Shadows in the Smoke S2E5 - "Together, but Not Alone"

Shadows in the Smoke S2E5 – “Together, but not alone”

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

Let us return to the Hotêl Palais, and to Miss Douglas and the Crimson Gentleman. The two of you are lounging in a very finely appointed bed, the Crimson Gentleman playing with your hair. Miss Douglas, at the conclusion of this Vulnerable Scene, you may clear a Condition of your choice.

Natalia
I would like to clear One Foot In Other Worlds, seeing as I am pretty content to be in this one right now.

Kim
Very nice. And you may give me a Clue. It may be for any Threat you wish, as long as the Clue does not conclusively answer a Question.

Natalia
It’s definitely going to be for the Whateley Camera.

Kim
Okay.

Natalia
The Crimson Gentleman is the type of person to set up a mirror opposite the bed [Kim laughs], even though he can’t see himself in it at all.

Kim
I think that’s probably, like, the best way you could put a mirror by the bed. Yeah, I’m here for it.

Natalia
And looking into it, Maesie sees herself. And so I think the reflection of the model in a mirror is a good Clue.

Kim
Nice. Also, because you did the Vulnerable Scene with a Side Character— I suppose technically he’s a danger now.

Natalia
I guess, yeah.

Kim
This is not the first time that you have done Vulnerable Scenes with Dangers. And, to be fair, when you met him, he was a Side Character. I do, nevertheless, need you to roll a… I think with anyone else it would be a Night Move, but he does have a certain fondness for you, so–

Natalia
[gasps] Yay.

Kim
We’re gonna say that this is a Day Move. I think it’s with… my impulse is either Vitality or Composure. And I think it’s mostly centered around trying to get out of this bed and do something else today.

Natalia
Mmm.

Kim
I don’t know, what do you think?

Natalia
I like the idea of Vitality. That, like, need to physically remove yourself from a situation.

Kim
Alright, so what are you afraid will happen if things go wrong here?

Natalia
Well, I worry that I will languish in bed all day and get absolutely nothing done.

Kim
I think that’s very valid. Go ahead and make the Day Move with Vitality.

Natalia
[rolls dice] 8 on the dice, plus 2 is a 10.

Kim
The Crimson Gentleman strikes a match against the side of the bed, lights a cigarette, and then passes it to you.

The Crimson Gentleman (Kim)
Will you not stay?

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
I fear I have things to do– No, thank you, I’m alright, thank you. Um, some things I need to look into before they get worse.

The Crimson Gentleman (Kim)
Agh, always so busy.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Never too busy for you.

The Crimson Gentleman (Kim)
I will not keep you.

Kim
He says, still holding onto your wrist as you’re rising from the bed, looking at you with a questioning expression, seeing if your certainty will waver.

Natalia
Maesie pulls her wrist towards herself, lifting his wrist to her mouth and kisses the inside of his arm delicately.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
I will be back, you know that.

The Crimson Gentleman (Kim)
I do.

Kim
There is a soft knock at the door.

The Crimson Gentleman (Kim)
It is time to eat, anyway. I always feel a bit peckish after.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
I will leave you to it then.

Natalia
She starts dressing.

Kim
As you exit the Crimson Gentleman’s bedroom, you pass a young man who is entering wearing a crimson mask and only a crimson mask. And you see the Crimson Gentleman sink his teeth into this young man’s very willing neck.

Natalia
Maesie, as she goes to close the door behind her, lingers for a moment, and then closes the door.

Kim
Alright. Well now that you have managed to pull yourself out of bed, Miss Douglas, where does the rest of the day take you?

Natalia
I would like to go visit Cyrus Abernathy in the waking world.

Kim
Ah, I see. I suppose I should bounce this question to all of my Hunters. Dr. Branford, Miss Thanero, Elsie Willow, the three of you are still at Leslie’s deathbed. What are the three of you up to for the rest of your day? T. is hesitating, taking their cues from their employer, Dr. Branford.

Madeleine
Yeah, Dr. Branford absolutely wants to continue investigating The Cursed and, I think, given Miss Willow’s presence, will be taking her to go see Elvina Tomkins.

