You're just like anyone else, really. You get up, you go to work, you pay your bills, you see your friends. No one would ever consider you to be unusual or exceptional in any way, and they would be mostly right.

Mostly.

The past few years, something has been following you. You don't know what it is, what it wants, what it's capable of, or where it came from. Just that it's there.

In appearance, it may be mundane and commonplace, or perhaps it is bizarre and nightmarish. A person, or an animal, or some kind of strange creature. It never seems to show up in public, preferring to wait until you are alone, or rarely when you are with only one or two other people. Sometimes it is looking in through your bedroom window while you try to sleep. Sometimes it is standing alongside a quiet road as you drive home. Maybe it is among the trees during a pleasant walk through the woods. Or it might even be inside your home, watching from a dark corner.

Nothing about it seems to make sense. You spot it in places it shouldn't be- behind locked doors, on inaccessible rooftops. It never seems to arrive or depart, but neither does it appear or disappear while you are looking directly at it. Any movement seems to be done when you look away.

You've reacted as anyone would, of course. You've called the police, taken photos, even attacked it, all to no avail. Your friends and family might be sympathetic, or just think you to be crazy. But over time, you've realized that your stalker, or whatever it is, doesn't seem to have any malevolent intent. It simply watches, quietly, never speaking, never acting. While the visits aren't pleasant, they aren't harmful, either. You've simply become resigned to them, seeing them as a nuisance more than anything. You've done your best to move on, to lead a normal and happy life.

And now life has led you to travel, by car, bus, or train. For business, for pleasure, for the thrill of travel- your reasons are your own. But for all of you, the destination is the same.

You have come to the town of Rainey, Iowa.







THE RULES

1. All rules of RPG apply. Be respectful, be polite. Disagreements are perfectly alright as long as they're made in a civil manner.
2. The GM's word applies. If you have questions about anything at all, feel free to PM me!
3. No back-to-back posting, I want everyone to put some thought into their posts, so please don't put up a reply to a post that's just minutes old.
4. Finally, of course, have fun!

Is this open for joining?

I'm honestly confused by this question. Of course it's open, why would it have been shut?

Name: Tallah Walker



Gender: Female

Age: 18

Occupation: Currently in-between jobs

Place of Residence: Dallas, TX

Bio: Originally born in Dallas, Texas, Tallah led a pretty normal life. She was actively involved in school, joining many different sports and clubs every year. She was semi-popular among her peers, which led to an active social life as well. Despite all of these activities she managed to keep her grades up at a high B average. Everything was going smoothly in her life up until her junior year of high school.

Tallah only saw it out of the corner of her eye in the beginning. She would occasionally glimpse a shadowy figure standing in the corner of a room, but when she turned to look at it, it disappeared. Slightly unnerved but still not believing her eyes, she just shrugged it off as a trick of the light. As time progressed, the specter’s visits became more frequent and visible to Tallah. She became worried and told her parents and friends. They were sympathetic, but none of them seemed to really believe her. She gave up trying to get help and attempted to ward it off herself, which also didn’t work. In the end, she was forced to succumb to the apparition’s frightening but harmless torment.

After graduating from high school, Tallah decided to travel before she entered into college. She planned to go on a road trip from Texas to Wisconsin. She also secretly hoped that she might be able to escape her shadowy stalker by leaving the state. And so, she took off from her house and headed north. Her trip eventually brought her to the little town of Rainey in Iowa.

Tallah thought it was a nice, quiet place to spend the night before continuing on her way to Wisconsin. She paid for a hotel room and went up to put her bags in it. While she was doing that, she was dismayed to find that the shadow person had followed her. It stood poised in the darkened far corner of the room where the light from the lamp didn’t reach. She couldn’t get away from it no matter where she went. Tallah spent the night there anyways, numb to the shadow’s presence after two years of seeing it. The next day, she packed up her things and took off on the road again to continue her trip, but she couldn’t find her way out of the town. It seemed like every turn took her right back to Rainey. Resigned to her permanent state of being lost, Tallah paid for another hotel room and moved back in, wondering how she was ever going to get out of this place.

Now for my stalker :)

Name: Waldo

Appearance: A shadowy, ghost-like figure that appears in dark corners or at nightfall. It takes on the partially distorted image of a human, as though it were a disfigured person with joints that don't bend in a natural way. Sprouting from its back are a pair of large bat-like wings, except the wings have no flesh. They are composed of bones like a skeleton.

Whenever it shows itself, it only appears in a silhouette-like pose and hardly moves except to follow Tallah if she tries to get away from it. When the shadow disappears, it leaves behind a fresh bloodstain tracing its position upon whatever surface it appeared on. However Tallah is the only one that can see the blood, so she has no way to prove to anyone that Waldo actually exists.

