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

[redotiertwo]

I mean, it's not really encountering them that's the problem, I just don't want to ditch them here in case they decide to get really pissed off at some other poor fuck walking by.

[So it's less the Bear Whisperer they need right now and more the Bear Piper of Hamelin.]

[very_goodman]

I mean, I could probably get 'em to chase me, but then we'd have a different problem.

[And Barry's not entirely confident he could outrun them.]

[redotiertwo]

Yeah, I could probably fly slow enough to lure them out of the city, but that's going to take a while. I don't know how the fuck they turned up here in the first place.

[Bullshit magic, probably. Given the circumstances and who he's talking to, though, Davesprite comes up with an alternate plan a few moments later.]

So. How close is Hiyoko's shrine, and does she want any more bears.

[very_goodman]

Sure, bring 'em by! We can always use a few new faces around the lodge.

[He's pretty sure she either won't notice or won't care.]

[redotiertwo]

Nice. You're going to have to lead me to her shrine, though, I've never been there before.

[Also he's pretty sure Barry would have to be the one to actually use it, given what shrines seem to be like normally.]

[very_goodman]

All right. Just help keep the bears off me, okay?

[They're here for Davesprite, so hopefully that won't be hard.]

[redotiertwo]

Get a headstart on us and they probably won't look twice at you. [And if they do, well, Davesprite can draw a borderline. Either way, they're probably good to go.]

[very_goodman]

Okay. Here I go, then!

[And he takes off at a slow jog.]

[redotiertwo]

[Once Barry has a bit of a lead, Davesprite glides out of the tree and a bit lower to the ground. It's still out of bear mauling range, but it also means they can see him more easily, and they promptly start following the tip of his long tail.]

Alright, Operation Lead-a-Bear Workshop is go.

[very_goodman]

Just follow me!

[Barry heads down the street and toward some nearby woods.]

[redotiertwo]

Currently following. [And trying to do so as fast as possible without actually catching up, because he doesn't want the bears getting time to eye off any passerby. He relaxes a bit once they get into the woods, though.]

If this is where bird apocalypse survivor's shrine is, colour me unsurprised.

[very_goodman]

Well, she's a goddess of the hunt, y'know.

[Barry just laughs to himself as he walks along, his pace somewhat slowed now by the underbrush.]

The shrine's actually in a cave.

[redotiertwo]

Huh. I don't usually look up what gods do what unless it's one I should know like my own god, but that makes all kinds of sense. As does the whole shrine being in a cave thing, but for entirely different reasons.

[It also explains the apparent affinity for bears and the various other wildlife known to wander around her temple.

The underbrush makes things a little awkward for Davesprite as well, though mostly just in the sense of having to glide above it and duck tree boughs and such.]

[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!

[redotiertwo]

Does she have a shrine in Finland as well, because that seems way too appropriate a location to pass up. [And presumably she's a god from that area if they're talking about fjords all of a sudden.]

Noted. For the record, I would've had a way easier time with a fjord. [It's taking a lot of self-control to not just pull out his sword and start slashing at some branches instead of pushing them out of the way.]

[very_goodman]

I dunno. Maybe we should go on a field trip sometime.

[Barry chuckles as he leads Davesprite through the last leg of the journey. After emerging on the other side of a small thicket, there's a cave ahead.]

Right in there.

[redotiertwo]

Did you guys not do that whole new shrine trips thing when it happened, because if not then yeah, you probably should.

[Everyone else got their field trips, so she should probably get hers. But for now, Davesprite looks distinctly unsurprised at where their path leads.]

Damn, if that doesn't scream plot-relevant location I don't know what does.

[very_goodman]

She did, but I didn't go with her that time. Made a lot of new animal friends there.

[Like bears. Like the ones still following them.]

Should be just inside.

[It is, but it's also dark in there. Better find a way to light the place up before the bears catch up.]

I know it's around here somewhere...

[redotiertwo]

[Well, she probably knows if she has a shrine in Finland then, at least. So Davesprite nods slightly like he totally gets it and sidles into the cave after him.

...And it is dark as fuck in here. Thankfully, Davesprite has some kind of solution to that, and he focuses himself for a moment or two.

The next second, the walls are covered in neon orange scrawl, like someone's run a paintbrush all over them haphazardly. Said scrawl also glows brightly enough to cast a decent amount of light around the cave.]

A torch would've been way more convenient. Just saying.

[very_goodman]

Hey, that's a pretty cool trick! Like glowing magic graffiti or somethin'.

[And with a quick glance around, he's spotted the shrine.]

There we go! C'mon, it's right over here.

[redotiertwo]

Pretty much. Don't know anything about why the fuck I even have a power like that, but hey, standard shinki problems.

[He shrugs. Compared to the other things he's had to consider about his past lately, it's really not a big deal.

Once Barry points out their path, Davesprite trails after him, looking around.]

But seriously, invest in a wall bracket torch or some shit so you can see where you're going if you don't have a sprite with a bag of tricks after you.

[very_goodman]

Hey, I'm not complainin'.

[He wastes no time in heading toward the shrine.]

Yeah, I'll make sure to let her know about that. Gotta keep up improvements if you wanna build equity, right?

[redotiertwo]

Right. And also build people not falling on their asses and cracking skulls trying to fumble their way through fuck darkness so they can leave shit for their goddess.

[Or whatever it is people actually do at shrines. He's pretty sure that's one of them, but his religious knowledge is pretty lacking.]

[very_goodman]

Yeah. That too.

[He looks past them, noticing the bears on their way.]

Awright, here we go, then!

[And he runs into the shrine, hoping to kite the bears in after them.]

[redotiertwo]

Damn, dude, change your name to Leeroy Jenkins first so I know what to expect.

[Despite the complaint about the sudden running off, Davesprite follows him in - it's him the bears are most interested in following, and they scamper a lot faster to try and keep up with him.]