LogApocalypse World: Purgatoria After Dark-Jason-1

Game log for the 2016/01/10 session of Apocalypse World: Purgatoria After Dark, as taken by Jason

We break continuity for a mini-campaign set on Aerolith Murmansk. Since we expect to run for two sessions, three XP will earn an advance.

We first learned that the world was ending when the earthquakes started.

Our story begins in Coffeemesto. It's smoky. A saxaphonist plays in the corner while patrons enjoy their hot beverages, cakes, and borscht. At night, reflected light from the lava suffuses the scene with an ugly red glow. Konstantine is chatting up the urchins and Semyon tending bar when the door opens and Oksana rushes in. She shoves Rem aside and asks Semyon to hide her. He gestures her to the basement (through the kitchen), and the door has barely stopped flapping when two members of the secret police (Striyanka) rush in. They're lead by Boris, who Semyon knows. The Striyanka includes two apparati, one for intelligence gathering and one for enforcement. The legbreakers wear black uniforms, and where they used to wear the Archduke's double-headed eagle crest on their armbands, now they wear the gear-and-crossed-hammers symbol of the worker's party. Boris has Mihail with him, and Mihail is hot for Zora.

Maxim asks Oksana what's wrong, and she just repeats that someone has to hide her. Rada, under the guide of throwing out potato peels, tries to show Oksana the way to the tunnels. Boris comes in while all this is happening but he's just a little too late to catch sight of the fugitive... although he does see a swinging door. He begins to turn in that direction when Ruslan throws a knife at him. He draws blood but does not incapacitate Boris, who calls for Mihail.

Konstantine is down in the basement when Rada and Oksana come running down. He recognizes Oksana as a nurse, presumed friendly, and of course he rather likes the urchins. Rada tries to explain the danger but Konstantine doesn't know Striyanka from stilyagi.

Mihail misinterprets Boris' shout and develops a sudden convication that Semyon was hiding his quarry, so he smashes Semyon over the head with a truncheon and begins blowing his alert whistle.

Maxim hears the whistle, draws his pistol, and opens fire on Boris. His bullet goes sideways through Boris' face, which ends that part of the fight. Semyon, back to the wall, tries to knife Mihail. Inga tries to lend a hand by screaming Mihail's name. The distraction works; Mihail is looking in the wrong direction when Semyon stabs him and rips open his femoral artery. Mihail collapses, trying to staunch the blood, and Semyon finishes him off. Konstantine arrives too late for the fun but helps calm Maxim down.

Semyon lets his panicking patrons go as he shuts down for the moment and tries to figure out how to dispose of the body. He encourages those exiting to keep things quiet. Zora complains that she's been cultivating Mihail for months and now Semyon's ruined everything. Konstantine agrees to help the urchins move the bodies but is distracted by the need to help Semyon debrief Oksana. She tells him that Natalia is in danger. She has stockpiles of stolen medicines, and Oksana got caught trying to steal more. They know she works with Natalia. Konstantine tries to convince her to go with one of the urchins to safety, and she agrees provided that Maxim takes her, because he seems reassuring.

Ruslan and Inga go to the infirmary. They can see Striyanka informers on the block, so they decide to go to the roof of an adjacent building, jump over, and then take the dumbwaiter down to the infirmary. Inga almost falls when she tries to jump it, but he's able to pull her up. Unfortunately that draws attention, and they see one possible informer go running off.

Natalia's a little surprised to see them, but not real surprised. They often show up to tell her that someone's been hurt. This time, the news is that Oksana made it to the coffee shop but they had to kill a couple Striyanka members. Suddenly there's a hammering on the door and a voice commanding entrance by authority of the party. She rigs a tank to try to create a trap for anyone who breaks in while Pavel quickly grabs supplies. She has to chivvy him out the door because he can't bear to leave supplies behind. Natalia and the urchins end up dragging the guy out and onto the fire escape. Once out there, they hear shouting, then whistles, and then gunshots. They go running but once again, Inga struggles to make the jump between buildings and will need to be pulled up. Ruslan calls for Natalia and Pavel to leave them so he can rescue Inga without holding them up. Unfortunately it's Ruslan and Inga who know where the tunnels are. Now Natalia and Pavel will have to make do.

They jump onto the roof of a sailcloth factory, through the roof access, and down into the factory. The foreman (Igor sees them and calls for them to stop. She offers to let him have the medicine for his, um, special problem if he lets her through. That works for him provided he gets the product now. She gives it to him and he tells her how to get out through the steam tunnels and into a quiet alley.

Ruslan manages to pull Inga up but the bad guys are closing in. They can't depend on foot speed so they slide down a laundry chute instead. Ruslan goes to grab a laundry cart full of clothes, so they'll be cushioned when they hit the bottom of the chute, and discovers too late that it's all squeeky. The noise summons a Striyanka agent. Ruslan tries to toss a knife at him, misses, and gets shot. He can't feel certain of getting away so he charges, running broken-field style, and gets to hand-to-hand combat range. He gets the enforcer in the leg, preventing him from giving chase, and Ruslan and Inga make good their escape.

Back at Cofeemesto, Semyon and Konstantine have disposed of the bodies, but the urchins have not returned. Rada and Maxim remain, helping Semyon with the bodies. Konstantine gets nervous about the kids long absence and asks Semyon for advice on helping them. Semyon comes up with a plan - have Maxim raise a ruckus to create a distraction for them, while Konstantine plays lookout on the roof. Maxim knows exactly who to go to in order to get an angry mob going. He finds Yavno and tries to approach his table at the bar, but some other adult tries to blow him off. Maxim explains that there's trouble at Coffeemesto and Yavno can help. OK, sure... but Yavno's not entirely sure he wants to mess with Striyanka trouble. Fortunately, he likes Maxim and decides he's in. They'll start trouble someplace far from Coffeemesto to draw the enforcers away.

About half an hour later, Konstantine sees smoke coming from the arsenal district, and then a muffled boom. He then sees Natalia and Pavel coming in, followed by Maxim. He never sees Ruslan and Inga return, because they came in through the tunnels. Natalia sees to Ruslan's wounds and gets him stabilized, though he'll need intensive care in a bed for 36 hours. He fights her and has to be tranquilized. Kids. Sheesh.

Oksana explains to Natalia that she got into all this because she was stealing medical supplies from the Worker's Navy. Natalia immediately realizes that their infirmary is blown now. Maybe they could sneak in, grab everything, and bust out again, but she wouldn't want to try to work out of it again. Konstantine offers to help, and asks Natalia to brief him on the area.