Iku Quest Cztery: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

>"A metal doll, that's a new one"
>Have we heard about anything involving metal dolls? or anyone that might have heard about it?

>You think the kappa made something like that, a while back. It was part of some fair, if you recall correctly.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"But you don't know of anyone that's gotten a good look at it, before, then?"
>"For that matter, if it's supposed to be in this forest, with all the fairies that live here, wouldn't you expect someone to have seen something by now?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"But you don't know of anyone that's gotten a good look at it, before, then?"
>"For that matter, if it's supposed to be in this forest, with all the fairies that live here, wouldn't you expect someone to have seen something by now?"

>"Maybe the paper girl?" says the faerie, frowning.
>"Well no one sees Kogasa setting her traps," says the faerie. "So I guess it's really good at hiding."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I would guess it would have to be, to stay hidden at all against such determined searching."
>"I wonder if it's worth asking Hatate? Actually, I suppose Aya hasn't even had a chance to take her own stab at this, has she?  Given that it's only resurfaced fairly recently."
>"Tenshi, I don't suppose you know when abouts these newer sightings started being published in the paper?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I would guess it would have to be, to stay hidden at all against such determined searching."
>"I wonder if it's worth asking Hatate? Actually, I suppose Aya hasn't even had a chance to take her own stab at this, has she?  Given that it's only resurfaced fairly recently."
>"Tenshi, I don't suppose you know when abouts these newer sightings started being published in the paper?"

>"That's what everyone thinks its trick is, yeah," says Tenshi.
>"She has all the pictures," says the faerie.
>Tenshi frowns ask you ask her when it started. "Uh, I don't pay mention attention to the paper. Um...I think one of the groups mentioned it started a couple months ago at their meeting? So I guess around the time that Scarlet Devil Mansion got raided?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"And again, it's just your tree that's been affected? Nothing else in the forest that you've seen?"
>"Does anything else seem off with it, now that its shadow's gone? Other than the shadow itself?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"And again, it's just your tree that's been affected? Nothing else in the forest that you've seen?"
>"Does anything else seem off with it, now that its shadow's gone? Other than the shadow itself?"

>"It's not my tree, but I think it's the only one."
>The faerie frowns. "It's kind of really sick. We've been trying to help it, but it just don't want to get better, no matter how much loam and fertilizer we give it!"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Frown
>"Oh, I see... Do you think you might be able to take me to see it?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Frown
>"Oh, I see... Do you think you might be able to take me to see it?"

>The faerie eyes you suspiciously. "This isn't a trick to lower our defenses, is it?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Absolutely not. I'm just very concerned about these shadow problems."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Absolutely not. I'm just very concerned about these shadow problems."

>"Well, okay..." says the faerie. "Wait!"
>She gives you another suspicious look.
>"You're not just trying to mooch a free dinner, are you?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"No, not at all."

[Hello Purvis]

>"No, not at all."

>"Good, I won't be having any of that!" she says.
>With that, she leads you southward. Thankfully, her pace isn't nearly that manic, compared to the one that the trio from before set. But at the same time, given you didn't really know where you were to begin with, you aren't sure you'll be able to retrace this path to begin with. Still, you catch a glimpse of the lake as she starts to veer a bit toward the east.
>Along the way, your guide chatters aimlessly about anything and everything that pops into her head. You learn that she, Sunny, lives with two other faeries, Star and Luna. As far as you can tell, they are at once best friends and dire nemeses. You get more than an earful of various daily intrigues, which seems to amount to squabbling over what to do for the day, working on meals, and in general being faeries. You're also certain her stories contradict themselves at least three times.
>As you carry on, going into what you think are the regions east of Scarlet Devil Mansion, you see more signs of faeries; the occasional house in a tree, or trapdoor in the ground left open. From what you've heard, they have homes hidden all over the forest, it would take some dedicated work to find the ones purposefully hidden.
>Soon after crossing an old stone bridge, Sunny stops and points to a particular tree. "That one," she says.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Nod
>Examine the tree

[Hello Purvis]

>Nod
>Examine the tree

>You examine the tree. It is part of a small stand of trees, glancing at it you would be hard-pressed to notice its missing shadow, as the rest of the trees provide their own. But you can tell that it is not doing well, where the other trees still hold onto its leaves, it has none. Its bark is a paler shade than the rest, and seems not to be so strongly attached. The soil around its roots has been churned up; perhaps part of the treatments the faeries were trying?

