Episode 1: A New House

Newcrest, 1980. 10 AM.

Jon Smith Tricou and his wife Jennicor got out of their car, a black Lelion Mirabelle mk.1. The wife looked around, until she spotted the house.

"So, is that the house, Jon?"

Jon nodded.

"Exactly darling. The agency said it was a little small, but it seems cozy enough for us."

"Small yes, it is. But it doesn't seem that bad, at least outside. It looks cute!"

"Said by the sun elf who loves macabre things is quite unusual." Jon said sarcastically. Jennicor playfully punched his arm.

"Ow! That hurts!"

"You deserve it, meanie." Jennicor stuck her tongue out.




"You know, Jon... Changing city feels like we're writing a new chapter in the book of our life. To be honest, I always wanted to move out of Moonlight Falls. Yes, it's where our Marvegan ancestors used to be, but it was a little bit... I don't know how to explain it. I just needed fresh air."

Jon nodded.

"I wasn't fond of Moonlight Falls neither. I've always lived there, and not even when my parents were alive, I liked it. But this is our chance, Jen. We can finally plan our future and set up the kind of family we want."

"All I want is just a quaint place to stay with you and see our children grow up, darling." Jennicor said, as she kept looking at the house.




"But before we think about children, we need to secure our future first, Jen."

"True... You're right. I can't be an athlete forever."

"That is not a problem to me, you know. You're pursuing your dream, and this is a big year for you... The Vestorgrad Games are coming in a matter of months."

"I'll have to work out hard if I want to throw that javelin as far as possible."

"You'll get that second gold medal. Don't worry."

The elf smiled broadly at her husband's words. She was not known for being an optimistic girl, so seeing her husband comforting her always warmed up her heart. Jon took the word again.

"Oh by the way, Jen... A couple of weeks ago, I've sent an admission request to the Britechester University. I've been reading on the newspaper that there is a vacant spot for the Parapsychology major."

"Hope the Gods are by our side..."




"I'm optimistic, hun. The years spent as a researcher assistant at SimCity and the publications I made will persuade the big shots in Britechester, hopefully. Just a matter of time and you'll hear sims calling me..."

Jennicor continued what Jon was going to say.

"...Professor Tricou."

He looked at her and smiled, something that he did very rarely.

"Professor of Parapsychology, occult sciences and compared analysis of paranormal phenomena. Shall we go inside? To check out the house."

"Sure Jon. You got the keys, right?"

Jon checked out his pockets, rustling into them for a bit, until he found the keys.

"I do. Time to discover our new abode."








Jon slid the key into the doorlock. He did a couple of twists, until the door clicked and opened. The house was vacant, except for an old red curtain and a carpet at the entrance. Suddenly, he grabbed Jennicor and lifted her up.

"Ayeeeee!" Jennicor yelled in amusement as she wasn't expecting that from her husband. "We're not newlyweds!"




Jon replied to her.

"To me it's as if we married again. I get that feeling every day, you know."

"Ohhhh, Jon... Why your words are always so magical to me..."

"And I thought the female Tricous carried the magic in their blood."

Jennicor giggled.

"So far, we do. But you're a charmer as well. Anyway, let's do this tour. We better check if there are dangerous beasts hiding in the house. You know, it feels like a newly discovered Al-Simharian tomb, with all the dust around."

"Okay hun, you win."

Jon put her down and he walked through the corridor. They reached a small, empty room.




"This room could be nice for the living room." The wife said, looking around as she thought about the best spots for the furniture.

"What do you think about putting the TV in the middle, right there? We put the TV diagonally, the sofa, and in the corner we can put the turntable." Jon pointed at the corner on his right side. She looked at him, pondering about his words.

"The library too, Jon... Perhaps we can put it between the two windows. It will fill the gap."

"Sounds good, Jenny. And in the other corner we can put dad's desk. It will come in handy once I will be hired..."

"I can already imagine you writing the lessons you're going to give at Britechester... Professor Tricou!" the Sun Elf giggled.

"Would you like to be my assistant, mrs. Tricou?" he asked flirtatiously.




Jennicor smiled at him.

"That would be a honour, professor. Maybe you can let me sit at your desk..."

"Hah, hah, hah. You're thinking about bribing your teacher to get better grades? You're crossing the line, assistant..."

She then got closer to her husband, whispering to him seductively.

"Prof, you would not resist without admiring my pantyhose..."

Jon chuckled at his wife, caressing her face, but suddenly she looked at the other side, towards the kitchen.

"I'm going to check out the kitchen!"

"Alright darling, I will see what's behind that door, instead."




Jennicor headed towards the kitchen and attempted to flick the light switch on. After a bit of hesitation and flickering, the light came on. She looked around and noticed that the kitchen was still furnished.

Jon instead went to the opposite direction.

"That's a nice touch. The furniture in the kitchen doesn't seem to be in bad shape." the sun elf said to herself. The kitchen indeed was mostly complete, as there was the sink, an old stove that appeared to be from the 1970s but still in good condition, and a washing machine. It seemed that the previous owner had a great care for the appliances.








Jon, instead, opened the door in the living room and found himself in a small bathroom. Everything was concentrated into that small room: a finely ornated early century ceramic sink, a toilet most likely from the same period and a 1950s shower. Despite the layer of dust on everything, the house was well kept.

Jon nodded.

"Small and comfy. Just the house we were looking for." he said to himself.

