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    Nigel Danvers 
The main protagonist of the game. An employee of the Hadden Corporation, Nigel digs a little too deep into Hadden's private business and discovers their secret experiments into the paranormal. Pursued by Hadden and his cronies, Nigel flees to the isolated coastal town of Saxton, where his efforts to save himself from Hadden's wrath sets him on a quest for a fabled Anglo-Saxon crown.
  • Agent Mulder: Becomes this after discovering early on that ghosts are real, becoming a foil to Lucy's Agent Scully.
  • Curiosity Killed the Cast: His curiosity causes a lot of trouble for himself and Saxton, starting with his rather unwise decision to hack his boss's top secret files.
  • Didn't Think This Through: He didn't appear to consider the risks of snooping on his boss's secret experiments and then stealing secret documents until he found himself on the run.
  • Dreaming of Things to Come: Upon arriving at Saxton Nigel has recurring dreams of a Nightmare Room intermittent with images of someone being attacked by a man holding a sickle. He's having premonitions of his discovery of the missing cats and Hardacre's death.
  • Dull Surprise: Doesn't appear very perturbed by the many supernatural events he experiences, presumably because he'd come across Hadden's experiments beforehand. The only things that really faze him are discovering the horrific fates of the missing cats, being attacked by a paranormal swarm of flies, Hardacre's death and the discovery that he'd unleashed a curse upon Saxton.
  • Fatal Flaw: The things he does, hacking into Hadden's secret files, breaking into Saxton Museum and finally raiding Ganwulf's tomb are needlessly reckless.
  • Glory Seeker: A completely non-villainous example in that Nigel eagerly joins the hunt for the Lost Crown almost the moment he hears about it. Alex Spitmoor even calls him one to his face when they first meet. Unfortunately this trait leads him to ignore the increasingly obvious signs that the crown would be best left undiscovered.
  • Grave Robbing: He locates the crown in Ganwulf's tomb and has no reservations taking it from Ganwulf's body, a decision he later regrets.
  • He Knows Too Much: He gets himself in serious trouble with Hadden by digging too deep into his paranormal research, setting the events of the game in motion.
  • Informed Flaw: Nanny Noah's reading of Nigel's palm supposedly indicates that he has a materialistic look on life and love. His reckless pursuit of the Lost Crown, which has little relevance to the task Hadden forced upon him, suggests that there may be some truth to it.
  • Inside Job: Nigel is an employee of the Hadden Corporation, which is how he was able to get past their hack-proof firewalls.
  • Jumped at the Call: Even though he never really had a choice in the matter, Nigel jumps at the opportunity to escape his hated old job and become a ghost hunter.
  • Kleptomaniac Hero: He does some rather morally questionable things in his quest for the crown, including stealing William Ager's journal from Gruel's shop and then breaking into Saxton Museum to do some ghost hunting and steal a telescope. Stealing the crown from Ganwulf's tomb near the end of game gets him and Saxton into trouble.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: He's horrified to discover that taking Ganwulf's crown has not only triggered the first stages of a localised apocalypse, but has also led to the death of Professor Hardacre. He's so desperate to set things right that he even offers to let the spirit of King Ganwulf kill him in exchange for Saxton's safety.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He finds out the hard way that taking the crown from Ganwulf's tomb unleashes a 'shadow across the land,' endangering Saxton and placing its residents under a mysterious spell that causes them to forget ever knowing Nigel and turn hostile toward him. The final chapter of the game is about him coming to this realisation and racing to undo his mistake while there's still time.
  • Nominal Hero: Nigel's motivations for his actions throughout the game aren't exactly altruistic: he becomes a fugitive from the Hadden Corporation because of his own recklessness and curiosity and steals secret documents will little thought as to what he would do with them. During his treasure hunt he steals artefacts from Gruel's antique shop and Saxton Museum, which would have put him in prison had Professor Oogle not let him off in exchange for having the crown donated to his museum upon its discovery. Finally, despite all the warnings from both the living and the dead, he raids Ganwulf's tomb and steals the crown from his sarcophagus, giving the Fenlaria free reign to unleash their dark powers upon the Fens. Needless to say, the flack he gets from the townspeople that get brainwashed by the curse is very well deserved.
  • Occult Detective: Played with, in that while hunting ghosts Nigel often has to discover how they died in the first place.
  • Open Mouth, Insert Foot: He accidentally insults Lucy when he sees a poster advertising the Reubans Fair that is opening on May Day, and jokingly asks if the freaks are in town. Lucy introduces herself as Lucy Reubans, to Nigel's embarrassment.
  • The Pawn: He's forced to become Hadden's ghost hunting pawn in exchange for leniency.
  • Playful Hacker: He apparently hacked Hadden's files purely out of curiosity, which gets him in a lot of trouble.
  • Soul-Crushing Desk Job: Outright states that he hates his old job and would do anything to get away, which likely played a part in his Thrill Seeker and Glory Hound tendencies.
  • Take Me Instead: When beseeching Ganwulf's spirit, Nigel offers his life if it means Saxton will be spared from the curse. Fortunately Ganwulf settles for transporting him back to the tomb so he can put the crown back where he'd found it.
  • Thrill Seeker: Implied to be this when he takes risks such as hacking into Hadden's secret files, hunting potentially dangerous ghosts, and eventually raiding Ganwulf's tomb.

    Lucy Reubans 
The deuteragonist of the game, and a young psychology student. She grew up in Saxton, but now only returns to the town around May Day to visit her parents and help set up the annual fair. Frequently crossing paths with Nigel, she eventually gets caught up in his ghost-hunting exploits.
  • Agent Scully: She is more unwilling to believe in the existence of ghosts, to Nigel's consternation, though this is partly due to a traumatising incident that happened in Harbour Cottage when she was a child. She does come round eventually.
    • That said, even she understands that something isn't quite right about the train tracks between Sedgemarsh Station and Northfield.
  • Amateur Sleuth: Eventually takes it upon herself to find the missing cats, tracking them down to the abandoned Net Store that overlooks the town. Bonus points for being the little sister of a genuine detective.
  • Big Secret: There are signs throughout the game that Lucy is hiding a secret of her own: she has a private phone conversation with an implied partner arranging to meet at the Martello Tower, surprisingly revealed to be the journalist, Alex Spitmoor. It's revealed that Alex Spitmoor is an undercover detective, and Lucy is his sister who is trying to assist in his investigation.
  • Brainy Brunette: Comes with the territory of being a psychology student.
  • Cute Book Worm: Nigel finds her reading a book on a bench next to Harbour Cottage at least twice.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Has her moments:
Nigel: (Seeing the Reubans May Day Fayre poster Lucy has put up) "Oh dear. Are the freaks coming to town?"
Lucy: (Unamused) "You could say that."
Nigel: "I'm Nigel, by the way. Nigel Danvers."
Lucy: "I'm Lucy. Lucy REUBANS."
Nigel: "Ahhh, I see... part of the fayre?"
Lucy: "Yup, I'm one of the freaks."
  • Devil's Job Offer: Played with: after helping Nigel in his ghost hunting adventures throughout the game, the sinister Hadden was apparently impressed enough to offer Lucy a job at the end of the game.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: She's spotted twice at the start of the game, first leaving the Sedgemarsh Station, then spotted by Nigel crossing some stepping stones in the Sedgemarsh Nature Reserve, before he finally meets her in Saxton later that night.
  • Hidden Depths: Over the course of the game the mild-mannered, bookish Miss Ruebans demonstrates an adventurous streak, even breaking into the Saxton Museum at the same time Nigel does.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Subverted. Though a bit rude to Nigel when they first meet due to being tired and cranky, Lucy shows her true decent nature the next time they meet.
    • She also temporarily steals a crystal ball from Morgan Mankle, who she doesn't get along with, to help Nigel figure out who stole the crown from his bedroom.
  • Noodle Incident: She had a bad experience in Harbour Cottage as a child, and even in adulthood she's still wary of the place.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: She's one of the Saxton residents who has her mind affected by the curse of the Lost Crown. While she doesn't forget Nigel she acts very cold toward him and considers them both responsible for Hardacre's death. Though Nigel manages to convince her to help him make things right, she is adamant about never seeing the crown with her own eyes after he retrieves it.
  • Plucky Girl: When push comes to shove, she's a pretty tough girl. She even saves Nigel twice during their adventure in the Old Net Hut, first when she has to direct him to safety when he gets stuck in the dark building with one of Ager's ghosts, and then when he gets trapped in the Nightmare Room with all four brothers, she literally kicks the door down.
  • Scarf of Asskicking: She wears a striped scarf, and is capable of holding her own.
  • Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: When Nigel shows her the glowing symbol on Nicolas Gurney's painting, she has a mild freakout and demands that they leave the museum immediately, after which she denies that what she had seen was a supernatural event.
  • Sherlock Scan: She does this to Nigel from time to time, specifically concerning his personality and traits. It probably comes with the territory of being a psychology student. It's also likely what convinced her that Nigel wasn't the serial catnapper.
  • Tranquil Fury: She's very cold and curt to Nigel when she explains that stealing Ganwulf's crown has indirectly caused the death of Professor Hardacre, while also holding herself responsible.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: She becomes one of the people who turn hostile to Nigel as a result of the curse affecting her mind, calling him out for indirectly causing Hardacre's death, though Nigel manages to snap her out of it.

