Shadows in the Smoke S1E49 - "You Will Not Win This"

Shadows in the Smoke S1E49 – “You Will Not Win This”

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
Welcome back to the Dusk Phase.

[Quiet, contemplative piano]

Cassandra
I’m so scared.

Kim
Me too.

[Beat]

Uh…

[Everyone laughs, snorts]

T.
When you make the Keeper make that noise, that actually kind of feels amazing.

Cassandra
Wow. Any of Kim’s best laid plans, I think, are gone.

Kim
We’ve got T. here, even though technically they retired their character. Hello, T.

T.
Good evening, everyone. Good evening.

Kim
However, I think, especially for the drama of it all, I will let you play out this last Night Phase before Mr. Hutchinson is truly lost to The Cursed.

T.
Hooray.

Kim
But before we get there. Miss Douglas, are you doing Moonlight Upon the Waves tonight?

T.
[Laughs]

Natalia
Oh, I don’t know. Let me think about it… I don’t… I just sometimes, you know, I’m like, are we doing anything important?

No, I’m not doing Moonlight Upon the Waves.

Cassandra
I mean, when the Lady Thames shows up to help us, you can just swim in her.

Natalia
I mean, a little bit, yes. Just in my house.

Kim
Like one of those in-home surf machines?

Cassandra
Yeah, yeah.

Kim
Like on cruise ships?

Cassandra
Yeah. It’s like what the people use to train for the Olympics.

Kim
So now ordinarily, I invite you all to answer a question, should you wish. However, I have to make you answer the question for the Assault on Hargrave House. Like it or not, we are doing this tonight.

So your clues for the Assault on Hargrave House are… Miss Thanero found a good spot for an ambush or a trap. Mr. Hutchinson, prior to switching sides, established a good spot to put a lookout on the rooftop of Hargrave House. You've enlisted the help of the Lady Thames this night. Mistress Beaumont has given you an object of power: a mirror that causes the viewer to see their greatest fear. You have been made aware of a door that opens into an impossible room in Hargrave House. Greco is assisting in the defense of the house by being able to put a room or hallway into impenetrable darkness. And Hargrave House itself, the spirit of this house, has offered its help.

Your question is, how can we defend Hargrave House from Mrs. Brathwaite's servants? It is a Complexity 6. What is the game plan?

T.
I feel like I'm gonna bow out of this discussion.

Natalia
Yeah, no shit.

Robert
[Laughs]

Natalia
I'm really bummed that I didn't do Curse of the Deep. Cause I could have made all of those fixers afraid of bodies of water. And then we could have just had like the Lady Thames flood the bottom floor.

Kim
Well, there's no saying that you can't try to do that tonight.

Natalia
I do like the idea of Maisie working with her.

Cassandra
I like that too. We also know that there will be an onslaught of vampires.

Kim
Probably.

Cassandra
And so that's going to make external defense important. I mean, vampires can't come in unless they're invited. I mean, we could invite them in to the trap, Greco throws us into impenetrable darkness, and then we all just stab.

Kim
That's an interesting question… is, you don't quite know the makeup of your assailants yet. I think it's fair to assume that some of them will be vampire. Some of them might be mortal. But a lot of the defenses that you have going for the house are inside the house itself. So how does one deal with the vampires if they're outside?

Natalia
Well, the minute that any of their guys get into the house, they can invite the vampires in. Sorry, this is so hard. [Chuckles]

Cassandra
Well, is it anybody can invite someone in, or does it have to be like a resident or like ownership of the house in a sense, like to invite someone in? Just a logistical question.

Robert
Usually it's that someone who lives there has to invite them in, but the definition of live can be stretched somewhat. The whole inviting someone in, it's all about the taboo of breaking hospitality, right? That's the vampiric taboo, is that if someone offers you hospitality, you're not supposed to turn against them, and that's what vampires inherently do.

Kim
So you know who could invite the vampires in?

Cassandra
Yeah.

Robert
[Sighs]

Kim
Yeah.

Natalia
Isn't there a thing with vampires and running water?

Robert
There is. They don't like to cross running water.

Natalia
Because we can just have the Lady Thames running constantly outside the house.

Cassandra
A moat!

Robert
So Rabbit is not the most physically capable fighter. So I think my plan to defend Hargrave House is going to be mobile and tricksy. So I plan on using the ambush spot, the impenetrable darkness, and/or the lookout spot to defend the home should anything get inside.

