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

[mithrarin]

The Festival

["Agh!" comes the cry of an aggrieved vendor, as the front of his booth abruptly sags. He flings his arm up reflexively to cover his face, but nothing crashes to the ground, and after a moment he peeks over his sleeve to see the wooden slats teetering at a precarious angle.]

[Grumbling about needing to fix it all, he stomps off, never noticing the shinki who's holding up the booth so it doesn't smash and crack. This -- hadn't been what Dust had expected.]

...I hope he comes back sooner rather than later...

The Parade

[Ayakashi.]

[Is it wrong for him to be happy, here?]

[Well, leave such questions and guilt for a later time. Well aware that he really can do very little against an ayakashi alone, Dust leaps into battle nonetheless, the Blade of Ahrah cutting arcs through the air with phenomenal force. As ever, he is a tornado of destruction, whirling around the monster on the ground and through the air, light and agile.]

[But far from perfect. A tentacle slips past his guard, knocking him back with a powerful slap that sends him skidding across the ground before he rolls to his feet. When he gets back up, his left arm quivers slightly when he uses it for support, and a hint of blight crawls up his jaw from beneath his collar on that side.]

[Never mind. Back into the fray.]

the festival

[smilingbullet]

[ D2 was just passing by. On his way to do..whatever he might end up doing, really. He didn't have a clear goal in mind.

But now he stops, maybe seven, eight feet away, right in front of Dust and he looks at him with a bewildered expression. ]

Uh. You alright there, buddy?

[mithrarin]

I... think trying to stop this from becoming a serious disaster convinced the guy at the booth that this wasn't a serious disaster.

[Because as soon as he moves, well... he can't move, let's put it that way.]

[smilingbullet]

[ Dust sure has gotten himself into a predicament. People may easily forget about them but their own little businesses? ]

Sure seems that way. Need a hand? I could find something else to prop it up with, probably.

[mithrarin]

...It's not like I have anything better to do today, but yeah, I'd appreciate that.

[Seriously, if he stood here for hours, what would it matter? But he doesn't really WANT to.]

[smilingbullet]

[ It would matter though wouldn't it. ]

Give me a couple minutes and I'll be right back, alright?

[ He's just going to go find something long and sturdy, like any leftover pieces of wood from repairs somewhere. ]

[mithrarin]

[That couldn't be too hard, right?]

[Please say it isn't too hard.]

[smilingbullet]

[ He'll have to patch something quick up but not too hard no.

He finds a few long pieces of wood that looks sturdy enough, a hammer, and some nails of a decent size. ]

You look like you're still standing.

[mithrarin]

Standing isn't the issue.

[He could stand here all day, honestly. This isn't a strain.]

I think you're going to need to put a support right between my hands. It'll unbalance if you go too far to the left or right.

[smilingbullet]

No?

[ D2 places two of the wood pieces together and picks out a long enough nail to hammer them together with. ]

I'm assuming so. It wouldn't do if you let go and it instantly went down over you or something.

[mithrarin]

It'd be a heck of a mess to clean up if it broke. [That's the real issue. The sign probably can't do any meaningful damage to him.] And I can only take standing around for so long.

[smilingbullet]

That it sure would be.

[ Heheh. ]

So the boredom will get to you before the strain does.

[mithrarin]

Yeah, guaranteed. [What strain? But the boredom is already a bit much for an active guy like Dust.] Guess I could read a book, but...

festival

[doodlebuginette]

[They'd gotten separated somehow. Perhaps it was when she'd turned away to admire someone's outfit or an accessory, but when she turned around to say something to Dust, he was gone.

The next few minutes were spent with Tikki shaking her head and chastising Marinette for not paying closer attention to her shinki. Eventually, though, she did manage to find her wayward shinki. Though, of all the things she might've guessed he'd be getting up to, this really wasn't it.]

There you are! What happened?

[She's already moving to help him support the booth, because it's probably the least she can do, honestly.]

Are you alright?

[mithrarin]

[It isn't as if Dust had been very social lately, going to efforts to keep his distance and spare his god from his presence. Bad enough all he could do for her was feed her negative emotions and generally be inadequate...]

[But he can't get away now.]

I'm fine. I just -- can you prop this up with something? Otherwise I'll be here all day...

[doodlebuginette]

[She's noticed him being distant lately, and for a bit she was content to give him his space. But that's not going to be as simple now, because she's not going to just continue on and leave him to deal with this alone.]

I'm glad! Yea, let me look for something.

[She could probably prop it up herself, but that wouldn't solve the problem, really.]

Is there any way we could fix it?

[mithrarin]

I'm... not exactly a carpenter.

[To put it mildly.]

I think some nails pulled free or something?

[doodlebuginette]

Don't worry! Neither am I. But I'm sure we can figure it out.

[Now that she's actually taking a look around, she's beginning to realize what the issue is.]

How long have you been stuck here anyway?

[mithrarin]

Not long. Just a few minutes. But I think the guy who was on the booth doesn't realize how serious this is.

[In other words, who knows how long he'll take? Especially if something else happens to distract him. Dust doesn't want to be stuck here forever, but he doesn't want to just drop the whole thing either...]

[doodlebuginette]

[That's a relief, if only because he hasn't been stuck here for a long time.]

Did he say anything before he took off? Maybe he's going to try to find someone who can help fix the booth.

[Or maybe he's just staying gone in the hope of someone else taking care of this before he comes back. There's no way to tell, but there's no way she's going to leave Dust to deal with it on his own.]

If I were a hammer and nails, where would I be? Hmm...

[mithrarin]

Yeah, he was mumbling about needing to fix it, but... he might get distracted. [Or into another mess. This festival already has more chaos about it than most, and it's still early.] It's not like it's heavy. It's just not exactly how I want to spend my day.

[doodlebuginette]

He might get distracted. Or he might not! [That's not terribly helpful, Marinette.]

Yea, I can understand that. At least it's not super heavy! [If she can't find what she needs in the next couple of minutes or so, she might have to go ask someone.]

[mithrarin]

No. Not by my standards, anyway. [Though Marinette could probably handle it too, if maybe not for quite as long.] Is there... nothing around for this?

[doodlebuginette]

We could switch places if you're having trouble.

[Is she teasing? Very likely. But she doesn't want him to end up stuck there for any longer than he has to be, either way.]

I haven't found anything yet. Maybe you'll have more luck?

[mithrarin]

I'm... not sure you're tall enough for this.

[Not to put too fine a point on it, but that's several inches more the stall would have to bend. Let alone how long Marinette could hold it, which was doubtless less time than he could.]