The History of Woodinvale

[Pfr_Fate]

Working on a full PDF gazetteer for ATOE's Shadowbrook. Here's a good chunk of it in forum text format:
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Shadowbrook, founded in 1732, is a small town in post-colonial America. A once peaceful community, now it is plagued by evil omens, mysterious deaths, and a veil of secrecy and corruption. The Townsfolk are frightened and ready to abandon Shadowbrook forever. Lord Hanbrook and the town eldars have even sent word for the local milita.
But all is not lost, yet. A careful visitor can calm the populace and win their favor (Investigation Points) through reason, strong spirit, kind deeds, offering help or even the discreet use of the townsfolk’s uncovered secrets. This goodwill will aid the visitor in acquiring needed items, services, personal meetings with the Town Eldars or to gather rumours about the secret lives of Shadowbrook.
Ultimately, the visitor may even decide to directly aid Shadowbrook and join in the hunt for the troublesome villain. Searching Shadowbrook for clues to the lair of the great evil (again, Investigation Points) is no easy task, for there is danger everywhere. It is not unheard of for townsfolk to find an unwary traveler wounded or in a terrified fugue (both represented by Wounds). Mercifully, the good folk of Shadowbrook will almost always bring those in need to the town center for resusitation and healing.


THE TOWN CENTER
The heart of Shadowbrook, the town center is where the latest events can be discovered, for good or ill. Here, too, are the cluster of important offices and shops to help the citizens of Shadowbrook ride out the unfolding events.

The Townhall
This large and formal structure is the physical, emotional and political center of Shadowbrook, providing a solid touchstone to all townsfolk. Here, the people try to sort out the chaos of recent events through good, old-fashioned community…and usually succeed. Often found in the center of any such debate is Midwife Sophie, a pretty young woman of honor and spirit whose profession of helping mothers through pregnancy, childbirth and recovery has endeared her to many and provided her with an equal amount of insight into the people of Shadowbrook. Though some may consider her manipulative, she insists that it is with a simple heart that she attempts to help manage the unfolding events concerning her town.

The Blacksmith
If a traveler to Shadowbrook has any needs, then they best contact the town Smithy. Whatever he cannot make or does not have on hand, he will send his wife, Carla, to retrieve from the community storage at the old Windmill. Of course, nothing is without a price, unless he or the town owes a favor.

The Magistrate’s Office
Magistrate Kroft is by far the most intellectual and orderly man in Shadowbrook and he has kept all judicial and administrative matters for the town in steady success, with a watchful eye to the goods and services coming into town from the surrounding wilds. Not given to flights of supernatural fancy, Kroft is a cunning ally in times of sudden danger. His advice – given only to honored guests at his offices and then, only rarely – is always enlightening, practical and useful.

The Doctor’s Office
Though often detached and analytical, Doctor Manning has proven to be a fine doctor for the town of Shadowbrook, especially during these unhealthy times. His clear passion for the medical sciences has helped both animal and townsfolk alike. His home is given over mostly to his studies, with offices, laboratories, an operating room and recovery areas taking up most of the building.

The Church
In such strange days, the community is correct to turn to God and the Reverend Harding is firm and strong with the Lord. With unwavering faith and a stiff upper lip, the Reverend will stand against any threat both natural and un-Godly and will guide the just and righteous visitors of his Church on the path to better understanding of God’s Grace.


OUTSIDE OF TOWN
Circling just outside the center of Shadowbrook are several locations of interest to the curious traveler. They are the Hanbrook Manor, the Abandoned Keep, the Olde Woods and the Windmill. Other well-traveled places are the Covered Bridge, the Fields, the Marshes and the Crossroads.

Hanbrook Manor
Nestled on a small hill outside of the main township, the Manor is the Ancestral Home of the Hanbrooks, the last prominent surviving family of the three founding families of Shadowbrook (what became of the Cardinals and the Grymes is unclear, to this day). The Manor has existed since the mid- to early- 1700s and now houses the third generation of Lord and Lady Hanbrook, their teenage daughter, Lucy, and several servants, notably their faithful Housemaid Selena and the mysterious Servant Girl, Delani.
Important travelers to Shadowbrook are almost always invited to the Manor to visit with the Hanbrooks, usually through one of the many parties, formal town meetings or secretive private visits that occur at the Manor. A tour of the Manor can be had on such occasion, viewing the study (well-decorated with family military souvenirs), the ballroom, the guest quarters, the small chapel, and the well-stocked library, all revealing the great pride Lord Hanbrook displays of the honorable service to the village, God and country that makes the Hanbrook name synonymous with valorous souls, sound purpose and durable health.
The Lord, himself, is a gregarious fellow often willing to offer a new acquaintance anything he has (or that the village might have!), though he exhibits the trademark authoritarian temperament of his forefathers with all but his wife, Lady Hanbrook. Though far more demur, it is she who is the more dangerous of the two – more bite than bark, as it were. Whether she is the cause of the intrigue and secrets that haunt the Manor or simply reacting to them, Lady Hanbrook is subtly testing all and preparing her defenses. She should not be blamed for this attitude, however – the Hanbrooks (like most wealthy families) have made some dangerous enemies over the last century and rumors abound of revenge, hauntings, secret passages built by smugglers or highwaymen and a terrible evil that lingers in the shadowed corners. Is it any wonder that the Lady protects her young, as fair Lucy is (so far) unaware of and untroubled by these local legends.

