Shadows in the Smoke S1E25 - "The Horrors That May Come"

Shadows in the Smoke S1E25 – “The Horrors That May Come”

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]

[Ambient drone]

Kim
So, for the first time in a bit, we have all four Hunters at Hargrave House. How rare to have all of you home. It’s so nice to see you all here. We Mr. John and Miss Thanero climbing the stairs towards Miss Thanero’s quarters, but before we peek in on them, I wanted to check in on Mr. Lloyd and Miss Douglas. What are the two of you getting up to as we are entering Dusk?

Natalia
Maesie follows Ena and John into the house, still in her own little happy world. The Ena and Mr. John situation sort of brings her back down a little bit to Earth, and she thinks about what she did earlier today. And talking to Rabbit might be a good thing. So she looks around for him. Where would she find him?

Robert
She pretty easily finds him sitting at the table where they usually eat their meals. He’s not doing much. He looks like he is going through his carpet bag and checking to see if some things are in there. Occasionally, he’ll pull out something, give it a little shake, stick it back in. Cait is just sitting there, occasionally peeking in and gently pawing at one of the things that Rabbit takes out of the bag.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Rabbit, hi. I, um, I invited the Fishman. He’s coming to the party.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
That’s good, I suppose. Yes, good. Seems like things are a little bit more complicated than that, though, if your face is to be believed.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Well, I know you said earlier that it was probably implied, or there was wiggle room for me to invite a guest, but I wanted to be sure because I did not want to offend, and so I maybe went to go see Mistress Beaumont about it. And it’s kind of a long story, but I, basically, I was trying to offer her things that I thought maybe she would like in exchange for an invitation and then she didn’t really like any of the things that I had to offer and so I sort of maybe offered her an open-ended favor.

Robert
What little color there is in Rabbit’s face completely drains out of it.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Right. That… That’s not great.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
It’s not?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
It’s not the worst thing you could have done, but it’s far from the best.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Okay. Strangely, that makes me feel better.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Why don’t you sit down here, love, and we’ll try and figure something out.

[Ethereal humming drone, wind chimes tinkling]

Robert
Rabbit reaches into his carpet bag and pulls out a deck of cards. Plain, simple, like, red-printed backs that have been creased and faded to the point where it almost looks pink. And starts shuffling and playing with them, moving them about in his hands.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Now, if you were to go back in time, about eighty years or so, and ask someone to read your fortune using the cards around here, this is likely what they would draw.

Robert
And he pulls a card off the top of it. And it is the Queen of Spades from a regular playing deck.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
But nowadays, it’s become a bit more fashionable to use something a bit more mystical.

Robert
Puts it back in, shuffles it around a little bit, taps it, draws a card. It doesn’t have any writing on it nor is it colored in, but it is a black and white image of a woman sitting in a throne, a scroll behind her, a book open on her lap, and a crown that looks suspiciously like the pope’s hat upon her head. The number 2 sits atop the crown.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
So, why don’t we see if we can’t help you out a little bit with this?

Robert
Puts the card back in, shuffles it, and hands it to Maesie.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Cut and draw, love.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Okay.

Natalia
Maesie hasn’t ever used cards before. This is very new to her. And just separates it in two and pulls one from the middle of where she split the deck. And flips it over.

Robert
It is an image of a man wearing a crown and holding a scepter, sitting inside a box with wheels at the bottom, being pulled by two horses facing in opposite directions. It is also upside down.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Right, so that’s the Chariot. Usually, the first card you draw says something about you, about where you’re coming from. And, inverted like this, it is a sign of force, lack of direction, lack of control, aggression, maybe feelings of powerlessness. It’s not an happy card, but luckily it’s only the first one you’ve drawn, so it says a bit about where you are right now, not where you will turn.

Kim
Let’s peek in on Mr. John and Miss Thanero, shall we?

[Hollow windlike drone]

Cassandra
Ena throws open the door to her quarters, tosses her purse and this package holding the wool onto a little table in the entryway. She hasn’t really said anything to John as they’ve made their way up the stairs, but she goes into where her giant bathtub is, turns on the taps, tests for the heat of the water, and then turns back and starts unbuttoning her jacket, looking at Mr. John, and just says,

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Strip.

T.
Mr. John is standing in your doorway with the door still open to the hall.

Mr. John (T.)
You want me to come in first?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Yes, I think that would be best.

Cassandra
And Ena goes over behind him and gives him, kind of, a not-gentle shove into the room, and then closes the door, and then continues to, like, unbutton her jacket.

T.
He stumbles and catches his footing, but there is… While it’s not in his recent past, this is very reminiscent of his mother’s room, of the opulence of it all. And being forced to strip to take a bath is not outside of his experience, although normally, people would have taken his clothes instead. So he gingerly removes his jacket, looks for a place to set it, decides on over the foot of the bed.

