Application - Maison de Portes
Jun. 4th, 2012 09:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kippsPlayer's Name: Meta
Contact info: I am metathepanda on Plurk, and on AIM. These are the two best ways to reach me.
DW:metanaito. I rarely, if ever, use it. The best way to reach me is above.
Character: Arthur Kipps
Canon: The Woman in Black
Version: 2012 movie
Canon Point: Post-death by train squishing
Age: Never explicitly stated, but I am assuming early to mid 30's, and here is why - in the Edwardian era, the average age for marriages was approximately 27 for men. Assuming he married on the average, with his son now being 4 years old, he would have to be at least 31.
Gender: Male
History: Arthur's backstory is, unfortunately, not very clear up until he gets married; in fact, the story starts after his wife died in childbirth. My headcanon dictates that he had an average upbringing in London (in which he stayed his whole life), though not from an extremely rich family, but a modest one. My headcanon also states that he always wanted to work in law because he believes very strongly in doing what is right (as shown personally in canon); so, while he was in school he made very good grades, finally managing to get his sought-after law degree and become a solicitor. After a few years of establishing himself in a law firm, he met a beautiful young woman named Stella, with whom he fell madly in love. Through flashbacks it is shown that the night of his son Joseph's birth ended also with the death of his beloved wife, Stella. He was devastated by the death of his wife, and was never the same man again after that. It is heavily implied from the run-down state of his house and through several small scenes that Arthur spent the majority of his savings and fortune on séances and other attempts to contact the spirit world, in order to see or speak to his wife. As this went on, meanwhile, he raised his son Joseph (with help from a nanny who goes unnamed) up to the age of four.
This is where Arthur's story begins as shown in the film: with Mr. Kipps getting ready to go to work. After seeing his departed wife in the mirror, and hearing her voice, but not seeing her when he turns around, Arthur quickly collects the rest of his things (which were mostly overdue bills). He then goes downstairs to say goodbye to his son, who shows him a picture book he'd made. In the book, Arthur's son Joseph has drawn a few pictures of himself, his nanny, and his father (drawing him with an eternal frown on his face). Kipps assures his son he'll only be gone three days, and that they'll be back together on Friday when they meet each other in the countryside, where Arthur's next job is located. He then goes to his office, where he is given the details of his job: an old widow has died and has left a large amount of paperwork at her house, dubbed Eel Marsh House, that needs to be sorted through. Her final will needs to be found so they can finish arrangements and sell the house. He is also informed that her only heir, a boy, died very young in an accident. He is then given all the important paperwork and told to board the train to Crythin Gifford. On the way there, he falls asleep and has flashbacks about his departed wife, and her death when their son was born. He wakes up on the train to Crythin Gifford, with a man sitting across from him. They have a brief discussion about Eel Marsh House, when they then introduce themselves; the man is mister Samuel Daily, a local man who kindly offers to take him to the Gifford Arms, because it's a walk from the station and it's raining. He drives Arthur there (he's the only one with a car in the whole county) and invites him to dinner the next night. Kipps accepts and goes inside the Gifford Arms. When inside, while inquiring about his room, the innkeeper says they are fully booked for the week and that he has no room for him. The innkeeper's wife, however, steps in and offers the attic to sleep in for the night. He accepts and sleeps there.
The next morning, he goes to meet Mr. Jerome, the solicitor with whom his office has been in contact about Eel Marsh House. He is met by Mrs. Jerome, who is coming up from the basement. She seems surprised to see him and mentions her husband went to meet him at the Gifford Arms. Mr. Jerome then walks in, quickly offers him a stack of legal papers and tells him that's everything he will need. He bids Arthur a curt good day as he takes him outside. Mr. Jerome has already arranged for a local man, a Mr. Keckwick, to take Kipps to the train station, but Kipps bribes the man to take him to Eel Marsh house instead. When he arrives, he is told that the road disappears with the tide, so he'll come back in the evening for Kipps. He heads up towards the house, and on the way finds a small cemetery, but doesn't go near it. Instead, he makes his way into the house and begins digging through all the paperwork there. While he's searching, he finds a death certificate for Nathaniel Drablow, age 7, as well as a 1st birthday card written to Nathaniel from "Mother and Father", before he suddenly hears a noise upstairs. Going to investigate, he finds nothing but a locked door with mud on the handle, and an empty master bedroom. Looking out the window, Arthur sees a woman clad in black in the forest, and quickly goes outside to investigate. It's then he begins to hear the noises of a horse and some terrified people screaming for help. He runs to investigate.
On the way, visions appear in the mists around Eel Marsh - it is unclear whether the visions are simply for the understanding of the viewer, or whether he sees them himself. But what is clear is that Arthur hears both a horse whinnying, and a woman and child screaming for help. He finds nothing except Keckwick, who has come to get him now that the tide has rolled out. They return to Crythin Gifford and Kipps immediately reports to the local constable to report the accident. The constable says that no one has used Nine Lives Causeway for years, ever since Nathaniel was killed; however, he does seem very disturbed when Kipps mentions a woman dressed in black, and excuses himself. Immediately two boys come in with their sister, Victoria Hardy, who has drunk lye. Kipps calls for the constable, but it is too late - Victoria coughs up blood and dies in his arms. Victoria's parents are alerted, and they are greatly dismayed by the news. Mr. and Mrs. Jerome are there also; Jerome seems surprised that Kipps is still there, but he ignores him for now. Kipps then returns to the Gifford Arms to collect his things and get ready for dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Daily, only to find Mrs. Fisher there, alone. She offers him a drink, then urges him to stay away from Eel Marsh house, and go back to his son in London and cherish him while he still can. He then leaves for dinner, walking because he has no other way to get there.
