Event CLOSED: The Kyōsaku House: Dinner Party

[Raizo]

Making his way from the second floor, his ultimate goal was the ballroom. He had a job to perform, and that was kicking off the game for the evening. This wasn't necessarily his favorite part of the whole ceremony, nor was it his favorite thing to do in the world. He didn't mind talking, but this felt forced. Cramped. This was a Yukina job. She liked this stuff.

Huh... does she like this stuff, I guess I never asked. I will ask her when she gets here.

Politely he would nod and bow, while also accepting his next drink from a staff member, as he continued to navigate his way to the ballroom. He was a man on a mission.

A man on a mission that was walking and taking sips of his drink.

[Topic Entered - In and Out - 60 mins]

 

[Raizo]

Polishing off his drink he would place it upon the nearest standing table. With that, he would pause for a moment as a Journeyman would approach him and give him one of the several wrist accessories that the participants were wearing. He would also take a moment to fasten his on as well. Not delaying any further, he would enter the threshold for the hallway connecting to the ballroom and would continue onward.

[Topic Left]

 

[Sand Council]

"Attention, Kazekage Ryuzaki Raizo is making his way to the grand ballroom to give the opening remarks and explain the festivities for tonight. All non-participants, and non-judges, are encouraged to make their way to the ballroom at this time. All participants and judges are free to remain in their respective locations and listen to the opening remarks over the PA system. Opening remarks will begin in the next 10 minutes."

@Shingetsu Sora @Sunaku Harupia @Kanmuri @Mikaboshi @Kaen @Uziuke

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

With his device on and permission to explore, Shin would take this oppurtunity to roam through the house some to get a better lay of the land, or so to speak. This would give the Medical Chief a general idea as to where everything was located so that in case of an emergency he would be able to aid those in need quickly.

((OoC: Should have indicated this in my last post but I am goig to be leaving from here to continue in the Kyōsaku House: Left Path - First Floor "The Game Room" thread))

 

[Shingetsu Sora]

As wrapped up as he was in the apparent seizing of his autonomy, Suigetsu was momentarily caught off guard a rather youthfully chipper blonde haired fellow introduced himself. "My my, while we would want to claim to be surprised to see someone as young as you in these games that would be a lie. We were a pretty advanced in our medical arts by your age. We are Shin and Kohana, may we ask your name? It's a please by the way." Letting out just the barest of audibly gasp, Suigetsu managed to regain his composure just as quickly. While quite surely hearing the words that the being before him was speaking to age and the rather lack of young people, but all the Ancient heard was the word "We" without the added caveat of seeing another body. Either the individual before him was speaking to invisible people or this was a trick of some sort to catch him in the act. Had the oracles caught on to what he truly was, or was this some sort of test that he was being subjected to to further weed out the weak. Whatever it was, the somewhat awkward pause was interrupted by an announcement.

"Attention, Kazekage Ryuzaki Raizo is making his way to the grand ballroom to give the opening remarks and explain the festivities for tonight. All non-participants, and non-judges, are encouraged to make their way to the ballroom at this time. All participants and judges are free to remain in their respective locations and listen to the opening remarks over the PA system. Opening remarks will begin in the next 10 minutes."

A momentary reprieve, Suigetsu regained the moment and formally introduced himself as he wished to appear. "Hey, they opened it up to everybody so I figured, why not. The name's Sora, pleasure to meet you. I don't think that we've had the chance to meet yet, but you'll have to explain why I only see one of you! Let's chat on the way to the grand ballroom." Perhaps it was nothing, perhaps this odd fellow was something else entirely, but Suigetsu was sure that he was going to need to keep his eyes on Shin and Kohana, whoever they were.

OOC: Topic left unless stopped.

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

“True I suppose. I guess it’s a question of how suddenly we’ll be thrown into the thick of it” he said peeking at the floating eye leaving them before turning back to the other person. His own gaze was more relaxed than Akkuma’s, but also trying to gauge the person in front of him. He could feel the slight dread emanating from the other man, though he still kept himself relaxed. If slightly cautious. After a moment the man behind the bar served him a drink which he picked up saying “My Name is Harupia, of the Sunaku . Pleased to meet you” he offered his name. Given the man didn’t recognize him, he might have avoided the shock and explanation of why he was missing all this time.

