A Christmas Inheritance 03: Two Kings

### Players

Joseph Chance as Edward Caister, Dominic Allen as Sidney Wagner, Dan Wheeler as Rev. Peregrine McCutcheon

### Podcast Link

https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-wyfeh-115db03

## Synopsis (Spoiler Warning)

The episode begins with Edward interrupting the hypnotic state Sidney had put Michael in, after which Sidney suggests they should all gather in the library while Edward introduces himself to Judith, now significantly calmer thanks to William's intervention; she says that her and Michael must leave, just as the rest of the children already have. She also asks them to look for her son while she isn't able to. Peregrine sends William inside by telling him to prepare something warm for the woman and child to consume during their journey back to town, and Sidney offers them a shilling each; the woman introduces herself more properly, and mentions that Samuel is only nine years old. Sidney asks her to bring something personal to the boy in order for him to use the object as a way to psychically track him, William procures some food and wine for the visitors, and just before they leave Peregrine tells them to "go with God". Judith crosses herself clumsily, and leaves with Michael by her side.

The characters decide to withdraw to the main study/library upstairs, where William has prepared a fire: the room seems subject to regular use since it's cluttered with many books and papers, and the desk in particular is covered in documents. Sidney tells the other men about what Michael remembered prior to Samuel's disappearance, which inspires Peregrine to read out-loud the passage from 2 Kings, chapter 2 he'd recalled just a short while ago:

***"23** He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” **24** And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys."*

This sparks a discussion about whether the phrase "go up you baldhead" was intentionally used by the children they met on their way, or simply a folkloric turn of phrase which originated from the Bible. Either way, the eerie similarity between the passage and the boy's tale makes Sidney reach for a drink, while Peregrine realizes the library contains many books in Latin, history books (specifically regarding Roman history and Saturnalia), and books about Norse mythology, and Edward begins looking for the papers left for him by Peter Ainsworth. All he obtains from his search is the realization that the Caldwells were a rather isolated family. In the meantime, Sidney notices a crossed bronze hammer and sickle above the fireplace, which while being clearly symbolic also appear to have been used, and a bronze bowl on the mantelpiece. The bowl has a spider web-like engraving on the bottom, but soon enough an occult roll reveals that the design is in fact a Norse compass, or vegvísir.

Peregrine randomly picks up a book, which appears to be a modern, hand-written pamphlet with peculiar illustrations representing headless figures, and people biting into spheres; in addition to that, there is also a page in which many words have been crossed out, two of them being "bear" and "ursa". The players come to the conclusion that all the crossed out words must be the word for "bear" in various different languages, and Peregrine considers the fact that the pamphlet was clearly written centuries after bears actually inhabited the local area; at this point, Sidney turns to his friends and asks whether they can recall any Norse stories regarding the animal in question, and after several rolls which don’t yield much, Dan suggests that Sidney should attempt to hypnotize Peregrine in an effort to check if he subconsciously knows more. This works, somehow, and there is a brief flashback scene in which Peregrine recalls a linguistics tutor from school speaking about how the English word for bears is a place-marker for the real Norse one, which was considered so powerful and potentially magical that it stopped being used in fear of summoning the bear itself by saying it. The substitute "bear” simply means "brown one", and once he awakens from hypnosis Peregrine rushes to tell this to the others.

After his excellent hypnosis, Sidney considers ringing the bell in order to interview William, but before acting on this idea he hears a panting from outside the room, and through the gap of the slightly open door, he sees two points of light, a disturbingly distended face covered in scraps of hair, and two yellowish eyes: he screams.

## Important NPCs

* William Purdue
* Judith Martins
* Samuel Martins

## Quotes

* "I say 'I think I need to sit down' and I walk to the drinks cabinet." (Dom)
* "This doesn't seem like the type of house a Marxist would own, does it?" (Dom, as Sidney)
* "But before I do deep in- deep in the dive? Dive in the deep." (Joseph)
* "The stars incline us, they do not bind us." (Joseph) "Quite right too, even if Ursa Major is shining over this house tonight..." (Danann)
* "This would be an awful room to be mauled by a bear in." (Dom) "Or the best room to be mauled by a bear in!" (Dan)

## Trivia

1. ↑ This library might be inspired by the one in M. R. James' *Mr Humphreys and His Inheritance*.