PROJECT - GOLGOTHA
❝ Cape Agatha remembers. ❞
backstory
CAPE AGATHA
Some places are abandoned. Others are left behind.There are places that disappear from the world without anyone noticing. Places swallowed by forests, reclaimed by the sea, reduced to names on outdated maps and stories told by people who swear they remember them differently.Cape Agatha is not one of those places.Perched somewhere along a stretch of unforgiving coastline, surrounded by cold waters and cliffs that disappear into the fog, Cape Agatha was once considered a destination worth crossing an ocean to see. It was a place of grand architecture, sprawling estates, winding cobblestone paths, and breathtaking views. During its golden years, wealthy families arrived for the summer season, couples celebrated their honeymoons beneath the chandeliers of the Agatha Grand, and curious travelers came to experience the peculiar charm of an island that seemed untouched by the outside world.The island had a reputation for being old fashioned, of course, but that was part of its appeal. The locals were private. The churches were older than anyone could remember. The cemetery in St. Valek held names that appeared in the island's earliest records, and the bell at St. Agatha Church could reportedly be heard across the water on evenings when no one had rung it.Cape Agatha was beautiful.But… it was also strange.Visitors spoke of hearing footsteps in locked corridors, seeing figures standing at the edges of the cliffs, and waking to find their hotel room doors open despite having locked them from the inside. Some complained of unsettling dreams. Others insisted they had encountered people who looked familiar, though they had never met them before. There were stories of voices coming through disconnected telephones, of photographs developing with unfamiliar faces, and of staff who claimed to have seen someone standing in the rooms after they had checked out.The islanders dismissed these accounts as exaggerations, drunken stories, and the inevitable inventions of tourists with too much time on their hands.For years, that explanation was enough.Then, in the late seventies, the stories changed.
The year it went quiet
By 1978, Cape Agatha had become a place people were leaving.The decline appeared gradual at first. Businesses closed their doors. Seasonal visitors stopped returning. Several properties were sold and abandoned before their new owners even arrived to take their possession. The ferry service became increasingly unreliable, and the island's harbor grew quieter with every passing month.Official accounts offered a collection of reasonable explanations: financial difficulties, declining tourism, disputes over property, and the cost of maintaining an isolated community. There were references to structural damage, concerns about the cliffs, and reports of incidents that had made visitors uncomfortable.Nothing extraordinary. Nothing that should have emptied an island.And yet, by the end of the year, Cape Agatha was almost entirely deserted.The Agatha Grand closed its doors. The Old Valek Inn ceased accepting guests. The shops along the main road were shut down, their windows boarded up from the inside. Families packed what they could carry and left behind homes that would remain untouched for decades. Some departed with elaborate explanations. Others left without saying goodbye.A handful stayed.They were the elderly. The stubborn and devoted. Those who claimed they had nowhere else to go. They remained in their houses as the island emptied around them, continuing their routines in a community that had become a shadow of itself. They rarely spoke to outsiders about what had happened. When questioned, some became irritated. Others simply changed the subject.A few even refused to say the year aloud.No single event has ever been officially recognized as the reason for Cape Agatha's abandonment. There is no universally accepted account of what happened, no definitive disaster, no incident big enough to explain why an entire community quietly withdrew from the place it had called home.The absence of an explanation became the island's most enduring mystery.
It is not forgotten
In the decades that followed, Cape Agatha developed a reputation that traveled much farther than the locals.Fishermen spoke of lights moving across the island after dark, particularly in the windows of buildings that had been without electricity for years. Sailors reported hearing church bells from the direction of the cliffs, even when the weather made it impossible to hear sound across the water. There were accounts of strange figures wandering the shoreline at low tide, disappearing whenever anyone attempted to approach them.The stories became more elaborate with time, as stories often do.A young couple visiting the island in the early eighties claimed that every clock inside of Agatha Grand had stopped at the exact same minute. A maintenance worker reportedly abandoned his tools and refused to return after hearing someone calling him by a childhood nickname from beneath the dock. An amateur photographer insisted that a woman appeared in every photograph he took near St. Valek Cemetery, always at a distance yet inching closer and always facing the camera.Then there were the disappearances.Not all were confirmed. Some people had never been reported missing in the first place. Others had vanished from public records, leaving behind conflicting accounts of where they had gone. Over time, the names became tangled with rumor, and the distinction between documented events and local folklore grew difficult to establish.The few residents who remained on Cape Agatha developed their own rules. They discouraged visitors from wandering near the cemetery after sunset. They advised strangers not to enter abandoned buildings alone. Some insisted that the old church should never be entered when its doors were found open after dark.And, according to several accounts, they were particularly uncomfortable with anyone asking about the old inn.No one knew why.The island's reputation attracted the occasional thrill seeker, journalist, urban explorer, or self proclaimed paranormal investigator. Most returned with little more than photographs of decaying buildings and stories of an eerie atmosphere. Others returned convinced that something had followed them home. A few never produced a report at all.Over the years, recordings circulated among small paranormal communities: unexplained knocks, voices buried beneath static, and audio captured inside of empty rooms. Some were easily dismissed as interference or fabrication. Others remained difficult to explain, though difficult to explain has never meant impossible to fake.Cape Agatha became a favorite subject of ghost stories, late night broadcasts, and online discussions. It was called cursed, haunted, demonic, and everything in between. The more sensational the claim, the more likely it was to attract attention.
