When Oswald Gotobed, the High Wizard of the RUFS, tries out some weather magic, he manages to brew up a thunderstorm. Lightning strikes an ancient stone wall in the town and releases a Jester, trapped there since the Middle Ages.
Peter Piper, the jester, is not what he appears. A plague of rats invades the fens, The Lincolshire Black Panther strikes terror into the locals, Runford folk are hypnotised and their memories rifled.