There were some interruptions before any further introductions were made. Two people enter the room, a man and woman looking quite similar. Siblings at it quickly turned out…the name sounded familiar, but… the thought of when he last could have seen the pair had filled him with slight existential dread. Though again, another distraction was provided with a more official announcement, as well as a gift. A device made to track their presence…and probably something more. Shrugging his shoulder he put it on his hand as intended.

He remained silent for a while after Akkuma left, more so observing and taking a moment with his drink. It was still feeling odd…being here after so long, and just trying to mingle in as if nothing happened. But he could only imagine karma would find its way to punish him… he just had to make sure to make up for lost time somewhat. As he finished his drink the communication came about the happening in the ballroom. And that was where he went.

OOC - Also leaving Topic

 

[Uziuke]

'The ballroom hmm?' Uzi continued to lay his eyes on the ceiling above. He had a while to gather his thoughts, mostly thinking of the airship. The services he could do for civilians and the shinobi villages were still tickling his brain muscles. He met a lot of people out there, but he hoped to lead them to something victorious, rather than a pile of stale coles. No one liked receiving those for Christmas.

He continued to wonder how the events would unfold this evening. If all went well, he could get a good night's sleep for once. With all his workings, there was barley enough time to catch a few zzz's.

"Well, I guess it's time to check out what's going on." He said to no one in particular. He didn't talk to anyone while at the house yet, and he didn't know who was present for the event at the time. He arose to his feet, taking a stretch to wake himself up. After a yawn, he decided to make his way to the gathering place.

[ Topic Entered / Left ]

 

[Sand Council]

From the PA System, would come the following announcement:

"Thank you all for gathering here this evening. I know there is a lot of intrigue in not only this event and our competitors but also in general. Why do things in such a non-traditional way? I think concerns about upholding and respecting traditions is one that should be valued, but I also believe that change can also illicit growth. Evolution. We are standing at the precipice of a unique time for Sunagakure no Sato, a time in which the village can either adapt and evolve or stay complacent. Complacency is often given as a pejorative, that it is bad. It isn't, at least in context. This village has finally entered into a level where complacency is probably welcomed. Where consistency is finally consistent. After decades caught in a maelstrom, attacks from insurgents, attacks from twisted creatures from the wild expanse, and constant fear of a faction seeking to destroy you... Suna has finally reached a point where the day-to-day is mundane. A day that you live on the surface, that you thrive but not at the forced hand of survival, and one in which you can enjoy just the simplicity of existing without being on edge for the next danger."

Pause.

"And while we have reached the place of peace, is it where we should remain? Or is there a benefit to challenging ourselves, not merely waiting for challenges to come, to grow and change? We've already received one message from one of the other Great Nations challenging our previously held traditions, and we're already aware of the dangers still lingering in the Desert Expanse, but shouldn't we already be moving forward regardless of these external events and not simply because of them? Isn't it time to be proactive and stop merely being reactive? These Sennin Games will not only mark a new Sennin to join the upper ranks of our military but also mark a new chapter for our village. One where we look at our traditions and current concepts and make a decision on what truly is best for the progress of our village, what truly is sustainable."

Another pause

"So then, what about tonight? Why are we here? Why are some of us wearing these odd metallic wrist devices" he would say raising his own arm to show that he too was wearing the device, "Before we get to that, let me take a moment to mention that we will be doing something different within the Sennin Games. Like I said in my original announcement, this was to be a spectacle and showcase for not only our shinobi and our village but for all of Wind Country. In keeping with that promise, one of the Merchant Lords of Soon's Haven has graced us with an amazing opportunity; tonight, and all other facets of the game, will be recorded on film, and then Merchant Lord Guchi Sheena and her amazing team will take the film and release it for home consumption. So while it won't be real-time, each stage of the event will be witnessed by all those within our country, either in their home or at various gatherings planned around the country. Ultimately, the goal is for the final stages of the event to be filmed in real-time, witnessed in live broadcast form, but there are still several hurdles to climb before reaching that point, as Lord Sheena and her team are painfully aware of... so I say all that to say this; smile, because you are already on camera!"

