like, taste the Ozone in the air a second before it happens and just lightning builds up around her and just cracks off, and she basically just shoots it into the beach, but because it’s on her body it gets you too, so you get zapped again.

Madge: So, electrocuted, 2…

Rhi: Again. Level 2 harm.

Madge: Double electric boogaloo.

Rhi: Yes. [laughs] Uh, Myra.

Minna: Okay, how to do this.

Rhi: Minx’s sword is on the ground.

Minna: Oh. I would like to grab it then.

Rhi: Okay. So yeah, you can pick up Wavebreaker. It’s very cool. It’s very Minx. [laughs]

Minna: Yeah, no, Myra’s definitely never held a sword this. Like, she’s used to very practical knives. They’re just exactly what they need to be. They are sharp and there’s nothing else special about them. This is a magic demon-slaying sword.

Rhi: And it’s very fancy.

Minna: Yes. And so, she picks it up and I think a little bit of Minx energy infects her and she says:

Minna (as Myra): Fight me, you coward.

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: Yes!

Kim: Yeah!

Rhi: Alright. Yeah, so what do you wanna do? Are you just trying to, like, draw her attention, or do you wanna get in there and do a stab?

Minna: I’m trying to draw her in.

Rhi: Okay.

Minna: Like, I’m trying to taunt her until she makes a move.

Rhi: Okay. I think that’s probably gonna be Sway.

Minna: Okey doke.

Rhi: What had I been…

Minna: That’s a 6.

Rhi: I didn’t even… I didn’t even get to decide position—

Minna: I’m so sorry.

Rhi: [laughs] I mean, it doesn’t matter! A 6 is the same in all three! [laughs]

Minna: Oh, okay.

Rhi: Yeah. Um, I do need to figure out what— I think since it’s Sway rather than Consort you would be at… yeah, yeah, when Minx was doing Sway earlier it was reduced. So, you do it with reduced effect. I think that what it is is like, she kind of flows in your direction. Needle’s still on her back, stabbing.

Minna: Mm hmm…

Rhi: She’s being a little more cautious. She’s also kind of dealing with the fact that Needle’s on her back, stabbing, so she’s not super eager to close in somebody else with a blade. But she, yeah, she moves in your direction a little bit but is not— if you want to stab her, you’re gonna have to close the distance. She’s closer but not super close.

Minna: See, I don’t think he necessarily stabs her immediately. I think the first thing she does is like, whack her with the flat of the lade.

Rhi: Okay. We’ll get to that in a second. We’re gonna jump back to the ritual.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: Uh, Blaire! [laughs]

Kim: Hi.

Rhi: I think Scurlock deliberately positioned you so you have your back to the beach.

Kim: So, can I see what’s happening, or…

Rhi: You cannot. He deliberately placed you so you could not see and get distracted, because he is a smart man and he is very cold. [laughs]

Kim: No, that’s actually, that’s very nice of him.

Rhi: It is not. He didn’t want you to get distracted by your friends dying [laughs] while you’re doing this ritual. That was his thinking.

Kim: Very sensible and kind of nice of him.

Rhi: He was not doing it out of kindness. [laughs]

Kim: Let me have this, Rhi.

Rhi: So, what is Blaire doing?

Kim: Yeah, she’s, you know, she can’t see what’s happening but she’s hearing a lot of screaming and obviously she’s stressed out, but she’s doing her best to stay focused.

Rhi: Okay.

Kim: So yeah, I’m just gonna roll another Attune, bonus for Scurlock.

Rhi: Greater effect. Risky, greater.

Kim: Cool. What’s the clock at currently?

Rhi: 2 out of 10.

Kim: Oh. What does a Devil’s Bargain look like?

Rhi: Ghosts are gonna start showing up. Make this party a little more exciting.

Kim: I do like ghosts. Alright, I accept.

Rhi: Okay.

Kim: Okay. Highest was a 5.

Rhi: 5, okay. So, you do it, greater effect, it’ll be— so, the clock is at 4 out of 10.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: But there is a consequence in addition to the ghosts. So, I think that what happens is your friends had been seeing, like, little flickers of the ghost field around you.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: Even though they weren’t deliberately looking into it.

Kim: Right.

Rhi: where you’re standing, the ghost field is getting weird.

Kim: It’s getting spicy.

