forum The Crimson Lantern Festival | Chinese and Japanese Influenced Roleplay | Closed

Started October 20, 2019 by @CasiCasino group

tune

(I change my mind)

A gong rang loudly within the dark room. Opening his eyes, Kaito found himself in front of a shrine with candles and incenses lit and burning.
What the hell…?
The man thought to himself as he stood up from his supine position and walked towards the shrine. He reached out his hand towards the shrine.
Pop… the bang of a Tsuzumi broke the complete silence around him. Blinking once, he was now inside a large decorated ballroom with a long staircase leading up to a black and golden table with a person sitting behind it.
What is even going on here…?

(You guys can have your character start any way you want, but have them enter the hall at the end)

Name: Jibril Miller
Spirit: Erlang
Gender: Male
Human Age: 19
Magic: Seer and warrior skills.
Favorite foods and drinks: Spiced tea and Papas con Chorizo
Appearance + Usual Clothing: Short, dark brown hair, pale skin, middle eastern features, dark dark eyes. Has a very prominent tattoo on his forehead: a red rounded diamond (lengthwise) with a circle in the middle.
Wears a black tee with a dark striped jacket over it, along with some dark jeans and sneakers with steel tips.
Brief Personality: Broody emo type whose therapy is beating the crap out of those who deserve it. True Neutral.

Name: Ryuusei (means "comet")

Spirit: A Kirin like mix between a fox and a dragon - head is covered by a fox like mask, with lotsa neck fur, while the body is elongated and has multiple scroll like tails with charms attached at the end

Gender: Male

Human Age (17-24): 17 (he died young, he was drowned by an angry lord for trying to protect an innocent person from wrongful abuse)

Magic:
He is able to protect people down on their luck who have gotten in big trouble due to misfortune; he can either appear to the person in a dream or irl to give advice, or can influence the situation to receive the best outcome possible. He's also a good defense against vicious bad luck spirits.
Last but not least, he has control over small water sources like lakes and ponds and what's in them, mostly due to the fact he died in one.

Favorite Foods&Drinks: Hayashi rice, sweet sake, tofu and unagi (all rare delicacies in his human years)

Appearance + Usual Clothing (after soul transfer): About 5'6", young looking, with quite the feminine face (usually hidden behind a snarling beast mask), graceful light green eyes, thin body and a slim waist, shoulders nor too wide not too thick, long straight legs. He has butt length white hair, usually loosely tied or braided, with bangs partially covering his right eye. He wears simple grey and purple clothes, the inner sleeves tucked into silver vanguards, partially covered by the large external sleeves, light grey pants tucked in dark boots with silver decorations and small bells attached to them, that jingle slightly when he walks. He wears crescent moon shaped earrings and a silver necklace, with a butterfly on it.

Brief Personality: Reserved, quiet, keeps mostly to himself, extremely reluctant to talk about his past and the way he died. He is usually calm and serious around people, but very rarely he can open up, revealing a less stern side of him that's not afraid to smile a little. He treasures his friends even though he doesn't always show it. Most of the time he prefers sitting away from crowds, preferably with something to eat.

Other (not needed):

1. He wields a huge spear with a crescent moon shaped blade
2. His right eye was initially carved out by the angry lord, in an attempt to humiliate him even further. After the soul transfer, his right eye has become a sensitive spot.
3. He has the possibility to shapeshift into the form of the creature whose spirit he inherited, but doing so consumes a lot of energy therefore it should be used only during emergencies.
4. He has a tendency to eat whatever he can, a habit he gained back when he was human.
5. His signature mark are shining silver dragonflies that can control

As he slowly regained his conscience, Ryuusei could hear the faint sound of water accompanied by the familiar yet constant frog croaks and cricket chirps. Standing up, his vision adjusted to the dim moon light, recognizing the darkened shapes of the pond, stones, plants, the bright image of the full moon reflected on the shiny surface of the water. It took him a few moments to remember what had happened, his hand instinctively reaching for his right eye, gasping a little when he discovered an empty socket throbbing with echoes of the past pain

The surroundings changed instantly at the sound of a single Tsuzumi bang, turning the previously calm and serene pond into an imposing ballroom, its walls decorated with beautiful paper decorations. Ryuusei had only seen such decorations in the houses of rich people, who could afford them. His initial instinct was to find an exit, before anyone saw him and kicked him out for intrusion. He was on his way to start searching for an exit when he noticed the person behind the black and gold table

Koki opened her eyes, rubbing the sleep from them? Was she asleep? She shook her head, no, she would remember if she had slept. Where am I then? She was cut off from thinking more by a large yawn as she stood up. She held out her arm to steady herself against the wall, her eyes widening as her hands hit something definitely expensive on the walls. "Are the walls gold-leafed!" She exclaimed, any sleep gone from her eyes as she laughed. Her laugh quickly died when she saw the person sitting behind the table.

(Hey is this still open?)

(Yep!)

The man behind the table had a black robe with golden lapels and an Oni mask tied to his neck which he didn’t wear. The man slowly stood up as he started making his way down the almost uncountable staircase, silently and gracefully.
“Three in a row… amazing…” the man’s voice was… hypnotizing, almost dreamlike.
It took a while before the man reached the bottom of the staircase, facing the three ‘people’ inside the same room.
“Now… are any of you aware of your current state or why you are here?”