Cassandra
Yeah. I think that lookout spot, if we consider the Lady Thames as a moat, constantly revolving the house… Then if Rabbit is in that lookout spot, you can play sniper, essentially, with your magic and pick people off as they're fighting for access across the water.

Robert
Or at least give us a warning when someone crosses.

Cassandra
For sure.

Natalia
Honestly, I would say put Maesie up there instead of Rabbit. Let Rabbit be inside the house and I'll be up there and I'll use my magic with water to…

Robert
Mmhmm.

Natalia
Work with the Lady Thames.

Robert
And with Ena as the most capable fighter of us, like on the ground…

Cassandra
Yeah.

Robert
Hitting them.

Cassandra
I'm perfectly fine being outside and trying to really deal with the vampire of it all.

Robert
Okay, so let's go over. We've got… The Lady Thames is going to be guarding the house from the outside using her water to stop vampires from crossing it, and rain to put out fire.

Cassandra
Love. Love that as well.

Robert
We have the house itself, the spot for the ambush or trap and the darkened corridor, and I would say the mirror that shows your greatest fears, those are our fallback plans for if anything does get inside.

Cassandra
Right.

T.
Can the house reorganize itself, Labyrinth-style, and funnel people in from the entrance to the impossible room, and have these along the way?

Kim
I see no reason why it couldn't.5:47 → 5:48

Robert
We've got the help of the house.

Cassandra
I think that's a great use for help of the house.

Kim
I love Blue Prince.

Robert
We have Maesie up top in the lookout spot.

Cassandra
And working with the water because that's closest access is by being outside.

Natalia
Yeah, until that becomes less useful than being in the house.

Cassandra
Truly.

Robert
I think our plan is to try and hold off from the outside as long as we can. And then once we can't, funnel them in and towards our traps.

Kim
Okay, that sounds like a pretty credible defense. This is made at a +1.

Robert
Who's feeling lucky?

T.
I'm happy to do it.

Cassandra
You're not in the house!

Natalia
Get your goddamn dice out of here!

Robert
I think the two people who are most likely to be living in Hargrave House next year should make the roll.

Casandra
I think that's fair. All right, Nat.

Natalia
Oh, God…

[They roll dice]

Natalia
I got a three.

Cassandra
I got a two.

T.
+1 is 6.

Robert
That is still a failure.

Kim
On a failure, the hunters will have to make a few tough Night Moves in order to survive, and some of their property is destroyed during the assault. Each hunter must erase an unmarked item from their Personal Quarters.

Well, I can think of one easy complication to this. Namely, the three of you don't know who has joined Theodora’s side.

[An ominous, rumbling woosh]

Kim
The final unscene of season one is called A Night at the Grand Guignol: The Baker's Son.

[The murmur of an audience]

Kim
Every class of people is represented in the audience at the theatre Grand Guignol. They have come to watch the newest production, The Baker’s Son. A story filled with romance, heartbreak, and bucketfuls of blood.

Paint the Scene. As the limelights pop to life and the crimson curtain is raised, what do we see as our eyes scan the stage that tells us this is the story of a humble baker's son?

[An eerie music box tune]

T.
Everything is covered in flour.

Robert
The centerpiece of the set design is a giant oven with a roaring fire inside.

Cassandra
The set itself is mostly a kitchen framing this giant oven, but in the corner we see a mattress on the floor leaking straw, and know that this poor baker's son does not have anywhere else to sleep.

Natalia
And finally, we see Daniel, the humble baker's son, get up off of his dilapidated mattress and get ready for his day. Putting on a stained threadbare apron, wiping the sleep from his eyes and, beginning to bake bread.

Kim
Night falls. Hunters, from your position within and atop Hargrave House, you see several individuals assemble on your front lawn. Members of Mr. Higgins’ gang, the Black Laces. Some people that Mr. Lloyd might have recognized walking the streets of Limehouse. And a sapphire blue carriage pulls up. Stepping out of the carriage is a very finely dressed child, the Dapper Boy, and Mr. Augustus Beaufort Hutchinson.

Mr. Hutchinson, Theodora Brathwaiteite regards you from her very sumptuous carriage, then looks to Teddy.

Theodora Brathwaite (Kim)
Be on your best behavior, child. Mr. Hutchinson will watch out for you. I look forward to hearing tale of your progress. Don't disappoint me.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Be a good boy, and listen to your mommy.

Kim
She looks at you, nods, and signals for the carriage to pull away.

