AYLESDALEMap of AylesdaleThe coastal town of Aylesdale was clearly a center of business. While still a small town, it functioned as a port, trading goods from Ireland and Wales, and shipping them inland to major economic centers like London. The beautiful sandy beaches are enticing, but like the other town in the region, Kingswood Foss, Aylesdale has high walls built around it to protect the denizens from the creatures that lurk in the sea and in the forest nearby. But no walls were built around the docks, which remain open to the water and whatever might be lurking there.
For a list of residents, visit the
Aylesdale page.
LocationsBusiness District || Across the square from Town Hall is the business district, a bustling center for locals and any tourists or sailors who might be passing through. There is a general store for groceries and other household items, a doctor's office, a small morgue behind the doctor's office, a tailor shop, a shoe shop, a private lawyer, a butchery, a locksmith, and a sewing shop. In the locksmith's shop is an Enfield Mk II Revolver
[reference pic].
There are also a few small personal shops where townspeople sell art, carvings, antiques, etc. to travelers passing through.
A few of the shops have small apartments over them, mostly two-room apartments, though above the doctor's office here are several bedrooms, as this apartment would be used for convalescing patients.
There is also a nice restaurant with large windows overlooking the Town Square. There is a sign outside which labels it
Resaurant Sur Le Vert (literally: restaurant on the green).
From plaques on the doors or ledgers found in drawers, one could figure out the names of the store owners:
General Store Owner: Walter Adams
Doctor: Roger Lower
Tailor: Mark Griggs
Cobbler: Mordecai Wakefield
Lawyer: Timothy Wickes & Sons
Butcher: Joseph Younger
Locksmith: John Roughley
Seamstress: Grace Brewer
Other surnames in the ledgers include Stanbury, Sheills, Down, Rowe, Mast, Gedge, Aubin, and Forge.
Church || The church is a large wooden building, whitewashed with a simple steeple and a few stained-glass windows. The inside looks like your average church, filled with pews with an altar at the front. A Bible lies on the altar, and there are a couple candles as well, which are burned down to stumps.
The vicar lives in a well-kept two-room home next to the church. It's very tidy inside. He collected ceramic statuettes, so there are quite a few cases of them against the walls in the front room.
Dance Hall/Brothel || On the seedier side of the business district, close to the warehouses, there's a little dance hall/brothel with a little sign outside labeling it The Cherry Box. Inside is a small stage, various tables, a little piano, and lots of back rooms. Aylesdale's one nod to the horror genre is a skeleton of a dead prostitute in one of the back rooms. It is dressed provocatively.
Docks & Warehouses || There are only three docks, all empty. There are mooring ropes wrapped around poles, but no boats anywhere to be seen.
By the docks are three large warehouses. The first is completely empty, the second has a few small piles of dynamite under tarps, and the third has an automobile under a tarp. The automobile has a full tank of petrol, but it's broken down and would take a good mechanic to get it going again. Somewhere in the third warehouse, under a pile of tarps, is a .577 Snider-Enfield Rifle
[reference pic].
Lower-Class District || While there are no real "upper" and "lower" classes, especially compared with the rest of the country, there are distinctions between laborers, shopkeepers, tradesmen, dockworkers and the like, and those with government jobs or higher levels of education. The former class lives in houses or tenement buildings close to the docks and the train station. There are two or three small apartments one on top of the other in each building, and there are one or two detached houses, with only two or three rooms each. They have gas lighting or candles and nothing much in the way of good supplies or comfortable bedding.
Mansion || By the wall in the upper-class district is a decent-sized mansion. There are several bedrooms, a ballroom, a large kitchen and dining room, a sitting room, and outside there is a large yard with a garden and a pond. By most standards it would simply be considered a large house, but in a small town like Ayesdale, only the richest of the rich would have lived here, and the possessions you'll find inside reflect that.
Police Station || Right on the town square on the edge of the business district is a small police station. There's an outer room with a couple desks for the officers. The chief has his own hole-in-the-wall office behind a glass door. Off the main room is a holding area with three empty jail cells. Each officer and the chief has a Webley "Metropolitan Police" Revolver
[reference pic] in his desk.
