Keine Quest: The Broken and the Lost

[Seian Verian]

> "Yes. I'm a teacher in the Human Village, but I'm not going to hurt you if you're a youkai."
> " What are you doing out here?"

[DracoOmega]

> "Yes. I'm a teacher in the Human Village, but I'm not going to hurt you if you're a youkai."
> " What are you doing out here?"

>"Y- Youkai? No, I'm human. I was just-" Her voice cuts off abruptly
>You catch another flash of movement to the west, as whatever it is passes through a small gap in the trees where the light was pooling. You think you see... wings? It was hard to be sure. It definitely seemed to be moving towards the source of the voice you were speaking with.
>After a moment, you think you can hear her speaking again, but it's very quite. And there is a second voice. You're too far away to tell what they're saying at this volume.

[E-Nazrin]

>Pursue the voices.
>"Is there someone else there?"

[DracoOmega]

>Pursue the voices.
>"Is there someone else there?"

>You move quickly westward. You call out to the other voice, but don't get an answer from either of them.
>As you get closer, you can make out fragments of conversation, although you can only catch a few words at this distance.  "...what are... why... I-" says the first voice, still tremulous.  "...curious... are you.... or awake?" comes a new voice. It is also female, but somehow ephemeral, as though it were carried from a distance on a breeze. Strangely, it reminds you of a lullaby, although there is no melody to the voice.
>You feel a bit drowsy again, but you shake your head to clear it.

[E-Nazrin]

>Continue approach, we need to know what's going on here.
>Pinch self to assure wakeness.
>"Excuse me, miss?"

[DracoOmega]

>Pinch self to assure wakeness.

>You pinch yourself. Ow! It might have helped a little.

>Continue approach, we need to know what's going on here.
>"Excuse me, miss?"

>You continue quickly towards the source of the conversation. The first voice seems to be growing increasingly upset, while the second remains calm and mellifluous. You catch something about a 'waking dreamer'. Then the first voice cries out and you can hear someone running through the forest. You catch a glimpse of her through the trees, no more than 20 feet away, running north. You call out after her, but she seems to be too busy running away in fear to notice you. She looks human, but it was too brief to make out many other details. She seemed to be wearing a dark-colored dress.
>Almost immediately after you catch sight of her, a second figure passes through the same small gap in the trees, moving much more quickly. Much of your view of this figure is obscured by great ivory wings. You angle towards it, but you have barely taken another step before you hear the first girl cry out, and... something happens.

>Something is wrong. Something is very, very wrong. You have no idea what it is, but you have never been more convinced of something in your life. It feels like the very world around you is recoiling. A jolt tears through you, like muted lightning. There is no pain, but you find you can no longer stand. You stagger to the ground, gasping for breath. It feels like the air around you is shattering into a thousand pieces. Your senses fail you. You can see things which are not in front of you. Places you recognize, and places you do not. You can hear whispers of countless different voices, but cannot make out the words. Something is being undone. And then you hear a single cry. You briefly see the face of a young woman in your mind who you do not recognize. Was it the woman you just saw?
>Your consciousness grows hazy and the world seems to slip away from you.

>You open your eyes again. You have a bit of a headache. You aren't sure how long you were out, and it takes you a moment to even realize what you are doing lying here. What... just happened?

[theshirn]

> Body parts check.  Following, history check.

[Naut]

>Examine surroundings. We still in the woods? Is there anybody around?
>Do we still feel that strangeness from before?
>Time of day?

[DracoOmega]

> Body parts check.  Following, history check.

>You take a moment to check yourself for injuries. Other than a minor scrape on your leg where you fell to the forest floor, everything seems to be in one piece.
>You cannot innately 'sense' history in any detailed way. In human form, at best you can get vague impressions of things. Most of what you know about history you have learned in the old-fashioned way. It's true that something feels 'off', but you're still rather disoriented, so that could mean almost anything.

>Examine surroundings. We still in the woods? Is there anybody around?

>You are still in the woods, and appear to be in more or less the same spot that you lost consciousness. The woods do seem to be kind of less dense than you remember them, but you're not sure. You don't hear or sense the presence of others at the moment.

>Do we still feel that strangeness from before?

>You can sense no trace of the strange presence you felt earlier. You suspect it was coming from the winged woman. You guess she's long gone by now.

>Time of day?

It's hard to tell for sure. It's still dark out. You could probably estimate the time by the moon if you had a familiar landmark to get your bearings by. You aren't entirely sure which direction you're facing at the moment.

[theshirn]

> Do we still have all our spellcards?

