Interactive Narrative

My first project for the second term is to create an interactive narrative by either producing my own written work or adapting an existing piece into an interactive form. I've decided to work on my own story based on the myths of the Black Dog of British Folklore.

There are many variations to the myth of the Phantom Dog but it's appearance is largely consistent among them all: A Large dog (about the size of a calf) with black, shaggy fur and red eyes.

There are different names for the phantom such as the Black Shuck, Padfoot, Yell hound and the Gytrash. The nature of the dog also varies. In a lot of the legends, the Black Dog is seen as an omen of death and some state the dog to be a killer itself.

"A weather vane in Bungay Market in Suffolk depicts a black dog and a flash of lighting, it commemorates an event on Sunday the 4th of August 1577. Between nine and ten in the morning while the parishioners of Bungay were at church, a fearful and violent storm broke out, which caused the sky to darken and the church to quake. Suddenly, in the midst of the storm, a black dog appeared within church. Lit by flashes of fire, it ran about the body of the church causing great fear and panic. It passed between two people kneeling at prayer, killing them instantly, and caused another man to shrivel up, severely burned, although he is said to have survived."
- Mysterious Britain - Phantom Black Dogs

But it has also been said to be a benevolent spirit and one which helps woman and travellers.

" At the entrance of the wood he was joined by a black dog, it pattered beside him until he emerged from the trees, whereupon it disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.

On his return journey through the wood, the dog joined him again on the dark woodland path, and disappeared mysteriously when he emerged. Apparently, some years later, two prisoners condemned to death confessed that they had decided to rob and murder Johnny that night in the wood, but the presence of the large black dog had stopped them."
- Mysterious Britain - Phantom Black Dogs

We see these dark phantoms appear in literature. A Sherlock Holmes case involved a Phantom Black Hound a family in Devon in "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and one of the characters in J.K Rowlings Harry Potter seems to be heavily influenced by the legend in the form of Sirius Black. Sirius is the name of the Black Dog constellation and Padfoot, a nickname for Sirius when in his animal form of a shaggy haired black dog, is one of the names given to the Phantom. It also directly references the legend when Harry Potter is in his Tea Reading class and encounters the omen of the Black Dog which he confuses Sirius to be.

http://www.hiddenea.com/shuckland/introduction.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_dog_%28ghost%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Shuck

My Adaptation

Taking what I've learnt about the various forms of the Black Dog, I've developed my own character.

In my adaptation, Black Shucks (as they shall be referred to due to the Norfolk setting) are men enslaved to the Devil as a punishment for causing the death of a woman. They must walk the roads (of the area their contract is formed) and see to it that any woman in possible danger of malicious intent are bought to safety. At the same time, they are to collect the souls of those who'd do wrong and drag them to hell. Should they fail to protect their charges, they'll be tortured in hell and the pain of the victims will be shared. Those cursed to this fate can only be released when they can truly be forgiven for their crimes.

This combines both suggestions of the Black Shuck; evil and a protector.

My story follows Tobias Howard, a (made up) relative to the Duke of Norfolk. His selfishness and arrogance led to the death of his mother and sister for which he was cursed with becoming a Black Shuck back in the early 18th Century. He roams the city of Norwich and the outskirts along with several other Shucks.

As with most other Shucks, even after 3 centuries as a demon dog, Tobias is still cursed, having not been able to redeem himself although he is less of the selfish and arrogant man he was before.

One night, Tobias is alerted (through the means of his vision turning from B&W to Red) to a woman being in danger. Shucks don't know how a woman is to be harmed so he must follow the woman and act wisely until the event happens. The correct path of the story sees him saving the girl from an attack. If this particular woman dies, the player fails.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_Norfolk