He meets Mr. Daily at the Daily family tomb, where he is told that Daily's son, Nicholas, died long ago. They also talk briefly about Victoria's death, and Kipps is warned never to talk about children around Mrs. Daily. They then go inside for dinner. Meeting Mrs. Elizabeth Daily, Kipps admits he has found himself without a place to stay, and she insists on him staying at their home for the duration of his visit. He accepts gratefully, and they sit down to dinner - along with "the twins", two small dogs that Mrs. Daily treats as children, giving them their own matching clothes, high chairs, and feeding them off of plates and spoons. During dinner, she asks about children, and Kipps admits he has a son. The Daily's late son Nicholas comes up, where a painting of him that she made is pointed out; Mrs. Daily then declares that "Nicholas loved to sketch too... he still does... he wants to draw you a picture". She then takes her knife and begins carving into the table. Samuel and their servant sedate her. Later, by the fire over drinks, Samuel admits that he was hoping some company would help her, and that she believes it is Nicholas speaking through her. He asks Kipps if he believes about spiritualism and the like, and Kipps admits he doesn't know after his wife passed away. Daily warns him against charlatans who contact the dead, who "do more harm than good". Kipps admits that "the worst they do is disappoint", hinting he has used their services before. Daily still refuses to believe there are ghosts roaming the earth. Kipps then goes to his guest room for the night, but forgets his son's picture book in his coat pocket. He grabs it, and on the way looks to see what Elizabeth carved onto the table; it is the picture of a hanged woman.
The next day, Daily drives Kipps into town, where he mentions that Jerome will not be willing to help at Eel Marsh house, even if Kipps is on the brink of losing his job. Jerome is not at home when they arrive, so Kipps checks the basement. He finds a young girl locked in the basement, who screams at him that he was responsible for Victoria Hardy's death, and tells him to go away. He leaves Jerome's house, only to be stopped by several of the local men who insist that Kipps is the cause of Hardy's death because he saw the woman. Daily attempts to dismiss it as "superstitious rubbish", when the locals mention it was that same "rubbish" that killed his son. Daily forces his way through with his car towards Eel Marsh House. When they get there, Daily offers to fetch him at 11 when the tide comes in, but Kipps insists on working through the night. Daily tells him to keep the dog "for company" and leaves. Kipps settles for lighting all the lamps and candles in the house, only to become curious about the locked door and attempt to open it with no success. Instead, Arthur goes about sorting out more papers, when in the process he sees the silhouette of a young boy in the bathroom. Finding nothing with a thorough investigation, he dismisses it and continues to look through the papers. In these papers, he finds a picture of Alice Drablow, her husband Charles, and Nathaniel. He also finds pictures with cryptic messages written all over them in red ink.
A shadow emerges suddenly over the window and the dog begins barking, so again, Kipps goes to investigate. They find the cemetery only to find Nathaniel's gravestone, with the names of his parents completely scratched up. He then finds a gravestone for one Jennet Humfrye, sister to Mrs. Drablow. Seeing nothing else of interest, he returns inside with the dog, but sees the Woman in Black at the top window of the locked room. He cannot open the door, but in an adjacent and unexplored room, he finds more paperwork, which includes a 1st birthday card to Nathaniel, in different handwriting, this time only from "Mummy". He takes the cards and the rest of the paperwork downstairs with the rest. As he searches through the papers, he finds several letters from Jennet to her sister Alice, mentioning that her son Nathaniel had been forcibly taken from Jennet because she was deemed mentally unfit, and adopted by Alice and Charles (along with an official adoption certificate). She is bitter about this, and about her sister's refusal to give her any rights to see her son or even give him birthday cards. Kipps notices the Woman in Black in the family photograph from before in an upper window. The last letter from Jennet is sloppily written and accuses Alice of not trying to save Nathaniel or properly bury him, and tells her to "rot in hell". He then finds an official death certificate for Jennet, which says she hung herself from the nursery rafters. Unable to cope with this information, Kipps closes his eyes for a moment and he nods off, only to have the Woman in Black attempt to sneak up on him. The dog barks and wakes Kipps up, but no one is there - the only thing strange is that the picture of Alice and Charles has suddenly had their eyes violently scratched out.
Suddenly, there is a loud knocking noise from upstairs again. Kipps goes to investigate, finding out that it is behind the locked door. He is still unable to open it, and out of anger goes downstairs to get the wood chopping axe and break the door down. When he comes upstairs, however, the door is wide open. When he goes into the room, which is Nathaniel's old nursery, all he finds is a rocking chair, rocking seemingly by itself, before it stops. He also finds some wallpaper coming off the wall, and he rips it off, only to find the words "YOU COULD HAVE SAVED HIM" written in red paint behind it. He leaves the nursery again when he hears the whinnying of the horse from before; he goes into another room and looks outside at the rain, only to see a little boy rise up from the ground at the site of Nathaniel's "grave" in the marsh. It walks towards the house, and the dog begins barking again, so Kipps goes downstairs to investigate. Something is jiggling the handle outside, and when Arthur asks who it is, and stops, only to increase its ferocity a few moments later. Opening the door, Kipps finds nothing, until walking outside he sees children in the forest - including Victoria Hardy and Nicholas Daily. Terrified, he hurriedly goes back inside, only to find the muddy footprints of a child leading upstairs, as well as hearing music from a children's toy from the nursery. He (foolishly) follows the footprints into the nursery, only to have the rocking chair start up again on its own, culminating in him not only seeing the Woman in Black hang herself, but a mud-covered boy. He rushes into the hallway only to find the Woman in Black waiting for him, so he dodges into the spare bedroom and barricades the door. Then, he sees the boy again rising up out of the mattress. Frightened, he runs to the front door to find Samuel Daily waiting for him to take him back to Crythin Gifford.
