Umineko ~ Dawn of the Golden Witch (Sign-ups)

[TheSequelReturns]

- Warning -

This RP is not for the faint of heart. There will be graphic violence. There will be death. Your character will probably die multiple times, so be prepared.

If you are okay with the above, continue onward.

- Umineko no Naku Koro ni ~ Dawn of the Golden Witch -

- 1923 -

The Great Kanto Earthquake cripples the economy of an entire region of Japan. The damage is extensive; homes are destroyed, factories are leveled, roads and railways are torn apart, and over one hundred thousand are missing or dead. In the wake of this great tragedy, many great families lose everything. Wealth, standing, property, even family members themselves are all lost, reducing the great families to nothing overnight. Not the least among these is the Ushiromiya family.

Losing practically everything in the disaster, the Ushiromiya family is forced to appoint a new family head, Kinzo Ushiromiya; a grim, stubborn, and greedy man, but the only surviving descendant of the previous head and thus the only one able to take over leadership of the family. After a brief period of struggle, Kinzo mysteriously acquires a vast fortune, consisting of ten tons of pure gold, and completely restores the Ushiromiya family to an even greater position of power than they had ever been.

Although the family was grateful to Kinzo for restoring them to their position of influence and power, no one could explain exactly where or how he had managed to obtain his fortune. Kinzo himself refused to comment, but ever since his triumphant restoration of the Ushiromiya family he had taken to spending nearly all of his time in his mansion on Rokkenjima, a private island owned by Kinzo himself. Rumors began to circulate that he had obtained the fortune in various underhanded or dark means. The most prevalent of these rumors was that there was a witch on the island, and Kinzo had made a deal with her to obtain the gold. This witch became known as Beatrice, after the lavish painting of a mysterious woman that Kinzo commissioned for the foyer of his mansion...

- 1986 -

Many years have passed since the earthquake, and Kinzo's fortune has been locked away for years, no one but Kinzo himself knows exactly where. The gold has been an urban legend in the family for decades, and all of Kinzo's descendants know well the legend of the gold and Beatrice, the Golden Witch, whom it is said gave the gold to Kinzo. Thus, it comes as a shock when each of his descendants receives a letter telling of Kinzo's falling ill and wishing to pass his riches on before he dies. As proof of its authenticity, a wax seal imprinted with the mark of Kinzo's one of a kind ring adorns each letter. The mark is the Ushiromiya family crest, the Golden One-Winged Eagle.

The letters claim that Kinzo is waiting for them in his mansion on Rokkenjima, and gives a date for the meeting. Confused about Kinzo's sudden change in disposition, but curious about the "riches" mentioned in the letter, the family members set out to meet on Rokkenjima, unaware of what awaits them there...

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- Your Role -

Players will play as one of Kinzo's children or grandchildren. Each of you are aware of the legends about the gold fortune and the Golden Witch, Beatrice. Each of you have also just arrived on the island in preparation for the meeting in which Kinzo is supposed to pass on his fortune.

What you don't know is that there is a lot more to the legends than anyone could have guessed, and a dark force is about to descend upon your group...

This is above all else, a mystery RP. While there will be action it is not the focus of this story. The main objective is to solve the mystery (and to not die horribly in the process).

- Details About the Sign-Ups -

In a unique twist of necessity, and due to the nature of this RP, it is entirely possible to sign-up as the family members of other players, even as their parents, spouse, brother, sister, or child. Not only is it possible, but it is actually encouraged.

If you want to have another player sign-up as an immediate family member of yours, make a note in your sign-up and I'll post the position. If we end up with children with no parents, I'll just have to ask about who wants to "adopt" them. It is also possible to ask the other players if you want your character to be related to theirs.

I can handle the relations or you can talk it over among yourselves, either way is fine.

- Sign-Up Form -

Name: As much as I'd like to give you a lot of freedom here, remember two things. You live in Japan, and your last name is Ushiromiya.

Age: No younger than 10, no older than 50.

Gender: Male or Female

Relation to Kinzo: Is he your father, grandfather, uncle, etc...

Relation to other Characters: This is to be used to keep track of what other players are in your immediate family.

Personality: Give a good idea of how your character sees things and how they react to and treat others. At least a good paragraph.

Appearance: Give a good idea of what your character looks like and the outfit they arrived on the island in. At least a good paragraph on each.

History: A brief history of your character's past. You may mention other characters so long as you keep them in character. A detailed history between characters is a good starting point for tension later on, but is not required.

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- Final Note -

The point of this RP is to be a clever game of wits between me and the players, or among the players themselves. As such, I expect that players will be attentive to others, pay attention to detail, attempt to solve the mystery, and above all not abandon the RP.