The Living

    Mr. Hadden 
The head of the Hadden Corporation, a sinister old man who is conducting secret experiments into the paranormal. When Nigel steals documents concerning those experiments and flees to Saxton, Hadden senses an opportunity and offers forgiveness to Nigel if he'll conduct some ghost-hunting experiments of his own.
  • An Offer You Can't Refuse: Offers to let Nigel off the hook, as well as a promotion to a much more exciting position in Hadden's secret project, if he'll conduct a series of ghost hunting experiments in Saxton.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: Runs the Hadden Corporation, and is Nigel's boss.
  • Creepy High-Pitched Voice
  • Dashingly Dapper Derby: The only physical attribute we see of him is his bowler hat, adding to his Evil Brit characterisation.
  • Evil Brit: He operates in England, and is a rather sinister fellow.
  • Evil Old Folks: Is implied to be quite old, though we don't see just how old he actually is.
  • The Faceless: All we see on him are his hands, his bowler hat and the back of the massive leather chair he's sitting in.
  • Faux Affably Evil: He's very civil toward Nigel when they speak, but at the same time he makes it very clear that there will be dire consequences if he tries to run again.
  • The Omniscient: He somehow knows everything about Nigel and where he is. It's even implied that he knows that Saxton is a goldmine for paranormal activity.
  • Opportunistic Bastard: Initially seeks to silence Nigel and reclaim the stolen documents, until he realises that Nigel's presence in the haunted town of Saxton provides the perfect opportunity to collect a wealth of paranormal data.
  • Sinister Surveillance: Observes everything from a dimly lit surveillance room, including the London train station. It's how he was able to instantly track Nigel down in Saxton, even narrowing it down to the phone box Nigel is calling from.

    Mr. Hare and Mr. Crow 
Hadden's cronies, sent to recapture Nigel and reclaim the stolen documents. They lose Nigel's trail when he escapes London on the last train.
  • Those Two Guys: Two scientists who were sent to recapture Nigel, only to lose the trail.
  • The Unseen: We only hear one of them reporting Nigel's disappearance to Hadden, and they never show up in Saxton due to Hadden calling off the hunt.

    Nanny Noah/Rose Noah 
A strange middle-aged woman who lives alone with her dog, George. She is a firm believer in the supernatural and practices reading palms and tea leaves. Though she is friendly and helpful toward Nigel during his stay in Saxton, she worries that his quest for the crown will have ghostly consequences.
  • Amicable Exes: She still friendly with her former husband Bob and speaks highly of him, in spite of the tragic accident that drove them apart.
  • Caring Gardener: She has at least a dozen beautiful flower pots outside her front door, and is able to identify a Pasque flower from a photograph Nigel shows her. She even prepares some for the upcoming memorial service for Evelyn Ackland.
  • Cool Old Lady: Even though she can be a bit cryptic and distant, Nanny Noah is a nice lady who is very friendly and helpful toward Nigel.
  • Creepy Good: When Nigel first meets her and George on Saxton's beach, where she's watching an object floating in the distance; she morbidly suggests that it could be a small body. This becomes Harsher in Hindsight when you learn that her son, a small child, drowned at the beach a long time ago.
  • Everyone Has Standards: She doesn't like cats very much, but she is utterly horrified when Nigel discovers the fate of the missing cats and tells her afterward.
  • Fortune Teller: What she's best known for in Saxton. She even reads Nigel's palm and tea leaves when he comes to visit her.
  • Genre Savvy: She knows that no good will come of finding the crown and warns Nigel against seeking it. She also expresses distaste for the obviously insane Mr. Gruel, even without knowing that he's been kidnapping and murdering innocent cats.
  • Heroes Love Dogs: Is very fond of her dog George, and has no love for cats. Apparently, neither does George himself.
  • Muggle with a Degree in Magic: She's quite the expert on the paranormal, and gives Nigel a ghost-repelling charm to help him on his ghost hunting journey. It turns out to actually work, saving him from the Train Wreck ghosts when they assault him on the tracks.
  • Oh, Crap!: She is quite alarmed when she finds out Nigel is investigating the notorious Ager brothers.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Her first name is Rose, but everyone seems to call her Nanny Noah.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Nigel takes the crown from Ganwuf's tomb, the curse he unleashes affects the minds of the townspeople, including Nanny Noah. She forgets who Nigel is and becomes uncharacteristically hostile, even threatening to set George on him if he doesn't leave her be.
  • Outliving One's Offspring: She's the mother of Cole Tawny, a young child who accidentally drowned off the coast of Saxton a long time ago. The tragedy ruined her marriage with Bob Tawny and turned her into the enigmatic oddball she is today.
  • Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: Nanny Noah lives in a house called the Ark.
  • Scavenger Hunt: She sets one up for the May Day Fayre, consisting of a series of cards with riddles, and on the third day she asks Nigel to give it a test run.
  • Women Are Wiser: Compared to Nigel and Hardacre, Nanny Noah is far more aware of the dangers posed by the Lost Crown and the ghosts who protect it.

    The Station Master 
The man who runs the Sleep Walker, the old train Nigel took to Saxton. An affable fellow, he tells Nigel about his late father, also a station master, and the horrific train accident that occurred on the tracks many years ago.
  • Awesome Anachronistic Apparel: Nigel initially mistakes his uniform for a reenactment, confusing the Station Master.
  • Mr. Exposition: The biggest example of all the Saxton locals; he spends roughly five minutes telling Nigel the eerie story of the horrific Train Wreck of the 1920s.
  • Generation Xerox: He's the Station Master like his father, and his father before him.
  • Like Father, Like Son: His father was the preceding Station Master, and witnessed the train derailment that killed everyone on board. The tragic incident scarred him for life, and his still-living son still gets emotional at the thought of what his father had gone through.
  • No Name Given: Nigel does ask for his name, but the Station Master is perfectly content with being addressed by his occupation.
  • Older Than They Look: His father was an adult by the time of the 1920's, which would make the Station Master himself far older than his middle-aged appearance.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: He turns hostile to Nigel as a result of the curse released when he took the crown, dealing out a furious "Reason You Suck" Speech and ordering him to leave the station.
  • Properly Paranoid: He's rather wary of Nigel traversing the tracks, stating that they're 'different' at night. He's more right than he realises, as the tracks are infested with the hostile ghosts of the train wreck victims.

    Bob Tawny 
The local blacksmith. He assists Nigel by fixing certain items in need of mending. He appears to be harbouring a crush on Nanny Noah, but the truth is far more tragic.
  • All Love Is Unrequited: What Tawny's relationship with Nanny Noah appears to be, until the heartbreaking truth is revealed.
  • Amicable Exes: He and Nanny Noah still think highly of each other even though they're no longer spouses.
  • …And That Little Girl Was Me: He tells Nigel that Nanny Noah lost her husband and child when she was younger. It turns out later in the game that he was the husband.
  • The Bartender: He can be found helping out at the bar in the Bear Inn.
  • The Blacksmith: He runs an old-fashioned workshop on Station Lane.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: He lost his son and wife in short order, thanks to a tragic accident a long time ago.
"The sea provides many things, but it can also take away."
  • Fairy Tale: Tawny gives Nigel a book about the Legend of Grindle and Ganwulf, in which a warlock steals Ganwulf's enchanted crown, allowing the evil Fenlaria to lay waste to the kingdom until Grindle kills the warlock and takes the crown back. It turns out to have more than a little truth to it.
  • Gluttonous Pig: Mr. Tawny keeps a pig named Cairan in a pen next to his workshop, who Nigel can feed with items he can collect from the Lighthouse Cafe: in a downplayed example of the trope, Cairan will eat every scrap of food Nigel gives him.
  • Never Learned to Read: Apparently he can't read, but he can get by with the pictures.
  • Never Say That Again: When Nigel tells him about meeting the Karswells at Ager House, Tawny angrily tells him that no-one says that name. It's rather ambiguous as to which name he's referring to.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: He's one of the people who become affected by the curse of the Lost Crown, becoming hostile toward Nigel and acting like he doesn't know him.
  • Outliving One's Offspring: His son, Cole Tawny, accidentally drowned a long time ago, destroying his marriage with the woman now known as Nanny Noah.
  • Mr. Fixit: Nigel turns to him whenever an important item needs fixing, namely the stuck clasp on a book and an old telescope.

