Keine Quest: The Broken and the Lost

[E-Nazrin]

>Mokou is probably a safer bet, considering that Reimu would probably only last a few dozen years, and the Hakurei line probably wouldn't have let the human village decay so much. If we've been out for an especially long time.
>Check out the scroll case, try and estimate whether it'd fall apart if opened/read

[DracoOmega]

>Mokou is probably a safer bet, considering that Reimu would probably only last a few dozen years, and the Hakurei line probably wouldn't have let the human village decay so much. If we've been out for an especially long time.

>You consider whether Reimu is even still around. Either way, you figure whatever happened here can't have gone unnoticed by her. It certainly wasn't recent, by whatever timeline you're in. She may be lazy and prone to solving problems through unnecessary acts of aggression, but she seems to have an excellent intuition for when serious matters are at hand. You've seen several potential crises averted by her before you were even aware that they were brewing. You just wrote them down afterwards. Which makes you wonder how this could have happened in the first place... Maybe they just decided that the farming was better somewhere else? You haven't seen any signs of death, yet.
>As for Mokou, if nothing else she would give you a shoulder to cry on. You almost wonder why you haven't already broken down into tears. You're probably still numb with shock.

>Check out the scroll case, try and estimate whether it'd fall apart if opened/read

>It is a simple wooden tube and still in fine shape, although dusty like everything else. There's no way to tell whether whatever's inside it is in similar shape, but you have no reason to think that it wouldn't be. Nothing here seem that old.

[Doll.S CUBE]

> Check if scroll's inside, if so read scroll.

[DracoOmega]

> Check if scroll's inside, if so read scroll.

>You open the scroll case, and withdraw the scroll from it. It actually seem fairly new, and is in good shape. You unroll it to read it... and your start to shiver when you recognize the penmanship of the first characters. Still, you force yourself to continue:

"It is with a heavy heart that I leave to join the rest. I have already stayed far longer than most. But the history of this village is my own, and I will preserve it, though the buildings turn to dust. It was never the buildings that made this place a home.

I do not expect anyone to read this message. There are few who still cling to this place. But I cannot help but leave some record behind. Perhaps it is a vice of mine.

I have done all I can, and it was not enough. From the day this started, it was never enough. Perhaps someday I will forgive myself. But I will never let history forget.

-Keine Kamishirasawa"

>The message is dated three years previous. At least to the year you thought it was this morning.

[Doll.S CUBE]

> This is ominous, check your house for anymore clues.

>Whether or not you found any, head to Akyu's house, she must have records of what happened here.

[MysTeariousYukari]

> Oh no, this can't be right.
> Check for anything that may be hidden, if we have a habit of storng somethings in places you might never look. Obtain anything useful that is found.
> Once this is done, head directly for Mokou's home, surely she will still be living in the same place... right?

[E-Nazrin]

> Once this is done, head directly for Mokou's home, surely she will still be living in the same place... right?

>If things have changed this much, then it's difficult to say.
>How easy is it to escape the Bamboo Forest if lost? By say, flight?

[Doll.S CUBE]

> Once this is done, head directly for Mokou's home, surely she will still be living in the same place... right?

> Yes check Moukou's home afters Akyu's, we need to find out whats going on here first.

[DracoOmega]

> Oh no, this can't be right.

>No, this is very, very wrong. This is wrong in a way that nothing you have ever experienced has been wrong.

> This is ominous, check your house for anymore clues.

>You put the scroll back in its case and try to keep your hands from trembling. It should be impossible to read a message from yourself that you did not write. But the handwriting is unmistakable. You pray that this is all just some elaborate illusion, or a dream that you can just wake up from. You fail to convince yourself. This feels terrifyingly real. If history truly has been altered somehow, you resolve to discover the source of it and fix it. You have no idea how you could go about doing this, but you'll be damned if you don't try.

>You do another sweep of the house but fail to find anything else of interest. From the tone of the note, we probably packed up all our useful possessions and took them with us to... wherever it was that we went. At least it sounded like that was still somewhere for the villagers to have gone TO.
>Pronouns are a very strange thing when referring to a self that did not live the life that you remember...

> Check for anything that may be hidden, if we have a habit of storng somethings in places you might never look. Obtain anything useful that is found.

>You don't really have any out of the way spots that you keep your possessions. If this self was different in that regard, she's hidden them well enough that you can't find them.

> Once this is done, head directly for Mokou's home, surely she will still be living in the same place... right?

>As tempting it is to seek out the comfort of a loved one, you've grown increasingly worried that even this will have somehow changed in this timeline. Still, there is still a hope. You figure this is as good a destination as any when you've finished exploring the village.

>Whether or not you found any, head to Akyu's house, she must have records of what happened here.

>You decide to see of Akyuu's house has more detailed records of what took place here. You exit your home and head southeast.
>This takes you through the market center. Normally this would be the busiest area of town, crowded with open stalls and food carts. The town square is empty, now. Either everything was packed up into one of the nearby buildings, or people took it with them.
>Wait, is that a light you see in one of the buildings on the edge of the market circle?

[Doll.S CUBE]

> Go check it out

[MysTeariousYukari]

> Have hope! Someone is here!
> Head towards the building the light is coming from.

[Hello Purvis]

>Be ready to give them a faceful of spellcard, should they try some level 2 sleuth diplomacy on us.
>Evaluate the nature of the light, on the way.

[DracoOmega]

> Have hope! Someone is here!

>Your spirits perk up a little at the first signs of life you've seen since you regained consciousness.

>Be ready to give them a faceful of spellcard, should they try some level 2 sleuth diplomacy on us.

>You are certainly prepared for the possibility that this presence will not be friendly. But you're hoping against hope to see a familiar face.

