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

[unlucky7]

Festival I
[As bad luck begins spreading through the festival grounds, Ginia sets to work looking for curse charms and/or ayakashi. A flask in hand, she wets her fingers and sprinkles blessed water onto festival stands, the musical instruments, and even on people as they pass by. She also looks for any hard to reach corners or areas someone might have tucked a curse charm into.]

Festival II
[When sprinkling water fails to flush out any ayakashi and the problems persist, Ginia turns her focus on helping how she can. She may not have the knowledge to help with sewing or repairing drums, but she can run items between people and help with heavy lifting. Stand frames need to be held in place as someone connects posts in? Large banners to tie into place? Those she can help with.

And once in awhile, Ginia can be seen folding origami flowers or animals for children, creating little good luck charms for them.]

Festival III
[Cat or fox... Ginia stares intently at two different traditional masks at a stand, a small frown as she tries to decide. Cat... or fox... or maybe another mask?

Second opinion time. Looking around, Ginia spots someone she knows and waves them down, holding up the cat mask and the fox mask. Well?]

Parade
[The sensible thing is to find one of her gods and team up to help rend the ayakashi. Ginia does not often do the sensible thing, but mostly because Ginia isn't one to often run from a fight. She slams down a borderline to block a lashing limb as she stares at the mask.

First, if someone tries to pin this on Ebisu again, there's going to be hell to pay.

Second, looks like whoever was creating masked ayakashi months ago is still around.

Third, what are the chances she can get a hold of the mask?

Ginia slashes at the tentacles with borderline attacks, bracing her own barrier against herself so she can launch off it and attack from above. She has no delusions about rending it herself, but at least she can help keep it at bay until she can meet up with any of her gods or someone who can rend comes along.]

festival III

[dredefulchilde]

Fox, definitely.

[Somewhere along the line, Joscelin ended up with a festive hapi coat over his usual old-fashioned clothes. He’s spent most of the festival stuffing his face with (mostly stolen) sugary treats, trying to get as much energy as he can with Hakkai out of commission. He gestures to the fox mask with a custard-filled taiyaki.]

You don’t strike me as a cat. You’re cleverer than that.

[Looks like someone is a dog person.]

[unlucky7]

[Someone is clearly a dog person. Ginia huffs, holding back a comment about the fact she used to be a snow leopard. Sometimes she misses that form, but maybe it's more the freedom of it.

And being able to take amazing naps. If only everyone could have a cat spine.]

Thanks, but this isn't for me.

[dredefulchilde]

For whom, then?

[Joscelin peers at the fox mask. He still likes it better.]

[unlucky7]

A friend.

[A few possibilities, when it comes down to it. She looks at the fox mask and holds it up to Joscelin's face. It's a bit big for him, but there are ones sized for kids too.]

Want one?

Parade

[beyondtheblade]

[Another tentacle lashes out at part of the nearby crowd, and a giant sword held by a lithe, armored woman comes smashing across it to deflect it. Tsubasa bounces back a ways, eyes darting around, seeking out Rita.

Instead, they fall on Ginia, and she immediately understands they're both just playing damage control at the moment.]

So... this is an ayakashi.

[She adjusts her grip on her sword, dodging quickly as it tries to smash her into the ground.] I must admit... creatures like this are a little too familiar for my liking!

[unlucky7]

[This is indeed an ayakashi. It's certainly on the larger size and the mask is a concern she can't explain. Ginia gives Tsubasa a quick nod, parrying a tentacle with a slash and placing a new barrier to shield the both of them. She moves again to the left. Grabbing her flask and uncapping it, Ginia flings water in an arc at the tentacles as she continues to slash with her borderlines. As some of the tentacles lash her way, it creates a small opening for Tsubasa to attack.]

[beyondtheblade]

[Tsubasa nods back and responds to the action, both by moving and by singing.]

The first blade, like the swiftest wind, faster than lightning!

[Even if all they can do is slow it down for the moment, that's enough for people to escape. She hopes.]

The second blade, like a forest, having an empty mind!

[She moves to the right, away from Ginia, as she attempts to create an opening. She spins, her katana morphing into a large, cleaving blade as lightning generates around it, and she launches a wave of electric power straight for the monster.]

