41 - Cultist Arc Finale

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
When: June 2nd 2017
Where: Mostly the Near Shore
What: Tracking down cultists to remove them as threats to Heaven, erase as much of their presence from the Near Shore as possible, and consequences of such







With it being made clear that the cult's influence was scattered throughout not just Japan but spread far and wide, the gods of the Far Shore have been asked to assemble in the same place where Conclaves normally happen. Bishamonten is assigned the task of rallying the old gods, while Orihime is given the same duty for the new gods. Essentially, the old gods will be working in Japan and the new gods elsewhere. Both Bishamonten and Orihime have a long list of individuals and their last known locations with vague descriptions, collected by those who went out hunting them on Heavens' behalf when everyone was last gathered. ("A Different Sort of Hunt")

Orihime gathers the new gods at her home along the river. Outside her small abode, there are several soulless shinki pulled from their temple. Ostensibly, they are to help any new gods who don't have a shinki available to create the Cutting ties or Rend effects, but no one is there to stop a shinki from commanding them as well.

Orihime will direct the gods to many places in the Scandinavian countries of Europe, south as far as Italy, west to the United Kingdom, and east as far as Belarus and Ukraine. Meanwhile, another contingent is sent to Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the South Pacific / Oceania islands around there. There's even some scattered across the Americas - north in Alaska and the Yukon as far south as Chile and Argentia. Getting to any region requires the permission of a Near Shore god with a local shrine there to teleport, or a much more mundane plane trip.

Since this is all taking place over an extended period of time - roughly 48 hours - new gods are welcome to jump around the regions at their own choosing, not restricted to just one place.

Cutting Ties

Tracking down the cultists won't be easy. Some of their last known locations just confirmed their home addresses, work addresses, school addresses, etc. It's not like there's a GPS on them! However, with the address being specific to a city and country, along with a description of the person involved, it's possible to track down the rank-and-file cultists in these places beyond Japan. Many of them you won't even need to speak to, just find them and use a shinki to cut the string of fate that binds them to their cult activities, spell knowledge, and awareness of Heaven.

It's possible to run into other gods and shinki, though! Especially in major hubs of regular human activity, the cult was able to thus recruit more people to their causes. Maybe you can team up, swap information based on who you're looking for, that sort of thing.

Blight Circles

Where the human cultist recruits favored larger cities, their blight circles are much farther into countrysides - where they were less likely to be disturbed while the cultists crafted them. These circles are fairly simple in their lasting impressions: spellwork in a large circle on the ground, dead or dying flora for double the diameter of such a circle, and powerful ayakashi drawn to their vicinity. Strike down the ayakashi gathering there, purify the area if you can with magic or holy water, and physically break the circle's symbols. Particularly large blight circles might have been crafted near a Vent, increasing the likelihood of powerful ayakashi being there.

The larger and more powerful an ayakashi, the more Rend attacks it will take to bring them down. Maybe you can survive a long battle with one, or maybe you work together as a team with another god / soulless-wield shinki? The choice is up to you!

Cult Hubs

In the true cultural capitals of the world, there is a single Cult Hub - a physical building that was under the governance of a higher cultist official, where spellwork training and other informational sessions took place. Note that these hubs are not always the capitals of their countries, as with New York City or Los Angeles, Toronto or Munich, Sydney or Quezon City. The physical structures where cultists met have a wealth of inventory to look through and either dispose of or use in future efforts for the Heavens. It might not be glamorous work, but it could offer surprising rewards.

Event Bonus:
A thread of 10+ comments earns a character a random item that would have been stored at the cult hub. As with other missions involving "random item" rewards, players can give the mods 3 choices for review and we'll reply with a comment about any choice which might be too powerful / not suitable, or players can ask for the mods to give them 2-3 random items and pick only one as their reward.

Between Scenes / Afterward

As everyone returns to the Far Shore between their major efforts on the Near Shore, recovering from the battles, enlisting backup, or simply looking for another assignment from Orihime, you might still bump into one another, particularly around Orihime's home or down the river in either direction. Feel free to use this as a kind of catchall space or a place to look for healing, food, and sleep with your fellows from the Far Shore.

Alternatively, this could all happen when the last assignments have been handed out and people start to disperse back to their own temples.

Event Bonus: Gift Baskets!

For Gods and Shinki alike, Orihime will provide a gift basket to each and every character, customized as much as possible. This will include, among other things, an article of clothing with a wondrous power unlike any she's made before. Players can request what these items are OOCly, kind of like book requests in the library, but we hope it can to be something you as a player truly feel like is a reward to your character for having come this far.

