jikan_rpg | July | Event: Waterpark Waves

July | Event: Waterpark Waves

Waterpark Waves↲ OOC Plotting

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Thanks to the Refugees, vital information concerning the history and application of Kizuna bonds is now available to the NRL with MRU's cooperation, quickly allowing for new breakthroughs in their research.

As thanks-- all Refugees who participated in the Trials last month are gifted a free week-long stay at Itabashi Springs, Tokyo's premiere (and only) indoor waterpark, while others will be given the chance to buy vacation packages at a highly discounted rate! Boasting a massive indoor complex, it's one of the largest buildings in Tokyo, housing a vast botanical garden, aquarium, and water park!

Wet n' Wild

By and far, the greatest attraction at Itabashi Springs is the water park itself! While the area will be a little overrun with children, the park is open to all ages, and includes a number of activities and pools for guests to use. Large water wheels can be seen pumping water through bronze-colored pipes, and a rainy midday sky can be seen though the steel and glass roof covering the complex.

But some may take notice of the large number of "swim at your own risk" signs. It turns out that Itabashi is among the first water parks in Nippon, and even after a year of operation, there aren't too many safety standards yet. They have lifeguards at least?

Black and Blue and Bronze Itabashi, Tokyo
Everyone who walks in will be immediately met by the sight of dozens of bronze tubes and slides encircling a number of pools. These water slides come in a variety of speeds, with one even requiring that riders wear helmets, as most people tend to slide out too fast, skipping over the landing pool, and slamming into a nearby wall. You know, safety first.

Those who visited Itabashi Gardens on its opening weekend may remember a certain waterslide boasting a pair of vertical loops. The slide has since been altered to create two horizontal loops instead, but the risk of being trapped inside is definitely still present, as most will find themselves coming to a stop in the purgatory between the two loops. Better start crawling, or else there's going to be a traffic jam inside the tunnel!

But not all the slides are dangerous. The newest attraction is by far the most popular, as a pair boards an inner tube and makes a slow decent down a clear pipe, which extends through one of the aquarium tanks. The lights are low and the ride is smooth, making it a popular choice for couples looking for something a little more romantic.

Wait, is that a crack? Is the aquarium tank leaking into the slide?? Don't worry about it.

Have Fun Don't Drown Itabashi, Tokyo
One of Itabashi Gardens' biggest selling points is their lazy river attraction. A narrow river circles and weaves in between other pools and under footbridges, lined with tall plants to give the illusion of privacy as swimmers float or ride atop an inner tube along the easygoing current of the water.

Along the way, swimmers can push their friends down various paths containing traps, such as a cave filled with waterfalls that drops buckets of heavy water on their head, or a slide that leads down into an isolated pool with a small bar, where swimmers can sit in the water and enjoy alcoholic beverages. Drinks must be finished before swimming back out to the main river again, but there's more than enough space to swim and float around by the bar. Alternatively, the bar-exclusive hot tubs are located just outside another exit, where additional drinks can be delivered while you relax in the hot and bubbling water. This is the only swimming attraction open late at night, so those who want a little more privacy best be staying in the hotel to get late-night access.

And of course, what water park isn't complete without a wave pool! Rather than use machinery for this, the lifeguards themselves have been trained in Mizu magic, allowing them to manually control the rise and fall of the waves. This results in a much more personalized experience, with some swimmers taking to goading the lifeguards into giving them bigger and bigger waves.

Just... don't piss them off. They're professionals who've studied for years to be able to do this, and insulting them will encourage them to bend the water around the offender, causing them to fall onto the dry pool floor. The water will constantly bend away from them no matter how fast they try to dive back into it. While not fun to experience, it's certainly hilarious to watch happen to someone else.

Deep Blue Sea

The aquarium is perhaps the greatest showing of Tokyo's technological advancements over other cities, with vast tanks containing any number of fish and other sea creatures. Guests can spend hours looking into the tanks and appreciating this rare look at Gaia's unique wildlife.

Refugees who decide to stay in the hotel will be staying in one of a number of rooms sharing a wall with the largest tank in the complex. Take a relaxing nap as sealife gently coasts by the window, as if living under the sea. Just keep in mind that with the lights off, it's not too hard to see across the tank and into another bedroom, so don't forget to close the curtains before doing any Activities (unless you're into that).

Landshark Itabashi, Tokyo
By far, the greatest appeal of the aquarium is the different ways one can experience the sights, as in addition to the winding paths outside the tanks, there are also guided tours inside, using magi-tech breathing apparatuses to allow for breathing underwater, with the latest model even allowing for natural-sounding speech through a small speaker. These devices have a half-hour time limit before they need to be refilled at the surface, but those proficient in Mizu magic will find they can stay underwater just fine for well over an hour.

