Dr. Marquez Cruz (played by special guest Dusty!) just wants to run his underground clinic in peace. Unfortunately, outside forces are making that impossible... and so he turns to the Whisky Jays for help.
Dr. Marquez Cruz (played by special guest Dusty!) just wants to run his underground clinic in peace. Unfortunately, outside forces are making that impossible... and so he turns to the Whisky Jays for help.
Featured Charity: GLITS
Visit our StartPlaying affiliate link and claim a $10 credit towards your next game!
Check out our new Tumblr!
Support Clever Corvids on Patreon!
Visit the Clever Corvids merch store!
Listen to our other ongoing show, Love & Hellfire!
Sponsor an episode of The City That Never Dies!
Visit Fair Fight to help defend democracy in the United States.
Transcribed by Michelle Kelly.
## Intro
Rhi: Welcome back to Imperial City. As always, thank you for joining us. I hope your new year has started well! We’ve got a lot planned for the coming year, and we’re so excited to have you along for the ride.
Please remember to leave a review, buy some merch, sponsor an episode or jumbotron message, or back us on Patreon! Patreon support is what keeps the show going and, if we can increase our support there, will let us fully support even more shows, like Love and Hellfire. We might even have some other new ideas in the works that will be even more successful with your backing.
Next, Aki’s going to tell us about this month’s featured charity.
Aki: Hey, it’s Aki, and our chosen charity of the month is Gays and Lesbians in a Transgender Society, or better known as GLITS. For more information, check out glitsinc.org. That’s g-l-i-t-s-i-n-c dot o-r-g. Thanks!
Rhi: Check out the donation link in the show notes to support this Black and trans-led organization!
Now then. Let’s get started, shall we?
## Story continues [00.01.33]
Rhi: We open up in Corvus Row, on a dark side street with only a handful of street lights lit, and we pan down the street, past the various shops and storefronts, until we find one that is called Soto’s Herbs and Spirits. It’s closed, the store is dark and the sign in the front door has been flipped around to read ‘closed’, and then underneath it is a piece of paper that’s been pasted up. And the first note on this sign says, ‘Closed until further notice’ and then in a different ink color it says, ‘Please stop knocking’.
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi: We move through the door and into the shop, which is not terribly large. It’s one of those buildings that goes back a long way, so this front storefront area is kind of narrow but fairly deep. There are shelves full of different bottles containing powders and herbs and liquids, but it’s all dark. It looks like it hasn’t been touched for a while. And we move through this shop and into a back hallway where we finally see a light coming through a half-open door. In the hallway outside this door there’s a few kind of battered-looking wooden chairs pushed up against the wall, and there’s a small sign taped up or pasted up on the wall next to this door that says, ‘Dr Marquez Cruz’. And we move through this door into this room.
Half of it looks like kind of a clinic medical exam room that has, you know, some cabinets, a bed and a couple chairs and a curtain that can be pulled around the area. The rest of the space is kind of an occult alchemist sort of lab setup. And in this room is our doctor. Dusty, will you tell us what does Marquez look like and what are they up to right now? And also, what is Marquez’s pronouns? I realize I didn’t get that info.
Dusty: Uh, Marquez pronouns is he/him.
Rhi: Okay, great.
Dusty: As far as what he looks like, the first thing you would notice is like this salt-and-pepper kind of poofy hair with an attempt to comb back, and like more on the grey side. And you would then see even though they’re inside, they’re wearing these very dark sunglasses. Kind of the circle ones covering just like their entire eyes, very dark. They are wearing kind of like a striped blue and red stripe, but not tucked in, they have suspenders on, and they are in one hand reading a document and the other hand holding something that could be a cigarette, could be something else, and just studying this document. And if you looked at it you— most people would not be able to understand it.
Rhi: The camera kind of pulls back a little bit as the ghost that we have been following through this— back through this building, materializes in front of Marquez. The temperature in the room drops a bit and I think the document that he’s holding ruffles a bit. And it’s just sort of hovering there, waiting to be acknowledged.
Dusty (as Marquez): Yes? What? What have you come to tell me?
Rhi: This particular spirit is not— you recognize this one. It’s a ghost that has been deceased for quite a long time. And the longer— with a lot of ghosts, the longer that they’re dead, the more they sort of lose their form, communication becomes more difficult. And it just sort of like gestures towards your desk and a pen scratches out on a piece of paper, just sort of seemingly moving by itself, ‘Whisky Jays’ and then a phone number.
Dusty (as Marquez): Okay. I guess I’ll get help where I can.
Rhi: So, we cut to the Black Rabbit Club. This is where the Whisky Jays have been meeting with clients since going independent, and all of them are here, including Arlene, who I think— and Minna, you can correct me if I’m wrong, outwardly probably is looking more or less back to normal, but— or is there any sign of her injury, that she’s still healing a bit?
Minna: No. She’s absolutely refusing to look weak. [laughs]
Josie: Aww.
Rhi: Mm. Yeah.
Aki: Oh no, I wonder where she got that from…
Rhi: Yeah, I was just about to say, like mother, like daughter!
[amused agreement]
Josie: We’re all looking for the one who did this.
Rhi: [laughs]
Aki: Oh, attack me again, we just met.
[laughter]
Rhi: And Pearl is also there, sitting probably across like three people’s feet at this booth table. And you all were recently contacted by a doctor named Marquez Cruz who wanted to meet with you about hiring you for a job. And as you are all sitting here, one of the servers that works at the club will escort Marquez over to your table and I think is also carrying a tray with the drinks and will set that, you know, hand out the drinks and then turn to Marquez and be like,
Rhi (as Server): Can I get you anything?
Dusty (as Marquez): I’ll take a water.
Rhi (as Server): Alright, I’ll be right back.
Rhi: They head off and come back very quickly with the water and then as all of the staff here at the club know, when Val brings all of their friends around, avoid the table. [laughs]
Kim: Mm hmm.
Rhi (as Alessa): Do not listen to the conversations that are happening. So, the server makes themselves scarce as Marquez, you sit down with your water.
Josie (as Echo): Hello.
Dusty (as Marquez): Hello. Uh, I never know what to expect when I ask for a job. It’s never this.
Kim (as Val): How do you mean?
Dusty (as Marquez): Well, I’ve heard word that you all need a doctor, and I need to get someone out of a place. So I think we could come to maybe a mutual understanding.
Kim (as Val): Where did you hear we might need a doctor?
Dusty (as Marquez): You know, the one thing that can never keep secrets is a ghost.
Kim (as Val): A ghost?
Dusty (as Marquez): Yeah. You’ve made a couple of them, so, you know.
Minna: [laughs]
Aki (as Darling): We may— we might allegedly have made a couple of ghosts, but we also allegedly shot a couple ghosts too, so we’re kind of on thin ice here.
Dusty (as Marquez): Mm hmm. Uh, alleged?
