25 - Troubled Waters

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Alleviating the troubles caused by conflict in Heaven
When: October 10
Where: Orihime's meadows in the Far Shore, as well as various places in Japan, China and Ireland
Summary: Orihime has been tasked by the Heavens with resolving the conflict caused in the mortal world by the new gods' struggles against one another. Several gods have been killed recently, and their violent deaths have led to dangerous corruption being released in the mortal world. Help Orihime expunge the corruption and return the human world to a peaceful existence.







Orihime's Meadows

Before traveling to the Far Shore, gods and shinki can meet and make plans near Orihime's modest home at the edge of the Southeastern District. Her dwelling is too small to accommodate even one team of gods and shinki arranging something as serious as this, let alone several. It is obvious she thought about this fact, and has crafted four cloth tents out in the meadows surrounding her home. The sounds of the milky way river are now joined by rustling fabric in the wind, for each tent has a flag mounted atop it and standing in front of it:

• The blue tent belongs to the team for Ksitigarbha. It has a sigil in black on the flag.
  
• The green tent belongs to the team for Li Tieguai. On its flag, a mortar and pestle in white, but the visible part of the pestle resembles a staff crook.
  
• The red tent belongs to the team for Cu Chulainn, with an impressive reproduction of a two-headed dog celtic knot in shining silver.
  
• The brown tent belongs to the team for Loki. Its flag bears a two-headed snake in gold.
All four tents are spread out in cardinal directions. Near each tent, she has a few stacks of wooden prayer tablets related to each of the problems, as well as maps and supplies for those who might need them.

In the center of all four tents is a simple chair and table where Orihime herself is generally sitting, talking to others nearby, or writing notes based on those conversations. She does a lot of listening when people ask her for new supplies she hadn't thought of previously, but has only been supplied with four shinki runners to get those supplies, one per group. Additionally, she cannot teleport down to the Near Shore herself, nor can anyone use her home to teleport down to where each of the troubles are; that is a problem for each group to solve on their own, with Orihime only able to mediate and provide suggestions.

Child's Play

Kshitigarbha, protector of children and of hell beings, is one of the recent casualties. Without his protection, it seems that babies' fears are giving rise to new and awful ayakashi throughout the city of Xi'an. Shadows on the wall above the crib, oversized stuffed animals, monsters hiding in the closet or rattling the windows at night -- all the fears of earliest childhood are taking real, malicious form. Babies are panicking, parents are exhausted, and all this stress is pulling in even more ayakashi! Someone needs to lure out these nursery nightmares and defeat them before the situation gets worse.

As gods and shinki work to rend the ayakashi tormenting children, they may notice a strange shadow passing by in the street outside, or scratching noises at the nursery window. Something more seems to be waiting outside....

Flu Season

With sky-high living costs and limited space, Tokyo has a large homeless population. Li Tieguai, protector of the poor and patron of medicine, was another recent death: now, winter's coming, and without his protection it seems like everyone's getting sick at once. They're suffering from everything ranging from plain old head colds and 'flu to more serious things like pneumonia or infections. Help pass out tea, soup and blankets, make sure they get the right medications, and get the sickest people to the hospital.

Carrion crows crowd close around the sick and croak, watching the gods and shinki helping them.

Wild Hounds

As if honoring the fall of the Hound of Chulainn, stray dogs have begun to form into large, dangerous packs in rural and suburban areas of Ireland, and even well-trained housepets have started breaking their leashes and joining them. They're starting to chase and bite humans, and it's only a matter of time before someone gets killed. Gods need to defeat the ayakashi possessing the "leaders of the pack," and get the pets back to their worried owners.

The groves of trees where the dogs are lairing seem unusually dark and shadowy, and footsteps seem to echo those of the gods and shinki tracking them down.

Prank War

Teenage pranks are turning unusually cruel and dangerous lately: with Loki gone, a few groups of bored kids have coalesced into more serious gangs in Chiba, and they've been seen setting fires, tormenting animals, vandalizing businesses and intimidating or robbing people walking alone at night. Someone needs to stop them from causing trouble, put them on a better path, or turn them in to the police before someone gets badly hurt.

Even as they're working to stop the teenagers' mischief, something seems to whisper to them and encourage them to join in and cause a little trouble. After all, it's just some fun....

