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

Cult Clues

[godsoffortune]

Comment here if your character is staking out any of the cultists, and include the following information:

- Name of the cultist your character plans to stake out
- Date and time that the thread will be set (general time of day, such as "March 11, evening" is fine)

If your character is helping to chase down Mitsui Ryou, comment here with a link to the thread in which he's being pursued.

[subconmodo]

Snatcher and Aymeric will be staking out Oota Saburo on March 13, Afternoon-Evening.

[godsoffortune]

On March 13, Oota Saburo stays particularly late at his workplace (a manufacturing firm, he's in sales). When he gets home, he and his wife have a loud fight about the amount of time he spends at work, and his frequent business trips, and the fact that he apparently spent all night out last Friday night and didn't get home until late Saturday.

[onedrinkwithme]

Adding on!

Will they be able to get a location of where Saburo was or will it be the 'I spent all my time at work' excuse?

[chibisu]

With two of his shinki looking into volcano shenanigans, some of his other shinki working on this festival thing, and the rest of his shinki just... being a part of his temple, Ebisu can't spare a lot of people for this... But he can spare a couple!

So he'll have Takami keep an eye out on Imai Takeru from the day after Amaterasu's meeting to March 16, to get a better idea of his schedule and just what the heck is going on there.

In more present matters... He's pursuing Mitsui! If he loses him, we can assume he just got too far for the line... but you bet I'm prepared for horse times if RNG favors me lmao.

[godsoffortune]

Imai Takeru has an unpredictable schedule and appears not to work a regular job (although he might work from home, since he seems to spend a lot of time in his study until late in the evenings.)

3/9 Leaves early in the morning. Strolls through Ueno park, puts food out for stray cats. Returns home midafternoon, lights on in study until late again.
3/10 Leaves early in the morning by car, carrying a suitcase that looks large enough for a long vacation: owns a dark blue Toyota sedan.
3/11 Not home.
3/12 Not home.
3/13 Returns home midafternoon, with a large cardboard box in addition to the suitcase. It appears heavy. Lights off in the house just a little after 9pm.
3/14 Home until dinnertime, goes out to dinner. He proves unusually difficult to follow when out, as if he has a supernatural ability to evade pursuit. Returns quite late.
3/15 Home all morning. Shopping in afternoon; returns with bags from grocery store and from low-end clothing stores.
3/16 Leaves early in the morning by car, carrying a number of shopping bags but no suitcase. Does not return this day.

(Ebisu, you're a hard taskmaster. Poor Takami doesn't even get the weekend off, huh?)

[chibisu]

(listen it's fine, they don't get weekends off anyway)

Ginia would have hit Takami up with some info on how Imai has barriers around his place. Is there anything on that he could pick up, especially while Imai is gone?

[godsoffortune]

Unfortunately, Ebisu won't be able to catch Mitsui; he dodges into the crowd and gives Ebisu the slip.

[abgrund]

Ain and his soulless shinki will be watching Mitsui Ryou on March 9, using Ain's native floating eyes.

[godsoffortune]

On March 9, Mitsui Ryou goes to work as usual; he's an office worker, and he's there late tonight. He gets home appearing excited, and packs a suitcase with clothes for the weekend as well as a big cloth item wrapped in a dry-cleaning plastic bag. He can be seen leaving a small offering on what looks like a personal-sized altar in his bedroom, as well.

[abgrund]

What does the altar look like? Can the deity it's dedicated to be identified?

[onedrinkwithme]

Aymeric and Emizel will be stalking Shimoda Tsuki on March 9th, All Day.

Don't worry, someone at least brought books and tea.

EDIT (so I don't double comment): Aymeric (and whoever will tag that) is chasing Ryou here!

[godsoffortune]

On March 9th, Shimoda Tsuki is at work from early morning to dinnertime, and comes home promptly. The lights are on late into the night, and Shimoda appears to be packing an overnight bag with clothes including a carefully folded black robe.

[godsoffortune]

Congratulations!

Aymeric and Yamanbagiri will be the two to successfully catch Mitsui Ryou.

[beyondtheblade]

Tsubasa (and whoever might join her) is chasing Mitsui Ryou over here.

[godsoffortune]

Unfortunately, Tsubasa won't be able to catch Mitsui Ryou; he disappears into the crowd and gives her the slip after a few seconds.

[revolutionfalcon]

From Shun's event toplevel, he's going to be staking out:

Oota Saburo, March 9th, Evening-Night
Maeda Shinnosuke, March 10th, Late Afternoon-Evening
Mitsui Ryou, March 11th, Afternoon
Shimoda Tsuki, March 12th, Morning-Early Afternoon
Imai Takeru, 13th-18th, Evening-Night for the 13th/14th, Afternoon for 15th/16th, Morning for 17th/18th

And also he and Ginia are chasing Mitsui.

