The Distraction for REAL Score

Argile

[ We played over Discord again. Richard Greenaway joined us. He played a Cutter called Argile. ]

El Cid [Shane] had a friend from the Scabport wrestling and wrecking pits. Another cutter called Argile with a penchant for gambling. He needed work, so Argile joined the Budgie Smugglers crew. He was quite happy to sign the no-treachery paperwork - in blood.

Back to the Score.
The party had a plan.

1. Everyone except Sorrow [Jeff] and Huilam [Jamie] would take the party wagon Cart Blanche
   
   to the Scabport Spite gate, and wait just outside the city for the REAL coach arrive at one bell (one hour before dark). 
2. The coach would arrive (from Fort Augmentin) carrying Priestess Olivia Phan and four REAL guards. 
3. The party would visibly transfer Olivia from the REAL coach to Carte Blanche, and the REAL guards would leave.
4. They would then surreptitiously smuggle Olivia back into the REAL coach.
5. Rita [Ian], Ronny [Deacon] and Burrito [Darryl] would join Olivia inside the coach. Attlee [Kevin] would drive, on top, with El Cid and Argile as guards.
6. Moonlight [Chris] would take Carte Blanche to the REAL temple (purple route). He was good with the horses, so could manage the finicky cart without the need to actually steer.
7. Sorrow would man the finicky party shallop Smoking Loon. He would station himself by the docks (where the blue line enters the water).
8. Huilam would hire a wagon and wait in the Mansion district for the boat (where the blue line leaves the water).
9. The REAL coach would travel (blue route) to the docks, and rendezvous with the Smoking Loon, and load everyone on to the boat. Attlee would abandon the REAL coach.
10. The Smoking Loon would sail over Scab harbour and rendezvous with Huilam's hired wagon.
11. Huilam, and all, would drive to the REAL temple.

What could possibly go wrong?

Priestess Olivia Phan

Olivia and company arrived right on time.  Rita greeted Olivia, then Moonlight, Attlee and Burrito made a big song and dance to walk her to Carte Blanche. Then Attlee and Burrito surreptitiously sneaked her back into the REAL coach.

Unfortunately, Corporal Anton Chung turned up, in preparation for his night shift, and spotted El Cid and Attlee on the REAL coach just outside the Spite Gate.

"How's the jaw, you?" he sneered to El Cid. El Cid snorted derisively.

"Why you drivin' a REAL cart?" he asked Attlee.

Attlee was a bit lost for words, so Chung yanked open the door of the coach, and saw the two REAL priestesses there. His eyes firmly fixed upon Rita, and he squinted into the powerful light of REAL.

"Good day, ladies of REAL," he said, and clicked his heels. "Whatever are you doing?"

"REAL's business," said Rita curtly. She followed quickly with "And I hope you have booked the Millpond Inn for our meal."

"Of course, of course," he said. "Looking forward to our date, milady. Well, I won't hold you up."

He slammed the door, and the whole coach shook on its leaf springs.

"Se ya round, Siddy" he smiled at El Cid. "Look after that glass jaw."


Carte Blanche and Moonlight entered the gates first, and began the direct route (purple line) to the Temple district.

Anton waved the REAL coach through, and Attlee immediately turned left down a side road towards the docks (blue line).

As Moonlight approached the TGP district boundary, a line of dark spheres, IMAG priests, were blocking his way. But it was still daylight, and there were TGP patrols about. They soon got among the dark spheres and cleared them off the streets. Moonlight gleefully took advantage of this and drove on through.

The other group in the REAL coach, headed for the docks, also encountered dark spheres. Attlee tried doubling back to find a different path into the Docks region. But whatever path he took, there was always a sphere or two blocking the way.

Night time fell.

Sorrow, on the shallop moored by the docks, looked at the sky and wondered where the REAL coach was.

Huilam, across the river, waited patiently too.

Down a dark side road, after a bit of weaving down the narrow streets, Attlee pushed the coach past some more dark spheres and ended back on the main road. Since there were less spheres here, he decide to chance that route (purple line too).

The TGP district turned out to be clear of them, and there were fresh blood stains on various sections of the road. And the odd body or two. Dead bodies on Scabport streets after dark was not an unusual sign, but still ...

