thenearshore | 018 | Season Spirits

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~

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

—Or that it might perhaps attract less dangerous and conniving bears.

[Is Munakata's addendum to the sentence that Enomoto left trailing off.]

Looks like you had quite the eventful evening.

[He glances over at the sheathed sword in the other man's hands, which is partly the reason Munakata had come over in the first place. That pummel and hilt, the guard, the scabbard... they all seem uniform to his own, except his scabbard has additional golden embellishments.

Lifting his gaze to the other man's,] Are you injured in any way?

[ Some odd instinct in him causes him to jerk, both in surprise and as a reflex. Like he should be at attention or something.

But he forces himself to calm down, shaking his head at the question. ]

Eventful's one way of describing it. Nothing's hurt though... but this got a few scratches on it.

[ Another sigh as he traces one of the marks over the scabbard. Sure it's not so bad but still... it was so flawless previously. ]

[He looks it over again as Enomoto traces the marks.]

Weighed against your well-being, that's hardly of any consequence...

[There's a brief yet somewhat pregnant pause before] How long have you had this sword?

[That's... a harmless question, right?]

I guess... but it kind of feels like I got myself hurt, too.

[ What an odd thing to say... but he can't help but think that way about this sword and after that dream, he understands why.

Though... part of him also feels like he should be apologizing to Reisi. As his king. But it's probably better if he just sticks to the question. ]

Uh... Three months now. It showed up in my room one day wedged into a rock.

[The other shinki's remark was a little strange, though Reisi thinks that he may be missing some context. He glances again at Enomoto to study his expression before deciding he might revisit that comment later.

What Munakata gets out of this answer is that the other shinki didn't always have the sword with him, and that he's been here for longer than three months.]

How did you you remove it from the rock?

[ 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.

[Munakata wonders why the other shinki thought it might be a prop. Is that line of thinking common here, did he think it was someone's idea of a joke? Either way, Enomoto's account calls back to Fushimi's post on the BBS about his blue powers awakening after the firefly viewing event.. Though if it's somehow related to Munakata, then he might know just how to do it.]

Do you truly wish to draw the sword?

[Here, Reisi moves a hand to his hip where his own matching sword hangs.]

[ ....that's a good question.

There's a furrow to his brow as he looks down at the saber in his lap. He saw the sword in the sky but had been too preoccupied with ayakashi to check it out. Though he did notice a change in the sword then.

He knew they were connected. If there was anyone who ould solve the mystery of this sword, it had to be this guy.

When he looks back up at Reisi, he looks deathly serious. ]

Yeah. I do.

[The firm resolve in Enomoto's expression moves Reisi, though there's little evidence of it in his own countenance. Instead, he holds his hand out.]

Then, hand me the sword.

I may have the power to unlock it, and the ability to grant you power as well.

[ He knows who this man is, if what Tatara told him was right. He knows what he's saying is true. If there's anyone who can solve the mystery of his saber, it's his... king?

Without hesitation, he holds out the saber with both hands. ]

I'd really appreciate it if you could. It'd... maybe make it easier to defend myself... just in case.

[While Reisi may not know about his kingship or that Enomoto is his clansman, he feels the connection between them and knows that he trusts the other shinki. Enomoto likely has a measure of his power in the same way that Fushimi does. However, it appears that he needs the sword to use the blue aura.

He motions for the other man to kneel before taking the sword from his hands and easily drawing the blade from its sheath in a swift and elegant motion. Then he taps Enomoto's shoulders with the flat of the sword, once on each side, saying,]

Take up the rhythm within your heart, you within whom the pulse of power resides. Protect order and ensure peace upon Heaven and Earth—become a guardian of justice and swear upon this sword that you will wield it with pride and conviction.

[Reisi sheathes the sword again.]

Rise, Tatsuya Enomoto. Take this sword to wield my power, for you truly are a blue knight of righteousness.

You can now draw the sword so long as you state your name and intent to do so. The sword will become an extension of your being.

[ He doesn't question it. After all, it seems like such a solemn ceremony that it seems out of place for him to question. But it all seems familiar to him, like he's done this before.

Is this what they meant about the whole... king business? It wasn't just being employed by them but something more? Part of him wants to tell Reisi what he knows but the sensible fussy bit of him is saying no.

Not until he figures it out for himself.

When he looks up again, his heart is racing and he's gingerly accepting his saber. Oddly, he feels different - they both feel different, him and the saber. When he gets it back, he's holding it to his chest and looking back up at his captain. There are so many questions running through his head. ]

How... did you know all that...?

[ That's the first one that slips out with a healthy amount of awe. ]

[There's something quite pleasing about seeing the other shinki's face lit up with attentive wonderment. Reisi might not know exactly what it is or why, but it's special and something worth being proud of.

Smiling pleasantly,]

Well, it's my power, is it not? So I simply performed a formality of what comes to me naturally.

[He pauses, casting a knowing look at Enomoto.]

In truth, I think you've long had access to my power but could only utilize it through the sword.

018 | Season Spirits

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