[Rei is honestly grateful for the meaning behind the words, and by him not pressing too much. It's nice, and raises her esteem for him by several bars. She does smile more genuinely, if sadly, and nods. There's no point in dwelling on that, information needs to be dispensed and he's bound to need it at some point. The spirits will interact with him eventually, after all.]
That's fair enough. There are four spirits as I said, they are living manifestations of fire, water, air, and earth. They're powerful enough that they call themselves gods, though we might think of them more as particularly powerful kami more than actual deities.
[She assumes at least he's familiar with Shinto. It is just common knowledge among Japanese kids.]
They're much more powerful than normal ghosts, unusually strong impressions left. My theory is that they're beings who were killed by CERES as part of ritual sacrifices to the four elemental spirits. We've had the sacrificial rites confirmed as truth by an individual, and we've seen and destroyed the altar on which they were perpetrated. They can't happen again, as far as we know, but it stands to reason that anyone who was killed for a ritual was likely in great agony at the time of their death. And that...well, that could cause the creation of some powerful ghosts.
[As for his final question...]
I didn't have much choice, initially. Several months ago myself and several others broke into the CERES Headquarters in the aftermath of a flood that destroyed much of the colony. We made our way deep inside, looking for information, and the group I was with came into contact with these ghosts in their cells. They were enraged, chanting about murder over and over again, but their anger wasn't directed at us, we could tell that much. [Us being herself, a long dead samurai, and Toothless the baby dragon by that point...]
Once we got into the room, the doors sealed behind us and the only release catch we could find was one that would also free the spirits. But when I hit it, they actually...thanked me, and left a mark on my arm.
[She holds up her left arm and rolls back the sleeve, and if he looks he'll see a spectral question mark there, provided he uses any sort of supernatural sense. If not, well, it's just pale skin.]
I knew they'd come back, but they didn't reappear for several months. I'm sure you heard about the attack, when hundreds and hundreds of the spirits came in and rushed the CERES Headquarters building. Those five came and found me during that time, and told me that they must not be captured by CERES, and that the place they'd been imprisoned was worse than them. That there was something evil lurking in the dark sections of the city. Later on, after investigation? We...well...we found the altar down there.
[There's a beat, a swallow.]
I sealed up most of the ghosts, with the help of some other magically inclined beings, but...those five remained unaccounted for. CERES doesn't have them though, as far as I know.
no subject
[Rei is honestly grateful for the meaning behind the words, and by him not pressing too much. It's nice, and raises her esteem for him by several bars. She does smile more genuinely, if sadly, and nods. There's no point in dwelling on that, information needs to be dispensed and he's bound to need it at some point. The spirits will interact with him eventually, after all.]
That's fair enough. There are four spirits as I said, they are living manifestations of fire, water, air, and earth. They're powerful enough that they call themselves gods, though we might think of them more as particularly powerful kami more than actual deities.
[She assumes at least he's familiar with Shinto. It is just common knowledge among Japanese kids.]
They're much more powerful than normal ghosts, unusually strong impressions left. My theory is that they're beings who were killed by CERES as part of ritual sacrifices to the four elemental spirits. We've had the sacrificial rites confirmed as truth by an individual, and we've seen and destroyed the altar on which they were perpetrated. They can't happen again, as far as we know, but it stands to reason that anyone who was killed for a ritual was likely in great agony at the time of their death. And that...well, that could cause the creation of some powerful ghosts.
[As for his final question...]
I didn't have much choice, initially. Several months ago myself and several others broke into the CERES Headquarters in the aftermath of a flood that destroyed much of the colony. We made our way deep inside, looking for information, and the group I was with came into contact with these ghosts in their cells. They were enraged, chanting about murder over and over again, but their anger wasn't directed at us, we could tell that much. [Us being herself, a long dead samurai, and Toothless the baby dragon by that point...]
Once we got into the room, the doors sealed behind us and the only release catch we could find was one that would also free the spirits. But when I hit it, they actually...thanked me, and left a mark on my arm.
[She holds up her left arm and rolls back the sleeve, and if he looks he'll see a spectral question mark there, provided he uses any sort of supernatural sense. If not, well, it's just pale skin.]
I knew they'd come back, but they didn't reappear for several months. I'm sure you heard about the attack, when hundreds and hundreds of the spirits came in and rushed the CERES Headquarters building. Those five came and found me during that time, and told me that they must not be captured by CERES, and that the place they'd been imprisoned was worse than them. That there was something evil lurking in the dark sections of the city. Later on, after investigation? We...well...we found the altar down there.
[There's a beat, a swallow.]
I sealed up most of the ghosts, with the help of some other magically inclined beings, but...those five remained unaccounted for. CERES doesn't have them though, as far as I know.