Stanza I · Wickfall

Margery Ledge: Ah. It's awake. Good evening, Warden. Don't try to speak - you can't. Flicker once if you understand.

Margery Ledge: Splendid. Margery Ledge, Dispatcher, Lanternline Company. You are our Warden. This barge is The Taper. And these are your Wicks.

Margery Ledge: Twelve of them, bound to your flame by contract. If you go out, so do they. Do try not to go out.

Ansel Brigg: Ansel. Lamplighter. Used to be, anyway. You're... very bright.

Mirela Vost: Mirela Vost. I'll be keeping the accounts. Don't expect me to like you.

Hob Tallow: Hob! Hob Tallow. Oh, you're a lovely little flame. Are you warm in there? You look warm.

Sister Ivo: Sister Ivo. Former Sister. (She hums two notes and stops.) Bless you, little light.

Cassius Fenn: Cassius Fenn, darling. Debts, collections, impeccable taste. The flame suits you.

Nell Ashgrove: ...Nell. (yawn) Sweep. Wake me if it's important.

Dr. Pell: Doctor Pell. If you ever need anything removed, I'm your man. Metaphorically. Mostly.

Rook Marchetti: ROOK! Courier! Fastest legs in Umbrage! Where are we going, boss?

Edda Quill: Edda Quill. Archivist. I'll write down everything you do.

Lucan Strand: Lucan.

Rook Marchetti: That's it? Just 'Lucan'?

Lucan Strand: Strand.

Wren Halloway: Wren Halloway~ I read your fortune already, Warden. Do you want to know? No? Smart little flame.

"Brass" Coyle: COYLE! They call me Brass! Nice to meetcha, Warren!

Mirela Vost: Warden.

"Brass" Coyle: That's what I said!

Margery Ledge: First contract. District Seven - the Tallow Market. The Hush Office cut its light forty-one days ago for non-payment. Nobody has come out since.

Margery Ledge: Go in, find the district's Great Lamp, light it with the Warden's flame, come back. Simple.

Hob Tallow: ...The Tallow Market.

Ansel Brigg: You know it?

Hob Tallow: I was born there. My mum's shop is there. Tallow and Daughters, Chandlers. Best candles in Umbrage.

Hob Tallow: I haven't been back in nine years.

Ansel Brigg: You're cooking. At this hour.

Hob Tallow: Can't sleep. When I can't sleep, I cook. When I can't cook, I eat. When I can't eat... well. That's never happened.

Ansel Brigg: Nine years, you said.

Hob Tallow: Mum told me to go. 'There's nothing for you in the dark, Hobby. Go where the lamps are.' So I went. Got work in the Gilded Mile. Candle-dipping for rich folk. Good money.

Hob Tallow: I sent her a letter the first month. She sent one back. I meant to answer it.

Hob Tallow: I've still got it. Her letter. I never opened the second one. It's been in my coat for eight years.

Ansel Brigg: Why?

Hob Tallow: Because if I open it, I have to answer it. And if I answer it, I have to say why I never came home.

Ansel Brigg: ...Smells good, Hob.

Hob Tallow: It's her recipe. It's the only thing I ever got right.

Rook Marchetti: Creepy. Love it. Which way to the big lamp?

Edda Quill: Market square. North. Assuming the streets haven't moved. In the dark, they sometimes do.

???: OI! Put that light out! You'll bring Them here!

Cassius Fenn: Charming locals. Warden, I believe we're about to be robbed.

Lucan Strand: Weapons out.

???: ...Lights bring the Waxen. Everyone knows. Everyone who's left.

Dr. Pell: Waxen? Fascinating. Describe the symptoms.

???: You'll see. Gods help you, you'll see.

Hob Tallow: Wait - wait! I know you. Duggan? Duggan Pell from the fishmonger's?

???: Don't know you. Don't want to know you. Light's not welcome here.

Hob Tallow: You used to give me the fish heads for free. For Mum's broth.

???: Your mum? ...You're Marta's boy. The one who left.

Hob Tallow: ...Yeah.

???: Then you've got some nerve coming back NOW.

???: Go home, Tallow boy. Oh, wait. You did.

Nell Ashgrove: ...Ouch.

Hob Tallow: He's not wrong, Nell. He's not wrong.

Nell Ashgrove: ...That's a person. Was a person. It's melting.

