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

[Well now...this is certainly an interesting scene. Komaeda doesn't approach too close - anyone who's had to deal with Monokuma develops a certain distaste for bears of all descriptions, no matter how strange their mindset might be. But he gets close enough so that he can call up to the...strange creature in the tree.]

It's the charm that's attracting them, you know! You can toss it down to me, if you like!

[Komaeda's really not worried for himself.]

Yeah, I figured that much out, but dude, dropping it on you is just going to make the bears come fuck with you instead, and you can't fly.

[As far as Davesprite's concerned, he has the tactical advantage over this mad scientist looking dude, especially given the wide berth he also seems to be giving the bears. At the very least, though, he comes down a few branches, still not within bear reach, but enough that he's easier to talk to.]

Are you a god or a shinki, because I feel like I should probably ask whether teleporting bears is an option on the table here.

Oh, you don't need to worry about that. My luck is...well, ultimate level. [Komaeda smiles.] And I'm a god, as well. Averruncus, a god of causing - or averting - disaster. I should be fine!

Besides, I've been collecting charms all night. I was holding no less than four of those charms at once less than an hour ago! [He laughs.] And some other kinds as well. Have you ever seen bears fight ayakashi?

[This is not exactly a promising turn of conversation, but the guy seems confident, at least...and presumably he wouldn't still be standing here talking to him if he hadn't managed to take on the effects of four charms. Still, Davesprite just levels him with a long, flat look for a few more moments.]

No, but it's pretty fucking shameful nobody was around to film it, because that shit would set the internet alight faster than whatever the most recent flash in the pan meme that probably happened while I've been stuck up this tree was.

[After a somewhat hesitant moment, he pulls the charm out of his ruff and holds it out, but doesn't quite drop it yet.] Swear you're not bullshitting me about the four charms thing. I'm not doing the interviews for "guy with mad scientist hair gets mauled by bears, bird dude could have thought this through better".

[Komaeda laughs.] You've got an interesting way of talking! I bet if you had an ultimate title, I'm sure it'd be something like the Ultimate Pop Culture Reference.

But why would I lie about being able to handle a bear charm? That seems a little ridiculous. I'd have to be the Ultimate Martyr to do something like that! But if it'll make you feel better, I promise - my talent is ultimate luck. If anything bad happens, it most likely won't be to me!

[That statement seems to give him a moment's pause, and he looks thoughtful briefly before he continues.] Although, as far as that goes, it might be a good idea for you to not come down from the tree until I've disposed of the charm. My bad luck might decide to foil my attempt at assisting you by making something bad happen to you anyway, if you let yourself be in harm's way!

[On the list of secondary talents Komaeda could potentially have, Ultimate Reassurance is at the very bottom.]

I would wear the hell out of that title. They may take our lives, but they will never take our freedom to make shitty pop culture references at every opportunity.

[Like the one he just did. Bam. This guy sure does seem to like his "ultimates", though, and Davesprite vaguely notes that in passing while he listens to the almost complete lack of any reassuring words coming out of this guy's mouth.

Davesprite lets the talk hang on the air for a few moments before he actually responds, deadpan as ever.] You know, dude, you could stand to work on your motivational speaking, really ignite that fire in people's hearts about bad things happening to everyone around you instead of you.

[But hey, he seems sure. So Davesprite finally tips his hand to drop the charm down towards him.]

Well, I could lie about that, or try to make it sound nicer...but it wouldn't really stop it from happening, so I always thought being honest about it would be best. People tend to notice after awhile, anyway.

[Komaeda catches the charm in his cupped hands, smiling, and then turns to eye the bears. The bears immediately start to beeline for Komaeda instead...and then, perhaps as a result of Davesprite or the bears shaking the tree, a beehive falls from the branches to crash to the ground. The bear closer to the point of impact runs off roaring in pain and anger with a cloud of bees harassing it, presumably in search of a body of water, while the other goes to enjoy the honey left behind.

Komaeda watches this all with vague interest, then smiles up at Davesprite.] You see? I even think it might be all right for you to come down now, if you'd care to. That wasn't too lucky, so the bad luck probably won't be too bad! Either way, though, I need to go dispose of this charm before that bear runs out of honey...

