[LP CYOA] Spiral

[Nevill]

No, it is pretty clear to me that it was referring to time-space coordinates, we have established that back during the first night.

What I don't get is the second part of the note. "Check background for ritual?"

Were we the one writing this note? Was it addressed to us? Or did the writer imply it isn't the first time we are involved in something like this? Mori said as much.

I don't know, the spiritual part of the LP went completely over my head. I don't understand what is going on.

Edit: as for the coded message in the ritual - perhaps. It is quite possible the chant should not be taken literally, and that it describes in riddles how to leave this place. But I don't think we can crack this puzzle just yet.

 

[Kz3r0]

Someone is taking the ritual quite literally:

Dance, Witch
The fourth night falls
Cast off your breasts for the Maiden
So that she might nurse her beloved

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

edit: ak. I was just going to post that.
Well, one thing is for sure, someone takes this literally. This is the fourth night and breasts have been offered up - and not in a good way, either.

Also, add to all this the fact that Taketatsu said that we had told him to kill Maeda back at the end of the first night.

“Careful, Shinoseki Adachi-san. Just wait. After I take care of this woman we’ll be free. You promised me that we would.”

Speaking of that first night:
Uehara's eyes
Kayano's guts
Maeda's blood
Mitsuki's skin
Taketatsu's mind?
Our soul?

 

[Rex Feral]

A
A3

 

[Nevill]

Well, one thing is for sure, someone takes this literally.

Yeah, I noticed that the nights in the ritual may coincide with ours, but I can't link the eyes, the voice and the mind to what happened to us earlier.

I think whoever is doing this - if that is what is happening - is misrepresenting the true nature of the ritual. This place is malicious and twisted, it would not surprise me if it twisted the meaning of the chant as well.

Also, add to the fact that Takaetsu said that we had told him to kill Maeda back at the end of the first night.

I guess that was the old man? Isn't he the one directing Taketatsu? But why pretend to be us?

I have a lingering suspicion that he might be our grandfather and the director of the hospital. The way he talked down to us was as if he knew us rather well. I just don't know what to think about it. But I suspect it might clear up if we learn more about Taketatsu's plot.

Speaking of that first night:
Uehara's eyes
Kayano's guts
Maeda's blood
Mitsuki's skin

No one took Uehara's eyes in particular - the whole upper part of her skull was ruined.
Maeda wasn't the only one whose blood was taken from her - the Doc, the Nurse and the Detective all bled out on us.
And there were bodies that did not look like anything was taken from them. Like Sakaki - his neck was broken, but that's it.

Besides, isn't Mitsuki a sacrifice (as in, the final victim)?

If someone tried to take a body part from each of the people present, they were doing a lousy job at it. I don't think these deaths were related to the chant.

 

[Kz3r0]

Speaking of that first night:
Uehara's eyes
Kayano's guts
Maeda's blood
Mitsuki's skin

No one took Uehara's eyes in particular - the whole upper part of her skull was ruined.
Maeda wasn't the only one whose blood was taken from her - the Doc, the Nurse and the Detective all bled out on us.
And there were bodies that did not look like anything was taken from them. Like Sakaki - his neck was broken, but that's it.

Besides, isn't Mitsuki a sacrifice (as in, the final victim)?

If someone tried to take a body part from each of the people present, they were doing a lousy job at it. I don't think these deaths were related to the chant.

Or maybe someone is trying to replicate the ritual and failing.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Uehara's skull may have been crushed, but that would only hide the fact that her eyes were taken, it doesn't mean they weren't.

Besides, isn't Mitsuki a sacrifice (as in, the final victim)?

I think all the people here are sacrifices. And I think that it's an awfully large coincidence that the ghost thing chose to wear her skin.

As Kz3r0 just said, they could be failing. We could all be doomed to repeat this over and over until each sacrifice is successfully made.

Btw, flopping to my first vote to 1A.
updated my first post

 

[Grimgravy]

Didn't we shoot someone in the eye on night one?

