godsoffortune: (Default)
The Far Shore Mods ([personal profile] godsoffortune) wrote in [community profile] thenearshore2018-06-01 07:03 pm

29 - Autumn Leaves

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~
boneofsword: (old regrets are heavy)

[personal profile] boneofsword 2018-06-05 02:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[Sure, drop it in. Archer plans to leave it with old shinki later; after all, he still has a stash of intact ones.]

It's been too long for any trails to last, even in better weather. [Archer shrugs and lowers his voice.] Kakimoto has some leads on the cult as well.
revolutionfalcon: (explanation)

[personal profile] revolutionfalcon 2018-06-06 08:45 am (UTC)(link)
I'll talk to him about it when I see him. [It's pretty inevitable he's going to run into Chikusa at some point, if he's here at all.] They left this pretty late. We're going to be lucky to find anything substantial.

[And whoever does is probably going to have to share it for them to get any sort of decent image of the evidence.]
boneofsword: (killing my past 2)

[personal profile] boneofsword 2018-06-06 02:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[Archer frowns. He's not liking the fact that Heavens are this slow.]

I wonder-- [he stops himself, crouches low and splays his hand on the ground, muttering something under his breath. Teal glowing lines sink from his hand into earth, vanishing soon after. Archer waits a longer moment before standing up.]

It's close. This way. [Archer starts not even waiting for Shun, but he's not in such hurry to stop himself from looking for any clues, be it on the ground or above.]
revolutionfalcon: (look twice)

[personal profile] revolutionfalcon 2018-06-07 11:18 am (UTC)(link)
[Since he has no idea what the extent of Archer's powers might be to track down parts of this, Shun just watches as Archer's spell lines trace out into the ground and vanish. He does, however, take heed when he mentions what direction they should be going in, and starts heading after him almost as soon as he goes. Considering he doesn't always hang around for people, he's not going to complain about someone else doing it.]

Some kind of residue? [Or echo of magic, maybe. It's not something Shun's familiar with, but that didn't look like a search for mundane clues.]
boneofsword: (grim is the past)

[personal profile] boneofsword 2018-06-07 02:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Magical residue. It's not that far; I can't cover a lot of ground. [Archer trusts Shun enough to give him some information about his abilities.

Suddenly he steps into the clearing. The ground is too trampled there to find any clear footprints, rain obliterating any remaining traces of what transpired here. Archer drops his makeshift bag and ventures further into the clearing, surveying the area.]


The sigils were here.
revolutionfalcon: (is that the best you can do?)

[personal profile] revolutionfalcon 2018-06-09 11:45 am (UTC)(link)
[That's about what he was expecting, so Shun just nods slightly and keeps following for the moment. It's definitely the kind of power that would come in useful in a lot of situations here, so he can't help but feel it not covering much ground isn't really a bad tradeoff.

As soon as they enter the clearing, Shun can recognise the shapes of certain trees and the layout of the area, and his wariness spikes. He doesn't need Archer to confirm it to know this is the clearing where it all happened.]


I recognise the place. [He steps into the clearing a little more carefully himself, trying to pick out where he remembers the sigils being.]
boneofsword: (my chance to redeem)

[personal profile] boneofsword 2018-06-09 04:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[While Shun has to rely on his memory as no traces of sigils remain, Archer can feel very faint traces of magic where each of them was. He stops at each place, crouching and again using his ability. Only after checking all five he finally speaks.]

Salt, chalk and ink aside all the plant, ground and chemicals. Oh, and lots of charcoal and ash, most likely from burning it. [he shrugs and specifies.] I can also analyze components of what I touch.
revolutionfalcon: (stopping to think for once)

[personal profile] revolutionfalcon 2018-06-10 01:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[Shun already figures Archer has some kind of ability to identify what's making up the ground here even before he clarifies, but the explanation at least makes it make more sense.]

So all things we'd expect to be there after what happened. [He can't help but glance back in particular to the location of where the north sigil had been, though.] You're sure they're all broken?

[North and south had acted differently to the others at the end of it all, even if he hadn't been able to tell specifics.]
boneofsword: (whom do I follow)

[personal profile] boneofsword 2018-06-10 05:43 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm sure. There's only a faint magical residue left and nothing else. A dormant sigil that can still be activated feels different. [As Caster demonstrated earlier by setting traps that Archer got caught in. That was a good test of his ability.]
revolutionfalcon: (declaration of intent)

[personal profile] revolutionfalcon 2018-06-12 01:02 pm (UTC)(link)
[Shun grimaces briefly like he's somewhat unconvinced of the fact still, but he gives a somewhat uneasy nod nonetheless.]

Then the question is what happened to the north and south sigils before they broke. [They certainly hadn't done it in the same manner as the other three, and he's convinced there's some kind of reason behind that.]
boneofsword: (matter of no importance)

[personal profile] boneofsword 2018-06-15 10:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[Archer has seen it too, for while he had his hands full of barely conscious Caster at that time, he wanted to make sure the sigils are destroyed.]

