A Knight of Shreds and Patches Transcript
Season 3 Episode 4: Every Citizen's Right
Transcript by Cameron Robertson
Intro:
[hurdy gurdy music begins]
Nick: Welcome, listeners, to A Knight of Shreds and Patches. An immersive actual play podcast. This episode features the talents of –
Penn: Penn Van Batavia as Marathon Messenger and Gwendolyn Rozenthall.
Kit: Kit Adames as Birdie Foundling and Vaus Foundling.
Cameron: Cameron Robertson as Emma Blackwood.
Sydney: Sydney Whittington as Cassidy Shard.
Nick: Nick Robertson as GM and Narrator.
Sydney: Hello listeners, this is your editor, Sydney, with today’s messages:
Thanks for making time in your busy schedules to listen to our little ol’ podcast. It keeps our door hinges oiled and our crops watered to know that you’re out there enjoying our work. May our good vibes help with the struggles and even the minor inconveniences you’re going through.
And if you’re feeling extra handy and that WD-40 in your pocket is just crying out for use, consider backing our Patreon, which gives you access to bonus episodes, campfire conversations, and other fun rewards.
And with that, we wrap up today’s announcements and head into Season 3, Episode 4: Every Citizen’s Right. And so…
“Join us, for now our tale to yours attaches
To carry hope: a Knight of Shreds and Patches.”
[hurdy gurdy music ends]
[electronic beeping]
[robotic powerup noise begins]
Distorted Robotic Voice: Power restored. Systems online. Reconfiguring audio connection.[robotic powerup noise fades to radio frequency static]
[over radio]
Sydney (as Cassidy): Last time on a Knight of Shreds and Patches, we had so much food. It was so good...we had macaroni and cheese, and Marathon's Nana food, and pork buns and dumplings, and cronuts. And we got some stories about Marathon's Nana. It was sweet. The cronuts, of course. Birdie and Emma treated us to the always ephemeral act of nail painting, but it was a nice bit of downtime. Gonna be time to get to business soon, so may as well take the day and enjoy being in the city, as much as we can. Finding Winifred is tomorrow's task,and I have to admit I'm curious to see whether Birdie's fear (awe?) of her seductive might is rooted in reality. Her computer skills will probably be a lot more helpful to us though. Maybe she'll squint at it, hit a couple of buttons, and it'll be as easy as that. A girl can hope.
[radio static]
Episode Start:
Nick: The members of the Patina are awakened by sunlight streaming into the shipping container that they have made their base on Sasnak Traveling. It was a little bit of a late night last night for everyone and there wasn't a need to rise too early, but you find yourselves drawn into the main room by the smell of breakfast. It looks like Vaus arrived early and took it upon themselves to cook. How ready is everybody for the day as you assemble to begin your mission?
Kit: For once Birdie was one of, if not the first, person up because she couldn't sleep very well and especially knowing that Vaus would be around in the morning. She was eager to go and be able to talk to them, maybe before everyone else woke up. So she's sitting at the kitchen table in her pajama bottoms from the night before and has a looser fitting tank top on top. Her hair is in rollers - she didn't have rollers with her in her bag in the truck so she probably found them in her things somewhere and for old times put them in before going to bed last night. She's on her first plate of eggs that seemingly have bits of pepper and cheese and some ham in them and Vaus is as silent as normal, fully dressed for the day in pretty much the same standard black clothing that they always seem to wear.
Sydney: Cassidy is also up fairly early. Normally she's up to make breakfast, but today she was relieved from the duties by being a guest and so is out at the table already in her day clothes enjoying a breakfast that she didn't have to make, having some light small talk with Birdie, respecting the silence of Vaus, looking out the window to enjoy the new view while the city is a little bit quieter in the morning.
Penn: Emma wakes up to Marathon doing chin ups on the bottom of the bunk bed frame near to where her feet are as she's almost finished with her calisthenics routine, trying to stay within the confines of the shipping container. But is just breathing a little heavy as she's on to her second set.
Penn (as Marathon): [working out noises] 3-4-5-6
Cameron: Emma wakes up and immediately looks to the end of the bed.
Penn: And sees Marathon's head bobbing up and down.
Cameron: She leans forward, up and over her knees to get a better view down at Marathon and see what on earth she's doing besides just bobbing up and down.
Cameron (as Emma): Marathon. What are you doing?
Penn: Marathon's got her knees tucked up.
Penn (as Marathon): [work out noises] Uh. One more. [deep breath] Yeah.
Penn: And Marathon tries to set down gracefully.
Penn (as Marathon): You know, uh~
Penn: And starts rubbing the back of her neck.
