Blades in the Dark: And Several Butcher's Aprons

Last night was Blades in the Dark. Here we go!

Last time the scoundrels came up with the idea to blackmail Lady Slane, the director of operations for the Ministry of Preservation, to get her to remove opposition to the Rail Jacks unionizing (all of this to get some turf that the Rail Jacks were claiming in Nightmarket).

We open in Dunslough, with Lady Slane approaching Ironhook Prison. She meets with a guard, who hands her a piece of paper. The crew has learned from the Star that Slane runs the Billhooks, a ruthless and bloody gang of thugs, and their purported leader, Tarvul, is locked up in Ironhook. She's apparently just gotten some orders from him.

Copper and Siren do a quick one-two punch of distraction and sleight of hand, and steal the orders. Slane doesn't notice, and keeps walking. Siren checks the orders - Tarvul is ordering his people to close ranks and hassle some magistrates, so as to push them to pardon him and get him the hell out of Ironhook.

The crew follows Slane to a slaughterhouse - the Billhooks' hideout. She enters, and Siren sends Bartok, her hunting hawk, in to spy. Bartok zips straight to the rafters and remains unseen. Slane gives a set of orders to Erin and Coran, the apparent leaders on the ground, and leaves (Slane is apparently not really welcome or comfortable here; kinda a "your boss' boss" situation).

Siren decides to have Bartok snatch the orders while the Billhooks aren't looking, but one of them spots the bird and throws a bag over it. The Billhooks start arguing about the best way to cook it, and Pearl (Cage's vampire friend, remember) leaps in and trashes the place, throwing the Billhooks around and scaring the hell out of everyone. He frees Bartok (and grabs the orders, for good measure), and then vanishes, leaving the thugs terrified and bloodied but alive.

The crew checks these new orders - they're almost identical, but the list of magistrates is different and the orders don't say anything about letting them live or scaring them, just killing them. The crew takes the orders back to the lair and One-Eye analyzes them, and finds distinct but subtle differences between them. She can prove they came from different people. Now it's just a matter of putting that to Slane.

They rope a shopkeeper in Nightmarket into contacting Slane with the promise of expensive Iruvian silks, and then when she arrives, Copper and One-Eye greet her. One-Eye does the talking, and threatens Slane that if she doesn't vote the way they want on this "Rail Jacks want to be independent" issue, they'll be leaking the truth about the Billhooks to various people, including, of course, the Billhooks. Slane insults One-Eye's heritage as a Skov, but eventually caves, though she makes clear that this is a one-time arrangement, not an ongoing thing. Slane leaves, and a few days later, Spur of the Rail Jacks invites the crew back to the Bar Car. Things are progressing nicely, and he's happy to cede the turf to the Widdershins. The crew solidifies their hold (going from weak to strong), and sees very little heat from the score.

Pearl drops off the radar, going on a bit of a drunken bender (and he doesn't drink...wine). One-Eye continues working with the Unseen to shift attention away from the crew. Siren continues building up her "Skovic youth center" initiative. Cage returns, clutching books that he found while traveling. He reports being on a ship and having nightmares of siren-like creatures trying to lure him into the Void Sea; Siren says that this is a common thing. The crew talks about their next move, and Cage mentions that this whole "demon in the ocean" thing, as well as the "Kotar in Siren's head" thing, is probably a priority. The others agree, and Cage goes to talk with Lord Penderyn.

Penderyn informs Cage that the job that Madame Tesslyn offered the crew some time back wasn't just about stealing an expensive chalice - that chalice has some occult significance and might help with understanding Kotar. Cage returns to the crew and relays this, and the crew decides that, while robbing people in Brightstone isn't really their comfort zone, it's by no means out of their abilities. Turns out Rolan Wott likes to have flashy parties, and so that gives them a way in. Next time, we'll see how that plays out.