tale as old as time

[groundrules]

Hello lovely old & new! You can find below a summary of what to expect in our upcoming cooldown event, which stretches until 10 January. A mod-led log with further cosmetic details goes up on 9 December, and you’re welcome to make your own logs & posts!

Coming off the heels of Arc VII, you can either use this period to deepen CR and unwind or solve the mystery of the beast of castle Netvor.

EPHES: CONCLUSION

As the party convinces him of his patron’s betrayal, Hand commander Narula kills Ephes leader Caius Justus in the Senate, paving the path for a military takeover. His attempt is short-lived, as party members organize his assassination — and, with the grudging approval of the remaining senators, orchestrate the ascension of Senator Procula Avita, who formerly represented widows, veteran soldiers and orphans. Lucius Meridius, a humble veteran of some military replaces Narula.

The Senate doubles down on its commitment to undead lady Messalina, releasing her from house arrest and giving her the Hand to free her brethren from the undead Brotherhood. Critically, they also want to avoid military uprisings from the remaining followers of the deceased Narula. Messalina departs with Lucius Meridius — leaving her gratitude to the party. She will be available to help in the NPC inbox.

The witch Karsa briefly awakens the beacon of Ephes to take everyone home, and characters who dropped or idled out of the game in November are said to have safely departed. Characters undergoing a canon update are pulled back into Akhuras just as the exhausted beacon collapses, also bringing in new party members.

Formidable winter winds have blocked critical main roads from onward travel. Long-term travel is unsafe until the storms recede. The Merchant has negotiated for the party to be hosted at castle Netvor for a month’s time.

ON THE ROAD

The party departs by carriage at night, traversing misty, eerily quiet woods. Midway through the journey, they are attacked by large, bloodthirsty, demonic wolves — and travellers must abandon their carriages and run through the forest to the castle gates, where they must bribe or charm talking skeleton heads to let them in.

■ If you arrive covered in blood, the gate skulls dub you a ‘beauty.’ If you come untarnished, they call you a ‘beast.’ You can only choose one title for your character.

THE CASTLE

A study in contrasts, the northern half of the castle of Netvor appears to be destroyed and decaying, while the southern wing stays pristine. The castle rests on thick mounds of snow, crossed by red rivulets that stain ice crimson — the memento of a ‘Red Hunt’ that the Netvor clan carried out years prior, killing hundreds of animals until their blood mixed with dirt. In retaliation, a forest witch cursed the Netvor clan, transforming its heir into an unsightly beast and his servants into inanimate objects or fellow beasts. The people of nearby Panna village have largely avoided the Netvor home.

■ Julien, the prince’s serene and startlingly handsome fiancé whom you are expected to entertain in exchange for your lodging, welcomes you on arrival and explains the house rules: you must not see the prince.

■ The castle feels covetous and oppressive. If you are a ‘beauty,’ statues move when you look away, and you see shadows running through mirrors. As a ‘beast,’ you hear clawing at your windows and doors at night and find scratch marks in the morning.

THE SOUTHERN WING

Home to Julien and you, the southern wing is bright, airy and well-maintained.

■ Lavish sleeping quarters with generously supplied wardrobes. Rule: do not enter Julien’s locked bedchamber. Julien himself heads to the northern wing each night.

■ Kitchens, where bowls, whisks and ladles perpetually prepare elaborate dishes and pastries.

■ A glistening ballroom with wall-length mirrors. You feel compelled to dance, seeing in mirrors the silhouettes of faceless people you recognise from the portrait room.

■ the reading room: a wide seating area with an enormous fireplace where strange bones linger amid wood kindling.

■ Servants urge you to help decorate the southern wing for new year festivities — leading you to discover burned clothes in the castle’s nooks and crannies.

THE NORTHERN WING

The northern wing is dark, moulding, with torn wallpaper, broken furniture and soot strewn about — the signs of a failed arson attempt. The ravaged northern area leads to a tower that houses the prince’s chambers.

House rules: you cannot enter after sundown, and you must leave any room when you hear unknown footsteps behind you. Disobey, and you gradually lose consciousness as the footsteps come near, before you wake with a booming migraine in the southern wing. Do this three times, and Julien insists you must leave the castle.

■ the portrait room: containing the portraits of the Netvor clan, their faces burned, removed or clawed off.

■ The prince’s sleeping quarters are in a locked tower chamber, preceded by a wide stairwell covered in thorny roses and wilted petals. Prick your fingers on a thorn, and you briefly see names engraved on the nearby brick wall. You recognise the names from the paintings in the room of portraits.

■ A discarded notebook contains the prince’s daily entries. On the day of your arrival, he scribbled, Can men learn compassion?

■ At sunset, the stairwell roses bloom golden, while petals rain down. If you are touched in the presence of someone you dislike, you feel encouraged to apologise or make amends. In the company of someone you enjoy, you express gratitude, admiration or joy. Those who are already in love may find themselves (finally?) confessing. Optionally, some characters feel overwhelmed by bitter sadness and a feeling of captivity.

THE GARDENS

The snow-laden gardens contain archery and sword training grounds, a frosted fountain , a frozen lake for skating and several bridges for those who entertain snow fights.

■ Glancing at the castle from the gardens, you might see a dark, nebulous figure in the distance at a tower balcony you cannot find from within the castle.

DINNER IS SERVED

Each evening, you must dress in formalwear and dine in the poorly lit great ballroom of the southern wing.

■ You are asked to never look behind you, even as you hear steps, hard breathing and rattling.

