> Take a lighter tone.
> "Hey there, big guy. How are you doing?"
> Slowly reach into our purse for a rice ball. If we can't get one individually, grab the whole package.
> Are we able to change our scent?
> Hold the rice ball in front of us and wiggle it a little bit.
> "This smell good?"
> Keep wiggling the rice ball. Wave it a bit to our right.
> Take a cautious step forward.
> Step back.
> "Sorry~"
> Wiggle the rice ball a little bit more.
> After a couple seconds of wiggling, toss it near the wolf. Not at the wolf, and definitely not hard enough to hit the wolf. Just near the wolf.
> Stop wiggling the rice ball.
> Take on a normal voice again.
> "That'd be me."
> "Assuming you're from that manor over there, I've been told I'm a friend of a rabbit in a pink dress. It was news to me at the time, but who am I to turn down friendship offers?"
> "Don't know. I never saw 'em. Heard about it from an oni, though, so I know it happened. Whatever they needed, it was important enough that they entered my pub while I was asleep, so I figured I should swing by and find out what happened, and deliver a message to the doctor while I was here."
> "I live underground. Where all the oni are. One spotted this rabbit around underground, and even talked to this rabbit. Let her into the pub."
> "You mentioned the place being closed off, though. Something happen?"
>"If it's about the money, the same thing's happened to everybody else, including us underground, and it even reached into Hakugyokuro."
>"Yeah, pretty much everyone as near as we can figure. The humans, the tengu, the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Underground, the works."
> "I did, and given the nature of the subject of it, I'd rather deliver it in person, in relative privacy. If that is at all possible."
> "Mmm...yes, it pertains to the prior commitment she made for later tonight."
>"Sure thing, thanks."
>Follow along. At a comfortable distance from that wolf.
>"Heh, if that was just him being skittish, I'd hate to see what he's like when he's actually unhappy to see someone."
>"Guess he's got a pretty good thing going here, then."
>"Thanks."
>Follow along
>Approach the two of them
>"Evening to you."
>"Thanks."
>Have a seat
>"Well, first things first. Byakuren said that Circle of yours was supposed to be getting together tonight. She was kinda worried people might call it off, what with the incident and all, so I thought I'd do her a favor and check in with people to ask them if they can still make it. Honestly, tonight's probably more timely than usual, if you think about it. That's a lot of bright heads in the same room, and you've all been hit by the same problem. Pooling resources and all that; I kinda gather that was the point in the first place?"
Oh goodness this moves real fast.
Might one request a tl;dr summary? Any noteworthy events happen? Any problems crop up that need to be solved?
Worth noting: I'd like to mention, as diplomatically as possible, our missing cards once we're done talking about the club and the gems. Don't forget that we really wouldn't be here at all if not for that theft. (And obviously don't go directly accusing anyone of theft.)
>"Awww... that's a shame. Pretty much everyone else has told me that they'll still be there, by the way."
>"Although, speaking of the current incident... I don't suppose you've got any clues, yourself? I've, uh, kinda taken it upon myself to try and get to the bottom of it. The Ancient City went nuts when everyone saw their money'd been filched. A mob of angry oni... not something you want on your doorstep, let me tell ya. I've seen what they can do to a place, and I don't want my joint to end up getting trampled. Or half the rest of the city, for that matter. So I'm seeing what I can do about it."
>"For what it's worth, the same thing seems to have happened all over at the same time. Underground, the human village, to the tengu and kappa, and even all the way out to Hakugyokurou. I've been all over the place today."
>Are any of the rabbits tending the garden near us? Like, possibly close enough to overhear us?
>"Eh, I guess life doesn't just get put on hold when there's an incident going on. Been hectic around here lately, then?"
>If they don't seem too inclined to elaborate, slide into:
>"Anyhow, there's something else that brings me out this way, too. I heard a funny story from an oni this afternoon. Seems a rabbit let herself into my tavern while I was asleep and then slipped out again. Told the oni she was a friend of mine, which is news to at least one of us."
>"She wore a pink dress. The oni didn't catch a name, I'm afraid."
>"Well, I was asleep and the oni was outside, so I can't say for sure, but uh...."
>Lower our voice a little
>"My money wasn't the only thing missing from my room when I woke up this morning."
>"...my spellcards are all gone."
>"Wasn't about to suggest she wasn't. But a city full of oni leaves a short list of suspects."
>"Don't suppose you have any idea where she might be?"
>Would we know Tewi to see her?
>"Well, rats... Guess that leaves searching... pretty much everywhere, doesn't it? And, well... you guys aren't exactly the easiest people in the world to drop back in if, say, I wanted to see if she'd come back overnight."
>"Oh, it's not too bad normally. This ain't 'normally', though."
>"What about Byakuren's temple? Could you leave a message for me there?"
>"No, no, I get ya. I'm not asking for anything like that. It's just, well, imagine how you'd feel in my position. This is about the last time in the world you'd want to be without spellcards, now isn't it? Not that any time's a good time, but..."
>"Anyhow, all I'm saying is... if she does come back here in the meantime, what then?"
> Nod.
> "All right. Thank you, it's appreciated."
> "On a different note, I've heard that you deal with someone from the moon occasionally that functions as a shrine maiden type. How easily can you get in contact with this person?"
> Frown.
> "Uh..huh. Well, okay. Might as well tell you anyway. I asked because they might be able to help. I got in touch with the mountain shrine maiden. Turns out her goddesses are pretty strongly theorizing that the power that turned everyone's money into gems was faith-based. If they're not sure of it already. If a major effort of faith is responsible, then I figure the more faith-based help we can get, the better."
>Turn around and look
>Can we see anything?
>If not: "What was that?"
> Can we tell what time it is, beyond 'night'?
>Raise an eyebrow
>"What, does she make a habit of this or something?"
>Does Eirin seem to also be moving off towards the doors, as well?
>The garden we're in is open-roofed, correct?
>How long would it take to fly to the human village from here, if we were quick about it?
>Can a seed of non-identification be made to make anything look like anything, or does there need to be some commonality in size or properties?
>Can we end the effect of a seed remotely, or do we need to be by the object and physically remove the seed?
>If the seeds have a connection to us that lets them find us again, can this work in reverse? Can we sense and track down the location of seeds?
>Do we have any paper on us to write a note with?
>Find the nearest rabbit and ask her to let Eirin know that we left.
>"Right. I'll just be on my way, then."
>Assuming no objections, depart.
>Could we just fly straight up without disturbing the groomed foliage?
>Fly upwards, but be gentle with the plants
>Can we see any signs of the fighting from up there?
>Is it possible to estimate the number of people involved?
>Can we hear any conversation?
>Do we think we could get close enough to see or hear what's going on without getting in the line of fire ourselves?
>How quickly can we change our skin coloring?
>Swing by close enough to at least have a little look at what's going on, while trying to remain out of the line of fire, and (if possible) out of sight
> Wait, why is Mokou telling her attacker to go away if she's the one that invaded? That's kinda odd.
> Listen for a response.
> Huh. Oh well, it is what it is.
> Crest the canopy of the bamboo, then head off back to the human village.
>Head to the Myouren Temple.
> Pout.
> "You have such little faith in me?"
>"Eh, don't worry about it. And I actually just got back from Eientei. Eirin won't be coming, I'm afraid. Real busy with stuff even before this happened, she said. Well, that and Mokou was busy busting down the front door when I took off."
>"I don't know. She said she'd been real busy all day, even without this whole gem business. Reisen, too. Didn't seem to want to volunteer much on why, and I didn't really get a chance to nudge at it before running back here and all. Kinda curious, actually."
>"Speaking of which, I don't suppose you've seen any rabbits around town today?"
>Follow along
>"I don't suppose you have any idea where she might have went? Or was it just a passing glance?"
>"Eh, well, was worth a shot, I guess."
>"I didn't tell you about my run-in with Tewi, did I?"
>Assuming she doesn't correct us:
>"Seems a rabbit let herself into my place this morning while I was asleep, claiming to be a friend. On top of all this gem business, I found my spell cards all gone. Evidently, Eirin and Reisen are sure it's Tewi from the description of her. And they haven't seen her all day, either, which is odd for her. To say nothing of what the heck she wants them for."
>"Yeah, neither did they. They don't see how she could use them, either. Something's up. Maybe it's got nothing to do with the incident, maybe it does. I don't see how, but the timing's enough to make ya wonder, right?"
>"Oh, speaking of which, I got another clue on what caused this. Sanae said that her goddesses think it was the work of another god. A massive act of faith of some sort or something. Don't know who it could have been, though, but they said they're pretty sure it was from somewhere in Gensokyo."
