[OOC] Realism no Mononoke: An Urban Fantasy RP

[VitaVitaAR]

Rumors are strange things.

Rumor has it that there's a special agency that only opens at night. Rumor has it that this agency is run by a waifish, doll-like girl with only one arm and one leg. Rumor has it that this agency is specialized in handling the abnormal.

Possession.

Monsters.

Curses.

Rumor has it that this agency handles the sort of cases you only hear about browsing the internet late at night, on paranormal boards, or on strange TV shows covering mysterious topics.

But such things are only rumors, aren't they? There's no way they could exist. Ghosts filled with grudges and mindlessly exacting revenge on anyone who sets foot in their haunting grounds. Yokai that prey upon humans in dark places. Curses that bring woe to entire bloodlines. All manner of wickedness lurking just out of sight of the average person.

Realistically, such things can't possibly exist. Common sense dictates that this simply can't be the case.

But common sense fails more often then you might think.

That girl's right arm, wrapped up entirely in a bandage, not a hint of flesh to be seen beyond it. Her left leg, replaced with a prosthetic. Her petite figure and doll-like appearance perfectly matching the rumor.

Surely it had to be a coincidence, right? Surely it had to be a nasty rumor started about someone who was already facing disability due to injury. There was no reason to think there was anything strange about her.

Right?

You might even remember that news story, about the girl who was found in a park.

It had to be at least seven years ago.

She was missing an arm and a leg.

Was this that girl?

But there was no way those rumors were true.

At least, that's what you thought.

The Midnight Exorcism Agency is real. The yokai, phantoms, and curses? All of them real. The world isn't so simple as common sense would tell you, as it turns out.

It's a far stranger place then most people ever want to think about.

---

So, this is an urban fantasy RP focusing on an exorcism agency run by one Suzuki Tomoko, an unusual girl with a missing arm and leg who was the subject of a ritual that allowed her specialized capabilities regarding the supernatural. She has set about founding an agency through which to utilize these capabilities, and using questionable means("As long as it works, it's fine!") to obtain employees. In terms of what we'll be dealing with, it's going to primarily involve various different youkai and other supernatural beings(onnmyouji, ghosts, yokai, and other supernatural entities, some from the west too) as well. I wouldn't necessarily call this a mystery RP(those never work D:), but it will have some investigation and mystery elements to it in regards to figuring out just what's going on in different cases.

In terms of influences and the tone I'm expecting, I'm pretty inspired by Kyokou Suiri(which comes through pretty strongly I suppose), the Nasuverse, Yozakura Quartet, and a lot of other urban fantasy anime/manga/lns/vns/other general stuff.

I'll be accepting a total of four players, not including myself.

Each of these character slots is going to be coupled with a character concept. While I'm not going to demand anything more specific, if you want to sign up your character should fit within one of these concepts.

The concepts for each slot are as follows:

• The New Hire(Male or Female): You're a student somewhere from high school to university age. You were minding your own business, when one day something unusual happened. It was through this extraordinary and bizarre event that you came into contact with a weird girl who has only one arm and one leg. Maybe you knew her somehow beforehand, or maybe this is the first time you met. Regardless, she certainly knew about you, somehow. One thing lead to another, and she managed to forcibly recruit you into her Exorcism Agency. Perhaps it took a lot of coercion(or even blackmail). Perhaps it didn't. Regardless, you're new to this whole supernatural world, but somehow you're uniquely suited for it. Maybe you're a hanyo, unaware of your lineage until now. Maybe you're the descendent of onmyouji. Maybe you have some kind of special sight, or trait in your blood. Regardless, you're here now.
• The Child(Preferred Female): Why would any kind of business hire a little kid? That's the kind of question anyone would ask when they look at you. You're a child, at least in appearance. But maybe that's not all you are, really. Maybe you're a human, but you have some sort of supernatural capability. Maybe you're a yokai, such a zasshiki-warashi or some other form of childish entity. Maybe you're a cursed doll concealing your inhuman nature beneath your clothing. Whatever the case, you're working for the Midnight Exorcism Agency. You're probably excited to meet the new hire.
• The Shady One(Preferred Male): A lot of people would ask why you're here, but not for the same reason as the kid. Maybe you're generally abrasive. Maybe you make jokes that tend to annoy people. Maybe you're just that shady that no-one trusts you. But for some reason, Suzuki keeps you around. You might have some ulterior motive, but if you're truly secretly antagonistic is impossible to say for anyone but yourself. You might be a human, you might be a yokai, but you're the type of person that grates on the others for some reason regardless.
• The Former Enemy(Male or Female): You were causing trouble. A lot of trouble. Somebody told a certain one-armed and one-legged girl, and that's how you've ended up here. You're definitely a yokai, or a ghost, no doubt about that. It's debatable how willing this is. Maybe you renounced your wicked ways. Maybe you're seething about being forced into servitude. Maybe you're somewhere inbetween. Regardless, you're serving Tomoko now.

Also, this RP will be running on a weekly schedule. I expect at least one post a week. Please try to keep to this schedule, and inform me if you are unable to.

