Shadows in the Smoke S1E10 - "Everything Echoes"

Shadows in the Smoke S1E10 – “Everything Echoes”

Kim
Shadows in the Smoke is intended for mature audiences, and may contain material that some people find disturbing. Please see the episode description for content warnings, and listen with care.

[Shadows in the Smoke theme]

[Tempestuous waters, rain, and thunder]

Kim
Miss Douglas, as your eyes go black and the sea behind you roils and rumbles, the three men who were advancing upon you and Miss Thanero – including Detective Inspector Pettigrew – all drop their truncheons and flee, running down the promenade. You start hearing them shout about a mad girl in the water. A witch of the harbor. But the two of you are alone.

Cassandra
For a moment, Ena, having watched this, is taken aback in a way where, like, goosebumps rise on her arms in a very rare moment of her being unsettled. Watching Maesie’s control of the water, how the water reacts to her in this moment of exhibited power… It is unsettling for Ena, for a variety of reasons. But she quickly puts the mask back over her face of being cool, calm, and collected.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
That was well-played, little pearl. Now you’re the scary witch of the harbor.

Natalia
Maesie turns her head, sort of very sharply, at Ena – with still the black eyes and the water roiling. And then there’s like a little twitch of her head, and suddenly it all drops. And the water is back to normal, and her eyes are back to normal. And she’s like…

[The roiling storm calms into a sunny, cheerful day]

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Right. Sorry. I just didn’t think there was any other way to get them to go. [Chuckles]

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well, it’s definitely a useful skill. We’ll keep that in mind for later.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Mmhmm. Yeah. Absolutely. Should we.. should we go elsewhere?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I think for now it’s best for you to get out of the water.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Yeah. Right.

Kim
Alright, ladies. Would you like to stay in Cremorne Gardens, or go elsewhere?

Natalia
Maesie at this point has done her thing that she came to do, and will follow Ena and be a little more cautious about what she does today.

Kim
Very fair. Miss Thanero, I suppose you are taking the lead right now. We have, as mentioned, the dancing platform, the banqueting hall, the bowling saloon, the hedge maze, the neighborhood outside of Cremorne Gardens… Also, as you are walking down the promenade, you pass a beautiful purple tent that is outfitted with little painted stars and moons, denoting the services of someone called Greco the Second-Sighted Boy.

Cassandra
I see Ena and Maesie walking along the promenade, taking things in. And they see this purple tent, and Ena is notoriously bored and always looking for something to make her feel something. She looks at the tent, and looks at Maesie questioningly.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
What do you think, little pearl?

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
I’d love to. What is this?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well, let’s go in and find out.

Kim
Mr. John, I believe we find you in the theatre, watching this little show. I’d love to get a title of the little music hall show that you are seeing right now.

[Jaunty piano]

T.
The songbirds of Shanghai. A “singing” act, but as they sing, they… If you can imagine, doff garments of clothing.

Kim
I’ve never heard of this practice.

Robert
Who would do such a thing?

T.
The scandal.

Kim
You are seated in the back of the theatre. And there are people from all walks of life here. But one person in particular stands out. They are seated right next to you.

[The piano slows. Airy ambient sounds drift in]

Kim
He is dressed rather unconventionally. Wearing a gold smoking jacket and yellow silk pants. He has very soft gilded slippers on his feet. But most notably, this man is masked. He is wearing a sun-shaped half mask, from his forehead to his nose.

T.
As the follow spot switches to catch an entrance of a new singer, the edge of it glints off of his mask and catches my eye. I kind of give hi ma once over and smile to myself, you know…

Mr. John (T.)
You see something crazy in London every day.

T.
But I, like, give him a nod of appreciation for the garishness.

Kim
The Man in the Sun Mask cracks a small smile and nods to you. The nod seems a little knowing.

[Applause]

T.
I’m gonna make a show, as I’m leaving, of taking out a cigarette and linger near the front door as patrons are exiting. Just having a smoke.

[Sounds of the city]

Kim
The Man in the Sun Mask approaches.

[Airy ambient tones]

The Man in the Sun Mask (Kim)
And how did you find the performance?

Mr. John (T.)
Gets better every time I see it. I tell you what, those girls sure are easy on the ears.