>"They don't think it's them, I'm pretty sure. Actually, I don't think they think they could, even if they wanted to. So it's probably someone we don't know of at the moment. Or at least I don't know of. Maybe a god that isn't too visible around here to most people?"
>"Heh, no I can imagine a long list of better things to be doing than that. Even Kanako and Suwako didn't know, and I figure it's kinda their business, yeah? Who knows, maybe one of the others at the meeting might have some idea?"
>"Here's hoping."
>"Actually, what do you gang do, anyway? When there isn't some big mystery to be solved, anyhow."
> Grin.
> "So nothing, then."
>"I, uh, hear that not everyone gets along all that well with each other, either."
> "Well, here's hoping that they can all swallow their pride and work together on this issue. At least for this one night."
>"How've those two been fitting in there, anyhow?"
> "That makes sense. They've only been here what, less than a year? I'd hope the rest of you would have just a slight magical advantage on them."
> Follow her into the air.
> "She's that well-versed? We sure she's not just Yukari from another time or an alternate dimension or something?"
>"Technically you did, actually."
>"What, and have Reimu try to teach her or something?"
>"Well, it's not too late for that now, is it?"
>"Really? How does that work?"
>Nod slowly.
>"I guess that kinda makes sense."
>Small frown
>"Uh, does that mean she's kinda stuck with something that she mightn't actually be as talented at?"
>"What do you mean?"
>"Huh. That's a point, too, I guess. Do you just regret not really making her aware of the option before it was too late or something, then? Even if you don't know if it would have been best for her to take it?"
>"Ah, well that's how it goes sometimes, I guess. Heh, would be kinda funny seeing her as a shrine maiden, now that I think about it. Actually, even stranger seeing Reimu with an apprentice in tow."
>Grin
>"Heh. Fairy'd probably think Maribel was muscling in on her turf."
>"Funny pair they make, to be sure."
>Carry on to Alice's
>Nod back to the doll, then follow along
>Give a little wave
>"Hey, you two. Pretty calm evening, given the day we've had."
>Pause for a moment.
>"'All the fairys'? What, did Reimu's little friend start a fan club, or something?"
>"You'd think she'd be an unpopular target, what with how long most of them probably last when they try that."
>"Or maybe they're just practicing for the next shump?"
>"Well, I'm not about to complain about being able to fly over here without that happening to me."
> Nod.
> "Anyway, with all due respect to present company, I hope this isn't all we get tonight."
> "I can tell you right now Eirin won't be here at all. I talked to her already. Apparently she had something important to do tonight, and that was before Mokou started punching her house in. The others, though, I've at least left messages to make sure to show up."
> "She told me she didn't want to talk about it, and apparently that was only because I gave her info about the money affair. Sounds like she would have flat lied to me if I hadn't."
> "I wondered about that myself, but I wasn't really in a safe position to throw out accusations."
> "Awesome. One more reason I'm glad I-wait, no."
> Slap forehead.
> "No. Stupid. She said she would have lied to me when I asked about her shrine maiden type from the moon. She didn't elaborate on really anything when asked about what she was doing tonight and the question just sort of slid by. Which is not really any less suspicious, but still."
> Nod to the doll and take a sip of the tea.
> "That depends. How good are the foot soldier rabbits as actors?"
> Look back behind us.
>"Here's hoping she shows. She seemed, um, a bit grumpy earlier, if Flandre's message is at all accurate. I'm sure Remilia's been up in arms about this whole gem business. If anyone would be..."
>"Actually, now that I think about it, Meiling said something about Remilia probably not even wanting to let her out of the mansion with this incident afoot. Then again, she also said the Patchouli could probably make it out, anyway. I don't know if she meant convince her, or sneak out, or what, but..."
>"Well, that's up to you people; it's your meeting and all. I'm fine, either way."
>"Mind if I go first?"
>Assuming no objection:
>"Like you said, I've been looking all over since I first found about it this afternoon. And yeah, it's hit every place I've seen, but it's not just Gensokyo, either. Same thing happened all the way out to the Netherworld. Mightn't just be there, either, but Higan and Bhava-Agra don't use much real money, or so they tell me, and who knows about Makai?"
>Shrug
>"About the only real clue I've found so far came from Sanae, actually. Said her goddesses are convinced this was an act of faith, caused by some god or another. No one they've been able to figure out yet, at least when I was talking to her, but they're sure it's somewhere in Gensokyo. When I left, they were still looking."
>"They might be, yeah, but why would they go volunteering that kinda info if they'd done it? I mean, I didn't have a clue until Sanae said so; gods hadn't even entered my mind. All I had to go on was Ran saying she sensed something 'like, but not quite like, magic'. If you're trying to pull one over on people, you don't go filling in the missing pieces for them that easy."
>"Hmmm... well, you never know, I guess. The thing is: do you think this info is really throwing anyone off their trail for any longer than silence would have done? Just look at how many possible suspects we eliminate off the bat if we assume 'it's a god'. How much time could we waste looking into, I don't know, Remilia or Yukari or who knows who else? Once you cut them out, the Moriya Shrine is probably still the most obvious suspect, despite what they've said. Yeah, sure, there's a chance, but I kinda think it would be a bad move on their part if they're actually responsible."
>"That being said, any of you folks know about some more obscure gods around here than the usual suspects? Something not nearly as visible?"
>"No other major, but quiet gods? Reclusive ones, say? Old ones that haven't been heard from for a while, either way, maybe?"
>What do we know of Shinki?
>Do we know anything at all about Alice's relationship with her?
>Do we know if Byakuren was conscious at any point during her time sealed in Makai?
>"Well, Sanae seemed confident that the god responsible was somewhere in Gensokyo. Either they're saying this in good faith, which means it isn't Shinki, or they're lying to cover their own involvement, which means it isn't Shinki. Well, they could also honest and wrong, I guess, but..."
>Would oni code consider surreptitiously replacing an object with another of equal value to be the same as conventional theft?
> Do the oni have gods?
>"Hmmm... I dunno. Kinda don't think so, though. They'd probably still think it was wrong to do it all stealthy like, and besides, oni have about the least faith of anyone around here."
>"Oh, there's something else, too. I had Nazrin dowse for the missing money, and she said something was blocking her, like noise or something. Didn't know what it was, had never felt anything like it, either. But she's pretty sure it's on the surface, and all in one place, somewhere."
>"Gather, maybe. But distribute?"
>"And if defenses against detection are as common as that, I wonder why Nazrin seemed so baffled by this? Maybe it's something different than most of them? Of course, I don't really know how she does what she does, or how detection prevention is supposed to work in the first place, so..."
>"Hmmm... that's a point, I guess."
>"Actually... would different detection prevention measures feel different, somehow? Like, if you tried to look for something inside the Scarlet Devil Mansion, or inside Eientei, and they were both blocked so that you couldn't, do you think this 'noise', or whatever it is, would feel subtly different if you compared them?"
>"Well, Eientei might be at least a little suspicious at the moment, right? Not making accusations, just saying. What if we had Nazrin dowse for something distinctive that we knew was in Eientei? And then compared that feeling to the one she was getting looking for the money to see if they're at all alike? Do you think that could work, maybe?"
>Look towards this new voice
>Give a little wave
>"Evening there. Glad you could make it."
>Nod
>"Pretty much. I've been looking around Gensokyo more or less all day."
> "Though I've found I've had more answers than most I've met today. But if you kno who might be responsible, I'd certainly be happy to hear."
>"Sanae said that her goddesses believe it was a work of another god. They don't know who, or how, but it felt like some great act of faith."
>"Then what was it?"
>"But you're certain a god couldn't have done it, just the same? I assume this means you know at least something of the nature of the effect, right?"
>"Well, for what it's worth, I spoke with Satori this afternoon, and she hadn't sensed anything unusual at all. I suppose I don't know if she'd be able to sense something that's just based on an aspect of the mind, rather than involving an actual mind in the room with her, though..."
>"Actually, Ran was the only person I met who said they'd sensed anything at all when the event happened. Just something vague that brushed against her. I think said it was 'almost, but not quite, like magic as we know it'"
>"Do you think there's anything Ran might be able to do that could help narrow it down? I know she didn't pick up any specifics, but she did still sense something when almost no one else did."
>"For that matter, do you have any ideas on how we could go about narrowing it down, ourselves? People to ask, places to check, that sort of thing?"
>"Well, let's see... you probably already know or have guessed a lot of this, but I'll try to be thorough. The money wasn't turned into gemstones, but was probably taken elsewhere while gems of equal value were left in its place. The money is still probably on the surface somewhere. I asked Nazrin to dowse for it, and something's seriously blocking her when she tries, but she's confident that it still exists and is up here... somewhere. The effect's also extended past Gensokyo, and hit the Netherworld, at least. Elsewhere, I couldn't say. I asked about Higan, but they say they don't use real money there, anyway. The coin on Komachi's belt is still a coin, so obviously the effect makes a distinction for monetary value, and not just 'a coin'."
