Dunwater (Survival/Horror small group) [Recruitment Closed]

[Shores]

Wow, that was a very good read! I love all the monsters. And the places with their histories.

I have to say I'm too scared to play this though. I'll just read from the sidelines, just like how I watch other people play horror games.  ;D

Good job Sun Wukong!

[Totoro]

Wow, that was a very good read! I love all the monsters. And the places with their histories.

I have to say I'm too scared to play this though. I'll just read from the sidelines, just like how I watch other people play horror games.  ;D

Good job Sun Wukong!

Thank you for the kind words.

I think I've succeeded if it's enough to scare some people off? Hopefully that's a positive, in an odd way.

[Twisted iN Tux]

Start date is reasonably relaxed. I know at least one interested player is seriously ill and has other commitments, and I also appreciate that it's a relatively demanding character sheet.

So honestly I can't see IC happening until close to the end of the month depending on CS's. I'm not intending to pressure anyone until then. Feel free to let me know what kind of things you were thinking if you'd like pointers on whether they would fit in this universe.

I will say this game will probably be open for a while as there's always space for newcomers in Dunwater, although I don't want the game to get overly big. Thank you for the positive comments though!

Sounds great! I will certainly reach out to you if I hit any walls. I'm excited to be back on the boards.

Cheers,
Tony

[Totoro]

Sounds great! I will certainly reach out to you if I hit any walls. I'm excited to be back on the boards.

Cheers,
Tony

Glad to know you're excited.



Just so everyone knows I'm going to be very busy until Monday with my work/hobby, so my posting/checking PM's etc. will be very irregular for a few days.

[Totoro]

For now we have enough players. If anyone is interested in joining that hasn't already expressed interest feel free to PM me with a character concept but it will need to be fairly unique and interesting to get in as this is meant to stay as a small game.

Thank you for everyone currently getting involved!

[Alias]

Alright, this got a little bit long...

Catherine Keller Michaels

Character Sheet

BASIC INFO:
Full Name: Catherine Keller Michaels
Age: Twenty-Six (November 12)
Gender: Female
Occupation: Paranormal Investigator, Spirit Walker, and Medium

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Residence, neighborhood/type of home: Currently making headquarters out of two rooms at the local hotel.
Education: High School Diploma.
Place of Birth: Seattle, Washington. Raised in Issaquah, Washington. Has spent the last few years all over the country.
Ethnicity: Caucasian

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
Height: 5’8
Weight: 118 lbs
Hair color: Brunette roots, bleached blonde
Eye color:  Hazel/Green (almost yellow)
General Appearance: Catherine is a display of feminism. She is slight, fragile, and delicate by appearance. She wears flowing clothing, and she seems to dance when she moves. Beautiful by nature, and interested in being as beautiful as possible. Concerned with some vanity, she is more concerned with being a calming presence for people. Her resting expression is a bit nutty. She doesn't always look like she's in her right mind. There's a 'one-thousand-yard-stare' that can settle in her eyes at any given moment. This woman doesn't really work out much, but she keeps herself in good shape. She is likely a bit unhealthy, with how thin she is. But, she never notices the lack of energy. She likes to be clean, presentable, and professional most of the time. And, even when she dresses to be attractive for dates or social engagements, she is proper and her clothing is respectable.
Faceclaim: Cat Haave

ABILITIES/EQUIPMENT/OTHER

SKILLS:
Sewing - She learned this at a young age from her mother, and saves a lot of money by modifying her own clothing to fit her better

Penmanship - She has outstanding handwriting and she writes in complex cursive almost exclusively. This was important to her father, and all of her siblings learned to do the same thing.

Ritual - Catherine has spent the better half of a decade learning rituals with her uncle. She specializes in performing Seances and communicating with ghosts and has been possessed by one on purpose a few months ago. Her family is basically a cult that believes they can talk to ghosts, because they can.

Latin - She has basically learned Latin. It’s a dead language, but she speaks it often enough to consider herself fluent.

Squishy mind - Catherine can easily slip into trance states. She learned to meditate at a young age and she’s taken a few psychedelic drugs in her later years. She’s gone through sensory deprivation, and fasting rituals to hone this. It makes reality slippery, but it helps her do her job

Belief - This is an abstract skill that Catherine is using constantly. She spends most of her time looking for ghosts and trying to spot left over energies from previous events. She is very much like a cop that only focuses on things that most people deem to be impossible. She’s honed this belief and she has developed some sort of 6th sense. It is easy for her to see ghosts, and hear them. She allows herself to tap into that childish innocence that makes the impossible more tangible.

ADVANTAGES:
Pain Tolerance - Catherine has experienced extreme pain in her life, and many sensations don’t bother her at all. This does have limits within good reason.

Focus - She lives a bizarre life. And she doesn’t let herself stray from that. She surrounds herself with people that let her do her job. So, her focus is always on point. It’s honed over many years

Social Prowess - People are her comfort zone, and the concerns of the living are refreshing topics of discussion. In addition, she is good  at feeling people out, and reading their emotions.

Performer - She has to pay the bills, and being ‘in-character’ for some people is important to get paid. She’s done a number of rituals that were non sense in order to appease the minds of simple people. So, she has a flare for the dramatics.

Sprinter - She never competed in any kind of school sanctioned sport. But, Catherine has wheels, and she can run at higher speeds than most people can.

