Iku Quest P?t: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Kilgamayan]

> When we get to it and lower ourselves to a point where our shadow can be seen, check on Nitori.

[Hello Purvis]

>Fly towards the Hinanai Shrine

>You fly toward the Dragon Palace, and use it as a navigational aid to take you to the Hinanai Shrine. The Shrine's island looks rather different without its usual wreath of clouds; the one visit you paid to it after the fall really didn't lock that impression in your mind. Still, you can see the Hinanai Shrine, in a valley between two mountains dominating the island.

> When we get to it and lower ourselves to a point where our shadow can be seen, check on Nitori.

>You swoop low, and see Nitori's shadow below you, flying along with you. She shakes her head a bit, but doesn't seem any worse for wear.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Head towards the shrine proper

[Hello Purvis]

>Head towards the shrine proper

>You head toward the shrine, and that this one is under construction as well. It looks much as you recall it from this morning. There are no signs of motion, or of anyone here.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Call out: "Hello? Is anyone around?"
>If no answer, walk into the shrine, to where the Sword of Hisou was kept

[Hello Purvis]

>Call out: "Hello? Is anyone around?"
>If no answer, walk into the shrine, to where the Sword of Hisou was kept

>There is no answer.
>You walk into the shrine, passing through the main hall; where practically everything is covered with drop cloths. You make your way up some shallow stairs, past where you found Tenshi and the workers fighting. You come to the sword chamber, and see the dais where it was kept is empty.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Call out again
>Then have another little look through the halls
>If this turns up nothing of note, head to the Dragon Palace

[Hello Purvis]

>Call out again
>Then have another little look through the halls
>If this turns up nothing of note, head to the Dragon Palace

>You call out again, and look around the halls a bit; finishing by retracing the steps of your chase with Tenshi as she tried to escape. There is simply nothing here that suggests life.
>You leave the shrine, and head toward the Dragon Palace. As you approach, you can see it is in proper condition still, rather than wrecked as you  recall it being. It is also empty, to the point you barely recognize the place. There is no life here at all, that and the colors that are not colors make it look almost uncomfortably foreign.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Head to our room

[Hello Purvis]

>Head to our room

>You make your way to your room, flying through the great lacquered doors leading to the hall you dwell in, and opening the door to your suite.
>Entering it, you find it exactly as it should be. Tables, chairs, pots, your bed and wardrobe; all is in proper order. The bed, in particular, is rather inviting, even if the colors that are not are a bit disconcerting.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>See if our spellcards in this room are still where we usually keep them

[Hello Purvis]

>See if our spellcards in this room are still where we usually keep them

>You check your nightstand, and find off-colored copies of your spellcards.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Take them
>Do our spellcards normally cause collateral physical damage to things like walls, furniture, etc.?

[Hello Purvis]

>Take them
>Do our spellcards normally cause collateral physical damage to things like walls, furniture, etc.?

>You obtain: Shadow Spellcards
>Typically they do not. This is why you could use then in the middle of an autumnal forest without trapping yourself in the middle of a forest fire.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Try declaring "Dragon's Gleaming Eyes" using its shadow spellcard, and see if it actually does anything

[Hello Purvis]

>Try declaring "Dragon's Gleaming Eyes" using its shadow spellcard, and see if it actually does anything

>All it achieves is making Nitori's shadow go through the declaration motions with you. It seems copies of spellcards are not useful.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Ah, well... worth an attempt
>WE are still in full color, as best we can tell, correct?
>Head towards the Dragon's chamber

[Hello Purvis]

>Ah, well... worth an attempt
>WE are still in full color, as best we can tell, correct?
>Head towards the Dragon's chamber

>It would have been embarrassing if it would have worked and you didn't try.
>You are still properly colored, or at least you think you are. You imagine it makes you quite bright against everything else.
>You approach The Dragon's chamber; leaving your suit, walking down the corridor to the main hall, and approaching the small white door set into the wall near the immense jade doors in the center of the hall. Colors aside, it is as you remember it.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Enter

[Hello Purvis]

>Enter

>You open the door, and walk through.
>Inside, you see an immense chamber, its walls soaring several hundred feet to an arched ceiling overhead. The floor is large enough, you think, to contain practically all of the Scarlet Devil Mansion and its grounds. Your footsteps echo and reverberate, practically deafening you after the silence you've experienced beforehand. On the far side of the room is a dais with a small stairway leading to it; filling up approximately half of the floorspace. There is no one here.
>You've never seen this before, but you think you understand what it is. This is what The Dragon's chamber must look like when it is not occupying it; typically you come here and find yourself in some natural scene; a projection of The Dragon's being. You've never been here without The Dragon being here; you don't think anyone has in a long time.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Walk towards the dais
>Look around the room as we go. Can we see any other objects, or anything else that catches our eye?
>Are there any other doors in the room, aside from the main entrances that we know about?

[Hello Purvis]

>Walk towards the dais
>Look around the room as we go. Can we see any other objects, or anything else that catches our eye?
>Are there any other doors in the room, aside from the main entrances that we know about?

>You walk toward the dais; it is not a short walk at all. As you trek through the chamber, you can't help but feel very very small.
>You see no objects laying about, you should hope The Dragon's chamber wouldn't be littered in any event.
>The walls seem to contain various frescos and artworks, but distance makes them impossible to examine with any detail. You also expect the color oddities would ruin their artistic value.
>You don't see any other doors, but given the amount of distance, it would take some time to check everywhere. You certainly don't know of any others.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Continue on to the far side of the room
>Do there seem to be no features inside the body of the chamber at all, aside from the dais and plain floor?

[Hello Purvis]

>Continue on to the far side of the room
>Do there seem to be no features inside the body of the chamber at all, aside from the dais and plain floor?

>You keep trekking onward. Soon you come to the stairs leading to the dais itself.
>There does not seem to be. There's really not much else you can put for a being like The Dragon. Or perhaps this shadow isn't exactly accurate?

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Walk up to the dias
>Does this seem bare, as well?

[Hello Purvis]

>Walk up to the dias
>Does this seem bare, as well?

>You walk up to the dais. It is a semi-circle elevated a good ten feet from the floor; but it is ringed with stairs. Ascending it, you see the dais is bare as well.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>What other major islands are near our current one?
>Can we think of any place in Bhava-Agra where we might be able to find a compass?

[Kilgamayan]

> Take out Aya's camera and, being careful with it, take a picture of the dais.

[Hello Purvis]

>What other major islands are near our current one?
>Can we think of any place in Bhava-Agra where we might be able to find a compass?

>There should be a major town some distance to the southeast, but you're not sure exactly where it would be.
>The Dragon Palace is the most likely place, but you don't know offhand where you'd find one. You also have doubts a compass would work here.

> Take out Aya's camera and, being careful with it, take a picture of the dais.

>You obtain: Picture of the Shadow Dais.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> The picture looks no different from the shadow dais in front of us?