Basic Information
Ahaus is a town in Germany (30000 inhabitants), Norhrhine-Westfalia.
It is situated in the north-western part of the Münsterland near the Dutch border.
Ahaus was first mentioned in 1030 and got town rights in the 13th century. In 1406 it fell to the ownership of the prince-bishop of Münster.
The old castle was torn down in 1688 and a new baroque watercastle was built until 1690.
The castle still belonged to the diocese Münster. The archbishop often spent his summertime in Ahaus hunting.
In Ahaus, there is still a semiprivate grammarschool led by nuns, a Nonnenstift. During elevator constructionworks in the 60s construction workers found a tunnel between the castle and the nun's school. It is said, that dozens of foetus and babyskeletons were found.
There is a nuclear waste dump called BZA - Brennelemente Zwischenlager Ahaus in Ahaus.
Sources
nuclear waste dump:
- http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportbeh%C3%A4lterlager_Ahaus
- http://www.gns.de/generator.aspx/templateId=renderPage/lang=de/id=35704.html
Game and Story Use
- For medieval fantasy play:
- Ahaus was surrounded by swamps and deep forests in the past. Many swamp related adventures can be placed here.
- A heathen's cemetary was used till the 20th century in the farming community of Ammeln.
- Ahaus being the archbishop's summer site, could be a place of intrigues.
- The large number of dead babies under the convent might well mean that all was not as it should have been there … either in terms of licentious behaviour, followed by unwanted pregancies and infanticide or, more outlandishly, in terms of human sacrifice.
- Alternatively the nuns may have run an maternity hospital, a refuge for women with socially inconvenient pregnancies or a receiving centre for unwanted babies.
- For vampire play:
- same as above, castle of Ahaus could have been the domain of a clan
- For 30s/40s play:
- Ahaus was nearly destroyed in the bombings of WWII. Some strange creature could have been awaked at the "Karnickelberg" the rabbitsmountain or in the tunnel between castle and nun's school.
- In the event of a legacy of dark magic, one of the many babies that lived may be some human/demon hybrid (possibly even something of a nephilim calibre). If something like that were to get out …
- The sort of mess the allies were making in Germany in that era, no-one might notice.
- For todays/future play:
- Ahaus may be the domain of vampires
- the oil drilling facilities near Ahaus may awake some creatures
- the nuclear waste facility may leak and mutate the environment
- A nuclear waste store may make good cover for a paranormal waste repository.