Cassandra
Ena comes over and takes the jacket, and then picks it up off the bed, not wanting this, like, soiled clothing on her linens. Walks to the door, opens it, drops the coat outside the door, and just yells,

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Merricat!

Cassandra
For her to come and take it away.

Mr. John (T.)
Who’s Merricat?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
It’s a long story that Rabbit is better suited to tell you, but let’s just say she is in the employ of Hargrave House, and she might be useful to us here in the future.

Mr. John (T.)
Guess I missed a little bit, didn’t I?

T.
As he unbuttons his shirt.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I’d say that you did.

Cassandra
And she walks over and just, like, yanks the shirt open, and the buttons fly all over the room.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Hurry up now. Don’t doddle. We do have places to be.

T.
He gives her a once-over, seeing if he’s being tested, and being unable to glean anything from her countenance, drops his trousers, long johns and all, stands there stark naked. You see the entire constellation of scars: the pinpricks he claims are from a fallen porcupine on his back, the cigarette burn of the alligator bite on his hand, the ring of shark teeth on his ankle, in addition to several others whose origins he has not shared with anybody before.

Cassandra
Ena looks at all of this, not quickly. She takes her time kind of scanning all of these scars and memories that she doesn’t know yet from his existence.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Been in some scrapes, I see.

Mr. John (T.)
Nothing I couldn’t handle. Nothing I didn’t deserve.

Cassandra
At this, Ena walks over, turns him bodily, gives him another little shove into the bathroom to get him into the bathtub. And as he is walking, we see her yet again pick up his dirty clothes off of her floor. She goes to the door, throws them outside, and shuts it.

Mr. John (T.)
You may as well burn ‘em.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Now, now, I’m sure Merricat can work a little miracle on them to clean them back up.

Mr. John (T.)
[scoffs] Huh. Is that what you’re here to do with me? Work a miracle?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Maybe not so much a miracle, but you certainly do stink.

Kim
Let’s return to the tarot card reading.

[Ethereal humming drone]

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Draw your second card.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Do I…? Just…

Natalia
Maesie just pulls, like,  the next card and flips it over.

Robert
It is, again, a black and white image that looks handdrawn of a tower with a crownlike structure atop of it that is being knocked over from flames from the heaven. Round circles as though rain drops, coins, or balls of fire appear to be pouring down and there are two people, one in front and one behind the tower, jumping off of it. The Roman numeral for sixteen is in the upper right corner.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Alright, love, another not-so-great one, I’m afraid.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
This one looks really bad.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
It usually represents disaster, destruction.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Oh, lord.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
But change. This is what you must get through in order to get to the next stage of your life, the next stage of your story. It will not be an easy path, but it will be one that is changeable, mutable. Nothing is set in stone yet. And so I think, despite the horrors that may come, you may find comfort in the fact that you will get through them. Let’s draw the third one, shall we?

Kim
Mr. John and Miss Thanero.

[Hollow windlike drone]

T.
John stands at the edge of the bath looking down at the water. You can’t tell really if he’s waiting for permission or if there’s something about the water that troubles him.

Cassandra
Ena comes back, a little more undressed this time. You can see, like, a corset. She’s still wearing her skirt. But she comes and just kind of stands next to him quietly, and looks at the water with him. And then just whispers,

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
What are you waiting for?

Mr. John (T.)
I don’t know.

T.
And he steps over the side, placing a foot in.

Mr. John (T.)
[exclaims] Ah!

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Sorry, I take it very hot.

Mr. John (T.)
[clears his throat] I gotta admit, I was expecting a dressing down, but nothing like this.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Oh, don’t worry. That’s coming.

Cassandra
She walks back out of the room.

T.
He sinks until the water is just above his mouth, his nose creating ripples as he exhales, bracing himself for whatever happens next.

Cassandra
Ena comes back around the corner after some time. This time, in just the undergarments, a simple shift and the corset. She’s getting ready for the party so she’s just taken off what she’s worn for the day. She goes across from the tub and on a shelf picks up a giant sponge, walks back over to the tub, and puts her hands on her hips, looking at him blowing bubbles.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Having fun?

Mr. John (T.)
[coughs]

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Don’t choke now, darling.

Mr. John (T.)
[stuttering] You got me all out of sorts. I, uh… Miss Thanero, I…

T.
He starts to stand.

Cassandra
She puts a hand on his shoulder and, gently this time, pushes him back down into the water. But sits him forward, dunks the sponge in the water, and starts to wash the grime off of his back.

T.
The water almost immediately is so black it’s opaque. You can’t see anything below it as his skin begins to get paler as he is washed.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Where were you?

Mr. John (T.)
Where wasn’t I? I been moving, different spot every night. Couldn’t stay in one place.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well, considering you are quite the hunter, I feel like you wouldn’t scare so easily. What’s got you up in arms?

T.
He turns to look at her.

Mr. John (T.)
I’m outnumbered.

