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

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun backs off rather promptly, since even with the assumption that most people won't be able to spot them without them drawing attention to themselves, the poleaxe is large enough to be something of a concern. He watches the woman go with a careful eye, but it seems like the interaction inside the shop is entirely normal, and he lets out a breath as if of relief. If it's just the cultists who made bad decisions on where to put their loyalty, he doesn't really want to be pushed to have to do worse.

Ginia's question gets a slight shrug out of Shun, though between reading her signs, he's watching the woman until she gets out of sight again.] It'd mean less problems for us if they found fulfilment elsewhere, so you could call it pragmatic, in a way. I'm hoping that if they genuinely wanted something better for themselves and the world, they're going to actually act on that in a way that isn't risking everything around them.

[unlucky7]

[Ginia nods, looking at the direction the older cultist left in. Everyone has to fight their personal problems and find support and help where they can. Gods and shinki can help, but they're not a cure-all either.]

Got more on your list or plan on hitting something else?

[revolutionfalcon]

There's one or two more in this area I was planning to look into before I move on. I don't want to spend too much time in one place considering how many people are covering this, but I want to make sure it's all been dealt with.

[No gaps, no mistakes this time. They've already been doing this song and dance for long enough that he just wants it fixed by this point.]

[unlucky7]

I hear you. Too far and too late to not see things through ourselves. She was the last of my list here. I'm heading to Hawaii next, Ebisu has a shrine in a more remote area and there's reports of unusual plant death at a national park nearby.

[Ginia lifts her shoulder, the bag shifting slightly.]

If there's a circle, I figure I can clear the ayakashi at least.

[revolutionfalcon]

I've got a circle to deal with later, but I wanted to take care of this first since it's a hell of a trip out of the way. [The far northeastern corner of Iceland is not exactly the most convenient place to take a field trip out to, especially considering the nearest populated area to where he's headed is a fishing village made up of maybe a handful of buildings.]

We'll see how it goes. Hopefully I can get rid of the damn thing more effectively than when I first discovered it.

[unlucky7]

I'd offer to help, but I'll probably be tied up enough in Hawaii. Got some other people to check on too, heard a few are hitting Europe. Always did want to see Europe.

[There's a slight smile, but alas, no time for sightseeing. Maybe another day.]

Still, if you need help, text me. I got enough gods I can catch a teleport from one of them. Otherwise take care out there. You and your shinki.

[revolutionfalcon]

I'm bringing my whole temple anyway, we should have enough hands between us. [Chinatsu and four shinki from this world is probably enough to handle it, even if three are soulless. Cleaning up something like that shouldn't need anything too out of their skillset.]

You as well. We don't need anyone getting too reckless when all this is finally about to come to an end.

[unlucky7]

[With Chinatsu, Kotori, and three soulless shinki, it's a full wrecking crew. Ginia worries loosely about their safety, but trusts they'll be fine.]

I'll keep a clear head. Wouldn't want to miss whatever is next.

[Whether it's a party, another problem, or saying goodbye, Ginia wants to see it through. The cult almost killed her once, they won't get another chance.

She waves lightly before bounding off to the nearest usable shrine.]