Maribel Quest More - A Z-Machine Adventure

[communist unity (comm-unity)]

> "How about relationships between human and youkai? Romantic ones, I mean. Does it happen?"

(also, because there stands the chance that we become the youkais and renko does not)

[E-Nazrin]

Okay, I'm probably forgetting something to ask, but I think any further questions I'd have about youkaitude would be going in circles.

Definitely want to make sure Draco gets his say before moving on, though, regardless of what there is to add or ask. I might be forgetting something important. Probably.

I don't know where to go/who to talk to next, though I'm inclined to think that this puts hasty youkaidom out of the picture unless we discuss these full implications with Renko. Not sure there's going to be enough time for that.

To me, the next priority would be finding another way to get personal assurance and safety for tomorrow. Talking to Byakuren about the situation in light of these doubts and the ability to discuss (most of) the issue with her is the easy route to this, but running that idea by Renko to see about other people as backup in the morning might work. Of course, trusting them might be an issue...

For that matter, we could use what little spare time we have to try and figure out/find a counter to Alice's stuff, if it must come to that. But what would slow down a dollmaster, or especially a size-enchanted doll? A way to dispel the size might be effective, but much too conspicuous to ask about. And we aren't entirely clear on how her abilities work, either, so it'd be tough to find more subtle or conventional methods without more information.

[Kilgamayan]

Yeah, I figured we were waiting on Draco at this point. I'm satisfied with what I've heard from Mokou. I am actually not sure we could hear much of anything from Marisa that would sway people back toward getting the second enhancement now, but I could very well be biased. I'm up for visiting her all the same.

I'm also quietly hoping the decision to not enhance at all resolves the storytelling conflict we had, but I have some doubts about that, sadly.

[Hello Purvis]

> "How about relationships between human and youkai? Romantic ones, I mean. Does it happen?"

>She laughs. "Oh hell yeah. Opposites attract and all that. Can't keep 'em apart when they're not convinced the other is about to kill 'em. Now, not all of 'em last. But, they can work out. Thing is, the youkai, she's gonna have to make peace with the fact she's probably going to watch her loved one pass on, you know? It hurts. But, it's bearable in the end. No different than a human couple being parted by tragedy. Some people can't, though. Just like with humans."

>_

[E-Nazrin]

I can totally buy getting caught up in it after Byakuren's first impression and the almost universally approving-to-ambivalent responses she got at first. Really didn't like going to such extents to get everything for the second enchantment immediately, but the relatively few initial downsides and driving curiosity is plausible. But now there's some more nuances to it...

And yeah, I briefly thought of but didn't bring up the "but what if only one of them becomes a youkai" issue - in that case it'd be a time to choose between "(LOVER) goes along for the ride" or to come to terms in the way that Mokou put forward. Which, if natural youkaidom includes some degree of psychological readiness, should be relatively manageable on at least one end. On the other hand, it could end the whole thing somewhat prematurely if one is violently opposed to the idea, but...

[UncertainJakutten]

Please do NOT forget Mokou is speaking from her OWN experience, which is far from universal. I want to talk to Marisa.

[Kilgamayan]

Well, the thing is, the issue I had with the second enhancement and the issue Draco had with the first one over the second was storytelling rather than any actual in-game mechanic. I don't think he was just caught up in the frenzy and I expect he's been quiet because this entire discussion has pretty much kicked his stance in the face, a stance he held dear (from what I could tell in talking to him about it in private). I can certainly sympathize; I've already said at least once (as much as I'm not proud of admitting it so quickly) that I was prepared to throw up my hands and walk away the instant Mari took the second enchantment, and possibly before that if the people we talked to told us that hell yeah turning youkai is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I don't know if he was/is that dedicated to his desired storytelling route, but I can hardly blame the guy if he is.

I expect we'll be going to Marisa anyway, and I've stated I have no qualms with that.

[communist unity (comm-unity)]

This decision would be so much easier if this was Renko quest!  :V

[UncertainJakutten]

I know why Draco isn't touching this right now. And it doesn't seem to have a lot to do with what Mokou is saying. Regardless, wanna hear from Marisa because she's quite frankly the most unbiased source IMO.

Note, I'm not DISREGARDING what Mokou is saying, but it's foolish to sway with the wind before getting all the data. I'm still fine with no enhancement as of yet. Quite frankly, I'm kinda for the idea of taking neither enchantment, naturally becoming a youkai and THEN getting the second power boost. Get some solid hard work with magic in and be ready for a huge power boost you know? I still do NOT support the first enchantment in ANY circumstance. Of course, this applies only if you CAN get either enhancement post youkai.

