May 2022 Mini Event

[jigokumods]

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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!

• If you have any questions about event content, please ask them here!
• 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.

Comments

[federates]

[ barton smiles widely. if he had a shotgun, he would've loved to blow the lock off of this thing. however, that's neither feasible right now, due to a lack of inventory, nor precisely quiet... ]

[ he assesses their entry point for a solid moment, then steps back from it. he aims a sharp, strong kick near the left of its handle; the force is solid enough that the door jerks ajar. unfortunately, as it does end up opening wide, the door smacks against the opposite wall before coming to rest again. barton grabs its handle so as to stop it bouncing shut again, holding it just so that they can both slip inside. ]

[ would that have been enough to alert any potential inhabitants? well.. guess they'll see... ]

[disagree]

[ the look eula's giving him after that LOUD display is utter deadpan. ]

...So much for a sneak attack.

[ a huff, before she lets herself inside. thanks for holding the door for her like the gentleman that you are, barton.

fortunately there is no one to greet them at the door, though judging from a lone plastic chair neaby, someone should be keeping guard on this landing. there's also some murmurs of activity downstairs, though eula doubts that they're ghosts at this point.

now they really have to be quiet here, with eula discreetly sneaking downstairs and urging barton to take a peek with her. looks like instead of paranormal activity, random gang activity is what's going on here instead -- just chatting to themselves on who to target next, knocking back on cheap beer while playing simple card games. how uncivilized. ]

[federates]

[ barton's eyes narrow into a glare, grimacing. in a low, whispered hiss, ]

How the hell am I supposed to break open a door quietly...

[ well, it's a moot point at this leg of the journey. he follows as stealthily as he can, his steps remaining light despite his size. and because he is somewhat taller than her, when they peer around a corner, he opts for just doing so above her. his grimace deepens when he spies the gang members kicking back. ]

[ he'd like to at least think of them as easy pickings, if he's going to be honest with himself. he withdraws himself from peering over their way, and whispered again, ]

Dumb losers. Reminds me of Umbraton. [ not that this means anything to eula, he presumes, but he does have a point to make - ] What do you wanna do? Tie 'em up, knock 'em out...?

[ the enma did also authorize them to use any force necessary. barton would surmise then that killing isn't apparently off the table if they mean to grab every last statue. ]

[disagree]

[ at least no one seems to be guarding the door when he knocked it down? at least not right now, judging from the empty plastic chair nearby. she pulls away from watching them as well, leaning against the wall and humming thoughtfully. she may not know what an umbraton is, but they almost resemble the treasure hoarders back home, who are also easy pickings for a seasoned reconnaissance captain like her.

that said... ]

It would be better if we could apprehend them, but that's not what we're here for. We could incapacitate them as a last resort, but we have to make as little uproar as possible in order to retrieve the haniwa in one piece.

[ speaking of, eula takes another peek at the group, her eyes widening. the gang has a couple of haniwa in their possession -- three, to be exact, one of which is being tossed around by some of their members like a silly game of hot potato. another member then rolls up the window to check what's out there, bouncing another haniwa in his hand like a baseball.

"hey, aren't the enma people supposed to be makin' their rounds around this time?"
"ehh, they prolly fucked off somewhere. must've had so much haniwa fumes in their brain that they decided to sit this one out. there's been so many of these little shits lately so i can't really blame them."
"hah! about as i expected from the department! so much for wanting to maintain the order of this world. wonder if the other guy guarding the other door saw somethin', though."

wow. just... wow. now they're really going to get it. ]

Oh, is what they really think of us...?! [ uh oh, she's hella steamed despite sounding so cool when she brandishes her sword. ] Perhaps a sneak attack really is in order. What do you think?

[federates]

[ barton overhears the remarks, and at first listen, he's not sure how to think of the sentiment - but when eula addresses it, her reaction is met with a chuckle. ]

Ah, I like that expression. [ it's scary. he also prefers that it's not directed his way...

drawing his own weapon, a thin metal sword (but at the end of the day, still inexpensively-made; having a gun would make quicker work of the situation). he's been waiting for this. enthusiastically, ]

Let's take 'em out!

