Yukari Quest IV - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Kilgamayan]

> How does separating these concepts work?

[Hello Purvis]

> How does separating these concepts work?

>Really, it just comes down to how creative you want to be with your abilities and the tools you have onhand. You could pry them apart directly by introducing gaps between the tangled concepts, or try to lure them apart by indirectly nudging them toward more strongly related concepts and away from each other. There may be other solutions as well. The main disadvantage of the former approach is that it will take care and speed. The latter allows for a little more wiggle room.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> So we need to come up with a single concept that separates all of these opposites at the same time?

[Hello Purvis]

> So we need to come up with a single concept that separates all of these opposites at the same time?

>That would make things easier, but it's not necessary. The ideal is to separate each of them as close to the same time as the others as possible.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> How exactly do we perform this detangling? Do we think about a concept really hard? Do we say it out loud? Do we poke the air with our screwdriver? Or something else?

[Hello Purvis]

> How exactly do we perform this detangling? Do we think about a concept really hard? Do we say it out loud? Do we poke the air with our screwdriver? Or something else?

>It is essentially the first and third things; you introduce gaps and manipulate them to achieve the effect you want. Where you introduce them is directed by your will.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

I'm still trying to wrap my brain around what's expected to be done here, so if anyone else has a bolt of inspiration, go right ahead.

[Yaersulf]

>Curse metaphysics.
>Would nudging them to one "side" of the border solve the problem? I.e nudging the tree towards being material.

[Hello Purvis]

>Curse metaphysics.
>Would nudging them to one "side" of the border solve the problem? I.e nudging the tree towards being material.

>This could work, you think.

>_

[Yaersulf]

>Examine the snares in the ground and the sky more closely.

[Hello Purvis]

>Examine the snares in the ground and the sky more closely.

>The snare in the ground seems to be between the borders of width and depth, which has somewhat confused those two dimensions. As well, the borders of depth and shallowness are tangled, confusing how much depth a thing has. The whole mess leads to a confusion between how much depth a thing possesses, and how it relates to its width.
>The snare in the sky is a bit more immaterial. Part of it is tangled between apathy and attraction, which seems to determine whether or not there is an positive emotional connection or interest between two things. As well, apathy has become entangled with the border of possession, which muddies the waters between whether something is considered to be owned. The resulting mess conflates various ways that one is connected to another thing, be it through emotional interest or the idea that something belongs to one.

>_

[Serela]

>If we just moved the strangely frozen vineleaf in the bush (along with minor border shenanigans), would that be sufficient to fix it's issue?
>Examine the boulder. Is there anything about it that seems plantlike?

[Hello Purvis]

>If we just moved the strangely frozen vineleaf in the bush (along with minor border shenanigans), would that be sufficient to fix it's issue?
>Examine the boulder. Is there anything about it that seems plantlike?

>The frozen leaf seems to be more of a symptom than a cause.
>Looking at the boulder, nothing about it strikes you as plantlike.

>_

[UncertainJakutten]

>Summary of the other 3 gap shred borders that are not ground and sky?

[Hello Purvis]

>Summary of the other 3 gap shred borders that are not ground and sky?

>The snare in the tree is pretty basic; it is caught between material and immaterial. That is, between the border of that which has a physical form, and that which exists outside the bonds of matter.
>The snare in the bush is also rather simple, as it is between motion and stillness. There isn't much more to it. Looking more closely at the bush itself, you wonder if it could move at all?
>Within the boulder, the snare seems to be between two states of matter, that of inert rock and that of basic plantlife. Given what you see and the nature of this place, you aren't anticipating the plants in question are particularly advanced or host to anything of an interesting spiritual nature. And although you have found some interesting things of a rocky nature in this place, you sense the border snared related to more mundane and well-behaved stones too.

>_

[UncertainJakutten]

>OK. So, the idea is we have to nudge these in a direction, preferably all at once and with some screwdriver work, correct?
>If so, using a unifying concept that pushes each towards one part of their split is the right idea?

I might completely have it wrong but I think I have an idea if I have the parameters right.

[Hello Purvis]

>OK. So, the idea is we have to nudge these in a direction, preferably all at once and with some screwdriver work, correct?
>If so, using a unifying concept that pushes each towards one part of their split is the right idea?

>Yes, and if you could do it with one particular concept to base the gap around, that would be ideal.

>_

[UncertainJakutten]

>OK. Let's try the concept of the Beloved Pet Rock. It is an inert and well-behaved stone, material and still. One feels a depth of attraction and possession of a pet, and this is no different even if the pet is a rock. So let's push that concept on the gaps and repair them.

[Hello Purvis]

>OK. Let's try the concept of the Beloved Pet Rock. It is an inert and well-behaved stone, material and still. One feels a depth of attraction and possession of a pet, and this is no different even if the pet is a rock. So let's push that concept on the gaps and repair them.

>The what now? Are you thinking of a rock that may have been venerated?

>_

[UncertainJakutten]

>Have I not come across the concept, almost a joke but surprisingly persistent, in the modern world of a pet rock?

[Hello Purvis]

>Have I not come across the concept, almost a joke but surprisingly persistent, in the modern world of a pet rock?

>Your understanding of the modern world is fairly basic, and you tend to focus on the more relevant bits. You generally prefer not to stay there for long.

>_

[Yaersulf]

>Contemplate the rock that Mary grabbed as the basis for the gap.

[Hello Purvis]

>Contemplate the rock that Mary grabbed as the basis for the gap.

>The rock is completely mundane and no different than the others littering the land, unlike those that actually are venerated and develop into something greater than their material. But it may address some issues.

>_

[UncertainJakutten]

>Have we asked Mary why she wanted that rock?
>Also, was it not in a shrine, a place of veneration?

[Hello Purvis]

>Have we asked Mary why she wanted that rock?
>Also, was it not in a shrine, a place of veneration?

>You haven't.
>It was. But it also was completely mundane. As a youkai, you are well aware of what a venerated item feels like as faith can be dangerous to your kind; though you seldom have to worry about it.

>_

[UncertainJakutten]

>"Maribel, why did you take that rock out of the shrine, anyway?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Maribel, why did you take that rock out of the shrine, anyway?"

>She shrugs. "It seemed like a neat thing to have. Maybe as a souvenir, even if it's not useful?"

>_

[O4rfish]

>Did the rock have a shimenawa on it?
I thought I remembered that being the case, but it's implied not to be the case here.
Anyone have an idea of what the GM put it there for? If not just as decoration, maybe we could use it as a goshintai to house or duplicate a spirit? Then again, this is Yukari Quest and not Sendai Miko quest.

[Hello Purvis]

>Did the rock have a shimenawa on it?

>It did not have any, but there were some hung in its chamber.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> What would happen if we only separated some gaps and not all of them?