Minna: [laughs]
Josie (as Echo): It worked out in this case, but I think I need to strengthen the wards.
Rhi: Marquez, the situation that you’re coming here about is your missing business partner, maybe friend, question mark, Soto—
Dusty: Question mark.
Rhi: Yeah. [laughs] Who owns the store that you run your clinic out of. Soto’s kind of a weird fellow. Disappeared for long stretches, but would always come back with, you know, new herbs, new occult inventions, new recipes. So, it took you a while before you starting getting concerned about this latest disappearance. But Soto has been missing for close to a month now, which is longer than usual. And you reached out to your spiritual contacts, we’ll say, and you’ve learned that Soto is being held by someone named Dr Landa at the Tower of Glass. The ghosts have been telling you that, uh, he’s halfway on our side. So he’s in bad shape.
Dusty: Yeah, I think Marquez would go through that and just like,
Dusty (as Marquez): Look, Soto is held, in the Tower of Glass. Not in good shape. And sabes que, like, if I can’t get those herbs and stuff from him, I ain’t gonna be able to keep the clinic open.
Josie (as Echo): I’m sorry, did you say Dr Landa?
Dusty (as Marquez): Something like that. Landa, Lambda, sometimes it’s hard to understand ghosts.
Josie (as Echo): I see.
Rhi: Echo, you’re pretty sure it’s Dr Landa.
Dusty: I know, but I’m not saying that in character. [laughs]
Rhi: Oh yeah, yeah. For Echo, Echo knows that name as well.
Josie (as Echo): Val, I would like to request that we take this job.
Kim (as Val): Yeah?
Josie (as Echo): Yes.
Kim (as Val): Okay then.
Josie (as Echo): It would help me out.
Kim (as Val): Noted. Uh, Mr. Marquez, what did you have in mind for payment for this endeavor?
Dusty (as Marquez): So, it’s very obvious you need a doctor. That one’s been shot. You’re not hiding it very well.
Minna (as Arlene): Hey!
Rhi: [laughs]
Minna: [laughs]
Aki: She took offense to that.
Dusty (as Marquez): I’m just stating the obvious, okay.
Minna (as Arlene): I’m hiding it perfectly well.
Kim: Val’s gonna hold up a hand like, come on Arlene. [laughs] It’s alright.
Rhi: [laughs]
Dusty (as Marquez): You help me with this, you get— you need any help getting stitched up, or wounds or whatever, you come to me. I also have—
Dusty: And they’re gonna pull it out from like a breast pocket, a little tiny vial, swirling kind of like green with deep purple flecks in it. Like,
Dusty (as Marquez): This will kind of keep you going if you need help. Very potent, but I could give you the last of mine only if you get Soto, because they’re the ones who get all the herbs.
Kim (as Val): Hmm. Keeps you going, you say?
Dusty (as Marquez): Yeah. You know, from dying and becoming a ghost.
Kim (as Val): That’s pretty dire. Do you think your friend Soto is in uh, in deep shit?
Dusty (as Marquez): I think that’s putting it on the lighter end. My contacts have said they’re halfway… halfway to becoming said ghost, so that’s not good.
Josie (as Echo): Wow. Then we should get started soon. Are you sure you’re willing to make it a continuous service?
Dusty (as Marquez): You would not be the first crew or organization I provide my services to.
Josie (as Echo): I see.
Kim (as Val): Alright, well we’ll see what we can do.
Dusty (as Marquez): Yeah. One other thing, I’m not sure if I made it clear. You need to get me in there too.
Josie (as Echo): Oh.
Aki (as Darling): Oh. Well… so I assume protecting you counts as a part of the deal?
Dusty (as Marquez): Not so much protecting, just paving the way.
Kim (as Val): Paving a way?
Dusty (as Marquez): Yeah. Look, I— Soto, by the time you get there, they could be on their last, you know, last links of life. And ain’t no one gonna fix him up better than me.
Kim (as Val): Well, we’d hate to bring you damaged goods, as it were. I think this is a sensible thing to do, probably.
Josie (as Echo): Yes. Let’s just not get shot more. Don’t want to put too much on Marquez right off the bat.
Kim (as Val): Or we could, if he’s as good as he says.
Dusty: They’re gonna just chuckle a little bit as they slowly drink the glass of water.
Rhi: [laughs] Alright. So, on that note, I think before we get into Gather Info, Echo?
Josie: Hi! I went to school there. [laughs]
Kim: Oh…
Rhi: I was about to say, you are familiar with the campus on the Tower of Glass, you’re very familiar with the campus.
Josie: I’m also probably familiar with some things most people aren’t familiar with about the campus. [laughs]
Rhi: Yep. You do know where some of the off-the-books spaces on campus are. You don’t know exactly where Dr Landa’s alternate labs are. You know where the ones she uses for classes and her public research are, but you’re not— it’s not a surprise to find out that she probably has something. So, I don’t know how much of this you want to share with the group, either— probably not with Marquez present, since I imagine you wanna keep some elements of your—
Josie: I mean, she will share all the practical details. She will just not go into, at all, why she knows any of this.
Rhi: Okay, yeah. So yeah, you know the layout of the school. You know, that’s one piece of info you don’t really need to gather. Echo can get you around the campus quite well. And yeah, the main thing— and Echo is also then gonna be familiar with the hurdles. The security that you’re gonna be dealing with. There’s campus security, which is personnel, security guards that are stationed around the campus, and the Tower of Glass has more security than average. Compared to the other universities and academic institutions in the city, the Tower of Glass has more security guards than the others. You’re guessing, based on what you know about the other secret areas of the campus, that you’re gonna be dealing with spark-craft and occult security measures, and probably the biggest hurdle is just the campus community.
The Tower of Glass is an active university. There’s gonna be students, there’s gonna be faculty, there’s gonna be staff, all of them moving around the campus, that you’re gonna have to work your way through. There are times when there are fewer students on campus, but the Tower of Glass is an institution that uh, rewards working yourself to the bone. So there’s always students on the campus studying or researching, and likewise there’s always faculty doing research or working on publishing things or other less savory experiments.
Josie (as Echo): That all being said, I highly recommend that we go before lights out. Partly because we will get to Marquez’s friend sooner, but also because we may be able to blend in and Dr Landa is unlikely to be in her lab when she may otherwise be teaching. My plan is that we forge an identity for Arlene as a new student and we can just walk in under that guise.
Minna (as Arlene): I don’t have to go to any classes, right?
Josie (as Echo): No, you do not.
Rhi: [laughs]
Minna (as Arlene): Good.
Josie (as Echo): We just make like we are going to the Dean’s office, but instead we are going to the secret lab where horrible things happen.
Minna (as Arlene): That sounds more fun than a class.
Rhi: [laughs] Arlene is like—
Josie (as Echo): I will not comment one way or the other.