Cassandra
She takes his arms and holds it up and starts to, like, scrub down his arm and into his armpit.

Mr. John (T.)
[giggles] Careful. Careful!

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
[giggles with him]

Cassandra
She titters at him being ticklish, a nice little discovery.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
That’s the thing about fighting alone. You almost always, inevitably, wind up outnumbered. Are you too big of a man to ask for help?

Mr. John (T.)
I should be able to handle my own problems. There’s no reason for me to stain y’all.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I think that’s an assumption you would have been better off questioning. I think you’d find that everyone here would come to your aid if you asked.

Mr. John (T.)
It was too dangerous. I didn’t have time.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
May I remind you that I’m not some wilting flower, resigned to a drawing room in London, but that I have a great deal of power of my own. So whatever danger you might have faced, I am more than capable of handling it.

Cassandra
And she starts to, like, go to his head with this sponge and she’s scrubbing just, like, a little too hard.

T.
He gently takes her wrist and brings it down to the surface of the water.

Cassandra
She lets him.

T.
And places it against his heart.

Mr. John (T.)
I’m what’s dangerous. I don’t think you’re a wilting flower. I don’t think any of y’all are weaker than I am. But I’ve got something inside me. Something that, if it were to hurt you, if I were to lose control and let anything happen to you, it’d be better off if I was hunted.

Cassandra
She leaves her hand there, and looks him in the eye, not in any way invoking the power she has as the Undeniable, but is making, like, a genuine connection with him.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I have seen war. I have seen monsters. I have lived a very long life. And whatever might be inside of you, I’m sure I have seen a color of it throughout my long, long time.

Mr. John (T.)
And if you haven’t, I’d rather not take that risk. You are… I don’t wanna say holy. More than precious. Cherished, maybe? You make me feel a way I ain’t felt in a long time. You look at me in a way I didn’t realize I could be looked at no more. If I were to lose that look, I don’t know if there’d be any coming back from it for me.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
You look at me in a way that I have also never been looked at. But the thing about looking is that you have to see all and take all as it is. So whatever you fear about yourself that you may not want me to see, seeing it will be the fullest way that I can know you.

Kim
The third card of the tarot reading, please.

Robert
This last card depicts a handsome young man wearing medieval garb. One of his feet is bound to the ground via chains and a stake. The number twelve is above his head. However, the card is hanging upside down, so rather than being pegged to the ground, it looks like he is being hung from the sky.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Prudence. I’m afraid not a happy outcome, no matter what, but not a bad one. You will have to sacrifice. That is the advice that the cards are giving you. You may not know what the path is. You may not know what the direction, but whatever this is that you are going through, when you get through it, on the other side you will be able to see that it was the right path all along.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Rabbit, this is worthless! This is just telling me that it’s bad but it will change and then it will be alright. I’m right back where I started!

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
It’s not the most actable drawing I’ve ever seen, but it seems to me, at least, that you are in a place of uncertainty right now. You don’t know if you’ve done the right thing or the wrong thing. It’s hard to see what they are. But if I can give you any advice, it is just trust your instincts, be willing to make hard decisions when you know they are the right things to do, and I think things might turn out just alright for you. If not a happy ending, at least a satisfying one.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Right. Okay. Do you have any idea what it is she might ask of me?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Generally, she will not ask you to do anything that will take you more than a year minus a day. She will not ask you to kill more than a hundred minus one people. And she will not ask you for anything that you cannot give her. But other than that, she is Unseelie. They cannot lie, but they hate to tell the truth. And not even Unseelie, but specifically a Weaver who is quite a fond courtier of the Queen of that court, she sews truth to look like lies. She dons the night sky so that the stars hang in their place. And she takes the dreams that are given to her by her Queen and weaves them into the most beautifu garments you’ve ever seen. She’s also a poisoner and a killer, so I cannot say what she will ask of you. But I doubt it will be easy.

Natalia
All the joy and the mirth that was in Maesie earlier today has gone. And she’s wringing her hands and looks up at Rabbit, desperate and desolate, and just says,

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Rabbit, I’m scared.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
That’s a good thing. It means you’ve been paying attention.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
I haven’t been doing very much of that.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Well, you have me. You have Miss Thanero. You might have Mr. John, I’m still not quite sure on that one.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Lord knows where he’s been.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
We will do our best to back you up and keep you safe. But most importantly, you have yourself. Trust yourself, be yourself.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Okay. Thanks, Rabbit.

Robert
And as Maesie leaves, Rabbit takes the full deck back, shuffles it a few times, lays a card in front of him: The High Priestess. Lays another card in front of him: The High Priestess. Lays a third card in front of him: The High Priestess. Shuffles them back into the deck, and puts it away.

Kim
Back upstairs.

Cassandra
Having lingered in this moment of making genuine intimate eye contact, she pulls her hand away from his chest, back into the water, and then flicks it in his face.