The Abandoned Keep
Just beyond the wheat fields and above the marsh, there lingers the Abandoned Keep. Most say that it existed long before 1700 and Shadowbrook was founded using its partly crumbling walls as a map marker. The Keep is a large castle in dangerous disrepair with stone towers, courtyards, defensive walls, banquet halls, an old dungeon below and (reportedly) an ancestral tomb.
Jack, the Servant Boy, is probably the most knowledgeable of the Keep in all Shadowbrook, and he has not fully explored its darker rooms. He will excitedly tell tales of how the Keep is used by local highwaymen for a base and storehouse for their weapons and treasures. He will even tell of spotting the mythical highwayman, the Scarlet Shadow, on its walls (though Ben the Watchman, pointedly insists that tale is pure childhood fantasy like the Scarlet Shadow, himself). But what is not to be refuted is the tale of the professor from the city that sought to unearth the history of the Keep from its sunless rooms and how he disappeared, leaving only his equipment behind. It is that tale that keeps Jack from exploring the Keep too deeply, while the thrill of the highwaymen lures him back every time.

The Covered Bridge
As one enters into Shadowbrook from the Crossroads, they must first travel through the Covered Bridge and between the two large stone crosses at the edge of town. Legend has it that each of the three founding families was physically responsible for erecting one of the monuments, with the Hanbrooks currently claiming the Bridge as their effort (though that is under some quiet debate).

The Olde Woods
Primal, ancient and overgrown, the Olde Woods lurk by the Crossroads to Echo Lake, cutting Shadowbrook off from the Coast. Most avoid the Woods, leaving the gnarled trees to the woodsmen of Shadowbrook and to any that look for rare herbs and game. For the least courageous, the Olde Woods is a place for Timber Wolves and vermin, while only the Smugglers and Highwaymen that use the Woods for a meeting place can follow secrets paths to avoid getting hopelessly lost. The far more superstitious entertain themselves around the hearth fire with tales of twisting malevolent trees and undergrowth that are under the magical command of the Witch of the Woods and they hear the howling of what must be werewolves, to be sure. The hunters and woodsman laugh this off as the howls of Franklin the old hound, biggest of the hunting dogs in town…but they do not speak lightly (if at all) about the Witch. Even Ben the Watchman, well familiar with the Woods, tells of finding far stranger evidence than lost axes, a brigand’s pistol or horse, or even bones – far, far stranger stuff, indeed.

The Marshes
Located between the Woods and the Abandoned Keep, the Marshes teem with wildlife. A winding trail has developed by many with an interest in the countryside, but any visitor would be wise to remember that, here, the wild is supreme and the path can be flooded and dangerous.

The Fields
The Hanbrook Fields of wheat and corn are the most abundant in Shadowbrook. Like all things ‘of the family’, Lord Hanbrook welcomes visitors to admire his farmlands and considerately stroll the acreage (while the Lady may post patrols to guard against filchers).

The Windmill
High upon the highest hill by Shadowbrook, the near abandoned Windmill watches over the lives of people below and fulfills a very practical role for the town: community storage. It is here that ‘community property’ like pitchforks, rope, hunting gear, lanterns, blacksmith tools and general tools are stored. Carla, the Blacksmith’s wife is often here gathering some tools for her husband (one supposes) and the Coachmen is well used to the path to town and back. The local militia keeps the township’s gunpowder and some basic weaponry under lock here, as well. In fact, there are so many used, useful and cast-off items, the Windmill has become a maze of boxes, making for many a hiding place.
Perhaps it is the abundance of hiding spots or it is that lofty position that draws people there, for many confess to a visit the Windmill when the mood is upon them – a wayward, thoughtful mood to ponder one’s life and draw up plans for one’s future, to grasp at possibilities, both subtle and gross and a chance for a person to get away from the pull of the community and face the nothingness of a future to be writ large. One can almost feel that if the walls could talk, what secret desires would the Windmill share? The Windmill very well stores more than just Shadowbrook's items – it stores their history of secret dreams and, perhaps, all that bottled up decades of reaching plans and empty futures lingers...something almost alive, in itself….

The Crossroads
Here, the well-worn roads combine and the lonely signpost provides a brief respite from travel and a moment of reflection for any weary soul to offer a speedy choice of paths to Shadowbrook, to Echo Lake, to parts further hence.