Shadows in the Smoke S1E35 - "My Life Is Yours"

Shadows in the Smoke S1E35 – “My Life is Yours”

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]

Kim
Miss Thanero.

[Otherworldly ambient tones]

Kim
You have taken The Man in the Sun Mask as a worshipper. So first thing’s first, I need you to scar your reflection.

Cassandra
Excellent. I would be happy to.

Kim
And tell me how the reflection has changed.

Cassandra
The dais in the portrait cracks, and we see waves of heat start to ripple across the surface of the portrait, and out into the room that it sits in. The gilded frame around the painting turns molten, and the sea water in the painting starts to boil.

Kim
The rest of Giveth reads, describe how the Side Character subtly or not so subtly debases themselves before you in the scene. I can sense that we’re maybe getting there, so I’m gonna let you drive.

Cassandra
Ena breaks her grasp of her brother and walks to a side table and sets down the bag that she brought with her. Pulling a beautiful ribbon that was formerly a garter out of the bag, she walks back to Sunny and Augustus, places their hands together, and starts to tie this ribbon around their hands. Without a word, she takes their clasped hands and leads them up the stairs to a room that she’s very familiar with. It’s Sunny’s bedroom, and it is a room where the walls and windows are completely covered with beautiful gold, velvet drapes. Because you do not need the sun in a room where the sun exists. She sets them down on his bed, and looks her brother in the eye, caressing the mask very slowly.

[The sound of a crackling fire]

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Remove your clothes.

T.
Hutchinson looks over at The Man in the Sun Mask, like, this is a thing you’ve done…? Like, looking for reassurance. To be like, is this something that… is this familiar territory for you? Cause it ain’t for me. But begins to unbutton his shirt, not sure who she was referring to.

Cassandra
Ena looks at him unbuttoning his shirt and just very quietly says…

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Stop.

T.
Hands up.

Kim
The Man in the Sun Mask strips. His body is gold from a beautiful tan. The picture of youthful perfection.

Cassandra
To add onto that, now that he is nude, the edges of his body start to blur. You almost can’t look too long at him. And his eyes are two twin sparks behind the mask. His hair moves, as if with solar winds. She stands them back up, moves them to the center of the room, and crosses behind her brother and says…

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Undress him.

Cassandra
And then proceeds to go and sit in a beautiful gold, ornate chair that is in the corner. And as he is undressing Augustus, it is slow, it is tender, it’s thoughtful. And while he is the sun himself, he does not burn Augustus. But heat suffuses his body and warms him from the inside out. The temperature is hot, but it’s not unpleasant. And where he rests his hands on Augustus’ body, we see his skin redden as if burnt, but slowly return to his normal color. Once he is fully out of his clothes and both of these men stand naked before her, she crosses behind Augustus, gently caressing his arm, and says…

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Tell him what you like, Beau.

Cassandra
And returns to her chair in the corner.

T.
Very nervously, Hutchinson glances over to her.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
You’re sure?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I’m always sure, darling.

T.
He turns back to Apollo.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
I ain’t no mandrake, but, uh… Well, I'd be lying if I said I’d never been curious. And you can tell from my nome-on that… this isn’t bad.

T.
He kind of begins to blush, his skin reddening from heat he generates himself.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
I’m usually more of… in the giving position.

T.
He starts to tilt up the sun mask, and then Apollo like gently takes his wrist and brings it back down.

And so he tells him without words. And Hutchinson leans forward and starts kissing down Apollo’s neck, and his shoulders, onto his clavicles. And as his heat and his blood begins to rise, the kissing becomes more nibbles. A quick bite as his pecs. The bites becoming fiercer. 

And as the two of them lean and fall down toward the bed, their limbs entwining, it becomes more like pythons enwrapped in one another, rolling around, encircling, their bodies contacting with one another, the heat suffusing Hutchinson. And as they writhe together like this, and the ecstasy begins to grow and mount, it becomes more of a wrestling match. As the Greek God begins to attempt to pin Hutchinson. And Hutchinson, feeling vulnerable, but also feeling carnal, fights back, and wants to test his mettle against this god. 

As they tangle up in one another, the softest sheets like clouds giving way under their sweat and beginning to rumple, Hutchinson takes the ribbon that is tying two of their hands together, wraps it back behind Apollo's head. And with his free hand, grabs him by the wrist and pins him down against the bed, straddling him at the hips, breathing heavily. And then he slowly looks down.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Cain’t say I ain’t never been curious.

