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Active Case

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On a personal quest for enlightenment, a grim reality unfolds. 

Ancient traditions are questioned by science in the modern age, but what of the folklore and its deeper significance?

 

Can you withstand temptation and persevere?

Or shall the tenebrous truth damn you for eternity?

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CASE 1:  The Haunting of Tihange Castle

Dive into the shadowy depths of "The Haunting of Tihange Castle".  A live-action role-playing (LARP) horror experience that draws inspiration from movies and tv series such as: The Conjuring, In the Mouth of Madness, The Exorcist, True Detective and others in the genre.

Our story is set in the year 1975, in the quiet Belgian village of Huy. 

In the shadows of the nearby nuclear power plant stands tall a solemn castle. Within the ancient walls of Tihange Castle, participants will be plunged into a visceral tale of psychological horror.  

 

Our story starts when a group of youths and their clergy mentors arrive to stay at the castle as part of an experimental, spiritual retreat - much to the dismay of the diligent servants who prefer things done in a certain way and are not used to the sudden commotion.

 

They must navigate the castle's dark corridors as well as their own inner turmoil and forbidden desires. A series of harrowing events soon unfolds that will challenge their beliefs and sanity.

 

In this immersive experience we will engage all of your senses, characters will be confronted with their inner fears and moral dilemmas. Should they unveil what was intentionally buried in the dust of the past? Will they persevere against malevolent forces, or will they succumb to the seductive whispers of the unknown?

"The Haunting of Tihange Castle" promises a journey where the line between reality and nightmare fades and every choice brings you closer to salvation or damnation.  

Podcast

Sally and Gilbert are the hosts for our ingame podcast. These two curious influencers spend their time scouring the internet and offline archives looking for the weird and unexplained. They would present themselves as internet sleuths for strange supernatural phenomena, though Gilbert is a staunch sceptic, the things they discover are usually chilling to say the least. In every episode, they present a new case and take their viewers through their discoveries, revealing the truth as best they can. You can listen to their latest episode here.

This game is for you if you...

  • Desire both social-cooperative play and introspective personal play.

  • Enjoy delving into your character's psyche,  and helping other characters on their own personal journey.

  • Want to consider, weigh and make impactful story-choices.

  • Enjoy horror. The kind that makes you leave the light on at night.

  • Crave immersion. You can see, touch, smell and hear our story that we write together.

  • Love the rush of adrenaline when you fight your biggest fear of try to get away from it.

  • Adore everything about the 70’s. The story is set in 1975 so bust out your best bell-bottomed-pants and wavy hair!

  • Want to partake in a Nordic style larp with an emphasis on "show, don’t tell" and play to lift/lose.

Themes

The paranormal

Delving into mysteries

Paranoia

Scary things in the dark

Fear

Period play

Faith versus Reason

Pushing personal boundaries of beliefs and morals

Inner turmoil

Temptation

Tradition versus innovation

Teen drama

The human reaction to severe stress

Roles

The roles are divided into the following themed groups:

The adolescents who have difficult backgrounds and/or mental issues. They are participating in this retreat as an alternative punishment or as part of a program.

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The adolescents who willingly go to the retreat as volunteers, teaching the troubled youth about friendship and wholesome living.

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The clergy, who lead the retreat. The men are Brothers from the Order of Jesuits, the women are Sisters from The Order of Mary. These children need someone to look up to, to get their life back on track. Some do it with inspirational quotes from the bible, some have… a more creative approach.

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The servants who know every nook and cranny of the castle and treat it with the respect it demands. Over the years they developed their own strange habits and routines. Never have they had the pleasure of opening the castle up to strangers, how bad can it be to have a few people in the house? Surely they will follow the rules!

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Triggers/content warnings

Essential trigger topics

 

Troubled youth

Gaslighting

Simulated fire

Trauma play

Clergy/religion

Murder

Witchcraft

Corruption

Darkness

Partial trigger topics

 

Classicism

Sexism

Simulated violence

Death

Virginity

Substance addiction

Fake blood

Mental health issues

References to torture

References to strangulation

Physical constraint

Jump scares

Simulated containment

No-gos

 

Body shaming

Real drugs

Racism

Ageism

Spiders

Rape

Sexual child abuse

Real animal blood/guts

Animal abuse

Homo-transphobia

Babycide

Miscarriage

Please note that the look down mechanic always works and you can leave any scene at any time you feel the need. We have an off-game Safe Room where you can go and we have a female licensed psychologist on site that you can summon should you feel the need to talk.

