episode 5

db/npc.rec

@@ -14,12 +14,12 @@ note: roughed up by the westerners
 note: now ~~being roughed up by~~ living with the heroes?
 
 id: 2
-name: Blackguard
+name: Dedric Blackguard
 desc: merchant
 status: missing
 contact: 1
 note: he's kind of the macguffin. the Hand wants him to appear before them.
-note: illegally smuggling stuff (drugs? weapons? people?) in from Givzien. Sahtor found out and wants the count to fund the trade to strain relations with Onq.
+note: illegally smuggling stuff (drugs? weapons? people?) in from Givziean. Sahtor found out and wants the count to fund the trade to strain relations with Onq.
 
 id: 3
 name: Count Dindrati
@@ -40,10 +40,15 @@ note: Is looking to judge and punish Blackguard for hoarding wealth because Dind
 id: 6
 name: Onq
 desc: Goblin empire in the west
-note: Longtime peace with Givziean
+note: Longtime but shaky peace with Givziean
 
 id: 7
 name: Givziean
-deck: Goblin empire in the west
-note: Longtime peace with Onq
+desc: Goblin empire in the west
+note: Longtime but shaky peace with Onq
 note: Recently entered into a secret trade agreement with Sahtorlarath (via the count, via Blackguard) to strain relations with Onq and provoke them..
+
+id: 8
+name: Enid Barlow
+desc: Captain of the Diamond Howler
+note: funded by Blackguard. doing runs between Kriteach and Givziean

db/threads.rec

@@ -8,3 +8,10 @@
 id: 1
 name: Blackguard is Missing
 note: The Westerners are after him too
+
+id: 2
+name: Investigate the Hand
+note: Does the Hand have Blackguard?
+
+id: 3
+name: Why does Sahtor want war between the Onq and the Givziean?

justfile

@@ -45,3 +45,11 @@ journalrss:
 
 # build all rss
 rss: episoderss journalrss
+
+# one random NPC
+npc:
+  @recsel -P name,note -m 1 db/npc.rec
+
+# one random plot thread
+thread:
+  @recsel -P name,note -m 1 db/threads.rec

src/00004-pinky.md

@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ Iofi finally steps into the room. The grimorie has been placed back into her sat
 
 "We'll be back in three days," Maddox warns.
 
-Iofi crosses the room again and lays one hand on the door to Walker's study. "[This door is now one of mine]{.smallcaps}," she says. She opens it and on the other side is the safe house. Meadowgloom, setting out tea set, looks up in surprise and lets out a squeak.
+Iofi crosses the room again and lays one hand on the door to Walker's study. "[This door is now one of mine]{.smallcaps}," she says. She opens it and on the other side is the safe house. Meadowgloom, setting out a tea set, looks up in surprise and lets out a squeak.
 
 Maddox smiles. They follow Iofi through the door and close it behind them, leaving Walker alone once again in the study.
 

src/00005-ringer.md

@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+---
+title: 00005. Dead Ringer
+subtitle: 
+created: 2022-09-05
+updated: 2022-09-10
+---
+The Index sits alone at the round, stone table. They skim over the lines of a large book with the aide of with a small wand, a pointer tapering into the shape of a small closed hand with an extended finger.
+
+They are dressed for the meeting in voluminous, jet-black robes lined with fur. And a black velvet mask with gold trim. The face depicted on the mask has large, owl-like eyes, and no mouth: they see all, and keep all the Hand's secrets. 
+
+They look up as the door opens and the other four file into the small room beneath the wine cellar. All wear the same robes, and each wears a unique mask.
+
+The masks are mostly for ceremonial purposes at this point. The true identities of the Hand are a fairly well-known secret within the inner circle.
+
+Except for the Dead Ringer, of course. The current spymaster, nor their predecessor, have ever been unmasked.
+
+The sit in order around the stone table. The Thumb to his right, the Tall Man to his left, then the Dead Ringer and the Pinky.
+
+The Index marks their place in the book, closes it and sets it aside. They then produce another book from a bag under the table and opens it up.
+
+"We can begin," they intone after finding their place.
+
+Pinky has been compromised again," rumbles Tall Man. His mask depicts a face twisted by anger, or in anguish. He is an imposing figure. Many enemies have assumed that his large physique must mean a lack of smarts. They were wrong.
+
+Pinky's mask has hooded eyes and a smile, a face of indulgence and merriment. "It's to be expected," she retorts. "I'm the most public member of this organization. My businesses operate in the open."
+
+"When they come back," interrupts the Thumb. "They can contend with the Ringer."
+
+The Thumb is a fat man. His mask has plain, straight lines for the eyes, mouth, and nose. A study in neutrality.
+
+Dead Ringer sits back in their chair, half in the shadows. Their mask is unique in that it has no facial features. It is blank, with gold trim only around the neckline, uncomfortably like a noose. They don't speak in meetings.
+
+They nod to the Thumb.
+
+It is settled.
+
+"We'll up your protection in the meantime," the Thumb says, turning to Tall Man, who grunts and agrees to allocate some muscle.
+
+The Index makes some notes in their ledger. "Very good. I think that concludes unfinished business, yes? Very good, on to new business..."
+
+                                     ~ * ~
+
+Iofi makes herself busy building little shrines to Janice. Small altars with incense and dried flowers and tiny stone carvings of two-headed turtles. She leaves little offerings of brass hinges, keys with no locks, locks with no keys, bits of shell, small vials of colored sand, and bits of dried seaweed. She is fasting in preparation for the first of the month and the rites she will perform.
+
+There seems to be a perpetual secret scrum of Maddoxes in this corner or that, whispering intently amongst themselves.
+
+Meadowgloom has given up on trying to serve them tea after they keep emphatically passing their illusory hands through the cup. He almost spilled the entire tea set once, expecting some of the weight to shift from the tray to them. "Let them just come and get the tea if they want it," he grumbles to himself. "Assuming they can even lift the cup and saucer!"
+
+Soon it is time to return to Madam Walker's Supper Club.
+
+                                     ~ * ~
+
+Her information network is comprehensive.
+
+Even if one doesn't actually use her services, it is possible to construct a basic profile based on the "you" shaped hole in the information provided by her existing customers and her runners and spies.
+
+Nothing is really private.
+
+It doesn't take long to build a basic profile on Blackguard. He is an importer of goods, and an investor in trades and ventures. Which can mean good money in a busy port city like Kriteach. He doesn't frequent any of the brothels. Never married. No children. Has a cousin in Coopers Kettle that he writes. Usually takes supper at the Yeoman's Club.
+
+Recently gone missing. House recently burned down.
+
+She puzzles over that last detail, not for the first time. Each of her colleagues has assured her that they played no part in the arson. This suggests there may be another player with stakes in this game. She taps a pencil pensively on her desk.
+
+Early last year Blackguard appeared to divest himself of most of his portfolio. It is assumed that he subsequently focused his full attenion and all of his capital in a single venture, but it remains to be known what that venture is. He went completely below ground around the same time. Stopped going out. Ceased correspondance. Refused visitors.
+
+Some things, after all, do remain secret.
+
+Madam Walker sits at the desk in her library trying in vain to concentrate on the memo in her hands. She keeps glancing up at the door and resisting the urge to get up and look out into the hall.
+
+As an experiment, she kept the door open. Light from the reading lamps in the library spills out into the hall on the other side. Until suddenly it doesn't.
+
+The hallway goes dark, as though a curtain has been drawn across the doorway. Walker stiffens. The darkness recedes and she catches a glimpse of an unfurnished room on the other side as the short thief walks in, closing the door behind themself.
+
+"You have the information we were promised?" they ask in a quiet voice.
+
+Walker nods and slides a folder across the desk to them. They glance at it but make no move to pick it up.
+
+"Will you read it to me?" they ask.
+
+Walker raises an eyebrow and smirks a little, and tells them a summary.
+
+"He's not one of my customers," Walker concludes. "As I told you when we first met, I don't know him. And I don't know where he is."
+
+"Is that true for the rest of the Hand? None of you know where he is?"
+
+Walker presses her lips together and smiles. "I don't know what the rest of the Hand does and doesn't know. That's not how we operate."
+
+Maddox grunts. "Sure, I--" but the they cut themself off abruptly with a sudden intense look, and they snap out of existence.
+
+Madam Walker blinks a few times in surprise at the abrupt departure. She stands up and crosses the library and opens the door to the hallway, only to see the hallway.
+
+                                     ~ * ~
+
+Meadowgloom is walking back from the grocer clutching a bag of bread and fruit for dinner.
+
+He passes under the etched wooden sign of the Bone and Feather bookstore and cafe: a rook perching on top of a skull. He turns the corner of the shop into the alley and walks up to the side entrance, the stairway that goes up to the apartment above the bookstore where he's been living with the cleric and the thief.
+
+He reaches into his coat pocket and fumbles around for the key. It took a while to even get him a key to the place. Not because they didn't trust him, but because neither of them uses the front door. Iofi seems to be able to connect arbitrary doors, so she can walk into the upstairs closet and arrive at her destination. Maddox either uses Iofi's doors, or else they just teleport around between their different illusory selves.
+
+"Meadowgloom?" a voice from behind him asks.
+
+Meadowgloom startles, and fumbles and drops the key just as he pulls it out of his pocket.
+
+Standing behind him, between him and the entrance to the alley, is a backlit figure wearing a coat and scarf and a flat crown hat with a brim. The figure is backlit, its face hidden in shadow.
+
+"Yes? Who's there?" Meadowgloom answers, and stoops down to fetch the key.
+
+The figure steps forward out of the shadow revealing a lined, determined face wearing glasses and a mustache and goatee.
+
+Still crouched down, Meadowgloom stops with his hand hovering over the key. He says in surprise, "Mister Blackguard?"
+
+Blackguard's seems about to break into a smile, but instead raises his hand in alarm and shouts, "Meadowgloom!"
+
+For when Meadowgloom bent down to retrieve the dropped key, Blackguard was able to see a shadowy figure clad all in black with a black mask over their face step out of the gloom. It lifts an arm up over its head, a long bladed dagger gripped in its hand. 
+
+When it hears Blackguard's name spoken out loud, it pauses for a fraction of a second, blade suspended in air, and tilts its head slightly. And then it plunges the blade into Meadowgloom's back.
+
+                                     ~ * ~
+
+Upstairs in the apartment Iofi and Maddox hear a man scream in anguish outside in the alley. They look at each other and leap up and rush toward the stairs. Two other Maddoxes appear at their side as they go, running alongside them.
+
+Iofi quickly unlocks the door and throws it open and a bunch of Maddoxes flow through the opening out into the alley.
+
+They find a man sitting hunched over on the ground cradling Meadowgloom in his arms, rocking back and forth, both of them in a pool of blood.
+
+Two Maddoxes dash away toward either end of the alley as the third steps forward, daggers in hand, surveying the immediate area. There is no assailant to be found.
+
+Iofi stoops down and touches Meadowgloom. His face is frozen in one of curious surprise. He doesn't respond or react. He doesn't breathe. There is no pulse.
+
+The man is crying. He looks up at Iofi and takes a couple breaths to compose himself.
+
+Iofi squeezes her eyes shut and, hands on Meadowglooms chest, whispers forcefully, "[The tide goes in, the tide goes out. All things come to an end, but not for you. Not here, not now. Your story isn't over yet. Come back to us.]{.smallcaps}"
+
+She opens her eyes and peers expectantly at Meadowgloom's face. Her countenance falls in defeat when nothing happens. But then his eyes go wide and he takes a violent gasp of air.
+
+She sighs with relief. "Get him upstairs," she commands the strange man. "He's still gravely injured. We must tend to him if he is to live."
+
+The man nods and together the two of them lift Meadowgloom up to his feet.
+
+"Who are you?" Iofi asks.
+
+"My name is Dedric Blackguard. I heard you were looking for me. I need your help. I'm in danger and there's nobody I can trust."
+
+EOF

src/about.md

@@ -10,6 +10,17 @@ toc-title: Contents
 
 This is a fantasy story about a cleric and a thief embroiled in a web of politics, intrigue, religion, and justice.
 
+It is kind of a serialized novelization of a solo roleplaying game I'm playing using [Brighter Worlds] and the [One Page Solo Engine].
+
+[Brighter Worlds]: https://awkwardturtle.itch.io/brighter-worlds
+[One Page Solo Engine]: https://inflatablestudios.itch.io/one-page-solo-engine
+
+## Contact
+
+email: dozens@tilde.team  
+mastodon: @dozens@tiny.tilde.website  
+irc: dozens @ tidle.chat, libera.chat
+
 <!--
 SPELLS
 
@@ -124,10 +135,3 @@ Multifarious Copies: When you create your clone you may change its physical appe
 The world of Aulia is divided into the western continent, the eastern continent, and the middle continent.
 