Guests will be warned not to stray from the group for their own safety. But those who do may find themselves in areas they're clearly not meant to be, with one such area including a large shark tank. For the most part, the sharks won't bother anyone. They're not the thing to worry about. Unbeknownst to the staff, a kagewani was accidentally captured when gathering specimens for the aquarium. Known as the shadow-shark ayakashi, it appears only as a flat dark shadow with no physical body, and should your own shadow cross in front of it, it'll attack and simulate the pain of a shark bite, even from very far away.

Immediate treatment of the skin will alleviate the pain, but waiting too long will allow the curse to settle into their bones, resulting in a deeper pain that lasts for over a week. Alternatively, killing the kagewani will undo the curse immediately. How do you kill a shadow? While stabbing it may cause it to run away, exposing its body to bright light is the only way to kill the creature.

Considering the effects of its curse can extend through the glass walls of the tank itself, even those simply walking through the aquarium normally best be careful not to cast a shadow into the tank either!

Horny Sealife Itabashi, Tokyo
One of the newest attractions this year is a special wading pool that guests can walk through directly, extending through a winding path down a long hallway. With a sandy floor and waves that gently lap at their legs, it's a popular choice for those who wants to see creatures up close without doing a full dive.

For the most part, the pool is filled with starfish, harmless anemone, and the occasional small fish. But the pool comes with a warning. Don't touch the spiky anemone. But why? Of course someone is going to find this out the hard way, either by accidentally taking the wrong step, or curiously poking it.

The spikey anemone in the wading pool is actually a gentle ayakashi known as the anemonmon. Never attacking directly, these ayakashi will only cast their spells when stepped on, causing either feelings of intense anxiety and distress, or feelings of intense arousal, seemingly at random.

Why would they put such a thing in a wading pool?? Perhaps they put a bit too much faith into people reading the signs properly. Though this may explain why such a seemingly family-friendly exhibit has an age limit.

Greener Pastures

One of the most intriguing points of interest is the Botanical Garden. In addition to beautiful local plants, the garden boasts many exotic plants, including those previously thought to be impossible to raise in captivity.

Butterflies can be seen fluttering around, and while the inside of the garden is very warm, those sensitive to heat can borrow a cooling poncho with a magi-tech powered cooling device fixed inside of it to keep from overheating.

Plants of Temptation Itabashi, Tokyo
This summer features the opening of a new exhibit: an entire grove of wine fruit trees, specifically formulated to contain unique flavors. Thankfully, most of the fruit available is fresh, so the alcohol levels are low enough that one can enjoy as many flavors as they like!

There are a few basic flavors, including apple, strawberry, and watermelon, in addition to the classic grape-like flavor. Guests are welcome to pick them off the tree to taste test, and are even allowed to take the seeds home, which work as effective pain killers when chewed, no matter the ripeness of the fruit.

But those old enough to drink can select from a few fruit cocktails brewed using the fully ripened variety, which all contain a not-insignificant amount of alcohol. But among them, a suspiciously mild and floral variety is the most potent, with just a few sips required to put anyone flat on their ass. There's a reason they won't sell more than one glass of it to any one person.

However, those looking for something a bit more exciting should make their way over to the Nuruname Blooms. Carefully guarded by a well-trained samurai during the day, these plants are known for using their long, slimy buds to inject seeds into living creatures in order to incubate them. The samurai is there for your protection, not the plant's!

But the Gardens can't afford to pay a samurai to be there 24/7, and at certain times of the day, the nuruname is simply guarded by a strongly worded sign not to get too close. And while that may be a sufficient warning for visitors, it's not enough to stop the nuruname from hurling its vines across the barrier to try and drag some poor soul into its grasp. Looks like it grew a little faster than expected. The slime it produces is also a powerful aphrodisiac, but try not to have too much fun out there.

Cry Baby Itabashi, Tokyo
Plants aren't the only thing on display in the Botanical Garden. Isolated from the rest of the complex is a series of rooms housing plant-like ayakashi. Before entering these rooms, guests must be purified by a brief prayer given by a local monk, and affixed with a thin paper talisman on their forehead. Removing it will prevent them from being allowed to leave the area until they've walked back to the front and received a new one, in order to prevent any ayakashi curses from spreading.

After all, the very first enclosure houses an entire field of higanbana. As these flowers only grow in places where people have died, it begs the question of exactly how they got them here in the first place. However, there's a rather interesting trick at play here. The higanbana is only visible to those who have witnessed a person die. Those who haven't won't see them at all. Instead, they'll see the vast graveyard filled with stone markers hidden below the flowers, with an otherwise hidden plaque reading: "Dedicated to those who didn't survive to see the end of the time loop, and pledged their final year to the research of this facility. May their souls rest in peace." A bit grim, but a unique memorial all the same. But should there really be so many...?

