GrammerPoliseCheifTales

Revenge. Vengeance. Justice. Closure. Bloodlust. A band of unlikely Yokai have come together in the wake of the Massacre at Kyoto, unified by one goal: To destroy the False Eye of Amaterasu that signaled the doom of their kin during that night of unbridled slaughter. A quest into the heart of the para-genocidal Ground-Ops Division of Project Blue Book that many will not survive.

The players are introduced, found, kidnapped or extorted into play.

-Ietaru, a male Zenko (shrine) Kitsune whose Yako (field) brother chose not to heed Mishio's hysterical warnings. Said brother was flayed alive during the Massacre, his 4 tails torn off before he was brutally executed. This surviving sibling is haunted by nightmares of his brother suffering in a "cloudless void of black, yet light" and wants to retrieve the taxidermied tails (the only remnants of his brother) for proper burial and closure.

-Megumi, a Kejorou (long prehensile hair) girl who was dragged into the Hyakki Yakko with her gaggle of sisters for a night of fun and havoc-making with the humans, only to later be crying and screaming, shell-shocked in a crater of gore that was the corpses of her sisters. She was rescued by a team of RPC interceptors who raided the captive area where surviving Yokai were being corraled before becoming the victims of a particularly unhinged professor's scalpels, and in her hysterical grief she dropped the severed arm of one of her sisters that she so dearly clung onto. Heavily traumatized, initially one of the "Traumatized Spirits" in Wave 2 where all she can do is cry, cower, assault researchers with her hair, and alternate between huddling in a corner or trying to escape. When The Wounding (Tengu raid and massacre) happens, she's one of the escapees from Site-089 who then breaks off and eventually comes into this group. By this moment she's little more than a hollow burnt-out puppet that the leader then gets pulled everywhere like a puppet on strings, her base humanoid nature exploited to make her an infiltrator.

-Nonoki, A Tanuki grandfather who lost his entire family and bloodline in the carnage. Has lost all sense of joviality and become bitter and ruthless. The leader of this group, sees his - and the life of the others who join it - as forfeit. Has turned into a monster hell-bent on killing all the humans who participated in the massacre.

-An evil Yokai who didn't lose anything, but joined because it simply sees Blue Book humans as worthy prey to slaughter. Still not quite decided on what species to make this one.

Mishio temporarily joins the group in a "I scratch your back, you scratch mine" arrangement; she helps get them into Blue Book, they help her rescue a girl who previously saved her life (See: A Trip to Tokyo, still in draft). She does not hesitate to darkly remind that she warned against the Hyakki Yakko.

"I won't let you hurt the professor." <aiming pistol in shaking hands> "I won't!"

"So what if he's a half-robot weirdo who has voices in his head, likes to dance suddenly or-or any of the other stuff that he does?! He's actually taking care of us. He's looking after us. He says he wants to experiment on us, but all he ever does is a few X-rays, a few jabs, a few measurements! And look at me. Look at my body. My scales are disappearing! I'm slowly turning back into a human! I'll be able to go back to my parents in a few more months!"

"And why would you want to save that girl anyway? She lied to us all! She said there was no cure! She wanted us to join her little doomsday cult instead, turn into bigger freaks!"

"She was not lying at the time! She said what she said because she knew no other alternatives! I'm sure, had she been found by this professor instead, she would have been in a better place since long ago! She's not beyond saving, and she proved it by saving my own life! So just let me through, let me take her away to find a way to help her… I promise, I have no vendetta towards that madman…"

"…I'm afraid that you will, once you've seen what he's done to her…"

"Why? What…" Mishio froze. "What did he to do her!?"

"Through the power of cerebro digi-infusions, we have revolutionized our capability in accelerated of personnel! To demonstrate this power, we have taken this captive member of the Church of Malthus, and are infusing her brain with footage of her comrades' deaths, playing to the speed of 3 million playbacks per hour!"

Mishio froze. What?

