30 - Deep Clean

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: The Heavens have issued everyone invitations to a relaxing hot spring vacation.
When: Dec 14 - 16
Where: A traditional onsen hotel on the Far Shore
Summary: The invitations might have looked like an opportunity for a pampered getaway, but this onsen seems a little run down. And shouldn't there be a bigger staff? Is this an excuse to get the new gods and shinki to clean up an old building, or is it an opportunity for a rustic getaway? It's all in how you look at it....






Rustic Baths

Heaven's messenger doves drop invitations off by the doorways of temples throughout the Far Shore in the second week of December. Ornamented with a calligraphed swirl of steam, they invite the residents of each temple to relax at a recently re-opened hot spring in the safety and comfort of the Far Shore's southern fields.

Upon arrival, visitors will discover that the hot spring itself is heavenly. Cloudy waters in every shade from nearly white to turquoise fill pools that are cut cleanly into stone. The hottest baths are filled from pipes ten feet up, with steaming waters cascading down, cooled enough by the fall not to burn. Outdoors, fences cleverly masked with bushes and vines provide privacy for bathers. The indoor baths are set into the floor in solid wooden buildings, for those who would prefer not to brave the elements for their relaxing soak. Other wooden buildings are airier, with traditional sliding paper doors and tatami rooms within for visitors to sleep.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look all that ready to "re-open." The buildings are worn down by time and neglect; sliding doors are off their tracks, paper screens are torn, tatami is worn out, and the landscaping is badly overgrown. This looks more like a haunted house than a luxurious getaway. At least the baths are nice.

Cooking & Cleaning

There's a noticeable lack of staff around the hot spring; the only caretakers for the place appear to be two elderly shinki in plain indigo robes, one man and one woman. The man can be spotted here and there around the place over the few days that their guests are present, industriously scrubbing floors, patching screens, repairing tatami and cutting back bushes. It's far more work than just one person can do, and he'll be eager to explain the tasks and accept any help that's offered.

The other shinki is a slight, stooped old woman who bustles about with fresh towels and robes, lays out futons and pillows for the guests, and cooks three meals a day. She, too, is terribly overworked, and help with the laundry or the cooking will be gratefully accepted! Surely, if everyone works together, they'll be able to make this a wonderful.... vacation?

Spooky Sleepover

For those who take the two shinki up on their offer of hospitality, they will find that the rooms are comfortable, the futon are soft and warm, the stars are beautiful far from the lights of more densely populated areas of the Heavens... and as soon as the lanterns are all snuffed for bedtime, the remote resort starts to feel a little creepy. Strange creaking noises resound overhead. Is that the wind, or someone walking on the roof? What about the shadows cast through the paper screens by the moonlight? Is the flicker of light outside someone taking a flashlight as they go for a late-night walk, or a will-o'-the-wisp beckoning the unwary to their doom? And what about those distant animal howls in the forest?!

Investigate the mysterious noises, or pull the covers up and try to get some sleep. Extra-brave guests could even take the opportunity to light some candles and tell ghost stories.

The Bath's Master Returns

On the 16th, the two shinki will wake all of their guests up promptly at dawn by ringing a big brass bell in front of the dining building. Bursting with pride, they introduce the bath's proprietor, home at last from a long flight: he's a man in his thirties, tall, heavy-set and wearing a trailing feathery cloak, with a red face and a very large nose. (Or is that really a cloak? It could be wings....) He fans himself vigorously with a white feather fan, and welcomes the remaining guests in a booming voice, before inviting them to enjoy a lavish breakfast spread and come back soon!

Guests who have stayed until the final day will find a gift at their place setting when they go inside, especially if they helped the proprietor's poor overworked shinki with their tasks. Comment below on the "Gift" thread to learn what your character found in their package.

