Last episode, we dealt with some of the downtime actions following the Chael Job as the crew de-stressed and licked its wounds from the various near-misses of that harrowing night. Now, the Jessek brothers are preparing to stake out Dalmore House in the hopes of finding some weakness in their security that might allow them to extract her.
Of course, Emma may not want to be extracted, exactly — one of the questions we need to answer early in the session is what’s happening with Emma right now. To establish Emma’s situation following Chael’s timely murder, I dove back into Session 2.1 to refresh myself on how Madame Dalmore dealt with Emma’s last indiscretion. Here’s an exerpt:
I need His guiding hand if I am to become His instrument, Madame.” Now she meets Madame’s eyes directly, her deferential manner replaced by quiet intensity. “And I fear what He might do to me — us — if He is denied.”
Emma can see Madame’s eagerness—a hunger to use the strange skills she has begun to master. There is a long pause. “Perhaps you are right. But if you receive another of these visions, I expect you to come to me directly. No more of this foolishness.”
Clearly, Emma did not do that. She once again sought out a vision1, and once again the Burnt King aided her in escaping from Dalmore House. We can assume Madame Dalmore will be quite annoyed — but also intrigued at Emma’s powerful abilities that allow her to tap into the Ghost Field, summon spirits, and escape detection.
A brief aside about the Ghost Field
Just what is the Ghost Field, exactly? We’ve mentioned it in a few episodes now, particularly around Emma and her Whisper abilities. The Blades in the Dark setting book leaves its definition vague, so tables can establish their own vision of it, so here’s a quick overview of our version.
The Ghost Field is a zone created by the lightning barrier that encircles the city. The barrier keeps the dangers of the Deathlands at bay, but its creation of the Ghost Field is a danger, too — spirits that are not quickly dealt with by the Spirit Wardens are instead trapped in the field, and can use it to manifest themselves. Consequential events also create Echos in the Ghost Field, and talented Whispers can perceive and interact with them, perhaps allowing for clairvoyance, prophecy, and delving into the past for secrets known only to the dead.
Further Entanglements
While I was reviewing Session 2.1, I also found this quote:
Emma bows and withdraws hastily, leaving her tea cooling on the low table. Behind her, she hears Madame ring a delicate silver bell, and the study door opens, revealing Mr. Seek, his baleful orange eyepiece clicking as it focuses on her face. Emma slips past him, and he closes the door behind her. Quickly, she presses her ear against the carved wood.
“Reach out to our contacts among the Inspectors and find out everything you can about Aldo and Rian Ridley. Discretely.”
“As you say, Madame,” Mr. Seek rasps. Before he opens the door, Emma is gone, hurrying down the hall towards the east wing.
I’ll be honest: I totally forgot about this piece of setup, and Dalmore’s contacts within the Inspectors. We can assume a few weeks have passed between Session 2.1 and right now, so whatever information could be acquired, Madame has it now. We also have to assume that whatever inquiries they made did not make it back to Laroze, which is strange, given that Laroze’s name would’ve been on any official documents about the murder of Aldo, Rian and Emma’s parents. We’ll envision that Madame’s Inspector on the payroll is a rival of Laroze’s, and therefore couldn’t ask her directly about Aldo and Rian. This isn’t important this session, as we’re probably done with Laroze for now, but it will likely come up later.
So, with all that baggage unpacked, we’ll set the scene for Emma’s next encounter with Madame: Back in her office, shortly after Mr. Seek brings her home from Fisher Court, where Chael was killed. Since we’re still in downtime, it makes sense for us to use this scene to resolve this session’s Entanglement, putting Emma in a bit of a spot:
Scene 2: Madame’s Office
Emma sits, waiting at Madame’s pleasure. The mistress of the house sits with her back turned, scratching away at her journal, each penstroke swift and deliberate like a fencer’s blade. Mr. Seek stands behind her, his hand resting on the high-backed chair — she can smell the reek of lavender and formaldehyde exuding from his flesh, even through his thick gloves and heavy coat.
Madame is not amused. // Source: Midjourney
As she waits, her arm throbs — Chael’s blade cut to the quick before he died. In its barbed iron cage, Madame’s blackshrike watches Emma intently, its head cocked to the side so that one baleful eye can follow her every move. It can smell the blood, Emma muses, trying to keep her mind from the pain. It seems every time Madame’s pen sweeps across a page, Emma feels a fresh pulse of agony. Just my imagination. Madame isn’t so powerful as that. Is she?
“Come and speak to me the next time you receive a vision. Is that not what I asked you, Emma Dalmore?” Her back remains turned.
