ER:Rising Moon Vineyards
From The Heretic Knowledge Vault
A locale in the Errant Road free-form multi-player on-line role-playing game. Needless to say, it doesn't necessarily exist in the Poe-verse.
Rising Moon is, or perhaps was, located on the outskirts of Kiyoka. At first blush it appears to be an entirely legitimate, and indeed highly successful, small-scale winery, run by the young couple Andrea and Arty Samuels. Its products are served in the finer dining establishments of Kiyoka (and probably some dives as well), and additionally, function as sacramental libations (purely ceremonial, of course) at the Veracian mission in town. It's generally considered one of Kiyoka's assets, and Luminosita knows, the city needs all the positive features it can get.
All is not as it appears to be, however. In reality, the winery is a "front" for the Gewehr's nascent operation in Kiyoka, and Arty and his wife, the formidable Layla under a pseudonym, are the brains behind the Gewehr operation. Many if not all of the large, dull, yet strangely menacing men who work the grapes are Gewehr thugs of various ranks (Arty and Layla are the only full Wraiths), and in addition to the outfit's entirely aboveboard books, there's a separate, definitely not public, set of business records that Layla, a highly skilled businesswoman, uses for fencing stuff, money laundering, and all of the things that a mob like the Gewehr are noted for. Down the road a short distance from the winery, there's a dilapidated old house on a property bristling with traps that's designed to draw the attention of cops and other undesirables, so that the perky little winery goes unnoticed, and therefore, un-raided. Player characters Grope, Kureji Mesuinu and Rokku Sona (and Locke) have assorted adventures there, the latter two (three) as the result of a case of misdirection and mistaken identity, but it's really just a decoy.
At least that's the way things stand at the start of Errant Road. However, very early on in the game, Arty meets an unfortunate demise in the seedy harbor district of Kiyoka, leaving Layla/Andrea a bereaved widow and mother of six-month-old Zachary, who's Gewehr only by genetics and not by inclination. Layla's mother Faye Sorensen, a Gewehr big shot, decides that this operation is just too dangerous (quite a few other winery employees/Gewehr soldiers have also died recently, some in the same episode that took out Arty), and pulls the plug, causing Layla and Zachary to get out of town ASAP and head home to Kugelheim. At least some of the Rising Moon property has been fire-bombed to get rid of incriminating evidence, although the grape vines themselves, as well as the small house where Layla and family lived, remain.
In a recent development, PC Sister Rose has expressed an interest in settling down with her amour, fellow PC Argus, and running this place, once the various adventures that are carrying them all over the Errant World finally resolve.
See Also
Bad Ass Wines is the equivalent of this outfit in Rinkaiel.
