This is a Summer Camp article written AT GREAT SPEED! It has not yet been edited, so apologies for the copious typos and small text issues.
Silver Pines is a retirement village near
Longleaf Village in the city state of
Laudon. It is owned and run by
Lottie Halfhammer and
Charlie Halfhammer.
History of the property
The retirement village started life as the old estate of the van Ottensgarde family, most recently held by the notorious villain
Baron van Ottensgarde. Finds of ancient civilization have been found there whilst digging some of the out-houses and new cottages, which attests to a habitation level of that era. One local historian, Sir Jeeves McFarnsworthy, believes that some of the ancient building materials were retrieved and reused in building the Van Ottensgarde mansion.
When
Baron van Ottensgarde was finally apprehended for his wicked activities two decades ago, the mansion was siezed by the state of Laudon and fell empty.
The mansion and grounds were subsequently bought from the state by Charlie and Lottie Halfhammer as part of a government programme known as to
AMViSI: the Anti Monster & Villain Squatting Initiative, which aids small businesses and prevents abandoned buildings from becoming breeding grounds for monsters and bandits. Given its notorious past, the building had to be partially gutted, much of the contents of the laboratrory and dungeons confiscated, and the traps disarmed and carefully extracted before it passed into civilian hands. This work was commissioned by the state of Laudon from the Adventurer's Guild, and several of the items were passed onto the Magic Academy for further study and decontamination.
The Current Property
Under the care of Charlie and Lottie Halfhammer, the van Ottensgarde mansion complex was transformed into Silver Pines retirement community, a satellite settlement of retired adventurers above the sleepy
Longleaf Village.
The most extensive initial work was done to the main building.
The Grand Entrace Hall
The enormous grand entrance hall perhaps recieved the largest make over of the mansion. The front door now leads to a reception area on the left, with comfy low chairs and a coffee table strewn with Silver Pines pamphlets around a fireplace on the right. Behind the reception desk, a door leads to Charlie and Lottie's office, which is kept locked. The grand stairs do remain, now carpetted with a plush, beige-colored carpet to reduce noise. The art featured on the walls up the stairs are bland watercolors of the surrounding countryside.
The vast original dining hall of the mansion was converted into a tavern-style room with clusters of 4-6 chairs around small wooden tables. Lottie Halfhammer concepted the restaurant as "Inn Chique", using natural materials and alluding to the customary straw-strewn floors of a rustic tavern with woven reed mats. The light fixtures are custom-crafted from old swords, well past use, which have been bent into chandeliers. A few booths have been set up, padded with red-stained leather. Near the door to the kitchen is a long tavern-style bar, cut from a single huge pine trunk; the knotted, exposed grain is polished to a shine. A chalk board above the bar lists the menu, which changes daily apart from a few stalwarts like eggs for breakfast and stew for dinner. If a bard is passing through the village they are often invited to play at SilverPines. They set up either near the fireplace or near the bar depending on the season.
The Kitchens
Apparently the van Ottensgarde family had enjoyed a good mean, beause the kitchens at the mansion were large and well appointed. They needed only minor alterations to bring them up to the modern standard.
The Common Rooms
The West Wing
That majority of guests who stay in the main building at Silver Pines reside in the West Wing. The rooms of this long corridor are reminiscent of fine tavern lodgings, with clean beds, windows overlooking the fine views of the area, and fresh towels and linens every week.
The Basement
Originally dungeons and forbidden laboratories, all but one of the basemenets, the one beneath the kitchen and used as a pantry, have been closed off.
The Library
The Library building was thought to originally contain forbidden tomes deemed too volatile to be stored ino the mansion itself by the Van Ottensgarde family. These were removed by the Adventurer's Guild and rehomed at the Magic Academy in Laudon. It now contains the wealth of non-magical books orignally from the mansion, as well as books from Silver Pines inhabitants with no next-of-kin who passed on.
The Cottages
The cottages were a new addition to the property for more wealthy guests who wished for their own, more independant living situation. They begin beyond the green, and stretch up the hill towards the forest. By default, each cottage comes with one bedroom, a bathroom, a living room with a woodstove that serves as a modest kitchenette - enough to boil water for tea and the like. Inhabitants have the ability to customize their cottages with additional rooms, such as a second bedroom, a blacksmith's shed, or an extended kitchen.
The Green
The Green is a large, neat square of grass at the back of the mansion. It is used for outdoor dinners and celebrations, as well as several clubs.
The Lake
There is a large fishing lake, fed by a stream from up the mountain that runs through the pine trees.
The Grounds & Forest
Silver Pines has extensive grounds and forest beyond the mansion complex. These are managed by the
Rangers of Spring Pines Forest, a pair of forest rangers who not only tend the trees, but keep an eye out for monsters, bandits and poachers trying to use the forest as a refuge.
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