A legacy of saints and strangers
For all its reputation, Cape Agatha has never been defined by a single ghost story.Its history is scattered across church registers, old newspaper clippings, property records, damaged photographs, and the recollections of people who disagree about nearly everything. St. Agatha Church still stands against the weather, its woodwork darkened by years of salt and rain. St. Valek Cemetery remains crowded with weather worn headstones, some so eroded that their inscriptions can no longer be read. The Old Valek Inn sits silent, its windows reflecting a sea that seems darker than the water surrounding the rest of the island.The Agatha Grand, once the pride of the cape, has become a monument to the island's abandoned grandeur. Ivy creeps across its exterior. Salt air has eaten into the metal fixtures. The ballroom remains somewhat intact, its chandeliers hanging above a floor buried beneath dust and debris. The building's history is well documented until the final years before its closure, after which the surviving records become incomplete.There are gaps where names should be. Dates that contradict one another. Photographs in which the same unfamiliar face appears decades apart. Nothing complete. Nothing that would satisfy a serious investigator. Only enough to make the questions harder to ignore.The remaining locals have little patience for the island's growing notoriety. They do not appreciate being treated as characters in someone else's ghost story, and they are especially distrustful of visitors who arrive expecting to find a demon behind every locked door. Some believe the stories have been exaggerated beyond recognition. Others seem less concerned with whether the island is haunted than wandering if people should be looking for proof.When asked what happened in 1978, the answers are rarely the same.One elderly resident, according to an account published years ago in The Blackwater Press, offered a different explanation.The island, they said, had not been abandoned. It had simply stopped welcoming people.The interview was never completed. The reporter's notes end halfway through a sentence, and the article was withdrawn from the newspaper's archive shortly after publication.The surviving issue contains no explanation for its removal.
The island - 2026
Today, Cape Agatha exists in an uneasy space between history and legend.It remains accessible under certain conditions, though few people have any reason to visit. The ferry landing is in disrepair. The old roads have become difficult to navigate. Most of the island's buildings are considered unsafe, and several locations are officially restricted. The handful of residents who remain keep to themselves, rarely welcoming strangers and seldom offering directions beyond the main road.The island is not entirely forgotten. Its name still surfaces in paranormal forums, obscure documentaries, and discussions of supposedly haunted locations. Every few years, someone announces plans to investigate its ruins. Every few years, those plans quietly disappear.There are photographs of the island taken from the mainland, showing the dark outline of the Agatha Grand against the sky. There are old maps that place buildings where modern surveys show nothing but empty ground. There are accounts from visitors who swear that the island looked different on their return journey than it had on the way there.And there are rumors of something else.Stories of organized expeditions that never made their findings public. Reports of private investors attempting to acquire the abandoned properties. Whispers of recovered tapes, sealed rooms, and documents that have passed through too many hands to establish where they originated.And occasionally, a name appears in connection with these rumors: Lazarus & Co.No one seems entirely certain what the organization does. Its interests are described variously as historical preservation, private research, archival recovery, and the investigation of unexplained phenomena. Its representatives are difficult to contact, and the information available about its operations is sparse.What is known is that Lazarus & Co. has taken an interest in Cape Agatha. And after nearly half a century of silence, someone is making arrangements to return.Perhaps the island has been misunderstood. Perhaps its history has been distorted by decades of rumor. Perhaps every reported haunting has an ordinary explanation waiting to be discovered. Or perhaps Cape Agatha has spent all these years waiting for someone to ask the right questions.The old buildings are still standing. The records are still incomplete. The remaining residents are still reluctant to speak.And somewhere along the coastline, beneath the sound of the waves and the distant cry of birds, the church bell is said to ring on nights when no one is there to pull the rope.Cape Agatha remembers. It has never been established what, exactly, it remembers.— taken from the historical records of Cape Agatha, compiled from surviving editions of The Blackwater Press and unverified local accounts.
