Transcribed by Michelle Kelly (@Michellicopter)

##Intro

Rhi: Welcome back to Duskwall. As always, thank you so much for joining us. If you haven’t left us a review yet, please consider doing so. It helps new people find the show and it always brightens our day to see them.

Our charity fundraiser is still going. As of this recording, we are $430 away from hitting our goal of $1000 in donations. When we hit that goal, we’ll immediately release our Descent into Midnight bonus episode. GMed by Richard Kreutz-Landry, one of the creators of Descent into Midnight, this bonus episode takes us back to Whitehollow and the Delver’s Guild, where a small band of explorers uncover terrible secrets beneath the surface of the Void Sea. Donate either to the Black Voters Matter Fund or this month’s featured charity, which Josie will tell us about.

Josie: Southerners On New Ground, or just SONG for short, is an intersectional queer liberation organization working to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights in the southern United States. They work to empower queer people, especially those who are immigrants or people of color, against often hostile governments and communities.

I always hate when people joke about kicking out the southern states or saying they lack education or something, because there’s a lot of marginalized people living in those states too, and they’re working to survive some of the most hostile environments for them. And a lot of that comes down to gerrymandered Republican governments and stuff like that. I have a lot of trans friends in the south especially, and I worry about them getting adequate medical care and being able to change their name and stuff like that. So, please consider donating or becoming a member of SONG if you’re able to. Thanks.

Rhi: If you donate to either SONG or Black Voters Matter, send a copy of your receipt to magpiepod@gmail.com or DM it to us on Twitter. We’ll add your donation amount to our total, and when we reach $1000 in total donations that brand new bonus episode will be released.

It still doesn’t quite feel real that we’re no longer in 2020. And I know that calendars are arbitrary and that we’re still facing all the same problems that we had last year, but symbols matter. We need to feel like we have a chance to begin again. I don’t know if 2021 will be better. I hope it will and I intend to do what I can to make that a reality, but if nothing else, it isn’t 2020. And that, in and of itself, makes a difference.

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

##Story continues [00.03.00]

Rhi: The Magpies are once again laying low, trying to keep a low profile. The Bluecoats and numerous other authorities in the city are searching for them in connection to the bombing of a Bluecoat station in the docks recently, as well as their many other numerous crimes. So they have kind of pulled back from regular visits to The Hound’s Paw a bit as well. And Myra, you are slipping down there to the back door to pick up your messages from Rigney as you all often do in times when you have to be a little more cautious about being out in public, and when you get there, Rigney looks relieved and hands you a few messages. But the one on top he kinda taps before handing it to you and says:

Rhi (as Rigney): Uh, this one just showed up a few hours ago and apparently it was pretty urgent.

Minna: Oh, okay. So she’s gonna open it up.

Rhi: So, you open it and at first it looks like gibberish. You know, it’s clearly broken up into words, but the letters are not in any order that actually turns them into words with any meaning. And as you’re kinda squinting at this, you suddenly recognize it as this is an encryption that you actually came up with when you were working for Salia, back in your teens. And I think that, you know, this kind of thing was something that she had all of you do at various points. And this one you remember in particular because you developed this one, you spent, like, months working it. You put a lot of time into this. And before you could present it to Salia, Clave took all of your notes and presented it to Salia as her work.

Minna: Aw, fucker.

Kim: [whispers] That bitch.

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: [laughs] Um, so, you are guessing…

Minna: Probably from Clave.

Rhi: It is probably from Clave.

Minna: And she’s doing it this way both because it works as a thing between us and because it would piss me off.

Rhi: Uh, you know. [laughs]

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: Maybe. So, you’ll have to actually, like, go home and spend a little it of time decrypting it. It’s not something you can just kinda translate in your head. If it was, it wouldn’t be a terribly secure code. So, you get back to The Nest, you kinda drop off the rest of the notes that Rigney has. It’s mostly just sort of updates from your various contacts in the city. And this note from Clave starts with an address in Charterhall. And she says she is as certain as she can be that this is Salia’s home. That this is her home address that she has kept from—

Minna: Holy cow…

Rhi: —pretty much everybody. It continues by saying that Salia has gotten suspicious of Clave’s activities lately and is having her watched pretty closely, and she’s taking a pretty big risk even getting this note out. She ends this fairly terse note with a request that you do everything you can to make sure Salia doesn’t know that you have broken into her home, because if she finds out, she is likely to turn on her own people first to figure out where the leak happened, rather than looking for outside enemies. She’ll get to outside enemies eventually, but she’s gonna start with her own people. Which you know, like, that makes sense with how Salia operates. I think you probably witnessed, you know, some other small cells of operatives around the city just get burned.

Minna: Mm hmm.

Rhi: Never happened to any of you, her apprentices, but there were others who were deemed insufficiently loyal. So, you know, Clave is fearful for her life with good reason. And she can’t really safely get away until Salia doesn’t have control over Ojal anymore. But you know where Salia’s home is after all this time.

Minna: Did we ever— we still don’t know anything about the object that could be controlling her, right?

Rhi: Right. But you know that it is somewhere in Salia’s house.

Minna: Yes. Okay, so I think Myra comes out of her room and she’s just like:

Minna (as Myra): This is an address. This is Salia’s house.

Josie (as Minx): [disbelief] What?

Kim (as Blaire): What? Salia’s… her house?!

Minna (as Myra): Yeah. Which we have never known the location of.

Josie (as Minx): That is remarkable.

Kim (as Blaire): Are you sure?

Minna (as Myra): As sure as I can be.

Kim (as Blaire): So…

Josie (as Minx): I’m really glad the whole Clave thing paid off. I was somewhat 50/50. [laughs]

Minna (as Myra): I mean, either Clave is taking a huge risk, and there’s no way she’d take this big a risk for something she wasn’t sure of, or it’s a trap. Either way, we want Salia to be out of the house and not know that we’re there. So.

Josie (as Minx): Are you certain? If she’s home, that would be the best place to remove her from the picture.

Minna (as Myra): If she—

Kim (as Blaire): Yeah Myra, what are you saying? Do you wanna kill her or are we just…

Minna (as Myra): I want—

Kim (as Blaire): What’s the plan here?

Minna (as Myra): I want to take Ojal out of her hands. I don’t know that we can kill her, and if we fail then a lot of people die.

Josie (as Minx): Now, hold on. You are worried about the mortal flesh and blood woman being unable to be killed over the metal monstrosity that has chased us?

Minna (as Myra): The mortal flesh and blood woman has control of the metal monstrosity. We need to take the metal monstrosity out before anything else.

Josie (as Minx): I suppose so.

Kim (as Blaire): Yeah. Because if we try to go after Salia now and something goes wrong, she could just send Ojal after us.

Minna (as Myra): Exactly.

Kim (as Blaire): And that wouldn’t be any good.

Josie (as Minx): The problem is we don’t do subtle very often. It’s one thing to misdirect the Bluecoats. Salia knows our methods and our M.O. and how you think especially, Myra. It’s gonna be hard to disguise our intrusion.

Minna (as Myra): I know.

Josie (as Minx): Which is why I’m pushing for a slightly more aggressive approach. But if you don’t think we can do it…

Kim (as Blaire): I think subtle might have to be how we do this, Minx.

Josie (as Minx): [grumbles]

Kim (as Blaire): Because if we go in guns a-blazing… we’ve faced against Ojal before and barely made it out, so we have to be careful about this.

Josie (as Minx): That’s true. And I suppose it is safe assumption that Ojal will be there.

Minna (as Myra): Hm.

Josie (as Minx): Are we aware of the location of some of Salia’s other interests? Something where we could set up a distraction?

Rhi: Not right now, but you could try to do some gathering of info.

Josie: It’s a tactic we’ve used before, but it may get Salia out of the house.

Kim: I mean, yeah. It might.

Josie: Also, how will we know what we’re even looking for?

Kim: Yeah, have we seen the object that’s controlling Ojal, or—

Minna: We don’t know what the object is at all.

Kim: Ah, shit.

Rhi: Yeah. But it’s gonna be a thing where like— Salia isn’t just gonna leave it on a bookshelf. It’s going to be kept fairly secure. And I think it is— Myra knows Ojal very well. Myra and Ojal were, of the apprentices, Ojal was the one you got along best with, right, Myra?

Minna: Yeah.

Rhi: Yeah. So like, I think that it’s one of those things where Myra, you don’t know specifically what it is, but you are fairly certain that you will know it when you see it.

Josie: Hmm.

