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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Chatter
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.
TWENTY . STRANGE GUEST . KINGSGATE born 10/06/1886
relatives
raoul whiteford- father 53
elani whiteford- mother 24 deceased
helen whiteford - stepmother 47
ralon whiteford - brother 16
anne-marie whiteford - sister 16
lianne whiteford - sister 12
liam springbrook - maternal uncle 62
lowenna springbrook - aunt 60 married
clara springbrook - cousin 22
simon springbrook - cousin 19
sexuality
heterosexual
relationship status
currently unattached
Appearance
standing at 6'5", he is quite the impressive figure, an excellent specimen of the male gender. build on a strong frame, he is rather muscular. a man that is no stranger to lifting heavy objects on a regular basis. broad shoulders and an athletic physique are only some of his more obvious features. facially, he is quite easy on the eyes as some would say. with, obviously, masculine features, he could have been chiseled from stone by a professional artist. while he isn't all sharp angles and perfection, he's pretty damn close. dark sapphire pools are a telling feature in his face, always observing his surrounds with a critical eye. everything about finn speaks self obsession. but who wouldn't be very assured about his appearance if they looked like him?
no matter where he is at, he is always dressed to the best. usually in public, he is outfitted in a way that would be considered a great scandal in the town. which is one reason why he stands out very much when attending social gatherings. he prefers to shun the current fashion of clothing, opting for a tighter fit, more form-cut to accentuate a physique he obviously is rather proud of, however instead of straight black and white, or brown as some cases may be, he tends to accent his attire with a fashionably, or maybe not so fashionably, colored tie. when you're this good looking, you can afford to have a splash of color. in his opinion of course. it just brings more attention to his person, which he does not mind in the least. another attribute that would be scoffed at by the general population is his hair. while not oddly colored, he keeps it slightly longer than many men in this time period, where the height of fashion demanded an almost close cropped style. but who said this handsome boy went with the flow? while he generally tames it for high social functions that require a person to look their best, he usually doesn't bother, only running a comb through it but otherwise allowing to be an unruly, though in a ruggedly good looking way, mess. the kind where it just begs for fingers to be run through it.
personality
personality wise, finn is a charismatic man, who enjoys all the finer things in life, never settling for anything less. once it was put that he was volatile, self obsessed and couldn't play well with others. and if that isn't a truer statement, then nothing ever was. his mood usually changes rapidly, no matter the environment, so it's quite common for the person dealing with him to get a metaphorical whiplash from his wild mood swings. often he does spontaneous things, and his actions are rarely predictable. he tends to be rash in all his decisions, and very seldom does he think things through past the next step in the process, for all he is a genius, capable of becoming an expert on a subject overnight. he is also quite in love with himself. with looks such as his, who wouldn't be? self assured and confident, he hardly ever second guesses himself. often, his choices revolve around what could cause potential damage to his striking good looks. with his self absorbed and rash tendencies, he usually doesn't get along well with other people, not that many try to put up with him anymore. very few can understand his often crude or dry humor and his love of himself, let alone keep up with his random acts. one would think that with all these bad traits, no one in their right mind would ever think of making him into the heir for one of scotlands most prosperous houses and high title, let alone encourage him to take over the family business. as an up and coming head of the family, he is ruthless in his business dealings, sparing no one. as a volatile person, he constantly keeps the other party on their toes and more likely to make mistakes in trying to anticipate his next move. his very haughty mannerism is a key give away to the fact that he is indeed a rich and powerful man, one whom is easily accepted into society where little thought is given to his very private affairs. as for his social behavior, it keeps others at bay, from digging into his life. and gives them a reason to stay back themselves. also, his excellent physical condition and money brings all the girls to the yard. but beneath that, so far buried that it is near unreachable, is a heart. a barely beating human heart, but a heart nonetheless. it may seem as though he is incapable of feeling anything other than the love of himself and glee in any of his shenanigans, however, there is good deep down in him. he is capable of love for another being, even if it is quite an odd form of love.
