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Murder at Avedon Hill

Profile by Jay Watamaniuk

One of the most enduring story archetypes involves solving a mystery. Add to this a sensational murder and a line-up of diverse and captivating characters as suspects and you have a setting for a fine story of sleuthing and intrigue. P.G. Holyfield, aka gurney9999, has used Neverwinter Nights as a springboard to present a scandalous story of murder most foul and is closing in on completing his first novel from the experience.

Is there a website to get more information?

http://www.murderatavedonhill.com.

Can you give a newcomer a quick overview of what "Murder at Avedon Hill" is?

P.G.: Murder at Avedon Hill is an interactive murder mystery I began writing in 2003 and was featured by Maximus on Neverwinter Vault. A short description of the story:

"Lord Avedon has a problem. Generations of Avedons have watched over Avedon Hill and controlled the only pass through the Lantis Mountains. Traditions are important to the Avedon family, but one tradition has tragically come to an end. Gretta Platt, Housemistress of Avedon Hill, has been murdered. A member of the Platt family has always served the Avedons as Housemistress, and since Gretta's death Lord Avedon has barely been able to function. Only a handful of people live at Avedon Hill, and all are suspects. Arames Kragen, retired Aarronic Advisor and scholar of prophecy, arrives at the gates of Avedon Hill, hoping to gain access to the mountain pass. Lord Avedon is not in a giving mood, however...

This is the story of Arames Kragen and his attempt not only to discover who killed Gretta Platt, but also to uncover the truth about a town that apparently has more secrets than inhabitants..."

By interactive, I mean that at the end of most chapters I asked readers a question (usually what they thought would happen in the next chapter) and gave them several possible answers. Readers 'bet' on the answers at the NWVault website.

After 23 chapters and many readers telling me to get the story published (including my wife who wouldn't stop kicking me), I stopped posting chapters on the Vault but continued writing the novel.

The story has the feel of an NWN module. Was it supposed to be a series of modules?

P.G.: Interesting question. Early in 2003, Maximus and others had the idea to create a guild tournament module. Two competing parties would run through the module at the same time, vying for points based on their actions during play. I wanted to help ,and since I never got the hang of NWN scripting I worked on the story side of things, creating a complex murder mystery. I developed 40+ NPCs with spreadsheets full of conversations for them. I also created three murderers, each with his or her own storyline, different chains of evidence, different conversations, etc.

The goal was to create a module that could be reused with multiple guilds in a tournament setting. I also wanted to implement a 'case note' system. Conversations, pieces of evidence, etc. would give players 'case notes' that would in turn allow new questions to be asked of NPCs, open up new areas, scripted events, etc. Part of the guild aspect of the module would require the trading of notes between guild members in order to "solve" the murder.

Sadly, due to real life commitments for myself and those signed on to build the module, the module didn't get developed. But the spreadsheets and documents I created represented hours upon hours of work...they kept calling to me. And since I had fantasy setting I could use as the framework for the story, I approached Maximus with the idea of the interactive murder mystery.

Had you always had a desire to write a murder mystery?

P.G.: Not exactly. Like many D&D DMs, I created my own campaign setting back in college in the late 80s, a setting named The Land of Caern. Like many as well, I wanted to one day turn The Land of Caern into the next great series of fantasy novels. I stopped playing D&D after college however, and didn't revisit my dreams of writing until I began hearing about Neverwinter Nights. I began working on the stories that I believed would one day become a series of NWN modules.

After NWN came out two things happened: my daughter Samantha was born and the realization set in that I was not going to become the next great NWN module creator. But the ideas did not go to waste: I began writing the first epic fantasy novel set in The Land of Caern...that is, until Murder at Avedon Hill came along.

The method you choose to write this story is quite unconventional. What was the reasoning behind this?

P.G.: By method I'm assuming you mean the serial nature of the work and the betting system that was used....

The first part is easy to explain. I am a slow writer. Most of what appeared on the Vault was written during lunch hours in my cube. I released each chapter as I finished it, and had no problems allowing readers to shape the story... a couple of times I even asked readers to vote on what they wanted the 'heroes' to do next. That was fine with me, since I was working within a module framework, at any point there were several directions the heroes could go.

As for the betting system, Maximus had already used it before for a game called Wealth and Glory, and it tied in well with the serial nature of the story.

Why did you choose Neverwinter Nights and NWVault to showcase this project?

P.G.: Neverwinter Nights was and still is the most influential D&D based PC game ever created. I wrote an article for Neverwinter Stratics called "The Allure of Neverwinter Nights" a year before the game was released, sharing my view of what I hoped NWN would turn out to be. The ability to play D&D online with people all around the world, the opportunity to share your stories and see them played out in a program that handled the rules system in the background so you could concentrate on the storytelling aspects of D&D, all in a program that was visually as impressive as anything seen to that point in an RPG. The promise of NWN attracted me as soon as it was announced.

NWN has been a platform for creative expression across the community. The modules, the models, the scripting, the artwork, etc. You don't have to go any further than the excellent work by creators such as Stephan Gagne and Ben 'Altaris' McJunkin to see how this game has changed the landscape of online gaming. For me, hopefully NWN was the kick start I needed to finish my first novel.

As for the Vault: ever since Bioware's first presentation of NWN at E3 I have been friends with Errol (Maximus). As editor of NWVault his dedication to the NWN community has been a joy to watch. When I began writing chapters on my other Land of Caern novel I used NWVault's Fan Fiction area to get feedback on my work. After the Tournament Guild module failed to materialize, it was the logical place for me to turn the storyline into something people might enjoy.

What is the current state of your project? How is the writing going?

P.G.: Slowly but surely :)

During the writing process I decided to change the name of the book from "Murder at Avedon Manor" to "Murder at Avedon Hill". The reason for this was two-fold: in the planned NWN module the focus of most of the gameplay revolved around the manor and the catacombs directly underneath it, while the novel has expanded its scope to many areas within and surrounding Avedon Hill. The other reason is that "Avedon Hill" will become an important locale in future Caern novels, so I wanted it in the name of the first novel.

At this point I'm on chapter 32 of a probable 40. The working title of the book is Murder at Avedon Hill. I should have the first draft completed by the end of June. At the same time my wife is working on expanding our website. It will provide potential readers a lot of information on the book, The Land of Caern setting, news items, etc. Lastly, my father Ron Holyfield, a wildlife artist of thirty years, is working on the cover art for the book.

A lot of my time since December has been spent rewriting the first half of the novel. I treated the chapters posted on NWVault as an exercise for me. It was a perfect opportunity to flesh out my setting; I had characters go for pages and even chapters on topics (the history, the political/religious conflicts of the time, the pantheon of Caern, etc.) that would not be included in such detail in a first novel. Also, the serial nature of what I was doing on the Vault forced me to restate information the reader already knew (simply because it might have been six months since they first read it).

I also added a prologue from the point of view of Gretta Platt, the murder victim. I wanted readers to connect to her more as a character, not just someone the townspeople talk about to our heroes.

When can we look for your work in the local bookstore?

P.G.: While I have sent out submissions to publishers, I will most likely be self-publishing Murder at Avedon Hill through Lulu.com. This will get the book distributed through online booksellers such as Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com, and if I can market it well enough and get a positive response from readers, I know it will make it to a bookstore near you.

Look for Murder at Avedon Hill 4th quarter 2005.

For those interested in learning more about Murder at Avedon Hill, please visit http://www.murderatavedonhill.com. There is a link there to sign up for the Murder at Avedon Hill mailing list.

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