>Evaluate the nature of the light, on the way.

>The light appears to be something mundane, like an oil lantern. It's strangely comforting.

> Go check it out

>You make your way over to the building. It's a small tile-roofed structure, partially attached to the adjacent buildings. This was an herbalist's shop and home, the last you saw it, although the sign seems to have been removed. You note that it actually seems well tended to, even if the neighbors are in various states of disrepair. There's a small flower bed along the front of the building, enclosed in white stones. A small cherry tree is growing there, along with a few assorted flowers.

[Hello Purvis]

>Can we hear anything inside?
>Consider knocking on the door. It's less hostile than just barging in.

[Blitzer]

>Prepare to go into /Assault Mode in case the inhabitant is hostile.

[DracoOmega]

>Can we hear anything inside?

>You listen at the door. You think you can hear something... bubbling? It kind of sounds like something boiling vigorously.

>Consider knocking on the door. It's less hostile than just barging in.

>Prepare to go into /Assault Mode in case the inhabitant is hostile.

>Well, it looks reasonably safe, anyway. You knock on the door, ready with a spellcard if the response is less than hospitable. You wait a little bit, but fail to get an answer. "Is anyone there?" you call out, while knocking again. Still nothing.

[MysTeariousYukari]

> Knock on the door once more, and call out again.
> Was whoever lived here elderly at all?

[Doll.S CUBE]

> Knock the door again, again and again

> If no one answers, check if doors unlock, if it is open it and look inside "Hello anyone here?, sorry for interrupting but the door was unlocked and no one answered"

[DracoOmega]

> Was whoever lived here elderly at all?

>The store was run by a woman in her 30s who inherited it from her mother. While she was a friendly sort, she lived alone, as best you can recall.

> Knock the door again, again and again

> If no one answers, check if doors unlock, if it is open it and look inside "Hello anyone here?, sorry for interrupting but the door was unlocked and no one answered"

>You continue knocking at the door, but eventually figure that the inhabitants must either be deaf or absent. You try the handle and realize that the door was never actually looked. You call out a courtesy acknowledgment, although you figure that if they didn't hear all that pounding, they won't hear this either. Predictably, you get no response.
>What you can see of the front room from the outside looks fairly homey. There's lots of warm light dancing around the walls, and the house looks cared for.

[Hello Purvis]

>Walk inside, and examine the decor. See if it's possible to discern who's living here.

[DracoOmega]

>Walk inside, and examine the decor. See if it's possible to discern who's living here.

>You step inside. This room would have originally been the storefront, and although the counter is still there, the shelves that would normally be full of jars containing herbs and other compounds have been replaced with an eclectic variety of objects. There are some vases with wildflowers, a fancy glass paperweight, an paper fan on a stand, a worn beach stone, a few decorative wood carvings, another scroll case, an assorted minutia.
>Through an archway to the side, you peak into the room that doubled as a kitchen and herbal preparation area. There seems to be a pot of... something boiling on the stove. Actually, it looks in danger of boiling over if it's left unattended much longer.
>There are stairs in the main room, behind the counter, the lead up to the sleeping area

[Hello Purvis]

>Head up the stairs.

[DracoOmega]

>Head up the stairs.

>You head up the stairs. There's a moderately sized bedroom and living space here. The bed is unmade, and it looks like someone has been recently sleeping in it. There's another vase of flowers on the nightstand. In general, the room seems to be decorated in a tasteful minimalist fashion. There's small bottle of sake on the table. A wall scroll hangs in the corner... hey, wait, that was yours! Wasn't it? There's no sign of any inhabitants.

[Hello Purvis]

>Frown at the pilfered scroll, then head downstairs and into the kitchen.

[DracoOmega]

>Frown at the pilfered scroll, then head downstairs and into the kitchen.

>You spare a moment to frown disapprovingly at the wall scroll. Then again, this was never one of your favorites. You hadn't hung it up in ages. Maybe you ended up leaving it behind here when you left? Assuming whoever this is didn't rob you blind while you were still living here, it's probably best if someone appreciates it, rather than letting it rot in an abandoned home.

>You head downstairs and enter the kitchen. The pot's really frothing now. It smells pretty nice, though, whatever it is. The kitchen seems pretty well equipped. The various pots and utensils you see around don't appear to match each other, but there's still a good assortment of them. A plate of mochi sits on the table.

[Hello Purvis]

>Try to identify contents of the pot, see if we recognize the recipe and whether it should be allowed to boil over like this.

[Seian Verian]

> If it needs to be turned off, do so, in case whoever was cooking it is ever going to come back.
> Be prepared for anything that might make whoever was here not come back

[DracoOmega]

>Try to identify contents of the pot, see if we recognize the recipe and whether it should be allowed to boil over like this.

>You try to skim away some of the froth and look at it. You think it might actually be soup. You don't recognize everything floating about in there, but some of them are definitely ordinary garden-variety vegetables.

> If it needs to be turned off, do so, in case whoever was cooking it is ever going to come back.
> Be prepared for anything that might make whoever was here not come back

>You figure whoever it is doesn't want this spilling all over the place. You take the pot off the stove, for the moment. It settles down fairly quickly.

[Hello Purvis]

>Examine mochi for freshness.
>Look around for other places to go.

[DracoOmega]

>Examine mochi for freshness.

>The mochi looks quite fresh, actually. You're almost tempted to try some, but figure that it's the height of impoliteness to not only walk into someone's house uninvited, but nibble on their food.

>Look around for other places to go.

>Wherever the current inhabitant of this place is, you figure they can't have gotten far. You could search around the rest of the village for them, or continue towards Akyuu's house, which was your original destination. You've yet to travel through the southern, northern, or eastern regions of the village.