history
other than his devastatingly good looks, there is a legitimately good reason for his slightly off putting attitude. when finian was brought into this world, a squalling pink bundle, he was one of the unfortunate few who lose their mother in birth. there were complications, and the bleeding just couldn't be stopped. fortunately for him, it left no lasting impression. but it did lead to a lifetime of spoiling that would shape his being into that which it is today.
at the lost of his first love, his father, raoul was devastated. unlike many arranged marriages, his union with elani had actually been a little more than just friendly companionship and duty. the two had made a good thing out of their situation, but now that was gone. and all that was left was a tiny, dark haired lad with startling blue eyes. he bore a striking resemblance to his mother. in fact, facially, he shared very little with the child over the years other than the strong frame of body and more masculine cut of his features which still held a hint of his mothers delicacy.
when he was able to pull himself from his misery, he threw himself into the care of his only son. the man, unlike many fathers, actually had a huge role in the boys development. most men leave the care of the children to a nanny, the wife or a governess. and while he did have access to both a nanny and governess throughout his childhood, he was directly involved with his father on a daily basis.
but the older males version of caring for his son properly, was to give his son anything and everything he wanted with little repercussions to antics that were unacceptable. so for a full seven years he basically had free reign of the manor. this in turn bred some horrible mannerisms into the small boy. while he could preform near perfect etiquette in the presence of company, he was little better than a holy terror the rest of the time. shenanigans everywhere.
as time passes, people often find that even though they feel like they are stuck at a stand still, life keeps tripping along. and that is exactly what it did for this family. literally. it only took one misplaced step to land little finn a new mother. and later on, three new siblings. helen was a pretty women, not exactly a youngster, but she was definitely in the prime of her life. at 27, it was remarkable that she had remained pure for so long, let alone unwed. by this time raoul was into his early thirties, and the wound in his heart had slowly healed. he was ready to move on and in order to do that in society, a wife was a needed accessory. and when she practically fell into his lap in the park; a cruel prank enacted by his mischievous son, fate put its cogs into working double time.
it wasn't long before courting began, and it quickly lead to marriage. before now, finn had no idea what a mother was. mama was a word that didn't exist in his vocabulary. she was a completely new creature. before now, his only experience with the female species was his sparse interaction with a nanny or governess. but they were just annoying old people who attempted to restrain his actions and movements.
jealousy a new emotion for the young boy, and it is well known how children react to jealousy. it's never a pretty sight. finian, being his usual feisty self, did everything in his power to drive this intruder from his home, not liking it that she was taking away his papa. but the stubborn female refused to budge no matter how awful he acted. warming up to her took time, but it eventually happened, even though he still resented her more than most would their mothers.
but then she did the unthinkable. she got pregnant. as her belly rounded for the first time, carrying the twins ralon and anne-marie, he was fascinated. it didn't occur to him that he would be a big brother. he just knew there was a baby in there. unbeknownst to them all that there was actually two of the buggers. he didn't think it would be a problem. she had a baby in side her. big deal. it would come out sometime and then it would go away.
wrong, much to his displeasure. when the babies came, he was dismayed that not only had he lost his papa to this strange woman, but now there was no more room for him with the arrival of the twins. most children experience this feeling when a new baby arrives. mama and papa don't want me anymore because there is a new baby in the house for them to love. they love it more than i. this simply caused him to act out more than usual. and once more, no more reprimands. he still got everything he wanted except his fathers undivided attention. while it was untrue that that man ignored his first born, it sure felt like it to the child. he was used to receiving his complete devotion. he was acting like a mini lord even at the age of eight or nine.
with nothing done to curb his behavior, it stuck.
