Session 1.5: Remember the name

Rian makes an offer. Carver takes a beating. Aldo makes inquiries.

Last episode, we covered the first part of the Jessek’s downtime between scores. Our Entanglement was a visit from Chael, the friendly neighborhood alley baron, who shook down Rian for a few copper slugs and forced Carver into working his protection rackets — a violent job that Carv both hates and relishes. Then, finally, the Jesseks’ Payoff came, with their new fence, Fife, delivering more money than any of them have ever seen before. We closed out after covering the first of the crew’s downtime actions. Aldo went to go see Roric, ward boss of Crow’s Foot, and Chael’s superior. Their meeting went so-so — Roric seemed open to the idea of freeing the Jesseks from Chael’s incompetent and violent oversight, but refused to take action — yet. The interaction represents Aldo starting to contend with higher-level members of the Crow’s Foot underworld, so we trigger the Training downtime action and mark an XP on Aldo’s sheet.

To close out the session, we have to finish our downtime actions — 2 each from Rian and Carver, and one more for Aldo. Once again, this episode will be crunch-heavy, with lots of system asides, so if that’s not your bag, feel free to skip it all and dive into the fiction. Future episodes will explicate this stuff less.

Setting the Scene: Rian and Carver’s Downtimes

Next, we’ll turn our focus to Rian and Carver — Aldo’s told them to lay low and not flash any money. Carver’s in a mood, and he’s a bit frayed — he and Aldo marked the most stress during the last job, and he was just put through the ringer during the entanglement with Chael. So, he’s going to use the Indulge Vice action. Carver’s vice is Stupor — the Blades SRD describes it thusly: “You seek oblivion in the abuse of drugs, drinking to excess, getting beaten to a pulp in the fighting pits, etc.” Carver’s specific flavor is the latter one — he’s spent his whole life getting beaten up (before and after he became able to fight back) and taking a beating is what he’s best at. So, to the fighting pit he goes, and as a bonus, we’ll also trigger the Training downtime action, as we did with Aldo. This will give Carver an XP, and it’ll close out his two downtime actions for the session. One caveat: Carver is going to have to make a roll when indulging his vice, and if he rolls too high, it could lead him to Overindulge, which the Blades SRD describes like this: “When you overindulge, you make a bad call because of your vice—in acquiring it or while under its influence.”

We’ll envision Rian tagging along to the fighting pits — they’re a Crow’s Foot social institution, and Rian is eager to celebrate their fortune in some small way. To that end, he’ll invite Nyryx. She played an important role in the score, she’s owed some of the take, and Rian is eager to see her again, though he’s probably not really sure what his intentions are. We’ll represent this as a Long-Term Project action, with success representing Nyryx being recruited as a Cohort for the crew — a person they can call on for her particular expertise in any given score. The fiction surrounding that will be more complex than just a scoundrel-for-hire, of course, because we like to keep things complicated at PTFO.

Like the others, we’ll use Rian’s second action to Train, marking an XP on his sheet — for him, this represents interacting with Nyryx, learning her methods of persuasion and manipulation, and just generally getting sharpened by her steel. We’ll set the scene at the Red Ring, the establishment Carver frequents when he’s in need of some painful release, and where Rian has brought Nyryx on her night off:

The Red Ring provides bloody entertainment for the working folk and scoundrels of Crow’s Foot // Source: Midjourney.

Scene 8: The Red Ring

Rian peers over the balcony’s railing, shoulder to shoulder with Nyryx, as they look out over the seething crowd below. The air is thick with sweat, rotgut fumes, and the metallic tang of blood rising up from the resined canvas of the fighting pit. Across the balcony, Carver sits on a bench against the wall, oiling the bands of leather wrapped around his fists. His face is an impassive mask as he watches two men drag the limp body of the last fighter from the pit.

