Nue Quest 7 - Serpent Isle: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> "Sure."
> Turn to Byakuren.
> "Thanks."
> Have a sip or two.

>"You're welcome," says Byakuren, as she serves Mr Kirisame.
>You sip your tea; it pleasantly warm, doing a lot to shake off the mild chill from the rain. It also reminds you that you've barely eaten today...
>"So," says Ichiro, "It seems our friend has been quite the troublemaker recently?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Look over to Byakuren.
> "They've heard plenty from me. You wanna tell them what you've seen and remember from the library?"
> We still have a rice ball or two, don't we? Let's dig into one.

[Hello Purvis]

> Look over to Byakuren.
> "They've heard plenty from me. You wanna tell them what you've seen and remember from the library?"
> We still have a rice ball or two, don't we? Let's dig into one.

>Byakuren nods. "It's a rather complex issue. Let us say that Rinnosuke would have made any deity he chose to support very happy. His devotion to his idea of commerce is...second to none."
>You dig into one of your riceballs. It's a bit old, but you're hungry enough that it's still quite welcome.
>"That is the heart of the matter really, his devotion to it is so strong it's become an obsession, and his obsession seems to rule his entire life. That devotion and that obsession have gone hand in hand to create the situation we have now."
>"So it was priests' nonsense after all," says Mr Kirisame.
>"In a sense," says Byakuren. "Save, the god we're dealing isn't a proper deity, just the ideal of barter. And, well, the more we look into Rinnosuke, the more it seems he was practically on the level of a hermit in his devotion to it."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "What about the ways Patchouli listed that this sort of thing could be dealt with?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "What about the ways Patchouli listed that this sort of thing could be dealt with?"

>"That would be useful to hear," says Ichiro.
>Bykauren nods. "Well, the best way would be to treat his delusions, but that would be the labor of a great deal of time. She also mentioned trumping it with an ideology that would rival his, Nue mentioned charity as a viable idea, but I don't think we found a good way to use it to trump him as of yet. That leaves beating him at his own game, which is not going to be easy but it seems to be the course we're going to follow. Oh, and she suggested getting him to violate his beliefs somehow, like getting a shrine maiden to commit blasphemy, but I don't think we're really found a good way to do that."
>"Mmm, a tangled web," Ichiro says, nodding solemnly.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Yeah, about the beating him at his own game thing. I've learned from Tewi that he can apparently dig up information on past uses of something he traded to you, and depending on how much you've used it, he can retroactively add debt onto you, because you got more use out of the item than originally intended. He can use that debt to make you do him favors through some sort of bizarre coercion. It might even be a form of mind control, I'm not entirely sure."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Yeah, about the beating him at his own game thing. I've learned from Tewi that he can apparently dig up information on past uses of something he traded to you, and depending on how much you've used it, he can retroactively add debt onto you, because you got more use out of the item than originally intended. He can use that debt to make you do him favors through some sort of bizarre coercion. It might even be a form of mind control, I'm not entirely sure."

>"Perhaps it is an aspect of those sparks he gathers?" says Byakuren.

>_

[GuyYouMetOnline]

>"Maybe. I'm not convinced it's what he says it is, though. The whole 'not an equivilant trade' thing seems to contradict his reason for preferring a barter system."

[Kilgamayan]

> "Regardless, I'm currently guessing that, if those are rules of trade debt he can impose on others, then they should apply to him as well. He has gotten as far as has he thanks to two seemingly-innocuous trades with our two guests; by his own rules, he is indebted to them for the extra mileage he got out of what they gave him."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Maybe. I'm not convinced it's what he says it is, though. The whole 'not an equivilant trade' thing seems to contradict his reason for preferring a barter system."

>Byakuren nods. "I won't pretend to understand that aspect better than you do."

> "Regardless, I'm currently guessing that, if those are rules of trade debt he can impose on others, then they should apply to him as well. He has gotten as far as has he thanks to two seemingly-innocuous trades with our two guests; by his own rules, he is indebted to them for the extra mileage he got out of what they gave him."

>"The question is, what do we do with this advantage?" says Ichiro.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Maybe we could get him to do something that violates his faith. Like spend some of the money currently sitting in his basement. Or, since he is powered by what he perceives as the inherent inequality of exchange, we get him to trade something for another thing that is basically the same thing."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Maybe we could get him to do something that violates his faith. Like spend some of the money currently sitting in his basement. Or, since he is powered by what he perceives as the inherent inequality of exchange, we get him to trade something for another thing that is basically the same thing."

>"Well, I think you still have that apron, in regards to that second point," says Byakuren. "And...hm, it'd be hard to trick him into spending money. But it would almost certainly do the trick."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "We might not even need tricks, if we can just make him do it with that debt power. "

[Hello Purvis]

> "We might not even need tricks, if we can just make him do it with that debt power. "

>"If we can just make him do it," says Mr Kirisame.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> How did Patchouli mention the sword's power compared to what Rinnosuke was doing again?

