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Out in the inhospitable mountains, on what people would call the brink of modern-day civilization, surrounded by snowcapped mountains, stands the ancient Castle Overlook.
When you arrive through the narrow winding way, the first many miles of it being hard earth, the last part being paved, you will first think what you look upon is a weatherbeaten outcrop of the mountainside, right until the mists that seem to permanently permeate the valley clear and you realize it's a huge fortresslike complex, running along the ridge of the mountain. The outer walls run in the full length of the castle, surrounding heaps of buildings, towers and turrets too numerous to name. Some are hardened by aeons of weather or partly in ruins, sporting holes from unrecognizable damage, in most cases most likely age; others, among them what seems to be the main keep, are of a newer build, perhaps from within the last two centuries. All in all the castle is a mix of building styles throughout the ages, some which would even be unrecognizable to most historians.
If one had prepared by reading the publicly available history of the place, one would know that its origin is clouded by time; some claim it started out as a hideout for exiled gypsies, some say it was a monastery for a radical cult, others claim it started as fortified garrison - but what it would guard against out here in nowhere, is not known...
Rumours about the castles part are plenty though, and all who know about it can tell a tale or two... usually about dark deeds and haunted hallways.. and looking at the castle makes one wonder; what is fact and what is just... myth?
The castle lies, or has not been lying, alone forever. The remains of at least three villages lie in the valleys surrounding the castle, all ruined, nothing hinting at what happened to the villagers and why they left. Nowadays only a larger group of people shunning gypsies inhabit some hardly inhabitable buildings on the edge of one of the villages...
Except for the castle, the only area that seems to have been kept mostly intact over the years is the huge graveyard placed below a sheer cliff rising into the tallest peak in the area. The graveyard hosts the deceased members of the Doletti family which has claimed ownership to the castle for as long as its noted history, though nobody knows how they came to it at first...
Nobody has accurate records of the Doletti family, and their own annals, if any exist, have never been made public. The family, however, has been in decline for the last hundred years, until the castle was left for good with only a skeleton staff to keep it up, until the last surviving member of the family, Alfred Doletti, can return from travels afar to take up residence the family castle again.
It is a majestic fortress, rich in secrets and history, some perhaps better left untold, but before you ride across the drawbridge spanning the mistfilled depths to the valley floor beneath, you shall ask yourself... how much do you really want to know?
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What you see here is the general idea about the setting and facilities for the Halloween Caper, the surroundings, the host and the place where the Halloween Party will be held in the end.
Basically it's a start on which to base whatever people want to have happen at the Castle, the storylines leading up to the party, any crossovers happening, everything that's about to take place. You can choose to go with all or nothing, add your own parts, reveal your own truths and terrors, everything that would lead to a good story and time for readers and participants alike... just remember to share them here!
This thread is for the asking of questions about the various facilities, posting of descriptions of new ones as well as discussion about various parts of the setting. Any questions can be answered and discussed by everyone interested.
Should there be a request for new facilities, they can be provided either by the coordinators and/or participants provided they fit into the setting!
If you plan on using a part of the setting that has not hitherto been described, please post your description of it here for others to use as they see fit. If two artists want to use the same location, but are not of like mind, this is where to discuss and coordinate... the key to a great event of this kind is good coordination and management of the interweaving plots which inevitably arise.
If anyone wants to call dibs on designing specific characters for general use, please do so, but keep in mind that the best use is if everyone agrees on how they look, so keep an open mind to comments and suggestions!
One rule remains... enjoy!
- Hogan
did the mall the same way. 