Transcribed by Raina Harper.
## Intro
Rhi: Welcome back to Imperial City. As always, thank you so much for joining us. While we still have quite a few episodes left to post in Season 1, the team has already started planning for Season 2, and we’re so excited to keep sharing these characters and their stories with you. If you haven’t already, please consider leaving us a review, as it helps new listeners find the show and makes us feel good! And please consider supporting us on Patreon, buying some merch, sponsoring an episode, or buying a jumbotron. Financial support helps us keep producing this show, as well as mini-series like our Court of Blades series, and add new shows like Love & Hellfire. Both of which you should check out if you haven’t yet!
We also have a very exciting opportunity for all our listeners! If you’ve been listening to our show and wishing you could play Blades in the Dark but haven’t been able to find a group, try startplaying.games. Start Playing offers thousands of online games in hundreds of systems, all run by professional GMs, with reviews you can read to find the perfect game master for your playstyle. You can search for campaigns, one-shots, by system, schedule, and more! We’re partnering with Start Playing to offer our listeners a $10 credit that you can spend on a game. All you have to do is click the link in our show notes and claim your credits. Visit startplaying.games and, well, start playing!
Next, Fabby of Love & Hellfire is going to tell us about this month’s featured charity.
Fabby: Hey everyone, it’s Fabby to talk to you about a charity. The Thrive youth center is a San Antonio center and shelter for lgbtq+ youth 18-24 experiencing homlensess in San Antonio Texas. They provide emergency shelter, housing support, and case management. I lived in San Antonio for a decade, it was the city I came out in as a trans woman, it’s not the most trans friendly city in the world. Knowing that queer homeless youth have a place to stay, something to fall back on is super important to me. You can donate by going to https://www.thriveyouthcenter.com/donate.
Rhi: While a lot of things may seem very bleak in the U.S. right now, there are some positive things happening. The House has passed a bill codifying the legal right to both interracial and same-sex marriage, two rights that currently depend only on Supreme Court decisions. There is a possibility it could pass the Senate as well. Contact your Senators and let them know that you support this bill. It’s not everything we need, not by a long shot, but it’s a significant step in the right direction.
Now then. Let’s get started, shall we?
## Score Continues [00.03.49]
Rhi: …and we’ll be past this. That is gonna solve all of our problems.
Josie: [uneasy] Okay.
Rhi: Never mind the fact that that’s gonna draw attention, and you have a lot of volatile explosives in the car. The only solution that Echo can think of here is… ramp. That is what the 2 gets you.
Josie: [laughs]
Kim: I can kind of see the stars in their eyes as they think this is a stroke of genius. Like, [gasps] “oh my God, ramp.”
[laughter]
Rhi: Yeah! Echo is like “oh my God… this is gonna be brilliant.”
Josie: “We have to do this. The Drake is gonna look so cool doing this.” She’s gonna set about doing that.
Rhi: Okay! I’m gonna say, because I want this to happen, I’m not gonna make you make a roll for the ramp, because there’s enough other people moving materials around that they just assume that you’re supposed to be doing it. I think that some other people probably help you with this, just because they assume that this is what’s supposed to be happening.
Josie: Okay. No roll, just consequences.
Rhi: Yeah. This is the consequences of your action. A ramp is happening. So yeah, we cut back to the car and it’s taking longer for Echo to come back than I think you expected it to, so Val and Arlene, what are you two doing?
Kim: Can we see Echo?
Rhi: No. Echo had to go a little ways up. You’re inching forward, but yeah, you can’t see Echo at this point.
Kim: Yeah.
Minna (as Arlene): You want me to get out and look?
Kim (as Val): Uh… I’d rather we don’t all split up. Let’s just wait for Echo to get back and then we’ll take it from there. Alright?
Minna (as Arlene): Okay.
Kim (as Val): [long exhale] You want some tunes?
Minna (as Arlene): Like, you’re gonna sing?
Kim (as Val): No, I mean—
Kim: Oh wait, do cars have radio? Probably not, right?
Rhi: [typing, musically] When were car radios invented? Google… 1930. Nope!
[laughter]
Kim: Okay, then…
Kim (as Val): You wanna play I Spy or something?
Minna (as Arlene): I spy with my little eye something that starts with C.
Kim (as Val): C… It’s not the C4, is it?
Minna (as Arlene): No…?
Kim (as Val): Crate?
Minna (as Arlene): Can you see the C4 from where you’re sitting? That’s a worry if you can.
Kim (as Val): No.
Kim: Val just shoots them a withering look.
Kim (as Val): Is it crates? Is the C word crates?
Minna (as Arlene): No, I’m looking outside the car.
Kim (as Val): [sighs] Cars? Do you see other cars?