EQUIPMENT:
Mini Van - A maroon ‘caravan’ from the late 90s. It doesn’t look good, but it runs well, and it has a lot of cargo space. Alice usually drives this. Most of Catherine’s equipment is kept here
The Sedan - a four door mercedes from the 80s that runs on diesel. It’s kept in pristine condition, pitch black and shiny, it almost looks like a hearst. Dane’s car. Catherine drives it often.

Ritual implements - These are mostly for show, but they do help Cathy enter altered states: Candles, incense, sands, books for research including her family history, animal bones, other wishy washy magickal items.

Shotgun - Dane’s shotgun. He’s trained Catherine to use it in a pinch. And it’s her only real line of defense. So the gun is kept on her side of the bed. Dane doesn’t like using it, and he can defend himself with his own body. She’s too frail for that. The gun bruises her shoulder whenever she uses it, but it’s more effective than her terribly weak strikes.


HISTORY & PERSONALITY

HISTORY:
The first note here is probably the most telling part of the history for this character in this game, so I’ll lead with it: Catherine has likely worked on over 300 different ‘cases’ in her life. That is, she’s been called to approx. 330 different hauntings as an adult. Throughout her entire life, she’s only encountered twenty-five ghosts. Most of them were as harmless as a house cat. And by far, the most common thing they deal with is paranoid people with more money than sense. So, in some ways, Catherine is a scam artist, and isn’t afraid to make money while she pretends that people are haunted. The justification in her family's minds: They actually do help most of the time, even when there were no ghosts to speak of, and especially when there were.

Catherine’s family has a detailed history remembered through oral tradition and the written word. The last name has changed again and again because the bloodline is remembered, not the titles. The lineage of her family tracks back to 13th century Ireland, ‘Eire’. And even through the catholic presence there, they never permitted the patriarchal ideology of the royal pressures. Their family stayed hidden. They never had special powers. They were just regular people who believed in something very specific: ‘With the right practice, it was possible to communicate with the dead.’

So, over seven hundred years worth of dedicated mediums that were secretly existing among the common people of eastern Eire. A segment of her family moved to America in the 17th century, and continued westward in the next generation to Washington in 1884. Five generations later came Catherine.

Her mother, Elizabeth Harris had married Jonathan Michaels. Both of them were dedicated to helping the living and the dead move on. Elizabeth came from the Irish family previously, and Jonathan had Irish blood. Elizabeth had been a median before her. Catherine’s father was a television producer that turned into an organizer for Elizabeth. Darren Harris was already doing that job, but he welcomed the help. Darren was Elizabeth’s older brother. The two of them were a pair for a long time, communicating with ghosts and using their own bodies as tools for the spirits to use. Before Catherine was born, Darren and Elizabeth started an official family business that they called ‘The Presence Investigation Company’ or ‘Presence I.C.’

The company was based in Issaquah, Washington. But, they were wanderers at heart, and the family was often on the road to investigate erie houses and ‘haunted’ caves.

That was the life that Catherine was born into. She traveled with her family as they went to aid families and towns of hauntings. Cathy wasn’t directly involved with the Seances and investigations of course, but she was in the presence of real ghosts at a young age. And she saw them.

Catherine went to school, but her father always helped her to finish her homework as fast as possible without skipping over the real lessons. She had an older brother, and two younger siblings. But only the two oldest were considered for the family tradition. The younger children showed no interest. Catherine and her older brother William were obsessed. Schoolwork was like a shadow world, most of the kids at school were vapid to them. The two siblings were only two years apart, so Catherine fit in with the older kids all the way through school.

They both classified as Goths as they grew up because of their obsession with dead things. Catherine had an especially weird reputation. She was more gifted socially than her brother, so she was more out in the public eye. She had boyfriends, and she had a reputation for intimidating girls she didn’t like. And, she was even a bit violent.  Every Summer, she and her brother went on trips with her mother and Uncle, just as they had as children. Only their closest friends knew what they were up to. Every school year, they came back more demure, more haunted, more aware of impending death. Their younger siblings started to despise this reputation that Catherine and William had obtained. And the smaller siblings had matured enough to be associated with them. It didn’t take long for people to start calling them. It created a rift in the family. And the younger children actually moved away to their uncle’s house on their father’s side of the family. It was untraditional, but they didn’t want to be involved.  It was hard to admit, but they were better off without the younger children. And the two kids were better off with other people in their family. They were well taken care of, and they kept their last names in respect to their parents. Everyone was happy about it, and they still saw each other during a few holidays with long gaps in between. Elizabeth’s brother moved into the empty space in their house, he was welcomed, and he helped provide for everyone. It didn’t take long for Darren, Elizabeth, Jonathan, Catherine, and William to become an exceptionally close knit family. The house became focused, self aware, and comfortable. They all understood each other. It was haunting, but with each other’s support they managed to grow as people together, the way that a family should.

But it didn’t last forever, not in any world.

When she was seventeen, her mother passed away from illness. Catherine said her goodbyes and moved on rather peacefully. She never heard her mother speak back to her after death, which made sense to her. The two of them had been at peace with everything. And, Cathy was fast learning the family secrets.

She studied her family history more closely than American history, and she tried to take knowledge with her from the past by learning from her ancestors successes and mistakes. Her Father didn’t handle the death of his mother well. Darren continued to live in her home to help with managing the family. Catherine helped raise her little brother and her little sister. But, they were both very mature by the time she needed to take over, and most of her duty was helping them understand what death was and why it happened.