Polyphemus said
I'm honestly confused by this question. Of course it's open, why would it have been shut?

Blargh, I don't know,, I seriously just wanted to join and it is late I am not thinking😭;;;nonetheless I shall start on a sheet and yes woo

LetterA said
Blargh, I don't know,, I seriously just wanted to join and it is late I am not thinking😭;;;nonetheless I shall start on a sheet and yes woo

It's all good, my friend. I hope my question didn't come across as rude or patronizing, by the way. It's just a little late for me too.

Lily Kierstrider said
Tallah Walker

Already we're seeing sheets! How exciting. Tallah is accepted.

Yay :D also, I just updated Waldo to make him a little more original. I just saw that shadow people is already a creepy pasta thing

Lily Kierstrider said
Yay :D also, I just updated Waldo to make him a little more original. I just saw that shadow people is already a creepy pasta thing

It's also an actual paranormal phenomena that's been reported in numerous cases. I do like the addition of the wings, though.

Polyphemus said
It's also an actual paranormal phenomena that's been reported in numerous cases.

I kinda want to google that now o.o

Polyphemus said
I do like the addition of the wings, though.

Why, thank you. I try :P

Honestly Poly, I might as well be stalking you.

Name:
Benjamin J. Eldridge

Appearance:
By any standards, Benjamin can be considered average. Neither his height nor weight stands out, and though he is not loaded with muscle, he has some meat on his bones. His Caucasian skin is drsped tight over his prominent facial features, his chiseled jaw and sharp nose some of the more defining features. He has a scar across his forehead, something of a sore subject with him. Lack of sleep has given his eyes a permanently sunken look, though there is usually some energy behind it. He commonly dresses well, in at least a button up shirt and vest, if not wearing a full suit. His favorite suit, and most common attire is a white and black checked suit, with a light blue dress shirt, and navy blue tie.

Gender:
Male

Age:
32

Occupation:
Once tied up in business that he would rather not bring up in front of any stray ears, he now rests on a thick cushion of cash. He does not solely rely on these funds, but he could easily live off of it for quite a few years, should he need to. He actually runs a private security business, albeit a new one.

Place of Residence:
Las Vegas, Nevada

Bio:
Born into Las Vegas, Ben has had an interesting life. His father was always running around on 'errands', and his mother commonly left him with a sitter while she walked the streets at night. Ben had learned to be independent early on, simply to adapt to the loneliness. He began to thrive off of it, though he did often end up hanging around the wrong crowd, getting into trouble early on with his hooligan-like behavior.

His father had wanted Benny to get into something athletic, but Benny never picked up on that kind of stuff. He had been an intellectual from birth. Not exactly your human calculator intellect, more like politician intellect. When he wanted things done, they got done. This made him quite popular as he grew up, especially with the... Less than savory groups that he had a tendency to spend time with. Still, what did you expect from a kid who's parents were gone half of the time? Surely, it was their fault entirely.

It was his sixteenth birthday when Ben saw his father, for the first time in what had seemed like months. Though the reunion was unexpected, Ben had been hoping for more than a severed head. This was not the best time in his life, and the police taking his mother in for prostitution didn't help much either. For the past few years, he had been staying with one sitter, who insisted on Ben staying with her. He didn't really mind all that much- after all, she had basically been his family while his father was off on his business trips, and his mother was shamelessly 'buying groceries'.

But, soon enough, Ben grew distant, working on his own devices. His company only getting worse, Ben managed to end up in the right place at the right time. One of his crew was talking about some low life he had knocked over- ran a casino, and operated a nice little 'lemonade stand' out the back. The guy had been bragging about how he made a fortune off of some big boss by the name of Eldridge. Not a sentence further, and Ben was out the door, a gun loaded with vengeance at his hip. Before he got far, he was stopped. His mates didn't like him walking into a death trap like that. Wait, they said. We'll roll through his joint tactically, take him out in the crossfire, they said.

The night Ben put a bullet between the eyes of his fathers killer, something else, much bigger happened. He didn't notice at first, but eventually, the man followed too close. At first glance, no one would think much of the man. He seemed normal enough. A bit tall, wearing a long trenchcoat and a fedora, not exactly too uncommon on the streets of Vegas. But this man... There was something about him that you can't exactly describe. Some oddity about him that makes you uneasy, the kind that makes people lock their car doors as they pass by.

