A Night of One-Hundred Tales!

[faithfulflame]

Who: Rei Hino, Tsuzuki Asato, and ANYONE who wants to join in!
What: A Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai, or telling ghost stories!
When: October 29th in the evening
Where: Tsukino Shrine
Summary: Rei and Tsuzuki decide to invite people to share ghost stories to celebrate Halloween. There will be food and drinks, and the ghostly interlopers are kept at bay by the shrine's wards to give people a break from hauntings. Turn up and share stories, or listen to them.
Rating: PG-13 at the worst, depending on the story!

It had taken quite a bit of work, but as night fell everything seemed as perfect as they could manage it. The andon were lit, the chairs were arranged in the courtyard, and the wind-screens were in place to keep everyone warm. Rei had thrown open the shrine doors and set out braziers to warm participants, stoking them with embers from the temple's main flames. Food had been laid out, snacks, coolers of cold drinks, and even thermoses of hot water for warm ones. They even had a mirror sitting on the steps of the shrine, reflecting light into the courtyard. Not the most traditional way of doing things, but it's what they had to work with.

The shrine wasn't large enough to house a crowd of more than ten or twelve people inside, but if the crowd was small enough they could move indoors. Everything was set up for a night of storytelling, casual fun, and a little bit of relief from the ghostly visitors that were assailing the villagers.

Guests start arriving around twilight, and Rei can't help but smile as they get underway. This was hopefully going to be a good time for everyone involved.

(OOC: Feel free to assume Tsuzuki or Rei made an announcement about the party. For those not familiar, the goal of a Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai is to share stories with other people. Each time a story is finished, one andon (small lantern) is extinguished and the room steadily gets darker. Feel free to have your character post a story of their own in a comment, and discuss to discuss what's been narrated. Linn and I would love to have characters share ghost stories from all sorts of worlds, scary or silly. I hope you guys enjoy this!)

Comments

[neverplaysfair]

[ Joshua loves stories about ghosts. They're nice and nostalgic. And although he didn't get very much sleep last night, this sounds like a fun thing to do in case the ghosts decide they want to party for another night.

He happens to be wearing a pure white yukata folded in the style of the deceased, because hey, why not? His wings are hidden underneath it, so there isn't a rainbow breaking up the illusion.

Also about the back third of his head is sporting a nice tangle of cobwebs because of a collision (well, several actually) on the way here that he didn't manage to entirely brush out. Whoops. ]

[faithfulflame]

[Rei bows in greeting as Joshua approaches, smiling and waving him on into the shrine.]

Good evening. Have you come to join us?

[neverplaysfair]

Indeed. It sounded fun. [ He giggles. ] I've always been a fan of ghost stories, after all.

[faithfulflame]

Well, then I hope you enjoy them.

Oh, I don't think we've met. My name is Rei Hino.

[neverplaysfair]

I'm Joshua. You're the one who organized this?

[faithfulflame]

It's nice to meet you, Joshua-san.

[Rei nods]

I am. Tsuzuki-san helped me make the arrangements.

[neverplaysfair]

This is the fourth Halloween I've had here, and yet the first time I've known a Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai to be run. Thinking about it, it's a bit of a surprise it hasn't been done before.

[faithfulflame]

I think so as well. It's a little surprising, honestly. There are so many Japanese people here, after all.

[neverplaysfair]

October never seems to end on a good note, I suppose, and this year isn't much of an exception. And in my world at least, the game itself has been losing popularity over the years.

[faithfulflame]

It has in my world as well. Tsuzuki-san and I just thought it would be nice to do something Japanese instead of Western for a change.

A lot of our holidays go unnoticed here.

[neverplaysfair]

... Maybe our captors come from Western countries in worlds similar to ours?

[faithfulflame]

That's certainly a possibility. Malnosso certainly isn't a Japanese word, and from what the guide says...they all have Western names, so that's a fair guess I would say.

[neverplaysfair]

On one hand it seems a bit too convenient, but I suppose it would make sense that more people from similar types of worlds would be drawn here.

[faithfulflame]

Well, we know they aren't from this world, so there is that, at least.

[neverplaysfair]

Exactly. For all we know, they might have come from the exact same world some of us do. [ He giggles. ] Wouldn't that be a twist?

[idealism]

[Joshua's outfit startles him enough that, for a moment, he only stares. It looks like the young man just came from a funeral and it's very jarring.]

....Hey. Did something happen to your wings?

[neverplaysfair]

... No. [ Joshua glances over his shoulder for a moment. ] I thought it looked better if I kept them covered.

[idealism]

It works, yeah. Nice costume.

[It's actually a very clever costume. He glances down to make sure Joshua has feet. Just in case, so he knows he's not a ghost.]

I'm so used to seeing people with wings, that when I saw you I thought the normal you looked wrong.

[neverplaysfair]

I didn't mean it as a costume, but thank you, hee hee.

[idealism]

But you're not dead, are you?

[neverplaysfair]

That is the question, isn't it?

[ Technically, the answer could go either way. ]

[idealism]

Sometimes I get the feeling you're just playing with me, Joshua.

[It's not said unkindly. Tsuzuki steps to the side, so that Joshua could enter if he feels like it.]

[neverplaysfair]

Only sometimes?

[ He starts to move inside, but not away from Tsuzuki. ]

[idealism]

Sometimes I believe it and sometimes I know it.

[He ushers him in, following cheerfully.]

[neverplaysfair]

[ Joshua giggles. ]

Fair enough.

So what inspired this? Simply Halloween?