T.
And then he kisses down Apollo’s neck, his sternum, down his ribcage, and his navel, and goes down on the sun.

He can’t help himself, and looks over at Athena to make sure that she’s enjoying this as well.

Cassandra
Ena gets up from where she’s sitting and comes and kneels at the side of the bed, to get a much closer look. And she whispers in her brother’s ear…

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Take it.

Cassandra
And then sits back and continues to watch.

Kim
So briefly a pause, for some mechanical upkeeping. Miss Thanero, please remove the ribbon from your Personal Quarters, since you have given that to the Man in the Sun Mask.

Cassandra
Mmhmm.

Kim
Because when you make a gift of something from your Personal Quarters, your Servant will do exactly as you say, no questions asked, up to and including destroying themselves.

Let’s move away from this scene, briefly. Miss Douglas, where does the rest of the day take you?

[A London street]

Natalia
Having finished this rehearsal and having gained a little bit more knowledge towards working on The Nutcracker, Maesie’s gonna try and tackle another problem that’s plaguing them, and take some knowledge she got from Moc’h and go to the Figgs’ pie shop and see what she can find there.

Kim
Lovely. Away to Shoreditch you go.

Miss Douglas, you come across the Figg’s Piggs pie shop. It is a very cheery looking building. Or would be, if it didn't look abandoned for now at least a few weeks. There are dusty windows, but looking in you can see some nice chairs, a little counter. There’s like a plaster pig there, that is their mascot. But the first thing that you see, as you come to the outside of this pie shop, is a small boy that is crouched near the front door, who looks as though he is trying to break into the pie shop.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Do you need some help with that?

Kim
This boy turns to you, and you just get this eye-watering smell coming off of this little boy. He’s very young. Younger than Sacha. Looks like he’s maybe like 9 or 10. But he’s got a very hard look for his age.

Young Urchin (Kim)
Yes, miss. You don’t exactly look like the sort that would be able to open one of these locks. Quite tricky, they are.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Well you haven’t seen me do anything yet, so why would you assume?

Young Urchin (Kim)
Sorry, miss.

Kim
He hands you his little rudimentary set of lockpicks and steps away.

Natalia
Maesie steps up to the door with this lockpick set and deftly moves all the levers inside until it clicks, and swings the door open.

Young Urchin (Kim)
[Gasps]

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Are you coming in, or what?

Young Urchin (Kim)
Yes, miss! That was bloody quick. That was right magic, that was.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Eh, you haven’t seen me do magic yet.

Young Urchin (Kim)
Alright, miss.

[An abandoned building]

Kim
This little boy, who in the midst of this has introduced himself to you as Tagg, comes into this pie shop and starts rapidly looking around. Just turning things over.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Can I help you find something?

Ragg (Kim)
I’m looking for a note, miss? Or some sort of indication as to where the Figgs might have gone. They haven’t opened up the shop in quite some time. I was thinking they might have took a trip.

MIss Douglas (Natalia)
No, there’s been some business, and Titus Figg’s been arrested.

Ragg (Kim)
I’d heard some stories about them. But I liked those Figgs, so what of it? So they put people into pies. Maybe those people deserved to be put into pies, did you ever consider that? Mrs. Figg was the nicest to me, but I liked Patrick well enough too. You know, I’m the only person he ever spoke to like a… Well, like a person.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
What would you talk about?

Ragg (Kim)
Oh, all manner of things, miss. The Figgs were very good to me. Took me in like one of their own, they did.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Well, let’s see if we can find a note.

Natalia
I wanna help him look around the shop.

Kim
As you’re looking through the Figgs Piggs shop itself, you can see a stairway leading up. It looks as though the Figg family lived above their shop. And there’s also a basement leading down. But let’s talk about the shop itself first. As I mentioned, there are a few small tables and chairs. The plaster statue of a pig in a chef’s hat. This whole room smells a bit of, like, grease and baked bread.

I have a Paint the Scene here. How do you know this was a popular pie shop when this was open?

Natalia
There are several framed photographs on the walls of the Figg family members, standing with different well-known people from politics, people from pop culture. Actors, and things of the like, standing in the shop.

Cassandra
If you were to look at the floor under the tables, you would see deep scuff marks from the chairs being pulled out and pushed back in, as they were frequently swamped with customers daily, coming to eat, coming to buy and take home… The floor shows how busy this shop was.

