epidemiology | EVENT ▸ DIPLOMACY

EVENT ▸ DIPLOMACY

DIPLOMACY

As the skirmishes between wandering Mountain and Sea Clan groups continue in the Flowerlands, by this point enough attackers have been interrogated by Guild Ophelia to paint a compelling picture of unorganized chaos. Each time a skirmish is interrupted, both sides blame the other for starting the impromptu fight, claiming no knowledge of or participation in an organized cabal; the conflicts are entirely coincidental, they say, just a situation where enemies clash in neutral territory.

The Flowerlands are suffering, crops trampled and livestock traumatized, and more and more Mountain and Sea Clan people are terrified to leave their cities, lest they be set upon by warriors from the opposing clan. Under this type of political strain, Hanabira threatens to erupt into full-out civil war at any moment, with or without the sanction of the empresses.

Two weeks after Ophelia's arrival in the Empire of the Crashing Wave, Doro sends word: Empress Nama and Empress Youmi have agreed to meet and discuss the term of an alliance. Doro's castle will serve as a meeting place, but the difficult part is bringing the empresses there safely. You foreigners have already proven yourselves to be capable and invested in seeing the conflict to a peaceful conclusion, so Doro contracts Ophelia to act as escorts and guards.

This might just be the perfect opportunity to whisper proposed solutions to advisors or, if you're lucky, to the empresses themselves.

▸ THE RETINUE

Ophelia has a few different options if they choose to take Doro's contract: escort Nama or escort Youmi and/or guard the Flowerlands castle.

ESCORT ▸ EMPRESS NAMA.
It's a week's worth of travel to return to the Land of Celestial Mountains from the Empire of the Crashing Wave, so the sooner Ophelia starts out, the better. Skirmishes between clans still dot the forests and farms of the Flowerlands, and each time the retinue encounters one, they must decide if they have the time to interfere or if they must push on. After all, the longer there is no peace in Hanabira, the more dire the situation becomes.

When the group finally reaches the Land of Celestial Mountains, they'll find that the entire city is locked down. Guards bar the gates, but upon seeing Doro's seal, they'll let the guild members inside and explain the situation:

Mountain Clan rebels have stormed Heavenly Summit, cutting a large swath through the castle. Much of Nama's court and guards lay dead inside, with the rebels holding the remainder hostage -- including Empress Nama herself -- unless war is declared against the Sea Clan. The city guards are afraid to approach, worried that this will only anger the rebels further and cause Nama's death, and have directed all townsfolk to stay in their homes until the situation has been resolved.

The guards caution Ophelia not to try any rescue efforts themselves, and instead ask them to either find a building to barricade themselves in or leave the city. Of course, it's not like they're keeping a close watch on everyone.

Those who choose to slip into Heavenly Summit Castle will find guards surrounding it, trying to stop anyone from coming in as well as keeping arrows trained on all windows in case a rebel shows her face. Stealth is the name of the game, or at least enough brute strength to knock a guard out in one blow before she sounds the alarm.

Inside the castle, rebels stalk the halls of every floor, masked in the green color of the Mountain Clan. Some are heavily armored and some only wear peasants' clothes, carrying farmers' sickles; it seems as though the attack on the castle was planned very quickly, too quickly to evenly distribute armor and weapons. There are corpses left where they were killed, with splashes of bright red blood beside them; there are hostages huddled in the corners of rooms, wide-eyed but silent at the sight of foreigners ostensibly here to save them; and, in the heavily-guarded throne room, Empress Nama herself.

Fight through the rebel guards with Nama's help, or find a back door and snatch her up before the rebels notice. Either way, once Ophelia lays eyes on her, the magitek will project words in front of them that only they can see:

» EMPRESS NAMA
Leader of the LAND OF CELESTIAL MOUNTAINS. 23 years old. SPECIES: Human. MEDICAL CONCERNS: Lactose intolerant, recent blow to the head.

Nama doesn't ask questions, recognizing the foreigners of Ophelia as those who were meddling after the festival attack and trusting they're here to help her escape. Longbow in hand, she leads the group through secret passageways in the castle, insisting they rescue the nobility on the way out. From there, Nama suggests stealthily escaping the castle and quickly riding out of the city to the safety of Doro's castle, unsure who she can still trust in her own empire.

