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dnd oakley street > Oakley Street Part Four
central Paris
Spurred on by their recent success in apprehending the murderer of the experimental theologian on what should have been a straightforward airship crossing from London to Paris, the group stand on the Paris street, taking in their surroundings.
Tom quickly causes a commotion by throwing an egg. A city guard, on seeing this, threatens him with arrest in French. When Tom opens his mouth and speaks in English, the guard raises his voice, then shrugs and walks away.
“Let’s remember why we’re here,” says Cassandra, before the party bcome too giddy on their recent success. “We’re looking for the alethiometer, which will be quite the challenege for us. A good place to start would be the address on the envelope which we took from the Bonneville’s London residence.”
Ethel hands Cassandra the envelope, and between the two of them, and a map of Paris posted to an information board outside the station, they forumlate a plan.
“There are likely gyptians along this stretch,” says Cassandra, as she gestures at the map. We should start here and move towards the seaport. “What’s the address on the envelope?”
“It’s the Boulevard Periphique, 16th Arrondissemont,” says Ethel. “Which should take us closer to the seaport; walking along the Seine doesn’t add much to the distance.
“Then that’s our plan. We’ll head there on foot, hoping to find some gyptians on the way!” says Dahlia, excited.
On their way towards the river, the group spot a pawn shop. “Oh, just a minute, I’ll see what they’ll give me for this ring,” says Dahlia, as she changes direction to enter the shop.
Dahlia walks up to the counter, behind which an old man is stationed. She offers the ring. Speaking little French, and the old man speaking little English, the context of the situation conveys what Dahlia would like from the otherwise unintelligible exchange. The man waves his hands over the ring; “No, I cannot accept this, it is worth more than my shop,” he says, in muddled English.
This surprises Dahlia, a mix of excitement and horror entering her face. Before she can say anything to the old man, Cassandra realises what has happened and drags here away “Come on, we’ll try somewhere else.” After Cassandra and Dahlia have left, the old man goes into the back room and flops down into his chair to recover from the shock of seeing the ring.
Dahlia continues to look out for higher class pawnbrokers and antique shops on her way towards the Seine, but she doesn’t spot any. Next to the river, the group encounter a flock of pigeons. Tom feeds them, and they crowd around. One of them has an accident on John. Another flies to Dahlia, and drops a crumpled piece of paper by her feet. Dahlia picks it up and carefully unfolds it, revealing part of a newspaper article. Although it is written in French, the combined translation efforts of the party reveal that it is about infighting in the majisterium. The tone of the newspaper appears not to be fully pro the majisterium. The group can deduce that the neutral stance, while not quite dangerous, would raise eyebrows within the authoritarian organisation.
Partway along the Seine, the group see a mooring that might belong to Gyptians. it is not well kept. Clearly, any maintenance work that has gone into it has been for function over form. A boat is moored comfortably against an austere wooden platform. The name of the boat, skilfully painted on the side of the cabin, though flaking slightly, is ‘La Fleur de La Seine’.
A man and a woman stand on the stern. Cassandra walks to them. They are most likely, Cassandra discerns, the gyptian family who own the boat. Likewise, the couple recognise Cassandra as a fellow gyptian. Cassandra greets them in the gyptian tongue, and asks, politely, “Who is your farder?”
“Farder Lyle,” replies the man, “But he’s not in charge.”
“Come, come,” says the woman, inviting the entire party onboard. They descend via a narrow ladder into the boat’s living space; a small parlour with a table, a small stove upon which a kettle of water is keeping warm, and many small and gaudy decorations befitting of a waterborne family.
Dahlia, deciding that any friend of Cassandra is a friend of hers, proudly presents the ring to the gyptian couple, asking them where she might find a pawn shop. The gyptians turn away from her, with what might be a look of horror on their faces. Dahlia puts the ring away hurredly. The man quickly excuses himself, leaves the parlour, and runs along the riverbank to the next of the moored vessels.
Moments later, in the time it has taken him to run there and back, the party can hear footsteps approaching. There are at least three people outside; one of them walks with a metallic ‘clank’ in every other step. Dahlia is nervous of the identity of the walker and panics; Cassandra, on hearing the footsteps, surmises that they must belong to Farder Lyle.
