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

[alchemists]

Things that keep going wrong even if it's just little things, like the chessboard that just fell over.

[ Things just don't fall, or break or go crazy if no one touches or acts on it. ]

[priforprince]

[ It's all just little things. Yes. Just little things.

Little things, and some not so little things, and mostly just. Nothing is going right. Even something as simple as having pleasingly-arranged flowers....the colors have been lumped all wrong in her vases. She had to fix them herself. It was awful.

And thus, she begrudgingly glances over. But she will not turn her whole head. Elfnein does not quite rate that yet. ]

....What of it?

[alchemists]

I've been creating items to help counteract what's been going on.

[ So far it's been working, the books in her temple aren't piling up or falling on people. Chairs haven't been vanishing, the weird static noise is canceled out. ]

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki scoffs. ] I don't need them.

[ Hauntings happen to other people. Not to Shikyoin Hibiki! ]

[alchemists]

But it will help, and you won't have to deal with spirits messing up your temple.

[ You say that but the broken teacups say otherwise. ]

[priforprince]

Everything is under control.

[ A vase tips over and all the flowers fall out.

It does not, interestingly enough, fall over and shatter or anything like that. ]

[alchemists]

That vase just tipped over.

[ What's next the place sets itself on fire and all Hibiki does is say "it's fine" ]

[priforprince]

Khh....

[ Hibiki bites her bottom lip, unwilling to relent, and yet unable to counteract this astute observation.

How extremely unpleasant. ]

[alchemists]

Are you ok?

[ Just admit it Hibiki. ]

[priforprince]

[ but she doesn't waaant toooo

She will, however, toss her bangs, cross both her arms and her legs, and install herself as a permanent collection piece on the couch. ]

If you're so intent upon it, engage in all the fruitless pastimes you'd like. Just do it out of my sight.

[ And she's not moving. ]

[alchemists]

[ A framed picture that is in the background is now falling off the wall just as Hibiki crosses her arms. ]

I want to see if there is a peaceful way to drive them out before I use the items I made to combat them.

[priforprince]

Do as you please.

[ She's not looking at that picture. But it's starting to smell like tea in here. ]

[alchemists]

[ Why are there tea puddles forming near the table... what did Hibiki do to anger spirits so much? ]

If you stop denying the spirits it might help with getting them to leave?

[priforprince]

You're the one who's cleaning up the problem, correct?

[ How foolish. Hibiki turns to go. ] It's in your hands.

[alchemists]

[ Wow rude, you just dump all the cleaning onto a child. ]

It's pointless to clean it up if the spirits keep constantly destroying things in the temple. You have to attack the cause.

[priforprince]

Then do so.

[ She's not the problem. She didn't ask for this. Look at this door. She is going through this door. ]

I'll be in my room.

[ This door is stuck. ]

[alchemists]

You need to help as well, all the causes so far can be traced back to you.

[priforprince]

Gh....

[ This....door...

Hibiki waggles the handle fruitlessly, back still pointedly to Elfnein. As you can see, her attention is fully occupied! By something other than you! ]

[alchemists]

The door will open when you address the spirits.

[priforprince]

The spirits can hold commune with me when I'm in the mood.

[ Door. Come on. Door.

DO YOU BETRAY HER, DOOR?! ]

[alchemists]

The spirits don't work on our terms, you have to meet them halfway at least!

[priforprince]

[ This - rebellious - door handle -

Hibiki's shoulders slump. Her hold on the doorknob loosens. Any more struggle here and trying to open this door will start feeling like work, and that absolutely cannot be allowed to happen.

Therefore, it seems she must pursue alternate paths. Loath though she may be. ]

.......Truly?

[ Elfnein has been a reliable source of information in the past. But it's also never been this...unpalatable. ]

[alchemists]

The spirits were here before any of us, it's a coexistence in a sense.

[ and someone just so happened to piss the spirits off and break that coexistence. ]

If we did something to upset them of course they would use that as a reason to upset us in return.

[priforprince]

Petty for immortals, that.

[ Were it Hibiki, she'd be the very picture of benevolence! ]

[alchemists]

You're just adding fuel to the fire now.