Practical Information
Participants should aim to arrive at the venue between 6-8pm on Thursday.
When and Where is the Event?
We are hosting 2 separate runs of this game.
Run 1 : Gearrannan
This run prioritises a dramatic setting in a remote part of Scotland. It is taking place at the historic Blackhouse Village at Gearrannan on the Isle of Lewis in the Scottish Outer Hebrides.
This event is taking place from Thursday 30th October to Monday 3rd November 2025. Participants can arrive on Friday morning and leave on Sunday evening if they prefer.
Run 2: Seahouses
This run prioritises physical and financial accessibility, and is taking place at Seahouses Hostel in the town of Seahouses on the north Northumberland coast.
This event is taking place from Thursdy 20th to Monday 24th November 2025. Participants can arrive on Friday morning and leave on Sunday evening if they prefer.
What is the Plot?
PREMISE
A group of women have gathered together to sit vigil for the men of the village, who are out deep sea fishing for the entire duration of the event (they will not be physically present as part of the game). All of the women possess The Talent- a deep connection to the sea which gives them powers of divination and bargaining. Our characters are aware of their Talent. There is a long shared history of using it to predict what will happen to their menfolk, and intervention when deemed appropriate.
THE VIGIL
It is usual for several Wise Women to sit vigil together whenever the men are out fishing. At this time of year, this is an almost constant occurrence. The usual practice is for 3-5 Wise Women to sit together and sing whilst they work on something that keeps their hands busy but leaves their minds free to roam- knitting, darning, whittling. Through singing, they connect with the power of the deep ocean. If there is a danger coming, they may seek to intervene in the form of a bargain. It is possible to change the outcome of danger, but never to avoid it completely. The Women can swap a broken piece of equipment for a broken arm, a lost catch in exchange for a life spared from drowning.
THE STORM
Our game is set at a time when the Wise Women have gathered together in greater numbers than has been seen in many years. They have all been plagued by dreams and know that something truly disastrous is approaching their men at sea. Wise Women who have been absent for many years have heard the call to return, bringing old grudges and unfinished arguments with them. We are setting our game in 1953- the year of the North Sea Flood which severely impacted the east coast of the UK and claimed many lives in the destruction it caused. We have changed history somewhat- by transposing it over the west coast instead.
THE BARGAIN
Once the Wise Women have divined the potential impact of the storm, they will have to collectively decide what bargain they may make. This is likely to involve choosing some members of the fishing party who will lose their lives, in exchange for the salvation of the others. How will they choose who to sacrifice?
What will we actually do?
The Wise Women have gathered together in the oldest cottages of the village. They will sit vigil together for the duration of the coming storm, using their powers of divination to discover what threatens their men out at sea, and how they might influence the outcome.
SOCIAL
This is primarily a game designed to explore the relationships of a group of women under pressure and time constraints. Old grudges and unfinished arguments will surface, some secrets may be revealed, strained relationships may reach breaking point, new understandings may be reached. All characters will have both positive and negative relationships with other characters. It is up to participants to decide how they will act out these relationships!
SINGING
This is used as the primary method of communing with the power of the deep sea; the source of the Wise Women's Talent. Through song they are able to touch upon that power and use it later to perform divinations. Our characters also use singing during mundane tasks such as sewing or cooking food, as a way to entertain themselves and to bond as a group. We will learn several songs that can be used in this way.
BUSY WORK
It is common for women to have something to keep their hands busy at all times. Knitting, darning, whittling, embroidery etc. Participants are encouraged to bring something that they can work on during the event, or we can provide some partially completed knitting that you can pretend to be undertaking! No actual practical skills required.
MEAL PREPARATION
As would be common in a gathering like this, preparing and consuming food takes up a lot of our time. Peeling and cutting, stirring the soup, making tea, or setting table are all activities that participants are very welcome to take part in. There is no requirement to be involved with food preparation, but it can form part of the game for those who would enjoy it. Sitting around a table chatting whilst others are working is also perfectly acceptable. Meals are taken as a group, and form the framework for our game.
DIVINATION and VISIONS
Each of our Wise Women has their own way of divining the future. This might be by reading tea leaves, looking at patterns in the clouds, meditation, or casting sticks or dice. Many of these practices might lend themselves to solo roleplaying and there is opportunity to enjoy quiet moments alone. If you prefer, you can involve others in your divination techniques- asking them to roll dice or let your read their palm. This part of the game is very much open to interpretation by each participant.
What are the Workshops for?
Thursday: participants can arrive from 6pm on the Thursday. The rest of the evening will be used for dinner, safety briefing information, and socialising.
Friday: we will begin our workshops after breakfast. This will be delivered through a variety of methods. There will be briefings on the setting, discussion about how exactly the divination mechanics will work, exercises in which characters can flesh-out personal relationships, and some short private roleplay scenes in which participants can explore pivotal moments in shared history- for example a mother and daughter can act out the last time they argued before the daughter moved away from the island. The aim of these workshops is to impart important information, create shared backstory, and fully integrate the characters without having to memorise pages of backstory.
We will also have a group singing workshop on Friday. This is when you will learn the 3 simple songs that we will be using during this game. Recordings and music will be available prior to the event, but learning the songs for the first time at the workshops is perfectly acceptable.
Sunday: there is an optional debrief on Sunday after the game, in which participants can discuss their experiences. This is an excellent opportunity to reflect on any positive or negative emotions that have emerged due to character interactions. Many participants find this useful- but it is equally acceptable to use the time on Sunday evening to simply relax or socialise.
