jigokulogs | May 2022 Mini Event

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As the Haniwa continue to pop up in the city and the turf war rages on, life goes on in the city.

1. SHUTEN CLAN

Remember the Isonade? Yeah, those guys. The surly shark-dudes who were no doubt involved in some black market smuggling along the banks of the Sanzu. They were too tough to fight off in order to figure out what they were up to, last time.

Well, Toraguma has caught wind of them now. Despite the ongoing turf war, he’s not about to lose out on an opportunity here! He wants his Shuten Clan operatives to scour the river looking for these guys. They will be a lot harder to find without the rabbits’ help, though. If you find them, you are to “inform them” that the Shuten Clan will be taking over their operation. If they have problems with that, well… you know what to do.

Don’t forget that they’re quite strong and that they aren’t too keen on giving up the information on their supply line without a fight. You’ll need to use teamwork to get what you need out of them.

Should you manage your way to their warehouse, you’ll find a fresh shipment of their products: specialized herbs, mineral-rich clay, and rarefied ore. None of these products can be found in the city naturally. The Isonade won’t dare name their primary buyer but they will let slip that all of this is being smuggled into the city from the outer Wastelands.

The Shuten Clan will demand their cut out of this operation, but you may get the impression that this is only one small piece of a much larger shadow creeping over the city…

Art by Alejandro Gonzalez Agudelo

2. SUTOKU ALLIANCE

The death and subsequent “rebirth” of the Daitengu has caused a considerable amount of chaos. Many of the subsidiary tribes have struggled under the weight of uncertainty during this debacle. The Daitengu has decided that an apology tour is owed. It’s good for the sake of the Alliance, after all.

Oh, but they’re not going to be doing it themselves. You, the Sutoku Lost Souls, will be fully responsible for it. ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა

Sutoku Souls are tasked with going to various businesses and tribe centers with an offering of gifts and deference to any and every group within the Alliance who will agree to meet with you. The gifts have been provided by the Daitengu, and are mainly snacks and coupons. Which will not be enough to please everyone. Some clans will demand more and some, in their rage, will try to take their anger out on you. You are an (lowly) ambassador right now, better to turn the other cheek.

This all boils down to be less of an apology tour and more of a bribe tour. What the Daitengu has provided won’t cover everything and you’re going to have to go out of pocket to truly placate the other clans. If you don’t have enough cash on hand, you may be asked to do various unpaid tasks and labors: washing dishes, scrubbing floors, cleaning windows, taking out the trash, serving kids’ birthday parties; any amount of the lowest work you can imagine.

It’s rough! But somebody’s gotta do it

3. DEPARTMENT OF THE ENMA

The chaos of the Night Parade has caused a resurgence of unaffiliated gangs popping up around Jigokucho. They can usually be found identifying themselves through the use of basic colors and mascots. They are made up almost entirely of violent youths with uncertain futures, who are lashing out at an uncaring world. The antics of the Daitengu, the accusations against the Enma, and the squabbling between Shuten and Tamamo is not inspiring their confidence nor loyalty.

In addition to this problem, the retrieval of the Haniwa is going poorly. Most residents are too uncomfortable to even touch the statues and their appearances don’t seem to be slowing down. There are too many for the Department to collect.

With an abundance of cursed objects in town, the petty gangs have decided this is an ample resource for them. They are using the Haniwa to harass the general public and against one another. They have weaponized the excess Haniwa and are using them as “curse bombs”, hurling them at both each other and the residents they want to intimidate. It’s getting nasty.

It’s the Department’s job to keep the Haniwa figures from falling into the wrong hands and to keep some semblance of order. The official orders from the Office of the Enma are directing all hands to converge against the youth gangs. Use any force necessary and retrieve those figurines.

4. TAMAMO CLAN

How inconvenient! In addition to the complications of the turf war, an extremely important time of the year has arrived for the Tamamo Clan.

It is time for the yearly visit of one of the clan’s greatest benefactors: the Tennin. These Celestial Immortals descend from the Heavenly Realms to spend time (and incredible amounts of money) in Hell’s Playground, Jigokucho. Hell simply offers the sort of delights you just can’t get in Heaven. Due to Tenkohime’s connections with them, the Celestials have had her host them for several years in a row now. She emphasizes how incredibly important it is to keep them happy.