■ The dishes and cutlery perform throughout an elaborate, many-course service. Diners feel compelled to trade anecdotes of their homelands and families.

■ Opt-in: Instead of dishes, you might receive an empty black plate. You must excuse yourself after dinner, lock yourself in your bedroom and keep vigil — beware letting strangers in, no matter what they say or whose voice they imitate. If you open your door, a swathe of shadows overwhelms you with deep jealousy, loneliness or insecurity. Familiar human company eases the feeling.

LITTLE TOWN

The gentle snow of the first few days worsens, until blizzard blockades you in the castle for five days ( OOCly: 17-22 December). Afterwards, servants ask you to cross the forest into Panna village for supplies.

■ The forests are largely peaceful. You find deep human footprints that lead no where, some carrying the red dirt of castle Netvor.

■ A few abandoned hunters’ cabins are still standing, repurposed as wolf dens. You find young village children are leaving cooked food and old shawls there.

■ The village is welcoming until residents hear you come from Netvor castle and begin to murmur about your witch blood.

■ Drunk hunter Viola, who may need a hand wrapping up a few brawls, takes you to bakers, brewers and lumberjacks. You may need to haggle, entreat or help these sellers to get your supplies.

QUESTIONS


THERE GOES THE BAKER WITH HIS CR

Bonjour, bonjour, bonjooouuur! Fill out the form below to plot & get some new CR in this poor, provincial town!

<b><small>PLAYER</small>:</b> <b><small>CONTACT</small>:</b> <b><small>OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP</small>?</b> <b><small>CHARACTER | CANON</small>:</b> <b><small>THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH</small>:</b> <b><small>WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION</small>?</b> <b><small>ARE THEY FEELING WELL</small>?</b> <b><small>DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS</small>?</b> <b><small>ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT</small>?</b> Remember, this has nothing to do with looks…! <b><small>PLANS</small>:</b> <b><small>GENERALLY HERE FOR</small>:</b> what kind of CR would you like? Be specific, no 'anything'!

Comments

QUESTIONS

[groundrules]

'Never part of any crowd' made Belle the perfect social distancer.



You'll get more cosmetic & setting details in the event log, so best to keep questions here down to just what you urgently need to know to figure out your general plans. You can request further clues or nitty-gritty questions when the log goes up!

[bhaalyn]

What if someone proficient in sleight of hand aka BG3 lock picking tried to pick the lock of Julien's room when he's not present?

Sanji | One Piece LA

[legsbenedict]

PLAYER: Frames
CONTACT: oopsallsadboys | oopsallsadboys @ discord
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? Absolutely

CHARACTER | CANON: Sanji | One Piece (LA)

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: pirate cook who is very passionate about food and a pretty face

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? part of an unorthodox band of pirates

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? physically or... but yes.

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? He's a romantic, so of course he does!

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? A beauty, just look at him

PLANS: Oh, he's here for someone else doing the cooking and being able to keep up with a certain captain's appetite. No solid plans as of yet, but there will definitely be investigating. And hopefully dancing.

GENERALLY HERE FOR:
-theatrical swooning over all the pretty faces
-dancing!
-just a fun little romp through the forest
-village shenanigans
-castle shenanigans
-the AESTHETIC omg
-hey, what's with the singing furniture

[downswing]

Let's go to the village, brother, and idk kidnap a ladle — Wangji can try to exorcise it (SURELY THE TALKING FURNITURE MUST BE POSSESSED), Sanji can take over the kitchen??

[inquired]

PLAYER: sisi!
CONTACT: protags
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? yes please do ♥

CHARACTER | CANON: Temenos Mistral | Octopath Traveler II

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: Like Sherlock Holmes if Sherlock Holmes could smite you with holy light.

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? Everything.

God, where do I start. Temenos is an extremely weird priest who manages to be the most blasphemous holy figure in the entire world. He frequently spaces off into his mind palace to solve crimes. He calls people wayward lambs and it's only sometimes sarcastically. He puts on paper plays for the village children that he draws himself but then can't remember the lines to the scripture he's been reciting since he was like four years old. He's thirty. He's fantasy Catholic. His hobbies include bullying, saying concerning things and breaking the law (for the greater good?). "Strange" does not even begin to cover it.

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? lol no but yes, you'd never be able to tell otherwise! :)

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? well...

Temenos is the very first person who will poke a pin in your optimism if it's necessary. Doubt is what I do, baby! That being said, while he certainly doesn't believe everyone is granted a happy ending, and life is not always rosy and happy, it's not always bad, either. Happy endings are temporary, but so are bad ones. The world isn't black and white.

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? prrrrobably a beast but i could do the beauty route too.

PLANS: being VERY nosy and investigating/trying to solve the mystery of the castle and the curse (inevitably bothering julien? probably). he'll be really good for charming the skeletons and gathering information where necessary (especially befriending the villagers! look at him he's a humble priest... how could he be a witch.....) also im glad this opens with fighting a wolf that's the first chapter of his route. funny.

ANYWAY OTHERWISE. taking confessions? doing inquisitor things? coercing information out of people being very normal?? who knows!

GENERALLY HERE FOR: i know it says no anything but i am new so i guess the thing i am looking for is to build out my cr! 🥹 temenos is a sarcastic little weirdo millenial ye olde with a good sense of humor. please be his friend. i know for sure i want to do the family chatter prompt that's up there to try and get some avenues into stuff! give me fellow magic people! give me wayward lambs in need of guidance! give me fools who get beat up and probably need to be healed!

im actually the wayward lamb holds my hands out shyly to you all

[revengeisalie]

dead parent club y/n

[traaaaaash]

PLAYER: Val
CONTACT: honeyfoot, honeyfoot on discord or DM
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? sure, go ahead!

