Iku Quest - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

>"Thank you. I'll be sure to let her know."
>Nod
>"I'm afraid I'm still in something of a hurry with the current situation, so I should continue on my way. It was nice to meet you, and I hope you have a pleasant day."
>Return to the orchard

>"I would appreciate that," says Byakuren. "And, I understand, Miss Iku. Please have a good day."
>You make your way from the Myouren Temple and take to the air, returning to the Orchard Isle. You can see the faeries and youkai are gathered rather thickly around it. You can discern Nitori, Hatate, and Yamame among the gathered Youkai, another you are quite certain is Mystia from the stories you've heard. You can see some celestials near the edge of the island, dealing with the visitors.

>_

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Make our way through and find a celestial not currently occupied dealing with someone. All the better if they're a decent distance away from most of the visitors so that we could speak discretely.

[Hello Purvis]

>Make our way through and find a celestial not currently occupied dealing with someone. All the better if they're a decent distance away from most of the visitors so that we could speak discretely.

>Thankfully, most of the crowd is off toward the side of the island, making it easy to approach from above.
>You find one Celestial, a tall platinum-haired woman standing near the edge looking out toward the north. She notices your coming, and curtsies as you land. "Lady Nagae."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Nod respectfully
>"Good morning. How have things been here since the fighting stopped?"

[Kilgamayan]

> Do we recall her name?
> Is she taller than us?

[Hello Purvis]

>Nod respectfully
>"Good morning. How have things been here since the fighting stopped?"

>You nod back to her.
>"Hectic," she says. "Word that we're giving away peaches has spread like wildfire. There's all kinds of youkai and faeries here. And to make matters worse, I am reasonably sure the townspeople want some, too."

> Do we recall her name?
> Is she taller than us?

>You do not know her name, and she is not.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Perhaps it was a naive hope that the enthusiasm would be momentary and local. I hope it doesn't threaten to make too large a dent in our supplies. I'll make sure we can compensate in either case, but it would be nice not to have to."
>"Do you know where Lorelei is at the moment?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Perhaps it was a naive hope that the enthusiasm would be momentary and local. I hope it doesn't threaten to make too large a dent in our supplies. I'll make sure we can compensate in either case, but it would be nice not to have to."
>"Do you know where Lorelei is at the moment?"

>She nods. "I cannot say, Lady Nagae, I am merely trying to catch people attempting to sneak in."
>"I believe she is with the rest of the wounded, near the middle of the island."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Thank you for your efforts. We'll pull through this. I wish you well."
>Head to the center of the island.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Thank you for your efforts. We'll pull through this. I wish you well."
>Head to the center of the island.

>"We do our best," says the Celestial, as you depart.
>You fly toward the center of the island. There is a small house and a sizable barn there, set in a clearing between the rows of trees. The barn doors are open; you can see a couple of Celestials standing near them.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Can we see Lorelei?
>If not, take a look inside.

[Hello Purvis]

>Can we see Lorelei?
>If not, take a look inside.

>You do not see her, so you look inside the barn.
>About two dozen celestials are in here, a very sizable part of the harvesting group. Most of them are laying on the ground on top of tarps, or sat against the walls; all wearing bandages somewhere. Despite this, no one seems to be especially badly hurt; the worst seems to be some broken limbs. The aura inside is quiet, but not quite somber. Several Celestials tend to the wounded, offering water and checking bandages. You see Lorelei laying on the floor not far from the doors.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Concerned frown
>Walk over to her
>Is she injured, herself?

[Hello Purvis]

>Concerned frown
>Walk over to her
>Is she injured, herself?

>It's hard not to be concerned, this is hardly a typical scene in Bhava-Agra.
>You walk over to Lorelei, and find she is injured. Her left arm in in a splint, as is her foot. Her head is also bandaged.  She is awake, though, and looks at you through pained eyes. "Lady Nagae," she says softly, "Forgive me for not greeting you properly."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Shake our head
>"Please don't worry about such trivialities. You're injured. Taking care of yourself is all that you should be concerned with at the moment. How do you feel?"
>"I... didn't realize it was this bad. I guess I was more fortunate to avoid serious injury myself than I realized."

[Hello Purvis]

>Shake our head
>"Please don't worry about such trivialities. You're injured. Taking care of yourself is all that you should be concerned with at the moment. How do you feel?"
>"I... didn't realize it was this bad. I guess I was more fortunate to avoid serious injury myself than I realized."

