CHATEAUGAY LAKE STEAMBOAT GAZETTE CO.

The Chronophage crystal, a shard of time fractured from the aurora borealis, hummed with a malevolent energy. Displaced by an unseen force, it materialized on the frozen shore of Chateaugay Lake in the dead of winter, 1872. Its arrival was heralded by a spectral green glow that danced across the snow-covered landscape, a spectral aurora borealis birthed from a dying star. Captain W.R. Tupper, a gruff man with a haunted past and a penchant for illicit dealings, stumbled upon the crystal while making his nightly patrol of his newly acquired lakefront property.

The crystal pulsed with a rhythm that echoed the beat of a restless spirit. Drawn by an unseen force, Tupper reached out, his fingers brushing the cold, glassy surface. A jolt of energy surged through him, twisting his perception of time. Visions flooded his mind: a bustling resort hotel, laughter echoing across expansive verandas, the rhythmic churning of paddlewheel steamers. But these scenes were fractured, warped by an unseen hand. They spoke of a future that wasn’t meant to be, one timeline bleeding into another.

Haunted by these visions, Tupper abandoned his plans for an exclusive Adirondack steamboat pirate’s haven and instead constructed a modest hotel, christened “The Adirondack House.” He envisioned it as a resort for weary travelers, a place where unwanted rude ghosts of the future wouldn’t intrude. But fate, like the Chronophage crystal, played cruel tricks.

Andrew Williams, the iron-fisted president of the Chateaugay Ore and Iron Company, saw Tupper’s enterprise not as a retreat, but a distraction for his hard-working miners. He purchased the land, intending to demolish the fledgling hotel, unaware of the temporal anomaly it now housed. But the spirit of Chateaugay, a powerful entity tied to the lake’s ancient history, intervened.

One moonless night, from a dream, it whispered to Dr. Ralph, M.D., a visionary hotelier on vacation from Malone — stirring within him a desire to build a grand resort on the very spot where Tupper’s earlier vision flickered.

Thus, “Ralph’s” rose from the ashes of the Adirondack House, a testament to ambition and the unseen forces that shape our world. Yet, even within its elegant walls, an unsettling dissonance lingered.

The staff whispered of phantom paddlewheel sounds echoing across the still lake at night, ghostly figures dressed in finery glimpsed fleetingly on the verandas. The displaced timeline, anchored by the Chronophage, bled into the present, creating an unsettling echo chamber of what could have been.

Years later, Dr. Cinatha Aubay, oblivious to the lake’s secrets, arrived at Chateaugay Lake, drawn by the whisperings of the Wendigo, a malevolent spirit from the Shatagee Woods. Undeterred by the unsettling tales, she established her research facility within the Seth Thomas boathouse, a structure itself a curious anomaly, built atop the site of Tupper’s original pirate haven.

Aubay, brilliant but unhinged, sought to create a mechanical Wendigo, a monstrous automaton fueled by the lake’s dark energy. Unknowingly, she became a pawn in the Chronophage’s game. As her creation neared completion, a tempestuous storm, fueled by the crystal’s displaced energy, ripped across the lake. Lightning, a celestial harbinger of destruction, struck the boathouse. Metal screamed, fire roared, and Cinatha Aubay’s ambition went up in flames.

The Chronophage, its purpose served, pulsed once more, then dimmed. The fractured timeline receded, leaving behind only whispers – of a hotel that never was, of a scientist consumed by her folly, and of a lake eternally bound to the chilling secrets of the past.

The grand resort of “Ralph’s” stands to this day, a silent testament to a displaced timeline. On calm nights, when the mist hangs heavy over the lake, some claim to hear the faint echo of paddlewheels, a ghostly echo of a reality that almost was. And for those attuned to the whispers of the North Country, the chilling truth remains – Chateaugay Lake holds a secret, a temporal anomaly forever bound to the pulsating heart of a dying star.