Penn (as Marathon): Just morning calisthenics. Trying to keep ahead of the game without ditching the shipping container.
Cameron (as Emma): Could you not find anything taller to use? That can't have uncomfortable.
Penn (as Marathon): I mean it wasn't, but that's the challenge, right?
Cameron (as Emma): No, I don't think that's the kind of discomfort you're going for with working out. You want like a good muscle burn not a muscles in pain because awkward posture.
Penn (as Marathon): I'm trying my hardest in here. They don't have like a bar and I'm not sure what structurally integrit-
Cameron (as Emma): All right.
Penn (as Marathon): - if that's how you say it, but I could I tested the bunk bed so
Cameron (as Emma): Yeah. All -all right.
Penn (as Marathon): I'm sorry to wake you up. You can go back to sleep.
Cameron (as Emma): Ah nah it's - I'm awake now. It's fine.
Penn (as Marathon): Yeah. Do you want to do - I got - I'm just gonna do another round of push ups if you want to join me right away.
Cameron (as Emma): Sure. I will join in push ups.
Penn (as Marathon): Perfect.
Penn: And Marathon and Emma roll down. Marathon's wearing some cloth athletic looking shorts along with the same white crop top from the night before.
Cameron: And Emma's got on her cropped tank and her loose linen pants, which are the perfect thing to be working out in.
Cameron (as Emma): Do you have a number we're aiming for?
Penn (as Marathon): Oh yeah. Last set -
Cameron (as Emma): [yawning]
Penn (as Marathon): - so we gotta reach - we got to get to 55. So
Cameron (as Emma): Okay.
Penn (as Marathon): Yep, let's go.
Cameron (as Emma): All right.
Nick: After you're done working out the smell of frying sausage makes its way to the bedroom and you can hear others trundling around in the kitchen area and you make your way to the rest of the group where breakfast appears to be well underway.
Penn (as Marathon): Morning y'all.
Cameron (as Emma): Good morning, everybody.
Penn (as Marathon): Smell's great Vaus.
Kit (as Birdie): Hi.
Sydney (as Cassidy): You slept really sweaty.
Cameron (as Emma): Oh no.
Penn (as Marathon): [overlapping] Nah I just didn't - yeah.
Cameron (as Emma): [overlapping and overjoyed] We've been doing push ups.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Oh.
Penn (as Marathon): [way too awake] Yeah~.
Kit (as Birdie): Why?
Sydney (as Cassidy): Okay.
Penn (as Marathon): Calisthenics.
Kit (as Birdie): Oh~.
Penn (as Marathon): Gotta do my routine. Hey just - I took a little break while we were at the uh spa in French Lick, but no rest for the - for the -
Cameron (as Emma): Buff.
Penn (as Marathon): Buff.
Cameron (as Emma): [laughing]
Penn (as Marathon): There we go. Thank you Emma. Thank you.
Cameron (as Emma): Uh huh. No problem.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Staying fit is a Marathon.
Penn (as Marathon): Yeah! [laughing]
Cameron (as Emma): [sigh]
Penn (as Marathon): Thank you Miss Cassidy. Vaus this looks great.
Kit: Vaus will nod at Marathon with a slight smile and will take a plate with their free hand and nod to the plate and gesture with two fingers for 2-3-4 eggs, asking Marathon how many eggs.
Penn: Marathon gets a smug look on her face and holds up four, almost like it was obvious.
Cameron (as Emma): Goodness gracious.
Kit: Vaus nods as if they were also expecting this from Marathon and dishes up a hearty serving of eggs and hands it over to Marathon before repeating the same for Emma.
Cameron (as Emma): Just two for me, please.
Kit: And Vaus will provide Emma with the eggs before getting their own plate and sitting down.
Cameron (as Emma): Thank you. Did you find the cronuts we left for you?
Kit: Vaus glances over at the box that is very obviously on the counter, and then looks at Emma and nods and will make a sign that they tend to make pretty often so context clues probably means thank you.
Cameron (as Emma): No problem. Thank you for breakfast.
Cameron: Emma digs in to her eggs.
Sydney: Cassidy between bites, raises an eyebrow at Birdie and tilts her head towards Vaus.
Kit: Birdie has her mouth full of eggs and is looking at Cassidy a little lost. [laugh] She's used to communicating silently with Vaus not anyone else.
Sydney: Cassidy shrugs it looks at Vaus.
Sydney (as Cassidy): So you know where Winifred is?
Kit: Birdie goes,
Kit (as Birdie): [mouth full of eggs so all muffled] Oh~. Mhm. Mhm.
Kit: Vaus laughs a little under their breath at Birdie and will nod. They'll turn around to get a notepad and a pencil out of what seemingly is the junk drawer of the counters in the kitchen and writes out an address for Cassidy.
