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

Indeed.

[ From the way these yukata are folded, she's presuming... ] Pardon, mesdemoiselles.

[ And she. Winks. At the spirits.

They can toss everything they want at Fubuki, but she's just going to keep walking. Now that she knows why she has him along, Hibiki is feeling much more secure in her staging.

Whether or not their actual opponents are willing to play along. ]

[Why does he get the feeling he just got thrown to the wolves...?]

[It takes a moment for him to notice that he's the only one getting attacked here. Yeah, that...that makes sense...]

I'm not the one who pulled back the curtain...! [He says while frantically making his way to the other side as quickly as he can. The curtain on this side he does pull open, though, to reveal...uh...]

[A cadre of yukata spinning in the air upside-down. He is not even going to question it, just try to quietly sneak past these ones...]

[ No such luck! The yukata, noticing Fubuki, make a dive for him. It seems like they want him to....wear them.....? That's what it seems, at least, from the way they're trying to slip onto his limbs.

A bunch of them branch off and head for Hibiki, but she whips out her shield and they bounce off of it. She frowns at Fubuki. ] What ar--

[ "Help us!"

The voice comes from above. And the first set of victims are discovered: a small group of high school girls, all dressed in the yukata, all hanging upside-down from the ceiling and spinning around.

"We can't get down!"

Hibiki clicks her tongue against her teeth. Entertainment that causes actual fright.

Tasteless. ]

[In the wake of noticing the girls, he misses the yukata sneaking up on him. He has a second to think, ??, before he's hoisted up into the air.]

[...At least they took care to swaddle his legs properly so they aren't dangling dangerously... (SMALL. MERCIES.)]

[In a situation like this...]

Er. [He'd call Hibiki's name here, but he doesn't know it.] Please help us down. [His voice doesn't show it but he's begging you]

[ Hibiki's eyes flick to the exit, then to Fubuki and the girls. Can't be helped. A Prince does not abandon damsels in distress.

Besides, they're being noisy.

Raising a hand, she shoots a sparkling purple rope at the ceiling; it affixes, and she reels it in, rising to their level. From there, she swings to the nearest girl, using her free hand to start tugging the yukata off of her. ] A beautiful dress would suit you better.

[ The girl gasps, tears in her eyes. And turns bright red.

The mighty god Apollo's battle plan may be to flirt her way through the haunted house, at this rate. ]

[For his part, through some struggling and taking advantage of how suddenly (and therefore shoddily) the yukata jumped on him, he manages to get an arm free. Success. It's just... That's a bit of a drop, and he's not sure he can turn in mid-air. No matter how light shinki are on the Near Shore, that landing...]

[It doesn't help that half his mind is wondering where Hibiki got that rope, and half that is incredible technique to get that reaction—!]

[The sleeve is inching back up. It's do or die. He stills, and then— Very suddenly shifting his weight does what he hopes, and the yukata plummets. He tears the garment open and hangs onto it when the yukata tries to catch itself and fly back up (giving his arm a bad jolt in the process but it's fine he anticipated that (he did not anticipate that. Ow.)). And finally, he lets go for a gentle jump to the floor (gentleness here being overstated, as the pain through his ankle can attest...but it fades after a second and he can still move it, so it looks to be nothing serious).]

[He looks back up. The torn yukata isn't going for him again, good.]

I'll be cheering for you! [He is also poised to catch the girl, if it comes to that! AHAHA ow his arm ow]

[ Hm? Oh, him. Hibiki was also planning to get to him after the girls, because she has priorities like that. It is reassuring to see he isn't going to need her assistance after all.

Keeping the girl she'd just saved tucked under one arm, she swings over to the other captive. ] Grab hold.

[ "....It's a Prince," the girl breathes, shocked. "A Prince has come for us."

Hibiki bites back a smile, since it wouldn't do to break the mood of a serious scene. And yet. It's about time.

The yukata, however, are whirling around behind her, up to something.... ]

[Ohhh...? Is Hibiki really going to get the other one while the first girl is hanging onto her? Quite daring...!]

