Transcribed by Raina Harper.
## Intro
Rhi: Welcome back to Imperial City. As always, thank you so much for joining us. And as always, if you’re enjoying the show, please consider leaving us a review, backing us on Patreon, buying some of our merch, or sponsoring an episode! Anything and everything is deeply appreciated.
A quick note for today’s show–we recorded this a few months ago, and a central piece of the plot for this episode and next revolves discussions of a recent gang war. While this is, of course, not on the same scale as the invasion of Ukraine that’s currently dominating the news, some of the language is similar. I just wanted to give folks a heads-up so you’re aware going in, especially if this is your escapism show.
Next, Minna is going to tell us about this month’s featured charity.
Minna: With anti-trans policy in progress in multiple states, it’s more important than ever to support people fighting against these policies. I urge you to check in with what’s going on locally, or who’s working in your area. But today I would like to highlight Equality Texas, who work on a host of LGBTQ issues in Texas, including in defense of trans kids.
Rhi: There’s a lot of truly horrible, scary things happening in the world right now. It can be hard to look at it all and feel like you can do anything. But there are people fighting back. Fighting for equality, for peace, for justice, for health and safety and the right to simply live without fear. Find those people and lend them whatever you can: your money, your voice, your time. Things are scary, I don’t want to diminish that at all. But we’re not doomed. Keep fighting.
Now then. Let’s get started, shall we?
## Story continues [00.02.20]
Rhi: It is morning in Imperial City. The brief light of sunrise has faded returning the sky to its usual darkness, but the streets are a little bit busier, more people out and about. I just sort of want to see, for each of the Whisky Jays, what does sort of a normal morning routine look like for each of you? Just a little slice of life. What do you get up to?
Josie: Echo doesn’t really sleep as such. She kinda just has low power mode, basically, because if she just turns all the way off she can’t really turn herself on again. So… phrasing.
Rhi: [snickers]
Josie: So, she kinda just… She spends a lot of her nights up and then just spends a few hours kind of chilling in that haze of semi-awareness, plugged into her little generator. Usually the first thing she does upon waking up is check all her joints, maybe put a little oil or grease in there, keep it smooth and silent. Then, look longingly at the Drake, wonder if she can get away with modifying some stuff about it, and then go back to her own tinkering.
Rhi: [giggles]
Kim: [grinning] Val is 100% the coffee and cigarettes for breakfast kind of person.
Josie: [giggles]
Rhi: Oh Val.
Kim: Yeah. That’s it. They might do that while skimming over the news. If they’re feeling indulgent, maybe they’ll do it out on their balcony. That’s it.
Rhi: Yeah. I was actually just gonna ask. You don’t have to get super detailed, but what is, um… where does Val live? What’s their living situation? Do you have an apartment?
Kim: Yeah, Val I’ve decided has an apartment. I have not decided where.
Rhi: I would imagine you’re probably in Kestrel Heights in terms of a district.
Kim: Probably, because that would also put me close to the lair.
Rhi: Mm-hmm.
Kim: Okay. Yeah, you know, Kestrel Heights works. I like to think that they have a nice view of the harbor from their window or balcony or whatever.
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim: It’s not the penthouse, they’re not that well-off, but it’s a nice apartment.
Rhi: I’m kind of imagining that this is a place that they’ve had for a really long time that they were able to afford back in their heyday and have held onto it since then.
Kim: Yeah, probably. Yeah.
Rhi: How about Arlene?
Minna: The thing is that I don’t think she has a morning routine. I think she must live on her own. I don’t know how she could deal with having a roommate, frankly. It’s probably somewhat small and there’s absolutely no one to enforce a routine. She’s just decided to embrace that and she’s living that—You know when you first go to college you just… chaos? You don’t have a schedule.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: Uh-huh. [laughs]
Minna: That’s her. If she has to be awake for something, I’m sure she has a way to deal with that, but… [laughs] For her, a morning routine is probably not at the same time every morning and she probably just does whatever she needs to do when she first wakes up. I don’t think it looks the same every day at all.
Rhi: Yeah. I like that though. I’m imagining just a little studio apartment.
Minna: Uh-huh. Even maybe a room in a boarding house or something.
Rhi: Yeah. Yeah.
Aki: Oh, Darling has a routine. She’s very used to routines and it hasn’t necessarily changed too much. She gets woken up by Pearl because she’s a cat mom, and Pearl has a scheduled eating habit of six times a day probably. I don’t know. It’s a tiger, I don’t know how tigers eat, but I know it’s “much.”
[laughter]
Aki: So, she’s awoken by Pearl. She’ll see Pearl. She will take her time getting ready and stuff. You know, brushing teeth and stuff like that. Has a kettle on. Then, probably does those, you know, your morning sit-ups and shit. Darling is ripped for a reason, and Darling totally did bring this—a majority of her routine is honestly the same. That part has not changed since she’s moved, except you know, there’s really no paperwork.
Rhi: [laughs]
Aki: Which is a blessing, because that means she can do self-spa stuff, you know, like steam her face and then put on a mask and just sit, and it’s very great. There’s lots of tea, lots of just chilling and vibing until something else happens.
Rhi: [chuckles] What happens on this morning is that each of you has a telegram delivered. It’s from Bailey. They basically are very brief job directions. It just says that there is an order of a few cases that’s been put in at the Lower Rise Glassworks and they need to be picked up and moved safely over to HQ in the next couple days is when they’ll be ready. I think it ends with Bailey apologizing that she couldn’t deliver this personally but things are very busy right now.
Josie: Aw.
Rhi: I’m gonna make a quick fortune roll to see something… Okay. Who do I want to…? I’ll go with Val for this.
Kim: Oh.
Rhi: Val, as you’re reading your telegram, there’s a few extra letters in places and missing letters. It’s just… it’s a little off.
Kim: Okay…
Josie: Hmm.
