Yukari Quest!

[E-Nazrin]

>"Yuyuko seems to be alright, though her situation is... unusual."
>"Do let us know if anything makes you uncomfortable... especially if there have been dangers in Hakugyokurou recently."
>Lead the way, assuming Youmu doesn't protest too much.

[Dormio Ergo Sum]

>"Yuyuko seems to be alright, though her situation is... unusual."
>"Do let us know if anything makes you uncomfortable... especially if there have been dangers in Hakugyokurou recently."
>Lead the way, assuming Youmu doesn't protest too much.

>"You saw her? Isn't she inside the tree?"
>"Are we going back to that tree...?"

>_

[E-Nazrin]

>Nod. "Yes... to both. She was... rather covered with vines from the tree when she came out to speak with me, but she seems unhurt."
>Mentally, on the other hand...
>"You seem rather frightened of the Saigyou Ayakashi. Should we discuss that before seeing Yuyuko?"

[Dormio Ergo Sum]

>Nod. "Yes... to both. She was... rather covered with vines from the tree when she came out to speak with me, but she seems unhurt."
>Mentally, on the other hand...
>"You seem rather frightened of the Saigyou Ayakashi. Should we discuss that before seeing Yuyuko?"

>"Lady Yuyuko was... Is she really fine?"
>You do worry about what the Saigyou Ayakashi may be doing to Yuyuko's mind.
>"It's... Going near it is just... Can't you feel it?"

>_

[Tamashii Kanjou]

>Nod.

>"Indeed I did. In fact, it rushed past me at one point. But it seemed calm after I spoke to Yuyuko."

>Place a hand on her shoulder.

>"We'll be okay. Now come on; you don't want to keep her waiting, do you?"

[Dormio Ergo Sum]

>Nod.

>"Indeed I did. In fact, it rushed past me at one point. But it seemed calm after I spoke to Yuyuko."

>Place a hand on her shoulder.

>"We'll be okay. Now come on; you don't want to keep her waiting, do you?"

>"But you seem to be able to handle it..."
>"If you're sure..."

>_

[Omba]

Guys... you don't think we should maybe discuss Plan B first, incase Yuyuko doesn't just leave the tree behind upon
seeing Youmu? Also, bad idea letting that knife lie around the main room. If we manage to take Yuyuko with us,
we'll have to put that knife somewhere else before we take her into that room. Who knows what she might
do with it.

>Wait, there's still something we need to talk to her about before facing Yuyuko.
>"Listen carefully, Youmu. Yuyuko is connected to the Saigyou Ayakashi through vines it has stuck into her.
>If we cannot convince her to come with us, we will need to cut those vines. Hopefully, that will also destroy the Saigyou Ayakashi's control over her.
>We'll have to try to get her away from the tree as far as we can; which
>is probably a few meters. If I give you a sign or just shout something like "do it now!", then draw
>your sword and cut those vines as fast as you can. Then grab Yuyuyko and run for it. If she struggles, force her.
>Do you think you can do that? "
>"Also, don't try too much to talk her into coming with us or to blame the tree for anything. It seems she
>cares for that tree very much, probably because it's controlling her.
>If she ever starts to get too wary of us or tries to return into the tree, don't wait for my signal. Just cut the vines and take her."

[E-Nazrin]

Actually, I'm not sure Yukari would necessarily consider this inherently bad. Skeptical as all hell? Wanting to get the full story? Definitely. But this IS Yukari we're talking about. If that tree isn't the one responsible for this and it would make a good ally for getting Gensokyo under control again...

>"Although... I suppose there is a slim chance that this situation is benign... so let's at least play nice until the situation proves itself. But I believe both of us are rather skeptical, yes?"

[yuyukos]

I don't think we have much of a Plan B. Our powers are still hindered just by being in Hakugyokurou. Yuyuko/the tree had a bad reaction when we had the knife with us. Our "revolver" is probably going to be useless here. I feel like our best course of action will be to go as far as we can with Youmu here and try to recover Yuyuko from the Saigyouji Ayakashi.

>Hide the knife in one of the side rooms.
>Prepare to take Youmu back to the Saigyouji Ayakashi.

[Dormio Ergo Sum]

>Hide the knife in one of the side rooms.

>You decide to place the bag a bit further into Hakugyokurou, inside the room to the left.

>Wait, there's still something we need to talk to her about before facing Yuyuko.
>"Listen carefully, Youmu. Yuyuko is connected to the Saigyou Ayakashi through vines it has stuck into her.
>If we cannot convince her to come with us, we will need to cut those vines. Hopefully, that will also destroy the Saigyou Ayakashi's control over her.
>We'll have to try to get her away from the tree as far as we can; which
>is probably a few meters. If I give you a sign or just shout something like "do it now!", then draw
>your sword and cut those vines as fast as you can. Then grab Yuyuyko and run for it. If she struggles, force her.
>Do you think you can do that? "
>"Also, don't try too much to talk her into coming with us or to blame the tree for anything. It seems she
>cares for that tree very much, probably because it's controlling her.
>If she ever starts to get too wary of us or tries to return into the tree, don't wait for my signal. Just cut the vines and take her."

