A friendly lake-side community…
cheerful townsfolk of every kind…
plenty of engaging, and thrilling adventures to be had whether you are a tourist or a long-time resident…
Greetings from Deer Lick.
Cue Intro Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OVUbAB8_wc
Premise
As you may have guessed from the image, and the borrowed phrasing there, this is a Welcome to Night Vale style story. What does that mean?
Well… imagine that H.P. Lovecraft lived long enough to do a collaboration with George Orwell and Terry Pratchett… and in the case of this story, Edgar Allen Poe and possibly Isaac Asimov.
It is a town next to a lake where all manner of strange things can, and almost always do happen. Where Things Come Out of The Lake on a regular basis to wreak havoc, or just sell Quite Soggy T-Shirts. There was another town across the lake, but its gone now.
The Vague Yet Menacing Government Agency has a branch here, and there are many other strange delights to be had here in Deer Lick.
Writing Style
This is crucial, I’m trying to see if we can basically write in a mode similar to the original podcast, Welcome to Night Vale… which means for the most part we’ll all be writing from the point of view of the same character, Mattie Walker, the radio host, as she is at work presenting the nightly news and so on.
In other words, we’re writing the show from Mattie’s point of view. And even though you each have your own characters, but you’ll have to write about them from the radio show host’s point of view.
It may seem a bit confusing at first, but I think if you get into the right mindset, it’ll get less and less confusing as we go on.
Character Creation
Given the high level of just plain weird we need to get to in order to feel like an alternate take on Welcome to Night Vale… you’re free to come up with as strange a character as you like, with any manner of strange abilities… the only exception however is that you cannot, under any circumstances, take over other player characters without that player’s permission.
Also, in keeping with a running theme (sort of) from the original podcast, NO CHARACTER OR CARD ART WHATSOEVER. And when describing your character, try to be a bit vague on the specifics of your character’s appearance… let the reader draw their own conclusions about what your character looks like.
As for Character Cards, feel free to come up with your own Natures, Strengths, Weaknesses, and Subplots. The few cards I provided are intended as examples. As a general rule, I’d prefer that supernatural powers are not your strengths or weaknesses, unless they really are an essential part of your character’s personality and identity… AND they can be applied to a wide variety of situations.
Controlling Mattie Walker
You are free to characterize her however you like, with the following exceptions:
She is asexual, but not aromantic.
She is an atheist, and tries to find the most rational possible explanation for whatever is going on… which often involves a lot of double-speak, and a lot of pseudo-science. This is largely for comic effect, but can also be played for horror at some points. Note that NONE of your characters are gods by any stretch, nor are there any gods in this story… there are god-like beings, but they have holes and flaws just like anyone else… just a lot more power than anyone else. (including you, the PCs)
She never wears anything more feminine than a business skirt. Its not a statement on gender or politics or anything, she just has a more practical mindset for how she dresses herself for any occasion.
Like Cecil, she has some clairvoyant abilities, in which she seems able to read minds to a degree, or even scry someone she’s never met before from afar, but only under certain circumstances (read: when I say she does). Which she tends to dismiss as a bit of indigestion, or a really weird dream.
Please don’t put her in a romance sub-plot with your character, even if you win control of the story in a challenge. I’d prefer to decide the if and when of that myself.
Finally, do not describe her physical appearance under any circumstances. If you do, you will have to revise your move. Her exact appearance is classified information in Deer Lick. Whenever she goes out, a series of censor bars floats around with her. Don’t ask how that’s possible either, because that will force the Marshal’s Secret Police to arrest you for trying to illegally access classified information. Thank you.
Also, tagging this as NSFW, just in case. Might go in very violent, very disturbing territory… and might go for more sexual territory if that’s where you guys want to go with it. Though why the radio show would go into a sexual direction is beyond me.
Oh, one last thing… her voice… it changes a lot…
one moment it can so silky smooth and laced with seduction and intrigue that she could make the phone book sound like a page-turner…
and the next it could sound nasally and a bit stuck up… like a French aristocrat…
and another she could sound like a complete nerd. This switch is random, and anyone can make the change in their move if they want to… her current voice is one area where you are free to describe something about our radio show’s host.
The Weather
It wouldn’t be a Welcome to Night Vale style story without this strange musical interlude… so here’s how its going to work… after the first scene, if you finish the last challenge in a scene, you get to pick the song that goes in The Weather section.
Hosted and narrated by:
TheDoctor455
Started 01/18/15.
Scenes played: 2
License: Community License