 

[Grimgravy]

BC> AA3

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Uehara had HAZEL eyes...and so did the ghost. Hmm.

You notice that her irises are an unusual shade of hazel.

Bone white fingers reach out for you, wriggling and contorting. Unable to move or even make a sound, you can only stare back in horror as the tips of those squirming, spindly digits contact the sides of your cheeks and dig in. You can feel the strange bruise marking your body swirling excitedly like a live beast anticipating food. Excruciating pain shoots through your entire body, as if countless roots are piercing and infiltrating every muscle, every nerve, every cell you have within you. Slowly, the fingers pull you in until you are almost nose to nose with her, staring into her hazel eyes.

There is a glint of… mischief? Cruelty? Longing?

 

[Kz3r0]

Hmm, seems that the ritual will reicarnate the pool ghost, in this case we are the lover that the maiden will strangle.

 

[Nevill]

And if we go by the whimpering noises, Amanozaki had her voice taken:

Though the rational part of your mind attempts to patiently explain the noise away, the hoarse, hissing rattle begins to unnerve you as you sit in the dark by yourself; you imagine that this is what it would sound like if someone were trying to cry out with her throat cut.

There may be something in what you are saying... but the murders don't follow the right order. Wasn't Amanozaki killed first?

Then again, we suspected that Uehara was already dead by the time we got there.

Damn it, these time paradoxes make my brain hurt.

Hmm, seems that the ritual will reicarnate the pool ghost, in this case we are the lover that the maiden will strangle.

But the pool ghost abandoned the idea we were her lover (?) the moment her head cleared during the third night, and Mitsuki was still sacrificed in the end.

Anyway, why the pool ghost? What points at her being the Maiden?

And more importantly, who would even want to bring her back from the dead?

Amanozaki also said something that the ghost could have been a man. Eh.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

I agree that the pool ghost probably isn't the maiden in question. Just like she isn't the fat man or any of the others. I also think that it is interesting that we haven't seen any ghosts so far tonight. The pale face we just saw aside, all we've seen so far have been zombies. Could things be changing as each of the gates are opened?


edit:

And I STILL feel like we are missing some message hidden in the ritual.

 

[GreyViper]

A.A4

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

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.

 

[Kipeci]

BB for me. Seeing the dead folks will probably help us stay away from them or something.

 

[Jester]

B
A3

 

[Tigranes]

Hmm, seems that the ritual will reicarnate the pool ghost, in this case we are the lover that the maiden will strangle.

And I suppose, whatever the ritual does, the dangerous folks seem to be working hard to fulfil the ritual, so we shouldn't?

 

[Kz3r0]

Hmm, seems that the ritual will reicarnate the pool ghost, in this case we are the lover that the maiden will strangle.

And I suppose, whatever the ritual does, the dangerous folks seem to be working hard to fulfil the ritual, so we shouldn't?

Well, the ritual entails twelve sacrifices, even if we decide to go full evil we are the only candidate for the role of the strangled lover, hence is against our best interests to permit the completion of the ritual.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Not to mention that the Codex has nowhere near the balls it'd take to cut out Uehara's eyes or skin Mitsuki alive. Might as well keep playing with the goal of learning more about the ritual so we can find out how to stop it - or at least survive it.

 

[Kz3r0]

Not to mention that the Codex has nowhere near the balls it'd take to cut out Uehara's eyes or skin Mitsuki alive. Might as well keep playing with the goal of learning more about the ritual so we can find out how to stop it - or at least survive it.

Actually has been heavely hinted that our character is the mastermind of this whole charade, also, in the previous updates has been suggested that the traditional version of the ritual can be flawed or wrong, for example this was mentioned in the letter Amazonaki received.
Going full paranoid is conceivable that our character fooled not only the twelve persons convened here but also the Old Man, now the problem is, how to discover what the real titual does and how is performed.
Quite a difficult task considering that we are trying to go against not only the Old Man but also our own character evil schemes.

