withusyouwillstay (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
withusyouwillstay) wrote2015-08-01 05:43 pm
withusyouwillstay) wrote2015-08-01 05:43 pm
About the Home By The Sea and the burglar, or, world-building.
THE HOME BY THE SEA
As the song/name suggests, the home by the sea is located near a large body of water. Beyond that, everything is vague. The exact location on earth is unknown - the home could be anywhere in the world, though it will not be located in a non-coastal locale. Appearance-wise, the Home By The Sea looks like a small cottage of brick, stone and wood, with several windows and a veranda.
The nature of the Home By The Sea is up for debate beyond what is generally agreed upon [that people who enter the house never come out again]. Some people believe it is haunted, others think it is a gateway to an alternate dimension, and still more opine that it's a kind of "soul trap" that works the way a roach motel works. Whatever the truth is, no one who lives near it is willing to test out any given theory. Another belief held by the locals is that the house has a level of awareness to it, and can somehow "know" when people speak of it, which is why most of the people living in the town try to avoid speaking about it as much as possible.
Animals, too, sensing something "off" about the house, will avoid going anywhere near the Home By The Sea, leaving plantlife as the only things living in close proximity to the property.
THE GHOSTS*
The inhabitants, strictly-speaking, are not true ghosts, though they would become so if they were somehow able to leave the house, which, of course, they cannot. Instead, they are more spirit-like in nature, and unfortunately, not all are nearly as lucid as they are portrayed in the song [it's about 50/50 either way]. And the longer a ghost resides in the house, the greater the disparity between lucidity and non-lucidity becomes. Of course, some ghosts manage to avoid this, but they are in the minority.
Becoming one of the ghost-spirits in residence takes time - it is not an overnight process, though how long varies from individual to individual. The process can be as short as a few weeks or months, to a few years or even a decade at the most.
If an ordinary human were to see the ghosts in their natural state inside the house, they would appear as little more than shadows with a vaguely human-like shape. In the bar, they would be much more solid [and always wearing the same clothing they wore at the time of their entrapment, no matter what it was they were wearing before going back into the house], though how this is possible is unknown, and probably best attributed to "bar magic".
Patrons who have no special powers or are of a supernatural nature won't likely sense anything unusual about one of the inhabitants, save for an expression indicating significant memory loss on the part of the ghost.
Special powered patrons, as well as patrons of a more supernatural nature, however, would be able to sense the true nature of the ghost.
An interesting feature of the house's ghosts is that, because the Home By The Sea considers the bar as an extension of itself, can move between house and bar freely, but will not be able to exit the bar - not even to go out into the back area, as this would violate the "cannot leave" rule.
[*Note: this section is meant to set up the burglar's ghost nature only. The burglar will be the only House ghost in-bar, in case anyone was wondering.]
THE BURGLAR
Before his entrapment, the burglar was a petty thief who went from town to town looking for targets to steal from, as well as the occasional break and entry. He had a talent for going about unnoticed by other people, which helped him evade the law and capture for many years.
At the time of his entrapment, he was in his thirties, and dressed in a style reminiscent of the 80s. The only things he will have on him is his flashlight, simple tools for breaking and entering, as well as any stolen goods he had on him on the night of his entrapment.
Everything previously stated about the ghosts applies here. He will have a bewildered, amnesiac look about him, which means he won't remember his name or the people he meets for some time. He'll also have a tendency to try and steal from other patrons, but this is more an act of habit than an conscious decision.
As the song/name suggests, the home by the sea is located near a large body of water. Beyond that, everything is vague. The exact location on earth is unknown - the home could be anywhere in the world, though it will not be located in a non-coastal locale. Appearance-wise, the Home By The Sea looks like a small cottage of brick, stone and wood, with several windows and a veranda.
The nature of the Home By The Sea is up for debate beyond what is generally agreed upon [that people who enter the house never come out again]. Some people believe it is haunted, others think it is a gateway to an alternate dimension, and still more opine that it's a kind of "soul trap" that works the way a roach motel works. Whatever the truth is, no one who lives near it is willing to test out any given theory. Another belief held by the locals is that the house has a level of awareness to it, and can somehow "know" when people speak of it, which is why most of the people living in the town try to avoid speaking about it as much as possible.
Animals, too, sensing something "off" about the house, will avoid going anywhere near the Home By The Sea, leaving plantlife as the only things living in close proximity to the property.
THE GHOSTS*
The inhabitants, strictly-speaking, are not true ghosts, though they would become so if they were somehow able to leave the house, which, of course, they cannot. Instead, they are more spirit-like in nature, and unfortunately, not all are nearly as lucid as they are portrayed in the song [it's about 50/50 either way]. And the longer a ghost resides in the house, the greater the disparity between lucidity and non-lucidity becomes. Of course, some ghosts manage to avoid this, but they are in the minority.
Becoming one of the ghost-spirits in residence takes time - it is not an overnight process, though how long varies from individual to individual. The process can be as short as a few weeks or months, to a few years or even a decade at the most.
If an ordinary human were to see the ghosts in their natural state inside the house, they would appear as little more than shadows with a vaguely human-like shape. In the bar, they would be much more solid [and always wearing the same clothing they wore at the time of their entrapment, no matter what it was they were wearing before going back into the house], though how this is possible is unknown, and probably best attributed to "bar magic".
Patrons who have no special powers or are of a supernatural nature won't likely sense anything unusual about one of the inhabitants, save for an expression indicating significant memory loss on the part of the ghost.
Special powered patrons, as well as patrons of a more supernatural nature, however, would be able to sense the true nature of the ghost.
An interesting feature of the house's ghosts is that, because the Home By The Sea considers the bar as an extension of itself, can move between house and bar freely, but will not be able to exit the bar - not even to go out into the back area, as this would violate the "cannot leave" rule.
[*Note: this section is meant to set up the burglar's ghost nature only. The burglar will be the only House ghost in-bar, in case anyone was wondering.]
THE BURGLAR
Before his entrapment, the burglar was a petty thief who went from town to town looking for targets to steal from, as well as the occasional break and entry. He had a talent for going about unnoticed by other people, which helped him evade the law and capture for many years.
At the time of his entrapment, he was in his thirties, and dressed in a style reminiscent of the 80s. The only things he will have on him is his flashlight, simple tools for breaking and entering, as well as any stolen goods he had on him on the night of his entrapment.
Everything previously stated about the ghosts applies here. He will have a bewildered, amnesiac look about him, which means he won't remember his name or the people he meets for some time. He'll also have a tendency to try and steal from other patrons, but this is more an act of habit than an conscious decision.