Further on, in the middle of the Slaver's quarter, the road was blocked by another collection of black spheres. Sick of dodging and pussy-footing around the IMAGs, El Cid and Argile encouraged Attlee to charge. So he whipped the horses into a mad gallop, and the coach hit the collection of spheres at flank speed. They tried to scatter, but one failed, and there was a stomach-lurching bump! bump! as the heavy coach bounced over him.

El Cid and Argile gave a hearty cheer. From the darkness, two crossbow bolts embedded themselves in the back wall of the coach, the quarrel heads emerging inside. Some more flew into the darkness.

But there was no more pursuit.

Fifteen minutes later, back to a trot, they arrived at the Stone Bridge. It, too, was blocked by two spheres at the far end, so Attlee decided he would chance a rush again. He spurred the horses and engaged flank speed.

With the high sides of the bridge, the IMAG priests could not escape the coach. There was a sickening crunch as the coach hit one of them. This wrenched the front wheels violently to the side, and tore the reins from Attlee's calloused hands. The wheel snapped like match-wood, and the coach up-ended and rolled.

[ The coach would have crashed badly, severely injuring all in and on. So Kevin made a Resistance roll. This saved a lot of damage, but Attlee ended up with more than eight stress. When this happens in the game system, the character is down (unconscious or incapacitated or psychotic) for the rest of that Score, and receives a trauma. The player chooses one from the list: Cold, Haunted, Obsessed, Paranoid, Reckless, Soft, Unstable, Vicious.  Traumas are permanent and can not be removed or cured, and when a character receives his fourth trauma, he must be retired.  For Attlee, Kevin chose Reckless. ("You have little regard for your own safety or your best interests." And some RPing notes: "If you do play your trauma condition strongly, allowing it to complicate your character's life, you earn xp for it.") ]

Attlee was flung into an upper story window of the building across the street. El Cid and Argile were
thrown off into some road-side stalls. Inside the coach, Rita, Olivia, Burrito and Ronny were thrown into a tumbled mess of priestess robes and coach upholstery.

Poor Attlee was unconscious and severely injured. The survivors recovered his limp body, and Argile carried him.

The IMAG priest's shattered body lay woven in between the coach's broken wheel spokes. El Cid ransacked the still-warm corpse and found a dark stone. Touched by his dark fists, it made him feel really good; invigorated; alive! He pocketed it.

Without a wagon, they'd need to walk. But it was only about fifteen minutes to the temple district.

They weren't molested by any more IMAGs, and made good time to the REAL temple.

Priestess Coleen Sanford greeted them. She had good news.

"Your distraction worked a treat, Priestess Rita," she said. "The 'Light of REAL' made it safely into the city and safely to our temple. May REAL's glorious light shine on you always!"

"Praise be to REAL!" said Rita.

"Praise be to REAL!" said Olivia.

Downtime

They crew received their 8 COIN and 4 HEAT.
Three COIN was lost to pay the Knives off.
Most spent their one COIN reward to get another Downtime Activity.
Most of the group dedicated one Activity to reducing HEAT.
A few worked on locating the Bronze Studs secret base.
Huilam needed to lose one to Acquire an Asset to pay for the hire of his wagon (which turned out not used after all).

Prep work for REAL Score

[This whole session was conducted over Discord. Every player (except Deacon) connected to the voice channel on my server to talk, and I "live-streamed" my desktop, so they could see the map, their character sheets, PDF rules, and a dice roller. Blades in the Dark is a narrative system rather than a table-top war-game type system so it works well in this environment. ]

Rita the party brightspark, a priestess of REAL, was awake [Ian was here this week], so the party had to cease their lucrative working for IMAG. Ronny [Deacon] was marmalading.

Rita's immediate supervising priestess Colleen Sanford had some work for a "competent group". The REAL High Priest himself, Igor Lightmouth, had directed Colleen thus.

In light of (cliched REAL pun) the recent Gobulin occultation in the sky, and the IMAG foundling that was now known to be in the city, and the new IMAG shrine in the Dock area, the REALs had received support from the Grand High Tabernacle in Spite (ten day's travel away) and a REAL notable named Concetta "The Light of REAL" Faddon was being sent to Scabport to try to counter the growing darkness.

Blue line is the proposed path

The REALs were quite confident that they could protect the notable, but, nevertheless, they arranged a diversion, a decoy who was a REAL priestess named Olivia Phan, hoping to divert any malcontents away from the true target. So, Olivia was what the Rita's crew was tasked to escort and protect. They could be as flashy and, well, distracting as they wished.