Madge: Ooh.

Rhi: You’re not deliberately looking into the ghost field, but you can see into it anyway. And you are hearing whispers, ghostly whispers that you can’t quite piece them together but they, like, they’re making it hard to concentrate on what you need to be doing for this ritual.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: And basically, your consequence here is gonna be that for your next ritual roll you’re gonna be at reduced effect. You’ll be one step down, so you’re just gonna be at standard, because there is so much of a distraction around you that it’s getting hard to concentrate.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: And there are some ghosts on their way in that I think we will kind of resolve in the next round of stuff.

Kim: Sounds good.

Rhi: Okay. Let’s go over to our stabby duo.

Madge: Yeah!

Rhi: Needle. You are clinging desperately to the back of a sea demon and stabbing it a lot. This is not how you expected your day to go.

Madge (as Needle): Oh no, absolutely not.

Rhi: [laughs] What would you like— would you like to continue?

Madge: Yeah, I would like to continue.

Rhi: Stab, cling, okay. So, you will need to make another roll so you don’t get thrown off.

Madge: Okay.

Rhi: [laughs] Needle is reinventing the fine art of bull-riding. Bulls don’t exist anymore, but she’s rediscovering it! It’s gonna be desperate, reduced.

Madge: Okay, I’m gonna push myself and take my Daredevil feat.

Rhi: Okay.

Madge: 5!

Rhi: Yeah, I think you’re able to keep hanging on and stabbing, but I think you get a few more good stabs in and then she just like, rears up really high, you’re a good eight, nine feet off the ground, whips herself forward and drops her head so that you just go wheeee, flying off of her back. [laughs]

Madge: Oh goodness.

Rhi: Through the air, plummet very hard down to earth. And because this was desperate, it will be level 3 harm.

Kim: Oh no.

Madge: Yeah, it was already gonna be level 3 harm because I have both of my level 2s filled.

Kim: Oh no!

Rhi: Yeah. Now, you could use armor and you could use— I will allow you to use armor and resist to drop it level 1.

Madge: Yeah. Uh, I’ll upgrade my armor to heavy. I roll Resolve? No, Prowess, right?

Rhi: Prowess, yeah.

Madge: Uh, 4.

Rhi: Okay. So you’ll take two stress, but you manage to cover your head, angle so that you land on a padded bit of your armor. I think you kind of like bounce next to where Minx is and continue rolling a bit, but manage to not get too badly harmed. So, you’re pretty bruised but okay.

Madge: Woohoo!

Rhi: [laughs]

Madge: I’m okay!

Kim: Please nobody die. [laughs]

Madge: I mean, I’m close to taking a trauma, it’s fine.

Kim: I’m so sorry.

Rhi: Myra. Myra, what do you wanna do?

Minna: I think honestly, I’m still harrying. So things like slapping her with the sword, maybe small cuts on things that don’t seem important. I just wanna keep her attention.

Rhi: Yeah, you’re just trying to be, as Scurlock said, be annoying.

Minna: Yes.

Rhi: Great. Yeah, so it’s gonna be, since you’re using Wavebreaker, desperate, standard.

Minna: Either Skirmish or Sway. I think Sway honestly makes the most sense to me.

Rhi: Yeah, yeah, cause this is not so much about causing her harm as it is manipulating her.

Minna: It’s another 6 and I don’t trust it.

Rhi: [laughs]

Kim: Take it. Just accept it.

Rhi: It’s fine. So, yeah, I mean basically what that means is, with you do it, is you’re being a nuisance and you’re slowing her down. She can’t just full speed rush over there to bite Blaire’s entire head off. Like, every time she tries to zip past, you’re there and just poking her with this stupid sword. Um, Blaire.

Kim: Hi.

Rhi: Ritual time. You’re at— you’re just gonna be at standard effect.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: Do you want to try and do anything to bump that up again? Cause I will tell you, with standard effect you’re only gonna add one tick to the clock.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: And you’re currently at 4 out of 10.

Kim: Okay, yeah. Can I spend stress to push myself up to greater effect?

Rhi: Mm hmm.

Kim: Great.

Rhi: Yep, yep. You’ll push yourself, take two stress.

Kim: Yes ma’am. Alright, here we go. Folks, that is a critical.

Rhi: Okay.