"It is estimated that subject will experience total, irreversible cerebral remodeling after six full months of continuous playbacks! 100%!"

It had been two months.

"What happened to meeeee, where am Iiiiii, what is-what is thisssssssssss-"

"The professor, he's having a blowout!"

"Where is, where is my brotherrrrr, where is Minoruuuuuuu, save me, save me, anikiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieiiiieieiiiiieieieieieeeiiiii-"

BOOM! Smoke slowly comes out the professor's cybernetic skull, and he gently bends over like some sort of broken-down robot as his internal gyroscopics fail.

"Sigh. Someone get a technician down here."

In the last desperate attempt to destroy the Blue Book satellite from within while alarms are raised, Yokai infiltrators are being massacred left and right or going down in last stands. And as for the Tanuki who attempted to to manipulate the satellite's trajectory, only to get faced down by the Satellite's commander…

"Now you see… The thing about animals is, they have the grace to recognize their place in the natural order of the world. Also, the dignity to accept it."

"But you're not an animal, are you? You're an extranormal spirit. A filthy mimic, who thinks it can walk like a human, talk like a human, act like a human, think like a human… And the moment there's enough of your kind, you inevitably get uppity about thinking how superior you are to humanity. Of how your lot should be above us in the natural order of the world."

"That's why Blue Book exists. We're not just going to cull your kind, oh no. We'll erase every trace of your existence! Ensure you miserable freaks never rise to threaten humanity!"

"Mimicking a Shaolin monk? Your flimsy techniques are nothing before systema spetznaz! And look at that! A few blows and you're stripped of your human disguise. It's almost poetic, isn't it? For you to die in your true form, within the pinnacle of mankind's might!"

"You lost your chance to overthrow us centuries ago! Never again will we be threatened by your kind!"

stomps hard enough to snap the Tanuki's spine, paralyzing him

around this time the artificial gravity is destroyed, casting the satellite's interior into disarray

"What your other fellow spirits have done is just an inconvenience. I've wasted enough time with you." He pulls out a gun and blows chunks off of the Tanuki, sending the dying raccoon propelled across the command chamber.

"Unfortunate our doctors won't have the chance to cut you apart while you still live, but I suppose your friends can make up for that. Any last words?" as the Tanuki hits the control console

One final dying look of defiance, a spiteful glare.

"Remember Kyoto."

Shapeshifts his remaining hand into the commander's and initiates the hand scan override (the panel being sealed earlier right before the confrontation, but being broken and exposed by stray gunshots) to cause a manual thruster maneuver, at the angle that the satellite had been prior manipulated towards - directly towards Earth.

The satellite burns apart. From his forest clearing the Coordinator-King of the Tanuki circuses looks up in the dawning sky, witnessing the stellar fireworks promised by the elderly Tanuki.

"So you couldn't let go of your loved ones, after all… Thank you for the magnificent sight."

He raises a drink in a mournful toast, knowing the elderly was in that satellite.

The end of TBAG acts a massive black eye to Blue Book, while the Yokai look on to the falling star and see hope that they may yet retaliate against such a monster, against such unstoppable odds.

A few souls escape a fiery death through the escape capsules - while I want to leave the survival of most of the yokai/personnel ambiguous (aside from hinting that the Kitsune got his brother's tails and may have escaped) - one I DO want to show is the Kejorou's fate; she somehow gets into an escape pod - either because she finds the strength of will to survive, or because a Blue Book personnel (who she might have befriended, even while disguised) harboring second thoughts (or didn't know she was an Unusual) pushed her into it.

She lands in America. Somewhere between Arizona and Utah.

She slowly trudges under the afternoon sun, her hair writhing under and curling under the heat. Kind samatarians in the middle of their pilgrimage trail stop by and offer her a ride to the nearest town, and she's gradually told as the journey goes on how everything happens for a reason, how loss can be turned around (they can see she's clearly lost someone(s) dear to her but don't push too deeply HOW she lost said dear people), how to move on and perhaps start a better life with a new perspective.

