thenearshore | 018 | Season Spirits

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

[That takes longer than he thought for her to consider, but at the end he chalks it up to having caught her in the middle of something else. At her agreement, he smiles about as broadly as he can.]

I won't keep you long, I promise.

[And to make good on his word, he moves for the entrance to get them a pair of tickets.]

[She returns the smile, although her's still looks markedly uneasy. She nods her head, and waits patiently for him to return with tickets. She fidgets slightly as she waits, and she can even be heard murmuring to herself a little until she thinks Dust is close enough to hear her.]

There's no reason to be scared. Haunted houses are man-made constructions, fabrications. They're not real. A cast of characters in make-up and costumes, nothing more. They're meant to be enjoyable.

[She smiles uneasily again as Dust hands her a ticket. She then takes a few steadying breathes as they work towards the entrance.]

[She might be underestimating his hearing just a bit -- what with his ears being more animal-like. At her statements, he hesitates briefly... then mentally shrugs. Her statement is factually correct and nothing in here will actually endanger her, so if she is legitimately afraid, maybe going in will help her?]

[She'd agreed to it, after all. He isn't forcing her, wouldn't. So he'll just take the lead, stepping through the tattered cloth that separates the inside of the house from the outside, and into the darkness past.]

[Naoto hesitates at the threshold, but sure enough works up enough courage to follow him in. She quickly takes an extra quick one, two steps to catch up to him, and Dust might notice she's hovering a little closer to him than she normally might. And while she is trying very hard to appear cool and calm, her eyes keep darting to the left and right, trying to spot the next possible scare before it has a chance to pop out at her.]

[Spring out it does, though. As they turn to the left, following the very dimly lit path -- a hand rockets out at Naoto, stopping just short of her. It's only a fake hand on a triggered pole, but its speed and suddenness are meant to startle!]

[Startle it does! Naoto jumps back with a shriek that likely sounded higher pitched than Dust might have expected to hear out of her. She closes her eyes, turning away from the hand, and clutching her hands to her chest. She's shaking a little as she takes some deep breathes to try and calm herself.]

[That IS surprisingly high, enough so that Dust aborts his own start of surprise to glance over at her and make sure she's okay.]

[She's... really getting into the spirit of getting scared? But averting her eyes won't help much, because no sooner do they step forward than a low cackle begins to echo out of a wooden box on the floor, that shakes and rumbles as they approach.]

[Again, she jumps a little and shudders slightly, but it's a less dramatic reaction compared to the hand from a moment earlier. However, Naoto begins to mutter assurance to herself again.]

It's okay... It's just likely on a string... or perhaps a remote-activated mechanism... Nothing to be scared of... It's all just smoke and mirrors...

And weird devices. [Dust has found himself to be less familiar with technology than many, so he doesn't have an explanation for this beyond that phrase. In a way, that makes it fairly easy for him to be blase about it. So many things are beyond what he understands, why doubt that any of this is just as weird?]

[Not helping his reassurance, the box suddenly lumbers forwards towards them with a skittering that sounds like lots of legs.]

[Now that makes Naoto jump again. This time, however, she covers her mouth with both hands and manages to stifle another scream. Seriously... was this whole house going to be like this? She's going to be exhausted by the time they get out.]

[But then, as the initial panic fades, something about this particular box's movement strikes Naoto as peculiar. This particular scare seemed to be a little beyond the means of simple mechanisms or tricks. This wasn't feeling right...]

[Dust, less sensitive, less familiar with the limits of machinery and technology, and without the keen eyes of a detective, notices nothing suspicious about this compared to everything else. So he steps around the box --]

[And that is when a tentacle pops out from beneath it, wrapping around the appendage it can actually blight: his tail. Dust jerks violently at the sudden pain, twisting around to face whatever happened, and the tug on the tentacle pulls the ayakashi out of the box and into the minimal light.]

[Naoto's heart leaps in her chest. It all happened so fast -- the tentacle, Dust crying out in pain, and now the reveal of an ayakashi. She doesn't scream out in surprise. Not this time. Instead, this was a different type of fear, a dread that only comes when facing down an enemy with a desire to truly do you harm.]

[Luckily, Naoto manages to regain her head quickly. She looks from Dust to the ayakashi and back. There's enough space between the two of them and with its tentacle tethered around Dust's tail like that...]

LINE!

[Naoto calls out in a loud, commanding tone. A streak of light etches itself across the ground in front of them, and it cuts the ayakashi's tentacle in two as it forms. The borderline's light also helping to illuminate the immediate area around them, allowing the two to better get their bearings. Naoto looks over at Dust.]

Are you alright?

Nice reflexes.