Mr. John (T.)
[sniffs]

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Also, be careful about my brother. The sun can shine awfully harshly, to the point of burning.

Cassandra
And she gets up off of the side of the bathtub, and just gives him a look, and walks back into the rest of her chambers.

T.
John smiles to himself, then the smile quickly fades. He looks to the other side of the bathroom, out a window, and sees the sun getting lower in the sky.

Mr. John (T.)
Thanks anyway, pal. Do you really wanna see what’s inside me?

Cassandra
Ena does not walk back into the room, but we can hear her calling from across the chambers.

Mistress Thanero (Cassandra)
Yes, but only if you deign to trust me with it.

Mr. John (T.)
It might be wise to grab a weapon if you got one.

Cassandra
She goes to a table where her collection of knives tends to sit, and grabs the blade of the first Hunter and holds it in her hand, and stands in a battle-ready stance, facing the door of the bathroom.

T.
You may have also, while you were taking out his clothes, taken the ivory-handled knife in the thigh holster. That might be on that table as well.

Cassandra
I will also grab that and put it in my other hand.

T.
John grips the edge of the clawfoot bathtub. His knuckles start to turn white as he looks as the sun begins to sink lower and lower.

Mr. John (T.)
Forgive me for whatever happens next.

T.
And he bows his head all the way under the water as the sun sets.

[Ominous whoosh]

[Slow, pensive piano music]

Kim
Welcome to the Dusk. Mr. John, let’s have the Quickening roll, please. No matter what this success tier will be bumped up by one because of As Cruel As The Harlot’s Curse.

T.
Alright, I’m rolling this straight. I’m not gonna use anything for Advantage. [rolls dice] 8 the hard way. Two 4s is a mixed success, but because of Cruel As The Harlot’s Curse I bump it up to a 10.

Kim
So, on a 10, your body is stronger and faster, and you manage to keep the Quickening in check. You roll with Advantage when taking actions that use Vitality until the next Dawn Phase. So you do not transform. If you want to choose to transform, that’s a Mask.

T.
My next Mask of the Past is…

Kim
The moment.

T.
[excited exhale] I don’t think so.

Kim
Okay.

[Hollow windlike drone]

T.
As the room turns gold and the sun sets, the sky beginning to turn its dark blue, John sinks his arms down beneath the opaque water, holding his breath, waiting for the inevitable. Until he can’t hold his breath anymore and bubbles begin to burst out from the bath, and then,

Mr. John (T.)
[gasping for air, coughing] Son of a bitch. Guess you’ll have to wait a little while longer.

Cassandra
Ena, looking at him, seeing that nothing has happened, kind of just doesn’t really know what to do with her hands [laughing] now that she’s got both of these, like, knives here, like, ready. And kind of, like, drops them at her side.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well, that was anticlimactic.

Mr. John (T.)
All part of the foreplay.

T.
He mutters to himself. And you would notice, Athena being as perceptive as she is, when he stands, his muscles are distinctly more corded than they were before. There is a subtle change to him. His canines are slightly sharper and the rest of his teeth, a little bit more angular along the incisal edges. His eyes are noticeably darker as well. And there is a certain swagger to him as he emerges. As contrite as he was being led into the bath, emerging from it new baptized, he is on the edge of arrogance.

Cassandra
She notices this, sees the more brazen way that he is standing, naked, in front of her, and grabs a stack of clothes that Merricat has dropped off. They are clean and fresh. And she picks up this pile, and just throws it across the room to him.

Mr. John (T.)
Any plans this evening?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well, there is a party.

Mr. John (T.)
Anything I should bring?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Yourself, preferably.

Mr. John (T.)
What’s the party? One of your classic high society fashions?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
This one’s going to be fun, I think. And you will need a costume.

[Slow, pensive piano music]

Kim
Miss Douglas, are we doing Moonlight Upon the Waves tonight.

Natalia
[forcefully] Absolutely not. What are you talking about?!

[Cassandra laughs]

Kim
Okay. I– I–

Natalia
We’re going to a party! [laughs]

Kim
I’m required by law to say it.

Cassandra
She’ll go to jail if she doesn’t ask.

Kim
And now I would like to invite you all to answer a Question, should you like to. The Creature of Cremorne Gardens, we have answered and it is waiting to be resolved. The Limehouse Lurker, we are working on the Threshold Question. We have amassed three Clues for the complexity 4 Question. And the Spidersilk Seamstress, we have three Questions that we can answer, any of which would resolve the Threat. And we currently have nine Clues.

T.
Yeah, dog. That one. We do that one.

Natalia
Get answered.

Cassandra
I think we gotta make a stab at that one cause we’re gonna see her tonight.

