[ 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

[aceslow]

That was my immediate suspicion too. But I would think that anyone attempting to stage a coup from within would have taken advantage of this far sooner, [ Kim chimes in, tapping his pen thoughtfully against his notebook. ] The Kappa seem to be valuable allies in orchestrating this, even if it was done without their knowledge. I don't think it's to any new leader's benefit to allow them to be rounded up. Or to their advantage not to take advantage of the chaos and step up immediately, depending on how leaders get chosen.

[ He grimaces at that. He doesn't know how the politics of this place work, and his ignorance grates on him. ]

[enterthe]

[Having been shut down on the idea the Kappa are merely dead weight, Ydris has also taken to having their extra hands scribbling some notes out. No notebook for them, just bar napkins shifted about the table for the party to collectively gawk at-

They tap a foot impatiently as they multi-task this, considering Kim's input]

The Daitengu's death is suspicious itself, but if we presume it is genuine... then the other faction leaders stand the most to gain? Weakening the Alliance and narrowing competition...

[aceslow]

[ Kim makes a frustrated noise in the back of his throat. If he were home, he'd know every political interest that stands to gain from a sudden vacuum in power. He knows who's in power, he knows geopolitical affairs, he knows the people. Here? He knows precious little. He can hardly wrap his head around the ayakishi that walk among them, too unsettled to even begin to understand how they see the world. ]

If we knew about this place's political structure and political past, this would be a great deal easier. [ He frowns down at his notebook. ] The Department of Enma were the fastest moving actors. They have the plausible deniability of being a police force, but I get the impression that each clan is responsible for policing themselves. Tamamo and Shuten have been quieter, but they were equally as involved in distracting people, whether that's through violence or through sex.

[ He taps his pen against the page. ]

We shouldn't disregard the people that live here either. I'm sure even the clans are not monoliths. If there's discontent with Alliance leadership among the common people... I'd say that interviews would be in order, but I don't know that any of them trust us enough to tell us the truth.

[enterthe]

If a riot or revolt was turning the town upside down I would be more inclined to agree. This seemed much too coordinated to be something done by common folk. Sabotage or misuse of the Kappa machine, targeted assassins, advanced tech for disappearing into the mist... that takes heavy organization of some kind. [they grumble a bit, a noise more like popping fire than anything]

Considering if there is a potential fifth faction in the works feels too far into conspiracy. [though they lack enough information to really discount that average people, fed up with the four factions, are forming their own group or trying to take down or take over the Alliance. There's likely motivation for that, and if the Alliance did something similar to make itself into a power, why not again?

Ydris tears a napkin and writes out "Smaller group?" on it's own corner, just to be thorough]

[aceslow]

I didn't mean anything so broad as a conspiracy or a revolution, [ Kim says, waving a hand to dismiss that notion. ] I meant more that it would make sense for some of the citizens who live here to cooperate with other clans if they're not content with their own, yes? We already know that there were members among the Kappa who were working with whoever orchestrated this. People whose business interests would align with a foreign takeover...

[ That's getting too deep into the nitty gritty. But if Kim's learned anything from his long years of policing - and the case he's been working on to this very day - it's that he can't turn a blind eye to the people in favour of the more prominent movers and shakers. He's seen what a strong union can accomplish. ]

Just a thought. For the sake of thoroughness. [ He glances up from his notes, back at Ydris. ] Do you have any hunches about which of the clans would most benefit from this?

[enterthe]

Fair enough. [It's not like they're going to crack this just sitting around chatting about it, it's all theory crafting. Testing would need to follow this up. Until then, Ydris should better manage their tone, sounding dismissive and hostile to ideas isn't helpful of them.]

As to what clan, it seems they could all make some move or another. If the Alliance is weakened while leadership is dead or hiding, anybody could step in and make a play for power. Even other clans within the Alliance-

[click click click- wait. Ydris' mind circles back to just the most basic information, realizing they have a gap in their knowledge. It's not like they really understand the yokai that well, even on a fundamental level. They ask in a quiet tone, as if it might be embarrassing to even consider at this point]

-Is... was... Was the Daitengu even a Tengu at all? Don't the dynamics of this shift if we consider they were a Kappa themselves-? [has Ydris been overlooking this possibility all along or is it simply not possible]

[aceslow]

[ That gives Kim pause. He doesn't dislike admitting when he doesn't know something, generally speaking, but it's different when it seems like an important fabric of the world, like a basic fact of reality. To not know a niche subject and have to inquire further on it is very different from not having any understanding of entire species that make up this world, species that everyone else seems to be familiar with.

He needs to do more research, if he can figure out where to do that research. For now, though, he simply takes a moment to swallow his pride. He'll get nothing out of pretending familiarity where there is none. ]

...I'm afraid I have to admit I don't have much familiarity with this sort of thing. Investigation, yes, but I was underneath the impression that Daitengu was a job title, not the name of a species. [ A frown pinches at the corners of his mouth. ] Have all Daitengu been Tengu?

[ It seems stupid to ask, when it's in the name. But to choose leadership based off of species doesn't sit well with him either. ]

[enterthe]

I assumed as much! It's in the name. [Ydris is at least on the same track there, Kim. They feel like this is a big thing to back pedal and consider, but could very well be vital. If the Daitengu wasn't a Tengu, was a Kappa instead, the motivation to kill them might be more solid than any other nobody. It really does make the fall out harming the River Kappa fall more into place-

Or they're grasping at straws, (or maybe just napkins...)]

The Daitengu is a title, right? A suit and a mask, an anonymous figure inside. A suit that had room for wings which didn't emerge, despite being the optimal means of escape from the chaos. They might not have had wings.

[aceslow]

Perhaps not. This is the point of them remaining anonymous, isn't it? If they were not killed in such a public venue, they could have been replaced already, and we would be none the wiser. It wouldn't be the first political entity not to let on when their leaders have been replaced.

[ It's smart, in a way; it helps diminish the possibility of unrest before it even begins. It's also dishonest and disrespectful of the people who are supposed to be served by aforementioned governance, but Kim has never met a form of governance he felt was functional, and doubts he's going to find one in Hell. ]

Anyone could have been behind that mask. Even a human being. [ He doubts it, though. ] The only problem is... there's no way of pursuing this line of thought further without an in with someone who knew them, or without access to the body itself. But it stands to reason that our superiors felt they had some details to hide, otherwise why not allow professionals to inspect the body so that they could get to the bottom of their murder?