Ravenswick

Areas: Town Square Market Bus Stop Outside the factory Outside the brothel In the graveyard By the statue People: Woman sobbing Depressed looking worker Urchin Paparazzi Old guy selling wood carvings Man bugs you at the bus stop Cab driver This .html file is an interactive writing sample written by Fallon Braddy 2/6/2018. The intended use of this writing is to display Fallon's creative writing ability, for the function of providing evaluation content to any person(s) requesting such content. Evaluation is limited to viewing only, and may only be distributed among people Fallon Braddy designates. All creative contents within, with the exception of the use of the name "Ravenswick", belong to Fallon Braddy unless given explicit discretion otherwise. The contents are not to be derived from in any way, nor are they to be distributed or shared to anyone except by Fallon Braddy.

**Sobbing Woman** (transition: "dissolve")[ Oh, God! You snuck up on me. ^^//sniff//^^ I was hoping no one would find me here making a mess of myself... --- -[[What happened?]](set: $happened to 0) -[[In a cemetery this beautiful anyone might shed a tear.]] -[[Death is painful, I understand.]] ] (set: $churchcheck to 0) (set: $mother to 0)

**Sobbing Woman** (transition: "dissolve")[ (if: $happened is 1)[And frame myself even more of a cynic? Well, I'm just stopping here before leaving town... I suppose getting some of this noise out of my head wouldn't be so bad.](if: $happened is 2)[If I'd gone through Hell you'd think I'd be stronger for it coming out on the other side.](if: $happened is 3)[Well...] My nephew was a quiet, odd child. Half-orphaned just before moving to Ravenswick, with only my poor sister to take care of him. I would've never stepped foot in this town if her husband were still around. Anyway, he often went into the woods after classes were out. Never went there with any friends, always alone. Eventually he stopped going to class altogether, coming home just before sunset each evening. He was punished and forced to go to school, yet he never complained once. Asking him about the woods never illicited a response. It didn't matter the question or the size of the switch he was beat with. //^^sigh^^// //Then...// One morning my sister woke up with a missing lantern and no son. Soon after that, deep sadness fancied up a noose for my dear sister... Simple as that. I stopped trying to make sense of it all. --- -[[The police never found him?|The Woods]] (if: $mother is not 1)[-[[How devastaing...|The Mother]]] -[[Forgive me for prying. I'll leave you be.|End Dialogue]]] (if: $drawing is not 2)[(set: $drawing to 1)] (set: $happencheck to 1)

**Sobbing Woman** (transition: "dissolve")[ There's nothing beautiful in this town. This cemetery is the most hideous part of all. To put bird wings on the statue of a missing child... that's nothing but a twisted joke. ^^//sniff//^^ Sorry to put all this on you. I should go. --- -[[Wait, a grave for a missing child?|What happened?]](set: $happened to 2) -[[Hmm, the Church must not have taken too kindly to that description.|The Church]](set: $church to 2) -[[You've endured enough. Sorry to bother you.|End Dialogue]] ]

**Sobbing Woman** (transition: "dissolve")[ ^^//sigh//^^ From what I've observed, the lives left behind suffer much more. --- -[[Care to indulge me the inspiration for your prose?|What happened?]](set: $happened to 1) -[[Surely, light overcomes darkness.|The Church]](Set: $church to 1)]

**Sobbing Woman** (transition: "dissolve")[ (if: $church is 2)[You call that cyst upon this town a church?](if: $church is 1)[You sound just like those fork-tongued nuns after service.] I don't trust those people. Since the new leadership stepped in it seems everything around here has changed. Teachings grew stern. They started charging money for indulgences. Now they stick their hands in everyone's business. I bet you the cops woudn't have called off the search for my nephew if Father Pierce didn't stick a "hellbound" reputation on him. My sister... she should've paid that vulture with her coinpurse... not her life. --- -[[The Father has that much influence around here?|The Father]] -[[Your nephew?|What happened?]](set: $happened to 3) (if: $mother is not 1)[-[[I'm sorry to hear that's the road she took...|The Mother]]] ] (set: $churchcheck to 1)

**Sobbing Woman** (transition: "dissolve")[ -She was just... trying to be a good mother. I mean, what widow can handle losing their only child? -^^//sniff//^^ -I don't want to talk about her anymore. I'm sorry. --- -[[I'll go. May you grieve in peace.|End Dialogue]] (if: $churchcheck is 0)[(set: $church to 2)-[[Was the church able to provide any counsel or assistance?|The Church]]] (if: $drawing is not 1)[-[[Only something truly horrid could bring a person to such an end...|What happened?]]] (set: $mother to 1)]

