On June 12, 2024, the infamous fire at St. Diago’s Church marked a dark turning point in Howling Hills. The once-sacred church became the site of a devastating betrayal in which few would ever uncover the true reason behind its fiery destruction and its eventual sinking beneath the waters. In truth, a citizen was behind the church's tragic fall.

Howling Hills saw the construction of one of its beloved churches, built sometime during the early 1800s. It stood the test of time for about 224 years. The Church was named St. Diago’s Church and held thousands of sermons and even more confessions. Truly a beacon of hope, light, and restoration for the town, it was also home to a fine dining restaurant in the basement. More importantly, the old Church housed the gateway portal to Elysian Fields, allowing those whose intent aligned with good over evil to freely traverse the realm.

Minnie, having returned under the influence of an ancient, malevolent force, used the church as the stage to sever the final ties to her former life, including her husband, James. Driven by the evil inside her, she framed James for the arson, manipulating fire magic and shadow, leaving behind twisted evidence such as; black bile, magical components, and shattered remnants of their bond. The fire, unnaturally prolonged by magic, consumed the church with a malevolent force, its flames fueled by the dark power Minnie now wielded.

Tragedy struck on that day, as the beloved Church was destroyed through this dark magic. Engulfed in sickly green flames, the Church lost its battle to remain standing. The fire consumed not only the Church itself but also the restaurant and the gateway to Elysian Fields, all of which sank to a watery doom. The ruins were left neglected and nearly forgotten in the months that followed. James narrowly escaped with his life, but Minnie’s transformation was complete. Her humanity had been sacrificed to an ancient evil, and James was wrongfully blamed for the destruction of the town’s cherished landmark.

After several pleas with Howling Hills’ government, the town realized how much of a beacon of hope the Church had become. Outcry poured from the town’s citizens for months, hoping to restore what had been lost. Initially met with denial after denial, hope was finally reignited when funds mysteriously appeared, and a call for volunteers spread across social media.

Several weeks passed, and a new church began to rise from the ashes of the old. The new, now known as "Eternal Sanctuary of Penumbra" structure was reinforced with steel and concrete to prevent another destruction like before. Opulent towers, scrawled with ancient writings of unknown origin, began to take shape, symbolizing the balance of light and dark forces to maintain the natural alignment of the land. The central building was designed to hold sermons and confessions, while additional wings were built for offices, meetings, and even spaces dedicated to witchcraft, alchemy, and medicine.

The newly rebuilt Church became a neutral zone, open to everyone regardless of origin, alignment, or values, with a conscious decision not to consecrate the grounds. It now stands as a place where all citizens of Howling Hills can gather, united under the shadow of its complex past.

Sometime in late 1795, Henry Miller, Agatha Delvaux, Jonah Croft, and Bellatrix Le'Pouf, the founders of Howling Hills establish the first Hospital. Intending to provide the best medical care, the hospital began employing some of the greatest medical pioneers in Europe within a young and growing Colonial United States. Over time, the hospital became a beacon of medical care research for the Colonial States in what would later be New England. One of the hopes is the hospital could bring together supernaturals and the mundane by providing the best care available.

Around 1797, the air shifted. Inexplicably, people begin vanishing. The town takes notice when family members begin disappearing without a trace. The disappearances raise questions from citizens and enforcers of the law. 1798 comes to a head when the hospital starts taking in patients with new, unfamiliar symptoms. Symptoms are noted as veins' darkening, followed by the extremities' darkening at a progressive rate until the entire form is a husk. These symptoms are assumed to be a new and advanced version of the Bubonic Plague. The new plague, now known as Corruption becomes a global threat.

By 1815, the original hospital is converted into an asylum to make way for a new, larger hospital to mitigate the demanding patient load. Immediately, the hospital began to fill as soon as the new hospital opened. As symptoms worsened, resources began to become scarce. Many are sent to the Asylum as a means of quarantine for cases the hospital can no longer handle. Sometime around 1830 or after, the Hospital began noticing the Favored were becoming among the infected. Primarily, through bite marks. Previously, what was known prior, was that the supernatural were the only ones infected. There are no means or methods to treat bites by an Aberration. 

After 1850, the Veil in Howling Hills is installed. The Hospital began seeing a lower patient load a few months after the Veil installation. Life relatively returns and a new normal develops in the months and years following the installation of the Veil. Corruption cases dwindle but still a few here and there a few times a year. Many hospitals around the world have begun working out ways to figure out how to medically treat corruption but to no avail. Resources are limited. Medical treatment is ongoing. Many failures occur within the medical research community. Regardless, supply lines are established after 1930. Hospitals begin to see an increase in resources again. However, the means for treatment are not available.

Sometime after 1980, it was discovered among many organizations, the medical community, and the general public Aberrations dropped a special core. The cores, later known as Aberration Cores hold special properties. The core can enhance magic or be used to craft magical items. Many in the medical community surmise their potential could lead to treatment. There are multiple research attempts over the next several decades without much luck. 

In 2023, a doctor from Hamburg, Germany, and a team of researchers residing in Howling Hills accidentally discovered using the cores could siphon some of the corruption out of bitten victims. Word spreads around the world and other Veiled cities all over the globe begin following suit. Treatment for bitten Aberration victims had been discovered…

Ancient magic, predating humanity itself, pulses through the vast mountain range encircling modern-day Howling Hills. Within the encompassing veil, two regions of the town have been mystically bound as counterparts, question and answer to one another. On the town’s outskirts, shadowed by lush tree lines and towering hills, lies Matchstick Holler; a dark, enigmatic parallel to Willowlake Park. This grove serves as a natural boundary to the main lake and Blackwater Swamp. Beneath the dense shade  cast from the mountainside and tightly woven canopy, sunlight is all but obliterated, casting the holler into a state of perpetual twilight.

