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

[Upon noticing the other girl's enthusiasm over wanting to enter the haunted house, Nike will return it with one of her own in way of a cheerful nod.]

Sure! It'll be a fun experience to enter in one of these things with another girl.

[Since she had gone earlier with a boy that invited her too.]

Is this your first time entering one of these things?

[She claps her hands delightedly, looking much younger in her delight than her usual self.]

I haven't been in one that would seriously make an effort. [Sad but true, really.]

Really? What kind of haunted fun house would that be if there was no effort to startle people?

[Kinda defeats the purpose of a haunted house, but she supposes it may have been due to lack of enthusiasm. With that thought in mind, Nike will point to the line.]

Then we better fix that by giving you an authentic experience of one. Let's get in line before it gets too long again!

[Which, fortunately for them, there were a handful people in line waiting, but it stale in comparison to the much larger crowd earlier.]

By the way, I'm Nike. What's your name?

It's very nice to meet you, Nike. I am Princess Celestia. [Her human shape doesn't come with the crown, or for that matter, the combination of wings and horn that would identify her nature and title, but nonetheless there's something faintly larger-than-life about her when she says her name. And not just because she's very tall.]

And the haunted houses who made no effort to startle me are ones who thought it would be bad policy to scare their monarch. As if Princesses don't want to relax and have fun every once in a while!

[Ah! She found herself an authentic princess, was all Nike can think at that moment as she introduces herself. She definitely has the grace and formality to be one. It was difficult to not smile sweetly at her.]

Or maybe they didn't have the heart to frighten you. I can imagine you were very well-loved with how sweet you seem to be. [A quick beat.] At the very least, I think you're a very kind person.

[She wouldn't have guess the other was a princess without the mention of it.]

Either way, you're right, a princess should be allowed to have fun every once in a while. I'll try to help in making it work. [With her powers, she may be able to make it more terrifying than it already was.] You don't mind taking the lead for our expedition through the attraction, right?

That's very kind of you. [All of it, really. Nike already seems like a delight, and Celestia does just as she suggests, stepping on first as the line shifts forward, and them with it.] And I'm eager to see how humans run a haunted house, too. I can't imagine it's very different from ponies, but those small differences always seem so much more amazing for being small.

A haunted house ran by ponies?

[She's never heard of anything like that before. It leaves her very curious to learn more about it.]

I can imagine! Ponies are so cute. I can't imagine them being terrifying with how docile most are.

[The line was moving in a good pace! Nike couldn't help feel excited the moment their turn arrived with the entrance to the haunted house being in the form of a dark passage filled with all kinds of decoration such as pseudo cob webs and slight fog seeping out.]

Be careful, Celestia. You aren't afraid of the dark or enclose spaces, right?

I promise you, some of us can be very terrifying -- and most of us are not very docile at all.

And I am not scared of very much, to be honest. [And what she is afraid of won't be found in a haunted house.] But something like this is a lot better if you let yourself be scared, isn't it?

R-Really?

[That was surprising to hear that even ponies could be terrifying in their own right; however, her biggest surprise was the way she refers to herself as one too. It'll have Nike wondering, but for now she'll decide to answer her next questions.]

Right! Considering our own situation and all to boot. It'd be odd to admit that any of us could really be afraid of haunted houses when technically a half of the people at the Far Shore would feel more at home in these type of situations. [Considering they are dead, but.] Who knows, your majesty. You may just get startled yet!

[The aim of the haunted house was to create an atmosphere that would help someone's imagination to go wild and expecting the expected are just the ingredients to get caught off guard. As she thinks about it, all she'll do next is place a hand over her lips to whisper her enchantment to help create a thicker fog in their surroundings to better hide those hiding in the shadows, watching over them.]

[Celestia may not have her horn in this shape, but curiously enough, she doesn't seem to need it -- so the magic spell doesn't escape her notice. But she doesn't give any hints that she had. Like she just said, she's lowering her defenses a lot to let herself enjoy this -- why shouldn't a little magic come into the equation?]

It certainly has a spooky atmosphere, doesn't it? [Tickets at the ready, she offers them up as they reach the front of the line.]

[Nodding her head in agreement.]

It really is! I'm hoping there will be more than just monsters appearing out of nowhere or in random corners yelling at us.

[That wouldn't be any fun, in her opinion. For now, she'll continue to keep the mist in place, making absolute certain to blend her voice to her surroundings without realizing the other majesty may be onto her. She just wants her first experience at a haunted house to be all the more fun.]

Everypony can be a victim to a good old-fashioned jump scare.

[Celestia won't judge. They make excellent pranks. Luna taught her as much a long time ago.]

