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jigokufever2022-02-22 06:06 pm
jigokumods) wrote in jigokufever2022-02-22 06:06 pm
Entry tags:
February 2022 Test Drive
MAIN NAVIGATION
1. ENTRY
It feels like a dream as you wake up in what appears to be a government office. It is remarkably mundane: white walls, small screens with the number that is being served and at what desk, chairs along the perimeter of the room, and pleasant music playing from unseen speakers. There's nothing out of the ordinary, right?
Then you take a look at the inhabitants in the office: Lost Souls and youkai alike make up the ranks of a never-ending line in front of a desk manned by an akaname in a suit. However, another youkai, a hyakume, is your first contact in this world. You're instructed to take a number and stand in the queue. Take a seat if you want– but you're reminded to be quick when your number is called or you'll be passed by.
Congratulations: you're in Hell.
If you're lucky, you're in line behind a fellow Lost Soul. If you're less lucky, you're stuck behind any number of youkai that may be disturbing to look at or ones that may actively try to harm you. The ones with long arms may even try to steal your ticket from further back in the line.
Make small talk, try not to freak out, and keep your ticket safe (or maybe try to steal a better one) as you make your way up in the line.
2. THE CITY
Once you've been processed through the line, you're given your assignment to one of the four possible clans with directions to their respective clan offices. The city itself looks remarkably similar to a modern Japanese city, complete with narrow alleyways connecting wider streets. Glaring neon signs advertising various businesses compete for your attention, even the most mundane businesses.
Once you tear your attention away from the myriad distractions, your task is to find your way to the office. The akaname didn't exactly give you clear directions, just a piece of paper with an address printed on it. You’re on your own to find your way there.Ask your fellow Lost Souls for directions or stubbornly find your way to the office all on your own. No matter how you get there, once you've made your way to the office you're given your lodgings (for rookies, it’s always the cheapest inn or apartment block in the area) and told to go out and get a feel for the city.
- Those assigned to the Shuten Clan are directed to the gambling district.
- The Tamamo Clan members are directed to the red light district.
- New members of the Sutoku Alliance are pointed to the entertainment district.
- Those assigned to The Department of the Enma are sent to the administrative district.
3. STREET FIGHT - SHUTEN TERRITORY
Scuffles break out all the time in Jigokucho, especially in the district dominated by the Shuten Clan. Whether it's a rival clan posturing over someone being on the wrong turf, shakedowns of all sorts, or just someone with a chip on their shoulder picking a fight: it always draws a crowd of onlookers.
No matter what street you're going down or what you're on your way to do, there always seems to be a fight to block the way. Take a look, take bets, or maybe you're the one caught in the brawl. Maybe someone decided they didn't like the way you looked at them or maybe they're trying to catch you in a petty scam. You may also feel the need to step in when fights are looking particularly one-sided.
Get used to this happening.
4. STICKY PAWS - SUTOKU TERRITORY
One of the more adorable features in the city is a cat cafe. Located within Sutoku territory, it always draws a steady crowd. If you're lured in by the adorable cats in the window, you're welcomed into a pleasant, cat-friendly environment with cats of every shape, color, and size lounging on various surfaces while being doted on by patrons. Of course not everything is as it seems: these are no ordinary cats. They're bakeneko in disguise and this cafe is a clever way to spirit away a few more coins for the Sutoku Alliance's coffers.
You may notice your wallet is a few (thousand) bills lighter at some point during your visit or your wallet may be missing entirely. Maybe it was one of your fellow patrons helping themselves while you were playing with a cat or maybe it was one of the cats. Who's to say? You quickly realize this place is not on the up and up; you have to do something about it.
Chase down one of the cats, confront your fellow patrons, or maybe try to shake down the owner for information. The latter won't get you very far, but maybe it'll make you feel better about losing your cash to a cute scam.
5. HELP WANTED - TAMAMO TERRITORY
CW: potentially NSFW, optional aphro
If you find yourself in the red light district, you might find yourself pulled into something else entirely. A scout in front of one of the numerous clubs drags you in off the street, assuming you're from the Tamamo Clan. It doesn't matter if you are or not, the scout is not listening to your protests. They say something about staffing shortages as you're shoved into the employee area of the club. The club manager then pushes some clothes at you and tells you to get out onto the floor once you're dressed. It might be a host club, it might be a bikini or banana bar, or maybe something even more salacious – whatever it is, you're working there for the night.
