> "Works. I think that's it, then. Thanks for the help."
> "We're gonna take off. When you can, let Patchouli know that I'll try to meet her where the money is in an hour. Can't guarantee anything, of course, but I'll at least try."
> Smile.
> "Careful there, Little Miss Wings. Hard to dodge the rain."
> "Yeah, it tends to do that. 'Swhy you gotta keep alert."
> Turn to Mystia.
> "Okay, here's what I'm thinking. I'll go off and find Tewi. If you can find someone that can cover temp guard duty until Patchouli and her familiar get there, that'd be great."
> "Yeah. I expect I'll be going back after I'm done with Tewi, unless I run into that wedge."
> Turn back to the gate guards.
> "Catch you two later, perhaps."
> Give Flan another gunwink.
> "Stay dry, Little Miss Wings."
> Take to the air and head upward, keeping an eye out for the wedge.
> Bah, we'll get to it later.
> In which direction was the heretic house from here again? Head that way.
> Swoop down to the building and, if we don't run into an occupant along the way, head for the door where we first entered last night.
> Knock on the door.
> "Quite the solid door you've got there."
> "To talk. Lots of things have changed. Most notably that Tewi apparently doesn't actually need to hide, because she unknowingly completed her duty."
> "'Kay."
> Enter!
> "Don't think so, if you have other stuff to do."
> "Got it. Thanks."
> Head into the indicated room.
> "Turns out you'd fulfilled your obligation the entire time. Figured I should let you know."
> "I ran into the person ultimately responsible for all this. At least, I assume they're the person responsible, since they had all of Gensokyo's money in their basement and my cards in their hands."
> "In terms of what happened to you? You got picked. But lucky you, apparently your instructions were only to introduce the cards to the market. Getting picked did just that since they found their way into the market afterward, so you're all set."
> "Near as I can tell, your obligation is completed. I can't say for sure that your debt is clear, because I don't know if you owed anything else on top of that. But if you've been hiding strictly out of fear of screwing the cards thing up, you don't have to, because technically, you didn't."
> Shrug.
> "I guess this counted. At least, it seemed to. From what I can tell, the person that picked you was working for him too; I'd guess that was his plan the whole time."
>"Basically, he never wanted you to get them to him yourself. He put a few other links in the chain, likely to make it harder to track the theft back to him. Not that it really helped him, since it wasn't by following that trail that I found him."
> Frown.
> "If it was a trick, I could've done something by now, couldn't I?"
> "I'll try. I found the shop this morning with Mystia. It was locked up and closed. Mystia said that was odd, so I picked my way in. Everything in it had been moved. Nothing to be found anywhere, except spaces on the floor where dust hadn't gathered due to objects having sat there, presumably. I went downstairs and found him there, with all of our money, most of his goods, and my cards in his hands."
>"Tried to reason with him, but that didnot work. Tried to freeze him out, but that was taking too long. So I dug my way around his protection and punched him in the head. He's currently unconscious."
>"Tewi, what did he do to you to make you cooperate? I ask because I think he was trying to do the same thing to me, although I took him down before he could. It's not a debt thing; I owed him nothing, though he tried to claim otherwise. So either he's full of bullshit when he says it's a debt thing, or he's pulling some bullshit to create debt where there is none, but I need to know more to determine which it is. So what happened with you?"
>"Well, that makes it sound even more like he's bullshitting his way through this. Especially since that contradicts one of the reasons he gave me for doing all of this."
>"He told me that a monetary system is inherently unfair because different people will attach different value to different objects. A book, for instance, is of little value to one unable to read, but such a person would have to pay the same amount for it as a literate individual, and would get less value that the money she paid for it, and thus be less satisfied with the exchange then the seller. A barter system, he said, doesn't have that problem; if two people have things that they value little but the other values more, they can trade those things and both walk away equally satisfied. But from what you said, he got you with a system of objective value, not subective value like he claims to want. He said you didn't pay enough, but in a system like what he claims to want, there is no 'enough', because there is no set value for anything."
> "Maybe. Might just be a difference between me and others, though. I'd rather fight until I couldn't fight anymore than submit."
>"Well, hopefully I won't have to find out for myself. He's being kept asleep by a friend of mine, and hopefully, all of this will be over with by the time he wakes up."
>"Well, I couldn't actually return the money, and I still haven't fixed what made all this possible in the first place, so no, it's not done yet. What I really need is to talk to the mountain gods, but the tengu've been dicks throughout this whole thing, so I figured I'd check in on you first."
> "What, you too?"
> "Oh, I thought you meant something more recent than that. They've been in fine form these past couple of days, refusing to actually let someone fix this problem and get their money back because of some territorial bullshit."
> "Out of curiosity, what did you buy from him that theoretically appreciated in value because you got more out of it than expected?"
> "And that would presumably apply to everyone that's ever bought something from him."
> Frown.
> "Almost sounds like he needs to be shut down permanently, for everyone's sake."
> "You don't think she'd have what it takes to finish the job if it came to that? She seemed pretty lethal last night."
> "So we need to break whatever he has going on in his basement protecting his money, and then either break his spirit or break his spine. Either way, we don't have a lot of time to waste. Is there anything else you know that might be useful?"
> "Well. How did he do it, then, I guess?"
> Frown.
> "That sounds like what he tried to do to me. He started talking about all the information he had given me, and how I had ripped up his floor to get to him, and I had a bizarre sinking feeling."
> Sigh.
> "Makes me glad I knocked him out before he could go any further. Though now I wonder if he could be stopped just by being gagged or some such."
> "Did he tell you to do anything other than 'introduce my cards to the market'?"
> "And did he give any instructions for how to get them?"
> "Yeah, you do. The problem is that he doesn't believe himself technically responsible for ordering theft, because he never explicitly stated it. I'm willing to bet he didn't explicitly ask the person who picked them from you either, even though he knew full well how that person would go about things."
> "I'll ask them at some point. Can I assume you want to stay when I leave?"
> "Oh, okay. Actually, if you're going home, we could really use Eirin's help looking into the state of the money, if you wouldn't mind. He's not in the shop right now, so as long as she avoids the Myouren Temple you wouldn't risk sending her to the same fate."
> "Thanks, I appreciate it. If she needs motivation, tell her that this is a guy that's screwed with your mind once already, and apparently could do it again, both to you and Reisen if what you say is true, just by getting within conversation distance."
> "Great. I'll be sure to let whoever's guarding the door know that she's to be allowed in."
> "That it, then?"
> "All right. Let's get out of here."
> Head back out into the front room.
> "Yeah, we're headed out to take care of this mess."
> Look back and forth between the pots.
> "You do know they're both probably hard at work, right?"
> Look to Tewi, then back to Kana, then shrug with a small grin of our own.
> "Just checking."
> "Give them our regards. Y'know, after they're over wanting to throttle you."
> Head back outside.
> Step outside.
> "I asked her about it last night. Apparently it's pretty fun."
> Grin.
> "Doesn't bother me. She doesn't live with me, after all. Seems to fit the poltergeist mode of existence, though. She found what she likes to do, so she just does it."
> Take flight ourselves and head back to the Scarlet Devil Mansion gate.
> Is the wedge visible?
> Can we alter our hearing so we go deaf without irreversibly damaging our hearing?
> Swoop back down to the two gate guards.
> Was it still pretty far away?
> "Hey. Got some new important information for anyone heading to the culprit's house. Apparently he can remind you of past purchases you've made from him, and use this reminder to make you feel like you still owe him for them. Once he's done that, he can make you do whatever he wants to make up for this fictitious new debt - with, of course, no guarantee that he won't just manipulate you again when he needs to."
> "Yeah. Anyone that's bought something from him needs to stay away if they can. Or maybe just plug their ears. Hopefully that'll be enough. I'll head over to his shop and warn those that are there already."
> "All right. I'm off. Best of luck to all of us."