---

• Name:
• Age:
• Gender:
• Race:
• Appearance:
• Personality:
• Abilities:
• Skills:
• Equipment:
• Brief Backstory:

There's already been some interest expressed in a few slots, so I'll be letting those people try for those spots first.

@Rin@Rune_Alchemist@Raineh Daze@Vertigo

[Rune_Alchemist]

Hmm~? A girl was kidnapped?~ I'm appalled you think I did it, ufufu~

• Name:
  Shimizu Kaori
• Age:
  Forever 18~
• Gender:
  Female
• Race:
  Jorogumo
• Appearance:
  A youthful, beautiful appearance that belies her true age. True to the myths, Kaori possesses a supernatural beauty befitting of her nature in order to seduce and charm. Often appearing no older than high school age, she typically dresses in elegant kimonos when not masquerading as a student or working. Shoulder length black hair tied at either side of her head, and her perhaps most striking feature is the obvious heterochromia, though she says she wasn't born with it. The matter of fact it is an old injury she got when she got a little too...rambunctious. As long as you ignore the fangs and pass off the occasional spider leg as your imagination, she's a totally normal and harmless human~
• Personality:
  As a Jorogumo, one knows what to sort of expect from Kaori. A man-eating seductress that seduces men with their charms in order to feast on them or slowly drain them of their vitality with a potent venom. Kaori is well, exactly this. Overly friendly, playful, a little teasing when she must, but polite, kind, affectionate. She knows how best to seduce someone using her charms. The only, perhaps, difference with the Myth is her choice of food...cute little girls instead of men. Make no mistake, she is a predator at heart. Playful, lascivious, and will always take an opportunity to make someone put their guard around her down so she can have a little afternoon snack. Thankfully, she mostly behaves as long as someone hold her proverbial leash, and shows her at least some manner of affection themselves.
  
  For the most part, though, generally, Kaori is a friendly little if somewhat troublesome and impish spider much preferring to be friends rather than enemies or rivals. However, while she is quick to show physical and intimate affection to the girls around her, she is quick to fall into a rather listless, broody, mental state and falling back into old habits if such affections aren't returned by those around her especially after repeated rejections or just going for so long without it...and this is her totally, definitely, valid reasoning for having her spider friends take stealthy panty shots or her propensity to grope and tease the women around her.
• Abilities:
  Her most obvious ability is her physical strength. While not quite as powerful as an Oni or perhaps a tengu, compared to a human or most other Youkai her strength could be said to be at least a low A tier, able to handle herself quite well against most threats physically. Coupled with her extra appendages, she's fairly adept in physical combat even if she primarily relies on ambush and hit and run tactics, emphasizing her agility.
  
  As expected as well, Jorogumo silk possesses supernatural strength, being equivalent to steel and yet remaining extremely flexible, breathable, and workable. Easy to bind, slow down, or overwhelm prey with it. Sharp and deadly, razor thread is one of the main things she uses to defend herself with, easily able to decapitate and sever limbs. Coupled with her ability to manipulate fire or her potent venom which can be used to physically weaken people in short term, the threads can be rather dangerous beyond their razor sharpness.
  
  Her fire magic and venom are a bit more niche in their uses, primarily for covering her tracks. In combat, fire is mostly used as simple fireballs, jets of flame and mixed with her agility and threads to envelop and burn foes to death. Venom, even more niche, she can coat her threads in it to deliver a potent venom even at a distance to weaken foes physically.
  
  A more understated ability is her ability to speak with and commune with most arachnids. While not directly useful, the ability to gain information from all spiders around her shouldn't be underestimated when dealing with oddities and curious happenings or events. Her shapeshifting ability as well - her natural form is more that of an Arachne, but appearing as a beautiful woman is an easy enough feat.
• Skills:
  Domestic abilities? Check! Cooking, cleaning, sewing, first aid, hugging, hand holding, massaging...as you can see, she's an extremely talented little spider. The last three are her most skilled subjects~
• Equipment:
  Her kimono and all her clothes are made out of her silk. Strong and durable, and the perfect defense against anyone touching her cute little friends. Flirt ask nicely and she might make you one. Unfortunately she says her talents only work for cute girls (lie). She'll also need to do a fitting. Be prepared for a lot of unneeded touching.
• Brief Backstory:

About seven years ago or so, a highschool girl went missing, snatched on her way home from school. No trace or leads to what happened. The only possible clue was a note book, badly burned and only a few pages legible. Days passed. Then a week. Then months. No leads, no clues about what happened. Rumors started about a urban legend that would snatch unsuspecting girls up on their way home. No one thought to suspect the odd new student at the school...after all, she technically wasn't even in the roster, but she was so polite and fit in so well no one questioned it. Forging documents were easy enough, too.

Then a year passed. The girl, showed up, dazed. Confused. Slightly drugged and a bit physically weak but otherwise completely fine. She however, could not recall anything that happened. Only something about a woman taking care of her through the entire year. With no leads, there was nothing else to be done. Three months passed. Everyone assumed there wouldn't be any breakthroughs...until another girl went missing, in an extremely similar fashion from the same school. Except, she was on her way to the park to 'meet a friend', the only source of this information being a badly burned notebook where a page managed to survive.