[communist unity (comm-unity)]

I'm definitely fine with holding off for now. I still sway towards the more powerful enhancement, but the whole mindset thing is a spanner in the works there. While Mokou gives important information, she's clearly biased due to a lack of knowledge on other people, really. She herself admits it.

If we're done with Mokou, we should probably get going to Marisa to talk with her about the issue. She's definitely the best source to ask on this, considering she knows alice personally, etc.

Holding off for now until we get enough information to author several books on this thing is probably the best choice right now. If shit goes down with Alice and we're unable to do anything, we can always tactically retreat, get the second enhancement, and then (hopefully) kick her ass.

[UncertainJakutten]

We won't have any problems with Alice. Power is FAR from everything. We have a LOT of trickery that will make up a lot of shortfall.

[E-Nazrin]

How disastrous losing to Alice's involvement if she shows up would actually be is another point to consider, yeah.

Mary has also proven more capable in handling herself in Gensokyo than the scared oni-threatened girl that first fled the Underground may have expected. Wanting to be more powerful at first due to some scary early experiences and the weirdly casual atmosphere about shooting at each other is understandable - but now that we've handily captured a spellcard and traveled all over Gensokyo on little more than our wits and own ability, on further consideration...

[DracoOmega]

In case people are actually still waiting on me to say something to Mokou, I don't believe I have anything else in particular I want to ask her at this point, so feel free to move on.

[E-Nazrin]

Hunger distracting me from being able to articulate what I want to is a bad thing.

>Deep breath.
>"I... have to thank you for this. Getting so much of what I was thinking challenged is painful, but it's... refreshing to hear more about the downsides of becoming a youkai."
>"I think I'm still going to have to ask around a little, but you've given me a lot to think about. I... do have a small reason for being hasty about considering this, but... I may have to reconsider what the best solution is."
>"Here's to hoping it's not too late to visit a few other people tonight. Thank Keine for me, too."
>Barring any major response, head off.

Also, I need to get a decent night's sleep. I leave our next destination to the mob someone else.

[Hello Purvis]

>Deep breath.
>"I... have to thank you for this. Getting so much of what I was thinking challenged is painful, but it's... refreshing to hear more about the downsides of becoming a youkai."
>"I think I'm still going to have to ask around a little, but you've given me a lot to think about. I... do have a small reason for being hasty about considering this, but... I may have to reconsider what the best solution is."
>"Here's to hoping it's not too late to visit a few other people tonight. Thank Keine for me, too."
>Barring any major response, head off.

>"Alright," says Mokou. "Let me say it like this. I've been around for a long time, and I've seen a lot of shit, and felt it, too. I dunno how you'd take making yourself into a youkai, but the way you're talking tells me you got someone to love. That's enough to make me think you ought to let nature do what it will, and just live your life, you know?"
>"I'll tell Keine, alright. And, you go talk with some other folks."
>You leave the school. It is fairly empty in the village right now, but you find that that tavern seems to be lively.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

Huh, I thought someone else had taken one last open action last night for some reason.

> Peek into the tavern.

[E-Nazrin]

>Especially if it's on the way to either Marisa's or Byakuren's. Especially since Marisa might be there.

Had another idea last night - we don't have to solve the immediate Alice problem by strength or force, either. It's clear she doesn't want it to be known about her getting involved until after the fact. If we can find an excuse for someone to keep an eye on her during the attack, then odds are good she won't even try. Granted - whether she planned to interfere or not, anyone mentioning that Maribel had asked them to visit her, especially in that timeframe, would make the situation with her worse - and we'd have to come up with a really clever excuse to get away with convincing someone to go without it seeming suspicious to them, either. Especially if we want to continue being able to see.

Since Marisa already suspects that we've angered Alice, at first I thought it would be risky to bring her up at all (or consider asking Marisa to help keep guard tomorrow). But that also means having an excuse to ask about the odds of Alice actively seeking revenge for a significant slight, or the (very risky) possibility of finding an excuse to ask Marisa to visit her tomorrow morning to apologize for us and/or try and cheer Alice up so that she isn't quite so snippy in general. Again, runs into the problem of angering Alice more, but a possible solution.