> Take flight and head back toward the part of the forest where Rinnosuke's shop is. If we see the wedge headed our way or in the nearby vicinity, however, let's chase after it.
> Didn't Flan say Koa was there?
> Enter.
> Grin.
> "Oh ho! So now the tengu decide it worth their time to get involved!"
> "Well, the thing is, there's been an internal emergency, and my borders, uh, I mean, my ability to help people with girls on their backs has been closed. I'd like to undo those ropes for you, but it can't be helped. I'd be glad to listen to whatever information you have and then send you back home empty-handed, though."
> Look up at Koa.
> "If one of the tengu are already here, the black-haired voyeur probably won't be too far behind. Feel free to keep her as a pet too. I don't know how Guard Doggie feels about this one, but I know she's close with the other one. Maybe domesticating a few of their people will knock some sense into them on the whole."
> Look back down at Hatate and frown.
> "You really don't know, huh? I guess Guard Doggie wouldn't have bothered to say anything. She probably wasn't even programmed to think this way. But I know you're a journalist, so you probably have a better appreciation of Gensokyo on the whole, rather than just what's your territory versus what isn't."
>"No. The mountain gods may be able to fix everything, but your people told me to fuck off. The tengu are preventing me from even talking to the ones who could best work to reverse what was done, and they're really being dicks about it, too."
>But do they let their own up freely? Let's find out, ideally without it being apparent that's what we're doing. Just make it sound like a natural part of the conversation. With Hatate indisposed, this may give us an opportunity.
>"I bet they don't even let their own go up unchallenged, do they? They probably even give you shit."
> "It's not your fault per se. Not you specifically, anyway. But, well, perhaps this is better explained in story."
> Walk closer to the tengu on the ground while talking.
> "I don't know if your people noticed, but everyone's money was replaced by gems. Not just yours, everyone's. So I've spent all of yesterday and today searching around for clues as to who's responsible. I'm a businesswoman, I know full well what effect this will have on Gensokyo's economy. But getting everyone's money back is hard to do when everyone's been victimized. Doesn't leave very many places to look, only tons of people to ask. Of course people will say whatever they know and help in whatever way they can, because they want their money back, right? And throughout yesterday and today, I've been getting help from all those people. Everywhere I've gone. I've been helped by the Myouren Temple. The human village. The kappa village. The goddesses at the foot of the mountain. The Earth Spirit Palace. The rabbit house in the Bamboo Forest. The outer world kids. The red-white shrine maiden. The green-white shrine maiden. The black-white witch. The blonde puppeteer. The Scarlet Devil Mansion. The ferrywoman of the dead. The swordswoman of the netherworld. A band of celestials that happened to come down to the surface for some training. I even found some heretics that helped me out. Everywhere I went, people helped, often without question. Everywhere."
> Squat down while balancing on the balls of out feet to get a close look at Hatate's face. Fold our hands together in front of us and grin.
> "Everywhere. Except...for one place. One place was not only decidedly unhelpful, they were actively detrimental. They impeded an investigation into why their money was missing, an investigation that has yielded fantastic results, as much as it has not concluded. Can you guess what place that might be?"
> Frown again, then shrug, stand back up and turn to Koa.
> "I guess that's that, then, if they can't admit when they're the problem. If the doctor from Eientei comes by, let her through. She's with me on request. I'm gonna go check on Patchouli and relay some important info I recently learned. Then we can set into figuring out how to redistribute everyone's money."
> "Oh really now? Neat. What's it say?"
> "...Actually, you know, I think I know exactly what you mean. That would certainly explain some things. If I can figure out how to put it back together...huh."
> Recall that dream: Where were we when the sword was whole, aside from underground?
> What about the part after underground? We were somewhere in a forest.
> "It does. Be back in a bit."
> Head downstairs.
> Eh, why not?
> Float over to the nearest one and try to reach out to touch it.
> Shoot. Oh well.
> Head back upstairs to find Koakuma again.
> "Gonna head out. Before I go, though, have you personally ever had any dealings with this guy?"
>"You've just been the go-between there, though, right? Patchy was making the purchase; you were just doing the legwork. I don't think that's likely to be something he could use against you."
>"Okay, see you later."
>Exit and head for Ichiro's.
> Float over, above the puddle, to a window to check out what's going on inside.
> Enter the store.
> "Thanks."
> Come in properthe and close the door behind us.
> "I came by earlier, but you were watching her work on something, so I left to take care of some other stuff. Did she go home for the day?"
> "Oh neat. I wonder if I can get in on that."
> Cross our arms and give a slight frown.
> "But I'm not here for her. For why I'm here, it's good she's not around."
> "All right."
> Take on a slightly softer voice. We don't want to sound threatening or accusatory.
> "So I've come to understand you've had recent business in this village with rabbits and spellcards. What's up with that?"
> "I'd be surprised if you didn't know already. You are aware those cards didn't belong to her, right?"
> "Well, they weren't. They were mine."
> "Yeah, I heard. And as luck would have it, they made their way from him to the last place they needed to go, their target destination from when they were first picked from me."
> "Well, there is one other thing I'm curious about. Morichika mentioned obtaining a list of prices for precious gems some time ago. Did he get that from you?"
> Frown.
> "That's precisely what I'm afraid of. When did this happen, and what did you get for it?"
> Raise an eyebrow.
> "You did it as a favor? Did he ever return it?"
> "Interesting, very interesting...so if you saw him again, it wouldn't be any particular problem, would it?"
> "What if he was already here in town?"
> Uncross arms.
> "Well...that would imply he came here of his own accord. Or conscious."
> "A lot more than that. Now, I've been around a whole lot today, so I've forgotten at this point who knows and who doesn't. Do you know, at this point, that he's responsible for the missing money?"
> "Okay. Well, yeah. It was him. Incidentally, this is what he wanted that precious stone price list for. He needed market value for proper jewel-for-money exchanges. He was going to use the inherent energy of me in my cards to transform Gensokyo's economy as a concept - all currency would vanish for good, and it would be entirely based around bartering. Now, I don't know how anyone else would react, but I gotta admit I might've lost my cool a little bit at learning my cards and money were stolen so they could both be used to rob me for good. So he's kinda sorta slightly less conscious than he was 24 hours ago."
> Smile.
> "You wouldn't be the first. He told me himself and I've heard about this sort of thing from an intellectual and I still have a hard time believing it myself. It's a fairly long explanation of a story. At this point, though, I'm wondering if you and Kirisame mightn't join me at the Myouren Temple, where we currently have him resting, hopefully for a long while. One of the few things I haven't yet figured out how to do is stop him for good, but you two present an interesting opportunity to at least disable him for a while. And, well, you two would know him much better than we would, and we'll take anything we can get that might have the slightest chance of helping."
> "It'd be best if it didn't need to come to that again. But no guarantees."
> "It's...a bit outlandish, I understand. But it appears that Morichika has the ability to retroactively add debt onto prior exchanges where he was involved, depending on the use you got out of whatever he gave you. He can somehow use this retroactive debt to...I'm not even sure how to describe it, if it's some sort of weird guilt trip or coercion, or is outright mind control, but he can make you repay the favor to compensate for the debt he more or less arbitrarily decided you owe. I'm wondering if this will work in reverse. He used that price sheet of yours to great effect, far more than I imagine you could have thought would be done with it, AND he's got that outstanding favor with you. Not to mention that he's gotten more out of my cards than I imagine Kirisame would have anticipated. I'm wondering if he has to obey his laws of debt in both directions. The two of you might be able to cast some debt-based influence over him."
> "If you like, I can dig up several witnesses more trustworthy than me that can confirm at least one, if not more than one, aspect of what I have told you. Some would be handier to get than others, but there are a fair number of them. In terms of ease of access, the fire woman from the bamboo forest can confirm Morichika has the money, and Byakuren can confirm both that and his stated plans in terms of what to do with it. Or we can travel to his shop so you can see it for yourself. I have a guard stationed there from the Scarlet Devil Mansion, but I'm sure I can get you in without a problem."
