018 | Season Spirits

[godsoffortune]

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~

Comments

[mithrarin]

Feeling old at heart, huh? [No way Dust is going to think she's old. In terms of appearance, he guesses she's younger than he is. How old he is, though, he has no idea -- some days he feels like a teenager, some days like a weary old veteran.]

[(He has no idea how accurate and yet how wrong all these feelings are.)]

[declamando]

Well, younger as in not adults. It's hard not to feel a little old comparing yourself to that. [Maria seems more amused by it than anything right now, though. She still has a good long time ahead of her before she can really be called old.]

[mithrarin]

I can't argue with that. ...Not that I'm sure how old I am, but I get the feeling I'm just a bit older than you?

[If she can't tell, that's fine -- they ARE different, after all.]

[declamando]

Possibly. I'm twenty-one, but it's hard to say if you don't actually remember your age, and even younger people can come off more mature.

[It's also hard to tell just on the basis of his appearance, since she's not familiar with his species.]

[mithrarin]

And older people less. [Dust is remembering a conversation he had with Wendy, in which both those points were discussed with specific examples.] Do you ever wonder how you might have turned out as a shinki?

[declamando]

Of course. [Thankfully, she's seen a lot less of those here than the other way around. Maria has to pull a bit of a face at that question, though.]

I'm not sure. I don't think forgetting the lessons I learnt in life would have done me any good, so I'm not sure I would have made a good shinki either.

[mithrarin]

You remember them. [He taps the knuckle of his thumb against his chest.] In here, I'm sure of it. And you're not someone who'd forget so easily.

[declamando]

[That's a point, but Maria's smile is still a little wan, as if she's uncertain.] Still, I think remembering what I have to atone for has its merits. Though it's unlikely I'll ever find out, unless I suddenly become a shinki instead.

[mithrarin]

Now I'm going to wonder if what I do, or say, comes from a desire to put right something I don't remember. Serves me right for asking, doesn't it? [But his good humor hasn't slipped; though his comment is truth, he isn't going to stay up nights worrying about it.]

[declamando]

Well, it's the kind of thing it wouldn't be healthy to focus on too long anyway. I'd hope you wouldn't linger on it like that. [Though Maria maintains the element of good humour, there is an element of seriousness to the remark as well.]

[mithrarin]

So you're saying you refuse to take responsibility for all my upcoming sleepless nights? [Seriously: not going to stay up late. Entirely joking.] I'm shocked at your feckless divinity.

[declamando]

I can't exactly twist your arm and stop you from thinking about it, so I'm afraid not. It's just the way things are. [Though this isn't the kind of subject Maria would joke about on her own terms, she does offer him a slight smile.]

[mithrarin]

Just one more shinki being persecuted by a god. [Dust is just generally feeling playful -- a reaction to her earlier tension, really. She needs some good vibes, and if he can provide...] What am I to do?

[declamando]

I did just say I wouldn't twist your arm, didn't I? Surely that would be a worse persecution. [This perhaps isn't the best subject for good vibes, but Maria's playing along for the moment, so that's a good sign.]

[mithrarin]

[Lesson here: Dust isn't great at being social, and may have something of a focus on combat even when he tries. Still, who else is here to cheer up Maria at this moment?]

I'm not sure. You think I'd notice it?

[declamando]

Ah, that's right, you've never seen me in a fight before. I think you would, suffice it to say. [Maria is a lot tougher of a customer than she looks, even without the use of her Gear.]

[mithrarin]

[Don't think for a second Dust isn't aware of that. Call it a fighter's instinct, but he'd realized that a long time ago.]

I'm not sure you've seen me in a fight before, so that's a pretty confident statement.

[declamando]

Perhaps we'll have to see each other one day. But generally when you work doing a certain thing, you're confident in your ability to do it.

[And for Maria, that goes for fighting just as much as it does for singing.]

[mithrarin]

You don't really look like what I'd expect a fighter to. But you move like one, so I'm not doubting you.

[declamando]

That's somewhat the point, yes. Anyone with a trained eye could pick me out, but the general public can't, and that's what matters. [There's a slight wink at that, as if he won't be getting let in on anything else.]

[mithrarin]

So you're an assassin, is what I'm hearing?

[Says the Warmblood who is, in fact, half an actual assassin. Which of course he doesn't know.]

[declamando]

Not quite. But of a similar level of secrecy in my world. As you might imagine, it's been a bit of a relief coming here, even if it's sad as well.

[Not only because of the level of work lowering, but from not having to live at least half a lie.]

[mithrarin]

Sad, I can understand, but... with that kind of secrecy, your life must have been a little lonely. [Hiding something like that had to be a barrier in friendships.]

[declamando]

[At that, Maria offers a reassuring smile.] I wasn't the only one in that job, don't worry. I had enough friends to be getting on with.

[mithrarin]

That's good to hear. [Knowing that past lives weren't all bad -- no matter what it might seem like, from some people here -- is a little bit reassuring.] I'm willing to bet that being a step apart in our old lives is common for a lot of us here.