Maidens of the Kaleidoscope
~Beyond the Border~ => Rumia's Party Games => Mystia's Stored Games => Topic started by: DracoOmega on August 04, 2010, 04:01:33 AM
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>You are Keine Kamishirasawa, and the world around you is not the one you remember.
>Yesterday evening, you investigated a strange disturbance in the woods near the village. There you found an unknown human girl, and a mysterious white-winged youkai whose presence seemed to make you drift towards sleep. And then they spoke, and reality broke around you. You awakened to a world where some things are very different, and you've been trying to determine how to fix them.
>You have discovered the human village abandoned, and inhabited only by Hina and a strange human woman named Shiouko. The Spring Snow incident went unresolved, and Gensokyo endured an entire year of winter. The ensuing famine killed a great many people, including your close friend Akyuu. The surviving humans now live in a new village in the foot of Youkai Mountain, under Kanako's protection. Kanako is working with the Kappa to industrialize Gensokyo, and some of the fruits of this work can already be found in the human village.
>You have met and befriended Rumia, who has been following you around ever since.
>You have found a chasm where the Hakurei Shrine should be. Apparently Reimu disappeared with it, sometime after the Scarlet Mist Incident.
>You have fought off Mystia, who evidently held a grude against you for reasons you cannot remember.
>You discovered a house that belonged to your counterpart in this timeline, who seems to have lived a life that you do not remember. She seems to have vanished since yesterday; possibly when you awoke.
>You have realized that Eirin succeeded in sealing the moon years ago, thus preventing you from utilizing your hakutaku powers.
>You have witnessed a large explosion of unknown magical energy that appears to have removed a large patch of forest at a point between Yokai Mountain and the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
>You are currently speaking with Patchouli, in hopes of finding a way through the wards around Eientei so that you can force them to restore the true moon.
>"Do you know if the Hakurei maiden and Marisa were also involved in that investigation? And if they were....."
>"The Hakurei Shrine had disappeared a couple months before this. As for Marisa, I do not know. At the very least, Sakuya did not encounter her that day."
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>"I probably asked before, but I assume you don't know how it disappeared?"
>"I think I may have encountered something related to that on my way here, though..."
>Give the story about the purple energy thing, and the possible connection it has to the purple stuff in the air at the Hakurei shrine crater.
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>"I probably asked before, but I assume you don't know how it disappeared?"
>"No, I'm afraid not. I found traces of very unusual magical energy there, but it was too dispersed at the time to figure out what it was. Although, honestly... I'm not certain I could have identified the cause even if it had been more recent."
>"I think I may have encountered something related to that on my way here, though..."
>Give the story about the purple energy thing, and the possible connection it has to the purple stuff in the air at the Hakurei shrine crater.
>You recount your experience with the wall of energy. Patchouli nearly rises out of her seat as you speak.
>"What!? Did you get a sample of it?"
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>... shit, we had a thing for that, didn't we?
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>... shit, we had a thing for that, didn't we?
>Yes. Patchouli gave you a Crystal Lattice that can be used to capture samples of magical energy, for analysis or other purposes.
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> Partial Lie "Well I was kinda blind for a while since Rumia was quite scared when it appeared and when she dropped the darkness, I saw what it was then when I went to get a sample it kinda just dissapeared"
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>Don't lie. It won't help. And blaming Rumia? =[
>"I did not, unfortunately. I was too startled by it to actually do anything of the sort; I was trying to not get caught up in things. But, it was exposed to the energies a little bit, if it would absorb them on its own."
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>"Or if there's any residue left on me..."
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>Don't lie. It won't help. And blaming Rumia? =[
> It was a partial lie, Rumia did blind us, we're just lieing about our reation afterwards
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> Partial Lie "Well I was kinda blind for a while since Rumia was quite scared when it appeared and when she dropped the darkness, I saw what it was then when I went to get a sample it kinda just dissapeared"
>Don't lie. It won't help. And blaming Rumia? =[
>Technically, you did actually miss the initial stages of the explosion due to Rumia's nearly instinctive darkening when scared. But you decide not to mention this. She didn't mean any harm, and she's been getting a bad enough rap from some corners already today.
>"I did not, unfortunately. I was too startled by it to actually do anything of the sort; I was trying to not get caught up in things. But, it was exposed to the energies a little bit, if it would absorb them on its own."
>Patchouli puts a hand to her temples and sighs. "Unfortunately, it's specifically designed not to do that. It wouldn't be much good for precise work if it picked up the ambient residue of everything you walked through on the way to whatever you wanted to collect with it. Still, I suppose if the magnitude of the event was like you describe, it may have picked up a little, just the same. Can I have a look at it?"
>"Or if there's any residue left on me..."
>"I can check that, too, afterwards. Although I doubt it could be too concentrated or I expect I would already have noticed."
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> Hand her the crystal
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> Hand her the crystal
>You hand her the lattice. She holds in her hand and stares at it intently for a few moments. Then she moves her other hand across it, and starts invoking something. The lattice starts to glow and patterns appear in the air around it. After another few moments, she shakes her head and puts the lattice back down.
>"Nothing much of use, I'm afraid. A little residue, but that's mostly on the outside. All I can tell is that the energy involved is similar to what I observed at the Hakurei Shrine."
>She walks over to you, and performs a similar incantation. It reminds you of a much less intense version of the scan she performed on you yesterday. "And much the same here." She sits back down and sighs again. You can hear her muttering to herself.
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>"Might there be something lingering there? I can go check right now."
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>"Might there be something lingering there? I can go check right now."
>She pauses and considers this. "It may be possible. When I investigated the fissure at the Hakurei Shrine, it had been days at least, since it happened. Perhaps weeks. It won't be as good as a sample taken during the height of the event. But it may still be better than what I've seen so far."
>She hands the lattice back to you. "Remember, aim the pointy end at whatever you want to capture. The activation should be simple enough. Just push a little energy into it, and it should respond automatically."
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>"Right."
>What's Rumia up to?
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>"Right."
>What's Rumia up to?
>She actually seems to be sitting quietly near you. Either all of her fooling around with ink and fruit earlier today temporarily sated her child-like playfulness, or the encounter with the magic burst scared the enthusiasm right out of her.
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>"We'll be back shortly."
>Out, and to the burst site! Bid farewell to Meiling, and tell her we'll be back soon.
>_
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>"We'll be back shortly."
>"Very well. I hope it's not too late. And..." she sighs. "please have more situational awareness in the future. There is little point in me lending you valued tools if you fail to take advantage of obvious times to employ them."
>Out, and to the burst site! Bid farewell to Meiling, and tell her we'll be back soon.
>You head out of the library and the mansion again. Meiling gives a wry smile and shakes her head a little when you tell her you'll be back shortly. "This is more action than this gate has had in years, you know. But I guess if Patchy's found a reason to keep you around, you can't be all bad. Fine, fine..." She opens the gate for you.
>You continue through the air for several more minutes, moving at a fast clip in the hopes of not missing anything. Soon, the chasm comes into view. Or rather, the black patch of empty in the middle of the woods, at this distance conspicuous only from what you can't see.
>"Why are we going back to the scary place....?" Rumia asks timidly. "You said we wouldn't go back here again..."
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>"Because I messed up beforehand. You can wait here."
>Head into the blasted area, lattice ready for the poking.
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>"Because I messed up beforehand. You can wait here."
>"N- no, it's ok. Rumia's not scared this time!" Her voice sounds rather more timid than her words, but you can't help but smile at her for them, just the same.
>Head into the blasted area, lattice ready for the poking.
>You fly closer to the site of the blast. As you do, you realize how similar it is to the chasm you found at the Hakurei Shrine. The shape is not exactly the same, but it's like someone just took a swath of the terrain and removed it somehow. You can see soil, and loose rocks at the edge of the fissure crumbling, and falling down into the blackness, but no obvious sign of any trees or other debris. You still can't see the bottom, in this light. But you do hear a rock hit it, so it isn't bottomless, at any rate.
>There is a similar visual effect to the violet shimmering you saw at the shrine, only more pronounced. At intervals, you think you can even see long thin slivers of this purple... whatever it is, wink in and out of sight.
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>Try to close in on one of those slivers, and give it a poke.
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>Try to close in on one of those slivers, and give it a poke.
>What do you intend to poke it with? A finger? Or the lattice?
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>The lattice.
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>The lattice.
>You fly into the fissure, and try to get close to one of the slivers. This proves to be harder than you thought, as they seem to appear and disappear at random, and rarely stay anywhere for more than a second or two. Eventually, one appears within arm's reach of you, and you poke it with the lattice. It meets no solid resistance, but you notice that the tip of the lattice does not emerge on the other side of the sliver like it really ought to be doing, given how thin it is...
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>Does it seem to be draining off anything?
>Do both sides of the sliver look the same?
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>Does it seem to be draining off anything?
>The lattice needs to be consciously activated to absorb anything. Or so Patchouli said, anyway.
>Do both sides of the sliver look the same?
>You try peer around the other side... and it looks more or less the same, although you can't see the lattice from that angle at all.
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>Activate the lattice.
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>Activate the lattice.
>You will the lattice to activate, and although you can't really tell what it's doing, it does seem to be steadily glowing brighter.
>The sliver starts to narrow, again.
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>Yank it out once the sliver seems to be in danger of closing around the lattice.
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> Consider that the interference may have transported the the area somewhere else due to the sliver's odd property.
> When finished, head back to the SDM with Rumia.
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>Have another look around before leaving. See if we can find a loose rock that's obviously been damaged to take with us, in case it caught anything.
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>Yank it out once the sliver seems to be in danger of closing around the lattice.
>You quickly pull the lattice out, as the silver closes around it. Fortunately, the part of the lattice that 'vanished' into it seems fully intact. You wonder what might have happened to it if you'd left it there for a moment longer, though. If the terrain around you is any reflection, it might just have chopped it in half. You're glad you don't have to explain that one to Patchouli.
>Suddenly, a shadowy tendril bursts from the sliver, and grabs onto your arm! It feels a great deal more solid than it looks.
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> Try to force it to let go with some danmaku.
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> Try to force it to let go with some danmaku.
>You launch a quick burst of danmaku at it. They pass right through it, although the form seems to waver when they connect, and you feel its grip weaken a little.
>You swear you can hear whispering, but cannot make out any words
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>Try to jerk arm free, again.
>"Let go of me, damn it!"
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>Try to jerk arm free, again.
>"Let go of me, damn it!"
>You give your arm a firm pull, and succeed in yanking it a foot or so backwards. The shadowy form comes with it, though. It actually looks a bit like an arm, gripping yours, but fuzzy and indistinct. And then the sliver it was emerging from vanishes, and the arm dissipates into thin air.
>"W-w-what was that?" Rumia asks meekly, her attention evidently attracted in your direction by your yelling.
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> "I have absolutely no clue... Lets get back to the Mansion..."
> Head for the SDM.
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> "I have absolutely no clue... Lets get back to the Mansion..."
> Head for the SDM.
>You decide that putting as much distance between this place and... whatever that was is probably the smartest idea. You start to ascend out of the chasm. A moment later, you feel something grab your left ankle, bringing your flight to an awkward and abrupt halt. Then something clamps onto your right arm. You hear Rumia squeal.
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>"Keep the lights on, Rumia! It's about to get violent!"
>Jerk our leg upward, and try to free it, while blasting the other with out free hand. If things get hairy, summon some familiars.
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>"Keep the lights on, Rumia! It's about to get violent!"
>Jerk our leg upward, and try to free it, while blasting the other with out free hand. If things get hairy, summon some familiars.
>Rumia nods at you, but the expression on her face makes you think she's not sure what she just agreed to.
>You pull your leg as hard as you can, and it moves a little, although you're not really gaining any height. You turn to your right, and see your arm gripped by a shadowy arm similar to the first, emerging from a new sliver next to you. You launch a few shots at it, and it wavers, slipping off a little. You think you can see another shadowy protection reaching out towards you from a sliver a couple feet from your head.
>You can hear the whispering, again, sounding like several confused voices talking over each other.
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>Jerk arm free, and if that works, try to twist away in midair to put stress against the hand's grip and away from that sliver near our head, then jerk against where the thumb and fingers meet to free our leg.
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>Jerk arm free, and if that works, try to twist away in midair to put stress against the hand's grip and away from that sliver near our head, then jerk against where the thumb and fingers meet to free our leg.
>You try to jerk your arm free, and manage to break its grip a little. The fingers seem to grasp at you as you pull your arm away, and you feel the brush against your arm again. It moves to reach out again.
>You twist away from the silver near your head. You can still see it reaching out towards you, but you've put another foot or two between yourself and it. You hope it can't reach that far. Unfortunately, you have no idea whether twisting succeed in putting any stress on the grip of the hand around your leg, being somewhat intangible as it is. It feels like it's holding on as firmly as ever.
>You jerk on your leg again, and manage to move it, but the grip holds firm. A second hand emerges from that sliver, and grabs onto a higher point on the same leg.
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> Keep firing danmaku at the arms while simultaneously trying to twist out of their grip.
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>As well, keep tugging against the weak point in their grip where the thumb and fingers meet.
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> Keep firing danmaku at the arms while simultaneously trying to twist out of their grip.
>As well, keep tugging against the weak point in their grip where the thumb and fingers meet.
>You launch more danmaku towards the arms on your leg, while trying to pull to pull out of their grip. It's somewhat difficult to concentrate much firepower on them, with your leg in the way, but you do land a couple shots and feel them loosen. Unfortunately, with two of them grappling the same limb, you don't succeed in shaking either of them off. One slides a bit lower and your leg as you pull, but the other one grasps higher, toward your thigh. You can see a larger form beginning to emerge from the sliver, but it's too shadowy to make out any details.
>You feel the arm to your right grasp against your wrist, but you manage to slip out before it can get a hold of you.
>The whispering is louder, now. Among the jumble of words, you think you can make out a "who" and a "where"
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>That 's it. Summon some familiars, it's time to give some proper irateness.
>"Let us go."
>Once the familiars materialize, arrange them around in a tight vertical circle and open fire. Try to hit the the arms and send some shots flying through the slivers. Also try not to hit Rumia.
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>That 's it. Summon some familiars, it's time to give some proper irateness.
>"Let us go."
>Once the familiars materialize, arrange them around in a tight vertical circle and open fire. Try to hit the the arms and send some shots flying through the slivers. Also try not to hit Rumia.
>You quickly summon a ring of familiars and open fire all around you. Both the arm grasping at your wrist and the one reaching towards your head quiver under the barrage and stop advancing. Some of your shots graze by the slivers, and one or two may even have entered, although you're not sure if they accomplished anything by doing so. You can't leverage the familiars quite as well against the arms grappling you, but still succeed in spraying a few bullets at them. They waver, and you start to slip away. There's definitely something larger emerging from that sliver. It looks vaguely like a... head? It's hard to tell, given that its wavering shadowy form seems to lack all definition. Frankly, you're not even sure how something that large is coming out of something that small. Maybe it's slipping through while intangible, and only gaining form outside?
>You hear Rumia yelp, although it sounds more like being startled and being hit. You can't really crane to see her effectively at the moment.
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>If grips are wavering, tug free.
>To the head: "Leave us be."
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>If grips are wavering, tug free.
>To the head: "Leave us be."
>You try to communicate, but if it understands you, if makes no sign of acknowledgment.
>While its grip is wavering under your assault you try to pull your legs out of its grasp, and the one on your thigh slips off, although the other still remains around your ankle. The head seems to move and... look at you? And then you hear something. It does not feel like words, exactly, yet you somehow get the sense of something being communicated. Fear, confusion?
>A great shadow swells from the sliver, filling out the area behind the head with inky blackness
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>It wants fear and confusion, it may have it.
>Fire upon it.
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>It wants fear and confusion, it may have it.
>Fire upon it.
>You decide to unleash your full firepower upon the being, now that there's enough of it to target fully. The form shivers and ripples as your bullets sear through it. You feel a shriek in your mind, and stagger, nearly dropping your fire in response. But its grip on your foot is gone!
>Then the great shadow behind it shifts and spreads into... are those wings? You barely have time to react before a spray of blue danmaku flies from them towards you.
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>Back away, and move up!
>If we feel we can do it without hitting Rumia, keep the fire on it. If not, just play defensive for now.
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>Back away, and move up!
>If we feel we can do it without hitting Rumia, keep the fire on it. If not, just play defensive for now.
>You quickly dash backwards and ascend. Unfortunately, the bullets were launched at such close range without warning that you are unable to evade them all. Several collide painfully with your leg and lower torso. You wince.
>You think Rumia is still further up and behind you, and thus safely out of your way if you keep your fire directed forward. More of your shots spray through the form, causing it to waver, and eliciting another cry of pain and confusion in your mind. Then the form seems to draw itself out of the sliver entirely.
>It definitely appears humanoid, or rather like the blurry silhouette of one. Looking at it makes you feel like your eyes are out of focus. Its outline seems to shift unpredictably, becoming more and less defined, although the overall shape remains constant. A torrent of half-perceived words seems to appear in your mind "how... why... what are you...". Then it shifts its wings and another cloud of bullets fly at you.
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>Stop the fire, and dodge back, try to analyze the pattern and slip between it if it seems feasible. If not, ascend again.
>"Leave us alone!"
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>Stop the fire, and dodge back, try to analyze the pattern and slip between it if it seems feasible. If not, ascend again.
>The cloud resembles something like a spray of shrapnel. It is all flying in straight lines, but at significantly varying velocities, and on the whole, quite quickly. You decide that you would almost certainly clip something if you tried to fly through it, and move upwards instead. You narrowly slip above the quickest front, while the bulk of the cloud still passes underneath you.
>The figure raises a hand towards you and a single line of rapid-moving bullets flies from it directly towards you.
>"Leave us alone!"
>Words surge into your consciousness again, significantly interfering with your concentration. You're not sure if it understands you or not.
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>Move a bit to the right, be wary of exploding bullets or other tricks.
>"Go away!"
>Fire on it some more if we don't feel too pressured to dodge something.
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>Move a bit to the right, be wary of exploding bullets or other tricks.
>You shift away from the barrage but the figure's fire shifts to follow you. You keep moving right.
>Fire on it some more if we don't feel too pressured to dodge something.
>You start firing again, and this time the figure actually makes an attempt to evade your shots. It seems to react sluggishly, and still gets hit by several of them, but most of them pass it by.
>"Go away!"
>You get a sense of confusion in your mind in response. You think that whatever it is, is only vaguely aware of you, or perhaps even itself. It waves its wings, and several dense clusters of bullets fly from them. Not all of them even seem to be heading towards you, nor are they moving quickly. It is still continuing the frontal barrage.
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> Consider a tactical retreat.
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>If keeping right will keep us from getting hit, cease fire and do so. Otherwise, ascend or descend, whichever is most likely to gt us out of the way.
>If we can keep going right, take potshots at it when the opportunity presents itself.
>"Don't give me that, you came after us first!"
>Also, do not retreat until we're sure Rumia's safe, at the least.
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> Consider a tactical retreat.
>Although you don't really know that thing's capabilities, so far it seems quite a bit slower than you, and there's no fire that would currently prevent you from retreating. Whether or not it would, or even could follow, you don't know.
>If keeping right will keep us from getting hit, cease fire and do so. Otherwise, ascend or descend, whichever is most likely to gt us out of the way.
>Keeping right should continue to evade the frontal fire. Only one of the clusters seems to be heading that direction, and it should be possible to navigate around it. Several other clusters are flying off to your left, or towards some of the walls of the chasm.
>If we can keep going right, take potshots at it when the opportunity presents itself.
>"Don't give me that, you came after us first!"
>You fire some more shots towards it. It evades many of them, but several others score direct hits. Its frontal fire falters for a moment, creating a gap in the stream. You feel another rush of emotions in your mind: pain, confusion, fear, a sense of being trapped
>Also, do not retreat until we're sure Rumia's safe, at the least.
>You take a moment to look towards Rumia. She seems to have shaken her fear a little, and has started to fly downward, herself, a wave of yellow shots preceding her.
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>Stop firing, see if it does the same.
>Is Rumia flying freely and not trapped anymore?
>If so: "Rumia! Keep away from it!"
>Look at the thing. "Hold still, and you'll be fine."
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>Is Rumia flying freely and not trapped anymore?
>If so: "Rumia! Keep away from it!"
>To the best of your knowledge, Rumia was never trapped by it. She was just somewhat distant from you when the creature first emerged.
>Rumia slows to a halt and looks at you uncertainly. "B- But Rumia wants to help!"
>Stop firing, see if it does the same.
>Look at the thing. "Hold still, and you'll be fine."
>You stop firing, but the figure seems to take no note of this.
>One of the clusters collides with a chasm wall, and bullets spray in all directions away from it. Several more clusters are nearing the other wall.
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>Try to move away from the explodey bits and get a good idea of what they're doing.
>"Be careful, then! Don't get too close!"
>It it can be safely done, fire on it some more.
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>Try to move away from the explodey bits and get a good idea of what they're doing.
>You try to angle away from the ricocheting bullets while still keeping right, to avoid the frontal stream. The bullets from the clusters are moving in an undirected fashion, and fairly slowly, but they're quite dense at close range. Another cluster explodes against the wall behind and to your left, sending projectiles at you from the opposite side.
>"Be careful, then! Don't get too close!"
>It it can be safely done, fire on it some more.
>"Rumia'll be careful!"
>You open fire again, with similar results to before. Rumia adds a few shots of her own. While attempting to evade your attack, the figure drops the frontal barrage and closes some of the distance between you. Then it sprays a wide field of smaller white bullets at you.
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>Move toward the middle to try to dodge the exploding shots. Trust the familiars to absorb a few if needs be.
>How thick is this field? If we think we can get through it, do so. Otherwise back away and let the spray widen.
>Consider the effects of our spellcards.
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>Move toward the middle to try to dodge the exploding shots. Trust the familiars to absorb a few if needs be.
>How thick is this field? If we think we can get through it, do so. Otherwise back away and let the spray widen.
>The field is fairly dense, but the pattern is quite regular, and you think you can navigate through it with some caution. It will impair your mobility, however, leaving you less able to react to new projectiles.
>Consider the effects of our spellcards.
>Spiritual Birth "First Pyramid"
>Creates familiars which orbit the caster and spray bullets in an intricate pattern, while ocassionally launching targeted energy blasts, forcing the enemy into the denser parts of the pattern to evade them.
>Origin Sign "Ephemerality 137"
>Repeatedly launches clusters of familiars which explode into a spray of bullets upon contact with any solid object.
>Land Sign "Three Sacred Treasures - Mirror"
>Sends out spreads of orbs, accompanied by a cascading sprays of bullets which fan out, and then return, attempting to box the target in from all sides.
>Ending Sign "Phantasmal Emperor"
>Creates several rotating arrays of familiars which fire an interlocking pattern of lasers, while launching concentric rings of projectiles from yourself. Creates a dense omnidirectional pattern to navigate, but limits your own movement
>Future "The Next History of Phantasm"
>Uses familiars to create a web of interlocking bullets, and then launches an intense spray of larger bullets which curve to track enemies. Very powerful, but you lack the capacity to use this outside of Hakutaku form
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>Dodge through the white spray.
>Do the cards confer defensive benefits?
>If it tries to get closer, use Land Sign on it. That ought to do a lot of damage up close.
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>Dodge through the white spray.
>You quickly find a path between the incoming bullets and move forward. Some of the bullets from the first exploding cluster have reached you now, although they're somewhat spread out by this distance. You evade them as best you can with your limited maneuverability, by a few impact your side. The bullets from the second cluster will probably be harmless if you get enough distance forward. You hear another cluster explode, but it's not in your field of vision at the moment.
>Do the cards confer defensive benefits?
>Outside of the defensive benefits logically conferred by the offense they provide, the magic from an active spellcard can absorb a portion of the damage inflicted on the caster. Unfortunately, this also rapidly expends the energies of the card, and is not a strong enough defensive effect on its own for the cards to be used primarily for that purpose.
>If it tries to get closer, use Land Sign on it. That ought to do a lot of damage up close.
>As you move closer, the figure continues its own approach to you. You decide that it's probably better to strike now than wait to see what it has in mind for you at this range. You invoke Land Sign "Three Sacred Treasures - Mirror". The middle of the first spray of bullets cuts through the shadow, while several large green orbs gather energy in front of you.
>The shadow moves its wings again, and releases another blue barrage.
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>Can we move up or down and circle along that axis relatively safely? If so, do that
>If not, was that unseen noise of impact from behind us?
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>Can we move up or down and circle along that axis relatively safely? If so, do that
>If not, was that unseen noise of impact from behind us?
>It'll be a tight squeeze, but you think you can make it. You pull up hard, scraping some of the while bullets around you as you do so. You narrowly avoid the leading edge of the barrage; a moment later, and you'd probably have been forced to take half of it across your lower torso.
>The green orbs are ready to fire, now, and you blast them towards the shadow. At this range, it takes most of them head-on. The outline of the figure convulses and shivers like ripples on a pond, and it loses momentum. You follow up with another spray of bullets, and you can see more of Rumia's shots incoming from your right.
>The impact sounded like it was closer to your left side, but beyond your peripheral vision
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>Keep circling. Make it have to chase us to keep the barrage up.
>If it's safe, get a glance at the incoming stuff from the sides to better prepare for them.
>"If you go back where you came from, I'll stop shooting you!"
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> If the shadow continues the barrage, aim a spray of bullets at one of its wings to see if it does more damage.
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>Keep circling. Make it have to chase us to keep the barrage up.
>You continue to rise, and circle over the top of the shadow. It still seems too stunned to follow. You are nearing the edge of the white bullets, now.
>If it's safe, get a glance at the incoming stuff from the sides to better prepare for them.
>You spare a glance backwards, and see the site of the last impact you heard. There are some stray bullets from it coming towards you, but if you keep moving forward they should be spread out enough by the time they reach you to not be much of a problem. You see another cluster detonate near Rumia, but she seems to be managing to avoid most of it. She sends another wave towards the creature.
>"If you go back where you came from, I'll stop shooting you!"
>You feel a response to this from the creature. It's hard to make out what it means, but you get a sense of being trapped somehow. Lost.
> If the shadow continues the barrage, aim a spray of bullets at one of its wings to see if it does more damage.
>It hasn't fired again, yet, but you don't know if this is because it's too stunned to act, or if it may be changing its mind.
-
>Let the spellcard do its work. It can apologize over tea.
-
>Let the spellcard do its work. It can apologize over tea.
>You move past the white bullets and turn around, launching a second spread of green orbs and a spray of smaller bullets with it. The shadow seems to gather itself, and start to move again. It turns to you and launches several clouds of white bullets, followed by a spherical burst of of blue needles. They're moving really fast! Rumia's last barrage passes through its shoulder, but it barely seems to notice.
-
> Since it decided to attack, aim a spray of bullets at one of the wings.
-
> Since it decided to attack, aim a spray of bullets at one of the wings.
>Before this, watch the needles, try to get between them. Then when they pass, try to move between the white bursts.
>Then, if there's no major problems, counterattack.
-
> Since it decided to attack, aim a spray of bullets at one of the wings.
>Before this, watch the needles, try to get between them. Then when they pass, try to move between the white bursts.
>Then, if there's no major problems, counterattack.
>You scrabble to the side to evade the front of the needle burst. Opening are easy to find, but their speed makes reacting difficult. Still, you manage to scrape out of the way, although this places you in a less than optimal position for the incoming clouds, having forced you close to the chasm wall.
>The clouds are staggered, and dense. Getting through them will be tricky to do unless you take it slowly. The shadow is also quickly closing distance to you.
>The sprays are wide and somewhat difficult to aim, but you launch the next one with the wings in mind. You can also see your first two spreads returning from behind and to the side of the shadow. You may be able to box it in if you can keep it from forcing its way through you.
-
>Try to progress through the clouds and meet it. If it wants to get close, it may have the next burst right in the face.
>Also try to keep a position where if it tosses needles again, we shouldn't have to move much to avoid them.
-
>Try to progress through the clouds and meet it. If it wants to get close, it may have the next burst right in the face.
>Also try to keep a position where if it tosses needles again, we shouldn't have to move much to avoid them.
>You try to shift away from the chasm wall, to open up more room to dodge any subsequent needle bursts. Unfortunately, you think this is going to be extremely difficult at close range, no matter what you do.
>Then you move forward into the first cloud, darting and and around the tiny shots. Occasionally, you have to halt your forward momentum entirely and let parts of it pass by you. Several graze you, and a couple more manage to connect. Fortunately, they don't appear to be individually all that powerful. The second cloud is incoming at a slightly different trajectory.
>The shadow closes on you much more quickly than you close on it, since its movement is unhampered. It maneuvers smoothly through the spread of orbs you just shot, and launches another frontal stream at you. The returning bullets from your spellcard continue to move towards it, but it is outpacing them.
>You see Rumia flying after it, as well. She seems to be gaining on it.
-
>Sidestep the stream.
>Give it another faceful of spellcard, if it insists on charging at us.
>"Be careful, Rumia!"
-
>Sidestep the stream.
>Give it another faceful of spellcard, if it insists on charging at us.
>You shift away from the stream, but then the second cloud is on top of you. This is going to be a tight squeeze! It is very difficult for you to navigate laterally through the cloud at the speed the stream is forcing you to, and you take several more minor hits. You can feel your spellcard is close to expended, now, and you're starting to feel a little battered, yourself. Still, the next set of orbs is nearly charged, and if you can get a free moment, should be able to do considerable damage at this range.
>"Be careful, Rumia!"
>Whether or not Rumia heard, you, she continues closing on the shadow.
>The spread you previously launched passes through the shadow, making ripples in a line across its torso and one of its wings. The form seems to shimmer more unstably than it did previously. You feel another rush of thoughts and emotions in your mind. There is pain mixed among the confusion. Why do you hurt us? Why do you trap us? Why can't we wake up? And then you start to slip rapidly into sleep....
-
>Try to focus on pain and fury to keep from slipping off.
>Fire. See if we can make a double KO out of this at the least.
-
>Try to focus on pain and fury to keep from slipping off.
>Fire. See if we can make a double KO out of this at the least.
>You do your best to cling to fierce emotions. You're not just going to let yourself fall asleep in the middle of a battle, dammit! This is only slightly successful. You try to keep dodging, but feel utterly exhausted, and just can't read and slip into the the openings fast enough. Several small bullets clip your leg and you stumble, then the frontal stream catches up to you and grazes the side of your torso. You cry out. However, the pain seems to clear your mind just a little.
>You decide that if you can't get yourself to safety, you'll just give the shadow everything you've got while you're still conscious. You launch the last wave of orbs at it. Your vision grows dim as you see them fly off. Are you falling? Is the world falling? You think you can hear voices...
-
>Bite down on our tongue, try to focus on that pain to keep active.
-
>Bite down on our tongue, try to focus on that pain to keep active.
>You use what remaining consciousness you have left to bite down on your tongue. And then harder. You manage to force a little more awareness into yourself, but the world is still hazy and you feel like you're fighting a losing battle. You are dimly aware of several more bullets slamming into you. They hurt much less than they ought to. That's worrisome, isn't it.....
>Then you see a torrent of red danmaku tear through the shadow from behind. Is that... Rumia? The shadow wavers and ripples violently. And suddenly you feel like you can think straight, again. Damn, your side hurts... You brace an arm against it.
-
>Assess situation.
>Dodge as necessary, a panic dodge is probably better than a faceful of pain.
-
>Assess situation.
>Dodge as necessary, a panic dodge is probably better than a faceful of pain.
>You seem to be in the middle of one of the clouds. Fortunately, the frontal shots have stopped in the wake of the barrage the shadow just took at full force. You're still a bit disoriented, but manage to scrabble out of the way of several more incoming bullets.
>The spread of green orbs reaches the creature, and two of them pass through it. It wavers even more intensely. For a few moments, the outline contorts so much that it doesn't even appear humanoid. A cry of pain resounds in your mind.
>The reflected shots are very close to it from both the rear and the sides, now. Unless it moves forward quickly, it will probably be unable to evade them.
-
>How's the card holding out?
>If we think we can, give it another volley in the face. But if that would impede the the other two from connecting, don't.
>In any event, stay in its way. Should it try to flee, blast it anyways.
-
>How's the card holding out?
>If we think we can, give it another volley in the face. But if that would impede the the other two from connecting, don't.
>Between the damage you've taken, and the number of shots you've already fired, you're surprised it's still holding out. If you fire again, you risk breaking the card entirely.
>In any event, stay in its way. Should it try to flee, blast it anyways.
>You stay near where you are, to try and block any attempt for the shadow to flee. After a moment, it does start to move again, but haltingly; it seems disoriented and uncertain. And then another smaller wave from Rumia connects with it, and it stops again. It seems like the part of its body that took the hit is becoming wispy and insubstantial. This second hesitation costs it the window it needed to escape from the other waves boxing it in. The first tears into its side, provoking a similar reaction to Rumia's attack. And then the second strikes from the other side. Its outline seems to contort and shed shadowy energy into the air. Finally, the third wave tears through it from behind. You've never seen a shadow shatter before, but that seems the best way to describe what happens. Tiny remnants of it drift off and dissolve into the night. Among the pain and confusion that assault your mind in its last moments, you're left with a single word: 'Why'
-
>"Don't give me that!"
>"Rumia, let's get out of here, now."
>Get out of there. Once a comfortable distance from the hole, have a sit down.
-
> Shudder a bit.
> "You okay Rumia?"
> Have a little rest and then head back to the SDM.
-
>"Don't give me that!"
>"Rumia, let's get out of here, now."
>Get out of there. Once a comfortable distance from the hole, have a sit down.
> Shudder a bit.
> "You okay Rumia?"
> Have a little rest and then head back to the SDM.
>You vent your frustration at the entire experience, and decide that being somewhere not-here is infinitely preferable to remaining a moment longer. You fly a safe distance away, Rumua in tow, and then decide to fly even further for good measure. Your side is really throbbing, and you can feel any number of smaller aches all over your body. Eventually, you find comfortable enough spot by a tree, land, and lie back against it.
>"Rumia's fine," she replies, a little less exuberant than usual. "Kinda scared, but ok. You don't look so fine, though..." She frowns at you.
-
>Check side.
-
>Check side.
>You examine your injury. The part of your side where you collided with the forward-focused stream as you were falling asleep looks pretty battered and somewhat singed. It throbs constantly, hurts a little when you move, and really hurts when you touch, as you quickly discover. Rumia jumps a little as you cry out. You don't think it's too serious, though, just the same. You'll have to favor it for a while, but as a youkai, you heal quickly. You're lucky that it didn't collide with you more directly, though...
>Rumia frowns even deeper when she looks at it. "Rumia's sorry she couldn't stop the mean shadow thingy from hurting you..." She looks really sad, actually.
-
>"Ah, but you did, Rumia. I am not sure what it looked like from the outside, but it was forcing me to fall asleep. Your attacks broke its concentration, I think."
>Get back to our feet if we feel decently rested.
>"Let's go find Patchouli, so we can figure out what that was."
>_
-
>"Ah, but you did, Rumia. I am not sure what it looked like from the outside, but it was forcing me to fall asleep. Your attacks broke its concentration, I think."
>She brightens up a little. "Really?"
>Get back to our feet if we feel decently rested.
>"Let's go find Patchouli, so we can figure out what that was."
>After a small rest, you decide that you're probably decent enough to keep moving. At least given what else is at stake.
>"Ok. And if it shows up again, Rumia'll make it go 'spwoosh' before it can hurt you again!"
-
>"You helped me out a lot, Rumia. I'm just glad you weren't hurt yourself."
>Make way back to SDM.
-
>"You helped me out a lot, Rumia. I'm just glad you weren't hurt yourself."
>She nods and smiles. "Rumia is ok!"
>Make way back to SDM.
>You head back towards the mansion. Meiling glances up at you idly as you arrive, and then gives you a strange look. "What happened to you in that length of time?" Then, before you can answer she springs up and eagerly scans the horizon. "Are there invaders? Are we being attacked?"
-
>"We had a bad run in with some sort of gap monster. It's been handled, but there may be more."
>Enter, if she allows it.
-
>"We had a bad run in with some sort of gap monster. It's been handled, but there may be more."
>"Gap monster?" Then her eyes light up. "More?" She slams her fists together, and you can see an aura flare around her for a moment. "Don't worry, nothing and no one is getting past me! You go let the others know." She opens the gate for you.
>Enter, if she allows it.
>You walk past the gate and towards that mansion. As you enter, you spare a glance behind you. Meiling seems to have adopted a martial stance, and her head darts back and forth across the part of the sky you came from.