Kipps admits what he saw to Daily, but Daily dismisses it as the dark and spooky house tricking his mind. They drive up to Jerome's only to find out it is on fire, and that their son Lucy is still trapped in the basement. Immediately, Kipps runs inside to try and save her. He gets the door open, only to see the girl holding a kerosene lamp, with the Woman in Black standing in the corner. The girl immediately drops the kerosene lamp, setting herself on fire. Kipps has to leave because the fire becomes too great. After the fire has been put out, Kipps and Daily return to Daily's house, where after some discussion Kipps admits the Woman in Black was at the Jerome's house. Daily tells him to get some rest, but after seeing a painting in his room of the Woman in Black with two children that Elizabeth had painted, he goes to the family tomb to speak with her. He asks how Nicholas died, and she explains that he was at the beach when the tide caught them off guard. She does, however, ask if Arthur has seen "her". He admits to her that she was in the fire. Elizabeth assures him that he shouldn't blame himself for what happened because he didn't stay way from the house, and explains that whenever the Woman in Black is spotted, a child dies in a violent manner. She then begins to speak in a childish manner, saying that the Woman in Black "makes us do it, she makes us... they took her boy away, so she takes us", and then begins to scratch a picture onto the family tomb. Daily interrupts the pair and stops his wife, but Kipps focuses on the picture - which is a carbon copy of a drawing in his son Joseph's picture book, of his arrival by train. The Woman in Black is going for Joseph next.
Both Samuel and Arthur quickly drive to the telegraph office, but it also was burned in the fire; Arthur then gets a brilliant idea to reunite Jennet with her son, using Daily's car to pull the carriage out, get Nathaniel's body, and bury it with Jennet. He digs through the mud of the marsh and, finding the boy's body, takes him to the house, cleaning him up and placing him in the nursery so the ghosts of the mother and son pair can find each other. He turns on all of Nathaniel's old toys to get the Woman in Black's attention, but nothing happens. Meanwhile, Daily downstairs sees his son Nicholas and follows him; Nicholas locks him inside, presumably to keep him safe from the Woman in Black. Kipps upstairs finally finds the Woman in Black, who swipes at him a few times before disappearing. He goes down to find Daily, who is released from the room he was locked in, and they agree to finally bury Nathaniel with Jennet. They do so and then rush to the train station to meet Joseph and his nanny. He asks the nanny to get three tickets back to London, and as he's speaking with Mr. Daily, Joseph is forced by the Woman in Black to walk onto the train tracks, as a train is coming by. Kipps jumps onto the train tracks to save him, but they are killed in the process. There, Stella Kipps is waiting for her husband and son, who all then follow each other to the afterlife. The Woman in Black, however, still haunts Crythin Gifford, along with the ghosts of all the other children she has killed.
tl;dr A SOMBER MAN GOES INTO A SPOOKY OLD HOUSE AND FINDS SOME SCARY LADY GHOST WHO KILLS HIM BY SQUISHING HIM AND HIS SON WITH A TRAIN THE END.
Personality: He still carries around a picture of Stella in his pocketwatch, which he says good night to every time he goes to bed; further, he carries around with him his son's picture book throughout the course of the movie, making sure to keep it close to him. This fact, along with his constant attempts at séances and such to see his departed wife again, shows he is very devoted to his family, particularly to his wife, as the fact he's still wearing his wedding ring after four years shows. He also is a very kind man, in that he immediately tries to help two children (Lucy Jerome, the girl in the fire, and Victoria Hardy, the girl who drank lye) as well as a baby bird in the house. Then there is the matter of attempting to reunite two very powerful ghosts - while it can be claimed it was for selfish reasons (namely, saving his son), he also went to a lot of trouble cleaning up Nathaniel's body and even staying in the nursery where he had previously seen horrible things, all so that he could make sure the two found each other. So it is clear that he is a very kind man who wants to do anything he can to help in a difficult situation, particularly when it involves children.
Kipps is very polite, as most gentlemen of the period were supposed to be; as such he is friendly but not overly so, very businesslike in his manners in Crythin Gifford, only ever really showing his trust in Mrs. Fisher, and Mr. Daily as a friend, thanks to the general rudeness of all the other locals. He also seems to be a rather somber man, mostly due to his troubles at home; when asking why he looked so sad in his son's drawing, his son replied "That's what your face looks like". This shows that It's clear he didn't take his wife's death well, seeing as he paid psychics to contact his wife after her death. He appears to be gullible, at least to some degree - it's clear that a lot of his troubles stem from money issues, and given that he may have spent all his fortune in search of his wife, it's possible to pull the wool over his eyes more than once.
Arthur's also foolish enough to go searching around a creepy, empty house on his own, indicating at least a small streak of recklessness, or perhaps he simply has a compulsive desire to take care of things himself and take care of them perfectly. Either would make sense, given that he recklessly spent his fortune searching for his wife's ghost, or that he insisted on taking the matter of the Woman in Black into his own hands. It may even possibly be a bit of both that drives the majority of his actions throughout the film, as far as exploring the house is concerned. At the same time, Kipps is extremely rational about the world around him, always taking a calm and rational approach to problems when possible - such as reporting the "carriage accident" to the police, agreeing to take the dog with him the second night, and others. He does seem to have at least some self-preservation instincts, given how he does attempt to arm himself when unnatural things first start happening, and fleeing when he literally has no chance of staying in the house with the ghosts.
