The Strangford Expedition Ep 1 - "Not a Monster but Not a Man"

The Strangford Expedition Ep 1 – “Not a Monster, but Not a Man”

[A howling snow storm. The crack of ice]

Kim
You came aboard the Fang, a new ship bearing an old, ill-fated name, knowing both vessels were bound for the same end: to be swallowed by the ice.

[Deep cello music]

Kim
No admiralty orders, no colors flying. This was a private venture from the start, held together by secrets, ambition, and a man with something to prove: Captain Strangford.

You knew what waited at the edge of the world. Wind that flays skin, months of night, ice that groans like a waking god. Still, you gave Captain Strangford your word and sailed north. Past Greenland. Past reason.

Now the ship lies frozen in place, entombed in white silence. Around you, endless night, the crunch of frost, and the tense camaraderie of people clinging to routine like it’s the only thing keeping madness at bay.

You’ll remain aboard until Spring with a simple plan: wait, survive, prepare for the inland march. At first, the mood is almost cheerful. The lamps burn, the larders are full, the cold still distant. You sing old songs, you tell jokes, and pretend the dark isn’t growing teeth. But already, the ship groans at odd hours. Already, the dogs bark at nothing.

[Slow, rhythmic thudding]

Kim
And something stirs beneath the ice, as if this place is angry you dared to stay.

[The Strangford Expedition theme]

Kim
Hello everyone and welcome to Kitten Marlowe presents The Strangford Expedition: A Shadows in the Smoke story. My name is Kim Dalton, she/her. I will be your guide through the frozen arctic. And joining me around the table are three lovely individuals. Please introduce yourselves.

Madeline
I’m Madeline Harsh, she/her.

Robert
I’m Robert Merkel, he/him.

Vyn
And I’m Vyn Vox, he/they.

Kim
Thank you so much for joining me as we dive into By Endurance We Conquer, a Carved from Brindlewood game written by Harald Eckmüller. Let’s get into the CATS for By Endurance We Conquer. The Concept, Aim, Tone, and Subject Matter.

By Endurance We Conquer is a survival horror story, set during the heroic age of polar exploration – around the early 20th century. You’ll all play explorers who signed on to an expedition to the arctic. Together, we’ll tell the story of why this expedition is happening, who is pulling the strings, and what is being kept secret. You’ll pass through icy seas and brutal conditions into a land no map can fully explain. Your fate is uncertain, but what happens past the point of no return is the story you’ll remember.

Our aim is to build a shared, emotional story about people under extreme conditions. You will make hard decisions, ask haunting questions, and follow the signs as the ice closes in. This is a slow burn story of tension, quiet dread, and isolationist horror. Expect silences, small kindness, sharp regrets, and moments where your character must choose between survival and something they care about. Sometimes, even when things seem right, the icy abyss turns against you.

The tone of By Endurance We Conquer is bleak, thoughtful, and weird… [Chuckles] We’ll focus on real dangers like frostbite, starvation, exhaustion, and isolation. But we will also lean into psychological horror. What happens when people are trapped together, surrounded by cold, silence, and their own mistakes? At times, the story may feel strange, but we’ll start in the realm of the mundane. If something feels otherworldly, it’s because the cold has made everything harder to understand. But supernatural and horror elements will begin to assert themselves as the story continues, and you make your way across the ice.

Subject matter. This game touches inherently upon the themes of obsession, isolation, environmental horror – like starvation, frostbite… Possible cannibalism, possible loss of limb, possible harm to animals… Suffering, violence, body horror… All sorts of things. Please read the episode descriptions for detailed content warnings for each episode specifically, but we encourage you to listen with care.

Shall we head off, sailors?

Madeline
Huzzah.

Robert
Aye, aye.

[Everyone chuckles]

Kim
Let us return to the deck of the Fang, frozen in the ice.

[The creak of a wooden ship. A winter wind]

Kim
Lanterns sway and flicker as the cold presses in. And though it’s midday, darkness lingers. Everyone finds a way to stay busy. Mending gear, tending dogs, and pacing just to stay warm. This is when routines settle in, and tensions start to simmer.