With Empress Nama and her surviving courtiers added to the retinue, it's time to ride back to the Flowerlands -- and hope you aren't chased by rebels along the way.

ESCORT ▸ EMPRESS YOUMI.
It takes half a week to travel from the Empire of the Crashing Wave to Doro's castle in the Flowerlands. Youmi and two advisors ride in a carriage, with an entourage of royal guards on horseback in front and behind; those in Ophelia who choose to escort this group will either be on foot or must find a mount themselves.

The journey is peaceful, allowing for time to make camp by forested hot springs and in farmhouses (in which case Ophelia might need to sleep outside, depending on the size) along the way. The Sea Clan guards are open to idle chatter with the foreigners, curiously discussing cultural differences and indulging in quick lessons in archery.

Everything seems to be going smoothly until the entourage enters Flowerlands territory and is confronted by a winged spirit of the forest, angered by all the recent bloodshed in his home. There is no time to talk; the spirit does not wish to negotiate, only to stop the crew from moving any further into his territory by any means possible.

The spirit calls the creatures of the forest to his aid, controlling them as if they are under some sort of spell. Ogres, imps, bears, and wolves are the most worrisome among his helpers. His own attacks come from the sky, diving down to slash at his victims with exceptional speed. Those archery lessons will come in handy here, because ranged weapons are most effective against him as long as he remains in flight. He can take an astounding amount of hits, and once he is weakened, will land on the ground to fight in close quarters.

Once he is finally defeated, his spell on the forest animals is broken, and even the most aggressive of them scatter. His feathers are black, but up close, seem iridescent in the light, differentiating them from a common bird's. Youmi's guards suggest everyone take a feather to prove they felled a legendary beast.

GUARD ▸ FLOWERLANDS CASTLE.
Until the empresses and their escorts arrive, it's very uneventful at Doro's castle. It's a smart idea to keep an eye out in case someone hears about the summit and tries to interfere, but so far, things seem to be peaceful. Take the time to bolster defenses, relieve a guildmate of guard duty, or explore the castle.

▸ THE SUMMIT

Youmi and her entourage reach Doro's castle first, her royal guards immediately making a sweep of the castle and the grounds to ensure there is no danger lying in wait. Once the castle is cleared, Doro and Youmi disappear into a guarded room to begin discussions. Youmi's advisors are left out of this initial meeting, making now the perfect time to start some discussions of your own.

Days later, Nama's retinue arrives, and Doro and Youmi (and the rest of her entourage) meet her at the castle gates. The two empresses step cautiously forward to meet each other, bowing politely. Moments later, Doro steps forward to gather Nama into a hug, which she gladly returns, giggling like the young girl she is. She's had a rough time, which she quickly explains to Doro, and asks if she can first have a bath and a moment to breathe. Doro and Youmi are more than willing to give it to her after hearing her experience.

Doro tells Ophelia they have their run of the castle until dinner tonight, when Doro, Youmi, and Nama will all be together in the same room with the team. Sounds like the perfect time to propose a plan, so you'd better finish up discussions about what to do! There's a bit of a time limit.

▸ OOC NOTES

If you have questions about this log or the overall mission, please ask them on the dossier. Questions about Futurology in general should be directed to the FAQ.

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1) Travel

[Amado's no stranger to traveling on foot, so he goes without a mount for the escort. Initially, he's extremely wary of any ronin getting any ideas, but there's plenty of people here, both Youmi's own guards and Ophelia agents...that in and of itself should be enough to dissuade anybody's intentions violence. Hopefully. So eventually, he relaxes a bit.

Even if things are calm for the moment, though, it's not particularly long until they start seeing the collateral damage of the skirmishes between the Mountain and Sea clan. Ophelia has done what they can to try and diffuse the fights, including Amado himself, but there's still the remains of plenty of fights that went uninterrupted and it's...disquieting.

He glances at one of his fellow agents.]

Y'think the empresses will be able to put a stop to this?

[He wishes he was more confident about that than he felt at the moment.]

2) Combat

2A)
[What was that about their size being enough to dissuade violence? Guess not.

