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

[This guy is going to get heatstroke or something, she swears.]

[Still, she does perk up at the appearance of the dagger, looking it over curiously.]

You're sure you won't need it?

Not tonight. I have my sword, and if we're escorting a group, we're going to want to engage with enemies as little as possible anyway. [Cut and run, as opposed to trying to mow something down with a bunch of people in tow.

Since she seems interested, Shun flips it in his palm, offering her the handle. It's obvious he's very familiar with the little blade.]

If you say so.

[After getting one of the other girls to hold the bat for a moment, Wendy accepts the dagger and tucks it into the side pocket of her bag. In easy reach, but still letting her have a free hand for the baseball bat.]

....What do you think is behind all the rumors about someone chasing kids? Do you think it's an ayakashi or just some horrible human?

With how things have been lately, it might not be an ayakashi, but I'd definitely say it's some kind of spirit. It's too much of a coincidence that the rumours started around the time we started getting possessed objects on the Far Shore, and it is the right season for this sort of thing.

[In Shun's world, that wouldn't mean much, but spirits and the like aren't actually real in his world, so that pretty much voids that excuse here. Not to mention he's already seen a bit of chaos on the Near Shore before now as well.]

It doesn't sound like they've actually caught anyone yet, but that's no reason to get complacent.

You'd think spirits could just go live their lives without being so annoying...

[Gits. Still, the reminder of things that are being possessed has her glance at him.]

Have you had any experience with possessed stuff?

These ones are more malicious than annoying, and not all things and people need a reason to be malicious.

[There's a somewhat bitter note to that statement, but Shun moves on from it quickly enough at her question.]

There's a pile of unused pillows in the lounge area of my temple that some spirits got into for the last few days. They're gone now, but some other ones moved into some prizes from Tanabata I never got around to getting rid of with how busy I've been since then.

[There's something behind a statement like that, but Wendy knows better than to ask him, especially at a time like this. Instead, she just nods at what he's experienced.]

So many spirits.... Do you think something big is coming? People were talking about the air feeling weird before all those age changes happened, right?

I think that wore off afterwards, and the person who caused that whole thing owned up on the BBS the other day anyway. It'd be partially the season, I think. If the gods here are empowered by belief, I don't see why the spirits would work differently, and it's the haunting season now. People are swapping stories about spirits that go back centuries, preparing themselves against them, seeking them out...I doubt that's all coming to nothing.

[While Shun isn't really familiar with the specifics of the legends anymore, his tone is thoughtful, as if he's settled himself on this theory before now. It makes sense to him, and even if the spirits already existed, they need some kind of explanation for the upswing in activity.]

There could be something bigger coming, though. That's not a possibility I ever disregard.

Oh, yeah, you're right... I guess that is how gods and stuff work, huh?

[Wendy taps her baseball bat against her shoulder, realizing that little detail as well. No wonder gathering followers is so important. Does that really count for even the gods who aren't like the old ones?]

Do you think if we spread a rumor against all these spirits, it would help stop them?

Apparently. It's hard to accurately keep track of, though. [While Shun's definitely felt increases in the amount of prayers coming in, there's really no way he can gauge the number of followers he has and be confident he's correct.

While Wendy's got the right idea there, he turns his head a little in a not quite shake of it.]

Most of the stories going around have existed for much longer than anything we could put out. Maybe if it got spread widely enough, but as it is, it'd be more likely to help whoever's here in a hundred years' time.

Typical. There's no easy way to deal with it, huh?

[Being in Heaven is some nonsense, she'll tell you that much. Before she can continue, however, there's a small cry from the back of the line, and Wendy immediately hurries off to check on the girls back there. S'cuse her, Shun, gotta make sure there's nothing she needs to take a line or bat to.]

There never is, with this sort of thing.

[Shun puts that rather bluntly and in a manner as if it's just a given fact rather than an opinion. In his experience, that is what it tends to be like.

At the cry from the back, Shun's head turns sharply, and he's about to go check on it himself when Wendy goes to do it instead. Since having both of them at the back likely wouldn't be a good idea, he simply slows them down a little so they can get a bit closer together again.]

