Big Dango

Clean city, high class neighborhood. The location's perfect.

Two Gigs, part of the founding crew, were tasked with obtaining the keys to what was to be the new Dango Loft. Days later, they returned with smiles abound, prize in hand. But when they presented the coveted lot, new home of the Gigs, to Gucci, they were given an earful and a lot of hand flapping. 'I meant the big one in the back, not this tiny nothing in front of it!'

Surrounded by castles, the Dango Loft is a modest Hingan pad located above most of Shirogane. It's small, but it looks good and the view's great.

Having secured a base of operations, DANGO began the arduous process of filling the ranks. Traveling to every nook and cranny of Eorzea, Gucci kept his eyes peeled for potential recruits of all shapes and sizes. It was a long road ahead, and sleep is for the dead. To facilitate this, Sryke Drakar was promoted to Right Hand.

Three Gigs were honoured at the first Take for their above-and-beyond contributions to the development of The Loft this month: Elidyr, Draysek and Joy! The three will receive approximations of their likeness via some little-known local painter. The Collection was coming to a close when a tiny messenger arrived. She had come to deliver a job from an unknown source: to clear out some bandits hiding in a cave someplace. Kikiza Kiza could offer no additional information except the presumed fake name scrawled at the bottom, 'Moon Moon.'

The evening of Moon Moon's contract arrived as expected, save for a few missing Gigs. Splitting into two teams, DANGO entered the north and south routes seperately. In the Captain's quarters, Team 1, led by the head-strong Arawynn, discovered a ledger detailing money owed to "Moon Moon." Following spats with fire bombs, puzzles, pirates, sahagin, and otherwise, both parties eventually returned, generally unscathed, having discovered the bandits had been holding a number of women deep within the caves and against their will. They were fed and released. Nikolai and Sylvarian, the new one, were assigned to help them safely back to Limsa Lominsa. Reports have been submitted to document these excursions.

Upon arriving back outside, the Gigs were greeted by a familiar lalafel who just so happened to be stopping by.

Finally, to wrap up the success, a few Gigs went out to party the night away in a number of Eorzea's fine clubs and bath houses.

With All Saint's Wake right around the corner, the Gigs of DANGO donned their best masks for some seasonal revelry at a marvelous Masquerade, hosted by Arcana Obscura. With barely a moment to get comfortable, they were alerted via Linkpearl that Syl—having ducked out due to a sudden change in plans—had received a letter for the owner of the estate, signed 'a friend.' It detailed the presence of Moon Moon at their very location that evening, looking to meet up with an unknown associate. To play the part in the associate's stead, the Gigs had to discover Moon Moon before the third party arrived, and salute him to identify themselves. With that in mind, they began to scour the crowd.

Of course, Kikiza Kiza made a convenient appearance, and after a few misidentifications, Harle was able to sniff out the culprit, who was seen gabbing with the purple-haired Lalafell. Trading a salute with the Au Ra, Harle was told that 'Moon Moon says hello.'

When the rest of the party heard this, they converged on Moon Moon, a red-haired Raen who'd seemingly had a fair bit to drink. However, he insisted he wasn't Moon Moon at all, and was in fact Basho Gunji, who was searching for Melle, who'd apparently gone missing. Arawynn was quick to spill that Melle had been staying with DANGO all along, and was not missing at all. Gucci was eager to get the Raen back to the Loft for questioning, when Sryke alerted him to news from the guards: there had been a break-in.

Upon returning to the new building, DANGO's dutiful Lalafell escorted Basho to a back room for later questioning, where he caught up with Melle, safe and sound. Nothing really seemed to be missing from the new headquarters—apart from maybe a fuath—but a satchel had been discovered at the point of entry. Naturally, it must've belonged to someone...

Tasked with spearheading the recovery of Book, Sylvarian worked with the Gigs Melle, Kyoko, Jarissia and Koh'ta to find a way to get a leg up on the crafty Lalafell, Kikiza. Melle and Koh provided advice and knowledge to shape the plan, and Jarissia and Koh helped Syl lay a trap for the wily Lalafell. Quick to tap into her tinkerer spirit, Jarissia modeled a tracking device to hide inside a 'rare' vase that Koh'ta then sold to the messenger for a steal of a deal. Feeling responsible for the tome's safe return, Sylvarian set out to recapture it on his own the next night. Fortunately for him, he was able to escape with Book in hand.

One sunny afternoon, after a spontaneous meeting with a blond businessman, something snapped in Gig Elidyr, and he laid waste to the sushi venue they had been visiting, as well as a number of beachfront businesses along Shirogane's coastline. DANGO was hired almost immediately to handle the spiraling situation.

