Transcribed by Raina Harper.
## Intro
Rhi: Welcome back to Imperial City. As always, thank you so much for joining us. If you’re enjoying this show or Love and Hellfire, our other Forged in the Dark actual play show, then please leave reviews! Or back our Patreon so we can keep paying our performers. Paying people for their work is one of my favorite things about running this whole operation, and your support makes that possible!
Next, Fabby of Love and Hellfire is going to tell us about this month’s featured charity.
Fabby: Hey everyone, fabby here to talk about our featured charity this month.
For this month I am going to ask you all to help someone who not only is one of the most important voices in the actual play scene but also an activist who has time and time again fought racism in our spaces and communities. I am referring to Indi Tan of dice comics. Indi not only runs an amazing podcast that everyone should be listening to, but like I said their work in spreading awareness of racism in both the queer and actual play communities is incredibly important. They’ve recently been through a really hard personal time and have medical bills they need help covering. Please if you have anything to spare, head over to https://ko-fi.com/itsmrmask
Rhi: In addition to helping out Indi, please consider donating to the numerous relief organizations working to help victims of the earthquakes that recently struck Turkey and Syria. The devastation is horrific, and the people there are in dire need of aid. There’s a lot of horrible things happening in the world right now, and it’s impossible to solve all of it alone. But you can take action to help one person, one family, one community, and that will make a real, tangible difference in the world. And all of us taking action together can bring about real change.
Now then. Let’s get started, shall we?
## Score Continues [H00.02.39]
Rhi: So, you got two dead guards. You can search both of them quickly and find the keys for this door up here, that’s reasonable, and let yourself into the prison. You are basically at the top of a narrow but pretty well-lit stairway that winds around and leads down into this prison.
This is the point where you don’t really have any guidance in terms of where you’re going. The map info that you got was for the layout of the buildings. You don’t know where things are inside of those buildings. You just know that the warden’s office is in here somewhere, so you’re gonna have to do some looking.
Kim: Hmm…
Rhi: I will remind you that all of you have special spirit eyes. You don’t just have to rely on physical sight.
Josie: Right.
Kim: This is true.
Josie: The warden’s office probably isn’t secret, right?
Rhi: It would not be a secret.
Josie: Hmm. We can use special ghost eyes, or we can just go looking for it.
Rhi: Yeah, whichever way you want to approach it. I just need some rolls.
Kim: Let’s see if we can see it with our normal eyes and then we’ll see if we can see them in sports mode.
[giggling]
Josie: Now entering, sports mode.
Rhi: Alright, so who wants to make some rolls for searching?
Kim: I’ll take a look at Survey, even though my Survey isn’t fantastic.
Rhi: Okay. Yeah. This is gonna be risky-reduced.
Kim: Oh! Six.
Rhi: Okay!
Minna: Hell yeah.
Rhi: So Val, you take point as you all reach the first hall and start looking around. In this place, the vibes are bad, the vibes are real bad. There’s nothing, like… you’re not hearing anything. You kind of expected to hear screaming or maybe cult chanting, but you don’t hear anything, at all. It’s just this very eerie silence. Even the floors don’t really creek or anything as you walk.
Kim: Oh…
Rhi: You can hear yourself breathing, it’s not like there’s supernatural silence, it’s just really, really quiet in here.
Kim: Spooky.
Rhi: Let’s see, you got a 6 but it’s reduced effect. Okay, I think that, Val, as you’re creeping along, you spot that the hallway ends and splits into a T-intersection. As you get to the end of the hall, you see there’s a sign, like a nice brass sign, that has a few different arrows pointing in different directions. One of them is pointing to the warden’s office to the right, and you’re like ‘awesome’ So, you peek around the corner to the right and immediately have to duck back because there is a group of four guards outside of the office.
Kim: Aw man.
Josie (as Echo): [quietly] Okay… but we know where it is.
Kim (as Val): [quietly] We do know where it is, yeah.
Josie (as Echo): Do we want to get into a fight or try to be clever?
Kim (as Val): I don’t know, how clever can you be?
Josie (as Echo): I imagine there’s probably electric alarms and wards all over that door. I might be able to overload them and take some out, or at least distract them.
Kim (as Val): Okay.
Rhi: You know for sure that there’s spark-craft electrical security here. From the information that you gained previously, there’s no occult security on this place…
Josie: Oh really?
Rhi: …because they don’t want to interfere with weird spooky shit coming in here. That’s their whole deal. They’re a cult.
Minna: [giggles]
Josie: Right.
Rhi: But, you can still interface with the electroplasmic electricity in the door, for sure. I like that idea.
Josie (as Echo): Are people okay with that plan?
Kim (as Val): I’m fine with it.
Aki (as Darling): As long as it works. No pressure.
Minna (as Arlene): I think it sounds fun.
Josie: Okay. I’m going to use my ability, Interface. I may attune to the local electroplasmic power field to control it or something connected to it.
Rhi: Yep, and this door would qualify.
Josie: Yeah. I think I’ll mark off subterfuge supplies. Would that work? Or would demolition be better?
Rhi: Uh, let me see what they are. Subterfuge supplies is like a disguise kit, forgery stuff, things like that. Demolition tools would definitely work.
Josie: Gotcha. So, I think Echo takes out what looks like a really thick tuning fork. She has her gloves off because she used her blade sword at one point, and her hand just sort of opens, and she kinda gathers some of the electroplasmic electricity out of her hand into the tuning fork and then flicks it. I don’t think it makes any sound, but I think she’s trying to send out a pulse that will just cause all the stuff to explode.
