29 - Autumn Leaves

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Uncover the remaining secrets of the mysterious forest.
When: Nov 29 - 30
Where: Chichibu National Park & the Central District
Summary: A heavily forested wilderness area in Chichibu National Park is attracting dangerous numbers of ayakashi, and Heaven's forces suspect that this might be the mortal forest that was connected to the Heavens in order to kidnap gods and shinki a few weeks ago.






Walk in the Woods

On the morning of the 29th, Heaven's messenger doves drop off small folded cards at the doors of every temple. The cards read,


We believe that we have identified the location on the Near Shore where the human accomplices were working. As it is a large area, we offer you this information, in case you are able to assist us in searching for clues to the identity of the culprit. Please investigate with caution: there are reports of ayakashi in the area.


Attached is a map to a large national park in the Kanto region, with a section of the park cross-hatched in red pen. Anyone who goes to investigate the marked area will discover that it is heavily forested and contains about a mountain and a half; the ground is steep, muddy with autumn rain, and slick with dead leaves, though some red and orange colors are still grimly clinging to the branches overhead. Watch your step! The supernatural menace seems to have faded, but the purely natural hazards can do almost as much damage.

Heaven's forces, wearing white short jackets with gold chrysanthemum emblems over much more sensible jeans and hiking boots, can be seen here and there throughout the forest, searching for clues themselves. If somebody gets in a real jam, they might be willing to lend a hand.

Mysterious Trees

Towards the center of the cross-hatched area, investigators may begin to see some familiar signs. Are those bits of torn-down spell papers still fluttering from nails driven into the trees? Vines and tree branches cut and broken by the hostage rescuers breaking through? Footprints, torn bits of black hooded cloaks... there are clues aplenty here.

There's something else, too: a mysterious presence still seems to haunt the forest. The trees might not move when anyone's watching, but it seems like they're in slightly different positions every time you look away and back. And what was that flicker of movement in the underbrush? Is there still someone here?!

Comment on the NPC REQUEST/CLUE SEARCH thread below to request specific details, or to go hunting for that mysterious presence.

Ayakashi Attacks

There's more than one mysterious presence in these trees... and some of them are definitely not friendly. The forest's aura is unsettling and creepy enough to partially mask their approach, but ayakashi of all types and sizes seem to have been drawn here. Some wind along tree branches or soar through the air on fleshy, wide-spread wings. Others crawl or even burrow in the ground.

And all of them are excited at the possibility of a divine meal. Look out!

Autumn Leaf Viewing

An area of the Central District planted with maple along a stone-walled canal has been decorated with hanging lanterns, comfortable spread mats and cushions, and an abundance of delicious food and drink on the afternoon of the 30th. Everyone is invited: new gods and old, those who helped investigate the Near Shore forest and those who didn't. For those who did investigate, though, one or two of the white-robed shinki who are helping with the party preparations and enjoying the food and drink themselves will take the opportunity to pull them aside and ask about their findings.

The party includes games as well as food and drink. Kites, poetry games, tag, hide-and-seek, card games and dice games are going on all over. There's even some determined board game and mahjong players who have brought their favorite game to the outdoor venue and are setting up on mats with immense care.

At one edge of the landscaped area where the party is being held, the ground slopes up, and is planted with a riot of bright gold, white and rust-red chrysanthemums. Like the ones that bloomed everywhere a few months ago, these flowers exude a sense of peace, confidence and security to anyone nearby, and especially those who pick the blooms to wear in their hair or their buttonhole.

In Summary:

• Investigate a wild forest
• Watch out for nasty trees
• Exorcise an ayakashi infestation
• Enjoy some hard-earned relaxation
• Have fun~

Comments

[myblueskies]

[Not far from Davesprite there is a small boy. He is sat on the ground with a plate of food. He doesn't know what half of this food is but he is determined to try it all! However he is slightly distracted by the orange, feathered, floating boy who is moving food through the air.

It's probably rude to stare. But it's hard, Romeo has seen lots of amazing and strange things since he arrived here but that doesn't stop him from staring at wonder at everything he comes across.]

