Shadows in the Smoke S1E50 - "The Revenge"

Shadows in the Smoke S1E50 – “The Revenge”

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]

[Theodora’s piano theme]

Kim
London is sinking. After a single day’s respite from the rain, the stormy weather swiftly returned, and with a vengeance. The mighty Lady Thames has broken her chains and has laid claim to all of London. Those unlucky enough to live near her banks soon found themselves beneath several meters of water. The most fortunate simply drowned. The unluckiest souls fell ill as another cholera outbreak, the worst yet, has swept through the most vulnerable neighborhoods of London.

The wealthy, much like rats, have fled the city, retreating to the relative safety of their country manors as they wait out the storm. As for the very wealthiest among them… Well, perhaps it’s best to consult the Society Pages.

[A very posh string quartet]

Kim
[ala Lady Whistledown] My most discerning readers, there are moments in history when calamity and splendor walk hand in hand, and it seems we are living through one such exquisite contradiction. While London groans ‘neath the weight of unrelenting rains, its grand avenues reduced to winding canals and its lesser quarters all but swallowed whole, a most extraordinary tableau unfolds beyond the city’s reach. For, at Brathwaite Hall, nestled high amongst the floodplains, the world—our world—continues.

With a grace that can only be described as sovereign in its own right, Mrs. Theodora Brathwaite has transformed her elevated country estate into a refuge of such elegance that one might almost forget the chaos pressing at the edges of society. Invitations dispatched with remarkable swiftness have summoned an assembly of rare distinction: statesmen divested of their chambers, noble families displaced from ancestral homes, and magnates of industry whose empires, for all their might, could not hold back the tide.

And yet, dear reader, what awaits them is not mere shelter, but spectacle. Within those stately walls, the storm is reduced to a distant percussion, a dramatic accompaniment to evenings of music, candlelight, and carefully curated delight. Silk whispers across polished floors, laughter rises as freely as the champagne, and the great and powerful of our age drift from salon to salon as though the very notion of ruin were a vulgar exaggeration best left outside the gates.

Presiding over this glittering sanctuary are not only its incomparable mistress, but also her now familiar and much discussed guests: the Crimson Gentleman, the Ebon Marquis, and the Ashen Duke. While many of the newly arrived have yet to make their full acquaintance, those who have report that these mysterious European gentlemen and their vast retinue seem particularly well-suited to the present circumstances.

Most astonishing of all, however, is the presence (confirmed by no fewer than three reliable sources) of none other than Queen Victoria herself. Readers will recall the unfortunate coolness that existed between Her Majesty and Mrs. Brathwaite. And yet, in this moment of shared adversity, the Queen has accepted the invitation to Brathwaite Hall, placing herself, however briefly, under the same roof as her erstwhile adversary.

What’s passed or may yet pass between these two formidable ladies remains the subject of intense curiosity. Observers note that Mrs. Brathwaite received her royal guest with impeccable decorum, neither overreaching nor retreating, but meeting the moment with a composure that suggests she understands precisely the weight of such an encounter.

As the rains continue to fall and London waits for reprieve, society finds itself gathered in an unlikely haven, suspended between crisis and comfort. And perhaps, just perhaps, as waters rise and distinctions blur, even the iciest of estrangements may begin to thaw.

[Unsettling ambience]

Kim
But you, Hunters, know the truth. Mrs. Brathwaite is in full control of this storm with the help of the ancient vampire who sits at her right hand. Together, they seek to turn London into a city lost beneath the ocean waves. And Mrs. Brathwaite’s distinguished guests are either eager witnesses or ignorant sacrifices to usher in the birth of this new Atlantis. By nightfall, Queen Victoria and Theodora will both be granted eternal life; one cursed to lifetimes of suffering and torment, and the other blessed with centuries of gloating. It is not long before the Earth cracks beneath your feet, plunging Britain into the Atlantic. You must act quickly. Welcome to the Mastermind Confrontation.

Cassandra
[shuddering] Ooh!

Natalia
I’m scared.

Kim
So, let’s talk a little bit about how this works. Gone is the Day/Night cycle that we all know and love from previous episodes of Shadows in the Smoke. However, questions and opportunities do make a reappearance. You have one Question for the Mastermind Confrontation. It is, “What is the final step needed to complete Theodora’s ritual to drown England beneath the ocean?” It is a Complexity 6. You resolve the Threat by stopping Theodora Brathwaite and saving both Queen and country.

