Hatate Quest Kaksi

[Oldmansour]

>"By the breeze, this thing is going to take everything but the kitchen basin to take down!"
>Do Tengu dwellings have lightning rods?

>Momiji lowers her arms. "I don't think this is the same power as the other barrier, Hatate. This one seems to have a lot more energy to it, and I don't think we've damaged it much at all with our danmaku. Plus it doesn't  give off that same sense of warning the other one did. Or at least I haven't felt anything."
>Some do. It's not extremely common, but it's not unheard of either.

[O4rfish]

>Do we know how lightning rods work?

[Oldmansour]

>Do we know how lightning rods work?

>You understand the basic premise behind the lightning rod, and you know how they're set up. Though you're not entirely sure what are the best materials to use for.

[O4rfish]

>"It's electric. Maybe a lightning rod ... ?"

[Oldmansour]

>"It's electric. Maybe a lightning rod ... ?"

>"It looks like electricity at any rate. But it could be some other kind of magical power, too. I once knew a Yamabushi who could make fire strike like lightning." Momiji frowns, sending an experimental bullet at the barrier, studying the exposed part of the orange wall while it is visible. "Assuming this is magic." she mutters sourly.

[O4rfish]

>"Do you think we should ask someone else for help? There is another blonde witch who lives nearby."

[Oldmansour]

>"Do you think we should ask someone else for help? There is another blonde witch who lives nearby."

>"You mean Alice? Hmm. Yeah, that's a good idea. She might even be able to tell us who put these barriers up in the first place. I can't imagine Marisa doing it herself, not two of them. It doesn't seem like her style."

[O4rfish]

>"Ok, let's go. Assuming you know how to get there."

[Oldmansour]

>"Ok, let's go. Assuming you know how to get there."

>"I don't, actually. I've never visited her before. But she's supposed to live close to Marisa's place here, she's told me that much. Give me a minute." Momiji ducks back out through the hole in the outer barrier, and grabs a bit of air, scanning the forest with her unparalled vision. After a bit less than a minute, she points towards the east. "There it is. I can tell its hers, there's a doll in two of the windows."

[O4rfish]

>"Great. Let's go. We should be back before anyone wanders in here and gets zapped, right?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Great. Let's go. We should be back before anyone wanders in here and gets zapped, right?"

>"I'd hope so." Her tails swishes as she adds with a wince, "That second shield packs a punch."

[O4rfish]

>Fly

[Oldmansour]

>Fly

>Given one more annoyed look to the orange barrier, you and Momiji depart on a eastward course. The gaps between the trees in this part of the wood are plenty wide, and neither fairy nor youkai interrupt your journey, so you have a comfortable and short flight from Marisa's to Alice's.
>The home of the Margatroid witch is a bit bigger than Marisa's, and its grounds are much neater than the black-white's. A red awning shields the yellow door, and the second floor sports a prominent balcony. Simple flower arrangements decorate the corners or bottoms of each window. Just as Momiji reported, a doll sits in two of the windows facing you, one on the east side of the first floor, one in the large windowed doors opening onto the balcony.
>You can hear the sound of a woman's humming coming from around the back of the house.

[Hello Purvis]

>Head around back.

[Oldmansour]

>Head around back.

>Being a Tengu, you take the direct approach and fly up and over Alice's house towards the back lawn. Alice keeps a few rows of flowers back here, of many different species, perfuming the air quite nicely. But the woman tending the flowers, while possessing a full mane of blonde hair, is not Alice. This one is much taller than Alice, and isn't entirely humanoid. She has the upper body of a human woman, clad in a green and yellow vest, but this torso rests on the lower body of a large green horse. Flowers decorate both her mane and her tail, and thin white filigree stretches up from her gold-wrought hooves to decorate her muscular legs with an ivy-like pattern.
>Floating next to the horse woman is one of Alice's dolls, this one with earthy brown hair, clad in a yellow gown, and holding a large watering can in both hands. The centaur also holds a watering can, but places it down on the ground and accepts the full one from the doll. "Thank you, Ukraine." she says as she does.

[O4rfish]

>"Hello! It's your friendly Tengu reporter, Hatate Himekaidou. Is Alice here?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Hello! It's your friendly Tengu reporter, Hatate Himekaidou. Is Alice here?"

>"My goodness, you startled me." the horse-woman replies as she turns to face you. She's a handsome woman, with a silver-colored chain around her neck and blue flower in her hair. "You've come to see Miss Margatroid?"
>"We have." Momiji answers.
>"I'm sorry, I'm afraid she's out." the blonde replies, quite politely. "I have been wondering if she is on a vacation of sorts, as I have not seen her for very nearly a month."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Huh. Are you her housesitter or something?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Huh. Are you her housesitter or something?"

>"I am no more than a helpful neighbor." the woman replies, inclining her head politely while her equine half lowers its front legs, an approximation of a curtsey, you believe. "When she is away for more than seven days, I drop by now and then to assist the dolls with their duties." She glances back over her shoulder at the doll she called Ukraine, currently giving a bed of lilies a drink from her large can. "They are quite capable of handling domestic affairs themselves, of course. Miss Margatroid is a friend of mine, however, and I enjoying assisting my friends."
>"Very neighborly of you." Momiji says with a smile. "I'm Momiji, by the way. Momiji Inubashiri."
>"I am very pleased to meet you both." the polite horse-woman answers, bowing with both halves of her body. "I am called Celia Kishu."

[Hello Purvis]

>Did we know about resident centaurs before this?
>"I'm Hatate, this is Momiji. Pleased to meet you!"
>"I don't suppose she went and ran off with Marisa, did she?"

[O4rfish]

>"Huh, so the dolls are fully automated."

[Oldmansour]

>Did we know about resident centaurs before this?

>You did not. You knew that some youkai could have more dramatic non-humanoid features than wings or horns, of course, but this is new to you.

>"Huh, so the dolls are fully automated."

>"I believe so. At least, to some extent. Miss Margatroid's magic enables a doll to perform certain tasks as well as she herself can. For example, Ukraine here is capable of tending lawn and garden as well as Miss Margatroid can."
>"And they can handle large tools?" Momiji asks.
>The horse-woman smiles. "Indeed they can. And I must say, their efforts in that area often serve to make them much cuter than they are by default."

>"I'm Hatate, this is Momiji. Pleased to meet you!"
>"I don't suppose she went and ran off with Marisa, did she?"

>Celia laughs a quiet, polite little laugh. "I am certain she would not dispute her enjoyment of such an idea. And in fact, you may be correct, as I have not seen Miss Kirisame recently, either."
>"How recently?" Momiji inquires.
>"33 days ago was the last occasion on which I met Miss Kirisame. To continue my pervious point, if I may, I do not believe this was a planned vacation on the part of Miss Margatroid. On the occasions on which Miss Margatroid has required the services of a housesitter, as you put it, Miss Himekaidou, she is quite comfortable to leave maintenance of her domicile in the care of her dolls, but she also informs me of such times. I am pleased to act as a sentient set of eyes in such times."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Do the two of you talk often?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Do the two of you talk often?"

>"'Often' is perhaps too generous a term to use in this context. I would say, perhaps, no more than twice a week. Over the course of a typical week, of course." She pauses, then asks, "You were speaking of Miss Margatroid, correct?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Nod.
>"I was wondering if she was doing or saying anything weird when you two last talked."

[Oldmansour]

>Nod.
>"I was wondering if she was doing or saying anything weird when you two last talked."

>"Perhaps you could expand upon what precisely you mean by 'weird', in this case?" Celia asks in her overly polite tone. "And, if I may, might I inquire as to the nature of your curiousity?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Weird, like things that don't normally come up or that caught your ear, you know. And, it's a professional interest."

[Oldmansour]

>"Weird, like things that don't normally come up or that caught your ear, you know. And, it's a professional interest."

>"Ah, yes, you mentioned earlier that your profession was a reporter."
>"As a matter of fact," Momiji adds, "Hatate here owns her own newspaper.
>Celia gives you an admiring smile. "My, how very enterprising, especially for one so young. But as to your question, permit me a moment to recall." The horse-woman bends her knees a bit as she closes her eyes in thought. "As I remember, it was 27 days ago when last I spoke with Miss Margatroid. We spoke of the incident that I understand has come to be referred to as the Night of Rage. Is this event something that is known to you two?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"We know the basics, at least. You can tell us what went on around here if you think we need to know, though."

[Oldmansour]

>"We know the basics, at least. You can tell us what went on around here if you think we need to know, though."

>"The Forest was largely unaffected, fortunately for all of us who dwell here. Residencies are rather sporadic and often distant, so damage and strife beneath the forest canopy was kept to a minimum."
>"Was Alice herself affected?" Momiji asks.
>The horse-woman nods. "Sadly, yes. However, she informed me that she had the foresight to render all of her dolls inert, so that she would not be tempted to take her growing anger out on them. Ah, but that does remind me of another point she mentioned. Evidently, Miss Kirisame had recently... 'acquired' another book which she and Miss Margatroid could potentially use in their magical research." The distaste Celia inflects into the word 'acquired' leaves little wonder about how the centaur feels about Marisa's thieving habits. "As I have not spoken with either woman since that time, I could not tell you what, if anything, has come of their findings."
>"And about how long ago was that?" the white wolf inquires.
>"28 days ago."