The Duchy of Dogwood is a Kithain Fief in the Kingdom of Willows corresponding to the states of Virginia and West Virginia.
Overview[]
The Duchy of Dogwood, comprising the states of Virginia and West Virgina (ignoring the arbitrary boundaries between the two regions), contains some of the most conservative and the most radical elements of Southern changeling society. The fae of the eastern region of the duchy look down on their poorer cousins of the west. Here, the dreams of the languid lost South find themselves juxtaposed against dreams of political power emanating from the bedroom communities of Washington, D.C.
Physical Geography[]
The Duchy of Chesapeake forms the north-easter border of the Duchy of Dogwood, while the Atlantic Ocean lies to the east. Bordered on the south by the Duchies of the Triangle and Appalachia, Dogwood's western edge consists of the Appalachian chain, which separates it from its western half, the disputed Duchy of Winterthorn. The terrain ranges from the Tidewater region near the coast, with its numerous coves and rivers, to the mountains of the Blue Ridge and Alleghenies.
Major Cities & Landmarks[]
Richmond[]
The duchy's capital lies at the mouth of the James River. Once the capital of the Confederacy, Richmond now serves as a center of industry, tobacco production, shipping, banking, and high-tech enterprises, as well as a cultural magnet for the South. Many of Richmond's commoners trace their mortal heritage back to the region's earliest settlers. The Museum and White House of the Confederacy draws many trolls and boggans to its atmosphere of nostalgia; several of the city's sidhe, attracted by the myth of the Lost Cause, have begun holding regular meetings on the museum grounds. After hours, the darkened rooms of the Edgar Allan Poe Museum offer sanctuary to Richmond's sluagh. Agecroft Hall, a 15th century manor house transported in 1925 from Lancashire, England, to its present location, is the freehold of a reclusive noble of House Liam.
Charlottesville[]
At the center of Dogwood's fertile Piedmont region, Charlottesville claims Thomas Jefferson as its native son. Monticello, conceived and designed by Jefferson himself, pay tribute to his visionary ideals in architecture and invention. Each year, the Monticello Society, made up of an assortment of trolls, boggans, nockers, and several sidhe from Houses Gwydion and Dougal, meet on the mansion's grounds. The Oakencroft Vineyard and Winery acts a magnet for the local satyr community.
Shenandoah Valley[]
Between the Blue Ridge and the Allegheny Mountains, the Shenandoah Valley holds many cities steeped in history. Harrisonburg, home to a large Mennonite community and several nockers and boggans, features Eastern Mennonite College, James Madison University, and the Virginia Quilt Museum. Nearby Dayton holds the Shenandoah Valley Folk Art & Heritage Center; Kithain crafters in the region have many of the finest works on display to inspire mortal visitors. Lexington is the home of Washington and Lee University and the Virginia Military Institute (VMI). Troll war games and chimerical Civil War reenactments take place in the grounds of both institutions.
Roanoke[]
The largest city of western Virginia (as opposed to West Virginia) contains the Science Museum of Western Virginia, the Hopkins Planetarium, and the Virginia Museum of Transportation, places that attract large numbers of the region's nockers and House Dougal sidhe. Just outside of the city lies Booker T. Washington's Birthplace, now a national historic site and a center for eshu activity. The Mill Mountain Zoo, known for its Siberian tiger and red pandas, is a favorite place for many childling pooka.
Fredericksburg[]
Famous for its Revolutionary War associations, Fredericksburg contains the Mary Washington House and the James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library. In the basement of the Hugh Mercer Apothecary Shop, which introduces visitors to colonial medicinal treatments, Jervis Halls, a sluagh healer, still treats his Kithain patients using 200-year-old remedies and herbal cures. Some of the region's more radical wilders, as well as a group of Unseelie commoners who espouse confrontational politics, have set up their headquarters in the Rising Sun Tavern, once frequented by Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and other leaders of the revolution.
Williamsburg[]
This colonial restoration is the largest historical site in the duchy. Recreating the settlement of Williamsburg, capital of the Virginia Colony from 1699 until after the Revolutionary War, the streets are barred to vehicular traffic, and visitors tour the historically accurate sites accompanied by costumed interpreters and guides, many of whom are Kithain. A few miles from Williamsburg, Jamestown Island commemorates the first permanent English colony in America, while the nearby Jamestown Settlement serves as a living-history museum where visitors can interact with "character" presenting sailors, craftsmen, pioneers, and Indians. Yorktown, site of the final battle of the American Revolution and Cornwallis' surrender to Washington's army, contains the Yorktown Battlefield and the Yorktown Victory Center, including a Continental Army encampment where tourists may watch and speak with costumed interpreter, several of them respected troll warriors.
Washington D.C.[]
The nation's capital lies between the duchies of Dogwood and Chesapeake, occupying a district all to itself. A planned city whose vision changed with each successive planner, Washington, D.C. contains not only the nation's most impressive architecture but also some of its most squalid slums. Capitol Hill and its environs include the Capitol Building, the Supreme Court, the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Library of Congress, RFK Stadium (home of the Redskins), and the Catholic University of America. Surrounding the area known as the Mall are the Washington and Lincoln monuments, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the White House, and the Treasury Building. The State Department, Federal Reserve, and the National Academy of Sciences occupy the area known as Foggy Bottom. Downtown Washington periodically undergoes attempts at revitalization but remains an overcrowded area filled with substandard housing and decaying buildings. So many dreams are bound up with the various art centers, museums, and historical monuments of the city that Kithain who travel to the region regularly find themselves infused with overwhelming amounts of Glamour. Further, many become actual victims of the twin Unseelie who who claim Washington' Shadow Duchy.
Natural Places[]
Dogwood is bursting with natural areas. The Shenandoah National Park includes much of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains and fears forests of pines and hardwoods. The Shenandoah and Endless Caverns provide prime examples of limestone and calcite formations, while the Grand Caverns in Augusta County contain spectacular underground "rooms." Some portion of these "endless" caves provide shelter for sluagh, while there serve as "spooky play places" for childlings of all kith. Near Chesapeake, Virginia, lies the Great Dismal Swamp, a national wildlife preserve for many species of bird, black bears, and bobcats. Commoner Kithain flock to the area on nights of the full moon for the monthly all-commoner Full Moon Jamboree and Troll Stomp. Off the coast of Virginia's Eastern Shore peninsula, Chincoteague Island hosts the annual swim and auction of ponies from nearby Assateague Island... overseen by a pony pooka who claims the area as a freehold.
Enchanted Places[]
- The Hunt Club
- The Cleansing Place
Dramatis Personae[]
References[]
- CTD. Kingdom of Willows, pp. 69-73.