Session 18 Recap – Blood and Sawdust
Session 18 Recap – Blood and Sawdust
Two gangs down, and the night wasn't over. The Misfits stayed in the pit for two more rungs of Buckledown Row's ladder, beat both, and walked out with a heavier purse and a new name in their pocket: a dwarf in a moth-eaten greatcoat who does business out past the Spokes.
Location: Buckledown Row — the fighting pits beneath the sewers
Objective: Keep climbing the ladder on Mel's sponsorship
Major Discoveries:
- Mel's promised contact has a face: Baldric Grimwick, a Queen's Man who does regular business with "some dwarves who've gotten a little too big for their boots"
- The ladder ends with a crew nobody on the Row can place — the Undertakers
Major Encounters: - Match 3: the Wounded Hearts, led by Dorian Dare
- Match 4: the Howlin' Dogs, led by Bloodhound — with real dogs in the ring
Factions Involved: - Queen's Men (Blackjack Mel, Bull, Rocky, Baldric Grimwick)
- Wounded Hearts
- Howlin' Dogs
Party Advancement:
Four straight wins in the pits; a 175 gp purse share from Match 3 and 225 gp from Match 4; a 300-gold bet on themselves in Match 4 that paid out 900 gold
Before the Bell
Asked what they made of the crowd now, the Misfits didn't agree.
Tough Luck thought they were on his side — that the Row cared about finding his sister and wanted to help. Rustar heard them cheering for good fighting, plain and simple. Doc felt the energy as inspiration; they wanted the Misfits to win. Six thought his companions had it wrong: what they were reading as enthusiasm was bloodlust. Drakzen found the whole thing repulsive.
The Wounded Hearts
Match three brought out the Wounded Hearts, led by Dorian Dare — the best-dressed crew on the Row, and the vainest. The Misfits had gone two fights without a real break, and they felt it. They won anyway.
The Howlin' Dogs
After the first proper rest of the night, Bull called the Howlin' Dogs into the ring: Bloodhound, her handlers, and a pack of actual dogs that hunted together and went for whoever was already bleeding. The Misfits put 300 gold on themselves at Rocky's 3:1 and came out of it with 900 gold in winnings on top of the purse.
The Man in the Greatcoat
Bull closed the card after Match 4. As the crowd thinned out, a stocky, silver-bearded dwarf in a moth-eaten greatcoat came over, ledger tucked under one arm, spectacles too far down his nose. Baldric Grimwick. He's a Queen's Man, the one Mel had promised them, and he does regular business out past the Spokes with some dwarves who've gotten a little too big for their boots.
He'd been watching all night. He could put in a word, he said, and get the party a real introduction instead of a welcome at gunpoint. Why he'd bother, he wouldn't say. That was a conversation for somewhere other than a pit floor, once they'd proven they were worth the introduction.
Closing the Night
Four matches down, one gang and a champion left. Rocky saw them off with the card for the next night: the Catacomb Cobras, and then — if the Misfits were still standing — the Undertakers.
Tomorrow was Friday.