T.
Oh, sure.

Kim
Yeah, y’all could head to Clapham Common and talk to her there.

T.
Given Miss Willow’s profession, she is inclined to join.

Kim
Chances are good that the two of you know each other, or at the very least know of each other. Miss Thanero, what about you?

Cassandra
I believe I am also going to head to the Society Obscura, less so to work on the Camera, and more so to maybe get a chance with Cyrus about why he’s dreaming about me.

Kim
As Miss Douglas and Miss Thanero both start making their way to the Society Obscura, both unaware that the other is doing so as well, let us follow Dr. Branford and Elsie Willow over to Clapham Common.

[Birdsong and soft wind]

Clapham Common is in South London and is in the process of becoming an urban park. We see a wide open field, dotted here and there with trees. Both of your senses are greeted by the very rich smell of grass and earth. You see a red-roofed bandstand standing alone in this field: the first step of turning this space into a park. Paint the Scene: three years ago, Claphman Common was the site of several grisly murders. What faint evidence of this do you see even now?

T.
There’s a large section of grass, right on the edge of the wood, that refuses to grow green. It remains a dead, pale yellow.

Madeleine
There’s a statue that appears to be coated in grime and rust, but rust doesn’t make sense because it’s made of stone.

Natalia
As the wind blows through this common, it sounds ever so slightly like someone screaming.

Cassandra
Even though the murders were a few years ago, there is still a slightly elevated police presence around this area.

Kim
Miss Willow, I think you know where to find Elvina Tomkins. She is having a little bit of lunch, sitting on a bench in Clapham Common. She is wearing a blue velvet gown that is slightly frayed at the hems. She wears black fingerless gloves and her brown hair is pulled up and pinned with a magpie pin.

T.
Elsie goes to the bench and sits on the far opposite side, as if she is just another stranger taking the air, crosses her leg, lights a cigarette, and looks off into the distance.

Elsie Willow (T.)
Hiya, Ina.

Elvina Tomkins (Kim)
Elsie Willow, is that you?

Elsie Willow (T.)
The very same. Sorry to be traipsing around your territory, but I’m not working.

Elvina Tomkins (Kim)
I’m not calling it my territory right now. Had a bit of a fright.

Elsie Willow (T.)
I heard something about that. Nothin’ to do with the bad bit of business here a few years ago?

Elvina Tomkins (Kim)
No, not that. Although that bad bit of business did make me stop working here for a few weeks while those murders were happening.

Elsie Willow (T.)
I remember.

Elvina Tomkins (Kim)
Different sort of business. Different sort of killer.

Elsie Willow (T.)
Did you see it?

Elvina Tomkins (Kim)
I did. It was enormous, tall as an oak, nearly as wide. And the way it breathed at me. Not on me but at me. I could sense iit wanted me to feel it, you know? It wanted me to know it was there. I could hear it snarling and feel its hot breath even from twenty paces away. Clapham Common has had such a dark history. And now this.

Elsie Willow (T.)
It’s a bad spot, no mistake. I told ya before, there’s places like this in this town. On this island. You’re always welcome back at the rookery, little magpie.

Elvina Tomkins (Kim)
[chuckles and sighs] And be competition to you? With that pretty red hair?

Elsie Willow (T.)
Ey! I got more business than I know what to do with. There’s only so many hours in the day.

Elvina Tomkins (Kim)
[laughs heartily] Too true, love, too true.

Elsie Willow (T.)
And you know as well as I do, there’s plenty of gentlemen comes round asking for a two-for-one. I just… I worry about ya is all. Beasts like this ain’t the worst thing walking around here.

Elvina Tomkins (Kim)
I can take care of myself, you know.

Elsie Willow (T.)
Aye.

T.
And I turn to look at her.

Elsie Willow (T.)
But ya don’t have to.

Kim
She reaches across the bench and squeezes your hand.

Elsie Willow (T.)
Listen, I know a woman. She’s a doctor, educated-like. I’m not here to have her take a look at ya, but she knows something about the thing ya saw. There’s anything you could tell us that might help us put it away, maybe make Clapham Common more safe for the likes of you and me.