[unlucky7]

[Between Maria, Chris, and now Tsubasa, Ginia has questions about the singing. No judgment at all, the songs are incredible, but it's incredibly specific. Especially with all of their songs different.

Does help stay energized in battle. Ginia grins a little as she continues her attacks and defense. The wave of electricity hits the ayakashi squarely. It stuns the ayakashi, limbs twitching from the surge of energy, opening a few seconds for another attack. Nothing works as well as a rending, but every attack counts with an ayakshi so big.]

festival ii

[reloves]

[ Ginia may be making those for the kids, but there sure is one oversized kid who seems all eyes for Ginia's origami folding. She's not really standing in line - even Minako wouldn't cut in line in front of children, okay.

.. Probably not, anyway.

But she's still watching with wide eyes, totally forgetting she was supposed to be helping out around here for a moment. Her arms are full of torn costumes she was most likely going to bring to someone to repair them, but she's totally stopped in the action to just stand there and stare. ]

Wow, you're so good at that..!

[unlucky7]

[Word spreads fast among children. Ginia's glad there is a stand nearby selling origami paper among other souvenirs. She finishes folding an origami crane for a boy and ties it to a loop of fishing wire. He smiles and thanks her, running off with the crane clasped in his hands. The specifics will slip from his memory, but he'll have the small reminder.]

Thanks! Want one?

[She sees that look, Minako, she knows.]

[reloves]

[ The "y" of a yes already slips out of her mouth when she suddenly seems to swallow up the rest of the word, straightening herself like a kid trying to look more important than it really is. ]

Is that really okay? I'm supposed to be helping out..

[ Her tone by itself already indicates that she very much wants it though. Even as she's trying really hard to look Responsible. ]

[unlucky7]

[There's plenty of work to do at the festival as things slowly veer out of control, but it doesn't mean they can't enjoy things. Minako is young at heart and wise of mind and that's not so bad. Ginia smiles and nods, already looking through her pack of origami paper for some yellow and orange paper. They're nice sunny colors that seem to fit Minako well (and she's out of pink).

Ginia slices the paper into thin strips and folds up a handful of origami stars. With a needle and fishing line, Ginia strings them onto the line and creates a loop at the end. Finished, she holds it out for Minako.]

Parade

[trustheart]

[That familiar head of hair, accompanied by the rush of battle related emotion, is enough to draw Chris's attention.]

Ginia!

[Chris dashes toward her, and leaps up to join her in one of her aerial attacks.]

Am I glad to see you!

[unlucky7]

[At the sound of Chris's voice, Ginia offers a curt nod. Her eyes are still fixed on the ayakashi, gauging the lashing tentacles. Her protective barrier disappears and reappears in front of Chris to block two tentacles swinging her god's way. Move, shield, strike, Ginia moves fluidly as she keeps a seemingly endless stream of borderline attacks going.]

[trustheart]

[Chris sees the opportunity as the tentacles lash against the barrier, and she wastes no time in firing at the base of the creature's writhing, tendril-like arm, clearly trying to either blast it off the main body or find out how tough its hide is. If she and Ginia's attacks can join together at the same point, maybe they can do some real damage...]

[unlucky7]

[Bullets and borderlines chip away at it and they manage to sever it. But an ayakashi is an ayakashi, and even as the tentacle flops to the ground, it tries to wiggle back to the body, still dangerous to touch. It's still one less tentacle to worry about until it can reconnect though, and Ginia doesn't waste time focusing on another limb.]

Parade

[hypomeneo]

[Yes, that rending problem. Add that to the list of grievances to be aired when Waver meets whoever designed this damned system and murders them for this fuckery.

Waver slams down his own borderline as he stares the ayakashi down. Yes, he's a Caster, and yes, he would like to be farther away, but right now he's between an ayakashi and an angry crowd and there's no good place to go and every reason to keep the two apart.]

This one has a mask!

Tell me later if that's normal!

[Waver's eyes widen as Discerning Eye kicks in and the feathered fan materializes in his hand. He sends out his own borderlines to complement the timing of Ginia's own and furiously thinks:

Okay, how the fuck did that get here?

