During the summer of 2003, on the edge of an isolated village deep within the North York Moors national park and not far from Danby, numerous members of a professional construction team, including myself, watched helplessly as a large house became gradually and inexplicably uninhabitable.
There was a horribly oppressive feeling inside and the entire roof was charged with 60 volts of static electricity for weeks on end: anyone trying to sleep there soon began to suffer from acute headaches, nausea and depression. Many checks including tests using sensitive monitoring equipment detected nothing unusual and so consultant geomancers from Derbyshire (specialists in ground-based, paranormal activity) were invited along to help. They soon discovered multiple ley lines crossing at a single point, directly below the house – straight, subterranean lines of energy which run for many miles, criss-crossing the countryside, just as they have done for centuries.
This was a very rare occurrence in itself, but they also uncovered a much rarer and far more disturbing problem. A horde of highly agitated elementals (small, goblin or gnome-like beings) were encamped in trees around the edge of the garden, furious that the trickle of spring water supplying a drinking trough at their main meeting place had been thoughtlessly diverted, leaving the trough dry and useless. They were determined to take their revenge, we were told! In support of this startling news, there were other independent sightings in the immediate area, with grown men even coming to blows over them.
Needless to say, the water supply was quickly restored, and thankfully the appeased elementals dispersed within a day or so, allowing the house to return to normal. I started my research soon afterwards, and the rest was a huge challenge over several years, ending up with the publication of The Witcher Keys… but it was all utterly fascinating.
Ian Johnson
Further information can be found in the book’s appendix.
The Witcher Keys 