Kim: Question about the setting.
Rhi: Yeah?
Kim: Do we have telephones?
Rhi: I’m gonna say they exist but they’re not common. You don’t have a home phone. Most people don’t. If you have a lot of money, maybe.
Kim: Mm-hmm.
Josie: It’s phone booths and such.
Rhi: Yeah. I don’t think that they are a commonly available thing.
Josie: Do we have one at the garage because it used to be a business?
Kim: Or is there one just out on the street near my apartment?
Rhi: I think I can see one at the garage.
Josie: Okay.
Kim: Okay. In that case, I think Val puts the note down, leaves to get dressed, and is gonna head over to the lair.
Rhi: Okay. Is everybody else gonna make their way over to the garage as well?
Josie: I’m already there.
Rhi: Yes. [chuckles]
Minna: [giggles] Arlene will make her way over as well.
Aki: I’m fashionably late.
Rhi: Of course.
Aki: I probably arrive early but wait around the corner just to be late.
Kim: Oh my god.
Aki: Yeah, that feels very Darling.
Kim: I will raise you one even better. We know that you’re doing this and we just don’t say anything anyway.
[laughter]
Aki: It’s very difficult to hide Darling, but Darling still tries.
Aki (as Darling): I’m gonna wait. I’m gonna wait some more. I’m gonna wait some more. I’m gonna wait, I’m gonna wait a lot more. I’m gonna wait— [impatient groan]
Rhi: Just trying to hide behind reading a newspaper but the horns are visible over the top and you’ve still got your feet… so everyone’s just like alright, you know what, she needs this, it’s fine.
Aki: One of these days we’re gonna run into another Tycherosi that looks very similar to Darling and it’s gonna be hilarious.
[laughter]
Rhi: So yeah, you all get there at various points. Val, was there something you wanted to do with the phone once you arrive?
Kim: Yeah, I wanted to give Benny a call.
Rhi: Okay.
Kim: Or, unless I can call… unless it makes more sense to call Bailey.
Rhi: I think that you would just call HQ and try to get connected to the right person from there.
Kim: Okay, yeah. In that case, you know, Val’s just gonna head over to the phone booth and call HQ.
Rhi: Okay. Yeah. I’m gonna do another fortune roll to see if Bailey is around. Yeah, the person who picks up is probably Benny’s secretary. They say that Bailey is out on another job, will probably be back later today. They can take a message.
Kim (as Val): Uh, no, no, that’s alright. You know, when she gets back, let her know that we called.
Rhi: They will do that. They take that as the message. So yeah. You all have very loose outlines of this job that you’ve been asked to do. Do y’all wanna discuss? I will say, you know that Lower Rise is in Bayrise, which is—
Josie: But I presume in the part that’s not as high up?
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi: Um… Minna, how much do you think that Arlene and Leona talk about work?
Minna: Probably not a whole lot.
Rhi: Okay.
Minna: I think Arlene isn’t necessarily interested in talking about it with Leona, and Leona would probably be somewhat cagey.
Rhi: Yeah, that makes sense. Okay. Great, then you don’t have any additional information. [laughs] Bayrise is the district that the Breakers operate in as well as the Brigantines.
Minna: Ah, I see.
Rhi: Yes, so that’s kind of their home turf. So yeah, what do you all wanna do about this job that you’ve been tossed?
Josie (as Echo): Does anyone know anything about the Glassworks? I don’t think I’ve ever been there.
Kim: Hmm. Do we know anything, out of character?
Rhi: I think you might have heard this place mentioned around the Nightcaps HQ before, but I think what you would probably know, what you would have heard mentioned, is that Glassworks—they produce a lot of different types of glass products, relevant to you would be bottles, which is probably what you’re being sent to pick up.
Kim: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: I think the other piece of information that you would have picked up is that the owner is kind of aggressively neutral in terms of her business dealings with the underworld. She doesn’t care if you’re feuding with the person behind you in line. You will wait politely to get your order and not cause any problems while you’re here, metaphorically. So yeah, I think that’s really the only stuff you would know off the top of your head. I don’t think any of you have dealt with the owner directly yet, though.
Kim: Okay.
Aki: A question.
Rhi: Yeah?
Aki: Has Val mentioned or shown us their telegram?
Kim: You know what, no. That’s a great point. I should bring that up. So, Val’s gonna take the telegram out of their pocket.
Kim (as Val): Alright, does anything seem off about this telegram to anybody else?
Kim: They’re gonna just slap it down on the table.
Minna (as Arlene): Could there be some kind of cipher?
Kim (as Val): A cipher?
Minna (as Arlene): Like a code.
Josie (as Echo): Oh.
Aki: Is it possible that I have seen stuff like this before? And if so, could it also be possible for me to make a deciphering roll?
Rhi: Yeah. You have seen ciphers and codes before. This doesn’t… like, it could be, but it doesn’t seem like it. It also seems like, if Bailey was trying to send you an encoded message, why only send it to Val?
Minna: Also, don’t you have to pay extra for more letters in a telegram?
Josie: Huh.
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim: This isn’t Wheel of Fortune.
Rhi: [chuckles]
Minna: Does it matter what the letters are? Just out of character.
Rhi: I think that if somebody wants to give me a roll to just try and spend a little time puzzling over it I can give you a little more info.
Kim: Yeah. What kind of roll would that be?
Aki: Yeah.
Rhi: Um, I would allow Study… Probably Study, honestly. I can’t really think of anything else that would fit.
Minna: Yeah, this seems like something you sit down with a pencil and look at.
Josie: Hmm.
Aki: [chuckles]
Minna: Does anyone have any Study?
Josie: I have Study.
Kim: I have nothing in Study, and I rolled double 1s.
Josie: Oh no!
Rhi: Yeah, Val, you can’t make heads or tails of this at all.
Kim: Mm-hmm.
