Cranberry Cove

An Emergency Landing in New England

I was in the Time Vortex aboard the Fallen Hour when a strange feeling of dread came over me. No sooner had this happened than the time capsule suddenly began the procedures for an emergency landing. I materialized on the rocky coast of a New England town, circa the early 21st century. The name of the place was Cranberry Cove.

It was, I believe, a 20th century Earth writer who observed that all sufficiently advanced science appears, to more primitive people, to be magic. This may be so, but the line between the two is nebulous. Is psychic power a form of magic? What about the sonic spells of the Carrionites? My entanglement with the Cult of Dagon in New Babbage proved to me that forms of magic can and do exist, especially within the bounds of Linden Space. So it was only mildly surprising to me to discover that I had been drawn to Cranberry Cove by a curse.

The Bed & Breakfast I used in Cranberry Cove

Taking up residence in a local Bed & Breakfast, I presented myself as a historian researching the colonial period of the town. Over time, I was to learn of the curse. In the 17th century the town fell victim to the witch hunts of the period, but apparently managed to ensnare one genuine witch, who laid a heavy curse upon the entire community. Their lives would forever be tainted by the thing they sought to stamp out..."magic." Worse, people descended from the original inhabitants of the town would find themselves inexplicably and irresistibly drawn back there once the older generation had died. For example, if you have a father in Cranberry Cove and he passes away, you will be compelled to return. As a result, the scattered descendants of Cranberry Cove went out into the world and were plagued by all sorts of supernatural phenomena...vampirism, lycanthropy, the fae, hauntings, etc. All these things they brought eventually back with them to the town.

The result is a picturesque New England town that is seething with the very darkest secrets.

Naturally, the question now is why was I drawn there? Certainly I cannot have any ancestors from the community. I have one suspicion...if I was present for the original curse it might affect me. And since I haven't been there yet, it means I will likely be paying Cranberry Cove a visit in the 17th century in the future of my own personal timeline.

In the meantime, however, I will continue to pass myself off as something else while exploring there.