From the story “The Early Bird Gets the Town” in the May 1st, 1678 edition of [i]The Eagletown Enquirer[/i], written by Ralph Ardia. Article saved by a nine-year old Caleb Crowsnest back home at the Red Twig Orphanage.

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Today I’d like to take a moment to reflect on our town’s history. It’s hard to believe that I was six years old when I first arrived at Eagletown; it feels like this has been my home my entire life. But 40 years ago to this day, a group of intrepid settlers joined the Elder Eagle in founding our fair village.

The creation of Eagletown was truly an instance of making the best out of a bad situation. Prince Hector had died a year ago saving our people from the gnolls. Since he had no wife or children, he left all of his wealth to his companion, Eldridge, who we of course know as the Elder Eagle today. Your author does not have precise numbers, but what I do know is that the late Prince had been quite frugal, so the Elder Eagle had gained a great deal of gold.

He could have chosen to live the rest of his life in eagle luxury, but Eldridge was not that kind of bird. He saw that the windy mountain path that our merchants and travelers in the Southern Shore had to take to get to Northgate was long and perilous; if avalanches didn’t get them, the mountain giants could. So with the help of the best tradesmen and engineers he could find, the Elder Eagle decided to build a new road to help his fellow men. Dedicated to his friend, the Prince Hector Passage cut down the time it took to get goods to market by more than half and provided more safety to the travelers than they ever had before. And in the middle of the Passage, the eagle founded a town.

This new town would serve the travelers, providing a place to rest before they resumed their journeys. It was not just a pit stop either; the Elder Eagle encouraged new businesses to set up in his village so it would grow. As for the name of this new place, Eldridge wanted to name it Hectorville after his friend, but he was outvoted by every other resident, and our home is called Eagletown to this day.

Of course, our small town has grown as time went on, from 20 or so people at first to about 3,000 today. From the Red Twig Orphanage that my mom has ran for so long to our local training camp for the King’s Knights, this town is filled with great people who are like family to me. And I’m confident that in another 40 years, I’ll be able to say that again.