To claim this reward, simply reply to the Orihime OOC comment below with your desired item and its ability to begin the discussion. Remember: Orihime would avoid granting items that help in battle; rather they're meant to enhance the character's everyday life, make their hobbies easier or more fun, that sort of thing. Example abilities might include: hover-style flight, lite elemental resistance, green-thumb plant growth boost, etc. - they're just tied to the item.

An IC week after the event, gift baskets will be delivered, along with an Epilogue announcement on the BBS.

Event Bonus (all prompts):
A thread of 10+ comments will gain 150 followers / 15 exp per thread.



In Summary:

• Travel the world
• Hunt down the last vestiges of the cult's influences
• Get goodies
• Await the epilogue announcement
• Have fun~

Comments

[unlucky7]

"I'll send you the words once I'm back at my temple, promise."

It's a long thing to write and Ginia would rather focus on Nesir's other questions.

"My first god didn't know how to use my form. I don't know if my second and third forms were compatible with my gods either. My current vessels fit better now."

It's a superstition, but it's hard not to think about the connection either. Two people working together can make any form work, but that's something easier said than executed in practice.

"A shinki that takes the form of a weapon is probably better suited to a god of combat than one of art. However, it's up the god and shinki to figure out how to work together. It's also possible a shinki has a vessel form that reflects themself more. For example, my boyfriend is apparently cooking instruments across his forms."

[disregardeddagger]

Cooking instruments, so weapons weren't always... conventional. Interesting. Nesir nodded along as she took in the information. A weapon for a god of war, forms could reflect the shinki themselves.

Nesir was a dagger and the fact she arrived with a dagger was the only thing she knew about herself, so perhaps there is a link there. "What is your form?"

[unlucky7]

"I'm a scarf for Ebisu, an archery bow for Chris, and I'm a bird for Tsubasa. For previous gods, I was a sniper rifle, a snow leopard, and a crystal sword."

If there's any kind of theme or reflection of herself, Ginia hasn't figured it out. A mess, she's called herself deprecatingly, but she's trying to be better than that too. Her forms are her forms, she'll make the best use of them.

"Can't tell you the vessel ability for all of them though. There are two I never figured out."

[disregardeddagger]

You are a bird? [And had been a snow leopard? Somehow the idea of turning into an animal was even strange than turning into an object.

What must it be like to be an animal or a bird? Shinki could jump to great heights, Ginia had been the one to teach her that, but flying? That was something else.]

We haven't figured out mine yet either, but we haven't been in a proper fight yet.

[The time would come, probably soon with all these cult actions.]

[unlucky7]

"A bird that can create sharp feathers or a sword."

There's a bit of a proud smile accompanying her words. At first glance, the form doesn't look like much, but it sure packs a punch. Also flying is incredible even if dizzying.

"The key to figuring it out is not overthinking it. Everyone has an ability so tap into yourself and see what feels natural."

[disregardeddagger]

A bird that can create a sword is definitely an impressive feat, the pride is warranted.

"I will do, Noctis seems keen to fight so I am sure we shall have plenty of practice opportunities."

She looks around, "I think we are done here though." The circle is broken, the monsters are gone, job well done. She should probably find her god and check up on him.

[unlucky7]

"I'm going to make sure there's nothing else around. The other shinki around can guide you out. You can use the shrine again too."

Assuming Noctis doesn't meet her and teleport out. It's sure handy gods can teleport anywhere with a connection.

Ginia smiles and nods her head again.

"Thanks for the help."

She'll have to drop by Noctis's temple later with some money. Help deserves proper compensation after all.

[disregardeddagger]

"Thank you." She should be able to meet up with Noctis, but the offer is still appreciated.

"I will see you soon, Ginia."

[unlucky7]

Ginia waves goodbye, moving to confer with Luger and makes plans moving forward for the area.

Two days after the situation is settled, an envelope addressed to Nesir is left at Noctis's temple. Inside the envelope is 100,000 yen in neat, clean bills and a thank you note from Ginia. Enjoy.

[disregardeddagger]

The money is met with confusion and suspicion. Why would Ginia pay her? She wasn't part of the heavens rulers. Nesir had helped her yes, but it could also be said that Ginia had helped her.

Perhaps Ginia had felt in debt to her? But this made Nesir in debt to Ginia and that was dangerous. Ginia had never been anything but helpful and friendly but still. Nesir would rather not owe her anything.

She puts the money aside and decides to speak to Noctis about it. Perhaps it is customary to gift people after they assist with ayakashi killing. In which case she probably needed a source of income, to pay others with. Noctis would know more she is sure.