Solo Black Powder and Brimstone: The Enemy Within - Episode 8

--/-- Welcome to a Black Powder and Brimstone Solo attempt at The Enemy Within. BPnP, by Benjamin Tobitt, is a 3rd-party creation of the Mork Borg family of RPG rules. 

--/-- Mature and sexual content warning: content refers both to the original WFRP campaign and to the more hellish world of BPnP. Listener discretion is advised.

--/-- Episode 8: If you know WFRP lore, you will pick up on the hints about Salida. If not, well, squirm at the amateur attempt at erotica. Tod sets in motion a (hopefully) clever ploy to rid himself of his nemesis. A hook begins to bring us back to the plot proper. 

--/-- Background music "Cathedral" "Map Chamber" and "The Madding Crowd" from Tabletop Audio

https://larrymannplayssolobickering.blogspot.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

This podcast is rated F the filthy! Ha! Filthy! With the ten crowns in my wallet, I have the better part of a hundred gold crowns to my name. And I think that's why Salida chooses her own lodgings in the old stat. A long, weary walk away from the temple of Melmidia. Apparently, that's where we met up. She's to cook me dinner. She chooses carefully, watching her pennies. I'm patient, figuring her out. There's a quiet conversation with a roommate. Then she explains. We'll have the apartment to ourselves the whole night. My appetite's growing. There's that definite thing in the air between us. Between man and woman. We both know we want it. Her skin in its varying shades of tan to paless cream is a miracle itself, scar free. Her breasts are fine handfuls. Her ass cheeks, though not thick and pillowy, are very biteable. When I do so, she twists and pouts in a way that says, I want more of that. So I oblige. The musk of her body drives me to heights undream of for years. I become her stallion, and she rides me. There's a cowrie glint at her navel. A surprise, an insert. Not what I would have expected. I guess it's her people's custom. But damn, it turns me on even more. As she leans in, spent, she looks up at me, and I see deep within those brown eyes, the same cow reflex. In the morning, I wake early, as I always do. But Salida is already awake. Come to think of it. It's a fair breakfast. But there's a sense of urgency. She had borrowed the privacy from her roommate. We only had that night together. Presumably her roommate wants her half of the shared apartment back. As I finish up the meal, Salita hands me a note. I reflect back last night. I remember thinking of Walmar and Gilda. And their baby and the life at the time. I thought I could never have. Feels like I got a glimpse of it. It's a good thing. Feels like I want to hang on to it. Still, this note. A reference to a place, the cross pikes. I think Gautry and I walked past that place on our way to report to the magistrate. Yeah, I can place it. So the guy's to be trusted. So that her nods. To a point, she agrees. We could be direct with each other. More relaxed. I'd like to treat you to a lot of nice things, I say. I have business, but you are very important to me. And you still look amazing. Welcome dear listener to episode 8 of my palette cleanser. Using black powder and brimstone and solo borg to follow the plot as best I'm able of the enemy within. In case the disclaimer at the front of the show did not warn you, this is not a PG show. Chaos, depravity, and unspeakable vileness stalk the roads and cities of the now decayed empire. We begin this episode without apology, trying to depict, however badly, the deep connection that Todd now has with Salida. Apparently a casual acquaintance. Of course, I don't know the full plot of the enemy within. Just what I'm up to at time of recording. But I'm reasonably sure that connection will come into play in the last arc of the campaign. In the background, a couple of oracles have been rolled. On one hand, Heinstalk, the witch burner, has activated a part of the quest that might otherwise have come from other agencies within the module. On the other hand, Salida has provided a link to an important contact within the module. The crime lord Bowman at the Crossed Pikes. And that is Todd's first stop today. I was gonna go to the hiring fair. After that, maybe that leather worker, Bodarod. After that, maybe Max Ernst. After that, well down my priorities. Try and find out something about that purple hand the bastard mentioned. Selita says she'll see me at midday. Says she owes her roommate a favor for the room to ourselves. Seems I've got to see this trusted up to a point. Crime syndicate boss alone. Good. That'll bring me to mid morning, I figure, by the time I walk across the city. It's not too far from the east gate. I can get to the hiring fair after that, maybe. No point making too many plans. Midday, Salida, somewhere decent. My coin spent properly on her. The crossed pikes. Wow man. Eyes that tell me he's a killer like me. And he's got muscle nearby as well. Salida's note and crossed fingers, the sign she gave me, have got me straight to the man. Friend of Salida's, he says. So I say, Yes, a good friend. One that has her back and pays off any debts. Salida has good taste, he says. Usually, he says. I just look at him. So he says, What does a friend of Salidas want from the crossed pikes? I make my pitch. First, good to meet you. Thanks for the chance to talk business. I have some trouble. A tuck man named Max Ernst. He's quick on his feet, got away from me twice. You may have heard the yarn. One hard man has kicked him in the bollocks and tossed him aside. Since he's held the grudge, he's rented a fake law office in the garden vague. I'd like to sort him out. We get talking. Seems he's heard the yarn. I draw up my idea. One I'd had earlier. I say, I figure there's some old dueling law, so once I declare him, he's legit for me to cut down. But I don't know any law sharper, legit or bent. Seems like he's heard of it. The words come to his tongue. Real easy. Calls it Rakt de Schwartz. Old Empire dueling law. But then he says, the fee is information. Wants to know about what Max Ernst was setting me up for. So I tell him. I don't have the papers anymore, but it's easy enough to recall the details. Not exactly all the names. But the purple hand, Castor Lieberung. The story of me having the same face. Purple hand in Bogenhafen, in other words. And Max Ernst hunting them down on behalf of someone else. Not exactly sure who, don't care. He says, Gerard Fleischer. Bent as an Austalian sword, sharp as one too. Tell him I sent you, he says. Twenty for Gerard. Then he says, The purple hand information. That has ongoing value to me. You'll find the crooked fingers have long memories for favours. We shake. I check. And Salida, you have no claim on her. He says, she makes her own arrangements. And she sent you here. That's her telling me something. No claim.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

I had been making some unfair assumptions about Salida, it would seem. The oracle is quite clear. Selita has no debt to the crooked fingers, the crime syndicate. She's more of a free agent than I imagine. Except perhaps in the matter of her ancestral links. Time and oracles may reveal more on that front.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

He says something about the older generation she ran with. Don't exactly follow what he's saying, but Salita did say she's on the outs with her older types. Her older generation or something like that. You said, Bauman continues. You said you have her back and pay off any debts. Shakes my hand properly, man to man. Hold to that, he says. Not bad for a morning's work.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

I have already dropped a drink and then a very heavy hand.

SPEAKER_00 13:00

I still got the coin. Thanks to the ten crown reward. Don't have to go back to the line just yet. The law offers us in a state of long, slow decay. Discretion seems to be the guy's watchword. That makes sense. Not shabby exactly. Worn. I figure he knows where a lot of bodies are buried. Doesn't seem surprised at wrecked as where it is. We fill in the form. He says, declaration stands within the hour. Ernst has forty-eight hours to respond. I leave feeling good. But it's not my own folks, proverb. The Southerners say, I must be prepared to dig two graves. Feeling pretty well pleased, but a little low on coins and wanting to treat Salida, I head back to the lion. But lo, the concierge rushes to press a temple embossed note into my hand. With a sinking feeling, I crack open a note. Heinstalk, the witch banner, summons me. So the devil has taken a shit in my porridge after all.