The One Stars- Five White Marbles
Description: Whether in spite of its reputation or because of it, the city of Salem, Massachusetts has become a sanctuary for a diverse and eccentric array of supernatural individuals. In order to maintain the illusion of normalcy for the mortal population, a commission has been appointed to deal with incidents that threaten to raise public awareness.
Now it falls to an earnest werewolf, a skittish fairy, a brash vampire, a witch from another era, and an imperious mummified cat to get over their differences and keep the peace, lest their whole society come apart at the seams.
Connect with the show!
Learn more about the show on their website: http://thechimera.space
Follow The Chimera on Twitter: https://twitter.com/chimerapod
Follow The Chimera on Facebook: https://facebook.com/chimerapod
Support the show!
Support The Chimera on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/chimerapod
Leave them a review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-chimera/id1259343855
Leave them a review on Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-chimera-928918
Talk about the show over on our Discord!
Head on over to the PodTales 2020 Discord to share your love for the show: https://www.podtales.org/discord
Transcript
Vin: From a speech given by William Elder, also known as the Old Man, Talesinger of the Stranded Stone Society, and alpha of the Stonekeepers pack, to a meeting of the veiled community on May 1 1778.
Vin (as The Old Man): Look, I’m going to need you all to be quiet. Be quiet. Yes, all of you. Yes, even you Nesbits. Particularly you.
This is a mess. Over here we have the Mayapple Lodge, trying to call themselves an independent enclave beholden to the laws of their various European orders. Next to them the Sistren of the Bitter Well, pushing for exemptions based on some natural stricture, and my own pack, insisting on binding arbitration given to us by spirits we don’t know from Adam.
You’re all damned fools.
We have a community here because this place is fraught. Without community, if we turn to in-fighting and inter-fighting and outer-fighting, not only will we end up on the gallows, but this whole place will probably collapse into the pits of Hell, because it’s really falling apart. So if you want to keep scrapping and scrambling to climb up over each other for another lick of power and control, go ahead. I can disappear into the woods anytime I like. And leave you all to the fate you insist on bringing about.
Or.
Or you can all shut the hell up, take a look around, and realize that we have a foundation upon which to build. We have been neighbors, some of us, for decades. We know how to get by when we’re not all at each other’s throats. What is it that libertine in Philadelphia says? “We must all hang together or most assuredly, we should all hang separately?”
So it’s your choice. Take your time. I’ll be outside counting stars, and the world will be outside measuring out rope.
[theme music begins: Down Among the Dead Men, performed by Adrienne Howard, Emily Peterson, and Dirk I. Tiede]
Vin: In the decades and centuries since its great tragedy, the city of Salem Massachusetts has become a sanctuary for the strange, the unusual, and yes, the supernatural. Werewolves, vampires, fairies, mages, and other more esoteric things now walk the streets in relative safety. And when the mortal population gets too curious, they do what any community but do:
They form a committee.
Welcome to the Chimera, a role playing adventure podcast. Our campaign this season is called Gallows Hill, and it takes place in our version of the World of Darkness, the setting that encompasses Vampire: The Masquerade and all its sibling products.
I’m Vin LaBate, and I play Eightball, a vampire with mental health issues and an assortment of fake IDs, and joining me this season are:
Braden: I’m Braden Lamb, and I play Miw, a mummy cat who’s into urban planning and sacred geometry.
Jeff: I’m Jeffrey Bard, and I play Jack Foxglove, a werewolf shaman coaches the Salem high school football team, the Salem High Witches.
Ethan: I’m Ethan Bremner and I play Mother Machree, an immortal Irish witch and American Civil War veteran.
Kacey: I’m Kacey Smith, and I play Truly Reynard, an animalistic fairy running from her past. Sometimes literally.
Kelly: And I’m Kelly Weisman Asprooth-Jackson, the Storyteller.
Vin: Before we get into it, I just want to thank all of you for joining us this season. I know a lot of the world is in flux right now, but it’s heartening that there are ways we can still reach each other. I hope all of you are doing well, and staying safe out there. Also, quick note, this episode contains an offhand joke about genitals that has some implications about gender essentialism. So I just like to say on behalf of all of us trans rights are human rights. No question. If you have the means, take a moment right now to find a trans charity that you trust or a trans person that you follow and kick them a couple of bucks.
[theme music ends]
Vin: Now, let’s get started.
Kelly: Alright, so we begin in earnest Gallows Hill, set in the scenic city of Salem, Massachusetts. Tonight’s story begins on the evening of Candlemas.
[slow, quiet string music begins]
Kelly: So, early February. Candlemas is one of the three nights per year when a conclave, a general meeting of all the veiled citizens of Salem–that is, all of the supernatural denizens of greater Salem–are called to a meeting to do the work of governance for the city.
Recently completed is All Hallows Hall, the, well, sort of modernist concrete castle set on a man-made island out in the water between Salem and Marblehead–to the mortal population this is a boondoggle created by a very eccentric foreign billionaire. But to the veiled community of Salem, this is their new sort of town hall, gathering point, and to some degree, neutral territory, a place where people can come together even across difference in order to discuss the matters of import to the secret denizens of the city.
So as I said, Candlemas–there’s, uh, many different rooms and spaces in All Hallows Hall that we’ll hopefully get around to exploring at some point, but for now, we’re actually going to be in the hall itself, the main mean meeting area, a room of enormous dimensions with very, very high vaulted ceiling. It’s a circular shape, roughly circular–everything in All Hallows Hall is angular, but not a lot of right angles, so this is a heptagrammatic room, it’s got seven sides to it, but a rough circle. In the middle, there is a circular platform, and otherwise, there’s seating all the way around the outside of the room. There are however, only two entrances-slash-exits, two large doors to the east and west.
So…
[music ends]
Kelly: It’s conclave day, it’s a day when everyone is supposed to show up to take their say in civic government and vote when necessary, and otherwise be involved in the work of the city.
Kacey: So is only 40% of the population actually there?
Kelly: Good question. Um, I would say that there are people who are at the margins of this–uhm–of the distinction of of citizen, especially the people who are essentially mortals that happen to have knowledge of the arcane for one reason or another–cultists, especially–and their attendance probably is allowed to be fairly slack. But by and large participation is considered mandatory, and if you don’t show up, there are going to be consequences, the Good Shepherds might end up paying you a visit and talking to you about why didn’t you show up to the meeting. It’s not just a right but it’s also a collective burden to participate in the government, governance of the city. So with that in mind, let’s go around and talk about how each person’s character enters the space.
Vin I’m going to start with you.
Vin: Okay, um, so, Eightball is a vampire–that’s probably relatively obvious if you know what to look for in a vampire: pale, slightly exaggerated canines–you know, if you’re close enough to check that. She’s maybe 5’4, skinny, early 20s you would guess–like probably still gets carded in some places–dyed black hair that looks like it’s… you know, when you’ve dyed your hair too many times and it starts to have that look? Kind of looks like that. You can see like a bit of auburn showing at the roots. Sort of a punk look, she’s wearing probably a leather jacket–it’s February? That doesn’t matter, she’s dead. So she’s wearing a leather jacket… If you’ve known her for a while, you know that she has a lot of T-shirts and they’ve all been modified with a pair of scissors in some way or another, so tonight she’s wearing a hacked up shirt that’s now a crop top that just says, in sort of a bubbly 70s font, “more weight”.
Kelly: Oh, damn.
Vin: And then probably like a plaid skirt, fishnets, boots. She has a backpack, and a mesh bag hanging from her belt that has a Magic 8-Ball in it. She probably sits towards the back, and assuming the seats aren’t full, she puts her feet up somewhere.
Kelly: These are, you know, very nice stadium seating, upholstered fold down seats, they’ve just been installed, ’cause this building is only a couple of years old at this point, but definitely there’s enough space to put her seat up–uh, to find a seat where she can put her feet up on the seat in front of her. So, yes. Okay.
Jeff.
Jeff: Yes.
