Shadows in the Smoke S1E5 - "The Business of Helping Sinners"

Shadows in the Smoke S1E5 – “The Business of Helping Sinners”

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
So hunters, let’s talk a little bit about the scene that you the players – not the hunters – just witnessed. This scene of the woman in sapphire.

[Moody piano]

Kim
Hargrave House doesn’t yet know this woman’s schemes against the empire, but we, the players, do. So as players, we have our own Question to answer concerning this individual: it is called the Mastermind Question. That Question is: How does the Mastermind intend to destroy the crown? And it is a Complexity 8. If you have successfully answered this question, Hargrave House will immediately confront her, which will trigger the end of this season of Shadows in the Smoke.

Presently, we have one Clue for the Mastermind Question: the gift box tied in sapphire blue ribbon, inside of which was the severed, preserved finger of one Ms. Merryweather. That was seemingly pried from the muddy river bank of the Thames where Mr. John had dropped it. We can’t even attempt to answer this Question until we have at least four Mastermind Clues, but even then that would be making that roll at a -4. So right now, our focus is just to gather Clues concerning this mysterious, wealthy woman – whoever she is – so that we can eventually answer the Mastermind Question.

How you gather Mastermind Clues? By getting a 12+ on the Information Move. I should also note that there is one other way to get a Mastermind Clue, and that is if you get a 12+ on Answering a Question concerning another Threat. Should you get a 12+ on Answer a Question for let’s say Sally No-Face, the solution is also a Mastermind Clue. Other than that, you guys are on your own.

Cassandra
Excellent

Kim
Let’s go to the Dawn.

[An ominous, rumbling woosh]

[Gentle piano]

Kim
So in the Dawn Phase, the first thing that we do is resolve any moves that are resolved in the Dawn. Of which there are two. Mr. John, you owe me two Clues for Sally No-Face. One, you got from your very good Quickening roll, so you picked up on some clue that your heightened senses were ablet o glean. And the second one you got as a result of As Cruel as the Harlot’s Curse.

T.
In my near savage form…

Kim
Yes.

T.
I had these heightened senses. I picked up a rare flower that would only be familiar to, say, the son of a textile magnate. And that is the scent of indigo, which is used as a dye for very expensive clothes and cloth.

Kim
Oh, I love that. I’ve written down “the subtle smell of indigo.”

T.
And as I was leaving the tenement house of Whitechapel, I spied something shiny in the moonlight. And that was a sloyd knife, which is a woodcarver’s knife that would be used for, say, the removal of faces, when not put to employment in whittling.

Kim
Fantastic. Thank you.

The next thing that we do in the Dawn Phase is we answer our Dawn Questions. For every answered yes, you all get to mark a point of experience – one point for every yes. Should you get six, which is impossible to do in your very first Night Phase, because I’m only going to ask you five things…

Cassandra
[Laughs]

Kim
You get to mark an advancement.

The first question: Did the hunters answer a Question?

Cassandra
We did not.

Natalia
No.

T.
No.

Robert
Nope.

Kim
Nope. Did the hunters resolve a Threat?

Robert
Also no.

T.
No. Now we’re feeling bad.

Cassandra
[Laughs] Man, okay…

Natalia
[Laughs]

Kim
Did the… [Breaks into laughter]

[All laugh]

Cassandra
Okay…

Kim
Now you’ve got me feeling bad.

Cassandra
[Laughs]

Kim
Did you get an Echo in the Night?

Cassandra
Yes.

T.
Yes.

Robert
Yes.

Kim
Yes! I believe you all did, but let’s get into them. Cass, what was your Echo?

Cassandra
So my Echo was the gold bowl from Tuck’s shop that had the eyes in it, and the Echo was the gold bowl in the cult meeting that I cut my hand over and then passed around the room for communion.

Kim
Yes. Yes, of course. Robert, what about you?

Robert
My Echo in the Night was the theme of paying respect where it is due, which came up both in my scene with the Lady Thames and in the Unscene that I narrated.

Kim
Yes, of course. Natalia, what about you?

Natalia
My Echo in the Night was the amber liquid that Rabbit used in his ritual at the Thames, and also the amber liquid that Tuck drank when he went back home in his Unscene.

Kim
Yes, of course. And T, your Echo?

T.
I had two attempts, I had Vera’s eyes being glossy after she was washing her face out of a pewter basin. Bu tin case that didn’t count, I also wove in deserves respect as a phrase to refer to the Dapper Boy.

