TEXT: CROSSROADS
  OF THE
  GOTHIC EARTH
  Second Edition
  A Netbook for the Masque of the
  Red Death setting
  Edited by the Kargatane:
  Joe Bardales � Charles Brown � Andrew Hackard � John W. Mangrum
  Christopher Dale Nichols � Barry Trevelyan � Stuart Turner
  Articles Contributed by:
  David Alexander � Matthew Ball � Daniel J. Bandera � Joe Bardales
  Timothy S. Brannan � “Coan-Teen” � Jarrod R. Lowe � John W. Mangrum
  Marcin Perkowski � Charles Phipps � John P. Stacey
  Notes from the Kargatane:
  All submissions have been edited to use Americanized spelling.  This was done simply to give Crossroads of the Gothic Earth a more coherent
  appearance, and should not be meant as a slight against our Anglicized authors.  Some articles have been edited for clarity.
  Crossroads of the Gothic Earth, First Edition Release Date: June 30, 1998.  Latest Update: March 1, 1999.
  Legal Notice:
  AD&D®, RAVENLOFT® and MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH® are registered trademarks of TSR, Inc.  This book does not represent a challenge to any
  TSR-held trademarks.  TSR is not affiliated with this book in any way.  All articles are copyrighted by their respective authors.
  This netbook may be reproduced for personal use, but may not be used to generate revenue.
  
  Crossroads of the Gothic Earth
  2
  Table of Contents
  Introduction
  3.
  A Penny Dreadful: Episode I
  4.
  by Joe Bardales
  North America
  The United States
  Illinois
  7.
  by Timothy S. Brannan
  Massachusetts
  Salem
  10.
  by Joe Bardales
  New York
  Albany
  13.
  by John W. Mangrum
  New York City
  16.
  by Joe Bardales
  South Dakota
  Sica Hollow
  18.
  by John P. Stacey
  Texas
  Houston and Southern Texas
  20.
  by Daniel J. Bandera
  Canada
  Newfoundland
  St. John’s
  22.
  by Matthew Ball
  Nova Scotia
  Wolfville
  23.
  by Matthew Ball
  Central America
  Mexico
  San Miguel de Cozumel
  24.
  by Daniel J. Bandera
  Vera Cruz
  25.
  by Daniel J. Bandera
  South America
  Chile
  Temuco
  27.
  by Eduardo Pando
  Europe
  England
  Glastonbury Abbey
  28.
  by Charles Phipps
  France
  Le Louvre
  30.
  by Jarrod R. Lowe
  Poland
  Bialystok
  33.
  by Marcin Perkowski
  Russia
  Odessa
  34.
  by Daniel J. Bandera
  Western Asia
  Palestine
  Akko (Acre)
  36.
  by David Alexander
  Ammon
  37.
  by David Alexander
  Jaffa
  38.
  by David Alexander
  Jericho
  39.
  by David Alexander
  Jerusalem
  40.
  by David Alexander
  Shechem (Nablus)
  42.
  by David Alexander
  Zefat (Saffed)
  43.
  by David Alexander
  World Correspondents
  45.
  Index to Existing Sites
  47.
  Postscript
  48.
  
  Crossroads: Introduction
  3
  In the 1890’s, no corner of Gothic Earth remains untouched by
  the Red Death.  Ever since the Egyptian priest Imhotep
  unwittingly allowed the Red Death access to the world, it
  has insidiously spread across Gothic Earth to corrupt and
  pervert every land and every culture like a malignant cancer.
  It has radiated from its point of entry on the coat tails of
  human history and discovery, never far behind wherever and
  whenever mankind steps for the first time.  It invariably leaves
  its mark on everything pure and innocent it comes across, and
  leaves in its wake a foul trail of corruption.
  Crossroads of the Gothic Earth is an atlas of some of the
  lesser known corners and crevices of Gothic Earth that the
  Red Death has managed to find and corrupt.  It contains some
  of the smaller human settlements that might have been
  overlooked by the adepts and scholars in their works of
  Forbidden Lore, but nonetheless have come to the attention of
  the Red Death and its minions.  In addition to settled
  habitations, it contains geographical features and landmarks
  that have also in some way been touched by the
  malignant hand of the Red Death.
  The greatest weapon for fighting the Red Death and its minions
  is knowledge.  This atlas attempts to fill in some of the gaps
  to make the fight a little easier for the champions
  of all that is good.
  Joe Bardales, Kargatane
  NOTE: Crossroads of the Gothic Earth is intended for the Dungeon Master’s eyes only.  Individual DMs should
  determine when and if a player’s character has access to this atlas, particularly the Forbidden Lore sections.  Dungeon
  Masters should see the Forbidden Lore proficiency in A Guide to Gothic Earth (from the Masque of the Red Death
  Boxed Set) for more information on making this determination and on using the Forbidden Lore nonweapon proficiency
  to maximum campaign benefit.
  
  Crossroads: A Penny Dreadful, Episode One
  4
  Chapter One
  The Vatican
  Friday, July 14, 1893
  t the stroke of midnight, the warm, still air
  carried the faint sounds of church bells
  heralding the hour all across Rome.  The full
  moon illuminated the Holy See with an eerie beauty, its
  blue-white light reflected from the great dome of St.
  Peter’s Basilica.  The otherwise silent night was
  disturbed by a single set of footsteps that echoed
  throughout an empty St. Peter’s Square.  They belonged
  to a foreign gentleman who moved as if with great
  purpose across the massive piazza, confident of his
  destination along a path he had obviously traveled
  before.  At the periphery of the square, he suddenly
  stopped, startled by a young monsignor and two
  members of the papal Swiss Guards.
  “Good evening, Dr. Van Helsing,” said the priest.
  “I am Monsignor Calabrisi.  The Holy Father has asked
  that I escort you to him immediately upon you arrival.”
  “Forgive me Monsignor, but I have never required
  an escort to the Papal Apartments before,” replied Van
  Helsing in a thick Dutch accent.
  “I understand that you share an intimate friendship
  with the Pope.  His Holiness has requested that you join
  him immediately in the Secret Archives,” explained
  Calabrisi.  “Few know of their location.”
  “Understood,” said Van Helsing as a sudden
  graveness overtook his face.  “Lead on.”
  Van Helsing and his escort shortly arrived in a dimly
  lit chamber whose walls seemed to be composed entirely
  of books.  A single large table covered with several
  ancient tomes and manuscripts commanded the center of
  the room.  At the far end of the table, dressed in white
  robes and a white skullcap sat an elderly man who smiled
  widely at Van Helsing’s arrival despite the obvious
  anxiety that had lined his otherwise gentle face.
  “Abraham, old friend!” exclaimed the man.
  “Benvenuto!  It is very good to see you again.”
  “It is always a pleasure, Your Holiness,” replied
  Van Helsing, taking the man’s smooth, aged hand and
  kissing his ring.
  “Such formality between old friends,” said the Pope.
  “You look well, Gio,” said Van Helsing as a smile
  came to his lips.
  “And such lies!” laughed the Pope.  “I am an old
  man Abraham.  Time is not kind to old men.”
  “Perhaps, but history will be kind to the papacy of
  Leo the Thirteenth.  Your encyclicals on the plight of the
  working man in the modern age are compassionate and
  insightful.”
  “Only time will tell,” replied the Pope as he rose
  from his chair and cleared his throat.  “Monsignor
  Calabrisi, will you and these gentlemen please excuse us
  now, as I have much to discuss with Professor Van
  Helsing.”
  Calabrisi nodded to the Pope and Van Helsing as he
  and the papal guards left the room.  The stillness of the
  chamber resounded with the closing of the massive
  ornate wooden door.  The Pope took his seat again, and
  gestured for Van Helsing to do the same.
  “I came to Rome as soon as I received your letter,”
  said Van Helsing.  “I fear that you have news for me that
  is not good.”
  “You are most perceptive, Abraham.  Recently,
  some startling revelations have come to my attention that
  I felt I must share with The Watchers.  That is why I had
  you meet me here immediately upon your arrival,” said
  the pope.  “As you know, I am well aware of your
  success involving Count Dracula, as well as the
  perverted nature of that fiend.”
  “Nosferatu,” replied Van Helsing solemnly.
  “Sì.  And I have read your letter concerning your
  encounter with those otherworldly monsters that have the
  power to control and corrupt men’s thoughts - illithids, I
  believe you called them.  Now I am afraid that another
  great danger may now threaten all that we hold to be pure
  and good in our world, even as we speak,” the Pope said.
  “You are probably the most knowledgeable person I
  know in matters of the supernatural and the ways of the
  undead.  You are a good man, Abraham Van Helsing,
  and I know that I can trust you to look into this
  occurrence and rid our world of the great evil it
  represents.”
  “As the leader of Die Wächtern, I can assure you
  that we will give this our foremost attention,” replied
  Van Helsing.  “Since time is of the essence, please Gio,
  share with me all you have learned.”
  Pope Leo XIII rose from his chair and collected
  several of the manuscripts that were on the table.  He
  walked over to where Van Helsing was sitting and
  carefully placed the writings in front of the doctor.
  “Molto bene.  Let us begin.”
  Chapter Two
  The Steamboat Horace Greeley,
  somewhere on the Mississippi River
  Saturday, July 15, 1893
  he gypsy fortuneteller placed a worn deck of
  cards on the table between herself and her
  customer, an older gentleman in a wrinkled white
  A
  T
  
  Crossroads: A Penny Dreadful, Episode One
  5
  linen suit and frayed black string tie.  The man roughly
  brushed his unruly white hair out of his eyes, silently
  cursing the muggy summer weather.  Had he been any
  other man, the passengers within the steamboat’s casino
  that night might have laughed at the foolishness of this
  odd character who chose to wear his hair in such an
  antiquated style, especially considering the notorious and
  omnipresent Southern humidity.  But this was no
  ordinary character in their presence.  This was Samuel
  Clemens, better known by his world-renowned nom de
  plume, Mark Twain.
  “What is that, a Tarot deck?” asked Clemens.
  “It is something far more ancient, and far more
  powerful.  It is called the Tarokka,” replied the gypsy.
  “Tarokka, eh?” said Clemens, looking up at the
  woman and raising a skeptical eyebrow.  He hadn’t
  noticed before how sunken her eyes were, or how her
  skin appeared to be so terribly gaunt.  It was so
  disturbingly unnatural, like looking upon a living corpse.
  She couldn’t be more than thirty years old, could she?
  Not meeting his gaze, the woman flipped over a single
  card.
  “The Artifact,” she said without emotion.  Placing
  the card back on top, she handed the deck to Samuel
  Clemens.  “Take it and shuffle the cards.”
  As he took the cards from her leathery, cold hands,
  he felt a surge of energy throughout his body as the
  Tarokka deck made contact with his flesh.  Barely
  resisting the urge to drop them outright on the table, he
  began to shuffle the deck, his hands visibly shaking.
  “Madame, I don't know whether you strike me more
  as a fortuneteller or a riverboat cardsharp,” quipped
  Clemens, trying to distract her from his obvious
  discomfort. “Either way, I sense I won’t cotton to the
  cards I'm dealt.”
  “Now place the cards back on the table,” instructed
  the gypsy woman, and he gratefully complied.  “Turn
  over the first card.”
  Reluctantly, Samuel Clemens picked up the top card
  and turned it over on to the table.  While the energy surge
  was no less intense, he was prepared this time for the
  unsettling effect.
  “The Artifact,” she said again, this time looking up
  from the cards and directly at her customer.  “It
  represents an ancient relic, one with mysterious powers.
  It could be anything, a chalice, a ring, perhaps even a
  weapon.  Does this have any meaning for you?”
  “You tell me, Madame Fortuneteller,” replied
  Clemens with a hint of contempt.  He returned the
  woman’s gaze with his best poker face, even though the
  deck of cards in front of him now was not a regulation
  poker deck.  The truth of the matter was he was scared,
  but at the same time thankful the smoldering summer
  heat was masking his accompanying perspiration.  When
  she emphasized the word “weapon”, it took a strong
  force of will not to instinctively grasp the ancient dagger
  sheathed in his left coat pocket.  He had found it almost
  ten years ago while traveling in the Holy Land, and ever
  since the time he first picked it up and held it in his hand,
  it has been his greatest obsession.
  Perhaps it was this very obsession, this
  uncontrollable need to find out just exactly what this
  dagger was, that had put him in his current circumstance.
  Nearly bankrupt, he was now engaged in a lecture tour
  along the Mississippi, the Horace Greeley serving as his
  colorful backdrop.  Several attempts on his life had been
  made as well over the last few years, and Clemens could
  never quite shake the feeling that somehow the dagger
  was the driving force behind them.  And Lord knows
  how hard it had become to try and write anything since
  this cursed thing appeared in his life.  Still, the thought of
  parting with the object, of not having it near him at all
  times, filled him with a far greater dread.
  When the gypsy woman finally spoke again, her eyes
  appeared as if they could shoot daggers of their own.  “It
  is your draw of the cards, Mr. Clemens,” she said in an
  icy voice.  “And now it is my turn.”
  The fortuneteller picked up the next card on the top
  of the deck and dramatically laid it across the Artifact
  card that Samuel Clemens had drawn earlier.  “The
  Hangman,” she said with a wicked smile.
   “Enough of this foolishness,” replied Clemens
  defensively, less adept this time at hiding his startled
  reaction.  “It’s dang near the twentieth century, for
  Christmas sake, and you are nothing but an old fashioned
  snake oil salesman.”
   “And you are an arrogant fool, Mr. Clemens.
  Believe it or not, there are things in this world that even
  the great Mark Twain doesn’t understand.  Your
  modernity will be your downfall,” she shouted, and
  suddenly a hush fell over the casino and all eyes turned to
  their table.  The captain of the Horace Greeley saw the
  commotion, and hurried over to the table.
  “Madame Bronwyn, Mr. Clemens, is everything all
  right here?” asked Captain Fowler, anxious to restore the
  festive mood in the room.
   “Everything’s just fine, Captain.  Our business here
  is through.  I think I’ll take a walk on the deck and
  hopefully cool off a bit, in all senses of the word.  It’s a
  lovely night save for this sweltering heat,” Clemens
  replied, realizing he didn’t even know the gypsy
  woman’s name until Captain Fowler mentioned it.  He
  through several silver coins on the table and started to
  walk away.  Satisfied, Fowler returned to the group of
  passengers he had just abruptly left in mid conversation.
  Alone, Madame Bronwyn glanced down at the silver
  coins on the table.  “Keep your money, Twain,” she said
  in a barely audible voice.  “You have something far more
  
  Crossroads: A Penny Dreadful, Episode One
  6
  valuable that I intend to possess before this night is
  through.”
  Chapter Three
  The Vatican
  Saturday, July 15, 1893
  he bells of the morning Angelus echoed
  throughout the Eternal City as it rose from its
  peaceful night’s slumber.  The great dome of St.
  Peter’s Basilica rivaled even the Seven Hills of Rome as
  the first rays of the morning sunshine struck its golden
  surface, bringing it brilliantly to life.  Two uniform
  columns of nuns dressed in matching habits of wool far
  too heavy for the summer season reverently crossed St.
  Peter’s Square in contrast to a group of far less organized
  pilgrims wandered somewhat aimlessly, enthusiastically
  taking in the sites and splendor of the Holy See.  It was
  shaping up to be a beautiful day in Rome, the kind of day
  where young couples fell in love to the sounds of a
  wandering violin, small children played as if their games
  would last an eternity, and elderly men and women began
  to feel that they too had another eternity before them as
  well.
  Within a windowless chamber deep within the Papal
  Palace, the beauty of the dawn and the promise of the day
  were lost to two weary gentlemen.  So often it was the
  case that these two men missed out on the simple
  pleasures of life in order to preserve and protect them for
  everyone else.  Considering that they often worked
  behind the scenes in their efforts to preserve and protect
  all that was good in the world, the irony of their situation
  was magnified by the fact that no one was ever made
  aware of the vigilant efforts of their benefactors.  But
  such anonymity was always necessary to remain effective
  when opposing the Red Death and its evil minions.
  “These daggers, how many of them are there?”
  asked Van Helsing as he rubbed the sleepiness from his
  bloodshot eyes.
  “Exactly three were crafted.  One I fear has already
  been reclaimed by a servant of the Great Evil.  A second
  one I know to be in the possession of an American
  novelist.  As far as I know, he has not yet succumbed to
  its dark influence,” replied the Pope.
  “And the third?”
  Pope Leo XIII walked over to a desk in the far
  corner of the room and removed a leather bundle from
  the top drawer.  He returned to the central table and
  placed the package in front of the professor.  As he
  carefully unwrapped the worn, cracked leather, Van
  Helsing noticed that the outer surface was etched with
  Arabic lettering that had most likely faded over the ages.
  As fascinating as this observation was, he was soon
  distracted when the Pope finished his methodical task
  and revealed a magnificently crafted silver dagger that
  sparkled like new despite its great age.  The blade was
  inscribed with ancient runes that Van Helsing, despite
  his vast knowledge, could not recognize.  But it was the
  hilt that was most impressive, embedded with a polished
  stone that looked exactly like a human eye, complete with
  a blue iris and a pupil that seemed to react with the light.
  Instinctively he reached for the object, when the Pope
  suddenly knocked his hand out of the way with a force
  that would rival that of a man a quarter of his age.
  “You must never, under any circumstance, make
  physical contact with this profane object!” the Pope
  warned in the loudest voice Van Helsing had ever heard
  him use.  “Once you touch it, you will become enslaved
  by its dark powers.”
  Abraham Van Helsing went into deep thought for a
  moment, unaware that he was gently rubbing his stinging
  hand.  “When did you come into possession of this?”
  “It was found in the catacombs beneath the Basilica.
  Recovered, actually, in a robbery attempt several months
  ago that was thwarted by Monsignor Calabrisi.  He
  presented it to me and I immediately began researching
  the artifact.  When I positively identified it, I immediately
  summoned you,” answered the Pope.
  “Who attempted to steal the dagger from the
  catacombs?”
  “Let’s just say that I am glad I have shared many of
  your letters and notes with Monsignor Calabrisi as of
  late.”
  “I must journey to America immediately and recover
  the second dagger before that too is lost to the Great
  Evil,” said the professor, energized with a sudden sense
  of urgency.
  “No.  I need for you to journey to Constantinople to
  pick up the trail of the first.  In addition to the dagger we
  currently possess, I wish for you to take several of these
  texts with you to read along the way.  Perhaps you can
  find a way to permanently destroy these foul objects that I
  could not.”
  “And what of the dagger in America?”
  “I have taken the liberty of sending our new
  associate to recover it,” replied the Pope, a devious but
  warm smile coming to his face.
  “Sherlock Holmes,” Van Helsing said with a similar
  smile now on his own.
  To Be Continued…
  T
  
  Crossroads: North America: The USA: Illinois
  7
  HAUNTED ILLINOIS:
  A GUIDE TO STRANGE
  HAPPENINGS IN THE HEART
  OF THE GOTHIC MIDWEST
  Local Correspondent:
  Timothy S. Brannan
  When people say “heartland of America” often one
  thinks of Illinois.  Founded as a state in 1818, but
  inhabited long before that, Illinois is rich in history and in
  ghosts.  Former presidents walk the halls of their home
  or tombs.  It has been rumored that Lincoln haunts the
  his tomb in Springfield, the capital building in
  Springfield, and the old State Capital in Vandalia, a place
  where he had worked as a young lawmaker.  All of this
  has led to a popular, but  grim saying among Illinoisans,
  “Abraham Lincoln walks at Midnight.”
  Iroquois, Fox and Sioux Indians walk ancient plains,
  and dead confederate soldiers march to an uncertain
  doom.  Illinois is a starting point for many in their
  westward expansion, and a final resting place for others.
  Illinois
  Illinois is located in the heart of the “Heartland,”
  bordered by the mighty Mississippi River on the west
  and the Ohio on the south.  This, combined with rich, flat
  land and warm, humid summers, produces some the
  nation’s best farmland.  Since the 1850s no other state
  has grown as quickly and as prosperously as Illinois.
  Currently (1890) the population is over 4,500,000.
  History
  The area was first seen by Europeans in 1673, by two
  Frenchmen: Louis Joliet, a fur trader, and Jacques
  Marquette, a Catholic missionary.  Marquette later set up
  a mission along the Mississippi river (present day
  Kaskaskia) for the native peoples.  The first permanent
  settlement built by Europeans was a mission on the
  Mississippi river in the town of Cahokia in 1699.
  Up to 1763 the area had been controlled by the
  French.  After the French-Indian wars, France gave this
  part of North America to the British, who soon made it
  part of Quebec.  This action was one of the causes of the
  American Revolutionary War.  During the war both
  Cahokia and Kaskaskia were sites of pivotal battles.  In
  1783, Britain surrendered the Northwest Territory,
  which included Illinois.  In 1809 Illinois became a
  separate territory.  About this time the settlement of
  northern Illinois began, centered around Ft. Dearborn on
  Lake Michigan.
  In 1818 Illinois was admitted as the 21st state of the
  Union.  Kaskaskia was named as its first state capital.
  This later moved to Vandalia in 1820 to encourage
  growth in Illinois’ interior.  The capital was later (1837)
  moved to its present day location of Springfield.  The city
  of Chicago was incorporated in March, 1837 on the site
  of  Ft. Dearborn.  By 1850 it was Illinois’ largest city
  with a population above 5,000.  Chicago became the
  leading industrial center of the former Northwest
  Territories.
  The Civil War began in 1861 with most of the state
  supporting the Union.  Illinois sent more than a quarter
  of a million young men to serve with the Union army.
  Among those were General Ulysses S. Grant.  In 1865,
  after the war’s end, Illinois became the first state to ratify
  the 13th Amendment to outlaw slavery.
  In the years of the Reclamation, Illinois has seen
  many immigrants from other countries.  Most notable are
  the Irish, Italians and Poles.  Many ethnic neighborhoods
  have sprouted up all over Chicago and in some of the
  down-state areas as well.
  The effects of  the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 can
  still be seen to this day, more that twenty years later.  The
  fire killed 250 people and left nearly 90,000 homeless.
  The city was quick to rebuild and surpass its previous
  size.
  Illinois is set, here at the turn of the 19th Century, to
  become one of the leading industrial and agricultural
  areas of the Untied States.
  Forbidden Lore
  As America of the 1890s expands ever westward, the
  forces of the Red Death follow.  Minions that are
  common in Illinois are most types of non-corporeal
  undead (Ghosts, Spectres, Haunts).  It is known that
  there is at least one Banshee on Chicago’s south side and
  two more down-state.  Many graveyards are prone to
  have ghouls and ghasts lurking around.  Zombies and
  skeletons, created by powerful necromantic magic, are
  usually rare.  No vampires or Liches have been recorded.
  Lycanthropes, in particular werewolves and
  foxwomen, are more common down-state.  Other
  common minions are Will o’wisps.
  Ghost March of Southern Illinois
  