[Hello Purvis]

> How did Patchouli mention the sword's power compared to what Rinnosuke was doing again?

>You recall that she mentioned they were similar things at the meeting last night.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> But she didn't elaborate?

[Hello Purvis]

> But she didn't elaborate?

>Not that you recall. She said it seemed fairly akin to what she felt when the event happened.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Right, and I'll admit that's a fairly big 'if'."
> "But there might be one other thing. I haven't decided yet how much I want to pursue it, given he sold me half of it and this could tack onto my fictitious debt..."
> Carefully pull out the pieces of the sword again. Make sure the side of the blade with the writing is visible.
> "Patchouli got this translated. As best it could be, anyway. Apparently it more or less means 'Do as I say', but in a more commanding context, like 'Yield and obey me'."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Right, and I'll admit that's a fairly big 'if'."
> "But there might be one other thing. I haven't decided yet how much I want to pursue it, given he sold me half of it and this could tack onto my fictitious debt..."
> Carefully pull out the pieces of the sword again. Make sure the side of the blade with the writing is visible.
> "Patchouli got this translated. As best it could be, anyway. Apparently it more or less means 'Do as I say', but in a more commanding context, like 'Yield and obey me'."

>Mr Kirisame leans over to get a look at it. "This thing again," he says. "Does it do much?"
>"And, should we be trusting a weapon?" says Ichiro.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Well, when Patchouli gave it a look-over last night, she said it had a power similar to what Morichika has used to pull off his stunt. And one of the goddesses of the mountain did strongly suggest that Morichika's faith could be defeated by another faith of greater magnitude."
> Did Shizuha give greater credence to a generic faith of greater magnitude or faith in a concept that naturally cancelled out Rinnosuke's faith?

[Hello Purvis]

> "Well, when Patchouli gave it a look-over last night, she said it had a power similar to what Morichika has used to pull off his stunt. And one of the goddesses of the mountain did strongly suggest that Morichika's faith could be defeated by another faith of greater magnitude."
> Did Shizuha give greater credence to a generic faith of greater magnitude or faith in a concept that naturally cancelled out Rinnosuke's faith?

>Shizuha seemed to put more credence in one that would naturally counter Rinnosuke's views.
>"And what does this thing have to do with faith?" says Ichiro. "I assume it was magic?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I'm not sure. I'm willing to put stock in what Patchouli has to say, though. And it's strange, because i had an incredibly vivid dream last night, where I had this sword, and it was whole. And I ruled over the entire oni village with it. Ordered the Devas into submission and everything. It was very much a 'yield and obey me' situation. I don't normally put much stock in dreams, but I remembered it really clearly after I woke up, much more so than normal."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I'm not sure. I'm willing to put stock in what Patchouli has to say, though. And it's strange, because i had an incredibly vivid dream last night, where I had this sword, and it was whole. And I ruled over the entire oni village with it. Ordered the Devas into submission and everything. It was very much a 'yield and obey me' situation. I don't normally put much stock in dreams, but I remembered it really clearly after I woke up, much more so than normal."

>"That'll be the sword, no mistaking it," says Mr Kirisame.
>"I'm not sure what to think about it," Ichiro says, rubbing his chin and frowning at the weapon.
>"Not like it's going to hurt any worse," Mystia says, arms crossed and her face noncommittal.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "S'pose that's true. He's probably got enough to have his way with me even if I didn't do something meaningful with this handle."

[Hello Purvis]

> "S'pose that's true. He's probably got enough to have his way with me even if I didn't do something meaningful with this handle."

>"Is it any...good, while broken?" says Ichiro. "Or, I suppose, the question is, can it be restored?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "...Maybe. The end of the dream had me somewhere in the forest. Southwest. Waaaaay southwest. And the sword went back and forth between broken and whole. I don't know what's out there, but I can't imagine the sword showed me that part of the forest because it wants to rule over a bunch of trees."

[Hello Purvis]

> "...Maybe. The end of the dream had me somewhere in the forest. Southwest. Waaaaay southwest. And the sword went back and forth between broken and whole. I don't know what's out there, but I can't imagine the sword showed me that part of the forest because it wants to rule over a bunch of trees."

>"It wouldn't, I'll tell you that," says Mr. Kirisame.
>"Though dreams are tricky things, to say the least," Byakuren says as she frowns at the broken weapon.
>"Where at, exactly?" says Mystia.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Even further southwest than the southwest where we traveled. I'll probably use where we went as a starting point."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Even further southwest than the southwest where we traveled. I'll probably use where we went as a starting point."

>Mystia nods. "Wish I could tell you something about it, but I don't think anyone goes out that way."

>_