Rhi: Arlene is just like, ‘Formal education? No thank you.’
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah, so the— you know, if there’s other info that you want to gather to prep for this, go for it, but kinda the big missing piece here is you don’t know exactly where the secret lab is.
Josie: Right.
Rhi: You could try to figure that out in advance, but it would mean being on campus. Or you can just try and figure it out when you’re all there, as part of the score.
Josie: Yeah. We should definitely do that. Although, to be honest, my idea of Gather Info is actually talking to Marquez.
Rhi: Okay.
Josie: Figure out why they may have been taken.
Rhi: Yeah!
Kim: Hmm.
Rhi: So in that case, um, whoever wants to make that inquiry?
Josie: Yeah. I should probably be the one who looks for the secret lab, though.
Rhi: [laughs]
Josie: Yeah. [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah, so I think in this case the way that we’ll do this is whoever wants to ask can do that and make a roll and then I will just feed Dusty information based on the results of said roll.
Josie: [laughs]
Dusty: Yeah, I was just gonna make shit up.
Rhi: That also works. I’m down for that.
Josie: I like Dusty making shit up.
Rhi: Yeah, go ahead and make shit up. That’s even easier on me.
Aki: [cackles] Do the work, bitch!
[laughter]
Rhi: Alright. So yeah, who wants to start off with getting some more info out of Marquez as we gather info?
Aki: I mean, I could do it. I’m more of like a tracking person, but I don’t think necessarily anything needs to be tracked. Unless you want me to stalk someone. Which can be done.
Josie: I mean in the heat of— during the score, you might be useful tracking down where this place is, in that regard. So maybe getting to know the person, you can look for signs of them?
Rhi: Yeah, you could follow around our good doctor. Landa. We have two doctors here.
Aki: Yeah, I could. The issue is I’m quite noticeable.
Rhi: You are. You’re not subtle.
Aki: And even more memorable. So that is the big— can I stalk? Yes. From afar. But this is inside a school, you know?
Dusty: Are tigers allowed in school?
Rhi: The way that I’m picturing the Tower of Glass campus is there is a central tower building, but then there’s kind of a larger campus with several other buildings sprawling around it. So you could attempt to do some like, long-distance recon. That’s definitely an option. But let’s tackle this item of finding out why was Soto grabbed. If somebody wants to— and I will say, this is I think gonna be Consort, and I’m gonna put you at improved effect because presumably Marquez wants to help you out here. [laughs]
Dusty: Allegedly.
Kim: Yeah.
Rhi: So who— whoever wants to make that roll. I think Val probably has decent Consort, right?
Kim: I have, uh, pretty good Consort. It’s two.
Rhi: Yeah. And you get an extra die because of your informants.
Kim (as Val): Mm! That’s not good. My highest was a 3. [laughs]
Rhi: Okay.
Dusty (as Marquez): Um… I mean, first of all, friend, buddy, that’s a strong word. Business partner, maybe. Uh, but you know, I don’t know. At this point, like, you know, being an underground medic for all the gangs in the dang city, someone was gonna get mad probably. As far as like, specifically why? I don’t know.
Kim: That’s incredibly vague. [laughs]
Rhi: I will say, Dusty, I think one thing you might know is that with the work that Soto does, a lot of it is questionably legal at best, a lot of is ends up being just fully illegal. A lot of this work with ghosts and spirits and the occult is banned, so Soto has to work with some cults and sort of arcane-inclined criminals, so it’s possible that’s how they got nabbed.
Dusty: As all good ghost doctors are, doing illegal stuff. Yeah, I mean, I think just like, they are gonna like kinda leave it like that, just also like,
Dusty (as Marquez): You know like, when you stitch up people who are doing crime, you may get involved with wrong crime, I guess.
Rhi: So, who wants to go next for the gathering of information? We had Echo, potentially—
Josie: I’ll go next.
Rhi: Yeah. Alright, and you were gonna try and figure out where Dr Landa’s secret lab is?
Josie: Yeah.
Rhi: Okay.
Josie: I mean, I know where all Pandora’s shit is, so maybe I can extrapolate?
Rhi: Oh, interesting.
Josie: Cause like, I don’t know if I can go on campus at this stage. Um, I could try? I don’t think I have my old ID or anything, but—[laughs]
Rhi: No. And um, your old ID wouldn’t have your current picture on it.
Josie: That’s true.
Rhi: [laughs] So, I will say if you go on campus you’re gonna be at reduced effect for gathering info, because you have to be extra cautious to not get spotted by the wrong people. Going just kind of off of your memories and what you know about Pandora’s operations, it’ll be just standard.
Josie: Uh, this sounds like a Study or Survey.
Rhi: Yeah. I think Study. You’re kind of studying your own memories and knowledge.
Josie: Mm hmm. [laughs] Oh, although maybe I grab like, a campus map or something.
Rhi: Yeah, yeah.
Josie: And I’m like, ‘Well, this is wrong. There’s stuff here.”
Rhi: Yeah.
Josie: Maybe I can triangulate.
Rhi: Mm hmm.
Josie: [rolls dice] I got a 6.
Rhi: Excellent. So with a 6, you get exceptional details. So yeah, you’re looking at the campus map and you’re thinking about where on campus Pandora has all of her spaces. Not everything is on campus, but a lot of it is, since it’s an area that she controls. And what you realize is, um, there’s like a separate building outside of the Tower where all of the bio and anatomy labs are, because they need to have specialized equipment to store specimens and things that— the tower of the Tower of Glass itself is pretty old, and so this was a newer building built with newer technology. Refrigeration, things like that.
Josie: Mm hmm.
Rhi: And you’re looking at this building, cause you know that’s where Dr Landa’s main lab and office is. You realize that there is, from your time on campus, there’s a door kind of on the back of the building that was always locked, and you know, it has a sort of Staff Oly sign on it, and you kind, you never really thought much about it. But you’re realizing this door isn’t on the map anywhere. And a lot of the other staff doors, you would see actual staff go in and out of. The only time you ever saw anybody go in there was one time you saw Dr Landa coming out of that door. Otherwise, you’ve never seen it open. And you spent a decent amount of time around that building, for various reasons.
Josie: I think Echo says to herself,
Josie (as Echo): Wow, that simple, huh? She’s less subtle than Pandora.
Rhi: So yeah, you’re pretty sure. You’re guessing that’s probably— a lot of the other sort of secret areas on campus were like, in basements. You’re guessing that door probably leads to an underground space underneath the bio lab building.
Josie: Gotcha.
Rhi: Yeah. You know where you need to go. You’re not sure what the security is like on that door or that building, but that’s probably your target. Darling, did you wanna do any kind of recon? Tracking?
Aki: Ye.
Rhi: Alright.
Aki: I will scope out the area, specifically the doctor, but the bad one.
Rhi: Yeah, Dr Landa.