Eda Clawthorne | The Owl House

[traaaaaash]

CHARACTER | CANON: Eda Clawthorne | The Owl House

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: part-time bird lady full-time menace

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? do you need a list?

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? Eh. She's doing okay.

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? Not really, to be honest. Even if part of her would like to, more for her kids than herself.

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? Beast! She will elegantly evade any bloodstains.

PLANS: Sleuthing, snowball fights, maybe some dinner table confessions, those unfinished brawls also sound up her alley... also she'll be donning menswear for dinner.

GENERALLY HERE FOR: Found family is always best. Also, she still could use more adult friends always. Partners in crime.

Deimos / The Dark Urge ( baldur's gate 3 ) SEEKING INSIDE!!!

[bhaalyn]

PLAYER: Sam
CONTACT: pm or pp verities
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? yes, but please ping me if you really need me. i'm not very active on plurk these days.

CHARACTER | CANON: The Dark Urge (Deimos) | Baldur's Gate 3

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: An amnesiac bard with the (dark) urge to murder anything with a pulse in his vicinity

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? See above.... pretty much his whole existence makes him strange

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? Not really, there are holes in their brain. Literally ):

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? Hope for? Yes. Believe....? Eh.... kind of hard to

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? Beauty. Impossible not to be covered in blood

PLANS:

Deimos will be beauty and will do his best to be the last one to leave the carriages behind defending the fleeing group. So feel free to use him as a shield! Otherwise you can find him generally skulking around the castle looking for hints and clues. Helping decorate to try to blend in and apparently opening up about home at dinner.... Flowers will not be making this poor boy happy, but how does one cheer up such a major emo?

SEEKING GROUP

How can you get anything done if you don't have access to everything? Deimos is proficient in sleight of hand, aka the skill used in BG3 for lock picking. Thus, Deimos will be attempting to break into Julien's room while the man is out one night. As such, our kind mod has offered a roll for success or failure based on a potential group being gathered for the escapade. In need of 2-3 max (too many people draws too many eyes) to act as (1) lookouts and (2) light magical barrier breakers. Let me know if you'd be interested in Deimos approaching your character for this!

GENERALLY HERE FOR: Looking for all kinds really. People who are disgusted by him, people who want to save him, or just people to sass him.

IMPORTANT OPT OUT!!! As expected for a character called 'The Dark Urge', Deimos' life has a number of content and trigger warnings. This is specific to him, not just overall canon, so it does impact him directly. Please take a look over here. Thank you!

[revengeisalie]

would he like to be sassed by a tiny, powerless teen girl

[clavesregni]

PLAYER: Emm
CONTACT: sprucesmooses@disco / sprucemoose
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? sure!

caitlyn kiramman | arcane

[clavesregni]

CHARACTER | CANON: Caitlyn Kiramman | Arcane

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: Lonely rich kid who just wants adventure in the great wide somewhere.

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? Probably the conspiracy theories.

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? No but as long as she doesn't acknowledge that to herself it's all good.

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? lmao yes so very much

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? Beast!

PLANS:
» Everything about this is up her alley but first and foremost on her to-do list will be doing the exact specific thing she was told not to do: find the prince. What's his deal? Why's he hiding? What are his personal private secrets? Can she help him? Can she personally completely change his life around for the better?
» Exploring the Northern Wing. Yes, after dark. Maybe enough times that she gets kicked out of the castle entirely.
» Being really miserable about dinner. If anyone wants to see Caitlyn excruciatingly bored and uncomfortable, put her in eveningwear and surround her with fancy people doing formal stuff. No matter what's breathing rattling thing is lurking over her shoulder, it can't be worse than a Formal Dinner, right?
» Running around in the woods. She'll probably be feeling Some Kind Of Way about this 'Red Hunt' thing given that she is, herself, a hunter. She'll be exploring all of those wolf dens, following tracks, etc.
» A drinking, brawling lady whose name starts with Vi, you say? Caitlyn is... intrigued.

GENERALLY HERE FOR:
» Fellow snoopers to help her snoop! Fellow investigators to help her investigate! Fellow hunters to help her run around in the woods tracking footprints!
» As always, anyone who needs a hug can come and get one.
» Anyone who would like to commiserate with her over disliking all this fancy stuff. Or anyone who would like to do the exact opposite.
» Not sure she'll have much time with all the snooping she'll be doing, but those archery training grounds could also be used for rifle practice so if anyone wants to get their riflery on, she'd be more than up for it.

Buggy | OPLA

[theflashyfool]

PLAYER: Chi
CONTACT: noassgardian
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? Of course!

CHARACTER | CANON: Buggy | One Piece LA

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: Just a silly little clown pirate who loves knives and treasure.

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? Everything, honestly. His detachable limbs maybe the most though.

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? His emotions are generally always all over the place, but generally, yeah!

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? Nah, not alwayss.

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? Beauty 😌

PLANS: Buggy is here for the food and to dress up and be hot. But I'm also down for having him get in over his head with something. The black plate at dinner and having to seek someone out later for contact would be fun? But also anything that gets the clown to ugly cry would be amusing.

GENERALLY HERE FOR: Friends, enemies, people to worship his innate talents at clownery, idk. I'm not picky, tbh.

