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Post by mage on Aug 25, 2020 9:10:15 GMT -6
THE HALLOWEEN GAME
They play it every year, or so the locals say. After the tricks and treats, after the pranks and the parties; the children, the teenagers, and the young adults all march in a great cacophonous parade through the center of town and out into the woods surrounding Shady Valley's borders. Some of the grown-ups come too, mostly to chaperone, though there are always a few trying to clutch tightly to their faded childhood. The old timers stay home, along with those who have jobs, responsibilities, or simply can't make it out. They've all played, though, and the desire still lingers. It smolders as a dying ember behind the eyes, ignited briefly at the mere mention and memory of it. It is a tradition that has endured the generations, withstanding the test of time and the oppressive march of technology. The Halloween Game. On October 28th the town holds a festival. Amidst the food, music, and celebration, farmers from across the county bring pumpkins for the townspeople to pick through. Anyone who wishes to participate in the Halloween Game must not only pick their pumpkin, they must carve it as well and turn it in before the end of the festival. After-which, there is a contest, and awards. Then the carved pumpkins are spirited away until the 31st, where they will be hidden throughout the forest surrounding the town. On the night of Halloween, as the players gather, a flame is lit inside each pumpkin which will burn for up to three hours. The goal is simple, find your pumpkin and bring it back before the flame goes out. If the flame dies, you lose. For the children, the pumpkins are never hard to find, and there are plenty of surprises and treats to be had as they play. For anyone over fifteen, though, the game becomes very different. Your pumpkin can be anywhere, literally anywhere within the woods. It's an endurance race, and there are more obstacles waiting in the woods than shadow, rock, and branch. The Others are waiting too; people who stand between you and your goal. Some of them are dressed to scare, and others to lure. They will frighten you, chase you, entice you, and trick you. Some may even be willing to help you, but one can never fully trust a stranger in the dark. It's a small comfort to know that none of them can touch you. At least, not until your flame goes out. If they touch you, you've lost already. To the outsider, the newcomer, and the tourist, the Halloween Game can seem a little silly, a little juvenile. There doesn't seem to be much that the game can offer that other haunted attractions don't already, even less without the movie grade theatrics and gore of the typical spook house. But the town's enthusiasm is infectious. The stories of past games played by locals and returning visitors are stories of adventure in the night; exaggerated without a doubt, but no less enchanting. What the Halloween Game offers is a hint of magic sorely missed by the world outside Shady Valley. And that is why you are here, today, on October the 28th. As you turn in your pumpkin there is a twinge of anticipation amid the doubt. This is going to be different. It's going to be fun. As people congratulate you, however, on your very first Halloween Game, a seed of apprehension begins to take root. Is it the way they seem to suddenly be forcing their smiles? Why is it they can't look you in the eye? Probably your imagination. But no matter how many times you reassure yourself. No matter how many hands you shake, back slaps you endure, or compliments you accept, the same thought repeats in your subconscious. There is something they aren't telling you.
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Post by mage on Aug 25, 2020 9:12:27 GMT -6
[googlefont="Amatic SC"] There is firelight
the woods tonight
And a bone pale moon
so full and bright
Hear the tune of fiddle and drum
Revel and play
and to the night succumb.
[googlefont="Amatic SC"] Welcome to Shady Valley
It’s a small rural community nestled in the Appalachian foothills between Grandfather and Black Mountain. Originally a mill town, most of Shady Valley’s industry dried up toward the end of the 1960’s. The town should have withered away, like so many other communities in the surrounding counties, but Shady Valley prospered in spite of its circumstances, and stands today as a testament to quiet stable living; an embodiment of the American Dream.
The community is large enough to support two rivaling elementary schools, but has only one high school. The heart of Shady is it’s picturesque historic downtown, which boasts a variety of curiosity and specialty shops, restaurants, and the odd pub or two. Independent businesses thrive here, and though big box stores can be found no more than an hour’s drive away, Shady has somehow remained impervious to the intrusion of corporate retail. Much of the area outside the business district has been maintained for housing, farmland, and rolling cattle pasture. Beyond that, Shady Valley is surrounded by thick woodland which makes up part of the vast Pisgah National Forest. For such a small town, there is an unusually low percentage of poverty and unemployment. Circumstances just seem to work out for Shady Valley and its inhabitants, often against the odds. Tourism has now become the town’s primary industry, particularly in the fall of the year, when a steady stream of visitors flock to the area to experience Shady Valley’s enthralling Fall festivities, as well as some of the most spectacular autumn colors in the Appalachia’s.
