In case you weren’t aware, Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests is a wedding book, which means lots of family. This book has a humungous cast of characters, and we actually included a list at the back of the book because there are just so many people.
Zoe Johnson
Appearance inspired by Nhumi Threadgill
Age: 24
Date of Birth: Sep 19, 1978
Appearance: dark brown hair, hazel eyes, tall, golden brown skin
Job: city planner consultant for urban infrastructure planning, co-head of the Oldtown Council, and part-time teacher for the kid’s classes at Judy’s dojo
Parents: Hammond and Monique Johnson, both deceased.
Family: married to Gabrielle, one daughter Brooke (just shy of 2 years old); grandmother Kathryn Johnson
Lilah Fairfield
Appearance inspired by Robin Wright
Age: 57
Date of Birth: March 6, 1946
Appearance: Blonde hair that is whitening, blue eyes, medium height, white
Job: Farmer (the business side) in Parry Sound, Ontario (crops)
Family: married to Gerard, daughter of Denise Lake, mother to Phillip, who is married and has one son (just shy of 2 years old); twins Eliza and MacKenzie; Kennedy, who is marrying Jason; and Tommy
Gerard Fairfield
Appearance inspired by Cary Elwes
Age: 57
Date of Birth: March 1, 1946
Appearance: short grey hair, green eyes, tall and wirey, white
Job: Farmer in Parry Sound, Ontario (crops)
Family: married to Lilah, father to Phillip, who is married and has one son (just shy of 2 years old); twins Eliza and MacKenzie; Kennedy, who is marrying Jason; and Tommy
Denise Lake
Appearance inspired by Julie Andrews
Age: 79
Date of Birth: May 23, 1924
Appearance: Long white-blonde hair, blue eyes, statuesque, white
Job: retired; volunteers at the Baker Public Library
Family: daughter Lilah, son Arthur (the adult, not the toddler, who is named for his uncle)
Kathryn Johnson
Appearance inspired by Danai Gurira
Age: unknown (older than 80) but looks in her late 20s
Date of Birth: Feb 12, 1923
Appearance: Long black hair, Black, brown eyes, strong family resemblance to her granddaughter Zoe
Job: traveller of the realms
Family: son, Hammond, dead in 2000; grandchildren: Jason and Zoe; great-grandchild Brooke
Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests by Jen and Éric Desmarais is available now!
Image showing the rating for the tropes in Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests. Battle Couple, Wedding Planning, and Superheroes is about 90%, Monsters is about 75%, and Spicy is about 40%. At the bottom, there’s a “Vibes”, which has an image from the movie Argylle (2024).
Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests by Jen and Éric Desmarais is available now!
You are a teen who needs to do community service and have been placed on super-cleanup duty. Westmeath has had a rash of monster attacks and although they don’t leave any biological matter (thankfully) they do make a mess of the city. You are assigned to deal with a mess in the downtown core after a group of flying monkeys attack.
The adventure should take approximately 1-3 hours, depending on the Party.
Setting
Westmeath, Canada’s fourth largest city, is the tech hub of North America. It’s also one of the most crime-ridden cities, fueled by prominent gangs and corporate espionage. It is also a place where magic, aliens, and technology meet.
It’s June 2003 and the party is assigned to clean up the Hedy Lamarr Memorial Park in downtown after a group of flying monkeys destroyed the advanced WiFi transmitter installed in the park.
Suggested Backgrounds
The players can be anything they want, but here are some fun choices for their background:
Aetherborn: Beings created with magic and the human imagination. They are copies of sentient people from mythology or pop culture.
Alien: From all over the galaxy, Aliens have innate powers; mostly combat, but a few royals can heal.
Human: Humans are the most adaptable and scariest creatures in the universe.
Suggested Reasons for Community Service
Petty Crime: You did it and you got caught but let’s be fair it’s not that bad.
Parental Privilege: You did something bad but because of your last name or family fortune you got off easy.
University Admission: You really want to get into that university program and the best way is to have way too many extra credit activities along with your high grades.
High School Credit: It was this or parenting and there was no way you were going to carry a bag of flour around like it was a baby.
Fought Back: They started it, you ended it but you were the one who got in trouble.
Mistaken Identity: It wasn’t you but no one believes it.
Story
Part 1: Cleaning the park
The officer who’s in charge of the group gives them their cleaning tools and then tells them to clean up the park. He then leaves to find “decent coffee”.
