018 | Season Spirits

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Season spirits and spooky things
When: IC August 1-15
Where: The Near Shore and Far Shore
Summary: It's the time for spirits to get a bit more 'lively'.



August is a spiritual season in Japan with many people preparing for the Obon festival but many others get into the spirit in another way. All across Japan, people have begun to share their favorite summer ghost stories. Movie theaters advertise the hottest horror flick of the season, teenagers challenge each other to do trials of courage, haunted houses begin to pop up, and it feels like you can't change the channel without switching to some ghost hunting urban legend special. All of this talk about spirits comes at a cost, though.

July comes and passes easily enough but it's almost as if as soon as August begins, so do the incidents. There's an increase in spiritual activity and shenanigans on both shores. Some of them are harmless spooks but others are much more sinister. Arm yourselves with all of the ofuda and omamori you can find and get out there and restore peace!



Possessed Possessions

Inhabitants of the Far Shore may awaken to find their sheets trying to strangle them and shoes stomping on the floor around them. Others may go about their day and find out their teapots suddenly only serve lukewarm tea or their weapons are trying to take swings at them. They're just playful spirits that will abandon their hosts if you shove any ofuda/omamori at them or yell loudly enough. They aren't malicious spirits... they were only just trying to have some fun.

Spirited Festivals

There's a festival every weekend and some of them have set up haunted houses for patrons to visit. You have your standard haunted house thrills... costume make up, jump scares, special effects smoke, the usual! But it looks like some real ghosts have made themselves at home here. Visitors are going in and emerging hours later absolutely traumatized. It looks like once you enter, the real spirits walk you around in circles and give you real scares. There are some spirits here just to have fun thrills and these are spirits that can be chased away with regular ofuda. But it looks like the more violent ones are actually ayakashi out for vengeance. Be careful in there!

Cursed Charms

There sure are some weird trends out there, huh? The latest one is buying cursed trinkets off the internet and passing them off as gifts to unsuspecting victims whether it be to prank a friend or get revenge on an enemy. Cursed mirrors, dolls, fake ofuda, VHS tapes, and so on are being passed around the Near Shore and spreading all sorts of curses.

• Bad luck. As long as you're in possession of the cursed item, you'll be followed by bad luck to varying degrees depending on the quality of the charm.
• Fear. Holding onto this charm results in intense, crippling fear. The fear can manifest as an intense paranoia at all times or being frozen with fear in the face of danger. Some say you can even die of fright...
• Sickness. This charm is pretty straightforward. Having this charm just makes you feel incredibly under the weather and your health will worsen the longer you have the charm.
• Evil. Holding onto this charm results in you being followed attracting evil instead of warding it. Suddenly, you feel as though you are always being followed, as if something is stalking you and clearly out to get you. You begin to run into smaller ayakashi at first but they keep growing in strength and number until you can't fight anymore.
• Bad romance. Someone's meddled with a romance charm so it ends relationships instead of making them! People stuck with this charm are suddenly hyper aware of the faults of others. Everything gets on your nerves and you can't stand being around that person because they're just that annoying. It doesn't just work on couples! It also works on friends and relatives too.
• Bears? An oddly specific curse. It looks like someone has taken a protection from bears charm and made it so now you attract bears where ever you go. Some of them are nice but others...

You can try to destroy the charms but you will find that unless you have purification powers or rend it, the effects last. It looks like most people have been able to shake off the effects by simply disposing of them at temples and buying another charm to counter the effects.

Haunting Hour

There are reports of violent attacks at night-- people being pulled into alleys and attacked, school children being chased by slashers while walking home from school, homes being broken into-- and all of it is done without a single clue left behind to explain who did it. People are warned to be careful at night and as the sun begins to set, something happens. The hour between sunset and dark is supposed to be the scariest hour them all. At this time, the shadows are suspiciously bigger and darker and you constantly see things just out of the corner of your eye. Suddenly, the wind blows cold and there's a rotten smell in the air like blood. It's Oumagatoki, the hour evil spirits meet. Small time ayakashi and spirits on the verge of becoming ayakashi spill into the streets and begin to terrorize others. Protect the people of the Near Shore and watch your own backs.*

* These are just generic ayakashi! Nothing special, nothing specific. Feel free to make up and NPC your own two-bit ayakashi.

THEN WHO WAS PHONE?

In the evening, everyone will receive a set of coordinates and a message from an Anonymous sender,

I want to talk about the
mysterious things that have been happening
lately.
OF course, i
NEED
EVERYONE to come. so don't be
late! see
yoU.
:)

Everyone receives it and there is no way to track where the message came from. If you follow the directions, you'll arrive at a small temple on the outskirts of a city. A sacred fire is lit on the grounds for people to dispose of any cursed or old charms they may have collected. Hang around a bit and it'll become obvious that no one knows who has gathered all of you here tonight. The only ones around are gods and shinki. It doesn't look like any evil spirits are around so other than being invited to the middle of no where at night... there's nothing to worry about. If you wait around, nothing will happen. So while you're here, you might as well discuss the strange happenings! Or tell ghost stories around the fire.