Once she was done with school, and her family was on its feet again, she and William jumped in full force to learn how to commune with the dead. Darren led the charge. He led the rituals, and communicated with the scared or grieving families. But all the while he allowed his niece and nephew to explore their own talents. William went on a pilgrimage back to The Eire.

Catherine stayed with Darren and her father. Their unit of five was reduced to three. While William worked on learning more from their homeland, Catherine felt like she could learn all she needed from Darren. For two years, He put her through trial after trial for years while they took the time off from seances. The family savings account had been collecting well. Most of Catherine’s training was local, and involved altered states. But they traveled to practice possessions as well near the end. She experienced two. Twice, she was possessed at 19.

When she was 20, they started to work like a team the way he used to with her mother. Catherine had proved to be an exceptional fill in for her mother. The two of them, uncle and niece together, took her mother’s business to the next level.  They had an internet presence, a page in the local yellow pages, a phone line, and an occasional podcast that went over some of their experiences. Most of the time, their practice is met with aggressive skepticism and unhappy disbelievers. And, most of their business is not any kind of actual haunting. Darren has two other young pupils now, that he hired intermittently as the business started to pick up steam again. They are business pupils, Dane Cooper first, 4 years ago, and Alice Robinson later on, about a year and half before game start.

They started to travel the country as their email filled up with hundreds of American families in need of their services. Dane was brought on to help shoulder the responsibility and speak with the families. Usually, they were called to grieving families who need closure for a lost child or an important pet in some cases. In rare cases, more concerned families were convinced that there was a malevolent spirit haunting them for no reason.

About two months after meeting him, Catherine fell in love with Dane. The two have been romantically involved for years. She met him essentially the same way that her mother met her father. But she’s yet to marry him or have any children with him. More recently, Catherine experienced a third possession that nearly killed her. Her uncle rescued her from the danger and shouldered the weight of the malevolent spirit. It was hardly the worst encounter of his life, and he handled the experience with aptitude and pose. That was about a year ago.

About two months ago. Darren passed away at the age of 65. And just like when her mother passed, Catherine moved on quickly. And, just like her mother, she has never since heard his voice or seen his shape in her world. She was working again within two weeks, leading the company now, even above her own father in legal control. He stopped traveling with her, and instructed her to wait for her brother to return from Ireland. But he was taking his sweet time. He’d told her through a letter that he was planning on staying there is whole life. Their father was convinced that William would come back eventually. But Catherine couldn’t wait around for him. So she kept on, trying to teach Dane as much as she could, hoping that she could wake up the Medium that she believed to be buried in his being. He can see ghosts, if he’s lucky. But, he’s yet to be able to hear one, or speak so that it could hear him. In other words, he has no idea what he’s doing.

‘Presence I.C.’ has traveled and worked locally with Catherine as a partner, trainee, and as its owner for some time. Before, both her mother and Darren had protected her, knowing that she was liable to get herself in trouble. She was a fragile mind when it came down to it, and there was a lot of darkness that she had never been shown. Further, even Darren and Elizabeth didn’t know how powerful a ghost could be. But Darren had known one thing, and he had told Catherine multiple times as he trained her, ‘Avoid Dunwater. You must never go to Dunwater.’

Cathy always knew that they were protecting her. It was more than obvious. With only two months of freedom, and she’s already in the place her mentor told her to avoid for her entire life.

Past with Ghosts

Extensive. It should be noted that ‘Presence IC’ has no interest in proving ghosts are real to the world. They actually go out of their way to keep their activities shadowed and low profile. Now, Cathy has come in direct contact with about two dozen ghosts in her life. She’s communicated with nine of them. She has been possessed by three of them. The following is a brief breakdown of each experience including Catherine’s age. It should also be noted that there is a lot of Death in the following list, so, some of it might hit close to home for any possible reader. This is part of Catherine though. Enjoy?

Key -
? - Cathy cannot recall this at all
X - Cathy can be reminded of this with help
# - Cathy thinks about this often
! -  Cathy thinks about this daily



