Chapter 11: A Fishy Story
[x] No
You look at the fish dubiously. It stares back at you, unblinking, appearing just as dubious of you. You shake your head. "I will take one of the yams and one of the catfish, Mume."
"Your loss, Kinjo!" the fish-vendor says. She hands you your food and you depart, exchanging one last look with the mysterious skewered creature.
—
The last of the mists have dissipated by the time the messenger from the Office finds you on your patrol route. The young man pants slightly as you allow them to rest.
"Inspector Kinjo, you are called to the harbor," he says. "There has been an incident that requires the Office's attention."
The harbor of Edo is always bustling. Hundreds of ships ply the waters, as goods are shipped in at a prodigious rate to meet the appetites of the head of the shogunate, where the daimyos come to pay their respects. Osaka might be the most renowned center of commerce in Japan, but you would not know the difference by looking at the bay. Everything from rice and millet to fish and whale meat to the finest silks and golden jewelry arrives every day, and an equally bewildering array of goods leaves the docks, too. The inspectors and informants who police the harbors tend to be either serious and intelligent, with the sort of keen minds who can grasp the numbers behind the flow of trade, catch and identify smugglers, or they are corrupt and lazy. One can earn quite a good living accepting bribes from those who wish to avoid tariffs or import goods the Shogunate has banned.
The smell greets you first, that distinctive mix of salt water and rotten garbage that marks an active harbor. The sounds of seabirds are never too far in Edo, but here they gather in great droves, looking for scraps from the fishermen's vessels, some bold enough to swoop down and snatch directly from the nets.
The alleged victim is a fisherman, old, weathered and bent, with graying hair. He is hunched under a blanket, but appears to be still spry as he clambers to his feet to meet you on the deck with a deep bow. You incline your head and gesture for him to rise and he does so.
"Inspector," he says, "You are from the Office of… Strange Things?"
You resist the urge to gesture to your badge. You do not know if the old man can read, after all. Although Edo is a city of paper and letters, not all are taught equally, and a fisherman would hardly need to practice the skill regularly. Instead, you simply respond, "That will do."
"Good, good," he said. He looks up at you, something strange in his eyes. "The men here would not listen to me. He thought I was an old fool. But… my brother, he dealt with your Office. He told me that if I ever encountered anything strange, I should contact your Office and no other."
"Tell me."
"I took the Omura out early this morning. My partner and I, we operated it together."
"Your fishing boat is named the Omura?" You ask. Usually only the larger vessels would bear names, if then, and this man did not seem the type.
"My daughter is a great fan of the kabuki actor, and she insisted," the old man says, voice rough as he continued his story. "The sun had not risen, and the mists were thick."
"Did you often go out fishing in the mist?" You ask. "It seems dangerous."
"I've been fishing Edo harbor and the shores outside the bay since before your father was born, Inspector," he says. "I know every inch of shoreline, every rock. The mists were of no concern for me, as long as I rowed slowly and carefully, and the weather was gentle. If the winds are strong and the waves are high, well, there's no use tempting the gods. But I go out whenever I can, and it's better to fish when no one else is out yet. My nets, my boat, they feed my family. Or they did." He shakes his head. "I don't know what I'll do now."
"Go on," you say.
"Yes, well, it was a strange morning. The birds sounded different. I swear, there was a call I never heard before, almost like human voices."
"Were they saying anything?"
"It wasn't like that. It was more of a feeling. Dark tidings, anyway. Or maybe I was just in a mood. Anyway, after that were the fish. I saw seabirds circling - they all seemed normal enough - so I went out and set out my net. And the fish I pulled in - they were strange things. Dark skin, large eyes. And in the dark, they twinkled, almost like stars."
You recognize the description, though you hadn't seen the fish at Mume's stand glow. "Did you bring them in?"
"Well, I thought about it. I'd never seen them before, but maybe someone would still pay for them. Sometimes strange fish come to the harbor. I know every type of fish one can pull from the bay and the waters outside, but sometimes the ocean throws a surprise your way."
"And what did you decide?"
"I didn't have a chance. As I was looking a the fish, I felt something bump underneath my boat!"
