Sign Up The Peculiar Murder of Alice Longfellow [PG]

[Shy]

[center][img]http://otakuboards.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=25720&stc=1[/img][/center]
[quote][i]Dear Sir or Madame,

I cordially invite you and [b]one guest[/b] to join me for an evening of dinner and cocktails on [b]February 14[/b], [b]1965[/b]. As is tradition, this event will be hosted at my family?s estate, only a short drive outside of the District of Columbia.

My dinner parties are widely publicized throughout the New York tabloids, and many have found their fortunes turned after making a simple appearance in my home. Those who frequent my parties are kings, presidents, celebrities, and some of the world?s most brilliant minds? but for one reason in particular I?ve decided to invite you.

Despite my apprehension for allowing so many newcomers to attend one of my parties, your services (and the services of many others) may be required. You see, I?ve heard many great stories about your skills, and it is my most sincere hope that you will be able to unravel the dangerous and complicated string of events leading up to my own murder.

I suspect that this Valentine?s Day will be my last, and think you will be key to finding the culprit. Please R.S.V.P as soon as possible. An old woman with a target on her head has better things to do than wait for your reply.

Sincerely yours,

Alice Longfellow[/i][/quote]
[size=1]Alice Longfellow, a wealthy socialite from Washington D.C., has personally invited you to attend her own murder. Food and drinks will be catered by Paris' Martine Waterford, and live music will be provided by Sara Franks and the Orleans 6. Please include the following in your reply.

[b]Character Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Profession:[/b]
[b]Brief History and Description:[/b]

If your reply is deemed acceptable by Mrs. Longfellow, she would like you to bring [b]another guest (player) of your choosing.[/b] That's right, [b]choose a date[/b]. This guest may be someone who wasn't approved by Mrs. Longfellow, or another character entirely. What is important is that each character fills out a reply in this thread before they begin posting in the main thread.

[b]It is also important to note that posts in the actual thread will contain a word count limit of 650 (or fewer) words per post[/b]. Your first reply in the main thread, and all replies in this thread, need not follow that pattern. Be creative with your reply, and make use of this mystery's setting.

Any questions about this adventure may be posted in this thread. All replies are due by [b]August 15th.[/b] Don't be late.

-Shy[/size]

[Raiha]

[FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=MediumTurquoise]Character Name: Geniveve Montgomery

Age: 28

Profession: Private Investigator

Brief History and Description: Running a small firm out of a D.C. office, Geniveve, or as she prefers to be called, Gennie, secretly works for the government. To be precise, a small branch of the government headed by a right wing nutjob. Not that she minds of course. The pay is good, nobody has to know, and it grants her immunity from any similar investigations.

Tall, slim, wide hips, long brown hair, honey eyes, fair skin, and a winning smile. Generally wears linen suits, drives a Dodge Fury, and packs a Lady's Smith and Wesson. [/COLOR][/FONT]

[Muse]

[SIZE=1][center]
Character Name: Jacob Dorsey
Age: 23
Profession: Singer/Songwriter
Brief History and Description: Jacob is fairly well known among the New York clubs, praised for writing clear, perceptive songs and playing a mean harmonica and guitar. He dropped out of art school at 21, due to lack of interest, and hasn't looked back since. He is tempermental and easily distracted, though often he can be calm and sociable. He is very smart and has a large vocabulary, but his awkwardly nasal, high pitched voice makes him sound like a teenager who has no idea what he's talking about, only listing off big words from his English homework.

Jacob is tall, 6'0", and very skinny. He has clear blue eyes, a distinctive nose, large, clever hands, dark hair that seems to do whatever it wants, and pale skin. His big nose, skinniness, and lanky tallness adds all the more to his likeness of a 16 year old. He wears dark clothing, usually tailored suits that cling to his body or baggy clothes to hide his embarassing thin frame. Depends on his mood, what time of day it is, etc.[/center][/size]

[Vicky]

[SIZE=1][B]Character Name:[/B] Lance Marlo (Jean-Louis de Funès)

[B]Age:[/B] 32

[B]Profession:[/B] Magician/Entertainer

[B]Brief History and Description:[/B] Born Jean-Louis de Funès in France and later taking on his stage name Lance Marlo for his magic career. He was given the best education in France because his family were very wealthy, they all had high hopes for Jean-Loius but, in the end, he used his good education for entertainment and became a magician (he mostly studied psychology which gave him grounds for his ?mental? magic acts).

