Category:Halloway Family

This section contains canon info from officially published sources

The former masters of Steadwall and much of the Arden River, the Halloway Family is one of the lost noble families of Mordent. The family lost its members, as well as those of many servants, throughout the years to mysterious drownings, murders, and disappearances, including a flurry of at least twenty-four such deaths occurring between the years of 507 BC to 547 BC but extending beyond for decades. Efforts to find any killers involved- or if indeed a definitive causing liking the deaths at all- were for naught. It came to be said that the Arden River had become hostile to its former masters, and even the Mists themselves, as many of the murders took place under the cover of fog. The Halloways became gripped by paranoia and fear, and rumors of the Mists' baleful influence spread among the populace, causing Steadwall to become abandoned. Gripped with paranoia and unwilling to travel the Arden any longer, the last of the Halloways spent the remainder of their lives in their ancestral home, the Halloway House, and may linger there still.^[1]

Smythe the Ferryman was the last ferryman for the now defunct village of Steadwall, his position officially ending well over twenty-five years before the third Doomsday Gazetteer was penned. If the Smythe's Secret dread possibility is true, Smythe is responsible for the murder of at least two Halloways, a young Halloway man and his recently married wife out of lust for their riches. Regardless of the truth, Smythe sometimes takes (often ill-fated) adventurers to the ominous Halloway House to seek wealth lost inside.^[2]

This section contains Potential-canon info, revealed by the creators from never-published sources

In Van Richten's Guide to the Mists (Item), the Weathermay-Foxgrove Twins briefly describe a couple of incidents that could constitute a contribution to the Halloway family's decline, pointing to the possible involvement of Mistlings. First, Laurie Weathermay-Foxgrove describes an incident where she accompanied Tamsin and Dr. van Richten to investigate the disappearance of the young Freidlin boys at the Halloway House. Said boys had ventured too near while exploring Steadwall and apparently vanished into the root cellars. Dr. van Ricthen investigated the root cellars, and the broken wood flooring warped to spell "we keep what we take".^[3]

In Van Richten's Guide to the Mists, Gennifer then briefly describes an incident that occurred at the Halloway house nearly a decade after Laurie's trip to the Halloway House. Gennifer's account begins with an interaction with Smythe where he tells her about a strange sight he saw at the House. Ultimately, Smythe takes her to explore the Halloway House]]. Gennifer describe him as fairly innocuous save for the fact he is a repeated liar and teller of tall tales. While there, Gennifer encountered a group of Mistlings, only to have Smythe abandon her, cryptically mentioning they "haunted" him. The Mistlings grabbed and assaulted her. During the struggle, Gennifer heard a chant of the same expression Laurie and van Richten had seen in the floors years before: "we keep what we take". She also believed she heard a voice command her to see "them" and recognize "they" are the Lost, although what the "they" the voice referred to is ambiguous. Ultimately, Gennifer fell into the river, only to later wake up once again in Smythe's ferry. Curiously, Smythe asked Gennifer if all that she was currently carrying was all that she brought with her.^[4]

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