thenearshore | 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

[The 'we' part of that makes it okay and perfectly normal, obviously. Never mind that somehow, Natsuru has still forfeited the lead to Wendy even when they're alone. Wendy's even figured out her phone more since the last time they spoke. There's not much else Natsuru can do but take comfort in the brief respite in the more brightly lit spot, away from any creepy potentially-moving shadows, until Wendy starts moving again.]

Ah-?

[Now that they're stepping away from the comfort of the light, Natsuru holds on tightly to Wendy's hand again, and quickens her pace for a moment so she can stick close while she matches the smaller girl's stride.]

Don't you know where we're going?

[That 'probably' is concerning.]

Well, I've never really been to this part of town a lot, so... I'm just going where the phone said.

Do you want to double check?

[It might be for the better.]

I haven't really, either...

[She's able to convince herself on some level that's why she's following Wendy's lead. But now that Wendy asks, maybe she should look at the phone.]

I don't know. It seems right, I guess?

Well, we can take care of ourselves, so it'll be alright~.

[Wendy waves around her bat for emphasis. As long as it's something that they've seen before, then it'll be okay.]

Do you want to come over to see Hibiki when we get our ice cream?

I guess... yeah.

[She agrees, yet she sticks close to Wendy. Being together is safer than letting themselves get easily caught off guard and separated! Or something like that. She doesn't feel the need to put on a brave face for Wendy right now like she tried to do with the other girls, though.

The question of coming over to see Hibiki makes her blush again, and she chuckles nervously.]

W-Well, it doesn't have to be to see Hibiki-sama! We're friends too, right?

[But that's a 'yes' to coming over?]

[If nothing else, Wendy is indulgent, keeping their hands together as she humans and keeps walking.]

I guess, but I thought you liked Hibiki? Since you're over all the time.

[She's not teasing. Who, innocent her?]

W-Well... yeah, Hibiki-sama and I are...

[... 'Friends'? That's what she had been about to say, but something about it doesn't feel like friendship, exactly. Hibiki is a mentor and a tutor, and someone she genuinely enjoys spending time with, but...

Pay no attention to how she hesitates and fails to find the correct word, Wendy.]

... She's, um, teaching me to be an idol, so...

Um, and you know how my practice room is there, too...

[See? Totally justified that she's over all the time! Ignore the blushing... so much blushing...]

[You mean pay all the attention, right? Good thing she's so short; that means there's a less of a chance of being able to see her teasing grin clearly.]

Aaaah, I guess that's true~. Still, you should come over for more than just practicing!

Well... yeah. It is nice, just coming over to visit.

[Yep, she's completely oblivious to how much Wendy totally sees right through her.]

I'm not even sure I've seen everything in the temple yet! There's so much...

Yeah, it's a pretty huge castle. I guess it fits Hibiki.

[Over the top, extravagant, sparkling in every which way.... Yep. Hibiki wouldn't settle for a temple that's anything less. As they turn a corner, Wendy perks up and starts to tug Natsuru along.]

There! I guess the directions were right, there's the store!

[Thank god for convenience stores.]

[Natsuru's still somewhat creeped out from the shadows earlier, and she's clung a little tighter to Wendy's hand whenever they pass through a particularly dark area between street lights and storefronts. The topic of conversation has distracted her, though, and now she lets out a small, relieved gasp when they see their destination nearby. This time, she holds on tight just so Wendy doesn't get too far ahead of her!]

Ah! We made it...

[As they reach the doors and leave the shadows of dusk behind, she smiles gratefully at the smaller girl.]

Thank you, Wendy-chan! You really helped me out a lot.

[It's like she's completely forgotten that she was supposed to be the one helping Wendy. Maybe it's for the best... she'd always seemed so awkward and uncertain whenever she tried to treat Wendy as a normal child, since Wendy's responses would often catch her off guard. This is a Natsuru that's much more relaxed and comfortable and natural, whether she realizes it or not.]

[It really did came out very differently than how one would think... Yet Wendy doesn't seem to think it's too strange. At least, she's decided not to worry about it, considering how much more relaxed Natsuru is. Both of them are fine, all the kids are fine, so what's the big deal?]

[With a smile up at the older (???) girl, Wendy continues to lead her along. time for the ice cream section!]

It's no problem. Besides, if we can't help each other, then what's the point, right?

[Shinki gotta stick together.]

[Exactly! Her smile brightens even more at that.]

Yeah, I think so too!

[And before she knows it, she's being led to what somehow became their destination for the evening. Hey, she's not going to complain about ice cream as a reward after a day like today. She's already looking at some of those packaged sundae cones in the freezers. Or maybe she could go for one of those orange fruit bars?]

Hey, what's your favorite kind, Wendy-chan? Have you tried a lot since coming here?

[She vaguely remembers there was a time that Wendy wasn't very familiar with a lot of modern things. That seems so long ago, though...]

Well... Not a lot of the things at stores like this.

[Pressing her hands against the freezers, she stands on the tips of her toes to look at the vast selection.]

You know Hibiki. It's always the really fancy stuff at our temple. I've tried lots of different cakes with her, but we don't get the fun cheap things. [Could Hibiki even touch cheap plastic and not die from the poorness? Doubtful.] Ice cream seems really fun, though!

[That does get a very quiet, almost fond giggle from Natsuru. She's very aware of Hibiki's tastes, having been called in to deliver snacks from work on occasion. Natsuru's not sure she'd feel comfortable sticking only with fancy things like that. Some of her favorite foods are pretty ordinary.]

Don't they make fancy ice creams too? I think there's a name for it... something European.

[Maybe not? She had some really rich, fancy-seeming ice cream in Monaco, but can't remember if they had a different name for it.

She debates for another second or two, before finally settling on one of the packaged ice cream cones. The package says "strawberry cheesecake" flavor, which sounds like a fun thing to try!]

018 | Season Spirits

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