Nue Quest 8 - Pagan: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Kilgamayan]

> "Like I said, there are other factors at play there. Mostly, it's the people. There's a whole load of them worth meeting. There's also no one around anymore that needs terrorizing. Well, except for that one hakutaku, but terrorizing her will make me a ton of enemies I have no interest in having."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Like I said, there are other factors at play there. Mostly, it's the people. There's a whole load of them worth meeting. There's also no one around anymore that needs terrorizing. Well, except for that one hakutaku, but terrorizing her will make me a ton of enemies I have no interest in having."

>"I am certain one would say the same of terrorizing the Emperor," says Mamizou, bringing a hand to her lips and stifling another chuckle. "But I can accept what you say, at least without too much incredulity."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "An argument could be made, but it would imply any of the Emperor's allies had an opinion worth a damn."
> Was Mamizou always this good at teasing?
> Is Mamizou every bit the trickster we are?
> Is Mamizou a jeweler? If not, is she at least aware of the craft?

[Hello Purvis]

> "An argument could be made, but it would imply any of the Emperor's allies had an opinion worth a damn."
> Was Mamizou always this good at teasing?
> Is Mamizou every bit the trickster we are?
> Is Mamizou a jeweler? If not, is she at least aware of the craft?

>"Well, the arrows and onmyoji were likely less than pleasant in expressing such," says Mamizou.
>This tanuki has not changed in regards to needling you.
>As far as being a trickster, she tended to be a lot less widespread in causing havoc. You were definitely worse, if only for being a risk taker.
>She is not a jeweler. She does know you have some skill in jeweling as well as burglary, but does not know that every master thief is a master jeweler and vice versa.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "So what about you? When did you get here, and what do you do with yourself these days?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "So what about you? When did you get here, and what do you do with yourself these days?"

>"Well, foreigners eventually found their way to our lands," says Mamizou. "People from this land...kind of. They had wrought ships that could cross the oceans themselves, and were exploring, making vast amounts of money, and less savory things. The smell of profit, as well as the Empire giving into factional wars suggested to me that it was high time to leave Sado for a bit and see what the rest of world had to offer one.  I managed to convince one of their captains to bring me to their homeland, and upon arriving I naturally started to poke around to find their youkai population, which...well, was decimated at the first glance. But with a bit of poking around into some of the old forests, I managed to find my way here. Since, I've been able to set up the old business rather well. Of course, one must keep discrete about being youkai, but that's hardly a change."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Where was Sado again?
> "You seem to have picked up the language fairly well."

[Hello Purvis]

> Where was Sado again?
> "You seem to have picked up the language fairly well."

>Sado is an island off the western part of Honshu. It was often used as a place of exile by the Yamato due to it's distance from the capital. As such, you were rather fond of the place as a hideout.
>"Well, one was to learn in order to blend in," says Mamizou.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "What's all this about a Bloody Prince? Were you here through that?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "What's all this about a Bloody Prince? Were you here through that?"

>"That was before my time," says Mamizou. "But, I've heard my share of stories about him. As I understand, he was, at one point, poised to take over a large portion of the realm. But, why would you know about such a warlord?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Aside from talking to Sir Kay, I happened into his broken sword. Both pieces somehow made their way to Gensokyo. For whatever reason, if I'm holding either of the pieces, I can understand their language, and when I connect them I can speak it. I'm also pretty sure they're how I was able tl get here at all."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Aside from talking to Sir Kay, I happened into his broken sword. Both pieces somehow made their way to Gensokyo. For whatever reason, if I'm holding either of the pieces, I can understand their language, and when I connect them I can speak it. I'm also pretty sure they're how I was able tl get here at all."

>"An odd finding, to be certain," says Mamizou. "I would expect for the bloody prince and you to be the worst of enemies. Then again, I doubt you'd care much for King Pendragon, either, or any head that bears a crown."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Yeah, Princey sounded like a real mensch. Something's curious, though. If he was before your time, why was his sword only destroyed recently? It sounded like the knight that did it is still out knighting around."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Yeah, Princey sounded like a real mensch. Something's curious, though. If he was before your time, why was his sword only destroyed recently? It sounded like the knight that did it is still out knighting around."