Kim: Okay. Well, that’s something we could gather info on, is what it could possibly be.

Josie: Of course, we are infiltrating the home of probably the most paranoid person in the city. We will need a lot of time to crack whatever safeguards she has.

Rhi: Where do you all wanna start?

Josie: Hmm.

Kim: I feel like we can’t really risk, you know, casing the joint either because even though— I know it’s like, Gather Info and there’s no consequences, but I still feel like that could be a risk.

Josie: Yes. I feel like anything but the most subtle or indirect looking will give the game away.

Rhi: I will remind you, you’ve got this whole stable of experts. These are people you can send out to do other stuff. And your experts specifically have a bonus die on Gather Info, so you could ask somebody who you have on your expert roster to go do the investigating.

Josie: Mm hmm.

Kim: Yeah.

Josie: I could see Rose being a resource for us here?

Rhi: [laughs] That’s who I was thinking.

Josie: I can’t imagine she is unaware of Salia.

Kim: Yeah. And I feel like she would arouse the last amount of suspicion too, maybe.

Rhi: Mm hmm. She’s just a kindly old lady.

Kim: Yeah, let’s ask Rose.

Rhi: Okay. So, her flaw is that she’s unreliable, which means she’s not always available for things. S0, I’m just gonna roll a d6. Odds, she is available to help you, evens, she is not. I got a 5.

Kim: Perfect.

Rhi: So, she is available to assist.

Josie: Woo!

Rhi: Yeah, I think whoever goes over there is there for a couple hours, as usual when interacting with Rose, you’re there for a couple hours longer than you planned to because you end up on a couch, covered in cats, being fed cookies.

Josie: [laughs]

Kim: She doesn’t get a lot of visitors, it’s okay.

Rhi: Yeah.

Josie (as Minx): I kinda wanna handle Rose, but if someone has more of a hankering for cookies…

Rhi: [laughs]

Kim: No, that can be all Minx.

Minna: No, Minna does.

Josie: Okay. [laughs]

Rhi: [laughs] Let me… send a cohort to achieve a goal… yeah, so you’re just kind of sending Rose off by herself to this, right?

Josie: Well, I was thinking just talking to her because I don’t know, is going out and doing stuff kind of her thing now? I’d feel bad if she got hurt.

Rhi: She can. I don’t think that she would be— she’s not gonna be breaking and entering, I think she’d be kind of, you know, walking around in the area, maybe having tea at a nearby café just to sort of check the place out.

Josie: Okay. Yeah, then that then. [laughs]

Rhi: Okay. So, she is rolling a whopping five 5d6 on this.

Josie: Jeez… [laughs]

Rhi: So, for experts, they have a quality that is the crew tier plus one, so her quality is four and then you all have that crew upgrade where your experts get another die on top of it.

Josie: Oh, right.

Rhi: Yeah, so for the most part, everybody’s gonna be rolling 5d6 when you send them to Gather Info.

Kim: That’s really nice.

Rhi: So she got just a whole mess of 5s. Yeah, I think that Minx, you go and talk to Rose and have just a lovely time with tea and cookies and cats. And she says that she’ll go check the place out for you. And a couple days later, you go back and she tells you what she saw. Basically, she did more or less what I described. She went over, walked around the neighborhood a bit, and you know, she’s an old lady, she has a cane, she can’t go very fast… and she just had to stop outside the house to catch her breath at one point. So, she got a good look at the place.

And I think she starts of kind of playing up the like, “Oh, I’m just a sweet little old lady” act, and as she’s talking it verges into— her, like, the way she’s describing things shifts into the way that all of you talk about casing a joint. Like, she just switches into the like, criminal lingo kind of without seeming to realize she’s doing it.

Josie: [laughs]

Kim: That’s so good. I love her!

Josie: Rose is the best.

Rhi: So, what she’s able to tell you is that there’s a handful of guards on the place. She wasn’t able to tell if anybody was home, so she doesn’t know if the guards are only there when the owner is home or if they’re a permanent fixture. But there were a handful of guards. She’s pretty sure, like, in the three to six range. Somewhere around there. It doesn’t seem like it’s a huge force, but there are people. And there’s also some pretty intense spark-craft security on the place that will need to be dealt with before you get in. It’s a, kind of like a, what we would think of as sorta like a Victorian brick and stone house with kinda like the little turret tower and, um, a lot of— like, honestly, Myra, when you end up seeing this place it’s gonna be very confusing because it has a lot more frills and fussiness to it than really kinda matches with Salia’s personality.

Josie: Huh.

Rhi: It’s kind of, it’s on a street, it’s on a residential street that has similar homes. They all have fences around them. So, there’s not— it is unfortunately no the setup that will allow you to jump in from a taller building next door. Which she points out before you have to ask. [laughs]

Josie (as Minx): I see. Oh well, harder is more fun.

Rhi (as Rose): That’s the spirit. Another cookie?

Josie (as Minx): Yes please.

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: So yeah, she gives Minx a bunch of cookies and then sends her home with even more to share with the others.  In the meantime, Blaire and Myra, do you have any thoughts on what you might like to do for gathering info?

Kim: I should probably figure out what the spooky situation is over there on Salia. Do we have any, like, paranormal experts? Or, you know…

Josie: Not really…

Rhi: it’s pretty much you. [laughs]

Josie: Yeah.

Kim: Oh shit, I’m the paranormal expert. [laughs]

Rhi: Oh no.

Kim: Are there, like, couriers I could talk to who might know what the security is like, or does it even make sense to ask about spiritual security over there when Rose already took a look at the place?

Rhi: Yeah, Rose didn’t mention that there were any wards or— well, I mean, she would know to check for those, so let me take a step back. There aren’t any wards on the, like, there’s no occult wards on the outside of the home. She seems to be relying on spark-craft security exclusively.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: However, Rose did notice some points of arcane energy within the house. Which, again, that could be a demonbane charm or wards inside the house. Like, she wasn’t really sure what it was, but there’s some occult stuff in there.

Kim: Okay. I don’t know. Minna, if you have an idea of what to do for your Gather Info, I could still use another few minutes to think about this.

Minna: Yeah, I am very curious to see if there’s, you know, a time that I can figure out that Salia might be out of the house. What I’m trying to think is how I would find that out. Not a whole lot of contacts from those days that aren’t completely burned.

Rhi: You do have— isn’t one of your personal contacts somebody that you met? I think it’s the architect?

Minna: Maybe. Yeah. I wouldn’t be surprised if— yeah, I don’t know how Myra would have met a master architect on her own.

Rhi: Yeah, yeah, if I recall correctly I think that he’s… yeah, he’s somebody that you met through Salia and have maintained him as a contact.

Minna: Yeah, let’s go for that.

Rhi: Okay. Are you just gonna like, set up a meeting and head over?

Minna: Yep. That’s exactly it.

Rhi: Okay. So, let’s start with the Gather Info roll and then we’ll go from there.

Minna: Okay. Let me roll my Gather Info. That’s a 5.

Rhi: Okay. So, you show up at the architectural offices of your contact. You, you know, set up a meeting in advance, he lets you in, you know, shakes your hand very warmly and is just like:

Rhi (as Architect): I keep seeing your name in the papers, Myra. Seems people believe that you’re mixed up in quite some interesting activities.

Minna (as Myra): Oh, never believe everything you hear.

Rhi (as Architect): [chuckles] Ah. I figured that it couldn’t be nearly as dire as the papers make out. They do so love to exaggerate. So, what can I do for you?

Minna (as Myra): I’m looking for some information on my old employer, Salia. I’m hoping you might tell me a time that she might be out at a more public gathering that maybe we could approach her at.

Rhi: I think he had been pretty, you know, jovial when you came in, and that just melts away in an instant. He looks worried. He’s like:

Rhi (as Architect): Uh… have you had much contact with Salia?

Rhi: He doesn’t know that you and Salia parted on real bad terms, right?

Minna: I’m assuming that she’s, uh, been as vague as she possibly can be about her life to him. [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah. So, I think he knows that you and Salia are no longer working together and that maybe it wasn’t a friendly parting, but he doesn’t know the depth of it.

Minna: He doesn’t know that she sent the Terminator after me.

Rhi: So, he, you know, frowns like:

Rhi (as Architect): Myra, have you had much interaction with Salia lately?

Minna (as Myra): Not much. Haven’t seen her face to face in a while.

Rhi (as Architect): She’s… changed considerably since the two of you parted ways. She was never exactly a warm and welcoming soul, but… the way she is now… there’s something unsettling about her. And it’s not just because of that new bodyguard of hers.

