Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

[LP CYOA] Spiral

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
And wow, you guys that are picking A4, I can't believe it. It will be the stupidest death yet. We run around the tree for 15minutes to work up the sweat and then get stabbed in the back while we rub our body against it. You bros really want to die a tree hugger?? it takes too much time and I don't like the idea of getting touchy feely with something that is basically the gates of death.
The stupidest would be to perform the ritual.

I don't share your concerns. We have already used up 40 minutes to take a walk around the courtyard, and we aren't in a good physical shape, so I don't get the point about it being 'too much time' to work up some sweat.

Nor do I get why rubbing against the tree is any more dangerous than spilling your blood on it.

And if anything, you should be wary of choices like 'See the sacred tree separating the world of the living and the world of the dead, amidst the grove that is said to ward off spirits? Oh, I know! Let's burn it! Also, I heard it serves as a guide, so it will definitely help us find our way out of here if we torch it.' Y'know, the one you have set up as a backup plan.

As you can see, the urban legend mentioned singing, whereas the real(?) ritual is quite a bit more involved.
No, the 'real' ritual, if you believe the authority on all matters spiritual, Hidetaka Matsui, is pretty much the same:
Note said:
The Ritual of Opening. My records tell me that it involves the devotee travelling through each of the gates formed by the tree while singing a chant.
It is a perversion of the ritual that is 'more involved', but nowhere does it say that it has the same purpose. It is only natural to think that it leads to a different result as well.

Amanozaki said something about the ritual being wrong, but that was said when all that was left of it was a rumour, an urban legend that didn't even mention Juunimon. It makes sense that the ones who did not understand a deeper meaning of the actions performed would only copy the appearances and get it completely wrong.

Kz3r0 said:
Quite a difficult task considering that we are trying to go against not only the Old Man but also our own character evil schemes.
Alternatively, we knew that 12 people would get 'disappeared', so we handpicked the ones we thought would help us turn the tables. The scheme is not necessarily evil, we may have done it as a counter-measure.

It is too early to jump to conclusions when we don't know the motivations of the key figures.

Edit: I just read the file.
There is something scribbled on the back of the paper:
urban legend of the omori crossroads bears some resemblance to this ritual. corrupted simplification?
That is what Amanozaki was talking about.
 
Last edited:

Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
Ugh. So there's the ritual, there's this twelve nights thing, can someone help me untangle? Which is what what?
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Another thought.

There is a possibility that Juunimon was burned to the ground alongside with the Kaimei hospital back when there was a fire, and the only reason we are seeing it right now is that there is an overlapping of two locations: Kaimei from 40 years ago, and Ikei.

If the literal ritual serves the same purpose as the old one, the destruction of the tree would leave it as the only way to cross into the realm of the dead, necessitating human sacrifice. It also makes sense then that all of this is happening in a hospital, where taking human bodyparts can easily be concealed.

In fact, that may be the reason for the rebuilding of the Ikei Hospital in complete likeness of the Kaimei one, to ease the transition between the worlds. If that was the plot, then it was 40 years in the making. Shinohara Juuzo would have to be Gendou-like indeed.

But that also means that Juunimon could be our ticket out of here. There is no way 'in' this world, as the tree is burned down back in 2014, but there may be a way out, as it still exists in 207x.

Performing the real ritual (as in, the chant) may yet be the right call if we are in the world of the dead already. But it won't save anyone else, would it?
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
Ugh. So there's the ritual, there's this twelve nights thing, can someone help me untangle? Which is what what?
There's this ritual where you go around the tree and chant, and it is said to open the gates to the netherworld. You're currently standing in front of said tree.

Everything else is just theory, for now.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
The man laughs. “Do you know the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice?”

You nod. Orpheus and Eurydice… a Greek legend where Orpheus ventured into the underworld to rescue his wife, Eurydice, who had been bitten by a snake. The Greek god of the underworld, Hades, had been reluctant to release her, and only did so on the condition that during their departure, Orpheus was not to look back at his wife. Unsurprisingly – to anyone who knew anything about Greek myths – he did, and she was lost to him forever. You are reminded of a story that closely paralleled this tale: that of Izanagi and Izanami.

