With broken hearts and steeled resolve, House Battalia's coeterie figures out their next steps in their quiet fight against the Prince of Tatters. Will they find a path forward to prevent Ilrien from descending into bloodshed, violence, and another war?
With broken hearts and steeled resolve, House Battalia's coeterie figures out their next steps in their quiet fight against the Prince of Tatters. Will they find a path forward to prevent Ilrien from descending into bloodshed, violence, and another war?
Learn more about Court of Blades!
Featured Charity: Thrive San Antonio
Support Clever Corvids on Patreon!
Visit the Clever Corvids merch store!
Sponsor an episode of The City That Never Dies!
Visit Fair Fight to help defend democracy in the United States.
Transcribed by Chloe Hendry.
Rhi: Welcome back to Ilrien, and to the second-to-last episode of our Court of Blades mini-series. This series and game have been a ton of fun, and I want to encourage everyone who’s enjoyed it to pick up a copy of Court of Blades for themselves. In addition, please check out our other podcasts, The City That Never Dies and Love & Hellfire, and consider backing us on Patreon. Consistent financial support keeps our shows going and makes mini-series like this possible!
Next, Fabby of Love & Hellfire is going to tell us about this month’s featured charity.
Fabby: Hey everyone, it's Fabby to talk to you about a charity. The Thrive youth center is a San Antonio center and shelter for lgbtq+ youth 18-24 experiencing homlensess in San Antonio Texas. They provide emergency shelter, housing support, and case management. I lived in San Antonio for a decade, it was the city I came out in as a trans woman, it's not the most trans friendly city in the world. Knowing that queer homeless youth have a place to stay, something to fall back on is super important to me. You can donate by going to https://www.thriveyouthcenter.com/donate.
Rhi: As always, please continue to work within your communities to advocate for and defend the rights of everyone to live in freedom, safety, and happiness.
Now then. Let’s get started, shall we?
## Story begins [00:00:00]
Rhi: Anyway, yeah, so, Lucy spills everything.
Navi: Mm hm.
Rhi (as Alessa): Okay, so-
Navi (as Lucy): We’re going, right?
Rhi (as Alessa): Well, yes, but what do we do?
Navi (as Lucy): Oh.
Josie (as Inanna): I say let them kill each other and sweep in to clean up what is left.
Rhi (as Alessa): Hm, well-
Navi (as Lucy): I mean, in this case, we wanna make sure that Apollo wins, right? We just need to make sure that Apollo doesn’t lose.
Rhi (as Alessa): That’s the thing, is- I see where you’re coming from, Inanna- But Apollo Brizolatto is not my favourite person, but he is a stabilising force in the Twist, and if he dies it’s open warfare.
Josie (as Inanna): Is he truly a stabilising force if he would sell the city seemingly at the drop of a hat?
Paulomi (as Aurelia): What happens if we tell the other princes?
Rhi (as Alessa): Hm. Would they believe us?
Paulomi (as Aurelia): We don’t have anything to lose if they don’t.
Rhi (as Alessa): Reputation.
Josie (as Inanna): Frankly, I am liable to think some of them might seek to use the prince to their own ends. In fact, I am almost positive that is happening already.
Navi (as Lucy): I think it’s none of our business. We should go and tell the prince-
Navi: Of course, she means their prince, Battalia.
Navi (a Lucy): What we know, and let- That’s on them, right? Who they tell, how they decide to share that information, if they wanna rally the troops or if they want to go with something covert, I think largely we-
Navi: She’s firmly in the vein of ‘we should do what our higher ups tell us to do’. We should take it to them, and whatever they say that’s what we should do. So she- What’s the word for that? There’s a little bit of house loyalty, I think.
Rhi: Okay.
Josie (as Inanna): I am not adverse to this.
Rhi: Yeah, out of character we’ve got: Inanna is ‘let them fight.gif’.
Drake: Uh huh.
Rhi: Lucy is ‘let’s take it to prince Batallia’.
Drake: Let’s file the paperwork.
Rhi: Yeah, let’s file and paperwork and see what they say we should do about it. Alessa wants to keep Brizolatto alive to maintain stability in the Twist. Where’s Aurelia coming down on this?
Paulomi: Aurelia’s like ‘if you want chaos let’s make it more chaotic for them’, that seems to be their desire, as far as she’s parsed it. So that’s why tell the other princes and let them all fight it out.
Navi: So I think I’m siding with, or Lucy’s kind of siding with, Alessa on this one, where, it’s important that Brizolatto win, but I think that Lucy’s hedging the bets that prince Battalia is going to agree that the best thing to do is to quietly ensure that Brizolatto wins. So that’s what Lucy thinks. But she doesn’t want this coming back on them in a bad way if something shakes down in any way that doesn’t work out and we have to, like, explain that we knew about it, like, we’re gonna get, like, flogged through the streets with, like, eels and they’re never gonna let us back.
Drake: Oh, no, it’s not eel festival.
Josie (as Inanna): I am not adverse to bringing all this to our superiors and resting on their judgement. But I just see an opportunity to remove many traitors to the city, not ensure at least one sticks around.
Rhi (as Alessa): Meh. People like Brizolatto play a critical role in the ecosystem of a city like Ilrien.
Navi (as Lucy): It’s true! There has to be a king dirtbag!
Josie (as Inanna): Up until the opportunity presents itself to not.
Rhi (as Alessa): Well, this seems to be him acting out of fear. And, to be fair, from what Lucy’s saying, it looks like he’s taken the first opportunity that he’s getting to try and strike back. It’s just probably not gonna work.
Drake: So Brizolatto is indeed a stabilising force down in the Twist, most of the crime- I mean, if you’re gonna have crime let it be organised crime, right? Everything is, kind of, like, he’s got thumb on the scale ensuring that nothing gets out of hand. Everybody at the end of the day owes allegiance to Don Brizolatto, and nothing happens in the Twist, none of the hostilities get outside of the Twist, without, you know, his say so. That being said, he’s in many ways trying to go- Not legit, but at least trying to have the appearance of being honest to goodness gentry, he’s kind of trying to buy his way into the aristocracy of Ilrien, and then he would be, like, the eighth house of the city.
Josie: Okay.
Navi: Mm mm mm.
Drake: So a prince in all but actual title, right?
Rhi: Yeah.
Navi: So who wants to file paperwork, and who wants to see what happens and try to explain ourselves afterward?
Josie (as Inanna): If I must choose I choose the paperwork.
Paulomi: Most of us seem to be in favour of telling at least one or more princes about the situation.
Drake: Sure. That makes sense.
Paulomi: So let’s start with ours, and go from there.
Drake: This is bigger than us, right? Is that the major feeling among the coterie here? Is that what has your appetite for toasted ravioli, like-
Navi: Yeah, this is so much bigger than Lucy. Lucy’s like ‘I wanna go play my lute, what are we doing?’
Drake: I wanted to go to a party, but instead it exploded, and then the prince’s house exploded, and now maybe the Twist will explode? What am I doing?
Paulomi: Generally I feel like Aurelia sees this as individual actors being foolish and wasting resources.
Drake: Yeah?
Paulomi: She is not seeing it as bigger than anyone, it's just two groups of people trying to kill each other because they forgot they were trying to kill each other.
Drake: Sure. I mean, you know, that’s politics, right?
Paulomi: I mean, she’s got a role in that ecosystem, she understands it, but-
Drake: Yeah, for sure. So, do we find ourselves back at House Battalia, in the grand gate, trying to, you know, pass this up the chain? Who will- I remember we had Jean Carlo, was like our go between, a member of the house. Was there anybody else?
Rhi: Yeah, Jean Carlo was our spymaster, but as I recall he’s currently embedded with Corvetto.
Drake: That is correct, you are correct.
Rhi: So…
Navi: We’ll have contacts within the house; who’s closest to the prince? My contact within the house is the Seer, so- That’s pretty close?
Josie: Probably the person who’s dating their daughter?
Drake: Well-
[everyone laughs]
Paulomi: It’s complicated, everyone! It’s complicated! Well, like, here’s the thing, here’s the thing!
Rhi: None of us know that Aurelia is dating Lucy- Or, is dating Juliana. Right right right. All that we know, in character, is:
Rhi (as Alessa): Well, Aurelia is Juliana’s bodyguard, so you should be able to get us an audience, right?
Josie: I actually do have something else Inanna wants to do, but I think it can wait until after this scene.
Rhi: Alright.
Navi: No, you can’t lead with that, you have to spit it out, like!
Drake: We’ll figure out where it slots in, I just need to know what you want to do.
Josie: Well, at some point she wants to go back to Wren’s place by herself and have a chat.
Drake: Oh. Oh no. Okay, I think we might need to resolve that first, what do you guys think?