Minna (as Myra): Unsettling, like, interpersonally? She’s gotten colder?

Rhi (as Architect): Uh… it’s like everything that she was just got exaggerated. She’s colder, more ruthless, more power hungry. I know of a place that she’ll be, but be careful approaching her, Myra. I don’t wanna see anything happen to either of you.

Minna (as Myra): Well, there’s a reason that I’m looking for something reasonably public and, well, that would have plenty of distractions for everyone around us. That way nothing can escalate too badly.

Rhi (as Architect): Well, the Penderyns have a tradition of, you know, they host a private Gratitude gala for family and friends, but they throw their big feast sort of sponsored by them and the City Council for many of their neighbors in Brightstone and Charterhall. I know Salia will be there. I’m going to be in attendance, it’s a wonderful opportunity to make new business connections. So, if you were looking to speak with her, it’s in a handful of days’ time. She’ll be in attendance and there will be plenty of people and food and drink and entertainment, so if the conversation goes poorly you’ll have plenty of distractions to escape to.

Minna (as Myra): That sounds perfect. Thank you.

Rhi (as Architect): Of course.

Rhi: And I think he kinda like, he chats with you for a little bit after and is kinda trying to poke at, like, why do you wanna see Salia again. But he’s not very good at it. [laughs] This kind of subtle manipulation is not his forte and I think Myra is able to deflect him very easily. But yeah, I think you know that in a few days there’s gonna be this kind of large public thing happening in Brightstone that Salia is going to be at.

Minna (as Myra): It’s not on Gratitude, right? It’s not the day of.

Rhi: No, no. I had to think that through. They throw a big party in advance and then they have a private family celebration the day of.

Minna: That makes sense.

Rhi: So, this is taking place on, you know, a few days before Gratitude.

Minna: Okay. Blaire, is there anything you wanted to Gather info?

Kim: Uh, yes. Um, let me know if this counts for a Gather Info, but I was thinking I wanted Blaire to do some research into possible weapons that to be used to effectively neutralize a hull.

Rhi: Yeah. You can look into that.

Kim: Okay. I’m thinking Study?

Rhi: Mm hmm.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: I’m trying to think of where— oh, The Reconciled would probably be able to hook you up with some information about this, yeah.

Kim: Okay, highest was a 6.

Rhi: Okay. Magnificent. So, what they’re able to tell you, and I think that this is kind of stuff that they’ve gotten from things stolen from the Spirit Wardens. There is something called electroplasmic ammunition.

Kim: Mm hmm.

Rhi: Which are bullets that have been special— like, have gone through a special ritual, been treated with electroplasm and are very effective against ghosts and spirits. And it isn’t really useful against living people, like, if you hit people with several rounds it might kinda stun them, but otherwise it just, like, hurts.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: Now, for a hull you’re also sort of dealing with the fact that it’s encased in metal. So, it’s not— it’s not gonna be easy, but hitting a hull with several rounds of electroplasmic ammunition would likely— it wouldn’t stop them permanently, but it would mess them up pretty badly, like, where a living person who got hit with several rounds of electroplasmic ammunition would be stunned for a few seconds, you’d probably be able to stun a hull for a couple minutes. Cause the electroplasmic bullets would interact with the electroplasm powering the hull and the spirit contained within it and just sorta… I’m almost thinking it’s almost like a denial of service attack. You’re just sort of overloading the system [laughs] with too much extra spiritual stuff and it’s just like, “I have to shut down to sort this out. Goodnight.”

So yeah, electroplasmic ammunition is… it’s probably your best bet because it doesn’t require you to get close. [laughs] For Ojal specifically. Like, explosives also work if you can get the explosives inside the hull’s sort of outer shell, but the first time you encountered Ojal, Seeks tried to do that and nearly died. If you’re trying to take out a more docile hull, sure, just stuff some dynamite in it. But you are dealing with a murderbot.

Kim: Yeah, exactly.

Rhi: Yeah. And then if you wanted to spend a point of rep to do kind of an extra out-of-series downtime action, I would allow you to make a roll to try to acquire some if you were so inclined.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: Actually, you know who might be a good person to talk to about it, would be Dowler.

Kim: Oh, I would love to talk to Dowler at some point.

Rhi: [laughs] Yeah, I think you could talk to Dowler to see if he has any— it’s gonna require a roll because there’s a chance that he’s not gonna, but I think of your contacts he is the most likely.

Kim: Yeah. Um…

Rhi: You roll the crew’s tier, so just roll 3d6.

Kim: Okay. That is a 5?

Rhi: 5. Okay. So, that gets you an asset equal to the crew’s tier. Yeah, I think that Tier III is enough, just sorta looking at the magnitude ratings.

Kim: Mm hmm.

Rhi: To get you a box of electroplasmic ammunition. It’s gonna cost you. It’s gonna be two coin, because this stuff is contraband and rare. You do have—

Kim: I only have one coin.

Rhi: You have five in the vault, if you wanted to spend money out of the vault.

Kim (as Blaire): Are you two okay with me taking one coin out of the vault?

Minna: Yeah.

Josie: Sure.

Kim: Okay, then I’ll spend one from my pocket and one out of the vault.

Rhi: Okay. So, for this mission you have a box of electroplasmic ammo that you can use in a gun. And I’m gonna say, like, since it is a box of ammo that you all could kinda split it up amongst yourselves and each have access to it.

Josie: Okay.

Rhi: You know, that means that you each have like, you know, a six-shooter of it. So nobody can just go completely nuts with it and fire off a ton of shots, but usually you’re not firing huge amounts of bullets. Yeah, that is gonna be helpful. Anything else that you all wanna do in terms of gathering info or prep?

Josie: Hmm…

Kim: I think I’m good.

Minna: Yeah, I don’t know how much more we could do.

Josie: Yeah.

Rhi: Okay. Then let’s turn to the right page in my book for the engagement roll.

Josie: It’s a stealth mission.

Rhi: It sure is a stealth mission. Where do you wanna try to break in? You got a decent description of the place, so the layout is it’s a kind of two-story house with an attic and a little turret tower. There’s a carriage house in back, it’s surrounded by a fence that has a front gate and a back gate. Where would you like to attempt your infiltration point?

Josie: I mean, probably back gate.

Minna: Mm hmm.

Rhi: Let’s do the engagement roll. Alright, one for luck. “Is this operation particularly bold or daring?”

Minna: Yes.

Rhi: Yeah. I would agree. “Does the plan’s detail expose a vulnerability of the target or hit them where they’re weakest?” No. “Is this target strongest against this approach or do they have particular defenses or special preparations?” She does have very intense spark-craft security on all of her home. So, friends or contacts, you did get help. Nobody is interfering at the moment. Yeah, I think it’s just gonna— so, yeah, it’ll be a 2d6 engagement roll.

Josie: Okay.

Rhi: Pair of 4s.

Josie: Alright.

Rhi: So, you will be starting in a risky position. So, a few nights pass as you all kind of slowly gather this info and prepare yourselves for this. And you head out down the back alley kind of running behind all of these homes in Charterhall, and some have lights on, a lot don’t. It seems like a lot of this neighborhood goes up to the big party in Brightstone. It’s a fairly cool night, there’s a mist on the ground over the street. And Myra, as Salia’s home comes into view, what’s going on in Myra’s head right now?

Minna: The thing is that like, it’s been what, like, half her life since she met Salia, and she’s always been untouchable. So, and like, even the idea of, you know, invading her private space was unthinkable until recently. So like, I think she’s trying to ward off this weird, like, fear when if she had met Salia right now as she is, she would just be like, “Yeah, this is what we’re doing.”

Rhi: Yeah. Yeah.

Minna: Scared and feels dumb about it, basically. [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah. [laughs] Aww.

Josie: Aww.

Rhi: So, the three of you make your way down this dark alley and get to the back gate of Salia’s home. Her home is dark. No lights are on. You do see in the carriage house there’s, like, a second floor where you’re guessing servants and/or guards live, maybe. There’s a couple lights on in the windows there, but curtains are drawn, nobody’s like, looking out staring down at you. You get to the back gate and it’s a fairly large gate. It has to be big enough to get a carriage through. And it’s a little bit of that, like, when you’re close to an electric fence, like that sort of low buzz of electricity. There’s clearly a lot of spark-craft security on this thing.

Josie: Mm hmm.

Rhi: So, that’s your first hurdle is getting through the security on this back gate.