"You mean you hit a rock?"
The old man shook his head. "No, Inspector. There were no rocks where I was. Like I said, I know the harbor better than my own face. No, my boat didn't hit anything - something hit my boat."
You are not exactly an expert on sea life, but you did grow up on a coast. "A shark, maybe?"
He shook his head again. "No, Inspector. I've seen plenty of sharks. They might steal fish, if you're not careful, and you wouldn't want to fall in the water when they're in the area, but they don't attack fishing boats."
"Attack?"
"Yes. The first strike was only the beginning. It came back again. I could hear the wood creaking under the force of it. I didn't know what to do, so I started rowing for shore, as quick as I could."
"And were you quick enough?"
He shook his head. "The third strike… the boat fell apart. I fell into the water. Thankfully, I wasn't far out… I grabbed an oar to help me float, and I used it to swim to shore."
It was a harrowing story. But it left out one very important part. "Even if you're sure it wasn't a shark, at least not a shark you recognized," you raise a hand to forestall his protest, "that would just be an animal. A matter for the harbor authorities. What made you ask for our Office specifically?"
He stared into the middle distance for a long while without answering. "I've spent my whole life going out on the ocean. I've seen things. Kami dancing in the clouds. I've heard the calls of ghosts who died at sea. Seen the lights dancing above ships at night. But never anything quite like this. When I fell into the water… I saw something. I saw bones. The water was full of bones."
"Human? Animal?" You press.
The old man looks at your strangely. "I didn't get a good look. I was trying to get away."
"I understand. Thank you." You pause. "There is a reward, for credible reports of dangerous yokai. I will see you receive it."
The old man stammers out thanks, and you step out of the cramped room you'd been using as an interview chamber. The harbor official who brought you in follows you out.
"Do you know this man?" You ask. "Is he reliable?"
"I've seen him bring his boat in and out plenty," the official says. "As to reliable… well, he's never brought me a story like this before, that's for sure."
"The fish are real enough," you say. "A fish-seller tried to offer me a strange-looking fish this morning."
"Well, it doesn't happen often, but storms blow, earthquakes happen, currents take strange turns. Sometimes things come up from the depths. Strange birds, well, who can tell one bird from another?"
"Perhaps a fisherman, who uses birds as a means of locating his prey," you say. The harbormaster gives a noncommittal grunt. "What will you do?"
"Me?" The official looks at you.
"There has been a reported hazard to navigation in the harbor." You gesture outwards, towards the bay full of ships. "How will the port authority deal with it?"
"You can't expect us to - to shut down shiping over one old man's story, surely?" The official looks a little pale at the very thought of it. "He was probably drunk and crashed his boat."
In theory, you could order it under the Office's authority. But, while you find the old man's story credible, it is just one story, and there is no way such an order would survive the hour before one of the Magistrate's men overrode it.
"Besides," the official said, "if the old man is telling the truth about his boat being attacked, he must be telling the truth about the bones, eh? If it's a yokai, you just have to deal with it. Get an exorcist in and-" the man waved his hands vaguely.
If only it were that simple. Bones must surely mean something to do with the dead, and your encounter with a vengeful onryo in the past had left you with the impression that ghosts could be devilishly persistent and difficult to deal with. Your sword and other enchanted weapons could disperse them temporarily, but they might simply come back stronger. You had been told ghosts often had to be appeased rather than driven away by brute force. And why would a ghost be attacking a fishing boat? The story reminded you of something, some story you heard once but can't remember.
"Issue an advisory, at least. You can be as vague or as detailed as you want, but people should be prepared." You are going through your options when the same runner who approached you before comes back. "Inspector, you are needed at the Office!"
"What is it?" The expression on the messenger's face is alarming.
"People have come to the Office to give reports." He pauses. "Many people."
—
Some say there is a quirk of the Office, some magical effect that means that only those who are truly in need will find their way to the Office's doors. That has not exactly been your experience, and for those who believe it, their beliefs are truly tested today.
Then again, of those who have reported, all of them appear to have had a real supernatural experience.
