Post by PHAROS on Jun 3, 2020 18:01:06 GMT -6
STERLING FOREST
Sterling Forest was originally part of a vast tract of land called Cheesecock that a group of English colonists bought from the Iroquois in 1702. The land eventually came to belong to the Sterling Iron Works, which mined and shipped iron ore from a number of sites within the park. The last of the mines were closed in the 1920's, due to unknown circumstances. Even though the mines were still lucrative ventures the miners were leaving. It became so difficult to maintain workers that the company had no choice but to shut down the mines.
It wasn't until the 1960's that people began to investigate why the mines shut down and they learned that the miners tapped into a cave system of immense proportions. It was worth exploring and a team of experienced cave explorers were sent down... none returned. After that strange occurrences began terrify the miners. Enormous shaggy figures with red eyes stalked the woods, eerie noises haunted the mine shafts, and at the height of the activity there were cave-ins that took the lives of twenty-three men.
The cavern system isn't much talked about these days. Many have forgotten they're even there. The mines which are all sealed up now are the only known access to them, but there are a few people who aware of other entrances. No one dares enter them though. To this day people are still wary of them, fearing that entering them again will bring tragedy upon them and Omensvale.
Sterling Park was established in 1998 after New York State paid $55 million for the 15,280 acres (61.8 km2) of land using a combination of public and private funds. The park lies in the New York - New Jersey Highlands, a one-million-acre (4,000 km2) stretch of natural habitat from the Hudson to the Delaware River that links the Abram S. Hewitt State Forest in New Jersey with Harriman State Park in New York. Prior to 'THE GLOAMING', Sterling forest became a popular haven for hikers, mountain-bikers, hunters and fishermen but after reality changed, it became a much different place.
The Sterling Forest of today is a dark and unforgiving habitat. Hikers commonly report eerie silences accompanied by strange sounds and unexplainable sightings. The volume of missing persons in the area has forced rangers and law enforcement to close off trails and prohibit hikers from venturing into certain areas. These warnings of course, have only intrigued thrill seekers, and every year people venture past the signs and never return. In some cases, their bodies turn up months later, often lying in wide open clearing that had been previously searched. Autopsies reveal that the bodies were not dumped after, that they were in fact there the whole time. Possibly relocated, but who or what would do such a thing?
The park includes a Visitor Center, which offers exhibits about the local environment and overlooks Sterling Lake. The Sterling Mountain Fire Observation Tower and Observer's Cabin is located on Sterling Mountain. Those that can make to these locations are often rewarded with a spine tingling serenade of strange howls and knocks echoing from all directions. Strange sightings are common, but digitally recoded evidence is always compromised. Most who brave the forest never care to return, but for many locals the trails offer nothing out of the ordinary, as if they're walking in an entirely different forest.
Hunting is allowed in the forest, but no one does. Once in a while some hunters come into the area unaware the stories, and when they hear them, scoff. They go into the woods and return empty handed, a distant look in their eyes, just wanting to forget the whole experience. Sterling forest is not accepting of those who enter it with the intent to do harm. Locals agree that there's some kind of presence that can't be explained, that guards the wild life.
A popular story is one that occurred back in 2002. A group of hunters, convinced the stories were just locals playing tricks went in with the intent to catch them in the act. Things got out of hand, and one of them decided to light the forest up. He dowsed an area the size of a baseball diamond with fuel and when he threw a match into it nothing happened. He tried again. Nothing. He walked right into the area, the stench of gasoline burning his nostril and when threw a match into it, all that lit up were his pants. The next day the charred remains of his body were found in the clearing, nothing else burned, not even a leaf wilted from the heat.
The people of Omensvale have learned that when you go into Sterling Forest you give it respect and don't go where you shouldn't. Follow these simply rules and you'll have a pleasant visit.
FLORA
Sterling Forest is shrouded in graceful, cathedral-like canopies and open understories. Jack pine, White pine and quaking aspen make up the bulk of the foliage. As many of the trees fall, their roots tear holes in the earth, creating mounds, leaving the ground uneven and soft.