> "And then there's that sword, for whatever it's worth."
> Shrug.
> "Don't really know for sure. But it was suspect enough that I found it worth looking into."
>"You saying you think Yukari might have had a hand in this? Well, I guess that makes the question of 'why?' kinda hard to answer. I mean, does anyone ever really know, with her?"
> "Well, I thought you might've already seen half of it, but sure. At least now I have the other half."
> Pull out the two Broken Sword pieces and angle the writing on the blade in Patchouli's direction."
>Do so.
>How much do we know about Koishi?
> "You know the hilt? Where from?"
>"Can you read them?"
>"But you think you could translate it?"
> Turn to Renko with a slightly curious expression.
> "Celtic mean anything to you?"
>Is there any one (type of) location that the replacement gemstones we've encountered could have come from, or at least a large majority of them? What about ways to make or refine them into their current form?
> "Any idea if something special went into making it? The blacksmith was flummoxed on how to fix it."
> "Gotta admit I'm feeling just a little bit one-upped, yeah. Gems, transformations and mischief are all supposed to be my shtick, but fuck me if I could ever pull something even remotely close to this off."
> Who is to our immediate left and our immediate right?
> Does Patchouli have both pieces of the sword?
> Shrug again.
> "Don't know for sure. But it's not like the ground is littered with hints. That thing looks like it's been through five wringers, and the expert on the subject threw up her hands almost immediately. That sounds good enough to me to be worth investigating. It'd be like if I brought you a broken doll joint and you only took one quick look at it before declaring fixing it beyond your abilities. Not even hemming or hawing, thinking about how hey, maybe this could work, or possibly that. None of all that, just immediate resignation."
>"If it's not enchanted, and it's not an inherent part of the weapon or what it's made from, then... what does that leave?"
>"Any way to find out what it was? Or even repair it, for that matter?"
> "So I want to find someone in Gensokyo that might have been exposed to Celtic."
> Frown.
> "And there's not exactly a wealth of Westerners around here."
>"Well... maybe the inscription might say something about who made it, or who it was made for, maybe?"
> Nod.
> "That'd be helpful. Thanks."
>"Nah, I think that's good on the sword for now, thanks."
>"But just thinking back to motive for this incident... anyone have any idea what whoever it is wants with all this money? I mean, they can't really go and spend any of it for a whole bunch of reasons now, so it's not about getting rich. And they probably weren't just interested in the precious metal, or they wouldn't care that Komachi's stuff wasn't currency, either. I mean, it's still made of the same thing, right? So, uh... what do you do with money you can't spend, and that you don't just want for raw metals?"
>"Huh. That's a good point on the metals bit. So much for that thought. But as for Makai, how do we know the same thing didn't hit them, too? I mean, if it reached the Netherworld, it could probably have reached that place, too, couldn't it?"
> Frown.
> "Do we investigate directly, then?"
> Have some of that cake we were served earlier.
>"Well, if we can't rule out that they have a place to spend it, or that they did just want the metal after all... that doesn't leave us with much, does it?"
>"As for Yukari being involved... if she is, I kinda don't think Ran knows. Which, well... I guess that's possible, too..."
>They looked like perfectly ordinary gemstones to us in every way, correct?
> "The ones that were actually gems didn't look out of the ordinary to me."
> Pull out a rose quartz and examine it again.
> "I'll admit I haven't taken my tools to any of these things, but I'm positive Ichiro did, and I'm further positive he would have said something to me had he noticed something out of the ordinary."
> Put the rose quartz away and pull out one of the non-gem beads.
> "These, though...no idea what these are."
> "It's not really worth much of anything, no. 1☼ if you're a decent talker, and don't expect to get 1☼ per if you have a whole bunch of them."
> "Possibly. But still, they're not worth much. Less than the actual gems for sure."
>"You're probably right that this sort of thing is what loose change became."
> "Yeah, and I got some grouping as well with my cash. Didn't notice anything ordinary that was out-of-the-ordinary like salt, though."
>"I'm wondering if maybe the gem thing wasn't just someone trying to be 'kind' or whatnot, by giving people something it thought was of equal value, but an intrinsic part of the effect? Value for value? Although I don't know if that being true would help narrow down how it was done. I mean, kinda out of my element on the mechanics bit..."
>"Patchouli, you said earlier that this effect was probably based on some aspect of the mind or soul, right? Would that be, say, something like the part of people that value money? Or greed? Or something like that? Or did you mean something else entirely?"
>"Any thoughts on what could, or is that just as speculative at this point?"
>"I don't suppose any youkai comes to any of your minds whose ability is at least vaguely related to this...?"
>Give them a chance to mull this over and respond
>"As for shrine maiden types, that's kinda a short list, isn't it? I can't imagine it's Reimu, and even if the Moriya Shrine is kinda suspicious sometimes, I don't think Sanae herself's a very good liar, if she had a hand in it. I suppose there's that one that Eirin supposedly has contact with on the moon, but that's a long way off. Anyone else I'm missing?"
>"So what do we know about Yorihime's ideals?"
>"I don't suppose you can see an angle where she'd want our money? Or, for that matter, feel like giving us something in return? Would they consider gems more pure in some way?"
>Do we have any idea what might have brought about that exchange between her and Byakuren? Or the notion of 'purity' as expressed here?
>"And what's that Lunar Civilization like?"
>"Would they count money as an ill?"
>Hm... would Nazrin have been able to tell if the scrambled signal she was getting originated from the surface of Gensokyo vs. the surface of the moon?...
>"Is there any way we could narrow down the power source, besides speculating about who might do it and why? I mean, something mechanical, or something I can go out and look for, besides 'a big pile of money'?"
> "Right, I figured. Dunno where else to look, though, aside from Makai, and, well, yeah. Maybe something will pop up when I'm delivering Rinnosuke's wine."
>"Not really, except that she wasn't at Eientei and has been gone the whole day. I'm actually inclined to believe Eirin and Reisen on that one; they seemed somewhere between worried and annoyed about it. That streetear saw her sometime this morning, you said you saw a rabbit in the crowd in the village this afternoon. Other than that..."
>Shrug
>"I don't suppose any of you've seen any rabbits about, today?"
>"Pretty sure. At least, she let herself into my place while I was asleep claiming to be a friend of mine, then let herself out again, and when I woke up they were gone. Not exactly a lot of suspects for that sorta thing in the Ancient City. What she'd want with them beats me, though."
> Do we know what's south past the Scarlet Devil Mansion?
> If not, say "What's in that direction?"
> Frown.
> "Why would someone with a working brain want to wander into a large crowd of angry fairies?"
> "I guess I've found that something to investigate. As much as I don't enjoy the prospect of wandering into a cloud of angry fairies by myself."
> Raise an eyebrow at Byakuren.
> "So do I. I'm not the one you'll need to worry about."
> "Just remember, I'm out spellcards. If things get ugly...well, no guarantees."
> "Anyway, I should probably get Rinnosuke his wine sooner rather than later. I don't suppose I could bother someone to let him know its on its way to him once the meeting adjourns?"
> "Thanks. You're a dear."
> Stand up.
> "I'll be heading out, then. Anything anyone wants while I'm puttering around, aside from the obvious?"
> Do we know mahogany by sight?
> Pantomime a couple of whittling motions.
> "For that thing, I assume?"
> "Sure, I can keep an eye out. Not much of a woodworker, though. How'll I know if I see some?"
> Nod.
> "Can do. Talked to her earlier, and as far as I know she hasn't blamed me yet."
> "Reimu said she wanted you to have a day off regardless, so it worked out. Kinda."
> Take the piece of wood.
> "Thanks."
> Thank Alice for hosting us
> Take our leave.
> Take flight towards the SDM
> Perform an AMAZING ACROBATIC FEAT and turn around and head to the Underground
>Do we have any lockpicks of our own?
>Continue onward
>Approach it casually, but keep an eye and ear out in case things really did get nastier down here since we left.
>Anemic is much better than too loud, given the circumstances...
>Continue into the city
> Carefully head to our bar.
> Where's our trident?
>Continue on to our pub
>Walk over to her
>"Oh, could be worse. Found out a few things, but not as many as I'd like. Spent the whole day flying around, searching, talking to people and all that. The towns on the surface were all in their own sort of hubbub about it - tengu are on lockdown, humans were pretty agitated, too, but seem to be a little better now, anyway. We still can't really pin this mess on anyone, but we've got a couple clues we didn't have this afternoon. That's something, anyway."
>"Speaking of which, it's good to see this place still looking so good. How's business been?"
>What level of craziness would be required for us to be 'kinda low' at this point, and would we have seen a similar amount of business in a day before?
