Chapter 19: I'd Bear This Song To The Precipice

Image Description: Birds rising over a moorland landscape. The caption reads, “But there have to be limits, don’t there? There have to be limits to the cruelties we inflict.” -Carpenter

## Credits

### Featured Voices

* Méabh de Brún as Carpenter
* Daphne Nitsuga as Eliza
* Caleb Del Rio as Brother Wharfing
* Carmella Brown as Helen
* Jonathan 'Jonny' Sims as Alf

## Meta Data

### Content Warnings

This episode features scenes of immolation.

## Episode Guide

As Carpenter makes her long pilgrimage back to the White Gull River, she encounters a young girl who's been hallowed with a strange and unhappy condition - which leads her to make an impulsive decision.

## Description

### Eliza

Carpenter continues her pilgrimage. She recites a prayer to the Cairn Maiden. She stops to chastise herself. She comes across a pile of pebbles on top of a hill. The Homesick Corpse continues to complain. Carpenter tells it her route, and receives the usual response.

She hears the voice of a teenage girl calling for help. She’s alone. Carpenter attempts to comfort her, and alert her of her presence. Eliza does not seem to hear or see her, calling for her parents. Carpenter is baffled by this, touching her shoulder. Eliza screams as though she is being attacked, once she has removed Carpenter’s grip she continues to call out for help. Brother Wharfing emerges from the other side of the clearing, revealing that there’s no use trying to break through to her. Carpenter continues to try to console Eliza, which Brother Wharfing grows exasperated by. As if on cue, Eliza heads back to her cabin. Brother Wharfing tells Carpenter to follow him, as long as she doesn’t mind chopping wood.

Carpenter can be heard chopping wood, as Brother Wharfing speaks to her. He isn’t helping with the task. He speaks of a hairdressers faith on the north-west coast, The Children Of The Burnished Mirror. Carpenter cuts him off by asking about Eliza. He thinks there’s a god of solitude or isolation in her, an invented deity. She has prayer brands on her wrists and back, among other patterned scars that had clearly been unsuccessful. Carpenter announces her surprise that Wharfing hasn’t helped her pray the god out, to which Wharfing responds that he tried. It didn’t work. He now brings her food and fire wood, which she sometimes notices but mostly doesn’t. He worries she’ll make the trek into town and either get killed by something she can’t see or lose her mind. He tells Carpenter that her parents are dead, buried in unmarked graves that she can’t see. She continues to believe they’ve abandoned her. Wharfing believes she was kidnaped, her parents murdered, and eventually released once they couldn’t do more. Carpenter wants to know who did this, Wharfing tells her it was an outpost who make new gods. She makes him show her where on the map the outpost is. Once she knows, she gets up clearly furious. Her intentions are clear. She takes the axe with her. She tells Wharfing there has to be limits to the harm they inflict, Wharfing tells her that’s not his experience. He tells her not to attack the outpost, she ignores him. She leaves the corpse with Wharfing.

### Sub-Station Perigloss

It is storming now. Doctor Helen Hayes speaks about a test subject and the symptoms of their sainthood. Alf, Helen’s supervisor, enters. Helen is frustrated that he closes the door loudly, and he points out that she started without him. Two other members of staff are named: Sam, busy unloading the truck, and Forrest. The current saint is a god of winter, Helen attributes this to Forrest’s idea. Helen opens the shutters for Alf and continues to describe it. Alf tells her to purge it, that their bosses need a god for them or for their enemies. This saint may be fascinating but it’s not useful. She does as she’s told, and continues typing. Alf tells her he’s not being unkind, that he’s just under pressure and can’t waste time. Helen asks about the next war. We hear about yet another staff member, Quentin. There’s a scream in the distance, which startles both Alf and Helen. Helen recognises it as Sam. Alf opens the door to call for him, but can’t see him. He tells Helen to check if one of the saints got loose. They haven’t. Alf, hearing that Quentin fitted the sensors, doesn’t trust them. He asks for the keys to the gun cabinet.

They leave to find Sam, and Alf curses under his breath. He’s found blood and slashed tires. Helen calls for him, the compound gates have been opened. They head back inside to radio it in. Helen calls Alf’s attention to an axe in the wall, along with writing. It reads ‘four’. There are six of them stationed there: Alf, Helen, Sam, Quentin, Forrest, and Roger in the crows nest. It appears Carpenter has already taken out two of them. Alf radios it in, but is only met with static. He directs Helen to check the radio mast. She sees something hanging from the mast. It can only be Roger. Alf curses, before creating a plan to get to the living quarters and find Quentin and Forrest. Helen tried to contact them on the tannoy. There’s the sound of someone in pain in response. We hear Carpenter say ‘three’ before shooting Quentin. She then coolly says ‘two’ and the tannoy goes dead. Helen suggests they make a run for it, which Alf criticises. He considers opening the cages. Helen tells him they’ll have to manually override the locks by going out to the cages. Alf tells her he’ll do it. He leaves with the shotgun. Helen attempts to use the radio again.

A beeping noise and thumping on the glass of the test chamber alerts Helen, who opens the shutters. Alf is trapped inside. He’s screaming for help. Helen tells him she’s going to turn the power off. Alf tells her to look behind her. She shrieks as Carpenter hits her with her rifle. Carpenter presses the purge button. Alf pleads with her and for a moment there is silence before the sound of flames. Carpenter announces ‘one’, before destroying the room. Helen asks what she’s doing and pleads for her life. Carpenter simply asks her how it feels to know she’s alone. When asked how many she’s experimented on Helen can’t provide an answer. She remembers Eliza. She tells Carpenter she hates her job and that if she’s left alive then she’ll stop. Carpenter wonders if Helen will be allowed to leave, if her bosses will let her out of her contract. Carpenter shoots her. She was right, but is unhappy about it.

### Back At The Shack

Brother Wharfing says a prayer, and is interrupted by Carpenter’s return. He finishes the prayer before acknowledging her. She tells him that they have nothing to worry about, asking him if his prayers made any difference. He calmly asks her if she did, either. She announces she’s sleeping outside and he won’t see her in the morning, his words have clearly struck a chord with her. He continues praying over Eliza. The storm continues.

## References

1. ↑ Episode Release Announcement on Tumblr
2. ↑ Official episode synopsis at https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/5fec690f8211cf453a1b89e2