Kim
I think at this moment Miss Tomkins notices Dr. Branford.

Madeleine
Who has been very awkwardly standing, probably about fifteen yards away by a tree, just very uncomfortable, holding a book very tightly in her hands, looking actively away, trying not to draw attention, but being incredibly uncomfortable.

Elvina Tomkins (Kim)
That awkward one there?

Elsie Willow (T.)
Aye. This isn’t her usual stomping ground. You get the cobbles out from underneath her feet, she doesn’t know how to stand.

Elvina Tomkins (Kim)
Oy! Doctor!

Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Hm? Mm. Oh. Yeah. [clears her throat] Hello. Uh, hello. Hello. Hello, um, Miss Tomkins?

Elvina Tomkins (Kim)
Ay, that’s me.

Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Excellent. Uh, I presume Miss Willow has filled you in on what I’m looking for?

Elvina Tomkins (Kim)
She said you’re, uh, some sorta expert on what I saw in Clapham Common.

Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Yes, I was hoping to get more information. Perhaps about any olfactory experiences, any sort of… anything you might have noticed that would be distinctive. Um, any– anything memorable.

Madeleine
She pulls out her notebook, and she’s just ready, just looks to Elsie.

Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Just more details about the encounter. Any specifics.

Elsie Willow (T.)
Anything you can remember about it, love.

Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Mhm.

Kim
T., all of your Informals have their own Move that they can do in the Day. Can you please read Elsie Willow’s Day Move?

T.
Once per Day Phase, you gain an extra Clue on the Information Move when questioning a destitute person, even on a Miss. Your patron can also do this once per Day Phase, as long as you are in the scene with them. How does your presence make the downtrodden trust your patron more?

Kim
Alright, so T., how does Elsie’s presence help make Elvina trust Dr. Branford?

T.
It’s the connection of knowing one another. You know, Elsie is a known entity to Ina, and she’s established a little bit of trust here. So, simply by “hey, this is a friend of mine.”

Kim
Now, both of you were talking to  Elvina Tomkins, but it is Dr. Branford who specifically asked about the creature and about what Elvina knows. So the Information Move falls to you, Dr. Branford. Regardless, success or fail, you will get a Clue. But let’s see how many Clues you get. This is going to be an Information Move with Presence, please.

Madeleine
Uh, that is a 7.

[wind and birdsong fades away]

Kim
Let us travel now to the Society Obscura. Do the two of you get there at the same time? Or does one of you arrive first?

Natalia
I think I get there first.

Kim
Alright, Miss Douglas, you arrive first. You knock upon the now sepia door of the Society Obscura. No one answers.

[Echoing unearthly scrapes]

Natalia
I open it and just go in.

Kim
Miss Douglas, as you push the door open, step through its threshold, you yourself turn sepia.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Well, that’s new.

Kim
It is. But it seems to be the least of your concerns. We had mentioned that the Society Obscura is now existing partially within the Fragrant Void. And that delicate balance is tipping, tipping more towards the Void. You walk through the Society Obscura, and it’s like seeing two images superimposed upon each other, like some sort of photography double exposure trick.

[Whooping bird calls and buzzing insects]

You are heading up the stairs, but also climbing a hill in a garden beneath perpetual twilight. You are pulling aside velvet curtains, but also moving these waxen vines that are twisting through tall hedges. Many ways are blocked to you, covered in this swirling darkness or these odd, feral, large blossoms that are murmuring forgotten conversations. 

You push into a room. You see written in a gold plate on the door that, at least at one time, this was called the American West Room, decorated to look like a Western saloon. Paint the Scene: this room is not quite right. What feels off about it?

[jungle noises fade, ethereal echo resumes]

Natalia
This room holds an ornate chandelier, full of candles burning and wax dripping, but the chandelier emerges from the floor, and the wax drips towards the ceiling.

Madeleine
On the wall, there’s a mural of bison approaching the edge of a cliff. And if you get close, you can hear their grunts and notice that they are all throwing themselves off the edge.

T.
As Maesie steps into the room, a noose falls from one of the rafters above, dangling just in front of her.

Cassandra
Opposite the mural of the bison, on another wall is a separate mural depicting a peaceful exchange between the settlers and Native Americans. But as you walk up on it, it starts to morph, and there is blood and viscera from the Native Americans as they collapse to the ground.

