January Spirit Realm Event Log

[kaisoumods]

January Spirit Realm Event Log
Dominant Element: Water
Waning Element: Fire

Full Moon: January 12th - January 14th

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The cold weather from the earlier half of the month persists. In fact, in the middle of the month it seems to get even worse, with temperatures dipping down far below normal. While it's still liveable inside the barrier, anyone outside the barrier is going to have to deal with life threatening levels of cold weather if they don't have any magical protection. People are claiming that it's a Polar Vortex at work, but... usually polar vortexes aren't localized to a single city, right?

Of the Northern Lands

On the freezing morning of January 15th, Zodiac will send out a message to everyone on the Libra app.

ALERT: SPIRIT GATE LOCATED ON CATHERDRAL HILL
Dominant Element: Water
Danger Level: High
Designation: Kamui
Zodiac has detected a Spirit Gate in Blue Fish Park. Initial investigations indicate that this gate leads to the icy realm of Kamui. Further investigations indicate a potential climatological catastrophe and may be the cause of the current cold weather. Please come to the Zodiac offices for more information.

To combat the cold outside, the Zodiac offices have cranked the heat up to max, making for a very uncomfortably warm trip back to Professor Barbie's office. Once there, she tells you about the spirit gate and the realm of Kamui. Kamui is actually a small part of a much larger realm called Nippon, a realm thought to be connected to some of the major Shinto gods. Kamui itself is largely isolated from the rest of the realm, due to it's remote location and harsh climate. A harsh climate that has only gotten worse, thanks to a problem requires immediate investigation and attention. Should this continue, there's a very real chance the residents of Kamui will freeze... and Kaisou along with it, thanks to the realm affecting the weather. She also reminds everyone to bundle up, because it's cold outside and even colder in Kamui.

So grab your parkas and your snow boots, and make the trek out to Cathedral Hill. Near the Shinto shrine that also sits on the hill, there is a torii gate that you don't remember being there before. And if that isn't suspicious enough, the gate seems to be glowing. No doubt about it, this must be your way into Kamui.

Masked Villagers

As you step into Kamui, you will find an ancient japanese-style landscape that is deep in the depths of winter. Snow drifts are waist deep, with a blizzard causing more snow to fall relentlessly. The wind is bitterly cold, easily rivaling the cold that you'd find on the peak of Dragonspine mountain. You best hope that you had prepared your warm clothing, otherwise you'll be at serious risk of hypothermia in this place.

Unfortunately, the bad weather is not enough to stop demons from being out. As you try to travel, you may get attacked by groups of oni that look like they lifted straight from Japanese folklore. They aren't particularly difficult to fight on their own, but doing so in the snow and cold definitely makes it tricky enough. Eventually, after being out in the cold for awhile and dealing with a regular stream of demons, you'll come up on a hut and it feels like a really good idea to take a break and warm up. And even better, there's a fire already going inside the hut! Score!

But just as you start to relax and warm up, a man in a blue wolf mask will enter the hut. As it turns out, this is his hut- and you just trespassed. Angry about this, the man will then challenge you to a duel outside. Either you or someone in your group will have to face off against him. He's a rather skilled swordsmen, wielding a rather nice looking blade. And not only that, but sometimes he'll shift into a blue and red wolf during the fight- making you have to change your strategy.

Should you lose the duel, you'll be kicked out of his home and forced to wander the snowy landscape without any helpful exposition. But if you win the duel, he'll yield and let you stay in his place as you warm up. He'll introduce himself as Oki, a warrior from Kamui Village. He'll also explain the situation: Kamui naturally has a harsh climate, but it's kept warm by a yearly eruption from their twin volcanoes that gets triggered by a incantation ritual. However, this year a pair of once-sealed demons named Lechku and Nechku managed to get unsealed and now were doing just about everything to disrupt the ritual and cause Kamui to freeze. Oki meanwhile, was out here training with the village's sacred sword (that he stole), as he's convinced he'll be the one to slay the demon twins. Which as noble as his intent is? You are getting the sense his method isn't going to get him to his goal fast enough to stop everyone from freezing to death. However, if you try to offer any help to him, he'll stubbornly refuse. You can try to argue, but with how stubborn he is, he seems unwilling to budge.