>"Perhaps so," she says. "And, to be honest, rather awful. But I'll get better with time. And, I'd like to think we got the worst of it. Most Celestials ought not to have been hip-deep in peach tree when the crash happened. What news have you for us?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Not a great deal, I'm afraid. Some of the immediate tensions with the surface seem to be allayed for the moment, at least. I actually came to ask where you put the clothing Tenshi used as a decoy earlier. I'm going try to use it to help locate her."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Not a great deal, I'm afraid. Some of the immediate tensions with the surface seem to be allayed for the moment, at least. I actually came to ask where you put the clothing Tenshi used as a decoy earlier. I'm going try to use it to help locate her."

>"I imagine the dress is probably caught up in the tree where I left them," says Lorelei. "As for the boots, good luck finding them."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Ah, I didn't know if you'd stowed them somewhere else after we last met. Would this be the same tree I'd left them by earlier this morning?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Ah, I didn't know if you'd stowed them somewhere else after we last met. Would this be the same tree I'd left them by earlier this morning?"

>"The same one," says Lorelei. "So it was Tenshi, wasn't it?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I very much hope not. If she played a role in this, she has a great deal to answer for. I'm still hopeful that this was as much a surprise to her as it was to us. She was with me when the islands fell. I didn't see her do anything to cause it, and she was about as injured by their sudden descent as I. But she fled to southern Gensokyo immediately afterwards, and I haven't been able to find her. I'm hoping a magician I'm working with will be able to help in this. The sooner I can see her, the sooner I can get a definitive answer."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I very much hope not. If she played a role in this, she has a great deal to answer for. I'm still hopeful that this was as much a surprise to her as it was to us. She was with me when the islands fell. I didn't see her do anything to cause it, and she was about as injured by their sudden descent as I. But she fled to southern Gensokyo immediately afterwards, and I haven't been able to find her. I'm hoping a magician I'm working with will be able to help in this. The sooner I can see her, the sooner I can get a definitive answer."

>Lorelei nods. "Maybe not, then. Good...I was afraid this was half my fault for letting her slip out from under me."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"It is absolutely not your fault, no matter what Tenshi has or hasn't done. She is my charge, and any blame that isn't hers is mine alone. Please don't dwell on guilt amid all the other sufferings here. I will put things to right."

[E-Nazrin]

Lieing is an art, and it must be crafted carefully, and with a goal in mind in order to be done properly. You do not start with the lie. You must end by putting the lie into words.

Oh well, the scenario fits Iku's character under the explanation on panicking.

Yeah the problem there is that we aren't supposed to be lying at all.

Also I rather suspect Tenshi is partially responsible for this (too many coincidences) but someone else probably put her up to it :V

[DracoOmega]

I wouldn't be surprised if she were involved. I'd like to hope she isn't, but it wouldn't surprise me. However, I strongly suspect that she didn't realize the extent of the harm her actions would end up causing to the people around her. Or at least I sincerely hope not. This is simply beyond the pale.

[Kilgamayan]

To be completely honest, I would be surprised if she were involved. One can speculate that her running away from us is a sign of guilt, but given we had previously expressed some displeasure with her taking the sword to the point of being willing to beat her up, it's a good bet she figured we'd conclude it was her fault and ran away out of fear. (Also she thought we were nuts, which could have any number of implications.)

My guess is that the collapse of the Kingdom of Zeal was merely an unhappy coincidence with Tenshi lifting the sword.

Who do I think did it instead? ...That's a damn good question. Not many people could pull something like that off. Doubt it was Yuuka, it doesn't benefit her any. Doubt it was Yukari, she has an existing amusement outlet and Ran would surely bitch about it. Doubt it was the Kogoddesses, I don't see a motive for either and I can think of motives for both to NOT want to do it, largely centered in enjoying people having faith in them. Doubt it was Siki, it doesn't fit her personality at all and if she needed to talk to the Heavens that badly she surely has the connections to do so. Doubt it was Yuugi or Utsuho, they're both kinda busy. Doubt it was Suika, she'd never hear the end of it from Reimu. Doubt it was Byakuren, if only because I don't think she'd lie to our faces like that.

Flandre is a possibility, though I'd believe she did it at Remilia's coaxing before I'd believe she did it of her own volition. I can see the SDM doing this after getting humiliated in their own home, both as a display of power and in an effort to gather supplies. Would they have been so brazen as to plant that flag? I can see Remi doing that, actually, yeah. Not as sure about letting the gate guard fairies tell any random stranger about it, though.

