destinystrings | On and on the road does go, down into the world below.....

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On and on the road does go, down into the world below.....

Who: Everybody who signed up here.
When: Saturday night, the dark hour
Where: Azuchi castle, the Gemini district
Summary: Exploring a haunted castle. Because that always goes well.
Warnings: Spooky castle, crazy lady, ghosts.... That's really it.

Here, have some mood music.

[There is a new addition to the Gemini district. ~~History nerds~~ Students of Japanese history may even recognize it. This seven story castle was once home to Oda Nobunaga, and was the site of his downfall. Whether you recognize it or not, the castle is still an impressive sight. The gleaming white walls contrast sharply with theblue tiled roof and the decorations of red and gold. It's a beautiful example of Sengoku period architecture.

Most of the time, anyway. Those who catch sight of it in the dark hour will find the castle a dilapidated ruin. Damage from a battle long gone by leaves ugly marks on the once pristine walls and now the structure seems to loom threateningly over the river. The doors have been almost completely destroyed, so there's no obstacle to keep you from entering.

If you come close, a dark presence can be felt within bringing with it a sense of foreboding. But there's something else too. A strange sound echoing from the castle. If you listen closely, it sounds like.... crying? The mournful sobs of a ghost perhaps? This definitely looks like a good spot for ghosts to hang out. Also demons, probably....

Whether you're here because you're curious, adventurous, lost, or for any other reason, it looks like you're not the only one who came to check this place out...]

{{OOC: Okay, here's how this is going to work. This thread starts right before you enter the castle, when you see everyone else. (You all mystically arrived at roughly the same time because reasons.) Progress through the castle as you see fit. I'll threadjack in with developments, demons, and flavor text when necessary. Any ooc questions can either be put into comments or PMed to this journal. }}

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"Huh."

Mictlan off in the distance, check. Creepy moon, check. ...Run-down old wreck of a castle... check...?

"This is new."

Nothing good could come out of old ruins appearing in the Gemini district, he was pretty sure. As a matter of fact, this distinctly fit all of his criteria for OPTIONAL DUNGEON; if the Mictlan was an optional dungeon that wasn't open for exploration yet, perhaps it had seen fit to offer them something of a milder nature while they waited to unlock its mysteries.

...Haunted castles were sure to carry all kinds of loot, anyway.

Still, it wasn't a wise idea to enter any such structure alone, least of all when he knew nothing about it. He pauses for a few moments, wondering if he ought to call up some company to embark on an expedition.

[Don't bother, Atsuro. Company is already here. Fumi strides up slowly, folding her arms as she glances up at the impressively tall ruin.]

Well, this certainly wasn't here yesterday. I wonder who it belongs to.

[Because it stands to reason that someone must have come here with it, or at the very least that it belongs to someone already in the city. She's seen it before with the JP's HQ.]

...Oh! Hey, Fumi.

[Atsuro greets Fumi with a slight expression of surprise. He certainly hadn't expected anyone else to be in the vicinity.]

...Do we know anyone from the Sengoku period? Or maybe someone who really, really likes the Sengoku period?

I know the Chief studied it extensively as part of his private education and also in the context of his duties as the head of the Hotsuin clan, but I'm rather certain this doesn't belong to him.

[Eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully, Hoshi carefully approaches the castle that she is fairly certain was not here yesterday. Curious, for a building to pop up like this overnight - Hinoto-Ri must be an even stranger city than she thought. Whatever the case, it's probably worth checking out; if not to learn something or find some phat loot, then to get a little more experience with her Persona.

And there are already people here! Good. The more, the merrier... or less likely to get their asses kicked by monsters, in this case. She nods to Fumi and Atsuro in greeting.]

Whoever it belongs to, it must be worth looking into.

There's a girl dressed like she just wandered out of dance practice staring up at the castle.

"...Wow, Mr. Deeoh must have really gone all-out to make this set!"

