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[LP CYOA] Spiral
- Thread starter treave
- Start date
Nevill
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
- Messages
- 11,211
Fine, I guess.
I do not think these charms have protective power - if anything, it is the opposite, so I don't want to give it away to anyone else. I do not want to open up an amulet before others, not only because messing with spiritual things without knowledge is bad, but also because it is both a big deal and a personal matter to Uehara. Involving others in any way just seems wrong.
To me it leaves three choices - give it away, press her for information, and put it back down.
Normally, I would have given it on a condition that she told me what is the deal with it, but it does not look right to force a confession in these circumstances. If we keep her alive and earn her trust the old-fashioned way, eventually she should tell us this of her own volition.
Give it to her, I say, but don't let her out of sight so that she does not become a bag of meat again. Something about these amulets is unsettling.
A.
Something else to consider. Does Uehara come from a family of mikos? Amanozaki mentioned earlier that the amulets from that shrine are hard to come by, and the girl initially claimed that it was a 'gift' from a 'friend', but now after being pressed into divulging information, she says that it is a family heirloom (or at least their property), which makes more sense. Her antagonistic stance to the supernatural (and to Amanozaki in particular) might be due to family issues. Interesting.
I do not think these charms have protective power - if anything, it is the opposite, so I don't want to give it away to anyone else. I do not want to open up an amulet before others, not only because messing with spiritual things without knowledge is bad, but also because it is both a big deal and a personal matter to Uehara. Involving others in any way just seems wrong.
To me it leaves three choices - give it away, press her for information, and put it back down.
Normally, I would have given it on a condition that she told me what is the deal with it, but it does not look right to force a confession in these circumstances. If we keep her alive and earn her trust the old-fashioned way, eventually she should tell us this of her own volition.
Give it to her, I say, but don't let her out of sight so that she does not become a bag of meat again. Something about these amulets is unsettling.
A.
Something else to consider. Does Uehara come from a family of mikos? Amanozaki mentioned earlier that the amulets from that shrine are hard to come by, and the girl initially claimed that it was a 'gift' from a 'friend', but now after being pressed into divulging information, she says that it is a family heirloom (or at least their property), which makes more sense. Her antagonistic stance to the supernatural (and to Amanozaki in particular) might be due to family issues. Interesting.
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Nevill
Arcane
- Joined
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- 11,211
Putting the choice aside for now, can we speculate on how does the note tie in with the whole plot for a moment?
Who is in the body bag?
There is this story by Amanozaki.
That kind of ties in with the image of a young girl in love I got in my head from the note that hinted us to search this location, and to the note from a murder perpetrator that we have found here:
The pool looks important here. I have already speculated (not entirely correctly, though) that it was where the nurse have died, starting this whole chain of events. Amanozaki seems to agree that this is where the main culprit is bound:
There is also a matter of some tiles at the bottom of the pool being more fresh than their neighbours, which supports the hypothesis of something being hidden under the pool:
I guess there are two other places to search for clues before we would be able to answer that question.
I somewhat suspect that there might be more to the case than meets the eye. There is a murder and dismemberment of 6 year old Nakayama Sachiko, and there may be others as well. For some reason, I doubt there was a single culprit involved. The paedo-director does not sound like a serial killer. He committed his murder to avoid publicity - of 'necessity', and not because he was into this particular kind of stuff. Could it be that the curse of the hospital runs deeper than we thought, beyond the director and whoever it was that killed Sachiko? If there is something akin to a spiritual possession going on, I can see the murderers being 'victims' to some even greater evil.
treave, can Amanozaki tell us what year was it when the Kaimei Hostpital was burned down? The letter seems to mention Maeda and Shino(hara?), and I am trying to place the events in time to determine their relationships to the people who are currently trapped in here. I am also trying to determine who might be Uehara's relative in question if what she says is indeed true and the amulet we found belongs to someone from her family.
Who is in the body bag?
There is this story by Amanozaki.