Hob Tallow: That apron. That's Mister Abel's apron. He sold soap. He gave me free soap every birthday.

Dr. Pell: Whatever he was, Hob, he's wax now. And it's hungry. Look how it looks at you.

Mister Abel: ...Hob... by...? You've... gotten... so... thin...

Hob Tallow: Mister Abel. I'm here. I'm sorry I'm late.

Mister Abel: ...Eat... something...

Ansel Brigg: Hob. Step back.

Hob Tallow: No. Let me. He'd want it to be someone he knew.

Hob Tallow: I'm sorry, Mister Abel. I'm so sorry.

Edda Quill: The wax isn't random. Look - it's flowing. All of it, uphill, toward the north.

Hob Tallow: Toward the square. Toward the shop.

Wren Halloway: That's not physics. That's a summons.

Mirela Vost: Then someone is summoning. Who?

Sister Ivo: (humming, quietly) ...Something that is very, very lonely.

Hob Tallow: Mum used to say a candle is just a promise made of fat. You burn yourself down so someone else can see.

"Brass" Coyle: Your mum sounds like a real tough cookie, Hobbes.

Hob Tallow: Hob. And she was. She is. She has to be.

Rook Marchetti: DOGS! Fire dogs! Why is it always dogs!

Lucan Strand: Stay behind me.

Nell Ashgrove: They were going for the Warden. Not us. The light.

Margery Ledge: They want the flame. Keep it close, Wicks.

Pip Larkin: Stay back! I've got a hook and I'm not afraid to - ...Hob? Hob Tallow?!

Hob Tallow: Pip? Little Pip Larkin? You were THIS tall!

Pip Larkin: You were this WIDE! You still are! What are you doing here?!

Hob Tallow: Came to light the market. Came home. Bit late, I know.

Pip Larkin: Forty-one days late, Hob.

Pip Larkin: Everyone thinks you forgot about us. Your mum never thought that. Not once. She kept saying 'Hobby's coming. Hobby always comes when there's soup.'

Hob Tallow: ...Is she alright, Pip?

Pip Larkin: (He looks at the wax on the ground. He doesn't answer.)

Pip Larkin: They're coming! The candle-people come every time I light up!

Hob Tallow: Then stay behind me, Pip. Nobody else melts tonight.

Pip Larkin: You fight like a mallet with legs.

Hob Tallow: That's the nicest thing anyone's said to me in years.

Pip Larkin: I've been keeping this one lit. The whole forty-one days. Your mum gave me the candles.

Pip Larkin: Every evening she came round with a basket. A candle for every house that still had someone in it. She wouldn't take money.

Mirela Vost: Forty-one days of free candles. For an entire block. Where did she get the tallow?

Pip Larkin: ...We asked. She smiled and said, 'From what I have.'

Dr. Pell: Hm.

Hob Tallow: Pell. Don't.

Dr. Pell: I didn't say anything, Hob.

Hob Tallow: You were thinking it. So am I.

???: Light is a debt. Darkness is free. Blessed are those who owe nothing.

Sister Ivo: Snuffers. They wear the robes of a church they never belonged to.

Pip Larkin: That's MY lantern!

???: The Mother will be displeased. She does not like to be woken.

Lucan Strand: 'The Mother'. Noted.

Edda Quill: There's a tally under the words. Forty-one marks. Someone's been counting the days.

Wren Halloway: (She draws a card.) The Empress. Abundance. Nurture. ...Smothering.

Hob Tallow: She fed everyone. Mum fed everyone. And they made her into a... a saint.

Sister Ivo: People always make saints out of the ones who give too much. It's easier than stopping them.

Hob Tallow: I should have been here. If I'd been here, I'd have stopped her.

Ansel Brigg: Would you?

Hob Tallow: ...No. I'd have helped her. That's the worst part.

???: Trespassers in the Mother's chapel! Snuff them!

Pip Larkin: The shop's past the next street. I'll show you. ...I haven't been inside since she stopped coming out.

Hob Tallow: Mum? Mum, it's Hob. I'm home.

Wren Halloway: ...Hob, sweetie. Nobody's here.

Hob Tallow: She called it 'Tallow and Daughters' because she wanted girls. Got me. She said I ate like four daughters.

Edda Quill: May I?

Hob Tallow: ...Read it out. I can't.