Glancing around, she spots a couple of unfamiliar people and heads over to greet them.

"Hi! I haven't seen you three before, you must be new. You have any idea what we're filming today?"

Edited 2013-05-13 03:23 (UTC)

[Fumi stares in disbelief at the newcomer. It looks like she's trying to think of a way to respond to a statement so incredibly misguided, and for once coming up short. Shaking her head, she chooses to deal with Atsuro and Hoshi instead.]

...Yes. Well. Let's get going, then. This will be good practice.

[She closes her eyes, briefly concentrating to draw out her Soul Persona.]

Vapula.

[The translucent form of a gryphon-winged lion rises up from behind Fumi as she strides confidently toward the entrance to the ruin.]

"Um."

The one woman he recognized from just a few nights ago. She seemed like she could hold her own well enough (though he had no idea when or how they had all agreed to make this an expedition). The other one... Perhaps it would be better to send her off on her way.

"...This isn't a film set. You're probably not where you think you are; this place is most likely crawling with demons."

A short pause.

"Please don't say anything about how I'm 'really into my role', because you'd be kind of completely delusional."

Genre-savviness: the next best thing to actually having survival skills.

"...Hold on, Fumi. We shouldn't go in completely blind. Does anyone have a Support Persona here?"

Edited 2013-05-13 04:48 (UTC)

[Tachikoma has been following around the outer wall of the castle with a look of awe. As she turns the corner and sees a group gathering at the front gate, she runs over to join them.]

Are you here to examine the castle too? It looks just like the Azuchi castle! It's pretty beat up now though and really spooky looking. Do you think it's haunted? I mean actually haunted, not just things from the Dark Hour living here...

Kotoha, meanwhile, is just staring at the weird thing the lady in the Chinese dress summoned.

"Okay, yeah, we've got some really good effects guys at the studio, but they do all that stuff in post-production..."

She pauses for a moment to look around.

"...and this definitely isn't Pokewood Studios or Virbank City, now that I'm paying attention. Um."

And now she's thinking things over.

"...that weird dream with the butterfly guy...wasn't just a dream, was it?"

"Not a film set. This is very much real," Hoshi explains curtly, shaking her head. She feels a bit sorry for Kotoha, arriving in the middle of the 13th Hour, surrounded by demons and haunted castles and strangers. "Much like your dream, yes. Welcome to Hinoto-Ri."

She'll leave the detailed explanations to someone better suited to it. With a frown, she turns to Atsuro, nodding in agreement. "If we're to explore this place together, we ought to be prepared, but I'm sorry to say that I cannot offer support."

"Not to worry," Fumi interjects.

"Vapula is a Support type. I'll be able to link our consciousnesses together over short distances and also scan any demons we happen to run into for their elemental strengths. My secondary Persona is primarily Water and Physical type attacks, although it's fresh from the Velvet Room."

Kotoha just raises one hand in the air and makes an announcement.

"Alright, I'm sticking to you folks like glue until I have a better idea what's going on."

With that, she reaches into her bag and removes a small red-and-white ball. A quick press of a button on the outside causes it to open up unleashing a torrent of light that resolves itself into some kind of weird UFO thing.

"Tesla, you're up. Stay close to me, alright?"

"...Huh."

Maybe she didn't need to stay home. The Magnezone was certainly one of the more bizarre demons he had seen in this place; it was faintly reminiscent of a certain popular monster-catching game back home, to be honest.

"Alright, well... Let's make this an expedition, then. I'm not sure what we're expecting to find inside, but we can split the loot evenly or something."

There had better be some sort of super special hidden Persona or something.

"Enki - Give me a hand here." By now, summoning his Soul Persona was second nature; the Water-based Persona appears beside Atsuro without a hitch. "Enki's focused on Physical, Water, and Ice. My other Persona takes care of Fire and Light. We should be pretty well covered."

Atsuro will follow Fumi into the edifice.

