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

[reloves]

Wow..!

[ Minako bounces from foot to foot in near child-like excitement, staring at all of the stalls around like she's pondering the many possibilities. ]

That's amazing, Ginia! You're spoiling me! [ But that's something Minako very much likes. She seems overjoyed. ] Come on, let's try out the cotton candy first! Have you had that before?

[unlucky7]

Not here.

[Which means they're definitely getting some today. It's not just puffy clouds on sticks either. The person running the stand creates fluffy bears, ducks, rabbits by shaping different colored puffs of cotton candy. Cute and delicious, a perfect combination.]

What animal do you want?

[reloves]

The rabbit! It's cute. [ And something also feels incredibly faintly familiar about it, but Minako sure isn't going to try and dig into that feeling. Instead she just smiles. ]

It's my first time having cotton candy here too. But I guess I must've had it while I was still alive before since I know what it's supposed to taste like.

[unlucky7]

There was a festival my first day. Went to another one in January, so I've had a few chances.

[Honestly, festivals are pretty nice when you aren't trying to shoo away bad luck and keep an eye out for cultists. Maybe one day it'll be quiet again and they can all enjoy a good day.]

I don't think I had cotton candy when I was alive though. It seemed pretty new.

[With how quickly the stand is turning out cotton candy, it doesn't take long for them to reach the front of the line. Ginia points out a rabbit for Minako and a bear for herself and pays. Massive animal cotton candy in hand, Ginia pokes the nose of the bear and giggles. She takes out her phone and takes a picture of her cotton candy, then waves Minako in for a picture.]

[reloves]

[ Minako smiles when Ginia said she doesn't think she had a chance to have one when she was alive - since it just means there is something good about this afterlife, it's giving them all these new things to do they might not have done before! But before she can speak up about it, they're already at the front of the line, and Minako is monentarily way too distracted by the cotton bunny. It really is cute..

She snaps out of it when she notices Ginia waving her over, and then Minako is quick to move in to join the picture. There's not much hesitation before she's already latching onto Ginia's phone-free arm. ]

This can be our festival memory! Say cheeeese!

[unlucky7]

[What is life (or unlife) if you can't take selfies? Ginia snaps three in rapid succession, quickly checking to see which one looks the best. A copy is sent to Minako's phone before she regards the cotton candy again.]

This is almost too cute to eat.

[Almost. It doesn't stop her from biting one of the ears off, fluffy cotton melting down in her mouth.]

Have you had a chance to explore the festival or have you been stuck working?

[reloves]

[ Minako noticably slows down on eating the cotton candy for a moment when Ginia asks so, pretty much guiltily so. Or like she's considering what to answer for a moment. It's kind of comical to see. ]

I.. have seen a little bit?

[ Aka she's really been trying hard to help out, but also got distracted. A lot.

After another small pause, she adds-- ] I maaay have played one of the games already?

[unlucky7]

[It's a festival; there's no shame enjoying it. Living in a temple where work never ends, Ginia knows the value of a break. Life is long for a shinki, but also fleeting. Best to enjoy things where they can.]

Great! You can show me where the good stands are!