Kim
Alright. So, our Clues for the Spidersilk Seamstress are as follows. A sealed jar containing spider husks, bundled herbs, and a path of human skin. Miss Thanero received a crimson silk corset with the interior lined with thorns; a set of matching gloves bear tiny near invisible hooks across the palm and fingers. You found in the apartment of Sir Richard Harlow an overdue bill for an expensive suit; a handwritten in spidery letters warned the customer that, quote “Nothing worthwhile is without cost and the price must be paid.” Mr. Lloyd was alerted as to a letter written by a heretofore unknown man calling off an engagement, quote “I regret that no worldly explanation could suffice.” Mr. Lloyd found, clutched in the desiccated body of Richard Harlow, a book of Grimm’s Fairytales bound in pale blue leather with silver embossing, and there are comments and corrections that were scrawled in the margins of this book written in the language of Fairy. Miss Thanero noticed that everyday objects that would normally be crafted from iron or other metals, such as doorknobs, scissors, and sewing needles, had been replaced with bone. There was a sketch of a costume made out of impossible materials. A sewing needle made from a nightmare. And a room in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park that has been outfitted to look like a perfect recreation of Queen Victoria’s throne room.

We have three Questions we can apply these clues to: How is the creature ensnaring her victims? Complexity 4. What is the creature’s true name? Complexity 6. And what does the creature truly want? Complexity 8. Which one are we interested in working on?

Robert
So I have a pitch for what does the creature truly want?

Natalia
Good. I want the move.

Kim
Alright. So that one we will resolve the Threat by striking a bargain with Mistress Beaumont in accordance with Fae customs. And so long as that agreement is kept, Hargrave House has access to the custom move Draw The Veil, which allows you to use Fae glamour and illusions. So, let’s hear the pitch. What does Hazel Beaumont want?

Robert
Hazel Beaumont is seeking to make her masterpiece. Outside of the Clues, we know that there is some instability in the Fae courts and my suggestion is that a new power is rising. And Miss Beaumont is seeking to curry favor with this new rising power by making them a beautiful gown made of materials stolen from the Mortal Realm. So this would be the sealed jar containing spider husks, bundled herbs, and a patch of human skin, a sewing needle made from a nightmare, everyday objects crafted from bone, like those are all the tools and the objects that she’s stealing from. I would suggest that this Fae that she’s making it for has something to do with romance, perhaps romance gone sour, perhaps control over men. Hence, the love letters, the manipulating men through overdue bills. And perhaps even the room in the Crystal Palace that is Victoria’s throne room has been sort of shaped that way in order to present a coronation for a new potential Queen of Fairy.

T.
Yeah, I was feeling there was something court-related as well. And I was going the other way though, that she was bringing somebody in from the Fae to replace somebody in Victoria’s court. But I think just as easily could be a human being abducted which is more in line with, like, Fae folklore ayway. But the expensive suit, the outfit from impossible materials, and the letter to call off the engagement, these were all, like, partly blackmail and manipulations for a high ranking male official. Like, came to her as fairy godmother, like, “Help me woo the woman of my dreams.” And she’s like, “Sure, I’ll make you this suit and we’ll all be great.” And then, when she had him in her web, said, “Actually call off your engagement. You’re coming with me.”

Kim
Yeah, does anyone have anything to add or expand upon here?

T.
We’re missing the corset and gloves.

Robert
I have kind of an odd thing for that. If we’re going more with the “she is doing this for another powerful Fae”, perhaps there is something thorn-related in the nature of that Fae.

T.
Oh sure, Queen of Roses kind of thing.

Robert
Perhaps. Yeah, something like that.

Cassandra
It could also be a warning to even beautiful things can be hiding something destructive. The thorn of a rose, like, anything beautiful can still be deadly.

Natalia
We also have Rabbit’s whole thing with the Spidersilk Seamstress and all of that pleasure in pain.

Cassandra
Mhm.

Natalia
It could just be that this is how she works. This is her vibe when she creates outfits for people, it’s always in this vein.

T.
Does the mistress have a mistress? Like the Fae that she is serving, there is a romantic element and an erotic element as well. So, like, using Ena as a test dummy to be like, “I made this but, like, does it do what I want it to do?”

Robert
Fae are not always Fae. Sometimes they used to be gods, sometimes they used to be humans. Perhaps she’s looking at someone else who used to be a god or is still sort of a god as an appropriate model for the garment she is creating.

T.
Right, exactly.

Robert
Yeah.

Cassandra
Well, and there is also, like, you know we’ve been talking about Greek influences, like with the myth of Arachne.

Kim
Yeah.

Cassandra
You know, there is a “I must make the finest thing.” And we also, like, know that she’s proud because she’s notating in this book like, “This is what’s wrong. Change this. Do that.” So she’s proud enough of her knowledge and her work to be corrective as well. And like, that was a big marker of Arachne, was her pride of her thinking she was better than the gods and she did know better. I feel like that definitely permeates through Hazel’s character. Especially, like, the thing of, like, opening a brand new shop and not having it open to the public; of like, this is a place where you have to have an appointment. Like, that’s pride.