    Morgan Mankle 
The landlady of the Bear, the local inn, and owner of the infamous Harbour Cottage, while her uncle owns the Lighthouse Cafe. With the inn full for May Day, she rents the cottage to Nigel when he arrives in Saxton.
  • The Bartender: As the owner of the Bear, she is often seeing working behind the bar.
  • Crystal Ball: She uses a crystal ball borrowed from Rhys's shop while acting as Fortune Teller at the May Day Fair. The imagery is shows is disturbingly accurate to what Nigel is currently experiencing, and when Nigel looks through it later that night after Hardacre makes off with the crown, it shows his death at Ager's hands.
  • Drop-In Landlord: She drops in on Harbour Cottage only once to clean up the clutter after renting the place to Nigel, leaving behind a letter apologising for the mess.
  • Fortune Teller: She takes on this role at the May Day Fair, dressing up as a classic gypsy fortune teller 'Mystic Morgan', complete with a gypsy cart and crystal ball.
  • In the Hood: She wears a hooded robe for her fortune telling gig, covering her face. She also disguises her voice, so you likely wouldn't have recognised her if the sign outside her cart didn't explicitly say 'Mystic Morgan.'
  • Noodle Incident: Her brother was the original owner of Harbour Cottage, having bought it for rennovation some time after the deaths of the Molinas, only to leave it to rot when he suffered a bad tumble down the stairs. Now Mankle is responsible for the building's upkeep.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: She owns a business and a property for rent, and her Uncle Slaughter runs a cafe in the same area. When she rents the filthy, run-down Harbour Cottage to Nigel, she makes it up to him by cleaning the place and then arranging for her uncle to provide him free meals.
  • Reformed Bully: Despite Lucy's assertion of once a bully, always a bully, Mankle appears to be a very affable woman.
  • Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up: She was the school bully, which is why she and Lucy don't get along.
  • The Cassandra: As 'Mystic Morgan', she predicts that dark forces are closing in on Nigel, and it would be best if he gives up on finding Ganwulf's crown. Nigel ignores the warning, with dire consequences for Saxton.

    Alex Spitmoor/Alex Reubens 
An unfriendly journalist who writes for the local newspaper, and is currently investigating the ominous disappearance of several cats in the area. As he and Nigel continue to cross paths, it becomes apparent that he's not who he seems.
  • Hardboiled Detective: He's not really a journalist.
  • Connected All Along: As it turns out, he's the older brother of the deuteragonist.
  • Hates Small Talk: He often doesn't take kindly to Nigel trying to make conversation with him.
  • Inspector Javert: He initially thinks Nigel is the one abducting the cats, but Lucy tells him otherwise and convinces him to back off.
  • Intrepid Reporter: He's a writer for the local paper investigating the missing cats, or so he wants you to think.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's very cold toward Nigel, primarily because he initially thinks Nigel is behind the cat abductions. Once Nigel's innocence is proven and Alex drops the act to deal with the Hardacre murder case, he shows a more reasonable side.
  • Lead Police Detective: He assumes his true identity to lead the investigation into Hardacre's murder and oversee the arrest of Mr. Gruel.
  • Police Are Useless: Zig-zagged. While it's Nigel and Lucy who find where the serial cat-killer was keeping his victims, Alex and the police manage to catch the culprit without the protagonists' help.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: He turns out to be this near the end of the game after his true identity is revealed.
  • Shared Family Quirks: He and Lucy both have a knack for detective work.
  • Significant Anagram: Spitmoor is an anagram for Imposter, as Nigel figures out after Lucy reveals his true identity.
  • Undercover Cop: He's actually an undercover detective investigating the feline abductions. He drops the undercover act after a far more serious murder case emerges.

    Rhys Branwen 
The owner of Celtic Corner, and the organiser of the Saxton Snappers competition. He has a pet cat named Mr. Tibbs.
  • Ancient Artifact: The crystal ball that Branwen loans to Morgan Mankle for her fortune telling gig at the May Day Fayre is said to have come from Ancient Byzantium. It turns out to have genuine powers, showing Nigel and Lucy the death of Hardacre round about the same time it happens.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: When it appears that Mr. Tibbs was murdered by the catnapper, Rhys implies that he would have personally taken revenge if it weren't a police matter now.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Among the books on his shelf is one full of Anglo-Saxon symbols and their meanings. Nigel collects four ghostly symbols on his journey, and together they are used to pinpoint the crown's location.
  • Disney Death: Mr. Tibbs disappears without a trace on the third day, presumed dead when Nigel finds his collar outside the Nightmare Room. Mr. Tibbs is found alive and well the next day and returned to his owner.
  • Info Dump: His shop has a shelf of books on different aspects of Anglo-Saxon history and culture.
  • Kindhearted Cat Lover: He's deeply upset when his beloved pet disappears, seemingly another victim of the serial cat-napper. Then he's overjoyed when Nigel finds Mr. Tibbs and brings him back.
  • Token Minority: Downplayed, but he's of Welsh descent, as Nigel figures out from his name.
  • Nice Guy: Despite what the nature of his shop would suggest about his character, Mr. Branwen is a perfectly normal and pleasant chap.
  • Town Contest Episode: While not restricted to one episode, Mr. Branwen is hosting a photography completion in town, which Nigel can participate in.

    Professor Oogle 
The curator of the Saxton Museum and Library, who also runs the Art stall and Raffle at the May Day Fayre to raise funds.
  • Easily Forgiven: He appears to figure out that it was Nigel who stole Spivey's telescope from the museum and to help with his search for Ganwulf's crown, a legendary artefact that would be the crown jewel of his museum exhibits should it be found. He decides to let Nigel off the hook, provided that he returns the telescope in one piece when he's done with it.
  • Failed a Spot Check: For a man with a supposed degree, Oogle fell pretty hard for Nigel's amateurish camera spoof. The wire holding up the photograph was visible, for crying out loud!
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: As a result of the curse unleashed near the end of the game, he completely forgets ever knowing Nigel.
  • Lawful Neutral: He refuses to let Nigel conduct a ghost hunt in the museum after hours, citing that he doesn't believe in ghosts anyway. Considering that Nigel broke into the museum and eventually stole a museum piece the following day, he's absolutely in the right to do so.
  • Museum of the Strange and Unusual: His museum contains numerous artefacts related to some of the ghosts Nigel is investigating. Examples include the rope Edward Molina used to hang himself, Captain Walter Spivey's telescope and the skeleton of a John Doe that was discovered in the fens (later confirmed to be Alistair Farleigh).
  • The Professor: It isn't revealed what exactly he's supposed to be the professor of. Considering he runs a museum it could have something to do with Archeology.
  • Product Placement: In universe: the museum features touch screen panels donated by Hadden Industries.
  • The Skeptic: Like Lucy he doesn't believe in ghosts, but unlike Lucy he never learns the truth. He's also a bit skeptical that Ganwulf's crown will ever be found, but he eventually changes his tune and expresses his eagerness to add the artifact to his exhibits.

    Wesley Russet 
The old fashioned caretaker and gravedigger for Northfield and Ulcombe Church, who also knows a thing or two about the ghosts who inhabit them.
Nigel: "What does it do?"
Russet: "Do? DO? It creates steam!"'
  • Berserk Button: According to Bob Tawny, he doesn't like being called 'The Gravedigger.'
  • Classical Tongue: He's wiser than he looks, knows Anglo-Saxon, and uses it to help Nigel translate the riddle on the stone tablet.
  • Coat, Hat, Mask: He wears a mask, presumably to avoid catching diseases unearthed by his digging.
  • Cool Old Guy: He's a very affable old man who believes in ghosts, and seems to know about the two evacuees who remain at Ulcombe Church long after World War Two ended. When Nigel requests to do some ghost hunting, he agrees to leave the church door unlocked that night. He even donated old gramophone recordings to Saxton Museum after discovering them in Ulcombe Church.
  • Creepy Mortician: Averted; Russet knows a few things about the ghosts inhabiting the churches he maintains, but he's quite sane and friendly.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: He may dress similarly to the Ager brothers, but that's where the similarities end.
  • Mr. Exposition: He provides some interesting information to Nigel, mainly about the Ager brothers. He also tells of how the Black Death all but wiped out Northfield in the 12th century, with the church being all that's left of the old town.
  • Nice Guy: Despite his appearance and occupation, he's one of the most decent people Nigel meets in Saxton, even though he never encounters him in the town itself.
  • Famous Ancestor: He's a descendant of the Russets, one of the oldest families of the fens alongside the Agers.
  • Sympathy for the Hero: He sympathises with the ghosts who wander the fens, as many of them have suffered awful, tragic deaths.