... wait. Think about the known causes of ayakashi...

That damn thing walked in here and no one was the wiser, wasn't it?]

[unlucky7]

[Ginia shakes her head at Waver's question, but twist of her frown and the way she glances at the mask indicates she knows far more than she can say in the moment. A giant mask for a giant ayakashi. What materials are needed? Workshop space? How do you move it around?

More importantly, where do you find an ayakashi like that?

And if it's anything similar to Ebisu's situation, is that ayakashi named?

Too many questions, no time to find an answer. Ginia parries an attack and launches another at the ayakashi. Her borderline splits the ayakashi's flesh, but it knits together just as fast. Slow it down, keep the tentacles from hitting anyone, it's the best they can do.

Pointedly, despite the big white obvious target, all of Ginia's attacks avoid the mask.]

[hypomeneo]

... Ginia. I see magic coming off that thing. There's an active control spell running. Spiritual binding.

[Waver sees her shake her head out of the corner of his eye. Not normal. She knows more about it, certainly, but this is not the time.

A tentacle crashes into his borderline, and Waver whirls, fan slashing up and out to sent a compressed blast of wind into the creature as it's getting too close. The force of it slams it back, tearing flesh with bladed currents of air, and Waver strikes next without any sense of mercy the vulnerable areas with borderlines.

(He's not thinking about his attacks; he's just simply being, and letting the battle draw himself out.)

They also don't hit the mask, but they do rip into the vulnerable areas still knitting together after the last attack. Waver has no intention of letting up the pressure.

Fuck... that's nasty. But if I'm right... we are two ends of a spectrum...

... and if I'm right. If certain things are true. Then perhaps we've been looking at this wrong. We have been so wrapped up in gods and shinki and our roles and traitors and cultists, that we've forgotten to take a step and look at the important things in the background...]

[unlucky7]

[Ginia looks at him again, brow knitting. She nods; the worry in her eyes is a sign she already knows. The confirmation is good though, as well as the fact he can detect it.

But later. Later. Ginia signs as she casts her borderline, channeling all her strength into a solid, unbreakable wall. She lands behind it and gestures at Waver to join her - there's enough space for the two of them if they stand close - already pulling out her phone to type. Once he's close, she holds up her message. The tentacles slam against the barrier but it holds.]

Give me your vessel name. I can cast Umbra on you and you can do whatever magic stuff you think is best while it's focused on me.

If you can remove the mask without breaking it, all the better.

Festival III

[bakusatsuo]

[Bakugou eyes the masks briefly, then points to the cat.] Cats are little bastards. They're a lot deadlier and meaner than foxes. [Is...this a compliment, or an insult?

Bakugou, meanwhile, is preoccupied with eyeing Ginia. He remembers their encounter in the bar of her dreams; he's wondering if she does, too.]

[unlucky7]

[It's a very backhanded compliment if it is one, but deadlier and meaner Ginia can agree with even if it's not quite the reasoning she's looking for. She nods at Bakugou, confusion in her eyes.

She knows him, strangely enough. Bakugou, the name stands out in her mind. Zhao's god. She sets the masks down so she can sign; why does she know he understands?]

You're Bakugou. We've met before, but I don't know how.

[bakusatsuo]

[Yep, she's forgotten. Unlike with Zhao's forgetting, though, Bakugou doesn't find this particularly upsetting; their dream interlude wasn't exactly heavy with significance. It had been a first meeting - a faintly embarrassing one, for him - and that's about it.

He doesn't think telling her where they met is going to be a problem, provided he doesn't really give significant details. Their meeting has nothing to do with her forgotten memories as a shinki, right?] You know when everyone was falling asleep all over the Far Shore? We met in a dream you were having. Guess you don't remember it. You're not missing much, though.

[unlucky7]

[Damn, really? It makes sense with that context and why she'd unconsciously know she can sign with him, but it sucks forgetting. Such is a shinki's life.

She can also suspect why she's forgotten too. Probably something she's not meant to know.]

Sorry for forgetting.

[She pulls face that's between a frown and an apologetic smile.]

I should let you know I went through Zhao's dream. Saw some friends of his, a few that are here now. Promised him I'd remember them.