Madge: Heck yeah!

Rhi: I am gonna push that— you’re gonna get 3 on the clock.

Kim: Awesome.

Rhi: 7 out of 10.

Kim: We’re ramping up.

Rhi: Which is great, cause the ghosts are here now.

Kim: Right. I was gonna ask you about that.

Rhi: Yeah, the— so, your view into the ghost field is, like, you kind of aren’t seeing the normal world anymore.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: It’s just ghost field and it’s really intense. And a group of, we’re gonna say four ghosts, come swooping in on you. They ignore Scurlock completely.

Kim: Interesting.

Rhi: And are just charging at you. Scurlock kind of grounds out, you know, in the midst of this chant, because the fire is really high, the runestones are all glowing, like, you can kind of tell the ritual is reaching a peak.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: And he grinds out:

Rhi (as Scurlock): Do not get distracted. You have to finish this.

Kim (as Blaire): You got it.

Rhi: So, on your next action you’re gonna have to deal with these ghosts trying to take your whole soul and eat it.

Kim: I’m a snack.

Rhi: Uh, Needle.

Madge: Oh man. Um… I don’t even know. I feel like I have to continue to be annoying.

Rhi: Yeah. And you do still have one of your special demon smoke bombs left.

Madge: Let’s do it. Let’s do a smoke bomb. Another smoke bomb attack.

Rhi: Okay.

Madge: I’m not so much looking to do harm this time, so I’ll just go to do a little bicycle kick or something. [laughs]

Rhi: Okay. Yeah, so again, the— I think that the smoke grenade and, or the smoke bomb and your kicks are gonna kind of all be a unified distraction roll. So, what do you wanna do for that? What action do you wanna do?

Madge: Um, I think it’s gotta be Skirmish.

Rhi: Yeah. Skirmish makes sense. It’s gonna be desperate, reduced.

Madge: Picking up the extra dice for a desperate.

Rhi: Yep. [laughs]

Madge: 5 is my highest.

Rhi: Okay. So, you continue to be irritating. Like, I think for a little bit you and Myra and Setarra are kind of all in this smoke field and so she can’t, like, see exactly where the two of you are and she lets out this frustrated snarl and just kind of like lashes her entire body out and slams into you, Needle, and I think that because of the way you’ve moved, when you go flying this time you don’t go very far. You just slam straight into, like, a stone wall from one of these ruined buildings.

Kim: Oh no.

Rhi: And like, some ribs are busted, you hit the ground hard.

Kim: Aw, baby.

Rhi: You hit your head really hard. It’s gonna be level 3 harm.

Madge: Yeah.

Madge (as Needle): I’m not doing so hot.

Rhi: Nope. Yeah, at this point you cannot do— you cannot take actions without help.

Kim: Oh no…

Rhi: So yeah, you’re in rough shape. Not actively dying, but in rough shape.

Kim: I’m so sorry, gang.

Rhi: [laughs] This is how it had to be. You’re fighting a demon.

Kim: I know, but still, I’m so sorry. [laughs]

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: Myra?

Minna: I think she’s gonna come in actually swinging this time.

Rhi: Okay. Desperate, standard.

Minna: I’m gonna be using Skirmish.

Rhi: Yes.

Minna: Well that’s a 6.

Rhi: Yeah, so you, again, lash out and get a slice in along her and I think this is, like, this is the first time you’ve actually done a proper attack on her and so kind of just seeing that effect of— like, cause you’ve stabbed people before, you know how that works and how it kinda feels.

Minna: Yeah.

Rhi: And this is very different. Blaire?

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: You’re at 7 out of 10.

Kim: And also friends are here.

Rhi: Also friends are here, yeah. You have ghosts that are trying to attack you.

Kim: Mm hmm.

Rhi: So basically, you can either attempt to ignore the ghosts and you are going to be at actual reduced effect, so you will be rolling this at risky reduced, they’re gonna knock you down two steps because of how bad it is, or you can attempt to do two things at once and keep the ritual going while also fending off the ghosts.

Kim: I kinda wanna— I like the drama of keeping the ritual going.

Rhi: That is gonna be desperate, I will tell you.

Kim: Mm.

Rhi: So if you fuck it up, you might lose the ritual entirely.

Kim: Oh fuck.

Rhi: Yeah.

