The Untimely Demise of Christopher Marlowe
So I finally have a premise and a title for the game for Josh's girlfriend (to go with the basic rules which have been done since Sunday). As a bonus, The Untimely Demise of Christopher Marlowe sounds somewhat similar to Kazekami Kyoko Kills Kublai Khan -- they are both flowery and both about a famous man's death -- which reflects their interconnectedness.
The game will concern itself with the events leading up to the mysterious death of "Kit Morley" as he was often known, supposedly in the scuffle over paying the tab. However, since said scuffle involved several known spies of Lord Walsingham and Marlowe was about to go on trial (being -- according to various accounts -- an atheist, a Catholic, a heretic, a counterfeiter, a spy, a conspirator, a lover of attractive young men, a hedonist, and/or William Shakespeare), it seems unlikely his death (or the staging of it) was entirely accidental.
Now I just need to find a female character as devious and interesting as Marlowe. Right now, Arbella Stuart, who Marlowe may have tutored at some point, looks to be a promising candidate. She was potentially next in line for the throne after Elizabeth I, which gives her more than a few reasons to be involved in Walsingham's espionage activities. And just because she was 18 when Marlowe died (at 29) doesn't mean there couldn't have been some romantic or sexual tension going on there.
The other option is, of course, the imprisoned Catholic monarch herself, Mary Queen of Scots. The only problem was that Mary was dead 5 years before Marlowe.
Or I could have the main characters not include Marlowe or anyone else especially famous at all, and instead simply be conspirators involved in the mysterious events surrounding his death. Hmm. Still some thinking to be done, but I'm getting pretty close now.
Oh, one other thing.
Kit Marlowe died -- and I'm not making this up -- from being stabbed in the face. So, basically, it's an indie game waiting to happen :)
The game will concern itself with the events leading up to the mysterious death of "Kit Morley" as he was often known, supposedly in the scuffle over paying the tab. However, since said scuffle involved several known spies of Lord Walsingham and Marlowe was about to go on trial (being -- according to various accounts -- an atheist, a Catholic, a heretic, a counterfeiter, a spy, a conspirator, a lover of attractive young men, a hedonist, and/or William Shakespeare), it seems unlikely his death (or the staging of it) was entirely accidental.
Now I just need to find a female character as devious and interesting as Marlowe. Right now, Arbella Stuart, who Marlowe may have tutored at some point, looks to be a promising candidate. She was potentially next in line for the throne after Elizabeth I, which gives her more than a few reasons to be involved in Walsingham's espionage activities. And just because she was 18 when Marlowe died (at 29) doesn't mean there couldn't have been some romantic or sexual tension going on there.
The other option is, of course, the imprisoned Catholic monarch herself, Mary Queen of Scots. The only problem was that Mary was dead 5 years before Marlowe.
Or I could have the main characters not include Marlowe or anyone else especially famous at all, and instead simply be conspirators involved in the mysterious events surrounding his death. Hmm. Still some thinking to be done, but I'm getting pretty close now.
Oh, one other thing.
Kit Marlowe died -- and I'm not making this up -- from being stabbed in the face. So, basically, it's an indie game waiting to happen :)
posted by Jonathan Walton at 8:49 PM
4 Comments:
Actually if I may be so bold as to add to the imagery of your ending line. Marlowe was stabbed in the eye.
Marlowe is my favorite playwright. I almost did my one man show in grad school on the last 30 minutes of Marlowe's life. Even got a half finished script about it.
Not that this has anything really to do to add to what sounds like an amazingly cool game but I thought I'd throw it out there for historical accuracy.
Awesome.
Any chance you still have that script around?
So, this totally gets a vote of 'awesome' from me. And as it happens, she was toying with the idea of naming one of her cats 'Kit', so she'll like this too.
I'd think that not having either of the correspondents be Marlowe or another famous person would make things easier. Like a third person perspective on events. It also means that you don't necessarily have to stop when Marlowe gets stabbed in the face.
This is hotness. Marlowe is a great subject, and I love everything about where this is going.
Post a Comment
<< Home