The Halloween Party

[Ruins]

Dear [Your Name Here],

I, Doctor Perry Dochs, request the pleasure of your company at my manor for a Halloween party on Sunday, October 30th at eight o'clock in the evening. There will be a dinner at nine o'clock before dancing until midnight. Come in costume. Rooms are available overnight on request.

 

Please RSVP by October 20th.

Dochs Manor,

[insert address here],

Scotland

 

You're not sure what, exactly, you did to earn a party invitation from the famous Dr Perry Dochs - adventurer, naturalist, botanist, millionaire eccentric, champion wrestler, tuba player, and Shakespearian actor - but there's no way on Earth you're going to turn it down. You've heard of Dr Doch's amazing parties and his grand mansion, stuffed the gills with beautiful artifacts from his wanderings all over the globe. The stories you've heard of his adventures almost beggar belief and you just know that he has far more exciting tales to tell. Some part of you had always hoped to attend, even if you'd known that there was no hope of being invited. Well, you suppose, that was then and this is now.

 

Maybe he's heard of your achievements and wants to meet you in person, or maybe he'd scouting out members for his next exploring party. You have no doubt that there's going to be some famous faces there and it could be your chance to really put yourself on the map. Now, the only question is: what costume are you going to wear?

 

This is going to be the social event of the year, a party to die for. Perhaps literally...

 

Plot

Your cliche 'go to a party and someone dies' story (I love them so much) with maybe a little twist. Who knows. Think Dangan Ronpa but with adults and a Halloween party instead of kids and a school. Or that Hercule Poirot story of the same name. Or Cluedo. Anyway.

 

You're a person highly skilled in and perhaps famous for something - authors, athletes, singers, scientists, whatever - and you've received an invitation to a swanky do at Dr Doch's Scottish mansion. His isolated, out-of-the way mansion in the middle of the countryside, which has no mobile signal (the wi-fi isn't great either) and is only reachable by five and a half miles of lonely one-lane road... But never mind all that, eh? You're here to eat, drink, and be merry, not worry about geography!

 

You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into.

 

Setting

Dr Doch's mansion is set miles away from the madding crowd, it's well-tended garden surrounded by a tall stone wall (too tall to climb) and the world kept away by a sturdy wrought iron gate. The garden is generously furnished with trees, bushes, and an ornamental lake sits at the back of the mansion. Staff are sleeping for tonight in a small 'granny annex' in the corner of the garden; they consist of 2 chefs, 2 maids, and 3 waiters.

 

Outside of the wall is miles and miles of heath, sheep, and hills. The nearest town (well, village) is five and a half miles away.

Floor Plan - Ground Floor

Floor Plan - Upper Floor

 

Rules

- DC rules, of course.

- Two characters per person. Label them 'keeping' and 'killable' depending on which you see them as.

- I'll be playing Dr Dochs, one character, and acting as DM. That means I control NPCs (staff) and will throw puzzles and hazards at you to liven things up (or deaden, as the case may be).

- A good mystery is more fun when everyone has something to hide. Giving your characters a secret or a hidden past is a good way of adding tasty drama. As DM, I'd like to know these secrets (don't tell anyone else, though!).

- This is all just for fun. So have fun!

 

Form - PM Me!

[B]Username:[/B]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b] (17+)
[b]Looks:[/b] (Remember, it's a fancy Halloween ball! Links to pics accepted.)
[b]Personality:[/b]
[b]Special Skill:[/b]
[b]Other Skills:[/b]
[b]Weaknesses:[/b]
[b]Kill Or Keep?:[/b]
[b]Dark Secret:[/b]

 

Characters

Username: Ruins

Name: Dr Perry Dochs

Age: 57

Looks: Imagine your typical Victorian explorer and there you are. Dr Dochs is a blast from the past, a throwback to another age. He's tall, solid, with a magnificent handlebar moustache and twinkling blue eyes; his dark brown hair, now streaked with grey and white, is cut short and he has a permanent tan. Dochs has scars all over his body, deep laughter lines, and his left index finger is missing. Fittingly, tonight he's dressed as a Victorian adventurer with a pith helmet and all the typical get-up.

