36 - Dragon Dance

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Help the Heavens cover for a missing goddess at her temple festival.
When: March 18
Where: Near the Sensou-ji temple in Asakusa
Summary: After Kannon's disappearance last year, the Heavens are concerned that things might go wrong at her temple's March 18 omikoshi festival. They've asked new gods and shinki to attend the festival and keep an eye out for trouble. Meanwhile, trusted newcomers and older gods and shinki alike are watching over the cultists that have been identified.






The Festival

Shrine-carriers, musicians and dancers congregate early in the morning in their matching outfits to get organized into their parade. Luckily, all of the parade participants this time are alive and well. There aren't even any troublesome ayakashi hanging around... so why is everyone having such bad luck?! Laces are breaking, costumes tearing, small children are getting sick from nerves, and even the drums seem to have gone out of tune. It looks like this parade is going to need a whole lot of help to prevent disaster.

For those who aren't busy with the parade preparations, food and souvenir booths throng the area in front of the temple. There's traveling games, too, and plenty of people showing up early with their families to find a good spot to watch the parade. This is one of Tokyo's most popular temples, so it's quite a crowd!

The Stakeouts

Any gods or shinki who were told about the cult problem by Amaterasu -- or anyone who might have heard from friends and allies about the plans -- can help Amaterasu's shinki keep a tight watch on all of the known cult members. Her shinki are looking for any sign of the young gods who she believes are behind all of this trouble, but are there other clues that might be found by a keen observer? Join in on staking out a cult member, and see what you can see.

Current cult members that the shinki are watching include:

• Mitsui Ryou - lives alone in a medium-sized apartment, appears to work a 9 - 5 schedule with occasional late nights.
• Imai Takeru - lives in a small two-story house by himself, has an unpredictable schedule.
• Shimoda Tsuki - lives alone in a small apartment with a lot of plants, works retail with varying shifts.
• Oota Saburo- lives in a medium-sized apartment with his wife and two young children, works a 9 - 5 schedule with frequent work trips.
• Maeda Shinnosuke - lives alone in a small, messy apartment, works construction (early mornings, long days.)
If your character is taking part in the surveillance of any of these people, please feel free to comment to the Cult Clues thread below with the name of the character they're watching, and the times that they're watching that character, in order to learn what they might see. (Note: surveillance doesn't have to take place only on the 18th. Characters can take part in watching the cult members at any time after Amaterasu's announcement on March 8.)

The Parade

At noon, the parade begins. Misfortune is still dogging the participants and the crowds around them, but it looks as though everything will go all right up until the final turn as the heavy, gilded shrine turns back towards the main temple building, tips, and slowly falls over sideways, straight for the crowd.

What's worse, when the shrine hits the ground, it cracks open -- and a huge, jellyfish-like ayakashi wearing a giant white mask with a single black eye inscribed on it heaves its way out and begins lashing its tentacles in every direction. People stung by the tentacles are driven into a furious frenzy, and fights are breaking out everywhere. Stop the humans from fighting, take care of the injured, and destroy the ayakashi before the situation gets any worse.

The Pursuit

In the middle of the fighting crowd, two white-robed shinki are chasing after a very average-looking salaryman in a tan coat. He doesn't seem to know that the shinki are chasing him, but he is moving fast, and they're in danger of losing track of him. They're calling out to any Far Shore denizen close enough to hear, shinki or god:

"Don't let that guy get away! He knows what happened!"

Anyone who has met or spent time staking out Mitsui Ryou will recognize him as the escaping salaryman. If your character takes part in the pursuit, please comment to the Cult Clues thread with a link to your thread - the character who successfully catches Mitsui will be determined by RNG on January 6, 2019.

In Summary:

• Attend the Sensou-ji festival
• Enjoy food and games
• Help Amaterasu's shinki stake out the cult
• Fight a masked ayakashi
• Have fun~

Comments

[reloves]

[ There's no immediate reply. Especially not by Minako standards, which means she's giving an immediate, instictive reply to most questions that come her way. In this situation she's quiet for a moment though, because it really doesn't feel right to just run off, no matter what he says.

But she'll just be a burden if she tries to fight and just.. fails in this state, right? So.. ]

Fine.. [ She sounds reluctant. Almost pouty. ] I'll try to get better quickly.

[ She's more trying to convince herself than him about that, really. ]

[mithrarin]

To be honest, the way things are going wrong, I'm starting to worry about bigger fish to fry.

[Dust is reminded of the trouble at temples, and the mysterious charms that seemed to turn up at them at the same time...]

[priforprince]

The one perpetuating revolution is never the sacrifice!!

[ Hibiki is sticking to Japanese because she can yell faster in it. Or perhaps she just doesn't want to go with his flow. Probably that one.] They may bear the heavy burden of dirtying their hands for the greater good, but at the end, they stand triumphant!!!!!

[ GET YOUR TROPES RIGHT

THIS IS

AGH

SHE KNOWS THERE'S A CAPABLE HUMAN BEING SOMEWHERE IN THERE, SO HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW ALL OF THESE IMPORTANT THINGS ]

TAKE YOUR IGNORANCE AND BEGONE FROM MY SIGHT!!!!

