[WB] Starke Sanitarium

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Starke Sanitarium loomed at the end of a a double row of tall moss-draped trees. The thick twisted trunks shadowed the long driveway in an obvious, but always disregarded, foreboding of what experiences lay beyond the austere facade of the old plantation house The drive ended in a large cul-de-sac that one could imagine being full of horsedrawn carriages and fine ladies in hoop skirts being helped out by white-suited slaves. These days, the sanitarium was no less supported by the suffering of others as it was hundreds of years ago. The mechanisms were just different and the illusions of its respectability had been changed. The original structure suffered a fire, but it was rebuilt in the early 1920s and expanded while keeping the original foundation.

Behind the plantation house, Stark Sanitarium sprawled out with more modern buildings. At least modern as per the 1950's. Paved walkways connected the former house to a patient wing and a prison wing with a recreational area in between. They were originally used to house the sexes separately, but lucrative contracts from the state for housing the criminally insane prompted the reorganization.

Residential patients typically had more freedom of mobility on the grounds and went to therapy appointments in the main house where most of the staff had their offices. The criminal ward only had access to the rec area for an hour a day, if they had any privileges at all, and doctors went to them for appointments. There was a mix of staff, including administrative, psychiatric, general nursing, medical, and guards as well as prison-trained staff in the criminal ward. Patients were typically brought to the plantation house for meetings with family or outside oversight.

The farmlands of the former plantation have been allowed to be somewhat reclaimed by nature. It provides necessary privacy as well as tax breaks for being a bird sanctuary. The night casts an entirely different mood on the grounds. The moss-covered trees seem to turn into dark bodies twisted in pain, reaching up to the heavens for mercy. The growing forest is full of sounds, not all wildlife, and fog rolls in from the swamp that's slowly encroaching. No other buildings or roads can be seen through the dense foliage, and it provokes a sense of intense isolation. On some nights, it does look like there are other inhabited buildings nearby. One can sometimes see the glow from homes and fires where the slave quarters once stood. But if one were to venture out, all they'd find is darkness and a few fence posts that haven't yet fallen from weathering.

 

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Luke Marshall

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Luke is the kind of guy that it's easy to be jealous of. Rich, sporty, fairly intelligent and running his own social entrepreneurship venture capital business. His looks come from several generations of the casual eugenics of wealthy men marrying models and beauty queens. Being 'not new' money, Luke isn't flashy about his wealth, and he has the effortless confidence of someone who's had a life of security and success. Playing a variety of sports through high school and college have given him an athletic body that can make just about any clothing look good. Grey-blue eyes and short dirty-blond hair round out the look. If it weren't for his philanthropic spirit, he'd just be any other douche that gets up to do crossfit before a business meeting then jumps on a private jet to go to another business meeting and rounds out the evening with sophisticated rooftop cocktails with similar people.

Age: 23
Height: 6'
Build: Athletic
Demeanor: Confident
Orientation: Straight
Mental Illness: None
Admitted for: illegal drug/alcohol addiction, conversion therapy

Character History

Luke had a comfortable, affluent life full of advantages that he was mostly oblivious to. He did well in private schools, excelling both academically and at sports with the help tutors and trainers. He really could have ended up as any other oblivious privileged sort, except he went on a Habitat for Humanity trip because of a girl he wanted to hook up with. He needed community service for his ivy league university applications, anyways. Luke's achieved his goal, but more importantly, a seed of philanthropy was planted in his mind that grew over the next few years.

During his time at Columbia University, Luke was inspired to go into social entrepreneurship. His family money was from generations of 'business', and he'd never taken much interest in it. Business school was a family obligation, but Luke found a niche in that world that allowed him to do 'business' but have a positive impact on the types of people he'd helped during his Habitat summer. His parents weren't pleased, but his ailing grandfather, who still held most of the purse strings looked fondly on Luke's proposed life direction and unlocked his trust fund early so he could start investing in socially and environmentally-conscious start-ups.

