Jebediah Coles

**Jebediah "Jeb" Coles** is a side character in The Smoke Room. He is a wilderness guide who appears in Cliff's route.

## Appearance

Jeb is a tall horse with a lean build. He has chestnut fur with a white patch on his forehead and a blond mane. He wears a white button-down shirt and dress pants held up with suspenders, as well as a newsboy cap.

## Personality

Jeb is a stoic, practical man of few words, although he can be quite amicable if he feels like talking. What he doesn't express in conversation he evidently expresses through writing, however, as he likes to compose stories and once dreamed of becoming a published author. His gruff exterior hides a ready willingness to connect to others with whom he feels kinship, but also masks a deep grief and a tendency towards melancholy.

### Early Life

Jeb was born not far from Echo, into a ranching and farming family. According to Avery, Jeb was an extremely curious child and preferred reading and writing to being a rancher. Avery and Jeb became good friends during the summers Avery spent working on the ranch.

When he was sixteen, Jeb fell in love with a farmhand from the Meseta Tribe named John who worked on his family's ranch. John encouraged Jeb's passion for writing and gave feedback on his stories. Eventually the two ran away to Echo together and bought two donkeys named Doris and Daisy. Before they could move on from Echo, however, John died from tuberculosis. The tragedy drove Jeb to alcoholism, but he still takes good care of Doris and Daisy in his late partner's honor.

### Cliff's Route

#### Chapter 1

One night at The Stag, a relatively safe place for the men of Echo to be romantic with one another, Jebediah encounters Cliff and the two drink and dance together. After realizing that they are both gay, Jeb agrees to serve as a guide for Cliff's research expedition to the Meseta settlement located a few days' travel from Echo. The next day, when Sam returns to Cliff after agreeing to accompany him on the journey as well, he notices that Cliff is sketching a portrait of a horse in a cap.

Jeb first appears to Sam at dawn the next day as the expedition party prepares to depart.

#### Chapter 2

Jeb leads the group on their trek to Echo Canyon and, despite Murdoch's playful attempts to engage him in conversation, he talks sparingly, mostly chiming in to encourage the group to keep pace and avoid being caught out in the heat of the day. At one point, Jeb is forced to stop his wagon sharply when his donkeys run from a sudden scare. He observes that they may sense a predator or smell a carcass, although the group finds no such thing nearby. Sam asks Jeb about the mechanics of the wagon's brakes, and Jeb is incredulous that despite being built like a handyman Sam has no apparent knowledge of any trade. Sam then brings up Jeb's donkeys, Doris and Daisy, and Jeb alludes to their connection to his lost lover but does not go into specifics.

As the group nears the canyon, Jeb reveals that he is well-versed in local folklore, although he does not seem to believe in any of the stories he hears. At the overlook he recounts to Sam a tale he heard from Avery about a furless, burned figure with holes in its face that has been glimpsed in Echo.

That night, as they camp in a forest, the group is attacked by a mysterious beast. Jeb instructs the others to douse their fire and stay quiet and still. In the darkness, Doris is brutally beheaded and Daisy runs off into the woods. Afterward, Jeb remarks that the beast did not behave like a predator, since the carcass of his donkey was left behind without any bite marks in it. Cliff asks Jeb if he can discern anything else about the monster, but he grows angry and sullen. Later on, Jeb reveals that the monster, which appeared differently to each person who saw it, looked to him like something wearing the skin of his dead partner, and used his partner's voice to berate Jeb for leaving him to die. After the encounter with the monster and the loss of his donkeys, Jeb begins drinking heavily.

Jeb tries to lead the others back the way they came, since it is impossible to continue their journey without the donkeys, but he quickly becomes too drunk and disoriented to guide them, especially once the forest seems to start supernaturally preventing their progress. Jeb gets into an argument with Cliff about his drinking, which Murdoch helps to defuse. After stepping away to cool off, Jeb walks returns with news that he has caught the scent of a nearby campfire. When they reach the site it initially seems to be abandoned, much to Jeb's apparent distress, but then Avery appears from the woods. Avery is Jeb's old and close friend, and when the two embrace Jeb tears up.