[He spots the scheming yukata, and with a second of thought, reaches into his pocket for the new pack of playing cards he'd picked up (he has the weirdest compulsion to collect them, for some reason) and pulls one out. The charm he'd thrown kind of like a baseball, but for something like this—he adjusts his fingers and sends a card sailing into the yukata. It kind of...pokes the garment, but he sends up the smuggest grin at it. It works, and the yukata comes diving down.]

[He backs up, prepared to make a run for it.]

I'll meet you through the other door! [He thumbs at the, uh. Okay it's actually another curtain and not a door. Same thing.]

[ What had - Hm. Not completely helpless after all, then. Interesting, but at the moment, not pressing. Hibiki returns her attention to freeing the other girl - the first one helps, since Hibiki has both hands occupied - and then swinging them both down to the ground before the yukata can regroup.

They cluster together, in awe of her. She touches each on the shoulder, leading them to the entrance. Yes, there are...nuisances...the way she'd come, but nothing that would truly injure anyone. ] Head that way. The trouble will be over momentarily.

[ The girls nod, huddling together, and head through. Hibiki, on the other hand, heads for the curtain she's yet to use. This farce had better be short on remaining acts.

Right, what's through here...? ]

[Through there is Fubuki on the floor, wrapped in the scheming yukata and the torn one that had followed after.]

[Extreme off-screen incompetence has claimed another victim.]

[He at least has the grace to look sheepish about his plight.] Watch out for the pit.

[That pit, a short hop and skip away.]

[ Why, so it is. Hibiki leans down to free Fubuki from those yukata - it's no skin off her nose whether he follows her or not, yes, but leaving someone in trouble when she's come this far is against the aesthetic. ]

This is graduating beyond mere annoyance.

Aha...thanks.

[He grabs the garments and spins them tightly into twists so they won't be able to flail or otherwise move much while he holds them.]

If it's any consolation... [He points at the pit.] I think half of that is a fake. [Like a painted-over wall or something.]

I've been thinking, the haunted house didn't look that long from the outside, did it?

[And...he glances over.] By the way, where'd your princesses go?

They're safer heading for the entrance. [ Not safe. They won't be safe until she's cut through this world of lies and falsehoods, to usher in a brave new era...

Or outsmarted whatever's causing this, same thing. ]

It's about time for the final curtain to fall.

[ And if they're playing tricks with time and space, she'll just have to think of a better trick.

....Give her a second. ]

[He...kind of doubts sending the girls that way is a good idea, but he hasn't heard anything from that direction so far, so...maybe the ghosts are leaving them alone. He hopes so, at least.]

[While Hibiki's thinking, Fubuki tosses his captive cloth-twist at the place he suspects is a wall. It bounces off, and—]

[The wall shatters??]

...Is that the back of the house? [Where there used to be a complete vista of a pit, now it's half a vista of a pit, interrupted by what looks to be wood paneling.]

If we didn't turn around at any point, wouldn't this mean they hid the back of the house outside somehow... [He has to commend that commitment to their work, he supposes, if that really is the case.]

[ ... well, that's a. Trick. Hibiki supposes. That certainly exposed an elaborate ruse. And it gives her an idea, too. If there's one thing this place has responded well to, it's easy prey.

She closes her eyes, the better to concentrate. Not long afterward, a girl who hadn't been in the yukata room, completely nondescript except for the look of fear on her face, creeps into the room, her expression pale.

"H...help..." she murmurs. Hibiki smiles to herself and keeps off to the side, focusing very hard on something. And waiting.

The temperature in the room begins to drop, so she doubts she'll have to wait long. ]

[A ghost?!!!]

[When he glances over to Hibiki, he notes that she hadn't...really reacted; given her reaction to the girls in the other room, that doesn't seem quite right, so he assumes it's Hibiki's doing.]

[He whispers as he falls in next to her.] Warn me when you do something like that.

[Well, considering they're in the final act now, that may not even come up again, but it...did startle him a bit. Ahaha...]

[Aaand, on the heels of the cold, here comes the fog.]

[ Hibiki looks over, unconcerned. Completely deadpan: ] Do what?

[ Yes, she's lying. But this needs to not look like her doing (and keep attention away from her) to be an effective ruse.

