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

[smilingbullet]

Weird, huh? It's not that unusual. In Germany it's - was initially? - called sternhalma, that's star halma, since it looks like a star and is based on a game called halma. And it's a German game.

[ He may be fluent in German but he doesn't know the exact history behind Sternhalma. ]

You're supposed to get your marbles straight across the board from your opponents home to yours. Each player use fifteen marbles when it's only two players, otherwise they use ten. What color do you want?

[sing_for_me]

[ Alex listens earnestly, trying to remember the names he was giving her. ]

...Oh, you know...I might have seen some people playing it.. [ In passing, at least. Many of the elderly liked to play board games on the side of the street. The memory is fuzzy, but she thinks she might have seen this being played. ]

Um..blue please-- So do we just move it one after the other each turn in a straight line?

[ That almost sounded too easy. ]

[smilingbullet]

Blue, okay, here y'go. [ He finds the box for the blue marbles and turns the board so the blue triangle is faces him and the color he takes out, yellow, faces her. ]

There is a chance for it, it's not entirely unplayed here. [ Not that he knows how popular it is in Japan. ]

Not entirely, but I guess? You're supposed to jump across other marbles with the marble or just move them one step if they can't jump. You don't need to jump the farthest that is possible though.

[sing_for_me]

So..it's not like chess where they can take out other pieces, right?

[ She'll take her box of marbles, watching him to see how he sets it up so she can copy it. Alex couldn't even remember the last time she played a board game, admittedly, it was a little exciting. ]

Is there a way to decide who goes first or..?

[smilingbullet]

Yeah it's different that way. All marbles are in play until the end of the game.

[ He just lines up all the marbles in the blue triangle, it's that simple, no special places for special marbles. ]

Oh, we flip a coin.

[sing_for_me]

Actually..why don't you go first. Just so I can get an idea.

[ She smiles as she waits for him to make his move. It's strange...People had been kidnapped, and there was the whole investigation with that forest, yet here they were playing games. ]

D2..is this weird? That we're doing this? And now of all times...?

[smilingbullet]

Sure, I can do that.

[ D2 considers for a moment, then jumps one marble from the second row over the first row and puts it down. ]

That we're all trying to have some fun and relax despite what's going on? It's not weird.

[sing_for_me]

[ Alex watches him, then decides to move one from her first row to the next hole. ]

Is isn't..? I mean..shouldn't we still be trying to figure out stuff? Something could just happen again.

[smilingbullet]

[ D2's gaze flickers up to her face for a brief moment. ]

We should, but,

[ He moves the same marble that he had previously moved, one step ahead. ]

we can't be doing that all the time. Never taking a break to rest and do stuff that doesn't directly relate to the war that we have been dragged into, will only wear on us and tear us down. If we don't take these breaks, it'll be bad for our health, both physically and psychologically.

[ He's an ex-soldier, has been for nearly half his life. He knew what could happen if people never put their mind off of the war they were right in the middle of. ]

You can't push yourself until you break, you know. Nobody should.

[sing_for_me]

[ War. That's what this was, wasn't it? Something similar had just started in Ergastulum before Alex was brought to the Heavens. With the state she was in for the past decade, she was pretty much ignorant to what was happening around her. That, or she simply didn't remember. Either way, she was only becoming more aware of all these struggles.

And now that she had the freedom to do something, it felt wrong to sit back. ]

But..what if you still can? What if you still have the energy, but you don't know what to do?

[smilingbullet]

[ It's not something all people would notice. Many of those dragged here has experienced disaster of some sort, and a lot of pain, but that doesn't instantly mean that they know to recognize a war, and this isn't the most obvious one. ]

Don't rush into just anything just because you have the energy and want to do something. Try to figure out what it is that you can do, and you don't need to rush too much, here. In the end, this is their war, not ours. We have simply been forced into it and don't actually have any obligation toward them, and while they may be a bit more accepting of us now, they're still not exactly capable.

[sing_for_me]

...I hadn't..thought of it that way...

[ It was hard not to think of it was somewhat personal since a lot of people she cared about were affected. ]

Then again, it does seem like all of this was forced onto us. [ Being gods or shanks, they didn't really get a say, do they? ]

Then..why do you help out?

[smilingbullet]

Mm, it does. [ They don't even have a right to choose according to the old gods, from what he's gathered. ]

To be of some use, I guess? I'm good at fighting, so I can at least do a little difference. Though I'm not doing anything only because it would benefit the Heavens and the old gods.