The Gentleman From Hell |S1| Ep. 35

Rusty Quill presents

Good evening, gentlemen and gentle ladies of hell.

First and foremost, thank you for tuning in.

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Phil, you okay?

I think she's coming out.

Uh, yes, I'm I'm fine, but

this is where they bring the people they send down that wretched elevator.

I saw one of them, a woman.

She was strapped to an ornate chair carried by four robed persons.

There were hundreds of cultists in attendance.

This whole place was filled with them.

Chanting, celebrating.

She was placed inside the elevator, and then

the doors closed.

I could hear her screaming all the way down.

Did you recognize the woman?

Not at all.

Anything else?

The cultists were wearing either hoods or masks, and this tunnel reaches into some massive chamber.

I caught a glimpse of it as they paraded the woman out of it.

If I didn't know it already, these tunnels must extend beneath the entire city.

Do we want to check it out?

I'm pretty sure the chime field extends well beyond here, so the door shouldn't be magically closing on us.

Like I said before, we should hit this stuff while it's hot.

But we also shouldn't rush in like idiots.

We set up just like before.

Dover stay at the entrance while the others check things out.

I'm ready for another jaunt.

I'll swap with Mace this time.

Count me in.

Phil,

you sure you don't want to sip this one out?

I've never felt better.

Again, whatever she did to me, it somehow made me stronger.

I just wish I could say the same for my state of mind.

But there's not much to be done about that.

I just need to push forward.

Jesus, I wish you weren't right.

I haven't seen half the shit you have, and I'm already buckling.

You may buckle, my old friend, but I know you better than you do.

You'll never break.

As for me, well, we psychics come with reinforced shoulders.

We have to.

That may be, but we don't want to overdo it, any of us.

We need to be ready for whatever this shithole decides to throw at us next.

I'm gonna go grab the equipment from upstairs.

Nothing's unpacked, so it shouldn't take me long.

It's Bruce.

Well, let's hope he's got some good news.

Hello, Bruce.

Yes, that's splendid.

Not a moment longer.

You have my word.

I will.

You too.

Well,

it seems we've been granted access to the reading room, but only for an hour and not a second longer.

Will that be enough time?

I suppose it will have to be.

Martin, head back into the city.

We're going to St.

Esther's Cathedral.

Uh, what exactly is the reading room, Doctor?

It's sort of a secret research library curated by the Catholic Church.

There's one in nearly every major cathedral, with a few others scattered among select churches.

Generally, they're accessible only to the most esteemed religious scholars.

I know about them solely due to my personal contacts within the church.

Of particular interest is the reading room housed within St.

Esther's Cathedral, rumored to contain the only surviving copy of the standing one, a compilation of writings dedicated to the figure known as Simon the Magician.

Simon appears only briefly in canonical scripture, but is described in greater detail within various apocryphal accounts.

For some time now, a few other Mephitic scholars and I have hypothesized a deep connection between the lore regarding Simon and the mysteries of the Mephitica.

Are you sure the book is even there?

Well, from everything I've heard, I'm willing to bet on it.

The more important question is whether it's genuine Mephitica.

After that business in Naples, I dropped the matter altogether, at least publicly, and as far as I know, no one researching Mephitica has been given an opportunity to study the book.

Given that, I see no reason for them to have sought it out.

Let's just hope there were no itchy ears between Bruce and whoever he called to clear you.

Hope is about all we have, though it wouldn't be properly ironic for at least a few of them not to be installed within the Catholic hierarchy.

I'm afraid everything beyond this point is restricted.

My name is Dr.

Philip Loctrum.

This is my daughter, Lenore.

I think Monsignor Dyson called ahead for me.

Yeah, you're on here, but you've only got permission for one guest.

But these men are my personal security.

I.

Look, I'm sorry, Dr.

Loctrum, but I can only let two of you in.

However, I can assure you our security is top-notch.

I'm sure it is.

Bill, Martin, would you be so kind as to wait for us out here?

Sure thing, Doctor.

Okay.

If you just follow me, I'll take you to where you need to be.

Thank you.

Right through here, please.

Thank you.

Now, before we go any further, I'll need your phones and any other devices on your person.

All that's allowed down there are notebooks and something to write with.

Might we at least take a single phone, just in case we need to?

Now, there's an intercom system if you need to contact us.

Just give us a shout, and we'll bring you right up.

But we need our phones.

We have notes and the clock's already ticking, Doctor.

If you're going, you'll have to leave your electronics with me.

Very well.