Kim
Miss Douglas, you hear the rustle of curtains (or is it hedges?) as Cyrus Abernathy moves into this room. He doesn’t seem to notice you. He is busy arranging a camera and posing it for a self-portrait.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Mr. Abernathy.

Cyrus Abernathy (Kim)
Hello. Uh, I’m afraid that the Society is closed to non-members, as of late. I am quite busy.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Could I assist you?

Cyrus Abernathy (Kim)
Yes, I suppose so.

Kim
And he turns and looks at you, and his eyes are completely black.

Natalia
I enact a little bit of Curse of the Deep and make my eyes look like his.

Cyrus Abernathy (Kim)
Yes, you do seem to be a perfect assistant. I say, I haven’t seen Periwinkle in quite a few days. Well, you shall do. Please arrange the scenery as you see fit.

Kim
And he gestures to this American West saloon.

Natalia
Maesie begins pulling a set of curtains that runs on a rail across the middle of the room to drape them and tie them back around a chair that he has set before the camera.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Um, I was curious if you, uh, knew anything about a woman, Penelope Leevey? She came here once?

Cyrus Abernathy (Kim)
Yes, she was part of our little club for a bit. Uh, you’re going to have to tilt the camera a bit higher, dear.

Kim
Cyrus says as he stands on the chair and starts pulling the noose around his neck.

[Tense, rising tone]

Natalia
[strained] Oh, god.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Um, right, yes. Um, she, uh, she said she was, uh, spoke to her once. She said she was writing a play, Ecstasies of the Pythia? Sound familiar to you?

Cyrus Abernathy (Kim)
[sighs] Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

Kim
He’s tightening the noose around his neck.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Um, before you do– before you take this picture, um, what is– what is your– um, perhaps I could stand in for you. So, so you can make sure that the angle is exactly how you want it. I’m sure I could not compare to your photographic talent.

Cyrus Abernathy (Kim)
Hmm. It is good to get a test photo, I suppose. Check the lighting.

Kim
He slips the noose off of his neck, steps off of the chair, motions for you to stand.

Cyrus Abernathy (Kim)
Alright, off you pop.

Natalia
Maesie takes a huge sigh of relief before immediately getting so tense again.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Um, yep. Alright, um. [clears her throat] So, um, I’m afraid I’m a little bit shorter than you.

Cyrus Abernathy (Kim)
Ah, you’ll just have to stand on the tiptoes.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.

Kim
The chair rocks a little bit beneath your feet [Natalia groans] as you step up onto it.

Natalia
Maesie holds the noose just in front of her face, not putting it quite around her neck.

Cyrus Abernathy (Kim)
I like to imagine a photograph is like a little pocket dimension, a tiny world parallel to our own. You do believe in other worlds, don’t you?

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Yes.

Cyrus Abernathy (Kim)
I believe in other worlds. Parallel threads in time. For example, the primordial past of this world. The time before there was light is still with us. It floats alongside us. And sometimes… it calls out to us. Noose all the way around your neck, darling.

Natalia
Maesie, hearing this, puts the noose around her neck. Doesn’t tighten it, but just lets it rest on her shoulders.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Do you hear her, too?

[Tone grows louder, higher-pitched, more ominous]

Cyrus Abernathy (Kim)
I hear things, Miss Douglas. I hear It. The Entity. Do you not feel it? It is with us now.

Kim
And, Miss Douglas, without you touching it, you feel the noose tighten around your neck.

[Rising tone resolves and fades away]

Let’s go to Miss Thanero. Miss Thanero, this seems like an apt time for you to enter the Society Obscura.

Cassandra
Ena walks up the steps, noticing and taking in the sepia-toned exterior. Doesn’t knock, just shoves the door open. She breaks the doorplate in the jamb, and it shatters into a bunch of pieces as she steps into this sepia-toned, double-exposed Society Obscura.

Kim
And you don’t see a garden.

Cassandra
What do I see?

