Transcribed by Michelle Kelly.
## Intro
Welcome back to Imperial City, and to Season 2! We’re so excited to have you with us as we continue this story. Last season was the origin story for the Whisky Jays; now we get to see how they handle all the challenges life in the capital can throw at them as independent criminals.
As always, if you’re enjoying the show, please leave us a review, post about us on social media, buy some merch, or back us on Patreon! Patrons can currently listen to the Season 1 Q&A, which will be released for general listening in about a month. But if you just can’t wait to hear which cast member would be the lone human in a Muppet version of our show or what the PCs’ Pokemon teams would be, you can back us now.
In addition, since Twitter is in uncertain condition, to put it mildly, we’ve set up a Tumblr! The link is in the show notes and the credits. If you’re worried about Twitter collapsing in on itself and want to keep up with all Clever Corvids shenanigans, including news about Love & Hellfire and any other shows we may run, that’s a good place to follow us.
Next, this week is Thanksgiving in the United States. It’s an increasingly fraught holiday, as more and more people become aware of the fact that it’s essentially a celebration of settler colonialism. In light of that, I encourage non-Native listeners in the U.S. to look for ways to support Indigenous Americans in your communities. The NDN Collective and National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center are two great places to start. We have links to both in the show notes.
I also encourage non-Native listeners to learn about the Indian Child Welfare Act, which is currently being challenged at the Supreme Court. This act was designed to prevent the cultural genocide of removing Indigenous children from their families and communities and placing them with white, Christian families. The law is being challenged by a white, Christian couple that wants to adopt and convert Indigenous children, and it’s made it to a Supreme Court that’s proven itself intensely hostile to the rights of marginalized people. There’s a link in the show notes where you can learn more and donate to organizations fighting to protect the rights of Indigenous people in America.
And as always, no matter where you are, look for ways to help your communities. At the end of the day, we need to build strong networks to support each other outside of the systems of power that have proven unreliable. It’s the best way forward for all of us.
Now then. Let’s get started, shall we?
## Story continues [00.03.03]
Rhi: We open up on Imperial City at the beginning of summer. It doesn’t get hot here, not really, not since the sun shattered into fragments whose light barely pierces the eternal dark. But it’s warmer than the rest of the year. Warm enough to turn the fog into sticking humidity. Warm enough to fuel tempers across the city. As we move through the streets, we see a protest in the Ironworks, striking union workers squaring off against Bluecoats come to shut them down. An armored car tearing through the skyscraper-lined streets, the passengers spraying bullets into the glass panes of a ground-floor restaurant. A being of smoke and embers stalking through the streets – not invisible, but somehow no one will remember its passage.
Minna: Hmm…
Rhi: The city is changing, as it always has. But the changes are becoming too loud for those in power to ignore. We finally settle at a fine manor house on a quiet street, a scene in contrast to the violence plaguing the city. But looks can be deceiving, and never more so than here. We move through one of the windows into a very well-furnished study, where we see two women, one sitting, one standing behind her at the desk. The standing woman we recognize as Lavender, one of the assassins who came after the Whisky Jays. The other woman is unfamiliar, but the way she sits at the desk, the way she commands the space makes it clear that she’s in charge here. They’re both reading a letter of some kind and as we come in the woman at the desk sets the paper down and says:
Rhi (as Woman): Well, at least Rowan’s not completely wasting her time in Iruvia.
Rhi: Lavender sort of frowns at the paper and asks:
Rhi (as Lavender): Should we alert Heliotrope?
Rhi: The other woman makes a face.
Rhi (as Woman): I prefer to handle this in-house first. Take care of this. Bring back-up. Rowan tipped us off to Darjeeling’s weak points. Aim for those.
Rhi: Lavender nods and straightens and starts for the door, but stops as the other woman speaks again.
Rhi (as Woman): Lavender. I give second chances. Not third. Don’t screw this up again.
Rhi: Lavender stiffens a bit and nods, and exits through the door.
We cut over to the Whisky Jays garage in Kestrel Heights. The five of you, Echo, Val, Arlene, Darling and Pearl are gathered here a couple days after your most recent job. You all have been independent, free of your obligations to the Nightcaps, for a little over a month at this point. Independence has been… a little bit challenging. Turns out a lot of the connections that you had came through the Nightcaps. Uh, and the people who are personally your friends haven’t really had a lot of jobs to offer, so there hasn’t been as much work as you were hoping and your profits have overall been kind of low. What is everybody up to and looking like as we come into the garage? The start of summer, here.
Josie: I think Echo is up on the couch and is kind of, has her leg up close to her so that she can get at her foot. And I think, like, some of the plating on her foot is off and she’s got— she’s got some narrow tools in there, tinkering with something. It looks like she’s installing like a, um, like an aux plug. But she’s working on that.
Kim: So I think Valerie is currently bracing themselves over a desk and just poring over piles and piles of papers, maps, phone numbers, classified ads maybe. I think not getting as much work as they were expecting starting out has made them a little bit frazzled. They really wanna get the ball rolling on this. So they’re just working real hard to make those connections, to get those jobs, to like, get back in action. And they’re wearing their normal clothes, their usual hair. Their sleeves are probably rolled up or something and, you know, since maybe it’s summer, I know it doesn’t get that much hotter but maybe they’re just— they don’t have a bowtie on, maybe the first one or two buttons are undone, something like that.
Rhi: Yeah, it doesn’t get super hot, but it gets humid.
Minna: Eugh.
Kim: Oh. That’s disgusting.
Rhi: So even if it’s not that hot, you still get sweaty.
Kim: Oh gross, yeah. I hate that.
Rhi: Yeah, it’s gross. Summer is the grossest season in Imperial City.
Kim: Yeah, in that case I think they’re probably not wearing a vest either.