Many of the next exhibits aren't too exciting. A Venus flytrap type ayakashi that gnaws on anything unlucky enough to sit next to it, a grass-like ayakashi that turns the ground acidic enough to melt metal, a distressingly stinky flower that manifests temporary synesthesia in anyone who stares at it for too long... okay, the tree that grows fruit that resembles laughing human heads is pretty wild.

But at the end of the exhibit lies an enclosure labeled "Unknown". Inside sits a singular boulder and nothing else. But the moment one turns away from it, they'll hear the sound of a woman crying and wailing for help in the distance. And yet, the source sounds as if coming from the stone itself. Attempting to listen to what the stone is saying won't bring any clarity, but it will cause the listener to begin crying profusely, overwhelmed by a feeling they won't be able to explain. Those who are affected are encouraged to leave as soon as possible, as the full effects of this ayakashi's curse are not known. What is known is that those who cry when listening to the screams of the yonaki-ishi will become more prone to crying whenever they become upset in the future. How long this effect lingers is also unknown.

OOC Notes
Welcome to Jikan's July event! Please direct any questions to the Question Thread in the OOC Plotting post.

• The slides can be as dangerous as you want them to be, but no fatalities, please! They don't have a great reputation for safety, but they're trying.
• Visitors are not allowed to retaliate against the lifeguards. Doing so will result in being removed from Itabashi Gardens all together. Splashing back doesn't count as retaliation.
• Feel free to get creative with what underwater wildlife exists in the aquarium! Siren jellies can be found swimming throughout, for example, but you're not limited to what exists on the Flora and Fauna page. However, due to their dangerous nature, any aquatic ayakashi such as Fukugyo will be kept in sealed tanks with no swimming access.
• If you are unsure whether your character would be able to afford basic amusement park entrance fees, you can assume someone at the NRL bought them a ticket!

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Nope. Nono, Edelgard. [ Oh good he can still say her name. ...just don't ask him to repeat back her full one. ] Mako.

Mach-Oh.

[ Mighty cocktail in one hand still, he crosses his arms and leans in while saying, ]

Here. Look. At my eyes.

...They're green?

[Actually, looking a little more they seem like they were blue, but something spreading out from his pupil has overlaid them with a bit of green? It's difficult to distinguish. Which is perhaps why some languages just used the same word for blue and green.]

[ And once Edelgard ascertains his eye colour? He leans back, rocking on his heels once as he feels more loose and limber after having that drink. Taking a longer drink rather than sips might come back and bite him later. ]

It's 'cause of the Mako. So. In my world, there's this elite task force called SOLDIER. And if you get in, your body gets infused with Mako energy. If you can handle the process, this is the result. And Mako's like the Planet's life— [ His brain stops. Maybe telling her that it's the lifeblood of the Planet and that making Mako out of the Lifestream was a bummer topic so- ] —energy.

So I'm extra strong, extra durable, extra...everything, basically.

[ Extra drunk. ]

[Edelgard will still be nursing her own fruity cocktail, so while she's compounding on the strange drink it's not as bad as Cloud's decision. But she also doesn't have his natural tolerance.]

Me too! Kind of, hahaha. It's a bit different. But I bet I could lift you!

Really? So you're supercharged too? [ ... Super Edelgard? No. Don't repeat that, Cloud. He huffs a laugh. ] I'll bet you could.

Supercharged isn't the word I'd use for it, but yes. If you promise not to move around too much I can prove that bet.

[Let her pick you up, Mr. McMuscles.]

[ Cloud is taken back by her sudden proposal. Is she drunk? ...is he drunk? Because he's considering it— ]

Alright then. Try me.

[ —thaaat's more than considering it, yup. That mild drink did its job. Have fun, your majesty. ]

Very well!

[Edelgard finishes off her own fruity drink before closing the distance. Once she's in arm's reach of him she'll sweep the Soldier off his feet and cradle him in a bridal carry.]

[ He did give her permission to! His guard is dropped enough that he's not really considering the people around them. Or the fact that he's gonna need to take a seat soon as the alcohol gets his head spinning in all the right and pleasant ways. But Cloud was humoring the Emperor, assuming she was just going to hoist him up by the waist or something! Already, that would have been something the Cloud from his place in time would have refused profusely (let alone sober Cloud here!)

But sure enough, ]

Wait—?