The park is set between three large buildings and is a perfect square. The walls of the building have been painted in murals dedicated to women scientists. In the center of the park is a four-metre tall statue of Hedy Lamarr. There is a swing set, several trees, a slide, and a destroyed plot that must have been a flower garden.
The park is filthy, covered in shards of glass, metal, and more garbage than the players have ever seen.
Let the players talk amongst themselves. With a Luck or Mind check of 3, they find pieces of the WiFi transmitter with DoorTech logos on it. With a Mind of 4 they recognize the tech as not being human design.
Have the players all do a Mind check and have the highest remember that the statue used to be a hologram and not a large brass statue.
Part 2: Gang encounter
As they are cleaning, a group of men in purple jackets come by and start heckling them. They are a local gang called the Blue Bloods. If one of the players has done something criminally impressive, they try to recruit them. There are the same amount of gang members as players.
The gang members are aggressive in their taunts and recruitment. Either way they are looking for a fight. The players can avoid a fight by bluffing that they’ll join, intimidating, or outsmarting them. Have the players role against the gang members’ Luck.
Part 3: Strange noises and a big red button
After the gang members leave, their chaperone comes back and berates them for how little they’ve done before leaving for more coffee.
A Luck, Body, or Mind of 2 will have them finding a large button hiding in the mural of Hedy Lamarr. There are weird squeaks and chirps coming from behind the mural. If they press it, it opens a large door that leads to a staircase going down.
Part 4: Monkeys in the secret room
If the players choose not to go into the secret area or even hit the button, have 3-5 Flying Monkeys come out of the door as they go back to cleaning.
If they decided to explore, they will find a secret surveillance lab. A Mind or Luck 2 will have them realize that Door Tech has found a way to use WiFi to map and surveil areas, which was why they’d installed the large WiFi transmitter.
There is a door at the other side of the lab that seems to be a weapons cache.
As they decide to leave the room, 3-5 flying monkeys fly in from outside and attack.
Part 5: Statue
Once the players have fought the monkeys, have the police officer return and offer them a donut. It will heal 2 health.
If they tell him what happened, he doesn’t believe them, if they don’t, he sits on a swing and starts to eat a donut.
Just as the players are finishing up the park cleaning, they find an inscription at the base of the statue that says, “All creative people want to do the unexpected.” It’s attributed to Hedy Lamarr and once they’ve read it, the statue comes to life and tries to kill them. The police officer faints.
The statue disappears after it’s defeated.
Conclusion
After they’ve defeated the statue, three military vehicles with the DoorTech logo show up and interrogate the players. A luck or mind 3 will be enough to bluff that they haven’t seen anything. The police officer wakes up and helps the players get away from the DoorTech security teams.
If the players go to the police about the underground they are dismissed as making stuff up. If they go back, the button is gone. Have the players be visited, together or separately, by either the Blue Bloods or DoorTech with offers of scholarships, recruitment, internships, or something else the player(s) would want.
If the players have cruised through the adventure, you can have them visited by the local superhero team of the Phantom and the Wraith. The heroes believe them and want to know more. They promise to get to the bottom of it.
Opponents
Blue Bloods
Flying Monkey
Statue
Health
5
2
6
Defence
5
5
6
Body
3
0
4
Mind
0
3
0
Luck
3
3
4
Abilities
Brass Knuckles 2 Stun Gun 2
Bite 2 Scratch 1
Giant fist 2 Explode Electronic 2
Read More about Westmeath in Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests
The week before Kennedy and Jason’s wedding is busy. There are cake tastings, dress fittings, a formal ball, and, as their superhero personas the Phantom and the Wraith, fighting monsters.
These behemoths are destructive, smell like snack food, and are only after one thing: Door Tech Industries technology.
Adding to the chaos are their friends and families; Jason’s grandmother has returned after having been missing for half a century, Kennedy’s mom is dead-set on keeping things traditional, and Jason’s best friend is kidnapped before the rehearsal.
Kennedy and Jason just want to get married, preferably before the next monster attack.
The second book of four in The Gates of Westmeath series.
Every book utilizes tropes, even if it’s to subvert them, and Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests is no exception. This book covers: Urban Fantasy, No angst romance, Wedding, Detailed worldbuilding, Battle couple, superheroes, hidden magical world, and dual POV.
Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests by Jen and Éric Desmarais is available now!
