Stewards of Benevolence
Warning:
Black Ichor Scenarios include "soft" horror text and graphics.
It may not be suitable for children or the skittery to read.
Opinion of the writer: PG-13 material.
Crooked Mile Committee
The inaugural council meeting for Crooked Mile Valley took place in July 1904. It was not an official meeting. Control over the valley's governance was in the hands of the Fairelands Triumverate. For a century, farmers and locals considered breaking away from Hale, but only a handful of families and three businesses were willing to finance the separation. Expenses for security, safety nets, and road maintenance were significant. Wealthy landowners, disliking taxes, decided against creating a local governing body.
Structure
Crooked Mile Committee Governing Structure
Crooked Mile Mile anticipates a change in the evolution of valley governance. Before the 1900s, village governance operated through town meetings, a direct democracy system where residents voted on issues. This system stopped being effective when the valley grew.
Until 1898, the region did not consider its wide open spaces to be a town or village. Even in 1907, it saw itself as a cluster of neighborhoods that shared a goal of maintaining harmony and resisting corruption.
The valley saw an influx of professionals, including doctors, lawyers, professors, and administrators, due to commuting workers and Briarbank College Annex annex students. They extended their services to include public education, sanitation, and law enforcement administration. It didn't take long for them to renovate older homes and barns that needed repair. Professionals desired to reside in the valley permanently. Special districts were created to cater to specific needs, such as water supply, fire protection, and tax levying and bond issuing agencies.
When the Goose Valley Landing Valley subdivision was established, the population of the valley doubled. Developers in Fairelands profited from the Valley's success in attracting young families to purchase middle-class homes, making offers to wealthy landowners for non-residential land.
The combination of industrial automation and Six Year War innovations resulted in higher efficiency, tax revenue growth, and the demand for representation. The town square, where locals voiced their concerns, relocated to the town hall, where newcomers anticipated written publication of their issues. Handshakes and smiles were replaced by contracts and agreements.
The Crooked Mile Gazette Newspaper, a recent business venture, began reporting on candidates seeking representative offices. In order to not cause alarm, they used informal titles for the officeholders of the Stewards of Benevolence. Cyril Potter Potter decided to accept the title of Represented Advocate instead of becoming president of the valley. The other board members, appointed by Cyril, also preferred similar titles. Through a secret vote, no one consented to being referred to as a premier or president, at least temporarily.
Inside Rumor
Cyril surprised everyone by revealing his hidden talent as a lawyer, specifically his capability to officiate weddings as a notary or legal officiant. He loved calling out winning bids for horses or used farm equipment. With reluctance, he agreed to his position.
Culture
Residents interested in building a Crooked Mile Valley are proud to be acquainted with one another. Their shared moral values emphasize piety, hard work, and personal responsibility. Despite seeing change, they still rely on farming as their main source of income.
Blacksmiths, carpenters, and horse trainers are employed by private concerns like Lenny Garamund Stables. Unskilled employees were hired by merchants to be trained. In response, the Crooked Mile Committee extended special accommodations to their merchants. They sought independence from the Triumverate to provide incentives the Primacy deemed unnecessary in rural Crooked Mile Valley.
The Committee's main priority was to ensure access to education. The Briarbank College Annex College Annex, constructed by Briar College Alumni, was under the exclusive rule of the Organization Triumverate. The Benevolence Foundation's Stewards gathered money to purchase the Annex completely. As of Crooked Mile Valley Independence Day, 75% of it had been purchased. The committee had plans to combine the public Little School School with the Annex during its ownership. Scholarships to the Annex would be granted to public elementary and secondary school students.
Assets
While a few assets continue to be owned by the Primacy the Stewards either borrowed, bought or stole the following:
- The Goose Valley Trolley funded by the Crooked Mile Committee and Crooked Mile Merchants.
- Perpetual Seas Airship LandinPublic and Private Harbor.
- Lightkeeper Lending Library underwritten by the Crooked Mile Circle.
- Shiver Springs Aquifer & Water Agency
- Circle Drum Square Shared with the Crooked Mile Circle.
- Little School
- The Lighthouse is owned by the Crooked Mile Circle (a gift from Jason Garamund).
Berkside Transit, Scarlet Woods Station East and the Glass Sea are still owned by the Triumverate. Use taxes are paid to the Primacy, but all other privately are taxed by the Circle Mile Committee. The Coastal Cave Park system and the Canal Boat locks are cooperatively owned by the Primacy and the Committee.
The Perpetual Seas and the Crooked Mile Cemetary are governed by the Crooked Mile Committee. Residents of Crooked Mile are never charged for burial properties. Intruders are charged when applicable.
History
Hale engaged in a war with Otherwhere countries in 1898. The unofficial leaders of Crooked Mile were determined to aid Hale in defending themselves and the valley. The decision by Otherwhere to take over farms and industries has seriously concerned residents. They were aware of the harsh situations that other absorbed countries encountered. Landowners had their rights taken away and were forced to surrender property deeds. Their crops were taken away and their workers were treated so badly that they died in large numbers during harvest. Residents in war-torn regions froze to death during the Shiver because their timber, coal, and oil reserves were sold to Otherwhere citizens at a price lower than the cost of production.
Despite growing tensions, Crooked Mile Valley heeded the call to join the Triumverate militias and obeyed their commands. Oldfaire recognized Crooked Mile Valley as a sovereign people when they needed their aid in combatting their adversaries. The families who sent their soldiers to war remained mindful of their wish to keep the two worlds apart.