Robert
Similarly, the doorknob of the store is polished bright brass by all of the hands reaching out to turn it to enter, despite all of the other brass fixtures on the door and windows outside of the store having long since been matted to a dull, grey tarnish by the London grime.

T.
There is a sign over the back counter, above the menu, that proudly declares, “Over 1,000 piggies served.”

Kim
Miss Douglas, please make the Information Move with Reason, because you’re looking around. I am gonna put this at disadvantage because of Dependent. Not because you yourself are dependent, but because you have a dependent, in this young urchin who is maybe not being as helpful.

Natalia
[Rolls dice] Okay. Okay. It’s gonna be a 6 +1, is 7.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, what about you?

Robert
Rabbit is going to go to the Society Obscura, and try and poke around a little bit, without being noticed.

[A quiet London neighborhood]

Kim
Alright. So how are you entering?

Robert
Is there a servants’ entrance to this place?

Kim
Oh, of course there is.

Robert
Then Rabbit is going to pull that old feather out of his cap and play his lower class status.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, you enter through the back door of the Society Obscura, into a small, very tidy kitchen. And coming through, holding a goblet of wine that he is then setting on the table to fill back up out of a carafe is a young man – very pretty. He has very small feet, around which are all manner of jewelry. He’s currently wearing barely anything. He has a mock toga just tied around his hips that is extremely short. He is carrying a little leopard skin, draped over one of his shoulders.

Robert
And you said he was refilling a carafe of wine?

Kim
Yeah.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Hold it there, governor. Let me help you that. We don’t want you to get any stains on that nice outfit of yours, so let me help you with that.

Robert
And takes the carafe and the wine from him.

Twink Houseboy (Kim)
It’s no bother. I have dozens. I didn’t hear there was a new houseboy.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Yes. Yes, sorry. I’m just filling in. There was a sudden opening, or something.

Twink Houseboy (Kim)
There better not have been. I’m the only houseboy.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Sorry, no. Um… Houseboy’s not quite what I am. I’m more of a dogsbody, you know. Doing the things that are beneath what you would do around here.

Twink Houseboy (Kim)
Do you model?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Model, sir?

Twink Houseboy (Kim)
Yes. Do you model?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
No, um…

Twink Houseboy (Kim)
Oh, thank god.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
I can clean, I can cook, I can haul things. You know, if people don’t mind the accent, I can butle in a pinch. But mostly I’m just here to try and make your life and the life of the people here easier. Are you a model here?

Twink Houseboy (Kim)
Oh, I’m a bit of everything. I model a bit. I keep the place tidy for the Abernathys. I’m here to please… In any sort of way they fancy.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Well you know, I say, when I got this job, I had heard a thing or two. Some people tried to warn me. But i suppose, talking to someone like you, I bet you know all the dirt that goes on in a place like this.

Twink Houseboy (Kim)
I just might…

Kim
He extends a very slender hand to you, that is also jangling in jewelry.

Periwinkle (Kim)
They call me Peri. Short for Periwinkle.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
They call me Rabbit. Not short for anything, that I’m aware of.

Periwinkle (Kim)
Well, Rabbit. As long as you know your place and don’t try to model, I think I could tolerate seeing you about.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Well it seems like you’re the real master of this place, aren’t you? Don’t suppose you could give a new hire a bit of help getting acquainted with the locale?

Periwinkle (Kim)
I’ll give you a tour.

Kim
And Periwinkle begins to give you a tour of the Society Obscura. There are all manner of rooms that are bedecked in set pieces. There are bits of costumes laying about, so that models may pose in dramatic scenes.

Periwinkle waves to a few of them. As you pass, you see rooms called The Jungle Room, The American West Room, The Maharaja’s Palace, The Astral Plane… But today he leads you to one called The Olympus Room.

[Heavenly, otherworldly ambience starts to fade in]

Kim
Decorated to look like a scene from Greek myth. All manner of columns and sculptures, clouds… you see some bejeweled lightning bolts for models to hold. Togas and draperies. Cups of wine. Olive wreaths.

I have a Paint the Scene for you all here, which is available only if at least one hunter in here has the Cosmic Passage marked – which you do, Mr. Lloyd. The Greek Pantheon is actually watching you in this room right now. How do you know it?

