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~
revolutionfalcon: (look twice)

[personal profile] revolutionfalcon 2017-07-08 02:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[Well, at least the turtle is happy. Even if Urashima is getting hit by a frisbee again moments later. With a mildly exasperated sigh, Shun reaches out a hand to help him upright again if he wants to take it.

In the meantime, though, the question gets a slight shrug.]
I've seen a few different things cause it - actual charms, obviously, but others have just had small objects like dolls or mirrors and they seemed to do exactly the same thing. This is just what I've seen at a distance, but I wouldn't write off anything you've picked up today as not being it.

[Said in the tone of someone who has absolutely seen a few people do that today and suffer the related consequences. At least most of them changed their minds once it kept happening.]
minogame: (pic#10820731)

[personal profile] minogame 2017-07-11 01:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Uuu...

( He's thinking. He's really, really thinking and it looks like that hit in the head may have knocked a memory loose because his eyes light up in that way eyes do when you think of something important and he begins to fumble through his pocket for a small coin purse. He opens it and shows off all of his coins inside. There have to be a few hundred yen in there.

Normally, he would be very proud of his savings! But right now, he looks down at the coin purse and up at Shun with the most distressed look,
)

I found a coin today!

( A coin. And it's somewhere in his wallet. And if there was any doubt that the coin was the thing behind all of this, Kamekichi raises her head and flicks her tail several times. Yes it's that no good coin's fault. Did you know Kamekichi is way more aware than Urashima is, Shun? It's a shame she can't speak. )

I was going to go to a temple and make a wish with it later but then everything happened!
revolutionfalcon: (about time)

[personal profile] revolutionfalcon 2017-07-12 05:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[As soon as Urashima says he found a coin, Shun nods a little - it seems like the kind of small, unobtrusive but attractive thing that the others he's seen so far have been. Granted, it would be a hell of a lot easier if Urashima hadn't put it with all the other coins in his wallet, but there's not much that can be done about that now. Kamekichi's apparent interest at the mention of the coin doesn't go unnoticed, either, and Shun spares her a glance - maybe she's noticed something, given she doesn't quite seem to behave like an ordinary turtle.

As it is, Shun just looks into the wallet, trying to pick out if any of the coins look particularly noteworthy. He doubts they'll be that lucky, but it's worth a try.]


You'd better hope you remember what it looks like if you put it back in here with all the rest. If there's nothing distinguishing about it, you're going to have trouble getting rid of it.
minogame: pixiv: 1196690 (pic#9976339)

[personal profile] minogame 2017-07-17 07:22 am (UTC)(link)
I thought it was just five yen!

( He didn't notice anything at all and he shakes the wallet around, shifting some of the coins. They all look pretty unremarkable. Some of them are a little older and others are newer. He takes a moment to just stand there, trying to think of a way to figure out what to do.

Until he gets an idea.

And he whispers,
)

Do I have to donate everything?
revolutionfalcon: (derisive)

[personal profile] revolutionfalcon 2017-07-17 12:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Surely you don't only have five yen coins in there. [Unless he has a very odd way of keeping money. It's true that they all look like completely mundane coins, but narrowing it down by denomination would have been a nice start.

While Shun doesn't quite get why Urashima is suddenly whispering at that suggestion, he takes it into consideration well enough. Even if his answer is initially a shrug.]


Maybe, but if you donate it that might just mean someone else ends up having to deal with it.
minogame: (pic#10820734)

[personal profile] minogame 2017-07-17 01:28 pm (UTC)(link)
( It's mostly yennies and tennies... He's got a fair amount of 100s and a few lucky 500s too. The five ens are pretty scarce, actually... no one really uses those and they can't be used in a lot of machines so...

He begins to pick at the coins, crouching down on the ground and grabbing any of the five yen he can see. He's listening to Shun as he picks at them.
)

Huh...? So we should probably purify it then? ( It makes sense to him. Here's another five yen... and another... he's got like 100 yen in fives so far. ) I wonder if any temples are doing burnings today...
revolutionfalcon: (calm command)

[personal profile] revolutionfalcon 2017-07-17 03:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[At least Urashima shouldn't have to empty his entire purse, then. Given Shun hadn't had a great deal of money spare until he managed to fall into a job, he can't imagine having to get rid of all of it would be good for anyone here.

That's...still a lot of fives, though, considering. But he ignores it for now and just nods a little at Urashima's suggestion.]


It's a better idea than donating it and risking the coin just ending up with someone else. I haven't seen any burnings myself, but it's the kind of season people would want that sort of thing, so I doubt none of them are.
minogame: pixiv: 1196690 (pic#9976342)

[personal profile] minogame 2017-07-19 01:17 pm (UTC)(link)
( He's still setting coins down. When he finds one, Kamekichi opens her mouth and her tail flicks back and forth. She's just a turtle so its not like she can make any noise but she seems to be doing her best to make a scene. It catches Urashima's attention, at least, and he glances at her and the coin in his hand,
holding it up for him and Shun to see.

It's a five yen coin, worn significantly by old age. It's really, really old and anyone can tell by how much cruder the design on the coin appears. Urashima turns it over.
)

I think it's this one.

( He's going to listen to his turtle. And before he can really explain why, a crow swoops down, clipping at his hair. )

revolutionfalcon: (hell if i know)

[personal profile] revolutionfalcon 2017-07-19 04:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[The sudden fuss from the turtle doesn't escape Shun's notice, and he looks from her to the coin in Urashima's hand. It's definitely an incredibly old one, and that in itself is pretty suspect given they're looking for a cursed item, so once Urashima states his guess, Shun nods a little, glancing once more to Kamekichi.]

Your turtle obviously thinks so. [And that crow, which Shun leans back a bit to make sure he avoids the wingspan of.] At least getting rid of just the one should be a hell of a lot quicker and easier.

[Burning a single coin is going to take a lot less time than burning a pile, of which they couldn't know which one was which until it was gone.]