**Sobbing Woman** (transition: "dissolve")[ Father Pierce aims to become the looming fear behind the nervous heartbeat of Ravenswick. His congregation is unmatched in attendance. Even the homeless folks started coming to service. That might sound like a good thing, but they don't leave church less homeless. Just more silent. More accepting of the cruel lot they've been cast. Everyone thinks the church is holding their fate in its hands. They're right: it's holding them hostage. Forgive me if I sound heretical; perhaps I'm just a bit too charismatic for this town. Trust that I'm praying they'll read scripture and at least repent for slandering my sweet nephew. ^^//...//^^ My, I've been gabbing on. I don't mean to keep you here; enduring the rants of a bitter old woman. --- -[[It's no problem. I appreciate your time.|End Dialogue]] (if: $happencheck is not 1)[-[[No, please: what's the cause of your grief?|What happened?]]] (if: $mother is not 1)[-[[What does all this have to do with your sister?|The Mother]]]] (set: $happened to 3)

(transition: "dissolve")[(if: $drawing is not 1)[**Sobbing Woman** Farewell.](if: $drawing is 1)[**Sobbbing Woman** These are my last moments in Ravenswick before I leave. Take this drawing my nephew had left behind. I can't bare to look at it any longer and you're the only person with half a reason to care at this point. //^^Drawing added to inventory^^//] --- ^^//End dialogue//^^ -[[Talk again|Begin]] -[[Back to the cemetery|Cemetery 2]] ] (set: $drawing to 2)

**Sobbing Woman** (transition: "dissolve")[ The police got volunteers to help comb those woods. Obviously, nothing ever came of it. A man named Gustav was interrogated heavily: he's the only person living out in those woods. He knew of my nephew, though he claimed they rarely spoke. Police could never pin any real evidence on him. It makes me uneasy to think maybe we missed something. Though, the case is closed now. No point in losing sleep over that particular loose end. Besides, any extra room for scrutiny was quelled quite handily by those scoundrels at the church. Discussion and rumors have no air to breath when Father Pierce and his Pardoners of Iniquity get a say. As always, Gustav keeps widdling those strange figurines, selling them down at the community market. Those hideous, serpent-like shapes he makes out of wood put my hairs on end. I never felt good about him, even before all this. --- -[[I won't burden you to dissect your woes any longer.|End Dialogue]] (if: $churchcheck is not 1)[-[[-Surely, the church was merely trying to console the townspeople.|The Church]](set: $church to 1)]]

**Town Square** (transition: "dissolve")[ A thick layer of clouds blanket the grey sky. The cover overhead starkly contrasts the dark, earthen green of [[the forest]], which stands east of here. It seems that [[the market]] is finally starting to pick up. It serves as a regular event for the humble residents of Ravenswick to convene here, in the middle of downtown. Folks in tattered raincoats crowd a bench facing streetside, patiently ''waiting for the trolley'' to arrive. The damp stone sidewalk seems to drain the color from everything around it. Tracing the road running north of here one can spot smoke stacks contributing to the bleak skyline. The elongated chimneys of ''a factory'' can be seen creeping over the horizon. To the southwest lies a [[cemetery]], enclosed by a tall, onyx-colored fence. Gothic angel statues take their vigil on both sides of the elegant, wrought iron gate. They guard the only entrance into this sacred ground.] --- This .html file is an interactive writing sample written by Fallon Braddy 2/6/2018. The intended use of this writing is to display Fallon's creative writing ability, for the function of providing evaluation content to any person(s) requesting such content. Evaluation is limited to viewing only, and may only be distributed among people Fallon Braddy designates. All creative contents within, with the exception of the use of the name "Ravenswick", belong to Fallon Braddy unless given explicit discretion otherwise. The contents are not to be derived from in any way, nor are they to be distributed or shared to anyone except by Fallon Braddy.

**The Forest** (transition: "dissolve")[ Pine trees, older than any generation of folk residing in Ravenswick, gaze forebodingly upon the town. They scowl at the drab buildings that neighbor them, hoarding secrets that industrial expansion will inevitably uncover. --- -[[Return to the Town Square.|GM]]]

**The Market** (transition: "dissolve")[ The stands and tents here make for the only real spot of color in town. The delightful aromas of seasoned meats and sugary confections blend into a cacophony of decadent smells. Various craftsmen exhibit their wares, chief among them being a lone wood carver. On display are preposterous shapes with no apparent model for inspiration. They somewhat resemble the shadows of slumbering, leafless-trees in the dead of winter, or the tongues of various animals, amalgamated into a single figure. A white-bearded man reclines behind the stand's merchant table, openly displaying his widdling process for passersby to admire. --- -[[Return to the Town Square|GM]]]