# - 01 - At age five - A middle aged woman, mysteriously present in an old home. Maine. The family there was perturbed. It was the first ghost Cathy had ever seen. The woman was over the fireplace, whimpering softly. Her parents never told her what was wrong with the spirit. But she would never forget that night.
? - 02 - At age five - Am angry musician screaming at his lover outside of a hotel. Boston She could see him from her window. She had even watched. But Catherine had thought it was just a normal man. She sensed his pain, and chose to avoid it. But, he had never been there. No one mentioned it to her, so she didn’t bother remembering.
X - 03 - At age five - A hanged man in a tree, New Jersey. The tree was old, and hadn’t changed. Her fascination with trees starts here.
? - 04 - At age six - investigating a cave in Pennsylvania for a private owner. A young woman had died in those caves. Even in her spirit form, she was a ghastly image to behold. The ghost had specifically tried to avoid showing herself to Catherine. But, Catherine managed to see the woman’s ghostly face before she was ushered away. If she’d have seen more, she might have committed that cave to memory.
? - 05 - At age six - A beaten man from another time. Still too young to truly be filled in on what happened, this ghost had been murdered by his brother. It was one of the most challenging cases Darren had ever found. And, Catherine doesn’t even remember it.
# - 06 - At age nine - A young boy ghost in Alabama, he’d died in the woods of starvation in the early 20th century, lost, and unable to find his parents. When Catherine had found him, the two of them played in the woods for some time before she realized he was a ghost. When she saw the truth, she saw the marks of death on him. Terrified, she ran from him, being chased by a weak skeleton of a child, a child who just wanted to play.
X - 07 - At age nine - An old woman sowing in an abandoned home, Kentucky. Catherine was too young to really care or remember.
X - 08 - At age ten - civil war victim, Tennessee, a city park for a small town. She never got close, her Uncle had seen the soldier as well, and he had been sent running by the presence.
! - 09 - At age fourteen - She was in New Mexico, near the southern border in a very dry and empty town. She saw a beautiful woman crying on steps that no longer existed. She didn’t speak with the woman long, but the ghost believed that she was talking to herself, the two of them were remarkably similar in appearace. She’d been a whore in the 1800’s, she was still feeling the guilt alone on the stairs. Something about this experience still haunts Catherine.
? - 10 - At age fourteen - A gunshot victim in Utah. The man had been 28 when he died, an act of random violence. A maniac had broken into his home, and shot him dead. He was handled easily, and Catherine never understood why he was dead.
# - 11 -  At age fourteen - California, outside of San Diego. She saw a middle aged woman leaving bloody footprints all over a house and the property around it. She had stuck around to find out the end of this one. The woman had been an immigrant from Mexico, and had died in that property of fatigue and blood loss in a bed, being cared for by an American sympathizer.
X - 12 -  At age fifteen - A  man in California had died of an unfortunate stroke. Darren had handled this one mostly. Catherine had been sick, and it is still difficult for her to recall.
X - 13 -  At age fifteen - Another random old woman, also sewing, this time in Los Angeles. Like the last one, this memory is difficult to remember. But she can still recall the layout of that particular home. The woman was a vicious catholic who beat on all of her children. She was far from happy, and difficult to deal with.
# - 14 -  At age sixteen - A jilted female In Southern California, homicidal and vengeful of her boyfriend whom accidentally killed herself in the fight. The death had happened in the twenties.  The family living in the old house now was tired of the distant screaming every night
#- 15 -  At age sixteen - A native american dancer out in a clearing in rural washington. She immediately knew that she wasn’t looking at a pained spirit. She was seeing a dedicated guardian spirit over something sacred beneath him. Respectfully, she avoided the dancer, turned away, and never returned to that place
# - 16 -  At age nineteen - Like a few of her other contacts, this one was random, and local near her home town. She found a woman handcuffed to a tree, of course, not the body, but the spirit. She looked at the base of the tree, and did locate bones. The death was fresh. It had been a kinky sex game gone wrong. Catherine never found the partner, and allowed the ghost to move on when she informed the ghost that she’d likely been murdered, and left here on purpose.
# - 17 -  At age nineteen - possession. This ghost was left over from a 34 year old woman. She’d died of MS. She was ashamed of an affair she’d had years before. So, when the spirit possessed Catherine, Catherine's body apologized to the grieving husband for cheating on him, and then moved on.
# - 18 -  At age nineteen - possession. This ghost was a male child of 9. He’d been hit by a car outside of the family’s home while playing. That was the most traumatic part, really. When Catherine was possessed by the boy, his spirit took her to the backyard where the child had buried some of her mother's jewelry. So Catherine's body while possessed went and dug them up. She suffered severe damage to her right middle finger, and the finger was shortened by a knuckle permanently. She also suffered serious bacterial infection and was hospitalized for weeks.
X - 19 -  At age twenty - A woman who suffered a heart attack in Oregon, had wanted to watch her daughter sing one more time. Darren had done that one too, it had been especially hard for him.
? - 20 - At age twenty two - Washington state, A middle aged father that had died a blameless and silly death. His process was easy. Darren had handled this one in a little under 24 hours.
X - 21 -  At age twenty two - a man who had lost all of his family members one by one, Montana. He died angrily, burning his own house down in the process. It had been an accident, not a suicide, and he needed to prove that to someone. There was no possession needed.
# - 22 - At age twenty four - California, a young actress had died at a party when a stray match lit her costume ablaze. She suffered from intense shock, and her body shut down. She’d never known what happened. She was a drunk ghost that was almost fun to help.
# - 23 - At age twenty five - One of Darren’s easiest cases, but a difiult one for Catherine. A father had lost both of his daughters. Catherine was more apt to handle it, but it hit her too hard, and Darren helped the young girl’s understand that their father would be alright. The reason this was hard for Catherine was because it was a lie. She didn’t know that ghosts could be lied to like that.
! - 24 -  At age twenty five - Possession. This was the ghost that almost killed Catherine. She hadn’t learned enough about the ghost before the possession, it had been too violent and she wasn’t able to control the spirit at all. She was as quiet as a church inside while spirit took over completely. Catherine’s body weeped for almost two straight hours, and nothing seemed to stop her. She only knew that she had cut herself while possessed. If Darren hadn’t been there, she would be dead.
# - 25 -  At age twenty five - She was on a hike in the mountains and stumbled upon a little girl that had drowned many many years ago. Catherine spoke to the child about the creek, and learned a lot. But she wasn’t able to understand where the child was trying to lead her, and she knew better than to follow her deeper into the woods. Stray ghosts like that were dangerous. Dane had been there, and he had seen her too.