>Before you go, there's still a few things you need to get sorted.
>Youmu nods as you give her instructions on what to do.
>"If the tree starts affecting me again... what do I do then?"
>"I'll try my best..."

>"Although... I suppose there is a slim chance that this situation is benign... so let's at least play nice until the situation proves itself. But I believe both of us are rather skeptical, yes?"

>"We can still hope, right?"

>Prepare to take Youmu back to the Saigyouji Ayakashi.

>You tell Youmu to ready herself to see the Saigyouji Ayakashi again.
>Youmu nods in response.

>_

[Omba]

>"If you feel you'll soon be unable to handle being near the tree, or the tree tries to do anything to us or Yuyuko, just go ahead and cut Yuyuko loose.
>I don't know if we would get a second chance to free her, so if we haven't found
>out by then whether she's done this because she really wanted to, just forget about that. No need to give me a signal, I'll just react once you do it."
>It's rather unlikely the tree didn't somehow make her do this, anyway. Better not to bet too much on that chance.
>Give her the best reassuring smile we can muster. "Don't worry, we'll get Yuyuko back, I'm sure of it.
>Oh and, once we've got her back, don't let her get near that knife. Now let's go."
>Go with Youmu to the Saigyou Ayakashi. Be prepared to tackle any veins that might try to attack Youmu.

[Dormio Ergo Sum]

>"If you feel you'll soon be unable to handle being near the tree, or the tree tries to do anything to us or Yuyuko, just go ahead and cut Yuyuko loose.
>I don't know if we would get a second chance to free her, so if we haven't found
>out by then whether she's done this because she really wanted to, just forget about that. No need to give me a signal, I'll just react once you do it."
>It's rather unlikely the tree didn't somehow make her do this, anyway. Better not to bet too much on that chance.
>Give her the best reassuring smile we can muster. "Don't worry, we'll get Yuyuko back, I'm sure of it.
>Oh and, once we've got her back, don't let her get near that knife. Now let's go."
>Go with Youmu to the Saigyou Ayakashi. Be prepared to tackle any veins that might try to attack Youmu.

>"Okay..."
>You wonder how willing Yuyuko was to join the Saigyou Ayakashi in the first place.
>"I just wish everything would go back to normal..."
>Youmu nods again.
>The two of you head out of Hakugyokurou and start heading towards the Saigyou Ayakashi.
>Soon, you can see the outline of the Saigyou Ayakashi, including Yuyuko's silhouette. She appears to be tending to the tree's branches.
>Before you get any closer, Youmu makes stops you.
>"It... I can hear it again... Just like before... It's calling out to me..."

>_

[E-Nazrin]

>"Oh? And here I just felt a strange sense of death..."
>"What's it saying?"

[Dormio Ergo Sum]

>"Oh? And here I just felt a strange sense of death..."
>"What's it saying?"

>"It keeps telling me to come closer, to join it..."
>"The closer I get to it, the harder it is to resist..."

>_

[BT]

OK, if this isn't a sign telling you "DON'T DO THIS", I don't know what is. If Yuyuko really is under the tree's spell, this is the exact reason she wants to see Youmu in the first place.

Also, none of you seemed to mention what we do AFTER we free Yuyuko, assuming we go with that plan and it succeeds. We'll just have an enraged tree on our hands, with no immediate way of calming it. Hell, I'm predicting Youmu or someone else (aka, Youmu, pretty much) would have to sacrifice herself.

Basically, both of these scenarios will likely end really badly, so unless we have a very good plan, put them on hold. As for the plan, well, I'm not feeling very creative today.

[Omba]

Ok, I guess that means friendly talk is out. I say we walk up to Yuyuko looking as normal as possible, then immediately cut her loose and take her away.
We can think about what we do afterwards once we have Yuyuko freed. If just cutting her loose at least partially frees her from the tree's control,
she might have an idea on what to do. If it doesn't, well, at least whatever we do to the tree won't have much of a chance of killing Yuyuko along with it,
like it would now.

And yes, it's quite possible Yuyuko wants to "unite" with Youmu. Which works to our advantage. She'll want to let her get close.
We'll just have to be faster than her.

I'm also guessing that the tree is somewhat dependant on it's direct connection to Yuyuko. It might get weaker or stop blooming altogether once they're
separated. And, well, our options thus far were "get Yuyuko out of the tree, or sacrifice someone to seal it (preferably not Youmu), possibly sealing
Yuyuko along with tree". If we give up on getting Yuyuko out, we're left with sacrificing someone. We don't know if getting far away from the
tree will let us gap again and if it doesn't, we'd have to sacrifice Youmu. Seeing as we might not get a second chance to free Yuyuko if
we make her wary of us, I think we should definitely go ahead with the plan.