The last thing they desired was to encounter the ancient and malevolent forces that persisted in the Fairelands, regardless of Newfaire's apparent modernity.
Demography and Population
Population growth in the Valley doubled in 1899. It is now estimated to be 2,000 individuals.
For security concerns, seniors migrated from the Fairelands during the Six Year War. Many young people moved to the Valley to fill vacancies left by soldiers, who joined the defense effort. Families moved into the valley after the war to purchase reasonably priced homes.
The growth of a commuter unskilled employees and a decline in smallholder farmers led to changes in social hierarchies within villages.
Religion
Diverse religions are particed in Crooked Mile or not at all. The Harvest Temple Temple call themselves "an old time religion." In part because the church has been there for 70 years. Its pastor is 97 years old, and the congregation mean age is 77. College students do attend the church infrequently to research traditions and rituals.
Recognized churches, temples and other places of worship require a train trip. The Berkside Transit Train System trains run from 7 am - 11 am Saturdays and Sundays to accommodate parishioners. When residents miss the train they can find a service started every half hour at the Harvest Temple. Many of these visitors to the church walk in and scurry out. The many varieties of snakes housed in the church foyer scare them.
The rumor is that Pastor Will intentionally keeps his pet snakes in the foyer,so that he can get a good giggle out of tourist reactions. The serpents are rarely asked to participate in a service.
Cult presence is always an issue for the Crooked Mile Committe to consider for different reasons. These groups are consistently involved with some unappreciated or criminal endeavor.
It isn't what thet believe that bothers me, it is what they do to horrify residents and guests
Crooked Mile Valley Sovereign
Crooked Mile Valley Crest by ROD w/Midjourney
Stewards of Benevolence Monthly Meeting
Reading and Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes
- 1. Reports from Crooked Mile Valley Officiants.
- 2. Consideration of new ordinances or regulations.
- 3. Review of Valley finances and budget, discussion and approval of expenditures.
- 4. Taxes and Contributions.
- 1. Road maintenance and construction, bridges, water supply, or sanitation.
- 2. Approval of contracts for infrastructure projects.
- 1. Local business and economic development.
- 2. Offering incentives for development, Licensing and regulating businesses.
- 3. Petitions and requests from residents.
Infrastructure
Health
Public safety and health, discussing public health issues and potential measures, appointing public health officials or committees.
Crime and Law Enforcement
Education
Discussion of school funding and construction, hiring teachers and overseeing the Little School system, educational standards or curriculum.
Merchants and Business
- 1. Taking action on petitions or proposals, providing updates on previous requests
- 2. Announcements from town officials about upcoming events or changes, public notices and legal advertisements.
- 3. Achievements or contributions by residents.
Concerns and Requests From Residents
Opportunity for Residents to Address the Council with Concerns or Suggestions
Open Discussion and Debate
Closing the Meeting and Setting the Date for the Next Meeting
Secretary Ellie-Ellen Ogden Note
Concerns about paranormal or unexplained phenomena can be addressed discreetly. Please drop your mailed concerns to the Lightkeeper's Lending Library, Attn: Timothy Lignon or Professor Elizabeth Ogden.
Announcement
Town hall meetings are commonly held on a monthly basis. The agenda is frequently displayed on trees, public buildings, and in the Gazette Newspaper. The public is invited to attend and participate in the meetings. The extent of decision-making power in the Valley depends on the concern.
Founding Date
July 19, 1907
Type
Geopolitical, Village council
Capital
Alternative Names
Crooked Mile Valley Committee
Leader
Head of Government
Government System
Democracy, Representative
Power Structure
Autonomous area
Economic System
Mixed economy
Gazetteer
Crooked Mile Valley is home to Black Ichor Scenario’s Crooked Mile Circle, a secret society that belongs to the Radiant Order. Candela Obscura and hundreds of other circles belong to this order. Games are often opened with an introduction by a homebrewed circle like Crooked Mile. During a paranormal assignment, the player group that accepts an invitation to share the episodic scenarios creates their own Circle.
A map is considered an illustration and should not be confused with a pre-determined route. Game masters and player characters choose their own routes and transportation to find clues. A map is a way to clear the clutter, so that a story is written by a Lightkeeper and player characters with less fog about where these clues (reveals) are located.
The Crooked Mile Map is a detailed build map that can be studied, but it doesn’t mean the map is used for only one scenario. The valley is a source for several scenarios with the expectation these scenarios will be written into stories by GMs and player characters. To better isolate and narrow a scenario (plot) focus marker groups and layers can assist with pacing. The drop-down menu and a Features Pin explain the process.
Since Crooked Valley is a fiction-first narrative measuring the valley in advance of the mysteries that come out, it is premature, but a good estimate is that the valley is about 2/3 the size of the Fairelands. It is the ambiguous pastoral community kept free of the Oldfaire city’s corruption and arcane alchemy until the war broke out and the train tunneled through the Bridleborne Mountains. Now it’s a cracked, yet not broken mirror trying to hold back the flare bleed.
With the expansion map layers coming soon, Lumensmere, the home brewed version of the Fairelands and the Cirsea Isles, it will grow much larger, along with the many scenarios already in the editing stage. For now there is plenty of ground to cover, and World Anvil’s pinning by layer and overlay helps to clarify where characters can find satisfying outcomes. Writers won’t get lost and players will learn the game’s gist in no time.
Crooked Valley is a homebrewed adaptation with only distant scenario derivation. Nevertheless it is important to credit the originator where possible.
by Darrington Press
Location
Controlled Territories