Edda Quill: 'Day 1. 60 candles. From the pantry.' 'Day 9. 120 candles. From the cellar stores.' 'Day 17. 80 candles. From the good lard I was saving for Hobby.'

Edda Quill: 'Day 23. 40 candles. From what I have.' 'Day 30. 40 candles. From what I have.'

Edda Quill: 'Day 38. They are so cold. I am so warm. From what I have.'

Hob Tallow: ...Keep going.

Edda Quill: There's one more line. 'Day 41. Hobby will come. Save him a plate.'

Dr. Pell: The cellar's full of it. Seeping. Warm.

Hob Tallow: Don't hurt the shop. Please. Fight them, but don't hurt the shop.

Hob Tallow: That's the same handwriting. She wrote me another one.

Ansel Brigg: You've got the first one in your coat. Still sealed.

Hob Tallow: I know.

Ansel Brigg: Open them both. Now. Before we go up there. You don't want to meet her not knowing what she said.

Hob Tallow: 'Hobby. The shop is fine. Do not come home for me. Come home for you, whenever you are ready. There is always soup.'

Hob Tallow: 'Hobby. The lights are out. Do not come. I have enough to keep everyone warm. I have more than enough. I love you. Eat something.'

Marta Tallow: Hobby! That's not food!

Hob Tallow: It tastes like honey!

Marta Tallow: It's beeswax, you silly boy. Come here. Let me show you how to pour a candle.

Marta Tallow: You heat it slowly. Never rush the wax. You pour it around the wick like you're tucking it into bed.

Hob Tallow: Why do we make candles, Mum?

Marta Tallow: Because people get frightened in the dark, Hobby. And when you can't make the dark go away, you make it a little warmer.

Hob Tallow: Everyone ready? I'm ready.

Mirela Vost: You're sure. After that.

Hob Tallow: Especially after that.

Cassius Fenn: Hob, darling, you nearly took that man's head clean off.

Hob Tallow: I slowed down. I always slow down. Mum taught me. Never rush the wax.

Mirela Vost: We should talk about what's in that square. The ledger is clear. She rendered herself. Whatever's up there isn't a woman any more.

Hob Tallow: Don't.

Mirela Vost: I'm not being cruel. I'm being accurate. If we go up there, we fight her. If we fight her, you have to be ready.

Rook Marchetti: Maybe Hob sits this one out. We can handle it.

Hob Tallow: NO. Nobody else does this. I left her alone for nine years. I'm not leaving her alone with strangers.

Sister Ivo: Then we walk with you. Not ahead. With.

Hob Tallow: ...Thank you, Sister.

Lucan Strand: The Snuffers are guarding the square. Their Deacon first.

???: The Vigil is closed. The Mother sleeps. Turn back, Lanternline.

???: ...the Deacon... will...

Deacon Sallow: Lanternline. Contract-burners. You bring the light back and then the Hush Office bills it.

Mirela Vost: Better a bill than a graveyard.

Deacon Sallow: Is it? The Office cut this market off because it couldn't pay. Do you know what grew here in the dark? Something that LOVES them. Something that FEEDS them.

Deacon Sallow: We didn't make her. We only keep her fed. We bring her the cold and the lonely and she makes them warm.

Hob Tallow: You fed people TO her.

Deacon Sallow: We fed her to THEM. Then they fed themselves to her. That is what love is, boy. Ask your mother.

Deacon Sallow: Come then, Marta's boy. Let me show you what you left her with.

Deacon Sallow: ...Go on, then. Go see her. Tell her you're home. See if she lets you leave again.

Cassius Fenn: 'Her'. She keeps saying 'her'. Hob, darling, I'm starting to dislike this very much.

Deacon Sallow: My daughter froze on Day 12. Nobody came. The Office didn't come. Your company didn't come. Marta came, with a candle and a bowl of soup.

Deacon Sallow: Too late. But she came. She held my girl's hand until she stopped shaking.

Deacon Sallow: So I made the Vigil. I made the robes. I painted the words. Because I needed her to be holy. If she was holy, then it was worth it.

Hob Tallow: ...She'd have hated that. Being holy. She swore like a sailor.

Deacon Sallow: (A cracked laugh.) She did. She really did.

Deacon Sallow: Go on, Hob Tallow. Do what I couldn't. Let her rest.