>For that matter, how generously provisioned where we this morning, and how often do we usually have to resupply?
> "How am I doing for fruit wine?"
>"Oh? How do you figure that?"
>"Well, the hope is that they'll all turn back into the regular old money they were this morning, once I we fix things."
> "If you do run out to get some more, it'd be best to be honest, especially in this town. Makes business sense and keeps ours spines in one piece. Lemme take stock myself before I decide if it's worth trying to get more or if we should just close up shop for the night."
> Where do we normally acquire our stock?
> Do we sell any non-alcoholic drinks?
" Well, if someone knows what they're getting into, then by all means, do what you can do. But I don't want to actively cheat any potential sources, since that limits options once things are back to normal."
>Go examine our stock
>Go pick out the four fruit wines we promised Rinnosuke, as well as two more, if we have them to spare. Otherwise, select two bottles of something comparable in price point.
>Technically, how late is it, in terms of our normal operating hours, and the nightlife of the city?
> Head back out to the main area and find Nazrin again.
> "I've been thinking, and wonder if perhaps we should close up shop for the evening. We've done well enough, and Byakuren needs as many hands on deck as she can get."
> "The humans are actually doing better than most others, but they haven't been happy. Byakuren and I got the ghost band to play for them, but you guys are gonna fix their roof in return once the money is restored. That, and Shou's gonna have to apologize to the white-haired one for something involving a sitar."
> "Yeah, the hole isn't too big. Shouldn't be a tough job."
> "Anyway, if I could bother you one last time to restock a bit, that would be fantastic. You can go ahead and return to Byakuren after that, I'm sure she'll be overjoyed to see you're okay and what's surely been an evening of worrying about what might be going on down here."
> "Do what you gotta do. Be right back."
> Head on up to our room.
> Fish through our collection of skirts for something that wouldn't clash with our normal outfit and stow it away in our purse, just in case we want to get tall later.
> Are our jeweler's tools readily handy?
> Do they include a microscope or something magnifying device?
> Pull out the rose quartz again.
> Head on over to the tool table, and give it a real good close examination.
>Examin a few other jewels. Do they have anything similar?
>Is the only thing odd about the blemish its shape?
>Have a closer look at one of the larger, clearer examples of this we can find, and see if we can notice any other details about it
>Does there seem to be any pattern with which these smaller blemishes are arrayed?
>Do we know of any place that would have a lens that could attain a higher magnification than our own?
> By "overlapped," does that mean the blemishes appear to be on top of one another, merged together, or something different? Or can't we tell at this point?
>Is it possible for us to shift our eyes such that we can sharpen or magnify our own eyesight?
>Would the unusualness of these blemishes be apparent to a non-jeweler, or are they only unusual looking because we know they're not supposed to be there?
>Do we know of anyone with distinctly better eyesight than our own?
>If we were to take the necessary time here to do it carefully and slowly, do we think we could sharpen/zoom our sight long enough to get a better look at the blemishes, reasonably safely?
>Relax ourselves as necessary, and begin the process of adjusting our eyesight to get a better look at the blemishes. If looking at the blemished while we do so would help with getting them into sharped focus, do so, but if not, trust our own instincts and experience. Do this very slowly and carefully, taking all the time we need to be comfortable. If we think we're going to injure ourselves if we go further, stop.
>Go take another look at those blemishes, and see if we can make out anything that we couldn't before
>The illegibility is because they're all more or less on top of each other, correct? And not something that could be compensated by a theoretical something with a better zoom?
>If we turn the gem around to look from different angles, can we make out any depth to the placement of these maybe-letters? Or get any better sense of differentiation among them?
>Are there any patterns to the letters that would indicate what sort of language they're in? In particular, do they look like the Celtic from the sword? More flowing letters like in Japanese? Or a mix?
> Are the kinda-letters stacked in a certain direction as if in layers, or do they appear to be all on the same geometric plane? Or do they come up from the center of the gem at all angles?
> Is our scope portable?
> How difficult would it be to teach someone how to use it?
> Restore our eyesight to normal, then pocket our scope.
> Head back to the main pub area and find Nazrin again.
> "Hey, Nazrin, how good are your eyes?"
> Pull out a rose quartz and the scope and offer them in Nazrin's direction,
> "Have a look."
> "You don't see the tiny blemishes?"
> "Oh, duh, I forgot I sharpened my eyes for that part. Those blemishes? They're tiny characters. There's miniscule writing on these gems. It's impossible to tell what it says, because it comes out from the center and goes every which way, so it's all mushed onto itself, but it's there."
> "Yeah, it's almost impossible to tell. I had to change myself to even just roughly make it out. Looks like the next job is figuring out what they say."
>"Well, it's still every bit a rose quartz as far as I can see, whether someone's left a message in it or not. I can only see it making things worse if crowds get to speculating. Already been through that once today."
> "And yeah, you probably should, at least from those we're not close to. Feel free to tell Byakuren and the rest of the lot, though. As for me, I'll be telling Patchouli, since she's a looked into this mystery a lot herself."
> "Anyway, this is what I'm thinking. I have to run up and make a delivery to Kourindou, then it's time to chase down our rabbit thief. Once you're taken care of stuff here, you should update the clinic on the situation, then head back to Byakuren if you're not needed at the clinic so she can let you know what your next move should be."
> Grin.
> "Don't rip me off too badly. Good luck in your travels."
> Assuming no objections from the assembled patrons, leave the bar, take flight and head back to the surface.
> If, as we get to the areas where Kisume and Yamame live, we hear more ceiling scratching, stop our travel and look around for the source.
>"Yamame, you around?"
>Shrug
>Carry on to Rinnosuke's
>"Who's this that's getting strangled now?"
>Return the nod
>"Sorry I'm late."
>Turn back to Mystia
>"And there's a long, long lineup behind that one, let me tell you. If it makes you feel any better, a bunch of us are working on the problem."
>"Well, we'll see, once I can figure out who did it."
>"Speaking of people, though, I don't suppose any of you folk have seen Tewi around today?"
>"Nothing since then, I take it?"
>"For that matter, do you know of anything down south past the Scarlet Devil Mansion?"
> "Huh. Stranger and stranger..."
> Turn to Rinnosuke.
> "Ah! Before I forget. I do have what you requested, as well as a little more. I've been struck by inspiration while wandering. If we're speaking in terms of those bottles, what would you like for your clay sculpting set?"
> Pull out our six bottles and set them somewhere where Rinnosuke can see the labels (but not on merchandise obviously)
> "Done deal. I'll have one extra bottle for myself, then. Any preference for the one you don't want?"
> Nod.
> Take the tapped bottle as well as the 'clay sculpting set'.
> "Hope you enjoy."
> Wait, were those spellcards there the last time we looked?
> Do we recognize either of them?
> Examine the card or cards we don't recognize.
> "Huh. Those are new."
> Turn to Mystia and her green-haired companion while pointing at the cards.
> "Either of you know who those used to belong to?"
> "Oh. Huh. Wonder why she'd spare a card if she was just char-broiling the walls of Eientei a couple of hours ago."
> Examine Red Ribbon, Emblazoned Apron and Jar of Crushed Bloodmoss.
> Don't we work with bloodmoss sometimes?
> ...Haven't we seen that apron before?
> Yeah, Marisa was wearing it when we first met her, after Byakuren was released from Makai.
> Glad she got rid of it, that thing was hella tacky.
> Turn back to Mystia.
> "All right, you're angry enough about things that I figure I'll ask slash offer. Now that I have a directional lead and my delivery here is complete, I'm going to set out on my investigation into this problem. I've talked to Patchouli, and between the two of us we've learned some things about how this was accomplished, though nothing yet on who, why, how, or how to fix it. My goal is to change that, sooner rather than later. I know it's late for most of the surface, but you wanna come with?"
> "First, I'm gonna swing by Patchouli's home again, to see if I can wrangle myself another travel companion there. I have just the person in mind. After that, I'm headed south from there. I suspect Tewi stole something from me specifically, something very important, and it wasn't my money. Either way, she has since wandered into an area of the countryside with a good number of angry fairies. I've been to Eientei and they haven't seen her since this morning. Now, I don't know of anyone in Gensokyo with an IQ above 70 that would actively choose to wander into the middle of a pack of angry fairies, which tells me that something weird is up with that rabbit. Finding her is the starting point of my search."
> "Can't say for sure, obviously. But she's a major suspect. Missing from home all day, being the only person around my house when my other stuff got stolen, and wandering into territory occupied by clouds of angry fairies? Something's not right with her."
> "I don't know yet if she's involved with the money, but she's certainly up to something strange today. And like I said, I have a personal stake in giving her a boot in the ass, so I kind of hope she is the culprit."
