Maribel Quest More - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Kilgamayan]

> "Huh. So what's who she was talking to that other time."

>Wonder why we couldn't see them this morning
>"I wouldn't worry about them, unless they try anything. There were plenty of phantoms in the netherworld and they were all perfectly polite. One of them even guided me to where I had to go. I would have gotten lost without it. Evidently they have the full sentience of a person, even though normal people can't communicate with them. Well, rather, can't understand them. The phantom seemed to understand me talking to it just fine."

> "I don't think we're going to get a repeat of that house, apparently that only happened because we angered them. Probably just from being in the room at all."
> "Oh, that reminds me. Reimu exorcised that house, so...it's ours, if we want it."

> Talk in this order.

[Hello Purvis]

> "Huh. So what's who she was talking to that other time."
> "I don't think we're going to get a repeat of that house, apparently that only happened because we angered them. Probably just from being in the room at all."
> "Oh, that reminds me. Reimu exorcised that house, so...it's ours, if we want it."

>Wonder why we couldn't see them this morning
>"I wouldn't worry about them, unless they try anything. There were plenty of phantoms in the netherworld and they were all perfectly polite. One of them even guided me to where I had to go. I would have gotten lost without it. Evidently they have the full sentience of a person, even though normal people can't communicate with them. Well, rather, can't understand them. The phantom seemed to understand me talking to it just fine."

>Renko nods. "Alright, if you say so."
>You don't know. Maybe they didn't actually rouse themselves until after you left? Or perhaps they just can't appear in the morning light very well? You don't know why.
>Renko nods as you tell her a little bit about Hakugyokurou and relate it to your earlier encounter. "Really? Huh. Maybe it's just those who had terrible deaths that get a little testy?"
>You tell her the house is now open. "Really?" says Renko. "That's awesome! We'll have to move right in after we take down Scarlet Devil Mansion! I wonder if the maids would help with the cleaning?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"That's a thought. Reimu said that we'd have to do it soon, or more ghosts would come back. Said we might have anywhere from a  week or two to a month or two, depending. Sooner the better, though."
>"And how'd that go, anyway? Now that Alice is out. I know you said you were off to discuss some of that with the other fairies."

[Hello Purvis]

>"That's a thought. Reimu said that we'd have to do it soon, or more ghosts would come back. Said we might have anywhere from a  week or two to a month or two, depending. Sooner the better, though."
>"And how'd that go, anyway? Now that Alice is out. I know you said you were off to discuss some of that with the other fairies."

>"That'll be no problem," says Renko. "I'll be all over that thing."
>"They're still ready for it. Just, we're really going to have to be on the ball. Formations have to be good at all that. They're about as ready as they'll ever be. I'm pretty confident, morale is high. They understand it's not going to just fall over, either. But by the end of the day...we'll have done it. And I really want to see what the faeries can do with that pantry."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"So when are you planning to do it? Early tomorrow morning?"

[Kilgamayan]

> "I wonder if they're going to be in much of any condition to raid the pantry...kinda wonder if they also won't care they're stealing food from their fellow fairies."
> "Also, I've been thinking. I've said I won't take part in this, and I stand by that...but I think I will want to be there anyway. I can't really substantiate it, but...I have a bad feeling you-know-who may be watching this battle, waiting for it to end, so she can swoop in and take out the winning party and take the mansion for herself."

[Hello Purvis]

>"So when are you planning to do it? Early tomorrow morning?"

>"Before noon, ideally," says Renko.

> "I wonder if they're going to be in much of any condition to raid the pantry...kinda wonder if they also won't care they're stealing food from their fellow fairies."
> "Also, I've been thinking. I've said I won't take part in this, and I stand by that...but I think I will want to be there anyway. I can't really substantiate it, but...I have a bad feeling you-know-who may be watching this battle, waiting for it to end, so she can swoop in and take out the winning party and take the mansion for herself."

