Nue Quest Vth Vanguard: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> "Oh, so you knew about my hands already, then."

>"Mmhm," she says as she starts to slip behind you. "It seems to be under control right now."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "As best it could be. From what I understand, we didn't have time for a proper curse removal, so while it's being subdued, I can't do anything too drastic with my hands."

[Hello Purvis]

> "As best it could be. From what I understand, we didn't have time for a proper curse removal, so while it's being subdued, I can't do anything too drastic with my hands."

>"It looks stable to me," says the green-haired woman as she appears at your other side. "Though maybe I would try not to get in the way of too much magic."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I certainly don't plan on it. Though...hmm. Would you theoretically be able to do something about it, were that counter-curse not present?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "I certainly don't plan on it. Though...hmm. Would you theoretically be able to do something about it, were that counter-curse not present?"

>"If you had time," she says.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Shame, that defeats another backup plan I had for thwarting the money thief. Ah well."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Shame, that defeats another backup plan I had for thwarting the money thief. Ah well."

>"Ah well," she says as she pirouettes away from you, and begins to circle in the opposite direction. "When you have time, I can help."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Thanks. I'll be sure to come back this way once this is all over, if only to give the tengu what for."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Thanks. I'll be sure to come back this way once this is all over, if only to give the tengu what for."

>"I will be happy to welcome such an uncommon guest," she says, as she starts to dance around a tree, reaching out to touch it when she faces it.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Does the tree react at all when she touches it?
> "Happy to hear. I'll be taking off to find those harvest goddesses, then. Good meeting you again."

[Hello Purvis]

> Does the tree react at all when she touches it?
> "Happy to hear. I'll be taking off to find those harvest goddesses, then. Good meeting you again."

>Not that you can see.
>"You too," she says, as she disappears behind the tree for a moment.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Keep walking down the path through the forest.

[Hello Purvis]

> Keep walking down the path through the forest.

>You continue down the road, leaving the dancing woman behind.  Soon, the forest grows less dark, though no less dense. The trees are less gnarled and dark here, while light pools in numerous breaks between the boughs. The earthy smell fades, as the scent of leaves and grasses grow more prominent. You note trees bearing shimenawa every now and again, hidden away some distance from the road.
>"Are you troubled?" comes a feminine voice from the woods, taking every bit of your self control to keep you from jumping in reaction to it.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Take a moment to compose ourselves.
> "A little bit."

[Hello Purvis]

> Take a moment to compose ourselves.
> "A little bit."

>You take a moment to recompose yourself. You were looking for someone, how did she manage to sneak up on you? You doubt it's some tiny faerie you overlooked, the voice doesn't sound right.
>"Would you like to share them?" asks the speaker.

[Kilgamayan]

> Casually look around to see if we can find the speaker.
> "Might as well, I guess. The more people that know about this, the better. I've found Gensokyo's missing money as well as the culprit, but he's set up defenses I can't seem to get past myself and he plans on using that money in some bizarre insane exchange scheme to change Gensokyo into a place where he'll basically have limitless power. So now I'm trying to find as many ways to deal with this as I can. I've found a couple of physical ways, but I'm hunting for a spiritual way, since the man's dedication to his insane beliefs is what's warping our reality. Right now I'm looking for forest goddesses, in the sense that I'm not actually looking as much as wandering through the forest and hoping they decide I'm worth appearing in front of."

[Hello Purvis]

> Casually look around to see if we can find the speaker.
> "Might as well, I guess. The more people that know about this, the better. I've found Gensokyo's missing money as well as the culprit, but he's set up defenses I can't seem to get past myself and he plans on using that money in some bizarre insane exchange scheme to change Gensokyo into a place where he'll basically have limitless power. So now I'm trying to find as many ways to deal with this as I can. I've found a couple of physical ways, but I'm hunting for a spiritual way, since the man's dedication to his insane beliefs is what's warping our reality. Right now I'm looking for forest goddesses, in the sense that I'm not actually looking as much as wandering through the forest and hoping they decide I'm worth appearing in front of."

>You look around, but don't seem to see anyone. She must be well hidden.
>"What would you like to know?" she says.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I'd like to know if there is a faith-based way to combat what this guy is doing."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I'd like to know if there is a faith-based way to combat what this guy is doing."

>"That's a difficult question to answer without knowing what he is doing. But likely so."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Let me see if I can describe it properly...he sees beauty in the inherent inequality of exchange, where two things may be traded for one another and the relative value of each, which determines the overall 'fairness' of the trade, varies greatly depending on the people involved and the goods involved. He believes that the paradox of the inherent inequality of exchange generates what he called 'sparks', sparks that he can somehow harvest because he knows of them and sees the true beauty of the exchange. He is so devoted to this belief that it has actually started to warp reality to match what he thinks. Apparently gathering enough of these sparks gives him power, enough power that he was able to switch all the currency in Gensokyo with jewels thanks to how his beliefs are warping reality, and he's going to keep harvesting sparks and exchange Gensokyo's currency-based economy for a new type of economy, one with no currency at all, where someone can trade literally anything for literally anything else."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Let me see if I can describe it properly...he sees beauty in the inherent inequality of exchange, where two things may be traded for one another and the relative value of each, which determines the overall 'fairness' of the trade, varies greatly depending on the people involved and the goods involved. He believes that the paradox of the inherent inequality of exchange generates what he called 'sparks', sparks that he can somehow harvest because he knows of them and sees the true beauty of the exchange. He is so devoted to this belief that it has actually started to warp reality to match what he thinks. Apparently gathering enough of these sparks gives him power, enough power that he was able to switch all the currency in Gensokyo with jewels thanks to how his beliefs are warping reality, and he's going to keep harvesting sparks and exchange Gensokyo's currency-based economy for a new type of economy, one with no currency at all, where someone can trade literally anything for literally anything else."

>"Ah," says the voice. "That is interesting. What kind of ideals do you think can overcome that?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I don't know, to be honest. I don't know too much about how faith works, whether it could be a faith in anything that's simply stronger, or an ideal that's somehow the polar opposite of the existing ideal, causing some sort of karmic cancellation."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I don't know, to be honest. I don't know too much about how faith works, whether it could be a faith in anything that's simply stronger, or an ideal that's somehow the polar opposite of the existing ideal, causing some sort of karmic cancellation."

>"It could be either," says the voice. "But the former takes someone markedly stronger. The latter, though...it doesn't even need to be the polar opposite, just something that trumps it."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Huh. What trumps exchange? ...Giving without getting in return?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Huh. What trumps exchange? ...Giving without getting in return?"

>"It may," says the voice. "I suppose it depends on how the practitioner feels. And you'd need to find someone with a marked amount of faith in that concept."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Actually, I think I may know just the person. Though I don't know if they have sufficiently many things to give to counteract what's going on here."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Actually, I think I may know just the person. Though I don't know if they have sufficiently many things to give to counteract what's going on here."

>"As well," says the voice, "There would be more to it than simply giving things away, as I am sure there is more to this person than simply trading, mm?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I don't know him very well, to be honest. The art of the exchange is the only thing he talked about, though, so it's all I really have to work with."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I don't know him very well, to be honest. The art of the exchange is the only thing he talked about, though, so it's all I really have to work with."

>"Well, you can trust your instincts," says the voice, "And seek the opportune time to foil it."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Don't know how much I trust my instincts on this matter now. My hands still bear the weight of what happened the first time I trusted them."