> "All right. I suspect we may want to keep the other person I want to ask away from fighting, but I think she'll understand if we let you take the reigns on that one."
> Turn to the green-haired youkai.
> "What about you? I wouldn't feel right inviting just Mystia along for this when she has a companion already."
> Shrug.
> "Suit yourself."
> Turn to Rinnosuke.
> "And I assume you'd rather stay here."
> Turn back to the green-haired youkai.
> "Don't worry about. We all do."
> Turn back to Mystia.
> "You ready to relieve some stress, then?"
> "You got it."
> Wave to Rinnosuke and the green-haired youkai.
> "Have a good night."
> Leave Kourindou, take flight and head to the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
> Fly for the main gate, where we went last time. Land as we approach.
> Turn to Mystia and point at Alice's house.
> "Mind a quick small detour? I just spent a while discussing this incident with those folks, so they're fairly well informed."
> "There's one that should be able to, assuming she's still there. If not, I'll drop a message, and we'll continue on our way."
> Head back on over to Alice's house.
> Keep approaching until we can hear the conversation or until someone acknowledges our presence.
> Frown.
> Are we in anyone's line of vision, aside from most likely Mystia's?
> Are there any nearby trees that are thick enough to hide behind so that the Circle wouldn't be able to see us?
> How large is Mystia compared to us? Could she hide just as well as we could behind said trees?
>About how far away are we from the gathering at the moment?
> Turn to Mystia and whisper.
> "Can you duck behind a tree for a moment? Sorry to spring this on you, but I forgot that we needed an invitation to attend this tonight."
> Turn back to the assembled group. Is the doll still trying to prevent our entrance?
> Make to move forward.
> If the doll does not try to block us again, actually move forward and rejoin the group.
> "I have, but I need to be quick. I have an official ass-kicker on board, and the sooner they get to beat up someone that's involved the better."
> "Found one thing while I was out and about. Took a real close look at the gems. Real close look. Had to mess with my eyes to improve their strength. They have writing on them. Miniscule writing. I can't tell what it says because all the characters are basically stacked on top of one another, coming out from the center in every direction toward the surface. But it's there."
> Pull out our scope.
> "It's almost impossible to tell, even with this. It just looks like a bunch of blemishes, really. But I sharpened my eyesight and took another look, and sure enough, it was a bunch of characters. No idea what they say, the way they're stacked on top of one another, but if you have an idea and want to take a crack at it, I'll be glad to assist."
> Hand the scope over to Patchouli
> "Um, my associate is in the area. Can I call her over, or...?"
> What do we know about Mystia's power of manipulating sight?
> "No, likely just irritated that she has to wait until the good part. But I suppose it's not necessary."
> Inventory
> "I think I have a couple on me. Lemme check. Can I assume you wouldn't be asking for a pearl specifically if any ol' gem would suffice?"
> "Here we go."
> Hand the Freshwater Pearl over.
> Thank whatever deity is watching over us that we didn't have to sac one of the black pearls for this.
> Where is our Broken Sword Handle?
>"With my normal eyesight, it just looked like a tiny imperfection in the stone at first. It was just kinda... not shaped quite right for one, you know? And then there was a similar blemish in all the other ones, so I thought I really should try to get a closer look at it. I'm sure it wouldn't stand out unless you'd spent a long time doing fine appraisal work."
>"I could have a look at that one, if you want. See if I can find where it is and point it out to you."
> Retrieve our scope.
> "Suppose it's a side effect of the force that caused this, rather than an active decision to leave a message?"
> Do we recognize any of those pronouns?
> Proper nouns, pronouns, whatever.
> "...What?"
>Look at Patchy
>"I guess what she said means something to you, then?"
> "I at least gather that was what was written on the pearl. But what the hell was it?"
> Frown.
> "So this was all a giant practical joke based on a bad pun, or what?"
> "And why'd they have to use the money for it, and not, you know, actual stones?"
> "With a line you don't seem to recognize, at that. Who would have access to such a thing?"
> "Presumably you haven't noticed a decent number of books missing from your place, then? I got nicked, maybe you did as well."
> "Huh. Don't think the entirety of Underground would have one-one millionth of the books necessary to pull this off. Can't think of many topsiders that could. I guess I have to ask...would Eientei have these resources?"
> "Anyone else up here that might have something comparable? The humans, the kappa, the tengu?"
> Frown. If we've been sitting, stand up.
> "I think I've been keeping my associate waiting for her chance to wring Tewi's neck long enough, then."
> Sigh.
> "I have? I really am getting old."
> "We'll see. Could be fun, but I don't think I'd want the entire country out for my blood. Catch you all later."
> Head back through the forest the way we came. When we get to the point where the doll stopped us, head in the direction Mystia walked off in.
> "Yep. I've changed my mind on getting that third person, you've waited long enough. Let's ship off."
> "The little blonde girl at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. The one with the crystal wings."
> "Yeah. She's very real. Cute kid, to be honest. I'll have to find some other form of fun to have with her some time. But right now, there's business to take care of."
> Nod.
> "Well, shortest distance between two points is a straight line."
> Take flight, crest the canopy of the forest, and head toward the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
> Point at the two figures.
> "Hey, those two are still out there from earlier. Let's ask them if they've seen any rabbits recently. Might help narrow our search. And if one of them's the little blonde one, maybe I'll still ask."
> Swoop down to the two figures at the gate on a non-threatening manner. Give then a wave when they notice us.
> "Yeah, I figured. We're out this way on a lead for who might be responsible. Have you seen any rabbits go by today, possibly heading south?"
> Turn to Mystia.
> "Sounds like one more reason to make sure we find her."
> Turn back to Meiling.
> "Excellent. Thanks for the info. And, uh...can I ask you specifically a secret question?"
> "Gotta ear-whisper this one. How do you want to approach it?"
> Walk over to Meiling and position ourselves so we can whisper into her ear.
> Lower ourvoice to a whisper.
> "We're off to see about fixing the problem. Can Flan come with?"
> Back away so Meiling doesn't respond right in our ear.
> Frown.
> "Really? From what she told me about what happened earlier, it sounds like it could make everyone happy."
> "Aww. I thought we could have had some fun. Oh well."
> "If you say so. Honestly, I wouldn't have guessed, just based on what I've seen."
> "Right, I understand. Perhaps another time."
> Step back a couple of steps.
> "In that case, we'll head south and continue our investigation."
> Turn to Flan and point a thumb at Mystia.
> "We're gonna find the person that took all your sister's money, and when we do, my friend here is gonna smack 'em around good, okay?"
> Nod.
> "Of course."
> Turn to Mystia.
> "This is probably a dumb question, but you set to head south?"
> "All right then."
> Turn to the gate guards.
> "See you two later."
> Take flight and head a little bit east as Meiling pointed, then south.
> Turn to Mystia.
> That's a lot of forest there. I'll admit I'm not very familiar with the area. You have any ideas?"
> "We're looking for a rabbit, or really, anyone in the area that might have seen a rabbit."
> Rub the back of our head a bit.
> "That's about it, really. No one I talked to seemed to know much about the area."
> "We could do that, yeah. Oh! And if we find a collection of books, that'll probably be a clue too. I found that the gems have tiny writing on them, and from what Patchouli said, it sounds like the gems were created from books."
> "There's no guarantee the books will be from around here, especially if Tewi is responsible. But let's see if we can find someone, fairy or otherwise."
> Continue flying onward and land at the edge of the forest.
> So there's no open land separation between the trees and the walls?
> What is currently in each of the four cardinal directions?
> Can we see anything in the forest we can use as a landmark, like an especially tall tree, or is it just a whole lot of samey leaves from up here?
> Are there any obvious paths into the forest?
> "Well, the lack of paths makes this a bit harder."
> Point to the closest area that looks like a small clearing.
> "That look like a clearing to you? Maybe we should start there."
> "Hmm. Let's keep that place in mind. If there's nothing immediately obvious as a path from the ground, we'll head toward that clearing."
> Land and check the forest for paths inward again.
> If there's no trees immediately below us, land straight down.
>Fly towards the nearest clearing
>And no sign of anything else, presumably? No tracks, or trails, or signs of passes into the wood from there?
>Do any of the clearings look markedly larger than any of the others?
>Fly towards the maybe-pond
>Fly down a little closer then look around.
>Can we see any breaks in the trees that might indicate paths?
>Any tracks or other signs of people passing through?
>Do any of them seem large enough to be used by humanoids?
>Which directions are they facing?
>Land and have a closer look at them.
>Does either seem to have seen appreciably more traffic than other, or show any other telling signs that a person might have passed this way?
Fightest: I'll give that a shot at our next available concentrated light source.
>How capable are we of enhancing our sense of smell?
>"I say we head.... that way."