Avery and his companions Tsela and Yiska explain that they had been traveling with a fourth man, but he was dragged off in the night during an attack by the same monster. The two groups band together and Avery invites everyone to his parents' hogan so they can recover. Avery's presence seems to lift Jeb out of his stupor, and he becomes much less closed off.

Jeb is visibly nervous when the group arrives at the hogan, and he asks Sam to join Murdoch and Cliff outside with Avery's mother so he and the Meseta men can speak in private about an undisclosed subject. The next morning, the group bids goodbye to Avery's parents and Jeb leads them all back to the wreckage of his wagon so they can recover some supplies. Jeb is devastated by the sight of Doris' mangled corpse, and passes out upon seeing it. When he wakes up he insists that Doris be buried, and explains that the donkeys were his only remaining connection to his dead partner John. Cliff and Sam volunteer to help him dig the grave and Jeb is surprised and grateful, and calls Sam by his name for the first time.

Jeb is in much better spirits after burying Doris and spending time with Avery, and eventually leads the group out of the forest and to a travelers' outpost near a hot spring. If Sam goes to the hot spring to have sex with Cliff and Murdoch, afterward they catch Jeb and Avery heading there, presumably for a fling of their own. If Murdoch does not join Cliff and Sam's tryst, he bathes with Jeb and Avery instead, then leaves the two alone for a private moment.

#### Chapter 3

The group finally arrives at the Meseta reservation the following day, and Jeb sets out with Avery in order to barter for a new pair of donkeys. When he catches up with Cliff shortly after, Jeb is alarmed to learn that Caldwell, the settlement's reverend, has offered to speak to town officials on Cliff's behalf, remarking that such active involvement in local politics is usually frowned upon by the Church.

Later, Jeb joins Cliff, Murdoch, and Sam in their hotel room and is saddened to hear that Sam will not be making the return trip to Echo with the rest of the group. He praises Sam's calm under pressure, and restates his gratitude for Sam's help with burying Doris. Due to their fraught journey and delayed arrival at the settlement, Cliff then tries to fire Jeb, claiming that he can find a better guide. Jeb rejects this, indignantly pointing out that the seemingly supernatural setbacks they experienced in the woods were out of his control, and Murdoch supports him. Jeb asserts that he will be honoring his deal to escort Cliff back to Echo, regardless of Cliff's protests. Cliff relents and pays him for the first leg of the journey and then Jeb storms off, after telling Cliff and the others that they will see each other again in a week when it is time to leave the reservation. Murdoch follows Jeb, however, and manages to smooth things over further by reiterating that he is not at fault and promising that Cliff will pay him the full amount he is owed.

Jeb spends the night with Avery and tells him about the argument, but then returns to the inn, where he is concerned to learn that Sam never returned after leaving on his own the night before.

When Sam does turn up he is nearly unable to walk because of a sprained ankle, and upon seeing the state of him Jeb looks disturbed despite his typical stoicism. Sam tells an obvious lie about the source of his injury, but it is clear that he had another encounter with the beast seemingly stalking their group. Depending on the relationship between Murdoch and Sam, Murdoch may then ask Jeb to step out of the room for a moment. Jeb agrees and mentions that he is leaving to speak with Avery about something.

Otherwise, Jeb stays and explains that despite everything they have endured he finds it hard to be pessimistic about their journey so far, since they have been relatively lucky. After crediting Jeb with keeping them all safe, Sam confesses that he is not a bodyguard, confirming Jeb’s suspicion, and explains that he is actually a prostitute who caters to other men. Jeb seems confused for a moment, then quickly becomes shocked and flustered as the realization sets in, and fans himself with his hat. He admits that the truth makes sense, and offers to give Sam advice from his days as a farmhand about protecting himself or others should Sam ever need it. Murdoch then hastily explains that Cliff is missing and may be in trouble, without going into specifics, and Jeb agrees to help search because he 'feels sorry' for their group, although he grumbles at the idea of assisting for free.

Shortly after Murdoch and Sam find Cliff and bring him back to the inn, Jeb returns with word that the previous night several Meseta found a large wild hog in the act of goring Caldwell and killed it. Jeb seems satisfied that the animal must have been the thing pursuing them on the road but Cliff insists on seeing the scene for himself, and Jeb agrees to escort him there after warning that such carnage might be overwhelming for him.

