The Legend of Hieda: Daughter Zero - Completed

[Mr_Bob]

>What seems to be the problem with Mo-Ko?  Does she respond to external stimulus?

[Fightest]

>What seems to be the problem with Mo-Ko?  Does she respond to external stimulus?

> "Oh, hey, boss." [harrowtired] "Don' worry about me, I'm fine."
> She probably went through something like you did. She looks to be pulling herself together.

[Jq1790]

>"If you went through the same thing I did, relax, all that is in the past."
>Prepare to return to base to report our mission's success, and figure out what we're going to do from here.

[Mr_Bob]

>Rally the troops, and set-up for stand-down/guard duty.

[Fightest]

>"If you went through the same thing I did, relax, all that is in the past."

> "Th'past has a nasty habit o' sneakin' up'n stabbin' ye in the back." [tiredefensive] "But yer right."

>Prepare to return to base to report our mission's success, and figure out what we're going to do from here.

>Rally the troops, and set-up for stand-down/guard duty.

> Time passes.
> You are in your personal pavilion, awaiting the arrival of the war leaders that had assisted you in gathering these armies so quickly.
> You have some time to consolidate what you have just experienced.
> Do you analyze Koishi, and her insidious tricks?
> Do you consider Scent-of-Patchouli-and-Lavender's weapon and its success?
> Or can you not help yourself and
> Do you again remember yourself as you were then, bleeding out onto the festival square?

[Jq1790]

>We should analyze Koishi and her abilities.  We might be able to handle them, but they could still cripple people in our army if we don't find some defense against them.

[Mr_Bob]

>All three?

[nolrai2]

Remember.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

>Koishi

[Fightest]

Oh god im sorry its been busy and writers block aaaaaa

>All three?

> Ah, screw it. Go on.
> The being that called itself Koishi could be a dangerous opponent not only for her powers in the chaos, which are already formidable, but for her unpredictability. She lives in story like a fish in water, and the threat of being absorbed into story when in the chaos intensifies around her. Curiously, she seems to have formed as a response to your own presence in the chaos - it is impossible to tell for how long she can wait to follow up on her threat to return. Still, you can develop countermeasures to a certain degree - you will not be taken by surprise like that again.
> Developed Stance: Scathing Critic Approach. Keywords: Wyld, Story. The Chosen make their own legends. When in this stance, its user cannot be forced into a story against their will. Once in a story, once per scene, the Chosen has right of veto against a single element of narration made by their opponent.
> This strange ability will allow you to hold your own when the chaos inevitably draws you into one of its stories.

> While Scent-of-Patchouli-and-Lavender's weapon did exactly what it was supposed to do, the effect it had was worryingly small on the grand scale of things. An artifact is monumentally challenging to create, and who knows how many rare materials Patchouli used to make those two Spell-Spheres. Should the chaos wave advance across the entire boundary of Creation, it would be impossible to stop at this rate.
> You managed to understand some of the interactions between the artifact and the chaos:
> Developed Move: Loyal Arsenal. A Chosen's weapon is always within arm's reach. The user of this move can access a personal pocket of Wyld, wherein they may safely store their possessions. Conversely, a Chosen may use this Move to stabilize a pocket of reality whilst in the Wyld, but all their stored possessions will appear near them.

> Your analysis complete, you cannot help but let your mind wander to that day at the festival.
> You remember fading in and out of consciousness, and an odd floating sensation as people and buildings rush past you, a firm hand steadying...

> "They're here, boss, wake up." [dutifulwary]

[GuyYouMetOnline]

>Wake up.

