Setting:Folktales

From DevilshireWiki

Devilshire is rich in folktales. Many of the local legends date back to the town's origins when the Black Swann first landed to shore. These are among the well known.

The Legend of the Black Hounds

The Legend of the Black Hounds has reached European shores.

The most famous legend of Devilshire is that of the Black Hounds that haunt the banks of the river, killing the unwary who dare traverse the area at night. One story is that of Pierre Charbonneau, a trapper and hunter. After a particulary good month of hunting, he bragged that there was no animal that he couldn't trap or kill. "Not even the Black Dogs themselves!" Much silence followed that boast, until a dark-eyed stranger with a limp dared Pierre to make good on his boast. Charbonneau was too drunk and too proud to back down, and spent the rest of the hunting season trying to trap the ghostly beasts. He became obsessed, and lost all his money and his woman in his doomed quest. Finally, a year later, the stranger came back to win his bet with Pierre and to take his prize. As he struck the ground with his cane, it split open, and grabbing the hapless Pierre, he pulled him into the cleft in the ground down to Hell itself - for the stranger was none other than the Devil.

The Tale of Purify Worthington

In some of the stories, the Hounds are not evil but bringers of vengeance. Purify Worthington was a beautiful young girl with a kind spirit and a love of God that lived up to her name. Her family was well to do, but she was the only child, and as her mother had died in childbirth, her father doted on her. In an attempt to give her a good future, he promised her in marriage to Benjamin Danforth, who only wanted the Worthington fortune. Purify and Benjamin were married, and life was full of peace. Then, Purify's father died, seemingly of old age, and Benjamin became harsh and cruel to his bride. With an almost divine will, Purify endured, until she too died, wasting away. Her body was barely in the ground before Danforth began to seduce another woman. But then, rumors began about the sighting of Purify's ghost on the river banks at night. His curiosity piqued, Benjamin went there one night. His body was found on the banks the next day, torn apart as if by wild animals, the ground around it littered with large paw prints - and two human footprints the exact size of Purify's.

The Legend of the Sagei

The Sagei (Say-Gee) is another Devilshire legend. It is a monster supposedly created by the curse of a Pokanoket shaman... or is maybe the shaman himself. The creature ventures out from Sagei Island in the night, slaying both the good and evil. There have been many stories over the years of night travellers barely escaping the Sagei's wrath, huge claw marks gouged into trees, doors, walls, carriages, cars, clothing slashed. One such story is that of Brad McGee. Brad was the star running back for the high school in 1951. That summer, he decided to take his date, one Maggie Fenster, out to the woods in his car for a little "quality time". Billy Jones, his rival for the running back position and the heart of Miss Fenster, decided to pull a little prank, and told his friends that he was going to give McGee a little scare. And so, as Brad was about to put the moves on Maggie, there were strange rustles in the bushes, odd howls in the trees, a distressingly loud thump on the trunk.

The frightened couple sped away, and huge claw marks were found on the upholstery of Brad's car the next day. A friend of Jones' leaked the news of his tomfoolery the next day, but it was revealed that Billy Jones had been sent to the hospital hours before the attack with a severe case of poison ivy. Neither boy returned to the football team, and Maggie began dating quiet John Green, later marrying him.

The Brooks House

College kids and school children dare each other during Halloween to stay overnight in the cursed home. To date, no one has been able to stay in the Brooks House without dying or being touched.

The Brooks House is said to be full of ghosts. The first was a carpenter who fell during the house's construction in 1890; to this day, he walks the halls, trying to find the right door. The next was a maid who hung herself in 1895 after finding herself pregnant with the child of John Brooks, the oldest son of that generation. Her weeping can be heard on the anniversary of her death. John's third grandson, Harold, died at the age of 5, drowning tragically in the nearby pond, which is haunted by the sounds of a child at play. Twin sisters Emma and Erma killed each other in 1942, arguing over a suitor who had just gone to fight in the war. Carefree hippy Miller died in an accident involving an LSD trip and a light socket in 1969. There are others that haven't been substantiated: A gardener murdered, a suicide pact by incestuous siblings, a girl bitten by a species of snake not native to the area. The one thing known about this cursed house is that many have come to stay there overnight on Halloween, and few have stayed until morning. Those that have either died or were... touched... in some way.

Miriam's Mirror

What would become Pocket Bay Pond was once part of the Allandale farm. In the 1800's it was home to Jon Allandale, his wife Emma, and his two children Miriam and Caleb. During a particularly cold winter, a blizzard kicked up as students were let out of school for the day. Jon made it home, but Miriam did not. Search parties were organized but there was little anyone could do in the blinding whiteouts. It wasn't until that spring when the pond began to thaw that the girl's body was found beneath the ice. As a result, kids in town took to calling the pond Miriam's Mirror, since it was said that she had been discovered face up under the ice, a ghastly reflection to the person that discovered her, and the name stuck for fifty odd years as a strange sort of tribute until the farm fell out of use at the turn of the century and the farmhouse burned down in 1912. At that point the town was reorganizing and the land claimed as part of Pocket Bay Park and the pond was similarly named to avoid confusion. Grandparents and even some great grandparents still kicking around keep the tale alive by telling children that they'd best stay indoors during cold wintery nights lest they encounter Miriam wandering in the snow, who might lead them astray and drag them down to the depths to keep her company.

The Legend of the Town's Name

Town legend has it that Devilshire was originally supposed to be named Devlinshire, after James Devlin, the town founder. However, the clerk who drew up the charter for the English crown made a clerical error and, as a result, the name Devilshire was given instead. Thus, the town's name is due to a very, very early typo.