Lenore,

give him your phone.

Thank you.

Now, the elevator will take you to the reading room, Doctor.

Someone will come for you in exactly one hour.

Thank you.

Without the chime.

Our lockets are proof enough against them, and we'll only be an hour.

If you say so,

well, there's only one button that makes things easy enough.

Now that I've looked at it for myself, I can say with certainty the Book of Simon should certainly be included within the official Mephitican canon.

Did you find what you were looking for?

Not all of it,

but a good deal, nonetheless.

The tale of Simon and the Pilgrim seems to more than hint that the biblical Simon the Magician was indeed one of the damned.

Now, traditionally, the so-called pilgrim was Peter the Apostle, right?

Yes.

Within the Acts of the Apostles, Simon is merely rebuked by Peter for asking to purchase the powers of God.

However, in several non-canonical tales, Simon and Peter confront one another.

Simon uses his magic to conjure miracles while Peter invokes the Lord and reveals Simon as a fraud, or at least as less powerful than the Almighty.

Older texts, however, hint that the biblical and apocryphal stories of Peter defeating Simon are merely reiterations of an older tale.

In this book, The power that strikes Simon down still comes from God, but not through spoken invocation.

Instead, it occurs through the breaking of the seal of Solomon.

Additionally, Peter's absent in the older tales, replaced by the nameless pilgrim, as seen in this passage where Simon seeks to seduce a crown with his strange magic.

Lo, Simon, the Enchanter, rose into the air above the gawking crowd, borne aloft upon a whirling blast of wind.

Coils of living flame wound from his fingertips.

The onlookers gasped, claiming the very powers of heaven bent to his command.

Yet, an unnamed pilgrim stepped forward, cloak hemmed with six-pointed stars.

From a leather pouch, he drew forth a bronze tablet scored with two interlaced triangles.

The seal of Solomon.

The air shivered.

Simon's fiery nimbus dimmed and sputtered.

With a single word, the pilgrim raised the seal.

Its lines burned blue and white, casting a stark light that revealed every scene in Simon's illusion.

The magician's whirlwind died.

His flames guttered to smoke and tumbled ash.

Simon himself, stripped of all glamour, struggled as though some invisible hand had severed the strings which held his body aloft.

Witnesses swore they heard iron chains rattle in the silence that followed.

And Simon fled into the hills, his miracles forever dimmed.

The pilgrim vanished just as quietly, leaving the glowing tablet pressed into the earth, cool and inert once more.

So, you think the seal could work against the damned?

Not the seal of Solomon specifically, as the symbol and its origin change from tale to tale, but there are several hints given throughout this book that may put me further along the path to discovering it.

In fact,

that feels like wind.

Is there a fan or something down here?

Oh my god, it's snowing.

What the hell's happening?

They're here.

Allow me to summarize one of my favorite passages

when Jesus confronted the man tormented by a legion of demons

He ordered the spirits to depart

fearing a return to the abyss

They begged

Do not cast us back into the depths

Send us instead to that herd of swine

Jesus granted their plea

and the unclean spirits fled

taking up their new wretched habitation

within the stinking guts of the pigs

Someone's coming down the elevator.

Quickly, the intercom!

Is anyone there?

Someone please!

Is anyone there?

It's no use.

Take your locket into your hands.

Don't drop it, no matter what.

They're coming.

Hurry, climb out that ladder.

Leave me, Lenore.

Climb.

No, I'm not letting you go

and get Ellen Orth.

Let go of me

Dr.

Loctrum

Dr.

Loctrum, are you in here?

Sir...

God.

It's horse.

The wind.

An illusion.

Dr.

Loctrum, your hour is up.

You need to come with me.

We're over here.

Just behind row 12.

I'm sorry.

I hadn't realized the time.

That's alright.

Happens to a lot of folks.

Once they get down here, they tend to lose track of things.

Anyway, we have to get moving.

The next group's already here.

Of course, I certainly don't want to keep anyone waiting.

Miss, are you okay?

Yes, um...

I'm fine.

Just a little...

tired, I guess.

I hear that.

If If I had to sit down here with all these books, the first thing I'd do is fall asleep.

No offense, but libraries bore the hell out of me.

Bored to hell would be a better way of putting it, I think.

Pardon?

What was that?

Nothing.

After you, sir.

You guys are breaking up a little, so you might want to slow down.

Jesus, this place is fucking unbelievable.

It's huge.

It's like an underground cathedral.

I'm not sure the pictures will do it any justice.