There are also barkers aggressively recruiting clients for these clubs, promising a good time for anyone who wants it. Whether it be the company of a pretty host or hostess, the lurid appeal of a strip show, or perhaps even other pleasures of the flesh: there's plenty to tempt even the most resistant.
Work at a club for the night or partake in the pleasures. Drinks flow like water, some with a little something extra to help things along. Everything is transactional here. As you have the money, you're bound to find something that tickles your fancy.
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no subject
Right, right. Well, there goes my hopes.
[ At the question, Yuri gives pause. He does one go about breaking the news to a prince unaware of his fate? ]
Let me check something with you. It's now the year 1185 in Fódlan. What year is it in your memory?
no subject
[ by five years? he'd come from five years into the future? is that even possible ...? dimitri looks uncomfortable at the thought. well he's already in another world, what more for the opportunity to meet someone five years ahead of him? it is so ridiculous, and yet he has no choice to believe him. why would someone make a farce out of the future? it just doesn't make sense otherwise.
dimitri frowns intensely, lost in thought. ]
1185 means ... five years into my reign as King.
[ after all, he was slated to be crowned soon. he looks at yuri's face, waiting for him to answer. ]
no subject
I thought as much. That explains our looks, if nothing else.
[ Who knew what sort of king Dimitri would have made? A royal of naive but noble bearing who didn't hold himself above commoners, who didn't treat the people of Abyss with disdain. Faerghus and its people may have been fortunate under his rule. Fódlan will never know.
When Yuri looks at Dimitri next, his expression is somber, almost pitying. ]
You're curious about the future, I bet.
no subject
but the prospect of the future is also something he hesitates on. should he know about it? it seems like ... cheating, maybe, if he did. a strange notion to feel about when it's himself he wants to know of.
dimitri folds his arms over his chest, thinking. ]
... there is no guarantee that the future will play out as how we imagine it to, if there is a chance of our respective wishes being granted in the end.
I suppose there's no harm in finding out what things have been like for you. [ and here dimitri stands still, uncrossing his arms and taking in a more formal stance, a hand over his heart as he realizes something - ] You have my full attention, Yuri. I trust your judgment as to what you deem important for me to know.
Most of all, where I've lacked as a prince, or as king, I encourage you to speak freely. I will make amends.
[ did he do right by duscur? did he resolve relations with other territories, other constituents? yuri probably can't give him that answer, but where abyss and garreg mach are concerned, he can, and he will listen. having no inkling of the future, dimitri doesn't fear it at all. ]
no subject
[ He only need look at Dimitri to have his answer. The poor, unknowing prince holds himself with resolve and talks of self-betterment, oblivious that he won't even get the opportunity to rule.
It's not like Yuri can't understand. If he were in Dimitri's place, curiosity would have gotten the better of him. He would've wanted to know whether his goals were accomplished, what stood in his way, and how he could have played his cards better. If that's cheating, cheating's nothing new to him.
Well. If the prince is so determined, perhaps he can find a way to change his fate, and all of theirs. ]
Fódlan is at war. Just months out from the time you remember, the Adrestian princess, now emperor, declared war on the Church of Seiros seeking to remove them from power and upend Crest-based society. As you can imagine, the Kingdom and Alliance weren't on board. The wheels of war were already in motion for some time. I doubt a single person could have stopped it. Not exactly the future you were expecting to inherit, is it.
no subject
[ that is not what he was expecting, and dimitri looks incredibly aghast and worried. a war. a war, and with edelgard ... as emperor? but what happened to her father? suddenly at the helm of the empire, declaring war against the church of seiros and against the kingdom and the alliance. and it has been in motion for some time?
how is that possible?
dimitri clenches his fist as his thoughts run through his head like thunder. ]
... no ... it can't be.
