May 9 - Taliyah's room

[Calvin Strong]

On the estate now, the lawn was well kept, the buildings were well painted, the gardens were well tended... in short, the place looked just like a prosperous estate from the early 20th century... complete with people. Taliyah would also notice that she was dressed like the rest of the house staff now (and the design of the outfit, while technically conforming to the period design of the clothes, would show that yes, Cal had designed them).

She's also notice something curious. While she was there, she seemed to be more background than anything else. people would interact with her, but not pay attention to her. They'd answer her questions, but didn't seem concerned by her unless she did something extreme to get them to tell her to stop.

The servants seemed to all be out and about... there didn't seem to be anyone out here of consequence.

[Taliyah Malik]

Interested, Taliyah headed back into the house with the intent of returning to the second floor.

[Calvin Strong]

On the way in, she'd see that all the doors were open, and could easily look into any of the rooms to see what there were. The room under the study was a library, with a little parlor off of it on the other side, and the room across from that was the dining room, with the kitchen off of it. The room under the bedroom she'd seen the ghosts in was a sitting room, while a trophy room was across from it.

There were servants bustling about all over, so as she reached the second floor, she'd know that it'd be child's play to get any 'lay of the land' questions answered. This was clearly the real introductory part of the game.

[Taliyah Malik]

Taliyah tries to get the attention of one of the servants, "Where can I find the master of the house? I have a letter I am supposed to deliver."

[Calvin Strong]

The lady informed her that master Henry was in his bedroom being shaved, pointing to the bedroom across from the one she'd seen the ghost in, and next door to the study.

[Taliyah Malik]

Taliyah thanks her and heads there to peek in on him quietly and stealthily.

[Calvin Strong]

Inside, she'd see an elderly man, looking to be about seventy, seated in a wheelchair. And although he probably needed it to get through the day, he looked like he was still healthy enough to get around for a bit on his own.

Shaving him was another maid, though this one looked like she was much better off than the rest of the staff, with a better-made outfit, some jewelry, and obviously having taken care of her appearance.

She also was disturbingly familiar. In fact, as Taliyah looked at her, for a second the scene seemed to flash to the dark, decrepit version of the house, with the ghost she met in the study standing there in front of another, seated ghost, both turning toward the door, the strait razor in her hand as two sets of empty eye sockets fixed on Taliyah-

But it was only a flash. And with the flashlight still out, the scene stayed in this past, well-lit version of the house.

[Taliyah Malik]

Taliyah frowned as she left the room. She had the feeling that there was something she was missing here.

[Calvin Strong]

Words appeared in the air in front of her.

"Would you like to view the help file? Yes/No"

[Taliyah Malik]

Taliyah's eyes flashed purple, "As if I'd need your stupid help file."

Taliyah shook her head, her eyes returning to their green color.

Looking at the flashlight, she switched it on.

[Calvin Strong]

As the light clicked on, she was suddenly in the run-down version of the house she'd been in earlier, in the hall outside the master bedroom. Ghosts were not in evidence just yet.

[Taliyah Malik]

Taliyah headed back towards the bedroom.

[Calvin Strong]

The bedroom was dusty, and very run down, but nothing more than you'd expect from a room sitting for over a century. And like the hall... in this room, there were no ghosts in evidence.

[Taliyah Malik]

Taliyah eyes pulse purple for a moment and she begins searching the bedroom.

[Calvin Strong]

There were various odds and ends in the drawers, things you'd expect to find like disintegrated clothes, dried-out bottles, shaving brushes... nothing that seemed in good repair or remotely useful.

[Taliyah Malik]

Considering for a moment, Taliyah stepped back and turned the flashlight back off.

[Calvin Strong]

As soon as the flashlight was off, the scene flashed back to the past, and the maid was there shaving the master again.

The master muttered something irritably about hurrying up, as it was almost dinner time. Whether he was saying this to the one shaving him or to Taliyah, who was suddenly holding clean laundry like she was bringing in fresh linens, wasn't exactly clear.

[Taliyah Malik]

Setting down the linens, Taliyah heads out of the room, wandering down the hall and keeping an eye out for anything interesting.

[Calvin Strong]

The first thing she'd see is in the room across the hall, where she'd first encountered the ghost. Now that there weren't any big housekeepers blocking her view, she'd see a man in there straightening up at his mirror. He was dressed well (for the time period), looked to be in his early thirties, and was handsome with blonde hair.

He also, even with his clothes on now, was eerily familiar... and for a moment she got a flash of those empty eyes turning toward her from the face of the same ghost from the bed... but again, only a flash, like the game was highlighting the notable characters for her.