Fears: Kipps does not seem to have any obvious fears or nightmares per se; it's clear that he has nightmares about the night his wife died, but that is likely due to trauma suffered and not fear itself. What is certain is that he is easily startled, particularly in situations like a haunted house where something shouldn't be there and yet it is. It's clear he is scared of things that look like children but really aren't, given his fearful revulsion towards Nathaniel Drablow and the victims of the Woman in Black. It's also clear that he is terrified of the Woman in Black, though this is only after she begins chasing him and showing her unnatural "true" form, as a vengeful ghost who is no longer truly human. He seems to be scared of the dark to a small degree given that he proceeds to light up the entire friggin' house when he stays the night. He is, however, able to ignore the bulk of his fears for the last portion of the story in order to attempt to right the wrong done to Jennet and also save his son.
Weaknesses: Kipps has a weakness for small children: anything he can do to help a child, he will do, if his canon is any indication (whether it be staying with a dying child, or rushing into a raging fire, or digging a child's corpse out of the muck to reunite him with his murderous ghost-mom). He's also a persistent man, and his persistence can be a very big weakness - he does try to stick his nose in where it doesn't belong sometimes, and his determination to stay in Eel Marsh house and search every nook and cranny was inevitably what made the Woman in Black single his son out in the first place as her next victim.
Mundane Strengths/Abilities: Kipps has a very analytic mind, one that is quick to solve problems even under pressure. He's persistent, which while it does not always work to his advantage (see above), it can be an asset in some situations. He also seems to be relatively healthy and fit, enough to stay alive for most of the film (but unfortunately, he cannot chop ghosts to pieces and he certainly cannot outrun a train). He's got a good heart, which seems to draw quite a few friends to him naturally (Daily and Mrs. Fisher, mainly). He is also a very selfless person, doing his best for the good of others and not necessarily for himself (which seems to mostly be a strength in the film, as it gives him allies not only in the real world, but also with the ghost children such as Nicholas Daily - however, like his persistence listed above, it can sometimes get him into a bit of trouble).
Sensitivity/Magical Ability: Kipps has no magical abilities per se. He is a normal human man with normal strengths. However, I would argue he has a sensitivity to supernatural things. While he was at the mirror in the beginning of the film, Stella appeared and whispered his name. It is implied that this has been happening since she died, which is why he began seeing psychics and mystics to find absolute proof of the beyond, to prove he wasn't crazy. It's also implied that his wife follows him everywhere, acting as almost a protector. While Stella's protector status is likely not his doing, it is still clear that he can see and hear her sometimes.
He also sees the Woman in Black much more frequently than any of the villagers throughout the course of the film, seeing her at least nine times and her son at least four times in the span of less than three days. Arthur sees a vision of the past of his wife, once in his sleep on the train, and later in the mists of Eel Marsh he possibly sees visions of the carriage accident that claimed Nathaniel's life, and definitely hears the accident, enough to go and report this to the constable.
Also, Kipps feels the presence of the Woman in Black about three times, only missing her presence a few times in the movie (though the dog saved him once). He also sees each of the children that the Woman in Black has killed twice, both times toward the end of the film. Though it can be argued that it is the power of the Woman in Black that causes more visions and more sightings, it does not explain away quite to my liking his ability to see Stella in any part of the film. Therefore, I believe he does have some sensitivity, and possibly a sensitivity that grows stronger the longer he's exposed to ethereal or otherworldly beings such as ghosts (The Woman in Black).
Supply List: He doesn't really need anything but his clothes, his wedding ring, and his pocketwatch, though I would like his son's picture book to be included in his coat, if possible. While it would be hilarious to give him a candle and axe, I'm sure he can pick up those items on his own.
Game Transfers: Not applicable.
Sample RP post: Kipps had had enough of this house already - and he hadn't even been there for more than a few hours. He'd been told by a few other people in the house that there were actually three - but he most assuredly was not interested in searching either of those, just as much as he was not enthused about being in this one. He had managed to break away from the others, not really out of any fault of his, but the few people he had met had seemed eager to find their friends. So he had begun to examine his surroundings, room by room. Only a little bit of exploring had made his stomach churn; namely the blood and the beings in the house had turned him away. And one room in particular, a nursery, sent Kipps many memories that he'd sooner forget that relive.
He hurriedly made his way towards another room after that sight – hopefully this room would be a lot more inviting than the nursery had been. He made a simple sharp knock at the door, followed by one small question.
“Hello, is anyone there?”
Getting no response, Arthur quietly opened the door, noting that it happened to be an empty study inside. He was happy to enter and sit by the fire, letting out a soft sigh of relief. “Thank heavens,” he muttered to himself, as he made his way to a very nice leather armchair, one which he occupied immediately. Sitting down made him feel much less sick to his stomach, and the complete silence in the room, while unnerving, did little to scare him. It was almost comforting, in a way, to be sitting quietly by a fire.
But that did not last for long. Without warning, a wind swept through the room, abruptly silencing the once roaring fire. All that were left were coals. Kipps instantly felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up – he had been through this before, and it hadn't been a pleasant experience. He hurriedly got out of the armchair, facing the middle of the room with a sharp turn that left him with his back facing the corner. But it was when he stood there for a moment that he realized something strange, something that made his blood run cold – a black substance was seeping through the bottom of the walls, even the one he had his back turned to, and was dripping up to the ceiling.
He didn't even take the time to gasp before rushing for the door, hands clawing for the knob – and it wouldn't turn, no matter how hard he tried, as if someone had locked him in from the outside. He pounded on the door, hard, before attempting to jiggle the handle again. Looking over his shoulder for a moment, Arthur noticed a small pool beginning to form on the ceiling, and the pounding on the door persisted with both his hands this time. “Somebody help me, please-! Open the door! HELP!”