Robert
Well, at least two members of it aren’t…

Kim
[Laughs]

Robert
So Rabbit has had the – let’s say “fortune” – of looking upon a Greek God with his third eye open. Even though he’s no longer quite as vulnerably open to the mystic world as he was then, he can still feel the same pressure, the same golden light, metaphorically speaking, that shines from Ena, shining throughout this room.

T.
The moment Rabbit steps into this room, his ears are filled with the sound of the ocean waves, churning and swirling around him, and a storm brewing. Thunderclaps in the distance.

Natalia
On a table with props for models to hold is a glass pomegranate that seems to have a piece taken out of it, so you can see all of the seeds inside. And when this pomegranate catches the light just right, some of the seeds look like eyes.

Cassandra
The temperature in this room feels like several temperature shifts, layered on top of one another. So you would have a cold prickling from Artemis’ moonlight, or a damp sea breeze from Poseidon. And the floor of the room trembles ever so slightly from beneath, as if from Hades.

Kim
Periwinkle leads you in. He sets the goblet of wine down next to the collection of props. And grabs a small broom from the corner of the room and starts sweeping up. Tidying draperies, things like that.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
I cannot believe that one so otherworldly beautiful as you simply has to tidy about this place. Surely there’s more, you know, muck of the earth people like me who can do that for you.

Periwinkle (Kim)
I like to. Keeps me busy.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Well that’s good. Idle hands, devil’s playthings, and all that.

Periwinkle (Kim)
Not just hands, sir.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
I pick up what you’re putting down there, mate. I have to say, this is truly beautiful. People described it to me before I got here, but I’ve never seen anything quite like this. I know they take photos here, but are there any ones of you?

Periwinkle (Kim)
Might I show you some?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
I would love that.

Kim
Periwinkle leads you to a stack of photo plates, and many of them show Periwinkle in a series of revealing costumes, in all manner of settings. Not just the Olympus room, although it does seem to be the one he particularly fancies.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Absolutely stunning. And the photos aren’t too bad either. 

Periwinkle (Kim)
I didn’t realize you had an interest in photography.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
I’ve held a few odd jobs here and there. I worked with a man who supplied silver nitrate for a bit, you know, so I’ve seen a few. I’m a little bit familiar with the production, if not so much the enjoyment.

Periwinkle (Kim)
Would you like to photograph me?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
That’s a very tempting offer, but I'm sure I would just make a right mess of it.

Periwinkle (Kim)
I assure you, sir. I don’t have a bad angle.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Why don’t I get you to show me around how to use one of these machines?

Kim
I like Information Move with Reason, here. As you’re taking a look at the camera and the setup, here.

Robert
I rolled a 10! So even with my -1 to Reason, that’s still a 9.

Kim
Mr. Hutchinson and Miss Thanero.

[Otherworldly ambience, a crackling fire]

Kim
And, I suppose, Apollo as well.

T.

Mr. Hutchinson comes up for air, the taste of citron and bay laurel and spiced honey on his tongue. And gazes into the eyes of this god. Apollo sits up to meet him, and with the two of them on their knees, facing one other on the bed, and a gentle tug from the ribbon-wrapped hand, Augustus brings it down, below their waistlines… And begins stroking. Softly, slowly. Apollo does the same. And as he finishes, Hutchinson looks over for Athena.

Cassandra
Ena stands up from her knelt position on the floor and crosses over to Augustus, looks him right in the eyes, and then kisses him. She lets it hold for a moment. As she pulls away, her hair is full of that otherworldly wind. She moves behind her brother and unties their bound hands. She places her palm on the back of one of Apollo’s hands, and pushes it towards Augustus’ chest, placing it right over his heart. And whispers in her brother’s ear…

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Brand him.

Cassandra
And her hand begins to glow with that golden seal of Aegis, and her brother’s hand to glow as well, right over Augustus’ heart. His skin starts to blister and burn, these lines start to glow in his flesh, red-hot. And as they pull their hands away, the sign of Aegis is now burnt into his skin, over his heart. An eternal block for anyone who might try to claim it.

T.
Augustus falls to his knees. Exhausted. In pain. But also in surprise. And just loses consciousness for a moment. Passes right out.

Cassandra
Ena sees this and smiles. She goes over to Augustus and gently lifts his head, as she sits on the bed and places his head in her lap, and she starts to run her fingers through his hair. And just looks back at her brother.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Thank you.

Kim
The Man in the Sun Mask nods, stands, dresses. And then crosses over to you, Miss Thanero, and doesn’t touch you, but simply leans his head forwards, so that the edge of his golden mask is almost touching the side of your head.