Robert
So working all together here, here’s my solid pitch based on all of that.

[Natalia giggles]

Kim
Okay.

Robert
Hazel Beaumont, the Weaver, has attached herself to a new rising power somewhere in Faerie. She has been sent to the mortal world to collect elements to build a garment for the coronation of this new Fae Lady, let’s assume because of how things are going. She’s doing this as a point of pride because she feels that she was overlooked in the previous court system and sees a chance for herself to gain new power.

T.
Yeah, maybe she wasn’t sent. Maybe she left of her own accord.

Robert
Ooh, she’s doing this on spec.

Natalia
Mhm.

Kim
Yeah.

Cassandra
Hell yeah.

Kim
I like that. And I enjoy the notion that maybe, you know, who knows what could happen at this Midsummer Masquerade? Is this also possibly some sort of coronation? Will there be a delegation from Faerie that is also in attendance at this party?

T.
There’s a story, or maybe it’s a part of history, where people were married onstage but the wedding actually counted because the words were real. Am I making that up? Does anyone know what I’m talking about?

Kim
That feels like A Series of Unfortunate Events. That’s a plot that happens.

T.
I think that’s a plot point in A Series of Unfortunate Events.

[Robert laughs]

Natalia
Yes, oh my god, it is.

Robert
There’s some fairytale or part of history… Oh, it’s a children’s book written in the 2000s.

T.
All fairytales gotta be written sometime. So what if this Fae that Beaumont is trying to curry the favor of is an actress and the costume that she’s going to be wearing in the play for the Midsummer Masquerade that she had Orren Blackwood write is her, like, audition piece to be, like, “The clothes that you are wearing are, like, fit for Fae dignitary. I made these clothes. Behold. I did it.”

Robert
What if it’s not the actress, but the actress would be sacrificed through this ritual?

T.
Word, and then bring her in…

Robert
To give body to the Fae Lady.

T.
Yeah. Vessel. Hell yeah.

Kim
I love this. This will be a roll at a +1. Who is throwing some dice on the table?

Robert
I figure I should probably throw one of them.

Cassandra
And I think I should throw the other.

Kim
Alright.

[Rolling dice]

Cassandra
I rolled a 3.

Robert
And I rolled a 4.

Kim
Plus 1, that is 8. So that is a mixed success. Your answer is correct but there will be a complication in resolving the Threat.

T.
It’s already so complicated.

Natalia
Do we wanna bump it? Or do we wanna save the Mask?

Cassandra
I feel like we should just use the Mask because, kind of like with the Creature of Cremorne Gardens, if we do it ahead of time then we’re just walking into this party knowing that both Threats will be easily, or easier, excuse me, to resolve. So my vote would be to go ahead and spend the Mask and bump it up.

Natalia
Yeah, same.

T.
I also have a feeling a lot of us are gonna be making some rolls this evening and then we’d have to play favorites. With this, this gets us all.

Kim
Yeah.

Cassandra
Yeah, this covers everything and takes at least some things off the table.

Kim
Alright, so sounds like we’re spending the Mask of Glamour?

T.
Yes.

Kim
Alright, the Mask of Glamour reads as follows: Each Hunter narrates a flashback to a time when they peered through the Veil and glimpsed another world beyond this one.

[Low, echoing drone]

T.
As John leaves Ena’s bathroom, dripping wet, we stay on the black water of the pool. And reflected in it we suddenly see a much younger Augustus Hutchinson, dark circles under his eyes, red sclera, and his beard outgrown as if he has been on the road for many, many days. And he plunges into the pool and sinks down deeper, deeper, deeper. Swimming toward a bottom that may not exist. Shapes writhe in the darkness around him, serpentine and undulating. There are many, many, many of them. His breath is burning down like the oil in a lamp. There’s iron and salt in the water. And above the surface, a laughing dark-haired man. And below the darkness, unspeakable, all around him, and cold, cold, cold.

[Empty ambient drone]

Robert
We see Rabbit, his skin shining with moonlight, his hair long, wavy, flowing back behind him, dressed in armor made of beetle shell and spidersilk. He is afraid of nothing in this realm. For while there are indeed dangers here, he is the lord and master of them all. And so, as he turns a corner and enters another mind, he is surprised with an overwhelming sensation. A sweet smell somewhere between flowers and rotting meat. A warm pink glow fills his eyes. And a voice whispers in his head,

Mystery Voice (Robert)
Come here. Leave your kingdom. Relax in me forever, and I can grant you peace.

Robert
Rabbit shuts that door as soon as he opened it and turns back to the much more familiar world that are the dreams he walks within.