The first floor of the castle is a mess. It looks as though a great battle was fought here. The bones and armor of fallen soldiers litter the ground. Students of history may notice the crest of the Oda clan featured prominently on the scattered banners. There are a few scattered holes in the ceiling, but none big enough to get a view of the floor above.

As if that weren't spooky enough, there is the definite sensation of being watched. And the sound of sobbing is louder now, and seems to be coming from somewhere above you.

Hm, the Oda Clan. This is interesting.

[Fumi's mind is abuzz with just who this place might belong to, and the appearance of that crest in particular certainly narrows things down. Of course, she isn't going to say anything until she's absolutely sure, but there is a rather amused smile creeping across her face.]

Stay alert.

[While her Persona doesn't have Enemy Radar, it's hard to mistake the sensation that something is out there and that it has its eyes on you. Fumi strides along slowly but confidently as she looks around at the remnants of war, studying her surroundings with a careful eye.]

"Hotaru." A sharp howl pierces the air as Hoshi's Soul Persona, a black and purple wolf, is summoned, appearing at her side with relatively little difficulty. And as soon as the summoning is out of the way, she follows the rest of the party inside, her wolf companion padding along beside her.

"That's right; this is the crest of the Oda Clan." She pauses to get a better look at the banners. If this place is what she thinks it might be... Well, it's certainly a lot more interesting than a generic haunted castle. "There has been fighting here, at some point. I wonder..."

She trails off to listen to the... Is that someone crying? Whatever it is, it makes her a little uneasy.

"Ah, and more fighting to come yet, I'm certain." She peers up at the ceiling, frowning thoughtfully. "We're not alone."

"...Nobunaga Oda?"

Atsuro wasn't quite as up to date on ancient Japanese history as he probably ought to be, but everyone knew the name of the great unifier.

"You know, they never mentioned anything about hauntings in history class."

He follows closely behind the others as Enki half inclines its head towards the source of the sound.

I doubt it. Listen.

[Fumi points upward, toward the source of the crying sounds.]

If this place is being haunted, it's clearly the ghost of a woman. And when you think of important women of the Oda clan, it's either Nohime or Lady Oichi.

[Because Fumi will never pass up the opportunity to one-up someone.]

You seem to know your history, Fumi! Though I wonder why either of them would be haunting Azuchi castle. Most records don't indicate either of them dying here, and don't ghosts usually haunt where they die?

If we find them, do you think we can ask? I never talked to a ghost before, so I bet we could learn a lot!

Kotoha is just sort of standing there, one hand resting on Tesla's dome, looking confused.

"...I have no idea what any of you are talking about."

A slight pause before she continues, because she doesn't want to seem totally clueless.

"Also, ghosts aren't typically very forthcoming - it's usually more like 'hey this is how I died, could you do me a solid and fix a thing', for the most part."

"In my experience, ghosts are usually 'hey I died and now I'm bitter at everything so I want you to die too'."

A short pause.

"Not to be a downer or anything. ...But we should definitely be careful. ...Should we try and get up there?"

There is a sudden rattling sound coming from one of the darkened corners of the room. A moving shape can be made out in the shadows.

Now floating toward you, it appears to be a helmet from one of the fallen warriors. Hovering in the air, coming closer, closer....

[A close inspection by someone with an eye for detail may notice that there appears to be something inside the floating ghost helmet.]

[Fumi turns to regard the floating helmet impassively. Her Persona's eyes and her own both flash in time as she scans for its elemental strengths.

Whatever this is, she could no doubt take it out easily with her demons, but she wants to practice with Vapula.]

It's rather weak overall, but strong against Mind attacks. Would one of you care to do the honors?

Kotoha pats Tesla's dome once and then points at the helmet.

"Tesla. Thunderbolt."

Tesla's three magnets spin around as it releases a mechanical buzzing sound before discharging a blast of electricity half a foot thick at the floating helmet.

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