Kisume Quest IV - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> "That didn't come up, but I guess she would have said something if she wanted a different deal."

>"Hmph. Well, if that's the case, hand it over," says Patchouli.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Hand it over.

[Hello Purvis]

> Hand it over.

>"This will take a moment," says Patchouli, as she takes the shuriken in hand, and hops from her seat.  Walking over to the northwest corner of the center part of the library, she waves a hand over the floor, and soft gray light begins to shine from it, quickly resolving into a circle filled with characters you do not recognize interlaced into complex geometric shapes that form a number of concentric rings.  They seem to almost move as you look at them.  Patchouli holds out the shuriken, which starts to float in the air, then slowly twist and spin in the middle of the circle. She honds out her hands toward it, closes her eyes, and begins to chant.
>You cannot understand the words she says, it is not possible to tell where one begins or the next ends. Are they separate words at all, or just one long utterance? You really cannot distinguish the sounds themselves very well, only that the make a kind of tinny cadence, almost but not quite like a nursery rhyme. You wait as the shuriken spins in midair. The circle's glyphs seem to move and shift whenever you look away from them, but when you watch them you are certain there is no movement at all.
>Then with a sudden high-pitched whine, the shuriken suddenly seems to vanish, and a small rain of metallic dust falls into the middle of the circle.  Patchouli swipes her hands out to her side with a single dramatic gesture, and the chant changes. As you watch, the metallic dust begins to rise into the air. Soon it begins to take shapes, crude outlines and vaguely familiar polygons, before softening into something more recognizable; you can see the outlines of trees! Not just trees...you can make out rocks, and what seems to be people-like figures. Thin outlines, like a simple drawing brought to life.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is that...the Forest of Magic, maybe?
> Keep watching.

[Hello Purvis]

> Is that...the Forest of Magic, maybe?
> Keep watching.

>You think it may be. The dust forms enough foliage underneath to look like it; it's certainly more tangled than the graveyard was.
>In the midst of this, two figures form. One you recognize easily, it is the man in farmer's clothing. The other is entirely unknown to you, a short woman in a short, puffy-sleeved dress with what seems to be a vest over it. You can't make out anything useful as far as facial features go, but she seems to have her hair pulled into two loops and secured with a large stick.
>"-ust accept my apologies," the woman says suddenly, her voice sounding distance and tinny, like you were hearing it through a metal pipe, but sounding low and somewhat airy. "My servant didn't consider that she would go in that direction."
>"I should have considered it myself," says the man, his voice similarly distorted, sounding light and mellow despite it. "Is there any sign of your prince wakening? I don't have much time to linger."
>"No, not yet," says the woman. "But it will be soon, I can feel it in my bones."
>"Would these be the bones your have now, or perhaps some other sack of bones you keep in a dusty corner?" The man says, crossing his arms.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Yeah, that's the guy."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Yeah, that's the guy."

>Patchouli does not answer. It seems that she is busy chanting still.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Keep on watching, then. Not much else we can do.

[Hello Purvis]

> Keep on watching, then. Not much else we can do.

>You continue to watch.
>"Oh no no, these would be my bones," says the woman. "I don't much use for other people's bones. At least not without the rest of them being attached to it."
>"Of course," says the man. "However, I cannot linger any longer. There are certainly people aware of me now, and I am overdue to report back."
>"But you must stay!" the woman says, raising a hand to her lips. "The Prince will be so delighted to see you upon awakening!"
>"It's possible I will return before the prince has risen," the man says, shaking his head. "Given how long he has taken thus far."
>The scene before you does not seem to be growing any sharper or more detailed now. You are suddenly aware that a single shuriken could not have possibly made that much dust.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "There must be more to that shuriken than just itself..."
> Keep watching!

[Hello Purvis]

> "There must be more to that shuriken than just itself..."
> Keep watching!

>You posit on how this could be. Perhaps this thing is special?
>"Is there nothing I can say to change your mind?" says the woman.  "You simply must be here when the prince comes back to us!"
>The man shakes his head. "I will return when I can. At worst, you and your prince will just have to stay in hiding until I do."
>The woman sighs and shakes her head. "Then it can't be helped. Will you leave right away? And return in the same place? Perhaps I can have one of my little servants meet you!"
>"That won't be necessary," says the man. "And yes, almost immediately. It will be a couple hours before I can leave; I still have a few things to do. If your prince is up by then, you may find me."
>"Oh, I am sure it will not be tha-"
>The metallic dust suddenly loses cohesion and falls to the floor, while Patchouli heaves an immense gasp for breath. Looking over, you note that sweat has beaded her forehead, and she is no longer standing so strongly as she was.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Wow..."
> Any sign of the shuriken?