A longer pause. He would continue.

"Now I am sure some of you have already processed what this means, but some of you might still be in the dark on this; for those of you participating, you are on full display. This is a spotlight and magnitude that many of you were maybe not expecting nor that some of you want, while others of you may revel at the ability to be put on such a stage. The reality for this decision was simple for two reasons; 1) The easiest reason; if you are selected to be a Sennin, you are standing in this very spotlight already, we are giving you a chance to grow accustomed to those lights instead of starting out blinded. 2) As I mentioned originally, these games aren't just a simple test--you are now going to be viewed, judged, and scrutinized not only by myself, those assisting with the games, but also your peers, village members, and country mates. Being able to handle that pressure is no small feat, folding to that pressure is no grand failure; you are being tested."

"Now on to the focus of this evening. As already mentioned, you all are wearing these wrist devices, which were made by the head of our Journeyman Order, Takahashi Satoshi, of the renowned Takahashi Clan who has served this village and country proudly. This device will be used throughout the games for various purposes, to keep track of your progress. To activate,"

There would be a pause with the sound of shuffling picked up on the microphone, "you must press this button and then emit a small amount of chakra. The runic work of Satoshi will then kick in on that small amount of energy and the device will start up."



"Satoshi has stated that this device all works fundamentally the same but because it is powered by your chakra, or your spiritual essence, it is not an exact science like modern [of the NC world] technology. Instead, each of yours might act a little differently based on your own personality, but I have been assured that all of them will have the same fundamental character and starting prompt; a little creature named C.U.R.O. or "kur-oh" and you should all receive a welcome message introducing you to the device."

Spoiler: The CURO and Welcome Screen

Lowering his own device he would continue.

"You will notice that you all have a score, and that score is starting at 50 out of 100. For tonight's game, the rules are fairly simple. It's a battle royal..."

There would be an amount of tension in his pause.

"...of appeal. That's right, you will be assessed by our judges, non-participants within the house, based on your conversations, actions, and behaviors tonight. Favorable conversation? Gain points. Pick your nose? Lose points, depending on who sees you. The rationale for this is simple enough, if not mundane for those of you itching to do more punching; I need Sennin that are not just pillars of strength. I need Sennin that are pillars of our village. Can you relate? Can you speak in a way that promotes yourself on our causes? While this may not seem like an exciting assessment, I want to caution you on believing this to be an easy one; are you truly someone who this village can believe in? If so, show it."


"Your score at the end of this round tonight will be used for rankings in the next round. The score caps at 100 but as a reminder, you can also lose points just as quickly as you gain them. Should you wish to question any transactions, you will have to talk to me. I have access to all participant's points and overall score sheets. If my ruling goes in your favor, you will be returned the points taken or given to you, and if my ruling goes against your favor, you will be penalized 20 points."

He would pause again.

"You, as a participant, are able to give your points to fellow participants but are not able to take them away from others. Any points you give will be subtracted from your total."

"You are welcome to hide away from judges, but every hour you go without receiving feedback on interacting with another person wearing one of these devices will result in a loss of 5 points."

"Last bit on the rules; since this competition will have us staying up through the night, you are welcome to retire to your room and head for bed. If that is what you wish to do, remove the device and the 5-point penalty will be deducted based on the time remaining. And lastly, we will have a group meeting, for those who wish to attend, in 3 and 6 hours, in the meeting room on the second floor. Those who attend will receive 10 points automatically and those who do not, will not be punished. We have roughly 8 hours of competition tonight, so best of luck. Coffee, along with any and all beverages and food, are available to judges and participants at your request. I shall stick around the ballroom for a moment and then will wander around the premises for the remainder of the game."

There would be a sound of crumpling of papers.

"Oh, just noticed I received clarification from Satoshi about what C.U.R.O. stands for... and he says it stands for Shove It Up---okay, never mind. Good luck participants, I hope you all put your best foot forward!"

The communication would end.
OOC: Please check out this post

 

[Sand Council]

The door would open, and a late guest would arrive.

Dusting off his suit, from his travels... and maybe something a little extra, he would have a cunning grin already etched on his face as he would turn to one of the staff members.

"Excuse me, I am looking for my charming younger brother, Dai. My assumption is that the poor lad will be wallowing somewhere waiting for me, could you be a dear and tell me where I need to go to find him?"

"He is currently in the ballroom, Director Akihiko."

The businessman would nod politely for the information and would turn up to one of the cameras, before giving a little wave.

"Also, please alert whoever is keeping tabs on this that I have arrived, I assume someone needs to talk to me."

And with that, he would head towards the ballroom.

 

[Sand Council]

The masked female would be out of the Ballroom and would now be back in the main lobby of the house. She would look around before finding one of the workers of the event.

"Excuse me, please find my masked friend in the Game Room and tell him the following, exactly: Attention; Many enthusiastic elephants tirelessly investigate new sights, observing rivers and start roaming over open meadows."

With that, she would once more leave a room.

 

[Chigokai Yuna]

With her meeting with Raizo done, Yuna would ask, or rather have words float around her asking where is Benzaiten. All of this to get attention. Eventually, someone had pointed her back to the entrance, where there were a few people hanging around, but she would not see her target anywhere. Fukurokuju's words had echoed in her mind, of how she was being heavily watched. Was it his warning to her as she has caught the eyes of less than desirable people, or is it just him saying that as he is an Oracle?

Perhaps once she finds Benzaiten, she could learn more of what Fukurokuju had said.

(looking around for Benzaiten, could not find any other recent postings with her in the other rooms so just here till directed otherwise to her new location)

 

[Sand Council]

Hour 5 has ended with the following scoreboard:

@Chikamatsu Shin 92/100
@Tsurara Moriko 90/100
@Chigokai Yuna (Name shows as Silent) 80/100
@Shingetsu Sora 87/100
@Sunaku Harupia 85/100
@Uziuke 62/100
@Miroku Akkuma 60/100
@Okami Roku 42/100
@Kaen 25/100
@Kanmuri 25/100
@Mikaboshi (name would show as Sunahoshi Suzaku) 25/100



THIS IS THE START OF HOUR 6 (of 8): This hour will end at 20:00 UTC next Sunday (December 10th)

Remember you must be attempting to interact with someone to forgo the -5 penalty at the end of Hour 5!

 

[Sand Council]

The little game of cat and mouse would begin as Silent would start to search for Benzaiten. While she asked, she would mostly receive apologies. But eventually one worker would receive a call on their headset.

"Miss Silent!" she would politely call out waiting for the masked figure to approach

---

Kaori - Med Chief

Making it to the room hosting the front door. She would finally stop and turn around to fully address Moriko once more.

"As I was saying, I am aware of the task you are assigned, and normally I would play this a bit different but I must be leaving rather urgently."

She would look rather rushed, but still maintaining a smile as this was not the fault of the girl before her, just the nature of the game being played.

"There is no rule against this, so please just ask me the specific questions you were assigned and I will give you what you want. No hassle, no fuss."

Her eyes would glance at the door briefly before back to the girl.

Tsurara Moriko

---

Dai, with a rather intent look on his face, entered this area and began to look around. Eventually, he would be approached by a worker telling him to head to the conference room.

"..."

And with that he would leave this room.

[Topic Left]

 

[Chigokai Yuna]

So far, no luck. That is, until someone had called her over. It seemed to be one of the workers of the Kyosaku house. She would bow to the worker as a sign of respect then the watery words around her would rearrange themselves to form a new sentence.

Spoiler

Hello, a pleasure to meet you. Have you seen where Benzaiten may have gone?

Maybe it was out of habit, or maybe it is because of how she felt off by what has been happening lately that she can't put a finger on it, but Yuna would use her Archsage powers to see if there was a disturbance in the environment from this person's chakra or not. Her chakra sensing abilities aren't like that of an Uchiha or a Hyuuga, but she should be able to sense if there is any chakra disturbances in the area.

 

[Sand Council]

Before the hour was up, several people would suddenly appear while several others were trying to leave.

