[open] Tamamo Meeting Minglelog

[baofeng]

Who ⬤ Tamamo Clan members
What ⬤ Faction meeting to discuss the latest events!
When ⬤ 15 minutes later than the other faction meetings, with starbucks Early April
Where ⬤ The Scarlet Lotus; restaurant in Tamamo territory
Content Warnings ⬤ Discussions of violence, will update as needed

[Tamamo Clan members will receive a message asking for a meeting at the Scarlet Lotus, a classy restaurant-and-bar in the heart of Tamamo territory. Injured members can phone in via videocall. Try not to be late, there’s much to discuss.]

[On arrival, members will be shown to a private dining room. You’ll have to pay for your own meal, but their hand-towels are complimentary!]

---

ooc:
♥ this is a mingle, so feel free to post your own toplevels and threadjack around!
♥ There’s a “Handwaved” section below so your character can still contribute to the discussion / vote on ideas if you can’t take on more threads right now (like me).
♥ OOC Information
♥ Tenkohime’s Orders: tl;dr - She wants the Tamamo rookies to claim the Underground sewer system, competing with the Shuten rookies who also have similar orders from Toraguma.

Comments

[taintedpeony]

We certainly are starting off with a bang, so to speak. I have a few. But more information should do us well. We shouldn't rush in without something concrete set in I think.

[He sipped at his wine thoughtfully, his tails swaying back and forth as he considered the options.]

[baofeng]

[He’s curious about those tails, and how this man looks like he’d be a Jigoku-cho native rather than a Lost Soul, but Jin Guangyao’s sense of decorum brings out Yizhi’s own in full force. He avoids staring, instead meeting his senior’s gaze and nodding politely.]

I see- thank you for your wisdom, qianbei. I’m just worried that if we do nothing but gather information at first, we’ll fall behind.

If the Shuten are able to establish themselves at all down there, it’ll be harder for us to get through, with tricks or with force. It’s harder to siege a walled city than fight on neutral ground. Especially if they cover the obvious avenues for sabotage… which they should, if they know they’re competing with us.

[He may have many mean thoughts about Toraguma and the number of braincells he has, but he doubts Shuten as a whole are like dogs that can be baited and led easily.]

[taintedpeony]

[He imagined that his current looks gathered quite a bit of notice among the lost souls. It would have been stranger for him not to be a Tamamo with the marked kitsune features.

He mulled over the question thoughtfully. He was right but running in with no information felt worrisome. It would have been a different story if he was back home with the full force of the Jin sect under him, but they weren't powered cultivators with endless supplies of gold to them.]

This is true as well. Do we know what this area looks like? If we had some maps or at least had people explore them first we can pinpoint places where we can hit them. We may be able to outnumber them.

I think we do have quite a few people in our faction. It may move our odds in our favor. Even brute strength cannot win against speed and numbers.

[He knew Toraguma seemed quite dull but one did not gain power on strength alone. And his friend in the Shuten faction was no idiot.]

Perhaps noting down everyone's skills and putting them in the best place would be prudent for a mission like this.

[baofeng]

(ooc: Unrelated to this tag, but FYI the mods told me Tenkohime will provide magical tools in the form of seals and talismans to her Lost Souls. As Jin Guangyao is one of the characters likelier to actually know how to use them, I thought I'd let you know there was the option!)

Miss Azem mentioned having a map. I doubt we could ever outnumber Shuten’s fighters, but that’s where a plan comes in, right?

[A plan to trick the Shuten into thinking they’re more fearsome than they really are, most likely; Yizhi cares less about whether the plan involves trickery or force than whether there is a plan at all. It will have to be a bit of both, he thinks. At the end of the day someone has to be physically down there so that the Shuten don’t just barrel past their smoke and mirrors.]

Do you have any experience in planning ambushes, Senior?

[Yizhi had a brief stint as a student war strategist, but he was only there for like a month before his friends wanted to nuke the military, so. He knows he’s out of his depth. As for his fox-tailed senior, he has no way of knowing at first glance what experience this man has.]

And yes, we should all volunteer our relevant skillsets. I could pass around a list… might not be a good idea to have a physical list, come to think of it.

[taintedpeony]

(Ohhh, thank you for the information! Sadly Guangyao's cultivation is still sealed but he would be happy to teach others to use them.)

That is good. We can see what we are working with. See if there are any places we can bottleneck them. If we work smart we do not have to work too hard. The more of our resources we can save the better have them used up theirs.

[Huh, how honest should he be here? Well they all certainly seemed to fit to a type so he supposed he could tell him.]

A bit. I was a soldier in my youth and then worked behind enemy lines as a spy. Much of my work back then was getting important information to my allies on the other side and making certain that our people won important battles while keeping my cover.

In my later life, I worked as both a Sect leader and the Chief Cultivator. I do have quite a bit of experience in negotiation and getting various clans to work on broader social projects.

Nie Huaisang would be a better outright tactician than I. He is intelligent and creative and you would do well in listening to him.

Yes, it is better that we do not have a list, or if we do we destroy it at the end of the meeting. I can memorize anything you give me easily if you like.

[In all truth he was impressed with this junior. He was asking the right questions and had the right attitude. He had a lot of potential.]