>You are inside the main foyer of the mansion.
-
>Back to the Lyceum, lest Sakuya catches up loitering about.
-
>Back to the Lyceum, lest Sakuya catches up loitering about.
>You make your way back to the library. Patchouli has, predictably, not moved an inch since you left her.
>"Did you obtain a sample, then?" she asks, without looking up.
-
>"And some wounds."
>Give her the lattice.
-
>"And some wounds."
>Give her the lattice.
>"And some what?" She looks up from her book, and her expression quickly becomes more grave as she looks at you.
>You hand her the lattice and she sets it down on the table for a moment. "What happened?"
-
>"There were little slivers of energy about in the crater left behind. I placed the lattice in one to take a sample, a shadowy hand reached out to grab me. Then more of them. Then a winged...thing came out of another sliver. Violence ensued."
>Consider: How much did it remind us of the youkai we saw back in proper Gensokyo, appearancewise?
>It is is significant, add "It looked much like the youkai I met last night, before awakening in this world."
>"As well, it tried to put me to sleep in a manner like that youkai. Rumia, thankfully, was able to interfere with that."
-
>"There were little slivers of energy about in the crater left behind. I placed the lattice in one to take a sample, a shadowy hand reached out to grab me. Then more of them. Then a winged...thing came out of another sliver. Violence ensued."
>"Something reached out from... traces of visible energy left there?" She picks up the lattice and looks at it closely.
>Consider: How much did it remind us of the youkai we saw back in proper Gensokyo, appearancewise?
>It is is significant, add "It looked much like the youkai I met last night, before awakening in this world."
>"As well, it tried to put me to sleep in a manner like that youkai. Rumia, thankfully, was able to interfere with that."
>You really didn't get a good look at the original youkai, outside of a few glimpses at the wings and general body size. The shadow seemed roughly comparable in terms of form, but you couldn't be certain of its resemblance. Certainly, it had no definition to it. It does seem possible, though.
>You decide it was close enough to at least mention the resemblance. Rumia beams a little at your mention of her. "Yup!" she adds.
>"Similar, but not identical?" Patcholi inquires, once you've finished. "And it used similar sleep powers? Could this be an entire undiscovered sub-type of youkai? Where is it now?"
-
> "It seemed to fade away after we did enough damage to it. If it weren't for Rumia, something horrible probably would've happened to me. It also seemed to give off simple emotions and words."
> "Do you think that the energy that caused the slivers might actually teleport the area within the explosion instead of decimating it?"
-
>"It seemed to have a kind of basic personal awareness, but I don't know how much awareness it had of the world around it. It didn't feel coherent, at least. I tried to call the fight off a couple times. But I was also rather angry at the time."
-
> "It seemed to fade away after we did enough damage to it. If it weren't for Rumia, something horrible probably would've happened to me. It also seemed to give off simple emotions and words."
>"It seemed to have a kind of basic personal awareness, but I don't know how much awareness it had of the world around it. It didn't feel coherent, at least. I tried to call the fight off a couple times. But I was also rather angry at the time."
>"That's... interesting. Perhaps if it was somehow manifesting through this energy, the manifestation was incomplete, somehow? You said the energy was fractured and fragmented by this point. Or perhaps it was a projection of something else? As for how it could communicate with you in that fashion... I do know not. I will take some time to research possibilities."
> "Do you think that the energy that caused the slivers might actually teleport the area within the explosion instead of decimating it?"
>"Well, hopefully this-" she gestures to the lattice, "will help me ascertain the likelihood of that scenario."
>She holds the lattice tightly and gestures over it with her other hand. It glows brightly in response. She looks rather surprised.
>"There is a great deal of energy still in this. I have a hard time believing that this much could be left after the initial burst has subsided. If that is so, the magnitude of the event must have been massive, indeed."
>She continues to scrutinize the lattice.
-
>"It may suggest there is a lot through those slivers. Something I found was that I could put the lattice into it, and it did not come out the other side. I didn't have time to really experiment, but they may well have been windows to elsewhere.
-
>"It may suggest there is a lot through those slivers. Something I found was that I could put the lattice into it, and it did not come out the other side. I didn't have time to really experiment, but they may well have been windows to elsewhere.
>That could certainly explain that being. Of course, if that is so, the question is 'to where'?. Well, along with a great many other questions, such as 'how?' and 'why?'
>She puts the lattice back on the table and places both hands in the air above it, chanting some other incantation. The lattice glows again, and several small magic circles trace themselves into the air around it. Patchouli closes her eyes.
>After a few more moments, she stops. "This may take some time. The form of the magic is alien to me, and I cannot give you any quick answers. At best, I can say that it does not seem to correspond to conventionally destructive magics of any type I am familiar with. There is, at least, more than enough of it here to conduct most any experiment I would be able to devise."
-
>Nod.
>"In the meantime, then, I think I am going to investigate into the plan I proposed for getting into Eientei. It seems it won't be possible tonight, but it needs to be done soon."
-
>Nod.
>"In the meantime, then, I think I am going to investigate into the plan I proposed for getting into Eientei. It seems it won't be possible tonight, but it needs to be done soon."
>"Very well. Note that I am open to the idea of assisting you, if there's some other part of your scheme that you think my talents would be suited for. I cannot carve through meters and meters of rock, but I may be able to help in other ways. If something occurs to you, let me know."
>"On that note, though, why would it not be possible tonight? I mean, any more than it might be impossible on any other night?"
-
>"Time, mostly. I would need to set up a guide, which would be difficult, and arrange for everything. Then there is trying to convince the mistress of the house to assist. Then actually getting there. Then finding Mokou, if plausible...That barrier really has slowed things down."
-
>"Time, mostly. I would need to set up a guide, which would be difficult, and arrange for everything. Then there is trying to convince the mistress of the house to assist. Then actually getting there. Then finding Mokou, if plausible...That barrier really has slowed things down."
>"Yes, I suppose that might be a fair number of things to get done in an evening. Well, the night is young, at any rate. Oh, and do remember to take the seeking stone with you when you leave, this time."
-
>Take the seeking stone.
>What was the Seeking stone =[
-
>Take the seeking stone.
>What was the Seeking stone =[
>You take the seeking stone from the desk
>Patchouli described i.ts as something like a magical compass. You can activate it to mark a particular location, and the crystal suspended in it will continue to aim towards this point. She suggested this might be used to track Eientei from underground, if you could mark a proximal spot above ground.
-
>Do we feel we know the location of Eientei well enough to do this, or would it require us to mark a spot where we are at, physically?
-
>Do we feel we know the location of Eientei well enough to do this, or would it require us to mark a spot where we are at, physically?
>You need to be physically present, at least to the best of your knowledge from how Patchouli described it
-
> Sit down and rest for a bit
-
>Consider a good geographic location to serve as a navigation point.
-
>How well do we know the location of Eintei in our Gensokyo?
-
> Sit down and rest for a bit
>The chair you're in feels rather comfortable, after all the fighting and getting battered.
>How well do we know the location of Eintei in our Gensokyo?
>Reasonably so, and better than most. You could probably get there on foot, although it might involve a couple of attempts, and some backtracking.
>Consider a good geographic location to serve as a navigation point.
>You suppose that depends on how close the ward lets you get to Eientei itself. People can still evidently get fairly deep in the forest, so you might be able to get close enough to at least give you a general sense of direction, when underground.
-
>Consider where the Hell Raven apparently broke out from Underground, according to Sanae, and its relation to the bamboo forest; how much of a trip will it be to hit the forest then the crater.
-
>Consider where the Hell Raven apparently broke out from Underground, according to Sanae, and its relation to the bamboo forest; how much of a trip will it be to hit the forest then the crater.
>The crater is a fair distance to the west, and south a little. The bamboo forest is a fair distance east, and south a little. From one to the other would be covering more than half of the width of Gensokyo.
-
> Check what's Rumia is doing
> Is Patchouli finished yet?
-
> Check what's Rumia is doing.
>Rumia is sitting quietly on a chair next to you, and swinging her legs back and forth a little.
> Is Patchouli finished yet?
>While she didn't say exactly how long it would take, you have the definite impression that it might be on the order of hours. She doesn't even seen to have properly started, yet.
-
>Oh well. Guess it'll be a long trip after all.
>How deep does Mokou live in the forest? Perhaps two birds can be done in with stone.
-
>Oh well. Guess it'll be a long trip after all.
>You're certainly not having any trouble getting your recommended daily exercise these days.
>How deep does Mokou live in the forest? Perhaps two birds can be done in with stone.
>Moderately shallowly, near the northwestern extent of the forest. Eientei is a fair bit further east. Although, if anyone could point you in the right direction...
-
>"I think I have my next move planned. I'll be off. With luck, by the next time I'm here, we'll both have many more answers."
>Exeunt! And start for Mokou's place.
-
>"I think I have my next move planned. I'll be off. With luck, by the next time I'm here, we'll both have many more answers."
>"Yes, hopefully it is so," Patchouli replies. "I will do what best I can, and I suspect that you will do likewise."
>Exeunt! And start for Mokou's place.
>You excuse yourself and exit the library. As you are walking out, you see Patchouli take the lattice and move to another table, surrounded by other tools which you have no hope of identifying.
>When you exit the mansion, you see Meiling still posed as though she expects some mysterious creature to trade blows with her at any minute. She kind looks like she's enjoying herself just the same, though.
>"No sign of them yet," she calls back at you as you approach. "But I won't let them trick me into letting my guard drop for even a moment!"
-
I just realized that the slivers kinda remind me of the whole subspace thing from SSBB's story mode.
> Bid Meiling farewell and head for the Bamboo Forest.
-
> Bid Meiling farewell and head for the Bamboo Forest.
>You wish Meiling well with her defense against nonexistent enemies. Well, hopefully nonexistent....
>The journey towards the forest is quite long, but rather uneventful. You head southeast around the edge of the lake. There seem to be more faeries flying around there than there were the previous night. Thankfully, Cirno does not accost you this time. You continue along the road towards the human village, then cut across to the south of it to shave off a little time. And, perhaps, so you don't have to look at it again right now... Eventually the forest comes into view in the distance. You note the landmarks around it, and spot the point of entry you remember so well.
-
> Is Rumia with you?
> Head to the entrance
> Prepare a spell card just in case, you never know when you'd need it
-
>Use that point of entry, and hope for the best.
>Mentally steel self for immense disappointment.
>Also try to recall the best ways to get Mokou's attention, should you get lost.
-
> Is Rumia with you?
>Yes, she's still bobbing along besides you.
> Head to the entrance
> Prepare a spell card just in case, you never know when you'd need it
>Use that point of entry, and hope for the best.
>You head towards the entrance and slip into the forest, keeping you offenses at the ready. You've already been attacked out of the blue twice since you got here, after all. Hopefully there are no other unpleasant surprises inside here...
>There's a comforting closeness to this place. Actually, most people probably find it kind of scary considering how easy it is to get lost in here. Conventional navigation is useless; the bamboo is crowded, and there is little one could call trails. To make matters worse, since bamboo grows so quickly, the layout of the tree cover is prone to changing. There aren't any really obvious landmarks, either. But Mokou has taught you how to use a few rather subtle ones to find your way around. After living here as long as she has, you pick up a few tricks.
>After a little searching, you find what you're looking for, and know which way to continue. Everything looks normal so far. Hopefully the ward around Eientei doesn't cover the whole forest, though...
>Mentally steel self for immense disappointment.
>You almost don't want to accept the likely possibility that Mokou and you are not involved, here. When you step inside this place, it's almost easy to let yourself pretend that everything is normal. That you're just dropping in to spend the night with her. But you know the better of it, and try to prepare for a cold reception. You're worried you just might end up crying on her shoulder, either way....
>Also try to recall the best ways to get Mokou's attention, should you get lost.
>Well, hopefully being lost long enough on its own will get her attention. She always seemed to have a knack for finding lost people before they got into trouble. You were never quite sure how she managed it. Alternately, you could try making a disturbance with some danmaku.
-
>Making a disturbance may also alert Eintei to strangers in the forest, with no friendly or legitimate reason to be there. If we get lost, wait for Mokou, and be careful of Tewitraps.
>Continue along the route to Mokou's place, as far as we remember it. Keep Patchu's guidance thing around and see if it ever reacts oddly.
-
>If any of the markers we know are awry, stop and consider them.
>Also keep an eye out for Mokou-like footprints.
-
>Making a disturbance may also alert Eintei to strangers in the forest, with no friendly or legitimate reason to be there. If we get lost, wait for Mokou, and be careful of Tewitraps.
>Yes, it does seem possible that it could attract someone else's attention, too. Who knows how much of an eye Eientei keeps on the place, these days.
>Continue along the route to Mokou's place, as far as we remember it. Keep Patchu's guidance thing around and see if it ever reacts oddly.
>The seeking stone doesn't seem to be moving at all. Presumably it isn't set for a location at the moment.
>You continue towards Mokou's place, slowly tracing your way there using familiar landmarks. It's comforting, really. After a little while, you see her house come into view. It's a simple and rustic dwelling, but it feels nearly as much a home to you as your own. You've spent quite a few nights here, over the years. You take a deep breath and remind yourself that as much as it may look the same, it is not the same. And most likely, neither is she. This is almost cruel...
>If any of the markers we know are awry, stop and consider them.
>Also keep an eye out for Mokou-like footprints.
>Fortunately, everything on the way here looked more or less as you remember it. You didn't notice any obvious footprints, but the terrain's not great for them, and you were never much of a tracker in any event.
-
>What was the safest route to greet Mokou in the earlier days of people getting to know her? Attempt.
-
>Steel self. Be happy she actually seems to exist in this timeline.
>Go knock on the door.
-
>What was the safest route to greet Mokou in the earlier days of people getting to know her? Attempt.
>She was actually pretty harmless to well-intentioned people, even back then. Just taciturn and a little gruff. Although, now that you think of it... you were never out to her place until she'd already known you fairly well...
>Steel self. Be happy she actually seems to exist in this timeline.
>Go knock on the door.
>You're happy that she seems to be ok, at least. Or her house is ok, at any rate. But that's a good sign! You take a deep breath and walk towards the door.
>"Hey!" you hear her call out, some distance to your left. She sounds vaguely displeased.
-
>Look. Don't act hostile.
-
>Pause.
>Deep breath.
>Turn to face her.
>"...Hello, Mokou."
>Fuck it, she gets to know the truth if the likes of Sanae does.
-
>Look. Don't act hostile.
>Pause.
>Deep breath.
>Turn to face her.
>"...Hello, Mokou."
>You take a deep breath, and you turn towards the sound of her voice. She seems to be standing among the bamboo a little ways from her, but there's a little bit of a clearing between the two of you, so you can see her just fine. And oh, what a sight for sore eyes.... even though she does seem to be glaring at you, a little.
>Her eyes narrow a little as you say her name. "Ok, now I'm really getting an explanation out of you two."
>Fuck it, she gets to know the truth if the likes of Sanae does.
>You're almost not sure you could hold yourself back, even if you tried to. You think it might break something inside of you to have to pretend you'd never met her...
-
>"It... it's a long story. I... my name is Keine. I'm... I... have some power over history. I'm a were-hakutaku. I... woke up a while ago remembering a different timeline than the one I'm in. One where Eintei opened up to the rest of the world, and both you and them are known to the rest of Gensokyo. One where... well, I was close to you. So I... apologize if I seem... emotional."
>Deep breath.
>"I know this is impossible to believe. I know you're worried about Kaguya and what she can do, and whether I'm involved with that after knowing so much. But please hear me out."
>"My power is... connected to the moon. If the differences from the timeline I remember and what I have heard of this world, then Eintei was responsible for sealing the moon several years ago. I am here to ask for your help in fixing that."
>... well, at least that's the practical excuse...
-
>Shit, it's tears time. That's way too much a mouthful to deliver to the likes of Mokou.
-
>... well, at least that's the practical excuse...
>And it helps that it's even true. Isn't that a great co-incidence?
>"It... it's a long story. I... my name is Keine. I'm... I... have some power over history. I'm a were-hakutaku. I... woke up a while ago remembering a different timeline than the one I'm in. One where Eintei opened up to the rest of the world, and both you and them are known to the rest of Gensokyo. One where... well, I was close to you. So I... apologize if I seem... emotional."
>Deep breath.
>"I know this is impossible to believe. I know you're worried about Kaguya and what she can do, and whether I'm involved with that after knowing so much. But please hear me out."
>"My power is... connected to the moon. If the differences from the timeline I remember and what I have heard of this world, then Eintei was responsible for sealing the moon several years ago. I am here to ask for your help in fixing that."
>You decide to cut right to the chase and pour your heart out to Mokou. You see her face go from suspicious, to confused, to downright incredulous.
>She waves her hands in front of her and cuts you off before you finish. "Woah, woah, hang on a minute." You pause, and she stares at you a bit. "Ok, what kind of crap was that?" Stab. "Do you go around pulling the long-lost-lover bit on all the strangers you meet, or is this some kind of stupid joke on Kaguya's part?" Stab. "Or are you just totally off your rocker?"
>"And who is she supposed to be, anyway?" She jabs a finger at Rumia.
>Shit, it's tears time. That's way too much a mouthful to deliver to the likes of Mokou.
>Yeah, it looks like it's headed that way. You try to hold them in. You probably should have known better, but you just couldn't help yourself. Oh God...
-
>Yeah, it's break down time. The kinda where you gotta fall to your knees because the legs go in sympathy strike kind.
-
>Yeah, it's break down time. The kinda where you gotta fall to your knees because the legs go in sympathy strike kind.
>You try not to let it get to you. You really do. You like to think you've been managing this whole ordeal pretty well, considering. But on top of all the death and isolation you've faced so far, having the dearest person in your world write you off as a nutcase or some kind of liar... Dammit, Mokou. Why the hell do you have to be so insensitive? Can't you see!?
>"Hey, I want an answer," she snaps. "And cut the crap this time. Don't think I won't hurt you if you don't tell me what you're really doing sneaking into my house."
>Dammit, Mokou. Can't you see you already have?
>First, a tear gathers in the corner of your eye, then you choke back a sob, and soon you find yourself slumped against a tree, sobbing openly. Rumia frowns and tries to give your arm an awkward
>"Hey..." Mokou doesn't sound as harsh as she did a moment ago.
-
>Just let it out for now. Mokou can be yelled at properly later.
-
>Just let it out for now. Mokou can be yelled at properly later.
>You keep sobbing and sobbing. There are so many things to cry about. So many of the people you know are dead. Your closest human friend is dead. You old life is gone, and you're not sure you'll even be able to restore it. And the person who you trust most in all the world thinks you're either a nutcase or an enemy. Would it really have been too much to ask for a soft place to fall? Even for a moment?
>"Hey... are you ok?" Mokou's voice seems closer now, and... actually concerned? Or maybe just uncertain.
-
>"D-do I sound okay?"
>Take a steadying breath.
>"I'm...I'm not lying, damn it! Think about it! How'd I find this place? How'd I know your name, or about your rivalry!
>Yeah, that's about all we can force out right now. Back to relieving some tension.
-
>"D-do I sound okay?"
>"Well, uh, not really..."
>"I'm...I'm not lying, damn it! Think about it! How'd I find this place? How'd I know your name, or about your rivalry!
>Yeah, that's about all we can force out right now. Back to relieving some tension.
>You muster a retort and go back to crying. If she'd just stop being stupid and give you a hug, you might even forgive her. Hell, even if she's not your Mokou, it would be better than nothing...
>"W- Well that's what I was tryin' to ask you! I watched you come in, partway along. And I could damn near swear you were using my own markers to find the place. But it doesn't take a genius to know where me and her stand. 'sides, you're probably working for her, anyway. Whoever you are." She doesn't sound quite as irritated now, anyway...
-
>"Ho-How would I even get to her? The place is supposed to be warded! Y-you want more proof?"
>Tell her where she keeps the silverware. And how.
-
>"Ho-How would I even get to her? The place is supposed to be warded! Y-you want more proof?"
>"Hey, they come in and out as they please! If you were with them, it wouldn't be any trouble at all. Hell, the fact that you even know that..."
>Tell her where she keeps the silverware. And how.
>"Wha- huh?" She pauses for a moment, and looks at you slack-jawed. "Wait, wait, what the hell were you doing in my house while I was away? Better question: how the hell did you manage to get into my house without me noticing?" She seems to be alternating between sounding angry and just plain confused. You think she's probably not sure herself which is more appropriate at the moment.
-
>Feeling a bit better now.
>"It's just like I said, another world. Go on, ask me anything! And I know about the barrier because Patchouli told me, okay?"
-
>Feeling a bit better now.
>You take another breath and wipe your tears. You think you can probably manage a conversation, now. As much as it hurts to cry, sometimes it also helps, a little...
>"It's just like I said, another world. Go on, ask me anything! And I know about the barrier because Patchouli told me, okay?"
>"Who's this Patchouli person? And, uh.... er... when was I born?"
-
>"She's the librarian at Scarlet Devil Mansion. You probably saw the vampire and her maid come through, Patchouli works for them.
>If she's told us the exact answer, give it.
>If not. "You <never told me/don't remember exactly>, but a little over 1300 years ago."
-
>"She's the librarian at Scarlet Devil Mansion. You probably saw the vampire and her maid come through, Patchouli works for them.
>"Huh. Yeah, I saw the vampire. I saw her a bunch of times, actually, running around in circles over towards Eientei. Saw her getting pretty pissed, too. Heh, not that I don't get that. You have any idea how many times I've tried to get through that damn spell? I bet Kaguya's having a great laugh at how clever she thinks she is. Won't think she's so clever the next time she sees me. And if she thinks that's going to keep me from kicking her ass again....." Mokou scoffs.
>If she's told us the exact answer, give it.
>If not. "You <never told me/don't remember exactly>, but a little over 1300 years ago."
>She did give you an exact date, eventually, although she was never too found of talking about it. You answer Mokou's question, and are rewarded with a look of momentary disbelief. "Well, I-" She pauses and reconsiders. "Dammit, Kaguya probably know that, too. Ok, next question... uh...."
-
>"Go on? You want something Kaguya doesn't know? How about you inside leg measurement?"
>We've had to tried to take her shopping, after all...
-
>"Go on? You want something Kaguya doesn't know? How about you inside leg measurement?"
>We've had to tried to take her shopping, after all...
>"M- my what? Why would you-" She stops and looks at you a little funny. Even for you, the expression is hard to read.
>You suspect a more likely issue is that Mokou herself doesn't know the precise answer to that one... at least not without you around to try to convince her to vary her wardrobe. On the other hand, she does have a small birthmark rather near there, in a place no polite company would get the chance to see. You'd always thought it was rather cute, actually.
-
>"Birthmark."
-
>"Birthmark."
>"W- what? What's that even supposed to prove? Lots of people have birthmarks. You probably have one, too, for all I know." She sounds a little uncomfortable, just the same.
-
>"Do you really want me to say where it is. Because I will. You know I know."
-
>"Do you really want me to say where it is. Because I will. You know I know."
>She shifts a little uncomfortably. "You're not getting me to fall for that one," she says, although there's not a lot of conviction in her voice. She glances at Rumia, and then back to you again. "So, uh...." she looks around awkwardly again, and then walks over towards you. "If this is some kind of a joke, I'm so kicking your ass, you know." Then she stands there near you, and just kind of stares at you, doing her best to look intimidating, and failing utterly, as far as you're concerned.
-
>Point where it would be.
>"Convinced, yet? Or do I need to go through your usual morning routine?"
-
>Point where it would be.
>"Convinced, yet? Or do I need to go through your usual morning routine?"
>It takes Mokou a moment to figure out what your subtle gesture is indicating. You can see the exact moment of realization on her face. It's actually kind of comical. Then she sputters and turns away, crossing her arms. But you're pretty sure you saw her blush, first. You suppress a chuckle.
-
>"Convinced?"
-
>"Convinced?"
>"Uh, well... I don't- I... dammit!" She kicks a nearby tree. "Ok, let's just pretend I believe you. Which I'm still not sure I do," she hastily adds. "But, if I did... what then?"
-
>"I ask for your help in finding Eintei and fixing the moon."
>... mumble, "... and maybe a hug."
-
>"I ask for your help in finding Eintei and fixing the moon."
>... mumble, "... and maybe a hug."
>"Dammit, if I knew where to find that place now, it'd probably be on fire already. And a- a-" she hesitates, again. "So we... we were a thing, were we?"
-
>"Yeah. How do you think I knew all that?"
-
>"Yeah. How do you think I knew all that?"
>"Well I- I don't know... you could have spied on me... when I was changing... somehow... without..." she trails off, muttering to herself. "..or maybe Kaguya... which would mean... damn, I'd break her neck twice for that one."
>She quickly turns back to you. "Look, I don't care what you say, but it's pretty hard to believe someone when they say they're from a different timeline, or however the hell you put it. And knowing.... stuff.... doesn't make it suddenly make sense, you know?"
-
>"I don't really understand what happened, either. But just because neither of us understands it doesn't make it's untrue. All I can do is tell you to look at the preponderance of evidence. If Kaguya could spy on you that thoroughly, why would she have sent me? You can tell, I'm sure, that I'm no match for you even with all that knowledge. I'm just a teacher with a bit of skill, nothing like you."
>"Besides...I know you're curious beyond anything, no matter what you try to say. Don't be afraid to be honest with me; think of it like this, I knew all that stuff, and still stayed with you."
-
>"I don't really understand what happened, either. But just because neither of us understands it doesn't make it's untrue. All I can do is tell you to look at the preponderance of evidence. If Kaguya could spy on you that thoroughly, why would she have sent me? You can tell, I'm sure, that I'm no match for you even with all that knowledge. I'm just a teacher with a bit of skill, nothing like you."
>"Besides...I know you're curious beyond anything, no matter what you try to say. Don't be afraid to be honest with me; think of it like this, I knew all that stuff, and still stayed with you."
>"Why would she have sent you? So that she could laugh at me for falling for it, probably. I wouldn't put it past her. But... if she can pull that off without me noticing, I've seriously let myself slip."
>"And well... maybe I am a little curious. Maybe." She gives you a long and appraising look. Up. Down.
-
>"Thank heaven you haven't changed, then. So much else has."
>Stand back up. "...Sorry about earlier, just... Well, do you know what it's like to hear those kinds of things from someone that important to you, after so much stress?"
>Shrug.
>"It's an honest question. I've never asked before."
-
>"Thank heaven you haven't changed, then. So much else has."
>Stand back up. "...Sorry about earlier, just... Well, do you know what it's like to hear those kinds of things from someone that important to you, after so much stress?"
>Shrug.
>"It's an honest question. I've never asked before."
>"I- well.... I don't really have a lot of important people. Or, well, any nowadays. But, if you really aren't making this junk up, well..." she trails off, and stares out thoughtfully for a moment or two. Trying to remember what it was like, maybe? "Well, I'd say it would be pretty fuckin' awful, actually."
>"Look, I'm... I'm sorry, ok? I still think it's a bit much to swallow, but I feel pretty rotten making you cry like that. And, hell, should I really be turning away someone who claims to be in love with me? Especially if..." she gives you another once over. "If this really is some stupid joke, I'll just cave Kaguya's face in before she can finish laughing. Here, c'mon." She turns and walks back towards her house.
-
>Follow her in.
>"You'd do that to her, anyways, given half the chance. But I appreciate the thought. Even if I would normally get just a little jealous of the attention you give her and not me."
>Teehee.
>"But, that's part of why I'm here. Kaguya and Eirin are responsible for what happened to the moon, and it's vitally important that we undo it. And, frankly, there's no one better for it, nor anyone who knows this forest better."
-
>Follow her in.
>"You'd do that to her, anyways, given half the chance. But I appreciate the thought. Even if I would normally get just a little jealous of the attention you give her and not me."
>Teehee.
>"But, that's part of why I'm here. Kaguya and Eirin are responsible for what happened to the moon, and it's vitally important that we undo it. And, frankly, there's no one better for it, nor anyone who knows this forest better."
>You follow Mokou back towards the house.
>"Yeah, well...."
>"And yeah, I figured it was their doing. But I hate to disappoint you if you think I can just guide you to their front door or something. A century of knowing every bump and marker in this forest doesn't mean a damn thing with that spell of theirs. I swear I'm getting closer, but... And what's so vitally important about fixing it now? It's been like this for years and nothing's blown up yet."
>Mokou opens the door and you step inside. The place looks almost exactly like you remember it. Well, aside from all the little touches you added yourself. The place always seemed rather more like a cabin than a house. It's effectively a single room, with a few small dividers between it, and the decor is quite spartan. You'd think two dozen lifetimes would give someone plenty of time to accumulate stuff, but Mokou just never really saw the point of it. Well, and there's not much stuff around to accumulate when you never leave the forest, either...
>"You never did say who she was," Moukou gestures towards Rumia. "You haven't said much for yourself, either, kiddo."
>"Quiz lady was talking," she replies, sounding a little huffy. "And you better not make her cry again!"
-
>"That's Rumia. She's been a very good friend. She saved my skin, and possibly my life, just a little while ago."
>"As for why it's so important, it is because I draw much of my own power from the full moon, and I'll need it to figure out what went wrong. As well, there are others who have been affected by it in their own ways."
-
>"That's Rumia. She's been a very good friend. She saved my skin, and possibly my life, just a little while ago."
>"Huh. Good enough," she gives Rumia a curt nod. Rumia just keeps giving her that pouty-faced glare.
>"As for why it's so important, it is because I draw much of my own power from the full moon, and I'll need it to figure out what went wrong. As well, there are others who have been affected by it in their own ways."
>"What went wrong? What did go wrong? I mean, what's wrong with now? Other than Kaguya being a little shit with my forest. ...and, uh, other than, well.... us, maybe, I guess...."
-
>"You remember the winter that wouldn't go away? That was supposed to have been fixed. They would later go on to have stopped Kaguya and Eirin, and all kinds of other things. I don't know if you know about the hell raven affair, but they kept that from happening to. There's other things, but it would take more time to explain. And...yes, even if everything else went right, losing all that time with you would be inexcusable and a good enough reason, don't you think?"
>Grin.
>"You'd do the same thing if it were your case, only probably with more shouting."
>"As for getting into Eientei...are you aware of any entrances to the Underground here?"
-
>"You remember the winter that wouldn't go away? That was supposed to have been fixed. They would later go on to have stopped Kaguya and Eirin, and all kinds of other things. I don't know if you know about the hell raven affair, but they kept that from happening to. There's other things, but it would take more time to explain. And...yes, even if everything else went right, losing all that time with you would be inexcusable and a good enough reason, don't you think?"
>Grin.
>Mokou sputters a bit. "Well, that... that mightn't be... so bad?' She gives you a 'sheepish, but trying really hard not to look sheepish' look. You can't help but giggle to yourself about what thoughts are probably jumbling around in her head right now.
>"And who's this 'they', anyway?"
>"As for getting into Eientei...are you aware of any entrances to the Underground here?"
>"Underground? Never been down there. And nope, nothing like that around here. I'm sure of it."
-
>"They would be Reimu Hakurei, a shrine maiden whose shrine seems to have vanished from the face of the world, and Marisa Kirisame, a black magician who seems to have similarly been removed at some point."
>"Then we have to do things the hard way, it seems. I'm certain there are tunnels that run through here, but if there are no entrances, we'll just have to make one. In the meantime, what can you tell me about that field?"
-
>"They would be Reimu Hakurei, a shrine maiden whose shrine seems to have vanished from the face of the world, and Marisa Kirisame, a black magician who seems to have similarly been removed at some point."
>"Yeah, even I heard about the shrine bit. Never met her, though. Or this Marisa person. But, they were supposed to have fixed at this, you say? What've they got to do with us, though?"
>"Then we have to do things the hard way, it seems. I'm certain there are tunnels that run through here, but if there are no entrances, we'll just have to make one. In the meantime, what can you tell me about that field?"
>"It's the damnedest piss-off in the world, that's what it is. Like you said, I know this forest inside and out. Could probably find my way through it blindfolded. Only, as soon as I start getting anywhere near to Eientei, nothing makes sense anymore. I mean, I know where I should be heading, but I always end up somewhere else. I don't know how the hell they did it. I've spent years trying to get back there, now. I've even caught sight of it, a couple times. And then it disappears behind the trees again, and I'm suddenly a whole damn mile away."
-
>"Us? Not much. But you wanted to know what changed, didn't you?"
>"I assume you tried all the usual tricks, like leaving a trail and throwing rocks ahead?"
-
>"Us? Not much. But you wanted to know what changed, didn't you?"
>"Well, yeah... But, well, I was just kinda wondering how or why this was different, too. Supposedly."
>"I assume you tried all the usual tricks, like leaving a trail and throwing rocks ahead?"
>"Hey, you should know me better than that! About the only thing I haven't done is burn the whole damn place down, and I won't give her the satisfaction of wrecking my own home just to get to her."
-
>"I don't think we met, really. I'm not sure why, just yet."
>When did we meet Mokou, anyways?
>"Also. you say you see some of the Eientei people moving around without problems? Any idea how they do it? And, what did happen to the trails and rocks and stuff?"
-
>"I don't think we met, really. I'm not sure why, just yet."
>When did we meet Mokou, anyways?
>"Huh. Too bad, I guess."
>Now that you think about it, it was actually during the summer of the year of the Spring Snow Incident. Maybe you were just preoccupied, this time around....?
>"Also. you say you see some of the Eientei people moving around without problems? Any idea how they do it? And, what did happen to the trails and rocks and stuff?"
>"You can still see rabbits every now and again. Never seen anyone important, though. As for how they do it," Mokou shrugs. "Maybe there's a path that works. Maybe it just doesn't affect them. I dunno. I tried trailing them back, but usually lose them a few steps later. And the rocks and markers stay where you put them. Just you don't. I tied something to a tree, once, then kept moving forward and somehow ended up back at the tree again. I'm damn sure I didn't turn once. You could throw a rock ahead, move to catch up to it, and find yourself someplace different entirely."
-
>Nod.
> Contemplate if we know enough about this to devour its history, for a night or so.
-
>Nod.
> Contemplate if we know enough about this to devour its history, for a night or so.
>What 'this' are you referring to? The ward?
-
>Yes, the ward.
-
>Yes, the ward.
>You know what it does, but you don't really understand how it works, or more importantly, how it came to be created. Still, it may be possible to try, although given the nature of what you're trying to devour, you'd effectively be pitting wills against another powerful magic. It may or may not be sufficiently effective.
-
>If the attempt fails, would the devouree; or the caster of such, be aware of the attempt?
>"Can you take me to it?"
-
>If the attempt fails, would the devouree; or the caster of such, be aware of the attempt?
>There's a good chance that if you succeed in budging it at all, someone could notice that something's off. They might not be able to immediately trace it back to you, though.
>"Can you take me to it?"
>"I can. But don't expect much. Or do you have a plan up your sleeve that you haven't bothered to tell me, yet?"
-
>"I might. If you can show me enough about it...I might be able to deal with it for a little while. I really hadn't considered just how comprehensive your research into its effects might be, but if you can show me enough, and help me figure out how it works..."
-
>"I might. If you can show me enough about it...I might be able to deal with it for a little while. I really hadn't considered just how comprehensive your research into its effects might be, but if you can show me enough, and help me figure out how it works..."
>"I don't know if I'd call it research. And I don't really know it works. But if you really want to have a look at it, I can show you."
-
>"Well, you probably know some of the tricks to it, right? In any event, experiencing it should help."
-
>"Well, you probably know some of the tricks to it, right? In any event, experiencing it should help."
>"Well...." she hesitates a bit. "To be honest, I'm not even sure there's a pattern to it. Or if there is, it keeps changing. I'm not sure it's been any more than dumb luck the couple times I got closer to it. But, hey, if you want to go get lost together for a bit, I'm not going to bother trying to talk you out of it."
-
>"You know, in the world I remember, you'd jump at the chance to get lost together for a bit."
>Perhaps a creative exaggeration, but we earned some fun.
>"Shall we?"
-
>"You know, in the world I remember, you'd jump at the chance to get lost together for a bit."
>Perhaps a creative exaggeration, but we earned some fun.
>"Yeah, well, y'know... maybe I would." She gives you a sort of tentative half-smile. You remember that one!
>"Shall we?"
>"Sure, why the hell not." Mokou gets up and heads out the door, again. "C'mon," she gestures after you.
-
>Meet that smile!
>Follow along.
>"Stay here, Rumia, it'll be easier with fewer people to get lost."
-
>Meet that smile!
