jigokulogs | May 2022 IC Mingle

May 2022 IC Mingle

1. WELCOMING COMMITTEE

The influx of fresh Lost Souls means the factions need to have a little welcoming party for them. The leaders realize things have been chaotic in the city. So some recreational activities are in order. All Lost Souls will receive a message from their respective faction leaders with orders to go have some fun.

The Shuten Clan are given an advance on their first paycheck and told to go to the Celestial Phoenix Casino. A big sign on the half boarded up door proudly proclaims UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT. What happened to the old management? It doesn't matter and stop asking questions! The important part is that all games and machines are half-price and there are special prizes available in exchange for your chips and tokens. Games range from the traditional Western style (poker, roulette, slots) to Japanese favorites (cee-lo, koi koi, cho-han).

As for prizes, they have a selection of designer goods, including some particularly nice bracelets, necklaces, and watches!

The Tamamo Clan are given a considerable number of drink vouchers for Crimson Moon Karaoke, where they can sing their hearts out and while absolutely smashed. Private rooms are cheap to rent and they even offer a special discount for groups of two or more. The karaoke machines have any songs you could possibly want, which is a little suspicious, but don't question it! Just get drunk and have fun. By all means, extend your time as you wish and drink up to get in the proper mood. This is an important bonding opportunity.

Oh yeah, as an important note: the rooms are soundproof. You can get as loud as you like, be it with singing or... something else. Don’t do anything Tenko-hime wouldn’t do!

Members of The Sutoku Alliance are given tickets to Fiance of the Funeral Procession at the Pluto Theatre and Cafe. The tickets include free food at the cafe, including beer. Sure, the star may not be a Sutoku member but that doesn't matter too much: getting butts into seats at Sutoku-owned theaters is what’s important. The Daitengu rented the theater out for the day, so there is plenty of time to mill around both before and after the show.

Make a day, or night, of it!

A funeral-based romantic comedy melodrama as the viewing fare is probably a tasteless joke on the Daitengu's part. But hey, y'all aren't still mad that they crashed their own funeral and then took off laughing, right?

Right?

The Department of the Enma members are told that they're going to be doing a team-building exercise. What exactly does that mean? That's right, it's community cleanup time! You get to clean up cans and trash in the street! You get the honor of using a department-issued bike with an attached cart to wheel around the city and pick up trash! How exciting! Teamwork is encouraged, of course. Teams that collect enough garbage will get one (1) voucher for mini-golf.

Please be aware of the local homeless population as you work, they won’t be happy to see you. They normally collect the cans in the mornings as a meager source of income that you’ll be dipping into. They're probably just not happy with Enma officials in general though. Sorry!

2. IT'S RAINING, IT'S POURING...

By the time you're done with your faction-sponsored fun, the sky has decided to open up. Hope you brought your umbrella! The rain is bad enough that walking home might not be an option right now. So take refuge in one of the many nearby nightlife spots.

Not in your faction's home territory? Doesn't matter! Make some friends outside your group or maybe get into a fight and cause some trouble. There's always the third option of ignoring everyone and drinking yourself silly instead! The rain has to let up eventually… right?

Hopefully you aren't caught near one of the cursed Haniwa figures that have been popping up around town. Their aura really dampens the mood and may even start to cause some dramatic and frightening hallucinations if you and your rain-stranded friends stay near them for too long. But remember! Do not break the figurine. Just try to move it somewhere else? And hopefully not get drenched in the process.

Welcome to the IC mingle!

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Perhaps. [ He just dips his head in a slight nod, an acknowledgement of the term. If it displeases him - or comforts him - he doesn't show it at all. As for the offer of the coat, he just waves a hand, dismissively. ]

There is little of me as it is. I would rather not end up drowned today. [ He stands, abruptly. His eyes are distant as he narrows his focus, searching for what he wants.

Then he nods, and begins to trace lines into the air. Blue light sparks and follows his moving finger, cutting what seems to be lines into the air itself.

When he finishes, there is a portal of sorts there, as if he's simply sliced open the space in front of him to form a doorway to the place he desires. Through it, the comparatively warm lights of the Sutoku apartment block glitter. ]

It is far enough to be troublesome, [ he says, by way of explanation, as if this explains literally anything about what he just did. ] And I would find it most displeasing to scurry back half-blind in such a downpour.

[ It's not quite an invitation, because Kimmuriel is Like This, but he's also not shutting the 'door' he's made behind him, so there's an unspoken permission there that Artemy can probably also use it. Mercifully, it's tall enough to accommodate him. ]

A puddle may be what does you in, yes.

[ Again, there is a light chuckle as he agrees with Kimmuriel that there is both little of him and that he could end up drowned in very little of water.

It seems like the two of them must wait for the rain to end. And he would have waited until the end, because there is nothing sadder to Artemy than being left alone in gloom and darkness.

But it seems his "sacrifice" need not be done; his eyes widen at watching what can only be described as magic. He straightens his posture that much more as he stares through toward the warm lights of the apartment block. Artemy has only encountered magic a few times, and each time it brings him a sense of something.

He hesitates where he stands before he steps forward. He walks through after his little brother and comments aloud: ]

I did think you were something, but did not think you were also a miracle.