Kelly: Talk to me about your character, entering the space.
Jeff: Um, okay, so, having not fully defined the pack–but we can we can kind of hand wave that I suppose a little bit, uhm–
Kelly: Yeah, it’s fine.
Jeff: Coach walks in. He’s got effectively a retinue of folks and hangers-on that he’s walking in with, all of which are known to be his pack, he is the alpha of his pack, and there’s probably about–I don’t know–15 or so of them. Some of them are true werewolves, and some of them are not, but they all take part in these sorts of events together. Coach makes sure that everybody is cleaned, washed up, is wearing not exactly their Sunday best, but like, you know, clothes that present a specific sort of look and that look is one of like, uh, like a modest toughness. So Coach is wearing basically a really nice pair of jeans, he’s got a white button-up on top of that. He’s wearing–not a, like a hoodie–like not a cardigan, not a hoodie, but like a cross between the two of them, it’s like a nice sweater, that buttons. The only exception to sort of that look is that Coach is wearing a cap that says Salem Witches on it, but none of the other fellas who are in his pack, kind of sport that kind of look.
He comes in, looks around, kind of takes–seems to take sort of a gauge on who is here, and where everybody is. The pack all does sort of the same thing, they’re all kind of looking around, sizing people up… Some people see them, some people don’t, but once they take that moment, they all seem to know exactly where to go and where to sit, and so they all head off to that specific spot, they all kind of hang out together before sitting down, but they claim their spot in the room, and that spot is exactly where sort of the power level in which they fall in. It’s not competitive with the people who are more powerful than they are, but he certainly is sitting in a place of privilege above everybody else in terms of, of where they kind of fit.
And that’s Coach.
Oh, also everybody is in human form, including the werewolves–
Kelly: Mm-hm.
Jeff: –the way that they approach it is that all of their forms are sort of their natural form, and whatever form they are in right now is just the form they’re supposed to be so…
Kelly: Alright, Ethan your next.
Ethan: So I know you said that it is mandatory attendance but, um, it is kind of, uh, the best kept secret that, that Mother Machree has not been attending these meetings in the past, that the–that the Sistren show up and kind of hand-wave any requests as to where she is, as she is the senior member of their coven. That is why it is unique that this time she does appear at the, at the, at the meeting. It’s already been noticed that she’s been seen around town a lot more of late, uhm, wandering the streets.
So the Sistren all arrive in different, uh, different times, but Mother Machree enters at the–is the last of the Sistren into enter, maybe even the last person to enter the meeting. She is as she always is, every time anyone has ever seen her: in a dark blue, um, Union soldier attire with forager hat and a cloak over her head, with her quote “walking stick” slung over her back–um, her walking stick is undeniably a Civil War era sniper–sniper rifle. She has, she’s very… she’s stocky, but she has a kind of non-distinct age, to see her you might guess she’s maybe in her 40s, but you could look at her and maybe guess that she might even be in her 80s, you just couldn’t make that distinction. She has a ponytail that’s kind of ratty and big, slung over her shoulder which contains both red and gray hair. Um, she has kind of a stern look on her face. She arrives, she nods at some of the other members of the coven–who also seemed just surprised to see her there–and then she, uh… she’ll sit next to Eightball…
Kelly: Hm.
Ethan: …and just kind of scowl at her feet up on the chair.
[laughter]
Vin: Eightball looks–like, when Mother Machree comes over, like, her eyes go wide for a second, like… she does not expect this type of company. Um, but she definitely does not take her feet down in any way.
Ethan: Okay.
Kelly: All right. And up next is Braden.
Braden: Uh, Amal walks in slowly and majestically. Amal is a young man he looks a bit like modern day Jaleel White. He’s very fashionably dressed in a charcoal vest with white pinstripes and a starfield t-shirt, and like a black knit shawl and those, you know, sort of baggy-ish cloth pants that are tight at the ankles? And sandals.
And draped around his shoulders is his black cat, Miw. Uh, those who know him recognize from his current expression–which is somewhat aloof and imperious, head tilted slightly up–that mew is currently the one driving. He usually brings in to these meetings some small item–today it seems to be a little jewel case. He finds his seat, Miw takes a seat next to him, and on the seat on the other side of Amal, he sets down this little jewel case, opens it up, and it is a pair of silver cufflinks. This is one of his kind of constituents whom he brings to each meeting–a different, uh, different member of, uh… a different ghost.
Kelly: Mm.
Braden: And this is Nathan Pendergast, and the silver cufflinks are his anchor. Helping his, uh, helping his constituents to, uh, to participate, as they’re able.
Vin: I presume by “jewel case” you mean a case that would hold jewels and not a CD case from the 90s.
Braden: Not a CD jewel case, no.
[laughter]
Kelly: Not a completely irrelevant, outdated piece of technology.
Braden: Although that would also be a very good anchor for a ghost.
Kacey: Yeah.
Vin: Mm-hm.
Kelly: This is my copy of Jagged Little Pill, I loved it above all else in life.
Alright, and finally, Kacey.
Kacey: Um, so, Truly Reynard arrives at the back of the room where the door is, and kind of pauses in the doorway briefly just to look quickly around the room, identify any other exits, sort of get the lay of who’s moving around–not so much like who’s here but just sort of what’s, what’s the position of different people in the room and like how, you know, in a potential fire or, you know, moment of panic, like what’s the best way to leave again.
Kelly: Mm-hm.
Kacey: And when she’s sort of assessed that, she steps in. She’s, uh, a shorter, slender woman, she’s probably around like five foot, five one; she has, like, dark brown-to-black hair, depending on the light, kinda just back in a braid, relatively long. She’s got–she’s dressed warm for the weather, so she’s got y’know, sort of a puffy coat and a scarf and ear muffs, and jeans are kind of peeking out from under the–actually, it’s leggings that are peeking out from under the coat. The only exception to that is she’s got sandals on. And she kind of finds a spot where she can sit where there’s a little space between her and anyone else who’s come in yet, uh, sort of near the back of the room kind of close to where the door is, and settles in there.
Kelly: Very good. Very good. So yeah, the–the room fills up over a span of probably, probably good 20 minutes from when the first of you arrived when things get started, thing gets things get started there. There we go. And to the extent that people are members of them, because not everybody belongs to a particular faction. But to the extent that people are, there’s–there’s significant amount of grouping that happens. So, as Ethan, you sort of already intimated, except for mother Machree, the Sistren all sit together. And the Society, the Stranded Stone Society mostly sits together, the various branches of the Foxglove family are a little bit more dispersed partially because a lot of those folks overlap with other various factions in town. But there’s–there’s some clustering that happens. The Mayapple Lodge, which is the dominant vampire group, in town, is very cohesive and kind of sits together as one voting bloc, and right front and center because their Commandant is the current mayor. The other… Yeah, there’s like a small number of Nesbits that are sort of left and they straggle in there. They’re all seated together in one row.
Braden: Amal keeps a very careful eye on them.
Kelly: Mm hmm.
But ju–just give me a sense, do they show deference when they’re in the same spaces? Amal and Miw?
Braden: Uh, yeah, definitely.
Kelly: Okay.
Ethan: What about the more controversial members of the society? Are they still expected to be at this meeting? I’m not sure invited is the right word, but like the Promethean. And, um, I don’t know if they’re still around the shark werewolves.
Kelly: Uh, yeah, everybody is expected to come and in fact,
Ethan: Okay.
