The Porcelain Dolls: Session 58 (March 15 2017)
Aftermath of The Protection Collection Interception:
Rep: 3.
Heat: 4 (2, +1 from a well-connected target, +1 from a Devil’s Bargain).
Payoff: 5 (8 to start, +2 for the fence, -1 from Constance’s religious weirdness, -1 for the Bluecoats’ cut, -3 for Lyssa’s cut).
Entanglement: Gang Trouble (which they avoid).
Downtimes:
Moira trains Prowess (2xp), and Insight (1xp).
Kobb works on the projects of solidifying Mrs. Dunne’s trust in him (5 of 8), as well as that of the Bluecoats (2 of 8). He arranges for the piano to be found by Sgt Bartlett’s crew, and it is returned to Marian. He also starts a project to actually find a legitimate buyer for it (0 of 8).
Kamali trains Insight (1xp), starts a project to make Kazima a contact (3 of 8), and helps with Moira’s scarab project (6 of 8). She Attunes to the scarab, and gets the entirety of the story of the artifact’s history, 700 years in 10 seconds. In the middle of it is the story of Rashid Shabaz the mad sorcerer who hatched a plan to free the Demon Prince Ixis from his obsidian prison (and the subsequent civil war to bring him down), and later the story of Tahir Bashara, who succumbed to the folly of trying to entreat the Demon Prince Ixis was tricked into touching the sigil, and whose soul is still trapped in it. He speaks to Kamali and tells her to run.
Constance spends both actions to reduce Heat (down to 0).
Shade and Gears were only missing for one session, so they don’t get full downtime cycles, but we find out what they’ve been up to.
The Pint & Hound and the Moon’s Daughter earn a total of 12 Coin. Woo hoo!
A Cypher delivers a large thick envelope to the Bucket, which contains the paperwork for the incorporation of the Skovlan shipping company (there are copies in both Akorosi and Skovlan), which Gloves brings in when Constance calls a meeting. Shade and Kamali read through the papers, and are satisfied that Clermont was true to his word. Constance explains the purpose of the shipping company to Moira and Kobb (to provide the Skovlander refugees the means to help themselves, and coincidentally make a lot of money for the Dolls in the process), and the next steps required (actually purchasing a ship).
Prichard comes up from the factory floor to inform Constance that the construction project is complete. So the Dolls have their secret sewer access, and the locals have an inexpensive place to eat (free if they’re employees of the factory).
Constance doles out the assignments:
* Kobb and Gloves will press Mrs. Dunne and her associates for assistance in raising the funds to purchase a ship for the shipping company.
* Shade, Moira, and Boots will surveil Clermont to try and discover who is opposing him in the Skovlan Embassy.
* Kamali will check the contents of Clermont’s safe.
* Constance and Gears will attend to administering his pathogen to the stores of the local provisioners in the Docks.
Preparation for The Quaint Taint Complaint and The Flagship Flip & Skip:
Constance contacts Bailey & Sons to establish a delivery contract in order to have the goods come to them. All they have to do is follow the cart and taint the supply after it passes by the Pint & Hound.
Boots trails Clermont for several days, keeping an eye out for anything amiss. He is able to spot a trio of dangerous looking individuals also trailing him, but they do not engage him at any point. He follows them for a while, keeping out of sight, and eventually identifies them as the remnants of the Grinders.
Shade conducts the invisibility ritual and he & Moira go to the Skovlan Embassy and begin rifling through desks while invisible. They discover relevant information in the desk of Erik Petersen, a senior aide of Ambassador Johannes Paulsen. Petersen has been in contact with Madame Sophia Tesslyn, a prominent businesswoman (she runs the Red Lamp in Silkshore), who has been pressuring him to keep the Skovlan refugee situation as is, as she represents certain business concerns that have a vested interest in keeping the tensions high. She is accomplishing this with a combination of bribery and blackmail. Petersen suspects that she’s actually a member of the Circle of Flame.
Kobb talks with Mrs. Dunne, and Gloves talks to his lady friends, and between the two of them they are able to engineer a fundraising enterprise, with the Real Housewives of Doskvol as the driving force behind it. Due to a fortuitous roll (and spending Coin to raise the effect), they make much progress toward the goal (4 of 8!).
Kamali goes to Clermont’s house. She finds the petty cash fund, and the accompanying ledger, but all other documents have been removed from the safe. She also finds a coded message directly for her in the ledger: “I don’t know who you are, but I have my suspicions, and I believe we’ve already met. The situation has escalated. I have reason to believe they’re on to me. If you want more information, you’ll have to talk to me directly.”
Notes:
Lots of exciting things happening for Kamali this time around, between investigating the scarab and checking Clermont’s safe.
#dontmesswiththedolls