 Our story takes in the city of Kriteach, a key port in the middle continent, part of the Kingdom of Sahtor'larath, whose monarch rules in the east.
-
-## Contact
-
-email: dozens@tilde.team  
-mastodon: @dozens@tiny.tilde.website  
-irc: dozens @ tidle.chat, libera.chat
-

src/index.md

@@ -2,12 +2,13 @@
 title: "Cleric + Thief"
 subtitle: Adventures of Iofi and Maddox
 created: 2022-08-30
-updated: 2022-09-01
+updated: 2022-09-10
 ---
 
 [subscribe to episodes](episodes.xml)
 
 <!-- BEGIN //-->
+- <time>2022-09-10</time> - [00005. Dead Ringer](00005-ringer.html)
 - <time>2022-09-04</time> - [00004. Pinky](00004-pinky.html)
 - <time>2022-09-03</time> - [00003. The Hand](00003-hand.html)
 - <time>2022-09-01</time> - [00002. Meadowgloom](00002-meadowgloom.html)

src/journal.draft

@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
+## <time>2022-09-xx</time> - rolling in brighter worlds
 
-## 2022-xx-xx - How To Play Cleric + Thief
+"Roll to hit and damage at the same time" is classic D&D advice for speeding up combat. And it also applies well to combat in Brighter Worlds.
+
+Roll your damage die and the opponent's STR die to resist at the same time. Assuming you're playing both sides :)
+
+## <time>2022-09-06</time> - How To Play Cleric + Thief
 
 Here's how I play Cleric + Thief.
 
@@ -7,7 +12,7 @@ It's the basic flow for any solo RPG I play.
 
 1. Set the scene: think about what your characters are doing right now, and what their goals are.
 
-2. Roll dice: determine a scene complication and/or alteration
+2. Roll dice: determine a scene complication and/or alteration.
 
 3. Roll dice: Ask a bunch of questions.
 

src/journal.md

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 title: Cleric + Thief
 subtitle: Journal
 created: 2022-08-30
-updated: 2022-09-03
+updated: 2022-09-10
 toc: false
 ---
 This is a journal of meta-content and behind the scenes kind of updates.
@@ -10,13 +10,31 @@ This is a journal of meta-content and behind the scenes kind of updates.
 [subscribe to updates](journal.xml)
 
 <!-- BEGIN //-->
+## <time>2022-09-10</time> - 00005 Ringer
+
+So the dice insisted on telling an intense story by the end of this episode.
+
+They compelled Blackguard to "suddenly act", Meadowgloom had to die, and the Ringer had to find the safe house.
+
+Quite a climax! Can't wait to see what happens next.
+
+It didn't even occur to me for a long time that Iofi might be able to do a resurrection, despite her being a cleric. It was a difficult roll because it was a big miracle. And she *barely* pulled it off. But yay! Meadowgloom lives! For now.
+
+## <time>2022-09-05</time> - 00005 Ringer
+
+Yes, the Hand are luchadors.
+
+Yes, they follow parlimentary procedure during their meetings. The Index insisted on it.
+
+Yes, Pinky's spies are Facebook.
+
 ## <time>2022-09-05</time> - Cardtography
 
 In Episode 00004 - Pinky, I used playing cards to generate the layout of the Supper Club, and its encounters, on the fly.
 
-Here is a summary of how to make a quick dungeon with playing cards as first described in the 'cardtography' series of posts on koboldpress.com
+Here is a summary of how to make a quick dungeon with playing cards as first described in [the 'cardtography' series of posts on koboldpress][cardtography].
 
-<https://koboldpress.com/howling-tower-cardtography-a-simple-dungeon/>
+[cardtography]: https://koboldpress.com/howling-tower-cardtography-a-simple-dungeon/
 
 You will need a deck of cards and a whole bunch of six sided dice.
 

www/00004-pinky.html

@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ Cleric + Thief
 <p>Iofi finally steps into the room. The grimorie has been placed back into her satchel. She holds her glass hammer at her side.</p>
 <p>“Then find out. Ask your girls.” Iofi says idly, looking around the room. She walks behind the desk and flips through the papers, pocketing one or two of them. Walker frowns.</p>
 <p>“We’ll be back in three days,” Maddox warns.</p>
-<p>Iofi crosses the room again and lays one hand on the door to Walker’s study. “<span class="smallcaps">This door is now one of mine</span>,” she says. She opens it and on the other side is the safe house. Meadowgloom, setting out tea set, looks up in surprise and lets out a squeak.</p>
+<p>Iofi crosses the room again and lays one hand on the door to Walker’s study. “<span class="smallcaps">This door is now one of mine</span>,” she says. She opens it and on the other side is the safe house. Meadowgloom, setting out a tea set, looks up in surprise and lets out a squeak.</p>
 <p>Maddox smiles. They follow Iofi through the door and close it behind them, leaving Walker alone once again in the study.</p>
 <p>Walker composes herself and crosses the room and opens the door and looks at the empty hallway on the other side, exactly where it should be.</p>
 <p>EOF</p>

www/00005-ringer.html

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+Cleric + Thief
+| <a href="index.html">Episodes</a>
+| <a href="about.html">About</a>
+| <a href="journal.html">Journal</a>
+<header id="title-block-header">
+<h1 class="title">00005. Dead Ringer</h1>
+</header>
+<p>The Index sits alone at the round, stone table. They skim over the
+lines of a large book with the aide of with a small wand, a pointer
+tapering into the shape of a small closed hand with an extended
+finger.</p>
+<p>They are dressed for the meeting in voluminous, jet-black robes lined
+with fur. And a black velvet mask with gold trim. The face depicted on
+the mask has large, owl-like eyes, and no mouth: they see all, and keep
+all the Hand’s secrets.</p>
+<p>They look up as the door opens and the other four file into the small
+room beneath the wine cellar. All wear the same robes, and each wears a
+unique mask.</p>
+<p>The masks are mostly for ceremonial purposes at this point. The true
+identities of the Hand are a fairly well-known secret within the inner
+circle.</p>
+<p>Except for the Dead Ringer, of course. The current spymaster, nor
+their predecessor, have ever been unmasked.</p>
+<p>The sit in order around the stone table. The Thumb to his right, the
+Tall Man to his left, then the Dead Ringer and the Pinky.</p>
+<p>The Index marks their place in the book, closes it and sets it aside.
+They then produce another book from a bag under the table and opens it
+up.</p>
+<p>“We can begin,” they intone after finding their place.</p>
+<p>Pinky has been compromised again,” rumbles Tall Man. His mask depicts
+a face twisted by anger, or in anguish. He is an imposing figure. Many
+enemies have assumed that his large physique must mean a lack of smarts.
+They were wrong.</p>
+<p>Pinky’s mask has hooded eyes and a smile, a face of indulgence and
+merriment. “It’s to be expected,” she retorts. “I’m the most public
+member of this organization. My businesses operate in the open.”</p>
+<p>“When they come back,” interrupts the Thumb. “They can contend with
+the Ringer.”</p>
+<p>The Thumb is a fat man. His mask has plain, straight lines for the
+eyes, mouth, and nose. A study in neutrality.</p>
+<p>Dead Ringer sits back in their chair, half in the shadows. Their mask
+is unique in that it has no facial features. It is blank, with gold trim
+only around the neckline, uncomfortably like a noose. They don’t speak
+in meetings.</p>
+<p>They nod to the Thumb.</p>
+<p>It is settled.</p>
+<p>“We’ll up your protection in the meantime,” the Thumb says, turning
+to Tall Man, who grunts and agrees to allocate some muscle.</p>
+<p>The Index makes some notes in their ledger. “Very good. I think that
+concludes unfinished business, yes? Very good, on to new business…”</p>
+<pre><code>                                 ~ * ~</code></pre>
+<p>Iofi makes herself busy building little shrines to Janice. Small
+altars with incense and dried flowers and tiny stone carvings of
+two-headed turtles. She leaves little offerings of brass hinges, keys
+with no locks, locks with no keys, bits of shell, small vials of colored
+sand, and bits of dried seaweed. She is fasting in preparation for the
+first of the month and the rites she will perform.</p>
+<p>There seems to be a perpetual secret scrum of Maddoxes in this corner
+or that, whispering intently amongst themselves.</p>
+<p>Meadowgloom has given up on trying to serve them tea after they keep
+emphatically passing their illusory hands through the cup. He almost
+spilled the entire tea set once, expecting some of the weight to shift
+from the tray to them. “Let them just come and get the tea if they want
+it,” he grumbles to himself. “Assuming they can even lift the cup and
+saucer!”</p>
+<p>Soon it is time to return to Madam Walker’s Supper Club.</p>
+<pre><code>                                 ~ * ~</code></pre>
+<p>Her information network is comprehensive.</p>
+<p>Even if one doesn’t actually use her services, it is possible to
+construct a basic profile based on the “you” shaped hole in the
+information provided by her existing customers and her runners and
+spies.</p>
+<p>Nothing is really private.</p>
+<p>It doesn’t take long to build a basic profile on Blackguard. He is an
+importer of goods, and an investor in trades and ventures. Which can
+mean good money in a busy port city like Kriteach. He doesn’t frequent
+any of the brothels. Never married. No children. Has a cousin in Coopers
+Kettle that he writes. Usually takes supper at the Yeoman’s Club.</p>
+<p>Recently gone missing. House recently burned down.</p>
+<p>She puzzles over that last detail, not for the first time. Each of
+her colleagues has assured her that they played no part in the arson.
+This suggests there may be another player with stakes in this game. She
+taps a pencil pensively on her desk.</p>
+<p>Early last year Blackguard appeared to divest himself of most of his
+portfolio. It is assumed that he subsequently focused his full attenion
+and all of his capital in a single venture, but it remains to be known
+what that venture is. He went completely below ground around the same
+time. Stopped going out. Ceased correspondance. Refused visitors.</p>
+<p>Some things, after all, do remain secret.</p>
+<p>Madam Walker sits at the desk in her library trying in vain to
+concentrate on the memo in her hands. She keeps glancing up at the door
+and resisting the urge to get up and look out into the hall.</p>
+<p>As an experiment, she kept the door open. Light from the reading
+lamps in the library spills out into the hall on the other side. Until
+suddenly it doesn’t.</p>
+<p>The hallway goes dark, as though a curtain has been drawn across the
+doorway. Walker stiffens. The darkness recedes and she catches a glimpse
+of an unfurnished room on the other side as the short thief walks in,
+closing the door behind themself.</p>
+<p>“You have the information we were promised?” they ask in a quiet
+voice.</p>
+<p>Walker nods and slides a folder across the desk to them. They glance
+at it but make no move to pick it up.</p>
+<p>“Will you read it to me?” they ask.</p>
+<p>Walker raises an eyebrow and smirks a little, and tells them a
+summary.</p>
+<p>“He’s not one of my customers,” Walker concludes. “As I told you when
+we first met, I don’t know him. And I don’t know where he is.”</p>
+<p>“Is that true for the rest of the Hand? None of you know where he
+is?”</p>
+<p>Walker presses her lips together and smiles. “I don’t know what the
+rest of the Hand does and doesn’t know. That’s not how we operate.”</p>
+<p>Maddox grunts. “Sure, I–” but the they cut themself off abruptly with
+a sudden intense look, and they snap out of existence.</p>
+<p>Madam Walker blinks a few times in surprise at the abrupt departure.
+She stands up and crosses the library and opens the door to the hallway,
+only to see the hallway.</p>
+<pre><code>                                 ~ * ~</code></pre>
+<p>Meadowgloom is walking back from the grocer clutching a bag of bread
+and fruit for dinner.</p>
+<p>He passes under the etched wooden sign of the Bone and Feather
+bookstore and cafe: a rook perching on top of a skull. He turns the
+corner of the shop into the alley and walks up to the side entrance, the
+stairway that goes up to the apartment above the bookstore where he’s
+been living with the cleric and the thief.</p>
+<p>He reaches into his coat pocket and fumbles around for the key. It
+took a while to even get him a key to the place. Not because they didn’t
+trust him, but because neither of them uses the front door. Iofi seems
+to be able to connect arbitrary doors, so she can walk into the upstairs
+closet and arrive at her destination. Maddox either uses Iofi’s doors,
+or else they just teleport around between their different illusory
+selves.</p>
+<p>“Meadowgloom?” a voice from behind him asks.</p>
+<p>Meadowgloom startles, and fumbles and drops the key just as he pulls
+it out of his pocket.</p>
+<p>Standing behind him, between him and the entrance to the alley, is a
+backlit figure wearing a coat and scarf and a flat crown hat with a
+brim. The figure is backlit, its face hidden in shadow.</p>
+<p>“Yes? Who’s there?” Meadowgloom answers, and stoops down to fetch the
+key.</p>
+<p>The figure steps forward out of the shadow revealing a lined,
+determined face wearing glasses and a mustache and goatee.</p>
+<p>Still crouched down, Meadowgloom stops with his hand hovering over
+the key. He says in surprise, “Mister Blackguard?”</p>
+<p>Blackguard’s seems about to break into a smile, but instead raises
+his hand in alarm and shouts, “Meadowgloom!”</p>
+<p>For when Meadowgloom bent down to retrieve the dropped key,
+Blackguard was able to see a shadowy figure clad all in black with a
+black mask over their face step out of the gloom. It lifts an arm up
+over its head, a long bladed dagger gripped in its hand.</p>
+<p>When it hears Blackguard’s name spoken out loud, it pauses for a
+fraction of a second, blade suspended in air, and tilts its head
+slightly. And then it plunges the blade into Meadowgloom’s back.</p>
+<pre><code>                                 ~ * ~</code></pre>
+<p>Upstairs in the apartment Iofi and Maddox hear a man scream in
+anguish outside in the alley. They look at each other and leap up and
+rush toward the stairs. Two other Maddoxes appear at their side as they
+go, running alongside them.</p>
+<p>Iofi quickly unlocks the door and throws it open and a bunch of
+Maddoxes flow through the opening out into the alley.</p>
+<p>They find a man sitting hunched over on the ground cradling
+Meadowgloom in his arms, rocking back and forth, both of them in a pool
+of blood.</p>
+<p>Two Maddoxes dash away toward either end of the alley as the third
+steps forward, daggers in hand, surveying the immediate area. There is
+no assailant to be found.</p>
+<p>Iofi stoops down and touches Meadowgloom. His face is frozen in one
+of curious surprise. He doesn’t respond or react. He doesn’t breathe.
+There is no pulse.</p>
+<p>The man is crying. He looks up at Iofi and takes a couple breaths to
+compose himself.</p>
+<p>Iofi squeezes her eyes shut and, hands on Meadowglooms chest,
+whispers forcefully, “<span class="smallcaps">The tide goes in, the tide
+goes out. All things come to an end, but not for you. Not here, not now.
+Your story isn’t over yet. Come back to us.</span>”</p>
+<p>She opens her eyes and peers expectantly at Meadowgloom’s face. Her
+countenance falls in defeat when nothing happens. But then his eyes go
+wide and he takes a violent gasp of air.</p>
+<p>She sighs with relief. “Get him upstairs,” she commands the strange
+man. “He’s still gravely injured. We must tend to him if he is to
+live.”</p>
+<p>The man nods and together the two of them lift Meadowgloom up to his
+feet.</p>
+<p>“Who are you?” Iofi asks.</p>
+<p>“My name is Dedric Blackguard. I heard you were looking for me. I
+need your help. I’m in danger and there’s nobody I can trust.”</p>
+<p>EOF</p>
+</body>
+</html>