Gucci deployed anyone he could get his hands on in short order. Koh'ta, Sylvarian, Nikolai, Mikhail, and Kyoko all arrived at the ready, and while Syl and Mikky scoured the buildings for anyone in need, the others wore down the mindless husk that they so recently called a friend. Though he was eventually subdued, he managed to wound Kyoko in the last instant.

By the next morning, L2 had already been visited by a pair of snooping bounty hunters, looking to make good on a warrant for Eli's arrest. Before management had even decided what to do with him, an official Summons by the Kugane Sekisegumi was delivered directly to Gucci's hands, calling for court appearances by every Gig in his employ for damages rendered. Furious, the Roegadyn called an emergency meeting in the lobby, and dragged Eli out of the infirmary for a dressing down. The Summons was shown off, the Gigs were reminded that DANGO was a business with a reputation to uphold, and Elidyr was summarily fired on the spot.

Soon, Eli was escorted out of L2. While Gucci and Jesse stood watch, one of the women delivered further instructions and a letter to the Guildmaster. As the ex-Gig was carted off for the last time, Gucci found a fiendish, magically inscribed note on the parchment. It read:

So quick to give up one of your own...
You make this too easy for me.
You haven't changed. ☽

After an eventful week, the beginnings of a slow recovery started to settle in on DANGO. The company was the talk of the town, but good praise didn't accompany the guild's name. Management was quick to search for a remedy to fix the chaos their former employee had left them with. The first step: lay low.

While Gigs and Mochi were instructed to keep a low profile, Arawynn was quick to reach out to her connections in Kugane in an attempt to keep DANGO's record clean. A few deals were discussed, ultimately leading to one final result: their record would remain clean, but at a hefty cost that the guild could not shoulder alone.

An announcement was made at the following Take, seeking out the assistance from Mochi and Gigs to raise the remainder of the gil they needed to keep their name untarnished. With the return of the bereft businessman, Ronald Dalton, a contract was established to help cover the cost by lending over the hardworking hands of Nielsa. His intentions raised doubt within the management of DANGO, but with few other options to turn to, the Daltons felt like the safest bet. The remainder of the cost was brought in through donations by Kyoko, Jaris, Syl and Melle. With everyone's hard work, DANGO's name was clear of charges, while the former employee Elidyr carried the weight on his name alone.

Kyoko Cross had come to find comfort in the halls of The Dango Loft, always surrounded by the rushed hustle of a humble little Company trying to hold itself above water. Every night, she had overstayed her welcome in the forge to help make ends meet, and every morning she had overslept and dragged herself back to it, thanks only to the blessing of two creams and two sugars.

Now, gravely wounded, and with nothing to show for it but an imprisoned friend, Kyo struggled to come to terms with what had happened. Kept awake by nightmares turned hallucinations, she visited Eli's room, perhaps in search of closure, or understanding, only to trash it in a drunken fit. Jesse, stepbrother and best friend, was forced to subdue the Miqo'te to avoid damage to herself and those around her.

It was then that Gucci approached the Gig to present an opportunity that only she would be offered: a chance to visit her lost comrade, housed behind bars in some unknown location. Despite a hesitation to confront her attacker, the engineer accepted.

The rain was cool when they discretely arrived at the prison. Quick money exchanged hands, and they were given a private, painful audience with the lost Roegadyn. His mind had crumbled away in the solitary place, barely big enough to hold three of him, and the bright naivety that had always accompanied him had been snuffed out by long nights spent stewing in fear and regret. Their conversation was their own, but it allowed Kyo to forgive him, and brought bittersweet smiles.

Maybe in future, they would exchange letters.

It had been days since anyone had heard from Melle.

In their worry, Jaris, Nielsa and Arawynn had searched his room and discovered a scrap of leather, marked by a strange symbol. Gucci was unsurprised when Nielsa brought it to him, eager to begin an investigation, and said he would look into the matter. Unfortunately, time was not on their side, as the next night, the missing Miqo'te was delivered to The Loft in a crate. With a note.

Barely living and hauled into the infirmary, Melle had little to give as far as an explanation as to what had happened to him, even with Jazi tending to his wounds. Unease and hot tempers took the ones around. Where had the guards been? Why hadn't Oppie, the new one, been watching the grounds? Gucci was livid, and Jesse promptly quit his post with a broken face for defending the Xaela and muttering venom to The Boss.

All they had to go on was the note—'You owe me'—and an understanding that whatever had happened to Eli was likely connected to whatever had happened to Melle.

