Whitewell

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Whitewell is rumoured to extend across the entire space pictured here.

Whitewell is a village/region within Lancashire, noted for its excessive urban sprawl and institutionalised incest. Based upon a ford of the Great White River, but spreading out all the way to the outskirts of Lancaster and Settle due to the founder's dubious town planning, the village consists of several dozen houses spread across an area of roughly 2000 square miles, as well as a selection of services located in a centralised spot around the administrative and cultural centre of the village, "The Inn at Whitewell", including The Fire, a Coptic Christian cathedral and even a self replenising well of industrial bleach, the latter of which reportedly gave Whitewell its name.

History

Early History

Whitewell has a long and rich history, however due to their being so few historians with interest it remains to this day mostly undocumented aside from this page. It began life in 1332 as two families, the Alpes and the Parkinsons, made peace after several centuries of intermittent war by marrying several members of each family with each other, starting a tradition that has continued to the present day. Throughout the middle ages Whitewell maintained a very isolationist policy, communicating only with its close neighbour the Duchy of Clitheroe, once even contributing 5 troops to the battle against Sabden in order to protect the town. Indeed for several hundred years, nothing remarkable beyond the occasional incestuous marriage occurred in the village. This was, of course, until the onset of The Fire in 1666.

The Fire

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A monument erected in memory of those killed during The Fire. This monument was, however, stolen in 1987 by Ginger insurrectionists, and has not been sighted since.

Although it is not known who started the fire, sources suggest it had been burning since the world started turning. It is known The Fire was present underneath Whitewell since the Carboniferous period, when it extended to the Whitewell region via unknown methods. Gingers, not yet known in Whitewell to be in concert with The Fire, had been spotted drinking in the Inn for several months beforehand, and indeed, one had even developed a relationship with one of the Parkinson creed - it is said during a night which was spent by the ginger at this victim's homestead, its natural instincts took hold of it and The Fire was brought to the Region.

Reportedly, the Fire covered parts of Whitewell for 14 years and 6 days, covering the entire region save the Inn canton for a period of 7 years - the Inn was protected by a last minute diversion of the Hodder and the use of industrial bleach as a fire retardant, while aid was sought from the village's allies in Clitheroe. Eventually, it was decided that the usual strength of the fire was garnered by the burgeoning population of ginger refugees in the village. This problem was resolved in the infamous Ginger Pogroms of 1672 - this consequently was the year the Fire began to subside. The Fire was eventually put out in 1680, after much loss of life and property - The Fire, during its peak, had killed over 90% of the population of Whitewell (including cows), in particular those not strong enough to resist it, which has since benefited the genepool (see below). It had also destroyed all buildings except the Inn at Whitewell, and thus led to a reconstruction in later years.

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