IZOU'S PALACE

[goei]

KYOTO BAKUMATSU PALACE
You find yourself in historical Kyoto at night. The city is shadowy and beautiful, elegant but hostile. It's a sophisticated city, but you don't belong there and it knows it. Everyone knows it. You are being watched.

Worst of all, a terrible demon haunts the streets of this powerful capital city.

Eli Walsh, Kirumi Tojo, Still Sunrise, Argenti, Yi Sang, Celeste, Mafuyu Asahina, and McGillis Fareed, do you dare journey into hell?

 

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Comments

group two ig

[fullmoonmutt]

Alright, let's check out, uhh... that place.

[ Eli has no idea what any of these shops are, but he's going to one that looks open and is the opposite of where Argenti and his group have gone. He points it out before gesturing for Sunrise, Mafuyu, and McGillis to follow along. ]

Re: group two ig

[beathollow]

( yeah let her get a read on the signs real quick. )

[goei]

[This business is a little quieter than the one Argenti's group went after, but there's still a fair amount of people milling about! Most traffic seems to be people going in rather than coming out. Others are loitering out front, some even seem to be saying their farewells for the night before going inside.

A girl out front clearly working is advertising to passersby that they still have rooms available. And hot baths!!

Mafuyu will likely recognize this as a traditional Japanese inn, a ryokan. The only sign out front identifies it as "MATSUYAMA RYOKAN." Greenery surrounds the building on both sides, likely to make a scenic view for their guests. You might even catch a glimpse of a rock lined pond around the back.]

[fullmoonmutt]

[ Eli looks between this place and Mafuyu. ]

Uh, is it... an inn?

[beathollow]

Yes, it's a ryokan- a traditional inn. They're good visits, actually...

[vogelfrei]

Is there a kind of common room inside, like you'd find in Western inns? Then we might want to listen in to some conversations there. It's a decent method of getting current information when you are new to a place.

[ This sounds like movie logic, but it's actually lived experience for once. McGillis is going to guide the group to the entrance - if there isn't a dining room then they can at least eavesdrop on the lobby. ]

[cleansewithfire]

[ Sorry, were you expecting Sunrise to wait? Once she heard it was an inn, she went straight in to take a look. ]

[goei]

[Sunrise...

Well! It doesn't seem like the worker out front has any issue with her going in? So that's good. There is in fact a sort of lobby/common room area! A few people are hanging about, including a woman at what seems to be the front desk. In a doorway just beyond her there seems to be a communal dining room but right now it is dark as dinner was likely served hours ago!!

In one corner two men are drinking green tea and playing shogi. In another, a couple is chatting quietly. Other people pass through on their way to their rooms or the bath.

Is Sunrise going to try to go further in, listen in to anyone, or speak to them? Is anyone joining her?]

[fullmoonmutt]

[ Wha... There she go. Eli takes off after Sunrise. They can't split the party, come on! He falls in place alongside her, looking around, keeping his ears peeled for any information that sounds familiar. ]

[vogelfrei]

[ ALRIGHT THEN, IN THEY GO.

Since the lobby is not so large that they might lose sight of one another, McGillis doesn't feel bad about pretending he doesn't know them when he enters. Maybe it'll be useful later on if people don't realize they came together.

He'll approach the front desk. ]

A single room for one night, if you still have openings.

[goei]

[The woman at the front desk makes eye contact with McGillis as he talks, however she then says nothing and turns her attention back to some other task without saying anything in response.

Eli was right after all!!! No white men allowed!!! (Just kidding.)

Speaking of, if Eli wants to listen in, there will be a roll. Does he have any particular strategy to listening in or do you want a flat roll?]

[fullmoonmutt]

[ ...oh, maybe they do notice. Eli wasn't expecting McGillis to get shunned that badly. Whoa. Sadly, that means Eli will be ignored similarly. He's also white, my dudes, and he looks way more shady than Mr. Dapper-as-Fuck McGillis does.

Uh. Um. Maybe he'll just slide on into a seat as quietly as possible near the couple chatting quietly, but definitely with his back turned to them (18). ]

GROUP TWO RECONVENES

[vogelfrei]

[ Once everyone is collected from different ends of the lobby, McGillis is shoving our little group back out in the streets. ]

Alright, status report please. The obvious thing is that nobody here is responding to us, even though they appear to be generally aware of our presence. We won't get anywhere by questioning, but we may need to mind how we come across and not startle people having informative conversations.

For my part, I heard that the 'demon' we may be after picks its victims across the river primarily. We might want to head over after we exchanged our information with everyone.