Minna (as Arlene): Yes.
[giggling]
Kim (as Val): Alright.
Rhi: I think this is the point at which Echo comes running back.
Josie: There’s the sound of quick footsteps and Echo swings into the car and shuts the door.
Josie (as Echo): Go. There’s a ramp.
Kim (as Val): There you are—What do you mean there’s a ramp? Where? I don’t see a ramp.
Josie (as Echo): Go around the side. I made a ramp. That will get us over.
Kim (as Val): Is that why you were gone so long? You were—Alright, I don’t wanna know. Just… alright.
Rhi: You’re just gonna have to get up on the sidewalk.
Josie: [laughs]
Kim: They’re gonna… yep.
Rhi: [grinning, delighted] Val, I am going to need a roll.
Kim: Uh-huh!
Rhi: [laughing] For driving the Drake over this ramp.
Kim: It’s gonna be another Finesse, isn’t it?
Rhi: Uh-huh! Oh lord in heaven, what is this roll going to be? Desperate for sure.
Kim: Agh! Alright, so I get xp at least.
Rhi: Yes you do.
Josie: Can I assist, having made the ramp?
Rhi: Yes. Yes you can. Take a point of stress.
Kim: Yeah, sure.
Rhi: I gotta figure out the effect level here. I think I’m gonna say standard effect.
Kim: I know I probably don’t need it, I already am starting with a three-dice pool thanks to Echo’s assist, but I think I’m gonna push myself for one more extra die and make this a four-dice pool.
Rhi: Yeah, no, I don’t blame you for that.
Kim: [laughing] Things could go terribly wrong if I roll poorly here.
Josie: If you get a—
Rhi: Yeah-no, this has the potential to go very, very bad!
Kim: Josie, don’t even speak it into existence. Just… Just don’t jinx us.
Rhi: [laughs] So, desperate-standard, you’re rolling four dice…
Kim: [heavy exhale] Damn…
Rhi: …as you ramp a car over a protest in the middle of the city’s financial district. What did you get?
Kim: Thank God I rolled those four dice, because I rolled 1, 1, 4, 6.
Rhi: Phew!
Kim: It was close!
Josie: Hoo-baby.
Rhi: So, um… Kim, if you don’t mind, I would actually like to let Josie describe how this looks since she’s the one who built the ramp.
Kim: Not at all.
Rhi: [laughing] What does it look like as the Drake sails majestically?
Josie: Sure. I think the ramp is made out of those concrete road dividers with wood run across the top of them. I think as the Drake goes up and over the ramp there’s like chalk or powder or paint that had been over this, or like a nearby can, so as we go off the top and we get the nice slow-mo shot there’s this burst of white powder behind that almost certainly splatters some people. We hang in the air for a minute, and Echo can’t really show surprise, but she’s kind of gripping the door handle excitedly.
[laughter]
Rhi: [stammers] It’s a slow-mo shot as you’re hanging in the air, and we get close-ups on everybody’s faces. What’s the close-up on Arlene’s face?
Minna: The close-up on Arlene’s face is “I really wish that I was not in this car right now. I would rather be doing this jump on my own.”
Rhi: [laughs] What is Val’s, at the wheel?
Kim: I think we see a very slow-motion “oh shit~”
[laughter]
Rhi: So, you sail past the protest and the blockade and hit the street on the other side, hard.
Josie: I think Echo’s head bounces up and hits the top of the car, and she’s just like:
Josie (as Echo): [small] Ow.
Kim (as Val): You okay?
Josie (as Echo): I think so. We’ll see if I cracked when we get home.
Rhi: [giggles] Yeah. You did get a 6, so none of the explosives are doing anything explosivey. I think that behind you is a collection of sounds ranging from cheering—some people think that this was part of the protest, it was some kind of display. How this ties into the protest, unclear, but some people are into it. Some people are shouting angrily. There are definitely Bluecoat sirens, but again, they can’t really get around past this thing, and you all continue on. I am definitely giving you all extra heat for that, though. That’s unavoidable. [laughs]
Josie: Echo’s like:
Josie (as Echo): That was so cool… and the Drake took it. Good girl.
Kim (as Val): [weakly] Uh-huh… Yup. Sure did.
Josie: She pats the dash.
Kim (as Val): [strained] Mm-hmm.
Minna (as Arlene): I don’t think we can do that more than once. Please do not make us do that more than once. At least don’t make me be in here.
Kim (as Val): You okay, girlie?
Josie (as Echo): I didn’t think a former assassin would be scared by something like that.
Minna (as Arlene): I’m not scared when I have control, but I have no control over whether the car does something… physicsy.
Kim (as Val): Arlene…? Arlene.
Kim: I think they’re gonna do that thing where you look over the seat as if you’re backing a car up.