Contact info: I am metathepanda on Plurk, and on AIM. These are the two best ways to reach me.
DW:
metanaito. I rarely, if ever, use it. The best way to reach me is above.Character: Arthur Kipps
Canon: The Woman in Black
Version: 2012 movie
Canon Point: Post-death by train squishing
Age: Never explicitly stated, but I am assuming early to mid 30's, and here is why - in the Edwardian era, the average age for marriages was approximately 27 for men. Assuming he married on the average, with his son now being 4 years old, he would have to be at least 31.
Gender: Male
History: Arthur's backstory is, unfortunately, not very clear up until he gets married; in fact, the story starts after his wife died in childbirth. My headcanon dictates that he had an average upbringing in London (in which he stayed his whole life), though not from an extremely rich family, but a modest one. My headcanon also states that he always wanted to work in law because he believes very strongly in doing what is right (as shown personally in canon); so, while he was in school he made very good grades, finally managing to get his sought-after law degree and become a solicitor. After a few years of establishing himself in a law firm, he met a beautiful young woman named Stella, with whom he fell madly in love. Through flashbacks it is shown that the night of his son Joseph's birth ended also with the death of his beloved wife, Stella. He was devastated by the death of his wife, and was never the same man again after that. It is heavily implied from the run-down state of his house and through several small scenes that Arthur spent the majority of his savings and fortune on séances and other attempts to contact the spirit world, in order to see or speak to his wife. As this went on, meanwhile, he raised his son Joseph (with help from a nanny who goes unnamed) up to the age of four.
This is where Arthur's story begins as shown in the film: with Mr. Kipps getting ready to go to work. After seeing his departed wife in the mirror, and hearing her voice, but not seeing her when he turns around, Arthur quickly collects the rest of his things (which were mostly overdue bills). He then goes downstairs to say goodbye to his son, who shows him a picture book he'd made. In the book, Arthur's son Joseph has drawn a few pictures of himself, his nanny, and his father (drawing him with an eternal frown on his face). Kipps assures his son he'll only be gone three days, and that they'll be back together on Friday when they meet each other in the countryside, where Arthur's next job is located. He then goes to his office, where he is given the details of his job: an old widow has died and has left a large amount of paperwork at her house, dubbed Eel Marsh House, that needs to be sorted through. Her final will needs to be found so they can finish arrangements and sell the house. He is also informed that her only heir, a boy, died very young in an accident. He is then given all the important paperwork and told to board the train to Crythin Gifford. On the way there, he falls asleep and has flashbacks about his departed wife, and her death when their son was born. He wakes up on the train to Crythin Gifford, with a man sitting across from him. They have a brief discussion about Eel Marsh House, when they then introduce themselves; the man is mister Samuel Daily, a local man who kindly offers to take him to the Gifford Arms, because it's a walk from the station and it's raining. He drives Arthur there (he's the only one with a car in the whole county) and invites him to dinner the next night. Kipps accepts and goes inside the Gifford Arms. When inside, while inquiring about his room, the innkeeper says they are fully booked for the week and that he has no room for him. The innkeeper's wife, however, steps in and offers the attic to sleep in for the night. He accepts and sleeps there.
The next morning, he goes to meet Mr. Jerome, the solicitor with whom his office has been in contact about Eel Marsh House. He is met by Mrs. Jerome, who is coming up from the basement. She seems surprised to see him and mentions her husband went to meet him at the Gifford Arms. Mr. Jerome then walks in, quickly offers him a stack of legal papers and tells him that's everything he will need. He bids Arthur a curt good day as he takes him outside. Mr. Jerome has already arranged for a local man, a Mr. Keckwick, to take Kipps to the train station, but Kipps bribes the man to take him to Eel Marsh house instead. When he arrives, he is told that the road disappears with the tide, so he'll come back in the evening for Kipps. He heads up towards the house, and on the way finds a small cemetery, but doesn't go near it. Instead, he makes his way into the house and begins digging through all the paperwork there. While he's searching, he finds a death certificate for Nathaniel Drablow, age 7, as well as a 1st birthday card written to Nathaniel from "Mother and Father", before he suddenly hears a noise upstairs. Going to investigate, he finds nothing but a locked door with mud on the handle, and an empty master bedroom. Looking out the window, Arthur sees a woman clad in black in the forest, and quickly goes outside to investigate. It's then he begins to hear the noises of a horse and some terrified people screaming for help. He runs to investigate.
On the way, visions appear in the mists around Eel Marsh - it is unclear whether the visions are simply for the understanding of the viewer, or whether he sees them himself. But what is clear is that Arthur hears both a horse whinnying, and a woman and child screaming for help. He finds nothing except Keckwick, who has come to get him now that the tide has rolled out. They return to Crythin Gifford and Kipps immediately reports to the local constable to report the accident. The constable says that no one has used Nine Lives Causeway for years, ever since Nathaniel was killed; however, he does seem very disturbed when Kipps mentions a woman dressed in black, and excuses himself. Immediately two boys come in with their sister, Victoria Hardy, who has drunk lye. Kipps calls for the constable, but it is too late - Victoria coughs up blood and dies in his arms. Victoria's parents are alerted, and they are greatly dismayed by the news. Mr. and Mrs. Jerome are there also; Jerome seems surprised that Kipps is still there, but he ignores him for now. Kipps then returns to the Gifford Arms to collect his things and get ready for dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Daily, only to find Mrs. Fisher there, alone. She offers him a drink, then urges him to stay away from Eel Marsh house, and go back to his son in London and cherish him while he still can. He then leaves for dinner, walking because he has no other way to get there.
