jigokulogs | APRIL 2022 EVENT

APRIL 2022 EVENT

1. HANAMI

The week of the Night Parade is marked by the traditional symbols of Spring in Japan. Somehow, several city blocks have been turned into cherry blossom groves as a show of goodwill by the Sutoku Alliance. These cherry trees don't feel normal. They are more like spectral manifestations. Rumor has it they grew so quickly because they're planted on top of a graveyard. That's just a rumor, though. Don't pay it any mind! Don't listen to any whispers you might hear if you walk through the rows of trees alone and certainly don't dig under them for proof of their provenance.

Accompanying the hanami are copious amounts of food and drink. Such as dango, specialized bento, sake, and festive drinks. They are all available to purchase from stalls near the spectral grove. The refreshments may have a little something special added to them:
Ingredients that promote peace (calming any angry or upset feelings)
Ingredients that promote romance (gives soft, warm feelings towards the first person you see).
These effects are mild and only last as long as you're in the boundary of the grove. Eat, drink, and be merry with your fellow lost souls.

2. KANAMARA MATSURI (NSFW IMAGERY)

In addition to the simple joys of flower viewing and the cherry blossoms blooming, new festivals pop everywhere. They are inspired by various regional festivals from all over Japan. Some of these are benign and feature your normal festival fair. Others are a little more unusual, such as the Kanamara matsuri-inspired treats. You can thank the Tamamo Clan for this. Don't mind the giant phallus being carried down the street or the wooden phalluses you can ride on or the interesting mascots walking down the sidewalk, or the suggestive vegetable carvings.

Surprisingly, none of these foods are spiked, at least not more than the experimental recipes had been during the parade preparations. The spirit of the thing is more just the amusement of genital-based foods rather than anything meant to entice a sexy sort of good time. That will come as the parade rounds out onto the bath district...

3. HADAKA MATSURI

cw: nonsexual nudity

If that cheeky festival isn't your kind of fun, maybe the hadaka matsuri is more your speed. The Department of the Enma are probably the most stressed out faction in the entire city, so the Enma has allowed them to put on a festival to blow off some steam! It's a bit different from the traditional celebration: it's not contained to just men and it's not contained to a shrine.

This event is a mobile mob of nearly naked people and youkai running after a cart with a masked person throwing out small sticks. They represent good luck for the people who manage to nab them. There are far fewer sticks than there are people present and everyone will do a lot to get one of the coveted prizes. Try not to get in their way!

Or you can get caught up in it all and try to snag one yourself to see what your fortune holds. (No, the Enma isn't participating. Too dirty, for his tastes.)

4. FESTIVE FUN

A. SUMO
Some other festivities you might come across are miniature sumo tournaments put on by the Shuten Clan. Raised dirt circles with chalk rings on the outer perimeter pop up seemingly everywhere. Two people are allowed in the ring at one time and there are strict rules to be followed. If you disobey the rules, you may find yourself suddenly ejected from the ring with magical or physical means, and at the mercy of a Shuten enforcer.

Play by the rules to beat your opponent and victors will find themselves rewarded with a strong bottle of booze. The winners of each bout are handed out a commendation by Toraguma himself, which comes in the form of a commemorative sake gourd. This is probably the kind of prize you'd expect from an Oni at a festival like this.

B. FOOD RUNNERS WANTED
If you're in the mood to pad your pockets, maybe you want to help the Tamamo Clan out by running food delivery. This opportunity is available to anyone regardless of affiliation. Runners will be fitted with a contraption to carry the food orders on their person and may proceed either on foot or on a small motorbike. Be careful and make sure not to drop anything! Any ruined or undelivered orders will come directly out of your pay.

It's harder than it looks not to drop the food with all the excitement going on and your delivery recipient may be similarly hard to locate.

C. HOT BATHS (NSFW + cw: optional aphro)
The Tamamo Clan has set up a sanctioned orgy in one of their larger brothels. Rooms are available for whatever your heart desires, including one with exposed windows if you like being watched or if you want to watch in kind. Baths and pools are available for all your indulgent fantasies. Everything you could need is at your disposal: toys, restraints, costumes, lubricants, condoms, aphrodisiacs in many forms. It's a proper bacchanal celebration!

All that matters is your consent and enthusiasm.

5. NIGHT PARADE

One of the primary highlights of the Night Parade are the fantastical floats depicting scenes of legendary events. Keen-eyed observers may note that the humans are portrayed as the bad guys in most of them. While a few of these are mounted on motorized vehicles, most of them are carried by people. That means you'll probably be called on to help carry one along the parade route. It's a fun job, if exhausting.

If you're not the type to wear yourself out carrying a float, ride on one instead! There's plenty of things to toss out into the crowd along the street; candies and trinkets. Dress up in a fitting costume and walk around the float. Have fun scaring bystanders or just have fun hamming it up and celebrate the peaceful night.

