I may have forgotten some failed rolls made in this session (if any players are reading this, feel free to fill in the gaps). It was the successes that were really memorable; the failures just seemed to keep the moves snowballing along.
We were picking up right where we left off after a couple of weeks downtime, so I worked up some love letters to get people back into the characters. Since no in-game time had passed, the letters called for rolls to fill in backstory or catch up on off-screen events.
It came out that At The Gates used to be a pirate haven, until the pirates ran afoul of the local strongman Been. Been hired a chopper gang (on jet-skis naturally) to burn 'em out, and after the smoke cleared, Grave and the NPC Junker were the two surviving gang members. Been then sold the platform to Grave on credit as a reward for his gang's service. It was also revealed that Storm has a sister back home that he still cares about, and that Grave recently 'hired' a couple of girls some scavengers found in the ruins of Uptown. He's got them stashed away in a spare room 'till he can figure out what to do with them. Outside the floating club, there's a ragtag community of people living on whatever they can find that'll float: oil drums, styrofoam, boats and pieces of boats, etc. It's the same all up and down the coast; someone'll found something relatively stable, and people will gravitate towards it, circling together for safety, for trade, for community. Colorful flags fly above many of the shacks and lean-tos, marking family rafts, markets and craftspeople, or just to break the monotony of sea and sky. The village is lit, intermittently, whenever there's fuel for the gas generators or someone willing to crank (or pedal) up some power. Strings of tiny colored bulbs are particularly prized, and the scavengers who find them count themselves rich.
With that, we carried on with the episode already in progress…
Bran and Grave, still reeling from the psychic shock of the Maelstrom, find Fuse in a bad way, with her head in Lamprey's lap. When the two approach, Lamprey pulls out the speargun he's been holding and refuses to let them come closer. Grave convinces him that they only want to help, and Lamprey agrees to help take Fuse to Camo, provided he can stay with her the whole time. As Lamprey and Grave carry Fuse out, though, Bran steps behind Lamprey and brains him with a crowbar [[Seize by force, success]]. Lamprey falls with a fractured skull, still breathing, but barely. Ignoring his moans, Grave and Bran pick Fuse up and take her upstairs. Along the way, they run into Junker, who tells them that things are getting tense out by the bar. Grave sends him back to keep an eye on things, giving him permission to start shooting if necessary.
Back at the bar, the crowd of patrons turn ugly as they accuse Parcher of holding out on them. Parcher pulls out a crowbar from under the counter and shouts at Storm to help calm things down. Climbing down from the cage, Storm makes his way to the bar, where he tells Parcher to give the crowd what they want. (It's always worked for him, after all.)
"The boss said not to sell this batch, Storm," Parcher protests. Storm reaches under the bar and grabs the stash--a rusty steel box full of powder. Holding up the box, he says loudly to the crowd: "This stuff is BAD! If you take it, you'll all DIE!" A bull-like man in a leather harness steps up. "Bullshit," he says. "I'll take it." Storm, nonplussed, shrugs. "Have it your way," he says, and tosses the box into the crowd. Of course, it's a mob scene. Thirty or so people manage to get a hit before the box is empty. In minutes, everything seems back to normal. A few minutes after that, people begin to collapse in convulsions on the dancefloor.
Meanwhile, Bran and Grave deliver the unconscious Fuse to Camo. He accepts that their end of the deal is fulfilled and hands over the machine gun + ammo. Bran confirms that it's in perfect working order [[Things Speak, partial success]] As the two leave, they see Camo bending over Fuse, stroking her cheek and smiling gently.
Bran and Grave then make plans for defense against the expected pirate attack. Bran heads off to emplace the machine gun, while Grave returns to check on Lamprey. He's on his way when Toyota, a dancer, comes running from that direction and throws herself on him in tears. "Lamprey's dead!" she sniffs. Grave sends her to find Junker, reassuring her that they'll find and punish the killers. After confirming that Lamprey is, in fact, quite dead, Grave heads back to the bar.
By this time, as more and more people collapse from the tainted drugs, the screaming has started. Grave walks in on the chaos, and Junker tells him what happened. Afraid of Grave's wrath, Storm flees. Grave gets up on stage and grabs the bullhorn from one of the band, "It's all Been's fault!" he says. "Trust me, I'll help you!" Unfortunately, the crowd's a little past caring. Grave realizes [[Read a sitch, partial success]] that Bran's the only one who has a clue what's going on with the drugs, and he thrusts the bullhorn at Bran's chest. Unfortunately, having a clue doesn't mean having the answers. Hoping for inspiration, Bran opens his brain to the Maelstrom. [[Open your brain, partial success]] He sees a vision: At the Gates is abandoned, half-flooded. Floating up through the collapsed roof, he sees that the ruined towers of Uptown are intact and shining. Trees grow where there should be only mud, though the restored city fades into nothing as it reaches the sea. Something vital seems to be flowing from the sea to the land. Camo is there, too, as a shadowy presence bending over another form, both of them enfolded in flames. In his ears, Bran hears a terrible screaming, and he recognizes the loudest voice as Fuse's.
Dropping the bullhorn, he turns to Grave and tells him they've got to flee before the pirates arrive, and head into Uptown, where even the scavengers fear to go [[Oftener right]]. Grave, not entirely convinced, orders Junker and the rest to start dealing with the sick and the few who stayed to help them. He then heads up to Camo's guest-room, where he sees Fuse laid out on the threadbare couch, unmoving. Camo is brushing her hair tenderly. "What a pity," Camo says sadly. "She's broken." Grave pulls his knife and charges Camo, stabbing him in the throat and killing him almost instantly [[Seize by force, success -- there was a special move for skin contact with Camo, but I decided that it didn't have time to take effect]]
Bran, leaving Junker, Parcher and Toyota to deal with the OD cases in the dancehall, heads down to find Storm in his dressing room. Like he did with Grave, he tells Storm that they've all got to leave before the attack. He and Storm argue a bit [[Read a person: partial success]] and Bran realizes that Storm won't go unless Grave orders him to. Bran brings Grave back down--not noticing or not caring about the blood on his hands--and this time Grave agrees that they all should leave.
Just as Storm is about to give in, Princey bursts in. "Boss, this is too fucked up. I quit!" he says to Grave, then begs Storm to run away with him to Been's pleasure boat. Apparently, Putrid (who split that morning with all his stuff) has been telling people that Been's place is like paradise. Storm refuses, and asks Princey to come with them instead. When Princey balks, Storm gives him a little sample of what he'd be giving up, and Princey melts in his arms. [[Princey spends the last hold from Storm's Hypnotic move last session.]] The three of them head back to the dancefloor, where they meet up with the three NPCs. Grave tells them that he's decided to leave At The Gates, and says they can come along or go their own way. All agree to come, but Junker asks what happened to Fuse. Grave spins a truly heroic line of bullshit [[Do something under fire, success]] about how Camo attacked them and killed Fuse and Lamprey, but then Grave managed to kill him in return.
Agreed to leave (though not quite agreed on where to go), the group steps out onto the docks. Dawn is just breaking, although low black clouds obscure the sun. An oily rain begins to fall, putting out torches and cookfires in the village, as people scramble to cover their belongings and find shelter.
And that's where we ended, with a completely unexpected turn of events. The Savvyhead is leaving his workshop, the Maestro'D is leaving his club, and the Skinner….well, I guess he can work anywhere. More importantly, some major players are very likely out to put the hurt on the PCs now, and they're leaving the only sure safety they know, striking out into the unknown without much of a plan.
Awesome. I can't wait to find out what happens.