You spend your afternoon and much of your evening in interviews with concerned citizens, a secretary taking down notes in the cramped room with you as you listen and ask questions.
"I had just gotten breakfast, when I felt this strange sensation"
"-It was like I stepped from my life into a dream!"
"I dreamed of a moon that was a red, bleeding hole in the sky! Then I looked down and saw the same hole in my chest!"
"Thunder and lightning, storm-tossed waves, and I felt myself drowning!"
"A song that I felt rather than heard. A song of pain and mourning that vibrated through my very marrow!"
Piece by piece, interview by interview, you put together the situation. The victims were not asleep, but have had visions or daydreams of dark portent that felt like waking nightmares that lasted moments but felt longer. The details differ, but there is a general theme of the sea, of pain, of blood. However, there is little to link the victim's lives or circumstances together, besides the fact most of them reside or work near the harbor. Which, of course, gives you plenty of reason to suspect a connection to the fisherman's encounter with an aquatic yokai.
There is another commonality, though.
All the dreamers had partaken of the strange fish that had been on sale in the harbor that morning. None of them seem to have any sickness or disrupted digestion - none of them reported any unusual taste to the fish. Some didn't even realize the link themselves, the dreams happening minutes to hours after the meal. But there is no escaping the connection.
Somehow, it is no surprise to you that when you make your way back to your office, the case has been officially assigned to you.
The day has come to a close. On the morrow, you must begin your investigation. What will you do?
[] You have additional questions for the fisherman or the dreamers.
-[x] Write them in here.
(This can be combined with other votes, and I'll try to respond to any questions that are reasonable. But please also choose another investigative path as well, or the update will potentially be pretty short).
[] You will send for some of the strange fish in the harbor and have them investigated
-[] You will ask Urakama to do the investigation
-[] You will ask for the services of the court onymoji you have worked with before
[] You will go back to the harbor and see what you can find out, taking a boat out yourself if necessary
-[] You will go alone
-[] You will bring Amaya
-[] You will bring a spirit medium along.
[] You will research the stories you have heard in the Office's archives of folktales and verified experiences. Perhaps there is a similar story?
[] Write-in
You look at the fish dubiously. It stares back at you, unblinking, appearing just as dubious of you. You shake your head. "I will take one of the yams and one of the catfish, Mume."
"Your loss, Kinjo!" the fish-vendor says. She hands you your food and you depart, exchanging one last look with the mysterious skewered creature.
—
The last of the mists have dissipated by the time the messenger from the Office finds you on your patrol route. The young man pants slightly as you allow them to rest.
"Inspector Kinjo, you are called to the harbor," he says. "There has been an incident that requires the Office's attention."
The harbor of Edo is always bustling. Hundreds of ships ply the waters, as goods are shipped in at a prodigious rate to meet the appetites of the head of the shogunate, where the daimyos come to pay their respects. Osaka might be the most renowned center of commerce in Japan, but you would not know the difference by looking at the bay. Everything from rice and millet to fish and whale meat to the finest silks and golden jewelry arrives every day, and an equally bewildering array of goods leaves the docks, too. The inspectors and informants who police the harbors tend to be either serious and intelligent, with the sort of keen minds who can grasp the numbers behind the flow of trade, catch and identify smugglers, or they are corrupt and lazy. One can earn quite a good living accepting bribes from those who wish to avoid tariffs or import goods the Shogunate has banned.
The smell greets you first, that distinctive mix of salt water and rotten garbage that marks an active harbor. The sounds of seabirds are never too far in Edo, but here they gather in great droves, looking for scraps from the fishermen's vessels, some bold enough to swoop down and snatch directly from the nets.
The alleged victim is a fisherman, old, weathered and bent, with graying hair. He is hunched under a blanket, but appears to be still spry as he clambers to his feet to meet you on the deck with a deep bow. You incline your head and gesture for him to rise and he does so.
"Inspector," he says, "You are from the Office of… Strange Things?"
You resist the urge to gesture to your badge. You do not know if the old man can read, after all. Although Edo is a city of paper and letters, not all are taught equally, and a fisherman would hardly need to practice the skill regularly. Instead, you simply respond, "That will do."
