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

Topic: Did the cult cause the new gods/shinki to arrive in The Far Shore? How? (Dolls/Crystal/Talos)

[sweetspringwater]

"As to the matter of the Crystal [1] which has disappeared [2], we did conduct an investigation beforehand. There are reports that it changed appearance - or at least triggered several magical effects - during the scuffle between the forces of the cult and the Heavens. To the best of our judgement, there is a connection between the dolls [3] and you new gods not unlike what we normally refer to as 'ties' between mortals and gods or shinki. Normally, such ties are between gods and their followers, and seen as a favorable connection. However, these ties are to the inanimate objects - at least, to the ones that were not burned out."

Suijin folds her hands into her sleeves. "Never before in our history have gods appeared in this way, remembering - for lack of any other phrasing - a time before their current incarnation. So too have we never known shinki who could sustain learning about their past without becoming corrupted in a permanent way. We have every reason to believe that it is due to the power of that crystal, and whatever magic the cultists have worked over it, that these ties to the dolls could be formed, and completely different souls brought to Takamagahara, especially using incarnations from other pantheons."

"However, if this cult has the power to create their own gods now, we have reason to believe that these dolls were merely a stepping stone to that eventual goal. We can see no reason they would want to bolster the ranks of the Heavens, and all evidence points to the fact that they would much rather see Our Lady Amaterasu deposed entirely, and Heaven with her. We believe they probably lost control of their spellwork, or used the spells to train new recruits into their cause by way of a test. Regardless, the documents left behind at this compound lead us to believe it was not intentional that the souls left their control. The spellwork to craft those ties is less immaculate and powerful than the ties between a god and their follower; those ties' frailty is why the dolls are at risk of burning up when the spell is not well-maintained, we believe."

OOC - Events Referenced:	IC - Dates:	Link(s)
1) Crystal:	April 1st 2017	37 - A Call To Arms
2) Crystal Disappearance:	April 15th 2017	38 - Power Palette Swap
3) Dolls first appearance:	March 3rd 2017	35 - Dolls' Festival