www/about.html

@@ -164,14 +164,19 @@ Cleric + Thief
 <h2 id="toc-title">Contents</h2>
 <ul>
 <li><a href="#about">About</a></li>
+<li><a href="#contact">Contact</a></li>
 <li><a href="#iofi">Iofi</a></li>
 <li><a href="#maddox">Maddox</a></li>
 <li><a href="#setting">Setting</a></li>
-<li><a href="#contact">Contact</a></li>
 </ul>
 </nav>
 <h2 id="about">About</h2>
 <p>This is a fantasy story about a cleric and a thief embroiled in a web of politics, intrigue, religion, and justice.</p>
+<p>It is kind of a serialized novelization of a solo roleplaying game I’m playing using <a href="https://awkwardturtle.itch.io/brighter-worlds">Brighter Worlds</a> and the <a href="https://inflatablestudios.itch.io/one-page-solo-engine">One Page Solo Engine</a>.</p>
+<h2 id="contact">Contact</h2>
+<p>email: dozens@tilde.team<br />
+mastodon: <span class="citation" data-cites="dozens">@dozens</span><span class="citation" data-cites="tiny.tilde.website">@tiny.tilde.website</span><br />
+irc: dozens @ tidle.chat, libera.chat</p>
 <!--
 SPELLS
 
@@ -264,9 +269,5 @@ Multifarious Copies: When you create your clone you may change its physical appe
 <h2 id="setting">Setting</h2>
 <p>The world of Aulia is divided into the western continent, the eastern continent, and the middle continent.</p>
 <p>Our story takes in the city of Kriteach, a key port in the middle continent, part of the Kingdom of Sahtor’larath, whose monarch rules in the east.</p>
-<h2 id="contact">Contact</h2>
-<p>email: dozens@tilde.team<br />
-mastodon: <span class="citation" data-cites="dozens">@dozens</span><span class="citation" data-cites="tiny.tilde.website">@tiny.tilde.website</span><br />
-irc: dozens @ tidle.chat, libera.chat</p>
 </body>
 </html>