Phases

These phases will give you an idea about how the structure of the weekend will look. Key events will take place during each phase, but we won't go into too much detail just yet... 

Friday

evening

ACTIVATION

New energy for the old castle

Friday

night

PRESENCE

 

No rest for the wicked

Saturday

morning

COMMUNICATION

 

Shine light on buried secrets

Saturday

afternoon

PERMISSION

 

Connect the dots and make a choice

Saturday

evening

POSSESSION

 

Face your consequences

Saturday

night

DESTRUCTION

 

Stare into the light or stay in the dark

Please note that we keep the level of immersion high during our event, that means we do not have outgame breaks in between the different phases (besides the outgame bedtime during which the bedrooms are a NO-PLAY zone). Calibrating is done mainly beforehand or by using our ingame techniques for smooth gameplay, more about calibrating during our game and the techniques will be explained in our workshops.. Take note that our game has a lot of type 2 fun, but should you need a break from the game, there is always the Safe Room.

What to expect

  • Upstairs-Downstairs play 

  • Lots of type 2 fun

  • Heavy topics such as murder and torture

  • Scary situations in dark surroundings. This larp is NOT for the faint-hearted! Expect to feel unsafe and scared.

  • We like to visualize, the horror is not only in your mind but also at your door

  • Student-teacher play

  • You impact the flow of the game. We work hard to keep up with your choices behind the scenes

  • Play inside the venue and outside (alway on private grounds)

  • Feed your inner sleuth by solving mysteries and connecting the dots

  • Flirting and romance plots

  • Lots and lots of suspense, and surprises

  • A very immersive game, we use special effects, professional FX  and address all your senses 

  • Mandatory workshops at the beginning of the game (we keep it short, sweet, and active)

  • Optional hemostatis workshop after, for prevention of afterbleed

What not to expect

  • Play to win

  • Real sex

  • Real torture

  • A happy-go-lucky larp

  • Lots of outgame breaks, immersion is key

  • A game where only the players make the event, this game has a lot of people working hard behind the scenes to keep up with the players.

  • No real confinement

  • No real abduction

  • Suspension of disbelief. We will never ask you outright to imagine anything.

  • Our horror is not of the gore and slasher kind, we prefer a slow burning kind of terror

Mechanics

These are some of the techniques we apply during the event and they are covered in our workshops prior to the event. Here you will have the ability to ask questions and use these mechanics in exercises in small groups.

 

Calibration: Calibration is being proactive about your character and the interaction with others. We encourage calibration online with your peers before the event and in the workshops prior to the event. For calibration during the event we have a whole option of mechanics in place for you to use to encourage smooth game play.

 

Telegraphing: The act of telegraphing is to communicate intent without specifically expressing it. We apply this by means of body language, intonation of words or winks. It gives your co player the opportunity to ‘read’ you and your intentions, thus giving them room for using mechanics to reply if needed or simply to react in a thoughtful way.

 

Violence: Simulated violence is done through our own technique that ensures immersion and a clear outcome without the need for pausing the game. When simulated violence occurs, it should be done as safely as possible so no real harm can come to involved players or facilitators.

 

OK check: The most basic of all physical and emotional safety measuring techniques, vital to checking up on someone without pausing the game.

 

Kiss & Sex: We offer theatrical, safe mechanics for playing out kissing and sexual behavior. During the event real sex is forbidden as part of the game.

 

Madness: Tenebra has its own technique for keeping madness in check and supporting you role play wise to the darker corners of your own mind. Everything with the intent of enhancing the feeling that you are losing your grip on reality and yourself.

 

Look down: Use this gesture to say “my character’s not here”. For instance, it is a practical technique to get the Safe Room without having any interaction. This technique should however never be used to avoid in-game situations that are disadvantageous for the character, for getting yourself out of trouble etc.

 

Tap out: This mechanic is used to communicate your limits to other participants. A simple, soft double tap on the arm stops action for anyone involved but should not stop the scene. Again, this technique should however never be used to avoid in-game situations that are disadvantageous for the character, for getting yourself out of trouble etc.

 

Death: When playing our game you will get your money’s worth so don’t worry about dying early on in the game. However, in Tenebra your character CAN die and when you die it will not come as a surprise.

Dying in Tenebra can happen in 2 ways:

  • You choose to die (for whatever reason) and calibrate this with the storytellers, together we come up with a plan to give you a satisfactory exit.

  • Death can occur late in the event when obvious bad choices are made: throwing yourself from a high window or physically fighting a large and powerful being beyond comprehension.

 

Should you die then you will meet the Fate Gods of Tenebra, together we decide where your path will lead from here on.

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