Nue Quest 8 - Pagan: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> "Please do."
> Hand the block over.

>You hand the block to Alice. She accepts it and walks inside. "Have a seat at the table," she calls back. "I'll have a towel brought to you. And a spare umbrella, if you want."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Thanks."
> Head inside, over to the table, and have a seat.

[Hello Purvis]

> "Thanks."
> Head inside, over to the table, and have a seat.

>You head inside, and find a yourself in sizable front room. Shelves line the walls, some of them holding books and others lined with various dolls. There is a small table in the middle of the room, covered with a lacy white tablecloth, two chairs are sat there. Lace and doilies seem to adorn every surface, as do numerous dolls. To the north part of the room is a small but well-appointed kitchen, a iron stove sits off to the side of it.  Obvious exits are East and West.
>Some of the dolls spring to life as Alice gives command, rushing over to take the Block of Mahogany from her hands, lifting it over their heads, and marching through a door to the east with it. She then commands other dolls to set a kettle on the stove, and still more to bring in a chair from the other room. A third chair arrives after a few minutes, a stuffed chair with a single wooden arm, the other appearing to be missing. They bring it to the table, where Alice has a seat to join you. Another doll approaches you, holding up a folded towel in its hands.
>"So," says Alice as she makes herself comfortable in the one-armed chair, "What did you have in mind?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Nod to the doll and take the towel.
> Have a seat and start drying ourselves off while talking.
> "Here's what I'm thinking. That block of wood cost me a red spinet, which can vary a decent amount in market value. Normally I'd take my usual high-end and low-end estimates and split the difference in terms of estimating cost; it's how Nazrin and I charged for booze while the tavern was open yesterday. Since the money problem should be solved soon, though, we'll have actual currency to work with later, which I'll get back to in a moment."
> "Like I said earlier, Mamizou and I go a long way back. She left Japan to travel the world long ago, though, and frankly, given the times when she left, I don't blame her too much. She's spent the last decade or so in another land, a place called Avalon in a continent called Europe. I managed to get there myself a little while ago through a hole I accidentally ripped in Gensokyo's side, or something. I don't know exactly what happened, just that I was walking through a Gensokyo forest and suddenly the forest wasn't a Gensokyo forest anymore. The gap youkai is working on fixing it now, which will take a few hours. Once that thing closes, though, it's not opening again, so either she stays on this side or she stays on that side, and there isn't much time to make the decision. Right now I'm taking her on a quickie tour of Gensokyo, since she's never been here before, and it's very different in its treatment of supernatural creatures than Avalon is, which seems to basically be a whole bunch of humans trying desperately to pretend supernatural creatures don't exist and getting really riled up when one dares show their face."
> "However, I live underground and don't spend a lot of time up here. You do. So I'm wondering if you could accompany us for a little while as a better-informed tour guide of sorts. You know more about what goes on up here than I do, so you're likely better suited for the job than I am. If you can do that for us, once everyone's money returns, I'll price the wood at the low end of the red spinet's regular market value rather than in the middle."

[Hello Purvis]

> Nod to the doll and take the towel.
> Have a seat and start drying ourselves off while talking.
> "Here's what I'm thinking. That block of wood cost me a red spinet, which can vary a decent amount in market value. Normally I'd take my usual high-end and low-end estimates and split the difference in terms of estimating cost; it's how Nazrin and I charged for booze while the tavern was open yesterday. Since the money problem should be solved soon, though, we'll have actual currency to work with later, which I'll get back to in a moment."
> "Like I said earlier, Mamizou and I go a long way back. She left Japan to travel the world long ago, though, and frankly, given the times when she left, I don't blame her too much. She's spent the last decade or so in another land, a place called Avalon in a continent called Europe. I managed to get there myself a little while ago through a hole I accidentally ripped in Gensokyo's side, or something. I don't know exactly what happened, just that I was walking through a Gensokyo forest and suddenly the forest wasn't a Gensokyo forest anymore. The gap youkai is working on fixing it now, which will take a few hours. Once that thing closes, though, it's not opening again, so either she stays on this side or she stays on that side, and there isn't much time to make the decision. Right now I'm taking her on a quickie tour of Gensokyo, since she's never been here before, and it's very different in its treatment of supernatural creatures than Avalon is, which seems to basically be a whole bunch of humans trying desperately to pretend supernatural creatures don't exist and getting really riled up when one dares show their face."
> "However, I live underground and don't spend a lot of time up here. You do. So I'm wondering if you could accompany us for a little while as a better-informed tour guide of sorts. You know more about what goes on up here than I do, so you're likely better suited for the job than I am. If you can do that for us, once everyone's money returns, I'll price the wood at the low end of the red spinet's regular market value rather than in the middle."

>Alice nods. "I had no idea there was any way to reach Avalon from here. A shame that Yukari seems to be closing it, I would have rather liked to visit. As for accompanying you, well...I would be pleased to do so, but You understand that I am not necessarily a great tour guide. I tend not to leave home very much. I have done a bit of traveling during a few incidents, but I am not sure if that would be enough. If this is fine, I'll happily accept."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Wait, you know of Avalon?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Wait, you know of Avalon?"

>"Of course," says Alice, "Any magician worthy of the name would know of it. It is home to some of the most celebrated names in western sorcery. Once in awhile, some artifacts of theirs would even turn up in Kourindou."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Turn to Mamizou.
> "Well, fancy that. Your lot are celebrities here."