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Yes, it does not look well at all."
>Despite not being obvious, can we still tell the absence of its shadow if we look more carefully?

[Hello Purvis]

>"Yes, it does not look well at all."
>Despite not being obvious, can we still tell the absence of its shadow if we look more carefully?

>"It looks sick," says Tenshi. "Can trees even get sick?"
>It takes a moment to separate out everything else from where it's shadow should be, but you see it is missing.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Is this tree special somehow, relative to all the other trees?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Is this tree special somehow, relative to all the other trees?"

>"Well it's a very nice tree," says Sunny. "And it's missing a shadow, that's pretty special, don't you think?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Was it particularly special before it had lost its shadow? Maybe it belonged to someone, or it was a source of magic, or something? Anything beyond looking pretty?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Was it particularly special before it had lost its shadow? Maybe it belonged to someone, or it was a source of magic, or something? Anything beyond looking pretty?"

>"Oh, nothing like that," says Sunny.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "That's very bizarre, then. I was hoping for some sort of connection between things that had lost their shadows, but...just a random tree? That's not helpful at all."
> "Does Other Dai know about this tree?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "That's very bizarre, then. I was hoping for some sort of connection between things that had lost their shadows, but...just a random tree? That's not helpful at all."
> "Does Other Dai know about this tree?"

>"That's kind of mean to it, don't you think?" says Sunny, frowning at you.
>You ask if this Other Dai person knows about it. She shrugs. "Probably not."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Well, I say that because there are other things that have lost their shadows, and if we could find a connection between them, we could find what's responsible and stop it."

[DracoOmega]

>"I don't mean that it isn't a nice tree, but that it doesn't seem connected to the other missing shadows in any obvious way."
>"Well, since we have this, it might be useful to take a couple photos as reference, in case we need to inquire with other people about it."
>Take a couple pictures of the tree, from various angles. Try to make sure that the lack of shadow is as obvious in them as we can make it.

[Hello Purvis]

>"I don't mean that it isn't a nice tree, but that it doesn't seem connected to the other missing shadows in any obvious way."
>"Well, since we have this, it might be useful to take a couple photos as reference, in case we need to inquire with other people about it."
>Take a couple pictures of the tree, from various angles. Try to make sure that the lack of shadow is as obvious in them as we can make it.

>"Oh. What happened to the other ones?" asks Sunny. "Because I bet that's what happened to this one!"
>You take some pictures. As you do, a bit of stiff paper comes out with a whirring noise for each one. At first, they are just dark, but the image slowly appears on them. Tenshi and Sunny watch the process with obvious interest. Looking at the pictures, you are satisfied with them, the missing shadow is visible in them, but hard to pick out.
>You obtain: 2 Pictures of Shadowless Tree

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> What did Sunny say about herself specifically when she was talking to us along the journey to the tree?

[Hello Purvis]

> What did Sunny say about herself specifically when she was talking to us along the journey to the tree?

>Not a whole lot. You have gotten the feeling she is quite the prankster; or at least aspires to be one. Also, you suspect she has a sweet tooth.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Oh. What happened to the other ones?" asks Sunny. "Because I bet that's what happened to this one!"

>"I'm afraid we don't know. I was hoping we could figure out what happened to this one, so that we could use that information to find out about the others. In each case, everything was normal, and then one morning it wasn't."
>"Were you the one who first discovered that there was something wrong with the tree?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm afraid we don't know. I was hoping we could figure out what happened to this one, so that we could use that information to find out about the others. In each case, everything was normal, and then one morning it wasn't."
>"Were you the one who first discovered that there was something wrong with the tree?"

>"So you're saying it happened at dark?" asks Sunny.
>She shakes her head. "No, Luna did."

>_