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~
letteropener: (fond smile)

[personal profile] letteropener 2017-07-10 01:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[She has her guard and her own resolve deliberately turned very far down indeed. Entertainment like this is best if you allow yourself to be scared and thrilled, after all.]

It feels so out of season -- this is nowhere near when Nightmare Night would be in Equestria. I wonder what they're commemorating now?

[But wondering isn't going to stop her from advancing into the next room, looking around eagerly for her next scare.]
mostsuitable: (11413782)

[personal profile] mostsuitable 2017-07-14 02:40 am (UTC)(link)
[It's hard to tell what Munakata is thinking at any given moment, but entertainment isn't something that comes naturally to him. He can't simply turn off his keen skills of observation or his analytical mind.]

Granted, this is a time of year known for spirits and scares, though usually they're more of the traditional sort. Haunted houses such as this one are a more recent practice... though they're more common in the fall.

[So it's just a little early for this sort of thing. But they're here anyway, so they might as well. Much like Celestia, he proceeds to the next room without any hesitation.

Once they're both well past the door's threshold, it slams behind them, plunging them into pitch blackness. The whispers gradually grow louder and louder, transforming into a multitude of voices all trying to talk over each other. Beyond that, the sound of footsteps, creaking, and rattling...
]
letteropener: (that was your cue)

[personal profile] letteropener 2017-07-14 03:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[Ooh! It sends a tingle up her spine, because Celestia has her guard lowered as far as she can possibly make it go. A place like this, you have to allow yourself to be scared and accept it.]

[Actually, she's genuinely surprised it gets so dark.]
Oh no! Where do we go?
mostsuitable: (11414564)

[personal profile] mostsuitable 2017-07-17 11:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[The voices become distorted, their talking and raving transforming into laughter before suddenly everything goes completely silent. For a few moments, it seems the dark world around them has stilled.

Then, the floor shakes. Soon after, screams erupt around them as the whole room seems to fall... before landing with a violent quake that reopens the door behind them.
]
letteropener: (alarmed look around)

[personal profile] letteropener 2017-07-18 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
[It is impossible to truly fear a situation like this, when one is Princess Celestia, an alicorn, blessed with wings and magic and a great deal of experience.]

[But it is all very startling, so Celestia lets out a shriek and grabs for Munakata's arm in the way one is supposed to in this sort of situation.]
mostsuitable: (11414574)

[personal profile] mostsuitable 2017-07-20 10:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[While he has barely a fraction of the Princess' experience, Munakata doesn't find anything about their situation frightening. Besides, they clearly had loaded into an elevator that would take them further into the haunted house. The effects are quite nice, though.

Having checked other responses to Celestia's BBS post about the Sword, Reisi also knows about her being an alicorn. So it's his assumption that she's not actually afraid of anything they've encountered or will encounter, real or imagined, in this haunted house.

But he also knows she's trying to have a good time, and so he protectively loops his other arm around her while also trying to get into the character of being slightly frightened himself. The former is probably more convincing than the latter, especially because Reisi finds it difficult to be out of character for himself.
]

The door's opened. Let's get out of here.

[Okay, he could stand to sound a bit more frantic about the situation, but then he wouldn't quite be Reisi Munakata.]
Edited 2017-07-20 22:28 (UTC)
letteropener: (satisfied look into the distance)

[personal profile] letteropener 2017-07-22 11:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[Nothing in here is capable, in the slightest, of inspiring real fear in her. Put her subjects in danger. Threaten her family or her friends. Leave her powerless against great danger. These could frighten her, but even then, a Celestia full of fear is no shrieking, helpless wretch of a mare. She is dangerous and almost deadly.]

[This? This is all just good clean fun, and she appreciates the effort he's making to get into the spirit. So she leans into him, trying not to put too much strength into it, and is grateful that he has an inch on her human form so the whole illusion of maidenly fear isn't too spoiled.]


Let's hurry!
mostsuitable: (11423875)

[personal profile] mostsuitable 2017-08-01 04:01 pm (UTC)(link)
[There's a number of noticeable differences between the hallway and the 'room' they just were in. The air in the hallway is hot, heavy, and humid, and smells old, musky, and stale in comparison to the elevator-room. The somewhat narrow hallway is dimly lit by a single light fixture dangling high from the ceiling, its light continuously flickering as though it'll go out any second. When the hall lights up, they may see crayon scribbles on old paper lining the walls on both sides. The images seem to change with the blink of an eye, appearing as cryptically grotesque scenes in one moment and then strange words or messages in another. And the wood floor seems to creak with every slight movement.

Reisi can't help thinking the effects are quite incredible, but also can't shake a suspicious feeling that this isn't a simple haunted house setup. He wonders of Celestia feels the same way.
]
letteropener: (adorable smile)

[personal profile] letteropener 2017-08-02 01:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[Celestia, for her own part, has purposely lowered her defenses so far that she finds nothing at all impossible about this. Of course, she is from a magic world where a competent unicorn showpony could put on a display like this without batting an eye, so she's naturally more credulous to begin with. That being said, the more analytical part of her brain finds all this very remarkable nonetheless, which makes the shivers running up her spine all the more pleasant.]

The next room is going to be amazing, isn't it. Would you like to go first, or shall I?