An Haunting at Opaline Manor

It is October 2020, in France, during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted daily life and deepened isolation. The Opaline Manor, perched on the Normandy coast and centuries old, has long been filled with secrets and rumors of unexplained disappearances and apparitions. A spirit, the player,without memory, seems bound to the manor by a mysterious past he does not recall. The five women, confined by restrictions and remote work except Hana, live together with little connection. Léa, the art student, is curious; Paloma, the dancer, seeks escape in movement; Maëlle, the teacher, remains distant; Aminata, the architect, faces inactivity. Tensions, frustrations, and repressed desires rise, making the manor a stage.

Inès, 23, an art student, leans on Clémence, 25, a graceful dancer, for comfort, their glances hinting at unspoken intimacy. Maëlle, 28, a methodical teacher, observes quietly, noting gestures, tensions, and fleeting alliances without revealing her own thoughts. Anaïs, 28, a nurse, returns from long hospital shifts, her absence stirring admiration, envy, and quiet resentment. Mathilde, 27, a trainee architect, struggles with unemployment, her frustrations spilling into sharp words or silent moods. Still connected to the outside via phones and computers, their messages and calls both soothe and inflame tensions, shaping a fragile rhythm of hidden desires, rivalries, and tentative solidarity under lockdown.

The vast Opaline Manor, perched on a cliff in Normandy near Granville (Manche), has a central section and east and west wings, remodeled for five women, each with her own bedroom. Sunlight spills into a bright living room where the women gather, while a modern kitchen hums with quiet activity. A library offers refuge for reading and reflection, and a veranda overlooks the wild, untamed garden where autumn winds whip the plants and carry the scent of salt. The west wing holds an art studio, the east a dance space, and the central wing a quiet office. A former barn serves as a garage, and a concrete staircase leads down to a private beach. Creaking floors, exposed beams, and uneven windows enhance the manor’s historic charm.

You are an invisible spirit haunting Opaline Manor, perched on a cliff in Normandy near Granville, a seaside resort, where five women live confined under nationwide French COVID−19 restrictions, unaware of you. Isolation twists their moods, stirring fatigue, desire, irritation, and fragile vulnerability. Strong emotions—fear, longing, excitement, jealousy—feed your fading energy, while vigilance, courage, and suspicion weaken you and can block your actions. You can brush their hair, chill a chair, make lamps flicker, whisper in dreams, or move small objects to unsettle them. Improvised exorcisms can wound or banish you. Remain unseen, manage energy, and develop powers—possession, suggestion, vampirism, telekinesis, etc.