*Shadow*'s page

*The next night*

Closing his eyes, Shadow becomes like his namesake, stepping into the ghost field and through the wall. Like most homes, the important bedrooms were upstairs. Once he was through the wall, he reverted back into the world of the living, although it was with the same regret that you might feel seeing a friend off on a long trip.

Drawing his cloak of living shadow around himself, he drank his vial of Arkathian holy water and felt the sounds his body made as he moved slide off of him.

Making his way up the stairs, Shadow cracked the door to the study open: As he had been told, his target was asleep at his desk. He drew a fireplace poker in his gloved hand and stood next to the man, watching him sleep. By all accounts, he was a good man and good at his job.

Once again drawing on the power of his god, Shadow again stepped into the ghost field, only this time he whispered the detective's name. "Smytheeeee." his voice came out like a corpse's death rattle.

The man snorted awake, and then almost shrieked as he looked to Shadow's ghostly image standing next to him. Only his finger on his lips and the glance in the direction of his pregnant wife's bedroom stilled the sound.

"I have need of you detective. You will be given a case soon. This case will involve the murder of a Leviathan hunter in Silkshore, a man by the name of Alric. Alric Klein. You will find that it was committed by a member of the Lampblacks pulled off this crime. I care not which. Should I find bluecoats investigating any other leads, I will return." At that, Shadow moves the fireplace poker into the middle of the desk and lets go. There is a slight squeaking sound as the wood is displaced, but nothing else to draw attention.

"And I will leave a piece of steel in something more precious to you than a desk."

Not waiting for a response, Shadow slides out the window and descends to the grounds outside to leave. Once into the shadows he will step fully back into the mortal realm.

Prowl: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 5) = 9 That's a 5.

*That morning*

Shadow is in a basement, standing at a pinnacle point of five people, who are chanting in unison. As the do so, the woman in the middle begins to writhe and spasm, shuddering violently in clearly unnatural ways. She spasms one final time and then a being of energy glides up out of the body, which hits the floor with a thud sound.

Glancing around the room, the woman smiles at each of the ritualists, and then bows before Shadow. She moves to return to her body, but shadow moves faster, slitting her throat with a bone-handled atheme. The woman screams soundlessly, and then is snatched away by unseen hands.

"Dispose of the body. Leave it in the Red Sashes territory."

Indulge: 1d6 ⇒ 1 that nets me back one stress

I got home today to find that my book arrived, so no more asking about rules (probably). I'll probably spend the weekend reading through it a few times to get a good feel for the system, but as for my downtime activities, I plan on reducing heat and seeking out a healer. We need to get one as a contact stat!

I'll get my downtime activities posted this evening.

"Praise be to Arkath. You speak the truth Crooked."

"I got stuck dealing with an overly inquisitive prostitute. As for the guard, I think what I got worked fairly well. I thought Bell had a silence potion?"

I was going to pause before going further so that if you wanted to have the prostitute do something she could.

Once downstairs, Shadow will mingle with the crowd of people who are exiting the brothel quickly.

Prowl (just going to roll and see what I get): 2d6 ⇒ (5, 3) = 8

Going to roll resistance as well.

Prowess: 3d6 ⇒ (3, 4, 1) = 8

We never agreed to it, but there is a certain kind or irony in doing it anyway. Besides, Shadow prefers more subtle solutions to ending someone's life, like turning them into a ghost.

Okay, so rules questions time: How do I resist consequences/harm? What do I need to roll (if anything).

As the guard flails about with his axe, Shadow will step back and point at the window and give the two in the room a knowing look. He will then quickly move down the hallway and back into his rented room. Turning to the girl, Shadow will say "Well, I'm all finished here. Here is your payment." and then leave his room.

2d6 ⇒ (2, 5) = 7 that's a 5

Fair enough. So I should have 2 dice then and +1 effect level.

When he hears the sounds of a door crashing to the ground, Shadow says "Wait here. Quietly." to the escort and then quietly opens the door to his room. Drawing upon his priestly talents, he slides down the hallway like a knife through water. As he moves, he pulls up his face mask and hood, which, when combined only show his eyes.

The first sound he makes is when he clears his throat behind the Hallowed. As it turns, he tosses the entire contents of a jug into it's face.

Here is how I see my dice pool: I am using Prowl to waylay him, because I am attacking him sneakily (to avoid copyright infringements). That gives me 2 dice base. I have a cloak made of shadows, which I feel should give me a die in this instance. I don't really feel the need to make a Devil's Bargain, since I have 3 dice and I feel pretty confident about making this check. Assuming I haven't missed anything, I should have 3 dice right?

Done and done. Now to post my action.

Okay, I didn't know that about Hallowed, but my character would have. How about getting some sort of chemical similar to pepper spray or mace? I don't want to damage the brothel (since they were nice enough to agree to let us work here). A face full of that will disable someone for a moment.

"Give me a moment and I will explain what is going on."