Aki: I’m gonna roll Study, but I have nothing in it.
[laughter]
Minna: I am also, I think.
Josie: [smiling] We’re just gonna cycle around to the person—
Rhi: So everyone’s gonna pass it around before it gets to Echo, the person who actually has the skills.
Kim: Val’s like (confused noise).
Aki: You wanna shit your pants? Do you wanna shit your pants? Do you wanna shit your pants?
Rhi: Did you roll double 6s?
Aki: Yes!
Kim: Oh my God.
Minna: I rolled double 4s, but I’m not even gonna bother.
Aki: Oh, sorry. [laughs]
Minna: No-no-no, I love this. This is amazing.
Aki: I was prepared to be like…
Rhi: Amazing.
Minna: I think that this makes sense for her.
Rhi: So wait, all of the… We had double 1s, double 4s, and double 6s.
Aki: [smiling] Yeah.
Kim: [grinning] Yup.
Minna: [giggling] Yes.
Rhi: Incredible.
Josie: Mm-hmm. Hold on.
Rhi: So Darling, you—Oh, go ahead.
Josie: I need to roll a single die just to see what it would have been.
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi: Yes.
Josie: Okay, it’s a 3, so it doesn’t complete the set.
Rhi: [laughs] So, all of you are kind of puzzling over this message, and Darling, it actually clicks for you that something you had started hearing in the upper echelons of the organization before you left were some issues with communication using some of these newer communication things like telegrams and radio. You will get ghostly interference, essentially, on the line.
Aki: I was about to be like is it ghosts?
Josie: Oh…
Minna: Yes!
Rhi: Once you figure that out, you can kinda pull out what the letters are that are extra, what’s missing, and figure out that the message just says “hello, I’m here. Can you hear me?”
Minna: [delighted gasp]
Kim: Whoa, what?
Aki (as Darling): Oh, well that… Oh.
Josie: Echo’s gonna try and say “hello” into the ghost field.
Rhi: Nothing responds, because presumably whatever ghost was communicating was in the telegraph lines when this came through, but you know, maybe something to follow up on.
Josie: Oh, okay. Hmm.
Rhi: Did I really love Ghost Writer as a kid? Yes! Yes I did.
[laughter]
Rhi: So yeah, basically you look at it and you work out this is probably a ghost interacting with the telegraph lines in some way to add this message into the message that Val got.
Josie (as Echo): Maybe we can send a message back to them after the job.
Aki (as Darling): I’m glad it’s more of a ghost problem than a code problem. You don’t write things in code when everything’s well.
Josie (as Echo): Yes. I was worried someone had been threatening or taken Bailey or the like.
Rhi: Alright. With that mystery solved, what do y’all wanna do for the job?
Josie (as Echo): It is probably just moving bottles. I can’t imagine there’s another reason we would pick up from the Glassworks.
Minna: Do we have an address? Do we know who we’re making the deal with?
Rhi: You have the name of the business, so somebody could go over there and ask for more details if you wanted.
Minna: Okay. Yeah, because wasn’t the vibe that they’re not ready yet but they will be in a few days?
Rhi: Yeah!
Minna: Yeah. I think we should just make a visit.
Rhi: Yeah. Do you all just wanna head over?
Kim: Yeah.
Josie (as Echo): Might as well.
Aki (as Darling): Does this mean, does this mean… Does this mean it’s disguise time?
Minna: [laughs]
Josie (as Echo): I… Potentially?
Rhi: I don’t—I mean…
Josie (as Echo): I’m not certain that is necessary, but if you want to dress up, Darling, go ahead.
Aki (as Darling): But what if we ‘all’ dressed up?
Josie (as Echo): I am very limited in those ways I can dress up. You saw last time.
Aki (as Darling): [quiet, severe] I know what I want to do in my downtime.
Josie (as Echo): Oh no.
[laughter]
Rhi: Echo, “one fear.”
Kim: [simultaneously] “One fear.”
[laughter]
Minna: Just the delivery!
Rhi: Yeah. That was so menacing. So… okay. You all pile into the Drake. You drive across town over to Bayrise. I think we’ve kind of touched on Bayrise a couple times previously. This is the district that you came over here to pick up the liquor collection that you were transporting to Copperlight Island previously. Arlene is in this area fairly often to see Leona, but you know, in terms of what the neighborhood is like, it is a working class neighborhood.
It is on the southwest promontory of the cliffs that come up around the bay. It’s not at the very top, but it’s up there. Part of the reason why it’s not a very, like… Normally you would think that something that’s this really highly elevated would be coveted property, but Bayrise has the train lines, one of the main train lines that leads into the city for both passenger and cargo trains cutting through it, so there’s just a ton of noise, a lot of pollution, and that has made it a lot less desirable than it might be otherwise.
So, working class area. A lot of people who work in some of the neighboring places, so people who work in the shops in Corvis Row or Dunmore Ridge for example, or who work at the stadium in Robelston, live in Bayrise because that’s what they can afford. A lot of Severosi and Dagger Isle immigrants here which is also kind of how the Breakers and Brigantines gangs, which are associated with those communities, kind of grew up here.
Until fairly recently, like within the last year, the Breakers and the Brigantines were engaged in a very bloody war for control of the district. It eventually ended when both of the previous leaders of the gangs were removed. A lot of people think that both of them had internal coups and just overthrew their leadership to get rid of—to end the fighting.
Josie: [laughs]
Kim: Nice.
