Maribel Quest Adjoining: A Z-Machine Adventure

[DracoOmega]

>Smile
>"So it worked? That's great! Can I see it?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Smile
>"So it worked? That's great! Can I see it?"

>You grin.
>"Yeah!" she says. "C'mon in!"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Enter the house

[Hello Purvis]

>Enter the house

>You walk inside, and head toward the kitchen.
>The table is covered with a sort of runny mud, which has also stained the floors and the walls in a few places. One of the stoves hangs open, the fire inside burning bright yellow. The soup tureen still sits where it is, lightly steaming with a bit of mud hardened on the side.. One of the counters is covered with loose papers and bits of parchment. Sitting in a bowl holding down a small stack of papers is a ceramic bracelet.
>"I tried to make a ring," says Marisa between mouthfuls of breakfast, "But I just couldn't get it to channel right. And when it did, it blew up."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"So, is this it, then? Is it safe to pick up and use at this point?"
>If so, pick it up. See if we can touch the power inside it
>Then try it on, and repeat the familiar conjuring experiment we tried yesterday, drawing upon the bracelet.

[Hello Purvis]

>"So, is this it, then? Is it safe to pick up and use at this point?"
>If so, pick it up. See if we can touch the power inside it
>Then try it on, and repeat the familiar conjuring experiment we tried yesterday, drawing upon the bracelet.

>"Sure is!" says Marisa over a mouthful of fish.
>You touch it, and don't feel anything. This isn't terribly surprising, you didn't feel anything when you picked up her own artifact, either.
>The bracelet is made of a kind of yellow-brown ceramic. The craftsmanship on it seems pretty good. It is studded with little bits of polished rock, and encircled with bands of ceramic. On it are images of stars and mushrooms. You slip it on, and find it fits you hand pretty well. You attempt the Starlight Incantation, drawing upon the bracelet, and feel a pleasing rush of warmth through you. Five familiars appear around you, but one of them dissolves a fraction of a second after appearing.
>"Great, isn't it?" asks Marisa. "You got no idea how glad I am you started talking about sources while I was looking at the kettle."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, I'm certainly glad, too! Thank you very much."
>"I assume a source like this can also empower plain old danmaku as well?"

[Kilgamayan]

> Try drawing on the bracelet to create a border.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, I'm certainly glad, too! Thank you very much."
>"I assume a source like this can also empower plain old danmaku as well?"

>"You're welcome!" says Marisa. "I can't wait to show Alice. Bet she never thought of making phantasmal mushroom clay!"
>"Yep, spellcards too," says Marisa.

> Try drawing on the bracelet to create a border.

>You try to make a border. You manage to make one about the size of a hubcap that lasts of half a second. Kind of an improvement!

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"How does one make a spellcard, anyway?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"How does one make a spellcard, anyway?"

>"First, you need to have a hard prepared. Which takes some time. You can get some from Reimu if you need them, but she charges. Most people just make their own. Afterward, you need to know the writing used to make them. It's pretty specialized for the task. After that, it's just your imagination and your ability to see it through."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"How do you make the blank cards?"
>"And how do you go about learning how to write them? I suppose there are books for that?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"How do you make the blank cards?"
>"And how do you go about learning how to write them? I suppose there are books for that?"

>"It's kind of a pain," says Marisa. "You have to get cardstock, first off, and slowly work a bit of energy into it. Then you have to seal it.  it's a kind of spell, not really hard. I bet you could probably cast it even without your bracelet. It's not hard, just a pain. It's considered professional to decorate the card appropriately, too."
>"Pamphlets, really. It's not too hard to learn it. But unless you're really good, making the card is a bit of trial and error, you have to get so you can use it, without trying to take too much energy and failing. That can take awhile."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"That trial and error bit... can you modify cards incrementally? Or, once you make it, are they essentially locked? Do they get consumed in the process?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"That trial and error bit... can you modify cards incrementally? Or, once you make it, are they essentially locked? Do they get consumed in the process?"