[Underwater rumbling]

Natalia
At the deepest parts of the ocean, there sometimes collect these puddles of incredibly salty water called brine pools that are toxic to most creatures, impossible to live in, except for some very specialized bacteria and other such small creatures. And Maesie’s never one to be told what to do and what to touch and where to go. And on one particular dive, she spots one of these pools and decides to touch the surface of it, to see what it’s like to live in that salinity. And all of a sudden her body is wracked with crashing visions of tentacles and slimy things reaching and crawling over her body and into her mind. And feeling places inside her that she has never felt before, that she did not know she could feel. And yanking her hand back, decides never to dive this deep again.

[Ethereal ambient drone]

Cassandra
We see Ena sitting in her chambers at Hargrave House. The night is foggy, the fog pressing on the window. It’s silent. It’s quiet. And while she sits, she can feel the Veil tremble. And leaning forward in her chair, the Veil tears and she looks in through this jagged edge. And beyond, what she sees is a place with no name, no purpose. There’s no shape. Towers spiral downward. Rivers of shadow run backwards carrying no reflection. The air is just thick with sound, but it’s not language. It’s a hunger being given voice. In this world, there is no measure, there is no pattern, no reason. Threads unravel the instant they’re spun. Creatures walk around without form. And time collapses in on itself. She feels this pull to lean forward through this jagged opening, and also feels the pull at her own order and clarity and balance. And in this instant, looking into this world without reason, she knows now what it would be to be undone and thoughtless. Nothing but a fragment, drowned in chaos.

[Slow, pensive piano music]

Kim
Lovely work, Hunters. Mask spent. This bumps it up to a full success, so your answer is correct and you will be able to resolve the Threat tonight. I will remind you that in order to resolve this Threat you must strike an accord with Mistress Beaumont, but I’m sure you’ll tell me about that later. And as long as that agreement is kept, you will have access to the custom move Draw the Veil. Now, I am required to ask, are we doing a London Night Phase or a Hargrave House Night Phase? But I believe I know the answer.

Natalia
London!

Cassandra
A London Night Phase, baby!

Robert
I just really want to see what’s in the Yellow Girl Room.

[Kim and T. laugh]

Natalia
No!

Kim
So, what are we doing tonight, Hunters?

Cassandra
I think we’re going to this party.

Natalia
Masquerade!

Kim
Yeah, so heading to the Midsummer Masquerde, trying to resolve the Spidersilk Seamstress, and it seems like also resolve the Creature of Cremorne Gardens?

Natalia
Unfortunately.

Cassandra
Yeah, I think we’re going for the 2-for-1 special.

Kim
[laughing] Okay. You are not leaving me much to play with but we’ll see.

Natalia
Oh, you’ll bring on more things, I’m sure.

Cassandra
Oh, yeah, I fully believe in Kim’s ability to fuck with us at this point.

Kim
I always will.

[Ominous whoosh]

[Tolling bells, low chanting]

Kim
Tonight’s Unscene is called The Cult of the Pig. A secretive cult dedicated to the pagan swine god Moc'h has gathered in a fashionable salon on this holy night to make offerings to their porcine deity. Paint the Scene: How has this otherwise sumptuously decorated salon been changed to make it a ritual space dedicated to an ancient pagan pig god?

Cassandra
Obviously during a cult gathering, there is usually some kind of ritual consumption-like communion. But as we look around this room, we see no glasses. We see no bottles of wine. Instead, in the center of this salon, there is a wooden trough draped with velvet, red, sumptuous fabric. And in the trough is blood-thickened wine.

T.
Above the mantle of the fireplace, affixed to a sharp metal hook, there is a rotting boar’s head that has been buried in the ground and is now beginning to attract the buzz of flies.

Natalia
Instead of typical brasiers and candelabras and things of the sort to hold candles and flames, constructs made of tusks and pig bones line the room. And lard burns in each of them.

Robert
And all the places where portraits would normally hang on the wall have been emptied. And in their place, crude runes drawn in fresh blood.

[Hollow windlike drone]

Kim
Hunters, there is a knock at the door. When Merricat Ovelia answers it, she finds no one standing on the doorstep, and instead finds five elegantly wrapped packages, one addressed to all of you, and one addressed to the guest of Miss Douglas. When you open these packages, I would love for you all to tell me what all do you find inside? Mistress Beaumont has requested that you wear these garments to the party. What are you wearing to the Midsummer Masquerade?

T.
Mr. John, just wrapped in the robe that Merricat brought up to Ena’s room, saunters downstairs and takes his garment box, tearing off the ribbon and opening it to see within an ivory tabard, the older squarer cousin of the poncho, that hangs down across his chest, ending at the top of riding boots that one would think were doeskin if not for the fact that they are also white. The tabard is embroidered with a herald, a horsehead in gold ending in a rounded base. A knight. A chestpiece. The tabard is cinched with a belt of gold and the shirt is mail, though not made of chained metal. If you didn’t know that it was impossible, you might think that it was made of bone. The whole ensemble is completed by a mask to make sure onlookers know the figure sporting it is big and bad: the visage of white wolf. But the piece de resistance setting it all off is a sanguine red riding cloak.