So, apparently, there was a nurse who was involved with the director, and she blackmailed him for molesting children.
That kind of ties in with the image of a young girl in love I got in my head from the note that hinted us to search this location, and to the note from a murder perpetrator that we have found here:
The note mentions people from the Kaimei group, so I am fairly convinced that it was written by the late director and 'Shino' refers to someone from the Shinohara family (most likely, Shinohara Juuzo).
The pool looks important here. I have already speculated (not entirely correctly, though) that it was where the nurse have died, starting this whole chain of events. Amanozaki seems to agree that this is where the main culprit is bound:
So the girl was murdered and likely dismembered, and at least a part of her body is buried under the pool, bounding her spirit to it and, to a lesser extent, to the whole hospital.
There is also a matter of some tiles at the bottom of the pool being more fresh than their neighbours, which supports the hypothesis of something being hidden under the pool:
This theory, however, does not explain what caused a fire that have destroyed the hospital. If the body was disposed of, as the note seems to indicate, there would have been no need for arson to burn down the evidence.
I guess there are two other places to search for clues before we would be able to answer that question.
I somewhat suspect that there might be more to the case than meets the eye. There is a murder and dismemberment of 6 year old Nakayama Sachiko, and there may be others as well. For some reason, I doubt there was a single culprit involved. The paedo-director does not sound like a serial killer. He committed his murder to avoid publicity - of 'necessity', and not because he was into this particular kind of stuff. Could it be that the curse of the hospital runs deeper than we thought, beyond the director and whoever it was that killed Sachiko? If there is something akin to a spiritual possession going on, I can see the murderers being 'victims' to some even greater evil.
treave, can Amanozaki tell us what year was it when the Kaimei Hostpital was burned down? The letter seems to mention Maeda and Shino(hara?), and I am trying to place the events in time to determine their relationships to the people who are currently trapped in here. I am also trying to determine who might be Uehara's relative in question if what she says is indeed true and the amulet we found belongs to someone from her family.
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Late seventies, possibly '78 - '79. She doesn't remember the exact date.
Nevill
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
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- 11,211
So... 35 years ago. That's about two generations away from us.
If the nurse left a kid behind, she might very well be Uehara's grandmother.
I can't stop thinking about her death in the first chapter. Why was her amulet in her hand, rather than on her neck? It is almost like she held it in her hands before she died. For what purpose?
Though it is probably useless to overthink things when we are in a hostital that can switch power on and off, lock doors, move corpses around and materialize notes out of thin air. Perhaps the amulet was revealed just so that we would notice it.
If the nurse left a kid behind, she might very well be Uehara's grandmother.
I can't stop thinking about her death in the first chapter. Why was her amulet in her hand, rather than on her neck? It is almost like she held it in her hands before she died. For what purpose?
Though it is probably useless to overthink things when we are in a hostital that can switch power on and off, lock doors, move corpses around and materialize notes out of thin air. Perhaps the amulet was revealed just so that we would notice it.
Elfberserker
Liturgist
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Aaaw, looks like we didn't get the gift that the girl left there...Or did we..
What bother me a bit is that it says fool girl and foolish girl. Is he talking there about one person or two? We appearantly found the nurses body in a locker where a girl had stored her present for her boyfriend, so I am not sure excactly what happened.
Most likely theory is that pedo doctor murdered the nurse and was bit rattled when writing that letter, but what if the girl murdered the nurse?
This twisted evil combined with love made the girl to murder the nurse to protect her loved one...OF course I am assuming without evidence that there was a evil presence before nurse was murdered and the girl in quostion was not that 6-year old chopped up girl, but bit older...Or perhaps I just understood the context wrong here.
So appearantly we can say that Uehara grandmother was a nurse and Maeda and shinohara family had deep hands in this, but I wonder if our pedo schoolboy is related to pedo doctor?