T.
I sweep my hat in a low dramatic bow at her, put it back on my head. With my good hand, withdraw a satin steel rapier, point it at the house and say…

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
You all missed the last shindig, and it was a real barn burner. Please, won't you come in and see if we can outdo ourselves? And Teddy my boy, your best to do more than just pass on information tonight, will you?

Kim
He grins at you, and for the first time you see his long, sharp fangs.

The Dapper Boy (Kim)
Oh I’ll do more than that, sir. I promise you.

T.
I smile back at him, and all of mine are sharp as well.

Kim
Miss Douglas, atop the rooftops and parapets of Hargrave House, you see this. What is going through your head?

Natalia
Maesie abandons her post and runs down into the house.

Miss Douglas
Ena? Rabbit? Group meeting. So I've just seen Gus get out of Theodora’s carriage with that small boy that serves her, and they both have fangs. I mean, we already know Gus has fangs, but the boy also has fangs, so the boy's probably a vampire. And more concerning is that Gus was in the carriage.

Kim
You have enough time to say this before, answering Mr. Hutchinson's invitation, your foyer is flooded with vampires and members of the Black Laces.

[Dark, foreboding music]

Cassandra
Oh, boy... I think as the room is flooded with these vampires and gang members, the mirror that Hazel Beaumont sent to us is still sitting in the middle of the foyer. And given the absolute onslaught, Ena yanks that sparkling drape from the mirror, exposing it fully to all of these people and creatures flooding in.

Kim
All right, Miss Thanero, this is a Night Move.

Cassandra
Uh-huh.

Kim
What are you afraid will happen if you fail?

Cassandra
I am afraid that as we are fighting these creatures with this mirror exposed, that her greatest fear will become manifest, and water will start to flood from this mirror, drowning everyone in the house, and in the whole of London.

Kim
Miss Thanero, it's worse than that. Vampires don't need to breathe, so they won't drown. Your friends will, though.

Cassandra
Well, from doing Taketh Away earlier, I have advantage on this roll if I wish to take it, which I think I do.

Kim
You do, and this seems like a good time to do so. I'll say this is a Vitality roll to try to move quickly enough to get the jump on these assailants.

Cassandra
[Rolls dice] 5 + 6 on the dice is 11, plus my bumped Vitality roll of 2 for a 13.

Kim
Let's make our next trip to the Grand Guignol.

[An eerie music box tune]

Kim
Nat, describe Act I in which the baker's son, a young man named Daniel, falls in love with a woman, Dahlia, who he cannot have.

Natalia
As a fire roars in the oven on stage, we see Daniel restocking loaves in preparation for the early morning rush of maids coming to pick up bread for the day. What he doesn't expect is Dahlia, a young noble lady in a silk dress to enter the shop with an escort and a chaperone. He is immediately taken by her beauty as she and her companions pick out pastries to take home with them for breakfast. She removes a glove to pick up one of the pastries and place it in her mouth, and absentmindedly drops it, not noticing that it has fallen to the floor. Daniel practically throws the loaves onto the rack to stoop and get the glove for her and extends it out to her. Their eyes meet, but she is quickly whisked out of the shop by her mother, as her escort, also a noble lord, looks down his nose at Daniel, putting him in his place.

[Dark, foreboding music]

Kim
Miss Thanero, you whip this silver cloth off of this grand mirror, and several vampires start screeching and backing their way out of the foyer. They cannot see their reflection. Instead, they look upon the mirror and just see an open window filled with sunlight. Mr. Hutchinson, what do you see when you look in the mirror?

T.
Hutchinson picks his way among the spawn of the Limehouse Larker, glancing to and fro, singing to himself…

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
There's Liverpool Pat with his tarpaulin hat. Athena, where ya bound to? And Yankee John, the packet rat, across the Western Ocean…

T.
and catches himself in the mirror and just sees his reflection.

Cassandra
Ena hears this song and rolls her eyes at this never-ending game of stories, and the pomp and the circumstance. She is tired of this aspect of him. And she sees him across the room and looks him in the eye – singular eye.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I never did give you your holiday gift.

Cassandra
And with one swift movement, she hurls the Blade of the First Hunter directly at him, and it embeds in his shoulder. She gets into a readied stance with her spear and Aegis out, never breaking eye contact. she says…

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
If you truly intend to oppose me, at least use something worthy.

T.
Hutchinson shrugs, leaving the knife embedded in his shoulder.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
As you wish.