Kim (as Val): We’re not gonna do that again. We’re gonna finish this job and then you can get out of the car. Alright? It’ll be fine.
Minna (as Arlene): [grumbles]
Josie (as Echo): Maybe I should make the next car a hotrod. I wanna do it again.
Kim (as Val): [exhausted] We’re not doing that again.
Rhi: You make it out of Portmarch, apparently, and Val kind of weaves through some back alleys and things to make sure you don’t get followed. By the time you get to the docks, things have cleared up pretty well. You head for the southeastern end of the docks and it becomes pretty quickly clear, as you approach the particular slip where you were told to meet the Queen’s Guard reps, because you start seeing imperial soldiers.
Kim: Oh fuck.
Josie: Uh-oh…
Rhi: More specifically, you see a couple imperial soldiers talking to somebody wearing Brigs colors.
Kim: Hmm…
Minna (as Arlene): Uh… that’s not good. I think the Brigs tipped them off.
Josie (as Echo): Do we keep going?
Kim (as Val): I mean, what choice do we have?
Josie (as Echo): Maybe we can get it to them at a different location? I don’t see a boat pulling out.
Rhi: You’re not quite there yet, you’re a little ways up, but like… there are imperial soldiers down here. This is not a place where imperial soldiers typically are.
Kim: I still don’t think we should get too close.
Rhi: Yeah. How do you…?
Kim: I don’t think it’s a bad idea to rendezvous at a different place, it’s just a matter of getting that word out to the pickup and how we communicate that.
Josie: Yeah.
Minna (as Arlene): You guys… Let’s set a rendezvous and I’ll try and get the word to them. We split up here.
Kim (as Val): So long as you think you can do it.
Minna (as Arlene): I think I can do it.
Kim (as Val): Alright. Go for it.
Josie (as Echo): Rendezvous back in Kestrel Heights?
Kim (as Val): Sounds like a plan.
Minna: They still have to get back to the docks somehow is the thing.
Rhi: Well, Kestrel Heights is on the river.
Minna: Yeah, and we’re here in a cove, right?
Rhi: Yeah, so as long as they are able to keep control of a boat… [laughs]
Minna: Yeah. We’ll have them come and meet us in one of the coves there.
Rhi: Yeah. Telling them to come up into Kestrel Heights would totally work. Okay, so Arlene is gonna hop out.
Josie: Oh. I was just talking about us rendezvousing, but that’s a good idea. Cool plan.
[laughter]
Rhi: Yay! So, Val and Echo will head back up into the city, and Arlene, you’re gonna try and sneak past some imperial soldiers.
Minna: Sure am.
Rhi: There’s not a ton of them here. It’s not like they deployed a massive number of soldiers to lock down the entire docks. They sent a squad, which is, according to Google, 7 to 14. So, you’re badly outnumbered, but it’s also just one of you that has to sneak. You don’t have to worry about keeping many people concealed. So, how do you wanna go about doing this?
Minna: What does the area look like?
Rhi: You’re towards the end of the docks, close to the Ironworks. The Ironworks are kind of across the river, basically. There’s two boats and then the one that you’re supposed to get to, so there’s two boats between you and the one that you’re supposed to be at. There’s some buildings on the land side of the docks. There are crates and various supplies and stuff. There’s a good amount of cover.
Minna: Yeah. I think she’ll just take advantage of whatever cover she can, trying to keep on the water side of the cops if possible.
Rhi: Okay, yeah. Also, don’t forget you have a lot of Lurk-specific gear that can help you with sneaking.
Minna: Yeah! I have that Shadow Cloak thing.
Rhi: Yes.
Minna: Quick change into a jumpsuit. [laughs]
Rhi: [whooshing sound] Yeah, so I’m trying to think of position and effect here. I feel like this might be desperate-greater.
Minna: Okay.
Rhi: Or… okay, it’s either desperate-greater or risky-reduced.
Minna: I’m into desperate-greater.
Rhi: Okay.
Minna: Also, I have my fine Shadow Cloak which is probably contributing to that.
Rhi: Yeah, that’s what’s making it greater in that.
Minna: Uh-huh. So yeah, um…
Rhi: Mark xp.
Minna: I have done that. Let me roll my 3d6.
Rhi: Don’t forget you can push yourself or get a Devil’s Bargain if you would like.
Minna: No, I decided not to do that, and guess who got a 6.
Kim: Nice.
Rhi: [laughs] Okay! That is a lot of sixes on a lot of desperate rolls tonight.
Minna: Shh.
Kim: Yeah, we’re lucking out.
Rhi: So yeah, tell me how this looks. I think, because you had greater effect, you’re gonna make it down to the Skovlan ship. What does this look like as Arlene sneaks and creeps along?
