GM: Sean Nittner
Players: Eric Fattig, Adrienne Mueller, and Karen Twelves
System: Blades ’68
Busy schedules and a potential covid exposure (thankfully a false alarm) meant that we had a month and change since our last game, but we picked up right where we left off, after the Dirt Run.
Unwinding
The crew celebrated their best paying score to date (10 stacks!) at the Velvet Veil. Little Val took advantage of his sway in the Veil and conscripted space in the industrial kitchen to make a giant eel pie, a tradition for the Gallo family to make when someone completes their first job and is officially part of the family. It was a little sad on two accounts. The first was that Little Gallo was making the pie for himself (normally another family member would make it) and that he never got a celebratory Gallo pie as he joined the Barons instead. The would-be bittersweet nature of the celebration was ameliorated when Dosanni came into the kitchen (Little G was afraid she was going to scold him for interrupting the staff) and put on an apron to help make the pie.
Paolo enjoyed it thoroughly. Nav tried to act like she did, but eel just isn’t her thing. “The vegetables are well seasoned and this is a really flakey crust.” All the while pressing the eel down deeper into the dish. It was WAY too much food!
Harm Complications
Little Gallo needed that help, because he was feeling impaired by his time looping. He kept tryin to do things that he had already done and lost track of distance traveled. Hand eye coordination was tough! [Impaired. -1D Finesse through the next score].
Paolo and Nav just feel a strong drained and like they needed to unwind (or in Nav’s case, report in) [Self-Medicated]
Claims pay off. What next?
During in the dinner Kassius showed up and cut himself a slice of pie. He dropped a thick envelope on the table and told Nav he reminded Dorji Kon just how useful the information she had already given him was [+2 Stacks from their Shadowy Fixer Claim]
The crew, including Kassius, talked about their next score. They were finally ready to have Bowman take a bath, but there were so many complications. He’s watching them all the time, he’s tapped them before (Nav now makes a routine practice of searching for bugs and while she hasn’t found any lately, the tails he has on them are obvious and annoying). Ambushing, deceiving, and even trying to bargain with him were all put on the table. Nav hated how he breathed down their neck, how he was always present. She wanted him GONE. Paolo floated the idea of trying to appease him (getting the ritual from SMF) but that was quickly shot down. Not only could he use it to send Kassius back, but Nav just didn’t want to help him out in any way.
Personal Business
Three-fingers, Paolo’s long time friend [see last session for why] told Paolo he had a gig at the Iruvian Sands and and that his singer was sick. Could Paolo sub in? Of course he could, anything for a friend. Nav, always drawn to the Sands and excited to see Harani joined as well. 3F was playing at a celebration for some visiting dignitaries. Ankhayat’s from U’Duasha that were visiting family and having a big celebration. Nav was definitely interested!
The Lounge Lizards were there, but they didn’t make a scene. Bowman’s agents knew better than to enter. So Paolo had a chance to enjoy the spotlight, get paid in chips, and then gamble the night away. Three Fingers asked why they didn’t do this more and hinted at putting a real band together, but Paolo was happier to have it be a special occasion. During his set he serenaded the couple who were at the center table. They were affectionate, holding each other’s hands, as he sang. [Indulging gambling vice]
Meanwhile, Nav learned that they were just here because Inaya Ankhayat had arrived in Doskvol a month ago and had not reported back in. The believe she is being held by either the Palace or Blackthorn Park, but don’t know which. All of their affection and charm instantly cut away as they spoke in code to Harani (and by extension to the attentive Nav). Nav and Harani meanwhile corroborated each other’s stories that they had been up to nothing interesting at all over the past few weeks. [Indulging obligation vice].
Thinks weren’t so hot for Little Gallo. Driving Nav home from the Iruvian Sands, he was pulled over by a Bluecoat Interceptor. He was asked to the step out of the car, then quickly cuffed and taken into custody by Officer Lent, with very little explanation why (something, something, brother illegally crossing the barrier, something, something). He realized in that moment he could pay a hefty bribe [3 stacks] to get free but didn’t have it on him, so he reluctantly went with the cops, pleading all the way that Nav be very careful driving his car Rose home.
Little Gallo was taken and thrown in a Silkshore holding cell. Luckily, the Barons are in good with Silkshore Citizens, so he was treated well by his fellow inmates, but he was nevertheless, left to stew for some time.
Nav meanwhile was informing Skavo of what happened, and he called their lawyer Delvin Pence, an ancient man who had been representing the Gallos since Dosanni was an up and comer in the family. Nav also called Loretta, and soon after they were both on their way to the precinct where they had to carve through a lot of blue tape.
