Arafed man sitting on a bench in a suit and tie

1800s (Person) Earl Vincent Brooks rules over Oakland County from his scenic waterfront estate Castle Harbor overlooking the vital inland straits linking Lake Saint Clair with interior Lake Huron. The Brooks family lineage traces back to English nobility who secured lands around the Great Lakes after the Revolutionary War as part of war reparations and lucrative transatlantic trade reconstruction favored by the Crown. As the third son, Vincent Brooks happily accepted opportunity to govern productive territory sight-unseen in newly designated Michigan when the long-time steward retired without heirs. Chartering a lumber brigantine laden with furnishings and staff around the lakes from Albany, Earl Brooks established Castle Harbor on the forested bluff selected for commanding views of the critical maritime pass connecting vital Midwest settlements. Now in his early 40s, Earl Vincent divides time between leisurely strolls through his flourishing orchards, investing in merchant trading vessels working lakes freight commerce, and ambitiously funding construction of a towering masonry lighthouse to assist ships navigating through the foggy straits below his estate. An avid chess player who enjoys hosting season parties for traveling nobility and fur trade elite, Earl Brooks projects growing consequence as Oakland’s population swells