Specializing in mental and illusionary magic, Jean-Louis took his profression to America and went by the name ?Lance Marlo?, becoming famous for solving other magician?s tricks, using suggestive mind games and fooling the audience with his mysterious acts of combining both his specialities.

Lance is a bit of a stereotype magician. He?s tall, always stands up straight and wears a black suit with red underneath (black and red being his trademark colours). He will normally wear a long black coat over his suit with many pockets in to pull out 'surprises' but, unlike most stereotypical magicians, he [I]does not[/I] wear a top-hat. His hair is combed back but doesn?t normally stay like that; thick strands of his black hair will fall down over his forehead and always seems to cover his ears. His eyes are a deep blue, they stand out more than most of his features (which works well for his trickery). Lance is, actually, quite young looking. Perhaps the only thing that makes him look old is the black goatee on his chin, a feature he wants to keep because it seems to work great for his act.[/SIZE]

[bellpickle]

[SIZE=1][B]Character Name:[/B] Audrey Claireborne

[B]Age:[/B] 28

[B]Profession:[/B] Thriller Novelist

[B]Brief History and Description:[/B] A popular young author hailing from England, where she lives in relative isolation. She draws inspiration from war stories told to her by her father, a WWII veteran, as a child, and maintains popularity both in her home country as well as America and other English-speaking countries. Despite her success, very little is known about her within the general public.

Unlike the colorful characters that populate her novels, the author herself is rather unobtrusive. Clever and perceptive, she mostly keeps to herself, and enjoys simply observing the places, things, and people around her. She has long black hair kept in a loose bun, pale skin, average stature, and wears simple clothes, usually plain, but elegant, white dresses.[/SIZE]

[Veritas]

[size=1][color=darkslategray][b]Character Name: [/b]Cedric King
[b]Age:[/b] 29
[b]Profession: [/b]Clothing Designer and CEO
[b]Brief History and Description: [/b]Cedric's backround story is as rags to riches as it gets, which he in turn owes to the street smarts he picked up in the gutter, mixed with his intelligence. Raised by a single mother in California projects, Ced had a rough hand to play. Although far from dumb he dropped out of high school at age 17, finished instead by getting his GED and joined the Army. After an enlistment of 6 years the majority of which inactive duty, and declining an offer to enter the Special Ops. Cedric managed to earn a Bachelors Degree in Business, as well as saving up a small amount of money. He invested this into the then on-going develepment of MP3 players. Making back plenty more than he put in, he continued to invest, but also resumed school for a Degree in Fasion Design. He recently has started up a successful clothing line KING, managing to make many headlines. The basics, he's real, down to earth, and he has a good eye for small detail, as well as noticing things that people miss who didn't have his rough upbringing and army training.[/color][/size]
[size=1][color=darkslategray][/color][/size]
[size=1][color=darkslategray]Cedric's life and style are slightly off beat, he stands about 6'6" with afro, 6'3" without. A soft caramel coffee skin tone due to his mixed heritage, Half Black, Half White. He has a muscular, but lean build which he maintains by jogging and going to the gym. Most of the time you'll find him sporting a dress shirt, or a t-shirt of his own company, jeans, and a blazer or the occasional hoody or coat. One thing that he is never without is his iPod, for him going with out it is like going without clothes, you just don't do it.[/color][/size]

[DeadSeraphim]

[COLOR=Indigo][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial]I don't know if this is the kind of character you were looking for man, but I enjoyed creating him,

[b]Character Name:[/b] Jade McGuff
[b]Age:[/b] 23
[b]Profession:[/b] Unemployed/Writer
[b]Brief History and Description:[/b]
Jade was born and raised in America's heartland, in a typical Christian family with big hearts and an appreciation for life not typically found on the east coast. He achieved average grades at school (though he excelled in English), played football well enough to be offered a scholarship in California (he refused), and left school with no plans for his life but to join the local mining industry like his father. When the mines were suddenly and inexplicably closed, however, Jade was left in the worst position a 23 year old could find themselves in - underqualified, broke, and too proud to move back home. So, with typical McGuff ego, he pretended nothing was wrong, convinced himself it was just time for him to move on, and transplanted to New York with vague ideas about becoming a writer.