The boat rocks as Farder Lyle and his entourage enter the cabin, which is now becoming quite crowded. Dahlia, becoming more and more panicked at the appearance of Farder Lyle, quickly leaves the cabin to be sick outside. Nobody takes much notice of her; Cassandra feels uneasy at Dahlia’s disappearance, but does not show it. Cassandra greets the Farder. “Farder Lyle, we have travelled from Brytain,” she says.
“Then you may not be aware of the significance of the ring that your travelling companion carries. At lease, I hope you are not aware, because to knowingly flaunt it would be in very poor taste indeed.” His words are kind, but solemn and controlled.
“The ring belongs to the Bonneville family,” says Cassandra, knowing that to try to hide the truth from her own people would be futile and insulting. “But I think my friend and I are both in the dark as to its exact significance.”
“But you must know of the Bonneville family?” asks Lyle.
“Yes, certainly, they are known in London,” replies Cassandra.
“They are powerful in Brytain, yes, but in Paris, they are the power.” The room falls silent for a moment, as Farder Lyle’s statement sinks in.
“Where did the kinder get the ring?” asks the Gyptian woman, using the gyptian wrd ‘kinder’, meaning ‘child’, to refer to Dahlia. This is not a comment on her age, which is close to Cassandra’s, but her naivety when it comes to matters of the gyptians and Paris society.
Cassandra explains, truthfully, “She took it from the Bonneville mansion in London. We are engaged in a task to investigate parts of the Bonneville family,” getting straight to the reason for the group’s visit to Paris.
Dahlia, clutching Cassandra’s arm, asks quietly, “Am I in trouble?”
Lyle, overhearing Dahlia, says to Cassandra, “Not with us. But she should be very careful who sees that ring. It could bring her trouble.”
Satisfied that Dahlia’s question has been answered, Cassandra continues. “We need to get into the Bonneville residence in Paris, in the sixteenth arrondissement. Can you help us? Perhaps take us there by river?”
Lyle thinks for a moment, eying up each of the party as he does so. “We can take you part of the way, but not to their doorstep. On one condition; you do not bring trouble to us. You see, we do not have the same privileges you enjoy in Brytain. You have Asriel to protect you, we do not.
With Farder Lyle having agreed that the Paris gyptians will help the party travel to the Bonneville mansion, they all move out of the boat whose parlour they had been using, which it turns out is owned by the Ducard family, and onto a communal boat. It appears to be a headquarters for the gyptians in Paris. There are reference books on shelves in the cabin, and above them, photograms of other boats, including the Ducard’s boat which the party have just left. Two gyptians stand on the stern, navigating towards the Bonneville mansion. It is mid afternoon and the sun is low.
Dahlia borrows some clothes. She is still wearing the feather boa which she stole from the Bonneville’s London residence, which would draw unwanted attention if she were to try to wear it into the Paris house. The passengers occupy themselves for the journey. Dahlia makes a pencil sketch of Cassandra, who is engaged in quiet conversation with her gyptian peers. John catches up on lost sleep; though where he lost sleep to, nobody knows. Tom spends the journey talking with his daemon, Azura.
The boat reaches a point in the river just in sight of the Bonneville’s Paris residence. The party regroup around the table, normally used by the gyptians to discuss local politics. Ethel makes a suggestion, “We should speak to the staff; they know how big houses work. Maybe pose as antiques dealers, they visit big houses all the time, it would give us the access we need to the house.”
A plan has not been set in stone by the time the gyptian boat reaches the house. The party disembark, and the gyptians quickly and quietly turn around before they are spotted. After waving them away, the group walk up to the house. It is large, and built of reddish brick. There are ornate, botanical grotesques dotted around the edges of the roof. Vines climb up one side of the building. A high tower juts out from one corner of the house. Three entrances are quickly visible; one grand entrance, which may only be used for special occasions and to greet guests; a side entrance, which appears to be for general use by the residents; and a servants’ and tradespersons’ entrance. Several old cars are parked in an open garage to the side of the house opposite the entrance. Gardens extend beyond the back of the house. It is not clear where the private gardens end and the public park behind the house begins.