  Crossroads: North America: The USA: Illinois
  8
  The Civil War pitted brother against brother.  Nowhere
  was that more strongly felt than in Southern Illinois.
  While Illinois was technically a “free” state, many
  farmers south of Springfield sided more with the
  sensibilities of the Confederate states.  These farmers’
  fields became the sites of some of the bloodiest
  skirmishes of the war.
  At certain times, sometime after midnight, a ghostly
  army arises from the mists hugging the ground.  This
  ragged army of undead are all that remains of a
  Confederate Army troop sent into Illinois at the height of
  the war.  The ghostly horde appears exactly as can be
  imagined; skeletal remains, with tatters of rotting flesh
  and gray uniforms.  Their weapons, long since spent of
  ammunition, hang in their hands useless, but serve as
  constant reminders of what has lead them to this fate.
  Occasionally one can find a soldier that faired better than
  his brothers in arms.  He is not as damaged or decayed,
  but his young innocent face is no less of a horror than the
  phantasms that surround him.
  It is unknown what prompts this ghastly march or
  what motivates it.
  Haunted Cemeteries
  Illinois seems to have more than its fair share of haunted
  cemeteries.  Often these cemeteries are the source of
  faint apparitions or ghost lights, as in Barrington
  Cemetery in Barrington, home of the white ghost lights.
  Sometimes the activity is more sinister.  Pagan rituals
  have been seen in cemeteries along the Des Plaines river,
  northwest of Chicago.  Similar events have happened in
  cemeteries in Jacksonville, 300 miles to the south.
  Hickory Grove in Wrights, south of Springfield, is
  the final resting place for one unsavory character.  Lying
  in a small unmarked grave southeast of the cemetery
  proper lies the body of man who was a doctor and a
  murderer, hung for the shooting death of a love rival.  It
  is said that if you stand on his grave you can hear the
  sounds of a hanging rope swinging in the wind.
  In 1841 an unknown man was found hanging in
  Clement’s Cemetery east of Champaign.  Whether he
  was the victim of a lynching or a suicide is unknown.
  The people removed his body and gave him a proper
  burial.  Soon after reports came back of the “Blue Man,”
  a thin wispy ghost of blue that can only be seen in the
  light of the full moon.
  Old Union Cemetery in Dewitt county is considered
  to be one of the more haunted cemeteries in Illinois.  Its
  first burial was in 1831.  Located on the stagecoach route
  between Bloomington and Springfield, Union has
  become a “favorite” stopping place for the dead.  Like
  many cemeteries in Illinois reports of ghostly lights
  abound.  This place also has areas of extreme cold, even
  in Illinois’ normally humid summers.  Others have
  reported feeling sick at certain points.
  Also located on a former stagecoach route is
  Williamsburg Hill, or “Cold Hill,” Cemetery.  When the
  railroad came, Williamsburg became a ghost town; or
  rather a town of ghosts.  The cemetery itself is placed on
  a large, uncharacteristic hill among completely flat
  farmland.  Among the hundreds of mostly unmarked
  graves it is said a being wanders.  This spectre is vaguely
  human in appearance.  It seems to be an electrical field of
  some sort.  Electricity can be heard crackling in the air
  around it.  Whether it is a proper ghost or even if was at
  one time human is unknown.
  Haunted Schoolhouse
  Bloody Island School in Lime-Kill Hollow was a small
  one-room school house.  Like hundreds of other schools
  that dotted the countryside children young and old were
  sent with pail and slate in hand to learn the “three R’s”
  from a school marm, but what the children learned here
  was a lesson in horror.  Two teenage boys, long rivals,
  stabbed each other to death in front of a dozen screaming
  children.  Town officials and the kindly young teacher,
  Miss Daniels, did what they could to clean up the blood
  of the two dead boys, but try as they might the blood
  continues to seep up through the floorboards and into the
  classroom.  The floorboards have been cleaned over and
  over, and finally replaced, but the blood continues to
  flow.  Plans are now to close down the school and build a
  new one.
  The Watseka Wonder
  Just south of Chicago and west of Indiana lies the sleepy
  town of Watseka.  Unremarkable, save for what
  happened one summer of 1877.  Lurancy Vennum fell
  into a deep coma-like sleep.  When she awoke the
  thirteen-year-old claimed she could speak with the spirits
  of the dead.  These episodes began to happen with more
  frequency and lasted many hours.  During these times
  Lurancy would speak in different voices and say things
  that she otherwise would not know of.  When she would
  awaken she would have no memory of the events.  Her
  family took Lurancy to best doctors in the state; finally
  they decided that she was insane and were going to have
  her committed.
  In January of 1878 a man named Asa Roff
  approached the Vennum family.  He had a story of his
  daughter, Mary, who had suffered a similar affliction, but
  had died in Peoria’s State Insane Asylum.  However, Asa
  believed in his daughter and wanted to save Lurancy
  from the same fate.  During mesmerism, Lurancy spoke
  in the voice of Asa’s daughter Mary.
  
  Crossroads: North America: The USA: Illinois
  9
  Lurancy then proceeded to speak to Asa about details
  that only the Roff family would know.  Lurancy (as Mary)
  lived with the Roffs, with the Vennum’s permission, for
  three months.  She was able to identify family members
  and favorite things that only would have been known to
  the family.
  In May, Mary left Lurancy and she asked to be
  returned home.  She left, bidding everyone in the family
  goodbye.  She never again experienced any contacts with
  the spirits, but she would return to see the Roff family on
  occasion and allow Mary to speak through her.
  Haunted Theaters
  Murphysboro in Southern Illinois is a quiet town located
  just a few miles east of the mighty Mississippi River.
  This town, known more for its apples and its close
  proximity to the Shawnee Forest, also has a darker
  secret: The Ghost of the Liberty Theater.  The Liberty
  was built at the turn of the century and Emil McCarthy
  was there.  He started working there as a young boy;
  cleaning, running the spotlights and other odd jobs.
  Sixty years later, Emil was still working odd jobs at the
  Liberty.  He had developed a drinking problem and a
  poor attitude over the years, but since he lived in the
  theater and had such an attachment to the place none of
  his supervisors had ever fired him.  Any that tried usually
  met with fatal accidents.  Emil was never suspected; he
  was usually in a bar or passed out in the city square when
  the deaths occurred.
  When the town decided to tear down the Liberty to
  put a new theater across town, Emil panicked and
  seemed to die of a broken heart.  Plans are still underway
  for the new theater, but people now claim the new site is
  cursed.  Tools disappear.  Workmen get into accidents.
  None have been fatal, but they are increasing in number
  and magnitude.  All is not quiet at the Liberty either.
  Patrons complain of noises, and cold areas.  Management
  has reported that the curtains will open and close silently
  on their own.  As the day of the Liberty’s demolition
  approaches, more incidents are reported.
  
  Crossroads: North America: The USA: Massachusetts
  10
  SALEM
  Local Correspondent:
  Joe Bardales
  Strategically located on Salem Bay, an arm of the larger
  Massachusetts Bay, Salem is one of the oldest
  communities in North America.  First settled in 1626,
  Salem was second in importance only to Boston in
  colonial New England, and later became one of the major
  communities of the newly formed United States of
  America.  Although Salem has always been important
  economically and politically, it is perhaps best known for
  the Salem witch trials of 1692.
  History
  Salem was first settled in 1626 by a small group of
  European colonists who originally called their new home
  Naumkeag.  When Puritan John Endecott (1588?-1665)
  came with a group of settlers to govern the
  Massachusetts Bay Colony from his home in Devon,
  England in 1628, he quickly established himself as a
  strict leader and enforced the Puritan way of life.  In
  1630 he was replaced as governor by John Winthrop
  (1588-1649), and stepped down to the position of deputy
  governor.  During Endecott’s long tenure as a colonial
  leader, his intolerance of non-Puritans lead him to wipe
  out the Native American Pequot tribe of the region in
  1637, and later persecute, expel, and execute local
  Quakers during the 1650’s.  Winthrop, a native of
  Edwardstone, England, as well as a Puritan, was not
  much better than Endecott, and helped to suppress
  religious dissent throughout the colony.  Despite its
  heavy-handed leadership, the Massachusetts Bay Colony
  prospered, and Salem rose to prominence.
  By the end of the 17th century, Salem was divided
  into two parts: Salem Town and Salem Village.  Salem
  Town was the site of an excellent seaport, and boasted
  successful shipping and fishing trades.  Salem Village,
  however, was a prosperous farming community.  An
  intense rivalry developed between Salem Town and
  Salem Village along religious and economic lines, and
  the Village eventually became divided along the same
  fronts as well.  The Reverend George Burrougs, minister
  of Salem Village from 1680 to 1683, left the area when
  he found himself powerless to alleviate the tensions and
  growing state of fear in the community.  This
  factionalism set the stage for the famous Salem witch
  trials of 1692.
  The Salem witch trials lasted for most of 1692, and
  in their wake they left twenty-five people dead, families,
  fortunes and reputations destroyed, and the peace and
  tranquillity of the community shattered forever.  During
  this period, neighbor turned against neighbor, and
  husband against wife, and accusations of the practice of
  witchcraft were commonplace.  The entire community
  became embroiled in the hysteria, with no one was safe
  from being brought up on charges of “commerce with the
  devil.”  Over 300 people were charged with witchcraft,
  twenty of whom were hanged on Gallows Hill, and five
  died in jail awaiting their fates (including one infant!).
  Eventually sense and reason was restored to Salem and
  the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and Governor William
  Phips intervened to put an end to the madness when his
  own wife was accused of witchcraft.  Along with Harvard
  College president Increase Mather, Phips condemned the
  use of “spectral evidence” in witchcraft cases, and
  dismissed the special Court of Oyer and Terminer that
  had been assembled to hear all these cases.  All of Salem
  breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
  Gradually, Salem returned again to its prosperous
  path of economic growth.  Already a major seaport,
  Salem became an important hub of world trade, and
  remained so until the 1850s.  At the end of the 18th
  century, the Industrial Revolution took Salem into the
  modern age with the establishment of a footwear industry
  that remained profitable throughout the 19th century.
  Salem Village incorporated as the town of Danvers in
  1757, but many still refer to Salem Town and Danvers
  collectively as Salem.  Salem at the end of the 1700s
  became home to the Federal style of architecture with the
  design of many private homes and public buildings by
  the architect and woodcutter Samuel McIntire (1757-
  1811).  Many of these buildings still stand at the end of
  the 19th century, and their interiors boast elaborately
  carved doors, furniture, mantle places, and other wood
  fixtures.  Other landmarks of note still standing at the end
  of the 19th century include the Witch House (built in
  1642 and site of the witch trials), the Derby Wharf, the
  house of Elias Hasket Derby (1762), Hawkes House
  (1790s), the West India Good Store (built in 1810 by
  Captain Henry Pierce), the Custom House (1819), the
  Peabody Museum (1868), and the Nabonne-Hale House,
  a 17th century home and studio for tradesmen and
  craftsmen.
  Salem is also the birthplace of American author
  Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), whose ancestors
  participated in the accusations of witchcraft and the
  persecution of neighboring Quakers.  Hawthorne is best
  known for his novels The Scarlet Letter, The Marble
  Faun, and The House of the Seven Gables, the latter of
  which is set in his ancestral home of the same name.
  
  Crossroads: North America: The USA: Massachusetts
  11
  Built in 1668, the House of Seven Gables is still a
  prominent landmark in Salem.
  At the close of the 19th century, Salem has lost its
  world importance, but prosperous livings can still be
  made, and the region is ripe with potential for industrial
  growth.  While all may seem peaceful in Salem, a cloud
  of guilt for the crimes of their ancestors still hangs over
  this area of Essex County, Massachusetts, even if it is not
  always immediately evident to outsiders.
  Forbidden Lore
  When European settlers first arrived in the area that
  would become Salem, their motivations of freedom and
  religious tolerance were genuine.  These original
  colonists represented various religious and political
  beliefs, and worked side by side in their new home,
  living in peace and cooperation with the local Pequot
  tribe.  Some of these first colonists were secretly
  members of the Circle, a qabal descended from the Stone
  and attempting to escape persecution for witchcraft in the
  Old World.  The hard but peaceful existence of early
  Salem, however, did not last long, and their world was
  turned upside down upon the arrival of John Endecott.
  In England, Endecott was a scholar and a member of
  the Circle qabal.  His studies of the magical arts,
  however, eventually led him down a path of ruin and
  darkness.  Endecott discovered an ancient spell book
  penned in the Dark Ages, and soon found himself
  irresistibly lured into the foul practice of necromancy and
  summoning by the corrupting influence of the Red Death.
  The secrets and spells he shared with his followers also
  corrupted many of them as well, and they served their
  teacher faithfully through his evil transformation.
  Eventually, he attempted a spell from this nefarious tome
  that he did not fully understand, and unwittingly drew the
  attention of an evil, chaotic fiend from an
  incomprehensible plane of existence.  This abominable
  creature’s name was Zemlak the Destroyer, and he
  entered Gothic Earth in much the same way that the Red
  Death had centuries earlier.  In a short matter of time,
  John Endecott was no more, and Zemlak assumed his
  identity.
  When Zemlak arrived in New England in the guise
  of Endecott, the new colonists accompanying him were
  actually the former followers of the ill-starred adept who
  now formed a cult-like qabal known as Zemlak’s
  Children.  Zemlak retained Endecott’s memories and was
  aware that some of the members of the Circle whom had
  escaped to New England were aware of their former
  member’s fall from grace.  Zemlak’s chaotic nature and
  charismatic influence over his followers allowed him to
  divide the colonists down religious and racial lines,
  resulting in the brutal oppression of the Quakers and
  Pequot Indians, and a lot of bloodshed.
  This first attempt to wipe out the secret members of the
  Circle failed, however, although its members were forced
  to go deeper into hiding.
  Fearing that the colonists would get suspicious of
  Endecott if he were to have an unnatural life span,
  Zemlak shed the earthly remains of the fallen adept and
  went on to possess the bodies of other colonists, killing
  his unwilling hosts in the process.  Eventually, Zemlak
  took possession of the Reverend Samuel Parris, a Puritan
  minister of Salem Village.  Masquerading as Parris, the
  chaotic fiend first seduced Parris’ servant Tituba, a slave
  from Barbados, into the ranks of Zemlak’s Children.
  Using Tituba’s influence over Parris’ daughter Betty, his
  niece Abigail Williams, and their young friend, Ann
  Putman, Zemlak was able to ignite the entire populace of
  Salem into believing that there was an epidemic of
  witchcraft in their community.  The charmed girls
  claimed they were being tormented by witches, and
  began to point fingers at many of Salem’s citizens, both
  prominent and ordinary, whom Zemlak believed to be
  members of the Circle.
  The resulting witch trials and executions by hanging
  on Gallows Hill resulted in the deaths of at least four
  members of the Circle: the elderly Sarah Osburn, the
  beggar Sarah Good (long rumored to be a witch and a
  hedge wizard due to her peculiar personality), Martha
  Cory (devoutly religious and one of the few mystics
  amongst the adepts of the Circle), and Rebecca Nurse (a
  pillar of the community who secretly used her magic for
  good causes).  Zemlak reveled in the chaos as the witch-
  hunt spread like wildfire, with neighbor vengefully
  accusing neighbor of witchcraft in order to settle old
  scores and capitalize on their misfortune.  Zemlak even
  succeeded in having the Reverend George Burrougs,
  leader of the cell of the Circle active in New England,
  expedited back to Salem to face charges of witchcraft.
  Burrougs was eventually convicted of being the head
  warlock and executed by hanging in 1692.
  Not all the members of the Circle fell victim to the
  hangman during the witch trials.  Several of the younger
  members of the qabal became suspicious of Parris, and
  eventually deduced his true nature.  Using their deceased
  leaders’ spell books, the surviving young adepts of the
  Circle managed to confront Zemlak and imprison him
  beneath the Witch House, which they ensorcelled with
  powerful wards to prevent him from escaping.  With the
  removal of Zemlak, the Massachusetts Bay Colony
  authorities from outside of Salem were able to put an end
  to the madness and chaos of the witch-hunts.  Members
  of the Circle withdrew into deeper hiding, realizing that
  their forerunners’ dream of living free from persecution
  was not meant to be in the New World.
  
  Crossroads: North America: The USA: Massachusetts
  12
  Zemlak was not responsible for all the allegations of
  witchcraft in Salem.  An ancestor of Nathaniel
  Hawthorne, Judge John Hathorne (the original spelling of
  the name) was one of three magistrates who sat in
  judgment of the witch trials in 1692.  In the 1660s, the
  Hathorne family swindled the English family out of some
  very valuable land in Salem.  The Hathorne’s built the
  majestic House of Seven Gables on the site and their
  power and prominence grew at the expense of the
  English family.  Ownership of the land continued to be
  hotly disputed, however, and the Hathorne’s were never
  truly free to enjoy their estate while fighting lengthy and
  frequent court battles.  Around the time of the witch
  trials, it appeared that the Hathorne family might finally
  lose the stolen land and the house in a suit brought by
  Philip English in a Boston court.  Judge Hathorne used
  his influence as a Salem judge to have English
  summoned to appear before the magistrate on trumped
  up charges of witchcraft.  At Hathorne’s bequest, the
  other two members of the magistrate joined him in
  finding English guilty and sentenced him to be executed
  on Gallows Hill.
  From the scaffold, Philip English used his last breath
  to curse Judge Hathorne and his descendants, and anyone
  else who would dare enter the House of Seven Gables.
  The Red Death was listening that day and decided to
  respond to English’s last invocation.  From that day
  forward, the entire Hathorne family was cursed: members
  of the clan would never be able to hold on to any success
  they might achieve in life.  Nathaniel Hawthorne suffered
  from the affects of this curse almost two centuries later
  when he died in poverty despite his earlier literary and
  financial successes.  A malignant change overtook the
  House of Seven Gables as well—the Red Death
  transformed the structure into a Greater Animator (see
  Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium III).
  In the 1890s, Salem by day appears as a typical
  American town of the Gilded Age.  When night falls and
  the full moon rises, it is a different story however.  A few
  of the antiquated homes of Salem now lie abandoned and
  in ruins, and comprise some of the haunted houses for
  which New England is famous.  Inside their walls,
  members of the noncorporeal undead wander the halls,
  and a Hearth Fiend or two has been known to take up
  residence in their fireplaces.  Outside, the walls may be
  covered in evil plant life, such as Crawling Ivy (see
  Ravenloft Compendium III).  The qabal of Zemlak’s
  Children continues to dwell in Salem, holding bizarre
  midnight rituals in hidden groves in the woods of Essex
  County, and the qabal is actively trying to find a way to
  free Zemlak from his confinement.  The Circle still
  operates within the region as well and Salem serves as
  their base.  These current qabal members, descendants of
  families like the Nurses and the Corys,
  still continue to keep the fiend Zemlak imprisoned
  beneath the Witch House, but the magical bonds of
  restraint have nonetheless weakened over the years and
  their hold on him is tenuous at best.
  