Aki: Yeah. Yeah, I was gonna say the bad one, then I realized they’re both technically bad, so I was like, the shady one— shit, they’re both shady. What the hell?
Rhi: [laughs]
Dusty: [laughs]
Rhi: The definitely evil one. We’re pretty sure Marquez is not.
Dusty: Mm…
Aki: Like, if so, they’re on the more chill evil side.
Rhi: [laughs]
Aki: Like neutral? Neutral evil characters are so chill, actually.
Rhi: So you’re gonna try and track Dr Landa’s movements around campus?
Aki: Yeah, make it easier for us later on.
Rhi: Yeah.
Aki: I— okay, so because it’s a specific person, could I use Hunt?
Rhi: Absolutely. This is what Hunt is made for.
Aki: Yes.
Rhi: [laughs] It’s one of the many things Hunt is good at: stalking!
Aki: Sorry I got out of a game today where I had to roll d10, so I keep hitting the d10.
Rhi: Oh! [laughs]
Josie: [laughs]
Kim: Oh no.
Aki: I hit it like three times, and I’m like, ‘I can’t get an 8!’
Rhi: I was just gonna say, ‘I got an 8 on my Gather Information?’
Josie: [laughs]
Aki: I did get a 6 though, so.
Rhi: Of course you did. Why do I even ask you to roll? Yeah, the Tower of Glass campus is kind of in the middle of an otherwise very wealthy residential neighborhood. And so, you know, there are fences around it, but they are purely decorative. They’re just, you know, wrought-iron fences that don’t even have, like in a lot of places don’t even gates. The students can just wander in and out. So, it’s fairly easy for you to find a roof to get up on top of and just sort of watch the campus. And I think Echo was probably able to either give you a description or possible even somebody might have been able to get on campus I think and like, grab a yearbook or, you know, a publication that has her picture in it.
Josie: Well, she's like a published doctor, right?
Rhi: Yeah.
Josie: So probably not that hard to find.
Rhi: Yeah, yeah. You just have to, you know, get the right academic journal and be like, ‘That’s her’.
Josie: Mm hmm. [laughs]
Rhi: Dr Circe Landa. So you have to wait a little bit to spot her as you’re kind of sweeping your scope across campus, but you do eventually find her. And yeah, you get a pretty good sense of her movements throughout the day. She spends most of the day in the biology lab building. I think that you’ve actually, with a six, you’ve got an angle where you can see into like her office window, so you can see when she’s there or when she presumably leaves to teach class. And she spends a little bit of time over in the tower proper and then towards the end of the day as, you know, a little bit after the shadowed remnants of the sun have set, she goes over to that staff door that Echo had identified. And the way the door is positioned and the way that she’s standing, you can’t see exactly what she does, but you do see kind of a brief little flare of light that indicates there’s some kind of arcane ward on it. And then she goes in there and she’s down there for a few hours and then comes back out and leaves campus, presumably for home. So, you’re guessing you need to get there, as Echo guessed, sort of before the end of the day so you can be down there before Dr Landa arrives, if you wanna avoid running into her.
Aki: I— okay, that’s noted. Noted. Free action to feel creepy about this?
Rhi: Yeah.
Aki: Specifically about the doctor just, going down… come out several hours later.
Aki (as Darling): What the hell do you do in the dark for several hours? [sighs] I know exactly what you do in the dark for several hours! How dare you put my mind in the gutter?
[laughter]
Rhi: You’ve done this to yourself, Darling.
Aki (as Darling): No I have not!
Minna: I also—
Aki: [overtalk] —are repressed! There’s a kinky sex dungeon in the school, I know it!
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: I mean…
Josie: Darling looks over to Pearl like, ‘You did this,’ and she’s like, ‘Mrr?’
[laughter]
Dusty: That’s where Soto is, please.
Rhi: Pearl’s just like, ‘I’m… a tiger.’
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: Alright, so Arlene, is there anything— well, I guess Arlene’s gotta get an ID forged, huh?
Minna: Yeah. I do have a forger friend.
Rhi: You do!
Minna: Yes, I do. Maurice. Have we actually met Maurice?
Rhi: We haven’t met Maurice. We’ve referenced you visiting Maurice a few times, but we haven’t met Maurice. Is it time to meet Maurice?
Minna: It might be time to meet Maurice. I don’t know anything about Maurice as a person.
Rhi: Neither do I, let’s figure it out. So, huh, where in the city do we think a forger— I mean, it could be that Maurice is affiliated with Imperial City Times, because they are, you know, they specialize in forgery and other document crimes. Or he could be an independent forger. What do you think?
Minna: I feel like I’m good with either, but it’s fun to have a connection with another gang. I think that’s more fun.
Rhi: Yeah. So yeah, I think Maurice works for the Imperial City Times, which Dusty, as context, is not a newspaper. [laughs] It is a criminal gang that specializes in forgery and other crimes involving documentation.
Dusty: Ah, so like modern media outlets.
Minna: [laughs]
Josie: Hey, topical!
Rhi: I just sighed very heavily and hung my head, but… yeah. [laughs]
Minna: Um, I kinda want Maurice to be another, like, young person that I’ve just hung out with normally and— I feel like I have this with multiple people maybe, but—
Rhi: Yeah. No, that works. I mean, I think it fits with Arlene’s whole thing.
Minna: Who was the person I hung out with…?
Rhi: Archie?
Minna: Archie. Who was that again?
Rhi: The safecracker.
Minna: Safecracker, yes.
Rhi: He’s a crew contact.
Minna: Oh, crew contact, yeah. I just feel like I have a bunch of people that I’m hung out with just doing normal young people shit, but like, in somewhat sketchy places, therefore I’ve become friends with various sketchy young people.
Rhi: Yeah. But also, crime! [laughs] Yeah, so I think Maurice is, uh, I think works out of the main ICT offices, but usually will meet up with you at like— I think there’s like a cool used bookstore over in Dunmore Ridge that the two of you like to hang out at.
Minna: That works.
Rhi: I think it’s probably more— it might be Maurice’s preference more than Arlene’s, but Maurice gets really excited about some of the books. [laughs]
Minna: She likes comics better.
Rhi: Yeah. You know, they might have comics there. [laughs] Some vintage stuff. So yeah, you meet up over there. I think Maurice is there first and is already browsing the shelves.
Rhi (as Maurice): Oh, hey Arlene! They’ve got a huge crate of comics in the back for when we’re done.
Minna (as Arlene): Sweet.
Rhi (as Maurice): So, what do you need?
Minna (as Arlene): I need a student ID.
Rhi (as Maurice): Another one? I feel like that’s all I ever make for you guys.
Minna (as Arlene): Yeah… it’s kinda weird, but that’s what came up.
Rhi (as Maurice): Yeah. Which school this time?
Minna (as Arlene): Tower of Glass.