Kim: Well, this can’t be too much different form the lightning barrier, so Blaire has experience with this. I think I might just mark off lightning hooks off my load and do my best to create an opening. What— it’s been a while, though, since I did this. I don’t remember what I roll.

Rhi: So, it’s not quite like the lightning barrier. It’s a, like, it’s a security system that’s powered by electricity.

Kim: Oh… okay.

Rhi: So, you’d be worried about alarms going off, yeah.

Kim: But I could still in theory use my…

Rhi: To short it out, yeah, you could try that.

Josie: Oh, that’s an approach.

Rhi: But you also have to consider you’re trying to leave as little trace as possible that anybody broke in.

Kim: Right, right. I take it that there’s like, no con— like, the controls for this box are not like, on the outside somewhere?

Rhi: No. [laughs]

Kim: Right. That’d be too easy.

Josie: I mean, I can’t imagine an approach here that isn’t trying to Tinker it open.

Kim: I know.

Josie: Like, we could try to go over somehow, but…

Kim: No, that’d be risky.

Rhi: I mean, everything’s gonna be risky [laughs] at this point.

Kim: Well, yeah, I was gonna say that’d be risky for our health. [laughs] And, you know, our brains. We don’t wanna get zapped.

Josie: We could try maybe doing, like, a group Tinker?

Minna: Yeah. Get everyone on it.

Kim: Okay, Yeah, that works.

Rhi: Blaire, I’m gonna need you to mark… I think there’s tinkerer’s tools.

Kim: Okay.

Josie: Um, who’s down to lead this?

Kim: I can lead this and I’m also gonna push myself for an extra die.

Rhi: Okay.

Minna: I’m also gonna push myself.

Rhi: Alright, so this is gonna be risky, standard effect.

Josie: I got a 3.

Kim: I got a 6.

Minna: I also got a 3.

Rhi: Okay. So, Blaire is gonna take, uh, two points of stress, but you got a 6, right Blaire?

Kim: I did. Yep.

Rhi: Okay, so. [laughs] I feel— what I’m picturing, and you all can tell me if this makes sense, is that it’s like, Blaire is like crouched down at the lock and is working really intently and like, Minx and Myra are both leaning over. And one of them is holding, like, a small hooded lantern to give you some extra light, but they’re both leaning in and just like, offering advice that’s not helpful.

Josie: [laughs]

Kim: [laughs] Just backseat tinkering.

Rhi: Yeah, and so the stress is just from Blaire having to, like, grit her teeth and ignore her friends trying their darndest to be helpful but really not.

Kim: That’s so funny.

Josie: And right as her patience is running out, that’s when it clicks open.

Kim: Yup.

Rhi: Yep, so yeah, the— and you kind of, the lock clicks and the sort of, that electric hum goes off. It’s reacting as if the correct key was put into the lock. So, the security system is not blowing up right now. And you can try the gate to see if it squeaks. You have burglary tools, which include some vials of oil, so you can like, oil the gate [laughs] to prevent it from squeaking.

Kim: Oh, that’s funny. Yeah.

Josie: Yeah. I’m down to mark that off and try and keep it from squeaking.

Rhi: Okay, yeah. You can just take the time to oil up all the hinges and make sure. [laughs]

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: It’s not gonna make any noise. So then you can open up one of the gates enough, slide in, close it behind you, I assume leave it unlocked so you can get back out. And you are kind of in the back courtyard area. Like pretty much every home with some sort of yard, it’s not a traditional yard with any kind of plants. It’s just kind of got big paving stones. There’s the carriage house, basically, I am imaging you all sort of ducked against the wall of the carriage house for cover, so you’re right up against that. And then the house itself is, um, there’s about a 20-foot space, 20-foot-wide space between the carriage house and the back porch.

Josie: Mm hmm. Are there any, like, visible guards? Like, you said there was a turret on the house.

Rhi: Yeah, one of those little turret towers that’s just sort of like, you know like what Victorina houses have? Those fancy little…

Josie: I think so? Yes.

Minna: Oh, like with the little cone top?

Rhi: Yeah, yeah.

Josie: Are all the windows drawn or are they just dark?

Rhi: They’re dark. Not all the curtains are— I mean, it’s kinda hard to see, but on the ground floor you can tell it’s just dark. Some of them do have their curtains open.

Josie: Okay.

Rhi: So, I think in order to tell if there are any guards about, we’d need to do a roll.

Josie: Uh, either Study or Survey?

Rhi: Yeah. Survey is gonna be a broad survey of the whole area, Study is going to be focusing on one particular area. So if you do Study, you’re gonna need to tell me where you’re looking. Survey will kind cover the whole situation.

Josie: Let’s cover the whole situation.

Rhi: Okay. Yeah, so it’ll be Survey. It’s gonna continue to be risky, standard.

Josie: I got a 6.

Rhi: Okay. So, yeah, I think Minx, you creep up to the front of the carriage house and look around and, you know, it’s a good thing that you took the time to do this because you do see almost invisible in the shadowed darkness of the back porch, there are two guards sitting down on the back porch. I think the only reason you see them, because their uniforms are solid black, but there’s some light that catches on the brass buttons on it. You know that uniform. Black with brass buttons—

Minna: Oh wow…

Josie: Oh dear.

Rhi: It’s been a while since you’ve run into the Umbra Hunters.

Kim: Oh.

Rhi: Apparently that’s who Salia has managing her security for her home now.

Josie: Right.

Rhi: So, there’s two of them on the porch.

Josie: But also, check me if I’m wrong… don’t we have a uniform or two of theirs from prior scores?

Kim: Oh…

Rhi: Mm hmm. You do.

Kim: Good memory. Yeah.

Josie: Can I, like, well, is…

Rhi: It’ll be one point of load to have it on you.

Josie: Right. Would that be like, disguise kit, or a point of load for—

Rhi: Yeah, disguise kit makes sense.

Josie: Yeah. I think I’m gonna have that on, like maybe Rose saw… Rose saw the guards, right?

Rhi: Mm hmm.

Josie: So Minx was like, “Hmm, those are familiar.” Did we have enough for you two as well?

Minna: I think we had two originally, didn’t we?

Kim: I can’t remember if we just took the one.

Rhi: I think you had two— having two, I don’t think you got them at the same time, but I think over the course of your interactions with the Umbra Hunters you ended up with two.

Josie: Okay.

Minna: Honestly, I’m trying to remember at what points we acquired those.

Rhi: You actually have gone through more than two, but a lot of the uniforms have gotten bloodied. [laughs]

Minna: Yeah.

Josie: Right.

Rhi: But I think you have two usable ones.

Josie: We started getting them back around Centuralia Club time.

Minna: Yeah, I was gonna say, definitely remember Phin stealing one or two.

Rhi: So it was back in Season one. So yeah, if somebody would like to have another uniform it’ll be a point of load.

Minna: Um…

Kim: Uh…

Minna: I could do that if you want? I don’t wanna be, I don’t wanna force you to not have one, though.

Kim: Who, me?

Minna: Yes.

Kim: I mean, I’ll be fine without one. Blaire can improvise.

Minna: Okay, so I think Myra’s also dressed as an Umbra Hunter.

Rhi: Okay. So… [laughs]

Josie: Just in case.

Rhi: Suddenly, the two of you have been in these uniforms the whole time.

Josie: Uh huh. [laughs] Uncanny planning.

Kim: The magic of Blades.

Minna: Listen, we were wearing heavy coats over the top, and now we like, dramatically take off those heavy overcoats.

Josie: Mm hmm.

Rhi: Tuck them into the shadows at the side of the… [laughs] the carriage house. Yeah, so…

Josie (as Minx): Now, I don’t think we can bluff our way in with these since they probably all know each other, but if should serve as a distraction should any of us be spotted.

Minna (as Myra): Yes, I think at a distance we can pass for one of them.

Kim (as Blaire): So, let’s keep things at a distance?

Josie (as Minx): Yes.

Josie: So, where are we in relation to the back porch?

Rhi: You’re about 20 feet away. There’s about a 20-foot open space between— you all are like, in the shadows by the carriage house wall and there’s about a 20-foot gap then there’s the back porch.

Josie: Right. So, I think our goal here is to get to the side of the house without the people on the porch seeing us.

Kim: Yes.

Josie: Right. Probably. Because we gotta go through a window or something. Is there a gap between the carriage house and the fence, or is it like, up against it?

Rhi: No, there’s a gap.

Josie: Okay.

Rhi: Yeah.