  Crossroads: North America: The USA: New York
  13
  ALBANY
  Local Correspondent:
  John W. Mangrum
  Life is good in Albany, the second-oldest charted town in
  the United States.  Nestled in the Hudson River valley
  some 150 miles north of New York City, and just south
  of the eastern end of the Erie Canal, Albany remains a
  hub for trade as it has been since its founding, and as the
  capital of New York State since 1797, its wealth its more
  than matched by its political might.  Albany is a city rich
  in history and political intrigue, and is now boldly
  venturing forth into the next century on the shoulders of
  Progress!
  History
  As far as most locals are concerned, Albany’s history
  began in 1609 when Henry Hudson sailed up the river
  that would later bear his name in search of a Northwest
  Passage to the Orient.  Sadly, the following year he
  returned to Holland with the disappointing news that the
  river he had searched did not lead to his desired goal.
  However, he did report that fine furs could be found in
  the region, perking up his employers’ ears.
  Wearing fine fur was all the rage in Europe of the
  day, and several explorers set out to lay claim to this
  veritable treasure-trove.  Around 1612, the Dutch
  Captain Hendrick Christaensen was the first explorer to
  relocate New York Harbor. During a series of voyages,
  Christaensen more sailed up the Hudson River (or the
  River Mauritus, as the Dutch called it) and either
  captured or recruited two young Native Americans,
  convincing the pair to return with him to Holland.  Said
  to be the sons of tribal chiefs, the Dutch named the pair
  Valentine and Orson, after a popular medieval romance.
  In 1613, Captain Christaensen returned to the
  region, the Indian guides accompanying him, and set
  anchor near where the Mohawk River joined the Hudson.
  By the next year the Dutch had established Fort Nassau,
  a fortified trading post on Castle Island, to cash in on the
  fur trade.  Valentine and Orson were also persuaded to
  remain at the post, acting as guides and translators.
  Around 1619, Captain Christaensen returned once
  more to Fort Nassau.  In the Captain’s absence, Orson
  had become bad-tempered, described by one European
  as “an exceedingly malignant wretch.”  During an
  argument, Orson murdered Captain Christaensen, but
  was “repaid with a bullet as his reward.”
  By 1624, a new, larger, and more permanent colony
  was built to the north of Fort Nassau, and the settlement
  as a whole become known as Fort Orange.  In 1652,
  Peter Stuyvesant, the Poltroon or “patron” of the colony
  named the settlement growing up around Fort Orange
  “Beverwyck.”  The trading post had become a town.
  In 1664, the British bloodlessly captured the Hudson
  River region.  Once in control, the British renamed
  Beverwyck “Albany” for James, Duke of York and
  Albany.  Albany would keep the name forevermore.
  Although the Europeans were largely on good terms with
  the native Mohawk and Iroquois tribes, by 1676 King
  Philip’s Indian attacks had become serious enough to
  provoke the British into building Fort Albany to protect
  the town.  In less than two decades this would have a
  monumental effect on the town’s survival.
  In January of 1690, a war party of 210 men
  (comprised of 114 Frenchman, with the rest Indians)
  marched down from Montreal, planning to attack Albany.
  When they finally reached the area, the Indians (knowing
  Albany was defended by a fort with cannon) outright
  refused to attack the town.  As a last-minute decision, the
  war party decided to attack Schenectady instead, a
  stockade about 20 miles to the west.  This stockade was
  fortified, but the defenders were lax and weren’t at all
  prepared for the attack.  On Feb. 8th, the war party
  attacked; the people of Schenectady were massacred,
  while only two of the invaders were killed.  A sole rider
  escaped the raid, rushing to Albany for help.  Although
  both he and his horse were shot, they made the night-
  long ride and arrived in Albany before the next dawn.
  Sadly, before the Albany forces reached the area, the war
  party was long gone, having killed sixty people (men,
  women, and children) and razed all but a few houses.
  The war party trudged back towards Montreal,
  dragging twenty-seven prisoners and stolen fifty horses
  with them.  In the harsh weather, the invaders ate nearly
  two-thirds of those horses.  Two days later, the Mohawk
  Indians came to the survivors’ aid, and along with fifty
  Albany men, hunted down the raiders, killing fourteen
  stragglers.  This event sparked what became known on
  this side of the Atlantic as the French-and-Indian Wars.
  Albany survived, but by 1754 the Colonies were still
  caught in the ongoing conflict between France and
  England.  The Albany Congress was called to try to keep
  the Iroquois from going over to the French, as some of
  their tribes had already done.  Representatives from
  seven colonies came, hoping to appease the increasingly
  disgruntled Six Nations of the Iroquois.  The Mohawks
  were over a week late, but the Europeans counted it
  lucky that they’d decided to come at all; the Mohawks
  were (quite rightly) distressed over the White Man
  stealing their lands.  The Congress made enough
  concessions to soothe the tribe (enough so that they
  
  Crossroads: North America: The USA: New York
  14
  fought on the side of the Colonies when war eventually
  broke out), but even while the Mohawks were being
  pacified inside the Congress, outside they were being
  defrauded of even more land.  The Albany Congress also
  debated the Plan of Union, the first attempt to unify the
  Colonies under a single government (albeit under the
  English crown).  The plan never went very far, but the
  spirit of Union remained, and when the Revolutionary
  War eventually broke out, Albany survived several
  battles and served as a center for troops and supplies.
  In the beginning of the next century the city started
  to expand in earnest.  Since Albany was settled on gently
  sloping hills as the Adirondack Mountains came down to
  meet the Hudson, “downtown” had a literal meaning in
  Albany, and ever since the first settlement on Castle
  Island, each spring had brought with it troublesome
  floods.  As the city grew in power, the growing
  population of upper class decided they’d had enough of
  the Hudson’s annual overflow.  The affluent started
  moving to higher ground, creating the neighborhoods of
  Capitol Hill and Arbor Hill.  In 1806, the cornerstone
  was laid for Albany’s first Capitol building on Capitol
  Hill, also known as Gallows Hill from being the city’s
  place of public execution.
  Over the next few decades, Albany continued to
  grow in leaps and bounds, annexing several of its
  satellite communities and becoming a center of industry.
  All this prosperity no doubt came hand in hand with the
  construction of the Erie Canal, which opened in 1825,
  and in 1831 Mohawk & Hudson ran the nation’s first
  passenger train (the DeWitt Clinton) from Albany to
  Schenectady.  As the iron industry built up steam, so did
  the logging industry, which peaked in the 1850s-70s;
  many of Albany’s loggers were Irish immigrants who
  came to build the Canal, and stayed to raise families.  In
  1861, as the issue of slavery tore the nation apart, Albany
  hosted the State Anti-Slavery Convention.  Although
  there was threat of a riot, the mayor was able to toss the
  rowdies out of the convention, defending the free speech
  of the dignitaries within.
  Of course, not everything in Albany’s history during
  this period was quite so commendable; some of its darker
  moments are still notorious to this day.  1827 marked the
  last public hanging on Gallows Hill, and in 1832 Albany
  was hit by a cholera epidemic.  To ask some, worse than
  either of these were the hogs.  For as long as anyone
  could remember, the accepted method of garbage
  disposal had been to simply toss it out the front window,
  where it would lie in the street until such time as
  Albany’s healthy population of wild hogs would devour
  it.  By the middle of the 19th century, downtown Albany
  was a literal pig sty.  Thankfully, this was remedied in
  1854, when the Albany Common Council cracked down
  on the hog epidemic, rounding up some 15,000
  wandering pigs.
  However, the event which set the most tongues
  wagging took place in 1861.  In that year, newly-elected
  Abraham Lincoln took a pre-inaugural train tour across
  the Northeast, bolstering Northern spirits and gathering
  political support.  As Lincoln was paraded through the
  streets of Albany, a young and popular actor got his first
  glimpse of the new President.  To this day, thirty years
  later, people still wonder if President Lincoln and John
  Wilkes Booth caught each other’s eye, if only for an
  instant.
  During the Civil War, Albany produced war
  supplies for the Union; in fact, the ironclad Monitor was
  built in area ironworks in 1862.  Three years later,
  shortly after the end of the war, Booth assassinated
  Lincoln, while two accomplices unsuccessfully attempted
  to assassinate the Secretary of State and Vice-President
  Johnson.  Lincoln’s body was sent through the northern
  states in a funereal tour, and as Albany crowds filed by
  Lincoln’s coffin, John Wilkes Booth was meeting his end
  far to the south, surrounded in a Virginia barn.  Sergeant
  “Boston” Corbett, a native of neighboring Troy who had
  worked in Albany, disobeyed orders and fatally shot
  Booth.  Although Corbett was arrested, the nation made
  such a hero of him he was released and even granted a
  portion of the reward money.
  With the war over, the nation tried to heal, and
  Albany continued to grow.  In 1870, ground was broken
  on Washington Park, Albany’s answer to NYC’s Central
  Park.  On a less grandiose scale, In 1874 the Sacred
  Heart Church was established by Father Francis
  Maguire, a powerful man as comfortable on horseback as
  on foot, and a priest not afraid to use a whip and a fist to
  protect his flock.  In 1880, City Hall was ravaged in one
  of Albany’s all too frequent fires, but it was soon
  replaced.
  In the last decade, Progress has taken a firm hold of
  the Capital Region.  Primitive electric streetlights
  replaced the current kerosene lamps throughout the city
  in 1881, and 1889 saw Albany’s first station of public
  pay telephones.  In 1883, the original Capitol Building
  was demolished, with a grand new Capitol building
  being quickly built to take its place.  In fact, it sometimes
  seems like entire neighborhoods are being demolished in
  the name of Progress; out with the Old to make room for
  the New, as it were.  Just in 1890 electric trolleys have
  started to replace horse-cars in most parts of town.
  Modern Albany is truly a cosmopolitan city,
  boasting a wide mix of cultures.  While still primarily
  Dutch and English, the last century has seen an influx of
  Irish and German immigrants, who have formed their
  own communities.  There is also a smaller Jewish
  community, but as yet only a handful of Italians or
  
  Crossroads: North America: The USA: New York
  15
  Spaniards.  Yes, there are still reasons for complaints;
  the downtown area still suffers from flooding every
  spring, and is considered by many a disreputable eyesore.
  But the locals seem to like their city warts and all, despite
  their grumbling.  True, the city is very cramped—
  alleyways are uncommon—but developers currently
  building affluent homes in the Pine Hills neighborhood
  are finding resistance to the idea of putting homes in
  spacious lots!  And Albany does truly have its bright
  spots.  The recently opened Washington Park has
  become the center for a new fad: bicycling.  In fact, in
  fair weather, so many young people turn out in the park
  on their bicycles that some people are starting to see
  them as a menace to the pedestrians!
  Forbidden Lore
  The Red Death first sailed up the Hudson River on the
  decks of Captain Christaensen’s ship, but it wasn’t a
  European who carried its foul taint.  The Red Death
  gained its first foothold in the region through the Indian
  guide Orson, who unwittingly began his descent into
  corruption during his time in Holland.  Upon his return,
  the shamans of the Mohawk tribes detected that some
  sort of spiritual poison had entered the area, but it was so
  far outside their realm of experience that they had
  difficulty understanding it.  Orson, like the shamans,
  slowly came to believe that the Europeans were directly
  responsible for the evil seeping into their land.  Orson
  blamed Christaensen personally, never aware that he
  carried the Red Death within himself.  Some say that
  after Orson murdered the Dutch captain and was
  executed in turn, the Red Death brought Orson back
  from the dead in a new form, to continue to vent his
  wrath against the White Man…
  Two hundred years ago, Mohawk warriors helped
  hunt down fourteen stragglers from the war party
  responsible for the Schenectady Massacre.  Those
  stragglers, already firmly in the grip of the Red Death by
  the time they attacked the settlement, had also started to
  succumb to starvation by the time they met their end,
  devouring many of the horses stolen from the slain
  settlers.  After their demise, the Red Death simply
  nudged them along the last step of their journey, and the
  Stragglers returned as a pack of ghouls.  Some believe
  they may still roam the sparsely-populated north country,
  preying on travelers and lone woodsmen…
  Hermann van der Ploeg can still remember the
  “good old days,” back before 1854.  But then the humans
  rounded up the wild pigs and cleaned up the rancid
  garbage, and most of his kind left the city that
  had been their home for generations for greener pastures.
  Now, aging and aching, Hermann is fairly certain he’s
  the last wereboar left in Albany.  He’s too old to hunt
  (too old to wander far from his downtown apartment, in
  fact), but from his youth he can still remember the
  succulent taste of the flesh of a human-child.  Lately,
  Hermann has been looking for a way to get a taste of that
  delicacy again…
  Between fire, floods, and Progress, there isn’t a
  great deal of Albany’s history still standing.  Apparently,
  with the buildings go the ghosts; Albany boasts few
  hauntings.  There is one haunting causing some stir,
  however.  Parts of the grand new Capitol building are in
  use throughout the 1890s, but the building will still be
  under construction for most of the decade.  Recently,
  there have been problems on the Capitol Hill
  construction site; sightings of four dark spirits with
  twisted necks who apparently don’t want the new Capitol
  built.  Some people dismiss the notion of a “house
  haunted before it’s been built,” but some people with
  longer memories think back to when more people knew
  Capitol Hill’s other name.  They point out how, decades
  ago, four freed slaves were scapegoated for a particularly
  destructive Albany fire, how they were hung on Gallows
  Hill, and how the four valpurgeists haunting the
  unfinished Capitol seem to have a low opinion of the
  law…
  Although the annual floods are more than a
  nuisance, most people have learned to live with them (or
  to move uptown).  Sometimes, the floods even bring a
  little entertainment!  Last year, a downtown store-owner
  found a strange creature, somewhat like a cross between
  an eel and a slug, flopping around in his store’s cellar
  after the floodwaters had been pumped out.  He put the
  strange little creature on display in his store for a while,
  but eventually its water-filled pickle jar was taken down,
  and most people just assumed it had died.  In fact, it had
  grown.  The store-owner’s little “eel-slug” developed
  into a master sea spawn (see Ravenloft Monstrous
  Compendium III).  One day, the store-owner was
  thinking about selling the small monstrosity to a circus.
  The next day, he was under the control of the creature’s
  brood of young.  The sea spawn is currently trapped in a
  flooded section of the store’s basement, just waiting for
  the next spring flood so it can return to the river.  In the
  meanwhile, its minions are spreading out around town,
  bringing it food…
  Finally, John Wilkes Booth found his link to the Red
  Death in the years before Lincoln’s assassination.  There
  are a very few (the Watchers among them) who fear that
  Albany may be the recruiting center for a group of covert
  anarchists, a small qabal dedicated to what appears to be
  a purely political end: the collapse of the Union.  Most
  believe that when the government brought
  down Booth’s circle of conspirators (as well as a few
  unlucky bystanders, for that matter), they crippled this
  band of assassins, perhaps permanently.  Others fear it
  
  Crossroads: North America: The USA: New York
  16
  more likely that Booth was just a stooge, who (along with
  the others caught) never even understood the true nature
  of the cause they served.  These conspiracy theorists also
  ask if the supposed hero “Boston” Corbett might not also
  have been involved with this shadowy organization.  The
  very, very few who know enough to speculate further
  wonder whether or not Booth’s conspirators were just
  the very tip of a tentacle leading back to the Six-Fingered
  Hand, or whether that tentacle might lead straight to
  Orson, still at war with the White Man.
  NEW YORK CITY
  Local Correspondent:
  Joe Bardales
  Located on the island of Manhattan in the mouth of the
  Hudson River, the city of New York is the most
  important seaport in America.  From the start, New York
  has been a cosmopolitan melting pot of people from
  different cultures, religions and ethnic backgrounds.  A
  steady stream of immigrants continues to arrive in
  America through New York at the end of the nineteenth
  century, contributing to the prosperity of the United
  States.  It seems inevitable that New York will one day
  replace London as the capital of the world.
  History
  The first inhabitants of the land that would one day
  become New York were the Native American Algonquin
  tribe.  The Old World’s discovery of the island of
  Manhattan was made by Italian Giovanni da Verrazano
  in 1524, but it was Englishman Henry Hudson who first
  thoroughly explored the area in 1609 for the Dutch East
  India Company.  It was the Dutch West India Company
  that founded the settlement of New Amsterdam in 1625,
  and in 1626 the entire island of Manhattan was
  purchased from the Native American inhabitants for the
  equivalent of $24 in trinkets.  The settlement was a
  financial success, which attracted the attention of the
  British who seized the area in 1664, renaming the colony
  New York.  During the Revolutionary War, British
  troops controlled New York for most of the conflict.
  From its onset as a Dutch colony, New York has
  seen a continuous stream of immigration.  Conditions in
  Europe during most of the nineteenth century lead to
  mass migrations.  In 1890, Ellis Island off of Manhattan
  opened as a federal immigration-processing center.
  Immigrants were greeted on their arrival by the Statue of
  Liberty, a gift to the United States by the French
  government and erected in New York Harbor in 1886.
  Unfortunately, the next sight these new arrivals most
  often see is their new life in the slums.
  The nineteenth century was also a time for mass
  fortunes to be made in New York.  Men like John Astor,
  Andrew Carnegie, J. P. Morgan, and Cornelius
  Vanderbilt became millionaires many times over.  The
  acquisition of great wealth, however, did not guarantee
  social standing in New York.  The “old money” families,
  lead by the legendary Mrs. Astor, turned their aristocratic
  noses down on everyone else: those with “new money”
  (most notably the Robber Barons who made their
  fortunes from railroad empires), the working class, and
  the poor.
  The influx of people and wealth into New York lead
  to constant expansion of the metropolis.  New York was
  first settled at the southern end of Manhattan, and
  continued to grow upwards.  The “grid pattern” of
  numbered streets and avenues was established in 1811.
  Broadway, however, follows the path of what was
  originally an Algonquin trail.  The lower tip of
  Manhattan maintains the maze-like pattern of the streets
  of the original colony.  Wall Street, for example, lies
  where a Dutch fortification defended the settlement’s
  northern front.  The buildings of New York, like its
  people, are also a melting pot.  Examples include Federal
  style, Greek Revival, Italianate, Renaissance, and most
  recently, Gothic Revival.  In 1868 the first elevated trains
  went into service, and in 1870 the first subway was
  constructed.  Electricity became available from Edison
  Electric as early as 1882.  In 1898, the City of New York
  will become known as Greater New York, incorporating
  the surrounding boroughs of Brooklyn, the Bronx,
  Queens, and Staten Island with Manhattan to form one
  municipality.
  While New York is a booming metropolis at the
  close of the nineteenth century, it is still rife with social
  problems.  Poverty, corruption of police and government,
  and criminal elements run rampant in the city.  While
  there is definitely a pronounced gap between the haves
  and have nots, New York is still the place to be to have
  any chance of improving one’s station in life.
  Forbidden Lore
  New York is home to the ghosts of those who came
  before.  The spirits of early Dutch settlers and their
  African slaves, slaughtered by the invading British, haunt
  the lower end of Manhattan.  The restless spirits of the
  original Algonquin inhabitants also walk the island,
  
  Crossroads: North America: The USA: New York
  17
  seeking vengeance for the desecration of their once
  woodland paradise.  Spiritualism is quite the fad in the
  parlors of the wealthy, who remain ignorant of how
  dangerous their occult parlor games truly are.
  Like most of the eastern North American coast, New
  York Harbor is also the home to numerous wereseals
  (sea wolves) who hide amongst the native harbor seals.
  New York has always been a seaport, and tales of Jolly
  Rogers and sea zombies are common in the sailors
  taverns along South Street.  These same seafarers also
  speak of a race of fish men called sahuagin who live in a
  city at the bottom of Long Island Sound.  Ancient
  Algonquin legends seem to support this.
  The twisting and turning dark lit streets of
  Manhattan’s lower end can play tricks on the mind.
  Individuals have been known to get lost for hours, days,
  or perhaps forever.  While in most cases those that
  disappear are most likely the victims of a brutal crime,
  rumors persist of a powerful undead lich using illusion
  magic and living somewhere in the area.  This lich is
  believed to have once been the mortal adept named Axel
  Van Der Maark, an original settler of the Dutch colony of
  New Amsterdam who fled Europe to avoid charges of
  witchcraft and heresy.
  Other monsters and supernatural creatures can be
  found in and on the many buildings of New York.
  Gargoyles are believed to hide amongst their non-living
  counterparts on the faces of elaborate Neo-Gothic
  buildings throughout the city, and lesser known varieties
  of gargoyle (archers, spouters, stone lions, and
  grandfather plaques — see Monstrous Compendium
  Annual Volume III) are also found.  A former night
  watchman at the American Museum of Natural History
  (who went mad with fright and is now confined to
  Bellevue Mental Hospital) swears he saw the skeleton of
  a Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaur walk across the exhibit
  hall of its own accord, but this has not been confirmed.
  Since New York is an amalgam of cultures where
  thousands of immigrants arrive each day, it is no surprise
  that any type of minion of the Red Death not mentioned
  here might be found within the city.  Even though the
  presence of the Red Death in the New World has been
  relatively brief, New York City serves as proof that it has
  nevertheless managed to gain a strong foothold in short
  order.
  
  Crossroads: North America: The USA: South Dakota
  18
  SICA HOLLOW
  Local Correspondent:
  Jon P. Stacey
  Sica Hollow is located in the northeast corner of South
  Dakota, about fourteen miles straight south of the North
  Dakota border and twenty-six miles west of the
  Minnesota border.  Sica Hollow is also in the northern
  part of the triangular Lake Traverse Reservation.  The
  thickly wooded Hollow was carved by Roy Creek as it
  flows down the side of the Coteau des Prairies (a land
  feature similar to a plateau and formed by glaciers during
  the ice age).  The ravines and paha tanka (“great hills”)
  seem out of place on the broad, open expanse of the
  Great Plains.  Sica Hollow is not big, being only a little
  larger than five square miles.
  History
  When the Sioux first encountered the Hollow, they called
  it “Sica,” (pronounced “she-che”), meaning “evil.”
  Sioux legends speak of strange happenings in the
  Hollow.  Within the Hollow, bogs gurgle with reddish
  water that the Sioux saw as the flesh and blood of their
  ancestors and small waterfalls echo beneath the thick
  canopy.  The stream within the Hollow occasionally turns
  red, giving the appearance of flowing blood.  At night,
  glowing swamp gas dance on the surface of bogs and
  decaying stumps glow from phosphorescent mold.  A
  deep moaning can often be heard throughout the Hollow
  and other sounds seem strangely muted.
  One legend in particular told of a corrupt stranger
  who came to a Sioux settlement in Sica Hollow and
  spread his evil to the people.  The Great Spirit sent his
  messenger, Thunderer, to cleanse the Hollow in a deluge
  and to punish the stranger, Hand.
  In the early 1840s, the first white settlers, the Roy
  family, came to Sica Hollow.  They homesteaded nearby
  and their cemetery lies at the top of the southern slope.
  Joseph R. Brown established a trading post near the
  Hollow in 1845 and resided there for many years.
  The Treaty of 1867 formed the Lake Traverse
  Reservation for two Dakota Sioux bands: the Sissetons
  and the Wahpetons.  Sica Hollow became part of the
  reservation.  The triangle-shaped reservation has its base
  near the borders of South Dakota and its point just north
  of Lake Kampeska, near the settlement of Watertown.
  From top to bottom, the reservation is roughly seventy
  miles.
  Just outside the western edge of the Reservation
  stands Fort Sisseton.  Established in 1864 as Fort
  Wadsworth after the Minnesota Indian Uprising of 1862,
  Fort Sisseton served twenty-five uneventful years.  In
  1889, the Fort was abandoned and the land given to the
  new state of South Dakota.  The Fort’s forty-five
  buildings of wood, stone and brick within an earthen
  perimeter wall lie unused throughout the 1890s.
  Forbidden Lore
  The legend of Sica Hollow has its basis in truth.
  Centuries ago, a stranger traveled to the Sioux tribes
  camped in the Hollow during the dead of winter.  Hand,
  as he called himself, sought to cause dissension and war
  among the people.  Wiscasa Wakan, the Medicine Man,
  prayed to the Great Spirit for deliverance, and the Great
  Spirit sent the powerful nature spirit Thunderer
  (otherwise known as Thunderbird) to punish Hand.
  Thunderer tore out Hand’s eyes to deny him the Happy
  Hunting Grounds and cleansed the Hollow in a deluge
  which killed everyone in the Hollow except one.
  Hand’s spirit, however, remained in Sica Hollow,
  refusing to leave the world because he could not see the
  Happy Hunting Grounds.  His evil slowly spread through
  the Hollow, corrupting it.  What he could not do quickly
  in life, he did gradually in death.  The taint in the Hollow
  caused the vegetation to grow twisted and dark, and tales
  of mysterious happenings within the Hollow were
  commonplace among the Sioux.
  As the white settlers moved west, the Red Death’s
  influence followed them, penetrating the wilderness of
  the frontier.  Hand’s spirit fed off of the increasing
  presence of the Red Death, absorbing its power and evil.
  Within the last fifty years, Hand’s spirit was able to draw
  off enough energy to regain form and consciousness.
  Hand has risen as a 4th magnitude ghost with powers
  over the plants and animals found in Sica Hollow.  At
  night, his ghostly form appears as a Sioux warrior, bare-
  chested and long-haired.  His cloak and hair billow out
  behind him and he is surrounded in a blinding blue
  corona.  His eyes have been torn out and all that remains
  are black pools of darkness in his sockets and bloody
  talon wounds across his face.  Hand can also assume the
  form of a will o’wisp and a large shambling mound
  during the night.  In the day, Hand is forced into the form
  of a black, lightning-split tree stump which stands 10 feet
  high at its splintered crown.  The wood of the stump is
  damp and rotting, and is impossible to ignite even with
  magical fire.  Even if this stump is destroyed, Hand
  reforms when the sun sets.  Hand is now a lord in service
  of the Red Death, and his presence has transformed Sica
  Hollow into a lair of evil.
  