A small plaque on the chief's desk identifies him as Chief Constable Levi Lynch
Post Office || The post office has an outer room with woven ropes to indicate where the line should stand. Behind the desk is a chair for the postman, with various writing implements, a drawer of stamps, and a cash box, full of money.
A door next to the desk leads to the sorting room, which is full of unopened letters and parcels.
Just off the sorting room is a door leading to the postmaster's office. It's as cluttered as the sorting room, full of letters, papers, and boxes.
Another door leads from the sorting room to the loading dock, where letters would be placed on a cart to be taken to the train station or the docks. There is a rickety cart there, but no horse to pull it.
Schoolhouse || The schoolhouse of Aylesdale is a two-room building. A hallway separates the two rooms.
The room on the left is for younger students. A chalkboard is at the front of the room, behind the teacher's desk. The room is lined with benches for the students to sit at.
On the right is the room for the older students. These are teenagers, mostly boys, and because there are fewer of them they get their own desks. It is almost identical to the classroom for the younger children, with a desk and a chalkboard at the head of the room.
Tavern || Next to the brothel is a little tavern. The painted sign outside shows a picture of a white lion lying down and the words The Pale Lion. On the ground floor is a small kitchen and bar, fully stocked with alcohol, with several wooden tables and chairs scattered around the floor. A stairway leads up to the top floor, where there are several bedrooms of varying sizes. None of them could really be called "spacious," however. Under the bar is a large cudgel and a Beaumont-Adams Revolver
[reference pic].
There's a note that reads, "Henry and Nora Ashdown, proprietors"
Town Hall || This is the largest building in town aside from the warehouses, with a main room that can accommodate nearly everyone in town. The walls are lined with high windows, and at the front end is a dais with a podium for speakers. The floor is covered in benches that can be arranged for town meetings or put off to the side.
A small staircase leads up to the second floor and the offices. The front room is a waiting area with chairs for visitors and a desk for a secretary. The mayor and his aide each have their own office. The aide's office is little bigger than a closet, but the mayor's is spacious enough, and has windows overlooking the town square.
A small plaque on the mayor's desk identifies him as Mayor Owen Rennold.
Town Square || The town square of Aylesdale is a neatly maintained grassy area between two branches of the main street, in the midst of the Town Hall, the school, shops, and a few of the nicer houses. In the middle of the green is a single tree with a bench underneath, for anyone who wants to sit and observe the goings-on of the townspeople. It's the ideal spot for picnics or outdoor social gatherings.
Train Station || Behind the post office is the train station. There is a single platform, with a wooden wall and overhang to shield travelers from the rain. Against the wall is a single bench. The town name is painted in large white letters on the wall. Since it's the end of the line, the track stops right after the platform. The train itself is completely dead in the water, with nothing to power it. It's about four cars long, including the engine car, a car that was once full of coal for fuel, and two empty passenger cars.
Upper-Class District || Those with education or government standing live in the comparative "upper class" district, located away from the docks and the train station, on the inland side of town. Their houses have living rooms, kitchens, and bedrooms all separate. A few of them are two-story. Several have small gardens with flowers as well as herbs or vegetables, and some of them even have small front or back yards. These houses are made from stone, some from nicer wood, and are in generally better repair than the houses in the lower-class district.
In one of the houses is a Borchardt C-93 Pistol
[reference pic].
KINGSWOOD FOSSMap of Kingswood FossLocated away from the shore in the foothills of the mountains, Kingswood Foss has all the appearances of a thriving artistic community. A beautiful mountain stream flows through the center of town, and the buildings, though small, speak to a love of culture and learning. Like the other town in the region, Aylesdale, Kingswood Foss has high walls to protect it from the creatures that lurk outside in the wilderness.
There are no current residents in Kingswood Foss. Everyone is welcome to visit, but until the game grows there won't be anyone appearing there.
LocationsBusiness District || Located just outside Kingswood Park, the business district is where to go for any needs one might have. There's a general store for food not available from local farmers, as well as various other household needs. Aside from the general store, there's a butcher shop, a doctor's office, a small morgue behind the doctor's office, a shoe repair shop, and a clothing shop for finer clothes that one wouldn't generally make oneself.