Yuyuko is also a possibility, simply because she's such a huge enigma that it's impossible to say she definitely wouldn't do something outwardly crazy. She very well could have a motive that's impossible to figure out at this juncture and may make no sense to us even when we learn it.

[Kilgamayan]

Actually, hrm. Ideas came to me while out getting lunch. Some internal investigation may prove useful.

> How do the Bhava-Agra land masses normally stay suspended so high?

[E-Nazrin]

Still not buying that Tenshi isn't involved. Like I said, too many coincidences, and it lines up too well with what she was saying. I'm more saying that she had help/had it suggested by someone else.

Another possible hint is the mention of Shinki not being fond of the Heavens, though I didn't really follow Ran Quest so I don't know the likelihood of that. The main people connected to Makai now are Alice and the Myouren crew... that makes me think Nue, but Tenshi was confused when mentioning that earlier... unless she was disguised as someone else when she made the suggestion?

And as any modern culture of fear can attest, a disaster can be readily used to bolster faith; I wouldn't put the Moriyas out of the running yet, though admittedly I'm doubtful. It's also possible one of the less scrupulous Myouren people arranged it for Byakuren's sake without informing her of it since she'd hate it... but that doesn't seem their style, either - even Nazrin acting on her own.

Not seeing Yuyuko. She has enough to goof off with without bringing the heavens down, and no clear motive for anything past amusement and being inscrutable. Unless Yukari put her up to it, which sounds more likely. (But she didn't respond earlier! - she can be subtle and deceptive when she wants to, I assure you.)

Though, I have another class of suspects as well - The Moon. They'd even share the "bringing heaven down (figuratively)" motive Tenshi has! Just, it'd be more "bringing down those upstarts that think they can be pure while still on Earth, HAH" instead of "bringing down the hypocrites that won't let me have fun in Gensokyo." And one way or another, they'd have the power to do so. As for why now, or why bother, I don't know. Maybe Rise is getting overzealous about her master's intents and beliefs and doing insane things without getting orders first? Though, that wouldn't be possible unless she stole the Gems. And why leave it hovering just over Gensokyo, instead of destroying both outright? That doesn't make sense, either...

[Kilgamayan]

At most, I see Tenshi's involvement as getting someone else to do some distraction work for her and them not telling her what they have planned, which is only tangentially related to her lifting the sword. Direct responsibility? I will buy a hat and eat it.

Doubt it's the mooninites, Yorihime only bothered with Gensokyo again because of ancient horror silliness. Odds are, if she could be arsed, she would have done so before now. Doubt it was a Palanquin Shipper, they don't have the might, and they'd have to answer to Byakuren eventually because she WILL find out if it was one of them.

Shinki I suppose is possible; not having payed enough attention to Ran Quest myself, I similarly don't know what Shinki is like here. Also suddenly anxious that it might have been Komachi due to the nature of the collapse, even if I can't readily produce a motive. (Thinking about it also made me start to shy away from my Flandre theory.)

I will want to see some results from the internal investigation before planting a solid dart somewhere, though. I think the "how" of this incident will be just as important as the "why" in figuring out who did it.

[WHMZakeri]

Anyone could have done anything for any reason at this point to bring the islands down. We don't even know what the MO is, with the exceptionally useful hint of "Probably not something Tenshi can do." We shouldn't be throwing darts. We should be using this brainstorming session to think of information that we need to get.

We need to know the Who and Why, The How, and the What and When.

We've got the What and When down pat. It's fairly obvious to everyone, considering we have the Incident Squad on the loose.

In order to find the How, we will need to figure out certain useful bits of information like "How do they stay afloat?" "When where the islands created?" and of course "What sorts of magic (besides the obvious gappings and such) would counteract that magic?"

Edit: In that regards, it's important to note that the Islands did not crash into Gensokyo. We can rule out that the magic was dispelled completely, likely to prevent any serious damage to Gensokyo.

A good place to start with for the who would be to look for the Who nots. Of course, no one knows that better than the Incident Squad. This means we should stop trying to avoid them at some point, if not now. Yes, even if it means burning a few spellcards. We need to start talking to people who know things before we can proceed, and we can't do that while at the same time keeping our little tippy-toes out of the water.