Minna: I think at first you don’t even see Arlene, you just see shadows. Then you see a shadow shift and she slips from one shadow to another and just disappears into it. I think that continues fairly slowly as she keeps an eye on the guards. She can take her time here, and she’s doing that to try and get their best chance of getting through.
I think the hardest part is that she’s crouched at the end of the dock and she has to get across the dock so she has to really bide her time and wait. She sees her opportunity and she just sprints down the dock and leaps onto the boat.
Rhi: Yeah. I think what has happened is that the soldiers have been tipped off but haven’t moved in yet. The Queen’s Guard people… it’s clear as you— [laughs] You tuck and roll onto the deck and, as you come up, you have just guns pointed at you. It’s obvious you’re not a soldier, but you also just jumped onto their ship so they don’t know what the fuck.
Minna (as Arlene): Hi. I’m here about the delivery.
Josie: [giggles]
Rhi: [laughing] There’s a long pause as all of these people with guns just exchange looks.
Kim: Oh my God.
Rhi: There’s a long pause and one of them goes:
Rhi (as Queen’s Guard): The delivery? From the Breakers?
Minna (as Arlene): That’s the one.
Rhi (as Queen’s Guard): Okay… Unless you have it on you, we’re not gonna be able to follow through. We have to go, now, because we’re about to get raided.
Minna (as Arlene): How about we go to a different cove where we have the delivery waiting for you where there’s not these guys in the way?
Rhi (as Queen’s Guard): That, uh… That sounds good. Where…? Where?
Minna (as Arlene): Let’s go to Kirin Cove.
Rhi: Sort of looking around a little bit, and then guns get lowered, and one of the people jogs off to the helm. The ship is very quietly prepped to launch, and then suddenly, very fast, shoots out into the water. Somebody, as they’re prepping, will offer Arlene a hand up. As soon as the ship shoots off, everybody ducks and there’s some shots fired by the soldiers on the docks. Basically, Arlene, you’re on the ship for a while because they basically do a big loop out into the bay.
Minna: [giggles] I think Arlene honestly has a big grin on her face during all this because at this point, yes, this is out of her control and she’s in the water, but also it’s open air and she can probably race some people up the rigging to help out that way.
Rhi: Yeah…
Minna: Actually no, it’s probably not a sailing ship. I forgot what era we’re in.
Rhi: Yeah, it’s more of a speedboat. You’re guessing they’ve gotta have a bigger ship that they’re gonna meet up with, because this is too small of a ship—this is too small of a boat to make the journey from here to Skovlan. But that’s not really your concern, that’s not your problem. Basically, it’s like an hour that they loop out way far into the bay, up against the lightning barrier, and they’re just sort of circling around before they come back in.
But you have a nice time. The woman who helped you up tells you her name is Galina. She doesn’t really tell you a lot about who she is and what they’re doing out here but will tell you about the boat. [laughs] Talk to you about other places that she has sailed previously. Just very strictly not talking about anything to have to do with the delivery, what it is, where it’s going.
Kim: Yup.
Rhi: But yeah, eventually, you can see, Arlene, periodically that there’s people up front with binoculars who are clearly scanning the dock. After about an hour they will loop back in towards the Veridane River and head on up into Kirin Cove. There’s much smaller docks in your neighborhood where they can park where, yeah, Val and Echo are waiting I imagine probably somewhat nervously, because it’s been a while.
Kim: Yeah, probably a bit antsy.
Rhi: Yeah. You two are hanging out there with the Drake and this boat pulls up.
Josie (as Echo): Okay, good.
Rhi: Arlene is probably all damp from salt spray.
Minna: She is grinning.
Rhi: Galina will help Arlene step back onto the dock.
Rhi (as Galina): I assume you’re the rest of the crew handling the delivery?
Kim (as Val): Sure am.
Josie (as Echo): Yeah.
Rhi (as Galina): Alright. Well, thank you very much for the tip-off. It would have been real unfortunate to have to leave town without this stuff.
Rhi: She gestures and the other folks on the boat will hop off and start carefully unloading the equipment from the car. There’s definitely some muttering as people will open up crates to peek inside. “Oh… damn!”
Kim: Yeah!
Rhi: “They got us the good stuff!”
Josie: [laughs]
Kim: “It’s the good kush.”
Rhi: And so— [laughs]
Kim: “This is a dollar store. How good can it be?”
[laughter]
Rhi: They get everything loaded onto the boat, below decks. It seems like they’re getting everything secured and hop back on.
Josie: I want to volunteer Echo for having to resist her vice.
Rhi: Oh yeah, yeah.
Josie: Because her vice is faith, old Skovlan traditions, and I think she’s just really happy to have met some of the revolutionaries because she’s never done that before I don’t think.