The crowd erupts in a roar as Marlene¹, proprietress of the Red Ring, leaps up to the blood-spattered canvas. Arms raised theatrically, she revels in the crowd’s frenzy. Her ample figure is armored in a scarlet corset paired with shiny riding boots. Dark hair spills over her shoulders in waves as she stalks the platform’s edge like a tigress.

“Howl, you bloodthirsty beauties, howl!” she bellows. “Let them know you love them! Glory to the fighters! Glory to the Red Ring!”

“Not your usual crowd, eh Ryxi?” Rian says, elbowing Nyryx playfully.

Nyryx smirks back at him. “On the contrary, Master Jessek. I love a good fight night. It’s an excuse for you young men to focus all your energy and attention on one another for a change. Is your friend Carver next?”

“Brother,” Rian corrects absently. “He’ll be on soon. He fights late when the crowd is good and drunk.” Rian glances down at the gathering of onlookers ringing the pit. It was a motley assortment - clerks and finickers mingling with tradesfolk, Jennies² chattering with off-duty Bluecoats, laborers shouting profanities and scuffling with Charterhall students slumming it in Crow’s Foot.

Nyryx studies Rian’s soft, smiling face as he watches the crowd. “Most of your sort who come out of Jessek House can’t get rid of the name fast enough. What made you and your brothers keep it?”

Rian nods down at Carver. “It was for the big man, really—Aldo’s idea. Our family was gone, his abandoned him. All we had was each other. Carver graduated a few years ahead of us, and when he was packing his things, we cut our hands and promised we’d all keep the name and find him when we’d got out. That we wouldn’t stop being brothers when we left Jessek House.”

Below, the next pair of fighters has begun. With little preamble, the two men lay into one another, driven by the crowd's roar. Nyryx turns towards him and takes a delicate sip from the leather wineskin she wears slung over her shoulder. Freed from her courtesan duties at the Golden Cup for the night, she’s dressed to blend with an old, patched naval jacket over her shoulders and a dark scarf hiding her raven-feather hair³. She offers the wine to Rian, who eagerly accepts. “You’re a lucky fellow to have brothers like Aldo and Carver. Aren’t you, Rye?” she asks with a small smile.

Nyryx, slightly incognito // Source: Midjourney, which still can’t quite get her raven-feather hair.

He winks at her as he takes a drink. “I am indeed,” he says. “You know, you worked well with the Jessek boys. That job you brought us was a fine bit of villainy. And you got a choice cut yourself without lifting a finger.”

Her smile sours a bit. “Oh, I did my part, Rian,” she says, reclaiming her wineskin.

“‘Course you did — gave us the perfect opportunity, lured the man away with your considerable charms. I spoke in haste and without thought, dear Ryx,” he says, tacking smoothly.

“You did. Continue,” she says sardonically.

“Well, that’s just my point. Maybe next time, you’re with us. A lady like you, with charm, class, a positively diabolical poker face — we could rob these swells blind. You and I playing the face games, Aldo on the second story, and Carver waiting in the alley just in case things get brave. Can you imagine? We’d be unstoppable. Rob the Immortal Emperor of his immortal britches.”

Here we’ll roll for Rian’s attempt to recruit Nyryx to their cause. Unlike an Action Roll, a roll to Advance a Long-Term project can’t go horribly wrong — a 1 or 2 simply means that the project advances slowly, with one tick on the clock.

Rian rolls Sway (Advance a Long-Term Project)
Dice Pool: 2d (Action Rating)

Result: 4, 1: Two Segments

Rian makes a little progress in courting Nyryx, but she’s going to play hard-to-get. I’ll create a six-tick “Project Clock” to track Rian’s progress, which you can see on the character sheets.

She laughs, despite herself, and puts her hand to her heart in mock shock. “Rian Jessek, are you trying to lure me into a life of crime?” she asks before shaking her head. “I have a comfortable life at the Cup.”

He grins. “I know you do, Ryx. But think how much fun we could have. And we could keep you in a queenlier way than the Cup!”