Personality: Much like his appearance suggests, Dr Dochs is a jovial risk-taker who loves adventure and the thrill of discovery more than anything else. He seems to be channeling the spirit of Brian Blessed at all times; if you tell him a joke, he'll roar with laughter and slap you on the back so hard you might pitch face-first into your dinner. However, Dr Dochs is also an intellectual who knows - and cares - a great deal about the plants and animals of Earth. You might notice there's not a single hunting trophy or animal product in his house. He's also vegetarian. (Some people suspect him of having a deep, dark secret; these types always do.)

Special Skill: Being a badass Teddy Roosevelt-esque adventurer.

Other Skills: Playing the tuba, acting, swimming, not getting killed.

Weaknesses: His age and lifestyle is catching up with him, both physically and mentally. Too fond alcohol for his own good. He takes pills for something, but what? Nobody knows.

 

Username: Ruins

Name: Jane Maple

Age: 28

Looks: They used to call her 'Plain Jane' at school. She is firmly but not unpleasantly average in height, weight, and looks, with brown eyes, black hair, and a round face. Jane is mixed race (black mother, white father) with brown skin and a corkscrew curl to her neatly bobbed hair. She could be cute or even pretty if she smiled, but Jane always has a look on her face that ranges from sour, mocking, contemptuous, to just plain bored - she can't seem to manage anything more friendly than a sardonic smirk. There's an unhealthy cast to her skin and deep shadows under her eyes. At the party, is dressed as a plague doctor, complete with mask and stick.

Personality: Jane is bitter and cynical to the core, unpleasant to anyone and everyone she meets. She delights in playing the gadfly and infuriating others, driving them to fury with a barrage of insults and barbed remarks; nothing escapes her poisoned tongue and nothing seems to please her. She used to be far more pleasant when she first came into the public eye, but the trauma she experienced has taken away her sweetness. They whisper that she has problems with drugs or alcohol and that she's seeing a therapist regularly.

Special Skill: Crime fiction author. Jane rose to fame at a young age under the penname Garth Christian, penning gripping and gruesome tales about serial killers and other unpleasant characters. Her most famous creation was the White Rose Butcher, who carved his victims up with professional skill and left a single white rose on their body - sometimes between the teeth, in an empty eye socket, or where their heart used to be. Then, in real life, someone began to copy these murders, killing three before vanishing without a trace. The missing heart, tongue, and eye of the victims were mailed to Jane's home in a neatly wrapped box. Jane retired from the writing business for almost two years, taking up the bottle in place of books, but has recently given up drink and published a short story based on her experiences. Fans hope that this means she will be taking up the pen once more.

Other Skills: Intelligent, genre savvy, good memory, keen listener, has learnt self-defense.

Weaknesses: Physically unfit, unpleasant personality, suffers from trauma, scared of blood and the dark, can't swim.

 

Username: hjy213

Name: Jamieson Milford

Age: 32

Looks: Jamieson has short, light-brown hair that is slicked back, blue eyes (from colored contacts, his real eyes are green), and wears cosmetic glasses. He is a white male, with squarish features, and has a little bit a stubble. He has a perpetual smile on his face that bursts with confidence, and moves with the same amount of confidence. He has a toned body, and is fairly tall at 6’3”. He claims to work out to charm the ladies, but really it’s just to protect himself. To the party, he is dressed as the zombified main character of a movie he worked in, who conveniently has the same looks as him with fake glasses and all. He wears a damaged three piece cream-colored suit, and brown dress shoes, all splattered with blood, prosthetic rotting flesh, and some fake blood gushing out.

Glasses

Suit

Personality: Jamieson is a very gentlemanly person, speaking in a well-mannered way, and with suave. He has a lot of charisma, always one to chat with others, though he always skillfully steers a conversation away from himself. He comes off as friendly while doing this, but usually does so for his own benefit. He can be almost sickeningly cheerful, always trying to put a positive spin on things.

Special Skill: Jamieson is a world-class makeup artist, having multiple awards under his belt for his work, especially in murder-mystery movies, being commended for his great work at creating incredibly believable wounds.

Other Skills: Great at keeping secrets, incredibly analytical, and trained in hapkido.

Weaknesses: Has an intense fear of guns, and has very bad trust issues.