Rhi: Yeah, just shirt sleeves?
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: Echo doesn’t feel humidity anymore.
Josie: Nope.
Rhi: [laughs] Echo, no longer sweating. There are some advantages to being a hull. [laughs]
Josie (as Echo): It is a small upside.
Minna: Well, I think in the heat Arlene has discovered the joys of if you make me wear stockings, I will fight you. [laughs] Yeah, I think she is currently fanning herself, to be honest.
Rhi: [laughs]
Minna: Listening to conversation and piping in from where she’s lying on the floor.
Rhi: [laughs] Yeah. Floor is definitely a lot cooler.
Aki: I need you to know. I need you to understand. I never thought ahead to seasons in this setting. I just thought, sun’s out, must be cold a lot of the time.
Rhi: [laughs] It’s not hot. It’s just…
Aki: Humid.
Rhi: Humid.
Aki: Disgusting. It is disgusting.
Josie: Moist.
Rhi: Cold and humid is the worst.
Aki: Yucky, yucky. I would know. Those are the weathers that we have in Canada. Construction, winter, humid. That’s it.
Rhi: [laughs]
Josie: Did you just consider “construction” a weather?
Aki: Construction is a weather! Construction is a weather.
Rhi: Yeah. Construction is a season, yes.
Aki: Yes.
Josie: Oh. I see. [laughs]
Rhi: Anyway, what’s Darling wearing? Or doing? [laughs]
Aki: No, wearing is very important. And the answer is… she’s tits out, basically. More out than, like, usual. Because Darling’s actually a very, like, you know, proper suit type of person majority of the time. It’s that air of like, professionalism and all that kind of stuff. But all of that’s out the window, it’s so hot and humid. So, she’s probably in some, like, out of modesty, some super-sheer robe? Like, it’s just the layer serves no purpose at all besides modesty. Everything else, it’s like, no bra, titty, barely wearing pants, walking around, dying. She’s got a lot of hair so that’s up and it’s like, the tail is bumping into every—the tail sweat must be horrible, actually.
Minna: [groans]
Josie: Ugh…
Aki: That’s like a whole other thing to worry about.
Josie: That little like, fold there must be above the booty.
Aki: Disgusting!
Josie: [laughs]
Minna: [laughs]
Aki: She must be so uncomfortable actually. Probably just in and out of the areas that are the coolest. Pearl, um, the bathtub. I don’t even know if there’s a bathtub— we have a kiddie pool though.
Rhi: [laughs]
Aki: That is what one of our purchases has been over the two weeks or whatever— two months. Whatever. It’s been a kiddie pool so Pearl can just sit in it, because if that cat overheats, we’re all gonna hear about it.
Rhi: Mm hmm.
Josie: Her claws better just not poke through it.
Rhi: [laughs]
Aki: I don’t think—
Rhi: It’s aluminum.
Aki: Yeah, I think she’s just— I think she’s really just laying and taking naps, all that stuff, in this pool of water.
Rhi: So, it’s into this scene of stress and mild to moderate discomfort that your phone rings. And you all have ben sharing the garage phone number more because this is, now that you, again, don’t have a whole other big gang apparatus to pass messages onto you, this is the best way for people to get in touch with you if they need your services. So, who’s gonna grab the phone?
Kim: I think I will.
Rhi: Alright. So, Val, you pick up the phone and the voice on the other side asks:
Rhi (as Caller): Is this the correct number to speak with the Whisky Jays?
Kim (as Val): It sure is.
Rhi (as Caller): Wonderful. I’m known as Beacon and I represent an interested party working in Ivy Ridge. Would it be possible for us to meet to talk about a job?
Kim (as Val): Um yeah, yeah, absolutely. Whereabouts
Rhi (as Beacon): Wherever you prefer to meet with clients, I can be there.
Kim (as Val): Uh, yeah, yeah. Um, you familiar with the Black Rabbits Club?
Rhi (as Beacon): I am familiar with it, yes. I can find my way there.
Kim (as Val): Great. Just swing over there by uh, round closing time and I’ll meet you there.
Rhi (as Beacon): Wonderful. I look forward to speaking with you.
Kim (as Val): Likewise, Beacon.
Rhi: So, a job has presented itself.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: You all gonna head over there together to meet with this mysterious individual?
Josie (as Echo): Sigh. I will close up my feet.
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi: Darling’s gonna have to put on real clothes.
Aki (as Darling): [sighs] I have to dress modestly. Yuck.
Aki: And by modestly, I think…
Josie (as Echo): That is up to you. I am fine with it either way.
Kim (as Val): Yeah, you look great.
Aki (as Darling): Yes, but if we have a job, this is not the most appropriate thing to wear on, like, during the job.
Josie (as Echo): But to be fair, we are all sexy, so…
Minna: [laughs]
Josie (as Echo): It’s one of the assets of hiring us.
Minna: [laughs] We create a new reputation, Sexy.
[laughter]
Rhi: Open up the character sheet…
Aki (as Darling): There’s always a chance that you fall madly in love with one of us.
Josie: [laughs]
Aki (as Darling): At least one of us.
Kim: [laughs]
Aki: Um, I do think Darling, though, will unfortunately put— actually, no, I think Darling’s going to wear a very long skirt. Just to keep some sort of breathability, and probably the equivalent of just a vest. That’s modest enough, I feel.
Rhi: Yeah. [laughs] So, yeah, you all get dressed, put yourselves back together, etc, and head over. And you’ve got some time before close, so you don’t have to rush to get over there, but you make your way over to the Black Rabbit, which is a speakeasy where Val performs sometimes. And yeah, you all arrive a little bit before closing, about fifteen minutes before, and at first the waiter near the front door, clearly doing some cleaning and sees the five of you come in and just has that unique look of sort of neutral dread that all customer service people know when a big group comes in right before closing.