It's impossible to tell without knowing more about this spell. It could be because those sigils were the last left or absorbed most energy. It could be what was supposed to happen if the amount of energy was high enough. [Archer shakes his head and frowns.] Aside the fact that the spell drained all the victims we know nothing of its purpose. It could feed power into its intended recipient, or use it to fuel another spell.
revolutionfalcon: (bitter)

[personal profile] revolutionfalcon 2018-06-16 02:32 pm (UTC)(link)
I'd guess if it was to fuel another spell, we would have seen it by now. Holding that much power for an extended period can't be easy. [But that makes the more likely option fueling power into a particular recipient, which isn't any more of an appealing thought.]

I don't like the idea that they finished it before we finished destroying it, but if all the sigils did break, then that sounds like the most likely answer.
boneofsword: (not impressed)

[personal profile] boneofsword 2018-06-18 02:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[Archer shrugs with distaste as he looks around.]

So far we've left with questions that have no answer. That reminds me. [have a flash drive thrown at your face, Shun.] Surveillance footage from the blighted area, with maps showing the camera locations. It's all linked together.

[Archer is treating the investigation seriously, and he already promised Shun to share any results.]
revolutionfalcon: (decisive)

[personal profile] revolutionfalcon 2018-06-19 12:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[Shun catches the drive out of the air reflexively, then actually checks what it is. Once Archer explains, he turns it in his fingers, then pockets it.]

So that was the cultists as well? Maybe that first one was what they had to use to power this one. [That spell had been draining people as well, and there had been at least a few deaths. Surely that would've given them enough power to move on to something of this scale.] It would explain why we've never seen a spell this powerful before if they're capable of doing it.
boneofsword: (awaiting judgement)

[personal profile] boneofsword 2018-06-19 03:48 pm (UTC)(link)
That's possible. Until this time people merely got lost in the forest for a bit, right? We just accepted it as a part of Far Shore.

[It was way too easy to let them get used to the forest while their enemy was gathering enough power for the second part of spell.]

They're surprisingly well informed.
revolutionfalcon: (about time)

[personal profile] revolutionfalcon 2018-06-21 08:27 am (UTC)(link)
Right. It was always prone to getting people lost, but it was never anything like this bad. [Whoever had done the spell would have to know enough about the forest to know that it functioned like that, too, but then, he's suspected traitors for a while.]

There's definitely people on the inside, that much has been clear for a while. Things like the attacks on gatherings without leaving a trace or on Amaterasu's temple wouldn't be possible without it.
boneofsword: (matter of no importance)

[personal profile] boneofsword 2018-06-21 05:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Timing of the blight makes it very obvious; we're very lucky that someone alerted the gods. Blight faded when no one alive was left in the area, not sure if you noticed it. [Archer hasn't been there as long as Shun is, but he takes a good notice of everything happening. The possibility of a traitor or even someone from Heavens taking part in it is obvious.]

((ooc: more details on the surveillance footage))
revolutionfalcon: (placid)

[personal profile] revolutionfalcon 2018-06-23 06:07 am (UTC)(link)
I figured it would've been like that, though considering how many people were evacuating the residents, it was hard to tell exactly. [Especially since there's also the point that the last living person in the area could've died rather than being removed. Though it had seemed the logical assumption, it was hard to be certain.]

You're right about the timing, though. I'm wondering how it happened that someone was actually out there to alert us about it.
boneofsword: (nothing but a mask)

[personal profile] boneofsword 2018-06-23 03:08 pm (UTC)(link)
You'd have to ask Ebisu himself, he seems rather forthcoming for one of the old gods. [even if it's obvious he can't be very knowledgeable about the intricacies of Heavens at large, given he's newly reincarnated. Archer doesn't voice his suspicion that Ebisu can be easily set to spy on the new gods without his own knowledge.]
revolutionfalcon: (calm command)

[personal profile] revolutionfalcon 2018-06-24 04:20 am (UTC)(link)
I might, if I get the chance again. I haven't seen him here yet. [It'd definitely be nice to know exactly why his shinki had been out there, and Ebisu hadn't seemed certain of his status at that meeting either. There might be something more to it that Shun can find out.]
boneofsword: (my bad)

[personal profile] boneofsword 2018-06-25 04:00 pm (UTC)(link)
You can as well seek him to ask a few question regarding Heavenly security during social gatherings, or what he saw around the forest. [Archer would gladly ask such questions himself, but he's not sure if he'd be allowed to. Old gods stuck to the traditions with annoying tendency to ignore common sense.]
revolutionfalcon: (explanation)

[personal profile] revolutionfalcon 2018-06-26 11:14 am (UTC)(link)
There's a few other things I've wanted to ask him first, so I've been working my way to that sort of thing. [Ebisu has rather unique circumstances as the only god Shun knows of to have been executed and reincarnated, so Shun's been primarily focusing on that so far.]
boneofsword: (grim is the past)

thread wrap a lightyear late

[personal profile] boneofsword 2018-07-03 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Do share if you hear anything useful. [Archer is obviously going to share any information he'll come across.] I'm still following some leads. By the way, it seems that the cult has been around the year or so.
revolutionfalcon: (decisive)

[personal profile] revolutionfalcon 2018-07-04 07:23 am (UTC)(link)
[Around a year, huh. Shun's eyes narrow slightly.] I'll keep that in mind.

[Maybe it has something to do with what went on before they arrived here...]