She rolls her eyes and turns back towards the ring. “Hush, Rian. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

Rian is ready to press, but the wary look in Nyryx’s eyes warns him off, and he turns the conversation to less weighty matters; she talking of the petty aristo gossip of the the Golden Cup and him relating the crew’s recent woes with Chael.

Soon, Marlene returns to the center of the canvas, and once again, she stokes the crowd. “Listen well, my lovelies! This next fighter is one of your very own — a young man of Crow’s Foot, come from Jessek House. As hard as an ironside’s hull and as rough as the ink-black sea that beats on it! I give you Carver Jessek!”

The crowd hoots and jeers at Carver before Marlene is even done — the eldest Jessek is known as a frequent loser in the ring, and they’re eager to see his blood. Marlene gestures to Carver’s opponent, a burly man with dockworker’s tattoos and a cropped shock of copper hair. “Challenging our champion of Jessek House, I give you the Red Ripper of the Docks, from the savage shores of Skovland — legends say his father was a shield-biter and his mother was a bear! Raise a cry for Emer Bjornsen!” The crowd shouts raucously and cries in Skovish ring out alongside slurs and jeers as Bjornsen raises his meaty arms. His lips peel back from his teeth in a fierce grin, and he pounds his fists against his chest. Carver sizes him up with a tilt of his head, rolling his shoulders as he throws off his coat and steps into the ring.

Marlene mugs for the crowd while the bettors wager, the Red Ring’s people sliding into the crowd to accept cash and write markers in charcoal on scraps of broken tile. Rian spots a few bravos wearing the black bowlers of the Lampblacks⁴ calling out Carver’s name, betting against the Skov with hateful sneers.

Marlene signals the beginning of the match with her scarlet handkerchief. When the tattered silk falls to the canvas, Bjornsen charges, leading with a vicious haymaker. Carver raises his guard to take the blow, but even so, he feels it against his jaw, his head ringing with pain and elation. He smashes his forehead into the Skov’s nose, sending him reeling backward, with praise and jeers rising from the seething crowd.

The Skov, now more wary, circles Carver, waiting for an opening. “Come on, bear-son,” Carver goads, dropping his guard and offering his chin. “Let’s give them a proper show!” Bjernsen charges at him, and the two hammer at one another, defense and strategy largely forgotten. Rian loses count of the blows Carver takes to his body and head, wincing at each one while Nyryx looks on, concerned.

Now we’ll roll Carver’s Indulge Vice roll — he rolls his lowest attribute, which is Insight (1 die), and recovers that much stress. If he rolls more stress than he has (5, in this case) he overindulges and causes a problem for the crew.

Carver rolls Insight (Indulge Vice)
Dice Pool: 1d (Attribute Rating)

Result: 6 (Overindulge)

Well, that’s a bit unlucky. Carver clears all his stress, but he causes a problem for the crew. For this outcome, the player chooses one of the following:

• Attract Trouble. Select or roll an additional entanglement.

• Brag about your exploits. +2 heat.

• Lost. Your character vanishes for a few weeks. Play a different character until this one returns from their bender. When your character returns, they’ve also healed any harm they had.

• Tapped. Your current purveyor cuts you off. Find a new source for your vice.

For this roll, we’ll choose the first option and double down on the session’s already-established entanglement — trouble with Chael. I’ll mechanically represent this by reducing their Status⁵ with Chael’s gang, the Crow’s Teeth, by 1, down to -2. -3 represents a state of war between their gangs (Chael commands a dozen bravos, while the Jesseks are just the three of them).

Finally, the round comes to a close, and Marlene steps in, sending each man to their stools. Carver returns to his corner, and waiting for him there is Sawtooth⁶, the sharp-fanged Tycherosi chirurgeon, who presses a wet towel to Carver’s swollen face and offers him a cracked teacup of rotgut, which Carv refuses. Then, from his perch on the balconies above, Rian spots an unwelcome sight: Swimming through the crowd like a shark is Chael, accompanied by his entourage of violent hangers-on. He watches with growing unease as Chael comes to the ringside and leans in to whisper to Carver. There are a few cries of foul, and Chael responds with an obscene waggle of his hand.

