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

[pure_radiantics]

[ She was thinking of the ribbon-stick again, but... in this situation, if Zelda wants to give orders and has a plan in mind, then Kairi doesn't want to overrule her just yet. She's released from the monster's grip so surely she's not in any more immediate danger save the blight on her body, right?

So Kairi comes in again to slam the creature on the head with her keyblade, then back up. Then she gets an idea. She hurls the keyblade at the creature's neck with force, then zooms away immediately with Nimbus. The creature rears up in frustration (?) ... Kairi thinks that's what it is, with her keyblade stuck in it's neck. ]

There!

[ And she summons her keyblade back to her, catching it at the handle just as she would normally when summoning it out of thin air. It disappears from the creatures neck and reappears in her hand, without any lingering blight either. Kairi wants to marvel in that knowledge, but waits to see what's happening with the fight. ]

[sageprincess]

[To be entirely fair to Kairi, Zelda would absolutely be telling her to rend the thing and end this if she knew she could, but she doesn't. She was a bit preoccupied when Kairi called for her shinki friend's vessel, and nothing else has ever given her the indication that such a thing is even possible.

But she still feels a slight swell of pride as Kairi nails the ayakashi with her blade not once, but twice, and re-arms herself with hardly even a blink. There's no time to dwell on that feeling, however; as the creature turns to face Kairi for its reprisal, Zelda rushes forward.]

In the name of Metis, rend--

[Except... the owl flaps its mighty wings as the princess approaches, and the leaping kick she makes to destroy it doesn't connect at all as it lifts into the air. Zelda lands on the forest floor, the slick ground coupled with her poor footwear sending her sprawling onto the ground in a less than graceful heap. Even then, her chief concern remains the other combatant.]

K-... Kairi! Watch out!

[The owl screeches as it opens its blighted beak to swallow the shinki girl in one fell swoop--]

[pure_radiantics]

[ She hears Zelda's warning just in time. 'I only have one option--' ]

Onki! Rend!

[ By now it's become words she can say confidently, hoping desperately that the wounded creature will completely disappear now as she throws out the whipping motion of the ribbon the stick, slapping the creature between its eyes and then...

Falling through like a knife through warm butter, the creature melting away around her soulless shinki friend's vessel form before it eventually dissipates as ayakashi do.

Kairi breathes a sigh of relief and holds the stick out in front of her. ]

Revert, Joy. Thank you for your help.

[ The young woman appears beside Kairi as the ribbon-stick disappears. ]

[sageprincess]

[Zelda... stares, wide-eyed, as Kairi does not flee the ayakashi's assault but instead faces it head on. But disaster does not befall the shinki girl as Zelda expects it to-- she calls out rend and it works, despite everything that says it shouldn't. Zelda supposes it was only ever on the words of the old gods that destroying an ayakashi required a god and shinki both. With her own magic being relatively ineffective, she never had any reason to think that they were perhaps mistaken.

Still, it's a bit of a shock, so hopefully Kairi will forgive her for being a little dazed.]

You... can use a shinki?

[pure_radiantics]

Ah, well, it's....

[ She rubs her neck anxiously while the young woman isn't phased by Zelda's words. ]

Not any shinki. Joy here is a soulless shinki, you might have heard about them...?

[ Then she gestures back to Joy. ]

I asked her for help once, and so far it's kept working, so I ask when I'm not with Hajime. Today I wanted to see how far we could go together, and so far it's been okay...

[ So, yeah, she knows this is weird. She tried a few things out herself and now is going semi-public with her knowledge. ]

[sageprincess]

I... I see. Yes, Tamako is one among those known as "soulless."

[She taps her foot a bit to indicate the shinki's vessel, glancing between Kairi and Joy while still unable to mask her surprise at this revelation. If shinki can rend on their own, what does this world truly need gods for? It's a question that could shake the very foundation of the Heavens' authority if such knowledge got out, so of course she has to ask--]

I take it that this is not exactly public knowledge, then? The Heavens certainly have not made any indication that they know this is possible.

[pure_radiantics]

[ Kairi shakes her head 'No'. She hadn't made a big public announcement, not yet, because... ]

I've been trying to see if this was just a temporary thing, or if it had any consequences I should warn other shinki about, or if it hurt Joy - who knows what. I didn't want to just tell people to experiment on their own. New shinki have so much they have to deal with already...

[ She's very sympathetic to the plight of both the Soulless Shinki and her fellow shinki. ]

I didn't want some frustrated shinki taking out their feelings on Soulless Shinki, who already don't have any say in what happens to them most of the time. I asked Joy for her help and she answered me. And I've asked every time too.

[ She's heard people say that Soulless Shinki have no wills of their own, and that may be true, but she's trying to do what she can. ]

I just... can't risk doing something that would get Hajime in trouble.