Rumia Quest 7: Chasing Shadows

[Raikaria]

>"Makes sense. Can't afford to have our biggest mind end up like everyone else."
>Pause. "I wonder if this could copy Yuyuko's power? I mean, nature's life and death too, but Titania goes the life angle of things from what I'm seeing."
>Beat.
>"Hey, maybe I could copy that Anti-Plant Toxin that Yumemi and Eirin made! See, Medicine's here too, and she figured out how to produce it."

> "It can only copy powers, and they're drastically watered down. Think of it like a nameless fairy with that power." Patchouli says. "Plus, I would theorize there is only so much room in that gem for power, after all, it didn't add my powers alongside that Makai Fire mage's, it replaced hers."

[Hanzo K.]

>Nod. "True. I suppose then that Sakuya's Time powers would replace Yumeko's Space powers. Given how similar they are."
>Pause. "Say, you don't suppose they might somehow be related?"

[Raikaria]

>Nod. "True. I suppose then that Sakuya's Time powers would replace Yumeko's Space powers. Given how similar they are."
>Pause. "Say, you don't suppose they might somehow be related?"

> "I'm not sure how that would work. It could replace something the thing sees less useful than either, or it could combine them. Who knows."

> "No." Sakuya says. "And if you ever suggest that again you'll have 500 knives in you before you hear me say 'The World.'"

[Hanzo K.]

>Eep. "R-right then."

[Raikaria]

>Eep. "R-right then."

> "Good." Sakuya says. "Suggesting I'm anything but human... how absurd."

> "But Sakuya Remi says you're a..."

> "Quiet. Flan." Sakuya says, making even Flandre clam up.

[Hanzo K.]

>"Well, maybe Yumeko was modeled loosely on a distant relative of yours then. Who knows where Shinki got the idea for a Space-altering maid who throws swords, save for Shinki herself of course."
>"Hmm...I wonder if I could use this sword to copy Titania's power somehow? At the very least, it should be enough to counteract her attempts to control anyone I think...Fight fire with fire after all. We'd have Shinki help out, but her and Sariel are too busy keeping Makai safe at their way into the Dream World. That place is so overgrown with vines and creepers that it'd be impossible to use that path, nevermind that we'd have to rely on Alice to get into Makai."

[Raikaria]

>"Well, maybe Yumeko was modeled loosely on a distant relative of yours then. Who knows where Shinki got the idea for a Space-altering maid who throws swords, save for Shinki herself of course."
>"Hmm...I wonder if I could use this sword to copy Titania's power somehow? At the very least, it should be enough to counteract her attempts to control anyone I think...Fight fire with fire after all. We'd have Shinki help out, but her and Sariel are too busy keeping Makai safe at their way into the Dream World. That place is so overgrown with vines and creepers that it'd be impossible to use that path, nevermind that we'd have to rely on Alice to get into Makai."

> "Shinki is mad, and besides, time and space manipulation is pretty handy for this profession." Sakuya says.

> "I'd be more inclined to rely on Shinki's energy within the sword. You don't have to risk your life to make her make contact with the gem for one. Since she made it herself, her power resonates through more than that gemstone, but the entire thing. That said, with the disparity of the power contained in this weapon, and the real thing..." Patchouli says.

> "And Makai is actually a pretty dangerous place. For those who are not magicians or natives, or have other strong magic within them, the air is toxic. I doubt Tengu could survive there, for example, and ordinary humans certainly could not. And no, Marisa is not 'ordinary'." Patchouli adds. "While I would be fine there, I doubt Sakuya would, for example."

[Hanzo K.]

>"Hmm...Aha! Reimu can make barriers, right? That means all we have to do is find her, touch the gem to her sleeping self for a short time, and presto."

[Raikaria]

>"Hmm...Aha! Reimu can make barriers, right? That means all we have to do is find her, touch the gem to her sleeping self for a short time, and presto."

> "... I guess that could work. But the Hakurei Shrine is heavily guarded, Yuuka dosen't want to risk anything breaking her spell on Reimu, or doing anything to her." Patchouli says.

> At this point, you hear Flandre go '"Hmmm...", before she looks at Laevateinn.

> "Kyuu~" she goes, as the wand shatters.

> "W-What are you doing Flan!" Sakuya exclaims.

> "The book says Loki will show up if someone breaks Laevateinn, because he likes the thing." Flandre says. "I thought we could speak to a God to see if he knows anything."

> Out of the shattered spliters of the wand, a green mist rises, which forms into a man.