Kim: I’m not sure if that’s a gamble I wanna take. Okay, um—

Rhi: Yeah, that’s why I’m telling you. I’m being very upfront about the potential consequences.

Kim: No, I appreciate it. It’s good. In that case, lemme go with the first option.

Rhi: Yep, so—

Kim: So am I just rolling Attune again?

Rhi: Yeah. You’re gonna be at risky, reduced.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: You can push yourself for Devil’s Bargain to get up to standard.

Kim: Alright, what does a Devil’s Bargain look like to bring up the effect?

Rhi: You are going to take level 2 harm from just the psychic strain of like, warding yourself mentally against these ghosts and doing this ritual and processing the ghost field. It’s just, you give yourself a migraine. [laughs] Basically.

Kim: Okay, yeah. No, I accept.

Rhi: Okay. So, level 2 harm that will go into effect after this roll, and that will push it up to standard effect.

Kim: Perfect. Alright, here we go.

Rhi: And you’re adding your extra die from Scurlock.

Kim: Yes. Okay that— ah! That’s another critical!

Madge: [gasps]

Rhi: Okay. So that is gonna get you 2 ticks on the clock. You are at 9 out of 10.

Kim: Awesome.

Rhi: Myra and Needle, you can see that, like, the ghost field around this ritual is— it’s weird. Normally, when you look into the ghost field it’s kind of an all or nothing. This is like this little patch around them is ghost field and there’s sort of flickers of ghost field, like, popping through. It seems like it’s almost spreading and the fish hook in the kind of middle of this ghost field zone is glowing so brightly that you can’t really look at it directly. Needle, you are… I mean, you can kind of, um, haul yourself along the ground. [laughs]

Madge: Yeah.

Rhi: You can’t really take a lot of actions at this point.

Madge: Yeah.

Rhi: So do you want to try to move or do you wanna be like, “Well, I’m gonna stay here now and be in pain.” [laughs]

Madge: I think I’m going to move out of the direct radius of harm.

Rhi: Okay. Yeah. And I think, like, it’s slow going and it’s painful. Like I said, you’re dragging yourself along the ground, but you’re able to, I think, get to a spot where you’re a little more secure.

Madge: The fact that she’s fighting so hard means that she’s scared!

Kim: Aww. Baby.

Minna: Aww!

Rhi: Myra?

Minna: Yeah, I think she just redoubles her effort.

Rhi: Yeah, so if you wanna make another…

Minna: 5!

Rhi: So, yeah, you get another good hit in and she lashes out at you. It’s a combination thing, she kind of like slams into you with her body but also has charged up a lightning blast and hits you with that. And you also go flying.

Minna (as Myra): [cringes]

Rhi: Level 3 harm.

Kim: Oh no, I’m sorry everyone.

Rhi: You can resist.

Minna: I can resist, yes.

Rhi: Yes, it’ll be Prowess.

Minna: May I use armor instead?

Rhi: Uh, yeah. That’ll knock it down to level 2. So, Blaire?

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: You’re at 9 out of 10.

Kim: I sure am.

Rhi: You are surrounded by ghosts and I think you can feel the ground shaking a little bit under you as Setarra is charging.

Kim: Oh cool. Cool, cool, cool.

Rhi: Cause nobody is holding her back anymore.

Kim: Oh God.

Rhi: So.

Kim: Right. And I have… and I have level 2 harm. So— alright, hang on, let me do some reverse engineering because I’m bad at numbers. Normally I’d be rolling four die because of Scurlock, but I’m losing one die because I have level 2 harm and this is an Attune roll. So, am I just rolling three, basically?

Rhi: You would be rolling 3d6.

Kim: Alright. I’d like to push myself to get myself back up to four die again.

Rhi: Okay.

Kim: Yeah, should I just go for it?

Rhi: Up to you.

Kim: I’m gonna go for it!

Rhi: Alright.

Kim: Okay, that’s a 5.

Rhi: The ritual finishes.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: You’ve had your eyes closed for a while because, one, the ghost field is distracting and two, between the fire and the fish hook it’s very, very bright in front of you.

Kim: Yep.

Rhi: The ritual finishes with, you know, you and Scurlock both kind of finishing this chant. And then there’s a loud shattering sound and your eyes snap open. You see that the coral has basically exploded and there’s now this dust in the air. But it’s not, like, dispersing, it’s just this cloud of dust.

