Both Needed 𝘿𝘼𝙒𝙉 𝘾𝙃𝙊𝙍𝙐𝙎 | A Twin Peaks inspired horror/mystery group game | Interest Check

[chap]

ONCE UPON A TIME...

Well, hi guys. If you don't know me, I'm chap. If you do know me, words can't express how sorry I am.

Once upon a time, I ran a group game called Dawn Chorus and it... pretty much became my main creative focus for a long time there. Now, for no other reason than that I miss it, I've decided I want to try to bring it back to life, here and now, on Inner Sanctum. Consider this an interest check and information hub, just to see what we'd actually be working with.

SO, WHAT IS DAWN CHORUS?

Dawn Chorus is a supernatural horror/mystery themed roleplay heavily inspired by the television show Twin Peaks. Other points of reference may include True Detective, Welcome to Night Vale, Kentucky Route Zero, The X-Files, and even Stranger Things to a lesser extent. The game takes place in the small town of Dawn Chorus, Tennessee, located in the Southern Appalachian mountains along the North Carolina border. The story follows the various inhabitants of the town as they contend with the unknown; ghosts and monsters and ancient gods and all sorts of other horrors. Here's the weird kicker, though: the game is ran as an anthology series.

Basically, that means that each 'season' of the game focuses on a different place at a different point of time within Dawn Chorus' history. Think of it like American Horror Story, but less gaudy. For example, one season might focus around the doctors, nurses, and patients at a local hospital in the 1960s. The next season, we could be going back to the wagon trains that settled the land in the early 1800s. The next, a group of hikers lost in the national forest on the outskirts of town. That means every season would feature a new cast of characters, a new point in time, a new setting within the larger Dawn Chorus, and a new story to tell.

That's the main goal in all of this: To tell new, interesting, complete stories every season with a definite beginning, middle, and end within a world where the the history and happenings are being written in real time. Each season would last as long as it needs to and cover a predetermined amount of time within the game world.

We'll get into the more logistical doldrums down below, but for now, why don't we take a deeper look at the setting?

A GOOD PLACE TO LIVE

Dawn Chorus, Tennessee is a sleepy little town nestled in the Southern Appalachian Mountains along the North Carolina border. As of 2024, a population of around 8,000 people call it their home. Dawn Chorus consists of roughly 6.70 square miles of land, sitting between Dead Horse National Park and Lake Gordon. Known for its natural splendor, idyllic downtown setting, and eccentric denizens, Dawn Chorus is also noted as being the home to what some have described as 'otherworldly' happenings. While many townsfolk turn a blind eye to the peculiarity and general sense of dread that pervades every square inch of their little corner of the world, others immerse themselves in it; some by choice, others by consequence.

Dawn Chorus is fairly remote and bordered by no other communities. The scenic State Route 480 runs to the east of town, offering connection to the outside world. While the town is small and far removed from the hustle and bustle of city life, it still has all of the modern amenities one might expect; restaurants, a police station, cell service, and even a small regional hospital.

Dawn Chorus sits at an elevation of 3,336 feet above sea level. The town has one of the highest elevations of any settlement east of the Mississippi River. The elevation also results in enhanced precipitation with an overage of 52.7 inches of annual rainfall. Compared to the lower elevations of much of the rest of the Appalachians, winters are long and cold with frequent sleet and snowfall. Blizzard-like conditions are not unusual during the winter months. Summers are warm, but far cooler and less humid than lower regions.

To the southeast of Dawn Chorus is Dead Horse National Park. Dead Horse consists of roughly 512,000 acres of land, the terrain heavily wooded and mountainous. The forests surround Mount Sanguine, which stands at approximately 6,214 feet with one of the highest summits in the Eastern United States. The area is often used for recreation including hiking, backpacking, and mountain biking. Some 49,000 acres of old-growth forests have been identified within Dead Horse National Park.

