Mine buildings and entrance
The computer files of John Anderson include a file on the Blue Ridge Mine. Anderson is a Sam Krieg fan and conspiracy theorist. In The Secret World, this would make him learned, except every time he reaches the limit of his knowledge, he fills in the blanks with "communist conspiracy". He is always anonymous, even on his website; but the secret societies have a file on HIM:
- "Blue Ridge Mine: Built during the mining boom of the 1870s; machines greased with blood; conflict with the Wabanaki (they had socialist sympathies); mine was shut down; reopened in the 1970s; foreman shot the shaman; protesters jailed; land sold to third party (unablbe to trace, could be Soviet); recently started quarrying at the site; soil is like skin; no limit to how deep our nails can dig."
Lore[]
- 1. "Our wisdom flows so sweet. Taste and see.
- TRANSMIT - initiate New England signal - RECEIVE - initiate dream frequency - WARNING: DO NOT EXPOSE TO OPEN AIR - initiate the trilobite lullaby - WITNESS - The Blue Ridge Mine.
Blue Mountain, 506 × 527. Jump down from above
- 2. An echo.
- An echo.
- An echo haunts the Blue Ridge Mine in Solomon County. An echo made of canary ghosts and native genocide. An echo gravid with oyster tumours and the choking-vacuum silence. A puckering echo that suckles the ear.
Blue Mountain, 469 × 575. SW of the mine entrance on the ridge. Approach from the Authentic Wabanaki Village
- 3. Initiate the secret histories.
- In 1879, during the great mining boom, a dig opened outside of Kingsmouth, excreting valuable ore and wealthy lust. Yet controversy followed the digging. The Wabanaki tribesmen protested. They gave warning not to disturb the holy earth or what slept beneath.
Blue Mountain, 519 × 590. Blue Ridge Mine entrance, outside
- 4. There was laughter and jeers and denouncement of superstitions and cried of "Mumbo jumbo!". The digging continued in the Blue Ridge Mine, It was not long before the accidents, the mysterious incidents, and the fearful things whispered in darkened saloon corners, when terror and drink eclipse embarrassment.
- Skilled personnel fled. They were not easy to replace. In the face of unknowable dread, local voices harmonized with the natives. They sang the same tune. In 1881 the mine closed down.
Blue Mountain, 513 × 590. Shack outside of Blue Ridge Mine. Some platforming required to reach the top of the awning
- 5. Time passes. Echoes fade. In 1971, a new company bought the mine and commenced extracting ore. The drills kissed more deeply than ever before. The shadows blushed.
- The Wabanaki again opposed the violation of their sacred ground. The conflict turned violent. Over-zealous foreman Edmund Franklin shot and killed the tribe's medicine man. A dream dancer died, and another echo was added to the craggy shafts.
Blue Mountain, 533 × 589. Behind the building next to the Blue Ridge Mine Entrance
Mine buildings and entrance
- 6. Tragedy grows on an exponential curve. Edmund Franklin went free. The Wabanaki were outraged. Guilt is a feeding cancer, and the foreman later hanged himself in his attic. Mutilated bodies of miners were found at the Blue Ridge Mine. Again it shut down. The echoes. The echoes.
Blue Mountain, 565 × 605. Just above the Blue Ridge Mine entrance
- 7. Investigation showed the horrific injuries on the bodies could not have been inflicted by human hands. Yet the Wabanaki were accused of seeking revenge, and many of their tribe were jailed without proper trial. The miners, migrant workers with no family, were forgotten and buried in an unmarked grave where the weeds still grow warped.
Blue Mountain, 839 × 277. In the attic of the Franklin Mansion
- 8. In 1973, a scathing report of the incident at the mine was published. Autopsy reports came to light - mangled corpses, limbs torn apart, extreme burns, and multiple fractures. Some cadavers could only be identified through the calcium deposits in their mouth. So much identity trapped in the meat of your faces.
- The report concluded a tragic accident killed the miners. The jailed Wabanaki were released. The government tried to remedy the embarrassing situation by granting the Wabanaki ownership of their holy land, including the Blue Ridge.
239 × 227, inside the Blue Ridge Mine solo instance at Blue Mountain. At the back of the first tunnel to the left, on a box of Dynamite
- 9. Time passes. In 2005, the Wabanaki council of elders disbanded after the majority voted to sell part of their land to a multi-national corporation to fund the construction of a casino. The purchased land included the mine, the old quarry and the surrounding hills. This decision sparked a bitter argument within the tribe - the old legends the dividing chasm between those who still believed and those who had forgotten. Family became enemies. The schism still remains.
178 × 195, inside the Blue Ridge Mine solo instance at Blue Mountain. Room after elevator room
- 10. Those who still believed knew that their ancestors did all in their power to stop strangers from disturbing the earth. They remember that what sleeps must never be awoken. Not ever. But your species' memories are made of meat. So few recall old stories. Who will perpetuate the endless lullaby?
242 × 164, inside the Blue Ridge Mine solo instance at Blue Mountain. Back-left tunnel, room behind rubble
- 11. Initiate the now. The dark days cometh.
- A fog recently arrived in Kingsmouth, and strangers come in the murk, some interested in the closed down mine and nearby quarry. Some came to study. Some came to harness a terrible power. And a few came knowing the sleeper must never awaken.
161 × 246, inside the Blue Ridge Mine solo instance at Blue Mountain. First room on the right
- 12. And what of the echoes? What past horrors do they enunciate? O, sweetling. You mind moves so linearly. In the half-light, in the alien gravity of filth, echoes move backwards. You hear the future coming. It won't be the future for long.
216, 165, inside the Blue Ridge Mine solo instance at Blue Mountain. Tunnel far back and right
Achievements[]
- These lores count towards Light Reading, In the Footsteps of Herodotus, and Bibliophile
- Collecting all is required for The Buzz achievement
- Collecting all is required for Inside the Fog
- Getting all is required for Rubbernecker
Links[]
- Entry 3 - Kingsmouth
- Entry 3 - Wabanaki