> "Please do. I think we'll be stopping at Kirisame's first, though. Hopefully that won't be a problem."
> Admire the store while waiting for him to return.
> "You got it."
> Step back outside, umbrella at the ready, and head on over to the Charms shop. Make sure Ichiro gets around that large puddle, though; help him if he needs it.
> Head to the Charms shop!
> "Investigations have turned up some new information into how Morichika pulled this off. I think it's time to a fuller story, because you may actually be able to help fix everything. It's not a guarantee, but it's an intriguing new possibility."
> "I think you should go to the Temple with us. Long story short, by his own standards, due to that recent trade, he's endebtted to you. You may be able to use that against him."
> Smile and wink back at Ichiro.
> Bring our voice down equally low.
> "It's fine. Takes a lot to get to me."
> "Yes, let's. I suspect the two of you will want as much of a scope of the situation as I can provide."
> Assuming no Kirisame objections, leave the store.
> "Myouren Temple. He's in a guest room there right now. Not sure if he's still unconscious or not, but either way has its advantages."
> Start heading back toward the Temple.
> "If he's still out, then I'll be sorry for wasting your time. But it's not a guarantee, not by a long shot. He'd been out for a while before Byakuren got him here."
> "I think I could go for one later, if time allows. But that can come later."
> "So this all begins with Morichika's obsession with exchange and disgust for a currency-based system. I'm pretty sure I don't need to elaborate on that, since you two likely know about it far better than I do."
> "Right. Well. I've consulted with the librarian at the Scarlet Devil Mansion about this issue. Apparently his case is a specific instance of a general possibility. It seems that a person can become so infatuated, so obsessed with an idea, that they can actually start changing reality around through their fanaticism. She went so far as to use the term 'insane'. In Morichika's case, his obsession with the supposed beauty of the exchange eventually led him to believe he was able to draw energy from exchanges in which he was a part. And this obsession grew and grew until he actually started being able to do that, despite it normally being not just impossible, but a completely ludicrous idea. Even now we can still laugh at it and disbelieve it, but there's no denying the evidence that lies in the jewels that replaced everyone's money."
> "To put it as simply as I can, he wants it and believes it to be true so badly that it's actually becoming true. Apparently this is an actual thing. I have no idea how or why. But it's what we're facing."
>"It is very similar to faith, similar enough that the mountain god apparently mistook it for an act of faith."
>"Speaking with said god is a good idea, of course, but the tengu are a bunch of assholes and won't let me up, so I'm having to look elsewhere."
>"Well, I haven't had a good way in; I imagine they're keeping track of their own. Although I did recently catch a break in that area. Problem is, there may be more to getting in than just being a tengu. They may want some form of identification, or a password, or something, and I don't want to go in until I'm sure I have what I need. I'm going to look into that, although there's another lead I want to check out first. But before any of that, I thought I should look into keeping Rinnosuke from causing any more problems."
> "Anyway, one of the things I've learned is that Morichika is somehow capable of coercing people that have done business with him in the past to do further favors from him. I'm not sure quite how it works, if it's magic or faith or just simple mind controllishness, but he'll start talking about past purchases you've made, and how you've gotten a lot of mileage out of them, and suddenly you'll feel like you didn't pay him enough for what you got given all the use you've gotten out of them. He has already successfully inflicted this on at least one individual, which is why we have come as close to a so far unseen disaster as we have come, and he also tried to inflict it on me. Thankfully for my sake I put him down before he could really get going, but it was not a pleasant feeling."
>"Now, if it actually is debt-related, then you two might be able to pull the same trick on him. And if it's not, well, that would expose what he's saying as bullshit."
> "Yeah, I imagine not."
> "Before we head in, I should also say where all of this was headed. Morichika wants to change this world. He wants to get rid of currency entirely, and introduce an economy based entirely around exchanges. One where people could exchange literally anything. Physical, mental, emotional, you name it. You could exchange age for looks, or happiness for intelligence. Aside from the exchange energy he gathers, he needed Gensokyo's current economy to complete the exchange for the new economy. He also needed the essence of a shapeshifter, to complete the actual change. As luck would have it, he got that this morning, in the form of a pile of spellcards."
> "It must be. I asked him how he felt about having to steal to get this far, and he said he was over it. I asked him what he would do when it got out that he was responsible and maybe people would refuse to make any transactions with him again out of disgust, and he said he was willing to live that way. He is dedicated, if nothing else."
> "Well, ultimately, what this means is that, by his own rules, he's indebted to you two. He got far more mileage out of the jewel price list exchange and the spell card exchange than I am sure either of you thought possible."
> "I can't guarantee it'll work. But it's the best opportunity I think I've seen all day."
> Open the door and gesture inside.
> "I'll keep you in the rain no longer. Welcome to Myouren Temple, gentlemen."
> Head on inside and close the door behind us.
> Where was Byakuren again?
> Put down the umbrella away from the designated shoe area, then head over to the shoe area and remove our shoes and store them as proper.
> "Let's go see what we have, shall we?"
> Head back toward the room where Rinnosuke was, though slow up and listen carefully when we get close and are still out of sight. Hold a hand up when we start slowing as a signal that we're slowing.
> Huh.
> Is there any obvious sign of where people might have moved?
> Is Byakuren's sleep-inducing medicine still visible somewhere?
> Sneak up on that sitting room, listening closely again.
> Put up another hand and stop.
> Listen a little bit more.
> Look back at Ichiro and shake our head.
> Walk into the room.
> "So where's the guest of honor?"
> "All right, so we got here in time. That's good to know, even if it messes a bit with why these gentlemen are here. But while I'm thinking about it..."
> Turn to Mystia.
> "You still dislike Aya? I remember you being pretty steamed that other time."
> Have a seat wherever is appropriate.
> "Patchouli's assistant already caught a tengu trying to get in. It's the brown-haired one that pisses Aya off a lot. I'd be surprised if Aya herself wasn't far behind, now that the tengu know what's down there. The devil familiar might not object to some help for fending off future inquisitive types, if she already has one prisoner."
> "Yeah. For that reason and because I think you'd probably be the fastest of everyone there that could get back here, in the event something important happens. Plus you can relay the info that the Bamboo Forest doctor is to be allowed in to help, since I can't remember if the devil familiar knows or not."
> "Sure."
> Turn to Byakuren.
> "Thanks."
> Have a sip or two.
> Look over to Byakuren.
> "They've heard plenty from me. You wanna tell them what you've seen and remember from the library?"
> We still have a rice ball or two, don't we? Let's dig into one.
> "What about the ways Patchouli listed that this sort of thing could be dealt with?"
> "Yeah, about the beating him at his own game thing. I've learned from Tewi that he can apparently dig up information on past uses of something he traded to you, and depending on how much you've used it, he can retroactively add debt onto you, because you got more use out of the item than originally intended. He can use that debt to make you do him favors through some sort of bizarre coercion. It might even be a form of mind control, I'm not entirely sure."
>"Maybe. I'm not convinced it's what he says it is, though. The whole 'not an equivilant trade' thing seems to contradict his reason for preferring a barter system."
> "Regardless, I'm currently guessing that, if those are rules of trade debt he can impose on others, then they should apply to him as well. He has gotten as far as has he thanks to two seemingly-innocuous trades with our two guests; by his own rules, he is indebted to them for the extra mileage he got out of what they gave him."
> "Maybe we could get him to do something that violates his faith. Like spend some of the money currently sitting in his basement. Or, since he is powered by what he perceives as the inherent inequality of exchange, we get him to trade something for another thing that is basically the same thing."
> "We might not even need tricks, if we can just make him do it with that debt power. "
> How did Patchouli mention the sword's power compared to what Rinnosuke was doing again?