In Summary:

• Vacation at a run-down hot spring
• Help the staff get things in order
• Try not to get scared by the spooky surroundings
• Get a present from the bath's proprietor
• Have fun~

Comments

[mithrarin]

Not why you became that way. Why you do it. But my guess is that the answer is that you do what makes you feel good.

[purr_ince]

[There's a look that crosses his face before he snorts.] Not everything I do I do because it makes me feel good. I do things I don't like because it's what's best. Sometimes those things hurt and sometimes they make me sad even angry... If I did things only because I wanted myself to be happy and feel good I wouldn't be Chat Noir. Or rather I wouldn't be the kind of Chat Noir Paris needed or Ladybug deserved. If I did things purely for myself I wouldn't be the person that is sitting right here. [He sighs.] And I know you're about to say but you're not in Paris anymore and you don't have to be that person but I have responsibilities and made promises. The minute I became Chat and took put the ring and Plagg it stopped being about what always felt good and became more about what was best and right. I have never had the luxury of just constantly doing things to make myself feel good or better or whatever.

[mithrarin]

[Dust laughs, softly.] No, you don't know what I'm about to say. Because my question is... if you didn't do what was best and right, would you feel good? If you didn't do the things that hurt, that make you sad and angry... would you be okay with that?

[purr_ince]

Depends. Would people be hurt if I didn't do those things? If I had the option to do what I want and what made me happy all the time without other people being hurt in anyway I... likely still wouldn't take it. [He laughed softly, bitterly.] I do what I do for other people and because I couldn't deal with being happy if the people around me are hurting. Even a little bit.

[mithrarin]

...You're missing my point. Or coming at it from the wrong way. You wouldn't be happy if you didn't do what you knew you needed to. You'd live with that regret.

[purr_ince]

But doing it doesn't mean I'm happy either. It just means I'm not a heartless monster and I care about others - maybe more than myself..

[mithrarin]

...If you're not happy because you're doing what you believe is right, I think you need to have a long conversation with yourself.

[purr_ince]

The right thing doesn't always make you happy. Like say... say Marinette didn't love me back or something. The right thing to do is to accept that and leave it alone and move on. That doesn't make me happy but it makes her happy and that's more important. The right thing isn't always warm fuzzies, Dust. Sometimes the right thing hurts like hell.

[mithrarin]

...If it didn't make you happy, you wouldn't do it. If not doing it wouldn't make you unhappy, you wouldn't do it. That's as simple as it is. No matter how much it hurts, you'll wake up tomorrow knowing you did that right thing.

That doesn't make you happy? Bittersweet, maybe. Exhausted. Wishing the right thing was easier, or it came at less of a cost. All that's understandable. But at the center of it all, you know you did the right thing, and that makes you happy.

[purr_ince]

Knowing I did the right thing isn't always enough - knowing I did the right thing and people are happier for it is enough. But that doesn't mean it makes me happy. It just means I sleep better at night or whatever. In an ideal world, sure that would totally be enough but it's not. And some people only do things to gain for themselves or do the right thing to get some personal gain out of it. Which is what I mean by some people being self serving.

[mithrarin]

That's the kind of happiness I'm talking about, though. The kind that lets you sleep at night.

There's no other kind that's more important.

Though... some people could really use some work on what gives them that peace to sleep at night.

[purr_ince]

Most people aren't in the position that they have to worry about that kind of thing. The average person doesn't have to make those kinds of choices.

Saving themselves versus saving others.

Their own wants versus others needs.

And even if they do it's rarely on a life altering scale.

[mithrarin]

We're not most people. None of us in the Far Shore are most people. Maybe one thing we all have in common is that we have to worry about those things, now. Every time an ayakashi shows up, we have to balance our duty to battle them with the knowledge that they blight us. Our choices have so much power...

So it doesn't matter what 'most people' do. We're the ones living our lives. Or our deaths.

[purr_ince]

Fair enough. I dedicated my life to protecting people I guess I decided to do the same when I died, Makes sense. Maybe that explains everything. Why people are here as Shinki, why people are gods