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Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Hugging a grown woman of his own volition is way, way beyond Shinoseki's capabilities.
Any hints to what kind of character development enables that option?

He already has a bold streak in him, though it does not extend to interpersonal relationships yet.

Or is it unfeasible to change the character that much in a given timeframe?
 

Rex Feral

Prophet
Joined
Jan 29, 2013
Messages
1,300
Our character can shoot a guy square in the eye with a smile but cannot, for the love of God, hug a female being.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
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Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
In other words, a perfect psycho. I approve. :salute:

But seriously, though, how timid are we after telling Mori off, shooting a man, breaking and entering, climbing several stories down and falling to our death, and finally, charging an unearthly abomination? Still more timid than Mitsuki?
 
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treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
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Codex 2012
Any hints to what kind of character development enables that option?

He already has a bold streak in him, though it does not extend to interpersonal relationships yet.

Or is it unfeasible to change the character that much in a given timeframe?

Chapter 2 ended early so you lost some opportunities for character development. He'll never hug someone for no reason.

To do it to comfort others he'll need to be more open with expressing his feelings at times and also with having those feelings in the first place. He only patted Mitsuki's head because the toilet encounter forged a bit of a connection.

To do it to manipulate others he needs to pick more selfish choices especially in times of life or death.

To do it because he wants to grope women requires that you collect all 108 porn magazines scattered throughout the hospital.


Still more timid than Mitsuki?

When it comes to talking to people in general, yes.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
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Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
To do it to comfort others he'll need to be more open with expressing his feelings at times and also with having those feelings in the first place. He only patted Mitsuki's head because the toilet encounter forged a bit of a connection.
Hm. I'd settle for this one. We have had a bit of a start in this direction by admitting our feelings about Uehara's death.

Besides, hunting all those 108 magazines sounds like a bother. How sexually repressed you need to be to require that much, anyway?

What would it take for him to hug someone in search of comfort?
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
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Messages
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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Do you guys think that it would be better to focus on different people in each chapter, or should we perhaps establish a firm connection with the people we already 'know'?

The first chapter brought us closer to Uehara, Mori, and perhaps Maeda. Do you think we should concentrate on other people in this one? Mitsuki seems like an obvious choice, seeing how she would not leave us even for a minute (and appointed us her guardian, to boot), but maybe we can include Amanozaki and Sakaki, the two loremasters, in our club?

We have tried a rational 'detective' mentality. Maybe we should try a 'spiritual' one now instead?
 
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TOME

Cuckmaster General
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
1,820
I think we should keep the main focus on Uehara and Mitsuki always, and in every night we should try and establish contact with a new person in order to get further in the story.
 

treave

Arcane
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Codex 2012
“Kaimei Hospital… what do you know of it?”

Amanozaki adjusts her thick spectacles, making you subconsciously do the same to yours. “Kaimei… a cursed name that I never thought I would hear again,” she whispers enigmatically. “Indeed, throughout the years there have always been rumours that Ikei was built where black, twisted ruins of old Kaimei Hospital once stood. Of course, they have merely remained rumours to the general public. Vested interests – those from The Organization, shall we say – have kept the information suppressed. The story of Kaimei is a tangled web of conspiracy, Shinoseki-san. Are you sure you want to hear more about it? There will be no turning back afterwards.”

You gulp, but nod. This may be important in finding a way out – and more importantly, understanding why you are here.

“Very well. It shall be as you wish, Shinoseki Adachi,” smiles Amanozaki. You get the feeling that she is happy to be able to tell the tale. “The story of Kaimei Hospital is short but tragic, full of the evils that can be found dwelling deep within the soul of man. There was a spate of serial killings focused around the hospital more than thirty years ago. The victims came from all walks of life, though all of them were connected to the hospital in some way. None of the possible culprits that the police found could be convicted through evidence. In the end, the hospital was set on fire and burnt down to the ground.”

She lowers her tone of voice conspiratorially. “The director himself was the arsonist. It is rumoured that he was having an affair with a nurse, and also abusing the children in the paediatrics ward for his own sick desires. The nurse threatened to spill everything she knew… On a dark and stormy night, he murdered her, and in a bid to hide his crime, tried to incinerate the body. Somehow, the fire got out of control and destroyed the entire hospital. Of course, you will never find this in the newspaper archives. The reason should be clear enough. When I say Kaimei, what is the first thing that comes to your mind?”

