The Clockwork Artist - A Murder Mystery (OOC)

[Stairdweller]

The Clockwork Artist
A Murder Mystery

Interest Check Thread
IC Thread

Hello again to everyone who has followed me here from the Interest check, and Welcome to anyone new.

This RP is currently closed. Thank you very much for your interest, but I'm afraid that the nature of the story wouldn't allow for any more new characters to join.

The Clockwork Artist is a murder mystery in the vein of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, although knowledge of the book is not necessary to enjoy this story. Unlike the book, the RP takes place in a Victorian fantasy setting.

Setting

The entire story takes place on Crescent Island, an unimaginatively named crescent-shaped island off the coast of Lesca, near Armvsina City.

The crescent of the island is about half a kilometer across, with the horns facing south. There is a large manor located roughly in the center of the island. Directly south of the manor is the jetty, along with the boathouse and some various dock-related outbuildings. The eastern arm of the island is occupied by orchards, gardens, and the apiary, whereas the western one is populated by an arena, the lighthouse, the kitchen gardens, and some woodland. The island's only beach is on its south side, the concave edge of the crescent.

The house itself was designed by the late Mister Allend Ringsgold, an eccentric Gearsmith, who populated it with technological tricks and traps of his own design. There are two towers, one above the vaulted entryway and the other in the southwest corner of the house. Directly north of the cavernous entry hall are the servants quarters. To the east are the games room, sitting room, library and the late Mister Ringsgold's art gallery. To the west are the Dining Hall and Ballroom, the garden patio, and the kitchens.

On the second floor - accessible both by the stairway in the entry hall and by the servants' stairs in the back halls - are the master's chambers to the east and the guest chambers to the west. The access to the southwest tower is in the servant corridor behind the guest rooms, while the foyer tower can be accessed from the east side of the balcony overlooking the foyer.

The third floor consists of the observatory, while the basements are occupied by storage cellars and Mister Ringsgold's laboratories.

There will only be humans in this RP. Humans can belong to one of the following racial groups, however bear in mind that they must have somehow interacted with Mr. Ringsgold before his death.

Montros and Lescans - these are the two "default races." Montro and Lesca are each others' best trading partners, although each would really like to annex the other for their territory. The two cultures are very similar, although residents of each country would never admit it. Fashion is very similar to the late victorian period - say, 1880-1895. Bustles are highly in fashion for women, and corsets are an essential part of dress. Men wear suits, and frock coats are in vogue. Montro is more agrarian, famed for their excellent wine, and generally exports raw materials. Lesca is known for its cities, and much of the continent's manufacturing takes place there. Montro is a monarchy, Lesca is a republic, and each country thinks the other country's system is foolish in the extreme. In Lesca, women are the heads of their households and the only ones who may hold land, although lately it has become fashionable to have send the man of the house to vote in their stead. Blood sports are very popular, and pistol duels are considered a perfectly reasonably way to settle an argument. Although slavery is technically illegal in Lesca and Montro, indentured servants are permitted and in fact fairly common.

Roontmen - Roont is a closed society. Outsiders are only allowed into walled trading settlements, and then only in certain cities. In Roont, money is everything. If people are unable to repay their debts, they are sent to workhouses where they are basically treated as slaves. Roont is a country of many exotic goods, but they are especially known for their near-mystical giant turtles. Giant turtle products are illegal for export, and thus are highly sought after in other nations. Slavery is legal in Roont.

Barbarians - the northern, frozen lands of the continent are populated by nomadic tribes of horsemen. They wear their wealth on their persons, in the form of opulent fabrics and gaudy jewellery. They ritualistically pierce their faces. They have had a long tradition of raiding Montro and Lesca, and it is lately rumoured that there is a warlord begining to unite the tribes for the first time ever. They also engage in some piracy, however they lack the boat-building technology of the southern countries and are limited to primarily oar-driven longboats.

Sea Gypsies - Ocean nomads of the inner sea, Sea Gypsies live a carefree life. Their society is actually quite complex, consisting of ancestral caravan routes between the Inner Sea islands, the continent, and lands across the great oceans. Their caravans are made up of houseboats that are each owned by the matriarch of the family in question. The Islands of the inner sea are their domain, and outsiders are rarely allowed to see their holdings there. Sea Gypsies are instantly recognizable because they veil themselves, believing that this will protect them from punishment by the Gods. Their veil looks a little like a burkha, although they are usually in wild colours and printed with bold patterns. If a Sea Gypsy loses his veil, he will go to great lengths to hide his face, even up to slathering it with mud if nothing else is available.

