The Day of Thunder

[Reiko Ohta]

Ohta tried to not think about her own nightmares. It wasn't as if she had a lot, but they certainly felt like they were getting more common and vivid lately. Her Kirin-mother had always told her she had an active imagination, but there seemed to be a difference between that and dreaming, something her Spider-mother had always agreed with.

[Wu Dai Lu]

"Mm... The dreams that I've heard of lately do seem eager to pull people's worst fears out and showing them to them," she mused, shaking her head. "I've seen it often with the people who come here. It's part of why the festival coming up has a part about purifying our minds of our worst fears."

[Otaku Xiaochen]

"Oh?" Xiaochen leaned forward slightly in clear interest. "And how does that work?"

[Wu Dai Lu]

"The physical component is pretty simple. Basically, creating an effigy of it, naming it, and... well, beating it up," she said with a small smile. "Usually it comes with facing that fear in some way soon after. AFor some, it would be less painful to have physical wounds than face the past."

[Otaku Xiaochen]

Xiaochen nodded firmly. "I was worried that I would not be able to shoot this problem. I am very grateful that you have reasoned a way around this."

[Reiko Ohta]

"...I'm not worried I can't shoot my nightmares. Though I am worried about the consequences. That whole 'facing them' part. I had heard about this, but I didn't realize it was so literal."

[Sukuna]

“Interesting festival activity. I wouldn’t mind giving it a go.” Sukuna smiles softly before taking a sip of tea. She glances between the three women before her. “A way to to face your fears and anxieties through literal means. That’s something most people can grasp and and participate in.”

[Wu Dai Lu]

"Indeed," she agreed. "Using the effigy and putting a name on it sort of... brings it down to earth for many people, if you will. Makes it feel less vague and overwhelming and puts it in a concrete form."

[Sukuna]

"I like it. Who came up with this? Does it come from outside the village? Or did someone here come up with it on their own?" Sukuna's curiosity has been piqued. Her jade eyes shining with said curiosity, a bit youthful for her looks.

[Wu Dai Lu]

"It was actually something we uncovered while we were rebuilding," she said with a smile. "Old records from the tribe that used to live here."

[Reiko Ohta]

"Tribe that used to live here... Do you know much else about them? This... isn't any tribe that I know of's territory. Unless there's something I've missed in my lessons."

[Wu Dai Lu]

"Not much. Considering I've only heard of them through scant rumors, it's not surprising there wouldn't be much written about them," she replied with a shrug.

[Sukuna]

“Surprising you were able to find any records of them, to be honest. Must have gotten lucky.” Sukuna rubs her chin between her thumb and index finger thoughtfully. “I wonder how long they have been gone?”

[Reiko Ohta]

"I am curious about that as well. If they were around during the Tournament, it can't have been that long ago. So much so to as have been forgotten."

Ohta briefly closed her eyes as she sipped the barley tea, the simple taste very much working in the moment.

[Wu Dai Lu]

"I get the impression that they were quite secretive. If had been a long time, their records wouldn't be readable, I suspect," she mused. "My personal theory is that they might have been a heterodox group of former Isawa, but I don't have much to back it up aside from the extent to which they wrote."

[Sukuna]

Sukuna sits back, arms crossed and surprise in her eyes. “Oh my. I’m going to take a guess that these documents were somewhere that the overall moistness and fog didn’t destroy them, of course. The thought of more important clues to the history of this place were long destroyed by the elements.”

[Reiko Ohta]

"I mean, nothing's to say they even HAD written records. I know some tribes passed down their stories and histories through storytellers and such."

Ohta ran a finger along the rough clay cup, "Or yes... parchment and such don't last long if taken care of."

[Wu Dai Lu]

Chouri nodded. "They were quite thoroughly sealed. We didn't even expect them to have them - we ran across them entirely by chance when we were cleaning things up to build."

[Otaku Xiaochen]

Xiaochen bit her lip in thought. "Um...you said heterodox Isawa, maybe. How heterodox are we talking? I mean, is this ritual the furthest out there that they go, or is there more?"

[Wu Dai Lu]

Chouri leaned back with a sigh. "Well, they seemed to have had an interest in Name magic. I have no idea how they got information about it - possibly they traveled south before finding the best place for what they wanted to do. Again, that's just supposition, though."