Iku Quest - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> "I'm afraid there isn't much you can do except wait this out.  I'm truly sorry about this Miss...?"

>"Medicine," she says. "And okay. Well, thanks for telling me."

>_

[E-Nazrin]

>"And my name is Iku, should you wish to seek me out. Thank you again."
>Would there be any way to track where Tenshi might have gone? Something she'd leave behind, a fashion of magic...?
>If nothing realistic immediately comes to mind, head for the village for now, and get our bearings. Especially if we're still sore.
>Where has Tenshi gone in Gensokyo, usually?

[Hello Purvis]

>"And my name is Iku, should you wish to seek me out. Thank you again."
>Would there be any way to track where Tenshi might have gone? Something she'd leave behind, a fashion of magic...?
>If nothing realistic immediately comes to mind, head for the village for now, and get our bearings. Especially if we're still sore.
>Where has Tenshi gone in Gensokyo, usually?

>She nods. "I'll keep it in mind."
>Unfortunately no. You'd need some specialized magic for that.
>You fly toward the village, as Medicine returns to circling around the shrine island. A road below serves as a useful guide toward it.
>Typically, she can be found at the human town, working at the tavern. It is supposed to be a punishment, but she honestly seems to enjoy the job. Other times, she wanders about as she will and often being an pain.
>Up ahead, you can see human town. As well, you can see the the orchard island floating above it. There seems to be a fair amount of danmaku fire around the island, and you can see several people flying it chaotically.

>_

[Kasu]

> Get a closer look at the combatants.

[DracoOmega]

>Get closer
>Can we tell who's shooting at who?

[Hello Purvis]

> Get a closer look at the combatants.

>Get closer
>Can we tell who's shooting at who?

>You get closer. You can tell at least some of the combatants are celestials, whom seem to be defending the orchard. The others seem to be faeries and youkai. You recognize Cirno among their number as well as Rumia; both being common sights around town.

>_

[E-Nazrin]

>The orchards are our responsibility, right? So we'd better help take care of this.
>Head toward the fray and examine how the fight's proceeding.
>Are we feeling a bit better than we were earlier? This may warrant a spellcard to end things quickly, if we aren't at our best...

[Kilgamayan]

>Are we feeling a bit better than we were earlier? This may warrant a spellcard to end things quickly, if we aren't at our best...

> Assuming the Gensokyo natives are here trying to invade the orchard, and not just fighting out of anger and/or perceived self-defense.
> How do the Gensokyo natives appear to be moving?

[E-Nazrin]

> Assuming the Gensokyo natives are here trying to invade the orchard, and not just fighting out of anger and/or perceived self-defense.

>These are fairies we're talking about. If anything, it's likely both.
>Any hint of Keine anywhere?

[Hello Purvis]

>The orchards are our responsibility, right? So we'd better help take care of this.
>Head toward the fray and examine how the fight's proceeding.
>Are we feeling a bit better than we were earlier? This may warrant a spellcard to end things quickly, if we aren't at our best...

>Technically, your responsibility is making sure the harvest gets to the Dragon Palace. But those are about the same thing.
>You head toward the fray, picking out a few more of the attackers. There seems to be an insect youkai with a cape among them. You also see a nekomata and a rabbit youkai.
>You do feel a bit better now. The time in The Dragon's presence, and in searching through your room, has given you time to recover a bit.

> Assuming the Gensokyo natives are here trying to invade the orchard, and not just fighting out of anger and/or perceived self-defense.
> How do the Gensokyo natives appear to be moving?

>You can't be certain about that, though you have your suspicions
>There doesn't seem to be any organization among them. Rather, they mostly appear to be in it for themselves.

>These are fairies we're talking about. If anything, it's likely both.
>Any hint of Keine anywhere?

>There are certainly some faeries among their number.
>You do not see her around the island.

>_

[E-Nazrin]

>What are the relative locations of skirmishes here, and where can we enter? Are the Celestials organized at all? They may have a central leader at the moment worth speaking to before striking out too hard.
>Alternatively, do we know any of the attackers well enough to have any chance of getting an explanation through to them?

[DracoOmega]

Or, for that matter, yelling for people to stop may get at least some attention. We apparently are moderately recognizable and moderately well-respected. It may give at least some of them pause.

[E-Nazrin]

Or, for that matter, yelling for people to stop may get at least some attention. We apparently are moderately recognizable and moderately well-respected. It may give at least some of them pause.

>And is the battlefield quiet enough for shouting to accomplish much of anything?

[Hello Purvis]

>What are the relative locations of skirmishes here, and where can we enter? Are the Celestials organized at all? They may have a central leader at the moment worth speaking to before striking out too hard.
>Alternatively, do we know any of the attackers well enough to have any chance of getting an explanation through to them?