Rhi: Yeah! What do you think it would look like? What do you think giving into her vice would look like here?
Josie: It would at first be her shyly introducing herself and asking questions, and then continuing to ask questions, and trying to be like:
Josie (as Echo): Is there another way I can help? Is there more we can do? I’ve never actually been back there, but I miss it a lot, you know? I don’t know, I just think what you’re doing is really cool.
Rhi: Yeah! If you don’t wanna resist it, you can do that. I think the way that looks is initially a couple of them are fine with answering your questions, but eventually they’re like “okay kid, we’ve got work to do. We are carrying grenades.”
Josie: Uh-huh.
Rhi: They’re not being mean, but their answers start getting a little shorter.
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: They’re giving you a little less attention. Was Echo originally born in Skovlan or…?
Josie: I believe she was born in Duskwall but her grandparents were Unity War refugees and she came down from Duskwall when she was a little kid.
Rhi: Oh, okay. So she’s never been to Skovlan.
Josie: No.
Rhi: Okay, so she’s just asking a ton of questions of what it’s like there?
Josie: Uh-huh, basically.
Rhi: Okay, yeah. I think what might be hard for Echo here is a lot of the answers that she’s getting are talking about how it kinda sucks.
Josie: Aww. [laughs]
Rhi: The Empire has been using Skovlan as a staging ground for processing leviathan blood and it has just done horrific things to the environment and the people. Let me look at the map. There’s a particular town in Skovlan—
Minna: Lockport I think.
Rhi: Lockport. Thank you. Yes. Oh… what do we think has happened to Lockport in the intervening years? I don’t think Lockport is habitable anymore.
Josie: Oof.
Minna: Oh…
Kim: Hmm.
Rhi: At the time of the Magpies, Lockport was the main place where leviathan blood was processed into electroplasm, and at the time of the Magpies, so 40 years prior to our story right now, it was like acid rain and—
Josie: Jesus.
Rhi: People were developing physical mutations.
Kim: Oh God.
Rhi: Yeah, and that was 40 years ago. I don’t think Lockport is functional anymore. [laughs]
Josie: Yeesh.
Rhi: I think they had to build a new town. I think they had to shut Lockport down. That’s what I’m gonna go with. I think that’s… yeah. I think that’s what comes out of this. For most of the people that Echo is talking to, it’s a lot of how hard things are there, how terrible it is for the people that live there, and how the Empire still hasn’t made things right for what they did to Lockport, that the stories about how the city is still burning are true. It’s a pretty grim picture of your homeland that gets painted, I think.
Josie: [squirms] Yeesh.
Rhi: Yeah, which is probably not what Echo was hoping for.
Josie: Do I need to take harm about it?
Rhi: Huh… So, that’s the thing, you’re giving into your vice which theoretically should reduce stress. [laughs]
Josie: Oh, okay.
Rhi: Right? So I think where the upswing here is, when you’re asking, I think that Galina will kind of study you for a minute and gives you a look and looks back at the ship where the rest of her crew is loading away the last of the munitions. She will give you an address in the Ironworks and she says that there’s some folks from the Queen’s Guard who meet here once a week, and she’ll give you a time and day, and if you would like to help them out, these are the best people to talk to.
Josie (as Echo): Yeah. Thank you.
Rhi: I think that’s the, like… You hear about how bad things are, but then you’re given something concrete to do with that.
Josie: Yeah!
Rhi: Yeah. If you want to, we could maybe give Echo another… We could give Echo an obligation vice?
Josie: I mean, sure? Although, that could still fall under her existing vice.
Rhi: Her faith, yeah. Yeah, for sure, just kind of a different manifestation of it. Yeah, I would also be totally fine with that interpretation of it.
Josie: Yeah, I just have a purveyor now.
Rhi: Yeah, that’s true! Oh man, now we’re gonna have to come up with people.
Josie: Yeah!
Rhi: I think the three of you stand on the dock in Kirin Cove as the Skovlan ship heads off down the river.
Josie: I’m trying to think of a revolutionary slogan to cry out.
Kim: Oh, that would be so good.
Josie: Either… The three that come to mind are “winter always ends,” “spring always comes,” and “iron never dies.”
Rhi: I feel like I like iron never dies.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: I feel like that would be a more local one that Echo would know.
Josie: Okay. I think she’s gonna call out as they’re pulling away.
Josie (as Echo): Iron never dies!
Rhi: I think they’re a little too far to call back, but one of them raises a fist in acknowledgement and off they go to fuel the fight in Skovlan.
## Downtime
Rhi: Okay, let’s do the downtime stuff. So, payoff. For rep you’re gonna get 3 rep.
