Iku Quest Cztery: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

>"What you did wrong? In fact, what you did was quite understandable, I think. I'm not meaning to pass judgement like that."

>"No, you stopped me, so clearly I'm wrong yet again," says Tenshi, staring ahead determinedly.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Do I have to be telling you you're wrong just because I didn't want you to beat her up?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Do I have to be telling you you're wrong just because I didn't want you to beat her up?"

>"Obviously."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Is it wrong of me to not want to see any more people hurt today than necessary?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Is it wrong of me to not want to see any more people hurt today than necessary?"

>"...I guess not."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"And that is all there is to it, Tenshi. There's already been enough injuries and fighting today. And there's almost certainly going to be more before it ends, no matter how much I try to prevent it. I wish there was more I could have done for what's already happened..."

[Hello Purvis]

>"And that is all there is to it, Tenshi. There's already been enough injuries and fighting today. And there's almost certainly going to be more before it ends, no matter how much I try to prevent it. I wish there was more I could have done for what's already happened..."

>"Fine, but I'm still mad..." she mumbles.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Fair enough. I'll accept that."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Fair enough. I'll accept that."

>Tenshi hmphs.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Give her a few moments
>"When you feel ready, I think we should resume our search."

[Hello Purvis]

>Give her a few moments
>"When you feel ready, I think we should resume our search."

>"Isn't that what we're doing right now?" says Tenshi. "I could have gotten some information out of that stupid karakasa, but you had to let her get away before I could knock it out of her!"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"We could also have asked. I think that would have worked just as well, to be honest."
>"Perhaps she's even still near where we left her. I could always go back and check."

[Hello Purvis]

>"We could also have asked. I think that would have worked just as well, to be honest."
>"Perhaps she's even still near where we left her. I could always go back and check."

>"No she isn't, she's long gone now," says Tenshi. "And she would've run off before you could ask anything anyways."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Perhaps so. In any case, things are as they are now. We'll just have to keep looking on our own."
>Keep walking, and looking for signs of people. Angle generally towards the direction Tokiko indicated.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Perhaps so. In any case, things are as they are now. We'll just have to keep looking on our own."
>Keep walking, and looking for signs of people. Angle generally towards the direction Tokiko indicated.

>Tenshi mumbles something and follows along.
>Being a little ways from your prior course, you don't find the forest to be much changed from what what you saw before. Faeries and the like are still scarce, given what you just experienced, this isn't terribly surprising.
>You notice a tree with some odd-looking marks on it. Nearby, you see the leaves are churned up a little. It appears there was some activity here.

>_

[Hanged Hourai]

>Examine marks on trees.

[Hello Purvis]

>Examine marks on trees.

>You have a look at the tree. It is a normal and unimpressive tree, as from the damage on it. The damage is a number of irregular gouges the bark, eleven or so, some of them deep enough to tear into the wood itself. They are about the size of a finger joint and around chest level in height; though it's closer to stomach level for you. You are reasonably sure these would be the result of danmaku, which is unusual as many people do not have danmaku that inflicts physical damage like this.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Who do we know of that has danmaku capable of inflicting this kind of damage?

[Hello Purvis]

>Who do we know of that has danmaku capable of inflicting this kind of damage?

>You know that Patchouli can, and are reasonably sure that Sakuya could do it if she liked. Yukari as well. Tenshi could do it, but her keystones aren't this small. There are probably others. People whose danmaku tends to have more physical-style manifestations or whose danamku is just more forceful could probably do this. That would rule out most faeries. Most people would be careful enough not to leave damage in their wake, though. It's too inelegant.

>_

[Janitor Morgan]

> Only most faeries? Which ones aren't ruled out by the previous assessment?

[Hello Purvis]

> Only most faeries? Which ones aren't ruled out by the previous assessment?

>You don't know. You were just leaving yourself some wriggle room in case there are faeries who could. You suspect that Cirno probably could, but you have no proof.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Can we see impacts in any other trees nearby? Or any other signs of a struggle?

[Hello Purvis]

>Can we see impacts in any other trees nearby? Or any other signs of a struggle?

>The leaves seem to have been churned up a little. Unfortunately, you and Tenshi have already walked over them, so what evidence you might get from them is muddled. Looking around, you notice a couple of other gouges in the trees here and there, nothing as deep or obvious as what you first saw.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Can we determine a possible path of the battle, from the locations of the impacts?
>For that matter, can we estimate how recent the damage is, by the discoloration of the exposed wood?
>No signs of footsteps, is there?

[Hello Purvis]

>Can we determine a possible path of the battle, from the locations of the impacts?
>For that matter, can we estimate how recent the damage is, by the discoloration of the exposed wood?
>No signs of footsteps, is there?

>You don't think you can reconstruct it with what you have.
>The wood doesn't seem to be discolored, you suspect this was within the past couple days at latest.
>You think you see what might have been some footsteps in the leaves you and Tenshi haven't trampled over.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Are they too disturbed to tell anything about direction, at present?

>"Hmm... I wonder what happened here?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Are they too disturbed to tell anything about direction, at present?

>"Hmm... I wonder what happened here?"

>Depends on what is meant by direction.
>"I think there was a fight," says Tenshi.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Can we tell what direction anyone came from? Or perhaps more pertinently, left in?
>"Yes. I'm curious as to who was fighting, though. The damage is rather more physical than you'd expect."

[Hello Purvis]

>Can we tell what direction anyone came from? Or perhaps more pertinently, left in?
>"Yes. I'm curious as to who was fighting, though. The damage is rather more physical than you'd expect."

>"Yeah, someone was being really sloppy," says Tenshi.
>Looking around, you think you some irregular footprints either heading toward and coming from the north, and another set doing the same from the south. Unfortunately, leaves do not take footprints nearly as well as dirt, so they are not very good for determining much else.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Or perhaps the situation was rather more desperate? In either case, it's a point of interest, and we don't have much else to go on here yet, so I think we ought to follow one of these trails and see if it leads to anything."
>"Do you have a preference as to which?"
>If not, follow the track leading north