The Man in the Sun Mask (Kim)
That they are. And you enjoyed your meeting with Miss Fu?

Mr. John (T.)
And here I thought I was being all subtle-like as I came in the backstage. Uh… That I did, as I always do. Miss Fu is under the impression hat I have connections on the Great White Way, but, uh… those connections are yet to be made at this time. Sweet girl.

The Man in the Sun Mask (Kim)
I assure you, your secret is safe with me. In fact…

Kim
And he sort of looks around, a little fleetingly.

The Man in the Sun Mask (Kim)
I myself am hiding a secret.

Mr. John (T.)
Said the man in the mask.

T.
I offer him a cigarette.

The Man in the Sun Mask (Kim)
I’m a member of the royal family, of course. I can only appear here in Limehouse masked.

Mr. John (T.)
Naturally, naturally. Well, from one Buckingham friend to another, your secret is likewise kept in confidence. Are you a, uh, frequenter of the theatre, Mr. … Sun?

Kim
I frequent all of the pleasures of this earth, sir.

Mr. John (T.)
Fella like you, even all the way out here, I’m sure the royal family has heard tell of the name P. T. Barnum?

The Man in the Sun Mask (Kim)
I do believe I am familiar with his work.

Mr. John (T.)
I saw his exhibition when I was but a little boy, growing up in the States. It was the Tom Thumb act that got me in, but it was the Fiji Mermaid that really caught my eye. I loved the idea of something that was half one thing, half something else. Stuck between.

Had the occasion to meet the man myself in Washington D.C. Something else that’s in between. Neither quite North, half South…

He was touring a Swedish song singer, and it was in the 50s. Me and a young lady friend of mine went together to watch her perform. My date, she paid more attention to the singer than I would have guessed ere I took her, but, I don’t know… That’s the way I learned. Anywho. I didn’t care for the singer, myself. She had some troubling beliefs about slavery. Sent her a book I hoped might help her change her mind, but…

I was out back, soaking my feet in the Potomac, when who should I meet  but Mr. Barnum himself? I had to pay my respects as an entertainer and a traveler, and he was happy enough to tell me the secrets of the trade. We shared stories of the road, of the difficulties of riverboat travel. And as we’re sitting there – and you might think this is a fish story. But what should come swimming up the Potomac but a razor-sharp fin cutting through the water? I bullshit you not, a bull shark was swimming in that river, not a stone’s throw from where President Pierce was having his dinner. It went to go get Barnum by the ankle and I kicked out, and it got right here.

T.
And I roll up and show him a little ankle myself. And there’s a perfect ring of evenly-spaced cut marks around.

Mr. John (T.)
The reason I bring this up? Speaking of pleasures of the flesh… scared as I was, I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you it made me feel something wasn’t quite pain?

The Man in the Sun Mask (Kim)
Really?

Mr. John (T.)
Sure enough. Not in the habit of lying. At least not ways to royalty.

Kim
Mr. John, go ahead and roll Tall Tales.

T.
Please and thank you.

Kim
When you tell a story from back home that is wildly unbelievable in order to charm someone, roll with Presence.

T.
3+3 is 6, but +1 Presence brings me to 7.

Kim
Alright. So, the individual falls for your charm and does as you wish, or they reveal a Clue – your choice.

T.
I don’t really want him to do anything except tell me who he is, but that seems like telling. So I’ll have him reveal a Clue, please.

Kim
However, they will ask for something in return.

T.
Fair’s fair.

Mr. John (T.)
I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this, except, uh… I need something to take my mind off my troubles. I’m investigating this, uh, trouble at a church. Seems all manner of strange things is happening, there’s a dead girl found there, and some weird stuff happening. Some folks acting like they ain’t supposed to at a church, if you catch my meaning.

The Man in the Sun Mask (Kim)
I do.

Mr. John (T.)
Strangest thing is, everything inside it looked like it was all burned up. Everything was melted or smokey. They ain’t burned nobody in this country in a good long while, but… man like me, traipsing around near Salem, I’m accustomed to burnings. People think they burn witches all the time, but the truth is they ain’t never burned a witch. They hang witches or drown them. Burning was reserved for heretics. And I’m wondering what this girl must have done to piss off a man of the cloth like that.

The Man in the Sun Mask (Kim)
Tell me, sir. Do you believe in other worlds?