  Crossroads: North America: The USA: South Dakota
  19
  A number of creatures have been attracted to Sica
  Hollow by Hand’s evil, which has been magnified by the
  Red Death.  Hand commands all the evil creatures
  within the Hollow.  Will o’wisps are among the most
  plentiful creatures in the Hollow.  They are known to lure
  trespassers off cliffs and into bogs at night and will
  disguise themselves by imitating the glow from swamp
  gas or decaying stumps.  Shambling mounds can be
  found in some of the larger bogs throughout the Hollow.
  They often goad the will o’wisps into attacking with its
  electrical charge, which causes the mounds to gain an
  additional Hit Die.  The shambling mounds commonly do
  this when preparing to attack a powerful invader.  (The
  shambling mounds of Sica Hollow are neutral evil, not
  true neutral.)  Two or three evil treants are active in the
  Hollow.  They will attack any intelligent creature
  entering the Hollow, even other minions of the Red
  Death.  One of the treants is rumored to be dying, so
  there may be an undead treant lurking within the Hollow
  soon.  Other denizens include a small choke creeper (20-
  foot and 25 hit points) which lurks along the slopes and a
  hangman’s tree which stands watch where the stream
  flows into the Hollow, preying on anything that comes
  near.
  As Hand’s evil tainted the Hollow, the spirits of
  those Sioux who had died within became restless, and
  some rose again.  These ancestral spirits of the Sioux are
  typically 1st or 2nd magnitude ghosts, though a couple
  may be of 3rd magnitude.  They do what they can to battle
  Hand and his minions, but they have little success.
  Despite fighting a hopeless fight, most of these spirits
  still do not welcome outsiders, even if the outsiders offer
  assistance.  Whites and non-Sioux are nearly always
  attacked on sight; only Sioux have a remote possibility of
  being welcomed as long as they find some way of
  appeasing the spirits.  Descendants of Fawn, however,
  are never harmed by the ancestral spirits, though Hand
  can and will attack them at night.
  The Roy cemetery and Joseph Brown’s trading post
  have remain largely untouched by Hand’s evil as well as
  the ancestral spirits; the two sites either reside outside of
  the Hollow, or at least outside Hand’s range of influence.
  It appears both Hand and the ancestral spirits are
  confined to Sica Hollow and their power does not extend
  beyond the borders of the Hollow.
  Some of the Children of the Raven, a group within
  the Nation of Nine, believe that Thunderer (Thunderbird)
  still resides within Sica Hollow, sleeping until called
  again.  They want to awaken the phoenix-like Thunderer
  and enlist his aid in halting the settling of the West by the
  whites.  Even if Thunderer was in Sica Hollow and
  escaped corruption by Hand, he is likely to destroy the
  natives along with the settlers.
  Legend of Sica Hollow
  Sica Hollow once protected many peaceful Native
  American camps.  Its trees blocked the North Wind.  But
  then a stranger came.  The young girls grew afraid.
  The women wished to send him away.  The old men
  said, “When it is warm again outside the Hollow, he
  will go.”
  The sly stranger, Hand, did not leave when the Sun
  returned to the north.  Instead he taught the young boys
  to strike and kill.  Blood flowed.  The old men sought
  help from Wiscasa Wakan, Medicine man.  “What shall
  we sacrifice to make our Hollow as it was long ago?”
  they asked.
  Wiscasa Wakan returned to his lodge and waited
  for Wakantanka, the Great Spirit, to reply.  Soon
  Wakantanka sent his messenger, Thunderer.
  Thunderer’s eyes flashed.  His dark wings beat the air,
  and he brought a cloud that rained over the Hollow.
  Madness seized Hand.  He tried to run, but vines
  encircled his ankles.  The water filled his screaming
  mouth.  Thunderer’s talons ripped out his eyes so he
  could never see the Happy Hunting Ground.
  Of all the people in the Hollow, only a raven-
  haired maiden called Fawn was saved from the rising
  water.  She fled to the top of the highest hill and sang
  her grief and remorse to the Great Spirit.  Then she
  slept many days.  When she awoke, the Hollow was
  clean and bright.  Yet the memory and the evil name—
  Sica Hollow, Bad Hollow—linger.
  
  Crossroads: North America: The USA: Texas
  20
  HOUSTON AND
  SOUTHERN TEXAS
  Local Correspondent:
  Daniel J. Bandera
  Located in a subtropical climate, a few miles inland from
  the Gulf of Mexico, in southern Texas, the city of
  Houston is a gateway to the rest of Texas.  Travelers
  arrive at the port of Galveston to the south and use the
  railroad hub at Houston to gain access to the interior of
  the largest state in the union.
  History
  Founded in 1836, the city of Houston was built on the
  site of an old logging community, at the junction of the
  San Jacinto River and the Buffalo Bayou.  The city was
  named for Sam Houston, who lead the Texan troops at
  the battle of San Jacinto.  Here the Texan irregulars
  charged the Mexican position, shouting “Remember the
  Alamo,” and “Remember Goliad,” on the afternoon of
  April 21, 1836, and drove the Mexicans soldiers back
  into the San Jacinto River.  With this battle Texas
  proclaimed its independence from Mexico.
  A planned city, its streets were set out in a grid
  pattern, and was the new republic’s first capital.  A few
  years later the capital was moved to the more centrally
  located city of Austin.  Ten years after the republic
  declared its independence from Mexico, Texas joined the
  United States.
  As a U.S. city, Houston grew slowly to become a
  major railroad junction.  Before the Civil War the slave
  trade was its major industry.  Left unscathed by the war,
  the city emerged from Reconstruction in 1870,
  prospering.
  Houston in 1890 is still a small city, as compared
  with the cities of the east coast and the large port city of
  New Orleans, its neighbor on the Gulf of Mexico.  By
  1890, the city’s population has only reach 25,000.
  During the 1890s, plans are finalized to build a shipping
  channel, a long held desire of many Houstonians, to
  allow large ocean going vessels to dock at Houston,
  instead of in Galveston, its rival to the south.
  Visitors from the East will feel as if they have
  entered the untamed west.  Electric power was
  introduced as late as 1884, by the Houston Electric Light
  and Power Co..  In 1891, the streetcar systems were
  gradually changed from mule-pulled to electric-powered.
  Few of the city streets are paved and those that are are
  usually buried under a layer of mud.  The many unpaved
  streets are often turned to mud by the frequent rain
  storms.  However, the city is not lawless.  The local
  police force is supported by a branch of the Texas
  Rangers, who maintain a station in the city.
  Forbidden Lore
  Many historians wonder about Sam Houston’s retreat
  across Texas during the revolution and his decision to
  attack the superior Mexican forces on the site of modern
  day Houston.  Many believed he was forced into the
  battle by his troops, but the true reason has remained a
  secret.  Santa Anna, the Mexican president and leader of
  its armies, had earned a reputation as a ruthless general
  of great skill, unsurpassed by any other in the Americas
  at that time.  His numerous victories and his harsh
  treatment of prisoners, especially during the Texan
  revolution, lead to many rumors that Santa Anna was
  receiving advice from a ghostly councilor.  Rumors say
  the ghostly strategist was a great general from European
  history, some claiming it was Napoleon Bonaparte,
  leading to Santa Anna’s nickname as the Napoleon of the
  Americas.  This, however, is false.  Santa Anna’s actions
  were driven by a fiend from the netherworld that had
  taken possession of him.
  The fiend had crossed the Atlantic from Europe
  during the Spanish colonization of South and Central
  America.  The fiend fled Europe because a qabal, The
  Pilgrims of the Radiant Dawn, had uncovered its
  existence and its true name.  Members of this qabal
  approached Sam Houston and disclosed to him the nature
  of his enemy.  Taking their advice, he retreated east to
  the San Jacinto river.  There the qabalists had prepared a
  trap for the fiend.  Using there combined mystical
  powers the qabalists of the Radiant Dawn were able to
  expel the fiend from Santa Anna and imprison it in a
  mystic cage.
  The creature is currently imprisoned beneath the
  ground of the battlefield.  However, the strength of the
  beast’s prison has ebbed over the past fifty years and the
  fiend is able to psychically communicate with those
  traveling nearby.  It attempts to seduce anyone it is able
  to contact with the lure of immense power if they agree to
  work to free him.  In this manner the creature has created
  a small cult of followers working to free the it from its
  imprisonment.  It is only a matter of time before the fiend
  is loosed again on the world.
  In the country surrounding Houston, other mystical
  creatures dwell.  There is the ghostly army reported
  around the village of Goliad, and the strange occurrences
  in the Valley of St. Xavier.
  
  Crossroads: North America: The USA: Texas
  21
  GOLIAD
  After the fall of the Alamo, Mexican troops moved east,
  terrorizing all Anglo-Saxon settlements in their path.  In
  their path was the town of Goliad, where Colonel James
  Fannin had gathered a large number of troops.  When
  faced with superior forces of the Mexican army, he
  surrendered to Colonel Urrea, asking the colonel for
  terms.  The colonel promised that the Texans they would
  be free to return to their homes after relinquishing their
  arms.  At that time all Mexican troops were under orders
  to execute anyone caught in the act of rebellion.  The
  President of Mexico refused to honor the terms of
  clemency offered by Colonel Urrea and ordered Colonel
  Fannin and his men executed for treason.  On Palm
  Sunday, March 27, 1836, the Colonel and his troops
  were marched out of Goliad, believing they were to be
  sent home.  Instead they were executed a couple of miles
  outside of town.
  Forbidden Lore
  After this betrayal, the spirits of Colonel Fannin and
  many of his men refused to rest in peace.  A year later,
  the spirit of Colonel Fannin and threescore of his men
  returned to haunt Goliad and the surrounding area.  Till
  this day, the army of Goliad believes Texas is still
  fighting for its independence.  Before they were killed the
  Colonel and his troops had witnessed many of the
  atrocities committed by the Mexican troops on loyal
  Texan civilians.  Now they have adopted these tactics
  themselves, terrorizing any one of Mexican descent in
  order to drive all Mexicans south of the Rio Grande.
  Colonel Fannin and his men will continue their bloody
  attacks on Mexican immigrants until they are granted the
  pardon promised them by the President of Mexico.
  VALLEY
  OF SAN XAVIER
  In the 1700s, as the Spanish began to move northward
  into the central United States, a band of Franciscan friars
  attempted to build a mission in the Valley of San Xavier.
  This land was inhabited by the Tonkawa natives, so a
  company of soldiers, lead by Captain Felipe Rabago, was
  sent along to protect the new settlement.  These soldiers
  sent to protect the people of San Xavier, soon became
  the terror of the settlement.  Stealing and beating the
  settlers, until Lieutenant Juan Caballos complained to his
  captain.  Captain Rabago was furious that his actions
  were brought into question by a subordinate and had
  Caballos arrested for insubordination.  Caballos was
  whipped and then forced to watch as Captain Rabago
  killed the lieutenant’s wife.  Caballos managed to escape
  and sought shelter in the mission.  Captain Rabago,
  furious as ever, road his horse into the church and
  attempted to drag Caballos out by his hair.  The friars
  protested and condemned Captain Rabago for
  desecrating the church, and he relented.  Caballos
  received asylum from the friars and remained at the
  mission.  Three days later, while Caballos was dining
  with the friars, masked men armed with rifles knocked in
  the door and opened fire.  Caballos and one of friar,
  Gazabal, were killed, and the masked men fled into the
  night.
  Whether it was Caballos’ ghost or a curse from God
  that struck next is unclear, but disaster struck the
  struggling settlement.  A famine destroyed the crops.  In
  the middle of the summer the river dried up.  Finally, in
  the early fall a large fireball appeared in the sky at night
  and circled above the village.  Over the next few days the
  settlers quickly fled and the soldiers deserted.  Before
  Captain Rabago could leave, the fireball struck his
  barracks, and he died in the resulting fire.  After this,
  even the friars decided to abandon the settlement.
  Forbidden Lore
  Today, none of the buildings of the settlement of San
  Xavier valley are still standing, and the valley continues
  to remain uninhabited.  Settlers living on the edge of the
  valley still report sightings of the fireball that circles the
  valley at night.
  
  Crossroads: North America: Canada: Newfoundland
  22
  ST. JOHN’S
  Local Correspondent:
  Matthew “Dead Man” Ball
  The oldest and most easterly city in North America, St.
  John’s is situated on the Avalon Peninsula of the island
  colony of Newfoundland.  Facing Europe, St. John’s is
  swept by the cold Arctic conditions brought south by the
  Labrador Current.
  History
  Situated near the abundant fish stocks of the Grand
  Banks, the deep-water harbor of St. John’s was a highly
  prized port for the fishing fleets and explorers of Europe.
  As early as 1527 the ships of France, England, Portugal
  and Spain were all finding purchase from the Atlantic in
  the sheltered harbor.  Year-round settlements soon came
  into being and in 1583 Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed the
  harbor and all its properties for the English Crown.
  Continued turmoil amongst the European states led to
  friction in the New World with St. John’s becoming a
  site of major skirmishes, particularly between the French
  and English.  Eventually, English might prevailed and St.
  John’s harbor was fortified and guarded with several gun
  batteries, block houses, and the forts William, Amherst,
  and Frederick.
  Stability brought a period of prosperity to St. John’s
  and the city quickly became a source of raw resources—
  timber, fish, and furs—which left the docks bound for
  port cities in both the Americas and the Old World
  countries.  The Water Street merchant families of
  Hickeys, Sullivans, Galways, O’Briens, and MacDonalds
  soon became a controlling factor in city politics, as well
  as the prosperous elite.  Established religion led by the
  Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church, and the
  Methodists led the cultural development in the city
  establishing numerous places of worship, charitable
  organizations, colleges, and public buildings.
  St. John’s quickly became the seat of government
  for the colony of Newfoundland as it began the
  experiment of self-government—the first colony in the
  British Empire to do so.  Unfortunately, tragedy struck
  the city on July 8, 1892 when fire raged through St.
  John’s destroying practically the entire eastern-third of
  the city.  As the smoke settled, the city has been ravaged
  to the tune of over twenty million dollars of property
  damages, and over 12,000 people were left homeless.
  The people of St. John’s faced the daunting prospect of
  rebuilding with a determination to once-again return to
  the thriving lifestyle the community had once known.
  Although never completely reaching the same degree of
  self-sufficiency, St. John’s would return to the center of
  the world stage as Guglielmo Marconi came to the city
  and carried out his experiments on Signal Hill
  overlooking the harbor.  At the turn of the century,
  Marconi received the first trans-Atlantic wireless signals
  in St. John’s, in effect shrinking the globe.
  Forbidden Lore
  The close proximity of St. John’s to Europe, as well as
  the long history of settlement, has made St. John’s an oft-
  used starting point for forays and expansion into the New
  World by both foes and minions of the Red Death.
  At least one qabal is suspected to be based, or at
  least have a prominent cell operating, in St. John’s.  The
  Brotherhood of St. Phocas is a highly secretive
  organization that seems to be focusing their attentions on
  building or maintaining some control over the world’s
  oceans.  Popular gossip amongst the people of St. John’s
  tells of a mysterious technology that has been discovered
  embedded in Arctic ice flows and brought back to the
  city by the merchant sponsored seal hunts.  In certain
  circles, it is no great secret that the Brotherhood would
  dearly long to possess such items, and it has been
  suggested that they will go to any lengths to obtain such
  artifacts.
  Another concern of late as been the disappearance of
  several of the local fishing boats and their crews.
  Although no trace of the vessels or any bodies have been
  found, other fishermen tell of having seen a giant
  octopoid tentacle or beak breaking the surface of the gray
  Atlantic.  The only explanation for such a sighting can be
  found in the old maps and stories of mariners recounting
  the tale of the kraken—a gigantic squid-like monster
  responsible for devouring whole fleets.
  The island of Newfoundland is also subject to some
  profound disturbances in the spiritual realm.  Most of this
  is a lingering resonance towards the European
  civilization as European settlers actively hunted the
  indigenous people of the island, the Beothuk Indians, for
  a government-sponsored bounty that effectively
  amounted to genocide.  Those Beothuks not slaughtered
  quickly fell victim to European diseases such as
  tuberculosis.  The last Beothuk died in St. John’s in
  1829.
  
  Crossroads: North America: Canada: Nova Scotia
  23
  WOLFVILLE
  Local Correspondent:
  Matthew “Dead Man”Ball
  Located at the eastern end of the Annapolis Valley,
  Wolfville is situated upon the shores of the Minas Basin
  in the Bay of Fundy—the source of the world’s highest
  tides.  The Annapolis Valley is also the agricultural
  center of the Nova Scotia economy with numerous
  produce and livestock farms as well as hundreds of acres
  of apple orchards.
  History
  In the seventeenth century farmers from the Bordeaux
  region of France colonized the Annapolis Valley.
  Calling the region L’Acadie, the farmers set about
  claiming the land from the tidal basins through the
  construction of a series of dykes which kept the sea
  waters from flooding the low-lying lands which became
  rich agricultural soils.  In 1755, the English tried to force
  the Acadians into signing a treaty that in effect would ally
  the Acadians with the British in their conflict against
  France.  Preferring to remain neutral, the Acadians
  declined to sign the treaty.  In return, the British gathered
  all the Acadians in the Valley, separated the men from
  the women and children, and expelled the Acadian
  people from Nova Scotia.  The Expulsion scattered the
  Acadians throughout the world.  Some ended up in other
  parts of Canada—Quebec, New Brunswick, and
  Newfoundland.  Some traveled south to become the
  Cajuns of Louisiana, and some returned to France.  After
  ten years, the British government of Nova Scotia
  declared the Acadians could return to the province if they
  wished.  The Acadian people returned to the Annapolis
  Valley only to find that their property and lands had been
  appropriated by English and Dutch settlers and the
  government refused to allow any claim towards their
  former homes.  The American poet Henry Wadsworth
  Longfellow in his classic poem “Evangeline” (1847)
  celebrated the tragedy of the Acadian people.
  The large expanses of mud revealed during the daily
  low tides caused the town to be known as Mud Creek
  until it was re-christened Wolfville after the prominent
  DeWolfe family in 1821.  Shortly thereafter in 1838, the
  Baptist Church chose the town as the site for their new
  university and seminary which they named Acadia
  University.  The University became one of the leading
  educational institutes in the province with many noted
  alumni such as Sir Charles Tupper who went on to
  become Prime Minister of Canada in 1896.  Although the
  University burned completely to the ground in 1884, it
  was quickly rebuilt and flourishes today.
  Forbidden Lore
  The tidal bore of the Bay of Fundy has recently become
  the focus for the experiments of a group of professors
  from the University.  Led by Dr. Magnus Moeller, a
  German professor of Physics and Mathematics, these
  individuals are believed to be constructing some sort of
  turbine-based generator that creates enormous quantities
  of electrical energy twice daily with the tides.  The
  underlying purpose of their endeavor remains unclear, as
  does just who is footing the cost of the experiments.
  A lingering resentment is also present in the
  Wolfville area in the Acadian people who still feel they
  have never been shown any justice after their expulsion
  from their traditional lands.  Besides a simmering
  tension, perhaps the most tangible evidence of this latent
  hostility is expressed in the stories of the Acadian people
  concerning the DeWolfe clan.  At the time of the
  expulsion, the DeWolfes sided with the British, selling
  out their fellow Acadians and revealing to the British
  troops the names of French sympathizers and the
  locations of stockpiled supplies and arms.  Accordingly,
  one old Acadian cursed the head of the DeWolfe family
  as he was loaded on the ship that carried him away.
  Although no civilized person puts much stock into the
  ravings of a simplistic, backwoods farmer, the Acadian
  people still tell the tale of how one member of each
  generation of DeWolfes falls under the power of the
  moon and tides as the “loup-garou” or were-wolf.
  Current suspicion tends to point the finger at the local
  judge, Gerald DeWolfe.
  