>"I think they'll be alright. As far as stealing from other faeries, although that food is the Scarlet Devil's rather than theirs, I've not seen them worried about it. If they balk at the last minute, well, I won't be upset."
>"Good, good," says Renko. "I was hoping you would at least watch. And...yeah, I kinda worried about that myself."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Yeah, I knew I was going to want to watch, just to reassure myself things will be okay. And then I thought of that, and...I don't really want to see you two fight, but I REALLY don't want to see both you get taken out by her. If I'm there and not doing anything, well...I can stop her."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Yeah, I knew I was going to want to watch, just to reassure myself things will be okay. And then I thought of that, and...I don't really want to see you two fight, but I REALLY don't want to see both you get taken out by her. If I'm there and not doing anything, well...I can stop her."

>She nods. "Well, it's as much as I had hoped for, but I'm glad you have my back if Alice tries anything."
>Renko pauses for a moment, then asks, "At the very least, you want me to win, right?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"As long as you're not doing this to hurt anyone else, of course I do, Renko. You know I'm in your corner. And I can't wait to see the look on Alice's face if you pull this one off. ....although I mightn't mind observing that look from a safe distance..."

[Kilgamayan]

> "My...ideal outcome has a few things not likely to happen, but you winning is definitely a part of what I'm hoping for, yes. Like I've said before, I want you to have your moment, your thing you can hang your hat on and show the world. I'd still prefer your grand achievement be something other than this, but if this is what must be done, then it is what it is."

[Hello Purvis]

>"As long as you're not doing this to hurt anyone else, of course I do, Renko. You know I'm in your corner. And I can't wait to see the look on Alice's face if you pull this one off. ....although I mightn't mind observing that look from a safe distance..."

> "My...ideal outcome has a few things not likely to happen, but you winning is definitely a part of what I'm hoping for, yes. Like I've said before, I want you to have your moment, your thing you can hang your hat on and show the world. I'd still prefer your grand achievement be something other than this, but if this is what must be done, then it is what it is."

>She smiles. "Hopefully whoever prints that paper is going to be paying attention, that's all I have to say. But what don't you want happening?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "It's easier to explain what I do want to happen. I want a respectable fight that both sides can 'enjoy', where the loser tips their cap to the winner, property damage is minimized and no grudges are held."

[Hello Purvis]

> "It's easier to explain what I do want to happen. I want a respectable fight that both sides can 'enjoy', where the loser tips their cap to the winner, property damage is minimized and no grudges are held."

>Renko nods. "I was considering an ambush, really. I figured we could take out the gate guard before she knew what hit her if we play our cards right. Guess I'll just need some other clever schemes."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I wouldn't count on that. I mean, she has a lot of visibility out across that lake. How would you manage a surprise attack?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I wouldn't count on that. I mean, she has a lot of visibility out across that lake. How would you manage a surprise attack?"

>"The plan I had was that I'd mass my forward troops up around the east and west walls," says Renko. "Enough to overwhelm her, and not too many to give ourselves away. I'd take one wing, and Dai the other. Well, even better would have been you, but pipe dreams. Then send in someone to distract her with a sob story about the maids. Wait for the right moment, and move. If I played my place my cards right, either she sees the oncoming faeries and tries to sound the alarm, meaning she's not paying attention to the faerie in her face, or she remembers that she has a faerie right there whose task is to delay her a few moments until the army comes. Either way, she's about as flatfooted as we can hope. Taking her down is inevitable, it's just a question of whether or not she can spread the alert, though I imagine the fight itself would be a significant tipoff. During that time, the rest of the forces uses that ruckus as a sign to come and join up with us."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"What... kinda sob story were you planning on using?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"What... kinda sob story were you planning on using?"

>"I was thinking that maybe something about the maids showing up in the East forest; causing a ruckus and generally making life unpleasant for all the other faeries living there. Maybe even with the hint some youkai got caught in it and was looking to get even with the mansion for it. Just enough it sounds believable."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Yeah, it sounds like I'm patently not going to get what I want on this one, then. I guess it had to happen to someone, though, and I have the least at stake, so it might as well be me. Shame, Meiling was always really nice to me."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Yeah, it sounds like I'm patently not going to get what I want on this one, then. I guess it had to happen to someone, though, and I have the least at stake, so it might as well be me. Shame, Meiling was always really nice to me."

>Renko frowns. "Didn't I just say I was going to think of something else? Geez. You just asked what I was planing to do."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Oh, you're right, I'm sorry. It's just...it's been a long day. And it isn't over yet."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Oh, you're right, I'm sorry. It's just...it's been a long day. And it isn't over yet."

