Welcome to your new home: Eldwych Copse.

Somewhere in rural Idaho, somewhere along the meandering coils of the Snake River, the town of Eldwych Copse hugs the riverbank, encroached upon by the fog-bound forest. It's a place forgotten by the world at large, the chosen destination of nobody. Yet, somehow, it still finds new arrivals, often with only the flimsiest of reasons for being there, but compelled not to leave once there.

The town clings to its past, almost if afraid of what might happen if the passge of time were acknowledged. Their yearly festivals and traditions serve more as a reset than a progression, and the town council, almost synonymous with the Church council, resist any change with almost fanatical fervour.

While the townsfolk seek to keep things as they are, the surrounding forest, the "Eldwych" from which the town takes its name, slowly constricts around the borders. Abandoned properties are quickly, almost too quickly, overcome by undergrowth and saplings. The town's woodsmen, a holdover of what was once the town's primary source of income, continue to bring fallen old growth and send their bounty downriver. They know the woods and are wise to its ways. They return as long as they stick to the Ways. The Unwise are not so lucky.

Life in the town is largely dominated by two powers: The All-Hope Church and the Rising Sun Ranch.

The Church council has its members in every other organisation in the area and, if you had to define its denomination, it would probably be "Golden Age Americanism". The worst sin is being, "Unamerican," the primary virtue, unquestioning obediance and conforming.

The Rising Sun Ranch is a recent addition, only having been present in the area for three generations, since the Eldwych Fire 75 years ago cleared out a swathe of the forest along the riverbank north of the town. It grazes sheep and has a substantial piggery, all run by the Shining of the Rising Sun, a religious community that largely keep themselves to themselves. They provide a lot of work for the area and many townsfolk make their living there. The All-Hope Church cautions not to listen to the, "blasphemers," although the Rising Sun don't seem to proselytise to their employees. That said, a lot of the long-time workers do seem to become irascible and abrasive. Slaughterhouse work will do that to anyone.

So, welcome to Eldwych Copse. If you're not passing through, you'll be staying a while, I'm sure.