Maribel Quest - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

>"Hopefully Chen didn't notice me, then. Or Keine managed to sway her. Well, no matter. I'll just have to look out for it."
>"Thanks again, Reimu."
>Consider making another border-barrier for practice.
>Quests. What's a good next destination?

>"Chen would have said something, probably," says Reimu. "Yukari's like her doting aunt, or grandma."
>"You're welcome."
>Practice does make perfect.
>Your Quests are
>Renko Quest
>Given Renko has been your long-term partner in crime, if you're stuck here, chances are she is too.
>Escape from Eastern Wonderland?
>At some point, you should probably try to go home, right?
>Love is a Battlefield
>Your friend Utsuho in a bitter rivalry with Yuugi for the heart of Parsee Mizuhashi. What can be done?
>Maximum Charge Maribel Hearn
>Byakuren has offered to cast a spell to enhance your innate magic potential, if you gather the ingredients and prove yourself worthy.
>Clinic Catastophe
>Byakuren asked you to help Murasa run the clinic, and to make sure Murasa is doing her job.
>Kick a Komachi
>Apparently Komachi has been slacking off. Reimu's asked you to give her a swift kick to get back to work.

>_

[E-Nazrin]

>look

[Doll.S CUBE]

> Lets go to Marisas place, we need to learn more about magic

[Kilgamayan]

> Going to Marisa's would probably be useful, but Komachi is probably higher priority right now. We don't have anything to offer for services, and there's no guarantee Marisa won't charge in some capacity. Who knows what we'll get out of harassing Komachi, which only requires our voice.

[E-Nazrin]

>Komachi is, indeed, a more obvious goal, and it'd do no good to annoy Reimu by forgetting about it. But there's a lot more to do near the Forest of Magic, which may mean less backtracking.
>Then again, since Satori's the one that's let us stay at their house recently, leaving stuff on the way to the Underground for later might be a good idea. How easy is it to tell what time of day it is down there?

[Hello Purvis]

>look

>What at?

> Lets go to Marisas place, we need to learn more about magic

> Going to Marisa's would probably be useful, but Komachi is probably higher priority right now. We don't have anything to offer for services, and there's no guarantee Marisa won't charge in some capacity. Who knows what we'll get out of harassing Komachi, which only requires our voice.

>Komachi is, indeed, a more obvious goal, and it'd do no good to annoy Reimu by forgetting about it. But there's a lot more to do near the Forest of Magic, which may mean less backtracking.
>Then again, since Satori's the one that's let us stay at their house recently, leaving stuff on the way to the Underground for later might be a good idea. How easy is it to tell what time of day it is down there?

>Decisions, decisions...
>You have no idea how to tell time underground. You don't even know if Renko could do it.

>_

[Doll.S CUBE]

(I vote Marisas)

[DracoOmega]

>The Forest of Magic is on our way back to the underground, anyway, so we can always do the stuff there on our way back for the night.

[Hello Purvis]

>The Forest of Magic is on our way back to the underground, anyway, so we can always do the stuff there on our way back for the night.

>This is true. Though it's also not necessary to wait that long to go back...

>_

[Doll.S CUBE]

(Oh yeah, heh, forgot about that)

> Go to Komachi, all we have to do is get her to work, that doesn't seem too hard, right?

[E-Nazrin]

>look around the area, current situation and such!
>In particular, look for something appropriate to try using a practice barrier on. Or is it based on conceptual distinctions, rather than physical ones, with the water surface simply assisting that, sorta like the palm-danmaku Byakuren explained?
>Komachi is probably a higher priority, overall.

[Hello Purvis]

>look around the area, current situation and such!
>In particular, look for something appropriate to try using a practice barrier on. Or is it based on conceptual distinctions, rather than physical ones, with the water surface simply assisting that, sorta like the palm-danmaku Byakuren explained?
>Komachi is probably a higher priority, overall.

>You are presently at the Hakurei Shrine. Reimu has returned to hanging up her laundry.  She glances at you every so often.
>You aren't sure. Now might be the time to ask.
>Dealing with Komachi is probably important.

>_

[E-Nazrin]

>"Um... stupid question first, actually. Where can you make barriers? Like, if I wanted to make one to defend myself, do I need to come up with a 'border' between myself and the attack based on the situation, or is the location less important than the strength of concepts used for making it?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Um... stupid question first, actually. Where can you make barriers? Like, if I wanted to make one to defend myself, do I need to come up with a 'border' between myself and the attack based on the situation, or is the location less important than the strength of concepts used for making it?"

>"Oh, right, we got sidetracked, didn't we?" says Reimu. "All you really need is a concept for making one."
>She waves her hand in front of her, creating a translucent blue field in midair. Unlike your earlier barrier, you notice it is full of curious patterns and what seems like writing. "A pro can do it just like that," she says. "From concept to exection in a moment. Though let me say, it's way harder when you're flying. You're not going to get a lot of defensive use out of it in straight danmaku fights. Though if you're good, you can build patterns based on it."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"And what concept did you use for that one?"