**The Cemetery** (transition: "dissolve")[ A solemn path about six-feet in width winds throughout the rows headstones. Moss cakes the names of those who lay just underfoot, while light seemingly gleams off the bleach-white markers of those who died with their pockets lined. [[A woman sobbing can be heard in the distance.|Begin]] --- -[[Return to the Town Square.|GM]]]

**Town Square** (transition: "dissolve")[ Like a wet blanket, these clouds are always wrapped snug overhead our dreary little town. Makes the lush, living colors of [[the forest|the forest 2]] out east quite the relief, should your spirits ever feel lowly. Look here, [[the market|The Market 2]] finally seems to be picking up. A staple event here in Ravenswick for visitors like yourself. Every Wednesday afternoon the locals all get together to share their various crafts and crops with whoever's got something else to spare. Ah yes, the trolley. Quite a lofty convenience for a town half the size of Arkham. If you look closely you can see the old wooden sidewalk bend underfoot of those tired folks ''waiting patiently for the trolley''. The road running north of here is like the tail end of Ravenswick's spine, leading to ''the lumber mill''. Notice the smoke stacks that bleed into our greyscale skyline, then trace them down to the chimneys clawing their way just over the horizon. Not the direction to look when your eyes are sore. And to the southwest is [[the Ravenswick cemetery|Cemetery 2]], caged in a tall, onyx-colored fence. Gothic-style statues of angels maintain an eternal vigil on both sides of the elegant, wrought iron gate. They guard the only entrance into this sacred ground.]

**The Cemetery** (transition: "dissolve")[ This solemn path winds all throughout the field of headstones that lay before you. It's somewhat of a challenge to read, but there are indeed names indented here in the moss and grass. You don't need me to point out the bone-bleached markers of the deceased who were a bit more fortunate in life. The whimpering you hear is not just in your head. [[There's someone else in this graveyard.|Begin]] --- -[[Return to the Town Square.|GM 2]]]

**The Market** (transition: "dissolve")[ The stands and tents here are a friendly reminder of the various sensory pleasures found in color and scent. Take in the delightful aromas of seasoned meats and sugary confections as they blend into a cacophony of decadence. All around here various craftsmen exhibit their wares, chief among them being that lone wood carver. Upon his display are preposterous shapes with no proper model of inspiration I can deduce. Perhaps //this one// somewhat resemble the shadows of slumbering, leafless-trees in the dead of winter. And //this//... like the tongues of various animals, amalgamated into a single figure. Proving these are not the products of a woken nightmare, here the white-bearded fellow is widdling these profane works before our very eyes. --- -[[Return to the Town Square|GM 2]]]

**The Forest** (transition: "dissolve")[ Behold the pine trees, older than any generation of folk residing in Ravenswick, though do not interrupt their foreboding gaze upon the town. That concentrated, angular scowl is constantly firing upon the drab buildings that neighbor them. Within this wood, the trees and their inhabitants hoard secrets that industrial expansion will inevitably uncover. --- -[[Return to the Town Square.|GM 2]]]

===><=== **A Lovecraft-inspired Writing Sample** by Fallon Braddy <== --- **Overview:** This sample is intended to drop the reader in the midst of a town with various conspiracies and developments one can only speculate upon. The nature of providing an excerpt of writing material has required that this piece forgo a cohesive plot. Rather, it is meant to demonstrate my story-telling abilities through the a singular set of dialogue and brief descriptions of the town as a "gamemaster" might deliver them. It also aims to present my comprehension of Lovecraftian/gothic/cosmic horror writing sensibilities within those parameters. From a design perspective, the piece was written to stand as a plot hook for an early point of gameplay. There's also a legal disclaimer at the bottom. That's all the necessary extra details; please explore the various paths and enjoy! --- **Instructions:** Click any of the blue links you see like this to choose various options or explore parts of town. (click: "like this")[ (text-style: "smear")[^^//arcane knowledge revealed; -2 sanity//^^]] --- **Choose a starting point:** -[[Narrative-Style 1|GM]] (//detached, objective, omniscient-descriptive narrative akin to that of a Call of Cthulu TTRPG GM//) -[[Narrative-Style 2|GM 2]] (//delivered by an unexplained entity existing within the story in some capacity; more closely inspired by a traditional Lovecraftian narrator//) --- ^^This .html file is an interactive writing sample written by Fallon Braddy 2/6/2018. The intended use of this writing is to display Fallon's creative writing ability, for the function of providing evaluation content to any person(s) requesting such content. Evaluation is limited to viewing only, and may only be distributed among people Fallon Braddy designates. All creative contents within, with the exception of the use of the name "Ravenswick", belong to Fallon Braddy unless given explicit discretion otherwise. The contents are not to be derived from in any way, nor are they to be distributed or shared to anyone except by Fallon Braddy.^^