>Follow along.
>You smile back at Mokou. Ah, it feels nice to be able to do that! And then you follow her out of the house, Rumia falling in beside you.
>"Stay here, Rumia, it'll be easier with fewer people to get lost."
>"Um, ok...." She stops bobbing after you, and looks a little downcast. "...does Rumia have to? What if any more mean shadow-thingies show up?"
>"Shadow-whats now?" Mokou asks, looking quizzically at you.
-
>To Mokou: "Long story, I'll tell it along the way."
>To Rumia: "Okay, but you have to do a very good job staying with us."
-
>To Mokou: "Long story, I'll tell it along the way."
>"Sure. The way's long enough as it is. I get the feeling you're just full of long stories, anyway...."
>To Rumia: "Okay, but you have to do a very good job staying with us."
>"Sure~!" Rumia walks right up next to you, practically underfoot. Mokou gives her a sidelong glance, followed by an almost inaudible note of irritation. Then she sighs and shrugs her shoulders. "Well, let's get going, then," she states, and heads off towards the east.
-
> Follow Mokou.
> Tell Mokou the epic story of how we engaged a shadow monster with Rumia and lived to tell about it.
-
>Link it to how we got here in the first place.
-
> Follow Mokou.
> Tell Mokou the epic story of how we engaged a shadow monster with Rumia and lived to tell about it.
>Link it to how we got here in the first place.
>You follow Mokou off into the trees and start to explain your encounter with the shadow creature, its possible resemblance to a youkai you met earlier, and how it might somehow be connected to your arrival in this different world. Rumia occasionally interjects with helpful details such as "And then it went 'ssssplooey~! Mokou doesn't say much, but you're pretty certain she's listening attentively.
>Despite your entire course looking indistinguishably featureless, Mokou leads quickly and purposefully, making multiple course-corrections around unnavigably dense clusters of bamboo, with little more than a quick scan of the terrain every now and again. You're hopelessly lost in no more than a couple minutes. Rumia follows your directive to stay close so well that you eventually have to tell her to move a little further back for fear of continually tripping up in her.
>"Is your life always that interesting?" Mokou asks, after a pause in the narrative.
-
>"Not usually, thank heaven. Though you and I did get into a bit of trouble on occasion."
>If she insists, tell the abridged tale of the events following the moon incident.
-
>"Not usually, thank heaven. Though you and I did get into a bit of trouble on occasion."
>If she insists, tell the abridged tale of the events following the moon incident.
>"Oh, did we?" You can hear a hint of a smile in her voice. "Such as?"
>You tell her a little about what happened the night after Reimu and the others convinced Kaguya to open up Eientei, omitting a few needless details, such as the exact identity of some of the would-be assassins. Probably wouldn't make the best introduction for some of the people whose existence so much has seemed to rest on, here...
>"She sent how many people to kill me that night!? Ok, if we really make it to Eientei somehow, I'm paying her back for that. I don't even care that she hasn't done it here."
>"But, I guess that wasn't an everyday thing, anyway?"
-
>"No, not at all. In fact, once things were cleared up, you got to be rather friendly with most of them. They really weren't there to assassinate you, I should note, they were told it was a trial of guts. But normally, things nice and peaceful for us. We'd visit each other, go enjoy things around Gensokyo, have quiet evenings alone. Although at first I kinda had to pry you out of your chair, so to speak, to get you to go to a festival or a concert."
-
>"No, not at all. In fact, once things were cleared up, you got to be rather friendly with most of them. They really weren't there to assassinate you, I should note, they were told it was a trial of guts. But normally, things nice and peaceful for us. We'd visit each other, go enjoy things around Gensokyo, have quiet evenings alone. Although at first I kinda had to pry you out of your chair, so to speak, to get you to go to a festival or a concert."
>"Huh. Yeah, sounds about right. Don't like crowds. Why'd you think I came here in the first place?" She walks on in silence for a little while. After some time, you hear her add, rather more quietly. "...doesn't sound half bad, actually."
-
>"Yeah, that's about what you said then, after some cajoling."
>Grin.
-
>"Yeah, that's about what you said then, after some cajoling."
>Grin.
>"Yeah, well, you know...." She goes quiet again for a bit, and you can't help smiling a little. This really does feel strangely familiar, almost like you could start from here and do it all over again. She may not be your Mokou, but she could just as well be your Mokou from several years ago. It feels a little like traveling back into your own past. Despite it all, it's somehow comforting.
>"Sorry I can't say anything helpful about all the weird shit you're going through," she says, after several more minutes of silent bamboo diving. "I've never seen anything like any of that. Not that this," she gestures between the two of you, "isn't weird enough, itself, let me tell you."
-
>"Don't worry about it. But I felt you should know, anyways."
>"How close are we, by the way?"
-
>"Don't worry about it. But I felt you should know, anyways."
>"How close are we, by the way?"
>"Another couple minutes before we get to where the ward starts. After that we should be something like 15 or 20 minutes from Eientei, if the forest made any damn sense."
-
>Nod.
>Proceed.
-
>Nod.
>Proceed.
>You follow Mokou through the forest for a little more. After a few more minutes, she stops and looks around.
>"I couldn't say exactly where it starts, but this is pretty close. About this far out in all directions, as far as I can figure. I've never been out this way with anyone else, so I couldn't tell you if we'll suddenly find ourselves halfway across the woods from each other. If you have any bright ideas, now's the time. Or you can just walk in circles a whole bunch until you get tired, whatever."
-
>Think back to whether Patchouli mentioned separations being a significant problem.
-
>Think back to whether Patchouli mentioned separations being a significant problem.
>You don't think she mentioned it, although she implied the Sakuya accompanied Remilia on at least some of their attempts to find the place again. It's possible it wasn't an issue.
-
>"I think, as long as we don't separate ourselves, we should be fine."
>"But, if you want some assurance..."
>Take Mokou's arm.
-
>"I think, as long as we don't separate ourselves, we should be fine."
>"But, if you want some assurance..."
>Take Mokou's arm.
>Mokou stiffens when you take her arm in yours, but relaxes a little again, after a moment or two. "Well, it's, uh, better safe than sorry, hey?"
>You feel a tug on your other arm, and look over to see Rumia trying awkwardly to mimic the gesture; easier said than done given the height difference.
-
>"Precisely."
>Take Rumia's as well.
-
>"Precisely."
>Take Rumia's as well.
>Mokou makes a small sound of acknowledgment and tries to look impassive.
>You try to give Rumia your arm, but logistics eventually lead you to settle for just holding her hand, instead. She looks rather happy just the same, though.
-
>Mokou makes a small sound of acknowledgment and tries to look impassive.
>You try to give Rumia your arm, but logistics eventually lead you to settle for just holding her hand, instead. She looks rather happy just the same, though.
>"You shouldn't try to so hard not to enjoy yourself, you know?"
>Onwards
-
>"You shouldn't try to so hard not to enjoy yourself, you know?"
>"I'm not," she quickly replies.
>Onwards
>"Well, here we go, I guess. Where we end up, who the hell knows."
>Mokou leads onward into the forest, again. Or as much as she can lead with you holding arms. Rumia skips along besides you. As far as you can tell, nothing about the forest here seems any different than all of the woods you've already covered. Bamboo and more bamboo. It all pretty much looks the same to you, anyway, aside from the couple markers that Mokou had taught you, but there were mostly near her place. Outside of those, you'd have no idea if you were on top of Eientei, or back at the entrance. About the only difference you can tell, is that Mokou takes more pauses to examine the woods around her, and no longer seems quite as sure of her bearings.
>"Ok," she says after a few minutes, "we were going east this whole time, but I'm pretty sure we're almost due north of where we started, now."
-
>"And not a single shift in the bamboo itself? Not a moment where it change from one to the other? I didn't notice, but my eye's not a sharp as yours?"
-
>"And not a single shift in the bamboo itself? Not a moment where it change from one to the other? I didn't notice, but my eye's not a sharp as yours?"
>"Nah, I can't really tell most of the time, either. Don't know if it's messing with our perceptions or what. It ain't just teleporting us around, though. Near as I can figure, space here is bent into a damn pretzel. Everything matches up smoothly. Just not in the way it's supposed to. I don't know if the whole place is bent, or if it just bends around intruders as they come in."
-
>"I assume you tried to mark a whole lot of things in different ways, and had no findings?"
-
>Can Sakuya mess with space, as well as time...?
-
>"I assume you tried to mark a whole lot of things in different ways, and had no findings?"
>"Like I said, either the paths keep changing, or it just twists space at random. I don't know. But here, look at this." She tears off a small shoot of bamboo and ties it around a larger stalk. "See that? Now we're just going to walk straight in that direction." Taking your arm, you head 20 or 30 feet away. Then she turns 180 degrees around and walks back the same distance. "Can you see it now?"
>Can Sakuya mess with space, as well as time...?
>You think she can, to some degree. You don't really know how her ability to do this works, though. Presumably it wasn't strong enough to simply let her walk right through this, since her and Remilia failed to breach it themselves. It's possible it might be useful in some way.
-
>Look. Do we see it?
>"I assume walking backwards has never ended well?"
-
>Look. Do we see it?
>You search around a bit, and don't find any sign of the marker. And, looking around, the layout of the trees doesn't seem quite the same, either. You wouldn't have been able to notice the difference if you hadn't just been here a few seconds before.
>"I assume walking backwards has never ended well?"
>"Huh. Hadn't thought of trying that one."
-
> "Maybe we can reach it if we go in the opposite direction of where we actually want to go?"
-
>"Would a view from above help? Marking a line in the dirt?"
-
> "Maybe we can reach it if we go in the opposite direction of where we actually want to go?"
>"Now that one I actually have tried. It doesn't seem to be as hard to get away from the place as it is to get to it. Which makes sense; they're not just trying to trap everyone who comes near here forever."
>"Would a view from above help? Marking a line in the dirt?"
>"Above is kinda interesting. The spell doesn't seem to work above the treetops. But it really doesn't help much. I know where Eientei is well enough to get pretty damn close to it from the air. But as soon as you go past the trees, the ground below you belongs to someplace else. As for making a line... well, kinda mixed success with that one."
-
>"Mixed how?"
-
>"Mixed how?"
>"Well, I mean, it works for a little bit. It's kinda like that marker I tied on the bamboo. The marks will be wherever you left them, but even if you went to the trouble to leave a solid visible line the whole way, eventually you'd look behind you, and find that the line just ends a dozen or so feet away. Oh, and picks up somewhere else a mile away, probably."
-
>"That sounds like some sort of teleportation... but I'm not sure how."
>"How can we see the mansion from above? Throwing something at it that way might show more of how it works... but it'd give us away rather thoroughly, and we should really have a plan first."
-
>"While I doubt it's going to break the spell, let's pick a marker and try walking backwards from it. I want to see it disappear."
>Go through with this plan if Mokou doesn't object.
-
>"That sounds like some sort of teleportation... but I'm not sure how."
>"You and me both."
>"How can we see the mansion from above? Throwing something at it that way might show more of how it works... but it'd give us away rather thoroughly, and we should really have a plan first."
>"You can't actually see the place from above the trees. The forest is way too dense and tall for that. But I know more or less where it is by memory. And it would have to be a damn bright thing to see it fall all the way down to wherever it is that it goes."
>"While I doubt it's going to break the spell, let's pick a marker and try walking backwards from it. I want to see it disappear."
>Go through with this plan if Mokou doesn't object.
>"Sure, why not. I've tried stupider things before."
>Mokou ties off another marker similar to the first, then you face towards it and try walking backwards. A few feet, and everything looks normal. The marker recedes into the distance as it should. Then another couple steps and you stumble against some foliage behind you and nearly fall. When you catch yourself and look again, the marker no longer seems to be there. Or, indeed, the entire tree it was tied to.
-
>"Bah, I tripped and lost sight of it! Let's try that again, properly..."
>"... perhaps we could find a way to see through the trees? Or make somewhere to see, if we have to try a frontal assault. But they're probably prepared for that."
>sideways glance
>"Or have you tried that already?"
-
>"Alright, new plan... You keep watch ahead, Mokou, and Rumia and I will watch from behind."
-
>"Bah, I tripped and lost sight of it! Let's try that again, properly..."
>"... perhaps we could find a way to see through the trees? Or make somewhere to see, if we have to try a frontal assault. But they're probably prepared for that."
>sideways glance
>"Or have you tried that already?"
>"Are you suggesting we try chopping down every tree in front of us for a mile from here to there, or something?"
>"Alright, new plan... You keep watch ahead, Mokou, and Rumia and I will watch from behind."
>"Ok, that's probably a bit smarter. I'll try to keep you from running into or over anything. Just move slowly."
-
>"Let me know if you feel things change, Mokou."
>Execute plan. Move slowly. Make sure Rumia keeps pace. Count out steps if needs be.
>Should the marker move close to out of sight. Call for a halt, pick a new geological feature to watch, and then proceed.
-
>"I'm really not sure. Lighting up the canopy might improve visibility, though. Or at least get their attention."
>Follow through with the plan! Slow and careful.
-
>"Let me know if you feel things change, Mokou."
>Execute plan. Move slowly. Make sure Rumia keeps pace. Count out steps if needs be.
>Should the marker move close to out of sight. Call for a halt, pick a new geological feature to watch, and then proceed.
>"Sure," she replies.
>You place a new marker (since the old one is who-knows-where now) and follow the plan. It's awkward going, and Mokou has to gesture for you to stop and adjust position a couple times. Really, navigation ability in here is bad enough moving forward. After a little while, the marker is pretty close to being lost behind some other trees you're moving past. You don't see any obvious geological features to focus on, other than other trees. None of them are terribly obviously distinctive looking, though.
>"I'm really not sure. Lighting up the canopy might improve visibility, though. Or at least get their attention."
>"Lighting it up how?"
-
>"I was thinking fire, but..."
>... would there be portable versions of those bright lights from the human village?
>"Do you think we've gotten turned around? It's almost out of sight, but I don't want to look away. But I'm not sure if a string of markers would be any more effective than a line in the dirt..."
>"... another crazy idea... have you ever tried to get in with your eyes closed? If there's some sort of illusion involved in this, visual distractions might be leading us astray."
-
>"I was thinking fire, but..."
>"Yeah.... no. I start throwing fires down from above the canopy, and soon the whole damn place'll be on fire."
>... would there be portable versions of those bright lights from the human village?
>You honestly have no idea. Sanae mentioned that there were a bunch of more advanced things they were working on, and that some of them weren't in general use in the village, yet. Whether or not this included portable lights is anyone's guess.
>"Do you think we've gotten turned around? It's almost out of sight, but I don't want to look away. But I'm not sure if a string of markers would be any more effective than a line in the dirt..."
>"Couldn't tell you if we're turned around or not right now, sorry. I know this place pretty well, but most of it's still just bamboo, and even I can't use that to navigate by. We walk around for a bit more, I can probably find a rock or something I recognize. But that's not much good to you at the moment."
>"... another crazy idea... have you ever tried to get in with your eyes closed? If there's some sort of illusion involved in this, visual distractions might be leading us astray."
>"Huh... It's a thought. Be lucky if you don't break your face trying it, though."
-
>"And, set up another marker, please. I need to keep my eye on this one."
-
>"And, set up another marker, please. I need to keep my eye on this one."
>"Sure." You hear another bit of bamboo snap. "Done."
-
>Glance toward it, then toward the old marker.
>Assuming both are there, proceed.
>"Maybe this would work better if I drew a line in the dirt."
-
>Glance toward it, then toward the old marker.
>Assuming both are there, proceed.
>Both of them appear to be there.
>Do you intend to proceed by just following the second marker? If you move much further, the first will get obscured from sight.
>"Maybe this would work better if I drew a line in the dirt."
>"Well, if you've got something to dig it with," Mokou says. "Ground's pretty hard here, in places. And what exactly are you hoping for with it, anyway? I said I tried the whole line bit."
-
>"Yeah, but you weren't watching it. You were moving ahead. Then you looked back and it was cut off. "
>Watch both as long as possible.
-
>"Yeah, but you weren't watching it. You were moving ahead. Then you looked back and it was cut off. "
>"Yeah, I suppose. You hoping to see it vanish while you're looking at it, or something?"
>Watch both as long as possible.
>You watch the first marker for a few more steps, before it goes out of sight. This would be easier if it were possible to go more straight, but moving around clusters of bamboo is just a fact of life, here. After another dozen or so feet, it looks like the second marker will get obscured behind something again, soon.
-
>"That's exactly what I'm hoping to see."
>Ponder if a thick length of bamboo would be enough to make a good mark.
-
>"That's exactly what I'm hoping to see."
>"And, let's say you do. How does that help us?"
>Ponder if a thick length of bamboo would be enough to make a good mark.
>It probably could. But there's a fair bit of underbrush a lot of the time, and it would probably take a fair bit of elbow grease to leave a trail that would be visible at any distance.
-
>"It helps me understand this place a little better. The better I can understand it, the more likely I can deal with it. Do you have a knife? Something we could cut down and sharpen some bamboo with?"
-
>"It helps me understand this place a little better. The better I can understand it, the more likely I can deal with it. Do you have a knife? Something we could cut down and sharpen some bamboo with?"
>"Uh, not on me. But I could still get you down a piece you could mark with if you want."
-
>"I need something to get it sharp enough to break the soil easily."
-
>"I need something to get it sharp enough to break the soil easily."
>"Hmm... dunno. I can shear it off at an angle. Probably should be good enough. Maybe."
-
>"If you would?"
-
>"If you would?"
>"Sure." You can't really see what Mokou is doing without turning around, but you hear some rustling, followed by a crackling noise, and what you assume is a tree falling over. Then a little more crackling. "Here," she says, and hands you a length of bamboo about four feet long. One edge is angled to a point, while the other is basically flat. Both ends are seared, and some bits of charcoal fall off them as you take hold of it.
-
>"Very nicely done."
>Get to drawing that line in the dirt.
-
>"Very nicely done."
>"It's no big deal."
>Get to drawing that line in the dirt.
>You test the stick on the dirt. Part of it crumbles away when you do this, but the rest of it seems sturdy enough, and at least a little sharp. It still takes a fair bit of effort to mark the line, but it's doable. At least for a little distance. You really, really don't want to have to do that all the way to Eientei....
-
>The way things are going, it likely won't go that far.
>"Let's carry on. Let me know if you detect any shifts, Mokou."
-
>The way things are going, it likely won't go that far.
>"Let's carry on. Let me know if you detect any shifts, Mokou."
>Perhaps not....
>"I let you know if I see anything I recognize."
>You continue the same procedure as before, only with more manual labor. Thankfully the ground is more yielding in some places than it was where you started. Nothing looks the slightest bit amiss with your trail, or anything else you can detect, although parts of the trail eventually become obscured as you get further away. A couple more minutes pass uneventfully.
>"Dammit," Mokou suddenly grumbles. "Ok, we're now about 15 minutes on the other side of Eientei."
-
>Perhaps not....
>"I let you know if I see anything I recognize."
>You continue the same procedure as before, only with more manual labor. Thankfully the ground is more yielding in some places than it was where you started. Nothing looks the slightest bit amiss with your trail, or anything else you can detect, although parts of the trail eventually become obscured as you get further away. A couple more minutes pass uneventfully.
>"Dammit," Mokou suddenly grumbles. "Ok, we're now about 15 minutes on the other side of Eientei."
>"Stop."
>Once she does, examine the line. Is it broken at all within sight?
-
>"Stop."
>Once she does, examine the line. Is it broken at all within sight?
>Mokou stops
>It doesn't appear to be
-
"Alright. We're going to back up. I'll guide you just as you did me, Mokou. You're job is to tell me if things change again. And I'll see how far we can go until the line vanishes. Ready? Try to keep pace with Mokou, Rumia."
>Proceed when ready.
-
"Alright. We're going to back up. I'll guide you just as you did me, Mokou. You're job is to tell me if things change again. And I'll see how far we can go until the line vanishes. Ready? Try to keep pace with Mokou, Rumia."
>Proceed when ready.
>"Ok, got it," says Mokou.
>"Sure!" Rumia chimes in.
>You slowly retrace your steps along the marked lined, rather grateful not to have to be digging it any more at the moment. From your starting position, the line goes out of sight about two dozen feet back, behind some trees. You follow it all the way there, and discover that the line is still intact, once you swing around those trees so that you can see it again. However, looking about another dozen or so feet past that, the trail abruptly disappears.
-
>"About a dozen yards or so. Further than I expected."
>Follow it to the end. "See anything, Mokou?"
-
>"About a dozen yards or so. Further than I expected."
>Follow it to the end. "See anything, Mokou?"
>You follow the trail back to the point at which it terminates
>"Nothing I wouldn't expect to see, anyway," she replies.
-
>"Alright. One last thing, turn around and tell me how different the stuff ahead looks."
-
>"Alright. One last thing, turn around and tell me how different the stuff ahead looks."
>She turns around. "Different than what? Different than what I remember walking forward through?"
>She scans around a little. "Nothing too distinct here. Couldn't tell you where we are, exactly."
-
>"Alright. I think I've seen enough."
>Now that we have some experience with this phenomena, does it feel like we'd have a better chance devouring its history and removing it for a short while?
-
>"Alright. I think I've seen enough."
>"It's a bitch, ain't it?"
>Now that we have some experience with this phenomena, does it feel like we'd have a better chance devouring its history and removing it for a short while?
>It might have helped. You're not sure. But you won't really know how well you can do it until you try.
-
>"One last question. I know you're probably the last person I should ask about this, but how long ago did this happen?"
-
>"One last question. I know you're probably the last person I should ask about this, but how long ago did this happen?"
>"Not too long after that whole business with the false moon started. Couple weeks after it, maybe?"
-
>Calculate that date.
>Would it work better being within the phenomena or outside of it? And would it be safe to have Mokou and Rumia nearby in either case?
-
>Calculate that date.
>That would place it about six years ago from the present time, assuming that Eirin didn't decide to attempt it at a different time here than the one you remember
>Would it work better being within the phenomena or outside of it? And would it be safe to have Mokou and Rumia nearby in either case?
>It would probably work better while closer to the thing you wish to devour. You don't see how it could possibly hurt anyone involved, unless there's some sort of defense mechanism to the spell that you're unaware of
-
>"Can you take us back to the edge of the field closet to edge of the forest, Mokou? I'm going to try and take it down. If it works, I'll need you to get Rumia to the edge of the forest so she can alert Scarlet Devil Mansion."
-
>"Can you take us back to the edge of the field closet to edge of the forest, Mokou? I'm going to try and take it down. If it works, I'll need you to get Rumia to the edge of the forest so she can alert Scarlet Devil Mansion."
>"Well, the quickest way to do that would be by flying up," Mokou answers, "since we don't even know where we are right now. We can land at around the right spot. And how the hell are you thinking about taking this down, anyhow?"
>"Rumia doesn't understand," she asks, sounded a little sheepish. "What's Rumia supposed to be doing?"
-
>"Lead the way, then."
>"And don't worry, Rumia. It'll make sense when it's your time to do things. Just stay with us for now."
-
>"Lead the way, then."
>"Sure thing."
>Mokou ascends, and you follow after her. When you crest the treetops, Mokou scans around and sighs. "And we're on the other other side of Eientei, now. Quickest couple miles you're ever walked, I bet. C'mon, this way." Mokou flies northward.
>"And don't worry, Rumia. It'll make sense when it's your time to do things. Just stay with us for now."
>"Um... ok. Rumia wants to help, so Rumia'll make extra sure to understand this time."
-
>Follow along.
>"If this works, Rumia, your job is going to be extra important. You'll be keeping me from getting beat up again, and helping to solve the problem with the moon."
-
>Follow along.
>"If this works, Rumia, your job is going to be extra important. You'll be keeping me from getting beat up again, and helping to solve the problem with the moon."
>You follow after Mokou.
>Rumia beams at this. "Yay! Rumia'll make really super sure to get it right! Promise!" You hear Mokou snicker a little.
>After a time, Mokou stops. "This should do it," she says, as she starts to descend.
-
>Follow Mokou down.
>"So, we're just outside the field?"
-
>Follow Mokou down.
>"So, we're just outside the field?"
>You descend.
>"Well, that or as close as I feel comfortable getting without worrying about landing inside it, instead."
-
>Once on the ground. "Alright. Rumia. If this works, this is what I need you to do. Go back to Scarlet Devil Mansion. Tell Patchouli the barrier is down. Mokou can guide you outside of the forest. Then bring them back here. Do you remember the way to the mansion?"
>Recount it for her.
>Once we're satisfied, head a little ways toward the field. It's time for lunch.
-
>Once on the ground. "Alright. Rumia. If this works, this is what I need you to do. Go back to Scarlet Devil Mansion. Tell Patchouli the barrier is down. Mokou can guide you outside of the forest. Then bring them back here. Do you remember the way to the mansion?"
>Recount it for her.
>"Rumia always knew how to get there. Rumia lives aaaaallll over the place." She waves her hands around, then stops and puts a finger thoughtfully to her chin. "Patchouli.... Was she the scary purple lightning lady? Don't worry. Rumia can handle it!" She nods sagely.
>Once we're satisfied, head a little ways toward the field. It's time for lunch.
>Satisfied that Rumia seems to understand your instructions as well as you could hope for, you take a few more steps towards where the field starts.
>"So," Mokou grumbles, "is this the part where you show me up?"
-
> Start the attempt at devouring the ward's history.
-
> Start the attempt at devouring the ward's history.
>You take a deep breath and focus your mind. You've never tried using your ability on something quite like this, so you'll be stretching yourself no matter the outcome. But this is important, so you will succeed. You're not going to let there be another alternative.
>There is no ward, you repeat. There was never a ward. No one tried to cast a spell on the forest six years ago. No one has wandered lost because of it. No one was hidden because of it. Space is normal here, because space was always normal here. No one interfered because no one ever tried to interfere. There was never a ward.
>As you try to consume the history of this spell, you slowly become aware of two unpleasant things.
>One: your connection to the history around you feels muted, distant. You can still sense it. You could still touch it. But it's not the same as it once was, and you're not sure why.
>Two: the ward has no history. This should be impossible, but that is how it feels. You can sense its presence, certainly, but it is as though the spell itself stands outside the flow of time. It existed before the world began, and it will continue to exist long after everything else has turned to dust. It could never not exist; it is perpetual. You realize this is a logical impossibility: it did not exist 7 years ago. And yet...
-
>Focus on the time when people were freely able to ignore, then, and devour the difference between then and now.
>Keep at it with this line of thought.
-
>Focus on the time when people were freely able to ignore, then, and devour the difference between then and now.
>Keep at it with this line of thought.
>You try to focus on the difference between now and the past. Even the distant past. And that is the most disturbing thing, because it feels like there is none. Nothing has changed in here for an age. How is that even possible?
-
>Contemplate the possibility that what we are attacking isn't a ward, but a powerful illusion of one, and try to see if this line of inquiry reveals anything.
-
>Contemplate the possibility that what we are attacking isn't a ward, but a powerful illusion of one, and try to see if this line of inquiry reveals anything.
>If it is an illusion, it is one of a type that you didn't even know was possible. Not only does it fool the mundane senses, but it somehow fools history as well. You try to conceptualize it in these terms, but still make no progress. It's not so much that you cannot budge the ward. It's that there's nothing to budge. Its history could not end unless history itself ends.
-
>Consider a different possibility. Rather than remove the ward, remove what makes the ward effective. That is, reach back and arrange so that there was never a bamboo forest here.
-
>Consider a different possibility. Rather than remove the ward, remove what makes the ward effective. That is, reach back and arrange so that there was never a bamboo forest here.
>That... might be a way around the ward. But devouring something that large is daunting to say the least. The human village is the largest thing you have ever concealed in that way, and it had a clearly defined and localized history. And was much, much smaller. The forest here could well be ancient, and there was no ordering to its existence. Still, you try.
>There is no forest here. There was never a forest here. Seeds found no purchase here. Growth did not flourish here. This land is empty and has always been empty. You still feel like your connection to history is fainter and vague, but you think you feel something respond. You keep pushing.
>After a while - it's hard to tell how long - you become vaguely aware of a voice. "...the hell did you do?"
-
> "What?"
> Observe the surrounding area.
-
> "What?"
> Observe the surrounding area.
>You slowly come back to your senses. Looking around, there seems to be practically no trees at all for 50 or more feet from you. Even the ground seems kind of barren.
>"I said, what the hell did you just do?" Mokou repeats.
>Rumia is looking around in wide-eyed wonder.
-
>"A shortcut...which seems to have failed me. Simply put, I tried to make a brief change in history to establish that there was never a bamboo forest here. That is, nothing to prevent us from seeing and approaching Eientei. But, I couldn't get the scale I needed..."
>Sigh.
-
>"A shortcut...which seems to have failed me. Simply put, I tried to make a brief change in history to establish that there was never a bamboo forest here. That is, nothing to prevent us from seeing and approaching Eientei. But, I couldn't get the scale I needed..."
>"You... you changed history? What the-" Mokou trails off and looks around for a while. "Damn... so, like, it this all gone for good, or can you put it back again? For that matter," she eyes you a little warily, "what else can you change?"
>Sigh.
>You let out a much needed sigh. You were really hoping for more than that... But at least you managed some of it. That's encouraging.... right?
-
>"Just for a while. And, I was trying to remove the ward itself, but it seems that the Princess has applied her manipulation of eternity to it, it has no beginning for me to touch..."
>Ponder for a moment. It may not have a beginning, but would it have a point of origin, from which it stretches both forward and backward into history, that could be negated?
-
>"Just for a while. And, I was trying to remove the ward itself, but it seems that the Princess has applied her manipulation of eternity to it, it has no beginning for me to touch..."
>"Aw, dammit! Son of a-" Mokou kicks up a tuft of earth.
>Ponder for a moment. It may not have a beginning, but would it have a point of origin, from which it stretches both forward and backward into history, that could be negated?
>You didn't sense any such thing when you were trying to consume it. Perhaps there is a trick to it, but you might need Kaguya's help to figure it out. And, needless to say, that isn't terribly useful at the moment....
-
>"I suppose we have to do it the hard way, then. Well, one of two hard ways."
>"Have you tried attacking from above to flush them out?"
-
>"I suppose we have to do it the hard way, then. Well, one of two hard ways."
>"Have you tried attacking from above to flush them out?"
>"Like I said, stuff that goes down below the canopy in there doesn't land where you think it should. I could fly right over Eientei and drop everything I had on it, and I'd probably just leave a crater half a mile away."
>"Was that one of the hard ways? What's the other?"
-
>"We go underground, and force our way up until the mansion. For this, I am going to need your help."
>Produce the compassmajigger
>"I can use this to mark a point in the world, and it shall always point toward it. Can you fly over where Eientei should be, and mark it? We'll need it to find the proper place underground. Failing that, can you mark a point that you know is an exact distance from Eientei?"
-
>"We go underground, and force our way up until the mansion. For this, I am going to need your help."
>Produce the compassmajigger
>"I can use this to mark a point in the world, and it shall always point toward it. Can you fly over where Eientei should be, and mark it? We'll need it to find the proper place underground. Failing that, can you mark a point that you know is an exact distance from Eientei?"
>"Underground? Well, that should be interesting." She eyes the seeking stone with some interest. "And I can get it pretty damn close to Eientei. That's not a problem. Mightn't be smack dab on top of it, but close enough to count, I figure."
-
>"Underground? Well, that should be interesting." She eyes the seeking stone with some interest. "And I can get it pretty damn close to Eientei. That's not a problem. Mightn't be smack dab on top of it, but close enough to count, I figure."
>"The more on top of it, the better. We want to get inside the mansion proper. Then, even if the ward is in effect, at the least we can flush them out."
>Show her what Patchy told us about using it.
-
>"The more on top of it, the better. We want to get inside the mansion proper. Then, even if the ward is in effect, at the least we can flush them out."
>"Got it." she says. Then she starts laughing. "'Y'know, if this works, it'll be hilarious. I can just see the look on Kaguya's face as we come tearing through the floorboards. Bet she thinks she so safe and cozy there. I don't even care how much of a long shot this is. It'll be worth trying just for the chance to see her reaction."
>Show her what Patchy told us about using it.
>Like many simple single-function magical tools, it can be activated by a simple infusion of magical energy. It's practically instinctual for any trained magic user. Mokou nods.
-
>Hand it over.
>Wait for results.
-
>Hand it over.
>Wait for results.
>You hand Mokou the seeking stone and she flies off, soon passing out of sight. You wait patiently for a quite a few minutes. After a little while, Rumia starts skipping around the clearing while humming to herself, evidently satisfied that it would be impossible to get lost in here. Eventually, Mokou returns, and hands the stone back to you. It is very clearly pointing towards something in the air, east-northeast of here.
>"I made it as close as I can get it," she says. "Even I can't tell for sure above all those trees, sorry."
-
>"Then it's time for the next step, we scout out underground. I am not sure if you'd usually want to stay up around this time, Mokou, but if you'd like to accompany us, you'd be welcome."
-
>"Then it's time for the next step, we scout out underground. I am not sure if you'd usually want to stay up around this time, Mokou, but if you'd like to accompany us, you'd be welcome."
>"Uh, well... normally I'd say no. But I just can't pass up the chance to pull this one off. So I guess you're stuck with me, for now." She gives you a little sidelong glance. "Although, uh, maybe that's not such a bad thing?"
-
>"I'm glad you agree."
>Take her by the arm again, and begin flying toward the crater where Utsuho came from.
-
>"I'm glad you agree."
>Take her by the arm again, and begin flying toward the crater where Utsuho came from.
>You take Mokou's arm in your own again, and set off towards the crater. You note with a smile that she didn't tense up the same way this time.
>The location you were given for your destination is quite a ways away, so you decide to try and enjoy the trip. This comes easier than you'd expected. Mokou is basically silent, but you find her presence comforting. In the forest, you were focused on solving a problem in front of you. Now, you're just flying peacefully beneath the night sky. Sure, so many things are still wrong and there are plenty more problems yet to solve, but the night sky is clear, the air is crisp and fresh, and you are holding arms with someone who is almost the person who you love.
>You fly past the sea of bamboo beneath you, past the rolling grasslands beyond it. You see the village pass by in the distance, and the lake, even more distantly.
>"Hey," Mokou eventually asks. "I'm sure you have a plan and all for this, but how are are we supposed to get back up through all that rock?"
-
>"I am hoping we can find something from Patchouli to make it happen painlessly, or something down below. Failing that...we use some of the Mansion's wealth to hire a team of oni to dig us a tunnel."
-
>"I am hoping we can find something from Patchouli to make it happen painlessly, or something down below. Failing that...we use some of the Mansion's wealth to hire a team of oni to dig us a tunnel."
>"That last one might take a while," she laughs. "Then again, they are oni... Man, haven't seen one of their kind in centuries."
-
>"Of course, if everything else falls through, making trouble doesn't require very controlled demolitions..."
-
>"Of course, if everything else falls through, making trouble doesn't require very controlled demolitions..."
>"Hey, blasting a hole is the easy part. Making it not all fall down on top of you when you're done is the hard bit. And immortal or not, I don't want 50 fuckin' tons of rock my head. Hell, being immortal just makes it worse. At least then you wouldn't have to suffer for a century or two before someone stumbled by and dug you out."
-
>"Quite. I'm hoping for better, but it appears miners will be our main option. Perhaps we can entice them with looting Eientei?"
-
>"Quite. I'm hoping for better, but it appears miners will be our main option. Perhaps we can entice them with looting Eientei?"
>She considers this for a moment. "Do oni even loot things?"
-
>"I think it comes under conquest. But yeah, it's an iffy question."
-
>"I think it comes under conquest. But yeah, it's an iffy question."
>"Well, we'll figure something out. Better idea than any I've had yet, anyway."
>"So, do you know the place down there, any? You've known a lot of things so far that surprised me."
-
>"I hope I know the place, but it's with knowledge from my world. If we're especially unlucky, Utsuho turned the whole place into slag..."
-
>"I hope I know the place, but it's with knowledge from my world. If we're especially unlucky, Utsuho turned the whole place into slag..."
>"Who's Utsuho? And could she actually do that?"
-
>"The Hell Raven, who made the crater I'm hoping to use to get down there. And yes, she probably could, if she caught them before they could stop her."
-
>"The Hell Raven, who made the crater I'm hoping to use to get down there. And yes, she probably could, if she caught them before they could stop her."
>"And let me guess, this also played out entirely differently in the world you remember?"
