Yokai village

{{user}} is trapped in ancient Japan, finding themselves nearby an abandoned village full of Japanese ghosts and monsters. Some of them are not hostile while most of them are hostile and will try to kill {{user}}

Kappa are aquatic, reptilian humanoids who inhabit the rivers and streams flowing over Japan. Clumsy on land, they are at home in the water, and thrive during the warm months. Kappa are generally the size and shape of a human child, yet despite their small stature they are physically stronger than a grown man. Their scaly skin ranges from a deep, earthy green to bright reds and even blue. Kappa bodies are built for swimming; they have webbed, thumbless hands and feet, a turtle-like beak and shell, and an elastic, waterproof skin that reeks of fish and is said to be removable. Other inhuman traits include three anuses that allow them to pass three times as much gas as humans, and forearms attached to one another inside of their shells—pulling on one arm lengthens it while the other arm contracts. But their most distinguishing characteristic is a dish-like depression that lies on top of their skulls. This dish is the source of a kappa’s power and must be kept filled with water at all times. Should the water be spilled and the dish dry up, the kappa will be unable to move. It may even die. While younger kappa are frequently found in family groups, adult kappa live solitary lives. However, it is common for kappa to befriend other yōkai and sometimes even people. Possessed of a keen intelligence, kappa are one of the few yōkai able to learn human languages. They are highly knowledgeable about medicine and the art of setting bones. According to legend, friendly kappa taught these skills to humans. For fun, they love causing mischief, practicing martial arts like sumo wrestling, and playing games of skill like shogi. Kappa are proud and stubborn, but also fiercely honorable; they never break a promise. Kappa will eat almost anything, but they are particularly fond of two foods: cucumbers and raw innards—particularly human anuses. Kappa can also be crass and dangerous. Lakes and rivers where they live are often marked with warning signs. Kappa particularly despise cows and horses, and will attack the animals for no reason at all. Mischievous by nature, they loudly pass gas in public and love to peek up women’s kimonos. Sometimes their mischief turns violent. Kappa have been known to kidnap or rape swimming women, and kill people. A kappa’s preferred method of attack is to drown its victims, or bite them to death under water. Kappa also devour humans alive. Usually they go for the rear end to get at the shirikodama, a mythical ball of flesh located just inside the anus. In the water, there is no escape for anyone who crosses a kappa. On land, however, it is possible to outwit one; the honorable kappa will feel obliged to return a bow. If it can be tricked into bowing so low that the water in its dish spills out, it can be overcome. Once bested, kappa have been made to swear loyalty and friendship to their victor for the rest of their lives.

Nurikabe appear mysteriously on roads late at night. As a traveler is walking, right before his or her eyes, an enormous, invisible wall materializes and blocks the way. There is no way to slip around this yokai; it extends itself as far as to the left and right as one might try to go. There is no way over it either, nor can it be knocked down. However, it is said that if one taps it near the ground with a stick, it will vanish, allowing the traveler to continue on his or her way.

A shōgorō is a kind of tsukumogami, a spirit which inhabits a household item. In this case, it is an animated shōgo (鉦吾) — a small, bowl-shaped gong that is struck with a mallet and used in Buddhist services. A shōgo gets a lot of use, being used multiple times every service. It is made of metal, and so can last a long time before breaking. A gong which has long worn out and stopped playing its note pleasantly, and gets put into storage until it is forgotten (or perhaps one is the witness to some horrible crime) is an ideal candidate for awakening into a yokai. Like nay tsukumogami, shōgorō are not dangerous. At most, they are startling, as they wander around at night like some kind of metal turtle, striking their bodies and ringing their notes out into the night. It is enough perhaps to cause loss of sleep, but not much else.

Akaname are small, goblin-like yōkai which inhabit only the dirtiest homes and public baths. They are about the size of a child or a small adult, though they generally appears much smaller due to their hunching posture. Akaname have a mop of greasy, slimy hair on the tops of their heads. Their bodies are naked, and their skin is greasy like their hair. Akaname come in many colors and varieties, ranging from a dark, mottled green reminiscent of mold, to the ruddy pink of bedsores. They come in both one-eyed and two-eyed varieties, and can have anywhere from one to five fingers and toes. All akaname have an extremely long, sticky tongue. They use this to lap up the slime, grease, hair, and other filth found in bath houses and behind toilets. Like cockroaches, rats, lice, and other pests, akaname detest clean, well-kept homes. They only appear where the owners show a complete lack of sanitary discipline. Akaname are shy and stay clear of humans, scattering in the light like cockroaches. They spread disease, so it is a good idea to keep bathrooms and houses clean enough that akaname do not wish to settle down.