Kejorou are sort of like prostitutes (in fact that's what their name literally means - "Hairy Prostitute") - they're always seen as courtesans of high-ranking yokai, or they very commonly inhabit red light districts as prostitutes or whatnot. This Kejorou belonged to a family who wasn't so different, who only thought about plucking power and knowledge from the whispers and gossip of both humans and yokai… But after everything that happened to this poor soul - the loss of her siblings because of their desire for vice, the humans who either wanted her dead or protected, both who live and die just the same, and the deaths of so many more who wanted justice/revenge/closure…

She trades her species' natural habitat of red light districts for the cloisters of a church, trades the tight and constricting culture of Japan for the looser and more independent one of America, and settles down as a quiet nun in a church, baptized under a new name.

Perhaps the RPC finally manage to track her down, initially keen to get her back to a rebuilt Site-089 back in Japan to resume her psychiatric therapy for the PTSD she gained during the Massacre at Kyoto so many months ago. Perhaps they see she's managed to rehabilitate herself by the beliefs and support of this Western religion. Perhaps… Perhaps it makes sense to honour her decision to never go back to Japan. Perhaps she may get a letter of well-wishes from her mother. Perhaps, perhaps.

Spoiler epilogue

It is revealed in an encrypted exchange that the satellite's destruction was not only expected, but was planned to be done anyways by PBB's higher ups as a purge of the increasingly belligerent/aggressive pro-violence command personnel, not least the General himself. That sudden spike from a slow crawl towards an instant 100% code theft of the space travel access codes into the USB-plug Authority data-grabber? That was the real Blue Book's doing, without Mishio ever realizing it.

The fact that the satellite was instead destroyed by an infiltration of "Extranormals" seeking retaliation for the "Kyoto Offensive" (which was seen as "acceptable, if a little excessive") is convenient, as this means survivors will instead blame the Unusuals and won't turn against PBB, which they could have had the satellite been purged according to original plans. With the general and his lackeys gone, stragglers will be swiftly deconditioned and absorbed back into BB's conventional ranks.

"Let them hate us, let them see this as a win. It means nothing to us in the long run… we have loftier goals to focus on"

Then in a chilling final passage, it is revealed that the satellite's loss was absolutely negligible to Blue Book, and in fact a new and bigger killer-satellite has just finished prepping for launch and deployment. Revealing how inconsequential everybody's struggles were in the end and how Blue Book played everyone out and walked off the biggest winner in the end.

From young, Tengu are raised to be ruthless cheaters and manipulators.

Tengu culture places an absolute emphasis on attaining victory in the most pragmatic and practical manner that costs as little resources as possible to achieve. "Honor" is synonymous with "idiocy" in the Tengu's lexicon. This includes killing your superiors to advance in standing - after all, it's their fault for not being careful enough.

To ensure the Tengu do NOT fall prey to their own brand of "idiocy" by uncontrollably backstabbing each other into a disorganized mess, the Code of Black Feathers enforces a sense of communal unity during times of war and conquest. Dependent upon the weight of their merits, this nets competent superiors a degree of protection and subjects traitorous punch-uppers to horrible punishments for possibly setting the collective clan/race backwards in times of conflict.

For the Tengu, there is no fate worse than death than being "earth-bound" - having one's wings damaged immediately makes one go into seclusion until the wings have healed enough to take flight once more. Losing wings outright puts a Tengu into an "untouchable" caste, no longer seen as Tengu by the rest of its peers.

The Northern Tengu clans from Hokkaido aren't as evil as the traditional ones and employ a more isolationist culture that prefers actively avoiding humans and other Yokai - but will assault and might even kill strayers into their territory, accidental or not.

"Good" Tengu or those who reject the ruthless Machiavellianism of their general culture may exist, but are extraordinarily rare and are either forced to blend in to survive, or are hermits to the extreme. Such views are not tolerated by wider Tengu society and anyone revealed as such will be harried, mocked and ostracized to no end.