Kelly: All Hallows Hall is considered neutral territory, there’s not supposed to be violence on site. So even people who have an outstanding, who have an outstanding judicial ruling against them, as Ishmael very definitely does. Ishmael tried to burn the city down, you know, about 100 years ago, and was not judged positively for it, but has managed to live on the margins of the community and be secret enough about his whereabouts or intimidating enough to people who might know where he lives that he’s managed to, to survive. So he is–he is very much here and no one is sitting anywhere near him. There’s like a visible kind of ring of empty seats around where this hulking creature of patchwork flesh with his brand right in the middle of his forehead is seated, but he’s still here, he still shows up to meetings. So it’s definitely, you know, there’s a lot of, a lot of complicated relationality in the room, right, a lot of different, different, different relationships. So once, once, people are largely assembled, and there’s some milling of… there’s been some milling about and you know, kind of murmuring. This sense that the time seems to be about when things are supposed to start. There’s some of that like test quiet where people stop and, and listen, kind of in a pattern, and then eventually quiet down enough that out comes first a human with frosted tips, wearing a pretty nice suit and black Ray Bans and an earpiece comes out and he’s, he’s hefting. a sizable box. He comes out and he puts the box down on one side of the dias. I said there was a circular dias and there’s a couple of steps up to it, but it’s fenced off. Right, so there’s a fence all the way around the circular dias and he puts them down–this box down next to where the steps are.
And then out strides the mayor.
[slow, quiet guitar music begins.]
Kelly: The current mayor of veiled Salem is Sebastian d’Espinoza. He is a very regal and gentlemanly vampire. With long white hair, he’s dressed for the occasion in a quite archaic, black morning coat with extensive golden trim and decorations all around the collar and the cuffs and the buttons, he has a gold sash around his waist, he looks like he stepped out of a painting from the early 1800s. He steps up to the box–doesn’t take the stairs, steps onto the box, and gestures for quiet, brings his arms out in front of him, and then begins to deliver his opening remarks. And I’m not going to give them to you in full because it’s more than we have time for now. But just talking about the state of the city and the importance of maintaining unity together in these uncertain times, alludes a little bit to the fact that his term is coming to an end in less than a year and appreciative of the office to which he’s been elected. It’s fairly boilerplate stuff, there’s not really a lot of news, he talks a little bit about the city coffers. It’s kind of a general civic update. It’s pretty boring, to be honest, it’s not. It’s not high action stuff. But near the end of his remarks, he does mention that there have been a number of incidents recently that threaten the masquerade. The Masquerade of course being the term for the maintaining the premise to mortals that there aren’t a bunch of monsters living among them.
[guitar music picks up speed]
Kelly (as Espinoza): There have been some troubling incidents recently that–that have endangered the Masquerade. I call on all citizens, to be mindful of your actions–what affects one of us affects all of us–to be supportive of one another in helping us to, to hold to the conventions of the masquerade. And so tonight, I am inaugurating a new committee, a new Civic Committee. The Sanitary Commission will be charged with assisting members of the public in ensuring that the mortal population does not become aware of our existence because as we all know, should that ever happen? You could take us right back to the bad or days.
Kelly: he intones.
[music ends]
Vin: When he says Sanitary Commission, Eightball just leans her head slightly towards Mother Machree and says, ‘Gross’.
Kelly: [laughter]
Ethan (as Mother Machree): Shhh.
Kelly: And when he intones ‘bad old days’, it’s with a sense of gravity and like everybody should know what he’s talking about. I think there’s a little bit of a, ‘everybody knows when we’re referencing the witch trials, but we also don’t really like to talk about it in polite society,’ sort of quality, residents of Salem. He now takes questions from the floor. Does anybody have a question for the Lord Mayor? Oh, PCs don’t have to. But there are a few NPC questions here in there. I mean, there was like one of the Nesbits was listening really carefully to the facts and figures section of his speech. And so double check some of the math about the state of the city finances.
There’s a… a Mokole, a were-alligator, who rises to raise an issue about the adjudication of hunting grounds in the southern half of the Salem woods and points beyond. And, and Sebastian listens politely and says, ‘I’m going to look right into that and here’s where we should direct that issue.’ He actually references–references an Associate Justice of the abnormal courts, who is sitted–seated in the front row, a one Madame Mystere and says that we should take it up, of course, in the courts, that’s the proper venue for complaints of this type.
One more check. Anybody have any questions they want to ask the mayor?
Vin: Yeah, um, Eightball pipes up after that last question.
Vin (as Eightball): So… hold up. What does the Sanitary Commission do? What are we talking about here?
Kelly (as Espinoza): I’m so glad you asked me that question, Dame Eightball. The sanitary commission will be charged with the assistance of all citizens in helping to maintain the masquerade, both for facilitating the necessary steps to ensure that mortals remain ignorant of our existence among them. By voluntary means you may come to the Sanitary Commission, asking for their assistance, but also to work in concert with the Good Shepherds and the agents of the abnormal courts in order where necessary to step in, where a member of our esteemed citizenry is unwilling or unable to see to their own responsibilities in this area.
Ethan (as Mother Machree): It’s been my experience, these people don’t need any assistance in being ignorant.
Braden: Miw hops up onto Amal’s shoulders and Amal stands.
Kelly: Mmhmm.
Braden (as Miw, speaking through Amal): As a senior member of this community with extensive experience in problem solving, I would like to offer my services to this Sanitary Commission.
Kelly (as Espinoza): Many thanks to you–
Kelly: Is there a more formal name people would know you by than Miw?
Braden: That, we never settled on.
Kelly: Okay.
Braden: Uh… let’s say ‘Lord Mayor of Harmony Grove’.
Kelly: Let’s say ‘STEWARD of Harmony Grove’.
Braden: That’s fair.
Kelly: So as to avoid the term mayor.
Braden: Yep.
Kelly (as Espinoza): …Steward of Harmony Grove, I am quite appreciative and the public we the public are in your debt. Thank you for volunteering to serve.
Kelly: He nods to Madame Mystere, and you can see her reach into a bag that she is holding on her lap, and pluck out one white marble and put it in her pocket. Anybody else have anything to say before the end of the meeting?
Jeff: Um… yeah.
Jeff (as Coach): Uh, look, I wasn’t gonna bring it up at the meeting. But, we’re waiting on the re-sodding of the fields over at the high school. I know–I know, this is supposed to be kind of under–under the radar. I know that takes some time to route funds, through whatever means you fine people route funds through. But, it’s been like two months now. And, my kids are getting hurt. We had two twisted ankles last week. And so I’m just hoping you guys fulfill your promises sooner rather than later. Could you give us a status?
Kelly (as Espinoza): Senor Foxglove, when you say ‘your kids’, you mean mortal children?
Jeff (as Coach): Yeah?
Kelly (as Espinoza): Am I to understand that… that you believe it is the responsibility of this body–
Kelly: –he gestures around himself–
Kelly (as Espinoza): –to ensure the health and well being of–I’m sorry, again–mortal children?
Jeff (as Coach): Well, look, you’re the one who brought up the masquerade, right? I mean, this is how we keep this stuff quiet, right? We keep people happy. We keep them from asking questions. And, you know, we take care of the high school. We agreed on it. Don’t go backing out on that agreement now.
Kelly (as Espinoza): No, no, I wouldn’t dream of backing out of any agreement. I will take this under advisement and check with the clerk of the Treasury…
Jeff (as Coach): I’m just asking that you get the ball rolling. That’s all.
Kelly (as Espinoza): I will certainly see to it. Thank you–
Jeff (as Coach): Thank you.
Kelly (as Espinoza): –for highlighting this important issue. Senor Foxglove.
Jeff (as Coach): Appreciate it, sir.
Jeff: Coach sits down.
Kelly: All right.
Kelly (as Espinoza): So, as mentioned and again with thanks to my ancient colleague from Harmony Green–
Braden: Grove.
Kelly: ‘If you will all–‘ I’m sorry?
Braden: Grove.
Kelly: Grove. Harmony Grove.
Kelly (as Espinoza): If you will all be sure and file out through the western exit of the room. Take one, just one please, marble from the bag that Madame Mystere is holding, and you can be on your way.
Vin (as Eightball): Hey, sorry, marble?
Kelly (as Espinoza): Yes, the positions on the Sanitary Commission. Barring volunteers, I was quite surprised but lovely to have you involved but–but the remaining positions on the Sanitary Commission not filled by volunteers will be filled by lot, as is custom.