Sydney (as Cassidy): And there was something that was slightly less than know where she was - there was a hand waggle of, uh uncertainty.
Kit: Vaus will tilt their head from side to side again, and will turn the Birdie and gesture with their hands a few times and Birdie nods.
Kit (as Birdie): Uh so this is her permanent address, but she's not always there is the thing. It's
Sydney (as Cassidy): Ah okay.
Kit (as Birdie): You can send mail there, but you know, she might get it three months later, or something. I don't think Winifred ever checked the mail either way.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Well, that's a start at least.
Kit (as Birdie): Yeah.
Sydney (as Cassidy): While I have you here, your ink is great and I wasn't impressed by any of the artists that I saw yesterday. Do you have a tattoo artist recommendation?
Kit: Vaus' face lights up a little bit. You can tell that tattooing and body modification is an interest of theirs. And they'll nod a little eagerly and will write out two things actually. One of them says me and has a little arrow that points towards Vaus, and then a plus sign and it says Beyond Skin.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Oh, you do it too?
Kit: Vaus will laugh a little bit and will pull up their right sleeve and gesture to a large portion of their forearm that is completely blacked out in ink and underneath you can kind of see the raised skin of tattoos that were done decently well, but they apparently covered them up for one reason or another and then will make a few offhand gestures and Birdie will pick up for them.
Kit (as Birdie): Um. The big piece - the full body piece was made by one of the artists at Beyond Skin and they mostly do smaller things like I mean Vaus do you do you do flowers at all? I mean,
Sydney: Cassidy in her black tank top rolls her shoulders over to show the flowers all the way up her arms on to her back.
Kit: Vaus will lean across the table to look and they're rather tall so they're able to get pretty close and takes one hand and touches the tattoo on Cassidy's arm that's nearest to her elbow. Their hands are freezing cold - and they'll think about it for a minute and then nod and again has a small conversation with Birdie to which Birdie will say
Kit (as Birdie): They think that they could do it, but they would like to see if you would rather an artist from the place first, like a professional - see if you like their styles.
Sydney: Cassady nods in respect for the art.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Yeah, cool. I will give them a look and come back to report my findings.
Thank you for the recommendation.
Kit: Vaus will smile probably the biggest you've seen them smile and will nod and stand to take their plate to the sink.
Kit (as Birdie): So um, are we going to go and try to do Winifred first, or do you guys want to see your tin can friend? I suppose it's just Cassidy.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Yeah, let's go see Winifred first.
Kit (as Birdie): Okay.
Sydney (as Cassidy): I don't know that we're gonna get to just like walk in and go see a government official. So
Kit (as Birdie): Yeah, unless you break in.
Penn (as Marathon): And I think you're stalling. I mean,
Kit (as Birdie): Wha- Marathon!
Cameron (as Emma): You're not supposed to say that out loud, Marathon.
Kit: Vaus snorts.
Penn (as Marathon): Yeah. Oh, yeah. Sorry.
Penn: Marathon duck's her head back down and while flickering her eyes between everyone slowly takes her last huge bite of eggs.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Yeah, as I was saying, I think it would make more sense to go see Winifred first for no other reasons. No hidden agendas.
Penn (as Marathon): Hmm mhm.. Mhm.
Kit (as Birdie): Mhm. Yeah, I'm sure. Okay, so we could do Winifred then depending on how long that takes, see if we can request an audience and then maybe stop by your tattoo place on the way back?
Sydney (as Cassidy): Yeah. I mean, you guys don't have to sit and watch me get tattooed. Or get put on the waitlist and then in like, free to do whatever.
Kit (as Birdie): Maybe I'll get one too.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Yeah.
Kit (as Birdie): Yeah.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Be tattoo buddies again.
Kit (as Birdie): Yeah, it was fun the last time.
Kit: Vaus' head snaps to the side and looks at Birdie, wide eyed and Birdie is just a little caught off guard - like a parent just found out that she has a tattoo and Birdie just sighs and will turn as well to show the tattoo that she got on the back of her shoulder. And will turn her head to the Patina to explain.
Kit (as Birdie): Vaus wanted to give me my first tattoo. That's it. So I'm sorry Vaus. I just - I was having fun and we were we were I had a nice tattoo buddy. I promise you you can do you can do the next one. You can do it while I'm here.
Kit: Birdie's tattoo now that it's been healed for several months has a little bit of wear and tear to it is you know she has been fighting but it's still pretty clear. The black cats traditional styled head with the words 'today flesh' and under it 'tomorrow maggots' and Vaus takes a second. Their face doesn't move first, but they'll nod and will say out loud,
Kit (as Vaus): If you got it for Zan, I don't care. I'll do your second one.