Minna and Josie: [laugh]
Rhi: But then they spot Val and that kind goes away and is like:
Rhi (as Waiter): Oh, hey Val. Uh, you all need a booth again?
Kim (as Val): Yeah, yeah, sorry to spook you, Clark. It’s just us.
Rhi (as Clark): Okay. No, it’s… it’s good, it’s good. I don’t have to— I don’t have to worry about stopping cleaning up for all of you. You meeting somebody here?
Kim (as Val): Yeah. Uh… just, you know. Try not to be in hearing distance, if you catch my drift.
Rhi (as Clark): Oh I, yeah, no. No. I will be on the other side of the room, don’t worry.
Kim (as Val): Appreciate it.
Rhi: So, uh, yeah. You all— I think that um, you’ve been— when you need to meet with clients in person, Val has been kind of setting up meetings here. So you all have a usual booth now. It’s a little bit towards the back, away from the stage, a little more private. And what did you— what name did you give the waiter?
Kim: Clark? [laughs]
Rhi: Clark, okay.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: So, Clark brings you all just some water glasses. Again, the place is almost closed, they’re not opening up bottles for you. It’s like, we’ll let you use the space, but there’s limits. And just a couple minutes later, you hear Clark speaking up at the front door again and then they walk somebody over. The person who comes to your booth, and I think kind of grabs a chair and brings it over so that they can sort of sit at the head of the table and see all of you, is a transmasc person with dark skin, very short dark hair, is wearing a— Darling, you probably can’t believe how he is suffering with this outfit— suit, button-up shirt, no tie, which is the only concession to the weather, and gloves.
Josie: I mean, Echo’s basically wearing the same thing, so… [laughs] I guess we’re counterparts.
Rhi: Yes, but Echo… Echo doesn’t… you know? It’s sort of like, okay, either this person is really committed to the aesthetic and doesn’t care how much he’s sweating under it, or another hull.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: Only explanations. [laughs] So, he sits down and kind gives you all a nod and is like:
Rhi (as Beacon): I’m Beacon. Thank you all for agreeing to meet with me. Uh, as I mentioned on the phone, I have a job for you.
Josie (as Echo): Hello.
Rhi: Beacon will give Echo a nod.
Rhi (as Beacon): Are you all familiar with Ivalace?
Rhi: Out of character, I will tell you. Ivalace, you all would have heard of this… person? Crime lord? Gang? They run Ivy Ridge, which is the district just north of you all in Kestrel Heights.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: No other gangs can operate in there. They took over probably about five years ago and just systematically destroyed or drove everybody else out. Any other criminals who were operating in there either left or don’t exist anymore.
Kim: Oh jeez.
Rhi: And since then, they have no interest in expanding, apparently. They control Ivy Ridge and they seem to be happy with it. Who they are, what their operation is, nobody really knows. They’re just— they’re there and they have ironclad control over this district, but nobody’s really sure like, how many people are actually involved. So like, the fact that you’re talking with somebody who appears to be, like, working with Ivalace is… huge.
Kim: Mm hmm.
Rhi: It’s like, ‘Oh my God, so we know there’s at least two people, probably.’ [laughs]
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: Yeah. Beacon has asked are you familiar with this person? Entity? Gang?
Kim: Yeah. I think at that, Val’s eyes are going to widen just a little bit and say,
Kim (as Val): Well uh, only in passing. Why?
Rhi (as Beacon): I am one of their representatives. And it has come to their attention that you all are quite skilled at obtaining and transporting goods across the city. Is that correct?
Kim (as Val): That we are.
Rhi (as Beacon): Then the job that we would like you to do involves recovering an artifact from the Bones Town Mines. They are digging quite deep there and sometimes they dig up things that are very interesting. Ivalace has heard about one of these things and would like it. There’s a Spirit Warden outpost in the mine, up on the first level, where we believe the artifact is being held. If you can obtain it and bring it back to me, you will be paid a sum of 8 coin.
Rhi: That’s a bigger payout than you all have had in months. Even before leaving the Nightcaps, Benny didn’t pay like that. And none of your more recent clients have paid like that either.
Josie (as Echo): I see.
Kim (as Val): Do… do we get a hint as to what this artifact looks like?
Rhi (as Beacon): From what we understand, it is a mask of some sort. I expect it should be fairly easy to locate. The Spirit Wardens based within the mine tend not to hold artifacts there for very long. They transfer them to the Palace for security and study.
Kim (as Val): Hmm.
Rhi (as Beacon): So it’s likely to be the only one there.
Kim (as Val): Well, if you say so. I’ll trust your intel for now.
Josie (as Echo): But this artifact is headed towards the Palace?
Rhi (as Beacon): Once they figure out how to transport it safely, yes. It’s been held there longer than usual, which indicates that this is something more powerful than what they typically dig up. Which is why we want it.
Josie (as Echo): I see. We will be discreet, but is Ivalace prepared to have something that the palace will see as theirs?
Rhi: Beacon just sort of gives you a thin smile and says,
Rhi (as Beacon): Quite prepared. But you don’t need to concern yourself with that. All you need to do is obtain it and bring it to us.
Josie (as Echo): Alright.
Rhi (as Beacon): Do we have a deal?
Kim (as Val): It sounds like a deal to me.
Kim: Val’s gonna reach out a hand to shake.
Rhi: Yeah, and Beacon reaches out to shake as well, and as he does so, his sleeve, you know, the sleeve slides back a little bit because, you know, stretching out an arm, and you can see kind of the gap between glove and the sleeve cuff. And all of you can kind of catch a glimpse of these glowing blue tattoos.