Though Ben tried his best to simply ignore it for the first month, he soon realized how harmless the thing was, and took to talking to it as it walked with him across the shady streets. One day, relaxing in his apartment, Ben saw the strange man make up the courage to actually come into the living area with him, rather than just watching him through a window. Ben made some conversation, knowing that he would be met with nothing but eerie silence. He was surprised to see the thing accept his offer when he extended a drink to the figure. That night, Ben came up with the brilliant idea of starting his security business, use it to corrupt the casinos of Vegas, but have it under the benevolent guise of avenging his father. He them accepted his strange visitor as more than harmless- it was his good luck charm.

It was his security business- Eldrige Enterprises- that brought him to Rainey. He had to go through the town to get to a meeting but had quite awhile that he had to stay before he was scheduled to make his exit.

Stalker-
Name:
Affectionately referred to as 'Flush' by Ben, though he has called him a variety of other names based around gambling, such as Jack, House, Ace, and even Lucky, once.

Appearance:
At first glance, Flush appears to be a normal man, of above average height. He is clothed in a long brown trenchcoat, as well as a fedora of the same shade. It seems that no matter what lighting he is in his face will always remain shrouded by shadow. Closer inspection will reveal a variety of oddities with him, some not always appearing- Excess limbs, growing and shrinking in height, flickering out of view every few seconds, a sense of nausea in the viewer, as well as shadows drenching the area around him, regardless of the amount of light exposure. No matter how you look at him, be it an errant glance or a long stare, there is always some indescribable quality about him that causes unease. Though this sense of insecurity is powerful at first, extended exposure instead gives qualities of overconfidence.

Ben and Flush both look good, Doc, consider them accepted. Always glad to be in an RP with you.

Awesome, thanks. Glad to be here, this has quite a bit of potential.

Apologies that it is bare at the minute, just wanted to get something down before work. Everything will get fleshed out tonight when i return :) :

Character

Name: Robert Cadogan

Appearance:

Gender: Male

Age: 27

Occupation: Senior Software Developer

Place of Residence: Wales, United Kingdom

Bio:

Robert was born to a policeman father and store clerk mother in a small Welsh city. They made a modest living and Rob grew up with everything he needed. He was lucky to live close to several other children his own age which meant that he was often out later than he would have been allowed if they were any further away. He often pushed the limits of his parents, getting a telling off on almost a weekly basis, but they knew deep down that he would be safe with the social circle he had. He was very active growing up, taking part in any and every sport that his primary school practised including football, rugby and cricket. While cricket was a bore, he still took part because of his friends. They were not able to be seperated from the time they left for school till it was time for them to come in at night. That was until they left for high school.

The majority of the group went to a local school while Robert was enrolled into a private school several miles away. It was a thirty minute bus ride every morning and evening with people who were different to what he was used to, however it didn't take long before he started to make some new friends. The friends of his primary school soon disappeared and were replaced by the new ones. He continued to be highly active, continuing playing rugby for the schools first team right up until his last day. He also enrolled on several extra curricular activities which included helping in the community, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and a survivalist experience weekend. That weekend changed his life and from that point he and one of his closest friends spent one weekend every two months camping, practising their survival skills.

After seven years of high school he made the leap to University, keeping in touch with a small group of those from high school, who to this day, he is still in contact with. University was a pleasant experience, one compounded by his almost god like alcohol tolerance. Almost every party would end with Robert the last man standing, it was his one claim to fame through out the entirety of University. He was voted Mr Iron Liver in his last year during a set of gag awards that the University had arranged for everyone. His time wasn't just spent partying though, he studied software development after gaining and interest during his final years of high school.

Upon leaving University and attending a high school friends wedding, the realisation set in that his love life was nothing short of depressing. He had several casual girlfriends through high school and university but nothing serious like he craved deep down. Within a week of leaving university he had a job application accepted and he began working as an entry level software developer for the Office of National Statistics. The years rolled by and eventually he was promoted to a senior software developer, making way to a pay rise. In that same year he was also very lucky, finally meeting Joanne Williams, the most beautiful girl he had ever set eyes upon. Her long black hair framed her stunning facial features and deep blue eyes. Love at first sight is a term he had never believed in until that moment and that same day they went out for dinner, by the end of the week they were an item.

Life settled down soon after that, the job still satisfied him and his girlfriend moved in making every day seem almost perfect, that was until a day in the week leading up to his twenty seventh birthday. As he was leaving work his boss called him into the office explaining that his mother had tried reaching him on his mobile all day, but his phone had been playing up in the recent weeks. With a tear in his eye his boss, who was also a close friend told him that Joanne had died in a hit and run. Floods of pain and anguish racked his body as he sobbed uncontrollably, feeling like his very essence has been flayed.

