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

[kuroi_taiyo]

I don't think we've gotta go anywhere.

[ You can see it as well, right Izumo? If not the idiot skating towards them, then the flaming daggers that are getting the dogs and ayakashi to separate in this stupid chase.

Well. He'll just draw a borderline for Fushimi and Yata to go through a few feet in front of Izumo while floating over his shoulder. ]

So that's a bunch of shit to rend.

[toremainbehind]

....

[He sighs and he almost holds his head in an exasperated manner.

Almost.

Izumo makes his way over to where Yata and Fushimi are.]

Then we'll just have to rend them.

[monkeyblue]

[No regrets, this is what you get for sending these two out as bait.]

[thevanguard]

[ Yata just skates towards them, not really getting what the big deal is. Why do you have that expression, Izumo? You wanted him to lure out the ayakashi, after all. Mission accomplished. Look, ayakashi successfully delivered.

In fact, he's still grinning over the entire thing, looking amused as Saru yells the insult at him, still keeping a safe distance away from the monsters chasing him. ]

Hey. You wanted ayakashi, I got you the damn ayakashi. Izumo, I can keep 'em busy while you take them out. Probably. Unless they think you're tastier than me.

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ Aren't you glad that he set up that borderline as well, for when they saw the two running back? Just go through to the safe side of the barrier, Thing a and Thing 2. ]

No, that's fine. You can go ahead and get torn apart by them...

[toremainbehind]

[No regrets.

Izumo chuckles.]

Let's hope not. I doubt I'm that tasty. [And he isn't really looking forward to it.] Come, Kyōki. [For the sake of making all of this easier and not spending time strangling ayakashi with earbuds or bashing their heads with a wand.]

[monkeyblue]

[Fushimi's still throwing daggers at the dogs, sifting the real ones from the ayakashi as Misaki runs. He occasionally has to stop to pick them back up, though, and happens to be mid-grab when he's turned into a sword.]

This is stupid! Get my daggers, would you?

[thevanguard]

[ Yata swerves sharply to take himself to the safe side of Judar's barrier, then cackles when the ayakashi-possed dogs practically collide with it, howling and hunting for a way through. He skates back and forth in front of them, keeping them distracted and focused on him. ]

Getting torn apart wasn't really in my plans.

[ What plans, Yata? Your plans always amount to "Leeroy Jenkins". ]

[kuroi_taiyo]

Did you have plans past making a bunch of noise and dragging them here?

[ But hey, he can at least distract and buy some time (without them straining the borderline) by sending spears of ice to lance and somewhat freeze them in place. Which is more of a stalling tactic when it comes to ayakashi, but it's something. ]

[toremainbehind]

[Thank you, Fushimi. For yelling. He didn't think you can be so loud.]

Yata isn't very good at making plans. [Izumo can vouch for that.] Yata, mind picking up Fushimi's daggers?

Fushimi, might as well try out that power of yours. [Tactical advantage, right?]

[monkeyblue]

It should be something you just see, flashing blue.

[thevanguard]

[ Yata just smirks at Judar. ]

My plan was making a bunch of noise and dragging them here. You wanted bait.

[ He swerves around the dogs, changing course so he can speed by and scoop up Saru's daggers for when he's back and has hands again. ]

Have at them, guys. Unless you want me to set them on fire, too.

[kuroi_taiyo]

Your boy toy wanted bait.

[ Well, Yata was the boy toy here, really, but whatever. The important part was clarified, and that's all he cared about. Just as he's sending out more ice to get them pinned and slowed down. ]

Play with fire if you wanna melt the ice and get the dogs loose.

[ Which Izumo told him not to kill. But hey, whatever. If they die, they die. ]

[toremainbehind]

[Yes, boys, just keep arguing.

Izumo only gives a light head shake, paying attention to the flashing blue that appears in his vision and he immediately sets forth to exterminate the lingering ayakashi clinging to those dogs.]