Josie: We might just wanna like, come around the other side of the carriage house.

Minna: Yeah.

Josie: And just walk slowly and nonchalantly at a distance.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: Act like you’re on patrol?

Josie: Yes, exactly.

Rhi: [laughs] Blaire sneaking along in your shadows.

Josie: Yeah. [laughs]

Kim: [laughs] Yeah. Group Prowl works.

Josie: Blaire’s a small, she can be on the other side of us.

Minna: I can lead it.

Kim: Yeah.

Josie: Okay.

Rhi: Alright. So, you’re doing a group Prowl. It’s still risky. I am gonna give you greater effect because of the uniforms. They’re not going to be as instantly suspicious seeing, cause as you said, at a distance you might look like you belong.

Kim: I got a 5.

Josie: I got a 6.

Minna: I got a 2.

Rhi: Okay. So, one point of stress but you got a 6. So, the three of you set off. Minx, Myra, just walking super casually. Super cash, the most casual two humans have ever been. You are that gif of [sing-song] “Don’t be suspicious, don’t be suspicious.”

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: Blaire creeping along in the shadows behind you. And there’s a moment as you’re walking, you’re about halfway to the house, where you see movement on the porch and both of you are like “Oh shit,” and you realize it’s just one of the guards kinda giving you a brief wave. You wave back, and the guards don’t move, and you make it to the side of the house.

Josie: Yay.

Minna: We didn’t set a carriage house on fire this time, which is the flashback I was having the whole time.

[laughter]

Rhi: So, the three of you successfully creep along the fence to the side of the house. You’ve got a few options for windows here, basically, you know, back, middle or front window. There’s not really much difference in terms of size or ease of access, they’re all about the same size and the same height off the ground.

Josie: Let’s do middle.

Rhi: Okay.

Josie: That way we have our choice of rapid exits. [laughs]

Kim: Smart.

Rhi: So, the curtains are drawn, so you can’t see what is in the room. And you, again, can kinda hear that electric buzz of some kind of security on the window.

Josie: Right. Can we tell if there’s a light on in there?

Rhi: There’s no light. The curtains are heavy enough that you can’t see through them, but they’re not like, blackout curtains.

Josie: I see.

Rhi: So yeah, there does not appear to be any light on in the room. But you do have the security system to get past.

Josie: I feel like second verse same as the first.

Rhi: You wanna do a group Tinker?

Kim: Again? Yeah. I think that works.

Rhi: Okay.

Josie: How are people on stress?

Minna: I’m doing okay on stress.

Kim: Yeah, if… I could still lead it. I’m doing okay as well.

Minna: I’ve only taken three.

Kim: Okay, if you don’t mind leading, then.

Josie: I’ve only taken two. So I think I can lead on this.

Rhi: Okay. So, Minx will lead. Gonna be risky standard again.

Josie: I got a 4.

Kim: Got a 1 and a 2. [laughs]

Josie: Oh dear.

Minna: I got a 3.

Rhi: Oh no. Alright, so two points of stress and there’s a consequence. You’re working the lock, Blaire. This time your friends are being much more helpful.

Josie: [laughs]

Rhi: You get it open, you hear the security, kind of, electric system stop buzzing again. And almost at the same moment, a light clicks on in the room.

Kim: Uh oh.

Josie: Oh. Um… scoot along the house a little bit? Scoot, scoot, scoot?

Minna: Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.

Rhi: So, you scoot along the house and the window, like, opens from the inside and you see another guard leaning out the window smoking a cigarette. Apparently Salia does not allow smoking inside her home, so this guard is taking her smoke break by leaning out the window. And it’s unfortunately the window that you all were gonna go in through.

Josie: Okay. So, I think I want to engage this guard in conversation.

Rhi: Okay.

Josie: Like, I’m approaching from a little ways away, the people on the porch saw me come back here, so I can just act like I’m continuing the patrol and just give kind of like a, “Hey, what’s up?” and just kind of have a bored stroll about me. And like, try to occupy them so someone else can get in through the window? Because there’s not a lot of places to hide out here.

Rhi: Yeah. You start wandering down past this guard who’s leaning out the window, kind of just idly staring into space.

Josie (as Minx): Oh shit, I thought they didn’t— she wasn’t gonna allow smoking. I woulda brought my pack.

Rhi (as Guard): Oh, are you [laughs] you new?

Josie (as Minx): Yeah, second night. First one was last week.

Rhi (as Guard): Oh. Yeah, no smoking in the house, so if you’re on indoor duty you just, you know…

Rhi: Gestures at the open window.

Rhi (as Guard): During your breaks. Sometimes, you know, you need to leave it cracked for a little bit, just to make sure the smell all clears out. But usually it dissipates by the time she gets back. She’s a real stickler.

Josie (as Minx): Oh yeah, I feel ya. Like, I have to clean up after my mom’s apartment sometimes, and that takes a lot to get the smoke out of there. She never opens a window.

Rhi (as Guard): Ugh. It’s the worst part about this. My uniforms all smell like it.

Rhi: And I think the conversation just kinda… meanders from there. Yeah, that guard’s attention is occupied, and I think that Minx is gonna kind of stay out here and continue to be on patrol and keep the guards outside occupied with riveting conversation.

Josie: Mm hmm.

Rhi: And the two of you can kind of continue down the house, I think more towards the front. Do you wanna try another side window? Do you wanna take a look at what the front door looks like? What are you thinking here?

Kim: I don’t know. Is front door even a good strategy, Minna?

Minna: [sighs] Probably not the front door.

Kim: Yeah. Are there other windows we could try?

Rhi: Mm hmm. There’s another, there were three windows on this side. So, you’re closer up to the front window now.

Kim: Oh, right. Should we try— yeah. Let’s do a window instead.

Minna: Yeah.

Rhi: Okay. So, it’s still gonna be risky but I’m gonna give you greater effect because you’ve already— actually, let me think about it. Is that the approach I wanna take? Because greater— I don’t think effect really makes a difference, because you’re getting through it… I’m gonna give you controlled for this roll. Controlled position, standard effect, because you already have picked one of these window locks. You know how it works and Minx has the nearby guard pretty well distracted. So, um, yeah. It’ll be controlled for this roll. It’ll probably drop back down to risky once you’re inside the house, but for this it’ll be controlled.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: Do you wanna group action it or just have Blaire do it?

Kim: Uh, I already rolled actually. [laughs] I got a 5.

Rhi: Oh, okay. I’m gonna say you do it with a minor consequence. And I think a minor complication occurs. So, what I’m—[laughs] my mental image of this, like from a cinematic standpoint is that like, we’re seeing it kind of from like, Minx’s perspective of like, the two— Minx is chatting with this guard who’s leaning out the window, two of you creeping down, picking the lock, lifting the window and just like, in the corner of Minx’s eye just like, climbing in. And I think at one point she has to step to the side to block the guard’s view [laughs] of the two of you climbing in the window. You make it in the window, but I think that Blaire, as you are climbing in, your, like, elbow catches on a silver teapot that’s on a little side table. And it clatters to the floor.

Kim: Mm hmm.

Rhi: It doesn’t break, but it makes a loud sound.

Kim: Oh no.

Rhi: And so, I’m going to start a clock. 1 out of 6, Guards Alerted.

Kim: [sucks in breath]

Rhi: Actually— no, 6 is correct.

Kim: If you insist.

Rhi: [laughs] So, yeah, there’s that loud sound. It doesn’t break, but there’s a ka-thunk-thunk.

Minna (as Myra): [softly] Let’s get out of here.

Kim (as Blaire): Yeah… sorry!

Rhi: Alright. So, you are in the dining room. It’s dark. There’s a very nice wooden table. It’s all, like… Myra, you felt like the outside of the house didn’t feel very like Salia. It was a lot, like, fancier and frillier than you were expecting. This feels much more what you expected. There’s a lot of very fine things in here, but it’s all displayed almost like museum pieces. It’s very, like, minimalist and rigid and this is all stuff that has been set out for display of wealth? Of having it? Not because it’s things that she even necessarily liked or finds useful.

Minna: Yeah.

Rhi: So, you’re in the house. You… you know that there were a couple of points of occult energy in here. If you wanted to start there. You could also try to find places where you think she’d keep, like, a safe.

Kim: I think I would like to roll an Attune, just to get a sense of what occult things are in here that might be a good place to start.

Rhi: Yeah. Go for it. This would be risky, standard, I forgot— oh, risky, greater because of your mask.