“Yes, Izanagi and Izanami. Of course, these were not the first stories… there is an even older tale of a descent into the underworld; that of Inanna, the Sumerian goddess, but that is neither here nor there.” He smiles warmly. “I do wonder, Shinoseki Adachi, if you will play the role of Izanagi, or the role of Orpheus…”

Alright, here is my - probably mistaken - assessment of the overall plot so far. It consists mostly of assumptions and speculations.

So we have that centuries-old tree that is growing on the border between life and death, and there is a ritual explaining how to cross back and forth. The line between the worlds should already be blurred in this place. If we throw a hospital on top of it, which is a place of pain, suffering and occasional death, is it that strange that there was a string of malicious possessions and otherwise morbid occurences?

The place fell in a self-perpetuating spiral of misery and death, where the victims who died in agony returned as vengeful spirits that drove others to crime (the director) and/or suicide (the note on the roof). The cycle may have begun even before the Kaimei hospital was built, and it certainly predates the crimes of its director (the dismemberment case we read about in a newspaper, and the mention of malfunctioning lights in the basement all happened before that).

I am not justifying what the director has done, but I feel like he is just one of many lives claimed by the hospital.

Cue nurse Uehara and a man who I assume is Shinohara Juuzo. The scene from our/his memory hints at them being in a relationship, but Juuzo betrayed and killed her because REASONS that likely have something to do with the Kaimei group (and he was a nobody back then, so he would be unlikely to defy them). He may or may not have planned to resurrect her afterwards, depending on whether he knew of the existence of the Juunimon tree, but I assume he did know about it. Unfortunately, the director goes bonkers and burns down the hospital and the tree with it, stranding nurse Uehara in the lands of the dead.

Juuzo likely has a big axe to grind with the Kaimei after all of this.

He spends the next 40 years accumulating wealth and power, driving the Kaimei and its founders - the Maedas - to ruin. I don't think their decline in fortune and Shinohara's rise are unrelated. They are desperate enough now to throw their support behind anything he would propose as long as it helps them get back on their feet. They have become puppets in his hands.

He finally gets rich and influental enough to rebuild the entire hospital from the ground up, likely using the old floor plans. I assume there is some significance to the 7th floor, as it was the only one missing, but I do not know what it is. This is all a part of a bigger plan to travel back into the spiritual realm from 40 years ago and bring back the dead girl. The similarity of the buildings was to aid in this task and weaken the border separating two places.

Without the tree to travel between the worlds, the only way to do so is via a gruesome ritual. Alternatively, the literal ritual exists for the purposes of resurrection of the dead (the legend of Izanagi). Note that the ritual describes rebuilding a body from scratch, as if creating a vessel for a spirit to inhabit. There are 12 sacrifices, and there are supposed to be 12 people missing (according to Mori's note), which to me suggests that the one who benefits from this is not anyone of the 12, or as the case may be, not anyone of the living at all.

I have reconsidered my stance on the pool ghost. I think Kz3r0's assessment that that she is special and that she is the Maiden is correct, after all. There is a clear connection between her, Juuzo, Uehara and us.

I also suspect that Mitsuki is playing the key role of the soul. There were hints that she is groomed by Shinohara for some specific purpose (her treatment), and Taketatsu referred to her as to a sacrifice (which corresponds to the 12th night and the final step of the process). If someone is doing the ritual, she may yet be alive somewhere, as she has to go last in the series of killings - if the order matters at all. Though there is the fact that the thing in the first night was wearing her skin, so I may be wrong.

It may not be the first time this is happening. Unfortunately for Juuzo, none of the previous attempt succeded (or were not meant to, being just trial runs). The discovery that Taketatsu made, and the Project he is working on are likely to be funded by Juuzo, and may have provided him with an opportunity to try it again. My theory might explain why the children from Kaimei families are trapped here as well as some highly inconvenient figures like Mori. It would be ironic in a twisted way if the descendants of the ones who killed Uehara would serve as a tool to aid in her resurrection. Juuzo would have no problems throwing anyone here under a bus.