Kim
I think those are two Echoes. Sadly just the one point of experience.

Let’s get into your character Dawn Questions. Miss Thanero, did you express a clear preference for the beautiful over the mundane?

Cassandra
Yes, in the modiste with the fabric.

Kim
Did you appear in London society wearing risque or avant-garde fashion?

Cassandra
I believe we all know the answer to that one, and it is a yes.

Kim
Yeah. When did you not? So that’s two more points of experience for you.

Miss Douglas, did you assert your independence or stand up for yourself?

Natalia
Sadly, no. I did not.

Kim
Did you subtly or not so subtly invoke your oceanic heritage or you love for the sea?

Natalia
That I absolutely did do, with the fabric that Ena was dressing herself in at the modiste.

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

Robert
Yes, with the Lady Thames and also with the raven creature.

Kim
[Laughs] With the weird crow thing!

Natalia
God, that was so horrifying.

Cassandra
That was wild.

T.
I’ve been talking to people about that all week.

[All laugh]

Natalia
He put his beak in my mouth.

Robert
And then I ate him.

Kim
And then you committed! Then you ate the whole thing!

Cassandra
He was hungry.

Natalia
This is a no waste household

Cassandra
We eat consciously here.

Robert
And conscious things.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, did you perform a ritual?

Robert
Two, that led to my two face to face encounters with said dark entities.

Kim
Yes. One, successfully. One, a little more “un.”

Mr. John, did you use violence to solve a problem?

T.
Oh yeah.

Kim
Yeah…

T.
I held up a dear, sweet woman to a wall by her throat. And I brandished a knife at a mob of mudlarkers.

Natalia
[Laughs] And a child.

T.
And a tween! He’s basically an adult.

Kim
Did you share a treasured memory from the States during an intimate encounter with another character?

T.
Yes, I saved a young Mark Twain from an alligator.

Kim
You did! Fantastic, alright. Let’s go to the Day.

[An ominous, rumbling woosh]

Kim
So when I say that it’s a brand new day in London, I do not literally mean the next day. Much like any good gothic novel, there’s always an assumed passage of time between important events. A couple of weeks have passed since the last time we peeked in on the hunter’s lives at Hargrave House.

The first thing I do in the Day Phase is I introduce a new Threat if we have fewer than three active Threats. And we’ve only got one.

This Threat is called The Demon of Kilburn Abbey.

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

Kim
Bartholomew Gastrell, an old friend of Hargrave House and one of the finest surgeons in London, has told you of his newest guest at the mortuary: the well-preserved body of a girl was found at Kilburn Abbey during recent renovation work, walled up in the basement. Shortly after removing the corpse, dark urges have begun to spread inside the monastery. Statues and paintings have been smeared with obscene drawings. Monks were found in sinful embrace. The Abbot himself blasphemed God during mass, foaming at the mouth. According to Gastrell, each of these events were preceded by a sighting of the walled up girl, wearing pre-century clothes and the most wicked smile.

I now get to direct the following to a hunter of my choice. I think, considering the nature of this Threat, I would like to ask this of Mr. Lloyd. Mr. Lloyd, a detail in Gastrell’s story confirms this is indeed demonic activity. What is it?

Robert
The air wherever one of these sightings happens is suffused with the smell of sulfur.

Kim
The Demon of Kilburn Abbey has two Questions associated with it. Either one will resolve the Threat. The first one is, “How can the demon be driven from the abbey?” This is a Complexity 6 Question. And we resolve the Threat by using innocence or piety as bait, and then performing a banishing ritual. The second Question is, “Why was the demon bound to a girl?” And this is Complexity 8. You resolve the Threat by performing a ritual to rebind the demon to the girl’s corpse. If you do so, thereafter the hunters have access to a custom move called Demonic Insight.

Cassandra
Ooh…

T.
Gotta get that custom move, gang.

Natalia
I want that so bad, guys.

Kim
[Laughs]

T.
We don’t know what it does, but it’s gotta cool name.

Natalia
I want it!

Cassandra
Just the title alone, I’m buying.

Kim
Demonic Insight reads as such: When you have The Darkened Threshold marked – which is one of your Masks of the Future – and you seek answers about someone’s darkest desires by consulting a demon anchored in this world, roll with Sensitivity. On a 10+ you receive an answer, which can come in the form of a Clue at the Keeper’s discretion. On a 7 to 9 as above, but you must perform a minor blasphemous act in order to receive your answer. On a miss, you don’t get your answer as the demon exerts some influence over you. The Keeper will detail a task the demon would like you to perform. If you do it, you mark one point of experience.

