The Porcelain Dolls: Session 50! (January 18 2017)

The Porcelain Dolls: Session 50! (January 18 2017)

Preparation for the New Guy Try-Before-You-Buy:

Shade goes to Fitz’s antique shop in Six Towers to ask him if he’s heard anything about the clockwork bird. He hasn’t, but if he does, he will let the Dolls know.

Gears heads up to Brightstone to see Basran (their luxury fence), who says he was indeed approached by Dacio, but that they were unable to agree on a price. Dacio seems to be unwilling to budge on his rather unrealistic demands.

Kobb goes to Coalridge, to look up his drug dealer “friend” Bryl, to whom he owes a great deal of money. Bryl is not happy to see him, and mentions that the only reason he hasn’t broken Kobb’s legs is because he has a niece on the City Council, and Bryl doesn’t want that kind of heat. Kobb manages to get him to give up a rundown of the major players in Coalridge, but Bryl demands 10% off the top of whatever job he’s planning in exchange for the info. Only the Eels (having recently migrated from Charhollow) are of any note (Bryl has not come across the Lost as of yet). The rest are about half a dozen unnamed crews (Tier 0). Dacio doesn’t seem to have any outstanding allies or enemies. Most seem to prefer to simply steer clear of him.

Kobb goes to find the Eels. After pacing up and down the street where they’re supposedly easiest to find, he eventually is approached by a young boy of about 5. Kobb says he’s looking for the Eels. The boy doesn’t say anything, but heads into an alley. Kobb follows, and soon finds himself surrounded by street kids. The way back out to the street is blocked by three children, the oldest of whom is a girl of about 13 or 14, whose hair is a veritable rat’s nest that looks as tough it’s never been combed in her life. Kobb comes very close to having his shoes and coat buttons stolen, but he manages to convince the kids that he’s working with Constance, to whom they seem to be well disposed. The girl knows Dacio, and doesn’t like him. The kids are open to the idea of helping Kobb and the Dolls rob Dacio, but they want something in return. It almost all goes wrong when he offers to pay them afterward (with no assurances of anything up front), but when he promises a favor from Constance, one of the younger boys gets the girl’s attention, inadvertently mentioning her name (Lillie), and whispers in her ear, after which she is more than happy to help provide a distraction while the Dolls break into Dacio’s apartment.

After Shade and Gears return and deliver their reports, Constance sends Kamali and Gloves to Coalridge. Gloves heads up and knocks on Dacio’s apartment door, presenting himself as an agent of a wealthy merchant who is interested in purchasing the clockwork bird. Meanwhile, Kamali heads around back and climbs one of the neighboring buildings to get a good look in Dacio’s back window. After vaulting across to the building itself and lowering herself on a rope down to the window, she gets a good look at the back room, which contains four strongboxes secured with combination locks. She does some mental calculations, and is worried to discover that there is a distinct possibility that the Coin resulting from this job could come up seriously short if those boxes are not all full. She ducks back out of sight as the door to the room opens, and is gone before anyone can catch her spying on the place. She meets up with Gloves out front, and they head over to Nightmarket for some proper food. He helps her fill out the sketch of Dacio’s apartment.

Kobb returns to the Bucket and gives his report. He mentions that he promised Lillie a favor (and Constance is not happy that he used her name), but he doesn’t mention that he promised Bryl 10% off the top.

Kamali presents her map of Dacio’s apartment, detailing a plan to run a line down to the street, to send items out the window and down to a waiting agent in the alley below. Gloves admits that he was so taken aback by Dacio’s audacious demand of 10 Coin for the bird that he forgot to actually get a look at the thing. He promises to go back in the morning with assurances from his employer that the price is acceptable, and to make arrangements for a meeting.

Boots gets the idea to disguise Kobb as the buyer after finding out that Dacio only saw him the one time, and the two don’t actually know each other very well. The fake transaction will get Dacio out of the apartment, and with the Eels providing a distraction for his hired goons, the place will be ripe for the picking.

Notes:

This was Session 50, and the previous Friday was the 1 year anniversary of this campaign. We celebrated with dodgy sticks, meat pies, parsnip & cabbage soup, and no small amount of alcohol.

#dontmesswiththedolls