Rhi: Very cool. Let’s see… You know what? I’m gonna say, based on what you’re describing, I think your tinkering gear, your fine tinkering tools, might be a better fit than demolition.
Josie: Okay.
Rhi: I also am saying that because, since they’re fine, they will give you improved effect, so this would be risky-standard.
Josie: Sweet. Even though I’m using Attune, technically?
Rhi: Yeah.
Josie: Okay. What does a Devil’s Bargain look like?
Rhi: Ooh! There’s gonna be some backlash that hits you and you’re gonna take level 2 harm.
Josie: Level 2 harm, huh? Eh, that’s fitting. I’ll take that.
Rhi: Okay. [chuckles] Alright. No matter what happens, you’re taking level 2. Go ahead and make that roll. You’re doing the Devil’s Bargain for an extra die?
Josie: Yes.
Rhi: Okay.
Josie: I got a 4, and I’ll mark off natural armor to reduce the harm.
Rhi: Okay. I think the consequence here is pretty obvious, I’m gonna push that clock up again, because you just blew up a door.
Kim: [groaning] No…
Josie: Uh-huh.
Rhi: The clock is now at 6 out of 8. The door doesn’t fully explode, but all of the security mechanisms in and around it do, so there’s just this massive crackle-pop of electricity. I think everybody who’s not Echo, like, your hair stands on end for a second as this electric surge moves through the area. Echo, you get this big arc snapping back to you through the electroplasmic field.
Josie: Ow.
Rhi: But, I’m gonna say two of the guards are just dead and two of them are knocked down but not dead. If you don’t deal with them quickly, they will recover and become a problem. [chuckles] They’re not, like… You have a couple seconds to run over and take care of them.
Josie (as Echo): [strained] That didn’t feel good. Finish them off.
Kim (as Val): On it.
Kim: Um, we’ll see if I can do this.
Rhi: Go for it.
Kim: Would this be a Skirmish?
Rhi: Yeah. How are you approaching the problem?
Kim: Well, these guys are just stunned, right? Basically. They didn’t go down.
Rhi: Pretty much, yeah.
Kim: Let’s see…
Rhi: I mean, yeah, you could just pull a gun and pop them.
Kim: That’s what I’m thinking. Yeah… I’ll mark off a pistol, but I don’t… Can we just say, because it isn’t here mechanically, can we just say that it has a silencer or something?
Rhi: Mark an unusual weapon. That’s what I had Darling do.
Kim: Oh, okay. I see. Alright, I will mark that, which makes it a Hunt now instead of a Skirmish?
Rhi: No, in this case it’s still Skirmish because you’re getting up-close. You could do either one, actually. I’d allow Hunt or Skirmish, whichever one you prefer.
Kim: Okay, in that case I’ll roll Hunt. That’s my better skill.
Rhi: Okay. In this case… risky-standard for this, since they’re stunned.
Kim: What would a Devil’s Bargain be?
Rhi: I’m gonna add 1 more tick to the clock no matter what.
Kim: Hmm… no thanks. Clocks are my enemy.
Josie: [giggles]
Kim: Oh no! I should have accepted your Bargain!
Rhi: [pleased] Uh-huh…?
Kim: [giggling] I rolled a 2.
Rhi: Oh, and now it begins!
[laughter]
Kim: Oh fuck.
Rhi: So Val, you swing around the corner, pull your silenced pistol out from under your coat, your jacket, whatever you’re wearing, and take aim. The door to the warden’s office slams the rest of the way open, cracking off a couple of the hinges. Val, you are gonna take level 2 harm, Electrocuted, as the warden throws out a hand and zaps you with lightning.
Minna: [gasps]
Kim: Oh… Can I resist?
Rhi: You can resist. Or you can mark armor.
Kim: What am I rolling to resist?
Rhi: It would be Prowess.
Kim: Uh… yeah, yeah, let me take a roll for it.
Rhi: [laughing] Welcome to the boss fight, I guess.
Kim: Phew. Okay, that’s a 6.
Rhi: Okay. You don’t take any stress, but you’re still taking level 1 harm.
Kim: That’s fine.
Rhi: Before you can pull the trigger, the force of this blast just slams you back into the wall.
Kim: Ouch.
Rhi: Yeah. The warden… oh, I hadn’t thought about who this person is gonna be. They are Akorosi, fairly tall, light skin, dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. Wearing a fairly nice suit, but they also have this… necklace isn’t the right word, it’s more of a large flat collar made of teeth.
Kim: Teeth?
Rhi: Teeth.
Kim: Like human teeth?
Rhi: Only some of them are human.
Kim: That’s metal.
Minna: That’s less reassuring than you think it is.
Rhi: Oh, I know!
[laughter]
Rhi: I know what I said. They don’t look too happy to see you…
Kim: Well they can cope.
Rhi: …blowing up their door.
Aki: [laughs] “They can cope.” They cope like Millennials and Gen-Z making really depressing jokes.
Kim: Yeah, probably.
Rhi: Everybody else, Val swings around, you can all kind of peek over, and then you see this happen. Who’s springing into action to deal with this new problem?
Aki: Me.
Rhi: Alright, go for it.
Aki: So, real quick, is it just one guy or are there also a couple other…?
Rhi: Yes. The two guards that Val was gonna dispatch are shaking off their stunned situation and are gonna be getting to their feet, so you’ve got the warden and two guards who have already been injured.