Cassandra
Ooh…

Natalia
Exciting.

T.
And we think these demons, they’re like chill, like nice dudes right?

Cassandra
Yeah, they’re super… Yeah, very nice.

T.
They like help old ladies cross the street, type demons?

Kim
I suppose we’ll find out!

Answering either Question will resolve the Threat, but only one will get you access to a custom move that you can then use for the entire rest of the campaign.

The Demon of Kilburn Abbey also has a unique mask associated with it, and it is called the Mask of Sacrilege.

So we have two current active Threats plaguing London. We have Sally No-Face and the Demon of Kilburn Abbey. We also have a couple of Conditions on the board, so I’d like to remind you all of a basic move that you have, which is called the Vulnerable Move. When you have an intimate moment with one or more hunters while one of you is engaged in your vice, you may each clear an appropriate Condition. The hunter whose vice is in play can speak freely about their past. Then as a group, define a Clue that is stumbled upon during the scene. The Clue cannot conclusively answer a Question by itself. Alternatively, you can engage in your vice by yourself or with a Side Character to get the same benefits of the Vulnerable Move, but doing so instantly triggers the Day or the Night Move.

An important thing to note is that your character can only participate in the Vulnerable Move once per phase.

But now the Day Phase is in your hands, hunters. We’ve got several Threats to contend with, we’ve got Dawn Questions to answer, we’ve got Conditions to possibly clear… How would you like to spend your Day Phase?

Robert
Well, I need to get rid of a Condition, so who wants to smoke some opium with me?

Cassandra
I think I have a way to give it to you, to trigger that. Because, like… she’s rich. She would have access to everything.

Kim
Okay. So it sounds like we have Miss Thanero and Mr. Lloyd participating in opium. Everyone else may. You do not have to do the vice to benefit from the Vulnerable Move. It is only Mr. Lloyd that has to smoke opium. All the rest of you just have to be present for it, I suppose.

Natalia
I wanted to pay back Ena for her gift, so she was gonna go on a little quest.

T.
Then I’ll scope out the abbey.

Kim
Okay, fantastic. I’d like to start with the Vulnerable Move, please. Indulging in a little morning opium.

Cassandra
I envision that Ena is just sitting at the dining table this morning. She’s working on a very elaborate well-crafted embroidery of a spider this morning. And she’s just sewing. And today she’s wearing a red bolero lined with black silk, over a white button-front shirt with a large ruffle at the neck. And there’s a large gold ringed cameo in onyx and white marble of a gorgon at the collar. The gold cord is present on her shoulder as always. I learned today that that is called an aiguillette. I don’t know if I said that correctly, but that’s what I learned today. She wears a matching red skirt cinched quite dramatically at the waist, and her hair is pulled back off of her face with large, dark ringlets cascading down her back. There’s a red round hat with a large veil sitting jauntily on her chair post, ready to be donned once it is time to go about her day.

Robert
Morgan walks downstairs, even more disheveled than usual. His shirt is not tucked in, his vest is unbuttoned. But he walks with purpose towards Miss Thanero.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Morning, guv’na. Would you like a walk in the garden this morning?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well, Rabbit, that sounds delightful. I’d be happy to accompany you.

Robert
As he says that, he very surreptitiously pulls his pipe, which as previously mentioned looks like a twisted tree branch or root with a silver cap at either end.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well, I see where your head’s at.

Cassandra
And she puts the needle into the embroidery and just sets it very gently on the table, and then reaches into a hidden pocket of the skirt and pulls out a little silver box. And just passes it over to him.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
There you are, love. Cure what ails you.

[Birds chirp in the garden]

Robert
And as we walk towards the actual little garden at Hargrave House, Morgan takes off his shoes and, with one of his toes, draws a circle in the soil and sits down in the middle of it. He mutters something under his breath that doesn’t sound quite like English, fills the end of the pipe, lights it, takes a long deep breath, and releases somehow more smoke that you think he should have been able to breathe in.

Kim
Miss Douglas, where are you off to today?