From ledgers found in drawers, on could figure out the names of the various store owners:
General Store Owner: Tom Strain
Butcher: Luke Urwin
Doctor: Roderick Kaylock
Cobbler: Eli Sinnett
Tailor: Julius Devitt
The ledgers aren't as well-kept as those in Aylesdale, since there are very few travelers through Kingswood Foss, everybody knows everybody else, and there's no real need to keep meticulous notes. But other surnames that might show up in the ledgers include: Beechworth, Blair, Stanbury, and Vinge.
Cemetery || Outside the town walls is a grassy hill that has been the site of the Kingswood Cemetary for hundreds of years. The graves date all the way back to the 1400's, though many of the older ones have been extremely worn by the elements, and many are cracked or completely overgrown. Parts of the cemetery, especially those with more recent grave sites, look like they were well-tended until recently, but some parts are extremely overgrown. There is one mausoleum near the very top of the hill, with the name Danvers written above the door. The site is scattered with tall trees, it overlooks the stream, and if one doesn't mind the spooky connotations it's actually quite a serene place.
Church || Other than the theater, the church is the best building in town. It's small as churches go, and made from stone with a single steeple. The windows are made of stained glass - no expense was spared. The inside looks like your average church, filled with pews with an altar at the front. A Bible lies on the altar, and there are a couple candles as well, which are burned down to stumps.
Beside the church is a small vicarage, made from stone and overgrown with ivy, where the vicar would live. It is full of books and manuscripts - the vicar here was clearly a man of learning.
Farm || Outside the city walls is a farm. It was clearly thriving - the pantries are bursting, there were horses, cows, chickens, and other livestock quartered in the stables and pens.
There is a barn, with a loft full of grain and empty stalls where there used to be horses. There are a wide variety of farming tools stored here.
The farmhouse is larger than the average house in the town, with a living room, kitchen, and a second story for the bedrooms. In the living room, mounted over the mantle, is a 12 Gauge Boswell Shotgun
[reference pic], which has obviously been taken down and used regularly.
Kingswood Foss Lending Library || The lending library looks like a converted home, with three or four small rooms filled with bookcases. The books are in no particular order, except for being divided into fiction and non-fiction. There are maybe two thousand books all-told - a very impressive collection.
The fiction selection includes most of the prominent authors of the day, including the Bronte sisters, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Thomas Carlyle, Lewis Carroll, G.K. Chesterton, Mary Coleridge, Joseph Conrad, Charles Dickens, Benjamin Disraeli, Arthur Conan Doyle, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, A.E. Housman, Thomas Hughes, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Moore, Robert Lewis Stevenson, Bram Stoker, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and Oscar Wilde.
The non-fiction selection has books on art, history, science, and etiquette, as well as a few stranger, older texts. Somewhere in here is a vague text on that Carghast place.
By the door is a desk where the librarian would sit.
Kingswood Park || Kingswood Foss' town square is more a park than a square: the beautiful Kingswood Park is a wooded, grassy area with a mountain stream flowing through the center and quaint wooden bridges. Quiet and serene, this is the perfect getaway for people looking to get some time to themselves.
Lower-Class District || Again, there are no real "lower" and "upper" classes, as everyone is in roughly the same income bracket. But there are still slight distinctions. Near the outer wall, close to the schoolhouse and the theater, lies the lower-class district. These houses have gas or candles, are only two or three rooms - one of them has only one room - and do not have much in the way of comfortable bedding or good supplies. The houses get poorer the closer to the wall you get. A few have flower-boxes in the window and nice drapes, but that's about as close to decor as they get. Some have small gardens for herbs or vegetables, and they generally have stone walkways. Most have evidence of dogs or cats living there. They're generally sturdy, most made from stone, but many are in need of some repair or another. Farm hands, carpenters, other menial laborers, shopkeepers, and tradesmen live here.
Schoolhouse || A typical one-room schoolhouse of the time, the floor is lined with benches at which boys and girls would sit and practice their letters or read their textbooks. At the front of the room is a desk for the schoolmaster to sit at.
