(Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 7)

[DracoOmega]

>You are Nazrin, a newly inducted member of the Seeker's Guild, and you are dying.

>While investigating a series of cattle disappearances around the village of Easthaven, you uncovered a nest of giant spiders. Your subsequent investigation of their lair had dire and lasting consequences when a wild spider youkai, furious with you for killing a dozen of her kin, infected you with a supernaturally virulent disease. You narrowly eascaped death that very day due to the sheltering power of Kumokirimaru and Minoriko's creative thinking. Still, she was unable to halt the progression of the disease and insists that you have no more than a week or two to live. Determined that you will survive this ordeal, you have set out in search of a cure.

>You have spent much of the last 24 hours engaged in this search, with limited success. Of all the doctors and healers you spoke with, only one professed any serious chance of treating your disease, and her presentation left you distinctly dubious that this cure would work. Your attempts to learn more about the sword which keeps your life safe have also been disappointing. While the archeologists from the Grand Academy recognized the inscription as Freelands Archaic, their knowledge of this language is evidently so fragmentary that a translation might take substantial time. You have thus-far also failed to get in direct contact with the Professor Kamishirasawa, the archeologist in charge of the local dig, though the student you spoke with this afternoon has promised to contact her directly about your disease; given travel time, it will probably take at least a day to hear back from her.

>In the meantime, you have been looking for a fast ship to take you to Val Razua, in the hope that an answer to your plight can be found in the great city. To that end, you have met a Captain Murasa, who has offered you passage on her ship if you can help them leave port. Apparently someone stole their export license a couple days ago, and they've been stuck in Braston ever since. An investigation of the scene of the crime turned up limited clues, but you did detect a faint and rather unusual magical signature which you are attempting to relocate.

>You are currently standing just outside the captain's cabin of the Blue Maiden, engaged in an infuriating encounter with one of her crew who seems insistent on you staying where you are until Murasa returns.

>"Lemme see if I get this straight. Your captain and I come to an agreement, whereby I agree to solve your problem for you, at no charge, no pay, nothing except a ride to where you were going anyway. And now I'm basically a prisoner?"

>"Hey, I don't know what you two talked about," she says with a shrug. "'sides, if you ain't done nothing wrong, it's not gonna kill ya to wait a few minutes, is it?"

[Oldmansour]

>Oh, now you're just baiting us.
>Put away dousing rods.
>Flatly, "I don't suppose you'd care to make a small wager on that."

[DracoOmega]

>Oh, now you're just baiting us.
>Put away dousing rods.
>Flatly, "I don't suppose you'd care to make a small wager on that."

>Come now, would I do such a thing?
>You put your dowsing rods away.
>"On what?" she laughs. "You keelin' over from boredom?"

[Oldmansour]

>"On one more pointless delay killing me. Because they ARE killing me."

[Hello Purvis]

Of note, once we reveal the disease, they probably aren't going to want to be stuck in a boat with us for three days no matter what. Mind you, I'm all for burning this bridge just to be in character.

[DracoOmega]

>"On one more pointless delay killing me. Because they ARE killing me."

>"Well, sorry to hear it, mousey," she replies without a great deal of concern in her voice. "Life's a bitch like that sometimes."
>At this point, you hear footsteps approaching from the other end of the deck.

[Oldmansour]

>Nostril flare, muscle clench. Why, you little...
>Thorough clenched teeth, "Your concern is quite touching..."

[Hello Purvis]

No no no no.

>Instead say, "So you feel like going on ahead and getting me a nice place picked out in hell?"

[DracoOmega]

>Nostril flare, muscle clench. Why, you little...

>Instead say, "So you feel like going on ahead and getting me a nice place picked out in hell?"

>She laughs. "Not plannin' on dropping in there for a few years yet, sorry. 'sides, the way you're goin' on, someone'd think you're already there."
>The footsteps draw nearer and Murasa appears over the top of the stairs to the rest of the deck. The redhead cranes her neck back in that direction.
>"Everything okay here?" Murasa asks.
>"We're good," the other woman replies lightly.
>Murasa gives you a quick look over and nods. The redhead hoists herself upright and heads off to the main deck, while Murasa walks down the steps towards you.
>"Sorry 'bout the hold-up," she says. "You find anything?"

[Oldmansour]

>Simply stand there and fume for a moment.
>"No, actually, I didn't. The lead I had, I lost, and your.... flunky, wouldn't let me go after it."
>"There may be a chance I can still pick it up, IF I can be ALLOWED."
>Produce dousing rods again, but before emplyoing them, does Murasa seem to be generating or carrying anything like we sensed earlier?

[Hello Purvis]

No more half measures.

>Instead say: "Actually, yeah, I had something. Then it turns out you left the damn boat anchor in here to keep me pinned up in here, what the hell did I do to deserve that? I offered to help you, no money down in exchange for passage if I succeed, and this is the thanks I get? You think you an just treat people like that?"