Rhi: The new leaders immediately went to the Sovereign to negotiate a truce, and there has been an uneasy peace in Bayrise for a while. As you’re driving in, you can still tell the pretty clear territory lines, because you will see people in the colors of one gang on one street corner and then the next street corner up is a little cluster of people in the other gang’s colors and they’re just sort of glaring daggers across the intersection. So like, they’re not actively at war anymore, but it’s still tense.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: As you’re driving, you probably have to ask around a little bit. The Lower Rise Glassworks… Because as you’re thinking, you’re driving through here and there’s trains rattling through constantly, and this seems like a very bad place to be making glass.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: What you find is that you’re directed into some streets that run into the cliff and underground. That’s where the business is. That’s why it’s called the Lower Rise. It’s underneath Bayrise proper. And yeah, it’s more or less built into a cave that was carved out. There’s a shop front. There’s a little bit of… I mean, there is space to park in front. Not a ton, it looks like it can only really accommodate one or two vehicles at a time. Nobody else is parked here right now. And yeah, that’s kind of the arrangement. It’s an underground glassworks. You all wanna head on in?
Josie: Yeah.
Kim: Um… I guess so. It’s not a trap.
Rhi: [laughs] So yeah, you head inside. There’s a small front office. It’s immediately a lot warmer inside, you’re guessing just from the various machinery that’s being used to do all the glassblowing.
There’s a very dark-skinned Severosi woman. Her hair is very curly and pulled back in a poof at the back of her head, wearing workman’s clothes. She’s got a heavy leather apron on over very practical-looking clothes. There’s leather gloves sitting on the desk next to her and she’s just scribbling in a ledger. Looks like she’s probably in her 40s or 50s. She looks up as you come in.
Rhi (as woman): [curious] Hello.
Kim (as Val): Hi.
Rhi (as woman): I wasn’t expecting to have anybody dropping by today. Can I help you?
Kim: Uh… shit. Do we have a cover story or should we just state our business?
Rhi: Theoretically, you’re gonna be coming back here pretty soon to pick up stuff, so there’s not really a reason to lie.
Kim: Yeah.
Kim (as Val): So uh, Barsotti sent us. We’re here to pick something up.
Rhi (as woman): Oh… Yeah, he said he was sending somebody, but that order’s not gonna be ready for another couple days.
Minna (as Arlene): Do you know when it will be ready?
Rhi: Yeah, she gives you a date and time of you can come pick it up after this point.
Rhi (as woman): Yeah, it was a special order for some custom bottles. He said he had somebody making a new kind of brew for him. He kept referring to it as a new type of spirit and thought that was very funny.
Josie (as Echo): Hmm.
Minna (as Arlene): That does sound like him.
Kim (as Val): Yeah, that tracks.
Rhi (as woman): But yes, it won’t be ready for another couple days. Come back then? I can give you all the paperwork and get everything loaded in. Theoretically, there shouldn’t be any problems.
Kim (as Val): Alright. I don’t wanna waste any more of your time. You mind if we take a little bit more of a look around before we go?
Rhi (as woman): Um, I mean, if you’d like to look around the street outside, but I can’t really have anyone wandering around in my factory.
Kim (as Val): Alright. Alright, whatever you say. Sure thing.
Aki (as Darling): Pardon my brashness, but we won’t have to worry about getting mugged for bottles, do we?
Rhi (as woman): Hmm…
Rhi: She waggles a hand back and forth.
Rhi (as woman): Depends on how tight a definition you give “mugged.”
Aki (as Darling): Well, I’m pretty sure we’re all quite aware of the “peace.”
Aki: I say with air quotations.
Rhi: Yeah.
Aki (as Darling): So it’s more of a “how are they doing” in terms of business.
Rhi (as woman): Yeah… So, that’s sort of the million coin question. I told Benny about this and he seemed to think that it was important enough to not be worth changing his plans, so that’s on him.
Yeah, I stay neutral. I don’t really care who’s shooting who. Nobody’s got the moral high ground here and they’ve all got money, so I’ll sell to any of them. I have been doing business with both the Brigs and the Breakers. Some of them have started taking issue with that, on both sides. I’ve had to replace some orders lately because people leave with something and then there’s “an accident.” Officially, they’re not allowed to attack each other, but…
Aki (as Darling): It doesn’t stop them?
Rhi (as woman): There’s a lot of things you can do that will cause damage that aren’t an attack, so they don’t run afoul of the Sovereign, and technically they’re not supposed to interfere with my operations either. Anybody who wants to make a deal with me, I drag them down in front of Alicia and we sign the paperwork so that everything is above board. I even made Benny do it. He grumbled the whole way, but if you want to do business, you have to agree not to bring your fights in here.
Josie (as Echo): He could have afforded us some context.
Rhi (as woman): Take it up with him.
Minna (as Arlene): Well, at least I know why we’re being sent to grab bottles.
Rhi (as woman): Yeah. I think under normal circumstances you’d look a little over-equipped for the job. Hopefully it will be smooth sailing, but they’ve been giving each other trouble and I don’t think Benny’s got any deals with either of them, so you all might be seen as fair game for both sides. I’ll add extra padding to the cases for you.
Josie (as Echo): Yes please.
Kim (as Val): That’d be very much appreciated. Thank you.
Rhi: [laughing] She’s just kinda like:
Rhi (as woman): Eh, sucks to be you, doesn’t it?
Kim (as Val): It sure does.
Aki (as Darling): It does… But yes, thank you for your information and the warnings.
Rhi (as woman): Of course. Doesn’t do me any good if I spend all this time and money on making something only to have it get shattered halfway down the road.
Kim (as Val): Yeah, you don’t gotta tell us twice.
Rhi: Yeah. Anything else you wanna ask her or do you wanna head out and start poking around for some more intelligence?
Josie: I’m good.
Kim: I think I’m good.
Minna: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: Okay. Yeah. Anything y’all wanna look into? People you wanna talk to?
Josie: I think after leaving the place Echo leans in to Val and is like:
Josie (as Echo): Am I technically a new kind of spirit?
Kim (as Val): Uh… I mean, how recently did you, you know…?
Josie (as Echo): Not very long.
Kim (as Val): Then, I guess so? If you want to, like, call yourself that, then yeah.