years later, he once more accepted that these intruders were here to stay and nothing he could do would be rid of them. no amount of muck smeared on clothes and beds or all over the house. no thrown food, hateful comments, nasty pranks and mean antics. nothing he did was good enough. and that stupid woman went and made it worse. by now he was about twelve. this is around the age that most children are sent off for higher schooling if the governess can no longer provide an education at that level.
how did she make it worse? she went and got pregnant again. finn dreaded this. great. just another little snot nose brat running around, stealing even more of his life from him. while he accepted that they were here to stay, it did not mean he had to like them. in fact, it could go as far as hate at times. with a burning, fiery passion. one that eats at the soul from time to time. with the arrival of lianne, he had given up. he was broken and defeated. there was no hope of regaining his place. but that is just the melodrama of a preteen. drama everywhere, even for a guy.
it did help some though, when, as he got older, he practically had to beat the girls off with clubs. ego boost. he found the love he thought he was missing in the complete adoration of schoolgirls who thought themselves his equal upon his high horse.
other information
-with his fathers declining health and age he has passed on the title of Marquis on to his son, Finian. -a genius when he applies himself. -slightly skilled at painting, though rarely touches a brush. -prefers being called finn -he has many nicknames, as people see fit to call him whatever they choose. -not good around house pets, but excellent with horses. -horrible at singing. cannot carry a tune to save his life, though he believes he is quite good. -flirts with anything in a skirt. -excellent fighter, preferring the older sword style to that of firearms, though his aim is decent. -likes to read, but only does so when there is nothing else to amuse himself with.
roleplay sample
ghostly eyes. midnight hair swept back neatly. high cheek bones and full lips. ivory skin nicely gilded by the sun. a sneer of disdain settled easily on his regal face as though it was there as his default expression. but it didn't sour his good looks. long fingered hands, perfect for playing the piano if he had bothered to learn, splayed on the shining surface of the heavy mahogany desk, the fine white shirt he wore being slightly untucked from his black trousers as he leaned forward out of the high-back matching chair to the desk, his black suit coat thrown haphazardly over the ornately carved arm of the chair as if tossed there in a moment of haste. "you let them do what!" he hissed, fury sparkling in the sapphire irises, which was usually enough to invite fear into the beings who happened to be on the receiving end of his anger. a feral hiss interrupted the man who cowered in front of him. the hint was well received. he wanted this fool out of his office now, before he did something he would regret. he still couldn't believe that someone could be so stupid! yeah, it was true that those not of a lineage such as his, weren't all that smart to begin with, but come on! he had assigned this particular man to investigate a group of curs that were threatening the well-being of his business. while nothing the little bunch did could seriously damage what he had going for him, he preferred to deal with all problems as they arose and as swiftly as possible. but this incompetent fool had allowed the ragamuffins to escape without a proper questioning. it was his job to ensure that everything ran smoothly so that his father didn't have to lift a finger. with a glare and a flick of the wrist he dismissed the cowering fool from his sight. "and don't let it happen again!" he shouted at the mans back.
a heavy sigh left his lungs in a rush of air as he collapsed back into his chair. running his hand through his perfectly styled hair, and loosening a few locks so that they fell down carelessly into his face, he thought about the mans mistake. shrugging his shoulders, attempting to shake off some weariness, he rose from his chair and pulled his coat on and headed out of the room, locking the door behind him. he needed a vacation, and he knew exactly where he would go. with a tired smirk pulling at the corner of his lips, he sauntered to the nearest carriage, ordering the drive to take him home. london. england. a land of charming people with weird vowels. being a native scot, he often times spoke with a thick accent. of course, the drawn out way that the brits spoke was odd to him. but a quaint country none the less. while he knew next to no one there, visiting the country side once in a while hadn't been so bad. he could always find a place to stay of course. it wouldn't be hard if he trailed his title behind him, something he was prone to doing. not to mention his looks could get him anything he wanted.
the thought of causing all kinds of mischief curled through his belly, warming his insides and bringing a sly smile to his features. time to cause some trouble. his specialty.