Kim: Interesting.

Rhi: Before you can really process what is happening, Setarra slams into you.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: And you are going to basically— I think she goes at you with a bite. She’s not trying to throw you, she is trying to kill you and she bites. You manage to twist just enough that she bites down into your shoulder rather than taking your head. So, you’re gonna take level 2 harm as all of these sharp, long teeth bite into you.

Kim: Yeah, Blaire screams.

Rhi: Yeah. And then she lets go and kind of rears up and is clearly moving to strike again. And then that cloud of dust moves and starts to swirl around her. And Blaire, it’s hard kinda to tell, cause one, she’s so utterly inhuman at this point, and two, this is just not something you’ve ever seen from Setarra, but she is terrified.

Kim: Oh.

Rhi: She recoils and, like, is trying to twist away from this cloud of dust, but it just sort of follows her wherever she goes. She starts fleeing down to the water and gets about halfway there before it settles on her and starts to, like, she slows and it wraps itself around her fully. She says something in demon speech that roughly translates to “You’ll pay for this” and Scurlock just sighs heavily and says:

Rhi (as Scurlock): Probably.

Rhi: And then…

Minna: [excited]

Rhi: The transformation is complete. And there is a stone sea demon sitting on the beach.

Madge: [gasps]

Rhi: Frozen in mid-flight towards the sea.

Kim: Blaire very shakily gets to her feet, just clutching her shoulder and she is just, you know, very hardened eyes staring at this, you know, petrified demon. Yeah, takes a couple steps towards Scurlock probably. Well, like, you know, her eyes not breaking from the horizon, and she just very hoarsely whispers, you know:

Kim (as Blaire): Thank you.

Rhi (as Scurlock): [sighs] You’re welcome. You should see to your friends.

Kim (as Blaire): Oh gods, um—

Kim: And I think Blaire runs to Needle first.

Rhi: Yeah.

Kim (as Blaire): Needle? Hey!

Madge (as Needle): [mumbles] Hey.

Kim (as Blaire): Are you alright?

Madge (as Needle): Um… I have definitely had better days.

Kim (as Blaire): I— I’m sorry. I… oh my gods, are you gonna be okay?

Madge (as Needle): I’ll be fine. Listen, I made you a promise, right? I promised I’d help. I helped.

Kim (as Blaire): Thank you.

Kim: Can we kiss?

Madge: Yes, absolutely.

Kim: Alright, yeah. Blaire leans in for a kiss.

Madge: Yeah.

Rhi: Aww. Uh, Myra, do you want to go check on Minx?

Josie (as Minx): [woozily] Did we do it?

Kim (as Blaire): We did it!

Josie (as Minx): Good.

Minna (as Myra): We did it.

Josie (as Minx): Ow…

Minna (as Myra): Thanks for the loan of the sword.

Kim (as Blaire): Minx, you okay?

Josie (as Minx): I’m uh… I… I’m not broken, I think. I might need some help though. I’m really tired.

Minna (as Myra): I think Myra offers her a hand up.

Rhi: Out of curiosity, Josie, what third trauma did you take for Minx?

Josie: I think it’s gonna be Soft.

Madge: Yay.

Rhi: That’s what I was thinking.

Kim: That’s a good one.

Minna: Aww.

Rhi: That makes a lot of sense.

Josie: Mm hmm.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: Yeah, so Myra, you can help Minx up.

Minna: I think she helps Minx up and like, offers her the sword.

Josie (as Minx): Thank you, dear. At least it did something.

Rhi: So, yeah, and Blaire, you can help Needle up and Needle can walk with assistance. So the four of you kind of limp your way back together. Scurlock is gathering up what’s left of the ritual implements and is going to just sort of look over the four of you and just be like:

Rhi (as Scurlock): I’m impressed you all survived. Well done.

Rhi: And is going to start walking towards the, you know, back the way that you all came.

Madge (as Needle): I’m sorry, that’s it?

Kim (as Blaire): No, no, hang on babe. I got this.

Kim: Blaire rushes after him. [laughs]

Rhi (as Scurlock): What? I would assume you wanted to get your friends to medical care as soon as possible.

