Iku Quest Sedem: A Z-Machine Adventure

[DracoOmega]

>"Did you... not worry that it would fall on you, when you did that?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Did you... not worry that it would fall on you, when you did that?"

>She glares at you for a moment. "I didn't think it was going to fall, okay?" she says in a short tone.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

[01:19:57] <Reisen-Udongein-Inaba> Ahaha, the exact answer I expected.
[01:19:59] <Reisen-Udongein-Inaba> So moe~
[01:20:10] <DracoOmega> ...moe is not a word I would have used for her =/
[01:20:22] <Reisen-Udongein-Inaba> Hey.
[01:20:28] <Reisen-Udongein-Inaba> Remember when I called Tenshi being moe back when you hated her?
[01:20:34] <Reisen-Udongein-Inaba> I know these things.
[01:20:45] <DracoOmega> ...Tenshi was not being moe when she was being an ass
[01:20:58] <DracoOmega> I may be kindly disposed to her at the moment, but she was still being a total selfish jerk
[01:22:00] <Reisen-Udongein-Inaba> Oh, yes, question the expert. :colbert:
[01:22:09] <DracoOmega>
[01:22:27] <Reisen-Udongein-Inaba> You want proof, then?
[01:22:30] <DracoOmega> Perhaps the difference was that you went into this quest liking Tenshi, and I went into it disliking her
[01:22:33] <Reisen-Udongein-Inaba> Think about the situation we're in.
[01:22:48] <Reisen-Udongein-Inaba> When she gets angry at us? She's so moe we're gonna die.
[01:23:08] <DracoOmega> >.>

DRACO DOES NOT BELIEVE ME

I REQUEST OUTSIDE CONFIRMATION FROM MY FELLOW PLAYERS

[DracoOmega]

>Nod, then give a concerned frown
>"I imagine that must have been quite alarming when you realized what was happening."

>"In any case, the explanation I would offer is this: the fact the Bhava-Agra's shadow is not normally visible in Gensokyo is less a property of the islands themselves than of the fact that Bhava-Agra is a separate realm than Gensokyo. You can travel between them by ascending, but it is not truly physically above Gensokyo in the way that the clouds are. When you look up at the sky on a clear day, you cannot see Bhava-Agra at all, although you can look down from there and see the surface. I imagine the reason you cannot see their shadow is the same as why you cannot see the islands themselves. They are separated by something more than just physical distance."

[Kilgamayan]

> "I presume you have read up on how there is a defined spiritual difference between Gensokyo and Bhava-Agra as well? If not, well, I just told you, so. I suspect it is this spiritual difference that causes the discrepancy described in the book. From what I have learned yesterday and today, there is apparently a deep spiritual nature to both light and shadows. Given shadows appear to be a visual manifestation of the essence of the self, I do not think it is a large leap in logic to assume the shadow of a plane of greater spirituality would not deign to fall on the surface of a plane of lesser spirituality, and, as such, the writer of that book would never have seen Bhava-Agra's shadow."

[Hello Purvis]

>Nod, then give a concerned frown
>"I imagine that must have been quite alarming when you realized what was happening."

>"In any case, the explanation I would offer is this: the fact the Bhava-Agra's shadow is not normally visible in Gensokyo is less a property of the islands themselves than of the fact that Bhava-Agra is a separate realm than Gensokyo. You can travel between them by ascending, but it is not truly physically above Gensokyo in the way that the clouds are. When you look up at the sky on a clear day, you cannot see Bhava-Agra at all, although you can look down from there and see the surface. I imagine the reason you cannot see their shadow is the same as why you cannot see the islands themselves. They are separated by something more than just physical distance."

> "I presume you have read up on how there is a defined spiritual difference between Gensokyo and Bhava-Agra as well? If not, well, I just told you, so. I suspect it is this spiritual difference that causes the discrepancy described in the book. From what I have learned yesterday and today, there is apparently a deep spiritual nature to both light and shadows. Given shadows appear to be a visual manifestation of the essence of the self, I do not think it is a large leap in logic to assume the shadow of a plane of greater spirituality would not deign to fall on the surface of a plane of lesser spirituality, and, as such, the writer of that book would never have seen Bhava-Agra's shadow."

>"So I figured," she says.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "But that doesn't quite answer the greater question, does it? Another curiosity comes to mind. If the shadow is a visual manifestation of the essence of the self, why can an object cast multiple shadows? Would they all be the same magnitude of manifestation?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "But that doesn't quite answer the greater question, does it? Another curiosity comes to mind. If the shadow is a visual manifestation of the essence of the self, why can an object cast multiple shadows? Would they all be the same magnitude of manifestation?"

>"It's still the same thing," she says, "Just there's a bunch of different kinds of light to shape it."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Hmm. Feel free to not answer this if it's too personal, but if someone was standing near multiple sources of light, and they were thus casting multiple shadows, would you only need to touch one to drain them of their essence?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Hmm. Feel free to not answer this if it's too personal, but if someone was standing near multiple sources of light, and they were thus casting multiple shadows, would you only need to touch one to drain them of their essence?"

>"Why do you need to know?" she says, clenching her fingers and bringing a bit more a chill through you.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Sorry, sorry! I'm only trying to get as much of an understanding of how this works as possible. Consider the question rescinded."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Sorry, sorry! I'm only trying to get as much of an understanding of how this works as possible. Consider the question rescinded."

>"Fine," she says.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, if you had already reached the same conclusion to the question as what I offered... was there some other element of it that was bothering you?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, if you had already reached the same conclusion to the question as what I offered... was there some other element of it that was bothering you?"

>"...You don't need to know," she says after a moment.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"In the strictest sense, perhaps I don't need to know. But I certainly need to know if I am to attempt to help you find an answer, and I would like to be able to do that."

[Hello Purvis]

>"In the strictest sense, perhaps I don't need to know. But I certainly need to know if I am to attempt to help you find an answer, and I would like to be able to do that."

>She's quiet for a moment, slowly relaxing her grip again. You're still unpleasantly chilly, but at feels more like you drank sometime too cold and it's managed to seep everywhere, rather than making you wonder what frostbite feels like.
>"It's not working right,"she says at length, her tone softer than before.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"What's not working right? Your abilities? Or something else?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"What's not working right? Your abilities? Or something else?"

>"I don't know," she says.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Can you tell me what the problem seems to be? Or, at least, the symptoms of it? What's supposed to be happening that's not?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Can you tell me what the problem seems to be? Or, at least, the symptoms of it? What's supposed to be happening that's not?"

>She is silent for a moment. "It's not...fitting like it should," she says.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"...do you mean Bhava-Agra's shadow? Within you?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"...do you mean Bhava-Agra's shadow? Within you?"

>She nods.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I admit I do not fully understand how your ability operates, but isn't it possible that Bhava-Agra's essence is simply too large for any one being to try and contain? Even just the portion of it that you have?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I admit I do not fully understand how your ability operates, but isn't it possible that Bhava-Agra's essence is simply too large for any one being to try and contain? Even just the portion of it that you have?"

>"No!" she cries. "Maybe! I don't know! It doesn't make sense!"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"It doesn't? You're one person trying to contain the essence of an entire realm. No matter how adept you are with shadows, surely that has to be hard to hold within you. It is immense beyond the scale of a single being."

[Hello Purvis]

>"It doesn't? You're one person trying to contain the essence of an entire realm. No matter how adept you are with shadows, surely that has to be hard to hold within you. It is immense beyond the scale of a single being."

>"That's not it," she says. "It's...other things, too."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Not just Bhava-Agra? The other shadows, too?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Not just Bhava-Agra? The other shadows, too?"

>She nods. "They're...not behaving."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Maybe they're trying to reach out to the other parts of themselves?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Maybe they're trying to reach out to the other parts of themselves?"

>She shakes her head. "No. Well, maybe, but they're not supposed to."

>_