Navi: Mm hm.
Josie: I mean, I’m not sure, I kinda like the idea that the scenes are happening simultaneously.
Navi (as Lucy): Yeah, definitely.
Drake: Oh! Perfect! Okay.
Rhi: Yeah. Inanna is like ‘you all go report in, I have to go do mysterious curse things.’
Navi: Who here doesn’t think it’s suspicious that Inanna doesn’t want to go with us?
Josie: I’m like, I’m like-
Josie (as Inanna): I will patrol outside, you cannot be too careful.
Drake: Oh my god, I love it.
Rhi: I mean, I feel like this is pretty normal for Inanna, to be honest.
Navi: She is a watcher of this house.
Rhi: She is old and weird and paranoid.
Drake: Inanna’s been doing this for a long time, they get set in their ways, like-
Navi: Yep yep yep eyp.
Drake: Alright, cool cool. So, Luciana, Alessa, and Aurelia are gonna report in, Inanan is skulking off on an errand of her own, but- So, are we using Juliana as a way to get an audience with the prince?
Navi: That's juicy, we haven’t seen Juliana in a bit.
Paulomi: Mm hm, mm hm, mm hm, mm hm, it would seem so.
Drake: Okay.
Paulomi: Yes yes yes.
Drake: So, Juliana’s not here.
Navi: That makes prying a lot harder.
Drake: So, Juliana is actually back in the Roses, she’s been out for the day. I think that you are getting, like, her lady’s maid, I suppose?
Paulomi: Is it the one that Aurelia made cry that one time?
Drake: It is in fact the one Aurelia made cry that one time. So this is Isolda, and you were very sharp and short with her, and told her to be more careful, and that, you know, terrible things could have happened, and this is where Juliana, after you made Isolda cry, told you that you forget yourself.
Paulomi: Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh.
Drake: If you recall. Now, Isolda is professional, crisp, and says that she will relay a message, but Juliana is not here, and more, is decidedly not speaking.
Paulomi: Hey, quick question, does this lady’s maid know the situation?
Drake: No.
Paulomi: Okay. How? But we can talk about that later.
Drake: Because you and Juliana are circumspect, right?
Paulomi: Right, but-
Drake: Do you think that she knows the situation?
Paulomi: I guess when you say lady’s maid, do you mean someone who helps her get dressed in the morning and undressed in the evening or someone who just kind of cleans up after her as she goes about her business.
Drake: So this is part of, like, a staff, right? I think that Juliana has, like, ten or twenty of these ladies who wait on her, right?
Paulomi: Sure.
Drake: I don’t think Isolda is, like, morning and night, you know, get them dressed, get them, you know, undressed person.
Paulomi: Is there someone who is.
Drake: Absolutely there is. Name them.
Paulomi: Um, I think there is a slightly older lady’s maid, her name is Catherine.
Drake: Catherine, mm hm.
Paulomi: And I think she is the one that is closest to Juliana. She knows by mistake.
Drake: Oh no, okay.
Paulomi: Like, after a certain point you cannot explain your presence in a lady’s private chambers without explaining exactly what’s going on.
Drake: Yup. So Catherine is basically stepping up behind Isolda here, putting a hand on her shoulder and saying:
Drake (as Catherine): There are dishes to be cleared.
Drake: And Isolda, you know, looks over her shoulder at Catherine, and Catherine gives her a very crisp, curt nod and then, you know, Isolda curtsies and leaves. An Catherine leans in and is like:
Drake (as Catherine): Now, it’s a bit of trouble, isn’t it?
Paulomi (as Aurelia): I need to know where she is.
Drake (as Catherine): She went out for the day. Through the Firefly, the Trinket, and the Rose. I heard tell that she had business errands to run, things like that. She took Caspian as bodyguard.
Paulomi (as Aurelia): There is important business that we need to discuss with the prince.
Drake (as Catherine): I raised the prince since he was a swaddling babe. I can probably get you an audience.
Paulomi (as Aurelia): Why did she take Caspian?
Drake (as Catherine): I don’t know. I don’t presume to know.
Paulomi: I think Aurelia gives her a look. Yeah, I think at this point it feels a little bit like she’s clearly distracted because here we are, Catherine’s saying I can get you an audience, I’m like ‘aah, that’s perfect, let’s go!’ and then like ‘why did she go uh uh oh?’
Rhi: Yeah, have Lucy and Alessa, like, been here the whole time like in the background?
Paulomi: Yeah, one hundred percent.
[everyone laughs]
Drake: Oh my god, okay. So why did she take Caspian–
Rhi: I feel like we’re, like, far enough back that, like, we didn’t hear, like- I feel like parts of this conversation we haven’t caught, but, like, some of it, like when Catherine’s like ‘oh yeah, I can get you an audience’ we’re like ‘oh, great’ and then the conversation keeps going and Lucy and Alessa are just like ‘mm?’
Navi: ‘Ooh?’
Rhi: ‘What’s going on here?’
Drake: Yeah, that’s Catherine’s word on it. I think she reaches in and, like, puts a hand on your forearm and gives you a squeeze. And she kind of, like, her face is, I mean, she’s an older lady, but she's got this very earnest expression on her face, and she gives you a squeeze and says:
Drake (as Catherine): It’s not my place to know.
Paulomi: I think Aurelia kind of, like, jerks her arm out of this- I don’t think it’s a tight grip, but kind of, like, jerks away from the empathy that she’s receiving here.
Drake: I'm going to inflict level 1 harm, heartbreak.
Paulomi: Ooh, good. Good good good good good good good. Let me just make a note of that real quick, because I think I know what’s gonna happen next. I don’t know- I don’t think it matters if Aurelia knows that Alesaa and Lucy are, like, around, I think she turns heel and just marches out of the manse Battalia and goes in search of Caspian and Juliana.
[everyone oohs]
Drake: Oh no.
Navi: Oh no!
Josie: And then there were two.
Paulomi: I’m just picturing Alessa and Lucianna just watching her walk away, and then Alessa just-
Drake: And Catherine, oh the poor dear.
Paulomi: I have bloody but unbowed, I ignore level 1 harm penalties.
Drake: You do.
Paulomi: Cool, so I’m just not gonna make a note of the level 1 harm that you have me.
Drake: No, you still need to mark it so that if you get another level 1, and then another level 1, it becomes a level 2.
Paulomi: Okay.
Drake: They still stack.
Paulomi: Right right right right.
Navi: Yeah, plus I think it’s more like you are able to uniquely focus through it, but it still exists.
Drake: Yeah.
Paulomi: I see, so it’s just I can ignore- Great, that seems correct.
Drake: Usually you get less effect when it comes to social things because you’re heartbroken, but instead you are all about business and can-
Paulomi: Extremely effective.
Drake: Yep.
Rhi: You’re powering through it.
Drake: I am no less effective for having my heart ripped out of my chest.
Paulomi: Do the other two follow Aurelia, or are you just kind of like ‘what is happening?’
Rhi: Well, what I was picturing is that Alessa just sort of turns and watches Aurelia walk away.
Paulomi: She’s mad. Like, I think Lucy has seen Aurelia this mad before, they’re siblings, so it makes sense, but-
Drake: Stands to reason.
Paulomi: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But it takes a personal affront. Like, yes, okay, Aurelia is a bit of a loose cannon, she gets mad at the drop of a hat, but for her to become this angry after a conversation, something personal is taking place.
Drake: Oh no.
Rhi: What I’m picturing is- I think first Alessa just looks at Lucy, like ‘uuum, what?’
Navi (as Lucy): She’s gonna go pick a fight.
Rhi (as Alessa): Should we stop her, or should we try to go make that report?
Navi (as Lucy): Do we wanna split up? If you wanna go back up Aurelia I can make the report, ‘cause I don’t wanna leave Aurelia going alone, she looks really mad.
Drake: About to kill some folk.
Rhi (as Alessa): Lucy, I am deeply flattered that you think that I can stop Aurelia-
Navi (as Lucy): No, no! You just have to sto- Oh, that’s actually- No, you might actually have to stop her.
Rhi (as Alessa): I cannot stop Aurelia. Inanna, probably could- I feel like Inanna and Aurelia could go toe to toe, I would get just flattened.
Drake: So, let’s flash over to where Inanna is, Inanna you’re gonna go see Wren, right?
Josie: Uh huh.
Drake: Okay.
Josie: I think I wanna go right back to their booth, stride right in and take a seat.
Drake: Sure, and I think-
Paulomi: I’m so afraid right now.
Drake: Wren gives you the elevator eyes, right? Because, like, Wren was already in flight when you came crashing through the ceiling at the ball, right?
Josie: Uh huh.
Drake: I don’t think that Wren places you, but you’ve got that air about you that you’re bad news.
