jigokulogs | August 2022 Event

August 2022 Event

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Toraguma and Tenkohime were not exaggerating when they said that Sai no Kawara was bound to attract extraordinarily deep pockets. The Celestials are already familiar to the Lost Souls, but among the crowds of customers are humans and yokai of wealth that can only be calculated in the billions, and even trillions. Powerful executives have come out to play, the sort of power brokers that almost exist beyond faction politics, the tier who makes the most money out of the city's dealings.

The event has an air of class that is far beyond what the average Lost Soul will have ever imagined…

1. GAMBLING PROBLEM (1 POINT)

The main event comes in the form of the games. This is where the Shuten Clan shines, as they offer up a plethora of gambling opportunities for the rich and powerful to partake in. There might be a Lost Soul or two at the tables, if they're feeling particularly lucky. Buy-in to a game isn't cheap, but if you're low on cash, you can substitute a handful of stellar Stardust to the pot.

Western games like Poker, Blackjack, and Roulette share space with Eastern standards like Cee-lo and Cho-han. Shuten Clan dealers have been training hard for this moment. They have learned to cheat on behalf of the House to scrape as much from these high rollers as they can. Those Shuten attendants who win big for the House will be duly compensated for their fine efforts.

If you're very clever, or very lucky, you might just be able to secure quite a payout for yourself as a player too. Just don't get caught pulling any funny business. The Shuten Clan bouncers have also been training quite thoroughly for this event. If you're not one of the fabulously wealthy tycoons, the bouncers have little incentive to play nice with you.

Should fighting break out, there is an arena onsite. Bets are flying there, too. Are you willing to wager your own pretty face?

2. PLEASURE PALACE (1 POINT)

Tenkohime wasn't exaggerating when she called her turf in the newly renovated underground a palace. The attendants at the Palace of Sai greet their wealthy clientele warmly, and they have a host of wondrous and rare delights to offer. As a rare treat, the Lost Souls are encouraged to indulge in this decadence. If the prices make you choke, remember that a little bit of Stardust will go a long way this season.

Food and drinks are of the highest quality. Delicacies from across Japan and the world abroad have been prepared, including many dishes not even of the Earth as you might know it. Particular favorites from the drinks menu are:
Side Cars that have been made with cognac from a 300,000 yen bottle.
Platinum Passions that have been made with L’esprit de Courvoisier; 800,000 yen per bottle.
Eightfold Blessing is a captivating and aromatic mix considered to be Tenkohime's very own specialty. It grants the vigor to fulfill any desire; 1,000,000 yen a glass.
The pricey and fabulous drinks are just an encouragement. The Tamamo's best trained consorts are ready to offer their private services, usually in pairs. They have some Tanabata wishes of their own, and want to make them come true through their talents and skills. Not every encounter is sexual, some consorts simply wish to spend time with their clients and make them feel like the most important person in the world today. With the big price tags on their hours, the customer might very well be.

In addition to expensive meals, sex, and company, the Tamamo Clan also offers theater and performances. They have contracted with the highest caliber performers in the city, even those on loan from other factions. Dancers, musicians, and entertainers of all varieties are waiting in the wings to put on a show.

3. GOSSIP (1 POINT)

One of the performances gracing the stage in the Palace of Sai may seem familiar! The band Moonday played at the food truck festival last month. As it turns out, the lead singer -- a wolf girl named Ringo-chan -- is the daughter of one of the wealthiest executives within the Alliance's network of finance kings; Kaberou. She's run away from her restrictive life to rough it with her band. Big money is riding on convincing her to come home. There's another rumor floating around that the pirates attacking the supply lines have been putting pressure on Kaberou. Is he securing buyers for these pirated goods?

Rumors are flying: the kind of rumors that can bring riches or ruin. The Daitengu has commanded their people to keep their ears open. Do they happen upon a juicy lead? Do they find a way to reconnect Kaberou with his estranged daughter? Do they discover more about the pirates? Do tell, do tell!

Even the staff of the Enma Department will find lips much looser than usual around them. When you're this rich, you think you're above the standards of the law. There's plenty of conversation that might be of interest to the Department. In particular, one name does keep coming up...