  Crossroads: Central America: Mexico
  24
  SAN MIGUEL
  DE COZUMEL
  Local Correspondent:
  Daniel J. Bandera
  Cozumel is Mexico’s largest island.  Located twelve
  miles off the eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, the
  isle is twenty-eight miles from north to south and ten
  miles from east to west.  San Miguel is a small fishing
  village located on the western coast of the island.
  Situated in a tropical climate, the temperature ranges
  between 70 and 90 degrees.
  History
  The island of Cozumel was first settled by the Mayans in
  the third century AD.  The Mayan civilization fell
  mysteriously in the 13th century.  By the time of the
  Spanish arrival in the New World, the island was
  inhabited by descendants of the Mayans.  Cozumel in the
  Mayan language means “Land of the Swallows,” and the
  name was kept by the Spanish conquistadors.  Years
  later, as gold was taken by the Spanish from the mines of
  Central America, pirates used the coves of the island to
  launch attacks on the treasure laden ships heading for
  Europe.  Many of these gold filled ships lie below the
  waves around the island.
  In the 1890s, the island’s one community, a small
  fishing village located on the west side of the island, is
  called San Miguel.  The port is being developed, due to
  the increase in trade passing through the island from
  Central America to the United States.  The gum craze
  began near the end of the 19th century, leading to the
  mass importation of gum from Central America.
  Cozumel is becoming a favored stop over port for ships
  making this run.
  The isle contains beautiful sand beaches on the west
  coast with sparkling clear water off shore.  The northern
  and southern parts of the island contain mangrove
  swamps.  These swamps are very inhospitable, infested
  with mosquitoes and alligators.  The interior of the island
  is covered with thick vegetation.  While making travel
  difficult, the jungle of the island is not as thickly forested
  as that found on the mainland.  The east side, the wind
  ward side, of the island is barren sandy beach.  The
  strong winds from the Caribbean Sea keep it free from
  vegetation.  The constant wind also makes the region
  inhospitable to the island’s natives, and there are no
  settlements on this side of the island.  This makes it a
  perfect breading group for sea turtles, who come each
  summer to lay their eggs on the eastern beaches.
  In Cozumel’s interior there are many ruins still
  standing from the time of the Mayans.  The largest such
  ruins, lying in the center of the island, is called San
  Gervacio.  The site was held by the Mayans to be sacred
  to their goddess of fertility, Ixchel.  Only Mayan women
  who wished to conceive a child were allowed to enter the
  site, where they underwent rituals that were to bless their
  womb and grant them healthy children.  Another ruined
  monument sits on the southern tip of the island, near
  where a lighthouse is being constructed.  This
  monument, a tall slender column, was used by Mayan
  sailors to navigate their boats by.
  The village of San Miguel takes its name from the
  discovery of an ivory statue of the Archangel Michael
  wearing a golden crowd and wielding a golden sword.
  The statue was uncovered in 1895, and was sent to the
  capital for restoration.  How the statue came to the island
  is unclear, but study of its design reveals it to be of
  Spanish construction.  Scholars studying the statue
  believe it to have been a gift from a rich Spanish noble to
  the island’s natives when they were converted to
  Catholicism.  When it was returned to the city, many of
  the residence believed that the real statue was not
  returned and that a replica was sent in its place.  They
  believe that the real statue was taken by a corrupt
  minister in the Mexican government.  The statue now
  resides in the church of Corpus Christi, the village’s
  Catholic church just off the main square, Plaza de Sol.
  Inside, Archangel Michael stands over the altar of the
  church.
  Forbidden Lore
  The suspicion of the local inhabitants about the statue of
  San Miguel is partially true.  During the statue’s
  restoration, one of the professors studying the statue was
  a colleague of Edward Thompson, an amateur
  archaeologist and secretly an adept.  When contacted by
  his colleague, Thompson traveled to the capital to view
  the statue.  His studies uncovered the magical nature of
  the statue.  The golden sword is unbreakable and
  considered a +2 long sword.  The golden crown is a
  crown of defense that grants the wearer an AC of 5.
  Both the sword and the crown bear a curse.  The wielder
  of either experience painful headaches that make
  concentration difficult.  In game terms, the wielder has a
  -4 penalty to all Intelligence checks, including Spellcraft
  checks.  The curse is lessened by possession but the
  sword and the crown, in which case the penalty is only   -
  2.  If the wielder is standing within thirty feet of the
  statue the curse is lessened to -1.  Thompson secretly
  replaced the sword and crown with replicas and
  
  Crossroads: Central America: Mexico
  25
  returned to his hacienda in the interior of the Yucatan
  Peninsula near the ruins of the large Mayan city of
  Chichén Itza, with the originals to continue his studies.
  Thompson did not uncover the magic locked in the
  statue itself or the origin of the statue.  The statue
  projects a double strength protection from evil in a thirty
  foot radius at all times.  No evil aligned magical creature
  can enter this area, and all good aligned individuals
  receive a bonus of +4 to their AC against attacks from
  evil beings.  The statue was crafted in Spain by adepts
  and mystics working to help drive the Moors from Spain.
  However, the statue was not finished until after the taking
  of Granada by the Spanish in January of 1492.  So the
  statue remained unused until Cortés left Spain to conquer
  the Aztecs.  When Cortés arrived in Mexico he carried
  the statue, a gift from the monarchs of Spain to help in
  his conquest.  During his conquest, a Dominican friar,
  Juan Guteirez, became appalled by Cortés’ brutality and
  stole the statue and fled. Guteirez traveled south into the
  Yucatan.  Eventually he reached the island of Cozumel
  where the natives welcomed him and were open to his
  teachings.  He set the statue up in the village center and
  converted many of the natives to his faith.
  The Mayan ruins of San Gervacio are used by the
  were-jaguars tribes from the central Yucatan for mating
  rituals as they have for centuries past.  Different were-
  jaguar tribes travel to the island each month during the
  three days of the new moon and gather to choose mates
  for the year, while trying to keep secret their presence.
  In the past they rarely attacked the villagers of San
  Miguel; however, with the increase of gum ships using
  the port attacks by the were-jaguars on lone sailors have
  increased.  It was ancestors of these were-jaguars who
  removed the statue of Saint Michael from the village
  center and hid it in the jungle.  The resent recovery of the
  statue has angered the were-jaguars, who are plotting to
  steal the statue again.
  Not all of the island’s terrors remain on land.
  Beneath the sea floor, water-filled caves and large
  caverns exist.  The water passing through the caves
  maintains a strong current.  Many variety of sharks use
  these caves for “sleeping;”  a strange behavior not
  observed by human scientists before.  The sharks are also
  drawn to the caves by their master, Pírate Salinas, a
  were-shark.  Salinas maintains a lair in the caves
  underneath the island, while he searches the depths for
  sunken Spanish treasure ships.  Pírate’s true form is that
  of a twelve foot long tiger shark.  Tiger sharks while not
  rare near the island are uncommon, and due to a reddish
  coloration on the tip of his dorsal fin, Pírate (pronounced
  Pee-rot-ta) has been recognized by many of the native
  fishermen, who fearfully call him “Diablo
  del Mar,” Devil of the Sea, after his many attacks on
  local fisherman and swimmers.
  Vera Cruz
  Local Correspondent:
  Daniel J. Bandera
  Vera Cruz was the site of Cortés’ landing in the new
  world on his way to conquer the mighty Aztec Empire.
  Since his time a number of other conquerors have used
  the city to invade Mexico.
  In 1890, the city is the largest port city in Mexico
  and an important part of the nation’s economy.  Like
  many cities throughout Mexico, its represents a diverse
  mix of Native American and Spanish cultures.
  History
  A Native American civilization arose on the coast of the
  Gulf of Mexico near Vera Cruz in ancient times.  Their
  civilization had waned by the 16th Century, and in 1519,
  when Hernán Cortés landed nearby, he met the Totonacs,
  descendants from the original settlers.  Upon his landing
  Cortés founded the city of Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz,
  some seventy miles north of the modern day city of Vera
  Cruz.  Showing little respect for the natives’ religious
  beliefs, Cortés built Villa Rica at the foot of their sacred
  mountain, Quiahuiztlán.
  Before leaving the city to conqueror the interior of
  Mexico, Cortés established a city council to rule the new
  city.  As Cortés conquests increased Spain’s holdings in
  the area, the area around Villa Rica was designated a
  state, and a royal governor was set to rule the area from
  Villa Rica.  In 1525, the city was moved to a new
  location forty miles to the south.  The new city was
  renamed Vera Cruz.  Though it grew quickly, the city’s
  initial glory was soon eclipsed as the Spanish moved the
  colonial government to the interior of the continent with
  the fall of the Aztec Empire.  Vera Cruz was placed
  under the viceroyalty of New Spain (later changed to
  Viceroyalty of Mexico), and fell under the rulership of
  the viceroy in Mexico City.
  The city was moved once again in 1599-1600 to its
  present location.  Vera Cruz Neuva (New Vera Cruz)
  was built on the coast some thirty miles southeast of the
  old settlement, Vera Cruz Vieja (Old Vera Cruz).  Vera
  Cruz became the only recognized port of New Spain
  through which the riches of the New World could pass
  on the way to Europe.  To protect this important port
  city, a massive fortress was constructed on the island of
  San Juan de Uleía, just offshore.
  
  Crossroads: Central America: Mexico
  26
  The area around Vera Cruz was unhealthy long
  before the Spanish arrived.  The land is very fertile, but
  there were many low-lying areas that are easily flooded.
  This led to many epidemics among the settlers.  Because
  of this, many settlers arrived in New Spain at Vera Cruz
  but few stayed.   Still, those settlers that did stay formed a
  diverse cultural mix that included Native Americans,
  Spanish, and Africans, brought over by the Spanish as
  slaves.  Despite the inhospitable environment, the city
  grew large from the great wealth discovered in the
  country’s interior.
  Cortés would not be the only invader to land at Vera
  Cruz, which would prove to be the launching point and
  final rallying point of many of Mexico’s invaders.
  During the Mexican revolution of 1821, Vera Cruz was
  one of the last cities to remain loyal to the Spanish
  crown.  The Spanish army’s garrison in the city refused
  to surrender to the rebels.  When faced with
  overwhelming odds and cut off from supplies from
  Europe, they relinquished control of the city and retreated
  to the fortress of San Juan, where they held out until
  Spain recognized Mexican independence.
  Twenty years later in 1847, the norteamericanos
  seized the port city of Vera Cruz and used it as a base to
  strike into the heart of the country, during the Mexican-
  American War.  They did not stay long.  The Americans
  quickly conquered the Mexican capital and annexed
  much of northern Mexico.
  It was not long thereafter that the French, under
  Napoleon III, invaded Mexico by way of Vera Cruz.  In
  1862, though initially repelled, the French conquered
  much of central Mexico.  The French established as ruler
  the much-hated puppet emperor, Maximillan.  The
  French remained in Mexico until the year 1866.  During
  their retreat, Vera Cruz was one of the last cities they
  relinquished their rule over.
  Now as the city faces the 1890s, its future is still
  unsure.  The country is still weak from the numerous
  invasions of the past century as well as the civil wars that
  have rocked the country over the past several decades.
  As Mexico recovers, Vera Cruz’s position as the largest
  port in Mexico, providing links to the international trade
  community, will insure its importance the nation’s future.
  Forbidden Lore
  The abandoning of the original site of Villa Rica de la
  Vera Cruz, six years after it was founded, was due to the
  unusual abundance of poisonous snakes that infested the
  area.  These snakes were attracted to the area by
  sympathy spells cast as part of a curse by native witch
  doctors.  In anger over the Spanish desecration of their
  sacred mountain, the adepts cursed the settlement.
  Though the Spanish conquistadors uncovered the witch
  doctors and executed them, the spells remain in affect,
  even 350 years later.
  Local folklore is populated with tales of witches
  which are rumored to plague the countryside.  The
  witches are said to enchant married men, causing them to
  leave their wives and to commit acts of evil.  Travelers to
  the area will meet many citizens of Vera Cruz who have
  a story to tell about a friend or acquaintance that has
  faced a witch, but a rare few claim to have actually
  personally met a witch.  This belief in the presence of
  witches has some basis in fact.  A loose organization of
  evil female adepts has lived in the area since the 16th
  Century, when their ancestors fled from the Inquisition in
  Spain.  Local legends state that a witch’s hair turns gray
  when she becomes a witch, forcing her to cover her hair
  with a scarf, hat, wig, or magical enchantment.  Other
  legends say that a witch’s spells are more powerful at
  night, and that they will flee at the sight of a rose, for the
  prick from a rose thorn will not heal.
  The most feared witch of the area is called La Bruja
  Blanca, “the White Witch.”  Said to lair in the swampy
  low-lying area south of the city, this pale-white witch is
  blamed for stealing firstborn female children.  La Bruja
  Blanca is actually a spirit hag unrelated to the local cabal
  of witches.  She often does steals little girls for use in her
  bizarre rituals.
  The waterways that surround Vera Cruz are haunted
  by la mujer que llora, “the crying lady.”  In life, this
  spirit was a prostitute who became pregnant.  She was
  unwilling to keep the child, and when it was born, threw
  the baby into a river.  For this heinous act she was cursed
  to rise as a ghost.  She haunts the nearby rivers searching
  for the child she killed, unable to receive eternal peace
  until she has found it.
  
  Crossroads: South America: Chile
  27
  TEMUCO
  Local Correspondent:
  “Coan-Teen”
  The city of Temuco is located in southern Chile near the
  fortified city-port of Valdivia.  Originally a military
  outpost built by the Spanish in the sixteenth century,
  Temuco became the nexus between the sea and the
  continent.  It was used as a stop for travelers and later a
  starting point for the new railroad in the south of Chile.
  Temuco became the center of this newly opened region
  known as the Austral Extreme.
  History
  Chile’s human history began about 10,000 years ago
  when migrating Indians followed the line of the Andes
  and settled in fertile valleys and along the coast.  The
  Incas briefly extended their empire into the north, but the
  area’s remoteness prevented significant impact.  In 1541,
  the Spanish, under Pedro de Valdivia, encountered about
  one million Indians from various cultures who supported
  themselves principally through slash-and-burn
  agriculture and hunting.  Although the Spanish did not
  find the gold and silver they sought there, they
  recognized the agricultural potential of Chile’s Central
  Valley, and Chile became part of the Viceroyalty of Peru.
  Chilean colonial society was heavily influenced by
  the latifundio system of large landholdings, kinship
  politics, the Roman Catholic Church, and an aggressive
  frontier attitude stemming from Indian wars.  The drive
  for independence from Spain was precipitated by
  usurpation of the Spanish throne by Napoleon’s brother
  Joseph.  A national junta in the name of Ferdinand, heir
  to the deposed king, was formed on September 18, 1810.
  Spanish attempts to reinstate arbitrary rule during the
  Reconquista led to a prolonged struggle under Bernardo
  O’Higgins, Chile’s most renowned patriot.  Chilean
  independence was formally proclaimed on February 12,
  1818.
  The political revolution brought little social change,
  however, and nineteenth century Chilean society
  preserved the essence of the stratified colonial social
  structure.  The system of presidential absolutism
  eventually predominated, but the wealthy landowners
  continued to control Chile.
  As a result of the War of the Pacific against Peru and
  Bolivia (1879-83), Chile expanded its territory
  northward by almost one-third and acquired valuable
  nitrate deposits, the exploitation of which led to an era of
  national affluence.  Toward the end of the nineteenth
  century, Chile consolidated its position in the south by
  suppressing the Mapuche Indians.  In 1881, the country
  signed a treaty with Argentina confirming Chilean
  sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan.  In this same
  year, Temuco was founded on the shores of the river
  Cautin in the southernmost part of Chile.  Originally a
  military point, Temuco was first established to pacify the
  region dominated by the indigenous Araucanians.  The
  Araucanians (or Araucanos) were a group of Native
  Americans comprised of four different tribes: the
  Mapuche (the largest tribe whose name translates “Man
  from the Earth”), the Huilliche, the Tehuelche, and the
  Picunche.
  Forbidden Lore
  In Chile as in most of South America, the European
  settlers have left an indelible mark of blood that time has
  been unable to erase.  Temuco and the surrounding
  region are no exception.  The nearby city of Valdivia,
  founded in 1552, was destroyed and rebuilt many times,
  always in a river of blood and destruction.   The many
  forts of the zone were a provocation for the indigenous
  Indian tribes, and war quickly broke out.  The entire
  place was fertile territory for the malignant seed of the
  Red Death.  Arriving with the Spanish conquerors, the
  Red Death was able to get a foothold on the region and
  corrupt some of the previously innocent native
  inhabitants.  The murder of five Jesuit missionaries by
  this newly corrupted group, and the cannibalistic feast on
  the corpses that followed, was the final pact between the
  natives and the powers of the Red Death.
  The religion of the natives of the region was based
  on the cult of their ancestors, and on the condition of the
  “canelo” or sacred tree.  The establishment of the
  “huincas” (a name given by the natives to the European
  invaders) in Chile was seen by the tribes to be a cruel
  and reckless cut to this sacred tree.  In desperation, a
  “machi” or shaman-woman from one of the tribes
  managed to successfully invoke the spirits of their dead
  ancestors to help the tribes win the war against the
  “huinca.”  These “dead of their ancestors” were the
  origin of the troubles to follow.
  The unexplored territory of the region, including
  forests, canyons, lakes and mountains, quickly became
  overrun by a horde of ghosts answering the machi’s call.
  A new cult of spirits was born: spirits that were hungry
  for heat, human heat—huinca heat.  But something went
  terribly wrong: the Red Death also heard the pleas of the
  shaman-woman to her people’s ancestor spirits and
  intervened.  The natives were afterwards forced to serve
  these summoned spirits, and the tribes now faced a new
  era of slavery and fear: the Era of Ghosts.
  
  Crossroads: Europe: England
  28
  GLASTONBURY
  ABBEY
  Local Correspondent:
  Charles Phipps
  Glastonbury Abbey currently lies in ruins within the
  Somerset town of that bears its name in the southwest of
  England.  Although a good portion now lies buried
  beneath the earth over the course of ages, the Abbey and
  its surrounding countryside are still ripe with Christian
  myths and heroes.  These tales include the legend of
  Joseph of Arimathea, and the fabled Knights of King
  Arthur.  The place remains a rather pleasant spot for
  vacationing tourists and is awash with local color.
  Interest in the area has been revived by current popular
  fiction, which has generated a new interest in the old
  legends.  Few, however, know the true importance of the
  land.
  The town is roughly square in shape and home to
  about six thousand people.  The natives view the Abbey
  as an extremely sacred spot and take great pride in its
  history.
  History
  According to tradition, Joseph of Arimathea (who
  according to the Bible donated his own tomb for Christ’s
  interment after the Crucifixion) founded England’s first
  Christian church in Glastonbury in 37 AD.  The legend
  also holds that Joseph brought with him the Holy Grail,
  the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper and later by
  Joseph to catch his blood at the crucifixion.  Druids who
  knew and respected him apparently gave the lands held
  by this church (known as the Twelve Hinds) to Joseph.
  The Hinds dwindled during the next few centuries, until
  visited by St. Patrick in 450 AD, after which they grew
  larger and more prominent.  By the tenth century,
  Glastonbury’s flock was one of the largest in England.
  One of its most famous Abbots was the great St.
  Dunstan.
  In the twelfth century the Abbey was popularized as
  the resting-place of the “mythical” King Arthur, when the
  resident monks claimed to have found his remains on the
  site.  This was latter revealed to have been a fabrication
  by the monks of the Abbey who wished to gain money
  for the church’s coffers by increasing the number of
  pilgrimages to the site.
  Glastonbury was closed in 1539 by the Anglican
  reformation, the last abbey to be shut down by King
  Henry VIII.  Placed in the hands of the Anglican Church,
  it was put under the control of abbey trustees and its
  influence eventually dwindled until it was reduced to the
  ruin that it is today.
  Forbidden Lore
  The many legends concerning Glastonbury Abbey are for
  the most part true.  The Abbey indeed once held the Holy
  Grail after Joseph of Arimathea brought it to England.
  The Abbey later lost the Grail some time during the
  eighth century, but eventually Sir Galahad of the Knights
  of the Round Table returned the Holy Grail to the Abbey,
  and with Sir Bedivere founded a hermitage on the site
  after King Arthur’s “death.”  Unfortunately the Grail was
  somehow lost from the site yet again under mysterious
  circumstances.  It is not known whether or not it was
  secreted away by a monk hoping to shield it from
  minions of the Red death, or if the forces of evil stole it
  from the Abbey’s possession.  Still, the Abbey (and the
  Society of the Sword described below) may yet have
  valuable clues to the whereabouts of the fabled chalice.
  Although legends of King Arthur and the Knights of
  the Round Table have been considerably embellished
  over time, they are based on truth.  The historical Arthur
  was the leader of a group of Welsh paladins who sought
  to drive the Red Death from their homeland, but
  eventually succumbed when the Red Death decayed the
  ranks of the Knights of the Round Table from within.
  King Arthur himself was struck down in battle nearby,
  and spent his last days on the site before he was carried
  off by mysterious forces, presumably to his death (unless
  the legends of a portal to timeless Arcadia are true).
  Before the end, the mortally wounded Arthur
  entrusted the legendary sword Excalibur to Bedivere and
  several monks of the Abbey were witnesses to the
  sword’s final fate.  These monks eventually formed a
  small qabal located entirely in Glastonbury, called the
  Society of the Sword.  This qabal is entrusted with
  numerous valuable records about Arthur and his knights,
  uncorrupted by centuries of legend.  Although the Abbey
  itself is now in ruin, the Society remains in the town.
  They are fearful of the Red Death and maintain the
  utmost secrecy about their allegiance.
  Finally, the area is not free of the Red Death’s
  machinations.  A powerful spirit haunts the ruins of the
  Abbey, appearing as a black-armored knight with
  glowing red eyes and a burning desire to eradicate all
  record of the ancient Arthurian legends.  His powers
  seem to include the ability to drain specific memories
  from his foes, and the power to know instantly if anyone
  of pure and noble heart (Good alignment) has entered the
  ruins.  More than anything else, it has been the
  
  Crossroads: Europe: England
  29
  ceaseless efforts of this unearthly figure that has caused
  the true history of King Arthur to become increasingly
  obscured.  Due to the proximity of this spectral knight,
  many of the good townsfolk of Glastonbury struggle just
  to remember the increasingly romanticized legends.
  The true identity of this black knight, or who or what
  he may have been in life, remains anyone’s guess.
  