Kit: And Birdie will nod and she's blinking back the instinct to get misty eyed.
Cameron (as Emma): Okay, should we get ready?
Kit (as Birdie): Do I have to?
Sydney (as Cassidy): I mean I'm already ready. So whenever you guys are.
Kit (as Birdie): Yeah, yeah, it'll -
Sydney: Cassidy spreads her legs, puts her head back in her arms and takes on the stance of the most obviously at ease.
Penn (as Marathon): Hm.
Kit (as Birdie): [sigh]
Penn (as Marathon): Tempted to tip the chair.
Cameron (as Emma): [surprised laugh]
Kit (as Birdie): Why would you say that out loud?
Sydney (as Cassidy): You're welcome to try.
Cameron (as Emma): [laughing] Marathon!
Penn: Marathon scoots her chair up and walks behind Cassidy's chair - just gives a little flinch as if
she was going to go for it and then continues back to the room where she and Emma were staying.
Penn (as Marathon): Almost gotcha.
Cameron (as Emma): Ah~.
Sydney (as Cassidy): I have a lot of knives on me.
Penn (as Marathon): I'd like to see them.
Kit (as Birdie): I'm sure you would.
Cameron (as Emma): Mm. [uncomfortable noises]
Kit (as Birdie): Eugh. [uncomfortable noises]
Nick: The rest of the morning is a whirlwind of activity as the Patina finishes their breakfast, prepares for the day, asks any last minute clarifying questions about the layout of Sasnak or where Winifred may be of Birdie and Vaus, and shortly after they are making their way back down out of the Stacks of Sasnak. Birdie, the address that Vaus supplied is within the main agricultural bubble on the main level of Sasnak and you lead your friends down back towards Merchants Alley, which is one of the easiest ways to get across the city and access a lot of the bubbles where important industry is done or the richer members of the population live. How have y'all dressed for your first full day in public on Sasnak?
Penn: Marathon has a dark gray bandana tied around her head so that it pulls over most of her hair to keep what's becoming a shaggier and shaggier version of her original mullet to keep that hair out of her face. Below all that she's wearing a nice looking muscle tank tucked into some high waisted blue jeans. It's a dark gray muscle tank to match the bandana and a gray and black striped cotton button up tied around her waist.
Kit: Birdie definitely took the longest to get ready. She changed three times and kept going back into her room and changing again. Mostly because she knows on the inside that Winifred will be happy to see her no matter what hopefully, but she needs to be presentable in a way that an older sister would approve of and she still thinks that her older sister is the coolest person in the world, so she's trying to make the coolest outfit possible and ends up with a pair of pretty short, dark brown almost black shorts. There have quite a few pockets they seem to be cut off by hand. They have a few patches sewn on to them, a pretty large, seemingly tactical jacket that she again probably pulled out of her closet from the things that she left here and has a dark army green tank top that has a long collar going around and belt buckles all the way up as well as a few more pockets. There's a lot of pockets happening. She has a small satchel threaded into her belt loops and looped once around her left thigh so that she can keep an eye on her things without her backpack and her signature very large stompy boots. She's seemingly satisfied.
Sydney: Cassidy is wearing pretty much the same outfit she had been wearing - a black tank top, khaki shorts. She reaches a couple of times to tap the spot on her thigh where the holster that had the pistol would have been cause she had been used to wearing it while her arm was healing but keeps meeting air because they're not citizens and don't get to openly carry. She's got on her standard leather work boots. Her hair is back in a rope braid where there are two smaller braids then braided together into one longer braid that goes down most of her back and she sees that the rest of the crew in their shopping trips or luggage diving had produced some novel outfits and resolves to expand her own fashion horizons while they're on Sasnak and is giving a detail oriented eye to the stalls and the shops that they pass looking for inspiration.
Nick: You find that the crowds in Merchants Alley as you begin the trek across the main platform of Sasnak are already thick, even in the late morning. You would often expect for crowds to assemble later in the day, but apparently a lot of people have things to secure today. You also notice the same aura of tension that was around the speech that you witnessed yesterday. People seem unhappy and suspicious of each other. And I need everybody to make me a hard Streetwise or Perception check. If you do Perception you have two black die.
Cameron: If you do Perception and you're engaged with me, you also add two blue die because I have Heightened Awareness as a talent.
Nick: Yeah, if you're walking next to each other in a group in a crowd, you're absolutely engaged. So
Kit: Yeah, I also have Heightened Awareness so we have two of us. I'm gonna flip a Story Point because Birdie knows Sasnak and at least can guess what things are about anyways for a Streetwise check.
