Transcribed by Michelle Kelly (@Michellicopter)
##Intro
Rhi: This is the beginning of Episode 23 Part Two. If you haven’t listened to Part One yet, stop now and go back to listen, or none of this episode will make any sense.
Content warnings for this episode are implied and off-screen torture and ritual sacrifice. There are not explicit descriptions, but it still might be a little unsettling for some people to listen to.
##Story continues [00.00.30]
Rhi: So, you open up this heavy, ward-covered steel door and behind it is a ver— it’s the same kind of basement feel as the rest of the sort-of behind the scenes, private spaces you’ve been in so far. Stone floors, stone walls, a little cool. But this is, uh, done up a bit nicer. There’s some rugs on the floor to kind of soften it, there’s just some, like, curtains hanging on the walls and there is this hallway which is what Blaire had kind of seen, you know, in that glimpse she got looking through the ghost field, that leads into a sort of round chamber. And there’s a few archways and doors leading off of this central chamber, but in the middle of this chamber is sort of an odd sight.
There’s a harp, a very finely crafted harp, that is being played by a— some kind of machine? Like, it’s some kind of spark-craft construct that— it’s clearly not like, its not humanoid. It’s just like mechanical arms with fingers playing the harp. But you don’t hear anything. And when you look on the ground, you can see that there are runes in a circle around this setup that have basically created this area of silence around this perpetual harp music being played.
Josie: That… is strange.
Minna: Huh. Weird.
Josie (as Minx): Any ideas what that is?
Kim (as Blaire): I’ve never seen anything like it.
Josie (as Minx): I feel like we should not touch it.
Kim (as Blaire): Probably for the best.
Minna (as Myra): Yeah…
Josie (as Minx): There’s gotta be something behind the doors.
Rhi: What direction do you wanna go? Left or right?
Josie: … Left.
Kim: Yeah, let’s go left.
Rhi: So, you go to the door on the left, open it up and it’s fairly dark in here, but even without being able to see anything there’s like a, you know, that coppery tang of blood in the air.
Kim: Tasty.
Josie: [uncomfortable groan]
Rhi: It’s not— it’s not fresh. It’s not like there’s actively— it doesn’t smell like fresh blood. But it’s just… it smells like blood in this room.
Minna: Hmm.
Rhi: Not overpoweringly, but present. And you can, like, if you sort of tap around, you can find a, like, a light switch.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: So when you turn on the light, the light in here, even with the lights turned on, is still pretty low. And it’s a pretty bare-bones room. Stone all over. In the center of the room is an altar that’s gonna look pretty familiar to Minx.
Josie: Oh no! [laughs]
Minna: No…
Rhi: Very similar altar to what was in the basement of the Centuralia Club.
Kim: Oh no…
Rhi: Straps to hold a person down and all. There’s a, like, workbench, for lack of a better word, with some stuff on it that you can investigate in more detail and that’s about it. There’s not really much else in here.
Kim: I’m gonna investigate the quote-unquote ‘workbench’.
Rhi: Yeah. There are two large, like, hammered copper bowls and an upsetting number of knives.
Kim: Mm.
Rhi: Like, a lot of knives.
Josie: This is distressing.
Minna: Can we see any books or notebooks?
Rhi: Nothing written down in here that you see.
Josie: Minx is notably not going much further into the room. [laughs]
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: Fair. [laughs] Minx is like, “I like this doorway. I’m good.”
Josie: Mm hmm.
Kim: Well… here’s my thinking. This is like, pretty decent proof that the Penderyns are up to some shady shit. I’m just not sure how we can document this so that the word gets out, right?
Rhi: You’ve got two other rooms that you can still check.
Kim: Oh yeah. Alright.
Rhi: Yeah. Okay, so you leave the room with the altar and the knives.
Kim: Mm hmm.
Rhi: Gonna just go across, go to the next one?
Kim: Yeah. What’s behind door number two?
Rhi: Behind door number two is, unfortunately, a similar setup.
Kim: Oh.
Rhi: It’s, again, stone room. Not a lot in here. But the altar this time is surrounded by a lot of spark-craft machinery.
Kim: Oh…
Rhi: And there’s a lot of, like, wiring and stuff that kind of leads to a large switch on one wall.
Kim: Spooky.
Josie (as Minx): I’m just glad these places are not currently occupied.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: Gonna go into door number three?
Kim: Yup.
Rhi: Alright. So, you open it up and there’s no altar in this one. [laughs]
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: This one, like, kind of at first glance it looks like a storage room. There’s a lot of shelves in here lining the walls. And as you step in I think, Blaire, it dawns on you first what is being stored in here.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: The shelves are full of rows and rows of ghost jars.
Kim: Oh…
Rhi: Most of which are occupied.
Kim: Oh no.
Minna: [softly] Holy shit.
Josie: Oh dear.
Kim: I feel like just yoinking a random ghost jar though and saying we took this from Penderyn’s house, that doesn’t really prove anything.
Rhi: You could talk to one.
Minna: [simultaneously] We could keep looking— or that, too.
Josie: At the very least, we may have cover for our escape.
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim: Oh yeah. Okay. So… yeah, I could talk to one. Is there a way— are the jars organized in such a way that I— maybe chronologically or by name or something? Like, you can tell which one might be the most recent?
Rhi: Give me a roll. There’s no labelling system that you can kinda discern easily, but you might be able to put something together.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: Spend a little time poking around.
Kim: Is an Attune a fair roll?
Rhi: Yeah, yeah actually, that would be a good one. Risky, greater for this one.
Kim: Okay, that’s a 6. [pause] Did you hear me, Rhi?
Rhi: Yeah, yeah. I’m just like, you guys have rolled so many 6s this session! I was just like, “Man, I want this to be like a really hard-hitting one. Nah.”
Kim: We’re good at what we do. [laughs]
Rhi: I just realized I fucked up on the number of doors. There should have been four. There’s four doors, you’re in the third room.
Josie: There are four lights.
Rhi: So Blaire, looking into the ghost field. Ghosts in jars kinda have the same— it’s a little harder to tell because, you know, they’re compacted, but they kinda have the same fading, blurring that you would see with ghosts that are out and about. The older that they are, sort of the less solid they are. You know, eventually very old ghosts are just sort of a vague humanoid shape. So, you’re able to tell that, you know, you kind of look around and you can identify a shelf that has a few that look a little more recent.
Kim: Okay. Blaire takes one and opens it.
Rhi: Uh, okay. [laughs] I love that Blaire’s just like “Boop!” No precautions whatsoever, just let the ghost out.
Josie: [laughs]
Kim: I mean, yeah. Have you met her?
Rhi: Yeah. That’s— no, I know that’s how Blaire does it, it just cracks me up. So, you open the jar. The temperature in the room drops and there’s this, like, agonized howl as this ghost comes out. And then, like, kind of coalesces in front of the three of you and is looking around wildly.
Kim (as Blaire): Hey. Hey, hey. Ssh, shh. Hey, eyes on me.
Rhi (as Ghost): [frantic] Who are you?
Kim (as Blaire): Hey, ssh. We’re here to help you. We’re friends. Friendly. Okay?
Rhi: Give me a roll. See if you can keep this ghost calm.
Kim: I’m gonna roll Consort.
Rhi: Yeah. I’m gonna say risky, standard.
Kim: Okay, I get a 5.
Rhi: 5, okay. Let’s see. Think I’m just gonna tick up our clock again. That’s the consequence. So, Bluecoats Notice is now at 3 out of 4. But the ghost kind of like, calms down and like, now that they’re sort of calmed, you can see that they look like, uh, maybe in their, like, mid-30s, dressed kind of like a dock worker. Looks like somebody who, you know, did…. Not a sailor, but somebody who’s, you know, loading and unloading the ships.
Kim: Yeah. A deckhand.
Rhi: Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, and they just kind of are like:
Rhi (as Ghost): Wh— what’s going on?
Kim (as Blaire): I was gonna ask you the same thing. What happened here?
Rhi (as Ghost): I was at work and, uh… something hit me in the back of the head and I woke up strapped down to this thing… and there were these people. There was chanting and there was knives and…
Josie (as Minx): I don’t think you need to go through—
Rhi (as Ghost): I’m dead, aren’t I?
Kim (as Blaire): You are. I’m sorry.