[Fightest]

> They enter your pavilion, one by one, the fate of millions on the shoulders of each.
> The Goddess of the Wind and the Rain, gracing the mortal world with her presence and her cunning, Kanako of the Eight Hills, resplendent in red and purple ceremonial garb.
> The Chosen Most Favoured, her presence bringing peace and prosperity to all those around her, White-Lotus Hijiri, her monk's garments simple and humble.
> The Stone-Born and Sun-Blessed Judge, the unimpeachable arbiter of Celestial laws, Four-Seasons'-Princess, her baton ever-present at her side, her crown as glorious as ever.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

>"Greetings"

[Fightest]

>"Greetings"

> "You do not sound like someone who had just lost half her army, Hieda," says Four-Seasons, clearly annoyed, "and rumours say that your victory is as fleeting as a summer's breeze!"
> "Peace, Eiki," says Hijiri. "Are has our trust for good reason. What can you tell us, Are? What was this strange attack?"
> A voice and a scent waft in through the open door of your pavilion.
> "And why was I not invited into this little club gathering?"
> Scent-of-Patchouli-and-Lavender wanders in, still in her nightgown-dress, obviously entirely unconcerned with decorum.
> "Because you are a liability, and you know that very well," says Kanako.
> "True," says Patchouli, entirely unconcerned.

[Mr_Bob]

>Tell of dealings with Chaotic Koishi, Patchouli's effects, and the conclusions of the dearly won battle.

[Fightest]

>Tell of dealings with Chaotic Koishi, Patchouli's effects, and the conclusions of the dearly won battle.

> "So it worked as well as I thought it would," says Patchouli.
> "That is to say, deplorably," says Four-Seasons. "All it did was attract the attention of a new enemy!"
> "And a strange one at that," says Hijiri. "We have long wondered what existed beyond the edge of Creation, and it seems the answer is most unpleasant indeed."
> "Four-Seasons makes a good point," says Kanako, "about cause and effect. I believe this chaos wave withdrew with this Koishi thing, due only to having been challenged by Hieda. The Spell-Sphere was likely a help, but we would need far more of them should the wave advance around the entirety of Creation's perimeter."
> Kanako's expression darkens.
> "And I believe we should take Koishi's threat most seriously. I believe she will come back. We need to prepare."

[Jq1790]

re: Spell-Spheres
>Look to Scent-of-Patchouli-and-Lavender
>"How hard would it be for you to produce those spheres en masse?  In case the entirety of Creation is sieged at once, as (Do we address Kanako by her first name, by her title, what?) stated, we'd need to be able to defend many points at once.  I understand that a lot goes into the creation of items such as those, but do you think you can replicate them to any sizable quantity?  If not, do you have any other ideas on how to use more readily available materials to achieve a similar effect?  Even if it's weaker, a weak defense is better than none at all, should the need arise."

re: Koishi
>"Perhaps a large scale meeting is in order, so that I may go into detail about exactly what Koishi did and how those of us who survived managed to counteract it.  While Koishi will certainly adapt, having everyone fully aware of defenses against what we DID face can only help us, and perhaps by discussing that, we can better come up with some ideas of other possible attacks she might throw our way."

(Phew, not sure how good any of this stuff is, so some feedback from other players would be nice.  Been a while since I contributed anything to this, it has.)

[GuyYouMetOnline]

Works for me.

[Fightest]

(Do we address Kanako by her first name, by her title, what?)

> While law and tradition states that Kanako be addressed by her full name, the Chosen of the Celestials can flaunt both as they wish. It is also much more practical to call her Kanako, for expediency's sake.

re: Spell-Spheres
>Look to Scent-of-Patchouli-and-Lavender
>"How hard would it be for you to produce those spheres en masse?  In case the entirety of Creation is sieged at once, as Kanako stated, we'd need to be able to defend many points at once.  I understand that a lot goes into the creation of items such as those, but do you think you can replicate them to any sizable quantity?  If not, do you have any other ideas on how to use more readily available materials to achieve a similar effect?  Even if it's weaker, a weak defense is better than none at all, should the need arise."

> Patchouli closes her eyes to think.
> "The oristeel-spinning technique that you saw me use is not entirely of my own invention. I saw them only once, but there exists a ... certain breed of spider in Heaven that is spins its webs of exotic materials."
> Kanako laughs derisively.
> "Is that all the Pattern Spiders are to you, artificer? The beings that weave the fate of every man, woman and child in Creation, relegated to seamstress servants?"
> Patchouli shrugs.
> "If they can spin a Spell-Sphere, I do not care if they are Autochthon itself."

re: Koishi
>"Perhaps a large scale meeting is in order, so that I may go into detail about exactly what Koishi did and how those of us who survived managed to counteract it.  While Koishi will certainly adapt, having everyone fully aware of defenses against what we DID face can only help us, and perhaps by discussing that, we can better come up with some ideas of other possible attacks she might throw our way."

