Evelyn Northwood was born into a relatively well-to-do family, along with an older brother named Murdoch. Their lives have been quite ordinary, to be honest. Evelyn was raised to be all the things that a good woman was meant to be in these times: elegant, courteous, and versed in such things as embroidery, dance, poetry.

For the most part, Evelyn didn't mind her upbringing. She even enjoyed quite a bit of it! She was quite partial to dance and poetry, both of which fed into her love of music. (Embroidery she just found to be a nightmare of boredom and finger pricks that led to nothing but wasted time and frustration.) Her parents recognized her talent for the musical arts and had her enrolled in a prestigious school which would foster her gifts.

At school, Evelyn found that she enjoyed a bit more freedom. Oh, the teachers kept a close eye upon the students. It wasn't as if there was nothing to worry about. However, it was far easier for her to evade their eyes than it had been to keep out sight of the family's faithful, strict butler, the other servants, or her parents. After all, the teachers were more invested in her education than in making sure she stayed well within what would be considered acceptable behavior for a Northwood.

That's not to say that Evelyn was a wild child who threw all caution to the wind. Not at all! She still knew that she needed to maintain a certain image for the family. But, there may have been nights when she slipped out of the dorms and crept alone in gardens in the darkness, exploring at hours that wouldn't be deemed permissible any other time. And, she may have enjoyed a discreet drink with friends, while sharing secrets in some tucked away corner.

Her academic career was a series of successes as her talent for the violin, her chosen instrument, grew. It wasn't long after she graduated that she landed a job in an orchestra as a substitute player. She stood in a few times for absent members and slowly proved her ability to the conductor. Soon, she was hired on as a short term contractor, working over the course of a year, with her employment to be renewed if she continued to do well. After a few years working as such, she was hired as a permanent member of the string section.

For the past few years, she's been travelling with the orchestra as they moved from city to city, performing. Thus, she's been exposed to a wide array of people and cultures as she explored the cities in between performances.

Do you want to wait until I have my sheet and items together, or should I go ahead and start posting to the story?

Please start posting whenever you're ready. The style is interactive fiction, the sheet is mostly for fun.

Will do! I have nothing going on for Thanksgiving. My family has decided to not do a get together, this year. I'll post something a little later. Just finished a post for another game, so I'm taking a break. (And, it lets me switch gears from fantasy to Edwardian England.)

I need to retrain myself to actually write detailed posts about what my character is thinking and feeling. I've gotten so used to not sharing that information when writing for a group that I have fallen out of the habit.

No worries! Totally understand about it being hectic, right now. We're having our Xmas today, as a matter of fact. (My son's holiday starts this weekend and we were like... why should he have to wait to enjoy his Xmas presents? Let's just do it now!)

I just realized that I never chose a portrait! Heh. I'll probably cycle through several before I settle on one that I like. I always find it so hard to locate one that seems close to what I want.

Merry Christmas! :D

Sorry that it seems like Evelyn isn't doing much in this last post. But, I kind of want to see what is going on with Jane and Prospero before I have Evelyn jump into the conversation.

If Jane seems agitated, she'll want to distract her with something else. Maybe go help her with some decorating around the house or preparing festivities. She's enjoying Prospero's company, but Jane is more important, at the moment.

But, I definitely want to get some more time for her and Prospero to talk, as well.

Just a quick note to say that I'm having fun! Thanks for running this for me. :D

Thanks. Glad it's to your liking.

Oh, man! I'm waffling about how to react to that kiss. On the one hand, it hasn't even been a full day that she's known Prospero. Any other day of the week, that would warrant a slap in the face. Buuuut... she does like him and I'm tempted to lean into the whole "fated love" trope and roll with it.

No matter what, there are no slaps in Prospero's future! At worst, she'd just take a step back. I don't know what I want to do, though! I shall give it more thought while I take care of some rather tedious work.

Yes, it's hard to remember it was less than 8 hours ago she met him -- it's been about two months of real time!

As I tried to indicate, he will not press even at the hint of withdrawal -- but his intentions are clear. Let's just say that the chemistry is in the air. I rather like the image of them with his pistol out, arm around her glaring about for villains as the snow drifts down and the light fades.

Haha! Yeah, that is the only problem with pbp. It's easy to lose track of time in the game vs. real time.

And, you were clear! I know that Prospero won't push things. I liked that scene, too! It does evoke a very romantic mental image. By golly... I'm going to roll with it, because I want the two artists to have their moment together!
This message was last edited by the player at 13:44, Fri 29 Jan 2021.

Heh! Also, I'm not ignoring all the Egyptian stuff you are throwing out! I'm taking note of it all. Poor Evelyn, though, is not quite as invested in that portion of things as her player is. Though, I imagine that is going to change!

I expect it will. There are many layers to explore here, and I feel it is going very well. The bit of romance and the Christmas celebration stuff, the hint of danger. Much more to come. Thanks for helping me bring this story to life. I tried running it as a group adventure last year and it fell flat on its face with the usual disappearance of half the characters. I'm pleased it is going so well writing with you. Thanks for being a conscientious correspondent.

Oh, yeah. I've found that it's a lot easier to play/DM solo games. It's so much easier to handle, as long as your primary person doesn't disappear.

My pleasure! Thank you for running it for me. I'm having a blast and I can't wait to see what kind of Christmas Cthulhu horrors descend upon my head. :D

Not game related, but just awesome music that I thought I would share. https://youtu.be/4DYoXhIu6T8

Ha! Poor Evelyn. I want her to go see what's going on. But, at the same time, I know that her upbringing would make her defer to the men in times of danger. Plus, she'd just be a distraction and in the way if she joined them.

But...but... the player wants to run towards the danger!

Oh, man. I can't decide how Evelyn is going to react to that! Definitely fear, at first. But, does it trigger fight or flight? I'm going to have to ponder that, a bit. (She's going to feel really bad, later, if her first reaction is to punch her poor, possessed friend in the face...)

D'oh! Poor Evelyn. She feels bad about slapping Prospero. But, those were quite unusual circumstances!

So, I was getting ready to post but realized that what I had in mind hinged on getting everyone back upstairs without incident. I want to get Jane to bed and then have a moment to talk with Prospero. Evelyn will want to apologize and confess about all the weirdness she's been experiencing since the start.

But... I don't want to just assume that nothing else happens. Can I get everyone upstairs safely?

Absolutely. Move things along at whatever pace suits you. If I have details that need to be squeezed in, I'll just back post.

On the road again for a week or so. I'll post when I can

No worries! I'm having time issues on my side, as well. I'm certainly not getting to a post today, no matter how much I want to!

I'm loving this story and having a great time!

I have forgotten. Is the séance supposed to happen on the evening of the 22nd? I'm trying to decide how quickly Evelyn feels like they need to move. If the séance is that evening, then she'll probably suggest splitting up so that Julian can tackle talking to McGregor and she can try to convince Jane to change her plans for the night.