Josie: Uh huh.
Drake: We’ve already established that Wren does not, like, lounge in the Palanquin, like, Wren is almost sitting at attention, almost soldierly in the way that they hold themself, waiting for business to happen. But you’re not the appointment. What do you think Wren’s- What shift comes over Wren when you walk in? Are you hoping that-
Josie: Well, I do wanna mark off a blood chilling glare, so I can keep them where they’re at.
Drake: Perfect. Yeah, Wren is not going to jump out the back here and pull and runner, despite how terrifying, y’know, the revenant walking in is-
Josie: Yeah, because Inanna’s not coming in with sword drawn, she has her hands clasped behind her back, stops for a moment to look down at Wren then takes the seat across from them. So I’m coming in with business face on, but also trying to establish dominance a bit.
Drake: And you basically nailed Wren to the cushion with this glare, but they lick their lips and:
Drake (as Wren): Okay, let’s hear it.
Josie (as Inanna): Throwing around words like popular revolution, put the city back under one ruler while me and my kind exists, this is a very foolish thing to do.
Drake (as Wren): Oh…
Josie (as Inanna): And I especially cannot get behind it when it is a prince who cannot even show their face. This city is one with faces bare and blood on her blades, can your prince do the same?
Drake (as Wren): Not my prince. Our prince, first of all.
Josie (as Inanna): No. not mine.
Drake (as Wren): Fine. Our, non inclusive of present company.
Josie: She allows the side of her mouth to quirk up a little bit.
Drake (as Wren): We would have another city of bare faces, but rather than blood on our blade, maybe some peace, some harmony, and where everyone is treated as an equal. Wouldn't you rather be an equal than a… whatever you are?
Josie (as Inanna): No. I became what I am by choice, for her sake, and her vision.
Drake (as Wren): To stop tyranny, right?
Josie (as Inanna): Yes.
Drake (as Wren): Why do we allow so many tyrants-
Josie (as Inanna): Wren, since you were ostensibly the steward of Alessa’s heart for a time, I will let you know this: the houses and their princes disgust me, but I will not allow another dread emperor to come to pass. Whether your prince succeeds in his task or escapes, if he wishes to take the throne he will have to do it bare-faced and come through me. Tell him this.
Drake (as Wren): I’ll tell him.
Josie (as Inanna): She nods and gets up.
Drake: Perfect, I love that. Cool, so now we’ve got some extra information in play, because now the Prince of Tatters knows that there’s a Curse at his um, (laughs)
Josie: I’m like, if you succeed you’re gonna have to duel me one on one for it.
Paulomi: One v one. Meet me outside Denny’s.
[everyone laughs]
Drake: One v one. You won’t.
Josie: Meet me in the Birsolatti’s parking lot.
Drake: That’s right. So this is, at this point, a familiar shot setup in this particular series, we’re following over Aurelia’s left shoulder through, you know, the bustle and the crowd of the streets of the Trinket, and into the Firefly, kind of the southern section of the city, which is mostly, you know, shopping and cafes, and it’s aggressively upper middle class, or up and coming middle class, right, but I think that, like, crowds are kind of a big press, but not for you, just because, well, I mean, you’ve got that Bavo panache, right?
Paulomi: I’m just pushing people out of the way, man.
Drake: Oh, yeah. Oh yeah. Just, kind of, you know-
Paulomi: I’m on what the kids colloquially call ‘the warpath.’
Drake: the warpath, okay, fair enough. So, on the warpath, like, I think that- So, is it something that you see or something that you hear that, you know, causes you to stop and notice you’re there.
Paulomi: I mean, it’s something that I see.
Drake: Something that you see. Okay, I’m gonna float a scene that we’re gonna eb seeing from Aurelia’s eyes for just a second, feel free to veto and say that this isn’t working for you, but: what I’m seeing is you see Juliana and she’s in, you know, a gown but with, like, a very broad sunhat as it is, you know, starting to get toward summer here. She is being followed by Caspian, Caspian is, you know, dressed in tooled leather and looking like a dashing rake, and they are having a quiet moment looking over a cart full of all manner of objet d’art. And he reaches over to a flower seller’s cart and plucks a single rose and offers it to her.
Paulomi: Point of clarity, Caspian is same rank and file as I am?
Drake: yes, Caspian is also a Bravo of the House, there’s no real - what’s the word? - hierarchy among the Bravo’s of the House, you’re all duelists and champions, right.
Paulomi: Okay. I think I push through, I grab Caspian, and I throw him on the ground.
Drake: Oh my god! And there’s, like, a small shriek from the assembled onlookers, and Juliana, like, she wheels around, not sure, like, who’s assaulting - and we’re talking about, like, a city that has kind of been at, well, on the cusp of war, right, for a minute now, and so she thinks, like, maybe this is it? And fear on her face, and it doesn’t go away when she sees who it is.
Paulomi: I think Aurelia already has a blade to Caspian’s throat. She looks at Juliana meaningfully.
Paulomi (as Aurelia): You tell me to stand down right now, and you’ll never have to talk to me again.
Drake: Wow. Make me a fortune roll.
Paulomi: Ooh! What’s that?
Drake: Just roll 1 6 sided die.
Paulomi: I’m so nervous… 5!
Drake: I don’t think she says anything. I think that it’s Caspian moving. Like, you have the balde to his throat and everything, but he ends up getting, like, a knee up under you and, like, throws you off of him, and, like, kind of up and over his head, and he comes up steel in hand. Broad bladed dagger in one hand, and, you know, rapier in the other. And, like, I don’t think, like, he- Do you think you and Caspian know each other?
Paulomi: I think we’re friends.
Drake: You think you’re friends?
Paulomi: Like, outside of this I think we’re friends, like, Aurelia is an extroverted person, she makes friends with the people that are around her relatively easy, like, you have to be able to do that in order to gain any level of standing in these houses I feel, at least in House Battalia.
Drake: That makes sense. So I think that he, like, he holds his, you know, weapons out, like, clear that he’s armed, like he sees you coming now, and he leans in and he says:
Drake (as Caspian): This is not the place to do this. Do not be gauche. We can be anything but gauche.
Paulomi (as Aurelia): Caspian, listen to me. I am giving you a chance to go home.
Drake (as Caspian): I am out serving at the will of the lady.
Drake: And he turns.
Paulomi (as Aurelia): Very well.
Drake: And he turns and Juliana, you know, locks eyes with him for a second, then looks over at you, and then turns her gaze back to him.
Paulomi: (hums) I’m thinking. I don’t know what it means.
Drake (as Caspian): If the only way that you will be satisfied is with blood, there is a time and a place for that. It is not while we are executing our duties.
Paulomi: I think Aurelia sheaths her sword.
Drake: And, you know, as soon as your hand starts moving towards your scabbard, like, his do too. He puts them away and he shows you empty hands. Meanwhile there’s, like, a circle of people around you and, like, somebody out there is like: blood!
Rhi: Shut up, Gregorio!
Josie: Fight, fight, fight!
Paulomi: Aurelia is going to look directly at Juliana as she says this to Caspian:
Paulomi (as Aurelia): I’m not going to fight you, because you’re going to get hurt enough as it is.
Drake: I think there's confusion on his face for just a second, and then he nods, like, ‘you know, okay, that’s weird, but I appreciate that you’re saying it’, and Juliana is glaring.
Paulomi (as Aurelia): I think you underestimate our lady’s ability to strike back. She’s a viper, Caspian, that’s just the truth.
Paulomi: I think Aurelia turns around and pushes into the crowd.
Drake (as member of crowd): Blood! No?
Paulomi: Dude, wrong movie! Gregorio, please!
Drake: Alright, so you walk away.
Navi: I wish I was there to pry into Juliana’s mind!
Rhi: Hey! Guess what, bud? You are now!
Navi: Alright, I’m there!
Rhi: You said something first, you’re there.
Navi: Oh, I’m- Yeah, no, like, nosey little sister is present and accounted for, I think that, like, Lucy’s-
Paulomi: You’re Gregorio.
Navi: Lucy just, sort of- She probably was the one yelling ‘blood’, but- No, she wasn’t, but she kind of materialises kind of on the outside, just out of Juliana’s field of vision, because Juliana would recognise her. I don’t think that Juliana and her have that kind of relationship, because I think we’ve established Lucy’s mostly there because her sister’s there, and because her bestie’s there, and that she’s very much there for them and she’s along for the ride, so I think that- Yeah, I don’t think that she would easily see her, but maybe if she looked directly at her she’s be like ‘oh, wait a minute.’ Right? So she’s staying out of her field of vision. And I’m going to pry while this whole thing is happening, while the daggers, like, eyeball daggers are happening, I wanna know what’s going on, so that’s what I’m doing.