When the spirit attacks, Amado is prepared to focus on it -- when its buddies show up and all hell promptly breaks loose, he realizes he needs to change his priorities pretty quickly. Their ranged attackers (i.e. the archers) are going to be integral in bringing that spirit down...and the other animals are going to try and rip those people to shreds. So he needs to get in between them. He jumps in front of some of the Sea Clan archers and conjures a barrier to at least give them some cover while they keep firing. He looks around and quickly calls out to a fellow agent:]

Come here! We gotta keep these things off of the archers!

2B)
[The spirit's resistance to the constant ranged attacks they're draining into is is reaching past the point of absurdity but once the spirit is on the ground, there's a feeling that the momentum may have shifted.

It's still almost as dangerous on the ground, though - it's imperative they finish this quickly. He looks around. He's trying to spot a Bruiser, but frankly, he'll take anybody that can just do some real damage and hopefully put an end to this.]

Hey! If I can get you an opening, can you do some damage to that thing?!

3) Aftermath

[Finally, it ends. Amado drops to the ground in a sitting position, taxed from the shields, barriers and makeshift weapons he had to conjure during the fight. But he doesn't stay down for long. He pulls himself back up. Within a few moments, he's gone on to helping apply first aid to those hurt in the fight. Where necessary, he uses his own ability, the same one he was using to conjure barriers and weapons, on a much smaller scale, closing wounds and stemming bleeding the best he can. It won't hold forever, but it'll hopefully last until they can get better medical attention.

Eventually, he glances in a fellow agent's direction.]

Are you hurt?

4) Summit

[He's exhausted, he's beat up and he's glad to be able to get off his feet, finally. He gets cleaned up and changes into a fresh uniform. He leaves speaking to Youmi's advisers to the Negotiators and those otherwise better suited for that kind of thing.

Something's weighing on him, bigtime and it's fairly apparent from the way he keeps staring at the iridescent feather he took from the spirit's body. Eventually, he can't help but voice it.]

That spirit attacked because of all the fighting in the Flowerlands. If we don't stop this, it's only gonna get worse. The Flowerlands are gonna turn into a total bloodbath. [He runs his hand through his hair.] I really hope this accomplishes something.

5) Wwwwwwwwwildcard!

[Hit Amado up at any time during the escort mission, or if you want something specific, contact me at

ViewtifulJeff!

Far as I can tell, they're the only ones who can.

[ Sure, Ophelia could beat back the unruly hordes on a temporary basis. But the business of ruling, of recovering from the increasingly destructive situation -- that was the job of Hanabiran leadership.

Majima had one of the Sea Clan's bows on his back, one of their quivers at his side. With his local dress, he might as well have been one of their number.

...except he was a head taller than pretty much all of them. ]

How you holdin' up?

[It actually takes Amado a second to realize Majima isn't one of the guards from the Sea Clan. He's doing a really good job blending in! Or maybe Amado's just doing a really bad job getting to know his fellow agents.]

I'm doin' okay. Just anxious, I guess. [He rubs his hand over the back of his neck.] With all the fighting going on. Feels like we're teetering on the edge, here, y'know?

Yeah. But try not to let it get to ya. Still got some mileage left here, so we gotta be ready for whatever comes next.

[ He looked curiously at Amado. ]

This your first mission?

[He nods.]

Yeah. [So there's almost definitely some jitters from that playing into it as well.] What about you?

Same here. Not my first fight, though.

[ Which would perhaps explain why any unease Majima felt was low-key. Well, that or the fact that he'd been experiencing moderate to extreme levels of said unease for the past couple of years. ]

So where ya from?

...well...

[He grimaces. That is a surprisingly difficult question to answer when you were already on multiple levels of dimensional travel before you joined the multiverse-hopping space guild.]

There's. A couple answers to that? But the easiest one is Osaka, Japan.

Kansai, huh? Maybe we ate at some of the same places. Spent the last year there before they picked me up for this.

I'm from Kamurocho, Tokyo.

[ Yes, Majima's Japanese had a Kansai accent. Yes, he still said he was from Kanto. No one question this. ]

[Kamurocho...he thinks for a sec. He doesn't think he's heard of that one. But, well, it's not like he went to Tokyo a whole lot in the first place. Either way, he doesn't question the accent, even internally. He's mostly just glad to meet another person from home.