Kim: Perfect. Yep. So, I got a 5.

Rhi: 5. Okay. So, the complication here is that you slip on your spirit mask and you kind of look around and there are three points in the house that stand out as like, brighter in the ghost field. One of them’s on this floor and two of them are on the floor above you in, like, different rooms. And they’re all— there’s wards involved in them, but you can’t see much more detail than that as to what they are. So basically, the complication here is you have three kind of spread out things that you have to check, and you don’t know which one is the correct one.

Kim: Hmm.

Minna: Do we know where exactly they are in relation to…

Rhi: Yeah, so one of them is, um, like, you can kind of tell of, you know, one of them’s on this floor, like across the hall and a little bit down. Two of them are upstairs, like, Blaire can kind of just glance back into the ghost field to be like, “Oh, okay, yeah this is the right room.”

Kim: Mm hmm.

Rhi: But you don’t know what rooms specifically they are cause— that’s the other thing, Blaire, you know that like… buildings end up leaving an impression in the ghost field too, particularly homes because there’s just so much emotion and life that happens in a home. This place is like barely visible in the ghost field. Like, the walls and doors and everything are just the barest of sketches in the ghost field. There’s just been very little care or like, genuine feeling put into this place.

Kim: Interesting.

Minna: I think we should go upstairs. I think that’s more likely to be private locations.

Kim: Yeah. You might be right about that. And if it is upstairs then it’s easy enough to kind of just work our way down, right?

Minna: Yeah.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: Okay. So you’re gonna head upstairs.

Kim: Yes.

Rhi: You get to the top of the stairs and there’s, you know, a hallway and a nice rug, several doors. Blaire, you can kind do a quick glance and basically, there are exits to your left and your right. Which way do you wanna go?

Kim: My gut’s telling me left. What do you think, Minna?

Minna: Left sounds good. [laughs]

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: So, you head to the left-hand door and it opens. And I think like, Myra, you probably stop. Just again, that sort of weird scared and feeling dumb about it feeling coming back. Because this is Salia’s bedroom.

Minna: [shudders]

Rhi: Yeah. And again, it’s a… it’s very finely furnished and Blaire, this space seems to have a little more color and solidity to it in the ghost field. Yeah, there’s a very nice bed, vanity, wardrobe, kind of a little sitting area near— I think that this connects to the little tower, and I think that tower area is a little sitting area with, like, some comfortable chairs and there’s some books and papers over there.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: So, when you kinda check again, the occult signature is under the bed.

Kim: Hmm. Can I just go for it? Can I…

Rhi: Yeah, you can try and crawl under the bed.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: There is a lockbox under there that you’d have to pull out to do anything with, because you’re under a bed, it’s dark.

Kim: Yeah. [laughs]

Rhi: There’s not really room to work.

Kim: No. Can I Tinker it open? Well, first of all, should I get a good look at it. Can I tell what kind of lock it is?

Rhi: Yeah. I mean, it’s a… it’s not spark-craft, but it is a pretty intense lock.

Kim: Hmm.

Rhi: And yeah, there are some runes and wards carved into the outside of this box as well. Of like, protection.

Kim: Oh, okay. I think what I wanna do is I wanna roll Tinker to open it, but Devil’s Bargain.

Rhi: Okay. Devil’s Bargain… um… I think that there’s gonna be something in this box that is going to be very distracting to Blaire, from just her occult interest. Basically, it’s gonna hit her vice.

Kim: Right.

Rhi: And Blaire’s gonna have to make another roll to not just like, sit cross-legged on the floor.

Kim: [laughs]

Rhi: And study this thing.

Kim: Oh, my sweet girl. I accept.

Rhi: [laughs] Okay. So, this is gonna be risky, reduced effect, because this is a very intense lock.

Kim: Okay. I got a 3.

Rhi: 3. Okay. Things go badly. Suffer harm, a complication occurs… I am, I think I’m gonna tick up the clock.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: Another one. I think that Blaire, what happens is you’re like— you do just drag it out and sit down on the floor with it and start working, but the light over here is terrible and you just can’t make any progress on it. So, you have to pick it up and take it over closer to a window, and you just step on some creaky floorboards as you’re walking.

Kim: Oh. Oops. She’s made so much noise already. Blaire.

Rhi: 2 out of 6 for the guards.

Kim: Blaire…

Rhi: Myra, while Blaire is working on this lock box, what are you doing?

Minna: Uh, I am, I think, like, trying not to move anything but like, almost kind of looking around. Seeing if I can spot— not weaknesses, but this is valuable information.

Rhi: Yeah. Yeah. Is there a particular area that you wanna look at? She’s got kind of a little sitting area, a vanity, a wardrobe…

Minna: I feel like the bedside table’s where you’d check, right?

Rhi: Ooh, yeah. Yeah. Um, gosh. I might actually just throw this one back to you, Minna.

Minna: Oh boy! [giggles delightedly]

Rhi: What do you think, what’s something that reveal— I’m gonna say something that reveals a surprising vulnerability.

Minna: Uh… [laughs] this is not something I’ve ever though about with Salia. I’ve never thought about her beyond like, how she affects Myra.

Rhi: Mm hmm.

Kim: Nope, she’s a person, turns out.

Minna: Yeah. [giggles]

Rhi: I have an idea, but I’m gonna let Minna stew on this for a second before I pitch it.

Minna: I’m very curious about your idea, but… [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah. If you don’t come up with anything, I can—

Minna: My instant thought is, like, something about a family member or something that exists that I didn’t know existed.

Rhi: Ooh, yeah. Oh yeah, could be like letters from a sibling, maybe.

Minna: Mm hmm. What were you thinking?

Rhi: You know what, I think we can combine— we can combine that with my idea. You open up the bedside table and like, the top drawer is just kind of like normal boring stuff. I think there’s like a handkerchief in there and some hand lotion. The lower drawer has a book with a lot of like, folded pieces of paper tucked in the cover.

Minna: Mm hmm.

Rhi: You open it up very carefully and open up one of those folded pieces of paper and it is a letter. You skim over it and you pick out a few, you know, key words. Imperial City. Nieces and nephews. And there’s a mention of a sister. This appears to be from Salia’s younger sister who lives in Imperial City.

Minna: Whoa.

Rhi: And there’s several letters, dated back years. It doesn’t appear that this sister writes very often, but Salia keeps every single letter.

Minna: Oh. Weird.

Rhi: And the book that they are tucked into is a book of poetry.

Minna: What kind of poetry?

Rhi: Well, I’m thinking, because it is definitely different than the kind of poetry that Myra likes. I think it’s more of the like… because Myra likes stuff that’s more…

Minna: Social commentary.

Rhi: Yeah, social commentary. More modern things. I think that most of these are like, they’d be sort of your um, naturalist white dudes…

Minna: Transcendentalism?

Rhi: From… yeah, transcendentalism, that’s the, yeah.

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: Like, I think Thoreau and…

Minna: And Emerson and all of them.

Rhi: Yeah, Emerson, that’s who I was thinking of, yeah. So, it’s that, it’s that kinda stuff where it’s, you know, “the classics”. It’s that sort of thing. Where, yeah, it doesn’t have the same— it’s not the kinda stuff that Myra’s into, but the pairing of this book of poetry with these letters is… I mean, it implies that there is some sort of sentimental attachment to this book of poetry. If it’s poetry that she enjoys, maybe it’s a book of poetry her sister gave her. You’re not sure. But yeah, this is something that she has some kind of sentimental attachment to, it seems. You didn’t know Salia was capable of sentimental attachment.

Minna (as Myra): Weird.

Rhi: So, while you’re kind of grappling with that, let’s go back to Blaire.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: You have found a brighter spot. There’s like a streetlight that’s illuminating a spot in the room.

Kim: Okay. So, should I re-roll this?

Rhi: Yeah, if you wanna try to pick the lock again.

Kim: I do.

Rhi: Okay. It’ll still be risky, reduced.

Kim: Okay, much better. 5 and 6.

Rhi: 6. Okay, so you do it. Let me think, because it is reduced effect. Okay, so I think that you, you get the lock open, like the physical lock, but when you go to open it there’s still some resistance and you realize the wards flare up a little bit. And you’re gonna have to take the wards down too.

Kim: Oh, okay. Should I— I can just roll an Attune for that, then.

Rhi: Mm hmm.

Kim: I’m good at that.

Rhi: And in that case it’ll be risky, standard. And you’ll need to mark arcane implements for your load.

Kim: Okay. Arcane implements. And my highest, again, was a 3.