What bother me a bit is that it says fool girl and foolish girl. Is he talking there about one person or two? We appearantly found the nurses body in a locker where a girl had stored her present for her boyfriend, so I am not sure excactly what happened.
Most likely theory is that pedo doctor murdered the nurse and was bit rattled when writing that letter, but what if the girl murdered the nurse?
This twisted evil combined with love made the girl to murder the nurse to protect her loved one...OF course I am assuming without evidence that there was a evil presence before nurse was murdered and the girl in quostion was not that 6-year old chopped up girl, but bit older...Or perhaps I just understood the context wrong here.
So appearantly we can say that Uehara grandmother was a nurse and Maeda and shinohara family had deep hands in this, but I wonder if our pedo schoolboy is related to pedo doctor?
Nevill
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
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- 11,211
My understanding is that the gift is unrelated. All that matters is the person that wrote the note and the thoughts behind it.
Again, I am basing this on the assumption that there is a force that wants us to get to the bottom of this, or, less optimistically, that the force trying to kill us all is obligated to leave us a way out for some reason. I can't explain why we are finding these hints otherwise.
So it is likely that there were real notes, or thoughts (because I have trouble imagining that people would document their activities to such an extent, but then again, this is Japan, anything is possible), to the effect of those Hidetaka collected during his investigation, and the benevolent force/faction (or BFF for short) can't manifest itself in any other way except for letting us find these notes and clues, piece together what happened here, and - hopefully - come up with a solution.
Therefore I would assume that the body in the locker is just a link connecting the girl and the director. The meat sack was not supposed to be a gift, and the director almost certainly did not intend to leave the note implicating him as a murderer with the body bag that would have given its presence away with a foul smell.
Now, if we look at it as if it is a clue placed there for us to discover, it makes sense. Someone lets us pick up Hidetaka's notes, then we get the puzzle that points us to the correct locker, and then there is a note telling us about murder, Kaimei group, and a body under the pool (and there is an amulet that belongs to Uehara's family, too). I can see this as BFF's attempt to communicate with us.
Why would it not present all the evidence it has before us right away instead of setting us up for a wild goose chase? I don't know. I don't even know if it is a sentient entity, or just a manifestation of the rules that govern this place, or the memories of ghosts haunting it. My wild speculation is that these notes and items can only appear at places somehow related to the events (so a key to the murder case would appear at the pool where the body is buried, and a note from the director and a body sack would appear in a locker where the nurse hid her present for him), but that is far-fetched and not very relevant. I just accept it and roll with it.
The note implies that the murder would not have happened if the girl have listened to the director. That suggests that he is the murderer.Elfberserker said:
However, now that I think about it, instead of the director, the murder may have something to do with the Kaimei group.
We know too little about them to accuse them of anything yet, though.Wait, who do you refer to as a pedo schoolboy? Us, or Kozaka? I get confused sometimes.Elfberserker said:
Kozaka's connection to the hospital is dubious. He wasn't even a part of the initial 13 people trapped in here, though it is possible that they ended up in a different building with Shiba straight away. We don't know much about him to be certain, but would a person from one of the families comprising the Kaimei group even go to a normal school? Just look at Maeda for reference, she behaves like she is from a different planet, though that might be her personal quirk rather than an indicator of how the group as a whole views itself.
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I didn't expect you guys to hit the third chapter without talking to Sakaki even once.
Alternatively, a IV & V combo while talking to Amanozaki would have unlocked some information about hauntings and the relevant laws of supernatural phenomena.
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“Well… if you insist…” You decide to hand the omamori over to Uehara. After all, she claims that it belongs to her family – it is only right to let her have it.
“Really?” She seems surprised that you would return it to her. “Are you really going to give it back?” You nod shyly, just as surprised as she is. Does she really think so little of me?
A bright smile lights up Uehara’s face. In that instant, your chest seems to tighten. Her fingers brush against yours as she takes the amulet from your hand; you wince involuntarily at the physical contact. Her fingers are warm and lively, but that makes you no more comfortable than if they were cold. The sensation, however, is strangely familiar.