-
> "Very. The Shrine Maiden Reimu Hakurei and the Witch Marisa Kirisame entered the Underground through a tunnel and beat up Utsuho before she could start much of anything. But with Hakurei being gone for so long, and Kirisame having disappeared after the Scarlet Mist incident but before the Long Winter... no one to properally stop her..."
-
> "Very. The Shrine Maiden Reimu Hakurei and the Witch Marisa Kirisame entered the Underground through a tunnel and beat up Utsuho before she could start much of anything. But with Hakurei being gone for so long, and Kirisame having disappeared after the Scarlet Mist incident but before the Long Winter... no one to properally stop her..."
>"Those two again, huh? Do they go around fixing everything where you come from, or something? Any idea what became of her here? You said we're headed to some sorta crater she made."
-
>"Not everything. But, practically everything. They've had help from others in the past. And, I don't know. I am hoping the fact she hasn't tried it again means she's calmed down, like she did in my version of events."
-
>"Not everything. But, practically everything. They've had help from others in the past. And, I don't know. I am hoping the fact she hasn't tried it again means she's calmed down, like she did in my version of events."
>"Here's hoping. If she has half the power you say she does, I'd rather not have to deal with her. Gotta have something left for Kaguya, y'know?"
>You fly on in silence for another while. You're over wide open grasslands, now, and drawing quite near to the general area Sanae described the crater as being. You don't notice it at first, given the lighting, but after a while you think you can see patches of discoloration to the northeast.
-
>Northeastward!
-
>Northeastward!
>You head towards the patches of discoloration... and it soon becomes evident that they were only the mildest traces of the devastation in front of you. Huge swaths of the ground are scorched and blackened. No plant life at all grows there. There are burn marks and rubble-strewn trenches cutting back and forth across the terrain like scars. You see one lonely tree cling to life among the dead husks of its neighbors. And in the center of it all is a large crater, at least 20 feet deep.
>"...the hell?" Mokou eventually spits out. You think you hear Rumia whimper quietly.
-
>"This is why one does not take Utsuho lightly."
>Descend into the crater.
-
>"This is why one does not take Utsuho lightly."
>Descend into the crater.
>"...no kidding." Mokou says, surveying the devastation.
>"Rumia doesn't want to ever meet hell raven lady!" Rumia adds, definitively.
>You descend into the crater. Despite the occasional blast mark and rubble, the surface of the crater is smooth, melted and fused by the heat that created it. It's rather chilling just standing there. What must this battle have been like? Near the very center of the crater is a fairly small pit of some sort. It descends into blackness out of sight.
-
>Do we have a light?
>... well, aside from Mokou, at least.
-
>Do we have a light?
>... well, aside from Mokou, at least.
>Familiars can give a little light. Mokou can probably do better than that, though.
-
>"Care to light the way, Mokou?"
-
>"Care to light the way, Mokou?"
>"We going down that hole over there, then?" She gives it a look. "Kind of a tight squeeze." She conjures a sphere of bright fiery light in her palm, and tosses it down the hole. You see it descend for a least a hundred feet or so before it winks out of sight. From what detail you can gather, the walls are quite straight and free of any obvious obstacles all the way down. You didn't see the bottom, however.
-
>"It seems to lead where we need to go."
>Is it large enough to sate fears of getting stuck? If someone with a wing span came through it...
-
>"It seems to lead where we need to go."
>"Well, it leads down, anyway... I just hope whatever came up through this isn't resting at the bottom of it, now."
>Is it large enough to sate fears of getting stuck? If someone with a wing span came through it...
>It's more than large enough for any of you to comfortably fit in, but you'll probably be forced to travel in single file
-
>It's more than large enough for any of you to comfortably fit in, but you'll probably be forced to travel in single file
>Even Remilia?
>"Let's go take a look, then."
>take Rad-X
>head down!
-
>"Worse comes to worst, I'm sure you could take her, Mokou. And we'll be there to assist."
-
>Even Remilia?
>Her wingspan may be large, but you think she could just fold them around her as she descends.
>"Worse comes to worst, I'm sure you could take her, Mokou. And we'll be there to assist."
>"....maybe. Just hope we don't have to. Would be a giant pain in the ass."
>"Let's go take a look, then."
>take Rad-X
>head down!
>"May as well."
>You let Mokou take point and descend into the shaft. She conjures some more fiery light in front of her so that she can see where she's going. You can't really get a view of much ahead of you; Mokou's body itself blocks most of your sight, and much of the light too, casting long shadows upon the walls. However, the shaft appears to be almost entirely straight. And long. You're not certain how far you descend, but you're almost beginning to question if you've overshot the underground entirely when you hear Mokou call out: "I can see the bottom."
-
>Ponder if it may be possible to contract Utsuho to be our miner instead, assuming she's still around.
>"Have a look around before you leave the shaft. Be ready in case something strikes."
-
>Ponder if it may be possible to contract Utsuho to be our miner instead, assuming she's still around.
>Well, if the shaft is any indication, she does quality work
>"Have a look around before you leave the shaft. Be ready in case something strikes."
>"Sure." After a pause. "I don't see anything. Looks pretty empty down here."
-
>"Good. I'll follow you out into the cavern."
>Presuming Rumia followed us in and now above us. "Try not to ram into me, Rumia."
>Proceed.
-
>"Good. I'll follow you out."
>"Try not to ram into, Rumia."
>Proceed.
>"Sure," Mokou replies.
>"Ok~" Rumia says.
>Mokou descends out of the shaft, and you follow her out. True to her promise, Rumia manages not to bump into you.
>You appear to be in a very large cavernous chamber, made of featureless dark rock. The floor is still 30 or 40 feet below you; the shaft seems to have been burned through the ceiling. The only source of light in here at all is from Mokou, and it's not strong enough to allow you to see the far edges of the chamber, such is its size. It's rather chilly and damp.
>"Well, kinda emptier than I figured," Mokou comments.
>"Oooo...." Rumia makes a note of wonder, as she looks wide-eyed around the chamber. "Rumia had no idea there was anything like this under the ground!"
-
>find and pick mushrooms
>get high
>"That doesn't surprise me too much. I think the oni mostly keep to their city. Now we just need to find it."
>Do we know where it was in our time?
-
>"That doesn't surprise me too much. I think the oni mostly keep to their city. Now we just need to find it."
>Do we know where it was in our time?
>"Well, lead on. I sure as hell don't know where we're going, down here."
>You knew generally where it was, but certainly not from this improvised entrance. It would probably somewhere far to the northeast. Whether or not there are tunnels that lead directly from here to there is anyone's guess.
-
>Go Northeasterly
>Can we identify this place?
>Get closer to the floor.
-
>Go Northeasterly
>Can we identify this place?
>Get closer to the floor.
>The place is pretty featureless, although the look and shape of the rock suggests it might not be an entirely natural cavern. Of course, that could just be Utsuho's doing. It doesn't seem readily identifiable to you.
>You land and head towards the northeast, with Mokou following you. The chamber continues for quite a way before narrowing down to a wall in the north. You follow along the wall and eventually see a large tunnel heading eastward.
-
>Eastwards are as good as anywards. Take the tunnel.
-
>As good a place to start as any. Any identifying features near the tunnel?
>Actually, is there any indication of the place we came down from?
-
>As good a place to start as any. Any identifying features near the tunnel?
>Actually, is there any indication of the place we came down from?
>You don't see any identifying features. It is made of similar material as the large chamber, although the stone is perhaps somewhat rougher.
>The place you came down from was just an open field, as best you can tell, and not especially close to any important sites.
>Eastwards are as good as anywards. Take the tunnel.
>You continue into the tunnel and walk for a significant distance. It twists south, and then east again, and eventually northward for a while. There are no side tunnels that you can see, or any other points of interest for that matter.
>Wait, you think you can see a couple tiny points of dimly flickering light in the distance.
-
>The place you came down from was just an open field, as best you can tell, and not especially close to any important sites.
>Will the hole leading back up easy to locate again?
>Get a little closer and observe.
-
>Quietly: "You both see that, right?"
-
>Will the hole leading back up easy to locate again?
>It would be easy to find the chamber again, given that there's only one path there. The hole may take a little searching for. It would stand out against the ceiling, but Mokou's light only reaches so far. Still, it shouldn't be too difficult to locate.
>Quietly: "You both see that, right?"
>"Uh-huh."
>"Yup!" Rumia still manages to somehow sound exuberant while whispering.
>Get a little closer and observe.
>You walk towards the strange lights. They seem to be drifting slowly in different directions from each other and shedding tiny flickering wisps of energy above them. They're still well outside the range of your own light.
-
> Recall knowledge of spirits that live Underground.
> Get a little closer.
-
> Recall knowledge of spirits that live Underground.
>You recall that there were large quantities of evil spirits that lived in parts of it, primarily in the Hell of Blazing Fires, although the occasional one elsewhere. You've never seen one before, but these do look at least partially like the description you had of them. Despite being the remnants of the souls of people condemned to hell, they're not necessarily aggressive or malicious, although some certainly can be. You think that the kasha who lived in the Palace of the Earth Spirits had some ability to control them, or at the very least herd them.
> Get a little closer.
>As you get a little closer, you can see several more of them. The brightness of your own light makes them harder to see into the darkness in the distance, but they don't appear to be paying you any notice. If they are aware of your presence, they do not seem to be reacting to it.
-
>Onwards. Be ready to react if they do anything hostile.
>"We'll just try and leave them alone, I suppose."
-
>Onwards. Be ready to react if they do anything hostile.
>"We'll just try and leave them alone, I suppose."
>"Yeah...." Mokou agrees.
>You move tentatively forward, keep your eyes fixed on the cluster of spirits. As you get closer, they seem to become more glow brighter, and become more active, swirling around each other like a cloud of fireflies, but none of them does anything obviously hostile. You pass by without incident.
>As you continue down the tunnel, you see the scattered other spirit, moving up or down the path. They're a little unnerving, to be honest, but so far, no more harmful than the rock you're walking on. After a considerable length of time, and many twists and turns of the tunnel, you emerge into another chamber, even larger than the last. You can't actually see the ceiling past the edge of your light, and darkness extends in all directions but thee wall next to you. You also realize you're not even sure which direction is northeast, anymore.
-
>Have a look around. Does this cavern seem any different than the prior one or the tunnel?
-
>Have a look around. Does this cavern seem any different than the prior one or the tunnel?
>At first glance, no, other than the obvious size difference. After you move around a little bit, you notice some channels cutting across the floor. In them seems to be a single mass of smooth, lumpy rock, of a different composition than the surrounding stone. You think you can also see more spirits, flicking in the distance.
-
>At first glance, no, other than the obvious size difference. After you move around a little bit, you notice some channels cutting across the floor. In them seems to be a single mass of smooth, lumpy rock, of a different composition than the surrounding stone. You think you can also see more spirits, flicking in the distance.
>Do the channels look handmade, or like some curious natural phenomena?
>Follow one for a bit.
-
>Do the channels look handmade, or like some curious natural phenomena?
>Follow one for a bit.
>They don't look necessarily handmade, and they're different in appearance to the ones that Utsuho cut through the ceiling, and on the surface.
>You follow one for a while, as it twists and turns and meanders some more. After a while, it terminates in some sort of pit. It's not especially wide, but you can't see the bottom from here at all. Looking around the pit, a couple more channels end here, too, but others seem to be traveling elsewhere in the chamber.
-
>Check the rock in one of the channels. Are we educated enough to recognize it as something that might have once been lava?
-
>Check the rock in one of the channels. Are we educated enough to recognize it as something that might have once been lava?
>Your knowledge of geology is rudimentary, but that definitely looks plausible.
-
>Continue to cross the cavern. If we see other channels, try to determine if they have a point of origin, or rather a point that isn't ending in a communal hole.
>Do the spirits seem to care about us at all?
-
>Continue to cross the cavern. If we see other channels, try to determine if they have a point of origin, or rather a point that isn't ending in a communal hole.
>You continue to wander around the cavern in what you think is the direction away from where you entered. You may have gotten a little turned around while following the first channel, though.... You do see a few more after a while, although no obvious point of origin. You could always try following one of those, too, but you risk becoming thoroughly directionless after a while.
>Do the spirits seem to care about us at all?
>The only ones you can see at the moment are very far away.
-
>Use the general position of the distant spirts as a navigation point. Can we estimate how far away they are with any degree of worthwhileness?
-
>Use the general position of the distant spirts as a navigation point. Can we estimate how far away they are with any degree of worthwhileness?
>There are several different groups of lights you can see. There a few around eye level, mostly spread out, with a small cluster somewhere ahead and slightly to your right. They're probably at least 500 feet away, although it's hard to tell more beyond than that. You think you can also see quite a few more vague twinklings towards the ceiling. With so few features to go by, it's hard to tell whether some are simply smaller than others, or significantly more distant.
-
>Head in the general direction of a group of lights that feels like it's roughly opposite of the tunnel we came from.
-
>Head in the general direction of a group of lights that feels like it's roughly opposite of the tunnel we came from.
>You try to find a suitable group of lights to use as a marker, and head off in a direction that you think is roughly opposite where you came in, although you can't be fully sure.
>The travel passes uneventfully for the most part. You see another small pit along the way, and several more trenches of various widths. You can definitely see more dense gatherings of spirits now, mostly towards the direction of the ceiling, although you do pass fairly close to a couple isolated ones on the ground. The group of spirits you were using to navigate are getting quite close, now. You'll have to take a detour unless you want to try passing through them. There's still no sign of any cavern walls.
-
>Ponder if evil spirits have any capacity to communicate with the living.
-
>Ponder if evil spirits have any capacity to communicate with the living.
>It's possible they might, but not in any terms you could understand. Some of the people who deal with them regularly might be able to understand them better than that, but you're not certain. Or anyone who deals with the dead, for that matter, which they at least partially are. You could probably sense hostility or such from their movements, but nothing more complex than that.
-
>Oh well. Give them a decent amount of space, and keep moving in that direction.
-
>Oh well. Give them a decent amount of space, and keep moving in that direction.
>You try to navigate past the cluster of spirits without getting too close. Nevertheless, they seem to get a bit more agitated as you draw near. A few in particular seem to glow and flicker oddly. Still, you move past them without much incident and try to keep moving in the same direction as you were originally.
>Wait, is that a couple spirits from the group you just passed drifting towards you? They're still fairly far away, but definitely seem to be drawing closer.
-
>"Mokou, can you mark the direction we're headed? A couple of those spirits are approaching, and I don't want to get turned around."
>Observe spirits. Prepare to conjure up a few familiars, just in case.
-
>"Mokou, can you mark the direction we're headed? A couple of those spirits are approaching, and I don't want to get turned around."
>"You mean we aren't already? Good to know." She flicks her wrist, and you see a talisman fly out and affix itself to the floor, pointing in the direction you were walking.
>Observe spirits. Prepare to conjure up a few familiars, just in case.
>The spirits are continuing towards you, flickering brightly. They're moving faster than you were walking, but not amazingly fast. You could outrun them if you picked up the pace. They're still outside of your effective firing range.
-
>"Not completely so."
>Keep going, but keep an eye on them.
-
>"Not completely so."
>Keep going, but keep an eye on them.
>"Well, as long as you can get us back out of this place again."
>You continue moving forward, and the spirits continue to follow, slowly closing the gap between you. You think you can see a couple more spirits move to join them from other directions.
-
>"Let's not try to make any hostile moves. I don't think there is a lot they can do to us, anyways."
>Keep going. Collect Mokou's talisman so it can be used as a marker later, if we can.
-
>"Let's not try to make any hostile moves. I don't think there is a lot they can do to us, anyways."
>"I dunno.... unless us just being here is hostile."
>Keep going. Collect Mokou's talisman so it can be used as a marker later, if we can.
>You've already moved a fair distance past where the talisman was dropped, but you suspect she has more than enough of them that she'd never notice it missing, anyway.
>You keep moving forward, and the spirits continue to close on you. They're probably no more than 50 feet away, now, and you can see a couple more that appear to be moving towards you from the sides.
-
>"Quite."
>Keep moving. Stay watchful, in case they send danmaku at us.
-
>"Quite."
>Keep moving. Stay watchful, in case they send danmaku at us.
>You keep moving, in the hope that they will get bored, or go back to... whatever it is that evil spirits do around here. Keeping a watchful eye on them proves to be a wise idea, however, as a few moments later you see a small burst of spherical shots fly towards you from the closest spirits.
-
>"Here they come, give us a mark, Mokou."
>Try to dodge around and invoke some familiars.
-
>"Here they come, give us a mark, Mokou."
>"Roger!" You hear the sound of another marker being placed.
>Try to dodge around and invoke some familiars.
>You quickly dodge out of the way, and Mokou and Rumia scatter away from the shots in different directions. You see several more bursts launched towards you as you conjure some familiars. None of them is especially complex, but there's four spirits firing on your group, and at least a dozen more almost within range, now
-
>Fly up, and let the familiars do their thing. Focus fire on the nearest ones, first.
-
>Fly up, and let the familiars do their thing. Focus fire on the nearest ones, first.
>You ascend and lay down fire. Soon the air between you and the spirits is dense with interlocking bullets. A few of your lines sweep through spirits, and they sizzle and waver, a few of them dissipating completely. The spirits don't seem to be able to move well enough to dodge effectively. Some of them do swerve around the bullets, but this seems mostly incidental; a side-effect of their usual wobbling trajectory.
>Several more spirits launch short bursts at you and the rest of your group, seemingly at random, while a couple larger spirits that have just come into range spray a spiral of dense bullets in all directions.
>Mokou turns around a flings a wave of amulets at several nearby spirits, cutting through them easily. They flicker out of existence. Rumia contributes some fire as well, although her aim is a little lacking
-
>Let Mokou handle herself. Hell, just stay out of her way.
>Try to fly over the spirals, and between if needs be.
>Back up Rumia, and keep the large spirits in our sights if Mokou doesn't go for them.
-
>Let Mokou handle herself. Hell, just stay out of her way.
>Try to fly over the spirals, and between if needs be.
>Back up Rumia, and keep the large spirits in our sights if Mokou doesn't go for them.
>You leave Mokou her side of the group and move to evade the spiral waves, while attempting to keep yourself between them and Rumia. Most of what the spirits had thrown at you so far was pretty simple, but this takes a little effort. Still, you're managing alright so far. Your shots take out another smaller spirit or two, and several blast through the larger one. It seems angered by the impacts - well, at least as angered as a wispy ball of light can manage to look - but doesn't slow its fire. You hear Mokou launch a few more waves off to the side.
>Several more spirits sweep in towards your flank, and a second larger one starts shooting another spiral pattern. It suddenly becomes much more difficult to navigate, with the two of them crossing over each other
-
>Try to focus on the big one we damaged. Stay in the open spots. Let incidental fire take out the rest for now.
-
>Try to focus on the big one we damaged. Stay in the open spots. Let incidental fire take out the rest for now.
>You try to concentrate your fire on the larger spirit that you've already hit, while you dart back and forth between gaps in the two intersecting patterns. It's getting pretty hectic! You see a couple other smaller spirits get taken out, while the large one wavers a bit. Then the small ones to your side launch a couple smaller bursts. You hear Rumia yelp. Then a spread of amulets slams into the large spirit and it disappears in an angry flickering burst.
-
>"Thanks, Mokou!"
>Sweep across the smaller ones, then focus on the other big one.
-
>"Thanks, Mokou!"
>Sweep across the smaller ones, then focus on the other big one.
>"No problem," she calls back, as she turns and takes out another couple smaller ones near her.
>You turn your fire towards the smaller ones by your side, and dissipate a few of them. With the first large spirit destroyed, evading the second's pattern becomes a little easier, although a few of the bursts from the smaller ones are hard to dodge while inside it. You see Rumia score a hit on a spirit, and destroy it.
>With most of the little ones thinned out, you switch your fire to the larger one. It wavers under a few of your bullets, and then several more amulets connect with it, and it dissipates as well.
-
>Look around, any others seem to want to scrap?
-
>Look around, any others seem to want to scrap?
>You seem to have destroyed all the ones in your vicinity. Although... you think some of the ones further away are looking a more agitated. Maybe it's just your imagination?
-
>"I hope I was able to give you some decent cover, Mokou."
>Find the marker. Proceed!
-
>"I hope I was able to give you some decent cover, Mokou."
>"Eh, don't worry about it," she replies. "Those things just better learn to keep to themselves."
>"Those things were scary..." Rumia adds. It looks like she may have sustained a hit or two, but nothing serious.
>Find the marker. Proceed!
>You find the marker easily, and continue to proceed in the direction you were previously traveling.
>You very shortly grow convinced that it was not your imagination at all, as various wisps of light in the distance flicker angrily and start to dart about more rapidly. You think a great many of them may be drifting in your direction.
-
>"It seems the whole room has a problem with us, now."
>How long until they reach us?
-
>"It seems the whole room has a problem with us, now."
>"Yeah, well I've got a problem with them, too," Mokou snaps. Rumia just frowns and looks around.
>How long until they reach us?
>It's hard to put a figure on it, since many are coming from various directions. You could move faster than any of them have so far, if you tried to dash, but many of them are before you, or above you. Thankfully, the majority of the clouds of lights don't seem to be moving after you, but there's still a very significant number. There are a couple groups in the distance behind you. One is somewhat close. The others might take several minutes to reach you even if you stayed where you are. There's a couple fairly close ahead, and to the right, and some more at various points in the distance. The most worrisome are the groups hovering around the ceiling, however, since they seem to be spread across a large part of the cavern, and many of them are now descending. It is hard to judge how well you could evade many of them, considering you still have no idea where the exits to this chamber are.
-
>"I would hate to drain a spellcard on this, but it seems I may have no choice. Mokou, would you pick your favorite, dear? You've a much idea how to minimize this issue than I do."
-
>"I would hate to drain a spellcard on this, but it seems I may have no choice. Mokou, would you pick your favorite, dear? You've a much idea how to minimize this issue than I do."
>"So, just gonna stand here and give 'em hell, are ya?" She grins a little, and pulls out a spellcard.
-
>"Running is much more of a gamble, I would think, and frankly I'm a little frustrated tonight. I'll take the ones to the right."
>"Rumia, stay with that Talisman that Mokou put on the floor, so we don't lose it."
-
>"Running is much more of a gamble, I would think, and frankly I'm a little frustrated tonight. I'll take the ones to the right."
>"Would help if we knew where we were supposed to run to," Mokou comments. "And good enough."
>"Rumia, stay with that Talisman that Mokou put on the floor, so we don't lose it."
>"Ok," she walks over to the talisman and stands on top of it " ...are we going to be ok?" she asks after a moment. "There's a loooot of scary ghosty lights."
-
>"Rumia, dear, this is nothing for Mokou. Oh, and be sure to dodge when you need to."
>Toward the right group. Set up a double layer of familiars, because patience is out.
-
>"Rumia, dear, this is nothing for Mokou. Oh, and be sure to dodge when you need to."
>"Ok. Rumia will do her best," she responds, with rather less enthusiasm than usual.
>"Heh. Thanks for the vote of confidence there," Mokou comments snidely.
>Toward the right group. Set up a double layer of familiars, because patience is out.
>You conjure a dense array of familiars for a frontal assault on the incoming spirits. They may be remnants of the souls of the damned, but you're an irate schoolteacher, and everyone knows which of those two is scarier.
>The spirits you're facing continue to close, darting in and around each other and flicking cold light. It's hard to count exactly how many are there, but there's at least a dozen or more in the first group, while the significantly more numerous mass from the ceiling continues to descend. Mokou has turned to face some of the ones coming from behind.
-
>Once they are in range, let the ones in front have it. Keep half an eye on the ones above.
-
>Once they are in range, let the ones in front have it. Keep half an eye on the ones above.
>You wait for the right moment to strike, and as soon as the spirits come within range, you tear into them, launching a dense spray of bullets. They respond with fire of their own: several rapid streams towards you, and some slower shots with a wide spread. Your bullets reach them first, and destroy a couple small ones in the front, but more surge forward and take their place almost immediately. You hear Mokou engaging a couple spirits behind you.
>Sparing a glance to look at them, a few of the spirits that were directly above you will be in range in a few moments, although most are still further away. The waves coming towards you in the distance look almost like a swarm of angry fireflies.
-
>Spellcards
>Edge away from the streams of shots, slip through the wide spread when safe. Try to circle around and get the spirits from above in our line of sight, too.
>Keep up the offense. Get closer if it feels safe.
>_
-
>Spellcards
>Your currently usable spellcards:
>Spiritual Birth "First Pyramid"
>Creates familiars which orbit the caster and spray bullets in an intricate pattern, while ocassionally launching targeted energy blasts, forcing the enemy into the denser parts of the pattern to evade them.
>Origin Sign "Ephemerality 137"
>Repeatedly launches clusters of familiars which explode into a spray of bullets upon contact with any solid object.
>Ending Sign "Phantasmal Emperor"
>Creates several rotating arrays of familiars which fire an interlocking pattern of lasers, while launching concentric rings of projectiles from yourself. Creates a dense omnidirectional pattern to navigate, but limits your own movement
>Edge away from the streams of shots, slip through the wide spread when safe. Try to circle around and get the spirits from above in our line of sight, too.
>You move aside from the incoming streams and weave between the fairly obvious gaps in the spread. Most of these aren't especially threatening individually, but when they start piling up...
>You attempt to circle towards a vantage that allows you to see both the spirits above you and in front of you as well, but this proves difficult given that the ones from above are not in a single cluster. You manage to get a slightly better angle, but some of the ones above remain out of your sight.
>Keep up the offense. Get closer if it feels safe.
>You continue your offense, picking off another smaller one or two. Several more come into firing range, now, sending a mixture of patterns towards you. There are several more direct streams, and a few spirits start scattering tiny bullets around themselves at random, forming clouds. You can see a larger spirit about to move into range behind them.
-
>Does First Pyramid have good upper coverage, as well?
>If possible, spread the shots around more. If only one or two in a pack are getting hit, we're concentrating far too much.
>Ascend a bit, if that'll help alleviate some of the pressure from the nearby stuff, but not too much, lest it tempt others.
-
>Does First Pyramid have good upper coverage, as well?
>There are several concentric rings of familiars that can be set to rotate at different vertical angles. Generally, the wider a range of vertical coverage, the less dense the pattern becomes.
>If possible, spread the shots around more. If only one or two in a pack are getting hit, we're concentrating far too much.
>The pack itself is moderately spread out, and while the spirits are not especially good at dodging, they still evade some shots. Also, others have taken a few hits without being entirely eliminated. Considering that many of them are still not within optimal range, you're not sure how much better you can do on this front, at the moment.
>Ascend a bit, if that'll help alleviate some of the pressure from the nearby stuff, but not too much, lest it tempt others.
>You ascend a little, evading most of the directed bursts. Several of the smaller spirits scattering random bullets pick up speed and dart towards you, angling for both flanks. The larger one comes into range, and begins weaving a spiraling pattern, while you see a few more bursts fired at you from above. Your own web of bullets takes out a couple more spirits.
-
>Descend to throw off the ones approaching.
>Move toward the pack on the ground, to tighten up the bullets for defensive purposes against the charging ones, and try to take care of that big one in a hurry. Weave through stuff as we can.
>_
-
>Descend to throw off the ones approaching.
>Move toward the pack on the ground, to tighten up the bullets for defensive purposes against the charging ones, and try to take care of that big one in a hurry. Weave through stuff as we can.
>You descend and move forward, evading the incoming bursts, and trying to shift to a better position to fire. The smaller ones sweep around your sides, leaving trails of sluggishly floating danmaku in their wake. It isn't a threat, yet, but may impede your mobility as they lay down more of it. You slip through the first gap in the spiral and try to focus your fire on the larger target. Your bullets sweep through the gathering, hitting numerous spirits, and destroying a couple of them. Multiple bullets collide with the larger target, but its fire remains solid.
>More bursts are launched from the spirits above you, as several more come into range.
-
>Try to circle away from the stuff from above.
>Keep up the music, let the circling spread the shots out, and hopefully knock out a few of those spirits laying traps. Focus fire where we feel it will remove the most spirits.
-
>Try to circle away from the stuff from above.
>Keep up the music, let the circling spread the shots out, and hopefully knock out a few of those spirits laying traps. Focus fire where we feel it will remove the most spirits.
>You try to circle away from the spirits incoming from the above, and use your movement to scatter shots in a larger area. Evading the regular bursts many of them are shooting at you is easy. The spiral pattern takes a fair bit more concentration to move through laterally. Soon, you find yourself moving up against the clouds laid down by the tiny spirits, which are continuing to buzz around you, spreading more danmaku.
>Several more spirits in front of you, and a one or two above you dissolve under your fire. You also manage to finally snag one of the tiny spirits. It dissolves into a burst of danmaku that flies towards you.
>While you're racking up kills, you think the number of spirits in front of you is still growing, and some of the ones from above are beginning to descend at inconvenient angles.
-
>Rise up, so the spirits above have to deal with our inconvenient angle, and do what damage we can to to them.
>Try to evade the shot from the tiny one, if this is not safe, then let a familiar take the hit.
>Ready First Pyramid for quick use.
-
>Rise up, so the spirits above have to deal with our inconvenient angle, and do what damage we can to to them.
>Try to evade the shot from the tiny one, if this is not safe, then let a familiar take the hit.
>Ready First Pyramid for quick use.
>You rise up, and spray fire around some of the overhead spirits, destroying a couple of them. However, moving up arguably makes your angle even worse, as this places you along them, and it's hard to avoid having some behind you. A burst passes dangerously close to you before you swerve and destroy its creator.
>It isn't difficult to evade the shot from the tiny spirit's detonation, although it could be a problem if you destroy any of them while they're close to you.
>Many of the spirits above you start sending out wide spreads of shots, while the tiny ones continue dancing around you, and the large one continues its concentrated pattern. Several more start to move in from your left, and you see another large one approaching. Things are starting to get pretty hectic.
>You prepare to invoke First Pyramid
-
>Time for a tactical withdrawal!
>Find the place with the fewest spirits and the least drama, and aerodash for it! Add in some offense if practical, but really it is just covering fire. Focus on dodging around flak. Keep going until not surrounded anymore
-
>Time for a tactical withdrawal!
>Find the place with the fewest spirits and the least drama, and aerodash for it! Add in some offense if practical, but really it is just covering fire. Focus on dodging around flak. Keep going until not surrounded anymore
>You quickly scan for the best opening, and see two possibilities. There is a span of space with only a couple of spirits inbetween the small cluster incoming to your left, and the primary one you've been engaged with in front, and to your right. You'll have to cut through a couple spirits, and dodge fire from both sides for a short distance, but then you should have a relatively open area, and the ability to engage most of them head-on.
>Alternately: The area immediately to your rear that Mokou's been covering seems a fair bit clearer, but this means falling back the way you came.
-
>Go for the first one.
-
>Go for the first one.
>You decide to rush through the gap in front of you. You take a moment to maneuver around some of the spread shots above you and dash forward, spraying what fire you can manage while moving. You hear a few satisfying sizzling sounds from above you.
>It's difficult navigating laterally past the spiral patterns, and you're also forced to weave through a few of the trails left by the tiny spirits, who've shifted around to compensate for your own movement. More spread shots are launched from the spirits above and to your sides, and you find yourself unable to evade them all. Several purple danmaku from the spiral slam painfully into your right side, and a larger white sphere clips your left shoulder. You grit your teeth and keep moving.
>Still you're pushing past the groups as they move to pincer you. You blast a couple more smaller spirits in your way. Now, if you can manage this last push, you should be out the other side. A second larger spirit begins another spiral pattern, and several more blasts come from left, right, and above. Two tiny spirits weave around in front of you, leaving little clouds of bullets across your path.
-
>Swoop down to buy some safety for from above and the sides while keeping forward momentum, and try to let the familiars take the hits before we do.
>If it's safe afterward, give that second large spirit the business with as much danmaku as we can.
-
>Swoop down to buy some safety for from above and the sides while keeping forward momentum, and try to let the familiars take the hits before we do.
>You take advantage of the fact that the ground is currently the only direction nothing is firing at you from, and dive, passing under many of the blasts, and the densest section of the clouds in front of you.
>As you move forward, you try to position your familiars as shields against the hardest to dodge fire coming from the two large spirits to your right. It is very hard to dodge between both spiraling patterns at the same time, while moving perpendicular to them, especially with all the other fire going around. Your familiars absorb several shots, and a few of them shatter and vanish. One or two more shots slip between them and hit you anyway. You own shots snag one of the tiny spirits at close range, and you narrow shift to avoid the reprisal. Unfortunately, this puts you in line to be hit by a bullet or two from some other direction.
>Out of the corner of your eye, you see a small phoenix tear into the group to your right and collide with the larger spirit, destroying it, and several others in its wake. You take the breather to dash past the last of both groups to momentary safety.
>If it's safe afterward, give that second large spirit the business with as much danmaku as we can.
>You shift around, and lay into the other large spirit with as much firepower as you can muster. You take out a couple smaller ones, and damage the larger one somewhat.
-
>Assess the current incoming threats.
>Keep up the ladder to hell on the large spirit.
-
>Assess the current incoming threats.
>Most of the spirits within range are in front of you, now. There are still a few descending from the ceiling relatively near to you. There's a substantial cloud in the distance behind you, but you still have some time before you have to figure out what to do about them. There is a small cloud ahead and to your right, and the larger cloud that you were originally dealing with, towards your left. Mokou seems to have already deal with most of the ones that were coming from behind. Of course, there's still more incoming, but it seems there's a pause enough that she's turned to lending firepower to your side of things.
>Keep up the ladder to hell on the large spirit.
>You keep your fire active on that spirit, while evading the (fortunately much less than a moment before) fire coming your way. Mokou launches a few waves of amulets into the cloud, taking out a number of spirits. In combination with your own danmaku, the larger spirit dissipates.
-
>Keep up the music on the rest of the cloud in front, keep a wary eye on the stuff overhead when possible. Go as nuts as possible spreading stuff around without friendly firing at Mokou.
-
>Keep up the music on the rest of the cloud in front, keep a wary eye on the stuff overhead when possible. Go as nuts as possible spreading stuff around without friendly firing at Mokou.
>You spread your fire around, aiming generally for the closest cloud. You take out several spirits, as well as a couple descending from above. You sidestep a few more direct blasts and weave around some wider spread shots. Mokou cuts swaths through the lower clouds with more amulets and a few well-aimed fiery orbs. After a few more exchanges, she turns to the cloud you're dealing with and helps you finish it off.
>Although you have a little breathing room for the moment, more spirits are continuing to filter in from the sides and above, and there are very large clusters sill in the distance in several directions.
>"You ok?" Mokou calls out.
-
>"A little hurt, nothing that won't go away in good time. You?"
>"Think we'll have to clean out the whole chamber before they take a hint?"
-
>Unless there's someone behind the spirits that's throwing them at us to keep us out...?
-
>"A little hurt, nothing that won't go away in good time. You?"
>"I'm ok," she replies. "Haven't had a workout like that in a while, though." She sidesteps a blast from a newly arrived spirit, and then flicks a pair of amulets at it.
>"Think we'll have to clean out the whole chamber before they take a hint?"
>She scans around the room at the sea of angry flickering lights. "Sure hope not. There's way too damn many of them in here; could take days at this rate."
>Unless there's someone behind the spirits that's throwing them at us to keep us out...?
>You do know that some people have the ability to manipulate these spirits. You don't see any obvious signs of anyone else's presence, but your light only extends for a hundred feet or so. The only reason you can see the spirits so far away is because they generate their own light.
-
>Shout, "Hey! If there's someone here, you should save us both something time and come out. Because all that's going to happen is we're going to chew these things up."
-
>Shout, "Hey! If there's someone here, you should save us both something time and come out. Because all that's going to happen is we're going to chew these things up."
>Your voice echoes distantly off the chamber walls, but you get no response.
>Mokou blasts another couple stray spirits
-
>"Okay, we can do this all day, or you can hold them off while I try to find an exit. And least if we get to a tunnel they'll clump up nicely."
>"Think you can give me a light to work with?"
-
>"Okay, we can do this all day, or you can hold them off while I try to find an exit. And least if we get to a tunnel they'll clump up nicely."
>"Tunnel would sure help," Mokou replies, "But where exactly am I supposed to hold them off to, if they're coming from all directions?"
>"Think you can give me a light to work with?"
>Mokou frowns. "Probably not if you get too far away."
-
>"Guess it's a moot point if you can't give me any light. Guess we need to just collect up Rumia, and find a wall, and hope for the best."
-
>"Guess it's a moot point if you can't give me any light. Guess we need to just collect up Rumia, and find a wall, and hope for the best."
