September 2022 Substories!

[jigokumods]

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SUBSTORY #1	SUBSTORY #2
The Left Swiping Shall Continue Until Morale Improves Ember 3.0 is still going strong. Some minor patches here and there, so you're encouraged to take another glance at it and see what, if anything, is new! This is a continuation of a Player Submitted Substory/Plot by Pine, player of Ydris. Here's a link to it! All threads conducted on this topic count as Substory threads.	Can't Download a Clue "Please don't browse porn on these, sir" Jigoku-cho is home to many internet cafes of varying quality. Most of them are located in the Sutoku Alliance's territory. A new one has popped up recently, run by an executive's son who has too much money, not enough sense, and a dream. He rented out a garage, bought a few computers from the closest used electronics store, and decked it out with the cheapest desks and chairs money can buy. It's truly a paradise. Except it isn't. No one wants to come to this cafe and the owner can't figure out why! He's done everything right, hasn't he?! People like it enough to come in and try to steal everything that isn't nailed down! That has to count for something, doesn't it?! His father will pay you a considerable amount of money if you can help get his idiot son's business back on track, or at least stop the thieves from draining his wallet. Unfortunately, Daddy doesn't seem ready to give this idiot a true reality check and pull the funding, what a softy.
SUBSTORY #3	SUBSTORY #4
Drifter Grifter A man dressed all in black stumbles in on the edge of the city. He says he's come from the Wasteland and has important information about Iron Bear. He's dusty and disheveled enough that it's easy to believe him. All he asks in return is for some hospitality: a hot meal, a stiff drink, and maybe a few thousand yen to send him on his way. Once he has all of that, he goes to the bathroom, never to be seen again. If you ask around town about this man, you'll notice that everyone seems to be looking for the mysterious drifter in black. The Department of the Enma wants him taken in for scamming people, members from every faction want to shake him down for daring to pull this on their turf, and the people he's scammed want retribution. Team up, track him down, and deal with this grifter drifter.	Dogged the Bounty Hunters (plot-relevant) With a massive bounty on the line, every faction wants to claim that cash reward and to finally have business settled out in the Wastes. The factions have not made an alliance, and their goals conflict in places. Something every faction agrees upon, however, is that it will be easier for them to get theirs if they knock out any unaffiliated competition. For those independent forces out there gunning for the prize, they will be met with faction-allied obstacles. Everyone has been ordered by their respective leaders to sabotage the crap out of them. The Department of the Enma frames this as though it is a matter of public safety. The other clans? They're a bit more honest: this is about eliminating unnecessary variables. Each faction has their own methods for discouraging, muscling out, or otherwise getting rid of would-be bounty hunters. Whether through fights, bribes, or other seedy means, swear-ins are expected to keep the competition under their thumbs. Art by Samuel Silverman

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code bases by tricklet

Comments

[slippin]

What if...a grown man were to attempt to get out of Sutoku's exercise drills by faking an injury during them? How would that go/what would the consequences be? (He's pretty much an expert at this, for what it's worth.)

[jigokumods]

He'd probably have to get the stand-by medics in on it, or else they may rat him out if they don't find anything. But it could work! He'll just have to be extra weasel-y about it.

[slippin]

Lmao thank you for your support.

[perfectdistance]

He'll keep an eye out for any unusual activity around the Tamamo district. As a recently promoted lieutenant he feels like this is at least partially his responsibility to be aware of.

[quizpersona]

Weeell since he's already poking around Tamamo territory are there any single and lonely little bombs waiting to be found? If yes, do they use the gasoline like the rest?

[perfectdistance]

With all these developments, could a meeting be called in Mizukume the day after? To talk about their upcoming plans regarding the wastes, continued safety of people who are staying in the city, etc.

I don't know if he has the authority to do this so I just wanted to double check before I posted anything.

[karumic]

Re: 2 - Do any of the surrounding buildings have security cameras that might have caught the deliveryman?

[jigokumods]

Active cameras aren't trained on buildings like these, since they don't have any businesses or residencies in them to be minded. That is part of the reason they seem to be chosen as targets; if one plans to start a big fire, you don't necessarily need to start it where people are looking, after all.

[jigokumods]

Same as the others, he'll find them in abandoned/disused buildings. Things that are not in use and easy to break in and out of. There are some nearby the flower shop, but none of them seem close enough to it to be a direct threat.

