thenearshore | 39 - Where Do We Stand?

Entry tags:

39 - Where Do We Stand?

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

the digital letter that Amaterasu sent out

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

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~

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Add has been tracing people who vanish out of this realm. The theory is that souls are transported out of this realm by way of a portal towards a hub dimension, where they head towards unknown realms.

[ Unfortunately the method of gathering data involves waiting for people to vanish, so... it's not very fast. [

[A part of him is hopeful that those who vanish were not trapped somewhere. But time for that later. As for people vanishing...well, Aymeric knows a few who have recently.]

Have they been able to detect any sigils or signs when those who do vanish?

Not to my knowledge. But my knowledge is a little limited.

[ He casts a meaningful glance sideways towards the native gods. ]

To collect the data, the vanished person must be carrying a tracking device at the time of their disappearance. Not many of them do.

~~[Don't worry, no shittalking the natives unless needed.]~~

I see. Clearly there are those who chose to volunteer [Hopefully.] in case such a matter were to happen. Were there any other matters of note when it came to tracking?

[ Ain has volunteered himself, so they can only wait and see. ]

None as of yet. I did consider looking into them myself. [ Does Aymeric know he's capable of the same things as Add does? ] However, I have yet to find a suitable opportunity.

[ A pause. Maybe he'll be called reckless, but at this point he doesn't really care anymore. ]

I will wait to see if the Heavens will give any sort of response towards the inconvenience that we have had to face. If not, then I may take matters more seriously.

[You mean he doesn't think it as such? That gets a pecuilar look.]

I ask this because Emizel and I investigated a matter in the land of Australia, given by Lady Suijin, in order to learn about potential means of our arrival. We ventured into a park and found these glyphs and sigils, draining the life around. [Don't mind him showing the photos he took while there.]

These hold resemblence to those found in the forest. For anyone else who was there to aid in the rescue, was this the case anywhere within?

[Ginia waves lightly to get Aymeric's and Ain's attention, quickly typing away on her phone and playing a message when she's finished.]

The altar in the compound had similar sigils, I remember that. But in broader terms, the demon summoned a year ago, the circle used to summon it was designed to summon a being that could drain life.

With the marking on the chalice the same as the marking on the mask, I don't think it's coincidence things moved from a demon capable of draining energy to multiple instances of energy being drained from an area.

[ He moves closer so that they can stand at a conversationally polite distance. It is rare that something does escape his attention, but he supposes he need not rush like mortals do. ]

I see. That is interesting... then we would require more knowledge of the magical systems of this world.

[ Once that Suijin person arrives, he supposes he could make a move. ]

I retreated from the compound before the interior was breached, for safety reasons.

[ Having received many injuries during the octopus battle, it was difficult to keep the integrity of his vessel. The others don't need a third danger on top of what they were already facing. ]

These sigils were carved into the earth, different than the ones in the forest.

[And he needs to bring up another thing that wasn't in the pictures.]

At one of them, there were several ayakashi around. Enough that Emi and I along with our soulless partners could not fight them alone. We had to unfortunately retreat and tell Lady Suijin what we had gathered.

[Carved instead of drawn. For something more permanent? Able to draw more power? That's something for the more magically inclined.]

It's been theorized the sigils in the forest were used to trap and focus energy. Possibly to control the forest moving around in Heaven or create a connection. That there were ayakashi in the forest in the aftermath was similar to the blighted suburb, though on a milder level.

[Ginia paces lightly as she taps her phone against her palm in thought.]

Why Australia? Is it because it's remote? There aren't any gods from there as far as I can tell, so it doesn't seem to be an attack against us.

Did they complete a ritual and that's why ayakashi were there?

When we were investigating, we have learned of two people around the area; tourists considering the town itself has a very small population. Someone managed to give us these descriptions of the two: a man and woman, the man with a heavy Japanese accent, entering the park and talking together before he left on his hike.

The gentleman according to the witness was about 180cm with dark hair, thin, and wearing a red jacket...but they called it a windbreaker and tan slacks. The woman however was about 155cm, dark haired and a large white sun hat with daisies on it, unable to catch her face.

However, what concerned me was the account that the plant life began to cease after the sigils were made. So it is possible that a ritual was done there. But the question of why is unsettling for that answer I do not have.