[googlefont="Amatic SC"] The Festival
In addition to numerous weekend events, Shady Valley holds its largest fall festival every year on October the twenty-eighth, which kicks off the preparations for the Halloween Game. Businesses are encouraged to decorate, promote events, and offer day long discounts while schools take part of the day to hold special activities for students. In the afternoon, usually starting around four o’clock, the downtown area is closed to traffic. Street vendors set up stalls between the shops while the town hosts a variety of carnival style game booths, craft displays, live musical performances, and spook houses. Most businesses off of main street will close early in order to allow employees a chance to attend, while schools load up their students and bring them downtown by the busload for an afternoon of fun.
Farmers from across the county bring in the year’s harvest of pumpkins. Quite a few are set aside for purchase, while others are donated to the town council for the local Candlelight Garden, which showcases numerous arrangements of carved jack o'lanterns throughout the town on Halloween night. Pumpkin contests, leg races, and a plethora of other events are held throughout the festival, promoting friendly competition and good sportsmanship. Bingo and other games are held at the local library and Town Hall.
The Festival closes with the pumpkin carving contest, in which the year’s participants in the Halloween Game prepare their jack o’lanterns. The entries are judged, and prizes awarded to the top ten participants.
[googlefont="Amatic SC"] The Game
For the intrepid thrill seeker and curious newcomer, entry into the Halloween Game is found inside of Shady Valley's town hall. There is a small fee for participants over sixteen, but all enterprising players are allowed to pick a pumpkin to carve. Afterwards, the entries are put on display and judged. The top three winners are guaranteed to have their names and faces on the front page of the local paper, while the top ten entries receive an assortment of prizes.
Once the competition is concluded, the town holds a closing ceremony for the festival. Numerous volunteers, wearing masks and traditional attire, gather up the pumpkin entries for the Halloween Game, and in a great solemn procession march down along Main Street and out the old Oak Road to begin the long task of hiding the pumpkins in the forest surrounding the town.
The Game is held at Gathering Field, accompanied by music, refreshments, and a great deal of fanfare. The Halloween Game for children begins at ten o’clock and carries until eleven thirty. It is heavily supervised, and the pumpkins aren’t difficult to find, particularly because adults are allowed to help in the search. Once the children’s game is finished, however, the real Halloween Game begins. Participants must be present at the field no later than the stroke of midnight, or else they will be disqualified until the following year.
The moment the players enter the forest, they have three hours to complete the game and return to the Gathering. A flame is lit inside each pumpkin, and the participant must find their personal jack o'lantern, and bring it back to the field with the pumpkin intact and the flame still burning. The Others lurk in the shadows, people dressed to frighten and entice as they use any means at their disposal to distract or terrify the players. The only thing they cannot do, however, is touch a player. At least, so long as that player's flame still burns. If the pumpkin is damaged, or the flame goes out, the player loses the game.
Prizes are not awarded for first place, as the point of the Halloween Game isn't to finish the fastest, but rather to return safely to the Gathering Field. Players who have completed the Game are each given a small gift, and enjoy the prestige of having participated in Shady Valley's most famous yearly event.
[googlefont="Amatic SC"] The Gathering
 Gathering Field is a vast flat expanse bordered on one side by the town, and on the other by the deep woods of Pisgah National Forest. Ordinarily used for cattle corn and hay, the field is cleared early into the month of October to become the staging ground for the Halloween Game. The Gathering rests at the end of a long gravel drive which branches off the end of Main Street, known locally as the Old Oak Road for the tall overarching trees which grow along the lane.
On Halloween night an immense bonfire is built and ignited in the field. The fire marks the location where the Game will start, and acts as a beacon for players in the woods, allowing them to easily find their way back to the Gathering. Even after the Halloween Game is concluded, the town traditionally mans the bonfire throughout the evening before finally allowing it to burn down in the early morning hours of November first.
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Post by mage on Aug 25, 2020 9:15:26 GMT -6
Welcome!
Characters in this story must be human. You may choose to play either a local character, or a newcomer that has recently moved, or is passing through. You can also play characters who have participated in the Game before, which may or may not change your experience for this annual Halloween Game.
Once the Game has officially started and all of our characters are in the woods, you must post at least three times before you can have your character attempt to find their pumpkin. When you are ready to do so, please send me a DM.
All of the Hollow's rules of conduct apply. I want this to be accessible to interested parties of all skill levels, but I would also prefer if posts could be a minimum of two solid paragraphs of five or more sentences.
