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

[fullcowl]

Midoriya Izuku, or Deku if that's easier. It's a nickname.

It's nice to meet you.

[fullcowl]

Somebody threw it at me. [Izuku's entire being is not made to look or sound this bitter.] I can't believe somebody would litter like that.

I get not seeing me, but at least have the decency to put it in a trashcan.

[fullcowl]

Being alone for that long sounds awful. When people ignore you like that... it's hard.

Do you think they'd be invisible to gods and shinki?

[fullcowl]

[It is not.

He has the culprit in his hands and Izuku... is frustrated enough that he just continues shaking her. Bit by bit Izuku's grip becomes stronger. He's not tapping into One for All yet, but it might be getting painful.]

I can't believe you!

[returnedfromtheline]

[You got it, little dragon ally.

He’s about to say “that ship has sailed” as far as disturbing his shinki, but the question makes him look up from his phone with a blank look.]

Wha?

Playing over what he said to Hakkai-san again in his mind, it takes him a moment to get it. He frowns even harder, but his cheeks warm in embarrassment.]

… No. Actually. I was just tryin’ t’ think of another word for it. I wasn’t thinking of how your name is written.

[Recovering slightly he puts his hands on his hips.]

But you can’t say it doesn’t suit you! You better watch out before that becomes your nickname around the school.

I sent the message. I’m sure Ayumu-san won’t say that helping you out is ‘disturbing her’. But it’ll probably take some time for her to see the message and come here, so in the meantime … You were burning up before- I can make the compress damp again.

[From the bottle in his bag. Because one, he doesn’t know where anything is in here, and two, he wants to be in Jeep’s good graces, which means keeping a strict eye on Hakkai.]

[hackberrydragon]

[ Hoboy that rock.

There's a long sigh as he sets the sword down on his lap. ]

So this happened when I was staying with my first god. The other shinki she had, Zoro, offered to help me get it out of my room. We carried it out and took it out front. It was just a matter of breaking the rock.

[ And a frown as he looked down at it again. ]

It looked like a cosplay prop so that's what I thought it was... until I held it. It's a little too heavy to be a prop. But... I can't seem to draw it out.

[welcome_home]

[ She just gives him a puzzled look at that. ] Why? He's nice and friendly. I think he's lonely.

[ At his question, however, she straightens, looking concerned. ]

Ahh.... maybe? But I don't have my shinki here. [ She's not sure how much she can do without Homura. Or Shuusei, even if she still has to figure out how to fight with him. ]

[hackberrydragon]

Wh... whWAITHOLDONGAK--

[ Is likely all Yata hears as Eno get pulled out of the way. He hadn't expected such an unorthodox rescue.... or a rescue at all for that matter. Thankfully he manages to pull his sword from the jaws of a very surprised bear.

There's a second before he realizes there's two bears now. ]

We... should probably get out of here...

[meowbel]

Well, I know I wouldn't mind turning into a unicorn!

[She giggled a little]

And who knows, maybe I might even get that fabulous rainbow hair too! Everyone will be so jealous of me!

[meowbel]

[...Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea after all. But as soon as he got in front of her, that's when she looked back at him with big wide eyes.]

Well, aren't you the gentlemen? You sure do know how to treat a girl, don't you?

[Ahahahaha...ha....ha....haaaaa.

....Yeah, she messed up didn't she?]

[hackberrydragon]

All I know is these bears showed up when I picked up this charm..

[ He's still holding on to his sword though, hissing softly as he tries to keep his grip tight enough that the bear can't jerk it out of his hands. ]

H... hey! What're you doing?!

[meowbel]

[Hey, at least she got a snort or two out of him! That was a win in her book! Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all!

Keyword: Maybe.]

But that's not a bad thing though! At least you get to keep in touch with your family and make new friends along the way too! And who wouldn't want to be friends with you, you're giving them free stuff!

[And again, this was totally Mabel's way of being subtle. C'mon, you know you want to be friends. Can't you see the smirk on her face as she leaned in a bit closer and nudging him a little on the side?

You know you want to....!}

[hackberrydragon]

Real bears.

[ Looking at him with the most unamused stare. ]

They came out of nowhere, I tell ya. One ended up in a tree.

[meowbel]

[And here, Mabel thought things were going to be nice and simple! Although, she should have expected this the moment they walked in but still! When she saw a hand going through the paper wall, she quickly took a step back!]

W-Whoa! What was that?

[However, despite the intial fear, she couldn't help but walked toward the wall. As she gave a small hum, she investigated the damage around it. But there was an air of seriousness around her this time around. Perhaps this was more dangerous than she thought. Either way?]

Well, I'm a shinki. That shouldn't be a problem, should it? You're going to be okay, right? [With that said, she was very carefully walking toward the next room. Although, she did turn back a little with a sad smile on her face.

...He was going to be okay, wasn't he?]

[thevanguard]

[ Yata rubs a hand over his face. ]

Please don't jinx us any more than we already are.

[thevanguard]

[ ...Story of his life.

Still, he gives a startled yelp as the god grabs him and teleports, because that is still disconcerting for someone who tends to go everywhere on his skateboard instead of this god bullshit. ]

What the...?!

[thevanguard]

Who said we can't do both?

[ There's a flare of sparks from his wheels as he puts on some speed, racing down the street, eyes peeled for any sign of movement as he passes the dark storefronts and deep alleys. ]

[letteropener]

[She nods to acknowledge his words.]

If you need more help -- or if the curse still lingers on you -- I can give you my contact on these phones of ours, so that you can can get in touch with me if you need any further assistance.

[freezetheheavens]

It's not odd if he is. It'd be good if we can help him move on properly.

[That answers that as he draws his sword with his other hand.]

Where is your shinki?

[thevanguard]

The only thing I've found out here so far is you.

[ He feels this is a valid argument at the moment/ ]

[letteropener]

[Celestia, without losing her smile or gentle air, nonetheless manages to communicate in her little glance at him exactly how rude that question was.]

We ponies think of ourselves much the way you humans do.

[thevanguard]

[ Yata stares at the Borderline for a moment before huffing an indignant sigh and swinging his bat back up to rest on his shoulder once more. ]

Yeah, yeah. Let's go beat some sense into whatever's doing this. Apparently whatever it is has been a real menace.

[thevanguard]

[ Yata does not look convinced as he shoots Shouhei a sideways glance. ]

Which part of this is supposed to be fun again?

[letteropener]

It's very nice to meet you, Nike. I am Princess Celestia. [Her human shape doesn't come with the crown, or for that matter, the combination of wings and horn that would identify her nature and title, but nonetheless there's something faintly larger-than-life about her when she says her name. And not just because she's very tall.]

And the haunted houses who made no effort to startle me are ones who thought it would be bad policy to scare their monarch. As if Princesses don't want to relax and have fun every once in a while!

[thevanguard]

Heh. Ya think?

[ Which is when he unceremoniously hefts Eno over one shoulder and takes off on his board with a burst of fiery sparks behind them. ]

Look at you, making friends. Even if they're the kind that might want to eat your face.