的場静司 | Matoba Seiji (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
worldbent) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
jigokulogs2022-04-18 06:17 pm
worldbent) wrote in jigokulogs2022-04-18 06:17 pm
OPEN ➸ Two ⦿ Circles
Who ⬤ Matoba Seiji and you! with mixed OTA/limited prompts
What ⬤ The first attack of the Matoba curse, selling charms, and various business™
When ⬤ Between the 2nd and 3rd weeks of April, roughly (more than a week after Night Parade, before the Daitengu's funeral, basically)
Where ⬤ Sutoku territory
Content Warnings ⬤ Violence/blood likely from first prompt, will warn for anything specific in tag headers!
A1 ➸ FIRST STRIKE - limited to the first 3 tag-ins, new CR for now please!
[(OOC; Before tagging in to these prompts, please read through this information and feel free to ask questions there or via PM! I will be NPCing the attacker for these threads.)]
[Despite the Daitengu's untimely demise and the uncertainty surrounding the Alliance, Sutoku territory was back to business as usual for the most part by the week after the Night Parade. The streets are bustling with shoppers and workers like nothing untoward had even occurred, and although everyone remains suspicious behind closed doors, few seem to be on much of a high alert.]
[...Which is likely why none of the youkai around you blink an eye at the stumbling, muttering Kawatengu pushing past people on the sidewalk and menacingly growling. He's probably just had too much to drink- that's the most likely excuse, right? Even though it's the middle of the afternoon, but in big cities like this you learn to keep to yourself and not worry much about weirdos on the street around you.]
[Except that if you look at him closely, his right eye is blotted out as if possessed by something, and if you have any supernatural senses at all you can just barely feel something awful and malicious emanating from him. Too late, it becomes obvious that he's not just shambling about randomly- he has a target, and the black-haired man walking a few paces in front of you both seems to have no idea what's coming when the Tengu lunges forward with a nasty hiss--]
RiGHt...EYe......
A2 ➸ What the hell was THAT - OTA!
[After the sudden scuffle that erupts in the middle of the street, something black and hideous like a huge mass of sludge erupted out from the mouth of a Tengu and lashed itself away through the street, scrambling up the side of a brick building and slithering off to parts unknown. Whatever that thing was, it just attacked a man on the street in broad daylight, and to the spiritually sensitive had an oppressively awful, malicious aura that may be unlike anything you've felt. Youkai are left knocked back on the sidewalk in the wake of its escape, and some were sent scrambling to get away.]
[The man who was attacked, however, seems more calm than anyone. He ignores the panic of the youkai around him, and even the Tengu that's now left knocked out cold on the sidewalk. Instead, he seems to take notice your stare first and simply smiles- wiping away whatever blood was drawn from him in the scuffle with little concern.]
I do apologize for the commotion. It's probably not used to big cities like this.
--
B1 ➸ Souvenir Shop - OTA!
[With great power came great... opportunities. Or so he'd been told by the Tengu Elders upon being granted back both his spiritual senses, and his ability to create protective charms. Opportunities, in this case, meant a job offer to help mass-produce the tacky little souvenir good-luck charms sold at the gates of the Tengu Temple for any desperate enough for luck that they would even buy a trinket for their troubles.]
[Well, far be it for Matoba to judge a good scam. It was excellent business and a good dog and pony show for the weak and Sightless, both in the human realm and this one.]
[Since the Night Parade had just gone by and no-doubt plenty of festival goers had drawn bad to terrible luck in the Hadaka, there was plenty of business, which meant that Matoba had plenty to do as he sat manning a stall, carefully inking charms on strips of paper to go in the bright little pouches lining the counter. When he notices his new customer, he glances up, and flashes you a bright and cheerful smile.]
In need of a bit of luck?
B2 ➸ Protection Racket - Open to Sutoku Alliance and those with Spiritual Senses
[If he recognizes you as an ally, or if you're the spiritually sensitive sort, he might notice that you're unlikely to be tricked by these useless little trinkets- but that just meant that he had an opportunity to do a little... under the table business. His eye will then sharpen on you, and he gestures you away from the pouches.]
Not those ones. I have something else for you.
--
[ooc; questions/plotting/etc! Hit me up via PM or![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
kitsoru!]
What ⬤ The first attack of the Matoba curse, selling charms, and various business™
When ⬤ Between the 2nd and 3rd weeks of April, roughly (more than a week after Night Parade, before the Daitengu's funeral, basically)
Where ⬤ Sutoku territory
Content Warnings ⬤ Violence/blood likely from first prompt, will warn for anything specific in tag headers!