Josie (as Echo): Hmm. Silver linings.
Kim: I think Val’s just gonna pat them on the arm.
Josie: Aww. [laughs]
Kim: Like there-there.
Aki (as Darling): If it means anything at all, as of now you are my favorite new kind of spirit.
Josie (as Echo): Aw, thank you, Darling. Although, how many new kinds of spirits have you met?
Aki (as Darling): I don’t know. A telegram manifested today, so like three? Maybe.
Rhi: [laughs] Anything y’all wanna do to prep or are you just gonna wing it and hope for the best?
Kim: Uh…
Josie: Um…
Rhi: I will mention that Arlene does have an in with the Breakers.
Minna: Yeah, I was gonna say, she’s definitely going to, I think, want to talk to Leona.
Rhi: Yeah.
Minna: Because it’s very awkward to get into a fight with your girlfriend’s coworkers. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah. Do you want to peel off here and go do that?
Minna: Yeah. I think she’ll just kinda be like:
Minna (as Arlene): Alright, I’ll catch up with you later.
Aki (as Darling): Wait. Where are you going?
Minna (as Arlene): I have to talk to someone. Bye~!
Aki (as Darling): Um…
Josie (as Echo): Oh.
Rhi: [cackles] Off she goes.
Minna: Zoom! [giggles]
Aki (as Darling): Oh. Oh… Well, I hope the someone is respectable!
Aki: I say out loud, public.
Minna (as Arlene): We’re not respectable!
Aki (as Darling): Oh, tch, how you wound me in public.
Josie (as Echo): You are very respectably devious.
Aki (as Darling): Me?!
Josie (as Echo): Yes.
Aki (as Darling): No. I’m respectable respectful! That—Those were words… that came out of my mouth. Yes.
Josie (as Echo): Oh. You may want a different career.
Aki (as Darling): I’m career hopping right now.
Kim (as Val): Aren’t we all?
Rhi: [smiling, composing herself] So Arlene, you very wisely flee down the nearest alley.
Minna: Yes.
Rhi: Where do you think you would find Leona at this time of day? Mid-morning.
Minna: I mean, if she doesn’t know where to find her right now, I think she’d just go to… Oh God, is it Salma’s? The restaurant that they all hang out at.
Rhi: Yeah. That’s correct. Yeah, that’s the Breakers HQ.
Minna: Yeah.
Rhi: Salma’s is open. They pretty much never close. It’s a Severosi restaurant. They provide a lot of Severosi dishes thanks to their stolen radiant energy lights and their little garden they have underneath the restaurant where they grow a lot of fruits and vegetables and herbs and stuff that are native to Severos that you can’t really find in Akoros.
Minna: I feel I should clarify that I said “Salma’s” and it is “Salma,” without the ‘S’ at the end.
Rhi: Yes. Yeah, I think people are kind of used to seeing you there. You’re not a complete stranger.
Minna: Mm-hmm~
Rhi: You can ask around. Somebody goes to a back room and fetches Leona who comes out carrying a mug of tea in one hand.
Rhi (as Leona): Oh, hey Arlene!
Rhi: And she’ll give you a one-armed hug.
Rhi (as Leona): Sorry. I was kinda chatting with a few people. I wasn’t expecting to see you. Is everything okay?
Minna: Arlene kind of kisses her cheek as she’s hugging.
Minna (as Arlene): Oh no, it’s fine. I just, uh… thought I should probably talk to you about a thing that’s happening. Um… is out here okay or do you wanna—? It’s a little bit business.
Rhi (as Leona): Yeah, I was… yeah, getting that sense. Let’s head upstairs real quick.
Rhi: She’ll lead you to, like, there’s a side door, up some stairs, where it seems like these are just private meeting rooms.
Minna: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: She’ll open one up and let you come inside. It’s not anything fancy; it’s like a wooden table with four chairs. [laughs]
Minna: Yeah.
Rhi: Then yeah, she’ll sit down and be like:
Rhi (as Leona): Okay. So, what’s up?
Minna (as Arlene): We’re running a cargo through Bayrise at some point, and we’re told that you guys and the Brigs are kind of, you know, at each other’s throats in the area. I just didn’t wanna… Honestly, I didn’t wanna run into your people and get into a fight with them because that would be awkward.
Rhi (as Leona): Yeah. Yeah, that would be awkward. What’s the cargo?
Minna (as Arlene): Just some bottles.
Rhi (as Leona): The Glassworks?
Minna (as Arlene): Yeah… Is there something the matter with that?
Rhi (as Leona): Hmm… I was really hoping it wasn’t gonna be you doing this pickup.
Minna (as Arlene): Oh…
Rhi (as Leona): We’d heard that the Nightcaps were gonna start doing business with Imani, and people higher up than me felt like we’re already having a hard enough time locking the business down from the Brigs. We don’t need somebody else coming in.
Minna (as Arlene): I mean, it’s just like… bottles.
Rhi (as Leona): Yeah. I mean, listen, I’m not saying I agree with the decision. This kind of petty bullshit is how we end up with blood in the streets again.
Minna (as Arlene): What are they gonna do about the cargo? I don’t think the Sovereign wants you guys starting shit with the Nightcaps either.
Rhi (as Leona): No, but that doesn’t go against any of the agreements that we are being held to, officially, so technically if someone were to start shit with you, it wouldn’t cause problems with her. So, I will talk to some people and see if I can’t convince them to back off on our side. I don’t think anybody intends to get violent, but it sounded like the plan was to make this an unappealing choice for you all to do business with.
Minna (as Arlene): I hear you. Intentions or not, it’s probably gonna end up violent if they try and take our cargo.
Rhi (as Leona): Yeah. Well… I’ll do what I can on my end to mitigate it, but if they don’t listen then I get to say I told you so.
Minna (as Arlene): If they don’t listen, it’s gonna be messy. Just a heads up. I can’t control that either.
