"What lay behind our joint love of shadows and marvels was, no doubt, the ancient, mouldering, and subtly fearsome town in which we live – witch-cursed, legend-haunted Arkham, whose huddled, sagging gambrel roofs and crumbling Georgian balustrades brood out the centuries beside the darkly muttering Miskatonic." - H. P. Lovecraft
Premise
Avery Wildes is old money. It is said that her ancestor was one of the first to set foot in the place that would become Arkham, and her families history has been intertwined with the city ever since. Her family has always been close to the beating heart of the city, and Avery is no exception. The balls and parties hosted at Wilde Hall are near-legendary, and by brushing shoulders with the rich and powerful of Arkham, Avery has ensured that her family will not fade into obscurity. Her husband's recent sudden death has done nothing to dampen these gatherings, in fact they seem only to have spurred the hostess onwards.
You have heard of these parties, perhaps you have even crossed paths with the Wildes family, but you were still not expecting to find an invitation arriving at your door. Somehow, you have caught Avery's attention, and as the night of the gathering approaches, you find your attention turning towards who else might have received these mysterious invitations. The only information you have received is a date, a time of arrival, and an instruction that this particular event will be a masquerade ball, and that your title for the evening has already been chosen for you. But you know there is more to it than that. Invitation or not, there is something you need in Wilde Hall, something that is calling to you, haunting your very dreams...
Overview
Setting: Lovecraft's Arkham, and the surrounding area Time Frame: 1920's Prohibition-era America RP Tags: Historical, High Casual, Advanced, Large Group, Eldritch Horror, Mystery, Tabletop Characters: Journalists, students, professors, detectives, criminals, socialites, private investigators Themes: A period mystery drama, with a heavy dose of Lovecraftian horror. Your character will have their own personal motivations for attending the Wilde Hall ball, as well as goals as a group with your fellow PC's. Style: I'm looking for three or four paragraphs per post as a minimum. I'm not too fussed if this ends up in the Casual or Advanced sections, but I'll still be expecting regular and engaging posts.
Rules
Be excellent to each other. This means show respect to everyone, player, GM or lurker, whether that's respecting the choices and decisions of other players, or simply be courteous to one another.
No god-modding or meta-gaming of any kind. There may be moments in this RP where the players are separated, and discover different things. Unless you were present, or were told about it, you don't know about it. End of.
Real life always comes first, but please only join this if you envision that you will have the time to participate, and also let me know if you are going to be away for a prolonged period of time. Characters can be made NPC, but I prefer to know if you are dropping out, or merely going through some real-life issues.
I'm aiming for the updates to come every 1-2 weeks, so please aim to post at least once between updates. If someone fails to post within this time, I won't hold everyone else up, so don't risk getting left behind!
This is intended to be a role-play that everyone can enjoy, so please put effort into your posts! You should (hopefully) have no shortage of things to write about, so I expect at least 2-3 solid paragraphs per post. I would prefer acceptable spelling and grammar, but I'm not demanding professional level stuff! A lot of people role-play to improve their own writing skills, I know I certainly have, so you're welcome as long as you put effort into your post.
I am intending to use 'hidden stats' to make rolls throughout this RP, modelled on the roleplaying system 'Call of Cthulu'. No prior experience with that system is required.
This is a mystery RP, and there may well be information you hold that is not common knowledge. While I cannot force you not to share this knowledge, I do hope that people will buy into the idea of hidden agendas and goals!
Please select your own colour for your character, and use that colour code for your application. If a colour is already claimed, please refrain from applying with it.
This RP is set in 1920s America, and draws heavy influence from the works of Lovecraft. Both of those facts require a quick disclaimer. Lovecraft held deeply racist and outdated personal views, but we can still appreciate the brilliance and imagination of his art, without celebrating the views of the artist. In a similar vein, the 1920s played host to a number of views that are outdated today, whether that regarded race, gender, sexuality or religion. I will not be intentionally leaning into any of these aspects, but be aware that they do exist in the world of this RP.
I reserve the executive power to reject, or to expel, any character, and I do not need to divulge my reasoning. Hopefully I will never have to, but this is a reminder.
Name: Wentworth Thomas Avebury Aliases: Tommy Occupation: Languages Professor - Miskatonic University Age: 58 Birthplace: Arkham Race/Ethnicty: White Gender: Male
Physical Attributes
Height: 5'10" Weight: 198 lbs Build: Wiry Eyes: Dark brown Hair: Grey/White Skin Tone: Pale Tattoos/Scars/Piercings:
Thank you to everyone that has made it this far! I've been toying with this idea for a while now, and I think it's finally ready to see the light of the day. Hopefully it will provide everyone with a healthy dose of mystery, suspense, thrills and cosmic horror! Something sinister is always afoot in Arkham, and Wilde Hall is no exception. The characters must work together if they are to survive the night, but each player also has a private objective, some goal that has drawn them to Wilde Hall, some secret agenda that they must achieve for their own ends.