>She nods. "Alright, alight. If you really want to help out, aside from helping out, tell me what you know and help me come up with some plans. The maids have given me a pretty good idea about pretty much everything. But more never hurts."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I'm not sure what I could say that the fairies who've lived there haven't already covered. I've only spoken with Meiling, Patchouli, and Sakuya, and never seen any of them unleash what they're capable of. You do realize that Sakuya can freeze time, correct?"

[Kilgamayan]

> Let's review what we do know, then.
> We know Sakuya can stop time, and is apparently very frightening. Do we know what else she can do?
> We know Patchouli is a magician. Anything beyond that?
> Do we know anything about Meiling or the head of the household? We haven't even met the latter, though we do know she's a vampire.
> We do know Flandre has a nasty tendency to break unfamiliar things and people, and we've seen a freaky version of her in the Netherworld, but we also know the rest of the house doesn't want her to fight.

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm not sure what I could say that the fairies who've lived there haven't already covered. I've only spoken with Meiling, Patchouli, and Sakuya, and never seen any of them unleash what they're capable of. You do realize that Sakuya can freeze time, correct?"

>Renko nods.
>"I do. But I also know it has limits. She can't do it twice in a row. My plan is to fake her into doing it once, then hit her when she stops. The trick is trying to predict what she's going to do. To my understanding, she'll like start it, then stop time, to try to get the maximum benefit from it, so I should be able to plan ahead. But yeah, she's the biggest danger, I think. If I do this wrong, she could take out a lot of my forces. I'm not sure if there's any way to stop her from sing it, either. I'm pretty sure I could stop Patchouli from from speaking, I could end a lot of her spells right there."

> Let's review what we do know, then.
> We know Sakuya can stop time, and is apparently very frightening. Do we know what else she can do?
> We know Patchouli is a magician. Anything beyond that?
> Do we know anything about Meiling or the head of the household? We haven't even met the latter, though we do know she's a vampire.
> We do know Flandre has a nasty tendency to break unfamiliar things and people, and we've seen a freaky version of her in the Netherworld, but we also know the rest of the house doesn't want her to fight.

>These are all correct.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I... may have something that could help with that. I mean the 'stopping her from speaking' bit. Although it would have side effects on your army, too."
>"I came across a cube that contains the silence of the void. ...whatever that is. But the gist of it is, when you open it, you prevent all sound in an area for a time. I was given an estimate of about 1-2 minutes of total silence in a 50 yard area, slowly becoming less effective at a larger range until it dissipates. Of course, the catch being that no sound of your own will pass through that area, as well. No orders, nothing. And you'd have to be close to her when you used it. You'd only get one shot with it. I don't know if it would be a net gain or not."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I... may have something that could help with that. I mean the 'stopping her from speaking' bit. Although it would have side effects on your army, too."
>"I came across a cube that contains the silence of the void. ...whatever that is. But the gist of it is, when you open it, you prevent all sound in an area for a time. I was given an estimate of about 1-2 minutes of total silence in a 50 yard area, slowly becoming less effective at a larger range until it dissipates. Of course, the catch being that no sound of your own will pass through that area, as well. No orders, nothing. And you'd have to be close to her when you used it. You'd only get one shot with it. I don't know if it would be a net gain or not."

>"I can use it," says Renko. "I think the faeries are smart enough they can hold their own for a couple minutes if Patchouli can't use her spells. I'd have to time it so Sakuya couldn't also get in the way...hm." She grins. "I think this might make the upfront approach all the better."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Perhaps with Sakuya, it would be a good idea not to present too many good targets to her at a single time? Force her to not be able to get the best use out of her ability, until you're ready to focus on her?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Perhaps with Sakuya, it would be a good idea not to present too many good targets to her at a single time? Force her to not be able to get the best use out of her ability, until you're ready to focus on her?"

>She nods. "That's a what I was thinking, try not to mass up the forces too much."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I'm not sure that she has a huge lot of downtime between usages. And I'm pretty sure there's not going to be any way NOT to get caught off-guard by it. I mean, by definition, you never see what she's doing, so it all seems to happen at once."

>"Is there anything else I could do that might be helpful, information-wise? I wish something more came to my own mind..."