roles
Welcome to Project Golgotha!LAZARUS & CO. — CAPE AGATHA EXPEDITION20 positions have been authorized for the Cape Agatha project/assignment. Applicants from all professional backgrounds are welcome. Previous experience with unexplained occurrences is not required. All personnel are expected to cooperate with the expedition, document relevant findings, and comply with established safety procedures and rules. They’re created for a reason.Whether these procedures are sufficient remains to be seen.
More info and An example
Before you are accepted, you must submit the following via the audition form. Form will be posted on Twitter - @PRJCTGLGTH - and on this page! New roles open every new season. Be pondering your choices and your original (has to be original!) character. If you need help, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter @medicinoir. I’d love to help you create.1. Your Role — this is who your character appears to be. Think medium, influencer, occult researcher, media personnel, etc.2. Private Secret — A hidden truth your character carries. This can be anything as long as it does not affect the plot without speaking to me. Examples include a family scandal, blackmail, criminal ties, past trauma, etc. Nothing is off limits.3. Fear — A deep rooted fear that may or may not affect your character and their time on Cape Agatha.4. Chosen Label — One word or short phrase describing your archetype on the island.Below is an example ↴‣ Role: Investigator
‣ Secret: Relative was from the island before collapse
‣ Fear: Intense emotions about dying
‣ Label: “The Fallen Angel”
open roles
Roles are first come / first serve, and some may be unavailable if taken by other players. Please have a backup option, and don’t be upset if you don’t get what you want. This is about creativity! Each role has a limit on how many characters can fit into it. As seasons progress, more characters may be accepted. Yes, you can create more than one as long as you keep up with the RPG, and differentiate their personalities.Roles ↴‣ Professional Investigator: Paranormal investigators. Ghost hunters. Demonologists. Occult researchers. Witches. Mediums. These are people who have been recruited to uncover the truth behind Cape Agatha's history and unexplained activity. (No connection to online personalities, but can be on television/in films).‣ Social Influencer: Content creators. Streamers. Online personalities. These people have been invited to document their experiences on the island.‣ Media Personnel: Journalists. Filmmakers. Photographers. Researchers. These people document the expedition. Some are here to seek the truth, while others are chasing their big break.‣ Local of the Island: Longtime residents. Former island employees. People with personal ties to Cape Agatha. These people may know more about the island's past than they're willing to admit, but they’re quite strange. And very secretive.‣ Guests: Curious outsiders. Skeptics. Adrenaline seekers. Benefactors. These are individuals with personal reasons for coming to Cape Agatha. Not everyone has been entirely honest about why they accepted the invitation… and they don’t have to tell others they’re a guest.Note: Locals and Guests are extremely limited to ensure balance. If all roles are taken, you will need to choose another. We are currently accepting 20 admissions total (split between these 5 roles) until season two arrives.
open labels
Every character has a reputation whether they’ve earned it or not. Your label reflects how others may perceive you, the role you play among the group, and the kind of person you become when things start going wrong on Cape Agatha.Choose carefully! Your label may influence your interactions with other characters, events, and certain tasks throughout the story.Some examples you can choose from ↴‣ The Manipulator
‣ The Debunker
‣ The Skeptic
‣ The Firm Believer
‣ The Observer
‣ The Fallen Angel
‣ The Fraud
‣ The Whistleblower
‣ The Clairvoyant
‣ The Shadow
‣ The Golden Child
‣ The Star
‣ The Grave Robber
‣ The Keeper
‣ The Heigh Preistess
‣ The Survivor
‣ The Intruder
‣ The Hermit
‣ The Conspiracy Theorist
‣ The Clout Chasernote: you can create your own label as long as it fits the atmosphere of project golgotha. custom labels must be approved by the host through your audition!