Rhi (as Leona): I mean… yeah. I’ll do what I can. Just see if you can talk your people into maybe not shooting to kill if it comes to it.
Minna (as Arlene): I’ll try, I guess. I don’t know how successful I can be.
Rhi (as Leona): [exhales]
Minna (as Arlene): I don’t want your people to die either.
Rhi (as Leona): I don’t know how successful I’m gonna be either.
Minna (as Arlene): [exhales]
Rhi (as Leona): Yeah… Well, we’ll both give it a shot and see how it goes. I hope this doesn’t keep happening. Do you know if your boss is planning on pushing into Bayrise? Because if we start having my people and yours fighting over territory…
Minna (as Arlene): I don’t know anything, Leona. We’re just a low-level gang. We do what we’re told.
Rhi (as Leona): yeah. I’m not… I’m not blaming you for any of it, just… this kinda sucks for both of us.
Minna (as Arlene): Yeah, it super does.
Minna: I think she just puts her head down on the table and groans a little bit.
Minna (as Arlene): Ugh. I don’t like having to mix business in with this.
Rhi: With your head down, after a second you feel Leona reach over and is stroking your hair.
Minna: I think she leans into it a little like a cat. [giggles]
Rhi: Yeah.
Josie: Aw!
Aki: Aww.
Josie: [yelps in delight]
Rhi (as Leona): Yeah, I don’t like it either. I guess given our lines of work it was bound to happen eventually.
Minna (as Arlene): [grumbling] Mm-hmm.
Rhi (as Leona): [heavy exhale] I gotta get back downstairs, but I’ll see what I can do.
Minna (as Arlene): Okay. Thank you.
Rhi: And yeah, she’ll walk you back to the door downstairs and stuff and then lean down, give you a kiss, and say:
Rhi (as Leona): Stay safe, okay?
Minna (as Arlene): Yeah. You too.
Rhi: She’ll head back inside.
Josie: Ahem. Gay.
Rhi: Yes.
[laughter]
Minna: Naturally.
Rhi: Correct! Yeah, so I feel like we’ve done Gather Info but no rolls have happened, which is fine. Is there anything else that you all want to look into?
Aki: Low key. I know, I know… [grins] Because maybe I shot to kill…
Rhi: You did. Yeah. Fortunately, that was a different gang. That was the Brigs. That wasn’t the Breakers.
Aki: I thought that was the Brigantines! And that’s—right? Isn’t that the issue? Isn’t that the one? Isn’t that the issue? Isn’t that the other one?
Minna: Brigantines is the other gang.
Aki: The other gang, yes.
Rhi: Yes. Yeah, oh yeah.
Aki: What I wanted to do was maybe poke my head a little bit, or I don’t know, send my cat a little bit to… you know, if I can snoop around and be like, let’s see how they’re…
Rhi: How angry are they? How much of a grudge are they holding about the murders you did last time?
Aki: I only did one murder! And you know what? They deserved it! Yeah, it was only one. I wrote down I killed one man because he shot my cat and pseudo-daughter, and you know what, I would body another one. [giggles]
Rhi: Yeah, no.
Josie: I mean, we did literally body him. I tossed the corpse back at them.
Several: [smiling] Yeah.
Aki: So yeah, if we could see maybe what… Or like vibe check even. I’ll accept just a general vibe check. If we go “Nightcaps” and see what happens. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah. What is, how… What is your plan for getting this vibe check? Are you gonna go somewhere you know the Brigs control and just be like “hey, what up” and see how many people draw guns?
Aki: [grinning] No, I don’t wanna do that, because then it would be a gunfight that I would win and that means I would body a lot more.
[laughter]
Aki: I am that confident in it. I wish I brought a disguise. Hmm… Maybe asking locals? Like hey, hello there, do you happen to know what the Brigantines’ general vibe toward the Nightcaps are per se?
Rhi: Um… yeah, you can give that a shot. I will tell you that’s gonna be, like, if you’re just asking locals, that’s gonna be more of a reduced effect. Because some of them might know, they might have family who are part of the gang, but a lot of them just aren’t gonna be privy to the inner workings of the gang. But you can definitely give it a shot. Or, if you have another idea for how to get that info.
Aki: Not without getting actually shot.
Rhi: Yes, that’s a strong risk. [laughs] But yeah, if you wanna try that, go for it.
Aki: What roll would that be?
Rhi: It kinda depends on how you’re approaching it. I could see Consort or Sway depending on if you’re just asking around in a friendly open sort of way or if you’re being a little more circumspect about it. I will say, if you roll with Consort, that raises the possibility that word—because you’re being a little more open about it—that raises the risk that you asking around will get back to the Brigantines, whereas if you roll with Sway, less risk.
Aki: Damn. I do not have anything. I have 1 in Consort and nothing in Sway. Hmm… I kinda wanna save any potential stress for the potential fight that will happen so that way I don’t just “ha-ha, bam, you don’t gotta worry about your obligation anymore, child of mine.”
[laughter]
Aki: You know? By mistake, I mean. Eh, yeah, let’s just go with Sway. What’s the worst that could happen?
Rhi: Yeah. Worst that can happen is you don’t get information. At this point, that’s pretty much it. So yeah, go ahead and make that roll. You’re rolling 2d6, take the lower.
Aki: I… I…
Rhi: Yes?
Aki: I should take a picture. Um…
Rhi: Did you get another two 6s?
Aki: Yes.
Kim: Oh my God.
Aki: I can reroll this if you want.
Rhi: No, no, no. You do not have to. I am just going to come and visit you and ask you to touch all of my dice.
Aki: [giggles]
Rhi: I’m gonna hand you a pile of d20s.
Aki: I’m looking at my mountain of stuffed plushies, just to… “you saw that, right?”
[laughter]
Rhi: Okay, so you got a 6, but you’re still at reduced information.