Aki: Mm-hmm. Warden, two guards. Warden, two guards. Okay. Would there be a chance for me to hit all three? Or nah? Should I just…
Rhi: Trying to hit all three would put it into desperate, probably desperate-reduced is what I would call that.
Aki: I see, I see. Then, I would like to… What about me hitting the two wardens? Because I have a lot of fine weapons which lower it.
Rhi: Mm-hmm. Yeah. If you were gonna use your fine pair of pistols to go for the two guards, I would give you risky-standard on that.
Aki: I would like to do that, please.
Rhi: Go for it.
Aki: Yeah, that’s two 6s.
[giggling]
Rhi: Christ in heaven. So, tell me what this looks like. You’re gonna just kill both of these guards. What does it look like as Darling swings around the corner?
Aki: Yeah, I think Darling sees that Val is probably in a bit of trouble, so she zooms around the corner. I think even her tail wraps around to help give her that extra Fast and Furious drifting.
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim: Aww.
Aki: And just… she’ll bend at the knee to get right underneath both of them, like if they were wearing hats. We’re going right underneath for the chin. Just gives them a smile and goes…
Aki (as Darling): Bye~
Aki: …and shoots them in the face.
Kim: Night-night.
Rhi: Yeah, the guards are both down. You have dispatched all four of these guards. I do need to keep a running count of your body count on this mission.
Kim: Why? Why do you need to know?
Rhi: It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Yeah, Echo or Arlene, would either of you like to act? You did just see Val get electrocuted by a person who shot lightning out of their hand…
Kim: It’s fine.
Rhi: …which is probably something none of you have seen before. That’s new.
Josie: So, if they’re shooting lightning out of their hand, they can attune pretty good. Can I set up some sort of counter-spell so that when Arlene does something she doesn’t get zapped?
Rhi: Oh, so like a setup action… Yeah, you can try to set up something.
Josie: I’m thinking about marking arcane implements.
Rhi: Yeah, I was gonna say, you’ll need to mark that. But yeah, just interfering with the ghost field in some fashion so that they can’t do that. Yeah, you can definitely give that a shot. This is gonna be risky-reduced.
Josie: Okie-dokie. Um… Devil’s Bargain?
Rhi: I’m gonna finish the clock for Guards Alerted.
Josie: Eh, I won’t take that. I’ll just take the reduced.
Rhi: Okay.
Josie: Five.
Rhi: Five, okay, so you do it with a consequence and it’s at reduced effect. I think that for whatever Arlene is doing, because I’m treating this as a setup action, Arlene, you can have improved effect but not improved position.
Josie: I think Echo just slides out of her sleeve what looks like a long, long stick of rubber, probably tire rubber just compressed, compressed, compressed into another shape, and it has arcane symbols carved into it, and it’s just sort of like a big stick, and she looks around the corner and nods.
Josie (as Echo): Go for it. I’ll cover you.
Minna (as Arlene): Thanks.
Minna: I think she launches into action, and let’s see how this Skirmish goes.
Rhi: Yeah. What are you attacking with? Knives?
Minna: Yeah, I figured I would do knives. That seems to be her, like…
Rhi: Yeah.
Minna: Unless we get that rope thing out again, but I think attacking with knives makes the most sense here.
Rhi: This will be desperate-standard.
Minna: I only have two dice on Skirmish. What does a Devil’s Bargain look like?
Rhi: I fill in the clock.
Minna: Uh… no thanks.
[laughter]
Rhi: That is the only Bargain that I have for you at present. Y’all are shooting guns and blowing up doors. Eventually, that clock’s gonna fill.
Minna: Well, it’s a 4.
Rhi: Four. You do it but there’s a consequence. So, I’m gonna have another clock for incapacitating the warden. You’re gonna get 2 out of 6 for that clock, which is great.
Minna: How does that look? When I try to stab them, what happens?
Rhi: You go for a stab, and like I said, this person is wearing a nice suit, and you’ve stabbed your fair number of people wearing nice suits. Normally it’s very easy. You have very sharp knives and the fabric doesn’t provide a lot of resistance. You go to stab, and there is armor underneath it. They’re wearing some kind of armored vest or something similar underneath the suit. So, it doesn’t do the damage you were hoping for. Then, they whip around and… oh, how mean? Yeah, I’ll be mean.
Kim: [as a whine] No.
Rhi: They mutter something under their breath, and a ghost is gonna try and possess you, Arlene.
Minna: [shouting] Agh!
Rhi: You’ve got a whole other spirit, a whole other soul trying to barge in.
Minna: So how does that…?
Josie: Okay, I was expecting lightning, but I still wanna use the device I pulled out.
Rhi: Yeah.
Josie (as Echo): Okay, maybe pulled out the wrong thing, but—
Josie: She zooms over to where Arlene is using her new roller blades inside her feet which pop out through her boots.
[cheering]
Minna: Heelys!
Josie: Yeah, she’s on Shadow the Hedgehog rules now. This was gonna represent reflexes, but might as well use it here. To get there quick enough. I think the thing, because it’s attuned to electroplasmic energy, can just hit ghosts? I think it’s slightly repelling them through the form, so I think she’s just gonna smack the ghost with this thing made of tire.
Rhi: Okay. You’re making the resistance roll for Arlene?
Josie: Uh… sure? If that’s how it works.
Rhi: Yeah. This is gonna be Resolve.