Vin (as Eightball): [sighs loudly]
Kelly: So the eastern doors are closed, the western doors are opened and along with a couple of the big beefier, Good Shepherds, Madame Mystere waits at the door and each person on their way out picks out one marble, most of them are black.
Ethan: Mother Machree will wait ’til all of the Sistren, uh, get up, and she will go to them and just kind of shake her head and be like,
Ethan (as Mother Machree): I didn’t–I didn’t realize it was this pedestrian.
Kelly: [laughs]
Ethan (as Mother Machree): I like the politics that are a little more roughshod.
Ethan: And they kind of like, are just kind of, like, ‘why are you here?’
[laughter]
So she’s gonna let all them go before she goes.
Kelly: Mm hmm.
Ethan: And she’s going to reach in the bag and intentionally grab a white marble, or whatever color–
Kelly: You know, she can’t see in the bag.
Ethan: Sorry?
Kelly: So, I mean, it’s–you know, it’s you reach in, you get what you get.
Ethan: Right.
Kelly: Is she gonna try and use magic?
Ethan: Yeah, I’m gonna try to… I don’t think any, uh… Yeah, she doesn’t really have anything she could do to make that happen, I suppose?
Kacey: You’ve got Correspondence. You could swap a white with a black, I guess.
Ethan: How about that? Yep! Yeah, no, that’s what happens. Uh, so she will–she will wait ’til one of the Sistren grab a white marble and then she’ll just swap hers with it.
Kelly: Okay.
Ethan: Actually, she won’t use magic. She actually won’t use magic to do that.
[laughter]
She’ll just wait ’til one of them gets it. And then she’ll just be like–she’ll just hold her hand out. And they’ll be like, ‘yeah, yeah.’ And then they’ll swap with her.
Kelly: Okay, yeah, that works. So indeed, uhm… Let’s see. The list of… the list of current Sistren is not right in front of me, but one of them… does pick out a–
Ethan: Marigold Childers-Smythe.
Kelly: There you go. Marigoes–Marigold Childers Shm–Smythe reaches in plucks out a white marble and–and Mother Machree indicates that she’s to give it to her and she does so, reaches back in plucks out another one and it’s black. So, she’s good. Anybody else is supposedly doing something on their way out the door?
Jeff: Yeah, the pack doesn’t do anything particularly special. Coach is the first one who puts his hand in?
Kelly: Okay, Coach reaches in and pulls out a white marble.
Jeff (as Coach): Hmm. Well, guess I’m cleaning things up.
Jeff: And he winks at whoever is holding the bag.
Kelly: Yes, that’s Madame Mystere, uh–
Jeff: Madame Mystere.
Kelly: –a woman dressed all in black with a black top hat. Sort of, oh, very self consciously Victorian style garb. A black veil that’s pulled out so you’re just not really covering her face, but it’s like there for her to put down over her face whenever necessary. She nods.
Kelly (as Madame Mystere): Thank you for your service.
Kelly: And Vin and Kacey, you’re who’s left.
Vin: Are we ALL who’s left?
Kelly: Um, if you’re explicitly sort of hanging back? Ah, no, you probably, you know, most of the people are filtered out at this point. I think the last of the sort of factional groups to move out as a block would be the Mayapple Lodge, they show up early and they leave late because their Commandant is in charge.
Vin: Yeah, I definitely wait till most of the Lodge is out at least.
Kelly: Okay. But unless, like explicitly trying to cheat–
Vin: Yeah, no.
Kelly: –on the way out, you will be expected to pull something from the bag.
Vin: Yeah. Yeah. When most of the crowd is gone, and it’s just lingerers who look like they’re gonna be here for a while and be a pain in the ass–
Kelly: Mmhmm.
Vin: –Eightball will go up. What do I know about Madame Mystere?
Kelly: Madame Mystere is a… not one of the oldest members of the Salem citizenry at all, but not… not brand new either. She’s one of the… so the Sistren for a long time, and then even when they weren’t exactly… so the Sistren, for a long time, were like the only magi in the area.
Vin: Right.
Kelly: And then they weren’t exactly but there were just two different factions calling themselves the Sistren of the Bitter Well, and that was still pretty much the only magi in the area. And it wasn’t really until about 150 years ago or so that you started seeing more different mages of one sort or another showing up in the Salem area not associated with the Sistren at all. And then only in the last, like, 75 years did you start seeing these folks that were self-consciously aligned with the witchcraft idea, obviously most of them just mortals, some of them for, you know, professional or entertainment reasons describe themselves as witches, some of them for legitimate religious identity reasons describe themselves as witches, but one or two of the people who filtered in that time actually had real power and still align themselves with something… witchcraft..ish or witchcraft adjacent. And Mystere is one of the earliest of those. So she’s been in the greater Salem area, probably going on. Hmm, yeah, well, well past 50 years, now. She appears to be a woman in her probably late 40s. not explicitly young, but definitely not old either. And she has not aged in the time that Eightball has been here to see what she looked like. But she became an Associate Justice of the, of the abnormal courts a couple decades ago. So she has a significant role to play in civic government.
Vin: Is Madame Mystere her… her given name? Does she have a given name? And do I know it?
Kelly: You don’t know another name for her.
Vin: No?
Kelly: Do you have a thing for knowing people’s names?
Vin: Not specifically, but I deal with a lot of people.
Kelly: Oh, yeah, you deal with a lot of people for sure.
Vin: I have some Politics points.
Kelly: Yeah, no, like, you would–if somebody knows her name, other than Madame Mystere, it must be a very short list.
Vin: Okay.
Kelly: Right. It’s not if this is like, you know, most of the–you know, most people’s, like, titles and their sobriquets, right? This is somebody where you’re just like ‘this is the only name I have with this person’. So she uses a different name with anybody else, it’s got to be a real tight circle because the information is not getting out.
Vin: Okay. Eightball walks up. Just stares–stares her right in the eye the entire time–
Vin (as Eightball): Madame.
Vin: –reaches into the bag without looking and pulls out a marble, holds it up like so that it’s–she’s still making eye contact, but the marble’s in her periphery and opens her hand.
Kelly: [laughs.] It’s white.
Vin (as Eightball): Ah, dick.
Kelly: [laughs]
Vin (as Eightball): JACK! Jack, I got a thing.
Vin: She runs off to find Coach.
Jeff: [laughs]
Kelly: Madame Mystere smiles. Ah, that leaves you, Kacey.
Kacey: Yeah, so Truly, she was sitting on her phone and she’s gonna–Truly was sitting down. And she’s kind of found reasons to not get up, basically, that were kind of innocuous, like she’s futzing on her phone or she’s looking for something in her purse. But she kind of makes a point to wait until everybody’s just sort of left. So there’s not really the risk of people kind of crushing in behind her before she gets up to go. And during the whole presentation thing, when Coach kind of popped up for that, you know, ‘are there any questions?’ And was like ‘yeah, when are we gonna get some grass at the high school for my kids?’ like, just had this sort of like, faintly fondly bemused smile on her face because it was just so very Coach to say, but with him with his big like retinue of a bajillion other werewolves does not kind of reach out or, or try and say ‘hey’ to him or anything. So she is sort of in a hurry to get out the door and she reaches into the bag and takes her marble and just kind of doesn’t really even stop walking. She’s just like absolutely dead certain that she’s going to get a black one. And she looks down at her hand…
Kelly: It’s white.
Kacey: And she sort of stops and holds it up, kind of better to the light just to make sure… kind of looks at it… and looks at the bag… looks back at the marble and kind of motions the bag like ‘I reached in and I picked it out.’ And there’s just sort of a faint look of consternation on her face as she pockets the marble and walks out.
Kelly: All right. So people disperse from here, but obviously they’re all–y’all just left the same room and are flowing out kind of the same way. So there’s ample time to catch up with each other, especially those of you who maybe were watching and saw who else got a white marble before you did. So I’m going to leave space here for you to do that if you want, but if you’re just going to disperse, you can just disperse right there’s no, no forced interaction.
Vin: Yeah, I’m definitely catching up to Coach.
Jeff: Okay, um, Coach eventually hears Eightball, kind of turns around and looks and sees her coming, squints his eyes a little bit, looks back at his pack and says, you know,
Jeff (as Coach): ‘Go on, I’ll catch up. Save a beer for me.’
Vin: She holds up the marble.
Vin (as Eightball): Look, I’m finally on your team.
Jeff (as Coach): Oh, you got one, too?
Vin (as Eightball): Uh-huh.
Jeff: He kind of throws his up, catches it, kind of punches Eightball a little bit like on the shoulder like:
Jeff (as Coach): Good to have you on the team. Uh, gonna have to make sure that you can keep up with me. What are we doing?
Vin (as Eightball): Uh, well I feel like we’re cops. Kind of.
Jeff (as Coach): Like with brooms though? I mean, I don’t understand the sanitation part of it. I mean do I have to squeegee things?
Vin (as Eightball): No, I think that’s just there so we don’t scare people as much, which is going to be tough because we also pulled the spooky cat and the creepy lady with the gun.
Jeff (as Coach): Wait, which spooky cat?
Vin (as Eightball): The… the dead–
Jeff (as Coach): Are you talking about Angie?
Vin (as Eightball): No, the–Miw? The dead cat that lives in the graveyard?
Jeff (as Coach): Oh, graveyard cat Yeah. Yeah, no. I mean, I don’t know, he’s, he’s pretty strong. I think we can, we could we could use him… or her. Wait–I don’t know if the cat’s a boy or girl.
Braden: If you look across the room, you can see Amal with–with Miw on his shoulders, having some words with the mayor. Uh, Miw is standing now and you can see cat balls.
Jeff: Okay.
[laughter]
Kelly: Thanks for that Braden.
Vin: Oh, boy.
Ethan: That had to happen.
Jeff: It did happen.
Vin: That is not where I expected this to go.
Kelly: Canonical cat balls. That’s great.
Vin: I mean, I guess. Yeah, he’s not gonna be fixed given–
Ethan: Yeah. No.
Vin: –-the history of things.
Jeff: That would make sense. Makes sense.
Kelly: I don’t know. Egypt. The Egyptians were very advanced. Do you know that they didn’t spay and neuter their pets? I don’t.
Vin: Hmm.
Kelly: They had brain surgery, come on.
Braden: Yeah.
Kelly: Anyway–
Vin: Yeah, if anyone intends to join this conversation, feel free.
Ethan: So Mother Machree has not left, the rest of the coven has. She pointedly, though, stays out just outside the western door and just kind of like watches people as they leave. This is in line with her behavior in the last few years. About last year, I would say, where she’s just been wandering and watching a lot more. That is kind of all she’s doing. She’s not engaging with people. She’s just kind of wandering around, milling about. But at the point where Eightball refers to her as ‘crazy old lady’, if someone did look in her direction, you will see her nod and smile.
[laughter]
Braden: So Amal finishes up his–his business with the mayor. It has something to do with the medicinal marijuana shop that has opened directly across the street from Harmony Grove Cemetery. And whether or not that was an intentional act of the Salem zoning board.
Kelly (as Espinoza): This is the way of things the mortals, they need their indulgences the same as the rest of us do. I assure you there was no slight intended. Our government had no particular involvement in, in that. It was a completely mundane choice of the official government of the city.
Braden (as Miw): I understand. I will continue my vigil against the potheads then.
[laughter]
Braden: … and wanders over to the other, the other chosen sanitary engineers.
Kacey: Truly will have come out of the room at this point with her white marble. And since the group is smaller and the other werewolves and everyone’s sort of coteries and kind of left, she’ll join the cluster of white marble holders, and kind of just hold her own up.
Vin: Eightball when she sees it just like–
Vin (as Eightball): Oh, thank god.
Vin: –and just like gives her a hug.
Vin (as Eightball): Oh, boy, this is gonna be weird.
Kacey (as Truly): Hey, EB.
Vin (as Eightball): Oh, boy.
Jeff (as Coach): [awkwardly] Oh, uh, oh.
Braden (as Miw): Well then, hope you all will take this foray into public service seriously, with the appropriate gravitas and sense of responsibility.
Vin (as Eightball): Gravitas is my middle name.
Braden (as Miw): I’m not sure I know all of you. You, I know, (he says to Coach,) That, um–that issue with the field. That wouldn’t have had anything to do with that sludge spirit that was recently killed on the grounds of the–of the high school? Are you cleaning up your own mess?’
Jeff (as Coach): It’s, uh–Miw. You know me. I always clean up my own messes. I clean up some of yours, too. So don’t give me none of that. But yeah, that–that slug had something to do with it. The–did something to the grass and now it just won’t grow. So we just need to pull it all up and replace it. And it’s, you know, it’s not good for the kids, you know, it’s, um, it’s a–it’s one of those things that you–they got to protect themselves. And it’s–it’s a–it’s a physical sport and if they’re not–if they’re not running on good grass, then, then a lot of accidents can happen and it’s just, it’s just not good. It’s not good. I mean, I heard you talking to the mayor over there, make sure you put some pressure on him if you can.’
Braden (as Miw): I will.
Jeff (as Coach): I know he doesn’t take it seriously, but I know you will.
Braden (as Miw): Oh, I will. And there will come a time when I have a bit more of a say, I believe.
Braden: He’s–he’s been sort of on the sly campaigning for Mayor for–you know, off and on for the last hundred years or so. [laughter] But he puts a puts a hand on, uh, on Coach’s shoulder and says
Braden (as Miw): But I do, I do genuinely respect the care you have for your charges.
Jeff (as Coach): Yeah, and my kids, too.
[laughter]
Vin: Eightball leans over to Truly–
Vin (as Eightball): So okay, you know Jack, from the diner.
Kacey (as Truly): Sure, sure.
Kacey: She just kind of glances at Jack and–
Jeff: Jack kind of like pulls his hat down a little bit farther. So like, he’s–his eyes are occluded and says like
Jeff (as Coach): Hey, Tru, how’s it going?
Jeff: But like, actively, like avoids eye contact with them.
Vin (as Eightball): I have no idea if you know Amal, and Miw–Miw is a cat. Um, but he’s in charge. And then–
Braden: Miw blinks at each of you, very intentionally, and slowly.
Blink.
Blink.
Blink.
Kacey: So-so you said Amal goes to the diner, right?
Braden: Amal does. Yeah.
Kacey: Does he take you?
Braden: Sometimes.
Kacey: Okay. So Truly’ll say
Kacey (as Truly): We–we’ve interacted on occasion.
Kacey: And she blinks back.
Ethan: And I should–I should explain that you guys are all talking in a cluster.
Vin: Mm-hm.
Ethan: Mother Machree is not in that cluster, and she is responding visually to everything you’re saying–as like nodding and smiling, and lau–well, not laughing.
Braden: Is she standing still or she like wandering around the room?
Ethan: She is more or less–well we’re not in the room, right? We’ve left the room. We’re in like a–
Jeff: We’re in like an antechamber, kind of.
Kacey: Yeah.
Ethan: Oh, okay, yeah.
Yeah, no, she is–she’s still there, but she–like I said she’s kind of isolated herself. She is completely still… Until she is not. So she is–she is stone still, kind of watching the room, listening, but she’s also reacting to your conversation visually, in as much as you can tell, like, as though she is in the circle listening.
Vin (as Eightball): Yeah, and then we also pulled the spooky old witch lady.
Braden (as Miw): Ah, yes, mother Machree. I don’t believe we’ve officially been introduced.
Ethan: Did you turn to her when you did that?
Braden: Uh, does he know–
Ethan: Or are you telling them you haven’t introduced–
Braden: Well, does he know what she’s up to? Is he aware that she’s got a weird relationship with space?