"Good, good," he said. He looks up at you, something strange in his eyes. "The men here would not listen to me. He thought I was an old fool. But… my brother, he dealt with your Office. He told me that if I ever encountered anything strange, I should contact your Office and no other."
"Tell me."
"I took the Omura out early this morning. My partner and I, we operated it together."
"Your fishing boat is named the Omura?" You ask. Usually only the larger vessels would bear names, if then, and this man did not seem the type.
"My daughter is a great fan of the kabuki actor, and she insisted," the old man says, voice rough as he continued his story. "The sun had not risen, and the mists were thick."
"Did you often go out fishing in the mist?" You ask. "It seems dangerous."
"I've been fishing Edo harbor and the shores outside the bay since before your father was born, Inspector," he says. "I know every inch of shoreline, every rock. The mists were of no concern for me, as long as I rowed slowly and carefully, and the weather was gentle. If the winds are strong and the waves are high, well, there's no use tempting the gods. But I go out whenever I can, and it's better to fish when no one else is out yet. My nets, my boat, they feed my family. Or they did." He shakes his head. "I don't know what I'll do now."
"Go on," you say.
"Yes, well, it was a strange morning. The birds sounded different. I swear, there was a call I never heard before, almost like human voices."
"Were they saying anything?"
"It wasn't like that. It was more of a feeling. Dark tidings, anyway. Or maybe I was just in a mood. Anyway, after that were the fish. I saw seabirds circling - they all seemed normal enough - so I went out and set out my net. And the fish I pulled in - they were strange things. Dark skin, large eyes. And in the dark, they twinkled, almost like stars."
You recognize the description, though you hadn't seen the fish at Mume's stand glow. "Did you bring them in?"
"Well, I thought about it. I'd never seen them before, but maybe someone would still pay for them. Sometimes strange fish come to the harbor. I know every type of fish one can pull from the bay and the waters outside, but sometimes the ocean throws a surprise your way."
"And what did you decide?"
"I didn't have a chance. As I was looking a the fish, I felt something bump underneath my boat!"
"You mean you hit a rock?"
The old man shook his head. "No, Inspector. There were no rocks where I was. Like I said, I know the harbor better than my own face. No, my boat didn't hit anything - something hit my boat."
You are not exactly an expert on sea life, but you did grow up on a coast. "A shark, maybe?"
He shook his head again. "No, Inspector. I've seen plenty of sharks. They might steal fish, if you're not careful, and you wouldn't want to fall in the water when they're in the area, but they don't attack fishing boats."
"Attack?"
"Yes. The first strike was only the beginning. It came back again. I could hear the wood creaking under the force of it. I didn't know what to do, so I started rowing for shore, as quick as I could."
"And were you quick enough?"
He shook his head. "The third strike… the boat fell apart. I fell into the water. Thankfully, I wasn't far out… I grabbed an oar to help me float, and I used it to swim to shore."
It was a harrowing story. But it left out one very important part. "Even if you're sure it wasn't a shark, at least not a shark you recognized," you raise a hand to forestall his protest, "that would just be an animal. A matter for the harbor authorities. What made you ask for our Office specifically?"
He stared into the middle distance for a long while without answering. "I've spent my whole life going out on the ocean. I've seen things. Kami dancing in the clouds. I've heard the calls of ghosts who died at sea. Seen the lights dancing above ships at night. But never anything quite like this. When I fell into the water… I saw something. I saw bones. The water was full of bones."
"Human? Animal?" You press.
The old man looks at your strangely. "I didn't get a good look. I was trying to get away."
"I understand. Thank you." You pause. "There is a reward, for credible reports of dangerous yokai. I will see you receive it."
The old man stammers out thanks, and you step out of the cramped room you'd been using as an interview chamber. The harbor official who brought you in follows you out.
"Do you know this man?" You ask. "Is he reliable?"
"I've seen him bring his boat in and out plenty," the official says. "As to reliable… well, he's never brought me a story like this before, that's for sure."
"The fish are real enough," you say. "A fish-seller tried to offer me a strange-looking fish this morning."