Rhi: Gimme a roll and we’ll see how hard it is so make one of those IDs.
Minna: What is the roll?
Rhi: Uh, probably Consort. You’re being friendly here. And you get an extra die, don’t forget.
Minna: That’s a 5.
Rhi: 5, okay. So Maurice kinda makes a face and is like,
Rhi (as Maurice): Ooh, those are a little tricky. Are you trying to be like, an established student, a new student starting this year? They have different IDs for each year.
Minna (as Arlene): We figured a new student.
Rhi (as Maurice): Okay. Okay. I can do that. Need to grab a few things… it’s gonna cost you about a coin?
Minna: I can do that.
Rhi (as Maurice): Okay. Awesome. Yeah, uh, gimme— how fast do you need it?
Minna (as Arlene): Rush order, if you can do that.
Rhi (as Maurice): Okay, uh, yeah… I can do a rush order, just don’t let anybody look at it for too long.
Minna (as Arlene): That’s cool. I don’t really wanna stick around long under their noses anyway.
Rhi (as Maurice): Alright. Sounds good. Uh yeah. I’ll get working on that. I think I’ve still got your picture from when I last did one of these for you, so that’ll help. Yeah, I should probably be able to have it done… if I start working on it tonight I can have it for you tomorrow.
Minna (as Arlene): Sounds great, thank you.
Rhi (as Maurice): Yeah, yeah. [sighs] That campus always creeps me out. Just, whatever you’re trying to do there, be careful.
Minna (as Arlene): Will do.
Rhi: Yeah, so then I think with that done, the two of you go to dig through a crate of old comics and I think you find, Arlene is able to find some earlier issues of a series that you‘ve been enjoying, but it’s one— like, it’s issues that were published before you left The Market, so you weren’t able to read them. So you’ve got some good reading. And I think Maurice has to take off a little early to go get started on this new project.
Minna (as Arlene): Sorry, I know you wanted to go browse!
Rhi (as Maurice): Nah, it’s alright, I’ll come back. With more money to spend.
Rhi: [laughs]
Minna (as Arlene): That’s the spirit.
Rhi (as Maurice): I’m gonna spend your money at this bookstore, bye!
Minna (as Arlene): Bye.
Rhi: Okay, so any more info you all wanna gather or do we wanna get into the engagement roll?
Josie: Does Marquez wanna do anything?
Rhi: Yeah, do you wanna… you could chat with ghosts, if you want. See if they know anything else.
Dusty: I would like to consult my network of ghosts to learn more about this other doctor.
Rhi: Yeah. So, for this I would say you could probably roll either Consort or Attune.
Dusty: Um, I have the ability Compel which lets me Attune to the ghost field, so maybe I— yeah, which lets me use Attune.
Rhi: Yeah, roll Attune then, that makes sense.
Dusty: So, just to confirm, three dots mean three dice?
Rhi: Yep. And then you just take whatever one is the highest.
Dusty: Uh, the highest was a 4.
Rhi: Okay, so you get a standard amount of information. So, you summon up a ghost to ask for more details about Dr Circe Landa and I think that the ghost that you get is one who used to work at the school before their untimely demise. Not at Dr Landa’s hands. Unrelated death. [laughs]
Dusty: Mm hmm.
Rhi: What you learn is that Circe Landa is a doctor, medical doctor, and professor at the Tower of Glass. Teaches anatomy. And this person, this ghost, knows kind of— spent some time after death haunting the school and knows that Dr Landa kinda, you know, in addition to her public face as a professor and medical researcher, is also into some pretty sketchy stuff. I think that this ghost knows that like, she’s done experiments with ghost essences, has things rigged up to capture ghosts, and they had to learn how to avoid that. And there have been a few instances of students of hers either being badly injured in weird circumstances that the students wouldn’t really talk about, or just straight-up going missing. Not often enough that anybody’s figured it out, put together a pattern. But uh, ghosts hanging around for a decade or more eventually start to notice things. And what the ghost tells you is that she’s very… what’s the word I’m looking for? Methodical. And kind of like, her schedule doesn’t vary too much from day to day. You know, sometimes she’ll have different meetings that she has to attend, different classes, but she tends to stick to a pretty standard pattern each day.
Dusty: I think maybe back in the office, Marquez is gonna turn around away from the camera, take off their little glasses and like clean them with a cloth and kind of say quietly, just,
Dusty (as Marquez): Ugh, I never knew an anatomy professor that I liked.
Rhi and Minna: [laugh]
Dusty (as Marquez): Get there sooner.
Dusty: Then puts their glasses back on before they start walking back to the Whisky Jays.
Rhi: Alright. With that, let’s do the engagement roll. So, um, we’re gonna start by figuring out what kind of plan. I feel like maybe deception, since you’re posing as new student and concerned…
Josie: Family, I suppose.
Rhi: Family? [laughs]
Josie: [laughs] I imagine us rolling up carrying like, suitcases and shit.
Rhi: Yes!
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: Yeah, that’s what all your gear is in. So yeah, deception plan. Alright, so for the engagement roll, Dusty, what this roll is is basically figuring out what sort of situation are you in when the score starts. And we basically have a run-through of some different questions that will either add or subtract dice to this roll. So, you always start with one for luck. “Is this operation particularly bold or daring?” What do you all think?
Aki: Ah, it’s definitely at the very least bold.
Rhi: Yeah.
Aki: It’s like a lot of things to stack on, right? It’s technically a rescue.
Rhi: Mm hmm
Aki: And it’s in a pretty prestigious area. Like, it definitely shouldn’t be unguarded?
Rhi: Yeah. And I think given Echo’s connections, this definitely is a much more— it’s a much riskier play than it would be for any other crew.
Josie: Mm hmm.
Rhi: Uh, “Does the plan’s detail expose a vulnerability of the target?” Not really. But I also don’t think that they are particularly strong against this approach. “Can any of your friends or contacts provide aid or insight for this operation?” Yes, lots of it. You’ve gotten lots of help from friends. So that’s gonna add one more die. And then other elements to consider, this is a higher Tier group. The Tower of Glass is collectively a Tier III. So I’m gonna take one die off. So it’s gonna be a 2d6 engagement roll. Got a 4. So, you’re gonna be in a risky position when we start things off.
So, Echo, you spent a fair bit of time on this college campus. You therefore are very familiar with the phenomenon of new freshmen and their extremely loud, annoying family.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: And that is the energy that the group brings as they come onto campus hauling suitcases, arguing loudly about where they need to go, occasionally trying to grab a security guard or some other beleaguered staff member to ask for directions and then arguing about whether or not the directions are good. By the time you wander over to the anatomy lab building, no one wants to talk to you and people are actively like, taking different routes through campus to avoid your crowd.
Josie: Real quick, what does the campus look like?