Paulomi: Get out of my head, Charles!
Drake: My helmet, Charles! No!
Navi: I imagine we’re controlled right now.
Drake: Yep.
Navi: And I’m not doing anything extra right now, so I’m gonna go with standard, and we’ll see what happens.
Drake: Alright.
Navi: That's a 6.
Drake: Well, we’re just gonna go ahead and keep rolling 6s it seems.
Paulomi: Til it matters.
Drake: Til it matters, that’s right. You get all those out of the way so that when we unmask the errand that’s where it all goes bad. Okay, so, with this prying, what are they thinking of right now, right, is your question?
Navi: Yes. what is going through their head as this is unfolding.
Drake: So, I think Caspian is confused, like, out of his depth. Not sure what is just going on. Like, he just got assaulted by a Bravo of the House while he’s wearing colours and, like, executing the duties of the House. And he’s like ‘that was unprofessional.’
Paulomi: ‘The fuck, bro?’
Drake: Like, he’s got no romantic intentions towards Juliana, but Juliana has romantic intentions towards him.
[everyone gasps]
Navi: So what is Juliana thinking, though? Right now is there, like, any- Is she torn, or is there any conflict? ‘Cause, like, coming from the perspective of a girl, like, when you’re in that situation you want something, you want them to prove they’re something to you, or you want them to fucking go die, like, that’s- You want something. What does she want?
Drake: She wants- This is a good question. She wants Aurelia to learn how to act with decorum.
Navi: Oh. Aurelia’s gonna have to get somebody new, this is bad.
Drake: She wants Aurelia to be a Bravo. Like, if you’re going to be romantic and courtly, you need to be romantic and courtly. Aurelia is a loose canon. ‘Goddamnit, you get results!’
Paulomi: I’m sorry, I do have to add some flavour here.
Drake: Please.
Paulomi: I think Juliana- I’m not sorry, okay, hang on- So, I think Juliana secretly likes that Aurelia is a loose canon, but she recognises how not acting with decorum is not a good partner trait.
Drake: Right, you- She’s attracted to the fact that you are a loose canon, but she know for a fact that there can never be a moment where she-
Paulomi: I just do what I want. She can’t do that. And that’s pretty cool to her.
Drake: Yup. So that’s what you get.
Navi: That is horrible, I’m having so many conflicting feelings right now because first of all, like, that’s not- I feel like that’s information Lucy can’t even really act on… Well, first of all, ‘cause Aurelia’s gonna be pissed that she was there eavesdropping. But second of all she can’t really walk up to Aurelia and go ‘you know, you should just stop being you.’
Drake: You also are a little surprised that, like, I mean, Aurelia never shared this with you, right? That there was this relationship. So you just got hammered with-
Navi: Ooh!
Josie: Oh no!
Navi: Oh my god, you’re right! I’m sitting here with gamer information, and I totally forgot, like, Lucy’s like ‘wait, what?’
Drake: ‘I’m sorry, excuse me?’
Navi: ‘This is so much!’
Paulomi: ‘Hey, get me up to speed here!’
Drake: ‘So, I’ve got some notes.’
Navi: Oh my!
Drake: And remember, it’s really important that Aurelia have that de Battalia in her name.
Navi: Mm!
Drake: Maybe this is why.
Rhi: Ooh. Oh no! Oh no. I just clutched my heart.
Paulomi: Hey, so I have a quick question for Lucy. So, when either of us were upset growing up, I mean, like, ugly cry upset, where did we go to hide and have feelings about it?
Navi: Oh… that’s interesting. I feel like, maybe, because we’re kind of upper middle class, like, we’re very upper middle class, actually probably lower nobility, right?
Drake: Lower aristocracy.
Navi: I think we have, like, access to parts of the city that maybe other folks don’t have, so I think that maybe in the Vine there’s those kind of, like, you know, treachery gardens, you know, kind of small, secluded gardens and terraced gardens and whatnot, and there’s one in particular that’s kind of so rarely visited that even in the Vine, which is really upscale, it’s kind of fallen into disrepair.
Paulomi: Kind of a little overgrown thicket, maybe?
Navi: Yeah, like a little secret garden type situation.
Paulomi: I love that.
Drake: I was totally gonna say that it’s the poisoner’s garden, but yeah.
Navi: Yeah, I mean, it probably is the poisoner’s garden, ‘cause, you know, we're in a civilised time now or something.
Paulomi: I think that’s where Aurelia goes.
Drake: Toward that overgrown thicket in the Vine where, you know, you’re just surrounded by beauty and away from whatever it is that’s making you feel terrible.
Paulomi: Yep.
Drake: Awesome. I love that. Can you tell us a little shot of what we’re seeing here on camera as we are watching you with your feelings?
Paulomi: Yeah, I think, like, it’s a place where children used to hide, right, so it’s small, you kind of have to get on all fours if you’re an adult to get in there at all. It opens up after you get past, like, a little narrow opening. I think Aurelia, she’s like trying to hold it together. She crawls through the space, like, vines and stuff kind of snag onto her gambeson, the fabric parts that are peaking through her armour. And then she very slowly, methodically starts to unburden herself of her armour; whatever decorative or practical items she has on her, be it like gauntlets, you know, or a chest plate of some kind, if there’s something protecting her shins, all of that stuff, and kind of sets it aside, curls up into a ball, wraps her arms around her knees, and starts crying.
Drake: Oh no.
Navi: Oh no!
Drake: I don’t wanna be a Bravo anymore, this is bullshit!
Paulomi: My girlfriend hurt my feelings!
Drake: Sure.
Paulomi: She’s probably my ex-girlfriend now.
Drake: Oh man! No, she’s still paramour. I think we are losing a tick of heat though, I'm dropping your heat down to three. Where it’s back down to, you know, you’re infatuated.
Paulomi: Yeah.
Drake: Okay, I think heartbroken is now, like, I feel like it’s escalated to a level two heart broken, do you think?
Paulomi: I agree.
Drake: Okay, so go ahead and remove it from level 1, and you’re gonna take social harm: level 2 heartbreak.
Navi: I think I just kind of want to do a kind of snapshot of, like, Lucy kind of, like, hunting her down, because she knows where she’s gonna go, right? So I think that it’s kind of a scene where Lucy’s just kind of like she’s in her fine gown and everything, trying to look like a normal person, very expensive and whatnot, she gets down and she lays down with her and just kind of curls around her.
Drake: Aww.
Paulomi: Aw.
Navi: And we’re just gonna have a moment to let her cry it out.
Drake: That's awesome.
Paulomi: I think Aurelia- I think the moment where we get the snapshot is when Aurelia, like, allows herself to be hugged and puts her head on her little sister’s shoulder.
Navi: We’re just gonna have a quick moment to cry it out.
Drake: Awesome.
Navi: But yeah, no, I think that if it’s at all possible to help Auelia resist that-
Drake: Are you resisting on Aurelia’s behalf?
Navi: I wanna resist on her behalf by trying to comfort her and maybe, in the easiest way possible, let her know that she’s really nosy and knows what’s going on and how Aurelia can fix it if she wants to.
[everyone laughs]
Navi: It’s a very delicate situation!
Paulomi: Communicating wisdom.
Drake: So this is-
Navi: It’s communicating wisdom! It’s very delicate!
Drake: This almost feels like it might be a spirit resist.
Navi: It is precision, yes, I’m gonna resist with spirit here.
Drake: Okay.
Rhi: Hey sis, you know how I can’t keep my nose out of anything? You know how I have no respect for anyone’s privacy?
Drake: I’m just a brain funnel, it’s not my fault.
Navi: It’s not! Okay, I’m gonna resist, let’s see how badly this goes for me. Oh! Oh!
Drake: Yeah, that’s perfect, yeah. No stress, no stress at all. As you-
Navi: It’s like I’m surgical in how I know how to navigate Aurelia’s feelings without getting punched in the face.
Drake: Yeah, it’s like little sister sense.
Josie: My sister sense is tingling.
Paulomi: If you get punched in the face it's by choice.
Drake: That's right. How do you take this news? Because you are not going to take level 2 harm heartbreak, it’s going to remain at level 1 harm, because your sister is helping you through this.
Paulomi: Hm. I’m at a crossroads where I’m trying to figure out if Aurelia is going to be okay with this, or not be okay with this, you know what I mean?
Navi: Like, I can imagine her being, like, incredibly mad, after she calms down about the breakup, being incredibly mad about the invasiveness. I’m also though really curious - my personal curiosity I can’t be the only one - I wanna know if, like, Aurelia hears, like, there’s- What it is that chickyboo wants, and if she feels like renewed and empowered to, like, fix things or if she’s like ‘no, that’s too much, I don’t want to change, that’s irreconcilable-’ I’m really curious!