HIGH STRANGENESS
Where to begin? Sterling forest and the woods beyond it's boundaries are the most eerie feature of Omensvale. Even though locals seem to be able to enjoy relatively normal walks along the trails they are not immune to the strangeness of the area by a long shot.
Most people who venture into the pristine, untouched areas of the forest quickly learn a few strange facts. The first is that compasses and GPS devices tend to go awry. People can get turned around very quickly. Secondly, the forest seems far larger than it actually is. What people mean by this is that they come across places in the forest that they've never seen before but if they try and find it the next day, it's gone, as if it never existed. Cold sober foresters swear by this. The phenomena result by the instability of the Gloam. Sterling Forest is a series of overlapping realms allowing preternatural creatures to enter into reality and then vanish out of existence, and there are many monstrosities that dwell in the forest.
The cave system beneath the forest can be likened to a Faerie Realm of sorts. The opposite of a 'Fern Gully', if you can recall the movie. Faerie (that are not the 'Greater' that integrate with Humanity) are dark and macabre, distorted copies of humans, animals and combinations there of. They can be malicious, but more often are simply protective of their forest home and highly judgemental of those humans and preternaturals living among them who intrude into it. Characters are welcome explore the caverns but what they find is will not be a civilization by any means, more a collection of strange and dark chambers in which frightening inhuman creatures dwell, things like the large hairy forest guardians people call 'Bigfoot'. It's not a realm to be figured out, it is not known how deep the cavern go. They permeate into other realms, their dark passages extending far beyond the length of Sterling Forest, leading to vast chambers.
The forest itself is haunted with a variety of strangeness. Weird lights, eerie howls, inhuman tracks, and unexplained sightings abound. There is absolutely no shortage of the paranormal, and you are welcome to develop whatever stories you wish, that are of course absent of Disney versions of the Faerie Realm and the like. You're not going to find Pokemon in Sterling Forest, unless they're the big scary kind that want to rip your face off. Our setting does not embrace happy-go-lucky romanticized versions of the paranormal, rather the darkness behind them.
Sterling Forest was originally part of a vast tract of land called Cheesecock that a group of English colonists bought from the Iroquois in 1702. The land eventually came to belong to the Sterling Iron Works, which mined and shipped iron ore from a number of sites within the park. The last of the mines were closed in the 1920's, due to unknown circumstances. Even though the mines were still lucrative ventures the miners were leaving. It became so difficult to maintain workers that the company had no choice but to shut down the mines.
It wasn't until the 1960's that people began to investigate why the mines shut down and they learned that the miners tapped into a cave system of immense proportions. It was worth exploring and a team of experienced cave explorers were sent down... none returned. After that strange occurrences began terrify the miners. Enormous shaggy figures with red eyes stalked the woods, eerie noises haunted the mine shafts, and at the height of the activity there were cave-ins that took the lives of twenty-three men.
The cavern system isn't much talked about these days. Many have forgotten they're even there. The mines which are all sealed up now are the only known access to them, but there are a few people who aware of other entrances. No one dares enter them though. To this day people are still wary of them, fearing that entering them again will bring tragedy upon them and Omensvale.
Sterling Park was established in 1998 after New York State paid $55 million for the 15,280 acres (61.8 km2) of land using a combination of public and private funds. The park lies in the New York - New Jersey Highlands, a one-million-acre (4,000 km2) stretch of natural habitat from the Hudson to the Delaware River that links the Abram S. Hewitt State Forest in New Jersey with Harriman State Park in New York. Prior to 'THE GLOAMING', Sterling forest became a popular haven for hikers, mountain-bikers, hunters and fishermen but after reality changed, it became a much different place.
The Sterling Forest of today is a dark and unforgiving habitat. Hikers commonly report eerie silences accompanied by strange sounds and unexplainable sightings. The volume of missing persons in the area has forced rangers and law enforcement to close off trails and prohibit hikers from venturing into certain areas. These warnings of course, have only intrigued thrill seekers, and every year people venture past the signs and never return. In some cases, their bodies turn up months later, often lying in wide open clearing that had been previously searched. Autopsies reveal that the bodies were not dumped after, that they were in fact there the whole time. Possibly relocated, but who or what would do such a thing?