Boss Battles

Those who helped to resolve the problems caused by the gods' deaths have one final enemy to face. Four dangerous ayakashi are behind these conflicts. Each character can participate in one boss battle, but it's fine for characters to form multiple different groups (i.e. multiple threads under one boss's comment.) To ensure that the NPC knows when to respond to your characters, please indicate which characters will be in a thread in your first comment.

Kshitigarbha - Child's Play

Li Tieguai - Flu Season

Cu Chulainn - Wild Hounds

Loki - Prank War

In Summary:

• Check in with Orihime and your new teams
• Save scared children
• Help the sick
• Tame stray dogs
• Stop pranks from going too far
• Watch out~

Comments

LI TIEGUAI - FLU SEASON

[creeping_spirit]

[The carrion crows croak, drawing into tighter clusters as another crow comes fluttering down from the trees. It's larger than the others, with an oily sheen on the edges of its wings, and it lands in the center of the park walkway with a ponderous weight that's strange for its size.

And then, under it, the cement cracks, and cracks again. The crow lifts its beak, crying out: two hoarse caws, and then, as though it's cleared its throat, words.]

S͙͎̫̫͔̠͍̦̞̐ͪ̇̓ͬͣ͊ṁ̨̳͕̖̠̝̌̔ê͈̖̍̋͛̇̊̍̆̿l̢̞̖̭̫̬ͨ͑͆́̊͑ͅͅļ̺̅͊́s̵̷̤͍͖̮̲̣͛ ͨ̄ͩͫ͆͒͏̸̢̠͈̮̲̞̮̖̬t̸̢̜̪͖̤̗̥̫̖̗̅̒ͩ́̽̆ͧ͑̀ạ̛̜̮̓͆͝sͮ͒̉ͨ̍̒͐̈́͌҉̮̗͘ṫ̢̧̙͎̣̖̉͆ͨͪ́͆̚y͕̪̗̫̲͚͆ͬͯ̅̃̽̓ͅ…

[It spreads its wings wider, and wider, arching over the trees as the crow expands to the size of a horse, then the size of a house, and tilts its head. One eye bulges, yellow-red, from its sleek black head, and it looks down, judging its prey.

The beak whips down with the speed of a striking snake.]

Maria

[declamando]

[Maria mostly focused on the flu outbreak since it had been the thing she could help with most, but when the ayakashi finally reveals itself, things change. She's had Uta with her all day in her sword form, and Maria quickly pulls the shinki from where she was concealed under the outer layer of her skirt and leaps back as the crow's beak plunges to where she'd just been.]

What on earth is this thing...!? [She's never seen an ayakashi this massive, never mind the eerie speech. She might not have fought as many of them as other gods, but surely this can't be normal for ayakashi.]

[creeping_spirit]

[The crow croaks hoarsely, as if disappointed at her escape, and hops forward, its clawed feet sinking deep into the loam of the park as it hits the ground. It pecks again.]



C̗̺̗̻̠̬ͯò̊̑m͔̙̘̳͛ͮͨͥ̊͟e͉͈͎̳̪̟͚͆̀̚ ̩͓̱͈̘̦c͇ͫ̾͊̿̌̆͡l̀o̠̊͋̂ͫ̽̋͞s̼͓͂e̹̥̻̭̤̾r̢̟͖̙͒̍̇̽̎ͬ


[Its wings are still spread wide, casting a shadow on the ground, and within the shadow, the sound of coughing rises from scattered humans.]

[declamando]

[The sound of the coughing stirs Maria to further action - she has to bottle it into this area if she wants to avoid more humans being hurt. And to do that, she'd be best served getting rid of its best means of transport.]

Well, if you insist! [She disappears from in front of the crow to reappear right near the join of one of its spread wings, ramming Uta's blade form right down at the curve of where the wing attaches to its body.]

[creeping_spirit]

[The creature's beak opens wide in a distorted, too-human scream as Maria's blade sinks deep into the join of its wing. Purple goo spurts from the wound, and its wing crumples to the ground, branches cracking and snapping under the weight of the impact.

It twists towards her, feathers bristling all around her to draw thin lines of blight wherever they strike flesh, as it tries to carry her down with the weight of its body and crush her against the ground.]