Having said that, at the thought of places to eat back there, he can't help but let out a little snort.]

Man, you've been there more recently than me. It's been a good few years since I've had real, genuine Kansai food. [There's a hint of jealousy to that. Maybe more than a hint.] What were you doin' in Kansai?

[He imagines it's a pretty mundane reason like business or something, but part of him just wants to hear a story about his home, even if it's on the mundane side.]

Yeah, the food's the best part, hands down. 'Kuiadore', right?

[ There was a slightly distant look in Majima's eye as he swept his gaze to the horizon up in front of them. The gait he'd settled into was an easy, comfortable one. ]

I was there for work. I'm the manager of the Cabaret Grand. Kind of a pain in the ass, dealin' with all the staff. But at least now the drama's died down, so most times things run themselves.

I figure whoever comes in after me, it's pretty much theirs to screw up.

[Amado can't help but crack a small smile at that. The last time he got to do that, though, he was just a teenager, so he didn't exactly have much endurance for it.

He thinks for a second...Cabaret Grand. Nope, he doesn't recognize that, either.]

I'm guessin' that's like, a nightclub or somethin'?

Edited 2018-03-04 02:55 (UTC)

[ he smiled back ]

Right, it's a cabaret. Live music, drinks, all that. The Grand and Odyssey are the two biggest establishments of their kind in Sotenbori -- at least where and when I'm from.

....it could just be the fact that I have like, no knowledge of nightclubs whatsoever, 'cause I was a teenager the last time I was there, but. Given that I've recognized almost nothin' you've said, at this point I'm thinkin' we may be from different versions of Osaka.

[And, just to make sure...]

Y'ever hear of the Tokyo Reverse?

Wouldn't be the first time.

Tokyo Reverse? What's that, some kinda new street racing move?

[ aka no he's never heard of it ]

[That actually sounds like it'd look pretty cool, but.]

It was an event from my world. Where, uh. Basically, a buncha monsters n'shit showed up in Tokyo and wrecked up the place.

Yeah, definitely not the same Tokyo. Closest thing I've ever seen to that is in a horror flick.

[ one day... one day. ]

That why you're here, then? That Reverse?

Uh....yes and no, kinda? The Reverse happened when I was a kid. I was at home at the time. Another version of it happened some years later, and...

Me and my girlfriend got caught in that one. We wound up getting stranded in another world. [He grimaces.] S'why I'm here, basically.

[ Majima furrowed his brow at the mention of a girlfriend. It didn't look like she was here, so -- ]

Your gal back in that other world, then? Couldn't they bring her along, too?

[He lets out a sigh. That's only the half of it.]

Yeah. My daughter, too. I didn't wanna leave 'em, but. Apparently when I'm done here, I'll head back at the same moment I left, so. They'll never know I was gone 'til after I'm back.

You have a kid?!

[ Excuse Majima for a second, he wasn't even sure how to deal with this. Maybe Amado just had one of those faces, because Majima had been assuming he was early twenties at most. ]

I mean... wow. Yeah, hope you can get back to 'em soon.

[The thing is, he's not even that far off.]

...lllemme guess, I look too young to have a kid.

Yeah. Guess you got the opposite problem as me.

[ if oNE MORE PERSON ASKED HIM IF HE HAD ANY KIDS ]

I've been told I got a baby face. [Grimace. He then realizes what Goro said.] ...you mistaken for bein' older a lot or something?

[Beat.]

Probably the eyepatch.

[Just makes you look rugged.]

[ WOW way too intimate there buddy!! Set a good example for ur kid

Majima made a mildly exasperated face, but at this point he was used to the comments. ]

I'm 24. Majima Gorō, nice to meet ya.

[HEY, he didn't say it was a bad looking eyepatch. It's a cool looking eyepatch. Really.]

[Anyway, he holds a hand out.]

Tsukayama Amado. 29. Feeling's mutual.

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justbeingknife - 2018-03-19 05:31 (UTC) - Expand

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EVENT ▸ DIPLOMACY

Amado Tsukayama | OC | ota (youmi escort)

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what a twist...... I'm going to have to adjust future tags

DUN DUN DUUUUUUN

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