Iku Quest Cztery: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

>"I don't suppose you saw where she was heading when she left?"

>"Uh...that way. Toward the big magican's house and the bird stand and the forbidden kingdom."

[DracoOmega]

>"The... forbidden kingdom?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"The... forbidden kingdom?"

>"Yeah," says the voice. "That way."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I'm not sure what you mean by that. What's the forbidden kingdom?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm not sure what you mean by that. What's the forbidden kingdom?"

>"It's a wonderful place full of treasures and wonder, but we can't go there because the king eats faeries. He's even worse than the Scarlet Devil! He's worse than three Scarlet Devils!"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Oh, I understand."
>What did Rinnosuke do to inspire such fear in fairy-kind, I wonder?
>Are the three places indicated all in the same general direction?

[Hello Purvis]

>"Oh, I understand."
>What did Rinnosuke do to inspire such fear in fairy-kind, I wonder?
>Are the three places indicated all in the same general direction?

>You cannot conceive of what he may have done to inflect such widespread fear in faeriekind, especially given their tendency toward spotty recollection.
>They would all be varying flavors of Northwest from here; though very broadly so.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, thank you very much for your time."
>To Tenshi: "I suppose it can't hurt to look a little bit more in that general direction, but I'm not holding out much hope at this point."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, thank you very much for your time."
>To Tenshi: "I suppose it can't hurt to look a little bit more in that general direction, but I'm not holding out much hope at this point."

>"I still don't want any!" says the voice.
>Tenshi nods. "I think we got enough to ask some good questions. So where're we going?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Pick a direction roughly the average to the three named places and point there
>"Well, this direction is probably as good as any, at the moment. And if the ghost passed this way, maybe someone else saw it along its way?"
>Head in said direction
>Keep an eye out for anything unusual, or any other fairies

[Hello Purvis]

>Pick a direction roughly the average to the three named places and point there
>"Well, this direction is probably as good as any, at the moment. And if the ghost passed this way, maybe someone else saw it along its way?"
>Head in said direction
>Keep an eye out for anything unusual, or any other fairies

>"Kay," says Tenshi, as she falls into step behind you.
>You make your way in that direction, flying over the stream when necessary. The going is not easy; there's not many paths in the foilage you can follow, and often times, the trees are simply too thick you let you make your way across. Many times, you have to take detours. In the end, you are certain it's probably faster to just go west then go north.
>Faeries seem to be rather scarce, you get the feeling most of them are out doing various kinds of mischief in the wake of events. However, as you pass through a copse with a fair share of mushrooms, you think you see someone ahead; a slender person with short blonde hair.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>And this person is not a fairy, correct?

[Hello Purvis]

>And this person is not a fairy, correct?

>She'd be the tallest and most wingless faerie you've seen if she were one.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Do we think we recognize who it might be?

[Hello Purvis]

>Do we think we recognize who it might be?

>Taking a closer look, you notice her small, conical hat, which makes you quite certain this is Lunasa Prismriver, whom you know of and are briefly acquainted with from her days playing in The Felt.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>What does she seem to be doing?

[Hello Purvis]

>What does she seem to be doing?

>Walking westward, looking away from you at the moment.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Approach
>"Why, hello there."

[Hello Purvis]

>Approach
>"Why, hello there."

>You approach and call out to Lunasa.
>She looks over, her eyebrows raised. "Oh, uh, hello Iku. I didn't expect you. Or Tenshi."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"We've been all over Gensokyo today, looking for some clues as to why Bhava-Agra has fallen. What brings you out this way?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"We've been all over Gensokyo today, looking for some clues as to why Bhava-Agra has fallen. What brings you out this way?"

>"Well, it's just..." she says, "Things are weird, and I was just thinking, maybe it'd lure the Brocken Spectre out to see what's wrong. And, um, there's a bunch of celestials at the house...it's hard to think."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Wait a moment... lure it out to see what's wrong? Are things weird in some way other than Bhava-Agra's sudden descent this morning? And why do you think that finding it would help?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Wait a moment... lure it out to see what's wrong? Are things weird in some way other than Bhava-Agra's sudden descent this morning? And why do you think that finding it would help?"

>"No, it's just that," Lunasa frowns. "Maybe it would wonder what's happening. And not hide so much."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, I suppose we don't even know what it is, or why it's hiding in the first place."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, I suppose we don't even know what it is, or why it's hiding in the first place."

>"It's probably, you know, afraid," says Lunasa. "That's why I'm alone, kinda."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I suppose that's possible. Although I wonder if there's more to it than that, given the time it's been here. That's a long time to hide in fear from every inhabitant, as non-threatening as most of them are."
>"There are some other strange things afoot in the forest, though. I don't suppose you'd noticed the peculiarity with the islands' shadows?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I suppose that's possible. Although I wonder if there's more to it than that, given the time it's been here. That's a long time to hide in fear from every inhabitant, as non-threatening as most of them are."
>"There are some other strange things afoot in the forest, though. I don't suppose you'd noticed the peculiarity with the islands' shadows?"

>"Maybe," says Lunasa, frowning a little. "Just, well, maybe it thinks we're going to do something bad if we find it? That's what I think."
>She shakes her head. "Not as such, no."

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, the shadows are much fainter than they should be. We think this is connected with why they fell. And there is also a tree in the forest whose shadow disappeared around two weeks ago, we believe. The tree itself seems to almost be dying, now. We're not sure how, but I think they must be related."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, the shadows are much fainter than they should be. We think this is connected with why they fell. And there is also a tree in the forest whose shadow disappeared around two weeks ago, we believe. The tree itself seems to almost be dying, now. We're not sure how, but I think they must be related."

>"That's pretty weird," says Lunasa.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Indeed. There was also a humanoid ghost spotted near that tree around the time its shadow vanished. Apparently it simply sat in a bush, reading a book, and then left several hours later. The fairies who saw it say it hasn't returned since."