www/episodes.xml

@@ -1,5 +1,197 @@
 <rss version="2.0"><channel><title>cleric + thief</title>
 <link>http://tilde.town/~dozens/clericthief/index.html</link><description>adventures of iofi and maddox</description><atom:link rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" href="http://tilde.town/~dozens/clericthief/episodes.xml"/>
+<item>
+  <title>00005. Dead Ringer</title>
+  <link>http://tilde.town/~dozens/clericthief/00005-ringer.html</link>
+  <pubDate>Sat Sep 10 00:00:00 MDT 2022
+</pubDate>
+  <guid isPermaLink="false">2022-09-10 00005. Dead Ringer</guid>
+  <description>
+    <![CDATA[
+<p>The Index sits alone at the round, stone table. They skim over the
+lines of a large book with the aide of with a small wand, a pointer
+tapering into the shape of a small closed hand with an extended
+finger.</p>
+<p>They are dressed for the meeting in voluminous, jet-black robes lined
+with fur. And a black velvet mask with gold trim. The face depicted on
+the mask has large, owl-like eyes, and no mouth: they see all, and keep
+all the Hand’s secrets.</p>
+<p>They look up as the door opens and the other four file into the small
+room beneath the wine cellar. All wear the same robes, and each wears a
+unique mask.</p>
+<p>The masks are mostly for ceremonial purposes at this point. The true
+identities of the Hand are a fairly well-known secret within the inner
+circle.</p>
+<p>Except for the Dead Ringer, of course. The current spymaster, nor
+their predecessor, have ever been unmasked.</p>
+<p>The sit in order around the stone table. The Thumb to his right, the
+Tall Man to his left, then the Dead Ringer and the Pinky.</p>
+<p>The Index marks their place in the book, closes it and sets it aside.
+They then produce another book from a bag under the table and opens it
+up.</p>
+<p>“We can begin,” they intone after finding their place.</p>
+<p>Pinky has been compromised again,” rumbles Tall Man. His mask depicts
+a face twisted by anger, or in anguish. He is an imposing figure. Many
+enemies have assumed that his large physique must mean a lack of smarts.
+They were wrong.</p>
+<p>Pinky’s mask has hooded eyes and a smile, a face of indulgence and
+merriment. “It’s to be expected,” she retorts. “I’m the most public
+member of this organization. My businesses operate in the open.”</p>
+<p>“When they come back,” interrupts the Thumb. “They can contend with
+the Ringer.”</p>
+<p>The Thumb is a fat man. His mask has plain, straight lines for the
+eyes, mouth, and nose. A study in neutrality.</p>
+<p>Dead Ringer sits back in their chair, half in the shadows. Their mask
+is unique in that it has no facial features. It is blank, with gold trim
+only around the neckline, uncomfortably like a noose. They don’t speak
+in meetings.</p>
+<p>They nod to the Thumb.</p>
+<p>It is settled.</p>
+<p>“We’ll up your protection in the meantime,” the Thumb says, turning
+to Tall Man, who grunts and agrees to allocate some muscle.</p>
+<p>The Index makes some notes in their ledger. “Very good. I think that
+concludes unfinished business, yes? Very good, on to new business…”</p>
+<pre><code>                                 ~ * ~</code></pre>
+<p>Iofi makes herself busy building little shrines to Janice. Small
+altars with incense and dried flowers and tiny stone carvings of
+two-headed turtles. She leaves little offerings of brass hinges, keys
+with no locks, locks with no keys, bits of shell, small vials of colored
+sand, and bits of dried seaweed. She is fasting in preparation for the
+first of the month and the rites she will perform.</p>
+<p>There seems to be a perpetual secret scrum of Maddoxes in this corner
+or that, whispering intently amongst themselves.</p>
+<p>Meadowgloom has given up on trying to serve them tea after they keep
+emphatically passing their illusory hands through the cup. He almost
+spilled the entire tea set once, expecting some of the weight to shift
+from the tray to them. “Let them just come and get the tea if they want
+it,” he grumbles to himself. “Assuming they can even lift the cup and
+saucer!”</p>
+<p>Soon it is time to return to Madam Walker’s Supper Club.</p>
+<pre><code>                                 ~ * ~</code></pre>
+<p>Her information network is comprehensive.</p>
+<p>Even if one doesn’t actually use her services, it is possible to
+construct a basic profile based on the “you” shaped hole in the
+information provided by her existing customers and her runners and
+spies.</p>
+<p>Nothing is really private.</p>
+<p>It doesn’t take long to build a basic profile on Blackguard. He is an
+importer of goods, and an investor in trades and ventures. Which can
+mean good money in a busy port city like Kriteach. He doesn’t frequent
+any of the brothels. Never married. No children. Has a cousin in Coopers
+Kettle that he writes. Usually takes supper at the Yeoman’s Club.</p>
+<p>Recently gone missing. House recently burned down.</p>
+<p>She puzzles over that last detail, not for the first time. Each of
+her colleagues has assured her that they played no part in the arson.
+This suggests there may be another player with stakes in this game. She
+taps a pencil pensively on her desk.</p>
+<p>Early last year Blackguard appeared to divest himself of most of his
+portfolio. It is assumed that he subsequently focused his full attenion
+and all of his capital in a single venture, but it remains to be known
+what that venture is. He went completely below ground around the same
+time. Stopped going out. Ceased correspondance. Refused visitors.</p>
+<p>Some things, after all, do remain secret.</p>
+<p>Madam Walker sits at the desk in her library trying in vain to
+concentrate on the memo in her hands. She keeps glancing up at the door
+and resisting the urge to get up and look out into the hall.</p>
+<p>As an experiment, she kept the door open. Light from the reading
+lamps in the library spills out into the hall on the other side. Until
+suddenly it doesn’t.</p>
+<p>The hallway goes dark, as though a curtain has been drawn across the
+doorway. Walker stiffens. The darkness recedes and she catches a glimpse
+of an unfurnished room on the other side as the short thief walks in,
+closing the door behind themself.</p>
+<p>“You have the information we were promised?” they ask in a quiet
+voice.</p>
+<p>Walker nods and slides a folder across the desk to them. They glance
+at it but make no move to pick it up.</p>
+<p>“Will you read it to me?” they ask.</p>
+<p>Walker raises an eyebrow and smirks a little, and tells them a
+summary.</p>
+<p>“He’s not one of my customers,” Walker concludes. “As I told you when
+we first met, I don’t know him. And I don’t know where he is.”</p>
+<p>“Is that true for the rest of the Hand? None of you know where he
+is?”</p>
+<p>Walker presses her lips together and smiles. “I don’t know what the
+rest of the Hand does and doesn’t know. That’s not how we operate.”</p>
+<p>Maddox grunts. “Sure, I–” but the they cut themself off abruptly with
+a sudden intense look, and they snap out of existence.</p>
+<p>Madam Walker blinks a few times in surprise at the abrupt departure.
+She stands up and crosses the library and opens the door to the hallway,
+only to see the hallway.</p>
+<pre><code>                                 ~ * ~</code></pre>
+<p>Meadowgloom is walking back from the grocer clutching a bag of bread
+and fruit for dinner.</p>
+<p>He passes under the etched wooden sign of the Bone and Feather
+bookstore and cafe: a rook perching on top of a skull. He turns the
+corner of the shop into the alley and walks up to the side entrance, the
+stairway that goes up to the apartment above the bookstore where he’s
+been living with the cleric and the thief.</p>
+<p>He reaches into his coat pocket and fumbles around for the key. It
+took a while to even get him a key to the place. Not because they didn’t
+trust him, but because neither of them uses the front door. Iofi seems
+to be able to connect arbitrary doors, so she can walk into the upstairs
+closet and arrive at her destination. Maddox either uses Iofi’s doors,
+or else they just teleport around between their different illusory
+selves.</p>
+<p>“Meadowgloom?” a voice from behind him asks.</p>
+<p>Meadowgloom startles, and fumbles and drops the key just as he pulls
+it out of his pocket.</p>
+<p>Standing behind him, between him and the entrance to the alley, is a
+backlit figure wearing a coat and scarf and a flat crown hat with a
+brim. The figure is backlit, its face hidden in shadow.</p>
+<p>“Yes? Who’s there?” Meadowgloom answers, and stoops down to fetch the
+key.</p>
+<p>The figure steps forward out of the shadow revealing a lined,
+determined face wearing glasses and a mustache and goatee.</p>
+<p>Still crouched down, Meadowgloom stops with his hand hovering over
+the key. He says in surprise, “Mister Blackguard?”</p>
+<p>Blackguard’s seems about to break into a smile, but instead raises
+his hand in alarm and shouts, “Meadowgloom!”</p>
+<p>For when Meadowgloom bent down to retrieve the dropped key,
+Blackguard was able to see a shadowy figure clad all in black with a
+black mask over their face step out of the gloom. It lifts an arm up
+over its head, a long bladed dagger gripped in its hand.</p>
+<p>When it hears Blackguard’s name spoken out loud, it pauses for a
+fraction of a second, blade suspended in air, and tilts its head
+slightly. And then it plunges the blade into Meadowgloom’s back.</p>
+<pre><code>                                 ~ * ~</code></pre>
+<p>Upstairs in the apartment Iofi and Maddox hear a man scream in
+anguish outside in the alley. They look at each other and leap up and
+rush toward the stairs. Two other Maddoxes appear at their side as they
+go, running alongside them.</p>
+<p>Iofi quickly unlocks the door and throws it open and a bunch of
+Maddoxes flow through the opening out into the alley.</p>
+<p>They find a man sitting hunched over on the ground cradling
+Meadowgloom in his arms, rocking back and forth, both of them in a pool
+of blood.</p>
+<p>Two Maddoxes dash away toward either end of the alley as the third
+steps forward, daggers in hand, surveying the immediate area. There is
+no assailant to be found.</p>
+<p>Iofi stoops down and touches Meadowgloom. His face is frozen in one
+of curious surprise. He doesn’t respond or react. He doesn’t breathe.
+There is no pulse.</p>
+<p>The man is crying. He looks up at Iofi and takes a couple breaths to
+compose himself.</p>
+<p>Iofi squeezes her eyes shut and, hands on Meadowglooms chest,
+whispers forcefully, “<span class="smallcaps">The tide goes in, the tide
+goes out. All things come to an end, but not for you. Not here, not now.
+Your story isn’t over yet. Come back to us.</span>”</p>
+<p>She opens her eyes and peers expectantly at Meadowgloom’s face. Her
+countenance falls in defeat when nothing happens. But then his eyes go
+wide and he takes a violent gasp of air.</p>
+<p>She sighs with relief. “Get him upstairs,” she commands the strange
+man. “He’s still gravely injured. We must tend to him if he is to
+live.”</p>
+<p>The man nods and together the two of them lift Meadowgloom up to his
+feet.</p>
+<p>“Who are you?” Iofi asks.</p>
+<p>“My name is Dedric Blackguard. I heard you were looking for me. I
+need your help. I’m in danger and there’s nobody I can trust.”</p>
+<p>EOF</p>
+
+    ]]>
+  </description>
+</item>
 <item>
   <title>00004. Pinky</title>
   <link>http://tilde.town/~dozens/clericthief/00004-pinky.html</link>
@@ -8,35 +200,74 @@
   <guid isPermaLink="false">2022-09-04 00004. Pinky</guid>
   <description>
     <![CDATA[
-<p>Maddox is alone, slipping silently through the house, while Iofi and another Maddox wait hidden in the kitchen.</p>
-<p>In the dining hall, one of the girls startles them. But they talk their way past her.</p>
+<p>Maddox is alone, slipping silently through the house, while Iofi and
+another Maddox wait hidden in the kitchen.</p>
+<p>In the dining hall, one of the girls startles them. But they talk
+their way past her.</p>
 <p>They climb the stairs at the end of the hall to the second level.</p>
-<p>When they get to the top of the stairs, a large, beefy guard jumps out and swings a fist at Maddox, but they dodge out of the way. Maddox swipes at him with a dagger, and the guard jumps back to avoid its point. The guard swings again and Maddox feints and stabs. The guard barely avoids the attack.</p>
-<p>This time the guard lands what should be a direct blow, but his fist goes straight through the side of their skull. The guard stops and blinks a few times in confusion. Maddox whispers a single word, “Snap.”</p>
-<p>A second Maddox steps out of the shadows and stabs the guard in the ribs. Iofi lunges forward and strikes him in the head with her hammer, knocking him out.</p>
-<p>Maddox tries the single door at the top of the stairs. It is locked. Iofi lays her hands on it and opens it, and they slip through.</p>
-<p>At the end of the hallway are two guards, on high alert due to the sound of the scuffle. They pounce, and Maddox turns and runs back down the hallway. They give chase and as they pass through the hallway, Maddox and Iofi attack from behind.</p>
-<p>Iofi’s hammer knocks one out in a single blow. Maddox throws a dagger and catches the second one in the neck. He cries out, turns and jabs with his spear. Maddox takes a scratch from the spear, but then stabs again and the guard goes down.</p>
-<p>Maddox continues down the hall, leaving Maddox and Iofi behind. They pause to listen at doors as they go.</p>
-<p>They finally arrive at Walker’s study. The lights are on. She is sitting at her desk reading papers and making notes in a journal.</p>
+<p>When they get to the top of the stairs, a large, beefy guard jumps
+out and swings a fist at Maddox, but they dodge out of the way. Maddox
+swipes at him with a dagger, and the guard jumps back to avoid its
+point. The guard swings again and Maddox feints and stabs. The guard
+barely avoids the attack.</p>
+<p>This time the guard lands what should be a direct blow, but his fist
+goes straight through the side of their skull. The guard stops and
+blinks a few times in confusion. Maddox whispers a single word,
+“Snap.”</p>
+<p>A second Maddox steps out of the shadows and stabs the guard in the
+ribs. Iofi lunges forward and strikes him in the head with her hammer,
+knocking him out.</p>
+<p>Maddox tries the single door at the top of the stairs. It is locked.
+Iofi lays her hands on it and opens it, and they slip through.</p>
+<p>At the end of the hallway are two guards, on high alert due to the
+sound of the scuffle. They pounce, and Maddox turns and runs back down
+the hallway. They give chase and as they pass through the hallway,
+Maddox and Iofi attack from behind.</p>
+<p>Iofi’s hammer knocks one out in a single blow. Maddox throws a dagger
+and catches the second one in the neck. He cries out, turns and jabs
+with his spear. Maddox takes a scratch from the spear, but then stabs
+again and the guard goes down.</p>
+<p>Maddox continues down the hall, leaving Maddox and Iofi behind. They
+pause to listen at doors as they go.</p>
+<p>They finally arrive at Walker’s study. The lights are on. She is
+sitting at her desk reading papers and making notes in a journal.</p>
 <p>Maddox slips silently into the room.</p>
-<p>Rose Walker looks up and sets her papers down and sighs, “I obviously need to up my security.”</p>
-<p>“Not necessarily. There just aren’t really any doors that can keep us out,” Maddox replies with a nearly apologetic smile.</p>
+<p>Rose Walker looks up and sets her papers down and sighs, “I obviously
+need to up my security.”</p>
+<p>“Not necessarily. There just aren’t really any doors that can keep us
+out,” Maddox replies with a nearly apologetic smile.</p>
 <p>She smiles back and folds her hands together, waiting.</p>
-<p>“I’m looking for somebody,” Maddox continues. “His name’s Blackguard.”</p>
-<p>Walker unlaces her fingers, places her hands on the table, and stands.</p>
-<p>“I’ve never heard him,” she says, walking around the desk and standing before Maddox. “He’s not one of my clients whoever he is. So why are you asking me?”</p>
+<p>“I’m looking for somebody,” Maddox continues. “His name’s
+Blackguard.”</p>
+<p>Walker unlaces her fingers, places her hands on the table, and
+stands.</p>
+<p>“I’ve never heard him,” she says, walking around the desk and
+standing before Maddox. “He’s not one of my clients whoever he is. So
+why are you asking me?”</p>
 <p>Maddox narrows their eyes.</p>
-<p>In the hallway, Iofi holds the grimorie in both hands. Her lips move silently as she reads.</p>
-<p>In the study, Walker’s smile fades and she falters, hesitates. Her confidence is suddenly, inexplicably shaken. Maddox smirks.</p>
+<p>In the hallway, Iofi holds the grimorie in both hands. Her lips move
+silently as she reads.</p>
+<p>In the study, Walker’s smile fades and she falters, hesitates. Her
+confidence is suddenly, inexplicably shaken. Maddox smirks.</p>
 <p>They take a step forward. “Help us find Blackguard.”</p>
-<p>“I tell you I don’t know the man!” she protests, taking step back.</p>
-<p>Iofi finally steps into the room. The grimorie has been placed back into her satchel. She holds her glass hammer at her side.</p>
-<p>“Then find out. Ask your girls.” Iofi says idly, looking around the room. She walks behind the desk and flips through the papers, pocketing one or two of them. Walker frowns.</p>
+<p>“I tell you I don’t know the man!” she protests, taking step
+back.</p>
+<p>Iofi finally steps into the room. The grimorie has been placed back
+into her satchel. She holds her glass hammer at her side.</p>
+<p>“Then find out. Ask your girls.” Iofi says idly, looking around the
+room. She walks behind the desk and flips through the papers, pocketing
+one or two of them. Walker frowns.</p>
 <p>“We’ll be back in three days,” Maddox warns.</p>
-<p>Iofi crosses the room again and lays one hand on the door to Walker’s study. “<span class="smallcaps">This door is now one of mine</span>,” she says. She opens it and on the other side is the safe house. Meadowgloom, setting out tea set, looks up in surprise and lets out a squeak.</p>
-<p>Maddox smiles. They follow Iofi through the door and close it behind them, leaving Walker alone once again in the study.</p>
-<p>Walker composes herself and crosses the room and opens the door and looks at the empty hallway on the other side, exactly where it should be.</p>
+<p>Iofi crosses the room again and lays one hand on the door to Walker’s
+study. “<span class="smallcaps">This door is now one of mine</span>,”
+she says. She opens it and on the other side is the safe house.
+Meadowgloom, setting out a tea set, looks up in surprise and lets out a
+squeak.</p>
+<p>Maddox smiles. They follow Iofi through the door and close it behind
+them, leaving Walker alone once again in the study.</p>
+<p>Walker composes herself and crosses the room and opens the door and
+looks at the empty hallway on the other side, exactly where it should
+be.</p>
 <p>EOF</p>
 