> Clarification of player intent:
> Do you wish to expand on or discuss Koishi's attacks in particular detail?
> Who do  you want to attend the meeting beyond those gathered here?

[Jq1790]

> Clarification of player intent:
> Do you wish to expand on or discuss Koishi's attacks in particular detail?
> Who do  you want to attend the meeting beyond those gathered here?

re: Koishi's attacks
>Going into as much detail as we can about what Koishi did while  we confronted her seems like the best course of action.  That way, we can better analyze it, and someone else present might be inspired with a strategy we haven't thought of yet, or some ideas about the nature of other things Koishi might try.

re: Who else should attend
>Exactly how large is our army, and how is it organized?
>If we're a rather large group, we likely have more commanding officers to supervise the groups we can't be in, right?  I was intending for them to attend as well, so that the word of anything we discuss can reach our entire force more rapidly.  If I'm mistaken and Are and Mo-Ko are the only ones with some sort of command over our troops, then there's no need for others to attend since we'd just spread the word ourselves.

[Fightest]

I cannot believe how rut-stuck I am. I should have done this far earlier.

> Engaging Plot Expedition Protocols.

> You leave the meeting having spent many hours in discussion with your commanders as well as Kanako, Patchouli, Four-Seasons and Hijiri.
> Even at the end, many had trouble comprehending the nature of Koishi, as well as her manner of combat, but all promised they would try their best to find countermeasures from their fields of expertise.
> The research will take time, however, and in the meanwhile there are leads that you can follow up personally:

> Kanako and Patchouli spoke of Pattern Spiders that could spin oristeel like it were silken thread.
> White-Lotus Hijiri took you aside to describe a strange book she read, a story in which bore worrying resemblance to the events of today.
> Four-Seasons'-Princess voiced her concerns that a soul absorbed into the chaos will not return to Heaven, creating a terrible imbalance in the reincarnation cycle.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

>Find that book.

[Mr_Bob]

>Research the origins of this catastrope with that text.

Investigating what happens to souls sounds interesting too.

Edit: Anything sounds good. Sightseeing is always nice.

[Fightest]

> Hijiri tells you the details you need:
> She found the tome on one of her regular diplomatic visits to the independent city-state of Empyrean, on the mainland coast east of the central sea.
> The tome was in Empyrean's Great Library, presented by a researcher when Hijiri was on a tour of the building. It appeared to be the centre of quite some attention.

[Fightest]

> To get to Empyrean, of course, can be an issue all of its own. The city-state enjoys flaunting its independence, and, therefore, demands that all entrance have a valid entry visa and cause for visit.
> As a Chosen, you would have an easier time than most getting in. However, whether you have the patience for bureaucracy is another matter.
> Do you head to Empyrean's embassy to negotiate an entry visa or do you ignore decorum and
> Try to get through on your name and charisma alone?

[GuyYouMetOnline]

>Ignore decorum. We do not have the time to entertain the bureaucracy; there's no telling when the chaos will strike next.

[Mr_Bob]

Hmmm. Either way would likely be battledebate waiting to happen...

[Fightest]

Hmmm. Either way would likely be battledebate waiting to happen...

If you have a third option, I will gladly accommodate it.

[Mr_Bob]

If you have a third option, I will gladly accommodate it.

Don't I know it. You're very good with that. Take over city by force, corrupt politicians/bureacrats, sneaking in, stealing scroll...
Now what would the pros and cons of sneaking into the city and stealing texts be? How efficient would that be to achieving our goal?

>What are our previous dealings with Empyrean? With it's leaders? Inhabitants?
>If Are has been there before, how long did the red tape method take?
>Are there emergency visa granting routes in the bureaucracy?

[Fightest]

I'm sorry for the fakeupdate, but I'm taking an unplanned break from this thing. I will try not to let it last too long, as I know that procrastination breeds itself. It has been busy, and I want to sort out IRL business before continuing with shenanigans here.