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

[demonqueen]

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. }} 

Comments

[terminally_clever]

I suppose I should see what Krabby is capable of, while we're in such a target-rich environment.

[Fumi gives no fucks. The little crab seems just pleased as anything to blow a torrent of bubbles at the group of soldiers, buffeting them with a Malaqua spell.]

[otakuro]

"Well, if we're going for elemental coverage..."

The streams of water constantly flowing around Enki do not, for once, cascade along the floor to smash into his enemies. Krabby had that covered. Instead, they stop flowing altogether as the temperature around Enki rapidly plummets, freezing them into crystalline structures that still manage to hang immobile in the air.

With a flick of his hand, Enki sends one of the spears of ice towards the nearest foe with frightening speed, closely followed by two others. The creature is viciously impaled three times, twice through the torso, once through the head. ...Helmet-area. The ice melts almost immediately the moment its role is done.

[Subriguous Abzulution is a unique skill - 3x large ice damage with a 20% chance of Sleep]

[demonqueen]

The thunder wave leaves one paralyzed, while the entire group takes some minor damage from Fumi's malaqua. Hoshi's kill rush hits, but seems less effective than it should be. Atsuro's attack, on the other hand, is devastating. The one he targeted falls back to the ground in a heap, a dark hitodama floating up from the body.

The eight soldiers who are still standing attack. One targeting Hoshi, two each on Kotoha and Fumi. The other three aim for Atsuro, having judged him to be the biggest threat. Mighty swings all around. Since that's really the only attack they have. If Tachikoma is still around, they haven't taken any notice of her yet.

[unbroken_chain]

As Kotoha jumps backwards in a hasty dodge, Tesla swoops in and tanks one of the Mighty Swings, a harsh metallic clang sounding out as the halberd clashes against the Magnezone's dome. There's a faint crackle of electricity as Tesla releases another Thunder Wave.

Kotoha, meanwhile, has plucked out another Pokeball, releasing some kind of humanoid jackal which immediately takes up a kung-fu stance.

[terminally_clever]

Hm... well, that seemed to work well enough. I suppose there's nothing wrong with using what works.

[And with that, Krabby lets loose another spray of bubbles at the group, paying no particular mind to the hitodama for the time being.]

[otakuro]

"Er..."

He probably should have let some of the others get a few more hits in. ...Although he was the only guy here. It was his duty to be the meat shield (like always), right?... Gender roles aside, Atsuro watches with slight chagrin as the three undead soldiers approach and bring their weapons to bear.

It is Enki who takes the brunt of the attack, of course, and the spirit is able to successfully block or otherwise mitigate the force of two strikes by parrying with its staff. The third scores a direct strike and causes both Enki and Atsuro to stumble back as one, having lost a hefty chunk of HP incurred a non-trivial amount of damage. They're back on their feet soon enough, though - these guys were nowhere near the toughest things they had ever faced. For a moment, Atsuro considers whether he wants to take a moment to heal before discarding the thought. There were still too many of them; thinning the ranks was more important.

"I think Fumi's got the right idea here."

Enki nods in understanding as the spears of ice instantly melt; the waters cascade onto the floor and surge forward in a Malaques to complement Krabby's Malaqua.

[darkens]

Hoshi quickly jumps back, dodging the mighty swing, and Hotaru skids in front of her to take the brunt of the attack. She takes a short, concerned glance around at the others and, once she's confirmed that everyone is still able to fight, nods to herself, returning her attention to the soldier before her.

"Tch." She frowns, irritated. That kill rush hadn't worked as she intended, but the others' water attacks seemed to be rather effective... Water attacks that she herself did not possess, but she could still provide further elemental coverage. Once Hotaru shakes off the attack, she rears her head back, howling as she unleashes an Eiha at the fallen soldier. Hopefully darkness would be just as effective as water.

[demonqueen]

The thunder waves at least prove effective in paralyzing them, for however long that lasts. The one that escaped that fate, takes another swing at Kotoha.

Fumi is effectively whittling away at their hp with Atsuro's help. A lot of them look pretty damaged now, and shouldn't take much more to bring down. Both Fumi and Atsuro are facing two mighty swings apiece.

Darkness does turn out to be more effective than physical, and between that and the water attacks another goes down. As it falls, a hitodama slowly rises up out of its body. Noticing her success, one of the soldiers that had been attacking Atsuro breaks off and heads for Hoshi.

But if anyone had the time or presence of mind to be extremely observant, they might have noticed something strange. The hitodama that had been hovering above this battle's first casualty has floated back down into the soldier's body. It stands up, ready to fight again....

[unbroken_chain]

As Kotoha takes a quick step backwards, the pokemon she just summoned catches the swinging halberd on the back of one arm, a metallic clang sounding out as the blade impacts the spike jutting out from the back of his hand.

"Arthur! Dark Pulse!"

Arthur pushes the halberd away with a quick shove before crossing his arms in front of him and bringing them down to his sides, unleashing a short-ranged shockwave of pure darkness. As Kotoha recalls Tesla, she catches sight of the first soldier standing up again, long experience with overlooking the field of battle coming in handy.

"Look out, they regenerate!"

[terminally_clever]

"Wonderful."

Fumi grimaces, regarding the recently revived soldier with no small amount of irritation as she winces sharply from the Mighty Swings she's suffered at the hands of the other soldiers. Deciding that it's time to dispense with the Persona for the time being, she flips open her cell phone and begins to channel energy.

"I'll keep us healed. Finish them off."

The power washes over Fumi and the others, healing the wounds they've taken thus far. Finishing up with the rest of the soldiers is going to have to fall to the rest of the group.

[otakuro]

"Thanks, Fumi."

Two more Mighty Slices had sent Enki reeling back; while the Persona was plenty powerful, it was a bit outmatched against so many opponents simultaneously. ...Regenerating opponents especially.