Eventually, once you've been warmed up enough, you'll be requested to leave so he can get back to his training. Once you're back outside, whether or not you got the exposition, you'll feel a little at a loss of what to do. After wandering a bit more, you'll come across that white wolf that was stealing fish at the fishing competition earlier this month. She'll bark to get your attention, wagging her tail at you. If you don't believe in gods, she'll appear as a normal white wolf. Otherwise, you'll be able to see her red marking in full. As you try to get closer to her, she'll run away - glancing back after a certain distance as if she wants you to follow her. She's fast, and those who can see her red markings will also notice that plants bloom in her footsteps as she runs, despite the frozen weather.

So. Probably not a normal doggo. Got it. Best to follow her.

Wawku Shrine

The wolf will lead you up the mountain. As you move, you'll pass through the village which is a collection of ancient japanese-style homes. However, there is no one out, as they've all taken shelter inside from the deepening cold. None of them will even answer the door if you knock, as they've grown accustomed to demons poising as travelers to even risk it.

Past the village, you'll come across a frozen lake. In the middle of the lake, there is a frozen ship that not only looks out of place, but is giving some of you some extremely bad vibes -- but that's not where the wolf is leading you. Rather she goes up the mountain path around the lake and leads you to a massive set of doors, barking at the doorway to indicate that whatever she wants? Is through there.

Get the heavy gates open, and you'll find yourself in a an old shrine that rests between the two volcanoes. The place is massive, the bright blue shade might remind you of the interior of the crystal tower.... but instead of being made out of special blue stone, this place is instead just completely coated in ice. You'll have to slide your way across platforms, jump over spike traps, solve door puzzles, and deal with a bunch of other nasty surprises along the way. If that's not bad enough, you'll also have to contend with fighting demons and in some spots? The ice pathways are not nearly thick enough to support the weight of a human- so you'll have to move fast before it starts to break beneath your feet and drop you below. The wolf that brought you here seems nowhere to be found, all the while. Great.

And while dealing with the ice level is difficult enough, the true worst menace is when you finally come across a room made of wood. You aren't alone in this room, rather the door out of this room is guarded by a wall demon called Blockhead. Blockhead will not yield and nearly impossible to get past. In order to defeat him, you must hit all his pressure points in quick succession. There are so many of them and they keep changing, so you'll probably have to try multiple times. Unfortunately, he scoffs at your efforts the whole time.

However once you manage to finally hit them all, he'll claim he's dying in honor before he crumbles. Past him, it's not too long until you reach the final destination.

Demon Owls

When you reach the top the shrine, you'll find a few machines that are artificially creating a snowstorm, which is what causing the cold weather to get worse so quickly. All these machines will either need to be shut down or destroyed, so they can stop pumping snow and cold into this already suffering region.

However the machines are hardly the only problem on the top, as soon as your presence is known on the roof, two massive owl demons will reveal themselves. These are the demon twins, Lechku and Nechku, that are hellbent on terrorizing Kamui. They both swing in to attack you at the same time, which is going to make for a real bad time. These owls are massive, and are both capable of summoning lightning, flaming boulders, poison mist- the works. And if that isn't bad enough? Just when you seem like you'll land a hit on them, they will freeze time, freezing you in your spot and leaving you wide open for an attack.

But before the owls can go in for a killing blow on you, you'll hear a pair of howls. The white wolf and Oki, whose had some sense knocked into him, have shown up to help out. To interrupt the frozen time attack, Oki's sword will turn into a bow, which one wolf will use to launch the other wolf at the owl's face - distracting them enough to break the time freeze spell.

With the extra help, while the owls are still a challenge, the fight becomes a lot more do-able. In fact, it is almost uncanny how miraculous good fortune keeps coming your way- such as the boulders getting breaking half before they hit anyone, or the wind changing directions before any poison mist can reach your lungs. Maybe you brought a luck bringer along without realizing it?

The battle is still a long one, but with the aid of your canine companions, eventually both owls will be defeated. The cursed owls fall to the ground with a cacophonous noise, landing in a pile of metal and clockwork. Just as you catch your breath, an evil miasma rising out of them before flying off towards the direction of that ship in the frozen lake.

It's probably fine.

The Sun Rises

With the owls defeated, the white wolf will let out a loud victory howl. Her timing must be impeccable, as the sun comes out from the horizon just as she howls- letting in the first rays of sunlight Kamui has seen in ages. The wind outside slowly dies down until by the time you climb back down the shrine and make it outside it has stopped completely. From the entrance of the shrine, you can see far below the villagers performing the ritual dance needed to make the volcanos erupt (safely)- bringing more warmth to the area and turning Kamui into a beautiful wintry wonderland.