Now, a year after graduation, Luke is toeing the line of a real career. He has plenty of fun and travel, but finds fulfillment in his noble form of venture capitalism. Though, he does spend more time 'networking' and 'hanging' with enthusiastic founders than keeping any kind of regular office hours. He's proud of a few companies he's helped get off the ground in the areas of poverty alleviation and utilizing ocean plastics.

Unbeknownst to Luke, his grandfather has informed his father that he's leaving the bulk of his assets to Luke, skipping a generation. Despite the best treatments money can buy, his elderly body is succumbing to cancer, and the thought that Luke will use the money he made predatorily to make the world a better place is a comforting thought in his final days. Luke's parents were not in agreement. They thought if the inheritance had to skip a generation, it should have gone to Luke's older brother, Steven, who was of a like mind of his parents in terms of prioritizing profits and family over any lower considerations. They decided to get Luke out of the way. Not dead, just out of the way.

Fate smiled on them one weekend. Luke took the news of his grandfather falling into a coma hard, but it was his best friend's birthday the next day. He decided to wait and not ruin his friend's party night, and attended anyways. He figured some drinking was a welcome distraction. His best friend, being gay, ended their club crawl at a gay club where Luke, in a drunken stupor, took a few too many 'candies' and ended up getting his stomach pumped.

Luke's parents seized upon this opportunity to start the process of having Luke declared legally incompetent so they could control his soon-coming inheritance. After intense badgering, he eventually sighed and agreed to a stint in rehab. He knew he didn't have a serious problem, but he hadn't handled his grief well, and rehab was practically fashionable among his peers. His family chose a well-known facility for disposing of one's embarrassing relations. Formally, they arranged for Luke to be treated for addiction and conversion therapy. Though, their instructions to the administrator were that they didn't want Luke back unless he was docile. With thick sunglasses and a lingering hangover, Luke boarded the company jet to head off to what he thought would be a couple weeks on a nice country estate talking about his feelings and promising not to drink too much, again.

Travis Wright

Travis looks like he'd better suited for a football uniform than hospital scrubs, but he's happy with the choice he made. No sane person would want a physical confrontation with him, though he exudes positivity and caring rather than intimidation. His dark handsome face is usually smiling, which earned him nicknames in school. When on duty, he keeps his tightly braded hair in a tight knot inside a hair net. The reminder of fast food jobs in high school was a compromise he was willing to make as nursing and orderly staff weren't allowed long hair. While he's not techincally closeted, he happily considers himself 'straight-acting' as it just makes life in the South easier, both with extended family and at work.

Age: 25
Height: 6'5"
Build: Muscular
Demeanor: Caring
Orientation: Gay
Position: Psychiatric Nurse
Spoiler: Character History

Character History

Travis Wright was a local boy and did all the local boy things, like sneak out of school to go to swimming holes, play football, and take care of older relatives. It was probably his great aunt's early onset dementia that prompted him towards an interest in mental healthcare. After earning a football scholarship out of state, Travis did the surprising thing of not trying to get into pro ball, instead quickly changing his major to pre-med and going up through nursing school. The slim chances of getting drafted and the stress of being closeted in the NFL made the entire proposition seem unrealistic. Also, deep in his heart, he didn't want to spend a lifetime away from home.

Travis' family had been in the area for a long time. Theirs was a tragic, muddled history that kept Starke Plantation fresh in their minds. As the story went, an ancestor or more had been sold off from the plantation, luckily before some tragic fire that ended up exposing some really horrific things. Details on these things were always fuzzy, but all his older relatives swore it was true. Even out of sight, it was a shadow that still loomed over their family.

After bouncing around a couple nursing jobs at local clinics, Travis landed the type of psych nurse position he really wanted. Starke Sanitarium was an especially attractive proposition, as he felt that helping people there could be some sort of karmic balance, and even perhaps take off the sting of thinking about the place. With his education and strong body that could take an occasional punch or hold someone back from harming themselves, Travis was confident he could affect some positivity in the lives of the sanitarium's new residents.