A cool day off the Kugane harbour. The market was bustling with the usual clamour when Gucci met with the wayward, former guards, Jesse and Oppie, in a cramped little tea shop. Anger, distrust, and short fuses lead the exchange, but as they worked through the events of that night, there was no denying that Oppie had only been doing his job when he ducked away from his post to stop someone stealing their placard, and thus could not have been present to stop the unfortunate delivery that followed.

With reluctance, the two were given their jobs back, while Jesse had something more to offer: a missive, sealed from The Maelstrom of Limsa Lominsa, and a promise of opportunity, if Dango was willing to take it.

Gucci slipped the letter into a pocket for later review.

Ronald Dalton hadn't started off on a great foot with Big Dango, but hardship does things to a person, as he discovered when he found himself with hardly a penny to his name. Cut off from the family funds for frivolous spending, he had nowhere to turn except to Dango. And so he had worked for The Company, come to know its Gigs, and found that there was more there than he had given them credit for.

It was on the bittersweet last night of his employment, on his way out of a quiet, dimmed lobby, that a scream rang out from the rafters, and a body landed, broken in front of him.

Oppie, the fierce, awkward little Xaela who he'd told to keep his chin up and do his best, was dead. The Gigs were only just beginning to return from an All Saints Wake party at Dracone's, and very soon the lobby was buzzing with activity. Syl, Jaela and Kyoko wheeled about the place looking for some idea of what had transpired, while Gucci insisted he had seen someone steal out onto the balcony. Low and behold, a quick hunt around the shadowed neighbourhood brought Ron, Jaela and Dracone upon a scurrying, hooded Au Ran man, who was thrown in The Box posthaste.

A handful of Gigs were pulled underground with the man, and though the happenings there never did come to light, there was talk of people moving a heavy-looking thing out to sea in the early morning, and whispers of a word.

Ghost.

The funeral was held along Shirogane's shores in the days to follow.

Arawynn had quit without a word, or a look to anyone. Melle had vanished, having never fully recovered from his capture. Syl's whereabouts were unknown, and it could only be assumed that mistakes from his past had finally caught up to him, be they in the form of the Hingan underground or elsewise. Dracone had sent notice about a meet with his pirate contacts, and that was the last anyone heard from him.

The Loft had grown quiet. Solemn. But mercifully, so had the attacks on its Gigs. The guards, reorganized and temporarily bolstered by a generous donation of hands from the Dalton Family Company, were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. Apart from Jesse, anyway.

It was during this time, on a mild, autumn day, that a smartly uniformed, promised representative arrived. Commander Nathanial Locke, of the honorable Grand Company Maelstrom, had heard good things about Big Dango, thanks in no small part to his son, Jesse, and step-daughter Kyoko. Always scouring the horizon for merc groups to take on their less savory work, he was prepared to offer a deal: higher priority access to better paying jobs, in return for an exclusive working relationship with The Maelstrom. This would require a cleanup of Dango's crew and forfeit of any jobs overseen by the other GCs.

Despite having a distaste for titles, Gucci accepted, as the pros seemed to outweigh the cons, and The Company was in need of a little fortune. Following, the Gigs were made to stand up a little straighter and learn to salute.

A...work in progress.

The Company was thriving. Money wasn’t quite so tight, renovations were finally underway in the long unused basement. Hiring was up. Recruits had begun to trickle in from places as far-flung as Ishgard and Ala Mhigo, tantalized by talk of regular work and good wages out in the Far East. Big Dango, a modest operation with rocky beginnings, nestled deep in the butt-end of some division called Shirogane, was finally making a name for itself. Aside from a bug going around L2 and some peculiar baking happening around L1, things were going well.

One seemingly unspecial day, Gigs Ro and Nielsa sat, paying company to the new Dirt, Nori, while she cleaned the stables for one misstep or another. When the work was done, the recruit looked to Nielsa, over a cooking meal, for advice on mending the rough start she’d had with Gucci, now Commander. Tea, patience, and not too many words were all she could impart before they realized something was smoking. And it wasn’t the food.

Outside, the stables burned. The Commander looked on, told them not to bother when they scrambled to put out the fire, but The Loft could’ve been next for the flames. Unwilling to see her home burn, Nielsa directed Nori to accelerate the burn while she funnelled her aether to the defense of L2. The two of them fought to exhaustion and collapse to put out the flames.

In the infirmary, Gig Della and Mochi Kai urgently tended to their patients, with anger and a demand for answers from the latter. Without an answer to give her, Gucci left.