Song of Shadows and Dust: Kymmes is on the Case

Join Mark as he returns to Pattayavium for another episode of Song of Shadows and Dust.

There is a problem with pickpockets in the streets of Pattayavium. It wouldn’t matter too much if it affected only the lower orders, but some prominent citizens have found themselves unexpectedly without cash at embarrassing moments, and they and some of the traders and merchants have petitioned the Prefect for more effective enforcement action.

The thief-taker Kymmes and his underlings have been ordered to initiate a crackdown. Pattayavium loves a crackdown. Still does. Here they are (Photo #1). L to R: Kymmes Q3 C3; Determined, Disarm, Leader, Stealth. Luke & Solon Q4 C3; Bellicose.

In fact, unknown to almost everyone, most of the crime is attributable to Sulpicious and his gang of professionals. But it seems they are becoming too successful. Kymmes gets a tip-off that Helios Street would be a good place to stake out, around the Ides of the month when a religious festival will bring even more folk than usual into the streets.

Here’s a shot of the gang (Photo #2).

Back row L-R: Sulpicious Q2 C2; Grey, Leader, Quick. Balyan & Tharg Q2 C1; Grey, Quick
Front row: Malik + Presha & Mahlia; Agile, Free disengage, Grey, Nimble, Quick

Lastly, an overview of the area looking N. It is a bustling shopping street near the centre of town, with market stalls as well as shops, where produce and goods from across the region are available at prices unavailable anywhere else. Other features of note are the little Temple of Europa (reputed to be the first public work of the prefect Marcus) at the far end, and at top R the famous Album Elephantis, a new concept of city living. Also the Eros house of negotiable affection, a Pattayavium specialty (green facade, lower L) (Photo #3, also #4 & #5, sponsored by the Pattayavium Tourist Board).

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The scenario involves Sulpicious and his associates working the street to meet their target of 15 coins, while Kymmes and his men try to identify and arrest them. The forces of law and order will be on blue bases, and the criminals on red bases to make them easier to distinguish in the photos. The pickpockets have 8 turns to accomplish their objective and exit the street, after which a guards detachment will be in Helios Street which will shut down any more pilfering opportunities . Even if the gang reaches its target of coins, it still loses if two or more gang members are arrested.

Scenario rules

• Picking a pocket takes a gang member 2 activations. A successful heist yields 1d6/3 coins (so in the range 0-3). The victim notices the theft at once and raises a hue and cry which all lawmen in LOS will see, if 1d6=5+.
• Kymmes and his men are experienced in discreet surveillance and the criminal mind. If a heist is attempted within 1L, and the victim raises an alarm, the lawmen get an immediate free move of up to 1M in that direction.
• An arrest is successful when one of the lawmen in combat contact with a pickpocket wins the combat.
• The Grey special rule about melding into crowds is bent a little, so that a Grey figure in contact with any civilian may not be seen by a lawman, and is lost to sight if previously visible.

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Kymmes (blue tokens) and Sulpicious (red tokens) have deployed their forces for the mornings tussle. The pickpockets have initiative.

Turn 1. The thieves got off to a flying start. Sulpicious lifted 2 coins and young Mahlia lifted 3, and neither mark realised what had happened. Both thieves moved away and into contact with other members of the crowd. The successful thefts are marked with fire&smoke columns this time. The other members of the gang adjusted their positions but did not attempt robberies, either because of the risk of apprehension or insufficient activations (you really need 2 to pick the pocket & 1 to put distance between you and the mark) (Photo #1).

Kymmes and his men split up, the idea being that when an alarm is raised, the chances of at least one of them being within collaring distance would be increased (Photo #2).

Turn 2. Mahlia, the pickpocket at upper R, tries to steal from the mother and child, but lifts 0 coins this time. And the woman raised the alarm, and the attempted theft occurs within 1L of Kymmes and Solon. Mahlia turns to run into the crowd but Kymmes catches up with her. But then he fumbles the arrest (the combat is a draw) and she slips away towards the crowd outside the insula and fades from view. Solon is too late to assist Kymmes. Balyan, who is nearby, observes with interest (Photo #3).

Elsewhere, Malik & Presha (lower R) and Tharg (lower L), and Sulpicious (centre) have marked their
victims, but don’t make their moves yet, as Luke is a bit too close for comfort.

The lawmen, having flubbed their first opportunity, continue patrolling (Photo #4).

Turn 3. Balyan makes his move, sidling up to the group of toffs outside the potters shop and stealing 1 coin. The victim raises an alarm but no lawman is within 1L so they do not react. Malik & Presha do better, prising 3 coins from the group of toffs at bottom R. Luke is close, but the Toffs don’t realise they have been pickpocketed, so the brazen children keep hanging around, maybe planning another bite of the cherry. Tharg also pitches in, robbing the fellow carrying chickens of 1 coin, but chicken man raises an alarm and Luke rushes over and arrests Tharg. Sulpicious continues to bide his time.(Photo #5).

Now the lawmen activate. Luke (and Tharg) are removed from play as Tharg is hauled off to secure storage. Kymmes and Solon, attracted by the commotion, move down table (Photo #6).

At the end of the turn the pickpocket gang has 9 coins, not counting the 1 coin lost when Tharg was collared, and they have lost 1 gang member. The capture of a gang member is always a problem for the others, as they have to assume he / she will be brutally encouraged to tell all they know. Usually the gang has to lie low, or even leave town for a while. But, it’ll take a while for the Authorities to do the paperwork, so there is still time for a few more heist attempts before they must make an exit.

Turn 4. Mahlia lifts another 3 coins outside the insula. Her mark raises an alarm but there are no lawmen anywhere near and she swiftly fades to grey. Then Malik & Presha lift another 3 coins from the toffs at lower R, who finally figure out what these amusing urchins are up to and raise an alarm, but again no lawman is close enough to react, so the kids skedaddle off table and head for the safe house.

Kymmes continues to patrol down table, while Solon reverses course and moves the other way (Photo #7).

Turn 5. Unfortunately for the thieves Balyan, activating first, rolls immediate turnover. The lawmen are both returning towards the far end of the street now (Photo #8).

Turn 6. Balyan is the only gang member still in play who is >1L from Kymmes or Solon. He activates first again, and fails again. But then a ray of hope, as Kymmes and Solon both move away from the thieves (Photo #9).

Turn 7. Mahlia takes a risk (she is still within 1L of Solon) and scores 2 more coins from her new mark, who doesn’t notice, and so she moves towards the end of the street, past the temple of Europa. Sulpicious ambles the same way. Balyan finally stops palpitating and goes for a score, but it turns out to be 0 coins. He follows Sulpicious off the table, trying slightly too hard to look nonchalant (Photo #10).

On their way back towards their safe house, the pickpockets notice a guards detachment heading for Helios Street. It seems they finished their days work just in time. But they’ll need to move fast now, as soon enough Tharg will be singing like a crested bulbul.

It’s a win for Sulpicious and his gang, who have successfully stolen 17 coins in total, 8 of them by Mahlia and 6 by Malik & Presha (the younger generation is showing a lot of promise). But the loss of Tharg means they are an experienced hand down, and also means the gang must take expensive evasive action.

Kymmes can take some satisfaction that one criminal has been caught, but the morning’s work has been a failure overall for him. If only he could get a lead on the identity of the mysterious gang leader.

Cheers from Pattayavium
Mark