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

[killful]

Huh! It can do that?

[Is this some sort of Reality Marble then? Yan Qing wants to give it a little more thought, but in the end, he shrugs. Look, whatever. He's just playing his role and getting out of here.

But no one told him it was gonna be so goddamn BORING.]

That's too bad. I kinda liked being the only looker in the room. Well, the master sleeps like the dead, and I'm bored outta my mind. You look like you can hold your own, so... [He takes his jacket off, rolls up his sleeves...] Let's dance.

[emancipating]

The master?

[ actually, he's supposed to be looking for a master too, isn't he? or a mistress? he doesn't know, he's never worked a single job in his entire fucking life. life's great when all you do is attempt to run away from home while your dad tries to kill you. fun times. ]

Oh, [ he watches yan qing rolling up his sleeves and think maybe he should do that too? so he goes to do that also. how involved is this dance going to be? he's literally thinking they're gonna ballroom dance or something. ] I'm not much of a dancer, I'm afraid. But I'll follow your lead.

[killful]

[Aww, he's sexy and slow! Yan Qing grins.]

Good! Now think fast.

[The first blow is a fist to his face.

Judging from Yan Qing's form and force alone, he's a seasoned fighter, with or without powers. But he doesn't give Zagreus time to think about that. Zagreus better move — his attacks won't be stopping anytime soon.]

[emancipating]

[ oh, so it's that kind of dance.

well, okay. he can work with this? even though he's surprised enough that he narrowly avoids getting a fist to the face. he doesn't have time to get a word in edgewise aside from a started wait! but yan qing doesn't do any of that. hate that he gets bullied at every turn, even on the surface.

anyway, zagreus doesn't have any weapons on him and he's no fancy martial artist, but yan qing was right in that he can hold his own. irresponsible and reckless he may be, he learned a lot from achilles, hand-to-hand being one of the first things he'd taught him. he's fast, darting around yan qing and the furniture of the room, using the small space to his advantage and never staying in one place for very long. like a game of cat and mouse, dash to win has always (unfortunately) been his strategy, countering hits with his own when he can. at least until yan qing has him cornered and he has nothing to defend himself with aside from a picture frame.

hastily, ]

Okay, yes, you're very strong. Your tattoos are also very cool, and I think, perhaps, we could work something out? Um, you could tell me about your master, or maybe, where to find mine.

[killful]

[He's human again, so there's less destruction all around, but the adrenaline rush never gets old. He chases Zagreus with a flurry of palm strikes and kicks, the blows never quite connecting, and he's impressed. Yan Qing prides himself on his speed and style, and an opponent who can keep up gets his blood pumping.

But the fight's less all-out wuxia and more of a well-meaning Hong Kong detective who's gotten himself into more trouble than his job is worth, so his fist stops right when Zagreus shields himself with a picture frame.]

Hell if I know about your master! [Wait.] We have different masters?

[emancipating]

[ is yan qing the well-meaning Hong Kong detective or zagreus? is this just another kung fu hustle rip off?? we'll never know. but thankfully, yan qing stops his assault, and zagreus lives to see another day. he'd think this is what mortals feel like when death approaches, but thanatos is a lot more gentle than this guy.

he's still holding the frame, but he lowers it slightly. ]

I— well, I thought so? Who's your master? [ wait... ] Are we actually coworkers?

[ and then, flatly, ]

Do you dance with everyone you meet?

[killful]

[ With a smile, a shrug, and a playful tone, he says, ] I sure would like to.

[ But now it is revealed that Zagreus is less of a threat than Yan Qing thought he'd be, so the ruffian relaxes and places a hand on his hip. Fights are less fun when your opponent's hiding behind a picture of some dude's wife and kids.]

The name's Yan Qing. I haven't met the guy I'm charge of around these parts, sadly. I'm just killing time 'til he shows up. You?