Shinda Machi

**Shinda Machi** is a small village deep in the Oniyama Mountains, bordering Visaerie and Sin'Elione. It is considered a myth and used as a cautionary tale for young children.

"Any child caught wondering in the Oniyama mountains during a blizzard will be swept up and taken by the six ghosts of Shinda Machi and never seen again."

## **Inhabitants**

This village is occupied by several ghosts of women:

* Yuki Onna (Yuki) - Very pale, freezing and beautiful. Asked the party for water, but once given cold water she turned aggressive.

* Kosodate Yūrei - Young, crying lady who was looking for her child.

* Amazake Baba (Amazake) - Asked for any form of alcohol, Saké being the main drink. Miko warned the party to not reply to her but to silently give her the drinks she desired. She was not seen again.

* Tsurara Onna (Tsurara) - Beautiful, holds an umbrella, with icicles hanging down. She tried to flirt with Mal, attempting to sway him, however she quickly grew bored with him.

* Oshiroi Baba (Oshiroi) - Ugly old lady. She acted as a "guide", informing the party they were trapped and told them a few hints.

* Onryo (Onryo) - A floating woman in white robes and long flowing white hair. Hollow, bleeding eyes rest in her rotting flesh covered face. Upon locking eyes with her, Pluck's throat and wrists split, draining his blood in seconds.

## **History**

Many, many years ago a group of 6 women were outcast to the Oniyama mountains, seen as disgraces of their respective clans. The women settled and began to build their life in the mountains, knowing they could never return home.

Year after year they were struck with terrible blizzards.

The first to die was Kosodate Yūrei, a young woman carrying a bastard child. Unable to receive treatment for the illness brought through constant bitter colds she succumbed to her illness, he spirit raising and wishing to protect the child she could never bear.

The second was Amazake. Sent to the village due to excessive drinking and aggressive behaviour, this drunkard spent most of their time trying to scrape any form of alcoholic beverage they could to feed their addiction. Using berries from the forest, they attempted to satiate their need. However the had unknowingly used extremely poisonous berries, which left them slowly bleeding to death as they sunk into a drunken stupor. Their spirit returned as the drunkard they were in real life, cursing any who replied to her demands, rotting their skin.

The next two to pass were Tsurara and Kosodate. Kosodate was a sickly child from birth and left an orphan at a young age, with only her older sister Tsurara to look after her. When Tsurara was caught flirting with the Clan Leader's son and banished she had no choice but to follow her sister in the hope that she could look after her.

On a cold blizzarding night, Kosodate was extremely ill, leaving Tsurara no choice but to leave during the blizzard in a desperate attempt to find any form of medicine she could. Leaving with little more than her night gown and an umbrella she disappeared into the blizzard. This would be her slow and painful death, succumbing to frostbite in the whipping winds. Kosodate was left to fend for herself - although this would not be for long. With no treatment and left bed ridden she lay there in the freezing cottage.

For days she waited, unable to move. She was so, so thirsty. She tried to call for aid but she could not yell, she could not shout. She could not even cry tears as she slowly faded into death.

Tsurara's spirit returned, her lustful nature becoming part of her very being, her icicle laden umbrella a constant reminder of her demise. Kosodate's sprit lay in the same position, the very same place she had died, she watched her body decay as all she could think about was the need for water as her room glazed over with ice. All her spirit desired was warm water to solve her thirst and to push back the freezing temperatures.

After this only two remained.

**Onryo** was the next. A woman filled with rage and hatred, banished for the murder of her Husband, she secluded herself from the rest of the group. Upon hearing of the death of the others from Oshiroi she flew into a rage. She tore at her own skin slowly peeling it away bit by bit, scratching and scratching at her wrists and throat, her nails tearing away at her own body. Filled with rage and bleeding from all over she continued to do nothing but tear way at herself, eventually tearing out her eyes and tongue before dropping to the floor dead.

Only one remained. **Oshiroi** was alone. Defenceless. Cold. But this did not stop her from surviving. Banished for an unknown reason, Oshiroi survived, alone in the ghost town. Every night she would fish in the ice lake, every day she would gather water and firewood. For many years she lived by herself on the mountain, longing to one day see the friends she had lost. The blizzards came and went, although Oshiroi endured it all. She eventually succumbed to her old age, a wise hag of the mountain in which she solely inhabited. Her spirit, seemingly pure became one of guidance. Any who became trapped within the village she would seek to aid, any who were kind enough to look over her flaws. To those who managed to "save" the spirits of the village once they became active would show the way out of the endless blizzard.

Those who died simply joined the army of the dead, their skeletal remains roaming the mountains endlessly and without meaning. Each would return to the town of their demise during a blizzard.