Medgalians - Medgalians are all recent immigrants from other nations. Medgala isn't a nation, but a confederation of city states. Because of the inhospitable nature of the swamps, they live in domed, glassed-in cities. They don't build these cities themselves - they are the relics of some other society that has long since died out. Each Dome is ruled by the first people to find it, so expeditions are constantly setting out in search of new Domes. The main industry here is the High Magic manufacturing industry, as well as salvage of artifacts from the ancient society that once lived there.

Other - There is a fair amount of land between Lesca and Medgala that is not claimed by anyone. There are towns and cities here, and the cultures vary wildly between them. Mr. Ringsgold is from the North Coastwood.

- To the far south, on frozen islands, are whaling settlements. There is a sort of whale in the southern oceans whose brain fluids can be made into a very potent energy potion, which is in high demand by the various mages of the world.

The Continent
The Island
The House

Technology is comparable in this world to that of our world in the middle of the 20th century, except that what we have accomplished by science, they accomplished by magic. Most all magic is powered by Ether, the essence of magic, either stored in charged crystals (which function like batteries) or pulled directly from the world at large by devices called Tapping Spiles.

That said, the preferred aesthetic heavily favours ostentatious wheels, gears, and belts. So, a viewing sphere, which could function prefectly well as a simple charged crytal globe, instead normally is studded with gears and non-essential steam pipes. For aesthetic value.

Mages are essential to the function of the world. Roles in our world that would be filled by tradesmen such as electricians or mechanics are filled by specialized mages in the world of the RP. High Magic manufacturing is one of the most lucrative industries on the continent, and is extremely cut-throat.

Energy potions that allow mages to work beyond their normal fatigue tolerance are in high demand. Unfortunately, these are rather addictive, and given that they are made from the cerebral-spinal fluid of a certain species of whale, environmentally unsustainable.

Mages are regulated by a series of guilds. All mages, legal ones, anyway, belong to the Magical Consortium, which is the governing body that controls all of the various mage orders. There are dozens of mage orders. The only group of mages not included in the Consortium are the nearly-extinct Stairdwellers, but they do not figure into this story.

Story

Simple synopsis: Mister Allend Ringsgold, an eccentric millionaire, has died without an official heir. A group of people have been summoned by the executor of his estate to his now empty mansion, where one of them will be named his heir. Actually, the letter that summoned each person is strongly worded to lead him or her to believe that he has already been promised heir status, and that attending the meeting at the mansion is just a formality.

However, there is an ulterior motive to their being summoned - Mister Ringsgold has reason to disdain each and every one of them, and it is entirely possible that they may not survive their stay.

Upon arrival at the mansion, each will be given a letter, which will outline some criteria they must fulfill in order to inherit his fortune. They are also forbidden from leaving the island for 24 hours - if even one person leaves, all others' claim to the inheritance will be forfeit.

Rules:

- Once the RP begins, no new players may join.
- Your character will very probably die. If this is something that's going to make you cry, don't join the RP.
- I care more about the quality of your post than the quantity, but I still want a 3 paragraph minimum.
- Try to interact with the others as much as possible. That is what will make this story interesting.
- And finally, I'll be communicating with each of you through PM (or whatever), outside of the OOC thread. Please don't share these communiques, it'll ruin the mystery for the other players.

Please don't post your CS in this thread - please PM it to me instead. I'll be posting a version of it in this thread, with certain information hidden so that aspects of your character remain a mystery to the other players.

Character Sheet

Name:
Age:
Origin: (Should be one of the countries or places listed above.)
Occupation: (Non-adventurer professions are an option.)

Appearance: (You can add a picture, but I need a text description too. I'm blind - pictures don't work for me. Include clothing in this field as well, but be aware that as a primarily non-combat RP it would be wierd for your character to show up in armour.)

Personality: (Optional. I know real personalities can be pretty difficult to define in a paragraph.)

Backstory: (Please be sure to include how your character knows Mister Ringsgold, why he or she thinks that he or she will be the one to inherit, and, if you wish, how he or she arrived at Crescent Island. The more detail, the better.)

How you Wronged Mr. Ringsgold: This won't be included in your public CS, only in the version that is PMed to me. If you're having trouble thinking of something, let me know and we'll plot something together.

Remember - don't post this CS here, PM it to me. Thanks!