     ]]>
@@ -50,34 +281,99 @@
   <guid isPermaLink="false">2022-09-03 00003. The Hand</guid>
   <description>
     <![CDATA[
-<p>“They had accents,” Maddox explains. They and Iofi are in Count Dindrati’s library. They haven’t been invited to sit, so they both stand. The count is seated at a table by himself studying a board game. “They were from the west,” they continue.</p>
-<p>“Yes, yes.” Dindrati waves his hand dismissively. His thumb and first two fingers are scaly, and each ends in a pointed tip.</p>
+<p>“They had accents,” Maddox explains. They and Iofi are in Count
+Dindrati’s library. They haven’t been invited to sit, so they both
+stand. The count is seated at a table by himself studying a board game.
+“They were from the west,” they continue.</p>
+<p>“Yes, yes.” Dindrati waves his hand dismissively. His thumb and first
+two fingers are scaly, and each ends in a pointed tip.</p>
 <p>He picks up a piece from the board and moves it.</p>
-<p>“Your priorities have changed,” he says, finally looking up from the board. His wide, smooth face would probably be quite unremarkable were it not for the raised gold-colored scales on the side of his jaw, like beetle carapaces crawling up his left cheekbone and encircling his eye. That eye has no pupil, no iris. Just a solid pool the color of liquid, molten metal.</p>
-<p>“I have reason to believe that the Hand may be involved in Blackguard’s disappearance.” Maddox shifts their weight back onto their heels. Iofi draws her shoulders back a little. “I want you to find out. And if it’s true, I want you to make them feel my disappointment.”</p>
-<p>He turns back to the game. “Start with the Pinky,” he says and waves again, dismissing them.</p>
-<p>Iofi clears her throat and says, “Going after the Hand is not nearly the same as interviewing the butler of a rich merchant. We’ll need to renegotiate our contract.”</p>
-<p>Dindrati sighs and nods, and presses himself up from his game. He turns around and crosses the room. He draws one claw-tipped finger across the spines of the books on the shelf.</p>
+<p>“Your priorities have changed,” he says, finally looking up from the
+board. His wide, smooth face would probably be quite unremarkable were
+it not for the raised gold-colored scales on the side of his jaw, like
+beetle carapaces crawling up his left cheekbone and encircling his eye.
+That eye has no pupil, no iris. Just a solid pool the color of liquid,
+molten metal.</p>
+<p>“I have reason to believe that the Hand may be involved in
+Blackguard’s disappearance.” Maddox shifts their weight back onto their
+heels. Iofi draws her shoulders back a little. “I want you to find out.
+And if it’s true, I want you to make them feel my disappointment.”</p>
+<p>He turns back to the game. “Start with the Pinky,” he says and waves
+again, dismissing them.</p>
+<p>Iofi clears her throat and says, “Going after the Hand is not nearly
+the same as interviewing the butler of a rich merchant. We’ll need to
+renegotiate our contract.”</p>
+<p>Dindrati sighs and nods, and presses himself up from his game. He
+turns around and crosses the room. He draws one claw-tipped finger
+across the spines of the books on the shelf.</p>
 <p>He pulls down a thick journal and turns back to the duo.</p>
-<p>“Here,” he says, holding it out to Iofi. “This should be enough to balance the scales.”</p>
+<p>“Here,” he says, holding it out to Iofi. “This should be enough to
+balance the scales.”</p>
 <p>Iofi reaches out and takes the book from the count.</p>
-<p>“I’ll adjust your pay accordingly,” he concludes, sitting back down to the game.</p>
+<p>“I’ll adjust your pay accordingly,” he concludes, sitting back down
+to the game.</p>
 <hr />
-<p>The count nominally governs Kriteach County. He speaks with the authority of the king, and enforces his will with his own police force. But it is the Hand that in actuality runs the day to day operations of the city. They indulge in the standard practices of organized crime. Racketeering, bribery, extortion and the like. But they do so with the begrudging support of the citizens, because they also spend a significant amount of effort enforcing their own code of ethics. They investigate and punish breaches of conduct both within their own ranks, and also amongst the people. Theirs has become a sort of people’s court.</p>
-<p>The governing body of the Hand is a council of five. Hence the name. The individuals may change and come and go over the years. But the positions and the titles are always the same.</p>
-<p>There is the Thumb, as in “under my”. They serve an executive function in the Hand, getting to set agendas and priorities and direction.</p>
-<p>The Index is the book keeper for the whole organization. His accountants and lawyers know all the secrets and how to protect them. And only he knows the extent and the contents, and the whereabouts, of the Hand’s coffers.</p>
-<p>There is no subtly to the Tall Man’s racket. His is enforcement and protection. Usually through muscle and brute force. Although his crew has been known to pull off a clandestine operation or two.</p>
-<p>The Dead Ringer employs a small number of spies. They broker in espionage, intrigue, disguise, and when necessary, assassination and disposal.</p>
-<p>And finally there is the Pinky–as in “wrapped around my little finger”–whose portfolio includes information and blackmail. Their network of spies is not necessarily limited to, but is largely comprised of, the working girls in the brothels. And their intel are the secrets that foolish men let slip while their head is on the pillow.</p>
-<p>It is a well known secret that the current Pinky, one Madam Rose Walker, is the owner and proprietor of Madam Walker’s Supper Club. A charmingly seedy establishment where you can get a good bite to eat and then, if you pay a little more, you can head upstairs and have one of the girls for desert.</p>
+<p>The count nominally governs Kriteach County. He speaks with the
+authority of the king, and enforces his will with his own police force.
+But it is the Hand that in actuality runs the day to day operations of
+the city. They indulge in the standard practices of organized crime.
+Racketeering, bribery, extortion and the like. But they do so with the
+begrudging support of the citizens, because they also spend a
+significant amount of effort enforcing their own code of ethics. They
+investigate and punish breaches of conduct both within their own ranks,
+and also amongst the people. Theirs has become a sort of people’s
+court.</p>
+<p>The governing body of the Hand is a council of five. Hence the name.
+The individuals may change and come and go over the years. But the
+positions and the titles are always the same.</p>
+<p>There is the Thumb, as in “under my”. They serve an executive
+function in the Hand, getting to set agendas and priorities and
+direction.</p>
+<p>The Index is the book keeper for the whole organization. His
+accountants and lawyers know all the secrets and how to protect them.
+And only he knows the extent and the contents, and the whereabouts, of
+the Hand’s coffers.</p>
+<p>There is no subtly to the Tall Man’s racket. His is enforcement and
+protection. Usually through muscle and brute force. Although his crew
+has been known to pull off a clandestine operation or two.</p>
+<p>The Dead Ringer employs a small number of spies. They broker in
+espionage, intrigue, disguise, and when necessary, assassination and
+disposal.</p>
+<p>And finally there is the Pinky–as in “wrapped around my little
+finger”–whose portfolio includes information and blackmail. Their
+network of spies is not necessarily limited to, but is largely comprised
+of, the working girls in the brothels. And their intel are the secrets
+that foolish men let slip while their head is on the pillow.</p>
+<p>It is a well known secret that the current Pinky, one Madam Rose
+Walker, is the owner and proprietor of Madam Walker’s Supper Club. A
+charmingly seedy establishment where you can get a good bite to eat and
+then, if you pay a little more, you can head upstairs and have one of
+the girls for desert.</p>
 <hr />
-<p>Iofi and Maddox spent the day preparing. The book that Count Dindrati gave them was a grimorie. A book of magic.</p>
-<p>One of the rituals they prepared involved Iofi consuming the heart of an animal. Meadowgloom dutifully obtained and prepared the beast while the two of them continued to study. “Divination is more your thing than mine anyway,” Maddox said apologetically as Iofi frowned and suffered through eating the thing.</p>
-<p>And now here they are. Standing in the shadows outside the supper club in the southern part of the Lost Arch district, near the harbour.</p>
-<p>Convention dictates they conduct their missions after hours. But “after hours” at a brothel is typically midday, which they agreed would leave them feeling a little exposed. So they opted for 3:00, the bewitching hour.</p>
-<p>“Ready?” Iofi asks quietly. Maddox nods and the two of them step out of the shadows. Maddox grumbles once again at the lack of windows on the ground floor. They walk past the painted red front door and around to the back alley where the entrance to the kitchen is. Iofi reaches into her satchel to pet the black turtle as she walks up to the door. She places her hand on the door and speaks with two voices, “<span class="smallcaps">The door is open.</span>” She presses gently and the door swings open.</p>
-<p>She steps aside so that Maddox can slip in, and then follows them and closes the door shut behind them.</p>
+<p>Iofi and Maddox spent the day preparing. The book that Count Dindrati
+gave them was a grimorie. A book of magic.</p>
+<p>One of the rituals they prepared involved Iofi consuming the heart of
+an animal. Meadowgloom dutifully obtained and prepared the beast while
+the two of them continued to study. “Divination is more your thing than
+mine anyway,” Maddox said apologetically as Iofi frowned and suffered
+through eating the thing.</p>
+<p>And now here they are. Standing in the shadows outside the supper
+club in the southern part of the Lost Arch district, near the
+harbour.</p>
+<p>Convention dictates they conduct their missions after hours. But
+“after hours” at a brothel is typically midday, which they agreed would
+leave them feeling a little exposed. So they opted for 3:00, the
+bewitching hour.</p>
+<p>“Ready?” Iofi asks quietly. Maddox nods and the two of them step out
+of the shadows. Maddox grumbles once again at the lack of windows on the
+ground floor. They walk past the painted red front door and around to
+the back alley where the entrance to the kitchen is. Iofi reaches into
+her satchel to pet the black turtle as she walks up to the door. She
+places her hand on the door and speaks with two voices, “<span
+class="smallcaps">The door is open.</span>” She presses gently and the
+door swings open.</p>
+<p>She steps aside so that Maddox can slip in, and then follows them and
+closes the door shut behind them.</p>
 <p>EOF</p>
 