[declamando]

[Maria hisses in pain as the feathers scrape and spread blight over her, but she's not unused to fighting monsters on this tier, even if they're not usually ayakashi. Quickly, she manages to claw her way up and off the wing, touching the crow with as little bare skin as possible to try and avoid blight.

She manages to leap off just as it hits the ground, landing clear but prepared for it to try and strike again. Right now, she doesn't even want to risk the time it would take to grab for some blessed water to get rid of the blight.]

[creeping_spirit]

[The ground shakes with the impact of the crow's body, and it thrashes, wounded wing still half-spread and dragging on the ground as it staggers back up to its feet.

One yellow eye focuses on Maria, pupil blowing wide, and its head whips to the side, beak spearing towards her again.

This time, it spreads its wounded wing wider behind her, as if scooping her towards its red maw.]

[declamando]

[Maria prepares to scramble up the wing again, but Tsuzuki's borderline blocks the impact of the beak, giving her more time to get clear without having to blight herself further.

However, she doesn't stay that way long. Seeing the bird going for the two shinki also fighting it, she disappears from her position to teleport above it once more, stabbing towards its other wing and trying to drag the sword the entire way down it with her weight.]

[creeping_spirit]

[The crow is hopping towards the two shinki, and not paying attention to the goddess at its side. Her sword sinks deeply into the wing that Yamanbagiri's borderline had scraped, and cuts a long slash down it. Purple ichor erupts from the injury as the crow shrieks harshly, and both its wings are now trailing helplessly to its sides, crushing the shrubbery below.]

[declamando]

[It's a good start, at least - not being able to move its wings means it can't create as large of a shadow if it tries that move again. As soon as she feels her feet touch the ground, she charges forward to try and take out one of its legs as well.

Better she do that than the two shinki who wouldn't be able to teleport away if it tried to come down on them.]

[creeping_spirit]

[The crow screeches again, hopping awkwardly as Maria slashes at its leg to try to avoid the blow. It's slow, and the blade's edge cuts a thin line along its shin, but the foot still holds as it lands.

With a cry that sounds strangely satisfied, it throws itself forward, trailing wings out to either side to prevent Maria's escape, massive body bearing down towards her.]

[declamando]

[Maria ducks down, ready to teleport if she needs to, but Yamanbagiri's borderline blocks the ayakashi from actually dropping onto her, and she straightens herself out a little, glancing back over to the leg she tried to slash. While the chance is there...

She darts over in that direction again while the borderline holds and the ayakashi is stunned, going at the leg again to try for a deeper cut even if she can't take it off entirely.]

[creeping_spirit]

[Her blade bites deeply this time, jarring on bone, and the claw jerks and spasms with the blow. Tsuzuki's spell-creatures are snapping at its wings, and the crow croaks but stays down, for now, shuddering as it turns its head to begin pecking at the harrying wolves.]

Yamanbagiri + Tsuzuki

[replicatedform]

[Yamanbagiri's back to focus on the requests related to the flu outbreak. Since the people need all the help they can get, the other issues like the pranks elsewhere can be handled by others.

He's with Tsuzuki at the moment, discussing what to next. Until he heard something. A crow's caw, and then... He quickly looks around and see the centre of the park walkway. How did the cement get cracked?

But he soon get his answer at the sight of the crow growing in sheer size. Yamanbagiri's eyes widen in surprise, and instinctively place his hand on his sword.]

Ayakashi...?

[sweetdeath]

Ayakashi. [That's not even a question. Tsuzuki's stomach twists in surprise and nausea at the creature's overwhelming aura, and he pats at the pockets of his windbreaker hastily. There--

The creature's trying to eat them, its beak spearing down. Tsuzuki stumbles back with a shout.]

Watch out!

[He swipes a hand frantically across, drawing a borderline between the two of them and the creature's stabbing beak.]

[creeping_spirit]

[The crow's beak glances off of Tsuzuki's borderline, and it thrashes as, on its back, Maria drives a sword deep into its wing joint. The massive wing crashes down against trees and bushes, wood snapping with gunshot force and splinters spraying out at the two shinki on the ground.

The crow seems distracted by the tiny form of the goddess at its shoulder, thrashing and twisting, but it strikes out again with a wing at the two other shinki.]

