Among the Firs- Horror RP OoC and Signup

[Vulture]

It's an ideal weekend getaway, the best way to let off a little steam. No one remembers who first had the idea, but everyone approved of the notion. Camping and hiking in the woods outside Barclay- great fun. Beautiful forests, rolling hills, clear lakes, and there's always the town itself if you want to do a little shopping or have a drink or two. All in all, you're looking forward to a fun, relaxing time. Those rumors you hear about Barclay can't be anything more than old wives' tales, a bunch of superstitious crap, right? Of course. Just crap.

And yet you feel as though you're being watched.






THE TOWN OF BARCLAY
Barclay, Oregon, is an idyllic little town tucked away in the rolling tree-covered foothills of the Cascades. Home to 42,568 happy people, enjoying a high per capita GDP, an excellent school district, and an active arts scene.

It began life as a logging camp in the late 1860s, chartered by New Yorker Thomas Barclay in response to the growing timber boom. Thomas Barclay's burgeoning timber company, sensibly named Barclay Timber, soon ran into financial difficulties, however, forcing Thomas into destitution as he struggled to keep his company afloat. His efforts ultimately cost him his health, and he died a poor and broken man in 1880, leaving the nearly valueless company to his son Walter.

Under Walter's management, the timber company prospered, and by association, the company town that bore his name. A true timber baron, Walter Barclay virtually ran the town. Sitting on the Chamber of Commerce, acting as lay preacher for the sole church, and serving as president of the bank, nothing happened in Barclay that Walter did not control. A labor dispute in 1903 quickly got out of hand and turned into violence as Walter hired mercenaries to protect scabs. No one truly mourned the man when he passed in 1912.

Barclay Timber continued to thrive and was passed down through the Barclay clan until 1968, when the company was dismantled and sold to an international conglomerate. By then the town had grown to a healthy size, and made the transition away from a company town rather well. Nowadays, the town continues to thrive and grow, and its picturesque location attracts a number of hikers, campers, and other visitors who ramble through the forests and explore the old abandoned logging buildings among the firs. Elias Barclay, the latest of the clan, lives off a trust fund in an enormous mansion on the edge of town.

However, there are rumors, always rumors, of what happens after dark. Among the towering firs, in the back alleys, inside the old sawmills, people have seen things, strange things. Unrecognizable smells run through the wind. People inexplicably wake up far from where they went to sleep. Hikers have come back from the woods unable to speak, or just not come back at all. Residents report bizarre and terrifying dreams. Once in a great while, hideously mauled corpses are found hanging in the top branches of trees. Beneath the idyllic, picturesque surface, there is something very, very strange indeed.


CHARACTER SHEETS

A few notes:

If you're joining us at the start, I'd advise being a part of the camping trip mentioned in the flavor text if only so I can kick off the story. Once we get some momentum built up, I'll open the character range up to pretty much anything anywhere.

Dark secrets, a troubled past, underlying psychological problems, etc, are encouraged. These are all staples of the type of horror I'm going for.

I likely will not approve characters who are a ridiculous badass, so no ex-Spestnasz Mafiya dudes, no North Korean ninjas, no retired members of SEAL Team Six. The focus here is more psychological than on fighting and shooting.

CS Template

Name:
Age and Date of Birth:
Gender:
Height:
Weight:
Occupation:
Appearance: either photograph or detailed description acceptable
Demeanor: just a few words that describe how your character presents herself to the world, for example "well-groomed" or "anxious"
History: Tell us a little about your character. Where is he from? What has he done? What does he hope to accomplish?
Secret(s): Everyone has something to hide. It can range from the innocuous (an unpaid parking ticket) to the more serious (still closeted about being gay) to the extremely dark (she once killed someone and successfully covered it up).
Other: Does your character speak Farsi? Does he only wear Hawaiian shirts? Can he drive stick? Just little details that bring your character to life and let us know if you have any skills that might come in handy.


GAMEPLAY NOTES

This is meant to be player driven, so don't just sit around waiting for things to happen to you. Get out and explore, take action! There's a whole town and surrounding area full of weird stuff to experience. And remember, safety in numbers- include other players whenever possible.

Characters are going to suffer physical, emotional, and psychological damage. They may even go mad, simply vanish, or die. There are two ways I'm going to handle this. One, and this is the way I far prefer, is for a player to volunteer their character to be killed by PMing me. I'll then notify them of the time and place so they can write their death scene with appropriate aplomb. Two, and I promise you I'll use this sparingly, if at all, is by random dice roll for appropriately dramatic or dangerous scenes, with each person assigned a number. I think we can agree random chance is fair and without favoritism. Additionally, values will be assigned for everyone being spared, so there's that, too.


GAMEPLAY RULES
1. All rules of the forum apply.
2. No godmodding, no munchkins, no powerplaying, none of the usual tricks.
3. At the end of the day, remember it's just a game and not worth getting angry over.
4. Respect one another. I'll try to mediate disputes, but remember we're here to have fun.
5. The GM is the final authority. That said, I'm willing to hear you out if you think I'm making a mistake or being unfair, so just let me know.


