text; un: ᴊᴜᴇʏᴜɴ ᴄʜɪʟɪ (open to all clans)

[cutcloud]

My family say that birthdays are big days for Tianheng Thaumaturges and that we should never take them lightly.

I had planned to go up the mountain to perform prayer rituals with the elders of my clan this year ... that no longer is possible. Still, I'm left thinking about how it would have been, as well as what I would have listed for my wishes. I know that I would have prayed for my cherished friends, and those that I've met. Since I can't climb Mt. Tianheng for the ritual now, I'll say it this way.

I wish you all pleasant journeys, safety, and peace.

Aside from that ... one great wish I have this birthday is to learn more about the spirits and supernatural of other worlds.

Since we have all come from different places, I was hoping — will you tell me of your experiences with the otherworldly, when you were back home? I'd like to hear true stories, but I do also really enjoy a good hair-raising story or legend if you know of any.

( spooky stories for september! ♥ feel free to threadjack as you please. )

Comments

[kikuichi]

It's the least I can do. I did eat cold somen before, they're a delight during summer's hot days.

Telling all of them will take a while. How about one for now? Are you aware of the jorogumo? They have a few tales under their name, depending on which area it came from.

[cutcloud]

Yes! I find them delicious in any weather. Cold noodles in the dead of winter are delightfully chilly.

It sounds a little familiar ... but I do not know much. Please, tell me.

[kikuichi]

Oh, I haven't try eating them during winter. We normally love warmer food for those times.

The jorogumo are a type of shape-shifting youkai, most well known for being spider women. Oh, but don't mistake them for tsuchigumo, who are purely spiders. Most stories usually involve the jorogumo tricking and luring their victims with their human forms.

The tale I'll tell you was centred around the Joren Falls of Izu, one of Japan's many, beautiful waterfalls. According to the local legend, a man was resting beside the water basin until the jorogumo tried to pull him into the water with her webs around his legs. Fortunately, he escaped by moving those webbings onto a tree stump. That got pulled in his place.

Afterwards, the nearby village all avoid the waterfall out of fear. But that's among the locals, for outsiders wouldn't know if they happen to come along. One such visiting woodcutter, for example.

While he cut down trees, he dropped his favourite axe in the water by mistake. When he went to retrieve it, a beautiful woman appeared and got it for him. She told him one simple request: "You must never tell anyone what you saw here."

Can you guess what happen next?

[cutcloud]

Of course that woman is highly suspicious. It she is the jorogumo, it would feel most natural that the next thing to happen would be that she restrained and ate him without mercy.

But it also sounds as though she intends on letting him go. Did he return to the village and tell everyone despite her warning? Was it a nefarious trick to make the villagers think that the waterfall was now safe?

Were they all eaten?

[kikuichi]

Whatever her reason was, one can only speculate.

The woodcutter did initially keep the secret. But as the days pass by, he feel the desire to spill. It weighed on him until one day, during a banquet and drunk, he finally told everyone. At that time, he felt like a burden was lifted from him.

Unfortunately for him, he broke a promise to a youkai. At this point, there's different ends to his tale, depending on who you ask.

After the banquet, he went to sleep and never wake up ever again.

According to another version, he was suddenly pulled outside by invisible strings. When morning come, can you guess where the villagers found him?

[cutcloud]

Ah, alcohol. Always causing problems. Of course it would be when he indulged too much. That sound be a lesson in of itself. I hope you do not indulge in such vices, Norimune.

Suddenly pulled outside by strings ... was he found in a tree? Or perhaps a giant spiderweb? Breaking a promise to a spirit is indeed bad, so it must be worse. Was it back at the waterfall that they could not approach?

[kikuichi]

I love to drink from time to time. They're always a pleasure to have with company, uhahaha.

That's right. They found his body floating in the water basin, the same one the jorogumo dwells near.

From then on, the people continue to share the story as a warning.

[cutcloud]

That's it? They didn't hire an exorcist to purge the creature since it had caused so many problems? Or form a mob to take it out themselves? Not that I recommend that, of course ... they should leave the job to the professionals.

[kikuichi]

Perhaps they're afraid of her power. It seems easier to leave her alone, and not to wander into her territory. Or they don't have the means to hire someone.

All I know is that many years later, the people of that area continue to share the tale to anyone who wish to listen.

[It basically became a tourist thing... but shhh.]

[cutcloud]

I see ... of course. Naturally, they wouldn't want to risk angering something so much stronger than them. Exorcists may not come through their village much either.

It makes me want to go take care of the problem myself!

[kikuichi]

Understanding the factors behind the tales can give you some ideas about the people and their lives.

[The villagers may be too poor. Their area might be in an inconvenient location. The youkai might be too powerful. Anything can factor into what get passed down.]

Uhahaha. If they have you around, perhaps the people might live in peace?