>"I have only been here for a decade or so," says Mamizou.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Oh. I figured you'd been here for longer than that for some reason. I guess that makes it easier for humans to not notice you don't visibly age as fast as them, though. Not that it would be a terrible problem for folks like us."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Oh. I figured you'd been here for longer than that for some reason. I guess that makes it easier for humans to not notice you don't visibly age as fast as them, though. Not that it would be a terrible problem for folks like us."

>"I expect I'll be hopping all over as time passes," says Mamizou.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Grin.
> "Don't have to worry about that in Gensokyo. It's more or less expected there."

[Hello Purvis]

> Grin.
> "Don't have to worry about that in Gensokyo. It's more or less expected there."

>Mamizou nods.
>"So, aside from seeing Weylan about less than savory goods, what else do you intend to do here?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "That was about it for my original intentions. I want to bring that sword back to Gensokyo, because I'm reasonably positive it's the best weapon available to fight the merchant. His obsession lies in the ideas of exchange and equality, and from what I've heard about Princey, equality with anything was the furthest thing from his mind. I can't really think of much better to fight someone with faith rooted in equivalent exchange than the absolute belief that you're better than everything else ever. But things have changed in the last few minutes, because now I want to take you back with me as well."

[Hello Purvis]

> "That was about it for my original intentions. I want to bring that sword back to Gensokyo, because I'm reasonably positive it's the best weapon available to fight the merchant. His obsession lies in the ideas of exchange and equality, and from what I've heard about Princey, equality with anything was the furthest thing from his mind. I can't really think of much better to fight someone with faith rooted in equivalent exchange than the absolute belief that you're better than everything else ever. But things have changed in the last few minutes, because now I want to take you back with me as well."

>"We'll see, shall we?" says Mamizou.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Of course, of course. I know I can't really drag you away from here, especially if you have a home and happy life established, but I'll be damned if I don't at least make the effort."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Of course, of course. I know I can't really drag you away from here, especially if you have a home and happy life established, but I'll be damned if I don't at least make the effort."

>"I may consider a brief visit," she says.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Pout.
> "You're going to make me visit this place regularly, aren't you?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Pout.
> "You're going to make me visit this place regularly, aren't you?"

>"Well, no one will make you," says Mamizou. "We'll not rush any decisions just yet, however"

>_

[Thaws]

>"How about you follow me back to Gensokyo for a visit first when I get back the fixed sword? You can decide about staying or not later on."

[Hello Purvis]

>"How about you follow me back to Gensokyo for a visit first when I get back the fixed sword? You can decide about staying or not later on."

>"I'll at least follow you to the door, I suppose," she says.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Do we remember approximately where it was we first crossed over?

[Hello Purvis]

> Do we remember approximately where it was we first crossed over?

>You think you should be able to find it again.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I'll be glad to have you for that much, at least."
> "Also, while I'm thinking about it, do you know how valuable mahogany is around here? A magician back home asked to keep an eye out for whatever I could find."
> Were spellcard rules established before or after we last saw Mamizou?
> Come to think of it, why do we follow such rules, anyway?

[Hello Purvis]

> "I'll be glad to have you for that much, at least."
> "Also, while I'm thinking about it, do you know how valuable mahogany is around here? A magician back home asked to keep an eye out for whatever I could find."
> Were spellcard rules established before or after we last saw Mamizou?
> Come to think of it, why do we follow such rules, anyway?

>"Um, it is considered a very fine wood," says Mamizou. "I've never really paid attention, but I am certain it has to be imported..."
>Spellcards existed beforehand, the standardization of the system was only a decade or so ago, as you understand.
>You follow them partially for the same reasons that you don't rob oni, it's better for your health. Also, it's turned out to work well to your advantage, danmaku is much more your forte than proper combat. As well, you kind of agree it's nice that conflict is regulated and harm minimized, it's made dealing with unhappy oni much easier.

>_