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

[revolutionfalcon]

[It's frustrating, because Shun knows exactly what she's getting at - it reminds him of Ruri, honestly, a bit too much to be comfortable. But it's been a while since he's been naive enough to believe it's that simple, and he lets out a long and rather weary breath.]

I understand that, and I know what it feels like. Even if you want to help, you can do that without necessarily trusting the person you're helping. Not all of them are going to trust you, either - if you just walk up to someone and expect that they're going to open their thoughts to you, it might just make them think worse of you.

[Shun, at least, won't begrudge a kid that sort of behaviour, but he's absolutely reacted like that to people closer to his age doing it.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[At least Urashima shouldn't have to empty his entire purse, then. Given Shun hadn't had a great deal of money spare until he managed to fall into a job, he can't imagine having to get rid of all of it would be good for anyone here.

That's...still a lot of fives, though, considering. But he ignores it for now and just nods a little at Urashima's suggestion.]

It's a better idea than donating it and risking the coin just ending up with someone else. I haven't seen any burnings myself, but it's the kind of season people would want that sort of thing, so I doubt none of them are.

[revolutionfalcon]

Both. [Shun doesn't even hesitate in giving that answer, which probably says enough of itself.] I doubt you'd get the same reasoning from everyone here, but for me, this is about the same weight I had on me at home.

[And this is a chance to do it right, instead of screwing it up and getting people killed.]

[gentilitea]

Worry not. [ He already feels terrible, seeing her react in that way. But he has to be blunt with the truth now, if they’re to have any chance of getting the hell out of here in one piece. With the both of them alone in here they won’t be able to rend any ayakashi anytime soon, and it’s not as if his skill at borderlines is going to help him much if there is a lot of them swarming about.

Though he’s not even sure if there’s just one ayakashi menacing them or several. ]

Just stay close to me. I will dispatch anything that gets in our way.

[erogappa]

[ Damn right he's trying to protect her! He's bigger and stronger than she is, so obviously he should face the (no longer just a teenager in a rubber mask) scary thing first. ]

No. I'm a shinki.

[ All the hairs on the back of his neck are standing up. He's heard that phrase before, but he just assumed it was a saying, like 'butterflies in your stomach'. But this isn't just a metaphor -- he's got his hair pulled up in his usual topknot, and he can feel all the fine little hairs back there prickling to attention. It's a fucking creepy sensation. ]

And I like blondes, long walks on th'beach, and names that don't rhyme. [ He half-turns, and winks at her over his shoulder. ] Just in case it comes up.

[ The giggling sounds like it's moving, growing weirdly distant. He's tempted to put his ear to the wall to confirm this, but he's also tempted to not do something so blatantly stupid. ]

[cakebuffet]

[You're just full of surprises, aren't you, Ryuji. Here she'd been all ready to follow him to the haunted house and play along with whatever happened inside, but the gift takes her by surprise.

A stuffed dolphin? It's cute, but she can't help wondering what the occasion is.]

Seriously? For me?

[She reaches out to lightly poke its nose before pulling it out of the backpack completely.]

He's pretty adorable, but-- you didn't have to do that. Do you have presents for Shion, too?

[This is just a shinki thing, it has to be.]

double kazuyas \o/

[koshien]

[ mei hates getting sick. he takes pretty good care of himself, and is a hearty, healthy athlete so feeling like this--run down, weak--is the absolute worst. he was already in a pissy mood from getting in a fight with his stupid haunted pants earlier in the day, and especially irritated at stupid useless kazuya for laughing at him, but...

now he's familiar.

mei squints up at him for a moment--relief crosses his face, and he slumps forward to drop his head directly against kazuya's shoulder. ] Don't feel good.

[erogappa]

You're his shinki?

[ His headphones are still blaring tinnily from their new home around his neck. Blindly, Gojyo pokes at the device in his pocket, finally giving up with an annoyed sign and pulling the thing out the jab at the nearly invisible buttons on the flat surface until the noise ceases. There.

These things need better on/off buttons, swear to god. ]

What happened to the other guy? [ He slips the little music player back into his pocket and folds his arms aggressively. ] Asshole?

Charms

[lookingforhead]

[Cardia's fear is infectious, but not in that the charm's effect was passing on. Rather, Celty had just parked her bike with the intent of walking into a nearby store, but as she walked past the alley and the shout rang out she leaped a clear foot in the air, arms flailing in panic.