Humans are generally regarded as little more than pets, servants, labor slaves, sex slaves, food, animals, guinea pigs, livestock and hunting game. Yokai who love or co-exist with humans (Jorōgumo, Kitsune, Bakeneko respectively) are barely seen as better. Most other Yōkai besides those are regarded with contempt and seen as lower than the Tengu. The sentiment is shared, with the general Yōkai community regarding Tengu as violent gangsters who are not to be trusted - fears that were validated when the honorable-yet-fearsome Ōkami were wiped out by the Tengu in an act of treachery most foul.

Alliances with other Yōkai are usually done so as matters of convenience, or that the Tengu have something to gain from it… Or because said Yōkai species (Oni) are easily manipulated. Such alliances usually end poorly for the other side.

Fūjin, god of wind, is either paid lip service to or venerated as the father of the Tengu. They care little for the others, but an occasional few may also pay respects to Tengu-fied versions of Hachiman (war) and Raijin (storms).

Tengu names are determined first as a personal name, followed by the name of the mountain the Tengu was born upon. A single mountain can host multiple clans who generally hold scorn for each other, aiming to conquer and absorb the others until a mountain is ruled by a single clan. Such a monopoly rarely lasts for long as backstabbing and politicking increases the larger a clan grows, ensuring a mono-ruled mountain inevitably fragments into several warring tribes once more.

Tengu who aren't born on a mountain identify by the next closest landmark, whether it be civilization or some other natural feature. These Tengu are usually the children of exiles, or born during traveling expeditions and war marches. Either way, they are generally regarded as second class citizens, and looked down upon.

The Tengu have a strict cultural taboo against striking one another's wings, moreso if the aim of the blow was to deliberately "earth-bound" the target. They view it as the lowest of low blows and most dishonourable of acts, which is ironic given theirs being a race of dishonour and cruelty.

Tengu have the dubious distinction of being the only Yōkai race to NOT have a permanent foothold in the Nightlands, the home dimension of the Yōkai. The other Yōkai were so sick of them that they successfully rallied to boot out the Tengu, which is why the Tengu came to establish their dwellings all over Japan's mountains. While Tengu can still visit or live within as residents, they were never allowed to have a communal settlement or even a Grandcastle of their own. Whether they ever did have a Grandcastle to begin with and that it got torn down, though, who can say?

War. Combat. Reject weakness.

Life is short. Enjoy it to the maximum.

Go out with a bang, not a whimper.

Upon meeting another Tsuchigumo, the proper protocol of greeting is to fight.

Traps and deceptions are for the weak and cowardly. Snaring with silk is only to be done as a direct action during combat.

Die well, but remember that discretion is the better part of valour.

Respect the strong no matter the size. Eat the worthy. Honour those who fight fearlessly towards the very end without ever turning their backs.

Tsuchigumo have no Grandcastle within the Nightlands. The closest they have to one is a communal fighting pit, a gaping hole in the ground where the sounds of pummeling and roars can be heard echoing for miles. The Tsuchigumo consider it sacred grounds despite its plain appearance, and it is where these behemoths meet to prove themselves worthy or to prove their innocence/conviction in addressing crimes or perceived honor-slights amongst each other.

As befitting their solitary natures, Tsuchigumo prefer striking out on their own. If a Tsuchigumo does move into a Yokai settlement, it would most likely live in the darker parts with fellow grim Yokai where curses and human flesh can be bought and traded as daily commodities.

Tsuchigumo are masters of earth and metalworks. They can pound and shape rock, dirt and crude ore into workable tools in mere moments, and the masters are extremely durable and immovable as long as they remain in contact with the ground. The better the metal (such as scrap from destroyed military vehicles), the much more exponential the rise in the tool's quality (crude appearances aside).

