A sinister-sounding spell, suggesting both invisibility and death. When dungeoneer Neil (Team 7 of Series 2) arrived on the bridge that spanned the so-called Vale of Mogdred, Mogdred (watching as a large face) 'constrained' Treguard then spellcast SHROUD, making Neil disappear from view. Mogdred then challenged the advisors to react.
The advisors' first response was the correct one: to dispel. But they executed it wrongly, dispelling as DURHS - no effect.

They then attempted a "turn-spell" (apparently synonymous with dispelling yet never used on Knightmare before or since), but again delivered the letters as DUHRS - no effect.

At this point, Treguard turned out not to be entirely constrained, and groaned: "Oh..." But this was too subtle a clue for the team, who tried calling out the word "stalactite" (an apparent red herring from earlier in the quest) - no effect. They seemed nonplussed.

Treguard then turned out to be even less constrained, and moaned, "Le-tter Oh..." It was now clear to the advisors what they'd been doing incorrectly in their earlier dispelling endeavours. A dispel was attempted with none of the letters omitted (OSRDHU - see picture) and accordingly, Neil reappeared. Mogdred then vanished with a scream (did the spell rebound onto him or could he simply not abide defeat?), and the dungeoneer was able to proceed.

No other Knightmare team vanquished Mogdred in a confrontation. This team, though, ran into further difficulties when attempting to use a SHOVEL spell later in their quest.

A scene of very similar structure occurred in Series 3, when a menacing figure (disguised but assumed to be Mogdred) in the same location cast a spell (TOAD) that had to dispelled by the team to restore McGrew from amphibian to human form, after which their quest continued.

The SHROUD encounter, sometimes referred to by fans as 'SHRUD', has inspired a number of filks, including a parody of The Beatles' Let It Be and a parody of Let It Go from the film Frozen. The former parody was later made into a music video of sorts by fellow Knightmare fans.

I would speculate that the SHROUD scene could not have unfolded the way it did by pure chance, and was therefore partially or wholly staged.

[Earlier versions provided on 2011-03-19 15:11:42, 2005-06-05 00:58:49]

login to vote