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

[unlucky7]

The silence is deafening. Ginia looks at the older shinki in turn and then down to their god, surprised at Ebisu's expression. There's nothing wrong with her statement. Ebisu's life is the most important. The temple can't handle any more disasters. If her mistake would bring danger onto them, isn't the most logical thing to cut her loose so she can take any punishment herself?

Right?

It's the logic of someone who was an asset and a tool first, valued second. As Ginia looks at her temple, her own brow creases, confused by everyone's reaction.

"I can't let anyone get hurt or killed on account of me or my actions."

[chibisu]

"But you're my shinki." The scrunchie shape of a mouth finally manages to untangle enough to say that much. "You're a part of our temple." He offers no other explanation to this. Shouldn't it be obvious, after all? She's a part of their temple, so they can't toss her away for their own reasons.

She's too important for that.

From the side, Takami skittishly approaches her, one hand hovering uncertainly near her arm. "It's not..." His fingers flinch, regardless of her movement or lack thereof, and he takes in a shuddering breath. "It's not right."

Chuckling under his breath, Unmi reaches over to pat her on the back. "I'm afraid it's very difficult to untangle from us." He looks over his shoulder. "Don't you think, Kiwami?"

With his coat folded over his arm, having not bothered to put it back on again, Kiwami simply looks over at Ginia right in the eye. He clearly considers his words carefully before speaking them. "Only ask to be released if you'd truly be happier, not from duty."

[unlucky7]

Oh.

It's easy being a tool. Follow orders, do as you're ordered, don't think, don't feel. She can't remember that life, can't remember how much it broke her down, but she's still cobbled together from the pieces left and welded back together. It's harder being a person. To feel, to think, to make decisions that can be right or wrong, to hurt and disappointment, to make things right, and do it all over again.

Ginia's eyes move from god to shinki in turn, the confusion etched into her face softening. There's a reaction to insist it's for their safety, that she couldn't live with herself if anything happened to them because of her, but what does she know? She's a shinki around for all of five months, fumbling her way through the act of existing. Five gods in five months, is that a record? No, probably not.

There's less fanfare in releasing a shinki. A few words (if that), a simple order impossible to stop, a breaking name. It's wrong forcing a shinki to keep a name if they want to be released. A shinki should be free to go as they wish. It's a generation far more ready to fight for the freedom of new shinki than for the gods.

It's the contrary streak, the side that can't help but bite back against act of kindness. Ginia swallows down the urge to rebel because no one is saying she can't leave. They are asking what she truly wants.

Is this what it's like to have a family? To belong somewhere? Ginia wants it to be as she breaks eye contact with Kiwami, a hand covering her eyes as she starts to cry.

What does she want? Isn't that a dangerous question for a shinki? To want when everything is in service of their god? When nothing is truly their own? She wants her gods safe, her temples safe, for the people around to stop hurting.

(But what do you want, Ginia? Jitsumi?)

Tears aren't always sad. Mostly, she's touched and gratful in a way she doesn't understand. Ginia takes a few deep breaths and regains her composure. She takes a step back and bows deeply to everyone around, a shyly genuine smile when she rises.

"Eibsu's shinki are the best. I need to live up to that standard. I'll be careful with the mask, I promise."