I am still struggling with how we tie into all of this, but there is the fact that 12 people are supposed to be missing, yet there are 13 of us, and unlike others, we have no memory. That suggests to me that we are not a part of the initial plan, and may have integrated ourselves into it in an attempt to sabotage the project. Only time will tell if this is true.

Funny thing is, we may be - at least partly - Shinohara Juuzo. The old man mentioned that it was our plot. The memories we are recovering might be his.

If my train of thoughts is correct, then all we have to do to leave is to perform the chant under a tree, and then we are home free. Of course, the Project would then succeed, and 12 people would be dead. Alternatively, the chant may fail, as there is no tree in 2014, so there is no other side to this portal. In any case, I am not leaving here until we understand what is happening.
 
Last edited:

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
I doubt chanting around the tree will do anything. I think that is fake and will just waste time. The real ritual is what we are witnessing. The "authority on spiritual matters" was just going off a word of mouth legend that we already know was distorted. Again, even the urban legend not mentioned singing. I also think a4 will waste time - only without showing us that the ritual was a fake.

We already know that the maiden or something else is here - ie, the pale face we just saw. We can't afford to hang around any longer.

I think there are a few choices:
Defile the tree
Offer a sacrifice
Waste time offering a sacrifice
Waste time performing the fake ritual
Burn the tree

The rest of what you wrote seems to make sense, though still not the full picture, I think.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
First, while I don't know whether or not the chant will do anything, I am pretty positive that the ritual is a genuine, real thing, and that it is supposed to work. I say 'supposed' because there may be other factors at play here. Obviously, I can't prove any of this unless we try.

Second, the "authority on spiritual matters" did actual research on the subject. He knew the name of the tree, its location, the fact that there was a settlement, the beliefs and customs of the villagers, etc. Those are things that are irrelevant to the 'word of mouth' legend, and it suggests a certain scientific approach and a degree of competence that lends his words much greater credibility than to something like an 'urban rumor'.

Third, an urban legend did mention singing:
The Crossroads of Omori

Without a doubt, one of the most fa us l nds in the gr ter Tok o ar a, the C hosp of ri is . It is ured that if you perform

you w ll be able see your dep rt d lov one again

Fortun ly with the blessings of

Sing the

Then y u w ll

Fourth, the pale-faced ghost is an unknown. We know that there are things in the hospital that aren't outright malicious (someone keeps throwing clues at us), and even the ones that seem evil to us can be exorcised or pacified, like the pool ghost. There is a chance - admittedly, a small one - that we may find help from the previous victims. That it is able to exist amidst the branches of a sacred tree in the center of the sakaki grove may be a sign that it is not hostile.

I know, that's a pretty long shot, but still. That's a possibility that doesn't sound all that stupid to me, though I am not willing to test it. :lol:

It's not like I am convinced in which course is best, myself. So I can flop to BA3 if it speeds things up.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
My phone screwed up the urban legend sentence. I meant to say that it DID mention singing. I'm saying that the false version is that of the urban legend - ie, chanting or singing around a tree. A tree is not mentioned in the urban legend, but that means nothing as it is an incomplete note. I'm saying that the fact that it is mentioned in the urban legend is proof that the "researched" version the expert provided is still the false version.

Think about it: we were told there was a false version, widely known and distorted through word of mouth. Don't you think that if all that was different was the mention of the tree, that it would have been referred to as "omitting crucial details"? And if the violent version being performed now was false, why isn't it widely known and why does it appear to be working? (Mitsuki's skin and Uehara's eyes did go into the thing)

There are at least two versions of the ritual: the one we're you sing a little song and the one where you dismember humans. The urban legend is clearly the widely known version that has been distorted. It mentions nothing about killing peopl - only singing. Now, unless the version we picked up is a THIRD version, I'm saying that it is the same as the urban legend and therefore false.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Think about it: we were told there was a false version distorted through word of mouth. Don't you think that if all that was different was the mention of the tree, that it would have been referred to as "omitting crucial details"?
Yes. Because the ritual only has a desired effect at one location.

Chant it anywhere else, and it would not be the same. That is why one version is false and a cargo cult (doing things without understanding their meaning), and the other is true.