Ethan: That’s up to you, I mean, she’s–she’s not trying to hide. She’s just not entirely wanting to be close to you all. [laughs]
Kelly: She’s not all there.
Kacey: Oooooh. [makes rimshot noise]
Braden: He addresses her, and yeah, and, uh, swings an arm wide in–in invitation to join the circle.
She turns immediately backwards, facing away from you all, backing towards you.
[laughter]
Ethan: Then turns to join the circle, and then says
Ethan (as Mother Machree): So we’re here to clean up this town.
Jeff (as Coach): I mean, that’s–that’s what sanitation means.
Vin (as Eightball): I don’t–
Jeff (as Coach): There’s a lot of dirt.
Vin (as Eightball): I don’t know that I’m entirely comfortable with that definition.
Braden (as Miw): I think it also encompasses preventing spills. Let’s say.
Vin (as Eightball): I think I’m less comfortable with that definition.
Kacey: Lots of boiling.
Vin (as Eightball): So, wait, you were talking with the mayor, do you know, what–do we get assignments? Are we–do we–is there a committee charter? Is that how you do committees?
Braden: Yeah, did I get any sense of that from the, uh–from talking to the mayor?
Kelly: The mayor was appreciative of your volunteering, intimated that he had a sense that it was–that it might be as a stepping stone towards future high office, but since he’s term limited anyways, he doesn’t–he’s not one to argue. He said,
Kelly (as Espinoza): Why don’t you all come around my office tomorrow night, and we’ll have a meeting, get you established, go over your mandate, and I have a few issues you should probably attend to sooner rather than later. I’ll give you the specifics when we speak next.
Braden: Okay, he relays this to the group that
Braden (as Miw): We’ve–we have a dinner date tomorrow night.
Ethan (as Mother Machree): Good, I’ll bring my food.
Vin (as Eightball): Do you know how dinner works?
Kacey: Truly looks over at Eightball.
Kacey (as Truly): Do YOU know how dinner works?
Jeff (as Coach): Well, it’s, um–you usually eat it in the af–in the evening. Like, you know, when the sun isn’t quite set, but usually you use the oven and stove and you mix some ingredients together. And then ya got dinner.
‘Right?’
Ethan: Mother rolls her eyes and just–just kind of
Ethan (as Mother Machree): I know how dinner works.
Jeff (as Coach): Okay, good.
Ethan (as Mother Machree): I don’t trust anyone else to make it for me. But I’ll be there.
Kelly: I’m appreciating the fact that when we first started envisioning this party, it was like we were leaning towards being mostly made up of characters who would have a lot of trouble functioning in the regular world–
[laughter]
–but now it seems like we have a kind of even mix of characters who have a lot of trouble functioning in the real world, and then characters with a lot of trouble functioning in the magical world.
[laughter]
Braden: Yeah, I’m kind of uncomfortable being the normie here.
[laughter]
Kelly: Playing against type, alright.
Shall we jump cut to tomorrow night?
Vin: Yes.
Braden: Yeah.
Ethan: Yeah, in the intervening day, uh, Mother Machree is back on the streets just wandering around. Um… yeah. That’s still happening.
Kelly: Right, so I mean, when she’s wandering around, she looks like some kind of a Civil War reenactor, although a… odd one.
Ethan: Yeah, I mean, she–she’s cloaked, and she’s a woman. Uh, and she’s not–like I said, the people of the town kind of know her by–by legend, I guess for the lack of a better term, but then they don’t really believe or remember many interactions with her. So like, she’s a presence, but not one they kind of register that much. But when they are registering it, they register that it’s super odd. Um, the supernatural community will see her around and that’s still, you know, obviously she still registers is odd, even in the supernatural community, but not a… You know, she is just walking the streets.
Kelly: Mm-hm, mm-hm.
Ethan: She’s not doing anything, is I guess what I’m saying.
Vin: Mm-hm. So where’s dinner?
Ethan: In my bag.
[laughter]
Kelly: Dinner is in the residence of the mayor, which actually is part of the complex of All Hallows Hall, it’s sort of a multi-function governmental center. It serves as the mayor’s official residence, it houses the courts, it houses the meeting hall for the Conclave–it’s your one stop shop for magical civic government.
So there’s an interesting collision in, uhm, in aesthetics here because–
[light classical piano music begins]
Kelly: –All Hallows Hall has a decidedly modernist, even brutalist aesthetic, although it is–it is sort of like brutalism meets castle–Idropped a few pictures in the Slack a while ago, of an architect that I thought was in the right vein for this–but you know, a lot of flat–wide, flat surfaces, right, showing off what you can do with very ingeniously poured concrete. And then there’s the inherent sumptuousness and intentional even, uh, compulsive anachronism of Mayor Espinoza’s aesthetic, right? So, you’ve got this room that is wide and sweeping, but with these very stark, flat surfaces, you know, just these barren plains of concrete, but then it’s been filled with all this fine teak, and hand carved wood, and polished brass, uhm, really, gauzy hangings, tapestries–the whole thing is an interesting collision of styles.
There’s a long table set up. The food is served. Let’s see, I think it’s–it goes something like, uhm… you each have platters in front of you, y’know, with those–those big clamshell dome things right, that you pull off to reveal what’s underneath.
That guy with the frosted tips is dressed like a waiter now but he’s still has those black Raybans on.
Vin: Who is that guy? Do I know that guy?
Kelly: That–that is, uh, that is Espinosa’s manservant, Gerald. He is definitely a ghoul, but other than that, you know he kind of lives in, uh, in Espinosa’s shadows so not a lot to know. He… let’s see, things you–things Eightball would know about him… He lives in a basement apartment, he’s a chain smoker…
And, uh… he’s been working for Francisco for probably, uh… enough time now that if he stopped… if he stopped, like he was cut off from the blood supply, he probably wouldn’t just die but he would get a–he would get dramatically older all of a sudden. So he’s a little bit stuck, right, in that situation where the ghoul has been tied to the master long enough that they don’t have a good out anymore.
Vin: Okay.
Kelly: Anyways, he comes along and, and you know, pulls off each of the lids with a flourish. Let’s see, going around again… Vin, the platter in front of, uhm, in front of Eightball has a fine silver goblet of what is clearly blood, and also a plate of steak fries. There is ketchup and salt.
Jeff, in front of Coach there is a very, very rare steak and… hmm… glazed carrots.
Jeff: Okay.
Kelly: Ethan in front of Mother Machree… A… pot roast.
Ethan: Yeah, she–she takes it, she looks at it, she goes ‘hm, hm,’ she dumps it out on–onto the table–so like if there’s, if there’s like a place where it would make sense for her to do that, she would do that–
Kelly: Uh-huh.
Ethan: –but somewhere, she kind of shakes it off, lays it back down, reaches into her sack, pulls out a stack of hardtack and just kind of nibbles at it.
Kelly: Uh, Braden, there are actually two platters, because Amal is here, right?
Braden: Mm-hm.
Kelly: There’s actually two platters in front of his… I guess–I guess there’ll be like a special–not a highchair but like a high chair, [laughter] like a chair that’s clearly designed for a creature that is small and needs to sit at this–roughly the same level as everybody else at the table.
Vin: So like a platform with a nice cushion on it.
Kelly: Yeah, like a nice red velvet cushion.
So Amal’s platter is lifted up, it’s, uh, basically like a vegetarian Mediterranean platter–you know, it’s pita bread and baba ganoush and hummus and probably some tabouli, a couple other things. And the one that a dome is lifted from Miw’s–through this this like beautiful crystaline little cup-lette thing with Fancy Feast in it.
Ethan: It is the fanciest of feasts.
Jeff: [imitating Fancy Feast commercial] Ding ding ding ding ding ding.
Kacey: Yeah.
Kelly: And, uh, and Kacey, in front of yours… Uh, I’m gonna say, filet of sole, with… with a kale salad.
Francisco, of course, is also drinking out of a fine silver goblet–fancier silver goblet, one might note, than the one that Eightball got–Eightball’s is very nice, but it’s very clear and unambiguous that Francisco silver goblet is the fancier of the two goblets.
