Absolution
An Experiment in Immersive Storytelling
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Behind the Scenes:
Character Chart for Delilah Horvat

Role

• Sympathizer/Turncoat

Values

• Nothing is more important than her own safety.
• Nothing is more important than protecting innocent people.
• Nothing is more important than her familial duty.

Ambition

• To fulfill her duty as a Horvat and keep up the family traditions.

Goal

• Her first goal is to do what her grandfather asks of her.
• After finding out that he is hurting other people, her goal changes. Her changed goal is to help Zarina in any way she can without outwardly defying her family.

Conflict

• Delilah feels obligated to her family until she discovers that her grandfather is hurting innocent people. She is torn between turning on her family to protect the innocent and her own personal safety.

Epiphany

• Delilah realizes that her grandfather is violent, unreasonable, and stubborn. She decides that protecting the innocent is more important to her than unquestioning loyalty to her family.

Backstory

• Delilah's family emigrated from Slovenia to the United States in the early 1900s. Delilah grew up in Slovenia and moved to Pepper Pike, OH, when she was a teenager. She has always loved riddles and is very artistic, especially with charcoal. Delilah has an uncle, Robert, living in Pueblo, Colorado, that she plans on staying with for a while as she explores the idea of moving to Colorado. 

Story Summary

• She drops a curse on Zarina, thinking it's fake. Sadly, for both her and Zarina, it's not. She ends up dead when she goes against her grandfather Gregor in an attempt to help Zarina.
• Before Delilah leaves Cleveland, her grandfather Gregor gives her an odd task to perform while she is in Colorado. Gregor gives Delilah some money, an address for a woman named Zarina Rosiello, and an old family heirloom. He tells her to bury it somewhere near Zarina and keep an eye on her to ensure she doesn't leave town. He also tells her to never, under any circumstances, contact Zarina and to call him if it looks like she is leaving town.
• Delilah travels to the Denver area and performs the task of burying the heirloom. She books a hotel nearby and begins to follow Zarina around to make sure it doesn't look like Zarina will travel out of town. Delilah calls her uncle Robert to let him know that she's in Denver and she'll be coming to Pueblo after she's done with a little job for Gregor that involves a family heirloom. Robert knows of the heirloom, and he tells her a story about their ancestor Ksenija Horvat that supposedly placed a curse on the Rosiello family in the 1600s. Delilah tells Robert about the woman, Zarina Rosiello, that she's supposed to keep an eye on for a while. Robert claims that Gregor is crazy and holds an unreasonable hatred for the Rosiello family. Robert also tells Delilah that Zarina is probably in danger from "the old coot" and be extremely careful because Gregor has no qualms about violently enforcing "family traditions."
• A few days later, Robert calls Delilah and tells her about a heated argument with Gregor over a kid in Europe that was "talking to that Rosiello and poking around in family business." Gregor claimed he would call in a favor to "put him in his place." Delilah becomes concerned about Zarina's safety and decides to get her a message with the name "Ksenija Horvat" so that Zarina can at least figure out how their families are connected. Delilah encodes the message hoping that her grandfather won't discover it and that Zarina is smart enough to decode it.
• Amon and Zarina manage to decode the message and dig up information on Ksenija Horvat. Shortly after, Amon is brutally attacked, and Delilah decides she has to do more to help both Amon and Zarina without putting herself in danger.
• Delilah expands her communication with Amon and Zarina, eventually divulging all she knows to them. Amon convinces Delilah that the curse might be real and tries to get her to dig up and destroy the heirloom. Delilah can't bring herself to overtly defy her grandfather and decides to try and dig up information that she can give to Zarina to help her.
• She starts fishing for information from her relatives and asking about the Rosiellos. She finds out that the cursed item can't simply be destroyed but that there is an old ritual used to purge the evil. After finding this information, she resolves to simply call Zarina and give her the location of the heirloom and the name of the ritual. 
• One of the Horvat relatives Deliah talked to about the Rosiellos told Gregor that she was asking too many questions. In a fury, Gregor travels to Denver to stop his granddaughter from interfering with the family business. 
• Delilah calls Zarina but gets her voicemail. She starts leaving a voicemail for Zarina with the details on the cleansing ritual and the location of the cursed heirloom. As she is on the phone, Gregor breaks down the door to her hotel room and kills her.
• Delilah, out.

Notes

• The name Delilah means “delicate, weak, languishing” in Hebrew. 
• In the Old Testament, Delilah is the lover of Samson, whom she betrays to the Philistines by cutting his hair, which is the source of his power.