[traaaaaash]

y'know what, I want Eda to meet the clown

luffy | one piece (la)

[bigsmile]

PLAYER: Hibiki
CONTACT: spiciest
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? Sure!

Monkey D. Luffy | One Piece (live action):

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: Do not get salt water wet, do not feed after midnight.

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? He's made of rubber after eating a devil fruit called the gumgum fruit. Also a pirate captain.

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? They feel brilliant. This whole thing is another adventure, to make friends and comrades, to explore before going home.

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? Yes, but Luffy also believes they aren't easy to achieve.

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? A beauty most likely.

PLANS: Nothing concrete yet, but Luffy will definitely be dressing up for dinner, enjoying dinner and eating as much as he can until he passes out probably. He'll also be snooping around and exploring, and is probably going to be caught out by the whole "don't look behind you" thing.

GENERALLY HERE FOR:

* dancing in the mirror room.
* food shenanigans.
* random encounters in the northern wing.
* snowball fights?
* if anyone wants to deal with a sad and despondent Luffy, then that's also doable with the flowers.
* something to fight. Luffy needs to get his fighting skills on, it's been a hot minute.

[bhaalyn]

please teach him what a snowball fight is.

yelena belova | mcu

[vdovy]

PLAYER: Lia
CONTACT: PM | cosmology | howlites on Discord
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? Yes

CHARACTER | CANON: Yelena Belova | Marvel Cinematic Universe

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: Formerly mind-controlled trained killer. (Still a trained killer, just not under mind control anymore.)

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? Raised by wolves assassins, has an Avenger for a sister, has a fashion sense like a toddler allowed to dress themselves for the first time, very unserious.

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? More or less.

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? No.

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? She'll definitely get bloody, so beauty.

PLANS: Yelena will be informing anyone who will listen that they are living in an American children's film from 1991. She'll also be breaking all/most rules in the castle, going everywhere she is not supposed to, probably getting on Julien's bad side. Highly likely she'll try to get the animate objects together to sing some songs.

GENERALLY HERE FOR: Building up existing connections and starting new CR. We've had an influx of new characters I'd love for her to meet. I love opportunities for Yelena to demonstrate her ruthlessness as well as opportunities to bring out her softer side.

[bhaalyn]

what is a film....

[blackscales]

PLAYER: Jack
CONTACT: PM or find me on discord
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? I'm in the discord server if you need me or if you aren't, I can friend you on discord. I have plurk but talk about RP once every six months if you're lucky.

CHARACTER | CANON: Wrathion | Warcraft

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me!

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? This dragon is more familiar with being a human than he is with being a dragon! He's honestly just... bad at both, however.

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? Rarely.

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? No!

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? Beauty! Man is always at least a little bloody.

PLANS:

- Constantly hypervigilant due to statues moving when he isn't looking and shadows in mirrors. He's on edge. It's a bad time.
- Exploring! Let us be nosy. There are secrets to be found!
- Shivering! Wrathion is a dragon, dragons are naturally warm creatures. Snow will just melt when it touches him, but he doesn't particularly enjoy cold climates. The difference in temperature is unpleasant.
- Reading in the reading room in the hope of there being Actual Answers there
- Playing dress up! If you want someone to help you pick an outfit, do your hair and make-up? He's your guy. Actual dancing? We Shall See.
- TBC on if I will do a spooky plate with him or not, he's slightly still getting over Anduin betraying him for the Chained God and has weird uneasy feelings to work through.

GENERALLY HERE FOR:

- Fellow people who aren't fans of the cold
- Fellow people who are SO GLAD AT LEAST THE ROOMS ARE NICE. Standards! We have STANDARDS.
- People to enjoy dress up with!
- People who will begin to get restless quickly to solve the MYSTERY OF WHAT IS GOING ON HERE. How do they solve it? What do they poke? Can he stab something?!
- People to spar with in the snow to get out the restless energy!
- People to READ with in the READING room or nose through things with!
- People to BICKER WITH or JUDGE PEOPLE'S OUTFITS WITH. Those shoes? With that dress?
- If any established CR want to pick at him for being more on edge than usual, please do, he's fine, everything is fine.
- Anything else, wildcard me!

[bhaalyn]

on the cold - IT WAS WARM IN HIS HOME HE SWEARS. judge his outfit please.

[misdirected]

PLAYER: kieran
CONTACT: tieflings
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? sure, though I mostly talk about rl. please have an indicator of who you are in your bio before you add me, or ping me first!

CHARACTER | CANON: Cole | Dragon Age: Inquisition

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: a therapist who makes you confront your trauma head on without being hired or consulted first.

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? Literally everything! He's a spirit possessing a dead mage's body who doesn't quite understand societal norms such as not airing out everyone's dirty laundry without asking first, who likes to do nice things for people without expecting anything in return, and who also is an urban legend known as the Ghost of the Spire for doing a string of murders. Despite that, he's just a good boy who wants to help! I promise!

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? As well as can be, all things considered.

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? Strangely, yes! His entire Thing is to help people feel better so that they can be happy.

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? He'll be a beauty! He doesn't mind blood at all, and so will be more than happy to fight off the wolves to protect people.

PLANS: Cole does not understand societal expectations and polite society! In fact, he dislikes it greatly! So this was a great time to get him in here c:

• For On the Road, he'll be hanging back to try to protect anyone trying to get to the castle from the carriages! He only ever wants to be helpful, so you'll find him fighting off the wolves with his daggers and trying to keep them from hurting anyone.