A BRIEF HISTORY

Once upon a time, the land where Dawn Chorus now exists lay within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation. Considered a sacred place, the area was called Alisgolvdodiyi by the nearby tribes. According to Cherokee lore, hunting in Alisgolvdodiyi was forbidden as the land belonged to spiritual entities. The area was often used in trials of adulthood with Native youth venturing into the wilderness in their thirteenth year to commune with the spirits and prove themselves. In 1540, Spanish explorers came to the region bringing the first European citizens along with the first European diseases, which decimated the Native population. Despite warnings that the land was sacred and pleas from the tribal elders, the area was used by European settlers as an open hunting ground until the middle of the 19th century.

The history of Dawn Chorus as a town began in 1785. Zachariah Eaton, a wealthy business proprietor and former soldier from Philadelphia, settled beneath the shadow of present day Mount Sanguine, redeeming a soldier's land grant from the state of Tennessee. Eaton built a log cabin at the bank of Hellson Creek where he wrote in his journal of voices in the night, apparitions at the corners of his eyes, and a general sense of dread that seemed to hang over the entire region. After two years of living in the cabin, Eaton experienced a mental break one night and flew into a frenzy, murdering two hired hands as well as one of his sons. Eaton's wife and surviving children fled on foot overnight for Fort Ketron, 16 miles away.

In response to the killings, Zachariah's twin brother, Major Barnabas Eaton, and brother-in-law, Colonel James Glasgow, formed an expedition to go to the cabin and apprehend the crazed Zachariah. Upon arrival, the men searched the cabin and the surrounding woodlands, but they found no sign of Zachariah Eaton or the bodies of those he killed. The cabin was still in pristine condition and the only sign that Zachariah had ever been there at all was his heirloom hunting knife stabbed into the front door along with a note that read, "IT ONLY COMES OUT AT NIGHT."

Months after the expedition, Major Eaton and other members of his extended family returned to the area and settled at the mouth of Harding Creek. The United States Census of 1790 counted 500 residents in the area, excluding Cherokee Native Americans. In 1799, the area was incorporated and named 'Dawn Chorus' due to the overabundance of birds in the region and their proclivity for song on even the rainiest of mornings.

By 1888, Dawn Chorus had established itself as a trading post and common early resting place for travelers heading west. In the Fall of that same year, Netherland Inn was established by nearby Lake Gordon. By the early 1920s, industrialization found its way into Dawn Chorus with the opening of Westland-Kodak Chemical Company a few miles outside of town. The plant specialized in the production of acetates and organic chemicals mostly related to the photographic process due to the scarcity of raw materials following World War I. The opening of the plant saw the population of Dawn Chorus swell. Westland-Kodak remained the the highest employment provider in the area until its closure in 1983.

In 1925, business magnate and philanthropist Felix Ryan decided to relocate his family to Dawn Chorus to escape an ongoing scandal in their hometown of New York City. Even after Felix's mysterious death in 1935, the Ryan Family remained in Dawn Chorus for generations to come, building their fortune while remaining purposefully distant from the happenings of the town

In 1932, Dawn Chorus made national news when over half of the town's population succumbed to a spontaneous fit of sleepwalking, leaving their homes in their pajamas and undergarments, walking through the streets in a daze that lasted until morning. This event later became known as 'The Midnight Waltz' and is commemorated with a local festival every year to mark the occurrence.

Over the years, several people have reported on the strange happenings in Dawn Chorus. A popular publication investigated these claims in 1961, calling Dawn Chorus 'otherworldly' and 'surreal', a place where 'the mundane and ordinary' meets with 'the bizarre and macabre'. This report brought an influx of curious visitors and those interested in the esoteric to the town, several of whom decided to stay.