The group head straight to the servants’ entrance. They enter, without knocking, and find themselves in a cloakroom, leading to the servants’ dining room. From this room, they enter the adjoining kitchen, and encounter a woman who appears to be the housekeeper.
“We are from the London house,” claims Tom, unconvincingly. After heated discussion involving a heavy copper frying pan, the housekeeper accepts Tom’s explanation as to the group’s presence, and allows them to investigate the house.
“Where is the dumb waiter?” asks Dahlia, as they shuffle through the corridor into the main house.
“There,” replies Cassandra, pointing at Tom, referencing his earlier role impersonating a waiter at the Bonneville’s London residence.
John, in a more sober mood, casts ‘Pass Without Trace’ on the entire party, giving them the ability to stealth more easily. It is decided between the group that they will split up; Cassandra and Dahlia will investigate the tower, Ethel and John will investigate the study, and Tom will investigate the bedroom.
Dahlia and Cass begin by investigating the prominent tower, which juts incongruously from the rest of the house.
The design and layout of this house are substantially different to those of the London house, with the Paris residence predating the London one by a great number of years. If the London house did not make clear that its owners are extremely well to do, the Paris residence leaves no such doubt in the visitor’s mind. The sumptuousness of the surroundings is quite intimidating to the party, none of whom are used to such luxury.
Walking the corridor to the base of the tower, Dahlia and Cass both feel safe in each other’s presence. Dahlia confidently reaches forward and opens the door leading to the room at the base of the tower. Stepping into the room, it takes a moment for their eyes to adjust to the harsh, pre-anbaric lighting. It illuminates a series of pictures, made of embossed and planished brass, depicting horrific and violent scenes from biblical history. Dahlia clasps Cass’ hand as the two of them walk slowly around the room, allowing their minds to be touched by the pictures while their interwined digits provide comfort.
In the centre of the room is a wrought iron staircase, spiralling up to what must be, given the height of this room, the only other floor in the tower. They climb the staircase, keeping a close gaze on the brass pictures, which continue akk the way up to the ceiling. The room at the top of the tower is comparatively modern. The lighting has changed to anbaric, and is very bright. Every surface is made of a smooth material, mostly stainless steel. The walls are a muted, calming sage green, though for whatever reason, Erin and Louise are far from calm. In one corner of the room is a machine, with outwardly few components, built from stainless steel. The largest components of the machine are two cages, made from a fine, stainless steel mesh. A guillotine is positioned above the empty space between the two cages. It is in the vicinity of the machine that the two daemons are most uncomfortable; Erin begins crying out to leave’ and Louise’ who is almost perfectly relaxed, begins physically shaking.
Aware of the need to leave soon to calm their daemons, Cass begins investigating the machine quickly. She steps into one of the cages, which is easily large enough for her to stand up in. As she examines the steel on the inside of the cage, the door swings shut, locking her in the cage. Louise, silent until now, lets out a yelp. Dahlia, terrified but thinking clearly, rushes to Cass and frees her from the cage. Louise and Erin are both still quite visibly shaken, and Dahlia decides that it is time for them all to head downstairs. Scanning the room once more before they leave, Dahlia spots some papers, written in French, on an otherwise bare desk. Scanning them quickly, they bear the name ‘Hugo’ in a few places; the name of the scholar who was murdered on the airship. Dahlia quickly gathers up the papers, to later give them to John to translate.
Meanwhile, Ethel and John investigate the study on the ground floor. They start at the desk, searching the drawers throughly for letters. They find many, written in both French and Latin. There is no time to read all of them. Along with the letters, they find a recent newspaper article expressing support for the Majesterium. Ethel looks around the room for any hiding places, testing the floorboards to find any that are loose, but fails to find anything. The biggest clue they find, though, may be one hidden in plain sight. On one wall is a large painting depicting an alethiometer. The three short hands are pointing to the anchor, sun and world symbols. The fourth, longer hand, unable to dart between symbols as in its real-world equivalent, is stuck pointing at the compasses. The meaning of this, Ethel and John cannot decipher, but they make a notes to give to the rest of the party later.