[Hello Purvis]

> Turn to Mamizou.
> "Well, fancy that. Your lot are celebrities here."

>She chuckles. "You could have fooled me in that regard. Well, it's not as though I had anything to do with magicians anyways. They are much too likely to discern one's true identity."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Turn back to Alice.
> "Well, we've been by the vampire mansion already, and will likely be heading to the shopkeep's place next to check in on progress there. Hmm...how well versed are you on the human village, the kappa village, and the rabbit mansion?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Turn back to Alice.
> "Well, we've been by the vampire mansion already, and will likely be heading to the shopkeep's place next to check in on progress there. Hmm...how well versed are you on the human village, the kappa village, and the rabbit mansion?"

>"I've visited the human village a few times," says Alice. "I passed through the kappa village a couple times, but I've never really stopped there. As for Eientei, well, Marisa and I were one of the ones that uncovered it's existence. But, I don't think I could reliably find my way back there; Marisa and I tried once and only made it due to luck. I was at the celebration that that they held a couple winters back, though, so I did have a nice look around. But I recall that you were also there."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I was, but hell if I could get back there on my own. If we run into Eirin at the shop, though, we might luck out in that regard."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I was, but hell if I could get back there on my own. If we run into Eirin at the shop, though, we might luck out in that regard."

>"That would be easiest," says Alice. "Is there anything else that you would like?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Hmm...I'd like to take her to meet the outer world kids, but I'm guessing you'd be less interested in that."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Hmm...I'd like to take her to meet the outer world kids, but I'm guessing you'd be less interested in that."

>"I would be just as happy to have nothing to do with them," says Alice.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Nod.
> "The two of us will get to them on our own time without you, then. How about this? We'll travel as a group to Kourindou, then when we get to the human village, I'll take care of business at the Temple while you two can tour the town. We can work out the rest of our itinerary after that."
> Look over toward Mamizou.
> "Given the way the humans in Avalon acted toward the supernatural, I think this village would be refreshing to see."

[Hello Purvis]

> Nod.
> "The two of us will get to them on our own time without you, then. How about this? We'll travel as a group to Kourindou, then when we get to the human village, I'll take care of business at the Temple while you two can tour the town. We can work out the rest of our itinerary after that."
> Look over toward Mamizou.
> "Given the way the humans in Avalon acted toward the supernatural, I think this village would be refreshing to see."

>"That will be fine," says Alice.
>Mamizou nods. "It would be nice to let my ears out, or rather it would be nice were it not raining."
>"The people in town do not mind youkai too much," says Alice, "Though clashes are inevitable."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Still better than what goes on in Avalon."
> How's the drying process going?

[Hello Purvis]

> "Still better than what goes on in Avalon."
> How's the drying process going?

>"I suppose you two would know better," says Alice.
>"No human settle would suffer a seelie to walk openly among them," says Mamizou. "Nor would any seelie suffer herself to be known among them."
>You are reasonably dry, You note a doll holding an umbrella thrice as large as it is by the door, wobbling from time to time as it tries to keep balanced.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Whereas the youkai temple took up village peacemaking and reassurance in the wake of our financial crisis."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Whereas the youkai temple took up village peacemaking and reassurance in the wake of our financial crisis."

>"Truly?" says Mamizou, raising an eyebrow.
>"It is the kind of thing they would do," says Alice.
>"I am having difficulty keeping my skepticism in check, you understand," says Mamizou.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Grin
> "S'why I'm dragging you everywhere like this. Lots of people worth meeting."

[Hello Purvis]

> Grin
> "S'why I'm dragging you everywhere like this. Lots of people worth meeting."

>The tanuki chuckles. "How can I say no?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Are we all set to go, then? I'm mostly dry at this point."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Are we all set to go, then? I'm mostly dry at this point."

>"Ah, now?" says Alice. "I thought you might want to stay a bit. But, that's fine."
>She looks toward one of the dolls, who is currently tending to the kettle in the kitchen. "Shanghai, take that off the stove and get me an umbrella." The little doll looks over, then picks up the kettle and starts to float away.
>Alice looks back toward you and says, "You can have the one by the door, if you want."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Yeah. Sorry for the rush, but the gap youkai is likely not in the mood to screw around or to leave the hole to Avalon oper for free access, so we need to make the most of our time."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Yeah. Sorry for the rush, but the gap youkai is likely not in the mood to screw around or to leave the hole to Avalon oper for free access, so we need to make the most of our time."

>Alice nods, as the doll disappears into the back room, and returns a moment later with a colorful blue umbrella dangling from her hands. "I'll follow when you lead, then."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Any shortcuts from here to Kourindou I might not know?"
> Make our way over to the doll with the umbrella by the door, acquire the umbrella from it and nod in appreciation.

[Hello Purvis]

> "Any shortcuts from here to Kourindou I might not know?"
> Make our way over to the doll with the umbrella by the door, acquire the umbrella from it and nod in appreciation.

>"Not really," says Alice. "But it's not too terribly far away."
>You take the umbrella from the doll and nod toward it. The doll curtsies in reply.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Let's head out, then."
> Exit the house, open the umbrella once we're out of the doorway, and head towards Kourindou on foot, unless the ground is yucky or someone suggests we fly for the sake of speed.