Olivia would arrive at the anti-gate of Scabport, at one bell, in seven day's time. And from that point on, would be escorted by the group.

She was arriving with four stalwart body-guards but they would not enter Scabport (for Health and Safety reasons, and the employee insurance excess got very steep when one entered Scabport).

The party spent a while planning on how to transport her. They would use their new wagon "Carte Blanche" and take her to the docks, then put her on the shallop, and sail over to the other side of the harbour, and then transport her to the REAL temple.

What could go wrong?

They had seven days to burn.

Corp Anton Chung

Sonny Bowens, of the Bronze Studs, contacted the group. Corporal Anton Chung (Knives Night Gate Guard commander) was making angry noises about his lack of contact with Rita.

Owing to the fact that Rita was marmalading, certain individual members of the party had given Chung vastly hyperbolic and excessive  promises about how much Rita wanted him, and they waxed lyrical upon the degenerate sexual acts that she would perform upon him when they met. He wanted a date, and he was getting very impatient and intransigent.

El Cid [Shane] was dying for a fight to test his new magical brawling fists of shadow. So, Huilam [Jamie] challenged Chung in El Cid's stead. With Rita "as the prize", Chung was quite happy to do it.

Sonny arranged for the fight to happen at the Grapefruit and Corselette. So, the whole party turned up to watch. Rita was given a throne of honour to sit by the ring.

It was to be a brawling fight with no weapons nor armour. Attlee [Kevin] and Burrito [Darryl] placed bets with the bookies (on El Cid).

The first round was spent with El Cid and Chung dancing around the ring with feints and blocks, getting each other's measure. The second round had them land a few futile blows. But during the third round, Chung got inside El Cid's guard and landed a huge hit to his jaw.

El Cid flew a good ten paces across the room, out of the ring, and he crashed into the bar. He was stunned and out of the fight.

[ El Cid's was fighting from a Desperate Position (Chung was a superb brawler) so he should have received a Level 3 injury: his jaw broken in two places, and teeth and blood filled his mouth. Well, that could have been the case, but Shane made a Resistance roll and that reduced it to a level 2 injury: dislocated jaw. El Cid also has the cutter feat Tough as Nails so that reduced the damage to a level 1 injury: sore jaw. A Resistance roll does not change the result of the action ("El Cid loses the fight"), but it does reduce the harm ("El Cid almost killed"). ]

Anton was lifted up and carried around the room on the shoulders of his cheering men.

Then Chung approached Rita, and suddenly hoisted her up and put her over his shoulder.

"To the victor, the spoils," he leered.

Rita cast a Command spell and ordered him to put her down.

He complied graciously, but he wouldn't leave until she agreed to a dinner and a show, at the Millpond Inn (poshest inn in Scabport).

NEXT TIME, The actual score.

Move the Item Score

The Budgie Smugglers had a dedicated bedroom in their new secret lair for marmalade. It had an iron grill as a false floor. And thus, here they could place those who were marmalading into the recovery position on the grill. So, it was easy to collect the marmalade as it drooled from their slack-jawed mouths. That proved fortunate because there were four this time: Rita [Ian], Burrito [Darryl], El Cid [Shane] and Moonlight [Chris].

Sorrow's new eyes

Sorrow [Jeff] went out to test his new Dark-sight, the boon from the IMAG foundling. He found he could see extra well during darkness. Not only did he have his normal half-elven infra-vision, but he could now see better in star-light. There was a problem, however; his eyes were now entirely black.

Ronny's [Deacon] boon was Irresistibility to women, and already a few ladies had started to hang around whenever he ventured out.

"Zat might prove a problem for our secret lair," quipped Huilam [Jamie] wryly.

Attlee's [Kevin] boon, Superb Gambling, had not yet had time to manifest.

Sonny Bowens (of the Bronze Studs), contacted the group saying that Priestess Clara of the IMAGs had some more work for them.

"Make hay while your priestess sleeps," he mused.

The job was pretty simple. In four night's time there was going to be a conjunction of the sun and the star Gobulin [ REAL and IMAG, in their eternal fight, "roll" across the sky, so are at a different position in the sky each day. In four night's time, this star would be occulted. ] The IMAG temple had a magical "item" which had recently become to "get active" as time neared the conjunction.

 "By the way, this has nothing to do with the foundling," promised Clara.