He meets Mr. Daily at the Daily family tomb, where he is told that Daily's son, Nicholas, died long ago. They also talk briefly about Victoria's death, and Kipps is warned never to talk about children around Mrs. Daily. They then go inside for dinner. Meeting Mrs. Elizabeth Daily, Kipps admits he has found himself without a place to stay, and she insists on him staying at their home for the duration of his visit. He accepts gratefully, and they sit down to dinner - along with "the twins", two small dogs that Mrs. Daily treats as children, giving them their own matching clothes, high chairs, and feeding them off of plates and spoons. During dinner, she asks about children, and Kipps admits he has a son. The Daily's late son Nicholas comes up, where a painting of him that she made is pointed out; Mrs. Daily then declares that "Nicholas loved to sketch too... he still does... he wants to draw you a picture". She then takes her knife and begins carving into the table. Samuel and their servant sedate her. Later, by the fire over drinks, Samuel admits that he was hoping some company would help her, and that she believes it is Nicholas speaking through her. He asks Kipps if he believes about spiritualism and the like, and Kipps admits he doesn't know after his wife passed away. Daily warns him against charlatans who contact the dead, who "do more harm than good". Kipps admits that "the worst they do is disappoint", hinting he has used their services before. Daily still refuses to believe there are ghosts roaming the earth. Kipps then goes to his guest room for the night, but forgets his son's picture book in his coat pocket. He grabs it, and on the way looks to see what Elizabeth carved onto the table; it is the picture of a hanged woman.
The next day, Daily drives Kipps into town, where he mentions that Jerome will not be willing to help at Eel Marsh house, even if Kipps is on the brink of losing his job. Jerome is not at home when they arrive, so Kipps checks the basement. He finds a young girl locked in the basement, who screams at him that he was responsible for Victoria Hardy's death, and tells him to go away. He leaves Jerome's house, only to be stopped by several of the local men who insist that Kipps is the cause of Hardy's death because he saw the woman. Daily attempts to dismiss it as "superstitious rubbish", when the locals mention it was that same "rubbish" that killed his son. Daily forces his way through with his car towards Eel Marsh House. When they get there, Daily offers to fetch him at 11 when the tide comes in, but Kipps insists on working through the night. Daily tells him to keep the dog "for company" and leaves. Kipps settles for lighting all the lamps and candles in the house, only to become curious about the locked door and attempt to open it with no success. Instead, Arthur goes about sorting out more papers, when in the process he sees the silhouette of a young boy in the bathroom. Finding nothing with a thorough investigation, he dismisses it and continues to look through the papers. In these papers, he finds a picture of Alice Drablow, her husband Charles, and Nathaniel. He also finds pictures with cryptic messages written all over them in red ink.
A shadow emerges suddenly over the window and the dog begins barking, so again, Kipps goes to investigate. They find the cemetery only to find Nathaniel's gravestone, with the names of his parents completely scratched up. He then finds a gravestone for one Jennet Humfrye, sister to Mrs. Drablow. Seeing nothing else of interest, he returns inside with the dog, but sees the Woman in Black at the top window of the locked room. He cannot open the door, but in an adjacent and unexplored room, he finds more paperwork, which includes a 1st birthday card to Nathaniel, in different handwriting, this time only from "Mummy". He takes the cards and the rest of the paperwork downstairs with the rest. As he searches through the papers, he finds several letters from Jennet to her sister Alice, mentioning that her son Nathaniel had been forcibly taken from Jennet because she was deemed mentally unfit, and adopted by Alice and Charles (along with an official adoption certificate). She is bitter about this, and about her sister's refusal to give her any rights to see her son or even give him birthday cards. Kipps notices the Woman in Black in the family photograph from before in an upper window. The last letter from Jennet is sloppily written and accuses Alice of not trying to save Nathaniel or properly bury him, and tells her to "rot in hell". He then finds an official death certificate for Jennet, which says she hung herself from the nursery rafters. Unable to cope with this information, Kipps closes his eyes for a moment and he nods off, only to have the Woman in Black attempt to sneak up on him. The dog barks and wakes Kipps up, but no one is there - the only thing strange is that the picture of Alice and Charles has suddenly had their eyes violently scratched out.
Suddenly, there is a loud knocking noise from upstairs again. Kipps goes to investigate, finding out that it is behind the locked door. He is still unable to open it, and out of anger goes downstairs to get the wood chopping axe and break the door down. When he comes upstairs, however, the door is wide open. When he goes into the room, which is Nathaniel's old nursery, all he finds is a rocking chair, rocking seemingly by itself, before it stops. He also finds some wallpaper coming off the wall, and he rips it off, only to find the words "YOU COULD HAVE SAVED HIM" written in red paint behind it. He leaves the nursery again when he hears the whinnying of the horse from before; he goes into another room and looks outside at the rain, only to see a little boy rise up from the ground at the site of Nathaniel's "grave" in the marsh. It walks towards the house, and the dog begins barking again, so Kipps goes downstairs to investigate. Something is jiggling the handle outside, and when Arthur asks who it is, and stops, only to increase its ferocity a few moments later. Opening the door, Kipps finds nothing, until walking outside he sees children in the forest - including Victoria Hardy and Nicholas Daily. Terrified, he hurriedly goes back inside, only to find the muddy footprints of a child leading upstairs, as well as hearing music from a children's toy from the nursery. He (foolishly) follows the footprints into the nursery, only to have the rocking chair start up again on its own, culminating in him not only seeing the Woman in Black hang herself, but a mud-covered boy. He rushes into the hallway only to find the Woman in Black waiting for him, so he dodges into the spare bedroom and barricades the door. Then, he sees the boy again rising up out of the mattress. Frightened, he runs to the front door to find Samuel Daily waiting for him to take him back to Crythin Gifford.