[Sounds of a busy harbor]

Natalia
Maesie is going to go in search of pearls. So she’s gonna go down to the harbor and try her best to find as many oysters as she can. She starts in the harbor, like where ships are and things. And I think she sort of winds her way down to shore and sort of isolates herself on the rock, as close as she can get to the water – but without wearing her seal pelt, is kind of scared to go in the water. So she’s kind of staying back and just feeling the mist and the spray, and reminiscing about what it’s like to be this close to the water, now that she can’t really be in it as much as she would like

She pulls out a little knife and starts prying oysters off of rocks. Whichever ones she cracks open that have pearls she tucks those away in a pocket, and she just delights in eating the actual oysters. Tosses a few to seagulls on the rocks and whatnot, and has a little moment to herself while collecting these.

Kim
This is rather an unusual thing for a 17 year old girl to be doing, so I’d like to ask you to make the Day Move, here.

Natalia
Mmhmm.

Kim
What are you afraid might happen if you fail or lose your nerve? What I mean more by that is, if you are attracting the wrong sort of attention by doing this, what are you afraid might occur?

Natalia
I think if anybody nearby like starts to take notice of her, and sort of starts, like, drawing attention to the fact that she’s here, alone… honestly, like barefoot. Like, does not look like she belongs. She might get, like, carted away to some sort of home for children, where she’d get stuck and not really be able to go back to Hargrave House.

Kim
So this is gonna be a Day Move with Composure.

Natalia
[Rolls dice] That is a seven.

Kim
And Mr. John, off to the abbey, you said?

[Church bells and Gregorian chanting]

T.
Yeah. I ain’t no stranger round a pretty Puritan girl who needs to be taught the error of her wicked ways.

Kim
[Laughs] So you enter Kilburn Abbey. I’m curious how you feel, Mr. John, walking into a house of God? This is not a Paint the Scene, I’m just interested.

T.
I ain’t got nothing to do with the Lord. We made our peace a long time ago. And wherever these people decide to put up some bricks and block out the sky where up he lives, got nothing to do with me.

Kim
You enter, and we hear the footsteps of your boots echoing down these cavernous spaces, these long hallways. I’d say it’s about late morning by the time you arrive at Kilburn Abbey, and you notice that the shadows that are being cast through these stained glass windows seem weirdly long and twisted in an unnatural way. As you pass through the abbey, you see monks avoid your gaze, as if they are fearful, trying to just keep their head down and tend to their work.

I have a Paint the Scene here for you all. What signs of the demon’s influence do you see upon setting foot in the abbey?

[The sounds of the church gradually become more menacing]

T.
These monks are engaged in the distilling of chartreuse, and it is hot to the touch. Like there is steam rising off of it and it is boiling, which is interfering with that work.

Robert
Despite us being in rainy old London town, all  the plants around the abbey are brown and scorched, as if they’ve been through a long, dry summer.

Natalia
All the crucifixes and crosses present in the church are inexplicably upside down.

Cassandra
On every surface inside this church there is a thin layer of ash.

T
Run my finger along the edge of one of these upside down crucifixes, picking up a layer of ash. Blow it into the air, and say…

Mr. John (T.)
Anybody around here in the business of helping sinners? I’ve got one here, mighty in need.

Kim
You catch the notice of one of the monks at this abbey. He is quite young. He’s slender. As he draws near, he smells faintly of rosemary and lavender, as if he had just been working in the garden here.

Young Monk (Kim)
Ordinarily the sinners don’t quite announce themselves so forcefully, but how might I help you, sir.

Mr. John (T.)
I mean, I’m ashamed, but I ain’t one to keep this to myself. I’m full up with sin, and it’s burbling over me like wine in a goblet. I’m feeling myself in powerful need of confession.

Young Monk (Kim)
Yes! Of course. Let me escort you. What a horrible burden upon your soul. How excellent of you to make your way here, sir.

T.
I clap him on the shoulder, and I say…

Mr. John (T.)
Mighty fine of you to notice there, Brother… Son… Father… I don’t know what to call you, it’s been so long.

Brother Elijah (Kim)
You may call me Brother Elijah, sir.

Mr. John (T.)
Brother Elijah, I’ve got stories in here that would turn the hair on your head white, put hair on your chest, and blanch it just the same.

Kim
He chuckles a bit at this, with a darkness to it that I think surprises you.

Brother Elijah (Kim)
I’m not quite so sure, sir. The things that I’ve seen around here recently? Well, I imagine I’m quite hard to shock.