So he, y’know, expansively talks about the importance of this position, he references something in the town constitution about the authority of the mayor to convene committees in the interest of the public welfare and to arrange their appointments, either by volunteer or by lot, ‘thank you to both of those of you who volunteered and those of you who are here by virtue of having pulled the white marble’, and how this is an important purpose because right now we cannot afford for the mortals to–to get wise to our existence, you know, that way only leads to trouble.
Ethan (as Mother Machree): Oh, I wouldn’t worry about them getting wise.
[laughter]
Kelly: Uh–
Braden: Amal stifles a laugh.
Kelly: And, uh… and talks about that for a while and encourages you to eat if you’re not eating. Uh–
Vin: So, on that note, two quick things.
Kelly: Mm-hm
Vin: One is that I’m definitely like, giving that blood a long careful smell–
Kelly: Mm-hm, mm-hm.
Vin: –to try and figure out what type of being it came from.
Kelly: Yeah. Why don’t you make a… smelling is like… Wits plus something?
Vin: Yeah. Is that just…
Jeff: Perception roll?
Kelly: Well remember there’s no perception anymore.
Vin: Yeah. So that’d be just Wits/Composure is I think the solution.
Kelly: I think Wits/Composure is right.
Kacey: Yeah.
Vin: Yeah.
Kacey: I think that’s the default perception roll.
Vin: Yeah. [dice clatter] Reroll 10s?
Kelly: Yes, reroll 10s.
Vin: Just one.
Kelly: Uhm–
Vin: Really I’m just trying to make sure it’s not from a vampire.
Kelly: Yes, and it’s definitely not, because that would smell… so animal blood would smell weak but also gamey.
Vin: Mm-hm.
Kelly: And blood from Vitae–blood from a vampire–would smell very strong, and almost… uhm… almost like a whiff of alcohol. But this is in the middle, this is this appears to be human blood.
Vin: Okay, so Eightball takes a sip of that, picks up a steak fry, moves it towards the ketchup, pauses, moves it slightly towards the blood…
[laughter]
Vin: … pauses for a much longer second–like she’s stuck? Reaches down and pulls up the Magic 8-Ball from her belt..
Turns it over…
Kelly: Aaaaaah…
Vin: And dips it in the blood.
And–
Braden: The fry?
Vin: Yeah.
Braden: Not the 8-Ball.
Vin: No.
Jeff: Vin are you really using an 8-Ball, there?
Vin: Yep.
Jeff: Nice.
Vin: That was ‘most likely’.
Braden: As, uh, Amal and Miw sit down to eat, Amal kind of sighs a little bit, and when his–and closes his eyes and his eyes open–he has a little bit different demeanor to him, he seems a little more reserved and meek, and even nervous, but tucks into his food, and Miw into his food.
Vin: Eightball gives him a little wave when he comes around like that.
Braden: He smiles and waves a little bit.
Ethan: I should clarify, I thought about this–she didn’t, she didn’t dump the food out, she just literally just pushed the plate away and then pulled out the hard tack, so it’s still on the table but she’s not going to touch it… and she’s eating the hard tack. She’s also got a tin cup that looks like it is a period tin cup from the Civil War era–it has been beaten just all to hell; she pulls a… a… looks like a water skin out of it and pours what is very clearly the darkest, most, like, almost rancid and certainly, certainly strong coffee you have ever smelt, into it. And and proceeds to consume that.
Kelly: Mm-hm. Mm-hm.
Vin: Eightball leans towards Truly,
Vin (as Eightball): This is gonna be a trip.
[laughter]
Kacey: Truly just sort of smiles around the kale that she’s chewing on, and kind of like lifts her brows in–in silent agreement with Eightball’s comment.
Braden: So after Miw has eaten enough bites to be polite, he then looks up to the mayor and a much richer, almost more echoey voice issues from his mouth, his jaw and lips moving unsettlingly to form human words.
Braden (as Miw): So, Mr. Espinosa… what’s on your mind?
Kelly: He–
Ethan (as Mother Machree): And no more that flowery language! I just want to hear what we’re doing.
Kelly: He pauses in swishes the blood in his goblet around a bit, tilts it back slightly, puts it–puts his nose in it just [inhales audibly] breathes the aroma, sips bit, swishes it around in his mouth, swallows, looks back, fangs extended.
Kelly (as Espinoza): Some of your fellow citizens have been getting messy of late. You can see how this reflects poorly on all of us–represents a threat to all of us. And just at the moment, the attentions of my office have to be on a few other matters of even graver import to the well being of our fair city. So I need your help.
‘There it is. Hopefully it was satisfactory, yes? I’m not too big say it.’
Ethan (as Mother Machree): It’s fine, you just use too much of that flowery language–just tell us what you want and move on.
Jeff (as Coach): ‘I don’t know this lady too much, but I think I like her.’
[laughter]
Jeff (as Coach): Um, yeah, I mean, it’s–it’s–I pulled a white marble, I’m in. So yeah, just point me in the direction, I just, this doesn’t–like Fridays, I need to keep free.
[laughter]
Jeff (as Coach): Uhm, just so you know.
Kelly (as Espinoza): Well, my suggestion is that you open an office–there’s one available right now on Tuck Alley, it’ll be a little bit more accessible than here at the Hall. You know, get out there in the community, be where you can be seen and–and see others. As I said, to your senior colleague Miw, there were a few cases that have come to my attention that I’d like you to look into first, if you’d be so willing, but mostly, your time is your own–if you want to divide up a schedule, take turns…
It’s all fine by me.
Vin: Eightball has just been, like, playing around with her phone for like the last 30 seconds, uh and she just looks up and says
Vin (as Eightball): I set up a Slack.
[laughter]
Kelly: Oh, man.
Ethan (as Mother Machree): A what, dear?
Vin (as Eightball): Right, we’ll have that conversation afterwards. Do you HAVE a phone?
Ethan (as Mother Machree): No, I do not have a phone.
Vin (as Eightball): Okay, I’ll sort that out later.
Vin: She adds that to her to-do list.
Braden: Um, Amal check–checks his phone for an invite.
Vin: I’m fairly sure she’ll have emails for Amal and Coach and Truly.
Jeff: Yeah.
Kacey: Mm-hm.
Jeff: Coach finishes his steak, but doesn’t touch the carrots.
Vin: Eightball will pick some carrots off of his plate, casually, over the course of the night.
Kacey: Does he–does he take the meatloaf?
Ethan: Pot roast.
Kacey: Pot roast, that’s right.
[laughter]
Vin: Yeah I’ll pick at that too, actually.
Kelly: Um, anything else anybody wants to establish doing, or saying, or asking?
Vin: I feel like I’d like to get sort of a picture of like, just an example? So like, if there’s a list of, quote unquote, cases or whatever, uhm…
Kelly: Mm-hm.
Vin: … she’ll probably push to get the rundown of one of them. Like, ‘I want to be sure this is something that I am comfortable doing.’
Ethan (as Mother Machree): Also, are we an autonomous body? Are we in charge? Or do we answer to you?
Kelly (as Espinoza): Well as–
Ethan (as Mother Machree): Or do we just act when we feel it’s appropriate? Because I’ve seen some things that I would like to address.
Kelly (as Espinoza): As a committee of public welfare under the town constitution, of course, ultimately you’re responsible to the office of the mayor–whoever that may be at the time–but I’m pleased to give you a relatively free hand in this area of civic concern. If there’s a matter that you think poses a threat to the public good, please, I encourage you to act and act decisively. We’ll deal with the consequences afterwards. This is truly a–can be an existential question for us.
Braden (as Miw): Well, if I might suggest as an inaugural project, the issue of the pot heads. Mother Machree, is there any sort of ward you might be able to erect around Harmony Grove? I, unfortunately, cannot be held responsible for my actions, should I be aroused from my century slumber by–by intrusion.