[E-Nazrin]

>"Hmmm. And I assume it seems rather... sinister about it, as well?"
>"How much of a problem do you think it will be for you?"
>From what we know of Yuyuko, would she be relatively easy prey for something like this?
>Did we see the Saigyou Ayakashi in the time shortly before the Border broke? Was anything odd about it mentioned during that timeframe?

Guys, I'm willing to bet there's a more intelligent solution if we actually look for it. :V Making small talk with Yuyuko and the tree might turn up something useful, rather than immediately trying to cut and run. <_< I was hesitant to mention Yukari's gap powers being weakened (especially here for whatever reason) while there since the tree would hear that as well (and may start to refuse to cooperate/let us see Yuyuko/whatever if it's only doing so due to intimidation at the moment), but that would probably give Yuyuko incentive to try and help us find a way to leave, at least. Assuming she has any way to prove capable of that...

Our main goal here is to access a way back out and get allies for restoring Gensokyo. Youmu might be acceptable, if freeing Yuyuko is beyond our ability right now, so our #1 priority is finding a way to be able to leave Hakugyokurou again. There's a lot of risks to trying forcible removal, and it would be good to have better candidates to help with the task, or to look elsewhere for possible methods to take care of it. Let's explore our other options first, even if it means sweet-talking the 'enemy.'

Basically my hopes for the moment are to play arbiter for Youmu and Yuyuko's differing opinions/fears of the tree and try to expose its manipulations: Talking to Yuyuko to help her realize how the tree's treating her/behaving would help her realize and be willing to try and break out (possibly), and Youmu wanting to see her without the tree would be a good way to get it alone for whatever else can be done with it.

... in which case:

>Presumably the Saigyou Ayakashi wasn't flammable?

[Dormio Ergo Sum]

>"Hmmm. And I assume it seems rather... sinister about it, as well?"
>"How much of a problem do you think it will be for you?"
>From what we know of Yuyuko, would she be relatively easy prey for something like this?
>Did we see the Saigyou Ayakashi in the time shortly before the Border broke? Was anything odd about it mentioned during that timeframe?
>Presumably the Saigyou Ayakashi wasn't flammable?

>"Yes..."
>"Um... I think it would depend on how bad it gets. Right now, I'm fine. Before though..."
>"As long as I don't stay close to it for too long, I think I should be fine..."
>Yuyuko had a much stronger will than her behavior might have suggested. You assume that she wouldn't be easy prey, at the least.
>You did not.
>You have not heard any rumors about the Saigyou Ayakashi since the border broke.
>The tree is flammable, but the effectiveness of burning the tree is questionable.

>_

[BT]

So far, we told Youmu to cut down the vines when she feels it has to be done. This can really easily backfire. I am especially worried of this because cutting down the vines isn't a reliable strategy. We don't know if it will free Yuyuko and/or weaken the tree, but we do know that things won't look pretty once we do that. Basically, we shouldn't go back and converse with Yuyuko until we have this plan sorted out.

I'm pretty sure we can simply go back to where we came from and exit Hakugyokurou from there. At least, one of the posts earlier seemed to imply that we can do that. So, we won't need Yuyuko's help with that, nor can she actually help us with borders in the first place. We can exit Hakugyokurou (probably with Yuomu too) whenever we like, so unless we want to do something about Yuyuko, we can just leave.

If not, though, yes, we need a thought-out plan. Sweet-talking will do nothing because it won't give us any extra knowledge about Gensokyo and the border it seems. It's either "stop the tree" or "leave".

[E-Nazrin]

>Presumably we have no convenient way to create fire on-hand, magical or otherwise?
>How good are we with a sword?
>"Hmm. Perhaps I should speak with Yuyuko about that myself, first."
>"I expect Yuyuko would like to give you a hug... do you think that would be dangerous, with that voice so close?"

My question is whether Yuyuko is being actively manipulated and how. It's entirely possible that the tree basically sweet-talked her, or took advantage of any bitterness she might have started to harbor. (Remember that haiku? Actually, we should have that available as evidence, especially if Yuyuko doesn't realize she wrote it...) If it's more mental than magical in nature, then it might be possible to make her realize it if we play things very, very carefully. Omba, please don't dive in too fast in that case. :[

>Would that suspicious haiku scroll from Yuyuko's room fit into our bag without getting too damaged?

