APRIL 2022 EVENT

[jigokumods]

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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.

Comments

[worldbent]

[It does in Matoba's mind, and that's what matters! Hazel's irritation seems to pass off his back easily, which is good because he's trying to dodge bullets. Shooting a bow while running is not nearly as easy as gunning and running, so it's not until Hazel gets him a gap in the fire by distracting them with the loose gun that he can knock another.]

[This time, he aims for where the assassin was diving for the gun, buying Hazel more time to get a hold of it. The distraction only lasts a moment before Matoba has to start dodging the gunfire of his friends, but by that time, he's hoping, he'll have return fire in the form of Hazel.]

I will handle the disarmed one. Take the backup, [He orders (because he definitely is in charge here, thanks), knocking an arrow that seeks to take advantage of the now disarmed assassin. That armor... arrows were barely penetrating it, but without return fire, he could go for the best angles at the joints.]

[deadtective]

Watch your head; my aim's not the fucking best.

[it's...not entirely a lie. Hazel's fired a gun all of once before in her life, and that only a handful of months before arriving here. however, they call it dead aim for a reason: with no tremors in her hands, she was a pretty decent shot for all that inexperience. an amateur grip would likely hurt a bit here, where she could actually feel the consequences of her actions, but that was more than fine. the pain was encouraging.

having properly put Matoba's leadership skills into question, she sets into keeping him safe while he rains his old-fashioned fire down upon the unarmed youkai. it seemed like he was trying for a precise shot, so she should...that one. if she could pop that particular youkai Matoba wouldn't have to move and keep readjusting his aim. planting herself firmly, she took aim and fired off a round. their armor might not allow it to pierce all the way through, but it ought to stagger. she was prepared to run in and kick them down should they fail to fall themselves ]

[worldbent]

[So she claims, but Matoba thinks that shot does the trick just fine. In the second he sees the assassin bodily knocked back by the shot, Matoba follows it up with an arrow to the knee, striking in the space between the armor plates. The assassin stumbles backwards, but another soon takes its place.]

[They were seemingly endless... Or maybe it only seemed that way, since they seemed to keep phasing in and out of visibility. A few fall back and vanish, 2 or 3 more appeared to take their place. Matoba's eye narrows with annoyance as he draws another arrow.]

How do they have the numbers to be bothered with us and not their target?

[deadtective]

[it was a good hit, but Matoba was right - there were just too many of these clowns. for the first time since arriving here Hazel feels actively annoyed over her powers having been handicapped; at her usual strength she wouldn't need to make educated guesses the way she was now.]

Because they're fucking fabricating them, I bet.

[were they phasing in and out of sight, or were they using those flickers to create ephemeral copies of themselves? with the dogged way they were honing in on them now, she was starting to believe the latter.

firing at the next youkai to charge into her range, she glances back at the other Lost Soul.]

...think we gotta fucking book it, dude.

[worldbent]

[That would explain a few things, wouldn't it? For a brief moment a flash of intuition hits Matoba, and he direly wishes he could get ahold of one of their assailants long enough to remove their mask, or pierce the armor and dispel them, in order to prove his theory--]

[But then Hazel makes her recommendation, and he's inclined to agree.] No sense in fighting a battle that does not deter them from their objective, [He inclines his head and lowers his bow before slinging it by the string onto his back. There was a fire escape on the far end of the building; he makes a break for it, hoping the assailants would give up on their retreat.]

[If only he had his proper senses, he might have been able to tell right away. He can't help a twinge of annoyance.] At this rate, approaching the stage directly might be more fruitful.

[deadtective]

You try and jump down there and you're on your fucking own.

[the last thing she wants to do is involve herself directly in an assassination with killers who can infinitely copy themselves. Hazel is moderately confident that she still can't die, but she'd rather not test that theory over someone she didn't know personally. it was dumb enough that she was sticking her neck so far out for this stranger.

at least he didn't seem to be doing more than talking about making a boneheaded move. she smacks one of the nearby goons with the butt of the handgun, out of spite rather than necessity, before sprinting towards the fire escape herself. hopefully stemming their fire was all they were hoping to do, rather than silencing any overly sharp eyes.]

We're not gonna make any more of a difference down there.

[worldbent]

[Luckily, the fire escape wasn't blocked off by more assassins; it was a clear path down, and Matoba hops over the railings a few times to skip some steps on the way.] No? Not feeling any overwhelming sense of loyalty towards your clan leader? [Matoba chuckles breathlessly as they bound down in their escape, and then glances upward to check if they were being tailed. It seems that so long as they weren't getting in the way anymore, the assassins eased up their pursuit... And, Matoba was sure, there were more attempting to deter them elsewhere, anyway.]

[Matoba didn't have any interest in intervening with whatever chaos they may have been causing in the crowds; his focus had been solely on diverting the assassins' attention from his own clanhead, but now... Once they get to street-level, the fog is much thicker- Matoba draws a sleeve up towards his face and frowns, trying not to breathe too much of it in- it wasn't mere water vapor; it contained the essences of countless souls, and that wasn't exactly something he wanted too much of in his lungs.]

Quite the pessimist, aren't you. [At least here, they're moderately ...safe. Matoba keeps his back pressed to the brick of the building they'd scaled down from; there were youkai barreling in a panic past them.] It seems we were too late, anyway. Regardless, the intervention was appreciated.