Kim: Ooh…
Rhi: That seem to run all the way down the arm and go, continue up onto the hand under the glove. So, just a quick shake and then Beacon stands, nods and will place a business card down. And they say,
Rhi (as Beacon): Once it’s done, come to this address. I will be waiting.
Kim (as Val): We’ll be there.
Rhi: And then they leave.
Kim (as Val): Eight coin.
Josie (as Echo): That is more than I am used to.
Kim (as Val): It is music to my ears.
Aki (as Darling): Well, it’s been a fucking while, yeah.
Kim (as Val): We’d better not screw this up.
Josie (as Echo): I am worried that we are stealing directly from Imperial resources. We can’t afford to screw this one up.
Kim (as Val): Nope. And so, we won’t.
Josie (as Echo): Alright.
Rhi: So, um, you do have a little bit of a time frame here. You need to kind of move on this fairly quickly, but you do have enough wiggle room. Beacon wasn’t like, ‘You have to do this tonight’. You have a couple days to do some research and some prep. So, if you would all like to gather some info, you can do that.
Kim: Have we been over to Bones Town yet?
Rhi: No, you have not. So, Bones Town is, um, out of the edge of the city. Let me open up the map… it’s um, next to the Ironworks and it’s where the, you know, Duskwall has a huge coal mine, Bones Town has basically a huge iron mine. And for a long time, the ore that comes out of Bones Town has been feeding the Ironworks, to keep those factories running. The mine there is very old and it goes very deep. And there is always rumors about weird stuff coming out of there. This is the first time you’ve had that confirmed. It is also, similar to the Ironworks— it’s actually, I would say, probably worse off than the Ironworks in terms of sort of poverty.
Kim: Jeez.
Rhi: The people who work the mine and can afford to live somewhere else live in Riverside. The people who can’t afford to live anywhere else live in Bones Town. And it’s not a good place. It’s very rundown, basically no city funding goes into it, and the miners were one of the last to unionize and they unfortunately do not have a very strong union at this point. So their working conditions are still pretty terrible. They’re not getting paid very well.
Kim: Mm.
Rhi: So it is a very, uh, exploited place, both in terms of the physical ground and the people who live there.
Kim: Well, that stinks.
Rhi: Yeah, it’s not great. [laughs]
Kim: [sighs] Okay. So…
Rhi: That said, it’s not a place where there’s a lot of cops.
Kim: Right.
Rhi: The city doesn’t invest much of anything in it, so Bluecoat presence is minimal at best.
Kim: Well that’s good. Um, all of that being said—
Rhi: Good for you all doing crime.
Kim: Yeah. All that being said, I think for my Gather Info I’d like to do some research into the area in general. Where the best entrance to the mine is, stuff like that.
Rhi: Okay. How do you wanna go about doing that?
Kim: [blows out air while thinking] I mean, to me, that just sounds like a Study roll. Unless like…
Rhi: Okay. Are you, like, looking at maps and stuff?
Kim: Yeah, but like, I don’t have anything in Study, so I’m trying to figure out a way I can Consort my way about this, maybe?
Rhi: You could, um, I mean you could just physically go to Bones Town and scope the area.
Kim: That’s kinda what I’m thinking, yeah.
Rhi: Yeah. Um, that could be a Study, or not a Study, a Survey. If Survey’s better for you?
Kim: Slightly. I’ll go with it.
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim: Oh, we still get a +1 to Gather Info, don’t we?
Rhi: Uh huh.
Kim: Oh, alright, yeah. Let’s go with Survey then. See what we get. [rolls dice] Mm. That’s a 3?
Rhi: Mm. Okay. So, what you find is that there is a single entrance to the mine. It’s pretty well-guarded. And the streets kind of in Bones Town are in pretty bad repair, some of them are even the old cobblestone streets. The city hasn’t even come in here and like, paved things over. And a lot of the rest of the city, you know, it was cobblestone and as cars became more and more prevalent they started paving everything. They haven’t paved here, for the most part. So, driving through here is gonna be a little rough, especially if you need— like, if you’re just driving normally it’ll be a bumpy ride, but it’ll be fine. If you’re trying to go fast, the state of the streets in terms of like, pot holes and other things is gonna make it difficult.
Kim: Oh, so it’s Massachusetts.
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim: [laughs] Okay.
Rhi: In your looking around you can only find one entrance to the mine. It is the mine entrance.
Kim: Okay.
Rhi: It is guarded.
Kim: Alright.
Rhi: So yeah.
Kim: Hmm.
Rhi: Who else wants to look into things?
Josie: I think it’s time to actually see one of my other friends.
Rhi: Oh ho…
Josie: I want to go see Aleksi, a cultist, because I want someone who might have some idea what the hell they found down there.
Rhi: Oh, interesting. Okay. I like this. Tell me about Aleski. What— what kinda cult is this person in?
Josie: Um, well, I’m thinking they/them pronouns for Aleski.
Rhi: Okay.
Josie: And I’m trying to decide whether it’s someone who has ties to Skovlan forgotten Gods or different ones.
Rhi: I will tell you it’s probably more advantageous for them to be associated with non-Skovlan gods, because there’s not gonna be a lot of Skovlan artifacts being dug up in Imperial City.
Josie: Yeah. I think this is kind of the mid-point; I think they’re a cultist of the Father of the Abyss.
Rhi: Okay.
Josie: But I think Echo first got involved with them because Skovlaners also honor the Father of the Abyss under a different guise or aspect, right?
Rhi: Yeah, yeah.
Josie: So, in trying to reconnect with that stuff she kind of fell in with them. And I don’t think she really wants to be a part of Aleski’s way of doing things, but Aleski maybe wants her to join up at some point. But as far as talking about, like, faith and mysticism and stuff, Aleski is a good companion, I think.
Rhi: Okay, cool. I like this. Um, give me a roll and we’ll see what Aleski knows.
