Shadows in the Smoke S1E39 - "I've Seen Weirder Things"

Shadows in the Smoke S1E39 – “I’ve Seen Weirder Things”

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]

[Magical ambience]

Kim
Miss Douglas. You are standing on the banks of the raging river Thames, having just contacted a spirit. But right now all you can focus on are the several large, black, wriggling rats that you are coughing onto the muddy banks of the Thames.

T.
[Noise of discontentment]

Kim
Please take the Condition: Nest.

[Everyone exclaims in horror]

T.
Hey Kim, fuck you.

Cassandra
That’s gross!

Natalia
I don’t want to be a nest!

Cassandra
Oh my god, I hate this so much.

Kim
This is part of a series of unique reactions I can take for as long as the Coven is active in London. This is called Hexcraft. And they can strike whenever I choose, regardless of the Threat that you’re investigating. Proceed with caution.

Natalia
That feels kinda bonkers.

T.
I don’t like this at all.

Cassandra
This feels pointed.

Kim
I assure you, hunters. It can get much worse than a couple of rats.

Natalia
Oh, god.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, you see all of this.

[The rainy banks of the river Thames]

Robert
He grabs Maesie bodily. And even though Rabbit is probably about the same size as her, physically, there’s some sort of strength in him that was not there before as he pulls her to the shore and starts rushing her back to Hargrave House as fast as possible.

Natalia
Am I still throwing up rats? How long am I doing that for?

Kim
I’d say you throw up about a half a dozen rats, and then you can stop.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
[Gasps] Does it happen every time?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
No. No, that was not you. That was not the magic. That was a very bad man, doing a very bad  thing. I need to get you back to Hargrave House. This is bad.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Okay. It was honestly quite fascinating before that, and then… And then there were rats.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Yes, no. The rats are not part of this.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
That’s good to know… Good to know. Um, can we go home?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Yes. At the very least, I need to have a conversation with our compatriots.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Have you spoken to a ghost before?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
No. Like I said, not—

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
So that was also your first time seeing a ghost, and you were just fine about it?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
I’ve seen weirder things.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Honestly, that’s fair. I do expect that from you.

[Muffled rain]

Robert
Bursting through the front door of Hargrave House, Rabbit passes Maesie off to Merricat.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
She seems fine now, but she might still have some lingering effects. I’ve got to do something really quickly.

Robert
And he runs over to where the newspapers from this morning are, pulls out his dagger, slices his hand open. A drop of blood falls on the paper, which has a small side note in the gossip column about one of the recent seances that has been held.

Kim
There is a small paragraph within this lengthy gossip column that reads as follows…

[Prim and proper classical music]

Kim
[ala Lady Whistledown] Mr. Baines at 6 Boscobel Place was most delighted to entertain a group of mysterious occultist gentlemen, going by the Royal Society for Esoteric Research. Rumor has it that what began as a simple, ordinary séance, descended into delicious debauchery.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Alright. Hiding behind names again. Okay. Merricat, see to it that Miss Doulgas is taken care of. I’m going to leave a note for either Ena or Hutchinson, if they get back before I do. Um… This is… This is not good. I have very important things to do.

Robert
And Rabbit scrawls a very hasty note and runs out the door.

Kim
Mr. Hutchinson and Miss Thanero, you were not at home when Mr. Lloyd and Miss Douglas arrived. Where are the two of you, either separately or together?

T.
Rebekka Salomon’s synagogue.

[A gentle fire]

Cassandra
I am there as well.

Kim
I love that! You arrive within the synagogue of Rebekka Saloman. She looks a little more at peace than the last time that you saw her, the business at the Royal Ballet having concluded.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Howdy, Becky.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
Hello, sir.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
May I present Miss Ena Thanero?

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
[Chuckles] We’ve met, sir.

Kim
And she holds out her hand.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
It’s good to see you again, Miss Thanero.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Lovely to see you as well.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
Our time at Hargrave House did overlap slightly.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Well, then I shant stand on ceremony.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
What is it I can do for you?

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Your namesake was a king of wisdom, yeah?

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
Yes.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Well, I find myself in the company of a very wise lady. And her wisdom would denote that failure to save a life doesn’t mean we’re responsible for it. But Becky, there are deaths that I have been responsible for, and deaths I must be responsible for again, should it come to that.

I weren’t one of your flock, even in my youth. My folks brought me up to be Christian. But something within me still feels like I gotta make amends with your old man before I jump ship.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
Let’s talk, shall we?