> "My my, it's been a few thousand years since someone's managed to damage Laevateinn. Now why would anyone do that these days, when no-one believes in me anymore?" the tall man says. He is dressed largely in green and black, and doesn't look particularly trustworthy, but as a trickster god, you guess that's natural.

> "Titania." Flandre says.

> "... Ah, so... the chaos going on in this world WAS her doing. That Shinto wind god was right. I told Odin! That stupid green haired witch and her... god complex!" the god rages.

[Hanzo K.]

>Sigh. "Could we get back to the matter at hand please? Since you're one of the top trickster gods, maybe you've got some useful input on how to outfox Titania. I'm pretty slick myself, but even I'm starting to run dry on schemes. So far my best idea is to use my sword to copy certain people so we can use those powers against Titania."
>Fistpalm. "Oh, I think I might know some people you might like to hang out with, given their fondness for pranks, but I don't know if they're still awake right now or not. They should wake up after this mess is resolved though."

[Raikaria]

>Sigh. "Could we get back to the matter at hand please? Since you're one of the top trickster gods, maybe you've got some useful input on how to outfox Titania. I'm pretty slick myself, but even I'm starting to run dry on schemes. So far my best idea is to use my sword to copy certain people so we can use those powers against Titania."
>Fistpalm. "Oh, I think I might know some people you might like to hang out with, given their fondness for pranks, but I don't know if they're still awake right now or not. They should wake up after this mess is resolved though."

> "Outfox her? There's only so much foxing one can do when you're in a dimension she's taken control of." Loki says, floating in the air.

> "As much as I'd love to hang out, I'm not a God with any faith these days. I can only stick around long enough to fix my precious wand. Now, I can chat and everything while I do that, but then I gotta go. Maybe if you can get some people to pray to Loki, then I can turn up and have some fun with those pals."

> The Norse god collects the shards of laevateinn, by picking them into the air, with a flick of his hand. They start to swirl around.

> "Man... you sure broke this good." he mutters.

> "Anyway, just 'cause I don't know about how to beat that crazy goddess, doesn't mean I don't want to see her taken down a few pegs. Maybe I can tell you what I know about her. You know, I think my word is gonna be a lot more useful than what some dusty old tomes from thousands of years ago say. Might help ya figure out what to do."

> "With all due respect, you're a trickster god." Sakuya says.

> "With all due respect." Loki says in a mocking tone, "Considering Titania wants to be an absolute god of every dimension, that puts my existence on the line as well. Imagine how powerful she will become after feeding on the fear of every dimension there is. No god or goddess would be able to stand before her, even all of them together would fall before one with the faith of the entire multiverse. Then without opposition from other gods, and with the entire multiverse feeding her with fear, she can do whatever she wants."

[Hanzo K.]

>"So, what do you know about her then? Aside from the fact that she's the Nature Goddess, and the Progenitor of the Fairy Race."

[Raikaria]

>"So, what do you know about her then? Aside from the fact that she's the Nature Goddess, and the Progenitor of the Fairy Race."

> "Sit back, because this is gonna get long." Loki warns.

> "Titania used to be a kind goddess, thousands and thousands of years ago. However, this began to change around 10,000 years ago. As human civilization began to warp nature, and the world, to their own ends. Large civilizations of humans began to form, and began, in Titania's eyes, destroying nature for their own greed, vanity, and selfish desires."

> Loki pauses.

> "Titania protested to the gods to take action, curb humanity's destruction of nature, as she saw it. However, she was refused. Humans gave the most faith of everything, and the way the other Gods saw it, including other naturegods, humans were doing nothing wrong. However, Titania refused to listen."

> "It began with Atlantis. Titania claimed she made the shifts in the tectonic plates as was due, but made a mistake due to waning faith, her power being somewhat haywire. The result sunk the human civilization of Atlantis under the sea. We were skeptical, but there was no evidence. We know now, her power was fluctuateing due to other, smaller things she did, and she had discovered fear as a form of faith."

> "Titania then caused several other disasters, although she had an alabi for the timing every time. That was, until she went too far. She set several events in motion, events that could not be reversed, leading to disaster after disaster. We found out about her meddling with the Santorini disaster., a volcano erupted with enough force to contribute to famine in the far away China."

> "She was found out, but struck out, killing several other gods before she finally lost all of her energy, and hid, putting her essence inside a young plant youkai, and hibernating inside them, until this day. Her actions have caused many other disasters since then, Mount Vesuvius. Laki, which killed about 6 million people. Krakatoa. And that is just volcanic eruptions, and not earthquakes, tsunamis, and other natural disasters."