Josie: I got a 4.
Rhi: Okay, so you’ll take 2 stress but the ghost that was called down is not, you know, clawing its way into your friend’s brain.
Josie: Yay.
Rhi: You do now have a ghost to deal with on top of everything else.
Josie: Mm-hmm.
Kim: Eh.
Rhi: So yeah, whoever wants to take action, you have a…
Kim: Yeah, can I just shoot the warden?
Rhi: Yeah.
Kim: Alright, I’m gonna shoot the warden. I’m gonna roll Hunt.
Rhi: Desperate-reduced.
Minna: [singing quietly] I shot the warden… Sorry. [giggles]
Rhi: [singing] But I did not shoot the guards.
Kim: What the fuck? So my highest was a 3.
Rhi: Okay…
Kim: I don’t like what’s going on here.
Rhi: You take a shot at the warden and they twist out of the way. As they’re twisting, they reach over and pull a handle on the wall and alarms start blaring throughout the building. The Guards Alerted clock is now at 8 out of 8. Everyone knows that there has been an incursion. Y’all need to hustle.
Josie: Now the whole internet knows you’re horny.
Kim: [chuckles]
Minna: I was literally trying to hold back “and now all of China knows you’re here.” I’m glad that our brains were in vaguely the same place.
Rhi: [laughs] Alright. I think Val had just attempted to take a shot, so who wants to do something? You’re at 2 out of 6 on stopping the warden one way or another.
Josie: Can I try to turn the ghost against the warden?
Rhi: Oh yeah. For sure, for sure.
Josie: I think I just wanna be like, “why are you attacking us, they’re the one who’s got you enslaved.”
Rhi: Yeah. I would say you could do Attune or Consort.
Josie: I’m gonna go with Attune.
Rhi: Alright. Let’s see—
Josie: I got a 6. Oh, sorry, I didn’t wait for a position and effect, but I got a 6.
Rhi: Yeah, that’s okay. A 6 gets you the same thing no matter what. I was gonna say risky-reduced. I will allow you if you would like to belatedly push yourself to improve your effect.
Josie: Eh, no, I’ll just roll with it.
Rhi: Okay. You got a 6, but it’s reduced. I think what happens is the ghost hears your words and is like “good point.” It doesn’t say this, but from what you can see of its face, it looks thoughtful for a moment and then just goes out through a wall. It’s not attacking the warden, but it’s also not attacking you. Net win?
Josie (as Echo): That works just as well, I suppose.
Rhi: “Oh yeah, you’re right. I’m gonna leave. I’m just gonna go.”
[laughter]
Rhi: The ghost threat has been removed. You are still dealing with the warden who is a potent threat. Darling or Arlene? I think you two still have not acted recently.
Aki: I killed the two guards, so I think…
Rhi: You did.
Aki: Yeah. I’m more recent than Arlene.
Rhi: No, Arlene went in and tried to do a stab.
Aki: You did?
Rhi: But you guys can go in whatever order. Yeah!
Aki: Oh, good lord. Stabby-stab.
Rhi: Either of you can go. We’re not operating on a strict initiative counter here. I just want to make sure everybody gets a chance to do stuff.
Aki: Okay. If the warden’s still up, then I can just go murder another person.
Rhi: Yeah, you can sure give it a shot. I assume you’re just spinning around with your pistols. Gonna shoot at them?
Aki: Yes, I think that makes… Well? Actually. Theoretically, I could punch. I have stuff for punching. How far are they? Like, from me.
Rhi: You’re all in very close quarters. You could get up there and assault them with physical hands if you were so inclined. You’re fighting in a hallway. So yeah, you could shoot or you could attack with punches.
Aki: Yeah. Let Darling throw hands. That would be Skirmish, right, to throw hands?
Rhi: Mm-hmm. Are you using Not to be Trifled With? Because otherwise you’re gonna be at desperate-reduced.
Aki: Oh, you’re right. You’re right. I don’t want to take any more stress because I feel like I’m gonna have to with the way the party rolls.
Rhi: [laughs] That was only one time.
Aki: No, it’s a read. Take this as a read! Never mind, I’ll shoot.
Rhi: Yeah, with your fine pistols you’ll be at desperate-standard. Still desperate, but you can get slightly better position, or effect rather.
Aki: If you roll with desperate, does that mean… that means I get experience, right?
Rhi: Xp, yes.
Aki: Yeah, okay, cool.
Rhi: Yeah, you mark xp in your Prowess track.
Aki: Prowess? I thought it was Insight because I’m gonna shoot.
Rhi: Oh, yes, you’re correct. I forgot where Hunt lived.
Aki: Alright, yeah, let’s do that. Six.
Rhi: … Yep.
[giggling]
Aki: It’s a lot of dice.
Rhi: So, the stopping the warden clock is now at 4 out of 6. You fire your pistols and they take the shots and stumble back a little bit, but when the bullets hit, it seems like they’re stopped both by the same armor that blocked Arlene’s knives but also there’s sort of a blue-green flare at the bullet impact sites like some kind of occult wards. I will also say for cool effect that one of the bullets hits the edge of their tooth collar and some shards fly off.
Aki: I just go…
Aki (as Darling): Phew, there is magic here.
Aki: …as I’m unloading and reloading.
Rhi: Yeah. [chuckles] Arlene? You wanna get back in there?
Minna: I would love to get back in there. I think we’re going to try this stab again, but maybe not so much a stab as like a… I’m gonna try and see if I can find a weak spot in that armor.