There is no posting schedule. We are all busy people, and I’d like this to be a fun and comfortable experience. If you don't think you can post in a timely fashion (say within two weeks?) let me know and we'll see if we can work around your character until you can get caught back up.
Below I will post a bare bones character sheet. You can use it directly, or alter it as you please in order to share however much information you would like us to know about your player. You do not have to follow the format in any way, so long as we get a basic understanding of who your character is, where they come from, and what their experience with the Halloween Game has been so far.
So, let's meet our player's:
Name:
Nickname (If Any):
Age: (16 - 25)
Appearance: (Description, Faceclaim, or Both)
Personal Fears:
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Relationships: (These can be all be NPC relationships, or with other players. The relationship does not need to be positive, so long as there is a strong bond attached.)
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Costume: (Not Required, but Always Recommended)
Experience: (First Timer or Return Player)
Short Bio:
(Image or Description of Jack o'Lantern)
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Post by mage on Aug 28, 2020 9:26:15 GMT -6
John (Johnny) Creighton
18 | Townie | First TimerPersonal Fears- Spiders
- Werewolves
- Tight Spaces
Relationships
- Jack Creighton (Brother): John’s relationship with his brother is the driving force behind his participation in the Halloween Game this year. The two siblings were fairly close despite having a sizeable age gap between them. Five years ago, Jackie went into the woods for the Halloween Game at the age of nineteen and never came out again. John has obsessed with his brother’s disappearance ever since.
- Bonnie Creighton (Mother): John has always been closer to his mother than his father, particularly since Kenneth Creighton seems to look for any excuse not to come home for long stretches of time. Bonnie used to work from the house, but perpetual mental health issues exacerbated by the loss of her oldest son have since forced her into retirement.
- William Moss (Friend): The town recluse, William was a student in Jackie's graduating class from high school. The story goes that William fell into The Gathering bonfire while playing the Halloween Game five years ago and was badly burned. William has the scars to prove it, though the story he tells is very different. He says that Jackie saved his life, though he won't give John any details. Regardless, he's one of the only people in John's life who tolerates his obsession with finding out what happened to his brother. In fact, William encourages it.
Short Bio: John used to be a normal kid. He moved with his family to Shady Valley when he was ten, and being the likable and energetic sort, John had no trouble making friends. He had a doting mother, a firm but fair father, and a brother whom he both tormented and quietly idolized. Like his older brother, John was immediately drawn into the town’s love for Fall and the Halloween spirit. His parents, however, were quick to show their disdain for the holiday, and so John spent his Halloween nights playing video games with Jackie, all while making his own plans to one day sign up for the Halloween Game.
The day that Jackie was finally old enough to get a job and find his own apartment was the worst day of John’s life. And worse even than that, as soon as Jack was out from under their parent’s thumb, he signed up for the Game himself. John was so jealous that he actually became angry with his brother, and refused to speak with him for several days.
But he was lonely at home, and nights in the house without Jack around became dark and ominous. The night before Halloween, John slipped into Jackie’s old room to sleep in his brother’s bed. Something woke him in the wee morning hours. Not a sound, but an odd sensation triggered at the back of John’s mind. He was being watched.
He peered from his brother’s bedroom window on the second floor of the house, and caught a glimpse a dark figure perched in the branches of a nearby tree. The figure seemed to notice his scrutiny and quickly vanished from sight, but the brief encounter scared John badly enough that he remained awake through the rest of the evening. The next day, John tried to warn Jackie that someone had been outside his bedroom, but Jackie was insistent that John was overreacting. He said that they would figure it out later, after the Game. But John would never see Jackie again.
After the disappearance, a two week search, and the halfhearted investigation which followed, John's life changed. His parents stopped talking. Too stubborn to get a divorce, they have continued to cohabitate, but Kenneth now spends the majority of his time on the road and out of town. John forgot his friends. He kept up his schoolwork, but only put as much effort into it as needed to in order to keep his grades acceptable. Every other ounce of spare time and attention has gone into digging into the background of Shady Valley.
Now, eighteen and legally an adult, John is prepared to face his inner demons. His father is out of town on business, his mother has hit a low point in her depression, and John has signed up to participate in the Halloween Game. He’s going to stand in the same spot that his brother did, and enter those woods, and see for himself what the Game is all about. His mother is furious, but John can’t let that stop him. He’s been preparing himself for this for five wretched years, and now, he’s ready. At least, he hopes he is.
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