Rhi: Oh, jeez.

Kim: Yeah. My hubris.

Rhi: I think… okay, so here’s what’s gonna happen. You get it open. Because I wanna pull on the Devil’s Bargain.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: You open it up and, what is something that Blaire would find instantly fascinating from an occult perspective?

Kim: Hmm…

Rhi: Probably not demon-related, but just immediately like, “Ooh, I need to look at this.”

Kim: Yeah. It wouldn’t be, uh— ooh, you know what it is? I think it would be something related to vampires. I don’t think Blaire’s research has delved too deeply into that yet. And considering Tesslyn is a vampire, we could use that info.

Rhi: Yeah. So, I think that there is a— so, in here, there’s a couple spiritbane charms that you don’t pay really much mind to.

Kim: Right, right,

Rhi: And some loose papers and notes. Some of them have wards and things on them. You also don’t pay much attention to those, you kinda shuffle through. And then you find this book at the bottom of the pile. And it is a, um, it looks like it’s a diary written by a vampire.

Kim: Ooh…

Rhi: As you start reading it.

Minna: The Vampire Diaries.

Kim: [laughs]

Rhi: Yes.

Minna: [laughs] I’m sorry.

Rhi: It’s just one, but it’s like some kind of journal or record kept by a vampire.

Kim: That’s very cool.

Rhi: And Blaire, you forget about everything else. This is the coolest shit you have ever seen. You just sit down on the nearest sittable surface, open it up and start reading. And…

Kim: My sweet dumb girl.

Rhi: Myra, either you’re gonna have to keep doing this on your own, or you’re gonna have to expend effort to get Blaire to stop reading.

Minna: [laughs]

Minna (as Myra): Blaire…

Rhi: Blaire is not available right now. Blaire cannot hear you.

Kim: [amused] Yeah.

Minna: Like, I think Myra physically shakes Blaire’s shoulder.

Kim (as Blaire): Huh? What?

Minna (as Myra): I need you back. And I’m sorry, we can’t take this.

Kim (as Blaire): But… Myra, this is a diary by a vampire! We could use this.

Minna (as Myra): As useful as it is, she will notice that it’s missing.

Rhi: Myra’s gonna have to make a roll to get Blaire to shake out of this.

Kim (as Blaire): But I really want it!

Rhi: It’s a really— it’s a pretty significant consequence.

Minna: Is it a Consort roll or a Sway roll?

Kim: It could even be a Command.

Rhi: Yeah, I would say Consort or Command.

Minna: Yeah.

Rhi: Kim, I’m gonna let you kinda dictate this. Do you think this is controlled or risky? How much effort do you think…

Kim: Hmm…

Rhi: Myra’s gonna have to put forth here?

Kim: You know, I’m gonna be nice and say controlled.

Rhi: Okay.

Minna: I think it’s gonna be a Command, because Myra’s gonna get quite firm.

Kim: Yep.

Rhi: Yeah. Okay. So, it’ll be, I’m gonna say controlled, standard effect, then.

Minna: That’s a 6.

Rhi: Okay.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: So, what does Myra say that gets through to Blaire?

Minna (as Myra): Blaire. We have a job to do. We have limited time to do it in. And it’s more than just our lives on the line.

Kim (as Blaire): Okay. Yeah. Sorry, I… you’re right. [sighs]

Minna (as Myra): No, it’s okay. Let’s go.

Kim (as Blaire): I’ll out this away… no. [sighs] We’re here to do something, we should just focus on that. You’re right.

Rhi: So, you return the book, you close the lockbox, re-lock it. Blaire, I think you’re… well, I think I am gonna make you roll to reset the wards.

Kim: Oh, yeah, totally.

Rhi: Yeah. That’s be… lemme see, what tier… this’ll be risky, standard.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: Risky, greater, because of your mask.

Kim: Okay, that’s a 6.

Rhi: 6. Okay, yeah. The wards on this are not particularly complicated. You’re able to reset them pretty easily, slide the lockbox back where you found it. And then, yeah, you can leave the room, shut the door. Are you gonna head across the hall to the other one you saw upstairs?

Kim: I think we have to. We should clear this floor before we move down.

Minna: Yeah.

Rhi: This door, when you go to open it, is locked. You don’t hear the buzz of spark-craft security, but it is locked.

Minna (as Myra): Blaire, do you wanna take this one?

Kim (as Blaire): Yeah, got it.

Kim: Is this another Tinker?

Rhi: Yes.

Kim: Okey dokey.

Rhi: It’ll be… I’m gonna say it’ll be controlled, because it’s not— there’s no security system on it.

Kim: Okay. I got a 4.

Rhi: 4. Okay. So, do you wanna withdraw and try a different approach, or do you wanna do it with a minor consequence?

Kim: What does the minor consequence look like? Is it just another tick on the clock?

Rhi: Yeah, I think I’m gonna tick up the clock.

Kim: That would put it at 3 out of 6, right?

Rhi: Mm hmm.

Kim: I think that’d be okay. Unless you feel strongly, Minna.

Minna: No, I’m okay with that.

Kim: Okay. Then yeah, let’s tick up the clock a bit and just have Blaire do it.

Rhi: Okay, yeah. Blaire, you work the lock. The door opens and I think, again, I think this time it’s Myra gets the creaky floorboards.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: This looks like it is an office. There’s a big desk, shelves of books. The window behind the desk has the curtains open and there’s a nice view of the street outside. Aside from the chair behind the desk, there’s no other seating in here. This is clearly not a place where Salia ever expects other people to be. There’s a couple paintings on the wall, a nice rug, and the occult signature is in the desk.

Minna: Does it seem like it’s guarded?

Rhi: It’s— I’m just gonna say it’s in one of the lower drawers and if you wanna figure out anything more about it, I will need some rolls. Either ghost field or otherwise. Investigations.

Kim: Um, I mean, I can— it’s easy enough for me to just roll another Attune and do like, a ghost field survey.

Minna: Yeah. That works. Sorry we’re relying a lot on your Attune, but…

Kim: Oh no, that’s what it’s there for. And like, it’s like, one of the two skills that I have three dots in, so it’s perfect.

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: Yeah, so this is gonna be risky, greater.

Kim: Okay, that’s a 5.

Rhi: You kinda crouch down in front of the desk and peer at this lower drawer. And there are a lot of wards on this. And as you kind of study these wards, you realize that if you open this drawer or interfere with these wards in any way, it’s going to alert somebody. The complication is that I’m dropping the effect. So, you can’t tell who it’s going to alert.

Kim: Ah, okay.

Rhi: Myra, to the best of your knowledge, Salia does not have this level of arcane skill. She didn’t set these wards herself. But a skilled Whisper could tie the wards to another person, or it could still be tied to Whisper that cast them. You don’t know.

Minna: Or it could alert Ojal. Who knows?

Rhi: Mm hmm. Yeah.

Kim: Am I a skilled enough Whisper to know if I could do that? Like, reset the ward so it could alert somebody else, or the original caster?

Rhi: Oh.

Kim: Or neutralize the ward?

Rhi: Change the direction.

Kim: Yeah.

Minna: Yeah! We could try and work together.

Rhi: You think— it’s not something you’ve done before, but you think that you could try. It would be…

Kim: I like it. I think I wanna have Blaire attempt it even though it’s kind of a gamble.

Rhi: Yeah. So, specifically, what are you trying to do? To redirect where the alert goes?

Kim: Yes.

Rhi: Okay, where are you redirecting it?

Minna: Us.

Kim: Just like a random person, I think.

Minna: [laughs]

Kim: What did you say?

Minna: Us.

Kim: Oh yeah!

Rhi: Redirect it to Myra. [laughs]

Kim: Yes! Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I’m gonna try and redirect it to Myra.

Rhi: Okay. Let me think. Cause I know who cast this particular ward and I have to figure out… I think it’s gonna be… it’s gonna be risky, reduced effect. Just because this is very difficult and something that Blaire hasn’t done before. Do you wanna group action it?

Kim: Yeah, I can lead a group Attune.

Minna: Yeah, that sounds good.

Rhi: Okay.

Minna: I actually have an okay roll in it.

Rhi: Okay, then go ahead.

Kim: Okay. My highest was a 4.

Minna: 3.

Kim: No…

Rhi: Okay. So, one point of stress. Result is a 4. Do it, but there’s a consequence. So, you both like, crouch down in front of the desk. And what does it kinda look like as you’re working on this occult, sort of improvised ritual?