    Dr. Black 
A doctor who can be found doing a charcoal drawing on the beach.
  • Bit Character: We learn very little about Dr. Black over the course of the game; we never even find out what doctorate he has.
    • A bit line from the Blackenrock preview release confirms he's the local physician.
  • Family Business: In the late Edward Molina's diary, he mentions seeing one Doctor Black concerning Christina's mystery illness, likely an ancestor of the current Doctor Black.
  • Intelligible Unintelligible: When Nigel tries to make conversation with him, he merely grunts.
  • Eccentric Artist: In the drawing he does of the Saxton Coast he has included a figure standing on the cliff beside the Net House. Whether it's just a creative addition or an actual ghost isn't made clear.

    Professor Hardacre 
A rude, pompous archeologist who comes to Saxton every year in search of the last Anglo-Saxon crown. Seeing Nigel as a threat to his quest for glory, Hardacre treats him with disdain every time they meet.
  • Beneath Notice: Even though he's been after Ganwulf's crown for years, the Agers appear to have little interest in Hardacre on account of his focusing his search in the coast, a location not even close to where Ganwulf is buried. When he actually gets his hands on the crown, however, and tries to make off with it, all bets are off...
  • Bloodless Carnage: His body is in surprisingly good condition for someone who had his skull smashed in with a sickle.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: When he steals the crown and tries to leave Saxton with it, one of the Agers chases him down and caves his skull with a blunt sickle.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Best exemplified in this exchange from their first meeting:
    Nigel: "I'm keen to find the treasure. Where's the best place to start?"
    Hardacre: "Well, that's an easy one. Leave town. Walk back across the fens to the station..."
    Nigel: "Yup... I'm with you so far..."
    Hardacre: "Get on a train and clear off back to London asap."
  • Death by Irony: After constantly trying to scare Nigel off by twaddling about dark forces within the fens, Hardacre winds up being killed by them.
  • Death Equals Redemption: After he's murdered for trying to take the crown from Saxton, Hardacre's ghost silently directs Nigel to where he hid the crown before his death, and afterward appears during the seance to help him get in contact with King Ganwulf's spirit.
  • The Determinator: The nicest thing you can say about him is that he never gives up.
  • Gotta Have It Gotta Steal It: After somehow finding out Nigel found the crown, Hardacre breaks into Harbour Cottage, hides in the bedroom cupboard and waits until Nigel stores the crown and leaves before stealing the artefact for himeself. He's killed by William Ager while trying to flee Saxton with his ill-gotten gains.
  • Hates Small Talk: He doesn't take kindly to Nigel trying to make conversation with him.
  • Hypocrite: For all his talk about the dangers lurking in the fens and not seeking things that should stay buried, Hardacre has been personally seeking the Lost Crown for years, eventually stealing the artefact when Nigel beats him to it. This gets him killed by the very thing he'd warned Nigel about.
  • Irrational Hatred: He really doesn't like Nigel being in Saxton.
  • Jerkass: To put it simply, he's a pompous git.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: Though he's a jerk about it, he's right to tell Nigel to make peace with Hadden as soon as possible.
  • Jerkass Woobie: According to a sympathetic Lucy, he's so obsessed with finding the crown because he has no family or anything else to go on. It's enough to make you feel sorry for him when that obsession costs him his life.
  • Large Ham: He goes nigh-on full Purple Prose when describing the fens and its ancient, bloody history to Nigel. He probably thinks it makes him sound wise.
  • The Prima Donna: He's very dramatic and full of himself.
  • Properly Paranoid: Though he tries to hide it, it's obvious that he's worried that Nigel will find the crown before he does. Nigel proves him right.
  • Removing the Rival: He tries repeatedly to intimidate Nigel into giving up the search for the crown.
  • Scare 'Em Straight: He tries this on Nigel on his first night in Saxton, luring him out of Harbour Cottage and to the Harbour Wall so he can try to convince him to leave town. Needless to say, Nigel is unimpressed.
  • Smug Snake: He claims to have the skill, understanding and strong mind to find the crown within the fens. Nigel winds up finding the crown first, accomplishing in days what Hardacre failed to do in years. Even worse, Hardacre is convinced that the crown is located somewhere in the coast, whereas Nigel locates the crown beneath Carrion Wood, farther inland than what Hardacre believed.

    Mr. Gruel 
The mentally disturbed owner of the local antique store, who speaks through a doll called 'Jemima.'
  • Ambiguous Disorder: Whatever causes Gruel to act the way he does.
  • Ax-Crazy: He not only steals cats, he skins them alive and hangs them up like butcher meat in his secret Nightmare Room.
  • Bad People Abuse Animals: And in this case, abuse is putting it lightly.
  • Companion Cube: He speaks through a doll he holds up in front of his face, muttering "I'm Jemima" in a child-like voice. Eventually it's revealed to be based on his dead wife, according to Christina Molina's journal.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: On the final day he attempts to steal Spivey, Morgan Mankle's cat, only this time he gets caught.
  • Insane Equals Violent: As far as the innocent cats are concerned.
  • It Runs in the Family: His ancestor was a smuggler who once worked for Captain Spivey before betraying him to customs officers. Mr. Gruel is himself a criminal who was once in cahoots with the late Edward Molina.
  • Jack the Ripoff: Gruel developed a fixation on killing cats.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: He gets caught trying to steal another cat on day five, resulting in his arrest.
  • Murder Ballad: In the Nightmare Room, Nigel finds a journal containing a poem detailing the writer's intent to continue the Ager's dark work. It isn't until Gruel's arrest that he's revealed to be the writer.
  • Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: He has a reputation in town for being disturbingly weird. Even Nanny Noah recommends that Nigel gives him a wide berth.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: He has a Punch and Judy show in his shop, which Nigel states was banned because of its portrayal of domestic abuse. He later uses it for the May Day Fayre, much to Nanny Noah's distaste.
  • Room Full of Crazy: The Nightmare Room in Nigel's dreams turns out to be a cellar beneath the abandoned Net Hut on the outskirts of town, where Gruel has been keeping his collection of skinned cats.
  • Stalker without a Crush: He's the one sending poison pen letters to Nigel every morning, and when Nigel finds the Nightmare Room he discovers dozens of photographs of himself and Lucy.
    • His letters mention Gurney and Travers, past victims of the Agers who Nigel has been in contact with, and even threatens that the 'Nightmare Room' from Nigel's dreams is waiting for him. The implications behind his improbable knowledge of these events are not pleasant, but include his somehow being in contact with the Ager ghosts himself.
  • Symbolically Broken Object: During his arrest near the end of the game, 'Jemima' is burned in the Bear's fireplace as his owner weeps his loss.
  • Take Up My Sword: For whatever reason he's continuing the Agers' dark work, murdering cats and stalking Nigel and Lucy for the sole purpose of protecting the Lost Crown.
  • The Unfought: He's caught by the police before he can physically confront Nigel and Lucy. Considering what he did to those cats, that's probably for the best.
  • Villainous Breakdown: After he gets caught red-handed and Jemima is taken and burned in the inn's fireplace, he's reduced to a weeping, sobbing mess.
  • White Collar Criminal: In Christina Molina's diary, she mentions meeting Mr. Gruel, a friend of her husbands. By then Edward was revealed to secretly be a criminal, making it likely that Gruel was one, too.
  • Windmill Crusader: He targets cats out of the insane belief that their naturally curious behaviour meant that they were seeking the crown themselves.

The Dead

    The Agers 
Four brothers, Thomas, Frederick, Nathaniel, and William, all members of one of the oldest families in the region that died out midway through the 1900s. Remembered as a twisted, murderous, unstable bunch, they devoted their lives- and their afterlives- to guarding the location of the Lost Crown... by any means necessary.