Ethan (as Mother Machree): So what you’re saying is your concern about us breaking the so-called Masquerade is that you might go off and kill a bunch of potheads?
Braden (as Miw): It is a very real possibility–not at the moment, but when I return to my tomb–
Ethan (as Mother Machree): Are you suggesting that the Sanitation Committee sanitize itself?
[a pause]
Braden (as Miw): Who watches the watchmen?
[laughter]
Ethan (as Mother Machree): I don’t think the potheads are our concern–the mayor could correct me on that, but I don’t think that’s what we’re talking about.
Kelly (as Espinoza): You’re quite quite right, of course, Mother Machree–I encourage you to–to think a little bit more broadly about all this. Here are some examples of the sorts of cases that I’m talking about.
Kelly: He hands a–a sheaf of papers, they’re… they’re like city forms, right, you know–check boxes, and fill in this name here, and that sort of thing–but they’re all written out in florid hand with an ink quill on these, you know, those sephia mottled sheets of paper that one would expect, uhm, two, three centuries ago. Sort of a collision between modern style and historical aesthetic. And there’re, you know–there’re names and dates and locations and comments sections, that sort of thing, but they’re probably good five or six there–cases to be looked into.
Vin: What’s on the top of the stack?
Kelly: What’s the top of the stack, what’s on the top of the stack is… uh…
There was a–looks like a middle aged father of two, who was found… what’s the word here… gutted, uh, gutted, in South Salem, two weeks ago. Occult symbolism adjoining the corpse, and seems like the sort of thing that might trace back to the veiled community.
Ethan (as Mother Machree): So is our job to dissuade those from investigating further into the supernatural community? Or is our job to find out why this man was gutted?
Kelly (as Espinoza): Well, as I said, you’re coming in with broad leeway, but I would point out that we have mechanisms, as a collective, for dealing with someone in our midst who consistently poses a threat to our collective well being. But the primary concern always is keeping the secret, yes. So if you were to find out who was responsible, that could well help in resolving that, but first and foremost, it’s important that the mortal authorities not get any wind of what’s actually going on.
Ethan (as Mother Machree): Aah.
Vin (as Eightball): [sighs] All right. That looks… looks like it’s actually important.
Braden (as Miw): Looks rather pressing.
Ethan (as Mother Machree): Seems a little more important than some potheads, wouldn’t you say?
Braden (as Miw): Admittedly, yes.
Kacey (as Truly): Well, why don’t we all meet up tomorrow, go through the rest of them, decide where we’re gonna start?
Ethan (as Mother Machree): That sounds like a plan.
Vin (as Eightball): So wait you said we had an office?
Kelly (as Espinoza): Well, I thought that you might want the–the space in Tuck Alley, where… where the old clove merchant used to operate out of.
Vin (as Eightball): Yeah, Tuck Alley’s rad as hell.
Jeff (as Coach): That clove guy left?
[laughter]
Kelly (as Espinoza): He did. I don’t think that business was going very well for him.
Jeff (as Coach): I mean, he was a nice guy, but I could not handle that store.
[laughter]
Jeff (as Coach): I could smell it from like, a mile away.
[laughter]
Jeff (as Coach): Good guy, though. Good guy.
Ethan (as Mother Machree): To be fair can’t your kind of smell a lot of things from miles away?
Jeff (as Coach): Mmm, cloves are something special. They get in the nose, like real real far back in there, and just like days afterwards, you can still taste it. It’s not–it’s not super great.
Vin (as Eightball): It’s probably good we didn’t meet when I was in high school then.
[laughter]
Jeff (as Coach): Did you sell cloves, too?
Vin (as Eightball): I didn’t SELL them.
Jeff (as Coach): Did you… eat them?
Vin (as Eightball): I mean, one time but that was on a bet.
[laughter]
Kacey: Straight–straight-facedly, Truly says to Jack
Kacey (as Truly): That’s how she became a vampire.
[sustained laughter]
Kelly: As the sanitation commission finishes their meal with the mayor, let’s pull back the camera and peek in at a few other characters who may be of significance to our story.
At her magic shop in Salem’s downtown, not far from the Athenaeum, Madam Mystere flicks a hidden clasp on one of the display cases, and opens the door to the secret room she never reveals to tourists. From her satchel, she produces the little bag of marbles used to draw assignments for the Mayor’s commission. She tests it with a few draws: first a black, then a white, then another white, then a final black. Satisfied that all is still in order, she deposits the bag in its place on the shelf with her other enchanted curios, and closes the secret door behind her.
In a stately row house in Salem, the seat of the Foxglove family for nearly two hundred years, Fenton Foxglove sits in his study, reading a book on the life of Sulla, of Rome. As he reads, he only worries more – about his family, about Salem, about everything. Above his head, over the fireplace, the family crest hangs: a shield set with two sprigs of foxglove surrounding the Eye of Providence. Beneath the shield, the family motto is written in both the pictograms of the First Tongue of the Uratha, and the hieroglyphs of the Second City. It reads: “We Bear Good Medicine”. The shield is supported on the right by a black Cheviot goat, on the left by a black adder, and surmounted by a black cat.
Just next door, in a similar home, similarly appointed – almost as though someone had consciously set out to mimic the style of decor – Ophelia Treme, the Intendant of the Blood, also sits alone. She turns the spigot on a silver cask beside her and pours herself a small glass of dark red liquid. She sips the glass thoughtfully as she writes in her journal, musing about her plans for when she will be the mayor of Salem once more.
Across the bridge, in Beverly, in an airy, modern condominium with a grand view of the harbor, Azacachia, the Archduchess of Pandemonium – a woman with curled horns and sharp teeth – finishes her evening meal of Thai take-out, good whiskey, and a strong joint. On a wall calendar of black and white photographs from various scenic destinations in Italy, she marks off one more day with an “X”. One more day of her exile endured. One less day before she will return to her rightful throne in Hell, and take up the war against creation once again.
In an alleyway, behind a dumpster, in Peabody, a cat sits and preens itself in the moonlight. Its hair is black, almost disturbingly so; less a color than the total absence of light. So quietly that the poor creature does not hear, another cat – identical to the first, with the same coat of unblemished darkness – creeps up behind. It’s jaw opens impossibly wide, like the mouth of a sack, and it swallows the first, preening feline whole.
Out over the water on Big Misery island, and across the wall between worlds, Lady Artemesia Melancholy rests in the ghostly ruins of a burnt-out casino, soaking in a bath that does little to improve her spirits. Her iridescent blue-green wings hang over one end of the tub, while her fishtail drapes over the other. In the middle, on a tray fixed to the rim, she plays a game of solitaire, and sheds a single tear.
And far, far away, on plains of barren sand, a rider pauses atop a dune and looks into the distance. The Black Hand is an imposing figure of spiritual power and physical decay, a burial shroud draped over his head and shoulders as he sits astride his dead horse. Proserpina Nesbit joins him at his side, the silent caravan of the Wild Hunt stretching out behind them both. And then, as one, they begin the long, long journey towards Salem.
[theme music begins: Down Among the Dead Men, performed by Adrienne Howard, Emily Peterson, and Dirk I. Tiede]
Vin: That’s it this week for The Chimera! Our theme music this season is Down Among the Dead Men, performed by Adrienne Howard, Emily Peterson, and Dirk I. Tiede. For information on the other music used in this episode, check the show notes.
You can support The Chimera by going to Patreon.com/chimerapod. Patrons at any amount get access to behind-the-scenes setting and system info, art polls, and exclusive side-games and one shots.
You can also find us on line at thechimera.space, or on twitter and facebook at chimerapod.
We’ll be back in two weeks with a new episode, so until then, thanks for listening!
[theme music finishes]
[a pause of several seconds]
[a mixed-up jumble of the cast all saying “Recording”, “recording,” “I am recording”, over one another, some in sing-song voices.]
Kacey: Okay, I THINK I am now recording.
Braden: Beep boop boop.
