LogDunslough Cartographic Society-Jason-6

Game log for the 2018/04/22 session of Blades in the Dark: The Dunslough Cartographic Society, as taken by Jason

We decide that it's time to set up our drug den. Washout approaches Stazia and she's repulsed by the notion of being a drug dealer for a bunch of scoundrels. She knows that Riven invented a new drug and then someone ripped his place off and stole the formula. There's a bounty out on Lush, and Stazia warns Washout that just having that stuff is going to make him a target. Washout tries to convince her this is nothing he can't handle, but she still wants no part of it. We flash back to when Washout arranged for Clip to wait outside the door in case Washout needs moral support - and then, in the present time, Washout invites him to help explain how all this might work, and how we could avoid any trouble from Riven. She's guarded but she's willing to feel her way into this, provided that Washout can give her a concrete plan for how to keep Riven's guys from sinking boat hooks into her. She already had an unpleasant encounter with some baddass cleaver-carrying types who said that if she was any Luch, she should reach out to Coran at some animal fighting pit.

His gang is called the Billhooks, and they hang out around the west canal side of Crow's Foot. Washout figures that if they're looking for some payback, the simplest way to deal with them is to give them information that will lure them to their collective doom. Clip suggets that messing with their intel to turn the Billhooks against Riven might be smoother.

Pool starts snooping around the fighting pit, figuring out the lay of the land and what the ins and outs are. She also finds that they fight death dogs in their pits, which is a dog-lizard hybrid from the deathlands. Clip asks Jeren to check the Bluecoat Archives for information on the Billhooks. All Jeren knows is that their leader, Tarvul, is in Iron Hook prison for life. We decide that pretty much everyone is going to go over to their fighting pit and try to strike up a conversation with someone who can tell us what's up with Riven. Dr Oz starts acting really weird when he has to travel there under the open sky.

We arrive, and Dr Oz immediately gets a drink. The Billhooks all wear a sort of white capelet over their clothes. They have meat for sale. We all split up and find our own way to get information about the difficulty with the Billhooks, Riven, and the Charterhall drug trade. The Billhooks are cagey, but they let Washout know that they have bright hopes for getting into drug distribution in Charterhall. One of them hits on Pool, and she implies that she likes it party with Lush, and they tell her that their supply is very tight. Dr Oz tries to do some counterintel and asks what happened to Riven. He's not there, he doesn't come there, and they're not real eager to talk about him. Clip tries to act a little too uptown for this place, seeing if he can't work one of the Billhooks up into bragging about their deal. They tell him that they can guarantee a total lack of Bluecoat interference with deals on their turf. We leave, and Dr Oz has only a little difficulty with the sky above.

Clip and Pool collaborate on a plan to survey the Bluecoats in Crow's Foot, looking to see what their deal with the Billhooks is. Pool manages to get close enogh to overhear them saying that Erin is getting real impatient with the situation in Ironhook, and she wants an end to it. The Magistrates aren't budging. Budging them will be hard since Tarvul is happy where he is. Erin has to cool it and wait for Tarvul to die, and them if Coran isn't around, she's the one. Erin is Tarvul's daughter.

We decide that Washout and Pool will wreck the kennels, and then Arvus and Clip will arrange for a death dog attack on Erin. Pool and Washout sneak in early in the morning, well outside of "business hours." Erin and Coran are both there, arguing. Coran's talking some thing about Red Sashes, and he's moving around and gesticulating in such a way that they can't get past her.

Arvus tracks Erin to Warehouse 3, the pit fighting arena, and puts himself and Clip in a good position to ambush her. He can hear a little more - apparently the Red Sashes are a gang, and there was some sort of incident with them and the Billhooks in Crow's Foot that might be a problem. Eventually their argument ends with Coran leaving in a huff, disgusted with Erin's BS. More Billhooks start to filter in as the day goes on, which makes Pool and Washout's position even more tenuous.

They hold it together, sweating, while the argument takes it course, and then Washout tinkers with the kennels to open them. The first deathdog out of the cage mauls Washout, but he wore heavy armor in expectation of such a contigency. The rest sow terror throughout the warehouse. Pool leads them both out, post-haste, no problem.

As soon as Erin comes out, Arvus unleashes his deathdog on her. She and her guards see it coming and try to fight back. Clip and Arvus have to run for it, Clip yelling, "Shit, we need to tell Coran it didn't work!" Arvus freaks out over how close his deathdog came to getting killed. That confuses them for a sec, which buys the gang time to escape. Pool tries to see what comes next but fails.

Washout and Clip send a message to Tarvul, through the Bluecoat guards, purportedly from the Red Sashes. We/they tell him that his heir and his lieutenant are trying to kill each other, and he has this one shot to surrender his turf peacefully, and if he doesn't do so right now, the Red Sashes are taking it all. A day later, gang warfare breaks out, Warehouse 3 is closed, and we have a new claim.

Arvus trains Resolve and Insight. Clip goes shopping and then works with Jeren to package up all the Billhook's criminal adventures, disguising our role in affairs. Dr Oz indulges his vice and then begins working to get rid of the voices in his head. His research tells him that demons speak to people in a universal language that all understand, which is counter to his personal experience. He does find that there's a demon called "The Master of the Void," and that might be the one he heard. Pool also clears some of our heat and trains Insight. Washout works on building his Oracular Prognosticator, and then goes working for someplace to indulge his vice. He has to find a new brothel to do it, and he's having enormous trouble finding anyone who will take his trade.