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

[towards_okeanos]

[Iskandar has an idea of his own.]

Hm, we don't need to be running around. I remember this place well enough that I can teleport all of us right in front of the entrance.

You just need to hold onto to me.

[alchemists]

Will you really be able to take both of us with doing that? It might be hard...

[ Elfnein can speak from experience on that, when she teleported Romeo and Hibiki back to the temple it took a lot out of her. ]

[myblueskies]

[It will be hard! Romeo believed in mister Iskander though, just like he had believed in Elfnein! He will be able to do it!]

[towards_okeanos]

Not a problem at all!

[He could lift you both with one hand. Teleportation is not that much different.]

I had teleported other people before.

[Several times actually. With different people. Of various sizes.]

Just hold tight. I don't want to drop you.

[Because that happened... maybe don't ask... He's not very proud of his role in this particular adventure.]

[alchemists]

Alright, we'll make sure to hold on really tight!

[ Elfnein ends up grabbing Iskander's right arm, leaving the other one open for Romeo. ]

[myblueskies]

We will sir! [He holds tight just like he promised. He is quite used to teleporting now but he doesn't want to be dropped! That would be bad!]

[towards_okeanos]

Will be right there.

[They're both so tiny that Iskandar doesn't even feel the difference. And they're done in a blink of an eye landing before the hospital entrance. Big glass door marked with a red cross. There's an ambulance parked right in front of it and a row of metal letters on the orange wall stating Clinica San Jose. If anybody had any doubts what kind of building this is.]

That's here. Second floor.

[alchemists]

That was really amazing!

[ They arrived in one piece, Elfnein couldn't help but be impressed with Iskandar. ]

[myblueskies]

[Romeo grinned as well! And here they were, right next to the hospital.]

Right second floor! Let's go, will you be alright with all the stairs Elfnein?

[He's still worried about that bad air!]

[towards_okeanos]

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it.

[Iskandar nods. It's always nice to be appreciated. Even if for small things. He can't help but smile when Romeo expresses his concern. How the boy always thinks about and cares for Elfnein fills his heart with joy. Those two are a true pleasure to be around.]

Fear not, young gentleman. There will be no stairs. It's a modern building and they have elevators.

[Fortunately not only foreigners unused to local conditions need them. Off to elevators they go.]

[alchemists]

Even emergency stairs?

[ Well, that's one less thing to worry about, taking the elevator will make things a lot easier. ]

[myblueskies]

What's an elevator? [He looks at Elfnein, because she will know! She knows everything!

He follows Iskander as he asks though, off to find this elevator and go question the patients!]

[towards_okeanos]

It's a machine that transports you between floors in a building.

[Iskandar smiles. He didn't know that either not that long ago! There are so many wonders of modern technology he probably doesn't know yet. He's always excited to show one to someone who had no chance of experiencing it before.]

It basically looks like a small room that can move up and down.

[He stops in front of a row of metal doors. There's more than one elevator here. No stairs in the line of sight but there are doors with green signs with Salida de emergencia written in white letters further down the corridor.

Of course, Elfnein would ask exactly that kind of reasonable question he has no answer to. She's a genius after all.]

Hm, I don't know. I haven't checked. I think they should.

[He looks at her.]

You don't like elevators?

[alchemists]

I don't mind them, but Romeo hasn't been in one before.

[ She was more concerned about Romeo and if he would be ok taking it. To him, a small box that goes up might be really out there. ]

[myblueskies]

Up and down? A whole room? [He is still following and he glances at Elfnein and shakes his head.] I haven't! But they sound really interesting! Can we go in it? I want to see how it goes up and down!

[They have a job to do here, but since that meant needing to go up anyways he could see this new moving room and fulfil their task at the same time!]

[towards_okeanos]

Splendid! That's his big chance to experience one then!

[He turns to Romeo.]

It's not a big room. Only for maybe ten people to fit in.

[Yes, they have a job but doesn't mean they can't have some fun along the way.]

See that round buttons on the panel near the door? Those with the triangles one pointing up and one down? If you press the triangle that's pointing up it would summon the elevator from whatever floor it's currently on here.

[This is Romeo's first ride so it must be a memorable experience. Iskandar would make sure the kid gets to do all the things himself. First task: summon the elevator.]

[alchemists]

[ Elfnein gives a smile and a thumbs up at the two of them. Having Romeo handle the buttons is a good idea, first hand experience is always the best. ]

It'll get here almost right after you press it, it's really convenient!

[myblueskies]

This one? [He pointed at the button before pressing it. It lit up green and there was a humming noise from behind the doors.

A moment later, just like Elfnein said there was a ding and the doors opened. There was a square room, not very big but definitely big enough for the three of them! Romeo stepped in cautiously and looked up at the buttons at the side. They were all numbers.]

[towards_okeanos]

Excellent!

[Iskandar claps his hands. He follows Romeo inside and waits for Elfnein to get in.]

Now. We are going to the third floor. See the numbers on those buttons?

[He points to the panel with numbered buttons.]

To send us where we want to go you would need to press the button with number three on it.

[alchemists]

[ Elfnein follows into the elevator after Iskandar and Romeo. Plenty of room for the three of them considering how big Iskandar is. ]

We'll go up when you hit the button so use the bars on the side if you need to hold on to something.

[myblueskies]

Number three! Alright sir!

[He glances at Elfnein at her warning and nods once before holding on tightly to the bar and pressing the button with the number three carefully.

Time to go up!]

[towards_okeanos]

[The doors close and up they go. On the display over their head the number change as they travel. It takes only a few minutes before there's a ring and the doors open showing a brightly lit hospital corridor.]

We have arrived! Excellent job, Romeo.

[Now he just hopes the people he spoke with here before haven't been discharged yet. That could complicate things.]

[alchemists]

Shall we head to the room they're in now?

[myblueskies]

[The elevator ride is exciting and soon the doors open and they are in a completely different place!]

Yes! Let's go and find them!

[He sets off, but then realises that he doesn't know where they are. This place is very strange, long corridors with lots of doors.]

Um... Do we know what number?