[ It happens so fast. And it's a miracle that he hasn't dropped the last bit of his mighty cocktail when she suddenly sweeps him off his feet. Without so much as a dip in her hold thanks to his weight, he realizes his position and stares at her wide-eyed and burning red in the face. ]

E-Edelgard...! [ She's much shorter than him, but Cloud wasn't the tallest guy either. Which meant that his poor legs dangled perfectly in her strong arms, his body lean enough that it lends to a rather humoring image. Whether other people turned to look or not hardly mattered. His focus is solely on the woman strong arming him. Literally.

Somehow? This ranks high up there on the embarrassment scale, even when pitted against other things he's done in between home and Nippon. Those blue-green eyes of his look even brighter as he remains perfectly still, hands tucked against his chest as he holds his drink up.

Your bishie is showing, Kuraudo. ]

Um... Mind letting me go?

—Ah, certainly.

[She puts him back on his feet a bit haphazardly. Normally she would have been gentle, but at the moment her inclination for that is a bit faded. Instead now she's more concerned about his negative reaction. Did her monstrous strength scare him? Did he feel emasculated?

Edelgard's mind overthinks plenty in normal circumstance, but without any sober filter or awareness to get her to stop herself... it runs off like a bullet train.]

I apologize.

[ Cloud is, thankfully, still sound on his feet, even if there's a minor fumble as she abruptly drops him. Rubbing the back of his neck, Cloud is prepared to thank her before he takes in the look on her face. While it wasn't like he didn't care, he just tended to be more guarded about his own feelings. His own sober filter being removed, however, meant that guard was all but gone, and his empathy taking a boost as his kneejerk reaction to her apologizing was to: ]

Don't be.

[ Try and reassure her. Now he felt bad! ]

I'm sorry. I was just...not expectin' you to pick me up like that. I thought you'd go huggin' me up, or throwin' me over your shoulder? [ A beyond-tipsy beat. ~~Vanna White, can I get a 'G'?~~ ] Don't ask why I thought of that last one.

Edited 2022-07-27 08:06 (UTC)

I could probably do both of those. Do you want me to try something else?

[Tipsy like this, she'll manhandle him six ways from Sunday if that's what he wants.]

Let's...save that for later.

[ He says as he polishes off the remainder of his drink. He's this far in, he might as well let the rest of the drink try and knock him down. ]

I got another friend whose strong like you. Could prolly send a Behemoth flyin' if she kicked it hard enough.

[ Or punched it hard enough. He knows strong girls! ]

[Edelgard can't help but giggle.]

I have no frame of reference for that!

[ They'll need to find a place to sit down or fumble off to later, but in the meantime, ]

Y'know, a Behemoth's... [ Ah. ] One sec.

[ He dips down to put his empty drink on the ground. ...and sways back up with a tilt back of his head. ]

Thaat felt different. [ Yeah. He's loaded. Holy. ] So anyway, it's...

[ He raises both arms up in the air, and tries spreading them out as he looks up at nothing in particular, trying to give Edelgard a scope but. Hmm. He slowly lowers his arms before setting them on his hips to ask, ]

Y'got any monsters back home? What's the biggest one?

We have wolves bigger than houses.

[And that's just... regular megafauna. Fodlan probably has a slightly higher oxygen concentration than earth to maintain that.]

That! [ Cloud points to Edelgard with some enthusiasm. ] About that big. Tifa could beat the hell outta one of those.

Edited 2022-08-05 08:46 (UTC)

I suppose this Tifa and I have a lot in common!

[Edelgard puts her hand on her hip and puffs her chest out like a very proud bird.]

Edited (Hit enter too soon, wow) 2022-08-09 16:00 (UTC)

I bet you two do. Would raise my glass for ya, but I'm out.

[ Poor, poor empty "knock an Ex-SOLDIER on his ass" liquor. ]

...hey.

"Hay" is for horses.

[Did she just snicker at her own joke?

Yes.]

Did you just— [ She snickered just then. Yup. His shoulders give a little shake. That was stupid. ...so why did he just chuckle there. kjhdsfa ] Hey, so, bad idea right now, but when we're sober. We should have a spar.

[ At least he's conscious enough to know that flailing weapons around while this fitshaced was a Bad Time® ]

Or any competition.

Why?

[Sober Edelgard would politely agree to set up a time, but Drunk Edelgard just wants to be nosy.]

[ And Drunk Cloud wants to indulge her, letting his thoughts flow with reason! ...albeit the rhyme might be off. ]

Y'know. [ She doesn't. ] Just...cause...you're really pretty— [ What. ] Pretty strong. [ Ah. ] And picked me up like it was nothin'. And you can smash giant wolves to boot.

...Oh. Are you one of those people who like to be beaten?

Ah— [ Wha- ] No?

[ Then why are you blushing. ~~Booze.~~ ]

Just that I'm pretty strong m'self. So it'd be a good challenge.

July | Event: Waterpark Waves

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