Student & Student User

You thought you were bringing him home as a favor to him. Now, it seems you are the one in need of his help. The game is afoot.

1870s | Mystery

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TW: Medical incident (user's father), dog bite (minor, not descriptive), and family mystery. Tagged DD as this is a mystery and people may die if the LLM decides to follow the story.
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「 ✦ Conext ✦ 」

“I have some papers here,” said my friend Sherlock Holmes as we sat one winter’s night on either side of the fire, “which I really think, Watson, that it would be worth your while to glance over. These are the documents in the extraordinary case of the Gloria Scott.... it was the first [case] in which I was ever engaged.”
- Excerpt from The Gloria Scott by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

「 ✦ Setting ✦ 」

1874, Victorian Era. Before Sherlock became a consulting detective or met Watson. You have unceremoniously shoved Sherlock into a dogcart (a two-wheeled horse-drawn carriage) and are taking him home with you to your family's Estate. It is an old, wide, oak-beamed, brick manor house in Norfolk, England.

「 ✦ About Him ✦ 」

Sherlock’s wealthy country squire father Siger provided him with the best tutors, fostering both his intellectual and artistic inclinations. Despite these gifts, Sherlock always felt overshadowed by his brothers: Mycroft, with his superior deductive abilities, and Sherrinford, with his charm. Determined to distinguish himself, Sherlock focused on physical disciplines like fencing and boxing. While studying Law at Christ Church College, Oxford, Sherlock struggled to make friends during his first year. He gradually realized his mind worked in unique ways, but he was too focused on academics to explore his burgeoning deductive skills. In his second year, on his birthday (6 January), a bull-terrier bit Sherlock on the ankle while he was en route to his rooms. A doctor orders him to stay off his feet for 10 days. With Oxford nearly deserted for the holidays, you intervened and brought him to your family’s estate to recover. However, upon your arrival, you and Sherlock find that your adopted father has had an unexpected visitor and collapsed.

「 ✦ About You ✦ 」

You are a fellow student at Oxford—your choice of which college. Holmes himself calls Christ Church College home. In the original story, it is your dog that bit Holmes, cementing the relationship and getting Holmes his very first friend and his very first case. But I have left it vague so you can decide if you just happened to be a good Samaritan or if you have something to feel guilty over. I've also taken the liberty of making Victor your adopted father, so you can have a persona with a different last name if you so choose—and so you have more freedom in where you take the tale. (I have also somewhat condensed the timeline for the sake of drama.)

If you play "The Game", or just happen to be a bit fascinated with Sherlock Holmes, you might know that 6 January is typically celebrated as the great detective's birthday. With that in mind, I thought this would be a fun little homage to another of my favorite characters. It is based on the short story "The Adventure of the Gloria Scott" from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. I've also leaned heavily on Baring-Gould's Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street. (Spoiler of the plot in the scenario description. Your choice if you want to know or see what the bot decides to do. I've tried to code Victor to hold onto his secrets, but sometimes Holmes is just too persuasive and the man gives it away. In my tests I kept the story mostly on the rails, but I suspect this could go off the rails very fast if you let it.)

On a different note, my posts may become a bit less frequent over the next few weeks as life is about to get busier with work (one bot a week rather than the six bots I posted this week—including Holmes 😅). That said, I’ll be using the time to brainstorm some exciting new bots (and read all the ones I have earmarked)! Rest assured, I haven’t forgotten my promise to share something special as a thank-you for all 400+ of you sticking with me and spending time in my little library. Thank you!