Rhi (as Ghost): That’s kind of all I know.
Kim (as Blaire): That’s okay.
Josie (as Minx): Well, the good news is I don’t think you’ll be here much longer.
Rhi (as Ghost): Okay…
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah, you’re free to go as soon as we figure out what we’re doing here. Do you— you wouldn’t know anything about what the Penderyns are trying to achieve here? They didn’t have any spooky villain monologue or anything like that?
Rhi (as Ghost): All the, I mean, the chanting, they were talking about the Rapturous Chord, the Silent Song, and then there as all this weird, like, music stuff, but also praying and I— I don’t remember a lot. Knives.
Kim (as Blaire): It’s okay, it’s okay. Was it harp music?
Rhi (as Ghost): Sometimes?
Kim (as Blaire): Okay.
Rhi: Blaire, I’ll say at this point.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: The things that this person mentioned, the Rapturous Chord, the Silent Song, those sound like the names of Forgotten Gods. You might not have heard them specifically, but that’s kind of how those names are usually structured.
Kim: That was kind of my guess, yeah.
Rhi: Yeah. You’re guessing that that’s what they’re about.
Kim: Right. I guess—
Rhi: You know, you’ve just got a little human sacrifice cult in your basement, it’s fine.
Minna: You mean another one?
Rhi: Well this, this is their home human sacrifice cult. They have a different one at work. [laughs]
Kim: God that’s so weird. Um, basically I’m just— I’m still at a loss as to how we get this information out into the public and like…
Rhi: You have a room full of ghosts who can identify the Penderyns as their killers.
Kim: Yeah, but like, who’s gonna list— who’s… the city isn’t gonna let a ghost testify before the Spirit Wardens just—
Josie: We still have on more room.
Kim: We do. We could come back to this once we have, like, another clue.
Rhi: You just gonna leave this ghost hanging out in here? [laughs]
Kim: Or they could come with us, I don’t know.
Rhi: Yeah. I think they probably are just gonna trail along behind you, for lack of other options.
Kim (as Blaire): Okay, well… [sighs] Will you just come with us for a minute? We’re trying to figure something out here. And then once we’re done, you’re free to go.
Rhi (as Ghost): O… okay.
Kim (as Blaire): What’s your name?
Rhi (as Ghost): Okay, yeah.
Kim (as Blaire): What’s your name?
Rhi: Give me a second. I should have been prepared for this.
Kim: [laughs]
Rhi: I’m never prepared for this.
Rhi (as Ghost): Kasmir.
Kim (as Blaire): Kasmir. A friendly ghost?
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: No, I literally just went to the name generator.
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi: [laughs] And it gave me Kasmir.
Kim (as Blaire): Okay Kasmir. I’m Blaire. These are my friends, Minx, Myra. We’re gonna make sure you get justice for what happened to you and that’s by taking the Penderyns down.
Rhi (as Ghost): Okay.
Kim (as Blaire): Just follow us. You might be helpful.
Josie (as Minx): There’s also wards all over the place upstairs, so you may need to follow us out.
Rhi (as Ghost): Yeah, I’ll just follow you then.
Kim (as Blaire): Thanks.
Rhi: They look like they’re still kind of processing the whole “I’m dead” thing.
Kim: [sympathetic moan]
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim: Blaire would be like, “Do you want to hold my hand?” If ghosts could hold things. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah, so the three of you leave this room and the door to the fourth room is open.
Kim: Okay.
Minna: That’s ominous.
Rhi: It wasn’t open before.
Minna: Ah.
Kim: Oh no.
Rhi: You move out, you notice that the door’s open and then you see movement kind of on the other side, basically blocking the hallway that would lead back out to the stairs. A person was, like, was leaning against the wall and kind of straightens up.
Rhi (as Figure): I told her it was a bad idea.
Josie (as Minx): To be fair, we were probably going to do something like this anyway.
Rhi (as Figure): Ye, but she could have just had you killed right then and there.
Rhi: Tesslyn strolls into the light in the center of the room.
Rhi (as Tesslyn): If I’d been in charge, I think a lot of things would have gone a lot differently.
Kim (as Blaire): Good thing you’re not in charge.
Rhi (as Tesslyn): So. How is this going to go?
Josie (as Minx): I think that’s quite up to you. I think we’re perfectly content to get what we need and leave. Lady Penderyn going down doesn’t really directly affect you any, you’re already a vampire.
Rhi (as Tesslyn): Well, it does is the thing, because she’s the only one giving me safe harbor from the Spirit Wardens, who unfortunately have now seen my face. If I don’t have her to protect me, my life becomes a lot more difficult.
Josie (as Minx): I don’t suppose you’d accept the protection of another?
Rhi: Tesslyn cocks her head to the side and is like:
Rhi (as Tesslyn): Are you offering to protect me?
Josie (as Minx): I mean, there would be standards with that. Or we could find someone else who might be willing. Of course, that would mean not killing people, not trying to keep down the working folk of the city, the sort of things The Circle seems wont to do.
Rhi (as Tesslyn): You know, I don’t even really care about The Circle that much anymore. I just care about the fact that you fucking killed me.
Rhi: And she’s gonna lunge across the room at Minx.
Josie (as Minx): [shrieks]
Josie and Rhi: [laugh]
Josie: Minx is gonna scramble to draw Wavebreaker. [laughs]
Rhi: Alright. Yeah, go ahead and give me a roll for vampire fightin’.
Josie: Yeah, the thing is I think this roll is mostly like, I don’t wanna die. [laughs] But…
Rhi: Yeah, yeah, I mean so yeah, you don’t have to do Skirmish. You can do Prowl, you can do something else if you’re just kinda trying to go on defense or dive out of the way.
Josie: I do think it’s gonna be Skirmish.
Rhi: Okay. And yeah, you can describe how that looks however you would like. Risky… reduced.
Josie: Uh, I got a 6.
Rhi: Alright, so what do you— how does this look? Tesslyn lunges across the room at you, you draw your sword.
Josie: I think I just stick it out in front of me so she’ll have to run herself through to get to me.
Rhi: She does.
Josie: Oh no. [laughs]
Rhi: Uh, you— I think that it’s like she does that, but you manage to like, since it’s a rapier style, right? It’s a pretty thin blade.
Josie: Uh huh.
Rhi: So you’re kind of like, “Uhhh okay” and you just back up and jerk the blade away. And she just gives you this vicious grin and is like:
Rhi (as Tesslyn): There’s nothing you can do to me that can kill me.
Josie (as Minx): But I can do a fair bit to annoy you. And that satisfies me.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: She’s gonna move in on you again. Blaire and Myra?
Kim (as Blaire): Myra, get me a jar. I have a plan.
Minna (as Myra): What’s the plan?
Kim (as Blaire): I’m… gonna try and get her soul out of her body.
Minna (as Myra): Is that a thing you can do with vampires?
Kim (as Blaire): We’re gonna find out!
Minna (as Myra): Alright.
Minna: [laughs] And Myra goes and grabs a jar.
Kim: Now would be a good time for me to figure out how in the world I’m splitting these two apart.
Rhi: Time to improvise. [laughs] Wildly improvise an arcane ritual.
Kim: Would it be a ritual?
Rhi: Uh, I mean, I’m using ritual in sort of the broad sense.
Kim: Right.
Rhi: It wouldn’t be a formal ritual.
Kim: Could I zap her?
Rhi: It— this is gonna be like a multi-part thing. I think there’s gonna be a clock basically you’re gonna have to fill.
Kim: Right. I’m asking if zapping would do anything to help with that.
Rhi: It might. This is gonna be entirely dependent on the dice rolls. This is a thing that is not formally written out, so like, if you try something and you roll well, it works. If you try something and you roll poorly, it doesn’t work. [laughs] We’re just gonna wing it. So any idea you have could potentially…
Kim: Okay well… [sighs] I’m not gonna get another chance to, I don’t think. I want Blaire to do a zappy.
Rhi: Alright.
Kim: I’m gonna roll… would it be an Attune roll to do Tempest?
Rhi: I think in this case, yeah, you’d be doing an Attune. Because you’re trying to— you’re not necessarily trying to hurt her physically, you’re trying to get at her soul.
Kim: Get her soul to yeet outta there.
Josie: Uh huh.