I mean, I can't complain too hard about you actually signposting the danger for whatever woeful fuckers end up crossing paths with it, but damn, that's kind of a shit blessing.

[Like, a really shit blessing. The rabbit's foot kind of blessing. And Davesprite would ask more about it, except that's about when the beehive falls out of the tree, and one bear goes tearing off while the other gets the benefit of leftover honey.

...He might be eying Komaeda slightly more warily now, not that it's visible behind his shades.] Yeah, uh. I'm still gonna keep my distance a bit, but I think I'm gonna do that before this tree falls over or something.

[He glides off the branch, staying about the same height above Komaeda.]

That's probably for the best anyway! [Komaeda doesn't seem to mind the extra precaution; honestly, if he's like this with everyone he meets, Davesprite can probably guess that Komaeda gets this sort of reaction - if not worse ones - on the regular. He begins walking toward where the sacred fire is, which - for someone with his senses - is relatively easy to detect.

Komaeda supposes it has something to do with his talent, or perhaps his godly sphere...but he's discovered that he's able to sense curses. At least, he can certainly tell which charms are either lucky or at least harmless, and which ones have genuine curses attached to them. So even before he'd known there was a sacred fire, he'd known there was a place where curses were being destroyed. Instances of the seething, contained malevolence he sensed in the cursed charms simply disappearing from his ability to perceive them. So, naturally, that's where he's heading to dispose of this one. It won't be the first he's gotten rid of today.]

I expect this is a rude question, but I'm not quite sure how else to phrase it...what are you, exactly? [He tilts his head back to look up at Davesprite questioningly.] I'm Nagito Komaeda, by the way.

Yeah, I'm starting to think that. In the least offensive possible way that can be put, because you seem like an okay dude otherwise. [Given the whole "offering to dispose of cursed charms for presumably a lot of people" thing going on here. He can't really judge him too hard for what seems to be some kind of innate shit luck.

Drifting after Komaeda in the direction he's heading, Davesprite glances down at the question, giving a vague shrug at the insinuation that it's rude.]

Nah, standard question, I've heard it put way shittier than that. [And also, honestly, who wouldn't ask it when faced with something like him?] A sprite, which from my recent couple of memories regained, is pretty much like a game guide except cooler. A dead crow and whatever else got rolled up into a sweet glowing kernel of what the fuckery and I came out the other end. [Okay, so that's generalising a lot, but the only bits of it he remembers are the ones that involved Jade.]

I'm Davesprite. Apparently my brethren are into that whole species surname thing. Or suffix, I guess.

It's always the most dangerous for others when I'm risking my life, really. [Komaeda's remarks are casually conversational.] I don't think my luck is actually capable of killing me unless I want to die. So if I'm in lethal danger, the bad luck tends to rebound onto someone else...usually someone I care about. So since we've only just met, you're probably not in too much danger. But if the bad luck is more minor, then usually it's happy enough targeting me.

[He gives Davesprite a thoughtful look.] So...you're a combination of things? What part of them made you so orange?

So basically you're a 90s antihero who can't get too close to others for their own safety, except with maybe fifty percent less edge. [But only fifty percent. He's still working a kind of casual teenage mad scientist look.

Davesprite waves a hand a bit at the questions.] Dude, you're lucky I even remember any of this. But it was the sprite kernel - the thing the bits went into. It was bright fuck-off orange, don't ask me why because I didn't remember that much.

[He remembered what things were as soon as he saw them again, but beyond that they're still pretty enigmatic in his mind. He could put a name to the kernel, but nothing else beyond what he saw in that memory.]

[Komaeda laughs at that.] Oh, hardly! Trash like me, possessing such a worthless talent, could never aspire to something as glamorous as being an antihero. Or any kind of hero, really. I've always considered myself as a stepping stone to those with true talent.

It's interesting how you appear almost ghostly, though. Although I admit I've never heard of anything like a neon orange ghost... [He tilts his head.] So if sprites are game guides, exactly what game were you meant to provide guidance for?

[As someone who frequently has some pretty dark thoughts about himself, Davesprite can relate to feeling like trash, but that doesn't mean he doesn't give Komaeda a serious brow raise at outright saying it.] I dunno, if your talent is this luck thing then that's pretty fucking powerful in its own way. And you seem like a decent enough dude to not be going around calling yourself trash.