Approved Characters

1. Mr. Wolf Rouger -- as played by Noa Noah
2. Spot Rouger -- as played by Noa Noah
3. Mrs. Allegra Bettencourt -- as played by lillianthorne
4. Mr. Adam Brace -- as played by Zepta
5. Mr. Selkirk Fischer -- as played by Borealys
6. Mr. Benasimuth Kertyen -- as played by sinai

[Stairdweller]

This is what I'm going to call the info post. This is where I will post information (answers to questions) as it comes up in the RP or the OOC thread. You know, so we don't contradict ourselves.

Abbreviated Bios

These Character Sheets have been shortened to obscure key information - only the information that a casual acquaintance would be able to discern is listed here.

Name: Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorffvoralternwareng ewissenhaftschaferswessenschafewarenwohlgepflegeun dsorgfaltigkeitbeschutzenvonangreifendurchihrraubg ierigfeindewelchevoralternzwolftausendjahresvorand ieerscheinenwanderersteerdemenschderraumschiffgebr auchlichtalsseinursprungvonkraftgestartseinlangefa hrthinzwischensternartigraumaufdersuchenachdiester nwelchegehabtbewohnbarplanetenkreisedrehensichundw ohinderneurassevonverstandigmenschlichkeitkonntefo rtplanzenundsicherfreuenanlebenslanglichfreudeundr uhemitnichteinfurchtvorangreifenvonandererintellig entgeschopfsvonhinzwischensternartigraumen Clarice “Wolf” Rouger

Age: 42

Origins: Roontmen

Appearance: Wolf dresses himself in the most expensive suits he can get his hands on. His personal hygiene is kept high to the point that Wolf is borderline automysophobic (automysophobia: fear of being dirty).

Wolf has shoulder length black hair that is usually tied into a tight pony tail in the back. His eyebrows and thin mustache is trimmed nicely and the faint existence of his beard along his jaw is barely recognizable unless one gets close enough to him.

Overall, Wolf is an average sized man who would have been extremely obese if he had not cared to exercise regularly.

Backstory: A successful businessman from a wealthy family in Roont. He is said to have been involved in black market trade as a younger man.

Name: Benedict Amadeus “Spot” Rouger

Age: (Estimated) 20’s

Origins: Roontmen?

Appearance: Due to his long years in slavery, Spot is skinny and is shorter than most men around his age because of malnutrition. It had only been about a year since he arrived to the Rouger household and he is still having difficultly eating.

Spot has short brown hair with bands that cover his green eyes. Many assume that his mother may have been a Sea Gypsy because he prefers to hide his eyes away from others. Whoever Spot’s mother is, his light brown skin is without a doubt inherited from his mother.

Spot wears the fashionable style from Montros and Lescans, all presents from his grandfather Roger Rouger. Out of custom, Spot has not been able to part with his metal collar and hand cuffs which he had since slavery.

Backstory: A former slave who is said to be the acknowledged bastard of Mr. Baaron Rouger, elder brother of Mr. Wolf Rouger.

Name: Allegra Bettencourt
Age: 45
Origin: Lesca

Occupation: Matriarch of her house and head of her family’s merchant empire

Appearance: A tall and stately woman with a spine of steel, clothed in the height of fashion, yet still in keeping with the dignity appropriate for her age. Her skin is a pale alabaster that she is rather proud of and has gone to great pains to maintain. As a result of this lifelong vanity the signs of aging on her face are light, giving her the appearance of fewer years than she has without sacrificing the dignity that she had earned. Her eyes are large and dark brown with a faint tracing of wrinkles around the corners and sit under heavily arched eyebrows. Her nose is as aristocratic as her bearing, long and straight. Her mouth is fuller than the rest of her face would lead one to believe and curves into a charming smile that contains more than a little mischief. Her dark hair has one sweep of silver along the left temple that she has refused to have colored and insists that her hairstyles emphasize it.

Backstory: The matriarch of both a wealthy Lescan family and the family's business empire. She is rumoured to have had certain "dalliances" over the years.

Name: Mr Adam Brace
Age: 58
Origin: Montro
Occupation: Mage and a minor share-holder of several mining corporations and ventures

Appearance:

Mr. Brace has a pale complexion; his narrowed face highlighting his strict nature. His thinning black hair has short streaks of white and gray through its short strands. Worn in the fashionable tussled look he generally ignores its existence, though is slightly sore from its slow abandonment of him. A thin silver chain can sometimes be glimpsed from a higher point; though this is hard do manage from his towering image. It disappears down below his clothes and suspends a small red octagonal crystal. This is used primarily for the basic energy needs of any of his small private use machines such as the circular silver contraption in his left trouser pocket. Once inserted, the device acts as a basic tool for illumination, though can only work for a few hours at a time before dimming and finally going out unless either the crystal is recharged or Adam powers the unit himself.

