Keine Quest: The Broken and the Lost

[DracoOmega]

>"That we are. We've decided to do a little something about the moon being broken. I was hoping Patchouli or someone might like to tag along and lend support."

>"Good luck getting Patchouli to go anywhere. But she did say to let you guys back in if you wanted, so you can go waste your breath if you really want to."
>She opens the gate and stands off to the side.
>"No wandering around in there, understand? Straight to the library and straight back, unless someone tells you otherwise."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Of course. Isn't that right, Rumia?"
>Head inside and go for la biblioteca.

[DracoOmega]

>"Of course. Isn't that right, Rumia?"
>Head inside and go for la biblioteca.

>"Yup!" Rumia nods and follows you as you head into the mansion. You retrace the path that you followed yesterday, although given the twistiness of it, this involves a few false starts and doubling back. Hopefully that doesn't annoy anyone. Soon enough, though, you arrive in the library. ...has Patchouli even moved since you saw her last?
>The contents of the table have changed, anyway. The cube is nowhere to be seen, and a variety of other, presumably magic, implements is scattered across it instead. Patchouli is partially obscured by several tall piles of books, stacked on the desk, while her face is buried in another. She doesn't appear to have noticed your arrival.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Hello Patchouli. I had a look at one of those lights for you."

[DracoOmega]

>"Hello Patchouli. I had a look at one of those lights for you."

>"Interesting," she replies calmly, but without looking up. Maybe she noticed you, after all, and just hadn't deigned to indicate this? "And did they indeed function as they are said to? What quality and quantity of light did they produce, and with what expenditure of energy?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"They are much brighter than a good torch, with a somewhat more harsh glare. I'm not sure how much energy they use up. I had a look inside one, there is a glowing wire. They also give off a fair amount of heat, poor Rumia burned her face on one."
>"As well, I would like to request you assistance with a matter. I'm going to fix the moon."

[DracoOmega]

>"Hmmm... brighter than I might have expected, given their methods. I admit, I had my doubts as to their capabilities. Heat... may be an unavoidable byproduct of the forced conversation of destructive into non-destructive energies. Inferior to traditional magic lighting, but still... the process may have other applications, and if..." she trails off into her own mind. You can practically hear the gears turning. Then she suddenly drops her book and gives you an incredulous look. "Wait, what did you say?"

[Kasu]

> "The moon.  I wish to fix the moon.  I was wondering if you would aid me in this endeavor."

[DracoOmega]

> "The moon.  I wish to fix the moon.  I was wondering if you would aid me in this endeavor."

>Patchouli puts a hand to her head and sighs. "And how exactly do you propose to do this?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"We find Mokou, and join forces with her. She knows the Bamboo Forest better than anyone. She'll almost certainly go after their princess, which just leaves us Eirin to handle. Do you know anything about Mokou?"

[DracoOmega]

>"We find Mokou, and join forces with her. She knows the Bamboo Forest better than anyone. She'll almost certainly go after their princess, which just leaves us Eirin to handle. Do you know anything about Mokou?"

>"I know of no one by that name. And I think you fail to understand a critical flaw in this 'plan'."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Enlighten me."

[Kasu]

> "Well if the forest is anything like it was back in my timeline the terrain shouldn't be too different.  Or is there some other flaw?"

[DracoOmega]

> "Well if the forest is anything like it was back in my timeline the terrain shouldn't be too different.  Or is there some other flaw?"

>"Enlighten me."

>She sighs again. "I will do my best not to begrudge your ignorance, given your situation. But the terrain of the forest is not the main issue with reaching... Eientei, you said it was called? True, it is not called the Bamboo Forest of the Lost for no reason, but that is a mundane sort of lost. The trees may do much to obscure visibility and confuse one's sense of direction, but there are other landmarks which are less changeable."
>"Earlier, I had said that Remilia attempted to return there several times after the original incident and had been unable to find it again. I do not believe this was because she wandered the wrong paths, but that she was MADE to wander the wrong paths. I believe that after Remilia and Sakuya invaded their home during the night of the sealing ritual, they took steps to ensure that they would not be breached again."

[Kasu]

> Oh yay.
> "So if we wanted to breach, we would have to find a way to dispel or break through the magic correct?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Have only Remilia and Sakuya tried it? Or have others, to your knowledge?"

[DracoOmega]

> Oh yay.

>Nothing's ever easy, is it?

> "So if we wanted to breach, we would have to find a way to dispel or break through the magic correct?"

>"Dispelling it would be wonderful. Unfortunately, I'm not even certain it is possible. Whoever has constructed these sealing spells is exceedingly competent. The spell is woven subtly over a large area, without any central point to dispel that I have observed. Trying to remove it with conventional methods would be like trying to put out a house fire with a teaspoon. It is difficult enough to detect that an enchantment is even present. An average magician would never even notice that they were being mislead, nor suspect that something was hidden. Still... I expect no spell can be infallible. I am just uncertain what this one's failing is."

>"Have only Remilia and Sakuya tried it? Or have others, to your knowledge?"

>"To my knowledge, it has only been them. I lent them some assistance with spells and magical items on subsequent trips to aid their progress. Some of the observations I made using these is the main reason why I am convinced that it is not simply a fault in their navigational ability."

[Hello Purvis]

>"My hope is that it wouldn't affect everyone, but only those who got too close in the past. That said, if it does,..I may know a weakness, but I am uncertain if we can exploit it."
>How good is our knowledge of the Underground?

[E-Nazrin]

>It'd probably be good to bring up that... purple barrier thing we ran into on the way, eventually.
>"If nothing else, it sounds like something that would need more investigation... knowing HOW it works would be a big help. What methods have you tried to get around the magic in the forest?"

[MysTeariousYukari]

> "Also, assuming that The Princess still has a feud with Mokou here, like she does in the Gensokyo I remember, she would likely make certain that either she could get out freely, or that Mokou could still get in. For what I remember, they have been killing each other for a rather long amount of time, decades easily."
> Ponder how long we know Mokou and Kaguya have been fighting for in our Gensokyo.

[DracoOmega]

>"My hope is that it wouldn't affect everyone, but only those who got too close in the past. That said, if it does,..I may know a weakness, but I am uncertain if we can exploit it."

>"I'm not certain it works that way. But what weakness did you have in mind?"

>How good is our knowledge of the Underground?

>You haven't been down there before, but you are familiar with the most notable inhabitants, even if you haven't met them all in person.

>It'd probably be good to bring up that... purple barrier thing we ran into on the way, eventually.

>Yeah, it's possible Patchouli might know something about that.

>"If nothing else, it sounds like something that would need more investigation... knowing HOW it works would be a big help. What methods have you tried to get around the magic in the forest?"

>"As near as I can tell, the spell manipulates space in such a way that, from the traveler's perspective, there is no abrupt change in scenery, yet objectively, they do not end up traveling in a straight line. I've tried basic dispels, and methods to test for weaknesses in the warding field, or for paths that remain unwarded. We've tried using something that could crudely be describe as a self-writing map, but there does not appear to be any obvious consistency in the way the false paths bend. Or at least, the pattern is complex enough that I hadn't been able to discern it."

> "Also, assuming that The Princess still has a feud with Mokou here, like she does in the Gensokyo I remember, she would likely make certain that either she could get out freely, or that Mokou could still get in. For what I remember, they have been killing each other for a rather long amount of time, decades easily."

>"Killing each other... for decades? How is that supposed to work?"

> Ponder how long we know Mokou and Kaguya have been fighting for in our Gensokyo.

>You don't really know, precisely. They didn't actually discover that they were neighbors for some time, the bamboo forest being how it is. But still, it's been quite a while now. You've gotten the impression that it was rather more bloodthirsty in the past, although there's certainly still no love lost between the two of them.

[E-Nazrin]

>"Killing each other... for decades? How is that supposed to work?"

>"Do you know about the Hourai Elixir?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Do you know about the Hourai Elixir?"

>"Only in the context of myth. Are you saying that such a thing actually exists?"

[E-Nazrin]

>"From what I recall, both Mokou and the Princess of Eintei drank the Hourai Elixir long ago. Since then, the two have pursued revenge on each other, but since they come back each time they die, it never really ended. I'm doubtful that that much has changed from the timeline I remember."

[DracoOmega]

>"From what I recall, both Mokou and the Princess of Eintei drank the Hourai Elixir long ago. Since then, the two have pursued revenge on each other, but since they come back each time they die, it never really ended. I'm doubtful that that much has changed from the timeline I remember."

>"That sounds like an... unpleasant cycle to be trapped in, to say the very least. But I suppose a true immortal has all the time in the world to waste, no matter how useless their pursuit may be. I suppose you expect that this Mokou would help us because the princess is our mutual enemy? Do you really think someone who would murder another over and over again in the name of vengeance is... trustworthy? She sounds... unstable."

[E-Nazrin]

>How much did it take to mellow her out in our timeline, if that even happened?

[Hello Purvis]

>"She would do it just to spite the Princess. But, that being said, we may be able to persuade her toward more wholesome motives."
>"My idea is that we try to approach the Bamboo Forest from underground. You may recall the Hell Raven came from there; there should be an extensive network of tunnels there that run under much of Gensokyo. Hopefully, we can hire a guide to show us the way to go."

[DracoOmega]

>How much did it take to mellow her out in our timeline, if that even happened?

>Honestly, she was never really a bloodthirsty serial murderer, even when you first met her. Death just takes on a more casual meaning when you're immortal, you guess. Sure, she had it out for Kaguya, but she never actually seemed what you would call violent, generally. Though she would never admit it to your face (and you'd never be rude enough to suggest it), you think it had become something almost like a game, by now.

>"She would do it just to spite the Princess. But, that being said, we may be able to persuade her toward more wholesome motives."

>"Hmm... if you say so."

>"My idea is that we try to approach the Bamboo Forest from underground. You may recall the Hell Raven came from there; there should be an extensive network of tunnels there that run under much of Gensokyo. Hopefully, we can hire a guide to show us the way to go."

>Patchouli looks momentarily stunned. "That... that is an angle I had not considered. And it is quite possible their wards do not take that into account, either. Still...." she continues, her cynical look returning. "What makes you certain that tunnels run under the specific place that we're aiming for? And even if they do, how do you propose getting back up through it?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"If we are lucky, there will be an opening into the Forest. Which is entirely possible. If we're less lucky, I expect that is where your talents will come in to make one."

[DracoOmega]

>"If we are lucky, there will be an opening into the Forest. Which is entirely possible. If we're less lucky, I expect that is where your talents will come in to make one."

>"I suspect that if there's an opening into the forest itself, it will either lead into the middle of their wards, at which point we are left with our original problem, or the wards were designed to account for attempts from underground. I cannot imagine that anyone capable of constructing those wards in the first place would leave an open passage to their interior."
>"And although I am well-versed in earth magic, shifting potentially hundreds of feet of rock to create a stable passage is a.... monumental task, to say the very least. I doubt I would have the capacity to do something on that scale."