She said it was too dangerous to hold this item in the IMAG temple. So, it must be kept on the move around Scabport for the three days. It must not stop more than one hour. Also, it must not stray further than two thousand paces from the IMAG temple, nor closer than fifty.

Attlee's block-and-tackle

Priestess Clara wasn't very clear about what "too dangerous" meant, but she hinted that "unscrupulous agents" would be interested in the item. And that they could well be using magical locating spells.

"The REALs, I bet," someone said.

The group picked up the IMAG item an hour after light. It was housed in a trunk (in fact, the same sized trunk as the earlier IMAG score). It was very heavy and required six men to lift it. But Attlee had a block-and-tackle, so that made loading easier. It had a nasty feel when you touched the surface of the trunk; it was made of iron but felt like velvet, and it tingled, and it was cold enough for water to condense.

The Day plan was to buy a huge load of cabbages and transport them in the party shallop (now named "Smoking Loon"). They would hide the IMAG trunk under the cabbages. Then Sorrow would pilot the fickle boat up and down the Scab river all day (as far upstream as the stone bridge and no further downstream than the 2000 pace line). Huilam would run a cabbage stall, next to the stone bridge, and he planned to sell the cabbages for twice the going rate. So by not selling any, the boat-load would not be depleted.

For the Night plan, they befriended a night-cart man Bertram Formalin, and offered him and his soil-boy a three-night holiday. So, they would place the IMAG trunk in the night-cart and cover it with a water-proof tarpaulin, and then Attlee and Ronny would do Bert's night-soil collection route for the whole night; Attlee would drive the cart and Ronny would do the soil-boy work emptying the pots from out-houses and general sewer work. Bertram showed them his route and the relevant place (into the Scab river) to dump the sewerage from the cart in the morning.

During the first day, the Knives boat patrol stopped the cabbage boat and examined the forged papers. Then waved them through. Sorrow spent the entire day sailing up and down the Scab river with the cabbages, and restocking Huilam's stall.

Soil-boy Ronny

During the first night, both a Knives patrol and a TGP patrol stopped the night cart asking where Bertram was. They didn't really want to get to close to the cart and its infernal stench. This was especially relevant for the gnome quarter. It was always known for its more "fragrant" out-houses. Worse, for soil-boy Ronny, the garage-sized pools behind the restaurants and eateries had to be waded in and cleared out using a shovel. The vindaloos, madrasses and masalas were still unmistakable after they had travelled down GI tracts.

The second day was rather uneventful as well. While Sorrow was beginning his shift on the shallop, and Huilam was manning his cabbage stall, Attlee and Ronny were at home. They had to store the night cart in the one-cart garage of the new secret lair, but this meant that there was no room for the (ex Insular Rogue) wagon. So, Attlee parked it on the street next to their old secret lair, now a new IMAG shrine. That was the last they ever saw of it.

The second night, the patrols just waved the night cart past.

The third day came and went. All clear.

And the third night too. No-one saw any of these tracking agents, nor suspicious groups.

In the morning, they returned Bert's night cart, then took the item to the IMAG temple, got paid out [ 8 COIN ], and went home smugly. Job well done.

Downtime

Attlee over-indulged in his gambling vice, so much so that he pissed off his vice peddler Roger Zinter. He got a new peddler called Michael Darkfriend. He had black eyes like Sorrow.

The reduced crew also got themselves a new cart and named it "Carte Blanche". [ A cart is a cohort and costs four downtime activities. This one was Sturdy and Finicky - linked to Attlee ].

Fake Kidnap Score

Theresa Jeven

Theresa Jeven, one of Scabport's high-society ladies, fashionista and full-time hottie, contacted the party.

"I was recommended your group by the Bronze Studs," she began. "Here is my problem. My father wants to marry me off to the foul Lord Byron..."

Lord Byron was a community staple; one of the Scabport super-rich, and he had fingers in many Scabport pies. And he was a poet.

"He's a sleazy creep," she continued. "And a philanderer, libertine and debauchee, ... and he's old enough to be my grandfather. No way am I marrying that!"

She took a sip of wine.

"The wedding is tomorrow night. So... I want you ... your group ... to ... kidnap me. Hold me for four nights. That will force the wedding to be cancelled, or at least delayed. Byron might even cancel it, or ... go for some other tart. Tomorrow, at five bells [ 5 hours before dark ]. I will be travelling in my carriage ... with four guards."