Nick: Makes sense.
Kit: I'm rolling three yellow, one blue, and three purple.
[dice rolling]
Kit: I think I just got a complete wash.
Sydney: I rolled two yellows, a green, and two blues against three purples and two blacks. And I got two failures and an advantage.
Cameron: For my Perception check I'm rolling two yellows, one green, two blue, two black, and three purple. One success, one advantage.
Penn (as Marathon): I'm rolling two greens, a yellow, and three purples. That's three successes and a threat.
Nick: Wow. Okay, so starting off, Birdie, something feels off to you in the crowd, but you don't notice anything that's particularly noteworthy. And Cassidy, you are looking around being alert as usual, especially in a populated area, but what causes you all to be distracted to where you don't notice anything out of the ordinary?
Sydney: Cassidy sees a clothes shop that's exactly her vibes. As they're walking past, she is just tracking it with her head more and more until she's almost looking over her shoulder and then
snaps back and bumps into Birdie.
Kit: Birdie barely even registers it because while they were back at the house this morning, it was easy to not have to think about the fact that she was going to see Winifred again and that Winifred thinks that she's dead. Now that they're going towards Winifred it's really started to hit her, so her eyes have kind of just been glued to the ground, trusting her muscle memory to get her to the dome where Vaus tipped them off to go. She's kind of wildly dissociating. She's not really hearing anything - it's kind of all just a lot of noise. And she is seemingly just trying not to look at anyone in the crowd and not be here right now.
Nick: Marathon, something causes the back of your neck to prickle as you get the feeling in this crowd as you're walking that was very similar to ice derby when their formations were lining up for a dirty play, or someone was preparing to just start a fight in the middle of the ice. The way people are looking around, the way that people are trying to avoid parts of the street, something is worse than the population being uncomfortable or restless. Something is about to happen and you're not sure where it's going to come from, but you have a worrying feeling that the Patina is currently in the middle of it.
Emma, as you were looking around, you notice that there is a clearing in the crowd ahead. And you take a glance behind you and see several members of private security that look like they're wearing the same uniform as one of the groups that was providing security for the speech yesterday. They're wearing black uniforms with what looks like thick plastic armor on the shoulders and chest and thighs and they are shoving crowd out of the way moving towards you. They're not looking at you directly, but it looks like they're moving ahead of you. Their goal is to push past you - you're part of the crowd. And then when you look to the front again, you see another group of security wearing red uniforms pushing in the other direction and you realize that your friends are in the middle of where they're going to meet.
Penn (as Marathon): Y'all the vibe is like when in Tree All the street fight - like we got street fight vibe about to happen.
Cameron (as Emma): We're becoming a security sandwich.
Cameron: Emma grabs Birdie at least who is obviously spacing out and starts shifting rapidly to one side of the street.
Penn: Marathon tries to look where Emma was looking and tries to pull Cassidy in the opposite direction.
Sydney: Cassidy resists and starts tugging towards Emma.
Penn (as Marathon): Oh, I'll be over here.
Sydney (as Cassidy): [no come back!] Marathon!
Sydney: Cassidy follows Emma.
Nick: At this point, as you start tugging at each other and trying to clear the way. you hear someone ahead of you shout
Nick (as Security): Clear the road!
Nick: And at your feet there is a hollow metallic ping and you see what looks to be a grenade that was dropped from a level above you. There is a loud hiss as caustic gas begins to fill the alley and people begin to scream and run. Civilians are diving into side walkways and trying to find stairwells up out of the way and these security cordons are charging at each other and you all are in the middle, and we're going to cut away from that situation.
We see a dark room. A spotlight somewhere in a high ceiling shines on a polished wooden table, large enough for 12 to 15 people to sit comfortably around it. The table is round, reflects the light and has very few people sitting at it at this time. On one side, we see the First Sword of Sasnak, Gwendolyn, wearing her formal uniform yet again with her badge of office, her sword strapped to her back as a reminder to the other people in this room what her primary purpose can be, if necessary. Across from each other at cardinal directions to this table are two people who ooze power and confidence. One of them is a large woman with rolls of skin over a tight dress. She sits hunched over the table glaring at the man opposite her. Her hair is up in a bun with intricate braids, circling it like some sort of nest.
Across from her is a man that looks like leather stretched over a skeleton. He has dark skin that appears to be aged by the sun, but you wouldn't be able to guess if he is 30 or 80 years old. His bones stick out at sharp angles from his face, and through the black business suit and tie, you can see that his limbs are thin to the point of almost emaciation. His head is shaved and his eyes are dark as he stares with gentle amusement at the woman glaring at him across the table. The entire room is vibrating with the low hum of the drive of Sasnak, placing this boardroom above the Guts but well below the living area where the citizenry make their homes.