It comes up when discussing Kaberou's dealings with these pirates, and how much of a wrench his daughter's negligence to the life has been for his business. It's spoken of in hushed tones, even by the Celestials. It is an ominous name: "Iron Bear"

4. TANABATA (2 POINTS)

The grand opening of the underground is the centerpiece of an otherwise familiar Tanabata celebration. Using the accumulated Stardust, the Tamamo Clan's onmyouji have collaborated with Kappa engineers and the Shuten Clan's resident blacksmith to create a truly wonderful spectacle for the festival.

Despite Sai no Kawara existing underground, the overhead sky is full of brilliant stars on display. It is a one-to-one recreation of the cosmic tapestry of the Milky Way streaking through the sky like the astral river from the Tanabata legend.

The stars Vega and Altair, also known as Orihime and Hikoboshi, are highlighted in the tapestry. They take form and dance together above everyone, they encourage the feelings of love to fill the air. Romantic love, platonic love, familial love: it doesn't matter. This is the product of peace, hard work, and cooperation. This is the dream of the Daitengu and their lieutenants. Dance to the music. Drink your fill. This is a celebration of love, and there's so much love here, for everyone.

Attendees are encouraged to write their wishes on the colorful talismans distributed. Bamboo trees decorate the central square, waiting to be draped with wishes. Even if you are not familiar with Tanabata, it will be easy to pick up on the ritual. The magic in the air tonight is incredibly strong, these wishes might even come true.

5. "WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE" (2 POINTS)

Late into the evening, the Daitengu takes to the stage. They welcome everyone and hope that they have had a good night. Toraguma and Tenkohime flank them, and each says a few words to the crowd. Then, Sutoku lieutenant Sakamoto is called up to the stage for the moment of truth.

Toraguma, regretfully, announces that Sakamoto has made good on his promises. The holes in their supply lines have been uncovered found, the black market is becoming less of a bleed on their finances, and the road to finding out who -- or what -- is causing the disruption is becoming clearer. The great oni will always honor a promise kept, and reaches out his hand to shake Sakamoto's in a gesture of gratitude.

The timing, as usual, is a little dramatic.

A group of shadowy figures wearing rough-spun gear storm the stage. Several of them snatch Ringo-chan from where she is waiting to perform and drag her away. Another lunges at Sakamoto with a make-shift sword of crude metal. Just before the blade can cut Sakamoto, the would-be assassin is stopped by Toraguma. With their wrist snatched and broken, the assassin screams out:

"We come on behalf of the Iron Bear, and we know who you are!"

In his rage and fury, Toraguma breaks the assassin's neck, slamming him down to the stage. He dies within moments, while the rest of the attackers flee. They've kidnapped Ringo-chan.

Sai no Kawara is quickly flooded with armed and armored officers of the Enma Department. They instruct everyone to remain calm. No one panic. The Enma himself has arrived, and he is going to start questioning everyone about what just happened. Who is the Iron Bear? What in hell do they want? It's time for some answers.

Well… As far as parties in Jigoku-cho go… this one could have been worse, yeah?

Welcome to the August event!

Art in the final prompt by Yang Tuo
If you have any questions about event content, please ask them here!
Each prompt is labeled for it's value in terms of qualifying threads for Rewards.
If your character is in the Shuten Clan and cheating on behalf of the house, find out how well they pulled it off by posting here! Those that do well will get a special bonus from Toraguma.
If your character is trying any of the games of chance, find out how they paid out here!
If your character put on a performance at the Palace of Sai's stage, find out how the crowd reacted here! Regardless of clan affiliation, those that do well will be rewarded by Tenkohime!
For results on the gossip floating around the festival, post here!
For Department members, if your character is going to interrogate NPC festival goers, let us know here and we can post some more specific results!
TANABATA WISHES! POST THEM HERE!
If you have questions about the game itself, please check out the premise, FAQ, and rules pages.

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Well, it's as Minakami thought. Tanabata is here, with autumn visible over the horizon, and here he still is -- him, Tamamori, and now Kawase, too. He'd hoped at first that the contract fulfillment would be one drastic task, over and done with in a week or a month. And yet here they were.

(It was written that a lifetime in one of the hells could span thousands of billions and trillions of years, any span of time necessary to balance the deeds on one's soul. It was a truly unfathomable length of time, orders of magnitudes beyond even he could imagine. He's wondered if the possibility has occurred to anyone else. Surely not. Surely nobody here, least of all his friends, deserved that.)

Still, such thoughts didn't have any place in the glittering Underground, or even in the casino, air heavy with smoke and whiskey and the shouts and cheering from the fighting ring.