[Hello Purvis]

> "Wow..."
> Any sign of the shuriken?

>Patchouli doesn't answer, as she makes her way back to her chair and collapses into it heavily.
>The only sign of the shuriken is dust that is scattered on the floor. You note that the circle's glow has dimmed considerably, as well.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Uh, you okay?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Uh, you okay?"

>"I'll need a moment," she says between gasps, and takes out a handkerchief to clean the sweat from her face. "I hope that was useful."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Yeah, that was definitely the guy. Don't know the woman, though. Not sure what they were talking about, either."
> She did mentions servants, though...the woman in the graveyard mentioned a master, didn't she?
> Come to think of that woman, inspect all the non-money stuff we ganked from her.

[Hello Purvis]

> "Yeah, that was definitely the guy. Don't know the woman, though. Not sure what they were talking about, either."
> She did mentions servants, though...the woman in the graveyard mentioned a master, didn't she?
> Come to think of that woman, inspect all the non-money stuff we ganked from her.

>"You should feel fortunate," says Patchouli between heavy breaths. "I can actually do useful things with metal. As well, wherever they were, it is not far from here, which helped."
>The person you fought in the graveyard definitely mentioned a master, and the woman you just saw did mention servants.
>You decide to look through what you took from the woman you mugged.
>Wad of Old Papers
>These wadded papers seem to have some writing on them.
>Disk-shaped Rock
>This is a long, flat rock. It would be perfect for skipping across water.
>Small Stone Figurine
>A small figurine of a bird. The bottom is is rough and broken, suggesting the figurine came from a larger thing.
>Filthy Handkerchief.
>This handkerchief needs to be washed badly. You do not want to use it at all.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Read writing on Wad of Old Papers.

[Hello Purvis]

> Read writing on Wad of Old Papers.

>You note the writing on them is irregular, as if they were just notes scrawled at random. You read part of one of them.
>'The winds of winter/blows briskly over the graves/They are no colder'

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> ...A haiku? From that simpleton?

[Hello Purvis]

> ...A haiku? From that simpleton?

>So it seems. Unless they aren't hers.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "So how much of that dialogue do you remember?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "So how much of that dialogue do you remember?"

>"I am reasonably sure I heard most of it," says Patchouli. "I assume it made no sense to you, Either?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I actually have a small inkling of an idea. There's a couple of coincidences that line up, and I wouldn't mind a sounding board...You mentioned that happened not far from here. Would you say the graveyard for the youkai temple in the human village is reasonably close for that spell's purpose?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "I actually have a small inkling of an idea. There's a couple of coincidences that line up, and I wouldn't mind a sounding board...You mentioned that happened not far from here. Would you say the graveyard for the youkai temple in the human village is reasonably close for that spell's purpose?"

>"No, it would be much closer than that," says Patchouli.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Hmm. Then it must be in the forest nearby, where the blue-white lost him after he threw that thing at her. We were pretty close to this place when I crested the canopy to get my bearings."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Hmm. Then it must be in the forest nearby, where the blue-white lost him after he threw that thing at her. We were pretty close to this place when I crested the canopy to get my bearings."

>"Then I would not be surprised to find that they are probably not very far from this mansion," says Patchouli. "Who were those people?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "The man is the shuriken thrower. Don't know much about him beyond him not actually being a farmer and probably having a death wish. Skurikens at shrine maidens aside, he ran all around the Ancient City, dodging every oni attempt to capture him. I don't know the woman, but I have a theory."

[Hello Purvis]

> "The man is the shuriken thrower. Don't know much about him beyond him not actually being a farmer and probably having a death wish. Skurikens at shrine maidens aside, he ran all around the Ancient City, dodging every oni attempt to capture him. I don't know the woman, but I have a theory."

>"That sounds like an exceptionally foolish or dangerous man," says Patchouli. "Or likely both. What do you think you know about the woman?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Well. That woman apologized to the man because her servant 'didn't consider that she would go in that direction'. When I was in the forest part of the temple graveyard earlier, I ran across a dim-witted guard with a hat similar to the gate guard here. She had a master, who gave her orders to not let people beyond a certain point. I knocked her down mid-fight and escaped in the direction she was guarding, but after I got out of her range of vision, she called for her master and identified the direction I was going in. I changed my westward flight to southward, and after a bit, I accidentally ran into that man, who appeared to be hiding. That chase lasted until just now. The guard's master never showed to my knowledge, and the guard's shouts showed she wasn't expecting her master to not be there. I think that woman could be the guard's master - being in the forest here would explain her non-presence in the graveyard area."