Len Barclay

Len Barclay is Jimmy Barclay's cousin and an intense fan of the fantasy role-playing game Castles and Cauldrons. During a summer visit, he becomes Luther the Magician and draws Jimmy into elaborate adventures with costumes, swords, secret rules, and imagined enemies. Len insists that the game can teach real magic, demands secrecy from adults, and introduces rituals involving a Board of Talismans and a blood covenant. What begins as play becomes frightening and controlling. Jimmy finally refuses to continue, and Whit and George Barclay intervene before the ritual is completed. Len is troubled rather than simply malicious, and his family seeks help for him afterward. His influence shows how secrecy and obsession can make a game dangerous.