Penn (as Gwendolyn): All right. Um. Well, we're all here. Let's find a way to get to peace, right? Peace we can agree.
Penn: And Gwendolyn, looking very tall, even sitting in her chair, makes a gesture where she's shaking both of her hands together as if it were them shaking hands.
Penn (as Gwendolyn): Peace. Okay. So Opal, state the problem.
Cameron (as Opal): [rich posh lady voice] Well, First Sword, Councilor Wander and I appear to have submitted identical proposals, even though we have vastly different enterprises, we're apparently indistinguishable and there is no winning bid for the Crystal Canyon. So we're coming to you for your assistance.
Penn (as Gwendolyn): Not even a canyon. Okay. Thank you for sharing. Wander?
Nick (as Wander): [deep condescending voice] My compatriot here has stated the issue fairly plainly, although I do notice.
Nick: And he has a sardonic look on his face as he continues,
Nick (as Wander): I do notice that she left out a couple of important details, one of which being that we have held this contract for Crystal Canyon for three years up until this point. So it would make sense to continue the level of service that my mercantile endeavors have already given to some of the upper echelons of this fine city. So I don't know exactly why we're here because the decision should have already been made.
Penn (as Gwendolyn): Well, it wasn't. So we're going to come to a decision here, okay? And we are all educated people. We all know the language. Let's just talk a little bit more frank here. I want to get this quick. We only have so much time. [sigh] I don't want anything mobilizing on the streets, okay? That's - A, can we agree to pause until anything until we come to a resolution here?
Cameron (as Opal): Of course First Sword. I shall send no orders.
Nick (as Wander): Sword - to get into a position like mine, one does not commit to action or inaction without a promise of gain. I would see no gain for promising any lack of action before we even know what the decision will be.
Penn (as Gwendolyn): Okay, well. Hmm. How can we resolve this?
Nick (as Wander): You asked us to speak plainly First Sword.
Penn (as Gwendolyn): [obviously finds politicians annoying] Mhm.
Nick (as Wander): I can make no promises for my men especially while this negotiation continues. Of course, we would all hope to avoid violence, but I am not the one that brought violence to the streets.
Nick: And Wander turns his gaze to look at Opal.
Penn (as Gwendolyn): Opal are these accounts true? Are you bringing some sort of violence to the streets.
Penn: She gives some air quotes, rustling her sword making it clink a little.
Cameron: Opal is sitting with her hands crossed delicately in front of her on the table.
Cameron (as Opal): First Sword, I believe we both have had security details patrolling. It is not strictly my company that has been doing so.
Nick (as Wander): I've yet to see any evidence that your company was anything but the aggressors in the spats that we've had so far.
Penn (as Gwendolyn): And so both of your messengers arrived at the exact same time for the contract with the exact same bid - we're stuck at a stalemate. Is that correct?
Cameron (as Opal): That is what we had been told. Yes.
Penn (as Gwendolyn): Okay. Well, think about the position you've put me in here now. So we're at a complete stalemate and I don't have any sort of way to resolve this that's not going to make anybody not mad. But I do want to get this over with very quickly so that there is no violence in the streets and so you really can't blame me here - we're gonna resolve this with a game of Ramps, Guts, Domes, and I'm ready to enforce the result. Let's stand up, come on.
Penn: And Gwendolyn pushes her chair back as she steps back so that she can watch both of them, waiting for them to stand up.
Cameron: Opal places her hands flat on the table and slowly and elegantly pushes herself into a standing position.
Penn (as Gwendolyn): Thank you, Opal.
Cameron (as Opal): Of course, First Sword.
Nick: Wander, stands and crosses his arms.
Nick (as Wander): My apologies Sword, but there's too much at stake to leave to a game of chance. I refuse this solution.
Penn (as Gwendolyn): Well, you know, there's always the fight. I'm presiding currently.
Penn: And Gwendolyn reaches over her back and slowly withdraws her sword. When she holds her sword, her tall frame, which already takes up so much of the room, the giant sword along with it seems like there's a magnet that it's absorbing all of the light in the room towards her and the sword.
Nick: Councilor Wander smiles widely and you could see that his teeth are filed to points and he says,
Nick (as Wander): I like the way you think, First Sword. It is every citizen’s right to solve disagreements by combat. That is something the city was founded on even though some may be uncomfortable with the backbone of Sasnak Traveling. Councilor Opal, if you insist that our contracts were identical and submitted in an identical time, I would be happy to meet you in the arena and settle this.
Cameron (as Opal): It is not I who am insisting that they are identical, Wander.