     ]]>
@@ -92,28 +388,64 @@
   <description>
     <![CDATA[
 <p>“You really don’t know where Blackguard is,” asks Maddox.</p>
-<p>The four of them are sitting around a table in the safe house. Maddox, the bone doctor, Iofi, and Meadowgloom.</p>
-<p>The bone doctor, summoned by Other Maddox, is extraordinarily pale. They have just finished stitching Maddox up, and are now wrapping them up in a bandage. They also set out some salve for Iofi, who is rubbing it into her boney forearms. They ache deeply from when she took the brunt of the blow from the axeman.</p>
+<p>The four of them are sitting around a table in the safe house.
+Maddox, the bone doctor, Iofi, and Meadowgloom.</p>
+<p>The bone doctor, summoned by Other Maddox, is extraordinarily pale.
+They have just finished stitching Maddox up, and are now wrapping them
+up in a bandage. They also set out some salve for Iofi, who is rubbing
+it into her boney forearms. They ache deeply from when she took the
+brunt of the blow from the axeman.</p>
 <p>“I really don’t,” confesses Meadowgloom in his high, soft voice.</p>
-<p>Meadowgloom is Blackguard’s <em>majordomo</em>, head of his household staff. Up until recently he was quite happy and content with his job.</p>
-<p>That was before, of course, he was detained and threatened with bodily dismemberment by three thugs who broke into the Blackguard house. Before being rescused by the tall dark haired woman and the short fair haired man, both of whom command strange magicks and are also quite handy with a hammer and a knife, respectively. Which makes them in some ways even scarier than the burglars were. And ultimately they also eventually threatened him with violence.</p>
+<p>Meadowgloom is Blackguard’s <em>majordomo</em>, head of his household
+staff. Up until recently he was quite happy and content with his
+job.</p>
+<p>That was before, of course, he was detained and threatened with
+bodily dismemberment by three thugs who broke into the Blackguard house.
+Before being rescused by the tall dark haired woman and the short fair
+haired man, both of whom command strange magicks and are also quite
+handy with a hammer and a knife, respectively. Which makes them in some
+ways even scarier than the burglars were. And ultimately they also
+eventually threatened him with violence.</p>
 <p>All because of Blackguard.</p>
-<p>Blackguard, whose investments, speculations, and ventures have made him one of the most conspicuously wealthy merchants in Kriteach. Possibly on the entire island.</p>
-<p>Blackguard, who over the last month started becoming increasingly anxious and secretive. Holding meetings at odd hours behind closed doors. Spending more and more time alone with his books. As though he knew the net was tightening, drawing closed around him.</p>
-<p>Blackguard, who disappeared three days ago and left Meadowgloom holding the proverbial bag. After years of service and loyalty.</p>
+<p>Blackguard, whose investments, speculations, and ventures have made
+him one of the most conspicuously wealthy merchants in Kriteach.
+Possibly on the entire island.</p>
+<p>Blackguard, who over the last month started becoming increasingly
+anxious and secretive. Holding meetings at odd hours behind closed
+doors. Spending more and more time alone with his books. As though he
+knew the net was tightening, drawing closed around him.</p>
+<p>Blackguard, who disappeared three days ago and left Meadowgloom
+holding the proverbial bag. After years of service and loyalty.</p>
 <p>Fucking Blackguard.</p>
-<p>“I don’t,” continues Meadowgloom. “But I can recreate his final days in the house for you. I can give you access to his books. His correspondence. Everything.”</p>
+<p>“I don’t,” continues Meadowgloom. “But I can recreate his final days
+in the house for you. I can give you access to his books. His
+correspondence. Everything.”</p>
 <hr />
-<p>Meadowgloom’s confidence starts to waiver as the three of them walk back to the Blackguard house. It was his sanctuary mere days ago. But now the illusion of safety has been shattered, and when he thinks of returning he feels a knot of dread in the pit of his stomach. He doesn’t think he’ll ever feel at peace there again.</p>
+<p>Meadowgloom’s confidence starts to waiver as the three of them walk
+back to the Blackguard house. It was his sanctuary mere days ago. But
+now the illusion of safety has been shattered, and when he thinks of
+returning he feels a knot of dread in the pit of his stomach. He doesn’t
+think he’ll ever feel at peace there again.</p>
 <p>He doesn’t know how right he is about that.</p>
-<p>The street is blocked off. The house, in the middle of the block, is collapsed in on itself and continues to smoke and smolder slightly. It is blackened by soot, gutted by fire, and utterly soaked from the efforts of putting out the blaze.</p>
-<p>The fire brigade is now focused on putting out a neighboring apartment.</p>
-<p>Meadowgloom moans helplessly and wordlessly. He was already mourning the psychological loss of his home. But he wasn’t prepared for its physical loss.</p>
+<p>The street is blocked off. The house, in the middle of the block, is
+collapsed in on itself and continues to smoke and smolder slightly. It
+is blackened by soot, gutted by fire, and utterly soaked from the
+efforts of putting out the blaze.</p>
+<p>The fire brigade is now focused on putting out a neighboring
+apartment.</p>
+<p>Meadowgloom moans helplessly and wordlessly. He was already mourning
+the psychological loss of his home. But he wasn’t prepared for its
+physical loss.</p>
 <p>“Shit,” curses Maddox.</p>
 <p>Iofi looks at them and frowns.</p>
 <p>“It’s a setback,” she offers.</p>
 <p>“It was our best and only lead,” they counter.</p>
-<p>Meadowgloom moans again and rushes past the barricade toward the house. He is stopped by the brigade, who won’t let him advance. Maddox gives him a moment, and then steps forward and gently pulls him away. They walk back in the direction from which they came. Meadowgloom, silent and dejected, flanked on either side by Maddox and Iofi. Nothing else to be done here.</p>
+<p>Meadowgloom moans again and rushes past the barricade toward the
+house. He is stopped by the brigade, who won’t let him advance. Maddox
+gives him a moment, and then steps forward and gently pulls him away.
+They walk back in the direction from which they came. Meadowgloom,
+silent and dejected, flanked on either side by Maddox and Iofi. Nothing
+else to be done here.</p>
 <p>“You’ll stay with us,” Iofi pats Meadowgloom on the arm.</p>
 <p>Maddox mumbles something under their breath and nods.</p>
 <p>“It’s the least we can do given the circumstances.”</p>
@@ -130,72 +462,188 @@
   <guid isPermaLink="false">2022-08-30 00001. Cleric + Thief</guid>
   <description>
     <![CDATA[
-<p>Iofi knocks on the front door of the apartment while Maddox turns and faces the other way, inspecting the immaculate lawn and the empty tree-lined street.</p>
-<p>“Does the formality of it ever strike you as funny?” asks Maddox. They are short and fidgety, with a ruddy face, small squinting eyes, and short shaggy blonde hair.</p>
-<p>Iofi drags the fingers of one hand gently across the face of the door. Her other hand starts to reach instinctively for the satchel around her waist, but then the returns it to her side after all. “Funny?” she echoes quietly, almost to herself. She is tall, almost gaunt. Her long dark hair is pulled back into a low tight bun. She has slightly buck teeth and a slight overbite, and large dark eyes with hooded eyelids.</p>
-<p>“Knocking like that. Like you need permission.” Maddox continues quietly, their voice just above a whisper. “You don’t find it funny?”</p>
-<p>“It’s the right thing to do,” Iofi answers, turning her head slightly toward her partner.</p>
-<p>Maddox turns from the lawn, satisfied for now, and leans over the railing to peer in through the window.</p>
-<p>“The right thing to do,” they counter, “is whatever gets you what you need.” They squint, trying to make out the inside of the room through the thin curtains. “And right now, we need to find the merchant.”</p>
-<p>The door opens a crack just as Iofi raises her fist to knock a second time.</p>
-<p>Maddox quickly straightens up and tries not to look like they were just spying through the window.</p>
-<p>In the doorway is a small bald man with a thin, meticulous goatee and mustache. He stands in the small space between the door and its frame and peers out at them with large watery eyes and a gaping mouth like a goldfish.</p>
+<p>Iofi knocks on the front door of the apartment while Maddox turns and
+faces the other way, inspecting the immaculate lawn and the empty
+tree-lined street.</p>
+<p>“Does the formality of it ever strike you as funny?” asks Maddox.
+They are short and fidgety, with a ruddy face, small squinting eyes, and
+short shaggy blonde hair.</p>
+<p>Iofi drags the fingers of one hand gently across the face of the
+door. Her other hand starts to reach instinctively for the satchel
+around her waist, but then the returns it to her side after all.
+“Funny?” she echoes quietly, almost to herself. She is tall, almost
+gaunt. Her long dark hair is pulled back into a low tight bun. She has
+slightly buck teeth and a slight overbite, and large dark eyes with
+hooded eyelids.</p>
+<p>“Knocking like that. Like you need permission.” Maddox continues
+quietly, their voice just above a whisper. “You don’t find it
+funny?”</p>
+<p>“It’s the right thing to do,” Iofi answers, turning her head slightly
+toward her partner.</p>
+<p>Maddox turns from the lawn, satisfied for now, and leans over the
+railing to peer in through the window.</p>
+<p>“The right thing to do,” they counter, “is whatever gets you what you
+need.” They squint, trying to make out the inside of the room through
+the thin curtains. “And right now, we need to find the merchant.”</p>
+<p>The door opens a crack just as Iofi raises her fist to knock a second
+time.</p>
+<p>Maddox quickly straightens up and tries not to look like they were
+just spying through the window.</p>
+<p>In the doorway is a small bald man with a thin, meticulous goatee and
+mustache. He stands in the small space between the door and its frame
+and peers out at them with large watery eyes and a gaping mouth like a
+goldfish.</p>
 <p>“Yes?” he greets them with a soft, high voice.</p>
-<p>“Hello,” Iofi smiles, revealing an impressive amount of teeth, her mouth giving a round shape to her vowels. “We’re looking for Mister Dedric Blackguard. Is he available?”</p>
-<p>Maddox clears their throat and tugs on their sleeves on the front porch. The small man glances at them briefly before flicking his eyes back to Iofi.</p>
+<p>“Hello,” Iofi smiles, revealing an impressive amount of teeth, her
+mouth giving a round shape to her vowels. “We’re looking for Mister
+Dedric Blackguard. Is he available?”</p>
+<p>Maddox clears their throat and tugs on their sleeves on the front
+porch. The small man glances at them briefly before flicking his eyes
+back to Iofi.</p>
 <p>“No, I’m afraid Mister Blackguard is not here at the moment.”</p>
-<p>Maddox asks, “Do you know when he will be back?” their voice a little raspy as they speak up to be heard.</p>
-<p>“I’m afraid not,” he answers in his childlike voice. There is a heavy thump and a scrape from somewhere behind the door. The doorman flinches and smiles nervously.</p>
-<p>Maddox narrows their eyes, and concern appears on Iofi’s face. “Is everything alright?” she asks. The doorman’s eyes flit quickly behind the door.</p>
-<p>“Yes! Yes, everything is quite alright. It, erm. It was just the cat!”</p>
+<p>Maddox asks, “Do you know when he will be back?” their voice a little
+raspy as they speak up to be heard.</p>
+<p>“I’m afraid not,” he answers in his childlike voice. There is a heavy
+thump and a scrape from somewhere behind the door. The doorman flinches
+and smiles nervously.</p>
+<p>Maddox narrows their eyes, and concern appears on Iofi’s face. “Is
+everything alright?” she asks. The doorman’s eyes flit quickly behind
+the door.</p>
+<p>“Yes! Yes, everything is quite alright. It, erm. It was just the
+cat!”</p>
 <p>“The cat,” echoes Iofi.</p>
-<p>“Look,” the doorman squeaks, “I really must be going. I really am busy. I’ll tell Mister Blackguard you were here. Miss?”</p>
-<p>“Iofi.” She gestures behind her, “and Maddox. From the office of the Governor.”</p>
-<p>The doorman meeps quietly again. “The governor? Oh, um. Yes, very good. I will let Mister Blackguard know. Now, as I said, I am very busy. Good day!”</p>
-<p>The small man closes the door in their faces. There is the sound of a key turning in a lock, and the sliding of a bolt.</p>
-<p>“Do you think he’s in trouble in there?” Maddox asks Iofi, their voice a little more melodious as it drops to its natural register just above a whisper.</p>
-<p>“If he is, it would be the right thing to do to help him, wouldn’t it?” Iofi answers dipping her hand into her satchel.</p>
-<p>“I’m more concerned about losing a lead than doing the right thing, but you know. Tell yourself what you need to hear.”</p>
-<p>Iofi places her free hand on the door and when she speaks next, she does so with two voices at once. “<span class="smallcaps">This door is unlocked</span>.” She lowers her hand to the door handle and turns it, and steps aside making room for Maddox at her side as she silently opens it a crack.</p>
-<p>Maddox peers into the empty foyer on the other side of the door. There is a staircase leading up to the second level, a hallway receding away from them toward the back of the house, and a large doorway on either side.</p>
-<p>A second Maddox walks briskly but silently in from the room on the right and looks expectantly at the two of them lurking in the doorway. The Maddox on the front porch nods at Iofi, who pushes the front door open wide enough for them both to fit through.</p>
-<p>Maddox tells the other Maddox, “Continue searching the downstairs. If everything’s clear, head back to the safe house and wait for us there.” Maddox nods, and silently continues through the doorway on the left into a dining room.</p>
-<p>Maddox turns back to Iofi and nods questioningly toward the stairs. They go first, a dagger suddenly in each hand. She pulls a glass rod out of her satchel, something between a large hammer and small club, and follows.</p>
-<p>At the top of the stairs is a hall with four rooms. Two to the left, one to the right, and one straight ahead.</p>
-<p>Muffled voices drift down the hall from the room at the far end of the hall.</p>
-<p>Maddox and Iofi creep forward. One of the voices is the high, soft, trembling voice of the doorman. The other voice is low, calm, and commanding.</p>
+<p>“Look,” the doorman squeaks, “I really must be going. I really am
+busy. I’ll tell Mister Blackguard you were here. Miss?”</p>
+<p>“Iofi.” She gestures behind her, “and Maddox. From the office of the
+Governor.”</p>
+<p>The doorman meeps quietly again. “The governor? Oh, um. Yes, very
+good. I will let Mister Blackguard know. Now, as I said, I am very busy.
+Good day!”</p>
+<p>The small man closes the door in their faces. There is the sound of a
+key turning in a lock, and the sliding of a bolt.</p>
+<p>“Do you think he’s in trouble in there?” Maddox asks Iofi, their
+voice a little more melodious as it drops to its natural register just
+above a whisper.</p>
+<p>“If he is, it would be the right thing to do to help him, wouldn’t
+it?” Iofi answers dipping her hand into her satchel.</p>
+<p>“I’m more concerned about losing a lead than doing the right thing,
+but you know. Tell yourself what you need to hear.”</p>
+<p>Iofi places her free hand on the door and when she speaks next, she
+does so with two voices at once. “<span class="smallcaps">This door is
+unlocked</span>.” She lowers her hand to the door handle and turns it,
+and steps aside making room for Maddox at her side as she silently opens
+it a crack.</p>
+<p>Maddox peers into the empty foyer on the other side of the door.
+There is a staircase leading up to the second level, a hallway receding
+away from them toward the back of the house, and a large doorway on
+either side.</p>
+<p>A second Maddox walks briskly but silently in from the room on the
+right and looks expectantly at the two of them lurking in the doorway.
+The Maddox on the front porch nods at Iofi, who pushes the front door
+open wide enough for them both to fit through.</p>
+<p>Maddox tells the other Maddox, “Continue searching the downstairs. If
+everything’s clear, head back to the safe house and wait for us there.”
+Maddox nods, and silently continues through the doorway on the left into
+a dining room.</p>
+<p>Maddox turns back to Iofi and nods questioningly toward the stairs.
+They go first, a dagger suddenly in each hand. She pulls a glass rod out
+of her satchel, something between a large hammer and small club, and
+follows.</p>
+<p>At the top of the stairs is a hall with four rooms. Two to the left,
+one to the right, and one straight ahead.</p>
+<p>Muffled voices drift down the hall from the room at the far end of
+the hall.</p>
+<p>Maddox and Iofi creep forward. One of the voices is the high, soft,
+trembling voice of the doorman. The other voice is low, calm, and
+commanding.</p>
 <p>“I told you I don’t know where he is!”</p>
-<p>“And I told you that is not an acceptable answer.” Maddox frowns at the voice’s western accent and glances back and up at Iofi. She nods, a single line of concern creasing her brow. She heard it to.</p>
-<p>“He has something of ours,” the voice continues. “We need it back.”</p>
-<p>The doorman yelps and there is the sound of a brief scuffle, and a thump, and the doorman cries out in despair.</p>
-<p>Iofi leans over Maddox and places her hand on the door. “Ready?” They crouch and raise their daggers. “<span class="smallcaps">We’re already on the other side.</span>”</p>
-<p>In an instant, Maddox and Iofi find themselves on the other side of the door. Two thugs are holding the terrified doorman down in a chair. One is pressing his hand flat down on the table in front of him, fingers splayed. A third brute is standing before the doorman, a cleaver in his hand, raised over the doorman’s fingers.</p>
-<p>Maddox flings one dagger at the brute with the cleaver. It lodges in the meat of his shoulder and he howls. All eyes turn toward the door, which remains closed and locked.</p>
-<p>Iofi points her rod at the brute and says, “<span class="smallcaps">That’s not a cleaver, that’s an eel!</span>” The brute watches in amazement as the cleaver in his hand bends and warps and elongates and grows flesh and teeth. Teeth that the eel sink into the brute’s forearm.</p>
-<p>The brute cries out and throws the eel to the ground and stumbles back.</p>
-<p>The doorman scoots quickly away as the thugs release him and lunge toward Maddox, the first drawing a shortsword, and the second swinging an axe.</p>
-<p>Maddox parries the shortsword, but the axe slices them across the ribs. They cry out.</p>
-<p>“Maddox!” Iofi cries and brings her club down on the thug. It’s an awkward swing and glances off the thug’s arm, but it lands a substantially more solid blow than a frail glass rod ought to.</p>
-<p>Maddox dashes to the side and throws another dagger, striking up to the hilt in the brute’s chest. He clutches the blade and staggers to the floor.</p>
-<p>The thug with the shortsword hesitates and takes a step back. But the one with the axe charges forward and swings at Iofi. The blow is heavy and rattles her bones, but she deflects it and swings her club again, this time cracking the thug in the head. He stumbles.</p>
-<p>Maddox, having produced another dagger, lunges for thug with the axe, but the slash in his ribs is so painful that he is unable to strike a killing blow. Still, the axeman cries and stumbles.</p>
-<p>Seeing his opportunity, the swordsman darts forward and pierces Maddox clean through the shoulder. Maddox cries out, barely still standing.</p>
-<p>Iofi advances in a fury and the swordsman falls beneath a flurry of blows.</p>
-<p>Maddox collapses in her arms and she drags him over to the doorman, who is huddling wide-eyed in the corner.</p>
-<p>The thug with the axe staggers forward and raises the blade over his head as Maddox reaches out and weakly grabs the doorman by his lapel. Iofi looks up and makes eye contact with the axeman as he grunts and swings down on them. At the same time Maddox whispers, “Snap,” and the three of them blink out of existence.</p>
-<p>The axe buries itself in the floor, and the axeman looks around the room, empty except for him and his dead and dying comrades.</p>
+<p>“And I told you that is not an acceptable answer.” Maddox frowns at
+the voice’s western accent and glances back and up at Iofi. She nods, a
+single line of concern creasing her brow. She heard it to.</p>
+<p>“He has something of ours,” the voice continues. “We need it
+back.”</p>
+<p>The doorman yelps and there is the sound of a brief scuffle, and a
+thump, and the doorman cries out in despair.</p>
+<p>Iofi leans over Maddox and places her hand on the door. “Ready?” They
+crouch and raise their daggers. “<span class="smallcaps">We’re already
+on the other side.</span>”</p>
+<p>In an instant, Maddox and Iofi find themselves on the other side of
+the door. Two thugs are holding the terrified doorman down in a chair.
+One is pressing his hand flat down on the table in front of him, fingers
+splayed. A third brute is standing before the doorman, a cleaver in his
+hand, raised over the doorman’s fingers.</p>
+<p>Maddox flings one dagger at the brute with the cleaver. It lodges in
+the meat of his shoulder and he howls. All eyes turn toward the door,
+which remains closed and locked.</p>
+<p>Iofi points her rod at the brute and says, “<span
+class="smallcaps">That’s not a cleaver, that’s an eel!</span>” The brute
+watches in amazement as the cleaver in his hand bends and warps and
+elongates and grows flesh and teeth. Teeth that the eel sink into the
+brute’s forearm.</p>
+<p>The brute cries out and throws the eel to the ground and stumbles
+back.</p>
+<p>The doorman scoots quickly away as the thugs release him and lunge
+toward Maddox, the first drawing a shortsword, and the second swinging
+an axe.</p>
+<p>Maddox parries the shortsword, but the axe slices them across the
+ribs. They cry out.</p>
+<p>“Maddox!” Iofi cries and brings her club down on the thug. It’s an
+awkward swing and glances off the thug’s arm, but it lands a
+substantially more solid blow than a frail glass rod ought to.</p>
+<p>Maddox dashes to the side and throws another dagger, striking up to
+the hilt in the brute’s chest. He clutches the blade and staggers to the
+floor.</p>
+<p>The thug with the shortsword hesitates and takes a step back. But the
+one with the axe charges forward and swings at Iofi. The blow is heavy
+and rattles her bones, but she deflects it and swings her club again,
+this time cracking the thug in the head. He stumbles.</p>
+<p>Maddox, having produced another dagger, lunges for thug with the axe,
+but the slash in his ribs is so painful that he is unable to strike a
+killing blow. Still, the axeman cries and stumbles.</p>
+<p>Seeing his opportunity, the swordsman darts forward and pierces
+Maddox clean through the shoulder. Maddox cries out, barely still
+standing.</p>
+<p>Iofi advances in a fury and the swordsman falls beneath a flurry of
+blows.</p>
+<p>Maddox collapses in her arms and she drags him over to the doorman,
+who is huddling wide-eyed in the corner.</p>
+<p>The thug with the axe staggers forward and raises the blade over his
+head as Maddox reaches out and weakly grabs the doorman by his lapel.
+Iofi looks up and makes eye contact with the axeman as he grunts and
+swings down on them. At the same time Maddox whispers, “Snap,” and the
+three of them blink out of existence.</p>
+<p>The axe buries itself in the floor, and the axeman looks around the
+room, empty except for him and his dead and dying comrades.</p>
 <hr />
-<p>They arrive in a heap on the floor in safe house. Other Maddox is standing over them. They look gravely concerned, but they don’t move forward to help them.</p>
+<p>They arrive in a heap on the floor in safe house. Other Maddox is
+standing over them. They look gravely concerned, but they don’t move
+forward to help them.</p>
 <p>“I saw,” they say softly. “I already called for help.”</p>
-<p>Iofi, still holding Maddox in her arms, looks up at the other Maddox. “Thank you,” she says.</p>
-<p>The doorman whimpers and tries to crawl away on all fours, and vomits on the ground.</p>
-<p>Maddox groans, doubled over in pain. From between gritted teeth they hiss, “Wait outside. Stand watch.”</p>
+<p>Iofi, still holding Maddox in her arms, looks up at the other Maddox.
+“Thank you,” she says.</p>
+<p>The doorman whimpers and tries to crawl away on all fours, and vomits
+on the ground.</p>
+<p>Maddox groans, doubled over in pain. From between gritted teeth they
+hiss, “Wait outside. Stand watch.”</p>
 <p>Other Maddox nods and silently exits the room.</p>
-<p>Maddox drags himself over to the doorman, the two of them both on the ground, and they shove him onto his back. From somewhere, they have produced another long bladed dagger. “Now,” they whisper, holding the tip near the doorman’s face. “Whatever it is you were about to tell those goons, you’re going to tell us instead. Where’s Blackguard?”</p>
-<p>Iofi, her gown covered in blood, stands up and walks over to Maddox and the whimpering doorman.</p>
-<p>She crouches down and reaches into her satchel and pulls out a turtle shell the size of her hand. It is jet black, with a bright orange dotted line around the edge. She places it on the ground next to the doorman, and watches it intently.</p>
-<p>The doorman glances from Maddox to it, as first one and then another head pokes out from the shell. One looks at the doorman curiously, and the other ignores him, looking as much in the opposite direction as is possible.</p>
-<p>“Yes,” Iofi nods and says to the doorman, eyes still on the turtle, “I suggest you tell them what they want to know. It would be the right thing to do.”</p>
+<p>Maddox drags himself over to the doorman, the two of them both on the
+ground, and they shove him onto his back. From somewhere, they have
+produced another long bladed dagger. “Now,” they whisper, holding the
+tip near the doorman’s face. “Whatever it is you were about to tell
+those goons, you’re going to tell us instead. Where’s Blackguard?”</p>
+<p>Iofi, her gown covered in blood, stands up and walks over to Maddox
+and the whimpering doorman.</p>
+<p>She crouches down and reaches into her satchel and pulls out a turtle
+shell the size of her hand. It is jet black, with a bright orange dotted
+line around the edge. She places it on the ground next to the doorman,
+and watches it intently.</p>
+<p>The doorman glances from Maddox to it, as first one and then another
+head pokes out from the shell. One looks at the doorman curiously, and
+the other ignores him, looking as much in the opposite direction as is
+possible.</p>
+<p>“Yes,” Iofi nods and says to the doorman, eyes still on the turtle,
+“I suggest you tell them what they want to know. It would be the right
+thing to do.”</p>
 <p>EOF</p>
 