I cannot stress the last one enough. Each player will be a crucial piece in the puzzle, so abandoning the RP will be like removing a piece of a jigsaw puzzle or taking a piece off of a chessboard. The solved picture will never be as complete as it could have been and the process of getting there will be a little tougher.

So, I kindly ask that anyone who submits a sign-up for approval be willing to see this through to the end, if not for the sake of yourself, then for the sake of the other players.

With that said, this is also about fun, and I hope that this RP will be an enjoyable experience for those involved. Let the mystery begin!

- List of Accepted Players -

Kenta Ushiromiya (Sir Forgets-A-Lot)
Sakimi "Saki" Ushiromiya (Kiruria)
Crona Ushiromiya (Sideswipe)

 

[Double-oh-Platypus]

This looks really, really interesting and it will be a challenge for me because I am notorious at actually paying attention to what other people post if it does not concern me directly. So if possible, I would like to perhaps place a reserve if you're taking. If not, expect a sign-up later today or tomorrow

 

[TheSequelReturns]

@Double-oh-Platypus: Thanks.

While I won't be taking formal reserves, I will gladly hold your place.

I look forward to your sign-up.

 

[Sir Forgets-A-Lot]

Name: Kenta Ushiromiya.

Age: 25

Relation to Kinzo: Grandfather

Relation to other Characters: Son of ?, Brother of ?, Husband of ?, Cousin of Sakimi, Nephew of ?, Uncle of ?, Brother-in-Law of ?

Personality: Kenta believes himself to be god’s gift to the world and as such treats everyone who isn’t an Ushiromiya as lower beings. He truly believes that the purpose of all other lives’ is to serve him and to make him happy. He loves nothing more than to manipulate others into doing his chores. He is able to do this because of the fact that he puts on an act of compassion and understanding in order to gain other peoples’ trust. When he became president of both the student council and the Kendo club in school, he truly enjoyed the power it gave him over the younger students. It was not uncommon to see him ordering the younger students around to perform very menial and demeaning activities. When he was in school, it was not unheard of to hear the rumor that Kenta used his family’s money and influence to bribe the teachers into giving him perfect scores or to over look some of his more deplorable acts; however none of them were ever proven true.

He has very little respect for the other members of his family, with the exception of his grandfather. He treats his parents more as acquaintances then parents because of the fact that more often than not, he was taken care of by servants rather then them. As for the rest of the family, Kenta could care less about what happens to them. He sees them merely as hindrances that stand in his way of obtaining the major control of the Ushiromiya family fortune. Of course, he pretends to actually care so that way he stay in good standing with them and thus retain the ability to manipulate them in future events.

He considers himself a ladies’ man and that any woman would be lucky to have him as a boyfriend. He has no plans to settle down, so needless to say he has gone through a number of girlfriends. His one true love in life is kendo. His greatest dream in life is to obtain the rank of hanshi hachi-dan. Because of this he is always seen carrying his shinai around. Kenta is an avid collector of authentic Japanese swords and would go to great lengths to get any sword he wants. Kenta is also an avid fan of street racing with both two-wheeled and four-wheeled vehicles. He is very proud of his high-end collection of motor vehicles, especially when it comes to his motorbikes. If there is one thing Kenta hates more than anything else is losing. He will seriously lose it if he fails to succeed in something he does. This has gotten Kenta in a few sticky situations in which he had to use his family’s money to get him out of.


Appearance: Kenta has a very imposing physique. He stands around six foot four and weighs at least 230 lbs. His body has become well toned because of all the training he has done over the years. He keeps his hair a light gray, silverish color. Kenta has a very pronounced widow’s peak that makes his front bangs hang down to a point that reaches his eyes. He keeps that rest of his hair cut fairly short and a tiny bit untidy. His eyes are a deep brown color. Kenta has a 6-inch vertical scar running over his right eye. He received this when he foolishly thought he was ready to practice with real swords.

When Kenta arrives on the island he will be wearing a fairly high priced pair of blue jeans with an intricate stitch on the back pockets. For shoes, Kenta will be wearing a pair of black shoes with gold accents. For a shirt, Kenta will be wearing a special made white shirt that has an intricate gold eagle design on the back with a tribal-like design on the shoulders in front. Over the shirt, Kenta is wearing his favorite black hoodie. On the back of the hoodie, Kenta has had the same gold eagle design that is on his shirt embroidered on. Over the hoodie, Kenta will be wearing a high end black leather jacket. Kenta has also decided to wear one of his many designer sun glasses. The final thing completing his assemble is a long black cardboard tube strapped to his back. In the tube, Kenta has put an antique katana he bought and has decided to present as a present to his grandfather.