The months that followed had been hard, and if it wasn't for his close friends he would have undoubtedly taking his own life. After the mourning had eased his friends convinced him to take a road trip to the US, something he and Joanne had planned to do before her passing. Going through the small towns that never get shown to the rest of the world, to see the real United States. His friends Chris and Michael, brothers, took him across the Atlantic and together the three set out on their road trip.

They arrived in New York and began to set out on their three week journey. They headed west towards Minnesota, stopping in several towns along the way. While they pondered their next step, Michael deciding that cutting through Iowa would get them to Nebraska nice and quick. The others agreed to the plan and made their way towards Iowa, not realising what waited...

Stalker

Name: The Puppet

Appearance:

At first Robert simply felt a presense as if being watched, almost like eyes were staring at him as he would lie down to sleep. He put it down to the trauma of losing Joanne and simply put it out of his mind. As the trip to America drew closer the feeling grew stronger and stronger until finally on the way to the airport he saw what looked like a puppet mounted on a tricycle, riding down the hard shoulder of the motorway. He called to Chris and Michael who couldn't see it, thinking Rob was just trying to play some sort of trick on them. Again Robert put it out of his mind, assuming that the brothers were looking in the wrong place.

After arriving in New York the trio spent the night in a motel on the cities outskirts. While the brothers slept Robert was woken up by the sound of squeaking wheels coming from outside the room as if someone was riding a bike back and fore. As he checked outside the squeak stopped and he was presented with little red tricycle. Not wanting to wake the brother he did his best to ignore it and went back to sleep. As they travelled the country the same thing kept happening, no matter whether it was a motel or the top floor of a hotel, the sound of squeaking wheels would wake Rob up and upon inspection a red tricycle would be there motionless.

On their last night in Minnesota, Robert awoke once more but his ears were free of the squeaking to which he let out a sigh of relief. He then realised that something was pressing down on his feet, he raised his head from the pillow to spot The Puppet from the motorway, staring right at him. Rob couldn't make himself move, frozen in place staring eye to eye with the wooden creation. They looked at each other for thirty seconds before the sound of a light switch stole his attention. He turned to see Michael turn his bedside lamp on, questioning Robert as to what he was doing. Rob turned to see The Puppet was gone and lay back down, going back to sleep.

Name:
Emma Grace Montgomery

Appearance:


Gender:
Female

Age:
21

Occupation:
Accountant

Place of Residence:
London, UK

Bio:
Emma's father left her, and her mother Jayne, when she was around five years old. Her mother had a tendency to be slightly mentally unstable and, devastated at being left by her husband, Jayne became a workaholic, rarely leaving the bank where she worked. She was never a compassionate person and seemed happiest when the house was tidy and there was no sign of her daughter's things. This eventually led to Emma developing OCD tendencies, always needing everything in her immediate environment to be pristine.

At school, she was particularly good and maths and science - they always had neat, orderly solutions - but subjects like English and Art scrambled her, as often liked students to be messy ('creative' was a word they used to make it sound acceptable). Not exactly being the loner, she had a couple of friends but her compulsive personality traits made her hard to deal with. After her mother arranged for her to meet weekly with a counsellor, her condition improved and she was appear to outwardly normal - even if she found herself biting her tongue every time she saw something that fit in with an observed pattern. When she left school, she took up a job at a local accounting firm and was content in her job.

However, when she was eighteen years old, her mother was killed. A robbery gone wrong at the bank resulted in a bullet through Jayne's head and Emma was suddenly alone in the big wide world. It was then that she began seeing it. A creature, that she spotted slinking down streets when she was on the way home from work; a shadow in the corner of her vision. After spying it a couple of times, she eventually realised it was a panther - or so she thought. But a panther? In London?

At first, she thought it may be a hallucination induced by the stress of her mother's death. She knew she didn't have the most stable mind and so she reinitiated her counselling sessions and began taking the pills prescribed by them. But nothing worked. The panther returned - sometimes she caught glimpses of it through the crack in her curtains at night, stray light beams bouncing off it's glossy fur. Though it's presence unnerved her, she soon realised it didn't want to interact with her - just exist, showing up every now and again. At least, it didn't seem hostile.

So she stopped taking her meds and told her counsellor that the panther had gone. She tried to carry on with her life - even the named the blasted hallucination 'Whisper', on how it seemed to appear in the oddest of places, silent as whisper - but her OCD tendencies seemed to be leaking back into her life. She went on a couple of restaurant dates but once they saw how methodically she cut up her pizza or how her food had to separate on the plate, they never seemed to want a repeat. Frustrated, she did the most impulsive, unpredictable thing she'd ever done in her life and booked a flight to America, without even booking somewhere to stay first. Though it took every scrap of her strength not to plan it out, once she realised what she had done, she felt liberated. She boarded the plane and ended up in Iowa.

