- Staff
- #1
The Storm of '36 - The Great Paralake Conspiracy
Introduction
Warmest salutations dear friends. I have a tale for you all today. A tale of greed, corruption and a dark mystery that wraps itself around the very heart of our fine city. A plot that lead to unmeasurable suffering and the death of one not-so-innocent man. This will be a long thread, with a lot of speculation. But, with the evidence uncovered in my investigation, I believe I unearthed a truly horrifying spectre of Paralake's past.
Chapter One - The Surface
We must first examine the history of Paralake as presented to us by the Government. If one takes a stroll on the boardwalk, they will find signs explaining our city's past.
There is much fluff in this image, but there are two important things to note. One, the mentions of a terrible flood at an unspecified point in 1936. This devastated the city, causing major damage to many areas and leading to the boardwalk being closed for decades.
The second thing to note is the mention of a mayor who was sued for mismanagement of city funds. This mayor is a major figure in the events that unfolded, a truly corrupt man.
On the surface, while tragic, this storm was a completely natural disaster, but not all is as it seems dear reader. This brings us to our next chapter.
Chapter 2 - StrucTech
Recently, a structural engineer was sent to Paralake to assess the city's infastructure, and to order any repairs as needed. This engineer is as of yet unnamed, but leaves notes at the places they visit.
Nothing of note is said in this note, except perhaps the comment the engineer makes about the volume of rain in the city. The only thing to do is to follow the trail to Stalburg Pumping Station, where we find:
The engineer finds it to be slightly dilapidated, but otherwise mostly functional. An interesting note is made here about the runoff valve being stuck. A flood with the station in this state could lead to great structural damage to the city, according to this engineer. Keep this in mind for later. After this, off we go to the storm drain to search for their next note:
A cave-in has blocked the storm drain. This is clearly bad for Paralake, as there would be no way for water to easily escape during a flood, greatly increasing any damage suffered. The note also mentions a giant locked door, which is now reachable via a step-ladder presumably placed by the engineer. They say that they're going to check city hall for records of inspection, which we'll touch on later, but for now, let's follow this inspector to the city bridge:
Huh, the bridge is pretty fine, that's good to know! Nothing much of note here, I have searched both motels and have been unable to find another note.
We have seen that Paralake's flood prevention measures are in dire need of repair. But how did they get into such a state? Well, to answer that, we need to turn the clock back....
Chapter 3 - City Hall
With the engineer's notes leading to a dead end, I followed the only other lead I could find in their notes... That they went to city hall to check the archives. There, in the library, I found a single chair out of place and documents strewn across the table. The two of note are:
Take note of the names here, Mayor Wakefield and Arthur Haines. They will be pivotal characters in the story to come. We see here that the city has struck a deal with the local business "Paralake Foundry", wherein it gives them sole access to Paralake's natural mineral resources in exchange for payments to the city as well as them taking over maintainence of all infastructure.
I was confused, I had not heard of the Morko Estates before, but it did strike me as odd for two reasons. One, why did the city demolish the homes of around 4000 people? Two, more importantly, why was a civil engineer looking at these documents? They seem entirely unrelated to the job they were send here to do. Upon exploring city hall, however, I realised that this might go deeper than either of us could have imagined:
We have here an objection from the Arthur, the man who orchestrated the Paralake Foundry deal. We learn he lives in the Morko estate, and is completely against it's demolition. He threatens the mayor to take his opinion to the public.
In the second letter, we see Mayor Wakefield issuing instruction to remove Arthur from his position, and to discredit him entirely. He mentions that "With the stuff he knows, he could bring down this Government," suggesting both that the deals struck betwen Mayor Wakefield and these companies may have been less than legal, and that Arthur was, up until now, complicit in them. Keep a note of the dates here. 1935, awfully close to the great storm.
I could not find more in city hall, though my appetite for truth soon drove me to the old abadoned Paralake Foundry building to see what I could uncover.
Chapter 4 - Paralake Foundry
I had arrived at Paralake Foundry hopeful to uncover more of what had happened. Something wasn't right, and I suspect the civil engineer had thought this too. When I got there, I rummaged through old binders and dusty documents until a picture started to form. A most horrible picture indeed.
The first thing I found of note was a letter, evidently written after the meeting between the city and the company, describing the deal they had struck:
On the surface, this letter provides us with no new information. However, the second paragraph struck me as awfully insidious. Should they find a mineral deposit under occupied land, what lengths would they go to to secure it? With their money and power, and their unlimited access to the city's infastructure, surely only morals prevented them from doing something despicable? Well, dear reader, it turns out that when money is involved, morals are a very flimsy barrier indeed....
To be continued...
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