"I think this calls for some more firepower."

Literally.

Enki gives a nod before fading away, replaced a moment later by the appearance of a floating paper lantern. Hoshi was probably familiar with this one.

"Chouchin-obake! ...Incinerate the corpses so they have nowhere to go!"

The overly cheerful lantern ghost obliges with a merry cackle as spectral flames shoot from its ragged mouth like a flamethrower in every which direction. A Maragidyne attack.

[demonqueen]

That is certainly some considerable firepower. It decimates the soldiers, including the one that only just got to it's feet. Once again, shadowy hitodama float up out of each one, hovering over the bodies.

[genkibot]

[Having no elemental attacks, Tachikoma has taken the support role in this group, observing everything, keeping tabs on how everyone is doing, and also enjoying her encounter with ghosts.]

Those balls of flame look like will o' wisps, don't they? This is pretty fun, back where I'm from we don't have anything supernatural like this!

If you're still intent on trying to communicate with these aggressors, you may wish to provide them with a different body to possess this time.

Huh? Why can't we just wait until they possess the warrior body again like that first one?

Those bodies they are using are more for battle. Their vocal chords are quite deteriorated.

[If you look at the ceiling behind you, you see Tachikoma is talking to her Persona, which looks like a giant swirling galaxy of stars. You might wonder how you would miss such a thing, but how often did you look at the ceiling behind you as you progressed, hmm?]

[terminally_clever]

I think the appropriate term here would be hitodama.

[Calling Krabby out again, Fumi points at the group of floating ghostly fireballs.]

This is most likely the method of their regeneration. We need to prevent the souls from returning to their bodies.

[That's a good enough indication of what her Persona needs to do, so there's another torrent of bubbles headed directly toward the group of wayward souls.]

[demonqueen]

That does the trick, with the hitodama fading away after taking the slightest bit of damage. With the soldiers finally gone, the castle falls into silence.

Sharp eyed characters will notice the soldiers have dropped a few things. Some wooden dolls and a small golden charm in the shape of a mantis. [OOC: You guys got super lucky on item drop rolls. So there's one rare drop. It's pretty nifty, so I'll let you guys hash out who gets it.]

But anyone less concerned with that may notice something else. It's gotten awfully quiet. The sobbing has stopped....

[darkens]

The soldiers defeated and gone at last, Hoshi notices the gleam of the golden mantis and crouches down to inspect the loot. She doesn't make any grabs or stuff anything in her pocket, just picks up the charm and one of the dolls, turning them over in her hands.

"They left these behind. Dolls...?" She holds up the items for the others to see, frowning. Strange things for a bunch of ghosts to drop, certainly. "One for each of us, I suppose. And a charm. It looks valuable."

[genkibot]

[Tachikoma raises her hand up with a slight hop.]

Oh! Oh! Can I have a doll?! Pleeeeease!

[otakuro]

"Ooh. Random drops."

He had gotten used to demons leaving nothing behind but Macca and Magnetite, honestly. Atsuro picks up two of the dolls, passing one over to Tachikoma.

"...Not sure they really fit with the decor, though."

He takes a glance around the room now that they weren't in imminent danger of being hacked to pieces. "Where to next? ...The crying's stopped."

[unbroken_chain]

Kotoha raises one hand.

"Can I have the charm?"

[terminally_clever]

I'm not seeing any objections. Feel free.

[Fumi stops for a moment after answering Kotoha, listening for any strange sounds from upstairs and hearing none.]

It sounds like the sobbing has stopped. We should move with caution from this point on - it's very likely our presence has been noticed.

[Dismissing Krabby for the time being, Fumi keeps her cell phone out, as most of her defensive abilities are tied to the demon summoning program.]

Let's go.

[Taking point, she briskly strides up the stairs to the next level of the castle, motioning for the others to follow.]

[darkens]

Hoshi eyes the charm for a moment, shrugs, and tosses it to Kotoha. It's not really her style, anyway — too shiny. The doll in her hand, however, gets quietly slipped into her pocket.

"Upward and onward, then," she replies, quickly following Fumi up the stairs.

[demonqueen]

The next floor is mostly empty, except for a few skulls on the floor. Close examination will reveal them to be hollowed out and fashioned into largely ineffective wine glasses.

But you guys are probably looking at something else. Suspended from the ceiling is a large shadowy mass that looks almost like a spider. The figure of a woman can be seen partially submerged in it. Her eyes open.

"Why...? Why do you.... disturb me?"

The shadows suddenly part, releasing her. She falls to the ground unceremoniously, but the shadows form arms, lifting her to her feet. She looks over the group with glazed eyes, giving the impression of looking through rather than at you.

"Are you looking... for my brother?"

[unbroken_chain]

Well that's not creepy at all. No sir. Kotoha stops inspecting the golden charm and shoves it into her bag as she speaks up.

"I don't know about anyone else here, but I don't actually know who your brother is."

A slight pause as she considers something.

"Anyway, if that was you crying, is there anything I can do to make you feel better? Would you like some milk or something?"

[terminally_clever]

[Brother. Well, that solves their earlier conundrum. Were this Nohime, she would have said husband. Were it Hosokawa Gracia, she would have said father. As it is, there's only one woman on Fumi's short list who could be protecting or searching for her brother in Azuchi Castle specifically.]

...Lady Oichi, I presume.

[otakuro]

"......I'm going to go out on a limb here and say the sobbing centuries-old ghost probably isn't craving dairy products."

Perhaps Fumi's suggestions were more on the ball.

"A-Ah... We didn't realize anyone was still in here. Our apologies, Lady Oichi. Is your brother... around?"

If she said 'yes', the plan was to run like the wind because heck if he was facing the ghost of Nobunaga in battle.