Front Royal
Front Royal was the biggest, strongest, richest ville in all of Virginia. Set in the Shens, and ruled over by Baron Cawdor, Ryan’s father. Virginia had been hit hard by the nukes, but the land was still good, surprisingly fertile, considering.
The huge home, more of a fortress than a house was set deep in the hills. A horse breeder before the skydark originally owned it. It was taken over by Ryan’s Great Grandfather, the original Ryan Cawdor.
The ville is actually one massive building, resembling a medieval castle. The weathered brick shone a golden hue that could be noticed even on the cloudiest of mornings. The windows of the ville were mainly narrow slits. Located on one wall of the ville was a huge window of stained glass. A huge spiked gateway barred entrance to the courtyard, which was at least two hundred yards long on each side.
Over the years new structures such as Turrets, a huge fence, and a moat were added to it. There was a single bridge, which crossed the moat. This bridge was raised and lowered from inside the fortress itself. It had electrical power from gasoline generators. The ville was protected by a fleet of land wags and over one hundred sec men.
The dining hall had a huge oak table that could seat twenty diners to a side. A huge fireplace provided heat, light and comfort to those eating in the room.
Many of the rooms in the huge fortress have secret connecting passages.
Ryan’s father began the practice of breeding huge mutie boars to be used for hunting.
It is said that if you plant a bullet, a blaster grows from the ground, that is how rich Front Royal was.
Over the years the Barony had trouble with mutie raiders who originated in the west. To counter this problem Baron Cawdor had all the small ville’s in the barony send out patrols. This did the trick, and the habit has been kept up ever since.
The sec men all wear identical uniforms of maroon jerkins with breeches tucked into high boots. They wear helmets that hugged the skull, and some of the sec men wear goggle along with the helmets. As for weaponry, the sec men are all armed with M-16 assault rifles.
The Cawdor’s are all buried in the family mausoleum located in the ville.
The Cawdor family. Titus Cawdor, Ryan’s father the Baron from 2050 on. Cynthia Cawdor, the mother of the three boys a frail woman who died shortly after Ryan’s birth.. Morgan Cawdor, the eldest who was kind where his father was cruel. Harvey Cawdor the middle child, a man twisted in both mind and body. And finally Ryan Cawdor. Two years separated all three sons.
Morgan always took care of young Ryan, as Ryan was a constant target for Harvey’s torments and attacks. Harvey really despised Both Morgan and Ryan because of this. He was married to a pretty mutant girl named Guenema, a doomie with jet black eyes. Ryan cared for her and she disappeared when he was only fourteen. People said she was pregnant and living out in the Deathlands.
Harvey is physically deformed, one leg crooked and trailing, and one shoulder displaced. He was power hungry and absolutely hated both Morgan and Ryan, and constantly abused young Ryan. He had a habit of smiling whenever he went after Ryan.
Harvey Cawdor killed his elder brother, Morgan by attacking a land wag train he was in, on a mission to meet with a trader. He then poisoned his father’s mind by saying that Ryan was responsible for Morgan’s death.
The day after Ryan’s fifteenth birthday, at 10 at night, Harvey struck, planning to kill Ryan to secure his hold on the barony. Harvey attempted to drug his younger brother, but a loyal servant, named Kenny Morse warned him not to eat or drink. Ryan, armed with a Colt .45 pistol, was ready for Harvey.
Ryan killed the first two sec men, one round each. A third took two rounds. Harvey entered firing. The fourth sec man jumped to the floor, firing a burst from his machine pistol. Ryan shoots him through the mouth. Knowing there is no escape available in his room, he charges through the open door, firing his last round at Harvey, missing.
Harvey attempted to shoot Ryan, but his pistol jams. Even though Harvey was bigger and stronger than Ryan, he closes in on him. A knife fight ensues, Ryan getting a cut in on the upper arm. Harvey returned the favour by running his blade along Ryan’s rib cage.
If it hadn’t been for a guard hearing the gunfire and coming to investigate, Ryan would have been killed. Ryan drives his knife into the guard’s heart, killing him. This gave Harvey the opening he needed. Harvey drives the blade into Ryan’s left eye, destroying it. Harvey struck again, but missing the right eye. Instead he opened a ragged cut starting just below the eye and ending at the corner of his mouth.
Ryan, blind in one eye and in agony, strikes out, hitting and breaking Harvey’s nose. He somehow managed to flee into the cold Virginia winter night. He knows someone helped him escape, and is quite sure it was a servant named Kenny Morse.
After the hostile take over, many of the faithful servants, including Kenny Morse, were put to death. After this, Harvey told Ryan’s father that he really wasn’t responsible for Morgan’s death. Ryan had bribed a sec man to kill Morgan.
Hearing this, Ryan’s father put a bounty on Ryan’s head. After that, Ryan’s father wed once again. A plump eighteen-year-old girl with hair the colour of straw named Rachel. Lord Cawdor may have married her, but it was Harvey who was pleasuring her.
She ended up killing Ryan’s father, smothering him during sex at Harvey’s orders. The old man, frail, was unable to defend himself. She was a beautiful woman, but inside she was as evil and as twisted as Harvey himself. That is probably why they conspired against Titus Cawdor.
Shortly after his father’s death, the new Lady Cawdor gave birth to a son, a boy named Jabez Pendragon Cawdor. Harvey, not Ryan’s father, sired the child.
Harvey, with his wife, and son controlled the great barony of Front Royal up until Ryan returned to extract his revenge in Homeward bound. After Harvey and his evil family were disposed of, Ryan set his nephew Nathan Freeman Cawdor up as the new baron of the ville.