Edited 2019-04-08 19:43 (UTC)

Oota Saburo had trips to Australia and the United Kingdoms in his travel plans. It's possible his wife is a part of the cult and went with him, but could have easily been another cultist.

[Ginia also isn't sure if she wants to blame him immediately, but it's a definitely lead.]

Where did Suijin obtain her information from? Why did she reach out to you instead of handling things herself?

[Ginia pauses, realizing what the line of questioning sounds like.]

I'm not questioning her motives, but I'm looking for the bigger picture. Though I am wondering why she heard news of activity in Australia of all places.

Considering nearly over a moon ago, Saburo's wife had argued with him over working excessively and taking frequent business trips, we can assume she is not part of the cult's activities nor she is aware of them.

[If that were Aymeric, Leo would have no issues dragging his overworked ass to bed and maybe cast a Gravity spell for good measure.]

As for how Lady Suijin knew about the incident in Australia, she had shown me an article in a newspaper explaining the phenomenon. Although it was more...sensational than most, it did point out the sigils which were true.

Edited 2019-04-08 20:48 (UTC)

[ Ain does not have any information to supply, so he's just nodding along as the two converse. ]

Suijin should be coming. It can be brought up to her.

[So the rest of the family is in the dark. Ginia wonders how Saburo explains the black hooded cloak. Some kind of weekend roleplay outing? It's not as if she wishes harm on the cult - only a stop to their activities - but she hopes the family remains safe.]

This is true, I could ask her, though I'll see if it remains relevant.

Aymeric, you've obviously met Suijin, but how about you, Ain? Or have either of you met any of Amaterasu's other retainers?

[His kids and wife deserve all the good let's be real.]

The only time I have seen any of Lady Amaterasu's retainers were during important gatherings.

[And the meeting naturally.]

I am relatively new here, so I have not.

[ His general dislike of old-fashioned divinities might be setting him back here (see, being a little rude to Suijin later), but he's also a little too rooted in his perception to care about that. ]

What do you think of them?

Edited 2019-04-11 14:14 (UTC)

I would not underestimate them. Obviously they have skills enough to serve the ruler of the Heavens.

[And probably dangerous.]

Do you think Suijin is more likely to listen to us than Amaterasu?

[Sure, maybe Shun's bluntness put Amaterasu on the defensive, but there was no denying how unwilling she was to consider anything other than what she believed or was told. If Suijin is the same way, there might be any chance to discuss things.]

(no subject)

onedrinkwithme - 2019-04-12 20:52 (UTC) - Expand

[Apocalypse has been hovering nearby ever since Add's name was brought up, staying close to Ain's side. It takes a couple minutes before there's a response, though—the cute cat face flickers off for now, replaced by a small holoscreen that seems to be displaying the soundwaves of an audio recording. Add's voice crackles through.]

I haven't seen any sigils in the recorded disappearances so far. I believe I know the sigils you're talking about, though. Hakkai was researching something similar, though I'm not sure if he's made any new progress with it.

Really? What kind of research was he doing?

[Also that cat was a screen? Why was it so cute?]

[A display, speaker, camera, audio recorder, advanced Nasod AI and adorable feline companion all in one!! Apocalypse is a very talented cube.]

The same thing as you are, probably. He was looking for a pattern in where the dead patches were appearing by collecting data from the Near Shore's media and news reports. You'd be better off asking him about those details yourself.

Whatever magic is being to produce those marks, I don't think it has anything to do with the disappearances, at least not the ones I've been able to observe.

It almost feels as if one force is bringing in newcomers and another is sending them away.

[Remembering Ain's comment about how the vanished are going into unknown realms as well.]

Hm... it's not an unreasonable theory. Unfortunately, it's much harder to monitor arrivals compared to disappearances, so gathering information on that for comparison hasn't been possible.

[There's a pause as Add considers the topic further. Well, there is one possible option he hasn't tried yet... but it's a tedious one. He sighs.] The Heavens always seem to know where to find new gods and shinki. If they were willing to share their methods, an investigation into arrivals would be a lot more feasible.

That would be most helpful. However, we will need to explain this to the Heavens and hope they do not turn us away. 'Twould be most telling if they did.

[Aymeric ain't afraid to use that against Heaven if needs be. Feel right at home.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only