Penn (as Gwendolyn): It doesn't have to be in the arena. Like I said, I am presiding.
Nick (as Wander): If my counterpart is willing to engage now, I am as well.
Nick: And Councilor Wander jumps up onto the table and cracks his neck with a loud pop turning his head one direction and the other.
Cameron (as Opal): [sigh of 'these fucking men'] If my counterpart is unable to solve things peacefully then I do not oppose of this solution.
Penn (as Gwendolyn): All right, I've seen worse on the table. Okay, everybody state your weapon.
Cameron (as Opal): Revolver.
Nick (as Wander): I'll be happy enough with my fists
Cameron (as Opal): First Sword, would you be so kind as to assist me onto the table?
Penn (as Gwendolyn): Ah, yes, of course, Opal.
Penn: And Gwendolyn awkwardly holding the sword positions it so it's leaning on one shoulder as she grabs Opal's hand to help her onto the table.
Cameron: Opal steps up into the chair and then up onto the table from there.
Cameron (as Opal): Thank you.
Cameron: And goes and positions herself the appropriate distance away from Councilor Wander.
Penn (as Gwendolyn): Duelers - do you accept the laws of Sasnak and all the conflict resolution that combat entails?
Cameron (as Opal): Yes, First Sword.
Nick (as Wander): I do.
Penn (as Gwendolyn): May the duel begin.
Penn: And Gwendolyn takes a long step back away from the round table.
Nick: As soon as Gwendolyn says begin, Opal draws a large polished revolver from somewhere - hard to guess where she was keeping it - and immediately pulls the trigger. Councilman Wander dodges to one side and begins to run at her moving in a unpredictable fashion much more quickly than you would expect someone to be able to move. The single light source from above shows bullet holes in his suit jacket as he moves closer. He gets within striking distance of Opal and pulls back his fist, suddenly triumphant having gotten inside her aim, and then looks down to see a another revolver in her other hand, the barrel touching his chest before he is thrown backwards with the force of multiple rounds and slides, leaving a dark smear of blood across the council table.
Penn: Gwendolyn after taking just a second to observe the scene, sword still balanced on her shoulder takes a step forward again, peeks down at Wander.
Penn (as Gwendolyn): Well, Opal, congratulations. You've won the duel. Looks like the contract goes to you. I trust you can clean this mess up?
Cameron: Opal slips her revolvers back into wherever they came from, and nods fairly regally.
Cameron (as Opal): Of course First Sword. I'll have my people take care of it right away.
Cameron: And she looks down at Wander with a mixed look of disgust, pity, and annoyance and is like
Cameron (as Opal): Could have solved this peacefully.
Cameron: And goes to reach for Gwendolyn's hand again to assist her in getting off of the table.
Penn: As Gwendolyn helps Opal down, she gives a sigh of relief and says
Penn (as Gwendolyn): I'm just just glad we kept it out of the streets.
Nick: All right, make me a Melee attack with two black die because of the amount of objectives you are trying to achieve at once with this.
Kit: So two purple, two black, against two green and two yellow. Hmm. I forget for Natural if you reroll it, you have to choose what you reroll?
Cameron: Yeah.
Kit: I'm gonna take the chance and reroll it because I got two advantages and a failure. Oh, I got three successes and an advantage from the reroll.
Nick: Amazing. So you are able to bat this thing away exactly as you want. And with that advantage, it doesn't land in a group of civilians. You have cleared away the smoke grenade, the only thing that you need to worry about is the little bit of smoke that is in the area now and the multiple squads of security that are only a few steps away from you in every direction.
Penn: Marathon looks at these intimidating figures and begins to clench her fists like she's getting ready and then can see the rest of the Patina across from her and gets a flash of making the same mistake before and lets her fists loose a little bit and gets her feet a little looser and ready to move with however the rest of the Patina reacts.
Kit: Birdie acted on pure adrenaline, so she's just now realizing where she is and she will make a very threatened face and will start hightailing it back towards Cassidy.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Not our fight, y'all. Let's get out of here.
Cameron: Emma is spinning, searching for the best path to break through out of the chaos. And when she finds it, make sure that Cassidy and Birdie at least have made eye contact and see what she's doing and runs at the weakest spot in the crowd that she can see as if she's playing Red Rover. She's not trying to take them down - she's trying to get them out of the way. Like she's not doing a full ground tackle because she doesn't want to end up on the ground. She wants to be able to keep moving.
Nick: So to clear the way for your team, Emma, I need you to roll me a contested Brawl check. If you use your bat, it could be Melee, but then you're using your bat.
Cameron: Yeah, no, I'll Brawl it.
