Heavenfall

"If they do not, then the doorway will open and the hungry ghosts will flood over the world devouring everyone. So... this one assumes they will. Or the Shoji will just keep doing it anyways."

"That makes sense. Though I would be worried about their retribution, which is why I have been hesitant to agree to join them. I suppose in your tribes case, their retribution would not be as bad as if the gateway was open? What if they slay you all for defiance?"

"Then we die, and a few years later, everyone else dies." Haka didnt seem overly concerned. "Maybe the birds build the next civilization, who knows?"

"I see. That certainly makes the choice easier then. And the sacrifice as well, I assume. The Seidou believe that when we die, we return again later as a new person. Do the Shoji hold the same belief?"

She shakes her head. "When one dies, they linger as a ghost. That is all the future holds. One day, the world will be nothing but the unquiet dead, and there will be no more room for the living."

"That seems a grim stance. What is the point of living then if it all comes to ruin?"

Haka grins. "That is the point exactly. Everything ends."

She puts a finger against her own nose knowingly, then turns back to making figures with a smirk.

Satone watches the woman curiously in silence for a while, making another straw man for her. Eventually she says, cautiously

"Why are you here? On this expedition, I mean. Other than to avoid the sacrifice. If the point is everything ends, why not let this mission fail, and the fallen god die?"

"Mostly it is avoiding being sacrificed," she admits. "But this one must be somewhere, so why not here? She does not care that much about the fallen ones, but other were going south, and it seems interesting."

"I can appreciate your honesty about it all. You are an interesting woman. Your ways confuse me, but perhaps if you teach me more about them I could understand. Belief that everything ends is very...unsettling...if I had to pick a word, compared to the never ending return of the Seidou beliefs. I do not like the thought of that. How did your people come to believe it?"

"The Shoji have seen countless people return as ghosts," she explains. "Sometimes they come back as a quiet ghost, or a lonely ghost, but most return as hungry ghosts. It is less of a... spiritual belief than a certainty of life. We know it is true because we have seen it happen."

“So, where do the ghosts go when you defeat them? If all humans are destined to die and become one, what happens when a ghost dies?”

"Defeat them?" Haka's eyes widen in surprise. "Oh, we... we do not defeat them. Not permanently. They just reform in a few days. That is why the world will one day be overrun... each generation leaves behind their ghosts for the next."

“Ah. That explains it better then. You say some are friendly? Have you ever met a Seidou ghost?”

"No, some are quiet and some are lonely. It is not the same thing as friendly." At the question, she shakes her head. "No, but this one has only recently left the Forest of Dreamers. She has heard others say that ghosts are less common elsewhere, which is interesting, though she only has thoughts as to why."

"You are welcome to share those thoughts, if you wish. If I run into a ghost on my own, what can I do? If it is violent, how do I fight it? If peaceful, how do I help it?"

"Avoid haunted areas and leave quickly. Do not speak your name or allow others to speak it, or you risk being haunted." She motions to the charms and wards hanging from her dress. "Always wear protection."

“And how does one know what is protective? I would have never guessed these straw men were until you told me”

"Mmm.... this one was taught such by the other shamans. Perhaps trial and error? She does not know for certain."

"Well, would you care to share what you have learned? Or is it not appropriate?"