Have I met her somewhere before?
“Thank you for being understanding.” Uehara smiles and lets out a little giggle, placing the charm around her neck where it joins its sibling to rest under her shirt. For some reason, a small glint of triumph nestles in her eyes. She looks at you, and the pleased smile on her face takes on an apologetic curve, her brows knitting together in an expression of guilt before her expression hardens. Her gaze now seems inscrutable, and slightly icy. “I’m sorry.”
Without warning, Uehara bursts into a run, darting around the lockers and heading for the door. Her sudden exit catches all of you by surprise.
Uehara.
Not again.
I have to go after her.
It is only some strange instinct that prompts you into a swift chase before the others can even react. Still, Uehara is fast. You see her push open the door to the locker room, leaving it swinging freely in her wake – she has entered the gymnasium – and you barge past it, trying to catch up.
You find yourself facing a wall, instead of the open expanse of the gym. To your left and your right, the hospital’s corridors stretch on. Uehara is nowhere to be seen. The unfamiliar sight clears your mind, but only for a while. Confused, you turn around in a hurry, trying to return to the locker room and dreading the sudden possibility that it might not be there anymore.
You run back through the door to find yourself in familiar surroundings. Thankfully, the locker room is still here, as are Mitsuki and Amanozaki, who were just about to leave the place to go after you.
“What’s going on? Where did that girl run off to?” asks Amanozaki.
You shake your head mutely. The psychic pushes past you and out into the corridor. You hear her let out a shriek, her voice filled with surprise and panic. “What in blazes is going on here?” Amanozaki shouts. “Where’s the exercise room?”
“Shinoseki-san?” Mitsuki grabs onto your hand, clearly nervous. “What do we do now?”
Unable to give her an answer, you lead Mitsuki into the corridor to join Amanozaki. The psychic seems a lot more frazzled than before, her wild hair displaying the stress that she is going through. “This is… we can still save ourselves,” she mutters, biting her lips. “A dark ceremony to break the prison we are in… Shinoseki, this is no doubt a ghostly illusion. There must be ways to dispel it, so there is nothing to worry about for now. Right?”
Why are you looking to me for confirmation? Not knowing what else to do, you nod your head.
The lights flicker, and the ones furthest down the corridors go out.
track: unease
Suddenly, Mitsuki lets out a groan of pain.
The bruise on your ankle throbs, and an uncomfortable buzzing resonates within your skull, sounding almost like a strange chant.
All the colour drains from the world, and your vision turns fuzzy.
Down the hallway, you hear footsteps.
You hear the squishing and the squelching of wet footsteps, dragging its owner down the corridor, and towards you.
As it approaches, the lights blink out, one by one, cloaking it in shadows.
***
02:13
You:
A. Run back into the locker room and attempt to find a place to hide in there.
B. Flee down the hallway in the opposite direction at full speed. It’s not moving very fast – surely you can outrun it.
C. Try to draw its attention while you retreat, so that it will make you its target.
D. Charge it with as much courage as you can muster.
***
Amanozaki should:
A. Run back into the locker room and attempt to find a place to hide in there.
B. Flee down the hallway in the opposite direction at full speed.
C. Use her occult knowledge to try and chase the entity away.
***
Mitsuki should:
A. Stay close to you.
B. Stay close to Amanozaki.
C. Hide or run as she sees fit.
“Really?” She seems surprised that you would return it to her. “Are you really going to give it back?” You nod shyly, just as surprised as she is. Does she really think so little of me?
A bright smile lights up Uehara’s face. In that instant, your chest seems to tighten. Her fingers brush against yours as she takes the amulet from your hand; you wince involuntarily at the physical contact. Her fingers are warm and lively, but that makes you no more comfortable than if they were cold. The sensation, however, is strangely familiar.
Have I met her somewhere before?