Kim: What am I up against?
Rhi: This’ll be risky, standard.
Kim: Okay. And I’m pushing myself to use Tempest.
Rhi: Yes, and so you also get the extra die.
Kim: Okay, cool.
Rhi: Yeah, all of the “you push yourself” abilities is like you push yourself, so you pay the two stress, but then you also get an extra bonus ability on top of the bonus die.
Kim: Okay. My highest was a 5.
Rhi: 5, okay. So you do it but there’s a consequence. Oh man. So, you zap her in the back, because I imagine you get up behind her while she’s chasing Minx around this room.
Kim: Yep. Just Sith jazz hands at her.
Rhi: [laughs] And she lets out kind of a muffled shriek. We’re starting a clock called Tesslyn Soul Extraction. 1 out of 5. Which I think may be one of my favorite clock titles that I’ve come up with so far.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: So that’s the you do it part. The consequence, I think that this massive bolt of ghost field powered lightning interacts with the wards in here in a weird way and, yeah, Blaire, I think you just, like, some ward on the ceiling above just like, zaps you in response. It pings that, like, there’s something wrong and just “bzzrt!” So you’re gonna have level 2 harm. Alright, Myra, you can grab a ghost jar and come back no problem. What would you like to do?
Minna: I mean I’m… okay, so I hand it to Blaire. Can I help with this?
Kim: Uh, how can Myra help with this?
Minna: We’ve teamed up a lot on, like, arcane stuff. We’ve made a pretty good team, like, I think Myra tends to be a pretty good support. I’m trying to think how this— I don’t know how this works though. [laughs]
Rhi: Nobody does, we’re making it up!
Minna: Okay, let me think about it.
Kim: Well, it’s not like I can keep zapping her, because then I’m gonna fall out of the score.
Minna: I think I’m gonna start building like, an attraction between the jar and Tesslyn.
Kim: Okay, that’s a good idea.
Minna: So like, once you mange to shake the soul loose, hopefully it will, you know—
Kim: [slurps]
Minna: Yes, thank you, that’s exactly what I meant.
Rhi: [laughs]
Minna: I was about to make the same noise.
Kim and Rhi: [laugh]
Kim: Same wavelength. Excellent.
Minna: Because Myra tends to be— her specialty tends to be binding, so.
Rhi: Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. Myra, go ahead and make a roll of some kind. Let’s see how this goes.
Minna: So that is also an Attune roll.
Rhi: Yeah.
Minna: And that is a critical.
Kim: Hell. Yeah.
Rhi: [strained] Of course it is.
[laughter]
Kim: Shut up, you love us.
Rhi: I do. I really do. And it’s very appropriate. It’s just funny. Okay, so, well, on a critical— because you would have been risky, reduced, but a critical bumps that up to standard. So yeah, you start sort of building this, like, line of energy in the ghost field between Tesslyn and this spirit jar. Minx, how’s it going?
Josie (as Minx): Well, I’ll admit you’re a tougher fight than Mora. He was stone-faced the entire time, you’re just sucking up my energy!
Kim: Holy shit.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: She’s trying to hard to grab you and bash you into the wall.
Josie: Yeah, Minx is barely even sword fighting. I imagine vampire Tesslyn is really fast, so she’s desperately just trying not to get hit. [laughs] And maybe striking out a few times.
Rhi: Yeah, yeah. So yeah, give me— and Tesslyn is not bothering with weapons. She is trying to murder you with her bare hands.
Josie: Uh huh. [laughs]
Rhi: So yeah, give me a roll for you dodging all around the room.
Josie: Okay.
Rhi: The Benny Hill theme playing distantly.
Josie: That sounds like a Finesse to me?
Rhi: Uh yeah. I could see Finesse. Finesse or Prowl, I think.
Josie: I’ll go with Prowl and I will push myself to make this happen.
Rhi: Alright. This is gonna be risky, reduced because she’s a vampire.
Josie: I got a 5.
Rhi: 5. Okay. Um, yeah, so I think that there’s just a point where she— like, you’re dodging around but there’s a point where she, like, lashes out and grabs at you and like, she doesn’t hurt you directly, but you stumble back and bang your head against the stone wall real hard.
Josie: [sucks in breath]
Rhi: So you’re just— you got your bell rung [laughs] basically. So, that’s gonna be level 2 harm.
Josie: I’m going to use armor to knock it down.
Rhi: Okay, yep. So that’ll knock it to level 1 harm then, just mark that you’ve got armor. And yeah, she is just like, I’m imagining that Minx is working very hard to keep her focused and on one side of the room while Blaire and Myra do their thing on the other.
Josie: Yes.
Rhi: Okay. And it’s— so far, it’s going well. She’s completely fixated on you. Um, Blaire?
Kim: Yeah, Blaire’s gonna try and set up a ritual. Just, I don’t know, paint some runes on the floor or something.
Rhi: Yeah, yeah. You got chalk.
Kim: Sure.
Rhi: You got— mark your arcane implements,
Kim: Okey dokey.
Rhi: And then yeah, you can start setting something up.
Kim: Great. This would be an Attune roll, right?
Rhi: Yeah. Uh, it’s gonna be… risky… for this piece of it, we’ll say risky standard since you’re not targeting Tesslyn directly right now.
Kim: Okay, I got a 5?
Rhi: 5. Okay. So, the clock ticks up to 3 out 5. I think the complication is that Tesslyn notices what the two of you are up to.
Kim: Yep.
Rhi: Or that— she doesn’t know specifically what you’re doing, but she can see you’re up to something.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: So she is gonna be breaking off from Minx and trying to get to the two of you. Myra?
Minna: Alright. So, Myra has started getting that little, uh, bridge built.
Rhi: Mm hmm.
Minna: I guess now that she’s coming to us… I’m gonna draw a gun and shoot at her. [laughs]
Kim: Oh my God, okay. [laughs]
Rhi: Okay. I do need to tell you there’s a house upstairs.
Minna: Oh, never mind. You’re right, that’s gonna wake up the house.
[laughter]
Minna: Forgot this probably isn’t a sound-proofed basement.
Rhi: Not entirely.
Josie: Well, there is that one part that seems soundproof.
Rhi: Yes.
Minna: I’m not going in that part. That sounds like a bad idea.
Rhi: Yes, stand right next to the creepy harp machine. I’m sure nothing bad would happen.
Josie: It’s the harp from hell, I imagined.
Rhi: [laughs]
Minna: Can I throw a knife at her?
Rhi: Yeah. Yeah.
Minna: I know that I don’t normally throw knives, but…
Rhi: Yeah. Go for it. That’s gonna be risky, reduced.
Minna: I’m gonna push myself.
Rhi: Okay.
Minna: Really? That’s a critical also.
Kim: Hot dice. Ha cha cha.
Rhi: For a moment you said “Really?” And you sounded disappointed, and I looked up and I was like, “Has it happened? At long last?”
Minna: I’ve rolled three criticals and a 6 in a row just now on this. I’m gonna switch dice. [laughs]
Kim: No! Why would you switch now? You’re on a hot streak.
Rhi: Myra sees—
Minna: I feel like I’m cheating.
Rhi: Sees Tesslyn running towards them and just chucks a knife. And I think it gets her like, I think it hits her in the leg so she stumbles and staggers to the side, and it slows down her charge, which will help out Minx.
Josie: So, she and I don’t know if this actually works on vampires or not, but I would like her to be blinded. So, I think as Tesslyn stumbles, Minx is running up and flicks her hand for trance powder to the face. [laughs]
Rhi: Alright.
Josie: Honestly, I’m more hoping to just get it in her eyes, but… pocket sand!
Rhi: Yeah, I don’t— let me look at… there we go, let me look at how trance powder actually works. Okay, yeah, yeah, no, trance powder is not gonna have an effect on her, but you have just thrown sand in her face.
Josie: Yeah. I need to do it one more time before the game is over so…
Rhi: Oh yes.
Josie: [laughs] I do have my level 1 harm filled.
Rhi: Okay.
Josie: So, less effect.
Rhi: Yes.
Josie: I would like to Skirmish and push myself for increased effect?
Rhi: Okay. So that’ll— yeah. That’ll put you at risky, standard.
Josie: 6
Rhi: Jesus Christ, you guys. [laughs]
Kim: We’re good at what we do.
