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

[unlucky7]

[Ginia tracks the ayakashi and Shun's position, already lining up another shot. She waits for the ayakashi to swoop into range before throwing out two borderline attacks, striking across an arm and a wing. The webbing of the wing tearing, the ayakashi's altitude drops slightly, wings flapping a bit harder.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun takes the opportunity to meet the ayakashi in the middle, leaping out from the tree once he makes it up another branch and landing on one knee on its back. He knows he doesn't have long before blight starts leeching through his clothes, so he swings the hammer decisively, bringing it down right between the gargoyle's shoulders.

It emits an unpleasant screech as it disintegrates, and Shun leaps off it, catching himself on a nearby tree branch with one hand.]

Seems to be a lot of flying ones out here.

[unlucky7]

[Ginia's eyes glance around for any ayakashi attracted by their presence or the gargoylke's dying screech, but everything around them is clear. Who knows how long that will last.]

Noticed that too. Got swarmed by a few earlier, Kairi helped me out.

[Which actually reminds her of another point.]

Do you know or have you heard anything about shinki being able to rend ayakashi without their gods?

[revolutionfalcon]

[He's never actually met Kairi in person bar the time people were getting age-shifted, so Shun initially doesn't think much of the mention. Until Ginia mentions that second thing, and his eyes immediately narrow with an almost wary intensifying of focus.]

That shouldn't be possible. I've never seen or heard of anything like that before, and hell knows anyone with sense wouldn't keep it to themselves with how things are here.

[There are plenty of shinki who desire the ability to be more useful without their gods - the ability to rend without one could immensely change things for a lot of people. Unfortunately, that makes his two immediate assumptions that there's either something very wrong, exaggerated or a lie here, or the person in question is incredibly selfish.]

[unlucky7]

I wouldn't have believed it myself if I didn't see it happen in front of me.

[Ginia's still not sure she believes it either and the only way to find out is to try it herself, but this isn't a matter to take lightly either. Soulless shinki aren't just tools to be abandoned and discarded at will. But she doesn't doubt Kairi, knows there's no reason she'd lie about it. If it was meant to be a hidden secret, why rend several ayakashi in front of her?]

I told Kairi I'd be careful with who I share information with. If you want to know more, you should talk to her directly.

[revolutionfalcon]

I will. [His response is immediate, and somewhat grave. Shun has barely spoken to Kairi, and while she had struck him as naive in that network conversation they'd had, naive doesn't mean one can't also be thoughtless or self-centered. He doesn't know her to have the confidence in her that Ginia seems to have, and he's one who tends to immediately assume the worst when presented with it as a possibility.]

But there's no use focusing on it right now if I'll need to do that. [It's not as if he can hunt her down right now to ask, not when there's so much else to do.]

[unlucky7]

[Ginia nods, grimacing slightly. It feels like a waste of time not being able to give further details, but she promised for Kairi's sake. Some information is better first hand anyway.

But even if there's no use focusing on the subject, there's a question Ginia can't help but ask.]

If shinki can rend with soulless shinki, does that change your opinion about them any?

[revolutionfalcon]

I can hardly answer that until I know the full circumstances. [Shun response is immediate, as if he didn't even need to think about it. It's certainly something of use, but...really, considering what his existing opinion of soulless shinki is, he can't help but feel it would just be reinforced.]

But considering my problem is that they feel too much like they're made to be used and nothing else, this wouldn't help that.

[unlucky7]

It raises questions about how soulless shinki are made and whether Heaven knows.

[Surely Heaven doesn't know. Shinki naming and rending with shinki would upend the order of things. Or they do know and it's an open secret that so few know about they hardly see it as a problem? Who would believe the the new incarnations of the gods and their shinki?

Or perhaps they truly don't know and soulless shinki are created in an entirely different way from the rest of them.

She glances at Kotori and the crack running through her vessel form.]

How'd Kotori's injury happen?

[revolutionfalcon]

I doubt they do. How many of the older shinki would even think to try using a soulless shinki themselves?

[Shun's only really met Yukine, Kazuma and a few of the ones around Amaterasu and her advisors, but none of them had struck him as the type to do something so out of line by the old gods' standards. And considering that the old and new gods and shinki seem to function differently anyway, would it work the same way for them?

Questions for another time. For now, Shun's jaw clenches slightly at the question of Kotori's injury, and he runs a hand along the hammer's shaft.]

Most shinki know that going without a name risks getting consumed by an ayakashi. But not many know that if one starts to be consumed, the blight from it doesn't wash away. It needs to be cut out of them, and apparently that damage is deep-seated enough to mark the vessel if they're named in that state.

[unlucky7]

[Ginia has no intention of going nameless anytime soon, but hell, that's a good thing to be aware of. She glances at Kotori again, but any kind of additional sympathy or condolences is condescending. Kotori can't see in vessel form, she can't talk outside of her vessel form. Same difference, really.]

So was she assigned to you or some other circumstance?

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun's mouth thins slightly.] Nanako and I found her already blighted from an ayakashi coming after her. Nanako has healing powers, so I cut the blight out and she healed as I went. I named her when the ayakashi came after us just as we were finishing. Figured the satisfaction of getting rid of it would be a good start to her second chance at afterlife.

[He'll skip over the subject of Kotori's bitterness towards the old gods and the circumstances that had apparently led to her being where she was, since it seems like a more personal element for her.]