T.
And the transformation begins. It is quick. It has been bursting at the seams, waiting. And truly at this point, Hutchinson is more monster than man. The Cursed has been in control, puppeting Hutchinson's body, and it merely sheds it like an overused suit, filling the foyer of Hargrave House.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd.

Robert
Seeing that Ena and the thing that was once Augustus Hutchinson are squaring off against each other, Morgan takes a look at Maesie.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
I think it's best if we draw some of the attention away from this fight, making it a bit fairer for her. I'll take one half, you take the other?

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Let's do it.

Robert
And with that, Rabbit yells…

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Oi, blood suckers! Bet you've never tasted anything like this!

[Tense chase music]

Robert
And he cuts his own arm very slightly and runs off deeper into Hargrave House.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, your gambit works. A dozen vampires are in pursuit after you, galloping along the floors, running along the walls and ceilings, all of them fighting to be the first to taste you. In the midst of all of this, all of you begin to smell smoke, and you know that your house has been set ablaze.

[A roaring, crackling fire]

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, these vampires are quick, quicker than you on two feet, and you start to feel their hot breath on the back of your neck as they are getting closer and closer and closer to you, ready to tear you apart. This is a Night Move.

Robert
Rabbit is not the strongest person in the world. He knows he can't fight them. He knows he probably could outrun them, find someplace to hide, but that would not help anyone either. So instead, he draws them off into a trap that he had set with the house earlier, using the bit of blood that he drew from himself to cast glamours and confuse them as they chase him.

Kim
All right, so a Night Move with Sensitivity, then. What are you afraid will happen if you fail?

Robert
I'm afraid that Rabbit's luck won't hold out. The vampires will catch him, drain him, and then turn on the rest of Hargrave House.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, it's worse than that. The vampires will catch you, drain you, but not entirely. They will turn you, and a vampire with your magical gifts is a very frightening thing, indeed.

Robert
At one moment, it seems as though one of the vampires has caught up to Rabbit and sinks its fangs into his neck, only to come away with a mouthful of splinters, as what he's actually caught is the mannequin that holds the spirit of Vittorio Clemenza. I'm invoking that Personal Quarters item to give me advantage on this roll.

Kim
That's good, because I'm invoking the Condition: Homesick. This seems very appropriate, considering you're actively witnessing the destruction of your home.

Robert
[Rolls dice] That is a 6 on the dice. With my +3, a 9.

Kim
We return to the Grand Guignol.

[An eerie music box tune]

Kim
Robert, describe Act II, in which Daniel impotently fights back against the forces that prevent him from being with Dahlia.

Robert
Daniel has tried to speak to Dahlia several times, but it's hard for a man of his status to simply talk to a woman of hers. His most recent attempt has been hanging outside of her house waiting for her to leave so he can just get one simple hello.

Her father's guards do not appreciate this, and beat the young man senselessly, breaking the small bouquet of poppies that he carried for her.

[Tense chase music]

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, you are leading these vampires down this merry chase through the hallways of Hargrave House when you come upon a hallway that is plunged into darkness, and you hear the creeks and moans of the house that tell you… Keep running.

Robert
Rabbit does keep running, but the sound you hear coming from the darkness is not just the clop of his hobnail boots hitting the wooden floors, but the sound of hoofbeats, mailed feet clanking against stone, heavy footprints deep within a dark wood, as he begins to release some of the nightmare energy that is trapped inside of him.

[Haunting flutes. The whispers and groans of monsters]

Kim
I think we, the audience, see nothing, because we are similarly plunged into this immediate, impenetrable darkness. We just hear the sound of Rabbit's unleashed nightmares wreaking havoc upon this band of vampires. And then we hear a great slamming sound as the walls of Hargrave House itself collapse inwards, pressing these vampires into dust.

[A dull crashing sound]

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, how are you feeling amidst all of this destruction?

[Magical, dreamlike ambience]

Robert
Rabbit has spent so long holding back, for fear that the Coven would find him, for fear that his queen would notice he was still using power he should not, for fear that his compatriots would reject him. He's not afraid of any of those things anymore. He's simply angry.

Kim
Please take the Condition: An Un-Stoppered Bottle. Also, tell me the Personal Quarters item that you lose. What gets lost in this impenetrable darkness, never to be found?

Robert
In the carnage and confusion, a simple little token dropped out of Rabbit's pocket, something he's been carrying with him for a while now. A lucky rabbit's foot hits the ground and is lost forever in Hargrave House.