Josie: I’m rolling four dice for most things.
Kim: What do you want from us?
Rhi: You are and like, yeah, yeah, no, it’s just— the dice are just making up for all the times they have let you down in the past, I guess.
Kim: They know that this is the last time.
Rhi: You throw the pocket sand in her face and yeah, she just stumbles again and is, you know trying to get it out of her eyes, snarling angrily. She’s not totally blinded but it is, again, a distraction. Blaire?
Kim: Hi.
Rhi: You wanna keep setting up this ritual to catch a shiny Pokémon?
Josie: [laughs]
Kim: Sure do.
Rhi: Anybody can catch a regular ghost. Catching a vampire though.
Kim: You gotta be a real special Pokémon trainer to catch a legendary.
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim: I feel like the runes on the floor are probably done. Blaire’s probably gonna try and chant something, I guess, which basically is just another Attune roll.
Rhi: Yeah.
Minna: Can you use an assist on greater effect?
Rhi: Yeah, I’ve allowed assists to—
Minna: I will give you an assist.
Kim: Thank you.
Rhi: Okay, so an assist to up the effect. Is that how the game works?
Kim: Who knows.
Rhi: Who the hell knows.
Kim: [laughs] Okay.
Rhi: Yeah. So, Myra will take stress, risky standard.
Kim: 5?
Rhi: So, you’re at 4 out of 5. I think Tesslyn pulls the knife out of her leg and throws it at you, Blaire.
Kim: Oh damn. Okay! [laughs]
Rhi: And you’re gonna take harm as she just hurls a knife at you with vampiric strength. So take level—
Kim: Can I not do that? Can I dodge or something?
Rhi: Yes. You could resist and have armor to neutralize it entirely.
Kim: Yeah. I’m gonna mark armor.
Rhi: Okay. And then you would need to roll to resist.
Kim: Which would be…
Rhi: Prowess.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: To dodge knife.
Kim: 5?
Rhi: Okay. So you’ll take one stress.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: And yeah, you manage to— what do you think this looks like as Blaire, like, dodges and deflects this knife?
Kim: She just moves her head.
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim: Maybe it slices a little bit of hair as it whizzes past her.
Rhi: It’s very dramatic.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: I think the ghost is still behind you and like, also dodges out of the way and then is like:
Rhi (as Kasmir): Oh right, I don’t— okay.
Kim: Aww, baby! [laughs] That’s so sweet.
Rhi: Myra?
Kim: I forgot that they were here. They should probably be helping us in some way. [laughs]
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi: They don’t know how. They’re a new— they’re a brand new baby ghost, they don’t know what they’re doing.
Kim: A baby ghost.
Rhi: Myra, what would you like to do?
Minna: Oh…
Rhi: The Tesslyn Soul Extraction clock is at 4 out of 5.
Minna: Blaire, do you wanna be the one to put the final tick, or do you want me to help with it?
Kim: Yeah. Yeah, because honestly, the sooner we wrap this score up the better, cause I have three stress left to spare and I’m— I’m nervous.
Josie: [laughs]
Minna: Okay, yeah. I just wanted to check if you were okay, I didn’t wanna like, take it if you wanted Blaire to be the one to deal that final thing.
Kim: No, you can do the final thing so long as— I’d like Blaire to be the one that seals her up and jars her up if that’s okay.
Minna: Yeah. We can do that narratively, I think.
Kim: Yeah. But you can fill up the clock, that’s fine.
Rhi: So whatcha doing, Myra?
Minna: I think what it actually is, is that she’s— because she did help out a little bit while Blaire was doing her thing, I think it actually is that like, Myra fully joins in what Blaire is doing. And so they’re like, working together in concert on this.
Rhi: Yeah. I like the idea that like, they’re both doing the ritual chanting and since Myra’s the one that set up that, like, attraction line out to Tesslyn that she’s like, pulling on it sort of metaphysically.
Minna: Yes.
Rhi: And we’ll see if it’s enough. So, this is gonna be risky, reduced. So, in order to actually finish this, you’ll need to increase your effect.
Minna: Since it’s the last episode, what does a Devil’s Bargain look like?
All: Yay!
Rhi: Ooh, okay. Tesslyn is… when her spirit gets out, because of the way you’ve got this line through the ghost field set up, her spirit is gonna have to go thorough you as like, the conduit. And that’s gonna, you know, be a thing Myra has to deal with.
Josie: Deal with it! Deal with it!
Minna: Yeah, I’m gonna do that.
Rhi: Okay.
Kim: Okay!
Rhi: So, get your— are you doing that for increased effect?
Minna: Yes.
Rhi: Okay. So, you’re at risky, standard.
Minna: It’s a 6.
Kim: Oh my God.
Josie: Ah!
Rhi: So, Myra, you and Blaire are chanting. Blaire, I think, is getting the spirit jar ready. And Myra, you pull mentally, emotionally, spiritually on this tether that you’ve created on Tesslyn. And it’s not… it’s not clean. Tesslyn’s spirit, the way vampires work, the spirit sort of diffuses into the body, bonds with it. Tesslyn hasn’t been a vampire for that long, but she’d still kind of started to work her way into this body. And so, there’s little bits of soul left behind when you tear her free. And her soul passes through you.
What do you see, like, memory or feel, like an emotion? What do you get from her as she goes through? Cause she’s not staying, she’s not gonna be able to posses you, but you get some piece of her.
Minna: Hmm. I’m trying to summon everything that I know about Tesslyn. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah, we don’t have a ton of detail on her, so feel free to make something up.
Minna: I think it might also be, like, something in Tesslyn that calls to Myra.
Rhi: Yeah.
Minna: Like, we see her, maybe there’s a really confused sense of something bad has happened to somebody she cares about and maybe it is like, in the Red Lamp or something like the Red Lamp, and it’s basically her deciding, “Okay, I’m gonna run this place and I’m gonna run it right and I’m not gonna let anybody hurt anybody else around me.”
Rhi: Yeah.
Minna: And then it turns out she ends up hurting people also, because…
Rhi: But not the— she picked out the people she was gonna care about and she just didn’t care about anyone else. I like that. So yeah, just that moment of deciding “These are my people and I’m gonna take care of them,” which is so much like Myra’s own decision of “I’m gonna take care of this city,” but it’s like this dark reflection because Tesslyn only cared about [laughs] this small group and everybody else didn’t matter. And then, like, it’s a brief moment and then that feeling is gone but you’re left with that memory. And Blaire, how does it look as you do this?
Kim: Uh, very Ghostbusters-y. Very much sucked in, wailing. And I like to think that Blaire’s holding the jar in one hand and the lid in the other, and as she like, she’s almost fully sucked into the jar Blaire’s gonna stop chanting and just say:
Kim (as Blaire): Bye, bitch!
Kim: And seal the jar.
[laughter]
Rhi: Squeak, squeak, squeak. So, you now have Tesslyn in a jar.
Josie: Minx does a flamboyant bow to the jar and says:
Josie (as Minx): Fangs for the memories.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: Oh my God…
Kim: [laughs] We have to live up to our brands, Rhi.
Rhi: I’m suffering. You do. I’m suffering.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: Alright, so there’s a couple beats of silence and then Kasmir, who’s just been sort of— they have, without realizing, have stepped backwards and are mostly in a wall and are just like:
Rhi (as Kasmir): What… what happened?
Kim (as Blaire): We uh—
Rhi (as Kasmir): What’s going on?
Kim (as Blaire): We took down a vampire.
Rhi (as Kasmir): Oh… congratulations?
Josie (as Minx): Thank you.
Kim (as Blaire): You okay?
Rhi (as Kasmir): Uh… this has been a lot.
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah. Hey, listen. If you want— I’m not gonna tell you what to do, because once we’re done here, like I said, you’re free to go. But if you want some friends that can help you, I can point you in the right direction. Get you some therapy.
Rhi (as Kasmir): Um… help would be good… I— yeah. Yeah. I don’t… yeah.
Kim (as Blaire): They’re really nice people.
Rhi (as Kasmir): That would be good.
Kim (as Blaire): Of course, yeah. I’ll get you hooked up.
Rhi (as Kasmir): Okay.
Kim (as Blaire): They uh, they know how to cope with this, the whole, you know, being dead thing.