She placed out a map of Scabport streets with a wavy line drawn on it.

"And here is the route we will take."

After some consideration, the party agreed. They would be paid a small chest of silver [8 COINS].

The silhouette

That night, around midnight, back at the party's secret lair on the waterfront, Sorrow [Jeff] was up abluting. He was passing through the living room and he caught sight of a figure - silhouetted against the window. Sorrow quickly roused the group with a frightened squeal; they tumbled out of bed.

"He was at the window," sputtered Sorrow. "I thought he was inside, but maybe outside."

They conducted a thorough search. Nothing. They searched outside too. Nothing.

"Are we compromised?" someone mused. "This lair is supposed to be secret!"

[ Discovered Hidden Lairs can be re-hidden. It costs COIN value equal to the crew's Tier, and costs two Downtime activities. ]

The didn't have time to shift lairs, so decide to leave it until after the score.

Party Shallop Smoking Loon

The next day, the kidnap plan was concocted:

• The ambush site would be the stone bridge across the Scab river.
• Burrito [Darryl] and Ronan [Deacon] would find secure spots to cover the bridge vista with arrows.
• Huilam [Jamie], El Cid [Shane] and Sorrow would dress up as Knives (one of Scabport's police forces) and stop and search all traffic as it crossed the bridge.
• Attlee [Kevin] would follow Theresa's carriage in the wagon (the one they stole from the Insular Rogues) to the bridge.
• Theresa's carriage would be stopped and the four guards dealt with.
• Attlee would stop on the bridge next to the ambushed carriage and collect Theresa and Sorrow.
• Attlee, Sorrow and Theresa would head down a side road next to the river to the party's shallop (boat) which would be docked there. 
• Sorrow would accompany Theresa into the shallop. 
• Sorrow would then sail Theresa to the party's lair.
• Everyone else would make their own way home.

The setup went fine.

The Jeven carriage arrived right on time, and sure enough: one guard driving, two on the back and one inside with Theresa.

"Halt!" cried "Sergeant" Huilam Artios dressed as a one of the Knives.

The carriage stopped.

Immediately, Ronny and Burrito fired. The driver and a rear guard were winged. The wounded driver jumped down and engaged Huilam, but he was dropped by another shot from Ronny.

El Cid threw open the carriage door and attacked the guard inside, followed by Sorrow. El Cid was
severely injured, but managed to drop the guard.

Attlee pulled alongside the carriage, and Sorrow bundled Theresa into the cart. She put on a good show of screaming and howling just like a bonafide kidnap victim should.

The wagon took off, and Attlee headed it across the bridge, and turned right to follow the street next to the river.

Just then, a patrol of six TGP (Thieves' Guild Police - the second Scabport police force) rounded the corner down the road, saw the fracas, and rushed headlong into the fray. Luckily they espied and targetted Sergeant Huilam and not the fleeing cart.

Jeven guard

Ronny and Burrito continued to fire at the TGP trying to give covering fire for Huilam (and maybe El Cid) to scarper. Huilam took off with the TGP soldiers in pursuit. El Cid was still inside the carriage making sure the guard wasn't going to get up. One TGP hurriedly opened the carriage door (probably to seek cover from the arrows), saw El Cid as he stood over pieces of the bloody corpse, and engaged him. El Cid took another brutal blow, before stunning the TGP.

El Cid and Huilam bounded off, Ronny and Burrito scarpered too.

The four upright TGP men followed Huilam, but he had darted down an alley, and had hidden in a street-seller's stall. When the stall owner was about to berate him, Huilam soothed his troubles with some credible flattery [critical CONSORT roll].


Theresa was bundled into the shallop, and Sorrow sailed down river to the secret water entrance of the group's hidden lair. Theresa was safely put into the lower storeroom.
Attlee drove the cart home. The rest of the part arrived soon after. El Cid had a deep neck cut, and a cut to his chest. Huilam had some broken ribs.

[ Fighting the guard in the carriage, El Cid took a savage cut to his neck which would have taken out his throat in a shower of blood (fatal, harm=4). Shane wisely chose to make a Resistance roll (which cost El Cid stress points) and that dropped the wound to a "broken collar-bone" (severe, harm=3; but even harm 3 is enough to down a character). El Cid was wearing heavy armour (chainmail), so Shane ticked an armour box and that reduced the wound another level to a "deep cut" (moderate, harm=2; harm 2 means all rolls are -1D). 