[ - and he won't be stalling their progress another moment. barton leaps out from behind their corner, intent on handling their closest gang member. one of the men yell with surprise, reasonably; he immediately leaps up from his seat. another, one of the group tossing about the haniwa like a hot potato, mishandles his catch at that precise moment - the little clay figure bounces between his hands, before shattering against the ground in a cloud of dust and clay fragments.

that leaves two remaining, that they've accounted for - both of which look primed to use as curse bombs. ]

[disagree]

[ don't make her stare daggers at you, barton, she won't hesitate. in any case, she was about to jump into the fray now that the man has made his larger-than-life appearance known when something finally breaks. it's one of the haniwa, and eula can't help but groan in annoyance -- this is exactly what they were trying to avoid in the first place!

time seems to slow down on her end as she closes her eyes to gather her bearings. the aural hallucinations come back to haunt her, but she's been dealing with these little shits for almost a month now that she can somewhat tell apart the sounds of admonishment coming from the made-up people of monstadt in her head, to the overall commotion surrounding her at this very moment.

it's fine, it's fine. she's heard it all before. she'll focus on getting spooked once everyone's taken care of. she opens her eyes right when a gang member is about to hit her on the head with a bat, and she cleanly sidesteps him just in time before delivering a swift strike on his side, incapacitating him. if she had her strength back she'd be a one-woman machine all on her own, but she's capable of taking down a decent number of men with her fancy footwork and bladework that made her look like she was dancing instead of fighting, which proved to be a great boon in order to confuse the opponent. ]

I'm heading down to check the other rooms! Don't forget what we're here for!

[ barton can easily take down the guys who are handling the other haniwa, hopefully. it's just going to be utter hell fighting their way out of here, is all. ]

[federates]

[ the haniwa bursting and its immediate effects remind barton of darkflow - but worse. following its shattering, the room's silence is oppressive. he feels like as if he momentarily can't breath. fortunately, the goon that dropped the figure receives the brunt of the curse, falling over as if he'd been knocked about the head. barton finally feels like he can take a breath. ]

[ there's one member down, and eula dancing through them as if they were water. ]

Shout if I'm needed!

[ even if he's seen eula to be competent already - well, they didn't come in pairs without reason. likewise after recovering, the one at the window has rounded with his fists at the ready, one clutching another haniwa; barton rushes to meet him with a blow of the back of his sword. he doesn't slash, but the impact is enough to daze the man. ]

[ which leaves barton scrambling to catch the last one before it shatters. he ducks, the statue hitting his fingertips, then bouncing into his other hand. not the smoothest maneuver, but an acceptable catch, and thus breathed with relief, ]

-- Shit.

[ he'll be coming along in a moment, after he deals with the rest of this crap, he swears. ]

[disagree]

[ even if eula is capable of taking everything down in here, there's only so much she can do with a paltry sword and her strength halved. she's just used to working on her own, on top of her usual job taking her outside the city walls most of the time, so fighting in enclosed spaces like this one would take some time getting used to.

like right now. thanks to their bombastic entrance, the entire building has been alerted, and eula's pretty much fighting for her life here... again. she's a born scout anyway, so shouldn't they switch places so that she can look for the haniwa in the other rooms instead...? ]

Barton! A hand, please!

[ she weaves her way through the crowd, doing her best in taking them down with the blunt end of her sword. frustrating that she can't solo this anymore, but they did come as a pair, after all. ]

[federates]

[ the haniwa in barton's possession is definitely a hindrance; someone sees fit to smash the thing, and it's over. so, he thinks to nip this in the bud and step things up before things go any further south. -- any force necessary, after all.


snapping, ]

Idiot bastards -

[ it's best he doesn't taunt too loudly and fan the flames further, but he can't help the curse from his mouth. one goon takes a hilt hard to the back of the head, and a few others' arms and legs are definitely getting slashed at as he fights his way over. he'll be left with a few cuts and bruises by the end of this, but he wouldn't have expected otherwise. ]

[ frankly, his fighting may be enough of a distracting ruckus that eula could move more swiftly in her collection. ]

Go!

