Basic Information
There's a dark and twisted wood on the Delaware-Pennsylvania border, cut through with a small road officially known as "Cossart Road". There are a number of legends surrounding the place. The location possibly inspired and was the filming location for M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village". It's difficult to find the road, as the road signs have been removed to prevent adventurers from searching out the area. But once you make it through the tunnel of trees and vines, there are a number of locations of interest.
Along the road, there is Skull Tree, with above-ground roots with gaping holes that frame the outline of a human skull, brow, orbital and nasal sockets. The mouth is buried below ground. If the tree is screaming, we can't hear it. Years ago, police found the remains of a sacrificial victim nestled within the roots, though stories vary as to whether the sacrifice was human or animal. Sacrifices are said to be repeated every Halloween.
Cult House is a large stone mansion atop a heavily wooded hillside. The windows of this house are in the shape of inverted crosses, which leads some to suggest that it's a base for Satanic rituals. Trees on the hillside for approximately a quarter-mile around the place all grow away from the house. Rather than seeking the light from the clearing, instead they seem to be straining to distance themselves. Legends say that one night, the Devil himself released a scream of rage from the house, and the trees have grown away ever since. On a more modern note, low-power amateur radio signals have been reported near the house, which might serve as background for rituals, or perhaps a summoning mechanism for cultists.
The house is also said to have belonged to the DuPont family, of chemical industry fame. The DuPonts were rumored to secretly marry each other in the house in order to keep the money in the family, with the place also being used to dispose of any unfortunate products of the incestuous unions.
The road is patrolled by red trucks based at a "guard house". These trucks will appear and shadow visitors, sometimes waiting for them to pass and follow. Strangely, no one has ever caught sight of the face of one of their drivers. Some say there are no drivers. Other people have been reported being chased away by black SUVs, rather than red trucks. Drivers of these have been reported as being pale, with black hair, "goth-like", and there have been reported of flashes of eerie blue light from the trucks.
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Game and Story Use
- Obviously a good candidate for a haunted house or a bad place.