When we’re writing, it helps to have a basic visual for the characters, before adding characteristics that then change them (either slightly or drastically). Sometimes it’s quite easy to find your dream cast, other times its next to impossible.
In Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests, we were able to reuse a lot of the characters from Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers (with one notable exception – spoilers!). You can check them out here (link to secondary characters part 1, with parts 2 & 3 links at the bottom of the page).
Kennedy Fairfield
Appearance inspired by Olivia Holt
Age: 22
Date of Birth: July 11, 1980
Appearance: Long blonde hair, green eyes, tall, white
Job: Agricultural Scientist at the Westmeath Agricultural Research Cooperative (Westmeath ARC). AKA the Wraith, a vigilante who glows with an unearthly green light and seen with the Phantom since September 2002
Family: mother and father Lilah and Gerard Fairfield live on a farm in Parry Sound, Ontario; grandmother Denise Lake lives in Baker, Ontario
Siblings: Older brother Phillip, married and has one son (just shy of 2 years old); twin older sisters Eliza and MacKenzie; younger brother Tommy
Jason Johnson
Appearance inspired by a young Jason Momoa
Age: 26
Date of Birth: November 8, 1976
Appearance: Shaggy dark hair, hazel eyes, tall, golden brown skin
Job: Owner and operator of a pizza restaurant The Hawaiian. Co-head of the Oldtown Council. AKA the Westmeath Phantom, a vigilante with the power to manipulate and control shadows
Parents: Hammond and Monique Johnson, both deceased.
Family: Younger sister Zoe is married to Gabrielle and they have one daughter Brooke (just shy of 2 years old); grandmother Kathryn Johnson
Tommy Fairfield
Appearance inspired by Maxwell Jenkins
Age: 15
Date of Birth: May 11, 1988
Appearance: Short blond hair, green eyes, tall, white
Grade: 9
Favourite class: Math or Science or Music
Family: mother and father Lilah and Gerard Fairfield live on a farm in Parry Sound, Ontario; grandmother Denise Lake lives in Baker, Ontario
Siblings: Older brother Phillip, married and has one son (just shy of 2 years old); twin older sisters Eliza and MacKenzie; older sister Kennedy, who is engaged to Jason Johnson and lives in Westmeath.
Carter Batudev
Appearance inspired by Max Torina
Age: 15
Date of Birth: March 5, 1988
Appearance: Curly brown hair, grey eyes, tall, bronze skin
Grade: 9
Favourite class: Science
Parents: Sam and William Batudev own a bakery in Westmeath, Ontario
Siblings: None
Veronica Giles
Appearance inspired by Olesya Rulin
Age: 26
Date of Birth: Unknown
Appearance: Short and pale, with shoulder length chocolate wavy brown hair, large eyes, heart shaped face, and pointy chin; has an air of innocence
Job: Engineer at Door Tech in Westmeath
Family: Her uncle is Reverend Patrick Mitchel, the reverend of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Anglican Church in Westmeath
Connection to Protagonists: Jason’s best friend and the Phantom’s ‘Person in the Chair’
“Hey, Tommy. Are you taking a bath with me?” Kennedy asked the seven-month-old, who was sitting in the empty laundry basket next to the tub.
The little boy smiled happily at her and waved the yellow duck bath toy clutched firmly in his fist.
“No, he had his bath this afternoon,” her mother said. “He’s here because the big kids have chores and homework to do.”
“Oh, I don’t mind.” Kennedy made quick work of her clothes, dropping them in a little pile next to the basket. “I love hanging out with him.”
The water was nice and hot, and she sank into it with a sigh of satisfaction, propping her elbows on the edge of the tub so she could continue to watch Tommy playing.
“I got a call from Mrs. Fox, Sadie’s mom, this afternoon,” her mother said, digging a washcloth out of the linen closet behind the door.
Kennedy dropped below the edge of the tub, sinking as much of herself under the water as possible, but didn’t say anything.
“Sadie told her that her bloody nose wasn’t as bad as your black eye.” Her mother squirted a bottle of bubble bath into the water near the faucet before perching on the edge of the tub and sighing. “Kennedy, we need to talk.”
“They were being mean to the grade ones!” Kennedy blurted out.
“The grade eight boys?”
Kennedy nodded and swished herself around until she was sitting cross-legged, her knees poking out of the water. “Sadie told them to leave the kids alone, to stop telling lies about Santa not existing. They wouldn’t leave!”
“And instead of going to get a teacher, you decided to fight them?”