Human witnesses of Tsuchigumo duels would go on to be inspired to create Sumo wrestling. It is also possible that long ago when the dusk gates extended beyond Japan and the supernatural community was capable of international exchanges, a wandering Tsuchigumo fighter may have inspired the Ancient Grecian legends of Antaeus. If true, then it is also just as possible that the ancient hero Heracles slew him by lifting him in the air and crushing him to death, as the stories go.

There are no bad Kitsune whatsoever. The evil and neutral ones fled Japan long ago when Inari descended with His edicts, becoming the Kumiho and Huli Jing of Korea and China respectively. They have all been wiped out, only leaving behind the Kitsune.

Zenko Kitsune are benevolent shrine dwellers who bless and assist the worthy who pay respects before their shrines. Yako Kitsune are active punishers of human ills and malice, and defenders of the weak and the unprotected. Because of this, human misconception has portrayed Yakos as the evil counterpart to the Zenkos, despite that not being the case.

As part of their shrine binding, Zenko Kitsune are infused with an ember of Inari's flame, acquiring pyromantic powers in the process. Yako Kitsune do not gain this boon, but in exchange have total freedom to explore and roam Japan as they please, coming up with their own tricks and specialties and becoming more unpredictable to counter against.

A Zenko who severs a tie to a shrine without a suitable replacement suffers a penalty to all of its powers; both the flame and its innate abilities. On the other hand, a Zenko whose shrine was demolished against its will, and who actively resisted said shrine's destruction is not penalized - but will be required to find or establish a new shrine in order to continue blessing.

Zenkos ARE capable of leaving their shrine to go on pilgrimages or temporary journeys. There is a certain ritual/process behind it (as well as a certain minimum service rank being required to qualify), although Shiomi has completely forgotten how to do it in her two centuries of loneliness and despair (let alone not having qualified at the time).

Human superstition and folklore claim that Kitsune tails split once every century. This can't be further from the truth. Kitsune tails split on certain special milestones being met. This is easy to achieve at first, but the difficulty ramps up exponentially past the 4-tails mark. Most Kitsune who live casual and easygoing lives don't ever go past 3 or 4 tails. 5-tailed Kitsune are regarded with respect. 6-tails begins to see the Kitsune requested to be placed in a role of importance. 7-tails is seen as a mark of great wisdom or experience.

8-tailed Kitsune are regarded as prominent figures and are revered as borderline-royalty. Some say that one who achieves the 8th tail is now actively watched over by Inari. Others say that it IS Inari himself who ordains and grants the 8th tail. The 8th tail is commemorated by a title that is tied to its creation.

Contrary to popular modern-day human depictions, 9-tailed Kitsune have never been seen. They are regarded by the common Kitsune much as we humans would regard mythical figures such as King Arthur. Loose anecdotes say the last 9-tailed Kitsune was seen prior to the turn of the first millenium, and are little more than hazy memories and myth. Kitsune conjectures claim that Inari personally descends to claim each Kitsune who achieves the 9th tail. Others say that Inari IS, and will only ever be the only 9-tailed Kitsune.

Kitsune lovers aren't so quick to flee/desert their human spouses upon their "shameful secret" being discovered, contrary to ancient Japanese folklore.

There were Kitsune who actually went on to openly serve humans! Keizōbō Is one notable instance.

Tamamo-No-Mae is easily the greatest taboo name to not speak among the Kitsune. A filthy outsider born in China who whored her way into power across India, China and Japan's royal courts in order to sow chaos, war and disorder across human lands for her own personal pleasure. Allegedly the only non-sanctioned fox who attained the mythical nine-tailed status, to the eternal shame of the Kitsune. It took a joint effort between both Kitsune and humans (who never knew of the Kitsune's assistance) to put her down for good.

Kitsune do not have a Grandcastle within the Nightlands, but rather a Grandshrine to Inari. A massive statue of Him can be seen for miles to mark its location, and it is where the highest priests converge or dwell to commune with Inari, its own personal attendants sworn to never divulge the secrets of the shrine.