Rhi: Mm-hmm.
Minna: I don’t know how that works.
Rhi: I think you would need to push yourself for improved effect and that would give you finding a weak spot. That’s how I’d…
Minna: Yeah, that makes sense to me. Cool, I will do that.
Rhi: Yeah. This will be… Do you have special knives?
Minna: Eh, no, I don’t have special… no.
Rhi: Okay, so this will be desperate-standard then.
Minna: Okie-dokie. Oh, I guess mark desperate again, or mark xp again.
Rhi: Yep, racking up that xp.
Minna: That’s a 5.
Rhi: Okay. You do it but there’s a consequence. I think I’m gonna go with reduced effect. You do manage to spot a weak point and get the knife in, but before you can really, you know… You do damage, there’s blood, but before you can get in to turn it from a wound to a killing blow, they lash out and kick you in the chest and kick you away. So, you are at 5 out of 6 on this clock.
Minna: Excellent.
Kim: I would like to redeem myself if possible.
Rhi: Absolutely. Get in there.
Kim: I’m tempted to try shooting again… Yeah, I think so. That’s probably my better skill. [chuckles] Let’s do the same thing three times and have it not work.
Rhi: It’s gonna be desperate-reduced unless you wanna push yourself to improve your effect.
Kim: Nah, fuck it, we ball.
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim: No! No…! What is happening?
Aki: Are we not balling?
Kim: We’re not.
Rhi: I don’t think we’re balling.
Kim: It’s so not baller. Ugh… no, it’s a 3. My head is not in the game.
Rhi: Your dice are not. Your dice fucking hate you. You take another shot… I think you take shot as the warden spins around and kicks Arlene so it just misses, and my new clock, Guards Arrive, is at 2 out of 3.
Kim: No.
Josie: Great.
Rhi: Yep. So, y’all need to hustle!
Aki: Have you gone yet, Echo?
Josie: Not this round. So, I have an idea to try to hold off guards arriving, or I can just stab this guy. Which one do you want me to do?
Aki: I would say hold them off if you’d like, simply because I am very confident I will stab a bitch. I’m sorry if the confidence is nasty.
Josie: No, that’s good confidence. You should know whether you can stab someone or not. So, this is an administrative building, but also high-security?
Rhi: The high-security cells are on the lower floors and then some of the admin stuff is up on the upper floors. The warden wants to be near the most dangerous prisoners because they’re the best sacrifices. It’s fine, don’t worry about it. But yes.
Josie: [close to the mic] I think it’s time for a jailbreak.
Rhi: Yeah~!
Minna: Yeah!
Josie: I think Echo wants to get as close as she needs to, to all the high-security cells, and basically do the same thing she just did again but hopefully on a wider scale, and just…
Rhi: Blow open the doors?
Josie: …burst a bunch of cells open, if they have electroplasmic locks, which I assume they must, partially. I imagine there’s a physical aspect, but these people are dangerous. They can get out of a physical lock.
Rhi: Yeah. And you know, it’s gonna probably hurt some guards. It’s gonna cause chaos no matter what.
Josie: Yeah.
Rhi: So I think, Echo, you’re gonna need to run down another flight of stairs to get close enough, so you’re gonna be a little bit split off from the group.
Josie: I think Echo calls out…
Josie (as Echo): I’ll hold them off. You got this.
Josie: …and roller-blades around the corner.
Rhi: [laughs] There she goes. There’s a distant Shadow the Hedgehog theme playing. Anyway. For trying to do that on this scale, of blowing all of the locks on the cells in here… it’s gonna be desperate. You have arcane implements, and you have your special ability…
Josie: Yeah.
Rhi: Let me look at the text of your ability real quick. If it was anybody else, you’d be at zero. Interface, Attune… I’m gonna give—you’re starting at desperate-reduced.
Josie: Is there anything…? Hmm. Can I use like a gadget to give myself increased effect?
Kim: [hums Inspector Gadget theme]
Rhi: [laughs] Give me a pitch for what the gadget would be.
Josie: I think it would be, like, she opens up her other arm and out comes a rod with some sort of amplifier on the end of it to just let out more electroplasmic interference. It might even come at the cost of some of her own internal stores, which would just be stress.
Rhi: Yeah, I think that’s gonna be it. I think this is gonna translate to pushing yourself. It will be 2 stress, but you can boost your effect.
Josie: Okay… Yeah. I’m also trying to see if I can increase my dice.
Rhi: Mm-hmm.
Josie: But I guess not. If I’m pushing myself, I can’t take a Devil’s Bargain.
Rhi: Pearl could come with you if you wanted to see if Pearl could help, because Pearl is a spectral critter. Pearl does phase in and out of the ghost field.
Josie: Oh. Pearl could go and break all the physical locks.
Rhi: Possibly, or at least fuck up the electroplasmic stuff some more.
Josie: Yeah. Depends if Pearl wants to come and if Darling is willing to do that.
Aki: Yeah, I’m cool with it.
Rhi: Pearl goes bounding off after Echo on wheels. I will allow Pearl to assist. What I’m picturing is you’ve got your one hand open with this rod out of it and your other hand on Pearl, and Pearl is partially phasing into the ghost field as you’re touching her, so that amps up your connection to the electroplasmic field. Go ahead and roll it.
Josie: I think she’s gonna call out towards the cells.
Josie (as Echo): Stand back and mind the tiger. You’re getting out.