“I was angry.” Kennedy scooped some bubbles up with her hands and made them into a tower.
“Did it solve anything?”
“Maybe they’ll think twice next time.” Kennedy squished her mountain fiercely, sending bubbles splashing up the wall and onto her mother’s leg. “Oops. Sorry, Mom.”
“Would it be worth it if I got angry with you right now? You know you’re not supposed to splash in the tub.”
“No,” Kennedy replied quietly.
“What could you have done differently?”
Kennedy gathered the bubbles into a large circle in front of herself. “They attacked Sadie first. If I’d run for a teacher, she might have gotten hurt worse. I suppose… I could have asked a little kid to get a teacher and screamed my head off?”
“They attacked Sadie first?” Her mother’s mouth thinned. “I hadn’t heard that part. I think we need to have a discussion with those boys and their parents with the principal present.”
“Good idea. They need to know that they can’t tell lies and get away with it.” Kennedy started making a smaller circle above the big one.
“You’re right, but Kennedy, darling, we need to talk about Santa Claus.”
“Did he not get my letter?” Kennedy asked, sloshing the water when she flailed.
“Sweetheart, he doesn’t exist.”
“Of course he does!” Kennedy said, brushing off her mother’s words unconcernedly. “I have his letters to me in my closet.”
“No, dear, your father wrote those.”
“They don’t look like his writing.” Kennedy narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her mother. “Why are you saying this?”
“He wrote them with his left hand.” Her mother waved a hand in the air. “That’s not the point. The point is that you are old enough to understand that Santa is a concept used to teach little kids about the spirit of giving.”
“But…” Kennedy couldn’t stop the tears, her throat going tight with the pressure of them. “But Santa!” she gasped. “He’s real!” She buried her face in her hands, regretting that she was in the bath and couldn’t hug her mother.
“Oh, sweetie.” Gentle hands smoothed her hair back. “I think you know I’m telling you the truth.”
“What about Tommy?” she sobbed.
“What about him?”
“If Santa’s not real, how can he bring Tommy presents? It’s not fair that he doesn’t get presents from Santa!” She inelegantly wiped her nose with the heel of her hand.
Her mother chuckled. “Your father and I will buy him Santa presents, just like we did for you and your older siblings.”
“What about the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy? They’re real, aren’t they?” Kennedy asked, grasping at straws. She couldn’t believe it.
“What do you think?”
A fresh wave of sadness swamped Kennedy. “No,” she said softly, tears flowing silently down her cheeks. “I guess they’re not either.”
“But now that you know the truth, you can help make Christmas special for Tommy and for the other little kids at your school,” her mother said.
“How?”
“Well, what is it that Santa does?”
Kennedy swallowed a knot in her throat. “He gives presents.”
“Okay. And?”
“He spreads joy.”
“How do you think you can do that?”
“By being nice to people?”
“How do you want to do that?”
“I could give them presents?” Kennedy frowned. “I don’t have any money.”
“You don’t. But you have time. How would you like to volunteer with the church youth group? They’re going to be wrapping presents for the homeless shelter after the service on Sunday.”
Kennedy brightened. “I can do that! I wrap really well!”
“You do.”
“I can wrap the presents for you too!”
“Not yours,” her mother teased.
“Of course not! I want to be surprised!” Kennedy said, shocked at the idea. She leaned over the edge of the tub and gave Tommy a kiss on the forehead.
He burbled back at her and grabbed for her hair.
“No, Tommy. We don’t grab hair,” her mother said firmly. “Are you feeling better about the whole Santa thing, dear?”
Kennedy sniffed. “I’m sad that he’s not real. I feel like someone I loved died.”
“He’s still here. He’s in all of us.”
“That’s what you said when Great-Uncle Ernest died,” Kennedy accused.
“So I did. Was I wrong? He lives on in the stories we tell about him.”
“I suppose.”
“Come on, let’s get you washed.”
“But I didn’t get to play!” she protested, sticking her bottom lip out. “And you just told me that Santa doesn’t exist!”
Her mother chuckled and shook her head. “That will only work for tonight. I can make your favourite for dinner, how’s that?”
“Chicken casserole? The one with the carrots?” Kennedy said, perking up. Usually that was dinner when they had company.
“Yes, that one.”
“Okay. Can I help?”
“You can peel the carrots.”
“Awesome. Where’s my washcloth?”
Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests by Jen and Éric Desmarais is available now!