History: Being born into the Ushiromiya family, Kenta’s life has been very privileged. For as long as he can remember, he has always had someone there that saw to his every need and want. From an early age, Kenta had a fascination with Japanese swords. This fascination stemmed from a visit to his grandfather’s mansion. During his visit, Kenta stumbled upon a room dedicated to these swords. All over the walls were various sized katanas and pictures of famous samurai using these swords. One wall had a variety of books dedicated to these swordsmen. When Kinzo stumbled upon Kenta, just standing in the room, he preceded to explain to him the historical significance of the katanas and their users. When Kenta questioned if he could learn to use these swords, Kinzo told him that most people nowadays do not use the swords but instead learn the art of Kendo and that if he truly wanted to feel like the people in the pictures that he should take up the sport. And from began Kenta’s lifelong love of the sport.

When it came time to enroll in junior high school, Kenta had only one choice in mind, Musashi Junior High. The reason for this choice was because it was named after the famed samurai Miyamoto Musashi. His parents agreed with the choice since it was one of the highest ranked schools in the nation. During his time at the junior high, Kenta quickly gained a reputation for being one of the best kendōka to ever come through the school. After his time at Musashi Junior High, Kenta went onto attend Musashi High. During his time there, Kenta established himself as the head honcho of the school. Not only did he become president of the Kendo Club but he also became the president of the student council. It was during his time in high school that developed his love for women, cars, and motorcycles. It was not uncommon to hear rumors in the school that Kenta was involved in a street race.

It was during his senior year in high school that his anger first became apparent. It happened just after Kenta’s first loss in a street race. Naturally he took it very hard and unfortunately for the girl that chose to be with him that night; Kenta took his anger out on her. He beat her so hard that he actually killed her. Fearing what might happen if he was found out, he called the only person he thought he could turn to, his grandfather. Thanks to Kinzo’s help, the girl’s body was and would never be found. The murder was made to look like she ran away from home. And with this incident, Kenta began a string of incidents that required the same level of cover up as the first.

After graduating from high school, Kenta gained entry into the University of Tokyo, specifically into the Faculty of Engineering. During his time in university, Kenta continued his practice of Kendo, eventually attaining the rank of godan by the time of his graduation from the undergraduate school. By the time Kenta received his grandfather’s invitation, he was well in the second year of graduate school at the University of Tokyo.


This sounds like a really great RPG. So here is my sign up. Also I give any person who wants to sign up the permission to use my character as a relative of theirs.

 

[TheSequelReturns]

@Sir Forgets-A-Lot: Thanks for the compliment.

I'd like to explain a bit more in the intro, but then again this is a mystery RP... So perhaps its best that I keep the element of the unknown even from the start.

As for the sign-up, he seems a little rough around the edges, but that could be alright. I'd like a bit more rounding out of his personality, but otherwise he seems to be an interesting character, defiantly someone with a few dark plot threads in his history...

So for now, Pending. I'd just like a bit more on his personality is all.

 

[Sir Forgets-A-Lot]

just to let you know, i have edited my sign up. I hope the personality is better this time.

 

[TheSequelReturns]

@Sir Forgets-A-Lot: Nice improvement, very detailed.

So, Accepted. I guess I'll need a list of players now...

 

[Sideswipe]

I would like to reserve a spot for sure. Sounds interesting.

 

[Kiruria]

This sounds like a very interesting RPG--I hope I can enjoy it as much as the Persona one! Dangit, Zuri was my first choice for a character here, but I shall resist the temptation to sign her up here, to avoid confusion.

In fact, I'll do something I hardly ever do: create a whole new character! And not only that; I'll create a character who's way different than the types of characters I usually play as well as myself, for an extra challenge.

Also, I would love it if someone would be my character's sister or brother, or even one of her parents.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Sakimi "Saki" Ushiromiya

Age: 14

Relation to Kinzo: He is her father's uncle

Relation to other characters: Kenta's cousin

Personality: Don't try to put Saki in with the moody high school kids later to be known as emo--she just wouldn't fit in with them. Saki loves to be immersed in what's hip and happening in the world, and doesn't hesitate to do her best to get along with others. As long as people aren't on her "weird list", she lets them into her life in a snap, and enjoys having several friends (and boyfriends) as a result. She picks up on social trends and urban knowledge easily, and is very attentive to what is happening in the world. In other words, she's one of those people who actually gives a rat's butt.