Kaito, who was the first to arrive, turned to the two other people. He had his answer in mind but would like to not be the first to answer.

(I’ll be going offline for a bit)

"Erm, well last thing I remember I was playing outside with my little sister than… Something fell? It was by a mountain I think, so probably a rock." Koki looked around. "And this doesn't look like a hospital and I don't see any of my family here… Am I dead?"

Ryuusei had the same question on his tongue, wanting to confirm his fear or rather suspicion. He had to be dead, otherwise he could not explain how he had ended up besides the pond that had previously been surrounded by merciless loan sharks, cackling as they watched his body be dragged to the bottom by the huge stones they had tied to him. The possibility of someone saving him was not possible, given he had been the first one to be dumped in the water and his parents had to watch the whole thing, so the thugs most likely did not leave until they finished the job, therefore he had to be dead. He had to be.
But if that was the case, did it mean that this was the afterlife?

(lsdakfnosdnoenarf I hate school)

Jennifer blinked and scrambled into a sitting position. She patted herself over, checking for any broken bones, anything…but she was completely fine? "The hell…?" she asked no one, then glanced around. This wasn't anywhere near where she last remembered. Instead of loud cars and the sound of too many people in one space, a slight breeze whistled in the breeze, and the smell of some kind of flower drifted on it. There was some kind of temple in front of her, with glowing candles. It looked…Japanese?

Deciding that the temple may be her best bet–and the only form of shelter out here, even though it didn't look too terribly dangerous–Jennifer stood up and began to approach it. She could question why the hell she was here once she got in.

Bang!

Some kind of drum sounded, and Jennifer was suddenly somewhere completely new. Three other people stood around her, all looking confused as well. A man dressed in black and gold robes faced them all. Jennifer couldn't exactly put her finger on it, but something about him…it seemed different. "Uh…" she looked around. "Who are you people, and what is this place?" she asked, despite knowing from their expressions that they knew exactly as much as she did.

(are they like all from the 21st century or can we do sum stuff like, they all died at one point in time and they were instantly brought to this place outside of time? Cuz i thought the action took place in medieval Japan or whatev country we in. _{I kinda wish that, i lov ancient Japan hnnnn)}

You can technically do that though I won’t be doing that myself

(I'm gonna drop. Sorry! I want to be here but responsibilities are too much.)

Ah, that’s fine, I understand

(One thing though, I won’t be as cruel as to using the actual beliefs of each of the ten courts of hell as that can be… a bit too much even for me)

Kaito turned to the newcomer before he turned back to the person who was the presumably the owner of the hall they were in.

The man in black had giggled a bit before he turned to Koki, then Ryuusei.
“You two are correct—“ he then turned to Jennifer “—welcome to the afterlife, I am your first judge as well as the first of the ten courts, Qinguang” the figure introduced as he waited for each individual’s expression.

Afterlife… afterlife… Kaito was thinking what could’ve happened to him and got him sent here. He glanced over at the decorations and spotted the chandelier above him… that is when it hit him. While helping with the decorations for a specific luxury event, he had fallen when told to dust the chandelier. He asked himself: why did fate have to be so cruel?

Hearing the few words he was expecting come out of the man's mouth, Ryuusei sighed again, audibly this time. So he was dead, thank god. Welp, at least his miserable life as a human had ended, albeit not in a pleasant way, but it was over.
He made peace with himself, actually feeling relieved to be dead and not having to deal with poverty and all the daily struggle to survive. The only thing missing right now were his parents. Where were they?

"Excuse me, my lord, but may i ask a question? If i'm dead, where are my parents?" he asked, peeking at the other people in the room. None of them were his parents, whom he was pretty sure had been killed right after he drowned, so he felt quite nervous to not see them there. The other strangers were extremely weird too, their clothes looked like nothing he had ever seen before, except for the little girl next to the pillar who donned some kind of peculiar red robe. Were these people from a different place in the world? They had to be, otherwise he could not explain their weird looks

The man in black and gold smiled faintly, nodded, before answering…
“There are four possible scenarios; one, your parents are still alive due to some error in fate, two; your parents are dead but will arrive later here as their sins have not been judged, three; your parents’ sins have been judged to be extremely small and have been sent to heaven, and four; their sins were judged ahead of time and were proven guilty, sending them to hell” the man held up a finger for each scenario.

“And that brings me to my next point I would like to address” the judge cleared his throat before he continued.
“As I mentioned subtly, if you are here that means that your sins and actions have not been judged and no one has decided where you will go; heaven or hell—“ the man paused to take a breather ”—but either way, there is almost no chance that you will be reborn again as a human… at least, that was what was supposed to happen…” the judge stopped there to see the reaction of the people in the room.

The boy shook his head, thinking to himself "I must have commited some really big sins to not have a second chance as a human." To be honest, Ryuusei was at peace with himself, and why wouldn't he? Ever since he had died he didnt feel anymore pain or hunger.
Though the prospect of being reborn as something else rather than a human was pretty intimidating, he still raised his eyes towards the man. He wasn't exactly eager to be human again, yet deep inside a tiny part of him prayed for a better life than the previous one, if he was going to be reborn. He loved his former parents, yes, but the life they had been forced to live just wasn't worth going back to.
"But if that was supposed to happen, why are we still here and not going through with our judgements?"