Castle Sinclair-Girnigoe features in new fantasy book being developed for gamers
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A new novel mixes mystical elements from Caithness' past, the Knights Templar along with a global conspiracy and is being developed into a computer game.
Shawn Williamson lives between Brough in Caithness and Manchester and is a UK-based researcher of the Knights Templar as well as being a master stonemason, sculptor and writer.
"Originally, I came up here searching for my ancestors back in 1999," said Shawn at a recent interview at Olive café in Thurso.
"As a consequence of all the experiences I've had in beautiful, beautiful Caithness I wrote Questus. It's set between Caithness, Rosslyn Chapel and South America. It's a mystical journey but it takes us up to date with what's going on with artificial intelligence (AI). In the book it's being used by a group of industrialists who are trying to conform the whole world's population with artificial intelligence. Angus MacWilliam [the protagonist] and others say 'we're not going to let this happen'.
"It brings a lot of the innate spirituality of rural landscapes like Caithness into the equation versus the high-tech version of humanity called artificial intelligence."
Questus is described as a "modern-day medieval thriller" in which Angus MacWilliam has a neurological disorder which enables him to take on the "dark technocratic forces of the New Babylonians" by discovering that he is a reincarnated Grail Knight. The New Babylonians put profit before God to the detriment of the natural order of the Earth.
"Writing's been a hobby of mine but it's gone a lot further with this. Now the ideas in the book are being used for a video game by a big Manchester company run by Nathan Newman called Pathway, a multi-million pound operation. He's coming up here to check out the castles and get the Caithness message out there as well."
Nathan Newman is a producer whose 20-year career spans video game development and film production. He has been taking the lead on developing the Questus novel into new formats.
"Working with Shawn is a real treat for the imagination, and it is a pleasure to work on crafting the world of Angus MacWilliam using the latest production technologies," Nathan told the paper.
"Following on from the successful release of [the book] we have started to develop innovative ways to bring the Questus universe to life through a video game and film. We are using photogrammetry and lidar scanning techniques to make digital copies of key locations that can be used to build game worlds and visual effects.
"Our aim is to bottle the magic of Shawn's writing with the majesty and adventure of the northern coast of Scotland for new audiences."
Nathan expects to visit Caithness in the next few weeks to make digital scans of the landscape and the ruins of Sinclair-Girnigoe Castle at Noss Head for use in the computer game.
Shawn has a particular interest in the castle, which the novel posits as once being the headquarters of a mythical Templar Order called Questus. "It was a place where a person received enlightenment and education which changed their perception about the nature of the world," the book reveals. Shawn hopes that the castle ruins could become a major global tourist draw after the video game is produced.
"I lived at Noss Head in 2016 for six months and that's where the beginnings of Questus really started. I was involved, in the early days, as a consultant in the restoration of the castle. My main role there was creating the Prince Henry Sinclair statue. The Sinclairs enabled that as a training project to give people stonemasonry experience. That's how that sculpture came about."
Shawn became enthralled by the ruined castle and its relationship with the Knights Templar. Many say there are direct connections between Sinclair-Girnigoe and Rosslyn Chapel which featured in Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. The ancient Midlothian chapel was believed by many to house the Holy Grail. The venerated object is even believed by some to be hidden deep within the ruins of Castle Sinclair-Girnigoe.
"I was involved with Andrew Sinclair who was the foremost man involved in Rosslyn Chapel and has written books about it. I researched how the stone was carved and created there – that's an area of my expertise that Andrew wrote about."
Shawn believes Sinclair-Girnigoe Castle has "been missed by many" writers and researchers looking into the Holy Grail connections with Scotland and contains the "font of the knowledge" within its walls.
Shawn says there are various pieces of masonry that were discovered during the work undertaken at the castle in the early 2000s and these have been stored away. He hopes that further work will be carried out at the imposing edifice to make it safe for visitors to go around. "The main building or tower could do with being re-pointed as well as other areas that need consolidation work."
The author hopes to reignite interest in further restoration work at the castle and that a special trust could be formed for this purpose.
Questus is available to buy on Amazon and through his website shawnwilliamson.com
Anyone interested in more information can contact Shawn through his website.