[DracoOmega]

>Instead say: "Actually, yeah, I had something. Then it turns out you left the damn boat anchor in here to keep me pinned up in here, what the hell did I do to deserve that? I offered to help you, no money down in exchange for passage if I succeed, and this is the thanks I get? You think you an just treat people like that?"

>"Look, I appreciate it," she says. "I really do. But I also don't know you. I just asked Chisato to keep an eye on you, that's all. It's nothing personal, really; I honestly thought I'd be back before you were finished doing you thing."

[Oldmansour]

>"'Keep an eye on', huh. Your friend had the stance of 'Make sure she doesn't leave this room.' Like I was some kind of prisoner. I even said, and I meant it, I had no beef with her eyeballing me. But nooOOOoo, that wasn't good enough."
>Let out a long breath.
>"I just hope I can still find whatever it was."
>Produce dousing rods again, but before emplyoing them, does Murasa seem to be generating or carrying anything like we sensed earlier?

[Hello Purvis]

>Add in. before picking up the rods again, : "She's lucky I haven't whittled off those lips and fed 'em to her! What'd I do to deserve that? You didn't even say anything! I don't need this shit, you know! If this is how you treat people, I think I know why your passport would have been stolen!"

I say we hold off the dousing until we get a bit more out of her.

[Oldmansour]

>You didn't even say anything! I don't need this shit, you know! If this is how you treat people, I think I know why your passport would have been stolen!"

>Not this part.

Ragging on the tin soldier? Good call, bitch got it coming. But attacking Murasa, who we need? And who seems at least a little apologetic and a lot more reasonable? Not as good an idea.

[Hello Purvis]

That's the thing. we don't need Murasa. We have a whole port full of ships and a pouch full of money to throw at them.

She however, needs us. And she hasn't treated us with dignity despite our generosity.  Nazrin, I think, is going to need some pretty comprehensive apologies to actually care enough to help anymore, after all shit she's put up with from Branston as a whole.

>Related: Do we know anyone talented at forgery?

[DracoOmega]

>"'Keep an eye on', huh. Your friend had the stance of 'Make sure she doesn't leave this room.' Like I was some kind of prisoner. I even said, and I meant it, I had no beef with her eyeballing me. But nooOOOoo, that wasn't good enough."

>"She's lucky I haven't whittled off those lips and fed 'em to her!"

>You let loose with a few complaints about your watchdog. Murasa's expression twists into a rather leery scowl as you speak of rearranging the redhead's face, though she doesn't immediately say anything.

>Let out a long breath.
>"I just hope I can still find whatever it was."
>Produce dousing rods again, but before emplyoing them, does Murasa seem to be generating or carrying anything like we sensed earlier?

>You let out a long breath and produce your dowsing rods again.
>As best you can tell without actually employing them, you sense nothing from Murasa that resembles the earlier oddity you were searching for, but you wouldn't actually expect to be able to without their assistance. Nothing on her is poking your treasure sense much, at least; she may have some money on her, but nothing unusual.

>Related: Do we know anyone talented at forgery?

>You suppose that depends on what is being forged. You can actually do a passable job of forging signatures and such; while not officially on the curriculum, there's enough overlap with what is taught about their detection to pick up a few tricks, and the occasional veteran Seeker could be coaxed for a little tutoring. You have a nagging suspicion that Rinnosuke himself is quite good at it, but you don't know if he'd admit it. You might be able to dig up someone with more expertise if you went and made a few discrete inquiries, but the best people at this are often the least public about it (for understandable reasons).

[Hello Purvis]

Yeah, let's walk out, if that's all Murasa is going to give us. No more half measures and being walked on and used like this.

[Oldmansour]

Yeah, no.

>Try dousing again.

[Hello Purvis]

No really. We have a whole harbor. And Nazrin has not been given any kind of respect from these people outside of a tepid apology.  Why would she want to remain here?

[DracoOmega]

>Try dousing again.

>You take another deep breath and try to let go of your frustrations enough to concentrate, then start looking for that sensation again. You focus on Murasa first, but find no trace of it. There is something else just a little bit odd about her, however. You're pretty sure it's unrelated, but you're fairly convinced she isn't human, nor a normal youkai for that matter. In what part of your concentration can still pay attention to such things, you catch her giving you an odd look as you examine her, almost a little wary.
>Eventually you satisfy yourself that whatever it was isn't coming from her, and turn back to the rest of the ship again. Sadly, this doesn't prove any more productive than when you'd been inside the cabin earlier; you detect a variety of mundane things, but nothing which strikes you as particularly out of place, and no sign of that vague sensation from earlier.

[Oldmansour]

In a sentance? Murasa can save her precious days.

>"Damn. Whatever it was, I can't sense it from here anymore."
>Have we ever encountered anything like the 'between' feeling in an individual other than Murasa?

[Hello Purvis]

Prove what you're saying.  Again, we have a whole harbor full of ships, and and bag full of of money to get them to do what we need. here we just have the nth event in a long line of events proving Braston hates us, and we're pretty much on the verge of murder. Why would Nazrin ever swallow her pride for these people outside of metagamey reasons? She has no reason to be here when she can get the same service elsewhere.