One by one, I would like each of you to tell us your character’s name, what they look like, and their occupation on this ship. And then show us a moment, just a flicker, of how you are contributing to the expedition.

Madeline
You see Maeve Lindgren on the boat. She looks to be in her mid 30s. She has a thick brown bob. It has not been washed much. It’s got thick pieces sticking out. A leather, fur-lined cap, worn over it. She’s got a crooked nose, like it may have been broken a couple of times. Hollow eyes, with deep circles underneath. Furrowed brow. Not many smile lines, quite weathered. She is really only in essentials. She has leathers, she has some furs going around, a large scarf… But she does not quite look like she is dressed warm enough, and she seems to be okay with that. Dirty nails, kept short. And you see those nails wrapped around a small axe, chopping kindling on the boat for the fires tonight.

Kim
What is Maeve’s role on this ship?

Madeline
Maeve is a carpenter. Thank you for asking.

Kim
Robert, what about your character?

Robert
I will be playing Einar Gunnarson. He is a tall, lanky man, probably about 6’5”. His muscles are made of the same knotted ropes that he spends his life amongst. Because he is the Fang’s rigger, responsible for setting sails, trimming rope, and all that. He lives up amongst the masts. He has close-cropped, dark hair, which you almost never see because it is tucked beneath a woolen cap. A thick, tangled beard that peeks out above a heavy gabardine coat that keeps the wet off his bones.

As we see him, he is doing what he has done pretty much every day since the Fang has been stuck in the ice. As the sails don’t need to be set, he is living up among the rigging, cutting rope, splicing it by weaving two sections together, and rebinding it with a thin twine. So that when they do set sail, at least they’ll have enough rope.

Kim
And finally, Vyn.

Vyn
I’ll be playing Ravi Falkenberg. He is a photographer. A streak of white hair – say it’s genetic, possibly from stress, he’ll never say. Also hollow eyes – see a lot behind a lens. And a monogrammed scarf. He doesn’t do much in terms of working around the ship. But he does have his camera ready, in case the landscape changes. It hasn’t yet! But he’s ready for it.

Kim
The ice has held the ship for a few weeks, now. Her timbers creak with familiar rhythm, almost like a breath. Snow drifts higher against the rails. Rations hold. Spirits waver. The lamps flicker earlier each day, as the dark begins to bite. Tension gathers in the silence between orders.

Let’s get to know your characters a bit more. I would like you all to frame up and narrate some short scenes, showing a dark secret your character is holding. Something that they are afraid others might find out about them.

Madeline
Maeve has found, after she’s finished her kindling for the night, she has found a small section of the ship where she can find some safety from the wind. She’s got some wood carving tools on her, just a couple very, very simple ones. And since the ship has been stuck for a while, she’s started breaking off some pieces of… Maybe parts that aren’t necessary. A handle, a ball off a stairwell somebody doesn’t notice. And she is making sure nobody is around, nobody to find her, nobody to hear her.

She’s scraping slowly around this ball of wood. And it slowly starts to become what looks to be maybe a four or five year old little boy, wearing wooden shoes and a cap. But his face is very neutral. It’s not a happy boy. It’s not a sad boy. It’s kind of haunting, to look at. And her eyes furrow more as she’s working on this. And it seems like she’s maybe done this hundreds of times.

Robert
Einar is where he spends most of his days: as close to the sky as he can get, up in the crow’s nest. As I said, he spends most of his time restitching old sail cloth or splicing old ropes into new ones. And that is the activity we see him doing. He’s got a particularly holey piece of sailcloth that he is patching up, using discarded garments from some sailors who unfortunately didn’t quite make it this far into the journey.

As he’s up there, he feels a coughing fit come over him. They’ve been happening more and more, recently. He coughs, and on the white sailcloth, a few speckles of blood lie gently before crystalizing in the frozen air.

Kim
Ravi, what about you?

Vyn
I said he was preparing for a photo, but he is just so meticulously watching his camera, for any stiff breeze, a spare bug (even though the place is dry), Wolfgang, anyone. I just, eagle-eyed, making sure no one touches his precious, precious, precious, precious thing.

Kim
And what of your dark secret?