“…the Kaimei group.” Once a wealthy and powerful zaibatsu, you seem to recall that it has fallen on hard times some years ago.

“Yes, exactly! They suppressed the knowledge, hiding it from the general public. The director was one of their own, after all. Even now they are manipulating the strings of information as part of The Organization that controls the world behind the scenes. Now, how does it tie in with Ikei Medical University Hospital, built upon its ashes? This particular plot of land is a spiritually sensitive location, where rituals that bind the living to the dead have been performed since time immemorial.”

“Bind?”

“Yes. For example, the locals living in this area had a tradition of ghost marriages as a form of appeasement to the spirits, among a few other rituals related to the underworld.”

“Wow, Amanozaki-san knows a lot of things, don’t you?” says Mitsuki in admiration. “Did you get a psychic vision about this?”

“Kukuku… i-it’s to be expected, of course! I… well, but I read this one in a book. One method by which spiritualists receive knowledge is through the written word of those long dead, after all,” stammers Amanozaki. “Anyway, it is likely that because of local practices being abandoned, the spirits became dark with wroth, thereby causing all of the deaths that has plagued this place thus far.”

You nod. “I… I see. What about the crossroads urban legend? I think the letter mentioned it… something about Omori?”

“Ah, the Crossroads of Omori? It is a ritual to meet the spirits of the deceased. It is said that if you stand in a circle of twelve people at that particular crossroads and sing a particular chant, you will see the departed loved ones you dearly miss. Of course, it does not work for everyone. As you have read in the letter, the location itself is all wrong, isn’t it? That is why most of the people who perform the ritual there fail to see anything. But if you have powerful charms to improve spiritual sensitivity – like the ones that I create – then it is possible to succeed nonetheless! Most people are cheapskates and ignore that part, especially when they hear the price…”

Amanozaki sniffs at the end of her last sentence, as if offended by the bargain-hunting nature of people, before continuing. “Regardless, as a spiritualist, if I can investigate this hospital thoroughly and defeat the curse, I can let people know both the correct spot to perform the ritual, and to allow them do it safely. After all, with such a terrible grudge filling these halls, asking to meet the dead here is as good as asking for trouble.”

While you ponder the stories Amanozaki has told you, Mitsuki begins talking to the spiritualist animatedly. After some time, there is a brief commotion from the other end of the lobby. Looking up, you see that the crowd has split apart into smaller groups that are fanning out separately. The four high school students come running up to you.

“Shinoseki-san! Mitsuki-chan!” calls out Uehara. “The both of you didn’t join the briefing?”

“Hmph. A briefing with ignorant plebeians is worth less than a minute spent basking in my cosmic knowledge,” mutters Amanozaki.

Uehara ignores her and continues speaking. “We’re going to search for possible ways out of here, as well as see if we can find anyone else in the building. Do you want to come with us, Shinoseki-san and Mitsuki-chan? We’ll be trying to find a way to the physiotherapy building.”

“I… er…” You look around you. The smaller group you had seen, as well as the large man in a trenchcoat, do not appear to be moving from where they are. The rest of the people have already split up and begun leaving the lobby.

***

00:43

A. You go along with Uehara and her friends.

B. You stay in the lobby together with a few others.
 

TOME

Cuckmaster General
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
1,820
What is the matter with you?! Voting against Uehara?

A
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
That is why most of the people who perform the ritual there fail to see anything. But if you have powerful charms to improve spiritual sensitivity – like the ones that I create – then it is possible to succeed nonetheless!
“It wasn’t a witch,” Sakimura says confidently, glaring at you. “If Uehara were still alive, that is what she would have said. There are no magic or ghosts involved in her death. She didn’t believe in them, so she couldn’t have been killed by them.”
Interesting. So is it increased spiritual connection that allows one to see ghosts and be hurt by them? The common belief is that if you have no faith, nothing can happen to you. Could it be that the charm was something that killed Uehara, rather than tried to protect her?

Of course, that logic might very well be false, since our attempt to disbelieve the noises in the first chapter led directly to our death.

I think we can safely assume that whatever charm was found with Uehara, it came from Amanozaki. As for how it ended up with her... well, Amanozaki was dead by then. Uehara might have picked it up out of curiosity, or for any other reason.