 

[TOME]

AA3.

Now we are getting somewhere. If only I had more time to read the updates more thoroughly.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Going full paranoid is conceivable that our character fooled not only the twelve persons convened here but also the Old Man, now the problem is, how to discover what the real ritual does and how is performed.

Maybe. Or maybe the real ritual is exactly what we are seeing and the fake one is the one where you walk around the tree in a circle around the tree chanting.

Urban Legends #12

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

[The rest of the page is torn off]

As you can see, the urban legend mentioned singing, whereas the real(?) ritual is quite a bit more involved.

Not saying you are wrong though. It's certainly possible. I do think it was us that told Takaetsu about it - and I think we did so before these nights began.

 

[treave]

Journalist's Notes #4

***

Spoiler

The Sacred Tree.

It is an ancient cherry blossom that predates the Ikei and Kaimei hospitals, the war-time ward, and even the Sakaguchi mansion. There are few still living here who remember the old tales, but I have discovered that this tree used to be worshipped as a gatekeeper to the underworld by the locals. Their unique beliefs regarding the dead have been well-documented elsewhere, and there have been interesting rumours suggesting that this tree, the Juunimon, as they call it, may have actually influenced the arrangement of the Twelve Gates of the old Heian palace.

But that is neither here nor there… it is a tale for another time. Moving on, the Juunimon plays a central role in the distinctive mythology of the village that used to stand here, and it is said that a particular ritual can be performed here to reveal the realm of the dead to a believer: 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. I have transcribed the chant here:

Dance, Witch
The first night falls
Cast off your eyes for the Maiden
So that she might see her beloved

Dance, Witch
The second night falls
Cast off your voice for the Maiden
So that she might sing to her beloved

Dance, Witch
The third night falls
Cast off your mind for the Maiden
So that she might recall her beloved

Dance, Witch
The fourth night falls
Cast off your breasts for the Maiden
So that she might nurse her beloved

Dance, Witch
The fifth night falls
Cast off your heart for the Maiden
So that she might feel for her beloved

Dance, Witch
The sixth night falls
Cast off your guts for the Maiden
So that she might be nourished by her beloved

Dance, Witch
The seventh night falls
Cast off your skin for the Maiden
So that she might savour her beloved’s touch

Dance, Witch
The eighth night falls
Cast off your womb for the Maiden
So that she might bear her beloved’s child

Dance, Witch
The ninth night falls
Cast off your legs for the Maiden
So that she might chase her beloved

Dance, Witch
The tenth night falls
Cast off your hair for the Maiden
So that she might strangle her beloved

Dance, Witch
The eleventh night falls
Cast off your blood for the Maiden
So that she might feel warmth in her beloved’s cold arms

Dance, O pitiable Witch
Dance, O miserable Witch
The twelfth night falls
The sacrifice is due
Cast off your soul and open the twelve gates
For the Maiden’s return to the world

The Juunimon’s role as a gatekeeper is also said to encompass the physical world: to that end, villagers often prayed to it for safe journey out of the village. They would make an offering of their own blood, though the (locally) famous story of Iku and her tears seems to indicate that other bodily fluids may suffice.

I wonder what will happen if I perform the ritual? Will it allow me to escape this hospital?

-Hidetaka Matsui

***

There is something scribbled on the back of the paper:

urban legend of the omori crossroads bears some resemblance to this ritual. corrupted simplification?

 

[treave]

Hmm.

treave, Juu-nimon and Juu-zo, is there a connection, or are the kanji different?

Juu-nimon just means twelve gates

Yup.

And I STILL feel like we are missing some message hidden in the ritual.

Having context from the superstitions and beliefs related to the rituals would probably help, but you'll need to either find more notes or question Sakaki for that.

***

Current tally:

A - 5
B - 5

B - 1
A3 - 4
A4 - 3
C - 2