Kipps admits what he saw to Daily, but Daily dismisses it as the dark and spooky house tricking his mind. They drive up to Jerome's only to find out it is on fire, and that their son Lucy is still trapped in the basement. Immediately, Kipps runs inside to try and save her. He gets the door open, only to see the girl holding a kerosene lamp, with the Woman in Black standing in the corner. The girl immediately drops the kerosene lamp, setting herself on fire. Kipps has to leave because the fire becomes too great. After the fire has been put out, Kipps and Daily return to Daily's house, where after some discussion Kipps admits the Woman in Black was at the Jerome's house. Daily tells him to get some rest, but after seeing a painting in his room of the Woman in Black with two children that Elizabeth had painted, he goes to the family tomb to speak with her. He asks how Nicholas died, and she explains that he was at the beach when the tide caught them off guard. She does, however, ask if Arthur has seen "her". He admits to her that she was in the fire. Elizabeth assures him that he shouldn't blame himself for what happened because he didn't stay way from the house, and explains that whenever the Woman in Black is spotted, a child dies in a violent manner. She then begins to speak in a childish manner, saying that the Woman in Black "makes us do it, she makes us... they took her boy away, so she takes us", and then begins to scratch a picture onto the family tomb. Daily interrupts the pair and stops his wife, but Kipps focuses on the picture - which is a carbon copy of a drawing in his son Joseph's picture book, of his arrival by train. The Woman in Black is going for Joseph next.
Both Samuel and Arthur quickly drive to the telegraph office, but it also was burned in the fire; Arthur then gets a brilliant idea to reunite Jennet with her son, using Daily's car to pull the carriage out, get Nathaniel's body, and bury it with Jennet. He digs through the mud of the marsh and, finding the boy's body, takes him to the house, cleaning him up and placing him in the nursery so the ghosts of the mother and son pair can find each other. He turns on all of Nathaniel's old toys to get the Woman in Black's attention, but nothing happens. Meanwhile, Daily downstairs sees his son Nicholas and follows him; Nicholas locks him inside, presumably to keep him safe from the Woman in Black. Kipps upstairs finally finds the Woman in Black, who swipes at him a few times before disappearing. He goes down to find Daily, who is released from the room he was locked in, and they agree to finally bury Nathaniel with Jennet. They do so and then rush to the train station to meet Joseph and his nanny. He asks the nanny to get three tickets back to London, and as he's speaking with Mr. Daily, Joseph is forced by the Woman in Black to walk onto the train tracks, as a train is coming by. Kipps jumps onto the train tracks to save him, but they are killed in the process. There, Stella Kipps is waiting for her husband and son, who all then follow each other to the afterlife. The Woman in Black, however, still haunts Crythin Gifford, along with the ghosts of all the other children she has killed.
tl;dr A SOMBER MAN GOES INTO A SPOOKY OLD HOUSE AND FINDS SOME SCARY LADY GHOST WHO KILLS HIM BY SQUISHING HIM AND HIS SON WITH A TRAIN THE END.
Personality: He still carries around a picture of Stella in his pocketwatch, which he says good night to every time he goes to bed; further, he carries around with him his son's picture book throughout the course of the movie, making sure to keep it close to him. This fact, along with his constant attempts at séances and such to see his departed wife again, shows he is very devoted to his family, particularly to his wife, as the fact he's still wearing his wedding ring after four years shows. He also is a very kind man, in that he immediately tries to help two children (Lucy Jerome, the girl in the fire, and Victoria Hardy, the girl who drank lye) as well as a baby bird in the house. Then there is the matter of attempting to reunite two very powerful ghosts - while it can be claimed it was for selfish reasons (namely, saving his son), he also went to a lot of trouble cleaning up Nathaniel's body and even staying in the nursery where he had previously seen horrible things, all so that he could make sure the two found each other. So it is clear that he is a very kind man who wants to do anything he can to help in a difficult situation, particularly when it involves children.
Kipps is very polite, as most gentlemen of the period were supposed to be; as such he is friendly but not overly so, very businesslike in his manners in Crythin Gifford, only ever really showing his trust in Mrs. Fisher, and Mr. Daily as a friend, thanks to the general rudeness of all the other locals. He also seems to be a rather somber man, mostly due to his troubles at home; when asking why he looked so sad in his son's drawing, his son replied "That's what your face looks like". This shows that It's clear he didn't take his wife's death well, seeing as he paid psychics to contact his wife after her death. He appears to be gullible, at least to some degree - it's clear that a lot of his troubles stem from money issues, and given that he may have spent all his fortune in search of his wife, it's possible to pull the wool over his eyes more than once.
Arthur's also foolish enough to go searching around a creepy, empty house on his own, indicating at least a small streak of recklessness, or perhaps he simply has a compulsive desire to take care of things himself and take care of them perfectly. Either would make sense, given that he recklessly spent his fortune searching for his wife's ghost, or that he insisted on taking the matter of the Woman in Black into his own hands. It may even possibly be a bit of both that drives the majority of his actions throughout the film, as far as exploring the house is concerned. At the same time, Kipps is extremely rational about the world around him, always taking a calm and rational approach to problems when possible - such as reporting the "carriage accident" to the police, agreeing to take the dog with him the second night, and others. He does seem to have at least some self-preservation instincts, given how he does attempt to arm himself when unnatural things first start happening, and fleeing when he literally has no chance of staying in the house with the ghosts.