Kim: I like to think what Blaire is doing with her hands is kind of reminiscent of, you know, untying a knot or weaving or something. As if she’s, you know, manipulating the wards as if it were just a huge, matted mess and just, you know, trying to smooth it out in a certain way so that it moves somewhere else. And I think what it looks like in the ghost field is that once the ward is starting to be, you know, interacted with, it started moving as if it were going— like, in the ghost field. It starts moving as if a trace of it was going to go back to who that signal is originally supposed to be sent to, but instead it eventually redirects its direction to Myra. Like, these threads from these runes are starting to just like, move in a very smokey way over to Myra’s direction.

Rhi: Okay. And so, yeah, they attach to Myra, but not strongly. You’re pretty sure that like, you can open this drawer, grab whatever’s inside and close it and then it’s gonna snap back.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: The other thing. That’s the reduced effect piece. The consequence is that as you kind of finish this ritual, there is a bright flash of light.

Kim: Oh. In the ghost field or in real life?

Rhi: In real life.

Kim: Oh shit.

Rhi: And in the ghost field.

Kim: Oof.

Rhi: That is visible from outside of the house. And we’re gonna tick up the clock again. It is now 4 out of 6.

Minna: [whines]

Kim: No good.

Rhi: However, you are able to open the drawer.

Kim: Okay. What’s inside?

Rhi: Minna’s gonna tell us. Because what is something in this drawer that was precious to Ojal?

Minna: Oh no…

Kim: [laughs]

Minna: Oh… honey…

Rhi: [laughs]

Minna: What was precious to Ojal?

Kim: Do you think it’s like, a piece of jewelry or…

Minna: That’s what I’m trying to think through, because I think she came form like, similarly humble origins. We all did. We were all pretty much just like, pulled out of the gutter, basically.

Kim: Yeah.

Minna: So, what would be like…

Kim: You know what it could be? It could be some like, you know, palm-sized childhood toy, maybe, that she kept from, you know, since she was a young’un and kept it through her Salia years?

Minna: I could see that.

Rhi: Yeah. I like the idea of it being like a childhood toy.

Minna: Yeah.

Rhi: That she held onto. Because that makes— like, it’s something that she would have had to keep hidden from Salia.

Kim: Yeah.

Rhi: And that’s make Salia using it against her this way all the more horrifying.

Minna: Yeah… uh huh.

Kim: Do you think it’s like a little doll, or…

Minna: Maybe like a little puzzle toy?

Rhi: Oh, I like that. Yeah.

Minna: Yeah.

Rhi: Not quite a Rubik’s cube. I’m picturing— we had something like this at the science center where I grew up that was a little, like, it was these interlocked rings where you had to like, twist them to fit them together and make a flat circle. It’s almost like a little fidget toy, kinda.

Minna: Mm hmm.

Kim: Yeah, I know what you’re talking about.

Rhi: But also a little puzzle. Yeah, yeah. So I think it’s one of those and it is, like, I think it’s made of different types of metal and the metal is all very worn. And I think Myra, as you pick it up, the metal rings kind of chime lightly against each other.

Minna: Mm hmm…

Rhi: And yeah, you recognize this. I think when you were younger you saw Ojal fiddling with it sometimes and maybe even caught glimpses of it a few times as you got older. But you just— it’s a thing where you see it and you’re like, “Yeah. This is it. This is right.”

Minna (as Myra): This is Ojal’s.

Kim (as Blaire): Are you sure?

Minna (as Myra): Yeah. She had this when we were… I think before we met.

Kim (as Blaire): Okay. Well, it has a signature in the ghost field, so it must be what’s being used to control her.

Minna (as Myra): Yeah. This is it. Let’s get out of here.

Kim (as Blaire): Yeah.

Rhi: You close the drawer, you leave the office. You’re gonna need to roll to lock it behind you, because you don’t have a key.

Kim: Okay. Would that be another Tinker?

Rhi: Yes. I will give you controlled on this, cause again, like the window downstairs, you’ve worked with this lock before, you know how it goes.

Kim: Okay, that’s a 5.

Rhi: Okay. Yeah, you get it locked, and what minor complication do I want…

Kim: The lock gets scratched in a certain way that it didn’t have before, maybe?

Rhi: No, I think it’s one of your, like, your lockpicks gets bent.

Kim: Oh, okay.

Rhi: And if you need to use it again you’re going to have to spend a little extra time, like, pressing it back into the correct shape.

Kim: Yeah. Okay.

Rhi: So yeah, it’s gonna add, the next time you try to use your lockpicks, um, it’s gonna take more time. So, if you’re trying to do it under duress in the score that’s gonna be a problem.

Kim: Who knows if that could happen?

Rhi: But yeah, now you just need to get out.

Kim: Perfect.

Rhi: Of the house and off the property.

Minna: Mm hmm.

Kim (as Blaire): Okey dokey. SO, should we go out the window that we came?

Minna: I think that would probably be a good idea.

Kim: Okay, let’s do that, then.

Rhi: Yeah. And you opening it from the inside isn’t a problem.

Kim: Right.

Rhi: Cause you saw that the guards do that. So, you can actually just open it and climb out and close it. And I think I just need a roll for you to sneak out. And I think as you get down into the courtyard and you start moving along the side of the house you can hear, like, light voices and laughter coming from the back porch, and you can hear Minx’s voice. [laughs]

Minna: [laughs]

Rhi: Sounds like Minx is keeping the guards back there pretty well distracted. So, if you wanna sneak out you can do that. You’ll just need to make a roll.

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: And Minx’s… Minxness is gonna push it to— it’s gonna be, I think, risky, greater effect.

Kim: Okay. So, this—

Rhi: Because Minx is keeping everybody distracted.

Kim: This’ll be a Prowl then, I’m imagining.

Minna: Yeah, I can lead a group if you want?

Kim: That’d be fantastic yeah, let’s do that. Ay, ay, ay. [laughs] Uh, I got a 3.

Minna: I got a 6!

Kim: Okay.

Rhi: Okay.

Kim: Phew.

Rhi: So, Myra will take one point of stress, but yeah, the two of you basically slip back the way you came, out into the alley. And you kind of hunker down in the shadows and wait. I think you have to wait probably a good fifteen minutes before Minx passes by the gate and kinda glances out and like, one of you waves. And she’s able to slip out the gate and follow you. And I think she just kinda gives the two of you a raised eyebrow expectant look, like, “Well?”

Minna (as Myra): We did it. We found it.

Rhi: Minx will, like, let out a big sigh and nod and then say:

Josie (as Minx): Good work, dears.

Kim (as Blaire): What were you up to this whole time?

Josie (as Minx): Winning at cards.

Kim (as Blaire): Oh. [laughs] I didn’t think we’d actually get paid for this score, but alright!

Rhi: [laughs] So, the three of you head off down the alley. You get back. I think you’re kinda cutting through the alleys. You’re in Charterhall, so this is a well-patrolled area, you kinda wanna stay off the street. So, you get outta this alley, cross the street, get into the next one, but like, yeah. You got what you needed. You just need to head home and Myra, you just need to prepare the ritual that will let you free Ojal from the hull.

And you’re halfway down the next alley when you hear a clatter on the rooftop up above, behind you. And you all turn to look as that clatter lands in the alley behind you. And Ojal stands up, the hooded cloak she’d been wearing falling away, the blades unsheathing on her arms. And she looks straight at Myra, and all three of you hear, echoing in the ghost field:

Rhi (as Ojal): Give. It. Back.

Kim: Oh.

Minna: [whispers] Oh shit.

##Outro [01:21:00]

Rhi: Thanks for listening. The Magpies will be back in two weeks. In the meantime, follow us on Twitter @magpies_pod and visit our Patreon at patreon.com/magpiespodcast.

The Magpies podcast is GMed and produced by Rhi. Follow me on Twitter @rhiannon42 and check out rpgskillcheck.net for my copy editing and accessibility freelance site.

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

Minx is played by Josie. Follow her on Twitter @DragonGirlJosie and watch her art streams at picarto.tv/DragonGirlJosie.

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

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

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

Next, I’d like to thank our excellent Patreon backers.

Lucas Bell, thank you.

Jacob Byers, thank you.

##Blooper [01.22.22]

Rhi: [muttering] Dag nabbit, Blades in the Dark… alright…

Kim: [newsreel voice] Are we playing Blades in the Dark when you can be playing… Spades?

[laughter]

Rhi: I don’t know where my voice went there, but I’m glad you just took it and decided to run with it.