> "The truth is, most major 'natural' disasters in the last 4,500 years were set in motion by Titania."

[Hanzo K.]

>"So then, we're going up against someone who feels she's in the right, but essentially went mad with power. Let's hope Sanae doesn't end up like that sooner or later. But since she used to be human, the odds should be a hell of a lot lower."
>Beat.
>"Sounds like just about every incident-causer over the past few years, huh? Someone remind me to throw Nue with enough force to send her from the Hakurei Shrine to the Youkai Mountain when all this is over. She's to blame for Titania waking up after all. Besides, she should be able to survive it, she's a youkai."

[Raikaria]

>"So then, we're going up against someone who feels she's in the right, but essentially went mad with power. Let's hope Sanae doesn't end up like that sooner or later. But since she used to be human, the odds should be a hell of a lot lower."
>Beat.
>"Sounds like just about every incident-causer over the past few years, huh? Someone remind me to throw Nue with enough force to send her from the Hakurei Shrine to the Youkai Mountain when all this is over. She's to blame for Titania waking up after all. Besides, she should be able to survive it, she's a youkai."

> "No, she has been in the process of waking up for a while. Fear fed her, and how many were scared of Yuuka?" Patchouli says. "All Nue would have done was accelerate the process."

> "On that matter, I doubt that at this point, Titania is even a god anymore. She has likely fallen, and become a demon. She wants revenge on the gods and the humans, and anyone abusing nature in any world now, and, if she had indeed become a demon, she has become an incarnation of her own fury, which would make her beyond saving." Loki says.

> "If you do fight her, you have to do so without fear, or you will just empower her." Loki adds. "That said, I do not see anyone going without fear into a being like her now."

[Hanzo K.]

>"Well, as long as I have this," Indicate Unified Chaos. "I should be fine. I was preparing for this sort of thing since the first Titania Incident a few months ago."

[Raikaria]

>"Well, as long as I have this," Indicate Unified Chaos. "I should be fine. I was preparing for this sort of thing since the first Titania Incident a few months ago."

> "A piece of metal formed by a god that's halfway to being a demon against a god feeding off fear from the entire multiverse." Loki says.

[Hanzo K.]

>"One little correction there, this little treasure can mimic a person's powers at a somewhat weaker level, as long as I can wrap my mind around how to use it."
>Pause. "I wonder if it could copy Flandre's power? That's how she damaged Laevatein as much as she did."

[Raikaria]

>"One little correction there, this little treasure can mimic a person's powers at a somewhat weaker level, as long as I can wrap my mind around how to use it."
>Pause. "I wonder if it could copy Flandre's power? That's how she damaged Laevatein as much as she did."

> "Doubtful." Patchouli says. "How can you water down her power? Besides, how can a sword hold an object's 'eye'?"

[Hanzo K.]

>"Good question. Maybe instead of being able to destroy anything, it can just destroy 'something'?"

[Raikaria]

>"Good question. Maybe instead of being able to destroy anything, it can just destroy 'something'?"

> "Except to destroy something successfully you need the abilty to destroy anything in the first place." Sakuya mentions.

> "I'll be going anyway~" Flandre says.

[Hanzo K.]

>"Hmm...Hey Flan, can you destroy ideas as well? I was thinking if we could destroy the concept of Titania controlling the Dream World, we could rob her of one of her biggest advantages."

[Raikaria]

>"Hmm...Hey Flan, can you destroy ideas as well? I was thinking if we could destroy the concept of Titania controlling the Dream World, we could rob her of one of her biggest advantages."

> "I can only destroy the material." Flandre says. "Consider that as the weakness of my power. I can also only destroy things weaker than I am."

[Hanzo K.]

>"So pretty much almost everyone and everything in this room, save for Loki that is."
>Nod. "That said, we just need to figure out some way to defeat her."

[Raikaria]

>"So pretty much almost everyone and everything in this room, save for Loki that is."
>Nod. "That said, we just need to figure out some way to defeat her."

> "I wouldn't be certain of that." Flandre says. "They say gods without faith are pretty weak, and honestly, I don't know if I'm stronger than you or not."

> "Well, I don't know if she has a weakness par say, but I can tell you this; she has an incredibly destructive attack, where she fires basically the collected force of nature as a beam of energy. However, after firing it, she is drained of energy, and has to breifly re-collect natural energy. The window is small... but it's still a window. It's how the gods managed to beat her and force her to seal herself. She fired that attack, erased about ten gods doing so, but then several gods locked down her energy collection and wounded her." Loki says.