The note to Amanozaki clearly states what is referred to as a false and distorted legend, and what the distortion is, exactly:
I am sure it has not passed your attention, but the urban legend of the Crossroads of Omori has been growing in popularity recently. In relation to that, I have some valuable information that a well-known psychic like yourself may be interested in. The hospital mentioned in that urban legend, the one standing at the Omori crossroads, is not the actual hospital that the ritual should be performed at. For some reason, word of mouth has twisted both legend and ritual into inaccuracy. In fact, I suspect that I have discovered the real hospital talked about in the story.

There are three versions of the ritual - one where you sing a song (false), one where you sing a song at a certain place, and one where you do all the things that the song depicts.

I believe all three have different results, and that there may be a fourth one, where you do things in a metaphorical sense, if the ritual is indeed a riddle.

People who performed the ritual even at the wrong location went missing from time to time. Even a distorted one could have an effect. Now, I can't prove anything, but Mori mentioned this in his note:
12 people reported to be missing in the span of a single day, all related in some way to Ikei Medical University Hospital.

Further investigation shows that missing persons cases in the Greater Tokyo Area have slightly risen since then, compared to a falling national average. This may be even more serious than we first expected.
12 people went missing in Ikei - a case of the 'true' ritual, yes, but people kept disappearing in the vicinity of the area as well, and not everything may connect back to Shinohara.

Mori does not mention the ritual, though. It may be just kidnappings or something. Wouldn't put it past Juuzo to grab some hobos off the street to experiment on them.

Amanozaki said that you can 'succeed' even if you get the location wrong, though she may have been bullshitting us at that time to peddle her wares.
 
Last edited:

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
All good points, though if word of mouth could twist the location, could it not also twist what is required for the ritual? I guess there is no way to find out without either performing the chant or finding out more info. And on the off chance that you are right, I don't think we should do the chant as it would allow
Our enemy his victory.
 

oscar

Arcane
Joined
Aug 30, 2008
Messages
8,036
Location
NZ
Interesting stuff and fast updates. Burning it is a gamble but could halt the ritual (or trap us here for good).

AC
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
You raise your thumb to your teeth. An offering of blood – or perhaps any fluids of the body, said the note – to the tree. This in itself distinguished the ritual from the practices found in the rest of the country. Defilement. Such an offering would be considered unclean by any respectable shrine, yet it appeared to be common practice in the village that used to stand on these grounds. The ritual itself must be very old, something that was practiced before the arrival of Buddhism; a practice so deep-rooted in this region that it had the cultural inertia to resist the changes in belief structures.

Feeling like you do not have a choice, you determinedly bite down on the flesh of your thumb, tearing the skin. An iron-like taste seeps into your tongue. Beads of red slide down the cut. You flick your hand outwards, spattering droplets of blood against the gnarled, rough trunk of the tree. They form dark little stains on the bark. Next, you clap your hands together twice and bow, your eyes closed in respect. A prayer for safe journey, you think. Your claps resound in the silence, the only noise that can be heard in the sakaki-lined compound.

Nothing happens. There is no thunder in the black sky, nor are there any rumbling earthquakes. The wind does not even pick up to give you a sign that the ritual worked. Well, you did not expect anything more.

Then, you hear something fall to the ground in front of you, rustling the grass with a soft thud. You open your eyes.

A small cloth charm lies in front of you; an omamori. There is no one in the dark branches above you – was the charm tied up there before coming loose? Kneeling down cautiously, you pick up the omamori. From the design and the words sewn onto the cloth surface, it appears to be a charm made to wish safe pregnancy. Probably the last place you’d expect to find such a charm: an object protecting the act of bringing life, at a location thought to be the gates of death. The cloth is thick and the only thing you can feel of its contents is that it is slightly lumpy. Lumpy? This is quite strange; such charms usually contain paper or flat pieces of wood upon which the prayers are written. Still… regardless of your suspicions, this may be helpful in the future, considering the strange events that are occuring all around you at the moment. Opening it immediately would not be a good idea, if that is the case.

You place the charm in your pocket and turn away from the tree. As you do so, you get the strong feeling that someone is watching you. The back of your neck tingles. A chill flows down your spine. You decide to leave quickly, and not to look back.