PERSONALITY: 
Catherine Michaels is a mystic, and she’s always identified as one. So, she’s a peculiar person. She’s a caring individual, and she has made it a goal to help everyone she meets improve their situation, dead or alive. She’s no prude, having a good time and letting loose is actually easier for her than most people. She can calm down just by making the decision to do so. And, tossing back a few with her friends and her lover is something she treasures.

She’s good with strangers, and she tends to know when to tell a white lie to keep someone calm, or to help them understand the world a little better.

At times, Catherine can be violent and reactive. This was more true of her when she was very young, but the anger in her isn’t gone completely. For instance, she’s not afraid to get into a real fight with another woman if she makes any moves on Dane. In addition, she’s not afraid to get into a fight that she will likely lose if she’s angry enough. This is rare, because not much can upset her.

Catherine is eager, she wants to know the truth, she’s overly confident, and she thinks she can solve the problem in this town that her family has been scared of for generations.


CHARACTER FLAWS:
Removed from reality - Catherine does not, has not, and never will live a normal life. She doesn’t care about politics, or religion, or television. Regular things do not bother her. So, she’s difficult to connect with. Only other believers can find the good parts of her personality.

Know it all - Catherine has spent a lot of time learning her ‘trade’ and mastering her skills. Most of the time, she can get away with it, but in the wrong company, she can come off as a rude lunatic with a thick skull and a stubborn disposition.

Reactive/Pleasure seeker/No Code - This woman does not know the idea of chastity, or restraint. Patience is important to her, but that doesn’t help her here. She has no real code of conduct. If it feels good, she does it. If she becomes overwhelmed by negative stimulation, or positive stimulation, she can over react fairly easily. This makes her quick to panic, quick to anger, quick to engage in sex, and so on. She doesn’t have a lot of restrictions at all, basically.

Fragile - She has a fragile mind and a fragile body. It’s not hard to beat her down, make her cry, and force her to give up.

Gullible/Liar - Catherine doesn’t have a good grasp on the truth. She trusts too easily, especially for how good she is at lying. Other’s can get their claws into her pretty easily, and she would never make any money if Dane wasn’t around. She is good at lying, but she only lies to help people move on from their problems. However, because of how gullible she is, it’s easy to manipulate her.


FEARS & COURAGES

FEARS:
Monophobia - The fear of being alone. Catherine hates this sensation. It is difficult for her to fall asleep without a partner. She doesn’t like being in any space without another person (dead or alive). This is a pretty serious fear. She feels incredibly vulnerable when on her own. This fear is so deeply ingrained in her that almost everything she does is designed to attract people into her space. She doesn’t ever want to be by herself, at any moment. Most of her actions are partly motivated by her need to stay in the company of others.

Entomophobia - Just like spiders, she fears bugs as well. Moths are particularly terrifying. She is convinced that bugs want to be in her mouth, against her eyes, in her ears, under her clothing, and hiding in her shoes. This fear is actually very serious, Catherine cannot do battle with moths, hornets, bees, crane flies, house flies, grasshoppers, Cockroaches dragonflies, bees, beetles, and most large spiders (note: many of these have their own names, some are listed below, some are not. Those mentioned are obviously more intense, but would be at the bottom of the list of bug phobias). Most of the time, it takes 15-20 minutes for her to deal with these things, using tools, and sometimes even protective clothing. She once stayed awake for hours alone in her bedroom staring down a large hairy spider she trapped under a clear plastic cup. Too afraid to move it, and too afraid to leave it alone.

Mottephobia - fear of moths. Catherine hates moths more than any other bug. She has actually had multiple moths fly into her mouth. And they always seem to end up on her face or inside of her tops, flapping and jimmying all over her bare skin. She is petrified of one being squished against her skin, so she usually flips out completely when this happens. Other bugs  have done this to her, but moths seem to seek her out.

Arachnophobia - The fear of spiders. She cannot be in the same room that a spider is in. If she knows about it, the situation must change. She is capable of facing down smaller spiders, but larger spiders have made her sleep in the living room before.

Apiphobia - Fear of bees. This is a pretty big deal, being stung doesn’t bother her. She’s afraid the bees will get into her mouth, ears, eyes, clothing etc.

Katsaridaphobia -fear of cockroaches, previously mentioned. They are horrible, and this is serious.

Trypanophobia - The fear of needles. The very thought of receiving an injection makes Catherine nervous, and riddled with anxiety. She doesn’t respond well at all. This is a pretty serious fear, but it doesn’t keep her away from injections or needles. So, she’s handling it enough to function.

Claustrophobia-  Catherine does not do well in small spaces. She likes to sleep with windows open, and so on. This is a moderate fear. Small spaces might make her panic.

COURAGES:
Fear of heights - Can manage them - Does not get nervous in high places, graceful and centered - no problem

Extreme Weather - Thunderstorms are exciting, and a downpour of rain is easy for her to handle. Cold temperatures don’t bother her much either. Of course, her body is affected, but the pain tolerance helps with this a lot

Death Itself - This doesn’t actually scare Catherine. She has dealt with death her entire life, and although she still feels like she has a lot to accomplish, dying, the concept doesn’t actually scare her. The end would be an interesting experience in her mind.

Blood - she doesn’t get squeamish from blood or light gore. She’s seen her fair share of disaster, and she’s seen the remnants of her her finger after digging through the dirt. They do disturb her, and she has her limits, but she doesn’t mind cleaning minor wounds on herself or another.

The Dark/lack of senses - Catherine is fine in the dark, the quiet, and in general in a state of sensory deprivation. As her disorientation increases, she will lose some courage. But, being deprived of her senses doesn’t frighten her.