Josie: I feel like this is a Consort?
Rhi: Yes. And you do get a bonus die.
Josie: Oh yeah. [rolls dice]
Rhi: Because you all have— everybody gets an extra die on these.
Josie: Uh, I got a 6 on one die.
Rhi: Okay! Nice. So, yeah, um, Aleski uh… as you’re talking, you know, you ask about hearing rumors of some artifact in the Bone Town mines. And they look kind of frustrated for a minute when you bring it up and they tell you that some of their people [laughs] ended up getting captured by the Spirit Wardens and hauled off to who knows where, they’re probably dead at this point, because they tried to make a similar run at this artifact. They didn’t get very far.
But they kinda confirm that it’s some kind of mask and from what they understand of sort of the… both kind of hitting the books and also more esoteric occult investigations, which you know can range from chatting to ghosts to using the ghost field to look into the past to other weird stuff, this artifact has something to do with connecting to other planes of existence.
Kim: Hmm…
Rhi: The ghost field is another plane of reality bleeding into ours. The ghost field is not the only one. There are others. And this mask has something to do with seeing into them or connecting in some way. And they really wanted it, but they lost too many people in their one attempt and its just not— it’s not possible to risk that kind of loss again. And I think that, like, if they get even the slightest hint that you’re going after it, they start trying to make you all of these offers – none of them monetary –of what they would do for you if you would just bring it to them instead of whoever has hired you.
Josie (as Echo): I apologize. It was already paid for by a client. After the job is finished, perhaps you can take it up with them.
Rhi (as Aleski): Who could possibly be interested in this?
Josie (as Echo): It’s bad form to share while on the job.
Rhi (as Aleski): [frustrated sigh] We’ll figure it out. If it’s out of there, it’ll probably be easier to get ahold of anyway.
Josie (as Echo): Yes. On the one hand, I would rather trust someone I know with it than someone I don’t. On the other hand, I do kind of want to take a peek through that mask.
Rhi (as Aleski): Understandable. Well I guess if you can— once the job’s done, if you would be kind enough to let slip anything you know about its new whereabouts, it’d be much appreciated.
Josie (as Echo): I will see what I can do.
Rhi: Yeah. Yeah, it’s—[laughs] they don’t push you too much harder on that. And if you don’t ever share that information, it won’t damage the relationship too much.
Josie: Yeah. Also, I just processed that we’re going up against Spirit Wardens.
Rhi: Uh huh!
Josie: And Echo feels things about that. [laughs]
Rhi: Mm hmm.
Kim: Oh no.
Josie: Lots of things.
Kim: Oh no!
Rhi: Yeah. So, Darling? Arlene? Any thoughts on what you’d like to do to Gather Info about this… this here heist?
Minna: Just let me look at my people.
Aki: I’m still thinking. [laughs]
Josie: [laughs]
Aki: Maybe, uh, well Spirit Wardens are active here. Maybe scoping out like, a schedule? Patrolling schedule or something for them? To make our jobs slightly easier?
Rhi: Yeah, yeah. You can try and do that. Uh, what skill do you wanna roll for attempting that?
Aki: Can I argue Hunt?
Rhi: Probably… let me look at the description for Hunt again real quick. Alright, Hunt. “Carefully track a target.” Hmm…
Aki: [giggles]
Rhi: I’ll allow it.
Aki: We’re starting off strong with a 6.
Rhi: Alright. So, you— I’m imaging— the way that I’m picturing the mine is that, you know, there’s the actual cavern that is the entrance to the mine, but that’s got structures built out over it, and then in front of it is sort of a closed-off yard where, you know, you would have vehicles come in to pick up the ore and people can move around. So, what you’re able to see from outside— I’m imagining that you kind of get up on a building that’s high enough you can kinda see down into the yard past the fences— is that the Spirit Wardens, it looks like, work eight-hour shifts. Like, you have to hang out up here for a long time on this roof. And there is not— they overlap.
Like, you will see a group of Spirit Wardens go in and then like fifteen minutes later a diff— well, you’re assuming it’s a different group. They all look basically the same, they’re all wearing these deep navy-blue long coats and brass masks. But you’re assuming it’s a different group comes back out. So it’s not like, you know, one group clocks out and leaves and then the other group comes in, they overlap with each other. There’s not a clean break point in their presence in the mine. You got a 6. Do you have— like, you can ask questions if you want additional follow-up information. I’m trying to think of what else I can tell you. Because you got a 6, I should be able to give you some more details. They wear identical uniforms, that’s an important thing.
Aki: Yeah. Identical uniforms. Hmm… could I maybe have like, followed… quote, unquote “followed” one to get, like, a better place of where they take their breaks or something?
Rhi: That would require you to get into the mine facility itself, which… hmm. You wouldn’t have been able to do at this point.
Aki: Mm. I really don’t have any follow-up questions, because it doesn’t feel like anything else can be given.
Rhi: I will say you— if you want, you can follow the Spirit Wardens who left and see where they go, because that could also potentially be useful information if, for example, you wanted to steal some uniforms.
Aki: Yes, that was the intention of a break area, just in case.
Rhi: Gotcha, gotcha. So, you probably won’t be able to steal them from the inside, but you could maybe steal them from the outside. So, they go back to a— the group, I think it’s like a group of four that leave, they go back to— they have like a, it’s like a cross between a police station house and a temple. [laughs] Is kind of the vibe. They have an outpost in northern Kestrel Heights, kind of just on the border between Kestrel Heights and Ivy Ridge, where they head back to. And it seems like that’s kind of where the Spirit Wardens who are working in Bones Town, it seems like this is kind of where they will come back to break and things, because it’s a lot closer than going all the way back to the crematorium in Belltower. So, you’re able to identify where they are returning to for, you know, the end of their shift.
