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

It might be a curse, but we're not sure!

[Tsuzuki rubs the back of his neck, essaying his best charming-but-helpless grin. The young priest looks genuinely concerned, and hurries over to take the mirror from Maria, turning it over in his hands.

"What makes you think that?" he asks, looking up from it to her at last. Tsuzuki watches her, looking for any signs that her panic might be ebbing. It's been taken away from her, so maybe it will? Possibly? Right?]

Ah-- [Maria doesn't react in time to stop the priest taking the mirror, though she's very reluctant to let it leave her hand. What if it does the same thing to him...?

Still, they're not going to establish that unless he gets a look at it, so she does ultimately relent. It doesn't seem like just removing the mirror from her possession has done anything, though - she still looks as hesitant and panicky as she did with it in her hand.]

Well, I picked it up earlier, and since then I've been...feeling very strange. As if I was being watched, and everything was out to get me...

[It sounds stupid to her, but hopefully he's seen cases like this before.]

[The priest looks wide-eyed and surprised, glancing down at the mirror in his hand and then, with new suspicion, at the two people standing in front of him.

Tsuzuki nods vigorously.]

Exactly. I think there's something going on with that mirror. It could really use a purification.

[The priest's nod is slow, and he's glancing down at the mirror again, uncertain. Tsuzuki bows deeply.]

Thanks very much for your help!

[The priest's return bow is reflexive, but he at least tucks away the mirror.

"Certainly," he says, and folds his arms. "What else can I do for you?"]

[Maria shifts a little uncomfortably at the look - it makes her feel like her suspicions about it sounding ridiculous have been confirmed. She does ease down a bit once he finally pockets the mirror, though, even if she doesn't look any more comfortable about it.

It also means she starts a bit at that question, and without any more about this to go on herself, she turns her head to Tsuzuki.]

Is there anything else about this we should be asking about, or is that it?

[This isn't the kind of magic Maria has experience with.]

I think that'll be enough.

[He's not exactly sure, but a proper purification of the mirror should wipe out any lingering effects. Right?

Probably... he smiles a bit uncertainly at the priest and offers a bow. The man returns it, and looks between them.

"I'll take care of it," he promises.]

[Still a little shaky, but overall relieved, Maria bows to the priest as well.]

Thank you. It would put my mind at ease. [In more ways than one. Having the mirror fall into the hands of other unfortunates is the last thing she'd want to hear about.]

[The priest nods, turning to head away, and doesn't look back as he strides off. Tsuzuki wonders how long he's going to remember they were there.

Hopefully he remembers that the mirror needs to be properly disposed of.

With a reassuring smile at Maria, Tsuzuki waves a hand back towards the shrine's front gate.]

How're you feeling? It might be better to get far away from that thing.

[Maria presses her lips together briefly. It's nice to know the mirror is away from her, but it doesn't seem to have done much.]

Still a bit off. I hope he gets rid of that thing before anything else happens. [She glances back in the direction he headed as they start to leave. It's hard to be sure, but there's also not really much else they could have done.]

Do the shrines here usually dispose of those kinds of objects?

[A bit off is better than panicky, but that might just be because she's done something, not because the effects are wearing off yet. Tsuzuki rubs the back of his neck, glancing over his shoulder a moment after she does, off in the direction the priest had headed.

It'll probably be fine.]

Yeah, they can do purifications and dispose of old charms and that kind of thing. I guess if you had a really serious problem you might need to find an exorcist instead.

...Are there any exorcists around here? I could have used something like that this morning, but I couldn't exactly go looking on the Near Shore for anyone.

[Given that was when her clothes were getting possessed and hurling themselves around everywhere. Bringing a Near Shore exorcist to the Far Shore is an impossibility, and she isn't aware of any gods or shinki with that power.]

Uh... good question. You'd probably have to ask on the bulletin board about any gods who're good at exorcisms.

Maybe the Near Shore ones are on Google?