Vyn
Well, don’t tell anyone…

Kim
Hmm?

Vyn
That may or may not belong to him. Any of his equipment, chemicals, were certainly borrowed. But he plans to return them.

Kim
Maeve, as you are working on your carving, a woman comes up to you. You two are, indeed, the only women on the Fang. Her name is Tookoolito. She is your Inuk guide and translator. She has braided hair, a very sharp gaze. She has been the Fang’s interpreter and something of a cultural bridge as you have made your way farther north. Her knowledge has probably saved all of your lives countless times, and yet, her contributions have gone largely unacknowledged.

Tookoolito (Kim)
Always with your carving.

Madeline
I put the wood quickly into my pocket, and I move to look at her in the eyes as I’m carving my fingernails shorter, as if that had not just happened. And I look up and I say…

Maeve Lindgren (Madeline)
Well with long nails, it gets dirty. [Chuckles]

Tookoolito (Kim)
I’m sorry, I did not mean to interrupt.

Maeve Lindgren (Madeline)
No. No, you’re fine. What can I do for you? You do so much for us.

Tookoolito (Kim)
May I?

Kim
And she moves to sit near you.

Maeve Lindgren (Madeline)
Yes. Yes, of course.

Tookoolito (Kim)
Quite the, uh… Hiding place, you have found.

Maeve Lindgren (Madeline)
Ah! [Chuckles] There are quite a few on the ship, really. A lot of little hidey holes that people don’t seem to look at. Some stink, but… Warm.

Tookoolito (Kim)
I merely came for some company. Some of the others on the ship. They, uh…

Kim
She sort of raises her eyebrows at you.

Tookoolito (Kim)
They tend to wear on you.

Maeve Lindgren (Madeline)
[Chuckles] Yes, well… Everyone has their quirks.

Tookoolito (Kim)
A nice way of putting it.

Maeve Lindgren (Madeline)
[Chuckles] What brings you out here? Why… You seem like you could be doing anything else. A lot of us seem to be kind of to ourselves, but you seem like you have things together.

Tookoolito (Kim)
Heh. Well, Strangford asked for a guide. I needed the money. And I admit, I feel some responsibility to keep you all alive.

Maeve Lindgren (Madeline)
Ah, don’t worry too hard about that. We’ve all put ourselves out here. We’re responsible for ourselves.

[Eerie woodwinds]

Tookoolito (Kim)
Irresponsible, more like it. They ask for my guidance, and ignore my warnings. I’ve seen the land crack open beneath men like these. And still, they march towards its mouth with flags in their hands. When it swallows them, they’ll call it a mystery. But I’ll call it ignorance.

[The instruments fade]

Maeve Lindgren (Madeline)
Yes… I do agree.

[They laugh]

Tookoolito (Kim)
Let us hide away from the rest of the men for a while longer.

Maeve Lindgren (Madeline)
Yes.

Kim
And she kinda leans her head on your shoulder.

Madeline
I settle into it. That’s nice.

Kim
Einar, as you are gazing up at the sky, you hear a voice on the deck calling up to you…

A British-accented Man (Kim)
Ah, Mr. Gunnarson. Tell me, is there anything in the sky that says when we will be unmoored anytime soon? A change in the weather, perhaps? Or, the winds?

Robert
Einar smiles a barely perceptible smile beneath his thicket of a beard.

Einar Gunnarson (Robert)
Only fools look to the skies in hope for answers. I look to the skies for their own sake.

Kim
Einar, when you look down, you see that the man talking to you is Dr. Elias Norland. One of two doctors on board the Fang. Though unlike the ship’s doctor, Alphonse DeLanvier, Dr. Norland is more of a scientist. A scholar. Indeed, quite ill-suited for surviving these harsh conditions. Most aboard find him quite baffling.

Robert
Einar scrambles down through the rigging, almost like a monkey. His heavy coat flapping in the breeze behind him, hitting the ground with a bit more grace than you would expect from a man his size.

Einar Gunnarson (Robert)
Is there anything I can help you with today, Doctor?

Dr. Norland (Kim)
Uh, no… No, Mr. Gunnarson. Merely making conversation.