Meanwhile Little Gallo was brought into an interrogation room, told his brother was also in custody, and then worked over for info about the Dirt Barons. He got punched in the ribs a lot, but he took it in stride and never said a word [Level 2 Harm, 3 Heat, resisted down to Level 1 Harm: bruised ribs, and 0 Heat. He’s not a rat!] He had some aid, his brother Val, or at least the kinder Deathlands version of his brother Val appeared to encourage him, and as Little G took his aid, he felt Val become more a part of this world [2/4 ticks on the Resonance Val Manifests clock].
When they got out, along with the real Val, his living older brother saw he wasn’t visibly hurt and assumed he that he snitched to the Bluecoats. He showed his disappointment without saying a word.
When Nav picked up Little Gallo (in his very well preserved autopod) they immediately headed out for a spa day [Little Gallo’s vice is luxury]. Massage, cucumber water, hot clay balls to lie in, all the nice things in the world. [6 stress relieved]
Paolo realizing the road rash he had really should be tended to, limped into Sister Elise’s room and asked for her to take a look. She was able to help with the physical wounds, but the time loops he was experiencing were out of her realm. Elise, however is one of the only other people who know the Rowan’s and so she got message to Lydia Rowan to come and take another look. Lydia at once noticed that Paolo had encountered an anomaly, or a curse in her vernacular, and found she couldn’t restore Paolo, because she was encountering different versions of him. The one present, and the others that might have been. She asked what he changed and his terror of being found out overwhelmed him. He burst out of the room, fleeing Lydia’s probing questions and divinations.
As she was about to leave Little Gallo entered and she at once noticed that he was also suffering from time sickness. Because he hadn’t changed things, at least changed things besides bringing Val back with him.
in the Dark
Delta came online and sensed that his core had been replaced. All his system were functioning perfectly. His chassis had been rebuilt. But something was wrong. All his motor functions were offline. His recordings were either removed or inaccessible. It was like a part of him was missing. Rubens retreanted while Delta tried to find out what was wrong.
The 2nd story room was lit by street lights that cast long shadows. Eventually his sensors picked up another figure in the room who had been watching and waiting. Nolburn stepped forward. “I’ve rebuilt you just so that I can take you….and your friends… apart piece by piece. Rubens, I know you’re in there and you’re going to pay for what happened to my brother. I read your notes. I know what happened to the Leviathans. I know there is a way to bring them back. You’re going to tell me where the Leviathan Song is or I’m going to destroy everything you care about.”
Nolburn’s voice got lower and lower as he spoke till it was nearly a whisper at the end. Delta finally receded and Ruben’s surfaced. He told Nolburn that his brother’s death was not on his hands. The all went to Ironhook together. He told Nolburn that he did not want his brother back or revenge, he just wanted power. None of this phased him. Nolburn was going to get what he wanted.
Afraid that he would act on his promises, Rubens recounted the searches they made to find the Leviathan Song and sent Nolburn to search in a location he knew to be fruitless [Success on a Risky/Standard Sway]. Nolburn took the bait and left Delta alone in the dark. Or nearly so.
Meanwhile, Nav and Paolo noticed that Delta has not returned and they had no word from Croc. They went to the Golden Hand arcade and learned a few things. Delta was gone. Croc didn’t know where, but he did know that Kavira had him repaired and then sold to someone for a very high price. In part to make up for the Bluecoat contract the Barons had lost her.
To get this information, Nav snuck into the warehouse, connected the barely functioning Epsilon-One to the charging station and tried to use it as an antennae to send a message to Delta. The tinkering failed and Nav was spotted. She fled, disguised, and got outside. She kept running from the entrance when her body suddenly crumpled as a bullet tore through her, right in the same place as that she shot the Delta-979 unit incapacitating it. Thankfully she heard the crack of the gunshot and instinctively sidestepped but the bullet wound was still dangerous. [Resisted Harm 3 down to Harm 2]
Nav limped out of the arcade grounds, radio’d the information to Paolo, who had gotten an audience with the very agoraphobic Croc, and he was able to convince the mechanic that Delta might still be alive, and that Epsilon-One could communicate with him.
A few days later, after Nav was patched up for the second time by Sister Elise, a courier hull arrived. It has the encryption codes to communicate with Delta!
A Bath for Bowman
The clock was ticking on the Mirror Houses’ offer and Delta had bought them a bit of time with Nolburn, so they decided to leave Delta for now and go after the prize: Bowman. They would trick him into a meeting, capture him, and take him forcibly to the Baths. Couldn’t be simpler!
We’ll find out what happens next time as they start the score [in a Desperate Position against a Tier 5 Target].