ROSTER

Active
Izzy Jackson
Andy Hoffman
Ricky Patel



Dead






Alright, I look forward to playing with you all, and I hope this will be a long and fruitful game.

Barclay awaits.

[Beasley]

Name:
Alexandria "Alex" Johannes

Age and Date of Birth:
22; DOB : 1/19/1990

Gender:
Female.

Height:
5'7" ft.

Weight:
125 lbs.

Occupation:
LVN (Licensed Vocational Nurse)

Appearance:


Demeanor:
She is very reserved, observant, and can even come off as rude sometimes due to her brutal honesty. She is soft-spoken for the most part but will never back down from a confrontation, whether physical or verbal. She was raised to never take anything sitting down and to fight for what she believed in, no matter what anyone else thought.

History:
Alex grew up in family full of misfits: her mother worked as an office manager during the day and as a high class escort at night while her father worked as a lawyer in a firm downtown, a rather crooked one involved with various crime organizations throughout the town. She had no siblings and despite the notion of one being spoiled, was raised in quite the opposite manner, knowing what the value of a dollar was at a very early age. She would spend her afternoons in her uncle's meat market as a child, earning a few dollars every week for her duties, such as working the cash register or setting displays. Despite her unstable upbringing, she remained positive about her life and where she was going, taking her stress out in kickboxing lessons she participated in starting in middle school. She did fairly well in her academics in high school and graduated in the top 25 of her class and immediately enrolled into college afterwards, deciding to major in Nursing. She figured she might as well major in something that would be in popular demand, and well, people are always sick.

Secret(s):
She accidentally killed another child when she was seven years old. She and a childhood friend had been playing around with an empty gun they had found in her friend's house upstairs and pretended to shoot each other as they took turns. Things had taken an ugly turn that day when it was Alex's third turn to pull the trigger and she witnessed the horror of seeing a bullet fly through her friend's head. Her father, being the wealthy and conniving man he was, paid the victim's family a generous amount of cash money to keep quiet about it, which they have done up until this day. The threatening also helped a good amount. She has never told anyone about this encounter and probably never will, not wanting to be judged or labeled as a murderer. Despite remaining secret about the whole incident, she still has nightmares almost every night about it.

Other:
N/A

[Vulture]

Accepted.

[Chuzuka]

Sounds great! I have to call it a night soon, so I'll definitely have a CS up tomorrow night if that's alright

[Vulture]

Fine by me.

[DaliKnight]

Let me know what you think:

Name: Andy Hoffman

Age and Date of Birth: 35 y/o - 6/3/1978

Gender: Male

Height: 5'8''

Weight: 143 lbs.

Occupation: Taxi Driver

Appearance:

Spoiler

Demeanor: He is a quick thinker and even faster talker. Because of his career choice he has become used to asking a lot questions and making up stories. He acts as if he was the last Coke on the desert and is constantly making sarcastic comments as a defense mechanism.

History: Andy was born and raised in Barclay, Oregon. On his whole life, he has only gone outside the city three times. The first one was when he was 5, which he barely remembers, and his parents took him to Hickeyland, a mock-up Disneyland located in Kentucky. The second time he was 14 and was sent by his parents to spend his summer vacations with his paternal grandfather, who in turn sent him back after two days. The third time he left was when he was 19 and went to the NYU to study film, but after three weeks when a friend showed him the movie Night on Earth he decided he wanted to drive a taxi.

Secret(s): Five years ago he sent a fan-letter to Damon Lindelof saying the only way to end LOST was to kill everyone and spend the entire last season between this deaths and a heaven that the characters share./ One night business was slow so he decided to see how fast his taxi could go, but before he could go faster than 50 mph he hit a homeless man who was trying to cross the street. He continued driving and never looked back, still has nightmares about this./ When he was 10 he accidentally broke his mother favorite vase and blamed the cat.

Other: (I need to think this one better before putting anything.)

[Vulture]

Accepted. Will post mine later.

[Vulture]

Name: Richard "Ricky" Patel
Age and Date of Birth: 33 years old, 5/19/79
Gender: Male
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 170 lbs.
Occupation: Pharmacist
Appearance: Patel is an Indian man of average build who tends to slick back his hair and wears John Lennon glasses. He always dresses as nicely as the situation can possibly allow.
Demeanor: Straight-laced, well dressed, uptight
History: Born in Los Angeles to extremely traditional Hindu parents, Ricky Patel was told from a young age he was going to be a doctor. He was groomed for quite some time to get into medicine- any kind would do. After a long period at the Saint Louis College of Pharmacy, he was finally granted a doctorate of pharmacy, finding work at one of the top hospitals in Portland, Oregon as a pharmacist. His upbringing had left a certain mark on him- Ricky is always conservatively dressed and behaved, to the point that many of his coworkers find him boring and entirely too well-behaved. His coworkers will occasionally invite him out in the hopes that he'll shed his usual demeanor and have some fun for a change.
Secret(s): Ricky has an obsession with fire. He has tried to keep this under control by buying a house with a large fireplace, in which he has burned numerous objects simply on a whim. He has never shared these thoughts, but one of his fondest wishes is to burn down a building in constant usage.
Other: In addition to English, Ricky also speaks Hindi fluently.