Kim
You look at him and he has got quite a high forehead, very reflective eyes. A scholarly bearing. He is scribbling in a notebook as he’s talking to you, and pushing his glasses up his nose with some nearly frostbitten hands.

Einar Gunnarson (Robert)
English, yes? You English are always so talkative. It is better, up here in the north, to keep your mouth shut and not let your spit freeze on your tongue.

Dr. Norland (Kim)
Very good advice. I do believe that Dr. DeLanvier was saying something quite similar. But tell me, you were saying you don’t look to the sky for understanding. Why… why do you look to the sky?

Einar Gunnarson (Robert)
Now you will get me talking.

Dr. Norland (Kim)
[Chuckles]

[A ringing, quiet drone]

Einar Gunnarson (Robert)
When I was a boy in the snowfields of Iceland, my father would often point to the sky and say to me, “Son, we may be considered somewhat backwards and old fashioned by our Norwegian cousins. But living out here in Iceland, we have something they do not have: a connection to the old world. To the sky. To the ocean. To the great frozen land. To the angry gods that walk those lands, that they have long forgotten.” And so that is why I look to the sky. Always looking for my father’s giants.

Kim
Dr. Norland has been furiously scribbling in his journal, almost as if he is taking dictation from what it is you’ve been saying.

Dr. Norland (Kim)
Fascinating. You know, I came here to measure the world. And instead, I fear it’s begun to measure me. The cold asks questions I thought only gods would dare voice. And the longer I stay, the more I feel I understand the answers. I just no longer know what language they’re in.

Einar Gunnarson (Robert)
It sounds like you are earning wisdom. Make sure you don’t earn too much.

Kim
Ravi, a sled dog has begun nosing at some of your camera equipment. You would know him to be Wolfgang, the lead sled dog aboard the Fang. Kind of the captain of his own crew, so to speak. A very tough dog. Scarred muzzle, ice-bitten ears, unblinking eyes. He is very quiet, very observant.

Ravi Falkenberg (Vyn)
Oh! Uh… Hmm… Hello! Uh…

Vyn
And just makes little “shoo” hands, motion… Not to perturb the dog. I think he respects Wolfgang very much, like an actual person.

Kim
We all respect Wolfgang.

Madeline
[Laughs]

Kim
Wolfgang runs this shit.

Vyn
Mmhmm, mmhmm.

Kim
As you are fluttering your hands about Wolfgang, Wolfgang just sits and just stares at you once again, with a “Really? You’re trying to tell me what to do?” Expression. “I don’t answer to you.”

Vyn
And I think in turn, he goes to eye level. Just bends the knee.

Ravi Falkenberg (Vyn)
Can I help you with anything? Do you see something I don’t see? You’re very perceptive.

Kim
A man speaks up as you say this.

European-accented Man (Kim)
Well, young Ravi, you do not wish to hear Wolfgang speak. He does not bark, you see. He waits. And when he growls, you’d do well to pay attention. Because he only growls when death is near.

Kim
And you look up, and it is Dr. Alphonse DeLanvier. Very sunken eyes. Very furrowed brow. He has sailed with Captain Strangford before. Indeed, was on his second expedition – the current one you’re on being the third.

Dr. DeLanvier (Kim)
Wolfgang, this is his third expedition to the Arctic. I would daresay he knows more about the ice’s secrets than all of us.

Ravi Falkenberg (Vyn)
Oh, of course. I believe that, one hundred percent. But that other thing you just said, is that true? Is it like a church grim situation, or a superstition?

Dr. DeLanvier (Kim)
Young man, is this your first time going up this far north?

Ravi Falkenberg (Vyn)
Y… You can tell?

Dr. DeLanvier (Kim)
I can.

Kim
And he has this kind of haunted expression, as he says that.

Dr. DeLanvier (Kim)
This journey will change you, just as my first journey here changed me.

Ravi Falkenberg (Vyn)
No, I agree. I’ve been through quite a few changes already.

Dr. DeLanvier (Kim)
And how are you faring so far? It is important to keep busy.

Kim
He says, motioning to your camera equipment.