You may notice that the Character Sheet is quite thin on the ground (namely the lack of any real background), and that ties directly to the mystery of the RP. Apply as normal, with the Character Sheet template provided, and I will then work with you to create your 'secret agenda', and develop the skills that you'll use throughout the roleplay.
If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to ask, either here in the OOC, or through PMs. I am always happy to answer any queries, no matter how detailed or vague they may be, and it never hurts to ask.
Height: 172cm/5'6" Weight: 55kg/121lbs Build: Slight Eyes: Grey Hair: Deep black Skin Tone: Extraordinarily fair Tattoos/Scars/Piercings: Four lobe piercings- nothing that would stand out as unusual.
Name:Alvin Fennel Aliases:Alvy, Fen Occupation:Linguistics Student at Miskatonic University Age:22 Birthplace:Boston Massachusetts Race/Ethnicty:White Gender:Male
Physical Attributes
Height:5’7 Weight:161 lbs Build:Lanky and thin, with an almost underfed look to his face. Eyes:Pale Blue Hair:Light Brown Skin Tone:Pallid Tattoos/Scars/Piercings:Small scar under his left eye from a fishing trip accident when he was a boy.
@Lady Selune Renee is considered, and accepted! Feel free to post her in the Characters tab, and I'll add her as an accepted character and then shoot you a PM to work out what brings the Mademoiselle to Wilde Hall. One quick point is that you have 'Curious' as both a positive and a negative trait? Just checking if that's intentional or not. Curiosity did kill the cat after all.
@DruSM157 Alvin is also accepted. He'll be welcome in the Characters Tab at your leisure, and I'll get in touch to help work out why a Linguistics Student finds himself rubbing shoulders with the rich and powerful at Wilde Hall!
Name: Drachen Steinboden Aliases: Ogre, Giant, The Big Man Occupation: Part time Boxer, Shipping Owner Age: 29 Birthplace: Chreilsheim Germany Race/Ethnicty: Caucasian Gender: Male
Physical Attributes
Height: 6'4 Weight: 314lb Build: Tall and Broad, he's a very big and well-built man Eyes: Gray Hair: Black Skin Tone: Rough and Tan Tattoos/Scars/Piercings: Heavy scarring on his hands and arms
@Kazemitsu Really interesting character idea, and certainly fits the role of a bruiser for the group. Two quick points before I accept Drachen. Firstly, if you can knock a few inches off his height, it would work better. At 6'6", he's just too tall for any sneaking/snooping/skulking, and that's half the fun! Something like 6'3/4 is a lot easier to work with. And secondly, I think his traits are a little contradictory at the moment? I'm not sure you can be empathetic and protective, while also being anti-social, as they seem to clash? Other than that, I like it so far!
@Dark Cloud Don't feel like you need to rush! Unless I start getting bogged down by applicants, then I've not got any intentions of closing it off, so just take your time. That goes for anyone else who might be reading. The doors are open, and if they're going to close, I'll let everyone know in advance.
Name: Opportunity Knox Aliases:Tuney, Petunia, Opp, Lady Dalrymple Occupation: Dilettante (Aviatrix) Age: 25 Birthplace: Colombo, Ceylon Race/Ethnicty: White Gender: Female
Physical Attributes
Height: 5'8 Weight: 140 lb Build: Athletic Eyes: Blue Hair: Black Skin Tone: Very Tan Tattoos/Scars/Piercings: Keloid scar from a gunshot wound on her left side
Psychological Attributes
Adventuress * Direct * Brave * Gallows Humor * Polite * British
Name: Moses Benjamin Reaves Aliases:Reaves, Mister Rivers Occupation: a Hardworking Entrepeneur Age: 42 Birthplace: Arkham, Massachusetts Race/Ethnicty: White; Second Generation Irish Gender: Male
Physical Attributes
Height: Just under six-foot Weight: About 220, depends on the jacket Build: a Strapping physique that's gone to seed but still fills out a suit nicely Eyes: Dirty brown and a little bloodshot Hair: Black with salting at the temples and the beard Skin Tone: Average with freckling over the nose Tattoos/Scars/Piercings: Inking under the cuffs and scarring from a busted nose
@Kazemitsu Fixes look good, so consider Drachen accepted. I'll send a PM your way shortly, but for now feel free to move him over to the Characters Tab.
@Penny Opportunity fits the bill, and while I'm mildly offended by 'British' being a negative trait, Consider her accepted, and I'll send you a PM to hammer out the rest of the details. Not that it's dependent on your acceptance, but I wouldn't be against you choosing a different shade of green? Just so it stands out more from the green I've been using for the OOC.
@psych0pomp Reaves looks primed to be smote! Same as with the others, feel free to move him over to the Characters Tab, and I'll be in touch.
For everyone else, that takes us up to five foolish brave adventurers. I was intending to run this with 'around' six, but I don't have a hard limit. If you're working on a sheet, or thinking of starting one, let me know, just so I can get an idea of numbers.
@POOHEAD189 Absolutely. There will be other guests at the party, so there's plenty of scope to join in as another guest even after the party is in full slaughter swing. And that of course goes for anyone and everyone who's lurking, and not sure about joining.
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