NOT EDIT: Sweet-talking the tree does give us more information about how we might be able to free Yuyuko, and even if we can leave offhand, giving her the chance to bid Youmu farewell before leaving and looking into what can be done when we come back for Yuyuko might be a good idea. And/or ask about taking her along, of course. :V

[Omba]

I'm pretty sure we can simply go back to where we came from and exit Hakugyokurou from there. At least, one of the posts earlier seemed to imply that we can do that. So, we won't need Yuyuko's help with that, nor can she actually help us with borders in the first place. We can exit Hakugyokurou (probably with Yuomu too) whenever we like, so unless we want to do something about Yuyuko, we can just leave.

What? No, we can't. Unless I totally overlooked something, the original portal to Hakugyokurou is -broken-. Which is why we had to gap inside in the first place.
Which means unless we find a way around this, we're stuck here!

>Do we know of any way out of Hakugyokurou that would currently be available?

About the scroll, that's an interesting idea. But: What do we do if she reacts badly to it? If she goes back into the tree and doesn't come out anymore, we'll have blown our
chance of getting her away from it. Which could easily mean we'd have to seal the tree while she's inside it. I'd rather ask her about it after we have taken her away.
And about diving in too fast. Well, of course I won't. We've always got time to discuss our next steps, whatever comes up.

[Dormio Ergo Sum]

>Presumably we have no convenient way to create fire on-hand, magical or otherwise?
>How good are we with a sword?
>"Hmm. Perhaps I should speak with Yuyuko about that myself, first."
>"I expect Yuyuko would like to give you a hug... do you think that would be dangerous, with that voice so close?"
>Would that suspicious haiku scroll from Yuyuko's room fit into our bag without getting too damaged?

>You do not.
>You have a reasonable level of proficiency with most basic weapons.
>"If you think that's best..."
>"How close would we be...?"
>You would need to fold the scroll if you wanted to fit it inside your bag.

>Do we know of any way out of Hakugyokurou that would currently be available?

>You do not.

>_

[E-Nazrin]

>How much would folding the scroll damage it?
>How far was Yuyuko from the tree when we spoke with her? Let Youmu know.

[Dormio Ergo Sum]

>How much would folding the scroll damage it?
>How far was Yuyuko from the tree when we spoke with her? Let Youmu know.

>As the scroll is still relatively new, it should still be fully intact if you were to fold it.
>You saw the vines extend, at most, five meters.
>Judging by the silhouette you can see right now, you'd say that the vines have extended to around ten meters.
>"I don't think I could really last long enough at that distance..."

>_

[Omba]

I guess we have two options here. Risk it and talk to her alone first to see if she knows a way out of here (which I doubt). If we do this, she might get wary of us since we didn't bring Youmu as promised.
Or approach her together with Youmu, but don't go for a hug right away. If Yuyuko is now 10 meters away from the tree and we spoke to her while we were
15 meters away, that would give us a distance of 25 meters for talking.

>Assuming the silhouette means that Yuyuko is now roughly 10 meters away from the tree:
>Ask Youmu if she could handle it better if she were (Yuyuko's new distance + our previous talking distance) away from the tree.

Another thing: We've seen that the tree has the ability to suddenly make it's aura stronger and extend it farther. And the aura already got stronger when Yuyuko got out of the tree.
When Youmu was there previously, the aura was weaker. So I guess we have a problem here.

[Dormio Ergo Sum]

>Assuming the silhouette means that Yuyuko is now roughly 10 meters away from the tree:
>Ask Youmu if she could handle it better if she were (Yuyuko's new distance + our previous talking distance) away from the tree.

>"Um... Hopefully... I think I might be able to..."

>_

[Omba]

Nice.
Well, I'm all for leaving that scroll where it is and going with talking / if that fails, force.
What do you guys want to do?

[yuyukos]

Maybe we could leave Youmu where she is and get closer ourselves? Possibly play intermediator? If we can see Yuyuko from where we are, she should be able to see Youmu from where she is.

[E-Nazrin]

Definitely play mediator for now. I don't think Yuyuko knows how uncomfortable Youmu is with her new tree friend, and finding out about and reporting that would be quite understandable. Again, we need to see how she's being manipulated in order to estimate how to cure her.

I suspect that bringing Youmu over for muscle would be suicidal for her if that aura is controllable. Once burst and odds are fair she'd either give up or even turn on us. Get info and chat - if things seem unsurmountable, work towards taking a break with Youmu, then return with her swords and engage in violence ourselves.

And I don't think offering to hold Youmu back in case she starts doing something stupid would work, either; that would be VERY suspicious to Yuyuko and the tree. We have time; let's do this right, not hasty.

>"Have there been times when that voice seemed... stronger than usual?"

[Dormio Ergo Sum]

>"Have there been times when that voice seemed... stronger than usual?"

>"When you went out by yourself just then, I felt it while I waiting for you..."
>"I've never felt it from Hakugyokurou before though, and it went away quickly..."

>_