[Room #1]

[dramatispersonae]

You find yourselves in a large, square Japanese-style room. It was likely lovely once, but time and neglect have taken their toll. The screens are crooked and the tatami of the floor has come unwoven in places. The scent of incense hangs in the air, but it does little to mask the pervasive odor of decay. Flickering candles of different heights ring the outskirts of the room, causing your shadows (they are your shadows, certainly?) to dance.

A curtain covers something bulky against one wall. Silk cushions in your team's color have been placed on the floor in front of the curtain, around a makeshift table that looks like it began life as a box of drawers. It's a flat surface, anyway.

The Masked Lady's voice seems to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, echoing in your ears and down your spine.

"Central to any scary story are two things: an injustice, and a monster created by that injustice, wouldn't you agree? Otherwise it wouldn't be scary. So, children, tell me about your monster, and how she came to be."

Comments

✿ PART ONE

[dramatispersonae]

"Choose a monster."

The curtain doesn't rise -- it falls, as though the hangings simply cannot support the fabric any longer. It hits the floor with a thwump and a cloud of dust rises.

The dust settles quickly, though, and in any case, it's not enough to conceal the small tiered doll stand that the curtain revealed. The red cloth is faded and stained, and the top level is concealed behind a semi-circle of folding screens. On the lower level, three dolls stand. All are somewhat weathered but still lovely ichimatsu dolls.

The one on the right wears a white kimono with a red obi and necklace of beads.

The one in the middle wears a light blue kimono with a dark blue obi and wears a decorative comb in her hair.

The one the right wears a red kimono with a black obi and holds a small mirror in her hands.

DISCUSSION

[kegare]

Re: DISCUSSION

[engager]

Are we choosing one of those dolls or... are we making up their details...?

Re: DISCUSSION

[fullmoonblooms]

I think we're choosing the doll. She said a monster is created by an injustice, so the details are probably another round.

Re: DISCUSSION

[engager]

They all look so similar...

Re: DISCUSSION

[fullmoonblooms]

I wonder if that's part of the point...I don't remember reading any stories that start like this, though I know there were stories of haunted dolls before.

Re: DISCUSSION

[adropintheocean]

[puffs his cheeks out briefly]

She has to be a monster, now . . .?

Re: DISCUSSION

[hushabyte]

They don't look like monsters at all...

[ fidgeting a little ]

Re: DISCUSSION

[adropintheocean]

No, they look like girls. So does the Persona . . .

[perhaps spending a lot of my formative Aather time with you and YOUR mask has sort of skewed my viewpoints on these things, Clear]

Re: DISCUSSION

[hushabyte]

[ FUNNY HOW THAT WORKED ]

They seem very pretty. And even if they didn't, would they not still be girls? Do monsters exist at all?

Re: DISCUSSION

[fullmoonblooms]

It sounds like she'll become a monster, if we're meant to choose an injustice later.

Re: DISCUSSION

[adropintheocean]

I wonder what the purpose is, though.

Re: DISCUSSION

[fullmoonblooms]

The game seems to be about making a scary story with a monster that used to be a girl...It might be the start of a ghost story?

Re: DISCUSSION

[ahorseforgood]

[laying heavily on the floor, still spent; not even able to muster up MageSight to examine the dolls more closely.]

. . . I feel that the colors and objects they carry have some significance, but I can't imagine what it is.

Re: DISCUSSION

[adropintheocean]

I'm not familiar with the symbolism.

Re: DISCUSSION

[ahorseforgood]

Nor I... I suppose we could assign our own...

Re: DISCUSSION

[adropintheocean]

[sighs]

Well. Why not. We're all right at that.

Re: DISCUSSION

[hushabyte]

Ah, what about the mirror...

Re: DISCUSSION

[ahorseforgood]

. . . to see a reflection in? What do you think, Clear?

Re: DISCUSSION

[hushabyte]

I just thought, it would be better for her to know what that looks like? Imagining things could make it so much worse.

Re: DISCUSSION

[engager]

Ah... I'd be fine with that...

Re: DISCUSSION

[fullmoonblooms]

I feel the same too. I think the colors will be hard to pick, but we can probably make guesses for the beads, comb and mirror.

Re: DISCUSSION

[ahorseforgood]

. . . Clear thinks that she should be able to see her face, if this is her story.

ANSWER

[kegare]

Re: ANSWER

[ahorseforgood]

We will choose the doll with the mirror... if she is meant to be a monster, she should be allowed to see it clearly for herself, and make her own judgment. The truth is often more complicated than a ghost story.

And if you are changed by a story... at least you should know what is happening to you.