The Haunted house will launch a Murder Mystery Game in November.

Tertiary Grid Haunted House and Murder Mystery Game

 

Introduction

 

The Fleming estate is said to be haunted. It was the original house of Archibald Fleming, a famous Victorian play write who migrated to the town from Cornwall, England. It passed down through his line to each first born Fleming. In the history of the estate the ownership went to Archibald’s son Thomas and then to Thomas’s son George. It now stands empty because of complications around an unsolved crime from 10 years ago. The murder of its last owner; Adelaide Fleming-Winchester (George’s first born daughter), has never been solved. It was clear from her injuries that she was stabbed but the weapon responsible was never found. The Fleming Walters foundation maintains the home in her memory in hopes of someday having an answer to the question of who killed Adelaide. According to will and tradition, the ownership should have passed to the second born but as per the evidence given in the case legal authorities haven’t moved on the matter. The house is said to be haunted by Adelaide herself and some believe she’s still trying to help solve the case from beyond. She doesn’t speak but apparently likes to move things around in a very particular way. See if you can pick up on any clues and take note of them for later. Adelaide doesn’t appear to everyone but you might just get lucky.

 

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In early November we’ll begin using this story as the basis of a murder mystery game. The tentative start date is November 9th but it will also depend on the flow of requests for character parts. We’ll turn back time to the day after Adelaide was found dead and see if we can solve it through the portrayal of the other members of the household and inspectors. If you would like to take on a part as a household member read the character bios and contact me to request a specific character by dropping a notecard with your name and the character desired in the mailbox in front of the house.

 

slurl.com/secondlife/Elke/128/128/22

 

The roles will be filled on a first come first serve basis. If you want a household member role I request you have at least a few times available in the week or two we play it out so you can explore your role, interact with others and answer questions asked by inspectors. You will receive a secret character card with information only your character knows that others will try and find out. You decide how much to reveal but do play fair and contribute what you can to get your story out slowly and allow things to progress to a resolution eventually. If you do not wish to have a key part, but wish to participate you can play more casually as an inspector at any time. Inspectors can arrive at the house and ask questions of the residents to try and put the clues together. Household members can also role play with each other freely and try to figure out who the murderer is. I will play Adelaide’s ghost who does not speak and help keep the game running.

 

It will be your task (and hopefully a fun one) to create your character’s look. I can assist you if you need help but we have lots of resources on Elke to choose from.

 

To make things more authentic I will provide character tool HUDs so you can type in local chat as the name of your character. You don’t have to use the chat feature if you don’t want to but at the very least allow me to help you set the character’s name so it appears over your head and other players know who you are. Anything you say in chat range of the game should be in the voice of your character. If you need to speak out of character please type the ooc chat in ((double parenthesis)).

 

 

The Characters

 

Adelaide Fleming-Winchester (ghost of the deceased) 26 years old

Richard Winchester (widow) 30 years old

Isabelle Walters (sister) 23 years old

Gregory Holt (brother in law) 26 years old

Edward Robbins (butler) 67 years old

Jacqueline Marsh (maid) 24 years old

Oliver Marsh (gardener) 56 years old

 

 

Character Bios

 

Adelaide Fleming -Winchester’s ghost – Jamie Wright

 

Adelaide is the elusive and silent specter who wants to reveal the truth about what happened to her. As the game starts, the other players don’t know she has become a ghost. She will play her hand subtly and observe the household searching for proof she can point out. Adelaide had both softness and a sensibility to her persona. She was wife to Richard Winchester and half sister to Isabelle Walters. It is well known to all members of the house that her marriage was troubled by Richard’s flirtatious manner with other women; especially and in particular the house’s maid; Jacqueline Marsh. Adelaide has also had quite a bit of conflict with her half sister Isabelle over the running of the family publishing business and the more recent philanthropic foundation. The two share the same mother; Meredith Fleming -Walters but she was widowed young (George died in a car accident shortly after Adelaide was born at the age of 28) and married again, accounting for the sisters having different fathers. Meredith’s second husband was her first husband’s business partner Bertrand Walters. Adelaide’s father George and Bertrand had very different ideas on where the company should go and it seems the conflict of philosophy has been passed down to the girls. Adelaide wanted to keep traditions that build the company up and made it a slow growing stable fortune, where Isabelle wanted to modernize, diversify and take risks to see if they might double the numbers in one year. Adelaide took over her father’s position in the company and had all the rights to make Isabelle a full partner but held back from doing so because of the disagreements. Oddly and awkwardly Adelaide had a much more comfortable friendship with Isabelle’s husband Gregory Holt. According to neighbours, Adelaide and Gregory had once been sweethearts but after things ended they remained close friends and Adelaide gave him fill blessing to court her sister.