[Ethereal echo, waves softly crashing]

Kim
A black sand coastline. You open the door, and you feel these waves of this viscous, silvery liquid lapping against your ankles.

Cassandra
Ena tries to pull her boots out of this, and it’s just this deafening, sucking sound. She’s not able to pull her feet from the liquid. But she tries to shuffle forward further into the room and further towards this body of goo-water.

Kim
So going into the water?

Cassandra
Yeah, I think so. It feels like that’s the only way to move right now.

[Underwater muffle]

Kim
Miss Thanero, you dive into this silvery, viscous fluid. You smell this intoxicating scent of salt spray and incense. And as you’re swimming or moving, it’s unclear where you are and what you are doing. You’re hearing voices from the waves, coaxing you to swim farther. To stop swimming. To sink. To just drift weightlessly towards the Void. And then you feel a hand around your wrist pulling you out of this liquid, and a woman has pulled you out. She’s wearing a sheer caftan. Her hair is braided to look like a crown. And the room that she has pulled you into was a room once labeled the Astral Plane Room.

[Underwater muffle returns to ethereal echo]

This very strange room painted in dreamy greys and silvers, or what would have been greys and silvers in another time of the Society Obscura. Paint the Scene: there are objects arranged all over that seem to be from another world or time. Please describe one.

Cassandra
There’s a carved alcove in the wall of this room that has a pedestal on it that holds a crackling bolt of Zeus’ lightning.

Natalia
On a table full of props, there is a small, ridged stone, a very dark grey, that seems to glow from within and it emanates a very soft hum.

Madeleine
There is an intricate device made of a metal that looks like it might be brass, and as bodies move past it, the various levers and hands on this device seem to follow the bodies as they’re in the room.

T.
At the far end of the room, lifted up on a dais, there is a carriage, but there is no place with which to affix horses nor reins or rigging. The entire thing is very boxy. Its top half made of glass, as if a fishbowl. Its wheels not of wood, but black as the road. And its front has two gleaming mirrors that show no reflection and a row of bars like a prison cell. Affixed amidst the middle is a figure with wings for arms, leaning forward.

Kim
Much like what Miss Douglas is experiencing (though of course you don’t know), this woman sees you but doesn’t really see you. Her eyes are completely black, and when she speaks it is with a dreamy air of someone who is only partially existing on this plane.

Portia Abernathy (Kim)
Careful, dear. These rooms have gotten so confusing recently.

Cassandra
Ena looks around and takes in this Astral Plane Room and what is going very wrong inside the Society Obscura.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Who are you? What… What’s happening here?

Portia Abernathy (Kim)
Portia Abernathy. This is my Society. Well, mine and dear Cyrus. I suppose it’s not ours anymore.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well then, whose is it?

Portia Abernathy (Kim)
It belongs to the Entity, of course. It hasn’t told me its name. Belongs to the Camera, possibly. It whispers things in my dreams, tells me of how to use it.

Kim
And as she speaks, Portia is mixing a little cocktail for herself, and you see her grab a vial of quicksilver—liquid mercury—and pour it into the glass.

Portia Abernathy (Kim)
The camera first sees us. Then, it reveals us. Many people don’t like what they see in the image because they know it is the truth.

Kim
She moves to stand in front of a camera, holding the button for the shutter in her hand as she raises the cup to her lips.

Portia Abernathy (Kim)
One cannot hide from the lens, though. No matter how hard one tries.

[Tense, rising tone]

Cassandra
Ena pulls on that cord at her shoulder and snaps it like a whip to wrap around the tripod of the camera to pull it so it does not take a picture of her.

Kim
Okay. This feels like a Night Move with Composure. What are you afraid will happen if you fail?

Cassandra
I am afraid that this picture will be taken that is centered on her but that Ena is in the background of, and then I will be fully transported into the Void and no one will be able to find me or know where I am or what happened.

[Tone grows louder, higher-pitched, more ominous]

Kim
Miss Thanero, it’s worse than that. Not only will Portia Abernathy die, considering you have not done anything to stop her from drinking the lethal quicksilver. I think as you whip this cord towards the tripod, you’re starting to hear the conversations of Miss Douglas and Cyrus Abernathy through the other room, and Miss Douglas is going to be in peril and you’re going to be in the Void and unable to possible help her or do anything to stop what is about to happen to Miss Douglas.

