Winter our discontent (OOC)

Yup!

Exactly! I'll suggest as much IC.

I assume we can hand wave some of the primer on the supernatural, which will bring Persephone up to speed on the basics of the Urban Shadows world, circles, and so on. But I am interested to hear about her patron's attitudes toward these beings, especially other demons. Getting sucked into demon politics could be interesting, mostly because her patron might, at times, be the lesser of two evils! So she might feel compelled to do what she knows will strengthen her patron's hand, if only to stop something worse. Etc.

Mostly yes, we only play the fun parts. However, Wentworth is not just going to give up his tools for free. You will need to convince him of your need.
In the beginning we may want to employ some mechanism for see what you got when you meet someone. We can look at folding that into the Put an X to an X (or other Circle Moves) rolls, or cast a retro-active check to see how much you got from Wentworth and shape the options from that, or try use (and trick) the hotline staff [ref] when the time comes. Depends on whether you think it might be fun to keep the 'new in town' vibe, but still have access to the Circle Moves.
How will you go about learning this intimate information? It should be relatively simple to get an 'enemies/friends' list, but most others exist on the spectrum from 'can be used' to 'can't be useful' (replace 'used/useful' with 'seduced' once you get a better feel for your Dark Patron:).
In general? Or do you ask about Kat's situation directly? Your approach will change the directness of the answers.
Sounds fun. You can find that (specific?) other contracting demons are fair game, and you are encouraged to undermine their operations. Getting Kat out will be a gold star for you (or, maybe not 'gold'?:) if you can do it. They are 'the competition', which you will learn if you ask.

Haha perfect. I don't expect to get anything for free from Wentworth and I absolutely do not trust him. Yet he is the logical place to start, I think.
I see him mention "the hotline" in the IC post, but... what? Is that something I am supposed to recognize?
New in town is fun, but I also want to try some version of the circle moves, if only because it is such a central part of the game. (and it's fun and interesting)
This is the kind of thing I meant. I would like to know if I am expected to play nice with certain beings, or avoid them, or if I am simply expected to remain in the dark about that.
This is an arc I would like to explore. I imagine my relationship with my Patron becoming much more nuanced eventually, where Pers learns to work with the Patron to accomplish things, in exchange for those things she can stomach doing. And then the question is whether she can pull of that balance and retain her humanity. Like, I don't think the demon is some crude "evil for its own sake" being, but a sophisticated form of selfishness clothed in sophistical justification, legalese, etc. Like... oh I don't know, folks on the exec board of a global multinational oil corporation or a law firm that mostly just defends billionaires. The kinds of self-serving justifications such folks must use to defend their actions is what I have in mind. I do think I mentioned from the beginning that I was imagining the Tainted as simply someone dealing with working for a grossly immoral corporation, complete with bureaucracy to obfuscate responsibility and all.
She wants both. What is the stance I should take when meeting other demonic agents in general and, as an example case, I met Kat. I'd offer to undermine the competition and free her. Remember as well, that Persephone came from the Silicon Valley venture capitalism world, so she understands how these kinds of things work, at least in the mortal world. This is why she was such a good target for demonic recruitment.

I have not heard of it before now. But he seems to think you should know about it. It is the sort of thing multi-leveled corporate institutions would have, so why not? They are just another layer of bureaucracy and control. But that is a tool you can work with. (Maybe you can coopt one of the workers and get them on your side?)
I am offering a way to have both. Make a move to deal with the 'new to town' bit, then use that to dictate what options you have for the Puta move. If you do well on the newto (custom) Move, then Debts are a possibility, and they will be "you can remind them that they Owe us" and you are authorised to collect (or pay); else it might only be about information (with 'none' or 'special' as your only option). Or you may have to speak to the hotline (if you want to engage with that (we can make appropriate NPCs together as needed)) and rely on them. The Circle Move would still happen, this will just say how. What do you think?
Wentworth may prefer you remain in the dark and reliant on him. But he is subtle, so it won't be obvious. He can't exactly dump a database into your head, so, at the beginning, you may need to ask him (directly of via the hotline) for specifics.