For the last six months he's scraped together a meagre living submitting his short stories to magazines around the country and doing oddjobs around the neighbourhood, just making enough for rent each week. He's become thin, and gaunt, but he's too proud to admit it might be time to suck up his pride and move back home - partly because he's convinced his family that he's become a successful writer and partly because his ego refuses to let him.

Physically, Jade is tall at 6'4. He has broad shoulders and large hands and feet, but the rest of his body seems lanky by comparison, as months of underfeeding have left him sallow and bony. His hair is brown and dull, hanging to just below his chin, and his eyes are blue and piercing, the kind of eyes that seem to look into your soul. Despite his outward appearance, however, Jade maintains a wiry strength, easily managing to lift upwards of 150 pounds when he does oddjobs for his neighbours, and looks at a life with a combination of arrogance and confidence that seems to charm everyone but propective employers.[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Shy]

[size=1][b]Character Name:[/b] Stanford Gaines

[b]Age:[/b] 34

[b]Profession:[/b] B-Movie God

[b]Brief History and Description:[/b] Stanford is a tall and muscular individual whose natural charisma makes him the idol of women across the globe. Most recently he has gained noteriety playing Detective Bruce Carnage in the popular film series "The Carnage Mysteries."

Corn-fed and raised in the great state of Kansas, Stanford Gaines was actually born with the name Damien Alexandrov, but changed it by request of his agent at the age of 22. It was at that age he left his middlingly successful acting career in the American Midwest to move to out Hollywood in search of fame and fortune.

Although he often receives credit for the snappy dialogue and intricate storylines present in his films, most of those things are lost on him, who quit high school at the age of 16 to pursue a career in the performing arts. Just the same, he is first and foremost an actor, so accepting praise and feigning knowledge of any particular subject come naturally.

With his movie-star good looks and penetrating blue eyes Stanford is often seen on the cover of various tabloids and women's magazines, where many speculate on his lovelife and notorious status as a bachelor. However, like many other Hollywood icons in his day, he could care less about the fairier gender.

-Shy[/size]

[Guest Gen.Boris]

Character Name: Ivan Stankesky
Age:38
Profession:Yugoslavian Diplomat
Brief History and Description:
Growing up in a poor, and war torn aera of the soviet block, he has tried to make his life as good as he can. He has done all he could to save his loved ones, but could do nothing as a young man. Now he has left his home land, yet is still attached. He fights for his people, and enjoys diplomatic immunity.(more of abuses it) His freedom fighters will set his country.... well free.
He is a large, and overpowering man, the kind you allways fear even when they are trying to be nice to you. He has a large jet-black beard, and black eyes, that seem to be hiding somehting. He does not drive, he is driven, in a large Benz, with the little Yugo flags on the corners of the hood. He has a body gaurd that never leaves his side.
Ivan plans every move, and he never fails his missions.

[Ezekiel]

[SIZE=1][B]Character Name:[/B] Elizabeth Archer

[B]Age:[/B] 36

[B]Profession:[/B] Journalist (Specialising in crime)

[B]Brief History and Description:[/B] A reporter must always be on their toes, must be vigilant, must be stubborn, and must be able to fight back against the strong shove of a body guard. Elizabeth is, if you look at these points, the perfect reporter. Apart from those essential skills, she can also write, which is an added bonus. The red head is known no matter what city she goes to, usually due to her often-loud fashion statements and odd coloured lipstick (today?s favourite is dark green, which suits surprisingly well). Her writing is, most likely, a second. But I?ve no doubt you?ve heard of her, even briefly, because of some recent scuffle.

She started off writing about celebs, one of those annoying journalists that turn into stalkers for a small pay check. Her target had been Stanford Gaines, the hot young thing of the moment, and Elizabeth was close, so close to a hit story when his body guard knocked her away. That moment, the moment in which she met one of her closest friends, set her on the path to crime writing, a fascinating genre where the subject would most likely not fight back.

You will usually find her in a pub, long-fingered hands clasping a glass of Bailey?s while her pinstriped-clad legs stay folded beneath her stool. You?ll like her, if you don?t have a remarkable story to tell.
[/SIZE]

[Gavin]

[SIZE=1][B]Character Name:[/B] Maxwell Schubaltz

[B]Age:[/B] 37

[B]Profession:[/B] Soldier of fortune.