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Whatever you think is right. I’m out of my wheelhouse, here.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
Will Miss Thanero be joining us, or is this more of a private conversation?

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Whatever passes between you and I is her purview as well. I don’t keep any secrets between us.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
I see. Tea for three, then. I’ll fetch some cups.

T.
I turn to Ena.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
You don’t have to do anything, I don’t think. It just… It didn’t sit right with me, completely dedicating myself to you without washing away the sins of the past. And, I wasn’t’ about to go back to Kilburn Abbey, for several reasons.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I am forever a student, so I like to watch. And learn.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
I don’t think things will be quite similar to the tete-a-tete that we had with your family, but Rebekka’s something of a sister to me.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well, it doesn’t have to be anything like that for me to garner useful information.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Well, as long as I’ve got your blessing.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Do what you need to do.

Kim
Rebekka returns with a teapot and three cups, and bids you to sit on her pair of nice chairs. For herself, she pulls up just a stool and sits.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
Tell me what’s on your mind.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
After my wife passed away, I traipsed all up and down every manner of river, looking for… Well to be quite honest, looking for a way to bring her back. And when it became clear to me that was not an option, I became listless, aimless. I just started falling in with whoever would hire me. I was a hired gun for parties heading out west. Never made it all the way to California. Spent one demonic winter in the Sierras, and that was enough to turn me around. But I left bodies everywhere I went.

Wasn’t until I came back to Kansas that John Brown put a broadsword in my hand and gave me something to fight for, but unfortunately abolitionism didn’t’ pay the bills. And while I would gladly cut down as many jayhawks as I did, I had to take other work to make ends meet.

T.
I produce the pistol.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
After some difficulty regarding one of his patents, Mr. Samuel Colt made me one of his gunmen. And I did him such service, as he rewarded me with his top of the line, custom-like.

I killed a lot of people with this firearm. And I was hoping I’d never have to use it again, but there’s a man what hunts me. If I gotta use it, I wanna know I’m doing it in good faith. I don’t wanna hurt any innocent people no more.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
It sounds as though yours was a very checkered past before arriving in HH.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
You don’t acquire the skills that I have, walking the straight and narrow.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
All of us hunters, even the best among us, do live in demimonde – that shadowed place.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
I got one foot in one world, and one in another. By nature of the work that we do here, innocents get caught up in the line of fire. There’s some men in particular that have met their maker due to negligence on my part. Try as I might, I can’t rid myself of that guilt. One of them was murdered by a heathen cannibal with a knife too big for his britches. Another were just an innocent bystander, a fan, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
I can see that this weighs on you.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
It does.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
Well, confession is the first step of atonement.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
I’m responsible for the deaths of James Whistler, and Simon Piedmont. Jenny Johnston, Vera Hale, Richard Harlow. A young monk at Kilburn Abbey by the name of Elijah. And others, whose names I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
John, I sense in you a desire to throw yourself on the pyre for your action or inaction. To be punished for what it is you have done.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
I suppose you’re right.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
I’d remind you Proverbs 21:3 – doing charity and justice is more desirable to the Lord than sacrifice.

T.
He folds his arms, looks over at Ena.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
And if it’s not the Lord I’m concerned with, but my fellow man?

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
Be that as it may, I’d task you with performing acts of service. Charity, to your community. I think you might find it helpful.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
What, you want me to go to a fucking soup kitchen?

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
I’m not going to tell you what to do, John.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Well, I’ll find a way to serve. Seem to have a knack for it.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
Miss Thanero, anything you’d like to repent for?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
No, I don’t believe so. And if I did, I’d take it up with myself.

Kim
Miss Douglas, I think Merricat has seen to you. But what about the rest of your day?

Natalia
While it feels like the not-instinctual move, I’m gonna go have a snack. And I’m gonna go down to the Larder.

T.
Can’t you leave well enough alone?

Natalia
No.

Kim
[Laughs]

Natalia
I physically cannot. I don’t want a nest in me!

Kim
Okay, Miss Douglas. Down into the Larder. What are we eating today?

[A cold, abandoned place]

Natalia
After Merricat has left her alone, she did take a brief moment to just take a nap and sort of recoup in her room, and thinks about what she could possibly do to help the chaos that is slowly encapsulating Hargrave House. And since no one is here to talk to, the only person she really thinks will know anything and will be helpful is Moc’h. So she marches down to the Larder, and just goes…

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Moc’h, I’ve had a bad day. I threw up rats earlier. Don’t know what that was about. But the one I thing I know I can deal with is the Figgs. If we can maybe deal with the Figgs, then maybe we won’t have to worry about them anymore, and we can just focus on other things. So… here we go.