T.
Snuff out the cigarette, crunch it underneath my foot with the bitten ankle.

Mr. John (T.)
Unfortunately, sir, I do.

The Man in the Sun Mask (Kim)
I think myself a traveler. There is a world beyond this one, you know. It is much like our own world – is, in fact, our world, but impossibly ancient. It’s a world where the sun is new and where all the spirits and all the gods play and make war with each other. I have seen it with my eyes. It is magnificent and terrible and bloody and every other awful, wonderful thing you can imagine.

Mr. John (T.)
Well I ain’t much of a man of great imagination.

The Man in the Sun Mask (Kim)
[Chuckles] I believe I have seen something of this girl. Something of this trouble that plagues Kilburn. I myself care not for the Christian god, though they can believe what it is that provides them peace, I suppose. But I have seen others. Hooded figures at night, celebrating a black mass.

Kim
That is a clue for the Demon of Kilburn Abbey.

Mr. John (T.)
I hope, should I stumble upon one of these gatherings, I wouldn’t catch your countenance there?

The Man in the Sun Mask (Kim)
No, sir. Me? I’m a high-ranking member of Parliament. I have to be careful where it is in London I travel.

Mr. John (T.)
Naturally. Well stranger, it was a pleasure chewing the fat with you. But I think I gotta be on my way.

The Man in the Sun Mask (Kim)
Before you go, Mr. John.

Mr. John (T.)
I tilt my head to him and widen my eyes, as in, “Oh, I didn’t share my name. But you seem to know a lot about me.”

The Man in the Sun Mask (Kim)
Apologies, sir. Are you going by Hutchinson now?

[Sinister ambient tones]

T.
At this, the amicable like, “Okay, everything’s fun and costume-y” about Mr. John drops immediately. He bares his teeth and snarls a little bit subconsciously, and assumes a fighting stance.

Mr. John (T.)
You a Pinkerton?

The Man in the Sun Mask (Kim)
No, sir. Nothing of the kind. I did not mean to offend. I only wish to address people how they choose to be addressed.

Mr. John (T.)
The name’s John. And I won’t address you at all if I can help it, Mr. Sun. But maybe I’ll see you around Parliament. Maybe around St. Paul’s.

The Man in the Sun Mask (Kim)
I would ask something of you, sir.

T.
I grit my teeth, cross my arms, shake my head. Like, I should have known better than to let my guard down.

Mr. John (T.)
Ask away.

The Man in the Sun Mask (Kim)
It is customary in the old ways, when information is asked, to provide payment. An offering. I would desire such an offering of you. A token of America, perhaps.

Mr. John (T.)
There’s a place not far from here makes a mean steak dinner. Serve it rare. But, I see you like gold so much.

T.
And I take off my pocket watch and I hold it up to him by the end of its chain, with the round face of it dangling near his.

Mr. John (T.)
Catch.

T.
And I swing it to him.

The Man in the Sun Mask (Kim)
It’s beautiful.

Mr. John (T.)
Hopefully it treats you better than it treated me.

Kim
Go ahead and remove the gold pocket watch from your Personal Quarters.

[Eerie, discordant ambient tones]

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, what you feared was this demon possessing you and driving your own spirit out of your body and into the hand mirror. That does not occur. The demon, however, does not stop in its advances.

[Ethereal whispers]

Kim
You feel this presence work its way into your nose and mouth, and that whispered voice grows louder as it occupies some small corner of your mind. Of your being. Of your spirit.

Please take the Condition… I don’t know what to call this. Robert, do you have something?

Robert
How about A Voice In Your Head?

Kim
Oh, I like that. Please take the Condition: A Voice In Your Head. This demon is not possessing you, but it is hitching a ride in your body for now.

Robert
Well, my main goal in coming down here was to get this dark power away from this innocent man, friend of Hargrave. So I think…

Natalia
Success!

Robert
Yeah.

Kim
[Laughs]

Robert
I did it.

Kim
Win!

Cassandra
Congrats.

Robert
So Rabbit will probably just leave. But before he does, he makes sure, still seemingly investigating the corpse, to try to surreptitiously take a little bit of her hair or a fingernail, or something else physical of the corpse with him.