[B]Brief History and Description:[/B] Born in the Serengeti, one could say that Maxwell has always been more at home in the wilder places of the world than he ever has been among civilised society. Years of living free have shaped his form into something near god-like, tight toned muscles rippling across his six foot form, off set by golden blond flowing hair and piercing blue eyes. Truly he could be described as a lion in human form, his voice bearing the same deep resonance of a proud alpha male, there are few females who would not covet a sire from this great beast.

By age 18, Maxwell had left the jungle, and the world of man seemed so strange to him. Education had never been imparted to him in the volumes required to live among normal people, and often he found himself resorting to animal instinct rather than human sentience. Over time, the manners of society were made obvious to him, after an incident in a bar one night at the tender age of twenty, Maxwell killed another gentlemen in a drunken row, in the jungle that would have been the end of the matter, he had asserted his dominance and the rest should have cowed away from him. Instead he found himself thrust into a cold dank building where he would spent the next ten years.

However fate smiled upon the young man in his incarceration, there are many in prison who seek protection from others, and in return for this service, Maxwell was educated to a point where he could operate in normal society. Successfully levying an appeal against his conviction, Maxwell returned to the work of man at the age of thirty and found himself working as a body-guard, a career in sync with his animal instincts now tempered by a moderate intelligence. While guarding a small time film star, Maxwell encountered a journalist named Elizabeth Archer, though their meeting did not bear a traditional beginning, it would blossom into a mutually beneficial relationship, Maxwell providing Elizabeth with stories she desired, and Elizabeth further taming Maxwell?s wild ways.[/SIZE]

[Farto the Magic]

[FONT=Trebuchet MS][COLOR=DarkGreen]Character Name: [URL=http://www.mi5.gov.uk/files/images/fuchs_200px.jpg]Fillius Johannes Percival[/URL]
Age: 44

Profession: Entomologist

Brief History and Description: Fillius Johannes Percival was born in England, but soon moved to Africa with his parents, who were missionaries. He found great enjoyment in books and insect collecting, rather than things other teenage boys should, much to his mother?s chagrin.

Currently, he runs the anthropology wing at a small museum just outside Charleston. He stills hold more interest in bugs than girls and is socially inept, constantly nervous, and an all-around worry-wart. He is far more intelligent than the average man, though words don?t readily connect within his mind, making him seem oafish. This aside, he?s usually the first one in a room to connect two-and-two.
[/COLOR][/FONT]

[Shy]

[size=1]Thank you to everyone who signed-up, and the time and effort you put into your replies. Mrs. Longfellow looked through her replies thoroughly, and has finally settled upon the following guest list:

[center][b]Nuevoxraiha[/b] - Geniveve Montgomery
[b]vicky[/b] - Lance Marlo
[b]bellpickle[/b] - Audrey Claireborne
[b]DeadSeraphim[/b] - Jade McGuff
[b]Shy[/b] - Stanford Gaines
[b]Ezekiel[/b] - Elizabeth Archer
[b]Gavin[/b] - Maxwell Schubaltz[/center]

Each invited player is welcome to invite another player into RPG with them. However, it is neccessary that everyone post in this thread, and announce [i]who[/i] they are inviting. As it was stated earlier, that guest can be anyone, even a player who was not accepted by Mrs. Longfellow.

If the player has not already posted a sign-up (or wishes to post a new sign-up instead,) they must do so here before posting in the RPG. While it is highly unlikely, Mrs. Longfellow may ask that some of those invited guests modify their sign-up to better fit the story and setting.

It is not neccessary that the invited player's character know the character of the player who invited them.

The main thread will begin in roughly two days.

-Shy

[b]Edit:[/b] DeathKnight is my invited guest.[/size]

[Vicky]

[SIZE=1][I]We're meant to post here who we're inviting, right? >_>[/I]

My invited guest will be [B]Muse[/B], who's already signed up for the RPG. I hope that's okay.

Although, I do have a question anyway, if not a bit of a stupid question. Do our characters and our invited guest have to meet beforehand, or whilst entering (dunno what the first posts are meant to be, heh)? Or do the invited guest show up on their own? (From the comment 'choose a date' I reckon we're supposed to show up at the same time or something, but I just thought I'd ask to make sure).[/SIZE]

[Shy]