A collar-less dark brown corduroy waistcoat is worn by Adam, though with unusually long two tails behind him reaching down to his lower thigh. Two thin strips of black silk mark the pockets in the lower section of the waistcoat, a thin golden chain can be often seen trailing out of his left pocket. The large golden geared pocket watch nestled within is powered by the slither of dark blood red crystal which encrusts its outer shell. A crisp cotton white undershirt is worn under the waistcoat, its long sleeves reaching down to his wrists where it is normally buttoned neatly.

A pair of straight black cotton pants covers his long legs, covering the tops of his shoes. The shoes themselves are finely handcrafted leather, their black shiny surface rarely spoiled by the world outside soft luscious carpets. Within his trouser pockets are usually a collection of crystals and his precious vials. These thick-walled glass containers of various shapes, though all of small size Mr. Brace is not expecting to stay on the island for more than a day or two and so has only brought enough energy potions to last for a day and a half. He anticipates finding a way into the private laboratory of Mr. Ringsgold where he plans to restock his energy potions should he wish to stay.

Backstory: An aristocrat Mage from Montro with investments in the mining industry and several industrial patents under his belt.

Name: Selkirk Fischer
Age: 41
Origin: He was born and raised in the whaling settlements.
Occupation: Whaler/Fisherman

Appearance: Selkirk is a tall, stocky man with a bright red face and a bushy white beard that reaches down towards the tuft of white chest hair that escapes from the collar of his sweater. The skin on his arms, hands and neck has darkened over time under the harsh sunlight. He appears to be almost fat, but more muscular than obese. He's slightly balding and has that intermediate between jet black and white hair.

He wears a navy sweater made from heavy, heavy wool, embellished with a green ring on the left arm and a red ring on the right. The sleeves don't quite go down far enough to cover up a faded tattoo on the top of his wrist, whose black ink has faded in the sun to a dark blue hue. On his left hand he wears a silver ring with a large cracked opalescent stone set into it.

His pants are typical of the middle to lower class of Lesca: faded and worn brown slacks. Without any belt to hold them on, he gerry-rigged a piece of rope with two fishing hooks on either end that hook into the loops and keep the waistline taught.

Backstory: A whaler from the southern island settlements, he has sold his catch to Mr. Ringsgold in the past.

Name: Benasimuth Kertyen

Age: 39

Origin: Montro

Appearance: Tallish, about 5"11', with overly waxed black hair. His clothing of choice is a black shirt and trousers with a white suit and tie. No prominent facial hair but rarely clean-shaven.

Backstory: He is a former famed architect from Montro who has been rendered bankrput by a series of mental illnesses. Mr Ringsgold has given him a place to stay in one of the mansions' outbuildings in memory of their friendship and as thanks for services rendered in the past.

Name: Hyram AuGare

Position: Butler

Appearance: Hyram is always impeccably dressed in a black tailcoat over a white shirt and taupe waistcoat, as well as pressed black trousers, shiny black and white spat boots (black lowers, white uppers) and white gloves. He always wears a hood that tucks into the neck of his shirt and buttons over his throat, and a white porcelain mask with red markings to indicate his clan. His mask completely covers his face, and is square edged, with rectangular slits to show his bright green eyes.

Hyram is an old man now, having worked for Mr. Ringsgold for almost his entire adult life. His eyes are ringed by deep wrinkled, but his posture is very straight, and he seems strong and for a man of his years

Has been working for Mr. Ringsgold for: 44 years

[Orion]

Still open?

[Stairdweller]

Sure is.

[Stairdweller]

Bump.

We're now up to three approved people with a total of four characters.

How does everyone feel about starting now?

[Lillian Thorne]

if you think we have enough players to do the story justice I am happy to start!

[Lillian Thorne]

silence... this isn't good. Please tell me this isn't dead in the water....

[Zepta]

Well I'm still here, so maybe Stairdweller's caught up in the meat world.

[Lillian Thorne]

I do love the "meat world" concept! And I hope that busyness is all that detains him.

[Stairdweller]

Hello again! I'm afraid I've been a bad GM, being mad in meat-space and all. But I think I have everything taken care of, and now I can devote the time I need to this RP.

We do now have enough players, with the addition of Borealys, who has contacted me through PM. So, I should have the IC thread up shortly, and you will all begin receiving IC PMs to represent mail from Mr. Ringsgold to your character. There will be a grace period, for 2-3 days while you all get your introductions up, wherein people may still join, and then we will be underweigh.