The next room is a small sitting room, decorated in the same, traditional French style as the study. A picture rail runs continuously around the wall, ust above head height, and pictures drop down on metal wires. Ethel and John both notice a painting of the three-legged hyena daemon on the wall. Thinking that some useful notes, or perhaps even a safe, might be hidden behind the painting, Ethel takes it down from the rail. Disappointed to find nothing there, and not knowing what to do with the painting, she passes it to John. John isn’t sure what to do with the painting either, and he puts it back up on a different wall “To confuse them.”
The group reconvene in their entirety in the kitchen, near to the servant’s entrance where they first entered the house. John sits down at the long table and starts busily translating the papers by Hugo that Cassandra and Dahlia found in the sterile room at the top of the tower. He mumbles to himself, the key sentence between his unintelligible utterances being “The significance of the particle described as The Rusakov Particle, Sin and Dust, are the same…”
John describes the painting of the alethiometer to the rest of the group. They ponder the four symbols, singly and in combination with each other, but cannot come up with a meaning to explain them. They ask the housekeeper, the only one of the staff to speak a little Brytain, about the painting. “I do not know, I have never been close to the work of the master,” she replies.
“The house feels very… quiet,” remarks Ethel. “When did you last see the master?”
“I served him the breakfast, and the lunch, but he was not here at dinner time.”
John, being the only one of the party to speak good French, asks each of the kitchen staff in turn if anyone was unaccounted for.
“I saw the master heading towards the tower,” comes the first reply.
The other staff share their thoughts. “The cleaning staff, they haven’t been themselves recently. It’s probably the long hours that they work.”
“No, we are busiest, in the kitchen!”
Convinced that he received all the information he needed from the first of the kitchen staff, John thanks them, and returns to the party to convey this important finding. Cassandra and Ethel are already leaving via the servant’s entrance to investigate the gardens attached to the house.
They have a splendid view looking downhill from the house. The clever landscaping makes it difficult for them to tell where the land connected to the house ends and the public park begins; though no doubt the landscaping is such that the common people below cannot pry into the lives of those in the house from their lowly viewpoint. A crowd of staff stand, like statues, impenetrable, at the bottom of the private garden.
Cassandra and Louise both receive a shock, at the same moment, when they notice that the crowd of people standing at the bottom of the garden have no daemons. Louise is freacked out, and Cassandra struggles to separate her from the sheer emotion that has hit her. Louise refuses to take another step forwards, and Cassandra picks her up, and carries her back to the house, where she sits, cradled in Cassandra’s arms.
Cassandra explains what she has seen to the rest of the party, who are still at the house. They rush out to assess the situation for themselves, and then make a plan. Once they have seen for themselves the crowd of people without daemons, they split up to find the missing daemons. John and Ethel find a crowd of daemons, huddling together under a large tree.
At first glance, the daemons appear to be frightened, but looking at them closely, their eyes are all glossed over, as if they’re not really there. Most of them are slumped over, though some appear stronger than others. John and Ethel break the timeless taboo, and pick up other peoples’ daemons, to attempt to reunite them. One or two are already shimmering, as they are on the verge of dematerialisation; the stress of being touched by a stranger is sadly too much for them, and they disappear. John and Ethel both know that this means the death of the human connected to the daemon. With ten daemons split between them, John and Ethel move quickly to the crowd of people, aiming to reunite them.
Cassandra sits on the step of the servant’s entrance, comforting Louise. Gradually, Louise calms. Her emotions are a mix of terror and confusion at seeing people without daemons. They begin to leave her, and clarity and resolve take their place. Cassandra can feel Louise trying to reach out; she considers seeking help from Oakley Street, from the Paris gyptians, from anyone who will listen. The bond between woman and daemon has grown stronger.
Louise is still fragile, but has enough drive that Cassandra is able to rejoin the ‘clowns’, as she terms them. “We are going to seek help from Oakley Street,” she says to the rest of the party. “John, will you come with us, please, as we may need a French speaker? Who else will stay and help these people.”
“I’d better go with you, it was my suggestion to put these people out of their misery,” suggests Dahlia. Cassandra agrees fully with her logic.