There's also massive reliefs, wall paintings, and statues.

I can't imagine how long it must have taken to create such a thing.

And in secret, no less.

Any idea what all the art is telling us?

The primitivism of the images seems to suggest that the art is reiterative, trying to invoke the earliest instances of the belief system.

I'm no expert,

but the techniques seem almost prehistoric.

The original clay tablets go all the way back to Mesopotamia, so it's not entirely unlikely that the start of all this goes back even farther, before any known writing systems.

You mean this shit could have started like in a cave or something?

Anything's possible.

We've also got plenty of left-handed statues.

Although not all of them look like Giel, at least, not like the one in the basement of the historical society.

Beers like Gil are oftentimes depicted in many different shapes and sizes, representing various aspects of the god.

If that's what he's supposed to be.

This statue looks like it's got a real skull, or at least part of one, for a face.

Could be a reliquary.

Well, what's that?

Ah, I've heard of those.

They're structures that contain bits and pieces of holy objects, even bones and mummified body parts.

Right.

Though I seriously doubt there's anything holy about those things.

This image here.

What looks to be a city of some kind, it's...

I can feel something coming from it.

So old.

Evil.

The figures on this wall look look like they might be people, humans.

But the ones standing over there are not so much.

Are they supposed to be the damned?

I don't know.

But there's an awful lot to unpack here.

Once everyone's finished with pictures and videos, see if you can find something that's not nailed down.

Something you want to bring back.

We'll do.

Over here, I think I might have found something.

We just found a little room off the main hall.

Checking it out now.

Right for that.

What you got, Margaret?

A great big storage chest.

But I didn't want to open it by myself.

No problem.

I'll get it.

What's in it?

Uh, they look like case files.

A shit ton of them.

Are there more genealogy tables?

Nope, better.

Look at this shit.

That's David.

David Harmon.

It's filled with pictures, personal information.

We just found a chest full of files.

One of them's all about David Harmon.

We got medical records, employment history, and a whole bunch of what looked like canvassing photos.

David walked into his car, at a restaurant, at the grocery store.

That makes sense.

They probably knew he was onto this shit they worked on with his brother, so they decided to keep tabs on him.

Just in case.

Make that file's on David and Alex.

This file's all about him.

So they were watching both of them, not just Alex.

I believe so.

The Harmon files were right on top, so I wonder if that means Alex was the last person they sent down the.

Well,

no.

I

think you two should look at this.

Good lord, they're all about us.

The fuckers had paper on us, too.

How the fuck did they manage all this without us noticing?

There's a file on me, too.

All kinds of pics.

Bureau stuff.

And you're definitely not gonna like this.

What is it?

Tell me!

They got pictures of Marlene and the kids.

A bunch of them.

What?

No.

No, no, no.

You gotta be.

You gotta be fucking kidding me.

Look, I know this isn't the best news, but they don't have any reason to go after your family.

They just wanted us.

That's it.

And they got us.

I gotta get out of here, Azap.

I gotta check on them.

Warn them.

Of course you do, Mason.

And we'll be right there with you.

We'll all leave at first light.

Wait a fucking minute.

What?

What is it now, god damn it?

Some of these pictures of us, they're over a year old.

That's right.

These photos here are from our meeting with Mr.

Preston at the Carlton, where we talked about bringing him on as a client.

But that

means.

That means they were watching us way before we were ever approached for the job.

Which tells us one fucking thing.

thing.

It was Hughes.

He

fucking set us up.

The Gentleman from Hell is a Maltopia production.

Today's episode was written by Mark Ansloom and voiced by Stephen Zivik, Sam Stark, Aubrey Akers, Jesse Van Hove, Kelly Baer, and Matt Van Hove.

Sound editing was completed by Stephen Anselone, and script editing was conducted by Walker Kornfeld.

Be sure to rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at Meltopia.

If you want unique art and animations of Meltopia's stories, visit our YouTube page.

or click on the link in the show notes.

And for more exclusive content such as additional lore, stories, and art, be sure to check out our Patreon at www.patreon.com forward slash Meltopia.

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Coach, the energy out there felt different.

What changed for the team today?

It was the new game day scratchers from the California Lottery.

Play is everything.

Those games sent the team's energy through the roof.

Are you saying it was the off-field play that made the difference on the field?

Hey, a little play makes your day, and today, it made the game.

That's all for now.

Coach, one more question.

Play the new Los Angeles Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, and Los Angeles Rams Scratchers from the California Lottery.

A little play can make your day.

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