Later on, from the TGP fight, El Cid took a severe stab to his chest; "sucking chest wound" (harm=3). His special Cutter feat Tough-As-Nails kicked in and dropped it to a "deep chest wound" (harm=2). His armour had another tick-box, so that dropped the wound to just a cut (harm=1; harm 1 means "-1 effect level" character is less effective).

Note 1: Tough-As-Nails feat doesn't work on harm 4 wounds.
Note 2: The two (only) armour tick-boxes can only be used once per score, so had El Cid fought someone else, he would have no armour protection. In the game fiction, this is explained by the armour being damaged or the shield smashed, etc. 
Note 3: Shane's stress was on 8 at this stage, so he did not want to spend more. You can continue to spend stress (like, to make more Resistance rolls), but when you pass 8, you clear your stress back to zero BUT your character gets a trauma. Once a character has a trauma, it can never be removed. When a character gets his fourth trauma, he must be retired or killed.
Note 4: Against the wrong opponents, combat is very dangerous. ]


Job well done.

"Now we just hold her four nights."


Due to the disturbing visitor the previous night, the group decided to have guards on duty the entire night. Around midnight, Attlee, who was on duty, saw the suspicious silhouette himself. He confronted it with a girlie scream, and it ducked down by the window into the shadows. A thorough search was conducted of the living room.

On the floor, in the middle of the room, was a strange rectangle of shadow on the carpet. If you had a light source on the ceiling and held a cupboard door waist-height off the floor, the shadow cast would look like this. But, of course, there was no cupboard door and no light source.

"Magic, I guess?" They muttered.

Both priests, Rita [Ian] and Moonlight [Chris], were marmalading in their beds [away this week], so no help from that quarter.


The next day, everyone stayed low, stayed out of the living room. The shadow was there all that day.

Huilam, Attlee and Ronan [ all with STUDY] had a wee think.

"Isn't that the exact place we stored that IMAG trunk over the night?" mused Attlee.

"Yeah," said Ronan. "It does fit the size."

"Maybe you speak to zee IMAGs," said Huilam.

So, Sorrow went to visit the IMAG temple, and sought an interview with Priestess Clara.

She arrived in her shadow of darkness, and Sorrow related the tale.

Clara didn't seem to know, but she volunteered to speak to the IMAG high priest Darkeye Shadowface. She soon returned.

"The visitor in your house is a foundling," she began in her quiet voice. "It is a corporeal manifestation of the ... uhm... contents of the trunk you delivered to us. High Priest Shadowface states that you can consider your home blessed by IMAG! Praise be the Darkness! The shadow will get darker each day. You will soon be able to construct a shrine of IMAG on the exact site of the wonderful shadow! It is bles-sed! You are bles-sed!"

"Um... okaay," said Sorrow. "Can we not do that?"

"Why not? It is a great honour to be so blessed."

"May I speak to my group, Priestess?"

So Sorrow left and told the group the news.

The group, of course, would rather have a hole in their heads than have an IMAG shrine in their house. Nor did they want that foundling creature. So they arranged to shift their hidden bases. The IMAGs agreed to pay the 2 COIN cost. But they couldn't do the actual shift until the score was over.


They stayed in the lair for the next two nights. The rectangle got progressively darker.

Theresa was released on the stone bridge.

The group's payment arrived later that day, all 8 COIN. One each.

They all went off to do the downtime activities.
[ Most indulged their vices to clear stress. No-one over-indulged. Most spent a coin to have an additional downtime activity. Some cleared HEAT. ]


They made their base shift that day too. The IMAGs were true to their offer and helped the group shift. The new Hidden Lair was down the river a bit, still on the large area of wharves, and with a secret water entrance for their shallop, like the last place.

Just after dark, they were settling in, when suddenly the room went cold, and a pall of gloom descended into the room. A shadowy figure materialized in the room.

"But this is our secret base!" groaned Burrito.

The figure spoke in a raspy spidery voice.

"Fear not," said he, for mighty dread had seized their troubled minds. "Glad tidings of great joy I bring to you and all your crew. You have done a great favour for darkness. Hence, I grant you each a boon. Think wisely and I will return in exactly one day." Then it vanished.

Foundling of Darkness

They all excitedly chatted away. Most were not prepared to take any gift from IMAG or a foundling.

