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

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?

For now. [Shun's keeping a much closer eye on it now, one hand on his canteen of blessed water. If it decides to make a leap forward, he can at least respond with something that'll deter it briefly.]

How close together do the rest of them live? [It'll be a lot easier if they can take the last few home in one quick run, but Shun's not counting on them being that lucky.]

[A quick convene with the rest of the girls before she answers. The look on her face, brows scrunched together a little bit and mouth turned down in a frown, gives away what it is.]

Two of the girls say they live right next door to each other.... But the other one lives ten minutes away, she says.

[That's not the most reassuring thing in the world, and Shun looks back at the thing stalking them once more.]

We'll have to prepare to split up once we get the next two back home. I can distract it long enough for you and the kid to get a decent headstart, then catch up.

[He doesn't want to scare the kids, but given the choice between that and leaving the last one in the kind of danger there'd be if they just kept going, he'll take the former.]

[That definitely sends a bit of fear through what's left of the group, all three getting closer together, but Wendy tugs them along.]

Don't worry! Shun is really strong, and we can get there in no time. I'll be here too!

[Waving the bat around encouragingly, Wendy forces the small group along. They really don't have any choice here, so... All they can do is get to the next pair of houses. As the other two girls hurry to their doors, glancing back in concern, Wendy glances over to Shun with her legs tense.]

[Shun inclines his head in agreement with Wendy's declaration, hand tightening on where his weapons are under his coat.] We won't let it get to you. Whatever that takes.

[Nonetheless, his own motions become more and more wary as the approach the next two girls' houses. The beast is starting to get closer already - getting more daring, knowing the group is about to get smaller, and though Shun stops long enough to make sure the two girls make it inside safely, the ayakashi doesn't wait much longer than that.

In the moment it explodes from the alleyway, hurling itself towards them, Shun turns on his heel and slashes a line of blessed water from his canteen to meet it.]

Now! [Wendy and the other girl don't have time to waste as it is.]

[Besides her, the girl shrieks, but Wendy doesn't let it distract her. Instead, dropping her bat and twisting on her heel, she jerks her fingers out to draw a borderline. Unfortunately this traps Shun on that side, but she figures he'll be able to get around it when the time comes.]

[There are more important things to do right now- like grabbing her bat again and tugging the girl along by the hand.]

We'll meet you later!

[But that's all she'll say as she hauls the girl down the street.]

[Shun doesn't really care about being trapped on this side of the borderline - he's just glad Wendy's quick-thinking enough and good enough at borderlines to manage it. If he can keep this thing back for a few minutes, the borderline should give them at least another minute on top of that, and ideally that will put them far enough ahead for the ayakashi not to catch up until the last girl is safely home.

But to make sure that happens, he has to engage it, and he pulls out his sword with his other hand. It might not do the ayakashi much damage, but it sure as hell can distract it for a while.

About five minutes later, Wendy's phone will ring. Shun has no idea where she'd be by now, so he needs a connection of some kind to be able to teleport to her location. He's not planning to talk, but she may hear his slightly laboured breathing down the line if she picks up.]

[It takes a moment for Wendy to get herself and the girl to the side where they can duck out of side, and another moment for her to dig through her backpack so that she can get her phone.]

Hello?

[She's making sure to keep her voice low.]

[The connection of the line is all he needs - a moment later, he appears next to the both of them, still breathing heavily as he hangs up and slips his phone back into his pocket. The extensive blight on his hands might explain why, even if it's hard to see in the dark.]

We need to keep going. It's still stuck behind the borderline, but the bigger headstart we get before it breaks through, the better.

[Holy- The baseball bat gets jerked up, ready to smash into someone's skull (his) before Wendy realizes what's happened. Lowering the bat, she tugs the girl up to her feet again.]

Alright! We should be almost there- we ran fast.

[...Which means the little girl is feeling it, breathing heavily, so Wendy doesn't take off running immediately again. Instead, just a walk- anything as long as it's moving forward.]

[Shun tenses, ready to jump out of the way if she actually swings at him, but once she lowers the bat, he starts moving again. He's trying to keep a decent pace still, but given how tired the girl seems to be, he keeps it at a fast walk, looking out ahead of and behind them.]

Good. The borderline should be able to occupy it long enough that we can get her home safely. [He doesn't like having to leave the ayakashi, but they might have to in this situation, or at least have one of them come back later with a partner to get rid of it.]

Good. I'm glad mine are tougher now... It's really good timing in that way.

