015 | Sky Full Of Stars

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Tanabata Festival
When: All day July 5
Where: The Near Shore
Summary: The Heavens are throwing a party and you're invited!

Edit: OVERFLOW is here!



With Tanabata drawing close, the Heavens have decided that there is nothing wrong with a little celebration for the annual occasion. So they have invited everyone on the Far Shore as well as a large number of people from the Near Shore to attend a festival for Tanabata. Tanabata festivals are not uncommon in this area, so the Near Shore residents are none the wiser, though some of them are a little uncertain about where this street they've never heard of popped up from...

Tanabata is a festival held to celebrate the one time a year that the lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi can meet across the vast expanse of the Milky Way. Many birds have been working their tail feathers off to create a bridge for the two lovebirds and that bridge - perhaps unsurprisingly - touches down on this street, in the middle of the festival.

The Heavens have prepared entertainment, food stalls, and as many tanzaku as might be needed for everyone to write down wishes, along with plenty of bamboo stalks to hang the wishes from.

New arrivals will find themselves ushered to the festival and offered traditional clothing after their normal briefing at the Meeting Hall.



Stalls

There are festival stalls of every kind present, all run by shinki dressed in white robes and bearing the golden chrysanthemum of Amaterasu. Many of them seem a little bruised still, but they are happy to smile for anyone who comes to the stall they are running. There is food, games, and drinks available of all kinds, so feel free to roam around to your heart's content sampling everything that you can.

Performance

A large stage has been erected at one end of the festival street. The Heavens know that there are many talented gods and shinki present, so they are more than willing to clear spots in the scheduling for those people to perform. Anytime a Far Shore resident isn't on stage, there are plenty of Near Shore acts to go on, ranging the gambit from traditional music and instruments all the way to a rock band that has somehow found themselves here for the celebration.

Wishes

Pieces of paper called tanzaku have been strewn about a number of bamboo shoots all over the festival. There are brightly colored decorations on the bamboo and the papers themselves exist in every color of the rainbow as well. Attendees are encouraged to write down any wishes they may have and hang them from the bamboo, a normal Tanabata tradition. Wishes can range from 'I want a soda' to 'World peace' and anything in between. Obviously, some of these wishes may not be able to be granted during the time of the festival, but gods and shinki alike are encouraged to answer any wishes they can as well.

NOTE: Please report any wishes your characters answers to the first comment on this post along with a link to where the wish is answered. There will be small bonuses awarded for answered wishes.

The Bridge

As stated previously, the bridge that will allow Orihime to meet her lover touches down in the very center of the festival's street. It may be made of tiny pieces, but the bridge itself is sturdy. While it may not be able to take just anyone who sets foot on it across the Milky Way, you are allowed to walk along the bridge yourself, though you will always find yourself turned around after a short time and heading back towards where you stepped on. Lovers in particular are encouraged to walk the bridge together to deepen their bonds, but be cautioned! If you walk onto the bridge with someone, you might start feeling affectionately towards them even if they are your sworn enemy! Such is the power of love on this day.

In Summary:

• Enjoy the festival
• Watch some quality entertainment
• Make and/or answer wishes
• Meet Orihime
• Traverse the bridge
• Have fun~

Comments

[fortune_detective]

Against Amaterasu... yet, no gods have been attacked have they? Is it because shinki make for easier targets?

[Detective mode engaging.]

And what exactly is their message to her? To stop welcoming us? Or is it perhaps something more personal related to her specifically?

[It's unclear if Naoto expects Shizuo to actually answer any of these questions, or if she's simply musing out loud for her own thought-organizing benefit.]

[bartenderizing]

Death. Down with the heavens. Things like that.

[ Basically a rebellion, so far as Shizuo's seen it. ]

There've been posters and they've set her temple on fire over a week ago. You could probably find out more on the boards. You've got quick access to them on your phone.

[fortune_detective]

[Naoto indeed pulls out her phone for a moment to confirm. She does not peruse it for long though before she slips the phone back into her pocket. She does make a mental note, however, to more thoroughly review those online boards when she has a little more down time to herself.]

"Down with the heavens..." What kind of group stands to benefit from that, I wonder. The ayakashi? I was given to understand they were more akin to beasts than intelligent, plotting conspirators.

Whoever the culprits are, for them to go from merely putting up posters to arson and then to murder represents an alarming rate of escalation. Is there some form of law enforcement or peacekeeping organization in the heavens?

[Though Naoto gets the feeling she already knows the answer to that question.]

[bartenderizing]

[ While it's easy to see how natural it is for the girl to go into this, pretty much diving to figure out what was going on, Shizuo's known that it's been all above his head. Even if he's been able to notice some things, this was all beyond him. ]

The closest you've got to that are the original gods, which I don't think anyone has seen much response from.

Honestly, this is all over my head. Maybe there are smart ayakashi out there, or it's people from the original group of gods and shinki wanting to take over. I can tell you that it wasn't the only fire or massive amounts of posters being put everywhere. Anything more, you'll need to find out from people that've been around longer.

[fortune_detective]

The original gods...

[The notion was... troubling. Naoto had already heard that the gods here were essentially stand-ins, surrogates meant to take the place of gods who'd mysteriously gone missing. If these gods were the ones behind such actions... why go to such extreme lengths? If they are the original gods, couldn't they simply just re-assume their positions? There's clearly more to this that remains unknown, and, while Naoto is itching to investigate more, she understands now is not exactly the time. She'll file all this information away for later. Something for her to return to in her own time.]

Well, I appreciate you warning me of the danger and for filling me in on all that you know about the situation. I'll be sure to stay observant for anything or anyone that seems suspicious at the festival.

[Though, considering she's really only just arrived here herself, she's not exactly sure what would be considered "abnormal behavior or persons" worthy of suspicions.]

[bartenderizing]

[ Soon she'll learn about how some of the gods are the original ones, thus not having needed surrogates. He tried to be a helpful person to this shinki thing, but it's clear that this is not Shizuo's forte. He's still working on figuring that out ]

Just focus on staying careful and meeting your god. You don't have to rush in figuring it all out.

[fortune_detective]

[Naoto smiles reassuringly and nods. As intriguing as all these details were, Naoto had no intention of getting involved just yet. Not while she still lacked a satisfactory understanding of her surroundings and how things operate in the afterlife. Not to mention taking proper precautions when it comes to her own safety and self-defense.]

Of course. I don't plan to go looking for any trouble so soon after arriving.