     ]]>

www/index.html

@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@
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       }
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@@ -134,22 +137,33 @@
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       list-style: none;
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     .display.math{display: block; text-align: center; margin: 0.5rem auto;}
   </style>
+  <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="episodes" href="http://tilde.town/~dozens/clericthief/episodes.xml">
+  <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="journal" href="http://tilde.town/~dozens/clericthief/journal.xml">
   <!--[if lt IE 9]>
     <script src="//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/html5shiv/3.7.3/html5shiv-printshiv.min.js"></script>
   <![endif]-->
-  <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="episodes" href="http://tilde.town/~dozens/clericthief/episodes.xml">
-  <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="journal" href="http://tilde.town/~dozens/clericthief/journal.xml">
 </head>
 <body>
 Cleric + Thief
@@ -163,10 +177,16 @@ Cleric + Thief
 <p><a href="episodes.xml">subscribe to episodes</a></p>
 <!-- BEGIN //-->
 <ul>
-<li><time>2022-09-04</time> - <a href="00004-pinky.html">00004. Pinky</a></li>
-<li><time>2022-09-03</time> - <a href="00003-hand.html">00003. The Hand</a></li>
-<li><time>2022-09-01</time> - <a href="00002-meadowgloom.html">00002. Meadowgloom</a></li>
-<li><time>2022-08-30</time> - <a href="00001-introductions.html">00001. Cleric + Thief</a> <!-- END //--></li>
+<li><time>2022-09-10</time> - <a href="00005-ringer.html">00005. Dead
+Ringer</a></li>
+<li><time>2022-09-04</time> - <a href="00004-pinky.html">00004.
+Pinky</a></li>
+<li><time>2022-09-03</time> - <a href="00003-hand.html">00003. The
+Hand</a></li>
+<li><time>2022-09-01</time> - <a href="00002-meadowgloom.html">00002.
+Meadowgloom</a></li>
+<li><time>2022-08-30</time> - <a href="00001-introductions.html">00001.
+Cleric + Thief</a> <!-- END //--></li>
 </ul>
 </body>
 </html>