Ravi Falkenberg (Vyn)
Well, I have my countenance. All of my digits. No changes in color just yet, if I’m lucky. So all in all, the best that I can be.

Dr. DeLanvier (Kim)
Good. Some form of routine is helpful as we wait. The body breaks before the mind, usually.

Ravi Falkenberg (Vyn)
[Under his breath] So nice to know…

Kim
Weeks pass. This morning, first mate Redwell missed the change of watch. He emerged late – pale, boots unlaced, one gloved hand shaking as he fastened his coat. Some say exhaustion. Others, something worse.

[Deep cello music]

Kim
Dr. DeLanvier muttered, “He’s unraveling.”

Captain Strangford listened, and nodded. Then he fetched a snow shovel and pressed it into Redwell’s hands. No words, no anger. Just weight, and silence. He pointed to the forward deck, already cleared of snow the day before, and turned away. Redwell said nothing. He pulled on his gloves, stepped into the cold, and worked.

Two hours passed. He scraped snow into neat piles, while the others watched from inside, eyes flicking between frost and the man meant to lead if Strangford fell.

This is a question for all of you. When did you first realize you would follow Captain Strangford into Hell? How does his treatment of Redwell shift your opinion of him?

Robert
Einar had served under Strangford on a previous expedition. And while that one had not made it this far north, it had met some very nasty arctic storms. During one of these, the ship was rolling and rocking, its waves thrashing the deck and washing it clean. Einar was, as he is want to be, up in the rigging, making sure that the sails don’t catch too much of the storm gale, that the timbers hold and do not break, that ropes that need to be cut can be.

And while he was up doing that work, Strangford joined him. Although captain of the ship who could have been down below decks where it was warmer and drier, he did what he needed to do, and helped keep the ship upright.

His treatment of Redwell is not unexpected. These are harsh climates. They need harsh men to live through them.

Madeline
Maeve met Captain Strangford in a time where she was still heavily into opiates and drinking. She needed a job, and for some reason, he allowed her to work on one of his projects, one of his smaller expeditions with him. And he helped her during this time get sober. There were very hard nights. He was incredibly stern with her. And she hadn’t had anybody in her life be that way with her before.

So when Maeve sees Captain Strangford taking these actions, she assumes he knows what he’s doing. He knows something I don’t know, maybe Redwell doesn’t know. But what she doesn’t see is the warmth in his eyes that she usually received. There would be sternness, but there would be kindness. And this seems colder than she has seen before. But she trusts him implicitly, and she does not say anything.

Vyn
Ravi initially met Captain Strangford through the paper, hearing news of his exploits and being absolutely riveted by the idea of leaving the isle and setting sail, much like a chapter book or fiction. One night, he does manage to squirrel away from his home to the docks, the sailors, the bars… Completely different to his rather trivial life. And was just enamored by the grime, the sweat, the muscle, the sea just poured from his words. And though Ravi is clearly filled with naivete and pure optimism, the passion and fervor was enough to convince the captain to bring him on board.

So to see this harshness is almost terrifying. This isn’t the image that he had put in his head or deified. This is not a monster, but not a man.

Kim
At this point, inspired by everything we know so far about the Fang and about your characters, I want each of you to name one personal item that you brought with you to the arctic, and then add it to your Sea Bag. Then, pick another player to name one other thing your character brought, and also add it to your Sea Bag.

Madeline
Maeve has a multi-tool that looks a little bit different back in the day than it does today. It’s kinda got three different sections, made of whalebone. And it’s been worn and worn and worn. It has a clamp on one end, a knife on the other, and like a sharp pliers with teeth at the far end.

And I think Einar has a very smooth, polished stone that sometimes he holds while he’s looking at the sky, as if there’s some connection between the two.

Kim
Sound good to you, Robert?

Robert
Sounds good to me.

Kim
Einar, what did you bring with you?

Robert
Spending so much time exposed to the elements, Einar finds it handy to sometimes put on a pair of the liquid long johns. And so he has a flask that he keeps hidden within his jacket. Exactly what the liquor inside the flask is, is kind of uncertain. But it burns your nose when you open it.

And I think that Ravi has a telescope that, while it is a functioning telescope, is barely more than a child’s toy.