Rhi (as Kasmir): Yeah. I could use that. I’m in a wall.
Kim (as Blaire): You are. You wanna come out?
Rhi: They drift forward so they’re no longer in a wall.
Kim (as Blaire): Okay. There you go.
Rhi: You wanna check the fourth room?
Kim: Yes.
Rhi: So, it’s clear this was Tesslyn’s room down here. It looks like it maybe used to be, like, storage or something. It looks like it was rather hastily converted into a living space. It’s still like— the furniture in here is very nice. It’s clear that Tesslyn still had, you know, standards that she expected to be met. You know, very nice bed, couch, a couple bookshelves, a little desk with a lot of papers on it.
Josie (as Minx): This should hopefully be something.
Rhi: Yeah. So, Tesslyn, for as much as she was saying that the Penderyns were her only protection, clearly didn’t entirely trust them. And she has a lot of notes on what has been going on down here. There are— basically, she’s got a record. It doesn’t go back too far. A couple months. But that is still a lot of dead people.
Kim: Oh.
Rhi: Basically, she’s just got documentation of everything down here in great detail, and then the names of all of the people that were taken and sacrificed and like, when they were brought in, all of this stuff, so that like, you know, this is the kind of thing where if it were to get left on an Inspector’s desk, would result in a lot of problems for the Penderyns.
Kim: We could get this over to Severin.
Josie: Yes, that may be best.
Kim: Yeah. This seems like what we needed.
Rhi: Yep. So you gather up all your papers. Are you gonna do anything with the rest of the ghosts that are in here? There are really, like, there’s too many for Blaire to carry all of them out, so.
Kim: I know. And I feel like letting all of them go might be a bad idea for us getting out of here?
Rhi: Yeah. From what you’ve seen, Kasmir doesn’t seem to be able to like, go up, because there’s all of the wards on the ceiling here.
Kim: Right.
Rhi: Yeah, it seems like that’s kinda blocking things.
Kim: So I could let them out, is what you’re saying.
Rhi: Yeah, and they would all just be milling around down here.
Kim: Alright.
Josie: We can put some of that ward suppression stuff on them.
Rhi: Oh, on the ceiling?
Josie: Yeah.
Rhi: You could. [laughs]
Kim: We could.
Josie: Just chuck it up there.
Kim: Basically— this might be left up to the dice, but basically my question is that if we do this, can we get a way for all of the ghosts to actually leave and not cause us any problems while we escape?
Rhi: The ghosts probably aren’t gonna give you much of an issue. You didn’t kill them.
Kim: Okay. Then yeah, let’s free some ghosts.
Rhi: Okay.
Minna: You realize this is ghost riot part two, right?
Rhi: It is, yeah.
Kim: Yeah.
Josie: Part two!
Kim: We have to. Electroplasmic boogaloo.
Rhi: Yeah, so you—[laughs] I’m imagining Myra is, you know, getting the wards on the ceiling, just kinda creating a nice gap.
Josie: Minx is holding her up on her shoulders.
Rhi: [laughs] While Blaire just is systematically opening up jars. I think Kasmir actually does kind of start helping to like, corral the ghosts and calm them down.
Kim: Mm hmm.
Rhi: It’s the way where like, you know if you’re freaking out and then your friend starts freaking out, all of a sudden you’re okay because you have to help your friend?
Kim: Oh yeah, mood. Right, right.
Rhi: Kasmir is going through that experience right now.
Kim: Aww.
Josie: [laughs]
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: Just like, “Okay, these other ghosts are stressed and I’ve been out here for like ten minutes more than them, so I’m gonna help.” [laughs]
Kim: What a good ghostie.
Minna: What a good bean.
Rhi: Yeah, I think… I think if I can just get, like, a group Attune?
Kim: Yeah.
Josie: Sure.
Rhi: Just to see how this goes.
Kim: Sure.
Josie: I do not have the space to lead this.
Minna: I do, and I also got a 6.
Kim: I also got a 6.
Josie: I got a 2.
Rhi: Okay. [laughs] So, Myra will take one point of stress and yeah, I think, like, as the— basically by the time that the wards are finished being painted on, it’s freezing down here because there’s so many ghosts just sort of roiling around. And then the last line is painted up there to break the wards and none of you even really have to say anything, these ghosts all just boil up and out. The screaming starts shortly thereafter as the house is filled with angry spirits. Kasmir sticks with you. You said you were gonna introduce Kasmir to friends, and Kasmir is just gonna follow you until that happens.
Kim: Okay, that’s fine.
Rhi: So yeah, I think given the cover of the ghosts, the three of you can get out of here. And you’re probably not going back out through the servants’ quarters, I think you’re just gonna have to climb down. [laughs]
Kim: That’s fine.
Rhi: And yeah, you climb down out of the house and a lot of the— like, the back gates are already open, it looks like a lot of the servants have just booked it. [laughs]
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: It’s like, “Huh. House full of angry ghosts. I’m out.”
Josie (as Minx): I fear that after doing this so many times I am used to the prospect.
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi: Alright, so the three of you and Kasmir book it away from the Penderyn Estate and Brightstone. I think that the next shot is, you know, The Magpies hammering on Lani and Roxanne’s door. Roxanne opens up the door looking confused and alarmed, wearing a robe [laughs] and then we cut to their printing press. I think that they just sort of draft the three of you into helping with printing things. I think, like, the three of you and Roxanne are kind of getting, you know, the typeset and everything and Lani is sitting at a desk just feverishly writing. And then we see the teen boy who’s been helping Briggs out carrying just, like, a he satchel stuffed with papers. And is just like, distributing them to people all over the city.
They go to some of the Lampblacks, the Gondoliers, to the Silver Nails, to the Historical Society. And we start seeing, uh, these flyers basically just denouncing the Penderyns as murders and cultists being plastered up all over the city. You know, we see them on factory, you know, the outside of factories in Coalridge. So we see Klyra, you know, reading one of these and then like a few of the customers at the bar are reading them too and she’ll kind of pass it down for people to keep reading. We see some of Phin’s siblings in the Docks passing them out from their shop. This is just spreading all over the city.
I think that there’s a shot, too, of Jeren sitting in his apartment just reaidng this with his eyes huge. I think we see Nyryx reading with just sort of like, shaking her head kind of like, she’s horrified but also she’s clearly impressed that Minx and everyone else was able to pull this off. And I think we see Needle perched up on a rooftop somewhere looking at one, looking a little horrified because this is deeply upsetting claims.
Josie: Mm hmm. [laughs]
Rhi: We pan in on Charterhall. The City Council building. There’s a lot of clerks and bureaucrats moving to and fro with papers, doing all kinds of important business. You can hear voices kind of coming inside the Council Chamber, it sounds like somebody’s just sort of droning on about something. And I think that, like, there’s a pan down a hall and then a door creaks open and The Magpies kind of lean out having gained access to the building, once again, through their underground passages.
Josie: I think Minx is just gonna stroll calmly ahead with them under her arm.
Minna: Yeah, the three of us in a line, walking confidently. We are making our own wind.
Rhi: Mm hmm. Some clerk comes up to you and is like:
Rhi (as Clerk): Um, excuse me, ma’am, you can’t get— wait. Have we met?
Josie (as Minx): No, but we’ll only be a minute. Pleasure to meet you.
Rhi (as Clerk): Well, you can’t—
Rhi: [laughs] And I just imagine you yank the door open.
Josie: Yep.
Rhi: So, you yank the door open and the council chamber is kind of a large, rectangular room, a big table in the middle, lots of papers around it, chairs. Lots of fancy people in fancy clothes. Lady Penderyn is there, looking unfazed from the, you know, ghosts that ate her house last night. Apparently managed to get it under control. And I think everybody looks over when you all come in, and she looks shocked. She did not expect you all to just roll up in here. [laughs] To just waltz into the City Council chamber. And I think that the person who’s speaking is like:
Rhi (as Councilor): I beg your pardon, what is the meeting of this interruption?
Josie (as Minx): Pardon us. Just informing you of something you ought to know about one of your number.
Rhi (as Councilor): [sputters]
Rhi: So, are you just gonna drop the papers onto the table?
