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~

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Yes. It sounded like a ridiculous attempt to sound tough. [Shun sounds more exasperated than anything. Swearing all the time just reduces the impact of the words anyway, and then it has far less effect when you decide to call someone an asshole.

Shun gives Lavi a look right back at that, as if daring him to actually say what he's thinking in so many words.] That stopped being an issue for me a while ago, but obviously he's still recovering.

[As for the remark on the pillows, it gets a slight hum of assent.] They didn't seem to mind getting used as target practice to earn their keep.

[That actually gets Lavi to laugh a little.]

Just glad he hasn't used any of his powers while he was like that. [Lavi's only managed to get a glimpse of it when he was a kid and had to be saved.

But when Shun gives him a look, he simply grins at him but says nothing else.

He looks a little amused.] Nothing really fazes you, does it?

I haven't seen any of his powers yet. He mentioned the other day he was training to be a hero in his world, but that's all I know so far. [Granted, any power strong and versatile enough to qualify someone for superheroics probably wouldn't be a great idea to throw around in a bad mood, but Shun doesn't know how much of a bullet they dodged there exactly.

A slight, but heavy breath comes out in answer to that question.] There's not a lot left in the world that can faze me after what I've seen.

He's mentioned the same. Being a hero is a big deal to him. [And it's evident that Lavi isn't sure what exactly to think about heroes.

He glances at Shun, quiet for a moment. Then, he'll just give a nod before looking away and back at the bonfire that's going on.]

Obviously. He has a good attitude towards it. [Idealistic, but not to the point of being completely disconnected from reality and some of the hard truths a job like that would entail. Shun can respect an outlook like his.

When Lavi chooses to drop the subject, Shun doesn't pursue it, merely watching the fire's movement himself. The shadows it casts on his face highlight the deep lines under his eyes.]

[Shun, you're definitely not getting enough sleep.

Lavi hums a bit.]

I'm definitely being a hypocrite here with the no sleep thing, but at least try? Seems like the bags under your eyes are getting worst.

[A sidelong look is shot at Lavi for that remark, but perhaps not for the reasons Lavi might be expecting. It's definitely hard to see given the way the firelight falls on his face, but he tugs at his lower eyelid a little with one finger and leans towards Lavi - there are definitely some serious lines there, but there's no dark shadows or swelling that usually comes up with lack of sleep. Or at least, not enough to indicate he's doing any more than maybe skipping an hour here or there.

After a moment or two, he lets go and turns back to the fire.] It's not sleep this time. It's just that this sort of thing makes the marks that are always there stand out.

[That gets a few blinks from him. He looks a bit bemused by the explanation, but at least Shun confirms that he has been getting enough sleep. At least, enough where bags aren't a big concern.]

That's...interesting.

[Never seen anything like that before.]

That's one way of putting it. There are other ways to be tired than lacking sleep. [That's about all Shun's going to offer at this stage, because more than that means admitting exactly how worn out the war has made him. He wants it over for a variety of reasons, mostly for the sake of other people, but some part of him is looking forward to when his life doesn't have to be a constant battle.]

And anyway, like you said, you would've been a hypocrite to tell me I needed more sleep.

True, there are. Doubt you'd ever tell me the reason for that, though.[A simple agreement. Lavi can't remember the wars he's witnessed and seen back home, but at the same time, what is it like to be able to live a life peacefully enough where they won't have to worry about that?

Amused, he grins a bit and shrugs.]

At least I'm not bad as you and Deku.

[That gets a slight shrug. While Shun's expression isn't exactly open, there's an air of resolve about it, like he's proving he can still hold his head up.] It's not pleasant to talk about, but if nobody's forcing me to, then I can. But I figure there's enough on our minds right now.

[While he wouldn't be averse to telling Lavi - or Izuku, for that matter - by this point, he'll wait until the waters have cleared a bit.

That follow-up remark gets a somewhat dismissive snort out of him.] I wouldn't be so sure.

