39 - Where Do We Stand?

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Help the Heavens investigate what remains of the cult and their compound
When: May 2
Where: A converted farm on the rural edge of the Tokyo metro area
Summary: Characters can discuss what they know about the cult, choose how much or how little they tell the Heavens' representative Suijin, and help make decisions about where to go from here.






This place was once a farm, then rebuilt into a compound with a big central building, heavy concrete walls and plenty of outdoor spaces for ritual magic. Now, the rooftop has caved in, and the main floor has collapsed as well, leaving a basement open to the skies above. All around, police tape from a local Near Shore department has quarantined off the area. Amaterasu's shinki, in cooperation with those from Suijin, Fuujin, and Raijin have managed to take shifts warning miscreants and the police away from the area, but left the tape to help with those efforts. Just beyond the tape, they've now put up Borderlines to safely guard against ayakashi for the duration of this meeting, but they're pretty far out of earshot and very focused.

Letter of Invitation

Everyone should have seen the digital letter that Amaterasu sent out, but just in case, later that day each temple receives a single letter, with a wax seal on it with Amaterasu's chrysanthemum as the emblem. It is a reproduction of the same digital letter that Amaterasu crafted the day before; it's not printed out, but rather handwritten with painstaking accuracy. The shinki could be from Amaterasu, Suijin, Raijin, or Fuujin, and they will not force anyone to take the letter, in particular if they're told that the god/dess already saw the message on their phone earlier.

Early Arrival

There's a set time that Suijin will arrive - Noon - but as everyone is encouraged to come early, it is possible you are one of the first or last to arrive among the "early" crowd. How did you get there? Was it by stealth or impossible to miss, even by any Near Shore people in the area?

Topics of Discussion

Now is your chance to discuss with your fellows what you know, don't know, wish you knew, etc. about the cult or their compound. Do your characters think they are still being spied on by Heavens and want to hold back, or are they reasonably confident speaking out with the protecting shinki so far away? At the very least, none of the shinki are making very obvious attempts to return to the compound itself. For the very paranoid, there are little alcoves out of visual range or a small room that still has a door on it, albeit not a ceiling.

Suijin's Arrival

Suijin arrives at the appointed time, stepping onto the compound's front drive and under the police tape at precisely Noon. She comes in the capacity of official counselor for Amaterasu. OOCly, this thread will be free-form individual threading.

After her arrival, we will have mirrored top-level comments with Suijin supplying a piece of information as a jumping off point for discussions about each topic. From that point, it will be individual threading, or multi-character threads if you would like. All of these threads will still be addressed to the group at large, loud enough for them to hear and jump in if players would like.

Redacted April 7th via OOC post: We will run this similar to how we ran the Compound's Second Fight: there will be an opportunity for Suijin and/or her shinki to speak, then characters will be given free reign to respond to her and amongst themselves for a period of time. Then, another "round" will begin with Suijin and/or her shinki's responses to the characters. This structure allows for characters to still react with late comments or reactions to anything being said, or jump in whenever they feel comfortable speaking up.

In Summary:

• Talk amongst yourselves before Suijin arrives
• Check out the damage inflicted on the Compound
• Discuss next steps with Suijin, if you would like
• Have fun~

Comments

Suijin's Arrival

[sweetspringwater]

[ At the appointed time, Suijin arrives in a flash with one of her shinki in tow - for those who know him, commonly called Sunanaga. They arrived on the Near Shore via one of her shrines, then teleported to the walkway up to the compound. She walks slowly, her shinki lifting up the police tape for her.

She looks toward one of the outdoor spaces meant for magic, where Sunanaga separates from her briefly. Suijin steps within a few yards of what used to be the staircase down to the basement. ]

Well... Who wants to start? We obviously have so much to discuss.

[ Sunanaga retrieves a bench and places it nearby, where Suijin walks to sit on it. ]

[abgrund]

[ Considering that he hasn't spoken to Suijin yet, Ain opts for a more neutral stance. However, he'll cut straight to the point. ]

Do you have any information for us regarding the dolls and the crystals?

[sweetspringwater]

Perhaps one would consider a more polite phrasing of such a very direct question.

[ Suijin lifts her hat to sort of look him in the eye through her veil. ]

I am aware of a single crystal discovered in this compound. What evidence do you have of more?

[abgrund]

[ Respect is earned, not given. But he'll not argue for now, there are more important matters at hand. ]

So there is only one crystal. [ Simplifies and complicates things. ] It appears to be tied to the new gods as well as the dolls in the compound. Have the Heavens investigated them?

[sweetspringwater]

[ She raises her head slightly at first remark. ]

We have. I can provide that information to those assembled. I do not think our information is complete, however, as evidenced by the crystal and dolls having disappeared by some stroke of cultist magic, perhaps to reclaim their power source or bargaining chips.

[defensivematrix]

[ They're probably expected to share information. But what when you have none? You ask questions. Satya takes a step forward and nods with respect (not too much, her loyalty is above all to her own god). ]

Lady Suijin. Is there a confirmed timeline since when the interference of these mortals started? Many of us have not been here for long enough to witness these with our own eyes.

[ That's a lot of words towards someone standing so high above them all. The next sentence she says with utmost conviction ]

I do believe that protecting order is necessary. [ At any cost really. What a curious thing to learn about yourself. ] But I also believe being used as a weapon against humans not ayakashi require a bit more of context. To better understand the necessity of such action.

[ To not have doubt and dangerous questions breed too. For some of them, those who used to be humans in life, that could be very dangerous indeed. ]

[sweetspringwater]

[ She levels a look at Satya, but Satya's manners earn her a respectful response. ]

As it is our goal to resolve this matter by any means necessary... I suppose that a brief summary to impress the weight of these stakes would benefit those such as yourself. I will address all assembled once I have my thoughts together.

However... [ She raises her head again. ] This is one reason that we hesitate to fully depend on the new gods. So many of you come and go like the most fleeting of ghosts. If your fellows cannot help you learn your own history, I recommend you make good use of the device that we have provided to you.

I suspect we will not know the foul date on which our troubles began until we can find out when the traitor in our midst began operating. We know it has been at least a year now.