www/journal.html

@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@
         font-size: 0.9em;
         padding: 1em;
       }
+      h1 {
+        font-size: 1.8em;
+      }
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     @media print {
       body {
@@ -134,22 +137,33 @@
     #TOC li {
       list-style: none;
     }
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+      padding-left: 1.3em;
+    }
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+      padding-left: 0;
+    }
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       text-decoration: none;
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     span.smallcaps{font-variant: small-caps;}
-    span.underline{text-decoration: underline;}
-    div.column{display: inline-block; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;}
+    div.columns{display: flex; gap: min(4vw, 1.5em);}
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   </style>
+  <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="episodes" href="http://tilde.town/~dozens/clericthief/episodes.xml">
+  <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="journal" href="http://tilde.town/~dozens/clericthief/journal.xml">
   <!--[if lt IE 9]>
     <script src="//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/html5shiv/3.7.3/html5shiv-printshiv.min.js"></script>
   <![endif]-->
-  <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="episodes" href="http://tilde.town/~dozens/clericthief/episodes.xml">
-  <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="journal" href="http://tilde.town/~dozens/clericthief/journal.xml">
 </head>
 <body>
 Cleric + Thief
@@ -160,14 +174,34 @@ Cleric + Thief
 <h1 class="title">Cleric + Thief</h1>
 <p class="subtitle">Journal</p>
 </header>
-<p>This is a journal of meta-content and behind the scenes kind of updates.</p>
+<p>This is a journal of meta-content and behind the scenes kind of
+updates.</p>
 <p><a href="journal.xml">subscribe to updates</a></p>
 <!-- BEGIN //-->
+<h2 id="ringer"><time>2022-09-10</time> - 00005 Ringer</h2>
+<p>So the dice insisted on telling an intense story by the end of this
+episode.</p>
+<p>They compelled Blackguard to “suddenly act”, Meadowgloom had to die,
+and the Ringer had to find the safe house.</p>
+<p>Quite a climax! Can’t wait to see what happens next.</p>
+<p>It didn’t even occur to me for a long time that Iofi might be able to
+do a resurrection, despite her being a cleric. It was a difficult roll
+because it was a big miracle. And she <em>barely</em> pulled it off. But
+yay! Meadowgloom lives! For now.</p>
+<h2 id="ringer-1"><time>2022-09-05</time> - 00005 Ringer</h2>
+<p>Yes, the Hand are luchadors.</p>
+<p>Yes, they follow parlimentary procedure during their meetings. The
+Index insisted on it.</p>
+<p>Yes, Pinky’s spies are Facebook.</p>
 <h2 id="cardtography"><time>2022-09-05</time> - Cardtography</h2>
-<p>In Episode 00004 - Pinky, I used playing cards to generate the layout of the Supper Club, and its encounters, on the fly.</p>
-<p>Here is a summary of how to make a quick dungeon with playing cards as first described in the ‘cardtography’ series of posts on koboldpress.com</p>
-<p><a href="https://koboldpress.com/howling-tower-cardtography-a-simple-dungeon/" class="uri">https://koboldpress.com/howling-tower-cardtography-a-simple-dungeon/</a></p>
-<p>You will need a deck of cards and a whole bunch of six sided dice.</p>
+<p>In Episode 00004 - Pinky, I used playing cards to generate the layout
+of the Supper Club, and its encounters, on the fly.</p>
+<p>Here is a summary of how to make a quick dungeon with playing cards
+as first described in <a
+href="https://koboldpress.com/howling-tower-cardtography-a-simple-dungeon/">the
+‘cardtography’ series of posts on koboldpress</a>.</p>
+<p>You will need a deck of cards and a whole bunch of six sided
+dice.</p>
 <ol type="1">
 <li><p>Lay out 25 cards face down in a staggered 5 x 5 grid:</p>
 <pre><code>    A B C D E
@@ -181,7 +215,8 @@ Cleric + Thief
 08. o   o   o
 09.   o   o
 10. o   o   o</code></pre></li>
-<li><p>Flip the bottom, middle card face up and place a dice at the bottom edge. This is the dungeon entrance.</p></li>
+<li><p>Flip the bottom, middle card face up and place a dice at the
+bottom edge. This is the dungeon entrance.</p></li>
 <li><p>Imagine the card as a clock that goes up to six:</p>
 <ul>
 <li>1 = Northeast</li>
@@ -191,38 +226,67 @@ Cleric + Thief
 <li>5 = Northwest</li>
 <li>6 - North</li>
 </ul></li>
-<li><p>Roll 3d6 (2d6 for the first card) and place them at the appropriate corners.</p></li>
+<li><p>Roll 3d6 (2d6 for the first card) and place them at the
+appropriate corners.</p></li>
 <li><p>Doubles are long hallways, or locked doors, or traps.</p></li>
 <li><p>Explore, turning cards and rolling dice.</p></li>
 </ol>
 <p>INTERPRETING CARDS</p>
 <ol type="1">
-<li><p>Black cards are empty rooms or puzzles. Come up with something atmospheric or interesting.</p></li>
-<li><p>Red cards are adversarial. Low numbers are easy / simple encounters. High cards are dangerous.</p></li>
+<li><p>Black cards are empty rooms or puzzles. Come up with something
+atmospheric or interesting.</p></li>
+<li><p>Red cards are adversarial. Low numbers are easy / simple
+encounters. High cards are dangerous.</p></li>
 <li><p>Face cards are special.</p></li>
-<li><p>When a card is the same suit and value as another face up card, that is the boss, or an exit to another level of the dungeon.</p></li>
+<li><p>When a card is the same suit and value as another face up card,
+that is the boss, or an exit to another level of the dungeon.</p></li>
 </ol>
-<h2 id="non-player-characters"><time>2022-09-04</time> - Non-Player Characters</h2>
+<h2 id="non-player-characters"><time>2022-09-04</time> - Non-Player
+Characters</h2>
 <p>NPCs are kind of a weird concept in the context of solo games.</p>
-<p>Every character is a player character when you’re the only player.</p>
+<p>Every character is a player character when you’re the only
+player.</p>
 <h2 id="feed-esoterica"><time>2022-09-03</time> - Feed Esoterica</h2>
 <p>Okay some of you will get a kick out of this.</p>
-<p>I decided I needed to roll my own feeds, and so I used ED to programatically edit my source files into recfiles, used an m4 include in one instance, and then used recfmt templates to create the rss items.</p>
+<p>I decided I needed to roll my own feeds, and so I used ED to
+programatically edit my source files into recfiles, used an m4 include
+in one instance, and then used recfmt templates to create the rss
+items.</p>
 <p>That is right. Ed, m4, and recutils.</p>
 <h2 id="blow-me-down"><time>2022-09-02</time> - Blow Me Down</h2>
-<p>It is definitely <em>not</em> true that I based the looks of Iofi and Maddox on Shelley Duvall and Robin Williams from the 1980 American musical comedy smash hit <em>Popeye</em>.</p>
-<h2 id="episodes-rss-feed"><time>2022-09-01</time> - episodes rss feed</h2>
-<p>Made an update that will hopefully fix the links in the Episodes feed.</p>
-<p>If not, I might need to start handrolling a feed instead of relying on <a href="https://blog.miso.town">blog.miso.town</a>.</p>
-<p>In fact, I just noticed that the journal feed is kind of borked too.</p>
+<p>It is definitely <em>not</em> true that I based the looks of Iofi and
+Maddox on Shelley Duvall and Robin Williams from the 1980 American
+musical comedy smash hit <em>Popeye</em>.</p>
+<h2 id="episodes-rss-feed"><time>2022-09-01</time> - episodes rss
+feed</h2>
+<p>Made an update that will hopefully fix the links in the Episodes
+feed.</p>
+<p>If not, I might need to start handrolling a feed instead of relying
+on <a href="https://blog.miso.town">blog.miso.town</a>.</p>
+<p>In fact, I just noticed that the journal feed is kind of borked
+too.</p>
 <p>Yeah I may just need to create my own feeds..</p>
 <h2 id="meadowgloom"><time>2022-09-01</time> - 00002. Meadowgloom</h2>
 <p>Hey gamers it’s ya boy dozens!</p>
-<p>This update focuses briefly on Meadowgloom. Which is a name I snatched up from a fantasy name generator. It also generated the astounding name “Eccentric Kevin”. Who is a character I have every intention of introducing at some point as a perfectly normal, sane, and reasonable straight man.</p>
-<h2 id="cleric-thief"><time>2022-08-30</time> - 00001. Cleric + Thief</h2>
+<p>This update focuses briefly on Meadowgloom. Which is a name I
+snatched up from a fantasy name generator. It also generated the
+astounding name “Eccentric Kevin”. Who is a character I have every
+intention of introducing at some point as a perfectly normal, sane, and
+reasonable straight man.</p>
+<h2 id="cleric-thief"><time>2022-08-30</time> - 00001. Cleric +
+Thief</h2>
 <p>Hey I started a new thing!</p>
 <p>This is the narrative version of a solo roleplaying game.</p>
-<p>It is based on the mechanics and the <em>callings</em> of <a href="https://awkwardturtle.itch.io/brighter-worlds">Brighter Worlds by awkwardturtle</a>. It is a lovely game and I wanted to play it. I came up with the setting and the starting scenario using <a href="https://sean-f-smith.medium.com/with-this-tool-youll-never-run-out-of-ideas-15d19ab72dfb">GRAPES and WTAF?! tarot spreads as described by Sean F. Smith</a>. And then I used the <a href="https://inflatablestudios.itch.io/one-page-solo-engine">One Page Solo Engine</a> to answer questions during play.</p>
-<p>My thief almost friggin died in the very first scenario. Yikes! Combat is lethal. <!-- END //--></p>
+<p>It is based on the mechanics and the <em>callings</em> of <a
+href="https://awkwardturtle.itch.io/brighter-worlds">Brighter Worlds by
+awkwardturtle</a>. It is a lovely game and I wanted to play it. I came
+up with the setting and the starting scenario using <a
+href="https://sean-f-smith.medium.com/with-this-tool-youll-never-run-out-of-ideas-15d19ab72dfb">GRAPES
+and WTAF?! tarot spreads as described by Sean F. Smith</a>. And then I
+used the <a
+href="https://inflatablestudios.itch.io/one-page-solo-engine">One Page
+Solo Engine</a> to answer questions during play.</p>
+<p>My thief almost friggin died in the very first scenario. Yikes!
+Combat is lethal. <!-- END //--></p>
 </body>
 </html>

www/journal.xml

@@ -1,5 +1,47 @@
 <rss version="2.0"><channel><title>cleric + thief</title>
 <link>http://tilde.town/~dozens/clericthief/index.html</link><description>behind the scenes of cleric + thief</description><atom:link rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" href="http://tilde.town/~dozens/clericthief/journal.xml"/>
+<item>
+  <title>00005 Ringer</title>
+  <link>http://tilde.town/~dozens/clericthief/journal.html</link>
+  <guid isPermaLink="false">2022-09-10 00005 Ringer</guid>
+  <pubDate>Sat Sep 10 00:00:00 MDT 2022
+</pubDate>
+  <description>
+    <![CDATA[
+      <pre>
+
+So the dice insisted on telling an intense story by the end of this episode.
+
+They compelled Blackguard to "suddenly act", Meadowgloom had to die, and the Ringer had to find the safe house.
+
+Quite a climax! Can't wait to see what happens next.
+
+It didn't even occur to me for a long time that Iofi might be able to do a resurrection, despite her being a cleric. It was a difficult roll because it was a big miracle. And she *barely* pulled it off. But yay! Meadowgloom lives! For now.
+
+      </pre>
+    ]]>
+  </description>
+</item>
+<item>
+  <title>00005 Ringer</title>
+  <link>http://tilde.town/~dozens/clericthief/journal.html</link>
+  <guid isPermaLink="false">2022-09-05 00005 Ringer</guid>
+  <pubDate>Mon Sep  5 00:00:00 MDT 2022
+</pubDate>
+  <description>
+    <![CDATA[
+      <pre>
+
+Yes, the Hand are luchadors.
+
+Yes, they follow parlimentary procedure during their meetings. The Index insisted on it.
+
+Yes, Pinky's spies are Facebook.
+
+      </pre>
+    ]]>
+  </description>
+</item>
 <item>
   <title>Cardtography</title>
   <link>http://tilde.town/~dozens/clericthief/journal.html</link>
@@ -12,9 +54,9 @@
 
 In Episode 00004 - Pinky, I used playing cards to generate the layout of the Supper Club, and its encounters, on the fly.
 
-Here is a summary of how to make a quick dungeon with playing cards as first described in the 'cardtography' series of posts on koboldpress.com
+Here is a summary of how to make a quick dungeon with playing cards as first described in [the 'cardtography' series of posts on koboldpress][cardtography].
 
-<https://koboldpress.com/howling-tower-cardtography-a-simple-dungeon/>
+[cardtography]: https://koboldpress.com/howling-tower-cardtography-a-simple-dungeon/
 
 You will need a deck of cards and a whole bunch of six sided dice.