Smithy || On the outskirts of town is a little smithy. There is plenty of steel and iron lying around, and the forge and bellows are fully functional. The walls are lined with horseshoes, hammers, tongs, chisels, and fullers (tools for making grooves). There are a few swords, axes, pitchforks, and other implements on benches and hung on the walls.
Town Hall || This is a small building, where the affairs of government take place and where town meetings occur. The main room is spacious and numerous benches are stacked against the walls, which can be cleared away or put out depending on what the room is being used for. There is a small stage, for speakers or dances.
Off the main room is an antechamber with a desk for a secretary and a few chairs for people to wait.
Behind a door is the Mayor's office, a fairly simple affair with a desk, one small bookshelf, and a picture of cattle on the wall.
A small plaque on the Mayor's desk identifies him as Mayor Calvin Akerman. Inside the desk is a British Bulldog Revolver
[reference pic].
Upper-Class District || The comparative upper class lives on the other side of the theater. These houses have living rooms, kitchens, and bedrooms all separate. A few of them are two-story. Several have small gardens with flowers as well as herbs or vegetables, and their stone walkways might be lined with flowers as well. Many have spacious backyards. These houses are also made from stone, some from nicer wood, and are in generally better repair than the houses in the lower-class district. People like the doctor, the mayor, people who work directly for the mayor, and the schoolmaster live there.
In one of the houses is a Beaumont-Adams Revolver
[reference pic].
Victoria Theater || One of the nicest building in town, the theater is named for England's ruler, Queen Victoria. It has a fairly spacious stage, across the front of which are lamps lit by gas and a prompter's box. The wings are cluttered with scenery and props from previous shows, all rather makeshift-looking, nothing like the fine scenery that was to be found in London. The seats are all wooden benches - it was optional to bring your own pillow.
SURROUNDING WILDERNESSMap of the Surrounding WildernessSince the events that occurred in Aylesdale in the fall of 1898, the wilderness, which was once beautiful and drew many tourists, has become tangled, nearly impassable in places. And if you walk too far in any one direction, you'll come up against an invisible wall that's completely impenetrable by any physical or magical attack.
It's roughly a day's journey between the towns, and about a week from either town to one of the walls - two weeks from one wall to the parallel wall.
LocationsCoastline || Further north, the coast is rough and rocky, turning gentler south of Aylesdale. There are a few nice beaches just south of the town, but after the river delta, it becomes rough and rocky once more, and if you follow it all the way into the forest, it becomes a series of high cliffs.
Forest || Around Kingswood Foss and the lake area, the forest is gentle, and quite beautiful by daylight. But the further north and the further east you go, the thicker, tougher, and darker it gets. Deeper in the forest, there are fewer animals, much less sunlight, and a tangled web of roots and rocks that at times is almost impossible to make your way through. It's particularly bad right around the swamp.
Lakes & Rivers || There are two lakes and two rivers in the area. One river runs right through the center of Kingswood Foss, branching off as it leaves the mountain foothills, one branch ending in the Irish Sea and the other ending in a lake. The second lake is deeper in the forest, and the river has many more offshoots, one serving as the western border of the swamp. The river through Kingswood Foss is fairly small and tame, but the other is wider, deep, and swift, and there are several rapids and one small waterfall.
Mountainous Terrain || As you leave the coast behind, you enter the foothills of the mountains, and the further north you go, the higher and more treacherous the terrain gets. The mountains are riddled with valleys, crevices, and caves, all of which could be crawling with all number of strange creatures.
Swampy Area || To the east of the river lies a dangerous swamp. If you need to cross from west to east, it's best to follow the train tracks or you could become hopelessly lost. There are some solid areas - enough to pass through unharmed if you're careful and stick to right path - but many of the paths dead-end in quicksand.
Train Line || The train line runs roughly west to east from Aylesdale. It is in decent repair, though certain spots are worse than others. The track running through the swamp has been eaten away at and is starting to rust, and much of the wood is beginning to rot.
CARGHASTThis town is referenced only in obscure texts as a center of magic. It's said that anyone who finds it can travel between worlds. Find Carghast, and you may be able to return home.
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