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

2/2

[subconmodo]

[Too late. It's set off the trap Snatcher just finished setting back up.]

[He'd be very disappointed if his brain were currently capable of processing emotion.]

[priforprince]

[ Hello, sir! It will be on its way in a minute, but it just wanted to thank you. Thank you so much for freeing it! Thank you, thank you, thank you---








Thunk. ]

[subconmodo]

[If one were to listen closely, they might hear the sweet music of Simon and Garfunkel on the wind.]




[And then Snatcher reboots]

Okay... Okay. So. That didn't work. You obviously need a little bit more of a push!

[He sounds a little strained. Like he's trying much too hard to sound happy. He's fine. Really!]

So let's just bring these walls down and set you on your way! I'll even count to ten before I set this up again!

[He looks down at the spygoat expectantly, waiting until it finally starts moving along to start counting.]

[priforprince]

[ Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you....

The spygoat is rolling in circles around Snatcher now, heedless.

Had he said something, though? Oh, dear. It hadn't been listening. It is not a very good spy. It will have to try harder in the future. ]

[subconmodo]

[He can't even start. He can't even get to one. One!]

[Snatcher holds up his hands and takes a moment to find his center. Happy thoughts. Happy place.]

Okay. Goat. Here's a lesson for you. See that ring of plants over there?

[he points to one of the traps]

Stay away from them. Those are goat-free zones. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's illegal for you to be in them! You're risking a lawsuit there, little guy!

[priforprince]

[ This does get the goat to freeze, thinking. Not about the lawsuit bit - that it does not quite understand. But about the concept of a "goat-free zone". It is programmed to go anywhere and everywhere, in search of interesting information. But there are places it should not go?

The goat shakes in place from how deeply it's thinking about this, trying to solve the discrepancy between these two rules. Should it go get Maa-ster, then? For the last word....?

Maybe that is what it should do..... ]

[subconmodo]

[Fool that he is, Snatcher mistakes the goat's thoughts for understanding and nods with approval.]

There, see? It's simple! Just like you. All you have to do is avoid those goat-free zones and you should be fine.

Now run along and stay out of my traps.

[priforprince]

[ A place it should not go....A place it...should not go?

A place it should not go....

The goat thinks. The goat rattles.

The goat falls over from thinking too hard.

Thunk. ]

[subconmodo]

Or... that. I guess.

[He stares down at the goat for a moment onger before sighing and grabbing it up, tucking it underneath an arm]

[Apparently stealing these little guys is the only way to enforce the whole goat-free zone thing]

Looks like I'm making another cloak tonight.

[priforprince]

[ Oh. It is going a third place entirely now. Is the place it is going a a place it should go?

This goat is going to remain very confused through the entire caping process. Meeting its companion in undercover minionhood will help, though.

Probably. ]