[replicatedform]

[When the splinters come spraying out, Yamanbagiri quickly grab his cloak, stand in front of Tsuzuki and hold the cloth up to cover his face. He winces when they hit him, and possibly tearing some holes in his cloak. That's fine, but this really make him wish Sakura's here to use him.

Lowering his cloak, Yamanbagiri blinks when he see the other person on the crow's back. A god? The fact that she's actually attacking and seems to be hurting the ayakashi seems to suggest it.]

There's someone on its back!

[Whoa! He step backward to avoid the wing strike.]

They—They're probably a god! [With a sword, so probably a shinki. Which means... Oh, he can see the god is a girl.] Let's help her by distracting it!

[Letting go of his cloak, Yamanbagiri quickly shift his hand and draw a borderline right at the left wing.]

[sweetdeath]

Yeah! [Tsuzuki's gaze flicks to her -- the crow's thrashing around, but she seems to be okay, for now, so he focuses on helping Yamanbagiri. Distracting it seems like a good idea.

He throws another borderline at its head, aiming to cut through its beak this time rather than simply block it from pecking. The beak looks like its biggest weapon, if it really acts like a crow.]

[creeping_spirit]

[Yamanbagiri's borderline slashes so close to its left wing that it sends a scattering of severed feathers flying from the creature's body. Each feather shatters into purple goo as it falls, splashing across the ground and wisping away into vapor. Tsuzuki's whips in front of its plunging beak, but the ayakashi recoils, saving all but the very tip of its beak from being cut away by the edge of the borderline. It opens its mouth in a shriek of frustrated rage, banging its newly blunted beak against the borderline in front of its face twice, then three times, before turning on the two shinki and advancing with feathers ruffled and eyes rolling furiously.

It shuffles briefly, as if trying to take flight, but one of its wings is still trailing, incapacitated by the injury. Instead, it only spreads its good wing and hops, clawed feet aiming towards them as its massive body descends.]

[replicatedform]

[His eyes quickly seek out the goddess, but she's not on its back. Where did she go? Until he sees her again, he'll have to be careful of what to do next.]

Is that all you got? Prove me wrong!

[And that's why he raised his voice, taunting the crow directly and standing his ground. He quickly swipe his hand, this time to draw a defensive borderline in front of the crow to bar its way.

And he sees Maria appears, stabbing the crow from above. So that's where she is.]

[sweetdeath]

[Yamanbagiri is keeping a borderline raised in front of the crow, and Maria is stabbing at its wing and rolling underneath it as it screams. Tsuzuki leaps to one side, rolling and coming up on his feet at the edge of the borderline with a handful of the small summoning papers he keeps in his coat. The spirits they call forth are weak and temporary, but they might be enough to keep the crow distracted while Maria continues to cut at it.]

Come forth!

[He throws the cards, and as each strikes the ground, a shadowy white wolf-shape boils up from the paper, snapping at the crow's wounded wings and snarling.]

[creeping_spirit]

[The ayakashi is throwing itself down, trying to crush Maria-- and as it falls, Yamanbagiri's borderline goes up, and it crashes into it, face-first, with a massive, earthshaking squawk and a scattering of feathers and purple goo from the point of impact. The wolves nip and harry at its wings, but it stays where it is, briefly stunned.]

[replicatedform]

[Loud. It's so loud, he can still feel the tremors on the ground and the sound ringing in his ears. Yamanbagiri stand his ground, watching the fallen ayakashi carefully.]

It's not moving.

[For now. So it's probably their best chance right now strike it down for good, before it snaps out of it. Or make sure Maria have the chance to do it. He hold his hand ready, in case he need to launch more borderlines.]

We should keep it down until she finishes it off.

[sweetdeath]

[Tsuzuki responds with a sharp nod, pulling out another handful of his prepared ofuda and looking up at Yamanbagiri as he angles around the crow.]

If it tries to move again, block it with a borderline!

[Maria's going for the attack. As his first spell-wolves fade away, their energy depleted, Tsuzuki throws out another ofuda, then another.]

I'll keep it distracted.

[creeping_spirit]

[The crow's beak spears down towards the wolves, picking them off with the accuracy of a robin eating worms, but its wings trail uselessly and Maria's hacking through one of its legs to leave it helpless and immobile. It caws, furious, and stretches its neck in an attempt to snap up the caster beyond the harrying wolves.]