“Shit,” Rian mutters.

“What’s the matter?” Nyryx asks.

Rian leans in and whispers in her ear. “That’s Chael, the baron over our patch. Most like he’s telling Carv to take a fall.”

Nyryx raises an eyebrow. “Does that happen often?”

Rian grimaces. “More often than we’d like. Carver doesn’t mind losing — honestly, he seems to prefer it — but it burns to put silver in that bastard’s pocket.”

The red silk falls again, and Carver strides back to the center of the ring, guard raised. His face is battered and bruised, with a bleeding cut on his forehead, but still, he grins through split lips as Bjornsen advances. The two fighters heedlessly clash again, exchanging brutal blows that make the crowd cheer and gasp as they land. Carver’s punches start to slow, his reactions dulled by the punishment he’s already endured. With a bellow, the Skov grabs Carver in a clinch and drives vicious uppercuts into his stomach. Carver sinks to one knee, struggling to rise again, but rise he does, and the crowd cheers, his newfound fire starting to win them over.

The round ends and the next begins. He meets the Skov again, and again, he is put down. Chael is now at the ropes, screaming for Carver to stay down. The crowd’s frenzy is at a fever pitch, with smaller brawls breaking out, bottles and chairs flying this way and that. Carver looks Chael in the eyes when he stands one more time and faces the now-exhausted Skov. As Bjornsen lumbers forward, fist cocked to finish the flight, Carver’s gaze flicks up to where he knows Rian is watching. Their eyes meet for a moment before Carv beats the Skovlander to the punch and snaps his head back, spraying blood into the howling crowd and sending a few teeth rattling to the ground. The man’s pale bulk falls to the ground, hitting the canvas with a wet smack. He does not rise again.

The crowd howls with glee. Marlene strides into the center of the pit with a surprised look on her face. “The Red Ring exalts another victor! Show him you love him, and collect your winnings!”

“That’s right, Crow’s Foot! Remember the name Carver Jessek! The hardest man to come out of the House of Diligence!” Carver roars to the crowd, and they roar their approval back. Carver steps to the center of the ring, where the Skov lies, and offers a meaty hand up. The Skovlander accepts it, and a cacophony of jeers and shouts of approval sound from the crowd.

Rian hisses his breath in and searches for Chael in the crowd, quickly finding his pale, rage-twisted face, fighting to make his way ringside through the crush of folk, trying to collect their winnings or starting brawls of their own. “Ryxi, I’ve got to run. So sorry to cut our night short, but I’d best get Carver home and hidden,” he says,

Nyryx frowns, her faced lined with worry. “How much trouble will this make for you, Rye?”

“A fair amount, I suspect,” he says, “Better you’re not seen with me for a spell — I wouldn’t want to upset your comfortable life, my dear.” He winks at her before disappearing into the roiling crowd, heading down to collect his brother from the ring.

We’ll close out Rian and Carver’s downtime actions there, and turn the spotlight back to Aldo. He wouldn’t be much of a big brother if he didn’t follow up on the mystery of his missing sister. Now that he knows she’s alive and still in Duskwall, he can’t stop until he finds her. We’ll represent this as a Long-Term Project, similar to Rian’s attempt to recruit Nyryx.

We’ve established that the Jesseks spent some time looking for Emma after they got out of Jessek House, so to pursue her, Aldo will need to find a new source of information, somewhere they wouldn’t have gone in the past. For this, we’ll envision the Inspector who investigated the death of Aldo and Rian’s parents, 15 years ago. Aldo is aware of her by reputation — we’ll call her Detective Inspector Laroze, adapting one of the contacts from the crew’s character sheet. Rolling on the Ironsworn character orcale, I got Confident, Stoic, and Manipulative — sounds like just the kind of person Aldo should get involved with.