Vyn
Yeah, that’s pretty good…

[Everyone laughs]

Kim
How old is Ravi? The impression I’m getting is, like, he possibly lied about his age to join this. Like he’s like 16 or 17.

Vyn
Absolutely.

Ravi has a worn book of children’s bedtime stories. And Maeve has a pair of satin gloves. They’re pretty worn. Clearly something that she didn’t buy, something that was gifted. And she does her best to keep them in the best condition that she can.

Kim
Let us proceed.

[A winter wind blows outside. The ship groans]

Kim
Each evening, you gather in the ship’s mess, telling stories, singing songs, pretending the endless dark outside doesn’t matter. But tonight, something has shifted. The air feels brittle. The laughter doesn’t come easy. One of you mentions a strange noise in the hold. Another speaks of a dream that didn’t feel like dreaming. The ship groans painfully as the ice pushes against it. And to pass the time, you are telling stories. Ghost stories, really. Sailor’s superstitions about the arctic, and the strange, horrific things that dwell there.

I would like each of you to tell a sailor’s superstition about the arctic. By Endurance We Conquer has a list of them to choose from. I asked each of you to prepare one of your choice.

Who goes first, as the crew of the Fang gathers around to hear a story?

Madeline
Maeve can go first.

Kim
Lovely. Which prompt did you choose?

Madeline
The Singing Icefield.

Maeve Lindgren (Madeline)
I heard quite a story a couple years ago about powers up north. The punishing storms, and the hulking ice formations. There had been small tales, general whispers about the groaning ice out past the villages. Some say they heard whispers, talking… Their old family they once knew. Some say they heard a siren’s song, pulling unfortunate souls into the endless white expanse.

[Distant, unearthly humming]

Maeve Lindgren (Madeline)
But apparently, about two decades ago, a young woman from one of the nearby villages lost her son. She never did keep a very close eye on him. And she could swear she heard him calling for her, calling for his mother. And despite the hard storm blustering through the streets, she set out to find him. She did not care what was happening. It felt urgent. Of course she had to find her son. And she told the people what she was doing, and they begged her to wait for the worst of the storm to pass. But hours later, she had been gone. Some of the scouts went to look for her, hoping she was able to find shelter somewhere as she searched.

No one ever found the boy. But they did find some faint footprints, leading out onto the frozen lake. They never heard anything more from the woman. Maybe she chose cowardice in the lake, unable to face herself after what she let happen? Or perhaps she was one of the unfortunate souls the ice chose to devour next, as punishment for her neglect? Who’s to say?

Robert
The prompt I will be using is The Frozen Aurora.

Einar Gunnarson (Robert)
I am sure we have all seen…

Robert
Einar looks around, glances at Ravi somewhat pointedly.

Einar Gunnarson (Robert)
I’m sure most of us have seen the northern lights that hang in the sky this far. I have heard many stories about them. My ancestors, the Vikings, believed that they were the rainbow bridge that would connect our world to Valhalla. A Finn I once sailed with said that they were created by a fox spirit. There was even a man named Rangi who said that ones further south that he had seen were the great torches of their ancestors, leading them past the great land of snow into a paradise.

[Eerie, ringing ambience]

Einar Gunnarson (Robert)
But I have also heard tales of other lights. Not the graceful purple greens and reds and yellows that warm and comfort us, as though they were fire. But lights that men that cannot describe that give visions of darker worlds. Worlds on fire, where nothing burns. Worlds of pain. Far from the ancestor’s purported paradise.

Kim
And finally, Ravi.

Vyn
The Colossal Diamond.

Ravi Falkenberg (Vyn)
Well, I heard an even more interesting tale! Um…

Vyn
And clearly intimidated.

Kim
[Laughs]

Ravi Falkenberg (Vyn)
You wouldn’t believe it. Something absolutely extraordinary. A man wandered out beyond the Arctic, the expanse, the… the utter cold, and found this colossal diamond.

[Shining, reverberant ambience]

Ravi Falkenberg (Vyn)
Or, what looks like a diamond. It’s perfectly ice, and the facets told stories that he couldn’t believe. Different aspects or routes of his life, if he had only took one direction or another. And they multiplied. Extravagant splendors to utter destitution. True loves, enemies, wars… To the point that it drove him absolutely mad.

