All of the characters in this adventure can be divided into one of a few camps: The Grey family, your investigators, and everyone else.

The Grey Family #

No matter what¹, they posess old money, thanks to their mother. The whole family has curves for miles, curly red hair, and are just dark enough that most people assume it’s a tan². Yup, that’s privlege for ya.

Lady Grey: #

The matriarch of the family, Lady Grey is the polite and graceful mother of her horde of brats. She’ll tell you she never judges a book by its cover, which is true – but once she makes an assesment of you, it’s never going to change for the better.
When she is introduced, establish her by giving her an excuse to care for someone. When she talks with the investigators, have her ask about their needs. Especially if she’s trying to hide something.

Her funeral attire is a vintage all-black flapper dress, complete with a lovely black hair ornament, a black clutch, and a pair of black shoes³.

Priscilla and Edward Stone: #

Priscilla is the oldest child of Lady Grey, and is a fairly well known model. Her husband, Edward Stone, is also her agent. They have 2 children: their son Eric and their daughter Julie. They will brag about everything: they’ll brag about their fancy car, they’ll brag about how Eric is in military school⁴, they’ll brag about the private chef they brought along. If the investigators forgot to pack something (or it broke, or they otherwise Need A Thing), they’ll offer one with the greatest haughtiness imaginable… but they will be genuine in the offer, and if they don’t have it on them then they know where to get it. They will actively seek to make sure the people around them have what they need, rather than simply using their status to lord over others. In this way, they simultaniously indulge in gluttony and embody justice.

Behind closed doors, Priscilla and Edward’s relationship is a nasty, codependent thing. Priscilla is emotionally abusive, prone to cycles of showering her family with love before giving them the cold shoulder, as well as blatantly gaslighting them (E.G, “Edward, you said you’d park the car! How could you forget that!”). Edward is financially abusive, keeping an iron grip on the family’s finances, as well as throwing backhanded compliments in an attempt to fish for conflict. They’d both call the other the abuser and themself the saint.

For the funeral, Edward is wearing a dark blue suit, wheras Priscilla wears a fancy dress that is only mostly black.

Eric and Julie #

Eric copes with his parents by completely refusing to engage any more than he actually has to (a tactic known as the grey rock method). He reacts to their antics with a lot of disinterested nodding and canned replies.
Even while seperated, Eric will pretend to be a rather boring individual when interacting with the adults (to avoid later gossip). For the investigators to see how he actually is, they’ll need to pass a charm roll (or similar) to convince him they’re safe. He’s actually really prone to long, passionate rants about the strangest of things (investigators gain a bonus die to know rolls if he is in their presence and knows they’re safe people).

His sister Julie wasn’t so lucky. She copes with the abuse by finding her own ways to assert control. Often, she uses pranks for this – switching talcum and face powder, clogging toilets, throwing pine needles into shoes – acting like the dark mirror of Matilda. Occasionally, she has hurt small animals, like rats, when things are especially bad in the house. This aspect may come up later in the scenario.

For the funeral, they wore what their parents picked – straight from the front page of a children’s fashion magazine, albeit as dark as could be managed. Eric will at least ditch the coat (which matches neither the outfit nor the occasion) as soon as he can.

Anton Grey: #

Anton Grey is the second eldest, and works as a journalist for a fairly large newspaper. A sucessful Know roll will identify this, as well as his propensity for finding (and bringing to light) a frankly jaw-dropping number of buisness conspiracies and legal corruptions.
His introduction, loudly complaining about how the hotel staff ruined his suit by spilling ink on it (when it was actually the natural consequence of packing a large glass bottle of ink wrapped inside of the aforementioned suit inside a soft sided dufflebag, for air travel) is seemingly at odds with this reputation. Yet both have the same origin: Anton Grey literally cannot convieve the idea that he could be in the wrong⁵.

After all, if Anton cannot be wrong, then if it isn’t bad luck then there must be someone else causing bad things to happen. If multiple people cause bad things to happen to him, then it’s a conspiracy against him. Therefore, if someone else is suffering, there could be a conspiracy against them, and this conspiracy (if it does indeed exist) must be brought to light. In this way, he is simultaniously prideful and courageous.

A quick note: if the investigators ask him what he knows about (insert relevant topic here) during the investigation portion of the scenario, he will move to go find that out (assuming he doesn’t just know off the top of his head). To track this, identify the full route the investigators would need to go get that answer themselves⁶. Anton will take this route, at roughly the same pace as the investigators would be able to. He will then meet up with them after he finishes, with his information. He will let them know he is “checking it out”.

For the funeral, Anton will wear his black suit – the one with the ink stain. The necktie is red.

Daniel Grey: #

Daniel Grey is the black sheep of the family. Anyone who asks about how this reputation came to be will be regaled with stories of violent outbusts when he was younger, of how he beat one of his peers half to death over a pack of gum. They’ll also mention they lost touch with him about 8 years ago, and are frankly suprised he even showed up.
The stories are true. They are also outdated. He has since cleaned up his act, intentionally going no-contact with his family because he realized they were never going to let him change – hell, the only reason he even showed up was because he loved his dad. Now, he’s a single father for Alice, the daughter of a dearly departed friend. And he loves that kid with everything he’s got.

When the investigators meet him, he’ll be with Alice – playing with her, helping her with homework, or otherwise doting on her. If he’s on the grassy lawn outside the hotel when the investigators struggle inside, he’ll let his daughter know what he needs to do before asking them if they need any help – and if they do, Alice will help too⁷.