>They seem to be mostly to the eastern side of the island, but every so often someone will slip around to the north or south.
>The Celestials don't seem to be very well organized.
>You might be able to get something from that rabbit youkai, if she is indeed the rabbit that Tenshi has spoken well about in the past.

>And is the battlefield quiet enough for shouting to accomplish much of anything?

>You don't think you could yell loud enough for that.

>_

[E-Nazrin]

If we're going to diplomancy our way through this, it'd have to be with specific groups or individuals in the fight.

>What has Tenshi said about that rabbit, exactly?
>What non-fairy attacker group/skirmish is closest to us?

[Kilgamayan]

> What does the rabbit youkai look like?
> Does her outfit match Tenshi's description of her, if Tenshi ever provided one?

[Hello Purvis]

>What has Tenshi said about that rabbit, exactly?
>What non-fairy attacker group/skirmish is closest to us?

>She's said that the rabbit was "pretty awesome", and very intelligent.
>Rumia is currently closest.

> What does the rabbit youkai look like?
> Does her outfit match Tenshi's description of her, if Tenshi ever provided one?

>On the short side, with dark hair and wearing a pink dress. She also seems less aggressive than the others.
>You think so.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Fly over to Rumia. Attempt to avoid crossfire.
>"Rumia, what's going on? Why's everyone fighting?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Fly over to Rumia. Attempt to avoid crossfire.
>"Rumia, what's going on? Why's everyone fighting?"

>You fly toward Rumia, having to dodge around some scattered fire.
>"Oh hi Miss Scarf!" Rumia says, turning toward you and grinning, seeming unconcerned about the fire around her. "I've seen your before! Those jerks are trying to hog up all the peaches! You should help me show 'em a thing or two!"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"What jerks? The people guarding the orchard?"
>"Why would everyone care so much to take the peaches in the first place?"
>The fairies make sense, but some of the other youkai's involvement seems... a little more unusual.

[E-Nazrin]

>Aside from the hungry homeless ones, at least.
>There aren't too many peaches to spare, are there? We can't 'bribe' them off by offering to share some for the scare and inconvenience... can we?

[Hello Purvis]

>"What jerks? The people guarding the orchard?"
>"Why would everyone care so much to take the peaches in the first place?"
>The fairies make sense, but some of the other youkai's involvement seems... a little more unusual.

>Aside from the hungry homeless ones, at least.
>There aren't too many peaches to spare, are there? We can't 'bribe' them off by offering to share some for the scare and inconvenience... can we?

>"Yeah! Those jerks shooting at us because they wanna hog all the peaches!"
>"'Cause they're yummy!"
>You don't even have to question why the faeries are involved. As for the Youkai, Rumia may well have just summed it up.
>It's hard to estimate. The harvest is supposed to take care of the Dragon Palace for the next several months. You might be able to bribe them off with a few. The problem would be if it became too widespread, the harvest may well come up very short.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, the peaches do technically belong to us. Sharing a few might not be out of the question, but fighting them like this is only going to make things worse for everyone."

[E-Nazrin]

>"Maybe I can talk them into letting you have a few if you be nice to them?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, the peaches do technically belong to us. Sharing a few might not be out of the question, but fighting them like this is only going to make things worse for everyone."

>"Naw, this is fun, too," says Rumia, as she turns and throws a few shots in the direction of a couple celestials trying to move to a better position. The celestials, frankly, have nothing to worry about from the attack.

>"Maybe I can talk them into letting you have a few if you be nice to them?"

>"...Maybe," says Rumia. "But what if they trick us?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"It is a long story, but these people are technically my subordinates. If you can trust my word, you can trust theirs."

[E-Nazrin]

>"Trick you?"
>What are the odds of that?

[Kilgamayan]

> Are we forbidden from using non-danmaku lightning period, or only in a combat setting?
> Are we capable of thunderclaps?

[Hello Purvis]

>"It is a long story, but these people are technically my subordinates. If you can trust my word, you can trust theirs."

>"What?"

>"Trick you?"
>What are the odds of that?

>"Yeah-huh! They're sneaky!"
>You'd like to think it's is expressedly nil. Deception is not an act of the enlightened.

> Are we forbidden from using non-danmaku lightning period, or only in a combat setting?
> Are we capable of thunderclaps?

>You are not to use it ever in combat. you are to be exceedingly careful, and only use it as a lack resort outside of such.
>If you made enough lightning you could make thunderclaps.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"What I meant to say is that I promise they won't trick you. I know them. Why they've ended up here is a long story."