Cassandra
As Ena throws this cord whip at the tripod, she thinks about what this picture would look like and mean, and thinks of the sketchbook with all of the different depictions of her that she has had over the years. And so I will be invoking that to take this roll with Advantage.

Kim
Alright, please do so.

Cassandra
Alright, so that is a 1, 2, and a 3 on the dice, so a 5 for taking it at Advantage, plus my Composure stat which is a 1, for a 6.

Kim
Miss Thanero, you reach out with this cord, pulling the camera away from Portia Abernathy as she drinks the poison. We hear the camera go off, and then Miss Thanero you are somewhere else, lost within the Void, never to return.

[Rising tone resolves and fades away]

Let’s move away from the Society Obscura and return to the safety, relatively so, of Clapham Common.

T.
Of this famous murder park. [Kim laughs]

Madeleine
Not today!

Kim
Not a park yet. [everyone laughs]

T.
[laughing] That’s the issue, though.

Kim
Technically not yet, not ‘til the 1870s.

[Birdsong and soft wind]

Elvina Tomkins, steadied by the presence of Elsie and thus more trusting of the fancy folk, looks at you, Dr. Branford.

Elvina Tomkins (Kim)
Sensory details, I, uh… I suppose it smelled real bad. Feral-like. And it was wet, like it had just crawled out of the water somewhere.

Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Curious.

T.
Elsie turns to look toward Battersea and the nearby Thames.

Elvina Tomkins (Kim)
On the night that I saw it, I did notice something odd. Apart from the… whatever it was. All the cats in the common, the feral ones, they’d all gathered in a particular spot. Such queer, little animals. Looked like they were all grouping up, talking to each other, as if for safety or like they were planning a war.

Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Can you point what area they gathered in?

Kim
She motions near the bandstand.

Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Excellent. Thank you so much for trusting me with your knowledge and your time, dear.

Elvina Tomkins (Kim)
Ay, of course. Anything for a friend of Elsie’s.

Elsie Willow (T.)
Look after yourself, love, alright?

Elvina Tomkins (Kim)
Same to you, darling.

Elsie Willow (T.)
You know where to find me.

Elvina Tomkins (Kim)
And you, me.

Elsie Willow (T.)
Well, Doctor. I think we’ve scared off as many of Ina’s potential clients as we’re like to today.

Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Better not draw any further attention to her area. Um, I am curious about this congregation of cats, though. So, um…

Elsie Willow (T.)
Should we take a walk to the bandstand?

Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Absolutely.

T.
Elsie holds out her hand for Dr. Branford.

Madeleine
Branford looks at it for a second.

Dr. Branford (Madeleine)
Uh… Mm. [clicks tongue] Uh.

Madeleine
And then pulls in close.

T.
Elsie twiddles her fingers in a wave as if the whole time she was just saying goodbye to Elvina, and traipses off towards the bandstand.

Kim
Elvina blows you a kiss.

T.
Elsie grabs it out of the air and smacks her butt with it.

Kim
[laughs] Perfect! I love those two. [Madeleine laughs too] The two of you make your way to this brick bandstand, and as you climb the steps to the platform, you notice something odd: every sixth brick on this bandstand has been crushed or damaged with what looks like a hoof. That is a further Clue for The Cursed. Dr. Branford, how are you feeling after this conversation with Elvina, this curious story of the cats, this further evidence of The Cursed?

Madeleine
Branford has pulled out her notebook and is making an etching with her pencil of the hoofprint in the brick. And, as she does this, she is overwhelmed with lack of understanding and how infuriated she feels that she can’t put a name to what this is. Her extensive schooling, her years in various academies, lecturing, touring, meeting with different people who are so full of knowledge and yet, she cannot connect any dots in this moment and feels very inept and inadequate.

Kim
Please take the Condition: Inept and Inadequate.

T.
Yikes.

Natalia
It’s brutal when you just feed Kim the exact words and [Kim cackles] you’re like, “But that’s– I didn’t– no, but not that!”