Hob Tallow: Warden? You there?

Hob Tallow: I keep thinking: if I'd come back even once. Even for one day. Maybe she'd have rationed. Maybe she'd have kept some for herself.

Hob Tallow: But she wouldn't. That's who she was. That's who I am. I'd have done the same.

Hob Tallow: I think I left because I was scared of becoming her. Giving and giving until there's nothing left. And then I became her anyway, just... somewhere else.

Hob Tallow: ...Yeah. Thanks, Warden. Let's go.

Rook Marchetti: That's a LOT of dogs!

"Brass" Coyle: Good! I been wanting a real workout!

Nell Ashgrove: ...They're all running to the square. She's calling them home.

Sister Ivo: They're all smiling. Why are they all smiling?

Dr. Pell: Because she made them warm. They're happy, Sister. That's the horror of it.

Hob Tallow: Last ones. I know their faces. Mrs. Brindle. The Okafor twins. Old Ned who sold matches.

Hob Tallow: She saved them. She saved everybody. She just saved them... into herself.

Margery Ledge: Wicks. Whatever is in that square is the strongest thing you have faced. Your Warden's flame will not survive if you all fall.

Margery Ledge: Hob Tallow. Is your head clear?

Hob Tallow: No, ma'am. But my hands are.

Margery Ledge: ...That will do.

Wren Halloway: I drew a card for you, Hob. Want it?

Hob Tallow: Go on.

Wren Halloway: The Sun. Warmth. Homecoming. A child finding their way back.

Hob Tallow: ...Bit late for that.

Wren Halloway: The Sun doesn't care what time it is, sweetie.

Marta Tallow: Hobby? Hobby, is that you? Oh, look at you. You've gotten so thin.

Hob Tallow: ...Mum.

Marta Tallow: When the lights went out, everyone was so frightened. So I made candles. And when the tallow ran out, I made candles from what I had. I had to keep them warm, Hobby.

Dr. Pell: She rendered herself. Down to the last ounce. And kept going.

Marta Tallow: Sit down. All of you, sit. You're all so thin. Stay. Eat. Don't go back out there. It's dark out there.

Ansel Brigg: Hob. You don't have to do this one.

Hob Tallow: Yes I do. I didn't write. I didn't come. I'm here now.

Hob Tallow: Warden. Please. Help me tell her goodbye.

Marta Tallow: Don't fight, Hobby. Come here. Come HOME.

Marta Tallow: ...Hobby? Why are you crying?

Marta Tallow: You're hurt. Let me look. Oh, you never could keep your knees clean.

Hob Tallow: Mum, you have to stop. You have to let them go. All of them. You're burning them.

Marta Tallow: But they're warm, Hobby. They were so cold, and now they're warm.

Hob Tallow: They're gone, Mum. And you're going too. You made them warm by making them you. That's not the same as saving them.

Marta Tallow: ...I just didn't want anyone to be alone in the dark.

Hob Tallow: I know. I know, Mum. That's why I'm here. So you're not.

Marta Tallow: STAY! Everyone, STAY! I'll keep you warm, I'll keep ALL of you warm!

Hob Tallow: Kindling, Warden. Now. Let me give her the last candle.

Marta Tallow: ...You came home. That's all I wanted. You came home, Hobby.

Hob Tallow: I'm home, Mum. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'll eat. I promise I'll eat.

Pip Larkin: The lamps! Hob! HOB! All of them!

Rook Marchetti: WOO! We did it! Boss, you did it!

Margery Ledge: Contract complete. Well done, Wicks. Well done, Warden. ...Warden? You're flickering.

Hob Tallow: Her recipe. Everyone gets a bowl. Nobody leaves until they've had seconds. House rules.

Deacon Sallow: ...Am I allowed?

Hob Tallow: You especially.

Nell Ashgrove: (mouth full) ...this is the best thing I've ever eaten.

Hob Tallow: It's from what I have.

Mirela Vost: Ledge. The cancellation notice for this district's light contract. It's stamped by an Auditor. Grail Somner.

Mirela Vost: ...I know that name.

Margery Ledge: Then I suspect you'll know where we're going next.

Hob Tallow: Mirela? You alright?

Mirela Vost: Fine. I'm always fine. Eat your soup, Hob.

Hob Tallow: You first. House rules.