“Thank you for being understanding.” Uehara smiles and lets out a little giggle, placing the charm around her neck where it joins its sibling to rest under her shirt. For some reason, a small glint of triumph nestles in her eyes. She looks at you, and the pleased smile on her face takes on an apologetic curve, her brows knitting together in an expression of guilt before her expression hardens. Her gaze now seems inscrutable, and slightly icy. “I’m sorry.”
Without warning, Uehara bursts into a run, darting around the lockers and heading for the door. Her sudden exit catches all of you by surprise.
Uehara.
Not again.
I have to go after her.
It is only some strange instinct that prompts you into a swift chase before the others can even react. Still, Uehara is fast. You see her push open the door to the locker room, leaving it swinging freely in her wake – she has entered the gymnasium – and you barge past it, trying to catch up.
You find yourself facing a wall, instead of the open expanse of the gym. To your left and your right, the hospital’s corridors stretch on. Uehara is nowhere to be seen. The unfamiliar sight clears your mind, but only for a while. Confused, you turn around in a hurry, trying to return to the locker room and dreading the sudden possibility that it might not be there anymore.
You run back through the door to find yourself in familiar surroundings. Thankfully, the locker room is still here, as are Mitsuki and Amanozaki, who were just about to leave the place to go after you.
“What’s going on? Where did that girl run off to?” asks Amanozaki.
You shake your head mutely. The psychic pushes past you and out into the corridor. You hear her let out a shriek, her voice filled with surprise and panic. “What in blazes is going on here?” Amanozaki shouts. “Where’s the exercise room?”
“Shinoseki-san?” Mitsuki grabs onto your hand, clearly nervous. “What do we do now?”
Unable to give her an answer, you lead Mitsuki into the corridor to join Amanozaki. The psychic seems a lot more frazzled than before, her wild hair displaying the stress that she is going through. “This is… we can still save ourselves,” she mutters, biting her lips. “A dark ceremony to break the prison we are in… Shinoseki, this is no doubt a ghostly illusion. There must be ways to dispel it, so there is nothing to worry about for now. Right?”
Why are you looking to me for confirmation? Not knowing what else to do, you nod your head.
The lights flicker, and the ones furthest down the corridors go out.
track: unease
Suddenly, Mitsuki lets out a groan of pain.
The bruise on your ankle throbs, and an uncomfortable buzzing resonates within your skull, sounding almost like a strange chant.
All the colour drains from the world, and your vision turns fuzzy.
Down the hallway, you hear footsteps.
You hear the squishing and the squelching of wet footsteps, dragging its owner down the corridor, and towards you.
As it approaches, the lights blink out, one by one, cloaking it in shadows.
***
02:13
You:
A. Run back into the locker room and attempt to find a place to hide in there.
B. Flee down the hallway in the opposite direction at full speed. It’s not moving very fast – surely you can outrun it.
C. Try to draw its attention while you retreat, so that it will make you its target.
D. Charge it with as much courage as you can muster.
***
Amanozaki should:
A. Run back into the locker room and attempt to find a place to hide in there.
B. Flee down the hallway in the opposite direction at full speed.
C. Use her occult knowledge to try and chase the entity away.
***
Mitsuki should:
A. Stay close to you.
B. Stay close to Amanozaki.
C. Hide or run as she sees fit.
Nevill
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
- Messages
- 11,211
Yeah, I had a feeling something like this would happen and that we will get separated, though I did not expect her to split the moment she gets the amulet. Well, we should hope for the best and count on finding her before she gets herself murdered again.
The spirit that is after us is likely the 'drowned' woman we saw at the pool. The signs are all there, complete with the color drain. If so, she is likely to be after Shinoseki specifically, as she seems to bear us a grudge, probably because of how Shinohara family was involved in her murder or its cover-up:
The thing to remember here is that Mitsuki is not in full control of her body:
To me it looks like her chances would be better if she hides. Hiding does not require her to move.