The Celestials want entertainment and delights of every variety. It’s up to the Tamamo Clan’s Lost Souls to entertain them. Your entertainments can take many forms: keeping the Celestials company, putting on a performance, showing off your cooking and skills, tea ceremonies, and other exhibitions. Should you choose the carnal and kinky route for entertainments, know that you won’t be laying down with any Celestials themselves. Oh, no no no, they’re Heavenly, after all! This is still performance, so you may need a partner to help you out.

Keep in mind that the legends are true! The Celestials are deeply deeply fond of peaches. Both literal and metaphorical. 🍑

The Celestials love to chat and gossip, so keeping them entertained is also an excellent way to hear some interesting information. Tamamo artisans will likely learn that many Celestials openly trade with Tenkohime. In fact, the aphrodisiac goods that the Tamamos so famously deal in come, in large part, from the Celestials. Tamamo isn’t the only clan they do business with either. They also have connections within the Sutoku Alliance and are the land owners of several Alliance properties. They are considered one of the primary sources of capital in the real estate market.

Why would the Celestials want properties in a world they literally can’t live in? Doesn’t that just reek of capitalism.

5. TURF WAR (ALL FACTIONS)

The turf war between the Shuten and Tamamo clans is at a simmer right now. Which doesn’t mean that it’s over – not even close. Minor magical traps, similar to those found in the sewer, have been found in Shuten territory. Frustrated Shuten enforcers have been taking out their anger on anyone that so much as looks at them funny. Bars in both districts are regularly getting smashed up. Knife fights are breaking out in the streets. Cars known to belong to members of both clans turn up with slashed tires. There’s even rumors of hits being taken out on higher ranking members.

Watch your step if you’re out and about in either territory. Faction affiliation doesn’t matter when tensions are running high. What’s more, rumors are flying all over about which of the two warring clans is going to be the one to escalate the violence further.

Will tensions boil over at any moment? At what point does the Department of the Enma have to step in? Why haven’t they already?

It’s all getting too much to handle…

6. CURSED OBJECTS (ALL FACTIONS)

The presence of the Haniwa is having increasingly frightening effects. There are whispers about blood coming out of the walls and the floors in apartments, about black ooze pouring from faucets and coming up from storm drains. There are even whispers of terrible household hauntings.

These aren’t just rumors though. Bars are having to close early due to the presence of wailing ghosts inhabiting the toilet or blood pouring from the taps. People run screaming out of alleyways pursued by ghostly hands.

These curses and hauntings seem to be fairly localized; kept to one building or one block at a time. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason as to when these accursed sightings will take effect.

Be careful out there! Who knows what could happen with so much terrible energy running rampant.

Welcome to the mini event!

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FOR THE PURPOSES OF REWARDS, since all of these prompts tie into the main plot in some way, we will count all qualified threads in this post as 2 point threads!
If you have questions about the game itself, please check out the premise, FAQ, and rules pages.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ nope, she's going in. but she stops midway through as the inducing hallucinations meddle with her surroundings, and she watches with wide eyes at the illusory flames consuming the "wooden" walls around her. wait, wooden?

she turns around at the sound of cloud's footsteps and comes face to face with the other man. well, wooden face, that is -- but at this point she's already too used with the creepy faces of the haniwa the more she has to do these kinds of retrieval tasks that it doesn't spook her as much anymore. still creepy, though. ]

What are you doing here? The haniwa's effects are going to get stronger the more you linger.

[ the sooner she finds it, the better. ]

[It's not like Cloud isn't scared - he looks a little pale in the flickering flames of the haunting, his teeth locked in a grimace.]

...I don't like letting people fight my battles for me.

[He's keeping his gaze fixed on Eula. Partly to make sure if anything happens he's watching, and partially maybe if he focuses on how out of place she is in the burning, he can shake off the feeling of dread that's nestled somewhere in his sternum.]

This is caused by some haniwa, then? They can't... be hard to find. Better if two people check than one.

[ she looks at him in the eye -- a frosty stare in the midst of the inferno around them. ]

I'm not fighting your battles. I'm here to do my duties.

[ so if cloud is offering to help, she won't say no. she'll give him credit for coming back to this hellscape despite everything, too. ]

The effects are stronger the closer you are to one. Could you pinpoint where exactly it all started?

