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jigokufever2022-06-24 11:00 am
jigokumods) wrote in jigokufever2022-06-24 11:00 am
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June 2022 Test Drive
MAIN NAVIGATION
1. CLEAN UP
The curse has broken, finally banishing the oppressive air around the city and the many sightless eyes of the accursed haniwa. Life will have to return to normal now but first there is lingering clean-up that must be attended to:SHUTEN CLAN
The Shuten Clan is out in force to rebuild damaged storefronts. Eager oni appear in their festival happi, singing oni working tunes. You can pick up the words easily enough, join in and help out. The mood starts bright, but after a number of unlucky accidents there is less singing and more grumbling. The cursed energy left behind has made all of you much more prone to workplace accidents but the storefronts need to be scrubbed, broken glass needs sweeping, new furniture needs construction. There are any number of thumbs smashed by hammers, hands cut on saws, heads hit with falling debris or that board of wood you didn’t see someone carrying towards you. It’s a cursed day to be out on the job.
Rewards will come in the form of free drinks for a week from specific bars and a generous amount of chips for the casinos. If you aren’t of age to drink or gamble? Well… they’ll look the other way this time. Have fun.
It should be noted that the uniform -- a happi, a hachimaki, and fundoshi -- is required. The Shuten Clan is very traditional, after all.TAMAMO CLAN
The bathhouses in Tamamo clan territory remain full of bloodied water. They need to be drained and scrubbed to make them new again. However, reaching the drains is a tricky business. You can’t simply reach in to pull out the plug, you will have to wade into the water to twist it free. Easy enough, right?
Unfortunately, residual curse energy has made this a very dangerous task. Phantasmal hands will reach out and try to drag you under as you get too close to the drain. The phantasms can be distracted, so you’ll need some teamwork to succeed. Your reward is a significant amount of free bath coupons. Some of the advertised baths even have “special” properties. Take the chance to relax, you probably need it.
Those that are rejuvenated in the newly purified baths will find themselves with seemingly limitless vigor. That vigor may sometimes manifest in the form of desperately needing to fuck the first thing willing to do so. Which might turn out somewhat embarrassing...SUTOKU CLAN
The residual cursed energy in the Sutoku Alliance territory has congregated in their many arcades. The prizes in the UFO catcher machines seem off and they keep shifting around. If you happen to win a prize, the prize slot snaps shut on your hand with amazing force: the machine out for blood. To clear the curse, the prizes need to be removed from the machines and purified with the help of a local shrine maiden. Unfortunately, the key ring to open the machines has been stolen by some of the unruly prizes. You will need to use your UFO catcher skills to fish it back out.
Try not to lose any fingers.
Other machines are shooting tokens out of their coin slots at astonishingly painful speeds. A strange phenomenon, as even the machines that take swipe cards are doing it. Where are those tokens even coming from? You will have to get the machines open and give them a deep cleaning to get all the residual blood off the coins and mechanisms. You need the same keys that are stuck inside the UFO catcher…. Better hope you can fish out the one you need.
For your troubles, you will be given unlimited free plays for a month. Perfect for winning a totally-not-cursed prize for your sweetie.ENMA DEPARTMENT
It’s the Department of the Enma’s turn to go begging for good will. They are considered to be mostly responsible for the way the cursed haniwa were handled in the first place. Enma souls should get out on the streets and see what the people need: Food, clean water, housing repairs and maintenance, as well as exorcisms. They’re all high on people’s priority lists and most people want it done pronto. Try not to get snappy with the angry people, the department’s reputation is on the line.
The Enma is slated to give a press conference at some point. It's up to the rest of the Department to assure that there will be reception to his words. They are likely to be of grave importance to the rest of the city.
A hard day’s work is its own reward, but you’ll also get a day pass to a theme park on the edge of the city – in the name of community outreach, of course.
2. GHOST SHARKS
The very streets themselves are treacherous with residual curses. The isonades may have been intimidated out of town for the moment but the anger of their ancestors lingers in the bloody puddles that still glisten in the streets. Come too close to these puddles and spectral sharks will lunge from beneath the surface: Blood for blood! Lives for lives!
While spectral in nature, the teeth on these sharks can still do real harm to anyone they lash out at. They don’t seem to take damage in kind, but will pop and disperse for a moment when struck. The ghostly sharks are being populated by a magic totem that has been partially buried in the dirt of a local park. Destroy it and the sharks will disappear.