Dr. James Murphy

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James Murphy considers himself average in most ways, and he hates it. His hair is short for manageability and his office is meticulously organized, as he strives for efficiency in most areas of his life. His light brown eyes seem to view almost everything around him in an analytical way, and it's easy to feel like he's studying you as an academic rather than viewing you as an equal. James is of average height and on the slimmer side, but fit, preferring to run rather than more brutish fitness activities. His lips are thin and almost always tight, like he's perpetually displeased with something. Overall, no one could mistake him for a happy person, and his constant need to control everything around him confirms this.

Age: 32
Height: 5'11"
Build: Lithe
Demeanor: Aloof
Orientation: Gay
Position: Pharma-Psychiatrist

Character History

James grew up in a strict Irish-Catholic household which taught him that guilt and reward were the primary motivators of human thought and behavior. It also instilled him with an inferiority complex and constant fear of rejection as he grew to realize he was gay. This divide that formed between himself and his family also separated him from most everyone else. The young James kept to his books and academics.

Unfortunately, James gravitated towards bullying the lowest-hanging fruit to boost his own morale and sense of control over his world. While the jocks and popular kids would make sure he regretted waking up each day, he'd more subtly pass on the torment to the few kids who were even quieter or more vulnerable himself, including the special needs students. Once James's scholastic dedication paid off with a hefty scholarship to university, he matured his bullying into public criticisms of other students in class. Then, the world opened up to him once he began lab studies with volunteers. All of James's trials were as malicious as he could make them, and he focused on behavior modification.

James relished the control he could have over others, and psychopharmaceuticals seemed like they were invented solely for his use. He even employed their use on his family during his once-a-year visits at Christmas to keep things calm. While James was out to his parents, to their ire, his personality was such that he couldn't sustain any relationships long enough to bring them home. Still, mood stabilizers, relaxants, and coercive drugs in the holiday cooking kept his family docile and out of church while he was there.

By now, most of the relationships James enjoys are subject of his chemical influence. He isn't even above spiking the office water. Free-thinking, free-willed people cause him anxiety, which he treats himself for. He's absolutely incapable of any form of healthy relationship. Luckily for him, there was a sudden opening at Starke Sanitarium, which has a reputation in the industry for being a bit behind the times philosophically while being open to innovative methodology. James views the position as an opportunity to advance and refine his techniques of chemical-based manipulation in a closed system, where it doesn't really matter if his patients ever improve.

 

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Nursing Staff


Barbara Dougherty (Cult Member)

Age: 48
Height: 5'9"
Build: Average
Demeanor: Strict
Orientation: Heterosexual
Position: Director of Nursing

Barbara is a no-nonsense head nurse with almost 30 years experience. She's also a upper level member of the cult, and her family has been for generations. She's a traditionalist, and despite her frequent irritation with the complicated machinations of the male hierarchy, she pragmatically gets done what needs to get done. She vents all her stress with wild and aggressive abandon during cult gatherings. Work hard, play brutally.



Beau Pruett (Cult Member)

Age: 41
Height: 6'1"
Build: Sturdy
Demeanor: Kissass/Old Bitter Queen
Orientation: Gay
Position: Barbara's lap dog, desperate for advancement in cult

Possible Plot Points:
Would really like a go at Travis. Crosses the line with flirting in public.

Christina Perez

Age: 36
Height: 5'7"
Build: Stong
Demeanor: Caring, Hard-working
Orientation: Heterosexual
Position: Mid-level Nurse

Possible Plot Points:
Is or could grow suspicious of patient abuse. Perhaps report it.

. . .
​

Jaxon Delford

Age: 20
Height: 6'1"
Build: Scrawny
Demeanor: Lazy, Mean, Dejected
Orientation: Anything he can get
Position: Janitor

Jaxon skipped finishing high school and went right into a janitorial job. He still thinks he's smarter than everyone else, despite all evidence to the contrary. Bill has become his hero, even though Bill bullies him incessantly. Jaxon isn't the kind of material that the cult is looking for, but he fits in perfectly with the local white supremacy group.