PLAYER LIMITS:
Cannibalism - she shouldn’t be eating people, or herself. Being eaten by another human would also be a little too far. She could be eaten by a monster though, that's fine.

Genital mutilation - other parts of the body are permitted, this includes vagina, breasts and mouth. (mouths are genitals too. :p)

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS:

TRAUMAS & INJURIES:

Hands - Specifically her right hand. The middle finger on this hand is halved, she is missing 2 knuckles. There are other scars along her fingers and her palms, but they are not disfiguring, only the missing finger. The scars are starting to fade.

[Totoro]

# - 18 -  At age nineteen - possession. This ghost was a male child of 9. He’d been hit by a car outside of the family’s home while playing. That was the most traumatic part, really. When Catherine was possessed by the boy, his spirit took her to the backyard where the child had buried some of her mother's jewelry. So Catherine's body while possessed went and dug them up. She suffered sever damage to her right middle finger, and the finger was shortened by a knuckle permanently. She also suffered serious bacterial infection and was hospitalized for weeks.

In the second to last sentence did you mean to use sever or severe?

? - 20 - At age twenty two - Washington state, A middle aged father that had died a blameless and silly death. His process was easy. Darren had handled it one a little under 24 hours.

Last sentence seems a little disjointed.

# - 23 - At age twenty five - One of Darren’s easiest cases, but a difiult one for Catherine. A father had lost both of his daughters. Catherine was more apt to handle it, but it hit her too hard, and Darren helped the young girl’s understand that there father would be alright. The reason this was hard for Catherine was because it was a lie. She didn’t know that ghosts could be lied to like that.

Third sentence should be 'their father'.



Other than that it's excellent. Going to guess tiredness may have set in on that segment as the rest has no errors I can see.

Just so everyone in general is aware, we've discussed this character a lot. She knows about ghosts and can sort of deal with some, but she is far from an 'answer' to all ghost issues in Dunwater. The ghosts here are far, far worse than anywhere else.

[Alias]

In the second to last sentence did you mean to use sever or severe?

Last sentence seems a little disjointed.

Third sentence should be 'their father'.



Other than that it's excellent. Going to guess tiredness may have set in on that segment as the rest has no errors I can see.

kk, I'll fix those up.

It was a hard section to put together, and I was like... really challenging my mind to get it out, haha. So yeah, tiredness maybe, weird section for a sheet, hehe.

Just so everyone in general is aware, we've discussed this character a lot. She knows about ghosts and can sort of deal with some, but she is far from an 'answer' to all ghost issues in Dunwater. The ghosts here are far, far worse than anywhere else.

yeah she's real experienced, and inexperienced at the same time.

[Totoro]

kk, I'll fix those up.

It was a hard section to put together, and I was like... really challenging my mind to get it out, haha. So yeah, tiredness maybe, weird section for a sheet, hehe.yeah she's real experienced, and inexperienced at the same time.

Thanks and I can see how it was a hard section, but getting out 25 ghost encounters without one I have an issue with is good going. So, good job!

[Alias]

Thanks and I can see how it was a hard section, but getting out 25 ghost encounters without one I have an issue with is good going. So, good job!

:D yeah, i'm actually surprised. lol

[Totoro]

:D yeah, i'm actually surprised. lol

You did great. I'll get an approved thread together at some point when I have 3-4 CS's around.

[Alias]

I'm gonna add some NPCs to the sheet eventually, Dane and Alice need a quip blurb the way that Lustrful B has Alfred Simmons' explanation and picture link. I'll get that done today. :)

[CandyLips]

Definitely interested in this!

[Totoro]

Definitely interested in this!

Awesome. What kind of character were you thinking of?

[CandyLips]

Awesome. What kind of character were you thinking of?

I was thinking of being either a non-believer who is going there to prove that it's all fake and that it's just crazy people in the town trying to scare people away OR someone who has traveled in search of getting proof on camera to make a name for herself and has only come up with dead ends so far.

[Totoro]

I was thinking of being either a non-believer who is going there to prove that it's all fake and that it's just crazy people in the town trying to scare people away OR someone who has traveled in search of getting proof on camera to make a name for herself and has only come up with dead ends so far.

So we already have a very firm non-believer who intends to prove everything as false and has a small camera crew.

Someone trying to get proof for personal gain (Fame/Money/Whatever) would be interesting.

[CandyLips]

So we already have a very firm non-believer who intends to prove everything as false and has a small camera crew.

Someone trying to get proof for personal gain (Fame/Money/Whatever) would be interesting.

Thank you for making my decision for me so I didn't have to go back and forth for far too long! What a relief! ^_^

[Totoro]

Thank you for making my decision for me so I didn't have to go back and forth for far too long! What a relief! ^_^

I would say ideally make your character not too experienced with the supernatural as we have one very experienced investigator and one who debunks fairly 'professionally' IE with a camera crew etc.

If that works for you? Although do remember it's 2002 so technology available to film things with is pretty bad compared to today. It's amazing how far handheld cameras have come in 15 years.

[CandyLips]

I would say ideally make your character not too experienced with the supernatural as we have one very experienced investigator and one who debunks fairly 'professionally' IE with a camera crew etc.

If that works for you? Although do remember it's 2002 so technology available to film things with is pretty bad compared to today. It's amazing how far handheld cameras have come in 15 years.

I was thinking more just a camcorder. She's wasted a lot of money traveling, so she can't afford all that tech.

[Totoro]

I was thinking more just a camcorder. She's wasted a lot of money traveling, so she can't afford all that tech.

Makes sense. Gives her the more beginner tier enthusiast feeling. And we were actually slightly lacking on more 'basic' (In experience and gear) supernatural 'curios' people rather than full on pro investigators.

[CandyLips]

Makes sense. Gives her the more beginner tier enthusiast feeling. And we were actually slightly lacking on more 'basic' (In experience and gear) supernatural 'curios' people rather than full on pro investigators.

Awesome! I'll try to get you a character sheet in the next few days. My SO had surgery, so I'm mostly only focused when he's napping.

[Totoro]

Awesome! I'll try to get you a character sheet in the next few days. My SO had surgery, so I'm mostly only focused when he's napping.

In general I think I'm going to give until Sunday for everyone to get CS's before I start really wanting to get them.



Right now of the people who've shown interest Alias and Lustful Bride have both got in full CS's that are approved.

I've got concepts from WileyRiley, Rekhaiyer and CandyLips and I'm waiting on full CS's so up until Sunday until I chase anyone up.

Could use concepts from Twisted in Tux and La Dame En Noir that way I'll know what I'm working with and can start some initial plotting.

Anyway, let me know if you're on here and will have a problem getting something together by Sunday. Thanks!

[Twisted iN Tux]

In general I think I'm going to give until Sunday for everyone to get CS's before I start really wanting to get them.



Right now of the people who've shown interest Alias and Lustful Bride have both got in full CS's that are approved.

I've got concepts from WileyRiley, Rekhaiyer and CandyLips and I'm waiting on full CS's so up until Sunday until I chase anyone up.

Could use concepts from Twisted in Tux and La Dame En Noir that way I'll know what I'm working with and can start some initial plotting.

Anyway, let me know if you're on here and will have a problem getting something together by Sunday. Thanks!

Just in from work and planning to start on my sheet tonight! So, yes, Sunday is not a problem at all, if not before.

Cheers,
Tony

[Totoro]

Just in from work and planning to start on my sheet tonight! So, yes, Sunday is not a problem at all, if not before.

Cheers,
Tony

Awesome, thanks for letting me know.

[CandyLips]

There might be some errors. Been working on this here and there and I've been kinda tired and somewhat loopy.

Salem McGregor

Character Sheet

BASIC INFO:
Full Name: Salem McGregor
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Occupation: Gossip Columnist for a teen magazine


ADDITIONAL INFO:
Residence, neighborhood/type of home: Renting a tiny apartment in Oregon just outside the rough part of town
Education: Bachelor's degree in Journalism
Place of Birth: Sacramento, California
Ethnicity: Caucasian


PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
Height: 5'4”
Weight: 125lbs
Hair color: Red
Eye color: Hazel-Green
General Appearance: She changes her clothes with her moods – anywhere from grunge to a tea dress. She has no tattoos, two piercings in each ear, and several minor on her arms, legs, and torso.
Faceclaim: Hayley Williams

ABILITIES/EQUIPMENT/OTHER

SKILLS: 
Educated – Salem loves reading all about the supernatural and has gone through many many books on the subject. She has read through all the books in her local library of this subject and is constantly searching the internet for more things to educate herself on.

Touch Typist – Salem does not need to look at her keyboard in order to type. She knows where all the keys are by muscle memory.

Teen Whisperer – Salem writes for a teen magazine and has to interview teenagers for some of her articles. She tends to dress and act like a teenager to make them more comfortable about talking to an adult. She also looks younger than she is and could pass for someone who is 19 or 20, which helps. She can hold conversations that interest them and gain their trust fairly easily.

ADVANTAGES:
Light Sleeper – Salem is always on the hunt for evidence and has spent many nights sleeping in haunted places. She was never a heavy sleeper, but this has caused her to become a very light sleeper. Even the sound of someone rolling over in their bed will wake her.

Courageous – Salem will do anything to get video evidence of the paranormal. She has spent nights in haunted houses and gone into crumbling tunnels in hopes of capturing something. She's even been hit by flying objects twice, but even with poltergeists, she stays to get proof of their existence.

EQUIPMENT:
Camcorder and bag – This is the only equipment that she uses to capture evidence. She is unable to afford high-end equipment. It was given to her as a gift from her parents on her twentieth birthday and she hasn't been able to afford an upgrade since. It does, however, have night vision. What more could a girl need? The cross-body bag contains extra tapes and extra batteries for the camcorder, as well as space for the camcorder, itself.

Flashlight – Simple flashlight that doesn't have that far of a reach and flickers at times.

Bag of supplies – Salem carries around a black canvas backpack that contains a few homemade bags of trail mix, bottles of water, extra batteries for the flashlight, and a few antiseptic wipes and bandages.

HISTORY & PERSONALITY

HISTORY: When Salem was younger, she would have night terrors. There were several times where she felt like someone had sat down on her bed, behind her. On one occasion, she woke up while laying on her back and felt like she was being held down. It was the first time she had decided to open her eyes to see what was happening. She stared into the bright white eyes of a dark figure with long, sharp fingers. She immediately closed her eyes out of fear and felt the pressure move down her body and off her feet before opening her eyes again. It rushed back up to her face, causing her to squeeze her eyes shut and keep them closed for the rest of the night. Since this day, she has researched what it could have been and has been searching endlessly to prove that it was real.

