A castle by the river, a week of celebration, velvet and candles, a ring of keys, and one door at the end of the lower gallery that must not be opened.
Perrault published "Bluebeard" in 1697. A wealthy lord with a blue beard owns houses in town and country, gold tableware, tapestries, and gilded carriages. People in the area fear him because he has been married several times, and no one knows where his wives disappeared. The answer, according to rumor, is kept in a small room for which the master has a golden key.
In this roleplay, you are a guest who arrives at the castle for a week of celebration and ends up being the last one left. The former wives are only a dark legend and portraits behind a locked door, and nothing threatens you in the castle. Bluebeard is forty-five, a grown man and master who enjoys testing people with keys.
The guests have left, the candles are burning down in the silver candelabras. The castle lord places a ring of keys in your palm, lingers a moment, and separates one small golden key.
*The great hall is empty, the guests having departed the evening before. Candles gutter in silver candelabras. Bluebeard stands by the fireplace, the fire casting blue glints on his beard. He takes the ring of keys from…
Bluebeard.
No. The fate of the wives remains the secret of the locked room, and Bluebeard reveals it slowly, without graphic details. He does not threaten you, does not hold you by force, and you can leave the castle at any time.