The Stories We Tell

It's just a simple hike up to the mountain sumit. No windy roads, no twisty turns (not really anyways). Just an eight hour hike up to the sumit, then the players can relax and set up camp.

But things aren't always like they seem. Not when the players stumble across a mansion carved into the mountain. The doors are made of wood, now rotting away. The towers are jagged and sharp with the walls being carved from the mountain itself. Everything about the building has a harsh and exacting appearance.

But there's something strange about this mansion. Despite it's harsh apperance it looks almost welcoming.
The Mansion

The Mansion the players will stumble across is just one of the hundreds rumors, mysteries, and secrets in the world. This Mansion was created not that long ago, but simply looks like it, because of the harsh weather that can happen in the winter and spring months. However, the people who built the mansion are much more curious.

Plot points/Scenes

• Discovering/Entering the Mountain Mansion
• Exploring the different rooms
• Seeing the pictures that will tell about the family that lived there

Themes

• Banners and insignias on the walls
• Pictures with different members of the family in different situations
• Small trinkets that hold meaning to the owner, and maybe even the player

Components

Goals

General goals --

Goal 1: Reach the sumit of the mountain

Goal 2: Set up camp at the sumit

Specific Goals --

1 Figure out why you care too much.

2. Find out how to be selfless.

3. Find out what you're supposed to do with your life.

Hooks

Hook 1: A fun, calming and bonding adventure

Hook 2: The mountain is known for holding the answers to every mystery

Hook 3: The sumit is where enlightenment supposedly happens

Stakes

Stake 1: It is possible to fall off the mountian and die and/or get extremely injured.

Stake 2: For every answer there is a cost.

Stake 3: The mountain's "enlightenment" have been rumored to make a man go mad.

Moral Quandaries

1. Figure out why you care too much -- The mountain does not know emotion. What emotions are you willing to give up?

2. Find out how to be selfless -- Selflessness comes from within. What dark, personal secrets are you willing to reveal?

3. Find out what you're supposed to do with your life -- For every answer to life's mysteries, there's a price to pay. What part of yourself are you willing to give up?

Relations

Protagonists

The Narrator: She is sarcastic and clever. She tries to keep peace among her friend group, but she can occasionally find herself bickering along with them. However, she think she is too loyal to her friends, and wants to distance herself.

The Best Friend: He has known the narrator for longer than the others. He is just as sarcastic as The Narrator, but can be a little more mean. He likes The Narrator, but his selfishness is getting in the way of a good and healthy relationship with her.

Jeremiah: He loves telling stories, even if the others tease him for it. He wants to be able to tell such beautiful stories he and his friends won't ever want to leave. But a guilty conscious lays on him. A dark secret that he know he can't tell anyone. There's a reason he wants to weave together intricate worlds together. He doesn't want to live in this one.

Allies

Lyssa -- A sweet girl who just came on the hike for fun. She loves exploring and this is one mountain she hasn't quite been able to conquer.

Mylee -- a quiet and shy girl, who was, almost, forced to come. She doesn't exactly like hiking, but she loves stargazing and a good mystery. She's betting that by the end of the hike she'll know what secret Jeremiah and his friends are hiding.

Backdrops

Locations

The cold and somewhat dangerous mountain with a narrow path and tall dark evergreen trees surrounding the path.

Rough hewn walls of the mansion. A dank smell in the air. Moth-eaten carpet and blankets. Furniture laden with dust and dirt.

The skittering of bugs. A slight whistle of wind. A haunting chill of sadness.

Threats

Spiders, bugs, and moths.

Encounters

• Exploration
• Mystery

Past Events

The mountain that this hike takes place on has a bad history of fallen hikers, crumbling trails, and sharp cliffs. (And the occasional hiker going mad.)

This Mountain Mansion was carved out of the mountains side. It happened long ago and the residents were so reclusive that no one quite remembers who they were.

Inside the mansion are pictures and banners that recount the lives of each of the family members that lived in the mansion. There was a reason some of the residents in the Mountain Mansion never went into town. And there's a reason why some of the family members never lived inside.

The Residents

The Residents of the Mountain Mansion were a strange group of people. Many of them were thought to be supernatural things come to life. In reality they could have just been extremely strange people. This became obvious when it was discovered they never threw anything out. This happened when the trash man came to collect, well, their trash, only to find the door slammed in his face.

Plot type

Chapter: Discovering the Mountain Mansion