[ and as prince of faerghus, soon to be king, and edelgard's kin, she would turn her sights on him first. good for claude, he thought, faintly, considering he's not even sure how much the alliance will be able to promise for a full-scale assault from the empire. but these aren't things to take consolation from.
more than that: it is heartbreaking. he can't even tackle the issue of duscur first, because if it was true that war broke out instead, then the issue of duscur would take second place to the fact that he would have to lead and send his friends, his family, all the people he knows, to defend the kingdom. to die for him, under his command. ]
... how is it that I wasn't able to stop her? Or - the Regent, or the lords of the Alliance? [ is claude even alive? ]
no subject
The Regent is dead. And you, accused of murdering him.
[ He lets that sink in, and then he adds. ]
I don't doubt it was the Empire's scheme to frame you and oust you from power. It's what I would do if I wanted to sow discord in the enemy. There's your wretched answer, lion prince. [ Prince. Not king. ] You never took the throne.
no subject
[ him, accused of murdering his uncle. who was instigating this? rodrigue would've not allowed it, considering their history and his affections for him, having taken care of him like his own family. now he is worried.
there are too many possibilities. coincidences in his paranoid mind that suddenly line up; things that weren't concerns before but slight worries suddenly becoming very apparent, like glass held up to bright light. and always - the terrible urge to lash out, retaliate; dimitri's head aches, suffering from the beginnings of a tell-tale headache, the concerns of the dead rattling sabres in the corner of his mind.
and edelgard ....
his body is stiff, the line of his jaw tense as he considers his future. a dark shadow falls over his face, closer to the accusations felix lobbies at him of a monster walking on its hind legs. he lets out a slow exhale. ]
There is no justification for war, but especially the kind of war that plunges friends and kin into the kind of brutality this situation necessitates.
I hope I can reassure you [ for all the good that will do since dimitri doesn't know much about details still ] that I am not the type of person who will kill the regent, or willingly force Faerghus into a war. My uncle and I may have our disagreements, but I have always understood my position relative to his own. And I am not so ambitious about power that I would be so keen to overstep his authority, and impose my will. Such hunger benefits no-one, least of all myself.
I do not know what the future holds - if this is true for me as it is for you, already.
But if it is ... I have many questions for the Emperor.
[ dimitri's hand clenches, unclenches. if he had been holding something it would've been broken minutes ago. for now his voice remains even, calm, despite the undercurrent of violence behind his words. she has betrayed me twice over, he thinks spitefully, once as his friend, twice as kin. not the kind to tell yuri, however, so he clamps on his emotions tightly lest he become careless with them. ]
no subject
[ Yuri waves one hand in the air dismissively as the prince begins to insist that he couldn't possibly be responsible for the murder of his kin. Yeah, Yuri doesn't think so either. Of the three lords, Dimitri's the last one he'd expect capable of treachery, a Faerghus Prince the picture of chivalry and all.
Even if Dimitri were to confront Edelgard, Yuri has a feeling the two won't see eye to eye. But if there's any chance for a peaceful resolution, he won't discourage it. ]
Talk the Emperor down, find a diplomatic solution, I'm all for it. When you nobles go to war, it's the rest of us who foot the bill.
[ Goddess knows it was difficult enough keeping the Abyssians fed when supplies weren't being seized for the army. Yuri can see Dimitri's fist clenching. The dark expression that passes over his face is less that of a charming prince, and more that of the vengeful phantom from the rumors. The news was getting to Dimitri, which means that now is perhaps a good time to take a step back and breathe. ]
...But first things first, focus on the present. You might want to move up in line. [ While they've been wrapped up in conversation, the line has shuffled forward. ]
no subject
[ and so he moves. it's strange, having to change his thoughts from something intense to something mundane. dimitri moves forward as directed, and feels bad that he's held up the line briefly just because he was angered at something he had no control over. yuri was only here to give him the message. he shouldn't make it his responsibility to console him.
he inhales sharply, and reaches into his will the incessant and necessary desire he has to suppress his emotions brutally. it's not the first time he's done it, and in fact, won't be the last at all.
but he feels awful when yuri mentions the realities of war and who bears the brunt of their power. dimitri is quiet, and then he says, ]
For all of my shortcomings, I try not to forget who I owe my power to.
I will not forget the denizens of Abyss and will extend to them my wish.
[ which, at the very least, provides insight to yuri as to what he desires in exchange for service here. and is that any surprise at all? dimitri has always been good at effacing himself. his life has always been in service of a greater purpose; he had never felt it was something for him to keep. ]