 

Username: hjy213

Name: Joan Jung-eun Park

Age: 22

Looks: Joan has long black hair that she keeps up in a ponytail, black eyes, and tanned skin. She wears prescription contact lenses for her eyes, and usually has a Bluetooth earpiece in her ear, even when she cannot contact anyone. To the party, she is dressed as Hong Kil Dong, the Korean Robin Hood, not really caring that it’s a male costume.

Personality: Though Joan seems like a very altruistic person, she is a bit of a conniving woman. She enjoys speaking with others, and getting to know people’s stories, going so far as to say that she loves the relationships people have, finding them an important part of life, as she has relied on relationships to get to her position. As a very observant person, Joan will always try to say what will make a person feel better, leading to some very elaborate lies.

Special Skill: Joan is a very persuasive young woman, coming off as confident with everything she says, and the reputation to back it as a young genius and entrepreneur. She is known for being an inspirational speaker, the CEO of her own touring company and the granddaughter of a high-ranking Korean diplomat, always knowing exactly what to say to get others to work their hardest. Because she is used to being in front of very large crowds, she is also very good at working under pressure.

Other Skills: Joan is a skilled pianist, violinist, debater, and is also a practitioner of kendo, though she is not very skilled due to the lack of free time.

Weaknesses: Because Joan is very confident and prepared for various situations, when she comes across something she hasn’t learned of, or doesn’t understand, she can break down in reasoning and confidence, leading to a muddling of knowledge in her head.

 

Username: Mephaesto

Name: James

Age: 22

Looks: James has an affinity for the older dress styles(e.g. Victorian). He has a boyish face with clean cut black hair. He walks with a cane although he doesn't need one. Ever since he was but 8 years old James has always had a fascination with the fantastical and paranormal. Due to this he began to read every book related to the subject. Seven short years later he dropped out of school and became a paranormal and demonology specialist, a master in his field. He even came to go by the alias Delanotus due to it's mystic nature. If you were to look on the inside of his suit coat you would find a plethora of pentagrams and various spells for exorcising spirits.

General Appearance

Personality: He is a rather closed off person, not really wanting to interact with others although if he should allow someone into his inner circle he becomes a torrent of knowledge and humor. He is also very smart and intuitive often making conjectures and guesses that seem to magically some true.

Special Skill: Master of Demonology and the Paranormal

Other Skills: able to fix a lot of problems due to his tinkering habit, able to see very well in the dark, can play the violin

Weaknesses: His reliance on the acceptance of others is crippling; if someone should outright show their disdain with him he would mentally "shut down."

 

Username: Chrysophylox

Name: Aya "Bird" Quinn

Age: 23

Looks: Aya was born with platinum blond hair that he dyed light pink with bright red streaks. He usually puts it up in twintails. He's bigender and swaps between identifying as a boy and a girl, and he grew his hair long enough to reach his chest so it would be easier for him to flip between his two genders. His eyes are hazel and can change from green, blue, to a golden brown depending on the lighting. He has a slim figure, but underneath his drapey clothes are still some firm muscles from his years of dancing. He stands at 5'3" (160 cm).

His costume is a flowing, black gown with a large feather collar. He has gold eye makeup on and glossy black nail polish.

Personality: Aya is a complete flirt, able to strike up a conversation with almost anyone--everyone if he really tries, but he usually doesn't. Aya likes to take risks, usually the first one to jump at the opportunity for an adventure. He doesn't have a very good sense of self control, however, and so he tends to end up in situations that he could have avoided entirely. He doesn't care much for other people's feelings, and he'll say things as they come to mind; he's not entirely tactless, but he doesn't believe in "coddling" people by sugarcoating words. He's also very arrogant and loves to be the center of attention; he hates being ignored. He could be seen as selfish and rude, as a result.

Special Skill: Aya is the leader of a dance duo known as Phoenix Rain. The duo is quite well-known, with millions of followers and subscribers all over social media.

Other Skills: Near perfect eyesight. Parkour. Quick wit. Sharp, possibly venomous, tongue.

Weaknesses: Hot people. Very arrogant. Doesn't care for other people's feelings and can't make or keep many friends as a result. Easily insulted and easily insults people. All-around ***hole? Almost drowned when he was a child and has a fear of large bodies of water, including swimming pools.

 

Username: Chrysophylox

Name: Zephyr Hashan

Age: 22

Looks: Zephyr has dark skin and glossy black hair. His hair runs down to his chin, and he has a messy fringe as well. He has dark blue eyes and a pair of red half-rimmed glasses. He's more visibly muscular than Aya, but still quite thin. He stands at 5'10" (180 cm).

