[Video]

[tearmeanewone]

[The video starts and the first thing that's apparent is that Elizabeth's left arm is in a sling and she's propped up her ACE to film because she needs a free hand.]

So this. Thing. That's attacked a few of us throughout the station-- I got a good look at it when it attacked me. Which is fortunate, I guess, because I was able to cross-reference its features with the Moira's collection and come up with a theory.

I believe that what we're dealing with is called an onryō-- a spirit aiming to cause harm or even killing people as vengeance for wrongs it suffered in life. Which sounds far-fetched, I admit, but--

[And this is where the first book comes out. She holds it up, storytime-style, and shows a page with a clearly Japanese illustration of a four-armed creature. And wouldn't you know it, it looks a lot like this.]

--this is what attacked me. Four arms, black holes where the eyes and mouth should be. According to this, [She turns the book back around to read.] the story behind this particular spirit is a fairly tragic one. She's the spirit of a mask maker's daughter-- also his apprentice-- who made masks for Noh theater. She fell in love with an actor, but on top of being quite popular and famous, he was from a noble family. Still, she convinced herself that he was in love with her, and worked herself to the bone trying to make her masks perfect for him. When she learned that he had become engaged to another noble's daughter, someone he'd grown up with and loved, she apparently died, and turned into this creature out of sheer anger. Coincidentally, the theater where the actor performed was destroyed in a fire, and everyone that had ever performed there was found dead in one room. [There's an uneasy look at the camera here.]

That's more or less where the recorded history portion of the story ends, however folklore says that the woman's sister later received a mask in a box covered with seals, brought to her by a monk. The monk said that it contained the last mask her sister had ever made, but also warned her never to open the box.

I have a very bad feeling that mask is on this station, and it has been for a while. When I was attacked, I remembered seeing someone wearing a mask that looks like this-- [She produces a sketch she no doubt did while recovering. It's crude, but it's definitely a Noh mask with horns and fangs. Once she's sure the camera has focused properly on it, she turns a page in the book and holds it up next to the drawing. It's another woodcarving of the woman holding a mask, and it looks uncomfortably like the one Elizabeth drew.]

This is a Hannya mask, a Noh theater mask that's worn to indicate a female demon. Has anybody seen this mask around the station? If so, we may have an honest-to-God possessed item that's hunting us. [She can't believe she just suggested something so deeply rooted in myth and hearsay, but there it is. Elizabeth shakes her head a little and lets out a defeated sigh.] And I've never been particularly good at banishing angry ghosts even with two working arms. Perhaps if we just... do what the story says happened before: find a box, seal the mask, and never, ever, open it again... she'll disappear? Is that how most haunted-object situations go?


((OOC: Hey guys! Kazuhira Miller was originally going to make this post, but Liz has picked up this part of the ongoing Hannya mask plot. I'll do my best to keep things rolling, and I definitely encourage threadjacking and sharing of ideas in here, because Liz's involvement has always been limited to just the lore portion so I'm flying a little blind as well. Thanks! ))

Comments

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[saveyourserpent]

I've seen a mask like that before. I've had one like that, back on the Moira. It disappeared after a while. Some... strange things happened after that, actually. Hm.

[He doesn't mention the part where he totally wore it.]

I believe it did a bit of traveling back then. Maybe it's the same one.

[As for banishing angry ghosts... well, he isn't going to suggest cutting an arm off.]

I can certainly shove a mask in a box.

[tearmeanewone]

[This is quite eerie, she almost remembers the part where this man talked about having this mask, showing it to the camera and so on. But nothing past that. It's unfortunately very similar to that moment with Atlas where the trauma she was experiencing put enough cracks in her memory block to give her what she needed to know. Having her arm broken by this creature means she remembers this mask.]

[But that's a problem for another day.]

Well, that's a start. Though I imagine that if this thing can move around at will-- the mask, I mean-- it might be harder to track down. And if there's anything I've learned about ghost stories, it's that usually the ghost isn't so happy to just go back into a box.

[saveyourserpent]

Oh, of course not, unless it's a box the ghost wants to be in. Perhaps there's a way to lure it, make it seem appealing until it's too late. Entice it somehow.

[Like luring a cat with fish under a box with a stick propping it up. Or a brother with the guise of his dead mentor. Or something.]

We'll probably have to track down the mask, track down the... ghost, track down something to put them in...

I'm sure it'll be quite exciting.

[tearmeanewone]

Considering it hasn't done much else aside from attack people, I can't imagine what you'd put under the proverbial box, propped with a stick and string. [Or, really, she doesn't want to hear it suggested.]

Sounds like a lot of tracking. You've seen the mask before though-- where did it appear?

[saveyourserpent]

A person, perhaps? I have a box that's big enough, but it had better come back to me in one piece.

[The Snake family and their boxes.]

I found it on my bed, strangely enough. I suppose we should check everyone's sheets, hm?

{ video }

[frostedplum]

Did the story mention what kind of seals the box had? It sounds too powerful to just be something you put in a cardboard box and stash under the bed.

