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Rated: 13+ · Message Forum · Contest · #1908885
Authors face off through their characters! Follow along & vote each round.
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Jun 2, 2016 at 10:05pm
#2974149
Edited: June 2, 2016 at 10:21pm
Tournament 4: Clockwork Manor
A huge thank you to CJ Reddick for his assistance with this prompt.


-| The Prompt |-


Genre: Steampunk


Dear residents of London,
My name is Peabody Plumpocket. Yes, I am the man you are thinking of. The country's richest man, who invented and lives in the first clockwork household. Well, it appears that I have made some serious design flaws.
My children, Priscilla and George, wanted a live dog. Although automatic dogs are much easier to come by, they wanted the real thing. I searched all of Europe until I found one, and brought it home as a surprise.
Unfortunately, the dog has since triggered the automatic defense system. Its barking mimics the sound of bombs and its howling mimics the sound of sirens. My home is set to defend its residents when intercepted with certain recurring sound frequencies. And it has found those.
I have disposed of the dog, of course, but the system has malfunctioned, and is stuck in automatic defense mode. I and my children have been locked in my attic, and the manor has become an impenetrable fortress that I cannot control.
We have survived thus far due to the automatic food dispensary, however supplies are running low, and within a week we will be out of both food and clean water. My children are scared. I am scared.
I had originally intended to keep this a private affair. The mail system within my household still functions, and I tried mailing my neighbor for help. I do not know what became of him, but my children and I hear screams in the halls, which sounds like our neighbor. It has been a week since I sent the letter.
I realize now that I must make this affair public. I now am asking you, Citizen, for help. Penetrate the impenetrable. I have sent this letter to The London Times in the hopes that the establishment would reprint and make public my letter. If you are reading this, it must be so.
I realize that this task is dangerous, but I am prepared to offer a reward, of your choosing, should you succeed in freeing me and my children. You must break into my home, overcome whatever traps have been set in the halls, reach the attic, and get me safely to the manual shutdown, for which I have the only key.
Please, Citizen. Hurry to Clockwork Manor on Elizabeth Road! We haven't much time, and you are our only hope.
Signed,
Dr. Peabody Plumpocket



-| Information |-


Characters should be human.

You should submit both a character reference (any length) and an introductory story (up to 2,000 words). Your introductory story should explain your character's motivations for attempting to rescue Dr Plumpocket and allow us to see their preparations (and potentially their journey to Clockwork Manor). Your introductory story should conclude with your character's arrival at the manor, and they should not yet enter.

You will receive another part of the prompt each round.

How many rounds there will be depends on how many entries we get. The deadline for auditions is 11:59pm WDC time, June 15.

Questions?
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Tournament 4: Clockwork Manor · 06-02-16 10:05pm
by Elle - on hiatus

The following section applies to this forum item as a whole, not this individual post.
Any feedback sent through it will go to the forum's owner, Elle - on hiatus.
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