The last game had wrapped up quickly: Minakami would have rather have left earlier, the moment that one of the patrons had made their displeasure with his friend very clear, but Kawase had insisted on staying for one more round to spite them, grinning like a shark behind the darkening bruise around his eye.

Minakami had not played very well at all after that. But that was technically his role, so maybe nobody noticed.

Staying for another round was probably for the best. The angry patron wasn't anywhere to be seen by the time they were done; if it had escalated, Minakami knows he'd intervene and... that would have only gone badly.

As soon as he can, he herds Kawase into the employee-only area to change from suits into yukata -- more to the point, the yukata that Tamamori had strongarmed them into picking out. (Shuten or not, he's not sure they're supposed to go there, but Minakami figures that for his friend, even the dingy backrooms are preferable to the public washrooms.)

"Did you really have to push that guy that far? I thought he was going to call you out to the arena." He holds the exit door open, letting in a wave of the relatively-clean air from the 'outside'. There's no breeze, but it's still welcome after the stifling closeness of the gambling hall. "Tamamori's going to see it, you know..."

This sort of event was frivolous, if you asked him; but never let anyone say Kawase was an underachiever. Sleight of hand had never been in his wheelhouse before, but with some extra help from Nishitani, and Minakami's gracious assistance later on, it turns out scamming the drunk, rich, and foolish at the cards' table was very lucrative and stimulating. One could almost think he was even having fun.

Of course, a dealer upsetting a belligerent drunk with their losings was inevitable, and even more so when it was Kawase was purposefully stirring the pot. The man had taken a swing and clocked him right int he eye, only to be held back and brought down by his friend and another Shuten bouncer (though it had been especially funny watching Minakami look like he was going to panic.)

If he could ever be said to have some kind of virtue, it was the fact that he could bounce back from a hit with ease, and he stood up straight, rolling his neck as he continued with the next round. At least until the man's friend dragged him away, and then Minakami had all but dragged him away. Though Kawase lets him, despite the fact that he was still grinning wide and cruel, his heart still beating fast.

"You think he could've even made it that far? I think he'd probably slip and fall into the pit." Did he have a single recourse if actually had to go to the arena?? Not really, but unsurprisingly he didn't care. "What's wrong? Just tell him it's a workplace hazard."

There's something almost nostalgic about all this: Kawase's expression as he's almost vibrating with energy after an altercation with bullies, all of it is familiar, right down to the purpling bruise on his face. (The only difference is that now he's here to step in. And even then, not fast enough.)

Out under the stardust display, there's no real chance of mistaking it as the real sky; it's too vivid, the individual stars much too clear after having seen how muted the night sky was in this era. Even so, Minakami drifts to a halt, looking contemplatively up at the display.

"Mm. That would count as a forfeit, if he fell over himself." He doesn't quite manage to keep the concern from his voice: For all that Kawase didn't care, Minakami probably worried two, three times as much to compensate. He just hoped that the man had been too drunk -- or too distracted by the other entertainments available -- to remember the object of his ire in the future.

"'Workplace hazard' is why. I think he's still worried that the oni will bite your head off as soon as look at you." Tama seemed to have eased off on that phobia, compared to their first weeks here, but Minakami still wasn't sure where it had come from. They'd surely seen more fearsome yokai, after all.

"It would be the shortest match in all of Jigoku." The thought amused him, but he wasn't eager to go running all around just for one guy's humiliation. Not unless he knew him, at least.

But he follows Minakami nonetheless; though he lacks any of the awe, or potential interest he has in the false sky. The stars in the capital had never shined as brightly as they had in Aizu, and the fake light show here was no better.

"Hm...?" Besides, there was nothing as interesting as those wrinkled, complicated little pouts that both Minakami and Tamamori were prone to. "Is that the way he said it? Biting my head off?" Actually, with the good mood the altercation had put him in, it was kinda funny. "I hope he hasn't ruined the mood, talking about something like that."

"Yeah? You might get a reputation as an unstoppable foe. Your opponent falling at your feet before he could approach you one more time?" It's not a serious suggestion, though Minakami supposes that it'd be one way to discourage more black eyes from aggrieved drunks.

At least, until someone called their bluff. Maybe not, then.

He tears his gaze back down to earth, glancing over his shoulder at Kawase behind him -- sometimes he can't shake the idea that if he was lucky or fast, he might catch a different expression on his face. He hasn't yet. Though he doesn't know what has Kawase so amused.

"Eh? Not in so many words..." Whether that was true or Minakami was trying to smooth the statement over and downplay Tamamori worrying just as much over him hanging around oni... "Something about them just bothered him even before you came. He never really said why. I've never heard of them going after a Lost Soul like that."

As enticing as the idea was, he has a feeling it wouldn't last very long, given how ready to fight the rest of their clan was. He's risky, not stupid.

"Is that so..." The wicked amusement stays strong on his face, but it seems to be more-- well, biting, and the-- whatever you can count as joy for him-- from the fight drops right in that moment between faces.

"That's probably because of the oni that was trying to kill me, back in the capital. He killed Hanazawa, and even you, once." It's not exactly the subject of casual conversation, but he at least seems to only be distant, rather than forcing that tone. "Ah... but that was just someone in a cheap oni mask. I don't know why he's so bothered about it, when they look nothing alike. "

Edited (oppressed by nero to fuck up html) 2022-09-12 23:36 (UTC)

Almost lost under the noise of the crowds or the music (prerecorded and piped in from speakers over an empty stage, the scheduled performance wasn't for hours yet), there's a sharp intake of breath.

His own death -- deaths -- he's had time (barely, who ever could have enough time?) to reframe them in his mind as the machinations of another, even though he'd believed they were by choice. Hanazawa's fate being twisted into theirs is something he doesn't know how to approach, after so many years of thinking he was out of their lives for good. But. "He tried to kill you...?"

For a long moment, all Minakami can think is how much of an insensitive ass he's been.

"Who was it? The old man from the bookstore?"

Kawase isn't sure which part exactly had caused Minakami's sharp breath, but it was still interesting. Maybe the news about his own death, or Hanazawa's; he must not have been told about Hanazawa's presence in the capital.

"Sure. He succeeded a few times, too." His smile was almost... tranquil, his head tilting a little as one hand came up to gently hold his jaw... though in the end it looks more like his fingers were brushing against his own neck.

(The truth was, thinking about those fingers tearing and sinking through the skin off his neck still unsettled him in a way he couldn't articulate. It was the sort of thought best to be removed him, though he couldn't really drift farther than he already was, right now.)

"The old man... Tamamori already told you about him, hm?" Well, at least some of it, though he couldn't imagine Tama being able to tell Minakami about the future he'd brought with him. "No, it wasn't him. But he was yanking the chain of the one who did. I don't think he liked us very much."

Edited (why do i always forget the cw) 2022-09-14 08:02 (UTC)

"Succeeded..."

Minakami's not sure what frightens him more, the clear implication of that gesture (and why does his mind try to fill in the gaps, like it was just a scene from some thriller novel or gory detective serial) or the incongruous tranquility on his face. It's as if Kawase had seen his own death, and perhaps he had.

"He did." Even though most of him recoils at learning more about the 'old man' (and now his unknown accomplice), and whatever pitiful future he had come from. Didn't like us very much is such a-- uniquely Kawase way of putting it that, despite him, a pained smile spreads on his lips.

"... It's strange. It feels as if in almost every time and place, you and I are dead, except for this one. Like being the only trees standing after a typhoon." He studies the loose cuffs of his sleeves, the stiff new fabric. "Do you think that's fate?"

The last two trees after a typhoon... It was a romantic sort of image, wasn't it? Weathered and battered, and branches broken, but still standing... mm. He didn't think his own life was that noble to fit the picture; even if Minakami had been the one to say it, it felt presumptive to put the both of them side-by-side.

"That's quite a poetic way to put it." He could only imagine what was going through Minakami's mind to make him say it, with that oh-too-familiar smile on his face, always so quiet and sad. He looks up at the false stars, while Minakami looks down. "If you ask me, it's more like inevitability. Or just one particular idiot trying to rewrite that fate."

He takes a few steps, scuffing his shoe against the ground. Maybe it's the stardust in the air making Kawase feel like he has any business speaking to it-- but he looks off, his smile disappearing. "...Well, maybe it's only inevitable for one of us. But I can't think of anyone who wanted you of all people dead. Even the old man never sent that demon after you."

A corner of his mouth crooks up, as he casts an eye on the crowd for "one particular idiot" to show up. Even in this panoply of yokai and celestials milling around, he'd be able to pick out his friends no matter what.