Kit: Is there like a way to assist this because Birdie has a hockey stick and is willing to bat people out of the way as well?
Nick: Knowing your stats, you could add a blue die to this. So it will be your Brawl versus a purple and two red because I am also flipping a GM Story Point.
Cameron: I'm gonna do Brawl because I'm just trying to shoulder it, but would you say that this particular person that I'm going up against has not gone yet in combat? [laugh]
Nick: Yes.
Cameron: Yay, I get a blue die for Quick Strike.
Nick: So yes, this person is not expecting to be attacked by someone they consider a civilian, you definitely have Quick Strike here.
Cameron: So for my Brawl check, I'm rolling two yellows, a green, two blues, a purple and two reds.
[dice rolling]
Cameron: Three successes and two advantages.
Nick: Great. How do you with the assistance of Birdie clear a wide path out of this fight for the Patina? I think with the advantages too, it's very apparent that you are running away so no one is chasing you either.
Cameron: Can one of the advantages be that it's obvious to Marathon where we're going so we don't just abandon her and she has a chance to find us? [laughing]
Nick: Yes.
Cameron: So after identifying the weakest link to get out of this crowd, Emma has taken off towards it to try to bust her way through and it happens to be in the direction that Marathon went when she went the opposite direction of all the rest of us. And Birdie is probably giving Emma some instructions as they're running because Birdie knows where they are and Emma does not, so Emma's using strength to get people out of their way so that they have an uninterrupted path, but Birdie is providing all directions on where that path is.
Kit (as Birdie): [frantic breathing] Left. [panting] And then we're gonna take a right, a right up there.
Cameron (as Emma): Okay. [strength noise :P]
Sydney: As they run past Marathon, Cassidy reaches out and grabs Marathon's hand and pulls her along behind them.
Penn (as Marathon): Well, thank you.
Nick: The Patina is able to get away from this conflict, although the sounds of fighting behind you continue until you are far enough away that you can no longer hear it. Whatever's going on it involves extended battles in the street. And we cut away again and see that darkened room with the single light above the wooden table. The smear of blood has not yet been cleaned as the body of Councilor Wander, twitches and then sits up. You see the glint of his pointed teeth in the light as he says to himself,
Nick (as Wander): Well, not exactly as I expected this to go, but the plan is still within parameters.
Nick: And he swings his legs over the edge of the table, stands up, and leaves under his own strength.
[hurdy gurdy music swells]
Outro:
Penn (as Marathon): Welcome back folks, you’re tuned to Going the Distance: Traveler’s Guide on road dial 1558. That’s a wrap on today’s log and we’re set to loop after these considerations. Further detail for the following is cataloged in the show notes.
This has been A Knight of Shreds and Patches, an actual play podcast using the Genesys game system from Fantasy Flight Games. The show is edited by Sydney Whittington, and features the talents of:
Kit Adames as Birdie. Kit can be found on Twitter and Instagram @ venusvultures. Kit is also a voice actor for Elevator Pitch Podcast, a queer genre-hopping anthology podcast that can be accessed on Spotify and YouTube.
Penn Van Batavia as Marathon. She can be found on Twitter @ acquiredchaste and in drag as horror king JOHN on Instagram @ john.is.risen. Penn is an indie TTRPG designer whose most recent work includes SLICE IT OUT, a grisly carving RPG about cutting pieces of yourself out to fit in. Check out faer other work at pennharper.itch.io.
Sydney Whittington as Cassidy. Sydney can be found on our Discord server, which is linked in the show notes, and on Twitter @ sydney_whitt. She’s also a contributing editor and occasional guest player for the Orpheus Protocol, a cosmic horror espionage actual play podcast.
Cameron Robertson as Emma. Cameron can be found on Twitter @ midnightmusic13 and on Instagram @ reading_and_dreaming. Cameron is also a player on Tabletop Squadron, a Star Wars Edge of the Empire actual play podcast.
And Nick Robertson as narrator. Nick can be found on Twitter @ alias58. Nick is also the GM for Tabletop Squadron. Nick can also be found as a player on the Orpheus Protocol.
This podcast features the musical talents of Dora Violet and Arne Parrott. You can find Dora at facebook.com/doraviolett. You can find Arne at atptunes.com.
The official artwork for this podcast was created by Rashed AlAkroka, who can be found on Instagram and Artstation @ rashedjrs.
You can follow the Patina on Twitter @ akosap_podcast or visit the website: www.akosap.com. To further support the show, consider joining the Patreon at www.patreon.com/AKoSaP, where we’ll be bringing you weekly content including bonus episodes, campfire conversations, and other fun rewards.
Until you tune back…
…stay bold and stay kind