[A roaring, crackling fire]

Kim
Elsewhere in Hargrave House. Miss Douglas, you smell smoke, and hear the crackle of flame as you see that members of the Black Laces have set fire to Hargrave House.

Natalia
The image from the Whateley Camera flashes again in her mind of Hargrave on fire, and she calls out to the Lady Thames.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
My lady, it would be an honor to be a vessel for you this night. Please help us.

Natalia
As Maisie drops into her Curse of the Deep form and channels the energy of the Lady Thames with her.

[Deep undersea groans]

Kim
Ms. Douglas, this is also a Night Move with Sensitivity for you. What are you afraid will happen if you fail?

Natalia
Hargrave House will burn down with all of them in it.

Kim
Miss Douglas, it's worse than that. The Lady Thames will hear your calls too late. And yes, Hargrave House will burn. And as penance, you will drown yourself in the Thames and become one of her servants for eternity.

Night Move, Sensitivity. I am putting this at disadvantage. Sea-longing just feels really appropriate here, especially because you are pledging service to the Lady Thames, and she might not let you out of that.

Natalia
Ah! I would like to reach into Rabbit's carpet bag and pull something out. But Robert, do you want to tell me what I pull out?

Robert
As you reach blindly inside the bag, you feel your hand clasp around something hard and cold. You pull out a shell from the banks of the river, a symbol of your covenant.

Kim
All right. So this is just a straight roll with Sensitivity.

Natalia
Just a flat roll…

[Rolls dice] Ugh! Not terrible, though. 5 on the dice +3 is 8.

Kim
Let's make our final trip to the Grand Guignol.

[An eerie music box tune]

Kim
Cass, describe Act III, in which Daniel engages in a desperate action to get what he wants. The final moment just before the curtain falls should be very bloody.

Cassandra
Having been beaten and dispatched by the men who guard Dahlia's home, he retreats back to the bakery to lick his wounds and think of another plan. Having already spent so much time loitering outside of Dahlia's home, he's gotten pretty acquainted with the guards’ schedule. So one day he packs up a basket of bread and once again walks the familiar path to her house.

He gets there during the guard change. He approaches the door and knocks. He is greeted by a maid dressed in simple attire. And from the bundle of bread, he pulls out his most prized possession: a beautiful embossed rolling pin.

He hits this servant across the face, leaving bloodied marks and a beautiful floral pattern across her. He then pulls out a scoring knife and proceeds to stab her several times. He makes his way through the house, anyone he encounters meeting this same fate until he walks into a drawing room, holding this bloody rolling pin and this scoring knife, and looks at Dahlia with a devious smile on his face.

[Applause]

Kim
Miss Douglas, the Lady Thames has heard your call and is coming to aid. How do you channel her power?

[Deep undersea groans. A crackling fire]

Natalia
Maisie still stands on the landing from when she ran down from the parapets and she looks down on the Black Laces that are still gathered in the foyer, and the ones who are beginning to creep up the stairs towards her. A smile parts her lips as her eyes roll over black and she looks at one specifically standing still by the front door, makes eye contact with him as the Thames rushes in and sweeps him directly off his feet and further into the house, as the water begins to climb the walls as it looks for the flames to put them out.

[A rushing, roaring river]

Kim
Miss Douglas, this is an extraordinary amount of power that you are channeling. More than any mortal, no matter how supernatural they may be, should ever possess. How does it make you feel?

Natalia
Maisie feels incredibly powerful on one hand, as the magic flows through her and she feels bolstered by a second magical entity working alongside her. But it is slowly leaching energy from her, and she knows she cannot hold this up forever.

Kim
Ms. Douglas, please take the Condition: Drained.

T.
[Chuckles]

Natalia
Yes! I mean, no, 'cause conditions, but yay.

Kim
And tell me what Personal Quarters item you lose in the fray.

Natalia
The only one that I still have not marked: a Favor from Ragg.

Kim
So I think how this plays out is that as you are unleashing the torrent of the Lady Thames, you spy one very young, very new member of the Black Laces, the urchin Ragg.

[Dark, foreboding music]

Kim
Hunters, the three of you assemble in the now flooded foyer. Most of your assailants have been dealt with, with the exception of the Dapper Boy and the beast that once was Augustus Hutchinson.

The Dapper Boy smirks and sneers in your direction.

T.
As he does so, the serpentine tongue of the curse lashes out, wrapping around his throat, and without pomp or circumstance, yanks him back into the goat head. And in the end, the goat gets him.