>Point to the southwest path.
>"Unless something else jumps out at you?"
>If she gives no objection, nor points out anything we're overlooking, take the southwest path.
>How capable are we of enhancing our sense of smell?
>Take a look at the log.
>"Huh. Good catch."
>Walk over to the log and knock on the door.
>"Donated?"
>"Don't need no more! Just doing a recount. How much did you donate last time, and who'd you give it to?"
>"Heh. Don't like her much?"
>"What, your name is Daffodil Pollen, too?"
>"What's yours, then?"
> "Well, have you seen any rabbits go by today, at least?"
> "It's got to do with lots of stolen stuff."
>"Probably?"
>"Did you see any other rabbits at all, though?"
> What do we know of Reiko and fairies?
>"Like, say, one wearing a pink dress?"
> "Oh? And where's the old burned hollow?"
>"Uh... actually, I don't know where that deer path is, either. Don't suppose you could point me in the right direction?"
>"Well, maybe you could open the door and point me in the right direction?"
>If she doesn't actually show any sign of doing this
>"Or maybe just tell me?"
> Look around. Are there any evergreens in the immediate vicinity?
> How is Mystia holding up?
> "There's a lot of places around here where the evergreen isn't."
> Are there any obvious paths into the forest that aren't near or through the evergreeens we spotted?
> "So I should keep on the trail I'm on, then?"
>Clarification: there are evergreens along the path we're on in both directions?
> Does the trail pass straight through this clearing?
>"Do you mean back the way I came? Towards the pond?"
> Does this trail run north-south, then?
>Have a search around the west side of the trail. Can we find anything that might be a well-concealed path?
>What direction is the door to her house facing?
>"Soo... if you wanted to get there, you'd just walk out your door and go left, then?"
>Can we tell which side the door opens on?
>"Left's the side your door is NOT on when you open it to go out."
>"Thanks!"
>Turn to Mystia.
>"Well, west it is, I guess."
>Try to find as clear a spot as we can to begin picking our way through.
>Can we see a large rock anywhere?
>We didn't see a large rock on our way here, did we?
>Can we see any humanoid tracks or other signs of a recent presence here?
>Delay that.
>"Mystia, are you any good at tracking?"
>"I don't suppose you see any sign of someone person-sized having come through this way, in either direction?"
>"Huh. Well, I guess we just keep going then and hope for the best. Oh, and keep your eyes out for that large rock, or the burnt hollow thing the fairy mentioned."
>Head south
>Can we get any sense of what it might be, or at least how large it is?
>How far away is it?
>Can we actually see motion in said brush?
>If we moved closer, would we be able to see it? (Without actually stepping blindly into the brush ourselves)
>If so, cautiously and quietly approach a little
>Otherwise, stand still and listen a bit more
> Stop moving.
> Keep looking toward the creature.
> Take a step back, toeing around with our foot behind us to make sure we don't trip or step on something that could cause us to tumble over.
> Keep a low voice ourselves.
> "Don't know. Move back for your safety."
> Unsheath our trident and slowly bring it in front of us so it is across our body rather than pointing at the creature.
> Can we tell what type of creature it might be?
> Take another step back, then take flight so that we are hovering a new inches off the ground.
> How tall are we compared to the bear now?
> Can we add height to ourselves while floating backwards?
> How long does the heightening process take, say, per inch?
> Keep a low voice.
> "Keep backing up. Stay behind me. I have a plan."
> While speaking, continue floating backward, speeding up a bit.
> Also while speaking, pull out a rice ball (taking a hand off the trident if need be) and hold it in front of us, further out than the trident.
> Frown.
> Wiggle the rice ball a bit while still backing up.
> "Get in a tree. I'll lure it past you."
> Turn around and start flying back along the path at a quick pace.
> While escaping, return the rice ball to our purse.
> How much direct motor control do we have over our wings?
> Fire some danmaku behind us without looking, at about a 45 degree angle toward the ground.
> Slow down and fly upward as well as forward until we're about six feet above the ground.
> Take a quick look. Is there a relatively clear path through the canopy that won't shred our wings?
> Cover our face as necessary and make for that upward escape tunnel, folding our wings in behind ourselves as best we can.
> Nod.
> "Yeah, I'm good. How about you?"
> In which direction was the path headed before we met the bear? South?
> "That you did. I don't blame you a bit. Really, I shouldn't have pushed forward so fast. Would've been better to stop for a few minutes so I could get bigger than it, then scare it off that way."
>By our estimate, how difficult would it have been to just danmaku the bear into submission?
> "If it hadn't noticed us, probably. I'd only need a few minutes. Actually, do you think it's worth trying that now? That path was our only thing even close to a directional lead out here."
>How thick is the canopy? Would flying above where the path is supposed to go lead to anything useful?
>Do we have anything expendable and easily visible to mark our current location and/or path to where we found the bear in case we get lost?
> Begin the process of increasing our height.
> "I can get pretty big, and being bigger and acting intimidating tends to get them to leave you alone. Unless that one is defending kids, in which case we're probably have to fly around it through the canopy and hope we guess correctly on our way back down."
> "Oh."
> Stop the growth process.
> "Forgot something."
> Pull the spare skirt out and put it on.
> Resume the growth process.
> "Talking's kinda limited. Still thinking about the bear. How loud can you be?"
> Did we ever apologize to Mystia for causing a ruckus at her stand with Aya and Iku a couple of months back?
> "Screeching is good. Loud noises should help scare it off too. Especially in conjunction with the size intimidation."
> She did seem pretty aggravated at the time, though.
> "Yes. Though it should only probably be done as a last resort. Now that I think some more, a screech would probably alert those who do not need to know we are coming. So only if necessary."
> How much have we put on so far?
> What we can do with ourselves isn't teachable or transferable, correct? This is presumably why the seeds are so handy?
> "Can't talk much longer. You have ideas? I can listen."
> Sacrifice the breast expansion as necessary to further the growth process.
> "Okay. If you like, you can talk about you too. Don't know lots. Sing, run that stand, have your helper, hate what Aya does. Not much else."
>About how large is our theoretical comfortable max size?
>About how large is our classic chimera form?
>Can we still fly in that form?
>In terms of taking a great deal out of us, is that only a power limiter while the transformation is active, or would it actually have been fairly exhausting by the time we turn back?
>Could we theoretically do a smaller version of that, small enough that it could remain airborne?
>How much headroom is there along the trail, before you start to be among the branches? Is there enough to stay comfortably out of the bear's reach (without also being close enough to a tree it could just scamper up?
>Can seeds of non-identification trick non-visual senses as well? Such as, say, scent?
> Make our way toward that additional foot.
> With the foot tacked on, would we be taller than the bear while it's on its hind legs?
> And presumably adding the look of muscle once we hit that foot would require wing cannibalization? Or could we get away with it while keeping them out?
> "I see. Continue. If you like."
> "It's fine. Who helped? Friends?"
> Nod, if we can spare the effort.
> "Your house. How big?"
> "That large? In the forest?"
> "Okay: Final phase. Can't talk. Can't listen. Sorry. Done soon."
> Focus on a final goal of a one foot increase, and finish the job off.
> Hopefully there isn't too much sensory or perspective skew...
> "There we are. Much better."
> Look to Mystia.
> "How do I look?"
> "Good enough. I'll head back down there and try to scare away our unwanted guest."
> Can we still hear the bear?
> "They will, but I remember that bears can be frightened off by something larger than them acting intimidating toward them. If you're worried about still not having enough size, I'd say our options are limited to waiting forever for me to get bigger, or you sitting on my shoulders."
> Frown.
> "I'd be willing to try to get around it quietly, though, if that was more what you were thinking."
> Have we ever bedded down with any of Gensokyo's bigger names?
> "That could work. Think we could find the path again from up here?"
> Look around. Are there any obvious clearings to the south?
> Point at the clearing we spotted.
> "Want to make for that instead, then? It's something we can see from here, at least, and it's south."
> "All right, let's go for it."
> Start flying toward the new clearing while restoring our body to its normal height.
> Put the skirt away.
> Descend into the clearing. Maybe something will be more obvious from the ground?
> Turn to Mystia.
> "Any fairy houses here that you can see?"
> "You're pretty good at this."
> Walk over to the hole. Is there a door, or anything we can knock on?
> Take out our trident and rap the door lightly with the non-pronged end, then pull it back so it doesn't look as threatening.
> Frown.
> If there are a couple more seconds of silence, tap on the door with the non-pronged end again, a bit harder this time.
> "Hello?"
> "Oh, for crying out loud. How does Reimu do this shit?"
>Sigh
>"Probably."
>Ascend back above the trees
>Do we see any more clearings further to the south of here?
>Do we still have a reasonably good idea where to find that path we flew out of, earlier, or is it completely indistinct beneath the trees?
>Make a firm mental note of the area that trail is in. Try to find something relatively distinctive that we can see from the air and memorize it enough to find it again.
>Then head west and have a look at those clearings.
>Head towards that chimney!
>Fly over and knock on the door
>Kiss the fairy.
>"Heya. Having a nice dream?"
>Boo, she's coherent.
>"Naw, we're just looking for someone. You seen any rabbits in a pink dress?"
>"What'd you think I'd be soliciting, anyway?"
>"You get a lot of them out this way or something?"
>Do fairies have parents?
>How difficult would it be to quickly shrink ourselves down small enough to enter the fairy's house with her?
> "All right, thanks. Go back to bed."
> Turn to Mystia and frown.
> "That does it. Let's just go find the trail again."
> Head back east and keep an eye out for that tall tree with the weird split.
> Stop for a moment, then facepalm.
> "Because that would be a good idea. I've been focused entirely on Tewi, but yeah, we should probably be asking about the hollow instead, huh?"
> Did we actually move?
> "Do we wake her up again, then?"
> Knock on the the door again.
> "Sorry! We have one more question, then we'll really leave."
> "We will. Where's the old burned hollow?"
> Did the first fairy point westward as well?
> Look at Mystia.
> "Guess so."
> Turn back to the fairy.
> "Thanks. Now go back to bed for real this time."
> Start flying west, in the direction the fairy pointed. Keep an eye out for any clearings, or for anything that looks burned.
> Fly toward the nearest one and check it out.
> Look around. Anything burned?
> Swoop down and take a look around from the interior. Don't land, though, no need to get wet.
> Point to the rock.
> "Hey, look. Wonder if that's the big rock on the deer path that one fairy mentioned."
> Fly on over to the rock. Try not to step in the pond or the stream.\
> Once we're at the rock, look around for anything that could be construed as a deer path.
> Fly over to the trail and land on it. Be mindful of the wings!
> Look up and down the trail. Anything noteworthy?
> "She said the old burned hollow was near a deer path with a big rock."
>Which direction does the path lead, as best we can tell?
> "Here's hoping. Let's try this way first."
> Point along the path up northwestward.
> "If we don't see anything soon enough, we can turn around."
> Start heading northwest along the path.
>Keep going for another couple minutes, anyway
>"Well, probably ought to head back and try the other way now, I suppose."
>"Fairies and their flaky directions...."
>Head back to the clearing and follow the trail that led in the other direction
>"Well, this looks a little more like it..."
>"Let me know if you can spot anything."
>Keep going, while keeping our eyes out for signs of people, tracks, or other notable things in the vicinity.
>"Well, the first fairy said Tewi was spotted around here, so let's see if we can find any sign that she came this way. Footprints or whatnot; anything, really."
>Comb the area, looking for tiny details of any potentially relevant sort
>Can we see any path from here to there?
>Does it look like a house, or some other kind of structure? Approximate size?
>About how far away is it?
>What changes of outfit do we have on us at the moment, anyway?
> How long would it take us to turn into a rabbit that would fit properly into the dress we have?
> Call over Mystia
> "Hey, come check this out."
> Gesture towards the structure
> Lower our voice's volume just a little bit.
> "I'd bet that place is pretty important to all this. Certainly doesn't look like your average forest dwelling."
> "Now, we have a couple options here. We could investigate the place as-is, or if we wait a few minutes, I have an Eientei rabbit dress on me, and I could change myself to look like one of their rabbits. My danmaku ability tends to go down the tubes on involved transformations, though, so if things turn south our defense would be almost entirely up to you, at least until I return to normal. Which option would you prefer?"
> How long does it take to come out of rabbit form?
> "Could be, which is why I considered those options. Do you want to try scouting ahead and checking to see who's there and hope she doesn't notice us?"
> "This is true. And I suppose they'd probably be hostile and aggressive regardless of who came through their door. All right, let's just sneak around the place as best we can as we are."
> "That could be helpful. If I need you inside because things turned sour, I'll give you a loud 'Hoy'. I don't expect it'll be a problem, but there's no reason not to plan for it."
> "All right. Let's kick some ass."
> Fly our way through the woods toward the wall. Be mindful of the face and wings, as always.
> Fly over to the nearest window, approaching it from the side so that we can't be seen through it. Try not to make a lot of noise crashing through branches as such, if doing so is necessary.
> How long does it take to cannibalize our wings?
> How long does it take to restore them?
> How does this building compare to our bar in terms of size?
> Begin the process of withdrawing our wings.
> While going through withdrawal, seek out and head toward another window on this wall, approaching it from the side like before.
> Finish drawing the wings in, then flash Mystia a grin and a thumbs-up.
> Sidle along the wall and window up to the opening in the curtain, stopping right before we'd be visible from inside.
> Lean our head toward the opening so we can peek inside.
> Are there any people visible inside?
> If not, lean over a little more to get a better look. Pull back if we do see someone, though.
> Are there any other windows along the wall that we haven't looked at yet?
> Fly back to Mystia.
> Keep a low voice.
> "This is the place, yeah. How much of the conversation at Alice's house did you hear?"
> "It turns out that all of our new-found gems have miniscule writing on them. Don't bother looking, I needed my scope and sharpened eyesight to see it for myself. Patchouli found that the writing came from a mass of books. It would need to be a mass of books, given how much currency had to be replaced. A mass of books that extremely few locations in Gensokyo would possess. We don't know exactly how the replacement happened, but this has been a much better lead than most."
> Point to the window we were just at.
> "That window up there leads into a room with a lot of books and a lot of writing utensils. With the building this big, I'm willing to bet there are even more books and even more writing utensils that we can't see."
> "All right."
> Point to the door.
> "You should probably station yourself near that. I'm going to check out the window near it, then I guess we might as well just try entering."
> "Right, that's fine. As long as you can play goalie, we should be good."
> "Excellent."
> Fly on over to the window past the door, sneaking up on it like the first two.
> Carefully peer in through the window. Pull back out of the window's view if we see anyone.
> Dark, huh? Probably no one in there, then.
> If we can get a better viewing angle through the small opening, get it.
> Head back down to the metal door. Check on Mystia to make sure she's positioned well.
> Gently try to open the door.
> Is there anything noteworthy about the door? Size, signs, anything like that?
> Is there a lock on the door on this side?
> Do we have experience in lockpicking?
> Pull out the necessary tools from the lockpick set for taking on a lock of the shape set into the door.
> Get to work!
> Flash a thumbs-up behind us, then put the lockpick set away.
> Gently open the door.
> Begin the process of restoring our wings. No more windows for them to be accidentally seen through...
> Slowly make our way over to the charcoal brazier and feel the sides of it for temperature.
> Quietly make our way over to that sliding door.
> Peek around the door from the side.
> Peek up and down the hallway, just to be sure no one is around. Also check to see how the hallway ends on both sides - does it come to a stop, or does it make a turn off to another part of the hallway?
> If the floors are paneled with bare wood, they might creak. Probably best to float around, just above the floor, rather than walk.
> Take flight just enough so that we would be hovering about an inch if we stood up straight.
> Float our way into the hallway, toward the first door to the right on the opposite wall, and carefully try to open it.
> Gentle breathing? Like someone is asleep?
> Assuming the door opened quietly, open it two more inches and peer inside.
> A residential area, huh...?
> Gently close the door, then float down the hall toward the left end until we get to the next door along the same wall.
> Gently slide this next door open.
> Yeah, this place was definitely designed to be lived in for non-trivial periods of time.
> Gently close this door, keep floating down the left side of the hallway until we come across the next door in this wall, and gently open the new door.
> How many more doors are on this side of the hallway along this wall?
> Turn around and float toward the door closest to the end of the hallway on the opposite wall.
> Gently open this new door.
> Keep our voice quite low.
> "Hello."
> Look back into the hallway, then back toward the ghost. Keep our voice low.
> "Do you mind if I come in and close this door? Don't want to wake anyone up."
> "Right, of course, introductions. But first, I'll take that as a yes."
> Step into the room and gently close the door behind us, then face the poltergeist.
> "Now then."
> Give a short bow.
> "I am Nue Houjuu, barkeep extraordinaire."
> "I have come in search of a friend. They visited me this afternoon, but I was still asleep, and they left without leaving a message. I've heard they are in this area."
> "There's a story behind why I didn't knock. You can frisk me if you want, I haven't taken anything."
> "The room across the hall from this one is a laundry room. There's a mobile laundry pole in it. The room next to that one has two girls sleeping on a futon in it, one with purple hair, one with brown hair. One of the drawers of their chest is open. You can frisk me, or you can search both rooms and see for yourself that nothing has been taken."
