[ open ] all hands on deck

[kaientai]

Who ⬤ sakamoto ryouma (rider) + other sutoku alliance lost souls
What ⬤ post-event emergency meeting
When ⬤ several hours after the assassination
Where ⬤ konoha — vip area
Content Warnings ⬤ none right now but will update as needed!

[ once the dust (steam?) has settled, an sms goes out to fellow sutoku alliance contacts. some might recognise the username rider more than others and know the man it's attached to but in any case, everyone who shows up will know him soon enough anyway. ]

Hello!

There's a lot of confusion right now, but what's important is to stay calm and not do anything hasty. I'll be organising a meeting tonight at Konoha. Let's exchange what we know and discuss next steps. You're going to have to pay for your own refreshments though, sorry! Space is on me though! (*_ _)人

Don't be discouraged! We're only getting started. (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

If you think there are any other Sutoku who haven't gotten this, pass the message along, ok?

— Rider

[ someone has to keep the spirit of the daitengu alive, okay?? the message also comes attached with a calendar invite. ]

---

[ later, anyone arriving for the meeting will be directed to the club's VIP area and encouraged to place food and drink orders as desired. this has definitely set ryouma back, but under the present circumstances, there's no better time than this to spare no expense, right? ]



☆ ooc; this is a mingle in addition to a general sort of information sharing prompt so feel free to throw your own top levels up and thread amongst yourselves! i give everyone free rein to threadjack as you see fit — just check with other individual players if you have any questions!
☆ i left the exact time of the meeting sort of open, but assume it's sometime within the next half-day or so after the assassination to account for people needing to finish up investigations, potentially heal up a little after fighting, time for him to book the club, etc. feel free to have characters wander in late too!
☆ i also provided the option for characters to phone in (since it was mentioned to me on the ooc post), so if they can't make it in person they can still be in the loop!
☆ any non-Sutoku tag-a-longs are assumed to be showing up late so as not to be sitting in on private discussions earlier in the night.

Comments

I'm mad that I had this written before the Enma post went up, why does he keep being terribly right

[worldbent]

As they should. There is no protection for those at the bottom when the ones at the top are declawed.

[That's giving a lot of benefit of the doubt that Alliance leaders care about that; but at the end of the day, when you are part of a clan, you are putting that trust into your leadership.]

[You work for them, they take care of you. And that is an aspect of the relationship that Matoba takes entirely seriously.]

[There's none of the humor that has been in Matoba's countenance on previous encounters. His eye slides to meet Lan Wangji's.] That is what will happen, if there is no action taken.

the real curse was the justified paranoia we met along the way...

[strikingchords]

[Lan Wangji nods to Matoba, registering his point with the same sober intensity he's shown previously towards basically everything. he doesn't seem to feel any more compunction about treating him seriously than he has about ignoring Matoba's not-so-hidden attempts to get a reaction from him earlier in their short acquaintance.

he does not share Matoba's attitude towards the Alliance, exactly. he doesn't mind working with them, but his first allegiance will stay with his own sense of righteousness, always.

in this case, however...]

There is not enough information to say what will happen.

However, neither is there enough to accuse.

[and the Kappa are certainly bearing the brunt of this incident already.]

[worldbent]

[Allegiance may not be the word Matoba would use, but the fact is that he is taking his contract seriously, and in order to do so it was necessary to presume that the other party was doing their due diligence as well. Unfortunately, given the current chaos that Alliance leadership seemed to be in for the last several hours, his (already rather tenuous) faith in that is wavering.]

Details have been too scarce to determine who is to blame, [Matoba inclines his head in agreement.] However I think that saying there is not enough information to see what comes next isn't exactly correct, in this case. It isn't a matter of information: it is the natural order of things.

[Everything was still too fresh for the other clans to make their moves, but as soon as they felt comfortable in knowing what had transpired, it was coming with certainty. And whether it was the Alliance splitting down the middle, taking sides between Tamamo and Shuten, or the mastermind, some new leader of the Alliance swooping in to take command of a broken clan, it was them at the bottom- the Lost Souls, the Kappa, and whatever other smaller, easily crushed clans- that would face the consequences.]

If there is anything that we should focus on in the coming days, it is keeping our eyes and ears to the other clans in order to determine what they are planning to do.

[strikingchords]

[...

Lan Wangji will nod shortly, after a brief pause. he had meant the details; but Matoba isn't wrong about the shape of the next events, at any rate.

he does have an answer to situations like this; one that's worked in the past. he'll muse on it, voice low, sounding reflective and almost as if he is speaking to himself more than to the others in the room.]

We must find allies.

[worldbent]

Individual allies are easy to obtain,

[Matoba has made plenty of his own, whether by manipulation through half-truths or by pragmatic frankness. But the implication as his voice trails off into hesitation is that: personal connections, and the strength of connections which would transcend the political complications of cross-clan intervention was another thing entirely.]

