The Porcelain Dolls: Session 36 (October 04 2016)
Team Blackmail is working on the Inspector (Sigmund Woll):
* Kamali: Will shadow him and learn his routine
* Gloves: Will actually talk to him
* Shade: Will assist
The ledger leads the crew to a stash of documents detailing the Inspector’s various crimes. It’s common (and indeed, almost expected) that the Bluecoats are corrupt, but the Inspectors have a reputation for being above reproach. However, Sigmund Woll has a history of taking bribes, making charges go away, and occasionally arranging for witnesses to disappear. The ledger also details the nature of the arrangement that the Sashes had with Woll: They weren’t blackmailing him for money, but for information. Any time an investigation came up that threatened to move in their direction, Woll would give them a heads up so they could maneuver around it.
Woll lives in Six Towers. He’s married and has two kids. Kamali spends a couple of days watching his routine. On her way over there the first day, she is dismayed to discover that one of her usual rooftop routes is no longer viable, due to all the construction going on in the Drop now, and it takes her nearly 15 minutes to find a way around. Despite this, she gets there early enough to see him leave for work. She follows him to the courthouse in Charterhall, sees him take lunch with several of his coworkers, then after work he meets his wife at a local restaurant for dinner. Once they’ve returned back home, he spends some time with his children before retreating to his study, where he continues to work well past midnight.
The second day, Kamali watches the kids and the wife. The children are met by what appears to be a nanny (though she does not live at the house), and she escorts them to their school. Back at the house, Woll’s wife has some friends over for lunch, where they appear to be gossiping about their husbands. The children return home in the late afternoon, and the wife heads out to meet her husband for dinner again. Different restaurant this time, but otherwise, their routine is like clockwork. Watching Woll read to his children again, Kamali is simultaneously jealous and disgusted by how normal this man’s life appears to be. She makes a detailed report and delivers it to Gloves, who has a plan.
Hakima Fadel is an infamous Iruvian smuggler, and one of Wolls’s “clients” (she was facing some heavy tariff evasion charges, and he had them dropped). Gloves has a doll made that looks Iruvian, is dressed like a sailor, and has a note that says “Hello my name is Hakima”. He includes a business card with his full name on it, with the boxing club as the address.
He delivers the doll to Sigmund’s wife personally, under the pretense that he’s a representative of the Cinder Street Doll Company, which is starting up business again, and he is giving out free dolls to select influential clients in order to drum up business. She is a little suspicious, but accepts the doll in behalf of her daughter.
Later that evening, Woll storms into the boxing club and demands to know what it’s all about. Gloves and Shade talk to him in the back room. Gloves explains the situation, and that the Dolls want to continue with the same arrangement he had with the Sashes. Woll protests, but eventually gives in (this is helped by Shade doing what Shade does best, which is make people uncomfortable).
Downtime:
1 Heat, for a total of 4.
Gloves: Reduces Stress (by 1), and reduces Heat (by 2). At Constance’s urging, Gloves spends some time cultivating a connection to Alexander, one of the guards at Ironhook (7 slices to go).
Boots: Almost finishes the project to upgrade the Lampblacks (1 slice to go), and Trains Personal.
Constance: Reduces Heat (by 2, clearing it), and Trains Personal.
Kamali: Trains Prowess and Personal.
Shade: Researches the ritual for Kelyr (2 slices left), and Trains Personal.
Gears: Finishes the project to shore up the factory’s defenses (the Dolls’ lair now has the first level of the Secure upgrade)
The crew earns 5 Coin for the Drug Dens at the Moon’s Daughter, and another 5 Coin for the boxing club (lucky rolls, and no Heat).
Jezelle appears to Kamali, looking frantically for Shade. She says she’s found Quellyn.
Notes:
The dice really loved the players this time. We had at least two crits, and at least two 6s.
On the downside, we are losing Boots’ & Gloves’ player after this session. I am going to continue to run for the other two players, and I’ll treat Boots & Gloves as expert Cohorts.
#dontmesswiththedolls