  Crossroads: Europe: France
  30
  Le Louvre
  Local Correspondent:
  Jarrod R. Lowe
  The most impressive display of fine art, sculpture,
  antiquity and historical relics in Europe, if not the world,
  is the Louvre in Paris.  Though built over 700 years ago
  as a fortress by Philippe August, the structure has
  changed gradually over the years reflecting the changes
  of French life throughout the centuries.  In 1890 the
  Louvre houses works by Titan, Raphael, and Leonardo
  da Vinci, as well as ancient relics from the Egyptian
  dynasties and Roman Empire.
  History
  The buildings constructed on the grounds that would
  eventually encompass the museum known as the Louvre
  were first built about 1190.  Originally a fortress, the
  Louvre not only guarded the city of Paris from western
  invaders, but also protected the king from his own
  subjects in the east.  The fortress served many varied
  purposes; not only did it hold an arsenal of weapons, it
  also contained a network of dungeons that housed
  prisoners from all walks of life, not to mention the vaults
  protecting the royal treasures: icons, manuscripts, armor
  and jewelry.
  By the year 1400, the Louvre had become no more
  than a retreat for the royals, where great banquets,
  tournaments, and important meetings concerning the
  state were held.  During this time vast gardens were
  added as well as an aviary for exotic birds and wild
  animals.  All of the fortress’ military importance was lost
  when a group of enraged merchants seized Paris, then
  moved the city walls beyond the Louvre.  Soon, the
  Louvre was seen only as a part-time residence for the
  kings but it still served as a house for the military arsenal
  as well as a prison.
  The English conquered the French in 1415. The
  English, in turn, plundered the Louvre for its varied
  treasures.  Soon thereafter, marauders came to Paris and
  took all that the English had left behind.  Now, simply an
  arsenal and prison, the structure fell into ruin as it was
  neglected for the next 150 years.  In 1527, Francis I had
  the remains demolished, believing that the residence of
  royalty should reflect not the might of its ruler but the
  wealth and culture he possessed.  Thus artisans were put
  to work erecting a palace; the Louvre as we now know it
  was formed.  Though Francis I passed away eight months
  after construction began, his son, Henry II, continued the
  building.
  For the next 300 years the Louvre was a “work in
  progress,” and each king that came after Henry II
  attempted to complete his plans.  Though the
  construction was occasionally delayed by civil strife,
  these interruptions were only brief.
  The Louvre became the world’s artistic capitol
  during Henry IV’s reign.  Hundreds of craftsmen and
  artists lived in the structure as valued guests of the king.
  This became a royal tradition up until the reign of
  Napoleon I.  In the early 1700s the French government
  made promoting art its primary business.  By the reign of
  Louis XIV the royal collection had grown to more than
  2,400 objects of art.  Soon new wings were added and
  the ultimate construction was coming to an end.
  However, following Louis XIV’s move to Versailles, the
  Louvre once again fell into disrepair.  Large piles of trash
  filled the courtyards while shops were set up in its
  entrance.  Paris tried to save the structure by
  transforming it into a city hall, but the king quickly
  rejected that idea.
  After 1794, many works of art came to the Louvre
  via the victorious revolutionary armies.  Masterpieces
  from Italy arrived in Paris in July 1798.  The sheer
  number of these treasures caused the government to
  completely reorganize the museum, which was also
  redecorated and inaugurated to the public in 1800.
  After the French revolution, the Louvre became a
  museum open to the public.  No longer was art open
  exclusively to the upper class; it became accessible to all.
  Napoleon increased the collections greatly by exacting
  tribute from the many countries he conquered.  Most of
  these relics were returned to their home countries in
  1815 after his defeat at Waterloo.  Under Louis XVIII
  the Venus de Milo was acquired (for 6,000F) soon after
  it was rediscovered in 1820 on the Island of Melos.  In
  1848 the museum became property of the state, with an
  annual budget devoted to the acquisition of new art.  The
  collection continued its growth; many charitable
  donations of art also increased the holdings of the
  museum.
  In the 1890s the Louvre is the center for greatness in
  the community of the arts.  It houses thousands of
  masterpieces, many of which are not displayed at all
  times.  Every year people from all around the world
  travel to Paris to view these treasures, and though
  construction and redecoration continues, it is believed
  that this museum will continue to flourish well into the
  20th century.
  Forbidden Lore
  
  Crossroads: Europe: France
  31
  The Red Death’s influence upon the museum known as
  the Louvre began when Philippe August first broke
  ground on the site over 700 years ago.   In 1213, when
  the Louvre was new, an eight-year old boy was wrongly
  accused of stealing bread from the king’s table.
  Unwilling to confess to a crime he did not commit, the
  boy was thrown into the dungeon of the Louvre.  Though
  beaten and half-starved, the child would not confess.  For
  nearly five years he would stay locked away in the
  bowels of the future museum before the opportunity to
  escape would ever come.
  One day in 1218, the young man managed to wrest a
  sword from a guard as he was being transferred to
  another cell.  The lad murdered the guardsman and took
  his keys, freeing several dozen other prisoners.  Though
  the ill-fated revolt resulted in the deaths of some of their
  more horrifying captors, the group was eventually
  cornered and taken back to their prison.  The young
  leader of the prisoners was taken to the Louvre’s main
  hall and executed by decapitation before the king.  Years
  later the Headless Child, as he is now called, has been
  seen in the Louvre searching for a way out of his eternal
  prison.  The Child is considered a ghost of the 2nd
  magnitude, whose movements are limited to the confines
  of the Louvre’s walls.  It is said that the Headless Child
  can be sent to his final resting place by locating his body
  and properly burying it within hollowed ground.  But the
  current location of the Headless Child’s body, though
  somewhere within the Louvre, remains unknown.
  In the year 1685 a painting was delivered to the
  museum that came to be the most dangerous piece of art
  ever to be shown in Paris.  Discovered in a private
  collection, the painting entitled “The Swordsman” was
  crafted by an unknown artist.  Brilliant in its design and
  color, the piece became a favorite of museum curator
  Jean Pierre Demaret.  Demaret spent hours viewing the
  piece in one of the Louvre’s main galleries, where the
  public adored the painting as well.  One night, several
  weeks after the Louvre had begun showcasing the piece,
  Demaret turned up missing.  Days went by, and still there
  was no sign of Demaret.  At the time no one seemed to
  notice a new figure, strikingly similar in appearance to
  Demaret, had appeared in the painting with the
  swordsman.  Over the years the occasional admirer
  would turn up missing, and a new victim would emerge
  bloodied at the swordsman’s feet.
  Fine European works of art are not all that is shown
  within the Louvre.  In the year 1881, the Oriental
  Antiquities department of the Louvre was established.
  Many works were put on display, including sculpture and
  frescoes.  One of the many displays was a collection of
  seven ancient daggers, once belonging to a Shogun over
  two thousand years ago.  The weapons were lavish in
  design, and the Parisians were awed by these additions to
  the museum.  For weeks they were viewed daily by the
  public, and closely guarded at night.  One
  April morning something very unusual happened.  When
  the Louvre was opened for the day the third dagger in the
  set, arguably the least attractive, had simply vanished.
  The police were immediately contacted, though their
  investigation turned up no leads whatsoever.  For three
  days and three nights the dagger was missing, but on the
  morning of the forth day the dagger was discovered back
  upon its original wall hanging, though now coated in
  dried blood.  This story quickly circulated throughout
  Paris, and many people were afraid to return to the
  Louvre out of fear of the “Living Dagger.”  After many
  complaints the curators placed the set of ancient daggers
  into storage.  If they had not done this they could very
  well have witnessed the third dagger of the set repeat its
  disappearing act three years later in 1884, then in
  1887…
  When the Louvre began showcasing artwork and
  relics from various Egyptian dynasties, the curators had
  no idea what they had unleashed upon Paris.  The ancient
  mummy and son of a Pharaoh, Thutepot, now rests
  within the Louvre.  Upon its arrival into the museum’s
  possession fifty years ago, Thutepot was disturbed by
  being transported such a great distance.  Over the course
  of several months Thutepot stalked the streets of Paris by
  night, killing all those who came into his path.  Though
  Thutepot’s rage finally subsided when he murdered the
  archeologist responsible for his disturbance, one might
  continue to wonder if he should ever truly rest again.
  Founded within the walls of the Louvre in the 18th
  Century was the secret qabal known as La Lumiere, or
  the Enlightened.  This band of heroes have dedicated
  themselves to the ultimate destruction of the Red Death.
  Today this secret society continues to meet upon
  occasion within a long forgotten hall within the Louvre.
  One of their current members is also one of the present
  curators of the museum, Professor Henri Lemoux.
  Rumors have persisted throughout the years that the
  spirits of some of the world’s great artists reside along
  with their works within the Louvre.  While the ghosts of
  Michelangelo and Titan do not prowl the museum, the
  great master Leonardo da Vinci (detailed in the
  Forgotten Children netbook) continues to frequent the
  home to some of his more famous works.  Today,
  existing as a vampire, the artisan and inventor continues
  his collection of arcane lore (hidden within a forgotten
  chamber) that he hopes will someday bring about an end
  to the Red Death.  Calling it the “Second Alexandria,”
  Leonardo has recently discovered a use for a relic
  recovered by Napoleon’s forces in the later part of the
  18th century.  A silver and gold skull, which originally
  whistled, popped and spouted off some form of alien
  
  Crossroads: Europe: France
  32
  language, now contains a great deal of information
  pertaining to the spread of the Red Death.
  Leonardo hopes to fill this magical device, which he
  theorizes is from another plane of existence, with all his
  collected knowledge.  Unbeknown to Leonardo, the skull
  (known as a “Mimir” on other planes) has already been
  touched by the evil of the Red Death.  When the device is
  activated by anyone other than da Vinci, there is a 25%
  chance that the information relayed will be false.  Any
  PC acting on this misinformation my find themselves
  unwittingly led astray, or down the path to their own
  destruction.
  
  Crossroads: Europe: Poland
  33
  BIALYSTOK
  Local Correspondent:
  Marcin Perkowski
  Lost in the wilderness of the mighty woods of eastern
  Podlasie (Poland), halfway between Warsaw and Lwow,
  lies the city of Bialystok.  By the virtue of its location on
  the railroad line connecting Moscow with the rest of the
  civilized world, Bialystok earns its place on the map as a
  minor center of trade. To its credit, it is strange and
  eclectic mix of cultures and races.
  History
  Bialystok was founded as the private settlement of the
  knight Branicki in the 15th century and by 1749 had
  become a town.
  But the true roots of city are lost in pre-Christian
  history.  The earliest known written document from the
  region simply says, “There is a hamlet in the woods of
  Podlasie.”  A legend says that Gyedimin, one of the half-
  legendary tans (chieftains) of the pagan Lithuanian tribes,
  got lost while hunting in the endless woodlands, and tried
  going to sleep in the spot that would eventually be
  Bialystok.  He received a vision of snowy white peaks in
  the heart of a mighty forest, and a great white wolf who
  ordered the tan to build a settlement here.  So it was
  done.
  When the tribes united and become a nation, the
  prince gave Bialystok to one of his most noble knight
  families: the Branicki.  They built their homestead here,
  and quickly Bialystok become a center of trade and light
  industry.
  In the middle of the 17th century the ruling Branicki
  started construction of his palace complex.  When
  finished in the next century, it become one of most
  beautiful and majestic palaces in the Kingdom of Poland,
  and in all of central Europe.  Quickly it was nicknamed
  “Versal (Feast-hall) of the North.”
  In 1749 king August III gave Bialystok the town
  rights.  It was a glorious moment for the Branicki line,
  but their future was not so bright.  In the struggle with
  Russia at the end of the 18th century, the Branicki family
  pledged their allegiance to the empress Katerina of
  Russia (Catherine the Great) so they were counted as
  traitors.  When in 1797 three empires (Austro-Hungary,
  Germany, and Russia) divided the lands of Poland,
  Bialystok came under the control of Russia (1807).  This
  situation had its good and bad sides.
  First, Bialystok fall into the hands of the dark and
  wild Russian Empire, so its citizens had to handle the
  ruthless rule of the czars.  On the other hand, the city
  become more important as a center of trade, science, and
  industry.  Especially rapid growth was observed between
  1830 (16,000 citizens) and 1890 (62,000 citizens plus 4
  000 Russian soldiers).  Many factories were built and
  many people (especially Jews) immigrated from the east
  to Bialystok.
  This situation makes Bialystok a real melting pot of
  cultures and races.  Only just over 18% of the citizens
  are Poles.  Germans make up about 6%, and Russians
  9%.  Two-thirds of the population are Jews.  This makes
  Bialystok one of the greatest Jewish communities in
  Middle-Eastern Europe.  The remainder of the
  population consists of gypsies and other minorities, such
  as Mahometans (Muslims).
  These mingling cultures make the city look rather
  eclectic.  Near Catholic churches stands mechet
  (mosques), Jewish synagogues and temples of the
  Eastern Orthodox Church.
  Forbidden Lore
  Bialystok is a civilized place, but just beyond the borders
  of the city grows ancient and unexplored forest with just
  a few little hamlets, all scattered far from another.  It is a
  poorly-kept secret that traveling across these woods
  alone or in small company is not very wise.  Here live a
  great number of wild animals, especially warthogs,
  wolves and bison.  But nobody knows that the woodland
  gives shelter for many werecreatures as well.  For
  instance, more than half of the villagers in the nearby
  hamlet of Bilowieza are werebears.
  Near Bialystok hunts a small but vicious pack of
  werewolves led by onetime nobleman Jan Kryniewicki.
  They mix the natural bestiality of their kind with a
  pathological hate for Jews, a prejudice sadly spreading
  among the region’s inhabitants, human or not.  As time
  passed, the Jewish community in Bialystok started to
  suspect the werewolf presence, and decided to defend
  themselves.  Thus in 1870 the great Kabbalist master,
  rabbi Joshua Fiedorow, awoke some unnamed powers to
  protect his people from the were-kind.  His well-
  intentioned attempt to guard the region was only partially
  successful, for now, no werecreature can safely enter the
  borders of the town.  However, the rite summoned
  unnamed horrors from some hellish otherwhere into the
  city, which broke their bonds of control and incinerated
  Fiedorow (and a part of Bialystok in the process).  To
  this day, the unseen horrors call Bialystok their home,
  and in the nearby village of Choroszcz (also home to an
  asylum) the gate into the other plane is still open.
  
  Crossroads: Europe: Russia
  34
  Odessa
  Local Correspondent:
  Daniel J. Bandera
  Overlooking Khadzibey bay on the Black Sea, the city of
  Odessa is the second largest port in the Russian Empire.
  Some say this city of 320,000 people is as or more
  important to the Russians than St. Petersburg, for
  through Odessa they have access to the Mediterranean.
  This has lead some to call the city Southern Petersburg.
  Established by Catherine the Great, the city will celebrate
  its centennial in the year 1894.
  History
  The ancient Greeks built a settlement on the shores of the
  Black Sea near present day Odessa.  Their settlement,
  named Odessos, was abandoned in the face of barbarian
  raiders from the north.  Centuries later, the city-states of
  Italy established a merchant colony to trade with the
  nomadic tribes of the steppes.  In the 14th century , the
  Italian colony was conquered by the expanding Ottoman
  Empire.  The Turks, recognizing the strategic importance
  of the site, built a fort on Khadzibey bay and named it
  Yeni-Dunai, “New World.”
  In the second half of the 1700s, the Czarina
  Catherine II conquered the lands around the northern
  shore of the Black Sea.  The newly conquered lands were
  made a new province in the Russian empire, called
  Novorosseia.  For the capital of this new province,
  Catherine ordered the building of a port city overlooking
  Khadzibey bay.  She gave the city the name of Odessa
  after the ancient Greek settlement nearby.
  The city’s location was selected because of the high
  cliffs, that reach up to 200 feet in some areas.  This
  allowed the city to command both the approach from the
  sea, and that across the flat steppe.  Due to the lack of
  nearby forests for lumber, the early architecture of the
  city was mainly Greek with limestone used for many of
  the buildings.
  One of the earliest mayors of Odessa was Duke
  Emmanuel de Richelieu, great-nephew of the French
  Cardinal Richelieu.  Being close to the French royal
  family, he was forced to flee France during the
  revolution.  Being well aquatinted with the royal family
  of Russia, Richelieu traveled to St. Petersburg seeking
  refuge and was given employment by the Czarina.
  The French nobleman brought a new style to the
  city’s architecture, neo-classical.  Under Richelieu,
  numerous grand buildings were constructed, including
  the city’s center.  The center is formed by two semi-
  circular buildings.  Years later a monument was
  constructed between the two semi-circular buildings in
  Richelieu’s honor.
  Determined to utilize the steppe as farmland, the
  czar instituted a policy forcing serfs to relocate to the
  steppe around Odessa to farm the land.  Richelieu was
  against this policy, for he believed forced farmers would
  not work as hard as those who desired to be there.
  Through his influence at the Russian court, he had the
  forced immigration stopped.
  Richelieu returned to France in 1814, following
  Napoleon’s defeat and the restoration of the French
  Monarchy.  His successors continued the building
  process he started.  In 1830, the city palace, “primorski
  dvorets” was built overlooking the sea.  The palace’s
  front facade with its ionic columns looks like a Greek
  temple, and its two-story ballroom is used to entertain the
  city’s nobility twice a week.  A Grand Opera House was
  constructed, but was destroyed in a fire in 1873.  A
  newer, more glamorous one has been built in its place.
  In 1890, Odessa is a very modern city, with a large
  train station connecting the city with Moscow, Kiev, and
  other parts of the Empire.  Gas street lighting has been
  installed and all of the streets are paved in granite.
  The many opportunities the new city offered drew
  people from far and wide, giving the population a
  cultural mix.  Ukrainians, Russian, Greeks, Jews,
  Western Europeans, and Asians all make up the
  population of Odessa.  In the later part of the 19th
  Century, this mix has lead to growing tension as show by
  the events of Easter, 1871.
  During an Easter Eve celebration that year at the
  Great Greek Orthodox church violence erupted.  A rock
  was thrown from a neighboring Jewish neighborhood
  into the group of rowdy celebraters.  In retaliation a riot
  began that swept the city, lasting three days.  When it
  was over, six people were killed and twenty-one
  wounded.  Most of them were Jewish, and many Jewish-
  owned homes and shops were destroyed.
  In 1881, Czar Alexander II was assassinated.  When
  a Jewish nihilist was identified as the assassin, the nation
  was outraged.  Attacks on Jewish citizens became
  common, even after the czar’s son made a public
  proclamation that he did not hold the Jewish people
  responsible for his father’s death.  As a result, anti-
  Semitic groups are on the rise in Odessa and elsewhere
  in the nation.  The Black Hundreds are particularly
  growing in the Odessa area.
  During the later half of the century, the city has
  taken on a seedy reputation as many revolutionary groups
  have used Odessa as a base.  The city’s sea port offers
  the quickest way out of the country.  Also, the city’s
  merchant friendly, lax control over incoming vessels
  
  Crossroads: Europe: Russia
  35
  makes the city ideal for sneaking into Russia.  A Polish
  revolutionary committee established itself in the city in
  1850.  Later they were joined by Ukrainian separatists,
  anarchists, communists, nihilists, and others.  Despite the
  fact that the city has a station of the czar’s sekret
  palitsiya, “secret police,” the revolutionaries have been
  very successful in avoiding capture.  The threat of a
  terrorist incident, and the government’s response of
  increased military strength, has given the city a darker
  tone in the last decade of the 19th Century.
  Forbidden Lore
  The Red Death revels in the chaos of the Russian
  Revolution.  Thus, its minions have infiltrated many of
  the revolutionary groups in Odessa.  These minions
  increase the ruthlessness of the terrorists and build up
  their determination to continue the struggle.  In this
  battle, the Red Death is playing both sides and has its
  minions among the city’s ruthless secret police force as
  well.
  The neighborhood around the city’s Great Greek
  Orthodox Church is considered haunted by the locals.
  They have avoid the churchyard at night, as many people
  have been attacked by dark spirits since 1876.  The
  neighborhood around the church is haunted by the
  wraiths of four Jewish citizens killed during the riot of
  1871.  The wraiths are only active for part of the year.
  During most of the year they lie restlessly in their graves,
  but during the forty days of Lent, the wraiths return to
  plague the area around the church.  The attacks always
  cease on Easter morning as the wraiths return to their
  graves until next year.
  Another terror of the Russian night has recently
  moved to Odessa: the child vampire, Sofia.  She is the
  illegitimate child of Czar Alexander I and his mistress.
  When her mother became pregnant, Alexander threw her
  out, in fear of causing a scandal.  Living in squalor in the
  slums of St. Petersburg was not healthy for the child, and
  when Sofia was nine years old she became very ill.
  Fearing for her daughter’s life, Sofia’s mother returned to
  the palace and begged for the czar’s help.  The czar gave
  her money to travel and find a specialist to care for the
  child.  Sofia’s mother took her across much of Western
  Russia looking for a cure, but she did not have the
  chance to find it.  While traveling in the Ukraine, Sofia
  was attacked and killed by a vampire in the night.  When
  she arose three days later as a vampire, her new vampire
  master presented her with her first victim, Sofia’s
  mother.  Now almost eighty years later, Sofia is free from
  her vampire master, and has moved to Odessa, making it
  her new hunting ground.  Sofia is unaware that her father
  was the czar, and would be furious if she discovered the
  czar’s treatment of her and her mother.
  