So, I suppose it would be gauche to call it the Breakfast Phase, but I do want to check in on the Hunters of Hargrave House in your rather dilapidated manse on Belgrave Square. It has been several days since the assault on Hargrave House. The rains have continued unabated. I believe your foyer is under at least a few feet of water at this point.

[Distant rain]

Cassandra
I’d say, despite the water, Ena has called on some of her cultists to come and clean up the detritus that is left behind after the interaction. We might not be able to do too much on the floor where all the water is coming in, but I imagine she’s supervising some of these cultist meandering through the halls and cleaning up this destruction.

Kim
Very interesting. This is probably Miss Douglas and Mr. Lloyd’s first glimpse of the cultists of Miss Thanero.

Natalia
Absolutely, yeah. Definitely a moment of:

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Ena, uh… Who… Who are all these people?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well, you can’t have assumed that Mr. John was the only one who worshipped at my feet.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Uh, no, but they don’t have eyes.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Oh, some of them do, darling. They just keep them lowered.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Okay. Do they talk?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Yes, dear, but just ignore them for now. They’re really only going to answer to me. I’ve instructed them to steer clear of you and Rabbit, as to not disturb you.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Can I disturb them?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Maesie, why are you like this?

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
[whispering] Because it’s fun.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I think we’ve got other more pressing matters to deal with, as opposed to my servants meandering through the house.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Right.

Robert
On a similar but distinct note, Rabbit has been leaving little bowls of cream and little pieces of bread with honey on them and little bottles of beer and ale out and about. And mysteriously, some of the holes in the roof have begun to get patched up a little bit. You know, there’s a few places where the cracked foundation has mysteriously become uncracked.

Kim
Yes, as every day passes, it seems as though some of Mr. Lloyd’s enlisted help, some small brownies, have taken residence in the house and are doing their work in secret. Overseen, I believe, by Merricat.

Natalia
Yeah, Maesie doesn’t have anyone to call on, so she’s just gallivanting through the foot of water that’s in the bottom of the house and just, like, hanging out. Just having a good time [laughing] enjoying that the house is wet.

Robert
Skirt hiked up to her knees, bare feet splashing.

Natalia
Oh, not even. That skirt is dragging through the water.

Cassandra
I imagine you with some kind of beach ball or something. [Natalia snorts] You know, just like, she’s nosing it through the water. [laughs]

Kim
In her Victorian bathing costume.

Natalia
Just swimming in a foot of water.

Kim
Diving from the second landing into the foyer.

Natalia
And disrupting all of Ena’s cultists.

Cassandra
Given how dark the circumstances have been lately, Ena’s not stopping her. I imagine there have been points where Ena has hiked up her skirts or her pantsuit or whatever she has on that day, and sits on the steps with her feet in the water, watching Maesie play. Just taking in a moment of peace before everything inevitably goes to hell.

Natalia
Yeah, and I will say, while this is– while she is having fun, and you know, not necessarily helping the situation but not hurting it, a lot of this is delaying the inevitability of having to go up to Hutch’s old room and cleaning things in there. Cause I think Maesie has distinctly told Ena and Rabbit to keep their helpers out of there.

So there is a moment where Maesie’s at the end of the hall, in her room, sort of organizing anything that’s broken in there, definitely her shelf fell over with all of her trinkets, and she’s trying to reposition everything back to the way it was. And she just looks down the hall at the stairs that lead up to the parapets. And it’s been several days of looking that way and then turning away and walking away and not going in that direction.

And I think today’s finally the day that she looks that way, sort of takes a deep breath, and walks back up the stairs to that room and just sees the burnt pile of books with the cage dismantled and set up like a weird grill. And I think she starts collecting as many of the books in here that remain untouched, to take back to her room and starts putting– creates one shelf of her bookshelf, instead of being random trinkets and things that she’s found out in the world, this is a shelf that will remind her of Hutch and what he used to be, next her book of Hans Christian Andersen fairytales.