Kim
Hunters, I don't think there's any saving Mr. Hutchinson.

T.
The water from the Thames leaks into this room, cascading down the stairs, flooding it ever so slightly. The horse hooves turned around on the three of you, the wolf head lowered as the goat head chews.

Natalia
Maisie's eyes fill with tears and she wipes them away.

Cassandra
We see a similar flash of sadness briefly across Ena's face. She bows her head slightly for a moment, tightens her grip on Aegis and her spear, and looks up to face the monster she once loved.

Robert
And as Rabbit turns towards the monster, he flashes back to the conversation the two of them once had about whether you are the knight or the dragon to be slayed, and how ultimately it is your choice. And they have both made theirs.

T.
This chimera is of many parts, but it is of singular purpose, and it lunges toward Athena.

Cassandra
Ena sees this monster flying at her and side steps, using the spear to quickly and precisely cut some of the tendons in the back of one of the horse legs.

T.
That leg goes limp, but it has seven more to lean on as it wheels around, the alligator-like tail smashing through the banister, cutting off access to the upper floors of the house.

Natalia
The water beneath it starts to boil and bubble as water starts to wrap itself up each of the legs of the chimera and starts trying to push its way into any of the open mouths.

T.
This sea monster forsakes its land legs, folds them underneath, and falls onto its belly, and then propels itself forward with its tail and wing-like fins again toward Ena.

Robert
There is a flash as Rabbit inserts himself in between Ena and the monster, moving much more gracefully than any of his companions have ever seen him before, moving as he once did when he was the consort of the Queen of Air and Darkness, slaying nightmares for her entertainment. He climbs up the beach's throat, a flash of silver in his hand.

T.
The beast death rolls onto its back, pressing Rabbit down onto the floor of Hargrave House as the water continues to rise, flattening him and exposing its belly covered in porcupine quills.

Kim
Miss Thanero, I think the final blow to drive this horrible monster out of your house falls to you. What happens here, and what Personal Quarters item of yours is lost forever?

Cassandra
Ena sees Rabbit struggling under the weight of the Cursed, and under the weight of the waves over his head. She is not going to let someone else lose their life in this ageless battle she's been in. She snaps the spear back into the gold cord and flings it around the neck of the Cursed, the gold cord forming itself into a bridle. She flips the Cursed over, allowing Rabbit to come up for air, and she gets astride its back like a horse that she is taming. And she muzzles and bridles the Cursed and rides him out of the front of the house. And then when they are free of the threshold, she gracefully jumps from it, gives one last pull on that cord as a choke. Releases him, looks in his blinded eyes, even though he cannot see her, and simply says…

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
You will not win this. Tuck your tail between your legs as you always do, and go running home to your masters.

T.
The monster lowers its head and opens its mouth, exposing its gullet and the flames of the sun within. Inhales and then blows out a tower of steam like a humpback whale directly at Ena. And as the mist clears, it has vanished.

Cassandra
And in this confrontation, Ena lost the portrait of Beau, drawn by James Whistler.

Kim
Welcome to the Dawn.

[Quiet, contemplative piano]

Cassandra
Oh, I am tired.

Kim
First of all, that's, I believe, a season wrap on T. Wade. Thank you.

Natalia
Ah!

[Everyone claps]

T.
Thank you for having me, everybody. Thank you.

Natalia
Sad clapping.

T.
It's been absolute pleasure.

Kim
We'll see Mr. Hutchinson next season, though not as a player character.

A tough night phase. A bit of a loss for Hargrave House, on multiple fronts.31:00 → 31:07

There are no rewards to collect after the assault of Hargrave House, but we will answer Dawn questions.

Did the hunters resolve a Threat?

Cassandra
Is that a yes for Hargrave House?

Robert
Does this count?

Kim
I would say no because you failed on the question.

Robert
Yeah.

Kim
Did you answer a question?

Robert
Again, no, we failed to answer it.

Kim
Did you get an Echo in the Night?

T.
I forgot about that part of—

Cassandra
I wasn't paying attention enough, yeah.

Kim
There was a lot going on.

Natalia
I think so. I tried one.

Robert
I feel like T did with the roaring fire of the sun.

Cassandra
Irrelevant at this juncture.

T.
Yeah, it doesn't matter.

Kim
I don't think T’s marking experience anymore. T’s not a character.

Nat, what do you think was your echo?