And then found herself in some small town called Rainey. It was beginning to hit her how rash her decision had been.

---

Name:
Whisper

Appearance:


Not overly large - but about the size of a wild wolf - Whisper has piercing green eyes and frequently visits Emma at nights, where she catches glimpses of him when she's putting out the trash or closing the curtains. She has been seeing it for about two years now, and tries to ignore it, even if she finds herself doing a double take. Apart from initially her counsellor, she has never mentioned Whisper to anyone else, believing her brain to be damaged beyond help and has decided she will just deal with it. Though she's still not exactly sure how...

I am liking how everyones stalker is different.

robtheguru said
I am liking how everyones stalker is different.

Ditto. I think it'll make the story more interesting. This one's got a lot of potential

Lily Kierstrider said
Ditto. I think it'll make the story more interesting. This one's got a lot of potential

Lets hope we're all still here six months from now talking about how amazing it is :P

Posting my char tonight! !

Emma and Whisper are both accepted. Cute little kitty.

Robert is accepted, and I'll take the Puppet on the condition that it doesn't look exactly like Jigsaw (though similarities are fine). I like how the Stalker is a very new thing to him.

Zaga, I look forward to seeing it!

Seems a lot of characters have some sort of tragic loss in their past. Maybe I should incorporate that into the mythos I'm slowly putting together.

Name: Ephany Downhardt

Appearance:

Gender: Female

Age: 23

Occupation: Struggling Artist

Place of Residence: Montpelier, VT

Biography:
Ephany was born and raised in a rural forgotten-name town in Vermont, breathing in the smells of decaying wood houses and moist dirt roads that lead through forests of beautiful maple trees. Occasionally, if she sat underneath their red and gold canopies long enough, she could smell the sweet syrup seeping from the bark on its own accord. During her childhood, nothing could replace the content silence of her solo exploration and personal discoveries. However, as less and less remained undiscovered and the boundaries of her world shrunk, the outside world had a growing appeal. The space between her family’s home and the closest town was a car ride of forty minutes; the nearest home with children was almost the same, making it close to impossible for regular interaction with others her age. She was homeschooled by her mother until the end of high school – her eyes constantly on the horizon.
After completing her high school education, Ephany had a dream to pursue the arts at the fine arts school in Bennington, Vermont. The night before moving to her new apartment and starting school, she took one final stroll through her favorite trails between the maple trees. She hoped their smell would cling to her like ‘white on rice’, as her mother would say. However, that night… something else would cling to her that she wasn’t expecting.
Under the cover of shadows, Ephany witnessed a brutal murder. The sounds caught her attention first, and stopped her dead in her tracks. The gruesome cutting sounds, the deafening ‘crack’ that needed no visual… bone was splitting and joints were being yanked loose. The muffled screams didn’t last as long. Whatever was covering the victim’s mouth, or choking them, was working… everyone in the world remained oblivious to what was happening except Ephany. For two solid hours she stood in terrified silence and watched each limb separate from the victim’s body, watched every drop of blood fall onto the ground and stain the deep rich soil with death. After the butcher had left, finally satisfied with his work, Ephany remained.
How she managed to pull herself away from the scene that night, she never figured out. For three years after, the guilt built up inside of her. The secret raged against her insides and demanded acknowledgment and resolve that never came. Her schooling suffered, and eventually, she decided that a trip may help her aching mind. She took what extra money she had and purchased a bus ticket, not caring where it went or how long it took to get there…

Name: Noname

Appearance:


Habits: The apparition started following Ephany almost immediately after she returned home from witnessing the murder. At first, she thought it was a hallucination… a creation sprung from her nightmares (which were frequent) that lingered in her eyes after waking from a terrible sleep. Then she started seeing it in the day time… It followed and never spoke, but somehow, she never doubted what it was. She didn’t know what to call it, but she had to call it something… she couldn’t imagine the poor creature wandering around in spirit with no name after it had already lost everything in life; lost everything in life because of her cowardice.
She called it Noname. Like a heavy cloak, draped over her shoulders in the summertime, the ‘thing’ haunted her. Its form was ever-changing and always appearing more ghastly than it had before. Some nights it would materialize with no arms… some nights, its neck would be hanging by one lone flap at the nape. But never would it detach from the shadows…never would it have a face… and never would it tell her why. In all honestly, it didn’t have to. She knew the reason and had accepted the burden of Noname’s “company” for the rest of her life. It was what she deserved, after all…