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

[bratherine]

( Hm. Okay, this is going well. That's a relief. While she's used to lying with a straight face, there's a difference between giving out a fake name and age and working a scam like this with so many moving parts. The chance of him calling her out isn't zero, even now that she's gotten this far. The chance of her power failing is more than that; she hasn't had it that long, hasn't used it for this purpose before.

It'll be fine. She just has to concentrate.

And, for the time being, try to carry on the conversation, which is harder than you'd think when you're also trying to keep in mind every possible outcome you can think of. )

...Aye. ( The drink pops out, clattering into the receptacle. ) Y'were... th' one who got arsey at me for swearing.

( He'll grab the drink, and then she can make her move. if it doesn't work, maybe she can just punch him? )

[rainswords]

[ Rather than opting to immediately retrieve the drink he does peruse the choices available at the vending machine, now finally laying his sights on the choice that comes by selecting C6 he does glance at her almost puzzled. Her expression, fashion everything about her contrasts the sweet fizzy bright beverage. Well, he won't ask about it. ]

Excuse me? I got what?

Never mind, unless you wish to explain...

[ Given that her card was taken by the vending machine perhaps it was best they make haste? His motion is fluid and quick enough when he retrieves the drink before it is held out for her to take. ]

I suppose even here you won't introduce yourself. I am not an application gathering your data.

tooootally feel free to have this attempt backfire horribly on her

[bratherine]

Arsey. ( Man, Jigokucho is a crash course in "terms she uses which are not the norm". ) Annoyed.

( That's sufficient explanation, but it's also a distraction from her initial premise in luring him out there that Kate quickly realises she needs to make her move now or she'll squander her chance.

So, with one quick intake of breath, she leans in, reaching for the drink and carefully making sure she's just in reach of his cheek in an attempt to brush an enchanted kiss against it.

Who knows if it'll work; she's never tried to dampen anyone's senses before, and failure is very much on the table. But if it does, she can take her shot and try to snatch his stardust. If not, maybe he'll buy that it's just a show of gratitude for his good deed? )

...S'pose I can tell you as thanks. ( If it works, he's not going to hear more than a few muffled noises anyway, right? ) Kate.

wait for it. the backfiring part will come soon. she is free to steal from him tho ;D

[rainswords]

[ There is an ever-lengthening list of terms which he is becoming acquainted with; not solely driven by interest, there is also a sense of need. His verbal expressions have been shaped by his upbringing, just as much as the formal manner by which he presents himself (especially to strangers). Aren't they that?

Once she provides him with information, there is a sign of contentment on his face. Gratitude would have been expressed but he notes the distance between them shortening. He doesn't immediately pick up on her plan, he doesn't move away in time to avoid the kiss but body language alone spells out discomfort. Rather than any effects of spell-bound lips, Xingqiu is astounded by her boldness with a single move her actions he finds to be far too intimate for the two of them even if he was meant to take that as only an expression of gratitude. It's embarrassing.

An exchange of names is not enough to make two people close. It's the start of a journey. And at the beginning, a girl kissed his cheek. ]

Listen... Kate.

I...

I am going to buy myself a drink.

[ Let him do that while he recovers from that sudden out-of-nowhere kiss. So the vending machine will take up his attention for the moment. ]

:>

[bratherine]

( ... Well. That didn't work as she intended it to, hand freezing halfway to the pouch of stardust she spied earlier as he speaks. Dammit. She's going to have to—

... Try again? He seems dazed instead of lacking senses, and turning his back means she could just quickly pluck that pouch away from him while he tries to pick a drink. And that's just what she's going to do, dropping the bottle she "requested" in her hurry to take advantage of the moment.

Shit. )

:3

[rainswords]

[ Embarrassed — dazed — it's all about the same, isn't it? Either way, his attention really does seem to be on the selection, and right about the moment when he is going to pick a drink (some kind of fruit juice contained within a smiling bottle called natchan!) he hears the bottle clatter behind him. That causes him to immediately turn to face her.

Pretty amber eyes fix on her, specifically on her outstretched hand, then they lower. His eyebrows knit together a moment as he regards the drink on the floor before he is looking at her once more. ]

Are you having trouble opening that bottle?

[ No, that's likely not the case. With a tilt of his head, Xingqiu then holds out the package he has been carrying all along. ] Are you interested in this? Here. I didn't imagine you would care.

[ Yes, he willingly relinquishes that pouch. A pouch that maybe if she observed more closely she would note is shaped by its contents. Rectangular, kind of hefty, certainly the shape doesn't change. Inside she would be able to find many pages of disappointment in various books but certainly no stardust. ]

[bratherine]

( Does Jigokucho, perhaps, feel like opening the ground beneath her feet and swallowing her whole? Because that would be less painful than how badly she's fucked this up.

Ugh. She does look at the books, for a moment, but they are — indeed — just books. And not even ones that seem to have a chance of holding opposing faction secrets (clearly, or he wouldn't be giving them up so easily). After a very dignified groan, Kate hands the pouch right back to Xingqiu, books and all, with a withering look.

Don't. Say. Anything. )

[rainswords]

[ Apparently Jigokucho is not willing to bestow upon her that mercy, but look perhaps she can find a nice utility hole that will lead her down into the underground sewers. Close enough right? As for Xingqiu, his gaze doesn't waver once, and an almost knowing look is reflected in his eyes accompanied by an impish smile. Rather than take his possessions back immediately, he hits a button on the vending machine just a tad too roughly with a close fist. Out clutters a bottle noisily that is quickly picked up.

For the briefest of moments, he seems to be inspecting his purchase. It's no longer that happy smiling drink he was previously considering. Soon he holds the glass bottle by its neck and points it at her, menacingly.

His voice is smooth, clear, and commanding. ]

Hand over everything!

[ And then just like that he laughs. ]

Perhaps you should have opened up with that? Really, this whole elaborate scheme? It wasn't very well thought out now, was it? But I suppose it would be difficult for you to come off as intimidating. Honestly, you were suspicious from the start and that kiss. Completely unnecessary.

[bratherine]

( She may be dying of embarrassment, but she's not quite so unseated as to feel any fear at that act. Annoyance? Yeah. Enough to level an exasperated glare at Xingqiu, definitely.

A glare which only intensifies when he says it'd be hard for her to look intimidating. She doesn't need reminding that she's short, and it's not like he's that much taller, right? She always has a chance to grow taller than him one day.

Spoiler: that isn't happening. )

Freaked you out enough, didn't it?

( The kiss, that is. She could point out that the kiss is quite necessary for her power to work, but that would mean telling Xingqiu that she has that power in the first place.

And that information isn't one she's giving out easily. Not to opposing factions, anyway. )

[rainswords]

[ It's an intact bottle, therefore it lacks any sharp edges, so he certainly holds no expectations that he will come off as threatening. It's a mere demonstration. He does consider for a moment making the necessary amends but he only needs a single person to believe he may possibly be strange and insane.

Completely immune to her glares, after all, what's a young girl when compared to treasure hoarders and the fatui, Xingqiu busies himself opening the bottle. He'll have a sip of that drink before he once again settles his gaze on her.

Aware of their proximity in height, it's really the clumsiness of this whole fiasco that leaves him at ease. No, he could never find her threatening now. He sighs before he speaks, of course, she would mention that. ]

It isn't proper to make unwarranted advancements, even you must know that.

But I must apologize, initially, I assumed that it was some show of gratitude but now that you bring it up once more then I'll be clear with you. I am not interested in pursuing any form of romantic relationship with you. Truly, I am sorry.

[ And does he look ever so apologetic. ]