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

[yasei]

[ Obi sweeps into a deep and comical bow as he gathers the paper balls, now flattened after the wrap of his routine, between his fingers, and he grins cheerfully. ]

Thank you, thank you! I'm always happy to entertain!

[ But the fringes of the crowd is already forgetting. Not that they watched an entertaining performance, but the person performing it. ]

[holygrailed]

[Such is the way of the Far when intersecting with the Near. Irisviel moves in a little closer to avoid becoming a rock in the stream of people, and to better to talk without having to raise her voice as much.]

Is it very difficult to learn?

[yasei]

[ Such it is. It suits him just fine. He straightens back up, and slips one hands paper balls into the other, so and he rubs a shoulder with his free hand. ]

I have no idea! You could try to figure that out for yourself if you like, Miss.

[holygrailed]

If you don't mind showing me what to do, I'd like to try.

[Irisviel knows she won't be able to juggle as well as he... or maybe it's a hidden skill she hasn't unlocked. Who knows. Trying is the way of being a shinki.]

[yasei]

Of course, I don't mind at all. Here- [ He procures a solid ball and offers it to her. ] I guess first you might want to try to get to know the weight.

[ The way of a shinki is a long road of trial and error. ]

[holygrailed]

[Irisviel takes the ball and feels the weight of it as she slowly passes it from hand to hand. There's no immediate understanding or familiarity - and juggling is truly a skill Irisviel never learned - but she still continues to roll the ball back and forth before giving a small toss from one hand to another.]

This is heavier than I thought it would be from first glance, though it's not that heavy either.

[yasei]

[ Obi slips away the paper balls so they're out of the way, and finds another made of leather that he rolls between his hands. ]

It's a pretty alright weight to begin with, I think. Probably. Heavier or lighter might be a bit trickier to balance when you're not used to it.

[holygrailed]

Yes, I could see that. Too light and the wind would affect it, too heavy and it'd fall too fast or be difficult to throw.

[Back and forth, back and forth she continues to toss the ball from hand to hand.]

[yasei]

That's right, so you have to take that into consideration when you're choosing what balls to work with. These shouldn't get swept away or hurt too badly.

[holygrailed]

Can I have one more ball? I'd like to try throwing them back and forth.

[With one in each hand, Irisviel imagines the motions aren't too different. One ball to the other hand, back and forth.]

[yasei]

Of course, Miss. [ He offers her another of the balls. ] Here~

[holygrailed]

[Irisviel begins slow as she tosses the balls from hand to hand. The first few times the balls collide and she has to scramble to recover them. With a few more attempts, she manages to correct the arc, passing the balls from hand to hand though still a little clumsily.]

I understand what I need to do, but it's harder than it seems. You are very impressive.