[Blitzer]

>Do you still feel that sense of wrongness from before?
>Is it the world that is wrong?
>Can you recall anything about those strange images of places before you were knocked out?

[Kasu]

> Take a deep breath.
> Look for any lights that may be coming from the village.

[DracoOmega]

> Do we still have all our spellcards?

>You reach into your pocket to confirm your spellcards. ...some are missing. You pull them out and examine them.

>Origin Sign "Ephemerality 137"
>Land Sign "Three Sacred Treasures - Mirror"
>Future "The Next History of Phantasm"

>Even more oddly, two of these were not among the ones you brought with you when you left your home this evening. You are not even capable of using the 3rd card in your current form.

> Take a deep breath.

>You take a deep breath and try to calm yourself. It... doesn't help a whole lot, to be honest. What you just went through has left you very shaken. And the spellcard situation doesn't exactly help matters. Something is wrong. Still, being agitated won't help solve it. You take another deep breath.

> Look for any lights that may be coming from the village.

>You are too deep in the woods to see the village from here. You'll have to exit before you could even see a distant hint of it.

[Kasu]

> Search the general area a bit for clues.
> Exit the woods.

[DracoOmega]

> Search the general area a bit for clues.
> Exit the woods.

>You spend a while searching the area near where you saw the other two figures. You don't find any sign of them, or anything else that looks out of place. Eventually you decide that there's nothing else to be found here other than dirt and plants, and head towards the outside of the woods.
>You're pretty sure you're not walking along the same route that you took in here, but the woods are shallow enough that you know it won't really matter. A few minutes in any direction and you will eventually reach open terrain.
>After 10 minutes of walking or so, the trees start to thin and you exit the woods. Judging by the hills and other terrain features, you have exited the woods through the south. The village should be to the northeast, although you can't see it from here, as the woods themselves are obscuring your line of sight.

[E-Nazrin]

>walk around the woods to try and see the village and keep an eye out for any other landmarks or oddities.

[DracoOmega]

>walk around the woods to try and see the village and keep an eye out for any other landmarks or oddities.

>You circle around the woods, and head further northeast. The terrain is mostly open grassland, with a few small rolling hills. There are scattered stands of trees, here and there. Nothing looks especially amiss. Eventually the village comes into sight as a small black shape in the distance. It doesn't seem as well-lit as it was when you left, but you're not sure how long you've been out.

[Doll.S CUBE]

> Approach the village.

[DracoOmega]

> Approach the village.

>You continue towards the village. As you get closer, the lack of lights seems increasingly conspicuous. Maybe you really were out until the middle of the night? Unfortunately, it's clouded over since you entered the woods initially, so you can't really tell what time it is.
>You reach the farmland on the southwestern outskirts of the village. It hadn't been obvious from a distance, but as you as walk past one field, you realize that it is overgrown with weeds. Maybe... that was just left fallow this year? You don't pay much attention to the village's agriculture. But then you pass several more in a similar state. Other places where you remember cultivated fields being seem covered in grass. You can't even find them under it.
>You try to choke back rising panic. Surely there's some kind of mistake, right?
>You arrive at the western outskirts of the village. The houses seem to be in basically the same place you remember them, but... something isn't quite right about them.

[Naut]

>Examine houses.
>Consider a second history check.

[MysTeariousYukari]

> Examine houses
> Check our head for our Hakutaku horns, we may have been out for more then a few hours.
> Consider possibility of Time Travel or a Youkai that can mimic powers.

[DracoOmega]

>Consider a second history check.

>Something definitely feels wrong, but other than that, you don't get any extra insights. If you were in hakutaku form, you might be more able to pinpoint this sensation, but for the moment you're going to have to rely on the rest of your senses.

>Examine houses.

>You walk towards a nearby house on the western edge of the village; a simple, thatched-roof dwelling. At first glance, it looks normal enough, but as you get closer, you realize that the roof is in very bad shape, and has several holes in it. The window is caked with grime. It doesn't look like anyone has maintained this place for a couple years, anyway. You try to peer through the window, but it's hard to make anything out in the poor light. The inside looks pretty empty, though.
>While the village is large enough that you don't know everyone who lives there, you're pretty sure there were no abandoned houses, here. You try not to reflect too hard on what this might mean, just yet.

> Check our head for our Hakutaku horns, we may have been out for more then a few hours.