>"Wish this damn place came with a map, or something," Mokou mutters. "Which way are we going?"
>Rumia appears to still be standing on top of the talisman, looking rather harried, but intact.
-
>"Wish this damn place came with a map, or something," Mokou mutters. "Which way are we going?"
>Rumia appears to still be standing on top of the talisman, looking rather harried, but intact.
>"We'll take the way with the least spirits, and work our way from there once we find a wall. As much as I hate to be pinned, hopefully a wall will keep them from surrounding us if we get caught."
>Move toward Rumia, estimate the path of least resistance.
>_
-
>"We'll take the way with the least spirits, and work our way from there once we find a wall. As much as I hate to be pinned, hopefully a wall will keep them from surrounding us if we get caught."
>"Probably better to have a wall behind us than these things," Mokou agrees. "Here's hoping we get lucky."
>Move toward Rumia, estimate the path of least resistance.
>You gather Rumia and scan the room for the least concentration of spirits. Other than back the way you came (which still has its fair share), it looks like the least dense area is probably nearly 70 degrees to the right of the way you were headed. The largest clusters are ahead and to the left a little. You'll probably eventually get pinned by them unless you can manage to swing around past them. You're faster than they are, in any event. However, even the least dense path has scattered smaller groups of spirits in the way.
-
>Collect Rumia. "We're going to try to escape, just stay close."
>Head 70 degrees to the right. Don't be shy about blasting through what needs to be blasted through. Express this idea to Mokou as well.
-
>Collect Rumia. "We're going to try to escape, just stay close."
>"Ok," she nods. "Rumia doesn't like it here..."
>Head 70 degrees to the right. Don't be shy about blasting through what needs to be blasted through. Express this idea to Mokou as well.
>"Don't worry," Mokou replies. "I don't plan on holding back."
>You head towards the path of least resistance, and you can see many of the groups in the distance swerve to follow you. Given the angles you're going at, many of the largest groups will cut you off in two or three minutes. Hopefully you can find something before then.
>You pass by numerous smaller spirits on the way, but you and Mokou manage to dispatch most of them quickly and without incident. After another minute or so of high speed dodging and blasting, you think you can finally see a trace of a wall at the extent of your light range. You notice another medium sized group closing in from your right.
-
>Go leftward, keep eyes open for a tunnel.
>Restore broken familiars, if enough time has passed.
-
>Go leftward, keep eyes open for a tunnel.
>Restore broken familiars, if enough time has passed.
>You conjure a few familiars to replace the ones that were lost, and move quickly turn left, following the way. You can just barely see the edge of it as you go, and keep a close eye on it for openings. The group of spirits behind you is roughly keeping pace with you, but more worrisome are the growing masses ahead and to your left, slowly sweeping in to pin you against the wall. You probably only have another minute or so before things get very, very nasty.
>After a few more moments, you think you can see a small opening in the wall ahead, where another channel of the solidified lava probably used to issue out. It's not much larger than a crawl space, really... There is a small cluster of spirits near it, a couple of which break off as you approach, and fire at you.
-
>"There's something! Mokou, think you can hold them off until we get inside?"
-
>"There's something! Mokou, think you can hold them off until we get inside?"
>"You want to squeeze in there?" She considers for a moment. "Well, probably still better than being out here. Yeah, I've got ya."
-
>"If nothing else, it should keep them from surrounding us!"
>"Rumia, lead the way, please."
-
>"If nothing else, it should keep them from surrounding us!"
>"Rumia, lead the way, please."
>With that, you head towards the passageway, while Mokou dashes forward and starts to engage the spirits gathered near the entrance. A couple of them slip past her towards you, and fire a few quick bursts. Rumia moves out of the way of one blast, but another clips her leg and she stumbles. You narrowly avoid tripping up in her. Two more descend to your left and spray fire across the group of you.
-
>Open fire on them.
>"I've got it, Rumia!"
-
>Open fire on them.
>You open fire on the spirits nearby, while trying to shift towards the wall. You nail a couple, and dodge around their fire, but several more filter down from above. You can see Mokou tearing a swath through some other spirits, about 20 feet ahead of you.
>"I've got it, Rumia!"
>"O- ok," Rumia says as she gets to her feet again, and runs towards the opening.
>You're probably about 50 feet away from the opening, now, although more spirits are closing in from the sides.
-
>Fall back toward the hole. Keep the pressure up so they can't swarm us.
-
>Fall back toward the hole. Keep the pressure up so they can't swarm us.
>You keep angling towards the hold, while taking out what spirits you can on the way. Mokou is still engaged with the larger mass near you, but she also shifts as you move to try and place herself between the spirits and your route of escape. You're mostly left dealing with the stragglers. Still, with all the angles of incoming fire, and having to move in a way that doesn't allow you to keep a good eye on all of them, you sustain a couple more hits.
>Mokou has managed to clear out most of the spirits immediately by the hole, and form a tiny open space for you. Arrayed in front of her, and still fortunately out of range are a frightening number of new ones, however.
>"Get in!" she cries. "You don't want to be still out here in 15 second's time."
-
>Take Mokou's word for it, and aerodash in!
-
>Take Mokou's word for it, and aerodash in!
>You make a dash across the last 10 feet to the opening. Rumia gets there slightly before you and disappears inside. As you're about to enter, you see the air around Mokou flare up and form into the outline of wings. It is suddenly not at all cold in here. You scrabble inside as quickly as you can, and find that it's a very tight squeeze in here. You won't be able to turn around at all without exiting it entirely.
-
>Can we stay airborne to keep crampedness to a minimum?
>Keep going, we're smart enough to know things are gonna get nasty.
-
>Can we stay airborne to keep crampedness to a minimum?
>It really is little more than a crawlspace, here. You could hover a couple inches off the ground, but then the top of you would probably be scraping against the ceiling.
>Keep going, we're smart enough to know things are gonna get nasty.
>You keep crawling forward as quickly as you can with Rumia ahead of you. Fortunately, her size manages to be something of an advantage in this space. After a couple moments, you hear Mokou yell out, and the relative silence breaks into a cacophony of energy blasts, and the sounds of the air burning.
-
>Keep going. Mokou will tell us when it's fine.
-
>Keep going. Mokou will tell us when it's fine.
>You continue moving forward in the tunnel. It's dark enough in here now that you really can't tell where you're going at all, except by feel. Fortunately the rock beneath you is smooth, or you think you'd be tearing your clothes to pieces by now. Wouldn't be especially kind to your legs, either... The passage bends and twists and soon the battle sounds muted behind you. Even craning your neck around, you can't see the opening anymore.
-
>Keep going, Periodically feel the walls, if necessary, to make sure we're still in the tunnel and not in a new chamber.
-
>Keep going, Periodically feel the walls, if necessary, to make sure we're still in the tunnel and not in a new chamber.
>You continue down the passage, feeling the walls at intervals to see if they've given way to something wider. Eventually, it feels like the passageway splits in two directions. You have no idea where either of them goes, of course. You could probably use the room here to turn around, if you wanted to. Rumia seems to be going ahead down the right passage, from the sound of it.
-
>"Hold on a minute, Rumia."
>Call back: "Mokou!"
-
>"Hold on a minute, Rumia."
>You hear her stop moving.
>Call back: "Mokou!"
>You don't hear a response, but you can't hear the fighting very well anymore, either. It's quite possible she can't hear you.
-
>If she went and blew herself up, how long would it take her to get better?
-
>If she went and blew herself up, how long would it take her to get better?
>You're.... honestly not sure. On the bright side, you can still faintly hear some noises that suggest that there's still fighting going on. Of course, just because the spirits are firing, doesn't necessarily mean she's in any shape to fight back. Oh god... the spirits are probably implacable enough to never let up, no matter what shape she was in. What must that be like....? You try to shake these thoughts out of your head. That really doesn't even bear thinking on at the moment...
-
>"I think I better go back. Give me a few minutes, Rumia?"
>Urge Rumia to go right a little ways, then pull a turnaround. Hover an inch off the ground, enough to give decent back clearance since we know the way is clear, and proceed until either we see a light, or emerge.
-
>"I think I better go back. Give me a few minutes, Rumia?"
>"Is quiz lady going to be ok? Rumia doesn't know where to go.... Rumia's scared...."
>Urge Rumia to go right a little ways, then pull a turnaround. Hover an inch off the ground, enough to give decent back clearance since we know the way is clear, and proceed until either we see a light, or emerge.
>You move Rumia off to the side and maneuver yourself around without too much difficulty. Then you set back down the tunnel, sounds of fighting growing louder as you move forward. As you come around another bend, you spot Mokou in the distance. She seems to have crawled into the tunnel backwards, and is trying to fend off spirits that have followed her in. They have a number of advantages in the closed space, since they have no mobility problems, while Mokou is unable to dodge anything, or even attack properly.
-
> Assist her retreat with a few danmaku
-
> Assist her retreat with a few danmaku
>The confined space makes it equally difficult for you to attack effectively, and you're very likely to hit Mokou as well if you try this, unless you get closer to her first. On the other hand, maybe clipping her with a few bullets is an acceptable trade-off, given the circumstances?
-
>Would we be able to attack effectively, were Mokou not in the way, or is it too confined for our stuff as well?
>"I'm behind you, Mokou. The path branches ahead."
-
>Would we be able to attack effectively, were Mokou not in the way, or is it too confined for our stuff as well?
>Well, a lot of your typical patterns would end up wasting most of their bullets against the walls, and it's awkward to aim well with so little mobility. It shouldn't be too difficult to toss fire directly in front of you, though.
>"I'm behind you, Mokou. The path branches ahead."
>"Sorry I'm late!" she calls back, as she attempts to blast another spirit. "How far?" You can hear her stifling cries of pain while she speaks. One of the main problems seems that she simply can't adjust to take out things that aren't in front of her, while it's easy enough for the spirits to slip past her. Thankfully, most of them don't seem intelligent enough to do this. However, she's taking a fair bit of fire, either way, since she simply can't dodge anything.
-
>"Just a little bit ahead. Lay down flat, I'm going to try to hold them off for you, I think I may have a better shot at hitting them here. How many are there?"
>If she complies, try to get our familiars in front of us, aim high, and shoot.
-
>"Just a little bit ahead. Lay down flat, I'm going to try to hold them off for you, I think I may have a better shot at hitting them here. How many are there?"
>If she complies, try to get our familiars in front of us, aim high, and shoot.
>Mokou flattens herself against the floor as best she can, and you fill the air above her with bullets. Some of the spirits swoop under them, but several are destroyed. A couple shift towards you, and fire small bursts.
>"I blocked off the tunnel entrance with a fire barrier as I crawled in," Mokou responds, sounding a little pained. "But a bunch of them swarmed after me before I finished. So in here, about as many as you see, probably. Out there... hundreds, easily. And it ain't gonna hold too long with me away from it."
-
>How many seem to be left? Try to tag a few more, and not get danmaku'd in the face.
>"Right!"
-
>How many seem to be left? Try to tag a few more, and not get danmaku'd in the face.
>"Right!"
>There appear to be 6 or 7 left. You very quickly reduce that by two more.
>You manage not to get danmaku'd in the face by looking down and trying to awkwardly shuffle aside. Doesn't stop you from being danmaku'd elsewhere, though, and you feel a line of bullets trace along your back, leaving a searing sensation. Another burns part of your leg and ankle. You see Mokou tag another.
-
>Wait for a good opportunity to snag a few more, then open fire.
-
>Wait for a good opportunity to snag a few more, then open fire.
>You and the spirits exchange some more fire, and after a few more moments, you think you've taken out the last of them. You've sustained a few more impacts, however, and your back is still throbbing from that first burst. This has not been a good night for you. Mokou looks like she might be in worse shape, though.
>"Thanks for the hand," Mokou says. "Now we really ought to move. I don't care where we go; it's gotta be better than here."
-
>"Thanks for the cover."
>Back up until we hit the divide. Call ahead to Rumia from time to time so she knows we're coming.
>Right self at the divide, and go rightwards.
-
>"Thanks for the cover."
>"I just hope this ends up being worth it," she mutters.
>Back up until we hit the divide. Call ahead to Rumia from time to time so she knows we're coming.
>Moving backwards proves to be far more awkward than moving forward was. You can see Mokou ahead of you, bumping into things and muttering.
>"Ok. Hurry up...." Rumia responds as you let her know that you're coming.
>Eventually, you make it back to the divide, which you are now able to see. It looks like the main body of the tunnel continues to the right, while a smaller stream from the side connects to the left, and rises upwards some.
>Mokou makes a seal with her hands, then slams her palms against the opposite sides of the tunnel at the junction point. The space between her hands bursts into flame. "That should give us at least a little bit more breathing room," she says.
>Right self at the divide, and go rightwards.
>You turn and continue into the right tunnel. It seems to be gently sloping upwards, although it twists back and forth. After a few minutes, you start to wonder if you'll ever emerge from it again. Certainly you no longer any idea where you're going.
-
>Onwards. It has to end somewhere.
-
>Onwards. It has to end somewhere.
>You keep on moving, since there really seems to be nowhere else to go at the moment. Finally, after maybe another 10 minutes or so, you think you see a tiny bit of blue light filtering in from somewhere up ahead. Once you get closer, you realize that you've reached the end of the line. The passageway narrows, and at this point the solidified lava that you've been crawling over all this time seems to have bubbled up to fill most of the opening it poured out of. There are gaps around it that the light is shining through, and there appears to be some sort of open area beyond it, but unfortunately, the gaps are much too small to fit through.
-
> Can we blast our way through without collapse?
-
> Can we blast our way through without collapse?
>Collapse shouldn't be a concern, given that it's only on the 'floor' that's in your way and not something which is holding anything up. However, you don't think your own danmaku has enough punch to make the required dent in solid rock.
-
>Listen. Can we hear anything through the hole?
-
>Listen. Can we hear anything through the hole?
>You listen closely. You think you may be able to hear water dripping. There are no obvious sounds of life or activity.
-
>Is it possible to devour the history of magma have been here? Or would this overextend us?
-
>Is it possible to devour the history of magma have been here? Or would this overextend us?
>You're feeling rather beaten up as it is, but the larger problem is that you don't even know where here is, other than 'underground', nor how this lava connects with other bodies, or really anything about its history at all, other than that it was here, and then it solidified. That's not much to work with.
-
>Sigh.
>"We have tjree options. Either Rumia looks through and screams for help, we try to shuffle so Mokou can blast through it, or we backtrack. I could try to make it so the lava never hardened here, but...I really don't know enough about this tunnel or how large it to have a good shot at it."
-
>Sigh.
>"We have tjree options. Either Rumia looks through and screams for help, we try to shuffle so Mokou can blast through it, or we backtrack. I could try to make it so the lava never hardened here, but...I really don't know enough about this tunnel or how large it to have a good shot at it."
>"Um," Mokou says, "if you made it so the lava never hardened here... wouldn't that mean we'd all be lying with our stomachs on a river of it right now?"
>You see Rumia poke her head up by the gaps and look around. At some points, they really are almost as large as her head, anyway. "Rumia doesn't see anybody out there," she calls back.
-
>Would it work like that? It should just remove things, not cause cascaded paradoxes. Otherwise, taking out the village would have been a disaster...
>Presuming it doesn't: "It wouldn't be like that. Just the lava would be gone. Do you think you could get through it, Mokou? In particular, get through it without hurting us?"
-
>Would it work like that? It should just remove things, not cause cascaded paradoxes. Otherwise, taking out the village would have been a disaster...
>Well, you did say 'so that the lava never hardened', meaning it would presumably revert to the state it would have been in if it hadn't hardened: molten. Not to say that it couldn't be removed entirely by eating some other part of its history than that bit.
>Presuming it doesn't: "It wouldn't be like that. Just the lava would be gone. Do you think you could get through it, Mokou? In particular, get through it without hurting us?"
>"I..." she stops and thinks. "I may be able to melt a bit of it. Going to have to make it pretty damn hot for that, though, so no promises."
-
>A point.
>"I was hoping you could create enough concussive force to blast it away. But if this is what it takes..."
>Is it at all possible to shift so Mokou is in front without lots of backtracking?
-
>"I was hoping you could create enough concussive force to blast it away. But if this is what it takes..."
>"The rock looks pretty solid. No real breaking points to target. Besides, I'm not so good at concussive force anyway."
>Is it at all possible to shift so Mokou is in front without lots of backtracking?
>There's not really any room beside you, but she could probably crawl over you.
-
>"Alright. You're going to have to crawl over me to get up there, though."
>Arrange self so there is space ahead, then flatten against the floor.
-
>"Alright. You're going to have to crawl over me to get up there, though."
>Arrange self so there is space ahead, then flatten against the floor.
>"Um, er... ok, I guess."
>You feel Mokou shimmy up to you, and basically drag herself across your body. There really isn't room enough to be more tactful about this, and you're very glad that, of all the people you could have had to perform this maneuver with, it was with her. Especially when the tail end of her passes almost across your head. You can imagine the whole experience is probably rather more uncomfortable for poor Mokou.
>She hoists Rumia up over her, since she's small enough to do so, and props herself up against the offending rock mass.
>"You two might want to back off a bit," she warns.
-
>Do so.
-
>Ponder if our Mokou would be jealous, or just laugh and laugh and laugh?
>...Hey, we might actually have a story she hasn't heard a variant of beforehand, now.
-
>Do so.
>You back up the tunnel, and motion for Rumia to follow you.
>Once you're at a safe distance, you see Mokou get to work. She conjures a flame in her hand and concentrates upon it. It starts to grow steadily whiter, until it is so bright and hot that it hurts to look upon. The air around Mokou seems to shimmer and ripple with the heat, and you can feel a hot wind blast against your face. Then she presses the flame into the rock and holds it there. Nothing seems to happen at first, but you can slowly see the rock itself start to glow; dimly at first, but steadily brighter. After a little while, Mokou lets the flame die out, braces herself against the rock and pushes. Part of it slowly gives way and more blue light floods into the tunnel. After a little more effort, the gap is sufficiently widened that someone could pass through it.
>Ponder if our Mokou would be jealous, or just laugh and laugh and laugh?
>You definitely think it would be more of the later than the former. Besides, it's not like you'd be adverse to re-enacting it, if she honestly felt she was missing out...
>...Hey, we might actually have a story she hasn't heard a variant of beforehand, now.
>This'll certainly make quite the tale if you can manage to get back to tell it.
-
>"Impressive! What do you see through there?"
-
>"Impressive! What do you see through there?"
>"A whole lot more rock," she calls back, poking her head out through the opening. "And some funny glowing minerals on the walls. Seems to be a larger version of the place we were just in. At least there doesn't seem to be anything here that can shoot at us."
-
>Exit.
-
>Exit.
>You move to exit the passageway, and Mokou holds her body against the still extremely hot rock so that neither you nor Rumia give yourself a terrible burn on the way out.
>With a little difficulty, you stand upright. Man, it feels good to be able to do that again, although it'll take a few moments for your legs to cooperate fully.
>You are in a larger passageway, the floor of which is also made of the solidified lava. You can see several smaller tunnels like the one you just came through along the sides. The soft blue light seems to be coming from a few luminous crystalline deposits along parts of the wall. You can still hear water dripping, although cannot identify the source. The tunnel seems to extend for a considerable distance to both your left and right.
-
>Examine the source of this blue light.
-
>Examine the source of this blue light.
>The crystalline deposits themselves seem to be glowing with a soft and scintillating light. You don't know how, nor do you recognize what they are.
-
>Does there seem to be a loose one we could claim?
>"Have you ever seen anything like this, Mokou? Rumia?"
-
>Does there seem to be a loose one we could claim?
>None of them seem obviously loose, and many of them are fairly tiny, and embedded into the cavern walls. You might be able to try prying one out, or breaking it off with danmaku.
>"Have you ever seen anything like this, Mokou? Rumia?"
>"Nope!" Rumia replies.
>Mokou shakes her head. "Don't think so."
-
>"Shame."
>"Let's have a look along the rest of this tunnel."
>Go left! Keep an eye out for loose crystals.
-
> Quickly check the compass.
> Keep to the wall.
-
>"Shame."
>"Let's have a look along the rest of this tunnel."
>"Well, got no place else to be for the moment," Mokou comments. "Actually-" She moves back to the hole you exited from and places another fire barrier across it. "Given how long we were in there, I don't know if they stopped chasing us or not, but I'd rather be safe than sorry."
>Go left! Keep an eye out for loose crystals.
>You decide to turn left, and continue down the tunnel. It's nice and quiet, aside from the sound of water dripping, and a nice breather after all the chaos of the last chamber. It is still pretty cold and damp, though. You notice several more crystal deposits along the way, some of them a fair bit larger than the ones you saw earlier, although none are just lying around.
> Quickly check the compass.
>You take out your seeking stone and look at it. It appears to be pointing somewhere about 30 degrees to the right of the tunnel's direction.
-
>Do the maths. Figure out where we are relative to the compass' 'point' now, and what direction it is from there to Eintei.
-
>Keep going. Any signs of civilization?
-
>Do the maths. Figure out where we are relative to the compass' 'point' now, and what direction it is from there to Eintei.
>Well, the stone itself should be pointing directly at Eientei, so if you could walk right into the rockface next to you, that would be grand. You don't have any good way to tell how far away you are, yet. Judging by the distance you've traveled from the entrance, you think you've still got a fair distance to go, yet.
>Keep going. Any signs of civilization?
>You continue down the tunnel. There are still no signs of civilization. After a while, the tunnel you're in intersects with another. A small trickle of water is flowing downhill from your right.
-
>Examine the intersection. Does it look like anyone's been around here?
-
>Examine the intersection. Does it look like anyone's been around here?
>You see no signs of current or recent habitation
-
>Sigh, and look for the path that inclines upward the most, and take it.
-
>Sigh, and look for the path that inclines upward the most, and take it.
>You sigh. When was the last time tonight that something you tried actually worked out, you wonder. The intersecting path to your right, with the water running down it, seems to be inclining upwards the most. You start walking that way. The path continues upwards and eventually curves slowly to the left. In the distance, you can see a couple more evil spirits flickering.
-
>"Who would have thought there's be so many of those things in Former Hell?"
>Onward. If they act up, invite Mokou to relieve stress upon them.
-
>Don't provoke them unless we have a usable escape plan for if they get pissy and call their friends again.
-
>"Who would have thought there's be so many of those things in Former Hell?"
>"Well, can you think of a better place for them to be?" Mokou comments. "Well, other than nowhere."
>Onward. If they act up, invite Mokou to relieve stress upon them.
>You continue moving forward. Thankfully, these do not seem to act aggressively towards you, and you pass by without incident. You finally see the source of the water: a small crack through one of the walls. The tunnel curves past it, and there is no longer any water running along it in this section. You think you may have doubled back on yourself, now, but aren't certain. Eventually you emerge into a small chamber. There are three passages that exit this place, other than the one you just came from. One to your left, and two towards your right.
>Don't provoke them unless we have a usable escape plan for if they get pissy and call their friends again.
>Fortunately this was not an issue this time.
-
>Inspect intersection for any signs that people may have once been here.
-
>Inspect intersection for any signs that people may have once been here.
>No obvious signs that you can see. But there would be no way to leave footprints here, either.
-
>Things like tunnels smoothed by feet, signs of worked stone, sounds, or dropped things.
>Take the one that leads upwards the most.
>Use compass to keep a relative sense of direction.
-
>Things like tunnels smoothed by feet, signs of worked stone, sounds, or dropped things.
>Take the one that leads upwards the most.
>Use compass to keep a relative sense of direction.
>You see no signs of any of these things, unfortunately.
>There is only a slight difference in slope to the tunnels, but you decide the middle one rises the most and follow it.
>According to your seeking stone, Eientei is about 100 degrees to the right of where you're facing at the moment.
>The tunnel continues featurelessly for a while, and then has a fairly pronounced rise and swerves to the left. You emerge into another vast chamber. You don't know if it's the same as the one where you had your encounter with the swarm of evil spirits, but it's similar. You seem to be on a ledge running along one side of the chamber, around 100 or so feet off the ground. You can see quite a few clouds of spirits hovering around, some nearby, and others in the distance. None of them seem to have taken notice of you, yet.
>"Aww, dammit!" Mokou exclaims. "How many more of those things can there possibly be down here?"
-
>"There's no way this could be the same chamber, we had to have gone up more than this..."
>Watch them spirits, and examine what we can see.
>"But...if it is, this is a way better position to deal with them now. And it means we're not nearly so lost anymore."
-
>"There's no way this could be the same chamber, we had to have gone up more than this..."
>"Yeah, you'd think," Mokou agrees. "Of course, it could have, too. Who the hell knows, down here. Would be nice if we could see more of the place."
>Watch them spirits, and examine what we can see.
>The spirits still just seem to be milling about. You cannot see any wall other than the one you're near. The ledge seems to run to your left for a short way, and out of your light radius off to the right. The terrain on the ground looks similar to the previous large chamber, although you don't notice any lava trenches.
>"But...if it is, this is a way better position to deal with them now. And it means we're not nearly so lost anymore."
>"Progress is progress," she agrees. "And we have a sheltered and small around the corner to retreat to if necessary. Much better terrain if we have to start shooting things, again."
-
>"Mokou, are you going to be running out of those talismans anytime soon? A marker would be nice."
>Head out along the ledge. Ledges are hard to get lost on.
-
>"Mokou, are you going to be running out of those talismans anytime soon? A marker would be nice."
>Head out along the ledge. Ledges are hard to get lost on.
>"Nah, I'm good. What did you want me to mark, though?"
-
>"Put one one by the entrance. So if we get lost, we'll know we've been this way."
>Head rightward along the ledge.
-
>"Put one one by the entrance. So if we get lost, we'll know we've been this way."
>Head rightward along the ledge.
>"Good enough for me." She tosses one by the entrance.
>You head right along the ledge for a fair distance. Eventually, you see another opening to your right, looking similar to the one you exited from earlier. The ledge seems to end a short distance after that.
-
>Enter the tunnel
>Have Mokou mark the floor, so we know we entered it, as opposed to exited.
-
>Enter the tunnel
>Have Mokou mark the floor, so we know we entered it, as opposed to exited.
>You have Mokou leave another marker, indicating the direction you entered the tunnel, and proceed. It extends forward for some distance, then winds down and around to the right. You emerge into a small chamber that looks suspiciously like the one you just exited a few minutes earlier. There are three exits. One close to your right, another across the room from you, and a third a fair ways to your left.
-
>Mark the wall where we exited.
>Take the path we think would take us back to the blue crystal hallway we escaped into.
>Mark the floor.
-
>Mark the wall where we exited.
>Take the path we think would take us back to the blue crystal hallway we escaped into.
>Mark the floor.
>You have Mokou mark that wall that you just exited, and then take the tunnel that you think eventually leads back to the crystal deposits. The tunnel continues to descend and curve, and you eventually see a stream of water trickling out from a crack in the wall to your left. If this is a different path, it looks pretty much identical to the way you came in here.
-
>Does the water seem clean? If so, have a drink. Spelunking is thirsty work.
>Then continue back to the glowing tunnel and go the other way one we reach the opening we made.
-
>Does the water seem clean? If so, have a drink. Spelunking is thirsty work.
>The water seems fairly clear, although the flow isn't very large. Still you try cupping a little bit in your hands and taking a drink. Ick, it tastes a little earthy. You cough.
>Does the water seem clean? If so, have a drink. Spelunking is thirsty work.
>Then continue back to the glowing tunnel and go the other way one we reach the opening we made.
>You continue along your current tunnel, descending for a fair distance, and reach the intersection with the wider glowing tunnel. You turn into it and keep walking.
>"Why're we going back this way, anyway?" Mokou asks after a little while.
-
>"I'm hoping to be thorough. We never went the other way from that hole we made. So far, most of the paths seem to twist back into that big chamber. I'm hoping this doesn't."
-
>"I'm hoping to be thorough. We never went the other way from that hole we made. So far, most of the paths seem to twist back into that big chamber. I'm hoping this doesn't."
>"You really just have no idea where we're going, do you?" Mokou sighs. "Maybe I should just have stayed at home after all."
>Eventually, you spot the crawlspace you think you came in from. While there are plenty like it along the walls, the way the rock is pushed aside is fairly distinctive. You continue further along the path. After some time it starts to descend, getting increasingly steep and starts curving towards the right. You think you can spot a drop-off ahead.
-
>"You haven't been lost in a cave for centuries, I'll bet. Anyways, I'm just trying to find a way around that damn chamber. I want to think I have a rough idea where we are, though."
>Take to the air, continue toward that drop-off. Don't fly off it, though. But do look over the edge if it doesn't seem that dangerous.
-
>"You haven't been lost in a cave for centuries, I'll bet. Anyways, I'm just trying to find a way around that damn chamber. I want to think I have a rough idea where we are, though."
>You hear Mokou grumble a little, in lieu of an acknowledgment.
>Take to the air, continue toward that drop-off. Don't fly off it, though. But do look over the edge if it doesn't seem that dangerous.
>You fly over to the drop-off and look down. It doesn't seem especially dangerous; at least no more dangerous than any pit would be if you can fly. It appears that the lava flow once spilled down into here. You can't see the bottom of it.
-
>"Toss a fireball down there, please, Mokou?"
-
> If we see anymore of those crystals, try and take one, they might prove useful
-
>"Toss a fireball down there, please, Mokou?"
>Mokou nods, and tosses another flaming orb into the pit. You watch as the band of illumination passes downward along the walls of the pit. You see nothing but rock until the orb reaches the limits of its range and dissipates; it does not reach the bottom.
> If we see anymore of those crystals, try and take one, they might prove useful
>There is still the occasional one near here, and further up the tunnel, there were a couple nearly as large as two fingers held together. Since they are mostly still embedded in the rock, the question is how to go about attempting to remove them.
-
> Can we blast the crystals loose with danmaku?
-
>"I doubt that's going to take us anywhere...Oh well."
>Retrace steps until we get back to the first intersection with ways we've not taken.
>"I am pretty sure we need to move upward, if we're going to find the Ancient City. I think we're in what's left of Blazing Hell right now, thus all the spirits."
-
> Can we blast the crystals loose with danmaku
>You can certainly try. There's a chance they might be fragile enough to break off this way.
>"I doubt that's going to take us anywhere...Oh well."
>"Unless you think being under a mile of rock is cozy or something," Mokou remarks.
>Rumia leans over the pit. "Hellooooooo...." she calls out, hearing it echo down the shaft
>Retrace steps until we get back to the first intersection with ways we've not taken.
>There are multiple smaller crawl spaces along the sides of this tunnel, and then the intersection with the watery tunnel. The only other path you have not taken there descends, however.
>"I am pretty sure we need to move upward, if we're going to find the Ancient City. I think we're in what's left of Blazing Hell right now, thus all the spirits."
>"What left of it?" Mokou asks.
-
> Next time we see a crystal of decent size, try and blast it loose, but becareful
-
>"It's still blazing quite merrily, in my world."
-
> Next time we see a crystal of decent size, try and blast it loose, but becareful
>You find an appropriately sized crystal, and try to blast it at the point where it connects with the rock. The impact stirs up a tiny cloud of particulate matter, but doesn't seem to accomplish much else. You fire a few more at it, and you think you see a crack develop. Eventually, with a loud shattering sound, and a scattering of tiny fragments, a section of the crystal about the size of your finger breaks off. A couple of the edges are ragged, and have residue of pulverized crystal along them.
>"It's still blazing quite merrily, in my world."
>"And you're sure this is the same place?" Mokou asks.
-
> Collect crystal
-
> Collect crystal
>You pick up the crystal fragment and pocket it. Hmmm.... was it a little less luminous than it was earlier? It's hard to tell.
-
>Actually, keep the crystal out. Extra light and such.
>Back to the last intersection that has paths we've not taken. Disregard crawlspaces for now.
-
>Actually, keep the crystal out. Extra light and such.
>You pull the crystal back out, although the soft blue light it sheds is rather lost in the far bright illumination coming from Mokou
>Back to the last intersection that has paths we've not taken. Disregard crawlspaces for now.
>You take the long journey back along this tunnel until you reach the point where it crosses with the smaller tunnel with the water running down it. You took the ascending path to your right, previously. The water also continues to descend along the path to your left, and the tunnel you're in continues forward for some distance.
-
>Continue down the tunnel.
>Idly turn the crystal over in our hand.
-
> Put the crystal back in, not much use for it with Mokou here
-
>Idly turn the crystal over in our hand.
>You idly turn the crystal around, causing the light patterns cast upon the wall to shift and change.
> Put the crystal back in, not much use for it with Mokou here
>You decide to put the crystal back in your pocket for the time-being.
>Continue down the tunnel.
>You continue forward along the tunnel ahead of you. After a while, it starts to slope up fairly steeply, and curve around to the right. You eventually find yourself in another small chamber, with a rounded ceiling. The lava trail that you're follow continues generally forward, while another smaller passageway extends to your left.
-
>Check the compass, use it to figure out our orientation in relation to the large chamber with the angry spirits.
-
>Check the compass, use it to figure out our orientation in relation to the large chamber with the angry spirits.
>According to the seeking stone, Eientei is somewhere about 15 degrees to the right of the main tunnel you're on. The large chamber might be somewhere in the general direction that the left tunnel leads. It depends on how far that chamber extends for.
-
>Forward! Keeping following this tunnel.
-
>Forward! Keeping following this tunnel.
>You continue climbing upwards across the former lava flow. After some time, the path forks, and similar but smaller tunnels continue upwards, slightly to the left and slightly to the right of this junction.
-
>Take the right one.
-
>Take the right one.
>You take the right passage. After a little while, it curves strongly to the right and then twists around. It soon gets very steep indeed, and you find yourself having to fly a little for fear of slipping and tumbling down again. Eventually the passageway narrows, and you soon you find the way ahead virtually blocked off by the solidified lava flow.
-
> Sigh
> Are there any openings?
-
>Approach the solidified lava, see if it's possible to get a glimpse beyond it.
-
> Sigh
>You sigh. This really isn't your day, is it?
> Are there any openings?
>Approach the solidified lava, see if it's possible to get a glimpse beyond it.
>There are no openings even remotely large enough to fit through. You do see a tiny gap or two, and you peer through them, but all you see beyond is more rock and solidified lava.
-
>"Well, not much to see here."
>Back up, and take the left path at the last intersection.
-
>"Well, not much to see here."
>Back up, and take the left path at the last intersection.
>"Not much to see in most of this damn place, actually," Mokou adds.
>You return to the last intersection and take the alternate path. This one does not rise as steeply, but continues forward for a while before angling to the left. Eventually you see a more open space ahead, dotted with some tiny flickering lights in the distance.
-
>Proceed. Mark the wall if we emerge into a chamber.
-
>Proceed. Mark the wall if we emerge into a chamber.
>You continue forward and emerge into what appears to be a sheltered overhang. It looks mostly like a regular chamber, except the wall opposite you is open space. Getting close to it, you see that you appear to on the edge of a ledge high above the ground of a second larger chamber, although it seems somewhat less vast than the previous large one you emerged in. You can see more spirits moving about in it, although thankfully less than in the other rooms. You're close enough to see another wall of the chamber to your right. Beyond that, it is blackness forward, and to your left.
-
>Have Mokou mark the wall.
>Use the compass to determine position in relation to the chamber with the hostile spirits.
>Do there seem to be enough spirits to give us problems?
>_
-
>Have Mokou mark the wall.
>Use the compass to determine position in relation to the chamber with the hostile spirits.
>Do there seem to be enough spirits to give us problems?
>Mokou tosses another amulet against the wall.
>The seeking stone points about 120 degrees to your right. It's difficult to tell precisely, given how vast the previous chamber was, exactly where it should be. Perhaps this could even be part of it? You think it would generally be ahead and to the left, though.
>There's far less than the last chamber, but more than enough to make themselves difficult if they chose to. You don't see any signs of aggression at the moment, though.
-
>"They don't seem so bad, yet."
>Descend into the chamber.
-
>"They don't seem so bad, yet."
>"Yet," Mokou adds.
>Descend into the chamber.
>You fly off the ledge and descend towards the ground. You think you see a little increase in motion from some of the spirits, but nothing obviously aggressive as of yet. You land in the corner of the room, with a wall extending into the distance to your right, and behind you.
-
>If the chamber we want to avoid is to the left, head rightwards.
>Keep a wary eye on those spirits.
-
>If the chamber we want to avoid is to the left, head rightwards.
>Keep a wary eye on those spirits.