Tropes relating to all four Agers

  • Ax-Crazy: They're collectively violent and unstable, even when they're not acting to protect Ganwulf's crown.
  • Big Bad: The main antagonists of the game.
  • Big, Screwed-Up Family: And how.
  • Death Glare: Befitting their malicious nature, this appears to be their default expression. When looking at a painting depicting one or all of the Agers, Nigel describes the look as 'pure hatred.'
  • Dwindling Party: The family number gradually decreased over the centuries, and finally vanished with William's death.
  • Evil Wears Black: All four of them are dressed in black, just like the black smoke they manifest as.
  • Family Portrait of Characterization: The family portrait tells you everything you need to know about what sort of people the Agers were.
  • The Family That Slays Together: Each Ager was guilty of at least one murder back when they were still alive.
  • Hated by All: Most people in Saxton see them for the rotten sons of bitches they are, and suspect them of committing at least one murder while they were still alive.
  • Inbred and Evil: Apparently the Agers 'spread their seed too thin,' which led to deformities and likely contributed to their madness and gradual decline.
  • Karma Houdini: They receive no punishment for their crimes in life or in death, and for a good reason: you can't arrest or kill a ghost, and the Agers have no unfinished business that could be resolved to send them on to Hell, so punishing them is more or less impossible.
  • How the Mighty Have Fallen: A combination of insanity, obsession, and possible inbreeding caused the Ager family to gradually decline over the years. The last Ager died in poverty in 1949.
  • Murder Is the Best Solution: Their go-to method of dealing with any threat to Ganwulf's crown.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: If they hadn't chased down Hardacre and killed him, he would have escaped with the crown and possibly doomed Saxton in the process. Then again, stopping him was undoubtedly their intent.
  • Not-So-Harmless Villain: After spending most of the game doing little more than stalking Nigel, trying to repel him from his quest, and generally standing around and looking creepy, one of them takes corporeal form and murders Hardacre.
  • Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: The Agers all have black hair and pale skin, which adds to their creepiness.
  • Seven Deadly Sins: Collectively the four Agers are guilty of Wrath, though each of them have their own individual sins to set them apart from each other, as can be seen in their respective folders.
    • To their credit, they also embodied the virtue of Diligence, in that their devotion to protecting the family secret never wavered.
  • Sinister Surveillance: They don't use cameras like Hadden does, but throughout the game it becomes apparent that the Agers are keeping a close eye on Nigel. A disturbing example occurs when Nigel takes a picture of himself sleeping, and it shows one the Agers standing over the bed and watching him. A later photo shows all of them watching him.
  • Spooky Painting: The painting of all four men that is found in the Nightmare Room, even though each of them have lived in a different point of history.
  • Super Smoke: They mostly manifest as black smoke, which sometimes acts as a barrier that Nigel must dispel somehow.
  • Villain Has a Point: They protect the crown so fiercely because they believe that finding it will bring doom upon the fenlands... and they're right.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: They believe that by murdering anyone who gets too close to Ganwulf's crown, they are protecting the fenlands from an ancient curse connected to the artefact.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: They don't bother Nigel again after murdering Hardacre to stop him from taking the crown from the Fens, presumably because Nigel returned the crown to its resting place the next day.

Thomas Ager

A wealthy but corrupt rector of Northfield church in the 1700s. He appears in the painting of the four brothers even though he lived at least a century before the other three, a discrepancy which has not gone unnoticed by local historians.
  • Attack Its Weak Point: To defeat Thomas Ager's spirit, Nigel has to use a ritual intended to vanquish 'Gestalt Wraiths' to target Ager's 'heart', a mass of black smoke blocking a doorway, dispelling it and and the other barriers the ghost has conjured.
  • Creepy Changing Painting: After Nigel defeats his ghost in Northfield Church, his image in the Nightmare Room becomes burned and unrecognisable.
  • Creepy Cool Cross: In the painting, he's clutching a cross to signify his allegiance to the church.
  • Improbable Age: Thomas Ager was supposedly a rector of the parish in 1799, far earlier than the other three Agers despite all four of them appearing the family portrait, which would mean that he lived to be a hundred or more. This has not gone unnoticed by historians, judging by a book found in Saxton Museum, though no-one really knows how he ended up in the painting.
  • Murder Ballad: His journal contains a poem all about how he's going to mutilate and kill Gurney. Lovely.
  • Murder Is the Best Solution: He murdered Nicolas Gurney when he got too close to the location of the Lost Crown.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: After his family came into a lot of money, he made significant donations to the church where he worked. This probably contributed to the vicar's denial of his true nature.
  • Seven Deadly Sins: Greed, according to those who knew what kind of person he was.
  • Sinister Minister: He was corrupt, greedy and deceitful, but the vicar wouldn't hear a bad word against him.
  • The Vicar: In life he was a rector for Northfield Church. Now he haunts the place.
  • You Shall Not Pass!: He attempts to stop Nigel from progressing deeper into Northfield Church by conjuring barriers of black smoke, forcing him to perform an ancient ritual to dispel the obstacle.

Frederick Ager

The most well-known of the brothers, who put a lot of work into modernising the town of Saxton in the 1800's. This also included building the Net Hut, which contained a secret room used to butcher anyone believed to be seeking Ganwulf's crown.
  • Ax-Crazy: He built the Net Hut on the coast of Saxton, along with the Nightmare Room used to secretly murder any threat to the lost crown.
  • Creepy Changing Painting: After Nigel defeats his ghost in the Net Hut, his image in the Nightmare Room becomes burned and unrecognisable.
  • Murder Ballad: His journal contains a poem explaining his motive for building the Net Hut and the Nightmare Room beneath it. He's also seen holding the journal in the painting.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: He was quite wealthy in his time, which he utilised to modernise Saxton. It's likely how he was able to get away with the murders he committed.
  • Seven Deadly Sins: He most embodied Wrath out of his brothers, having constructed his own secret murder chamber underneath the Net Hut.
  • Stalker without a Crush: Unlike Thomas, who conjures barriers of black mist to bar Nigel's way, Frederick's smoky form actively stalks Nigel and Lucy around the darkened Net House until he's dispelled by the light of an open window.
  • Torture Cellar: The Nightmare Room Nigel keeps seeing in his dreams was secretly built by Frederick to carry out his murderous duties. Now it's being used by Mr. Gruel to hide the cats he kills.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: He built up a good standing in Saxton by making generous donations; for example he contributed to the reconstruction of Harbour Wall in 1847 and donated a stag's head to the Bear which now resides in Harbour Cottage. By the present day, his true colours are well-known.
  • Weakened by the Light: When Frederick is stalking Nigel and Lucy in the Net House after the one window unexpectedly shut, opening it back up is enough to dispel him.

Nathanial Ager

A particularly unstable man who craved wealth and power, only to squander the family gold by commissioning a massive and expensive pipe organ for Ulcombe Church.
  • Ax-Crazy: He was considered to be the worst of the bunch, to the point that after he died, no-one would play his pipe organ because they believed they could feel his presence.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: According to his journal he murdered some people for not singing in the pews. It's likely that those people were two innocent evacuees.
  • Disney Villain Death: He dealt this on two children who didn't sing along with his pipe organ at church by throwing them off a cliff.
  • Evil Is Petty: His crime, the implied murder of two young children for not singing during a church service, is the pettiest of all the brothers' crimes.
  • Irony: When Nigel finds his crypt, he also finds the last ghostly celtic symbol he needs to locate the lost crown.
    • His spirit is also dispelled by the music of his own pipe organ.
  • Murder Ballad: In Nathanial's Journal, he writes a poem detailing his anger when someone within the congregation sniggered instead of sung while he was playing the pipe organ, and his subsequent plan to murder them in retaliation.
  • Narcissist: The only possible explanation for his blowing the family wealth on a giant pipe organ is to satisfy his own vanity. When someone didn't sing along with the organ during service, he didn't take it well. At all.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: His colossal financial blunder contributed to the eventual extinction of the Ager Family, putting an end to their murderous reign of terror.
  • Ominous Pipe Organ: The pipe organ in Ulcombe Church was his pride and joy, and he often played it himself during service. Nowadays nobody will play it because they think it's cursed.
  • Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: He had a monstrous steam-powered pipe organ constructed at Ulcombe Church, but the needless endeavour was so expensive that it drove the remaining family members into poverty.
  • Seven Deadly Sins: Pride, with a heavy dash of Greed thrown into the mix. It proved to be his- and his family's- undoing.
  • Would Hurt a Child: It's heavily implied that he murdered Nancy and Timmy Brewer by throwing them off a cliff.
  • You Shall Not Pass!: Like Thomas, he manifests as a shadowy force to keep Nigel from reaching his crypt... until it's dispelled by his own pipe organ.