Unfortunately, a pack of snotty local children have taken a shine to this magic totem. They are not keen to let you take it from them, nor break it. It’s theirs. It’s special. If you’re feeling brutish or cruel, you can fight the children or deceive them, but your boss would probably suggest you try to bargain with them for appearance’s sake. They’re entirely unreasonable though, as children can be, and it will be quite a chore to get them to agree to your terms.
3. CURSED CORNERS
There are certain corners and alleyways which are simply predisposed to gather cursed energy. These areas are still haunted enough to affect the reality around you. You may experience hallucinations or visions of lost loved ones, past regrets, personal failings. These visions are played out in the area for all to see. You will remain frozen in place until your moment is done, or someone brave comes to pull you out.
Now that the worst of it is over, some of the more morbid and voyeuristic members of the public may be lurking around these haunted areas, waiting to see what horrors will be unveiled. They have out their phones and their cameras to record the show.
The cruelest of the spectators provide commentary to their social media followings as they observe. Anything for that monetization!
The biggest of the streams is a kerakera onna who goes by her channel name: Lipsticki. She leans in over the rooftops to cackle loudly at people’s misfortunes and give petty, scathing commentary about their misdeeds and failings.
4. THE ENMA SPEAKS (PLOT RELEVANT)
Outside the hospital where the Enma was being treated, there is a huge press gathering. The judge arbiter has been deemed fit enough to release. Hungry for word, journalists from every publication swarm the area. Most press-outlets in the city are controlled by the Sutoku Alliance, who have a vested interested in interrogating the Enma.
A number of other onlookers have tacked on as well, including Lost Souls both old and new. Lost Souls may even find themselves ordered to attend the statement by their faction.
It is assumed that the Enma must have something of grave importance to say, after all.
The Enma approaches the podium. He is dressed in his usual suit, his crown, and his stern expression; it puts a hush over the crowd through its tremendous pressure alone. No questions have been asked, yet, but a statement has been prepared. He clears his throat:
"The cause of the curse, the enemy of Jigokucho, is... Haniyasu. The Department's focus will be shifting to determining our next action in regards to this entity. That is all."
Just like, the Enma's secretary and a retinue of armored shinigami move to flank the Enma and guide them to a waiting limo down the steps. The press yells their questions over one another, but are pushed back. The Enma doesn't even seem to perceive them, simply focusing on getting into the car.
Unfortunately, if you're a representative for one of the factions -- especially the Department of the Enma -- that makes you fair game to hound for questioning too. Do you stand your ground or try to run away?
[[banner art by s-tokimura]]
Welcome to the test drive meme!
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- NEWBIE TOP LEVELS
no subject
How strange his life seems to be.]
Then... I guess I should say it's good to meet you... again? You seem to already know my name.
[Asogi--he can't confirm or deny whether it's actually his, but it does send a dull throb pulsing down his neck whenever he re-alights on the thought. He keeps rolling it around in his head anyway, like he's tonguing at a sore tooth. Asogi. Asogi. Asogi.
Regardless, it's a convenient excuse not to introduce himself.]
I would ask how we know each other, but... you may have had a point about going indoors.
[By which he means... while they've been distracted talking, the ghosts appear to have been congregating again.]
no subject
Van Zieks draws his sword once more and feels strange. Kazuma Asogi is holding a pitiful little stick, but there is something damningly familiar about being surrounded by hostiles with nobody but this man at his side. They've fought their way through something like that before - will do so for Kazuma. It makes Barok's head hurt to think about. ]
The Konbini store down the street will do.
[ Anything to get them away from the blood puddles and their ghostly summons. A conversation like the one they're about to have doesn't deserve comfort anyway. ]
no subject
A "konbini" turns out to be some kind of general store--which is not what Kazuma was expecting from the name--only outfitted with some kind of mechanically operated door that opens at their approach as if by magic, accompanied by a strange little jingle. Kazuma may be quickly becoming jaded by all the unbelievable technology he's encountered in this world, but some things it's hard not to still be surprised by. The place even seems to have miniature cooling rooms tucked into the back. He'd stop to marvel at it all if certain matters weren't much more pressing.
The sharks don't seem to be very smart, thankfully, and once they're both in the safety of the building they bob along right past the doors like lost, toothy balloons. Kazuma doesn't waste any time before he turns to van Zieks, very curious to how he knows--or might know in the future--an apparent Englishman.