Josie: I think Minx is neatly putting stacks on in front of everybody. [laughs]
Rhi: Oh God. [laughs] Yeah, I think people are just, like, this is so flabbergasting that they’re just gonna start to read things, just to be like, “Okay, what?” [laughs]
Kim: Yeah.
Minna (as Myra): Now, this city is built on certain values, some of which we may or may not agree on, but I think we can all agree that Lady Eleanor Penderyn is not somebody you want among your number.
Minna: And so I think she is starting to spread out the papers.
Minna (as Myra): New evidence has come to light. A former associate of Penderyn has entrusted us with documents that lay out a rather troubling pattern of behavior. She has been kidnapping and performing occult rituals on people from this city, all for the service of some Forgotten God.
Rhi: I think Lady Penderyn immediately, like, begins calling for The Bluecoats, calling for you all to be arrested. I think that some of the people, some of the other councilors are reading these papers and are shouting at her, demanding answers. In the chaos, the three of you slip out into the halls. But, you know, Bluecoats very quickly catch sight of you and give chase. The three of you run for a side door, cause I think your initial entrance point has been cut off. You burst out of the doors and the building is basically surrounded by Bluecoats, weapons drawn. You’ve got Bluecoats behind you. Surrounding the building.
Kind of before you can really start thinking about options, people start coming in down the streets and out of the alleys. People from The Docks, Charterhall, Charhollow, Silkshore, Nightmarket, even some folks from Six Towers all start closing in on the Bluecoats, who very quickly realize that you’re not the biggest problem here. And they turn and start shouting at the crowd to move back. The crowd does not move back and further chaos erupts around the outside of the Council Chambers as the citizens of Duskwall come to your defense, to make enough of a gap in the Bluecoat line that the three of you can slip through and escape, and…
Josie: Minx gives a few people in the crowd a nod and a wink as they slip by. [laughs]
Rhi: Yep. Bazso is in there.
Kim: Aww.
Minna: [whines]
Rhi: [laughs] I think that as you’re kind of getting out towards the back of the line, you see Bazso and a lot of the Lampblacks. Bazso’s got his, you know, iron lamplighter—
Kim: Hell yeah.
Josie: Uh huh.
Rhi: And I think the two of you just like, meet eyes and just give each other the like, “Yep.”
Josie: Uh huh. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah, the nod. [laughs] I think he gives you a little bit of a salute with his thing and then just bashes a Bluecoat who’s coming up on him.
Kim: Hell fucking yeah.
Rhi: So, The Magpies return to The Nest, spend some time laying low, recovering from this latest score. Order is restored in the city eventually. Ordinarily, something like a massive riot at the City Council chambers would dominate the news for weeks, but that is drowned out by the investigation into the Penderyns and their supposed occult activities and murders. It’s a lengthy investigation, it’s dragged out, and ultimately neither of them go to prison, but they also don’t remain on a position on the City Council. And The Magpies, having eliminated their long-term rivals, enemies of not just them as a group but really of the city, The Circle of Flame, are able to start figuring out what comes next.
—
Josie: I think right now, after things calm down a little bit, Minx takes a long walk through the city. Mostly through her trio’s old stomping grounds. Says hi to Briggs, sees some pickpocketing kids and smiles, and stops by Klyra’s tavern and says hi to Harker before finally ending up at Nyryx’s place.
Rhi: Yeah, and I think you get there and Nyryx just gives you a big, big hug and leads you inside.
—
Minna: I think we see Myra on the roof of The Nest. And she’s sitting with, like… I’m trying to think. What do you write a letter on when you’re sitting on the roof of The Nest? [laughs]
Rhi: Like a little lap desk.
Minna: Yeah. She’s got like, a little board and she’s got paper on it. She’s got the pen that Phin gave her way back at Doskvorn. And she is writing a letter to Phin, telling her all about the fact that they finally took The Circle of Flame down, you would have been so pleased to see it happen, the whole city turned out for us. Just things like that. Um. Wish you could have been here to see it, but I’m sure we’ll meet again some day. Love, Myra.
—
Kim: Um, we see Blaire exiting Scurlock Manor with a list in her hands, basically just implying that she is still in touch with him and is a point of contact and she’s doing favors for him. They’re working together. Still.
Rhi: Yeah. Yeah.
—
Josie: I don’t know how it feels for the other Magpies in The Nest seeing the sheer amount of Minx’s stuff leaving it.
Minna: Oh…
Kim: Oh no…
Minna: That’s a lot.
Josie: But she’s moving in with Nyryx in a bigger place, I think.
Minna: Yeah, that’s exciting for her.
Josie: Probably not above the Red Lamp, but like, somewhere with actual space, somewhere where you can like, have a family in it, right?
Rhi: Yeah.
Josie: Probably not like a full house, but like a large apartment uptown, right? And I think, I think Minx has— even in her, uh, moving clothes, has made sure it’s all, like, the tank top is all trim and fashionable.
Rhi: [laughs]
Josie: [laughs] And she’s definitely posing like, “Yeah, I’m lifting things, right?”
Kim and Minna: [laugh]
Rhi: Nyryx walks by like, carrying, you know, a large box and is like:
Rhi (as Nyryx): Less flexing, more carrying, dear.
Josie (as Minx): But I do think you need to appreciate the shape I’ve gotten into after so many years of that.
Rhi (as Nyryx): You’re… you’re in great shape, Minx. You’re standing there— you’ve been posing for several minutes. Please.
Josie (as Minx): Alright, I’ll keep moving.
Rhi: [laughs] Yeah, I’m just, I’m picturing the new place. I think it’s like, probably like a two or three-bedroom, room for the two of you to be comfortable and then have people.
Josie: Yeah, exactly. And you know, if Lilac wants to hang out in her own room, she can.
Rhi: Yeah! I’m picturing there’s a scene of, um, we see Minx carrying, like, one end of a big mattress and then Nyryx in the middle and then Bazso is bringing up the rear.
Minna: [happy purr]
Josie: Aww! [laughs]
Rhi: And it just like, flumps down into the bedroom and the three of you stand there for a second and Bazso just goes:
Rhi (as Bazso): You didn’t steal this one, right?
Josie (as Minx): No, no, not this one.
Rhi (as Bazso): [sighs] Alright. I’m gonna go get the next set of boxes.
Rhi: And he leaves and I think Nyryx just like, you know, before the two of you follow, will turn and stand up on her tiptoes and give Minx a kiss.
Josie: Minx happily kisses back. Wiggles a bit. [laughs]
Rhi (as Nyryx): Alright, well, let’s go start bringing in all 80 boxes of your clothes.
Josie (as Minx): Yes. Yes. Though… I never thought we were going to be here. Back then. You know?
Rhi (as Nyryx): Yeah, I mean… [laughs] Yeah. I wasn’t sure if we’d get here more recently, too. But it’s gonna be good. It’s different, but it’s gonna be good.
Josie (as Minx): Yes, it is.
Rhi: And she will kiss you again and drag you out to the door.
—
Minna: So we’re in Silkshore, Fogcrest, and I think we’ve been here before, but we travel up the road to this house, and on the first floor of the house there’s an archive where Myra currently has papers spread out everywhere. This is the headquarters of SNVSH. [pronounced ‘snivish’]
Kim: Isn’t that a Pokémon?
Minna: Ssh!
[laughter]
Minna: The Society for Northern Void Sea History. [laughs] So, we see her with like, papers and books spread out all around her and maybe someone stops to chat with her for a minute about, you know, their various research topics. And I think it’s just— it’s kind of like a nice, quiet moment for her. This is what she does for fun. She likes to learn, she likes to read. And she’s got all these notes. And then we see people are starting to filter out of the rom and she kinda realizes what time it is and she gathers up her notes as well, you know, gets her books put away. And she’s kind of a little bit late to this meeting that’s starting up, but there’s people in a circle of chairs around the room and somebody is setting up a presentation, and she’s just settling in for a meeting of the Society for Northern Void Sea History. Just living, enjoying it.
—
Kim: The scene changes to Needle’s apartment. Blaire, I think, is lying down on the couch fidgeting with something while, I dunno, maybe Needle’s doing something in the other room, like fixing dinner or whatever, but within earshot. They’re probably talking about whatever.
Rhi: Mm hmm. Yeah.
Kim (as Blaire): So, uh… I just got a letter from home.