T.
Yeah.

Kim
Miss Willow, while Dr. Branford is grappling with her feelings of ineptitude, what are you doing?

T.
Elsie ascends to the bandstand, takes a look up the hill toward the old Brixton windmill, looks down around the patch of grass that refuses to grow at the edge of the woods and the rust on the nearby statue, shakes her head. And she scans around to see if there’s anyone taking shelter under this one structure in this Commons.

Kim
You see a man in a threadbare wool coat. He smells overwhelmingly of turpentine and cheap gin. He has thinning dark curls and a bushy beard. He’s got a piece of cardboard laid out near the bandstand and he is drawing upon it in paint.

T.
Elsie leans over the railing above where he’s painting, lets the wind blow her hair and ruffle the hem of her skirt.

Elsie Willow (T.)
I could pose for ya, if ya like.

Kim
He looks up at you.

The Artist (Kim)
Ah, and you’d be a very pretty model. Unfortunately, uh, I tend to draw men.

Kim
He says, raising his eyebrows a little.

Elsie Willow (T.)
As do I.

T.
She plants a hand on the railing and vaults over it to land down next to him.

Kim
As you peek over this artist’s shoulder, you see that he is working on this very dreamy portrait of two youths that are embracing in this sea of stars. They seem to be cloaked by the nighttime. These individuals have these beautiful, perfect profiles; these youthful, androgynous faces. The mood of this piece is very dreamy, very peaceful.

The Artist (Kim)
I call this one “The Shadow and the Night.” It’s yours for just a couple of bobbin, if you like it. Man’s gotta eat.

T.
She smiles at that phrasing and reaches into an unseen pocket in the hem of her skirts, pulls out a few coins.

Elsie Willow (T.)
It’s beautiful, and I’d be honored.

The Artist (Kim)
Thank you.

Elsie Willow (T.)
An artist, aye? I imagine you’ve probably seen all sorts of strange things if you can paint something like that.

The Artist (Kim)
Most of what I paint just comes from my memory, but I do see quite a lot.

Elsie Willow (T.)
Look around ya. This is one of the last patches of wilderness left in this city. Soon they’re gonna box it up and barter it in. The next thing you know, the people livin’ here’ll be grateful we were left this scrap. All this meddlin’ disturbs the nature. I imagine you’ve heard if you linger around here, there’s some sort of animal. It’s not takin’ too kindly to all these people brickin’ up the edges. Have you seen it?

The Artist (Kim)
I’ve seen very strange things. I reckon it might be this… creature you speak of.

T.
She pulls out another coin.

Elsie Willow (T.)
I’m not askin’ anything for free, and I’m not askin’ you to describe it if it frightens you. But if you want to paint it for me.

Kim
Make the Information Move with Presence.

T.
[rolls dice] 4 and 4 is 8, plus 2 for my Presence is 10.

Kim
This artist, who introduces himself as Lev Lehrer, smiles at you.

Lev Lehrer (Kim)
I’m not afraid of the beast, miss. I have my own bit of protection.

Kim
And he pulls out of his pocket a small little charm that is in the shape of a bat.

Lev Lehrer (Kim)
Always manages to keep me protected against, uh… foul things, like what you’re describing.

[Ominous hum rises]

Kim
And Lev starts drawing this creature. Elsie, it’s the first time that you’ve seen it, albeit an artist’s rendition of it. Tell me, what aspect of The Curse do you find especially fearsome?

T.
It’s the teeth. This wolf mouth with all of these teeth. And the hunger that that indicates.

Kim
He finishes the work. Out of habit, signs it. [chuckles]

Lev Lehrer (Kim)
It’s yours if you want it. I’d be happy to be rid of it.

[Hum fades away]

Elsie Willow (T.)
Feel I’ve already taken much from ya.

T.
She counts out another coin, and then, after mulling it over for a moment, puts her tongue between her teeth and takes the remaining of the coins she has on her person and gives them to him.

Kim
He hands you both pieces: this drawing of The Cursed as well as the painting he was working on.

Elsie Willow (T.)
Boy’s gotta eat, right?