[tearmeanewone]

Ah... [Elizabeth goes back through the book and flips a few pages back and forth, frowning.] I suppose it should be something special, not just Scotch tape and "DO NOT OPEN EVER" written on the lid... [Look, she's not that well-versed in Japanese mythology, even getting this far was a miracle.]

Where I'm from, we would have done something ridiculous like put it in a basin full of holy water and pray... oh! [She finds an illustration of the monk with the box and she turns it around.] Is this what you're talking about? [The box is covered in traditional seals, though damned if Elizabeth knows what those are.]

[frostedplum]

Ohhh...

[ Mei pushes up her glasses and gets closer to the screen. ]

Do you think it'll work if we try and copy those images onto a box? They must hold some special meaning to be decorating it and be called a "seal" in the first place, right?

[tearmeanewone]

Maybe? I don't know if these are actual Chinese characters or just an artistic interpretation. I can't even read them.

video

[shipsandsealingwax]

Do you know if silver affects the s-s-spirits?

[Bill is very young but he wears a serious expression when he responds and though he stutters, his voice doesn't waiver beyond that.]

[tearmeanewone]

[Oh no, this poor child, she hadn't meant to scare him into stuttering.]

I haven't come across that in my research... but I don't suppose it could hurt to try. Plenty of creatures are affected by silver, according to most of the stories I've read.

[shipsandsealingwax]

[Unfortunately for Bill, the stutter was a constant companion he could not escape. He shoves a hand into his pocket, pulling out a silver slug made from half a coin and staring at it in his hand before looking back resolutely up.]

Then c-count me in. I can help. Do we have a p-plan yet? Maybe we could find someone to m-m-make the box if we c-can't find one.

[His slingshot comes out of his shirt pocket and he nods, half to himself and half for emphasis.] I can find out if this w-will work and get b-back to you.

[Like hell was he letting his friends get terrorized by another monster. It had been bad enough.]

[tearmeanewone]

[Yes, the longer he talks, Elizabeth realizes that this is the first person she's ever encountered with a speech impediment. But more important than that--]

Wait, you're not about to go after her on your own, are you?

[CHILD NO.]

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[vdova]

Well. That explains a lot.

[ Someone's still nursing injuries from her encounter. ]

[tearmeanewone]

Better or worse? [She gives the camera a wry half-smile.]

Did you see any of it when you were attacked? Something I missed maybe?

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[aka_pistachio]

Wait. That's the thing that fucked me up?

[ At least it wasn't one of the other people. But is it better that it's a fucking demon? ]

[tearmeanewone]

Potentially. [No. Let's be real.] Most likely, yes.

You're surprised?

[aka_pistachio]

Yes I'm surprised! But, you know, I'm from the part of the multiverse or whatever where people can't fly or run at supersonic speeds or travel through time or move things with their minds and when you get mugged it's by a person not a fucking demon. So whatever I'm the weird one.

[tearmeanewone]

Oh. [Yeah, she supposes that makes sense.]

I'm mostly the same-- I'm not one to believe in ghosts or goblins, I believe in science I can touch. ...but I've seen enough strange things to consider that a demon did attack us. And I at least had the research phase to come to terms with it.

She does look a lot like a person, though? [Look she's trying to meet her halfway.]

Video

[actuaryonline]

Thank you for this information. I'm not familiar with these kinds of occurrences and the library has been frustratingly unhelpful, though this has now given me a base to search from.

Do any of the books mention how to seal the demon? Aside from requiring the box with the symbols, that is. If not, I can look into possible procedures.

[Ram is not enjoying feeling helpless.

There's a pause and a tired, sad sigh.]

Do you know... once this thing is sealed away, will the damage it's caused reverse? I lost a friend.

[tearmeanewone]

...I'm sorry you've lost someone. I didn't know that it... [She'd known that people had nearly died, but she hadn't known anybody had actually been killed.]

Ah. No, nothing specific, just the mention of the sealed box and the mask. But I believe the implication is that if we seal the mask, we'll solve the problem.

Many of the books in this station's library do seem more specific to this place. But the Moira's collection is a little more eclectic. Maybe there's something else I missed, it took me long enough to find this one book with one arm though.

[actuaryonline]

Thank you. I didn't even know there was a threat until then or that other people had been targeted. I hope you are recovering well. [He's unsure of the typical User recovery time for such injuries.]

In that case, I'll try and help find the mask and also help you look for more information in the Moira collection. Is this in a separate area to the library? I'm fairly new here and still finding my way around.

[tearmeanewone]

I didn't know there was a threat until I was shooting at it. So far the station has been... quiet. Too quiet, I guess.

But no, the Moira's collection isn't in the station library. It's the library that came from the ship that brought some of us to Thisavrou. I was the head librarian and saved the collection before the ship crashed. I should unpack it into the station library but... I've been afraid to.

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[monomachy]

A demon? That would explain why it has proved so difficult to kill. But you believe this box will stop it?

[tearmeanewone]

I don't know. It seems a little too... mystical for my tastes, but normally when I shoot things in the head they don't keep right on living.