[fullmoonmutt]

[ Status report...? The fuck? Eli bristles, wanting to snap at McGillis about how he's not the boss! He can't tell them what to doooo! However, this is not the time for being a rebellious little shit. Amazingly, he has some sense. ]

This demon thing also goes after folks who support whatever the hell the shogunate is. We could probably lure it out by being loud about how much we're for that.

[cleansewithfire]

I heard some things about the demon too, but I do not recognise the names, so...

[ She pauses like she's trying to figure out how to deliver what she overheard, before deciding she's not going to try interpreting that conversation and just repeat it in exact words.

It's probably an Experience to hear because she's still speaking in that even, flat tone of hers. ]

"You know that upstart Sakamoto is the one giving the demon orders."

"It's not him! It's someone else."

"Whatever, those Satcho people are all the same in the end."

...They do not seem to have a good opinion of "Sakamoto" and "Satcho".

Re: GROUP TWO RECONVENES

[beathollow]

( mafuyu arrives! with a newspaper. )

I was able to acquire this, but with the promise that I return it once I'm done showing "my father's friend". ... So, McGillis.

( congrats, you're "father's friend" now. )

The dating shows it to be set in the year 1863, during the Bakumutsu conflicts. I believe this world is born from Okada Izou, as he is a prominent figure from this era. However... since I was confronted by that older man believing me to be a thief, I've felt as though I'm being watched.

I would suggest being on our best behavior around me, and I cannot be involved in anything else that may be disruptive.

Relatedly, the woman at the inn also ignored me completely, so there are other things in play as well...

[vogelfrei]

[ It's an honor to have befriended your father, Mafuyu. He does take the newspaper with a grateful nod and gives it a good look and--- frowns. He's been getting very used to the convenience of just being able to read whatever, whenever back in Sunset City. This does... unfortunately mean nothing to him at all. It is good that Mafuyu is also summarizing. And she can have the paper back. ]

Thank you, all. I agree with the assessment. Izou was fighting against the shogunate back in his lifetime, so unless he's kept very quiet about having a compatriot this is bound to be his realm.

We're going to want to draw negative attention eventually, if fighting a shadow is what we are after. But it'd be best to pick the circumstances ourselves rather than accidentally invite enemies upon us.

[ So, tldr: Mafuyu is right on all counts, go Mafuyu. ]

Are you all fighting ready?

[fullmoonmutt]

[ Okay, okay, he won't do anything that endangers Mafuyu... yet. ]

So we pick where we want to have this fight and then I raise as much hell as possible. Easy. I'm ready to go when you all are.

[beathollow]

( at the frown, she'll move to point out what she's reading and just give him the rundown with quotes here and there- lots of discussion about revolution and hostilities between anti and pro shogunate forces, to quote the investigation. )

...


I'm not a fighter, but I have a lot of healing abilities, as well as the ability to dispell most of the magic shadows can use on us.

--I did promise to bring it back, so I'll be right back.

( toodles!

...excpet then she comes back- )

That feeling has lessened, but it's still there.

[cleansewithfire]

...So it may be that the people here will only take notice of us when we do something "wrong".

[ Sunrise seems kind of thoughtful at the notion.

...Maybe she's overthinking this, but if this is supposed to be a metaphor from Izou's heart, then it is a familiar kind of loneliness. ]

I am ready to fight too. We could go across the river, like Mr. McGillis said, but... Is there any particular reason why it is across the river specifically?

[ It may just be a matter of convenience, she supposes, but she also has to wonder if there's some kind of advantage for this demon there too. ]

[beathollow]

It could be a specific district there, but... I'm not from Kyoto. I can't claim to know the exact layout and history.

[cleansewithfire]

I suppose, based on what we have heard, if the demon does not appear to cut us down where we stand once we get its attention, then it will try to do so when we reach there.

[ Either or! ]

Should we look for the others and see what they have learned?

[beathollow]

I think that might be best. In the other place like this, there were a lot of shadows that we had to fight- it was dangerous to be split up for too long.

[fullmoonmutt]

I still can't believe this is all made up from Izou's... whatever. Friggin' idiot, falling for. I don't know. Whatever makes these things, I guess.

[ He has to get a dig in at Izou somehow! ]

But you're right. We shouldn't stay split up too long, but, uh, if you look around the street, I ain't seeing the rest in any of the shops here anymore.

[cleansewithfire]

They might have gone somewhere nearby.

[ She will be taking a look around. ]

...Maybe that park.