>"I notice it's quite a bit more intricate. If that just a consequence of practice, or is that based on the difference in concept?"

[E-Nazrin]

>"I take it you use them?"
>"... actually, that reminds me - I heard about spellcards from someone else earlier. They're special danmaku patterns or something, right? How do you... should I be concerned with how to make them, and what they're like?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"And what concept did you use for that one?"

>"I notice it's quite a bit more intricate. If that just a consequence of practice, or is that based on the difference in concept?"

>"A few things," she says. "Old and New, Teacher and Student, Self and Outside."
>"Both. Once you learn the basics, you can start to weave talismans into them, which helps put them together, even with weak concepts. That's a ways beyond you, yet. And it's where you got to start memorizing all sorts of spiritual stuff."

>"I take it you use them?"
>"... actually, that reminds me - I heard about spellcards from someone else earlier. They're special danmaku patterns or something, right? How do you... should I be concerned with how to make them, and what they're like?"

>"In danmaku?" she shakes her head. "No. The best defense is a good dodge. By the time I got a good barrier up, I would be dealing with bullets from other angles. It's just not worth it."
>"I can help you with that. Talk to me once you're confident in your skills, and have a couple matches under you belt maybe."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Oh, so you can weave multiple concepts into the same barrier? I assume that strengthens it?"

>Try creating a barrier using the same group of concepts Reimu just described, for practice

[E-Nazrin]

>Cognitive dissonance from many of Reimu's spellcards and fighting game moves using barriers
>"Alright. I'm glad I've managed to be worth the time. I think I'll go check on Komachi before I do something silly like forget about it. North, right? Should I try flying over there?"
>what sort of obstacles are due North? Or was that where our path came from?

[Hello Purvis]

>"Oh, so you can weave multiple concepts into the same barrier? I assume that strengthens it?"

>Try creating a barrier using the same group of concepts Reimu just described, for practice

>"It's more like throwing things on the wall to see what sticks. They don't really reinforce each other much, after a couple it's like adding a grain of rice to a bowl, you just don't get enough to make it worthwhile. But it helps.
>You give it another go. It's much more difficult than before, without a solid physical concept to envision. But you manage to create a purple disk a little larger than a tea saucer, which persists for a little more than a second. You don't have much faith in it.
>"Don't get discouraged," she says. "But don't drain yourself either."

>Cognitive dissonance from many of Reimu's spellcards and fighting game moves using barriers
>"Alright. I'm glad I've managed to be worth the time. I think I'll go check on Komachi before I do something silly like forget about it. North, right? Should I try flying over there?"
>what sort of obstacles are due North? Or was that where our path came from?

>Gotta pay attention, bro.
>"North, and if you want. Just follow the road. After it fades, keep going that way."
>You kinda remember some fields. But aside from that, you don't know.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Yeah, I know. Practice and all. Really, it's exciting to be able to do even this much, as flimsy as it is. I'll keep working on it."
>"Well, thanks very much for all this. I appreciate it. See you later!"
>Wave goodbye, and head out along the road to the north

[E-Nazrin]

>... on the flying note, what underwear did we end up with?

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yeah, I know. Practice and all. Really, it's exciting to be able to do even this much, as flimsy as it is. I'll keep working on it."
>"Well, thanks very much for all this. I appreciate it. See you later!"
>Wave goodbye, and head out along the road to the north

>"Alright. Just don't let it get in the way of other things."
>"Good luck!" says Reimu.
>You wave, and head out. 
>It'll be a bit before you go along the north road; you'll have to get back to town first.

>... on the flying note, what underwear did we end up with?

>You're kind of recycling your prior ones. It seems Reimu didn't have anything to lend in that regard.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>We can always take the more direct route, and the practice might be helpful
>Take to the sky, and see if we can see the road from here, if we go a little higher

[Hello Purvis]

>We can always take the more direct route, and the practice might be helpful
>Take to the sky, and see if we can see the road from here, if we go a little higher

>You draw out your stone, and concentrate a bit, lifting yourself into the air after a couple seconds. You think you're starting to get good at this invocation thing!
>You lift off and fly up into the sky a bit. You can see the road extending from the village, some distance to the west.

>_

[E-Nazrin]

>follow the north road. Don't fly too high.

[Hello Purvis]

>follow the north road. Don't fly too high.

>You head toward the north road. As you do, you become aware of a couple faeries flies out of the woods and heading toward you.

>_

[E-Nazrin]

>Damnit.
>Try to get past the edge of the woods before landing and/or confronting/talking to them. Just flying or danmaku is tricky enough!

[Hello Purvis]

>Damnit.
>Try to get past the edge of the woods before landing and/or confronting/talking to them. Just flying or danmaku is tricky enough!

>You indulge in some profanity, or at least think it really hard.
>You try to get to the western edge of the woods, behind you you hear the faeries shout "Hey! Don't act like you didn't see us!"

>_

[Kasu]

> Might as well indulge them.
> "Ah.  Hello. Do you need anything?"