Mr. John (T.)
Surely nothing worse than what’s going on in this skull of mine and this thumping heart of mine. The wickedness that I’ve been to. The whoring, the murdering, the…

Brother Elijah (Kim)
[Sputtering] Let’s… Let’s… Come, come with me somewhere a bit more private.

T.
[Chuckles] I follow him.

Kim
Let’s go back to the gardens of Hargrave House.

[Birds chirp in the garden]

Cassandra
I think at this point, Ena is just sitting on, like, a stone bench. Just watching. Just observing him in like the whole ritual of all of it.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
So what is it that you like about it?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Do you dream?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Yes, on occasion.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
I don’t.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Really? What do you see, then?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
For me, night holds no comfort no terror. It is merely dark. This is the closest I’ve come to dreaming since I was quite young.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Does the darkness frighten you?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Oh, no. I just miss… Well, I miss this.

[The sounds of the garden fade away, replaced by airy, mystical tones]

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
When reality melts away, when things that are real and things that are stories only meld together. When reality and fantasy seem as they are lovers, wrapped in each other’s arms. That’s what I miss about dreams. And that’s what I love about this.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
So what do you see right now?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Mostly the same thing you do. Just… some of the shadows are a bit longer. Bit more movement where you might not expect it. You notice things that you might otherwise not. I’m more than happy to allow you partake.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Oh darling, it’s not for me, unfortunately. But what do you see? Give me an example. Like this… this bush over here. Is there anything particularly dreamy about this bush today?

Robert
Morgan doesn’t say this, but when he looks at the bush that she is pointing at, he sees the bush and plants like it far beyond – not extending into the third dimension, but extending somehow into another reality.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Mostly just a bush.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Hmm.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Mostly.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Mostly. [Chuckles] So, when you are in this space of dreams and enjoyment, what do you hope to see?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Well, I think I hope to see what any young man hopes to see.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
And what might that be?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Well, if you don’t know that, I’m not sure I can answer it for you…

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
No, I suppose I have an idea. [Laughs] No, but really Rabbit, what does a young man hope to see in his dreams?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Well, a lady. What else?

Cassandra
And I think she just kind of sits back and chuckles at this, very just… Oh, boys will be boys.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, I think you can clear Jealous Lovers. And you and Cass get to collaborate on a Clue for me. It can be for either of the active Threats, either Sally No-Face or The Demon of Kilburn Abbey. It just cannot conclusively answer any of those questions.

Robert
The great thing about Mr. Lloyd’s vice is that the state of mind it puts him in is really a good one for receiving any sort of mystical information or clue. So if we have any ideas along those lines…

Cassandra
Are you wanting to look at Sally No-Face or do we want to do a Clue for our new Threat?

Robert
I honestly think that the demon might be better, just because it is more supernatural.

Cassandra
I would agree with that.

Kim
Yeah, for sure. You are in the perilous position to be the first person to provide a Clue for The Demon of Kilburn Abbey, so I can’t even give you, like, a framework to work in. But I’m intrigued to hear what you’ve got.

Robert
What about a crying statue? It’s nice, it’s simple, it fits with the tone, it’s something we might have in the garden.

Cassandra
Ooh! Okay, I’m with you. I didn’t even help. I didn’t help at all, but I wholeheartedly support this.

Kim
I love that. Let’s go to the water’s edge.

[Sounds of a busy harbor]

Kim
Miss Douglas, you are perched on the rocks, prying open these oysters, and you hear a girl’s voice next to you.

Little Girl (Kim)
What are you doing, miss?

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Hi! I’m just looking for pearls. What are you doing?

Little Girl (Kim)
I was taking a walk with my mummy. Mummy! Mummy, come look. Come look, she’s opening pearls!

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Would you like one?

Little Girl (Kim)
Might I have one, miss?

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Of course!

Natalia
And Maesie cracks open an oyster and fishes out a pearl and hands it to the little girl.

Little Girl (Kim)
Oh, it’s beautiful.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Just like you.

Kim
The mother comes in. She’s got very rosy cheeks. She is dressed rather nicely for the part of London that you are in. Her hem is notably unfrayed.

Abigail’s Mother (Kim)
Abigail! Step back, please. You could fall in. Are you alright, miss?

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
I am alright. Thank you for checking.

Abigail’s Mother (Kim)
Alright. It’s just that I couldn’t help but notice the state of you, I suppose. Are you in need of any help in any way?

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Oh, no. No, I’m just fine. You don’ t like to feel the breeze on the ocean?

Abigail’s Mother (Kim)
I think it’s a bit perilous what it is that you’re doing. And barefoot as well! All manner of things that you could step upon. Come! Come, please. Join me. Onto the street. Up with you.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Um, really ma’am, I’m just fine.

Kim
As Abigail comes to her side, she bends a knee and starts speaking to Abigail.

Abigail’s Mother (Kim)
I want you to remember, this Abigail. London is the crossroad of the world, all its beauty and wonder. But also all of its sin and degradation. Right there, for anyone to grab a hold of. Now you make sure you say your prayers and mind your manners young lady, or who knows? In a couple of years you could also be barefoot, walking by the water. Just waiting for someone to push you in, or God forbid for you to fall. I guarantee you that girl does not have a proper mother.

Natalia
Maesie swallows, picks up her skirts, and marches over to this woman, and says…

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
That’s right, my lady. I do not have a proper mother. But neither are you.

Natalia
And she walks away.

Kim
Take the Condition: Defiant.

Natalia
Gladly.

[Church bells and Gregorian chanting]

Kim
Mr. John, Brother Elijah hurries to move you into a more secluded space. Once doing so, he smiles warmly.

Brother Elijah (Kim)
Tell me, sir. What is on your mind?

Mr. John (T.)
Sorry, I didn’t mean to be carrying on at such a volume, within earshot of women folk. Although, I’ve only ever seen brothers around here, you and your fellow monks. I don’t suppose there is any ladies round these parts?

Brother Elijah (Kim)
There is a convent quite close by, sir.

Mr. John (T.)
Well, I’ll make sure that my hallooing voice don’t carry on that far.

Brother Elijah (Kim)
Very good of you, sir.

Mr. John (T.)
Terrible things, I hear. I… I’m sorry, I just realized that I’ve just heard… This might just be a filthy rumor going around, heretics and blasphemers trying to put a sullied name on the good folk at Kilburn, but there was a girl found here?

Brother Elijah (Kim)
That there was, sir. You’ve heard of it?

Mr. John (T.)
Shame to say I did, although didn’t have the presence of mind to bring it to the top of my mind until just now as I was carrying on about those poor, sweet virgins locked up in the upper floors of their monastery.

Brother Elijah (Kim)
Yes. Every night, ever since the girl was uncovered, the strange acts that I’ve seen here… Every night, I pray for my brothers’ strength. But I believe that prayers alone won’t solve this problem.

Mr. John (T.)
If prayers can’t and the Almighty, what possibly could?

Brother Elijah (Kim)
Well, we are the Lord’s agents, working on earth. I believe perhaps we have the power to do so. I mean, not me, perhaps. But… Well, I’d certainly like to try. I suppose I don’t know where to begin.

Mr. John (T.)
I think I’m with you, brother. I do think it is a man’s office. But not a man such as I. Not me. The blackened, tarnished sin that I’ve got… I wouldn’t be surprised if you found me walled up in your basement next, the things that are carrying on in my heart.

Brother Elijah (Kim)
Sir, you should not share this burden alone. I am here to listen.

Mr. John (T.)
Where to begin? Well just a few weeks back, I was in Whitechapel rutting and sweating and ruining the sheets of a poor young lady, just trying to make her way through the world.

[As he speaks the sounds of the church grow more alien and sinister]

Mr. John (T.)
I’ve done it nearly every night since. Different women. Sometimes, I hire two women and I just watch them rut together. Sit in the corner, like. Sometimes, I… I’m sorry to tell you this, but Brother Elijah, sometimes I don’t even wind up fucking them. I just… I taste them. I done been all over this green and pleasant island of yours and I ain’t never found two fancy articles taste quite the same. Rich, poor. Northern, Southern, fat, thin, Irish… And I’ll keep tasting them till the day I die! I thought that that’s how I would like to die, drowned in the dirty river. But if you baptize me, you can save my heathen soul. If that’s too much for you to do, Brother Elijah, I’ll go to this convent, I will. I’ll take myself there and maybe the ladies, descendants from Eve herself, maybe they can bear it.

Kim
Mr. John, as you continue, you watch the color drain out of Brother Elijah’s face. But it’s not at your words. His gaze is somewhere else, over your shoulder. Were you to turn and follow that gaze, you would see a small girl crouched in the corner of this room, grinning deliciously.

[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 Madeleine, Carrington Giammittorio, Vincent Kirk, and Michael Thomas in supporting artist-driven storytelling. Thanks for listening.