20 | Shopping Frenzy!

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Helping a grand opening go well
When: August 21
Where: The Near Shore
Summary: The owners and employees at a new shopping center are begging for help. Bad luck has plagued them, and their grand opening is this weekend! Gods and shinki alike have been asked to respond to their prayers on Opening Day, find the source of their misfortune and ensure that the opening goes smoothly.



The Yamada Corporation is opening a new, high-class department store in a Tokyo suburb. They've been running advertisements for weeks and excitement among their prospective customers is at a fever pitch. Unfortunately, things inside the project aren't going so well. Construction has been delayed, deliveries are wrong, employees keep getting sick or hurt on the job and it's starting to look like the grand opening will be a grand disaster. Their fervent prayers for help have reached the Heavens, who are passing them along to you to be granted... but with an addition: Heaven, too, is very interested in learning where that bad luck is coming from.



Maintenance Madness

For a brand-new building, Yamada Department Store is having a lot of maintenance issues. Toilets are overflowing, lights are burning out, stair railings are coming loose, and either the air conditioning is set so cold there's frost on the vents or it's not working at all. The overworked maintenance crew needs all the help they can get! How many gods does it take to change a light bulb?

Secret Shoppers

Are you really going undercover to make sure you stop problems before they start, or just enjoying a day of high-class shopping on Heaven's dime? Whatever your real motivation is, all expenses are covered... but you'll still want to keep an eye out for mishaps. Unfortunately, the grocery and bakery in the basement are under construction (they've had some flooding problems) but there are still six floors of designer clothes, consumer goods and restaurants to enjoy.

Retail Rescue

Between mysterious accidents and that nasty flu that seems to be going around, the department store is badly understaffed. Grab an employee uniform and someone else's nametag and pitch in before the lines get too long. There are positions open in every department, from the restaurant on the top floor to book sales on floor one.

It's not just sales and service you have to worry about: thanks to the store's misfortune, displays are toppling over, the wrong orders are coming in, fancy candies are melting all over the shelves and ink tags are exploding on their own. This is hard work!

Intrepid Investigators

The Heavens aren't just sending so much supernatural help to this department store to keep their faithful followers happy. They have reason to suspect that there's something more sinister behind this mysterious streak of extra-bad luck. Between keeping the lights on and the customers happy,
you've been asked to search the store and investigate all of the "unlucky" incidents in order to determine what's going on. The shinki who brought you this request hinted that Heaven would look favorably on anyone who uncovered something particularly useful....

If your character is investigating the department store and needs to know what they have found, please comment to the "Investigations" thread below with a link to your thread. Your hint will be provided.

Investigation threads longer than 10 comments will earn 200 followers for every god in the thread and 20 exp for every shinki. Once your thread reaches that length, please turn it in by replying to your hint under the "Investigations" thread to let us know you've earned the bonus.

In Summary:

• Keep the lights on
• Take some time out to enjoy a shopping trip
• Make sure the customers are happy
• Discover the cause of the bad luck
• Have fun~

Comments

investigators

[kokuyoyo]

[What she finds is a pile of boxes, and a single long arm poking out of them.]

[Somewhere, Ken is panicking because he lost his nerd.]

[challengesfate]

[There's a blink, and then a sudden realization-]

Oh, Gods! Hold on...

[She shoves her box onto a random shelf and hurries over, starting to move some of these other boxes out of the way. You doin' okay there buddy?]

[kokuyoyo]

[He's alive. Or, well. Existing.]

[Once enough boxes have been moved off, Chikusa slowly gets himself up on his elbows and adjusts his glasses with a slow blink.]

Ah. You....

[challengesfate]

Ah...[Hey, it's this guy! Lucina smiles, relieved, and holds a hand out to him.] Are you alright? Did something happen?

[kokuyoyo]

[Blinking sluggishly, he lets her help him up to his feet.]

I think something broke.... so a lot of stuff fell onto me... .

[challengesfate]

Are you hurt anywhere?

[Besides like bruises which are probably going to happen, she means. Lucina glances over the fallen stuff, trying to spy what might have broken to trigger the fall.]

[kokuyoyo]

I don't feel any pain.

[....This is actually a more general statement than she might think, but Chikusa doesn't say that. Instead, he just tests his steps to make sure he can walk properly, and that satisfies him enough.]

...I thought they might have other hats in here that hadn't been put onto the floor yet.... But it's more of a mess than I thought...

[challengesfate]

[She kind of smiles wanly, but is glad that he's on his feet, at least.]

You're right...it's very disorganized. [Laurent would have a heart attack in here.] No wonder those boxes fell when they did. It's likely they weren't put away properly.

[kokuyoyo]

So... Just workers who didn't bother to do their job properly...?

[With how unhappy they've all seemed, he wouldn't be surprised.]

[challengesfate]

Perhaps. Or they had to do it quickly to attend to other matters.

[She kneels down to check out one of these boxes, peering inside and narrowing her eyes.] I thought I knew what most of the things in the store were, but that continues to be proven false.

[kokuyoyo]

[Leaning over, he tries to peer into the box as well.]

What is it?

[challengesfate]

[The contents of the box? This thing.]

It looks like an animal, but...it's not alive in any capacity. And it has one of those...things on the top? [A zipper.] What could it be for?

[Does it even belong in the stock in this store]

[kokuyoyo]

[If it belongs in the store or not is going to be a mystery for right now, but Chikusa sure is... just staring at her.]

[Give him a minute.]

...It's probably a novelty bag... Tug the zipper down and it opens so you can put things in it....

[challengesfate]

...

[She reaches in and slowly unzips the bag. It's got the normal paper and stuff that the inside of bags have to make sure they keep their shape.]

...This is an unsettling satchel.

[kokuyoyo]

[Chikusa considers the kind of fashion that he's seen on the streets and, after a second, shrugs.]

I've seen ones for fish.

[challengesfate]

Satchels shaped like fish?

[kokuyoyo]

Yes. People like weird bag shapes... I guess...

[This sure is some investigating they're doing: the investigation of why people are weird as hell.]

[challengesfate]

...I think I could see that being...fun? But this creature is not one I would presume to see as a satchel.

[No one ever said Lucina had taste]

[kokuyoyo]

There's a lot of things that end up bags... [A side eye.] What creatures would make good bags?

[challengesfate]

...Perhaps if one were made in the shape of a fish, like the ones you claim to have seen? That would be amusing.

[kokuyoyo]

If you say so.

[Slowly, he straightens up. Or, well. Gets a little less bent over.]

But that's probably not what you came here for.

[challengesfate]

No. I was told to put a box of items away, but...now I'm wondering if it wouldn't be remiss to investigate somewhat.

[kokuyoyo]

Probably... it's what the Heavens want people to be here for, at any rate.

[challengesfate]

Yes, of course...that, amongst other things. I have heard...that some of the others believe that an aya...ayakashi might be responsible.

[kokuyoyo]

I don't think so.

[Slowly, Chikusa tilts his head to the side.]

Ayakashi... usually have a specific effect. The last time there was something that they were the cause of, it was limited to them making people depressed. I can't think of what singular effect this would fall under... There's too many varying issues.