  Crossroads: Western Asia: Palestine
  36
  AKKO (ACRE)
  Local Correspondent:
  Daniel J. Bandera
  On a peninsula composing the northern part of the
  largest gulf in Palestine, the gulf of Haifa, lies the ancient
  city-port of Akko.  One of the world’s most ancient
  cities, where settlement has not stopped even today,
  Akko has been the center of many events throughout
  history.  The Majority of Akko’s population is made up
  of Muslim Arabs, along with a minority communities of
  Christian Arabs and Jews.
  With the growing city of Haifa in the bay just south
  of Akko, it is foreseen that Akko’s importance as a port
  will decline.
  History
  Akko is stationed on a peninsula on the northern end of
  the bay of Haifa, an arm of the Mediterranean Sea.  Also
  called Acre, it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited
  cities in the world.  Founded before 1500 BC, it first
  appears in recorded history during the reign of the
  pharaoh Thutmose III, which lasted from 1504 to 1450
  BC.  The town was captured by the Assyrians around
  700 BC and virtually depopulated under Ashurbanipal.
  In 332 BC it was incorporated into the empire of
  Alexander the Great.  Ptolemy II Philadelphius, king of
  Egypt, seized the city in the 3rd century BC and from that
  time until the Middle Ages it was known as Ptolemais.
  During the pre-Christian era, Akko was an important
  seaport and trading center and was successively a part of
  Syria and a colony of Rome.
  After the permanent division of the Roman Empire
  in AD 395, Akko belonged to the Eastern (later
  Byzantine) Empire.  The Arabs seized it in 638 and held
  it until its capture by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem in
  1104.  Salakh a-Din (Saladin), sultan of Egypt and Syria,
  recaptured Akko in 1187, but the town was subsequently
  recovered by the Europeans during the Third Crusade.
  In 1291, after a long siege, Akko fell to the Saracens.
  The Ottomans took possession of it in 1517.  Napoleon
  Bonaparte’s effort to advance up the Mediterranean coast
  from his base in Egypt was halted by the British at Akko
  in 1799.
  In 1831, Ibrahim Ibn Muhammad Ali Pasha led his
  armies from Egypt into Palestine, conquering the land
  from the Ottoman Turks, and made Akko his center of
  power.  A combined fleet of British, Austrian and
  Turkish forces drove him out in 1840, destroying much
  of the city.
  The city and the region returned to the control of the
  Turks, and Akko became once again the sitting place of
  the Turkish governors and the capital of Northern
  Palestine.
  Through the port of Akko, vast amounts of wheat,
  brought to the city in camel caravans from Transjordania,
  were exported to Europe.  In 1887 up to 300 ships were
  porting in the Akko Harbor, mainly cargo ships bringing
  wheat to Europe.
  From the middle of the 19th century, a combination
  of various elements brought Akko to a slow decline as its
  trade and economic strength moved south to nearby
  Haifa, which developed just as Akko declined.
  Forbidden Lore
  When the Great Library in Alexandria was destroyed,
  much of the Defiance’s knowledge was lost.  However,
  two of the members managed to save a number of books,
  and sailed from Alexandria up the coast of Palestine.
  The two landed in Akko, and hid the books there for
  future generations to find and use the knowledge against
  the Red Death.  These two, after joining with another
  Defiance survivor, later founded the Watchers of the
  Sands Brotherhood.
  During the Crusades, many servants of the Red
  Death were among the Christian Knights, and when they
  took Akko, they sought to find this hidden cache of
  knowledge.  Not much is known, except that all of them
  disappeared.
  The books are hidden among other old books in an
  ancient Crusader church-library in an underground
  “Crypta.”  The Crypta, part of a number of connected
  underground chambers, is now almost full of rubble, and
  is partially under the newer Turkish fortress of Akko
  built in the 1700s.  None know of its existence, except
  for the Qabal of the Watchers of the Sands, who guard
  the place.  The books themselves are magically protected
  by  Tome Guardians (see Monstrous Compendium
  Annual Volume Three, Fire-Elemental Kin —Tome
  Guardians).
  Akko was one of the last of the Crusaders’
  strongholds to fall to the Saracens, and some of the
  Crusader knights that died in its defense didn’t accept
  death so easily.  Skeleton Warriors and Sword Wraiths
  have been seen during the twilight hours walking about
  some distance from the town, near where the old walls of
  the Ancient Crusader city once stood.
  Recently, there have been killings in Akko.  All the
  dead are Turkish soldiers stationed in the town, who are
  usually killed on patrol.  Whilst the Arab and Jewish
  locals natives have no love for the Turks and thus ignore
  
  Crossroads: Western Asia: Palestine
  37
  the killings, the truth is that they are being carried out by
  a Revenant (see Monstrous Manual) avenging his death
  at the hands of many Turkish soldiers in Syria two
  months back.  Unlike most Revenants who have a unique
  recognition of their killers, not so here.  He only knows
  that the killer was a Turkish soldier, and that he is in
  Akko.  Thus, the Revenant is set upon killing every
  Turkish soldier and officer in Akko until he kills the one
  who murdered him, and finds rest.
  AMMAN
  (RABBAT AMMON)
  Local Correspondent:
  Daniel J. Bandera
  Since it was founded Amman has always been a
  crossroads of people, religion and culture.  On the edge
  of the desert where the east and west begin to mix stands
  a center of ethnic and cultural diversity—an ancient city
  showing promise for the future, in the development of
  modern Transjordania.
  History
  In biblical times, Amman was named Rabbat Ammon (as
  it is referred to in the scriptures) and was a large city,
  capital of the Amonite people.  Its origins can be traced
  back to 1500 BC, and it was primarily Canaanite.
  In 280 BC it was captured by King Ptolmey
  Philadelphus of Egypt (who ruled Hellenistic Egypt) who
  renamed it as Philadelphia.  A large and important city, it
  was a part of an alliance of ten cities, all in
  Transjordania—the Decapolis.
  The city was known as Philadelphia throughout the
  eras of the Roman and Byzantine empires.  Many ruins of
  this period can be seen in Amman today.  In the 1st
  century AD it was a leading city of the Roman province
  of Arabia.  Lost to the Byzantines at the rise of Islam and
  subsequently conquered by Arabs in the 7th century, the
  city fell into decline by about 1300, again taking its
  former name, Rabbat Ammon.
  During the middle ages, Rabbat Ammon was called
  Amman and was a small Arab village which produced
  fine wheat, sheep and honey.  In addition, during the
  middle ages a small Jewish community existed over a
  number of sites in the city.
  Then, for many generations the city stood
  abandoned, until in 1892 with the aid of Turkish Sultan
  Alkhamid II, a large population of Cicassians were
  brought from Caucasia settling them in Amman.  The
  Cicassians built their houses of the stones they took from
  ancient Philadelphia’s ruins, and in later years a small
  Arab population was added to the new city.
  The population’s chief occupations are agriculture,
  trade (mainly with the nearby Beduin desert tribes) and it
  serves as a major Turkish military base in the region.
  Forbidden Lore
  Ancient statuettes of the old gods of Canaanites and
  Amonites may be found amidst the ruins of Rabat
  Ammon.  Most are quite mundane although rumors
  persist that some are actually minor forms of Golems or
  Gargoyles.
  During the reign of King Ptolmey Phildelphus, an
  Egyptian mystic came and settled in Rabat Ammon to
  further his evil teachings and hide an ancient secret
  passed down to him.  The mystic, heir to an ancient
  bloodline dating back to the high priests of Set, held a set
  of three tablets and three clay jars filled with rare spices
  and oils.  These are the instructions and the ingredients in
  the creation and preservation of Greater Mummies (see
  Mummies, Greater in the Monstrous Manual).
  Although none today know of his secrets, all of the
  mystic’s possessions were buried with him in his tomb,
  and are in danger of being discovered soon, as his tomb
  lies near the surface.
  Living in Amman today is an old man named
  Samuel Wolf, an Englishman who immigrated to the
  Middle-East in the mid-eighteen-hundreds.  A wandering
  hermit, Samuel has been fighting a one man’s war
  against the Red Death for the last sixty years.  While
  Samual knows nothing of Red Death’s true nature, or the
  existence of Qabals, he is knowledgeable in the ways of
  the desert and the desert’s Beduin nomads’ Mysticism.
  Samuel has destroyed numerous minions of evil
  throughout the deserts of the middle east, banishing
  ghosts and freeing possessed individuals.  His main
  expertise lies in the ways of killing the dangerous
  monstrous beasts which sometimes haunt the high
  deserts of the Middle-East.  Well-known and respected
  among the nomads of the deserts, the Beduin call him Al-
  Kabir—the great one, and send their sons to study with
  him both the mystic arts, and the arts of the sword.
  
  Crossroads: Western Asia: Palestine
  38
  JAFFA
  Local Correspondent:
  Daniel J. Bandera
  Jaffa is one of the world’s oldest cities, predating even
  biblical times.  One legend states it was even built before
  the Great Flood.  Jaffa today has nothing of such ancient
  times; its earliest remnants date to the Roman era and
  later times.  Jaffa is built of the local yellow limestone,
  crowded housing with narrow paved alleys sloping down
  through the city from its walls and gates to its harbor.
  Jaffa’s population is made up of a mix of Arabs and
  Jews, Muslims and Christians.  The city is littered with
  numerous mosques and churches, as the population is
  divided into many religious sects and cults.
  Jaffa’s importance as a economic port is giving way
  to uprising Haifa, although it still serves as the “gate” to
  Palestine—most immigrants and travelers still come by
  ship, landing in the Jaffa harbor.
  History
  Jaffa is mentioned in Egyptian writings far back as the
  15th century BC, as one of the many Canaanite cities
  conquered by Pharaoh Thutmose III of Egypt.  Egypt
  maintained control of the region for another couple of
  centuries, until it was taken by the Philistines, an
  relatively advanced nation from beyond the sea.
  Circa 1200-1020, the Hebrew tribes migrated from
  Egypt conquering and settling in Canaan, slowly
  encroached towards the fortified city.
  During the reign of King Solomon of the United
  Israelite kingdom, Jaffa served as the port to Jerusalem,
  and through it were imported the pine trees used for
  building the Solomon Temple.
  A prosperous region, it served both as a center for
  wine making and as a port for the later Judiah kingdom,
  after the separation of the Israelite kingdom.
  Jaffa is mentioned later on a clay prism as being
  conquered by Assyria in 701 BC.
  During the 5th century BC, like the rest of the land,
  Jaffa was ruled by the Persians, and once again are pine
  trees brought in through the Jaffa port to build the
  Second Temple after king Coresh of Persia had let the
  Jews exiled by the Babylonians, to return to their ancient
  land.
  During this time, Jaffa was ruled by Sidonite
  Pheonicians, famous for their maritime exploits, but
  during the 4th century BC, the city was influenced by the
  Greek and Hellenistic culture, especially after Alexander
  of Macedonia conquered the land when he invaded the
  Persian empire.
  From 167 BC, when the Hashmonite Jews rebelled
  against Hellenistic rule and established the Hashmonite
  kingdom, until 63 BC when Pompay of Rome invaded
  and annexed the land as a roman Province, once again
  Jaffa served as a major port for the capital of Jerusalem.
  During the first century AD the Christians first
  began appearing in Jaffa, and in the 2nd and 3rd centuries
  AD that followed, Jaffa became full-fledged Roman city,
  and its name was changed to Flavia-Joppe.
  Little is known about Jaffa during the reign of the
  Byzantine Christians, and it was taken by the Muslims in
  638 AD, which ruled until the end of the 11th century AD
  when Jaffa and all of Palestine was conquered by the
  Crusaders.
  Jaffa changed hands between Christians and
  Muslims as Saladin conquered it from the Crusaders, and
  Richard Lion-heart took it back.  Jaffa finally fell to the
  Muslims in the 13th century AD, and was destroyed in
  order to prevent any further invasion by Crusaders
  coming by sea.  Ruled by the Mamluks until the 16th
  century, when the Ottoman Turks took control of the
  Islamic empire, Jaffa was a minor fishing village and
  port.
  On the 13th of March, 1799, Napoleon laid siege to
  the town and it fell, but following a massacre by
  Napoleon’s troops, a plague broke out and Napoleon
  was forced to withdraw his forces.
  Only in the 19th century did the Turkish rulers begin
  to rebuild Jaffa and several important governors built
  fortresses, gates and provided an ample water supply to
  the city.
  In the 1830s, Jews began settling in Jaffa, mainly
  renting houses from Arabs, only a few of them buying
  homes.
  In 1831, Ibrahim Pasha, the rebelling governor of
  Egypt, in order to consolidate his control in Egypt,
  moved up along the coast of Palestine and Jaffa
  surrendered to him without a fight.  His rule did not last
  long, and Jaffa returned to Turkish rule ten years later.
  More and more Jews and Christians settled in Jaffa
  throughout the eighteen-hundreds.  The Christians,
  Europeans and some Americans, settle in their own
  neighborhoods—the “colonies.”  While also forming
  their own neighborhoods, the Jews of Jaffa form a
  socially and culturally rich community—despite their
  wide range of ancestry, and a mix of both Sephardic and
  Ashkenazi Jews.
  Since 1884 and even today, as a result of the revived
  Jewish national movement, a steady stream of Jewish
  immigrants and pioneers is entering Palestine. Jaffa
  being their main port of entrance, and is duly named, the
  “Gates of Palestine.”
  
  Crossroads: Western Asia: Palestine
  39
  Forbidden Lore
  Members of the Defiance, survivors of the destruction of
  the great library in Alexandria who went on to found the
  different Qabals, at different times throughout history
  needed a way to communicate at times when more than
  one Qabal wished to cooperate on some kind of venture
  against the Red Death and its minions.  And so, one
  family living in Jaffa took on the role of liaison between
  some of the Qabals.  In the 13th century, the family
  secretly joined the Watchers of the Sand Brotherhood,
  and while most of the Qabals it was once connected to
  are now defunct, the family still serves its purpose, even
  if now in the service of the Watchers of the Sand
  Brotherhood.
  The current member of the family is Salim Abu-
  Hassan, owner of a small restaurant in an alley near the
  back entrance to the Harbor.
  Stories of sea zombies, ancient ghost ships and
  unnatural storms are not uncommon among the local
  fishing populace.  However, natives always leave some
  of their fishing spoils on a number of rocks near the Jaffa
  harbor.  Jaffans are convinced that that is where
  Andromeda of Greek myths was to be sacrificed to a
  great sea monster.  They believe the creature is still
  there.
  Recently, among the immigrating Jews from Europe
  and Russia, a necromancer Adept named Nathan
  Chaimovsky has come.  Unlike most necromancers, he is
  not evil and seeks to put the dead to rest.  His main
  reason to immigrate is to seek out the secrets of Ein-Dor.
  In biblical times, a powerful necromancer-witch lived
  there and he believes that she might still be there, living
  or dead.
  The town is small, and it is highly unlikely that the
  Red Death has managed to sneak one of his servants in.
  However, with the changes the region is now going
  through, anything is possible.
  JERICHO
  Local Correspondent:
  Daniel J. Bandera
  History
  Jericho is the site of the oldest settlement yet discovered,
  with significant archaeological remains dating back as far
  as 8000 BC.  Located about 2 km from the modern city’s
  center, the settlement included a walled community and a
  high tower.  Additional findings from the period indicate
  that there was irrigated agriculture, revealing the
  prehistoric shift from nomadic to settled forms of life.
  Jericho is well-known in biblical history as the site
  of a siege by Joshua and the Israelites.
  The city functioned as an administrative center for
  the Persians in the 6th century BC and became a royal
  resort in the time of Alexander the Great in the 4th
  century BC.  Around 30 BC Jericho was awarded to
  Herod the Great by the Roman emperor Augustus.
  Herod laid out new aqueducts and built a theater and
  winter palace there.
  Between the 4th and 7th centuries AD Jericho
  attracted many pilgrims and the population grew
  considerably.  The city was taken over by Arabs in the 7th
  century, and during the 12th and 13th centuries Crusaders
  controlled Jericho and greatly expanded the cultivation of
  sugarcane in the region.
  After the defeat of the Crusaders by the Muslim
  leader Saladin, Jericho’s vitality declined.  In 1840 the
  Egyptian general Ibrahim Pasha razed the city when he
  withdrew his army to Egypt.
  Forbidden Lore
  Jericho is a cursed city, even mentioned as so in the
  Bible.  The curse says that the city must never be rebuilt,
  thus any who rebuild the city after destruction are
  affected by the curse.  The curse causes corruption of
  magic, brings bad luck and those who are affected
  become small, petty people, who are overlooked and
  ignored by other people.  Only leaving one’s home there,
  and destroying it—leaving the city and never returning—
  is the only way to reverse the curse.  Furthermore, if
  anyone who broke the curse on himself ever returns, the
  curse will affect him again, this time without hope of
  salvation.
  Near Jericho are caves which lead to deep cavernous
  tunnels and chambers underlying the mountains in the
  region. Some say there is even a path under these
  mountains to the city of Jerusalem, but none have proved
  any such thing.  These caves are rumored to be filled
  with various molds and dangerous plants, and inhabited
  by Mites (see the Greyhawk MC Appendix) who enjoy
  tormenting people lost in the caverns.
  A cursed city draws cursed people.  Several of the
  inhabitants of the city are cursed themselves.  A onetime
  powerful Adept accidentally summoned an Ennui (see
  Dream Spawn, Greater-Ennui, Monstrous Annual
  Volume III) from some place, beyond.  The Adept is now
  almost insane, and unaware of the creature following and
  feeding on him.  The powerful Ennui, new
  to this world, meanwhile stalks the madman’s dreams
  and the dreams of others as well, like a parasite.  So far
  
  Crossroads: Western Asia: Palestine
  40
  he has only touched the minds and dreams of people who
  came in contact with his madman, but should the insane
  Adept die, the Ennui will have to seek out a new creature
  to attach to and feed on, living in their dreams and
  nightmares.
  Other creatures known to haunt the city are a Hound
  of Ill-Omen (see Mounstrous Annual Volume III),
  seeking its victim, a number of Living Webs (see
  Monstrous Annual Volume III) and ill-tempered crows
  who tend to attack travelers.
  One may clearly see the hand of the Red Death in
  this troubled city, and whilst some say the Red Death had
  cursed it, others claim it was cursed because its people
  had served the Red Death, much like the people of
  Sodom and Amora (Gomorra), and who had ultimately
  paid for their service to evil.
  JERUSALEM
  Local Correspondent:
  Daniel J. Bandera
  Situated in right down in the middle of Palestine,
  Jerusalem has been the center of many kingdoms and
  religions for over 5,000 years.  It has developed from a
  pagan city to the center of three of the greatest religions
  the world has ever known: the monotheistic faiths of
  Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  Changing both name
  and rule uncountable times, Jerusalem is one of the most
  culturally and historically diverse cities in all of
  humankind’s history.  An ancient, majestic city, whose
  stones will tell the stories of the ages.
  History
  Already inhabited during the stone age, its aboriginal
  inhabitants were driven out between 500 BC and 4000
  BC by a people called the Canaanites in the old
  Testament, who had advanced into the Bronze Age.  The
  invaders were a mixed people among whom the Jebusites
  were dominant.  Named Jebus at the time, Jerusalem
  came under Egyptian rule in the 15th century BC, during
  the conquests of king Thutmose III.  Then, in about 1250
  BC, the Hebrew tribes began their conquest and settling
  of Canaan initially under the leadership of Joshua.  So
  powerfully fortified was Jerusalem, however, that it did
  not fall until over 300 years later, when King David
  captured it and made it his capital.
  The new king brought the Ark of Jehovah to his
  capital from its obscurity at Qiryat Ye’arim (a holy place
  of the time, west of Jerusalem) and installed it in a new
  tabernacle. He also built a royal palace and many other
  buildings, and strengthened the city’s fortifications.
  David’s son and successor, Solomon, continued the
  development of Jerusalem.  He built a city wall and many
  buildings on a scale of magnificence previously unknown
  to Israel.  Solomon’s principal buildings were the
  Temple and a new royal palace, encircled by a wall.  The
  palace, built on successive terraces, consisted of a house
  (constructed of cedar beams and pillars brought from the
  forests of Lebanon, imported through the port of Jaffa)
  that was about 28 m (92 ft) wide, 55 m (180 ft) long, and
  17 m (56 ft) high; the throne hall; the palace proper, or
  royal apartments; and the prison.  The courts and
  buildings of the Temple were constructed on a level
  above the palace.  The main building of the Temple was
  considered of great beauty, but was comparatively small,
  being only 20 cubits wide and 60 cubits long (about 11
  m wide and 33 m long), exclusive of the porch and the
  side chambers.  The Temple was built of cedar and stone
  and was surrounded by a court that contained the altar of
  burnt offerings and a “molten sea,” or bronze water tank.
  Jerusalem continued to expand after Solomon’s
  reign until the ten northern tribes of Israel seceded from
  the rule of the house of David, after which the
  importance of the city, now the capital of two tribes,
  Judah and Benjamin (together called “The One Tribe”),
  diminished greatly.  Jerusalem was wracked for the next
  two centuries by costly sieges, incursions, and
  unsuccessful military undertakings.  Not until the reigns
  of King Uzziah of Judah (reigned 783-742 BC) and his
  son Jotham (reigned 742-735 BC) did the city begin to
  regain its previous status.  Between this period and the
  rise of the powerful Maccabee Hashmonite family about
  six centuries later, the history of Jerusalem is that of the
  Jews.  Under the Maccabees and the Hashmonite
  dynasty, Jerusalem entered upon an era of unprecedented
  prosperity.  It became the holy city of Judaism and the
  great pilgrim shrine of the Jewish world.
  Conquest by the Romans under the general and
  statesman Pompey the Great in 63 BC resulted in no
  serious material disaster to the city.  Its greatest
  prosperity was attained under King Herod the Great.
  Besides a complete reconstruction of the Temple on a
  scale that was truly magnificent, involving the
  expenditure of vast sums of money, he undertook the
  building of the Xystus, an open place surrounded by a
  gallery; his own great palace, on the western side of the
  city; and a hippodrome, theater, and large reservoir.  In
  addition to these works, minor improvements were made,
  including the general strengthening of the city’s
  fortifications.  Less than a century later, however, during
  a Jewish rebellion against Roman authority, Titus, son of
  the Roman emperor Vespasian, captured and razed the
  
  Crossroads: Western Asia: Palestine
  41
  city in AD 70; only a few remnants of the western
  fortifications remained.  With this calamity, the history of
  ancient Jerusalem came to an end.
  The Roman emperor Hadrian visited the city, which
  was largely in ruins, about AD 130, and began its
  reconstruction.  The rebellion of the Jews, led by Simon
  Bar Kokhba, against the Romans between the years 132
  and 135 led the emperor to make the new city a pagan
  one and to prohibit all Jews from entering it.  The new
  city was called Aelia Capitolina, named for one of the
  Romans’ pagan gods.  The wall which encircled it was,
  in general, on the line of the old wall, except on the
  south, where it excluded a large portion of the former
  city.
  Little is known of the city from the time of Hadrian
  to that of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great,
  when Christianity became the religion of the empire.
  The population of Jerusalem was gradually supplemented
  by Christians, and pilgrims flocked to the city.  The
  Church of the Holy Sepulcher was built at the order of
  Emperor Constantine the Great.  Other buildings of like
  character were subsequently constructed, and Jerusalem
  became a Christian city.  Among the noteworthy
  buildings belonging to this period are the Church of Saint
  Stephen, north of the city, built by the Byzantine empress
  Eudocia, who also rebuilt the ancient southern wall; and
  the great Church of Saint Mary on the Temple hill, which
  was built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I.
  The Christian city, after being captured by the
  Persians under King Khosrau II in 614, but recovered by
  the Byzantine emperor Heraclius in 628, was taken again
  in 637 by the Muslims under the caliph Umar I.  The
  Dome of the Rock Mosque, was erected over the rock
  believed to be the altar place of Solomon’s Temple.  The
  Christians were treated leniently by their Muslim
  conquerors, but when the Egyptian Fatimid caliphs
  became the rulers of Jerusalem, in 969, the situation
  became more precarious.  The Seljuk Turks conquered
  the city in 1071, and their maltreatment of Christians and
  destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher were
  among the causes of the Crusades.  In 1099 the
  Crusaders, under the French nobleman Godfrey of
  Bouillon, gained possession of the city and slaughtered
  many of its inhabitants.  Jerusalem again became a
  Christian city and the capital of the so-called Latin
  Kingdom, until its capture in 1187 by the Muslim leader
  Saladin all but ended Christian rule.
  From the 13th century, when Jerusalem was captured
  by the Egyptian Mamelukes, through Ottoman rule,
  begun in 1517, the city’s importance declined.  During
  these centuries, however, many Jews, fleeing persecution
  in Europe, returned to Jerusalem; by the late 19th century
  they had become a majority of the population.
  In 1855, after the city’s growing population had
  exceeded the city’s holding capability, Jews from the city
  funded by the British Jew Lord Montifury, established
  the first neighborhood outside the city walls.  As the
  Jewish population increased, being poor and in need of
  housing, more neighbborhoods followed, and the “new”
  city had been established.
  Forbidden Lore
  In ancient times, the pre-Hebrew Canaanite people of
  Jerusalem practiced a despicable religion involving the
  sacrifice of children and infants to a god known as
  Moloch.  These rituals were carried out in a valley just
  outside of Jerusalem, where the children were burned
  alive.  These rituals brought more than just misery to the
  families of the sacrificed children.  Unknowingly the
  rituals brought forth a creature of evil that fed of the
  flames, a Fire Minion (see the Dragonlance MC
  appendix).  When the sacrificial practices were abolished
  by the Hebrews the creature went into hiding, but it is
  hungry.  Every three moons, it will strike at a home in
  Jerusalem, burning the place unless appeased by the
  renewal of the rituals.
  The city is haunted by others as well.  Jerusalem has
  been destroyed and rebuilt countless of times, and it is
  built city upon city upon city.  Many chambers, passages,
  crypts and rooms exist under the paved streets of
  Jerusalem, some reaching into antiquity.  The living
  haunt the upper reaches of the ways, the dead rule the
  lower.
  Some Qabals have discovered these ways, using
  them to hide their activities, but so do some of the Red
  Death’s minions.
  One Adept, a former archeologist, is studying
  ancient writings and killing any who venture too deep
  into “his” underground realm.  This Adept was once a
  member of a Qabal before he encountered something
  down there on one of his ventures.  Now he hides from
  his former brethren and only surfaces to get food and
  other equipment.
  The walls of Jerusalem, said to withstand any
  assault, are patrolled by more than just the Turkish
  guards.  The spirits of defenders of the city who failed at
  their duties patrol as well, and each and every one of
  them, no matter what era they had lived will confront any
  who dare enter the city unlawfully.
  Creatures that haunt ancient places may be found in
  Jerusalem, just under the surface, and sometimes above.
  Native residents of the city are usually ignored on the
  part of these creatures; not so for strangers.  Foreign
  tourists, archeologists and visitors may sometimes
  disappear without trace.  The natives, when asked about
  such cases, merely shrug “Inshaala”—so God wishes.
  