William Ager

The very last Ager who died in his early thirties in the mid 1900's, ending the family line. He once fancied a young girl named Emily Travers and lured her into the Saxton Caverns with the promise of showing her a rare flower, only to murder her when things went wrong.
  • Accidental Murder: One interpretation of the circumstances surrounding Emily's death.
  • Beware the Silly Ones: According to Wesley Russet he was a bit simple, but this didn't make him any less dangerous.
  • The Dreaded: He's the 'ugly man' Verity warns Nigel about when he contacts her.
  • Evil Cripple: William was said to be sickly in life, with bad breathing, bad heart, bad everything, which may have been caused by inbreeding.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: In his journal William poetically speaks of his sorrow over Emily's death, suggesting that he had genuine feelings and regretted killing her.
  • Hand Gagging: In his journal William claims to have done this to stop Emily from screaming, implying that he asphyxiated her.
  • How the Mighty Have Fallen: His family started out prosperous, but the insanity of its members drove them into poverty over the years. William died of tuberculosis, at the ripe old age of 31, left with nothing but his fears that there would be no-one left to protect the crown.
  • Last of His Kind: He was the last Ager to die, rendering the Ager line extinct.
  • Murder Ballad: His journal contains a poem he wrote lamenting his murder of Emily.
  • Pet the Dog: An implied example concerning the ghost-child, Verity Church, who claims that William lets her play in the museum whenever she wants.
  • Seven Deadly Sins: He embodied Lust the most, with his chief crime being the murder of a girl he fancied.
  • Villainous Crush: He tried to woo Emily Travers with the promise of a Pasque flower, but their secret meeting in the coastal caverns ended in him murdering her.
  • Would Hit a Girl: Something went very wrong during his meeting with Emily, leading to him killing her when she started screaming to attract attention.

    Edward and Christina Molina 
The former residents of Harbour Cottage. Emigrating from Southern Spain in the 1950's, Christina died of a terrible sickness soon after, and Edward hung himself out of grief, subsequently haunting the building. As the current resident, Nigel contacts their ghosts on a regular basis.
  • Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: After the truth of Christina's death is revealed, she and Edward move on to the afterlife.
  • Book Ends: Christina is the first ghost Nigel encounters, and the last ghost he exorcises before the end of the game.
  • Driven to Suicide: After Christina succumbed to her illness, Edward hung himself from the cottage's beams out of grief and guilt.
  • Foreshadowing: A Saxton museum exhibit explains that Harbour Cottage was once the 'Winching Store,' where fishing boats would sail into the archway beneath the building. Said archway was eventually sealed up when it was converted into a residential house. Nigel eventually finds his way into the cellar and discovers a pool of water that had been left to stagnate after the archway was sealed, revealing an important clue as to what really killed Christina.
  • Horrible Housing: When builders sealed up the archway beneath the building and left the water inside to stagnate, they unwittingly turned Harbour Cottage into a deathtrap.
  • Mirror Scare: Nigel's very first ghost-hunting endeavour has him try out Scrying, which involves pouring water over a mirror, which reveals the ghost of Christina staring back at him.
  • Meaningful Rename: Edward Molina was formerly Eduardo De Molina, but he altered the name after moving to England.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Unable to care for his sickly wife by any other means, Edward treated her every day with a glass of water, completely unaware that the water was what was poisoning her in the first place. Christina sadly died around the same Edward finally realised the truth, after which he hung himself out of overwhelming guilt.
  • Ominous Hair Loss: As her illness worsened, Christina's hair grew thinner and then started falling out. Nigel can find clumps of her hair in the empty bathtub while exploring the cottage.
  • Properly Paranoid: Before wrongfully coming to the conclusion that her own husband was murdering her, Christina was convinced that the cottage was somehow responsible for her sickness, believing that there was 'evil' in their home.
  • Right for the Wrong Reasons: Towards the end of her life Christina became convinced that she was being poisoned. It wasn't conventional poison as she had believed, but lethal bacteria from the contaminated water Edward was unwittingly giving her every day.
  • Self-Made Man: In the years before his death, Edward acquired other properties beside Harbour Cottage, including The Watch House and Dicken's House. His ambitious activities turned him into a local celebrity.
  • Til Murder Do Us Part: Toward the end of her life, Christina believed that her husband poisoned her when she discovered his secret smuggling operation. By gathering pages from hers and Edward's diary Nigel is able to determine that Edward did not murder Christina, at least not deliberately, and is able to help the ghostly couple to move on by proving Edward's innocence.
  • Unfinished Business: Christina's misguided belief that Edward deliberately murdered her is what keeps her and her husband trapped in Harbour Cottage. Nigel sets them both free by piecing together and explaining what really happened.
  • Vader Breath: When using the tape recorder on the area around the beam Edward hung himself from, Nigel catches a recording of Edward choking and gasping.
  • White Collar Criminal: Edward was actually a criminal guilty of theft and dirty dealings, and even had a secret compartment within Harbour Cottage. This is partly why Christina eventually came to the conclusion that he had poisoned her.
  • The Woobie: Christina's slow, painful death by contaminated water poisoning. Through the high tech Hadden cameras Nigel places around the cottage, he can see and hear the poor woman pitifully sobbing.

    SPOILER CHARACTERS 

Katherine and Robert Karswell

The current residents of the old Ager house on Raven Lane, now known as Northfield Farm. Katherine is a devoted gardener and cook, extremely knowledgable in creating herbal potions, and Robert practices Geology as a hobby. Katherine had been the object of obsession from a local farmer, and by the time Nigel meets her and her husband, both had been murdered in an act of arson.
  • Caring Gardener: Katherine tends to a beautiful garden, and uses much of her produce in her meals.
  • Crazy Jealous Guy: This trope is downplayed in Robert, who worries needlessly that his wife will run off with a farmer. The farmer, on the other hand, played the trope murderously straight.
  • Dead All Along: They've actually been dead for twenty years, but they don't appear to know that.
  • Fetch Quest: Katherine asks Nigel to collect ingredients for lunch, including a sedative plant to soothe Robert out of his foul mood.
  • Foreshadowing: Robert tells Nigel that they bought the Ager House in the 60's, much to Nigel's confusion since they appear to be in their early forties at most. He later finds a newspaper in Saxton Museum revealing why they look so young.
  • Happily Married: Despite an issue over a farmer having his eye on Katherine, they're a nice, stable couple.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: Even after he sent a disturbing letter threatening to murder Robert for getting between them, Katherine severely underestimated the threat her obsessed neighbour posed to her and her husband.
  • Info Dump: Robert's Geology workshop contains a lot of information on his hobby, some of which is of useful to Nigel and the player.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: When Nigel first meets Robert Karswell, he's in a bad mood because one of his neighbours is a little too interested in his wife. After Katherine slips a sedative herb into his dinner, he's a nicer person.
  • Kill It with Fire: Their house was burned down, killing them both.
  • Mad Love: A neighbouring farmer was obsessively in love with her, culminating in him murdering her and Robert when she wouldn't return his affections.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Robert's not a professional geologist, and he accidentally broke one of the millstones in Carrion Wood after chipping at it too much.
  • Our Ghosts Are Different: They're corporeal, looking and acting so alive that Nigel had no idea they were ghosts even after having lunch with them.
  • Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Katherine has no idea what a TV chef is, because she died before TV chefs were a popular thing.
  • Potion-Brewing Mechanic: She uses her garden to produce all sorts of charms and herbal potions. This prompts Nigel to jokingly suggest she's a witch, almost offending her before he amends his statement to being a chemist or a wicca, and Katherine admits that the comparison is accurate.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: We don't see either Katherine or Robert again after the visit to Northfield Farm, even after we learn the truth about them.

    Emily Travers 
The young daughter of a local doctor who disappeared off the coast of Saxton in the early twentieth century, and her body was never found. Many of the locals suspected that William Ager had murdered her, and rightfully so.
  • Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: She moves on to the afterlife after Nigel fulfils her Unfinished Business.
  • Backup from Otherworld: When Nigel helps her out by bringing her the Pasque flower, she returns the favour by leaving a clue to help him on his quest.
  • Dropped Glasses: Her shattered glasses were all that was found, and they currently reside in Saxton Museum.
  • Flowers of Romance: Averted, and hard. William Ager lured her deep into the caverns with the promise of presenting her with a Pasque flower, but the meeting went horribly wrong and ended in him killing her when she started screaming.
  • Hand Gagging: William did this to Emily to keep her quiet, implying that he asphyxiated her.
  • Hell Is That Noise: Locals reported hearing womanly wails coming from the caverns, theorised to have come from Emily herself.
  • Never Found the Body: Her body was never found, consumed by the sea after her death, and her glasses were discovered washed up on the beach some days later.
  • Our Ghosts Are Different: She appears as a Funnel Ghost, a swirling spiral of light. Taking a picture reveals her human appearance.
  • Unfinished Business: She's trapped in the cavern where she died until she's presented with the Pasque flower that William had promised her. Nigel fulfils her request with a photograph of the flower, allowing her to move on. She rewards him by leaving behind a glowing symbol that provides a crucial clue to the crown's location.

