The Fall of the House of Harrow

Dear reader, this is not a history for the faint of heart. Nor is it a history for those who deal in certainties and questions with answers.

This is the history of the ruined castle from which Jolly the Scarecrow emerges. The history that will shape Jolly's efforts to establish a circus and uncover the secrets of his origin. A history of which Jolly is completely unaware.

This is the rise and fall of the house of Harrow.

After the kingdom expanded and the front moved on, Harrow Castle fell into ruin for the first time. Eventually, an eccentric nobleman, Alfus Harrow, bought the castle.

Alfus was a quiet man with no desire to intrude upon the small town of Thimblecross. He himself was a common merchant, raised to the nobility for some act of service to the king, though time has buried the details. Under Alfus, the town elder, now officially the town 'reeve,' continued to solve disputes, welcome traveling merchants, and go about the business of Thimblecross as usual.

Harrow Castle, as it came to be called, loomed on the hills above Thimblecross, partially rebuilt. Odd lights flickered late into the night, but bothered nobody in the town below.

It was Alfus' sons and daughters that truly brought Harrow Castle to life... and sowed the seeds of its fall.

Let us, dear reader, examine a few stories of the fall of the house of Harrow, so that we can better understand the ruins from which our jolly scarecrow emerges.