[If this had happened when she was still a new shinki... Wendy grimaces, even as she tightens her grip on the girl's hand reassuringly. However, soon enough, the girl at her side perks up and starts to tug her along, and Wendy nearly trips before catching herself.]

There it is-! [Suddenly, however, she stumbles, and Wendy makes a face.] Mm- and there's that gone too.

If you put in the work, then it pays off. It's not really a matter of timing. [True, the length of time she's been here would help, but some people who've been here longer still can't do it properly. Shun's exemplar, for example.

As soon as Wendy mentions the borderline is gone, Shun moves to the rear again to keep a lookout.] It shouldn't catch up in time if we're in sight of her house, at least.

[Fortunately, the knowledge of something wicked this way coming has the girl pick up the pace, and Wendy stays with her all the way up to her door before it's slammed shut. Well. That works for her. Testing the swing of the bat, she glances over to Shun.]

So what do we do about this thing?

We'll probably have to lure it off. [Despite the blight covering his hands, Shun's grip on both his sword handle and his mostly empty canteen of blessed water is firm.] My shinki would take a while to track us down, and I doubt your god is going to help much even if we did call them. That doesn't leave us with a lot of options.

[He knows Wendy has no issue with being a nora, but he's not going to be the one to suggest it. It feels too much like leading.]

I mean, you could always nora me.

[Yeah, she'll just.... outright say it as she starts to stretch her legs, eyes focused straight ahead for any sign of the creature.]

But if you don't... Where would be a good place to stick it so it can't bother anyone else?

[Though Shun still doesn't want her to feel pressed into it, it is the kind of situation he'd consider worth a temporary nora. If they drive it off, it could just come back. If he leaves to get one of his own shinki, it could escape in that time, not to mention he'd need to track one or other of them down. And it's targeting kids...]

If you don't mind only being a nora long enough for us to get rid of this thing. I'd rather not risk letting it go back to preying on kids.

[At that, she passes him a flat look.]

I'm the person who made a post about nora on the BBS, and we know each other. Of course I'm fine with it- I wouldn't have suggested otherwise.

C'mon- we don't have a lot of time before it gets here, do we?

I wanted to be sure. [While Wendy has expressed obvious willingness to nora before, Shun still considers it best to confirm. He doesn't want to be one of the gods who disregards a shinki's opinion on the matter.

Still, she's right about the ayakashi catching up, and he lets out a faint hiss as he moves to face her.] If this spell wasn't so long and ridiculous, it wouldn't matter as much.

[But still, he has to do it, so without more than a mild sigh of annoyance as precursor, he begins.] My name is Nekhbet. [...Not the name he usually uses, but he's sort of going on autopilot from his recent naming of Kotori.] Grasping thy true name, I bind thee here. With borrowed name, I dub thee my servant. The name answers, the vessel to sound. I call thee as my divine instrument.

[...For all his complaining, he really does have a suitably dramatic tone for this. ~~It's almost like he's used to reciting overly dramatic monologues.~~]

The name, Wendy. The vessel, Yoku. Come, Yokuki!

[A laugh leaves her at his complaining but, in the end, he goes ahead. That's what matters, right? So she waits patiently for him to finish the saying and takes a deep breath for the exact kind of thing she remembers from Hibiki and Rosie.]

[As the kanji for her latest name comes into existence and her body dissolves into light, Shun will get the very same flash of memories that her last two gods have. At the same time, the light from her zips towards him... and settles on his head.]

...I wasn't expecting something this cute for you.

[Enjoy the new cute headband with furry raccoon ears, Shun.]

[Having his first vision of death in this world be Joker's particularly brutal one has set Shun up quite well for being able to handle seeing shinki deaths. There is, however, a very faint wince as he hears the gunshot - followed up by a silence as he pieces together the surrounding details.

She was trying to kill someone when she died. Trying to kill someone...in a fit of furious revenge.

Well. He'd always thought he and Wendy had similar attitudes when it came right down to it.

Her voice distracts him from that brief reverie, though, and he can feel the weight on his head enough to suspect what the gist of it might be before he reaches up to touch it. Those...are definitely furry ears of some description. He sighs quietly.]

My other two shinki are a mask and a cravat, so I'm less surprised than I want to be. [Cuteness aside, it seems he's doomed to accessory and clothing shinki.]

How have you defeated ayakashi with them before?

[Her and Hibiki have their own way but it's.... Well. Hibiki. Wendy is still separating dramatics and action from that.]

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