Blades in the Dark: Giving a Hand

[Part of the Party Time journal]

With no good options coming to mind about the power crisis DL goes to talk to info guy Matt and for a fee gets a map to the "reverse polarity" junction box and learns Elon is into embezzlement while Juris goes to Nightmarket to capture "Onna", the shear wielding serial murderer ghost and finds her in the club where they defeated Lord Mora - she's killed everyone else. Surprisingly Onna isn't hostile to him and, taking him by the hand leads him to her "friends" - cultists of the Burned King (a forgotten god) who all have a burning crown branded on their chests.

After receiving awkward hugs from these guys (they really didn't like Lord Mora) he is given Onna's anchor, a large mirror, to place into the Archive of Echoes at Charterhall. It's like a library of spirits, and Onna likes eating spirits! Instead, Juris takes Onna home and formulates a plan. The next day he returns the death dogs to the recently released Coran, sells the Hand of Kotar to Lord Elon and starts helping him research the solution.

Meanwhile DL and mom follow Matt's map and sabotage the "reverse polarity" switch so that instead of turning off anything, nothing happens (suggested by Rose). DL's tinkering is good enough to make this undetectable but they have to bluff their way out when a group of soldiers runs into them. Lastly, Rose herself using a letter of introduction from Lord Elon goes to meet the Lord Governor in a dimly lit room (despite there being more lanterns than everywhere else) - he's an old man who walks on a crutch, speaks with the help of a machine and is missing an eye and an arm. He is pleased by the actions of the Shield of Dawn, and confirms the plan to shut off power to half the city - because half the city will be drafted into the Imperial Army soon to fight the Iruvians who from all indications, are planning to secede. Rose tries to command him but he just laughs and commends her ability, which makes her flee from there pretty quick!

The team (mostly DL) then spends almost all their currency in helping Lord Elon develop the solution and are successful in using sea water - pumped into the heart by the hand - to turn into demon blood (or close enough to it) to continue powering everything. Crisis solved!

The next day Juris makes F-Bombs (bottled powdered fire bombs now with a ghost inside for remote detonation) and helps Helene buy out the contracts for Silkshore from Lord Elon while Rose, mom and DL go with Eisele to Charhollow to investigate strange suicides there - involving strangulation and falling? Atop a building they are attacked by a bed sheet anchored ghost (an Ittan-momen) who almost drags Eisele off the edge, but it otherwise is a humorous fight where DL ends up having to chop up a flaming blanket with smiley face bullet holes at the end.

Returning to their home district they are surprised by a large party being thrown by Ulf in which he's invited almost every Skovlander in the city to. Ulf then very publicly tells them to surrender everything they are carrying and the district itself to avoid bloodshed... Lord Strangford's orders.