Keine Quest (Part 3): Broken History

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yes, I'm fine. Better than fine! The moon is back!"
>Now that we have our proper self back, how much can we fiddle with history?

[DracoOmega]

>"Yes, I'm fine. Better than fine! The moon is back!"

>Mokou nods. "Figured as much." She seems to be looking at your horns.

>Now that we have our proper self back, how much can we fiddle with history?

>You'd still need to know fairly precisely what you wanted to change, but you generally have greater reach and power in this form, and a better ability to sense the flow of history.

[Hello Purvis]

>Get to sensing. What can we find that is broadly wrong?

[DracoOmega]

>Get to sensing. What can we find that is broadly wrong?

>You turn your senses outward. You feel the same muted connection that you did earlier in the forest, when you were attempting to remove the ward. You weren't sure whether it was another side-effect of the ward itself at the time, but are more certain now: this world's history is not yours; your connection to it is much more tenuous. It is harder to sense and harder to shape. You can still work with it, but it feels a bit like trying to perform surgery while wearing oven mitts.
>You look back, and try to see if you can find something about what happened that you don't already know. There is.... something wrong with history beyond about 7 years ago, somewhere around the time the Hakurei Shrine vanished. It doesn't flow the same way, and you're not certain why. It is almost like two timelines were spliced at that point.

[Hello Purvis]

>Can we pinpoint the splice itself from here?

[DracoOmega]

>Can we pinpoint the splice itself from here?

>It doesn't seem to have a physical location as such, rather that something was done to history itself at that point. You're not sure what or how.

[Hello Purvis]

>Would we be able to read it better if we were there?

[DracoOmega]

>Would we be able to read it better if we were there?

>Physical proximity to a relevant location might certainly help

[Hello Purvis]

>"I think I know where I need to go next."
>Look to Mokou. "Would you like to come along, or do you want to settle matters here?"

[DracoOmega]

>"I think I know where I need to go next."
>Look to Mokou. "Would you like to come along, or do you want to settle matters here?"

>Mokou looks towards the direction Kaguya disappeared to. "....nah," she says, at length. "As much as I hate to say it, she did something pretty big for you tonight. She ain't going anywhere." She pauses. "Think they took down the ward outside, too?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"If Kaguya's hatred of being cooped up is to be believed, I think they did. If not...well, I sure as didn't tell Eirin about the back way for a reason."
>That reason being if we had to flee and come back later, of course.
>"Should we say goodbye, or just leave?"

[DracoOmega]

>"If Kaguya's hatred of being cooped up is to be believed, I think they did. If not...well, I sure as didn't tell Eirin about the back way for a reason."
>That reason being if we had to flee and come back later, of course.

>Mokou nods. "Of course, someone might notice the hole in the well eventually."

>"Should we say goodbye, or just leave?"

>"Up to you." She shrugs.

[Hello Purvis]

>"We'll give them a few minutes. It would be bad form to leave without thanking her."

[DracoOmega]

>"We'll give them a few minutes. It would be bad form to leave without thanking her."

>"Sure," Mokou replies.

>After a few more minutes, Kaguya returns.
>"I see that you have already regained yourself," she notes, once she's closer to you. "Has it helped you discover anything?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I've discovered a couple things. Thank you. Should we presume the misdirection field is down, as well?"

[DracoOmega]

>"I've discovered a couple things. Thank you. Should we presume the misdirection field is down, as well?"

>Kaguya sighs. "It is. Eirin argued that it's entirely unnecessary to your success or failure, but I felt it should be done, just the same."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Order her to make herself be useful and provide some medicine for the town. That will help change her attitude. But for now, we must go. Thank you for being reasonable."
>We're in a courtyard, right? Take to the air!
>Toward the former Hakurei Shrine.

[DracoOmega]

>"Order her to make herself be useful and provide some medicine for the town. That will help change her attitude. But for now, we must go. Thank you for being reasonable."

>"You're welcome," she says, "and I wish you luck."

>We're in a courtyard, right? Take to the air!
>Toward the former Hakurei Shrine.

>You take to the air and head towards the last location of the Hakurei Shrine.
>"Feel free to come back any time, Mokou," Kaguya calls out as you leave. You can't help by notice the undercurrent to her tone.
>"Don't get cushy!" Mokou calls back

>You have an uneventful flight towards the shrine and after some time find yourself above the chasm that you first encountered shortly after you woke up here.

[Hello Purvis]

>Do another history scan here.

[DracoOmega]

>Do another history scan here.

>You try to see if you can learn anything relevant about the history of what happened here. On first brush, you don't discover a great deal you didn't already know. The time period associated with its creation is consistent with what you already suspected. You still have a hard time narrowing down what caused this. Although the Hakurei Shrine's disappearance may be the cause of most of the changes you've witnessed here, you think this is also a symptom of something else.

[Hello Purvis]

>Can we trace where the shrine went?
>Can we find the exact trigger for this event, or close to it?

[DracoOmega]

>Can we trace where the shrine went?

>It seems it was here... and then it vanished from history altogether. You... don't think it was as simple as a geographic replacement.

>Can we find the exact trigger for this event, or close to it?

>You have a strong suspicion the event was very similar to the one you witnessed on the way back to the Scarlet Devil Mansion earlier today. The root cause seems to... not be connected to history in the proper way. You're not quite sure how.

[Hello Purvis]

>Can we tell if the cause is out of place in the timeline, or not a part of it at all?
>If the latter, does the timeline as we perceive it affect only Gensokyo, or the universe as we know it?

[DracoOmega]

>Can we tell if the cause is out of place in the timeline, or not a part of it at all?

>It... may be out of place. You really can't tell for sure at the moment. It's very strange.

>If the latter, does the timeline as we perceive it affect only Gensokyo, or the universe as we know it?

>In theory, your perception is not limited to Gensokyo. In practice, proximity affects it, and the border itself would generally make it difficult to sense anything outside.

[Hello Purvis]

>Have we ever encountered something reaching outside its place in the timestream to affect something out of sequence before?

[DracoOmega]

>Have we ever encountered something reaching outside its place in the timestream to affect something out of sequence before?

>Not to the best of your knowledge. That... might theoretically be able to cause a similar sense to what you're getting from this chasm.

[Hello Purvis]

>Can we devour this event, and return the shrine proper?
>Failing that, can we restore that tract of forest?

[DracoOmega]

>Can we devour this event, and return the shrine proper?
>Failing that, can we restore that tract of forest?

>You attempt to restore the shrine, but the point of origin of the event feels out of reach, and beyond your ability to affect. You don't think you'll be able to fix it directly like this.
>The patch of bamboo you removed earlier tonight is doubtless already back in place. Alterations like the one you performed then are not permanent; it probably reverted once you got far enough away from it, or diverted sufficient power to some other task.

[Hello Purvis]

>Consider if there's anything that doesn't feel like it's been properly fixed into history, as we're supposed to do on nights like this.

[DracoOmega]

>Consider if there's anything that doesn't feel like it's been properly fixed into history, as we're supposed to do on nights like this.

>Outside of the strange vagueness about this incident's point and method of origin, nothing here seems out of order. You suspect that nothing of consequence has happened here for many years, now.