Jorogumo are NOT man-eaters. They value their spouses dearly. They carefully pick those who would not be revolted at their arachnid features, as well as being capable of managing the children, human affairs, and also running interference on concealing their otherworldy nature. The "meat-eating spider succubi" image was due to human superstition conflating them along with two other spider yokai species who DO eat humans; Ushi-Oni and Tsuchigumo.

Jorogumo follow a strict conservative upbringing, and their teachings were repurposed by humans into the trope of the Japanese ideals of the "ultimate wife" - the "Yamato Nadeshiko".

The more militant sect of Jorogumo operate on a very stealth-based modus operandi and use their innate arachnid skills to great effect, and wound up inspiring the myth of the Kunoichi.

Jorogumo are very isolated individuals who generally keep a large distance from each other in order to avoid drawing attention to their actions. They refer to each other's "territories" as "webs".

Jorogumo are master craftswomen who are capable of producing many fine goods with their silk; music instrument strings, tapestries, clothing… Some even attempt to divine fortune and fate by reading the lines of their silk.

The queen of the Jorogumo has the title of Weaver-Mother; it is she who ensures the wellbeing of her daughters. She lives in a Grandcastle in the Nightlands - a disassembled manor, chunks of it suspended in the air and held together with massive bridges of webs.

The Jorogumo are split into several clans who in turn answer to the Weaver-Mother, each focused around specific niches:

The Jorogumo of the Shivering Strands are masters in data collection, surveillance and blackmail. Little passes through their ever-refining nets without notice, and they are adapting their methods to modern technology. While most of it is kept tightly under wraps, they have proven themselves willing to barter what they know with outsiders of good standing, for a price.

The Jorogumo of the Bladed Web are among the most dangerous of Kunoichi, and it takes a very displeased Weaver-Mother to personally dispatch these killers against anyone who incurred her wrath. When the anomalous trafficking crime syndicate Kabushiki Kawaii carjacked a busload of Jorogumo tourists to harvest their DNA for their lab projects in creating spider-themed "produce", the holding facility would later be found empty of their spidery captives, the captors all drawn, quartered, garroted, decapitated and dismembered into numerous pieces. (To rub salt in the wounds, a promotional flyer was left behind advertising the Jorogumo's courtesanal services showing the Joros were still willing to service out to KK - with a little scrawled not-so-friendly reminder for KK to NOT attempt churning out their own "knock-offs")

A third clan/branch themed around mysticism and fate-reading. Not quite sure about the name though. Fortune Spinners?

A fourth clan/branch themed around poisoning, drugs and manipulation. These Jorogumos insert themselves into hierachies of power as courtesans and charm targets into making the desired decisions/actions. They are updating their arsenal to include modern day hypnotics, drugs and foreign anomalous reagents.

An unaffiliated clan/branch for civilians and young girls who have yet to grow a fully functional set of spinnerets.

The name "Jorogumo" literally translates to "Whore(Joro) Spider(Gumo)". The origin of this name may have come from a botched marriage where the husband discovers his wife was a spider who kept it a secret all along, called her that, and it stuck. Some Jorogumos willingly refer to themselves as such out of a sense of identity, others prefer a more respectful term of "Gumo-Onna" (spider-woman). "Jorogumo ja nai! Gumoonna da."

Post-release, a LOT of Jorogumos will be seen dressed in Mofukus - black mourning kimonos. As it turns out, their vanishing left behind all the human men stranded within the Grandcastle. Unable to escape, these servants and husbands gradually died as age took them one by one, waiting for wives that would never return. The very last man of the castle became a gravekeeper. Some Jorogumo widows make the uneasy path to begin looking for a new husband, some choose to remain widows for extended periods of time.

WIP TALE MOVED TO http://rpcsandbox.wikidot.com/hyakkiyakko

page revision: 560, last edited: 06 Apr 2022 08:50

Edit Tags Discuss History Files Print Site tools + Options

RPC Authority Sandbox

Sandbox for the RPC Authority