SBR 1.26: Enigma

"'Trouble on the forums and in the P.O. Box. Someone is adamant that Sam Enfield should not be hosting this show...'"

Events of Note

 * Sam has not heard from Emily, Holly, or Kitty.
 * Sam discusses the Man in the Flat Cap
 * He had an incident with several letters growing through the floor, each one addressed to Madame Marie.
 * They talk about the strange tarot deck.
 * Sam drawing the white door in their sleep has gotten worse, to the point where he is surrounded by sketches whenever he wakes up.

Summary
Sam begins the episode by apologising for his breakdown at the end of the last episode. They express their worry over the others that had been involved with the radio show, including Kitty, Anna, and the Loyal Assistants. He also states that he hasn't from Holly or Emily from the previous episode. Sam thanks the listeners for their support, and reminds user 'covenbabe666' that the Spirit Box is not for group seances.

They then talk about what the forum users have posted on the thread for the Man in the Flat Cap. The phrase 'If you seek him, but do not search, then you'll find him' is mentioned several times by users, including Jeremy, who was told those words by a man called Donny Pitt. Listener Karl raised the point that deals with the Flat Cap Man seem to be linked to surrendering agency. Sam thought this was notable, given that arcane energy is channelled through intent.

Sam moves on to telling the listeners about a disturbing experience he had. As Sam entered the main studio, they saw a sliver of white growing from the floorboard. As they attempted to pick it up, there realised that there were several of these plant-like things growing in the room, from every place possible. It was overwhelming and Sam tried to run, and when he screamed for the things to stop, they did. They saw that the white was actually multiple letters. Sam decided to read the letters, realising that they are all identical, each on the same piece of paper with the exact same spidery handwriting at the top, reading 'To the Illustrious Madame Marie'.

The letter reads as followers:

"Not that it matters, Marie, but we’ve found you. It’s only a matter of time. Are you running from him or for us? Not for nothing, Marie, but I would like to go on living. Not for nothing, Marie, but I like the way things are.

''I don’t know you. I wouldn’t claim to know you. But I know what you are. You’ve been chosen, haven’t you? We all know it, now. It’s too late to deny it, Marie. It’s far too late for that. He’ll sweep in like a whisper in the dark, and then what? Is it jewels you were promised? A shining crown? What words did he whisper in your ear to make you come around to him?''

''You’re not one of us, we’d have felt that. He’s not claimed you for his own. Not yet. But we’ve seen you blossoming, Marie. We’ve seen it. Mould between tiles. So what did you trade him for this power? What precious thing did you give up in exchange for striding into ‘next-in-line’?''

''You’re marked, Marie, and we’ve found you now. We are Hunting. We will not stop. The wards you have risen around yourself cannot hold forever. You are only human, little witch, you are just a human out of her depth. We will not stop until we have you, and we will have you.''

''You know of us, Marie. You’ve met us. You hold the Old Tarock. You know what we are. You’ve learned us, surely. His Major Arcana; Pride, Envy, The Mouth, Gluttony, Lust, Sloth, Greed, The Creeper, the Unrelenting, Indifference, Ingratitude, Ignorance. You’ve said our names and titles under your breath like a prayer, like countless arcanists before you. Names to be feared. Names to make children go to bed on time, to make adults quiver in in dark alley ways.''

''One by one your defences will crumble. They always do. We’ve found you and we’ll have you, Marie. Every last bit of you."''

Sam expresses his anger at his lack of knowledge and agency in the situation, before linking what the letter calls 'His Major Arcana' with the strange tarot deck he found a little while ago. Sam also wonders how this links to the Man in the Flat Cap, or the Heir Apparent. They sound defeated at what little they know.

Sam goes on to confess his worries about himself. They states that every time they wake up, they are surrounded by more and more drawings of the white door. When he tried to hide the pencils, Sam instead awoke in pain as he found himself trying to scratch the image into the floorboards. He starts to speculate aloud to M, questioning what was happening. They become increasingly more angry, and demand that M answer them.

He takes a moment, and once again apologises to the listeners, instead informing them of the one bit of good news he has to offer. Sam explains that the next episode will be taking place at the Hatfield Karpos, planned after Sam visited there to ask about the rose and the two of them had tea. They ask the listeners to send in any questions they would like to ask Oliver, and bids everyone a goodnight.

Characters Featured

 * Sam Enfield
 * Madame Marie (mentioned)
 * Anna Enfield (mentioned)
 * Kitty Enfield (mentioned)
 * Rhytidia Delphus ‘the Bog Witch’ (mentioned)
 * The Flat Cap Man (mentioned)
 * Revel (Cat) (mentioned)
 * Cosmo (Cat) (mentioned)
 * Eggroll (Cat) (mentioned)
 * The Recording Machine (mentioned)
 * Oliver Boleyn (mentioned)
 * Show-Caller Emily (mentioned)

Listeners writing in/mentioned:


 * Holly Brook, Sam mentions that he has not been able to get in touch with Holly after her disturbing emails from the week prior
 * CovenBabe666, asked for the third time to not organise group seances
 * Jeremy in Spain, regarding a man he met called Donny Pitt, who clued him into how to find the Man in the Flat Cap
 * Karl, who said that the point seems to be surrendering agency
 * Jinghua, mentioned during Sam's speculations

Trivia

 * The listener 'Karl' is named as he is as a tribute to the 'Faithful Listeners Forum', the Discord server for the fandom, which can be joined here.
 * This is the third mention of 'covenbabe666'.