Aldcliffe is a small village in northern England, with a population of around 200. Its main claim to fame is being the nearest settlement to the infamous Stonecrop Fine Arts Institute.
Overview[]
Aldcliffe is found in a rural, windswept, very remote part of northern England. It supports a terrible public transport network, meaning it requires serious planning for anyone without their own car to go anywhere other than between Aldcliffe and Stonecrop.
Aldcliffe is the nearest village to Stonecrop. It’s still about a half-hour walk (three kilometers, or a little under two miles) away, and it’s not entirely worth the effort. There’s a pub, a small supermarket, and a couple of places to get cheap, greasy food. An unreliable bus service connects to the nearest city. Stonecrop students still go there for human contact outside of the school. The villagers are uncomfortable around the students, especially as the academic year grinds on. They’re weird, wild youths, and when they come into town, they start fights and cause trouble. If they were all in Aldcliffe at the same time they’d almost outnumber the locals. On the other hand, they pour a lot of money into shops and the pub, so the villagers tolerate them.
The people of Aldcliffe have a tense, conflicted relationship with the Stonecrop Institute in general. They feel the effects of the Masters’ actions the most, such as when Sir Qeith Eugende's longevity rites introduce a spate of illnesses every January. Their livestock, and sometimes their friends and family, go missing when it’s time for one of the Masters’ grand rituals… or a specific Master’s personal works of magic. On some level, most of them know there’s something weird about the art school, but it’s impossible to say so out loud without sounding like a raving conspiracy theorist. They still talk about the strange things they’ve seen, though — especially the ones who move away from Aldcliffe, who tell the stories of cattle mutilations, occult trinkets in the forest, and other strange happenings to their big city friends at parties.
The proximity to the likes of Stonecrop, Athelbarn and the Boggart Hole has made the people of Aldcliffe a fearful lot. Even the least superstitious people in Aldcliffe hang horseshoes on their doors, and in the depths of midwinter leave piles of salt on bedroom windowsills to keep fae beings at bay.
Inhabitants[]
- Gloria and Dee Attah: Gloria and her wife Dee run the Three Feathers, Aldcliffe’s only pub and guest house. Gloria worries about Stonecrop’s students. They arrive at the start of the academic year wild and obnoxious and gradually become stranger and, she suspects, disturbed. She makes sure students know if they need to take a break from the intensity of their studies, they can always hole up in the pub for a few days.
- Nat Harland: Nat’s a local artist and ceramics maker. Curious about and jealous of the school, Nat’s worked since the 1990s to build a career, and Stonecrop alumni are all but guaranteed one. If they can make trouble for Stonecrop, they do.
- Rohaan Bukhari: Rohaan was an investment banker until he burned out and retired to the country to make artisanal cheese. Rohaan has a secret: he met the Boggart and it let him go. It said he owed it a favor in return, and Rohaan has nightmares about what that might mean.
References[]
- HTR: Alma Maters, p. 113-137