 

Richard Winchester

 

The newly widowed Richard is not down for the count despite grieving enough to barely keep up appearances. He’s been making obvious advances at many women including the maid; Jacqueline Marsh since long before his wife was murdered. Richard is a charmer and used to getting what he wants by pouring it on and flaunting his good looks. He’s a male model for a designer swimwear company and is quite vain. He’s hardly a man to get his hands dirty but there are many who believe he married Adelaide only for her fortune and estate as he aged and his work became sparse. Would he kill for the hope of financial gain?

 

Isabelle Walters

 

Isabelle is a confident and outspoken woman. She’s a stage actress who feels she never gets her due credit for her talent. Many reviewers feel her portrayals are harsh and somewhat overacted. She’s drawn to dark stories, urban grit and shock value. Isabelle tends to do everything to the extreme, work, exercise and spending; overspending. She’s a risk taker and lives hard. Isabelle wants a bigger part of the family business. She feels it’s her right and that her sister is being a control freak and ultra conservative. It seems to everyone observing that Isabelle is not terribly saddened by her sister’s murder but instead pushing to move forward and find out what was in the will regarding the company and estate. This has cause visible tension between her and her husband Gregory Holt.

 

Gregory Holt

 

Gregory is by all appearances the most emotionally overwhelmed by Adelaide’s murder. The two grew up together and were once connected romantically. After their relationship ended and she later married another, the two had remained friends and Gregory eventually developed feelings for Isabelle. Isabelle seemed to pursue him eagerly as soon as her sister married Richard and looked like the cat that swallowed the canary when he finally proposed marriage. Gregory is an introspective quiet soul who works as a professional photographer.

 

Edward Robbins

 

Mr. Robbins is a prim and proper gentleman who’s been serving the Fleming household now as a second generation Robbins’s butlers. His father Terence served the Fleming family before him. In fact Terrence came over from England with Archibald Fleming. Edward feels butlering is a lost art and it’s the only job he’s ever had. It’s his whole life. He’s the keeper of the way the household was desired to be run by George and Meredith as he inherited his father’s job as they joined in marriage. He and the Marsh family share the carriage house behind the manor with Edward having the small suite below and Oliver and his daughter (who only sleeps there on her days off now) having the upper suite. Before Adelaide died she was quite vocally in favour of letting all but Jacqueline go to simplify and reduce the household budget. Edward heard all of these conversations and kept a poker face while continuing to serve with dignity. He also developed an ulcer and high blood pressure. Perhaps he wasn’t taking it as well as he put on.

 

Jacqueline Marsh

 

Jacqueline Marsh trudges through being a maid to fund her dream. She’s a budding artist. However art doesn’t pay and she’s saving to one day host her own gallery. She was raised by her father Oliver at the Fleming estate carriage house. She toddled along beside him while he worked when she was a child and then eventually grew up got hired on as well. Last year she was invited by Adelaide to take a room in the manor; a practice unheard of in the Fleming tradition. Isabelle and Jacqueline have sort of a hot cold rapport but stay civil. On the other hand, Jacqueline and Adelaide had a very good rapport and Adelaide was supportive or Jackie’s art and gave her time off to pursue her craft whenever she could. However residing in the manor house has put her more directly in the path or Richard Winchester who flirts with her aggressively. Jackie politely dodges the attention and tries to go about her work although a few household members have seen her look thoroughly annoyed by it and she has candidly revealed to her father, Gregory and Isabelle that she is in fact a lesbian so Richard is truly wasting his time. Jackie also took Adelaide’s death very hard and grieved heavily accompanied by bouts of panic attacks.

 

Oliver Marsh

 

Oliver Marsh was lucky to get a job as a gardener at the Fleming estate. George Fleming literally picked him up of the street in the dead cold of winter and brought him home so he wouldn’t freeze to death. Before that, Oliver had been homeless and almost died twice from being beaten. He’s had a rough life and keeps to himself a lot. The only exception is his daughter Jackie who the sun rises and sets on for him. He thinks her art is great and lets it take over their small apartment on the second level of the carriage house. Oliver is great with plants and keeps the house and grounds in perfect repair. He has a street smart sense of the world but sadly never fully learned to read. He loves movies though and is a great verbal storyteller if you get him to open up. Oliver was greatly saddened by Adelaide’s death and also concerned for his daughter’s well being over her reaction. He tends to express himself more with body language and facial expression than with words.

 

Stay tuned for more information in the Elke Events Update Group and/or check back to this sign for new notecards and information. However you want to join, it promises to be a fun and creative time!

 

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