"I can let people know both the correct spot to perform the ritual, and to allow them do it safely. After all, with such a terrible grudge filling these halls, asking to meet the dead here is as good as asking for trouble.”
I wonder if that is not how at least some of us ended up here. Well, now we know what happened to the twelve people that disappeared in 2012.

Now, are we the departed one, or is Mitsuki? That's the question. Initially, there were 13 people here.

I am disappointed that we learned so little about the ritual in the end.

TOME said:
I think we should keep the main focus on Uehara and Mitsuki always, and in every night we should try and establish contact with a new person in order to get further in the story.
I support that view. Let's try to explore one character to the fullest before moving on.

I would also like to point out that if the code on the lock didn't change, there is a high chance that we will be able to actually reach the physiotherapy wards this time. And if the passwords did change, it would be useful to learn that now.

It is not only about Uehara, it is about a whole new building block to search for clues.

A.
 
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treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
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Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
I am disappointed that we learned so little about the ritual in the end.

It's an urban legend so the ritual itself is not going to be complicated. Now, if you want to delve deeper into the background behind the urban legend and how it may have developed, you need to ask someone who researches this sort of stuff for a living. Amanozaki's depth of knowledge in it goes as far as it presumably being some form of seance.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
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Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Now, if you want to delve deeper into the background behind the urban legend and how it may have developed, you need to ask someone who researches this sort of stuff for a living.
Hmmm...
“Hey, can I have a look at that?” Sakaki, who had been sitting back all this while without participating, leaps to his feet and moves towards you. Surprised, you drop the yellowed scrap. The author catches it and holds it up to the light. Peering at it, he exclaims softly, “I thought this looked familiar!” He opens up the satchel slung by his side and rummages within for a few seconds, before coming up with a well-used notebook: the pages are dog-eared, and fattened with material added and glued to them. The others gather closer, their curiosity piqued by his sudden burst of activity.

Setting the book down on a coffee table, he flips it open quickly until he gets to the page he is looking for, and he places the piece of paper on it… next to an identical scrap. “It’s the same. No doubt about it.” You understand what he is saying – everything on those two pieces are the same, from the text, to the picture, down to the way it has been carefully cut as well as the pattern of yellowing on the paper. On the page besides the newspaper clipping, you spot something else familiar; a page torn off from a magazine. The title reads:

Urban Legends #12

Instinctively, you touch the folded piece of paper still in your pocket. It is still there, and yet it is there, in Sakaki’s book. You rub your spectacles apprehensively.
Judging by the state of the notebook, he has been doing it for quite some time. It's tempting.

But the character knows nothing about it in this timeline, does he? We didn't even find the note.
 
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Rex Feral

Prophet
Joined
Jan 29, 2013
Messages
1,300
A, what good is to hang around in the lobby? We have to actively search for clues, talk to people, get to the bottom of things.
 

Elfberserker

Liturgist
Joined
Oct 25, 2013
Messages
1,540
Hmmm.

I am quite interested to see how things changes, if we go with larger group.
But the smaller group has mori, Amanoziki and mitsuki and I am bit eager to see where we go with them.

I don't really know that to vote, so I let good old dice to let it to decide it for me.

A: 1
B. 2

Edit: it seems it's A
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
I am quite interested to see how things changes, if we go with larger group.
Mitsuki is going with us in any case, and if the first night of any indication, Mori is heading up to the physiotherapy building.

But Amanozaki and probably Sakaki are staying.

Also, do you really think three dice are more reliable than one? :lol:

Wild speculation time!
“…the Kaimei group.” Once a wealthy and powerful zaibatsu, you seem to recall that it has fallen on hard times some years ago.

“Yes, exactly! They suppressed the knowledge, hiding it from the general public. The director was one of their own, after all. Even now they are manipulating the strings of information as part of The Organization that controls the world behind the scenes. Now, how does it tie in with Ikei Medical University Hospital, built upon its ashes? This particular plot of land is a spiritually sensitive location, where rituals that bind the living to the dead have been performed since time immemorial.”

“Bind?”

