closed | call me snoopy 'cause i'm putting my nose where it don't belong

[nemuru]

Who ☽ Ritsu, Ryouma, Lan Wangji, Chongyun, Shylock
What ☽ Doing a little underground investigation, specifically around the administrative offices
When ☽ Somewheres about between the underground reopening and the Daitengu's funeral, more solid date to follow /lazy
Where ☽ The underground
Content Warnings ☽ n/a ... maybe. we'll see.

Comments

[breweries]

[ like ryouma, shylock also has his reasons why he wanted to visit the waterworks for himself. not sure how much the sutoku knows about the upcoming shuten/tamamo clash, though, but he'll keep that under wraps for now. his reasons are a bit more personal anyway.

so yes, here they are. it absolutely reeks, and if shylock had his pipe back he could've smoked out the rank smell away. but alas. ]

It is impressive, objectively. However...

[ is his clan really going to die on a hill for this place? shylock can only make a face. ]

Let's take a look around. I don't doubt that the Department would've cleaned this place spick-and-span, but you never know with another clan's pair of eyes.

[kaientai]

[ maybe it's a good thing there's someone around to help keep him on task because ryouma is very prone to distraction in situations like these. ]

That's what I'm thinking. I don't think I'm too far off the mark to say that the Enma's people are probably a little more narrow-minded than most. Easy to overlook something when it's like that.

[ he's also curious to see what, if anything, particularly catches his companion's interest. not just for sneaky, strategic reasons!! it's also just interesting to know people. ]

[breweries]

Well, you're certainly not wrong about that. I do wish to get along with each faction as much as I can, but the Enma can be rather... uptight for my taste, so to speak. There may be some standouts who did not want to play the judge, jury, and executor during the kappa roundup, but overall I don't see myself having a lot of peers from the Department anytime soon.

[ he thrives on chaos on mayhem, despite his calm and collected demeanor. it's a western thing. ]

Anyway, the reason why I came along to begin with was to scope out this area in particular. [ he cants his head at ryouma. does he dare ask? he may as well. ] Have you heard of certain rumors regarding the underground as of late, Mr. Rider?

[kaientai]

The standouts I'd be interested in meeting with; there's value in knowing people who might have an insider's view. The tricky part is motivation. I can see an easier way to negotiate with the clans but what the Enma wants is more difficult, but I'm sure the people themselves are a lot easier to motivate, at least.

[ ryouma accepted his own complicated relationship with order and authority a long time ago. ]

I make it my business to keep on top of these things, so I've heard plenty of rumours about this place. Which one caught your attention in particular?

[ between the rumblings about an oncoming turf war, the suspicious circumstances around the kappa leadership, and whatever strange presence(?) ryouma had gotten a sense of last time he was down here, there are a lot of potential moving pieces to consider. ryouma doesn't want to lend undue credibility to any of them by naming one ahead of the others, which is why he asks. ]

[breweries]

Right you are. Just because they fall under a clan that prioritizes law and order does not mean that all of them can no longer think for themselves. In fact, there are others who did not want to round up the kappa for interrogation in the first place, but I imagine that it'd be hard to go against the Enma due to their respective contracts.

[ so yeah, he gets it! he totally does. doesn't mean he's going to like it, but he is rather relieved to meet guys like six who aren't keen on doing that task in the first place.

he stops in his tracks, letting the distant sounds of sewer water trickling down from high places onto the disgusting pools below fill the minute silence between them. ]

Other factions would want this area of the underground themselves. [ he smiles. ] Aren't you so worried that I'm down here right now with you?

[kaientai]

I'm planning on arranging an event next month sometime, perhaps. It would be a good time, I think, to engage with our counterparts working for the Department and see where they stand.

[ he just needs to wait and see because ryouma gives (surprisingly) careful consideration to what's going on around him before he makes a move. he likes to think it's something he picked up during naval training, where he was trained to take careful note of the winds and the currents and the tide. if you don't pay attention to things like that, you can lose everything and it's a lesson he learned very well first-hand.

as to the rumours, that's what ryouma figured shylock was getting at and having confirmation changes... not much at all. he just smiles and tucks his hands in his pockets. ]

Nope! If I have my way, the Tamamo will join hands with the Sutoku Alliance and the Shuten anyway. The only thing I'm worried about is when the Kappa can get back to living and working in their home.

[breweries]

[ a chuckle. ] Cute of you to presume that the Tamamo will readily cooperate with the Alliance, especially if the Shuten will be involved. I may not be fond of infighting, but you're going to need a nice dealbreaker that'll leave my clan satisfied.

[ most of them are a bunch of hedonists, you know? so it might be easy to please them anyway... probably. ]

But you are right about the kappa. Which makes the whole investigation that was held by the Enma all the more baffling -- why interrogate only the kappa when there are other youkai in their Alliance who could have done it?

[kaientai]

Mm. I assumed as much. I don't expect anyone to do anything just because a stranger asks nicely, after all, even a trustworthy stranger. But, I have found one thing that can bring people together regardless of things like politics and old feuds, it's just a matter of coming up with a plan of action.

[ what that thing is he deliberately omits, mostly because he likes to see how other people think.

everything ryouma ever accomplished in his life he managed to do in an extremely short amount of time but he had more at his disposal then too, in a way. he knew his country and the people and could understand the shifts in politics and war and trade. not so much around here, so it's going to take no small amount of effort to play catch up. ]

Well, I have a theory about all of that but it can get a little long. I imagine it has to do with the higher ranking Kappa and their access to lower levels. Whoever is behind all this knew where to apply pressure and if the other clans are getting ready for a fight they're playing right along.

[breweries]

[ now, here's a man with initiative. but that does make shylock wonder if it is even possible to strive for peace in such a lawless land -- enma rule notwithstanding. guess he still has a lot to learn about this realm and its culture. ]

So they're waiting for the outcome of the upcoming showdown, then. [ closes his eyes. ] I still can't fathom the appeal of this area by the two groups, to be honest. So there might be something here that both groups want for themselves, not just the location.

[ so let's look for it! ]