Wildcard

Choose your own adventure! Feel free to make up your own prompts. Ronald Knox's player (diehardreaper) has offered up their temple as a test of courage in the Far Shore for those who want to try their luck. Check out their description under the Baron's manor.

In Summary:

• Beat the heat by feeling a scary chill
• Deal with cursed and spirit-imbued items
• Keep the Near Shore people safe
• Chat about your scary encounters
• Have fun~

Comments

[lostinshadows]

You need to rein in your temper. Don't want Todoroki getting the wrong idea if he sees you.

[Is that even possible. Can Lavi just steal one of Shun's moves and aim for a pressure spot to knock him out.]

[reformedsinner]

Ah...

[Hakkai checks his stride and looks down, startled, at the little girl approaching from right behind him in line. He had been planning on going alone, in fact. But here she was, and with people disappearing inside this particular, obviously haunted attraction, he's not sure he wants to send her in alone.

And then there's the problem of her having noticed him, of course.]

... I was just going to see what it's like, ha ha. Are you here by yourself as well, miss?

[redmare]

I don't think so..?

[Not that she remembers seeing him.

Ah--is he unaware about--]

I''m sorry I surprised you like that. It's just that..the back of your pants are um...

[Chinatsu makes some vague hand gestures, now sure how to signal that he's flashing people. ]

[thevanguard]

[ Yata grumbles at that before pushing off on his skateboard, moving down the street in the direction the god had indicated. ]

Yeah, yeah, so everyone keeps telling me. It's not that easy.

[ If only 'practicing more' had been a valid solution to his problem, he'd have had it perfected in the first week.

Either way, Hakkai, you have better ideas than Yata. Who's big plan was to yell until whatever-it-was came out to shut him up. He keeps his eyes peeled now, though, searching the shadows for any sign of movement, bat at the ready ]

[thevanguard]

The guy I was following!

[ Wasn't that obvious?

....Wait. ]

You mean you didn't see him??

[genkireaper]

[ Yet she's pretty sure that, at this point, she still has more strength than the youkai does. So Hakkai's met with resistance as he tries to pull her wrist. ]

Well, you're quite a bit bigger than me, so I'm going to have to heal you enough that you could stay seated without falling over, at the very least. Which I'm sure will be possible when you can pull my hands away.

[ Because she's not carrying or dragging you, as that'd just make things far more work for her. ]

My name's Botan, by the way.

[redmare]

[That's not too far, they should be fine. Chinatsu follows closely behind, keeping a fast pace. She looks back to check if they're being followed--and sure enough, they are. And there's even more of them now.

Crap. Just s little more to the park! But wait--if her parents are there too, wouldn't they just be leading the spirits to them? She looked back at the the two in front of her, her eyes focusing on the girl clinging to Hitsugaya. While it seemed he could handle himself just fine, it still sounded too risky to Chinatsu.]

...Hey! Promise you'll look for me after you get her to her parents!

[She doesn't wait for the an answer though, creating a borderline right behind Hitsugaya and the child, seperating them from her and the nastier spirits.

Chinatsu turns and starts running in a different direction. Unable to get past the border, the spirits change course, following after the person they can chase.

Is she able to fight them off? Hell no. She'd probably last a minute if she was lucky. If there was anything she had faith in it was her legs. At least she can keep some distance between them till she finds a temple or somethig to hide out in. ]

[reformedsinner]

[He's not dead: he's breathing, and, in fact, mumbling something under his breath, eyes half-open but refusing to focus. He stirs as Goten calls his name, one hand twitching and trying to go up to his face as though to adjust glasses.]

-- excuse me -- just need to rest -- a moment....

[thevanguard]

These, for one.

[ Yata shakes the remainder of the charms he'd somehow ended up with this week at him before abruptly tossing the entire handful into the sacred fire. ]

I swear, I'm like a magnet or something. Oh, and I had another god up and poof on me again, does that count?

[ He huffs out a sigh before crouching down in front of the fire to stare in the flames again. ]

[redmare]

No? And weren't the people ahead of you in line a pair of girls?

[At least, that's what she recalled.]

[thevanguard]

Why is it, every time I run into you, terrible shit happens?

[ Yata's voice is exasperated, neglecting for the moment that the dream fights they'd had had been entirely his fault.

He's not taking responsibility for this one though. Nope. He had nothing to do with this. They're obviously here for you, dude. ]

So if setting the damn things on fire doesn't work, what will?

[ Because he'll be honest here, 'kill it with fire' is usually his default in these situations. ]

[thevanguard]

I'm not talking about the line, I'm talking about the guy that said....

[ Ah, shit.