What's kool-aid, sir? [That's a better question maybe than: What are you? Why do you have wings? Are you a witch? Or Doesn't it hurt to have a sword through your stomach?]

[redotiertwo]

[Well, that sure is a kid. Davesprite turns onto his side in mid-air so he's actually sort of facing Romeo, shifting his bowl as he does so it doesn't fall off.]

It's a magical sugary drink that comes in an assortment of bright as fuck colours, a feast for the eyes and the mouth, you know.

[This probably makes it sound way cooler than it actually is, but hey, that's what he's here to do.]

[myblueskies]

[It sounds pretty amazing! Romeo's mouth drops open.] So it's like a dessert? [That's a new word he learned this week, which means anything sweet apparantly. So magical sugary drinks definitely count.]

How do you breathe it? Don't you choke?

[redotiertwo]

Kinda. Dessert drink, you sure as fuck don't drink it for health. [Soft drink in general is probably best described as dessert drink, except nobody actually treats it that way anyway.

The other questions almost make him roll over fully, though, if not for the fact that it'd upset his bowl.]

You heard the word "metaphor" before, kid. [It's a question, he's just deadpan enough that it's not quite toned like one.]

[myblueskies]

[Dessert drink sounded amazing. There were a lot of things that Romeo had learned and discovered so far in his time as a shinki and a lot of it was food based.

He understood it to be a question despite the tone and he thought for a moment before shaking his head.] I've never heard that word before, sir. [He picks up a piece of cheese from his plate. Cheese is something he does know, he nibbles at it while he watches the orange man.]

[redotiertwo]

[Davesprite uses his telekinesis to drop another cheese biscuit into his mouth before he explains.] A metaphor is when you say something is something else to make a point, basically, so if you say a life is a long windy road or some philosophical bullshit like that, it's a metaphor. Life isn't literally a road, you're just saying it to sound cooler. So I was comparing this weird chrysanthemum scent cloud they've got happening here to drinking the kool-aid, but you can't drink a smell, right.

[Which is why he said breathe it instead. It's not exactly the shortest explanation in the world...]

[myblueskies]

[He's a little distracted by the flying food but he still manages to listen to the explanation. A metephor is something that makes a point about something to sound cooler.

Instead of hotter? He's nodding though, like he understands every word coming from the orange man fairy's mouth.] You can't drink a smell... So you breathe it! It's like dessert air!

[See he understands. Sort of.] How do you make your food fly? Is it magic?

[redotiertwo]

There we go, you got there. [It's not the dessert thing he was comparing, but he probably doesn't need to explain the concept of getting high to a kid who looks like he's about ten.

At the question, Davesprite lifts a slice of orange off his plate with the power, turning it around so the orange glow around it is very visible.]

Telekinesis. Means I can move shit with my mind. [He floats the orange slice over towards Romeo, and leaves it hovering within his reach.]

[myblueskies]

That's amazing! [He reaches out to touch the orange, as if to check it really was there. It was! There were many amazing things here!] Is that how you can float as well?

[redotiertwo]

Nah, that's just standard sprite bullshit as far as I can tell. Makes the whole not having legs thing easier. [He flicks his ghostlike tail in the air a bit as if to punctuate his point.]

[myblueskies]

What's sprite bullshit? Are you a sprite? Is that why you have a tale? [That's a lot of questions but he didn't shout at him for asking the first few and so Romeo figures it's okay to ask some more.]

[redotiertwo]

[Somehow, Davesprite gets the impression this kid doesn't have much of a concept of rude words. He's not going to be the one to correct him, though, as much as he probably should.]

Yeah, that's why I have a tail. A sprite's kind of a blend of stuff, I guess, with some cool powers thrown in there. [Also a lot of useless ones.]

[myblueskies]

[He didn't fully understand that but he smiled anyways, a mix of things with some powers that were cool.] Are there lots of sprites here?

[He's not seen anyone else that looks like this man but there might be others.]