Kim: Nice.
Rhi: So you’re very close to filling up your rep meter again, which means you could move up to having a Tier 1 stronghold.
Kim: Ooh.
Rhi: And then how much money? Oh, I was gonna do a fortune roll to figure out of the Queen’s Guard was gonna be able to afford to pay you more. Or, sorry, if the Breakers were gonna pay you more.
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Rhi: And they can~
Kim: Ey~
Josie: Yay!
Rhi: So you’re gonna get 4 coin.
Kim: Sick.
Rhi: Do you wanna do 1 apiece and then put 1 in the vault?
Josie: Sure.
Minna: Sounds good.
Kim: Yeah, totally.
Rhi: Alright. Heat. So…
Kim: [chuckles nervously]
Rhi: All things considered, this would be a pretty low-exposure thing except for the part where you Dukes of Hazzard in the middle of the business district.
Josie: [laughs]
Kim: Yeah…
Rhi: Here’s the thing. I would have probably only given you 1 heat for this, but it is gonna be up to 2.
Kim: That’s fair.
Rhi: You all are at 8 heat, wanted level 1. Alright, so let’s get into our downtime scenes. We start with Echo who, a few days after the delivery, is walking across the bridge into the Ironworks. It’s a cool rainy evening, so everything has got a wet glistening gleam to it. Rather than being up around the factories which are still going, Echo turns and heads into the more residential areas which maybe feel a little familiar even if this isn’t exactly the area that she knows. It still is similar, perhaps, to where she’s from?
Josie: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think where her family lives is… Honestly, they’re probably pretty close to the docks, then, if that’s the case, where there’s a lot of warehouses and the like.
Rhi: Mm-hmm.
Josie: Yeah, because her dad works in the steel mill and her mom runs a trinket stall, basically.
Rhi: Yeah.
Josie: Honestly, Riverside or Ironworks would work.
Rhi: Yeah. It’s got that… It feels familiar. You make your way to a particular address where there’s a rundown tenement building. You can tell even from the outside that the roof is probably leaking. You can see that people have jammed fabric and newspaper in cracks along the windows to keep water and wind from getting in where they’re not well enough maintained.
You go around to the side and down a short flight of steps—you have to duck a little bit because the ceiling is kind of low—to the door that leads into the basement. You knock and it cracks open a little bit and there’s a woman with light skin and, from what you can see of the little sliver of her face, you can see she’s got red hair with some gray streaks in it.
Rhi (as woman): This is a private entrance. Can I help you?
Rhi: And you tell her that Galina sent you.
Josie: Yeah, I say that and then the steel never dies tagline, or iron never dies, yeah.
Rhi: She will give you a once over and then relax a little bit and opens the door wider.
Rhi (as woman): Good to have new folks in, especially somebody so young. It’s hard to get younger ones involved.
Rhi: She’ll wave you in. There’s probably about a dozen people in here. As she said, you’re definitely the youngest looking, and actually youngest. Most of the folks here look like they’re probably in their 40s or 50s, or 60s. There’s some food and drink out but it does not have a celebratory or party gathering atmosphere. It’s clearly a pretty serious meeting. There’s a large table with lots of papers, maps, people gathered around. The woman will walk you over and says:
Rhi (as woman): I’m Tamara.
Josie (as Echo): I’m Echo.
Rhi: She gives you a little bit of a look because that’s an odd name but will nod.
Rhi (as Tamara): Alright, Echo. For right now, I think you’ll understand we can’t really…
Rhi: She waves a hand at the table which she’s keeping you away from. She’s not inviting you to sit.
Rhi (as Tamara): We’re not gonna have you work on any of this just yet until we know that you’re trustworthy.
Josie (as Echo): Right.
Rhi (as Tamara): What sort of things are you… What are you good at? What are you interested in doing to help the guard?
Josie (as Echo): Well, I’m a spark-craft engineer and a mechanic.
Rhi (as Tamara): Oh!
Josie (as Echo): And I do some clockwork and occult stuff on the side. Point is I make things?
Rhi (as Tamara): Interesting.
Rhi: She taps her chin thoughtfully for a second and then will call across the room.
Rhi (as Tamara): Hey Sasha, you got that crate of, I don’t know, gizmos that we picked up the other week still, right?
Rhi: Sasha, apparently, will stand and nod and goes into a back room and comes back with this big box of what initially looks like scrap metal, but as they get closer, Echo, you can tell it looks like it’s line throwers which are basically grappling hooks, like automated grappling hooks that you can just fire off a line and it’ll hook onto something and then you can pull yourself up. You can tell these are in bad shape. They’re pretty old, pretty beat up, it looks like some of these maybe had water damage. They’re in rough shape. Tamara will gesture at the box.