Though brooding and often ominous, the grove offers its own form of allure, promising abundant resources and regenerative timber for building to the first humans to inhabit the land. The holler’s magnetic energy once grounded those who wander within it, immersing them in a world of dim beauty and biodiversity found nowhere else in the hills. Even in its somber mystery, the holler once held a sacred serenity akin to the park. Those indigenous to the area initially likened it to the evening star, revering it as a place of profound spiritual resonance.

Over time, as the forest grew wilder, the land shifted and humanity evolved, the charged shadows of this unique ecosystem became a refuge for those drawn to its dark enchantments. Predatory beings, both supernatural and mortal, began haunting its woods, shielded by the dense canopy and using it as a covert ground for dark pursuits. The grove’s energies grew hungrier as the first innocent human life was spilled upon its soil- a desperate act of cannibalism during an especially harsh winter. In response, the forest severed its energy from Willow Lake Park, as though to quarantine a spreading corruption. Now ancient creatures took root, flourishing within its eerie climate. Hunters and wanderers who entered often disappeared; those who returned spoke in hushed tones of monstrous beings, forbidden rites and ominous doorways to far away lands. It became an epicenter of broken taboos. A place that’s energy begged to harbor monsters in its shadowy embrace for a mutual benefit. 

As the holler’s energies drew further away from the peaceful wood it once was, physical danger from unsavory entities now a threat, people stopped associating it with the evening star, withdrawing to the safer areas near the park. The forest's isolation only deepened, attracting creatures globally. Allowing new monsters to slip through the folds of the ancient hillside barrier and forked trees alike to find sanctuary within the shadowy biome. 

When colonial settlers arrived, many ignored the warnings of the land’s first inhabitants and made homes nearby. Those who ventured into the holler returned able to corroborate claims of the local tribe and then some. Leaving plenty of explorers to be targeted by the forest’s denizens. In their fear, the settlers attempted to destroy the forest, yet it defied them. The trees would not fall or burn to their finality; instead, they smoldered upright like matchsticks, casting down a rain of fire upon nearby lands and new homes; a burning omen of the forest’s wrath. And yet, within days, the holler regrew, unscathed but cloaked in an eerie, eternal fog; a spectral reminder of humankind’s failed defiance.

Over time, the place took on its enduring name, Matchstick Holler- a tribute to its rich and tumultuous history. With the rise of the Howling Hills’ supernatural veil and the encroachment of modernity in neighboring regions, our town took shape around its ancient bones. Today, Matchstick Holler remains untamed and unclaimed; occasionally contested by human ambition but ultimately undefeated, serving as a reminder to both protect and revere the forest for generations to come.

'The Scriptorium' was Howling Hills’ first and oldest bookshop turned library, established right around turn of the century in 1799. More than just an ordinary archive—The Scriptorium is a radical concept: a public space where arcane and mundane knowledge sit side by side on the shelves. Here, magic is demystified for ordinary citizens, offering them insight without fear. At the same time, those with an affinity for the arcane can find authentic spells and treatises. The Scriptorium is a piece of what makes the greater soul of Howling Hills—a place where magical and non-magical worlds meet and learn from one another. 

For over two centuries, The Scriptorium has remained a quiet jewel of Howling Hills, with ivy creeping along its weathered stone walls and a wooden sign gently swinging above its door, creaking in the breeze. Inside, the scent of old paper and candle wax fills the air, and shelves tower with tomes on everything from mundane popular novels, cookbooks, history books, scrolls on spellcraft, ancient and esoteric alchemical theories, and more! To the casual observer, it’s just an old-world collection of scrolls and tomes, a charming curiosity for anyone to explore. Beneath the surface, however, hidden texts and spells reveal themselves only to those who know where to look.

The Scriptorium is more than a mere repository of knowledge—it’s a gateway to the extraordinary. While many curious minds pass through its doors to browse or buy, a few will leave forever changed. For those with the wit and will to see beyond the surface, The Scriptorium offers not just books but a glimpse into a world hidden in plain sight. 

Willow lake Park is a serene expanse nestled in the heart of Howling Hills, Vermont, with origins tracing back to a time when it served as a safe, neutral ground among the local native tribes. Here, tribal members would gather to collect water, bathe, and fish without fear as bloodshed was strictly forbidden within its bounds. This sanctuary was revered as a place of peace, community, and harmony with nature, surrounded by lush greenery and nourished by a river that still flows through the park today. The land itself was believed to hold a quiet magic, a subtle force of healing and vitality, as if something ancient and powerful lay buried beneath, infusing the earth with life.

As time passed and settlers moved into the region, the land continued to serve as a communal sanctuary, a space for reflection and tranquility. While the surrounding landscape transformed, it became evident to all that this glen held a special, mystical energy that needed to be preserved. The waterfall and river remained central to the scenery, evolving into a cherished retreat from the increasingly bustling town and a place to connect with nature’s calming presence. This enchanting energy drew people in, inviting them to experience peace and renewal amidst the natural beauty.

Willow lake Park used to border the woods, but as modern civilization grew, the distance between Matchstick Holler and Willowlake Park increased until Willowlake Park became a separate area entirely. Today, Willow lake park serves as an isolated contrast to the untamed forces of nature that lie in the woods and their deeper counterparks in Matchstick Holler, with the regions representing different aspects of nature’s force: one serene and nurturing, the other wild and untamed. Together, they celebrate the duality of nature, standing as complementary forces in the landscape of Howling Hills.