Robert
As Maesie is cleaning up Hutch’s room, Rabbit silently, wordlessly comes in with a bucket of soapy water and a rag, and gets down on the floor and starts scrubbing the burnt detritus off the floor, helping her out.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Do you know where he went?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
I think, for now, it’s better that we don’t know where he is. Because once we do know where he is, he’ll suddenly become a problem we have to solve.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
I never thought he would leave before you.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
I thought he had a better shot at becoming the hero in his story than he did. It’s hard.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Well, um… I don’t even know. [nervous laugh] I’m gonna take some of these books. Do you want any of them? Should I put them in the library, maybe?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Whatever you think, pet. I, uh, I don’t know how much time I’ll have left for reading.

Natalia
Maesie just tackles him in a hug.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Come on, let me help you with that.

Robert
And Rabbit grabs an armful of books off of the shelf as well and follows her out.

Cassandra
Ena sees them coming out with the armloads of books. She’s leaning against the door of her rooms. And she just watches them go and load them in, and decides to go up and look around the room herself. And when she’s in there, she notices that there’s clothing strewn around the room. And, very uncharacteristically, begins to pick it up and fold it. Some of it’s covered in blood stains, some of it is very tattered. As she’s folding up all of these clothes, she comes across the handkerchief that belonged to his father. She picks it up and looks at it, gently caressing the edges of it, tucks it into the belt of her skirt, and then gets down on the ground and picks up the rag that Rabbit was scrubbing the floor with and continues to scrub.

Natalia
Maesie walks in on this. It’s that moment of: she and Rabbit left, and in the intervening time when they disappeared, that’s when Ena went in. She comes back in not knowing that Ena is gonna be there, and is incredibly surprised to find Ena in this room.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Uh, Ena. Um, you’re on the floor. Are you sure you wanna be in here?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I feel like, in a way, I owe it to him. He left quite the mess. In more ways than one.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
How are you doing?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
There’s a part of me that firmly believes this is the justice that he deserves. But there’s another part of me that knows he’s lost, and I don’t want him to be lost. Even if he’s lost to me, he deserves a chance at redemption. And I don’t think I realized that until after he was gone.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
I know we have to deal with the entire flooding situation, um, and Rabbit’s probably leaving soon. Would you want to help me look for him after, whenever that is?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Yes, Little Pearl. I would.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Okay.

Kim
I have a Paint the Scene for everybody. All of you have noticed the encroaching flood in London, and at least Miss Thanero, you are aware of the most recent edition of the Society Pages, but what all have you noticed that is a portent of this magical ritual Theodora is in the process of performing? How can you tell she will be completing her work soon?

[Unsettling ambience]

Cassandra
As the Thames has begun to rapidly overflow its banks, the Thames is now also partially saltwater because she is mingling with the ocean, as they meet and converge to sink London under the waves.

Natalia
Similarly, in Maesie’s taking to the water at least once during this time, there is a difference to the energy that the water carries. It is almost malicious and forceful, where it used to be calm and inviting, as if it is forcing itself to be in a place that it doesn’t want to be.

Robert
Oddly enough, for a city as big, dirty, and industrious as London, there are no rats to be found anywhere. They have all fled the sinking city.

Kim
I’d like to, if I may, pull you all into the foyer. You’ve all been presented with this most recent edition of the Society Pages. All of you feel that whatever it is Theodora is trying to do, it will happen tonight.

[Rain]

Cassandra
Ena has that gossip column in her hand as they’ve all gathered in the foyer, and holds it up for either Maesie or Rabbit to read.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I think our very good friend Theodora is very close to finishing what she started.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Makes sense. There’s been more magic in the air recently. A humming. A thrumming.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
It’s in the water too.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
It’s everywhere. The energy is very different. I think we’re going to have to find a way to get out to that country estate and deal with the problems sooner rather than later.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Well, getting there won’t be much of a problem. I can get us in if you lot don’t mind a bit of a journey. But I think we should prepare a bit before we go in, you know. Make sure we’re ready for the final confrontation, so to speak.