[They step into darkness, barely lit with a flickering light that guides them deeper in. The sound of slow scraping breaks the silence, leading Celestia to shiver with a giggle.] Oh, atmospheric indeed...

Jump scare? Is what they're called? That technique in popping out of no where?

[Nike was too distracted by the idea of jump scares to really take in her surroundings until after Celestial made a comment about it. Her gaze will turn to the dark room with flickering lights guiding them, most she can tell can be seen on the ground or a nearby corner that was cautioning others to not slam into.

The sound of slow scraping will be best heard the closer they were getting to the corner.]

Is it just me or is the mist they're using getting thicker?

[She can smell the moisture in the air, even if it was too dark to tell there was any, makes her wonder if she had used to much power to aid their fog machine. There wasn't much time to think about it when a new sound will be heard.]

...a piano playing? [The sounds of a piano will be heard playing in the distance as the lights guiding them will be difficult to spot.] U-Um, why a p-piano? [Did she stutter? No.....would be a lie as she wasn't too comfortable by sudden music hiding the scrapping sound now.]

It must be a ghost. [Celestia says this as if no other explanation is possible at all.] A ghost that haunts the piano, and when it hears others it plays for them. But -- oh dear, does it want applause, or does it want us to fear it? If we choose wrong, we might provoke it!

[She flings a hand to her mouth dramatically, very much playing the role of a naive patron of fear to the hilt.] What do we do?

[Her acting will leave Nike more than a little stunned at the possibility of a ghost of a haunted pianist being true. She kinda felt sorry for them.]

...t-that depends....on the way they died....

[They could've died with the paino as a weapon and was now keen on using it against whoever crosses their path. Or it could of died another way, before a competition or grand party, even. She couldn't help really think about this. She didn't want to pick wrong.

And fortunately, once they reached the appropriate area, darkness will engulf them completely for a split moment, before a spotlight will appear over a rotating piano, that was clearly under a machinery that was helping it move slowly around. Nike will be caught off guard as she hangs onto the other girl a little too tightly.]

...well, t-that's convenient....!! [She didn't expect this at all!!! But now, at least, she had an answer.] We should applaud! Definitely give it the applause it deserves. Since it showed itself to us... [At least, she figures if a spirit wanted to harm them, they would do it behind the shadows than appearing before them. She'll decide to applaud without taking into consideration that it may have lured them in that area to begin with.]

[Celestia is surprisingly solid; hanging on to her gives the impression that she might not even notice Nike's full weight. She is, after all, an alicorn in human form.]

[But look and feel like an Amazonian goddess though she might, right now her attitude is a teenager's as she hurriedly moves to clap too. And sincerely, since these special effects are really remarkable. Somepony clearly put a lot of effort into this!] Oh yes! Really an amazing performance! [And she inches, while she applauds, towards the faintly-lit door off to one side.] Bravo! ...is it safe...?

[Nike was definitely following behind Celestia while clapping along since she didn't want to disturb the "ghost". She couldn't help notice the perfect shield her new friend was. It was clear she was enjoying herself too.

The question over if the next room was safe or not, all Nike could whisper to her.]

Hard to tell. It's kinda dark in there.

[She'll notice the next room felt warmer than the one they were currently in , making her realize.]

There isn't a fog machine in the next room. [But there was a candle lite path almost beckoning to go inside.] Wanna take a chance to trade a ghost for another one?

[Since there is the possibility to encounter a kind guide???]

Well, one way or the other, we can't get out and to safety by staying here!

[As if they are even in real danger, but Celestia has a surprising theatrical streak within it. It comes from spending all day every day on display -- but now she's doing it by choice, so she's getting into it a lot.]

[She half backs into the door and through, goosebumps erupting on her skin -- this next room is COLD, to the point that her breath shows in the air.]

You're right. [Whispers Nike under her breath as her gaze is on the piano ghost.] We should go.

[Theatrics or not, Nike was too deep in the flow that Celestia was creating to question their current situation. She promised to give the other girl a fun time. A good first experience in a haunted house. No matter what, she'll make good on her promise.

The next room will catch her by surprise. It was getting cold the deeper into the next room they were going. Celestia's misty breath will catch her attention as she leans closer to the other girl, remaining behind her while her arms were wrapped around herself as she shivers.]

W-Why is it s-suddenly s-s-so cold? [Looking around with concern etched in her face.] You don't think we chose the wrong path, right?

There isn't another path... [Well, the real answer is probably a good air conditioner. But this is striking enough that Celestia actually has to work hard not to reflexively warm up the air a little with magic.] Don't ghosts make the temperature drop? Maybe there's another one in here!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

018 | Season Spirits

haunted house fun times

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