In 1964, Elvis 'The King' Pulley was elected Mayor of Dawn Chorus in a landslide victory based on his platform of beautification and making use of the natural splendor of the area. That same year, construction began on Dogwood Park (later renamed Elvis Pulley Memorial Park) across from the Town Hall. In commemoration, a statue of Mayor Pulley's namesake and personal hero, Elvis Presley, was erected in the center of the park. In 1966, someone cut off the head of the statue in the middle of the night. The head was never found and, as of 2021, has not been replaced.

Pulley's time as mayor is also noteworthy due to his sudden death in 1965, before he could even serve a full term. This death was the first of many for elected mayors in Dawn Chorus. Between 1965 and 1985, the town saw a total of thirty-three mayors, most of whom were elected during special elections and all of which died under mysterious, tragic, or unexpected circumstances. While the townspeople joked about a supposed 'Mayoral Curse', these coincidental deaths led to the office of mayor being discontinued in favor of a City Council system. Thus far, no former or current member of the City Council has passed away.

From the late 1970s to the mid-80s, Dawn Chorus found itself in a state of steady economic decline. During this period, the Westland-Kodak Chemical Company closed down alongside several other nearby manufacturing plants.

In 1989, the town gained a second chance at life when the area southeast of Dawn Chorus was officially designated a national park, giving the town a tourism boom. It was renamed Dead Horse National Park and has become a popular hiking spot for locals and visitors alike. There have been several missing persons in the national park.

In 1991, a small earthquake struck the town. In the aftermath of this seismic event, a small islet appeared at the center of Gordon Lake. This landmass was named Summerland Islet. No one ever goes to Summerland Islet.

In recent years, Dawn Chorus has become a popular getaway destination for outdoorsy and New Agey types alike, attracted by the kitschy small town charm surrounded by seemingly endless expanses of untouched nature. Dawn Chorus has thrived off of this newfound tourism, most notably with the downtown area becoming revitalized.

SEASON 1

Woof. That was a lot of words, huh? Well, if you managed to read all that, now you know the long and rich history of this weird little piece of fiction. So, where in all of that history would we be starting things off? I think it's best for this thing to start small and contained to make things a little bit less... ambitious. Instead of focusing on the entire town, we'll be focusing in on one place at one point in time. Thus, let's talk a bit about The Merrywood Apartment Complex.

THE YEAR IS 1984...

While the rest of the United States experiences a period of growth and economic prosperity, times are tough in the small town of Dawn Chorus, Tennessee. Jobs are becoming more scarce as local industries falter and several of the nearby factories close up shop. The once bustling downtown has become a shadow of its former self, just rows of empty buildings and boarded up shops. The town's dwindling population finds itself in a state of purgatorial stasis, living in the ruins of a dying community.

In the heart of Dawn Chorus' downtown, right along the town's main thoroughfare, an unassuming brownstone apartment building called The Merrywood sits at the center of it all. Surrounded by reminders of their town in decline, the building houses a diverse group of tenants who have managed to build a tight-knit community in spite of the tough times. However, after the sudden death of one of the complex's oldest tenants, strange and bizarre supernatural happenings begin to occur around the building. It starts small: Objects moving on their own, strange noises in the night, shadows at the corners of your eyes... but as things grow more sinister, the tenants begin to fear for their safety and their sanity. With no where else to go, they band together to investigate the mysteries of their home.

As they delve deeper, the tenants uncover unsettling truths about The Merrywood's past and the history of their little town...

THE MERRYWOOD

The Merrywood Apartment building rises from the pavement like a sunken monolith, six stories of architecture looming over the small town of Dawn Chorus. Its brownstone exterior is flecked with decades of grime and neglect, a testament to the passage of time and the erosion of the building's once-grand facade.

The entrance foyer, once beautiful, now lays in a state of disrepair, the marble floors cracked and stained, the chandeliers hanging askew from their chains. The hallways, dimly lit and narrow, stretch like claustrophobic tunnels, their walls lined with peeling paint and yellowing wallpaper.