[godsoffortune]

On March 9th, Oota Saburo comes home from an apparent overseas trip, bringing gifts for his two young children and fussing over them. The family goes out to dinner in the evening at a local restaurant.

On March 10th, Maeda Shinnosuke leaves work early in the afternoon to come home, pick up a duffel bag and head to the train station, where he gets a ticket for Agano. At Agano station, he's picked up by an older woman in a rusty blue van; the van merges back onto the local highway, and will manage to lose pursuit before it leaves the highway, although it's not clear how it fell out of sight; it just seemed to vanish into traffic the first moment someone glances away.

He does not return to the train station, or home, that evening.

On March 11th, Mitsui Ryou is not home. The shinki who were watching him the previous day will let Shun know that he got a train early in the morning and left carrying an overnight suitcase, though they're not sure where he went. He does not return home that day.

On March 13th, Shimoda Tsuki returns home just as Shun is about to give up on the surveillance, carrying an overnight bag and a potted orchid that he seems extremely excited about and spends the rest of the evening fussing over at home.

Imai Takeru has just returned home midafternoon on the 13th, with a large cardboard box in addition to a large suitcase. It appears heavy. Lights off in the house just a little after 9pm.
3/14 Goes out to dinner. (Difficult to follow when out, seems to have a supernatural ability to evade pursuit.) Returns quite late.
3/15 Shopping in afternoon; returns with bags from grocery store and from low-end clothing stores.
3/16 When Shun arrives, he'll be told by the shinki who are watching Imai's home that he left by car early in the morning carrying a number of shopping bags but without suitcase. They expect him home, but he doesn't return during the afternoon while Shun's watching.
3/17 Returns home midmorning in a rage, shopping bags still in car. Slams into house, stays in for the rest of the time Shun watches.
3/18 Leaves early in the morning by car, with large suitcase.

[godsoffortune]

Shun and Ginia will unfortunately not be able to catch Mitsui Ryou; he quickly manages to give them the slip by disappearing between several of the fair booths.

[priforprince]

Hibiki('s spygoats, with Hibiki watching) will be staking out Mitsui Ryou and Oota Saburo's residences all day on March 12.

She (and they) are also chasing down Mitsui here.

[godsoffortune]

On the 12th, Mitsui Ryou returns home midafternoon with a suitcase. He appears tired but excited, and stays in for the rest of the evening. From the lights inside, he seems to stay up fairly late last night.

Oota Saburo is at home all day on the 12th. In the afternoon, he takes his children out to the park, and stays on a bench checking his phone while they play.

Unfortunately, she will not be able to catch Mitsui. He dodges into the crowd and loses them quickly.

[kokuyoyo]

Chikusa Kakimoto and Ken Joshima will be checking out Shimoda Tsuki sporadically from March 10th to current date. Chikusa will be mostly relying on Ken's nose to see if they can pick up anything out of the ordinary. (He still remembers the incense from the department store.)

And I do mean sporadically, from all sorts of weird hours, since they'll be counting on Goku to take care of Hakkai.

[godsoffortune]

From March 10th to the current date, Shimoda Tsuki's schedule is as follows:

3/10 Leaves early in the morning with an overnight bag, buys a ticket for Agano at Ikebukuro station. Is picked up at Agano station by someone driving an elderly blue van.
3/11 Not home.
3/12 Returns late in the evening with overnight bag and large shopping bag, as well as an exotic potted orchid he appears extremely excited about.
3/13 Work midmorning to late at night.
3/14 Work midmorning to dinner. Gets fried chicken at a convenience store on the way home, eats in, spends evening apparently taking care of plants and finding the perfect place for the orchid.
3/15 Takes walk in nearby park in morning; makes small offering of sake and a sweet bun by a tree in a hidden corner of the park. Work lunchtime to late night.
3/16 No work; does laundry in nearby laundromat, otherwise stays in all day.
3/17 Work early morning to dinnertime. Convenience store takeout for dinner again.
3/18 Work early morning to lunchtime. Goes to park in evening, but just takes a long walk -- no offerings. Meets Maeda Shinnosuke there, has a brief conversation.

[swordofzero]

Suzaku only wakes up on the 18th but he spends the morning staking out Imai Takeru.

He is also helping chase down Mitsui Ryou in his top level Here

[godsoffortune]

In the mid morning on the 18th, Suzaku will see Imai Takeru leave by car carrying a large and heavy suitcase.

Unfortunately, he will not be able to catch Mitsui Ryou, who dodges into the crowd and quickly loses him.