The Backstory of the Revenant Ghost of Alden Jacobs

 
In the spring of 482, two men made the long trip downriver from Independence to the rough frontier town of Blood Ax. Alden Jacobs and Adam Porter, strangers until then, had each journeyed from Detroit in search of a new start in the lands opened by the Monroe Expedition some twenty years earlier. On the trail they became friends, and by the time they reached Blood Ax, agreed to form a partnership. Spending nearly the last of their dwindling coins, they bought supplies and struck out into the interior of the Firelands.
 
East by southeast of Blood Ax they found a promising stretch of land, staked their claims, and in the spring of 483 made the long journey to Monroe to have the deeds recorded at the land office. The years ahead were difficult, but the two neighbors helped one another endure the hardships of starting farmsteads on the wild frontier. In time, both men married—Adam to Ellie Brooks in 487, and Alden to Laurel Weber in 489.
 

The Rise of the Mine

The trouble began in 502 when Alden, digging in the hills near the property line, struck copper. What started small grew quickly into a thriving mine, the ore veins rich not only in copper but also lead and zinc. Alden sought to expand, but lacked the funds. He turned to Adam. Together, they mortgaged their farms to secure the money needed for workers and equipment. The gamble paid off as the mine flourished, allowing them both to pay off their loans.
 
But success led to greed. Alden soon claimed Adam had only provided a loan, long since repaid with interest, and insisted the mine was his alone. Adam argued it had always been a partnership. The dispute turned to court, beginning a tangle of lawsuits and accusations that poisoned their friendship.
 

Decline and Betrayal

For several years, Alden seemed to have the upper hand. By 505, however, the mine’s first rich veins had played out. Rather than cut losses, Alden borrowed heavily, hiring more men and delving deeper in hopes of another strike. The mine bled money, yet Alden pressed on while filing petty suits against Adam over wandering livestock and boundary lines.
 
Adam’s farm, barely sustainable at the best of times, could not withstand the weight of constant legal fees. Cornered and desperate, he nursed his troubles in the dark of the Last Drop Saloon in Blood Ax. There, a shadowy figure made him a dangerous offer: for a price, he would forge an authentic deed. With the original documents lost when Monroe fell to the Blight, the false claim would be near impossible to challenge.
 
Adam agreed. He mortgaged his farm once more, this time to a bank in Hessel, paying the forger’s fee before presenting the false deed to the courts of Blood Ax.
 

The Trial of 510

In the late summer of 510, Judge Edward Chapman presided over Jacobs v. Porter. The case stretched long, with witnesses giving conflicting accounts and recriminations flying both ways. At last, Chapman ruled in favor of Adam Porter, awarding him judgment based on the estimated worth of the mine. Alden, already destitute and deep in debt, was forced to sell nearly everything he owned—including the mine itself. The mine shut down, and Adam’s payout was only barely enough to cover his debts in Hessel.
 
Over the next twenty years, the Porter family slowly clawed their way back to respectability, while the Jacobs name withered. Alden died in 528, a bitter, ruined man of sixty-six, abandoned by kin and too poor even for a proper burial.
 

The Revenant Awakens

But Alden Jacobs did not rest.
 
His revenant ghost rose in fury, fueled by hatred and despair, blaming Adam Porter and Judge Edward Chapman for the wreck of his life. By the time twenty more years had passed, the specter of Alden Jacobs had destroyed the Porter bloodline—and now turned his wrath upon the aging Judge Chapman.
 

Laying the Ghost to Rest

The revenant may yet be laid to rest, if one of three acts is done:
 

• 
  
• Judge Edward Chapman dies at last.


• Adam Porter’s forgery is revealed, and Judge Chapman declares publicly that the trial’s judgment was false.


• The survey stake moved to match the forgery is restored to its true place, setting the boundary line right again.