The Story of Hostel

This is the back story of the roleplaying sim Hostel. The story of the sim will be posted along with the rules of the sim for roleplayers to become acquainted with the city. The story is very open so that it can be dynamic. Please refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_era for information on the Victorian era.

Now begins....

James Haust, a poor miner from Douglas on the Isle of Man, prayed for many years to have the money to become a banker but his education was lacking. James spent day in and day out slaving in the mines growing very tired of the hard work on his body and wanted to be in the elite with the nobles in the city and enjoy the company of the many beautiful women in the brothels.

Seeing that is prayers would go unanswered, James sought alternate means and visited a gypsy in the city that boasted she could connect with the departed to ensure his future. The gypsy summoned a man by the name of Broadus Telus that had been previously hung for murdering a young woman that he had found out was not his daughter.

Broadus had been a bit of a con man and had many stashes of money hidden in different areas all over the Isle. He gave James clear instructions on where to find the money that he needed for his dream. His requirement was for James to build a city on the North West corner of the Isle near present day Regaby, call it Hostel, and find a skilled man of magic to resurrect him once the city is complete. James was to keep stern records and have 225% of the money used to build the city put back into a safe and buried in the city for Broadus’s return.

James did as instructed and found a place for the city that sat near an old graveyard and the ruins of some sort of temple surrounding by beaten down shacks. He did not think much of the area and left the ruins intact as they donned the dreary landscape nicely. Upon completion of the city in 1879, he walled off the graveyard and built a University on top of a hill near the ruins. The city started to flood with people enjoying the many sites of the city with large living areas, lavish shops, and lavish women. The University opened and started its first classes surrounded by the fields of the poor farmers that sought new lands and moved to Hostel as well. People of secrecy moved into the town as well opening opium houses and only seeming to dwell in the city at night but they were respectable so no one paid them any mind.

James was the head of the City Council with his hoard of corrupt constables and had become respected in the city adding a bit of pompousness to his attitude. Broadus visited James in a dream and asked for the progress of his resurrection. James proceeded to count Broadus out and washed his hands of the ghost, refusing to keep his word. James felt like he had worked to hard for his vision to hand it over to a thief and murderer that was better dead. Broadus nodded respectfully and left James to his new life.

Months passed until one day found James in the library of the University. Knocking at the lower door disturbed his reading and he stepped out into the hall to answer falling into the floor underneath the University into unknown catacombs. Unable to climb back up, he walked through the tunnels passing rooms with wooden doors trying to find a way out ending up in the swamp.

He walked around the temple in the swamp fingering the etchings on the large tablets as Broadus appeared before him, slitting his throat from left to right and mangling his face wickedly. James was found by the constables the following day still alive and clinging to his life. He was cared for by a pale Italian doctor who had just arrived in the city hours before. He repaired most of the physical damage but concluded that James was insane from the wild fits of rage and emotional anguish that transpired during his days of care. An asylum was built to house James where he soon died and is rumored to haunt the graveyard along with the ghost of Broadus Telus.

Hostel has emptied a little at the death of James Haust but the city still stands ready to flourish again. However, there are a host of specters roaming the city….