Party Learns of New Smoke's Hostile Management

Summary

During Session 6, the party receives critical intelligence from Nick Silver, a traveling stranger they encounter on the road. Nick warns them that New Smoke, their intended destination, now operates under what he calls "new management"—rough people who shake down everyone entering and leaving the city and demand the lion's share of any goods being transported. This revelation forces Sucks, Vasso, Safia, and Cat to reconsider their plan to deliver their valuable cargo of pumpkins through the front gate. The party begins discussing alternative approaches, including the possibility of smuggling the produce into the city through an unwatched section of the walls.

Details

The conversation begins when the party asks Nick Silver whether bringing pumpkins to New Smoke would cause problems. Nick confirms their concerns directly: "They confront you."

Nick explains the nature of the change in New Smoke's governance:

"New Smoke's always been a place for the working hard, living. It's always been a place that attracted a rougher sort of element. And, you know, besides that, it was under the governance of people that just wanted people to do a fair day's work for a fair day's wage. But now it's more people that want to take what they want because they can."

The traveler reveals that he himself was allowed to pass through New Smoke's checkpoints because he had nothing worth taking—a detail that underscores the mercenary nature of the new controllers and the danger facing the party with their wagon full of valuable produce.

Faced with this intelligence, the party begins strategizing. One member suggests: "What if we could smuggle them in?" The response indicates the difficulty of this approach: "You'd have to find a way into the city through the walls that's not the front gate and isn't watched or known."

Participants

• Nick Silver — The traveling stranger who provides the intelligence about New Smoke's hostile new management
• Sucks — Party member receiving the warning about New Smoke
• Vasso — Party member involved in the discussion about how to approach the city
• Safia — Party member present for the intelligence briefing
• Cat — Party member who hears the warning about the city's new controllers

Consequences

• The party's original plan to openly deliver their pumpkin cargo to New Smoke becomes untenable
• The group learns that New Smoke has shifted from a place governed by fair labor principles to one controlled by extortionists
• The party begins exploring smuggling as an alternative approach to entering New Smoke
• The group faces the challenge of finding an unwatched entry point through the city's walls
• The party's assessment of New Smoke as a destination changes from a commercial opportunity to a potential threat