So, the next day four were brave enough to take the boon: Sorrow, El Cid, Ronan and Attlee.

Sorrow asked for Enhanced Night Vision.

El Cid asked for superior brawling fists.

Ronan asked for Irresistibility to Women.

Attlee asked for Superb Gambling Skills.

The figure paused a moment, then waved his hand over the four. Sorrow's eyes tingled, Attlee's temples throbbed, El Cids hands ached, and Ronan's balls burned.

"It is done," it rasped. And vanished.

IMAG Item Score

IMAG is the god of darkness. The two primal gods REAL (god of light) and IMAG fight with each other in a never-ending battle up in the sky. When REAL is on top, it is day, and when IMAG is on top, it is night.

Yes, you can argue that "on top" is figurative and means "winning", so when REAL is winning it is day, OR that "on top" is literal and thus when REAL is winning then IMAG is facing the ground so it is night, OR that "on top" is still literal but that gravity works upside down in Godland.

Scholars, Priests and Theologians certainly do argue about this, and there have been plenty of wars about who is right. But the common belief is "when REAL is winning, it is day".

REAL is generally good, and IMAG evil. REAL priests (like Rita in the party) have a bright light
shining from their foreheads. IMAG priests have a clot of darkness that envelops them.



The Bronze Studs, a group the Budgie Smugglers had good relations with, contacted the party and arranged to meet at the Grapefruit and Corselette tavern.

Sonny Bowens, leader of the Bronze Studs, and three of his body guard were there, all greased up with their Adonis bodies and skimpy attire.

"We have a job for you which is more up your street than ours," he whispered. "The IMAG temple want an item brought in to Scabport, and delivered to them. Standard rates. Interested?"

Rita and Huilam Artois weren't feeling too well this day [Ian & Jamie were away] so were both lying in a messy pool of their own drooled marmalade*. The rest of the party thought today would be an excellent chance to get some grubby money without the goody-two-shoes sticking their moral noses in. So they said "yes" and took the job.

An hour out of town, down the Fort Augmentin road (map-right), was a copse of trees called the Smugglers Meet, and, in two nights' time, IMAG couriers were to meet the group there to deliver the cargo, a large trunk, the size of a coffee table. This trunk was then to be delivered, unopened, to the IMAG temple in Scabport. Needless to say, the Scabport Night guards would probably desire to stop said cargo entering Scabport, and so would need to be circumvented.

Using the Wizard's Guild import documentation from the previous score (the Wizard Guild grapes), Attlee [ Kevin ] set about forging it to change "six barrels" into "one large trunk", and to change the dates. He did think about changing the names "Rita de Klerk" and "Sly Dunbar", but thought again.

That night, Sorrow [Jeff] prowled around to check the Scabport Night Guards on the Funkenwards gate (Fort Augmentin road), and sure enough, the same head guard, Corporal Anton Chung, was on duty. Presumably the nighton-to-midnight shift.


So, the next night ...

The party (Moonlight [Chris], Sorrow, El Cid [Shane], Attlee, Ronny [Deacon], and Burrito [Darryl]) travelled out to Smugglers Meet in their stolen cart, and sure enough, there were several clots of darkness by the trees - the IMAG couriers.

Whispered words were uttered, and the trunk was brought forth and loaded onto the cart. It was heavy; it required three strong men to lift it, and when it was placed on the cart, the leaf suspension sagged under the load. The trunk's surface was cold to the touch, and it sounded like something was whispering inside.

The trip back to Scabport was uneventful. Moonlight [Chris] had cast Animal Friendship on one of the horses, so he could guide the cart easily rather than trusting Attlee to drive.

Corporal Anton Chung

The Scabport Night Guards blocked the road. Attlee delivered his forged masterpiece to Corporal Anton Chung. The guard peered at it for a while.

"Where's the pretty light-girl?" he said.

"Rita. Lovely Rita. Oh, she's busy at the moment, doing REAL's business for the poor," said Attlee.

"These documents state her name. 'Wizard's Guild Sly Dunbar' and 'Rita de Klerk, Budgie Couriers'. Who are YOU?"

"I'm the same group. At.. atticus," stammered Attlee. "Rita said that she was sure that you wouldn't mind. Oh, and she was telling us all how handsome she thought you were."

"And well-hung," added someone.

"And muscle-bound," said another.