Other than her night terrors, Salem had a wonderful life growing up. She is an only child with loving and supportive parents. Her father, Henry, is a respected journalist for a major newspaper and her mother, Nancy, is an interior decorator. They both still live in California and write her all the time, as well as send her money among other things to help her follow her dreams. They have always been supportive of her in everything she does and are proud that she's taking her investigative journalist goal very seriously.

Salem was a bright child who spent her free time in libraries. Her mind would get lost in books, finding many interests and becoming fixated on them. She would read all that she could on her current subject of interest before moving on to the next topic, but she was never able to move on from the supernatural. Salem had been determined, since she was young, to find proof of their existence. Unfortunately, all she's ever found are debunked photos and videos.

After graduating college, Salem traveled to many different haunted locations. Her drive has taken her hours away from home and often she ends up sleeping in her car on long road-trips. She cannot typically afford motel rooms and hates asking her parents for more money, wanting to make it on her own. But, when her parents do send her things, she is always grateful and appreciative.

Salem is determined to make a name for herself that isn't just “the daughter of Henry McGregor” or “that girl who writes the articles about how to get your crush to notice you.” Although she is small and not at all intimidating, she is brave and committed to this. And though she has had a brick thrown at her from seemingly nowhere, has almost been arrested for trespassing, has gotten cut on broken glass, and has had a cavern cave in right in front of her, she continues to follow her dream, not caring how dangerous is might be. She constantly searches the internet to find more haunted locations and recently found the DunwaterDelvers website. She has never been so excited to go to a haunted location after reading all about the history of the town.

PERSONALITY:

Salem is a fun-loving woman with a wilder side. During her downtime, she loves to go out dancing and have a few drinks to really let loose. During college, she didn't get many opportunities to slack on her schoolwork so she could enjoy the college life, so she's living it up as much as she can now, while she's still young. She's gotten used to functioning on 3-4 hours of sleep, which allows her the luxury to stay out late.

Because females tend to mature more quickly, Salem tends to get along better with men, due to her occasional lack of maturity. When she isn't being immature, she easily makes friends and tends to get along with everyone until they give her a reason to dislike them.

She is very open to others' beliefs and does not label herself as religious. The truth is, she doesn't know what's out there, and so she can't adhere to any one religion. Instead, she lives life the way she wishes to live it – with the thought of karma in mind.

She is accepting of a lot of people who tend to be labeled as “strange,” by society's norms. She, herself, happens to be labeled as such, depending on where she is, given the way she dresses, the vibrant color of her hair, and her sometimes wild make-up. She has met mediums, paranormal investigators, superstitious people, etc. and she has yet to judge them based on it or assume that they are fake and/or crazy.

While focused on capturing video evidence of the supernatural, Salem is almost impossible to knock off track. She is determined and absorbed in the task at hand. Unfortunately, if nothing seems to be going on for an extended period, she tends to get distracted and disinterested. After going to many “haunted” locations to find nothing, she tends to be quick to judge if there really is anything going on or if it's all just ghost stories. If something then happens, she is also quick to accept that she was initially wrong. She does not have too much pride to admit to her mistakes.


CHARACTER FLAWS:

While Salem is courageous, she often doesn't know when to quit. She is more concerned with getting the shot than she is concerned for her own safety. While everyone is running away from the sound of something crashing in the next room, Salem is the first one to run towards it, with no regards to if it is a trap or unsafe. She's even gone to the point of wandering towards the noise in the dark rather than getting her flashlight working first. She is not at all cautious when it comes to things going bump in the night. She will even ignore someone who needs her without realizing.

After spending so much time talking to teenagers, Salem has moments in which she is immature. She'll act snarky towards something she doesn't agree with, think she knows everything, or become cliquish. She sometimes pranks others, thinking she's being funny when, in reality, it could cause someone to get hurt or scare someone. She also tends to be inappropriate at times, which could make people uncomfortable. She doesn't have many friends that she spends time with often, which causes her to lose track of how old she is at times.

Salem is petite and does not work out often at all. At most, she runs short distances and occasionally sprints. She doesn't do much climbing or lifting and has very little arm-strength. If anything heavy were to fall on someone, she would not be able to help them alone.

FEARS & COURAGES

FEARS:
Blood- Salem can handle seeing her own blood, but when it comes to other people's blood, she gets extremely squeamish. She cannot touch it at all and cannot help dress wounds.

Heights- Salem has no problem being on the fiftieth floor, but she will not stand by the window. She cannot walk on stairs that have no railing and must be helped. Any narrow walkways that have no railings can be crawled over, but very slowly and carefully.

Cats- Salem had been petting a cat when she was younger and tried to scratch its belly once it exposed it to her. She was bitten and scratched enough to break skin and make her bleed. She finds cats to be untrustworthy and tries to avoid them.

COURAGES:
Enclosed Spaces- Salem has no problem being in tight, closed spaces. She has put herself in mortuary freezer drawers and has crawled through tight spaces.

Darkness- Salem has no problem with staying brave in the dark. If her flashlight goes out and she's alone, she does not panic and calmly switches out the batteries or finds her way to the light. Things going bump in the night or something falling in front of her while she's in a pitch black room only makes her eager to find light to see what it is.



PLAYER LIMITS: Rape. Plain and simple.



CHARACTER CONNECTIONS: TBD

TRAUMAS & INJURIES: TBD