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

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki doesn't say anything. Hibiki may now be losing her three-dimensionality.

Do you want a paper doll for a god, D2? ]

[smilingbullet]

[ He's not particularly picky, personally. She's just a placeholder.

But Wendy might be a little irritated.

Since she's shriveling like a melodramatic jade plant, D2 fishes out a water gun and sprays her with some holy water. ]

[priforprince]

Ghhhphb!

[ Hibiki snaps back to life. But the look she gives D2 is not exactly thrilled.

Water turns dirt into mud, you know. She has a smudge on her face now. ]

[smilingbullet]

[ She'll survive.

D2 sprays some more water in her face. ]

[priforprince]

ARE YOU FINISHED?!

[ Yep, she's up. ]

[smilingbullet]

Hmmm~ Nope.

[ Spray spray spraaayyy ]

[priforprince]

DON'T FLAUNT YOUR ABYSMAL TASTE IN ENTERTAINMENT WHILE YOU'RE STILL NAMED BY ME!

[ One of the spygoats with a shield attached to it begins weaving through the crowd. It's trying to come to Maa-ster's rescue, but there's a lot of people here! But it will save her!

Eventually! ]

[smilingbullet]

[ Poor, poor spygoat. ]

You can't change who I am or what entertains me just because you've named me. You do know that, right?

[ He sprays her again just to punctuate his words.

If such things were possible, his fashion sense would have improved during his time named by Forrest. And yet here he is, wearing a pink shirt with orange text saying what'nt gone be nobody's cool. ]

[priforprince]

Rrrrrgghhh....

[ To her credit, she does know that. Once it's pointed out to her.

Curse him. Curse him for her wet face, and for the fact that her wet face is currently having to glower at that shirt. And for her inability to offer a comeback, for there is none. There is only dripping.

And evaporating. Some of the water is evaporating, from the angry heat of her skin. In fact, Hibiki is now beginning to steam. You could cook dumplings over her.

The goat begins pushing people with it, when it can. So now it is bringing some kids along who'd ducked their adult chaperones, and who are young and innocent enough to see god things. They seem to be having fun.

This is bound to help and not at all worsen the situation. ]

[smilingbullet]

[ But not before that. Hibiki what did you expect of him, really

And what is wrong with his shirt? He thinks it's great. Why is the water, why is Hibiki steaming? ]

Oh man, I should'a brought a pot and eggs.

[ The children are nearing. They have been spotted. D2 waves at them. ]

Hi~

[ The child holding on to a goat tail isn't waving back, she's too busy clutching the tail, but a few of the other ones come closer before the goat reaches them. ]

[priforprince]

[ "Is this a game?" asks one of the kids. "Can we play?"

The kid holding onto the goat tail decides goat tail is fun to suck (they are a younger kid). This is preventing the goat with the shield from getting into place to keep Maa-ster from being squirted with a squirt gun!

So close, and yet so far!

There is a faint whistling noise as the steam worsens. ]

[smilingbullet]

Yeah, we're playing cool-down. She's not doing very well.

[ Hibiki is losing this game that D2 just made up. The goat can't save her, it is still held back by the child that thinks its some new sort of pacifier.

"How do we play?" D2 explains the rules and in the process, squirts some more water at Hibiki.

The children quickly take to this new game. ]

1/hibiki

[priforprince]

[ The whistling intensifies. So does the steam..... ]

2/hibiki

[priforprince]

[ Some of the water gun sprays begin evaporating before they can even reach Hibiki's skin. Somehow, her hair refuses to dry despite this.... ]

3/hibiki

[priforprince]

[ ....A kid hits Hibiki right in the nose just as she's trying to take a breath and calm herself.... ]

hibiki/4

[priforprince]

[ And the teakettle boils over. ]

REVOLUTION REQUIRES SACRIFI---

[ The kids scatter, giggling, before Hibiki can grab one of their squirt guns. Though she tries. And she does actually manage to move instead of just stand there and take it for the first time since D2 showed up, so, progress.

The only child left is the one deciding to soak this entire goat in baby spit. The spygoat does not, unlike Maa-ster, fight its fate. It is too chill for that.

Guess this is life now! ]

[smilingbullet]

[ This is so funny, D2 is having a great time.

The children too seems to have had a good time even though most of them flees. The one still there seems to be doing great.

D2 presses his hands together and bows his head at her in a pretend-prayer-y sort of fashion. ]

Your sacrifice has been duly noted. The revolution thanks you for your service.

[priforprince]

WHY WOULD I BE THE SACRIFICE?!?!

[ Hibiki is so worked up, she hasn't noticed that the sentence ender priestess has moved elsewhere. She hasn't noticed that she only has a temper headache now.... ]

[smilingbullet]

[ If she has enough energy to yell like that at him then she's fine. ]

You sort of looked a woobie on their first day of hell week.

[ He switches over to English, because sometimes you just feel like it. ]

[priforprince]

The one perpetuating revolution is never the sacrifice!!

[ Hibiki is sticking to Japanese because she can yell faster in it. Or perhaps she just doesn't want to go with his flow. Probably that one.] They may bear the heavy burden of dirtying their hands for the greater good, but at the end, they stand triumphant!!!!!

[ GET YOUR TROPES RIGHT

THIS IS

AGH

SHE KNOWS THERE'S A CAPABLE HUMAN BEING SOMEWHERE IN THERE, SO HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW ALL OF THESE IMPORTANT THINGS ]

TAKE YOUR IGNORANCE AND BEGONE FROM MY SIGHT!!!!

[smilingbullet]

[ D2, as he does, just takes her yelling in stride. ]

Oh? Have you studied the history of revolutions well?

[ Is that a thing people do? Decide to study only revolutions? ]

[priforprince]

GET OUT!!!!!

[ .....She has, actually. And taken selective lessons away from it. Shikyoin Hibiki only learns those morals that appeal to her.

Alas, she is too wound up to admit to this, so D2 will be left wondering. ]

[smilingbullet]

[ Shikyoin Hibiki needs to learn from all the morals, not just pick and choose. Alas, he wouldn't be surprised. ]

You realize we already are outside?

[priforprince]

[ "Get out" as in out of her sight, you ---

you---- ]

RGH!!!

[ Hibiki pivots in an attempt to stomp off, radiating irritation from her entire figure. IF HE WON'T GO, THEN SHE WILL

SO THERE

HAH! ]