[All Lost Souls, he found, were mum when it came to the terms of their promised contracts. But if the desires of others were anything like his own, the strength of a newly formed bond would not withstand the test of allegiance that was giving up one's contract.]

There are four main powers in this city. If the Enma truly remains neutral, [And his face shows that he does not trust this to be the case at all,] there are three. Any two deciding to unite against a third spells certain doom.

What reason have the beasts or the oni to support the Alliance? And what are the chances that any such support not simply lead to absorption?

[strikingchords]

It would be wise to find such a reason.

Though, I do not speak of the other factions.

[the idea is taking shape in his head as he speaks, though it may be a bit too long-term to do them immediate good. the Sutoku Alliance itself reminds him very much of the ragtag group of rogue cultivators and small clans that once banded together with the four Great Sects to overthrow the Wen Clan, at home. at the time, Lan Wangji himself was instrumental in gathering them together -- because he was interested in their strength or their need for help past the power of the name behind them, and because his reputation reflected that. it's one reason why he's just as glad that if any of the factions had to hold his contract, Sutoku was the one that chose to do so.

there are likely any number of groups in the city that aren't currently members of any faction, but could be convinced to lend aid for the sake of keeping the existing powers in balance, even if from behind the scenes...]

[worldbent]

[So that's his angle- try to go outside the circles of the factions, huh? When it came to "civilians", yakuza tended to be rather strict, but given the Sutoku Alliance's involvement with so many menial and logistical aspects of the city (and their approach to control being more... 'hands-off'), perhaps they would be more forgiving when it came to dealing with unaffiliated groups.]

[Matoba taps his lip as he ponders it, ponders the strengths and weaknesses of each of their opponents. Adding to the Alliance's ranks was certainly... like them, but he can't imagine the other clans would simply stand by and allow it to happen. Dealing with them was an inevitability. So, 'find such a reason', hm?]

If I had to guess, [He begins, although he lowers his voice to be just between the two men. He wasn't certain how others in the room might take the logical step forward, much less the other Sutoku-aligned ayakashi servicing the club,] It seems the beasts might be a little easier to work with, or to negotiate with when the dust settles. They are underhanded and more clever than they seem, but I believe pleasing their ilk would be more simple, and our clan would not be at a disadvantage in terms of ability, should it come to that.

[Sutoku and Tamamo seemed to have about an equal share of spellcasters. In a physical bout, Shuten was obviously the winner; he would prefer to test his magic against other practitioners where he knew what he could expect. Likewise, if their power was put together against the Shuten clan...]

...Although thinking this way is likely the result our enemy was hoping for. I'm sure we all realize this. [He heard the mumblings of suspicion towards the Enma, and shared in them.]

[strikingchords]

Mm.

[Lan Wangji is very far from a political operator, but that's by choice -- he's not stupid. it's always suited him to go where the chaos is and do exactly what he deems right in any situation. it's a strange situation here, where he doesn't think there's anything particularly righteous about defending any of these factions and their petty squabbles for power, but it's unmistakable here that the Sutoku Alliance's loss is a potential gain for many other groups. they're being used, to one end or another.]

The Tamamo and the Shuten cannot avoid movement when balance is lost.

But, why now?

[worldbent]

Unfortunately, without insight into the history of this city, we are at a disadvantage in determining that, aren't we? [Matoba leans back into his seat, crossing his arms carefully.] And we are 'outsiders' who will not be given this insight lightly.

[Tsk. If only he had access to his house's shiki to go gathering that information for him....] Not until enough time has passed that we are able to climb the ranks of the organization. Of course, by that time, who knows what will have transpired.

....I suppose there are other ways of gathering cooperation. [His mouth curls unpleasantly. Unlike previous times, this smile doesn't even approach amusement.] But it's usually a toss-up whether information gained by force is any good.

[strikingchords]

[he'll hum under his breath, non-committal. Lan Wangji isn't actually opposed to fighting for information, though he'd stop short of torture -- for humane reasons as well as the pragmatic reasons that Matoba is citing. "do no unnecessary harm" and "don't hurt innocents" don't really apply in cases of war or sabotage, though.]

...

Your thoughts on the Sutoku elders, in this?

[they've all already gotten remarkably little help from them in the matter of the Kappa so far -- though Lan Wangji's next priority is certainly to find what they think the Alliance's potential moves are.]

[worldbent]

I think that they are showing their lack of backbone rather remarkably to the other clans.

[Matoba's eye falls half-lidded in distaste. A weak house like this would be swallowed up by the Matoba in an instant, he thinks humorlessly. Were the Tengu bosses really this lost without the Daitengu?] I had expected orders to come down within the hour of the Daitengu's death. One might hope that they would have done all they could to at least put on airs of competence in order to avoid damaging public image, but instead we bottom-rung underlings are here taking matters into our own hands for lack of direction, and the Kappa clan has scattered in terror.

It's pitiful.