Rhi (as Tamara): Think you can do anything with these?
Josie (as Echo): Oh. Yeah, probably just need to replace the release and de-rust some of the root wheels. Any of the cable might need to be replaced, but yeah, I can do this.
Rhi (as Tamara): Okay. Tell you what… We don’t have a workshop or anything here, obviously.
Rhi: She’ll transfer the box to you.
Rhi (as Tamara): If you can get these—
Josie: I think as she continues talking Echo brings out a small little tool carrier from in her coat. [laughs] It’s like a screwdriver case, right? But she already had it partially open.
Josie (as Echo): Oh…
Rhi (as Tamara): Oh.
Josie (as Echo): I can wait if you want.
Rhi (as Tamara): Oh, no. If you wanna at least get started on them here, uh…
Rhi: She looks around. They have to move a few things around, but they’ll set you up in a corner where you can start working on some stuff.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi (as Tamara): If there’s anything that needs to be replaced, just let us know and we’ll see about sourcing the parts.
Josie (as Echo): Okay. Thank you. I know I’ve never been back home, but I wanna help.
Rhi: At that, Tamara’s expression softens. I think you’re sitting on, like… there’s a few chairs off in your corner and she sits down next to you.
Rhi (as Tamara): [exhales] I haven’t been back since I was three. I don’t even remember it. But yeah, it’s still home and it deserves better than what it’s getting.
Josie (as Echo): Yeah. Galina said it’s not looking good right now, so that might be for the best, maybe. I don’t know.
Rhi (as Tamara): It’s hard to know because so much of what we hear about is what’s going on in the cities, but there’s a lot of Skovlan that isn’t the cities. I’ve talked to a few people who have been out there in the mountainsides. There’s still settlements and things out there where people are living… I can’t say entirely free, but freer.
Josie (as Echo): They live without lightning barriers?
Rhi (as Tamara): Eh, there’s plenty of places that do. They do it in the Dagger Isles and Severos.
Josie (as Echo): Oh. I didn’t know that was a thing that can happen.
Rhi (as Tamara): Mm-hmm. Yeah, they use some of the older traditions to ward off spirits there. I mean, even the Empire didn’t have lightning barriers until, um… I don’t know, some 300-400 years after the Cataclysm. I don’t recall my history exactly.
Josie (as Echo): I guess that’s true.
Rhi (as Tamara): You know, they’re not entirely free of the Empire, but it’s not all lost. There’s people out there who remember the old traditions, the old language, the old songs, the old stories… and when it’s free again, I think those are the ones that are gonna help bring it all back.
Josie (as Echo): Yeah. I mostly only know that stuff from my grandparents. Here you go, by the way.
Josie: I think she’s already fixed one of the things.
Rhi: [laughs]
Rhi (as Tamara): Oh…! You’re fast. Alright, well…
Rhi: She’ll set it aside.
Rhi (as Tamara): You keep working on those. I’m gonna go see if we’ve got anything else in the back room for you to work on.
Josie: She nods.
Rhi: So yeah, Tamara will stand up and pat your shoulder. Yeah, I think she probably finds another box of just random stuff they were like “well, if we can ever get this fixed, it would be useful.” She brings it out to you, and Echo can just spend a couple hours sitting in a corner happily fixing things.
Josie: Yay~ [giggles]
Rhi: Yeah. You’re not trusted enough to be part of any of the planning yet, but you know, you’ll get there.
Josie: Yeah.
Rhi: And then, from there we will go back across the river to Riverford Used Auto Dealership, past the front lot with all of the many vehicles, and into the back lot which is kept empty for test drives, essentially. There is indeed a vehicle sitting there. Hedwig is standing by the back door watching with a little concern, and Val and Arlene are in this car. Who is behind the wheel at this point?
Minna: Arlene. I feel like she’s okay on the clutch gas situation because she is fairly okay at gauging when to do things. She’s picking that one up okay. It’s just the, like… I think she’s a little bit afraid to hit the gas too fast so it’s starting up way too slow.
Kim (as Val): Alright, so how much do you know about driving?
Minna (as Arlene): [shakily] I know that you do it, and sometimes it’s, uh, faster than I would like.
Kim (as Val): Okay. Not an unfair assessment. I get the sense that you’re nervous. What’s going on, girlie? What are you so nervous for?
Minna (as Arlene): This is several tons of metal that’s supposed to go faster than I can run. It’s just a lot. It’s higher stakes than just using your own body.
Kim (as Val): Well, good news for you, we don’t have to move this box any faster than you want to. We can take things as slow as you want. We’re in a controlled environment. All you have to do is just the tiniest little sliver of pressure on the gas and it’s gonna move like a dream. It’ll be fine. You are in control. I know it’s not your own body, but you’re the one who’s moving it, so you don’t have to do anything that’ll make you uncomfortable. You got it?