Rhi: So, the way that I picture it is that there is the, you know, titular tower in the center, which is just like a big tower building that has— it’s not fully made of glass, but the top of it is, cause I think there’s like an observatory up there. And then that used to just be the college, but then it grew and expanded. And I’m kind of basing this on a lot of the urban campuses that I attended, slash work at. Live near. Where it’s very like, it’s kind of integrated into the neighborhood. There’s a central campus area that has a lot of the main campus buildings, and I think that’s where you are, but you’re kind of out on the edge of that, but then there’s also like, the school has bought like buildings and houses and turned them into offices and classrooms, so you’ll walk by a very nice house and it’ll have like a ‘Tower of Glass Department of Philosophy’ sign out front.
Josie: Philosophy classes held in someone’s former living room makes way too much sense.
Rhi: Yeah.
Minna: Oh, I’ve been in those rooms.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: Every single campus, like, that I have worked on, attended, lived near, that’s the vibe. Where it’s like there’s a central campus and then it just sorta spreads a little bit out into the surrounding neighborhood as the school expands. So, you all are in the main campus area, which I think is the tower and then several buildings just kind of spread around a, again, decoratively fenced in area. If this was a setting where the sun shone, there would be lots of open grassy areas. Since it isn’t, there’s a lot of sort of paved, big paving stones in open courtyard-type areas between the buildings and then pathways running between them. So, that’s kinda the vibe.
But by the time you make it over to the building, everyone is avoiding you. [laughs] No one wants to deal with your nonsense. They don’t care if you’re going completely the wrong direction. It’s just, that makes it easier to avoid you. So your first hurdle then, since you’ve safely made it over to the building and to this back door, is getting in through this locked and warded door without tripping any alarms. And to start us off here I am going to set a clock, Dr Landa Arrives. We’re currently at 0 out of 12.
Josie: Okay dokey.
Rhi: You got here, you got— you did enough research to know that you got here fairly early, but you couldn’t really roll up in the middle of the day. That would have been too much of a risk. You have to kind of find the window where campus was winding down, but wasn’t totally empty. So, you’ve got a little bit of time before she comes down to the lab, but you don’t have forever. So, you have a door. It’s locked. It’s warded with occult shit.
Josie: Can I use one of my new abilities?
Rhi: Ooh, what is your new ability?
Josie: I have Interface. “You may Attune to the local electroplasmic power field to control it or something connected to it.” I’m hoping that like, the door has some wards on it and stuff, so I can maybe just ghost-hack it open.
Rhi: Yeah. I will allow that. You’re still gonna need to make a roll.
Josie: Uh huh.
Rhi: Let me look at the description of that ability.
Josie: It says Attune.
Rhi: Yeah. Yes, you can definitely do that. So this is gonna be… I’m gonna give you risky, standard on this.
Josie (as Echo): Uh, Doc? Uncle? I forget what your cover is.
Dusty: [laughs]
Josie (as Echo): Can you give me a second set of eyes on this? You have experience, right?
Dusty (as Marquez): Uh, you don’t need to call me Uncle. Uh….
Rhi: [laughs]
Josie (as Echo): Okay, good.
Dusty (as Marquez): But, sure.
Rhi: Okay, so I’m guessing what Josie is asking for mechanically is an assist on this roll?
Josie: Yeah. [laughs]
Rhi: Um, so what this means is Dusty, you would mark a point of stress on your character sheet and that gives Echo an extra die on the roll.
Dusty: Okay. Sounds good.
Rhi: Alright. So you’ve got an extra die.
Josie: Yeah.
Rhi: Make a roll.
Josie: [rolls dice] I got a 6.
Rhi: Nice. So, yeah, you, you know, with Marquez’s help pointing out, you know, what some of the different wards are here, both of you looking into the ghost field, Echo you are able to just sort of figure out how to power them off without breaking them. Breaking them, you can see, would trip all kinds of alarms. But you just sort of power these wards off. And you’re pretty sure that when you leave, you can just power them back on so it won’t be obvious that you’ve been here. It’s less destructive. You didn’t just tear the wards apart, you just ‘bee-oop’, powered them down. You do still have the physical lock on the door as well, but the wards are gone.
Josie: But Echo does take her hand away from the door and says,
Josie (as Echo): I’m in.
[laughter]
Dusty (as Marquez): What do you— you’re right here?
Josie (as Echo): No, I mean I was into the wards and now they’re open. Sorry, bad joke.
Dusty (as Marquez): Ah. No comprende, but okay.
Aki: [laughs]
Rhi: You’ve got a physical lock to pick as well.
Josie: Not to hog the spotlight here, but I also have good Tinker. Uh, so unless wants to handle it?
Minna: I have two? How are you—
Josie: Oh, I also have two.
Minna: Okay.
Josie: How about you lead and I’ll assist?
Minna: That works.
Rhi: Alright. So, you’ve got fine lockpicks, right?
Minna: Uh, yes.
Rhi: Okay, so you’re gonna have risky, greater on this. Oh, no, because they’re a higher Tier. Risky, standard. And—
Josie: Can my assist increase effect?
Rhi: Sure. I’ll allow it.
Josie: Risky greater.
Rhi: Back to risky, greater. [laughs]
Josie: [laughs]
Minna: And I rolled a 6.
Rhi: It’s gonna be one of those scores.
Josie: Wow. Aki, it’s rubbing off on us.
Aki: [cackles]
Dusty: No, no, don’t acknowledge it.
Minna: I had good dice luck before Aki was here. [laughs]
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: Arlene and Echo, you both lean into the lock and, you know, again, power of teamwork, pop the lock open without tripping any alarms. And you all are able to head inside with your stuff. And kind of unsurprisingly, there’s a very small landing and then steep stairs descending down into a basement that is very dark. The only light you’ve got is just coming in from the street lamps outside. So you can see like, halfway down the stairs, and then it’s just dark.
Josie: Well, it seems like for the new time period we added flashlights to our gear sections. So anyone who wants to can mark off a flashlight. I’m gonna do that.
Rhi: Yeah. So, Echo will click on a flashlight and hauling your suitcases [laughs] and ice box and duffel bags and whatnot, you make your way down the stairs. And it’s spooky down here. It’s dark. It’s a little on the cool side. And Echo, I think you— well no, Echo doesn’t have a sense of smell anymore.
Josie: Nope, not really.
Rhi: Marquez. [laughs] You’re kinda familiar with the smell down here, it’s a little like, a hint of a formaldehyde scent and a hint of rot, essentially. You know, smells like an anatomy lab. A horrible one. And there’s, you know, when you get to the bottom of the stairs there’s a hallway that goes down a little ways and then splits in a T intersection. And you can see on this first hallway there’s a few doors and then it splits off and presumably there’s probably more doors further down. So your main hurdle right now is finding your guy.
Josie (as Echo): What was their name again?
Dusty (as Marquez): Soto.
