jigokulogs | 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

[ dimitri spots him easily in the crowd. he tries to wave at him, but his glance is elsewhere and he seems to fail to catch his eye. oh well.

he walks towards him instead. dimitri has snacks on a skewer, but they're all shaped like phalluses. ]

Hello. Won't you take a break? You've been here for a while.

[ The polite thing to do would be to conceal his disgust with this food choice. He definitely should not be staring down at the skewer with all the condescension in the world in his eyes. Tragically, van Zieks is not polite enough.

But when his eyes meet Dimitri's instead, he looks mildly less unfriendly. ]

I have no real interest in the festivities, so I scheduled myself for watch duty almost throughout the entire event.

That is prudent of you. But that doesn't mean you can't have the occasion to rest as well.

[ dimitri stays beside him. he reaches inside his coat to take out snacks - rice crackers in different colours and shapes, thankfully none that are phallus-shaped. ]

Would you like some? I find they're quite light for snacks.

[ he doesn't actually know how they taste, since he can't taste. should van zieks try it out, he's going to be surprised to find out that they are a hideous blend of salty and sweet in cloying proportions. ]

As these look like they are intended for the consumption of upstanding citizens, I accept. My thanks.

[ Van Zieks suspects nothing... a rice cracker looks so innocuous. Sure, there seems to be some seasoning on it, but it's a rice cracker. What can go wr-- ]

--- hgh?!?!

[ It takes absolutely every bit of self-restraint in his body to not just spit the bite he took back out again. Feeling like he's truly arrived in the realm of torture, he presses his hand to his mouth and painfully chews it down... He's not sure which part of the taste is actually worse here. Help. ]

Oh dear. Are you alright?

[ that's ok! dimitri has a thermos of tea. he hurriedly pours one for van zieks, not knowing he's contributing to his torture. ] Try drinking something. This is chamomile tea.

[ this is STRONG chamomile tea, should van zieks brave it. it truly tastes like you're drinking the #1 thing that dimitri is accused of doing: eating weeds. floral weeds, in this case. will he drink it y/n. ]

[ Okay, the sweets were terrible but that is surely to be blamed on the general state of Jigoku-Cho. Awful food from an awful town, what would anyone expect?!

Chamomile tea meanwhile seems... difficult... to mess up. Not impossible, but difficult.

And the young man by his side does not seem malicious, so let's... yes, let's take a sip. A small one though.

...

Christ Almighty. ]

Are you quite alright, man?!

[ Damn, bitch. You live like this?! ]

Edited 2022-04-08 23:34 (UTC)

What's wrong?

[ What's Wrong?!??! dimitri is just going to fuss over him. what's happening. his chamomile tea doesn't seem to be poisoned, he's been drinking it on and off since this morning ... and he's been eating his snacks as well and he feels fine ... ]

Goodness, everything just disagreed with you, didn't it? [ maybe the problem is u? ]

[ There is something actually impressive about the seemingly genuine obliviousness on Dimitri's part. Van Zieks takes a deep breath and wills himself to simply pay no attention to his assaulted tastebuds anymore. He'll just pretend they don't exist. This Is Fine. ]

Do forgive the discourtesy, but... your palate is horrifying.

Ah.

[ dimitri looks sad!!! and only slightly embarrassed. ]

To tell you the truth ... I can't taste anything. Food only makes a difference to me depending on its texture, or if it truly has a pungent taste that makes a difference to my tongue.

None of the food I've been consuming has been terrible to me, so I had thought it was worth sharing. I am so sorry.

[ ?!

Okay, that is not the explanation he expected here. ]

You do not taste at all? What a pitiable condition, you have my sympathies.

[ And he means that. If he couldn't taste... he's not sure how he would have survived the last decade of his life, truthfully. ]

I've grown quite used to it, so it's not really as bad as it sounds.

[ dimitri looks thoughtful. ] In any case, I have grown up in a life of luxury, and have never wanted for food. I can't complain. I'm not much of a hand in the kitchen, but I do know how much work goes in cooking. Despite everything else, it just makes me appreciate food even more.

[ on a technical standpoint, anyway. ]

I... understand what you mean.

[ Though he only truly understands it now that he doesn't have access to a private chef anymore. He always knew there was craftsmanship in cooking and knew he was privileged to dine as well as he always did, but... after eating only instant noodles and pre-packaged bento for a week, he has a whole new view of the world. ]

And in a bizarre twist of fate, your condition does put you in the advantage now that you live in a different world, on a different budget.

Do you mean to say that the food here has been terrible on the palate?

[ dimitri just sounds amused as he says it. ]

I do wish I can try it, but I mostly rely on what's familiar. Cheese and meat, and fruit, and certain pasta dishes ... whatever reminds me of home.

Hmph.

[ The annoyed huff of a man who can't in good conscience agree that it is terrible but really, really wants to. ]

The familiarity factor is precisely what so much of it is lacking - this place shares great similarity to a nation that is halfway across the world from mine. Neither my palate nor my stomach are used to these foreign eating habits, turning finding meals into a hassle.

That does make for a rather trying time, especially if it's a country one hasn't got much affection for.

[ he smiles at him, rather amused nonetheless at how fussy he is with everything. ]

But I do hope for your sake you find something you enjoy here. There's no telling how long we are to remain here, after all.

... indeed. It appears foolish to make plans for a timely return, at this point.

[ As much as he would much rather be fighting to improve the crime rate in a city he cares for, there have been no hints whatsoever that a way back would be revealed any time soon. Begrudgingly, van Zieks has begun making long term plans for Jigoku-Chou, for the new life that he never asked for. ]

APRIL 2022 EVENT

kanamara matsuri

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