Her helmet turns this way and that to try to find the source of the voice before settling on Cardia. Unfortunately, a woman dressed all in black and wearing a motorcycle helmet isn't the least intimidating look out there, and it doesn't help that Celty can't call out to her either.

But she tries. She waves her hands, trying to use simple gestures to ask if Cardia needs help.]

[artificialrose]

Definitely weird! I'm still getting used to it, really...

My name is Garry. Have you met someone named Komaeda? He's my god.

[blizzardrock]

[Well...about that...] I did ask him, though, once... [Sheepish.] He didn't give me a straight answer, but it didn't seem like he was struggling with it, either.

[Not that he's encouraging Shun to go and do that, though.]

...Catch. [He tosses the pillow. Way back when, he'd suggested Shun tell him about Joker as a way to alleviate the pain of that loss, but it sounds like Shun isn't at that point yet where that would be effective. Although, Shun was fine when he was talking about Joker's throwing knives, which, uh... That's just to be expected?? (Fubuki may have misunderstood something here.)]

Guess your only recourse is calming exercises, then! [He says this entirely cheerfully in such a way that it probably sounds a little bit mocking.] How about this? I'll try to rile you up, and you can throw Sir Pillow at me, but if you do that, you lose.

[This ~perfect plan~ fails to take into account that the pillows were throwing themselves at them both anyway, but details]

[lostinshadows]

[As they begin to head out, Lavi keeps close to Sakura and the child. It's a sad attempt of being a bodyguard for them really, but he'd rather be some form of protection for them than without if he could help it.

When one of the teenager bumps into Sakura and the child, he immediately reaches out to steady them before Sakura looks back at him. He gives a nod. The exit it almost there, almost to be had. Heading outside, it seemed almost like taking a breath of fresh air and Lavi allows himself to put some proper distance from Sakura and the child.

With so many humans around this time, at least they weren't trapped.

So, he stays with Sakura a bit longer as she tries to breathe, watching the teenagers exit the haunted house. He glances over at her as she speaks, part of him hoping that she doesn't cry.

He smiles.]

You're welcome, Sakura. Though, try not to get caught in a haunted house again? [His voice is a bit teasing at the end, hoping it'd make her calm down more or even laugh.]

[lostinshadows]

I'm not sure what kind of powers she has precisely, but I do know she knows how to handle a phone, at least. She's got a lot of powers that I haven't seen yet.

[lostinshadows]

Or at all. Especially with the way things are still being handled.

[freezetheheavens]

No.

[Aaaand he just did. Sorry, Mabel.]

[fullcowl]

Huh... Yeah. But let's be careful about it. Things have been pretty weird.

[lovemguns]

[ Ooookay. ]

An’ I like the countryside clean. But if ya want someone t’ clean up after ‘em, ya should just tell ‘em instead’a just gettin’ angry.

[lovemguns]

I did, I just forget ya young’ns ain’t knowin’ much about ol’ American speech.

[ He sighs. ]

The ol’ wild west really is further way’n it really is.

[lovemguns]

Like I said, it ain’t seemin’ like they’re doin’ it out’a ill will.

[lovemguns]

Yeah, I know, I got some past experience with bears.

[ not like this though. ]

But them people who ain’t got much knowin’ about bears won’t see’t that way.

[fullcowl]

I think so? We're the ones that the living can see if we put effort into it, but we're technically on a different plane of existence.

... You'd think we could see spirits, but I don't think I have yet.

[nopixiedust]

You'd think spirits could just go live their lives without being so annoying...

[Gits. Still, the reminder of things that are being possessed has her glance at him.]

Have you had any experience with possessed stuff?

[artificialrose]

It's determined to be a pain every time I have to cross it...

[Sighing, he tries to straighten up a little bit although he's still leaning against the bridge.]

His name is Komaeda. I don't suppose you got a chance to meet him?

[fullcowl]

I can get as angry as I want and they won't even notice me!

[Did something... happen to Izuku? It seems like something happened.]

[very_goodman]

Yeah. Only better place'd be a fjord, but we're not in Finland, so cave it is.

[He does know at least that much about Hiyoko.]

Almost there! C'mon, let's go!