Lev Lehrer (Kim)
Indeed, miss. I’d be careful near the water, miss. I've been hearing strange things, howling mixed with cries for help, but it’s the same voice making those noises.

Elsie Willow (T.)
The howling and the cry?

Lev Lehrer (Kim)
Aye, miss.

Elsie Willow (T.)
That’s London for ya.

Lev Lehrer (Kim)
Thank you for the money. Should you be interested in another painting, you can find me near Jacob’s Island most days.

Elsie Willow (T.)
I know it well. If you ever find yourself around Camden Town, not all of the company that I can provide I charge for, if you take my meaning. Sometimes it’s nice just to talk to someone.

Kim
He passes you a little flask of gin.

T.
She nods to him and takes a sip.

[Outdoor sounds fade, ominous rising tone]

Kim
Let us return to the Society Obscura. Miss Douglas, we shall begin with you. You feel this noose tightening around your neck by unseen hands as Cyrus Abernathy is adjusting the camera and preparing to take your photograph. Possibly your last photograph, especially as you feel that chair wobble beneath your feet. What are you doing?

Natalia
Considering that Ena was starting to hear my and Cyrus’ conversation, are our rooms beginning to overlap in the way that everything seems to sort of be flowing into itself here?

Kim
Yeah, I’m here for it. I don’t think the two of you are, like, physically in the same place. But you are, like, mentally and spiritually in the same spot.

Natalia
Then I think Maesie begins to hear the lapping of the water.

Kim
Ah.

Natalia
In the space that Ena is in. And having already rolled a little bit into Curse of the Deep, she is going to fully dive into that state of being and try to use the water from this beach to wipe Cyrus off his feet and knock the camera over as well.

Kim
I love this. This is going to be a Night Move with Sensitivity. It is going to be made with Advantage because you are invoking your Cosmic Passage. What are you afraid will happen if you fail?

Natalia
Similarly to Ena, I’m afraid that even as I try to do this, the camera will take a picture and I will be gone.

Kim
Miss Douglas, it’s worse than that. You will go to the Void, but you and Miss Thanero will be on opposite sides of the Void. You will not be together.

Natalia
[sucks breath through her teeth] Oh, damn. Okay. [rolls dice] Alright, 5 and 3 is 8, plus 3 is 11.

Kim
Miss Douglas, what happens?

Natalia
I’m kind of really into the idea of going to the Void, but choosing where I want to go instead of being randomly taken.

Kim
Ok, so I suppose I must rope Miss Thanero into this conversation. Cass, we had left on a fail for you for the Night Move, so Portia Abernathy… uh, dead, unless we decide to undo it, and you are in the Void. You do have the option to use a Mask to undo that and prevent that. I do think it’s very interesting if the two of you start your Night Phase in the Void, so I am keen to hear your thoughts on this.

Cassandra
I have thought about it, and as much as I would love to give the girls a bit of backstory, we’ve consistently said on this podcast that the dice tell the story.

Kim
Mhm.

Cassandra
And I think it is a very interesting idea to send Ena to the Void and let the fail ride. I think as the photo is being taken, she has heard Maesie talking and maybe we just hear her shout Maesie’s name, as it is just eaten as she is sucked into the Void.

Kim
Alright. So, Miss Douglas, what happens?

[Underwater muffle]

Natalia
As Maesie channels her Curse of the Deep, and she begins to pull this water she heard from wherever Ena is, it is too hard to control. The Fragrant Void is beyond even Maesie. It is not the water she is used to, and the water comes rushing into this room with a force beyond her own strength. And in knocking over the camera and Cyrus, she is unable to stop it from knocking the chair over as well. Maesie begins to fall with the noose around her neck. And in that moment, Cyrus continues to hold onto the trigger, and as he falls, the camera flashes and Maesie disappears and the noose falls on its own.

[Scraping echo]

Kim
The two of you wash up on the banks of the Fragrant Void, far away from Hargrave House. Far away from London. Together, but not alone.

[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, exclusive cast talkbacks, TTRPG materials, and more visit Patreon.com/KittenMarlowe and join Caleb Hamp and all of our incredible Kitten Marlowe patrons in supporting artist-driven storytelling. Thanks for listening.