Well, I wouldn't mind getting to know you better once everything has finally calmed down somewhat.

[He'd do the same if he could. Maybe tell Shun that Lavi really isn't his real name.

The grin widens.] Don't think so?

That's fine. If you can't trust someone you've investigated a murder with, you'd have to be even more paranoid than I am.

[One of the rare times Shun admits he's a little on the paranoid side, even if he also considers it entirely valid anyway given his background. The dry tone of the comment makes it kind of hard to tell whether it's meant to be entirely serious, too.

A somewhat disbelieving side-eye gets cast at Lavi.] If you do that sort of thing normally, then you're already worse off than both of us.

You never know whether someone can be trusted or not outside of a murder investigation.

[Because at least that then they all have a common goal to work towards.

The disbelieving side-eye actually manages to get Lavi to laugh a bit. The situation isn't exactly funny, but being called out on his insomnia sort of was.]

I guess, if you put it that way.

Sounds about right. [While it's not impossible, situations like that do lend themselves more to having to trust others without overthinking it too much. By this point, Shun's accepted that their little investigation group is trustworthy.

While it's not a card Shun generally pulls himself, Lavi's apparent lack of concern towards the insomnia does make him a bit curious about one aspect.]

Doesn't your god have a problem with it? I can barely skip one night without one of my shinki getting short about it.

[Lavi would want to say the same, but while he trusts Izuku the most out of everyone in their little group, he can slowly grow to trust the others, too. Even Shun is at a higher trust level than say Chikusa and Ken, despite the fact that Lavi and Chikusa do get along well enough.

He blinks once when Shun mentions his god.]

Not really. She has her own fair share of staying up sometimes, too. [Lavi is just bad.]

Edited 2017-07-14 17:36 (UTC)

People staying up themselves doesn't mean they're not going to call you out for the same thing. [Case in point: Shun, like two minutes ago. But he doesn't pursue the subject, instead crossing rails to a similar one.]

Maybe I should start keeping a closer eye on you, then. Hell knows Midoriya's probably too busy to do it.

[The kid looks like he's asleep standing up half the time.]

You mean like you? [Lavi smiles.

Honestly, it's amusing to hear Shun claim that he needs to keep a closer eye on him. He wonders if it's actual concern or just something else. The fact that he's mentioned Izuku only makes him smile wider.]

Don't know if you'll have the time to keep that close of an eye on me. I'll be fine. I've already gone this far, anyway.

Like me. [Shun isn't even going to try to deny that he does it, because that would just be insulting to both of them. In any case, he's certainly not going to elaborate on his reasoning for doing any of this, because he's not prone to doing that unless he's directly asked.]

You'd be surprised what I have time for. And it's the people who say things like that who usually need the closest eyes kept on them.

[...Also like him, but he's not sure Lavi's hung around him enough to make that particular observation.]

[That's fine; Lavi doesn't really like asking people to elaborate if it isn't exactly a life-or-death situation. He knows Shun well enough at least that the god isn't exactly one to offer explanations unless prompted.

He tilts his head.]

Sounds like you've got experience with that.

I have plenty. It's not like it's an uncommon trait. [That sure is him not admitting he's one of the people with that not uncommon trait, but he has definitely spoken to several people here who've fit that bill.] Surely you've met a few yourself, there's plenty of them here. Other than Midoriya.

[Because he's kind of the obvious example that they're both familiar with here.]

I've met a lot of people who suffer the same.

[It's quite a common trait surprisingly.]

If there's a cure for insomnia, though, that'd be great.

[That gets a faint snort out of Shun, though there's a somewhat bitter edge to it.]

Insomnia and nightmares. I think we all wish it was that easy.

[Because he and Lavi (and Izuku at this point) definitely aren't the only ones here with that problem.]

It'd certainly help lives become easier.

[Especially since who knows how many people actually suffer from insomnia.]

And things that have that kind of effect don't come by all that often.

[It's one of those things that would be just about impossible to "cure", anyway, given the variety of causes.]

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