Kim (as Blaire): Yeah, I know, I—[sighs] listen. We wouldn’t have been able to do this without you and I just wanted to say it was a pleasure working with you.

Rhi (as Scurlock): I am grateful for your motivation in getting me out of this arrangement.

Rhi: He kinda glances back at the statue.

Rhi (as Scurlock): At least for a few centuries.

Kim (as Blaire): Yeah. Keep in touch.

Rhi (as Scurlock): Well, I’m not leaving the city any time soon. I have affairs to settle here.

Kim (as Blaire): Neither am I.

Kim: Blaire hugs him.

Rhi: [sighs]

Kim: I told you, Rhi. I’ve been telling you for years.

Rhi: I know. You did warn me here in the chat just now. I just have to think about how he reacts to this.

Kim: I warned you this was coming for years.

Rhi: He freezes, puts his hands on Blaire’s shoulders and pushes her back.

Kim: That’s okay.

Rhi: And then says:

Rhi (as Scurlock): Get your friends. I will go ahead and get Oskar to move the boat closer. I imagine you do not need them walking that whole distance.

Rhi: And then he’s going to turn around and start walking again, way fast— like—

Kim: [laughs]

Rhi: And this time he’s walking— well no, it’s not like… like, he’s walking, he’s not sprinting, but he’s just moving superhumanly fast.

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: Like, it’s clear he was restraining himself before.

Josie: [laughs]

[laughter]

Rhi: He’s not running away from you, he is trying to get you medical attention so your friends don’t die on the beach, oh my God.

Kim: [laughs]

Minna: This just in. Scurlock has  and he uses it to run away from his feelings.

[loud laughter]

Rhi: Scurlock left his feelings behind 700 years ago.

[laughter and crosstalk]

Minna: —Blaire’s feelings!

Kim: I just have this image of him vampire zooming.

Rhi: Yes.

Kim: With like, a cartoon cloud of dust behind him.

Rhi: I mean, you are on a beach, so there definitely is a little puff of sand as he just, voom!

Kim: Oh God. [laughs]

Rhi: So yeah, Scurlock takes off. [laughs]

Madge: The best.

Rhi: You all can keep moving down the beach and the boat catches up with where you are on the coastline. Probably it’s like twenty minutes later. They get there a lot faster.

Josie (as Minx): Hey, Blaire?

Kim (as Blaire): Yeah?

Josie: Minx offers her hand for a high five.

Kim: Yeah, Blaire high fives her back.

Josie: [laughs]

Kim (as Blaire): Nice work.

Minna (as Myra): Do we have any other terrible mentors that we can mess up their lives a bit? Needle, do you have any mentors?

Madge (as Needle): Uh, no. I’m literally self-taught. [laughs]

Kim (as Blaire): [sighs] You’re so talented like that.

[laughter]

Madge (as Needle): I know.

Rhi: [laughs loudly]

Josie: She’s in deep and fast.

Kim: [laughs]

Rhi: So, Oskar rows the boat up with Scurlock and Oskar will kind of help you all into the boat. And he will row, you know, you back down into the city. Scurlock does some vampire magic bullshit to basically just like push the lightning barrier away so you all can pass through it.

Kim: That’s sick as hell!

Josie: [laughs]

Madge: So rad.

Rhi: Oskar doesn’t just drop you off on the shore, he rows right down to the back canal entrance to Seeks’s clinic. [laughs] So you all can just go straight into medical care.

Kim: Yep.

Rhi: And yeah, I think with that, let’s go into downtime.

Josie: Woo!

Rhi: So, for our downtime scenes we find the Magpies and Needle still at the clinic. They came in and Seeks immediately set upon them with a small army of nurses and physickers and you were herded bodily into some exam rooms, and you have been thoroughly fussed over, bandaged, probably some leeches have been involved because it’s Seeks…

Minna: If nothing else, we had to greet her favorite leeches.

Rhi: You did, yes.

Kim: Good drugs and tea.

Rhi: Yeah. Yes. Tea has been provided for everyone and basically Seeks has informed you that you are staying here for the night so she can keep an eye on all of you because you all are half-dead at best.

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: she’s very cross with you. And she will bring you breakfast.

Kim: Aw, yay.