> But she didn't elaborate?
> "Right, and I'll admit that's a fairly big 'if'."
> "But there might be one other thing. I haven't decided yet how much I want to pursue it, given he sold me half of it and this could tack onto my fictitious debt..."
> Carefully pull out the pieces of the sword again. Make sure the side of the blade with the writing is visible.
> "Patchouli got this translated. As best it could be, anyway. Apparently it more or less means 'Do as I say', but in a more commanding context, like 'Yield and obey me'."
> "Well, when Patchouli gave it a look-over last night, she said it had a power similar to what Morichika has used to pull off his stunt. And one of the goddesses of the mountain did strongly suggest that Morichika's faith could be defeated by another faith of greater magnitude."
> Did Shizuha give greater credence to a generic faith of greater magnitude or faith in a concept that naturally cancelled out Rinnosuke's faith?
> "I'm not sure. I'm willing to put stock in what Patchouli has to say, though. And it's strange, because i had an incredibly vivid dream last night, where I had this sword, and it was whole. And I ruled over the entire oni village with it. Ordered the Devas into submission and everything. It was very much a 'yield and obey me' situation. I don't normally put much stock in dreams, but I remembered it really clearly after I woke up, much more so than normal."
> "S'pose that's true. He's probably got enough to have his way with me even if I didn't do something meaningful with this handle."
> "...Maybe. The end of the dream had me somewhere in the forest. Southwest. Waaaaay southwest. And the sword went back and forth between broken and whole. I don't know what's out there, but I can't imagine the sword showed me that part of the forest because it wants to rule over a bunch of trees."
> "Even further southwest than the southwest where we traveled. I'll probably use where we went as a starting point."
> "Guess I'll be finding out at some point."
> "Anyway, it looks like these are our best options, barring Patchouli or Eirin producing something while they're working on the immediate money problem over in his basement. Unfortunate that it's resulted in people being dragged around that didn't need to be, but I guess we're better off together and not needing to be than not together and needing to be."
> "At this point? I'm sorry to say I don't know. This entire day has been a rather large time crunch; I hadn't planned for having time to sit out, think, and even be able to investigate a few unknowns, like this sword here. I brought you here figuring there would be something obvious that needed doing, but...I guess there isn't. Unless either of you wants to take the hike to the forest in this weather to check out how things are going there."
> "Oh yes, I'll be back at some point. Beyond this sword and checking up on the store progress, the only thing I can think of that I want to do up here is find out what the hell is up with that black wedge in the sky."
> "If it will actually get remotely close to me without trying to run me over, I'll try to get its attention. Maybe take a swipe or two at it if I need to."
>"I'll try."
>"Mystia, could you relay a message to Kourindou for me? I think we should keep everyone informed of what I learned about Rinnosuke's capabilities, but I want to look into this sword as soon as I can."
> "I think that's what can be done now, then. Anyone else have any ideas or sentiments to volunteer?"
> Look over to Byakuren.
> "If you have stuff to ask, go right ahead. You'll always be better at thinking on the personal level than I'll be. I think Mystia and I should head out, to gather more details and keep tabs on those trying to restore everyone's money."
> "Great."
> Look over at Mystia.
> "Ready to roll out?"
> Take a last sip or two of ours, if it's not gone already.
> Stand back up.
> "Oop. Right."
> Carefully pick up and stow away the sword pieces.
> "All right. I don't expect he'll wake up before I get back. But just in case, if he starts talking, andany of you start feeling guilty or nervous, get away from him. Block your ears if you have to. I've no idea how quickly he can work, but there's no sense in giving him a greater chance."
> Give a beckoning gesture to Mystia.
> "Let's rock."
> Assuming no objection from anyone, head back to our shoes.
> Retrieve and put our shoes back on, then retrieve our umbrella.
> "Okay. One more thing I didn't want to say in front of Byakuren."
> Head to the door.
> "The devil familiar wants to keep her current crow tengu as a pet."
> Grin.
> "But I bet she wouldn't mind sharing if she and you caught a second one."
> "Well, I understand that pets need to be fed and sheltered and bathed. Might need to be groomed and vaccinated too."
>"And do be sure you keep the current pet contained. She may just be my ticket up the mountain, so I'd rather she not get away."
> Head outside.
> "All right, let's do this. Best of luck. Make sure to keep this place posted if anything important happens."
> "Not sure, to be honest. Where I return first will depend on what I find. I'd suggest stationing yourself at Kourindou, returning here to report anything important, and staying here if everyone's money is returned. I'll find you from there."
> "Take care. Give Patchy my regards."
> Take flight ourselves, shielding ourselves from the rain with the umbrella, and head southwest, back toward the heretic house.
> Keep an eye out for that flying wedge. If it's close to our flight path at any time, fly toward it instead.
> Sure, let's pick up the pace and head west.
> What's on the ground to the west from here, anyway?
> Full speed to intercept this thing, and let's get ready to shoot at it when we get close to it.
> Full-speed fight, aimed upward, trying to intercept its path based on how we've observed it circling.
> Quickly, pull out our trident and hold it out to the side in one hand, while firing some basic talisman danmaku straight up into the air with our other. Not too much, just enough to draw attention.
> Wait it for a few more seconds to see if it comes back around.
> Grip the trident in both hands in front of us in a defensive position, and give the wedge a few seconds to turn back around toward us.
> If it's circling around us instead of coming at us, let's get in its flight path again.
> Quickly fly in the direction needed to cut off its current flight path, assuming it keeps following the same circle. Maintain our current height, unless it is now significantly above or below us as well.
> Well, if it's trying to circle, it'll eventually head behind us.
> Take a hand off the trident temporarily shoot some more talismans into the air above us (avoiding damaging the umbrella in the process). If they're brightly colored, all the better.
> Start flying away from it so that hopefully we'll intercept its path back behind us. Keep a watch behind us to see how it reacts.
> Put the trident away.
> This thing has eventually got to do something other than circle us, especially if it's slowing down. Give it a minute or so to appreciably change its circling pattern.
> Make a mental note where it is right now, then start quickly flying to that spot. Ignore where it goes when it leaves that spot; we're not trying to follow it. Let's let it continue it's circular flight path, because that should bring it back around to that point.
> When we get to that spot, reassess the thing's current position.
>Point down. See if we can get her to land.
> How hard is it raining at this point?
> Are we still in a position where it would circle around and fly past us again?
> Is it still moving far faster than we ever could?
> Would we have long enough to close our purse and fold up our umbrella before it got here?
>If not, point down again, and also fire danmaku downwards. Try to signal it to land.
> Does the umbrella have a straight handle or a hook handle?
> With the umbrella folded up, could we grip it in our teeth?
> How long has it seemed to take to make one complete loop?
> How loose is the neck hole of our top?
Okay, gonna do this on the next pass.
> Zip up our purse.
> Brace ourselves for the wind and air pressure when the jet passes by again, but try to get a better glimpse at the woman inside.
> ...the hell? Could she really be in there?
> How are we carrying our purse?
> How sensitive are the points where our wings connect to our back?
> Do we think we could reasonable trace the circular flight path the machine is taking and fly that same path ourselves?
> How long is the umbrella folded up? A couple feet? Or small enough to fit in the purse and still be able to close the purse?
> How are we carrying the trident sheath?
> How tight is the trident sheath with the trident in it?
> How high do our stockings run up our legs?
> Take whatever time we need to stabilize from the force of the passing machine.
> Once we feel stable, fold up the umbrella. Spend a couple of seconds shaking it off below us, though no more than five or so.
> Brace for a rather icky, uncomfortable feeling.
