(Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 6)

[Oldmansour]

>"I can't really see much back here..."

[DracoOmega]

>"I can't really see much back here..."

>"Oh!" she cries, and then scurries ahead. "Sorry!"
>With her out of the way, the source of the distress is very obvious: there is a sizable hole in the roof of the tunnel, through which a small ray of sunlight enters. Various piles of dirt and rock are strewn haphazardly about the ground below it.
>Momoka turns herself around in the tunnel - a remarkably deft maneuver, if you're honest - and then goes back to staring at it in deep dismay, fiddling nervously with her sleeve while she does so.

[Hanzo K.]

>"And that I do believe, is how the thief got in. Or out as the case may be."
>Does the hole look like a fairy could get through with some effort?

[DracoOmega]

>"And that I do believe, is how the thief got in. Or out as the case may be."
>Does the hole look like a fairy could get through with some effort?

>Momoka makes no obvious reply, simply staring at the damage; the poor mole looks half-traumatized.
>You're pretty sure that a fairy could fit through there without much issue. You might be able to if you really squeezed yourself, though you're less sure on that.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Was did someone dig this, or did it fall in, or what?"
>Can we her anything through the hole?

[DracoOmega]

>"Was did someone dig this, or did it fall in, or what?"
>Can we her anything through the hole?

>"Someone did this," she says. "Definitely. It wouldn't collapse like that. It's all wrong looking."
>You think you can hear a bird or two, distantly, but nothing that attracts your attention.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yeah, I didn't think your handiwork would give up the ghost so easily. Where does this open up to?"
>Could we plausibly peek through the hole?

[DracoOmega]

>"Yeah, I didn't think your handiwork would give up the ghost so easily. Where does this open up to?"
>Could we plausibly peek through the hole?

>"Well... given how far we've come," she says, "I'd say we're still past the south of the city. Maybe still in the meadows."
>Momoka has moved off to the other side of the hole, so you have room to move and look up through it if you wish.

[Hello Purvis]

>Go look through the hole. Poke our head out if possible and have a look around.

[Oldmansour]

>Does it look like a 'dug with tools' hole or a 'blown open with a spell/explosive' hole?

[DracoOmega]

>Go look through the hole. Poke our head out if possible and have a look around.

>You go and take a look through the hole. That is definitely sky up there, but it turns out that you're still deep enough underground to be unable to poke your head out without first managing to squeeze some of your body into the gap. It sounds quite quiet nearby; you're definitely outside most of Braston, though you couldn't say exactly where you are without having an actual look around, topside.

>Does it look like a 'dug with tools' hole or a 'blown open with a spell/explosive' hole?

>It looks dug with a tool, to your eye. While it is certainly a little haphazard, it lacks the true chaotic quality you would associate with an actual explosion; there doesn't appear to be nearly the debris you would expect if that were the case. In fact, you think you can see the tip of a mount of dirt peeking above the edge of the top of the hole.

[Hello Purvis]

>"So, what did this look like, on the outside?"
>Do we feel we can crawl out without getting stuck?

[Hanzo K.]

>"My guess? A fairy looking to cause some trouble dug this. It's too small for someone like us -Well, maybe not so much so for you- To fit through. But it's just about right for a fairy I'd say."

[Hello Purvis]

>"My guess? A fairy looking to cause some trouble dug this. It's too small for someone like us -Well, maybe not so much so for you- To fit through. But it's just about right for a fairy I'd say."

>Don't say this, we don't know the situation well enough to commit to anything.

[Hanzo K.]

Note that I said guess. That implies that it's a suspected possibility.
And based on the evidence so far, it's strongly leaning that way.
The floral scent at the beginning of the tunnel, the floral-scented ribbon discovered later, and the fairy-sized hole all point in that direction.
It's not too far in the realm of disbelief to say that a fairy could've hidden in the potato crate, waited for it to get put in the cellar, and then broke out somehow to steal whatever their little mitts could grab, and then they find the tunnel that Momoka dug, and use it to escape.

[DracoOmega]

>"So, what did this look like, on the outside?"
>Do we feel we can crawl out without getting stuck?

>"What do you mean?" she asks.
>You could try. You probably won't get stuck, but it'll be tight.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, the escape tunnel had to open to outside, right? So what did it look like on the inside?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, the escape tunnel had to open to outside, right? So what did it look like on the inside?"

>"It was just a wooden hatch," she says, "but we're still a little ways from it yet."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Let's go have a look at it, see if it's been messed with at all."

[DracoOmega]

>"Let's go have a look at it, see if it's been messed with at all."

>Momoka frowns, then slowly nods. "Okay..."
>She turns herself around in the tunnel again and resumes moving forward.

[Hello Purvis]

>Keep up with her.

[DracoOmega]

>Keep up with her.

>You follow after the mole, doing a rather better job of keeping pace with her than earlier; the damage to her tunnels seems to have taken some of the wind out of her sails.
>After another couple minutes of this, Momoka stops for a moment. Glancing past, you seem to have reached the end of the tunnel; you can vaguely make out a small wooden hatch built into the roof just beyond where she stopped.
>"Everything looks fine," she says tentatively, then fiddles with the hatch and pushes against it, letting out a little squeak of exertion. There is a deep creaking sound and then light and fresh air streams into the tunnel. Momoka pokes her head out; you see her turning about from down below.
>"I don't see anything out of place up here, either..." she says.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Let's have a look at it from the outside."
>Proceed to do so!

[Oldmansour]

>Before we leave, did the tunnel beyond the scented rock smell flowery? And were there any other scents along the way?

[DracoOmega]

>Before we leave, did the tunnel beyond the scented rock smell flowery? And were there any other scents along the way?

>There were still faint traces of that scent past that point, though nothing else in particular caught your attention.

>"Let's have a look at it from the outside."
>Proceed to do so!

>"Um... okay, I guess," she says, then hoists herself out of the tunnel and disappears.
>You follow after her, working your way out the hatch and onto the open ground beside it.
>You appear to in a moderately wooded area, which would definitely put you a decent distance past most of the city; you can see some traces of it far off through the trees. Your immediate area shows no signs of anything unusual, as far as you can see, nor traces of humanoid passage. The hatch itself looks like it has a covering of sod and vegetation attached to the back of it; you imagine it would do a good job of blending in, even if someone where to wander out this way.

>"I'm glad this is still okay," Momoka says, a little glumly.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yeah, this is really well made. I'm starting to think someone got into your tunnel by accident."
>How far away is the hole from here? And Momoka's home.

[DracoOmega]

>"Yeah, this is really well made. I'm starting to think someone got into your tunnel by accident."
>How far away is the hole from here? And Momoka's home.

>A hint of a smile brushes across her troubled face. "Thank you. And... maybe...? But what were they digging for, then?"
>The hole is probably only a minute or two's walk closer to town. Momoka's house is significantly harder to guess at, given how twisting the earlier tunnels were - substantially further than that, at the very least.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Let's go see."
>Head for that hole!

[DracoOmega]

>"Let's go see."
>Head for that hole!

>"Ah, um, er..." Momoka looks about, seemingly a little flustered. "O- okay."
>She closes the hatch again, fussing with the edges of it just a little to cover over the seems; seeing it this way, it does indeed provide very good camouflage. Then she scrambles after you.
>You head off in the direction of Momoka's tunnel from above ground, keeping an eye out for anything unusual while the mole ambles behind you. It is barely a minute before you reach the edge of the denser trees and pass into the meadows beyond. Braston is clearly visible along most of the northern horizon, obscured here and there by a large stately elm or oak; you know some fairies live out in this general direction, and you wouldn't be surprised if one of those trees concealed a tiny home.
>Sooner than you expect, you spot traces of digging - piles of churned soil deposited in a loose cluster in the distance. Except... that shouldn't be on top of the tunnel at all, unless you've managed to get your bearings very wrong somehow. Wait a minute... there's another, over by a small hill even further in the distance.
>"What is it?" Momoka asks, attempting to stare in the same direction as you are.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Someone's been digging for treasure, I bet."
>Have a look around the area, and check the trees.