Chapter 8: And Those I Love, It Rends

Generic Episode Cover - The Wither Mark Logo. Episode announcement did not include original art.

## Credits

### Featured Voices

* Lucille Valentine as Paige
* Méabh de Brún as Carpenter
* B. Narr as Faulkner
* Jon Ware as Augustus Roake

## Episode Guide

Paige, Faulkner and Carpenter investigate the home of a suspected fellow worshiper - and find more than they bargained for.

## Description

### Inside Paige's car

Paige starts the episode in the trunk of her car. She is trapped, with no escape route. The car is moving. She can hear her captors, Carpenter and Faulkner, in the front seats of the vehicle. She remembers her self-defense workshops, and listens intently to their conversation.

Carpenter and Faulkner are arguing over the events that happened back in Marcel’s Crossing with Stanton and Hayward. Carpenter accuses Faulkner of being a fanatic, Faulkner accuses Carpenter of being a coward. Carpenter tells Faulkner to pull over, before saying she will let Paige out of the boot and sit with her in the back of Paige’s company car. Faulkner decides to tell Carpenter that Mason asked him to accompany her on this mission because he believes Carpenter to be untrustworthy. Carpenter immediately calls Faulkner a liar, and responds that Mason told her to bring Faulkner because no one else wanted to deal with him. Carpenter says she has been working to build back up the Parish of Tide and Flesh for the last 13 years. It appears Faulkner has touched a nerve. Carpenter calls him talentless, which upsets Faulkner. Carpenter gets out of the car and lets Paige into the back seat, before asking for her name. Carpenter apologises for the awkward atmosphere of the car. Paige doesn’t know how to respond to this. Despite her situation, Paige is almost amused.

### They Arrive at 113 Longray Mansions

They arrive in front of a house, with thick iron gates, and a dirt track leading onward. There is a sign that marks it as 113 Longray Mansions. Faulkner notes that it looks quiet, to which Carpenter answers that she is going to take a look inside the bungalow. She tells Faulkner to stay with Paige, mockingly. Faulkner tells Carpenter that he will follow her inside after 10 minutes.

Once Carpenter has left, Paige asks Faulkner what’s inside the bungalow. She points out that it doesn’t matter if she knows because they will probably kill her anyway. In an effort to secure her freedom, she tells Faulkner it’s a company car and she’s happy to walk if they let her go. Faulkner doesn’t reply for a while, before telling her that she shouldn’t talk about how they’ll just kill her anyway. Faulkner tells her that they’re looking for someone of the faith. Faulkner continues to complain about Carpenter, and the fact that the Parish doesn’t understand him. Paige connects this to another workshop she went on. She reveals that she’s talking out of nervousness, rather than persuasion. Faulkner replies that he doesn’t mind, unlike Carpenter, who is returning.

Carpenter opens the gates, and Faulkner drives through. Paige notices a towering statue in the distance, spotting two more following this. They each have six spider legs, and one shapeless twisted form perched on top. The bungalow, too, is elevated on stilts. A ladder leads up to the front door. Paige does not want to leave the car. She says she doesn’t want to go willingly if she is to be murdered and buried in the woods. Carpenter mocks her, claiming that she and Faulkner are “lightly equipped”. Faulkner promises they won’t hurt her, which Carpenter also mocks.

They enter the bungalow together, there are paintings and sculptures scattered around the place along with garbage, pots of ink and brushes. Paige notes a foul odour. Faulkner notes that it looks abandoned, and Carpenter comments that it may not be. When Faulkner checks the faucet, water runs and confirms Carpenter’s hypothesis that someone has been there recently. Paige describes what she believes to be the owner’s one and only self portrait.

### Roake's Tape

Faulkner finds a tape recorder left in the centre of one of the rooms. Carpenter presses play and a voice begins to play. Faulkner instantly identifies it as Augustus Roake. Roake’s recorded voice speaks of happiness. He speaks on his paintings and visions. He understands that he cannot accomplish anything alone, but finds no comfort in others. Paige notices Carpenter leaning by the windowsill, looking out across the fields. She notices Faulkner is on his knees, his eyes closed. For a moment she contemplates escape. The recording continues playing. Faulkner believes this could be part of the new scripture. Paige sees the river, from her she can more clearly see the statues from before. She notices a row boat on the jutty. Roake searched for the Parish, and found himself bitterly disappointed. He does not find companionship in the Parish, and finds the river itself dull and lifeless. Faulkner is outraged to hear this, Carpenter wants to hear him continue. Roake is unwelcome by the locals of Marcel’s Crossing, an outsider and a reminder of their ancestors' dealings with the Parish. He retreated from the bungalow, giving the impression that he had fled from them. He began living amongst the reeds of the river. We hear a screeching in the background. His muse did not answer him, and he believed that he had made a mistake. Eventually, he was granted a vision of his muse in his dreams. A revelation of swarming and feasting things, and a mark of something he did not recognise yet found familiar. He traced its shape over and over, but did not draw it or complete it. It would bring the truth of the vision to fruition. Roake continued to live among the reeds, and prepared himself for his life’s purpose. To make this mark. He heard fishermens discussions of towns and villages they would not go to. He believes himself rewarded, finding the place he had dreamed of. It is a town known as Bellwethers. Faulkner recognises this as the Mark of the Wither Tide. Roake prepares for this, and leaves something terrible for those looking for him to find. Roake reveals his trick, in the form of his sentinel slumbering by the water, which has by now awoken.

### Escape From 113 Longray Mansions

Carpenter springs to action, instantly telling Faulkner to stand and tells Paige to look out the window. She notices that where there were three statues by the river, there are now only two. They hear sounds above them, and the realisation that it is walking over the house dawns on Carpenter. They all freeze. A leg pierces the roof and destroys the tape recorder. The leg ascends, and smaller crabs cover it. It looks at them, and all three run back to the kitchen. Faulkner asks Carpenter what they should do now, to which Carpenter replies that she has no idea. In response, he proposes that the River Angels might not hurt them because they serve the Trawler-Man. Carpenter realises that they need to lure it away from the car. She asks Paige if she has any ideas. Carpenter decides to venture around the back of the bungalow to look for another escape. Faulkner tells Paige not to tell Carpenter before drawing a prayer mark on a piece of paper and applying the mark to his skin, on his forearms and palms. He tells Paige that he aims to prove they aren’t foes to the sentinel. Carpenter returns and the two watch Faulkner walk towards the sentinel. Carpenter pleads with him to run, but Faulkner only greets him. The sentinel stops in its tracks before him. Shockingly, Faulkner’s plan has succeeded. Carpenter and Paige hurry towards Faulkner and the sentinel. Faulkner stands firm, and allows himself to glance back at them. This decision is a mistake, and the canvas fumbles from his grip and falls face down on the earth. Faulkner is hit in the chest by the sentinel. Carpenter tells Paige to get to the car and drive, as she attempts to stop Faulkner’s bleeding. The sentinel stops at the boundary line. Carpenter offers Faulkner a compliment, in her own way.

## Trivia

* Carpenter has been with the Parish of Tide and Flesh for 13 years.

## References

1. ↑ Episode Release Announcement at https://twitter.com/TheSiltVerses/status/1384061275269832732
2. ↑ Official episode synopsis at https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/5fec690f8211cf453a1b89e2