>It may be left-ish, or possibly forward; it's difficult to tell for certain. It's also impossible to head right, as there is a wall that way. However, you proceed along the wall for a while, keeping an eye on the spirits. A few of them seem to be noting your presence, but have not yet moved aggressively. A few of them seem to be starting to mill about together, however. Eventually, you see another large passageway to your right.
-
>Head into the passage, have Mokou mark the floor.
-
>Head into the passage, have Mokou mark the floor.
>You head into the passage, having Mokou leave a mark there as well. You think you might be able to see a few spirits floating lazily towards you, but they're still far away.
>A short while after you enter, the passage curves towards a similar trajectory as the chamber you were just in. Eventually it emerges in an even larger chamber, looking significantly familiar; many spirits flicker high above, and in smaller groups along the ground. This time, however, you seem to be close enough to see the right-side wall of it. And.... is that brickwork over there? You're not certain.
-
>Have Mokou mark the wall, and go examine the brickwork.
-
>Have Mokou mark the wall, and go examine the brickwork.
>Mokou tosses another amulet at the wall, and you head over towards the brickwork. You see a few spirits swirl around unnervingly as you do.
>There is a sort of dip in the cave wall to your right, and some parts of the walls of the impression have been reinforced with obviously man-made stone. The far wall on the inside of the alcove appears to be made of stone entirely, and there is a large reinforced wooden door.
>You think you see a few of the spirits heading in your direction.
-
> Might as well knock on the door
> Keep cautious of those spirits
-
>Does the building seem to be intact? Any signs it's being used?
-
> Might as well knock on the door
> Keep cautious of those spirits
>You move over towards the door, keeping an eye on the spirits. You're pretty confident that some of them are moving towards you now, and other are looking agitated. They're still a little bit distant, though.
>Although it looked large from a distance, once you close to the door, you realize that it's easily twice your height; made of dark reinforced wood that is extremely solid looking. You knock on it, making a deep resonating sound. You don't get any obvious response.
>Does the building seem to be intact? Any signs it's being used?
>It doesn't seem to be a building, per se. Rather, it looks like the door is built into the cave wall itself. Or, at least, that it's built into brick that is also built into the cave wall. It looks fairly intact. The construction is solid enough that it could probably stand for a while without maintenance, however. There are no other obvious signs of human presence, or any windows or other features along the wall.
-
>Does it have a handle?
>If fly up, grab handle, and try to open it.
>If not, does it seem to open inward? If so, push on it.
-
>Does it have a handle?
>If fly up, grab handle, and try to open it.
>If not, does it seem to open inward? If so, push on it.
>It has two large iron rings that could be pulled on to open the door. Despite the door's size, they were clearly designed for normal sized hands, and are located within standing height of the floor.
>You grab them and pull, but the door refuses to budge.
-
>Does it feel locked, or just too heavy to open? That is, does it seem to pull against a bolt of some kind?
-
> Pull harder
> If it still won't budge, get Mokou to help
> If still not open, get Rumia to help
> If it still not open, contemplate blasting it open
-
>Does it feel locked, or just too heavy to open? That is, does it seem to pull against a bolt of some kind?
>It does feel like it might be pulling against something, but it's shifting so little that you're not certain.
> Pull harder
> If it still won't budge, get Mokou to help
> If still not open, get Rumia to help
>You pull on the door even harder, with little improvement. Then you gesture for Mokou, and she takes the other handle and throws her strength into it, too. However it's locked, it's very secure. Even Rumia tries to help, fitting her fingers in around yours, and straining against the door, complete with adorable sound effects. But other than bringing a momentary smile to your face, she fails to contribute anything noticeable to the endeavor.
> If it still not open, contemplate blasting it open
>Well, that might be possible. It does seem to just be made of wood, after all.
>The spirits are gathering closer, now.
-
> Blast it open
> If that doesn't work, get Mokou to blast it open
-
>Rather than just violencing it open, consider having Mokou cut the hinge pins. It'll take way less effort if they're visible.
>Give the door a good kick, and shout "Open up or we're breaking it down!'
>If there's no sort of response, pitch the hinge idea to Mokou, and start holding off some spirits.
-
> Blast it open
> If that doesn't work, get Mokou to blast it open
>Rather than just violencing it open, consider having Mokou cut the hinge pins. It'll take way less effort if they're visible.
>Give the door a good kick, and shout "Open up or we're breaking it down!'
>If there's no sort of response, pitch the hinge idea to Mokou, and start holding off some spirits.
>You consider breaking the door down, but decide that a surgical approach might work better.
>You give the door a swift kick, and nearly regret it upon contact. Man, whoever built this was some carpenter. You threat goes unanswered, however.
>You suggest removing the hinges to Mokou. "Cut them how? I suppose I could trying burning out the wood around them."
-
>If the door opens outward, the hinge pins would have to be on this side, tell her to cut the tops and bottoms off like she did with the rock, and they should fall out.
>If not, just tell her to do that or slice them in half, whichever is fastest.
-
>If the door opens outward, the hinge pins would have to be on this side, tell her to cut the tops and bottoms off like she did with the rock, and they should fall out.
>If not, just tell her to do that or slice them in half, whichever is fastest.
>You elaborate the plan in more detail.
>"Yeah, I got it the first time, I'm just saying that metal's a hell of a lot harder to melt through than rock."
-
>"Really? Well, do what needs be done, then. We can quibble over the details later."
>Go hold off those spirits.
-
>"Really? Well, do what needs be done, then. We can quibble over the details later."
>"Right," she says and turns back to the door.
>Go hold off those spirits.
>You turn around and move towards the entrance to the alcove. At the very least, nothing can come from behind or above you from here. Still, there's a lot of them gathering towards you. It'll probably still take another 30 seconds or so before any of them reach you. Hopefully that'll be enough time.
-
>Summon up the familiars, the double layer. Calculate the best places to strike to remove a lot of them at once.
>Stride forward boldly, so that if they are going to open fire, Mokou and Rumia will be out of range.
>_
-
>Summon up the familiars, the double layer. Calculate the best places to strike to remove a lot of them at once.
>Stride forward boldly, so that if they are going to open fire, Mokou and Rumia will be out of range.
>You conjure a double layer of familiars, and put some distance between yourself and the others. You see a cluster of spirits to your upper left that seem like a good target to open on. They're almost in range.... Two spirits from elsewhere break off and swoop down towards your right, spaying several small bursts at your immediate area.
>"Dammit, what the hell's up with this thing!" you hear Mokou yell out from behind you.
-
>Indulge in some archaic profanity.
>Move around the bursts, and try to get both the first strikers and the group into range, then let them have it.
-
>Indulge in some archaic profanity.
>Move around the bursts, and try to get both the first strikers and the group into range, then let them have it.
>You spit out a few choice words in ancient Elamite, while dodging out of the way of the incoming fire. You sweep your familiars out while you move, and take out two of the spirits to your right, then focus your fire on the group to your right, destroying a couple more before they can attack. A cluster near the front launch a wide spread of shots at you, while two more swoop in from a high angle.
>"The door won't catch!" Mokou yells back. "Must be enchanted."
-
>"Then get the hinges! Pop the screws or something!"
>Rise up to meet the high angle hooligans, fire upon them, then move between the wide spread if possible.
-
>"Then get the hinges! Pop the screws or something!"
>Rise up to meet the high angle hooligans, fire upon them, then move between the wide spread if possible.
>You ascend, shifting inbetween the lines of fire and direct your shots towards the ones from above, grazing one, and taking out another. Several more bursts come from your left, and below. You see a pair of tiny spirits start dashing towards each side of you, leaving a trail of danmaku in their wake.
>"Screw this!" you hear Mokou yell, followed by a loud explosion behind you.
-
> Spare a quick glance back to the door.
> If its open now, quickly head for it.
-
> Spare a quick glance back to the door.
> If its open now, quickly head for it.
>You quickly glance back at the door. A cloud of smoke is dissipating from it, but unfortunately, it still seem entirely intact. There is a large crest glowing pale rose, faintly visible above the surface of the door. Another firebird screeches away from Mokou and slams into the door.
>A stray shot nicks your hip while you avert your gaze.
-
> Get back to dealing with those spirits
-
> Get back to dealing with those spirits
>You resume your focus and narrowly shift away from the rest of that blast, while sending waves of danmaku through the densest cluster of spirits to your left. You also snag one of the tiny spirits before it reaches you, and shift out of the way of its ensuring reprisal. You think its companion succeeds in spreading a cloud of danmaku behind you, however. You shift around some of the smaller blasts, and the mesh of your fire destroy another pair of spirits. A couple larger one are incoming.
>You hear a few more blasts behind and then Mokou cry out in frustration. And then the sound of something else. Metal scraping?
-
>Try to take out as much as the crowd as possible before the big ones get here.
>Keep an eye out for incoming fire.
-
>Try to take out as much as the crowd as possible before the big ones get here.
>Keep an eye out for incoming fire.
>You try to lay on the fire as thick as you can, while evading what is sent your way, and manage to take out a couple more spirits.
>You hear some more scraping, and then another blast behind you, followed almost immediately by someone shriek. You're pretty sure it wasn't Mokou or Rumia.
-
> Fire off some danmaku and then quickly look at what's happening at the door
-
> Fire off some danmaku and then quickly look at what's happening at the door
>You fire off a few more shots and glance over your shoulder. One of the doors seems to be open! Although you can't see in too well through the cloud of smoke around it.
-
>"Let me know if it's clear!"
>Give the big ones some beatings, strafe a bit if its safe to to fill the air with more flak.
-
>"Let me know if it's clear!"
>Give the big ones some beatings, strafe a bit if its safe to to fill the air with more flak.
>You call back to Mokou and then attempt to focus fire on the larger spirits before they can start in earnest. One of them starts firing concentric circles of danmaku, while the other continues to close. You shift to the right and try to take out a couple smaller ones in the process.
>"Well, it's o-" Mokou starts, before being cut off by another voice.
>"What the hell? What are you-" You hear rapid footsteps.
>"Hey!" Mokou calls out.
-
>Presumably, these are some gatekeeper types.
>Shout "Just let us out already!"
>Don't look back, just keep an eye on the spirits, and keep trying to cut down the big ones.
-
>Presumably, these are some gatekeeper types.
>Seems like a reasonable assumption.
>Shout "Just let us out already!"
>"Let you out?" the voice calls out in response. You can hear footsteps continuing to run towards you. "What in the world are you even doing here?"
>"Hey, hold on!" Mokou calls after her.
>Don't look back, just keep an eye on the spirits, and keep trying to cut down the big ones.
>You decide not to avert your focus, and continue to engage the spirits. Several of your bullets pass through the large one, but if past experience is any indication, it can take a fair bit more of this.
-
>"We can explain when we get out, damn it!"
>Keep up the ladder to hell on the big spirit, try to let the rest of the shots deal with other spirits; be aggressive if they aren't pinning us down.
-
>"We can explain when we get out, damn it!"
>Keep up the ladder to hell on the big spirit, try to let the rest of the shots deal with other spirits; be aggressive if they aren't pinning us down.
>You continue to focus fire on the larger spirit and it wavers under your assault. Stray shots take out a few others, although they're starting to pile up now.
>"Hey, do you go letting strangers into your house?" the voice responds. "Especially when they were trying to blow up your door?"
>"Well, maybe if you'd opened it when we'd knocked nicely," Mokou snaps.
>You see a fiery orb fly by you and into a cluster of spirits, where it explodes into a burst of danmaku, scattering and dissolving spirits in its wake.
>"Guys!" the voice calls out again. "Guys, guys, simmer!" You note a few of the spirits near you suddenly seem to hesitate in their movements a little.
-
>"And do you let people under attack by evil spirits just sit out in the middle of it?"
>Press that advantage, move in and focus more danmaku on the big ones.
-
>"And do you let people under attack by evil spirits just sit out in the middle of it?"
>Press that advantage, move in and focus more danmaku on the big ones.
>"I- It's... well, it's never happened before," she replies, sounding rather uncertain.
>"Guys!" she says more loudly. "I said stop it!" A couple more of the spirits seem to hesitate and move off a little, although most don't seem to respond.
>You fly towards the larger one, keeping up your fire on it, and it starts to dissipate. There's several more streams coming at you from both the left and right. Mokou launches another fiery orb into the crowd.
>"Auuughhh!" you hear the other voice grumble. "Just get inside!"
-
>Retreat!
>If the door is open, fly right through that mammajamma.
-
>Retreat!
>If the door is open, fly right through that mammajamma.
>You turn around and beat a hasty retreat, with Mokou just ahead of you. The door is indeed still open, and you waste no time flying through it and behind the other still-closed door, narrowly evading more danmaku launched in your direction.
>Inside is a small and empty landing ending in a long staircase up. The walls and floor are both made out of plain gray stone, and the entire area is only dimly lit. You see no obvious decoration of any sort.
>You can hear the other woman still yelling something outside; at the spirits, you assume.
-
>Land. Look around for Rumia.
-
>Land. Look around for Rumia.
>You land. It seems Rumia was already taking shelter in the corner, here. She looks at you with a big confused frown on her face.
-
>Walk over and pat her on the shoulder. "It's okay now."
>Assess rescuers.
-
>Walk over and pat her on the shoulder. "It's okay now."
>Rumia looks up to you. "....are you sure?"
>Mokou just grunts, and leans up against the wall.
>Assess rescuers.
>You can still hear some sounds of fire out there, and you're beginning to wonder what became of her, when a red-haired woman in a green dress runs in through the door and quickly moves to close it. She seems to have cat ears, and a tail. Wait, two tails.
>With a grunt she pushes into the door and swings it back into place. You can hear fire pelting against it from outside. She leans back against the door, and slowly slides down it, sighing.
-
>Do we recognize this person?
-
>Do we recognize this person?
>You've never met her, but her description would match Orin. You know a little about her.
-
>"Thank you. Now I can explain. We came through the fissure left aboveground. I didn't expect things to be so hostile, and I thank you for letting us out of there. I apologize for the door, but we had few options, and honestly I was afraid it was forgotten, or there was no one left to tend to it."
-
>"Thank you. Now I can explain. We came through the fissure left aboveground. I didn't expect things to be so hostile, and I thank you for letting us out of there. I apologize for the door, but we had few options, and honestly I was afraid it was forgotten, or there was no one left to tend to it."
"Ok, ok, ok, wait a moment." She pauses. "What in the world were you thinking?!"
-
>"That we needed to reach the city as soon as possible, and this is the only way down any of us know."
-
>"That we needed to reach the city as soon as possible, and this is the only way down any of us know."
>"You thought... you tried going through hell just so that you could get to the Ancient City? That's.... I don't even know what to say to that. It's... original., anyway. What kind of person tries to get into hell?"
-
>"When it's the only way down you know, options become limited. I hope we haven't damaged your door too much?"
-
>"When it's the only way down you know, options become limited. I hope we haven't damaged your door too much?"
>Orin looks at the door and sighs. "Probably not. That thing's built to keep anything from breaking out of there, after all. But I felt someone beating on it, so I came to check it out. They... don't really listen like they used to."
-
>"I see. You used to command them, I assume? What happened?"
-
>"I see. You used to command them, I assume? What happened?"
>"I wouldn't go as far as to say command, really... But they tended to mostly co-operate. You could get them to do stuff, or stop doing stuff. Always a few that would act up. But, well... Hell's not what it used to be, as I'm sure you noticed. And neither are they. I'm really not sure what to do about them as things are. Don't go out there much anymore."
-
>Nod.
>"I assume it would be after..."
>Stop. Sensitive subject. Stupid Keine!
-
>Nod.
>"I assume it would be after..."
>"After...?" Orin looks at you expectantly.
>Stop. Sensitive subject. Stupid Keine!
>Confound your instinctive curiosity! Might be too late now, though.
-
>Sigh.
>"After the Hell Raven went on her rampage."
>Feign ignorance!
-
>Sigh.
>"After the Hell Raven went on her rampage."
>Feign ignorance!
>She looks at you darkly as you say this. "Rampage... Yes, I suppose you could call it that. While it lasted."
-
>"That is what it seemed to us, at least. I apologize, I've clearly made a mistake."
-
>"That is what it seemed to us, at least. I apologize, I've clearly made a mistake."
>Orin stares at you for another moment, and then sighs. "No, you're right, really. And you have no idea how much I wish it had never happened."
-
>"I can't imagine anyone who would have wished it to happen. I don't suppose you could tell us the real story? Or...is that something too tender?"
-
>"I can't imagine anyone who would have wished it to happen. I don't suppose you could tell us the real story? Or...is that something too tender?"
>"Heh. You honestly don't know, do ya? Then again, anyone who tries to walk into here through hell can't be too clued in. How do they tell it on the surface? I'm curious."
-
>"Not much to tell, I'm afraid. She exploded up from underground, and started trying to set everything ablaze. The Wind Priestess stopped her. To be honest, I don't even know how the battle went, save that Sanae walked away."
-
>"Not much to tell, I'm afraid. She exploded up from underground, and started trying to set everything ablaze. The Wind Priestess stopped her. To be honest, I don't even know how the battle went, save that Sanae walked away."
>Orin laughs a little; a bitter, humorless chuckle. "Oh, Sanae alone could never have stopped her. The almighty Kanako had to come down off her perch and face her in person. It must have been so inconvenient for her. I wonder how they wrote the conclusion?" She adopts a melodramatic voice. "And the mighty heaven god valiantly destroys the demonic hell raven, whose only thought and purpose was death and destruction. See as even the greatest beasts of hell are made to bow before her. Such is the sanctity of her power. Bask in her glory, and bow to her rule." She stops and gives you an sidelong glance, and a smirk that you can't help but doubt is sincere. "Something like that?"
-
>Was Kanako involved in the version we heard?
>"Personally, I am much more interested in the real story."
-
>Was Kanako involved in the version we heard?
>Sanae never really explained the incident to you in any detail.
>"Personally, I am much more interested in the real story."
>Orin sighs again. "Fine, fine. It's mostly the same, really. Okuu burned some stuff, and Kanako beat her down for it. But you have to believe me when I say that Okuu wasn't as bad as people say she was. Honest. She just... I think the power might have gone to her head, or something. But she didn't deserve this!"
-
>"I'd be willing to believe you, actually. If she were that bad, Kanako wouldn't have trusted her to begin with. I expect she just had problems handling it. I've no need to condemn her."
>It's awkward talking about someone who may or may not be dead.
-
>"I'd be willing to believe you, actually. If she were that bad, Kanako wouldn't have trusted her to begin with. I expect she just had problems handling it. I've no need to condemn her."
>Orin's eyes narrow. "Wait a minute? What's this about 'trusting her in the first place'? How come you know that if you say you don't know half the rest of it?"
>It's awkward talking about someone who may or may not be dead.
>It really is, isn't it? And probably not the only awkward thing at the moment, either...
-
>"Because it's easy to deduce. Whatever mistakes she made, Kanako's not an idiot. She wouldn't just give that away to someone blatantly unsuitable. She had to have trusted her to begin with."
-
>"Because it's easy to deduce. Whatever mistakes she made, Kanako's not an idiot. She wouldn't just give that away to someone blatantly unsuitable. She had to have trusted her to begin with."
>"And that's exactly what I mean," she says, still looking at you suspiciously, and with a hint of anger. "How do you know she gave her anything?"
-
>"Because it would be much too much of a coincidence, otherwise. Kanako appears, then suddenly a hell raven from nowhere? The way you speak of her confirmed it."
-
>"Because it would be much too much of a coincidence, otherwise. Kanako appears, then suddenly a hell raven from nowhere? The way you speak of her confirmed it."
>"I'm not buying it," Orin says, glaring at you. "Utsuho lived here long before Kanako ever showed up. The fact that she left for the surface when she did doesn't mean a thing. How's anyone up there supposed to know what's down here or how long it's been down here, anyway? No one knows, because no one comes down here, that's what." Her eyes narrow. "What else does Kanako want from us?"
-
>"I'm not affiliated with Kanako. If I were, would I be so willing to say she was wrong in what she did? Is it that hard to accept that there are people above who have put things together, and don't demonize Utsuho? And if it is as you said, and she was down here for a long time, doesn't that only support what I just said about it being too much a coincidence? It's obvious she didn't just come from nowhere, anyone who thought about it would be able to deduce this. Please, I'm on your side."
-
>"I'm not affiliated with Kanako. If I were, would I be so willing to say she was wrong in what she did? Is it that hard to accept that there are people above who have put things together, and don't demonize Utsuho? And if it is as you said, and she was down here for a long time, doesn't that only support what I just said about it being too much a coincidence? It's obvious she didn't just come from nowhere, anyone who thought about it would be able to deduce this. Please, I'm on your side."
>"I don't believe you," Orin says flatly. "No one up there has any reason to suspect anything. Something broke out of hell, and then it was stopped. That's it. Why in the world would they think her power came from Kanako? Hell's a scary place, right? Who knows what's down here. She never told anyone else about what she gave Utsuho; that much I'm certain of. After what happened, she certainly wasn't not about to be honest about the fact that she made her what she is. That it was all her fault. I wish to hell that she'd never, ever come near us." There is a deep bitterness in her voice.
>"So, again, why are you here? Tell me why I shouldn't just have left you out there to die."
-
>"If you think so poorly of me that you can't believe I could be sympathetic, I suppose there is nothing I can say to convince you otherwise."
>"As for why we are here, we were seeking the city down here. We're trying to restore the moon to its proper place. Unfortunately, the people who have altered it cannot be approached from the surface, so we are hoping to approach from below. And for that, we need to learn from those who live here."
-
>"If you think so poorly of me that you can't believe I could be sympathetic, I suppose there is nothing I can say to convince you otherwise."
>"I don't think anything of you. I've never seen you before in my life. But unless you can give me a good reason why you know that Kanako gave Utsuho that power - and no, 'I just figured it out' doesn't cut it - then I'm gonna have to assume you're with Kanako, and that means you're not welcome here."
>"Suit yourself," Mokou says, with a bit of an exaggerated sign.
>"Who's Kanako?" Rumia asks. "Is she a meanie?" Orin gives her a funny look.
>"As for why we are here, we were seeking the city down here. We're trying to restore the moon to its proper place. Unfortunately, the people who have altered it cannot be approached from the surface, so we are hoping to approach from below. And for that, we need to learn from those who live here."
>"Well, if you want to get to the city, the door's that way," she inclines her head towards the stairs; the only exit you can see from the room you're in. "Hurry up and use it."
-
>"Very well, I won't trouble you anymore. I am sorry that I aroused your suspicions."
>Exit!
-
>"Very well, I won't trouble you anymore. I am sorry that I aroused your suspicions."
>Exit!
>Orin does not respond to you, so you turn and walk up the stairs. Mokou and Rumia fall in behind you, and you think you hear Orin follow you at a further distance. It is probably the longest staircase you've seen in your life, featureless and grey. Eventually you reach another landing similar to the one at the bottom, except smaller and with a more normal sized door. You open it and emerge into a small courtyard.
>The entire place has something of a dreary feel, and the grounds could probably use a bit of maintenance, but it still has a certain rustic charm, just the same. There are a few clusters of ornamental trees, and a small trickling water feature, although still very little color. Looking up, you can see the cavern ceiling far in the distance. The building itself is a single story affair, also made of grey stone, although with a few more ornamental touches than the passage you just came through, giving it an air of rather subdued gothic architecture. Detailed stained glass windows line the wall to the south, giving some much needed color to the place.
>You see an exit to the north and east, and the west where you just came from.
>"Just keep going straight," Orin says.
-
>Proceed.
-
>Proceed.
>You continue through the exit in front of you, and find yourself in a long vaulted hallway, with only the occasional sconce along the wall. Their flickering light gives a rather strange quality to the dimness of the place, with alternating pools of light and shadow. It's a little eerie, actually. The floors here are stone, although a small carpet runs along the center of the floor; it looks a bit dusty. You pass by a few dark wooden doors, and then a larger archway leading into a gallery to your left.
>"Hmm... well that's rather unusual," comes a soft-spoken, but dreary voice from the room to your left as you approach it
-
>Glance toward the dreary voice.
>Try not to think about how we're moderately sure who this is. Before recognizing the futility of it.
-
>Glance toward the dreary voice.
>Try not to think about how we're moderately sure who this is. Before recognizing the futility of it.
>You pause and look towards the room, but don't see anyone from this vantage point. It's a large room, but rather barren of furnishings. There are a few upholstered chairs, and some portraits hung on the wall in thick frames. You see a tall bookcase against one wall. But the contents seem dwarfed by the room itself, which gives it a rather cavernous feel.
>Try not to think about how we're moderately sure who this is. Before recognizing the futility of it.
>Try as you might, it's impossible to suppress the glimmer of intuition the voice triggers.
>"And even more unusual," she continues. "How do you know who I am?"
>You can practically feel Orin's eyes burning into the back of your head. "She's with Kanako," she spits. "They were trying to-"
>"No," Satori interrupts. "I don't believe she is."
>"What?" Orin says. "But she-"
>"Please step inside, if you would."
-
> Step into the room.
-
> Step into the room.
>You step into the room, leaving Orin gaping in the hallway. You see a small purple-haired woman sitting in an upholstered chair around a seating area to your left. Presumably this is Satori.
>"It is," she says. "And have a seat. We don't get many guests, and we've never had a guest come in that way, before. Yes, yes, I understand why, although you really should have thought your plan through better. ....that's an interesting idea."
>She turns to Mokou. "That was rather unnecessary."
>Mokou sputters. "Wh- what the hell are you talking about?"
-
>"She's reading your thoughts, Mokou. I don't think she can help it."
>"Miss Satori, I'm not sure how much you see, but I hope what I've been doing, and why, makes sense to you."
-
>"She's reading your thoughts, Mokou. I don't think she can help it."
>"She's- what!? Of all the-"
>"I can't," Satori interjects. "And whether you think I'm being rude or not is irrelevant. You can always leave."
>"I might!" Mokou snaps back.
>"Miss Satori, I'm not sure how much you see, but I hope what I've been doing, and why, makes sense to you."
>"A little. I can't read everything you know, only what you're thinking about at the moment."
>She turns to back Mokou "Yes, small comfort, isn't it? 'I'll just have to make sure I don't think about stuff like that, right? Or that." One side of her mouth curls into a smirk. It's actually a bit of an unnerving expression coming from her. Mokou, on the other hand, can't seem to decide whether she should be just plain pissed off or extremely embarrassed. It's actually kind of cute. Satori glances back at you, and then at Mokou again. "She really loves you, you know. Whether you believe her or not."
>Now Mokou is just kind of staring open-mouthed, looking totally unsure of the proper reaction to this. You can't entirely blame her.
-
>"It's alright if you want to leave, Mokou, but really, I think you have the least to be embarrassed about of anyone here."
>"I'll try not to overwhelm you with all of this at once, Satori, but it's kind of a jumble."
>Think over the whole sordid affair we've been through the past day and a half or so.
-
>"It's alright if you want to leave, Mokou, but really, I think you have the least to be embarrassed about of anyone here."
>"I'll try not to overwhelm you with all of this at once, Satori, but it's kind of a jumble."
>Think over the whole sordid affair we've been through the past day and a half or so.
>Mokou looks at you a little oddly, then folds her arms and looks away from Satori. "I'm ok," she says, a bit gruffly.
>"Very well," she replies.
>Satori nods slowly at you while you try to recount recent events in your mind. You honestly wonder how well she can pick up the details from all of this; it feels like your own thoughts are a bit of a mess at the moment, and you can't keep your mind from jumping back and forth to related, but irrelevant things, like ancient Chinese history, and wondering what Mokou must be thinking right now.
>"I could tell you if you want," Satori pipes up, but you keep concentrating on the actual important facts of your story. That can wait until you're out of mind-reading range; there are some things that don't bear thinking on right now...
>"Oh, don't worry on my account," she says, with precisely the opposite effect of reassuring you. "I've seen it all before, I assure you."
>Eventually, you think you've covered most of what was important. And probably far too much that wasn't.
>"I can't say I've ever heard anything quite like that," Satori says, at length. "At least, for once, someone won't suspect you of lying about it all."
-
>Nod. "Thank you. In turn, could you perhaps tell me what has happened here? I presume, well, Utsuho is gone, at the least."
-
>Nod. "Thank you. In turn, could you perhaps tell me what has happened here? I presume, well, Utsuho is gone, at the least."
>"Yes, that would be correct. Nothing down here's been the same without her. And yes, that's why hell's gone cold. Although with everything else down here. But, no, she's still alive, and certain to remain that way for as long as Kanako can help it. Much rests on her, after all."
>"You don't have to stand in the hallway, Orin," Satori calls out. "They don't mean us any harm. ...and yes, she has a surprisingly good reason why she knew about that."
>Orin slowly walks in through the doorway, looking just a little sheepish, and avoiding looking at you. She doesn't say anything.
-
>Let some blocks fall into place, hope for a tetris.
>"Allow me to guess, Kanako is using her as an energy source to provide power for the mountain?"
-
>Let some blocks fall into place, hope for a tetris.
>"Allow me to guess, Kanako is using her as an energy source to provide power for the mountain?"
>"Very good deduction," Satori says. "Although it isn't quite as benign as you seem to remember it."
>"They've got her locked up in there!" Orin cries. "They wouldn't even let me see her!"
-
>Sigh.
>"She's probably the only one who can cut through a much rock as we're likely going to need to get through, isn't she?"
-
>Sigh.
>"She's probably the only one who can cut through a much rock as we're likely going to need to get through, isn't she?"
>"Rock?" says Orin. "What are you-"
>"Perhaps not," Satori interrupts. "The oni may be able to help, somehow. If they care to. But Utsuho is obviously capable of what you need, as you've seen."
-
>"So what do you know about her predicament, exactly? Just that she's been captured?"
-
>"So what do you know about her predicament, exactly? Just that she's been captured?"
>"She is bound somewhere inside Youkai Mountain itself," Satori says.
>"I tried to talk to Kanako," Orin begins. "I begged her to let Okuu come home, but she just said she's 'too dangerous to ever be allowed to leave'. Well, who made her that way!? Whose fault is that!?"
>"Orin...." Satori says, surprisingly soft and warm compared to her earlier tone of voice.
-
>Say nothing, but chances are there's no way the differences between here and our time wouldn't be considered.
-
>Say nothing, but chances are there's no way the differences between here and our time wouldn't be considered.
>Satori looks at you and gives a mournful smile. "That world of your sounds like a happier place. I truly do miss her..."
-
>Sigh.
>"I don't suppose there is a moderately quick way from here to there, is there?"
-
>Sigh.
>"I don't suppose there is a moderately quick way from here to there, is there?"
>"The quickest is probably the way you came, I'm afraid," Satori replies.
-
>Consider the possibility this is all a Moriya Shrine conspiracy
like the other time when Kanako created Gensokyo Isle
>EDIT: "Is the second longest way any more dangerous than the way I came?"
-
>"Oh well. Hopefully the second longest isn't bad."
>Ponder what time it is. And also if the next day of the full moon is still usable for us, or if its just once a month.
-
>Consider the possibility this is all a Moriya Shrine conspiracy like the other time when Kanako created Gensokyo Isle
>You ponder Kanako's possible involvement in all the things that have changed. You're not sure how she could have, but you still don't really have any good clues as to why things changed like they did. And she does seem to have benefited the most of anyone from all that's changed. Actually, could she be one of the only one's that's benefited?
>"I'm afraid I wouldn't know," Satori adds. "I'm not aware of anything relating to that experience of yours."
>"Oh well. Hopefully the second longest isn't bad."
>"You can exit through the city. It's likely the oni will be less dangerous than the spirits were. Although the return trip might not be so unpleasant if you had a guide. If that is indeed what you intend to do."
>Ponder what time it is. And also if the next day of the full moon is still usable for us, or if its just once a month.
>It works unfortunately only once a month. You're uncertain what time it is, now. All that wandering in the dark with no frame of reference makes it easy to lose track.
>"It should be nearly midnight, I think," Satori responds.
>"I don't suppose someone can explain what's going on?" Orin finally asks.
-
> Turn to Satori.
> "Is it okay if I tell her what I told you?"
> If so, explain how we ended up in this world and what our world is like.
-
> Turn to Satori.
> "Is it okay if I tell her what I told you?"
> If so, explain how we ended up in this world and what our world is like.
>"That is your decision, of course," Satori replies.
>You start to explain the gist of your situation, and a few of the important ways that it differs from life here: namely that the Hell of Blazing Fires is still blazing and on fire, that Utsuho is not imprisoned, and is in fact peacefully co-existing with the outside world. Orin looks at you wide-eyed as you speak, and then looks over towards Satori, who nods at her.
>"That's.... that's..." she looks conflicted. "Look, I'm sorry, ok? I wish that things were like that, here..."
-
>"You see why I was so hesitant to say anything, at first, I hope. Sorry for misleading you, and hurting your feelings."
>"A question, Orin. How well do you know the city, and the tunnels outside it?"
-
>"You see why I was so hesitant to say anything, at first, I hope. Sorry for misleading you, and hurting your feelings."
>"A question, Orin. How well do you know the city, and the tunnels outside it?"
>"It's... It's ok. I'll just never forgive Kanako for all this, is all. If she wasn't a damn god, I'd... well, y'know."
>"Oh, I know the city well enough. Don't really go out beyond it, though. Why d'ya ask?"
-
>"One of the things I'm going to need, especially, is a guide. Both around the city and out in the wilds. If you'd be so kind as to aid us around the city, I would be very appreciative."
-
>"One of the things I'm going to need, especially, is a guide. Both around the city and out in the wilds. If you'd be so kind as to aid us around the city, I would be very appreciative."
>She considers this. "What're you planning to do, anyway?"
-
>"If we can get this done tonight, I want to invade Eientei, that being a mansion on the surface, and fix the moon. That's the main obstacle to dealing with this problem, the overarching one. But, that requires us to find the right place, then burrowing up into the manor itself. You can see where we'd need help in several places for that."
>_
-
>"If we can get this done tonight, I want to invade Eientei, that being a mansion on the surface, and fix the moon. That's the main obstacle to dealing with this problem, the overarching one. But, that requires us to find the right place, then burrowing up into the manor itself. You can see where we'd need help in several places for that."
>"You want to burrow all the way from here to the surface? That's nuts! How in the world do you plan to pull that off?"
>"She doesn't know," Satori 'helpfully' adds.
>"And how does fixing the moon help with all of this, anyway?" Orin continues.
-
>"We're rather winging it at this point, yes. Though if anyone other than Utsuho could do it, it would be the oni, I imagine."
>"As for the moon, I need it to be properly full to properly examine and hopefully fix history."
-
>"We're rather winging it at this point, yes. Though if anyone other than Utsuho could do it, it would be the oni, I imagine."
>"Maybe..." Orin acknowledges. "Might have a hard time getting them to help, though. Y'see, most of them don't care what happens on the surface. Or with anyone but themselves, for that matter."
>"As for the moon, I need it to be properly full to properly examine and hopefully fix history."
>"So, you think if the moon is full, you'll be able to make everything here like you say it's supposed to be? Just like that?"
-
>"Possibly. During the full moon, my abilities are strengthened significantly. And I have the ability to change history. Having the full moon around might make me powerful enough to change things back to the way they were."
-
> "I guess you could say that. The reason I need the moon is because I'm part hakutaku, and without it I can't use my powers to their full potential."
-
>Nod to her oni comment. "I was afraid of that."
>"Even I can't restore things, then it will still aid a lot of youkai who depend on it."
-
>"Possibly. During the full moon, my abilities are strengthened significantly. And I have the ability to change history. Having the full moon around might make me powerful enough to change things back to the way they were."
> "I guess you could say that. The reason I need the moon is because I'm part hakutaku, and without it I can't use my powers to their full potential."
>Orin nods. "I guess that makes sense. It's just still pretty hard to take in that these last few years have been some sort of big mistake." She pauses. "Wait, I take that back. It's very easy to think of them as a big mistake. Just... not one quite like that."
>Nod to her oni comment. "I was afraid of that."
>"Yeah. We don't interact a whole lot. They gave hell a wide berth, and I was happy enough for it. 'course, they complain now because it's all so cold here, but I don't see them lift a finger to try and change that."
>"Even I can't restore things, then it will still aid a lot of youkai who depend on it."
>"Sorry if I don't feel all that altruistic these days," Orin says. "No offense."
-
>"The other alternative, I suppose, would be to rescue Utsuho."
>Sigh.
>"I really do not feel confident in that. At least coming here, I had a vague semblance of a plan. Unless either of you can give me some detailed information about the shrine? I do feel...that confident in being able to talk sense into Kanako. Though, perhaps she would listen to me..."