> Stick the umbrella, pointed up, up through the bottom of our dress across our back. Try to maneuver it so it passes between two of the wings joints on the same side of our back, going from the center of our back to our side. Once we can tell it has passed between two of those joints, stick the handle of the umbrella into the stocking of the leg that is on the opposite side of our body of the set of wings through which the point of the umbrella passed. Between being stuck in the stocking and passing through two of our wing joints, hopefully we should be able to keep it relatively attached to ourselves without having to hold onto it with our hands.
> Get into a proper flying position and start flying along the estimated arcing flight path of the machine as quickly as we can, given the umbrella is lodged where it is.
> Is it level with us or below us?
> Drift slightly above it.
> When it's about to pass under us, try to grab onto the front of it with both hands and hold on with everything we've got.
> Can we see anything?
> Keep propelling ourselves forward like we're flying at top speed under our own power. This should slightly alleviate the strain on our arms and grip.
> Try to slide-curl our hands across the front of the machine so the front of it is digging into our palms rather than our fingers. Don't let go to do this, though.
> While trying to steady our grip like this, look into the glass dome.
> Okay, maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.
> Return her look with an open-mouthed 'What the hell did I just get myself into?' look of our own.
>Point down again.
>Point down again. Try to get her to land.
>"Land this thing!"
> Do not point at anything. The last thing we want to do right now is let go without preparing for a dismount.
> Did she at least appreciably react? Maybe she can kinda-sorta lip read.
> Is there anything protruding up on the machine behind us, aside from possibly the glass dome?
> Could we fit between them?
> Keep up the flying forward effort.
> Let go and start trying to float up, finagling our horizontal movement to move through the fins in the back while assuming the jet does indeed not make any sudden movements.
> Take a few moments for the world to stop spinning.
> Fly back down to the ground, pulling our umbrella back out and opening it up again in the process. This descent doesn't need to be nearly as fast as our previous flights.
> Look up in search of Sanae's machine while catching our breath.
> How are we feeling, aside from wet and cold and hungry and miserable? Good enough to get back up in the sky?
> How many of those rice balls do we have left?
> Make our way back into the sky.
> Pull one out and start eating it. Best we can do for the oncoming headache.
> Get up high enough to be relatively close to the jet's height, then look around for it.
> Sigh. Thanks a bunch, Sanae, you're the best.
> Come back down to a more normal flight height, then start heading southwest.
> Head for that smoke.
> Maybe they have something that can make us slightly less miserable...
> Swoop on down to that house. If there's no one around outside, pound on the same door as last time.
>"Had an encounter with that wedge thing that's been flying around. I still don't know what the hell it is, but I did see that Sanae's inside it."
> Enter.
> "There's been a flying wedge machine thing high in the sky recently. Really loud, really fast. Nearly ran me over the first time I saw it."
> "...Actually, yeah, if you wouldn't mind. I can take a few minutes."
> "That'd be great. Thanks. Just point me to the robe and a changing room and I'll take care of the rest."
> "Got it. Be right back."
> Follow the given directions to the bathroom.
> Might as well.
> Retract dem wings, then change into one of Rika's robes.
> Is there any place we could sanitarily wring our dress out? Don't want to mix dirty clothes water with cleaning water.
> Wring it out in the washtub, then take it to the kitchen.
> "Sure."
> Drape our stuff across the indicated bar, doing the best we can with the shoes.
> "How heavy is the table? If you need to watch the food and can give me a few minutes, I could probably get it myself."
> How long can we stretch our arms out?
> "Oh, all right. Whenever you're ready, then."
> Give a quick longing look at the stove and its glorious heat, then follow the ghosty.
> "Okay."
> Sit down and soak up as much warmth as possible while waiting.
> "Yeah, some speedy noisy thing. Had wings and a glass dome, and a girl I know was sitting inside. I'm guessing she was in control of the thing."
> Might as well dig in. Try not to behave too ravenously, we're already unkempt enough.
> "It was very much physical metal. It certainly seemed like a machine, but I'll admit I'm not an expert. It might've been pure machine or magic. Hell, for all I know, it might've been both."
> "Well, the girl inside is from the mountain. I'd be very surprised if they nicked stuff from you instead of just making the kappa do whatever."
> Have another spoonful or two of that stew.
> Shrug.
> "Like I said, not my strong area."
> Have a bit more of the stew.
> "Wow. I should break into houses in the middle of the night more often if this is how things work out."
> Frown.
> "Do you think that machine is unsafe, or what?"
> "Oh. So it's more a sense of accomplishment, then? Doing it while limiting your resources?"
> "I guess."
> More food!
> Oh boy. Is this conversation really about to happen?
> "Well, that aside, I actually didn't swing by because of the machine. I came by to find out what's southwest of here."
> "Hmm, okay. I ask because I think there may be something related to this out there."
> Pull out the broken sword handle and blade carefully. Keep a hold on them unless there is enough room to set them on the table and they're not too dirty.
> Turn to Kana.
> "Please."
> Turn back to Rika.
> "Well, to be honest, that may be because the sword's apparently not even from Gensokyo."
> "Yeah. Apparently the writing on the blade isn't any language we have here. Celtic, or something. Some outside world language."
> "Did you ever happen to hear why the fairies said the trees were weird? I wouldn't pt it past fairies to not make a connection between trees and swords, but maybe we can."
> Dig into the second bowl.
> "Guess I have to."
> Frown.
> "And here I was hoping I'd had enough of asking for help from fairies for this incident."
> Shake head.
> "Sorry, it's nothing against you. It's more than I had before I came here."
> "Don't worry. You have more than enough for me right here right now."
> Keep on eating.
> "About time something really went my way these past two days, I guess."
> So how are we feeling overall now?
> "In all seriousness, though, I've been running around as a part of a greater organization of people, so as much as I'd like to stick around for a while longer, I will probably need to pick up and search out those weird trees fairly soon. Though anyone here is welcome to come with, if they want. No idea what we'd find out there."
> "Oh, well, all right. I can tell you, whatever you do, if you find that machine and it's moving around, don't try to grab onto it. I did that and I got to show up on your doorstep looking like something a cat dragged in as my reward."
> Nod.
> "Also, the girl inside is from the shrine at the top of the mountain, but the tengu have completely cut off access there. I have no idea which kappa were involved, if any, so you'll probably end up wandering aimlessly through their village if you head out that way."
> "Here's hoping."
> "All three of you are going, then?"
> "Shame. Could have used someone to watch my back."
> "Probably. It's why I didn't press the issue. But it's better have someone you don't need than to need someone you don't have, no matter how small the odds you'll actually need someone are, so I figured is was worth asking anyway."
> Nod.
> Did we actually polish off that second bowl? If not, do so.
> "That was great. Gotta say, for how unhelpful the tengu have been these past two days, every poltergeist I've come across has been that much more actually helpful."
> Raise an eyebrow.
> "Uh, okay..."
> "Whoa! Okay, yes, that was very unhelpful every time you did it."
> "So what now? You gonna stick around a while longer or head out soon?"
> "Oh."
> Frown.
> "It's been a long day."
> Glance over at the rack. Can we tell how our stuff is doing?
> Point down at the dish.
> "Should I take care of this?"
> "All right."
> Stand up.
> "I think I'd best get going, then. I want my money back, after all."
> Hmm. How sore are we at this point?
> "I appreciate the offer. Would it still be on the table if I took care of business to the southwest first? Not sure I want to wash up right before traipsing through an unknown part of the woods, looking for who knows what."
> "I'm hoping not take several hours regardless."
> "What do you want me to do with the robe after I change back?"
> "All right. Be right back."
> Retrieve our normal outfit, retreat to the laundry room, and change back into our regular attire, reforming wings once we're done.
> Enjoy the warmth for a few more moments.
> Drape the robe over the washtub, then return to the kitchen.
> Wait for a moment in the conversation we can interject without it being a rude interruption.
> "Okay, I'm heading out. Hopefully I'll be coming back with a whole sword somehow."
> Nod.
> "Hopefully."
