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Serenity Articles : Hobbville

Fifty miles north of the teeming city of Eavesdown sits the plantation known as Hobbville. Established by Cletus Hobb with special backing of the Governor of Persephone, the plantation lies on two thousand lush acres of farm land. They grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables to supply the tables of the rich and poor in Eavesdown.

A dedicated rail line runs from Hobbville to Eavesdown. Every night a train rolls south to deliver fresh produce and every morning, it makes its way back to Hobbville. Hobb owns a series of warehouses in Eavesdown at the south end of the rail line as well as a commercial market for selling the produce to restaurants and other buyers.

The population of Hobbville runs around 500 people including Hobb’s personal staff and a cadre of muscle called the Cousins. The rest are little better than indentured workers. The workers are kept in dormitories and not allowed to leave Hobbville until their debts are paid. A small street of company stores does a good job draining their meager pay away.

Adventure Ideas

Cletus Hobb doesn’t allow visitors to Hobbville so word about conditions of the plantation only leak out slowly from the train operators or the warehouse workers. The latest rumor? There is some sort of illness in the town. Cletus Hobb doesn’t admit there is a problem and will turn away any nosy doctors, including those from the Long Reach.

What Cletus isn’t saying, is that the Right Reverend Lawkins from Parson City is trying to muscle in on Hobbville, get the produce heading north to Parson City to be canned and sold to Eavesdown at a big profit. The Right Reverend snuck some of his followers into the workers and they are fomenting some sort of action against Cletus. Where there are two powerful forces against each other, either side might see the advantage of using some ‘independent contractors’ to tip the balance.