As Kiyoshi wakes up on Tiger 20th, all will be good and normal, but he will soon notice a conspicuous absence.

Where is the Detective?

Fretting or not about it, he'll also soon note a small note sitting on the small nightstand by his sleeping space, held in place by a small bottle of... what seems to be a persimmon liqueur of some sort.



The note has only two kanji on it. One word. And then a small monkey paw print as a signature.

乾杯!*

(*kanpai! - basically "cheer" before drinking. Although notice other words with the same pronunciation (but different kanji).

"Detective?" he called out as he picked up the bottle and looked it over.

The note didn't make much sense, he had never taught the Detective any calligraphy. The bottle may have been a gift for the Detective, but had he drunk from it? Was thee a monkey running amuck through the House of Many Colors? Worse, was he running amuck out in the city?

"Detective?" he called out louder.

No sound was heard in answer - at least none of the sounds the detective would usually give in answer. There were the sounds of others shifting about in the building in their daily routine, but nothing else.

The bottle, meanwhile, seemed to be closed. And the calligraphy was... actually good. Not artful or anything, but decent.

If you thought about it... it did look something like an invitation to have a drink.

Drinking mysterious liqueur seemed like a bad idea, especially with a missing monkey. Even so, there were thoughts in the back of his head that he should.

You know what this is. Best to just get it over with. You don't want any one else involved, do you?

With a sigh, he picked up the bottle and the note and walked out of his room. He carried his densai with him, but only wore hakama. It had been so hot yesterday. In the common room, he picked out the book he'd bought on the Spirit Realms from the library and set it down with everything else.

Carefully, he opened the bottle and poured a cup, studying the liquid for a moment.

The liquid looked and smelled like persimmon. It had a slightly brighter colour than would be expected, but otherwise looked just like persimmon liqueur.

He opened the book to a specific realm and placed the note on the page. He could search the embassy. He could ask the others if they'd seen the Detective. But, if his suspicions were right, it would be best to play along.

"This is such a bad idea." he sighed quietly, as he opened the bottle and poured a cup.

"Kanpai!" And, he drank.

(Please give me a Raw Earth roll vs TN 25!)

As he immediately felt the effects of the odd spirits, he regretted his decision not to cast Jurojin's Balm first.


- - -
[D9 MM] A huckleberry above one's persimmon (Invite), Raw Earth | 3k3 ⇒ 14 (TN: 25)

When the drink first touched Kiyoshi's tongue, it felt sweet. But that lasted only a short moment. It quickly changes to tangy, then to strongly astringent. Doesn't quite numb your tongue, but it definitely makes your mouth dry.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it also quickly gets to your head. As soon as the cup is down, you feel tipsy and rather confused. Looking at the cup and the bottle, you see them doubled, and they move about a bit. As your eyes shift around the common room, you see everything else seems to be doubled and shifting about as well, so it's nothing particular about the cup...

1= Perception, 2= Awareness, 3= Intelligence, 4= Willpower | 1d4 ⇒ 2 - Your Perception, Intelligence and Willpower are 1 Lower while you are affected by the drink!

Interestingly, though, you also see what seems like a sparkling mist spread over parts of the ground. It also shifts about a bit, maybe less so than the rest of the world does right now. It seems almost like a path of sorts...

"Of course..." Picking up his densai, he slowly made his way to his feet and began to follow the mist. After a few steps, he began to sing.

"Here I come, walkin' through the mist.
I'll get the funniest looks, from ev'ry one I guess.
Hey, hey, where's my monkey? Don't you monkey around.
I'm singing for you, don't you keep us down....."

Kiyoshi will notice, eventually, that the trail leads down, then outside the building. He's free to get dressed in more than a Hakama before going outside, of course - it's still raining outside, after all! But if he wants to follow the misty path, he'll have to be going out.

If he does, he will notice the trail is not so straightforward to follow as it was inside the building. It fades a bit in some parts, becoming harder to see, in some parts it seems to bifurcate, and it is long, leading outside the Diplomatic District, even.


---
(OOC: If you want to, you can roll Lore: Spirit Realms or Lore: Folktales before going. TN is hidden, but Folktales would be easier. I'll say you can benefit from the bonus from the Embassy since you said you were looking for books already!

To follow the trail to its end, you'll have to roll Hunting (Trailblazing)/ Perception vs TN 30, or Investigation (Search)/ Perception vs TN 45. Success leads you to the end of the trail. Failure rolling above a 15 at least helps you along some of the way).

