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

[welcome_home]

The Festival
[ Nanako is wandering around the festival with wide eyes and a bright smile. While she does occasionally stop to enjoy one of the festival booths or entertainments, today she is working as a goddess and helping right the misfortunes that seem to be persistently befalling those preparing for the parade. Parades are supposed to be fun, after all! And she wants this one to go well, even though bad luck seems to be everywhere.

So the little goddess is flitting here and there, helping fix torn costumes or damaged equipment or occasionally trying to soothe sick children or make them feel better. Her goddess power is manifested today, since most of the humans can't see her, and there are tiny wings on her back and a glowing halo floating over her head as she carefully uses her power to try and help everyone who needs it...

She could use a hand. Or maybe someone to remind her to take a break now and then before she uses too much of her holy powers. ]

The Parade
[ After all the work she'd done trying to get the parade moving successfully, Nanako finally takes up a spot to watch the progression with a satisfied smile. At least, until the gilded shrine tips and crashes towards the crowd and Nanako gives a cry of dismay as the shrine cracks and spills out a massive ayakashi that threatens the crowd with its tentacles, sending all the humans around it into a frenzy of fighting. ]

Oh no! That wasn't supposed to happen! We have to stop it!

the festival

[yasei]

Little Miss Fa~iry.

[ Obi calls out to and waves at her to attract her attention. He was working on repairing a long curtain that got ripped into shreds, but he can do that much at the same time. There is so much fabric in his lap and around him. ]

You look a little fuzzy around the edges, how about you sit down for a little while?

[welcome_home]

Fuzzy?

[ That's enough to get Nanako to pause and glance down at herself in confusion. ]

I'm fuzzy?

[yasei]

You don't think so?

[ He squints at her, then shrugs. ]

Maybe it's that you look a little tired, that's what makes it seem that way.

[welcome_home]

[ She blinks again before lifting a hand to rub at her eyes a little. ]

Maybe I am a little tired... But there's so much to do! I can't take a nap yet.

Festival

[cleansingstrike]

[Little indeed, though Agrias decides against referring to her as such.]

Might I be of assistance? 'Twould be no trouble at all.

[welcome_home]

[ Nanako blinks at the offer, but is quick to smile brightly at the person offering, even if she doesn't know them yet. ]

Hi! Do you know how to sew?

[cleansingstrike]

I've a basic grasp, but I'm certainly no expert.

Have you torn garments that need mending?

[welcome_home]

[ Nanako holds up the costume she'd just found, the seams ripped out on the back, a dismayed look on her face. ]

The costume is ripped! There's gonna be a big hole if they wear it like this!

Festival

[replicatedform]

[Nanako might find Yamanbagiri trying his best to soothe the sick children. How did he get here? Well, he can't help get concerned when he see sick children.

After carefully handing over a cup of warm tea, and making sure the child can hold it properly, he looks up. And see Nanako.]

Are you here to help?

[welcome_home]

[ She nods shyly, peeking at him as she chews on her lower lip. ]

Yeah! Do you need help?

[replicatedform]

[He nods, looking at the other sick children in this group.]

They're all sick and feeling bad. I've been trying to give them warm tea and talking to them.

[welcome_home]

Oh no. [ Nanako looks upset as she glances around sees just how many kids have gotten sick. ] That's no good. Maybe I can make them feel better...?

festival;

[blahblahblah]

[Rita is trying to figure out how she can even be useful here; running around a festival along seems very, very dull to her, and even as she tries to help, she realizes she doesn't really have any helpful skills. Doesn't know how to sew, terrible at cleaning, not big enough for most manual labor, it's just been a lot of striking out, and it's put her in a bit of a sullen mood. But when she sees a girl younger than her going to town and fixing everything in short order, for a brief moment she feels even worse. How the hell is she supposed to compete with that? Even if she could do anything, she's outclassed.

But after a moment, she really looks, and she realizes that maybe that's fine. She's good for something else, and this girl is good at this. That's. That's fine, right? Of course, as she watches Nanako flit around and do entirely too much, she wonders where the energy is coming from. That'd tire her out, forget someone that small... oh.

After another second to decide herself, she forces the uncomfortable look off her face, setting herself and being as reasonable as she can as she calls out to the girl.]

Hey, uh. I don't know what I could do, but do you need a hand? You look like you're pretty busy over here.

[welcome_home]

[ Nanako pauses from where she's standing and eyeing a lopsided float with a puzzled frown, glancing around when a voice calls out to her.

Spotting the other girl, she breaks into a warm smile and lifts a hand to wave at her in greeting. ]

Ummmm, maybe! Does this... look crooked to you?

[ It is definitely crooked. ]

[blahblahblah]

[The smile helps Rita feel a bit better about things, and she smiles back, though it doesn't quite reach her eyes.]

Super crooked. We'd have to put some work in to get it straight... Want me to help?

Parade

[alchemists]

We need to get everyone out of here!

[welcome_home]

But there's so many people! [ Nanako looks around in dismay. ] Where would we send them all? We have to do something about the ayakashi!

[alchemists]

Maybe there's a nearby temple or park we can send them to for the time being? Blocking the area off so no one else can enter might also help.

festival

[doodlebuginette]

[All the bad luck around is disheartening, and Marinette has been wandering around, helping out here and there when she can. She's also been trying to use her heaven-granted power to reverse some of that bad fortune, though she can't be sure how effective it is. She's never tried to do it on this scale before, so it's really a matter of just hoping for the best.

So when she spots Nanako darting around, she makes her way over, because it's obvious the younger girl is going to wear herself out if she keeps going like that.]

Nanako~ Where are you going?

[welcome_home]

[ Nanako skids to a stop at the sound of a familiar voice, turning to beam warmly at Marinette, although she is starting to look a little worn down. ]

Marinette! Hi! I'm helping!

[doodlebuginette]

[Well that much is obvious, and she doesn't want to tell the smaller girl not to help when she's been doing the same thing. So she settles for the next best thing.]

How long have you been helping? When's the last time you've taken a break?

Parade

[junkyarddog]

[As always, when trouble happens, Ken beelines to his gods to make sure they're okay. In this case, Hakkai's not even present; he's at home, knocked out, which is its own gnawing pit of worry, but it means he's not in immediate danger here. So when the ayakashi spills into the street, Ken heads for Nanako like an arrow, following her scent until he finds her.

It's mostly worry for his goddess, of course, but there's also a practical element. He can't do anything against the ayakashi without one of his gods backing him.]

Nanako-sama! Lemme fight it! [He's practically vibrating with aggression he's ready to unleash. And while he doesn't really recall it, it's not the first time he's gone up against something with massive tentacles.]

[welcome_home]

[ There's immediate relief at the sound of Ken's voice and she spins around, searching for him through the crowd as he pushes towards her.

Although she still casts him a worried look as he gets closer. ]

Ken! Are you sure? It's really big!

[junkyarddog]

We gotta do something, right? And if I'm vessel form, it can't blight me! [It can, potentially, hurt him in other ways...but his vessel form with Nanako is a cheetah. He should be able to move faster than it can.]