Ethel and Tom rush back to the house and speak with the housekeeper, explaining what has happened, and softening the shock she is about to face by seeing people without their daemons. They lead the housekeeper outside, to help round up the servants and daemons and bring them into the servant’s dining room. The housekeeper begins to rush around, preparing soup and attempting to give water to keep them hydrated.
The separated humans’ lips wobble, and they are unable to take water from drinking glasses. “Teapots!” suggests Ethel. “Use the spouts!” And with that, everyone begins rushing around the dining room, using all the teapots they can find to pour water into the open mouths of the servants.
It takes Cassandra, Dahlia and John forty-five minutes to walk back along the river bank to catch up to the gyptian boats. Dahlia and John are tense for the entire walk, but Cassandra begins to relax for the first time since she laid eyes upon people without their daemons.
At Tom’s suggestion, he and Ethel begin cooking ratatouille. The kitchen is well stocked with the ingredients for this typically French dish, and between the two of them, with the housekeeper’s supervision, they make light work of chopping the vegetables to make the stew.
Cass and Dahlia return to the house by boat, accompanied by Farder Lyle. On the journey, Farder Lyle gives Cass and Dahlia a formal introduction to his grandson, Pieter Lyle. Cassandra knows that, according to the Gyptian laws of succession, Pieter Lyle will, if not become Farder himself, have a massive role in the Paris gyptian’s society.
Upon reaching the house, the garden is empty. Knowing that Ethel and Tom were planning to lead the separated into the house, the present Farder Lyle is invited in to see the scene for himself.
He is, perhaps, the best prepared of anyone to deal with the shock, having been given a good description of the events, and having picked up experiences during his rich and varied career. Still, nothing could prepare him for sight and sound of Tom, attempting to entertain the sullen crowd by giving an impromptu jazz performance. The crowd, though, appear to enjoy the performance, and so Farder Lyle shows his approval with a forced smile and applause.
Cassandra directs Farder Lyle, Pieter Lyle and Dahlia to the quiet end of the dining table which stretchs out for most of the length of the room. “Mr. Lyle,” she begins, directing her question at Pieter, “Have you seen this before?”
“Yes, in different cultures,” replies Pieter Lyle, “Though I never thought I’d see it in Paris.”
Dahlia questions Pieter. “What do they call these separated people in other cultures?”
“Zombi,” he replies. “As far as I know, there is no way to join the person to their daemon once they have been separated.”
The party exchange new glances of fear. Their glances are broken by the sound of a gyrocopter overhead. The help that Louise and Cassandra had sought has arrived.
The gyrocopter touches down in the garden of the house, which is both large and private enough to avoid gaining any attention from passers-by, either from the public park to the rear of the garden or from the quiet street at the front of the house. Cassandra, Dahlia and John go out to greet the passengers. Stepping out of the gyrocopter first is a young lady, dressed in a lab goat, a gecko daemon sat on her shoulder, observing the surroundings intently. Dahlia is unsure whether she is excited at the prospect of what she will find in the Bonneville mansion, or horrified. Perhaps the scientist herself does not yet know. She introduces herself as “Sophia, fellow friend of Oakley Street.”
The next person to step off of the gyrocopter is a much older man. Cassandra can deduce, from his smart dress, casual attitude and nonchalant stride, that he is French. His daemon, a whippet, follows him precisely. He carries a leather briefcase. The secure combination and key locks on the briefcase, which would attract no attention to the casual observer, mark him out as someone of importance, either in business or in government. He introduces himself. “Bernard Gede, treasurer,” confirming Cassandra’s image of him as accurate.
Behind him is a rough-looking man in this forties. His mountain cat daemon follows him, looking side to side, without it being noticeable that she is doing so. He appears to be carrying nothing but experience of the streets of Paris. He is the kind of person, who, if you needed anything, he would be able to put you in touch with someone to supply it.
Finally, last to step out of the gyrocopter before the pilot takes off, is a familiar face. Hannah Relf greets Dahlia and Cassandra with a friendly handshake. Her daemon, a marmoset, looks happy to be here.
“What a pleasure to see you again, Doctor Hannah,” says Cassandra, returning the handshake violently.
“Likewise, Cassandra, Dahlia, John. Oakley Street though that you’d like to see a friendly face.”