Or we could do away with honor and subtlety entirely on that count and hire someone that won't ask questions to case her house and distract her if she tries to go anywhere before noon.

[Hello Purvis]

> Peek into the tavern.

>Especially if it's on the way to either Marisa's or Byakuren's. Especially since Marisa might be there.

>Peeking into the tavern, you find it is quite lively at the moment. The are a number of farmers here, laughing and talking and generally enjoying themselves after a hard day's work. The woman tending the bar never seems to have a moment's rest. Among them, you see what you are certain is a short oni, given her impressive horns and manacles. You also see a curious woman with a red and blue dress sharing a corner booth with a woman who has rabbit ears and a rather nice suit jacket. You also see the tengu woman you bought the newspaper from, sitting at the bar.

>_

[E-Nazrin]

Kilga, I know you want to schmooze Reisen, but we're already in better with the fairies than she could possibly be.

[Kilgamayan]

Reisen and Eirin are here? Huh.

Well, it appears the bar patrons are only going to be good for secondary curiosities, so if people believe we're too pressed for time to look into any of those we might as well take off.

- Reisen might be good for additional fairy knowledge, which probably couldn't hurt at this point since Renko's down her secret weapon and element of surprise. The caveat here is that I don't know exactly what we'd talk to her about, and I imagine the two of them are here for some alone time with each other away from the mansion and probably would not appreciate a total stranger walking up to them and asking about fairies of all things. (Not that blithely assuming it's okay to butt in on a relationship moment would be out-of-character.)
- Hatate might be worth grilling to find out how she got that picture.
- Suika and Tenshi might be worth asking for ways to find Yukari, though I can't recall if we've even heard of Suika yet.

Or we just leave.

> Have we heard of a 'Suika' at some point today?

EDIT: I guess we could also ask Reisen and Eirin about human-youkai relationships if people are still curious about that, but it might be metagamey to think to ask it at all, and the imposition caveat still holds, arguably even more so.

[Solais]

Reimu told us to tell Suika if we see her to not smack the fairy at the shrine, and she described her as a short oni.

[Hello Purvis]

> Have we heard of a 'Suika' at some point today?

Reimu told us to tell Suika if we see her to not smack the fairy at the shrine, and she described her as a short oni.

[E-Nazrin]

I think Reimu mentioned an oni that we should look out for or something, but I forget the details. sniped But I don't think Mary would have any idea she's connected to Yukari. Tenshi seemed to know about her, though.

We already heard the basics of how Hatate got that picture and I'm not eager to get interviewed in the middle of the bar.

[Kilgamayan]

We don't know who from she got it, though.

> Is the short oni doing anything particularly important-seeming, or is she just drinking and chatting?

EDIT: It also occurs to me that Reisen and Eirin might be worth asking about group management when it comes to unreliable subordinates. This one would be even more metagamey to ask about, though.

[Hello Purvis]

> Is the short oni doing anything particularly important-seeming, or is she just drinking and chatting?

>She is just drinking and chatting.

>_

[E-Nazrin]

>It's a short enough message to be worth stopping in - Plum's got enough on her plate without an oni trying to swat her.
>Head on in and work our way over to the little oni. Give it a minute to see if there's a good opportunity to sneak into the conversation for just a moment.
>When so, "Excuse me, are you Suika?"

[Hello Purvis]

>It's a short enough message to be worth stopping in - Plum's got enough on her plate without an oni trying to swat her.
>Head on in and work our way over to the little oni. Give it a minute to see if there's a good opportunity to sneak into the conversation for just a moment.
>When so, "Excuse me, are you Suika?"

>You decide it's a good idea to stick up for Plum Flower. You maneuver your way inside and approach the table Suika is sharing with several farmers, laughing and chatting away. You manage to find a moment to get her attention.
>"Aye, that's me," says Suika as she looks over toward you, then frowns. "Oy, you've only went and lost your hat, Yukari!"

>_

[E-Nazrin]

>Damnit.
>"I know I look a lot like her, but I'm not Yukari. My name's Maribel."

If anyone finds it important to cut in to ask about Yukari, now's the time - I'd just want to deliver Reimu's message and move on.

[communist unity (comm-unity)]

> "About that Yukari, though... Do you know where I could find her? I've been meaning to speak with her."

[Kilgamayan]

Mouse: I would actually like to plant a flag for one last action after we're done with Suika but before we leave the bar. It shouldn't consume any meaningful amount of time.