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AUGUST EVENT PT 1
premise ⬥ taken ⬥ faq ⬥ navigation
→ 8/3-8/4 School Cultural Festival
Good morning!! The crows start cawing at the crack of dawn and they're really noisy, but while they're usually a nuisance on the best of days, perhaps the wake-up call will be appreciated this weekend, as the school gates are open over the weekend for the annual cultural festival the students have been hard at work on for the past few weeks. It's an open event for family and friends to come enjoy themselves, or perhaps get dragged into helping out in a booth or two, as some of the students have called in sick or can't be reached at all. Either way, the general commotion centered around the school is probably even loud enough to be heard all the way over in Castle Ouma if you're quiet enough. I don't know how else to get you guys who still live in the castle ruins over here... Hopefully you've been hearing people talking about it all of last month? Or maybe you're a newcomer who's just woken up in the castle ruins, spent ten seconds with Kokichi, and decided to leave the forest and never return, that's also very plausible.
Involving the elementary, middle, and high school buildings on their shared campus, all the typical sorts of booths can be found, including a school play performed by the elementary school students in the auditorium in the morning, and various concerts or performances held throughout the day. In the classrooms, food stalls and cafes are common, along with haunted houses for the braver souls. Rumors say that sometimes people who enter the haunted houses never come out the other side... but never mind that. It's fine. Sports clubs hold friendly competitions outside on the field, and many cultural clubs have displays of their work to show off in their club rooms, so there's plenty to do and see and eat all around campus. Despite all the preparation, however, some of the stalls appear to be empty, others with students frantic about not having enough people to keep things rolling smoothly. Looks like the strange illness going around town last month hasn't completely resolved yet, but maybe it's best for those who are ill to stay home in a crowded place like this.
For those seeking something quieter, tucked away in a corner of the high school building next to a struggling yakisoba stand is a fortune telling tent which doesn't seem to be getting many customers. The line is short and there's no fee, so why not give it a shot? Inside, a hooded figure sits, head bowed and face completely obscured in shadow aside from their chin, illuminated by a cheap looking crystal ball placed in the center of the table. A stack of cards lays on their left, a bag of something smelling faintly sweet and spicy sitting on their right. Without prompting, the fortune teller speaks in a low soft voice, greeting you by name. Weird. Weirder yet, they go on to address you by the arcana on your omamori, be it The Fool or The Hermit or what have you, and rather than answering any questions you may have about your future, the fortune teller instead offers one of two messages:
『To return to where you hailed, you must return to where you arrived. Take with you that which bears the name of the being you have banded together to defeat, and restore what once was.』
or
『When the moon's face shines full and bright, at the cusp of night and day, return to the place of beginnings. Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai must be played, to return two lost souls to this world.』
Huh... Before you can ask any questions, however, your time is up and the next person in line is already pushing you out the seat to the exit. You can always return to the end of the line to have another go, but... curiously, when you enter the tent any subsequent times, a high schooler in uniform greets you, bright and chipper. Home? Souls?? She has no idea what you're talking about if you repeat the messages from before, but never mind that! She can read your fortune!! Maybe you'll let her show off some palmistry and— oh... your life line is rather short... Unfortunate. Never mind, we'll try tarot instead and- hm. That sure is The Tower. Oh well, time's up, next person please!
On Sunday evening as the festivities wind down, a bonfire has been set up in the middle of the field, adding to the unnaturally hot summer night. It's still pretty, though, with the sky dark and bright stars starting to peek out, blankets laid out across the grass and sweet potatoes being passed around to be roasted by the fire. Take the time to relax and breathe... because it's un/fortunately a festival month and the villagers are hype about their festivals.
→ 8/6-8/8 Tanabata Festival
- While the students had been hard at work setting up the school festival, the rest of the town had been preparing for the tanabata festival, with stalls set up encircling the entire lakefront at the center of town. Yukata can be bought or rented, along with traditional hand fans to ward off the heat of the summer, and many of the typical food stalls and carnival games can be found, including stalls where you can test your luck in scooping goldfish/yo-yos/other small plastic toys, shooting targets with cork rifles, attempting the rigged ring toss that's impossible to win without cheating, or playing the lottery with tickets for free food from the stalls as consolation prizes. Maybe your luck sucks and you just want to buy stuff and that's fine too. Come with full wallets and leave with full stomachs filled with yakitori skewers, sweet or savory dango, roasted sweet potato, and the seasonal favorite: shaved ice. It's seasonal because it's summer and summer is so hot. This particular summer feels like hell and halfway through the last day, they run out of syrup, but cups of plain ice are still selling very well, so... yay...
While some of the stalls are already heavy with decoration, others are pretty sparse, with the lack of people running them. Which is fine, or intended, because there are workshops held all around for teaching and encouraging people to make decorations meant to improve different aspects of one's life: paper kimonos for artistic ability, strings of a thousand paper cranes for long and healthy lives, paper purses for wealth, colorful streamers for handicraft, wastebaskets for cleanliness, and of course, tanzaku- paper strips hung up on bamboo trees for a wish to be granted by the gods. Decorations are judged for artistic ability, with a small prize given to the best decoration judged at the end of each night.
In the evenings, stages set out along the lakeside feature folk dance performances, and decorations are collected to be lit on fire and sent off in small boats in the lake, the collection of flames giving off a soft light as the paper burns down and turns to ash, reclaimed by the lake as they sink. A reminder from the townspeople to anybody who stands too close to the lake: please do not touch the water. On the very last evening of the festival, a fireworks show is held, shooting up overhead above the lake and is visible anywhere around town, raining down sparks of gold and red, hell fire from the sky.
