Haven’t been able to play for a while and thought it would be useful to give my players a summary of our sessions so far as I’ve been tracking them as a GM so that they could match their own notes up with mine. Spent part of the day typing up my summaries in actual paragraphs so thought I’d share them here for anyone interested.
A Murder of Crooks – The Story So Far…
Chapter 1: On The Waterfront
The Flock (A crew of Shadows) receives a job through their cut out Rigney, a bartender at The Last Mistake on the edge of Six Towers and Charterhall. The job is a simple tail and report mission: every two weeks Lord Strangford, a member of the City Council, sends a small group of his household guard to the docks where they collect a shipment and disappear into Duskwall. The mission is received from The Flock’s mysterious patron who has provided them with small funds and protection from other powers within the city.
The Flock head down to the docks to track the regular shipment. Holden (Akorosi/Tycherosi Illegitimate Child of a Noble Family. A Slide) and Myre (Skovlan Hunter) convince a small group of Strangford’s men to reveal the location on the docks where the shipment arrives each week. Meanwhile, Aiz (Iruvian Whisper with shadowy connections to the Spirit Wardens) slips past a clerk at the Red Hook, Co. and finds that no ship is recorded as using that berth during the days when Strangford’s guards receive their mysterious shipments. Having surveyed the area, the Flock sneak across the rooftops and watch as Strangford’s guards meet with members of the Fog Hounds who slide into docks on a low skiff. Myre takes out one of Strangford’s sharpshooters positioned on the roof and Aiz attunes to draw his spirit out of the corpse and use it to investigate Strangford’s carriage more closely. Inside, Aiz sees a young woman with white blonde hair and striking green eyes under a cloak who has been smuggled to Strangford’s carriage by the Fog Hounds.
As the carriage pulls away, the Flock follows along the rooftop through the Docks and into the canals of the Silkshore District. Holden has planned for this moment and uses his vice purveyor, Byrl, to set up a barricade along the bridge connecting the district. This delays Strangford’s men long enough to catch up and catch the guards smuggle the White Haired Woman into a brothel in the Ease called The Black Cat. Holden dons an air of civility and follows Strangford’s men into the brothel. He notes that the second floor is closed off to visitors but sees no sign of his quarry. After a brief liaison with two sex workers, Holden has to jump through the window of the Black Cat into the canals to escape. Myre goes to the Hall of Records and looks through Strangford’s genealogy but does not find any mention of a White Haired Woman. Myre and Aiz determine that Strangford is engaged in sex trafficking, using the Fog Hounds to smuggle women into the city and sell them to brothels in the Silkshore.
During downtime, Holden and Aiz meet up with Quellyn, a witch who acts as a healer for the organization. While overindulging on psychotropic mushrooms, Holden is attacked by the spirit of the guard which Myre killed at the Docks. Aiz subdues the spirit and bottles it to sell to a spirit trafficker she knows near the Nightmarket, Mozie.
Chapter 2: Thin Gray Line
After his encounter with the ghost of Strangford’s man, Holden has been unable to reach Byrl, who has gone to ground somewhere in the city and not been seen by any of his usual clients. It is also revealed that Myre is sleeping with an economic assistant at the Skovlan Embassy, Carro. Although their relationship is still new and the feelings are genuine, Myre takes the opportunity to glean any new information she can from her lover’s work. This evening Myre learns that the Diplomatic Quarter of Duskwall has been in a tither attempting to figure out what to do about a plague ship that has been kept in quarantine outside of the Northhook Channel for the last few weeks. Supplies have to be shuttled back and forth with great care to the ship but otherwise no one is allowed to break the quarantine zone maintained by the city’s River Patrol.
Holden continues to seek out Byrl with little luck but while wandering the streets comes into contact with a small waif seeking alms. Her name is Greta. She is a daughter of the Weeping Lady, a quasi-religious organization that runs a workhouse and soup kitchen at the edge of the district. Members of the Weeping Lady have become more visible on the streets of Six Towers in recent days. Meanwhile at The Last Mistake, Myre has seen a column in one of the local Ink Rake rags, The Doskvol Courier, which coyly alludes to Strangford’s possible involvement in human trafficking. Although there are few concrete details they elliptically allude to information that the Flock only passed to their unknown patrons. When Holden arrives and reveals that he has been unable to find Byrl, Myre and Aiz become increasingly concerned that he has been grabbed by the city watch due to his involvement with detaining Strangford’s men on the Silkshore bridge. Neither of the women believe that Byrl will hold up to close interrogation and may expose the Flock’s roll in the Strangford game.
