TDM 1 ⬡ The Oval Portrait

[liburuzaina]

	Casting Call The Oval Portrait Edgar Allan Poe »» "Long — long I read — and devoutly, devotedly I gazed." Name: The Aristocrat Casting Call: Characters with a Birthday from September through December Physical Notes: Desperately wounded, to the point of being bedridden, but not losing consciousness. Personality Notes: Curious, and prone to becoming enraptured by the pursuit of learning about whatever has caught their curiosity. Mildly delirious due to injury. Compulsions: To learn about their surroundings, whether through study of the portraits in the chateau apartment, conversation with a companion, or ill-advised exploration. «« »» "We established ourselves in one of the smallest and least sumptuously furnished apartments." Name: The Valet Casting Call: Characters with an Unknown Birthday Physical Notes: Older than The Aristocrat by ≥ 5 years. Personality Notes: Willing and able (by force or by cleverness) to break in to a home for the well-being of their employer. A caretaker by nature. Compulsions: To see that The Aristocrat is comfortable for the night and their wounds are tended to, and to get some rest themselves once their duty is complete. In the absence of The Aristocrat, The Valet is free to act as they please. «« »» "She was a maiden of rarest beauty, and not more lovely than full of glee." Name: The Maiden Casting Call: Characters with a birthday from May through August Physical Notes: Young, aged from 15-20. Personality Notes: All smiles, loving and cherishing of all things, hating only The Painter's art, for they deprive them of their lover. Compulsions: To live life to the fullest, to love, to be happy... But also to make their husband, The Painter happy, by being a good and willing subject for his portraiture, should he ask. ⬡ Will slowly waste away and die, should they sit and allow themselves to be painted. «« »» "And evil was the hour when she saw, and loved, and wedded the painter." Name: The Painter Casting Call: Characters with a birthday from January through April Physical Notes: Older than the maiden by ≥ 10 years. Personality Notes: Passionate, studious, austere, wild, moody. More in love with his art than his wife. Compulsions: To paint. To paint, and paint, and paint some more. To ask their lovely wife to be the subject for their next piece, and to throw themselves into the completion of it. ⬡ Unaware they are doing harm with their painting, until it is complete. «« code @ efryndiel The Chateau ⬡ Common Cast Characters most likely to originate in The Chateau are The Aristocrat and The Valet ⬡ Literary Description "To all appearance it had been temporarily and very lately abandoned. We established ourselves in one of the smallest and least sumptuously furnished apartments. It lay in a remote turret of the building. Its decorations were rich, yet tattered and antique. Its walls were hung with tapestry and bedecked with manifold and multiform armorial trophies, together with an unusually great number of very spirited modern paintings in frames of rich golden arabesque." ⬡ For Your Exploration Characters may attempt to explore the Chateau, but it will be shrouded in darkness, and every room they enter will bring them back to the apartment chosen by The Valet. What decorations may be seen are dark and victorian in design, and the room and halls may be lit by candlelight. The Maiden's portrait is on the wall, and will initially be cloaked in shadow for The Aristocrat to find. It appears remarkably lifelike, almost as though it is a window instead of a portrait. The other paintings on the walls will contain figures that are almost familiar to The Aristocrat and The Valet - as though they could be someone they know, but only if they squint. There is no electricity. Characters will not have access to any powers. The Artist's Tower ⬡ Common Cast Characters most likely to originate in The Artist's Tower are The Maiden and The Painter ⬡ Literary Description "But she was humble and obedient, and sat meekly for many weeks in the dark, high turret-chamber where the light dripped upon the pale canvas only from overhead. But he, the painter, took glory in his work, which went on from hour to hour, and from day to day." ⬡ For Your Exploration Should characters leave the Painter's studio, they will immediately be transported outside, to a sprawling field of wildflowers. There won't seem to be anything else around, but there will be a light breeze and the sound of the sea in the distance. Inside the studio, the air is stale and musty, smelling of oil paints and turpentine. It's dim, lit only by a skylight. There is a stool for the subject and an easel with canvas sitting in the light, but everything else - art materials, more canvases, both empty and with the beginnings of paintings, and props - are all pushed to the sides of the room and cloaked in shadow. Like The Chateau, there is no electricity, and characters will not have access to their powers. The Library ⬡ Welcome! Free from their roles, through either death, completion of the Story, or from not being pulled into the tale in the first place, characters will find themselves in the gardens outside of the Library itself. As always, it will look and feel like a temperate, autumn afternoon. As this setting is part of the Library itself, characters will have full access to all their powers. ⬡ Grand Opening Coming Soon! The front door will, unfortunately, be locked, and a sign will be taped on the doors, detailing how the Library will be opening soon, but in the meantime to please enjoy the grounds and the pizza party in the courtyard. ⬡ Pizza party? Pizza party! In the courtyard, there will be tables set up that will be absolutely covered in stacks of paper plates, 2-liter bottles of any soda one could dream of, and stacks and stacks of pizza boxes, containing any flavor combination that could be desired. Opening a random box will provide a random, but popular, flavor. Opening a box with an Intent and a Desire for something specific will provide exactly that. Enjoy! It won't run out. navigation • premise • reserves • faq

Comments

chateau

[killful]

[Yan Qing stands up straight, touring Sylvain along the wall of paintings like a valet would. He's dressed for the part, too. I need you to know he's not shirtless. I'm putting that here right now.]