But there was one thing that caught his attention. In the small room, resting in the corner, there was a basket filled with old clothes. They looked like they were from the 1950s. Pushed by curiosity, the man started digging through the clothes. What was Jon thinking in that moment, nobody knows.




Jon dug his hands deep into the pile of old clothes. He dug out an old pair of fine pants, a shirt, a couple of jackets and in one of those, he felt something thick and hard into its pocket.

After sliding out the thing from the pocket, he noticed it was a tobacco box. It was made in silver and was slightly oxidized, but it still kept its early century charm. The box was ornated with geometrical motifs and in the middle there was an inscription, "P. H. Neengia." engraved into it. Most likely Mr. Neengia was the previous owner of the house. He never met the former owners, as the agency told him that the house was vacant since at least the mid 1970s.

He then opened the box, but it was empty.

"I'm going to put this box on a shelf in the library. If polished and cleaned up, this could be a nice decoration." he thought.

While Jon was not a smoker, or at least nobody has seen him smoking in public, his interest for antiques and other vintage paraphernalia always caught his attention: the older the better, he said. Especially if it was something from the early 20th century.

Then, he heard his wife's voice.

"Jon, are you still alive? Did the mummy catch you?"

He put the clothes he took out from the basket back inside, as he turned his head to Jennicor's voice. She was reaching him in the bathroom.

"No mummies around Jen. You're safe to come in. This is the bathroom!"




Jennicor came in the bathroom. Her husband seemed enthusiast about the retrieval.

"Hey Jen, look what I found."

He slid the tobacco box out of his jacket, handing it to her.

"This is not the ancient Al-Simharian funerarian mask I thought. It's even better." she giggled.

"A tobacco box which presumably looks from the early 1900s. Perhaps we could put it in the library as a decoration. What do you think?"




The elf took the box in her hands and looked at it in every angle. She nodded.

"Considering neither of us smoke, sure it would. I could polish it to make it look like brand new. "

Jon then pointed at the laundry bin.

"Look at this too, darling."

She gave a glance to the bin, looking at the clothes.

"You know I go all giddy when it comes to old clothes, don't you?" the elf smirked at him.

"Of course Jen. We should wash those clothes and try them. There are a couple of women's clothing inside, including what it looks like a pair of... Vintage lingerie...!"

Jennicor's eyes widened.

"Wait... Vintage lingerie? Oh dear Gods!"

Jon got closer to his wife and whispered in her pointy ear.

"A black babydoll with a pair of garter belts. For a moment I envisioned you wearing it like those 1950s pin-ups."

She bit her lip at the idea.

"Mmmm Jon... I DIG the pin-up aesthetic, you know...!"




The elf smiled, looking at him in a seductive, almost feline way.

"I'm going to make you one happy husband then... Just wait until we clean up the house and the company moves the furniture..."

"This sun elf is full of resources, huh..."

"Lots of them, Jon Smith Tricou. Lots of them."

Jennicor then opened the toilet and noticed there was no water inside. Most likely the plumbings worked but needed a bit of maintenance. She then opened the door and took Jon's hand.

"Let's check out the other room in the corridor."






The couple entered in the last room of the house. It wasn't that big, but large enough to accomodate a bed, two nightstands and a drawer. Jennicor was enthusiastic.

"Gods, gods, gods! This HAS to be our bedroom! it's simply perfect!"

"Well of course darling, we can't put the bed in the living room after all." Jon chuckled, she razzed him.

"Jon! I was just being enthusiastic, come on! We will put the bed in the middle, like this. And then we put the drawer at the opposite side. With these windows, we need a great, red curtain."

"Didn't aunt Gvaudoin still have those silk curtains aunt Brillante gave her, but she never put?" Jon asked, she nodded.

"I think she still does. I'm going to phone mom tomorrow and ask about that. The silk roll was quite long so they could be enough for the entire house, if cut accordingly."

Jon then looked up and noticed that the only thing the previous owners left in the room was a painting.



"Jenny, look! They left this painting on the wall."

The elf turned her head to the painting.

"Ohhh... Looks nice. A beautiful and quaint country landscape. Just my dream place..."

Jon embraced his wife and smiled.

"Maybe one day we will become rich enough to afford a mansion in the countryside."

She looked at him, daydreaming.




"Seeing our children play and run freely there, the wind rustling the foliage in the trees, the perfume of the flowers... As I relax on the grass..."

"...While I read a book under a tree." the husband added. Jennicor took the word again.

"You know, this is the only thing I miss from my family mansion in the outskirts of SimCity. The countryside... I feel connected to it. Much like Maman was. According to the legend, she lived in that place and loved walking around the countryside, where she felt one thing with nature."

"Slowly but steadily we will do everything we want, Jen. It just needs time."

"Yes love... It just needs time."

Jon took her in his arms and tenderly kissed her cheek.

"I love you Jon." she whispered him.

"The same, little cousin. The same." he replied.




She took the word again.

"The cleaning crew and the moving company are coming soon. Better to let some air into the house and open the windows, dear. This is going to be an intense day."

"True, Jen. But the final result will be rewarding. I'm going to take the buckets out from the Mirabelle. Meanwhile, take the keys and go in the backyard. The water meter should be there. Open it and check out if there's running water. Most likely the faucets will sputter a little before they work."

The elf nodded, as she took the keys from her husband's hands.

"Alright Jon. I just hope the pipes won't explode."

"Optimism take me away." Jon playfully poked her nose.

"Optimism is not in my personality, you know." she giggled.