(Somewhere deep in his gut, so deep he's afraid to acknowledge it, a spark of hope ignites. Had they met in England? Had he made it to London before he'd lost his memory?)]
Well, then. We're indoors.
[He's not going to insult van Zieks by pretending like he could have forgotten what they were talking about.]
no subject
Still, the kobini is not the ideal backdrop for difficult conversation. Van Zieks feels trapped between the stands of illicit magazines and the colorful snack adverts. Behind the register, a small TV is running lottery numbers. The atmosphere is suffocating.
And still, Barok takes a deep breath and meets Kazuma's eyes. ]
I am -or will be- your superior and mentor at the Prosecutor's Office. You are aspiring towards that profession, are you not?
[ It occurs to van Zieks that he has no idea if that had always been a goal of Kazuma's or just a whim Stronghart pushed onto him in exchange for allowing him to stay in London. ]
no subject
Van Zieks doesn't even seem to realize how much, with the matter-of-fact way he'd said it. (Or perhaps that's just his personality?) They're both prosecutors, are they? The notion fails to ring a bell, and Kazuma truly can't say whether that has any significance to him. Whether it's related to his purpose in London or purely incidental. He certainly has no idea how to answer van Zieks' returning question.
Which he realizes he's been contemplating a beat too long, but his mind is racing. So he was--or will be--studying as a prosecutor in the future? Van Zieks had said mentor, not employer. And Kazuma had arrived in hell wearing a gakuran. Perhaps he's some kind of law student.
Something on the underside of his skull tingles, bringing with it a sensation not quite like dizziness. He's been quiet for too long. He needs to say something.]
I suppose so. [A lie that isn't quite a lie, something he's coming to realize he's quite good at. He hopes he managed to keep his face as blank.
He needs to figure out how far in the future van Zieks is from, without giving away that he can't remember anything at all. And he needs to keep the topic going before van Zieks decides he's being suspicious.]
And how long have we been... working together?
no subject
Still, Kazuma does seem more confused than assertive, it is a far cry from his attitude when van Zieks last saw him. ]
We spent about five months' time working side by side before I was dragged into the hell that is this town. Our relationship was... strictly professional throughout the entire period, so you needn't be concerned about overt familiarity.
[ Except for the part where each of their life's trauma is intimately linked, but. Aside from that fundamental stuff, van Zieks truly does not feel like he knows Kazuma very well. ]
no subject
All right, then I won't be.
[The irony of the situation is utterly lost on him, of course. The answer to the question that's been driving him since he woke up in hell--what do I need to do in London?--is standing right in front of him, and he has no idea. As far as Kazuma is concerned, encountering a coworker from the future is a funny coincidence and very little else; he doesn't remember any of the baggage, after all.
Certainly, Kazuma wouldn't have confided in this Barok van Zieks his secret, so there's little point asking about it, and even less reason to confide in him now. There is no cause to break from the dynamic van Zieks has presented to him, so Kazuma won't. And that's all there is to it.]
Is it... Mr van Zieks, then? I thank you for your candour. I can't say whether we'll continue to work together here, but it's good to know I have an ally of sorts.
no subject
[ Which isn't to say that he doesn't still find it grating whenever someone calls him 'Mr' - he just also realizes that people will respect him less for insisting on the title. There is no van Zieks family established in Jigoku-cho and every attempt to throw around the weight of his name rightfully invites mockery.
Kazuma can decide for himself now if he wants to honor etiquette from a time he has yet to experience. ]
Have you had your faction assignment yet?
no subject
[Van Zieks is in luck! Kazuma is just as surprised at how easily the deference comes to him; so he seems to have some knowledge of appropriate manners. He supposes it's fitting, if they really were--are to be?--coworkers.]
I've yet to be approached, as it happens. Are you recruiting? [His tone is mild, even joking, but there's definitely a note of suspicion. He doesn't trust these factions yet, and he doesn't truly know this van Zieks, either. At this point, Kazuma is just trying to suss out everyone's agendas.]
no subject
Barok shakes his head. ]
No. Lost Souls do not hold the authority required to influence faction assignments. They are given from the highest point of command.
[ Regardless of Barok's tumultuous personal feelings, the Enma would be a fool to leave Kazuma to the other factions. ]
But if you do find yourself in the Department of the Enma, you are free to seek me out in the Justice Division. I would not mind continuing your education.
[ Because he's a masochist. ]