>"You can change them, yeah," says Marisa. "But once you're done, you'll want to finish them. Unsealed cards don't last too long. And if you monkey around too much, you'll burn the card out. So it's a good idea to aim low on your first couple cards."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"So, this is a second sealing? The first to seal the base energy in the blank card, and the second time to finalize the effect?"
>"I think this is really something I should knuckle down and put some time into shortly."

[Hello Purvis]

>"So, this is a second sealing? The first to seal the base energy in the blank card, and the second time to finalize the effect?"
>"I think this is really something I should knuckle down and put some time into shortly."

>"You got it," says Marisa. "Anybody can do the first one. But, the person who is going to use the card has to do the second. Well, if someone else could use, they could do the second one. But, most times, when you're done with a card it'll be so personalized only you can use it. There's exceptions."
>Did she just smirk a bit after that?
>"Anyways, you should be good to go with that bracelet. Just don't let it go to your head. If you try something too big for it, you might break it. Oh! And it's just a hoop of ceramic, so don't go banging it around."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"How would I know what qualifies as 'too big'? Preferably in advance? Would I be able to sense something going wrong and be able to pull back?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"How would I know what qualifies as 'too big'? Preferably in advance? Would I be able to sense something going wrong and be able to pull back?"

>"You'll get a feel for it," says Marisa, finishing up the last of the rice. "You'll feel it start to get away from you and fizzle. Dunno if you'll be able to stop it, then. Kind of like trying to stop in the middle of a drink."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"But you don't think this is likely to come up in a regular danmaku battle or anything?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"But you don't think this is likely to come up in a regular danmaku battle or anything?"

>"Not until you get good enough at it that you can actually try to push it hard enough to hurt yourself," says Marisa as she finishes her breakfast and hands you the dishes. "You'll be fine. This is mostly a spells kind of thing."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Ah, ok. I'll keep that in mind, once I have anything more impressive to cast with it."
>Take the dishes
>"Any other provisos or tips I ought to be aware of? Or anything I might be able to lend a hand with in return?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Ah, ok. I'll keep that in mind, once I have anything more impressive to cast with it."
>Take the dishes
>"Any other provisos or tips I ought to be aware of? Or anything I might be able to lend a hand with in return?"

>You take the plates. They are smudged with mushroom clay.
>"Hmmm. I think that covers the most of it." She frowns, looking toward the floor and crossing her arms. "Oh, right! There is a thing you can learn to do to make your artifact work better. Right now, what you're doing is taking from it. That's fine for the normal stuff. But when you really need the boost, you can open yourself up to it, let it draw from you, and amplify it. The upside is, you'll get more out of it. A lot more. Downside is, it'll wear you out pretty quick. It's good for spellcards though. Once you get good at that, you can just feed it specific things, and not wear down so fast. Me, for instance? Well, I'm not known as the witch of love for no reason."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"You feed your mini-Hakkero... love?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"You feed your mini-Hakkero... love?"

>"Yep!" Says Marisa, grinning. "Laugh all you want, you can't argue with results."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Hmmm... it's different, anyway."
>"Would I be able to practice opening myself up to it without exhausting myself in the process, if I didn't actually do anything with that power? I'd like to see how it works."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Hmmm... it's different, anyway."
>"Would I be able to practice opening myself up to it without exhausting myself in the process, if I didn't actually do anything with that power? I'd like to see how it works."

>"Naw, it's perfectly normal," says Marisa.
>"No, just doing it is what makes it happen. But, if yo only do it once every so often, you ought to be alright."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Ah, I see. Well thanks very much, again. I should probably head out, now. You have a nice day, now and I'll see you around!"
>Head back to Renko

[Hello Purvis]

>"Ah, I see. Well thanks very much, again. I should probably head out, now. You have a nice day, now and I'll see you around!"
>Head back to Renko

>"Yeah, I need to hit the hay. See ya, Maribel!"
>You make your way back to the faeries' clearing. You find Renko quickly, addressing a group of thirty or so faeries, while others seem to be finishing off breakfast.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Go drop off our dishes wherever seems to be the appropriate place to do so
>Listen in on what Renko's saying, without being a distraction