Of course, most inhabitants of the region are neither fae nor Prodigal, and most are unaware of the hidden world around them. Many families in the area carry some trace of the old blood, however, and on occasion, this runs true enough to bring a person into contact with the Dreaming and the fae. The Johnsons, Finneys, Walkers and Brambles each tend to produce a kinain -- or even a changeling -- in each generation. It is said that such births have become more frequent since the Resurgence, and many fae take this as a hopeful sign.
The Countess considers kinain to be valuable allies, and while she recommends caution in dealing with them, it is not uncommon for kinain to be Enchanted in the service of the Courts. Indeed, the Countess has gone so far as to confer knighthood upon her own kinain secretary, Lady Jane Marlow, who sees to her affairs in the mortal world as well as acting as emmisary to other demenses.
All the while, as mountain culture gives way to more mainstream ways, the number of Autumn People has grown as well. Few folks tell the old mountain ballads anymore, and fewer still believe them. Widder Bramble is especially disappointed with this turn of events, and is rumored to offer a bounty on stolen satellite dishes. Even the cynics admit that things could be far worse. While Autumn People may be encroaching, the region holds no known dauntain, nor any signs of their activity.
Mortals in the region can be divided into a number of broad catagories: locals, hippies, and city folks. Locals are those inhabitants of the region whose families have dwelled here for generations, mostly as farmers. They tend to feel the region is theirs, and is being encroached upon. Until quite recently, local families carefully perpetuated many old customs, but since the Great Depression, when many families picked up and left the region to seek work elsewhere, modernity has exerted its own influence. Locals have become acutely aware of the backwoods stereotypes current in the rest of the country, and most families strive to keep up to date. While granny women used to be trusted to oversee home births, local families are now quick to insist upon hospital deliveries. Housewives once made their own soap as a matter of course. Now anything not store-bought is disdained as inferior. Old-time religion is still a favorite, however, and the vast majority of the population are Protestant Christians, supporting numerous churches. Even insignificantly small towns will have more than a couple churches, and appropriately-named Christiansburg boasts over two dozen, from Mennonite to Unitarian Universalist congregations.
If the locals have turned away from the old-time ways, the ways themselves remain, largely thanks to people who have moved to the area in search of more meaningful lifestyles and a cleaner environment. Although known by others as "hippies", the sobriquet is not entirely accurate, conjuring as it does images of long-haired, spaced-out acid casualties. This portion of the poulation prefers to refer to itself as "the alternative community", and is large enough to support a handful of whole-food stores and other holistic resources across the region. While the commune-dwelling burnout stereotype is inaccurate, it is founded in a grain of truth. Numerous intentional communities, affinity groups and land-trusts dot the region, supporting small farming and cottage crafts and industries such as goat-dairies. By and large hippies and locals get along (having had thirty years to become used to each other) in spite of the alternative community's passion for Eastern mysticism, New Age philosophy and eco-activist Neopaganism.
In any case, locals and alternative types are unified by their aversion for city people. Tourists are tolerable, they support the economy by coming through to see the fall foliage or what have you, spend their money, and most importantly go home. Both the locals and the hippies love the region for its isolation and empty spaces. Unfortunately, these commodities attractpeople with no history in the region, and no interest in its unique cultural legacy. They just want land, a house in the country, and a suburban lifestyle away from the crowding and crime that plague even regional cities n the World of Darkness. As a rule they are not church-goers, nor do they have any interest in other spiritualities. Of the three broad groups outlined here, they are the most likely to be Autumn People.
Even city folks can dream, however, and kithain find Dreamers in all walks of life. The Buckthorn Tragos finds epiphanies inspiring the fiddlers and bluegrass musicians who frequent the Friday Night Jamboree at Cochran's General Store in Floyd. The Countess cultivates her students in the Theater department, and the nockers of Tinker's Dam sustain themselves upon the dreams of railroad enthusiasts visiting the Transportation Museum or children enthralled by the hands-on exhibits at the Science Museum of Western Virginia. Rowan-Oak kithain are competitive in their patronages and jealously guard their Dreamers from Ravaging... mostly.
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