If you are planning to arrive on Friday morning, or leave in Sunday evening, please let us know so that we can plan accordingly.
Can I invent my own Character?
The characters in this game are pre-written by the organisers.
There is information for each character on our Character Outlines page, intended to give a rough sketch of the 16 pre-written Wise Women. The 17th space is for an understudy, who will have a new character created for them if they are not called upon to fill a space.
We will ask you to rank as many characters as you like in order of preference when you complete the sign-up form. The more characters you rank, the greater your chance of getting offered a space in the game. We will offer you a specific character when we ask you to pay us a deposit.
There will be space for participants to tweak and refine their character to ensure that they are fun to play. During the pre-game workshops you can further define your relationships with other characters. For example; if your character has a very negative relationship with another, you can decide together whether this dislike takes the form of constant jibes and rude comments, or if it is a silent simmering hatred.
What about costume?
This event is set in 1953 in a remote island community in the far north of Scotland. Costume can be considered in the following terms:
1950s Style
A character who has a modern outlook and opportunity to shop on the mainland might follow the latest trends. This would include longer skirts and dresses, with softer lines and a move away from the more strongly angular tailoring of the 1940s. Fabrics are colourful and patterned- highly contrasting blocky patterns, plaids and tartans are popular.
Practicality
Many of our characters live on small holdings or work as part of the fishing industry. Their clothes would reflect the need for protection from the weather. Thick jumpers, warm coats, housecoats. Wool, tweed and cotton are common fabrics that wear and wash well.
Character Age
Our characters range in age from early 20s to late 70s. Whilst it's perfectly possible that the older women are keen followers of fashion, it is more likely that they dress more conservatively than the youngsters.
Check out our costume guide and setting guide below:
How will Social Media be used?
We have designed this game to ensure that minimal preparation is required prior to the actual event. Although you can use the Facebook and Discord groups to connect with fellow participants and discuss the game, it is not necessary and you will have the same opportunities to make character connections as someone who just shows up on Thursday.
We have a Discord server and Facebook group that you are welcome to join. We have also created Facebook events that people can add themselves to, as a great way of keeping date information handy and organising transport.
Although you are very welcome to reach out and connect with other participants before the event, there is no expectation that everyone will do this.
Sign-Up & Allocation Process
SIGN-UP PERIOD: 09/03/25 to 06/04/25
Sign-ups for both runs of Wise Women will be open for 4 weeks, from 9th March to 6th April 2025. This will be done via submission of a Google Form. At this point participants are asked to rank the game characters in oder of preference 1-16. Participants should only rank the characters they are happy to accept!
UNDERSTUDY TICKET
This is a reduced price option, suitable for a participant who is willing to take on the role of another character at short notice. The understudy character is not crucial to the web of relationships maintained by the other 16 characters, but is still involved fully in the game. If another participant drops-out within 2 weeks of the event, the understudy will be offered their character. If there are no drop-outs, we will develop the existing understudy character and create additional in-game relationships so that they have a fully realised character to play.
SELECTION PROCESS
Places in our game are allocated randomly using a weighted lottery, with weighting based on character preferences given at sign-up. The order in which characters are assigned is also randomised, to make the process as fair as possible.
OFFERS: from 22/04/35
We will start to send out offers about 2 weeks after the close of sign-ups. This will be done in a staggered way; not all offers will be sent out at the same time. Participants will be asked to reply to the offer within 2 weeks and pay a deposit within 4 weeks of the offer being made. If we do not hear back from a participant, or the deposit is not paid, we will assume they are dropping-out and offer the space to someone else.
Payment Deadlines & Refund Policy
DEPOSIT
A non-refundable deposit is required to reserve your space on a game. This is due within 4 weeks of an offer being made. Deposits are 30% of total participation cost.
BALANCE PAYMENT
Payment of the remaining amount will be due 20 weeks before the date of the event. We will send out reminder emails 2 weeks before payment is due.
If we do not receive communication from participants 2 weeks after this deadline, we will assume that they are dropping-out and will offer their space to someone on the wait list.
WAIT LIST
If we have more sign-ups than spaces in our games, we will ask participants if they wish to remain on our wait list. Participants will be placed on these lists in randomised order. If a place become available due to drop-outs we will work through our wait list in order until the offer of a space is accepted.
REFUNDS
Deposits are non-refundable.
If you drop out more than 8 weeks before the date of the game, we will refund your balance payment. If you drop out less than 8 weeks before the game there will be no refund.
LAST MINUTE SPACES
If we have drop-outs less than 8 weeks before the event, we may offer spaces at a reduced cost.
CANCELLATION of the EVENT
We live in uncertain times. If the event is cancelled we will do our utmost to refund whatever money we can to all participants. The most likely cause for this will be unforeseeable circumstances (eg. weather events, public health crises, natural disasters).
Will there be a Photographer?
There will not be an official photographer for this game.
The organisers will take some photographs during the pre-game workshops to act as a record of the game, and for use on the website.
We also hope to take some portrait style group shots outside of the cottages with participants in costume. Participants can opt out of these photographs for any reason.
Participants are free to take their own photographs of themselves, as long as this is done in off-game areas or when they are alone.
We will always ask for permission before using photographs of participants on the website.
Risk Assessment
We have conducted a thorough risk assessment for this event, the documentation may be accessed here: