July 2022 Mini Event

[jigokumods]

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Tanabata is on the horizon, and the city seems to be recovering well from last month. But there's work to be done, and it's time to get to it...

1. SHUTEN CLAN - THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS

With construction wrapping up, the new Shuten Clan casino will be opening soon. The casino has a number of new staff positions opening. It is a golden opportunity for anyone looking for a cash rich position. The money promised upon assignment to the underground casino is bound to be life-changing. Given the potentials in clientele, Toraguma is expecting the very best. Shutens are to report to the above ground Celestial Phoenix casino for their training.

They will be taught all the traditional casino fare, both Japanese and abroad. This includes being taught how to cheat at these games as well. For example:

• Blackjack dealers will learn card count, and how to catch others doing the same.
  
• Roulette attendants will learn both how and when to discreetly adjust the wheel.
  
• Craps and Cee-lo dealers will learn how to feel for loaded dice and how to switch in the house's dice without notice.
  
• Cee-lo dealers are also taught a specific way to line the dice tray to cause more lost throws.
• Cho-Han dealers will learn how to distract players as they adjust the dice.

That's not all the Shutens will be learning. The clan needs skilled bouncers as well: people who can handle rowdy customers or haughty celestials. The more tenured Shutens will take up the roles of rude customers and challenge the trainees in how to handle them.

While not everyone will receive employment in the casino, they are all expected to participate in training. Shuten officers are expected to guide and oversee their juniors.

2. TAMAMO CLAN - CHARM SCHOOL

The Tamamo Clan also has preparations to make in anticipation of the underground's opening. The clan is opening their own brothel and cabaret, as well as providing food and drink services to the new Shuten casino.

All Tamamo Clan members must report for training at Mizukume. The lesson of the day is to use one's charisma to secure a huge payout. For example:

• Hosts and hostesses will learn the art of schmoozing away clients' money.
  
• Performers will learn more provocative means of soliciting large tips.
  
• Oiran are taught the erotic arts; the perfect balance to both please a client, and how to leave them begging (and paying) for more. There's no technique Tenkohime finds too shameful. Money is power, and power is freedom.
  
• Food service workers are provided master classes in mixology, plating, and how to serve high-profile clients without breaking a sweat.

Each role comes with its own set of pressures, but also the promise of great reward. Everyone is going to get rich, if everyone plays their part well.

Tenured Tamamo are asked to roleplay as clients for the benefit of those Lost Souls new to the work. While not everyone will be selected to work in the Underground, everyone is expected to train for it.

3. SUTOKU ALLIANCE - BLACK MARKETS AND BACK ALLEYS

After months of meetings, it's finally time for some real action. Sutoku Lieutenant Ryouma Sakamoto has made some pretty big commitments on the Alliance's behalf. His temerity comes from his earnest belief in the other Sutoku Lost Souls! No pressure, though!

To succeed, the Alliance must determine who is behind the current black market operation. Ryouma is relying on the Alliance's extensive information network and the hard work of the Lost Souls to make it happen.

This is the work that Ryouma mentioned when he welcomed the new arrivals recently.

This assignment is all about what you know. The Sutoku need to learn more about the competition, through any means necessary. The Alliance wants to know everything about what goods are moving around the city and who is moving it. Time to follow the money. You might even discover an unfulfilled niche in the market through your investigations.

The current influx of Stardust in the city is a great opportunity to investigate the existing dealers and supply lines. The Alliance is gathering Stardust just like everyone else, but it is becoming increasingly scarce as the factions vie for it. The value of this commodity is shooting up every day. Take some cash or other compelling bartering tools with you to grease the palms of a few shady dealers. Try to convince them to be more honest about their supply lines, beyond just the sparkly stuff. Stick the landing, and you might just be closing in on the heart of those shipping loopholes.

This is no easy undertaking. Creativity and tenacity will determine just how far you can go. Be careful not to be too obvious, the threat of unwanted attention will cause your sources to clam up.

4. DEPARTMENT OF THE ENMA - CRACK DOWNS

The Stardust's street presence has shifted naturally over the past few weeks: from an easy resource to simply scoop up in garbage bags overnight to a hot commodity. The street value of the material has increased considerably, and that means that the unaffiliated street gangs are greedy to get in on the action.

Enma officers are called upon to round up any black market dealers of Stardust and confiscate as much of their supply as they can find. This might just bring them into some direct conflict with the Sutoku Alliance members hoping to connect with market insiders. That's just how things boil out sometimes, though.

It is more important to the Department to get Stardust out of the hands of the black marketeers… and into their own lockers.

Officers are given permission to use any amount of force against individual actors, and members of the Law and Records Department are expected to draft up warrants (no matter how doctored) to obtain access to buildings they otherwise would never be allowed into; even Mizukume and the Arena. The Department's orders are clear: if it's not an approved market, shut it down.

This is in the name of maintaining Order, so get out there. Move at least in pairs, or you're likely to meet some serious resistance, and keep an eye out for the newbies.

5. ALL FACTIONS - LUNAR RABBIT RETURNS

It isn't just the factions, dealers, and petty gangs who are interested in the Stardust now that it's a premium item.

A familiar face has resurfaced: the mysterious gyokuto medicine woman and her army of white rabbits. While her little kin have managed to gather a healthy amount of Stardust for her "research", she still needs more. She is willing to pay a huge premium to those who retrieve more materials for her.

She understands that this will require you to either pilfer from one of the factions, or potentially someone even more dangerous. She will be providing samples of one of her drugs, which can grant temporary invisibility in moonlight. Use it for whatever hijinks you want, but she really would prefer if you brought her the goods in the end.

If invisibility doesn't cut if for you, she can provide another sample that provides 10 times your normal strength. While you can KO anyone who gets in your way, it wears off within 5 to 10 seconds. She is very clear that you should not take more than 3 doses of this, or you will very possibly die. Probably. Maybe? It will be unpleasant. So use it only when you need to.

The reward for getting her some Stardust, depending on the amount, can easily pay all a character's expenses for a month, if not longer. The temptation is great, but do you trust this strange rabbit woman?

Welcome to the mini event!

• If you have any questions about event content, please ask them here!
• Looking for a partner for your prompt? Post 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

Anna | Bloodborne (OC) | Tamamo

[notched]

LESSONS

[ Anna's lack of enthusiasm is noticeable, mouth turned downwards in a very bored frown. She has absolutely no interest in being hired in the new locations. She has a job in the armory that suits her interests much more: cleaning and polishing armor, maintenance for weapons, inventory for arcane ingredients and spell components. This people-pleasing garbage they keep trying to talk her into just isn't going to fly with the monster hunter.

She lines up with the other food service hopefuls because that seems the least aggravating option.

As it turns out, the lessons on mixology and bartending are at least decently entertaining. The various tricks and tosses one can do while working are easy for her to pick up, her dexterity is high if nothing else. She actually smiles a little.

Plating food quite a bit less so though, and after poking at the assignment with lackluster for a while she actually just picks up the plate of food and slips off with it. You can find her in one of the back hallways sitting on an overturned apple crate and pick at the snack. The fancy little hors d'oeuvres are at least tasty... ]

WILDCARD

[ Go for it! ]

Lessons (Oh she just hopes it's the least aggravating option, hah)

[swordofhisou]

[Over the course of the lessons, comes the opportunity to make drinks for a paying customer, which is where this blue-haired idiot came in. She wasn't even trying to be difficult. She was naturally a pain in the rear as a rule, so ordering a drink that should be simple could become well... Anna was about to witness it first hand.

Tenshi sidled up to the bar, looking at the offerings.]

No. No. I want a long island iced tea, but I want it to be blue. You can make it blue right? [She pointed at the blue curacao.] there, use that instead of the orange flavored stuff. It makes my teeth ache. And I don't really like those caramelized sodas. Blech. You can do a lighter citrusy thing right? Yeah, the fizzy clear stuff.

Oh, and I want you to garnish it with an orange wedge instead of a lemon because I still want some orange in there somewhere.

[... God damnit, ok. So she wanted a Boston Tea Party instead of a Long Island ... why didn't she just say that? And seriously? What kind of bastard makes a long island iced tea more complicated?]

[notched]

[ Somewhere through this set of directions, Anna just stops. She puts her hands down on the bar and leans towards Tenshi with a narrow look. ]

Just drink it plain like the rest of us.

[ Aka like Anna who just fists whatever bottle is in front of her. ]

[swordofhisou]

[Ugh, blech. She made a face and then held up a finger, wagging it in front of the bartender while she spoke in a sing-songy voice that would have made a condescending teacher or math tutor proud.]

Uh uh uh. The customer is always right. And besides, have you actually had Triple Sec? It's awful. Blech. Oranges.

[notched]

The customer's lucky if they get anything at all.

[ She would be terrible upscale waitstaff, clearly. ]

Order it off the specials or get out of my sight.

[swordofhisou]

Now, do I have to call your manager?

[There was the sweetest look in the way that she said it, just grinning over at her with the most shit-eating little smile imaginable. She leaned forward to wink at her.]

After all, you have to learn how to make the drinks, riiiiight?

[someone really needed to wipe that grin off her face.]

[notched]

You're a shite.

[ Anna decides bluntly. The one person she doesn't want to deal with right now is Musashi, thanks. So she just motions impatiently, ]

Tell it to me again then.

[swordofhisou]

[Thankfully, she'd had enough time to figure out what exactly she was ordering.]

I want a long island iced tea, but change out the triple sec and use that blue caracao stuff. And, uh, use a sprite. not those dark colas. [A grin and she winked at her.] And I know I'm a shit, but trust me. You'll have even worse shits if you're behind a bar one of these days.

[notched]

Some people like a little tough love from their bartender.

[ But she gets to work anyway. It's the drink that has no tea, but is meant to look like tea. Anna knows the measurements. The girl wants it blue, and she wants the light colored sugar water. ]

Isn't even the same drink like this.

