Chapter 6: It Winds, It Worms, It Wends

Image Description:a tiny figure stands alone on a flat landscape, gazing up at a vast, floating, tendrilled being. The caption reads, as a quote, “Isn’t this great? We each get to choose the thing that eats us.”

## Credits

### Featured Voices

* Jamie Stewart as Mason
* Méabh de Brún as Carpenter
* Damien Niesewand as Vaughan
* B. Narr as Faulkner
* Jimmie Yamaguchi as Hayward
* Calder Dougherty as Stanton

## Meta Data

### Content Warnings

This episode contains scenes with background crowd noise which may affect listeners with audio-processing difficulties.

## Episode Guide

As the fallout spreads in Marcel’s Crossing, our disciples reflect on how it all began...

## Description

### Mason's Story About The Trawler-Man

We open with Mason recounting the story of the beginning of the Trawler-Man’s faith, as he heard it as a child. He makes it clear that this is simply one of many versions of the story. It appears there is conflict within the faith surrounding the details of the story.

Mason tells us of a Promised Bride looking out across the river standing on the Lower Delta. There is something not quite right about this river, which the village has accepted. She is here alone, although it is forbidden for her to be there alone. She has chosen this place purposefully, this is the only place for her to go. Tomorrow she will be married. She hopes for something dreadful to happen to her. She cries, and as she looks into the water she is not met with her reflection. Instead she sees a garden in the river, and the Trawler-Man who tends to it. Mason tells us that the Trawler-Man’s image is debated, he changes with the currents. The Trawler-Man asks the Promised Bride why she is tearful, and she offers an earnest reply. The Trawler-Man has two faces, one to listen and one to speak. The Trawler-Man tells her that he can make her into something else. She tells him that she is afraid, but the Trawler-Man is persuasive. The Bride acknowledges that regardless she will be a vessel. The Trawler-Man offers her his hand and she hesitates for a moment, stopping to look back towards the village, before accepting the Trawler-Man’s offer.

The Bridegroom waits in the chapel for his bride and guests, who are late. He is aware of the river’s flood tides, and accepts that as the reason for the delay. He has his future planned in vivid detail. He continues to wait for a while, before leaving the chapel. He’s furious. He’s afraid that he has been tricked. Then, he is relieved to see the guests arrive. Silt falls from their empty faces, the guests are Angels. They clap in time with their marching. The church bells are ringing persistently. His Bride leads the procession, she smiles as she meets him. The Bridegroom attempts to run in terror, but the ground of sludge prevents him from doing so. The river fills the Bridegroom, and passes on. He joins the procession, which continues growing as it makes its way through the plains.

### Carpenter's Reintroduction to the Faith

Carpenter begins recounting a memory. She is 18 and has been working in a restaurant called Hallowed Hoagies for 6 or 7 months. She looks through job listings with a friend, Vaughan. She mentions that they are unsupervised and unmanaged. They are thinking about the future, cautiously. The job listings are all terrible, and Vaughn acknowledges this - “We each get to choose the thing that eats us.” This holds more weight to Carpenter than she anticipated. The two joke between each other about the job market. Vaughan tells Carpenter that they intend to go to a marketing college in the Linger Straits, but they voice the unlikelihood of their own success. They are interrupted by a customer, and Vaughn leaves. Carpenter is afraid of change, she does not want to lose Vaughn.

Vaughan greets a customer and Mason asks for Carpenter, referring to himself as Mallory’s ‘Uncle Jim’. Carpenter is confused by this. It is revealed that today is Carpenter’s birthday, and she has told no one. Mason and Carpenter leave to speak privately, and tells her that he knew her Nana. He asks her if she still practises the faith. He tells her a story from his childhood. Carpenter cuts him off abruptly. Mason chides her for her response, and tells her that it’s a weakness when people reveal themselves to others - one that she can use to her advantage. Carpenter continues to question his motive for speaking with her. Mason tells her he would like to visit again, and speak some more about her Nana. Carpenter quips that it’s fine as long as he pays for the pancakes. He wishes her a happy birthday.

Time passes and Vaughan ecstatically reveals that they have gotten into a marketing college in the Linger Straits. They leave, and Carpenter continues to work at Hallowed Hoagies alone. Mason continues to visit. She is reminded of the Parish of Tide and Flesh and her childhood. He is stable, reliable. Then, there is another change. Mason is leaving to re-establish the Parish. He offers to take her with him. She agrees, saying that there is nowhere else for her to be. Mason is satisfied with this response for now.

### Faulkner's Introduction to the Faith

Faulkner recounts his own tale. He, like Carpenter, is 18 in this story. He walks home alone through the woods. He has done this often since his brother Eddie left. When he arrives he comes to the realisation that his father is gone. He quickly arrives at acceptance, but he does not want to face it regardless. Faulkner contemplates whether his father has figured out what he did to Charlie. The idea that his father is frightened of him excites Faulkner. But he knows it's not true. His father was not an observant man. Faulkner has been left behind. He is resolved not to read the letter left for him. He quickly packs, changes, and leaves. He refuses to be abandoned. He draws the marks of the drowning song around the house before he leaves. He hates the idea of another family living here, succeeding where his family failed.

He attempts to hitchhike, and walks by the roadside. When he comes across the first way station, Faulkner finds a payphone and dials the first digits of Eddie’s number before deciding against calling. At the second way station, he does the same. He walks for months. Then, one evening, he finds himself outside what appears at first glance to be an old bunker from the wars. He is certain that this is the hiding place of the Parish of Tide and Flesh. Despite the condition he has arrived in, Faulkner smiles. He has mythologised this moment. He knocks, and no one answers. He sits down, and waits. He rationalises it as a part of his story that will one day be written about. He repeats to himself, “This is how it begins.”

### Hayward Finds Stanton

Hayward stands at the desk of the motel, ringing the bell. He calls out for the hotelier, and receives no reply. He finds the hotelier, who Faulkner has turned into a Saint. Stanton begins an aside, saying he does not acknowledge Hayward’s intrusion. He believes Hayward is frightened due to his lack of understanding. He describes Hayward’s movements, as he stumbles around the room. Stanton scratches the prayer marks into the walls of the motel. Stanton is no longer afraid. He understands his circumstances, how much has changed and how much will change. He repeats the phrase Faulkner ended on, “This is how it begins.”

## References

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