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Oh -- come on. [Damn that sad puppy look! Now Edge feels guilty.] We tried, right?

[swordofzero]

I do. There are enough people fighting it that if it were an ayakashi of regular strength it would have been defeated by now.

[He is not Edge, to just tell Saber what to do. But he hopes that the thrill of a new challenge will encourage Saber.

[swordofzero]

Yes... [And yet they had still lost him. Because of Suzaku. He could only hope that someone else managed to catch him, they knew so little about the cultists that capturing one would be very helpful indeed.]

[onehandsomeslickninja]

[Argh!]

He had this planned. He clearly had an escape route and knowledge of the area on his side.

[alchemists]

The area should be cleared out for the most part now! We can start the second part of the plan now.

[ Thankfully people do mind the signs and start getting out of the area quickly. ]

[alchemists]

I can try and write signs for people to follow? If they see a gods power at work they'll pay more attention, I think...

[alchemists]

Just take it easy for a bit, if you rush then you might not be able to stand up or enjoy the rest of the festival.

[alchemists]

I don't think I've changed that much? Everyone has been trying to teach me different things and the world outside of researching is fun.

[trustheart]

[Chris nods, quietly.]

Yeah... we can't leave until we know everyone is safe.

[trustheart]

[At least now it's over. Chris breaths a sigh of relief as she catches up to him. Time to give credit where credit is due.]

Good job.

[trustheart]

[Chris nods.]

Okay then. I'll collect the wood we need that's laying around.

[And she sets to her task. Before long, she returns to D2 with at least six planks of wood. As lazy as Chris is, and how much she makes of not liking to exercise, it seems carrying them under each arm is easy for her.]

Is this enough?

[trustheart]

I want the same for you, Irisviel.

[She puts a hand on her shoulder.] But I'm sure even if I forget, my heart will remember. Something like that doesn't just disappear...

...

[She blushes, suddenly looking very embarrassed.]

U-uhm. That's the kind of think senpai would say, anyway...!

[chibisu]

"Is it?" Ebisu has a good grasp on money and the rates on that, technically... It's simply that it's long lost any personal meaning to him. Of course he wants to propel Japan's economy to grand heights! That's a given. It's just that he's never had any issue with needing it. Isn't it better if he gives it to another god or shinki, ensuring that it continues circulating?

Still, she's right. They can continue to talk when she gets back, so he nods. "Alright, I will be sure to stay right here!" Barring extenuating circumstances, but he doesn't think that is likely to happen. Some of the children who've started paying attention to who their new friend is talking to look up, and a couple tentatively wave.

[chibisu]

Office gossip is a speedy and terrifying thing.

Aomi nods in understanding, smiling to her and giving a slight wave as he begins to diverge back to where the drums are stationed. That leaves Unmi rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"I believe that should be the last of any of the stalls or the shrine base.... So I was going to check on Takami. He has a bad tendency of overworking himself-" Which is sure a thing to say in a temple like theirs. "-so I wanted to make sure he hadn't gotten into a fight with ayakashi or something similar. I feel much better when I can check with my own two eyes."

[trustheart]

Well, I think you've grown plenty. Take it from me, it can be hard to notice when it's yourself compared to how it is with others.

[shiitan]

[ Oh boy. He was not good at tempering his reaction to D2’s amusement, or in general. Then again, he was very good at making things worse for himself, whether it was on purpose or not. ]

An hour? You’re a busy guy, aren’t you.

[ Well, it was only a matter of time until something went wrong, after all. If there was anything else behind that specific timeline, he was unaware of it. ]

[alchemists]

That's very true, comparing myself to the other gods or people here when I haven't had the same experiences doesn't help with showing my own growth.

[shiitan]

[ What. But... What?

Ross only had one possible response to that one, considering his limited defenses against silliness. And that was-- ]

I don't know who "they" are and why I should remember, but I'm fine with having no guarantee there.

[ --rolling with it, apparently. Because that was the real problem here. ]

[trustheart]

There? See? You see what I'm talking about.

[unlucky7]

Ginia waves and turns back to Unmi. It's a day eerily free of ayakashi. A blessing, but just as unusual on top of the lack of charms. She doubts Takami has run into any trouble, but things can always change fast. With Takami, it's always good checking on him in person.

Ultimately, that isn't a two person job either. Time to find Kimi then.

"Guess I should bail out Kimi. Let me know if you see ayakashi? The lack of them is strange."

[chibisu]

"That's good to hear!" Children don't often come up in their line of work but, for some of the departments, it's good to have that sort of patience on hand. Besides, retail work very clearly states that sometimes dealing with customers is very much like dealing with children. But worse.

"The people who work in the kitchen told me that chocolate is one of the thing which is good for stress! There were other things as well that would probably be slightly more healthy than chocolate, but they would be difficult to find at a festival."

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki gingerly tests the pressure in her forehead with her fingertips. Hmmm. ]

No, the coast is clear.

[ She looks over at Elfnein. Saved by the prescient action of a small genius.....A turn of events befitting someone worth membership in CelePara Talent Agency. ]

I'm in your debt.