Saint Germain

## Synopsis

Kennedy Fisher faces danger in Innsmouth, while Matthew Heawood returns to safer ground.

## Plot

At the Gilman House Hotel, Kennedy Fisher is confronted by a Deep One appearing on the other side of her hotel room window. Terrified at the sight of it, she flees the room and is chased by more of them along the corridor. She escapes down the emergency stairs and reaches the lobby. To her surprise, it is daytime when she reaches it, and Parker is there waiting for her. They talk about Kennedy's experiences, and Parker notes that Zadok Allen is related to Dr. Allen and conducting experiments growing mushrooms on the body of an 1800s-era serial killer. Parker tells her that they need to leave Innsmouth for the UK, both because of what Kennedy's presence has caused, and because of things that are happening in England. However, Kennedy suddenly remembers Alice, and refuses to leave until she knows Alice's safe. Parker reluctantly agrees to help search for her, but insists that they do it quickly as time is not on their side.

Despite wanting to pursue Melody Cartwright, Matthew Heawood leaves Paris on another of 'Jasper's' ghost flights to avoid being locked down as COVID-19 restrictions take effect in France. He returns to London and is contacted by Slide. Slide tells him that he's heard rumours from his hacker friends that there have been COBRA meetings concerning Pleasant Green recently that even the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, doesn't have clearance for. Matt asks Slide to investigate further.

Matt makes a video call to Dr. Eleanor Peck and asks her about the Harlequin. Eleanor tells Matt that she hasn't found much on the Harlequin but is reluctant to discuss what she has found out because of how much danger it could put Matt in. Ultimately, she believes that the best way to convince Matt to stop the investigation is to reveal what the threat is to him, and Matt agrees. Eleanor begins with the Roanoke Colony, which she explains is one of series of disappearing settlements throughout history, a list that includes Melusine, Hoer Verde, Demon's Alley, and Pleasant Green. She believes that Roanoke's disappearance is connected to the arrival of a man named Obed Marsh in 1589, who is supposedly an immortal occultist known popularly as the Comte de Saint-Germain. Saint-Germain has been linked to the worship of Dagon since records of it began over 4,500 years ago, and she's found evidence that the beliefs of various secret societies across the world can be traced to the Dagon cult. She's also found evidence that the Dagon cult is front for the worship of Nyarlathotep, which concerns her greatly. Matt confronts her about her 'evidence' and Eleanor tells him that while no one will ever find hard proof of this, she thinks that belief systems around Dagon are wider and more connected that anyone has discovered.

After searching Innsmouth for Alice, Kennedy and Parker use directions from Casey to reach Alice's rental cottage. When on one answers the door, Parker breaks it down and they find it abandoned, but undisturbed. Going through Alice's notes they realise, to Parker's dismay, that she was investigating the Marsh family.

Eleanor tells Matt that the historical record of the Comte de Saint-Germain describes him as a 1700s-era European aristocrat who travelled across Eurasia and North America and met many influential figures, including Horace Walpole, Voltaire, and the Founding Fathers. The only supernatural claim made of him during his lifetime is that throughout his life he is described as being in his early 40s. After his death in 1784, various people, such as Cagliostro, Catherine the Great, and Albert Vandam, claim to have met him, and in 1870 Napoleon III launches a commission into him. The investigation is abandoned when its headquarters in the Hôtel de Ville are destroyed in a mysterious fire the following year. Helena Blavatsky, who also claimed to have met Saint-Germain, was convinced that Saint-Germain had been influencing humanity throughout history towards his religion, believed to be worship of Dagon, but actually the worship of Nyarlathotep. Therefore, Saint-Germain's real goal is to summon Azathoth from the Dreamlands. The first time he attempts to do this is at Roanoke, using the pseudonym 'Obed Marsh'. He has the help of Kennedy's ancestor Quentin Fisher, whom the English records reveal was a colleague of John Dee and Edward Kelley. Their attempt goes wrong and Quentin and the colonists are pulled through a portal, although Saint-Germain survives. 'Obed' resurfaces in England in 1600 where he has a relationship with Quentin's daughter, Mary Fisher. The next year, Mary dies giving birth to Obed's daughter Temperance Fisher, and Temperance is passed off as her uncle's child to avoid a scandal. She grows up to become a cunning woman, and gives birth to a son, Matthew Fisher, in 1620. Eleanor notes that Obed returned to England in 1619, and believes that not only is Obed Matthew's father, but that this begins a tradition of him impregnating female members of the Fisher family. Obed leaves for North America and founds Innsmouth, and Temperance and Matthew join him to escape Matthew Hopkins' witch-hunts in 1645. The first ship they build is *The Ipqu-Aya*, indicating to Eleanor that Ipqu-Aya is another of Nyarlathotep's disguises.

Over the centuries the two families begin amassing wealth and influence, founding the Marsh Refining Company, recruiting the Tillinghast family, and founding various secret societies such as the Rosicrucians, the Invisible College, and, in the 1800s, the Esoteric Order of Dagon. Supposedly, Obed relocates Abdul Alhazred's pre-human race to Innsmouth from their homeland, and uses them to covert the entire town to his cult. In 1914, Obed tries to summon Azathoth again at Melusine but it also fails, wiping the town from history in the process. In the 1920s, Obed gets involved with Aleister Crowley and the post-Theosophy occult groups , while Rudolf von Sebottendorf helps found the Nazis. However in 1927, Robert Olmstead discovers the Dagon cult and the Deep Ones, and informs the American government. The subsequent raid forces Abigail Fisher to flee to an unknown destination, and the Marshes to go underground. However, they continue to engineer conflicts throughout the 20th and 21st centuries to generate the energy they need for a successful ritual. Eleanor concludes that she become convinced that the occult conspiracy is real, or else she has gone as mad as all the other believers.

Kennedy and Parker arrive at the Marsh house. It's overgrown and looks derelict, but Kennedy spots movement inside. They go inside, against Parker's advice, and hear static coming from a rooting library. They enter and find the room covered in gore, with Alice's peeled face nailed to the wall.

## Cast, Characters, Crew

* Barnaby Kay as Matthew Heawood
* Jana Carpenter as Kennedy Fisher
* Nicola Walker as Dr. Eleanor Peck
* Phoebe Fox as Parker
* Mark Bazeley as John Silence
* Ferdinand Kingsley as 'Slide'

* Writer & Director: Julian Simpson
* Production Coordinator: Sarah Tombling
* Sound Designer: David Thomas
* Music: Tim Elsenburg
* Producer: Karen Rose