Kim
Yeah, I think that’s easily done.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Well, Mr. Gastrell, I think, uh.. you and your lady friend here shouldn’t be plagued by too many more issues. But if I were you, I’d, uh… Maybe take a leg up to Scotland or down to France. Take a little vacation. Get out of the smoke for a little bit.

Bartholomew Gastrell (Kim)
But who will watch the child?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
I can pop in on her If you’d like. But I’m sure she’d be fine on her own.

Bartholomew Gastrell (Kim)
Yes… Yes, of course. If that is what you think. You are the expert. I’m so sorry, I have just the most terrible headache. I do think I need to lie down.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Well, I have something for that.

Robert
And Rabbit reaches into one of his pockets and pulls out a small bottle of laudanum and hands it off to Bartholomew.

Kim
You are seeing Mr. Gastrell rise and, almost as if he is coming out of, like, a drunken stupor. Gazing in confusion at the tea service that has been laid out, at the attire of the girl… But he is still too confused and too lost to figure out what exactly had happened, or his involvement in this. He gratefully takes the bottle of laudanum from you and disappears into another room, leaving you alone. Though not quite alone, considering the new passenger in your head.

Robert
Actually, a little less alone than that. As soon as Mr. Gastrell leaves, Rabbit calls out to one of the shadowy corners of the room.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Alright, Cait. I know you’re there. You can come out whenever you want.

[Mystical, ambient tones]

Robert
And this enormous black tomcat pads his way out of the shadows. Think like a Norwegian Forest Cat or a Maine Coon. He’s got that not quite a long-hair cat, but fluffy around the neck and the shoulders, and a little bit around the paws. He is solid black, except for a single heart-shaped locket of white on his chest. And, like I said, enormous. Easily 20 pounds, if not more.

Kim
Robert, is this your familiar?

Robert
This is my familiar.

Kim
So, when you take this move, choose your companion, name it, and add it to your Personal Quarters.

Robert
It has many names. But the one which Rabbit uses the most frequently is Cait.

Kim
Can you spell that for me?

Robert
I can. C-A-I-T.

Kim
Go ahead and add Cait to your Personal Quarters. Cait can never be marked as long as the die roll you are taking advantage on is associated with magic related to the familiar’s listed affinity. In this case, its affinity is “to draw things to you.”

Two hunters leaving the mortuary! Mr. Lloyd and his new familiar, Cait. What does the rest of your day look like for you?

Robert
Rabbit is going to head back to Hargrave House. He has this demon, dark entity, spirit inside of him, and he wants to make sure that he can hold onto it, and not let it hurt anything else for the moment.

Kim
Let’s go back to Cremorne Gardens.

[Mystical tones. Ringing chimes]

Kim
Miss Douglas and Miss Thanero, you part the opening of this purple tent and come into a very small space. And you see Greco, the Second-Sighted Boy. Second-Sighted Young Man is perhaps the better way to put it. He looks to be about nineteen. His cheeks and forehead are painted in mystical designs. There is a purple jewel in between his eyes, representing his third eye.

Greco, the Second-Sighted Boy (Kim)
Come in, ladies.

Cassandra
Ena strides forward with purpose, and sits in one of the chairs that is across from Greco.

Greco, the Second-Sighted Boy (Kim)
How is it I can help you two today?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
We’re just out having a leisurely day, and thought that a conversation with an oracle might be in order. Just for something different, you know.

Greco, the Second-Sighted Boy (Kim)
I feel a search within the two of you. I do not believe you are here only to enjoy the gardens.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
What do you know about the fish man?

Greco, the Second-Sighted Boy (Kim)
Directness. I do like it.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
We’re here trying to find out who this fish man might be.

Greco, the Second-Sighted Boy (Kim)
I have always been able to see things, and feel things. It is not often I leave the boundaries of this tent, but my sight goes far beyond. I ask, would you walk with me? That I may show you what I see?

Miss Dougla (Natalia)
I just have a really quick question. You said you don’t leave the tent, do you live here?

Kim
He gesture to a little bedroll that’s in the corner of this tent.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Right. It looks comfortable. Sorry, don’t mean to criticize. I was just curious…

Greco, the Second-Sighted Boy (Kim)
No, no…

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
But yeah, no, I’m down to walk somewhere in the… in… whatever it is you said.