Inspectors are a faction described in the Blades in the Dark setting guide — they are independent from the Bluecoats, though they work with them in the course of their investigations. While the Bluecoats are charged with maintaining order on the streets, and in Crow’s Foot are little more than a gang themselves, the Inspectors actually investigate and solve crimes. We’ll envision that Laroze is in Crow’s Foot investigating Bluecoat corruption — after all, if she was looking into Aldo’s associates, he couldn’t consider approaching her.

He’ll spend a few days observing her and watching her patterns, which constitutes a Gather Information roll:

Aldo rolls Prowl (Gather Information)
Dice Pool: 2d (Action Rating)

Result: 1,5 (Partial Success)

He gets a little information about her patterns and associates, but nothing particularly juicy. We’ll set the scene when he finally decides to approach her:

Scene 9: Hulliver Lane, Crow’s Foot

It’s cold and rainy on Hulliver Lane. The cobblestones glisten under the dim electroplasm lamps, puddles gathering in the divots and cracks. The streets are near-deserted — something has stirred the ward’s many ghosts on this chill winter night. Doors are shut, curtains drawn, and spiritbane charms are hung on the doors to keep unwelcome visitors at bay.

Aldo pulls his coat tighter, collar turned up against the insistent drizzle. He keeps his head down, hat brim low. It would not do to be recognized by one of the local scoundrels with the meeting he has in mind. For a few days now, while Carver and Rian lay low after the incident at the Red Ring, Aldo has watched his quarry closely, noting her comings and goings from the Bluecoat watch station at shift’s end every night.

Detective Laroze is nothing if not consistent. At eight o’clock each night, she leaves the station with one of three officers, none of whom Aldo recognizes from their beats in the ward — fresh blood, Aldo surmises, as-yet uncorrupted by the graft that runs like a river through the Foot.

She and her escort are dressed in their dark blue longcoats and broad tricorns, sodden by the rain, their spiritbane charms clipped to their jackets, alongside their pewter badges — his a shield, hers with crossed swords.

Aldo dogs their steps, watching them from the shadows. For the last three nights, her escort has followed her to the doorstep of her flat, and tonight, it seems like it might be the same. But a few blocks from hers, she turns to her man and waves him off.

“Get yourself home and dry, constable. I can make it from here.” Aldo strains to hear their conversation over the constant beat of the rain on the cobbles. The officer tips his hat gratefully and strides off into the night, pulling his coat around him and watching warily for restless spirits.

As the Bluecoat disappears into the rainy night, Aldo knows he won’t have another chance. He overtakes her, moving quickly and confidently in the shadows, through alleyways he knows well, emerging in her path. “Inspector Laroze. It’s been a long time.”

Detective Inspector Laroze // Source: Midjourney

Her dark eyes narrow, trying to place his face. “I know you from somewhere.” Her accent is pure, proper Imperial, not a note of the Isles.

Aldo nods, rain falling from his shaggy hair. “You delivered me to Jessek House, years back.”

“That murdered carpenter’s boy. Ridley. Arthur Ridley?”

“Close enough. I need your help.”

Her tone grows suspicious. “If you need to report something, bring yourself to the watch station in the morning.”

“I’ve nothing to report,” Aldo says flatly. “I just want to know where you took my sister.”

Laroze’s face twists with confusion. “What?”

“When you investigated the Ridley murder, there were three children: Two sons and a daughter. Where did you take the daughter?”

“I sent a Bluecoat sergeant to take her to the Ladderbeck Orphanage.”

“She never arrived there.”

“How do you know that?” Laroze asks, her hand disappearing into her coat’s inner pocket. Aldo stays perfectly still.

“I looked through their records.”

She smirks. “Lady Ladderbeck invited you to examine her books, did she?” Aldo doesn’t reply. “That sergeant is a man I trust,” she says after a long pause.

“Then perhaps you should look into it,” Aldo replies coolly.

We’ll roll here for the results of Aldo’s downtime action. Most likely he won’t get the truth immediately, but we’ll see how much he’s been able to get into Laroze’s head. As with Rian’s project, I’ll start a six-tick clock on his character sheet.