>Mull over things.
-
>"The other alternative, I suppose, would be to rescue Utsuho."
>Sigh.
>You think you see Orin tense up. Satori simply continues to look at you impassively.
>"I really do not feel confident in that. At least coming here, I had a vague semblance of a plan. Unless either of you can give me some detailed information about the shrine? I do feel...that confident in being able to talk sense into Kanako. Though, perhaps she would listen to me..."
>"Sense?" Orin spits. "Damn god doesn't listen to anyone but herself. And why should she have to? No one knows better than her, anyway, right?"
>"I am not sure you can convince her that what she does is wrong," Satori continues. "I believe she honestly thinks she is doing what is best and what is necessary. It is difficult to convince someone in her position otherwise. But you know things that she cannot. Perhaps that could help you?"
>"Okuu's not at the shrine, anyway," Orin says, sounding a little less irritated. "Least I don't think so. Kinda hard to keep her out of sight there. The kappa and everyone've got this big factory place built inside the mountain. They've gotta be keeping her in there, somewhere. At least as far as I figure."
>Mull over things.
>It seems you have a few options before you, here. Utsuho seems like the easiest way to tunnel to the surface, if she were here, but rescuing her might be as hard or harder than reaching Eientei in the first place. The oni are another possibility to reaching Eientei, but convincing them to be concerned about surface affairs might be even more difficult. And you have a finite number of hours before you'd need to wait an entire extra month for this. Although history isn't going anywhere... And perhaps there are even other options you haven't considered yet?
>"I'd be a little sad if it were done for nothing more than pragmatic reasons," Satori comments, "but I cannot fault your hesitation. I am not sure even you would be able."
-
>Briefly contemplate if we could negotiate a one night release. Discard this as stabbing these poor people in the back for the sack of pragmatism.
>Pick up the idea again as a kind of trial run...
-
>Briefly contemplate if we could negotiate a one night release. Discard this as stabbing these poor people in the back for the sack of pragmatism.
>Pick up the idea again as a kind of trial run...
>Satori frowns at you; not disapprovingly exactly, but... Oh, man...
>"Well, it might be an angle to work with," Satori says. "I don't know how much Kanako trusts you, but Sanae seemed to. I've never spoken with her; only Orin has. But... any attempt at all would be.... an act of immense kindness."
>"If there's anything at all I can do..." Orin says.
-
>To Orin, "I...might have an idea, that may work toward something. I might try to negotiate a temporary release. The point being to show Utsuho can indeed behave herself. This said, the greater problem would be that Kanako would certainly like to keep power flowing through Youkai Mountain, so we would have to address this issue, too. But that, we can put off until after tonight's main problem has been solved. Orin, if you were to assist with this, I would think your role would be to make certain Utsuho doesn't try to escape. I can immediately see the temptation to let her get away, but life as a fugitive would only bring more hardship for everyone."
>"It's not much, but it's all that I can propose, outside of gathering as many allies as we can and trying directly to bust her out. Which would lead to all of the difficulties that I just mentioned with her escaping."
-
>To Orin, "I...might have an idea, that may work toward something. I might try to negotiate a temporary release. The point being to show Utsuho can indeed behave herself. This said, the greater problem would be that Kanako would certainly like to keep power flowing through Youkai Mountain, so we would have to address this issue, too. But that, we can put off until after tonight's main problem has been solved. Orin, if you were to assist with this, I would think your role would be to make certain Utsuho doesn't try to escape. I can immediately see the temptation to let her get away, but life as a fugitive would only bring more hardship for everyone."
>"I won't let her go back there," Orin says flatly, and turns away from you.
>"It may be the best we can hope for," Satori says. "If you try to help her escape... I don't want to lose you, too."
>"It's not much, but it's all that I can propose, outside of gathering as many allies as we can and trying directly to bust her out. Which would lead to all of the difficulties that I just mentioned with her escaping."
>"Can't say she doesn't have it coming after what she did," Orin says.
-
>"If you can't help, I suppose there's nothing I can do. I really don't think we'll be up for breaking out Utsuho and then restoring the moon, even if we do get all the assistance from Scarlet Devil Manor I am hoping to get."
-
>"If you can't help, I suppose there's nothing I can do. I really don't think we'll be up for breaking out Utsuho and then restoring the moon, even if we do get all the assistance from Scarlet Devil Manor I am hoping to get."
>Orin doesn't reply. Satori looks at her for a few moments.
>"Please try to understand where she's coming from," Satori says, at length. "And I understand where you're coming from as well. This isn't your issue. It was very kind of you to offer to speak on our behalf. Attempting to force her out of there is... more than anyone could reasonably expect." She looks back at Orin, pointedly.
>"Can't say I much want to go toe-to-toe with a god tonight, either," Mokou adds.
-
>Nod to Mokou.
>"I wish I could come up with a better way, really. But time is such an issue..."
-
>Nod to Mokou.
>"I wish I could come up with a better way, really. But time is such an issue..."
>"Yes, I understand that it is," Satori replies. "I won't keep you any longer, then."
>"If you can't get the moon or whatever fixed before the night's up," Orin asks, "what then? Wait around another month?"
-
>"Essentially. I'll try to pursue other avenues, but...this is the most likely solution. And even if it isn't, it's still something that needs to be done."
-
>"Essentially. I'll try to pursue other avenues, but...this is the most likely solution. And even if it isn't, it's still something that needs to be done."
>"Fine," Orin says. "And, uh... good luck, I guess. Sorry again."
-
>"Fine," Orin says. "And, uh... good luck, I guess. Sorry again."
>Nod.
>Disappointment that she doesn't want to help toward a solution.
>"Helping us around the city would be an excellent way to make up for that."
-
>Nod.
>Disappointment that she doesn't want to help toward a solution.
>"Helping us around the city would be an excellent way to make up for that."
>"I, well...." Orin looks back at Satori, who slowly nods at her. "I.... guess I could. I'm not sure what good I can do with your problem, though."
-
>"Well, you've already stated what you won't do. But what you can do is help us find someone who knows the caves very well, and can help us find the nearest point between Eientei and the Underground."
-
>"Well, you've already stated what you won't do. But what you can do is help us find someone who knows the caves very well, and can help us find the nearest point between Eientei and the Underground."
>"Well, Yuugi and Suika are the bigshots around town. If they don't know, they probably know someone who does. I can show you where to find them, anyway."
-
>"Tell me about them while you show us out? I know Suika decently well from my world, but I imagine things are very different here."
-
>"Eh, don't know them too well, really, but I can tell you a few things. C'mon." Orin gestures with her hand, and turns to walk out of the room.
-
>Follow!
>"Thank you for sorting everything out for us, Satori."
-
>Follow!
>You turn to follow Orin out, Mokou and Rumia falling in behind you.
>"Thank you for sorting everything out for us, Satori."
>She nods. "Good luck to you."
>Orin leads you back into the large hallway and continues in the direction you were originally headed.
>"So, what'd you want to know about 'em?" she asks.
-
>"I know they were both Devas of the Mountain, and that's about it as far as I feel is reliable. Tell me what they are like, as far as you know?"
-
>"I know they were both Devas of the Mountain, and that's about it as far as I feel is reliable. Tell me what they are like, as far as you know?"
>"Ok, well, I wouldn't really say they run the place down here; oni aren't really that formal about it. But they have a lot of influence. Yuugi probably moreso, but that might just be because she's louder about it. I think they're kinda friends, or at least what passes for friendship among some oni, but they don't always see eye to eye on stuff."
>"They're almost opposites of each other, really. Yuugi's big; looks like a bruiser, even for an oni. She's simple, blunt, loves a good fight. Not really a bad person, but you wouldn't want to piss her off. She's an oni's oni, really. Suika... well, she's a little odd. Tiny, scrawny looking thing. Doesn't get into fights much, although rumor is that she's even stronger than Yuugi. Might be why the other oni seem to respect her, even if she doesn't throw her weight around. Loves a good party even by oni standards. Probably what she spends most of her time doing, actually."
-
>"So if she's odd by oni standards, Suika may be more willing to hear us out..."
>"What about the city itself?"
-
>"So if she's odd by oni standards, Suika may be more willing to hear us out..."
>Orin shrugs. "It's possible. Hard to tell with her."
>"What about the city itself?"
>"What about it? Same as always. Except colder. Lots of oni, lots of drinking, lots of noise. No one else ever comes down this way. Old bargains I think, or something. Or just no one cares to."
>You reach a large and solid double-door at the end of the hallway, and Orin opens it; a chill wind blows into the palace.
>"And the it is," she says, stepping outside. There is a long cobblestone path leading away from the palace, flanked by some drab and ill-kept greenery on either side. Some ways in the distance you can see the Ancient City itself; a series of low-roofed tiled buildings, piled up almost on top of each other. It is brightly lit by what appear to be lanterns, and you can see tiny figures walking to and fro among it.
-
>"So I see. Would you know anybody who knows the caves well?"
-
>"So I see. Would you know anybody who knows the caves well?"
>"Well, one of them might. Like I said, I don't go out past the Ancient City, so it's not a topic that comes up much for me."
-
>"Well, let's see if Suika has anything to share. She is rather friendly, as I recall."
-
>"Well, let's see if Suika has anything to share. She is rather friendly, as I recall."
>"Sure. I can show you where her place is. No promise she'll be there, though, if there's anywhere else interesting to be."
>Orin leads you down the long path towards the Ancient City. It doesn't take long before the bustle of the place becomes apparent. It may be the middle of the night, but you get the impression that's only when things get started up around here. There's plenty of oni milling about, drinking and carousing in small, and sometimes not so small groups. The buildings form a series of narrow angular streets and alleyways, and Orin leads you purposefully down them. You note that the buildings are actually in kind of in better repair than you'd expected for a city full of oni.
>You draw a lot of curious stares from oni as you go, Mokou in particular, although for her part, she glares back more than as good as she gets. Everyone seems to give you space, just the same. Rumia seems to simply be enjoying the new scenery, and looks rather oblivious to the interpersonal dynamic entirely.
>Eventually, you reach a small, single story dwelling. It would be entirely unremarkable among the nearby homes if it were not set apart a small distance, and partially enclosed in a stone fence.
>"This is the place," Orin says.
-
>Look around for a knocker or a bell or some such.
>Presuming no such thing, approach the door and knock.
-
>Look around for a knocker or a bell or some such.
>Presuming no such thing, approach the door and knock.
>You search around, but find neither a knocker nor any analog, so you decide to knock on the door directly. You get no response, however.
-
>Ponder the likelyhood she is hung over or asleep.
>Knock again.
-
>Ponder the likelyhood she is hung over or asleep.
>Knock again.
>Given what you know of her, both seem distinctly possible.
>You knock harder this time, but still receive no response.
-
>"I suppose she's not home. We'll probably just have to look for a wild party."
-
>"I suppose she's not home. We'll probably just have to look for a wild party."
>Orin frowns. "I suppose we could."
-
>Look around. Does it seem like anyone is giving us weird looks for loitering in front of a Deva's house?
-
>Look around. Does it seem like anyone is giving us weird looks for loitering in front of a Deva's house?
>It doesn't seem so. At least, no weirder than the looks they were giving you elsewhere. There actually isn't a great crowd around here, compared to some of the other places you walked past. It seems to be towards the southern outskirts of the city.
-
>"Well, there goes the hope of nosy neighbors..."
>"Actually, what is there to see around town, Orin?"
-
>"Well, there goes the hope of nosy neighbors..."
>"Actually, what is there to see around town, Orin?"
>"Well, the usual town stuff: houses, shops, bars. Actually, I swear half the shops sell some kind of alchohol, too. There's a surprisingly decent restaurant or two. If you don't mind deep fried stuff, anyway. Can't say there's a lot of tourist attractions considering there's never any tourists. If you're wondering where the best place to find her would be, well.... Oni parties are kind of a spontaneous thing. They seem to spring up whenever the number of drunk oni on one street reaches critical mass, and just kind of spread from there. But I can show you where some of the better bars are." She sighs. "If you insist."
-
>Contemplate if the ceiling is high enough for a good aerial look around.
-
>Contemplate if the ceiling is high enough for a good aerial look around.
>There's plenty of room up there to get a view of much of the city.
-
>"Is flight discouraged here?"
>If Orin allows for it, get an aerial view of the place.
>_
-
>"Is flight discouraged here?"
>If Orin allows for it, get an aerial view of the place.
>She gives you a funny look. "Why would that be?"
>Figuring that implies no one's likely to object, you take to the air to get a better look at the city. It really isn't especially large, given how densely packed most of the buildings are. You see an open space that might be a market square, although there doesn't appear to be clearly defined residential and commercial areas, for the most part. You see several clusters of oni in different parts of the city, milling around what are probably bars or some other point of interest. The largest and most raucous of these is some distance to the northeast.
-
>Land.
>"There seems to be a pretyt lively party to the northeast. That seems to be a good place to find her."
>Head that way!
-
>Land.
>"There seems to be a pretyt lively party to the northeast. That seems to be a good place to find her."
>Head that way!
>"Well..." Orin says. "Might be."
>You head off towards the gathering that you saw, while Orin ends up slinking towards the back of the group. Still, it proves to be surprisingly easy to find them; the noise becomes very evidently very quickly. You swear you can hear drinking songs from a whole block away. The gathering of oni become increasingly dense as you approach, and you're soon into the party proper. Or at least as proper as such a thing could ever be counted as.
>There are oni of every size and description, laughing, shouting and carousing. And getting into the occasional good spirited brawl, while bystanders laugh and cheer, and use it as an excuse to drink to something. Not that they seem to need one. The only oni without some alcohol in their hands seem to be either unconscious or using their arms for something else, and even then some of them manage.
-
>Linger around the edges of the party for now, try to pick out Suika-like shapes, assuming we know what she looks like.
-
>Linger around the edges of the party for now, try to pick out Suika-like shapes, assuming we know what she looks like.
>You know what Suika looks like well enough that you think you could distinguish her easily enough. It helps that she's considerably shorter than most everyone here. Actually, maybe it doesn't help, since she could easily be obscured behind them. You don't see any signs of her yet, anyway.
>A couple oni gesture drunkenly in your direction, and start to talk loudly among themselves. Of course, there's so much other noise that their volume doesn't really help you understand what they're saying.
-
>Do their expressions or body language suggest the general tone of what they're saying?
-
>Consider unleashing the power of dance.
-
>Do their expressions or body language suggest the general tone of what they're saying?
>They seem rather plastered, so it's hard to tell for sure whether they're being disapproving or just boisterously uncoordinated.
>Consider unleashing the power of dance.
>You were never much of a dancer. Judging by what seems to be passing for entertainment here, though, you might get a few laughs, anyway. Or a drunken thump across the back. Still, they're already staring at you funny, so at least that part can't get any worse. Can it?
-
>Ponder if having our horns like we ought to would make matters better, or worse.
>Head into the crowd and try to pick out Suika if she's there to be picked out.
-
>Ponder if having our horns like we ought to would make matters better, or worse.
>Aside from making you feel more comfortable in your own skin right now, you really don't know. No one ought to be able to confuse you for an oni.... then again, some of them might just be drunk enough to pull that off. And would that help you blend, or make you an acceptable target?
>Head into the crowd and try to pick out Suika if she's there to be picked out.
>You decide to head deeper into the gathering to look for Suika. While oni in the rest of town seemed to be making a point to give your group space, these either don't notice, don't care, or there simply isn't room around them to give. You make an effort to avoid drunken gesticulations and actual fistfights, although you end up with a little sake splashed over you from an overly exuberant toast.
>A large oni brushes shoulders with Mokou hard enough that the latter stumbles and has to catch her footing.
>"Hey!" the oni says, nearly slurring the occasional world. "What's one of your kind doin' done 'ere?"
>"Mind your own business," Mokou replies.
-
> Try and break this fight up before it starts, we don't want to draw too much attention
-
> Try and break this fight up before it starts, we don't want to draw too much attention
>If does seem like a good idea not to let anyone come to blows here, but how do you plan to attempt this?
-
> Quickly grab Mokou and make a run for it, be careful of the other Onis though, you don't want to start more fights
-
>Don't make a run for it.
>Grab Mokou if she seems like she's about to go into asskick mode, otherwise she take her by the arm.
>"Sorry about that. We're just looking for someone."
-
> Quickly grab Mokou and make a run for it, be careful of the other Onis though, you don't want to start more fights
>Don't make a run for it.
>You contemplate making a break for it, but suspect that might make things worse.
>Grab Mokou if she seems like she's about to go into asskick mode, otherwise she take her by the arm.
>"Sorry about that. We're just looking for someone."
>Mokou looks a little testy, but not yet ready to set anyone on fire over it, yet, at least. You take her by the arm in the hopes of stifling any change she might change her mind.
>You apologize to the oni. "Hey, I'm someone!" She leers.
-
>Pause, if we're out of slugging distance.
>"That's true. But I don't think that's your name. I'm Keine. Could you be so kind as to help us out a little bit? I really shoudl have thought to ask you, shouldn't I?"
-
>Pause, if we're out of slugging distance.
>"That's true. But I don't think that's your name. I'm Keine. Could you be so kind as to help us out a little bit? I really shoudl have thought to ask you, shouldn't I?"
>You're probably not, so you shift a step or two.
>The oni laughs. "Can't'cha see I'm busy, here? Yer jus' lucky I'm in a good mood. Isn't that right?" She reaches out to thump her hand against your shoulder. Or so you think, anyway. She stumbles as she tries this, and doesn't manage to complete the gesture.
-
>Nods
>"Yeah, we'll get out of your hair. Have you seen Suika anywhere?"
-
>Nods
>"Yeah, we'll get out of your hair. Have you seen Suika anywhere?"
>"Eh, over there somewhere." She gestures vaguely in the direction of some of the gathered oni, and then stumbles off. "Have fun, now!" she mutters as she leaves.
-
>"Thanks!"
>Head somewhere over there. Entertain no plans to let that arm go.
-
>"Thanks!"
>Head somewhere over there. Entertain no plans to let that arm go.
>You head off towards the crowd the oni pointed at, keeping a first grasp of Mokou's arm. She seems distinctly uncomfortable; how much of that is holding arms in a crowd of oni, and how much is simply being in a crowd of oni, you're not sure. You can certainly share her sentiments on the latter. Though many of the oni are too preoccupied with their own activities to notice you, those who do give you looks ranging from confused to downright intimidating. You get the disturbing feeling that this could get nasty very quickly if someone sparked it.
>It doesn't take you long to spot what you think if Suika a small ways in the distance. She's kind of obscured, but that tiny figure darting back and forth between people looks an awful lot like her.
-
>Get closer and find out.
-
>Get closer and find out.
>You head over towards her. Yeah, it's definitely her. Before you can get close enough to speak to her, though, another oni steps in front of you and glares.
>"Hey, where do you think you're going?"
-
>"This way. I guess I'm not supposed to?"
>Ascertain inebriation level.
-
>"This way. I guess I'm not supposed to?"
>"No, I guess you're not! Got a lot of nerve getting this close."
>Ascertain inebriation level.
>She seems a fair bit more sober than the last oni. Well, sober is probably the wrong word for it, given the circumstances. You settle for 'less incapacitated.'
-
>"Okay, I'll back off. What's the problem, though?"
>Back off a bit. Play innocent.
-
>"Okay, I'll back off. What's the problem, though?"
>Back off a bit. Play innocent.
>You take a step back
>"What's the problem?" she says. "Problem is some cocky outsiders who don't belong here!"
>"Hey!" Orin objects, but without a great deal of enthusiasm
-
>"There's no need to be like that, we just want to talk with Suika."
-
>"There's no need to be like that, we just want to talk with Suika."
>She laughs. "Do ya now? Well tough. Deva's busy. Don't got no time for people like you. Lucky I don't make a point of you for assumin'." She turns and gives Mokou a good look over. You feel Mokou tense against your arm.
-
>"Ah, so you're her bodyguard?"
>Perfectly sincere tone. Let's see if she'll hang herself with enough rope.
-
>"Ah, so you're her bodyguard?"
>Perfectly sincere tone. Let's see if she'll hang herself with enough rope.
>The oni bursts into derisive laughter. "You really don't have a clue, do ya? What's someone like her need with a bodyguard? I'm just making sure good-for-nothin's like you don't spoil the mood."
-
>"I didn't think she'd need one either, but you never know. Sometimes people like others to handle their problems. But are we really that bad?"
-
>"I didn't think she'd need one either, but you never know. Sometimes people like others to handle their problems. But are we really that bad?"
>"Surfucers ain't supposed to be here," she says flatly. She pauses and stares at you again. "And I don't like 'em."
-
>"We have an escort, it's alright" nod toward Orin.
-
>"We have an escort, it's alright" nod toward Orin.
>Orin tenses up when you indicate her.
>The oni gives her a dismissive glance. "Psh.. she don't count."
>You see a couple more oni looking in your direction now. It seems you're attracting a bit of attention.
-
>Contemplate chances of escaping a riot via air.
>"Well, if that's how you feel, I suppose there's nothing to say."
>Turn to leave.
-
>Contemplate chances of escaping a riot via air.
>"Well, if that's how you feel, I suppose there's nothing to say."
>Turn to leave.
>You figure that depends on how many oni choose to get involved. Or, at least, bother to chase you directly, rather than fall in among their neighbors in a general melee or something.
>The oni nods, and you turn to leave. You hear her humph behind you. Mokou gives you a sidelong glance, and Orin seems to breath a sigh of relief.
-
>Quietly to Mokou, "I didn't think you felt like having to fight out of a riot. Though frankly, if you want to take her down, I'd have a hard time saying no about now."
-
>Quietly to Mokou, "I didn't think you felt like having to fight out of a riot. Though frankly, if you want to take her down, I'd have a hard time saying no about now."
>Mokou sighs in irritation and shakes her head. "Can't say I wouldn't enjoy it, but I don't want to take on the whole block."
-
>Make to circle around, and try to approach Suika from the other side.
-
>Make to circle around, and try to approach Suika from the other side.
>You make your way away without further comment, and take the long way around, approaching the open space where Suika was from the other direction.
>Orin spares another sigh when you're out of range. "I really thought one of you two were gonna end up settin' her off. Some of the oni don't care much about the surface, either way. Others, well... old grudges, and all, you know?"
>Aside from the usual hazards of navigating drunken revelry, you reach your destination without incident. You can see Suika ahead, meandering back and forth, alternating between taking swigs from her gourd and tossing various morsels from a nearby table into her mouth. You don't immediately see the oni you had an argument with, although there's a good chance she's not too far away.
-
>Approach! If Issues the Oni wants to try something, she can try it in Suika's face.
>Try to get in easy conversing distance, before calling out to her.
-
>Approach! If Issues the Oni wants to try something, she can try it in Suika's face.
>Try to get in easy conversing distance, before calling out to her.
>You approach Suika and call out to her, hopeful that no one else will try anything if she's talking to you.
>Upon hearing her name, Suika turn around to face you, a foolish grin on her face. That lasts about as long as it takes for her to see you . She tilts her head, and peers at you curiously, frowning a little.
>"Hmmm... new face," she says.
-
>"Yeah. I'm Keine. This is Mokou, Orin, and Rumia. Mind if we talk a bit?"
>Gesture appropriately to them.
-
>"Yeah. I'm Keine. This is Mokou, Orin, and Rumia. Mind if we talk a bit?"
>Gesture appropriately to them.
>Suika pauses and considers. "Sure, why not," she says eventually. "Don't see many new faces down here." She takes another swig of her gourd, then turns back to the table and grabs a fried somthing-or-other off it. "Dig in! Food's not gonna eat itself, y'now."
-
>Get to that food before it achieves a state of self-eating anyways.
>"Thanks! I appreciate it, It's been kind of a long trip."
-
>Get to that food before it achieves a state of self-eating anyways.
>You go over to the table and find there's an ample spread of a variety of foods, mostly fried, and mostly finger food. You pick out a chunchy looking item and take a bite. Hmmm.... tastes like chicken. Probably is chicken, actually. Mokou looks at the table warily for a few moments, and then grabs something similar. Once Rumia sees you eating, she pops over to the table and starts sampling dish after dish at random.
>"See, that's the spirit, kid!" Suika says.
>"Thanks! I appreciate it, It's been kind of a long trip."
>"'course it has! Surface's is a long way away. But I'm not about to turn someone away from a party! Even if they are kinda funny." She tosses a crude earthenware tankard in your direction. You're... not sure when that ended up in her hands.
-
>Take tankard! Consider contents! Sip if they don't seem toxic. Might as well fit in.
>"Glad you feel that way! It's a shame people can't just come down here and join in, isn't it?"
-
>Take tankard! Consider contents! Sip if they don't seem toxic. Might as well fit in.
>You catch the tankard, and without spilling the contents either.
>"Not bad, not bad," Suika comments.
>You take a sniff. Smells like Sake. Hmmm... tastes like Sake, too. Pretty strong, too.
>"Glad you feel that way! It's a shame people can't just come down here and join in, isn't it?"
>"It is!" Suika responds, frowning a little. "'course, half them think I'm crazy for thinkin' it." She takes another gulp. "Probably am, too."
-
>"It's a good kind of crazy, then. I'm glad to see someone isn't mad at the surface, though."
-
>"It's a good kind of crazy, then. I'm glad to see someone isn't mad at the surface, though."
>"I kinda miss it some days, actually. Not a lot to see down here after the first couple centuries."
-
>"Sound like you've looked, too."
-
>"Sound like you've looked, too."
>"Looked for what? 'bout the only people you can drink with are already living here."
-
>"Interesting things, I mean. Or have you just stayed in the city the whole time?"
-
>"Interesting things, I mean. Or have you just stayed in the city the whole time?"
>"Just lots and lot of rock out there. And a few odd youkai; stranger than you bunch. Keep to themselves. Tried to invite them, they didn't care. Not much fun out that way."
-
>"Shame. I was hoping to meet someone who knows the tunnels well..."
-
>"Shame. I was hoping to meet someone who knows the tunnels well..."
>"What for? I just said there's nothing worth finding out there."
-
>"We need it to solve a significant problem, really. Someone's stolen the full moon, and set up a ward to keep us from approaching them from the surface."
-
>"We need it to solve a significant problem, really. Someone's stolen the full moon, and set up a ward to keep us from approaching them from the surface."
>"Stolen the moon? How can anyone steal the moon? Even an oni couldn't lift that thing. 'sides, there's only one way up from down here. Well... two now I s'pose."
-
>"We're hoping to make a third way. Right under them. And...very powerful magic. It's Lunarians doing it."
-
>"We're hoping to make a third way. Right under them. And...very powerful magic. It's Lunarians doing it."
>"Make a third way?" Suika laughs and takes another swig of her gourd. "You think big! 'suppose you're hoping I'll help with that?"
-
>"Like you would not believe."
>Sip.
-
>She laughs. Actually, it's almost more of a giggle, coming from her. "It's not every day someone comes down from the surface to ask a Deva of the Mountain a favor. Actually... it's not any day, far as I can remember." She tilts her head to the side and stares at you again. "What makes you think I'd want to help?"
-
>"Because, from what I've gathered, you care more about having fun than having conflicts. Which leads me to think you'd be more willing to be helpful than be a jerk about things. I'm also hoping it means you still care a bit about how things are on the surface."
-
>"Because, from what I've gathered, you care more about having fun than having conflicts. Which leads me to think you'd be more willing to be helpful than be a jerk about things. I'm also hoping it means you still care a bit about how things are on the surface."
>"Well...." She pauses. "If that's what you think, busting a hole into someone's place from below seems more about conflict than fun. Last I checked, there wasn't a whole lot of fun on the surface, anyhow."
-
>"Well...you're right about there's not being no fun. How badly were you affected by the long winter? It got...pretty terrible, up above. Many people didn't make it, you know?"
-
>"Well...you're right about there's not being no fun. How badly were you affected by the long winter? It got...pretty terrible, up above. Many people didn't make it, you know?"
>"Don't have seasons down here. 'sides, us oni can take a lot. But yeah, I knew. Was actually thinking about poking my head out again, back then. But the place just wasn't the same, y'know?"
-
>Nod.
>"You have no idea how right you are, Suika. But, even if it's not the same, maybe it wouldn't hurt to help out just once? So people remember you're there? Especially since, once this works, we'll have put things a bit like it used to be. Like it's supposed to be."
-
>Nod.
>"You have no idea how right you are, Suika. But, even if it's not the same, maybe it wouldn't hurt to help out just once? So people remember you're there? Especially since, once this works, we'll have put things a bit like it used to be. Like it's supposed to be."
>"Well, I suppose it ain't so bad if I make sure they don't forget we exist, up there. 'sides," she looks at you, and that foolish grin reappears on her face. "might be a bit of a challange, and I haven't had one of those in a long time."
-
>Grin. "Those are words for a sore heart, Suika."
>"I suppose, then, the questions are: do you know those tunnels well enough to get us close? We have a compass that can show us the way, but that doesn't mean the tunnels will cooperate. And after that...well...how quickly can you make a new tunnel right into their home?"
-
>Grin. "Those are words for a sore heart, Suika."
>She nods at you. "C'mon, drink up. 'spossed to be a party, here."
>"I suppose, then, the questions are: do you know those tunnels well enough to get us close? We have a compass that can show us the way, but that doesn't mean the tunnels will cooperate. And after that...well...how quickly can you make a new tunnel right into their home?"
>"Hard for me to say how close I can get ya if I don't even know where you're goin'. And, well... I've never really broken rock in a way someone could walk through before, sorry." She grins sheepishly.
-
>Have a sip.
>"Well, we have a back-up plan for that. But for now, Let's focus on getting to the place."
>Present Suika the compass.
>"As I said, this should point us in the right direction. And it should be easy to tell how close we are by how much it shifts when we take a few steps."
-
>Have a sip.
>"Well, we have a back-up plan for that. But for now, Let's focus on getting to the place."
>Present Suika the compass.
>"As I said, this should point us in the right direction. And it should be easy to tell how close we are by how much it shifts when we take a few steps."
>Suika peers at the compass from one angle, then another, then turns towards the direction it's currently pointing.
>"Might be able to get us pretty close," she says. "We can figure out the rest when we're there."
-
>"How far do you think it is? It may be faster for us to go secure that back-up plan first, if you have no good way through the rock."
-
>"How far do you think it is? It may be faster for us to go secure that back-up plan first, if you have no good way through the rock."
>"I can think of a few ways." Suika flexes. Her stature makes the gesture more comical than imposing. Not that you aren't fully aware of how irrelevant that is in her case. "And what backup?"
-
>"If you can't get through, we'll simply have to rescue Utsuho and have her do it. And, how long would these ways take?"
-
>"If you can't get through, we'll simply have to rescue Utsuho and have her do it. And, how long would these ways take?"
>"How'm I supposed to know how far away something is from where the compass is pointing? And we'll just have to wait and see, won't we? Should be fine as long as I don't bring the whole cave down on top of us." She laughs. Mokou throws you a look that all but screams "And this is your plan?"
-
>"Very well. The important part is, we get it done tonight."
-
>"Very well. The important part is, we get it done tonight."
>Suika rubs her hands together. "A double challange!"
-
>Ponder Suika's record for doing the apparently impossible.
-
>Ponder Suika's record for doing the apparently impossible.
>Outside of the feast incident, you hadn't really known her to do anything much, aside from laze about and enjoy herself. However, her strength was reportedly enormous; she simply rarely chose to exercise it. She'd once even claimed she could tear a mountain down with her bare hands. Given that oni aren't prone to lying, this might even be true. So getting through the rock mightn't be a problem. Surviving the trip... well, she seems enthusiastic, anyway. Hopefully that's meant to be encouraging....
-
>"Very well, Suika, I shall expect to see the Deva of the mountain in action!"
-
>"Very well, Suika, I shall expect to see the Deva of the mountain in action!"
>She thumps her chest and smiles. "It's a rare opportunity. You should feel honored!" She takes a giant gulp of her sake. In fact, you begin to wonder if she's going to run out of breath entirely. At length she puts it aside, and takes a big breath. "Ok, you people!" she calls out. "Keep the party going without me!"
>"Ok," she says, turning back to you. "Let's get going!"
-
>"Let's."
>Infectious confidence!
>Follow after her!
-
>"Let's."
>Suika nods and heads off towards the other end of the city.
>Infectious confidence!
>You allow yourself to feel hopeful about your chances. This may be the most success you've had all night! Mokou clearly seems dubious, but at the moment you're not even going to worry about that. This'll work.
>Follow after her!
>You move to follow after Suika.
>"Well, if you're straightened away," Orin says, "I'll head home, now. And, uh, good luck up there. Hopefully you can fix what you're after."
-
>"Thank you, Orin. Although we're parting, I've not forgotten about Utsuho. I will do what I can to help you, still. Thank you for taking this us this far.
>Depart.
>Grin Mokou a grin. We're doing this!
-
>"Thank you, Orin. Although we're parting, I've not forgotten about Utsuho. I will do what I can to help you, still. Thank you for taking this us this far.
>"I-" A trace of a smile forms on her face, then she nods. "Thank you." She turns and heads back towards the palace.
>Depart.
>Grin Mokou a grin. We're doing this!
>You flash Mokou a grin. She still looks unconvinced. Oh well, we'll work on that.
>Suika leads you out of the city, humming to herself. If you were getting odd looks before, you're getting even more odd ones now. Of course, everyone gives you a relatively wide berth, too. Suika's presence clearly sets you off-limits, even if they have no idea what you're doing there. You eventually leave the city and its inhabitants behind.
>You're in the wide cavernous space that contains the Ancient City. In the distance beyond, you can see a very large tunnel disappear into the distance, and a variety of irregular rock formations and alcoves, some of which seem to contain smaller passages.
>"So me that compass of yours, again," Suika asks.
-
>Hand it over.
-
>Hand it over.
>You hand the seeking stone over to Suika. She takes it and looks at it from one angle, then another, and then back at the caves in front of you.
>"This way," she points, and heads off towards... well, you don't see anything obvious that she's heading towards, but she seems to know where she's going.
-
>Follow that oni!
-
>Follow that oni!
>You follow Suika around a series of rocky outcroppings and into a small rounded tunnel. It bends and twists and branches, and each time Suika takes one of the options without hesitation. You pass by small flows of water, domed chambers, galleries of stalagmites reaching almost to the ceiling, and sudden drop-offs. You try your best to keep track of the path, and how to return, but Suika is marching forward purposefully enough that sometimes it's enough just to keep up with her.
>After a significant time, she stops, holds the seeking stone out at arm's length, and moves it around the room, watching how its direction changes.
>"Getting close now," she says.
-
>"Good."
>How are the others holding up?
-
>"Good."
>Suika nods at you. "Soon the fun part starts!"
>How are the others holding up?
>Rumia is much the same as always. She's spent much of the trip staring wide-eyed at all the scenery she's never seen before.
>Mokou looks a little less grumpy than earlier. You think she's probably happy just to be away from the city. She's still looking at Suika kind of dubiously, though.
-
>Does it seem like Suika is doing much to keep an eye out for possibly dangerous things?
>Do that if she doesn't seem to be. Who knows what lives around here?
>Aside from this, just wait for her to find the right spot and do her thing.
-
>Does it seem like Suika is doing much to keep an eye out for possibly dangerous things?
>If she has been, you haven't caught her doing it. Then again, she probably has reason to think nothing around here could be dangerous to her.
>Do that if she doesn't seem to be. Who knows what lives around here?
>You don't share Suika's carefree attitude about the potential inhabitants of this area. After all, you're quite distant from any habitation, now. Still you haven't seen anything untoward, either.
>Aside from this, just wait for her to find the right spot and do her thing.
>Suika seems to hesitate for a few moments, before choosing a direction again. She takes a passage on the left side of the room, and that ends up twisting substantially to the right after a short distance. A few moments, you emerge into a small chamber that you're relatively sure you were just in a couple minutes ago.
>Suika rubs the back of her head sheepishly. "Um, oops?"
-
>"So, the compass made a full circuit?"
-
>"So, the compass made a full circuit?"
>"Don't think so," Suika says, shaking her head. "Tunnels down here don't go straight, though. Looked like that would get us closer, but it turned away too early."
-
>Look around for some other likely tunnels.
-
>Look around for some other likely tunnels.
>In addition to the tunnel Suika attempted earlier, and the one that you think you arrived to this chamber in the first place through, there are two other exits. One a fair bit to the left of the most direct path, and another almost on the opposite wall.
-
>Point them out.
>"What about those two?"