[ She shakes it. ]

[swordofhisou]

Hah. You're not wrong. Normally I wouldn't miiiiind, but we're supposed to be ... haha. Beside, this is fun. The look on your face was great, by the way.

[She watched while the drink was being made. seriously, she enjoyed moments like this way too much to stay entirely in character, even though asking for an atrociously blue drink was not out of character.]

Well, I mean, yeah. But I don't actually like Long Island Iced Teas. So, the blue stuff tastes better. Because it's blue.

[Scientific.]

[notched]

[ Anna isn't often very expressive, but the absurdity of the order had caught her off guard. She frowns to herself now, but takes being teased with actually relative good grace. She learned from the Hunters a long time ago that you can't rise to every bloody joke or you look like an easy target.

She pours out the liquors: blue. Then she adds the soda. Garnishes with a straw and a little umbrella. ]

No tea, no island, just blue.

[ She mutters this dryly in her soft brogue as she pushes the drink across the bartop. ]

[swordofhisou]

[She grinned at it. It was so very blue! Blue was good. Blue was what she wanted. And she took a sip of it before sighing. Much better. Triple Sec definitely made her teeth ache.]

Blue and it tastes good too! Oh, right. Since you did the order, I don't think we've actually met have we? Name's Tenshi.

lessons!

[bratherine]

( Turns out being tossed into a job at a high class restaurant pays off sometimes. As does bugging Shylock for more cocktail making lessons. Kate actually knows what she's doing in this section of the training. She might not be ready to teach people, but she finds most of these jobs much easier than the goddamn charm school lessons they've been dragging her to in the afternoon.

She's quiet, stood a few plates away from Anna while they put things together. This is easily the most irritating part of this whole section of training, but she's paying attention, determined to get it right, focused enough that she doesn't notice the disappearance of the woman until she looks up and realises there's one plate too few.

...Sigh.

Anna will eventually find herself joined by one (1) small, familiar brat, who leans against the opposite wall and looks down at the half-eaten plate. )

Y'know they'll make you redo that.

[notched]

[ She just holds up the plate for Kate to take some. ]

They can try.

[bratherine]

( ...eh, why not? She scopes out a little cucumber-and-cream-cheese concoction and pops it in her mouth.

... Not bad. A little rich. She's not sure she'd eat a lot of these. )

You'll 'ave the whole class held back.

( There is no seriousness to the way she says that, because she is well acquainted with being that person anyway.

Also, it means she won't have to go to charm school, which is all the better. )

[notched]

She doesn't need me out there.

[ Tenkohime. ]

Already offered to let me out of the festival.

[ She flicks her eyes up at Kate, not-smiling. ]

Think I should go?

[ Anna's sense of humor is very odd. ]

[bratherine]

( Ah, the advantages of going through Hell's own version of hell, she guesses? )

Turn up and give complicated orders.

( That's what Kate would do if she could get out of it.

Though... ) Not me. People who annoy you.

[notched]

[ A faint snort. The only person who annoys her on the regular is Musashi. ]

I'll find a balcony somewhere, keep an eye on the fox. Something's bound to go awry.

[ She distractedly puts some fancy cracker concoction in her mouth. ]

Needs more pepper...

[bratherine]

( Something's bound to go awry. That's not a bad summation of what's been seen so far here in Jigokucho, no. )

Seems that way. ( A shrug. ) Guess that's what makes this place hell.

[notched]

[ She inclines her head thoughtfully. There is something to that, that never truly being able to put down your guard is a certain kind of trauma. Still, she is much more at ease her than she was in Yharnam. ]

Could be worse.

[ Imagine if the blood rain had taken the city. ]

[bratherine]

( That's horrifying tbqh. )

... Rather it weren't.

( No. ❤ )

[notched]

[ A faint snort of amusement without much change in expression. ]

This city would need to be more vigilante and less obsessed with sex and wealth.

[ a city of distractions, ripe to be preyed on. ]

[bratherine]

( ... They're literally in the sex work faction. )

You got th' expression "when hell freezes over" in your world?

( Because. Yeah. )

lessons also

[virtua]

[ She's learned pages of choreography. Perfected poses and smiles. Danced for hours and hours. Practiced timing every step of her feet, every wave of her hands.

Shockingly, none of that does anything for her nerves as she's spinning bottles and rolling glasses through sweating fingers. One short shot glass escapes from her hand and flies directly into the girl at her side, who's been flitting glass with ease in the corner of her eyes while Mima struggles.

Regardless of where or how hard it hits, the impact pits in her stomach. Mima takes a horrified gasp. ]

I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!

[notched]

[ All it really does is splash on Anna's black leather jacket and break on the floor. She stops what she's doing to glance at Mima. Her reaction is in stark contrast: entirely muted and mostly just confused. ]

It's nothing, girl.

[ She just picks up a rag, bending down to gather the puddle of glass into the cloth. ]

Go find a broom.