a duet with ghosts - quest design
Summary: This is a quest for The Seventh Hour, a fantasy Twine game based on an existing IP, the LARP game Empire which takes place four times a year in the United Kingdom. The characters are all made up, but the setting (the nation of Highguard, its groups and traditions) is taken from the game. In this quest, taking place in the evening of the Winter Solstice, the player's goal is to find the ghost of their deceased lover for a last conversation, by exploring the cemetery where most of their nation's citizens are interred.
Objective: To discover how you can interact with the ghosts in the graveyard, and use that mechanics knowledge to then find your lover before the end of the Winter Solstice, a day when the veils between the world of the living and the dead are thinner.
Reward: The reward is to have a last conversation with your lover before you let them go in peace forever, providing emotional fulfilment to the story and the character's arc. This also leads the player to the end of the game, as the seven hours before the end of the Solstice come to pass.
Characters:
Player Character: A priest of the Monastery of the Necropolis. Deliberately un-gendered and without a physical description beyond their ecclesiastical clothes, as the goal is that the player projects themself onto them. They play a flute that allows them to communicate with ghosts.
Talmai, the Lover Ghost: A fleet captain the PC met a long time ago, in one of the seasonal Summits where heroes gather to discuss the future of their Empire. The PC had never heard of them before, being from a completely different region, but was immediately smitten by their boldness and charm. They were together for a long time before a naval assault on Talmai's fleet led to their death at sea.
Talmai's ghost appearance is the same as in life, that of an adult in a dark tabard with ornate trim around the hem in a contrasting light colour. Their hair reaches their shoulders and is tied in a half updo at the back, an understated jewelled circlet on their brow. They wear a leather gorget and bracers, two shortswords on their belt, and a couple of pouches for trinkets.
Location(s): The quest takes place in the main graveyard of the Necropolis, one of the biggest cities of the nation of Highguard (and the city that gives the wider region surrounding it its name). Necropolis as a region beyond the city is well-known for its connection with spirits and the dead, so although the graveyard of its biggest city is the ideal place for the quest to happen, the storyline could easily be shifted to any other graveyard in Necropolis, and to any other graveyard in Highguard with a couple of descriptive changes.
The story starts in the chapterhouse adjacent to the graveyard, which is essentially a monastery where citizens and priests live (including our PC), and moves to the graveyard shortly after, where the proper quest starts. There are no other locations, due to this being a relatively short game. The single location also helps contain the emotional impact of the narrative.
Narrative Beats:
Tune the flute: While the player waits for the rest of the priests and citizens to congregate and start the procession, they need to tune their flute. This will allow them to communicate with the ghosts in the graveyard.
Chase the ghost: While on the procession, the player sees a glimpse of the ghost of Talmai. They have to extricate themselves from the march, and wander the tombs, choosing one to inspect at a time
Inspect a tomb: To inspect a tomb, the PC needs to play their flute in a certain combination of notes, which will free the ghost of whoever is resting in the tomb. Then they can talk to the ghost, and a different combination of notes will put the ghost to rest again.
Talk to Talmai's ghost: When the player chooses the right tomb to inspect, Talmai's ghost will approach them. This is a chance for the player to choose between several dialogue options to reconnect with their beloved for the last time.
Dance: After the conversation between Talmai and the player, where both will express the need to actually touch (which they can't do due to Talmai's immaterial nature), they will settle for a slow dance, and the player character will then have the option of playing a simple tune they used to hum together. If the player prefers, the dance can also be done in silence, swaying beside each other. At midnight, Talmai will vanish with a last kiss, which will feel like a cold breeze on the player character's lips.
OPTIONAL EPILOGUE: The player character can then choose to go to the beach beside the city the next morning, and place a token of their love for Talmai on the sand, for the sea tide to take.
Mood notes, inspiration:
This video of Mitski dancing with a beam of light at one of her concerts
The general mood is a sense of closure after a long period of yearning, melancholy and acceptance that what could have been will never be.
For more info about the Empire LARP world, visit their wiki here