Drake: Did she just refer to her grace Juliana Battalia-
Navi: Her grace Juliana di Battalia as chickyboo.
Drake: As chickyboo.
Navi: She has done, yeah. One hundred percent.
Paulomi: So, I know for a fact Aurelia is going to be resistant to change. I don’t know if that is because she feels Juliana should accept her for who she is, or if she’s being stubborn and digging her heels in. I get the feeling that at some point - ‘cause Aurelia knows herself, she knows how she is - it was a little bit of a shock that Juliana was interested in her in the first place. She welcomed the attention, but in the back of her mind there was a little voice going ‘really?’ And I think at some point during the course of their relationship, early on, they had a conversation, thinly veiled, that went to the tune of ‘are you sure you’re into me?’ and Juliana is like ‘yeah, I one hundred percent am’. This is evidence contrary to that conversation, so I think what Aurelia is dealing with is reconciling those two pieces of information. Does that make sense? Does that track?
Rhi: Mm hm.
Navi: Mm hm.
Drake: So Aurelia’s coming to the realisation that Juliana’s feelings for her are complicated.
Paulomi: Yes.
Drake: Yeah.your feelings for her are complicated too though, right?
Paulomi: She is having to use two brain cells right now, and it’s a lot.
[everyone ‘oh’s]
Rhi: Oh honey.
Drake: And one of them is not punch.
Paulomi: One of them is not - cannot be - punch. That brain cell needs to retire for the moment.
Rhi: Oh no! Oh, she can’t use the punch brain cell!
Paulomi: I can’t punch my way out of this one.
Josie: Oh no!
Rhi: Oh no! Aurelia!
Paulomi: So she’s struggling!
Navi: I think that the spidey senses are definitely tingling here, so, like, before things can escalate into how much trouble Lucy knows she’s in, she’s going to be like:
Navi (as Lucy): We really have to get back to work.
Paulomi: I one hundred percent agree, because I think it- Like, Aurelia struggles for like a good twenty, thirty minutes on this, and then both of them- I think Lucy realises first, like, ‘uh, we were doing something. I came to come get you because we need to go do that.’
Navi: Yeah!
Paulomi: And I think Aurelia welcomes the distraction of: do you want something to punch that deserves to be punched? Because we’ve got that.
Navi: I’ve got so many punchable faces for you! Yeah, I will find them.
Paulomi: We just gotta go.
Drake: Let's just get on our big wheels and just go.
Paulomi: Let’s just go! Aurelia, like, dashes at her eyes and is just like ‘yeah, okay, can you help me with, like, pauldrons and shit?’
[everyone ‘awws’]
Drake: That shit takes a long time.
Paulomi: It takes a long time, I need some help! Just- I’m fine, I think I can hold it together until we’re done punching things.
Drake: I also don’t think Isolda likes me anymore!
Paulomi: Also, like, Caspian’s like a really good friend, so I might have ruined that, it’s fine, we’re just not gonna think about it.
Rhi: Oh, honey.
Drake: Alessa, what is the audience with the prince like? I think, like, when you lay this out, are you-
Rhi: Oh my god. Okay, so, well, first of all I have to think about- I think that Alessa has met Prince Battalia, like, directly, like, once.
Drake: Sure.
Rhi: Before this.
Drake: When you were sworn in, right?
Rhi: Yeha, yeah, she was, like, presented by her father resentufally, when she was, you know,admitted to this coterie, and like that was pretty much it. And Alessa has kind of liked it that way, she likes her position in the house, as she told Wren, she likes the comfort and the stability and the money of her position-
Drake: It sure is spent.
Rhi: Yeah. but like, you know, she doesn’t- She’s not in a place in her life yet where she wants to be exactly up at that level where she’s having to interact with the prince on the regular.
Drake: Mm hm, that’s fair.
Rhi: So she’s a little nervous going into this conversation, especially since it went from ‘yeah, the four of us are going to all go together!’
Drake: And then they all just peeled off and left you.
Rhi: ‘And then Inanna’s gone, Aurelia, where are you? Lucy, where are you? Oh, god! Okay, I guess it’s just me now!’
Drake: So the Couth is coming up out of the carpet, looking at the Prince of Battalia holding court here.
Rhi: Yeah.
Drake: I don’t think the prince usually holds, like, court. I think usually he’s got, like, a cabinet and that where he distributes his, like his marching orders for the day, the week, the season or whatever.
Rhi: Yeah.
Drake: I think that, like, when he comes in, I think he’s got regalia, don’t you?
Rhi: Yeah. yeah. Yeah, I think that’s it’s more of just, like, meeting in his, like- You get an appointment in his office, or in the war room.
Drake: Perfect, okay.
Rhi: Depending on what his schedule is like.
Drake: Well, the Battalia have a war room that is not to be missed, so let’s talk about the war room. Like, it looks like a barracks.
Rhi: Yeah.
Drake: But it’s got, like, a sand map that’s been ensorcelled to, like, show the city-
Rhi: Ooh, yeah! Yeah!
Drake: And so, like, all the towers and all the spires and every individual house and as they are, like, you can see one being constructed down on the Guilt, like, a new shop that is being constructed, being constructed in real time out of this ensorcelled sand. And I think that, like, Battalia, he’s got a mask, and it’s almost like a tower, like it starts at the bottom, almost like a chevron or a shield, and as it rawls up it’s got the crenellations that kind of come up over his forehead but it turns into almost like a horse’s mane that goes back over his head as well. Just marks and campaign ribbons and things like that as he turns his full face mask to regard you. Do you think he knows your name?
Rhi: I think so, I feel like he’s the sort who knows the name of, like, once you get above a certain level he makes a point to know everybody.
Drake: Especially Nico’s daughter, right?
Rhi: (tearse) Mm hm. Yeah, ‘cause, I mean, you know, Nico Cavalcante is a pretty highly placed individual, so yeah, he knows all of the Cavalcante children.
Drake (as Prince Battalia): Alessa Cavalcante.
Rhi (as Alessa): My prince.
Drake (as Prince Battalia): You said this was urgent?
Rhi (as Alessa): Yes.
Drake (as Prince Battalia): What is it I can do for you?
Rhi: And I think Alessa’s just gonna lay it out, like, no embellishment, no, like, trying to soft petal it, no, like, ‘I know this sounds crazy, but-’. Just, you know, kind of putting it in the context of what has happened, you know, with the welcome ball and everything, but it’s just like ‘here’s what we got’ and here’s what’s happening’. I think she will kind of, you know, she’ll include sort of the recommendations of the different parts of the coterie of, like, you know, Aurelia di Battalia thinks that we should alert the rest of, you know, the princes-
Drake (as Prince Battalia): Open warfare, of course.
Rhi: (as Alessa) Yeah, I think that keeping the- Keeping Brizolatto in place will maintain stability in the Twist.
Drake (as Prince Battalia): The peacemaker.
Rhi: (as Alessa) Inanna thinks that we should let the two of them wipe each other out.
Drake (as Prince Battalia): Ah yes, the Curse. What could be expected? Let the animals destroy themselves.
Rhi (as Alessa): But we were all in agreement that this was not a decision that should be made lightly, and so we brought it to you for guidance.
Drake (as Prince Battalia): Well, that I do appreciate, because you are my hands, my eyes, and my ears in this city. This is why we prize you so. I believe that moving forward in this city shouldn’t come on a tide of blood. We are the sword and shield of Ilrien, we defend people, there are some who would say that sword and shield should be laid above the mantle and left to rust. But we can’t do that, can we Alessa?
Rhi (as Alessa): No.
Drake (as Prince Battalia): So what do you think we should do?
Rhi (as Alessa): As I’ve said, sir, I think that the best way to maintain peace and stability would be to preserve things as they are, eliminate this Prince of Tatters as a threat, keep Brizolatto in his place, maybe weakened a bit, but otherwise I think that’s the best way to avoid open warfare, be it gangs in the Twist or something worse.
Drake (as Prince Battalia): Your mother still lives in the Groan, doesn’t she?
Rhi (as Alessa): She does.
Drake (as Prince Battalia): I think you’d better go save it.
Rhi (as Alessa): Thank you, sir.
Drake (as Prince Battalia): My door is always open. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Rhi: And she will bow and exit.
Navi: Alessa outside the door (breathes heavily).
Josie: I think Inanna comes around the corner like she was just patrolling. And says:
Josie (as Inanna): So, how did it go?
Rhi (as Alessa): Fine? I don’t know why I’m always so nervous to meet with him.
Josie (as Inanna): He does have a regal air about him. What are our orders?