Rhi (as Needle): Oh. Wow. Have you read it yet?
Kim (as Blaire): No. [nervous laugh]
Rhi: And I think Needle will, like, come out of the kitchen and sit down next to you.
Rhi (as Needle): Do… you wanna read it?
Kim (as Blaire): I mean, kind of, but I’m… I dunno. I’m kinda scared. I, uh, I’m pretty sure I let them down bigtime by getting expelled. That’s probably what this is about. Probably not thrilled that I, you know, turned to crime either. Or worked with a demon. They, uh, I’d imagine they’d probably want me to come home.
Rhi (as Needle): Are you gonna go?
Kim (as Blaire): I kinda don’t want to.
Rhi (as Needle): You don’t have to. Home’s where you feel like you belong.
Kim (as Blaire): Well yeah, no, I can stay here. But I still— it’s not like I wanna get rid of my family or anything. They’re my family.
Rhi (as Needle): I mean, you can visit.
Kim (as Blaire): I guess.
Rhi (as Needle): Or they could come visit you. Think how much fun it’ll be to introduce me to your parents.
Kim (as Blaire): [laughs]
Minna: [laughs]
Kim (as Blaire): Yes, because you,
Kim: She boops Needle’s nose,
Kim (as Blaire): Are definitely the type that I would bring home to my parents.
Rhi (as Needle): [dramatic gasp] I am wounded. You have wounded me to the core.
Kim: [laughs] Fatally?
Rhi: She flops back dramatically on the couch.
Kim (as Blaire): I’m sure you’ll recover.
Rhi (as Needle): Whatever you end up doing, just make sure it’s what makes you happy, alright? Don’t worry about what they think or even what the rest of us think. Just what’s right for you.
Kim (as Blaire): But I care about what you think.
Rhi (as Needle): And what I think is that I want you to be happy and that I need to finish making dinner.
Rhi: And she will stand up and kiss your forehead and start to move back to the kitchen.
Kim: Okay. With that, I think Blaire is gonna sit up, reach into her back pocket where there is a sealed envelope, and she is gonna open it up.
—
Josie: I mean, I kinda wanna have the other Magpies over for dinner?
Rhi: Yeah!
Kim: Aww.
Minna: Yeah, I was gonna say, I wanna know what the new reality is for The Magpies, like, together.
Rhi: Yeah, yeah.
Josie: Is that okay?
Kim: Yeah.
Minna: Yes!
Kim: Absolutely.
Rhi: Yeah. So, yeah, set that scene.
Josie: So, I think it’s in the dining room of Minx’s and Nyryx’s place. Minx has made sure to produce hearty portions for everyone and I think— she would invite Bazso as well, but it depends on whether he shows up. She would invite Blaire and Myra and if they wanna bring a plus one, they can. And she is plopping down a big bowl of pasta on the table and talking fervently about all, essentially, the side hustles she’s doing.
Kim and Minna: [laugh]
Josie: Because she’s still kind of doing the art thing, but she’s also helping sponsor the Weeping Lady and she’s also trying to, like, help out Briggs and try and start something to help orphans have a better life, and then this and this and this and this, and there’s no way she has time or money for all of it, but…
Minna: [laughs]
Josie: It seems like she’s doing everything but crime at the moment. [laughs]
Rhi: [laughs] I think Bazso is there and I think Needle would come along with Blaire, too.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: So yeah, just a nice big family dinner. I think Nyryx occasionally interjects, commenting that, you know, things like, Minx is listing off the fourth project that she’s started and Nyryx is like:
Rhi (as Nyryx): And sometimes she even sleeps! I’ve seen it, it’s amazing. A whole five minutes of unconsciousness.
Josie (as Minx): I do need my beauty sleep, even if it is just five minutes.
Minna: [laughs]
Josie (as Minx): It comes very natural, but it does require some maintenance.
Rhi: Yeah, and how are Blaire and Myra kind of feeling about this whole change in— cause yeah, having Minx not be in the Nest is a pretty big change.
Kim: Yeah, it’s weird, but I think at this point, by this point Blaire’s kind of gotten used to it, because I’ve got a feeling this is something that Minx has expressed to them for a while and um, so like, it’s not like it came out of nowhere. And like, Blaire’s happy for her, honestly.
Josie: Aww.
Minna: Yeah, I think it’s that thing where you can see that she’s thriving, so like, you can’t even be sad about it, you know?
Kim: Right.
Rhi: Yeah. So, I think it’s just a— and I think it’s pretty clear Bazso is having similar sorts of feelings where it’s just kind of like, I think at some point during this get-together, I think Nyryx is setting up a card game or something. Um, Nyryx is absolutely a card shark, I’ve just decided that in the moment.
Minna: Yes!
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: She wrecks people at cards. But I think, like, Bazso kinda pulls Minx aside at some point and is like:
Rhi (as Bazso): This suits you.
Josie (as Minx): You think so? Sometimes I feel as though I am pretending, somehow.
Rhi (as Bazso): I’ve known you since we were…
Rhi: And he, you know, gestures kind of kid-height above the floor. He’s like:
Rhi (as Bazso): And I’ve… I haven’t seen you like this. I mean, I’ve seen you happy before, but this is just, I don’t know. I’m not good at feelings and stuff. I’m happy for you, you’re doing good.
Josie (as Minx): Thank you, Bazso. I’m having trouble with the feelings as well in some ways. This is exactly what I wanted.
Rhi (as Bazso): [sighs]
Rhi: I think he kinda like throws an arm around your shoulders and turns you towards the living room and is like:
Rhi (as Bazso): Alright. Let’s go watch Nyryx steal money from your friends.
Josie (as Minx): I’m going to hug you now.
Rhi (as Bazso): O— okay.
Josie (as Minx): You’re not leaving the room without a full hug.
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi (as Bazso): Okay. Alright.
Josie: Squeeze. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah. He will give you a proper hug.
Josie and Rhi: [laugh]
—
Minna: It starts with like a street view, and it’s a really small little shop front with a very small window, but on the window is written “Daw Scrivener and Legal Aid”
Rhi: Mm hmm.
Minna: Camera goes through the door and there’s a couple of desks in this, like, very— it’s a fairly chaotic room because it’s full of cabinets and stacks of stuff, but you kind of see, like, Myra and Jeren, they’re probably at desks that face each other and they’re smiling.
Rhi: Mm hmm.
Minna: They’re like, across the room from each other but you can see that they’re both getting work done and enjoying it.
Rhi: And I think that we kind of fade from that to The Hound’s Paw, clearly shortly after the events at the City Council. I think that there’s still, like, the flyers are still papered up outside and Myra is sitting at the table and the door of The Hound’s Paw kind of opens up and Jeren comes in, sans Bluecoat, but he is carrying a large, overstuffed accordion file. And he just kind of comes up to table and looks a little sheepish and is like:
Rhi (as Jeren): Um… I quit.
Minna (as Myra): Congratulations.
Rhi (as Jeren): I also stole every piece of paper that they had on you guys that I could find.
Minna (as Myra): Jeren. I’m so proud of you. [laughs]
Rhi (as Jeren): Do you know anyone who’s hiring an archivist?
Minna (as Myra): I don’t know anyone right now, but I could find one.
Rhi (as Jeren): Okay. I also might need a new place to live.
Minna (as Myra): I was gonna say, where are you staying? [laughs]
Rhi: Uh… my father doesn’t know yet.
Minna (as Myra): Ah. That’s gonna be fun.
Rhi (as Jeren): Yeah. Well, that’s… that’s a problem for tomorrow.
Minna (as Myra): That is a problem for tomorrow. For now, can I buy you a drink?
Rhi (as Jeren): [emphatically] Yes.
Josie: [laughs]
Minna (as Myra): Rigney! I want you to meet my friend.
Rhi: Rigney will bring over drinks and get introduced to Jeren and I think then we kid of fade back to the little office where you’re working.
Minna: I think you see someone step inside.
Minna (as Customer): Hi. I’m looking for help?
Minna (as Myra): You’ve come to the right place.
—
Kim: Blaire is sitting alone at their usual table at The Hound’s Paw, waiting.
Rhi: So, Rigney will come over to refill the tea and be like:
Rhi (as Rigney): Uh, this just came in the mail for you.