> Watch Kana with a slightly curious expression.
> "Right."
> Head back outside.
> "Later."
> Take a look to the southwest. Are there any obvious paths?
>Head that way.
> Does any of the surrounding area look familiar?
> Keep heading southwest.
> Look in the direction of the sloping ground. Is there an obvious bottom-of-a-valley point visible?
> Carefully pull out the pieces of sword, connect them like usual, and try to speak to it again.
> That second feeling wasn't there before, was it?
> How difficult does the canopy look to crest?
> Let's start meandering down that slope. Hopefully we can keep a general sense of southwest.
> Try 'speaking' to the sword again. Let's see if the reaction is different or stronger.
> "Hey, you feeling closer to whole now?"
> Put it back together again and say the same thing.
> So we lost the previous reaction entirely?
>Backtrack a bit, then try again. Is that feeling of anticipation or whatever back?
>Backtrack a bit more and try again.
>Is it stronger this time, or still just as faint?
>Go about halfway back to where we just tried it and try again. Any change?
>Could we continue moving while focusing on the sword in this manner?
>Move back to the last place where it was stronger and try again.
>Move around a bit while keeping focus. Is there any noticable change when moving in any certain direction?
>So much for that idea.
>Resume our original course.
> Keep going down. It has to bottom out into something at some point.
> Connect the sword again and wait for whatever sensations result.
> Have we seen any unusual-looking trees around at any point?
> Take a look around and check for unusual...anythings.
> Head toward those trees.
> Eh, why not? Feel one of the trees.
> Feel a normal tree. Mentally compare the two.
> Move back to the foot of an unusual tree.
> Connect the sword again. Try to mentally will it to provide a stronger reaction.
> Oho.
> Is there any obvious pattern to the layout of the unusual trees?
>Try getting an aerial view.
That'll work too, let's go with that.
>Head for the northern spot that would make the trapezoid a triangle, then land and try putting the sword together there.
> Move to the area that was inside the trapezoid.
> Look around for any other unusual anythings.
> ...The hell?
> Walk south into this new forest.
> Connect the sword again.
> "Hello?"
> "Anyone out there?"
> Walk toward it.
> "Hey there."
> Have we ever been a grouse or other bird?
> Continue onward into this bizarre forest, giving the grouse a small berth so as to not disturb it.
> How bizarre. Are we still in Gensokyo...?
> What do we know of Makai?
> Head west.
> U-shaped? Could they be hoof prints?
> Follow these prints along the path.pathologist
> Head for the noise.
> Quietly back off out of sight behind a tree.
> Cannibalize our wings. Keep an ear out for reactions.
> Shit. Oh well.
> Step out from behind the tree.
> "That would be me. Hello."
> Do we still have the sword connected, or are we holding the two pieces separately?
> Give an uncertain frown of our own.
> "I would if I could, sir."
> Do we have anything in our inventory with writing on it where we could show off said writing?
>Wait, we've been alive thousands of years, right?
>Do we recognize the language he used at all? And if so, what time period was it in?
> Crap.
> Inventory
> Open our eyes a little in slight worry while shaking our head back and forth and waving our hands in front of us, as well as we can without dropping either piece of the sword or cutting ourselves.
> Walk over to the man and show him the side of the blade with the writing on it.
> Shrug and shake our head again.
> Point the broken handle at the writing on the blade and wave the handle back and forth in line with the writing, as if we were underlining it, then point the handle at our mouth, make a few jabbing motions toward our mouth (but not close enough to actually touch our face) and shake our head again.
> Shake head again with the slightly-wider-open-than-normal eyes.
> Stick the handle of the blade into the armpit of the arm with the hand holding onto the blade and clamp it to the side of our body to hold it in place. Obviously, don't clamp it in such a way that we cut ourselves.
> Use our now free hand to vigorously tap the writing on the blade several times, then point right at our mouth, then mimic a mouth talking in the man's direction with this hand.
> "I do not speak this language."
> Jab at the writing a couple more times, then point at our mouth again and shake our head.
> Raise an eyebrow.
> Pause for a moment, then look down.
> Look back up.
> Grab the handle with our free hand again, then frown and shrug.
> Look back and forth between the handle and blade, and connect them again.
> None of the regular sensations?
> Look down at the blade and frown.
> "If it can help you understand me."
>Hang on just a cotton-pickin'..!
>When the sword's not brought together, it's like talking to a normal fish. But when it is, we can talk to him in what he considers a normal way.
>"Because I found the two pieces and got curious."
>"I know nothing of this blade's history. Could I ask you to enlighten me?"
>"It's a long story. But to summarize it, you've pretty much hit the nail on the head."
>find a spot to sit down comfortably.
>"Mind if I tell you how I got myself into this mess?"
>"Alright, and tell me about this whole 'Seelie' business as we go okay? It's something I'm pretty certain I've never heard about."
>"Anyhow, it all started one day back at the tavern I run back home. And to be honest, I'm pretty sure this place isn't a part of it either."
>"But as I was saying, I went down to get things set up for the morning rush, and I come to find that all the coins I had were turned into gemstones. I figured out after a little while that the value of the gems matched with the coins that vanished."
>Wait for his response, then continue on when he motions for the rest.
>"So then, it turns out that I'd also been robbed of some pretty important cards that really only I can use properly...Or so I thought until later on."
>Oh yeah, we left the spellcards with Keine didn't we?
>"Anyhow, after a long while of mystery-solving, I find the blade of this here sword in the possession of some musicians who regularly perform at my tavern. Few errands later, they give it to me."
>"I also found the hilt of the sword back in an old secondhand shop that doesn't really get too many customers outside of the residents near the forest where it is. A few barters and haggles later, I come away with the rest of the sword."
>Wait for his response again.
>"But that's not the end of the story, not by a long shot. Turns out that the shopkeeper from that same shop was behind who whole coins-into-gems incident. And my place wan't the only one affected, it was all over the land I call home. He used to be a pretty even-tempered, if strange guy. Always made good on his word. So anyhow, he wanted to get rid of the whole idea of buying and selling things, hoping to implement a barter system in it's place."
>Sigh. "By now I'd guess he's probably fuming in a cell after I had to knock him out before he could get any further with that crazy scheme of his. It around that same time that I found out that my cards had ended up in his possession, and he was using them as a catalyst how he was going to go about overwriting the buy-and-sell order with a barter system. Really bugs me how some people can get so into things that they think they're a god or something."
>Wait for his response yet again.
>"But anyways, after I managed to get him under wraps, I figured I'd try to find out more about this sword. I eventually found myself directed to a northern part of the forest where the shop was. I found this weird stand of trees, and started messing with the sword. Putting it back together somewhat, focusing on it, everything. Then things got weird, and I ended up here where we ran into each other. And that's pretty much the whole story. Give or take a few small parts at least."
>Do we know who he's talking about?
>"I've never even heard that name before. And for the record, I gave up doing anything like that ages ago. Y'might say I had it beaten right out of me by the very folks who ended up becoming some of my best customers. Word of advice, The Oni do not like liars."
>Grin ruefully at the last part.
>"Everything I told you is true, what sort of proof do you want if you don't believe me?"
> "Or perhaps I can make this explanation a little simpler another way. Am I correct in thinking this language we are speaking is Celtic?"
> "I'll do my best. But I ask because this is not my native tongue, or even a language I know. I don't right know where I am at all, to be honest, but I am from the Asian country of Japan, and speak Japanese natively."
> Frown.
> "Unfortunate. So we're stuck with no idea how this sword came to my land, or how I came to yours, or how our two lands even compare geographically."
> "Believe me, this isn't what I'd call an optimal situation either."
> "I'm not sure I have much on me that could prove where I'm from, since I didn't exactly plan on showing up here. I guess I could show you some of my food. The vegetables I used might not be indigenous to this place."
> "Hmm. How common is jewelry here?"