The general trend, given the nature of your Dark Patron, is to be subtle about it, not cause overt conflicts if you can avoid them (seduce and manipulate, after all), but to try to get the upper hand in the long-run.
Absolutely. 'Good little workers' get the perks and the cushy jobs, those who rock the boat get bilge-duty.
That's the balance of the Playbook, and the game really: can you retire to safety before you succumb to corruption (or the City eats you up and spits you out).
How you ask will dictate the nature of the answer. But others' agents are 'employees of a competing firm' and others' assets are there to be seized ... unless there is an alliance you were supposed to know about but were not told about...

We want you to be free to act against those who hold Kat, so they are free game. But they are not a Job, 'destroying your patron's enemies' is not what you do. Going above and beyond could get you 'promoted', though.
I don't know if Persephone would think of this, but letting them know you have your own reasons for doing the undermining might mean they don't see it as a favour to them... If they don't know that you want to save Kat, then your incidentally doing that as part of your disruption of the competition's plans comes off as 'doing it for them'... just a thought. (Maybe need some Mislead rolls, to pull of, of course.:)

Ha! I love this.
Love it! I'm looking forward to exploring the custom move(s). And thanks for going the extra mile to create those. I appreciate it!
To be expected. I wanted a Patron like that, and I welcome it. I expect mind game s.Agreed! That's why I went with it, and with the corporate slant on it.
Also to be expected! That darned fine print always matters.
Or in hot water. I love the ambiguity.
I think Persephone would be at least aware of this strategy in passing, given that she had to work with all these venture capitalists that basically pitch themselves as the saviors of the startups, when in fact they are simply investing in something they think will make *them* a ton of money. Selfishness clothed as altruism is old hat for her.

OK I feel I understand the situation at least as well as I need to at the moment, so I will post! Thanks for the dialogue.

To be clear, Persephone is telling as much of the truth as she herself can accept right now. She is not trying to lie or deceive. No, she does not mention that she encouraged him to end his own life. She does not mention that she was not just sent there to make sure the contract is upheld, but to kill him if it is not. She can't accept those things about herself just yet, so they are repressed at the moment.

Sure. Show us how that goes.

Agreed. :)

Happy to hear that! :D

I think that was understood. He was also not asking about Mechanical Debts.

Though, do you still take this as one of your so-called 'Starting debts'?

Seconded!

I had forgotten about those! Yes actually this works for the third debt. It sure who I should identify as the first and second, however. Circe and Emma, perhaps?

I was working under the assumption of that [ref] when I made Howard's brother, and wasn't that why we brought your sister to London [ref]?

I am still not sure about the Debt to the sister, protecting her seems like something family would do anyway and not incur Debts. Also she is not part of the system (yet), and therefore not eligible, we spoke about bringing her in, at which point she might owe you a Debt... but not exactly for 'protecting her from this life' if she ended up in the life. I suppose it depends on how she ends up caught up in it. :)

We can work out the final Debt if it makes sense later, or skip it and make more of your own.

Sure. Take us there. Up to you if you want to do anything before Henry arrives, or have things already prepared and jump to it.
We still have not found a good time to bring your boss in, but that is fine. We can maybe see what you can (and can't) write about The Lanesborough and if that impacts that Relationship.

That can work. You would have encountered faeries in the past, you have been around for a long time and they have only been gone for a decade or so. Feel free to add any details of your past experience, if there is any.

On a hit you can hint at what you think you find.

Show us what it is like, and maybe what it looks like to Yasmine (though this may depend on if you Corrupt youself doing it).

Oh my, right, yes. Apologies, I remember now. It's been a long few weeks over here! So, yes, Zhiyu, possibly Circe eventually, and a third TBD.