“ANIMUS HOUSE” PITCH
STORY OVERVIEW
Genre: YA Fantasy, Romantic Comedy
Format: Visual Novel
Hook: When a college freshman signed up for pledge week, she expected to to be hazed, not turned into a toad! In a school of magical secrets, eldritch horrors, and forbidden romance, she’ll learn the hard way that passing class and finding love in a coven of sorority witches can make campus life downright hextic.
MAIN CHARACTERS
Sofie: A college freshman who just wants to pass class, make friends, and find love.
Rayden (Ray): A sexy fraternity brother aiming to show Sofie how to have a little fun.
Gilliam (Gill): A hot history professor whose interest in Sofie is more than academic.
Visser: A holier-than-thou dean who bears a long-held grudge against Sofie’s sorority sisters.
Witches: The ensemble of sorority sisters whose friendship will change Sofie’s life for good.
Morrigan: The witch/dean who founded the sorority and built Animus House decades ago.
PLAYER INTERACTION
Branching Dialogue: Choose your own adventure by selecting the flavor of Sofie’s dialogue.
Expanding Wardrobe: If assets allow, find opportunities to gain new clothes and change outfits.
Dynamic Relationships: Make and break friendships based on how Sofie treats the various NPCs.
Love Triangle Romance: Choose to pursue a romance with one or both of two steamy love interests.
Spell/Item Tracking: Explore the school to find spells and items that might come in handy later.
PLOT SYNOPSIS
Prologue: Sofie, a college freshman at Salem University, is having a hard time fitting in with the rush week crowd when the eccentric young women at Animus House leave her positively spellbound. But instead of beer bongs and panty raids, her hazing begins when she’s forced to drink a Tincture of Toadal Transformation. It turns out the girls there are all witches, and the sorority is secretly a magical coven!
Ch.1: As Sofie endures the girls’ arcane hazing rituals (which are less Trick than they are Treat), she learns more about each of the sisters and their spellcasting talents. After befriending them all by the end of rush week, Sofie recites the pledge and moves into Animus House as the coven’s newest sister.
Ch.2: Reciting reality-warping incantations is challenging enough without having to balance science with divination and essays with illusions. As Sofie struggles to keep up with the wizarding whirlwind of Greek life, the religious Dean Visser cryptically warns her against the “sinners” of Animus House.
Ch.3: Keeping Sofie’s witchcraft a secret gets even harder when a bad boy frat bro (Rayden/Ray) flirts with her. After exchanging some playful banter, he takes her on an unforgettable date by breaking her into the library’s restricted section after-hours, where he steals an old, locked-up book and gives it to her.
Ch.4: After hiding the book in her room, Sofie attends office hours with her hot professor (Gilliam/Gill). She learns that the grimoire belonged to Dean Morrigan, founder of Animus House, until a holy man accused her of witchcraft and had her burned at the stake. Her spellbook, however, came out unburnt.
Ch.5: What started as innocent flirtation with Ray and Gill quickly heats up into steamy passion, but Sofie’s grades are already starting to slip, so her sorority sisters give an ultimatum: no dating until the Hallow’s Eve Ball. Fortunately, they all take the time to individually help her with different subjects.
Ch.6: The midterms are a trial by fire, but using everything she’d learned from her friends, Sofie passes! To celebrate, the girls of Animus House gift Sofie her first broom and take her on a midnight flight. Later, Sofie will have an opportunity to learn more about Rayden and Gilliam and to deepen their relationships.
Ch.7: There’s hardly time for Sofie to catch her breath before the big night of the Hallow’s Eve Ball. She has an enchanted evening partying with her friends, dancing with Rayden, and chatting with Gilliam by the punch bowl. After the festivities wind down, the player can choose to go home with Ray or Gill.
Ch.8: Sofie tries to stay on top of things using the grimoire’s spells, but one of them backfires big-time. She confesses to her coven that she’s been reading Dean Morrigan’s grimoire. The sorority is shocked but ultimately accepting...except for one catty witch sister who sneaks off to tell Dean Visser everything.
Ch.9: Dean Visser raids Animus House and accuses them of stealing school property. The security guards find the grimoire in Sofie’s room. Visser takes them in for questioning and puts the coven through a literal witch trial. He tries to get the girls to turn on each other, but not one of them snitches on Sofie.
Ch.10: The trial continues as witnesses hold Sofie accountable for the Player’s decisions. Just when it seems like they’re going to be found guilty, Gilliam arrives with an alarming testimony: the grimoire is fake. Sure enough, Visser puts a flame to the book that he confiscated, which quickly burns to ashes.
Ch.11: Even though they’re off the hook for the book, Visser drops his mask of piety when he realizes the grimoire is still missing. Furious, he orders the security guards to lock the entire coven up. Things seem at their worst when Rayden arrives with the real book and gives it to Visser in exchange for Sofie’s freedom.
Ch.12: With the real grimoire in hand, Visser reveals himself to be the man who caused Dean Morrigan to be sentenced to death; he’s using the grimoire’s power to assume her role while prolonging his lifespan. Ray, Gill, and the witches all combine their skills and abilities to take the book back from the warlock.
Ch.13: Returning the grimoire to its proper place in the library, Sofie steps back from the chaos of witchcraft and romance to focus on her studies. With good old-fashioned hard work and dedication, she aces her finals! To celebrate, the whole gang gets together for a wild and witchy house party.
Epilogue: With her first semester complete and their sorority saved, Sofie says goodbye to her sisters in Animus House. Loose ends are tied among friends and enemies, promises are made between lovers (to be kept or broken in future episodes), and Sofie returns to the nonmagical world a more confident adult.