Dahlia leads the group indoors. Cassandra returns to the servant’s dining room to assist Ethel and Tom, as Louise is still unwilling to go anywhere near the lab. Dalia escorts Hannah and Sophia up the spiral staircase to the lab at the top of the tower, with John following in case any translation is necessary.
Once in the laboratory, Hannah and Sophia make a quick survey of the room. They are seeing it for the first time, and what they see shocks them. “I see that Sophia is enthralled by Sophia’s notes,” says Hannah, choosing her words carefully to make the situation feel more normal. “The science isn’t too far advanced from where the scientific community is, but the way he applies it is,” she searches for a subtle but accurate word, “Terrifying.”
“There is no way to undo the severing,” offers Sophia, echoing what Cassandra learned from Pieter Lyle earlier, but doing nothing to lighten the mood in the room.
Meanwhile, Cassandra quizzes Bernard Gede. “Monsieur, I am confused, why would the treasurer of France be involved with Oakley Street? And so active?”
“Well,” he begins, his English excellent and French accent making his voice a pleasure to listen to, “In my younger days, I was very active in Oakley Street. But I found that the skills I brought to Oakley Street in Paris, are also of great use in government. My interest, if you like, in social classes, led to advancement in both avenues, and of course, my position in each organisation is a benefit to the other.”
Cassandra nods; Bernard’s story makes a lot of sense.
“But, in all of my experience with government and Oakley Street, I have never seen anything so horrific as this,” he finishes. His whippet daemon, up until this point collected and precise in her manner, becomes terrified at the sight of another whippet daemon, separated from their human. The experience of seeing them is much akin to that of seeing a ghost; as the daemon begins to fade away, unable to live without their human, they perhaps become a ghost.
Ethel begins to quiz Enri. “So, you look like you keep your ear to the ground? Know the word on the street?”
Enri does not look at all amused at this line of questioning. “I have experience of dangerous situations,” he says, plainly. His French accent is the weakest of the gyrocopter passengers, Doctor Hannah excepted. It is likely that, with a change of clothes and some slight facial disguises, he could pass as either a native or a foreign traveller in Brytain or France.
Cassandra decides on a new tact. “Enri, what experience have you of a situation such as this?”
He thinks for a moment, as though he’s keen not to give away too much just yet, or in present company. “There are places where daemons cannot travel,” he says, his voice low. “And there is… a disease, fotunately not present in Europa, that can separate a person from their daemon. So yes, I have seen this before.” Cassandra and Ethel are silenced for a moment, so Enri continues. “But, I have never seen so many people infected at once. The Majesterium, of course, has an interest in replicating this disease.”
“You mean, so that they can sever peoples’ daemons intentionally?” blurts out Cassandra, horrified. She and Ethel are both speechless.
“Yes,” says Enri, more interested in talking now it is clear that he has both ladies’ attention. “The Majesterium itself is not fully united. There are factions within it that consider this type of research acceptable, desirable, even.”
Dahlia watches the scientists pore over the notes spread all across the lab. “Do you understand what is written on the walls?” she asks both of them together.
Doctor Hannah replies. “There is a lot in the lab,” and gestures to Sophia, “Sophia will continue to look. For now, though, our priority must be to get the severed people to safety.” Hannah gestures for Dahlia to lead the way downstairs.
On the way down the stairs, Dahlia touches upon a more private topic with Hannah. “About the missing fourth alethiometer; I don’t feel that we’re any closer to finding it.”
“The work you’ve done here is skilled and valuable,” says Hannah, “And if the alethiometer is in Paris, I’ve no doubt that you will find it.”
Dahlia is comforted by Doctor Hannah’s words. “Oh, another thing. There was a picture of an alethiometer in Bonneville’s study. The hands pointed to the anchor, the Sun, the World, and the compasses.”
Without waiting for Dahlia to finish asked the question, Hannah answers. “Oh, that must represent the focus that drives all of the Bonnevilles. They are anchored to the world, but they will learn about the Authority through research.”
“Research?” asks Dahlia.
“Yes,” replies Hannah. “Either through science, religion, involvement in the Majesterium, or a combination.”
Together, they board the bus carrying the severed people, to take them to the hospital outside of Paris.