“Madame.”
“Madame is not an answer, it is an evasion. Why have you disobeyed me again?”
Emma clears her throat. “I obeyed the King, Madame. He bid me kill a man and deliver his spirit, and I have yet to give Him what He has asked for.”
Madame Dalmore nods to Mr. Seek, who reaches into his greatcoat and withdraws Emma’s black-bladed dagger, placing it on the desk at Madame’s side. For a moment, her eyes flick to pure white as she gazes at the weapon2. “To whom does this unfortunate spirit belong?”
“I do not know his name, Madame. The King showed me his face, and led me to him.”
Madame turns to her loyal servant. “Seek?”
Here in the house, Mr. Seek has doffed his heavy, concealing garments, and stands unmasked in the shadowy light of Madame’s study. This close, Emma can make out each stitch and bit of clever sparkcraft that holds and animates the near-corpse.
Mr. Seek, unmasked. // Source: Midjourney
“His name was Chael DeWitte, Madame Dalmore. An enforcer among the scum of Crow’s Foot.”
“DeWitte. A name we have become familiar with.”
“Yes, Madame,” Seek rasps, his rot-breath wrinkling Emma’s nose. “The head thug of a small gang, sworn to the service of the ward’s top man, one Boss Roric.”
Madame’s gaze returns to Emma. “Our master bid you deliver him the spirit of a Crow’s Foot cutthroat? I think not.”
“He did, Madame. I swear it on my life.”
“Your life is not yours to swear. Everything you have has been given to you by me. Had I not intervened in your affairs, you’d have gone to Ladderbeck Orphanage, and from thence, to a cruel and obscure fate. Not unlike your brothers.”
Emma grits her teeth when Madame mentions her brothers, and shifts uncomfortably, her wounded arm shooting lines of pain through her body.
“Your brothers, yes. We have learned a few things about them since last we spoke,” Madame continues. “Aldo and Rian Ridley. Fallen in with a known killer named Carver Creach. Sent to the Jessek House of Diligence after the cruel death of your parents. The House of Diligence produces many upstanding and honest workers, but it does a brisk trade in training scoundrels, as well. Your brothers are known to the Crow’s Foot constables as thieves and cutpurses, under the protection of one Chael DeWitte. The man you killed. Curious.”
“Madame?” Emma says, her surprise quite genuine.
“When you came here, it was made clear that your family is gone. You have no siblings, save your Dalmore sisters. No parents, save for me. But you, alone among your sisters, could not let go of your past. Even though Crow’s Foot and its worthless denizens saw fit to take your parents, you return, like an animal to its leavings. You choose to steal your promise and the blessings the King saw fit to bestow on you and use them to benefit whom? Your brothers, who have become no better than the monsters who left your mother and father bleeding in the gutter. You left the protection of this house, and put our secrecy at risk, all to participate in some petty underworld feud.”
“The King bid me, Madame! He…”
“You lie,” Dalmore hisses back. “The Burnt King demands great and lordly sacrifices — princes and high officials of the Empire who have grown fat and corrupt. Not the scum of the street. You put our holy purpose at risk with this. And you were seen by an innocent3.”
“She did not see my face,” Emma protests weakly. She feels faint — under Madame’s gaze, the pain of her wound grows nearly unbearable, and her vision begins to grow black around the edges.
“She saw enough. And she has already told Mr. Dewitte’s confederates what she knows. You had so much promise, Emma, and you have thrown it all away for a lie. Now all that remains is to decide what to do with you. Your wound will need to be seen to, lest you die a useless death.”
“And then?” Emma asks.
“Then you will be locked in one of the iron cloisters to await your fate.” Her eyes flick thoughtfully to Mr. Seek’s unmoving visage. “There are… procedures available to us that might make you useful once again. Mr. Seek, take her to Dr. Caen, and seek his opinion on her potential as raw material.”
“As you say, Madame,” he rattles back. Seek hauls Emma agonizingly to her feet and takes her from Madame’s presence.
Setting the Scene: Aldo and Carver’s Stakeout
Now that we’ve answered some questions about Emma’s situation, we’ll move our focus back to the Jessek boys. Carver and Aldo are staking out Dalmore House in the Six Towers while Rian gets them moved into their new digs, not too far away.