[redotiertwo]

Nope, just me. I'm a fucking unique unicorn and everything. [He's seen maybe one other person who might have been from his world here, but he'd been a different species anyway, and disappeared right after they met to boot.]

[myblueskies]

[He was a unicorn as well? That was pretty impressive!]

Only you? [He remembered what Hakkai had told him about everyone being from different worlds. He picked up a piece of cheese from his bowl and chewed it thoughtfully. He wondered what it would be like if he was the only human here. He hopes the man isn't sad about it.]

I thought unicorns had horns.

[redotiertwo]

Only me. Also the unicorn part was a metaphor. People just use it for shit that's unique. [It's a really overused metaphor, but a metaphor all the same, and also probably slightly less overused than "special snowflake" is these days. So it all checks out, somehow.]

Pretty sure we do have a unicorn here somewhere, though. [Or an alicorn, or whatever she was.]

[myblueskies]

Oh [He smiles sheepishly. Another metephor! They were tricky to spot.] An actual one?

[He would have to keep his eye out for one, though he's not sure what an unicorn actually looks like.]

What's your name, sir?

[redotiertwo]

Yeah, an actual one, with the horn and the wings and rainbow mane and everything. Haven't talked to her for a while, but I'm pretty sure she's still here.

[Kind of hard to miss something like that participating in the general shenanigans of the Far Shore.

Davesprite picks a piece of orange he was halfway to floating into his mouth out of the air.] I'm Davesprite, what about you, kid.

[myblueskies]

I'll have to look out for her! [A horn and a rainbow mane, that wouldn't be difficult to spot!

He grinned.] Davesprite... because you're a sprite so it's part of your name? I'm Romeo!

[redotiertwo]

Yeah, she's kinda hard to miss, so your odds on that one are pretty good. [She might as well be wearing a flashing neon sign that says "magical rainbow horse" at all times, really.

Davesprite continues floating that bit of fruit to his mouth once Romeo is talking again, though his mouth takes a briefly amused turn when Romeo introduces himself.]

I'm trying really, really hard not to make a Romeo and Juliet joke, but you know, if I make one later, I blame the literary canon in its entirety and not my feeble self-control.

[myblueskies]

[Romeo blinked at him.] What's a Romeo and Juliet joke?

[Was this another metephor? Also what was literary canon while they were on words that Romeo didn't understand. He was starting to think he should just remember all the words Davesprite said that made no sense and ask Elfnein about them later, it might be easier. She was very good at explaining things to him.]

[redotiertwo]

Basically once upon a time some dude everyone can't get enough of wrote a play that was supposed to be a romance except both the romantic leads died at the end, and then people called it a tragedy instead and that's why people are still talking about Romeo and Juliet however many hundred years later.

[Davesprite does not appear to be in pursuit of making himself any more comprehensible, even considering the fact that he's talking to someone who's clearly very young and only seems to half-get what he's talking about at best.]

[myblueskies]

[He looks a little confused through all of that explanation to be honest but he gets the gist. There's a play and it was mean to be romantic but both the main characters died and so it was a tragedy. That was right, of course it was a tragedy if the characters died! That was really sad?

But people still spoke about it even after hundreds of years, it must be a very good play!] Why is it a joke them, mister Davesprite? It's not funny if the characters are dead.

[Then again, he's dead too and he doesn't find that sad. He can still be happy. Maybe it's fun because they get to be together afterwards in the heavens.]

[redotiertwo]

[Davesprite offers a broad shrug in response.] That kinda depends on the situation, doesn't it, though in this case it's because black comedy exists and sometimes people make jokes about really morbid shit. Though in my defense, I probably would've been joking about part of the play prior to the whole "everyone dies" thing.

[See, at least he has some measure of the kind of content it's appropriate to expose children to. Sort of. Or maybe he's just covering his own ass since it's all theoretical right now anyway.]

[myblueskies]

What's black comedy and morbid shit? [He looks down as he asks, fishing out some more pieces of orange out of his bowl to eat. The rest of the play must be better then, with fun things to make peope laugh and that's where the jokes came in.]