A.Journal

Checks

Easy

Matches a certain hustler near the roundabout who calls you baby-girl.

Trivial

Extremely unprofessional.

Medium

Secrets and lies. Betrayal.

Easy

Works for the Azzurri mob, sells drugs, and he's armed.

Medium

He doesn't seem the murdering type. But you can never rule anything out.

Medium

Beneath all the charm could lurk a stone-cold killer. Approach with caution.

Easy

He has access to guns. Sells them, even.

Easy

You've heard he works for the Azzurri mob. May even sell guns.

Easy

Happy-go-lucky drug peddler. Among the first steps on the ladder of serious crimes.

Easy

That description almost fits Ramses, though you wouldn't describe him as heavyset, just big.

Easy

Years of regulars move in and out of the bar's entrance. Among them, a pair that was recently halved, a lonely silhouette amid the rest.

Medium

Taking in Vespar's face, then yours -- younger, not yet burdened by five years of guilt.

Easy

Wondering how a member of the carabineros doesn't know what happened to a fallen brother.

Medium

The streets breed a bone-deep distrust of people who ask too many questions. Each secret you withhold lessens her suspicions.

Easy

Silence is worth more than a thousand promises.

Easy

Quiet scepticism as she re-assesses you.

Easy

Figuring who we belong to, where our loyalties lie.

Medium

It definitely had something to do with you.

Easy

Nicer than any cop had the right to be. Still, he believed in the cause -- your cause.

Easy

You need to know. One of your assets being dead has a million implications.

Easy

She stands behind this bar most days, has done so for years -- she must know someone connected to this.

Easy

No sign of grief, though she appears faintly sad to be the bearer of bad news.

Medium

He was a friendly face she barely remembers.

Easy

Nice way to describe a brother of the drink.

Trivial

Carabineros: Portofiro's sanctioned police investigators. They report directly to the Prefectura and deal in actual crime -- murder, grand larceny, rape.

Trivial

Sweet Nestor, Portofiro's supreme leader from the years 28 to 80.

Easy

ROLL OUT THE WORKERS. RESTORE FORMER GLORY.

Easy

It's better than admitting you don't know why you're here.

Medium

Behold, an orgy of elderly audiophiles. A show not to be missed, standing room only!

Easy

A chime echoes somewhere in the back of your memory... 'Re-no-tel'.

Easy

As good excuse as any, and one handed to you on a plate.

Easy

'Sex line'? The lack of trousers grows more ominous.

Medium

It's as if you just told her a secret, the same secret she has kept for many of her patrons.

Easy

A TRUE PARTISAN.

Medium

Is there any part of you left that's still of Mircea?

Medium

NOT PARTY ALLEY. THE PARTY'S ALLEY.

Medium

The Palace of Culture in Novessa is grand, imposing, and in a constant state of renovation and expansion. You've never seen it without at least one wing closed for construction.

Medium

Inside a dark desk drawer, contracts and architectural drawings for a sixteen-story luxury apartment building and retail complex await the day the Palace's ceiling finally caves in.

Formidable

IN ANOTHER LIFE YOU SING SONGS OF LIBERATION AND BRAID CARNATIONS INTO EACH OTHER'S HAIR.

Medium

THE CITY-STATE'S INDIVIDUALIST STREAK HAS LEFT IT WEAK AND EXPOSED.

Easy

Your hand shakes. Your mind buzzes with worst-case scenarios. It could get so much worse than she thinks.

Medium

She suspects the answer is 'now'.

Formidable

Medium

She's just happy you took the hint -- she truly doesn't want to dwell on this.

Challenging

Easy

Never drank himself.

Easy

He'd devour the world if there were no one to stop him.

Easy

He'd cover you if you whined about it, but only if he was already getting one for himself.

Easy

Like one of those master sword makers the government subsidises to make two blades a year.

Easy

It took him a long time to warm up to people, but once he did he was loyal to a fault.