HFK’s shadow (or the absence of it) has been looming over Ellington since the end of Hilary term. The lack of communication or class attendance from the first year psychology masters student had been completely out of character, the silence deafening. As every week passes without any answers and a new term descends upon Ellington like clockwork, it's become clearer and clearer that something is amiss. 

That foul play may have been involved.

There are no leads, no material information, and no one seems to want to talk. National and local newspapers have descended onto Yarrow in order to try and get the first scoop; the police's official investigative team have been cobbled together with a few more local officers in assistance to look into anyone and everyone who could be involved. Yet it’s as if Henry has simply vanished into thin air. As tensions grow thick and neighbors and fellow students begin to turn on each other, fear begins to permeate the air in the small town and at the heart of Ellington College.

Has he run away, a possibility previously inconceivable to his family and friends? Or has something more untoward happened?

And most importantly — what will happen next?

This subplot will principally involve the following canon ‘slots’:

Five officers involved with the official investigation into HFK’s disappearance

Five slots for journalists specifically covering the case or looking into Ellington College as they stay in Yarrow

Two of Henry Faulkner-Kelly’s best friends

Something is rotten in Yarrow.

Since the disappearance of one of Ellington’s students, tensions between the student body and the town’s residents have never ran quite so high. In the eyes of the public, Ellington’s privileged students have been sheltered and protected by the college and its leader, Macaulay, for far too long — sheltered and protected from reality, sheltered and protected from the law.

Something is rotten near Yarrow, and it festers still.

Suspicions (and perhaps a little bit of resentment) against the students have always run deep historically among some of Yarrow’s residents, particularly among the members of the local government, including the elected town councillor. Usually this has been restricted to internal (and the occasional public) accusations of property damage, hooliganism, and general student anti-social behaviour. 

But it is clearer now than ever that something insidious lurks beneath the prestigious, elite veneer of Ellington College. Something deadly, perhaps. 

And the town will be damned if they let sleeping dogs lie.

Members are recruited exclusively from the student body through an opaque and selective process few understand, joining programmes of drinking, dining and God-Knows-What-Else. A high degree of secrecy concerning membership and activities is strictly maintained, with indiscretions punishable by peer death. 

The fall out from the recent disappearance of HFK, an initiate of the DELPHI CLUB but currently believed by the media to be a member of the VESPUCCI CLUB, has given rise to an existential threat to these societies. Nationwide condemnation and scrutiny rains on them, with baseless allegations of potential wrongdoing in their little known hazing rituals. Their highly prized secrecy becomes their Achilles heels.

Though the Vesps and Delphis are established rivals as two of the most ancient dining clubs, the increasing pressure of internal investigations from the university into both societies has forced them to work together. To band for survival.

the vespucci club

The Vesps – a previously all-male (now mixed gender) society named in honour of Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian pioneer during the Age of Discovery. Originally conceived as a club for certain history students from the British “public” schools (Eton, Harrow, Rugby, etc.), the Vespucci Club has in recent decades evolved into a hedonistic social club, mainly involving history students.

As is common with similar dining societies in Ellington, the Vesps are intermittently out of favour with the college authorities, particularly due to their termly voracious ‘feasts’. These feasts are member-only, and a small number of other students outside of the club are permitted to attend as plus ones. Inspired by the Bullingdon Club and the Secret History by Donna Tartt.

the delphi club

The society’s motto: (sane) non memini ne audisse unum alterum ita dilixisse, which translates roughly as ‘truly, none remember hearing of a man enjoying another so much’. The Delphi club was originally founded as a private safe space for the LGBT community of Ellington College, though in the seventies it expanded into a wider social club permitting students of any gender and sexual identity to become member if selected by the sitting committee. 

Ellington College — highly prestigious, highly selective, highly unique in its flexible curriculum. Founded in 1425, the post-graduate college began as an experiment by William Ellington II, an eccentric statesman and passionate patron of education who resided in Edinburgh for much of his adulthood. It is now known as one of the one of the top graduate colleges in the United Kingdom, both for its humanities and science programs. All masters courses at Ellington span two years, and further studies including doctoral qualifications and post-doctoral research programs are also pursued at the college.

Yarrow — The medieval town of Yarrow, with a population of 2,600, is a mere twenty minutes away on foot from campus. The many small, largely independent businesses situated there serve both students and locals alike, and the local economy is dependent on the college's student body. A notable number of the town’s residents are also commuters as Yarrow is under two hours drive away from Edinburgh, with decent transport links.

Subplot #1: ‘Purgatorio’ — Focused on the disappearance of a first year psychology masters student, our first subplot will unravel as an ongoing, chapter based story line. Henry Faulkner-Kelly’s missing persons case will touch upon the lives of every character on our site in some way or another, though to highly varying degrees.

Canons in this sub plot will include (i) Henry Faulker-Kelly’s family, including his twin who continues to attend Ellington, his two older siblings, and his parents (all open gender); (ii) Henry Faulkner-Kelly’s closest friends at Ellington, and (iii) specific officers part of the official investigation from Police Scotland.