Natalia
Reaches into her fish tank and pulls out a live fish, same as before. And just bites into that.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Ate a fish. Oh, god. I hate eating right now. Moc’h?

Kim
Alright, Miss Douglas, please roll the move for the Larder. I’m gonna put this at disadvantage, because you’re still tasting a little bit of rat.

Natalia
I’m gonna use my book with pressed flowers that I got from the Figgs’ house as a sort of starting point of investigation into them.

Kim
Alright, so this is a flat roll with Sensitivity.

Natalia
[Rolls dice] That is going to be 8 + 3… 11.

Kim
Alright, so on a hit, you may clear a Condition.

Natalia
I will absolutely be clearing Nest. I don’t want that in me, thank you. Get it out.

Kim
That’s fair. Maybe some fish helped, you know, settle all of that down. And then you get a Clue for a current Threat. I assume Figgs’ Piggs?

Natalia
Yes, please.

Kim
Great. We will do that scene and get that Clue shortly. Mr. Lloyd, you certainly set off from Hargrave House in a hurry. Where are you going?

[Magical ambience]

Robert
Rabbit is in a hurry to get to the Boscobel Place address that was in the newspaper. He’s very aware that he does not want to show his face, so I am going to use one of our custom moves to cast a glamour over Rabbit.

Kim
I love this. So you’re invoking Draw The Veil?

Robert
I am indeed.

Kim
Alright. Let’s read it, since it’s been a minute since we’ve talked about it. When you invoke the powers of the fae realm to obscure the true nature of a person, object, or situation, roll with Presence.

Robert
[Rolls dice] That is a 9 on the dice, +2 for my Presence, is an 11.

Kim
So on a 10+, your deception goes unnoticed. Roll with advantage when acting to maintain it. So Mr. Lloyd, what do you look like?

Robert
A police officer. A copper, if you will, comes knocking on the door of the Boscobel address.

Kim
The door is answered by a young housemaid.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
[Disguised, in a gruff voice] ‘Ello, there. Hoping I could talk to the man of the house at the moment.

Housemaid (Kim)
Oh, Mr. Baines?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Yes. Is he in?

Housemaid (Kim)
He is, sir. Who might I ask is calling?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Constable Samuels. Following up on a report from the other night.

Housemaid (Kim)
Please, step into the parlor.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Thank you, ma’am.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd – or, the disguised Mr. Lloyd – you enter into No. 6 Boscobel Place. This whole house is done in quite rich jewel tones. Theres’ a veritable jungle’s worth of plants in this parlor, and nay, in the entire house. As Mr. Baines descends the staircase, I have a Paint the Scene for you all. Mr. Baines’ taste in décor is decidedly homoerotic. How do you know this?

Cassandra
On a table in his sitting room, we see a beautiful bronzed statue that, with a passing glance, might just look like two figures dancing. But if you were to look closer, you would see that there are two men in a position from the kama sutra.

T.
The wallpaper at first glance appears to be abstract patterns and paisleys. But upon closer inspection, is men entwined with one another in various positions.

Robert
There are a lot of classical Greek-inspired pieces of sculpture and painting around here. However in true classical pieces of art, the genitals would be de-emphasized? Quite the opposite is true in his.

Natalia
The wooden supports of the banister that crawls up the staircase is just phalluses.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, Reginald Baines descends this very intriguing staircase. This is an older man, he walks with a cane. But he is very fastidiously dressed.

Mr. Baines (Kim)
Hello. Constable Samuels, is it?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Yes sir. Sorry to bother you at this time of day, but we’ve had a report about a series of break-ins, and there seems to be some alignment with houses where the Royal Society for… Esoteric Research has staged their seances and whatnot. I was just hoping to get a quick description of the goings on at your house the other evening.

Mr. Baines (Kim)
Oh. Well I assure you, no crime was committed here.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Well like I said, so far there seems to be a loose connection. We’re just following up on a lead.

Mr. Baines (Kim)
I see. And this will be going in an official report, will it?

Kim
He looks a little cagey.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Oh, no. not at the moment, not at the moment. We’re not interested in anything you or your guests might have done, but if these gentlemen are indeed as they seem to be some sort of group of charlatans, we are looking into them. Yes, yes.

Mr. Baines (Kim)
I see. Forgive an old man for asking. It’s just that, well, we had quit the fete with the Royal Society. And many inhibitions were loosed. And I would hate for the wrong sort of ears to hear that sort of business.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
No, of course, governor. I completely understand. You can trust the discretion of Scotland Yard on this case.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, go ahead and make the Information Move with Presence. With advantage, because you are relying upon your very excellent fae glamour.

Robert
[Rolls dice] All I’m saying is thank god for that advantage. Because I rolled a 4 and two 1s. Which is a 5 on the dice, or a 7 in total.

[A gentle fire]

Kim
Let’s check back in on Mr. Hutchinson and Miss Thanero. Mr. Hutchinson, you have been issued a task.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Just like you religious types to leave something open to interpretation.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
[Chuckles]

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
If I could count on my own wisdom, I wouldn’t have come here. But I appreciate it, Rebekka. I won’t darken your doorstep anymore.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
I assure you, John. My day is only improved by your presence. And sometimes we just need to talk to someone to confirm what it is we already know in our heads. It helps to have an outside voice, issuing you to do the right thing.

T.
Another furtive glance at Miss Thanero.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
I appreciate it. And I can say the same for you, you know. It’s always a boon to see you. To that end, we’re having something of a soiree at Hargrave house. I would be delighted if you would attend as my guest.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
I think I would enjoy that very much.

T.
Consider Rebekka Salomon my official invite to the Hargrave holiday party.

Kim
Fantastic.

T.
I stand and tip my hat to her.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Alright. Well, I’ll go find someone needy, I suppose. Shouldn’t be too hard, in this city.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
I look forward to hearing how it goes for you.

T.
I extend my arm.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Miss Thanero?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
You go on ahead. I’ll be just a moment.

T.
Tip my hat to her. Head out, kiss the mezuzah on my way, and stand in the threshold – which is a little lighter, these days.

Kim
Miss Thanero?

Cassandra
Ena reaches into her bag and pulls out several bank notes, and walks up to Rebekka and gently places them in her hand.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
He still needs to do his own work, but a donation to your cause in his name, from me to you.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
Thank you, Miss Thanero.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Before I go, could I borrow a pen and some paper?

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
Why yes, of course.

Kim
She fetches it for you.

Cassandra
Ena quickly writes something on this note, folds it up, and hands Rebekka back the pen.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I look forward to seeing you at our little holiday fete. Don’t forget to dress festive.

Kim
She gestures to her slate grey suit.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
Is this not festive enough? Should I… Maybe a vest of a different color? Perhaps a charcoal instead of a light grey?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Wear whatever makes you feel your happiest. I do so love grey, though. It is quite classic.

Rebekka Salomon (Kim)
Well if you approve, that’s all the confirmation I need.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I do indeed.

Cassandra
And she also tips her hat to Rebekka, and crosses over and links arms with Augustus.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
You don’t happen to know where a fellow might find some people in need of assistance?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
It’s London. Everyone’s in need of assistance.

Kim
Alright. So it looks as though Mr. Hutchinson is going to do some acts of charity. Miss Thanero, are you accompanying him? Or are you pursuing your own purposes?

Cassandra
I think I will accompany Augustus, but I’m going to hang back and let him do his work, so that I can do what I nee to do.

T.
I realize I know where people are probably in dire need of assistance. Let’s head to Bedlam.

Kim
Miss Douglas.

[The roars of an ancient beast]

Kim
Your second time calling upon the pagan swine god who partially lives in your larder. The rough stone walls of the larder shake and crack and burst open, as an enormous boar head rams through the side of the larder and appears before you.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Hello, Moc’h? What happened to the big meat pile that you came out of last time?

Moc’h (Kim)
I manifest how I choose, child.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Delightful. This was a bit aggressive, but alright. Hello.

Moc’h (Kim)
You called, piglet?

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
I did. Um… I just want help with someone who I believe worships you. His name is Obert Figg. I have his mother’s journal. And I was wondering if there’s any information you could provide that would help us capture him?

Moc’h (Kim)
Tell me, child. Why is it would I help you take down one of my worshippers? The young Figg has done much to serve me. Has sacrificed much to serve me. More than you have sacrificed.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
It’s true that he has given much to you. But it seems to me that the greatest gift to you would be his life, would it not?