His costume is quite simple, consisting of a white button-down shirt, the top two buttons of which are undone, and a pair of white rolled-up slacks. He has a pair of white angel wings, one of which is loosely wrapped in bandages at the base. The other wing looks like it's been torn out, as the only sign it was ever there is a cluster of feathers. He wears silver contacts, with silver makeup on his right eye.

Personality: Zephyr is shy and very introverted, but he talks much more when he's around Aya. He hates the unknown, and he almost never takes risks. He's easy to convince, though, so he often ends up being talked into things that he then ends up being very unhappy about and complains to Aya about. He's very understanding and easy to talk to, despite how socially awkward and anxious he seems. He loves daydreaming, and his short attention span means he often drifts off in the middle of a conversation and loses his train of thought. He doesn't seem to have a lot of interests, only forcing himself to be energetic during performances.

Special Skill: Zephyr is the other member of Phoenix Rain.

Other Skills: Figure skating. Quick reflexes. Very flexible.

Weaknesses: Nearsighted. Weak-willed. Has some form of anxiety disorder. Very afraid of the dark.

Edited September 29, 2016 by Ruins

[TehUltimateMage]

Tagged, mostly because I love murder games (and Danganronpa) too. Give me a bit to figure out my characters.

[Thaelasan]

So... make my couple... BUT CHOOSE ONE TO BE KILLABLE?

 

Oh god I'd have to spend the whole RP protecting him/her. UGH!

[halfsourpickle]

if we make two characters, are we required to make one killable and one to keep? or can they both be killable/to keep?

[Thaelasan]

You have to have one killable and one keepable. I may just leave it up to the OP, but I already have two characters in mind.

[Ruins]

Hey guys! Good to see this party's guest list filling up nicely.

 

You can actually have BOTH of your characters marked as killable, but that would put you without any way to play if both of them somehow ended up dead. So making one keepable would insure you always had a hand in the game, so to speak.

[Ruins]

[[OOC: We have our stage, we have a nice amount of players. Let's get this flying circus on the road.

 

It's still open until the plot is well and truely underway. You can just be a bit late to the party.]]

 

Somewhere in Scotland...

The clock on Doctor Perry Doch's mantelpiece struck half past seven, a flurry of chimes interrupting its steady mechanical tick. The man at sitting at the bureau stilled his pen and looked up, a small smile crossing his face as he took in the time. Even under the ticking of the clock and the weather outside, Dochs could hear the kitchen bustling with activity downstairs as the staff prepared the guest's meals and footsteps as the table was prepared and last minute adjustments were made to the dinner table and decorations. The first guests should be arriving soon - he knew that it simply wouldn't do to be late to a party like this, no matter how far from civilisation it was. Not unless you were what they called 'fashionably late', of course. He had never understood the idea, himself, being of the mind that being exactly on time made you late at the very best. But he supposed that all minds worked differently - in some places, events merely happened when they happened to happen, with no attempt at sticking to any sort of schedule. And the best laid battle plans rarely survived the enemy, especially not when you were out in the African bush and the enemy was Mother Nature herself and all her fickle whims. Not that he hoped that anything like that would occur tonight, of course. He had planned this night - this event - for months now and he wouldn't stand to see it ruined by chance and weather, and definitely not by sloppiness and laziness.

 

Speaking of which, it was time to prepare himself to receive his guests. Dr Dochs ceased his writing and put his pen to one side, letting the ink dry on the page before folding up the sheet of paper neatly and sliding it into a crisp white envelope, which he placed into one of the bureau's cubbyholes. He rose and stretched, wincing as his bones protested in a chorus of clicks and pops. Oh, his doctor was right, his age was getting to him. A life of excitement and adventure hadn't been kind on his old bones; his back was starting to ache in the mornings and his knees liked to complain when the weather turned bad. Sometimes he could still feel the dull, stabbing pain where a gorilla poacher had landed a lucky shot in the meat of his leg in Rwanda back in '78. Or was it '87? It was getting harder and harder to remember these days... The thought sent a shiver down his spine. 'How easily things are forgotten,' Dochs mused to himself, 'even those things that we swore to ourselves - or even to others - that we would never forget. Gone, as if washed away by the tides or the waters of the Lethe. At least I know this evening will be one they'll never forget...'

