[Ghosts]

[allthekeys]

The Bleeding Child:
It’s difficult to determine the age of this girl. Small and dirty, she doesn’t seem like she belongs in the mansion, yet that’s where she haunts. Her left arm is bleeding from several deep cuts, the blood never appearing to clog, instead dripping down her fingers and staining her clothes, dropping on the floor where she walks, leaving a trail of red where she goes. Her right hand is usually kept hidden, pressed against her leg or kept behind her back, but anyone who can come close enough to see will no doubt see the knife she’s carrying as she’s not very adept at keeping it out of sight.

She usually shies away from adults, shrinking back and turning away from them, not wanting to call on their attention. She doesn’t fear children though and appears quite drawn to them. She will beckon them to follow her away from any adults if she catches their eye, or approach them if they’re alone. This is when she tries to kill them.


The Beastmaster:
This ghost, usually found in the Stables or other areas that animals tend to inhabit, might not seem to be dead or otherwordly at all at first glance. Her appearance is that of a perfectly normal young woman who is always dressed in a thin, tattered dress and beaten leather boots. It’s only upon closer observation that one might notice something amiss—that her stare is a bit too distant and unfocused, her eyes a bit too glassy, her expression rather too lifeless. She is perpetually in a daze, never seeming to really be conscious of what goes on around her. If approached or addressed, she is entirely unresponsive; if cornered, she will vanish from sight.

She herself does not seem to be dangerous. Wherever she goes, however, any nearby animals will become uncharacteristically aggressive and violent, sometimes even to the point of inflicting lethal injury. They will relentlessly and forcefully attack anyone in their paths, sometimes even going out of their way to do so—and showing bizarrely little consideration for preserving their own safety.


The Drowned Woman:
This ghost looks like the victim of a shipwreck, risen from the waves to walk the house. Seaweed and salt are tangled and matted in her hair, one foot is bare, and the other trapped in a soggy boot. Her skin blue and pale and she moves slowly, clothes stiff with salt and torn, eyes milky and unseeing, and the edge of a tarnished chain visible just over her collar. She reeks of fish and sea and rot, noticeable even a few rooms away, one of the few warnings given of her presence. Her touch is clammy, moist and cold, skin almost rubbery. And when she touches you, you begin to drown. The slightest brush and it is hard to breathe. The longer she holds onto you - and she is inexplicably strong - the harder it is to breathe, to retain consciousness. The feel of the ocean pressed around you becomes overwhelming, the sound of waves crashing in your head is all you can hear, it feels as though you’re sinking deep under water, though you haven’t moved from the spot. You feel wet and cold, as though the beginning stages of hypothermia have set in, and yet if you pull away you are completely dry. At the end of five minutes you drown. Inexplicably, the woman is always seen with a very modern flashlight, though she can never quite manage to pick it up.

Method of Attack: Grappling, causing the person being held to drown
Effects: Drowning, Hypothermia.
Speed: Slower than a normal human
Strength: Equal to Superhuman
Weaknesses: ???
Resistance: Water.
Intelligence: Unknown
Ability to communicate: ???
How far they will follow: One Room


The Executioner:
The Executioner is a creature that looks like it was once a man. He’s tall, pale, his skin drawn tight around his limbs, his fingers long and just slightly bony; but he’s not skinny, no, there is muscle beneath what looks marred and mottled and discoloured, like he’s just started to decompose but remains strong. He is, and you shouldn’t underestimate him. His grip is iron. And he is fast, sometimes so fast he is difficult to track, quick to follow and quick to seize his victims.

Something that might seem surprising as he has no eyes. The skin stretches flatly over his face where the sockets should be. There are no gouges, no markings, they just aren’t there. More remarkable than hat, however, is his mouth. His lips are cracked open, split in several places, the small cuts sometimes oozing what might be pus, might be a strange kind of blood, and is very foul smelling. These lips are often pulled back to bare teeth that are entirely too big for his mouth, far longer than any teeth have a right to be.


Faceless Mirror Man:
This ghost seems to be trapped, almost like an imprint of memory, in the mirrors of the castle. Though he seems unable to leave the mirrors, it does not mean he is incapable of harming those who exist outside of his prison, or encouraging them to join him. An unwary house guest might find themselves frozen in place while their reflection slowly lifts a knife to slit their throat.

He is currently trapped in the mirror in the Crystal Bedroom.

Appearance: This man looks like an English gentleman in dress, complete with an ascot and cane, though most English gentlemen have faces. The complete lack of anything even resembling one often causes his victims to freeze in shock, unable to comprehend what he is before he kills them.
Method of Attack: He can cause physical damage to a reflection. Commonly has a knife with him.
Effects: Cutting
Speed: Depends on the reflections available, if there is another mirror close he can travel in an eye-blink. When he's out of the mirror, he moves about as quickly as a normal human.
Strength: N/A
Weaknesses: ???
Resistance: Physical and Magical Attacks.
Intelligence: Seemingly high.
Ability to communicate: ???
How far they will follow: If he’s injured someone, all over the house for the rest of the night.