Rhi (as Alessa): Keep things stable. I think we keep Brizolatto alive, get rid of the Prince of Tatters, and prevent open warfare.
Josie: Inanna will nod.
Josie (as Inanna): So he has left it to your judgement, then? Interesting.
Rhi: I think that that hadn’t quite, like, sunk in for Alessa that that is exactly what just happened, and she sort of like blinks and is like:
Rhi (as Alessa): Oh. I guess so.
Josie: I think Inanna allows herself to smile just a bit.
Josie (as Inanna): Moving up in the world, it seems.
Rhi (as Alessa): I guess, yeah.
Josie (as Inanna): I was just about to tell you that you don’t have to be someone who continually hitches their cart to someone else. But I think you’ll get there.
Rhi: Alessa just, sort of, shoots Inanna a side looks and it like:
Rhi (as Alessa): I told you all to stay by the bar.
Josie (as Inanna): I didn’t ask Luciana to do that. She acts on her own.
Rhi (as Alessa): Yes, but you all moved enough to hear what I was saying, together, as a group.
Josie: She outright smirks.
Josie (as Inanna): I just wanted to keep you safe.
Rhi (as Alessa): I appreciate that.
Josie (as Inanna): Where do you want to end up, after this?
Rhi (as Alessa): What, you mean after this particular incident, or…
Josie (as Inanna): Both.
Rhi (as Alessa): I don’t really know, I haven’t actually thought about it that much. My father has specific plans for his legitimate children, I am not factored into those. The coterie was sort of a way of dealing with me.
Josie (as Inanna): One thing I’ve learned in many centuries is that the value of blood that these houses prize so highly cannot always keep down those who seek greatness.
Rhi (as Alessa): Hm. I’m not quite sure what I want yet, but I think I’ve got a much better opportunity to figure it out being here.
Josie (as Inanna): I agree. And I believe how you resolve the situation in the Twist will give you a great deal of insight into the leader you want to be.
Rhi: I think, yeah, she sort of like, probably not visible with the mask, but is like, you know, fidgeting with her hair a little like she’s blushing.
Josie: Aww!
Rhi: Saying, like:
Rhi (as Alessa): Well, that’s- It’s nice to know you think so highly of me, Inanna.
Josie: She shrugs.
Josie (as Inanna): Let’s just say I have served people like you before, and I wish the best for them.
Rhi (as Alessa): Thanks. I hope I can live up to that, that’s pretty high stakes.
Josie (as Inanna): I suppose, but you seem to do it quite naturally.
Rhi (as Alessa): (sighs) We should probably go track down the other two.
Josie (as Inanna): Yes, I suppose so. Hopefully Aurelia has not collapsed a building.
Navi: Smoke in the distance.
Rhi: I didn’t- I was in the warren, I didn’t see anything, so I think we’re okay, but yeah, let’s go.
Drake: So are we going back to Postern or is it somewhere else you guys meet up when you have your ideas?
Rhi: I think it’s Postern time.
Paulomi: Yeah, probably back to the Postern.
Drake: So Keys sees you coming in for the second time today and he’s like:
Drake (as Keys): Ooh. Busy. Anything I should be wary of?
Navi (as Lucy): Extra raviolis.
Rhi (as Alessa): Stop asking questions.
Drake (as Keys): Oh, sorry sorry sorry.
Rhi (as Alessa): It’s fine, it’s just a lot happening.
Navi: How long do we have until the meeting?
Drake: It’s gonna be at noon tomorrow, so it’s basically- It was, like, four o’clock just a couple minutes ago.
Navi: No one’s sleeping.
Rhi: Not at all.
Drake: Okay. so, do we have any idea what we want to do with this meeting that’s going down in the Twist tomorrow?
Paulomi: What did the prince ask us to do?
Rhi (as Alessa): The Prince Battalia has asked us to maintain stability in the Twist, so keep brizolatto alive, take out the Prince of Tatters if we can-
Navi: This is assault all the way down, like, at the end of the day we’re probably gonna throw bows because we have to make sure that Brizolatto wins.
Drake: Sure.
Paulomi (as Aurelia): Mm hm. So it seems like we are acting as Brizolatto’s entourage?
Rhi: Yes, I think we’re gonna need to make contact with Brizolatto, let him know what’s happening, and- Yeah.
Navi: Oh, that’s a good point, we could be dirty little social climbers and make a social engagement because we’re trying to strengthen ties with Brizolatto.
Drake: Yeah, basically Prince Battalia just gave Brizolatto the thumbs up, and that’s basically like legitimacy, right?
Rhi: Mm.
Josie: Yep.
Rhi: Let’s not put it- We don’t need to go that far. Alessa, as the person who’s had the most direct interaction with the Brizolatto’s: ‘I don’t know if I wanna give them that- Let’s not.’
Drake: Apollo keeps his hands clean, though.
Rhi: Let’s not. Mm.
Drake: Fair enough. So I think if you guys want we can just go to the Cherubum right now and if we want to, I mean, your social connection is that you are legitimate. Like, you go into the place and you can probably get an audience with the man.
Rhi: Yeah, like, ‘hi, we outrank everyone here.’
Drake: Exactly. ‘Hi, look, let’s play a fun game called one two three, mask. Oop!’
Rhi: ‘Hi, we’re more important than you. Let us into your office.’
Drake: We’re all rarified in perfume. Okay.
Paulomi: ‘Are we allowed in? Good, thank you.’
Drake: ‘Check our names. We’re on the list. Yeah, should be under B for Battalia.’ Okay, so that being the case, who wants to roll engagement? I think you guys have, right now, 2 dice unless I can endanger or rope in Juliana to make more heartache.
Navi: Plsu a die ‘cause we are acting on information we came though prying.
Drake: That's 4.
Rhi: I’m gonna look at our sheet real quick, just to see if we got anything else.
Navi: We need all of the dice. What can we do to get 7?
Drake: That would be tricky. Be fun though.
Rhi: I don’t think we got anything else from our Battalia sheet. Are we endangering Juliana as per usual?
Navi: Uh, Juliana’s actually safe and out of here, isn’t she?
Drake: Yeah, I don’t think there’s technically a way that I can rope her in, I don’t think she’d be seen down here.
Rhi: Yeah, that’s fair.
Drake: So I think that’s 3 dice total, who wants to roll it?
Rhi: Uh, Pud, you roll engagement. I vote for you.
Navi: No pressure!
Paulomi: Oh god, I don’t know how to do that.
Drake: 3d6.
Rhi: Just roll 3d6.
Paulomi: Okay. Ooh! Okay, let’s read these runes here… I got a 6, a 3, and a 1.
Drake: A 6! That means we’re gonna start in a controlled position. Okay.
Paulomi: Oh boy!
Rhi: What’s our load, question mark?
Drake: That’s a very good question. Are we going to streak? Or are we going loaded?
Navi: We’re going loaded.
Paulomi: Oh, we’re fully loaded.
Navi: I just wanna say that fully loaded on Lucy probably still looks discreet, because she’s got, like, shit hidden in her ridiculous wig, and she’s got all these discreet, like, little arcane small things.
Rhi: Yeah, I think Alessa’s also going fully loaded, ‘cause we’re expecting to throw down.
Drake: Yeah, everybody in the Cherubum right now is, like, when you approach the doorman of the Cherubum, this massive, like, gilt and colonnade casino that Apollo holds court in, I think everybody in here looks like an acre of bad news. Like, you see people wearing, you know, chest plates and pauldrons, and there are people who have got, like, muskets on their back and, like, the sawn off alley sweeper pieces and it’s like they are a small occupying army inside this casino. Business has, like, shuttered for the day, but there’s still behind the bar, Wren is serving drinks, and like, I think you guys, you get in the front door, that’s no question, you’re in a controlled position here. But do you say that you have something urgent to say to Apollo Brizolatto or, like, are you expected? Those are the kinds of questions that you’re getting here ‘cause you look like another gang.
Navi: We’re wearing the colours, aren’t we?
Drake: Are you wearing the colours?
Navi: Yeah! Or are we discreet? I will defer to the militant types as to whether or not we are covert.
Josie: Inanna’s not being covert.
Drake: No.
Rhi: Well personally, I think Alessa is probably going to advocate for not wearing the colours, because that is going to lend more credence to Apollo Brizolatto than she is necessarily comfortable with. She doesn’t necessarily want to have House Battalia throw their weight behind the crime lord.
Josie: I’ll throw a cloak on over, it’s fine.
Rhi: Yeah.
Navi: That’s fair, we don’t want to tip our hand that the bigger houses are already involved with this to the Prince of Tatters, right?
Drake: Right.
Navi: ‘Cause they’ve done a really good job of, like, keeping this under wraps if no one knew.
Rhi: Yeah.