Aiz speaks with Rigney and learns about a bartender at The Long Arm in Crows Foot named Vaun, who is well plugged into the various comings and goings of the City Watch. He owes Rigney a package and should be able to point the Flock in the right direction. However after narrowly avoiding detection among The Long Arm’s Blue Coat clientele, Vaun reveals that he was meant to trade the package with Rigney for a Demonbane Charm. Unbeknownst to them, Rigney had intended to have the Flock settle his end of the deal by whatever means necessary. Following a brief argument Vaun decides to set his dealings aside telling Holden that he doesn’t know anything about Byrl anyways.
Leaving emptyhanded the crew splits, with Holden and Myre returning to the Last Mistake to confront Rigney while Aiz investigates the city’s recently deceased addicts for information. Aiz tries to eliminate one addict’s spirit who manages to slip out of her grasp, but not before closely attuning with Aiz’s mind. As a consequence her vices are twisted requiring her to indulge in stupor for a short period of time.
Stumbling back into The Last Mistake, Aiz finds the bar under the control of Strangford’s men, Myre neutralized and held at gunpoint and Holden seated at a table across from Lord Strangford himself. Strangford’s guards had identified Byrl from the bridge and hunted him across the city for the past few days eventually capturing him and uncovering Holden’s role. Strangford threatens the Flock to stay out of his affairs and advises that they would do well to look into their mysterious patron who pulled them into this mess in the first place. His Strangford’s temper flares when Holden baits him with a remark about the White-Haired Woman. After beating Holden to prove a point, Strangford’s men leave through the alley. Rushing after them, Holden catches a glimpse of the girl with the White-Haired Woman riding beside Strangford in his carriage.
Chapter 3: For Want of a Nail
Flashback: Myre leads a battalion of Skovlan soldiers in a futile last stand against the Imperial siege of Lockport. As a hulking mechanical soldier bares down on her in the woods a loudspeaker booms over the battlefield informing both sides that the Skovlan Empress has been assassinated leading to a peace treaty and the end of Unity War two days ago. As the Imperial forces withdraw Myre stays behind dejected in the wilderness. Eventually she clears out her cabin taking only a few belongings, including the broken family clock, and makes her way towards a ship to Doskvol.
Holden tells Aiz and Myre about the White-Haired Woman and they debate how best to uncover Strangford’s motives. Myre and Aiz determine they need more information about Strangford’s potential enemies within the City Council, who the Flock have a close relationship with. Holden in disguise as a cousin of Counselor Rowan approaches Counselor Penderyn in her chambers. Although his line of questioning raises her suspicions he succeeds in learning that Lord Rowan is set in opposition to Strangford due to his controversial views on a bill before the City Council. Penderyn sends her staff secretary to escort Holden to Rowan’s office. En route Holden manages to briefly elude Penderyn’s secretary with a dose of trance powder and turn over Rowan’s offices. There he finds evidence of meetings between Rowan, Bowmore, and Clelland just prior to the Flock receiving a job to trail Strangford. He also steals Rowans calendar and leaves a note asking for a meeting at The Moon’s Daughter in three days. He leaves a fuckton of paper cranes in places too for some reason. By the skin of his teeth, Holden slips passed Strangford and Penderyn’s secretary on the steps of the Council building ditching his disguise and meeting up with Aiz and Myre.
Aiz realizes that the white haired woman’s appearance is distinctly Skovlan. Myre wonders if Strangford’s smuggling activities may be wider than previously realized and leads the Flock to a Skovlan refugee bar deep in Charhallow, Kellen’s. Although they get little information from the patron’s about any Skovlan people who have disappeared mysteriously, they do succeed in protecting Kellen’s from a gang of Anti-Skovlan vigilantes who fire bomb the bar while they are there before fleeing into the Sheets. Aiz summons a spirit who takes revenge on several of the vigilantes before being recaptured by her and Holden runs one of the prominent young punks through with his cane sword. Myre stays behind to help everyone escape the bar safely though she is unable to fully stop the fire from spreading. Only one of the vigilantes is left alive in the end and Aiz agrees to hand him over to the men from Kellen’s to deal with.