...Also hell fire in the woods. It's been windy and dry all month, and a small forest fire has started at the edge of town, be it from arson or by accident. The villagers cut the evening short to go help, as there is no established fire fighting service, so any and all assistance would be appreciated. Somewhere nearby, a child starts to cry, unable to find his mother. With the villagers pulled away, the night ends with the stalls left empty. Nobody comes to clean up the next morning...
→ MOD NOTES
- ⬥ As mentioned in the OOC plotting post, a heat wave befalls the town and NPC villagers start disappearing until the daitengu from last month is defeated. 2 more dungeon threads must be submitted before 8/11 to secure the ofuda. Lockdown continues to occur each midnight, with the school transforming into the dungeon; details can be found on last month's event log.
⬥ For the cultural festival: characters will receive a hint about either 1) how to return home (take the ofuda received after beating the dungeon boss to the castle ruins), or 2) how to summon the Velvet Room attendants (playing Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai at the castle ruins during the full moon), and are highly encouraged to discuss both messages amongst themselves. Characters may learn more about how to play Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai, date of the full moon, etc. by asking around town.
⬥ On 8/12 (ICly dated on 8/15, the night of the full moon), a mini-log will go up encompassing both of these findings.
⬥ For the tanabata festival: each character may claim one small wish pending mod approval at any time this month (comment below) for writing their wish down on a tanzaku, and 3 characters will be randomly chosen on 8/12 as winners for the decoration judging, and will be contacted at that time for the option of receiving an additional wish.
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My hunch is telling me that you're good at this kind of game. [ Hibiki gives the man some Hirajiro money and steps away to leave room for RO. ] Go ahead. We can release them later.
[ Usually people take them home, but Hibiki never found that too fun. ]
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We... try to capture fish? With very thin nets?
[ What entertainment value does this thing have??? ]
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Exactly. [ For someone who knows what this is about, she seems to be quite confused. ] Just try it. Or do you want me to show you the ropes?
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[ Mostly so that she doesn't end up doing something stupid. ]
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Let's try that together.
[ It might be more difficult that way, but it also could be more fun, so!! ]
I'll help. Just hold it tight here...
[ If RO lets him do that, he'll curl her fingers around the handle and rests his own hands on top of hers. ]
Scooping a lively one might be tricky, so let's look for a slower one.
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[ Even though RO isn't always the smartest in social uptake, even she knows that this kind of thing feels... intimate? Or something. She's clearly embarrassed, with her usual loud volume quieting down a bit. ]
Yes, let's... look for a slower one.
[ But guess who's not looking for one.
It's her. ]
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You have to be careful, but I'm sure you can do it.
[ He might be saying that, but he's not letting go of her hand as he lowers the net to scoop the goldfish. ]
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[ She tries to focus on the task at hand, ignoring whatever feelings she just had several seconds ago. She concentrates and as soon as the net makes contact with the goldfish, she scoops it up with so much force that it might end up flinging Hibiki several feet away.
Oops. ]
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[ He lets go of her hand to scoop it from the ground and drop it back into the water tank. ]
We're sorry, mister. [ The person in charge doesn't seem to mind, but it shouldn't hurt to apologize. ] She's learning.
[ Hibiki pulls out even more coins for five additional attempts. ]
Let's try again.
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She attempts to gently scoop the goldfish out this time, but it just travels through the broken net as if nothing happened.
... ]
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[ The man in charge of the booth gives him another net after seeing that sad attempt of RO's. ]
I can help you if you want, but I don't want to distract you too much.
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[ She can't let her confidence waver! She needs to do this right!! She readies the net and slowly inches towards a slower goldfish and... she gets it! But when it's lifted even the slightest out of the water, the net tears.
... ]
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[ Maybe she's anxious because he's watching? That could be it... ]
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[ So, nope. Definitely not anxiety.
Hm. ]
Am I allowed to use two nets at once?
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Okay, I'm not looking.
[ Go for it, RO!! ]
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RO thanks the man in charge and takes another net. Then she stares down at the goldfish that eluded her for so long, concentrating, slowly lowering the net so that she can corner the goldfish. Slowly... slowly...
And she manages to get the goldfish between the two nets. RO looks so surprised when she lifts it up and the nets are still intact. ]
I... I did it!
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How did you like it?
[ He's not going to say anything about how many tries it took or that it wasn't really allowed. ]
Do you want to check out other games?
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... Anything but the shooting game.
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[ He's not too big on them himself, actually. It's always so hard to actually win something... ]
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[ ... ]
... don't feel confident in doing them. I'd like to try out something else.
[ her pride really hurts in admitting that. ]
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[ Hibiki smiles sheepishly and scratches the nape of his neck. ]
How about you pick the next game? Something that catches your eye.
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Rather than that, I'd like for both of us to try the lottery game.
[ The Senbonhiki--Usually treats or prizes are attached to the end of long strings on the other side, often invisible to you, and you pull one of the strings and it will tell you whether you won or lost. ]
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Lottery? Sure, why not.
[ The booth is quite close so Hibiki just starts walking and examines the prizes in the meantime. ]
Oh, I want a box of chocolate mushrooms.
[ There are a few boxes hanging there, so he might have a chance. ]
What do you want, RO-chan?
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[ Strange choice, but she says it as if it isn't for her. ]
And perhaps the bag of chips over there... The dummy would be satisfied with those for the day.
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[ It takes him a little while to realize that she's most likely not going to win the food for herself. ]
Are you on a diet or something? Come on.
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1/2
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