• For The Castle, he might actually be kind of upset about the shadows in the periphery. I think I'm gonna have him standing in a hallway awkwardly arguing with the statues about moving when he can't see them >:}
  
  • The Southern Wing: Cole will be endlessly fascinated by the escapades in the kitchen, put off by the ballroom, and absolutely make a mess of the decorations. If anyone wants to save him from strands of tinsel, that could be cute!
  
  
  • The Northern Wing: Oh bet, he's gonna be intrigued by that diary entry. He's a spirit of compassion, that's his whole jam. He's gonna be spending a lot of time crawling through the Northern Wing trying to figure out what's going on and find the prince even though he's not supposed to; company for his explorations is more than welcome!
  
  
• In the Little Town, he'll be rather upset hearing people murmur about witch blood; it's part of the reason the body he's inhabiting died in the first place. He'll also definitely want to investigate some of those hunter's cabins - why leave gifts if wolves live there?

GENERALLY HERE FOR: I'd really love some friends for him, or to gently put people off kekeke. He's definitely a weirdo, so it's not unreasonable for him to creep people out when they first meet him! If you'd like him not to read your character's heart, or if you'd like to feed me information for him to do so, I've got an opt in/out post here!

[inquired]

puts my hand on you immediately hello.... can i bring an inquisitor to your dragon age inquisition ghost....

by which i mean i'd love to do something!! maybe with the shadows or with the northern wing exploration? ♥

hermione granger | hp

[reparo]

PLAYER: Cella
CONTACT: shortitude on plurk & discord (I'm a plurk lurker but I'm pretty quick to reply to discord!)
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? ya-huh

CHARACTER | CANON: Hermione Granger | Yer a Wizard, Harry

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: Talk shit, get hit.

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? The company she keeps - she's otherwise extremely normal, I assure you!

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? ...ye - nah? All limbs accounted for at least!

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? Absolutely - but as goals to aspire to, not as something that is part of one's story if destiny wants it so.

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? Beast - Hermione definitely has a spell for cleaning the blood off herself before stepping into a castle...

PLANS: the rest of December is going to be weird (family visits!) so I'm aiming for shenanigans that don't take too much time. You can summon Hermione in network posts, inboxes, the occasional log thread, and by muttering her name three times in front of a mirror.

Oh and it goes without saying that she's going to be making herself at home in that reading room.

GENERALLY HERE FOR: OH BOY - everything? Cooling down shenanigans, friends, frenemies, more people who are simply Too Hot around her, drunk Hermione striking again, opportunities to wear those hot period drama dresses, etc.

ALSO - NEWBIES LET ME WELCOME AND LOVE YOU!!! Returning veterans, let me wink and fingergun at you...?
My dance card is open, fill it away.

[makemeasong]

I still need to tag you back but Clara's dead now :)

[makemeasong]

PLAYER: Cloude
CONTACT: lifewasawillow on discord or PM
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? yes!

CHARACTER | CANON: Clara Oswald | Doctor Who

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: Is the size of a tall twelve-year-old but has the bravery of an Amazonian.

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? Loves raisins in oatmeal cookies. She's wrong, and she should hear it.

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? Dying takes all the fun out of feeling well. But she's still alive, so hey, it's not all bad?

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? If you can make one for yourself, sure. But not everyone gets one, so that's bummer.

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? Definitely a beast; she may be dead now but she can still get...deader. She isnt fighting demonic wolves, lol.

PLANS: As not so subtly alluded too, Clara was canon-updated and now she's dead, although the Doctor did a Thing and now she's gonna LIVE FOREVER!!! It's sadder and more complicated than that but what's really important is that her heart is not beating. If your character is sensitive to knowing if someone has died/is dead or has mega-hearing and would know, then maybe that's something we can do something with! The end of her canon has her parting ways with the Doctor, and he has no idea who she is anymore, so she's generally sad but that's better than being dead??? She guesses? She sacrificed herself for someone else to live, so there's a lot of feelings about this she might need to process if your character is up for it.

GENERALLY HERE FOR:

She'll be all up in that reading room to find her nerds.

Explore with her, whether the woods or the castle.

Let her say some words to you via petals b/c it'll probably be angsty if you have an itch. If you're new CR feel free to have her be a punching bag or something.

Ice skating!

the opt-in for dinner, with Clara in either role!

Explore the forest and get supplies :)

PS: The last few weeks of my life have been like trying to wrangle a large group of both puppies and toddlers while they're all pooping everywhere. I'm very ready to dive in and do this. Definitely planning a top-level and getting our girl out there.

[reparo]

What I'm reading: if your character is sensitive to that they can tell
What I'm thinking: ok so if resting head on titties -

five hargreeves | the umbrella academy

[somebadnews]

PLAYER: bluesy
CONTACT: lonesheep / PM / ping on discord chat
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? Yes!

CHARACTER | CANON: Number Five Hargreeves | The Umbrella Academy

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: tiny unhinged ex-time assassin does math for fun

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? he's a sixty-year-old man in the body of a teenager and that makes him quirky (he was married to a mannequin and he misses her every day)

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? "it's complicated" and also varies depending on your scale and time of day, Five would either say he's fine or go on a ten minute rant on the ways the universe is screwed and nothing really matters, so why is he so desperate to fix something that wants to make him live through every flavor of apocalypse until life and death have no meaning... that kind of fine.

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? Not for himself because he doesn't really fit in the world any more, but he wants nothing more than to see his family get to experience the lives that were taken from them. That's his happy ending, you know... sentimental old man stuff like that.