Rhi: [laughs]
Kim: Totally normal.
Josie: [close to the mic] Critical.
Rhi: Oh…!
Josie: [giggles]
Rhi: You love to see it! Okay. I think what this looks like is Pearl doesn’t actually leave your side, but there’s this massive surge of electricity and arcane energy that goes shooting into the walls around you and then down through the cells. As it’s moving, it takes the shape of a tiger, and only because you got a critical, it’s also that the power of this is enough to blow the physical locks as well.
Josie: Nice.
Rhi: Echo, this is not gonna be necessarily a mechanical thing, but this is the biggest expenditure of power that you’ve ever done. Like I said, not a physical or mechanical harm or stress that you’re taking, but you’re just like… whoa, that was a lot.
Josie (as Echo): I need to sit down for a second.
Rhi: Pearl just sort of nudges at you as you sit. I think the dulcet tones of an imminent prison riot reach your ears, Echo, as you’re sitting there. I think that’s gonna just sort of nuke this Guards Arrive clock entirely, because now they have so much bigger problems.
Josie: I’m looking forward for all these escaped dangerous people to come back to bite us in the ass at some point.
Kim: Eh.
Rhi: Here’s the thing. A lot of the people who are in Devil’s Tooth prison are dangerous in some fashion—have murders, arson, etcetera. Devil’s Tooth is also where the city sends inconvenient political prisoners.
Josie: So they might actually be helpful, then.
Rhi: Yeah. Some of these people, if they manage to get out, might be helpful to y’all. [laughs]
Aki: I was gonna say, why would they be upset that we started—they, the prisoners, be upset that we started a prison riot, basically. Flee!
Kim: Yeah. For them.
Rhi: Yeah, go! Okay, so back up with everybody else. I think that in the warden’s office… you all again get that electrical charge building in the air, hair standing on end feeling for a little bit, and then another alarm starts blaring in the warden’s office. They look back over their shoulder for a second and just go:
Rhi (as warden): What did you do?
Rhi: So, if you’d like to try and fill in that clock, 5 out of 6. Whoever wants to. I believe Darling was gonna stab?
Aki: Yes. It’s like speaking of unforeseen consequences. It’s Darling’s turn.
[giggling]
Aki: I’m gonna shoot… and I’m gonna get a 6.
Rhi: Alright.
Aki: Hehehe.
Rhi: It was gonna be desperate, so you still get to mark xp.
Aki: Oh! Yes. Ooh, eh, no, I swear I marked xp last time as well. Yes I did, there it is.
Rhi: So yeah, I think they look back towards the alarm and then say ‘what have you done’ and turn back and Darling just… I assume shoots them in the head?
Aki: Quick and painless. Yeah.
Rhi: Yeah… So, they fall, and the way into their office is now clear.
Kim: Finally.
Rhi: The sounds of the riot below are starting to filter up to you. You can hear shouting and screaming and gunshots. Echo, you can catch up with the others. You just needed to sit down for a minute.
Josie (as Echo): Phew.
Rhi: But yeah, you can run into the office.
Josie (as Echo): Let’s get this bowl.
Rhi: Yeah. I’m trying to think. Would this be…? I think the relic is just sitting out. I think at this point the warden would not have this securely… It was securely locked away behind the locked door of their office. It’s a very weird dissonant setup in here, right? Part of this room is an office. There’s a desk, there’s a lot of papers, there’s some drawers with more papers in it. There’s a bookshelf. It’s very mundane-looking.
But then there’s the big stone alter with this bowl sitting in a little divot in the middle of it. There sure are bloodstains on that alter and on the knife sitting next to it. But, the bowl is there, and it’s large. Echo, you can get your arms around it, but barely. Like, your fingers just touch around it. It’s a very large bowl.
Josie (as Echo): I don’t want to think about what would go in this.
Rhi: [stage whisper] Based on the stains, you’re guessing blood.
Josie (as Echo): I don’t want to think about it.
[laughter]
Rhi: So, are you all gonna hustle on out of here with your bowl?
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: I do wanna ask, is anybody taking the tooth necklace?
Aki: Yes. It’s a pretty necklace.
Rhi: Okay. I was asking mostly because it seems like the kind of thing Darling would do. [laughs]
Aki: Yes. It’s a necklace! I mean, yeah…
Rhi: It’s a collar-type necklace, so it’s big, but… you know, made of teeth. Some human. You think some are shark. Some you have no fucking clue what they’re from.
Aki: I’m gonna go have someone look at it before I put it on Pearl.
Rhi: Oh my God!
Aki: Either way, I see it, I want it, I grab it, I look at the rest of them.
Aki (as Darling): What~? It’s just here. It’s probably a ‘little bit’ cursed.
Josie (as Echo): Aren’t you going to say ‘fangs’ to the man?
Minna (as Arlene): Oh dear…
Aki: [laughs]
Rhi: [groans]
Josie (as Echo): I’m sorry. I have been trying to think of a tooth pun this whole time.
Aki (as Darling): You could have just called me a tooth fairy. I’m gay and I’m holding teeth.
Josie (as Echo): Well that’s just true.
Aki (as Darling): Yes, and then you could have called me a tooth fairy, and now the pun is ruined much like that man’s day.
Aki: I point to the corpse.
Josie (as Echo): You are a very sexy dangerous tooth fairy.
Rhi: There’s an explosion downstairs.
Josie (as Echo): We should get out of here.