Nowadays, Daniel is a kinder man, who moves slowly and speaks softly. He always makes it clear what he’s going to do, and (if the investigators non-explicitly ask for something) he’ll reiterate that plan in clearer terms for his daughter. He has grown prudent with his time away from the Grey family, partially due to finding good compainions of faith. He won’t lord this over people – as he’ll put it, “heavens know how often men have sinned and called it God’s will” – but if asked he will explain his faith and offer them an invitation. If he is still present once the ritual begins, he will help maintain order among those in the hotel.

For the funeral, Daniel will wear an old, but very proper black suit (with black dress shirt). He has a rosary in his pocket, and may begin to pray the rosary if he knows he’s irritated. Additionally, if someone in his vicinity is being especially irritating, he will find an excuse to exit the conversation (to continue when he doesn’t want to punch people). He will take Alice with him when he does, unless he knows the other party will keep her safe.

Alice #

The adoptive daughter of Daniel Grey, Alice is 8 years old and acts somewhat odd⁸. She is well behaved, and even helpful, albeit with a few quirks. As she speaks, her hands will move around as if to gesticulate: A Know roll will identify this as sign language (specifically in a manner that reflects English word order). Any level of skill in a sign language will grant this knowlege for free. When overstimulated (likely due to a loud enviroment or a large degree of stress), her words will start to jump and stutter, before eventually ceasing as she clamps her hands over her ears⁹. For a while afterward she’ll wince at any noise, even her own, as she moves quietly and signs if she needs something. Daniel knows this is simply a part of who she is, and will help move her somewhere quiet to self-soothe.

Personality-wise, Alice is quite prone to observing people, rather than interacting with them. If given a book, she will tune out of any nearby discussions unless tapped on the shoulder (at which point she will jump slightly). If you need a cat scare (for some reason), the investigators may find Alice perched up high, squatting as she reads.
When she does talk, she is prone to using large words and pronouncing them wrong, simply because that is the correct term for what she is trying to say. If the investigators ask her to do something (or otherwise indicate they need something), she will do exactly what they told her to. This may be different from what they intended.

Before the funeral, Alice will be wearing a bright pink hello kitty shirt and elastic-waisted pants. For the funeral, she will be wearing a black cotton dress.

Catherine Grey and Judy Pierce: #

Catherine Grey is the youngest daughter of the Grey family. She came here with her girlfriend, Judy Pierce. They are relatively secretive, neither joining in on the gossip nor discussing their lives unless explicitly invited (and even then they will be somewhat conservative). They will avoid making enemies, mostly by trying to fade into the background.
This does not mean they don’t have enemies.

In truth, they get their money from the drug trade, and part of this trip is about expanding their reach. That briefcase Judy is carrying secretly holds a Thompson submachine gun, hence the lock on it and the way she never lets it out of her sight. The drugs they brought along are hidden in their room, also in an innocuous locked case. Catherine is the face of their operation, Judy is the muscle. They are greedy, sure – but they have enough temperance to keep this hidden.

If the investigators get them talking, they’ll find Catherine almost expects her interactions to be transactional – I’ll scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine – wheras Judy tends to be naturally laconic simply due to not wanting to fill the air with inane chatter for its own sake.

For the funeral, Catherine wears a nice black dress and Judy a well-fitted suit – A sucessful Appraise check will identify them as an extremely fancy (albeit little-known outside especially wealthy circles) brand. Judy is carrying the aforementioned briefcase¹⁰.

The Others #

A mix of the hotel’s guests and staff, these people can be safely assumed not to be involved with the ritual. This doesn’t mean they won’t affect the case – just that they are known not to be suspects.

Mortimer #

Mortimer Kaczmarek¹¹ is the current owner of the Paradise Hotel, and the nephew of its original founder. He is the perfect image of a gentleman in manners and appearance, with a well tailored suit, impeccable manners, and even a properly folded pocket square. He is also Black¹² and used to getting some flak about his appearance (hence the “perfect gentleman” image). In his role as owner/head manager of this hotel, he acts in a particularly stoic and authoritative manner: Mortimer does not smile simply to make other people feel comfortable¹³, he does not mince his words in an attempt to blunt their impact, and he does not allow entitled guests to abuse his staff into compliance with absurd demands. When he appears, he hears things out, delivers his judgement, and makes it so.

The reason he is so confident in this professional persona is because he has spent the last 15 minutes working through every possible scenario in his head, and is finally confident that this is what must be done.¹⁴
He absolutely has an anxiety disorder.

If the investigators speak to him in private, they may notice his false stoicism slip – a deep breath here, a request for a moment to think there – and may be able to convince him (with a social check) that they are safe people to confide in. At which point he will spend the next 15 minutes (or so) confessing exactly how terrifying this whole mess is. He won’t completely dissolve into a gibbering mess, but it might catch the investigators off-guard.
Additionally, while they are speaking in private, if the investigators ask for something and give a good reason for it (E.G, “May we have a set of keys so we can search the rooms, we’ve done investigations on this sort of thing before”), he’ll probably allow it – although he may ask to accompany them (or have Cassidy do so) to make sure they’re not being completely ridiculous.

Cassidy #

Cassidy Levshwitz is the substitute manager¹⁵ for the hotel. They’re relatively new, and aren’t especially used to getting unruly guests under control (and thus Mortimer is showing them the ropes), but they do know where everything is. If one of the maids (or other staff members) goes missing for some reason¹⁶, they’ll be the first one to ask about it. Cassidy will move around the hotel, so if the investigators want to talk with them, allow a Luck check to see if they’re nearby – if so, talking with them won’t advance the scenario’s time clock. Convincing them of basic requests (“Could we have a set of keys”, “We need to check who reserved this room”, etc) will require skill checks, as they’re understandibly nervous about allowing guests to get into things they shouldn’t.

When it comes to customer service, Cassidy is much more proficient in “speak softly” than “and carry a big stick”. If something is unavailable, they may not say this outright, instead offering alternatives.