Kim
Indeed, because you know that you will be arriving as unwanted guests.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Well, she seems to come to places uninvited all the time. Might as well give her a taste of her own medicine.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I think we should plan to look our best. Despite the circumstances, I think it will help us blend in a bit more.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
I’ll be requiring your assistance with that.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Rabbit, do you think you can get a message off to our dear Mistress Beaumont to see if she can provide us with some outfits for the evening?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Make whatever preparations you need. I’ll go get us some proper fancy duds. And we’ll meet back here in about an hour and get ready to crash the party.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Sounds like a plan to me.

Cassandra
And Ena goes up the stairs to her rooms to make her preparations.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, that you extended word to Mistress Beaumont, and she worked quickly as always. And three packages arrived via the remaining Sister Sendula, and you have packed those away. How are we getting to Brathwaite Hall?

Robert
Well, I think that’s my job.

[Magical, dreamlike ambience]

Robert
So, I gather the two other Hunters, ready to go in the foyer of Hargrave House. Cait, splishing (oddly happily for a cat) through the water, comes up to me with a wriggling fish in his mouth. I take the wriggling fish, cut open its belly, and allow its blood and entrails to drip into the water, and they seem to flow with a current that is otherwise not observable.

[A magical swamp. Birds and insects chirp]

Robert
And Rabbit follows that current, and as he does, the landscape around him and the other Hunters begins to shift, as they find themselves no longer in Hargrave House, but in a dark, overgrown swamp where trees like pillars rise out of the ground.

[Rain falls. Birds chirp]

Robert
And then a few steps later, they are on the flooded grounds, near what was probably an ornamental pond at one point, of Theodora Brathwaite’s mansion.

Kim
Not so much an ornamental pond, but a vast lake that is on the enormous estate of Theodora Brathwaite. Let me describe the house to you. It is a sprawling, Georgian manor of sandstone. Towering marble columns frame the grand entrance, flanked by lush gardens blooming year-round. Ornate windows sparkle, reflecting the countryside with perfect clarity. Beyond this enormous manse lies a huge lake with an island in the very center of it. The grand road leading towards Brathwaite Hall is populated with carriages, left behind by Mrs. Brathwaite’s many, many guests, and tended to by some very nervous-looking footmen and skittish horses.

[Distant classical music]

Kim
Inside, you hear the raucous sounds of celebration, almost drowning out the thunder and the rain around you. And perhaps most curious of all, next to the house, dry-docked, is Mrs. Theodora Brathwaite’s pirate ship.

I have a Paint the Scene for you all. As you approach Brathwaite Hall, how can you tell Mrs. Brathwaite is the second richest person in the empire?

Cassandra
In this row of carriages, we would see Theodora’s immaculately appointed carriage, and you would note this by, obviously, the sapphire blue adornments that are on it. But ahead of her carriage in the line is an even larger carriage, completely bedecked in gold.

Robert
A fairly common decorating trend at this time was the folly, a purposeful ruins that you would build onto your grounds. Usually, these would be small, the size of a gazebo. The one near Theodora’s lake is the size of a Greek temple.

Natalia
The house and the grounds are being tended to by an inordinate number of people, all dressed in exquisite sapphire blue livery, all working almost in complete silence, as if they’ve been doing this forever and they don’t even need to discuss how to go about their jobs.

Cassandra
Ena crosses her arms and takes all of this finery and extravagance in, seeing all the many servants moving about the grounds in the rain, the ruins, the boat.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well, someone’s compensating for something, aren’t they?

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Why is there a boat in the middle of the grounds? Why is it not on the sea?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well, given that this will soon be the sea, it’s exactly where it needs to be, I’d venture, after her plan is complete.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Right. It’s gonna be really unfortunate when that doesn’t happen, and she just has a massive boat in the middle of her yard.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Given what I plan to do to her, I don’t think she’ll care.

Cassandra
Ena turns to Rabbit.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Is there a place we can stash our evening looks while we look around the grounds?

Robert
Rabbit scans the grounds and sees a groundskeeper’s hut.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
That’s probably our best bet. I doubt her and her lot will be going in there.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well, let’s unburden ourselves and get to figuring out how we stop this.

Cassandra
Ena ventures off towards the hut to hide her bag.

Kim
Easily done. All manner of partygoers and guests are wandering the grounds as you are making your way through. No one is paying you any particular mind. There are so many people here.

Cassandra
I want to go look in her office and see if I can find anything that will point to what the last step of this ritual is.