Yata stares over his shoulder again. ]

He said he'd show the way out.

[thevanguard]

[ He squints suspiciously a moment. ]

I'm Yata. And I'm not scared.

[ He's totally lying. ]

Shit's been weird around here and I came to figure out why.

[redmare]

....... You're not messing with me, are you?

[Then again, with how he reacted, it was unlikely he would do that in this type of situation

Any..anyway! We should probably just keep heading straight through there-/

[But the door she points to suddenly slams shut. The door a few feet to the right slowly swinging open.]

.............You first.

[sonofson]

On the ground?

[In the grass sunbathing would be one thing but not this late and no in the middle of a path. He frowns down at Hakkai, worriedly. Until an idea comes to Goten. He perks up]

Don't worry Hakkai, I'll get you home!

[Looking up at the sky, he cups his hands around his mouth and calls out for Nimbus. The yellow cloud comes speeding down to them moments later. It screeches to a halt next to Goten, floating there. Smiling, Goten pats the cloud for coming so quickly before moving back to Hakkai.

Carefully, Goten tries to shift and push the the teacher to sit up a bit so he can hook his arm under Hakkai's before proceeding to try andtoss Hakkai up onto the fluffy cloud]

[thevanguard]

[ He yelps when the door ahead of them suddenly slams shut, jumping backward in instinctive reaction. ]

Sh-shit!

Now you're just jinxing us!

[ But dammit, he's so not amused. Fingers curled into fists, he lets his temper out to deal with the fact that this place is scary as shit and storms towards the newly opened door. ]

Fine! This way then!

[freezetheheavens]

[...Toushirou's not sure how to react when Chinatsu suddenly runs off in the opposite direction after casting a borderline. But without having to worry about making sure Chinatsu is safe as well, he uses shunpo to immediately get to the park. Reuniting the girl with her parents doesn't take too long.

After he makes sure they're safe and away from the spirits, he decides to go find Chinatsu.

Without anything or anyone weighing him down, he heads in the direction he recalls her going on. Of course, that also means that there were various spirits and ayakashi making their way towards her, too.

Sword in hand, he suddenly appears in front of Chinatsu and waves his sword, a stream of flowing ice sprouting from its tip and freezing the ayakashi and spirits.]

[redmare]

I'm not the one just trusting and following strangers!

[Pot, meet kettle.

She follows after him again, this time staying a little closer. Not because she got a little spooked, psh.

This room, just like the others, was dark, save for a few candles on the table. It looked like they entered the dining room. The table was set up like a banquet had been prepared, except the dishes were all hidden beneath silvers covers.]

I'm guessing there's a head under one of those.

[lostinshadows]

You act like I do it on purpose.

[You're the one with the creepy dreams.

and Lavi is slowly getting tired of the dolls.

So, when the other doll gets closer, Lavi forsakes all sense of self-preservation to pick it up and toss it at the flying doll aiming for them.]

[redmare]

[Last she looked behind her, some ayakashi had joined in the chase. It was probably best NOT to look back anymore. Chinatsu speeds up, not having much luck losing them. Man, this whole thing about not being able to get rid of them without their god SUCKS.


When Hitsugaya appears out of no where, Chinatsu barely manages to hit the brakes and keep hersef from crashing into him. She falls backwards, her hands going up defensively as a cold breeze goes past her. When it dies down, she looks back up at him, then turns to look over her shoulder to see all her frozen pursuers.]

...Holy crap there were that many?!

[redstray]

[ He watches as Yata burns all those charms. Were they just bad luck charms? This place really liked screwing with people. But at the part where his god left again he shuffled a bit on his feet. ]

Ah..sorry...

[ He hasn't lost his god, he wouldn't be sure how he would feel if Ren decided to leave, but it wouldn't be good. But wait...last time that happened... ]

You're not staying with Mikoto again?

[ Please don't ]

[freezetheheavens]

[Sighing softly, he eyes the frozen enemies briefly. He's not sure how long it'll last against the ayakashi, but he'd rather not stick around to find out.

So, he offers his hand to her.]

Come on. Let's get out of here before they break out of that ice.

[fullcowl]

Todoroki knows me way better than you do.

[He probably also knows that giving him their cat will make him chill out.]

Besides it has been a long week.

[redmare]

[She stares at his hand for a moment before taking it. Her hand is shaking a bit now that everything was sinking in. She's been trying to show a brave face so far. It was a little late to be showing any fear.

Once she's up, she takes a few steps ahead of him.]

....Thanks.

[She says softly as she passes him. It might not have looked or sounded like the sincerest show of gratitude, but she meant it. Honestly, she was surprised he even came after her.]

I'm guessing she made it back safely?

A

[trademark_skull]

[Be it sensitive demon ears, or the fact he was already not that far by, but that outrage was vividly clear. Made probably worse by the fact that it's one of the only few voices that Emizel recognizes.]

...?