Dark Woods Week: Harriet's Outlook

Harriet's Outlook campgrounds has it all - ski slopes, hunting, white water rafting, nature trails, rock climbing, fine fishing lakes, and home cooked meals. The only thing its lacking is a fresh coat of paint. And staff. And fixtures built after 1972. And phone lines. And boats. And maintenance...

OK, time to be honest - Aside from the lodge, hotel, and the old house, there is pretty much nothing but old growth forest.

Harriet's Outlook was established in the late fifties/early sixties back to nature and camping boom. In its time, it was a very impressive place. However, it didn't always meet the bills and rarely kept apace with the times, and now it is staffed mostly by the indeterminately old Harriet, her equally ancient husband, Lawrence, and Scotty, the grandson of the original handyman. Since the land is now a national park, their buildings are grandfathered in, but any big changes would be a forest of paperwork to accommodate guests unlikely to visit.

Still they try their best, and every year they greet a select few guests who truly enjoy their seclusion. This time around, they have three couples seeking this out of the way destination, a church youth group, and a few things that would not exist in a merciful world.

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The Dark Woods is a horror scenario meant for one Game master and between two and seven players.  Details of the NPCs and creatures will be released over the course of the week. Those interested in playing, may wish to avoid reading the blog entries for the next few days to avoid spoiling any of the surprises.

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It all begins simple enough. All the characters have their reasons to go camping, when a bad storm washes out the old trails, stranding them at the main lodging of the campground.

There are four building of note in the main area. They are laid out in a rough pentagon - house to the north, and then the motel, the main road, the maintenance barn, and finally the lodge.

The Motel is your fairly standard double level L shaped series of tiny rooms.  The floors are peeling linoleum, the hot water doesn't work, and there are no TVs since there is no reception this far out (Cellular service doesn't work either).

Next is the Hunting Lodge - more a very large converted barn, but what a conversion. Rustic on the outside, the interior boasts a hardwood dance floor, full length bar, TV lounge (Still no reception, but a large selection of VCR tapes), and through the back entrance - a studio for cleaning and mounting game. Lawrence can be found here most of the day, although he claims to not be able to mix anything more complicated than a bottle of beer, he does in fact prove to be a good bartender who can knock back white lightning like water.

Just about anything you could need can be found in the maintenance barn, or in the various lean-too structures built onto its sides. Finding it though, that is another issue. Over fifty years of broken equipment, obsolete parts, nonstandard tools, and even a few misplaced pieces of SCUBA gear is crammed into a space that leaves barely a single path through.

Compared to the rest, the house is in immaculate condition. Its an old greyish ranch style home, with a cellar containing home made preserves and a small moonshine still.

A ways farther back is what appears to be a log cabin with a steeple - an old church barely larger than the main house, well kept if a bit drafty.

Somewhere out there is a boathouse as well, provided it hasn't collapsed. The same goes for the warming shelter near the rusted ski lift, but that is far more than a long walk away.