Coming through the door to enter the House would be:

Director of Infrastructure, Gou - He would remain in this room
Representative of the Journeymen, Kaeru - He would head for the Game Room
Representative of the Rangers, Hinoko - She would head for the Game Room
Chief of Suna Police Force, Souta - He would remain in this room
Oracle, Jurojin - He would head for the Ballroom
Oracle, Bishamonten - He would head for the Ballroom
Oracle, Daikokuten - He would remain in this room

Those either leaving or attempting to leave:

Main Branch Jounin, representative leader for the games, Tomoe - She would successfully leave after acknowledging Souta
Medical Branch Med Chief, representative leader for the games, Kaori - Still waiting for Moriko before leaving

 

[Chigokai Yuna]

As Yuna would wait for the person that hailed her to answer her question about Benzaiten, she would see a couple of people make their way into the house, many of whom she has not seen before. There was someone leaving along with another who seemed to be waiting on the response of another contestant.

Out of habit, Yuna would look over at the individuals entering the house, checking to see how their chakra disrupted the environment around them, but if nothing really catches her eyes, she would turn her attention back to the person that had called her over.

 

[Tsurara Moriko]

Moriko almost could not believe her luck here. That was...something, all right. her blunt and concise approach might have, in another circumstance, possibly been a problem...but here, it was a benefit. Well then. She didn't think she was being jerked around or for that matter handled; it didn't seem right or fair for this type of thing.

"I will be brief, then, to not keep you," Moriko said, and drew the notecard out of a pocket. "I hope this is not too insensitive; I have been said to be such before."

She could fortunately write with her chakra, after a fashion, freezing the correct characters into blue text on the notecard so that she didn't have to remember things outright--sometimes a not particularly sound plan, especially when it came to bits of information. Especially about people.

"I have three things here to ask," she said. "Firstly, which is part of the warning for the potential insensitivity, your age. Secondly, this is the other part, your biggest failure. And thirdly, though it may seem impertinent, whom you would like to see as Sennin, if you have any kind of preference at all."

Yes, best not to push anything. Polite. Concise. Not too blunt. If Kaori wanted to see the card Moriko would of course show her, but she didn't think she'd be taken in bad faith to just pry about random information, here. What would the point in that even be, after all?

It went without saying that she didn't entirely conceal slight nerves here. There was a deadline, after all, and as much as she wasn't too worried about the points she might miss for failing as they'd be made up for just by showing up for the meeting--well, she was competitive enough to be here, after all.

But she could probably trust the judges to be in good faith, or they wouldn't be judges. Right? If any ulterior motives were involved, that...that would be from competitors.

She dismissed the earlier thought-spiral to pay attention to and scribe down whatever Kaori answered. They were rather personal questions, so hopefully Kaori would direct any discomfort, antagonism, or other such things to whoever had made them.

(And she wasn't sure what the idea of the last question was; most likely it was not going to be the person who had been sent after that judge whom they wanted...maybe that was the point?)

[Topic Entered following Kaori; Current Points According to CURO: 90; Status: Bated Breath/Alert]

 

[Sand Council]

Dear Contestants! Unfortunately due to Out of Character timing causing a drastic delay to this In Character competition, Round 1 has come to an end. The 1st Sennin will be rewarded to the contestant with the highest score!

@Chikamatsu Shin 92/100
@Tsurara Moriko 90/100
@Chigokai Yuna (Name shows as Silent) 80/100
@Shingetsu Sora 87/100
@Sunaku Harupia 85/100
@Uziuke 62/100
@Miroku Akkuma 60/100
@Okami Roku 42/100
@Kaen 25/100
@Kanmuri 25/100
@Mikaboshi (name would show as Sunahoshi Suzaku) 25/100

Congratulations Chikamatsu Shin for gaining the role of Sennin of Sunagakure!

Round 2 of the Sennin Games will begin at the start of the year of 2024! ICly this will be a month worth of prep. While Round 2 is not going to be a straight up modded combat, as there will be other factors that will go into this round, every contestant which has made it to Round 2 has been notified that they will be in direct competition with in the following pairings.

@Tsurara Moriko vs @Uziuke
@Chigokai Yuna vs @Miroku Akkuma
@Shingetsu Sora vs @Sunaku Harupia