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? Beauty

PLANS: I'm here for all of this. Five can teleport, as you do, so he will naturally get into places he shouldn't once he gets suspicious. The sunset roses sound like a fun moment to get him to speak some words you'd never hear him say otherwise, take advantage. I'm happy to throw him at all of this. Bring him your conspiracies he'll have plenty to say.

He's also got baggage post-Arc VII that I'm happy to play out! Many murders of not-undead were had, and he's feeling some kind of way about what went down and how his plans... worked kind of, but also now what. Old man needs an intervention and a new pet ASAP. :(

GENERALLY HERE FOR: Five can be either very intense or weirdly sentimental, you never know what you're going to get. I personally love CR that challenges him in whatever form that takes. He's very willing to Get Into Stuff if given half an insane theory, so give him a call.

He aligns with intellectuals, conspiracy-folks, assassins, anyone involved with time travel, the violent-prone, the pragmatic, and the extremely patient. Come sit with him if you want to have an interesting perspective on death and murder, but also-! The exact opposite is encouraged. His social skills are abysmal, let's see if he's learned anything after a few years existing with people.

Re: five hargreeves | the umbrella academy

[rumorate]

Violent prone Carol and violent prone Five are gonna be a good time, can't wait. Also we are due for some sibling catch up!

Nami | One Piece (Live Action)

[cartographie]

PLAYER: chel
CONTACT: baoshan or DM me
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? if we have/are going to have cr, go for it

CHARACTER | CANON: Nami, One Piece Live Action

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: Former thief turned pirate navigator, with a tragic backstory, a slightly optimistic outlook on the future, and the driest delivery you’ve ever heard.

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? Prolonged exposure to her crew is what’s making her strange, no question.

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? Better than she was upon her initial arrival, but not quite “well”.

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? To be determined, very secretly, she would like to.

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? She’s a beast from the East Blue, baby.

PLANS:

• Nami is going to want to poke around (and probably try to steal from the castle), I’d love to have her bump into people, and maybe get roped into investigating the reclusive man of the house if people want someone to pick locks and assist in matters of shadiness and unraveling the mystery.
• For (mostly) non-shifty things, she will be in that reading room checking out the books (read as: swiping a couple), for humor’s sake I’d love to have her goaded into decorating by the staff (probably because she’s mystified by them). She’ll also, obviously be looking behind her at least once.
• Okay honestly I’d love to get Nami to do a Winter Activity like ice skating because it’s likely something she hasn’t done before, I also plan to have her make A Map of This Area if anyone wants to come trudging through the woods, maybe find some of those wolf dens, puzzle over that tower (time to make a map of the manor too hey hey), or head down to the village post-blizzard
• The dinner prompt would be fun to work with if anyone’s interested in building some cr. Nami is not the kind of person who’s used to talking about her past, so this would be a great opportunity if anyone wants to swap stories and level up that social link.

GENERALLY HERE FOR: Friends! Nami’s never been able to make them before, and she’s not exactly good at it, but she’s learning. I’d especially love for her to have a gal pal or two because she’s surrounded by a crew of dudes and needs a break! Beyond that, I’m here for everything - drinking buddies, dance partners, people to get in on some exploration with, people to follow the furniture around with because whoa what the heck. Tldr: here for it all, come at me let’s plot.

[inquired]

reaches for... i unfortunately only have a dude for you but i'd love to get into cr with nami!! matters of shadiness and mystery unraveling and investigating sketchy dudes are always fun! plus i think they'd just be cute buds 🥹

Benedict Fox | The Last Case of Benedict Fox

[companionsgrasp]

PLAYER: Aisu
CONTACT: PMs to journal, or ask for plurk, or find me on the discord server (I'm in the Eastbound channel)
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? Sure, you'll just need to give me a head's up so I can friend back.

CHARACTER | CANON: Benedict | The Last Case of Benedict Fox

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: Private detective born with demon in head travels to hell and back at will.

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? (See above.) The demon in his head is real and it gives him special abilities.

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? Yes, he's happy to be out of Ephes and this new mystery has him a little bit excited!

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? He is sometimes skeptical but he believes they can be found if searched for hard enough. His own story is a bit of half and half in that regard... he didn't find the end he was hoping for, but he did find something else that made him realize how lucky he was.

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? Beauty, because he's not afraid to get a little blood on him when needed.

PLANS: Snooping around and sleuthing! Ben is gonna be part of the group sneaking into Julien's room and he'll announce with the group their findings on the network when they decide on what to share. Likewise, he'll be doing any other kind of sneaking around and possibly getting into trouble for going places he shouldn't and trying to solve the mysteries of the castle.

• on the road - he'll defend against the wolves, he's used to fighting demons and the like. bloodthirty demon wolves are nothing new.
• the castle - which means he'll come in bloody and be a 'beauty'. so he'll be seeing the statues move and shadows in the mirrors, but his Companion will probably tell him its fine so eventually he'll stop jumping at them...eventually. he'll be exploring both the southern and northern wings very thoroughly so I'll be down for anything to do with snooping around. if caught in the blooming stairwell he'll mostly just get the feeling of captivity since that's more his vibe.
• the gardens - he'll be less interested in having fun here, but hmu if you want to throw a snowball at him and/or make him relax a little. he will, however, be interested in the figure up on the balcony and may or may not try climbing up there from outside when he realizes you can't find it from inside the castle.
• the town - he'll go help out here, and probably try to ask the natives questions about the castle and curse lbr. he'd help the sellers to earn supplies for the castle.