Natalia
Maesie takes her box to her room and undoes the ribbon, and instead of lifting a garment out of the box, it pours itself out as water and climbs up her body to become a bodice of iridescent fish scales that are like a second skin in the sense that they become part of her skin. The bodice turns into chains of pearls strung with whalesong that climb into a halter around her neck. And then it flows out in billowing skirts of dark, black water. Shafts of light and bioluminescent fish shining through the quote-unquote “fabric”. A pair of sealskin gloves that go the wrist in the same white dappled fur of her pelt are also in the box, along with a mask of colorful corals and small anemones that wave in a nonexistent tide that hold themselves to her face with the suction of an octopus tentacle.

Robert
Before I describe my outfit, I have a question for you, Kim.

Kim
Sure.

Robert
In sending this, does Miss Beaumont, or rather The Weaver, intend to flatter and curry favor from Rabbit or is she intending to insult and raise his hackles?

Kim
I’m of two minds here. Like, y’all rolled really well on your resolving a Threat, but also girl is messy and Unseelie. So I feel like she is seeking to raise your hackles.

Robert
In that case, Rabbit opens the box and inside is darkness, as though a hole into the night sky has been opened in the bottom of this box. He reaches in, pulls out the garments inside, and dresses himself. A tunic and breeches, woven from the night sky itself, with just hints of starlight and the Aurora Borealis for texture. A breastplate made of iridescent beetle shells, along with appropriately designed pauldrons and greaves. And the mask, a perfect black cirlce, resembling nothing more than the new moon.

Cassandra
Ena, having donned a silk robe and made her way down to the table, retrieves her box and takes it back to her quarters. It is wrapped in an emerald green ribbon, which she gently unties and lifts the lid of the box. And inside we find a dramatic emerald green satin gown, draped and layered like coiling serpents, fitted perfectly to accentuate her commanding presence. We see accents of gold and black snakes sculpted in braided silk and wire that coil along her shoulders and waist and a piece for her hair. The mask is a half-faced mask of bronze, patterned with serpentine scales, leaving her eyes visible for piercing effect. Additional details include jewels of topaz and onyx threaded like serpent eyes throughout the garment. There are subtle chains hanging like fangs. And a small laurel-shaped diadem.

Kim
Lovely, Hunters. What beautiful outfits she’s made for all of you.

Natalia
Maesie, having dressed, searches in the box and finds that there are no shoes. [Kim chuckles] And feels relieved that someone understands her. [Cassandra chuckles] And picks up the other box, and starts making her way to the door, noticing as she walks that she’s leaving puddles behind her with each footstep.

Kim
Fantastic.

Natalia
And steps out into the hallway and shouts to everyone,

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Alright, so, em, I’m gonna go take the box to the Fishman so he can get dressed and then I’ll… Do we… Does anyone know where we’re going?

Kim
All the details are on the invitation.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
I guess I’ll just meet you there. Okay. Bye!

Natalia
Just, like, runs out the door.

Mr. John (T.)
Her date who I think it is?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Yes, I’m afraid so.

Mr. John (T.)
Hmm.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Right, so I regret not having this conversation with Maesie earlier. So a few ground rules for this party: Don’t make any deals. Don’t hurt anyone who doesn’t hurt you first. Don’t use the “F” word. You know.

Mr. John (T.)
What, fuck?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
No, no, no.

Mr. John (T.)
Oh, I would never–

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
The Grimms’ word.

Mr. John (T.)
Your word.

Cassandra
I think Ena just, like, elbows him and [laughs] just, like, giggles and says,

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Shut up.

Mr. John (T.)
What?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
And most importantly, the food that our host has laid out for us is safe. But if anyone offers you food or drink that isn’t on a table, do not take it.

Mr. John (T.)
Now, Rabbit, if I agreed to all that, I’d be making a deal, wouldn’t I?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Better the devil you know.

Kim
And, Mr. Lloyd, you don’t yet know that Mr. John is not a guest at this party, right?

Robert
No. I am treating him as though I believe he has gotten the same invitation as the rest of us.

T.
And I am not saying anything to the contrary.

Kim
Okay.

T.
I put an arm out for Ena.

Mr. John (T.)
M’lady.

Cassandra
Ena takes this package, this gift that she is holding for Hazel Beaumont, that she has rewrapped in the green fabric that her box came in, puts it in her other hand, and links arms with him.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Lead the way, sir.

Mr. John (T.)
This the kind of party we can take the carriage to or do we gotta spin around in a circle three times or something?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
The carriage’ll take us most of the way.

Mr. John (T.)
I’ll trust you to take us the rest.

[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 Jenna McCown and all of our incredible Kitten Marlowe patrons, in supporting artist-driven storytelling. Thanks for listening.