Kiyoshi's brain was clouded and he wasn't making the best decisions. He looked through the book again and the library, in hopes of gaining a better understanding of the situation, but the words just danced around and tumbled off the pages.

Once he realized it was raining, he got dressed. Taking his densai and the bottle with him, he left the embassy and tried to follow the trail.

But, his mind was so fuzzy. He found the mist harder and harder to follow.. He eventually remembered that he could ask the kami to help and called on the earth spirits to clear his senses. Hopefully, that was all they would do.

- - -
[D9 MM] A huckleberry above one's persimmon (Invite), Lore: Spirit Realms/Intelligence, Alcohol Penalty, Embassy Bonus, Encyclopedia, Bonus, Corrected Roll | 3k1+2 ⇒ 9 (TN: ?)
I forgot the alcohol effect.

[D9 MM] A huckleberry above one's persimmon (Invite), Hunting/Perception, Alcohol Penalty, VP for +1k1 | 5k3 ⇒ 21 (TN: 30)

[D9 MM] A huckleberry above one's persimmon (Invite), Casting Jurojin's Balm | 4k2 ⇒ 11 (TN: 10)

His reading... barely helped. He did find the name of some spirits listed as usual denizens of the Realm of Mischief dancing on the pages. Orochi. Mujina. Pekkles. Saru. Kappa. Bakeneko. What was each one? What were they like?

He might know some of them from before, maybe. But finding anything else now seemed too hard with the words dancing around.

Going outside, now properly dressed for the rain, he managed to follow the trail for a while, eventually going from the Diplomatic District to the Mercantile District. The trail went on and on, but at a point where it split into two and was less conspicuous among the busy streets, Kiyoshi lost it for a moment, unsure where to go.

What happens when Kiyoshi loses the trail?
1-3 = something gone; 4-6 = something comes | 1d6 ⇒ 4

Could he get rid of that confusion? If this was just alcohol, probably...

As he stops to think about what to do next, right after casting the spell, something hard comes from above and hits his head hard!

(Ouch! What's that? | 1k1 ⇒ 8 (TN: ?) => Kiyoshi suffers 8 damage!)

A stone? Had someone thrown it from one of the buildings around?

He hears someone laughing. Actually... was that a monkey laughing??

If he turns to look for it, he finds nothing. He does find the "stone" that had hit him. Which was not a normal stone... looked like an overgrown persimmon seed, in fact.

----
(OOC:
...it isn't just alcohol - or at least normal alcohol! Jurojin's balm allows you to roll another Earth roll vs TN 25, with the normal +2k0 bonus (but remember your Willpower is at -1!)

You can retry the Hunting roll at TN 25 after that, but let's see the result of that Earth roll first!)

He rubbed his head. Earth hadn't cleared it. Maybe water would help?

Water did help.

- - -
[D9 MM] A huckleberry above one's persimmon (Invite), Raw Earth, Alcohol Penalty, Jurojin's Balm | 4k2 ⇒ 16 (TN: 25)

[D9 MM] A huckleberry above one's persimmon (Invite), Casting Reversal of Fortunes, Alcohol Penalty | 4k2 ⇒ 12 (TN: 10)

[D9 MM] A huckleberry above one's persimmon (Invite), Hunting/Perception, Alcohol Penalty | 4k2 ⇒ 13 (TN: 25)

[D9 MM] A huckleberry above one's persimmon (Invite), Hunting/Perception, Alcohol Penalty, Reversal of Fortunes | 4k2 ⇒ 26 (TN: 25)

Earth actually had helped a bit, Kiyoshi noticed after a while. Maybe not as much as he had hoped, but he would later notice at least he wasn't seeing double anymore.

So with Earth and Water's help, he gets back on track and follows the misty path again, even through parts where it got fainter or more confusing.

He will notice it crosses the peninsula in the Mercantile District and a good part of the Temple District, to finally reach the entrance of the Garden of Mists.

Arriving there, the path advances through hedges and footpaths, until it reaches...

(OOC:
Continue here! I've seen you found the spoiler, so you know where we're headed

Jurojin's balm HAS helped a bit!

Earth does help a bit! What does it improve?
1 - Perception, 2 - Willpower, 3 - Intelligence | 1d3 ⇒ 1 => Your Perception is back to normal! This would have added another die to the rolls, but since you succeeded already, it doesn't matter much )