Heavenfall

"Usually, the Ikiryo bears a resemblance to the person. In most cases, it is only active while the person sleeps." She taps a finger against her chin as she thinks. "I think... if you wound an Ikiryo, a similar wound should appear on the person...?"

Haka shrugs. "Maybe? But if something new is tried and does not work, then the hungry dead swarm across the world and eat all things. What is one person every ten years compared to all life?"

"They are only strange because bath woman has not seen them before. The Shoji would likely consider ogres strange and horrifying, but they are normal to bath women's people."

Haka shrugs.

"An Ikiryo is the soul of a living person that acts out on their desires, often without that person knowing that it is happening. As thisbone told Shinsej, the only way she knows to defeat an Ikiryo is to kill its creator." She pauses. "This is best done while the Ikiryo is not active, or it will be...

Haka nods. "Yes. A Kusabi is a 'wedge' that keeps the doors to the spirit world closed. It is usually someone that is blessed by the spirits, as they make the strongest Kusabi."

"The Shoji sacrifice a Kusabi every hundred moons. The Kusabi's spirit ensures that the portal remains closed until the time of the next ritual."

The Otomo still did stuff pre-gozoku, it was just general Imperial stuff (and not the constant meddling and trolling that they do in more recent timelines).

"It looked like Shinsei?" Haka's eyebrows rise in surprise. "This one cannot be certain, of course, but it sounds like an Ikiryo... which this one warned Shinsei about some days ago. How interesting."

"Figurative lake," Haka clarifies, smirking a bit. "She was just saying that she has given her companion a great deal of blood over a long time. Enough that it could fill a lake." She pantomimes a large lake with her hands. "And yes, many are hungry. Some are only lonely, and some are quiet, but mos...

"Those sound like more friendly spirits than the ones known to this one," Haka replies, a faint smile on her lips. "The elemental spirits can be helpful at times, but the various ghosts are usually not willing to help others. Even my companion will not assist this one, despite having poured a lake o...

Haka's dreams were filled with strange sounds and unpleasant smells. More than once, she felt something slimy wrap around her legs and try to pull her off for reasons that were best not to dwell upon. Though disturbing, the dreams really weren't all that bad for someone who had long ago made peace w...

"Of course not." She motions to the jungle around her. "There are spiders and centipedes and some sort of large flying insect, at the very least."

"But do the spirits do favors for you while your spirit is wandering?"

The mention of the Nezumi causes her brow to furrow. "Names have power, but this one does not know much of these rat people."

Haka nods. "Yes, this one knows of what is spoken. Sit and speak of this spirit."

"Perhaps? But even speaking with the spirits requires a sacrifice of blood." A pause. "This one hopea that she is wrong and there is a plan she does not know about."

"No, the crawly bugs. This one fought a very large one that could speak. Maybe the smaller ones can speak as well, and Haka could not hear them because their voice was too quiet. Maybe all bugs can speak? Her brow furrows as she ponders that. "Maybe the group will discover large flies soon? Or maybe...

Haka nods slowly. "The Shojj have made many sacrifices to keep the gateway to the land of the dead closed. It is not a pleasant process, but it must be repeated to ensure that the world of the living is not overwhelmed."

"There has been talk of sealing the portal," she says, frowning. "This one does not know what is intended, but doing so will require great magic, and all magic requires sacrifice. The implications are worrying."

"It has been very interesting. Travel is a new experience, and this one learned that spiders can talk. That was a revelation."

Haka looks up from a small pile of stick figures. "Hello. That seems a bit dramatic, but no less accurate."