Moc’h (Kim)
I do enjoy a strong sacrifice. [Chuckles] Yes, little piglet. The blood of Obert Figg would sate me. Just as much as seeing him alive.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Well, if you help me, I promise to do all I can to bring him to you.

Kim
Moc’h smiles this horrible, toothy, porcine smile.

Moc’h (Kim)
Answer the door, little piglet.

Kim
And then you hear a loud knock at the door of Hargrave House.

Natalia
Maesie turns with the knock, and turns back to address Moc’h again, and he’s just gone.

Kim
Yeah. The knock comes again – louder, this time.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Okay. I’m going. Thank you, Moc’h. Bye.

[Muffled rain]

Natalia
She goes to open the door.

Kim
Standing on the front porch of Hargrave House are four hooded figures.

Natalia
Oh god, no!

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Good afternoon. Can I help you?

Kim
These individuals say nothing. But you do notice the clasp at their throats is in the shape of a gilded pig.

Natalia
[Anxious] I don’t want to invite them in…

Kim
One steps forward.

Cultist (Kim)
A gift for our young worshipper.

Natalia
Maesie just holds out her hands.

Kim
Placed in your hand is a small box. Opening it, you find a series of torn opera tickets.

Cultist (Kim)
Happy hunting, little piglet.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Thank you. Please do not come back here.

Natalia
Close the door. [Laughs]

Kim
That is a Clue for Figgs’ Piggs. That brings you up to six Figgs Piggs Clues.

Natalia
I would like to answer, “What did La Hortencia Figg that she is trying to recapture or remember?”

T.
Woah, bold.

Robert
Let’s go!

Cassandra
Nice!

Kim
Alright. So you may choose to answer a question whenever you would like. I only prompt for it in the Dusk – and honestly, I enjoy it in the Dusk, because it is inherently an out of character activity, and the Dusk is an out of character session. But rules as written, nothing stops you from answering a question during the day. Especially when the Figgs are on the table, and we have so many individual dangers that we must contend with.

So let’s get into it, hunters. The Clues we have gathered for Figgs Piggs are: a small book of pressed flowers, written on the inside cover is the phrase, “For my little sweet one.” A carefully bundle of long blonde hair. A collection of torn opera tickets. A collection of skeletal hands, each one smaller than the next. A report that a bunch of chickens were brutally killed, with human footprints leading to and from the scene. And a collection of severed left hands.

So the question for La Hortencia Figg is, “What did La Hortencia Figg lose that she is trying to recapture or remember?” It is a Complexity 2.

Natalia
So I believe that she is trying to remember the third Figg child that was lost when they were trapped in that cave, that died.

Kim
[Gasps]

Natalia
Given the carefully bundled long blond hair, belonging to said child. The small book of flowers “for my little sweet one” – the little sweet one being the third child. And then the multiple skeletal hands decreasing in size, representing each of the Figgs that was trapped in the cave.

T.
Girl, that’s devastating. I love it.

Cassandra
That hurts me.

Kim
I love the hell out of that. Miss Douglas, you’ll be rolling this at a +1. Would anyone else like to throw dice on the table for this, or is this a Natalia special?

T.
I feel like I’m invested in this Threat. I’ll be the other one.

Natalia
Alright

T.
[Rolls dice]

Cassandra
Oh no…

T.
3.

Natalia
1.

T.
That’s 5.

Natalia
God damn it!

Kim
Okay! So that answer is incorrect.

T.
It was a good one though, Nat.

Cassandra
It was a really good answer.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd. Reginald Baines bids you to sit, and a neatly dressed servant brings out some tea and some small sandwiches.

Mr. Baines (Kim)
Well. The Royal Society for Esoteric Research, yes. That was one of my more memorable affairs, I think. WE do tend to get a little naughty at these get togethers, if you know what I mean.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
None of my business, I’m sure.

Mr. Baines (Kim)
Oh yes indeed, everyone was very surprised when the masks and hooded robes were presented, and then positively game upon learning we were to wear nothing else! But before we got down to business, the chaps at the Royal Society were most agreeable company. They spent a lot of time in my library.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Have you noticed anything missing from your library?

Mr. Baines (Kim)
Oh, no. They were very intent to put everything back where it came from. But they had pulled out all of my books about old railway stations, if you can believe it.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Interesting. Interesting, yes. I’ll make a note of that.

Mr. Baines (Kim)
Oh yes, please do.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Um, let’s see… None of your guests complained about anything missing, nothing of that sort?

