(before jumping into the episode, don’t forget we have a glossary if you’re wondering what anything is)
This episode marks the beginning of “the great downtime”. Over the next 3 months, the characters would spend time getting integrated in their respective environments - settling down, starting jobs, getting to know the town of Bottom Bay, and so on as Lysta made her way back to Rellinvas.
Ymitri, who found himself between a rock and a hard place in The Wet Docks, so to speak.
We started with Pyotr and Ymitri trying to get a handle on the seedy underbelly of Bottom Bay. Through some shared discussions, they picked a few choice locations - Vitality Park after dark, the local House of Sin (ubiquitous to every port town), and the docks.
Ymitri started by visiting the aforementioned sin house, The Wet Docks. Constructed early on during the city’s development, The Wet Docks considers itself separate from the city, even though it found itself inside the town’s borders after the second ring of walls were constructed. All sorts find their way into the brothel, from the swarthiest sailor to the highest brow businessman or woman.
Ymitri quickly made his way through the establishment. Uncomfortable due to the nature of its business and his relationship with Rhea, he spent as little time as possible in the place - although after disguising himself as a member of the upper crust, he did get two leads:
Apparently something shady was going on at Tessa’s Trading
Tulgan Rasque oversaw all goods coming in and out of the city on a strictly “unofficial” basis
Meanwhile, Pyotr spent his night searching out Vitality Park. There, he discovered The Night Markets, an undeworld meeting of ner-do-wells to carry out all manner of trade. He saw drugs delt, stolen goods fenced, and illegal items procured.
He quickly ascertained that a Gnome by the name of Rugsby Mallone stood at the center of the network, and followed him back to his abode in the sewers. That said, the spartan accommodations surprised him - far from something expected of a figure near the top of the underworld, Rugsby seemed only to have a bed of hay and a tea kettle to his name.
Pyotr, who will probably not be forgetting his gnomish underworld excursion any time soon
Pyotr began his interrogation, and quickly ascertained that Rugsby was not a particularly intimidating figure, but apparently had deep connections to the rest of the criminal underworld. Here, Pyotr once again got the name “Tulgan Rasque”, prompting him (after some doings and dealings) to arrange a meeting in the dead of night beneath the lighthouse.
From there we switched over to Milo, who wanted to find a more permanent residence, now that the innkeeper had started getting irritated with his caustic, dangerous alchemical laboratory-ing in his room.
While the city appeared to already have Dr. Kriskin to take care of the day-to-day problems of most residents, Milo felt drawn to the relatively-autonomous zone known as The Wet Docks. Unofficially lying outside the jurisdiction of the very town it sat in, Milo figured it might be a good place to pursue longer term employment.
Rhea, aka the Birthday Bash Boss, aka the Premiere Party Planner, aka the Superior Celebration Supervisor
And indeed, after talking with one of the working women as well as Madam Creel, the Madam of the house, it became clear that a rash had been spreading through the community. It took almost no time at all for Milo to arrange some lodgings and accommodations, and with that Milo had his new home inside the walls of The Wet Docks.
Following that, we went through a brief stakeout where Pyotr and Ymitri tried to figure out what was happening at Tessa’s Trading. They found someone looking extremely shifty, and followed him - after dropping off the bulk of his goods - to just outside the city walls. There, he burried some mysterious, crudely-crafted bottles filled with pitch-black liquids.
After that set of encounters, we realized it was Pyotr’s Birthday (as it had been declared by Sasha) and preperations got underway. Sasha, Rhea, and Billy Shakes (played by Lysta) began planning out the perfect day for Pyotr - and, while the day eventually shook out to be something Pyotr might reasonably like, it definitely took a few misunderstandings and mishaps to get there. I won’t spoil it since the whole 20 or 30 minutes is something special - I suggest you take a look.
Finally, we ended off that night, with Pyotr making his way to the bottom of the bay’s lighthouse for a meeting with the mysterious Tulgan Rasque - both to try and do some business, and also possibly find out how he was related to Rhea…