Josie (as Echo): Soto?
Rhi: [laughs] Is— you just call that out?
Josie: Yeah, I mean, she’s not down here, right?
Rhi: Let me— I’m gonna make a fortune roll real quick. There isn’t a verbal response. You don’t hear anybody like, call back and answer. But you do— you hear a, further down, like around one of the corners, a door click open like somebody’s just pulled a door open.
Dusty (as Marquez): I don’t think that’s good.
Josie: Can we see where?
Rhi: No, it’s not in this first hall. It’s somewhere down around the corners.
Josie (as Echo): Possibly not.
Dusty: Do we know which direction it came from?
Rhi: No. You’re not sure if it was to the left or the right. You’ll have to go further down the hall and examine it with your eyeballs.
Dusty (as Marquez): Any of you know which way to go at all? Do we just choose a direction?
Josie (as Echo): I think we just need to choose a direction.
Aki: Ah, there wouldn’t be— This happened before when we were in the Spirit Wardens, it was super clean, the floor. Are the floors super clean or is there a clear trodden path that I could attempt to track?
Rhi: They’re pretty clean. It’s, you know, like a tile floor— not tile, a poured concrete floor. So there’s not a lot of stuff to collect tracks. Somebody could also stealth up to the corner and peek. Up to the end of the hall and do a looksee.
Minna: I can do that.
Rhi: Alright. So, yeah. A Prowl, I assume you’re rolling?
Minna: Yes.
Rhi: I’m just gonna call this risky, standard.
Minna: I’m down to level 1 harm, so that’s gonna be less effect.
Rhi: You’re correct.
Minna: Three dice.
Rhi: Risky, reduced.
Minna: What’s a Devil’s Bargain look like? Can I use that to increase my effect?
Rhi: Yeah. Um, lemme think. Oh, this is all, as you’re kind of standing here debating what to do and then you sneaking ahead, this all takes time. I’m gonna add, hmm, 2 ticks on the clock for Dr Landa Arrives. So you’ll be at 2 out of 12.
Minna: Okay.
Rhi: Alright.
Minna: Do you guys— how do you guys feel about that, actually, before I agree?
Josie: Do it.
Minna: Okay. Yeah, I’m gonna go ahead and do that. Let me roll my dice.
Rhi: Yep. So that’ll be risky, standard.
Minna: Oh, that’s a 5,
Rhi: 5, okay. So you do it, but there’s a consequence. Arlene, you creep down to the end of this hall, this T intersection, and you peer around the corner to the right, and that hallway is empty, except for again, there’s a few more doors. And then you look to the left and everybody else, you see something grab Arlene. Like, a hand comes out, grabs Arlene, the front of the shirt, and yanks her around the corner.
Aki: Not again!
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi: Arlene, you are in a desperate position, as you have just been grabbed by a, as best you can tell with the limited light down here, large person who is not making any— they’re breathing, but they’re not making any other sound. They just are standing there, you look, and they just grab you and yank you around and are trying to grapple you essentially, get you pinned. So I think I’m gonna see how other folks wanna react real quick, as you’ve just seen Arlene get yoinked.
Aki: I’m moving so fast.
Rhi: [laughs]
Josie: Yeah. I don’t think the rest of us get a chance to react before Darling.
Aki: Darling is gone.
Minna: Can I just throw down a silence potion vial? I don’t remember if this is a drinkable or a throwable, or what happens.
Rhi: It’s a drinkable, so you have to consume it. Which I don’t—
Minna: But it creates a cone of silence or something, right? Or is it just me that makes quiet?
Rhi: It makes an area of silence around you for a few moments, but I don’t—
Minna: I’m going to do that in anticipation of whatever the fuck is about to happen.
Josie: [laughs]
Rhi: I don’t think that you would be able to drink something after being grabbed.
Minna: Okay. I can’t even roll to be like, I’m gonna pull something out of the folds of my clothing and drink it down while trying to hold this person off?
Rhi: Yeah, I’ll let you roll it. It’s gonna be desperate.
Minna: I feel like that’s gonna be a Skirmish, right?
Rhi: Uh, you’re not really fighting. This is about being able to drink the potion. I think it’d probably be Prowl. Or Finesse.
Minna: Okay, Prowl’s better for me, so.
Rhi: Yeah. This is gonna be desperate, reduced. So, mark XP.
Minna: [laughs] Let me mark that XP before I check what my result was. Ah, that’s a 5.
Rhi: Okay. So, you down this potion, so nobody else hears you get picked up and just, slammed hard into the wall. I think face first.
Kim: Oof.
Rhi: You’ve got, I think, a busted nose and various other cuts and bruises on your front and, you know, that bullet hole in your chest ain’t feeing too great either. So that’s gonna be level 2 harm.
Minna: I would like to resist.
Rhi: Yeah. It’s gonna be a Prowess.
Minna: With Prowess. Let me roll my three dice. That’s 6.
Rhi: Okay, so it’ll drop down to level 1 harm. You’re able to kinda twist and get your arms up so you don’t break your nose. [laughs] But you still get slammed into the wall pretty hard and are pretty bruised.
Minna: Mm hmm.
Aki: Not the nosies.
Rhi: Darling, you just saw Arlene get yanked around the corner and then silence. And you’re sprinting down there.
Aki: Yup. Sprinting with conviction, is the best word.
Rhi: Yep.
Aki: I am 100% going in for some sort of attack. Though I am still a professional, so I think I know better than to like, pull out my glock and just start, you know, firing.
Rhi: Yeah.
Aki: So that means I would like to go in for like a close combat. I have the, um, the ability Not To Be Trifled With, so I can perform superhuman physical abilities if I push myself.
Rhi: Mm hmm.
Aki: And I think I’m gonna do it, like I think it’s pure mommy adrenaline right now. So I am gonna attack this thing. I really hope they’re ready.
Rhi: Just running in and just tackling, I’m guessing.
Aki: Yes.
Rhi: Yeah.
Aki: If I somehow crit, I will let you know, I will kill it.
Rhi: [laughs]
Aki: Or, you know, knock it out at the very least. Knock it out violently, like you’re gonna wake up with a concussion.
Rhi: Yeah. So, this is… putting this— I know you’re gonna be at greater effect, I’m trying to decide if it’s risky or desperate. I think risky, because you’re not being taken off-guard the way that Arlene was. So, risky, greater.
Aki: I do wanna ask a question about the little sound barrier thing. That doesn’t affect me, right?
Rhi: It will.
Aki: So it doesn’t mean like— oh, it will?
Rhi: No, it will. Yeah.
Aki: It will? Okay.
Rhi: When you get within a few paces or Arlene, you’ll also be in a little area of silence.
Aki: Yeah, I guess that makes the most sense.
Rhi: Yeah.
Aki: Just one 6.
Rhi: Alright.
