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

[folklorist]

[ Helios snaps his fingers then. Now that, that sounded familiar. ] Ah! That's right! The Highwayman, isn't it?

[ He laughs and shakes his head. ] I can't believe I didn't recognize it sooner.

[redjacketthief]

[Lupin dropped all theatrics and just laughed.]

With all these ghosts around? No one blames anyone for getting mixed up!

[folklorist]

At least they're only trying to have a bit of fun. I-I'll certainly take that over, um, hostile spirits any day. Had to change my sugar back to it's right container a few times already.

[ And then there was the bucket of water over the door... ]

[redjacketthief]

I...

[He paused.]

What do you know about ghosts possessing inanimate objects?

[folklorist]

Ghosts possessing inanimate objects? Hm. Well it's certainly easier than trying to share space with a living vessel. It takes a bit of practice and skill too. But usually they do it to protect themselves from sunlight and-and well, I suppose if they were bound to said object too.

[ An inquisitive look. ] Why do you ask? N-Nothing happened, did it?

[redjacketthief]

[That face.]

Wil-chan thinks she's a puppy.

[folklorist]

[ Helios blinks. ] Wil-chan?

[ He has no idea about the giant squid, Lupin. Might want to fill him in. ]

[redjacketthief]

Wilhelmina. [A pause.] She's a stuffed toy.

[folklorist]

Ah. [ He can't help but laugh...just a little. ]

That's, um, quite interesting. The ghost who possessed her will probably have to leave by the time Halloween is over. I-I don't really think it'll be troublesome to, um, let them...have their fun. Unless, of course, it's harmful. But I doubt we'll have to worry about anything like that. These spirits seem to just want to cause harmless pranks, things like that.

[ And any method he had of pulling them out of an object would be unnecessarily painful. Exorcisms usually always were to the spirit involved. ]

[redjacketthief]

...She's a giant stuffed squid. That's easier said than done...

[He sighed.] But at least she's just affectionate and not outright murderous. Maybe I should just leave this Shift run it's course...

[folklorist]

I don't doubt that. Have you tried reasoning with them? The ghosts here I mean? I haven't really been able to actually talk to them, but perhaps if you tried that...maybe it would take its leave of your squid.

[ Ghosts. Always causing trouble. Helios sighs and laughs as he shakes his head. ] I have to admit, this is all very reminiscent of the castle on Halloween. My ghost students have a way of pranking people, like the ones here.

[redjacketthief]

When it's acting like a puppy? [Please.]

...ghost students?

[folklorist]

Ah w-well puppies can be reasoned with. Treats and all that. [ He is just amusing himself as he chuckles and shakes his head. ]

Oh yes. Most of them are quite bright and willing to learn. But they sometimes get a bit too...enthusiastic on Halloween a-and April fools day.

[ A light sigh as he shakes his head. ] But children will be children, hm?

[redjacketthief]

[He shrugged, defeated.

But Helios' explanation was far more interesting than tips on dealing with spectral puppies and giant squid.]

...I always figured that you were a teacher of sorts. Never imagined that your students were ghosts.

[folklorist]

Oh, well, more than just ghosts. [ A light laugh escapes him as he takes a cookie from the table. ]

All sorts of mythica attend my school. Ghosts are just the tip of the iceberg. There's vampires, werewolves, elves, faeries, and even dragons.

[redjacketthief]

[Lupin sighed. He didn't know why he was even surprised anymore.]

Wow, and I thought that Nessie was something strange...

With those kinds of people in your world? No wonder you're a wizard!

[folklorist]

Well I do have my mother and father to thank for that. They allowed me to study it and taught me magic after all. I-I could have went on living without learning it.

But, ah, my world is a rather typical, interesting, place amongst every other world here. Lots of people have magic in their worlds. It's actually quite amazing, knowing that we truly aren't alone in the grand scheme of things.

[redjacketthief]

Yeah...it does feel like worlds that don't have advanced tech, magic, or monsters are the minority around here...

[folklorist]

It's very...strange I have to admit. I would imagine worlds that didn't have those things to be the majority but, well, I suppose there's just more diversity than previously thought.

[redjacketthief]

Probably. Makes people like Fujiko and I feel a little left out though. Bullets aren't one hundred percent once magic comes into play.

[folklorist]

You could always make magic bullets. [ A small frown. Helios wasn't one for violence but even he had to admit that here? That could be useful towards someone like Lupin or Fujiko. ]

That's what the Council's, ah, enforcers use. I-I never really thought it was needed but...sometimes they go up against highly dangerous magical criminals.

[redjacketthief]

[that caught his attention.]

magic...bullets?

[folklorist]

Yes, that's right. You infuse the bullet with some sort of elemental power. Fire, air, ice, electricity. The user simply has to fire it and, ah, evoke the power of the element imbued in said bullet.

[redjacketthief]

[Lupin grinned in ironic amusement at this explanation.]

You see. The evocation will be a problem here.

[folklorist]

Mm yes. I'm still trying to get around that. Somehow transferring power from one person to other. Maybe having a storage supply could help. Like a, ah, battery or something like that. Only it's not your energy that's stored but someone else's.