Cassandra
Ena starts pulling off her gloves. And as she pulls off the one on her left hand and lays it on the table, you see the mark, like a tattoo in very faint gold, of aegis on her palm. And just lays it on the table for him.

Greco, the Second-Sighted Boy (Kim)
Of course, payment is customary. An offering, much like the old ways.

Cassandra
Ena, per usual, being ever so willing and always able to cover any expense, no matter how large, reaches into her pocket and grabs a handful of gold coins. No paper today. Something older, and heavier.

Kim
You slide the coins across the table, and Greco extends a hand to each of you, that you may join and complete the circle.

Cassandra
I take his hand, no question, and then reach toward Maesie.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Are you ready to walk, my little pearl?

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
I suppose.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Don’t be scared.

Natalia
And she carefully takes Ena’s hand, and then Greco’s hand.

Kim
I have a Paint the Scene for all of you here, not just Miss Douglas and Miss Thanero. As Greco begins reciting a whispered chant under his breath, what do we see in the tent and in the countenances of Miss Douglas, Greco, and Miss Thanero, that tells us that the three of them are now walking through a waking dream?

[The chimes ring slower, echoing]

Natalia
The edges of everything, as they join hands, begins to blur. All the edges of the tent and the fabric, even of the people sitting at the table, the edges of the table, all take on this sort of hazy quality as they step into the dream.

Cassandra
As they start to walk forward into this space, everything echoes. The sound of a wind chime, their feet on the ground, everything has a slight echoing quality in the sound of this place.

T.
Many of the things around the promenade that we saw on the way in have switched in size. The statues of the gods loom higher and higher, as if the size of actual gods themselves. And buildings are as small as dollhouses.

Robert
And even though Greco and the two ladies seem to be oblivious to her, a fourth figure appears alongside them. A beautiful, pale woman with black hair.

Kim
Miss Thanero, as we are slipping into this dream, I would love an Information Move with Sensitivity, please.

Cassandra
[Rolls dice] That’s a five.

[A London street]

Kim
Mr. John. The Man in the Sun Mask bids you adieu and walks down the streets of Limehouse. What is the rest of your day like?

T.
For starters, Mr. John rubs his tongue around each and every single one of his teeth as he watches this man go, waiting until he sees the little green flash as he walks around the corner. And then I would like to stop by a bookstore.

[Shop bell]

Kim
Mr. John, I think you find yourself in a bookshop that belongs to a rather eccentric scholar of folklore. A trusted friend of Hargrave House. One Sir Richard Harlow.

Mr. John (T.)
Evening, Dick.

Sir Richard Harlow (Kim)
Well, I recognize that voice anywhere. Mr. John, how are we today?

Mr. John (T.)
I tell you, we’re all over the place. We started off with a bang, but the sun seems to be setting on us in an unfortunate way. For once in my life, I don’t come around here with a question I gotta pick your brain about. Although if you have anything to share with me, I’m all ears. But I’m picking up something for some friends of mien.

Sir Richard Harlow (Kim)
Oh. A lady friend?

Mr. John (T.)
One of them. The other one’s just a girl. And I’m not prepared to say what about the third.

Sir Richard Harlow (Kim)
Feel free to peruse. If you require my assistance, I am happy to help.

Kim
I have a Paint the Scene for all of you as you are looking about Sir Harlow’s eccentric collection. Sir Richard Harlow is a expert in magic and lore, specifically connected to the fae and other creatures not of this realm.

[Mystical tones]

Kim
As Mr. John is moving through shelves stocked with interesting, esoteric novels, I’d love if you could break me off some book titles or some subjects that some of these books are about.

Robert
There is a scholarly paper titled Psychopomps Across Western Civilization.

T.
Otherworldly Pressures: The Effects of Newtonian Physics in Far Spaces.

Cassandra
There is a book on one of the shelves that is called A Lady’s Guide to Gardening for Good Fortune.

Natalia
And there is a bound stack of metal plates with a small nameplate that has the title Alchemical Practices.

Kim
So, Mr. John. What is it that you’re looking for here?

T.
I’m looking for four titles. The Wade-Giles Romanization Cipher of Cantonese to English. Fairy Tales Told For Children by Hans Christian Andersen. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll. And The Iliad.

Kim
Alright.

T.
And I have inscriptions for each of them.

Kim
I think we’ll wait for the inscriptions until you give these items.