 

With that thought in mind, Dr Dochs went to put the last finishing touches on what promised to be the Halloween party of the year - or possibly the decade.

 

Elsewhere in Scotland, but not too far away...

Car headlights sliced through the darkness as the car, a sleek dark Aston Martin barely a year old, made its slow but steady way down the single-lane road to Doch's mansion. (What was it called again? She couldn't remember. Something pretentious, no doubt, or hideously tasteless in a posh sort of way.) Jane Maple scowled out of the window as the car bumped its way down the path, her own sour face reflected back at her on the glass. Her arms were folded across her chest and the mask of her costume lay on her lap, discarded in the warmth of the climate-controlled car. It was dark outside, the Sun having set almost two hours ago, and the wind was starting to pick up; it whistled around the car like a chorus of ghosts. She swore she could hear rain on the roof - or was it small stones pinging off the bodywork, chipping and ruining her car's gleaming paint? Jane's scowl deepened and she leaned forward to address her driver, a tall and gangling man with many freckles (far too many, Jane thought; he looked like an underfed cheetah) called Sean.

 

"Careful along this road, Sean!" she said tartly, pronouncing it 'seen'; Jane had almost no accent at all, Sean had long since noticed. It had all been trained out of her. She sounded like an old-fashioned BBC newsreader. "I don't want my paint getting chipped - the price of repairs will be coming out of your next paycheque if it is." Having said her piece Jane leant back, giving him a warning look that promised him a role in her next book if he messes up - as an idiot who gets gruesomely murdered.

 

"I will, ma'am." grumbled Sean, wondering what he did to deserve such a foul old witch as an employer. Not to mention how someone younger than he was managed to seem five times his age sometimes; she reminded him of his not-so-dear departed mother-in-law sometimes, she really did. "And it's 'Sean', ma'am, pronounced 'shawn'."

 

"Right. And it's 'Jane', pronounced like 'I don't care'. I pay you to drive, Seen, not chat, so keep your eyes on the road. I don't want to end up dying in a fiery wreck because you were too busy nitpicking my use of the English language."

 

Sean sighed deeply, rolling his eyes in the secure knowledge that even a witch like Jane Maple couldn't see through the back of his head. "Yes, ma'am."

 

"And don't roll your eyes like that - I saw you in the rear view mirror!"

 

"No, ma'am." Sean reached across to the radio and turned it on, hoping to drown out his employer's foul temper. He'd have thought that being invited to a swanky do in a real mansion would sweeten her a little, especially a Halloween bash being held by none other than Doctor Perry Dochs, but she seemed as bitter as ever, if not even more so. He had to wonder why she bothered to turn up if all she was going to do is complain about it; he had to feel sorry for all the others who got invited and lumped in with this sourpuss. 'Talk about a killjoy...' he thought sympathetically.

 

Meanwhile, the radio hissed and crackled as it struggled to find a signal so far away from a mast. 'He shoots, he scor- Cshhhhhhaaa... A wandering minstrel I, a thing of... Cshhhha... gale force eight imminent.'

 

"For God's sake! Turn that thing off!" And for once, Sean was glad to do what she told him to.

Edited September 27, 2016 by Ruins

[Ruins]

((Kickin' this up to the top so people see it.))

[Mephaesto]

It was getting rather late and James was busy organizing his book collection yet again. This was a weekly routine for him; it seemed no matter how many times he cleaned up it was always messy seconds later. As he was moving some books off of his desk he saw an envelope addressed to him. "Awe Crap!" he though to himself, "That's tonight!" It was upon that realization that he quickly a couple of his most prized books into a leather knapsack, put on his coat, and walked outside. After a few minutes a cab rounded the corner and James hailed it.

 

"What can I do ya for?" the cabbie asked.

"I was wondering if you would kindly take me to this address." James replied handing the man the invitation.

"Well I s'pose I can do that but it'll cost ya a pretty penny it will."

"That's fine I just need to get there as quickly as possible."

"Alright hop in the back there; what's your station of choice?"

"Um...well...could I trouble you for the classical station?" A few moments later Chopin began playing. "Ah, thank you."

 

With that the cabbie was off, taking James to Dr. Doch's house.