He stained the ice with his blood, his brains making another facet in and of itself.

Kim
Thank you, sailors.

[Polar wind]

Kim
Morning arrives, as it always does now: darkness pressing through frost-rimmed portholes. Every shadow too long. Lamps hiss. Kerosene thick in the air. Boots on deck. Steam rising from tin mugs.

But something is wrong. Captain Strangford is absent. No barked orders, no footsteps overhead.

[Deep cello music]

Kim
When Dr. DeLanvier tries the Captain’s quarters and gets no response, concern quickly turns to alarm, and the captain’s cabin is forced open. Inside, disarray. The cabin looks ransacked – papers scattered, bedding twisted, portholes open, snow piling in. But what halts everyone is the map: yellowed, ancient, spread across the desk. At its center, the Fang. Around it, strange marks, locations named after last night’s mess hall tales. The ones no one admitted to believing. One site is pinned with a huge, weathered claw.

Surgeon DeLanvier lingers. His breath fogs the air as he studies this huge claw.

Dr. DeLanvier (Kim)
I’ve seen this before, on Strangford’s second expedition…

Kim
He murmurs.

Dr. DeLanvier (Kim)
Back then, I thought it was myth. It watched us, just beyond the firelight. It took the dogs, our bearings. Returned our silence with something colder.

[Slow, rhythmic thudding]

Kim
His voice drops.

Dr. DeLanvier (Kim)
The Captain called it the greatest white bear ever born. The Inuit call it the Isigaruk – what the land sends when it has had enough of us.

Kim
Across the room, Norland adjusts his spectacles.

Dr. Norland (Kim)
Or…

Kim
He says evenly.

Dr. Norland (Kim)
It was the cold. Isolation. Survival gnawing at reason.

Kim
He steps forward, voice calm.

Dr. Norland (Kim)
The mind sees patterns where none exist. Echoes, mistaken for intent. Shadows, for teeth.

Kim
His eyes linger on the claw.

Dr. Norland (Kim)
That’s the danger. We invent stories to explain the silence, and then forget that we wrote them.

Kim
No one saw Strangford leave. No one knows where he’s gone. With Redwell unraveling and DeLanvier lost in memory, survival now falls to you.

A question for each of you: which ability is your greatest strength? Please increase that stat by 1. And what motivates you, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that you have to join the search party for Captain Strangford?

Madeline
Mine is Vitality. One, Maeve thinks, he was not listening to my story, or he would have told someone, and he would have waited.

Kim
[Chuckles]

Madeline
[Chuckles] But also, you must look. He helped her in her darkest space. She will do anything to return that favor.

Kim
Please increase your Vitality by 1.

Robert
Einar’s greatest strength is his cool head. His Composure, in gaming terms. And it is this cool, almost too even temper, that allows Einar to size up the situation that they are in, realize that the First Mate would not make an acceptable captain. And every ship needs a captain.

Kim
Please increase your Composure.

Vyn
Ravi’s strength is his spirit, or Sensitivity. He sees this as an opportunity to save the captain, like the captain saved him.

Kim
Please increase your Sensitivity.

[A heavy winter wind]

Kim
A group of you quickly step forward as the rescue party. The three of you, First Mate Redwell, Dr. Norland and Dr. DeLanvier, Tookoolito… The ship’s cook, Reginald Dumpley, quite the jovial man and a bit of a survivalist at heart. A Swedish man, Lars Hegelund, known to be quite the trailblazer. And, of course, Wolfgang.

The captain’s trail is already vanishing into the wind-scoured white. But it is the only path left. Gear packed, weapons checked, you step off the Fang…

[Slow, rhythmic thudding]

Kim
…And into a land that does not return what it takes.

[The Strangford Expedition theme]

Kim
The Strangford Expedition is a Kitten Marlowe production. This episode was edited and produced by Kim Dalton, and featured a theme song by Jason Myers. 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 our doomed crew, the Kitten Marlowe patrons, in supporting artist-driven storytelling. Thanks for listening.