Within the building's belly lay a labyrinthine basement, its twisting corridors and unfinished burrows choked with cobwebs and rusting pipes. The maintenance office, a cramped and dreary space, is tucked away in a corner, its walls adorned with torn posters of bikini-clad models and moldering schematics. In the nearby common area, a worn-out sofa sags beneath the weight of years of use, an ancient television set that only ever hisses static sitting in the corner of the room.

At the center of the building, an old, rickety elevator groans with every ascent. The stairwell, which spirals up the building's spine, hasn't been touched by a cleaning hand in years, filled with dirt and debris, each step creaking beneath the weight of every footfall. There's an eerie, almost haunted feeling to the entire building, as if the walls themselves hold some dark secret, some long gone memory that refuses to be forgotten. And yet, despite its creeping sense of dread and decay, the Merrywood Apartments remain a beacon of hope for those in search of a cheap place to call home.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS, POSSIBLE ANSWERS

When would the game start?
I'm not sure yet! Probably sometime in February or March? It really depends on what sort of interest it ends up getting and how much prep I have to do.

How's this all going to work?
Logistically speaking, I'm still working it out in my head, but we'll likely have a couple threads going at any given time depending on how many players we have. Those will most likely be hosted in The Dark Alley subforum. The name of the game will be collaboration. At the start of every season, I'll introduce a few 'mysteries' to act as plot hooks to start us off. From there, we'll have a basic framework of what the story will be. While I'm technically GM of the game, I like the idea that the players being on equal ground to tell the story they want to tell.

So, wait. This is an anthology? What if I'm interested in this season, but not the next?
Yep! An anthology. As in, every season, we'd be creating new characters, switching to a new setting, and telling a new story. You can look at each season as its own, self-contained short story. The only constant is the town of Dawn Chorus itself. If you're interested in this season and not interested in the next, that's fine! No big deal! This whole thing is built with the players in mind and I want it to work for everyone. If you're not interested next season, you're under no obligations! You can play a minor character or sit that one out. Come and go as you please, there is no full on commitment.

I'm interested, but I don't know if I'll be available for the full season.
Hey, that's cool! Life comes first. If you're interested in the game, but you're not sure if you can fully commit, I'm open to the idea of having players play minor, side characters. Think of yourself as a guest who can come and go as you please during open scenes. You won't be as involved in the main storyline, but you can still write with us as time allows.

How long is a season? How is a season structured?
Each season will last as long as it needs to last. That could be a few months, a year, longer, who knows. That should give us plenty of time to tell a whole, complete story from beginning to end. As for how its going to be structured... I'm still working out the kinks there, but I have a vague idea. I'm thinking we'll start with an event to introduce all of the characters and concepts, transition to a more freeform sandbox where multiple storylines can be happening at once, and then end with another event where all the plot lines (hopefully) converge. Open to ideas, honestly!

How many players are you looking for?
As of right now, I really want to see what sort of interest this gets before I worry too much about that. At one time, when Dawn Chorus was ran elsewhere, we had something like 15-20 different players. That... might not be as possible here given that it'll be ran out of threads as opposed to its own, dedicated subforum. We'll play it by ear.

Who can I play?
Anyone that would be tangentially involved with The Merrywood! Tenants, obviously. Guests, friends, maintenance workers. If you can come up with a convincing enough reason for your character to be there, I'll allow it. However, one small caveat: your character shouldn't be a supernatural entity of any sort. No vampires, ghosts, werewolves, etc. Psychics and such are fine. The basic idea here is that your character would be experiencing the horror, not the cause of it.

What about the smut?
This is, for all intents and purposes, a non-sexual roleplay. Sex can absolutely be referenced and alluded to, but any actual sex scenes will be fade to black. In other words, if you're just looking for a place to write sexy stuff about sexy people doing sexy things, this might not be the right fit for you.

OH THANK GOD, THE END

Welp. That's it. I think I've just about summed everything up. If you're interested or have any questions, feel free to comment down below or send me a PM!