[And she'll get one right back. Cloud will thank her later, but right now she's poking him in a way that feels challenging.]

Just so we're on the same page, then. [Which is to say, he's going to help.]

...I was partway through the alley before I noticed the change. It could have happened earlier, but... [But now it's covered the whole alley, so it's harder to find the source.]

[he'll at least look around at the images of the burning buildings, gritting his teeth.] I didn't see it at all when I first ran through, so I don't... think it would be at eye level...

[ at eye level... eula peers at the walls, the fire escapes, the rooftops. makes sense that one of them should out of reach. ]

All right. Just going to go up, then.

[ already she can feel the onset of a slight headache, and she shakes her head. the faster they can find and recover it, the better. normally she'd suggest splitting up, but it'd be dangerous for cloud to go alone when it looks like the imaginary fire is affecting him more than it should.

so she walks up to the nearest fire escape, climbs over some dumpsters before climbing up the ladders, then lowering it for cloud. ]

Here, hurry. You might be able to get some fresh air up here.

Right.

[ He's on the ladder in a flash, climbing up after Eula, quickly. This part feels familiar enough - like navigating the upper levels of Sector 8 after the destruction of the reactor. That does help ground him, a bit, ironically - having an experience he can look back on that he knows this isn't.]

[ Of course, as Eula climbs up to the rooftops, she will eventually be able to spot what look like a trio of Haniwa overlooking a ledge to the alleyway, clearly having been far out of sight of poor Cloud. ]

You do this a lot? Scale buildings, dive into imaginary fires...

[ okay, she can't help but crack a bit of a smile at that. ]

No, not just imaginary fires. But I suppose it's part of my job as reconnaissance captain back home to jump into the fray regardless.

[ her job often takes her outside the city walls however, so she hasn't had much experience in scaling buildings. but teyvat is littered with ruins from centuries past that they may as well count anyway.

and yep, those sure are haniwa perched on a ledge like the most horrid birds in existence. hold on, she's going to take out her phone and contact the department. ]

I'll have to ask someone to bring the third haniwa. I only have two hands. Unless you'd like to hold them yourself and see something worse than fires?

Yyyeah, I think I'll... pass. This whole thing is- [ Well, she doesn't need to know that much, unless she questions him on it. ]

It's a bit much for me, right now.

You're definitely tough, though, to be fetching these. I'll give you that.

[ He holds himself a bit closed off, staring down at the alley - with Eula picking up two of the Haniwa, the illusion's sure to disperse, but it's still something that's going to rattle him for a bit. ]

...Thanks. [ If he says it off-the-cuff, and quick enough, maybe she won't say anything about it. ]

[ she shakes her head. ] I'd rather not do this at all, if I can help it. But it's the Department's orders, so...

[ it's sickening, okay. she can already make out the auditory hallucinations in her head that's starting to seep in, and all she can do is bear it until they're out of here. ]

And no need to sell yourself short. You still followed me in here, didn't you?

[ this illusory fire must have meant something to cloud in some way. seeing as he's still affected by it, eula won't bring it up for now.

hearing that small thanks is worth it, though. ]

Come on, let's get out of here. But not before introducing yourself first.

I suppose so. [ It was... difficult. That he won't deny. ]

Huh? Oh. Right. [ He had nearly forgotten. ] Cloud. Cloud Strife. I'm with the alliance.

Guessing that means you're with the Enma Department, then, given all the collecting you're doing.

Mm. [ a nod. ] Things on our end have been unrulier than ever, on top of the scuffle between the Shuten Tamamo Clans at the moment... not that the Alliance are doing well on their own either.

[ sighs. ]

The name's Eula, by the way. [ no mention of her surname per usual. ] And... thanks. For helping me look for them despite it all.

Eula. Good to meet you. And... no problem.

[ Cloud has never been good at handling positive affirmation, frankly, so even a simple thanks is awkward for him to navigate. ]

Sorry I couldn't be of more help, in the moment, I mean.

I doubt anyone can even function on their utmost when these little things are still on the rise.

[ waves hand, waves hand. really, don't worry about it. eula's going to be a little out of it after this. ]

And who knows, you might be able to repay me in some way later on. [ she manages the smallest of smiles before going for the ladder now. ] I'll count on you with that.

[ hahahahaha..... ha. ]

May 2022 Mini Event

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