[DracoOmega]

>"Damn. Whatever it was, I can't sense it from here anymore."
>Have we ever encountered anything like the 'between' feeling in an individual other than Murasa?

>Murasa lets out a sigh. "Don't suppose you had any idea what it was, after all that?"
>Not personally, no. Something about her feels faintly less tangible than most people, though you can't usefully dowse biology.

[Oldmansour]

Recall, if you can, the description of the other ships in the harbor. We had run of the mill cargo ships, run of the mill passenger ships, and Murasa's boat. It was stated earlier that the passenger ships take around a week to get to VR. The cargo ships probably take longer. Let's use a modern comparison. You see in a parking lot a bunch of toyota corollas, a bunch of pickup trucks, and a ferrari 458. Which one would you bet was the fastest?
And let's say we empty our wallet in the pocket of one of the truck drivers. Does that magically make the truck as fast as the ferrari?

>"No more so than I did before you left. I suppose I can try again from on deck, but at this point...."
>Head shake.
>"Which leaves me right back at square one."

[Hello Purvis]

That's a point, but we have pretty much no real evidence we're going to find anything, save for a vague half feeling. On the other hand, we have yet another set of people who have treated us like crap, moreso because we went out of our way to help. This said, you are right that it's our best hope if we can find anything. But, I think we can agree Nazrin is not going to be fully rational about it, not after the past few days and pretty much anyone in Braston who could be s useful shitting on her.

As such, I think we can compromise. I say we make 'em pay through the nose. Not with coin, mind you. But make 'em pay, because somebody's got to pay. They owe it to us. And be ready to walk out if they don't. Even if it's just a headfake and we go and search for the thing anyways out of desperation. We don't let them know that it is, and demand even more if we find it (Or get a decent forgery of one).

I also think this is definitely the straw that broke the camel's back, if we have to leave this ship, part of that time should be spent throwing the one medical shyster through a window. He's the one that's played us the worst in all this. Or pay a visit to Ellen.

[Oldmansour]

Oh, my head... New year's.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. (was hoping Draco would post so we could debate and progress the plot at once, but, oh well. Can't have everything.)
I'm willing to concede that Murasa may not be our ONLY hope of getting a fast ride. I still believe she is, fully, but I have been wrong before. Just because there's nothing in port that's as fast as her ship NOW doesn't mean there WON'T be in an hours' time. Can't say for certain, but that's easy enough to check on.

I also like your idea about forging a replacement document, it's something I wouldn't have thought of. If we can have a good one made, it solves our current problem. It might cause us problems down the road, if the truth comes out, but at least we'll BE there down the road. It's definitely something to keep in mind.
We could also apply a little lateral thinking as well. The problem Murasa has is leaving with her cargo. If we can find a local buyer for that cargo, then she'd be able to leave easily, and we'd be on our way lickety-split. Assuming she didn't BUY it locally, of course, then there's that idea gone.

But as for being irrational? There I disagree. I think Nazrin would be angry, and frustrated, and certainly justifiably so. But not irrational. Not while there's still hope. The clock hasn't ticked off that much yet.

And, I have to ask. Why Ellen? Not that I'd mind at all, she was certainly interesting company, just curious.

>Are we confidant enough in our forging skills to duplicate the writing on official documents, if we'd seen it at least once before?
>Recall Murasa's inventory list. Does it look the kind of thing she'd have picked up here, or elsewhere?

[DracoOmega]

>Are we confidant enough in our forging skills to duplicate the writing on official documents, if we'd seen it at least once before?
>Recall Murasa's inventory list. Does it look the kind of thing she'd have picked up here, or elsewhere?

>This would depend on the complexity of the document involved, and presence of any seals or watermarks. It would be a very tall order to do it from merely having seen one before, but you could probably make the attempt if you had an original to look off while you worked.
>You imagine that most, if not all, the fruit on the manifest was grown in Easthaven and the rivets were likely produced locally as well. The wool and leather were clearly marked as having come from Northswald, and you suspect that some of the herbs came from outside of Estval. Most of rest of the cargo is up in the air; it's possible there was some indication of place of origin buried in the manifest's shorthand, but nothing that meant anything to you.

[Oldmansour]

Not to pester, boss, but I had some commands outstanding a couple posts back.

>"No more so than I did before you left. I suppose I can try again from on deck, but at this point...."
>Head shake.
>"Which leaves me right back at square one. Cheh. Should be used to that by now..."

[DracoOmega]

>"No more so than I did before you left. I suppose I can try again from on deck, but at this point...."
>Head shake.
>"Which leaves me right back at square one. Cheh. Should be used to that by now..."

>Murasa gives a tired shrug. "Didn't think there's be much to find here. I mean, I dunno what you can pick up with those things, but I didn't see much when we scoured the place, earlier. Whoever nabbed this probably got away clean." She lets out another irritated sigh.
>"Don't suppose you have any other ideas?"