Kim
Sure, alright. Mr. Lloyd, where are you off to first?

Robert
Morgan’s going to be looking about the wine cellars, the basement, places where, you know, someone might try and hide something out of the view of all of her guests.

Kim
Alright. Miss Douglas?

Natalia
Maesie would like to go look at this big, stupid boat.

Kim
Let us begin with Miss Thanero.

[The classical music grows louder. The sound of partygoers]

Kim
You make your way, somewhat unceremoniously, into the grand foyer of Brathwaite Hall, not announced. You simply just wander in. Black and white marble floors gleam beneath an immense crystal chandelier imported from Bohemia. Twin staircases of dark polished mahogany curve upward, their ironwork balustrades fashioned in swirling, Victorian motifs. Ornate gas lamps bracket the wainscoated walls while gilt mirrors and an antique longcase clock stand sentinel near the carved oak entry doors.

I have a Paint the Scene here. Much like in Theodora Brathwaite’s city pied-a-terre, Mrs. Brathwaite has included several nods to her past as the Pirate Queen of Barbuda in this foyer. What do you see?

Natalia
There is a massive chandelier hanging in the middle of the hall, but instead of glass, it is constructed out of swords.

Cassandra
In between these two staircases, there is a massive portrait of Theodora herself in her full pirate garb, brandishing a sword, pointing towards where her next conquest will be.

Robert
And up in the high ceilings, there are ropes hung decoratively to resemble the rigging of a ship, but glittering with gold.

Kim
As you make your way through this room, you see, seated on a divan, a woman who we, the listeners, would know to be Tati Brathwaite, but I don’t believe any of these Hunters have ever met before. She is in her early 20s. She is dressed somewhat similarly to you, Miss Thanero, in that she is wearing menswear. And perched on either side of her are two identically dressed men: a pair of identical twin dandies, both of them kind of pawing at her and laughing as Tati Brathwaite is regaling them with a story.

Tati Brathwaite (Kim)
So, Mama claimed that she would cut me out from the inheritance if the American agreed to work with her, and just like a proper idiot, her believed her.

Cassandra
Ena hears this and her face instantly goes steely, but she also knows right now in this instance that the plan is not to garner too much attention. We’re trying to figure some things out before an altercation starts. So, Ena is going to try to go up the stairs unnoticed by Tatiana and these two dandies. She’s gonna try to sneak away, go upstairs, and see if she can locate the office she’s looking for. As much as I would love to light this girl up, it’s not the right time.

Kim
I like the notion that all that Tati sees out of the corner of her eye is just another impeccably dressed, very modern-thinking woman heading up the stairs, but then she returns to her pair of twins.

You head up the stairs, passing several residents, many maids and members of staff. But, being a woman of society yourself, you would know where the private suites of the mistress of the house would be, and you quietly make your way there.

You enter into a sanctuary of sapphire and gold. Mrs. Brathwaite’s private suite glows with rich silk bedding, gilded picture frames, and embroidered cushions piled high on a canopied bed. The adjoining study, as you pass through it, displays nautical charts, antique sextants, and ledgers from past adventures. A crystal decanter of spiced rum sits ready beside her favorite chair. Dominating one wall, you see a striking portrait of Mrs. Theodora Brathwaite in her youth: fierce, proud, crowned with sea wind and jewels.

Paint the Scene: You notice something unexpectedly sentimental or vulnerable among Theodora’s treasures. What is it, and what does it reveal about her true nature?

Cassandra
On a bedside table, there is a long chain, not particularly fine, and at the end of it is a pendant that’s a locket. And if you opened the locket, you would see a picture of a young Queen Victoria.

Natalia
In the drawer of this nightstand, there is a leatherbound journal that is very worn, the leather is almost starting to crack, and in it are a list of names: every member of any crew that she has had who is no longer with her.

Robert
On her writing desk is a letter that looks like it was written decades ago and has been crumpled and reflattened out and crumpled up and reflattened out many times. And if one were to get close to it, they would see that it was a love note signed with the initials A.V. – Alexandrina Victoria, what Queen Victoria’s name was before she was crowned Queen.

Kim
Miss Thanero, what are you doing in here?

Cassandra
Ena admires all of the finery. Mrs. Brathwaite definitely knows how to curate a room, despite the tiresome nature of the sapphire color, which Ena does not appreciate. She’s tired of looking at it.