Mr. Baines (Kim)
I assure you, Constable. Nothing happened that night that was not welcomed.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
And you said masks. Were the society wearing masks as well?

Mr. Baines (Kim)
Oh, yes. Great horned masks.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Very interesting. Other than that, though, nothing distinguishing about the men that you can remember?

Mr. Baines (Kim)
Well, they were all very handsome gentlemen.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Well, like I said, this is still an ongoing investigation. The police appreciate your cooperation. I would recommend keeping an eye on your windows and doors, perhaps getting your locks changed. From my understanding, while they may talk like gentlemen, they are nothing but common thieves.

Mr. Baines (Kim)
Oh. I hate to think I entertained such rakes. They presented themselves as gentlemen.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Yes, well. Take it from someone in this line of work: the best rakes usually do present themselves with a false face.

Mr. Baines (Kim)
[Chuckles] Too true. Well, I hope that I was of some assistance, Constable.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Oh I’m sure you were, I’m sure you were. I’ll get this on to my Inspector, and we’ll let you know if anything further develops.

Mr. Baines (Kim)
Mary, if you could see the Constable out? Have a good afternoon, sir.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Thank you, governor. You too.

[Dark, sinister cellos]

Kim
Elsewhere in London, the coiffed gentlemen of the Royal Society for Esoteric Research has knocked upon yet another well to do house. As they form a circle and don their masks, these men begin chanting. And Mr. Lloyd, as you leave No. 6 Boscobel Place, you feel your body wracked with pain. And something knitting itself, tattooing itself into your skin. You have been marked. What is this mark, and where is it on your body?

Robert
Amidst all of the blue tattoos that were once of dreams and nightmares scrawled over Rabbit’s body, a new one appears. Not in blue like the others, nor in red like the demonic symbol that he once bore. But rather, in black. And it is a figure tied to a tree, with a spear piercing their sternum. And it is that spot where the spear pierces, that this tattoo appears on Rabbit’s chest.

Kim
Please take the Condition: Marked for Sacrifice.

Mr. Hutchinson and Miss Thanero. You arrive in Bethlehem Royal Hospital. I imagine a location that Miss Thanero has visited in her charitable acts.

[Unsettling, scraping ambience]

Cassandra
For sure.

Kim
We see nurses and doctors dashing to and fro. Distantly, you hear wailing and chattering coming from deep within this building. Parts of it are surprisingly clean. Other parts, not so much. I have a Paint the Scene for you all. In your estimation, are the patients here treated well or treated poorly? Why do you think this?

T.
To me, the patients are all treated poorly. This is evidenced by the constellation of track marks on their arms. They’re kept frequently sedated.

Robert
I also think the patients are treated poorly. And this is noted by the contrast between the public facing areas and the offices of the administrators, which are all spotlessly clean. And then the cells where the patients are kept, which are filthy.

Cassandra
To piggyback on this idea of these dirty rooms, I think women in particular are treated even worse than the male patients we would see in this hospital. And that is evidenced by the women being kept in rooms with no windows.

Natalia
And despite all of the ways in which this place is failing its patients, there are still a few nurses who try their best to play with the children, bring fresh food, and try and brighten up the rooms of the patients by providing flowers or small trinkets that they can keep.

Kim
Mr. Hutchinson, I would just like you to tell me what it is you are doing here?

[Serene ambience fades in]

T.
Although not vulnerably, I think I’m comforting the dying. I’m just spending time with people who have been deemed beyond care – beyond the capabilities of the physicians here, who are slipping away. Listening to whatever it is they want to tell me.

Kim
I think several hours pass, as you do this work. How do you feel, by the end of it?

T.
Part of something. Feel like I’m surrounded by my fellow human beings, all of whom have their own stories, and are all too happy to share them when they have a willing audience. And all of the horrors and the terrible things that have happened to them, which tend to be the first stories shared? None of them are my responsibility. They’re just what happens. Sometimes people just break.

Kim
Mr. Hutchinson, you may unmark The Darkened Threshold, due to this act of atonement issued to you by Rabbi Rebekka Salomon.

Miss Thanero, while Mr. Hutchinson is doing this for several long hours, what are you doing?

Cassandra
Ena stood and watched this for a time, being very familiar and comfortable with this activity, and wanting to see what his approach to this would be. So she watched for the first few hours, and then at some point quietly excused herself and slipped outside to get some fresh air, and to enjoy the smell of the rain in the air.

