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

Ah, so unrepentant!

[he ruffles Chongyun's hair a little, still pouting exaggeratedly but clearly not upset, and picks up whatever dango they haven't eaten]

Sure! Those are supposed to be great, right? Let's go find a good place to watch.

[ Very unrepentant!! He actually looks quite satisfied with himself, thank you very much. ]

They are. We have them back in Liyue, too.

[ That hair ruffle has Chongyun's hair sticking up at fluffy odd angles, but he doesn't really seem to mind. He doesn't even bother to fix it, even when he pats down his haori to make sure it's clean. ]

The rooftops would be a good place to go. We'll be able to see everything.

[ Alright, let's go watch the Daitengu become a firework. He begins to trot toward where they're setting up for the final display; crowds are gathering, people all trying to find the best spots. When he spots somewhere he likes, he points, turning back to glance at Wei Wuxian, ]

How about there?

Seems good to me!

[he half-leaps, half-climbs up to their viewing perch while balancing the dango plate, checking if Chongyun needs help but reasonably confident he doesn't. nerfs and handicaps or not, his martial technique isn't too bad when he doesn't have kappa guards embarrassingly chasing him to exhaustion, and Chongyun seems to have similar training without his own energy hampering his body in the same way.]

Ah, good pick, good pick. We can really see everything from here...

[obligatory incoming 'press f for the Daitengu,' yeah.]

[ Likewise quick-footed, Chongyun leaps up after Wei Wuxian. He's quite practiced with leaping because Liyue is mountainous, so it's almost graceful as he pushes up with a hand and bends his knees, gently lofting his legs onto the roof with a soft tap. ]

Yes! A perfect view. [ 🎶 ] And not crowded. I can't really deal with crowds...

[ He sits on the edge of the building, letting his feet dangle over as he looks up to the sky. Despite being a festival teeming with people, everyone's quieting down for the speeches and the show, getting settled in and bunching up together. It's quite nice. ]

Like this, it kind of reminds me of home a little bit. We have a lantern rite every year. There are so many lanterns that light the sky that you can see them from just about anywhere. The atmosphere is a bit like this before they go up.

I haven't been to a lantern festival in a while, but yeah, we have something similar at home. Aah, if some miracle happens and you ever get to see Lotus Pier, it's great when you can watch them all reflecting off the lakes. Your home wasn't quite so waterbound, though, right?

[he joins him easily, perching like a crow on the building's edge, all angle. they can talk softly up here without disturbing the relative hush.]

[ Imminent countdown to the chaos: 49, 48, 47, 46... ]

The harbor is on the ocean, and we do have several lakes through Liyue ... but there are some more mountainous areas, too. We're a big nation so we have a little bit of everything.

[ His legs swing a little as he fiddles around in his side-pouch. ]

Master Wei, do you like sweets? [ because Chongyun is pulling out a carefully packaged popsicle; he splits it in half and offers one to the older man. ] Here.

[ And now he can finally lighten his load and toss some of these ice packs to the side. Aha! The old prompt comes back with some unimportant relevance! ]

I really would like to be able to visit all these different places people speak of sometime--ah, were you just--oh, that's clever. Thank you!

[he takes the popsicle with a nod of appreciation, because they might as well have a moment of real peace and tranquility before everything goes (...further...) to hell.]

Really feeling heated up by the festival, were you? It's a bigger crowd than I'm really used to, too. I'm glad we get to finish it off like this instead.

Edited (WHOOPS) 2022-05-06 06:16 (UTC)

[ Chongyun takes a big bite of his share of the ice cream. Cold and sweet, but not overly so. An excellent way to finish off the night if he doesn't say so himself. Chomping down happily, he talks easily, once again finding Wei Wuxian to be someone very easy to speak with. ]

Yeah, normally I need to stay away from the thick of something like this. The ice cream helps. Back home, I have specially made popsicles infused with Qingxin—...

[ Before he can explain more, there's a popping sound in the not-too-far distance. It isn't the sound of firecrackers. No, he's heard those before, these are more rapid—and on their tail come a wave of screaming as a cluster of people closer to the stage where the clan leaders had been sharing some words flee in terror.

A surge of men dressed in black follow the crack of sidewalk and explosion of steam. Below them, the peaceful people have fallen into chaos, trying to scape bullets and shrapnel. ]

Master Wei!

[ Chongyun's on his feet in seconds. Something's gone wrong! ]

It's -- whatever we were waiting for!