"It's the time of year to say such things," he says lightly. "If Orihime could rewrite fate, I wonder if she would do things differently, if she knew how it would turn out? Would she find a way to be with her cowherd more than one night a year? Or would she say she was happy like this, that asking for more was too much?"

There was a chance here to say why other unlucky fates, other lives, are on his mind; it's not only because of time travel. But maybe he's still a coward, after all, to only say these things in roundabout metaphor.

"... No. He just took care of me himself. I was already keeping secrets; he gave me more excuses to hide from you two." Actually talking about it is hard, still, as hard as anything. "...perhaps if I hadn't been so "cooperative", we'd have met the same fate."

"Hm...?" He looks over at Minakami curiously, when the topic of Orihime's tragic story came up. He remembered thinking it was fantastical as a child... but it's not like he had his head in the clouds as much as Minakami and Tamamori, always thinking about stories and whatnot. He hadn't really thought about it since the last time he'd actually celebrated Tanabata back in Aizu.

But the question of her judgment and desires... to be honest, he didn't know. Was there really anything wrong with asking to see her beloved more? But with her father's stern correction, what could really been done to change their fate...?

"...Maybe." It didn't surprise him Minakami kept his own secrets-- gods only knew all of them did-- but something about that old man... it sounded like he'd tried to drive Minakami even further away, and it left him with a hole under his chest. Though, he'd done plenty of the same to both of them over the years... but Minakami's outcome had been much more horrific than Kawase could ever cause.

"I would have to ask the two who have already rewritten fate before, wouldn't I?" He crosses his arms, his expression flat, and quiet, but lacking any real hint of negativity. Or, positivity, admittedly. "But if I had to answer... if you were the cowherd, anyone would do whatever it took to see her again, beyond their one night. I suppose it depends on if you're willing to stand up to the wrath of the heavens."

He watches Kawase turn the question over in his head, his expression so different from the sharp amusement he'd worn all night. If this is Kawase's guard down, Minakami doesn't know if he's seen it before, not for years.

(When they were all kids, he'd been too little to think about the legend beyond the romantic tragedy; only when Minakami was in his teens he'd considered the perspective of Orihime's father. Was he someone who had given his daughter a role with too-high expectations, without regard of what she wanted? Or was he bound by the same laws he enforced, only able to bend the rules so far? Maybe it's just childish, trying to apply his strange life to these old stories. His father's actions as a yokai's host were his own, separate from Minakami's choices.)

The metaphor feels like it's starting to crack here, too, even as he keeps going. "A part of me would have always said, the fate I'd changed -- the result was that 'one night'. I didn't feel like I could ask for more than that." He adjusts the fold of his sleeves again, for once meeting Kawase's eyes. "...it's moot, maybe, after what Tamamori already did. But if I knew how... the answer is, yes. I would try."

That 'one night,' so many years ago... he wasn't sure if it was really comparable to that hope and happiness that came every year for Tanabata. Although, maybe that was just for him. In a way, he was sort of jealous of Tamamori; he'd never remembered that night until recently, but to Kawase, it must have been a joyous one. Being found by Minakami in the rain, begged to stay home out of desperate fear for his life, and waking up to that cold, grey morning with his friend at his side. For him, the night had always been almost.. mundane, and yet it'd so drastically changed all of their lives at once. Of course, it's not like he could imagine what a better outcome would've been, either.

"I wouldn't call it a very romantic 'one night.'" He adds sarcastically, meeting Minakami's gaze, but... still, in a way it sort of left him flustered. No color reached his face, but he could surely count on one hand the number of times Minakami had been willing to look at him directly since they'd left Aizu.

"But you're still just as much of a sap, aren't you..." It's not a bad thing. It makes him a little happy, even. Maybe it's just more of the stardust putting him in a good mood, but even if his smile was still sharp, it was... simpler, when he met Minakami's own gaze. "Though wouldn't it be a bit foolish to try again? Not that either of you seem to accept anything less than success... You're both so stubborn, I could believe you would pull it off as many times as you pleased."

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August 2022 Event

closed starters

tanabata: kawase + tamamori

generously puts this before he busts his hand

i slide down the wall, a stone cold corpse, a month later

this is now a post-queen elizabeth II world

living under the dual regime of reigensweep and sans the usurper

all hail the kings, may they find victory over harry du bois, the most pathetic man alive

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cw: decapitation implication???? ??? ????

this Always Happens

maybe it wouldn't if they didn't suck

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