> "The only other things I have that might be meaningful are a capelet, my jeweler's scope, my hand mirror, and a piece of mahogany. Unless cobblestones are a rarity here."
> Frown.
> "Not a lot of options, then. Is there anything these seelies are known to be unable to do? "
> "Huh. Well, uh, can they fly?"
> "Can they shapeshift?"
>"Is there anything in particular that they can't touch? Or anything they have a noted weakness against?"
> "But nothing universal?"
> "We could try that if you want, I guess. I don't know what else to do, short of going back the way I came, hoping I can get back to my land, bringing something from it that definitely isn't from here and returning, and I imagine by that time you'll have moved on, out of sheer impatience if nothing else. Or I could try to take you there myself, as much as I'm pretty sure I already know the response to that idea."
> Shrug.
> "I've never been one for world-traveling. But assuming I get home, maybe some day I'll come back here again, with something from my lands that you or whoever else would be positive didn't come from here. Though, truth be told, I'm not sure I need to spend much time here anyway, I only started wandering around my lands because of this thing..."
> Raise the broken sword up a little bit, being careful not to dislodge it from its fitted state.
> "...and suddenly I'm here instead of there. I'll be glad to get out of your hair, but I gotta ask, since you had some unexpected reactions to it. Could you tell me the story behind this sword, what with it giving me dreams of megalomania, our local blacksmith claiming total inability to restore it, and you seeming to suggest doing so would be a really bad idea?"
>"I see."
>"Well, that's the history of the man this sword belonged to, but what of the sword itself? It's no ordinary blade, that much is certain. What do you know about it?"
>"Anything about any power it might have had? Because it's got some now."
> "I guess that explains the megalomania dream."
> "Would it matter if I kept it or tried to reforge it?"
> "How was it broken, anyway? This doesn't look like a standard combat casualty."
> Let our eyes go a little wider than normal again.
> "That's impressive. The few people from my land that saw this were convinced the destruction was magical in nature."
> "All right. It seems like this land wants nothing to do with this sword, and I can't really blame you, because this Edmund guy sounds like he was an ass. The problem is that I'm fairly certain the forces I can feel in this sword can be used to save my land from the economic disaster. I've been thinking, and I think I may have a couple of ideas on the proof front. Is there a town with a jeweler's shop anywhere nearby?"
> "You headed that way? Or can I get some directions so I can head there myself?"
> "I'd be grateful if you could."
> Nod.
> "I swear on my friends that I will not raise a limb or a weapon in aggression toward any human I see here."
> "Any what?"
> "Oh. Right, yes, it does."
> Drop whatever half of the sword is in the hand appropriate for the hand shake, and return the handshake with a small smile.
> "Houjuu Nue."
> When the handshake is released, pick up the dropped sword piece and reattach it to the one we didn't drop.
> "And yours?"
> "That sounds pretty important. I can't think of very many back home with more than one title, if they even have the one."
> "Sure, not a problem. I suppose that means no flying, then?"
> Cannibalize the wings.
> "Can't guarantee I'll still understand you, but okay."
> Let him respond if he desires, then disconnect the sword and put it away.
> Take his hand and get up on the horse.
> Nod.
> Take on a calm tone.
> "Neat place."
> Reach into our purse and grab the handle of the sword, but don't pull it out. Try to keep it as not visible as possible.
> Actually, don't grab onto the handle just yet.
> After speaking, hop off the horse.
> Once we're down, then inconspicuously grab the handle as described before.
> Nod vigorously.
> Do we have any pockets on us where we could reasonably hide the sword handle?
> Follow him. As we go along, use our free hand to protectively hold our purse to our side, and look around the village with an expression of mixed worry, uncertainty, and naive curiosity. Things will probably go smoothest if we can play up the 'lost maiden' angle.
> Nod to him
> Enter!
> Give a meaningful glance in Kay's direction and inwardly pray he gives a good cover story.
> Take a look around. Anything stand out as particularly stellar work that we could use to identify whether or not the code expands as far as wherever the hell this is?
> Identify one particular outstanding piece. Preferably one not under glass, but we'll take whatever we can get.
> Let our eyes light up a little bit and make our way to the gold earrings.
> Take a closer look at them.
> "Yes, I expect-"
> Cut ourselves off with a look of slight shock, then morph it into a look of mild irritation.
> Carefully pull out the sword pieces, trying to grab the blade so our hand obscures the writing, and put them together as per the usual. Obviously, don't bump into any thing or knock anything over whilst doing so.
> "Ugh, so aggravating. Anyway, yes, I expect this place will do nicely, if it has exquisite works such as these earrings here."
> Take note of any physical reaction from the shopkeeper, in addition to any verbal reaction.
> Ha ha! Fuck everything else ever, ours is the one true universal beauty.
> Give a small smile and a small nod.
> "Beauty to be appreciated whenever possible. Anyway, I'm here because I think I've found something odd. It's...not something I think I've ever seen before. I have with me some jewelry of my own, but...well, perhaps it would be best if you saw for yourself."
> Which gems do we have that are light-colored and translucent?
> Disconnect the sword by putting the handle away.
> Take out the Rose Quartz and hand it over to the jeweler.
> Once he has taken it, pull the handle back out and reconnect it.
> "Take a look at that, and tell me if you see anything unusual. It's a bit hard to see, I'll admit, but I think you'll be able to spot it."
> Frown.
> "Really? Hmm. Please give me a moment."
> Put the blade back in our purse and fish out the Red Spinet.
> Tuck the broken handle into an armpit like before and use the newly-free hand to retrieve our scope.
> Examine the Red Spinet for the marks we could see previously.
> Are the blemishes patterned at all?
> Is there any consistency to their distribution throughout the gem?
> Are there an inordinate number of them?
> Could we pick Japan out on a map of Asia?
> How common would it be to have as many gems as we have with as many blemishes as they do without having a single unblemished stone?
> How does the blemish count compare to the gems we looked at yesterday? Roughly the same?
> Reverse our previous actions to put the spinet and scope away and pull the blade back out, reconnecting it with the handle.
> "Yeah, it's true that blemishes aren't uncommon, but every single stone I have is afflicted, with roughly the same number of blemishes on each one, from what I've been able to see."
> "I think they may all look like that. Want to take a look at the spinet I just had out?"
> "Sure. I'll explain in a moment."
> Tuck the sword handle in the opposite armpit, pull out the spinet we just had, and hand it over.
> Reconnect the sword.
> "Basically, it's so you can get a second opinion on the oddity of these jewels."
> Gem Inventory
> "Figured. There's plenty more where that came from. Some glass beads as well. Hav you ever seen this sort of blemishing before?"
> Frown.
> "I see."
> Turn to Kay.
> "Well, what do you think?"
> "You remember what I told you earlier about how I got these particular jewels? These blemishes are a direct result of that."
> Sigh.
> "I have to admit, I didn't consider the implied alternate explanation."
> "That would probably be for the best."
> Turn to the jeweler.
> "Thanks a lot for your help. It's always enjoyable to meet new comrades in this profession."
> Do the Sword Handle Armpit Shuffle that we've been doing to take our jewels back and put then back in our purse.
> If the sword isn't reconnected, reconnect it.
> "Yes, let's."
> Turn toward the jeweler.
> "Have a pleasant day."
> Give a short bow.
> "And you as well."
> Follow Kay out of the shop.
> "The only other thing I can think of would be finding a world map, in my land or yours, where we could identify both lands ar the same time. In absence of that..."
> Shrug.
> "In regards to this thing in my hands, the best I can tell you is that I only want to reforge it so I can use it to reverse the damage done to my land's economy. I'd have no interest in keeping it beyond that, and would even be glad to give it back to you so Sir Percival could shatter it again, if you wanted. But it sounds like you have a damn good reason to not want this thing ever repaired, and I have to admit I can't really definitively prove anything I've told you about me."
