Investigating the Shrine and discovering Pimatsu
In cities all over Lamagos a battered help wanted sign was posted on various walls, bulletin boards, almost any flat surface a piece of paper could be attached to. It was a call for help by Tadashi Hisakawa with a meeting date and place where further details could be learned.
On the listed date and at the meeting location, a small group of Makitsu showed up to meet with Tadashi and learn what he needed help with. Upon meeting with Tadashi, in the city of Portosinte near the docks, the group discovered he's an old, retired fisherman who sails over to Makogis Isle to find the masks that Makogis are born from. He stated that as of late the masks have been missing from the various spots on the hidden beach that he normally finds them at. He asked for them to go search the shrine and see if they can learn what may be happening to them. He'd go himself but the shrine caretakers are always on the lookout for him and don't take kindly to him or so he says.
He offered to take them all over to the hidden beach he usually lands at and show them where he normally finds the masks and the path to the shrine so they can go search it. He did warn that only fully grown Makitsu should go (or humans but no human joined the group) and that they should hide or use illusions to sneak around as the priests and priestesses that followed the 'True God' didn't play nice with Makitsu. He said that they'd try to capture any that they found which was not a good idea.
One of the group asked about the True God religion and was told that no one really knows who the True God is and that all that people know about them is what the priests says. Supposedly the True God is a kind, benevolent being who used to watch humans suffer from the hands of the false gods, the Makogis, until they finally managed to banish them from the world. Seeing how records and stories line up with what the priests say, that the diseases and famines and other disasters that were occurring stopped shortly after the True God appeared and the last of the Makogis stopped appearing.... that made many people began to worship this True God and believe what the priests said.
He said pick the group up on the beach the next day so they could search the shrine when it was empty at night. He finally warned that they needed to stay within the shrine's boundary during the night as anyone outside of the shrine's grounds would end up going missing due to the volatile nature of the island.
The group agreed to help Tadashi and they quickly set sail. It wasn't as long as a trip as one might have thought as the wind was on their side. They had a bit of an abrupt stop at the hidden beach and Tadashi ferried two of the group on his little dinghy while the rest swam to the shore. He showed them the usual spots he found the masks at as well as the path to the shrine. By one of the spots was an unusual foot print but no one was able to tell what made it. With a final warning to the group to stay on the path to the shrine and not wander off of it, the group headed on towards the shrine.
Throughout the day the group used illusions to snoop about the shrine. Some found delicious food, others found neat little good luck charms or were offered protective ofuda. A few found strange white with hints of color shards and decided to hold onto them to show Tadashi the next day. There were also some who encountered a dark skinned priestess with jet black hair and dark eyes that always seemed to have a murderous glare for any Makitsu she laid eyes on. It was almost as if she saw through their illusion and always tried to rush towards them to catch them.
As the day went on the group encountered some odd events of things randomly breaking or other similar in nature events and overheard all kinds of gossip. The hottest topic was the fact that it seemed like more people were disappearing on the island, even a priestess had gone missing. There was also a new policy in place that no one was allowed to stay on the island in the shrine overnight, all priests and priestesses had to leave on the last ferry with the remaining tourists.
Once night fell the group was able to ditch their illusions and freely explore the shrine's grounds. Some managed to find the way inside the main shrine building, mostly finding unused rooms like bedrooms or offices. Others explored outside the building finding locked buildings, a garden with a koi pond that had a small fire spark flash above it, a wil-o-wisp that led one of the group around for some time before they realized it was tricking them. A couple ended up going too close to the shrine boundary and had a strange encounter with a shadowy figure that tried to pull them outside of the boundary. Those with an ofuda were protected with a flash of light from the figure as the charm burned up. Those unlucky enough to not have one ended up passing out for some time but were fortunate enough to have not been dragged out of the shrine's safety.
As the night went on the whole group found it's way inside the main shrine building and one of them managed to find a room far back inside that had a false wall. They followed the hallway that was on the other side until they ended up in a walled in garden space. The tall walls nearly disappeared into the fog, which strangely did not cross over the walls into the open air garden. The garden was quite large and in disrepair. The sand was no longer neatly raked and the rocks were covered in moss. Trash and broken rocks and other debris littered the garden space. Looking across the way a large shape could be seen that looked like it might be another building. It was strange how this space was hidden from the front and sides of the building. Never mind the fact that with how long the hallway was it should be outside the shrine's grounds but this didn't feel like it was.
On the other end of the garden was a locked building with a door covered in talismans. Finding themselves at a dead end the group headed back ready to rest for the night. As they headed back towards the hidden tunnel, a noise or feeling made some of the group pause and look back. There in the middle of the garden was a dark figure crouched slightly before it stood up straight. It was tall, taller than any human they may have seen before. The light that was being provided was too far away and too small to allow the group to get a good look at the shadowed figure but it was enough for them to make out ears and tails much like their own.
The head turned towards them and they could feel a piercing gaze from dark eyes that almost seemed to glow in the dark (for some this gaze felt awfully familiar). Before anyone could do anything the figure leaped away, easily jumping over the tall garden walls. A soft 'whomp' drew attention back to where the figure had stood as a bag landed on the ground. Apparently the shadowed figure dropped it when they fled. Three of the group went to the bag, curious about what was in it. They decided to take the bag back with them in case whatever that strange creature was came back. Back inside they opened the bag and discovered it full of various mostly white shards and broken masks. One mask was cracked but whole and upon pulling it out, it broke. A wisp of smoke emits from the mask before revealing a strange creature before them. It was a fuzzy little fox like creature with two little front paws but no back legs, just a strange wisp like body. The creature hissed at the group before disappearing with a shimmer of flame. Some recognized the flame or fuzzy creature from catching glimpses of similar ones during the day.
Morning came soon enough and the group headed back to the beach to meet Tadashi with plenty of time before the first ferry showed up with the shrine caretakers. Reaching the beach, the group saw Tadashi's boat, it looked like two of the group were already on it, maybe they had decided at the last moment to not go on the search or maybe they just woke up really early and headed out before everyone else. But whatever the reason the whole group was together again with Tadashi securing his little dinghy to the beach.
After exchanging a small greeting, someone felt that the information about the broken masks was too important to wait on reporting and quickly presented the bag with broken masks and explained what had happen to the mask that fully broke. Tadashi got very upset over this, his face turning red and his form seeming to shimmer?! That couldn't be right but as he sputtered in outrage the image of Tadashi disappeared. In his place was a tall, white with red markings
creature that had nine tails. He was still distraught over the broken masks, flickers of flames appearing around the area.
Once he calmed down, the creature looked to the group and apologized. He explained what the broken shards were and what it meant that masks were being broken before a Makogis could inhabit them, that they were preventing more Makogis from being born and that the strange creature appearing from it were Pimatsu, a familiar to the Makogis He followed up with a thank you and introduced himself as Shiro, a Makitsu who had lived for so long and grew in power to essentially become a god. He said he would have done the search himself but the followers of the cult of the true god would have instantly known was in the shrine and couldn't risk them finding him at this time as they'd love nothing more than to get rid of him. He answered any questions the group may have had and helped them back to Tadashi's boat so they could all sail back to the mainland.
((See
Meta for full events of what happened))
