I often write boxed text for new in-game locations. I find it easier to think through the sights, smells, and other sensations during GM prep and write them out, rather than improv’ing when I’m trying to write a game. Here’s one such location.
I took a pre-written adventure for a folk horror game and moved it to east Tennessee, where I’m located. The original adventure took place in a coal mining town, and it just so happens I’m about half an hour away from one where an important labor uprising occurred. It’s now the site of a state park where I’ve done a bit of hiking.
Tucked off in the hills of northeast Tennessee, at the edge of the Cumberland Mountains, there’s a little town goes by the name of Coal Creek.
You may not know it by that name. You see, in the 1930’s, after the Tennessee Valley Authority built Norris Dam on the Clinch, they started calling themselves Lake City.
But you may not know it by that name either. These days, you might hear it called Rocky Top, like the song.
But for our story, it’s Coal Creek–a safe and sleepy town. Or at least, it is now. Long about twenty five years ago, it was the site of a labor uprising called the Coal Creek War. The coal company decided to replace their employees in the local mines–good union men on the payroll–with some leased convict laborers to save a little money.
The aftermath was quite the mixed bag. Just a few years later, Tennessee would end private convict leasing, in part because of the Coal Creek War. But that same year, over in Petros, Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary would be built, where convicts worked in the mines for the state.
And Coal Creek, Tennessee would return to being a sleepy little mining town for a while.
Now you all each have your own reasons for being in Coal Creek. Maybe you grew up here, maybe you work in the mine, maybe you’re visiting kin, maybe you’re just passing through. Maybe you’re seeking refuge, hoping that out here in nature, you’ll find shelter from whatever’s on your heels.