A1 ➸ FIRST STRIKE - limited to the first 3 tag-ins, new CR for now please!
[(OOC; Before tagging in to these prompts, please read through this information and feel free to ask questions there or via PM! I will be NPCing the attacker for these threads.)]
[Despite the Daitengu's untimely demise and the uncertainty surrounding the Alliance, Sutoku territory was back to business as usual for the most part by the week after the Night Parade. The streets are bustling with shoppers and workers like nothing untoward had even occurred, and although everyone remains suspicious behind closed doors, few seem to be on much of a high alert.]
[...Which is likely why none of the youkai around you blink an eye at the stumbling, muttering Kawatengu pushing past people on the sidewalk and menacingly growling. He's probably just had too much to drink- that's the most likely excuse, right? Even though it's the middle of the afternoon, but in big cities like this you learn to keep to yourself and not worry much about weirdos on the street around you.]
[Except that if you look at him closely, his right eye is blotted out as if possessed by something, and if you have any supernatural senses at all you can just barely feel something awful and malicious emanating from him. Too late, it becomes obvious that he's not just shambling about randomly- he has a target, and the black-haired man walking a few paces in front of you both seems to have no idea what's coming when the Tengu lunges forward with a nasty hiss--]
RiGHt...EYe......
A2 ➸ What the hell was THAT - OTA!
[After the sudden scuffle that erupts in the middle of the street, something black and hideous like a huge mass of sludge erupted out from the mouth of a Tengu and lashed itself away through the street, scrambling up the side of a brick building and slithering off to parts unknown. Whatever that thing was, it just attacked a man on the street in broad daylight, and to the spiritually sensitive had an oppressively awful, malicious aura that may be unlike anything you've felt. Youkai are left knocked back on the sidewalk in the wake of its escape, and some were sent scrambling to get away.]
[The man who was attacked, however, seems more calm than anyone. He ignores the panic of the youkai around him, and even the Tengu that's now left knocked out cold on the sidewalk. Instead, he seems to take notice your stare first and simply smiles- wiping away whatever blood was drawn from him in the scuffle with little concern.]
I do apologize for the commotion. It's probably not used to big cities like this.
--
B1 ➸ Souvenir Shop - OTA!
[With great power came great... opportunities. Or so he'd been told by the Tengu Elders upon being granted back both his spiritual senses, and his ability to create protective charms. Opportunities, in this case, meant a job offer to help mass-produce the tacky little souvenir good-luck charms sold at the gates of the Tengu Temple for any desperate enough for luck that they would even buy a trinket for their troubles.]
[Well, far be it for Matoba to judge a good scam. It was excellent business and a good dog and pony show for the weak and Sightless, both in the human realm and this one.]
[Since the Night Parade had just gone by and no-doubt plenty of festival goers had drawn bad to terrible luck in the Hadaka, there was plenty of business, which meant that Matoba had plenty to do as he sat manning a stall, carefully inking charms on strips of paper to go in the bright little pouches lining the counter. When he notices his new customer, he glances up, and flashes you a bright and cheerful smile.]
In need of a bit of luck?
B2 ➸ Protection Racket - Open to Sutoku Alliance and those with Spiritual Senses
[If he recognizes you as an ally, or if you're the spiritually sensitive sort, he might notice that you're unlikely to be tricked by these useless little trinkets- but that just meant that he had an opportunity to do a little... under the table business. His eye will then sharpen on you, and he gestures you away from the pouches.]
Not those ones. I have something else for you.
--
[ooc; questions/plotting/etc! Hit me up via PM or
A1
We're not doing this today.
no subject
[Then the Tengu leadership unsealed his power, and told him in grave voices that he should take care to protect himself from now on. It was an inevitability at this point, and honestly, he's surprised it took even this long.]
[Possessions were very difficult things to sense, even for someone of his power- and it was only when he felt the sharp spike of malice emanating from behind him that he had begun to turn around so that his left side and his unshrouded eye were exposed first--]
[--Only to bear witness to a woman full-body tackling a Tengu into the sidewalk. Oof. That looked like it hurt.] Oh my. Are you alright? [While the crowd scatters in confusion and the Tengu thrashes and hisses in an attempt to escape, Matoba finally gets a look at the face of his attacker and draws in a sharp breath.]
