Stage 88 - The Inverlie Disaster

The Inverlie Disaster: Living Dolls Linked to Town’s Mysterious Collapse

— April 17, 2010 | The Mystic Edinburgh Herald

INVERLIE, SOUTHERN SCOTLAND —
A once-quiet village nestled on the edge of the moors has become the center of national wizarding attention following a series of inexplicable events now known as "The Inverlie Disaster." Over the course of just three days, residents reported sightings of "animated dolls" entering homes uninvited, and exhibiting behavior that authorities have hesitated to label as anything but cursed.

At the heart of the disturbance was a shop in the heart of Inverlie that sold handmade dolls. The proprietor, one Herr Grimmel, a master toymaker was reportedly responsible for these popular creations. The dolls, described as “pet-sized,” with burlap skin, button eyes, and elaborate velvet garments. They were popular among children and residents initially.

What followed, according to survivor accounts, was anything but ordinary.

“I woke up and it was sitting at the foot of my bed,” said Margaret Ewen, 58, who has since relocated. “It was not there when I went to sleep, but it was there when I woke up. And it was not just sitting there. It was... waiting.” She was treated for paranoid delusions in St. Mungos, but persists in her shared belief that the dolls are dangerous, even malevolent.

By the second month, multiple reports of missing persons, property damage, and psychological disturbances flooded local authorities. Witnesses described unsettling behavior from the dolls, including imitating voices, appearing in locked rooms, and causing candles to flicker or go out on their own. Several residents began experiencing shared hallucinations and waking dreams, describing a “corridor of fabric and teeth” that was eerily consistent across testimonies.

Authorities declared a state of emergency late on the third month when the local preparatory school caught fire, under circumstances still under investigation. Miraculously, no children were harmed, though several faculty members remain hospitalized for what providers in St, Mungos have termed “trauma-induced catatonia.”

Inverlie has since been evacuated, and the village remains officially uninhabited. All roads leading in have been closed by order of the Ministry of Magic Office, citing environmental instability. No formal cause was initially released the public, and the official report listed the disaster as resulting from “a coordinated mass hysteria event combined with runic malfunction and suspected arson.” However, residents submitted numerous reports to the media which appear to coincide with a strange theme that the community was attacked by cursed dolls.

However, many remain unconvinced.

A leaked memo from the Department of Mystical and Occult Affairs referred to Inverlie as a “containment breach” and claimed that Curse Breakers scoured the community and while they found minor issues with several homesteads, but nothing that could account for the shared hysterical claims of the residents. Authorities interviewed the proprietor of the toy shop that residents claimed was at the heart of the disaster and they reported that the shop, while charming, was nothing more than a shop of toys.

Residents claim that the Ministry overlooked something, that Herr Grimmel was obviously a dangerous wizard, citing a child's story: The Faceless Dolls of Herr Grimmel, a complaint that has gained traction with several of the residents of Inverlie. In a scene out of a Mary Shelly book, with torches and pitchforks they drove Herr Grimmel from Inverlie and burned his shop to the ground.

Do You

Try to find the story of The Faceless Dolls of Herr Grimmel. Go to → Stage 89

Talk to a friend about what you know? Go to → Stage 21 Please note, you can also arrive at this thread from Stage 21, you can use this as an excuse to get more friends involved.

Investigate the Owlery to see if you can learn more about who or what has been sending this? Stage 22