That would be the master of the Musik house, sir. Over the years, Lord Musik has accrued a collection of works dating as far as the Rococo period... [In the middle of it, he snorts.] Nah, I'm just messing with ya. I have no fucking clue.

[He's usually a good actor, but there's no real point in putting up a front right now.]

[acquaint]

Lord Musik, huh?

[ sylvain chuckles. he doesn't know what rococo is, but that's fine. he's more interested in that drop of gravitas and that switch from something much less formal despite the way yan qing is dressed. ]

Had me going for a bit, there. I was hoping to find out who so generously decided to house all of us.

[ now that he's not being a model and slowly wasting away in that stupid tower, there's a bit more clarity to this whole thing even though he can hardly see anything to make note of it. it's all pretty suss. ]

[killful]

That makes two of us. It looks like the head of the household hasn't shown up yet, and while what I really should be doing is kicking you out, I don't think that's gonna stop ya from coming back in.

[ Besides, this guy seems okay. Yan Qing jerks a thumb toward the corridor behind him. ]

You wanna go look at the rest of the paintings? It gets kinda lonely when you walk past 'em the sixth time.

[acquaint]

What? Me? [ sylvain puts a hand to his chest, brown eyes wide with surprise. ] I'm innocent, I promise. I'm here just to escape my artist, you see. Sometimes a guy needs to stretch his legs a little after lounging on a chaise for a day.

[ look at this charming smile. he's full of shit, but anyway. ]

But by all means, please. Show me these paintings. Better yet, [ he lowers his voice, as if someone else could listen in on them at any moment. ] Keep me in this chateau, so I've an excuse not to go back to that tower.

[killful]

[ Yan Qing rubs his chin and pretends to think about it. ]

Hmm! I do like being the hero to someone's damsel in distress. Well, alright. I got some time to kill and this uniform's killin' me, but I'll show ya around. Call me Yan Qing! And you're...

[ Wait. Now that Sylvain's standing a little closer, Yan Qing leans in and peers at his face. Where has he seen this guy before? Is he a celebrity or something? No, Yan Qing's hotter than him, so he can't be (in his opinion). ]

[acquaint]

[ yan qing leans in and sylvain bats his lashes at him, voice turning sweet and lilting. ]

Oh, Sir Yan Qing, so gallant... so brave! Truly the Goddess has smiled on me for sending me your way.

[ he winks; awful. but perhaps that smile might look familiar, mirrored on one of the paintings down the hall. not that sylvain would want to look at it any more closely; he's had enough of being scrutinized for a lifetime. yan qing is definitely hotter than him though, rest assured. ]

Sylvain Gautier, at your service.

[killful]

Mr. Gautier! [Yan Qing places a hand on his chest and bows, but from the smile on his face, they both know he's just fooling around.] Nah, I think I'll stick with Sylvain.

["The Goddess", huh? If Sylvain's from Earth, it's a weird turn of phrase for him. Anyway, that's not important right now. Yan Qing lights a nearby candle and takes it with him, protecting the flame from whatever draft might come their way.]

Follow me, Sylvain, and I'll give you a tour you'll never forget! Or at least one that'll keep ya busy 'til the husband sees you're gone. Oh, and uh... Don't wander off too far. It gets only gets darker from here on out, and I haven't checked the place for vengeful spirits yet.

[He walks off into the darkness, the dim light of his candle like a glowing sphere floating in the night. Behind Sylvain, the furniture creaks...

That's nothing supernatural. It's just really old furniture.]

[acquaint]

[ wow, a tour guide too... a man of many talents. or maybe yan qing just knows his way around; maybe he's just bored. either way, sylvain goes to follow him, probably looking a little too at ease even with the suspiciously creaky furniture. ]

Vengeful spirits, huh? You don't suppose they're the ghosts of previous masters of the house, do you?

[ sure would explain all the paintings; an old house like this was probably passed down for years. the light of the candle is hardly enough to make out any of the other paintings they pass by, but sylvain supposes that adds to the whole creepy vibe it's going for. ]

[killful]

Most likely, but you never know. I remember the last house the master stayed in. Every night, I'd see not a man, but a girl in a white dress walking down the hall. I'd never seen her before, you know? My master lived alone, and all the maids were asleep. I tried to talk to her once, but she turned around, I blinked, and the next thing I know, she was...

[Yan Qing stops, raising his hand just enough to caution Sylvain not to take a step further.]

You hear that?