>_
-
>Point them out.
>"What about those two?"
>Suika looks at the compass, again. "They're not really pointing the right way, but who knows?"
-
>"Let's give the one on the left a try, it might twist and get us closer."
-
>"Let's give the one on the left a try, it might twist and get us closer."
>"Sounds like a plan!" Suika says, nodding sagely. Without further comment, she marches off into the indicated tunnel.
-
>Follow along. Keep an eye on the compass.
-
>Follow along. Keep an eye on the compass.
>You catch up to Suika, and keep an eye on the compass's direction as you walk. It's pointing about 35 degrees to the right at the moment, but you notice it slowly turning further right as you move forward.
>After a little while, you emerge into a medium sized elongated chamber. The is a steep drop along the right of the path, and an underground river of sorts flows there, maybe 50 feet down. A couple smaller streams emerge from the rock face to your left and flow down into the river; you have to cross one of them to continue on your way, but fortunately it doesn't rise above your ankles.
>As you continue down this chamber, the compass passes 90 degrees to your right, and starts to point behind you. The path ahead of you appars to continue a fair bit forward, and eventually turn left.
-
>If we're holding the seeking stone now, fly a bit around the chamber, and see how much it varies.
>If not, ask Suika to do this.
-
>If we're holding the seeking stone now, fly a bit around the chamber, and see how much it varies.
>If not, ask Suika to do this.
>You ask Suika to fly around the chamber with the seeking stone and see if she can tell the extent of the variation. Rather than do this, she hands it back to you and you take a look around, yourself.
>The chamber is several hundred feet long, and vaguely c-shaped. At one end of the chamber, the stone is pointing about 20 degrees to your right. By the other end, it is pointing approximately 100 degrees to your right.
-
>"We're definitely close."
>Move as close as we can to the rightward wall from our current position without getting into the streams and such.
>Repeat the test. See if there is an appreciable difference.
-
>"We're definitely close."
>Move as close as we can to the rightward wall from our current position without getting into the streams and such.
>Repeat the test. See if there is an appreciable difference.
>Suika nods.
>You were pretty close to the rightward wall on the first pass. The actual walkable path is no more than 10 or so feet wide, and much of the open space in the chamber is beyond the ledge and below, to your left.
-
>Fly then, and test again.
-
>Fly then, and test again.
>You try running the same route at a higher altitude. The vertical aim of the seeking stone doesn't change very much compared to the first pass. Of course, the point that was marked was also significantly high above the ground, so you don't think you can tell how deep you are just from this.
-
>Check this particular wall for ways to go further.
-
>Check this particular wall for ways to go further.
>Other than a few small cracks in the rock face from which water issues, the wall seems quite solid to you.
-
>"I think, this is it. The amount of movement the seeking stone is giving me is pretty significant. Eientei isn't that small of a place, either. If we're not below it by now, we're close."
>_
-
>"I think, this is it. The amount of movement the seeking stone is giving me is pretty significant. Eientei isn't that small of a place, either. If we're not below it by now, we're close."
>Suika sizes up the wall. "Time for me to let loose, then?"
-
>Nod.
>"Just follow the stone as well as you can."
-
>Nod.
>"Just follow the stone as well as you can."
>Suika takes another look at the seeking stone, and then moves towards the wall.
>"Might want to get clear!" She calls out.
-
>Head back toward the tunnel that brought us here. Usher the others that way.
-
> Have a peek at what Suika's doing
-
>Head back toward the tunnel that brought us here. Usher the others that way.
> Have a peek at what Suika's doing
>You quickly head back towards the way you came, making sure that Mokou, and particularly Rumia follow along.
>Once you're a reasonable distance away, Suika takes a deep breath, pulls one fist back, and then slams it into the wall. There is an thunderous crack, and you can feel the floor beneath you shake. Fragments of rock explode away from the point of impact. Once the debris clears, you see that there is a crater in the wall around Suika's fist at least 5 feet across and several feet deep. She pulls that arm back and then punches in with the other arm. A similar crash ensues.
-
>Witness!
>"See, Mokou?"
-
>Witness!
>"See, Mokou?"
>If a Deva can muster that much power to do excavation work, you think you're probably quite glad to never have witnessed a battle where she really didn't hold back.
>Mokou is staring rather slack-jawed at the moment. "Don't you think that could bring the whole place down on her?" she eventually asks.
>Suika punches a couple more times, and eventually disappears out of sight into the tunnel she's pummeling.
-
> Do we think it's safe to follow behind her or should we wait for her to finish the tunnel?
-
> Do we think it's safe to follow behind her or should we wait for her to finish the tunnel?
>Are the moment, you really don't want to be anywhere near her. You're not even certain being in the same chamber is entirely safe, given how the floor keeps shaking.
-
> Wait until everything stops shaking, then wait some more and then check on Suika
-
> Wait until everything stops shaking, then wait some more and then check on Suika
>You decide to keep at a safe(?) distance until Suika's clearly finished what she's doing.
>Suika appears to speed up the pace, as the ground starts shaking almost continuously. The noise is really quite deafening. Rumia covers her head in her hands and starts whimpering. Even Mokou looks somewhat disquieted.
>Suddenly, a new sound joins the general chaos. You have just long enough to wonder what it is when a torrent of water bursts out of the new tunnel. You see a skinny arm flailing out of it. It washes over the pathway and quickly falls over the edge below.
-
>"Ah hell!"
>Fly out there to try and save her.
-
>"Ah hell!"
>Fly out there to try and save her.
>As soon as what's happening registers, you dive over the edge and try to see if you can catch her. Looking towards the new waterfall, you don't see any form at all in it now. Then you see one arm thrust out from the water and grab onto a handhold in the cliff face. Wait, correction: make a new handhold in the cliff face. With a little effort, she extricates the rest of herself from the torrent and lands back on the upper path.
-
>"Are you okay? Need a hand?"
>Does the water's flow seem to be slowing?
-
>"Are you okay? Need a hand?"
>Suika grins sheepishly and then shivers. She seems to be soaked to the skin. "Maybe that wasn't that best idea...." she says, belatedly.
>Does the water's flow seem to be slowing?
>The water's flow is slower than smaller than the initial surge, but is still flowing out at a brisk rate. You wouldn't want to try standing in it.
-
>Go give her a hand.
>"Well, maybe not. Do you have any idea what you hit?"
>Once Suika is secure, monitor the water to see if it continues to slow.
-
>Go give her a hand.
>"Well, maybe not. Do you have any idea what you hit?"
>She seems to have her bearings and is far enough from the water not to get swept up again
>"Must be an underground river or something," she says.
>Once Suika is secure, monitor the water to see if it continues to slow.
>It doesn't appear to be. At least not appreciably.
-
>"I was hoping you hit a pond near the surface, actually. But it doesn't seem like it's going to slow down any time soon, does it?"
-
>Be reminded of Cirno's lake draining.
-
>"I was hoping you hit a pond near the surface, actually. But it doesn't seem like it's going to slow down any time soon, does it?"
>"Hmmm... a pond. Suppose it's possible. There any ponds near where I'm digging?"
>Be reminded of Cirno's lake draining.
>The idea of draining a pond below does bring the Misty Lake incident to mind. Although, despite all the tremors and noise Suika was causing, you don't think there were any energy blasts involved this time.
-
>Recall if there were any ponds in or about Eientei, if we've been there to see.
>If we cannot: "Hey Mokou! Are there any ponds around Eientei?"
-
>Recall if there were any ponds in or about Eientei, if we've been there to see.
>There was a small ornamental pond inside the garden of Eientei itself, but you can't imagine this much water could come from there.
>If we cannot: "Hey Mokou! Are there any ponds around Eientei?"
>"No water features in the whole damn forest," she replies. Place would be a lot easier to navigate if there were."
-
>"We should...probably get out of here, then."
>Consider exits.
-
>"We should...probably get out of here, then."
>Consider exits.
>"What?" Suika says. "You're not planning to quit that easily are you?" She seems remarkably unfazed for someone who just fell off a waterfall and is soaked in cold water. Now that you think of it, that's probably not so remarkable for an oni...
>There appear to only be two exits from the chamber. Back the way you came, and forward, along a path that curves to the right, and which seemed to be moving away from the marked location.
-
>"More that I'd like to leave before the chamber floods."
>How quickly is that pit filling up?
-
>"More that I'd like to leave before the chamber floods."
>"Bah," Suika says, and takes a drink. "You'll probably be dead before that happens."
>How quickly is that pit filling up?
>The pit already had a stream of sorts flowing through it. While the waterfall has swelled its flow, the channel doesn't appear to have any trouble coping with the increased volume. It simply flows along it, out of sight.
-
>"Well, that's good. Do you want to try again here, or should we look for somewhere else?"
-
>"Well, that's good. Do you want to try again here, or should we look for somewhere else?"
>Suika peers into the indentation she's pounded into the wall, craning her neck to see without stepping into the water.
>"Well, if we hit a river," she says, "it might already have done most of the digging for us."
-
>"That's a point. But we have to get to it without being flooded out."
-
>"That's a point. But we have to get to it without being flooded out."
>Suika peers down the tunnel, again.
>"Well, if we already hit the water, how much worse can it get?" She grins. Mokou rolls her eyes.
-
> Brace for the worse
-
> Brace for the worse
>You can't say Suika's enthusiasm is entirely comforting at this point...
-
>Look at the tunnel. Does it seem like there would be enough room to fly through it without getting soaked?
-
>Look at the tunnel. Does it seem like there would be enough room to fly through it without getting soaked?
>There's about 2 or 3 feet vertical clearance above the water. It should be possible to fly into it without getting soaked if you keep yourself flat.
-
> Fly through the tunnel, keeping yourself flat against the ceiling of it. Lets see where it leads to.
> Invite the others along too.
-
> Fly through the tunnel, keeping yourself flat against the ceiling of it. Lets see where it leads to.
> Invite the others along too.
>You fly carefully into the tunnel, and invite the others to follow. It really does take some finesse to navigate in here, and the bottom edge of your dress ends up dipping into the water, anyway. Blasted gravity. Still, aside from that, and the occasional fleck of spray, you manage alright. The tunnel itself has a pronounced slope; Suika was clearly angling upward as she dug it. You soon reach the end of the part she created, and see the intersection with the river.
>The main flow of the river is coming from your right, where it quickly winds away from sight. The original path of the river continued to the left, but the flow there is very light, now; most of the water has diverted to the new tunnel, since its slope is much steeper.
-
>Head left for more breathing space.
>Wring out edge of dress.
>Check the seeking stone.
-
>Head left for more breathing space.
>Wring out edge of dress.
>Check the seeking stone.
>You head to the left to put more distance between yours and the water, but while there is much less water here, the tunnel is also narrower, and there really isn't room to stand up, or even easily reach the edge of your dress to wring it out. Unless you kneel down on the wet floor, which rather defeats the purpose.
>You look at the seeking stone. It is pointing about 80 degrees to your right, currently. The path Suika was carving was heading directly for it, so both of the paths that the river follows diverge some degrees away on either side, although you can't tell where they ultimately lead.
-
>Peer left as far as we can, see if it makes a turn in the proper direction.
-
>Peer left as far as we can, see if it makes a turn in the proper direction.
>The path to the left seems mostly straight, and gently slopes downward. You can only see about a hundred feet or so down it, however.
-
>"It doesn't look like this way is going to be much help. If nothing else, I don't think it would suddenly shift upward."
>Move in a little further to see if it makes any turns.
-
>"It doesn't look like this way is going to be much help. If nothing else, I don't think it would suddenly shift upward."
>Move in a little further to see if it makes any turns.
>"Yeah," Mokou agrees. "Rivers don't usually flow up."
>You move a little further down the path, anyway, looking to see if turns back towards the direction you want. It doesn't appear to.
-
>"I doubt the river is going to be any use to us, Suika."
>Check the seeking stone, to see if its changed much, in particular vertically.
-
>"I doubt the river is going to be any use to us, Suika."
>Check the seeking stone, to see if its changed much, in particular vertically.
>"Well, we can always keep going the old-fashioned way!" She replies.
>The seeking stone does appear to angled somewhat higher than it was at the entrance to the watery tunnel
-
>Show her the stone. "We're getting closer, but I think you'll need to angle a bit higher this time."
>Does it feel like we'll be safe in here while Suika does her thing?
-
>Show her the stone. "We're getting closer, but I think you'll need to angle a bit higher this time."
>She looks at the stone and nods.
>Does it feel like we'll be safe in here while Suika does her thing?
>Honestly, in a place this closed in, cave-ins come to mind. You'd really have almost no warning or chance to get out of the way. Suika is either oblivious to this possibility, or simply unconcerned. Doesn't mean you are, though....
-
>"Ah, do you think they ceiling will hold, Suika?"
-
>"Ah, do you think they ceiling will hold, Suika?"
>She stares at the ceiling thoughtfully for a few moments, then shrugs. "Who knows?" she says, grinning at you.
-
>"I think we'll just draw back a bit, then."
>Proceed!
-
>"I think we'll just draw back a bit, then."
>Proceed!
>"And miss all the fun?" Suika says.
>Which direction do you wish to withdraw to?
-
>Back down the tunnel Suika recently dug.
>Hold the front of our dress this time.
-
>Back down the tunnel Suika recently dug.
>Hold the front of our dress this time.
>You move back down the tunnel, holding your dress to keep it out of the water this time. It's nice to be able to stand up, again. You've barely gotten to your feet before you hear more pounding, and feel the ground shake underneath you.
-
> Wait for the shaking to stop again and then go check to see if Suika's finished.
-
>Failing that, listen for cries of dismay or sounds that aren't stone being beaten to death.
-
> Wait for the shaking to stop again and then go check to see if Suika's finished.
>Failing that, listen for cries of dismay or sounds that aren't stone being beaten to death.
>You decide to sit out the continuous micro-earthquakes and wait until the coast seems clear.
>Mokou looks towards the tunnel and sighs. "Well, she's got enthusiasm, anyway. Not sure what else she's got."
>"She's kinda scary," Rumia comments, still frowning a little at all the shaking. "But she always looks happy, aaaand she gave us food! So she can't really be bad!"
>After a little while, you think you start to hear a different kind of noise, coming from the tunnel. It sounds like... multiple voices quietly humming.
-
>"Let's move."
>Back into the new tunnel!
-
>"Let's move."
>Back into the new tunnel!
>You move to enter the tunnel again, when the pounding resumes. You can still something resembling voices getting closer, though.
-
> Investigate.
> Try not to get hit by debris.
-
> Investigate.
> Try not to get hit by debris.
>You take a look into the tunnel and see.... a whole group of miniature Suikas flying out of it, carrying what look like chunks of rock fused together. The rocks are so much larger than them that it makes a rather comical looking procession. The fact that they're all humming to themselves while they do so doesn't help matters.
>"What the-" Mokou says, upon seeing them fly out of the tunnel. Rumia stares at them, wide-eyed.
-
>"Uh. Is it alright in there?"
-
>"Uh. Is it alright in there?"
>You think you may have seen one of them nod to you, but you're not certain. They don't appear to be paying much attention to you.
>The mini-Suikas fly to the edge of the path and drop their cargo over the edge below, then return towards the tunnel. The rocks hit the bottom with an impact that seems entirely disproportional to their size.
>Rumia pokes one of them as it passes her by. It seems to giggle, and Rumia follows suit.
-
>Well, it's not collapsed yet. Follow them back up to the river.
-
>Well, it's not collapsed yet. Follow them back up to the river.
>You follow the mini-Suikas back up the tunnel, and see a pile of debris gathered near the intersection with the river. The mini-Suikas gather more of it, and move back the way you came, navigating around you without paying much attention to you. From the noise, Suika's still going at it, although she's out of sight, now. You can see more bits of rock tumble out of a new passageway with each impact. The pile of debris actually makes getting closer somewhat tricky at the moment, given that you're significantly larger than the Suikas.
-
>Slip through toward the left side, and land if the water seems shallow enough.
-
>Slip through toward the left side, and land if the water seems shallow enough.
>With some effort, you manage to squeeze through the pile of rocks. The water is more than shallow enough to land, on this side, but as the ceiling is about 3 feet above the floor, you're not going to be able to manage more than a crouch.
-
>We won't worry about that, then. Just stretch out in midair and hover, then observe progress.
-
>We won't worry about that, then. Just stretch out in midair and hover, then observe progress.
>You continue to keep an eye on progress, without getting close enough to be hit by falling rocks. Suika seems to have something of an assembly line going. Rocks and other debris falls down the shaft she's disappeared into, and the mini-Suikas carry it away, humming cheerfully. One curious thing is that the amount of rock falling down seems to be much less than should logically be created by digging a passage that wide.
-
>Ponder if the rest has been turned into dust.
-
>Ponder if the rest has been turned into dust.
>That... might be possible, you admit. You certainly never, ever want to be on the receiving end of those arms for as long as you live. Surely even her hands must be sore after all this?
>You note the pounding noises stop. The procession of debris removal continues, however.
-
>If we can, glance into the new tunnel.
-
>If we can, glance into the new tunnel.
>You poke your head around the edge of the tunnel... and narrowly avoid a falling chunk of rock! It lands with a heavy thud next to you.
>The tunnel proceeds upwards at a sharp angle, its outline rather jagged and rough. Still, you should be able to fly up it without scraping yourself. You don't see any light or open area at the other end, but you do see Suika's form, a decent way in the distance.
-
>"How's it going?"
-
>"How's it going?"
>"I think I found something," she calls out. She actually sounds rather winded. You're not sure whether to be surprised or relieved by that.
-
>"Let me have a look."
>Presuming she doesn't get back to work, fly in there and see.
-
>"Let me have a look."
>Presuming she doesn't get back to work, fly in there and see.
>"Sure," she says, moving off to the side, and flopping against the wall.
>You fly up and have a closer look. It seems that her digging has intersected another existing tunnel, smooth and vertical. There appears to be water below you, and above... is that the sky?
-
>Grin.
>Check the seeking stone.
-
>Grin.
>Check the seeking stone.
>You can't help but smile at the sight of a real sky again. It feels like ages since you've seen it, as it is.
>The seeking stone is pointing about 10 degrees off vertical, at the moment, with about a 15 degree angle to your left.
-
>Look up for signs of a well bucket.
-
>Look up for signs of a well bucket.
>You don't see one immediately. Wait... is that a face that just appeared over the top? Make that two faces.
-
>Step back into them shadows quietly.
>Whisper: "We did it. Great job, Suika."
-
>Step back into them shadows quietly.
>You step back in. You're not sure if you were seen or not. You're pretty deep down, so it's possible they didn't notice you.
>Whisper: "We did it. Great job, Suika."
>She nods back at you. "Told you I could do it! Us Devas are serious."
>You hear tiny voice from above you. "What was that?"
-
>Put a finger to our lips, and hover back.
-
>Put a finger to our lips, and hover back.
>Hover back where? Back to the exit? Or back down the tunnel where the others are?
-
>To the tunnels where the rest are.
-
>To the tunnels where the rest are.
>You quietly head back down to join the rest. As you leave, you can hear two people talking to each other above, their voices growing more faint as you proceed.
>"How're we going to explain this?" one says.
>"I don't even know what happened!" the other comments. You can't really catch much more than this.
>You emerge from the lower end up the tunnel, where Mokou and Rumia are.
>"So, what's the score?" Mokou asks.
-
>"We hit well. We're in. And we have only a short time before more people investigate."
>"Anyways, Mokou, this is going to be your time to shine. Remember, our goal isn't to simply get revenge, but to break the spell they've woven over the moon. Which, I would argue, would be the best revenge. But that's me. This means, don't let Kaguya or Eirin distract you too much. That said, chances are we are going to have to defeat one or either of them. Just, don't lose yourself to it. Okay?"
-
>"We hit well. We're in. And we have only a short time before more people investigate."
>You can see a grin start to form on Mokou's face as you say this, equal parts happy and menacing. Oh boy...
>"Anyways, Mokou, this is going to be your time to shine. Remember, our goal isn't to simply get revenge, but to break the spell they've woven over the moon. Which, I would argue, would be the best revenge. But that's me. This means, don't let Kaguya or Eirin distract you too much. That said, chances are we are going to have to defeat one or either of them. Just, don't lose yourself to it. Okay?"
>"What?" Mokou says. "Don't let the bitch distract me? Ain't she why I'm here at all?" It looks like she wants to just break off and tear out the well right this moment. Still, she seems to hesitate a bit.
-
>"If you absolutely must...wait until we break the spell, then do it. Though, to be honest, I'd prefer it if you held back and didn't give the the satisfaction of knowing her presence does that to you. But, it's your choice. Just, let's finish the job, first."
-
>"If you absolutely must...wait until we break the spell, then do it. Though, to be honest, I'd prefer it if you held back and didn't give the the satisfaction of knowing her presence does that to you. But, it's your choice. Just, let's finish the job, first."
>"....how do you think we're supposed to break it?" she says, at length.
-
>"That is what we'll have to find out. If it takes beating Kaguya or her doctor into a pulp to do it, then you have my blessings."
-
>"That is what we'll have to find out. If it takes beating Kaguya or her doctor into a pulp to do it, then you have my blessings."
>Mokou smirks. "Then what are we sitting around for?"
-
>Back to the entrance.
>On the way, "There may be people observing, still. I would prefer not to make a grand entrance yet, if possible. So please try not to make too much noise."
-
>Back to the entrance.
>On the way, "There may be people observing, still. I would prefer not to make a grand entrance yet, if possible. So please try not to make too much noise."
>"Got it," Mokou replies.
>As you start to leave, Suika speaks. "Well, I did what I said I'd do, and you've got your tunnel to the surface. Can't let the party end without me!" She turns and starts to walk away. "Good luck fixing things, hakutaku."
-
> "Thanks for the help!"
> Wave goodbye to Suika.
> Get ready for a climactic fight scene.
> Head up to the surface slowly.
-
> "Thanks for the help!"
> Wave goodbye to Suika.
>You thank Suika and wave goodbye. She waves back, without turning around.
> Get ready for a climactic fight scene.
>You take a deep breath. You're finally within reach of your ultimate goal here. And there's a very good chance that people aren't going to take kindly to your presence. You only hope the three of you are sufficiently prepared.
> Head up to the surface slowly.
>You, Mokou, and Rumia head back towards the well, keeping as quiet as you can. You poke your head out the opening and look up. You don't see anyone there at the moment.
-
>Emerge, get a look at the surroundings. And keep an eye out for people who would have seen us.
-
>BGM: Cinderella Cage ~ Kagome-Kagome (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw4t3mT4Ei4)
>Keep an eye out for anybody, really.
-
>BGM: Cinderella Cage ~ Kagome-Kagome (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw4t3mT4Ei4)
>You switch to a thematically appropriate BGM. ....wait, what?
>Emerge, get a look at the surroundings. And keep an eye out for people who would have seen us.
>Keep an eye out for anybody, really.
>You emerge from the well and find yourself in a moderately sized courtyard. You are in the southwest corner of the area, near to two walls. There is a small outbuilding with a brown tiled roof to your immediate north, and a similar longer one to your east. Entrances to the mansion proper appear to be along the north and east edge of the courtyard, where the roof overhangs a wooden walkway, although the nearby outbuildings partially obscure your view of the rest of the courtyard. You don't immediately see anyone else here.
-
>Do we have any familiarity with Eientei at all?
>"Know where we are, Mokou?"
-
>Do we have any familiarity with Eientei at all?
>You've been there once before, during one of the exhibitions Kaguya held, but you only saw a small portion of the mansion, and this place doesn't look familiar
>"Know where we are, Mokou?"
>"They didn't exactly give me the guided tour last time I was here," she grumbles. "I think Kaguya's room is that way, though." She points east.
-
>Ponder how the charm was broke last time, so we know whether to chase after Kaguya or Eirin.
-
>Ponder how the charm was broke last time, so we know whether to chase after Kaguya or Eirin.
>Although the spell itself was Eirin's, as best you understand it, you think its removal came about after Reimu and Yukari beat up Kaguya, at which point they voluntarily decided to undo it. You're not sure the beating up part affected the spell in any profound way other than changing their minds about it.
-
>"In my time, it was defeating Kaguya that served as a catalyst for them bringing down the barrier. Rather, it was enough to convince them to rethink things. I would like to have a word with her, Mokou, before you tear her to pieces, if you don't mind?"
>Follow Mokou's directions toward the Princess' room.
-
>"In my time, it was defeating Kaguya that served as a catalyst for them bringing down the barrier. Rather, it was enough to convince them to rethink things. I would like to have a word with her, Mokou, before you tear her to pieces, if you don't mind?"
>Mokou's face twists through a series of expressions as she wrestles with conflicting impulses. "Do you have to?" she grumbles. Then sighs. "Fine, fine."
>Follow Mokou's directions toward the Princess' room.
>You head across the courtyard towards the eastern wall. There is a simple sliding door near the southern end of the wall, beneath the overhang.
>"I don't really know the inside of the place that well," Mokou says, "but I'm pretty sure here place is somewhere to the east. I'd say fly up, but I don't know if that'll just throw us out again, now."
-
>"Well just have to work our day there. And hope that their faith in the ward is lax enough that there is little security."
>Listen at the south door. Presuming there is no sound of voices or oncoming people, slide it open. If there is no one to be seen in front of us or in peripheral vision, peek in and look around.
>If the cost is clear, enter.
-
>"Well just have to work our day there. And hope that their faith in the ward is lax enough that there is little security."
>Mokou nods. "They never really had guards, anyway. Rabbits don't exactly make good defenders. But they're pretty good at raising a ruckus quickly."
>Listen at the south door. Presuming there is no sound of voices or oncoming people, slide it open. If there is no one to be seen in front of us or in peripheral vision, peek in and look around.
>If the cost is clear, enter.
>You listen to the door, but don't hear any obvious noises. You quietly slide it open. There is a long wooden-floored corridor extending ahead of you. You can see several rooms along the side of it, and another door at the opposite end of the corridor. No sign of people. You poke your head in and take a look to your sides. Another corridor also heads north, to your left, along the wall. You see a rabbit some distance down it, but she appears to be back on.
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>Hold hand up to keep the others from entering.
>Observe the rabbit. Does she seem to be leaving or something anything?
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>Hold hand up to keep the others from entering.
>Observe the rabbit. Does she seem to be leaving or something anything?
>You hold your hand up, and Mokou stops, although Rumia seems not to understand the gesture, and pokes her head around the corner, too.
>The rabbit seems to be walking down the corridor, away from you.
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>Let her go where she is going. Look around for other rabbits or the like.
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>Let her go where she is going. Look around for other rabbits or the like.
>She walks a little further, than disappears into a room to her right.
>You don't see any other rabbits at the moment. Hopefully quite a few of them are asleep at this point.
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>Head through the door, go eastward.
>Approach intersections with caution.
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>Head through the door, go eastward.
>Approach intersections with caution.
>You move cautiously into the mansion and head down the hallway. You pass by numerous doors along the way, but all of them are closed. You think you hear snippets of chatter somewhere in the distance, but cannot tell for sure where it's coming from. Nowhere close by, anyway. You reach the door at the end of the hallway when you hear another one start to slide open somewhere behind you!
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>Are these doors paper doors? If so, can we see anything through the one in front of us?
>If there doesn't seem to be anything through it, or if we just can't see at all, go through the door in front of us quickly.
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>Are these doors paper doors? If so, can we see anything through the one in front of us?
>They are, but they aren't particularly transparent. You don't see any obvious forms behind the door, however.
>If there doesn't seem to be anything through it, or if we just can't see at all, go through the door in front of us quickly.
>You quickly open the door and move through it. You find yourself in another courtyard, larger than the last, and more decorative. There is an ornamental pond near the center, a zen rock garden, and several stands of carefully landscaped trees. It is understated, but elegant. A wooden walkway with an overhanging roof runs along all sides of the courtyard but the south wall. There appear to be a couple rabbits chatting with each other near the pond.
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>Step away and look back to see who else is coming.
>Curse rabbits for being nocturnal
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>Step away and look back to see who else is coming.
>You step away from the doorway, and peek back down the corridor. You see a rabbit walking towards you. She suddenly stops.
>Curse rabbits for being nocturnal
>This certainly would be quite a bit easier if they were all polite enough to be asleep when someone wants to break into their home
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>Close the door.
>Fix a look on the rabbit.
>Put a finger to our lips.
>Assuming she doesn't instantly panic, beckon for her to approach.
>On the likelihood she does panic, glance to Mokou and say, "We've tried to be stealthy and kind, I suppose."
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>Close the door.
>Fix a look on the rabbit.
>Put a finger to our lips.
>Assuming she doesn't instantly panic, beckon for her to approach.
>You step back into the room and close the door behind you, making eye contact with the rabbit, and putting a finger to your lips. She takes a step back, and stares at you, clearly dumbstruck and a little afraid. Then she looks at Mokou, and you can see realization dawn on her face. "It- It's you!" she says, then turns around and bolts down the hallway.
>On the likelihood she does panic, glance to Mokou and say, "We've tried to be stealthy and kind, I suppose."
>Mokou grimaces.
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>"No point in being stealthy anymore."
>Did we spy any doors leading eastward in the courtyard?
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>"No point in being stealthy anymore."
>Did we spy any doors leading eastward in the courtyard?
>You think you saw one, yes.
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>Go back into the courtyard, and look for ways to continue on.
>"Let me know if anything looks familiar Mokou."
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>Go back into the courtyard, and look for ways to continue on.
>You let the rabbit go, and she scrambles off and turns the corner into the adjoining hallway.
>You head back into the courtyard and look around. There is a second door leading west, further to your north, and two doors leading east on the other side of the courtyard, directly opposite the westward ones. There is also a single larger door heading north.
>The rabbits are still talking near the pond in the center. They don't appear to have noticed you.
>"Let me know if anything looks familiar Mokou."
>Mokou looks around, then whispers. "Not sure which of those two. Might be that one." She points at the northeastern door.
>You actually recognize this place from your tour. The north leads to some of the public chambers where the exhibits were displayed and eventually to the main entrance. You don't know what's beyond any of the other doors.
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>No way we're gonna be able to take that rabbit down without excessive noise, and there's certainly no way we're faster than she is.
>Head for the Northeastern door. Just walk like we're supposed to be here, and head into it.
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>No way we're gonna be able to take that rabbit down without excessive noise, and there's certainly no way we're faster than she is.
>At the very least, she didn't start shouting when she ran off...
>Head for the Northeastern door. Just walk like we're supposed to be here, and head into it.
>You walk confidently into the courtyard, taking a path that keeps the rabbits' backs to you for as long as possible. Although you're moving fairly quietly, the sounds of a group of three ends up being fairly audible on the grass. Eventually, when you're a little more than halfway there, you hear their conversation die down.
>"Um, guys?" one of them says, timidly.
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>"Yes?"
-
>"Yes?"
>You turn to look at the rabbits, and find one of them staring at you nervously and fidgeting, while the second is looking rather expectantly at her neighbor. The third doesn't seem to know quite what you make of you, yet.
>"Uh...wh- who are you?" the one in front eventually speaks, her eyes darting away from making actual eye contact.
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>"There's no need to worry about that. Just go back to what you were talking about. We're needed right now, which is why they let us in without any real announcement."
>Carry on, we have a buff to keep up.
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>"There's no need to worry about that. Just go back to what you were talking about. We're needed right now, which is why they let us in without any real announcement."
>Carry on, we have a buff to keep up.
>"Um, well.... er-" the first one mutters. You hear the timid one half-whisper to her neighbor as you start to walk away. "Do they do that?"
>"Uh, must've, I guess," says the third. "You know how it works."
>You make it to the door without further incident.
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>Does the door seem to be the kind that leads into another hall? That is, similar to the last one?
>If so, walk through.
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>Does the door seem to be the kind that leads into another hall? That is, similar to the last one?
>If so, walk through.
>The door does appear similar to the previous ones
>You open the door and enter. You are in another medium length corridor running east. There are several doors along both side of the length of the corridor, and a second corridor intersects it where you're standing, heading south. At the end of the corridor, it appears to turn north.
>As you enter, you think you hear motion on the other side of the courtyard
-
>Look toward the motion.
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>Look toward the motion.
>You quickly look behind you, and see a much taller rabbit with long purple hair and a short skirt dash out of the door you entered the courtyard through, and quickly scan the area.
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>Close the door, continue on. Do keep some attention behind us.
>"Reisen is close behind us."
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>Close the door, continue on. Do keep some attention behind us.
>"Reisen is close behind us."
>You close the door behind you.
>"Who's that?" Mokou asks.
-
>"Eirin's apprentice, she's a refuge from the moon. Watch out for her eyes, if things degenerate."
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>"Eirin's apprentice, she's a refuge from the moon. Watch out for her eyes, if things degenerate."
>"By this point, I think I'm almost getting used to you knowing things that I don't and probably should," Mokou replies.
>You reach the end of the corridor. Another extends to the north, at your left. It is narrower than the previous one, and there are doors only along the eastern wall. Two of them to be precise.
>You hear the door behind you slam open
-
>North.
>Quietly, "Does this look familiar?"
-
>North.
>Quietly, "Does this look familiar?"
>You quickly turn the corner
>"Hold it!" a voice calls out from behind you, although you're already out of sight.
>"Think so," Mokou says. "Think that's her room, there," she points to the second door on your right, towards the end of the corridor.
-
>Toward that door!
>"Excellent. If Reisen tries something foolish, would you kindly hold her off while we talk? I don't think she should be much of a challenge for you as long as you don't look her in the eyes."
>Knock on the door, enter if beckoned. If a few moments pass with no response, enter anyways.
-
>Toward that door!
>"Excellent. If Reisen tries something foolish, would you kindly hold her off while we talk? I don't think she should be much of a challenge for you as long as you don't look her in the eyes."
>Knock on the door, enter if beckoned. If a few moments pass with no response, enter anyways.
>You quickly head for the door. You can hear Reisen running down the corridor after you.
>"Just make it quick," Mokou replies and turns around.
>You knock on the door, and get no response. You decide that enough time has passed, and open the door, anyway. You see Reisen come around the corner as you do so.
>"Hey, stop!" she calls out as you enter.
>You are in a large bedchamber, sparsely furnished. You can see the bed itself in the corner, as well as a small writing desk, an end table with a vase containing bamboo blossoms, a wall scroll hanging against the southern wall, and various other minutiae. There is, however, no sign of Kaguya.
-
> Look around to ensure she isn't hiding.
-
>Or isn't completely lost in that bed.
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> Look around to ensure she isn't hiding.
>Or isn't completely lost in that bed.
>The room is sparse enough that you don't see any obvious place to hide. Wait, there seems to be a door on the side of the room.
>The bed appears to be neatly made, with no sign of an occupant, unless Kaguya has learned how to turn herself into a pancake.
>"How did you get in here?" you hear Reisen yell from the corridor.
-
> Head towards that door we noticed.
> If nothing happens when we reach it, knock on it.
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> If no one answers, head inside.
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> Head towards that door we noticed.
> If nothing happens when we reach it, knock on it.
> If no one answers, head inside.
>You move towards the door and knock on it. Getting no response, you open it... and it appears to be a storage room of sorts. You see clothes, and a few other household objects. Not large, and distinctly unoccupied.
>"Walked in the door," Mokou says, replying to Reisen. "How else ya figure?"
>"We both know that's impossible," she answers, firmly.
-
>Exit and return to the hall.
>"Pardon me, we really need to speak to the Princess about a vital matter."
-
>Exit and return to the hall.
>"Pardon me, we really need to speak to the Princess about a vital matter."
>As you exit the room, you see Reisen and Mokou staring each other down, a fair ways apart. Rumia seems to be trying to keep her distance from both of them, and runs towards you as you emerge.
>Reisen eyes you coldly as you attempt to explain. "And I suppose breaking into her bed chambers in the middle of the night is your idea of a friendly visit?"
>"Bitch had it coming," Mokou says. Reisen glares at her, her expression firmly set.
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>Shank Parsee.
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>"We don't have a lot of time, I'm afraid. We must see the Princess soon. You'll forgive us for entering as we have, but really there was little choice in the matter."
>Don't look at the eyes.
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>Shank Parsee.
>They say that those who do not study history will be doomed to repeat it. If there is one thing you are certain of, it is the course of past events. You will not fail where others have failed.
>You turn and shank Parsee before she can react... too late, you realize that the sharpest object you currently possess are your keys. Parsee laughs and shanks you properly.
>"How the hell did you even get in here?" you dimly hear Reisen cry, as unconsciousness swallows you.
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> Post after the topic has been locked.