    Nicolas Gurney 
An artist in the 1700's who sought the last Anglo-Saxon crown, only to be gruesomely murdered by Thomas Ager when his search directed him to the old mines beneath Carrion Wood. His effigy now resides in Northfield Church, and his unidentified remains were placed in Saxton Museum after being unearthed decades after his death.
  • An Arm and a Leg: Gurney's effigy is missing its hands, and it's implied that Gurney himself suffered a similar mutilation.
  • Back Up From Otherworld: When Nigel returns his hands, Gurney repays the favour by directing Nigel to his painting in Saxton Museum, which conceals a glowing celtic symbol that provides an important clue to the crown's location.
  • Broken Record: The recording Nigel takes from his effigy:
"He... took... my... hands... He... took... my... hands..."
  • Spooky Painting: Before he died, Nicolas produced a painting of a tree on a hill surrounded by crows, aptly titled 'The Tree Of Crows' which turns out to contain a ghostly celtic symbol.
  • Unfinished Business: He seeks to have his 'hands' and 'arms' returned to him. Nigel fulfils his request by locating the missing stone hands of his effigy and placing photographs of three coats of arms on the statue's base.

    Verity Church 
A young girl who perished in the 1950's when she snuck into the service tunnels within Saxton Museum, back when it was the Town Hall, and became trapped. Nigel encounters her ghost when he sneaks into the museum late at night, where she warns him about the 'ugly man' who will hurt him if he keeps looking for the Lost Crown.
  • Cheerful Child: Creepiness aside, she's benevolent toward Nigel, and doesn't appear to mind that she's dead. She doesn't even consider herself to be 'trapped,' seeing the museum as her own personal playground.
  • Creepy Child: Being a ghost who keeps appearing and disappearing without warning, she can't help being more than a little creepy. She also has a rather morbid way of warning Nigel about William Ager.
Verity: "Here comes a candle to light you to bed."
Nigel: "Here comes a chopper to chop off your head?"
Verity: "Chip chop, chip chop, the last man's dead."
  • Creepy Children Singing: She likely didn't intend to come across that way, but it's how she makes her presence known in the bathroom.
  • Death of a Child: She was eight years old when she died.
  • Jumpscare: She invokes this a lot due to her habit of appearing and disappearing in the blink of an eye, every time accompanied with a Scare Chord.
  • Missing Child: Verity became trapped when she found her way into the service tunnels. No-one knew she had even entered the building and she was reported missing by her parents, and by the time labourers working to convert the building into a museum came across her body, it was too late...
  • The Prankster: Every time Nigel tries to use the elevator to get to a particular floor, she mischievously presses a button to send him back to the original floor. The only way to make her stop is to return to the bathroom to talk to her directly.
  • A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Verity's mischievous nature tragically got her killed when she snuck into the service tunnels and couldn't find her way out again.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Unlike some of the other benevolent ghosts Nigel encounters, Verity doesn't move on to the afterlife as she's perfectly happy staying on this earthly plain. Nigel doesn't see her again after the second night, but she likely still haunts the museum.

    SPOILER CHARACTER 

Evelyn Ackland

The Rector for Northfield Church for three decades. You meet him in the church on day two and learn some of Northfield's history from him. On the final day of Nigel's stay in Saxton, a newspaper reveals that he passed away two weeks ago.
  • …And That Little Girl Was Me: Known only by his occupation at first, it turns out he is the recently deceased Evelyn Ackland.
  • British Stuffiness: He has this air about him, as befitting a traditional vicar.
  • Dead All Along: A newspaper reveals that he's been dead for two weeks.
  • Famous Ancestor: He claims that he's a descendant of Thomas Ager, even though he's not an Ager himself.
  • Foreshadowing: Upon being presented with the flyer concerning the upcoming memorial service, sent to her by the vicar, a surprised Nanny Noah states, "Vicar? At Northfield Church? That was quick!" implying that a new vicar had recently been instated at the church, even though the current vicar claimed to have been there for thirty years. As it turns out, the vicar Nigel had met died two weeks ago, and the vicar who created the flyer is his replacement.
  • Forgetful Jones: He's looking for something and doesn't remember what it is (Thursday). This may be a side effect of being a relatively recent ghost.
  • Our Ghosts Are Different: He's completely corporeal, just like the Karswells, to the point that Nigel had no idea he was a ghost.
  • Sympathy for the Devil: He holds some measure of sympathy for William Ager, believing that the burden of being the last Ager, with no-one left to carry the name and protect the 'family secret' drove him to an early grave.
  • Tomato in the Mirror: He believes he's supposed to be hosting a memorial service for a recently deceased local, but he's oblivious to the fact that the memorial service is for him.
  • The Vicar: The latest rector of the church, far less corrupt than Thomas Ager was.

    Nancy and Timmy Brewer 
Two young evacuees who were sent to Saxton during the second world war, while their father joined the army. They haunt the Ulcombe Church, waiting for their father to return, unaware that they have been dead for decades.
  • Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: They ascend to the afterlife to reunite with their father after Nigel settles their unfinished business.
  • Big Sister Instinct: After Nigel helps her realise that she and her brother are ghosts, she decides to keep the truth from her little brother for his sake. When the time comes for them to move on, she tells him to close his eyes so he won't realise what's happening.
  • Blitz Evacuees: They were evacuated to Saxton during the second world war.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: They were unwillingly separated from their father and evacuated to Saxton during World War Two, and their stepmother secretly ensured that none of his letters ever reached them. Tragically, by the time their father came to retrieve them, they'd both been brutally murdered by an insane narcissist, and he himself died not long after. After they finally move on to be with their father again, Nigel and Russet reflect on how horribly sad their story was.
  • Dead All Along: Just like the Karswells, Nancy and Timmy are corporeal ghosts and don't even know it. Unlike the Karswells, however, Nigel figures out relatively quickly that they're ghosts and gently breaks the news to Nancy. Having suspected something was wrong for some time, Nancy takes the revelation well, but asks Nigel not to tell Timmy.
  • Death of a Child: Just like Verity. It's heavily implied that when they sniggered instead of sung during service, Nathaniel Ager murdered them purely out of wounded pride.
  • Disney Villain Death: A non-villainous example as the innocent Nancy and Timmy died from falling off a cliff. All Nancy remembers of the incident is being approached by a man in black, indicating that Nathaniel Ager threw them to their deaths.
  • Dramatic Irony: Nancy mentions that she often hears strange noises around the church, even though there's usually no-one around. Timmy thinks the sounds are being made by ghosts.
  • Embarrassing First Name: Timmy hates his first name, Thomas, because his father is also called Thomas. The name apparently runs in the family.
  • Outdated Outfit: Nancy's clothes are clearly mid-twentieth century, which partially twigs Nigel on to the fact that she and Timmy are ghosts.
  • Plot Coupon: Nigel must help Timmy to solve a riddle found on an old stone tablet before he'll hand over the key to the church's tower.
  • Tomato in the Mirror: Nancy and Timmy are ghosts, but they think they've been stuck in the countryside for so long because the war is still ongoing. Nigel has to break the news to the older sibling before she figures it out.
  • Wicked Stepmother: Their stepmother despised them enough that she prevented any of their their correspondence from reaching their father.
  • Unfinished Business: Thanks to their despicable stepmother, they never received any letters from their father. Nigel discovers a eulogy on a small monument, left behind by their father before he died, and passes it on to them.

    SPOILER CHARACTERS 

The Victims of the Great Train Wreck

The ghosts of the sorting staff of an apple train that derailed in the 1920s, killing everyone aboard. They now haunt the tracks near Northfield at night, manifesting as tortured phantoms.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: They were 'smashed to pieces amongst the apples' when the train derailed into the river alongside the tracks, and those that didn't die in the initial crash had drowned in the murky water.
  • The Dreaded: Not the ghosts themselves, but the effect they have on the tracks where they perished, to the point that even Lucy advises Nigel against going there after dark. The Station Master warily states that the tracks are... different at night.
  • For Want Of A Nail: Two-fold: The derailment happened because the track switcher at Northfield Junction jammed, and the Ominous Fog kept the driver, Old Tonker, from seeing the red lamp the Station Master's father had lit to signal him to stop.
  • Ghostly Gape: The ghosts appear as gaping white wraiths when they assault Nigel on the tracks, likely a nod to the horrible way they died.
  • Mini-Game: When Nigel is confronted on the tracks at night, he has to use the charm Nanny Noah gave him to repel the ghosts, much like a first person shooter.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: After being repelled on the second night, the ghosts don't bother Nigel again.

    Captain Walter Spivey and his crew 
Spirits of long dead smugglers that are found in Grindle's Maw, the caverns on the coast of Saxton.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Spivey's telescope, residing in Saxton Museum, is eventually stolen by Nigel to help him on his quest.
  • Ghost Pirate: They've been dead for a long time, but their ghosts still haunt the caverns that were their hideout.
  • Honest John's Dealership: Their plan was to scavenge artefacts off the English coast and pass them off as Spanish treasure by distributing them through Gruel's curiosity shop, but their scheme was exposed.
  • It Runs in the Family: Gruel's living descendant is a criminal just like his ancestor, but in many ways is far worse.
  • No Honor Among Thieves: Captain Spivey was sold out by Gruel, the ancestor of the antique shop owner, forcing him to go into hiding in Grindle's Maw.
  • Pirate Booty: They made their living scavenging valuable objects such as treasure and weapons. They'd even searched for the Lost Crown with no success.
  • Pirate Song: Nigel can record them singing.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: He was a famed seaman who donated items that can now be found in Saxton Museum, until he was betrayed to customs officers.

    SPOILER CHARACTER 

Ganwulf

One of three kings of the region during Anglo-Saxon times, having sailed across the sea to the land of Anglia, now known as the UK, during the fifth century. He, his brother, and father wore three crowns, two of which were lost or destroyed. Ganwulf's crown is the only one that remains, and legend tells of a terrible curse that would befall the land should the crown ever be removed from Ganwulf's brow.
  • Achilles' Heel: The crown itself is Ganwulf's greatest strength, but also his greatest weakness: should the crown ever be removed from his head, not only will its powers of protection be broken, but Ganwulf himself will fall into a cursed sleep until the artefact is returned to him. This means that in exchange for his kingdom's safety, the crown can never come off, not even when he goes to bed.
  • Artifact of Power: According to legend, Ganwulf's crown was forged in the pits of Incendria by a folk 'long since gone from this world,' and then plunged into the icy waters of the Cramtok Fjord to bind its power. This was done to prevent supernatural beasts known as the Fenlaria from spreading a 'shadow across the land.'
  • Big Good: History claims that Ganwulf, his brother Pendraed and their father Aldwulf were intelligent men who ruled their people with kindness and fairness. Ganwulf's spirit proves history right by granting Nigel's request to be allowed back into the tomb to return the crown, and then sparing Nigel's life despite the fact that he stole the crown from his sarcophagus in the first place.
  • Deep Sleep: When the warlock from the story stole the crown as he slept, Ganwulf fell into a sickly sleep.
  • Godzilla Threshold: Nigel needs to return the crown, but his way back into the tomb is barred, so he resorts to contact Ganwulf himself in the hopes of persuading him to allow access.
  • Hat of Power: A legend persists that his crown is enchanted to repel sinister creatures known as Fenlaria that seek to spread pestilence and famine across his kingdom. When Nigel steals the crown, pestilence and famine is exactly what happens.
  • In the Hood: The museum exhibit depicts Ganwulf and his fellow family members as wearing hooded cloaks.
  • Interspecies Friendship: Legend has it that Ganwulf was allied with a mighty dragon called Grindle, who joined Ganwulf's folk in battle. It was thought that Grindle lived within the coastal caverns around Saxtonia, known today as Saxton, leading said caverns to be called Grindle's Maw.
  • Our Ghosts Are Different: When Nigel and Lucy successfully summon Ganwulf's spirit using a seance, he manifests by possessing the crown. Then there's the implication that he has special powers...
    • Nigel occasionally has visions of the battle helmet in Saxton Museum, believed to have belonged to Ganwulf, meaning that those visions may have somehow come from Ganwulf himself. Ringing the old Saxton Bell, causing it to reverberate off the coastal rocks believed to be part of Grindle, Ganwulf's dragon ally, triggers the first of these visions.
    • When Nigel needs to return the crown, Ganwulf's spirit seemingly teleports him from Harbour Cottage to the tomb. Once the crown is back where it belongs, Nigel and Lucy somehow find themselves on Saxton beach.

Characters from the Legend of Grindle and Ganwulf

    Grindle 
A mythical and powerful dragon which allied itself with King Ganwulf during his reign. According to legend he once saved Ganwulf's kingdom when an evil warlock stole the crown, putting the king into a coma and allowing the Fenlaria to swarm the land.
  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: As detailed below, Grindle was believed to have been so big that nowadays the rocks covering Saxton's coast are rumoured to be Grindle himself.
  • Big Damn Heroes: When an evil warlock stole the crown, allowing the Fenlaria to invade the kingdom, it was Grindle who tracked the warlock down and retrieved the precious artifact.
  • Breath Weapon: When the warlock refuses to return the crown, Grindle decapitates him with his fiery breath.
  • Our Dragons Are Different: Grindle, a mighty dragon so large that his claws stretched out across the sea and the scales of his tail protruded from the fenland sands to become home to limpets, crabs and oysters, was a staunch ally of Ganwulf. The picture in the book detailing the legend depicts him as a giant lizard wearing a crown.
  • Good Is Not Nice: Grindle punished the warlock for his crime by burning his head off with his fiery breath, though to be fair the dragon had offered him a chance to repent.
  • Interspecies Friendship: His alliance with Ganwulf was so strong that when his kingdom was threatened, the dragon took it upon himself to hunt down the man responsible.
  • Spanner in the Works: The warlock would have completely gotten away with the crown had Grindle not caught up with him.

    The Warlock 
An ugly, deformed warlock who coveted the enchanted crown Ganwulf possessed. In an old Anglo Saxon fairy tale he succeeded in stealing the crown, and in the process unleashed a supernatural plague upon the kingdom.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: After being given one chance to repent and return the crown, the warlock arrogantly refused. Grindle responded by burning his skull into nothing.
  • Evil Counter Part: Even though he's a fictional character (maybe), he's this for Nigel Danvers. Both men had materialistic reasons for seeking the crown, and they both stole it from Ganwulf's brow with little concern for the potential consequences. The warlock knew full well what would happen to the kingdom, committed the theft anyway, and refused to repent. Nigel, on the other hand, has no malicious intent, deeply regrets his actions and puts his own life on the line to set things right. In their respective stories, the warlock is burned alive by a vengeful Grindle, while Nigel is spared by Ganwulf's forgiving spirit.
  • Evil Makes You Ugly: He was deformed, twisted, and pure evil.
  • Greed: He desired the crown for himself, presumably because it had immense magic powers of its own.
  • Humanoid Abomination: He was said be be grotesquely deformed, to the point that his illustration in Bob Tawny's book looks like a man with an animal's head. With the story comparing him to a Fenlaria, who's to say that he's human at all?
  • Laser-Guided Karma: He didn't have long to enjoy his prize before Grindle tracked him down and burned him to a crisp.
  • Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Was he a real figure who once made the mistake of stealing Ganwulf's crown in the past? If so, was he a real warlock, or just an ordinary thief who stole from his own king and paid the price?
  • Smug Snake: He thought so little of the Fenlaria engulfing the kingdom when he stole the crown, but he definitely should have thought about the massive dragon who wouldn't take too kindly to his allies being threatened.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Defying a dragon who's pissed off at you for putting his friend and his kingdom in danger right to his face? Probably not a good idea.

    Fenlaria 
Mysterious beasts believed to stalk the Fenlands at night, preying on anyone who strayed too far from Ganwulf's Kingdom. The only thing that keeps them from bringing famine and disease upon the land is the enchanted crown Ganwulf wears on his head.
  • Always Chaotic Evil: Apparently in spades.
  • The Dreaded: They were greatly feared by the people who resided in Ganwulf's kingdom, and Ganwulf's enchanted crown was forged specifically to keep them out of his land.
  • Dark Is Evil: They were believed to live in the dark shadows of the Fens surrounding Ganwulf's kingdom.
  • Eldritch Abomination: The legend describes them as evil creatures which dwelled in the dark shadows of the underworld, slithering from one dark void to the next. In fact, their description in the legend is eerily similar to that of the hostile black mist ghosts encountered by Nigel and Lucy.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: They may well be the reason the Agers were so obsessed with keeping the location of Ganwulf's crown a secret.
  • I'm a Humanitarian: Their favourite delicacy was human beings.
  • Real All Along: Possibly. As it turns out, taking the crown from Ganwulf's head really does unleash 'a shadow across the land,' even though the Fenlaria are never actually encountered. Unless of course the supernatural black smoke which constantly appears to assault Nigel wasn't actually being conjured by unfriendly ghosts...

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