Get away from it.
no subject
What...
no subject
[Normal, he was going to say. The struggling beneath Julieta starts to become more erratic, wings thrashing beneath the tengu, before its head tilts back and its beak-like mouth opens.]
[In a particularly gross fashion, a black, sludge-like being forcefully emerges from it, and shoots itself directly at Matoba. Whatever it was, he seemed to be expecting it, because he throws himself to the side in time for the lunge to miss; instead, the blob creature's toothy maw crunches over some poor schmuck youkai behind him, devoured in an entire bite.]
[It's a gnarly scene, and the crowd around them is now shrieking and scattering away, but Matoba almost seems calmer once the monster's lunging attack has missed. The creature, huge and black, seems preoccupied for the moment by the meal it managed, and Matoba takes the time to kneel and check on Julieta.] It did not touch you, did it?
no subject
No I don't think so. Why do you ask?
no subject
[The creature wobbles and then starts to slither in a motion like it might move towards the both of them, but Matoba takes a step forward in front of her, motioning with a hand for her to wait on firing her gun, and addresses it loud enough not to be mistaken.]
I was wondering when you'd show up again! You've lost. Go skulking back to wherever it is you were hiding like a good monster.
[Over his shoulder, he comments more quietly to Julieta,] As long as it didn't touch you, you have nothing to fear. It won't attack you. But do not look into its eyes for too long.
no subject
[ She really has no idea what she's gotten herself into. It's beyond frustrating to feel this useless. She was supposed to be saving him but he seems to have it all under control. Her attention is now fixed on the man in front of her in an effort to avoid looking where she shouldn't. ]
no subject
The eyes are a gateway to the soul. Have you ever heard that saying? [Matoba says, and when the mass seems to have crawled its way out of sight, he glances back towards her.] That monster is a "curse" that has possessed another ayakashi in order to carry out its function. If you were not careful to avoid its gaze, it might have tried to jump to you.
no subject
[ She doesn't want that at all. Thank goodness it's leaving. But that also means it's still out there. Waiting. It seems he was the one that saved her. She has a lot yet to learn and intends to do some research immediately. But first there is business to take care of. She stands back up. ]
I'm going to have to report this. I need your details and anything you know about this curse. If you want to send me the information or you find anything else out later my name is Julieta Juris. You can message me any time.
no subject
[...Considering the circumstances, he didn't really have much choice.] Very well.
Let me preface this with one thing: that thing is dangerous, and very powerful, but I am its sole target. There shouldn't be any problems with it attacking others--
...On purpose. [Hrm. Oops? Does "oops" work here. Matoba was very used to using other ayakashi as bait for that thing, but it seemed he was going to have to be a bit more discrete about it going forward.] Let me ask you this: are you very familiar with youkai? I'm afraid the identity of that thing is somewhat tied up in the technicalities of the ayakashi realm. Without a good understanding of it, you may not be able to investigate appropriately.
[He inclines his head, respectful.] Matoba Seiji. As a professional exorcist by trade, I can try to explain some of the ...particulars. If you would like?
no subject
[ She noted down everything he was saying in addition to what she witnessed herself. That stain remained in the corner of her vision. She would take his warning seriously. ]
no subject
[...Quite a few of them amongst the Enma in particular. Hmm. He tucks that away to think on, later.]
Very well. To put it in technical terms, the difference between a "curse" and other classifications of ayakashi is that they are quite fixated upon a particular person, or thing, or place... They often lack reasoning or even awareness. It is an ayakashi whose sole purpose is to seek out my right eye- and my father's before me, and so on, all the way back to the ancestor who provoked it- and steal it.
[A story he has now recounted to many people... He wasn't used to it not being known. Back home, everyone knew the Matoba, knew their dirty laundry and their terrible reputations. It was somewhat freeing here, to have the ability to choose to deliver it when he liked, when it was convenient, and to see the effect it had on people.]
However, there are particular side effects to being the target of a powerful curse. Do you know the saying, 'a double edged sword'?
no subject
I do. So this isn't exactly a murder then. That will be less paperwork to deal with.
no subject
[He'll figure something out. He's used to pulling strings and cleaning up his clan's messes.] In any case, what I mean by a double-edged sword is this: the 'object of fixation' for a curse is often imbued with equal power as the curse itself. That is to say... the more that thing despises me and my clan, the more powerful we become.
