The hunters and National Trust bystanders take shelter in Brier’s tree. As the frost creature arrives memories of an ancient battle are rekindled and Gwynned attracts unwanted attention.

Programme notes

This episode contains fantasy violence and a brief mention of giant insects.

Save the date! Blackshaw Theatre’s next live production, Trouble At Sea: A Miss McSkimming Mystery, will be on Saturday 3 July as part of the Wandsworth Arts Fringe. It’s a sequel to Some Treachery: A Miss McSkimming Mystery, which you can enjoy for free on the Blackshaw Arts Hour podcast. Trailer includes The Show Must Be Go! by Kevin McLeod.

Our promo this episode is for Rendezvous With Destiny, an actual play of the Scion roleplaying game by Onyx Path, set in a strange new world where every myth and monster turns out to be real.

Dramatis personae and other definitions

Brier: a mischievous shapeshifting púca, the fae guardian of Sherrydown’s Rosebrier Forest.

Gwynned: a former shieldmaiden of the triple goddess Morrigan. For the crime of saving a mortal man from the Morrigan’s cruel whim, the goddess exiled Gwyn to live as a duck, overlooked by mortals. Recently freed from the curse, Gwyn is trying to do good without attracting her mistress’s attention.

Cameron Jarvis: an intense young man, obsessed with monster hunting since his parents and sister were killed by ghouls while camping outside Sherrydown.

Jinny Greenteeth: proprietor of the Grove of Oddities, a tacky Sherrydown tourist attraction. In a past life, Jinny was branded a witch after a series of drownings in her Lancashire village.

Department of Omissions (DO, DoOm): The UK government department tasked with preventing harm to citizens from supernatural phenomena. Severely defunded under Tory austerity policies and currently prioritising major urban population centres.

Sherrydown, Brackshire: A historic English market town. One of the first towns to lose its DoOm office.

Omission effect: The rejection of certain beings and phenomena by long-term memory. Can be suppressed by concentration, mnemonic techniques, hypnosis, trauma, or the light of the full moon.

Credits

COMPERE: Matt Boothman

STARRING:

Strat as Brier, the Monstrous

Natalie Winter as Gwynned, the Divine

Chris Starkey as Cameron Jarvis, the Wronged

Josh Yard as Jinny Greenteeth, the Spellslinger

ADDITIONAL VOICES BY: Ellie Pitkin

ROLEPLAYING GAME SYSTEM: Monster of the Week, designed by Michael Sands

MUSIC BY: Alexander Pankhurst

SOUND DESIGN BY: Natalie Winter

SFX INCLUDES: soaring clouds by kangaroovindaloo; Berserker by Alexander Nakarada; Ritual, Virtutes Instrumenti and Right Behind You by Kevin MacLeod; and may include others made available to use without attribution.

EDITED AND PRODUCED BY: Matt Boothman

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