The Man in the Sun Mask (Kim)
Of course, sister.

Cassandra
Ena reaches up and touches the mask one more time, fingering the edge of it. Not removing it, but gives it a gentle bit of pressure, as if she might. She drops her hand and just looks at him.

The Man in the Sun Mask (Kim)
Shall I leave the two of you?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Yes. We’d like some time alone.

Kim
The Man in the Sun Mask bows to you, Miss Thanero. Nods in familiarity towards you, Mr. Hutchinson. And leaves.

[The otherworldly ambience and the crackling fire fade away]

T.
Augustus’ eyes flicker open, and gazes up at Athena. His head in her lap.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Only my mother ever called me Beau.

Cassandra
Ena smiles and touches the side of his face, and just nods.

Kim
This feels as though this was a Vulnerable Move using Mr. Hutchinson’s vice. Both of you may clear Conditions, should you choose to.

Cassandra
Ugh! Man, I don’t have any.

Natalia
Ugh, your life is so hard!

T.
I just got it, but I would like to clear Ravenous. I feel like some appetites have been satiated. I certainly had something in my mouth.

Kim
And the two of you get to collaborate on a Clue for me for any of the active threats. I can let you think about that, and then come back to you.

[An abandoned building]

Kim
Miss Douglas, to Ragg’s dismay, you find no note as to where they might be or how they could be found. Ragg can’t read, though. So he wouldn’t have known, had he even found one.

Natalia
[A sharp inhale] Can I lie to him?

Kim
Yeah, of course you can.

Natalia
Maesie pulls out a paper. She notices from the way that he’s looking at papers that he’s not really reading things. It’s just sort of a glance at it, like, is it hand written? Is it typed? What is this? And in not wanting him to be upset, she pulls some small hand-written note that she finds during her search, and goes…

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
I found this. It might be… It’s not a lot, but it just says, “We’ll be back soon.”

Ragg (Kim)
Is it from Madame La Hortencia?

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
It is signed Hortencia, yep. So…

Ragg (Kim)
I don’t suppose it said when they’ll be back, or where they’ve gone?

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
No. I don’t… i don’t… Doesn’t seem like it, no.

Ragg (Kim)
Hmm…

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
But, soon is soon! 

Ragg (Kim)
Alright. Thank you, miss.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Of course.

Ragg (Kim)
I hope nothing bad happens to them. Anything else bad. They’ve had a very hard life, they had.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
When did you meet them?

Ragg (Kim)
Oh, I’ve known them ever since I was a little boy.

Kim
He says, being a very little boy himself.

Ragg (Kim)

The Figg family’s always been here. Raised me like another one of their sons. They've had a hard way of it, you know.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Yeah, so you’ve said. What sort of troubles have they had?

Ragg (Kim)
Well, when the boys were very young – about my age, maybe even a bit younger. The two of them and their mum, they were trapped in a cave-in, they were. To hear them tell it, they lost track of how many days they were in there, starving. Missus Figg, she’s a good mum, she is. She didn’t want to let any of her boys die.

Kim
Ragg holds out a dirty hand for you, and pulls you into the kitchen, where you see a stack of aprons as well as a work blouse for La Hortencia. And you see one of the sleeves is pinned up.

Ragg (Kim)
Missus Figg, she cut off her own arm she did, and fed it to her kids so that Patrick and Obert could live.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
It’s truly remarkable what mothers will do for their children.

Ragg (Kim)
Aye, mum. She’s a good woman. I’d be honored to have a mum as good as she.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
We all could.

Ragg (Kim)
Well!

Kim
He says, proudly holding his note.

Ragg (Kim)
I shall keep this, and await the arrival of the Figgs.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
That’s a good idea. Hey, if you see any of them, do you know where Hargrave House is?

Ragg (Kim)
You mean the ghost house?

Miss Douglas (Nataila)
Mmhmm. If you ever see any of the Figgs, would you ring the doorbell and let them know? That’s where I live.

Ragg (Kim)
Yes, mum. Happy to.

Kim
He reaches out his hand again and shakes yours.

Ragg (Kim)
I shall see you if I have anything to report!

Natalia
I salute.