Natalia
I posited in the unscene that I described to characters who made eye contact and then one was briskly taken away. And then I did that when I invoked the Lady Thames, Maesie made eye contact with one of the Black Laces and then he was swiftly taken away.

Kim
I love that.

All right. So now for the individual Dawn Questions. Several of you are fully leveled up and thus can't mark experience anymore. So I think it's just Mr. Lloyd and Miss Douglas who have Dawn Questions.

Miss Douglas, did you delight in uncovering lost forgotten or ancient magic?

Natalia
I don't believe I did that.

Kim
I don't think there was a lot of delight happening.

Natalia
No.

Kim
Not really, no.

Did you assert your independence or stand up for yourself?

Natalia
Yes, I broke several of Mr. Higgins's ribs when he tried to get me again.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, did you have a face-to-face encounter with a dark entity?

Robert
I think at this point we can count the former Mr. Hutchinson as a dark entity, so yes.

T.
Ooh…

Kim
And did you perform a ritual?

Robert
A couple.

Kim
Does anyone level up?

Robert
For the last time.

Natalia
Yes, same.

Kim
All right, what are your advancements?

Natalia
I unmarked everything in my Personal Quarters.

Kim
Nice. Good time to do it.

Robert
Rabbit is finally coming to grips with everything. He is determined. He knows what he has to do, and his mind is a little more set. Therefore, I am going to bump my reason from a -1 back to a 0.

Kim
All right, I have one final thing to ask of you all this dawn. You have to answer the Mastermind Question today.

Natalia
Oh God, I forgot about this…

Kim
Your clues are as follows.

A gift box tied with a sapphire blue ribbon. inside is Dolly Merryweather's severed finger, Dolly Merryweather being one of the first victims of Sally No-Face.

While walking in a dream with Greco, Maesie Douglas saw the people of London with blue sapphires instead of eyes.

Evidence that Mrs. Brathwaite has been researching the possibility of immortality.

Evidence that Mrs. Brathwaite and Brathwaite Hall has recently acquired an enormous amount of gold. Probably, if stories are to be believed, from El Dorado itself.

The Sculptor was seen in a vision with a small portrait of Theodora Brathwaite.

Theodora Brathwaite owns Kilburn Abbey.

While in a dream, Mr. Lloyd and Greco found themselves in a masked ball, everyone wearing sapphire blue Venetian masks, and no one speaking a word.

Evidence that Mr. Hutchinson is central to Mrs. Brathwaite's plans. I think that one ended up being pretty self-explanatory.

Mr. Lloyd had a dream of Theodora Brathwaite presiding over a dark feasting hall, seemingly in the Middle Ages, a fiery crown atop her head, and a book of knowledge pressed to her breast.

And finally, two Threats seemed to be explicitly involved in the goings-on of Theodora Brathwaite. Namely, the Sculptor considers Mrs. Brathwaite another patron and was at least doing some of his killing at her behest. And Mrs. Figg and the Figg family were also on the hunt for immortality.

The question is, “How does Theodora Brathwaite intend to destroy the crown?” It is a Complexity 8.

T, I'll let you participate, even though Mr. Hutchinson no longer exists. You certainly did a lot of legwork on these clues, as did everyone.

T.
Thank you. This is a nice way to bow out.

The thing that is troubling my theory is how it can be applied to destroying the crown. Because all of these I can relate to pursuit for the fountain of youth and immortality via aquatic means. But I'm not sure what that has to do with Victoria, except that it's her jilted ex.

Natalia
So the weird kind of reverse psychology one I thought of, but I don't love it. But I also haven't thought of another one…

Basically, she's trying to find the immortality not for herself, but for Victoria, to force her to like watch the destruction of her kingdom through time.

Like you're not going to be able to die while the Empire is still at its zenith, you're gonna have to live forever while I take it down?

Natalia
Yeah, exactly. Like watch this thing that you created fall into ruin, and like I'm going to help do it.

T.
She's not looking for herself. She's like, no, I want to find the secrets of immortality to afflict it on somebody…

Natalia
'Cause I want you to suffer forever. Which I feel is very jilted ex vibes.

Cassandra
I actually love that.

T.
And that also makes sense as to why Dolly's finger would be here. To be like, "I'm getting close.” Here's a threat. Like, this is a perfectly preserved part of somebody.

The sapphire eyes in London and the Venetian masks are both dreams that are happening in cities where there is a large body of water: the Thames, and the Venetian canals. So that's more fountain of youth kind of springing up. I like the metaphor that time is a river, and this river has springs that outlet it into the world. London being one of them, Venice being one of them.