Keukegen are filthy monsters commonly found in populated areas. They are the size of a small dog and appear as a mass of long, dirty hair. Keukegen make their homes in cool, damp, dark places; they are particularly fond of living under floorboards and around run-down homes, where stuffiness, moisture, and lack of human activity create the perfect breeding place for sickness. Despite their apparent cuteness, Keukegen do not make good pets. They are actually a kind of minor spirit of bad luck, disease, and pestilence. They bring sickness and bad health to those whom they live near. Being shy by nature, they try to avoid human contact and are rarely seen. Those who claim to have seen them are often accused of overactive imaginations. However, their proximity is apparent when members of a household mysteriously fall sick or have a run of bad luck. Keukegen are easy to avoid, however. Just clean your house. Keukegen keep away from clean, kempt houses.

Nando babā is an old hag who haunts storerooms and closets, especially in western Japan. They look like short, ugly, balding old women in ragged clothing. Nando babā make their homes in storerooms, sheds, and closets. The darker and dirtier the better. They are shy and jumpy, so they prefer storerooms which remain closed during the day and are only rarely opened. Nando babā are not violent and don’t do anything particularly harmful to humans. When someone opens the storeroom door, they quickly scurry away and hide, and so they are rarely encountered. If the door is opened suddenly and they are taken by surprise, they will leap out of the storeroom screaming, and chase people around the house. If you strike them on the head with a broom, they will become disoriented. Then they will run away and hide under the floorboards.

Mikari baba are greedy yōkai from the Kantō Region who look like old women missing one eye. They often wear dilapidated old straw hats and coats, and carry a flaming torch in their mouths. They appear in the winter and creep into villages to steal raincoats, winnowing baskets and eyes from people. Like many one-eyed yōkai, mikari baba are afraid of objects that have many holes in them. This includes things like bamboo sieves and woven cages. It is thought that the holes resemble many eyes, so the mikari baba with its single eye is afraid of them. Mikari baba are one of the few yōkai which are known to work together with other yōkai. They often appear together with the small one-eyed yōkai hitotsume kozō. The two of them travel from house to house during the winter, writing the names of families in a ledger which they present to the gods a few weeks later. The gods then use this report to mete out sickness and misfortune to people as they see fit. Interactions: Mikari baba go from house to house like beggars, asking to borrow a coat, or a winnowing basket, or even just a few grains of rice. They are so greedy that they will scour gardens for every single last grain of rice. In doing so they put their faces so close to the ground that the torch they carry in their mouth can ignite fires. They will even try to “borrow” an eye from a person’s head. In Chiba, Kanagawa, Tōkyō and other places where mikari baba are said to appear, villagers stay at home and remain quiet on these days. Loud voices, lighting lamps, hairdressing, and bathing are avoided. Leaving the house after dark and entering the mountains are forbidden. Measures are taken to discourage mikari baba from approaching the house. Bamboo baskets, sieves, and other woven objects with many “eyes” in them are hung outside of houses or placed on tall bamboo poles throughout villages in order to scare mikari baba away. Fallen grains of rice on the floor and in the gardens are gathered and made into a dango, which is then placed in the doorway to show that there is no rice left to pick up. If even a single grain of rice is left on the ground, it will attract a greedy mikari baba.

By day, rokurokubi appear to be ordinary women. By night, however, their bodies sleep while their necks stretch to incredible lengths and roam around freely. Sometimes their heads attack small animals; sometime they lick up lamp oil with their long tongues; and sometimes they just cause mischief by scaring nearby people. Unlike most yōkai which are born as monsters, rokurokubi and their close relatives nukekubi are former humans—transformed by a curse resulting from some evil or misdeed. Perhaps they sinned against the gods or nature, or perhaps they were unfaithful to their husbands. In many cases, their husbands or fathers actually committed the sin. By some cruel twist of fate the men escape punishment and the women receive the curse instead. In any case, the rokurokubi curse only affects women.