GENERALLY HERE FOR: ANYTHING. /shot. In all honesty, I'm looking for new and old CR to stabilize and deepen so this boy can have some friends. He's into the whole solving mysteries thing being a private detective and all, and he also likes learning about strange and occult things, and he has stories about demons and eldritch dimensions to tell if anyone can get him on the topic.

Also, Benedict has an ability to pick up on emotions and memories from people, places, and items in his vicinity so if anyone ever wants to play with that, I'm all down for it! He doesn't always get information or accurate information so it's fine to interact with him without fear of it happening, I'm just throwing it out there if anyone wants to mess with their character at any time. o7

[inquired]

detective friend................. hello

emily | allison + carol

[captain_marvel]

PLAYER: Emily
CONTACT: iluvroadrunner6 or PM
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? Please do!

carol danvers

[captain_marvel]

CHARACTER | CANON: Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel | MCU

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: Uber powered superhero who hangs around like a stray cat near people who she likes.

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? She spends most of her time with a tentacle cat.

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? She's been better, but she's also been worse so it's all relative.

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? LMAO N o p e.

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? Beast.

PLANS: Carol is getting acquainted and settled, so getting the lay of the land is the plan! I do intend to have a top level for her, but I'm not sure which aspects I'll be playing with yet.

GENERALLY HERE FOR: Friends, please! She is desperate for them. Someone remind her how to hang out with other people, because she really doesn't have a whole lot of experience in that area.

kamala khan (ms. marvel) | mcu

[cosplayqueen]

PLAYER: Rose
CONTACT: milanobutterfly on plurk or aroseblazing on discord
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? Go for it!

CHARACTER | CANON: Kamala Khan | MCU

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: tiny fangirl actually manifested a friendship with the object of her obsession

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? She's able to stay positive despite the fact lowkey the MCU is awful to live in. Bonus: she and her family may be the only well-adjusted people in the universe at this point.

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? Her attempt to go home failed so no :(

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? Always!

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? Beast.... she's going to have the worst nights.

PLANS: Kamala is getting canon updated to the Marvels. Thankfully all the cool spoilers she knows nothing about since I pulled her from before the ending.

Changes: Her hair will be shorter, she has a fancy suit, and she'll be getting some cute highlights!! She has turned the Marvels into a thing back home and will be openly missing their third member. Oh and she finally knows what the fancy bangle she always wears is about. No, she isn't telling. :)

As far as the event goes, I'd love to play with her role as a beast. She also will be into the dancing and overall magic of the place. That flower plot is literally what Kamala does unprompted constantly, but I would love for her to take part in that love fest!

Also help her eat all the food. She's so hungry all the time.

GENERALLY HERE FOR: Always looking for friends and adults to look after her. More teen CR!! Dance with her.

[traaaaaash]

I always want more with these two! But also, Rin is definitely going to be gorging herself on all the sweets, so. >>

Winnie | Original

[soulsrob]

PLAYER: Kalyn
CONTACT: ovals
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? Yep!

CHARACTER | CANON: Winnifred "Winnie" Prismall | Original

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: A noblewoman from Victorian England who doesn't have a soul, can steal souls from others, and is plotting to overthrow the government in a rebellion plot. Because she has no soul, she doesn't actually feel emotions very much or very well and all of it's faked. But she believes in fairness and justice and will do what she can to see the scales of justice balanced.

She pretends to be super cheerful and dotty and silly, and if people underestimate her that suits her just fine.

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? she has no soul and is always smiling cheerfully

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? :)

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? Yes! The good guys always have happy endings. That's why she'll win, no matter what she does, because she's one of the good guys!

:)

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? Beast! She would never let blood get on her clothes, perish the thought....

PLANS: Charming the skeleton heads, sitting around aimlessly chattering their, er, ears...off??

This is just like being back home, she's going to feel and probably LOOK right at home hee. Dancing in the ballroom with or without a partner, eagerly decorating for the holidays. Dragging people outside for ice skating, starting snowball fights.

She is HERE for it all.

GENERALLY HERE FOR: In particular if you have any sort of grumpy character who needs someone to pull them out of their shell and make them uncomfortable/force them to interact, Winnie doesn't know when to give up and will consistently bother your character if she thinks they're interesting/nice/etc.

She'll throw snowballs at people, drag them onto the ice or a dance. Bruh dancing cutlery is going to be AMAZING.

Anything causing emotional reactions will be interesting for her but instead of trying to avoid it, she'll purposefully be trying to replicate it or encourage it happening (to her or others) just to study the effect.

[downswing]

..................let's go into the gd woods and one of them can look out for wolves while the other frolics in the snow, I think we know who is who here.

Daenerys Targaryen | A Song of Ice and Fire

[thebrideoffire]

PLAYER: Lils
CONTACT: PM
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? N/A

Daenerys Targaryen| A Song of Ice and Fire:

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: How do you feel about dragons?

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? She loves eating hunks of meat on the ground, covered in soot, having clearly ridden hard. She's not so elegant.

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? She's homesick

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? She does, she's an idealist

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? She'll be a beauty

PLANS: Dany will explore as much as possible, but she'll feel like they're being held captive. She's not going to go searching for the beast. She might pop in the library more often.

GENERALLY HERE FOR: Unnerving scenes, friendly cr, adventures, etc.

lan wangji | the untamed

[downswing]

PLAYER: ruxi
CONTACT: pm and/or exar
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? I plurk very infrequently and mostly RL, but if that's not a major hindrance?

