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the Call of Cthulhu (LOCATION BIN (the bank, Plymouth, Kingston, Beacon…

- - - - THE CITY should be gloomy and forlorn, as if preparing for something dreadful.
        
        This should be reflected in its overall appearance.
        
        Streets&Buildings
        
        The city should constantly unveil its eeriest side.
        Dark alleys, dirty streets and a generic feeling of unrest are the main ingredients.
        
        The main character should feel unconfortable about the environment around her. It shouldn't be clear if it's due to her mental state or due to something that is uncannily innatural, nonetheless Frances is extremely susceptible to her surroundings.
        
        Population
        
        The people of Boston should be selfish and unwilling to help Frances. On the contrary, if someone can hinder the protagonist, he/she will.
        
        this is to strenghten the overall feeling of discomfort and to subtly push Frances far from society and from her "status" at the beginning of the tale.
        
        This is a very important rule to follow.
        the first Scenes are going to take place in Boston, that by definition is a big city - and big cities have plenty of things to offer to a young student who have just inherited a nice amount of money, distracting her (and us) from the dark secrets that we want to discover. If the city is too accomodating, the player MAY desire to stay in Boston - and we definitely do not want that.
        This is not because the player shouldn't feel free to do everything in it's power -
        BUT BECAUSE OUR PROTAGONIST IS DESTINED TO WALK ON A DREADFUL PATH.
        
        This argument brings us to one of the main themes of this game:
        
        1 more item...
        
        The player should be able to enjoy his freedom while being pushed toward his dark destiny.
        
        the only people who may be gentle toward the protagonist are low people like the poors, the pariahs, the drunks and the homeless.
        
        some of them may provide resourceful (yet cryptic) hints about the plot.
      - EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER!
        
        it's not important for the city to actually look dreadful, dark or whatever hint you may get about it during the experience. What's important is to be able to catch the right details. This is because everything is from the point of view of the main character and within the walls of our story, which is filled with fear and mystery -
        and the environment should reflect this overall discomfort.
        This means that we're not going to notice the happy kid walking home with his mother, but we're surely going to catch the glare from the bum staring at us from a dark alley.
    - - Frances Belmont
        
        the main protagonist, a girl who's following the path of her dead Grandfather - Marius Belmont.
      - The Cult (of R'lyeh)
        
        Lead by a mysterious man only known as the Dreamer, the Cult is in pursue of the research of doctor Belmont for uncertain reasons. They're powerful and organized and wont stop in front of anything.
- - - - The Grandfather
        (and the Belmont family)
        
        Marius Belmont is Frances' grandfather. Since she was little, the two developed a great relationship. This because the girl was left for long periods of time alone with a nanny before and a governess when she grew up. Marius, reflecting himself in the loneliness of her little granddaughter, opened a window in his heart and informally adopted her.
        
        Frances grew extremely attached to her grandfather and she inherited his love for history and ancient cultures - along with his tendency to loneliness.
        
        when she reached maturity, she decide to take her grandfather's surname, becoming a fully-fledged Belmont.
        
        historical facts:
        In the 50's was still possible to adopt a different name or surname without all the bureaucracies that we know today. Infact, no court order was needed: showing documents, utility bills, tax return, was enough to legitimate the new name.
        
        this doesn't mean that he was always present. Always of elusive nature, more often than not Marius left little Frances alone in the manor in company of his majestic library. During her teen years their relationship became a love/hate one, due to the grandfather's elusiveness.
        
        An old historian and veteran archeologist, Marius Belmont is the last male descendant of a rich family that has its origins in medieval france. After a failed marriage, that saw the birth of his only daughter - Janette Belmont - the professor retired in his estate in Plymouth to lead his research surrounded only by his books.
        
        At some point, Janette moved to a smaller villa near the Belmont Manor with her family: Thomas Norton, her husband, and their daughter - Frances Norton.
        
        Thomas was often far from home due to his job. Janette, grew with a rebellious and wild nature, took advantage of her family money to abandon herself to a lascivious lifestyle in absence of her husband.
        
        the little Frances grew alone for most of the time.
        
        PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS
        
        tendency to depression and anxiety
        
        social and mental behavioural issues
        
        lack of trust and inability to set boundaries
        
        overly sensitive to slights
        
        with the american intervention during the second great war, Thomas joined the army and partecipated in the liberation of France, where he died at some point of the year 1944.
        As a widow, her mother definitely abandoned the façade of the family-type of woman and moved to Chicago with a small fortune, pursuing her lustful life - and definitely leaving little Frances with her Grandfather.
      - the Legacy
        
        The Belmont Manor
        
        The manor is the estate of the Belmont's family. After the death of Marius' wife, the only living Belmont that still lived in the house was, as a metter of fact, Marius Belmont. His daughter left the manor soon after the event and never stepped back inside. When Frances became a teen-ager, however, she spent most of her time there and finally moved with her grandfather when abandoned by her mother.
        
        The manor is based on the Northfield Chateau, a large mansion on Birnham Road in Northfield, Massachusetts that no longer exists. It was completed in 1903 and, being unused for a long time, demolished in 1963.
        
        the manor holds the private Belmont's library, that was broadly updated by Marius. Here are hidden many rare and ancient books and manuscripts.
        
        Game memo
        most of the initial clues of the Marius research are here.
        
        Marius' Last Letter
        My Dear Frances,
        if you're reading this letter it means that i'm no longer part of this world.
        I wish i had some time to speak with you before my departure, but when the lady in black comes for you there's very little to bargain. I know that i wasn't there for you in the last years as i've should, but i'm also confident on how much you are fond of your studies yourself and, for this simple and yet fundamental resemblance with my own personality, you will surely understand my latest behavior.
        In your college years, my research - of which i'm not going to speak in this letter - brought me far from our home. I traveled to Europe - still recovering from the Great War - and lived for a while in Rome, the eternal city. There, i squeezed my contacts in Vatican City to access their forbidden libraries. With renewed knowledge, i swiftly gathered men and resources and set forth to Byzantium - or, if you wish, to Istanbul.
        It took me years, but God knows what my persevering efforts finally brought in these tired hands:
        a vast and infinite knowledge opened his doors right in front of my eyes.
        and yet, the lady claims my old body.
        I'll never see our home again, or the grey shores of Plymouth bay. All of my studies are going to be forgotten. I admit that i wasn't prepared for this unfortunate setback.
        In the little time i've got left, i arranged my testament. I'm leaving to you, my beloved grandchild,
        my property in Plymouth and all of my humble savings. Being all alone now, if we're not counting for your degenerate mother, you're definitely going to need some resources in the near future. Mr. Hoffman, my lawyer, is going to give you all the details.
        One last thing my darling - There's something that you'll find in the testament concerning a security box
        at the Central Bank of Boston. It's extremely important that you retrieve the content as soon as possible.
        Bring this letter with you and ask for Mr. Pinkerton. The Central Bank is very scrupulous in observing their bureaucracies and without my personal signature you may have some problems - But please, please, retrieve that security box. What you'll find there, it's yours, along with my wealth and my research.
        And with this last words i say Goodbye, Frances.
        Maybe we will meet again at the end of the world.
        
        My last Regards,
        Marius Belmont
- - - - Frances' rest is disturbed by strange, dark dreams...
        
        Frances wakes up in a nightmarish city, where gargantuan towers made of materials unknown to men stretch way up into the darkness. The air is thick and mephitic, while a unearthly wind sweeps an heavy dust that burn the eyes. The young woman pulls a ragged coat tightly around her and shivers, desperately looking for a shelter. After an interminable walk, Frances stumbles on a building of indefinable shape and dimension, adorned by an ominous gate carved in a porous and muculent stone.The woman trudges inside the structure and gazes at the indescribable statues that adorn the interiors: the monstrous effigies depicts creatures born from the darkest recesses of mind, that spawn from a deformed clump of antropomorphous beings. Frances attempts a few more steps inside and find herself on a huge staircase, that descends far into the depths of earth. The breath of the woman is increasingly heavy and wheezing as the air becomes acrid and torrid: and nonetheless, Frances keep walking down, moved by a feverish yearning. All of a sudden, she's stopped by a looming figure that resembled a human, but made of dust and darkness. Frances tries to step back, but she's petrified by confusion and horror. Without the time to realize what the figure is, The floor under her feet crumbles and Frances falls into the darkness, only to tumble on a colossal figure, that slowly open its gigantic, mucilaginous eyes and glare on the falling woman, silent and judgmental.
        with a huge gasp, Frances wakes up, only to find herself in a cafè, brightened by the gleamy lights of a winter sun.