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

Half of you are dead, half of you gods, all of you granted powers you did not possess, and you see little difference. [The Valkyrie shakes her head, not in scorn or derision, but simple confusion. Humans are so strange.]

That's because there's little difference living it either. [Sure, he has to keep track of some powers, and shinki lose their memories, but otherwise, overall, this place isn't that weird most of the time.]

This is just another standard patrol like I'd be doing as a normal human. The only difference is we're looking out for literal monsters here.

[A moment of silence passes, before the Valkyrie nods her head slightly.] In principle I understand this. Being a god here means little extra to me than being a god in my own proper place did. But for a human to see no difference... I do not know if that speaks poorly of your world, or this afterlife.

Both. [Shun doesn't even hesitate in giving that answer, which probably says enough of itself.] I doubt you'd get the same reasoning from everyone here, but for me, this is about the same weight I had on me at home.

[And this is a chance to do it right, instead of screwing it up and getting people killed.]

It is unfortunate, but also reality. Though your attention to duty is commendable, among so many who would not act. [After all, whatever may have happened in the lives before of these shinki and gods -- they are here now, and bear the obligations their presence and power lays upon them.]

[The idea of something like that being commendable gets a faint scoff from Shun.] I'm doing what I'd be doing anyway. I don't see what's supposed to be commendable about that.

[Granted, he's gotten very deeply involved with this place in some ways, but that's just what he feels most comfortable doing. Being at ease has never been a habit of his.]

Many do not do what they ought. Whether or not it is what you would be doing anyway, the fact remains that you do your duty.

[The Valkyrie can understand his position, being herself unable to conceive of circumstances that would keep her from her duty. Nonetheless, the attitude of many others around here is nothing she can approve of.]

[There's a somewhat unimpressed sound of agreement at her initial observation.] Everywhere has people who don't pull their weight. But even if they don't do everything they can, most people here have the common decency to look out for their own.

[Their shinki or god, their followers. Given Shun considers them to have no obligation to fill a role that was forced on them in the first place, he can't argue with that.]

Though who 'their own' is may differ dramatically from person to person... as does how they 'look out' for them. [Which is, in her mind, a wonderful excuse for people to avoid their duties and responsibilities, by claiming ignorance or irrelevance.]

If they keep their followers and whoever's in their temple out of trouble, that's enough. It means other people don't have to waste their time doing it for them. [Not everyone's going to be able to keep an eye out for everyone, but if everyone at least keeps an eye on their small group, it saves a lot of trouble.]

What is that phrase humans favor? Half the bread is better than none?

[Not that she agrees, but for the Valkyrie, black and white look a little greater in contrast no matter the shades of gray in between.]

Something like that. Even if it's not much, some action is always better than none.

[For Shun, who's seen inaction cripple entire dimensions almost beyond repair and has had to fight an overwhelming war in cuts and scrapes to an enemy with a massive advantage, any amount of action is progress.]

[The Valkyrie makes a small noise of scornful frustration, as what he calls 'some action' is none at all to her. But her standards as a goddess are likely different, so she makes no further comment on that score.]

Have you had any success here this night?

[Shun doesn't seem particularly concerned for her disdain on the matter. He has his own opinion on it, and he's not going to waste his time trying to bring her around on the subject.

Her question gets a shake of the head.] Not much activity so far, but it's getting to the time it seems to peak from what I've seen dealing with this before.

I sensed the ayakashi here, so I believe you are right. We will soon have battle upon us.

[Which is one of the things she lives -- no, one of the things she exists for.]

You may fight at my side if you so desire.

[The offer gets a mild shrug, as if he doesn't mind much one way or the other.] I don't have either of my shinki with me right now, so I might as well corral the things so you can rend them more efficiently. It's not like I can get rid of them myself.

[Unless he called one of them, but that's only necessary if he runs into a big player.]

A lingering flaw in this system of divinity. [One that makes her fumingly impatient, or at least, as close to it as she can get. To have a foe present and be unable to defeat it!] Your aid shall be invaluable.

At least it's consistent. [Which most things here don't really seem to be. It's frustrating that they have to literally use people to fight ayakashi, but there really doesn't seem to be any other option.]

I might as well do something about this even if I don't have the resources to kill them right now.

You possess the resources, as you possess my aid.

[Very pragmatic is the Valkyrie.]

We shall not let this opportunity go to waste.

[Well, it's one way of looking at it. It doesn't really change Shun's attitude on the situation since he'd rather be doing it himself, but he'll take not being completely useless.]

I wasn't planning to. [But given how late it's getting, he's expecting it won't be much longer since they encounter something anyway. He glances around the alleyway, eyes narrowed - the occasional flickers of fleeing minor spirits belie the occasional larger shadows that begin to coalesce around corners, then vanish.]

It's starting.

Then let us end the existence of these ayakashi.

[She strides forward into battle without hesitation or regret, coming to it as inevitable as dawn comes to the eastern horizon.]

[As unhesitant as Lenneth is, Shun is equally so. However unfortunate it is, the battlefield has been his domain for a long while now. It would take a lot more than something like this to cow him.

He doesn't directly answer her, but merely heads onward as well, ready to meet the oncoming gathering of spirits.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

018 | Season Spirits

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this seems like a good time for a fade to black if that's cool