[Even sorcerers have to advertise if they want to make a living!]

I think I've seen people talk about that sort of thing before, I just can't for the life of me remember when. [Or whether it was actually that rather than a similar line of conversation.

With a shake of the head at his suggestion, she elaborates.] Some spirits have been possessing bits of clothing in my temple and throwing them from the roof. It's been frustrating, but I can hardly bring someone from the Near Shore to deal with it.

Oh, geez. I know exactly what you mean.

[Tsuzuki's tone is instantly sympathetic, and he winces.] My futon beater got offended when I was doing laundry the other day and started smacking me around instead.

[There's a wince and an understanding nod from Maria at that.] Sounds like it could've used that skill somewhere else. I had to rescue a girl from being suffocated by her futon the other day as well.

[And beating it around had seemed to calm it down.]

Oh geez. [Tsuzuki winces.] Well, I mean -- I've still got it around. We talked it out. So if you, uh, need any help kicking a futon around I can ask?

[Since he's found himself in an unlikely alliance of friendship with his household tools. At least, the ones that aren't still tripping him and sauntering away with upholstery-muffled snickers.]

It'd be nice if that worked with mine, but they seem determined to keep causing trouble. [Still, she smiles alightly at his success in handling his own situation.] If it comes up again, I'll know who to call, at least.

[She still feels unsettled, but the conversation is helping to take her mind off it for the moment.]

I don't know if I'd recommend that every time...

[He did, after all, have to promise his futon beater a meaningful place as part of the temple and a long, productive life.

He kind of hopes it's sturdy enough. He did find it in the shed out back with a bunch of junk.],/small>

... But if you need a hand, I'll do my best!

[She seems to be calming down a little. Maybe it's because they're leaving the mirror further and further behind, he thinks -- he hopes, anyway.]

Trust me, it's still preferable to having your clothes tossing themselves out the window every morning. I'm just trying to make sure it doesn't spread past my room. [Since Natsuru would likely not handle that nearly as well as Maria. Uta probably wouldn't mind, but she doesn't really mind anything much.]

That does remind me, though, that someone else I know was trying to find exorcists on the Far Shore the other day as well. Her temple has an infestation of the haunting spirits worse than mine.

Oh, really? Did she find anybody?

[He's not an exorcist himself -- he doesn't think -- but someone who is might be able to give him magical pointers, too. And then there's that odd guy with the pointed ears who'd helped him out... maybe he'd know something about exorcism, if Maria's friend hasn't found anybody yet.]

I don't think so, no. Or if she did, she never mentioned it. I'd have to ask her next time I see her.

[Which might not be for a while, since she and Hibiki don't exactly meet by arrangement so much as frequently by chance. It certainly sounds like Maria's a bit concerned about the possibility that she hasn't, though whether that's a lingering side-effect of the mirror is difficult to tell.]

Well, tell her to let me know if she did find somebody.

... Who knows, maybe they'll teach us how? I feel like exorcism could be a real useful thing to know around here.

I'll carry the message. Though honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't. [Or if she managed to bother them out even if they did agree to help her. Plenty of people are patient with her, but Maria knows well enough it's not going to be everyone.]

It would be nice to know how to do. I suppose they didn't think we'd need it, or it's harder than it looks.

... and, if you think about it, it even looks pretty tough, too.

[He shakes his head.]

Well, anyway, we'll see. Thanks, Maria. Want me to walk you back home, or have you got something else to do down here?

That's true. So it just might not be worth teaching everyone in their view. [Maria doesn't sound quite satisfied with that, but it seems like the most likely answer to the issue.

With a polite smile, she shakes her head.] I should be fine. Thank you for your help, though.

[She still feels a bit unsettled, but it's better than earlier, at least.]

... Okay, if you're sure.

[He smiles at her, and then -- after a moment's hesitation -- reaches out to clap an encouraging hand on her shoulder.]

Take care!

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018 | Season Spirits

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