Aki: Um… hmm. Unless— okay, so unless you have something for Arlene to do, you are the sneakier one out of us.
Minna: That’s true.
Aki: Wanna go commit a theft?
Minna: Yes. [laughs]
Aki and Josie: [laugh]
Aki: I go tell— I immediately go tell her where, um, I go tell Arlene where to steal and what to steal, and I give her a mother’s approval.
Rhi: [laughs] So, this we’re gonna treat kinda like a setup action for the engagement roll. I’ve done this a few times before. If it goes well, you’ll one, have uniforms, which will be kind of advantageous to the whole score, but it’ll also give you at least one bonus die on the engagement roll. If it goes badly, it could give you a negative die on the engagement roll.
Minna: Uh huh.
Rhi: So, those are the stakes.
Minna: Well. [laughs] That’s a 6.
Rhi: Okay. [laughs] I assume that was Prowl?
Minna: Yes.
Rhi: Yeah. So, tell me how you go about committing this theft.
Minna: Hmm. How am I getting myself to the Spirit Warden outpost? I mean, it’s probably just, you know, rappelling down from the roof. They’re not normally looking for non-magical threats, to be honest, probably. You know, get in through a window, wait until I don’t hear anybody, and go exploring.
Rhi: I imagine you just like are able to grab the coats out of like—
Minna: Yeah, like a closet or something, yeah.
Rhi: The laundry room. Yeah. [laughs] The masks are a little harder, because they very rarely take those off. But I think that you’re able to find some like, spare ones, you know, in case a mask gets damaged in some kind of confrontation with the occult. They keep some spare ones here so that someone can continue to wear the uniform while they’re waiting for their mask to be appropriately repaired. So yeah, you all have four Spirit Warden uniforms. Congrats. Is there anything else you would like to do to prepare for this heist?
Aki: Figure out can we, can we like, are weather apps— not apps, but like, is there a weather man? Can we be like, what day is not humid please? We’re gonna have to wear big uniforms and masks!
Josie: [laughs] I don’t think there’s an escape from it.
Rhi: So, I think that what you’re able to get in listening to the radio is the weather’s not gonna get much better in the short— you only have a couple days to pull this off and in the next few days it’s going to continue to be gross. So, you are just going to continue to suffer.
Kim: Well, that’s too bad.
Rhi: Mm hmm. Um yeah, anything else you all wanna do or are you just gonna go for it?
Kim: I can’t think of anything else. I’m ready to go for it, I think.
Josie: Yeah.
Rhi: Alright. Let’s do the engagement roll. This feels like a deception, in terms of how you’re starting this off. You are posing as Spirit Wardens. That sound right?
Kim: I think so.
Josie: Mm hmm.
Rhi: Okay. And your detail is disguises. So, let’s figure out the engagement roll. You get one for luck. Is this operation bold or daring?
Kim: Sort of? We’re kind of stealing from the Empire, in a sense?
Aki: But we’re really well disguised.
Josie: Mm hmm.
Rhi: It’s still pretty dar— cause here’s the thing. You get caught with these disguises? You are sooo fucked.
Kim: Yeah….
Rhi: Impersonating Spirit Wardens is a major, major crime.
Kim: Yeah. Turns out, they don’t really like it when you impersonate ghost cops.
Rhi: Yeah. The ghost cops don’t appreciate it. Does the plan’s detail expose a vulnerability of the target or hit them where they’re weakest? I don’t think so, but I also don’t think they have a real— a special defense against this. Friends or contacts… no. Enemies or rivals, also no.
Aki: We used a contact to help with information.
Rhi: I mean that’s true, you did get help from one of your contacts, so they did provide some aid and insight. And then because of Arlene’s really good setup roll you’re gonna get another die. I am gonna knock a die off though, because the Spirit Wardens are a much higher Tier than you all. So, this is gonna be a3d6 engagement roll. Let’s see what it says. Got a 6.
Kim: Nice.
Rhi: A 6 and a pair of 2s. [laughs] So that extra die from Arlene was very helpful. So, you’ll be in a controlled position heading in to this.
We find the Whisky Jays as they reach the front gates of the mine. And the mine has— like, the Spirit Wardens don’t run the mine. They have an outpost here, but they do not run it. There is a separate company that runs the mine, that has its own security. The security who works at the mine understands that the Spirit Wardens outclass them and outrank them in every imaginable way and just open the gates when people wearing the uniform show up. So, you all are able to walk in and cross the yard and get to the entrance of the mine without any trouble. Nobody tries to stop you. The mine security’s main goal with the Spirit Wardens is minimal interaction, so they let you all go through no problem.
Your first hurdle is figuring out where the hell you need to go, because you’re walking into a mine. You know that the Spirit Warden outpost is up on the first level of this mine. It’s not like you’re gonna have to go down really deep to get to it, but it’s a mine. There are tunnels going off in different directions. It’s well-lit in here, but you don’t know where you’re supposed to go. The only thing you know is it’s on this level. You don’t know where the outpost actually is.
Josie: Can I look into the ghost field and try to trace, like, arcane trails? Because I gotta figure eventually if we follow the magic shit we’ll end up at the box.
Rhi: Yeah. Yeah, no, that’s definitely a good approach. So you’re rolling Attune for that?
Josie: Yeah.
Rhi: Okay. I will also say, because I’m gonna pull this thread over from Magpies, all of the Spirit Warden masks act as spirit masks, which allow you to— make it a little easer to look into the ghost field. Provide a little more clarity. So, this is gonna be, since you have the spirit mask, controlled, standard.
Josie: Okay. Think I’ll just roll that straight.
Rhi: Alright. You don’t do anything straight Josie, don’t lie to us.
Josie: That’s true. Thank you for correcting me.
Rhi: [laughs]
Josie: I got another 6. Is this gonna be another easy one? There’s a lot of 6s so far… [laughs]
Rhi: The Spirit Wardens are Tier V.
Josie: Ah. I see.
Rhi: No. [laughs]
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: It’s gonna get hard at some point. So—
Kim: That’s what she said.
Rhi: … you—
Josie: Eyy!
Kim: [starts to sing comedy stinger but is interrupted by Rhi]
Rhi: No, that’s… that’s fair. I did— I set that one up.
Kim: Thank you.
Rhi: Like tee-ball.
Kim: [laughs]
Rhi: Um, so yeah, Echo, you’re peering through this mask and sort of shift your gaze into the ghost field and yeah, you’re able to see… it’s almost like kind of tracer lines, but, you know, from tracer bullets, but instead of just the line of a bullet going through the air, it’s the sort of faint glittering series of like, runes and sigils left through the ghost field. And they lead forward and then kind of turn down a side passage a little ways into the mine. Like, you’re gonna be… it’s not right at the entrance, you have to go in a ways. But with a 6, you are able to make your way down this mine and again, nobody really stops you. None of the miners or mine security want to interfere with the Spirit Wardens.
So, you all are able to walk own this kind of main passage and then turn and you can see it’s, you know, built into the cave wall, but then there is, you know, what you’re guessing— Echo, you’re still looking through the ghost field and as you turn there is a door about halfway down this passage that just is blindingly bright. Like, it hurts you eyes a little bit when you first come around the corner and see it. So, it is enchanted to hell and back. Lot of spiritual arcane wards on this door. That’s probably where you’re going.
Josie (as Echo): Well, that door looks extremely important.
Kim (as Val): You sure?
Josie (as Echo): In the ghost field, it’s like looking right into a headlight.
Kim (as Val): Alright. Well, uh, we’ll follow your lead.
Josie (as Echo): Hmm. It is likely warded, but I will attempt to disable that. But we need to be ready for trouble if I mess up.
Rhi: And I wanna remind you from what Darling learned, when the Spirit Wardens swap shifts, they overlap. So, the people that you are quote-unquote “replacing” are still inside.
Josie: Mm hmm.
Rhi: So, [laughs] I just wanna remind you all of that, that like, you’re not gonna open this door into a nice, empty room. There are going to be other Spirit Wardens. Well, not other Spirit Wardens, you all aren’t Spirit Wardens. There’s going to be real Spirit Wardens in there when you get this door open one way or another. So.
Kim (as Val): Echo.
Rhi: Just putting that out there.
Kim (as Val): I’m gonna tell you this with all of the love in my heart. Do not mess this up.
Rhi: [laughs]
Josie (as Echo): Okay. But if the Spirit Wardens are on the other side of this door, we don’t need to disarm it, right? We can probably just go in.
Aki (as Darling): Pretty much, yes. We’re all in these gross, sweaty uniforms.
Rhi: Echo, I’ll give you this because of that 6. The door is warded such that you have to… you have to do something to the door to open it. It’s like, you know, if you had a locked door where a group of people had the key. There’s some kind of key.
Josie: Okay.
Rhi: You don’t know exactly what it is, but you’ve got to do something to unlock this. Because again, the Spirit Wardens don’t want any of the people that work here just wandering in through this door.
Josie (as Echo): Okay. I am trying to get the door open, but you all need to be ready to take up the deception. Because I think they will identify me as a hull if I start speaking.
Kim: You got it.
Rhi: Mm hmm. So, you’re trying to get this door open, Echo?
Josie: Yes. Uh… I don’t think I wanna fuck with it. I wanna see if looking into the ghost field still, I can see an after-image of someone else doing it.
Rhi: Oh, interesting.
Josie: Cause it seems like they’ve done it a fair bit relatively recently.
Rhi: Yeah. So like, looking for the— trying to figure out what pattern of keys to hit on a number pad based on how people have done it before.
Josie: Yes.
Rhi: But the occult, spooky version. Okay, yeah, yeah, I like that. [to herself] The circumstance here… [aloud] It’s gonna be risky… mm… risky, reduced. You do have the mask, so that’s helping.
Josie: What’s a Devil’s Bargain look like?
Rhi: The wards on this place are gonna interfere with your whole situation, Echo. And once you’re inside, you’re gonna effectively take level 1 harm. Let’s call it just sorta like Slowed. Like, the link between your spirit and your mechanical body is… frayed while you’re in the room. Out here it hasn’t kicked in yet, but once you get the door open and you move inside, your reaction times are all gonna be slower, so you’re gonna be at reduced effect on things that, you know, most physical things. Because your body is not responding as quickly as it should.
Josie: I’ll take that.
Rhi: Okay.
Josie: I wanna boost my effect.
Rhi: Alright. So, that’ll be risky, standard.
Josie: [rolls dice] I got a 5.
Rhi: Okay. So you do it, but there’s a consequence. Um, I think the consequence is that the Spirit Wardens inside are gonna be able to tell that you didn’t get the door open in the proper way. Something about the way that the door unlocked, the way the wards went down, was incorrect.
Josie: Okay.
Rhi: And I will remind you, you can resist every consequence, not just physical harm.
Josie: Yeah, I wanna resist that one.
Rhi: Okay. So that, I think, is going to be… I think it’s going to be Resolve.
Josie: Okey dokey.
Rhi: You rolled Attune, so…
Josie: [rolls dice] I got a 2.
Rhi: Oof. So 4 stress.
Josie: Great. [laughs]
Rhi: It takes a lot. If you could sweat, you would be sweating as you are very, very precisely, like— I think what it is is you can’t tell what happens, like, what a person physically does to take these wards down, but you can see the way in which the wards themselves release. And so, you’re having to like, match that movement without knowing how it’s supposed to be done. So, it’s hard. But you do it. You get— the lock releases, somebody else can haul the door open. It’s a big, heavy iron door. So, who’s going in first?
