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

QUESTIONS!

[jigokumods]

Questions about the mini-event? Post them here!

[mahoraga]

How will the black market folk respond to ... stealing of stardust?

[medicative]

are we allowed to assume that our characters can get some leads, provided they're persistent enough? specifically, emily's plan of attack is to lean into those that supply her with harder to get materials for making medicine, since she has a pre-existing relationship, and would start probing with a mix of cash, charm, and arranging favors for people, and working with other sutokus to see how far they can really get. group efforts!

while keeping an eye out for the cops, naturally, those guys get nothing.

[powerofthemoon]

Heng Yue will go schmooze some stardust out of anyone stupid enough to fall for her pretty face. But then it's time to step on press that gyokuto: what are you researching, madame?

[dehallow]

Is there going to be consequences to refusing to falsely manipulate documents for the Department?

Van Zieks is definitely going to be on top of things when there is any legitimate evidence he can draw on (and he's going to work with officers to secure that evidence). After all, he's very fine with cracking down on black markets as a base idea. But he's not going to manipulate the truth and will tell Captain Shiki to her face if confronted...

Re: QUESTIONS!

[muitenpen]

So, Mahito's able to leave a residual cursed energy on things he's touched (think less a power, more like an animal knowing its own scent, etc), and even a major plot point in his series was doing this to track an item after his enemies got it. Would he be able to do something like this with stardust that he's found but not confiscated, to see where it leads to? Or after Jigoku's own cursed energy disasters, would people be too attuned to that sort of thing and catch on?

I was guessing they're completely different types of energies that just have the same name, but figured it can't hurt to check.

Re: QUESTIONS!

[itstillhurt]

Okay, so I'm assuming trying to steal stardust from the moon bunny is a bad idea

But if you had to put it on, like, a scale of one to ten...?

QUESTIONS!

[sacrificesmustbemade]

So, Leshy won a Shuten Clan Lapel Pin off of Harry at the faction mingle. Could he flash that at the Casino and get in on some of those games as a dealer? Given his whole... Look and vibe, would walking in like he belongs there go unquestioned?

Leshy will definitely also make an appearance at charm school because that is hilarious.

[blackabyss]

Out of curiosity, would Fumikage have any sort of advantage getting info out of the local black market folk, given his tengu-like appearance?

[identitycrisiscore]

Cloud might not have the money to barter like some of the higher-ranked sorts, but what he does have a big, bad, motorcycle, and a mercenary attitude, willing to do some jobs.

Of course, he wants to be paid more in information - and connections - than he does in, say, actual money. And he'll say as much.

Cloud previously tapped some black market leads when on the Daitengu's Apology Tour, so his goal is to not-so-subtly advertise the reliability (and power. and speed) of the Hardy-Daytona to anyone who needs goods moved quickly, and see who can and will bite on a motorcycle runner.

Unfortunately, it also does make him a bit noticable - but it's not like he isn't running other, perfectly legitimate goods as well, and considering the speed at which Stardust is getting snatched up in the city...

Well, who's willing to bite on a reliable, fast transport in exchange for subtlety?

[everblooms]

hi, mods! unfortunately, i have arrived.

would any of the flowers have anything to say about the gyokuto? what about the stardust?

also building off that, would the gyokuto have any interest in bartering with aerith for medicinal herbs and the like? with her plant & flower growing ability, she'd be willing & able to provide for a price (money is tempting, but information is, too.)

[worldbent]

So Matoba and Kimmuriel have been working at developing some drugs for interrogation and defense (and you know, whatever else they end up being useful for); at the moment they're the only ones who are aware of the source so it should be difficult to trace back to them.

Say they were to keep their ears to the ground to find a few dealers to snatch up and give them a bit of the talky juice; would they be able to get them to talk about their sources/money trail or who's giving them orders?

[playfoul]

not entirely event related, but what are our kappa friends up to now? are they clear to move back underground?

[baofeng]

To clarify, do faction-affiliated yokai work the shipment boats on the Sanzu? Is it possible for a Lost Soul to get a position on the boats if someone hypothetically wanted to set up a sting operation?

Separately, if Yizhi were to shapeshift into a little bird and fly over the Sanzu to get an aerial view, what are his chances of spotting anything noteworthy?

Re: QUESTIONS!

[kaientai]

Ok so I have to ask because lmao

If Ryouma went down to the docks to look at all the cool boats and asked the people down there if they ever notice anything strange at all, would anyone tell him anything interesting?

Less of an underworld-seeking-underworld-connections type deal and more like your average joe "sure is weird" kind of thing that might lead to other leads?

If not he gets cool boat time anyway I guess.

[sleepinglyra]

Sheliak spends a lot of time in the Sanzu now that he can breathe underwater again. If he tried to snoop around the boats, would he discover anything useful?

[retroductions]

This is a long shot, but if a certain nosy detective (trying to catch whiff of a lead) questions what the gyokuto knows about the haniyasu, would he learn anything useful?

[aceslow]

Kim here is going to be doing some detective work as well, hoping to leverage some of the connections he has already made! I'm not sure if he'll find anything that others haven't already, but checking in anyhow. His tactics will largely be covered by good old fashioned detective work and asking around, focusing on people who are lower in the pecking order, and trying to hop from insubstantial lead to insubstantial lead. Some contacts/methods he'll be focused on are:

- Leveraging the fact that he assisted in providing yokai with goods during the blood rain, reasoning that one good turn deserves another
- Contacting some of the delinquents he saved from Officer Andy's wrath and point out that if they don't share intel with him, he would be more than happy to hand them over to her (sorry, Andy)
- General blackmail -- if he notices they've been cooking the books or are a cover for something else, he's fine with saying that he won't turn them over if they provide him with intel
- Eavesdropping using the fact that he's very inconspicuous looking, both at shady bars and using his status as a working-class employee at the konbini, i.e. loitering by places of interest in-uniform underneath the guise of being told by his employer to off-load their abundance of trash to other businesses
- Keeping an eye out for money laundering in businesses; he'll be keeping an eye on if the success of their businesses adds up to the owners' personal affluence, if they keep odd hours, if they have clandestine meetings with persons of interest, etc. etc. He's generally good at keeping watch for hours, if not days, at a time to hunt down the next thread

tl;dr he's just a detail-oriented, old-school detective sniffing about!

[medicative]

Can the gyokuto come by the clinic at some point to say hi, Heng Yue is there...and I'm pretty sure half the clinic would hear "she can't go back to the moon" and go we're going to be her friend now.

Even shady drug dealers get their moments.

[fullgauntlet]

This is probably a silly question... But do we make our top levels in here or make our own logs? Does it matter which way we do it? dkgjdkfgdf

Re: QUESTIONS!

[getting_better]

Hello mods! Bishop and Tenshi are about to do something really really stupid for sake of, well, what do you expect from a pair of gremlins? Honestly.

Anyway, they're planning to rob the alliance for stardust, whether or not it'll be successful is another thing but - my questions are, how successful/unsuccessful their little raid be, would they stumble on any kind of information or somethinf?

[rainswords]

Out of curiosity, there are no repercussions for anyone that fails to appear for any of these tasks right? So like characters are free to skip out?

On that note, can anyone go learn what the Shuten and Tamamo Clans are teaching?

[lucky_e]

Will Enty be able to gleam any additional information by schmoozing up to the hog-eye sailors? Like information not just pertaining to missing shipments, but also of any stories they might have, or anything else that might be of note? Or even just form a network with the crews, officers, and captains.

Via helping them work the yard on their ships, sailing the waters, drinking and gambling with them, etc? Basically, blending in with them as a fellow, experienced, shellback sailor. Not necessarily by asking things outright, but by being around them and entering their local circles as best she can and getting small bits and pieces from them.

Re: QUESTIONS!

[everblooms]

hi, mods! popping back in now that aerith has more ic motivations to prod into the underground. hopefully this isn't vague butttt:

1) with her flower communicating back, is there anything off about the underground? anything that can be communicated through that ability?
2) would there be any specifications about what the underground is, beyond just being, well, the underground?
3) are the celestials something the flowers have anything to say about, actually??
4) do the flowers want anything from her, or the rest of the lost souls?

SORRY, MODS.......

[himbosupreme]

In light of his new abilities, if Cain turned into a cat and followed some of the black market people around to see where they're coming from or what they are saying about the source, would he be able to get anything?