One of the greatest things that gives Saki joy is pleasing other people--she long ago realised the impacts of good karma, that going good for others is the perfect way to get what one wants. She's been this way for a long time, hence why many of her adult friends used to call her "Tenshi-chan" (Little Angel). Her heart leaps when she's asked to do a favour for someone, and hops to it straightaway, often without foreseeing any consequences. One of the things she's notorious for is failing to ask for advice until it's too late. It is for this reason that she can be easily tricked, which is rather unfortunate because she's usually not clever enough to figure out that she might be under someone's influence. She isn't very smart, that's for sure.

Saki also loves to party! However, she is intent on following "the rules" whenever hosting or attending a party or something, and makes sure she asks for her parents' permission. Likewise, she frequently scolds people for making a mess or being irresponsible. But on the other hand, she seems to have a bit of a lack of common sense sometimes, and usually goes for immediate gratification in making a decision because thinking is such a burden. And that can get her into trouble sometimes, in which case she tries her best to apologise and make up for things she "does wrong". But I put the quotation marks there for a reason because often times she doesn't know what she did wrong and fails to learn from her "mistakes". She's still a bit innocent and immature I suppose, but cute and sweet all the same.

Now for some other quirks. Saki likes watching TV and riding her bicycle around, and secretly loves her stuffed animal collection. But she hates reading or playing sports, and thinks acting is silly. Also, she's a vegetarian, and is extremely hemophobic as well. In fact, many things scare her--mice, spiders, the dark, ghosts, you name it. However, she does recover rather quickly from such fears, so she'll be just fine until another snake gets in her face. The silly part is that she'll eagerly step into a new situation she encounters, then turn tail and run the second a ghost appears in the doorway, then run back in prepared with a flashlight, and so on.

But there are things about Saki that she doesn't even know yet, and already she suspects this. She usually has very vivid dreams, which often confuse her. Although she keeps a dream diary, she often thinks nothing of the dreams, not really believing in magic and all. That's kind of too bad, for she does have a keen sense of intuition--though she hardly understands the concept of deja vu, and thinks nothing of coincidences.

Appearance: Saki currently stands at 5'2" and is still growing--she's still not quite through puberty yet. Since she is fussy about her figure, she maintains careful maintenance of her weight. But the rest of her appearance is something she's a bit more lax on. Thus she only wears minimal makeup, letting her cute brown eyes do the work appeal-wise. She usually ties a bow in a small section of the back of her dark brown hair, which she never lets touch her shoulders otherwise. Her hair also gets poofy pretty easily, so often times she just lets it get that way, save for the small ponytail in the back.

Enough about Saki's hair--let's talk about her outfit. Saki used to love being in her school uniform even outside of class, but she's changed her outfit for the trip to Kinzo's after some convincing from her parents. So now she wears a light blue blouse with silky ruffled bits of sleeves, with a little bow of white lace tied in the front. With that she wears a white miniskirt, nice and frilly at the bottom as she likes it, and with pockets as well. Then there's a pair of light blue knee socks to match her shirt, and in fact they have the same white lacy bows on the sides as well. On her feet are a pair of white sandals, each with a large white flower near the toe.

No matter what she's wearing, Saki carries around her favourite little pink purse with a blue flower on it and a wide blue shoulder strap. It's a bit faded due to to frequent use, but still holds all her favourite belongings, the most precious of which is her little stuffed rabbit that she smuggled in there. This blue bunny plushie with the adorable plastic eyes is named Kousagi (a rather unoriginal name, but...), and was one of the first stuffed animals she ever had. He's also her little lucky charm, her having believed him to have helped her through her troubles in school and such.

History: If there's one thing Saki remembers about her childhood, it's her extensive family, especially from her mother's side. There were aunts and uncles and twice-removed cousins... and of course her parents and her siblings. All of them were ones she's had mixed relationships with. In fact, early on for a school project she decided to put fun little personality labels on all her known family members, like Cousin Stuck-Up-Samurai and Grandpa Shady-Rich-Guy. She's heard many tales about her Great-Uncle Kinzo (who she just called a "grandfather" anyway) especially, which often bored her when she kept hearing repeated tales about a "Golden Witch" and whatnot. She believed there was no witch, that Kinzo must have joined the Yakuza or something to obtain his fortune.

Little Sakimi-chan was always an attention-craver, but always liked to help her siblings out as well, even give them some of her toys as presents. And she enjoyed playing with her extensive collection of stuffed animals, in the beautiful cardboard castle she built all by herself. (She still keeps the castle folded up in her closet today, for mysterious sentimental reasons.) Frequently her parents sent her out on little errands, knowing that she was reliable since she never had the nerve to venture anywhere she was not told to go. She was never that curious, that's for sure.