[Rain falls]

Cassandra
She’s standing under an umbrella outside. There’s not a lot of people around. And she slips out a single gloved hand from under the umbrella, holding this piece of paper with this note that she wrote in Rebekka Salomon’s office. And we see a large brown barn owl comes and clutches this piece of paper in its claws from her hand, and flies off to its destination in Limehouse. She hears a gentle gust of wind, and turns around to find Detective Inspector Pettigrew standing in the doorway.

Kim
Who seems very happy to be enjoying all of this cloudy weather, might I add.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well don’t you look happy as a pig in shit?

Pettigrew (Kim)
The weather is most agreeable, mistress, for ones of my kind.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Yes, I would expect you enjoy being out in the daylight hours, rather than your nocturnal exploits.

Pettigrew (Kim)
It doesn’t kill us, as the myths go, but it is rather unpleasant.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well there are worse things that can kill you.

Pettigrew (Kim)
I know, mistress. How might I be of assistance?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I will keep this brief. One of mine is being pursued. There is a gentlemen stalking these streets named Winslow Taggard. I would like you to be his shadow, and bring me back anything useful to help in removing him from this country.

Cassandra
From her pocket, she pulls out this ring of Solomon, and hands it to him.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
You will be discrete, you are not to be detected. But you need tow ork at the utmost haste. So anything else you might be doing? Put it aside, and focus solely on this.

Pettigrew (Kim)
It will be done, mistress. I shall have word with you shortly.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I will await your word. Now get out of my sight. I’m already tired of looking at you.

Kim
There is another gust of wind, and Detective Inspector Pettigrew is gone.

Miss Douglas, after receiving a most unusual gift from the Cult of the Pig, where are you?

[The rain continues to fall]

Natalia
Maesie’s taken this box back up to her room. She doesn’t really know what to do with it yet, and no one is home. So she climbs out her window and sits in the rain on the roof, just watches the river run by.

Kim
Maesie, crouched on the top of the roof is a small figure. A young man, barely out his teens.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Um… hello?

Kim
He jerks his head at you, and then starts scrabbling on all fours towards you.

Natalia
Ah!

Kim
Knocking you back into your room from the window.

Natalia
Oh god, no!

Kim
And standing in your room is a very tall woman. Easily six and a half feet. She is wearing a neat apron. She smells distinctly of blood and sugar. And she is missing an arm.

La Hortencia Figg (Kim)
Hello, pet. You know the most difficult part of preparing the meat is the ribcage? Even if I had two hands, cracking open the ribs would be a devil. I usually have to ask Obert or Patrick for help, but that’s what’s lovely about running a family business, innit? Everyone pitches in. Now pet, why don’t you go ahead and crawl into the sack, so I don’t have to call my boys for help?

Natalia
Absolutely not.

Obert Figg (Kim)
Well, it doesn’t have to be her, mother. This one will do.

Kim
You hear the slice of a blade as Obert Figg pulls young Merricat Ovelia into the room, and holds a knife to her throat.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Obert, I presume?

Obert Figg (Kim)
Hello, pig.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Put the knife down.

Kim
La Hortencia raises her hand.

La Hortencia Figg (Kim)
Now, now. No need for violence. Come on, Miss Douglas, into the sack. I’d hate to spill all this blood all over your pretty floor.

Natalia
I take the copy of the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen and throw it like I’m trying to hit Obert in the head, but really I’m just trying to throw it out the door, into the hallway. And having missed, “admit defeat,” I suppose, and get in the sack.

Kim
This bag is tightened around you, and then you feel a very hard, blunt pain as Obert Figg kicks the sack, rendering you unconscious. And for that measure, also knocks out Merricat Ovelia.

We’ll see you in the Night Phase, Natalia.

Natalia
Someone help. Please god, someone help.

Cassandra
Dismissed. [Chuckles]

[Muffled rain]

Kim
Miss Thanero, arriving into Hargrave House conveniently a few hours after the Figgs have left. There is a note on the receiving tray for you, in Mr. Lloyd’s handwriting.

Cassandra
Ena picks up the note, recognizes Rabbit’s handwriting and opens it. Before reading it, she notices there is a ripped piece of the morning newspaper stuck inside of it, and pulls that out as well.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
“Dangerous men in London. Wields stolen magic. Led by Sommerset. Don’t trust the authorities. They are hunting me.”

