Do Not Achieve Transcendence but Go Straight To Oblivion

The Autumn Farthing stamp issued for use in the Ramtops

Lancre is a mountain kingdom in the Ramtops. It is ruled by Verence for just a little bit longer, because at the opening of the story he is falling down the stairs of his castle with a dagger in his back. This can be called natural causes for royalty, which is the tack taken by Duke Felmet who witnessed it all at the top of the stairs. Verence meets Death, but is doomed to be a ghost until his spirit is put to rest.

Magrat Garlick has persuaded both Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg to (reluctantly) form a coven of witches, and at one of their meetings a soldier loyal to the old King delivers a baby to them. It is the King`s son and rightful heir. The crown is part of the package. The witches decide that the son has to be taken away incognito and choose a traveling theatre group, led by Olwyn Vitoller, as most suitable. He becomes known as Tomjon. The crown is hidden in the props chest.

Nanny Ogg from the Royal Mail stamp from the
Magical Realms special issue

Nanny Ogg lived in Lancre Town

Lady Felmet seems to be the the one in control in their marriage, but the Duke is slowly going mad and despotic, demanding more and more taxes and chopping down the forests. He develops an animosity towards witches and is obsessed with not being able to remove Verence`s blood stain from the floor. Within a year the kingdom, rather than its people, is unhappy and shudders. At Hogswatch Lancre Castle is shaken to the point of one turret collapsing. The Fool, who must stay loyal to the ruler, tries to calm the situation against his better judgment telling the Duke the way to stand firm. Granny is out on the moors at the Standing Stone, and deciding what to do. She knows destiny will out with the return of Tomjon sometime, but would it be too late? Things are so bad even the witches argue amongst themselves, however Magrat and the Fool (whose name is also Verence) are drawn to each other.
Verence`s ghost is anchored to the castle, so to lure a witch into the castle to have his say, he locks Greebo, Nanny`s cat, in a room. But when Nanny enters the castle she is arrested and sent to the dungeons. Granny and Magrat rescue her, incurring more of the duchess`s wrath. Nanny takes a stone from the castle so Verence`s ghost can leave his confines and discuss tactics with the witches. On the basis that Tomjon`s return will have to wait until he is much older, but with Lancre is falling apart, Granny Weatherwax performs a major feat by freezing the kingdom for 15 years.

While Lancre stands still Tomjon shows a talent for learning plays and acting. The troupe are resident in Ankh-Morpork and Vitoller is building a theatre, The Dysk. Felmet remembering that words can be a weapon dispatches The Fool to find a a theatre company to perform a play in Lancre which would show the himself in a good light and portray Verence as the baddie. Hwel, the dwarf playwright, sets to work. The players make their slow way to Lancre, practicing the play on the way. While it has all the right ingredients it leaves audiences cold. Hwel keeps revising it. `

The Dysk as featured on the Merchants Guild
$2 stamp from the Places of Interest series.

They arrive in Lancre and prepare the stage. The three witches are portrayed as evil, angering the the real ones. Felmet, knowing the witches would turn up uninvited waits for the interval and orders the guards to arrest them. They arrest the actors by mistake and the real witches are mistakenly ushered on stage. Death turns up and replaces the actor playing him. Tomjon comes on stage wearing the real crown as a prop, and the play is acted out as it really was. Felmet, in a rage, tries to stab everybody, but the dagger has a retractable blade. He falls from the battlements and the duchess is locked up. Tomjon is revealed as the true heir, but he wants to stay with his adoptive family as an actor. Magrat notices a facial similarity between Tomjon and the Fool, and it is revealed that they are half brothers, both sired by the old Fool. In view of this relationship and that a kingdom needs a king the Fool is crowned as King Verence II

The Lancre One Penny stamp
released to mark the coronation
of King Verence II