[disagree]

[ at least the big oaf is sufficient enough distraction, but he's a rather rowdy fighter, isn't he... at this rate the entire building is going to collapse with this amount of activity inside it.

with a nod, eula moves quickly as a coursing river, incapacitating any goon that comes in her way of collecting these pesky little things. one of them even threatens to crash it right onto her head, but she does a upwards kick to their jaw, knocking the haniwa from their hands -- but she safely catches it in her arms and putting it in a large blanket that she's been using as a makeshift rucksack. ]

All clear! Now show us out!

[ there aren't a lot of gang members left, thankfully. she'll have to check on the damages later -- both on the acquired haniwa and the injuries barton have acquired. ]

[federates]

[ god, mission accomplished - well, nearly, even if they are over the highest hurdle. barton straight-up socks another of the gang members that get too near, flexing his fingers afterward and leaving his hand balled into a fist. the scowl he wears is enough for some to back off for a moment - realizing their loss of inventory. they still follow eula and barton with cold, if someone humiliated, gazes. a few shout profanities after them in their wake. ]

[ barton storms toward the nearest door, having to hold and guard his haniwa like it's a dang football. the exit is probably one that had recently been found to be locked; without wasting another moment, he flips the latch and wrenches it open for them to both leave through. ]

C'mon.

[disagree]

[ all right, no use trying to eliminate everyone in the building; they're only here for one thing, after all. er, more than one anyway. eula follows barton outside, ignoring the jeers and yells from inside the building, and rushes to open the trunk of the patrol car to put the haniwa in.

she's all but ready to collapse at this point. she hangs on, but she leans her backside against the trunk and lets out a deep sigh. ]

I swear, if I have to see one more of those things...

[ it's been so tempting to break one of those little shits, y'know? like, without the harrowing consequences and all that. ]

[federates]

... They're stupidly bothersome. [..] That such a thing even exists...

[ --well, he does think it's just dumb all around: he'd approached them initially with intense skepticism (most of this place would warrant that, really), but they've unfortunately proven themselves to be remarkably real. he bites back any further remarks for the moment, likewise having squirreled the haniwa safely into the trunk. ]

[ here's to hoping the department knows what they're doing. :) ]

[ keys jangling, barton rounds to the driver's side of the car. he looks over to eula, though, ]

You all right?

[ listen - he knows she handled all of that exceptionally well, but he isn't not gonna at least check!!! ]

[disagree]

[ yeah well, he'd better get used to it! it's gonna get a lot more fucky from here on out, though not in the ways they'd expected...

eula promptly slides into the passenger seat with a long sigh, turning to barton with a blank look that says, "you had to ask?" ]

I could say the same to you.

[ doesn't he have enough cuts and bruises on his face as it is? he did take a lot of damage for the both of them, after all -- not that eula didn't come out of it unscathed either.

then without thinking, she reaches out to wipe a gloved thumb against a small cut on the other man's cheek, a tender gesture that lasted for a split-second before pulling away to retrieve a first-aid kit from the dashboard compartment. ]

...Next time, no more sneak attacks.

[ there was literally nothing sneaky about that!!! ]

[federates]

[ while he doesn't flinch, barton is surprised at the gesture - enough that he quiets, any glower momentarily vanishes from his expression. and he peers at her, watching as she pops open the glove compartment. ... well, whatever. his eyebrows arch at her last statement. he chuckles. ]

[ twisting the keys into the ignition, the car rumbles to a start. ... yeah, that first-aid better not be for him, anyway. ]

Heh, gotta just plan better! Sneak attacks are the way to go. [ ... when it's... actually a sneak attack... ] Ah, it's good it wasn't necessary, they're so uncoordinated.

[ anyway... it's time to be off. ]