5. FIREWORKS

The parade's central stop is the festival square in the heart of the city, just under the shadow of the Kaigo no Bou Tower. There is a stage set up here where the four faction leaders and their personal entourages have assembled. All of them are giving pretty typical speeches. The Enma has declined to give one, having no patience for unnecessary oration. Tenkohime gives praise to the unifying factors of love in the city, while Toraguma rallies the crowd like a sports hero; encouraging them to get stronger and do better in the coming year.

The Daitengu is the last to speak and they also seem to have the largest entourage. The entourage is quite conspicuous: White Wolf Tengu, each standing well-taller than the Daitengu themselves. They are carrying massive broadswords strapped to their backs and hunting about the area for anything suspicious with keen eyes that seem to see right through the crowd and the heat of night.

The Daitengu's speech is also pretty typical, although much more humble than their fellows. Mostly, they just wants to hurry up and get to the fireworks. Just as they finish speaking, the sky lights up.
There are a few peaceful moments beneath this spectacle as the crowd enjoys the display of unity and phantasmal wonder that this unique and strange world has created.

But the explosions aren't just in the sky. One particularly loud boom seems to rattle the very earth beneath the crowd. That is the only warning anyone gets before...

6. A NIGHT PARADE TO REMEMBER

Every manhole cover on the street bursts open, injuring anyone that was standing nearby. Far worse is the deluge of steam that rushes out from the underground. Pillars of hot, blinding steam spill into the air, quickly filling the streets. The luminescence of the festival lamps and city lights are diffused and blurred into singular blobs of color, obscuring all vision and making it impossible to see what's going on. The panicked cries of the crowd also make it impossible to hear. Everything happens so suddenly, so violently, that ascertaining what's going on takes time.

Too much time.

In the chaos, gunshots are heard. They seem to come from several directions. Fighting is breaking out. It's difficult to tell from where and who is in the brawl. Previously unseen figures in full-body black coverings appear from nowhere, rushing the stage. They zoom past any Lost Souls nearby, ignoring their presence. They are focused on a singular goal. The barking of the White Wolf Tengu further indicates the goal of the attack.

Struggle in the steam, help others get to safety, get caught up in fighting the other factions, try to protect the Faction leaders, or try to keep up with the black-suited youkai rushing the stage; do as much as you can.

When the steam finally begins to clear, however, there will at least be one thing that is certain: the Daitengu has been killed.

Welcome to the April event!

If you have any questions about event content, please ask them here!
We also have OOC top levels for Shuten Sumo Results, Tamamo Partner Cards, and Hadaka Luck Draws!
If you have questions about the game itself, please check out the premise, FAQ, and rules pages.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[it's blood and pain that catch her eye, draw her in. her fine clothes are a ruin, but she has a paramedic's kit and the steady gaze of someone who knows what she's doing, who has a handle on this. and she approaches swiftly, alarm in her expression but not allowed to leak into her voice.]

Miss Musashi! Please, if you can hear me - focus on the sound of my voice for now!

[grazes, she can see as she's trying to get the woman up enough that she can take a full account of injuries. those will be easy to manage with the right dressings, but it's the shoulder wound that's the worst of it and needs to be dealt with. unless the bullet is right there, these are the worst conditions to operate in and she'd rather get her up and enough for the true medical station.]

[ She felt like she'd taken worse hits than this. Had to have, even. Fighting the Seven Swordmasters was all about winding up such violent stakes. And yet... her whole body felt like it ached from those shots. She could barely feel her other arm, struggling to hold onto one of her blades. ]

I-I'm still here, but... you need to run... they could come back this way...

[ She didn't know if they would. She knew it probably sounded foolish for her to make a demand like that of a healer. And yet it was still all that was on her mind... she had to protect people, even with one good arm. ]

I've got protection, should they do so.

[Majima's been following her, making sure the area is clear. she trusts him to keep an eye out so she can focus on patients, and she keeps her voice controlled, soothing.]

There we go. Tell me if you start feeling tired, all right?

[it's the bullet that concerns her the most, and for the sake of keeping more blood in Musashi's body, she starts to work fast, with the sort of steady and quick focus that only comes from having done this a hundred times over. she'll take care of her, now.]

Nnot... tired, just... It really hurts, yanno?

[ Her arm was trembling. She was trying so hard to keep her grip on the sword, but eventually, Emily could hear it clatter against the pavement, and Musashi start to slump. ]

You're... a lot nicer than Miss Nightingale...

[a part of her brain can't help but jump to hear that name, but instead of letting that slip into her voice, she seizes the opportunity. if she keeps Musashi talking, it keeps her focused on things that aren't the pain, and Emily can move to take out this bullet easier.]

Miss Nightingale? Who is she?

[holding her as steady as she can with one hand, she gets the forceps to extract the bullet from flesh, careful to make it a straight line.]

An ally back home... [ Musashi winced. The conversation helped distract her from how much this was hurting... she'd love some sake right about then. ]

A nurse from England... apparently a hell raiser, too, given she was summoned as a Berserker...