[jigokumods]

We'll say hold off if only because we a) want to give the event, and folks participating, time to breath and b) we've got plans for that!

[karumic]

Kazuma runs into Kate immediately after the bomb goes off and becomes a little suspicious of her due to location and timing. Will he get anywhere if he asks locals if anybody else saw her, specifically, around the bomb site before it exploded? He will also be mentioning her to Shuten higher-ups as a potential person of interest. (Note: I've cleared all this with Nik!)

[jigokumods]

That! Is ultimately up to Nik, actually. We want them to control just how good at the job Kate was.

[karumic]

Here's the Discord conversation I had with Nik about it, just so everyone knows what's what!

Lex: i asked the mods what kind of info kazuma might get if he asked if anybody else saw kate specifically around the site of the bombing and they said to ask you, SO: that question! how well did she pull it off... did anybody else see her around...
[Nik]: 🤔 i mean she would have used the rooftops to get there (and, obviously, to try and get back). That would be the place she'd be most likely to be seen around on the day, I think. (Her cover being "I do this all the time wym?")
Lex: interesting ok... so she'd only have been seen if someone else was on the rooftops as well
[Nik]: Or possibly if someone was looking out a window? 🤔 that wouldn't be impossible either
[Nik]: I did have her take an invisibility talisman from Tamamo stuff but she wouldn't have tried using it until she was close to the armoury just because that's when she'd most need it

[bratherine]

Yeah, ^this^ is basically what I was envisioning for her mission. As mentioned she'll be using the fact that she is pretty frequently around the rooftops as a reason she'd be there at the time, as well as the fact that she knows people in Shuten. It shouldn't be that unusual for her to be there now and again, etc. But I'm totally okay with someone seeing her up on the rooftops before the explosion in some manner.

[harimaya]

Can't believe Hizen is going to hold a grudge against the fire department now. Petty.

Thanks, mods! I'm expecting the territory to be on high alert but Hizen would like to make sure other notable targets are especially on guard in case of a future attack. The armory, the arena, other warehouses, etc. They got caught off guard once but they can't let it happen again right.........

[disagree]

HEY MODS ME AGAIN so like..... can freezing the bombs with ice magic stop the countdown somehow?? not to completely disarm it but rather to give them more time to do so without worrying about the time

[kikuichi]

Can Norimune ask to see bomb remnants at the Shuten warehouse, assuming the fire department find anything? And what observations and intuition they have for the scene?

[jigokumods]

Yes, since it requires an electric current in order to engage, and freezing it will keep that current from firing off.

[jigokumods]

We will be getting to those findings at a later time, but since Norimune has worked with the forensics team before, he will definitely be first in line to know about it.

[disagree]

nice, thank you!!

[aphonik]

would some of these bombs be placed in fairly difficult-to-reach places? like say, very high up, either in nooks or crannies or in the rafters which would not be easy to find and defuse normally, just to make things more difficult?

[jigokumods]

Sure! If that's more fun for you to thread out, then yes, so long as it's still in an abandoned or unused building.

[lucky_e]

1. Hm... if Enty was to poke around different radio frequencies, might they be able to pick up any interesting traffic that could stand out after the bombing and Iron Bear broadcast?

Something that sounds coded, or even better, uncoded that she can tap into and record?

2. Would any of the local sailors and dock workers notice anything, or anyone, odd as well? And would they be willing to share that information over a beer or three?

[jigokumods]

1) Other than a LOT of noise from the Department of the Enma trying to coordinate fire efforts, not much. She will notice there's more interference than usual, near the river, but there's no immediate cause to point at... for now, at least.

2) One of them will mention he thinks he saw a much larger, almost monstrous fish in the river the other day, definitely not something that you'd see near the city. At least he thinks it was a fish. He couldn't imagine it was anything else. Another mentions he swears he smelled gasoline near one of the river gates used to regulate canal flow where the ships drop off, since he'd heard gasoline was involved in some of the bombs.

[lucky_e]

Interference near the river... a large monstrous fish, and sign of gasoline near the river gates? Now that is an interesting little tidbit.

Going to investigate the gate in question would there be anything to further note? Such as the smell in question, damage, continued radio interference, anything off with the water?

I know this might be asking for a lot of info, but if she questioned more people along the river or might have been working the canal lock chamber, could she find out anything else?

She's thinking... sub.