"And she was planning to ... yah... meet you at midnight. After your shift..." came a different voice. "She'll be here to meet you after your shift. She was telling us all... how much she was looking forward to dating you. Wining and dining ... and all such; Scabport never sleeps, you know."

"Never sleeps," said El Cid.

"REAL priestesses put out for brave guards," said Moonlight.

"Put out," said El Cid.

Anton paused

"Tonight?"

"Yes yes. Lovely Rita," said Attlee. "Or tomorrow night"

"Tomorrow?" said the guard.

"No. Tonight!" said another voice, panicked.

Anton paused.

"And this trunk is for the Wizards?" he said.

"Aye!"

"Well, we better not keep the Wizards waiting, had we?" said Anton with a silly grin.

Then he paused and got serious: "Oh, if she don't turn up, I'm coming for you," he pointed at Attlee. "And you." He pointed to Burrito. "And you," to El Cid.



The trip through Scabport streets was quiet on the Law front; they didn't meet any TGP (Thieves' Guild Police). But Sorrow, who was prowling along behind, spotted two other suspicious chaps tailing the wagon. He snuck back to the group, and dispatched El Cid and Ronny to deal with them.

spring chicken

El Cid and Ronny didn't waste time, and the two were soon captured. El Cid and Ronny pulled them down an alley and beat the living snot out of them. They were soon squealing like spring chickens, and revealed that they were Insular Rogues, and were ordered to follow the stolen wagon ("Our damn wagon; the one you bastards stole!" one screamed), and were then to report where it was headed, and what it was carrying.

El Cid and Ronny dragged them to the Scab river and threatened to throw them in, but even that revealed nothing new.

By this time, one had his guts literally spilling from a savage belly cut. El Cid fingered his bloody knife about to cut their throats, but Ronny stayed his arm: "Best not..."

The two beaten wretches were taken to the REAL temple, and dumped on the front steps.

"Let the priests heal them," sneered El Cid.


The rest of the group arrived at the IMAG temple, but the streets around it were full of light beams. REAL priests were illuminating the main road in front of the temple and the back area behind it.
Black clots of darkness were patrolling the IMAG temple itself.

Sorrow went over to investigate. Here he met up with an IMAG priestess called Clara - not that he ever saw her, she was inside a clot of darkness. No-one ever sees IMAG priests.
Clara said that they get harrassed by the REAL priests like this every night, all night.

Sorrow returned to the wagon and suggested that the group return with the delivery the next morning.

So, the group returned to their secret lair and unloaded the crate inside.

No-one paid the crate any heed the rest of the night.

Typical IMAG Sphere

It was soon morning. The group headed straight for the IMAG temple and to the cart loading-bay. The clots and IMAG guards surrounded the crate, and took it away. Delivered.

Later on, back in the Grapefruit and Corselette, Sonny and his boys were there, their oiled bodies glistening as they posed and stretched.

"Job well done," he said, and paid the group; a small chest of silver [6 COIN ].

Downtime: 

• Burrito trained, and worked on his long term project of finding the Insular Rogues' base.
• Attlee trained, and indulging his vice (to clear stress) but he was too efficient and he overindulged and bragged [+2 HEAT].
• El Cid trained and indulged vice.
• Moonlight trained and indulged vice.
• Sorrow trained and indulged vice.
• Ronny trained and Reduced Heat [-1 HEAT].

* = When players miss a gaming session, their characters collapse, unconscious, in the game-world, and start to drool marmalade** from their bodily orifices. If this happens in a home base, they are pretty safe. If this happens on a mission, they can be carried or put in a wagon, like a corpse. The only danger arises with TPK (total party kill), then the marmalader dies with the group, and dissolves completely into their own weight in marmalade. This marmalade can be distilled and made in to healing potions, so is more valuable than rubies.

** = 2 grapefruit, 2 oranges and 1 lemon, 6 cups water, 6 cups sugar, ½ cup whisky. Halve citrus and slice as thinly as possible. Place in a large pot, add water and soak overnight. The next day, bring to a boil then turn down the heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour or until citrus is tender. Add sugar and stir to dissolve, then bring to a rolling boil for 80 minutes. To test for setting, spoon a little onto a plate. If a film forms on the surface, it is ready. If not, keep boiling. While still hot, add the whiskey, mix well, then pour into sterilized jars and seal with sterilized lids. It will keep for months.