Elowen Hale: Night Shift/O.G.R.E.S.

“She gets it. I do not have to explain the quiet parts to her. When I am scared and shaking, she just sits beside me and waits until I am done. She does not treat me like I am fragile. She does not treat me like I am broken. She just treats me like I am still here. That is why she is my best friend.” - Aisling, the Dream Dancer

 Elowen belongs in West Haven, and that means all West Havens, including the one found in NIGHT SHIFT. 

In the NIGHT SHIFT version, West Haven is modern. Cell phones work. Coffee shops exist. The supernatural hides in plain sight.

Elowen Hale was a nice, if shy, girl. Trouble is, she died. She was at home, sitting at the dinner table, passing around the salad to her father, when she stopped, said "Ow," and fell over. 

She was clinically dead. Paramedics revived her. 

But she did not come back the same girl who sat at that diner table.

Since then, electronics glitch around her when spirits are near. She sees things in security footage that others miss. She occasionally zones out and mutters dates no one recognizes.

Therapists call it trauma. Occult investigators call it crossing contamination and talk about "hitchhikers" or other entities.

Elowen calls it "unfinished business."

She now records TikToks about West Haven’s hidden history. She acts as a tour guide to the town's strange corners. Most viewers assume she is leaning into aesthetic goth charm.

They have no idea she is cataloging liminal sites and haunted areas.

In this world, she is young, soft-spoken, dresses in black out of comfort rather than rebellion, and has chosen not to be bitter. She has friends who know what happened. They treat her like she is normal. She really shows off her personality when she is recording her videos.

Elowen Hale

1st level Witch

Strength: 10 (0)
Agility: 12 (0)
Toughness: 14 (+1) S
Intelligence: 16 (+2)
Wits: 15 (+1) S
Persona: 17 (+2) P

Vit: 15
Alignment: Light
DV: 9
Attack: +0

Fate Points: 1d6
Check Bonus (P/S/T): +3/+2/0
Melee bonus: 0 Ranged bonus: +0
Saves: +3 against spells and magical effects

Witch Abilities

Arcana, Supernatural Senses, Spells, Arcane Powers

Arcane (Occult) Powers: See Dead People

Familiar: Cat, "Mirepoix"

Skills
Research, Insight, 

Spells
First Level: Summon Familiar

This Elowen doesn't keep a journal; she records TikToks. She walks around West Haven and talks about the scary places, the haunted houses, and the best places to get Chai Lattes and Bubble Tea. Her core is still a good girl who had a bad thing happen to her, but she is getting better. She still has her calico cat "Mirepoix," and she still favors black. 

--

The Shadow Girl

The Shadow Girl was an idea I had for a NIGHT SHIFT game set in the 1980s featuring a young Larina. I developed it a bit with Little Fears and Chill, but now I think I should bring her over to interact with Elowen. Besides, Larina has enough to do. Instead of bothering Larina, the Shadow Girl has turned her attentions to modern Elowen. Is it the same creature or just the same sort of "Returned from Beyond" creature? I don't know yet, but I like the idea that if Elowen came back from the dead, and then something followed her back. 

The Shadow Girl looks like Elowen, just as it looked like Larina. Though in both cases, it looks like a version of them that has been dead for a long time. See why this works better for Elowen. Elowen sometimes worries that "she" is not really herself, and she is a spirit haunting Elowen Hale's body, and the Shadow Girl is really the original Elowen Hale. She is worried it might even be a Fetch, or a "Hitch-hiker" of the original, and "real" Elowen Hale's spirit.

Whatever the Shadow Girl is, we know it is not done with Elowen yet. In fact, she has not even really started. 

Elowen would say, "I don't know if I am real, or she is."

--

Is this the end of my exploration into Elowen? No, but it does mark a shift to talking about my new weekly NIGHT SHIFT game. "Tales of Jackson After Dark" is not a new game, but it has recently gained some traction with the players of my son's group (my youngest is too busy with school to play much anymore).  The setting is Jackson, IL, and it is the Summer of 1985. There is a new girl in town that everyone thinks is a witch (they are right), and last night a bell rang, but only people with a connection to the supernatural heard it. Even if you didn't hear it, you will soon feel its effects. 

This game has been set up to allow people to come and go as they need, so a wide variety of characters around a central core and a high school filled with NPCs.

Looking forward to sharing more with you all on this one. 

I only just worked out the connection between 1985's Jackson and 2026's West Haven last night.

Night Shift® RPG is a registered trademark of Elf Lair, LLC. 2026, Authors Jason Vey and Timothy S. Brannan.