some BASIC RPG rules
1. Respect Other Players’ Secrets — Never reveal another player’s private secret without in AND out of character consent. Even then, you must run it by the host.2. Role Conflicts — Some roles may conflict in narrative. The host may intervene to maintain story balance.3. Active Participation — Players are expected to engage in events, rumors, goals, and mini tasks. There will be 1 major event per week as well as 1-2 mini tasks to keep the story alive and engaging.4. The HOST Moves First – NPC actions or host events override player plans in emergencies. This will be rare.5. Rumors Are Reality – Whether true or false, rumors affect your standing, tasks, and events.6. First Come / First Serve – Limited roles and labels. Claim them wisely.7. No character is automatically immune to paranormal activity, curses, possession, or other supernatural consequences.8. No player may control another character's thoughts, actions, reactions, or supernatural experiences without the player's consent.9. Possession, physical transformations, permanent injuries, and other major supernatural effects require player AND host consent.10. Characters may interpret paranormal events differently. No single character's beliefs automatically determine what is real.11. No character is guaranteed to survive every investigation or story event.12. Secrets, betrayals, and hidden motives are encouraged, but they must NOT override another player's established boundaries. Or the host’s plot.13. No player may force another character into a major plot development without reasonable collaboration. Or host notification.14. Players are encouraged to participate in investigations, discoveries, and group events, but real life availability always comes first. You may miss a few events. I will have that information listed on Discord. Important clues and plot developments will NOT depend on one player being unavailable.15. Players may develop theories, investigate locations, and interpret evidence, but hosts determine official lore and story outcomes.16. Do not metagame!!! Information discovered out of character does NOT automatically become knowledge your character possesses.17. Characters may lie, withhold information, or mislead one another in character. OOC communication must remain honest and respectful.18. Players may not alter, destroy, or declare the significance of shared evidence without host approval.19. Unsolved mysteries may remain unresolved for a period of time. Not every strange occurrence will receive an immediate explanation.20. Do not use OOC information to gain an unfair advantage during investigations or events.21. Any planned death, disappearance, possession, or permanent removal must follow host guidelines and applicable consent rules.22. If a player leaves the RPG, their character's fate will be discussed with them when possible and handled in a way that respects the ongoing story.22. NO player is required to sacrifice their character to advance another player's storyline.23. IC conflict does not justify OOC hostility. Your character may hate another character without you hating their writer.24. Do not pressure players to participate in ships, rivalries, confrontations, or storylines they have declined.25. Plot twists, major connections, and shared backstories involving another character require the other player's agreement.26. Give other writers room to contribute!!! No character should dominate every investigation, discovery, or major story moment.27. Respect the hosts' decisions regarding lore, event outcomes, and community boundaries.Note: A complete rule list will be submitted in the RPG discord server
Once approved, you are officially welcomed aboard the Island…Welcome to Project Golgotha.We hope you survive your stay.
t he
island
Cape Agatha’s buildings are alive.Churches, cemeteries, caves… they’re not just for the thrill. They are stages for the paranormal, the darkness, and survival.Every choice here matters. The island remembers.
the Agatha grand
This was once the island's premier hotel. It catered to wealthy tourists, influential families, and visitors seeking a secluded coastal retreat. Its ballroom (the Gilded Room), guest suites, and upper floors have remained untouched for decades. Locals claim certain rooms appear occupied despite the building being empty.
the gilded room
This was a lavish room within the Agatha Grand reserved for private gatherings. It also hosted exclusive celebrations and events attended by the island's wealthiest guests. Its mirrors have been covered or shatters, and an old seating chart list still hangs where attendees are listed. Their names do not appear anywhere else in the hotel's records.
st. Agatha church
A small Christian chapel built before the entirety of the island became abandoned. It was first built in 1702. It stands near a low-lying stretch of coast and is supposedly a victim of repeated flooding. Locals disagree about whether it was ever officially consecrated, however… it reeks of limestone and mold.
the Valek cemetery
The island's oldest burial ground. It contains generations of local families as well as unmarked graves. There are also elaborate mausoleums. Some burial records and obituaries do not match the names carved into the headstones. Visitors are warned not to enter after dark, though nobody knows who first established the rule.
The Old Valek House
This is the ancestral home of one of Cape Agatha's oldest and wealthiest families. The Valeks were involved in local business, property ownership, and the island's development. The entire estate was abandoned after the family's final known occupants disappeared from public records.
St. Agatha Christian school
This was a small, religious school that served the children of residents and resort employees. Old attendance books show several students were enrolled here under names that cannot be found in birth records. Classrooms remain filled with warped desks, essays, used chalkboards, and children's drawings.
Cape Agatha Courthouse
This was the administrative building of the island. It held deeds, census records, birth and death certificates, court filings, and ALL historical correspondence. Much of the archive was reportedly transferred before the island was left abandoned, but surviving documents contain conflicting dates and inexplicable gaps.
the Blackwater lighthouse
This is the former lighthouse that was to guide ships around the island's dangerous reefs. Its light was officially decommissioned as the island’s wealth declined, yet distant ships have occasionally reported seeing it illuminated. The staircase inside is said to contain more steps on the way down than on the way up.