[Wei Wuxian's on his feet now too, ice cream still in his hand but now forgotten, taking a precious few seconds to try to analyze the pattern of the noise and chaos below. it's hard once the steam finishes billowing out over everything, but in the initial burst they can see a little, and the shots can be tracked]

Shit, are they heading for the stage?

Looks like it!

[ That's where the stream of black is heading. The rest coming their way are patterned kimono and jackets pushing and scrambling past each other to get away. It's hard to see with all of the steam, pops of color here and there the best he can pick out in rolling haze.

Instinct has him reaching for his blade ... that he doesn't have. Problem. With his spells restricted as well, he needs something to use as a weapon. ]

Let's head that way!

[ The gap between their roof and the next isn't wide. He leaps, soles of his shoes a soft tap tap tap against tiles as he crosses. At the very least, they need a better vantage point of the stage. There's no seeing from a distance in this. ]

[Wei Wuxian keeps pace with Chongyun without a problem, following his lead, as the screams rise higher on the clouded streets below, as the pop-pop of gunshots becomes more frequent and intense. he's doing his own mental calculation regarding weapons: he doesn't have the luxury of fighting at a distance anymore, either, but he hasn't been able to use one he's trained in for so long, he's probably better off closing in if he can instead of grabbing something at random.

abruptly, there's no time left to think about it: they're where they need to be, and the assassins are more or below, and the shape of the chaos through the fog clicks together, more or less.]

The stage--the leaders!

I can’t see, but it doesn’t look good!

[ Through the steam and chaos, he can’t clearly see the stage. It’s swarmed with bodies: the black of assassins, the white of guard wolves, the stream of color as people whip back and forth in chaos.

All they can really do is jump in. Which is why Chongyun looks over to Wei Wuxian before hopping down off the roof, reaching for the first thing he can use to fight off one of the assassins he caught sight of aiming at a group of young women as they were trying to escape.

There aren’t any weapons lying around. So, he picks up a very large plank that had broken off a fence nearby and swings it, soundly whacking the man with the gun in the head from behind. ]

[holy shit, that's metal.

Wei Wuxian doesn't follow suit, though when he jumps down to join Chongyun in the fray, Chongyun can see he's got a black bamboo flute (of all things?) clutched in one hand. it's the weapon he's most used to reaching for, these days; he remembers too late he can't do spells with it or call the dead, not right now--

it's not all useless, though. as the assassin Chongyun attacks staggers forward, briefly dazed, a second one melts out of the crowd to try to hit Chongyun himself. Wei Wuxian intercepts that guy, the flute improbably blocking the attempted pistolwhip.

two versus two! who will win?

(it's the assassins, but they don't know that yet.)]

[ He might be extremely puzzled as to what Wei Wuxian is using a flute as a offensive weapon, but the man does look cool while doing it. Chongyun nods his thanks for the block before swinging his arms again, using his strength to slam the board into the assassin's side.

It doesn't have quite the oomph a greatsword would but it's enough to make the man stumble. Sadly, guns are just better than big planks of wood—more bullets spray, though they do go off into the sky with the jerk of the attacker's arms.

The point is that it gives the civilians enough time to run away. Chongyun looks back at Wei Wuxian. ]

Master Wei—do you think we can subdue them?

[he makes a bit of a face back, though it's hard to see through the screen of steam]

Not for long, I don't think! They're better equipped!

[and strong as hell, for some reason? he's not into a fight this unbalanced.]

--but we can hold them off.

[at least, they can hold off the ones they've engaged. unfortunately, there are more gunshots further away, denoting quite the swarm of assassins.]

[ Chongyun nods, finding new grip on the plank of wood he's been brandishing. It isn't easy to get a good hold on, and his nails are digging into the wood just for that sake. It hurts a little, but there's no other option for now. Those men are better equipped and move quickly to boot; the one he whacked before has found his footing again.

Moving forward again, the young exorcist jabs at the assassin's gut with the other end of his plank. Since it's blunt it doesn't drive the man through, though he does grunt; pushing his weight forward, Chongyun shoves, using his arm strength to shove the black-clad figure back again. Please don't point your gun at Master Wei.

Whack whack whack whack whack whack. Chongyun is a kind and upright young exorcist, but he absolutely has no problems beating the shit out of these attackers with a big piece of wood. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

APRIL 2022 EVENT

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