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

[Asshole nods quietly, and Hakkai murmurs:]

... I'm sure I can stand, D2. Thank you.

[Except, with an expression that's still blank, the blond youkai is holding his arms out to D2 to offer to take his god off the other shinki's hands. Hakkai blinks several times, and begins to consider the virtues of struggling free even if he does fall.]

[ Don’t get yourself hurt, Hakkai. ]

Mhm.

[ His smile moves from Hakkai to the other shinki. ]

I’m good, he’s not heavy at all. Where do I go?

[Well, at least he's not being handed over to Banri -- Asshole, that is.

Hakkai has to admit this is extremely humiliating, though. If he thought he could fight his way out of D2's grip without immediately falling four feet and knocking himself silly, he would. In this state, though, there's little he can do but attempt a smile and indicate the door.]

First room... on the left, please.

Asshole, please get the medicine. From the workroom counter. That's labeled for fever....

[At least that way he will be stared at slightly less.]

[ If D2 thought Hakkai wouldn't need help to get to his room even if he put him down, he would put him down. He figures it would be even more demeaning to be passed around between people's arms like a sack of potatoes too, or maybe he would pass him over but he wants to make sure Hakkai actually goes to bed like he should. ]

The first room on the left, okay.

[ Hopefully it's easy enough to open the door without proper use of hands. ]

[It's simple: the door doesn't latch, and it swings in, so that a gentle push with a foot will be enough to open it. The room itself is a modestly sized sitting room, with a few low, plain white couches and matching armchairs arranged around a black-enameled coffee table.

Asshole vanishes into the house ahead of them, letting himself into a different room to look for the medicine, and Hakkai sighs, flicking his fingers in the direction of the nearest couch.]

If you could... set me down there, please.

[ Wonderful, then it won’t be that hard to get inside the room. And it’s a nice looking room. ]

Gotcha.

[ He puts him down on it, then looks around. ]

Do you have, like, blankets or stuff?

No, not here... but it's really a warm day.

[It is. Blankets, he supposes, would be overkill.

He glances down at his feet, and shifts, blinking against dizziness as he tries stubbornly to sit back up. This is important. He can't put his shoes on the couch -- oh dear, that was a lot of vertigo just then --]

I suppose that it is.

[ He does find a pillow and puts at one end of the couch, though, so he can rest his head on it comfortably, and pushes Hakkai back down by his shoulder. ]

I'll help you out so what's it you need?

Ah...

[He's going back down. It's hard enough to sit up without being pushed back down; resisting is a little beyond his capacity right now. He waves a hand at his feet, embarrassed.]

Shoes on the upholstery. I was just going to take them off.

[ Please there's no need to be embarrassed. They're friends and D2 can be much more ridiculous without being sick. ]

Alright, but you need to take it easy right now.

[ Just leave taking off those shoes to him, and put them down on the floor. He pats Hakkai's leg when he gets up again. ]

There you go.

[ Now. Where would there be a kitchen or a bathroom, in this place? He goes back to the door and peeks out to see if the other shinki is showing up yet, but he can't see him. ]

What's the deal with your shinki, by the way?

[This is deeply embarrassing. It's also necessary, but he hasn't been this helpless in years, and he's not enjoying it.

At least, unlike last time, he doesn't have to worry about being helped to the bathroom. There are advantages to divinity, he reflects, and cracks an eye open to glance up at D2 around his hand.]

Ah... he's one of the sort they call 'soulless.'

[If that's what D2 meant, and not Asshole's obvious youkai features, or his name, he muses, and closes his eye again. The sound of the door opening and closing again signals Asshole's return, but Hakkai's staying still for the moment.

The blond shinki approaches the couch, holding out a cup of water and a baggie with a few brownish-green pills inside. They look homemade, and rather herbal.]

[ Anyone is helpless sometimes, it’s nothing to be down about. Though it was likely that he would be too. ]

That wasn’t exactly...

[ What he meant. But he falls quiet when the mentioned soulless shinki approaches. He doesn’t really have a problem gossipping about people, but some things are not things you ask in front of their face.

Instead he draws close again to curiously see what the shinki brought. He knows it’s medicine since that’s what Hakkai asked him to get, but he has not seen much hommade meds. Probably. ]

[Hakkai manages to sit up a little, again, propping himself on an elbow as he takes the pills from Asshole and washes one down with a swallow of the water.]

Thank you.

[It'll take a few minutes to work; he sags back down onto the couch, setting them down on the coffee table to his side, and closes his eyes.

Asshole picks up the medicine, and leaves the glass of water, looking at D2. Although his stare is blank, it goes on long enough to begin to have an air of curiosity about it. He doesn't ask anything.]

I... appreciate the help....

[ D2 looks right back at Asshole, head tilted. If he wants something he can just say it, but he’s not said a single word this far. Is that a thing, with soulless shinki, or is it just this particular shinki? ]

No problem, I’d never leave a friend in need alone. [ No man left behind is very much a thing. ] Have you been overworking yourself?

Mm. [Well: yes. Almost always, but it's a habit. More importantly...]

I must have caught something answering a prayer.

[It's a problem of being a god often associated with medicine. Most of his requests involve sick people, and some of them are contagious.

This is really a much nastier cold than he'd thought it was, though. And it's not going away with a combination of medicine and pretending he's fine, so he may actually have to rest.]

You sure about that? You almost look like I was right on the mark.

[ Not that he doesn't think that his theory is impossible, but gods are supposed to be more resilient to things like that, aren't they?

Was he planning to just fake it until D2 left? ]

I may have overworked myself too....

[His laugh is a little embarrassed, but he's beginning to feel a bit better -- enough, at least, to push himself back to a sitting position.]

May have?

[ He crosses the last bit of distance and sits down on the edge of the couch, beside Hakkai’s knees, and looks at him with an unimpressed look on his face. ]

You shouldn’t do that, you know. People will worry. Not to mention it's bad for you.

It's usually fine.

[Usually, just so long as he's not also sick. It's the illness that made it such a bad idea... and he supposes he'll have to actually rest now, won't he? He's embarrassed himself enough for one day. He sighs, and slumps back down onto the pillow.]

I'll rest and recover, don't worry. I can learn!

Usually.

[ D2 turns an exaggeratedly suspicious look toward Hakkai. ]

I’ll stop worrying when I’m sure you can.

[Hakkai sighs, exaggeratedly sheepish in response to the suspicion, and hangs his head.]

Of course, of course....

[ D2 nods, and then says with just as exaggerated innocence on his face and in his voice. ]

Because if you don’t and you end up collapsing again, I’m going to use you as a mattress to make sure that you stay in bed.

[ And don’t think he won’t. ]

I'll be good.

[His tone is very dry. Really, it's as if he's a child, instead of a grown ~~and stubborn~~ man.]

[ Do your best, Hakkai, because right now you are sick and with your stubbornness, that just puts you on the near or same level as a child. ]

That’s good. You look pretty bony.

[ He prods lightly him with a finger and hits a hip bone. ]

See here, very bony.

[Do not poke him in the side, D2. Hakkai's dry expression flashes over to more serious displeasure as he reaches down to catch the other man's hand and hold it away from his side.]

Please don't. I am very bony, yes.

[There's carrying him home, which he can tolerate when he has to, and joking about sitting on him if he doesn't stay lying down, which is fine (and possibly deserved.) Prodding his stomach, though. No. There's an uncomfortable vulnerability to that, and vulnerable isn't something that Hakkai likes to feel.]

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