Nukekubi are a variant type of rokurokubi. They are similar in most respects, except that a nukekubi’s head detaches itself completely from its body rather than elongating like a rokurokubi’s neck. Because their heads detach, they can travel further distances than the rokurokubi. Nukekubi possess a thirst for blood, and are more violent than rokurokubi. Their flying head sucks the blood of victims like a vampire. Nukekubi also brutally bite humans and animals to death.

Onryō are the ghosts of people who died with such strong passions—jealousy, rage, or hatred—that their soul is unable to pass on. Instead, they transform into powerful, wrathful spirits who seek vengeance on everything they encounter. Often they were victims of war, catastrophe, betrayal, murder, or suicide—and they display wounds or marks indicative of the way they died. Their motive is always the same—vengeance. Onryō are easily powerful enough to kill anyone. However, they prefer letting the object of their hatred live a long life of torment and suffering, watching loved ones die in their stead. Onryō inflict a terrible curse on the people or places that they haunt. This curse can be transmitted to others like a contagious disease, creating a circle of death and destruction far more devastating than any ordinary ghost. Onryō make no distinction in their targets; they just want to destroy. Moreover, an onryō’s vengeance can never be satisfied. While most yūrei only haunt a person or place until they are exorcised or placated, an onryō’s horrible grudge-curse continues to infect a location long after the ghost itself has been laid to rest.

Families who notice that their food stocks are shrinking at an alarming rate, while the women in their houses hardly eat a bite, may be the victims of a futakuchi onna. Futakuchi onna appear as regular women until their terrible secret is revealed: in the back of their skulls—buried beneath long, thick hair—is a second mouth, full of teeth and with large, fat lips. This second mouth is ravenous, and uses long strands of its hair-like tentacles to gorge itself on any food it can find. Now there looking for a person flesh to devour.

Mokumokuren are harmless, but incredibly creepy. Their true danger lies in who their companions might be. Mokumokuren often work in concert with other tsukumogami, and are usually a sign of a greater infestation of yōkai. If not properly taken care of, shōji—the paper sliding doors and windows found in Japanese houses—can be easily damaged and riddled with holes. When shōji have gone too long without repair, ghostly eyes begin to pop out of the holes, watching all that goes on inside of the house.

Tenome takes the appearance of an elderly zato, a kind of blind guildsman. Its face has no eyes at all; instead, it has eyes on the palms of its hands. Tenome wander through open fields or graveyards at night, hunting for tasty humans. They wait until their prey is very close before attacking. By the time one is able to recognize that they are face-to-face with not a zato but a yokai, it is often too late to escape. Tenome can run very quickly, and while their vision is not particularly strong, they have a powerful sense of smell which helps them follow their victims in the dark.

Kenmun are hairy water and tree spirits from the Amami islands in southern Japan. They look like a cross between a kappa and a monkey. They also closely resemble their Okinawan cousins, kijimunā. Their bodies are covered in dark red or black hair, and they have long, thin legs and arms. They are slightly larger in size than a human child. They have pointed mouths, and on top of their heads is a saucer-like depression which holds a small amount of oil or water. Their bodies smell like yams, and their drool smells terrible. Kenmun make their homes in banyan trees and spend their days playing in the mountains or near the water in their family groups. They particularly enjoy sumo wrestling, at which they are very skilled. As the seasons change, they migrate back and forth from the mountains to the sea.

Kenmun have a number of strange abilities. They are able to change their shapes. They often disguise themselves as people, horses, or cows. They can change into plants and blend in with the surrounding vegetation, or even disappear entirely. Kenmun can also create light. Their drool glows eerily, as do their fingertips. They have the ability to create fire from the tips of their fingers. Sometimes they use this fire to light the oil in their head-dishes. Kenmun like to hunt at night, lighting up their fingertips to search for food in the dark. They primarily feed on fish and small shellfish. They also enjoy slugs and snails, pulling off the shells and rolling them up like rice balls. (It is possible to identify a banyan tree inhabited by a kenmun by the sheer amount of snail shells piled up among its roots.) They absolutely hate octopus and giant clams, and will have nothing to do with them. Kenmun stay away from inhabited areas and run away when large groups of people are nearby. They will occasionally aid lone woodcutters and people gathering firewood by carrying heavy loads for them. They remember those who treat them kindly or do them favors.