“Yes. For example, the locals living in this area had a tradition of ghost marriages as a form of appeasement to the spirits, among a few other rituals related to the underworld.”
Her expression changes slightly, muttering something inaudibly before shaking her head. When Maeda looks at you again, she asks, “Hey. Rabbit. Have you ever been a guest at our- I mean, Kaimei’s mansion in Yamanashi? About twelve… no, thirteen years ago?”
[...]
You shake your head. “I… I don’t think so.”

There is a complicated expression on her face that you cannot read. “Yes, that’s right. Of course you wouldn’t have…” Surprisingly, Maeda laughs out loud, tossing her hair back. “On second thought, you wouldn’t even get past the front gates with that impoverished, creepy mug of yours. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I was asking because I was interested in you or anything.”
“We’re almost there, Maeda-san!” As you tread laboriously towards it, you hear Maeda whisper softly, in a gentle tone that is so far away from her usual behaviour that it seems to be coming from a different person entirely.

“Sei-chan… you came back…” You can feel her clinging even more tightly to you – it is an embrace that is almost child-like in its affection.
Supposedly, the Organization behind the Kaimei Hospital was a powerful and influental group - and it is likely that it still is, seeing how Maeda, a woman obviously from a high society and engaged to a wealthy software magnate, is a part of that circle.

Supposedly, Shinohara family is equally influental, to own an entire hospital and have resources to hide some unfavorable facts both from public eyes and from detectives like Mori.

How likely would it be that the Shinohara family belongs to the Organization (I am stuggling hard not to call it 'Agency' by accident :lol:)? If the first Director was one of their own, why not the next one as well? Especially since Maeda seems to remember our visit from 13 yeards ago.

If we were there as Shinohara Seiji, could it be that there might have been a history of affection between us and Maeda? If we are about 25 years old now - which is yet unconfirmed, by the way - we would have been 12 by then. An age of first love and all that. It looks like she expected her 'Sei-chan' to come back right until the end.

If we are members of the same circle, could we have been in an arranged marriage with her? If we are dead, then it would fit the term 'ghost marriage' Amanozaki spoke about and explain Maeda's connection to us and this place.

Could she have wished for our return to save her from an unwanted marriage with Taketatsu? She clearly was not very enthusiastic about it.

I guess we'll see what this was all about.

:avatard:

Another of the wild speculations.
As she sits down, Uehara pats Mitsuki’s shoulder encouragingly. “I-I’m… Iwano Mitsuki. I’m twelve this year,” Mitsuki says shyly, sitting with her head bowed. “I came here for treatment.”
[...]
“Ah, I think I’ve seen you around before, Mitsuki!” Okuyama interjects cheerfully. Turning to Tokigawa, she says, in a more hushed voice, “Kou, we’ll discuss this with her afterwards.”
With trembling fingers, he reaches into his coat, plucking out a cigarette and a lighter. “Find… Mitsu… no, Iwano…” He takes a drag and coughs heavily, his normally piercing eyes pointed at vacant space – he is not looking at you at all. “Protect… please…” he mumbles, as his breathing slows down.
A shadow comes across Mitsuki’s face for an instant before being banished by a brilliant smile. “Ah, I come to Ikei often for treatment. It’s a… gene disease? Sometimes I tend to space out for minutes, or my arms and legs will be unable to move. I also hallucinate things that aren’t there.”
I can't shake off the feeling that Mitsuki is one of the key figures here. She is the only child delivered to a place that has a history of preying on children. She also has a heightened spiritual connection, which separates her from the rest. Could it be that she is a sacrifice to appease the spirits of this place? Could it be that the treatment she receives from the hospital is not a treatment at all, but a preparation for something more sinister?

There is something shady going on with the Shinohara family, and Mitsuki's visits to their hospital make me very suspicious of their motives.

The disappearance from several years ago might have been a test run for what is happening now.

There is also something going on with the number 12. 12 people go missing each year due to rituals. 12 years ago we were at the Kaimei zaibatsu. If my theory is correct, we were 12 then. Mitsuki has turned 12 this year. Could be a coincidence. Could be something else. I am probably reaching with that one.
 
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Ifeex

Augur
Joined
Aug 31, 2013
Messages
189
Interesting. 12 in tarot is The Hanged Man. The main keywords of the card are:
Sacrifice — Letting go — Surrendering — Passivity
Suspension — Acceptance — Renunciation — Patience
New point of view — Contemplation — Inner harmony
Conformism — Non-action — Waiting — Giving up
 

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