Drake: That’s fair. So, like, you guys can totally pass yourselves off as another Twist gang if you really wanted to, but I think that right now we’re being social, right, this isn’t necessarily covert. So I think that when you’re brought in, like, you don’t have any obvious markings or anything like that. You get a couple of people like ‘hey, where are you from? Like, what’s your territory>’
Rhi: Can Alessa make that-
Drake: I think you can probably answer that question.
Rhi: Yeah, Alessa knows the areas well enough to give the answer like ‘oh yeah, we’re with so and so’s.’
Drake: Yeah, I think so, like-
Rhi: Out of character I don’t know!
Drake: Yeah, that’s fine. Like, you can just be like, ‘oh yeah, we’re from down on the Byne Street’ and everything or, you know ‘on the front side of the canal over there, yeah, we work with Monto’ or whatever.
Rhi: Yeah.
Drake: Yeah, so you answer questions convincingly as you’re sort of starting to circulate this crowd, how do you make your approach towards Apollo? I think that you can see him up in the office above, like he’s got one of those glass fronted offices that kind of are out on a spar catwalk. Like, this place looks like it probably started life as a warehouse, but has been, like, slowly turned into this monument to apollo’s ascent, or maybe his ego. So you can see him up there, how are you approaching to get up and talk to the man?
Navi: Alright, I might do-
Rhi: We got flashbacks in this game, right?
Drake: We do.
Rhi: Alright. I might just do a flashback of- We don’t wanna advertise publicly that House Battalia is here, but, like, you know, we could’ve sent word ahead of time being like ‘hey-’
Drake: We’re gonna pay a visit.
Rhi: ‘House Battalia will be sending people. And when we get there we expect to be seen.’
Navi: ‘Because you people can’t take care of yourselves.’
Drake: Yeah, for sure, that totally makes sense. That’s a 1 stress flashback, no problem.
Rhi: Okay, I will once again eat that stress because I think Alessa just being from this area would know how to phrase that in a way that that letter would be accepted.
Drake: And I think honestly, if you want, I think a 1 stress flashback here is that you send it and it gets to him.
Rhi: Yeah.
Drake: I think a 2 stress flashback here is that you get it to him without anybody that you didn’t mean to know knowing.
Rhi: I’ll- Mmm.
Josie: Let’s do one stress, let’s keep it spicy.
Rhi: Mm, alright.
Drake: Clock. Okay, cool.
[everyone laughs]
Drake: That is the sound of a clock being dropped. Okay, so, yeah, Apollo knows that you’re coming and you can easily say yeah, we were sent for. You’re kind of brought up to the front area. So like, clearly they’re not gonna let you in this place with weaponry with the man himself. I think there are a couple of goons, we’ll say three goons, who are kind of holding the food, and they’re probably going to ask that you surrender weapons.
Rhi: Comical scene of-
Josie: Inanna will show her weapon and wrap a quick peace bond around it, but will not hand it over.
Drake: You won’t hand it over?
Josie: No. Inanna does not part with her sword, period.
Drake: So how do you manage to get them to accept that, like, you're not surrendering this weapon? ‘Cause they’re pretty insistent, right, I think, like, as you’re approaching they’re like:
Drake (as guard): Oh no, I don’t think you understand, with all the things that have been going on, no one gets in the room with the boss with a piece.
Josie: I think Inanna will give them a look like ‘really? You expect us to be in a room with the boss without something?’
Drake: Oh, so you’re turning this around like ‘look, I’m not going to sit in a room with a gangster.’
Josie: Deal with it.
Drake: So, like, do you think- I think there’s a roll here.
Josie: I wanna try command.
Drake: Command, yeah, that makes sense.
Josie: Like ‘no, I’m telling you what the situation is, you’re not telling me what the situation is.’
Drake: ‘We’ve got our orders’, ‘yeah, well I am your fucking order, how about that?’
Rhi: Yeah, yeah.
Drake: ‘And I’m giving you smarter ones.’
Josie: I got a 4.
Drake: A 4? Okay, so with your command, like, these guys work for \brizolatto, these guys work for Apollo. They don’t work for you, but at this moment, as you are, like, making it clear that you’re going to go ahead and tie your weapon, it won’t be something that you’re able to call to hand immediately, they want some kind of concessions and I think that might do it.
Josie: Yeah, and I’ll keep it visible. Not as a threat, but as a ‘if I do something you can see me doing it.’
Drake: Sure. That makes sense. Aurelia, you’re visibly armed as well, right?
Paulomi: I’m also, like, dressed to the nines, like, I came here cruising for a bruising. I am a, like, knight of House Battalia, for lack of a better term.
Drake: You are, no, you absolutely are.
Paulomi: My- There is a coat of armour that we follow, my- I am bound to that, I have sworn oaths etcetera. I feel like that carries some level of weight.
Drake: You’ve got Code Duello don’t you?
Paulomi: Yes I do.
Drake: Alright so, like, in many ways your honour is unimpeachable, and is that what you’re telling them?
Paulomi: If I tell you I’m not going to draw a blade on your boss you should believe me.
Drake: So, like, these people are challenging your honour here, right?
Paulomi: Mm hm. I think the conversation goes something like this, right: they’re, like, asking for weapons at the door, Inanna refused, they get to me, I also refuse, and they’re going to insist and I think that's when I get bristly.
Drake: Uh oh, what does bristly look like?
Paulomi: Hey, I’ve had a day, so I feel like there’s a lot of weight behind the look of just utter derision and you’re an ant to me, I don’t have to listen to you.
Drake: So, like, you would wager your honour against mine, is that-
Paulomi: Yeah.
Drake: Is that what you’re doing here?
Paulomi: Yeah, the scales tip heavily in my favour, good friend.
Drake: Yeah, like, you don’t even factor, I don’t even think about you.
Paulomi: I don’t have to answer at all.
Drake: Okay, so this- I think I- What kind of action do you see yourself doing here? I could see this as a sway, and I could see this as a command as well.
Paulomi: I’m gonna go with sway, because I have a pip in that.
Drake: That’s fair.
Paulomi: But I think this is- Oh! I know how this looks. I think they’re like ‘no, really, you need to give us your weapons’, I give them this look of derision, I put both my hands on whatever surface is between us and lean in very closely and just go:
Paulomi (as Aurelia): No.
Paulomi: I think that’s a sway.
Drake: Okay, that’s fair, I could see that. I think you’re controlled right now because, like, I don’t think- the big risk here isn’t that things immediately go bad, I think that risk is that we’re escalating, right? So I’m gonna give you controlled standing here.
Paulomi: Alrighty.
Rhi: Alessa has already, like, the instant that they were like ‘hey, hand over your weapons?’ Alessa was like ‘oh yeah, sure-’ pew pew pew pew, and is watching this all unfold like ‘why are you people like this?’
Paulomi: I have bad news. I have terrible news.
Rhi: Oh no.
Paulomi: Oh! I know what this is! I know what happens! Me assaulting someone else in my own house while they’re on duty has gotten around.
Drake: Yeah, I think that you are- I don't know that these people know you immediately or on sight or anything, but I think Apollo, Apollo is, like, opening the door behind these guards and like wondering what the hell is going on. ‘Cause, like, it’s making some sounds because there’s some (clunking sounds) as Alessa is divesting herself. And, like, there’s the sound of Inanna, like, disagreeing, like no, that’s no- and then another no. And I think Apollo opens the doors and he’s, you know, mid fifties, he’s got kind of a receding hairline, but he’s got this, like, platinum blond hair, and it’s kind of swept back in a really,really dramatic widow’s peak, right. And he’s wearing just a silk shirt and you can see that he’s got, like, one pauldron on already and he’s clearly arraying himself for war, he’s in the middle of putting armour on, right. And he’s like:
Drake (as Apollo): No, let ‘em through. You don’t know, but these have an ugly reputation and I don’t love your odds against them. Come on in.
Navi: I mean, Lucy beams at him, just the biggest, just, like, she just got the biggest compliment from, like, the bell of the ball, and she’s so important and ‘yes, I know, here I go.’
Rhi: So we have a reputation.
Drake: So he turns his back on you and starts walking back into the room. You can see he’s got a couple of lieutenants in there with him, it’s not a grand war table like, you know, is in the Battalia home, but it is a small representation of the area directly surrounding the Cherubum, right. And you can see that his lieutenants are pointing at positions, places where they’ve got people, scouts and watchers and things like that. And they’re talking about- They’re basically running through the plan one more time before it all goes down, right. He’s like:
Drake (as Apollo): I hope you don’t mind, we’re having a last minute runthrough of the plan.
Rhi (as Alessa): No, that’s probably for the best.
Drake (as Apollo): Well, I hear tell that you have something that might change the plan, so let’s hear it.
Rhi (as Alessa): Yes. It’s not an envoy that’s coming.
Drake (as Apollo): No, but what is it?
Rhi (as Alessa): It’s the Prince of Tatters.
Drake (as Apollo): Oh ho!
Drake: And he looks over at his lieutenants, and the lieutenants are all confused and puzzled and whatnot.
Drake (as Apollo): Well, I’ll give him something for his bravery, but I’ve got every killer for the, you know, next twenty blocks on standby, is he mad?
Rhi (as Alessa): Well, that’s the thing. Would you walk into a situation like this?
Drake (as Apollo): Oh, no, I’d have burned him out.
Rhi (as Alessa): So either he’s mad, as you say, or there is something going on with him that you do not know, and he is going to be a lot harder to kill than any of us realise. And I have reason to think that it’s going to be a lot more the latter than the former.
Drake: He looks over at one of his lieutenants and he’s like:
Drake (as Apollo): Butcher, what do we know overall about the state of the Prince of Tatters?
Drake: And Butcher looks over and, like, you know, sucks at his teeth for a second.
Drake (as Butcher): Well, you know boss, it's not a lot.
Drake (as Apollo): Don’t laugh at me.
Drake: And he looks back and he’s like:
Drake (as Apollo): Okay, what do you know?
Rhi (as Alessa): Also not a lot.
Drake (as Apollo): So you understand how I’m doing the best I can with the information that I’ve got, right?
Rhi (as Alessa): Yes.
Navi (as Lucy): And that is why we are here to fill in the holes.
Rhi (as Alessa): Yes.
Drake (as Apollo): Okay, okay, I like that, I can work with that. Like I said, you all have a reputation and I respect a reputation.
Rhi (as Alessa): We are here to ensure the stability of the Twist in the person of you.
Drake (as Apollo): Oh, so Battalia has a vested interest?
Rhi (as Alessa): In keeping things stable, don’t take this as anything more than avoiding further bloodshed, Brizolatto.
Drake: He smiles and it’s a shark’s smile, like, it’s an apex predator that has found itself suddenly head and shoulders above the rest of the jungle.
Drake (as Apollo): Oh, no, I wouldn’t dare presume that I was getting preferential treatment from on high, that would be criminal.
Rhi (as Alessa): It certainly would.
Drake (as Apollo): So, about my preferential treatment-
Rhi (as Alessa): Well, while we’re here taking a nice, good look around inside your operation and its defences and security, what's your plan? So that we know how we can, as my colleague said, fill the gaps.
Drake (as Apollo): I thought you’d never ask. First is plan plausible deniability.
Drake: And he lays out a plan of the ambush he has set for when the envoy’s entourage arrie though one of the less trafficked areas of the Twist, right.
Drake (as Apollo): I’ve already had the streets cleared, no collateral damage you’ll be happy to know, we’re gonna hit him here, here, and here with alley pieces, I don't foresee that we’ll need any other plans, but I’ve got one here:
Drake: And he lays out the, you know, the bar is full to bursting will all of his cronies, he’s like:
Drake (as Apollo): He’ll have to bargain, hat in hand. And then when we drink the toast to our new arrangement where we split the Twist down the middle, that’s when we’re gonna do the poison in the goblet-
Drake: Like, he’s got five ways of killing this guy, as he’s coming in, right. Because there’s no kill like overkill, and Apollo didn't get up this high without, you know, having five ways of killing anybody he comes into contact with. Most of them, I mean, if you were dealing with a normal person, would probably set you at ease. Its not setting you at ease, is it?
Rhi: Nope.
Drake: So when he lays out his plan, my question is, like, what do you think that you can add?
Josie (as Inanna): I notice a distinct lack of accounting for forces beyond.
Drake (as Apollo): Necary?
Josie (as Inanna): Yes.
Drake (as Apollo): Well, yeah, that’s something of a sore subject, my knack is gone, vanished.
Navi: I think as he says that there’s a, like, a perceivable weight that, like, drops over the room. Anybody who has any kind of, like, connection with magic suddenly feels like they’re kind of underwater. That feeling of, like, you’ve just been sand bagged as Luciana casually, on cue, turns the magic off.
Josie: Inanna stumbles a little bit.
Drake: I think, aside from Inanna, like, they’re all blunts in here, right?
Navi: Mm hm. Yeah.
Drake: Nobody here, like, feels the magic. But I think something happens that lets you know that something has changed. What is it?
Navi: That’s interesting. I think that it’s-
Drake: Is it something on him? Something that Apollo has that is no longer working the way it should.
Navi: Oh, does he have a- Certainly, right? He’s pretty high up, he probably has some kind of enchanted bobs and bits that make him more powerful or more-
Drake: I got it, okay, so he wears a big, heavy bezel ring on his right hand, and it’s got a, like a, just vibrant green stone that flickers and turns grey as soon as you turn the magic off. And he looks down, and you see that it’s starting to look like steam is rising off of it.
Drake (as Apollo): What’d you just do?
Navi: I don’t know if I want to- I don’t think I’m gonna, like, completely divulge. I’m just like:
Navi (as Lucy): I just turned the tide to your favour. You can thank me later. (whispers) Sorry about your Knack, he wasn’t very good.
Drake: I can’t imagine that Apollo is super happy about that. You just implied-
Navi: She’s a primadonna and rockstar, so at this point she’s just making fun of everyone.
Drake: ‘Did you just say, like, I scragged your Knack? Like, sorry dude, he wasn’t very good, but you’ve got me now, so. I mean, I’m gonna go away at the end of the day.’ I think that, like, social harm here-
Rhi: Listen, he needs to be put in his place a little bit, so.
Drake: I understand, I think he looks over at one of his lieutenants and then back at you, and then one of the lieutenants leaves. Take level 3 social harm: death mark.
Navi: Death mark?
[everyone ‘ooh’s]
Navi: (sarcastically) Oh! Good!
Drake: Yeah, if you-
Navi: Oh, she’ll resist that, hold on.
Josie: Oh no!
Navi: No, I should resist that to a lower thing. I remember actually that’s pretty cool! Hold on now.
Drake: ‘Yeah, if I go into the Twist later like, I am to be killed.’
Navi: That's unfortunate!
Drake: You like hanging out in the Twist! You like playing with the Buskins and stuff, right.
Navi: I do! And quite frankly I think that Apollo has a cute butt, so I don’t want him to want me dead. So I’m gonna reist that with, what is this? Maybe it’s mind?
Drake: Maybe.
Navi: What am I resisting here?
Drake: Well, you’re resisting the death mark, because, like, he’s so pissed off that the implication is that you killed his Knack that he is putting a hit out on you.
Navi: Yeah, I know, I’m just not sure- Let’s see. I have to think of how you would counter that in this situation.
Drake: I mean, it could be, you know, quick thinking in that ‘I saw it go down’, it could be in the, you know, you’re just coming off so damn charming that he can’t, like, how are you softening this blow? How are you sparing his feelings, right?
Navi: Right.
Drake: You are making him not feel small in this moment, right.
Navi: Yeah, no, I think she’s gonna, like, buff the ego a little bit, like, you know:
Navi (as Lucy): You could do so much better, there’s just- I could put you in touch with much better Knacks.
Navi: Like, she thinks she’s kind of like, I want better for you than that, I did you a favour.
Drake: Okay, this feels maybe like spirit here, because that’s where sway and consort live. Okay, so go ahead and take a point of stress from that 5 resistance roll, and we’re gonna take level 2 social harm instead and that is gonna come off with, like, tailed watch.
Navi: Ooh! That’s gonna work out really well when I make him my paramour later.
Drake: Okay, so in that moment, like, he looks over and you can see the ‘follow the girl’, like pass between him and the lieutenant and the lieutenant writes something down in the ledger. So, as this is going on, like, as the magic turns off and his ring flickers and fades he’s like:
Drake (as Apollo): Okay, that’s good. If they come at us with anything not run of the mill, anything that we can’t, you know, stab or shoot, then that’ll keep us safe.
Navi: That’s the plan.
Drake (as Apollo): Okay, any other holes that I’m leaving in our defence plan that anybody can see?
Paulomi (as Aurelia): I don't think so.
Rhi (as Alessa): Nahm we’ll just- A lot of it is going to have to be improvised, and fortunately we are very good at improvising.
## Story ends [01:15:50]
Rhi: I already have both of my level 1 harm slots filled, so that’s the energy I’m bringing.
Josie: I somehow have none.
Rhi: Wonderful.
Drake: I wanted to throw out a little bit of social drama.
Rhi: And I had the bruised ribs, and then I have yearning.
Drake: Yearning!
Rhi: I yearn.
Josie: (giggles)