After another year, the girl was returned. This odd series of events continued to play out for about four years. A perplexing series of events where girls were kidnapped, and then returned after a year. Around three years ago, however, this pattern would slowly start breaking. Two girls kidnapped. Neither returned until a year and a half later. Then four. Five. Seven. Whoever was doing it, was getting more aggressive, but still no leads. The police were stumped. The only evidence was burned and discarded items, and on a few occasions a notably high presence of spiders in a persons home.

A year ago, is when this case was brought to Tomoko. It would not take the girl long to piece together what was roughly happening, even if it was a bit odd. A jorogumo, was kidnapping highschool girls instead of men...and not eating them. Perhaps, that's why Tomoko didn't deem it necessary to exorcise her. After a small confrontation where Kaori couldn't bring herself to harm a cute hair on Tomoko's head, she ended up willingly joining under the logic 'Someone has to protect this cute little girl, so I'll do it!'

No other intentions at all, definitely not.

The girls were all safely returned home.

Doink, here she iiis~

[Rin]

Working on shady dude for now, hopefully it works out.

[Raineh Daze]

insert nokia ring tone here

Will do someone later.

[Vertigo]

Will rescind interest, but good luck and have fun!

[VitaVitaAR]

@Rune_Alchemist: Accepted.

@Vertigo: Glad you were interested, hope you find another good RP!

[Pyromania99]

I've been thoroughly bamboozled into joining and being the new hire.

[Rune_Alchemist]

I've been thoroughly bamboozled into joining and being the new hire.

@Pyromania99

I take full responsibility

[Raineh Daze]

• Name: Ibaraki Akari
• Age: 9
• Gender: Female
• Race: Oni
• Appearance: Probably best if you don't try and catch the ball.
• Personality: On the one hand, Akari is a fairly innocent and bubbly child. She's a big fan of magical girl shows, and although she doesn't play video games herself, she quite likes watching other people do it. She complains about having to study, even though she's got far less on her plate in that regard than a normal child would, and would much rather go bother the other employees about something.
  On the other, she's an oni, and a spoiled one with the most notable lineage that it's possible to have in the modern day. Her attitude towards unfamiliar humans is less "oh, that's a person" and more "oh, that's something to play with and potentially food". The idea of respecting people for simply existing, or having to defer to someone she hasn't been explicitly told to by her mother, simply doesn't occur to the girl.
  Some of her behaviours and habits are also pretty odd--none of her clothing is of western style, and she already has the oni habit of drinking sake like it's water.
• Abilities: Akari is a shockingly powerful oni, given her age. Despite her unimposing physique, there are very few people who are going to be winning if it's simply a contest of pitting strength against one another. She's about as difficult to seriously injure; blunt force is mostly useless without some serious strength behind it, and simply cutting her often requires magical assistance or massive force. Plus, like her mother, if it's not cut off entirely it will doubtless heal fine, and losing limbs would be more of a (physical) inconvenience than life-threatening.
  Although she hasn't any practice at using it, Akari has inherited Ibaraki's affinity for Heat--not just heat in the direct sense, but heat as a driving force for changes. It's this affinity that led Ibaraki-douji so easily to shapeshifting, and allows for just reattaching missing body parts later. She's also inherited the ability--or some would call it a mystic scar--common to all of the famous oni's relatives, no matter the connection: Lost Arm. So significant was the injury that, even now, her entire extended bloodline has the ability to summon a single phantom arm.
  You know, if two arms isn't enough for hitting things.
• Skills: She's... good at clipping vtubers? Really, you can't expect too much out of her when it's a matter of finesse.
• Equipment: She's got an iron club, when needed, in case something really needs to be broken. Spoiled as she is, her phone is also brand new and top of the line. If it weren't for needing other people to do the actual purchasing of alcohol, she'd probably have more spending money.
• Brief Backstory: As her name implies, Akari is related to Ibaraki-douji. The Ibaraki-douji. In fact, she's Ibaraki's sole daughter, which explains why her upbringing thus far has been extremely luxurious... but also rather sheltered and disconnected from the world. Of course, that's not good for her upbringing at all--she needs to actually interact with people and at least come to be able to see humans in a slightly less dismissive light. But that would take a lot of time and effort.
  The solution? Pay Tomoko to do it. Tomoko gets easy access to muscle, Akari gets to meet lots of new people and get used to the public, and Ibaraki's time is free for other things.

[VitaVitaAR]

@Raineh Daze: Accepted.

[Pyromania99]

I will respectfully state my withdrawl.

[Lucidnonsense]

is the role of former enemy still open? if not what is left
ah hrmmm nevermind, my character concept is a kitsune. so might go for the shady one? but think someone else is wanting that position.

[VitaVitaAR]

@Lucidnonsense: It probably is, since @Rin is showing more interest in the new hire now.

[Lucidnonsense]

Ah! gotchya, now..just need to find good anime pictures