>You reflexively run your hand through your hair, where your horns would be if you were in hakutaku form, although this gesture is unnecessary to tell that you aren't. There is a strength flowing through you when under the influence of the full moon that is absent now. You feel faster, sharper, more alive. It's truly invigorating, really. While it would be useful to be in hakutaku form right now, you take some comfort in knowing that the full moon will come tomorrow.

> Consider possibility of Time Travel or a Youkai that can mimic powers.

>You still don't know enough to know what happened for certain. It's hard to rule out even the more unlikely possibilities.

[MysTeariousYukari]

> Head futher into the village, noting the houses as we go and the condition of said houses.

[DracoOmega]

> Head futher into the village, noting the houses as we go and the condition of said houses.

>You continue into the village. You pass by an increasing number of houses, and examine them as you pass. Some are in better shape than the first, and some are in worse. There are sagging beams and broken windows. Doors fallen off their hinges. Some houses seem to have sustained actual damage. You see one with several beams sheared off, half of it collapsed in rubble. A few houses look to be in nearly perfect shape, but even in those you can find no sign of inhabitants.
>It is extremely chilling to find the place that you have lived in all these years so desolate. It was only hours ago there were people talking and laughing and sharing drinks with each other. Tomorrow morning, you had every expectation of chastening some of your students for the disregard they give their studies, without much hope of them actually getting the message this time. Even that seems like a precious and dear thing, right now. This place feels hallow, and it almost hurts to be here.

>You are in the western portion of the city. Your house is northward. The market area is to the east, and further east lies the Hieda estate. There is farmland to the north of the village, and the graveyard is just past the outskirts to the northeast. Your school lies southeast.

[Doll.S CUBE]

> Head to your house.

[E-Nazrin]

>Check home. It's pretty clear either history has been altered dramatically, Keine's been out for years, or there's a whole helluva lot of illusions going on. If it's history, someone may have copied your powers and/or impersonated you at home.
>Then again, that might lead to a conflict with them without knowing enough...
>On second thought, head to the graveyard, but expect to see something horrible.

[DracoOmega]

> Head to your house.

>Even though you feel you already know the answer to this question, you head towards your own home. You want to see it with your own eyes.
>You head north, and try to ignore all the abandoned houses you pass on your way. It's too much to take in right now, and your mind starts spinning horrible scenarios about what happened to them, whenever you let your eyes focus on them.

>You reach your house, and it's immediately clear to you that no one has lived in it for some time, either. It's actually in remarkably good shape. It was one of the more well-cared for homes in the village, after all. But even without getting close to it, you can see the changes. This is your home, after all. You can see practically every slat that's out of place. Still, you force yourself forward

>You open the front door, the hinges moaning loudly. Probably needs oiling. Yes, just a little oil, some fresh paint and this will all go away. Right?

>You step into the main room of the home. The layer of dust and cobwebs aside, it's actually pretty empty. There's still a few pieces of furniture around, but many of the objects have been removed. Still, if it was looted, they were courteous looters. Nothing is broken.

>There are exits to the kitchen/pantry and bathroom on the main floor, and steps upstairs to your study and bedroom.

[E-Nazrin]

>Investigate and gather anything of value that's left. It's at least technically yours, after all. Look for spellcards, in particular. This could get ugly.

[MysTeariousYukari]

> Consider where the nearest person we could go to lives, from our current position. Which would be closer, the Hakurei Shrine, or Mokou's home. We definately will need to team up with SOMEONE in order to fix this.

[DracoOmega]

>Investigate and gather anything of value that's left. It's at least technically yours, after all. Look for spellcards, in particular. This could get ugly.

>You decide to search the house for any objects of value that are left. A search of the cooking areas reveals no food of any kind. There are a couple large pots and other utensils, but far less than the place would usually contain. The bathroom is entirely empty.
>You head upstairs. Your desk and bed are still there, although the bed has been stripped of any bedding. Both are covered in a thick layer of dust. You notice a solitary scroll case resting in the center of the desk.
>You open the drawer where you keep your case of spellcards, but the drawer is empty, too. A search of the other drawers finds only a few knick-knacks, a mostly empty bottle of dried ink and a writing brush splayed to the point that it probably ought to simply be discarded.

> Consider where the nearest person we could go to lives, from our current position. Which would be closer, the Hakurei Shrine, or Mokou's home. We definately will need to team up with SOMEONE in order to fix this.

>They're both roughly the same distance away, although in different directions. The Hakurei Shrine lies along the eastern edge of the boundary, to the far northeast of the village. The Bamboo Forest is in the southeast, but Mokou's house is in a section of it nearest to the human village. Actually, she might be slightly closer, now that you think of it.