Saki did just average in school, nothing particularly special. But she was quite popular throughout junior high school, due in part to her extensive network of friends. She did occasionally get picked on--that is something no young teen can avoid--but always tried to make up for it by being a sweetie. And that seemed to work. Her teachers never really took notice of her--she was just this popular girl who did average in classes.

But in the last year, things started to change. In real life everything seemed relatively okay, despite the usual struggles with starting high school. But nightmares troubled poor Saki at least once a week. Sometimes she was lucky enough to forget them, but all at once her dreams went from just being weird and vivid to more intense, somehow. Yet she never sought help for this, believing that dreams were just silly magical occurrences people had to deal with. Still, something in her unconscious told her that she needed to figure this out. But how?

"How" would all start with a letter from Kinzo, telling her and his other descendants to meet him in his mansion on his private island. The only reason why Saki decided to go there was because her family told her that Kinzo would be very disappointed if not all of his grandchildren showed up.

 

[TheSequelReturns]

@Sideswipe: Alright, Reserved.

@Kiruria: Yeah, I'm trying a new approach with this one, and I hope it will pay off in the long run. And I tend to use some of my characters over and over again, such as Vivian, or occasionally I'll make "family" members of my characters by giving them the same last name and similar traits (such as Lancaster, I have three characters with that last name).

Anyway, on to the sign-up.

It weird because I was hoping to get a character like this, she'll fit in well with the group and it will be fun to see how she reacts to what I have planned.

I like her personality, and the nickname is pretty cute too.

I see no reason not to, so Accepted.

And yes, Kinzo would be disappointed if everyone didn't show up...

 

[Sideswipe]

Creating a new character here.

Name: Crona Ushiromiya

Age: 16

Gender: Male

Relation to Kinzo: Grandfather

Relation to other Characters: Kenta's brother, Sakimi's cousin

Personality: Crona sees just about everything negatively and isn't the most friendly person in the world. This does not meen that he is mean, however, he would just rather ignore people altogether. Crona cares a lot about the few friends he has though and would do anything for them. His friends are the only ones that really understand him like his family never could. Crona does not exactly have a great relationship with his brother and is irritated by his arrogant attitude.

Being the younger brother was not easy for him as a child and he would rather not be at home most of the time. He does not have the best realtionship with his parents either, since they were never there. So, most of the time Crona was at friends' houses. He secretly enjoyed when his friends' parents would feel sorry for him and talk to him. It was nice for him to have some adults to talk to.

Crona is not scared of much, but there is one thing that he really can't stand. Bugs. He doesn't know why, but they have always crept him out. Needless to say, there have been times when he has been teased about this. Crona's favorite food would be ramen in a big bowl with all kinds of stuff in it. Whenever he could, he found himself walking to the ramen stand and ordering more than he could eat. About Crona's family, there is no one that he is particularly close to. He never really knew Kinzo very well, but whenever he did see him as a child, he loved to sit down and listen to his words of wisdom and experience, something his brother never cared to do.

Appearance: Crona is skinny and pretty tall for his age. His skin has a pale look to it. He has brown hair, dyed because he was tired of the typical black hair, and emerald green eyes. Crona is not very muscular, but not weak-looking either. He always wears a look on his face that looks like he's trying to smile and frown at the same time.

Crona's usual outfit consists of a white shirt with one of his favorite band logos and a black leather jacket covering it. He wears blue jeans with a black belt looped twice around the waist. His shoes are black with three white stripes going across from one side to the other. He wears a wrist band given to him by his best friend before he left for the island on his right arm. To complete his wardrobe is something he never goes anywhere without, his hat given to him by his father from one of his business trips. It was black with a white striped design, similar to his shoes.

History: Crona was born into the Ushiromiya family 9 years after his brother, Kenta. Saying that he wasn't the most kind older brother to have was putting it lightly. Crona preferred to see him as little as possible. Being picked on by Kenta has given him confidence issues and a distorted view of what normal family life is like. This was not the only abnormality in his family though.

He saw his parents maybe once or twice a year and was mostly raised by their servants, giving him an uncomfortable longing feeling when he saw the other kids playing with their parents. He's not exactly the most popular guy at school, but there are others who are worse at fitting in. This was ok for Crona, though, because he never really thought it important to be liked or admired by others. He was alright as long as he had at least one person or friend he could really share his feelings with.

He wasn't sure why he decided to go to the island in the first place, but there was just something about that letter that told him to. He didn't particularly need the fortune, but he felt like he deserved it for the neglected life he lived. He knew at least one thing for sure: That fortune was going to belong to him and certainly not Kenta.

 

[TheSequelReturns]

@Sideswipe: Looks alright.

I guess Kenta's got a brother now...

I wonder how that's gonna play out...

Anyway, Accepted.