[1/24/2026, 2:29:29 PM] Kristian allo --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:29:30 PM] Random heya --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:30:02 PM] Rob Heard you --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:33:51 PM] Rob Huh... I just noticed that hovering over inventory items will cause a description to pop up. Except for Ectoplasm vials. What do they do? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:34:25 PM] Rob And that's used for? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:34:38 PM] Rob Mayvik is not permitted to answer that question. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:34:43 PM] Random it makes a nice mixer for a an ectopasm sour --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:34:45 PM] Pat feed ghosts? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:35:05 PM] Pat Fill up your inventory?` --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:35:14 PM] Rob That would make sense. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:35:29 PM] Pat I thought ghosts sort of bled ectoplasm... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:36:04 PM] Rob I thought ghosts were made up of ectoplasm, but this setting might have different rules. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:36:50 PM] Debinani Okay, I think we've got everybody we're gonna get. Bethel will jump on Discord whenever she's ready. All right, so where were we? Yeah, it's free, so I'm sure it's gonna be imperfect, but better than nothing. We'll see what happens. It's a grand experiment. All right, so you found this creepy statue that talks to you. You almost got jumped by a very large gang of members of the Reclaimer Circle. You found some various odds and ends that are worth a little bit. You found a couple of pieces of Shriek Slate, which are worth quite a lot. And the statue, by all accounts, has apparently given you the ability to see into the ghost field and if you really, really focus, move through it as if things of the past were the current. And you did so by exiting this basement through a portal that used to be there and now find yourself essentially in a sewer beneath the building. This set of buildings was very near the canal, so you're probably fairly close to this emptying out into a canal, or you could go uphill and go deeper into the district. But here you are on the other side of the wall. The statue has said, "See, I told you I could be useful." It's a sewer. It's unpleasant. My name is Mistress Ash. No, never mentioned the name. Nobody ever asked. I doubt it would. I've been... yes, everybody hears it like a real voice in your heads. It's not actually out loud. I've been boxed and stored and stashed and crated and hidden and recovered for decades. So I'm not surprised you haven't heard of me. I suppose you could say I'm a lost soul, quite literally. I don't know, what's the date? It's been quite a long time. Five years, perhaps? Well, I thought that would be obvious. I'm trapped in a statue. You are indeed still in a sewer. In fact, you are right on the other side of the wall of the basement of the Reclaimer Circle antique shop. I mean, the statue doesn't look like it breathes or anything, so you know, it is what it is. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:37:31 PM] Random taking over the world --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:37:50 PM] Rob Veth is now Beth per your transcript bot. Make it so. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:38:19 PM] Crow No worries. Just amusing. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:40:21 PM] Crow You were, indeed, useful. You still haven't told us who you are, though. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:40:30 PM] Veth Bethnos IS I. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:40:44 PM] Nyx Creepy --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:40:47 PM] Rob Or maybe she mentioned that last week and I'm senile. One of the two. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:40:49 PM] Veth Miss Trash? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:41:11 PM] Eidolon Eidolon looks put off by being in a sewer. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:41:20 PM] Crow 'Mistress Ash'. Doesn't ring a bell. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:41:34 PM] Jason G everyone hears this yeah? it's like a real voice, or in our heads? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:42:31 PM] Wolf So who are you? I don't mean just your name... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:42:53 PM] Boo and how long have you been crated up this time? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:43:27 PM] Watcher 847, Imperial --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:43:29 PM] Watcher November --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:44:01 PM] Crow Five years in a box sounds dreadfully boring. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:44:10 PM] Wolf Lost soul. So, were you once human? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:44:12 PM] Watcher and... WHAT are you? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:44:16 PM] Eidolon Then straight into a sewer. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:44:17 PM] Debinani The free transcription service is...very free...and not much transcription. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:44:30 PM] Random we are still in the sewers, yes? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:44:46 PM] Eidolon Can we talk somewhere else? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:44:47 PM] Boo Uhm.... folks.... questions later, moving now. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:45:06 PM] Watcher Watcher puts away a notepad he's been scribbling in --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:45:08 PM] Crow Hm. Probably a good idea. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:45:21 PM] Crow Sorry, Ash, but in the bag you go for now. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:45:24 PM] Watcher Yes, it may not take them long to find us if we stay put --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:45:39 PM] Crow Crow sticks the statue in a sack --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:45:51 PM] Kristian ok fixed...ffs --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:46:04 PM] Rob Mayvik will someday update his computer from Win 3.1 --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:46:06 PM] Kristian sorry usually check this early but kids are having a freakout/meltdown about getting dressed to play in snow...as is mom... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:46:25 PM] Veth 3.1 is superior. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:46:33 PM] Jason G what you missed mayvik: Sewers. Statue is Mistress Ash. Lost soul who has been here for decades. crated for ~5yrs. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:46:34 PM] Kristian 2000NT master race --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:46:41 PM] Pat so, are we in a maze of twisty tunnels, all alike? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:46:47 PM] Rob If we are then I hope it's not dark. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:46:50 PM] Debinani No, it's not really a maze of twisty tunnels. I mean, this is just a larger collection sluice way for the Crow's Foot sewers. It will empty out into the canal probably somewhere relatively nearby, or if you go back uphill, there will undoubtedly be manholes, offshoots to go to various places. You guys do have the very, very extensive underground maps, which does include the sewer system, so you can find your way around fairly effectively. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:47:03 PM] Kristian problem is for whatever reason this motherboard likes to reset the onboard audio from Enable to Auto in BIOS and then it fucks up my drivers. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:47:07 PM] Random windows me... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:47:22 PM] Rob We'll try to find our way to our own territory. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:47:53 PM] Jason G are these sewers known to be commonly traversed? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:47:53 PM] Veth Also I already made the Miss Trash joke. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:47:54 PM] Debinani Oh, I mean, yeah, especially in Crow's Foot, you wouldn't be surprised at all to run into people messing around in the sewers. Yeah, I mean you've got the maps of this area because you knew this is where you were coming. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:47:56 PM] Boo Boo follows along but is keeping an eye on the backtrail --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:48:08 PM] Pat also, can we make a couple of copies of those maps, in case someone steals them from us? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:48:25 PM] Debinani You're in the eastern side of Crow's Foot, which is separated from Charterhall by a river. And there's a couple of bridges leaving Crow's Foot to go over to Charterhall. Then they're crisscrossed with little canals. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:49:13 PM] Debinani So where do you all want to go? You want to go upstream or downstream? Those are basically your two choices. In this case, the stream being the effluvia of a very overpopulated part of the city. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:49:24 PM] Random Watcher seems to be fairly adroit with a pen and paper..... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:49:31 PM] Rob Which is the fastest way back to our area? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:49:32 PM] Kristian if you are sharing a map or something can you reshare? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:49:39 PM] Rob No map. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:49:44 PM] Debinani Well, tell you what, I'll give you this one. This particular set of buildings, this building block, was pretty close to a canal. So it's not outside the realm of reason that it really would have been nice if you had hired a gondola to be waiting for you in case you needed it to escape. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:49:46 PM] Kristian downstream always gets you somewhere... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:50:03 PM] Kristian we should split the party and each go in a different direction. Best odds of half of us surviving. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:50:16 PM] Rob Oh yeah. The whole flashback thing. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:50:18 PM] Debinani Try to teach you all how to play Blades in the Dark. Well, probably wouldn't be a sewer gondola, but this sewer pipe will empty out in the canal fairly nearby. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:50:22 PM] Random that a flashback... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:50:31 PM] Veth they're looking for a group of nine, we should all go a different direction! --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:50:35 PM] Jason G but we wouldn't have known we were going through a wall to the sewers... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:50:40 PM] Kristian or just...planned a route in advance. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:50:42 PM] Pat so we definitely have a gondola waiting for us not far away, then. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:50:43 PM] Jason G sewer gondola.. haha --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:50:59 PM] Kristian how about a sheep drawn carriage? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:51:01 PM] Veth Downstream it is. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:51:02 PM] Debinani It would probably be an Akrosian goat-drawn carriage, but yeah, you could have one of those waiting for you as well. You're literally 200 yards away from this thing pouring out into one of the canals. So did one of you plan ahead and make sure you had an escape route by water? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:51:07 PM] Kristian yes, I know sheep can't draw --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:51:12 PM] Nyx Nyx heads downstream towards the canal --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:51:15 PM] Rob Sheep are no good. They get nervous around Mayvik's characters. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:51:30 PM] Kristian har --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:51:37 PM] Jason G close... "baaa" --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:51:48 PM] Pat sure. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:51:49 PM] Random who wants the flashback stress? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:51:55 PM] Debinani All right, I will call that a one-stress flashback. It seems perfectly reasonable for you to do and doesn't require you to make any rolls or anything. You just paid off a gondolier to hang out in a specific spot of the canal for some amount of time. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:52:03 PM] Rob I'm glad someone did because that didn't feel like something Crow would plan for. :P --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:52:11 PM] Veth same --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:52:22 PM] Pat I'll take it, this time. :P --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:52:30 PM] Debinani All right, so you guys come out of the sluice way and it glugs unceremoniously into the canal. And maybe 50 yards away... I mean, it's not even midnight yet, there's still quite a bit of traffic kind of moving up and down the canal. Maybe about 50 yards away down the canal you actually see the gondolier that you had hired sitting there waiting, smoking a cigarette. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:52:37 PM] Veth They should have called this engine "Retcon" :P --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:52:50 PM] Crow Huh... that was a good idea you had, Wolf. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:53:05 PM] Debinani And you give a sharp whistle and he looks over and sees you and pulls the gondola your way and pulls up next to the sluice way. "Oh, are you? You didn't say you were going to be coming out of a sewer!" --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:53:31 PM] Freakshow We didn't know. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:53:41 PM] Eidolon Last thing I wanted. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:53:43 PM] Freakshow But here's to happy coincidences! --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:53:48 PM] Wolf A shortcut. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:54:05 PM] Boo We didn't say we wouldn't be coming out of the sewers either for that matter. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:54:21 PM] Wolf Let's go. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:54:21 PM] Debinani All right, so you all pile into the gondola and he pulls the gondola out into the canal traffic. You kind of cruise through the canal for a little while, the canal opens up and empties out into the river that runs between Crow's Foot and Charterhall. And he merges with the river traffic and nobody following you as far as you can tell. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:54:29 PM] Watcher Watcher pulls his cloak around himself before exiting the sewer --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:54:34 PM] Veth Pileondola. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:54:49 PM] Pat I'll keep an eye behind us, to see if anyone is following us. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:54:57 PM] Debinani And he takes you around the bend between Charterhall and Brightstone and pulls up on a small dock next to what's called The Colony. The Colony is sort of a tent city shantytown of broke artists, generally, that has grown up around the old wall. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:55:03 PM] Boo Boo continues to watch the backtrail --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:55:28 PM] Jason G Denton? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:55:28 PM] Debinani So Charterhall is surrounded by a wall that used to be... exactly, Dan. Charterhall is surrounded by an old crumbling wall that used to be the wall of the old city hundreds and hundreds of years ago. And they're kind of up against the wall. Gondolier pulls up, you pay him off, you all pile out onto the dock. Directly through a breach in the wall is Artisan Row and literally across the road is the Incan Anvil. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:56:05 PM] Debinani Home sweet home, as it were. You weren't trudging around through sewage, I'll be clear about that. There's a little stone path on the side. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:56:12 PM] Freakshow Drinks? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:56:20 PM] Watcher We smell like shit --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:56:22 PM] Pat do we have showers? :P --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:56:29 PM] Boo you buying? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:56:36 PM] Wolf I'd like to clean up and change my clothes first. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:56:40 PM] Debinani I mean, it wasn't pleasant, but you know, you weren't sloshing through it. And by the bye, none of you actually live at the Incan Anvil. You guys don't have that upgrade, right? You all live wherever you feel like you live, but not there. Your hideout is essentially a basement and a storage area right now. Goat shit, not a lot of horses. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:56:54 PM] Boo but we do need to secure the item --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:56:58 PM] Pat nah, but we probably still stink. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:56:58 PM] Freakshow I'll buy a round, sure. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:57:03 PM] Veth Yeah we shouldn't be TOO adverse to the smell, the whole city likely smells like horse shit. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:57:05 PM] Boo before drinks --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:57:15 PM] Freakshow It's not every day we meet talking sculpture. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:57:31 PM] Pat still gonna clean up a little. :) --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:57:36 PM] Veth whatever shit. :P --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:57:40 PM] Crow I think I'd like to talk to our new friend. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:57:48 PM] Debinani Okay, so a few of you are going somewhere to clean up and a few of you are going straight to the hideout and a few of you are going in the Incan Anvil for drinks. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:58:17 PM] Boo Boo feels the bauble in her pockets and says "well, yeah I need to clean up some. I'll meet you there." --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:58:20 PM] Veth Alcoholism team. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:58:32 PM] Pat is there somewhere in the hideout I can do that? Not a shower or bath, just wash off my face and hands and stuff. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:58:35 PM] Debinani You can definitely get cleaned up either in the Incan Anvil or downstairs in the hideout. You're just not getting a bath. By foot, probably a 30-minute walk. Maybe a little longer, 20-minute carriage ride. We'll say it's about 1 in the morning. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:58:45 PM] Rob Boo sill soon be possessed by a greater demon. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:58:47 PM] Jason G how far away is the place we were, by foot? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:58:48 PM] Pat ok, I'll settle for that. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 2:59:20 PM] Random all hail the rat god. or the tree god. depending. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:00:03 PM] Jason G we all have our own places to live, or is the hideout also a dorm of sorts? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:00:13 PM] Debinani I mean, there've been plenty of times some or many of you have crashed out in the hideout, but the hideout is very, very small. It is not comfortable to like live in. You all, based upon your current level of wealth, which is jack all, are living... you generally live and sleep somewhere else. It's not going to be anywhere nice because you're all broke. So you can all independently think about where you sleep when you're not sleeping on the floor of the basement of the Incan Anvil. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:00:18 PM] Kristian sleep on the floor --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:00:54 PM] Debinani But you all get cleaned up, do whatever it is you're going to do, and eventually go upstairs, grab some drinks from Mara and gather in the basement. Eventually you can upgrade your lair to have living quarters. You just don't have that right now. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:01:28 PM] Jason G yes, because one must gather their party before venturing forth --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:01:33 PM] Veth Lairs are like onions.. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:01:49 PM] Rob They taste good sauteed? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:01:54 PM] Random stepping a way for a tick. I'll catchup. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:02:01 PM] Debinani All right, so some amount of time has gone by. You all have scattered and regathered and you find yourself in the lair. So you've got miscellaneous things, stolen things that are probably worth about one coin each, and then you've got the Shriek Slate, which is highly, highly valuable. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:02:03 PM] Veth They have insides. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:02:28 PM] Eidolon Eidolon gravitates toward a dark corner. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:02:44 PM] Debinani You're just not entirely sure where you would sell it. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:02:50 PM] Crow Crow puts the statue on a table and eyes it carefully --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:03:02 PM] Kristian might be best to sit on it for a bit anyway --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:03:07 PM] Jason G hey, that was my dark corner! --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:03:15 PM] Veth NO MINE! GET YOUR OWN! --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:03:15 PM] Debinani You put the statue on the table and she says, "Well, this is nice." Uh, yeah. I'm not even going to make you roll. You're a whisper and you do this sort of thing all the time. There is definitely... this thing is essentially a ghost bottle or whatever they call it. It is a ghost functionally trapped in the statue. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:03:17 PM] Rob Would Attune be used to see supernatural elements of the statue? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:03:18 PM] Nyx Nyx stares at the statue. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:03:36 PM] Freakshow Beats living in a box, don't it? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:03:52 PM] Rob Just making sure it isn't a demon. :) --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:03:52 PM] Debinani And while that's not uncommon, what's uncommon is that by all accounts she seems to be sane. And very rarely do people just take a ghost and trap it in a statue. But it's not uncommon, people will trap ghosts in paintings and all sorts of stuff. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:04:10 PM] Veth Actually it would be kind of funny if we only had one dark corner and we both just spent our time standing in the little space it provides. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:04:27 PM] Debinani No, you are almost entirely 100% positive it is a run-of-the-mill dead human ghost. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:04:55 PM] Kristian were we provided a name? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:05:02 PM] Debinani Yeah, she said... she identified herself as Mistress Ash. "It does indeed beat living in a box. I appreciate it." --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:05:05 PM] Pat Mistress Ash --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:05:10 PM] Kristian so a stupid fake name lol --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:05:13 PM] Kristian I meant a real name haha --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:05:26 PM] Crow So... tell us about yourself, Ash. How'd a nice girl like you wind up in a statue like that? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:05:30 PM] Kristian my name is Overendowed Cocksmith --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:05:32 PM] Eidolon So may we call you Ash, or is this a formal title? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:05:52 PM] Veth Owen Detts --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:06:13 PM] Debinani When Idolon makes that... asks that question, there's a pregnant pause and then she comes back and says, "You may call me Ash if you wish." --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:06:46 PM] Rob Did she sound resigned about it? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:06:46 PM] Debinani "As to how I ended up like this, honestly, I don't remember. It was so long ago. I've been imbuing this statue for as long as I can remember. I remember once being alive. I remember I was... it was... Oh yeah, she definitely sounded resigned about it. I remember that I lived in high society and then... it's been a long journey of simply being a museum piece." --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:07:32 PM] Crow Crow looks around --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:07:51 PM] Debinani And just for continuity's sake, Deeds stayed upstairs. He actually lives in the second or third floor of the Incan Anvil because he works the Incan Anvil. And Cam went to wherever Cam lives to sleep it off. "Not at all, you're much more interesting than a museum. I hope that my small gift helped you out of that jam." --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:07:52 PM] Crow I'm afraid this isn't much of a museum. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:08:26 PM] Freakshow You don't know us that well yet. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:08:40 PM] Watcher Very much so.. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:08:46 PM] Crow It did, thank you. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:08:48 PM] Eidolon It was a very generous gift, indeed. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:08:50 PM] Wolf So, what happens now? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:09:02 PM] Watcher Did your previous... hosts, know fully of your nature? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:09:02 PM] Eidolon One I feel inclined to repay. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:09:10 PM] Debinani "Oh, I don't think they knew what they had at all. I last I knew I was crated up in a camp far out in the deathlands. I believe I was part of a lot stolen or purchased by those smugglers and brought into the city. I never spoke to any of them, if that's what you're asking." --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:09:53 PM] Crow Why'd you choose to speak to us? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:10:02 PM] Debinani "Because I felt you could get me out of there. Listen, in the grand scheme of things, it will come as no surprise to you that I'm not exactly content living eternity stuck in a statue. I have plans, I have aspirations, and I would be willing to help you all to the extent of my knowledge and power if you were to help me on occasion achieve those. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:10:17 PM] Watcher It helps understand what level of heat may be on our job. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:10:21 PM] Boo came into the city? where did you live originally? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:10:51 PM] Debinani I know I lived my life in Iruvia, so I've been on a long journey to get here. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:11:00 PM] Freakshow That sounds like quite a bargain. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:11:47 PM] Eidolon I enjoy the idea of teamwork, I would find myself rather put out to be forced into a statue. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:11:54 PM] Debinani It's not all it's made up to be. And I'm not entirely without resources and connections, though most of mine are somewhat ancient and/or ghosts." --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:12:25 PM] Eidolon I think we'll get along well, then. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:12:33 PM] Jason G do we have a prospect list like the last game mission board, or do we have to find those through gameplay first? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:12:39 PM] Debinani I haven't made one yet, but we were going to talk about that a little bit this session. I want to kind of ease you into how this sort of sandbox-y world is going to work. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:12:49 PM] Wolf so...is she lying about anything so far? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:13:21 PM] Debinani Not that you know of, but you've never provably used your ability on a disembodied ghost before. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:13:31 PM] Debinani Okay, so let's talk about that. All right, so you've got a collection of junk-ish worth about one coin, which you know, isn't a bad haul. You don't need to find a specialty fence for this, this is just miscellaneous antiques that you all could go out and sell on the street during downtime to make that coin. That's not going to be enough money that the Glass Keys will want their tithe, because you do owe them about 20% of your take. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:13:53 PM] Wolf i'll try, both for practice and because I tend to not trust talking statues :P --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:14:12 PM] Debinani Your contact with the Glass Keys is a fellow named Locket. And Locket is your primary contact with them. You can sell things through Locket, Locket will shake you down for your 20%. He's a really good contact to reach out to. And you see him several times a month just wandering around Charterhall. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:14:17 PM] Nyx Nyx lays scraps of metal, string, magnets and shards of glass on the table and begins to tinker. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:14:47 PM] Debinani A couple of other things you could do: so you've got this miscellaneous stuff and you'll just sell that off, it's not a big deal. The Shriek Slate is more specialized and it's worth a lot of coin. And so you could probably ask Locket to move it for you and he would probably take 20% plus a fee to actually move the stuff along. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:14:59 PM] Random so question. My 2 downtime actions. one is the ritual which will generate stress. and indulge vice which removes stress. do I do it in that order to mitigate the generated stress or after to remove any stress first and then add more after with the ritual? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:15:22 PM] Debinani Theoretically, the way the Reclaimer Circle works is they go and they smuggle in artifacts and religious relics and whatnot from all over everywhere and then they sell them off. So presumably the Reclaimer Circle actually had a buyer for this stuff. You don't know who it is, but there's somebody obviously willing to pay for it. Or you could try to find a buyer on your own. But this is not something that you can just... since you don't actually, your gang doesn't actually have a reliable fence, which by the way is something that you could go just in gameplay, find one and make friends and do jobs for them and they would just then be a very reliable source. You're going to have to go pave the way. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:15:40 PM] Jason G would his 20%+ be higher than our contacts could likely get? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:16:05 PM] Veth We need a fence indoors?! --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:16:19 PM] Kristian Can we work on negotiating with him at all? So he doesn't hose us? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:16:19 PM] Debinani So that's how you would move the stuff. No matter who you sell your stuff to, you owe 20% to the Glass Keys, right? You are operating in Charterhall under their largesse. They run... they are the crime in Charterhall. So you guys and the Inkrites and the Reclaimer Circle are all, you all kind of pay dues or yeah, you all render unto Caesar a cut. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:16:20 PM] Jason G usually fences go outside the building... we don't have one? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:16:52 PM] Jason G render unto caesar --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:16:56 PM] Rob Sounds like they hold a Mayor-al type role. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:17:00 PM] Kristian I mean 80% of 100% is 80% more than we had before session 0.5... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:17:00 PM] Debinani His extra fee for moving the goods probably wouldn't be too deep of a cut. Yes, random, yeah, you would... if you wanted to do your two downtime actions, you would do the ritual first and then you would probably want to remove stress, you'd probably want to do it in that order. Yeah. Did I get to everything in the chat? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:17:34 PM] Debinani Yeah. So that's how you would move the goods. That's your sort of obligation to the Glass Keys. Those are the folks you know immediately. You could try to figure out who the Reclaimer Circle was going to sell to. You could undercut them and sell the stuff yourself. You could find your own contacts to move it. You could do any number of things. I encourage you to be creative. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:18:15 PM] Pat does the statue know who the buyer might have been? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:18:21 PM] Debinani She does not. She knew it was there because she had been stored next to it for like six months, but she didn't have any insight as to who the buyer would be. She does know the sorts of people who buy Shriek Slate. It's usually alchemists and whispers and people doing rituals and stuff like that, which is right on brand with the sort of customers the Reclaimer Circle would be selling to. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:18:51 PM] Rob I think we'd be better off finding a buyer on our own, just to put a bit more 'distance' between ourselves and the job. Unless we want people to know we did the job. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:18:55 PM] Jason G everyone check your contacts on your sheet and see if you may know someone --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:18:59 PM] Debinani Yeah, do any of you actually have a fence or something related as a contact? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:19:19 PM] Kristian negative...I mean might have a contact that knows a fence? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:19:19 PM] Boo I know ghost. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:19:25 PM] Rob I know a witch... Would someone like that be interested in Shriekslate? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:19:36 PM] Debinani Oh yes, if you know a witch, a witch would almost certainly be interested in Shriek Slate. Blue Cloaks are cops, which is a very, very useful contact to have, probably not to move stolen goods with though. All the Blue Cloaks are bent. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:19:39 PM] Veth I know a bluecloak, I don't know what those are --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:19:49 PM] Veth nice, I know a cop! --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:19:53 PM] Kristian not sure what a "jail bird" would know...are we talkin crack head or thief haha --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:19:54 PM] Jason G bluer version of browncoats --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:19:55 PM] Rob They arrest you every Thursday? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:20:02 PM] Veth I call my cop friend to come over and check out all my stolen stuff! --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:20:13 PM] Kristian or bluecloak knows someone but will take a deep cut...if they are bent --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:20:13 PM] Random well it might the right person to move stolen good, depending on the corruption of the cop --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:20:23 PM] Veth True that --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:20:31 PM] Jason G I know a cop, locksmith, city clerk, noble, and beggar --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:20:31 PM] Debinani I mean, there's not... there are investigators who are largely on the level, but all the Blue Cloaks are bent. So let's talk about this area of character sheets because we didn't focus on those last week. During character creation you pick somebody who is a friend and you pick somebody who is an enemy. And I'm happy to do custom ones, you're not restricted to the things that are listed on your sheet. Which theoretically now if one of you wants to have a fence as a contact in arrears, I suppose I will allow it, but that's hardly any fun. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:21:00 PM] Random lol --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:21:06 PM] Veth I personally prefer walls to fences. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:21:07 PM] Rob The ones we don't select are just not used, correct? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:21:13 PM] Kristian I have a gang leader, drug dealer, jail bird, tavern owner, and a hooker. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:21:13 PM] Debinani Yeah, they're just not used. He just reproduced the character sheet and so that's why. You're... we're kind of on downtime, we haven't formally started it yet. I'm just... I'm interested in your all's approach to moving the goods and then we'll do downtime activities here in a second. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:21:24 PM] Random are we on downtime? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:21:28 PM] Kristian it's like I am playing a CEO --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:21:48 PM] Rob Mayvik, I think you only know 2 of them. One as a friend, one as an enemy/rival. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:21:50 PM] Random k --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:22:03 PM] Debinani I'll let you all discuss what you want to do. I'm going to be AFK just three minutes. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:22:06 PM] Kristian oohhhhh so we need to downselect our defaults to 1 each? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:22:17 PM] Eidolon Yeah, one up arrow, one down. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:22:19 PM] Crow I know someone that may be interested in the Shriekslate. Want me to reach out to her? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:22:20 PM] Veth oops --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:22:31 PM] Rob Yeah, what Veth said. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:22:34 PM] Eidolon Don't see why not. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:22:37 PM] Crow Crow nods --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:22:48 PM] Kristian got it...in that case I doubt my plug can help lol --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:23:19 PM] Crow Do we have a price in mind for it? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:23:43 PM] Wolf Should we perhaps wait at least a couple of days? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:24:16 PM] Wolf Or do we assume that they'll figure out it was us anyway? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:24:44 PM] Debinani Back --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:24:47 PM] Freakshow I hope they don't go ask our friend with the canoe. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:24:56 PM] Debinani You picked a random gondolier, I mean, you don't have any friends who are gondoliers or friends who own boats, at least I don't think any of you do. So it was just a random guy that you paid. Unless they saw you, there's really no way they're going to tie you to... they can go asking around gondoliers, "Hey, did you see a gang of nine people show up the other night?" --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:25:34 PM] Debinani Yeah, and like I said, you're not limited to the names on the sheet. If you guys want a custom contact, I'm happy to make one. I know Pat's got a custom contact. If you sell any of this stuff, it's going to make it to the market and they're going to find out. So just assume. Heck, they probably already think it's you because of your existing reputation with them. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:25:35 PM] Pat they shouldn't know how many we were. :P --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:25:36 PM] Eidolon With all that is stolen in this city, waiting may be a waste. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:25:48 PM] Rob You mentioned reputation in the past. There are times we don't want to hide that we were behind something, right? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:26:03 PM] Kristian that's why I said sit on it.. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:26:12 PM] Debinani Yeah, I mean, the underworld is vast, but it is a pretty tight network. So once word gets out that you did another one over on the Reclaimer Circle, because remember while we were making the crew, you guys got your underground maps and passkeys by stealing them from the Reclaimer Circle, so that's why your rep with them is so low to begin with. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:26:13 PM] Kristian we might not wanna keep it HERE...but..yeah. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:26:44 PM] Debinani But yes, you will get rep for the job. Not a lot, I mean it's kind of a minor job. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:27:09 PM] Kristian wait we knew we were going in there to steal "something" valuable right? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:27:15 PM] Debinani Yes, so the background of that was that you had gotten a tip-off that they were storing a lot of their imported, "imported" goods underneath that antique shop. And you decided to hit them and look for something valuable. And there honestly was not a lot besides the Shriek Slate and the miscellaneous baubles and the mysterious statue. That's really all there was, the rest of it was just kind of dollar store antiques. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:27:22 PM] Kristian is it feasible we thought ahead to arrange a fence for "something" in advance? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:27:52 PM] Debinani But that is why you were there, because you got a tip-off that that's where they store their stuff. You all have obviously been rivals for a while and you decided to knock them over. It's hard to arrange a fence for something when you don't know what the something is. Flashbacks only work during scores. So yeah, it's really... it's specialized and rare and this much of it hitting the market will... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:28:14 PM] Kristian we knew we were gonna steal some "antiques" then...so having a fence on speedial? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:28:25 PM] Kristian got it..this slate is so unusual it's not like jewelry fence. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:28:29 PM] Kristian then nm :) --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:28:53 PM] Debinani you know, word will get out. So you want to try moving it with Crow's witch friend? No, I mean, only if your whispers knew rituals that demanded it, and neither one of them do. Or if your tinker needed it for something and she doesn't. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:29:04 PM] Veth yeah --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:29:04 PM] Rob Okay, Crow will reach out to Quellyn (the witch). --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:29:10 PM] Kristian any point in keeping a small amount? Is this something we could use later? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:29:28 PM] Jason G how do you edit the sheet to add entries in "shady friends"? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:29:28 PM] Rob For the Shriekslate, at least. I don't think she'll be interested in the other baubles. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:29:46 PM] Kristian I am down for reverse potion-shopping then...get rid of it for $ we desperately need. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:30:06 PM] Debinani How do I edit this sheet to add...? Oh, I have to create... I actually have to create an NPC record and drag it onto the sheet. So just let me know and I can create NPC records and drag them onto your sheet. Groovy. Okay, so the plan is: sell the baubles through the normal, your normal kind of channels around Charterhall and sell the Shriek Slate to Quellen the witch. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:30:23 PM] Jason G ok, I'll send you two later --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:30:48 PM] Nyx Sell the statue too? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:30:59 PM] Random I'm sitting on my bauble for now --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:31:02 PM] Eidolon I'm not into selling people. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:31:02 PM] Debinani The statue responds, "Please don't." Yeah, your bauble is not worth much. It's not entirely uncommon. It's from... it's obviously from the West depicting the eternal battle between Queen Rat and the darkness that came. And you know, it's not worth a material amount but it's pretty. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:31:06 PM] Rob Right. On what Deb said, not on Nyx's suggestion. :P --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:31:09 PM] Pat If we sell it to the witch, will she want to use it herself? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:31:18 PM] Pat if so it won't hit the market, will it? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:31:20 PM] Nyx Nyx tilts her head towards the statue. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:31:36 PM] Freakshow Hard to value something that promises future favors. Who knows what that could be worth? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:31:37 PM] Crow Leeet's not sell her. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:31:48 PM] Freakshow Oh and not selling people and all that too. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:31:52 PM] Freakshow Freakshow eyeroll --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:31:59 PM] Nyx Nyx shrugs --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:32:12 PM] Debinani You do not know what that crazy witch does with the things that she owns and you don't care. Who knows, maybe she will sell it back to the Reclaimer Circle, she is under no obligation to, you know, do anything. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:32:19 PM] Nyx Maybe there's a reason people keep putting her in a box. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:32:33 PM] Crow They might not know she can talk. And so... stuff. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:32:51 PM] Rob That should be 'and do... stuff', not 'and so... stuff' --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:32:57 PM] Eidolon Eidolon sighs. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:33:36 PM] Boo Boo mutters "beware of spirits offering riches." --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:34:18 PM] Debinani Hey, so not going to sell the statue. Probably smart. Selling the Shriek Slate to Quellen and then moving your other goods. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:34:43 PM] Rob Right. Doesn't look like fencing our stuff is a downtime activity. Correct? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:34:52 PM] Debinani No, no, it's not. Not in this case. Finding a fence might be, but in this particular case since you already have a contact that makes sense, I will let it go. So let's just, we will just move into downtime. So you all agree on a plan and you certainly, even though you don't all uniformly agree about Mistress Ash's disposition... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:35:23 PM] Debinani Crow, you make contact with Quellen and you get 10 coin worth of gems from her. I'm assuming you probably want to just go ahead and pay Locket his two? Okay. Yeah, and it is a... this is considered a major haul. This is a big freaking haul. So those of you, I think it was Watcher and Idolon maybe... anyway, you guys distribute the rest of the kind of non-low-value junk. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:35:39 PM] Rob Yes. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:36:09 PM] Debinani You go out into the town, you sell it all off and that's worth about a coin's worth. So unironically there are nine of you and you earn nine coin. So you're just going to split it evenly? I mean, that would make sense. The alternative would be to put some in the... you can keep up to four coin in your stash in the lair. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:36:32 PM] Rob Sure. The boss isn't here to take a bigger cut for herself. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:36:44 PM] Debinani All right, well everybody put one coin on your character sheet. Let me remind myself how to do that. So what you do is you go and click on the little coin icon up next to your portrait and there's checkboxes for coin and stash. And so you would just put a checkbox in coin. And I will do that for Cam and Deeds. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:36:45 PM] Kristian where do we put that on sheet? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:36:52 PM] Pat and we all know how safe the lairs are... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:37:06 PM] Kristian got it. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:37:10 PM] Jason G can't track half a coin unfortunately --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:37:26 PM] Rob That's one of the reasons I agreed that we should each get 1. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:37:28 PM] Debinani Nope, can't really track half a coin. Yeah, just do it that way. Your lair is actually hidden, so you actually... your lair has the "special" ability of being hidden, so there's that. Anyway, you'll have to decide... I mean, ten is a really big haul. You'll have to decide on your smaller hauls how to divide it up. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:38:01 PM] Debinani Okay, so while we're at it, we're going to talk about rep. I'm going to say you earned three rep for that score because it was... when word ultimately gets out, that's going to be two rep for the job and one rep because the Reclaimer Circle is a tier higher than you. You guys are tier zero, they are a tier one gang. So there will be three rep for the Old Town Echoes. I'll put that on your sheet. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:38:45 PM] Debinani As to heat... honestly, no fatalities, no contact, no fight. They honestly don't even know, they're not even 100% sure it was you. You're stealing stolen goods so they're not going to report it to the cops. I think y'all are going to get away with zero heat for this one. It was technically on hostile turf, but again, nobody really knew you were there, so I'm going to say zero heat. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:39:18 PM] Rob Huzzah. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:39:24 PM] Debinani Knowing how much you guys like to blow shit up, I'm sure it will be the last time you get zero heat. You'll notice on the crew sheet that one of the claims is a loyal fence. So if you guys really want to find a fence and build a relationship, we would actually do that through play and then you would then get two coin plus two coin for every score that involved burglary or robbery like this one. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:39:30 PM] Veth We rock when we're not actually rolling anything. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:40:01 PM] Debinani So that's something that you could go after. Okay, so that's rep, that's heat, that's your payoff, and so now we go into downtime. So you guys go out, you sell your stuff and you go back to like your normal business, which, you know, everybody's sort of living their lives. You all operate... I posted this in the chat the other day. You are in and out of a joint called... sorry, I can't even remember... the Clerk Street Typesetters. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:40:39 PM] Debinani That's sort of the anchor of your turf in Charterhall. A lot of information flows in and out of there and you all run kind of your gang's business. Like the low-level business that goes on in the background is really capturing and selling secrets that flow through the typesetters. So you do that and you do your downtime activities. So everybody gets two downtime activities. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:41:14 PM] Debinani And they are described on the page here, but we can go into any sort of detail. You don't have to reduce heat because you got none. None of you were hurt so you don't have to recover harm. And I know Boo is going to do rituals and indulge vice because Boo took a lot of stress for getting you all helping you all walk through the walls. Acquire asset is basically acquiring something for temporary use. So if you had a job coming up or if you knew a job that was coming up, you could go find like an item, a vehicle, or whatever and procure their services or a gang. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:41:50 PM] Debinani Long-term project is sort of anything that takes a long time to do. Another example of a long-term project is crafting, which is something I'm sure that Nix will get on about on occasion. And then there's training, and you can spend some of your downtime training to get an XP. So all of you figure out what you're gonna do and we'll do Boo first because Boo already knows what Boo's doing. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:42:23 PM] Debinani And Boo, I said you can do your ritual without a roll, right? So you just have to tell me what effect that you want it to have. Okay, yeah, so you took four stress in the last session for walking everybody through the wall because I think there were four tune failures. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:42:30 PM] Boo how much stress how much I started with? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:42:42 PM] Boo I didn't get it recorded from last session?' --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:43:18 PM] Boo my ritual will..,. let me calculate again --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:43:23 PM] Debinani And then if you want to do your ritual for, you know, a down-the-road range and maybe a few minutes, that would be four stress as an example. Or no, I said 75%, so that would be three stress. But 75% of the total of the duration and range that you want to do. I know you guys haven't been terribly immersed in the game yet, so people are probably not sure what to do with their downtime, but we can talk through it. We're still in the tutorial part of the game. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:44:05 PM] Jason G no stress, so training it is --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:44:06 PM] Veth Training always seems a good default. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:44:07 PM] Pat what are the options again? I know one action --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:44:10 PM] Pat but not the second --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:44:15 PM] Boo round up or down? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:44:33 PM] Rob Looks like we do have a bonus if we train Prowess (or a Prowess skill, rather). --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:44:59 PM] Boo and if i max stress do I get trauma? or only if I go above all stress? marks? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:45:14 PM] Debinani Round up, please. If you max out stress, you will get trauma. Yes. So right now don't go above five. And yes, as a crew you guys do get a bonus if you train prowess during downtime because of your gang of thieves. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:45:42 PM] Boo well, 5 will max me. I've got 4, 5 will fill my stress bar. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:45:54 PM] Debinani Yes, five will fill a stress bar, a sixth would generate trauma. And you're probably not going to get all that stress worked down by a single indulge vice downtime action. So you know, might want to be a little stingy with it. The options are actually down at the bottom. I put the options if you want to zoom in, they're actually on the bottom of the canvas here. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:46:09 PM] Boo nods. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:46:29 PM] Debinani It's acquire asset, long-term project, crafting ritual, recover harm, reduce heat, indulge vice, and training. And I don't know if you can take training twice in downtime. That's a worthy thing to wonder. I'm not sure you can do the same downtime action twice. Let me do a rules check on that one. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:46:33 PM] Pat ah, right. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:47:37 PM] Boo So, for an hour, and down the rod a bit. is 4 stress. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:47:49 PM] Boo and then I'll indulge --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:47:50 PM] Pat ok, so vice and training for me, then. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:48:05 PM] Boo my vice is weird, so I'll do weird things :P --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:48:50 PM] Debinani Okay, so you'll take four stress for doing that ritual and then you'll do whatever it is you do to reduce stress. We'll make that roll in just one second. You may choose the same activity more than once. So yeah, you get two downtime activities and you could do the same thing twice. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:49:04 PM] Boo k --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:49:30 PM] Debinani You can train a given XP track only once per downtime. That is a limitation of that. So for those of you who want to indulge vice, the way you do it: basically, you make an attribute roll using your character's lowest attribute rating. So for many of you that might be one or zero. The attributes are insight, prowess, or resolve. So you'll make a roll using the lowest of that. You make it and you clear stress equal to the highest die result. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:50:14 PM] Debinani If your roll clears more stress than you had, you overindulge, which is all manner of trouble that comes from bad decisions of overindulging your vice. So you don't necessarily want to always do indulge vice if you only have like one or two stress because you could go overboard. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:50:36 PM] Boo okay, rolling prowess --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:50:40 PM] Rob So it's a really bad idea to do it with 0 stress. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:50:43 PM] Wolf Vice 0d Success You indulge your vice. Clear 1 stress. 3 1 2d6 = 4 = 4 --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:50:54 PM] Kristian so attributes are the...highest or lowest of the # of dots we have in each skill? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:50:55 PM] Jason G if we can't train twice, and no need to indulge.... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:50:59 PM] Debinani Attributes are the number of skills in which you have at least one dot. You notice how they have that little line that goes vertically on the sheet. It's the number of skills that you have at least one dot in. You can train twice, you can't train the same thing twice. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:51:08 PM] Kristian gotcha. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:51:22 PM] Boo Prowess Success You reduce or avoid the effects of the consequence (GM chooses). Suffer 3 stress. 3 1d6 = 3 = 3 --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:51:30 PM] Debinani So Pat, I'm assuming you were rolling for prowess. It should have rolled one die because you have a dot in prowess. No, I think you have to put the number of dice in. I don't think the sheet's that smart. So you would indulge vice with one die. Well, there you go, it was better than the first one. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:51:39 PM] Veth so we can train like insight and resolve? Or am I misunderstanding? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:51:41 PM] Pat Does it decide for you if you choose 'Indulge vice'? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:52:05 PM] Wolf Vice Success You indulge your vice. Clear 2 stress. 2 1d6 = 2 = 2 --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:52:11 PM] Pat right. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:52:19 PM] Debinani Yes, and so you train... so you have every character sheet has four experience tracks on it: insight, prowess, resolve, and then the special abilities. When you're training, it's insight, prowess, or resolve. You train those and once you fill up the XP track, you get a dot in whatever you want to get a dot in. Yes it would. If you actually wanted to do some research and figure out who she is and where she came from and what the hell that statue is, that would definitely qualify as a long-term project. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:52:36 PM] Rob Would attempting to do some research to find out more about Mistress Ash be a Long Term Project? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:52:54 PM] Rob Why yes, that's exactly what I'd like to do. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:52:58 PM] Boo now I just rolled process. how is the vice roll like Wolf did done? curious --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:53:02 PM] Debinani Would you like to...? Oh, so basically there's an icon on your left nav called Dice Roller. If you click it, it gives you a pop-up and you can select vice and I think that's how it works. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:53:13 PM] Pat can we cooperate? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:53:28 PM] Boo oh, ok. I'll do that next time. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:53:32 PM] Pat also, set number of dice and stress --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:53:38 PM] Debinani Yeah, so you recovered three stress. Okay, so you're done, Boo, with downtime. Long-term project. So let's talk about... you can cooperate on a long-term project. Basically, a long-term project is going to be a clock and as you guys get different successes on it, it will fill the clock up. So let's talk about what do you actually want to get out of this long-term project? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:54:32 PM] Rob I want to find out who Mistress Ash was. Not from her but from outside sources. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:54:41 PM] Debinani Okay, so you're not really interested in the statue itself, the ghost itself. You're really interested in Mistress Ash's history, wherever she may have come from and her background. Okay, I'm going to call that a six-clock. You'll need to score up six successes of doing research and sending letters off to people who might know and things like that. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:54:52 PM] Pat her background etc --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:55:09 PM] Rob Right. I'm thinking knowing who she was might help us know her motivations (and if they're a danger to us) --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:55:30 PM] Debinani I think the roll would be study. Or if you really stretch it, maybe sway if you're trying to like bribe public records clerks and things like that. So for your downtime activity, make your study roll. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:55:43 PM] Rob Study is good for me. I have 2 dots in it. :P --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:56:00 PM] Crow Study Risky | Standard Failure Things go badly. You suffer harm, a complication occurs, you end up in a desperate position, you lose this opportunity. 2 2 2d6 = 4 = 4 --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:56:09 PM] Debinani Okay, you get... you tick one box on the clock. So you dug around a little bit and you definitely found out who she's not in a week or two. What's everybody else thinking for their downtime? Training, again you just take an XP. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:56:35 PM] Rob How/where do I track that? Or are you going to do it? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:56:43 PM] Debinani You shouldn't in the upper right-hand corner of the screen, you should see a new clock. I track it publicly. Did that actually show up for everybody? There should be like a Mistress Ash's history clock up there now. Awesome. Okay, yes, if you want to take a downtime activity to do the same thing, I would take a sway or a study. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:56:52 PM] Kristian I was going to go a different route, and try to talk to Ash directly via Ghost Voice. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:56:56 PM] Boo yes, I see it --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:56:57 PM] Rob Ah, yeah, it did. Didn't notice it before. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:57:01 PM] Veth yeah --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:57:05 PM] Pat yeah. Can I help with the research, btw? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:57:06 PM] Kristian but talk about future plans and aspirations. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:57:15 PM] Rob Second activity will be Training Prowess. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:57:23 PM] Debinani Okay, so you would get two experience points in prowess because you guys get a bonus for training for that. And this is you just basically working the public records office and stuff like that. Very common thing, especially for a bunch of spies in Charterhall. Downtime rolls really don't have position or effect. You just roll and we'll take the highest and compare it to the chart. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:57:24 PM] Pat as my second activity. MIght try sway, then, since I've got 2 dots --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:57:44 PM] Pat is this risky? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:58:02 PM] Wolf Sway Risky | Standard Critical Success! You do it with increased effect. 6 6 2d6 = 12 = 12 --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:58:08 PM] Veth lol --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:58:09 PM] Rob Way better roll than mine. :P --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:58:10 PM] Debinani Oh my god! Well, you got the rest of the six segments. Okay, you strike gold at a public records office and we will go into detail on that later. Absolutely. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:58:13 PM] Veth nice, pat. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:58:14 PM] Kristian You know everything. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:58:20 PM] Boo go wolf --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:58:22 PM] Jason G well then --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:58:24 PM] Veth guess I get to train! :) --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:58:31 PM] Random go wolf even --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:58:43 PM] Pat next time,when he's managed to write something :P --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:59:05 PM] Debinani Who else has downtime stuff to do? Freak show, you were going to actually use a downtime activity to just get close to her or what? And your ghost voice is really... you guys have no problem communicating with this particular ghost. You have a ghost friend who is always near and we can have a conversation with him outside of downtime. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 3:59:28 PM] Kristian so not sure I 100% understand how this ghost voice hting works haha --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:00:03 PM] Jason G training: prowess and insight, in the streets.. generally prowling --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:00:13 PM] Kristian gotcha...nevermind then! In that case I will go ahead and vice and probably just dick around throwing some knives or something. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:00:41 PM] Kristian so I guess "train" and "get blotto on ghost laudanum" --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:00:51 PM] Debinani You didn't take any stress, so you probably don't want to like indulge vice for real because then you're 100% guaranteed to overindulge and cause trouble. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:01:03 PM] Veth good idea to just train twice. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:01:11 PM] Kristian I have emotional damage! --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:01:22 PM] Random my vice is weird. I got sit in on trance medium sessions, figure the better ways to commune with spirits (and avoid the wrong ways) --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:01:48 PM] Kristian This is one of those "the DM is telling you not to do something dumb" moments, right? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:02:00 PM] Rob The GM is not the boss of you! --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:02:02 PM] Kristian just not "induge" --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:02:14 PM] Kristian but..I like trouble! --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:02:14 PM] Debinani Just to create clarity about what overindulgence means: when you overindulge, you make a bad call because of your vice. It's a risk and one that can bring the effect of this bad decision into the game. Select an overindulgence from a list: Attract Trouble, you can roll an entanglement, which is bad shit that happens to the crew. You can brag about your exploits and get plus two heat. You get lost, you vanish for a few weeks. You can play a different character until this one returns from their bender. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:02:48 PM] Debinani And Tapped, your current purveyor cuts you off, find a new source. So you probably don't want any of those. So you can just, for narrative purposes, go on a bender and we don't... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:02:51 PM] Random off to chop some veg. I'm listening. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:03:29 PM] Debinani any other downtime stuff? I know Nix is going to go off and work on building and inventing some stuff. Okay. You train twice and have RP drug use. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:03:30 PM] Kristian fine I will train twice and then have RP drug use! --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:03:56 PM] Veth same with the training. also some random people watching. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:04:13 PM] Debinani Okay, which is fine. I mean training is the, you know, unless you want to like craft or do something specific, training is an obvious choice right now. Yep, so you'd get two XP for prowess and one XP for resolve. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:04:16 PM] Kristian so train I guess.Finesse and..try to fleece some rubes with fortune telling so Sway? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:04:55 PM] Debinani Okay, let's take... I know we're late for break, let's take ten here and then we will reconvene at the same time you all come back together after going about your own pursuits. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:05:14 PM] Debinani Break Time Complete --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:16:35 PM] Rob Yup. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:16:41 PM] Pat I'm back, at least --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:16:53 PM] Veth same --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:17:36 PM] Debinani All right, so you all go about your business, doing your various pursuits for a couple of weeks. A lot of you practicing thievery in the basement. Wolf manages to get quite a bit of news about Mistress Ash, and so you gather in the back room of the Incan Anvil. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:18:11 PM] Debinani It's early, breakfast time. Let's say it is the 28th of November. And you are gathered in the private room at the Incan Anvil. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:18:13 PM] Veth quite a bit is an understatement. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:18:21 PM] Random "boo" --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:18:42 PM] Debinani You are eating various different breakfast foods and there are teas and what passes for coffee. And Wolf comes in with a handful of papers and reveals what she discovered. With, you know, with Crow's help a little. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:19:13 PM] Debinani So what you found out, and because of your critical, I'll let you ask a couple of questions over this. There was a Lady Gellena Ash of Bright Harbor, Iruvia. She was an incredibly accomplished sparkcraft artificer and whisper, so she was essentially a tinker and a whisper, dealt with ghosts a lot. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:19:45 PM] Debinani She was married to Lord Carlo Ash, who was the imperial governor of Bright Harbor for Iruvia for a number of years. She, along with the rest of her family, including two children, were assassinated back way back in the year 762, which was about, what, 80 years ago? About 80-some odd years ago. Perpetrators unknown. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:19:47 PM] Jason G from where? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:20:01 PM] Freakshow Huh. I thought it was a fake name. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:20:18 PM] Debinani But yeah, not a fake name. If this is actually the same Ash, this would all scan. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:20:50 PM] Pat right...questions... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:20:54 PM] Debinani Yeah, what other things would you dig into knowing, having discovered her actual identity? I'll give you a couple of questions that make sense that you could have gotten from the record's office. No, the perpetrators were unknown. Why does any political assassination happen? But no details. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:21:11 PM] Pat any idea of reason why they were assassinated? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:21:29 PM] Jason G "Why" she was put into the statue..why per specifically --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:21:38 PM] Jason G *her --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:21:43 PM] Pat could she have made the statue herself? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:21:47 PM] Debinani It's not outside the realm of reason that she could have made the statue herself and maybe even had an emergency ritual that captured her ghost in it upon her death. I mean, it's a little fantastical, but for somebody of her purported talents, it would probably be completely doable. She does not remember her death or becoming the statue. There's a pretty big gap in her memory. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:21:51 PM] Pat she was a tinkerer, right? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:22:40 PM] Pat the thought is, she likely didn't end up in that statue by coincidence. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:22:44 PM] Random is is possible she's a "backup" and the original is really alive and in hiding? rumors? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:22:47 PM] Debinani Now considering who she was, the fact that she was like the imperial governor's wife and was a sparkcrafter and a whisper, it's almost certainly not a random coincidence. If she's really alive, she's awfully old because she'd be over a hundred years ago. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:22:57 PM] Pat if it was revenge, I'd expect them to make certain she knew why. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:23:05 PM] Pat 80 years ago, so probably not. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:23:33 PM] Pat was the governor hated? controversial? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:23:33 PM] Kristian we could just ask --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:23:41 PM] Rob Assuming she remembers. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:23:45 PM] Pat chances are she might not remember --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:23:47 PM] Random I've heard that they have weird life extending rituals over in aruvian way :P --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:23:52 PM] Debinani According to the records, there was not a lot of turmoil in Iruvia or Bright Harbor during that time. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:23:55 PM] Kristian or doesn't lie... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:24:00 PM] Jason G we find out she's just an incremental cloud snapshot the original Lady Ash took... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:24:03 PM] Kristian but don't see how it harms much --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:24:14 PM] Kristian didn't pay for the memory DLC --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:24:37 PM] Pat anything else I should ask? :P --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:24:39 PM] Random she made the statue in her own mind to have someone intelligent to talk to --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:24:41 PM] Debinani I mean, it was a long time ago and a long way away. So there's only so much. The only reason you found records of her at all was because she was, you know, the imperial governor's wife. I mean, it was the governor's family some 80 years ago. You've got the names of the husband and the children. The husband's name is Carlo. We'll go with Nezh and Nadim. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:24:54 PM] Pat Names of husband and children. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:24:59 PM] Pat to see if that helps her remember --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:25:18 PM] Veth Zazzy and Jazzy --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:25:28 PM] Rob I can't think of anything else right now. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:25:29 PM] Jason G little Timmy and Tammy --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:25:43 PM] Pat me neither --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:25:44 PM] Random I would actually, joking aside, be curious if she's the original, or a copy? since she doesn't remember her death. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:25:44 PM] Debinani That's good, because your breakfast is interrupted. Out in the main room of the Incan Anvil, you hear the little bell above the front door ring. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:26:24 PM] Debinani And you hear the voice of Locket go, "Ah, Mara my dear, could you get me some of that awful coffee of yours?" A couple of minutes later there's a knock on the door to the private room and Locket sticks his head in. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:26:32 PM] Rob Steve. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:27:04 PM] Watcher nopr --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:27:15 PM] Debinani "Well, there's my favorite little band of skulks! How are y'all doing?" He comes in and sets a cup of coffee down at an empty spot at the table and pulls the door closed behind him. Grabs a random sausage off of one of the platters in the middle of the table. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:27:41 PM] Jason G ooh. strong on the sharp photorealstic focus and high bokeh --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:27:46 PM] Crow Crow nods to Lockett --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:27:50 PM] Boo hey lockett --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:27:54 PM] Crow Here for the lousy coffee? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:28:03 PM] Debinani "So I know I'm not generally in the business of asking questions when y'all come and pay your dues for Mr. Dask's largesse. But word's gotten out on the street that the Reclaimer Circle took a bit of a hit a few weeks ago and some very valuable commodities were stolen. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:28:37 PM] Debinani And they have since been sold. And it just happened to coincide with a fairly sizeable, shall we say, dues that you paid to us. So I was somewhat curious about whether y'all are continuing to poke that particular bear in the nose." --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:28:41 PM] Boo Stolen, oh my. how terrrible. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:28:46 PM] Freakshow How unfortunate for them. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:29:02 PM] Watcher This must be looked into, immediately... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:29:29 PM] Jason G let's assume we had his cut ready to hand over already? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:29:32 PM] Debinani "Well, either way, the Professor is furious. The Professor being the guy in charge of the Reclaimer Circle. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:29:39 PM] Jason G ah cool --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:29:45 PM] Pat he actually said so. :D --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:29:57 PM] Jason G you assume I paid attention :P --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:29:57 PM] Boo I've no mind to be poking nothing, personally. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:30:11 PM] Eidolon Not a fan of bears. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:30:23 PM] Debinani And he's pretty positive it was you who did it. No, he doesn't like you at all, and for good reason. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:30:38 PM] Freakshow Pretty positive isn't very positive for someone called the Professor. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:30:41 PM] Eidolon Slander should be beneath such a man. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:30:51 PM] Wolf Of course he's gonna blame us. He just doesn't like us. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:30:58 PM] Crow His opinion is likely biased by his pre-existing dislike of us. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:31:01 PM] Debinani I mean, you stole all those plans from him not long ago. Either way, I'd be fairly certain that they're coming for you, straight business. I don't know, in their time. They came to us, they came to Mr. Dask, and they asked for his assistance in helping wipe y'all out. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:31:08 PM] Wolf What plans? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:31:10 PM] Boo Us? Piffle. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:31:19 PM] Wolf Now? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:31:40 PM] Debinani I'm going to tell you the same thing we told them: Mr. Dask is not in the business of intervening in the squabbles between small gangs, even when they're on his turf, you see. He frankly considers it a bit of natural selection, don't you know? However, war is bad for business. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:32:12 PM] Rob War. War never changes. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:32:12 PM] Debinani And if this particular war that's brewing becomes bad for the Glass Keys' business, then we will intervene. But until then, you keep poking that bear all you want. I figured I'd warn you. Word got out, as word tends to do. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:32:34 PM] Crow Crow nods --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:32:38 PM] Eidolon You are a true friend. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:32:42 PM] Crow We appreciate the heads-up. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:32:45 PM] Debinani Frankly, I think Mr. Dask likes you better anyway, but he's not going to get involved. They are pissed as hell about that Shriek Slate, though. I don't think it's a huge secret that I think they've been struggling for a while. They've had some deals go wrong in the last few months and I just don't think they're on very sound footing anymore. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:32:51 PM] Freakshow Appreciate the warning --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:33:09 PM] Freakshow Sounds like a grand opportunity to demonstrate our value. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:33:28 PM] Debinani Yeah, well, you know, as I said, Mr. Dask sees it as a form of natural selection when young scrappy gangs fight for dominance. Some win, some lose. It's the natural order of things. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:34:10 PM] Jason G As long as the Glasskeys interests aren't threatened --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:34:14 PM] Rob Exactly. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:34:17 PM] Debinani Yes, that's the underlying threat. Do whatever you want, but we're not getting involved. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:34:45 PM] Random well not getting involved beyond the friendly warning... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:34:59 PM] Watcher and is there anything we can help you with, sir? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:35:14 PM] Debinani Don't be bad for business. Oh, I've always got things you can help with. But do you want to take something on when you've got to be looking over your shoulder for the circle all the time? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:35:31 PM] Rob I mean, we do pay them 20% and if we're seen as more successful already it'd behoove them to give us the warning to give us an advantage. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:35:44 PM] Watcher When is anyone NOT looking over their shoulder in this city? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:35:51 PM] Freakshow What are we going to do, sit around sipping coffee waiting to get shivved? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:36:05 PM] Crow Nah. The coffee's lousy. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:36:15 PM] Debinani Fair enough, fair enough. If you're truly interested in a job, I've got something that's been bothering me and maybe you lot could put an end to it. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:36:17 PM] Boo The tea is better --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:36:51 PM] Debinani If you're interested... it all comes from mushrooms. It's just different flavored mushrooms and algae, unless you're very, very rich. I think I talk too fast for the free transcription thing. I may have to try a different transcription thing. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:37:27 PM] Boo Tickle our fancy, and we'll see if it tickles our fancy. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:37:32 PM] Watcher I'm sure we're not opposed to hearing how we might help Mr. Dask --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:37:32 PM] Kristian there are definitely a lot of rhetorical ?s in it --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:37:46 PM] Debinani Fair enough. There's this bloke by the name of Professor Cyril Lancaster. He teaches in Sparkcraft Tower in the university. I have it on fairly good authority that Mr. Lancaster has developed a fairly clever poison. It can infect with very, very little volume. And you have absolutely no indication that you're sick for the longest time until about a week goes by and you keel right the fuck over. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:38:27 PM] Debinani Now Mr. Lancaster, who is a chemist by trade and I'm sure came up with this dastardly crap himself, has been, shall we say, putting it to use around the city and exploiting people's desire to not die. Recently one of Mr. Dask's friends came under the influence of this fellow and had to pay a substantial sum to not die. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:38:46 PM] Boo how scandalous --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:39:05 PM] Debinani After paying the sum, the antidote is delivered and as far as we can tell it works just fine. We know the poison actually works because some folks have not paid up early on and they keeled right the fuck over. So frankly we would like Professor Lancaster to be put out of business. He has angered the wrong blokes. However, he does have some friends and Mr. Dask is incentivized to outsource this particular bit of work. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:39:46 PM] Debinani So we would like Mr. Lancaster to no longer be poisoning and blackmailing people. Ideally we would also be willing to pay quite well for his formula as well as the formula for the antidote, as well as any actual mixed poison and antidote, as well as if he's maintaining a little black book of all the people he's blackmailing. That would be useful as well, don't you know? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:39:54 PM] Kristian audio die? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:39:55 PM] Watcher Any idea how the poison is introduced? food? contact? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:40:06 PM] Kristian I got putting it to use around the city and.... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:40:11 PM] Kristian got it. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:40:28 PM] Debinani But in general we would just be very interested in putting Mr. Lancaster out of business. What do you say? Your leader is still at home. Oh, I would definitely like his business not to return. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:40:43 PM] Kristian permanently? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:40:43 PM] Nyx Fun --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:40:43 PM] Boo Boo looks to our leader. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:40:47 PM] Freakshow Permanently out of business? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:40:56 PM] Random never mind then --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:41:46 PM] Watcher Does Ciril have any organizational entanglements of note? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:41:55 PM] Debinani I'll leave the details up to y'all. Cyril... that was his name. I wouldn't know, I haven't really looked into him. I just know he's been poisoning people and pissing a lot of very powerful people off. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:42:02 PM] Crow I believe we'll need to consult with Cam when she's available before we commit to it. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:42:08 PM] Watcher besides the university --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:42:15 PM] Boo We'll give it due consideration. what manner of renumeration are we looking at, if I might be so bold...? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:42:21 PM] Rob Early-stage dementia: confirmed. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:42:51 PM] Debinani And we just happened to figure out who was behind it first. Well, for making the fellow go away, and go away all quiet like I would assume, I think it's worth about four coin worth of gems. And as I said, I'm happy to pay extra for insights into the professor's dealings and inventions. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:44:13 PM] Rob See Crow's answer above. :P --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:44:25 PM] Debinani So are you interested in taking it on? All right, fair enough, but don't wait long. You know, it's not going to be long before somebody else finds out the identity of the mystery poisoner and goes after him. I would much rather it be a folks that share our mutual interests. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:44:41 PM] Random waiting on others, but my response is as given about consideration. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:45:00 PM] Watcher Mr. Dask would prefer anything not be linked back to him? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:45:08 PM] Debinani Ideally, that's why we're sending you. I mean, we've got plenty of soldiers who could go rough this fellow up. But I think Mr. Dask is working on becoming slightly more respectable in the community and doesn't necessarily want it to be tied back. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:45:18 PM] Rob He doesn't know us that well, does he? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:45:27 PM] Watcher Just making it clear... noted --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:46:04 PM] Debinani Well, I'll hold the job for you for a day, but I need you to send word as soon as tomorrow at the latest to let me know if you're going to take the job or not. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:46:33 PM] Watcher Thanks for the heads up, Locket --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:46:34 PM] Kristian assume we have a drop spot or a comms person that we just go tell, we don't just try to chase him down? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:46:41 PM] Boo We can do that. We do need to consider our other complication as well. Thank you Lockett --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:46:43 PM] Debinani Otherwise I'll have to give it to somebody else. Yeah, you don't have to chase him down. You know exactly, there's a public house over near the university that you guys can just send messages to. Locket, yes. Yes, well, good luck to you on that other thing, and I mean that. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:46:47 PM] Jason G it's Locket, rigth? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:47:19 PM] Debinani The professor just hasn't been himself for the last couple of years and his little band of smugglers just seem to be in decline. So I definitely hope you all come out on top, unofficially. Yeah, I look forward to hearing from you lot and I will see you next time. He slurps down the rest of his coffee and shows himself out. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:48:33 PM] Rob Damn straight. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:48:48 PM] Jason G how "big" are the reclaimers, as far as we know --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:48:48 PM] Kristian so did our Heat change on this? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:48:52 PM] Debinani Nope, no heat change. You got the rep, but no heat. The Reclaimer Circle, it's... so there's the Professor who is kind of an older antiquarian. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:48:53 PM] Jason G personnel wise --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:48:54 PM] Boo Well..... that's a thing. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:49:15 PM] Kristian ok...just seeing if "they did it" ended up getting any other involvement. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:49:19 PM] Eidolon Might as well help out. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:49:29 PM] Debinani So his right-hand man is a fellow by the name of Malus Thorne. He is a... used to be a railjack and has sort of leads the smuggling expedition. He's a pretty clever field guy. He hires all the muscle, he basically is the front man, does all the dangerous work. So he would definitely be a problem. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:49:39 PM] Crow Sure. As long as we can avoid being knifed in the meantime. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:50:03 PM] Debinani When it comes to the size of the gang themselves, probably in the dozens. You know, if they went and identified everybody who says they are a member of the Reclaimer Circle, you're probably talking 24 to 30 people. And who knows how many they would... you know, who knows how much money they have to be able to hire extra muscle as needed. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:50:25 PM] Rob So about 3x larger than us. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:50:31 PM] Boo You know. we could do this side job, get the product, and take care of the Reclaimers.... win win --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:50:37 PM] Debinani Yeah, I mean you guys are just you guys. I mean, you don't really have any hired muscle, you don't have any cohorts. It's just you. They've got a pretty big gang. Now, a handful of their gang they are like literal antiquarian scholars, right? So it's not all just muscle, but there's a lot of them. They have a handful of safe houses and things scattered around. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:50:48 PM] Crow We could, yes. The thought had occurred to me. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:51:38 PM] Boo Well, I vote we do it. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:51:46 PM] Crow Crow shrugs --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:51:53 PM] Watcher Seems a little.... crass --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:52:08 PM] Crow As opposed to knifing them in the dark? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:52:14 PM] Boo crass? we have to test that the product is as... advertised before handing it over. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:52:50 PM] Freakshow Agreed. Poisoning is shifty work but the odds are not in our favor if we aren't creative. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:53:21 PM] Boo and we do need to keep a good stock of the antidote. just a stray thought. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:53:27 PM] Crow I don't think we have to... um... permanently incapacitate the entire gang. Just the leaders should be enough. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:53:42 PM] Boo agreed. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:53:51 PM] Crow I was thinking it'd be smart to keep a copy of the formula. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:53:55 PM] Debinani Yeah, I mean, if you really wanted to just completely dismantle the Reclaimer Circle, you would probably have to get rid of the Professor... again, don't confuse the Reclaimer Circle professor with Professor Cyril. You'd probably have to really slash their hired muscle and you'd have to compromise their safe houses and their business, right? So you know... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:54:08 PM] Watcher There are a myriad of ways our relationship to the Circle could unfold over time. I am not interested in mass murder. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:54:09 PM] Rob Right. We need to get rid of him, too. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:54:14 PM] Kristian probably good to keep them as a vassal gang if we can. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:55:43 PM] Nyx We take some and with time, I can discover the formulas. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:55:49 PM] Crow Define 'mass murder'. Are you adverse to offing the Professor and his right-hand? Or just to offing everyone who claims to be a member? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:56:02 PM] Watcher and I doubt the death of dozens, right on the doorstep of Mr. Dask, will be looked upon kindly. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:56:14 PM] Freakshow Just recall how we came to this.. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:56:19 PM] Random Boooal needs blood. blood for the blood god. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:56:20 PM] Freakshow Someone poisoning drew unwanted attention. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:56:22 PM] Watcher The fallout would be... significant --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:56:33 PM] Freakshow Taking the place of the one with that attention may be unwise. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:56:52 PM] Debinani character assassination, just kind of the whole thing. Yeah, I mean, you don't have to kill them, you could discredit them, you could do any number of things. Feel free to be devious. However, you guys scheme and plot for a little while longer and after a while Mara pokes her head in and says, "You kids probably need to come out and take a look at this." --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:57:06 PM] Rob Discrediting does leave them around to get revenge on us. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:57:13 PM] Pat we could get him arrested? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:57:20 PM] Watcher Watcher schemes --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:57:23 PM] Pat for ... murder and blackmail... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:57:24 PM] Watcher Watcher plots --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:57:24 PM] Kristian can we sick the Reclaimers on the other Professor? Professor Thunderdome, THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:57:28 PM] Crow Crow sighs --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:57:29 PM] Crow Right. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:57:49 PM] Jason G it's a horses head, delivered by goat cart... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:57:54 PM] Debinani It is not quite that dramatic, you've seen horses. So you head out into the main room and sitting at the bar is Crow's witch friend Quellen. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:57:56 PM] Jason G and we've never seen a horse --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:57:57 PM] Kristian it's our leaders' head lol --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:57:58 PM] Rob Or a goat's head delivered by horse cart. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:58:00 PM] Boo Well, there have been poisonings going on. If the leader of the reclaimers were to be found with the poison by the city watch.. well how scandalous --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:58:28 PM] Debinani She has had the ever-loving tar beaten out of her. I mean, like really just wrecked. She's been treated, she's bandaged up, but like she's got one arm up in a sling and Mara has poured her a small measure of something alcoholic that she is sipping on with split lips and bruised face and just generally looking pretty wrecked. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:58:29 PM] Crow ... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:58:42 PM] Watcher ....subtle.... --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:59:12 PM] Debinani She looks at Crow and goes, "Your actual name's Declan, right? Declan?" She says, "Ugh, Declan, I don't know how they traced that slate back to me, but that bruiser Malus Thorne came to my shop with his thugs and they trashed the place and they did this," and she kind of waves her arm over her face. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:59:13 PM] Rob Right. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:59:47 PM] Debinani "And all he said was, 'Tell those echo bastards that this is war.'" And that's where we'll end for today. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 4:59:53 PM] Boo Boo positions myself to check out the front. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 5:00:01 PM] Kristian they calle dher a whore?! --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 5:00:08 PM] Rob I'd say Crow is more in mind of murder now. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 5:00:18 PM] Rob Should work. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 5:00:33 PM] Jason G 7th works --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 5:00:34 PM] Kristian 7th good for me right now --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 5:00:51 PM] Pat I've got something earlier in the day, but will probably make it back in time. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 5:01:03 PM] Debinani Okay, very good. Well, we'll put it for the 7th and hope y'all had a good time and are starting to get a feel of what being bad guys is all about. And... [End of audio] --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 5:01:17 PM] Rob What do you mean? We're the good guys! --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 5:01:24 PM] Watcher Thanks, Deb! --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 5:01:24 PM] Pat wait, we're the baddies? --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 5:01:28 PM] Rob Thanks, Deb. --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 5:01:30 PM] Kristian thanks Deb --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 5:01:30 PM] Random enjoying --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 5:01:32 PM] Pat thanks, Deb! :) --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 5:01:36 PM] Kristian from a certain point of view Pat --------------------------- [1/24/2026, 5:01:39 PM] Watcher are_we_the_baddies.gif ---------------------------