Kim: I can go in.
Rhi: Okay. So, yeah, Val you haul the door open and walk in with the rest of the group trailing you and there’s four Spirit Wardens in here. Darling saw that it’s always groups of four. And two of them are sitting at a table looking at some kind of paperwork. One of them is standing by— there’s like a big, like, glass observation window that looks out into the mine. One of them is standing by that window. It looks like it kind of is tracking… it goes along the tracks that lead further into the mine, so like, they can see what is brought up. And the last person looks like they were just kind of fiddling with a spiritbane charm. And that’s the person— like, they all look up and look at you in these very similar brass masks, and even though you can’t see their faces, the body language is, you know, kind of surprised. And the one closest to the door is just sort of like:
Rhi (as Spirit Warden): What are you doing here? Shift isn’t over for another hour.
Kim: Uh…. Hmm.
Rhi: Yep. [laughs]
Kim: [hums while thinking] Can I do a flashback where I may have done some research into… I’ve figured out the names of maybe some higher-up Spirit Warden commanding officer thing? People? Stuff?
Rhi: Um… yes. It’s going to be 3 stress.
Kim: Three?
Rhi: Uh, yeah. And you’re going to need to make a Study roll.
Kim: Oh. I don’t know if that’s worth it, I have nothing in Study.
Rhi: Yeah, that is not easily accessible information.
Kim: I know, I know it’s not. Alright. I— well then fuck it, I might just Sway and see what happens.
Rhi: Yeah. [laughs] Just try to bullshit.
Kim: Yeah. I think, yeah, this is how I’m gonna go about it. Val’s going to say,
Kim (as Val): Yeah, well uh, the boss had a change of plans. He uh— they want the shifts starting earlier now, so we’re here to relieve ya.
Rhi: Alright. Um… risky, zero effect.
Kim: Alright. [rolls dice] Alright, that’s a 5.
Rhi: So if you want to have any effect at all, you will have to push yourself.
Kim: That’s fine, that’s a 5.
Rhi: Okay. Did you— so you marked stress?
Kim: Oh? What am I stressing about?
Rhi: Well, because right now you have zero effect.
Kim: Which means…
Rhi: …you can’t do it. [laughs]
Kim: Oh…
Rhi: They’re not going to believe you.
Kim: Oh!
Rhi: So in order to have any effect at all, you have to push yourself.
Kim: Okay, meaning I take 2 stress.
Rhi: Mm hmm.
Kim: Alright, great, well I’ll pay that instead of the 3 to fail at a Study roll. [laughs]
Rhi: So, uh, and you— what did you get? A 5?
Kim: Yes.
Rhi: Okay. What did I say? Risky, zero? So you do it, but there’s a consequence.
Kim: We know how to play this game. [laughs]
Rhi: And you’re in reduced. So, the one who was looking out the window kind of turns fully to look at all of you and there’s not really any, like, insignias or marks of rank, but the way that the other three kind of look to that person, you get the impression that they’re the one in charge. And they, uh, it’s so hard to describe this when I can’t describe facial expressions… [laughs] Um, they’re quiet for a minute as they’re studying you, and then say,
Rhi (as Spirit Warden): Will need to verify this with command before we go. Security. You understand.
Kim (as Val): Well, what’s your name and rank?
Rhi: Gimme a roll…
Kim: [laughs] It’s gonna be another Sw— is it Sway?
Rhi: It’s Sway, it’s going to continue to be risky, zero effect. So…
Kim: So does that mean I have to push myself again to like, do any—
Rhi: Mm hmm.
Kim: [sighs] Ah! Fine! Alright… [shakes and rolls dice] Mm. 5 again. And I paid the stress.
Rhi: So you asked for your name and rank. Let me look at… so they don’t have names anymore. Spirit Wardens have a shocking amount in common with The Market in terms of taking young children away and stripping them of identity and giving them new names.
Kim: Yikes.
Rhi: Yep!
Aki: Super fun.
Rhi: Yeah. So, this person, again, like, cocks their head to the side a little bit and replies,
Rhi (as Spirit Warden): Song. Spirit Warden Captain. What’s yours?
## Outro [01.00.37]
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, our Twitter at clever_corvids, and our Tumblr at tumblr.com/clevercorvids.
The City That Never Dies is GM’d and edited by Rhi. She loves dice and daydreaming about RPG characters. 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. Minna is a lover of collaborative and audio-based storytelling. You can hear her elsewhere in Demon: Love and Hellfire. You can also find her on Twitter @mynaminnarr, where she is almost certainly talking about fanfiction.
Darling Tsering is played by Aki. Aki is a a queer, 1st generation Asian-Canadian game designer, tabletop performer, and all around content creator. Find her on Twitter @akinomii_art for more TTRPG Content.
Echo is played by Josie. Josie is a lesbian and a literal actual dragon. You can hear her GMing another Clever Corvids show: Demon: Love and Hellfire. You can find her on Twitter @dragongirljosie, the Love and Hellfire twitter @Love_Hellfire, and check out her art at josie-art.com.
Valerie Sullivan is played by Kim. Kim is a bisexual illustrator and performer. Find him on Twitter and Tumblr @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.
## Blooper [01.03.10]
Rhi: Three… two… one…
Josie, Kim, Minna and Rhi: Sync.
Aki: FitnessGram program.
Rhi: … what the fuck?
Aki: [laughs]
Kim: Did you say “FitnessGram Pacer Test” or something?
Aki: Yeah, but I said program, cause I was like, I don’t have enough time to say the whole quote.
Minna: [laughs]
Kim: “The FitnessGram Pacer Test is a multi-something…”
Rhi: Oh my God. Alright.