What should Amanozaki do? Well, her psychic persona largely seems to be a farce, even though she might have stumbled upon some genuine spiritual knowledge among all the fraudulent hogwash surrounding it. I don't think she would be able to fight off such a powerful spirit without doing a serious prior research on the matter. Making her attempt to pick up a fight with it would only be an option if we wanted her to serve as a decoy while we retreat.
I would not want to abandon Mitsuki alone, either. I'd hate to think what will happen if she gets paralysed again with no adults to look after her or drive the spirits away.
If we run and let Amanozaki hide together with Mitsuki, one thing we do not want to happen is the spirit going after them. Mitsuki can't run, and there is no way to leave the locker room but through the corridor where we are currently standing anyway. It might turn into a trap for them.
So it is only natural that I would choose to draw the spirit's attention. The woman seems to be especially interested in us, and as she is also referred to by Amanozaki as a 'main culprit', I think it will work and the girls would be safe if she is after us alone. Well, at least, it will work better than simply charging at her. And who knows, without a kid to slow us down we might actually escape.
If my theory has a grain of truth in it, then the 'Bag of Doom' is merely a part of the woman's body. It is dangerous only inasmuch as the spirit of the woman is dangerous. If the spirit is occupied elsewhere, the bag is just a sack of rotten meat.
The theme of this night is 'what is most important?' If protection of others, like Mitsuki, is important to us, then we must also accept the risks that it might entail.
Besides, Sakimura and Kozaka are somewhere in these halls. Maybe we will run into them and think of something together.
I wonder if Amanozaki Special Amulet we've picked really wards off evil. I guess we might find out.
CAB
The spirit that is after us is likely the 'drowned' woman we saw at the pool. The signs are all there, complete with the color drain. If so, she is likely to be after Shinoseki specifically, as she seems to bear us a grudge, probably because of how Shinohara family was involved in her murder or its cover-up:
The thing to remember here is that Mitsuki is not in full control of her body:
While we might be able to outrun the ghost, even with our injured leg (we were able to run after Uehara, so it can't be that bad), if we would have to carry Mitsuki around, our chances to escape together drop drastically. We aren't an athlete, and our leg is not in its best shape. Meanwhile, Mitsuki is already starting to feel the strain:
To me it looks like her chances would be better if she hides. Hiding does not require her to move.
What should Amanozaki do? Well, her psychic persona largely seems to be a farce, even though she might have stumbled upon some genuine spiritual knowledge among all the fraudulent hogwash surrounding it. I don't think she would be able to fight off such a powerful spirit without doing a serious prior research on the matter. Making her attempt to pick up a fight with it would only be an option if we wanted her to serve as a decoy while we retreat.
I would not want to abandon Mitsuki alone, either. I'd hate to think what will happen if she gets paralysed again with no adults to look after her or drive the spirits away.
If we run and let Amanozaki hide together with Mitsuki, one thing we do not want to happen is the spirit going after them. Mitsuki can't run, and there is no way to leave the locker room but through the corridor where we are currently standing anyway. It might turn into a trap for them.
So it is only natural that I would choose to draw the spirit's attention. The woman seems to be especially interested in us, and as she is also referred to by Amanozaki as a 'main culprit', I think it will work and the girls would be safe if she is after us alone. Well, at least, it will work better than simply charging at her.
And who knows, without a kid to slow us down we might actually escape.If my theory has a grain of truth in it, then the 'Bag of Doom' is merely a part of the woman's body. It is dangerous only inasmuch as the spirit of the woman is dangerous. If the spirit is occupied elsewhere, the bag is just a sack of rotten meat.
The theme of this night is 'what is most important?' If protection of others, like Mitsuki, is important to us, then we must also accept the risks that it might entail.
Besides, Sakimura and Kozaka are somewhere in these halls. Maybe we will run into them and think of something together.
I wonder if Amanozaki Special Amulet we've picked really wards off evil. I guess we might find out.
CAB
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