[Despite the blight crawling up his tail and the pain it must be causing, Dust is only surprised and impressed both. His sword, held reverse-grip as he drops into a slight ready crouch, is a testament to his own reflexes in turn, even if he hadn't had the time to put it into play yet.]

[Dust glares at the ayakashi as it scrabbles against the borderline, trying to reach them despite the impregnable wall, a few mismatched eyes staring blankly at the shinki pair. His grip tightens slightly on the sword's hilt.]

Can you fight, Naoto?

[Naoto gives him a quick nod, her focus on the ayakashi and maintaining the borderline. She's not sure how capable she is with her god here, too, but she's certainly not going to leave Dust to fight this thing alone.]

I'll keep the borderline up until you charge. After that, I'll try to form new ones as needed.

[She grits her teeth. It was time to see if all her training with Homura and Izumo would pay off.]

[Dust smiles, his expression more feral and savage than amused.]

We're going to stop it from harassing us or anyone else in this haunted house -- so we can go back to being scared entirely by things that aren't dangerous at all! Drop it!

[He isn't scared. What's to fear? Battle is his element, and he lunges forward to join it without a moment's hesitation.]

[She grins, slightly crooked as she's not sure she liked that second part of Dust's statement, but they could cross that bridge once they'd dealt with the immediate threat before them. Following her comrade's order, she drops the borderline, timing its release to allow Dust to dart forward and try to get the jump on the ayakashi now preoccupied with trying to figure out how to get around the barrier.]

[As the light of the borderline fades, Naoto dashes to the right, attempting to get whatever kind of flank position she could. She needs to get out of Dust's way -- between the two of them, it was clear who the more capable fighter was (i.e. the guy who actually carries around a weapon on his person), but she still needs to be in a position to support him as much as she possibly can.]

[Naoto isn't wrong -- Dust explodes into a flurry of blows practically too fast to see, sword cutting long arcs through the air till Dust slams it upwards into the ceiling. It descends straight into Dust's sword, which the Sen-Mithrarin has lifted to spin on his palm, so fast it creates a whirling vortex only visible as a distortion of the room behind it.]

Throw one up!

[Naoto's eyes can barely follow his sword strikes, and she watches in awe at the display of his skills. She quickly realizes what's happening as Dust twirls his blade, keeping the ayakashi locked in place. And just as he calls out for a borderline, Naoto steps forward and calls down her wall in the middle of the monster, hoping to bisect it cleanly in two.]

LINE!

[Dust flips back out of danger just in time for the line to slam through the ayakashi, neatly bisecting it.]

[That isn't enough to kill it, of course. They aren't a matched pair, they can't Rend. But the spirit has had more than enough of this; the part of it that didn't evaporate scrambles for the wall to claw its way into a crack. Who knows when it will stop running? Not any time soon.]

[Dust gets to his feet in a ready position, but the danger has passed. He looks around, just to be sure, then straightens up.]

Nice work. You're really good at Borderlines.

[Naoto allows herself a sigh of relief, content that the two of them were able to repel the ayakashi. However, that fact that it was able to scurry away worries her, and so she's a bit distracted by the thought of where it may have run off to. She doesn't want anybody else to come to harm.]

Hmm? Oh, yes. Um, thank you.

[She smiles weakly. In truth, she is glad to see that the hours she'd put into training seem to have paid off adequately. Again though, she's worried about what further trouble the ayakashi may cause.]

What do we do? We can't just let it get away, but we can't rend it together can we?

Sometimes all you can do is hurt them badly enough that they retreat. [The shadows cast by the borderline's glow cast Dust's features into sharp relief, making his resignation seem darker than it is.] Unless your god is near... mine isn't. But so long as it can't bother anyone else trying to just enjoy themselves in here, I think we've done what we needed to.

[Naoto bites her lip, still not fully convinced. At the very least, she wipes her hands over the borderline, dispelling it and returning the hall to its relative darkness.]

My god is somewhere nearby. If I can find him, maybe we can track it down again and finish it off for good.

[She looks back the way they came, and then forward down the hall. It's now coming back to her exactly where they are again and what this place is.]

I don't suppose they'll simply let me exit back out through the front?

Didn't you know, Naoto?

[Dust turns slowly, cloak and tail swishing across the floor in a soft and eerie whisper, to face her fully -- barely a silhouette of a figure in the shadows, as he drops his voice.]

No one.. ever... leaves...

[Naoto squeaks.]

O- okay... That's enough... Please stop.

[She starts slowly inching backwards towards the entrance. You know... just in case... he's not kidding...]

[Dust stops, one hand lifted up to cover his mouth.]

Sorry. I couldn't resist. I'll owe you one later for that.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject