(Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 10)

[Oldmansour]

>"Ah, so onmyoudou is studied here? I'd heard this place was the place to go for magical info, but I wasn't sure if more... 'spiritual' arts fit in with other kinds of magic."

[DracoOmega]

>"Ah, so onmyoudou is studied here? I'd heard this place was the place to go for magical info, but I wasn't sure if more... 'spiritual' arts fit in with other kinds of magic."

>"That's a bit of a contentious subject, actually," she says in neutral tone. "I don't believe it's currently taught outside of comparative magical theory and survey courses, but we do have some writings on the topic here."

[Oldmansour]

>Right. Divine and arcane magic don't mix.
>"So, if I were looking for an expert on, say, Shinto, a temple would be a better place to go, then?"

[DracoOmega]

>Right. Divine and arcane magic don't mix.
>"So, if I were looking for an expert on, say, Shinto, a temple would be a better place to go, then?"

>The woman adjusts her glasses. "Well, we've certainly had scholars that have studied it from a historical and cultural perspective, but if you're speaking of the rituals or invocations themselves, then yes."

[Oldmansour]

>"Which, if there's one or two on campus, would also be in the history building?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Which, if there's one or two on campus, would also be in the history building?"

>"Flenceburne Hall houses more than just the history department," she corrects, "but that could be a good place to inquire, yes."

[Oldmansour]

This Flenceburne seems as good a place as any to start, then. History of the spiders, history of the old peoples, and maybe info on our sword here. Even if the same information is available here, it'll be faster to consult an expert than comb though books ourselves.

>"All right, then. Thanks for the help."
>Depart and travel towards the history building.

[Hello Purvis]

Yeah. Either is a good place to start, but best to learn whether it's been cured historically before beating up 1d6 alchemists to get it.

[DracoOmega]

>"All right, then. Thanks for the help."
>Depart and travel towards the history building.

>"If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask," she says as she picks her pen back up and returns to whatever it was she was writing.
>You exit the library and head back the way you came. You never did ask where Magister's Tower was, but the tall one toward the center of campus seems a likely candidate and there was a large building to the right of it. You follow the path forward from the monolith circle and then head towards said building. As you approach, a sign near the door confirms that this is indeed Flenceburne Hall. Through one of the nearby windows, you can see a robed woman pacing slowly back and forth and reading from a thick tome while her students try not to yawn too obviously. A few of them even succeed.

[Oldmansour]

>School. School never changes.
>Head on inside.
>No, wait, first check the outside of the door for any signage showing what departments are on what floor. THEN head on inside.

[DracoOmega]

>School. School never changes.
>Head on inside.
>No, wait, first check the outside of the door for any signage showing what departments are on what floor. THEN head on inside.

>You glance around for any further signage indicating the contents of this building, but find none. With a half-shrug, you open the large wooden doors at the front and step inside.

>You are inside a short foyer attached to a wide corridor running left and right. Doors, both single and double, line each wall in an orderly fashion, framed by dark wooden moldings. A band of waist-high wainscoting contrasts with lighter walls above, giving the whole space has a rather dignified, yet functional air. One or two people can be seen in the long hall, although it's mostly empty at the moment. Behind walls and doors, you can hear the faint sound of lectures being given.
>Just inside the entrance you find the information you had been searching for outside. Affixed to the wall at your left is a list of departments and offices, accompanied by a map. Flenceburn Hall is apparently home to the departments of Ancient Languages, History and Archaeology, Literature, Magical Theory, and Enchantments. The map indicates a largely linear arrangement of offices and classrooms, interspersed with the occasional storeroom or unlabelled space. The route to the history department is fairly straightforward - you make a mental note of it.

[Oldmansour]

>Magical theory and enchantment, eh.
>Is our extrasensory perception reacting more strongly in here?

[DracoOmega]

>Magical theory and enchantment, eh.
>Is our extrasensory perception reacting more strongly in here?

>That is what it says.
>Not especially so, but there's enough ambiance across the campus as a whole that it might take something concentrated and notable to stand out to your passive senses. That and they're feeling just a little bit numb and bleary by this point anyway.

[Oldmansour]

>Out of curiousity, if there's a sudden spike in ambient magical energy- say, something caused by a spell backfiring spectacularly, or even a big spell firing off properly- would that register on our senses? It'd be nice to know if we have to duck a sudden indoor ice storm.

[DracoOmega]

>Out of curiousity, if there's a sudden spike in ambient magical energy- say, something caused by a spell backfiring spectacularly, or even a big spell firing off properly- would that register on our senses? It'd be nice to know if we have to duck a sudden indoor ice storm.

>It's theoretically possible, but you're not sure you'd actually be better equipped to passively sense this than the average person. Your own magical affinity is quite low, and your treasure sense doesn't really pick up on magic in the general sense; there's nothing particularly treasure-like about a large fireball, after all. But even completely mundane senses can pick up on some sorts of magic simply by their physical effect upon the world, be it light or heat or noise or other sensations harder to describe; for example, you have discovered that standing within a few inches of the beam of a Master Spark produces a distinct numb buzzing sensation across one's skin. It is not an experiment you are in any hurry to repeat. In any event, you might be able to detect a rush of magic depending on its physical manifestation, but you doubt your treasure sense would help much with that. Of course, if you were dowsing at the time, such a spike would probably show up very loud and clear.

[Oldmansour]

>Well, no need to traipse down the corridors here with our dowsing rods out. Might lead to a question or two we probably don't have time to answer.
>Actually, we'd probably fit in here with our rods hanging out.
>Well, either way, we won't be doing that. We're here for info, not to dowse for stray enchantment spells.
>Make for the history department.

[DracoOmega]

>Well, no need to traipse down the corridors here with our dowsing rods out. Might lead to a question or two we probably don't have time to answer.
>Actually, we'd probably fit in here with our rods hanging out.
>Well, either way, we won't be doing that. We're here for info, not to dowse for stray enchantment spells.
>Make for the history department.

>While speculating on just what kind of attention your rods would invite in this place, you head down the hallway and up a wide staircase tucked neatly into its side.
>The second floor mirrors most of the aesthetic and layout of the first, with only a few structural changes here and there. Traffic is similarly light; a pair of young women bemoan the unfairness of a surprise essay question on the significance of Hoshikawa, of all people - apparently kappa poetry is not a popular subject - while another walks purposefully in your general direction, and a young man with tousled brown hair knocks on the door of someone's office. ...or rather attempts to do so. As his knuckles near contact with the wood, the entire door simply slides away from his hand and he finds himself knocking on bare wall instead. The door is now several feet to the right of its previous location, looking for all the world as though it had always been there.

[Hello Purvis]

>Frown. That's not the door we want, is it?
>Do we know which door we want? Are they marked?

[Oldmansour]

>Are we a fan of poetry ourselves? Kappa or otherwise.
>Can we identify that trick with the door as a type of illusion spell, or is it an enchantment upon the door?

[DracoOmega]

>Frown. That's not the door we want, is it?
>Do we know which door we want? Are they marked?

>You don't believe so. The History department is still further down the hall. Of course, it's possible that the office belongs to the most suitable historian on staff for your particular problem, but it's not the departmental office itself.
>You have a fairly good idea from the map, but there are also nameplates by the doors. You're a little too far away to read this one currently, though.

>Are we a fan of poetry ourselves? Kappa or otherwise.
>Can we identify that trick with the door as a type of illusion spell, or is it an enchantment upon the door?

>Not really, though you've never read anything by a kappa. You're not sure you want to, either; apparently it's literature best accompanied by a bottle of headache medication.
>It might be hard for you to tell the difference, but you could always break out the rods and try.

[Hello Purvis]

>No need, it'll just look weird.
>Trek on down to historytown.

[DracoOmega]

>No need, it'll just look weird.
>Trek on down to historytown.

>You continue down the hallway while the young man persists in his attempt to make physical contact with the door. He shifts to its new location and attempts to knock again, but the door simply slides back to where it started. This time, however, he seems to anticipate the response and grasps at the door knob with his other hand as it flees away from him. And catches hold of it! The doorknob immediately detaches from the door without even a hint of struggle and the now-knobless door settles demurely back into its original location. The flustered man regards the brass knob clutched tightly in his hand with a look of annoyance. A bouquet of flowers spontaneously blooms from the end of it.

[Hanzo K.]

>Raise an eyebrow. Wonder if it's fairy pranks? Or perhaps the machinations of a particularly impish mage.

[Hello Purvis]

>Well, it's his knob now.

[DracoOmega]

>Raise an eyebrow. Wonder if it's fairy pranks? Or perhaps the machinations of a particularly impish mage.

>You raise an eyebrow. While a fairy would almost certainly find this hilarious, it would take a heck of a fairy to be able to pull it off. Actually, it's pretty impressive no matter how you slice it.

>Well, it's his knob now.

>It does seem to be. And in fact, he seems to be pondering what he's supposed to do with it when his train of thought (and yours) is interrupted by a sudden buzzing sound. Almost before it's had a chance to properly register in your head, a swarm of bees surges forth from the bouquet!

[Hello Purvis]

>"Throw it at the door, guy!"

[DracoOmega]

>"Throw it at the door, guy!"

>Sparing only a glance in your direction, the man throws the knob forcefully at the door where it, against all likelihood, fits nearly back into place and attaches itself with a small click. The flowers seems to have vanished at some point, though the bees have not... Oddly, the man seem more frustrated by the presence of the cloud of angry insects swarming around him than actually frightened by them.
>"Was that supposed to do anything?" he asks.

[Oldmansour]

>We're in the enchantment section of the building, ain't we.
>"Well, I thought..."
>Narrow our focus. Can we determine if those bees real?
>Keep an eye on them, though, in case they get bored with bozo and come our way.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Hit the door, didn't it? That's more than you've done so far."

[DracoOmega]

>We're in the enchantment section of the building, ain't we.
>"Well, I thought..."
>Narrow our focus. Can we determine if those bees real?
>Keep an eye on them, though, in case they get bored with bozo and come our way.

>You believe the department of Enchantment was on the third floor of the building, actually, but it was in the building.
>He sighs. "You don't know either, do you?"
>They look, sound, and smell real enough to you, though they don't seem to be acting quite right. Either that or the guy's impervious to bee stings, but he seems human enough. It would be a pretty neat trick to cram these many bees into such a small cluster of flowers in the first place, really.
>You keep a wary eye on the bees, though you're starting to have your doubts about how threatening they are. Though you suppose there's nothing stopping them from turning that way quickly enough....

>"Hit the door, didn't it? That's more than you've done so far."

>"Don't rub it in," he mutters, then makes a series of small hand gestures - actually somewhat hard to see through all the bees - and mutters a few short syllables. Nothing appears to happen. With a grimace, he repeats this process.
>Oh, wait, maybe something is happening. Though almost imperceptible at first, the cloud of buzzing insects encircling the man grows less chaotic as the bees start to fan out in a curiously well-ordered fashion. Are those... letters? Yes, those are definitely letters. Somehow the bees have taken it upon themselves to spell out the words 'Nice try' in the air above the door. Then, after hovering in place just long enough to read them, they all vanish at once with a faint popping noise. The man sighs again.