Rhi: [laughs] So, yeah. Myra and Minx, the two of you are in your room. It’s kind of a, you know, it’s a hospital room. It’s a little small but the beds are pretty comfy and you have been brought some nice like, comfy cotton robes. They’re not horrible hospital gowns. Cause your clothes were drenched and/or bloody [laughs] and were removed. So yeah, you’ve got tea, it’s calm, it’s quiet, you can kinda hear people, quiet voices outside. But it’s this nice, calm little space after all of the violence and stress of earlier.

Josie (as Minx): Myra? Was I right to try?

Minna (as Myra): Right? What do you mean?

Josie (as Minx): To try and talk her down? You can tell me if it was a stupid idea.

Minna (as Myra): I mean… I’ve made deals with people I shouldn’t have tried to make deals with.

Josie (as Minx): [laughs] Yeah.

Minna (as Myra): At some point we’re gonna have to find a way to do things without killing people.

Josie (as Minx): Yeah. Yeah, I hope so.

Minna (as Myra): I have no wish to become an assassin.

Josie (as Minx): Me either. And that’s why after we handle The Circle I am definitely taking a step back.

Minna (as Myra): Oh, wow.

Josie (as Minx): I… I got into this as a get rich quick thing. I wasn’t expecting to find family and a cause and, you know, actual blood on my hands.

Minna (as Myra): Yeah, I guess that’s not what we recruited you for.

Josie (as Minx): I’m not cutting ties with you, I’m not gonna not help. I’m not gonna stop being a Magpie, but…

Minna (as Myra): Never. We’re family.

Josie (as Minx): Yes. Yes, we are. I just desperately need a break.

Minna (as Myra): I understand. I understand completely. It’s been a long couple of years.

Josie (as Minx): Mm hmm. And ultimately I want me and Nyryx and Bazso to have some sort of life outside this. So I think I need to get that set up at the very least.

Minna (as Myra): Yeah. I mean, do you know what that looks like?

Josie (as Minx): You know, I had a very clear image when I first joined. But now that image is less clear. And I think that’s a good thing? We’ll just do what feels right.

Minna (as Myra): Yeah. That sounds nice.

Josie (as Minx): Are you going to keep going after The Circle?

Minna (as Myra): Right now, after The Circle doesn’t feel real. I mean, I’ll keep going in some capacity. I don’t think now that I’ve started I can stop entirely. But it might be different.

Josie (as Minx): I think people underestimate how determined you are.

Minna (as Myra): Oh, I don’t underestimate how determined I am. [laughs]

Josie (as Minx): I don’t think Salia had any idea what she was getting into.

Minna (as Myra): Oh, she had no idea. She thought she knew. She thought she wanted that, but…

Josie (as Minx): [laughs]

Minna (as Myra): I’m a lot happier now. I like helping people. I didn’t ever have that option when I was younger.

Josie (as Minx): Me too? I mean, I cared about Nyryx and Bazso, but before this I really did not care about other people, truly. And now I can’t seem to stop, so I guess I’ll roll with it.

Minna (as Myra): [smiles] Once you open your eyes, you can’t close them again.

Josie (as Minx): Nope.

Rhi: So we pan away from Minx and Myra and their talk of the future and over to Blaire and Needle. And before you two start talking, I need to give Blaire a little more information.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: Blaire, as you all were coming back I imagine, you know, you were keeping an eye out. There were those ghosts that had been bothering you. And I think as you all were getting into the boat, you looked into the ghost field.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: And it did not look right.

Kim: Hmm.

Rhi: You have tried a couple more times just to see, and whatever has happened to your ability to view the ghost field seems to be sticking, at least for now. It’s only been a few hours. But it feels like something has changed for good. Before, when you looked into the ghost field it was, you know, sort of a blue-green overlay over the world and you could see spirits, you could see echoes and memories of things. You’re realizing that what you were seeing was a sort of zoomed-out, fuzzy version of the ghost field.

Kim: What?

Rhi: It’s sort of like if you look at a picture printed in a newspaper, right? If you look at it from far away it looks like a solid image, but when you get up really close, you can see all the little dots that make up the image. You can see the dots that make up the ghost field now, Blaire. You can see all of the dead who made it to the afterlife before the gates were broken.

Kim: Oh my gosh…

Rhi: The spirits whose souls moved on. And when the cataclysm broke the world, it didn’t just break your world, it broke the afterlife too. Every time you look into the ghost field now, Blaire, you can see the dead. All of this world’s dead. And they are all looking back at you.

