Cordelia Hendricks

— Cordelia during Sam's tarot reading on Nik's route.

**Cordelia Hendricks** is a side character in The Smoke Room. She is a self-described medium who offers private tarot readings. She is married to James Hendricks III.

## Appearance

Cordelia is a middle-aged ewe with white fur and a large bun of cream-colored wool on her head. She has blue eyes and a beauty mark on her left cheek. She dresses in a black dress and a white blouse cinched with a purple sash, and wears a ribbon with a large green jewel around her throat. She also wears white gloves on her hands.

## Personality

Cordelia is formal in her mannerisms and very polite, but is also cordial and kind. She keeps herself informed about her husband's business and advises him to be more considerate when dealing with the miners he employs. Cordelia's desire to see the best in everyone makes her appear somewhat naïve at times, and she can appear overly preoccupied with frivolous matters.

She also seems to be quite open-minded for her time, and has a keen interest in the paranormal and the occult. Madam Dora implies that Cordelia may be somewhat lonely due to her high status, and that she has very few people to talk to beyond her husband.

### Prior to The Smoke Room

Cordelia is not originally from Echo, and based on her refined manners she likely comes from a high-society background. At some point, she met and married James Hendricks III and they had a young son named Noah. Most of her family still lives "out east," at least a week's travel away from Echo, and she and James visit them each August.

### Nikolai's Route

Cordelia and her husband visit the Saguaro's Hip to attend a concert put on by Madam Dora. She tells Samuel when they meet that her husband has told her all about him and later admits that she knows about James' extramarital affairs, including those with men.

Cordelia sympathizes with Nik despite his support for the strike at her husband's mine, and invites Nik and Sam to the Hendricks estate over her husband's objections in order to discuss the miners' demands and provide Sam with further information on the occult.

After welcoming the pair to the mansion, Cordelia leads Sam upstairs for a private tarot reading. When asked about ghosts and demons, she tells him that Echo is a hotspot for paranormal activity and that her own house is haunted, and describes a humming sound that seems connected to the unusual events around town. She then gives Sam his tarot reading and walks him through what the cards tell them about the path he is on.

Later she serves Sam some homemade ice cream, made possible by the large freezer she maintains in the mansion's basement, and explains the process of making it. In the basement with Nik and Sam, she panics upon discovering that someone has left the icebox door ajar and allowed a bug to infiltrate her carefully stored ingredients. Nik inspects the freezer on Cordelia's request and ensures her nothing is broken. She resolves to have a conversation with her husband about who he has been letting into the basement, and sadly informs Nik and Sam that they will not be able to make any ice cream with potentially contaminated supplies.

Upstairs, Cordelia informs her cook Hattie that they will have to perform an inventory to see which ingredients are safe to eat and laments that she might not be able to make a cake for a party on the upcoming solstice, which she calls the 'biggest night of the summer.' Hattie promises to have a pie ready, and relays that James has just left on an errand, much to Cordelia's frustration. Apologetically, Cordelia says that it would be better if Sam and Nik came back at another time, and bids them both farewell. As he departs Sam asks her about other people in town who might also know about the supernatural, and Cordelia directs him to Dahlia and Holly Byrnes, as well as the Moore Family.

### William's Route

During his investigation into the murder of Huxley Greene, William visits the Hendricks house to follow several leads that seem to be pointing towards James. He finds Cordelia in the parlor having tea with Nikolai while Noah plays nearby. Will compliments her home, but she gives credit to the staff.

Will then inquires about a cardboard scale model of the mansion on a table. James explains that they are using it to plan renovations in lieu of a complete floor plan, since his grandfather James I never left one for his descendants. Her husband seems to think they were simply lost, but Cordelia speculates that James I concealed them intentionally She also expresses her loneliness by remarking that such a large house is meant to host company more often, and hopes aloud that Nik can keep coming back to visit her.

After Will shares a frightful account of the organized crime he exposed back in The Windy City and insinuates that it could also be hiding in Echo, Cordelia gives him free reign of the mansion in order to aid his investigation.

Before he investigates the foyer, Cordelia tells Will about the many secret passages that exist within her home and admits that she does like to walk around the mansion after dark because she hears strange unnatural noises, like scratching or mechanical sounds, as well as voices of unknown people. She even warns him about booby traps that have been found, although she believes they are mostly harmless.

Upon further questioning from Will, Cordelia also describes an odd burning smell that she intermittently detects lingering in the mansion. She calls it the burning scent of "everything imaginable" and adds that it is sometimes accompanied by the smell of something fatty like bacon being cooked. Suddenly, Noah grabs for Will's gun and then asks if he kills people. Cordelia scolds him, clearly shocked, and Will observes that she looks worried and very tired.

While Will checks the kitchen, Nik stays with Cordelia and she tells him a story about her "old home." The two of them are in deep conversation when Will returns, but the details are left unspecified.

After Will and Nik return from searching upstairs, Cordelia invites them to stay for dinner but they decline, and then as they depart she invites them both to come back sometime.

## Relationships

### James Hendricks III

Cordelia and James are married and appear to have a stable, candid relationship. Cordelia readily raises concerns to her husband during the strike about the way he treats his workers, and James seems willing to yield to his wife's advice. Cordelia is aware of her husband's infidelities, including his tryst with Sam, and supports them because they keep James 'regular.'

### Noah

Cordelia strives to set a good example for her son with her kindness, and hopes that he can grow up in a world without the strict class divisions that characterize James' relationship with his workers.

She seems worried and slightly frazzled by the odd, morbid behavior that Noah displays in Will's presence, and remarks that he has "so much personality" for his size.

### Madam Dora

Cordelia and Dora seem to be good friends, with Dora noting that Cordelia has been a long-term patron of The Hip and supported the establishment generously for years. Cordelia expresses a great degree of admiration for Dora's singing talent and seems to speak openly with her, even casually offering to provide her with a tarot reading.

### Sam

Cordelia is well-aware of her husband's attraction to Sam and (depending on the route) his extramarital affair with him. Rather than resenting Sam for this however, Cordelia states that she is comfortable with James' dalliances and treats him with warm kindness. She is happy to tell him about the occult and provides him with key information regarding Echo's paranormal occurrences.

## Trivia

* The cards that Cordelia draws during the tarot reading she does for Sam vary based on choices made previously in Nikolai's route.
* Cordelia is aware of The Hum, possibly making her one of the first characters chronologically to note the characteristic sound of Echo's influence.
* Cordelia is bisexual.

## Gallery

* Cordelia
* Cordelia's Tarot Deck

DefaultHappyLaughingConcernedShockedScreamingArtwork of Cordelia posted alongside the June 30, 2022 build of The Smoke Room.

II The High PriestessVI The LoversXIII DeathXV The DevilXVI The TowerXX Judgement