godsoffortune: (kanji2)
The Far Shore Mods ([personal profile] godsoffortune) wrote in [community profile] thenearshore2017-07-02 12:59 am

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 ([personal profile] 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~
very_goodman: (side glance)

[personal profile] very_goodman 2017-07-04 10:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Nah, I keep my axe locked up. Plus, it's way too big.

[Thank goodness for that, at least.]
declamando: (what now)

[personal profile] declamando 2017-07-05 04:53 pm (UTC)(link)
That's a relief. Though kitchen knives could have been just as bad if they'd gotten that far.

[She straightens up, dragging the piece of clothing along with her.] These ones just seem to be testing who can hurl themselves out of the temple the furthest. I've had to fish a few out of the water already.

[Not that said water can actually be seen past the cave wall, since they're outside of it, but still.]
very_goodman: (arms folded)

[personal profile] very_goodman 2017-07-05 09:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[Barry eyes the clothes.]

You catch 'em all yet, or ya need some help?
declamando: (huh)

[personal profile] declamando 2017-07-06 03:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Unless another one has thrown itself out while I wasn't looking, this should be all of them. I wouldn't mind a second pair of eyes to make sure, though.

[There are a lot of places around her temple that a stray piece of clothing could be caught unseen, and she'd rather not discover it months after the fact.]
very_goodman: (Default)

[personal profile] very_goodman 2017-07-09 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Couldn't hurt to give the whole place a once over.
declamando: (Default)

[personal profile] declamando 2017-07-11 11:11 am (UTC)(link)
That's what I was thinking. I haven't checked behind the temple yet, either.

[With that in mind, she starts walking, heading towards the front of the large cavern.] It's just this way.
very_goodman: (yatta)

[personal profile] very_goodman 2017-07-13 10:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Yup, lead the way!

[He'll head along after her, looking around in case he spots anything that landed in a weird place.]

Good thing you didn't have to replace anything, what with the show comin' up soon.
declamando: (amused)

[personal profile] declamando 2017-07-14 02:45 pm (UTC)(link)
They didn't manage to get hold of anything too expensive, thankfully. I usually keep that in a different cupboard.

[Nothing appears to have landed on the outside of the cave, which is good, at least, so Maria leads him through the gap in the rock that leads inside. It opens onto a long path with a river worming through it, a few bridges covering where it breaks up the way to an extremely large treehouse at the other end of the cavern. Its top half reaches out of a huge hole in the cavern roof, explaining where Maria dived from earlier.]
very_goodman: (surprised)

[personal profile] very_goodman 2017-07-16 11:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[Barry lets out an impressed whistle as he looks around.]

Damn, this place's really pretty...
declamando: (accepting)

[personal profile] declamando 2017-07-17 01:46 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm very fond of it, yes. I don't think I've seen any other temples like it before. What's your god's temple like?

[Even as she says that, she starts to head down the path, keeping an eye on the river in particular for any signs of floating clothing. She's pretty sure she fished it all out earlier, but there's no saying the spirits might not have grabbed something else while she was out wrangling the other one.]
very_goodman: (Default)

[personal profile] very_goodman 2017-07-17 10:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Hiyoko's place? It's real nice. More like a wilderness lodge than a temple, really. There's animals all over the place, and they just wander in and out.

[Which sounds really strange, but Barry's gotten used to it. It's kind of like an old Viking longhouse.]
declamando: (Default)

[personal profile] declamando 2017-07-19 02:26 pm (UTC)(link)
That sounds charming. There don't seem to be all that many temples that are actually like the traditional image of a temple, but that just means they're all more interesting to find out about.

[There's no stray clothing out this far, at least, and as they get closer to the temple, it seems like a solid bet that there's nothing tossed into the water right now, at least. Maria gives a soft sigh of relief.]