CHARACTER | CANON: Lan Wangji | The Untamed

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: line-face emoticon gains sentience mid-ancient fantasy China exorcism crisis.

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? his ability to be at once the bone-weariest and most hopeful person who never says anything in a room.

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? All right, thank you!

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? Yes, leave him alone :(

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? a regrettable beauty, hasn't met a situation he won't bloody.

PLANS: ho ho ho, count on him for:

■ holding fort against wolves, if you need cover and/or a ride on someone's back, he's your man

■ snooping through the rose stairwell and especially recuperating burned bones and clothes, say it with him: what the fuck

■ village travel for supplies + obligatory pit stop in one of the wolf dens

■ a snow fight, if only because he hails from cold weather and absolutely needs to do the equivalent of a dog majestically diving into a snow mound and emerging pleased & unscathed. He should also just dip into the frozen rivers just to give folks a heart attack.

■ investigating the portraits / dancing connection — may need a partner to effectively check what painted people they see in the mirror whilst waltzing

■ ...someone should please help him with Western formalwear, he has resisted it so far and will probably struggle to get the fixings right.

GENERALLY HERE FOR: fellow castle snoopers would be delightful at this fine juncture, especially if you're okay with the... grittier side of things! But also here for anyone who needs a hand surviving the woods or a bodyguard generally.

[revengeisalie]

He and Rin can commiserate about Western clothes, and I'd offer Eda up for either village travels or snow fights. 8D

Cal Kestis | Star Wars

[deescalate]

PLAYER: Rose
CONTACT: LadyotRings
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? Absolutely! I just ask you either give me a heads up or have your info easily findable

CHARACTER | CANON: Cal Kestis | Star Wars

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: Jedi who survived Order 66 ten years ago and has decided to make it everyone's problem.

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? He has psychometry! AKA he can touch objects and see past events related to them, sometimes minor and happy, sometimes major and depressing. Surgeon General's Warning: excessive use may cause seizures and/or death. He's fine. Really.

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? He's fine! (He is, in fact, not fine.)

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? He desperately wants to, but the galaxy keeps kicking him in the teeth, so he struggles with the concept.

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? A Beast! Lightsabers cauterize wounds, so mo blood for him, alas!

PLANS:

The Southern Wing
- A giant bed! That he will pretend to sleep in. Because he doesn't sleep. Sorry, Merrin.
- The ballroom! Cal doesn't dance, oh no, avert thine eyes from the travesty, but also he wants to know who the people in the mirrors are??? Srag his ass around or something, it'll be fine.
- The reading room! Let's do some research! Or just get weirded out by the bones in the fire. That's not where bones go.

The Northern Wing
- The portrait room/getting priced by roses. Gotta learn all the things!
- Golden roses! Will he confess his ~feelings~ to Merrin???!?!!

The Gardens
- He doesn't spar to practice hos swordsmanship usually (lightsabers aren't really cut out for it), but he can make exceptions! Also he'd be great in a snowball fight. You might accuse him of cheating because The Force, but would you really do that to such a cute face?

Little Town
- Hey now, witches aren't all bad! His partner's a witch and she's the coolest person he knows!
- But also he'll help out where he's needed because it's the Jedi way.

GENERALLY HERE FOR: Cal is curious and nosy and is going to inevitably stick his nose (and hands!)where it doesn't belong. Be a partner in crime!

[downswing]

That is definitely where bones go, let's look in the fireplace.

bucky barnes — mcu

[traumatology]

PLAYER: trace
CONTACT: jortles
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? for sure!

CHARACTER | CANON: bucky barnes | mcu

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: formerly brainwashed super soldier old man grumpy curmudgeon who's doing his best.

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? he's over a century old but he's got a great moisturizing regimen.

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? he's been better but he's been worse too.

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? lol not really.

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? beast, definitely.

PLANS: he'll probably wanna be outside for the most part, enjoying the snow as much as he can enjoy things. he'll be out there, not looking for snowball fights, but if someone wants to challenge him?

your deathwish.

GENERALLY HERE FOR: anything and everything! i'm getting back on the horse after some medical issues so i wanna do it all especially with endgame being so near!

[downswing]

Please, in the name of everything, we need overly militarized snow fights, this is just a Must.

Zhou Zishu | Word of Honor

[lonelydream]

PLAYER: pie
CONTACT: PM or piecrumbs
OKAY TO FRIEND FOR RP? yes! just let me know who you are please, or have some indication of it on your profile

CHARACTER | CANON: Word of Honor

THEIR ONE-LINE PITCH: grumpy old(?) man is very bad at being retired

WHAT MAKES THEM STRANGE, NO QUESTION? The shortest route between two points is murder.

ARE THEY FEELING WELL? emotionally, better than expected. otherwise, NOPE.

DO THEY BELIEVE IN HAPPY ENDINGS? pragmatism says no, but the romantic in him (deep deep deep in him) says yes

ARE THEY A “BEAUTY” OR A “BEAST” FOR THIS EVENT? Beast, because he doesn't like getting blood on himself.

PLANS:
mostly, he's going to be getting very, very sick very quickly after they arrive, probably. Possibly just keel over and (not) die. IT'S ABOUT TIME, TBH. depending on how that goes, he'll mostly be in the reading room trying to meditate or pushing himself to go back to training ASAP. He'll also be very curious and poking around to learn more about this strange new place ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

GENERALLY HERE FOR:
making friends but not really influencing people. exploring places they're not supposed to be going to. testing his martial arts abilities against other people. getting really, really drunk!