I would like to do a flashback now. In the flashback, we see Shadow talking to his contact, Black Jack, who sells occult ritual implements:

Shadow walked into Black Jack's home, which doubled as his place of business. "I need something to incapacitate a pair of Hollows for several minutes. It needs to be fast-acting but not harmful to normals."

Shadow would make her a ghost, and probably not the nice way.

Not really, no.

He's not all that savvy with women either (as his goals lean towards becoming more ghost-like, and the...delights of the flesh would be going in the wrong direction.)

Can I hear him through the door?

Okay, then, why don't we do this: I'll just push and take to stress to get a +1 die, which should put me at 1 die even. I'll mark the stress and then did you want me to roll again or just take the first die I rolled?

Well, I don't have any points in command or sway, and reading the notes on the character sheet Really well done on that,btw makes me believe that sway is the correct attribute? for what I'm trying to do.

All of the above being true, I do really like Bell's devil's bargain. It makes it a straightforward complication with the setup for a really tragic ending. I'll take the devil's bargain there and that will give me 1 die instead of 2 take the lowest, and I'll also take 2 stress to give me a die as well. That will take me to the two dice pool I rolled. Now do I keep both of them? Also, what target number am I shooting for when checking dice (or do I add them together?) the videos I watched don't really discuss or show the dice rolling methods.

I'll pass on the devil's bargain and roll another 1d6. It's interesting that it's crew tier based.

So I'm still waiting on my book, so I need a little help with building my dice pool. I have nothing in Sway, so I think I get a single die to start with? I would imagine that there is a penalty for asking her to commit a crime, which if I had to guess would be -1 die, but I think I should get a die for a large enough bribe? So if my math is correct, I should be at 1 die, right? I'll roll that for now and if I need to adjust it I can.

Sway: 1d6 ⇒ 41d6 ⇒ 1

And now I have to kill a lady of negotiable affections.

Having arrived early, shadow is drinking at the bar and watches the interaction between Vlaire and Alric. When they leave the room, he gets up, pays for his drink, selects a girl, then walks upstairs past the first guard.

Once in her room, he will turn to the girl and say "I will give you double your normal rate to stay in this room and swear to any who ask, including the bluecoats, that I was here this whole time. Does that seem fair to you?"

Depends on the house of ill repute. Some people would pay triple for that!

All we need to do is keep rolling like that and this campaign will be a cakewalk!

Shadow will go load 2

Your assessment seems pretty straightforward Raven. I have an idea of what to do about the guards, but it'll be flashback bait.

I'm down with doing deception for our plan as well. It would seem to fit our strong points.

"Don't worry, I'll keep you safe Lady Vlaire." says Shadow.

If we are going to do a honeypot, we need someone (presumably female or that can pass) to be the "entertainment" (the previous assumes that he is into women. If not then flip it).

Since it's my idea, I will be the bait if he's into men, and we will need someone to be the bait if he's into women. Now we just need to find out that information and we can start the plan.

Spitballing here, but what if we were to frame him for a crime (like murdering a prostitute) and then "help him escape" by claiming we were sent by his family. We could lead him into an alley, do what we need to do, and then skedaddle. It has the fun of getting him to lower his guard and the deliciousness of gaining his trust only to backstab him.

Shadow leaned against the wall as well, considering the rest of the group. "Killing a Leviathan hunter will be tricky, and might well have political ramifications, as whatever house he works for will probably not be pleased."

Can we get an overview or list of the kinds of plans that are available? I know in the videos that I've watched there is a list, but they have not been enumerated.

I think I will keep things simple and say my vice purveyor is Lady Kellis, who hosts rituals at her home which she frequently invites me to.

I vote for the Silkshore Stalkers.

I go where the lord of creatures-under-your-bed commands.

Seriously though, I think we should consider getting 2 status with Scurlock and then paying off either the Greycloaks or the Lampblacks, but not both. Having someone not like us will give us a good motivating factor.

As for who started the gang and whatnot, I think that I should probably be the newest member. Roslyn Kellis could be a friend of Scurlock's, who mentioned me in passing as being new to the city and asking if he had any work for someone with a particular set of skills.

He then (through intermediaries) introduced me to your group.

I would vote Ghost Echoes from Shadows for a veteran advance. Being able to interact with the shadow "Duskwall" would make for interesting stories imo.

I vote for assassins rigging as well.

As far as strange goes, for my part into that reputation, there could be rumors about me being a ghost, especially if someone saw me walk through walls.

So should we be talking about what options we want to pick for our crew?

BTW, I don't have the book yet, but I've ordered a phyiscal copy, so I will once it gets here.

Sorry I wasn't clearer, my last post was mostly tongue-in-cheek. I have no problems helping a cult of a forgotten god, as maybe a part of a priest exchange program?

As long as people are interested in worshipping The lord of veiled intimidation, Arkath, I would totally support the cult thing.