Fears: Kipps does not seem to have any obvious fears or nightmares per se; it's clear that he has nightmares about the night his wife died, but that is likely due to trauma suffered and not fear itself. What is certain is that he is easily startled, particularly in situations like a haunted house where something shouldn't be there and yet it is. It's clear he is scared of things that look like children but really aren't, given his fearful revulsion towards Nathaniel Drablow and the victims of the Woman in Black. It's also clear that he is terrified of the Woman in Black, though this is only after she begins chasing him and showing her unnatural "true" form, as a vengeful ghost who is no longer truly human. He seems to be scared of the dark to a small degree given that he proceeds to light up the entire friggin' house when he stays the night. He is, however, able to ignore the bulk of his fears for the last portion of the story in order to attempt to right the wrong done to Jennet and also save his son.
Weaknesses: Kipps has a weakness for small children: anything he can do to help a child, he will do, if his canon is any indication (whether it be staying with a dying child, or rushing into a raging fire, or digging a child's corpse out of the muck to reunite him with his murderous ghost-mom). He's also a persistent man, and his persistence can be a very big weakness - he does try to stick his nose in where it doesn't belong sometimes, and his determination to stay in Eel Marsh house and search every nook and cranny was inevitably what made the Woman in Black single his son out in the first place as her next victim.
Mundane Strengths/Abilities: Kipps has a very analytic mind, one that is quick to solve problems even under pressure. He's persistent, which while it does not always work to his advantage (see above), it can be an asset in some situations. He also seems to be relatively healthy and fit, enough to stay alive for most of the film (but unfortunately, he cannot chop ghosts to pieces and he certainly cannot outrun a train). He's got a good heart, which seems to draw quite a few friends to him naturally (Daily and Mrs. Fisher, mainly). He is also a very selfless person, doing his best for the good of others and not necessarily for himself (which seems to mostly be a strength in the film, as it gives him allies not only in the real world, but also with the ghost children such as Nicholas Daily - however, like his persistence listed above, it can sometimes get him into a bit of trouble).
Sensitivity/Magical Ability: Kipps has no magical abilities per se. He is a normal human man with normal strengths. However, I would argue he has a sensitivity to supernatural things. While he was at the mirror in the beginning of the film, Stella appeared and whispered his name. It is implied that this has been happening since she died, which is why he began seeing psychics and mystics to find absolute proof of the beyond, to prove he wasn't crazy. It's also implied that his wife follows him everywhere, acting as almost a protector. While Stella's protector status is likely not his doing, it is still clear that he can see and hear her sometimes.
He also sees the Woman in Black much more frequently than any of the villagers throughout the course of the film, seeing her at least nine times and her son at least four times in the span of less than three days. Arthur sees a vision of the past of his wife, once in his sleep on the train, and later in the mists of Eel Marsh he possibly sees visions of the carriage accident that claimed Nathaniel's life, and definitely hears the accident, enough to go and report this to the constable.
Also, Kipps feels the presence of the Woman in Black about three times, only missing her presence a few times in the movie (though the dog saved him once). He also sees each of the children that the Woman in Black has killed twice, both times toward the end of the film. Though it can be argued that it is the power of the Woman in Black that causes more visions and more sightings, it does not explain away quite to my liking his ability to see Stella in any part of the film. Therefore, I believe he does have some sensitivity, and possibly a sensitivity that grows stronger the longer he's exposed to ethereal or otherworldly beings such as ghosts (The Woman in Black).
Supply List: He doesn't really need anything but his clothes, his wedding ring, and his pocketwatch, though I would like his son's picture book to be included in his coat, if possible. While it would be hilarious to give him a candle and axe, I'm sure he can pick up those items on his own.
Game Transfers: Not applicable.
Sample RP post: Kipps had had enough of this house already - and he hadn't even been there for more than a few hours. He'd been told by a few other people in the house that there were actually three - but he most assuredly was not interested in searching either of those, just as much as he was not enthused about being in this one. He had managed to break away from the others, not really out of any fault of his, but the few people he had met had seemed eager to find their friends. So he had begun to examine his surroundings, room by room. Only a little bit of exploring had made his stomach churn; namely the blood and the beings in the house had turned him away. And one room in particular, a nursery, sent Kipps many memories that he'd sooner forget that relive.
He hurriedly made his way towards another room after that sight – hopefully this room would be a lot more inviting than the nursery had been. He made a simple sharp knock at the door, followed by one small question.
“Hello, is anyone there?”
Getting no response, Arthur quietly opened the door, noting that it happened to be an empty study inside. He was happy to enter and sit by the fire, letting out a soft sigh of relief. “Thank heavens,” he muttered to himself, as he made his way to a very nice leather armchair, one which he occupied immediately. Sitting down made him feel much less sick to his stomach, and the complete silence in the room, while unnerving, did little to scare him. It was almost comforting, in a way, to be sitting quietly by a fire.
But that did not last for long. Without warning, a wind swept through the room, abruptly silencing the once roaring fire. All that were left were coals. Kipps instantly felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up – he had been through this before, and it hadn't been a pleasant experience. He hurriedly got out of the armchair, facing the middle of the room with a sharp turn that left him with his back facing the corner. But it was when he stood there for a moment that he realized something strange, something that made his blood run cold – a black substance was seeping through the bottom of the walls, even the one he had his back turned to, and was dripping up to the ceiling.
He didn't even take the time to gasp before rushing for the door, hands clawing for the knob – and it wouldn't turn, no matter how hard he tried, as if someone had locked him in from the outside. He pounded on the door, hard, before attempting to jiggle the handle again. Looking over his shoulder for a moment, Arthur noticed a small pool beginning to form on the ceiling, and the pounding on the door persisted with both his hands this time. “Somebody help me, please-! Open the door! HELP!”