Minna (as Arlene): [tense] Mm-hmm.
Kim (as Val): Alright. You look like you wanna… Do you wanna do some deep breaths or something? You still don’t look convinced.
Minna (as Arlene): No, I’m… I’m fine! I’m fine. I’m fine.
Kim (as Val): Alright! Alright.
Minna: [laughs]
Kim (as Val): So, uh… let’s get this thing out of park. You’re gonna wanna use that thing right there.
Minna (as Arlene): Uh, okay, um…
Kim (as Val): Put it in drive.
Minna (as Arlene): I see.
Kim (as Val): Mm-hmm, and uh… now you’re just gonna wanna—You see that pedal right there? You’re just gonna want a little bit of pressure on your foot and just nudge it forward. Alright?
Minna: I think she does it and it’s a pretty smooth start, all told, because she’s probably being overly cautious. [laughs]
Kim: Right.
Kim (as Val): See? That’s good. You’re doing great. Now, just turn a little bit here to the right so we can just make a lap, alright?
Minna (as Arlene): Oh, okay…
Kim: I like the idea that maybe Hedwig set up a bunch of cones for us or some placeholders for cones.
[giggling]
Rhi: As Arlene does a couple slow laps…
Minna: Mm-hmm.
Kim: I think during one of the passes Val is just gonna flash a thumbs up over to Hedwig, being like “yeah, we’re doing it.”
Rhi: [laughs] Yeah. Hedwig gives a big double thumbs up back. “You’re doing great!” As you slowly inch by at like two miles an hour.
Kim: Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
Kim (as Val): See? You’re a natural at this already. That’s all there is to it.
Minna (as Arlene): [weakly] Yay…
Kim (as Val): You’re doing great. You’re doing great.
Minna (as Arlene): Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm… Uh, so, it’s just—it’s so big, and I’m sure it, uh, turns corners well for a car, but it turns corners well for a car.
Kim (as Val): What are you getting at?
Minna (as Arlene): I’m saying it’s unwieldy.
Minna: [giggles]
Kim (as Val): Do you not like it? Because we could just… we could borrow a different car if you don’t like this one.
Minna (as Arlene): I don’t know anything about cars.
Kim (as Val): Well, some cars kinda handle a little bit differently than others. You might not like this one, but if we just get a different make or a different model, maybe something a little newer, maybe it’ll mesh with you a little bit better.
Minna (as Arlene): Whatever you think sounds good.
Kim (as Val): Let’s just stick with this for now, you’re still learning, but maybe next time we’ll get you a different make. How does that sound?
Minna (as Arlene): [small] Okay.
Rhi: [laughs] And after this I’ll take you out for ice cream.
Kim: Exactly.
Minna: Will you get me a Cool Tires?
Kim: Yes!
[laughter]
Rhi: I think whenever you finish and go to return the keys to Hedwig she’ll just, you know, give Arlene a big grin.
Rhi (as Hedwig): So, you think you’re gonna buy one anytime soon?
Minna (as Arlene): Absolutely not.
Rhi: [laughs]
Minna (as Arlene): Listen. I will take the train, the public transport, even if it means I have to deal with that one guy who doesn’t like me. It’s fine!
Kim (as Val): Oh, is he giving you trouble? Is there someone I should know about?
Minna (as Arlene): More like I’m giving him trouble~
Rhi (as Hedwig): Atta girl.
Kim (as Val): Fair enough. Fair enough.
Rhi: So, Hedwig will see you on your way, car-free, back into the streets…
Kim: Yup.
Rhi: …to go get ice cream.
Kim: And a Cool Tire.
Rhi: And a Cool Tire. [laughs] I think that’s where we’ll end it.
Kim: Yay~
Minna: Eee!
## Outro [00.46.10]
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.
Rhi: If you’d like to dedicate a personal message to a friend, family member, gaming group, or other special Clever Corvids fan in your life, you can do so right here! Visit clevercorvids.net and click on Jumbotron Messages under the Support Us menu to buy your very own message. As always, thanks to all our Patreon backers, whose ongoing support makes this show possible.
## Bloopers [00.48.03]
Rhi: Hang on. Let me put myself on mute for a minute to see if I can bust out Irish. We’re gonna see if I can do it.
[accented] Testing out—Alright. Delivery from the Breakers? The Breakers… No, this is Australian. This is definitely Australian. This is not what I want at all. … Fuck. The delivery? The delivery? The deliver, from the Breakers?
[back to normal] Okay, I tried and I kept ending up Australian.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: [sighs] So, I don’t think that’s gonna work. I’m just not gonna do an accent.