Rhi: And he holds up a large envelope with like, the crest of Charterhall University.
Kim (as Blaire): [gasps]
Rhi: He’s kinda like:
Rhi (as Rigney): I thought you got expelled?
Kim (as Blaire): I… reapplied.
Minna: [squeals quietly]
Rhi (as Rigney): Alright…
Kim (as Blaire): I explained my whole situation, and turns out a lot of people actually want me. Because of all the field experience.
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi (as Rigney): Huh. I always knew they were weird over there.
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah. I figured, you know, not only would it make my family happy but it would make me happy too, to finish my degree. So, I shooted my shot.
Rhi (as Rigney): Well…
Rhi: He kinda gestures at the envelope.
Kim: Blaire opens it kind of viciously. Like, not neatly at all. She kinda like, tears at it chaotically. [laughs] And she, like, we see her eyes dart over the first couple of lines and like, her face slowly brightens up and she shoots out of her chair and is like:
Kim (as Blaire): I got in! I got in!
Kim: And she hugs Rigney.
Rhi (as Rigney): Oh, that’s awesome!
Josie: Aww.
Rhi: Yeah, Rigney will give her a hug and, you know, he’s tall so it’s kind of a picking her up off the floor hug.
Kim (as Blaire): I’m gonna be studying at Morlan Hall!
Rhi (as Rigney): Oh, that— that’s… that’s awesome. I— hang on. I’m gonna have— I’m gonna tell Nevan and he’s gonna make you something. I’m not gonna make you something, because if I did, you won’t enjoy it.
Minna: [laughs]
Kim (as Blaire): I won’t?
Rhi (as Rigney): You’ve never had my cooking.
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim (as Blaire): Oh, you’re talking about cooking, not drinks. Okay. Oh, you’re so sweet.
Rhi (as Rigney): I’ll get you— I’ll get you a drink!
Kim (as Blaire): You’ve already been getting me drinks.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: I feel like that even though, you know, you’re all doing very different things now, you still get together at The Hound’s Paw at least a couple times a week. And I think Myra and Minx come in about now as Rigney heads to the back, to the kitchen. How’s everybody looking? Like, any major changes in appearance or dress?
Kim: Nah.
Josie: If anything, Minx has amped it up a little bit.
Minna: [giggles]
Josie: Because previously she’s had to make concessions to the fact that she might need to beat cobblestone running away from someone on short notice. I think she’s in a full dress today.
Rhi: Aww!
Josie: Not like a super formal dress, but kind of a frilly blue number.
Rhi: Yeah.
Minna: Very cute.
Rhi: I love that.
Minna: Myra’s in her usual uniform.
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim: Yeah.
Minna: Vest, shirt, long skirt.
Rhi: Yeah, so the two of you come in and Rigney’s kinda like:
Rhi (as Rigney): I’ll get you your drinks!
Rhi: As he’s disappearing into the back.
Minna (as Myra): Thanks, Rigney.
Josie (as Minx): I heard quite a lot of commotion from outside. Is everything alright?
Kim: Blaire holds up the acceptance papers in her hand, like, holds it eye level up with her and she’s like:
Kim (as Blaire): I reapplied to Charterhall and I got in.
Josie (as Minx): That’s wonderful, dear.
Minna (as Myra): Oh my goodness.
Kim (as Blaire): I’m gonna finish my degree!
Minna (as Myra): Congratulations!
Kim (as Blaire): I’m going back to school! [laughs with relief]
Josie: Minx sweeps Blaire into a hug.
Josie (as Minx): I’m so proud of you, Blaire. And now you get to teach others how to make ghost riots.
Kim (as Blaire): Turns out, in the interviews they told me they really liked my essay.
Josie (as Minx): Really?
Minna (as Myra): [laughs]
Kim (as Blaire): Yeah.
Minna (as Myra): What was the essay about?
Kim (as Blaire): I got involved with a demon but then I took her down. And I learned valuable lessons about friendship and trusting people and valuing myself as a person and taking responsibility for my mistakes.
Minna (as Myra): Gosh. Applying to university must be so strange. [laughs] But congratulations. I think that’s wonderful.
Josie (as Minx): Yes. I believe it’s celebration time.
Minna (as Myra): Yes. Next drink is on us. Or on me, I guess.
Rhi (as Rigney): Next drink is on me, get in line.
Rhi: Rigney says, setting your drinks down.
Josie: [laughs]
Minna: [laughs] Well you cheated, you were here first. You had a head start.
Rhi: He just shrugs unrepentantly and is just like:
Rhi (as Rigney): Nevan’s gonna make those breaded fried cheese things that you all like so much.
Kim (as Blaire): Ah, yes, thank you.
Rhi: And he will head back to the bar.
Josie (as Minx): It feels like we made a difference. We made a difference, right?
Minna (as Myra): I think we’re still making a difference.
Kim (as Blaire): I mean, we took down The Circle. That’s a good enough start.
Josie: Minx nods confidently.
Josie (as Minx): Yes. Yes. I hope I can keep making change with you, even if it’s from the back lines, so to speak.
Kim (as Blaire): You are. At the very least, you’re paying us.
Rhi: [laughs]
Josie: [laughs]
Kim (as Blaire): You know how much we don’t make money.
Josie (as Minx): That is true, I do have to look after you two.
Minna (as Myra): Well, my door will always be open to you, no matter where I am.
Kim (as Blaire): Same here.
Josie (as Minx): And back at you both.
Rhi: I think the door of The Hound’s Paw opens and a young woman, kind of in coal-stained clothes, looks like maybe she works the mines, kind of slips in and spots your table and comes over. Is like:
Rhi (as Young Woman): Hi… um, are you The Magpies?
Kim (as Blaire): Sure are.
Rhi (as Young Woman): Um, I was told to come see you if I needed help.
Josie (as Minx): Sounds like you two need to get to work.
Minna (as Myra): [laughs] Alright. Talk to us.
Rhi: And so, she will pull up a chair and sit down and start talking, and we kinda pull back through the window of The Hound’s Paw and kinda continue pulling back, going far, far above Duskwall, the whole city shrouded in darkness. But all through that darkness are little points of light. Candles and street lamps and people. All of them trying, in their own ways, however small, to fight back against the dark.
##Outro [01.12.52]
Rhi: Thanks for listening to The Magpies. To learn about our new projects, visit our website at CleverCorvids.net and follow us on Twitter @Clever_Corvids.
The Magpies was GMed and produced by Rhi. You can follow me on Twitter @rhiannon42 and visit my site rpgskillcheck.net for accessibility and copy-editing services.
I want to thank all of our fans who have supported us throughout the years, from the folks who tuned in from the very beginning to those who started listening last week. Each and every one of you has helped this grow into something so much bigger than I ever could have dreamed. The last four years have been an incredible ride and I’m so grateful that you’ve been here for it.
I also wanna thank Tyler and Michelle for being the best transcriptionists a podcaster could ask for.
I wanna thank Waffles for bringing Seeks into our version of Duskwall, and Madge for joining us as Phin and Needle.
And of course, thanks to Josie, Minna and Kim for creating such amazing characters and telling such an amazing story. You are incredible friends and I can’t wait for what we do next.
Kim: Blaire Culhane was played by Kim Kogut. You can find me on Twitter @kimdianajones. And thank you so, so much for all of your support and listenership over the years. This show has seen me through two jobs and a move and it has meant the world to be able to share the story we wanted to tell. We wouldn’t be here without you and it’s been an amazing ride.
Josie: Minx was played by Josie. You can follow me on Twitter @DragonGirlJosie and find my art and commissions at Josie-Art.com. I wanna thanks Rhi for bringing us all together in the first place and thank all of you for listening to our disaster girls all these years. I love you all so much.
Minna: Myra Keel was played by Minna. You can find me on Twitter @mynaminnarr. And I just wanna thank all of you for coming on this journey with us. It’s been a wild experience to make these characters and tell this story and have people on the internet who are also following this story, and I’m gonna miss these characters and this show so much. But I’m really excited to keep getting to tell these stories to you guys. So, see you on the next one?
Rhi: 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.
I want to thank all of our wonderful Patrons who have supported us throughout the years. Your support has let us do so many amazing things and we are so very grateful to all of you.
##Ending [01.15.59]
Rhi:
Defenceless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.