Aki: Yeah, reduce away.
Rhi: So this is a standard amount. Yeah, this is standard still, so that’s still—you’re gonna get a decent amount. I think what happens is you’re asking around and you end up chatting with a… Let’s see here.
I think you pass by a clothing store and there’s a young man outside who’s hanging up displays outside of the shop and just start chatting with him. His brother is in the Brigantines. He wasn’t physically on the wagon you all were shooting at, but like, that was the crew he normally runs with. So, when you mention the Nightcaps, this guy scowls and mentions that “yeah, they shot one of my brother’s friends.”
The general vibe you get is that the Brigantines, that group of survivors, don’t think very highly of you all, and should they cross your path again it’s not gonna be pretty. The rest of the gang at large, because he kinda vents about this like he’s frustrated, kind of considers that incident the cost of doing business slash you all should have been more careful. You know, they’re not “thrilled” with the Nightcaps for this, but they also recognize “yeah, we muscled in on one of their deals, tried to pull one over on them, they responded, shit happens. We’ll probably end up screwing them over again at some point in the future. This is just how business works.”
So the gang, the Brigantines as a whole, are not really holding a grudge. The small gang of people that you shot at are, is basically what you get.
Aki: Good to know. Amazing. You said they sold clothes?
[laughter]
Rhi: Yes. It’s not a high-end store, but it is a clothing store if you would like to go and look around.
Aki: I would. I would because I should indulge.
Rhi: [laughs] Okay. So, is there anything else y’all want to do to prep for this? Or do you wanna just dive into the score?
Josie (as Echo): Uh, Val?
Kim (as Val): Yeah, what’s up?
Josie (as Echo): Maybe we should check in on the Sovereign? Maybe we can leverage their truce to get us safe passage?
Kim (as Val): Yeah, I don’t see why not. Alright, yeah, let’s do it.
Aki: Please tell me I can come!
Rhi: [laughs]
Josie: [smiling] No. Perish.
Aki: No! called digs. Fuckin’ hell. I will show up. I will not roll a single die. Can I take also a Devil’s Bargain and just take 1s for the rest of the game?
Kim: Oh my God.
Rhi: So you can be there?
Aki: Yes.
Rhi: You all can go together. So yeah, you all reconvene and head back over to Kestrel Heights to the Sovereign. The Sovereign is basically the most well-known brothel and speakeasy in the city. They’re able to operate their speakeasy kind of openly because the owner pays massive, massive bribes to the Bluecoats, but because of her operation’s position in the city’s underworld she’s able to afford it.
It is nearly sacred neutral ground for the criminal underworld. If you are in the Sovereign, it does not matter if the guy who killed your brother is hanging out in the lobby. You either deal with it while you’re inside or you both leave. You know, it is basically untouchable neutral territory. The Sovereign’s owner has more or less positioned herself as kind of the arbiter of peace treaties, truces, any sort of agreements that the criminal underworld wants to make a little more official are settled at the Sovereign.
The Sovereign doesn’t really have enforcers, but they don’t really need it because anybody who breaks an agreement with the Sovereign will have the rest of the criminal underworld breathing down their neck because it’s for everyone’s best interest that this arrangement be upheld, or else gang violence would spill over in such a way that the authorities would have to intervene, and that’s bad for everyone’s business if the Bluecoats get involved in a way that they can’t pay off with bribes. So, the Sovereign’s word isn’t exactly law, but it’s damn near close.
The Sovereign itself is a three-story stone building, just kind of a large square building, not a lot of architectural flourishes, but there’s a lot of cool engravings and stuff on the stonework itself. When you go in, you are immediately stopped by a pair of very buff guards and you are directed to remove all your weapons.
Josie: Which I imagine takes a hot minute. [laughs]
Rhi: Uh-huh. Yeah. They’re used to it, but it’s a little bit like if you’re flying in the US and you’re given those bins to pile all of your crap in, all your little stuff that has to go through the metal detector. You’re each given, like, “here’s a box,” and each box has a number on it. Here’s your ticket. Please pile all of your weapons into your box. Your box will be returned to you when you leave. Do not lose your ticket.
[quiet giggling]
Josie: Echo complies.
Rhi: Does anybody try to keep a weapon on them or do you all just hand everything over?
Aki: Ooh…
Minna: I hand everything over.
Kim: Could I keep one weapon on me?
Josie: I have a weapon built into me.
Kim: Oh, that’s true. You are the weapon. Okay, yeah, Val complies.
Rhi: [chuckles] Okay.
Aki: Oh my God. Are they gonna put—? I have Pearl!
Rhi: Pearl will be allowed in, but she has to be kept on a leash.
Aki: Okay.
Rhi: They make it clear. “Keep her under control. If there’s any shenanigans, you’re both out.”
Aki: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Okay, so what you see is, when it’s Darling’s turn, Darling and Pearl, Darling does have Pearl on a really cute red leash, but then Darling goes:
Aki (as Darling): Okay, one second.
Aki: Takes pins out of her hair.
Rhi: [laughs]
Aki: Probably slides the gloves off.
Aki (as Darling): Oh, you would hate to know what I could do with this.
Rhi: [laughs] The guards are just sort of like “oh, a showoff, okay.” Then, yeah, you can head in. This first section of the ground floor is basically the speakeasy area. It’s a little weird because normally if you’re going to a speakeasy you gotta go into a regular business and into a back door and down a flight of stairs. It’s a little more secretive. But this is like you just walk into a bar.
It’s really nice. There’s tables, there’s a bar setup, there’s some comfy chairs and tables and things. And… yeah. Who do you wanna try and talk to here?
Josie: I mean, ideally the lady that oversaw the treaty who I think is the owner, right?
Rhi: Okay. Yeah. Somebody give me a roll of some kind to see if you can get a meeting with her.