As you make your way down the mountains and back to Wep'keer, the area has come alive with the sounds of birds and other animals finally coming out of their homes for the first time in ages. The cherry blossom tree that had been dead and frozen has come back to life, its pink blossoms a striking picture against the stone and snow. When not dealing with an unending blizzard, Kamui really is a gorgeous place.

Once you reach the village, the villagers (or the Oina, as they call themselves) all come out to thank you. Some are in their human form, but just as many are wolves, meaning you might just get licked half to death by some very excitable wolves. Some of the others stay back, tending to a massive cauldron of soup, a feast for the victorious guests. You're welcome to stay and partake, but if you'd rather go back to Kaisou and central heating, no one will blame you.

Those who linger will be treated to a delicious seafood soup and age-appropriate drinks. You might get dragged into a snowball building contest with the children if you seem like the type to be easily talked into it. The white wolf seems more than happy to attend the feast and continue to eat with a never ending appetite. While the white wolf never speaks herself, several of the villagers refer to her as Amaterasu with a great degree of respect and reverence. In other words? Not only were you helped this entire time by the famous sun goddess, but... she's currently a wolf stuffing her face as a canine would. You can attempt to talk to her, and the look in her eye seems to indicate she understand what she's saying... but she's most likely to yawn and lay down to take a nap, right in the middle of your spiel. Gods truly are something else.

OPTIONAL EVENT: Ark of Yamato

Note: This is an option section that is connected to the Black Order mission for the month. Non-Black Order characters can participate, but what is ultimately done about the ark will be decided by Black Order players.

While all seems to have ended well enough with the Kamui situation, the dark miasma that came out of the owls and the ominous ship in the frozen lake might make some of you feel uneasy. The Black Order guardians in particular were even told to inspect that ship just out of the same concern. Asking the Oina about it, you'll learn that it's actually a spaceship called the Ark of Yamato. Long ago, it belong to a people known as the Moon Tribe. They attempted to flee the moon after it was invaded by demons, but they didn't realize that the Ark was also full of demons. Crash landing into Kamui, the Moon Tribe folks were all but killed and the demons left the ship and spread all across Nippon - leading this realm to have an ongoing demon problem.

The worst of the demons were still sealed away on the Ark, and the increasing demon problem lately has raised concerned that the seal may be weakening. Upon inspection, it'll be find that the seal is in fact weakening in several places- leaving the Black Order with one of two choices: either do what you can to reinforce the seal.... or attempt to go in the ship and deal with the demons that are still inside.

Should you decide to reinforce the seal, the process is straight forward enough. Characters with training in sealing magical arts can use their magics to help patch weak points in the arks seal.... or you can work together to make one massive barrier. Either way, it'll hopefully help reinforce the ark's seals and keep Nippon a bit safer for at least awhile.

Meanwhile if you choose to go inside and fight the demons inside.... be prepared for an extremely long and tiresome battle. High level demons await inside - such as the demon owls and Orochi, whose reformed from the last time the Libra app users faced off against him. If you plan and luck goes your way, you'll be able to eliminate a good chunk of the demons inside before you'll be forced to retreat. It'll make the job of sealing the rest of the demons easier and insuring that the seal will last even longer- at least until the day comes when Nippon will have enough power to take care of the rest of it themselves.

However, the path should not be taken lightly, as it can just as easily lead to your doom. So choose wisely what you should do.

Aftermath

Regardless of what is done about the Ark of Yamato, with Kamui saved, it's time to eventually head home to Kaisou. While it's still a chilly winter, resolving the spirit realm issue will make it a bit more bearable. The rest of the month will pass rather smoothly, and those who helped out will be sent some money from Zodiac as a reward. All and all, it's a job well done.

OOC Notes

The dominant element this month is Water! Anyone with an affinity to the shadow element will find themselves boosted throughout the month. This could mean a boost to their power, having more energy, feeling more inspired with creativity, having better luck on different attempts -- the boost can manifest in all sorts of different ways. By contrast, anyone with an affinity for Fire will be experiencing the opposite. Perhaps their powers will be weaker, they have less energy, they're having a creative block or general worse luck - again it can manifest in all sorts of way and players are free to play with this mechanic as they'd like.

The original OOC plotting post for this event can be found here.