Mechanically, this scene represents a role on Aldo’s part — he’s using Advance a Long-Term Project, and that LTP is “Find Emma.” As a GM, I feel like when that clock is filled, the Jesseks need to have a concrete opportunity to rescue Emma, so if Aldo fills the clock this scene, we’ll have to deliver that opportunity. So far, Aldo has used one downtime action (back in Session 2) to find Emma, which filled two ticks of the clock, and then the gang did the Laroze job, which gave them another two ticks for free (represented by their connection with Laroze, and the subsequent information she delivered). So, all that remains is two ticks, which Aldo will attempt to fill using his Survey action rating, hence the stakeout.
Aldo rolls Survey (Advance a Long Term Project) Dice Pool: 1d (Attribute Rating) +1d (Carver Aids Result: 5,1 Partial Success, Two Ticks Stress: Carver +1 (5 Total)
The clock is filled. The boys will have their shot at Emma. Since we know they’re likely to make an attempt to rescue Emma, we’ll also have Aldo gather information about Dalmore House’s security and patterns.
A partial success reveals some information, but nothing critical about the house’s security.
Count on Carver
Also as part of this scene, I want to put a little more focus on Carver — as I was reading some back episodes, he was feeling pretty underdeveloped. I don’t plan to solve that whole problem in a single setup scene, but it’s worth planting some seeds to get started.
So what’s Carver’s deal? We know that he’s a violent guy who’s trapped in a life of crime but wants to turn away from violence. Years of abuse and the violence of Jessek House have left him prone to violent and self-destructive urges, and he relies on Aldo and Rian to moderate those impulses and act as his conscience.
Importantly, we don’t know what caused him to try to step back from these violent impulses, and as we’re thinking about reuniting the family and causing some drama, it’d be worthwhile to know more about Carver’s backstory.
Truth be told, I didn’t have a great answer to that question before kicking off the campaign, so I decided to roll for it. I used the Starforged Theme Oracale, which is a solid expansion of the Ironsworn one I’ve used in PTFO:Stonetop, and my result was MournSpirit. That suggested something of a supernatural explanation, so I’ll start to lay some of that groundwork in that scene. At the gaming table, this could look like the GM giving Carver’s player a platform to reveal some of this currently-hidden backstory, i.e. “Hey player, how does Carver’s spooky old friend make his or her presence known during the stakeout?”
Back to the action:
Scene 3: A deserted flat in Six Towers
There is a low, skittering sound that draws Aldo’s attention away from the grand gates of Dalmore House, and the estate beyond. He takes the spyglass from his eye — two chipped, cloudy lenses on either end of a worn leather tube and glances around. A rat stirs in the corner of the abandoned flat, cleaning its face with its little, pink claws. It meets Aldo’s eyes for a moment, raising its head and sniffing the air. A few feet away, Sleeping against the far wall, Carver stirs and shifts, and the rodent scurries back into the cracks of the crumbling walls.
Aldo returns his attention to the stately manor across Mistshore Avenue. He and Carver have watched the place in shifts throughout the shadows of day and into the pitch of night. A pale, harried-looking valet has come and gone in a goat4-drawn cart, returning with the week’s provisioning, and a few similarly nervous-looking couriers have gone on errands, but no sign of Emma. For the second time, Aldo spots the ominous, slender figure of Mr. Seek stalking the grounds, leading a pair of black dogs on chain leads. The dogs scent the air with an eerie calm, their golden eyes flashing in the dark night.5
Carver shifts again, sleeping fitfully. Aldo sits up, his eyes now fixed on his brother. The room is already cold — there are holes in the roof, with the ink-black sky peeking through, and the wind whistles through cracks in the cloudy, dark windowpanes. But now, the chill sharpens, and Aldo sees his breath mist in front of his face.
“Let him sleep, damn you,” Aldo mutters under his breath. Carver groans, and twists himself into a ball, his hands moving to protect himself from unseen blows, while his face twists in a hanged-man rictus.
Aldo goes to his side and takes him by the shoulder, shaking him roughly. “Carv, man, wake up. It’s all right. I’m here.”
Carver starts awake, and his hand goes for Aldo’s collar, seizing him in a split second and lifting his hand to strike before his eyes clear and he sees his brother’s face. His eyes close, and he shakes his head. “Damn it. I’m sorry, Aldo.” The chill fades from the air, the presence of the spirit dispersing as quickly as it had come.
“Not your fault, Carv. Rest a moment, and then try to get a bit more shuteye. I’ll wake you at dawn for your shift.”
Carver nods and turns over, and Aldo returns to his vigil at the window. And just in time — there is a stir at the grand entryway of Dalmore House. Aldo trains the spyglass on the front door, and he sees a small party emerge. First, an old, stooped greybeard in a long brown coat. He bears himself with tight anger, speaking and stabbing the ground with his silver-tipped cane. Second — Aldo gasps — is Emma, garbed in her black jacket and skirts, pale hair blowing in the cool wind. She is hunched and tense, cradling her bandaged arm. Rian said she was hurt. Chael didn’t go easy, Aldo whispers to himself. He focuses all his attention on the scene silently unfolding before him.