Josie: Val, help? I don’t do social things. [laughs]
Kim: yeah. Um…
Rhi: There is a bartender. Bartenders, as we know in RPGs, are endless sources of information.
Kim: Okay. Yeah, I’ll roll Consort for that then. Motherfucker. Alright, I got a 2.
Rhi: Oh~ Yeah, I think this is still kind of a Gather Info… You go over to the bar and ask the bartender if the owner’s available, and he kind of gives you a sympathetic wince.
Rhi (as bartender): I’m really sorry. Miss Marren is not here right now. She’s meeting with some other folks. Is there something that you needed her for? If it’s urgent, we can get her a message.
Kim: Do we want to do that?
Josie (as Echo): We should probably leave a message.
Kim (as Val): Yeah. Sure. Go for it.
Josie (as Echo): Just wish to let her know, since she has brokered some treaties here recently, that we work for Benny and have been somewhat tasked with a delivery without full context, and we want to make sure that we are not disrupting and are not going to be disrupted.
Rhi (as bartender): Got it. Any particular treaties that you’re worried about?
Josie (as Echo): The Breakers and the Brigantines.
Rhi (as bartender): I was afraid you were gonna say that. Alright, I’ll pass it along. I’m not sure how much she’ll be able to do, but it’s good to give her the heads up on it.
Josie (as Echo): Yes. And well, Benny somewhat threw this into our lap with little preparation, so we have no ill will or wish to mess anything up.
Rhi (as bartender): yeah. I mean, hey, listen, as long as you, uh… I don’t think that you’ve got any particular truces on the books here, so you should be good, but the concern is appreciated.
Josie (as Echo): Alright. Thank you.
Rhi (as bartender): Any of you want a drink while you’re here?
Kim (as Val): Uh… sure. Sure! Yeah.
Josie (as Echo): It is early for me.
Rhi: [laughs] So yeah, he’ll get you drinks for everybody who wants them and you can kinda hang out for a little bit and enjoy the atmosphere. Unfortunately, Aki, due to the dice, Alicia is not here.
Aki: Okay… All my existence is pain.
[laughter]
Aki: But it’s okay.
Rhi: You’ll get to meet her someday, I promise.
Aki: One day. One day. It’s okay. It doesn’t have to be this year, it’ll be next year. [sniffs]
Josie: I gotta ask. Does Darling have an in-character crush that she’s vocal about?
Aki: See, here’s the thing, I’m not sure. Darling frequents brothels. That’s how she relieves stress. She also is just a common—She will literally just take a bunch of girls out on dates, that’s it. They don’t even have to do anything. That’s literally it. [laughs] So maybe? Probably. Especially if Darling has been here before. If it’s in Kestrel Heights, I feel like… then yeah.
Rhi: Oh my God. Is it a thing where you’ve seen her but you’ve never been able to talk to her so you’ve just been like “oh my God, she’s so beautiful,” and just pining from afar?
Aki: Yeah, let’s do that.
Kim: Oh my God.
Rhi: I love that so much.
Kim: That’s very lesbian.
Rhi: Darling is just… yeah, lesbian disaster slash a 14-year-old with a crush.
Aki: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. The best way to put it is:
Aki (as Darling): Oh, I don’t meet many people more confident than me, and so when I do I’m a mess.
[laughter]
Josie: Echo rests a hand on her shoulder.
Josie (as Echo): It is okay. I understand.
Aki: Darling, not gonna lie, will probably hang around a little bit more.
Rhi: [laughing] Hoping?
Aki: [smiling] Whether she comes or not is also cool, but like, there’s other people here. Like, anyone pretty that just wants to chill, that’s also fine.
Rhi: I don’t think that Alicia comes back while you’re there.
Aki: My heart.
Rhi: Someday.
Aki: One day.
Rhi: We gotta build up. We gotta build up to it.
Aki: We do.
Rhi: Okay. Do we wanna get into the score proper?
Josie: Yeah, probably.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: Alright.
## Outro [00.54.43]
Rhi: Thanks for joining us! The Whisky Jays will return in two weeks. The City That Never Dies is a Clever Corvids production. Visit our website at CleverCorvids.net and follow us on Twitter @clever_corvids for the latest on this and other shows.
The City That Never Dies is GM’d and edited by Rhi. Check out her business Skill Check for copyediting and accessibility consulting for the RPG community at RPGSkillCheck.net.
Arlene Graeme is played by Minna Reilly. Find her on Twitter @mynaminnarr.
Darling Tsering is played by Aki. Find her on Twitter @akinomii_art for more TTRPG Content.
Echo is played by Josie. Find her on Twitter @dragongirljosie, and check out her art at josie-art.com.
Valerie Sullivan is played by Kim. Find her on Twitter @kimdianajones.
Our opening and closing theme music is from Something by Kai Engel and is used under a Creative Commons license. Blades in the Dark is the creation of John Harper and is published by Evil Hat Productions.
Today’s jumbotron message comes from Kickstarter backer Bob Hopp. He writes:
I owe a great debt to the podcast creators and fans who welcomed me into this community. I have met so many wonderful people and enjoyed so many beautiful stories as a result. Much appreciation to my family and coworkers as well, for enduring so many outbursts of laughter at bits I couldn’t begin to explain. I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I hadn’t found podcasts and the people who love them. Thank you all so very much.
Thanks so much, Bob. Making and enjoying podcasts like these has changed all of our lives, too. And as always, thanks so much to our backers on Patreon, whose ongoing support makes this show possible.
## Bloopers [00.56.58]
Josie: We’re like an hour and a half in. Seems about time.
Rhi: Yeah!
Minna: [giggles]
Rhi: God, are we really another half hour in? Not quite. But yeah. [laughs] I’m glad that I’ve broken the weird thing I had with Magpies where I was like “I can’t have too many two-parters” and now I’m like “fuck it, two-parters for everything.”