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

[breweries]

[ some poisons do taste good, after all. those are the most dangerous ones to look out for.

not going to lie, shylock was waiting for mort's expression to change when he took the sip of his own concoction. a shame that he didn't do so much as blink his pretty eyes... ]

There are almost as many types of margaritas as there are days in a single year, but a regular margarita must taste balanced.

[ as he talks, the ingredients and utensils start floating on their own once more, demonstrating the proper way and the correct amount of liquor to put in the shaker. ]

It must be bright, and the taste of citrus must be present. You merely added too much tequila in your cocktail, resulting in a more lopsided flavor. And of course, you cannot forget the salt rim.

[ the cocktail's all done after his lecture, complete with a thin layer of salt around the glass rim. he places the drink near mort once more, inviting him to take a sip from this one. ]

[mortelix]

[ magic isn't something he's unaccustomed to, no, but the idea of using it for something like this is a bit of a marvel to him. his natural inquisitiveness is piqued as he watches with both interest (and as an educational endeavor). he supposed... it made sense. balancing the ingredients that is. he wasn't as voracious in physical appetite as most other dragons were, but it isn't to state he didn't comprehend the merit of good taste.

every movement shylock makes seems methodical and full of purpose. if anything, it gives hint to mort to how he might be if he were to use his abilities for destruction instead of creation. a truly exciting idea indeed. sorry for the eternal thirst...

but, salt, is it?

he seems to stare at the way it decorates the rim, then without further pause he does as instructed. ] Ah. [ it really did have a more in-depth flavor. it was a far cry from the creation he's personally made. ]

I've never failed at anything before... [ a pause as he seems to mull this over, before giving a curt nod. ] I will make another.

[ maybe shylock awakened his more challenging-seeking nature!?!</small. ]

[breweries]

[ the fire in this man's eyes tells it all. well, not everything, but just enough to let shylock have a peek. and honestly? it's pretty cute. mort does cut the image of an intimidating being who's been displaced in the faction that specializes in pleasure, but that only makes this curious cat of the wizard all the more curious. he's never doubted of the lost souls tenkohime has taken in for herself, but he does wonder every now and then of the other prospects -- and mort is certainly one of them.

and slowly and surely, he is beginning to see why. inherent sex appeal aside, but he'll save his thoughts for another time as he observes this man some more. ]

It's not a failure. [ a single shake of his head. ] You're only starting out. But I cannot wait for you to improve -- we have all the time in the world, after all.

[ long-lived as he is... though he isn't sure if mort has been around for that long. has he? fufu, he'll find out some other time. ]

[mortelix]

[ his self-proclaimed "failure" doesn't necessarily spark the same feelings of losing a battle for the first (and only) time, but it's a rather dissatisfying feeling all the same. a feeling he decides not to immediately let go, either. which, is why he's already beginning to make that second, perfected drink. or so his hands move methodically, attempting to mimic the motions of magic he had seen just minutes before; his hands only pausing at shylock's words.

"all the time in the world."

yes, perhaps that was the case. to be honest, for the longest time, the mere idea that he could continue to live an existence without knowing that excitement of loss or death was probably the only one thing that he had truly ever feared.

but, while that was a terrifying prospect, it's in shylock's words that he also discovers a renewed faith in his life here is sort of ... restored? perpetuated once more? he's not quite sure what the label for this would be, but he finds himself just a tiny bit grateful. small enough where he doesn't even realize it is gratitude.

with that said, he finishes up his finished product, and this time is actually does look quite similar to shylocks, including the salt rim. as he pushes it in shylock's direction, he does add a nearly inaudible word of thanks. moving on from that— ] Yes, we will just have to see where this path takes us.