Kingsgate House is a literate historical roleplay based on an Edwardian country house, the family who owns it, and the servants who keep its cogs turning. In a time of whimsy, aristocracy and propriety, life is quaint and beautiful for those born to riches and privilege, but bitter and unrelenting for those born to serve them. The great manors in the English countryside are outward displays of wealth and house the most affluent of families, yet their cogs are only kept turning by the legions of household staff who are every bit as alive as their masters. The century is young here at Kingsgate, and you are welcome to see where it takes you...
SETTING
It is Week Two of December 1906, and Kingsgate is feeling the chill. Be careful not to slip on the ice outside. The pond in the woods has frozen over and the village children have been playing on it. Lady Elizabeth's birthday is coming up next week and some of the many esteemed guests who shall be attending are already heading to Kingsgate for an extended stay.
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NEWS
Sorry everyone, I guess it's time to pack up the shop on this one - it was just too difficult to get active interest in such a niche RP site. It was a fun experiment though, and I'm glad for the RP we got to have. Much love <3
29/03/2013 - Time skip! Week Two has begun in Kingsgate and the guests for Elizabeth's party are all arriving soon. With not long to go before the big day, we still need fine young ladies and gentlemen to attend the extravagant feast.
18/03/2013 - March is here and so is the first site plot, which you can read about here! Do take a look, and submit your characters to play key roles!
27/02/2013 - Things are ticking along, and we'll soon have enough characters to get started on some site events, like Elizabeth's birthday. Get your characters created and join in the fun!
18/02/2013 - We've got a nice little group of characters now! Still looking for lots of Penroses, including the Earl himself, so check out the wanted characters page and the Plotting Board to see if there's anything you feel up to making. :]
07/02/2013 - Welcome to new members, and thanks for sticking with us to the old. I hope you're all going to make new characters and fill out our site. Apologies if things seem slow; education demands are rather unforgiving!
30/12/2012 - Hope everyone's enjoying the festive season; roleplay is starting, although we still need oodles of new characters! Get creating :]
23/12/2012 - Characters are being created as we all prepare to start the RP!
18/12/2012 - Kingsgate is still pretty much brand new, but the doors are now open so get creating :] Some info threads may be unfinished and a few new boards may pop up in the next few days, but essentially everything is ready to go! We need many characters to create a bustling house, and that includes Lord and Lady Carmarthen, three of their four children and a whole staff team, plus villagers and friends of the Penroses! Wow!
In 1906, the beautiful country manor named Kingsgate House is a social centre for the Edwardian upper class. The Penroses have run it for generations and are well-established among the aristocrats of England. Lord Carmarthen's father died twenty years ago and since then things have been peaceful in the idyll of aristocratic life, the master living comfortably with his wife and their four children, Elizabeth, Kate, Edward and Annie.
But with Elizabeth and Kate reaching adulthood and the marriage scene, life is about to fill with propitious politics and a flurry of suitors which will only be topped when Edward too comes of age. And are the Lord and Lady really as happy in their marriage as they seem? What of the staff, who keep the house tiding over, but are involved in their own fierce system of power and politics? Life is never as simple as it first seems.
I cannot bear to see my sister grow up as she is. I know this is a feeling a mother should express, yet I feel it. For I know, when Father finds her a suitor, she will be gone. I will miss her so. Much to my astonishment and complete horror, I find myself actually hoping that she does not find herself a suitor. I know to never to be married is a terrible thing, but why should she have to marry someone of father's choosing? Where is the romance in that? There is none. If she must go away, she should go off on a romantic adventure with the one that captures her heart. Then again, who am I to say such a thing. I am only thirteen. I have little problems of my own. I cannot bear to accept it, but I have realized, Mother is not herself. Over the years, she has grown more... distant. Of course, I love her very much, though I fear she does not feel the same. My main problem at the moment is that I wish to ride astride. I want to ride in breeches, for these dresses really don't do well at all and they frustrate me beyond belief. Yet, the other day, I fell from the hayloft because my dress had gotten snagged on something. A magnificent tear told my secret and I received a scolding. On a happier note, Chérie is doing well. The maids haven't found him quite yet and he is growing fat on the vegetables I sneak for him from the table. I fear that when they do find him they will want to get rid of him, though I hope Father will be understanding enough to let me keep him.