> "Perhaps I should tell you more about why I'm here, and why I'm sneaking around and not waking people up but also not taking their things. This friend of mine is a rabbit in a pink dress. I've heard she was seen in this area very recently. Is she someone familiar to you?"
> "I'm sorry for that, and I hope to clear it up. You see, when my friend visited me this afternoon, while I was asleep, she entered my house and borrowed some very important tools before leaving. And before you ask, since I'm assuming you all here got affected like me and the rest of Gensokyo seems to have been, she didn't take my money. She borrowed other things. Other important things. Normally I don't mind friends borrowing things, but I kinda need these, and the sooner the better, which is why I came here after hearing she was in the area."
> Frown.
> "Why is she hiding from me? I just want my tools back from her. It's not THAT big a deal that she needed to run away and hide."
> "Only if she stole from someone else, or did something else to me that I haven't discovered is her fault yet. But if all she did is borrow my tools, then I just want them back. And to know why she borrowed them. They're not exactly things made for her."
> Frown.
> "Why would I do that? If I tried to fight her I assume you'd come after me, along with those other two sleeping girls and whoever else lives in this place. This place has a big numbers advantage on me. I'd lose any fight I started for sure."
> "But taking a hostage would be quicker and easier than using tricks."
> Thumb at the trident.
> "You see this thing there? Pretty pointy, huh? And you know I've seen the room with those two sleeping girls already. It would have been nothing to just stand over them with this thing right at the neck of one or both of them and then start shouting demands."
> Pantomime holding our trident pointed downward while talking, with a couple of light pantomime jabs thrown in for emphasis.
> "But I'm standing here talking to you instead. They're still fine. Still sleeping away, no harm done, no pointy things at their necks. I haven't even threatened you in any way, and your hands look a bit too pre-occupied for proper combat."
> "Hmm. What if you took me to her, so you could keep an eye on me the whole time just to make sure I didn't try anything funny? Or maybe you'd like to wake up one of your friends and have me explain myself to them first, so you would have a second opinion you know you can trust? I don't really want to wake anyone that we don't have to, but if it helps reassure you about me I'll be glad to do it. They could also help watch me, for what that's worth."
> Give a startled expression.
> "Whoa! Isn't there a quieter way?"
> "I wonder if they'll agree."
> Frown and cover our ears with our hands.
> Walk over to the other side of the kitchen.
> Turn around so we're facing the door, lean up against whatever is behind us, be it counter top or wall, then pull out a rice ball and start eating it, ignoring the noise as best we can. Watch the doorway while eating.
> Raise our voice so we can be heard in the hallway.
> "Hey, I asked her if there was a quieter way to wake people up!"
> Stand up properly and give a short bow.
> "Nue Houjuu, barkeep extraordinaire. Apparently I'm the one from whom our mutual rabbit friend is hiding."
> "I gotta explain? Well where should I start? Let's see, I was asleep when our rabbit friend came by and borrowed some of my tools and now I'd like them back. The fairies directed me out here so here I am. Good enough?"
> "And I insist that weapons are not necessary to talk. If I wanted to fight, wouldn't I have attacked you before you were awake?"
> Offer her some of our riceball if we haven't finished it.
> If we still have some riceball, shrug and continue eating.
> "While we wait, I'm going to assume that y'all got hit too?"
> How quickly can we unsheath our trident?
> "Oh you didn't know? I guess that makes sense living all the way out here. There's no money left in Gensokyo, not even one coin. Someone's pulled off the greatest heist I've ever seen and managed to rob everyone, and believe me I've seen a lot of heists!"
> "Nope, I'm as serious as can be. It's bad, real bad. There's no money anywhere: not Underground, not in the Human Village, not with the Kappa or the Tengu or the Vamparies or in Hakugyokurou. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if there was no money in Hell either."
> Pull out a gemstone.
> "The only upside is that whoever stole all the money was kind enough to drop some of these gems, but they're practically worthless now that everyone has some."
> "So, what was Tewi doing here anyway?"
> Replace our gemstone.
> "Yep, that's the short of it. I can answer any more questions later, but it seems like I'm needed outside. Excuse me."
> Make our way outside.
> To see if that fight can't be calmed down."
> Chuckle.
> "Kana did only ask if I was here to get back at Tewi. Guess she should have asked about anyone that might have come with me."
> Frown.
> "You know, I'd think someone would be more grateful that I didn't stab them in the neck while they were asleep. But so much for 'no weapons', I guess."
> Make our way toward the door.
> "I think most or all of you will want to come with me. It sounds like Tewi will bolt the instant she sees me, if your ghost is to be believed."
> Walk toward the door through which we first entered.
> "Just so I'm clear on this, since you harbored Tewi and your ghost was willing to make a racket in her defense, you have no problems with her breaking into my house and taking my things, but you do have a problem with me breaking into this house and not taking things?"
> "I didn't know you lived here. I had no desire to get you involved, either, which you can see from the fact that nothing of yours has been taken, none of you have been harmed, and I've been completely cooperative with everything you and your ghost have asked."
> Open the door and head outside."
> "But that still leaves the question open of why you seem to think uninvited house entry is okay if it doesn't happen to you, because that's the message I'm getting here."
> "Hey, your ghost claimed Tewi stole from me, not me. But if you insist, we can discuss who's really done wrong later. Anyway, they're on the other side of the building. Shortest distance is a straight line, so I'm flying up and over, if that's okay."
> "Oui, mon capitaine."
> Take flight and casually fly up and over the building to get to the other side.
> Maintain a normal speaking voice, and tilt our head so we're speaking behind us.
> "You two call out for them to stop. Tewi might run away faster if she hears me. Other girl's name is Mystia."
> Float forward a little bit ourselves.
> Raise our voice.
> "Tewi, stop! Mystia, calm down!"
> Is Tewi still visible?
>How far away is she from us, and from Mystia, as well as our relative positions and terrain obstacles in the way
> "We all just want to talk, okay? No running away, no fighting!"
> "Mystia, I'm kinda at crossbow point here! We need to talk this out for a bit!"
> Sigh.
> "Rikako, can I bother you to make sure Tewi won't run away? Because Mystia's right."
> "I would go down there and do it myself, but given the circumstances, well. Just position yourself in the forest to block her escape route."
> Nod.
> "Let up. We all need to talk."
> "Okay."
> Wave our hands to motion that everyone not currently on the roof join us on the roof.
> "This place's residents know why I entered their home without permission."
> Look to Tewi.
> "Now I want to know why you did the same to me."
> Point at Tewi.
> "Hey! Stop!"
>"Someone stop her!"
> "Sorry, Rika!"
> Make a flying beeline for Tewi while unsheathing out trident.
> How far away are we from her?
> Is our purse open?
>Where is Mystia's position and the danmaku Rikako was firing in relation to Tewi's own route?
> What is Tewi's running angle compared to our flight path?
> How much practice do we have using our trident like a throwing javelin?
>Are we capable of firing a dense spread of danmaku in front of where Tewi is running, between her and the trees, and have them move fast enough to block her path before she reaches them?
> Are there any trees close to Tewi that form an imaginary straight line with us which Tewi has yet to run across but will very soon should she stay on her current path?
>Fire a wall/style burst of danmaku ahead of Tewi's path. Give it a little width, but effectively try to cut her route to the trees off and force her aside. If opportunity presents, try to angle this to drive her towards Rikako's shots. But don't worry too much about this latter point, if it interferes with the first objective.
>Try to do this without losing much of our own momentum, and keep closing on her from overhead.
>Did we close the gap between us at all?
>Do we have time for a repeat performance of what we just did before she reaches the trees?
> How far above her are we?
> How close could we get to her in a dive before she reaches the woods?
>Do we think we even have the time/room to throw our trident in front of her path before she reaches the trees?
>Do we have the co-ordination to throw the trident and launch danmaku at the same time? Perhaps if we used the trident as a focus for said danmaku?
>If so, would we be able to angle the danmaku somewhat wide of the trident's own target? Or at least, spread more?
>Is Mystia close enough behind us for her danmaku to catch up to Tewi before Tewi reaches the treeline?
> Are there still trees close to Tewi that form an imaginary straight line with us which Tewi has yet to run across but will very soon should she stay on her current path?
> Do we think we could throw our trident with enough force that it would stick in a tree instead of just bouncing off of it?
> Aim for a tree that would form such a straight line with us, a line that appears in front of Tewi's running path.
> Spear our trident at the tree so that it would hit the tree and stick out at about stomach level.
> Full body tackle Tewi around her midsection.
> Where exactly is the trident relative to ourselves and Tewi?
> Is her head directly in front of our face?
> Did we get both arms around her, as unlocked as they are?
> What effect would a danmaku do at a point-blank range?
> But first, shank Tewi