[ Not at all like Emily, she thought. Nightinggale was gorgeous, but her bedside manner was pretty extreme. Emily seemed so much sweeter in comparison... Despite currently digging into her shoulder, a sensation she REALLY didn't like but had to ignore. ]

A berserker nurse? Goodness, those two sound like they conflict in duties.

[she's sure she's missing half of the context, but it gives something else for Musashi to think about. instead, she takes a breath, and uses the forceps to help the bullet out - it practically falls into her hand, meaning the woman only has to put up with some discomfort.

she's lucky - Emily's seen worse today, and if it hadn't been so clear, she'd have needed stitches. setting that aside, Emily can then work on the easier part, stemming the bloodflow and cleaning the area as she goes, keeping strong pressure to try and maintain a minimal loss.]

You'd think, but it just meant she was dead set on assuring folks survived, against even logic or sanity...

[ So in that way, Musashi admired her, even if she also hoped she didn't wind up a frequent patient of hers if she ever wound back up at Chaldea. She let out a strong, whinced exhale when she felt the forceps and bullet finally leave her body. Raw pain was still there, but at least the "digging inside of her" part was over. ]

G-geeze... That didn't... take long... Lucky me, right?

Yes. You could have suffered much worse - as far as I can tell, you're in no danger of permanent injury to your arm. Only things that will heal, given enough time.

[with that out of the way, she can clean the wound once again, and inject some of the local anesthetic into Musashi's shoulder, to reduce the discomfort that will come next. when she starts on stitches, her work is steady, calm, despite the steam and the people belligerent too nearby. this has to be done. this will be done, so she can heal.]

[ The pain had almost gotten dull at that point, or at least that she wasn't so aware of it, but the local injection just made a whole new pain that she couldn't help but let out a cry in response, muted but there. One of her hands shot to clutch at Emily's skirt... ]

S-sorry, it just... Wow that hurts...

It's all right.

[her free hand comes down to cover Musashi's, giving it a little squeeze to try and distract her from the pain that's happening.]

Give it a moment, and it'll be better, I promise you. The hardest part is over - you'll heal with time.

Time, huh...

[ She'd sadly gotten used to her body as a Servant, being able to recover much faster from wounds even far more grievous than this. But as she shifted the fingers of the arm Emily was working on, she could already feel how weak they were. ]

Down to one hand... at a time like this...

You still have your life.

[and this, she believes most sincerely. limbs could be fixed or compensated for. the senses weren't infallible. but one's life - their real life - is more precious than any one component of the body. everything a doctor did, in service of saving that before the rest.]

You fought well enough to be able to preserve that. To have to bury you now would bring sorrow to anyone's eye.

[now, the anesthetic should be in, and so it means she can turn her attention to the next stage, actually sewing up her shoulder. it's not the most pleasant for the patient, but Emily's hands don't waver, even if there still is the sound of gunfire in the distance. breathe in, breathe out, she's done this so many times before. care avoids mistakes.]

I don't mean to sound ungrateful...

[ It was never not odd. The pain was numbed, of course, but the sensation of something happening was still there. She could feel the tug of her skin, the pinching of her flesh. It gave her a way to truly appreciate how remarkably steady Emily was being...

She really was amazing. ]

I just... wished I could do more. And I know more needs to be done. I'm not the sort who can just sit back, you know?

There will be plenty to do after this night that people will be grateful for help with. I know it's hard - I couldn't stay idle myself. But if you can't pull back a little now, you'll end up doing far less than you'll ever be able to make up for.

[because her arm won't heal right, if she can't give it time. it would be forever changed - that swordplay will never be the same again.]

We'll get you fighting fit as quickly as we can, though.

Well I guess if an Angel in White is telling me to take it easy...

[ Musashi chuckled some, wincing as Emily finished up a stitch. Again, it wasn't painful, but it was impossible to ignore that there was sensation there, the almost eerie awareness of her skin. She never liked this part...

Still, she managed to look up at Emily, eyes half-lidded... Focusing on her face helped. ]

... I'll do my best. So as not to disappoint her...

...You're really too kind, you know.

[calling someone like her an angel. even if it was doing hard work to save people's lives, and the patients were grateful...it's still praise that she doesn't know where to put.

(somewhere in her head, it echoes - my angel. but that voice is at least two worlds away, and they'll be all right. she knows so - she signed herself away for it.)

instead of saying anything like that, she finishes the last stitch, and wipes away the blood again before bandaging the area tightly.]

You'll have to be careful with this for the first few days...do you live with anyone who could assist you, should you need it? Or is there someone who can come over?

[mainly, she's thinking about the practicalities of the situation.]

Well, no, but... I've been injured before, I'm certain I can manage and be careful.

[ Back when she still had a human body. Honestly, it wasn't so long ago that she'd forgotten what it was like, entirely. ]

Like I said... I definitely don't want to worry you.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

APRIL 2022 EVENT

aftermath.

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cw: needles, stitches

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