It would be a most undignified end, [ he says dryly.

He waits until Artemy passes through before he waves his hand, closing the portal behind them both and leaving them standing together in the relative warmth of the foyer.

That second comment draws a laugh that is half an exhale of surprise from him, and he shocks even himself with that sound. He glances back at Artemy, and the look in his eyes is a bit strange.

He is just a little less guarded and impassive than he usually is, just for a moment. ]

I have been called many things. Never have I been called a miracle.

[ Artemy blinks.

Some of the reaction is due to trying to deal with the rain still running down his face, and some of it is to try to understand the look that he is being given. He would never call himself a smart person -- which probably is not what one wants their healer to say, but he still finds himself unable to fully understand the meaning behind the stare. ]

I suppose that is because you come from a place with many miracles. [ A beat. ] A mundane person like myself can't help but find you to be what you are. [ He runs his hand through his hair, trying to get some water out of it. ]

But I don't think that makes you any less amazing.

[ What is he supposed to say to any of that? It leaves him, for once, at a loss for words. He just seems startled by it.

He starts wringing out his clothes a bit, because as fastidious as he'd been before about keeping himself dry, accidents happened. And it gives him something to do. ]

I am an aberration among my own people, [ he says at last, noting the confused reaction. He supposes that's fair; he's just as confused himself, for once. ] I am a tool, or a sacrifice. Something alien to them.

And to those whose powers I share, I am a stranger still. [ A favoured stranger, a beloved one - but still an outsider. ] So I have never been considered a...miracle, as you say. Interesting, at best.

[ He doesn't really know why he's saying all of this. He's hardly said it to anyone on his own plane, and the illithids had long known it, simply acknowledged it without weight.

But despite his best efforts, he still feels loneliness. As good a reason as any, he supposes. ]

[ His expression becomes stricken at hearing that Kimmuriel is considered something like a pariah among his people, among those that have even a small bit of similarity to him.

He struggles to think of what to say in return, but does not want to say anything without thought. Even words spoken with good intention can cause a great deal of harm if spoken carelessly. This is something he has learned.

Even with all that in mind, he has never been a smart person and always speaks from the heart. ]

Then, they are a foolish bunch. [ It is nice to think he took so long to think of something to say and that's what he comes up with... ] Stupid can't be fixed. [ Something he knows well, but anyway. ]

You aren't those things. So, don't believe those lies that they said.

[ That gets another almost incredulous little laugh. It's not malicious, just surprised.

He doesn't really understand the source of Artemy springing to his defense, but he supposes he doesn't have to for it to happen anyway. ]

Perhaps. [ He simply accepted those insults, that alienation. It doesn't sting him as it once did, if it ever did. Resignation is ever his lot. ] I do not expect it to change, so there is no point in reacting to it. Whether it is lies or truth, if I do not let it affect me, there is little they can do.

[ His lips press into a thin line at that statement. ]

I am glad that you do not take in such poison, brother. [ Artemy is uncertain if he would have the same strength of will to ignore the lies said about him. He denounced them loudly, even at the cost of being beaten bloody in the streets. But he would not let the masses decide the truth about who he was.

Yet the man in front of him instead chose another route. Rather than deny or accept, he decided to instead act as though it was neither truth nor lie. ]

You're a strong person. Stronger than anyone that I have met.

If I did not harden my mind against such things, I would be long gone. [ He shrugs, as if that kind of 'strength' is something he finds negligible, unremarkable. ] It is what I did to survive, nothing that deserves compliment.

[ Again, he doesn't know how to take these things. Artemy is straightforward, clearly honest; they are oddly alike in that way. ("You just can't keep your thoughts to yourself.")

At the same time, Artemy speaks his mind in a way he himself has never even tried. He doesn't think he could; he has no kind words to say about people the way the other man clearly does.

He supposes he can respect it, though. That...tactlessness.

(He wonders; is this what Jarlaxle saw in him, a century before?) ]

You are a strange one to be so free with what you say, rivvil.

It deserves a compliment. [ He is adamant about this point. ] You did not drink in their poison, and also remained true to yourself.

[ A beat passes. ] You remained kind while those around you were unkind. It is deserving of a compliment to survive and also survive with a heart that did not rot.

[ Artemy does pause at the statement about how free he is with what he says. His expression turns a little complicated; he muses over it before answering: ]

I'm afraid I'm a bit of a fool. If I don't say what I think, it'll affect how I live. [ He chuckles, as a dry joke follows. ] I may forget to breathe and walk if I didn't say everything that went through my head.

Unable to keep your thoughts to yourself, rivvil? I would suggest you be more cautious, but I think you are the type of man who has already received such warnings and ignored them, so I will save my breath.

[ He just huffs, shaking his head. ] I am not a kind person. Simply a stubborn one. [ Artemy is the kind one of them. He has no idea where Artemy could have gotten such an idea from, the idea that he is kind.

He knows two people who would deserve that to be said to them and neither of them are here. ]

You aren't wrong. There are plenty of people that think I should learn when to hold back.

[ Artemy chuckles, however, instead of look distressed. ]

A stubbornly kind person, then.

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May 2022 IC Mingle

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