Kim
[laughs] She never wants to see blue again.

Cassandra
I never wanna see blue again. You will never see it in my wardrobe ever. Very tired. As she’s looking around, she would definitely go to the writing desk and start poking through the drawers to see if there’s anything in here written or otherwise that would give her some information as to how this is gonna go down tonight.

Kim
This sounds like a pretty cut-and-dry Information Move with Reason to me.

Cassandra
I have my positive condition of A New Goddess, and I can clear that at any time to take Advantage on a roll. And I think now’s a good time to do that.

Kim
Marvelous.

Cassandra
I’m feeling powerful! I’m walking through this woman’s house.

Kim
Yeah, absolutely. That tracks for me. Go forth.

Cassandra
Alright. [rolls dice] So that is a 4 and a 2 on the dice, and a 0 for Reason. So that is a 6.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, as Miss Thanero heads upstairs, you head downstairs, correct?

[Quiet, echoing halls]

Robert
That’s right.

Kim
Down towards the servant quarters, the wine cellars, the kitchens. Where is your focus today?

Robert
Knowing that she would not want her myriad guests to interfere with any magical workings that she has going on, Morgan assumes that there must be something hidden away where the least number of people are, so he’s sort of avoiding crowds and avoiding people and is trying to get more and more alone.

Kim
Intriguing. This is certainly a very old house, and old houses, as you know, do have their secrets. I like the notion of a Day Move to try and poke around down here and look for a secret passage. What are you afraid will happen if you fail?

Robert
There are definitely vampires on these grounds, and something else that you might want to keep away from your prying guests are your vampire servants, so Morgan is afraid that he’ll run into a nest of these vampires.

Kim
Sounds perfectly plausible. This feels like a Day Move with Reason to me.

Robert
Knowing that vampires are one of the things that he’s going to be looking out for, I think Morgan is using his cracked silver hand mirror to sort of subtly look at the reflections of anyone he passes in order to avoid those who would cast no reflection. So I’ll be invoking that on this roll.

Kim
Go forth.

Robert
[rolls dice] Well, I am glad I rolled with Advantage because I rolled a 1, a 2, and a 5. So without Advantage I probably would have failed that, but as it is that is a 7.

[Rain falls. Birds chirp]

Kim
Mis Douglas, heading towards Mrs. Theodora Brathwaite’s old pirate ship, The Revenge. This ship is enormous. It has three masts, multiple decks, all manner of cannons on their gun deck. It is a ship fit for a Pirate Queen.

I have a Paint the Scene here, as you make your way on deck. This ship has not been at sea for several decades, and yet how can you tell that Theodora has recently been preparing it for a long voyage?

Cassandra
Looking at the hull of the ship, one would note a very thick new layer of pitch across the boards to ensure that it stays watertight for a long time.

Robert
While there is obviously a banquet set out for the party itself that will be happening, if you were to go below decks, you would notice not only more of the food and drink that is being served there but barrels of citrus fruit and rum.

Natalia
When Mrs. Brathwaite first brought the ship back, she left the original sails with all of their mends on the ship, but recently the sails have been completely replaced with brand new sails.

Kim
What is it that you are looking for, Miss Douglas?

Natalia
With Ena’s comment about Theodora and all of her guests presumably taking to this ship as the floods rise, Maesie wants to find a way to sabotage this as a means of escape.

Kim
Interesting. Go ahead and make an Information Move with Reason. I have to wonder if Sea Longing is at play here?

Natalia
[disappointedly agrees] Yeah. I figured. I figured Sea Longing was gonna do me poorly in this ocean-related finale.

Kim
It feels correct to me.

Natalia
Yeah, Maesie’s never seen a ship this big, so that’s already just impressive and overwhelming.

Kim
Yeah.

Natalia
I think while feeling this feeling of desire for the ocean and for seas abroad, Maesie is going to feel between her fingers the shell from the Lady Thames, reminding her of her home here in London. [sing-song] So, flat roll, let’s go. [rattles dice] Oh god. [rolls dice] 2 plus 4 is 6, plus 1 for my Reason is 7.