If there is anything still out here, it must be closer to the tree.
very_goodman: (side glance)

[personal profile] very_goodman 2017-07-22 05:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, it's pretty relaxing. Almost like bein' on a hunting trip with a nice cabin to stay in.

[Or exactly like that. But yeah.]

Awright, let's head back, then.
declamando: (accepting)

[personal profile] declamando 2017-07-24 03:33 pm (UTC)(link)
It does sound a lot like that, but I still think it'd be nice to see. [As it is, she keeps heading towards the treehouse ahead of them.]

I just need to check around the base of the tree. I mostly saw what fell from out windows, so if anything ended up right near the trunk, I would've missed it.
very_goodman: (Default)

[personal profile] very_goodman 2017-07-25 10:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[He follows her back toward the tree.]

Well, c'mon over for a visit sometime, then! I'm sure Hiyoko'd be happy to host.
declamando: (amused)

[personal profile] declamando 2017-07-27 02:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, if you insist, I'd be happy to. It's always nice to meet new people.

[As they get nearer to the base of the tree, Maria leaves the path and starts winding through the thick, soft moss blanketing the ground beneath the boughs.]
very_goodman: (side glance)

[personal profile] very_goodman 2017-07-29 03:02 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't see anything out here.

[Not that he's that observant, but still.]
declamando: (Default)

[personal profile] declamando 2017-07-31 02:05 pm (UTC)(link)
It's going to be hard to tell through the moss, so that's not surprising. Right at the back is the easiest place to miss, as well.

[And the main one Maria's worried about, honestly, so she mainly keeps heading in that direction. Massive roots obstruct a good view into that area on top of the thick mossy blanket, making it pretty clear why they need to trek all the way over.]
very_goodman: (thoughtful)

[personal profile] very_goodman 2017-08-01 12:44 am (UTC)(link)
Right. Gotta make sure we look real close, then.

[Barry hunches down, keeping an eye to the ground.]
declamando: (what now)

[personal profile] declamando 2017-08-01 03:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[Maria nods approvingly as they start to get closer to the back of the tree. Sure enough, once they circle one of the biggest roots, Maria spots a sleeve poking out near the base of the tree.]

Honestly...I was wondering if I was being too cautious about this, but obviously not.
very_goodman: (surprised)

[personal profile] very_goodman 2017-08-03 11:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[Barry follows after her, but a flash of color catches his eye before he catches up.]

Oh, hey, I found some-

[But when he lifts it up, it's clearly... well. A pastel undergarment of some description.]

Aaaaaaaaahhh!

[He drops it, jumping back a step.]

I'm sorry! I didn't mean to see!
declamando: (don't overthink it)

[personal profile] declamando 2017-08-04 02:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[Maria's just tugging the shirt out from its hiding spot when Barry yells, and she doesn't even really need to turn around to know what it is he's stumbled across. Flushing violently pink for a moment, she turns around and swipes the bra off the ground, folding it under the shirt in her hands.]

Honestly, what uncouth spirits... [Getting into a woman's drawers. She casts a seething glance back up at the tree.] It's hardly your fault, but let's move on.
very_goodman: (depressed)

[personal profile] very_goodman 2017-08-05 09:43 pm (UTC)(link)
[Calm down, Barry. Calm down. 3D better than 2D. 3D better than 2D.]

Y-yeah... I hope that's about it.
declamando: (irritable)

[personal profile] declamando 2017-08-09 01:20 pm (UTC)(link)
It should be. They can't have gotten hold of much more than that. [Stalking around the back of the tree, Maria scans the ground, but there doesn't seem to be anything else in this area, so she just starts coming back around the other side. Since it's the opposite end of the tree to her room, it's less likely they'll run across anything here anyway.]

Yes, it looks like that's it.
very_goodman: (thoughtful)

[personal profile] very_goodman 2017-08-10 10:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Whew... thank goodness for that.

[He couldn't take another shock like that one.]

(no subject)

[personal profile] declamando - 2017-08-11 12:32 (UTC) - Expand