Setting your sights on the research building again, you begin hurrying towards it, walking as fast as you can. In the span of a few minutes, you find your surprised self stumbling out of the garden, and at the front doors of your destination. You blink, unable to believe how close you had been to the goal.

The doors to the research building are open; the harsh white light from the interior feels strangely uninviting to you. Uehara and Maeda are standing by the entrance. When she catches sight of you, Uehara raises her hand and waves at you animatedly, hopping up and down. “Shinoseki-san! Hey, over here!”

She seems surprisingly cheerful. “I… where are the others?” you ask.

“Mori-san and Sakimura-san just stepped in awhile ago to make sure everything is safe,” Maeda jerks her thumb over her shoulder. “What took you so long? Were you running around looking for fairies in the garden?” She sneezes and shivers – her thin, sleeveless dress doesn’t provide her much protection against the cold.

“Maeda-san, I did tell you to go ahead and leave the waiting to me,” laughs Uehara. “You didn’t have to come back out and stay with me.”

“W-Well, on second thought, I couldn’t trust this guy enough to leave him to his own devices. It's safer with the two of us, Uehara-san, and Sakimura-kun did ask me to check on you,” Maeda retorts hastily, giving an explanation for your presence. “Anyway, what were you staying behind to do, Shinoseki?”

You look at her, puzzled. “I… what?”

“You told Uehara-san that you needed to check something out in the garden,” she frowns, reminding you. “What was it that caught your eye?”

“That’s right! How could you forget so quickly, Shinoseki-san. I’m hurt.” Uehara pretends to cry, wiping the corner of her eyes. She gives you a look of concern, bending forward. “You told me that you would catch up with us, then you ran off. Don't you remember? Are you… are you feeling all right?”

Did I? You are unsure. Now that she says it… maybe you did, after all? Your memories are starting to become hazy.

“So, did you find anything, Shinoseki-san?” Uehara asks.

***

03:00

A. “I came across this tree in the courtyard…” You tell them about your encounter with the Juunimon tree in the courtyard, leaving nothing out.

B. “I came across this tree in the courtyard…” You tell them about your encounter with the Juunimon tree in the courtyard, but do not mention the charm that you picked up.

C. “Actually, I was waylaid by some ghosts…” You make up a story about getting lost in the garden and barely escaping some spirits.

D. “N-No… there was nothing at all.” You shake your head and say that you did not find anything.

E. “…” You keep your mouth shut.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
The time... has gone backwards?

Did we notice it? Or how else did we get the information that the time was 3:30 when we asked for a safe passage?

Anyway, I do not want to hide anything from these two. And the amulet looks different from the one Uehara has. A, I guess.
 
Last edited:

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
The time... has gone backwards?

Did we notice it? Or how else did we get the information that the time was 3:30 when we asked for a safe passage?

No, you haven't noticed anything about time flowing backwards.

It could be that you spent less time in the courtyard than you estimated.

Or that time really did go backwards.

:itisamystery:
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
Ffs don't tell Uehara about the charm. She'll just steal it again.

D>e>c>b
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
And of course every charm in this place is patterned after hers, because :retarded:.

Unless you think someone gave her an amulet for safe pregnancy while she was still a kid (Japan!), or that she is a clepromaniac who collects them for shits and giggles.

treave, can you describe what the charm looks like?
 
Last edited:

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Well, both would be nice, but I am asking about the one we picked up, since Shinoseki has no reason to know about Uehara's yet and can't examine it.

This is what we know about hers, from the 1st night:
Something you missed the first time, being too distracted by what happened to her. Uehara’s left hand appears to be clutching something. You squint past the blood-stained lenses of your spectacles, trying to make it out. It’s an omamori, gold thread on blue cloth. There’s a cloth amulet lying in her hand.
There is also some pattern specific to a certrain shrine that Amanozaki recognized, but we never learned what it was.
 
Last edited:

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
The one you just picked up is embroidered with gold thread in a branch-like pattern. The cloth is coloured pink and the bag is tied up with rice straw rope.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
So we don't know if the design is similar to the one Uehara has or not?
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom