013 | How To Save A Life

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Investigating suicides
When: Afternoon June 16
Where: The Near Shore (Tokyo)
Summary: Investigation and reporting
Warnings: Talk of suicide/suicide ideation.



There has been a very sudden, very disturbing increase in the number of suicides committed in Tokyo recently. While this sometimes happens for naturally occurring reasons, the Heavens have a suspicion that something is wrong here. So they are enlisting the help of any gods and shinki that are willing to give their time, including newly arrived gods and shinki who will be informed of their situation before being directed anywhere.

It's up to you whether you are interested in helping the Heavens out, they only want those who are willing to lend a hand. Though if your god/shinki forces you along with them, that should be fine too.



Briefing

The briefing of the situation will be happening at the Meeting Hall of the gods, orders coming directly from Suijin herself. After the explanation is given, gods and shinki will be given supplies to help them, including books on how to help people in bad situations, water bottles, and some light snacks to take with them. This could go all night, so make sure you stock up on what you need before you take off.

The Streets

Streets that are usually bustling and loud are somber and awkward now. Many of the people seem to be down in the dumps and those who aren't are so put off by the situation that they are keeping mostly quiet. When approached, the ones who are obviously depressed will talk only of how life isn't worth it and how they wish it was all over. Others will comment on how confusing this all is coming from the people that are depressed. NPC interaction with mods will be available, but you are welcome to control your own NPCs as well.

Ayakashi

Perhaps unsurprisingly, those who spend enough time talking to the people in Tokyo will suddenly realize that there are a number of ayakashi attaching themselves to each of the affected people. That's right, multiple ayakashi connected to each person. They will have to be destroyed to free the person from their depressing thoughts, but there sure are a lot of them around. And, to make matters worse, a very aggressive, noisy kind of ayakashi will show up randomly to interfere with everything. They require teamwork to defeat and are hell-bent on attacking gods and shinki rather than humans.

Reporting In

Reports about what you have seen and who you have saved and what you have destroyed can be taken back to the Meeting Hall where Suijin will be waiting to be briefed. Those who bring her information are likely to be rewarded, though they might not realize just what kinds of rewards they are receiving.

In Summary:

• Get informed
• Go do some fieldwork
• Find and defeat some ayakashi
• Save some lives
• Report back in to Suijin
• Have fun~

Comments

[adventurology]

[Chikusa can look bored all he wants, but he's absolutely right.]

No, it isn't. It'll get worse. [She runs a cloth over some of the parts, and then starts reassembling the weapon.]

It'll get much, much worse. There's at least some studies that show that when a suicide rate is high in an area, it keeps increasing as more and more people are affected. If that's true in my world, I can almost guarantee that one with monsters that feed on human suffering is going to be the same if not worse.

[kokuyoyo]

[Well. That's a statistic he wasn't aware of, and he glances back to her again.]

Did you deal with suicide a lot before...?

[adventurology]

Not personally. Just in college. It was a common topic in some of my sociology courses, and something that came up repeatedly in historical surveys, though. I'm familiar with it academically.

[And personally, but Chikusa doesn't need to hear about her father. Nor is she interested in telling that story to anyone.]

[kokuyoyo]

Then you’re probably already ahead of most people here.

[Definitely Chikusa, at any rate.]

[adventurology]

Likely.

[Lara doesn't mean to toot her own horn too much, but she's leaps and bounds ahead of most people here, because she's not a teenager. And because she's a genius, but details.]

Ahead of them or not though, who knows what we'll find down there.

[kokuyoyo]

Even if it's only ayakashi- [The most simple thing to deal with, as far as Chikusa is concerned.] -it could still be more trouble than it's worth.

[A pause as he remembers something.]

...There was a large ayakashi... not that long ago. Anything in its shadow started to get drained of energy, and made it hard to think. I wonder if it's connected....

[adventurology]

[Finishing the pistol, Lara starts breaking down a short barreled shotgun...]

It may be, but I'd like to point out, it's never more trouble than it's worth. Protecting the innocent from these creatures is always worthwhile.

[kokuyoyo]

[Chikusa, while he suspects it might be ill-advised to say it out loud, doesn't truly think so. His reasons for taking out ayakashi are fairly selfish. Still, for now, he shrugs and just watches the variety of weapons she's bringing out.]

Well, if you see a giant ray.... let me know...

....Do you think you'll have to use that..?

[adventurology]

I don't know. [Shrugging, she focuses on getting a cloth down into the barrel, wiping away anything inside.]

I hope not, but I'd rather have it than not. It can't kill an ayakashi but it can still damage them well enough.

[kokuyoyo]

Let's hope they're big enough for that... Larger ayakashi would do more property damage, but they're easier to hit.

Smaller ones are... annoying.

[adventurology]

Well, that's just the reason for the shotgun. Smaller ones are more likely to get caught in the spread.

[And that's enough to paralyze most things for a second, long enough for the shinki axe.]

Bigger ones are harder to stun, too.

[kokuyoyo]

And if humans are around?

[He's not judging, he's just curious.]

[adventurology]

Get them to move before shooting?

[Lara half smiles, a weak laugh bubbling up from her.]

It's a gun, not a nuclear warhead. It'll be fine.

[kokuyoyo]

I guess so….

[A shrug.]

Although that’ll be easier to accomplish with a shinki with you…

[Borderlines, and all that.]

[adventurology]

My soulless is coming with me. Ingrid just...doesn't like crowds.

[Or much of anything, to be honest, except fighting.]

[kokuyoyo]

...Those can cast borderlines?

[It's not the most- delicate way of wording it, but Chikusa doesn't see a reason to sugarcoat his words. He's met the soulless that accompanies Hakkai, and, frankly, he hadn't thought they had the will to accomplish things like that.]

[adventurology]

Yes? If they have a reason to do so. They're still shinki.

[It isn't delicate, no, but they function. And Ingrid is a valued friend, even if she is...terse.]

[kokuyoyo]

I guess….

[Finishing up, he picks up his bag.]

Good luck with using them, then. It’s looking like this will be a lot of hard work…