Kim
He salutes back, clicks his heels, and scampers out the door. And in the kitchen, you see, tucked into the apron of La Hortencia Figg, a small book. And opening it, you see a series of pressed flowers in between the pages. And written on the front page is a little note that says, “For My Little Sweet One.” YOu also see a small little bit of fishing line that was attached to the book in question. And as you raise it to your hands, it snaps. And you see a butcher’s knife that was held aloft on the ceiling come swinging in your direction. Make the Night Move.

Natalia
Ah! Okay! 

Cassandra
Not the booby trap!

Natalia
Okay!

Cassandra
[Singing] Oh my god…

Natalia
Oh no!

Kim
What are you afraid will happen if you fail?

Natalia
Oh! My head! My poor head!

Kim
Miss Douglas, it’s worse than that. I think Ragg will come back in, having left something in the pie shop, and just see you get beheaded.

Natalia
Oh no! I’m ruining so many small boys’ days! I would like to pull out Sally No Face’s wooden mask and kind of throw that up as a shield against my face, if possible please.

Kim
Yes, you can make it with advantage if you are using Sally’s mask. This is a Night Move with Vitality.

Natalia
Okay… [Rolls dice] Oh, thank god. 11 + 1. 12.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd.

[Soft, heavenly ambience]

Kim
It is immediately apparent to you that Periwinkle has no idea how the mechanics of taking a photo happen.

Periwinkle (Kim)
Other people photograph me. I don’t busy myself with that sort of work.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Well why don’t you just get pretty for me, and I’ll try my best to capture your beauty?

Periwinkle (Kim)
Just a moment!

Kim
Periwinkle disappears behind a dressing screen, and moments later emerges. The leopard skin has been shed, in exchange for a glorious pair of wings that strap onto his back. And he’s wearing an even tinier little toga, this time. He’s posing for you today as Cupid.

Robert
So I don’t know if Morgan’s ever actually been able to take a picture of anything before. But since Hargrave House is familiar with the Whateley Camera and Morgan probably looked over some of the notes on it before coming here. I think it’s reasonable that he could at least fake how to take a picture. He gets the wet plate, he puts it in the little box, puts the box in the camera.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Alright. I think this is how we do it…

Robert
Opens the shutter, and…

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Alright. Now hold still, for just a few moments.

Kim
He poses exquisitely.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
And we’re good. Okay, yeah. I think that’s got it. Developing’s a bit trickier than actually taking the photo, though. So let me leave that in its case, and you can let me know when I’m back here soon how it turned out.

Periwinkle (Kim)
But I wanted to see it now…

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Perhaps we can find another location to take a lovely photo of you.

Periwinkle (Kim)
Actually I did a whole suite of photos of myself doing all of Hercules’ labors. I don’t suppose you’d like to see those?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
I would be enchanted.

Kim
Periwinkle then sets about showing you another series of photo plates of the most pinup calendar version of Hercules’ labors you’ve ever seen. Most of them are artistic nudes, as would be done in the Greek style. But one is particularly odd. In this room, there is a grey door that is not really a door – it’s just paint. It’s painted to look like a door. But in the photo itself of Periwinkle, that door is open. And there seems to be something coming through it. 

[Unsettling Eldritch tones]

Kim
Moreover, as you’re holding this picture up to further examine it, the scene itself within the photo plate moves around, allowing you access to see parts of the scene that weren’t originally in frame. And as you move it around you start to see other people, other members of the Society Obscura, who are watching Periwinkle pose. All of them have inky black voids where their eyes should be. And as you wrest your gaze away from this strange photo plate, you see Periwinkle, still in his wings. Held aloft, floating in the air. As if suspended by some unseen force. This feels like a Night Move to me. Bits of the Void are coming into this world. What are you afraid will happen if you fail?

Robert
This is not magic that Morgan is familiar with. This is something weirder, something more eldritch. So what I’m afraid will happen if I fail this roll is that Morgan will be taken to the Fragrant Void, and no one else at Hargrave House will know what happened to him. 

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, it’s worse than that. You will be taken to the Fragrant Void, and a bit of the Entity that powers this camera, that lives in the Fragrant Void, will slip out. Trading places with you to return to Hargrave House, with your friends none the wiser. This is a Night Move with Sensitivity.

Robert
It’s a 5 on the dice, but I do have a +3 in Sensitivity. So that’s an 8. I think I’m going to use a Mask to bump this up to a full success. This seems like a much more threatening situation.

Kim
Let’s return to Mr. Hutchinson and Miss Thanero. Do you have a Clue for me?

Cassandra
We do, we do.

Kim
Let’s hear it.