Kim (as Val): Yeah, let’s get a move on. Puns later.
Minna: [laughs] This is Rhi’s punishment for that pun.
Rhi: Yes. I briefly was entertaining the mental image of just the building collapsing, but that would be mean. I don’t think that you all will need to make a roll to get back out. I think we’re going back up to the roof? I assume that’s how you’re gonna exit.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: I think where the issue comes in is how are you getting down with this giant bowl, if you’re bringing it with you. You could also—
Kim: {Sled}.
Rhi: … What?
Kim: Sled.
Rhi: …
Aki: Sled?
Kim: Yeah.
Aki: Oh, that’s not what I heard, my dear.
Minna: [squeaks in delight]
Rhi: Okay. I heard sled the second time. I definitely didn’t the first time.
Josie: I don’t know if that works down the side of the building.
Kim: What did you all thought you heard?
Aki: I heard slut.
Rhi: I did too.
Kim: Oh.
Aki: I heard slut, and then Rhi was like ‘repeat’ and you went slut again, and I was like… it’s not slut. No way you’re saying you all go titties out.
Rhi: [cackles]
Kim: I mean…
Rhi: It would be distracting. Yeah, you need to figure out some way to get this down the side of the building which is a straight shot. There is also the question of do you want to keep this thing intact.
Kim: Oh. I feel like that’s a question for Echo.
Rhi: Yeah. What does Echo want to do with this thing?
Josie: I think Echo is instinctually keeping it intact rather than breaking it. Someone will probably have to propose the idea to do it, because she wants to know what it’s all about.
Rhi: Mm-hmm. I think if someone else wants to mark another set of climbing gear, you guys could probably rig up a… tie it to Echo, essentially. [laughs]
Kim: Yeah, I can do that. I’ll mark climbing gear.
Rhi: Okay. You get this thing tied to Echo’s back. She looks like a turtle.
Kim: Aww.
Rhi: Yeah. At this point, given the situation, I’m not gonna ask you to roll on the way out. There’s enough going on that nobody’s really paying attention to you. As you all get a little ways away from the prison, you look back and there’s things on fire, gunshots are going off, alarms are blaring everywhere. It’s a bad time for the guards. But, you all are able to make your way back down the side of the volcano towards your boat. So yeah, you all climb into the boat and make your way back towards Imperial City.
## Downtime
Rhi: So, the Whisky Jays return with their ill-gotten bone trophies and head out to rest and recover and lay low. The newspapers are filled with stories about the sudden prison riot. There’s some hints that perhaps the cult’s activities may be uncovered. There’s some newspaper reports of strange happenings there, but nothing concrete yet.
We start with… we find Arlene and Leona probably just at Salma. You’re back in a booth away from everything else, and there’s tons of food all over the table. I think Arlene is very animated telling some sort of story. What do we come in on as we pan over?
Minna (as Arlene): And then, the guy, no kidding, shot lightning out of his hands!
Rhi (as Leona): Can people…? People can do that?
Minna (as Arlene): Apparently!
Rhi (as Leona): Oh, that’s horrifying.
Minna (as Arlene): I know!
Rhi (as Leona): Okay, so what did you do?
Minna (as Arlene): Well, I tried to stab him. [laughs]
Rhi (as Leona): Arlene!
Minna (as Arlene): Okay. It’s not as stupid as it sounds. Echo was helping me.
Rhi: [laughs] I think we pan away from that as Leona is like ‘why did you try to stab the man shooting lightning.’ We then find Val at the Gambler’s Gloom. Is Val telling lots of people, telling just this one friendly dealer…?
Kim: Oh man. I would love to have it be Val has a lot of people around them while they’re bragging about this, but I kinda worry about that being a consequence, so I think they’re just telling that—
Rhi: I mean, that could be just part of the heat that you all have generated, honestly.
Kim: Oh, fair, yeah. Alright.
Rhi: Live it up.
Kim: If y’all are okay with that.
Rhi: Yeah. It’s not extra heat on top of anything. I’m not gonna give you extra heat for this scene. So yeah, you’re good. So, Val has a crowd around them.
Kim: And they may or may not be exaggerating how much they may or may not have helped.
Rhi: Oh yeah. The missed gunshots are not featuring in this story at all.
Kim: The missed gunshots and the struggling up the climb. Eh, details, details, details.
Rhi: Yeah. As you’re finishing a particularly dramatic piece, that one dealer who had helped you out kind of touches your arm and slides you a drink…
Rhi (as dealer): On the house.
Rhi: …and will wink at you.
Kim: Yeah. Either way, Val will accept the drink and just go:
Kim (as Val): Oh! You’re too kind.
Rhi: He’ll just kinda give you a nod, tip his hat, and move back down the bar. We then fade over to Darling’s house. We find Darling and Echo. What does this look like, the two of you training together?
Aki: I think the first thing Darling would like to do is actually figure out what Echo knows how to do first. Like, Echo can tinker, Echo can hot wheelie, but there’s a lot of other things when it comes to the art of assassination, like knowing the vitals and where to puncture and such like that. So, it’s gonna be a lot of that first before any actual physical training. I think it’s a lot of mental preparation, actually.
Josie (as Echo): I can make things explode, and I have this sword in my arm, and I can swing it, and sometimes I kill people with it. That’s about it.
Aki (as Darling): Well, the explosion part is something we probably don’t want to do… I know. I know. Don’t say shit. I know. I kill rather flashy. I have a little baby machine gun somewhere in this house. But, that is a rare occasion, you know? You can’t be subtle when you’re fighting waves of people, but normally you want subtlety. So, I think your little arm blade would be quite perfect, actually.