Sir Harlow looks at these.

Sir Richard Harlow (Kim)
Some excellent stories you’ve selected, Mr. John.

Mr. John (T.)
I know this new work ain’t stood the test of time yet, but some of these others… feel like there’s wisdom to be drawn from them.

Sir Richard Harlow (Kim)
Oh, I very much agree, sir. Now, if you will excuse me…

Kim
And he very quickly and deftly wraps up your books and gives you the parcel.

Sir Richard Harlow (Kim)
I’m afraid I must be making a quick exit. I have a lady friend of my own to see to.

Mr. John (T.)
Late for a very important date, eh?

Sir Richard Harlow (Kim)
[Chuckles] Quite, yes.

Mr. John (T.)
Well, I would hate to keep a man from business of that nature. Always a pleasure, Dick. And I hope dick’s always a pleasure.

Sir Richard Harlow (Kim)
From your word to god’s ears, sir.

Mr. John (T.)
More than one, friend.

Kim
Alright, Mr. John, I believe that this closes out your Day Phase. So I would like to travel now to Hargrave House itself, and the activities of Mr. Lloyd. How do we find you, sir?

Robert
We find Mr. Lloyd leaving his room with a small box tucked underneath one of his arms. And heading down to the garden. The quiet, natural surroundings are the perfect place for him to perform a ritual.

[Quiet birdsong]

Kim
Lay it out for me, my dear.

[A fiddle drone]

Robert
So Rabbit heads out to the garden, sits down, pulls a small smoked glass bottle out of one of his pockets, takes the few strands of hair that he had taken from the corpse, puts them in the bottle. Swishes around in his mouth for a second, spits into it. And as he does that, Cait comes padding up to him proudly, a large grey rat still wriggling in his mouth. Rabbit takes the rat, pulls out a little knife, and slits its throat, allowing the blood to run into the bottle.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, please roll Rites of Salt and Smoke.

Robert
Because I am using my familiar, I am going to roll that with advantage.

Kim
Would you say that you are drawing things to you right now? Certainly magical presences and energy.

Robert
Yes, I would say that he is trying to draw something that may be partially inside of him, fully into him.

Kim
Go ahead and roll Rites of Salt and Smoke with advantage, since you are invoking your familiar.

Robert
That is a 10.

Kim
So on a 10+ you get to choose your effect. And the magic works without further cost. What is it you are trying to do here?

Robert
The effect I’m choosing is trap a specific person or creature. And specifically, I’m trying to trap this essence of a demon – whatever it was that was in that girl that is now partially in Rabbit. He’s going to attempt to trap it fully within himself and hold it there.

Kim
Okay. Interesting. So, I will say as the GM, this will not resolve the Threat at all. The demon is still going to be an issue that you must deal with formally by answering the questions. But I do think this is very interesting, so I am going to allow you to do this, with the caveat that the Condition: A Voice in Your Head is going to be permanent until the Demon of Kilburn Abbey is resolved. Similarly, while the demon is in your head, your vice has changed from opium to “delighting in suffering.”

Robert
Sounds good to me.

Kim
Tell me what this looks like.

[Russel’s The Bells of St Anne de Beaupre]

Robert
Rabbit takes that small bottle that he has mixed the blood, the spit, and the hair in. And opening the box that he was carrying, pulls out a small blade and begins to cut the shape – it almost looks like a letter or rune, but not a letter of any alphabet that’s used on earth. He cuts the shape into his arm, pours a little of the liquid from the bottle over it, smears it, and then wraps a bandage around it. Underneath that bandage, if you could see, you would see the lines of that letter rearranging themselves and roughly forming the face of the corpse in the morgue.

Kim
Miss Thanero and Miss Douglas.

[Dreamy, ambient tones, mixed with slowed down chimes]

Kim
It was Greco’s intent to dream walk with you and show you a vision of Cremorne Gardens, but on a miss from Ena Thanero, I believe that Greco the Second-Sighted boy was not prepared adequately for the force of your presence. The ancientness of your mind and your dreams. So the three of you find yourself pulled into a dream of Miss Thanero. What is it that we see?

Cassandra
With every step the three of them take forward, the promenade starts to just rip away, and we find ourselves walking up to the edge of the ocean.