T.
So in that moment when I passed out, the bright sunlight of a climaxing sun god filling my senses, I think I was transported to that Olympus Room, and saw that in the tent, there’s lights hidden in the rafters in a complete circle. Indicating that for this camera to operate, the subject has to be illuminated in such a way that they cast no shadow.

Kim
I love that. A photographer’s model who casts no shadow. I’ll let the two of you resolve your scene here, however you may choose.

Cassandra
Once Augustus wakes, Ena gently sets him up so that he’s sitting on the edge of the bed, and gets up and starts to move around the room, grabbing the pieces of his clothing that have been strewn about. And walking back over to him, begins to re-dress him. Deftly, with very skilled hands.

[Soft, mystical ambience trickles in]

T.
He allows it, of course. And as she finishes adjusting his tie, he reaches up and grabs her hand, and holds her gaze so that if he never sees it again, he’ll always be able to remember it. And he gets down on one knee, and then the other.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Bright-Helmed Athena. She of steady gaze. Mistress of all skills, who cherishes reason and holds wisdom dear. Athena of the Aegis. Spear-shaker. Hunter. Goddess of Wisdom and Protector of the Quick. Guardian of travelers far from home. I praise you in all things, and give myself to you entirely. Be my shelter on land and ship at sea, and I will be your helm and spear and shield in battle. My stewardship of my mortal life is forfeit, and from now until my death, my life is yours. Your will, my fate.

T.
I’ll be taking the Condition: Worshipper.

Kim
Okay. So this is the second part of Giveth, which reads, “If another hunter debases themselves at The Undeniable’s feet, they may take the following Condition: Worshipper. If they do so, they may mark XP. So go ahead and do that, Mr. Hutchinson. And MIss Thanero must scar her reflection. Miss Thanero, how does the reflection change?

Cassandra
I kind of want T to tell me how it changes, because of just this, like, absolute submission.

T.
I’d be honored. Is it uncouth to put Hutchinson in the painting?

Cassandra
I don’t mind it.

T.
There’s a piece of Augustus in this painting, now. His form, his back to the viewer, clutching onto Athena’s thigh and gazing up at her for approval.

Kim
Mr. Hutchinson, so long as you have the Condition: Worshipper, you must add a new Dawn Question to your list. It is always marked. It reads as follows: Did you continue to perfect your worship of the Undeniable?

Miss Douglas. On a 12, tell me how you avoid La Hortencia’s trap?

[The sea rumbles and groans]

Natalia
Having seen the fishing line, having heard it snap, the adrenaline rushes and it’s that Curse of the Deep reflexes that live within her. As she hears it whistling through the air, she turns to see a butcher’s knife flying at her head, and quickly pulls out Sally No-Face’s wooden mask and uses it to knock the blade out of the air. The mask shatters in her hand, and the butcher’s knife falls to the floor. She just has a moment of pause, in the silence of narrowly having escaped potential death. And then picks up the book, which is now liberated of its booby trap, and leaves the shop.

Kim
I’ll give you a choice, since you got a 12+ on the Night Move. Would you like the butcher’s knife or the book of pressed flowers for your Personal Quarters?

Natalia
The book.

Kim
Please add the book. Mr. Lloyd, you are choosing to spend a mask. Which one will you be doing today?

Robert
I will be spending my next Mask of the Past.

Kim
Please read the prompt.

Robert
Narrate a flashback to your young adulthood that shows when you first met the leader of the Coven. Name them.

[Dreamy, fae ambience]

Robert
Under the tutelage of the sidhe calling itself Morgan, Percy quickly learns the secret workings of the world. Nothing as powerful as true fae magic, but impressive in an age where the ancient ways are little more than myths. The two have also grown close, sharing the dark sensuality of the Unseelie court, and the earthly temptations available to a son of the British aristocracy alike. 

Life in stories never sits still for long, though. And Percy soon catches the eyes of others…

[A fireplace crackles]

Robert
“Morgan! Wonderful news! I’ve been invited to a gathering tonight!”

“Do I not take you to enough balls and fetes in the other world?”

“Well yes, of course. But this is different! I mean, I know you probably don’t concern yourself too much with the politics of the mortal realm, but these are the men who control the Empire.”

“Who?”

“Well, I’m not exactly sure. It might be the Apostles, maybe. Or the Knights. I mean, I’d even be excited if it was the Pit Club. Hell’s Bells, Morgan, I’m talking about secret societies! You know, groups of powerful men. Barons and judges and the like. Most of Parliament! If you want to be someone, these people hold the reins!”

