Iku Quest Sedem: A Z-Machine Adventure

[DracoOmega]

>"Were they not being as resistant earlier? If so, when did you notice things change?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Were they not being as resistant earlier? If so, when did you notice things change?"

>She looks at the ground for a minute, as if glaring a hole in it.. "No," she says at length. "It wasn't until after I took Bhava-Agra's shadow."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"And you felt this affect the other shadows you held? Right away?"
>"I don't know how the shadows feel to you, when they're inside you, but I have seen some of them with my own eyes, when you... engulfed me. I could tell you what I saw, if it isn't going to be something that you already know full well yourself. I understand that my presence there was... different than the others."

[Hello Purvis]

>"And you felt this affect the other shadows you held? Right away?"
>"I don't know how the shadows feel to you, when they're inside you, but I have seen some of them with my own eyes, when you... engulfed me. I could tell you what I saw, if it isn't going to be something that you already know full well yourself. I understand that my presence there was... different than the others."

>"Not right away," she says, shaking her head. "But over time. And, tell me. And tell me how you escaped."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"The world inside there was a featureless void, with Bhava-Agra was suspended in it. I landed on one of its islands, when I arrived there. It was just like the Bhava-Agra I knew, but without color, or its people. All of it seem to have been preserved as they were before the fall. My own room, and its possessions, down to nearly the last detail."
>"I met Nitori's shadow there, as well. We spoke with each other. Well, I couldn't hear her voice, but she could hear mine, and we managed to communicate after a while. She seems much the same as her normal self, in fact, aside from not having a physical body. She even remembers things that happened in the physical world, after you took her shadow. She saw you drinking with Suika, and taking shelter in that cave in the side of the mountains to hide from the tengu."
>"Is none of that... 'supposed' to be how it works?"

>"As for how I escaped, I'm afraid there's not much more to say than I said when you first asked. I fell through some sort of crack inside the world, and landed outside it. I don't know quite why it deposited me where it did, but there's a great deal about that place I do not fully understand."

[Hello Purvis]

>"The world inside there was a featureless void, with Bhava-Agra was suspended in it. I landed on one of its islands, when I arrived there. It was just like the Bhava-Agra I knew, but without color, or its people. All of it seem to have been preserved as they were before the fall. My own room, and its possessions, down to nearly the last detail."
>"I met Nitori's shadow there, as well. We spoke with each other. Well, I couldn't hear her voice, but she could hear mine, and we managed to communicate after a while. She seems much the same as her normal self, in fact, aside from not having a physical body. She even remembers things that happened in the physical world, after you took her shadow. She saw you drinking with Suika, and taking shelter in that cave in the side of the mountains to hide from the tengu."
>"Is none of that... 'supposed' to be how it works?"

>"As for how I escaped, I'm afraid there's not much more to say than I said when you first asked. I fell through some sort of crack inside the world, and landed outside it. I don't know quite why it deposited me where it did, but there's a great deal about that place I do not fully understand."

>She nods along as you speak, watching you intently. "There shouldn't be any cracks like that..." she says. "Maybe that explains it. Tell me more."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I'm not sure that whatever I fell through can affect the shadows themselves. I think I may have been an exception, given that I arrived there whole. Nitori was with me when I found it, and she did not come through on the other side."
>"And I'm not sure how much more there it to tell, to be honest. Nitori was the only other shadow I found inside there, but there was much of Bhava-Agra I couldn't reach. It is very hard to fly between the islands without any landmarks on the ground below to guide you. They may have simply been elsewhere."
>"I suppose there was one other curious thing. When Nitori's shadow found me, it somehow became attached to me, and was forced to follow me around as though it were my own."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm not sure that whatever I fell through can affect the shadows themselves. I think I may have been an exception, given that I arrived there whole. Nitori was with me when I found it, and she did not come through on the other side."
>"And I'm not sure how much more there it to tell, to be honest. Nitori was the only other shadow I found inside there, but there was much of Bhava-Agra I couldn't reach. It is very hard to fly between the islands without any landmarks on the ground below to guide you. They may have simply been elsewhere."
>"I suppose there was one other curious thing. When Nitori's shadow found me, it somehow became attached to me, and was forced to follow me around as though it were my own."

>"Well it's not too surprising she got stuck to you. That's what shadows do. So you didn't see that hole or whatever it was?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"The space around it looked perfectly normal until I started to pass through it. I don't think Nitori saw it at all, actually. She wouldn't have even been able to reach it without me; it was in a part of the void, away from Bhava-Agra itself. She had been unable to leave the island she was standing on until she became attached to me."

[Hello Purvis]

>"The space around it looked perfectly normal until I started to pass through it. I don't think Nitori saw it at all, actually. She wouldn't have even been able to reach it without me; it was in a part of the void, away from Bhava-Agra itself. She had been unable to leave the island she was standing on until she became attached to me."

>"Where?" she asks. "Where did you find this at?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I don't think I can describe its location precisely. After all, it was in largely featureless space. But it was near the island the Dragon Palace is on. I don't know if that even means anything to you."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I don't think I can describe its location precisely. After all, it was in largely featureless space. But it was near the island the Dragon Palace is on. I don't know if that even means anything to you."

>"It does," she says. "I will definitely look into this, you may have found something important..."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I'm not so certain of that, myself. But... can you sense the shadows inside yourself as precisely as that? Or the spaces between them? I have no idea what it must be like. To me, the world was as solid as this one, albeit unusual looking. But obviously you have a different sort of connection to it. I don't know if it was just my mind rationalizing what I saw in terms I could understand, or not."

[Kilgamayan]

>"I'm not so certain of that, myself."

Do we really need to say this? I worry that it might suggest to her that we know more about how we got out than we're letting on.

Not redacting, just clarifying.

[DracoOmega]

You may have a point. But I already mentioned that the gap didn't seem to be able to interact with the shadows that were near it, which, in and of itself, seems reason enough to doubt that it's responsible for whatever oddity she's sensing.

I just don't want her to get entirely fixated on that, such that we can't explore what might actually be responsible. Although, I doubt our protests can help much in that regard, given that we know little about how the process tangibly works, and we obviously can't protest very loudly, either. So maybe it is best not mentioned? I don't know.

[Kilgamayan]

Hmm. I guess it could go that way as well. But I wonder how she would react if/when she figures out it's not important. She might get belligerent, or she might brush it off and move on to something else. I guess we could play it off as "hey it must just have been because we were physically there" and hope she buys it.

I actually have to wonder if the difference being made is a spiritual one, the same problem explored earlier. Everything up to Bhava-Agra had been Gensokyo in origin - if she came from that same spiritual plane, they wouldn't give her grief at all, but Bhava-Agra's shadow's makeup is very likely different.

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm not so certain of that, myself. But... can you sense the shadows inside yourself as precisely as that? Or the spaces between them? I have no idea what it must be like. To me, the world was as solid as this one, albeit unusual looking. But obviously you have a different sort of connection to it. I don't know if it was just my mind rationalizing what I saw in terms I could understand, or not."

>She nods. "I have my own ways of manipulating it; what you're saying isn't useless to me."

[DracoOmega]

>"I'm still not entirely sure I understand the 'not behaving' bit. Should Nitori not have ordinarily been able to communicate independently with me when I was with her?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm still not entirely sure I understand the 'not behaving' bit. Should Nitori not have ordinarily been able to communicate independently with me when I was with her?"

>She looks at the ground for a moment, lips pursed.
>After a moment, she says, "It's not important for you to know."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Not important, perhaps, but it's just honest curiosity. I won't push if you don't feel you can tell me."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Not important, perhaps, but it's just honest curiosity. I won't push if you don't feel you can tell me."

>"I'd rather not," she says. "You know enough."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Nod.
> "All right, I understand. You certainly don't have to. And really, I must thank you, for letting me help you as much as you have. I realize it's likely very hard for you to do this, even given the circumstances."

[Hello Purvis]

> Nod.
> "All right, I understand. You certainly don't have to. And really, I must thank you, for letting me help you as much as you have. I realize it's likely very hard for you to do this, even given the circumstances."

>She nods, her expression hard.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Hard how? Frustrated, irritated, conflicted, sad?

[Hello Purvis]

> Hard how? Frustrated, irritated, conflicted, sad?

>It's not difficult to tell, but you think it's probably more angry than anything.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Hmm...That spiritual difference between Bhava-Agra and Gensokyo I mentioned earlier. Is it possible that's at least part of the cause?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Hmm...That spiritual difference between Bhava-Agra and Gensokyo I mentioned earlier. Is it possible that's at least part of the cause?"

>"I don't think so," she says. "It shouldn't affect other things."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Mmm. That could very well be true, yes. Regardless, I think it's reasonable to assume Bhava-Agra's shadow was the cause of...this situation, since you were having no problems up until then. The only two differences between Bhava-Agra's shadow and the other shadows you possess I can think of off the top of my head are the spiritual difference and the sheer size. Are there any others you know of?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Mmm. That could very well be true, yes. Regardless, I think it's reasonable to assume Bhava-Agra's shadow was the cause of...this situation, since you were having no problems up until then. The only two differences between Bhava-Agra's shadow and the other shadows you possess I can think of off the top of my head are the spiritual difference and the sheer size. Are there any others you know of?"

>"It's heavier," she says, "Like how a coat is heavier than a blouse. It enfolds more. There's no good way to describe it."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "May I presume this is a spiritual weight rather than a physical one? You have shown no signs of being weighted down in combat."