> He thinks.

> "If I recall right, Odin was involved in that. Who else did he say... oh yeah, some sealing goddess named Hak.. something... oh yeah, Hakurei! I remember that name was important 'round here, but, well, this ain't my area. Japan isn't exactly Norse."

> The god thinks. "Oh yes, father said he pierced her with Gungir immediately after the blast, having thrown it before, off-target so the blast wouldn't destroy it, but using it's powers to hit. Then several other gods followed up, and then Hakurei took advantage of her weakened state and sealed her powers for long enough that she was forced to retreat."

> "But... to put the power of that attack into perspective... even after the Earth Gods mended the damage... the scar left is the Grand Canyon."

> "... That would put it beyond even that attack she used against us back then." Patchouli comments.

[Hanzo K.]

>"Well, there's still A Hakurei around, Reimu Hakurei to be exact. I guess to make this go off, I'll have to fight my way to her, and then borrow her power with my sword. Seeing as we don't know where the Hakurei God is, we'll have to make do with the Hakurei Miko's powers instead. And since she's probably asleep right now due to only being Human, I'll have to make do with a flawed copy of what she can do."
>"That said, Remilia, her older sister," Indicate Flandre. "Has Gungnir right now. If we can use that in the same way Odin did, we should be fine. I guess we've already got all the tools we need to beat her, so the only issue is escaping that blast when she fires it. Maybe we can misdirect it somehow? Do you know anyone who might know any tells, or quirks she has that we can exploit? For example, 'destroying nature' to make her direct her attention elsewhere."

[Raikaria]

>"Well, there's still A Hakurei around, Reimu Hakurei to be exact. I guess to make this go off, I'll have to fight my way to her, and then borrow her power with my sword. Seeing as we don't know where the Hakurei God is, we'll have to make do with the Hakurei Miko's powers instead. And since she's probably asleep right now due to only being Human, I'll have to make do with a flawed copy of what she can do."
>"That said, Remilia, her older sister," Indicate Flandre. "Has Gungnir right now. If we can use that in the same way Odin did, we should be fine. I guess we've already got all the tools we need to beat her, so the only issue is escaping that blast when she fires it. Maybe we can misdirect it somehow? Do you know anyone who might know any tells, or quirks she has that we can exploit? For example, 'destroying nature' to make her direct her attention elsewhere."

> "Ah, the family of mikos to the Hakurei Goddess who can channel her powers." Loki says.

> "I know who has Gungir. As for a tell before she fires it? A bright light. A VERY bright light." Loki says.

> This this point, L?vateinn finishes forming.

> "Well, that means I need to go, I can't stay here long, after all. I have so little faith..." Loki says, before he vanishes, seemingly into his wand.

====

About 1 hour ago, in the Forest of Magic:



> You are Yoshika Miyako, and you had an idea.

> Nyang-Nyang is sleeping, and can't wake up, which means she can't be Nyang-Nyang. Still, everyone is in danger... and apparently everyone is sleeping. But you had an idea.

> Who said Nyang-Nyang has to be in control of Nyang-Nyang?

> You have bitten Nyang-Nyang, and made her your Jiang-Shi. You are in control of her. With her help, you should be able to have her make some tags to control more! You can wake up everyone! Kinda. Nyang-Nyang said that Reimu is probobly a good idea to try and wake up.

[Note: You can still talk about what Loki said as Rumia, just Loki's point about Reimu leads nicely to this. Reimu doesn't have to be awake to help!]

[Raikaria]

Giving this a minor bump with a reminder that if players do not like the direction things are going, to speak up. For example, if you don't like the Yoshika thing, we can just cut that.

I'm not here to dictate the game, just make the general rails and resolve events.

[SirChaotick]

Well, my knowledge of the events is somewhat lackluster, but I'll give it a try.

>Do we know where Reimu is? Or Reimu's shrine?
>Can we talk normally to Nyang-Nyang when we've bitten her?

[Raikaria]

Well, my knowledge of the events is somewhat lackluster, but I'll give it a try.

>Do we know where Reimu is? Or Reimu's shrine?
>Can we talk normally to Nyang-Nyang when we've bitten her?

> You are aware. Everyone knows where the Hakurei Shrine is!

> Not... really. You just speak Zombie, since you are one. Apparently all Jiang-Shi's you make can do for vocal communication is groan and maybe the occasional word. Nyang-Nyang is so much better at this than you are, after all, she made you a Jiang-Shi.