### Murdoch's Route

Jeb is briefly alluded to when Cliff unsuccessfully asks Murdoch to join his expedition. Cliff mentions that he has found a guide for the trip, presumably Jeb, but that he will not be able to wait for Cliff should his progress be delayed.

## Relationships

### Avery

Sam observes that Jeb and Avery make an odd couple, but the two have nonetheless known each other for many years and seem to have a budding romantic relationship despite their difference in age. Jeb is overjoyed to the point of tears to find Avery safe after the attack in the woods, and he is able to pull himself out of his grief over Doris' death with Avery's help. Cliff remarks that Jeb cheers up dramatically once Avery joins their group.

### Sam

Jeb seems at first not to know what to make of Sam, and is baffled by his lack of practical knowledge. He gradually comes to appreciate Sam as a reliable companion, and is surprised but deeply grateful when Sam steps up to help him bury Doris. Jeb is dismayed upon learning that Sam does not intend to return to Echo with the rest of the group, and remarks that stable men like him are not easy to find.

If Sam reveals the nature of his profession to Jeb, he is noticeably flustered by the revelation. Upon definitively learning Sam’s sexuality, Jeb immediately offers advice on how to protect himself or others should Sam ever need it.

Early in the journey, at the Echo Canyon overlook, Sam takes off his shirt and may catch Jeb sneaking a peek of his body, but when the two lock eyes Jeb turns away immediately.

### Cliff

Jeb and Cliff first meet at The Stag, a relatively safe place for the men of Echo to pursue same-sex attraction, and so they seem to have initially bonded over their shared status as outsiders in the wider community. Cliff remarks at one point that Jeb was the only guide willing to lead his expedition, possibly due in part to the infamy that Cliff's openly homosexual behavior has quickly attracted in Echo.

Once the expedition starts going awry due to mysterious circumstances, and after Jeb begins drinking to cope with the loss of his donkeys, Cliff becomes increasingly disheartened by the group’s stalled progress and takes his frustration out on Jeb. When the two argue in the forest, Cliff even doubts Jeb's abilities as a guide, which Jeb resents. At the Meseta settlement, Cliff tries to fire Jeb for what he perceives to be lapses in judgment but Jeb resolutely insists that the seemingly supernatural obstacles the group faced were not his fault, and refuses to let Cliff dismiss him. Despite their friction, once Cliff goes missing Jeb readily joins the search for him if asked.

### Murdoch

Jeb gradually lightens up around Murdoch, but he initially responds to every one of the fox's attempts to get a rise out of him with characteristic terseness.

Several times, Murdoch steps in to settle arguments that arise between Jeb and Cliff, and tries to redirect them both towards more productive matters. After Jeb loses the donkeys that connected him to his late partner, Murdoch seems to have sympathy for Jeb's period of mourning, as well as his use of substances to cope with the grief.

### John

Jeb and John were dear friends and lovers. John enthusiastically supported Jeb's writing and encouraged him to seek out a publisher, and based on their plans to escape Jeb's family ranch together, it seems that John represented a way for Jeb to both accept his sexuality and start over in a new place while pursuing his passion. Jeb also mentions enjoying that John was a ‘sentimental’ man.

After John contracted tuberculosis, the pain of watching his partner’s declining health and being unable to help led Jeb to seek refuge in alcoholism, and when John died Jeb became much more sullen and withdrawn. Jeb has remained highly protective of the two donkeys he and John bought while planning their new life together, and after he loses them as well he is badly bereaved.

The monster in the woods that the expedition party encounters, which seems to mimic the fears of those who see it, appears to Jeb in the form of John, likely indicating the depth of guilt and regret that Jeb still feels about his death.

## Trivia

* Jebediah is a backer character added to The Smoke Room as a result of his creator's support for the Echo Project. He shares this distinction with Yao and Todd.
* According to Avery, apples are Jeb's favorite food.

## Gallery

DefaultTalkingHappy 1Happy 2EnragedSadDoubtfulShockedJeb with Avery during the animatic in Cliff's route.