[As for the question, Davesprite's face tightens briefly. It's still uncomfortable to think too hard into details, but he does at least have a name from what he saw.]

Think it was called Sburb, but don't quote me on that. Whatever it was, I only remember bits and pieces and all of them are pretty fucked up.

People certainly seem to be kind here...but do you really think you know me well enough to judge that? Most people find me disturbing at best...

I'm sorry if I called up unpleasant memories from your own past, however. Though as I gather you're a shinki, I'm surprised you have any at all...isn't that meant to be impossible?

[That some shinki aren't entirely subject to this hard rule isn't something Komaeda, as a new god, has heard yet.]

I can kinda see why with that whole thing you've got going on, but being trash takes more than just that. There's an artistry to being a trash person that not many people appreciate.

[So he's probably playing the trash thing up more than it needs, but oh well. Clearly it's fine it it works for his point.

At the mention of memories, he tips a hand.] Nah, we just can't be told. But sometimes the new shinki remember shit on their own - just wake up knowing it - and that's all cool and we don't die a horrible demonic death because of it.

Hmm...what sort of thing would make someone trash, then? [Now Komaeda is curious. He knows he's trash, and he's certain he could get Davesprite to agree if he divulged certain things...but the companionship is nice, and he doesn't want to forego it just yet. Besides, the last time he was entirely honest, he turned everyone who knew him against him...and there's a lot more people in the heavens than there were on Jabberwock Island. With death being essentially meaningless, and having nothing to look forward to as a result - dying again won't help him much - he's not sure he wants to consign himself to eternal loneliness. Whether or not he deserves it.]

[Davesprite almost goes for the "being me" joke (that isn't really a joke but he totally would've played it off as one), and then decides it probably isn't worth the trouble. Instead, he enters the pose of a Deep Thinker while still drifting along.]

Not giving a single fuck about the effects of your actions is a good start, also just generally being an unpleasant slimy douchebag. You know, the kind of people you just instinctively want to describe as trash. Like used car salesmen. Or accountants. I could probably make a fucking list of the appropriate career paths for a true trash being, but then we'd be here all week and then some and may still not have the true grasp of what being trash really means. You can't just understand trash without suffusing yourself in the trash life, shit doesn't work like that.

[So he's rambling. Sort of.]

That's a rather confusing definition... [Komaeda gives Davesprite a rather bemused look.]

What about yourself? Do you consider yourself a good person?

[There's perhaps a split-second hesitation at that question before Davesprite smooths it over, spreading his taloned hands in a vague and casual motion.]

I can say without a doubt that I am acceptable at the job of being a person. Or half-person. Some might even say I'm fucking great at being a half-person, relatively speaking.

[Relatively speaking, because there's very few other half-people here to compare himself to, which automatically heightens his score.]

Without a doubt? [Komaeda echoes this, giving Davesprite a questioning look.] That seems strange, considering you're a shinki. What if you were actually a terrible person while you were alive, and you don't remember it?

[Davesprite can pretty much confirm that's actually the case, but he's just not going to do that, because that's a kettle of fish he prefers not to open with people he just met.]

Then I'll just have to hope I'm not tragically disproven by any future instances of shinki flashback syndrome, it'd be a fucking heartbreaker for everyone.

I'd hope not. [Komaeda hums thoughtfully.] Something like that happened back in my old life, and it was such a disappointment. When you, or people you like and admire, turn out to be the worst kind of scum imaginable, and you'd completely forgotten about it...

Yeah, I feel that, except also I can't really think about it because if I do I start feeling like the worst kind of scum imaginable in an entirely different way. [His recent memory regain kind of made him scrape against thinking about his past a bit more than he'd like, so he's all too familiar with the feeling now.] I guess at least your person isn't here, probably.

[Komaeda laughs.] People, actually. It was my entire class - myself included. But it's true that none of the rest of them are here...I'm not sure whether to be disappointed or relieved about that, though.

It just seems a little worrying to have shinki forget their pasts after my own experiences with that, I guess. Especially with some of them getting their memories back, like you. Forgetting isn't always a bad thing, and remembering isn't always good...so it seems like combining the worst of both worlds, doesn't it?

B

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