[The ambient tones fade, replaced by ocean waves]

Cassandra
And the water is black as obsidian, but it’s intensely smooth. And we hear this almost metallic ringing sound start to come from the water…

[A metallic ringing]

Cassandra
…And thousands upon thousands of shields start to rise up out of the ocean. Some are familiar to Ena, some are broken, some have never been forged. And as the tide is rolling in and rolling back out, at Ena’s feet we see a helm. But instead of his helm being cast in metal, it is cast instead in salt. And when Ena picks up this helm, it starts to dissolve in her hands.

And very quietly, whispered, we hear a man’s voice.

“Even reason must drown eventually.”

Greco, the Second-Sighted Boy (Kim)
My apologies, ladies. I don’t quite think I know where we are.

Cassandra
Ena stands there, looking at this helmet dissolving in her hands, and her hands start to shake ever so slightly. She wipes the salt from her hands quickly, and her hands form into fists. And she turns and starts to walk away from the water’s edge.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
You don’t need to see this.

[The water churns, a wave forms]

Kim
Miss Thanero, as you turn your back on the water, the sea starts to roil and bubble in much the same way that it did with Miss Douglas in the Chelsea Harbor. And a great wave rises and crests, towering above your humble trio, threatening to fall and drown you all.

Natalia
Maesie instinctively steps in front of Ena.

Cassandra
Ena is touched by this. But instead, takes Maesie and Greco and pushes them behind her. Holds her hand up to the wave, and when her hand comes up, a giant golden shield covers her and Greco and Maesie.

[A shimmery, magical sound as the shield manifests]

Kim
Given where you are, how disastrous it would be should something go wrong here, trapping you all within the realm of dreams, this must be a Night Move with Sensitivity. What are you afraid will happen if you fail, here?

Cassandra
I am afraid that we will be trapped on this shore to endure this wave crashing down upon us, for me to watch these two people drown over and over and over again.

Kim
Miss Thanero, it’s worse than that. Time moves strangely in dreams. While outside in London, mere moments will pass before all three of you fall, wasted, onto the floor of this tent. Within the dream, you will be forced to watch your two companions drown, come back, drown again, time after time – eons passing in mere moments.

Cassandra
That is a 7.

Kim
Miss Thanero, what happens here?

Cassandra
The water crashes down onto the shield, and umbrellas off around them. The wave sucks back in. This time, when it comes back up, it forms the hand of a fist and starts to hammer the top of the shield, the metal ringing out across this beach.

[The waves beat against the shield]

Cassandra
But every time, the water just cascades off the edge. And with very punch, you can hear that same male voice grunting, trying to get through that shield.

Kim
Greco takes both of your hands, and the edges of this scene grow gauzy as the three of you find yourself back in the tent, though all three of you smelling faintly of salt water.

[The mystical, ambient tones of Greco’s tent return]

Kim
How are you feeling in this moment, Miss Thanero?

Cassandra
Ena knows what this dream is, has seen this dream so many times. And it’s only ever her. And having these two people in here, one who is just an innocent bystander and one who she is coming to care very deeply for, that is what shakes her. And she puts on her mask of composure, throws some extra coins onto the table. Looks at Greco, and says…

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I’m so sorry.

Cassandra
And then immediately walks out of the tent.

Kim
Miss Thanero, take the Condition: Shaken.

Natalia
Maesie stands, sort of like nods at Greco, and follows Ena back out. And sort of stands beside her in that way of like, I want to comfort you but I don’t know if that’s what you want right now. And she says…

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Are you alright?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Yes, my little pearl. Why would I be anything else?

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Because that was very scary.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Perhaps. Let’s go home, shall we?

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Right.

Kim
And the two of you leave Cremorne Gardens, as the sun sets over London.

[Shadows in the Smoke theme]

Kim
Shadows in the Smoke is a Kitten Marlowe production. This episode was edited and produced by Kim Dalton, and featured a theme song by Jake Pierle. You can find out more about us by visiting KittenMarlowe.com, signing up for our newsletter, or following us on socials. For Discord access, an exclusive behind the scenes show, and more, visit Patreon.com/KittenMarlowe and join Pete Swan, Bobby Silicani, Pascal G., and Masha in supporting artist-driven storytelling. Thanks for listening.