The last out of the door is a familiar, unsettling face. Aldo’s heart quickens for a moment when Mr. Seek seems to look directly through the window and through the spyglass into his eye. After a moment, he looks away, turning to Emma and taking her by the arm, pulling her towards an approaching carriage. He leaves her behind to wave the driver to a halt and open the carriage door, but before he can recaptur e Emma, the old man intercepts him, speaking sharply and gesturing with his cane. Seek moves towards Emma, but the old man bars his way, seemingly unafraid of the fearsome Mr. Seek. He seems to speak quote sharply to Seek and then turns to Emma, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. Emma straightens as she replies, seemingly to calmly deflect his concern and bid him farewell before turning to rejoin Mr. Seek of her own accord. She enters the carriage, and Seek leaps up next to the driver, who gives the goats the whip, and they begin to rattle down the manor’s carriageway.
Aldo watches the carriage rattle on for a moment, before regretfully shaking Carver awake again. “Wake up, Carv. We may have our moment,” Aldo whispers. He turns back to the window, and looks again. The old man is stalking down the carriageway on foot towards the tall iron gates of the manor’s grounds, his face twisted up in frustration.
Carver’s eyes snap open and into focus. “Not a worry, Aldo. What’s the play?”
We’re going to pause the action here, for a dilemma6. There are a couple of approaches the Jesseks could take to this mission, and we’ll decide which with a reader’s poll. Then, next episode will begin with the Engagement Roll7 and an attempt to reunite the family!
Here are the possible approaches Aldo is considering, and how Emma might react to them:
Assault: Mr. Seek is a fearsome opponent, but perhaps working together, the Jesseks could lay an ambush and overcome him, freeing Emma from the carriage and making an escape. Once free, Emma will perhaps be able to contact the Burnt King herself and then deal with Madame Dalmore on equal footing, since the King promised her some sort of ‘mark for all the faithful to see.’
Social/Deception: Aldo observes that the old man seems to care for Emma — this is Mr. Flint, Emma’s spirit-trafficking ally, though Aldo doesn’t know that. Aldo considers making contact with Flint, perhaps grabbing him off the street to interrogate him, and potentially using his regard for Emma to suborn him to their side. If he can help them free her undetected, she can then give the King his sacrifice, and gain her mark, as above.
Stealth: Both of these plans have their considerable risks, and Aldo would prefer to rely on his own skill at stealth and intrusion. They’ll wait til Emma returns (something he can’t be sure of — though Flint could likely tell him) and then attempt some sort of infiltration, perhaps posing as a valet or messenger, or simply going over the fence and across the grounds (avoiding Seek’s patrols as they go). This plan is, of course, also quite risky.
We’ll do our newly customary 2-week gap between poll episodes, and our next installment will come on 7/29, with the Jesseks making a bid for Emma’s freedom.
300 subscribers! // Source: Midjourney
Thanks, as always, for reading! Last month, we blew by 300 subscribers. In the grand scheme, it’s not many but it’s still a lot of folks to GM for and with, and I’m grateful to you for spending your time with PTFO.
As a reminder — Emma was lying to Madame Dalmore when she told her the Burnt King sent her visions of her brother. The truth was that she received those visions with her own powerful abilities by attuning to the Ghost Field and sensing the Echo of their coming danger. For some reason, however, the Burnt King aided her in acting on these visions, so Emma believes that her brothers must be part of His design, somehow.
When Emma finished poor Chael off with the black blade the Burnt King gifted her, it took his spirit as well, and it remains bound until it can be delivered to her master.
Horse-sized goats have largely replaced riding horses, thanks to their unfinicky diet and constitutions. Temperment-wise, they’re a bit more like donkeys, sometimes stubborn and unruly.
This exposition is all intended to pay off Aldo’s gather information, trying to create opportunities and threats for the Jesseks to consider if they intrude onto Dalmore House’s grounds.
While fighting or a stealthy infiltration seem more actiony and fun, I think Aldo is most likely to take advantage of the clear potential ally in Mr. Flint.
While fighting or a stealthy infiltration seem more actiony and fun, I think Aldo is most likely to take advantage of the clear potential ally in Mr. Flint.
Finally up to speed and I have to say the small changes and tweaks feels more PTFO than it did before.