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).