Marchwood Hall

Marchwood Hall was the sprawling country estate of the Quent family, located near the coastal village of Westmarch. The land and environs of the estate had a wild and untamed look about them, with high sea cliffs, low rolling hills, and a foreboding forest, called the Marchwood.

Over the last couple of generations, the original owners of the estate had fallen on hard times and had to sell of large chunks of their surrounding land in order to keep afloat. Eventually, they sold their country house to the Quents, who then took on custodianship of the estate.

The Big Folk

Before her sons and daughter moved out and her husband died, Mrs Quent used to host several balls a year at Marchwood Hall, as well as a dinner party each week. Now she only keeps the company of her housekeeper Mrs Plackstone and seems much diminished in her twilight years.

The Borrowers

Due to the solitude of the aging Mrs Quent, the Borrowers of Marchwood Hall have flourished in recent years. They belong primarily to three different Houses, though there are some Borrowers living alone or in tiny families scattered across the estate.

The House of Took

The Took extended family lived in a great manor fashioned within the foundations of the Big Folk's manor house. Due to their proximity to the house, they had greater access to the Big Folk's resources and were much more affluent than their brethren. They could borrow things like sugar and tea, as well as metal clips and hot coals.

They were fair of hair and complexion, though their skin could darken to nutty brown during a long summer, and their eyes were blue as the storm-tossed sea, though Martinnon Took, an old hero of the family, was said to have had grey eyes.

The Old Took, the powerful matriarch of the family, was known to be the oldest Borrower in living memory, with many of the younger generation living in constant terror of her.

The Rosedelving

Beneath a great and tangled rosebush in the garden lived the Rose clan, who had delved an extensive warren of tunnels and smooth earthen caverns. They kept a constant vigilance for the old barn cat Snowbell as well as any Took runners who might thieve from their bounteous garden.

The menfolk had rosy cheeks and blackish-blue beards, while the womenfolk were said to be quite beautiful, descended as they were from Bryony Rose, who it was rumoured was born from an enchanted barleycorn.

The current Master of the Rosedelving, Cullimoor Rose, was young yet but obstinate as stone and prickly as thorns.

Greenhaven Hall

Deep within the Forest, carved within an ancient oak tree, was Greenhaven Hall, where dwelled the mysterious Linden clan, a strange family with a fey reputation. Rumours spoke of them consorting with fairies, and both the Tooks and Roses thought they were strange, disquieting folk.

Fairies

If the Big Folk had relegated fairies to nothing more than myth and legend, the Borrowers only saw them little more than that. Though they were capricious and filled with mischief, they were elusive and enigmatic as well. Their magic was powerful, however, said to even be able to animate tin soldiers and give them a semblance of life. The Fairy Queen was the chief of all fairies and her realm could only be reached through a fairy shrine hidden somewhere on the estate.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:39, Mon 10 May 2021.