Lay of the Land

[Astro]

Lay of The Land

Maple Lake is built into a handful of smaller sectors split between forested area with roadways connecting them and it all surrounding a large lake in the middle of the area and highways coming in and out of the city to the north and south going to a wide variety of places.

Downtown

A large urban area located in northern part of the city of Maple lake and eventually falling into smaller less urban areas with factories and the like and eventually out of the city and on to the north highway. Mostly filled with office buildings, apartments, government buildings and tourist attractions.

Gateway Park
A small grassy area surrounded by a web of intertwined streets with what appears to be a large archway in the middle of the grassy area. Gateway Park is located in the direct center of Downtown being the location of many important government and corporate buildings including Maple Lake's City Hall. Despite being outside original town this was the location the original four founding families met and made the decision to found the city on the spot.

Horizon Hotel
The number one premier hotel in all of Maple Lake. Appears to have existed for quite some time based on the architecture both in and outside. Usually the choice stay for the rich and famous when they come to town, some with truly huge amounts of money decide to take a more permanent residence and there many of these particularly on the lower floors.

Oasis Lounge
A nice club that's existed in the city since the mid 1920s being upgraded every so often to match wit the times having a main floor that's stayed the same over the years still maintaining the look of an old school lounge complete with a stage which hosts some rather nice performers on weekends and a full kitchen. The lower levels housing the more renovated parts with a large staircase accessable from a back security room through either the main lounge or the street going down far underground into a more modern nightclub. Despite the general cool atmosphere both clubs have been the sight of some rather disturbing things over the years and a primary hangout for the city's more classy underworld in the past.

Keene Shopping Center
A large mall located in the western part of the downtown near to the bluffs, as well as containing a truly massive variety of stores from across time and space includes some things such as a movie theater, a large entertainment center, a gym, the city's primary swimming pool and some rather pretty water pillars here and there. Usually quite busy.

Oakvale

The Lodge
Founded by one Malcolm Carver near the town's founding as his family home the Lodge has been a gathering place for the people in power in Maple Lake for almost 200 years. The Lodge itself consists of a large log cabin sitting on the bluffs overlooking the downtown sector and surrounded by an open grassy yard around the building and along with a parking lot is walled off and surrounded by thick forest between it and the nearby houses.

Oakvale Shore
While much of Oakvale is up in the hills some parts of it come downhill in the south-western part of the district to an area on the edge of the lake where there is a picnic site. Oddly there seems to be a constant fog over this part of the lake, that oddly never seems to drift onto the land despite other weather condition.

Northpoint

Northpoint is a large forest 'park' area that exists between the urban downtown sector and the lake shore it mostly exists as a place for exploration and adventure and favored location of tourists and the like. It contains such things as a series of campgrounds, trails and the old original town of Maple Lake along the lake's shore...make sure to stick to the main paths though and definitely never wander off the trails. The forest looks large but not particularly huge from the air but once one passes the large archway used as an entrance through the high walls of the park the inside of the park seems to go on forever unless one knows where they're headed.

Northpoint Shopping Center
Located right near the entrance to the Park is an indoor market that contains less normal shop type things that the actual mall contains and more things like fresh foods, homemade crafts, artifacts of unbelievable power...y'know normal things one would be able to buy at a place like this.

Old Maple Lake
Located along the shores of the northern most reaches of Maple Lake is the original town of that name, a small town that seems in remarkable condition despite being a few hundred years old at the very least, most of the old houses and shops have recently been set up for tours and the like. The streets are that of an old but also in pretty good shape board walk and the old docks house some newer boats used for boat tours of the lake and surrounding areas.

Maple Lake Campgrounds
Located in the space taking up much of the southern part of the area surrounding the old town is a campground, pretty standard really there's some cabins and places for people to set up tents as well as series of docks for boating along the lake and a larger log building with a restaurant and hotel in it for those that want closeness to nature but not too close. Despite rumours disappearances from the camp grounds are rather low.

Maple Lake Mystery Spot
Once home of one of one Lucas Dodge one of the four town founders. Now a sort of house of the bizarre located in the middle of the forest in the park accessible by just following the trails and signs. The house contains odd physics and variety of strange relics, creatures and the like acting as a sort of museum of the strange. Underneath the house is the more bizarre things collected and a meeting place for The Enigma Hunters.

Southpoint

A smaller community that's technically part of the larger city and located about half an hour drive from Oakvale or Downtown Maple Lake through mostly forest and surrounded by farmland. Originally founded by the surprisingly long lived of the four original town founders one Mary Sinclair shortly after a falling out with the other three. Usually the living place of the city's more bizarre residents possibly due to housing a school to train those sort of individual, otherwise it seems like your typical small town.

Sinclair Academy
A large campus for training people in all sorts of talents primarily in use of powers, magic and study of the strange also contains more mundane courses normal schools would offer, goes from high school and up. In addition the school uses some of the students that they find with potential to help protect Maple Lake from threats both internal and external in an organization housed underneath the campus known as Guardians. The main buildings a large complex sitting atop a hill at the south most point of the town and overlooking it and seems to exist in multiple times as parts of the complex seem like a modern school, others seem even older than the founding of the school and yet others seem like they're from the distant future.

Southpoint Shore
An area of the town of Southpoint along the southern shore of the lake that contains many of the towns shops. Fitting to the town's populace this is the best place to get strange items, magic regents and the like.

Southpoint Diner
A medium sized Diner located not to far of a walk from the campus and frequent hangout of students of all ages and Guardians to frequent for food and carry on a nice conversation. Although there's the occasional heated debate actual combat has never happened within the Diner for as long as it's existed, it seems to be impossible to actually get into a fight in the place.

Outskirts

All the surrounding area that are still technically within city limits, the areas around Downtown and Oakvale fall into small suburban areas and eventually into surrounding forest, eventually falling into farmland to the south between the main Maple Lake and town and orchards and some farms surrounding Southpoint.

East Lake Trails
An area known as the point of no return to many locals. Located along the eastern point of the lake the early parts of the trail are the occasional visit of thrill seeking hikers and contain a road stop at the start, however once people get into the trails they rarely get out. Between the utter depths of the forest the labyrinthian nature of the trails and the strange physics in the woods it's very easy to get lost, in addition there's supposedly all sort of terrifying creatures on the path. Despite the rumors one or two have managed to leave again but their wild stories of what they saw there was not believe by even the citizens of the strange city and they didn't live long after due to dying of strange circumstance

East Lake Ruins
Something one or two have mentioned, apparently hidden underground in a cave deep in the heart of the trails is an ancient ruin, no one really knows what it looks like or what it contains or if it's even really though.