It's like that old saying "fourth time's the charm"

Apocalypse World: 8th session
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After William H. Esquire Esq. was driven away in the Slavers' trucks, Boy Esquire, Marlowe and Morticia cleaned themselves off in one of Rags' water troughs. Snail appeared, naked and slimy, and revealed he had been ejected from his House (changed to the Last Child playbook), he seemed agitated and afraid and looked very young now that he was no longer inside the thick leather shell of the House so Boy Esquire tried to help him by finding (stealing) new clothes for him from inside the Arcade.

Morticia seduced one of the Slavers, Queen, the apparent leader of the bikers, and brought him back to her house, a storage container that once housed many of the arena gladiators but now belonging solely to her. The Ballers and Swampys started fighting again, and gunfire could be heard across town. Morticia intervened and convinced the two gangs to fight in the arena where spectators wouldn't get injured and could bet on the fight. Left to their own devices, the Swampys won and with William H. Esquire Esq. seemingly no longer in charge they began to feast on the corpses of the Ballers.

The House took possession of a spot underneath the Tree and a small group of people started to pray to the House. Snail led Boy Esquire back to the House and they discovered a new person was sitting inside of the suit, Orchid. Snail demanded to be let back in, but Orchid ignored him and shut him out of the group forming around them, the Household.

Marlowe eavesdropped on Rags and Toyota, discovering that Chief had been muscling Rags for drugs and medicine without paying, but then overcharging Toyota. Toyota was having a withdrawal fit and seemed on the verge of violence, but Marlowe threatened him and he ran off.

Meanwhile, William H. Esquire Esq. accepted his new role as "slave" for the most part. The guard that was left on him, Robot, made promises to check in on Arcade and suggested he might abandon his job in the City by the Sea. William H. Esquire Esq. was taken to a cell at the Courthouse and was told he would be assigned a job the next day.



In the morning William H. Esquire Esq. could see the ancient skyline of an abandoned city, overgrown with weeds and flowers and plants that towers alongside the old world's skyscrapers and office blocks. He was given a work assignment in the Field and escorted there by Robot who then left. Another guard, Fleece, began to succumb to William H. Esquire Esq.'s charms and was soon promising to take William H. Esquire Esq. to see either Lala or Bill, the two top people underneath Sweet.

Morticia arrived at the Stax the next day and saw Chief taking over the business now that Braille was dead. She took two steps behind the bar and met with immediate resistance from Chief and so Morticia killed him with one quick blow to the head with her club. She then announced that the Stax was hers and nobody protested.

William H. Esquire Esq.'s gang was warily passing the Slaver bikers as they headed west toward the Fishers' Place and both Marlowe and Boy Esquire followed the gang. Birthday detailed a rough plan they had of hiking along the riverside until they found the City by the Sea and looking for a way to sneak in and break William H. Esquire Esq. free.

In the City by the Sea William H. Esquire Esq. had already made waves. He managed to get a meeting with Bill and then convinced Bill to take him to Sweet. In Sweet's company, William H. Esquire Esq. tried to convince her that slavery was wrong but she explained that two towns nearby once tried to institute democratic rule and both failed spectacularly. Sweet also explained that her sister used to run Arcade but back then it was called the Shop. William H. Esquire Esq. admitted that Sweet's rules seemed logical, but he made a mental note of trying to thwart them later. Bill revealed that William H. Esquire Esq.'s gang was spotted hiking along the river and Sweet offered a new deal: he would be returned to lead Arcade as long as he accepted and facilitated the first deal that Ritchie had offered, or he could keep being a slave in the City by the Sea and any resistance from the Arcade would be wiped out. He took the deal.

Later on Bill piloted a boat down the river for William H. Esquire Esq. and when they met up with his gang there was fighting happening between them and a large underwater plant with tentacle vines that floated on the water's surface. Snail managed to kill the plant, and in the aftermath Bill made sure everybody got safely back to Arcade.


Also, this is what William H. Esquire Esq. looks like (Antonio Fargas with a face tattoo)