"Well, it doesn't happen often, but storms blow, earthquakes happen, currents take strange turns. Sometimes things come up from the depths. Strange birds, well, who can tell one bird from another?"
"Perhaps a fisherman, who uses birds as a means of locating his prey," you say. The harbormaster gives a noncommittal grunt. "What will you do?"
"Me?" The official looks at you.
"There has been a reported hazard to navigation in the harbor." You gesture outwards, towards the bay full of ships. "How will the port authority deal with it?"
"You can't expect us to - to shut down shiping over one old man's story, surely?" The official looks a little pale at the very thought of it. "He was probably drunk and crashed his boat."
In theory, you could order it under the Office's authority. But, while you find the old man's story credible, it is just one story, and there is no way such an order would survive the hour before one of the Magistrate's men overrode it.
"Besides," the official said, "if the old man is telling the truth about his boat being attacked, he must be telling the truth about the bones, eh? If it's a yokai, you just have to deal with it. Get an exorcist in and-" the man waved his hands vaguely.
If only it were that simple. Bones must surely mean something to do with the dead, and your encounter with a vengeful onryo in the past had left you with the impression that ghosts could be devilishly persistent and difficult to deal with. Your sword and other enchanted weapons could disperse them temporarily, but they might simply come back stronger. You had been told ghosts often had to be appeased rather than driven away by brute force. And why would a ghost be attacking a fishing boat? The story reminded you of something, some story you heard once but can't remember.
"Issue an advisory, at least. You can be as vague or as detailed as you want, but people should be prepared." You are going through your options when the same runner who approached you before comes back. "Inspector, you are needed at the Office!"
"What is it?" The expression on the messenger's face is alarming.
"People have come to the Office to give reports." He pauses. "Many people."
—
Some say there is a quirk of the Office, some magical effect that means that only those who are truly in need will find their way to the Office's doors. That has not exactly been your experience, and for those who believe it, their beliefs are truly tested today.
Then again, of those who have reported, all of them appear to have had a real supernatural experience.
You spend your afternoon and much of your evening in interviews with concerned citizens, a secretary taking down notes in the cramped room with you as you listen and ask questions.
"I had just gotten breakfast, when I felt this strange sensation"
"-It was like I stepped from my life into a dream!"
"I dreamed of a moon that was a red, bleeding hole in the sky! Then I looked down and saw the same hole in my chest!"
"Thunder and lightning, storm-tossed waves, and I felt myself drowning!"
"A song that I felt rather than heard. A song of pain and mourning that vibrated through my very marrow!"
Piece by piece, interview by interview, you put together the situation. The victims were not asleep, but have had visions or daydreams of dark portent that felt like waking nightmares that lasted moments but felt longer. The details differ, but there is a general theme of the sea, of pain, of blood. However, there is little to link the victim's lives or circumstances together, besides the fact most of them reside or work near the harbor. Which, of course, gives you plenty of reason to suspect a connection to the fisherman's encounter with an aquatic yokai.
There is another commonality, though.
All the dreamers had partaken of the strange fish that had been on sale in the harbor that morning. None of them seem to have any sickness or disrupted digestion - none of them reported any unusual taste to the fish. Some didn't even realize the link themselves, the dreams happening minutes to hours after the meal. But there is no escaping the connection.
Somehow, it is no surprise to you that when you make your way back to your office, the case has been officially assigned to you.
The day has come to a close. On the morrow, you must begin your investigation. What will you do?
[] You have additional questions for the fisherman or the dreamers.
-[x] Write them in here.
(This can be combined with other votes, and I'll try to respond to any questions that are reasonable. But please also choose another investigative path as well, or the update will potentially be pretty short).
[] You will send for some of the strange fish in the harbor and have them investigated
-[] You will ask Urakama to do the investigation
-[] You will ask for the services of the court onymoji you have worked with before
[] You will go back to the harbor and see what you can find out, taking a boat out yourself if necessary
-[] You will go alone
-[] You will bring Amaya
-[] You will bring a spirit medium along.
[] You will research the stories you have heard in the Office's archives of folktales and verified experiences. Perhaps there is a similar story?
[] Write-in