[Taliyah Malik]

Taliyah continues on, heading for the other end of the hall.

[Calvin Strong]

She would find the study empty this time. However, across the hall from the study was another bedroom, with a smaller bedroom extending from the other side. In the first bedroom, a middle-aged couple was also preparing for dinner...

...and as Taliyah looked at them, she got the same flash, the same image of two aged and horrific ghosts suddenly turning toward her...

...and then the scene flashed back to the two of them, obviously husband and wife by their interaction, continued washing up for supper.

It appeared there was someone in the smaller bedroom, but that person wasn't visible from the hallway.

[Taliyah Malik]

Taliyah headed for the smaller bedroom, opening the door.

[Calvin Strong]

The two people in the room acted just like she was a maid coming to collect laundry or some such thing. The man even tossed a towel onto the bed for her to take.

In the room was a girl of about nineteen, dressed like a slightly rebellious (by the standards of about 1910) college-age girl, looking a bit bored with everything as she lounged in her chair, reading a book which concealed another, less likely to pass her parents' approval, book.

And as soon as she looked up from said book, Taliyah got another flash of an angry, ragged ghost with rotted features.

Then there was just the girl, looking up with a bored expression for a moment, then going back to her reading.

[Taliyah Malik]

Looking around the room for a moment, Taliyah slowly turns the flashlight back on.

[Calvin Strong]

A flick of the flashlight would show Taliyah that this room, and the outer bedroom, like the master bedroom, were empty in the present, shambled day.

[Taliyah Malik]

Taliyah searches the room for clues and treasure. She briefly considers smashing any pottery she comes across.

[Calvin Strong]

The game doesn't really seem to be big on treasures or inventory. The only thing she can find, especially with the girl sitting right there to tell her to leave her stuff alone, is a little locket on her nightstand. As soon as it's picked up, though, the girl reacts like it'd been misplaced. "Oh, I've been looking for that. Thank you," she said, holding out her hand for it.

[Taliyah Malik]

Taliyah hesitantly hands it to the girl.

[Calvin Strong]

The girl puts it on, then looks at the clock, commenting irritably that it's almost time for dinner. Then she speculated on whether her grandmother was still down in the parlor drinking.

[Taliyah Malik]

Excusing herself, Taliyah heads down to the parlor.

[Calvin Strong]

There was nothing to see, really, on her way down through the hall, then through the library. In the parlor, standing in front of the old-style record player, was an old woman, likely the one the girl had been referring to. She was swaying and looking more than a little tipsy, and as she swayed a little more...

...Her head snapped toward Taliyah, empty eyes fixing on her from a face framed in sparse, wet hair...

...And laughed a little drunkenly as a parrot in the corner squawked on its perch.

The final character in the act found, there was a sound from the hall as all the members of the house were called down for dinner. The old woman made her way mostly steadily past Taliyah and to the dining room across the hall. The others, the ones who were upstairs, could be seen making their way through as well.

Listening in on the serving staff as the family prepared to eat would answer any questions about the family members. The old man was the master of the house, and old Army officer who had a grip on all the family's money. The attractive blonde man, the ghost from the bedroom, was Clarence, his lawyer, who'd been here for the past week both because he got on well with the family and because he was helping the old man prepare his estate. The maid assisting Henry, the first ghost Taliyah had seen, was Celia, his personal servant, and oh did the rumors abound about what services she offered. The old nearly-drunk woman was Henry's sister Gertrude, and the young couple were her son Rudolph (or Master Rudy) and his wife Gloria. Their daughter Lillian was the girl Taliyah had seen reading in her room.

From all the things Taliyah could see, the family was civil, at best. Very few people liked each other at the table. Henry was a domineering asshole that gained him resentment, Celia was a gold digger that the women, at the very least, seemed to despise, Gertrude was a drunk that irritated everyone and rode her son's family hard with her disapproval, Rudy was a ne'er-do-well who only seemed to get on with his wife and with Celia, Gloria was the subject of her mother-in-law's constant scrutiny, Clarence seemed charmingly endearing, which didn't cover the fact that everyone thought he was trying to get some of the old man's money which he probably was, and Lillian was a rebellious girl that seemed bored with and disapproved by her relatives.

It wasn't hard to imagine a murderer among this bunch.

[Taliyah Malik]

Having some more information in hand, Taliyah turned on the flashlight to explore the house further.

[Calvin Strong]

The house fell into disrepair again, the furniture in the dining room aging instantly, though still seeming relatively in the right place. There didn't seem to be anyone here, nor to the kitchen off to the side.

There was, however, from across the hall the very faint sound of music playing.