[baofeng]

Wow, you’re a really accomplished gentleman! I’m humbled to be in your presence.

[Alright, he can’t dispense with formalities at this point. The importance of respecting top brass has been beaten into him in all ways except literal; Yizhi clasps his hands and bows in respect, as would be proper if they were back in their homelands. If they were back home Yizhi would be fucking right off as soon as possible, leaving the adult business to the adults and all that. But it's against his interests to act like that here- this isn’t Father’s business, this is his.]

Ah, which one is Nie xiansheng? He should see Miss Azem's map of the Underground.

[He has a guess. There aren’t many people who are dressed like him and Jin Guangyao in this room. But he’s not going to risk shooting himself in the foot by guessing wrong, so Yizhi is just going to ask.]

cw some mdzs spoilers.

[taintedpeony]

Ahaha. Not so much I just did what I had to. War time calls out the necessity of action after all.

[To survive and crawl, climb, and kill to a place where no one could look down on him for being the son of a whore. In the end, even being at the top of the world did not save him. However, that was neither here nor there.

He returned the bow in turn as one master to a younger one. The more he spoke the more he liked this person.]

It is a pleasure to meet you as well houbei. You are asking many of the right questions here. And I appreciate your forthrightness.

Here, let me introduce you to him. It might be easier that way.

[Jin Guangyao turned to scan for Nie Huaisang, who looked busy talking to another clan member.]

I'm certain he'll come by after he's done. But he is the master in the green and grey robes and the fan.

[baofeng]

[Yizhi nods in solemn agreement. That war demands sacrifice is a truth of the world he has always known- and whether that was true, or whether there was a better way of doing things, is something he’s only barely begun to contemplate. ]

Thank you for your praise. I’m doing my best to learn. Ah, that’s Senior Nie? He looks... distinguished. [he looks.... cut from cloth that gets him sorted into Tamamo, just like Jin Guangyao. Though the two wear different colors, they both have diplomatic airs.]

Are the two of you close?

[haha! hahahahaha! dramatic irony!!!]

[taintedpeony]

Of course. It is well deserved.

[Distinguished is certainly a new persona than the crying screaming drunk he pretended to be for the last ten years. At least it felt truer to himself than the Headshaker was. He was glad for that.]

He can be.

[As for the other question he was going to have to think about it. How would he explain to someone what he and Huaisang were? As close as a victim and a murderer can be he supposed. But it was deeper than that. Yizhi was right to ascertain that they were cut from the same cloth. At the end of it, Nie Huaisang was the only one who saw him for what he was. And he knows the lonely path that he must have taken to actually take him down as he did. The path of a spy.]

We have known one another for a very long time.

[Not a direct answer, but it was hard to give a direct answer for what they are.]

i dunno if NHS’s player wants to join the thread, we could also say he’s busy and continue on?

[baofeng]

[It’s a sign of his relative youth that Yizhi accepts the explanation at face value; he sees no reason to read too much into statements from a stranger who is not his enemy.]

I see. It must be fortuitous that the two of you ended up in the same faction.

[He worries that he won’t have the same luxury; perhaps it’s better that he’s the only one here for now.]

I can talk to Miss Azem for a map of the Underground while we wait- that would help your own planning too, right?

I'll go nab them!

[taintedpeony]

[Fortuitous or karma? Who knew?]

Well, it is good to know someone whose skills I know well. And a touch of familiarity in a strange place is always nice.

Alright, I'll go get him in the meanwhile and we can discuss our plans further.

[He walked over to the other man and tapped his shoulder in order to get his attention.]

Sect leader Nie, I want to introduce you to Young Master Gao Yizhi, who has a map of the underground Maiden Azem had procured. Do you think you can take a look over it and see where would be some good spots to bottleneck the other faction?

hello hello!

[illicitly]

[Nie Huaisang had only just finished discussing plans with Musashi when Jin Guangyao taps him on his shoulder. He's slightly frazzled as he often is when he takes charge of situations like this, still unaccustomed to displaying actual competence in public. However, it had become very clear to him as the discussion went on that his skills and experience were needed and it'd be best for the clan if he dropped his act for the time being.

Not that it doesn't feel awkward being this open.

He nods politely to the youngster with a smile.]

It's nice to meet you, Young Master Gao. I can take a look at the maps and any pictures that might have been gathered.

[The more information and visual aids, the better.]

hello!!

[baofeng]

Oh, Sect Leader Nie-! [He wasn’t told about this part, but it’s easy enough to recover.] The honor is mine. Senior Jin has told me much about your tactical expertise.

[Yizhi is realising how difficult it is to uphold old decorums here. Back home, it’s pretty damn obvious by the time you meet an important guy what you’re supposed to call him, but in Hell no one uses titles of address and everyone wears their hair short like they’ve killed their parents or something. “Senior Jin” must be wrong, if Nie Huaisang is Sect Leader Nie. Is it Sect Leader Jin, Chief Cultivator Jin, or is the guy retired? What exactly is a Sect?

At any rate, Yizhi busies himself with spreading out the map he’d obtained from his factionmates on the table in front of them. Hopefully any panic in his expression has been hidden by this.]

Here’s a map of the place we’ll be fighting to occupy. What are your thoughts?