  Crossroads: Western Asia: Palestine
  42
  When the great library was destroyed, one of the
  original members of the Defiance called out a prophesy
  before he died, telling the survivors to seek out the key to
  the defeat of the Red Death:
  “Look to the east, my brothers, for the key to
  salvation will come out of where three meet behind
  golden walls with the closed gate.”
  Those who know of the prophesy among the Qabals
  believe that it speaks of Jerusalem, and so do the Red
  Death’s minions.  Many times was the city destroyed by
  war started at the whim of the Red Death’s minions.
  However, time after time the city has been rebuilt despite
  the wishes of evil.
  SHECHEM (NABLUS)
  Local Correspondent:
  Daniel J. Bandera
  A Pre-biblical city near the Jordan River, Shechem is the
  trading center for the surrounding region producing
  grapes, olives, wheat and livestock.
  A religious center as well, Shechem holds the
  supposed sites of the Hebrew Patriarch Joseph’s tomb,
  and of Patriarch Jacob’s Well.  In addition, Shechem and
  the nearby Mout Grizim are holy sites to the Samaritan
  sect who exclusively reside in this city.
  Nablus, as it is called now, was built over the ruins
  of Ancient Shechem in the 1st century AD, and is
  prospering under the Turkish Ottoman rule.
  History
  A large city since early times, Shechem is mentioned in
  the bible as the place where Joshua joined the twelve
  tribes of Israel and made a pact between them bringing
  the order of law to the Hebrew tribes.  Later, after the
  Israelite kingdom split, Shechem was made the capital of
  the ten tribes, whilst Jerusalem remained capital of the
  two tribes of Judah and Binyamin.
  During the era of Roman control of Palestine, the
  Romans built a new city nearby, named Niapolis (or
  Niapolin) and the name has since been warped to today’s
  Arab city name of Nablus.
  During the reign of the Arabs Shechem was an
  important city, so much so that it was named by an Arab
  Geographer of the 10th century as “little Damascus.”
  In the 12th century, Shechem was still an important
  city.  In 1259, when Jerusalem was sacked and destroyed
  by the Mongols, many Jews and their holy books fled to
  Shechem.
  Shechem is known for its olives and olive-oil, Carob
  Jam and soap-making.  In 1517 it was conquered by the
  Ottoman Turks and has somewhat declined under their
  rule.
  Today’s Shechem, called Nablus, is almost entirely
  made up of Arabs.  In addition, 120 Jewish families live
  in the city, mainly workmen and shopkeepers, and also
  the unique Samaritan community, remains of an ancient
  people and religion existing no where else in Palestine,
  or the world.
  Forbidden Lore
  Near the city are the ruins of an old Khan, an Arab inn,
  where travelers and caravans used to rest when traveling
  through Nablus.  The Khan is now in ruins, burned down
  and abandoned.  Not much is known as to what had
  happened there, but if anybody ever mentions the Khan,
  it is always in whispers and in obvious fear of terrible
  things that had happened there.  Such atrocities were
  committed in that Khan that all of the city’s inhabitants,
  Jews, Arabs and Samaritans, who usually don’t get along
  very well, joined together and burned down the place.
  Nowadays no one goes near, but innocent travelers who
  camp outside the city, who see lights and hear voices
  coming from the abandoned Khan, are cautioned to stay
  away, for evil may still lurk there.
  The city itself lies in a small valley between Mount
  Grizim and Mount Eival, which have a religious
  importance to the small Samaritan sect living in
  Shechem.  On Mount Grizim, over the ruins of their
  ancient temple, the Samaritans conduct their religious
  rituals.  An ancient Jewish belief holds that participation
  in a Samaritan Passover “Seder,” can protect and drive
  out evil spirits.  Over the centuries, a few have sought
  out the Samaritans just for this purpose.
  In the last year, Turkish officials have been acting
  aggressively towards the Samaritan community,
  hindering them and interrupting their religious practices.
  Rumor has it that this change in attitude come from a
  European visitor who has befriended the local Turkish
  Governor.  This traveler from Europe, Bian de Torres, is
  in fact a man possessed by an evil spirit, who is slowly
  losing control of himself.  Formerly a devout man, de
  Torres has managed to bring himself to Palestine in order
  to seek a cure to his mysterious “illness,” but he now
  only has control of his body and mind a couple of hours
  each day, when the evil spirit inhabiting his body is at
  rest.  The spirit unknowingly serves the Red Death, who
  seeks to make de Torres one of his minions once he is
  completely possessed.
  
  Crossroads: Western Asia: Palestine
  43
  One of the current high priests of the Samaritans is a
  member of the Watchers of the Sands Brotherhood, who
  joined the Qabal as a boy when his grandfather, a
  longtime member, initiated him to the Brotherhood.  The
  high priest watches over his people, and also over the
  rest of the town.  Instrumental in the destruction of the
  evil in the Khan, he still watches over the place, wary
  that the evil may return.
  ZEFAT (SAFFED)
  Local Correspondent:
  Daniel J. Bandera
  A mountainous city, high above sea level, Zefat is
  perhaps the most important city and capital of the Upper
  Galilee region.  One of the four holy cities of Palestine,
  Zefat is known for its being a center of Jewish learning,
  and especially Jewish mysticism.  Zefat has been a center
  of Kabbalah teachings, and many great Rabbi’s of
  Judaism have lived and died in the city throughout
  history.
  History
  In both pre-Christian times and for almost a thousand
  years after, Zefat was an unimportant city, with a small
  population and very difficult to reach; only once during
  that time did it have any significance.  The occasion was
  the fortification of Zefat as a stronghold by Yoseph Ben-
  Matityahu (the ancient historian Josephus Flavius) in 66
  BC during the preparations of the Jewish people to rebel
  against the roman conquest.
  In the 10th century Zefat was ruled by Fatimik
  Khalifs of the Muslim empire, until 1099 when it was
  taken by the Crusaders, after which it began serving as
  an important strategic stronghold defending the land from
  enemies, especially from nearby threatening Syria.
  Taken in by force again by Muslim forces led by
  Saladin in 1188, it was recaptured by Richard the Lion-
  Hearted, king of England, two years later.  It remained
  under Christian Crusader rule until 1266, during which
  time a large Crusader citadel was constructed on the
  highest mountain peak within the city.
  The city was taken once again by Muslim forces, and
  was ruled by the Mameluk Muslims until 1516, after a
  great victory in Syria of the Ottoman Turks vanquishing
  the Mameluk regime.
  During Arab and Muslim rule, the name of the city
  was changed to Saffed.
  It was then, in the 16th century, that a golden era
  came upon the city.  The city’s population had swelled
  with the coming of many Jewish immigrants, and
  especially many important religious figures.  A new
  important center of trade on the road to Damascus, Zefat
  was growing rapidly and its population was almost
  exclusively Jewish.  In addition important industries such
  as clothing and printing had developed in Zefat.
  In 1720, Zefat and the Galilee were conquered by a
  Beduin Sheik who made Zefat his capital and set his son
  to rule it as Governor.  However, on the 20th of October,
  1759, an earthquake struck the city, destroying its houses
  and burying much of its population in the rubble.  The
  earthquake had reduced the great city to little more than a
  town and its place as capital of the Galilee was taken by
  Akko under the Turkish rule.
  In 1830 the land was taken by Ibrahim Pasha, and
  during his reign, the Arab inhabitants of Zefat rebelled;
  his reaction was swift and deadly, pillaging and killing
  many in the city, including the Jews, who had not
  rebelled.
  Yet another disaster fell upon ancient Zefat: another
  earthquake struck in 1837, destroying it again.  Once
  again it was reduced to a mere village.
  In 1840, a European Fleet took Akko, and the rule of
  the north of Palestine, including Zefat, was back in the
  hands of the Ottoman Turks, who hold it to this day.
  Forbidden Lore
  Not all of the troubles that befell Zefat have been natural
  or at least, mundane.  The uprising of the Arabs against
  Ibrahim Pasha during the 19th century was in fact caused
  by the Watchers of the Sand Brotherhood, in order to be
  put down by the ruler.  The reason for this was that
  several members of an evil Qabal had come to the city,
  and settled in it.  Their presence being somewhat
  problematic for the Watchers of the Sand, the
  Brotherhood caused the Arab rebellion, made sure the
  reaction would be brutal, and during the pillaging and
  killing, managed to kill the four members of the evil
  Qabal in the city.  The Brotherhood had to kill the four,
  but could only do so under the cover of “natural” death,
  thus they ignited the uprising, despite the fact that it also
  resulted in the deaths of innocents.
  Zefat, as a center of Kabbalah, arcane and mystical
  teachings amongst Jewish mystics, also holds a number
  of Secrets.  A handful of those Kabbalah mystics have
  copies of the “Sefer Yezira” (Book of Creation) which
  holds the secret of the creation of Golems (see Golem,
  Clay in the Monstrous Manual).  All of these Mystics are
  benevolent, their teachings far from those of evil,
  perhaps even an antithesis of evil.  The Watchers of the
  Sands Brotherhood is desperately trying to get hold of a
  
  Crossroads: Western Asia: Palestine
  44
  copy of the “Sefer Yezira” or recruit a Kabbalah mystic
  to the Qabal.  The Brotherhood believes that such
  knowledge may be a powerful weapon in the hands of
  good, and must be protected from discovery by the Red
  Death.
  But the Brotherhood are not the only ones seeking
  the secret of Golem creation.  A German tourist visiting
  Zefat has also been asking around about Kabbalah
  teachings, though he has learned nothing so far.  It is as
  yet unknown what his agenda is, or who he really is.
  In 1881, in Russia, the czar Alexander II was
  assassinated, and the government had blamed all Jews in
  the land for his death.  The death of the czar, who was
  loved by his people together with the governmental
  claims of Jewish responsibility and religious fanaticism,
  brought three years of massacres upon the Jewish people
  in Russia.  A survivor of these massacres came to Zefat
  three years back, a sick and broken man.  After he died,
  people began seeing him walk again in the city’s
  Graveyard and outlying area.  The poor soul, after
  surviving so many troubles, had become a Bussengeist in
  death.  Unable to fully die, to only mourn the past.  So far
  no one has dared approach the spirit, and it continues to
  wander in the city’s region, although he never enters the
  city proper.  The Bussengeist is known to appear
  especially on days when someone dies or a funeral is
  conducted in the graveyard.
  Other spirits, such as those who were killed in the
  various earthquakes, also haunt the city.  However, these
  do not interfere with the living inhabitants, and some of
  them, mainly those who were Kabbalists in life, have
  been known to converse with those who seek them.
  
  Crossroads: World Correspondents
  45
  David “Draegarius” Alexander
  Palestine:
  Akko, Ammon, Jaffa, Jericho,
  Jerusalem, Shechem, Zefat
  draegarius@hotmail.com
  When I discovered the online role-playing
  community two years back, I was awed by the
  scope of the information found on all the websites
  and various netbooks. More info than I could ever
  use.  Today I have my own website, and this is the
  first netbook I'm contributing to. I dedicate this to
  the online community of role-players wherever they
  may be, and especially to Zak, Jon and
  Mr. Niceguy of the PLANESCAPE mailing list.
  Matthew “Dead Man” Ball
  St. John’s, Newfoundland
  Wolfville, Nova Scotia
  mball@istar.ca
  Between bartending, my thesis work, and caring for Bean
  (my hedgehog), I still find some time to devote
  to roleplaying—RAVENLOFT in particular.  Being a
  Newfoundlander, St. John’s practically begged for a spot
  in a Gothic Earth atlas, as the history of the city itself
  predates all others in North America (and the fact that
  the area is shrouded in mists for over 2/3 of the year).
  The Wolfville entry came about because I have spent the
  greater portion of my adult life in the town attending
  Acadia University.  I’d like to thank my girlfriend
  Giselle, a true Acadian, for helping fill me in on the
  aspects of Acadian history I was unfamiliar with.
  Hopefully there is enough here to set some creative
  juices flowing in a campaign.  If more info is desired on
  any locale, feel free to contact me and I’ll help as I can.
  Now, back into the Mists to continue discovering
  the secrets of the Brotherhood of St. Phocas.
  Daniel J. Bandera
  Houston and Southern Texas
  San Miguel de Cozumel, Mexico
  Vera Cruz, Mexico
  daniel.j.bandera@us.pwcglobal.com
  Mr. Bandera’s last telegram to the editors indicated he
  would provide his bio after a quick jaunt to Cozumel to
  study some recently-discovered artifacts.  Sadly, we
  have been unable to contact him since…
  Joe Bardales
  Kargatane
  Framing Fiction
  Salem, Massachusetts
  New York, New York
  joe@kargatane.com
  The release of Crossroads is for me one of those
  moments of triumph when you see your seedling of an
  idea blossom to full maturity.  While I may have initially
  come up with the idea of a Gothic Earth Atlas NetBook,
  it would never have come to pass without the efforts of
  those around me.  My deepest gratitude goes out to
  William Connors for creating such a brilliant campaign
  world, James Wyatt for keeping hope alive, the Kargat
  for their advice, kind words, and because they keep me
  as their faithful servant, the Crossroads authors whose
  love for MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH truly shows through
  in their writing (and without whom you wouldn’t be
  reading this!), and to the other members of the
  Kargatane, whose friendship, ideas, suggestions,
  creativity, and dedication have made this
  dream a reality.  Cheers!
  Timothy S. Brannan
  Illinois
  tbrannan@usa.net
  Timothy S. Brannan is a Ph.D. candidate at the
  University of Illinois in Chicago, in Educational
  Psychology.  “Haunted Illinois” is based on his belief that
  there has to be something horrific going on in the
  Midwest.  Tim has played D&D since 1979.  RAVENLOFT
  is currently his favorite setting, even if he rarely gets the
  chance to play.  When not working on his dissertation he
  likes to read, go to movies or otherwise “hang out” with
  his beautiful wife Natalie.  Tim and
  Natalie live in the Chicago area.
  “Coan-Teen”
  Temuco, Chile
  coan-teen@geocities.com
  This article is the product of many failed horror and
  madness checks.  I only hope this proves useful to
  set your adventures in a place forgotten by the
  hand of God: Chile.  Certainly, this article
  speaks for itself… enjoy it!!!
  
  Crossroads: World Correspondents
  46
  Jarrod R. Lowe
  Le Louvre, France
  jrlowe01@morehead-st.edu
  Jarrod Lowe is a co-editor of the Chilling Tales of
  Gothic Earth e-zine.  He currently resides in Morehead,
  Kentucky where he is working (ever diligently)
  toward an Art degree.
  Jarrod has never been to the Louvre, but hopes that when
  he eventually gets there it's twice as cool as he
  has dreamed…minus the living paintings, ghosts
  and vampires, that is!
  John W. Mangrum
  Kargatane
  Albany, New York
  iggy@kargatane.com
  John is actually a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
  but has lived in the New York Capital Region since late
  1993.  In that time, he’s grown so enchanted with Albany
  that it would take a bribe of at least two figures to get
  him to move away.
  Marcin “Hastur” Perkowski
  Bialystok, Poland
  ravenkin@polbox.com
  Born in Bialystok, Poland, at the start of the seventies, I
  finished law at Warsaw University a few years ago and
  now work as a field inspector for the government
  insurance system.  I’ve been into games since 1986 , first
  playing and “GMing” my own (and my friends’) systems.
  Since the beginning of ‘90 I’ve played WARHAMMER (a
  little) and AD&D, especially RAVENLOFT.  For about four
  years (or so) I’ve also played MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH.
  I have written some articles for Miecz i Magia (Sword
  and Sorcery), the one and only journal about RPGs in
  Poland.  I am married to a wonderful woman who shares
  my passion for RPGs and horror, and I have a circle of
  friends (we call ourselves The Circle☺) who are also in
  playing RPGs.
  Charles Phipps
  Glastonbury Abbey, England
  tcp@ramlink.net
  It took me quite a bit of pondering to figure up my entry
  but ultimately the idea to do Glastonbury came from an
  old Gothic Earth campaign.  The Arthur legend and its
  relation to the Red Death were wonderful starting points
  for many memorable adventures and I think they can be
  for many other DMs too.
  John P. Stacey
  Sica Hollow, South Dakota
  kitsune@itctel.com
  Sica Hollow is based on a State Park in South Dakota,
  and on the myths and legends surrounding it.  The
  Hollow is a small gem of natural beauty, and a totally
  surreal place.  One can almost feel the presence
  of the spirits said to haunt Sica Hollow.  The briefly-
  mentioned Fort Wadsworth is also a State Park in
  South Dakota, though in the present day it is
  known as Fort Sisseton.
  
  Crossroads: Index of Existing Sites
  47
  his index presents all locations of the Gothic
  Earth which have been described to date.
  AGtGE refers to A Guide to Gothic Earth,
  found in the Masque of the Red Death boxed set.  DR#
  refers to DRAGON Magazine, including issue number.
  Locations in bold print can be found in this book.
  Locale 
  Source
  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 
  DR#240, pg. 31
  Akko, Palestine 
  pg. 36
  Albany, New York 
  pg. 13
  Alexandria, Egypt 
         AGtGE, pg. 82
  Amman, Palestine 
  pg. 37
  Atlanta, Georgia 
  AGtGE, pg. 76
  Bagdad, Iraq 
  DR#240, pg. 33
  Bangkok, Thailand 
  AGtGE, pg. 93
  Bialystok, Poland 
  pg. 33
  Boston, Massachusetts 
         AGtGE, pg. 76
  Brisbane, Australia 
  AGtGE, pg. 84
  Bucharest, Romania 
  AGtGE, pg. 85
  Buenos Aires, Argentina 
  AGtGE, pg. 81
  Cape Town, South Africa 
  AGtGE, pg. 83
  Chicago, Illinois 
  DR#240, pg. 28
  Christchurch, New Zealand 
  AGtGE, pg. 84
  Constantinople, Turkey 
  AGtGE, pg. 91
  Dublin, Ireland 
  AGtGE, pg. 85
  Glastonbury Abbey, England 
  pg. 28
  Goliad, Texas 
  pg. 21
  Hong Kong 
  DR#240, pg. 34
  Houston, Texas 
  pg. 20
  Illinois, USA 
  pg. 7
  Jaffa, Palestine 
  pg. 38
  Jericho, Palestine 
  pg. 39
  Jerusalem, Palestine 
  pg. 40
  Lima, Peru 
  AGtGE, pg. 81
  London, England 
  AGtGE, pg. 86
  Le Louvre, France 
  pg. 30
  Madras, India 
  DR#240, pg. 34
  Mexico City, Mexico 
  AGtGE, pg. 79
  Montréal, Quebec 
         DR#240, pg. 29
  Nablus, Palestine 
  see Shechem
  New Orleans, Louisiana 
  AGtGE, pg. 78
  New York City, New York 
  pg. 16
  Paris, France 
  AGtGE, pg. 87
  Port-au-Prince, Haiti 
  AGtGE, pg. 80
  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 
  DR#240, pg. 30
  Rome, Italy 
  AGtGE, pg. 88
  Saffed, Palestine 
  see Zefat
  St. John’s, Newfoundland 
  pg. 22
  Saint Petersburg, Russia 
  AGtGE, pg. 92
  Salem, Massachusetts 
  pg. 10
  San Francisco, California 
  AGtGE, pg. 78
  San Miguel de Cozumel, Mexico pg. 24
  San Xavier, Texas 
  pg. 21
  Locale 
  Source
  Seville, Spain 
  DR#240, pg. 32
  Shechem, Palestine 
  pg. 42
  Sica Hollow, South Dakota 
  pg. 18
  Singapore, Malaysia 
  AGtGE, pg. 93
  Sitka, Alaska 
  DR#240, pg. 29
  Stuttgart, Germany 
  DR#240, pg. 32
  Temuco, Chile 
  pg. 27
  Tokyo, Japan 
         DR#240, pg. 34
  Vancouver, British Columbia 
  AGtGE, pg. 79
  Vera Cruz, Mexico 
  pg. 25
  Vienna, Austria 
  AGtGE, pg. 90
  Wolfville, Nova Scotia 
  pg. 23
  Zefat, Palestine 
  pg. 43
  T
  
  Crossroads: Postscript
  48
  �                        �
  Sorry that your hometown isn’t one of the
  Crossroads of the Gothic Earth?
  Upset because you wanted to contribute,
  but missed the deadline?
  HAVE NO FEAR!
  Crossroads of the Gothic Earth is an open-ended netbook;
  there will never be a truly final deadline for submissions.  If
  you’d like to see the Red Death claim your corner of the
  world, it’s up to You to see that it happens!  Send your
  submissions to the Kargatane, and if they’re accepted,
  they’ll soon be added to the HTML version of this book.
  Then, once or twice a year (as the rate of submissions demands),
  the Word version will release a new edition,
  featuring the updated entries, and something new for
  the Kargatane: Serial Fiction!
  Visit the Kargatane’s bookshop in scenic Vallaki for more
  details, or scribble them a message courtesy of:
  crossroads@kargatane.com
  The Red Death can’t wait to visit your hometown,
  so don’t delay!
  �                        �
  
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