. . .​

Dr. Sowell

Age: 62
Height: 5'11"
Build: Stocky, Aging
Demeanor: Old-Fashioned, Slimy Charm
Orientation: Creeper
Position: Medical Director

Dr. Stowell is another from a family who's been with the cult since the beginning, but he didn't take a position at the Sanitarium until about 30 years ago when his private practice came under too much scrutiny. He's known for unnecessarily thorough medical exams and never shies away from elective treatments on his patients. For insurance, blackmail, and as a hobby, he has a collection of all the many fetuses he's removed from female patients over the years along with DNA results of the fathers as many are on the sanitarium staff.

. . .​

Director's Personal Assistant

. . .​

Amador Gonzalez

Age: 64
Height: 5'10"
Build: Stong, Aging
Demeanor: Quiet, Hard-working
Orientation: Heterosexual
Position: Groundskeeper

Quiet and ever-present, Amador has been working at Starke Sanitarium longer than any other employee. He's not a member of the cult, but he's seen enough to figure some things out for himself. Amador also knows where the bodies are buried. Because he buried most of them. His talent for keeping his mouth shut has gotten him almost to retirement with his body, and a portion of his soul in tact.

 

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Patients

Mary

Age: 40?
Height: 5'7"
Build: Thin
Demeanor: About to Snap
Orientation: Heterosexual, but hardly matters
Mental Illness: PTSD, Delusional, Hoarder
Admitted for: unable to take care of self, possible infanticide

Mary Lawton is a frazzled looking patient who barely socializes beyond telling others about her dolls. She was admitted by the state after sanitation workers has to clean out her house after it was identified as the source of a rat infestation in her neighborhood. To their horror, they found an infant's skeleton, long buried in one of the densely packed rooms of her rotting house. Mary was always a recluse, and there were no records of a birth. She's yet to say anything coherent about who the child was, or if it was hers. There was no incentive to bring criminal charges, and as long as she was locked up, the DA was satisfied. It was easy enough for Starke Sanitarium to chip away at what littler remained of her humanity, and there's barely enough left of the woman's soul to feed her pain the thing below, and her body is high on the list to go next. As long as she has her dolls, she's calm, for the most part. But any major disruption from staff or other patients turns her into a nearly-rabid shrieking animal.



Will Haywood

Age: 29
Height: 5'11
Build: Average
Demeanor: Jittery
Orientation: hardly matters
Mental Illness: Paranoid Schizophrenia
Admitted for: parking a van full of fertilizer outside the local public access tv station

Notes: May know a lot about what's going on at the sanitarium, but no one believes him.



Earl Montgomery

Age: 56
Height: 5'10
Build: Hefty
Demeanor: Sleazy
Orientation: Leans Heterosexual
Mental Illness: Sexual Impulse Control
Admitted for: multiple charges of groping, public indecency, and assault

 

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The Starkes had a reputation as an unusually cruel family. The dark energies were building under the land even centuries ago. Eventually, this influence culminated in a bloody revolt. Both sides were supernaturally charged into worst they could possibly be that night. The plantation was forever stained by blood and angry spirits. Redmond Starke was the last owner of his namesake. He, his wife, and two of their four children were killed that night along with many free workers and slaves. Redmond's oldest legitimate son, Davis, was on his way to beating his father's reputation, and he met a particularly gruesome fate when he was caught by himself. The Starke line ended that night. Or did it?

Davis Starke

Nora Starke
A black-clad woman is sometimes seen looking out of the windows towards the old slave shacks. She fades before anyone has seen her face, but the suspicion is that it's Redmond's wife Nora, watching the mob come to kill her family.


Charlotte Starke
The body of the 11yo youngest daughter of the Starkes was never found. Her apparition is seen more than it's heard. One can occasionally hear a girl's laughter on the first floor of the administration building and Dr. Sowell's office. Even more rarely, she's seen in the clinic which was her bedroom. Sowell even claims to have spoken with her.


The Dark Girl
The most frequently-seen specter is that of a dark, faceless girl. She most often is going up and down the stairs, like a solid shadow, trapped running errands for the Starke family for eternity.