[quote name='vicky][SIZE=1][I]We're meant to post here who we're inviting, right? >_>[/size'][/I][/quote]
[size=1]Right.[/size]
[quote][size=1]My invited guest will be [B]Muse[/B], who's already signed up for the RPG. I hope that's okay.[/size][/quote]
[size=1]It is. I really liked Muse's sign-up, but I was afraid that adding another play would make the RPG too large. I'm glad you invited them.[/size]
[quote][size=1]Although, I do have a question anyway, if not a bit of a stupid question. Do our characters and our invited guest have to meet beforehand, or whilst entering (dunno what the first posts are meant to be, heh)? Or do the invited guest show up on their own? (From the comment 'choose a date' I reckon we're supposed to show up at the same time or something, but I just thought I'd ask to make sure).[/size][/QUOTE]
[size=1]Your characters and your invited guests' characters do not have to meet beforehand.The invitation system is more a way of bringing in more players to the RPG than coming in as 'dates.' It is important to note that the RPG is set on Valentine's Day, so it might be lonely to come by yourself.

The capacity in which your character is at the party is completely up to you, although everyone's character did receive the invitation originally posted in the sign-up. If you were hired by Mrs. Longfellow to perform magic tricks, or songs, or be her body guard, that's fine. Just know that your character got the cryptic invitation and that there was a very specific reason for it

All I want from your first post is for your character to enter the party, greet Mrs. Longfellow, and maybe interact with some of the other guests. If you were hired by Mrs. Longfellow your character might be at the Longfellow Estate before the other guests arrive. I am confident that the story will move along at a nice pace without me having to force people into writing for a chapter system or something.

I hope that helped.

-Shy[/size]

[DeadSeraphim]

[COLOR=Indigo][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial]Jade's date, man.

[b]Character Name:[/b] Sandra Lee
[b]Age:[/b] 19
[b]Profession:[/b] Grocery clerk
[b]Brief History and Description:[/b]
Sandra has lived in New York all her life, never having an idea of the world outside it's vast borders. She lives with her mother, a divorcee who is shunned mercilessly by the rest of the neighbourhood, and works at the local grocer to support her and her mother. It was through working there that she met Jade McGuff, a country boy new to the city that seemed exotic and mysterious to her, and almost instantly developed an infatuation with him. Despite her covert advances, however, Jade was generally too concerned with making ends meet to notice, and she'd had to resort to drastic measures.

After telling her mother, Jade was invited to dinner, under the pretense that he looked unhealthy and needed a good meal. The young man had practically inhaled the 3 courses before either woman noticed, and in after dinner talks had let out he'd been invited to one of Alice Longfellow's famous dinner parties. Sandra had leapt at the chance to attend with him, and, after a short amount of badgering, succeeded in becoming his date for that evening. Jade never knew what hit him.

Sandra is 5'1, with long blonde hair and a pale complexion dotted with freckles. Her eyes are dark brown, almost black, and she uses it to her advantage, added layers and layers of thick eyeshadow to giver herself a jarring, mysterious look. Typically she's a bubbly young woman filled with idealism not uncommon in the 60s, but possesses a hard edge when attempting to get what she wants or needs that oftentimes makes her appeal cruel or cold-hearted - qualities Jade doesn't find appealing, but is willing to accept for the one night, so he isn't alone on Valentine's Day.[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Shy]

[size=1]Okay, the first post is up!

Just remember that your first post does not have to be less than the 650 word limit, but every subsequent post will. Also if you plan on inviting anyone else (or playing as your own invited guest, like DeadSeraphim is) that character will need a sign-up form filled out for them as well.

I look forward to seeing your posts, and please continue to use this thread for your questions.

-Shy[/size]

[DeathKnight]

[color=crimson][b]Character Name[/b]: Kit Matthews.

[b]Age[/b]: 22.

[b]Profession[/b]: Avant-garde director.

[b]Brief History and Description[/b]: Kit Matthews was born in a small seaside community in Southern California. Her mother, Laura Matthews, was a famous painter who instilled in her daughter her same love for art as she had.

However there was another love in her life- movies. Completely spellbound by the films she saw in her childhood she made it a goal of her's to become a filmmaker. So it was, as soon as she graduated, she went to a film school. She has just recently graduated and is trying to make her mark in the world.

Her invitation was sent to her anonymously and she has gone to the party out of a natural curiosity as to the events involved.. along with the hope that, perhaps, she could acquire some good concepts for her first attempt at a blockbuster film.[/color]

[Ezekiel]

[SIZE=1]I would like it to be known to the lovely Alice Longfellow that I shall be bringing Maxwell Schubaltz along as my guest. Thank you![/SIZE]