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

[...huh. That angle is one Lalli hadn't considered. Though now that Matoba has planted that seed of doubt in his mind, Lalli is going to pick at it for a while before he eventually starts asking people within the department about it. Matoba has definitely managed to get an internal connection to (eventually) look into it, at least.]

They might. But I don't know why they would supply things to people trying to assassinate the leader of another faction.

[Lalli is from a world where 'person vs person' conflict to the level of assassinations is, in his experience, nonexistent. It actually does happen sometimes, as people will always be people, he just doesn't see it because he's so used to his enemy being trolls instead of other humans. His lacking life experience has led him to believe that this is a problem of Jigoku-cho, not a problem of 'living beings deal with conflict via violence.']

You do not?

[Matoba turns to regard Lalli with a raised brow of disbelief, as if such naivety was shocking to him. But he senses no sarcasm or deceit from him, at least not on the surface of his reply; and to himself, he considers explaining the threads of logic behind that, that he had taken for granted.]

...Traditionally, the Enma is the ruler of Hell. But it's clear that the rise of the clan system has weakened that ruling power. By eliminating the heads of each clan, it's possible that the Enma could weaken the power of the clans themselves, and thus regain total control. Were that the sort of tactic he would resort to.

[Not to be untoward]

Although one would think that such an action would create quite a bit of disorder in the meantime. [Something which seemed antithetical to the Enma's purpose, but... Sometimes a bit of chaos was needed in order to achieve a greater control.]

Control means nothing if the people under you don't listen. It's smarter to break up the leadership so that each person is in charge of a smaller group, and they can unify the groups under different ideals while the leaders cooperate with each other. Then the group doesn't get too large to be controlled by one person.

[Control through smaller groups, basically. Which is a concept he does get, because something something military background.]

Someone like the Enma would know that, right? He's been around for a long time, and the structure of the people within the department is like that too, with ranks and leaders and subordinates and stuff.

Perhaps so, but I get the sense that there isn't very much cooperation between the leaders, despite what this festival would have you believe...

[Maybe that was indeed how the clans started- Matoba doesn't know, hasn't been able to find very many here ancient enough and willing enough to talk. Matoba was used to ayakashi being unwilling to talk to him, but he was also used to having other methods to get that information....]

[Oh well. With time, and power.] Though that does beg the question: perhaps there is someone within the Department who sees things differently from the Enma?

Something worth looking into, if nothing else. [Matoba inclines his head.] I am grateful for your skilled assistance. If I learn anything more, then perhaps we can exchange notes the next time we meet. Assuming we are both alive by the next morning.

[Well. Lalli is going to go looking now. If he gets in trouble for this later he's blaming Matoba for it.]

We survived so far. Getting back to the others will further our chances.

[Something something safety in numbers. Lalli will step up to the edge of the rooftop, scouring the streets below for familiar faces. The fighting seems to have spread out now, with more and more of the ayakashi fleeing. This definitely would be a good time to regroup.]

Be more careful next time.

[This is Lalli's way of saying 'I'm glad I could help.']

[He can blame Matoba- but he'll still have the info. Right. Right??]

The others.... [Matoba's eye draws over the crowd; there were certainly other members of Enma trying to contain the Chaos. He could spot other Sutoku members, also, rushing towards their clan leader at the stage. He should join them.] Yes, I suppose so.

[With his bow strung onto his back, Matoba turns to head for the fire escape at the side of the building. It was how he'd gotten up here in the first place, and he's hoping it isn't blocked by the fighting below.]

Haha, well, I'll consider it a valuable lesson learned. But I can't promise that. [Being careful- whatever was necessary to be done, right?] Then, next time.

[He hops onto the fire escape, disappearing into the fog below.]

APRIL 2022 EVENT

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