The fog swirls around both of them, and around the girl who has dropped to her knees in fright in the middle of the room. "D-don't come...." she whimpers.

Hibiki touches her forehead lightly - not a headache already - but keeps concentrating. And a shadow looms up. ]

[He knows enough what bluffing looks like that he doesn't believe her at all, especially when she touches her head, but he assumes there's a plan.]

[When the shadow looms up, he hasn't put it together yet that luring out the mastermind-ghost is the plan, so—] Is that really going to be okay?!

[It has huge teeth and everything!!]

Ssh.

[ Ah. The last boss. Hibiki knows, of course, that she can't dispel the thing without her shinki's involvement, but at the very least she can chase it away from the haunted house.

The girl scrambles to her feet and runs from the ghost, which begins bearing down on her. It looks like it's done just scaring people. This one, it wants to swallow alive!

And Hibiki still isn't moving. ]

[The thought comes very suddenly: that's an illusion, isn't it? It'd explain how she appeared out of nowhere when this room was empty when Fubuki arrived. He glances over at Hibiki. Between the rope, what she seemed to have been trying to do earlier when the room got dark the first time, and now this...he has no idea what her abilities are. It's a little late to tell her he can't fight... But he isn't her shinki, anyway, so she has to have a plan.]

Cutting it a little close? [As much as he can appreciate dramatic timing, there is such a thing as "too late"!]

[...Unless the idea is to make it tire itself out chasing illusions. Hibiki was holding her head, though, so...probably not...?]

...I'm carrying holy water, if the idea is to weaken it...

[ Hibiki continues to concentrate. The ghost's jaws close over the girl. Hibiki's hand goes behind herself. ] Heh.

[ She then proceeds to pull an antique sword from essentially nowhere. It flashes in what little light the room still possesses - or perhaps with its own light. The illusion of the girl vanishes, leaving the ghost exposed, confused, and angry in the center of the room. ]

This ends here! [ Hibiki has a glove in her free hand now, which she tosses through the ghost's head. ] For besmirching the name of this entertainment, I challenge you to a duel!!

[ Yeah, you can. You can throw that holy water whenever you want. She will not complain. ]

[......But you can't throw holy water during duels!!]

[And the glove went through the ghost, so will that really...?]

[Oh, the spirit has picked up the discarded yukata rope, which, for their parts, seem to be holding themselves rigid like a pole. And with the spirit holding the "pole" up with one hand, it looks like...]

[It looks like the spirit has accepted the challenge...]

...Does that make me the commentator...?

[ It just might, because this swordfight has commenced in earnest! The ghost doesn't seem to be following any particular form, but Hibiki's movements most closely resemble fencing as she thrusts and parries, dodges and deflects.

It's a very showy, theatrical form of fencing, but come this point that is likely no surprise.

The opponents appear evenly matched! Hibiki is blocking each strike with ease, but she also hasn't been able to exploit any openings....She keeps pressing on, however. There is no way she'll lose! ]

[...It seems he is not very good at commentating! (He did give it his best shot. For about a second, but these are one of the things that you can just tell)]

[He waits for a few moments to pass, then sneaks off around the fight to the back wall.]

[He'd thought that the ghost made it darker for atmosphere...and that could still be true, but there's nothing saying it has to be... Ah, there's a hatchet over here, leaning against the wall. That's pretty convenient! Almost too convenient! This is almost guaranteed to be a trap somehow!]

[Another glance at the fight to make sure the spirit hasn't noticed, and...here goes. He gives the hatchet a mighty swing, and smashes through the back wall, letting dim light through.]

[Looks like that got the spirit's attention.]

[ Why - won't - this - thing - give - way--

The ghost swivels towards the light, and Hibiki turns to see what's happened as well. In a moment, however, she notices the chance she's been given, and thrusts. ] Haaaah!!

[ The ghost is already fainter from the light streaming through when Hibiki's sword pierces it. She turns her illusion powers on to make the blade glow for good measure, and the creature screams.

Hibiki twists the blade. She isn't actually piercing anything physical, but it's the idea that counts. ]

018 | Season Spirits

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ugh i mispaced this, sorry i didn't give him a chance to commentate :(

lol he wouldn't have anyways, no worries!

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