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

[reformedsinner]

[She shrieks, and jumps forward a step, whirling around to swat at Chikusa's beak. Don't do that!

Hakkai laughs, not questioning the odd comment (right about what, he wonders?) as he turns his attention on the still-dazed leader.]

Well?

[The boy stares back, but his defiance doesn't seem as strong as before. It's wilting in the face of tiredness -- and, probably, a headache -- and he, eventually, leans down to grab one of the intact garbage bags.

Fine.

Hakkai smiles, and crosses his arms, watching as the other children reluctantly start moving.]

[kokuyoyo]

[The bird only stares at her, dead eyed and unblinking, something which is either talent or nature. It's hard to say which. Still, as the various teenagers get to it, Chikusa lessens the effect of his power, and starts to preen himself.]

[He doesn't care how bad it reeks here. He can't smell.]

Do you think it's only because Loki is gone that they're acting up like this?

[reformedsinner]

It's hard to say.

[They seem to be picking up the pace, falling into line with their cleanup efforts, no matter how reluctant. Hakkai raises his eyebrows, considering them.]

I can't believe that a god like Loki would have inspired them to behave themselves when he was here, can you?

[kokuyoyo]

He was kind of an asshole.

[Spoken like someone who has met him, even once.]

....Have you noticed anything odd?

[reformedsinner]

I haven't seen any obvious ayakashi around the neighborhood, but they can sometimes be subtle.

[Or hide inside humans, even. He doubts that he'd have been able to browbeat the teens into picking up the trash if they were possessed, but sometimes it's hard to tell.

Not every ayakashi jumps out and declares its hunger, unfortunately.]

[kokuyoyo]

If that's the case.... I'm going to circle around again.

[Chikusa slowly glances over the motley group they've got doing community service.]

...Unless you really need me.

[Which he doubts.]

[reformedsinner]

Thank you. [He doubts he's going to really need Chikusa's help; once he's handed out the trash bags, in fact, he may just join his shinki in examining the area. There must be something more behind this half-hearted crime wave than whatever a god's death releases.

Even if he can't quite spot it yet.]

[kokuyoyo]

[With that agreed on, Chikusa goes airborn once more. It takes a lot of effort getting so high... but then again, ever since he first saw that message on the BBS from Orihime, he knew that the day would be an annoying one.]

[It only takes around ten minutes before Chikusa's voice filters back down to Hakkai.]

Do you hear something?

[reformedsinner]

[Hear? Hakkai frowns, glancing away from the teenagers who are now bagging up scattered trash in Hakkai's bags as though it had all been their own idea.

There is something whispering at the back of his mind. It's not exactly like the feelings he gets from Ken and Chikusa, and Asshole has never let him feel anything at all. No, this is more like... a restlessness.

The thought that maybe he should go do something reckless, himself.

He frowns.]

Not exactly hear, but now that you mention it... what do you hear?

[kokuyoyo]

Whispering.

[High above in the air, the crane flaps his wings, half in aggravation, half to keep himself flying.]

The kind on the verge of hearing, but that you can't hear.

[reformedsinner]

Yes.

[Hakkai lifts a hand, rubbing a finger absently across his lower lip as he thinks. The sneaking little urge is still there, almost a whisper, almost words.]

If it's an ayakashi -- can you still hear it? Even from the sky?

[kokuyoyo]

It's not as much, I think, at least at this altitude. But while I was getting up here...

[Well. It'd taken a bit of time, and a lot of effort. That had been more than enough time for him to realize that there was something lingering at the very edges of his hearing, at the distant parts of his mind. Chikusa suddenly dives down from the air, and turns up sharply to glide over the streets. There, he thinks, it feels a little stronger here, and something about it-]

It bugs me.

[reformedsinner]

If even we can hear it, that must be what's influencing these children.

[They're no younger than Chikusa, but still: kids. Kids who are fully occupied, he notes, glancing back at them, although two of them seem to be squabbling over a bag they both think they should have... but it's not enough of a problem to go mediate. Instead, he begins walking in the direction that his bond with Chikusa hints at, following the shadow of his outstretched wings above.]

Perhaps our getting close will lure it out of hiding.

[kokuyoyo]

Or our getting rid of what it can influence.

[A few more hard flaps, but Chikusa doesn't go back to his high vantage point of before. Instead, he settles on the roof of a nearby home, which still gives enough room. His head turns slowly, taking in everything.]

...And we'll want Ken with us at that point.

[reformedsinner]

Perhaps so.

[Ayakashi fed on negative emotions, didn't they? This sort of whispering influence must be creating a buffet. Still, they often would pursue gods or shinki before humans.]

It may be easier to track it down than to try to get everyone off the streets, though.

[He turns his head, gaze going briefly vague as he sought out his connection with Ken.]

Let's go pick him up, shall we?