Cassandra
Ena immediately looks around the room and is assessing the space for threats, and is also looking for Maesie, because they were last together. But doesn’t see anybody.

[Rain falls]

Kim
Mr. Hutchinson, as you are finishing up your work at Bethlehem Royal Hospital and leaving, a particular voice catches your ear. An usual one. It’s been a while since you’ve heard another American.

Winslow Taggard (Kim)
Well I would say that this is the perfect place for you, Mr. Hutchinson. Surely only a mad man would stay here, instead of tending to their daughter or their dying mother?

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
You would know something about madmen. Heard tale you cinderdicks were the reason Antietam was as bloody as it was. Only a madman would withhold information that could have saved his countryman’s skin.

Winslow Taggard (Kim)
Now now, Mr. Hutchinson, my past is none of your concern.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Nor is mine yours.

Winslow Taggard (Kim)
I disagree, sir. I am being paid handsomely by your family to bring you back.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Well, at least there is something handsome about you. I was beginning to wonder.

Kim
Indeed, yes. This man is squat and stout, with a mean square-jawed face. Wearing a charcoal three piece suit, and a red bowtie. He smiles a mean little smile at you, and opens coat slightly to an 1848 Baby Dragoon revolver.

T.
I brush aside my coat to reveal my 1851 Samuel Colt revolver.

Winslow Taggard (Kim)
Now mind you, your mother and dying father did not say you had to be brought back in one piece.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
No one told me you had to be brought back at all. Now come on, Taggard. Ain’t playing fetch below your pay grade? I know there’s something else that you’re angling at, here. I’m gonna figure it out.

Winslow Taggard (Kim)
London does have its own amusements… You’ve encountered a few, haven’t you? These hunters you’ve taken in with at Hargrave House. A Mr. Lloyd, Miss Douglas, a Miss Thanero – yes, you are quite fond of her.

T.
The jovial, “we’re playing, isn’t this fun?” countenance he has on drops at Ena’s name.

Winslow Taggard (Kim)
Why yes, it would be a shame if anything happened to your friends and lovers, when this could all be handled so peacefully, wouldn’t you say?

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
And here I thought my parents had paid you handsomely, but your mouth is writing a check your ass can’t cash.

T.
And I draw on him, click back the hammer.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
I’m gonna give you till the count of 10 to get off this fucking island. If you wanna save your skin? I suggest you take my advice and leave. Or it’s gonna be rooster today, feather duster tomorrow.

Winslow Taggard (Kim)
Well, it was very nice speaking with you, Mr. Hutchinson. I do look forward to our next meeting. Or maybe I’ll take to that young Miss Douglas…

T.
I shoot him.

Kim
[Overcome with laughter]

T.
Absolutely not.

Kim
[Comes down from laughter] Make the Night Move.

T.
Okay. Fuck this guy, he’s threatening my family.

Kim
What are you afraid will happen if you fail, here?

T.
I’m afraid that he’s not acting alone, and even if I take him out, I get gunned down.

Kim
Oh Mr. Hutchinson, it’s worse than that. This man doesn’t want to kill you. Winslow Taggard will shoot the gun out of your hand – wounding you, of course, but that hardly matters. And then clad you in chains and take you back to America.

T.
Over my dead body.

Kim
We’ll see about that. This is a Night Move with Vitality. I will put this at disadvantage because you are Most Beloved. Youa re indeed a very pretty prize for Winslow Taggard.

T.
I’m going to use the 1851 Colt revolver in my hands to make that a neutral roll.

Kim
Sure.

T.
[Rolls dice] 3 and 2 is 5, +3 is 8.

Kim
Okay Mr. Hutchinson. So Winslow Taggard is a Threat. I can’t let you shoot him. But tell me what is happening, here.

T.
Well as the fastest gun in the west…

Kim
Indeed.

T.
Even if I were to shoot this man, then I’d have the law coming down on me. That would not be a good time. So while I make it look like I’m going to shoot him, I actually angle the barrel ever so slightly and shoot a gas lamp directly above him, which ignites from the spark of the metal on metal. And as the glass rains down around him, I make my escape.

Kim
How are you feeling in this moment?

T.
I mean I’m playing cowboy. I’m felling like a little kid. I’m on the run from my parents, pretending I’m a cowboy.

Kim
Take the Condition: Runaway.

T.
Full house…

Kim
But flee you do, back to Hargrave House. Coming home to a mostly empty house, a knocked out Merricat Ovelia, and a missing Maesie Douglas.

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