Maidens of Black Water
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The Maidens of Black Water (濡鴉ノ巫女, nuregarasu no miko, see translation note) are a group of shrine maidens that appear in Fatal Frame V. They lived on Mount Hikami, participating in all of the rituals held there as part of the local religion, worshipping the water. They formerly lived in a shrine at the base of the mountain (remodelled into an inn in the present day), and only those with permission, or who wished to die, where allowed to climb the mountain. In the late Edo period, however, almost all of the maidens were killed in a massacre. Their religion and traditions died out, and the mountain was left abandoned.
Traits and duties
The maidens got their name from the fact that they kept their bodies and hair wet at all times, making their hair dark and glossy like a wet crow. By immersing themselves in water, they became closer to death, the state when all souls dissolve and become one, which allowed them to see people's secret thoughts and traces of the Netherworld. They would wear veils to cover their eyes, along with an ornate headdress. When they entered the mountain to become shrine maidens, they would take on the surname Mikomori, likely a reference to the shrine being situated by Mikomori Pond. They would purify themselves in the Pool of Purification in the Unfathomable Forest, as well as undergoing harsh training. The maidens' main duty was to glance into the souls of those who journeyed to the mountain to end their lives, so they could die "properly" and return to the water, able to rest in peace. People who wished to die would enter the shrine at the bottom of the mountain and select a maiden to go with them to the mountain. She would remove the veil covering her eyes and watch the person die, taking in their secrets, sins and emotions at their time of death, keeping them with her forever. Maidens with weaker powers would have to make physical contact with the target in order to use this ability, but stronger ones needed only to look at them.
Eventually, the maiden would glance so many memories that her heart would become full of emotions. At this time, they would use the Boat of Passage at the Shrine of the Ephemeral to journey to the Shrine on the Water, where they were put into a reliquary and sunk somewhere on the mountain, to act as pillars, purify the ground and stop the black water from overflowing from the Shadowspring.
The more powerful the maiden, the closer to the summit of the mountain she would be submerged; so-called "Great Pillars" were sunk into the Shadowspring itself. Another important pillar was submerged beneath the Shrine of Dolls, at the mid-point of the mountain. Maidens with especially strong powers were put into special, larger caskets, forever awaiting a man to enter into a Ghost Marriage with them. Their "husbands" would enter the boxes with them, making them stronger pillars that could carry on their duties for longer before ultimately melting away.
Massacre and disaster
One day, a man named Kyozo Kururugi forced his way onto the mountain. His sister Shino had committed suicide there not long before, and he believed the maidens had lured her to her death.[1] At first, it appeared that Kyozo initially planned to end his own life in the normal way, but when the maiden lifted her veil to Glance at him, he became agitated, telling her not to look at him, and fled. Unable to bear the thought of the maidens knowing his secrets, he decided to kill everyone on the mountain.
He returned soon after with a torch and large knife in hand, and set about massacring and blinding as many maidens as he could find. All their suffering, as well as that of all the people they had Glanced in the course of their duty, flooded into Ose Kurosawa, who had only just entered her casket at the edge of the Shadowspring. She was overwhelmed and her ritual failed, causing black water to overflow and corrupt all of the spirits on the mountain. The ghosts of the shrine maidens went on performing their duties, beckoning people to their deaths. A few escaped the slaughter and moved to the surrounding villages, where they continued the Shadow Reading traditions.
After the mountain was abandoned, visitors still claimed to see the maidens walking there on rainy days, and legends about them spread. It was said that those they had looked upon would be lured to their deaths, never allowed to leave.
Known Shrine Maidens
Misc. Info
- One of the maidens was voiced by Arlene Decker.[2]
References
- ↑ Voice Lens Quote, Fatal Frame V
- ↑ Babble Voices: Arlene Decker, "Gaming" sample, 00:39s