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

[wishwing]

Oh, he's so cute! No I don't mind at all.

[ What an adorable child. Rion wants to cheer him on! ]

You can start any time!

[holygrailed]

[The boy looks shyly between them, but raises the flute and begins to play. His playing is good, but it's also clear he's nervous and that's affecting his playing. After the second mistake, he lowers the flute and frowns.]

"I told you I can't do this!"

[Irisviel smiles reassuringly at him and pats his shoulder.]

There, there, you're very good, but nervous. [She looks at Rion.] Do you have suggestions on how he can move past his nervousness?

[wishwing]

Aw, it's okay. Just think of your favorite person. They'd be rooting you on! I know I am.

[ Rion makes a cheering motion and smiles brightly. ]

Do you think it'll be okay?

[holygrailed]

"My favorite person..." [His face scrunches in thought.] "What if I have more than one?"

That's perfectly fine. Imagine all of them cheering you on. You aren't playing alone either.

[The boy still looks a little uncertain, but he nods, clutching his flute a little tighter.]

"Okay... I think I can do this. Thank you!"

[wishwing]

[Rion cheers and smiles for him.]

Yea!! That's it. You might seem scared at first, but I'm sure it's not that bad.

Go give it a shot!

[She stands with Irisviel and gives the boy some space.]

[holygrailed]

[The boy takes a deep breath, fingers tapping along the flute before he raises it to his mouth again. He's still a little nervous, but the tune sounds better and he manages to play through without any mistakes.]

What wonderful playing! We knew you could do it!

[Irisviel encourages with light applause. The boy lowers the flute and grins, bobbing his head.]

"Thank you! I'm going to find my group. Look for me in the parade, okay?"

[wishwing]

Of course! I'll see you there.

[ Rion jumps up in excitement and beams. ]

He's a really nice boy. Are you friends with him?

[holygrailed]

[He waves and runs off. Irisviel waves after him before turning back to Rion.]

That was the first time I've ever met him. I suppose it'll be the last too, unless we cross paths.

[Such is the way of those of the Near and those of the Far.]

Thank you for your help. I'm Irisviel.

[wishwing]

I'm glad we could help him! Nice to meet you Irisviel, I'm Rion.

[ She waves energetically. ]

We can hang out for a bit!

[holygrailed]

I'd love that! A festival like this is so much fun with people, isn't it.

[Minor mishaps aside. It's worrying all the little things going wrong, but everyone's working together to fix things.]

Have you been here long?

[wishwing]

It's great. [Rion fiddles with her hair tie and smiles sheepishly.]

Not really. I got here recently and I'm still kind of new to the area.

Sometimes I get lost!! Do you know your way around well?

[holygrailed]

I know the area around my god's shrine fairly well, but I still find myself getting turned around whenever I explore beyond that. A good thing the phones have maps.

[After her first run in with ayakashi, Irisviel never leaves for the Near Shore without her phone and blessed water. For every new area, she pinpoints the shrines around for safety.]

This area is quite new. Would you like to explore together?

[wishwing]

Of course. Let's go see some places and maybe get something to eat later!

[ Running around for a bit would make any person hungry. ]

I'm getting so excited. It sounds fun.