“Well then in that case, let’s make sure you make a good impression on them.”

[Echoey, cavernous ambience]

Robert
That evening, the two young men, following the instructions Percy had been given, make their way to the University library. In the shadow of the Tower, they enter a room that doesn’t appear on any plans. A small huddle of nervous students stand shoulder to shoulder, watching the shadows cast by flickering candlelight and billowing incense. 

After a moment, figures dressed in hooded green robes enter, encircling Morgan, Percy, and the rest of the boys. 

“Wiþ ælcre yfelre leodrunan ond wið ælf-sidenne,” a booming voice calls out as one from the robed figures. 

One of them steps forward. “You have been called forth, chosen for your potential. If you do not wish to learn the secret science that shapes the world and unlock the doors that exist within your mind, you are free to leave now.”

Several of the boys glance nervously at each other, but no one makes a move.

“Very well. Welcome to the Occluded Society of the Sons of Herne, Cambridge’s foremost keepers of all knowledge occult and esoteric.”

[Soft party music, chatter]

Robert
The pop of a champagne bottle breaks the tension as the hoods drop and gaslamps are lit. Suddenly, the mood relaxes as the cloaked men are revealed to be nothing more than fellow students and professors. Small plates of food appear, as if from nowhere, and laughter fills the stone hall. 

Morgan and Percy mix with the crowd, a simple glamour preventing anyone from noticing the fae cuckoo in their midst. 

“Morgan! Morgan, over here! Over here. Professor Sommerset, this is my dear friend Morgan, who I was telling you about. Morgan, this is Professor Sommerset, Chair of the English History department.”

“Charmed. Percy here was telling me that you’ve been helping him with his occult studies. I’m very impressed at the progress he’s made in this past year.”

[The party slowly fades away, and is replaced with more sinister ambience]

Robert
Morgan takes a moment to glance up and down this man. “So, I’m a bit confused. I thought this was supposed to be some sort of secret society, promoting… I don’t know, magical knowledge, or something like that.” 

“Well now. Aren’t you the eager one? You’re right, of course. This is nothing more than a place for the sons of the powerful to meet and make connections, despite its occult trappings. Political power is a magic of its own sort, but not the one you were expecting.” Professor Sommerset smiles a wide, gleaming, wolfish smile. “This is just one of the masks. But if half of what Percy is telling me is true, you’ll see the true face of power in no time at all... Morgan, wasn’t it?”

Kim
Alright. So, that bumps up your roll to a full success. Mr. Lloyd, the Entity has poked through from the Fragrant Void into this realm, and is now holding young Periwinkle aloft in the air. How do you drive this eldritch entity back?

[Eldritch tones mix with fae ambience]

Robert
Morgan has been a bit more free with his magic recently, but hasn’t fully called on his dream magic while he's been in the real world. However, if there was ever a moment to do so, this really does feel like it. So he summons some of that ancient power, that power that was imbued into him. The power that was lost to him for a while, but seems to be finding its way back. And in doing so, a shadow appears in his hand – the shape of a broadsword, but made of wisps of smoke and dream. 

Morgan grabs Peri by the ankle and pulls him towards him, and in the same movement sweeps the blade behind, cutting the fake wings off of the ersatz Cupid. Hopefully, in that moment, using his own magic to break the connection between Peri and the Fragrant Void.

[The eldritch tones fade away]

Kim
Indeed, you can sense this eldritch presence retreating back to where it came from, and Periwinkle lies sleeping, cradled in your arms. Even in sleep, a beauty.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Right. Well, you’ve had quite the day, haven’t you? Think it’s probably best if I just leave well enough alone and leave you here. But, um…

Robert
Morgan looks carefully from side to side.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Just gonna take this with me.

Robert
And he grabs the unusual photo of Peri that had something coming through the door, and shifting perspective.

Kim
And you leave to go back to Hargrave House. Hunters, travel with me briefly…

[The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy plays]

Kim
…to a dimly lit, very cold room. We see the Sculptor, sharpening a pair of ice picks. Preparing his work. Preparing to sculpt. And strapped to a chair in this dimly lit room is the unconscious body of the young Sacha Delov.

[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 our favorite colony of feral cats, our Kitten Marlowe patrons, in supporting artist-driven storytelling. Thanks for listening.