Episode 6 - Everything Changes

Music: Majestic Nature by Craig Stuart Garfinkle Artwork by Steve English The script: Episode 6 - Everything Changes. So started the change of the Manor and the isolation of everyone inside the Manor and the three little villages around. So also started the expansion and influence of the darkness, but much more subtly than before – the explosion of the lady of light had seen to that! Very soon, the people realised they were trapped, and no one knew why or how it happened. No one in the Manor or any of the villages could leave. They could go beyond the villages to their fields and work, but no further. If they tried, they found themselves coming back into the locked-off area at some set point which was different for each of them.  However, everyone who lived and worked in the Manor itself always found themselves coming back into the Manor, usually through the back-door, heading into the boot-room. This was especially disconcerting for the dogs. One moment they would be merrily chasing a rabbit or a squirrel. Then, having inadvertently crossed the invisible barrier, they found themselves heading full-pelt into the Manor with no sign of their prey. Strangely, there was one anomaly to the whole locked-off thing which surprised everyone when it first happened. This was the ability for outsiders to come and go as they pleased. Of course, once they arrived, they never stayed. And, once they left, they never remembered what had happened and where they’d been – but it did mean that at times visitors came and added a little more interest to the locked off lives of the people. At the start, when they realised they were trapped, everyone was angry and blamed the Baron. What they didn't realise was that because the area was locked off, not only couldn't the people leave - but the dangerous darkness that was the real source of everything that was happening – was also trapped inside, trapped and furious. The problem with this was that the darkness was still expanding and growing and slowly but surely filling the area it was trapped inside. Before, it had grown and leaked out of the Manor and dissipated beyond the villages, but not now. Now, it was trapped, filling the Manor and the villages and everywhere inside.   The problems started quite soon after that. In no time at all, in fact, rather too quickly, people began to forget. They didn't forget their names, or where they lived, but they did forget things like the name of their villages or what life had been like before whatever it was that had locked them away. They remembered something had happened, but just not what it was. It was the same in the Manor, the servants sometimes came to work and sometimes forgot they worked at the Manor at all. Although the main problem was that most of them forgot where they came from, and so where to go when they finished work. They ended up staying in the Manor. Thankfully, there were lots of rooms, so they were able to stay, and before long didn't know anything else. In fact, very soon it felt as if that was where they had always lived and belonged. The Baron and his wife and their son Archibald were also severely affected along with the Baron's sister, Lady Pinchinthorpe, who lived with them in the Manor. To put it simply, they started to forget, forget where they came from, who their ancestors were, why they lived in the Manor. But the darkness was especially hard on the family, as well as taking their memories, it continued to take a massive toll on their looks and their happiness. Of the families, both dog and humans, Archibald and Horatio were especially close although the darkness still took its toll. Already extremely ugly and evil-looking because of the effects of the darkness on their family before they were locked away, Archibald's body started to change. As the years rolled on, his features became more pointed and ugly. His eyebrows met in the middle, and his teeth grew sharp and pointed. After a... Support this podcast