The park includes a Visitor Center, which offers exhibits about the local environment and overlooks Sterling Lake. The Sterling Mountain Fire Observation Tower and Observer's Cabin is located on Sterling Mountain. Those that can make to these locations are often rewarded with a spine tingling serenade of strange howls and knocks echoing from all directions. Strange sightings are common, but digitally recoded evidence is always compromised. Most who brave the forest never care to return, but for many locals the trails offer nothing out of the ordinary, as if they're walking in an entirely different forest.
Hunting is allowed in the forest, but no one does. Once in a while some hunters come into the area unaware the stories, and when they hear them, scoff. They go into the woods and return empty handed, a distant look in their eyes, just wanting to forget the whole experience. Sterling forest is not accepting of those who enter it with the intent to do harm. Locals agree that there's some kind of presence that can't be explained, that guards the wild life.
A popular story is one that occurred back in 2002. A group of hunters, convinced the stories were just locals playing tricks went in with the intent to catch them in the act. Things got out of hand, and one of them decided to light the forest up. He dowsed an area the size of a baseball diamond with fuel and when he threw a match into it nothing happened. He tried again. Nothing. He walked right into the area, the stench of gasoline burning his nostril and when threw a match into it, all that lit up were his pants. The next day the charred remains of his body were found in the clearing, nothing else burned, not even a leaf wilted from the heat.
The people of Omensvale have learned that when you go into Sterling Forest you give it respect and don't go where you shouldn't. Follow these simply rules and you'll have a pleasant visit.
FLORA
Sterling Forest is shrouded in graceful, cathedral-like canopies and open understories. Jack pine, White pine and quaking aspen make up the bulk of the foliage. As many of the trees fall, their roots tear holes in the earth, creating mounds, leaving the ground uneven and soft.
HIGH STRANGENESS
Where to begin? Sterling forest and the woods beyond it's boundaries are the most eerie feature of Omensvale. Even though locals seem to be able to enjoy relatively normal walks along the trails they are not immune to the strangeness of the area by a long shot.
Most people who venture into the pristine, untouched areas of the forest quickly learn a few strange facts. The first is that compasses and GPS devices tend to go awry. People can get turned around very quickly. Secondly, the forest seems far larger than it actually is. What people mean by this is that they come across places in the forest that they've never seen before but if they try and find it the next day, it's gone, as if it never existed. Cold sober foresters swear by this. The phenomena result by the instability of the Gloam. Sterling Forest is a series of overlapping realms allowing preternatural creatures to enter into reality and then vanish out of existence, and there are many monstrosities that dwell in the forest.
The cave system beneath the forest can be likened to a Faerie Realm of sorts. The opposite of a 'Fern Gully', if you can recall the movie. Faerie (that are not the 'Greater' that integrate with Humanity) are dark and macabre, distorted copies of humans, animals and combinations there of. They can be malicious, but more often are simply protective of their forest home and highly judgemental of those humans and preternaturals living among them who intrude into it. Characters are welcome explore the caverns but what they find is will not be a civilization by any means, more a collection of strange and dark chambers in which frightening inhuman creatures dwell, things like the large hairy forest guardians people call 'Bigfoot'. It's not a realm to be figured out, it is not known how deep the cavern go. They permeate into other realms, their dark passages extending far beyond the length of Sterling Forest, leading to vast chambers.
The forest itself is haunted with a variety of strangeness. Weird lights, eerie howls, inhuman tracks, and unexplained sightings abound. There is absolutely no shortage of the paranormal, and you are welcome to develop whatever stories you wish, that are of course absent of Disney versions of the Faerie Realm and the like. You're not going to find Pokemon in Sterling Forest, unless they're the big scary kind that want to rip your face off. Our setting does not embrace happy-go-lucky romanticized versions of the paranormal, rather the darkness behind them.
, Jr.