Anything there? [He can't see anything scanning that area himself, but it's hard to say for sure.]

[There's some exchanged whispers, and some hopping from Wendy as if that can help her see better down the small street the girl is pointing to. After a second, she waves her bat in Shun's direction.]

She said she saw a shadowy figure down that way, but I can't see anything now!

[That's not a promising report, and Shun scans up and down the street himself before pointing Wendy to the front.]

You lead for a while. I'll cover the back in case whatever it is turns up again. [It's better to keep moving than go after it when they have a group of people to protect.]

[Quickly, she pats the girl on the shoulder before jogging up to where Shun is.]

Alright. Any idea of what we should do if something is out there and it tries to get you?

[As Wendy comes up to the front, Shun starts heading towards the back of the group instead, so he can bring up the rear and keep an eye on things.]

I can stall it while all of you get some distance between you and it. I can just teleport to where you are if I need to catch up.

Right... Gods get to do that. Well, we'll be counting on you!

[Properly at the front, she takes one of the girl's hands again and starts to lead the train along, even as she constantly glances back at Shun to make sure he's alright.]

I try not to rely on it, but it comes in useful. [With that, he takes up his post at the back, keeping an eye out behind them with a sweeping, back-and-forth glare. He's trusting Wendy to keep a decent eye out front, even if he is glancing up there occasionally as well.

Just as the girl said, once or twice he sees a dark shape swell out of an adjoining street, then vanish. His fingers curl against his weapon.]

Looks like she did see something. I just don't think it wants to come out. Yet.

[The news that the girl was right seems to make the others nervous, grouping all the tighter together and making them edge closer to Wendy. She's not worried much at all in contrast, just huffing out a breath of air.]

Do you think it's waiting for something in particular?

[Honestly, Shun's pretty fine with that reaction from the group - he'd rather these things weren't terrorising kids at all, but given the way the thing keeps seemingly peeking out and back in, he's pretty sure he can guess what it's waiting on.]

Someone to fall behind, I'd guess. Attacking a group is always harder than taking it piece by piece.

[So basically, the more kids they drop off, the higher the chance of being attacked. Wendy doesn't say that, however. If everyone starts panicking now, it's just going to become worse.]

[So instead she focuses on moving them ahead, dropping off their first child of the evening who immediately scurries off into her home. Wendy calls after her.]

Remember to send your thankful prayers to Apollo and Nekhbet! [She pronounced your name wrong, Shun, sorry.] That's one down, five more to go. It's still staying back, right?

[Shun watches the girl scuttle away into her home, glancing back to make sure whatever's following them is staying well back. It seems like it's reluctant to strike when they're in a more open area as well - it lingers across the street, floating in the mouth of an alley before shifting to the next, and the next as they move on.

There's a short nod at Wendy's question, though Shun's still watching the ayakashi, so he doesn't turn to her.] For now. Looks like keeping a street between us and it might help as well. I don't think it wants to attack in the open, or at least not if it can't hide itself again soon after.

Do you hear that, everyone? So we'll be just fine so long as me and Shun are here, in these streets!

[Which is definitely not what Shun said and definitely possibly a lie, but Wendy sure does sound like she's selling it right.... or confidently at least. Hey, she has a borderline, and he's Shun, so it's fine, isn't it?]

[Another girl dropped off, another call from Wendy with the same request for respects as before, and she glances over what's left of their group.]

So just four more I think...

[Normally Shun would dismiss the white lie openly, but he doesn't want to potentially scare the kids even more. So while he doesn't agree in any manner, he also doesn't reject it potentially being true either.

As the next girl scampers off and Wendy counts their remaining numbers, Shun checks behind them again. The shadow is still there, keeping the same distance, and Shun's eyes narrow a bit as he gestures for them to keep moving.]

We'd better make it as quick as we can. I don't think that thing's going to be put off much longer.

[Good guy Shun. She knew she could count on him. So she nods, tugging along the small line of children.]

Just a few more minutes to the next house, so come on!

[She doesn't necessarily want them all to break out into a run, but she does try to keep their pace brisk, and glances back to Shun.]

Still staying back?

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