Hillary Quarrie

Hillary is the estranged wife of Malcolm Quarrie. She lives at Nug's Farm in the Goatswood region of the Severn Valley, in Gloucestershire. She was the protégé, and object of desire of the ailing cult leader Atkinson, and the rival of Wilfred Gresty in the issue of who was to succeed Atkinson.

• After the deaths of Atkinson and Gresty, Hillary has expressed a desire to remake the cult according to her own ideals, and to work towards bringing a 'golden age' to Britain.
• Hillary is very knowledgeable in the occult and was able to turn the creature summoned by Atkinson and Gresty back on them through the use of magic.
• Hillary has 3 large mastiffs as guard-dogs (Pig, Bull and Walter) and has a loyal Goatswood local, called Will, who works as a labourer on the farm.
• Hillary and Malcolm have a daughter, Sarah (born 1925) who has been living away from Goatswood in order to protect her from Atkinson's influence.

Hillary told the following tale of her life, and how she came to be at Nug's Farm, facing Atkinson and Gresty.

• Shortly after her wedding to Malcolm Quarrie, Malcolm bought Nug's Farm as a wedding present for her, and Hillary went to work renovating the ancient house.
• Soon after, the Quarries found a book, written over many years in a number of different hands, wrapped up on the doorstep of the house. This book, 'The Revelations of Glaaki' told of the worship in this valley of the ancient 'British Gods' - chiefly Shub-Niggurath, but also Glaaki, Y'Golonac and others, which had been carried from ancient times up to the modern day.
• Some time after the book arrived, an old man called Atkinson arrived, saying that he was from the nearby hamlet of Mercy Hill. Atkinson revealed that he had written the most recent parts of the 'Revelations', and that as newcomers to the valley, the Quarries were invited to read the book and draw their own conclusions.
• Both Malcolm and Hillary were brought into the fold of Atkinson's pagan cult, but the attentions of the old man, and jealousy over access to the book started to create a rift in their marriage, even as Hillary was pregnant with Sarah, the Quarries' only child.
• After Sarah's birth, Malcolm got a job in London, and started spending weekdays in the city, leaving his wife under Atkinson's wing. the old man instructed her in the ways of the Goat, while constantly attempting, and failing, to bed her.
• Atkinson also revealed that Malcolm had been a follower of the Goat before his arrival in the valley, and that he had brought his new wife there at Atkinson's request. Angry at this betrayal, Hillary decided to divorce Malcolm, though the divorce never actually took place.
• Meanwhile, in London, Malcolm met Lawrence Bacon and Montague Edwards, and through their circle came to learn of Hastur. He came to believe that Hastur was greater, and more important than Shub-Niggurath, which resulted in him breaking entirely with both Atkinson and Hillary, and staying full time in London.
• Worried that the London cult could be a threat, Atkinson dispatched Wilfred Gresty, who was unknown to Malcolm, to London to infiltrate Bacon's circle as a spy. Gresty had been in London ever since, but had come to believe he was Atkinson's natural heir. Hillary on the other hand, believed the cult was petty and small-minded, and its domination by men was a perversion of the natural order. She believed that it was her destiny to inherit from Atkinson, but her unwillingness to sleep with the old man, plus Gresty's influence, was jeopardising her chances.
• When she caught Atkinson with 4-year old Sarah on his knee, teaching her his own, twisted, version of the religion Hillary had embraced, Mrs Quarrie threw him out of her house and sent Sarah away to live with relatives.
• Since then Hillary has been waiting for the inevitable confrontation between her and Gresty to decide on who will inherit leadership from the dying Atkinson. It appears that Gresty has won Atkinson entirely over to his side, and has convinced the old man that Hillary is a danger, and must die.

Hillary has not seen Malcolm in several years, and does not want to. She does not believe his new God can harm Britain, protected as it is by the Old Ones, but she has received letters that indicate Malcolm is attempting something dangerous, and this may well cause great harm elsewhere. Consequently she hands the letters over to the investigators.