[Quiet, echoing halls]

Kim
Let us return to Mr. Lloyd. It’s easy for you to go unnoticed in a place like this. Were you dressed a little nicer, you could even be perhaps confused for a member of Mrs. Brathwaite’s staff.

Robert
[laughing] Oh, that’s a read! Dressed too poorly to be a servant.

Natalia
Oh, yeah. For her? She’s the second richest person!

Kim
So very few people pay you any mind, assuming that you are maybe not a member of staff but perhaps a delivery boy or a messenger or something like that. As you make your way further within the bowels of Brathwaite Hall, you do see a couple men leaning rather conspicuously against a blank wall. They are dressed all in black. You perhaps recognize a few of them and their ilk from the assault on Hargrave House. These are members of the Black Laces, Mr. Higgins’ loosely organized gang of thugs and killers. They seem to be guarding something.

Robert
The first thing Rabbit does is use his little silver hand mirror to surreptitiously look at them. Are they mortal or are they not casting a reflection?

Kim
They are mortal.

Robert
For a moment, Rabbit hesitates because he has been in this mindset so long of having to keep himself and his magic hidden. But with the Wild Hunt settled, that is no longer a concern. So he flashes a grin to the men in black guarding this door, cracks his knuckles, and thrusts one arm, finger extended in a point towards them.

[Ghostly whispering. Unsettling woodwinds]

Robert
And you can see a tattoo slithering down the length of Rabbit’s arm, and as it reaches his hand, it sort of just creeps out from underneath his fingernail: blue ink swirling in the air, as though it were water, taking the form of this absolutely horrific monstrosity, this thing that is more tentacles, eyes, and mouths, than it is other recognizable features.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Sweet dreams.

Kim
I like this very much. Could you describe the carnage that happens here?

Robert
For an outside observer, there’s actually very little carnage. As this thing sort of envelopes the men, they simply pass out. But if you were to go inside their heads, you would see them both struggling against this squamous monstrosity while also mutating themselves, unable to control their own limbs as they turn into tentacles. Giant eyeballs fill their mouths, and their eyes turn into screaming mouths themselves. These men are enveloped in a monstrous nightmare that would make David Cronenberg jealous.

Kim
How does it feel to use your powers so unabashedly?

Robert
At first, it feels wrong, almost painful, as these psychic channels within Rabbit are being reopened for the first time in years. But as the power flows through him, it’s intoxicating. It’s like a drug. It’s like alcohol. The sheer power that he is wielding itself is bordering on the addictive.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, please remove the Condition: An Unstoppered Bottle, and please replace it with Drunk With Magic.

[The whispering and woodwinds fade away]

Kim
With these mere mortals dispatched, you, no stranger to magical secrets, start to move your hands about the wall. It’s not hard for you to find the particular brick that opens up this secret passage.

[Distant classical music and partygoers]

Kim
As you make your way deeper within Brathwaite Hall, Miss Thanero, you head immediately towards the desk in Theodora Brathwaite’s private study. And I imagine, without much care or subtlety, you just start rifling through the papers on top of this desk, going through the drawers. Time is of the essence. One need not be subtle here.

Cassandra
She’s behind the desk, just tearing through things, trying to find anything that looks like it might be of use to them to stop this from happening.

[The Limehouse Lurker’s theme fades in]

Kim
Indeed, you are searching, desperately searching for anything that might help you, anything that might clue you in to Theodora’s ritual. What is the missing piece? What is the last thing that she needs to usher in this new Atlantis? You are so focused on this that you don’t even hear the soft tread of footsteps on this plush carpet.

Mysterious Voice (Kim)
You’re not supposed to be in here.

Kim
And when you look up, you see no one at first, before your eyes travel down, and you take in the tiny form of the Limehouse Lurker.

[Shadows in the Smoke theme]

Kim
Shadows in the Smoke is a Kitten Marlowe production. This episode was edited and produced by Kim Dalton, and featured a theme song by Jake Pierle. You can find out more about us by visiting KittenMarlowe.com, signing up for our newsletter, or following us on socials. For Discord access, an exclusive behind-the-scenes show, and more, visit Patreon.com/KittenMarlowe and join our favorite colony of feral cats, our Kitten Marlowe patrons, in supporting artist-driven storytelling. Thanks for listening.