Josie (as Echo): Yeah, easy to hide, but I sometimes find it hard to be quiet since I’m made of metal and all.
Aki (as Darling): Huh… Well, I mean, being well oiled up seems to do wonders for the car. I’m not saying you’re a car, but I mean, you’re a large body of metal that moves.
Josie (as Echo): No, I definitely use the same oil for the car as I do for me a lot of the time.
Minna: [giggles]
Aki (as Darling): If it works and saves you money, might as well, right?
Josie (as Echo): Exactly.
Aki (as Darling): Other things. You can use plenty of other things in your surroundings to mask your noise. I do it all the time. Do you see how big I am?
Josie (as Echo): You are big.
Aki (as Darling): Yes, and it is very easy to be clumsy when you’re this big. My tail has a mind of its own, sometimes. I also travel around with Pearl who’s also big and a little bit clumsy.
Aki: I say, a little bit louder so she can hear.
Rhi: Pearl, who is laying on the couch watching, does that cat thing of flicks one ear towards you to acknowledge that you’ve been heard and then flicks the ear back but otherwise does not react.
Josie (as Echo): True, but she’s not fully on this plane of existence.
Aki (as Darling): Well, you can tell that to her bum. She knocks over everything in this house. I don’t have any cute knickknacks anymore because she just kept bumping into it and breaking things.
Josie (as Echo): Heh.
Aki (as Darling): That aside… how are you prepared, mentally and emotionally, when it comes to killing?
Josie (as Echo): Um… when I’m doing it, I’m often doing it before I think about it, and then I try not to think about it too much because then I start feeling guilty. We’ve mostly killed people who deserve it. I am not going to cry about prison guards, but also, I was an engineering/medical student.
Aki (as Darling): I see. Well, this next part is going to sound rather rude. You should never hold yourself accountable—not necessarily accountable. Oof, that was going to be wrong words there. You shouldn’t feel ‘much’ about it. Think of it as another job. Does a butcher feel bad for the cow? No. Does a farmer feel bad when it uproots a potato or something? No. Because you need to do it to survive. In this case, you need to think of it like that. This is your survival and you matter, so you must survive.
Josie (as Echo): That is the most terrifying thing you’ve ever said and you somehow turned it into encouragement.
Aki (as Darling): It’s what I’m good at. You know what I feel when I kill someone?
Josie (as Echo): Nothing?
Aki (as Darling): No. I feel the recoil of my gun or my finger pulling the trigger. Mentally I am sound, usually.
Josie (as Echo): I mean, it is my survival, and I do have a lot of emotions about “her,” so if I could do that coldly and not hesitate, that would be good.
Aki (as Darling): A piece of advice, and the source of it is rather unnecessary, but… my father once told me it is best to think of your enemy, the one that you’re meant to kill, as something as insignificant as a needle or a well-placed thread in a garment. Yes, it could have rippling effects, but more likely than not it will be nothing, and it will mean nothing.
Josie (as Echo): I have a long way to go, then. I feel like the insignificant one compared to my target.
Aki (as Darling): Hmm. Well, you’re not, actually. You have things to lose.
Josie (as Echo): I will try to think of her as a bug.
Aki (as Darling): Exactly. You need to squash it.
Josie (as Echo): Yes. Also, you have a dad?
Aki (as Darling): [caught off-guard] Um… hmm. Yes.
[laughter]
Aki: I spat out tea.
Aki (as Darling): Yes, I have a father. I would assume most people have a father, or a father figure.
Josie (as Echo): I mean, I guess so, I just thought the whole assassin thing was anonymous and stuff.
Aki (as Darling): Ah, that’s what you meant. Well, ah… You know how I’m sort of, like, I guess you could say Arlene’s mother?
Josie (as Echo): Uh-huh?
Aki (as Darling): I have a father.
Josie (as Echo): I see. Does he like you like you like Arlene, or does he want…? I’m sorry, I am prying.
Aki (as Darling): You are, but that is a very good question. I do hope to find out soon.
Josie (as Echo): So he might be coming after us is what you’re saying.
Aki (as Darling): Oh, no, he definitely is.
Josie (as Echo): That’s scary. Anyone who’s trained you is very scary.
Aki (as Darling): You should be very afraid. Well, no you shouldn’t, I will handle it. But, should I fail, you should flee.
Josie (as Echo): Don’t think of him as a bug to be squashed? Run away?
Aki (as Darling): Think of him as a wall.
Josie (as Echo): Oh…
Aki (as Darling): I need to break it.
Josie (as Echo): Okay…
## Outro [00.58.43]
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 @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 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.
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 [01.01.17]
Rhi: Also, I feel like my tolerance for puns has increased after my horrible, horrible 28-hour exposure therapy on the train.
[giggling]
Kim: Oh, that’s right.
Rhi: Aki, I don’t know if you were here when I told that, but on my train ride down to Austin, one of the people who worked in the café had access to the intercom, and she used us as a captive audience to tell really, really, really bad jokes. Like, the ones that you all make, they pain me but I can at least acknowledge there is clever wordplay happening.
There was not in these jokes. She told us at one point that she had brought four joke books with her, and she would just come on the intercom about once every half hour to tell these jokes… for 28 hours! My eye is twitching slightly. Anyway.
Kim: [laughs]