Cape Agatha crypts
This is a hidden chamber below the Agatha Grand, and it is absent from the official architectural plans. Its original purpose is unknown, though fragments of religious inscriptions and locked compartments have been reported. It was found by accident. Access has been prohibited for reasons no church record explains.
the old Valek inn
An old, country inn that once accommodated priests, ferry workers and visitors unable to afford the Agatha Grand. The ground floor served as a gathering place for locals. The guest ledger ends abruptly in 1978 with several pages torn out.
Valek row
A stretch of tightly packed homes where fishermen, shopkeepers, domestic workers, and resort staff once lived. Some houses appear to have been abandoned in a hurry with furniture, photographs, and personal belongings still inside.
cape Agatha infirmary and asylum
The island's only hospital and mental health treatment center. It cared for locals, tourists, and injured ferry passengers no matter the circumstances. Medical records from the final years of the island’s life are incomplete, and a few patient files appear to have been deliberately removed before the facility closed.
Old blackwater caves
A network of caves beneath the island's cliffs, historically used by fishermen and poor visitors seeking shelter. The caves are notorious for strange echoes, sudden changes in water levels, and voices that seem to come from deeper passages no map has ever pinpointed toward.
Blackwater ferry landing
The primary connection between Cape Agatha and the mainland. It was once used by residents, tourists, and supply boats. The last official departure was recorded in 1978. Some surviving documentation list arrivals that never appear in the corresponding departure records.
the Blackwater boathouse
Once a former fishing and boat storage, this was where local fishermen stored boats and repaired nets. It stands beside a stretch of shoreline that floods even during calm weather. Residents claim they sometimes hear someone rowing beneath the floorboards.
archive
warnings
Project Golgotha is a dark, horror, psychological thriller RPG.While no extreme graphic physical violence is used UNLESS agreed upon, this roleplay explores horror and intense emotional and psychological themes.
This rpg may include
‣ Psychological manipulation
‣ Gaslighting
‣ Paranoia & surveillance themes
‣ Blackmail
‣ Social isolation
‣ Investigative pressure
‣ Reputation destruction
‣ Stalking
‣ Panicked responses
‣ Loss of social safety
‣ Betrayal
‣ Power imbalance
‣ Fear of exposure
‣ Control dynamics
‣ Coercion
‣ Paranormal themes
‣ Occult themes
‣ Cannibalism
‣ Psychic/medium/clairvoyant themes
‣ Death and/or Injury
‣ Possession
‣ Demonic activity
‣ ETC…
This rpg will not include
‣ Graphic physical violence
‣ Sexual violence
‣ Explicit sexual content (UNLESS y’all do that privately, then idgaf)
‣ Real world hate speech
‣ Extreme gore
‣ Player vs player real-life harassmentNote: everything that happens in this RPG is strictly in character only, including any and all romance connections unless you and your shipping partner agree otherwise. STRICTLY. IN. CHARACTER. AGAIN- especially ROMANCE. Just because you ship in the RPG, does not automatically mean you ship OOC or on the writer’s main account(s). :)
You may always
‣ Opt out of a storyline
‣ Request a topic be skipped
‣ Ask for a scene to fade to black
‣ No player is ever required to reveal personal real life trauma
‣ Fictional discomfort does not equal real life harm!
Ooc boundaries
‣ Psychological horror is used for story tension, not cruelty.
‣ No player may target another player OOC. Ever.
‣ No content will ever be forced.
‣ No humiliation is allowed without consent from writers OOC.
‣ “Punishments" affect characters, not players.
Final warning!
If you are not comfortable with the following:‣ Dark themes
‣ Paranormal themes
‣ Satanic themes
‣ Occult themes
‣ Some gore
‣ People eating people
‣ Religious/deconstruction of religion/atheistic themes
‣ Psychological tension
‣ Unreliable reality
‣ Social manipulationThen this may not be the RPG for you, and that is okay. <3
the blackwater press
This is where the weekly newspaper will be posted.Coming soon…
the files
This is where the rumor mill will be posted. It will be old archive style, leaked papers called The FilesComing soon…
social media
This is where a list of everyone’s in character social media handles will be posted. It will also be in the discord group as well. You do NOT need a separate social media page for your RPG character, but they will be listed here. This is optional.This page will also include NPCs.