Because of that, we go through great lengths and pains to preserve our tradition of being chased by it. [Perhaps Julieta would not understand the value in such a twisted tradition, but he expects that sort of reaction by now. Even most other exorcist clans shunned the Matoba for their bizarre and self-destructive relationship with that ayakashi. But the Matoba were the ones on top of the food chain, and this monster was partly to thank, for that.]
...What I mean is that I won't tolerate anyone laying a finger on it. That monster is a vital part of my being. If it is attacked or destroyed, you could even say that I would be at quite a bit of risk, so.......
[Matoba settles a look on Julieta that could almost be construed as menacing, but toes the line of absolute politeness.] ....With all due respect, Officer Juris- please allow me to handle it.
no subject
I'll be sure to make your wishes known but I can't make any promises. I simply don't have the authority yet. This strikes me as the kind of thing that could result in consequences for you if this happens again. I suggest you be more careful.
[ She really doesn't want to be on the bad side of someone with that kind of curse attached to him. ]
That being said I want to thank you for your time and information on the matter... as well as saving me. Is there any way I can repay you?
no subject
You're right, I really am going to need to be more careful about it. I don't spend much time in cities- having all these-- other bodies around that I need to be concerned with apart from myself, it's a bit harrowing.
[Not that he really cares what happens to them, but Julieta's right. It could make trouble for him, with his clan. He'll need to start timing things, trying to ensure that he has plans for how to counteract it without drawing a scene.]
[He blinks, and glances back towards her as she offers her thanks. There is the slightest widening of his eye in interest.] Repay me? .... Haha, well, I can't ask you to simply forget about what you've seen, now can I?
[Take the information and pocket it, he thinks. But these Enma types really did seem like the bothersome sort who would not be so swayed. If she wouldn't simply look the other way.....] Well, how about- don't spread this around to your fellow officers.
[He has one or two in mind, in particular, that he would rather control this information around.]
no subject
[ That's the only condition she's putting on it. Covering her own ass mostly. There isn't exactly anyone she particularly cares for in her own faction. Her concern is primarily gaining her boss' approval. Sometimes deals like this have to be made. ]
no subject
I don't foresee any such need. [Well. He certainly can't promise it, given that monster's propensity to attack whenever and wherever it pleased, but- he wasn't trying to get any of them in the way, that was for sure.] I suspect your higher ranks will come to sense its presence, anyway. Those shinigami.
...Julieta-san. You're somewhat lucky, you know- to not have to sense such things. [He offers a bright smile. It was difficult to tell whether or not he was being genuine- surely, being born with the power to see such monsters and their atrocities might be something that others could call 'lucky'. But Matoba was a difficult one to tell, when he was being sarcastic or not, and there's no telling what side of the fence this comment could fall on.]
Then, I will be happy to clean up after this mess, and take the workload off your hands. And, [He adds, after a calculated moment of hesitation and thought,] If there are any questions pertaining to the supernatural that you wish to ask me in the future, I am happy to oblige. I am something of a professional supernatural consultant, back home.
Consider it my repayment, for your discretion.
no subject
[ She's not sure about calling it lucky but she is likely to take advantage of that offer. There are so many things unfamiliar to her. An expert she can ask specific questions of could be a valuable resource. She's ready to get out of here and leave him to it but there is one more thing on her mind. ]
You'll have to trust you have my word on this but what would happen if I didn't keep it to myself?
no subject
[Interesting. Matoba isn't sure he's been asked directly many times in his life. But considering he is still talking to a cop, she probably knows he should behave himself at least a little, huh? He's far from untouchable, here.]
...Well, you'd surely have blood on your hands. But I couldn't rightly tell you if it would be your own, or someone else's....
[That would depend on exactly who she tells. Matoba smiles.] What do you think of the motivations of your coworkers, Julieta-san?
no subject
I haven't decided which of them are trustworthy yet. It's too soon to know for sure.
no subject
[Probably. At least she was wary enough to be guarding herself that way. Matoba had his connections formed already, and he had no intentions of betraying them over something as inevitable as this monster.]
[Ah... Had he even told him about it? That's right, he hadn't. Despite how many he had told about it already- those in his clan, or those with enough magical ability that they could tell on their own. He smiles to himself. Perhaps. Better late than never.]
We have an understanding, then?
no subject
[ She's probably taking the rest of the day off. Either go to the bar all night or go to bed early. She isn't sure which she'll go with yet. Hopefully next time she sees him he won't have that thing with him. ]