Madge: Oh my gosh…

Kim: [whispers] Holy shit.

Madge: That’s really cool.

Rhi: So that’s another thing that you’ve got sitting with you as you are sitting in your hospital bed. Your room here in the clinic. You and Needle are in a similar setup. You’ve got tea. You’ve got comfy robes.

Kim: May we share the bed? Can we be cuddling?

Madge: Absolutely! Yes.

Rhi: Seeks, I think, encouraged cuddling.

Madge: [laughs] It’s good for healing.

Rhi (as Seeks): Cuddling is very good for reducing stress. I highly recommend it.

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi (as Seeks): Nothing physically strenuous though. You will tear your stitches. Goodbye.

Rhi: Anyway. So yes, you two can be in the same bed, cuddlin’.

Kim (as Blaire): Are you sure you’re gonna be okay?

Madge (as Needle): Ah, I told you, it’s gonna be a rough little bit to get back to where I was, but you know, wasn’t put in the ground, so I’m not planning on dying any time soon or stepping back.

Kim (as Blaire): I’m sorry.

Madge (as Needle): I had a very good idea of what I was getting into when I started hanging out with all of you. Especially with you.

Kim (as Blaire): Well yeah, but still.

Madge (as Needle): Yeah. Listen. Are you okay?

Kim (as Blaire): What me?

Madge (as Needle): Yeah.

Kim (as Blaire): Yeah, I’m fine.

Madge (as Needle): Cause—

Kim (as Blaire): What do you mean?

Madge (as Needle): There was a moment where I couldn’t see you at all. It was too bright.

Kim (as Blaire): I couldn’t see you either.

Madge (as Needle): And it was terrifying. I was scared that I was gonna lose you or something.

Kim (as Blaire): Nah, it takes more than that.

Madge (as Needle): Good. So, you and I aren’t going anywhere, right?

Kim (as Blaire): Mm hmm.

Madge (as Needle): And you and me, we’re gonna be okay.

Kim (as Blaire): Promise?

Madge (as Needle): Cross my heart.

Kim (as Blaire): I don’t know how I got so lucky.

Madge (as Needle): You know, somebody brings you in just for one job and then your whole world gets turned upside-down. Cause there’s this really cute girl part of the team.

Kim (as Blaire): [laughs] And a really cute girl decided to join us.

Madge (as Needle): Maybe once you’re able to take a break, you and me could maybe go somewhere else for a week?

Kim (as Blaire): Like where?

Madge (as Needle): I don’t know. Haven’t thought that far ahead.

Kim (as Blaire): You know, it’s been a while since I’ve been able to enjoy the water. Let’s find a nice beach somewhere and just have some time to ourselves.

Madge (as Needle): That sounds lovely.

Kim (as Blaire): Good.

##Outro [01.34.23]

Rhi: Thanks for listening. The Magpies will be back in two weeks. In the meantime, follow us on Twitter @clever_corvids.

The Magpies podcast is GMed and produced by Rhi. Follow me on Twitter @rhiannon42 and check out Skill Check, my site for accessibility and copy editing for the tabletop RPG community.

Blaire Culhane is played by Kim Kogut. Follow her on Twitter @kimdianajones.

Minx is played by Josie. Follow her on Twitter @DragonGirlJosie.

Myra Keel is played by Minna. Follow her on Twitter @mynaminnarr.

And Needle was played by Madge. Follow her on Twitter @madgequips.

The opening and closing theme music is from ‘Trio for Piano, Violin and Viola’ by Kevin MacLeod and is used under a Creative Commons license.

The Blades in the Dark roleplay system is the creation of John Harper and is published by Evil Hat Productions.

##Blooper [01.35.36]

Rhi: Also the reason— I was looking at Scurlock’s description in the book, the reason the ghosts didn’t bother him is it explicitly says in his description “ghosts cannot perceive him”.

Madge: Wow.

Kim: Yo!

Rhi: [laughs]

Kim: He cannot be perceived?

Rhi: He cannot be perceived.

Kim: Talk about gender envy.

[loud laughter]

Rhi: Okay, I think that’s our stinger.

[laughter]

Rhi: Oh, man.