Aldo rolls Command (Advance a Long-Term Project)
Dice Pool: 2d (Action Rating)

Result: 2,5 (Two Segments)

Aldo makes progress, but Laroze wants something from him if he wants fast action.

“Now I remember the name…” she says. “Aldo. And your brother, Rian. What’d Jessek House make of you?”

“What it intended to. Our sister, detective.”

“I’ll look into it. But the Ridley murders went cold 15 years ago, and there are more pressing matters at hand.”

“That girl was in your care and vanished without a trace.”

“Lots of boys like you go into Jessek House and come out scoundrels. Thieves, bravos, lookouts, pickpockets, corner-hawkers. That you, Aldo?”

“What does that have to do with you losing a girl like a silver scale you dropped in the gutter?”

“If you’re connected to the street trade, maybe you can help me. And then, I can help you.”

“Then we’re finished here. Unlike your sergeant, I’m no turncoat.” Aldo replies, turning away.

“I don’t care about Roric and his lot. I’m after rotten Bluecoats. Probably men you know and despise,” she calls as he stalks away. “Think about it, Aldo! Help me, and I’ll help you!”

We’ll leave the Jesseks there, closing out their downtime actions. That concludes Session 1! We did a score (the Molino Job) and we followed the boys through their downtime, which runs us through one full cycle of Blades in the Dark’s loop.

To start to play the next session, we’ll need to plan what the Jesseks’ next score. I laid down a few threads in the course of the session, and we’ll put it up to a poll to choose between them. Here are the threads that jumped out at me:

1. Do a favor for Roric: Roric refused to put his weight behind the Jesseks, putting them in an awkward position: Chael will find out they went behind his back, and although Roric may discourage him from retaliating, he just might be mad enough to do it anyway. If the Jesseks help Roric out with something, they might get his active protection and forestall that fate.

2. Figure out what Fife is up to: They have a bit of a loose end with the last job — Fife, their fence, doesn’t seem especially reliable, but he might be vulnerable. Aldo noticed a stolen crate from the Imperial Armory, and chasing down its source could lead them to some useful loot, while giving them some leverage on their new associate.

3. Help out Detective Laroze: Detective Laroze might be able to help Aldo find Emma, or at least tell him where she’s gone. She might be quicker to help if the Jesseks help her deal with some wayward Bluecoats.

4. Another for the money: The Jesseks have gotten a taste of a big payday, and might be eager for another score.

For this poll, you can select two options, and the top two-mosted voted will the the next two scores we focus on. I may try to do two faster, more montaged scores (with likewise abbreviated downtime inbetween), but of course, we’ll have to PTFO — if the first score goes sideways, it’ll probably take the whole session to unwind. Mash the button below to make your choice!

Thanks as always for reading — in between sessions, I plan to take a week off, so PTFO: Proper Villains will resume on March 11. See you in your inbox then!

1. Marlene is on Carver’s character sheet as his Vice Purveyor — the NPC who connects him with his vice. We’re using this scene to establish details about her that we can call on later in Carver’s story.

2. Duskwall slang for a street prostitute (as distinct from Nyryx’s courtesan trade).

3. As mentioned in Session 1.1, Nyryx is a Tycherosi — a people whose homeland was destroyed by a magical cataclysm, and all bear unique physical marks of demonic heritage.

4. The Lampblacks are one of the major gangs of Crow’s Foot, part of Roric’s criminal organization. Their territory abuts the Dockyards, and they frequently come into conflict with the new wave of Skov immigrants and the criminal gangs who accompanied them.

5. Later on, I may do a deep dive into the Faction game, but I’m keeping track of all the stats on the crew sheet’s faction page.

6. Sawtooth is an NPC from Carver’s background, mentioned in the campaign’s introduction. Like Nyryx, he is a Tycherosi, and his sharp, serrated teeth mark his demonic heritage.