We know she's researching immortality, so that's that there. Kilburn Abbey, that site was chosen for the Priory because of the well that was there. The spring water that was there was said to have healing or medicinal properties. So that could be another outlet of, you know, is this the font that I need? Same with the Figgs and the Roman bath.

And then we had talked about the Sculptor being a dancer who had been marooned in the Arctic. Ice is just frozen water, so that would have been another font there. And then Theodora rescued him, and he considers her a patron.

Kim
Interesting.

T.
I think I joked that she found El Dorado while looking for the Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth and found El Dorado by accident, but that could also be canon.

Kim
She certainly found El Dorado one way or another. And the demon in the wall did tell you that she was looking for the fountain of youth in the Americas. So yeah, that makes sense to me.

Robert
What if her plan to destroy the crown, England… is to destroy England? Pull England into the sea like Atlantis and have the immortal Queen Victoria watch as her kingdom literally crumbles around her into the waves.

T.
I think that is true as well, which is also speaking to how Hutchinson is a part of her plan, as he is a sea monster.

Robert
And tied to a god of the ocean.

T.
Exactly. So that is leaving the fiery crown with the book of knowledge in the Middle Ages, which could just very easily be a spell book for causing the destruction of this land, invoking this right. Ala Atlantis or Mu.

Natalia
I like the idea –  I know you already established them – but the two dreams of people wearing blue or having blue eyes, like the Sapphire eyes, can also just be metaphorical for like all of these people coming to be underwater.

Kim
This is one of the fun things about GMing this game, is that I just throw things out into the universe and it's y'all's job to find the connections between things. But sometimes that means that there's some accidental cool foreshadowing at play. The Limehouse Lurker being a creature who can control the weather and all of the rain that's been falling in London, is an attempt to try to flood England.

T.
Yeah. But chaining Victoria to her throne as it drowns underneath as she is immortal, to just watch from underneath the waves forever.

Robert
Drowning over and over again, never dying.

Kim
Also something we've talked about a lot on this show.

T.
Yep.

Cassandra
I love all of the stuff that's happened with the water, just because she was a pirate.

Robert
Mm-hmm.

T.
Yeah.

Cassandra
So regardless of whatever happens to London, she'll be fine for a while. Like, she will just board a boat and go wherever she needs to go. And if she opts to grant herself the gift of immortality so that she might also watch Victoria's suffering for eternity?

Kim
Oh…

Cassandra
She'd be well equipped to do so.

Natalia
You and me forever, baby.

Cassandra
Yeah. she's like, "You're gonna watch, but I'm also going to watch."

T.
You're gonna be Prometheus, but I'm still gonna be Zeus.

Cassandra
Yeah, and Ina also did give her that hourglass that's like, time is observed.

Kim
Yeah.

Cassandra
And so she wants to observe a time in memoriam, forever and ever eternity that Victoria suffers.

Kim
I like that. Not only does Theodora want to make Victoria immortal, she wants to be immortal as well so that she can watch her rival suffer for eternity. That sounds pretty in line with Theodora. More than anything, she wants to best Victoria and wants to humiliate her. And she doesn't care what chaos or terror falls in the wake.

T.
Also, this woman is, in my opinion, a feminist icon.

Kim
Oh, yes. She's incredible.

T.
Her name means love of God. So it makes sense that she'd be like, "Yeah, I'm the God.”

Kim
I like this theory very much. So over the course of this entire season, you amassed 11 Mastermind clues. You have been able to apply all of them to the question. This roll will be at a +3. There is no way to improve the result of this roll once it is rolled. And once this roll is completed, we go immediately into the Mastermind confrontation.

Who is putting dice on the table?

Robert
T, since the girls took the assault, do you want to split this one?

T.
Words right out of my mouth, babe.

[They roll dice]

T.
Five.

Robert
Six.

Cassandra
Nice job, buddies!

Natalia
Amazing.

Robert
Is that a 14?

Cassandra
Yes.

Natalia
Hell yeah, it is.

Robert
Do we get a Mastermind Clue for next season?

Kim
No.

T.
Aww…

Kim
All right, hunters. You've given me a lot to think about. I think the best thing to do is take the fight to Theodora Brathwaite. Who's up for a trip to the country?

[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 the best people we know, our Kitten Marlowe patrons, in supporting artist-driven storytelling. Thanks for listening.