The Green Man:
This creature can be found roaming the gardens, and occasionally straying into the stone maze. A basic human figure is discernible as it moves, walking upright on two legs with two arms trailing beside it, but the shape seems entirely made of writhing, shifting bits of vines, leaves, and wood. A wooden mask seems to mock human features on the front of the “head”, carved with leaves and a maw of teeth; flowers and leaves trailing behind it taking the place of hair. During they day it is docile so long as it is not harassed.

Thorns, twisted bits of vine covered in thin white hairs, and ominously waxy leaves cover much of the surface of the “arms”, used to scrape and flay at anyone who comes close. Besides the cuts from thorns and some jagged, rusted pieces of metal from broken tools hidden in among the plant matter, anyone hit by the creature will find a blistering rash spreading from the area of impact, interspersed with patches of intense stinging pain from thin “hairs” embedded into the flesh, making the affected area difficult to move. The creature moves slowly, as the legs seem to sprout roots that don't entirely want to be pulled out of the ground, making its gait halting and jerky.

If encountered within the garden, it may not even rouse itself from staying rooted in the ground; the mask and head will track anyone approaching, and the garden plants themselves seem to find life for the sake of assaulting the intrusion. Younger teenagers will be left alone so long as they are not acting in a hostile manner, while the creature will be actively protective of children under most circumstances.


The Huntsman:
Dressed in rough woven garments and carrying an ax, at first glance he might seem like the epitome of a fairytale hunter. He is rather tall, broad shouldered and solidly built. But there is something that seems too clean about him, even now, something that might have once been too well tended for anyone of his apparent era. His clothes seem too well made, his weapons still unmarked despite their uses.

The order has long ago faded, whatever he once was has been lost to the house. What once might have been a handsome face is now badly distorted by bones being forced in new directions. Hands that seem only newly roughened by hard work are covered with layers of dirt that seem on the verge of becoming part of him, nails darkened with filth. His mouth hangs twisted and open, teeth yellowed and too long now for his mouth. Erupting from under his hair are protrusions of bone, and his eyes have altered shape until he doesn’t look human at all anymore. He is a creature caught halfway between two forms, neither suiting him entirely anymore.

Despite his appearance, he is incredibly fast, and more to the point, he is capable of ranged assaults, still able to use the bow hanging from his shoulder. He doesn’t speak, though it is difficult to tell if he is incapable or simply unwilling.


The Lonely Ghost Boy:
This child has a head full of straight dark hair and dark skin. His wrists and neck are wrapped tightly in bandages and he seems very thin.

He hangs back, watching the house guests and never approaching them directly. Often, should any try to get to close, he simply vanishes.

He is always accompanied by a single crow, discerned from her fellows only by a scattering of golden feathers amid the black.

Any crows near the boy will attempt to keep anyone from getting near him. He seems intelligent and capable of speech, should someone manage to convince him to talk. Often, he can be seen playing a strange little multiple pipe. His playful tunes seem to sooth the birds who surround him and give them leave to play wherever he has deemed safe enough for them to relax.


The Silver Gentleman:
This ghost often seems to have difficulty standing straight, moving with a broken, deceptively fast gait; rusted iron contraptions with heavy bars built to compress and crush via large screw-pieces on either side are tightened around his knees and elbows, visibly closed enough to have thoroughly pulverized the joints. The face is completely obscured under a silver mask, molded into a demonic leering face; the mask has a silver crown attached to it that has been secured to the man's skull with heavy iron nails, blackened and blistered skin around the jawline betraying the heat of the metal. A similarly burning silver neckpiece is attached around his neck, secured with heavy metal staples driven through the burned skin, and his hands are thoroughly blackened, with silver rings attached by small chains to wrist-cuffs. The ghost's neck is broken, with a cut-off noose hanging from it; once pristine white clothing is stained with soot and blood.

The ghost will lunge at anyone approaching too closely, grabbing at them with gagging noises as if there's attempts at questions through a throat too damaged to form words; if he manages to grab hold of a victim, he will shake them and claw at their face and throat with inhuman strength, aggravated by burns from the heated metal he wears.


The Steward:
Though headless, this judgmental ghost is in charge of maintenance for the castle. It is he who decides what passes and what fails, and he who decides the punishment for those who have failed. A rather heavy set man, dressed in rich, but stained cloth, this greasy man smells like a corpse a few days dead, but he is quick to respond to those who have stepped out of line of his rules. He shakes at times with silent laughter, the stump of his neck producing an odd gurgling noise. He does not seem particularly troubled by the lack of a head, and his hands are quite able to find those who have caused his temper to flare.

Though never seen, it is likely to assume that he updates the chore boards.

Any child character that comes across him will be seized and taken to the Lady Grey.

At night he is quick to grab those who wander astray and drag them to the basement torture room. Often, he will try to remove their heads.

Perhaps he wants company?



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