Aki: Yeah. I was hoping for two this one time.
Rhi: I know. So, I think we kind of see this from Arlene’s perspective. Arlene is pinned against the wall, like trying to fend this person off and you’re getting the sense that there’s something off about this person. They’ve been completely silent and their face is not— they’re expressionless as they are, like, trying to pin you against the wall or grab you to slam you again. And as they kind of get a good grip on you to, you know, presumably try and slam you into the wall again, they are suddenly knocked away from you as Darling rounds the corner and linebacker tackles this person off of you and they go skidding down the hallway outside the little silent zone. So everybody else presumably moving down the hallway a little bit slower hears nothing, nothing, nothing, BOOP!
[laughter]
Rhi: So Darling, you have tackled this person and I think at this point everybody else can kind of round the corner to see what is happening.
Aki: Am I allowed to like, make a suggestion of how I am positioned in this tackle?
Rhi: Mm hmm.
Aki: As stated before, um, Darling is a professional. So I think she would know to do her best to silence, presumably, the person that she is tackling. Like, yeah, okay, body drop, but that could be anything, right? A yelp is usually more distinguishable. So I would like for her to during the tackle and maybe aft— like, not during the tackle, more like after, so it’s the pinning part, for her to have pushed her own arm kinda up against the throat. So sort of like a, its not a chokehold because I’m not around or anything like that, but it’s applying pressure with your own arm, so it’s like—
Rhi: Yeah.
Aki: Yeah. Less speaking
Rhi: I will say— you can absolutely do that, no problem, with a 6. I will say this person made no sound when you tackled them.
Aki: Yeah, that’s what I was— I wanted to know, did they make a sound or not? Because I then have an idea.
Rhi: They make no sound when you hit them. There’s kind of like an ex— like a sharp exhalation, but that’s more of just because you, you know, when you slam into somebody, air is pushed out of their lungs. And when you land, they don’t make any kind of sound at all. So, I think I wanna go to everybody else. So Val, Echo or Marquez, as you all round the corner you can see what’s happening.
Josie (as Echo): Doctor, that’s not Soto, is it?
Dusty (as Marquez): No. No. Soto was tinier. Much smaller— I don’t know what’s going on. You should… kill that? Right? Yeah.
Rhi: [laughs]
Dusty: I do wanna say Marquez wants to go to Arlene to check in on them, make sure they’re not dead and/or dying.
Rhi: Yeah. Yeah. Arlene is, I think, probably you’re still against the wall because this is all happening pretty quick. But yeah, you can do— go over to Arlene and see how she’s doing.
Dusty: Um, would this be an appropriate time to use Physicker?
Rhi: Yeah, if you wanna give Arlene the ability to ignore the effects of her wounds.
Dusty: Yeah.
Rhi: Do a little patching up.
Dusty: Yeah, I’m gonna Tinker with bones, blood and bodily humors to treat wounds or stabilize the dying.
Rhi: Yay! [laughs]
Dusty: Or I can Study it and everyone in your crew gets a +1 to their healing treatment.
Rhi: Yeah, so that last one will come into effect later. But yeah, for right now just roll Tinker and I’m gonna say this is, mm, risky standard.
Dusty: That is a 5 on the die.
Rhi: Okay. I think I’m gonna say you do it with reduced effect. So, tell me what this looks like as you’re coming over to check on Arlene and do a little bit of patching up.
Dusty: I think like Marquez goes over there and is checking over them and is like, and they kinda have almost like a utility belt-style thing where there’s a pouch on their belt and they open it and go through, they take out some vials, they take out the green one, no, red, no, purple, they consider it. They look at you and just like, say to Arlene,
Dusty (as Marquez): You can still walk and stuff, yeah?
Minna (as Arlene): I can walk.
Dusty (as Marquez): Cool. Okay.
Dusty: Then they’re gonna go and take this piece of adhesive looking thing and slap it on their shoulder.
Rhi: [laughs]
Dusty: And it’s the equivalent of like, a band-aid with some lidocaine on it.
Rhi: This would treat both of your level 1 wounds, but in this case because it was reduced effect you can clear one of your level 1 harms.
Minna: I feel like the face slam. So I feel like it’s probably less on my shoulder than like, you basically put Neosporin on my face.
Rhi: [laughs]
Dusty: Okay, you have a band-aid on your forehead, then.
Minna: [laughs]
Rhi: Aw, cute.
Dusty: It’s a black band-aid with a red eye on it, because that’s their mark.
Rhi: Oh good!
Josie: [laughs] Oh good, that’s fine.
Minna: Creepy goth band-aid, I love it.
Rhi: That’s really good. Okay, so Arlene is being patched up. Echo, Val, anything you two would like to do?
Josie: I think honestly Darling probably has this handled, but I think Echo just kinda wants to go for a knock-out. Knock-out blow?
Rhi: Okay.
Josie: Just, you know, she had metal arms in there. Just knock this person side of the head, knock them out.
Aki: It’s the training. The training.
Josie: Yeah!
Rhi: Yeah, so I’m gonna give you risky, greater on this, because this person is pinned.
Josie: Skirmish, I guess?
Rhi: Yeah.
Josie (as Echo): [rolls dice] I got a 4.
Rhi: Okay. So, a couple things happen. You run down the hall and kind of, you know, dive over to where Darling is, and as you’re drawing back to deliver a knock-out punch, kind of at the same time as you’re swinging forward to deliver this, you realize what this person is.
Josie: Uh oh.
Rhi: Because Pandora had a few of these that she used for, well, security like this. This is a hollow.
Minna and Josie: Oh…
Rhi: This is body without a soul.
Kim: Oh.
Rhi: You kinda, you process this as you’re delivering the knock-out punch. So you manage to render this person, this hollow, unconscious. But you’re not as controlled about it as perhaps you would be otherwise, because the shock of it sort of makes you a little clumsy. And so, you, you know, deliver this punch but as you said, metal limbs. You kind of clatter on the floor a little more than you intended. And the door behind you opens up again and two more hollows come out.
## Outro [01.10.10]
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.
Dr. Marquez Cruz was played by Dusty! Dusty is a queer Latine performer on many other RPG podcasts, including Goblets and Gays and Bring Your Own Mech. Follow them on Twitter at dustehill.
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.
## Blooper [01.12.57]
Rhi: I’m gonna ask everyone to actually say ‘sync’ this time because I’ve got six tracks to line up. Um, [laughs] so one, two, three, we all say sync and then we sit in awkward silence for ten seconds while I get room noise. And then we will begin. Alright. I will count us off. Three, two, one…
Everyone: Sync.
Rhi: Alright, awkward silence complete.
Aki: I need you to know that I was gonna say something so my ‘sync’ is gonna sound like ‘seenque’.
Rhi: [laughs]
Aki: Because I was doing my best to not say something else.
Rhi: I appreciate your restraint.