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This is some background for a story I'll be writing...eventually. I just want to make sure the basic background is devoid of truly big gaps so I can then proceed with other parts of the process.
Two families, a town and a manor house. Plus a legend.
Thornby-on-Beck is a market town in North Yorkshire. Nearby was an Abbey abandoned during the reign of Henry VIII. A few generations later the lands were given to successful knight in the service of James I. His name was Sir William Anderwick. One thing he did was build a manor house around the remnants of the old Abbey's chapel. Many stones used in the construction were reddish in hue and hence gave the manor its name: Redstone.
Fast forward a few decades. War between Cavaliers and Roundheads has broken out. Looks like Parliament is winning and the royalist Anderwicks hightale it for France. One of them, however, stays. He is Peter, a stubborn and difficult but clever scion of the line. He functions more-or-less as squire, much to the locals' displeasure because he's trouble. He gets sick, very sick, and no one is too unhappy about that. Then, he gets better very suddenly. But now he's worse--drinking way too much, picking fights, etc. He goes hunting a lot with a huge hunting hound. People start whispering he might have sold his soul to the devil, especially after master and hound vanish one day. The hound is spotted on the moors now and then, but Peter Anderwick's body is never found. Redstone is more-or-less deserted.
Until the Restoration, when eventually the family comes to reclaim the place and spend a few buckets of cash fixing up the place.
One hundred years later, a large Beast starts killing sheep and people. Witnesses say it looks like a huge wolf. People try and hunt it down, but in the end the thing just stops showing up anywhere. Legend says the Beast is Peter Anderwick, now a demon of some kind and denied final rest.
A few generations later, the Anderwick family and its fortunes have dwindled. Enter a naval Captain who has made his fortune with prize money during the Napoleonic Wars. He weds the squire's only daughter and settles his father-in-law's debts. In turn, he and his children inherit everything. They are the new Squires of Thornby-on-Beck and the lands surrounding.
But the hundredth anniversary of the Beast's appearance is approaching, the two hundredth since Peter Anderwick's presumed-death. While many dismiss this as nothing but superstition, others take it seriously and are afraid.
Any holes or obvious flaws? Something I need to consider? Or re-consider? Thanks in advance!
Two families, a town and a manor house. Plus a legend.
Thornby-on-Beck is a market town in North Yorkshire. Nearby was an Abbey abandoned during the reign of Henry VIII. A few generations later the lands were given to successful knight in the service of James I. His name was Sir William Anderwick. One thing he did was build a manor house around the remnants of the old Abbey's chapel. Many stones used in the construction were reddish in hue and hence gave the manor its name: Redstone.
Fast forward a few decades. War between Cavaliers and Roundheads has broken out. Looks like Parliament is winning and the royalist Anderwicks hightale it for France. One of them, however, stays. He is Peter, a stubborn and difficult but clever scion of the line. He functions more-or-less as squire, much to the locals' displeasure because he's trouble. He gets sick, very sick, and no one is too unhappy about that. Then, he gets better very suddenly. But now he's worse--drinking way too much, picking fights, etc. He goes hunting a lot with a huge hunting hound. People start whispering he might have sold his soul to the devil, especially after master and hound vanish one day. The hound is spotted on the moors now and then, but Peter Anderwick's body is never found. Redstone is more-or-less deserted.
Until the Restoration, when eventually the family comes to reclaim the place and spend a few buckets of cash fixing up the place.
One hundred years later, a large Beast starts killing sheep and people. Witnesses say it looks like a huge wolf. People try and hunt it down, but in the end the thing just stops showing up anywhere. Legend says the Beast is Peter Anderwick, now a demon of some kind and denied final rest.
A few generations later, the Anderwick family and its fortunes have dwindled. Enter a naval Captain who has made his fortune with prize money during the Napoleonic Wars. He weds the squire's only daughter and settles his father-in-law's debts. In turn, he and his children inherit everything. They are the new Squires of Thornby-on-Beck and the lands surrounding.
But the hundredth anniversary of the Beast's appearance is approaching, the two hundredth since Peter Anderwick's presumed-death. While many dismiss this as nothing but superstition, others take it seriously and are afraid.
Any holes or obvious flaws? Something I need to consider? Or re-consider? Thanks in advance!