> "If I can't validate what I've said about my and my lands, then I suppose the best I can do is ask if there really is anyone that would think such an action a good idea. Never mind people that may not like the current King, they'd need to be someone that legitimately thought what Edmund did was right."
> "That seems like a very harsh stigma that they'd have to live with for the remainder of their days, though. That everyone will know they needed to resort to this."
> Frown.
> "Then I guess we're on our own in trying to fix the economic mess in our land."
> "What am I gonna do here? I've seen my fair share of assholes rise to power in Asia and did whatever I could to remind them that they weren't actually better than everyone else like they liked to pretend they were. Those days are over, and I like what I have now. If someone came along and asked for help restoring a symbol of one of those jerks because they claimed they needed to save some land I'd never heard of, I'd be just as skeptical as you. Especially if they exhibited qualities similar to a race of creatures that were notorious for being obnoxious tricksters. It would take a lot to convince me they were telling the truth, just as it would for you."
> "Huh?"
>"Oh yeah, that reminds me. You never did explain to me just what that exactly is anyways."
> "Well, it's just that I'm not sure if we can't harness what we need from this sword somehow even with it shattered, now that I know what force is at work in it. Besides..."
> Heft the sword slightly with a small grin.
> "I like my trident in one piece."
>From what he's saying, these Seelie folks are a lot like Youkai then.
> "I've been wondering about that as well. I'd never heard of anyone from my land finding this place. Even a couple of people that live nearby to where I crossed over didn't say anything. And it sounds like you aren't aware of anyone that's crossed over, and from your job description I imagine you'd be one of the first to learn."
> Look down at the sword.
> "Then there's the fact that I can't understand this language unless I have a piece of this sword, and I can't speak it unless it's connected. If I had to guess, I'd say anyone from my land would need this with them to cross over. Which means that it wouldn't come back here unless whoever possessed it brought it here."
> "I know enough people that be trusted to keep the pieces separate and hidden."
> Give a slightly uncertain look.
> Though I might hang onto them long enough to visit again once my land's crisis is over. This is a pretty interesting place...behaviors, traditions, architecture I've never seen before. Even if I have to talk through a sword to be understood."
> "Well, if I don't, then I don't. I certainly don't have to."
> "That can be arranged."
> "So what do we do now, then?"
> Stay silent for a couple of moments with a thinking face.
> "Maybe you can give me some final ideas, then. To put our situation simply, the man responsible for what has happened to our economy had the power to do what he did through a f fanatical belief in the idea of equivalency. According to some of our experts on the subject, his power can be countered through a belief that would naturally cancel his."
> Heft the sword slightly again.
> "I think I've found what could work. Not the sword itself, the belief it represents. From the sound of things, your Bloody Prince had a fanatical belief in nonequivalency; that he was simply better than everyone and everything. And I'm pretty sure I've felt that belief resonate through this thing, like it still contains a part of him somehow. The inscription certainly seems to suggest so."
> "It doesn't seem to have a profound active effect as it is now, though. It gave me that megalomaniacal dream I mentioned, but I haven't noticed it have an effect on me while awake."
> "Ideally, I won't need to hold onto it anymore by the time our day is done."
> "Probably giving the pieces away to people that can be trusted to not only keep them hidden away, but to keep them out of the hands of anyone that might try to get hands on the sword for malevolent reasons. Assuming the pieces aren't just ruined entirely."
> "I have no idea. But I don't have much of a choice in the matter."
> "It would, most likely, be much easier to harness what resides in it."
> "This guy was your land's asshole, so it's your call. I don't think I have anything else to say, though I'd be happy to answer further questions."
> Follow along at his pace.
> "I 'm pretty sure I've been able to get mild reactions from it by willing it. I've also been getting sensations from it just by connecting it. It may be that I'll be able to draw whatever I need just from holding it, it may be that I can draw what I need to by willing it. If neither of those work for some reason, I have some very pious friends that would be very well versed in figuring out what else needs to be done."
>"Heh, I wouldn't worry too much about that, there's folks who could smack some sense into me if it came to that."
> "Besides, I've always been pretty strong-willed and self-confident, and never much liked people trying to control me. If whatever is in that sword thinks it can get me, it has another thing coming:"
> "Well, if you're that worried, you can just keep a blade at my neck until you've decided I'm fine."
> "I assume you'd want to be present for any theoretical reforging of this thing, right? If it tries to take influence over me immediately, I'll know immediately, and as a result, so will you. If it has to be activated somehow, I don't plan on activating it until I'm in the presence of someone that can put me down if need be, be that you or my friends. Either way, it would be impossible for me to run around possessed and unattended."
> "If it doesn't activate immediately, I'd have to trigger it. If I had those kinds of intentions, I sure wouldn't be trying anything with a weapon that has demonstrably not fared so well against Sir Percival's axe. As much as I like my trident in one piece, I like my neck in one piece many times more."
> "Do you think it would? Is that something Edmund would have done?"
> "You could always bind my hands."
> Grin.
> "I wouldn't be volunteering the idea if I couldn't defend myself from thieves and bullies."
> Look around. How many people are in the area?
> "Well, assuming I don't fly away, there's always this."
> Tuck the handle into the opposite armpit, then use our now free hand to fire some talisman danmaku in a direction away from Kay and not straight up.
> "Shouldn't be a problem. Aiming would be a larger concern, and even then I'm not too worried about that. I'm flexible and agile enough and have been doing this for a while."
>"It's how most problems and disputes are solved back home anyways. Unless it's among the Oni, who solve things with either that, or an out and out brawl. Bunch of rowdy drunks yes, but they're dead honest, can't stand liars and cheats y'know."
>Thoughtful expression.
>"Come to think of it, they have a code of conduct, if memory serves."
>They do have a code they go by right?
> "And when I get back I know some people close by that can undo those bonds and keep an eye on me, so that shouldn't be a concern."
> "Shoot."
> Is he left- or right-handed?
>Hrm, would it be reasonable to conclude he's testing our agility?
>With that in mind, let's twist away from the sword, to the right, and try to get on the outside of the swing.
>"Well if it's a fight you want..."
>Jump back, out of his sword's reach, and put the sword blade in our bag, then draw the trident with our now free hand
>Hold trident vertically and parry his sword to the left while sidestepping to the right. Follow up with a kick to his left side, hoping he'd fall due to his momentum.
>Hold trident vertically and parry his sword to the left while sidestepping to the right. Follow up with a kick to his left side, hoping he'd fall due to his momentum.
>Delay this a moment.
>What sort of armor is he wearing, and what coverage does it provide? Were there any parts unarmored? From memory or immediate reaction, of course. Don't take actual time to stop and appraise him right this moment.
>Is he wearing a helmet of any kind?
>How much force of impact can we cause with our danmaku if we specifically pushed to maximize it?
>How much of an impediment would that broken hilt in our hand be to our danmaku usage?
>Leap back and to the side, away from the blow, using a short burst of low-level flight to aid in distance without necessarily making it too obvious that this is what we're doing
>As we move back, launch a burst of danmaku towards his face, with enough of a spread to cover some of the rest of his field of vision
>If this buys us enough of a moment, quickly draw the trident in our free hand
>How large is his shield? About how much coverage does it provide?
>Are we capable of use a seed of non-identification to change the apparent form of something by throwing it at that object?
>How much time and concentration does it take to establish a reasonable illusion, if it didn't need to capture a specific likeness or pass very close scrutiny?
>Given that the illusion covers more than visual senses, can it also evoke specific tactile sensations? Could we make something seem to be on fire or at least red-hot, and produce a sensation of appropriate (or at least semi-appropriate) heat to the touch?
>How many seeds do we have?
>Do we have to prepare the seeds' effect beforehand, or can that be done after the seed is holding onto the object?
>Can our wings be used in combat? Like is the red parts hard enough to act as some kind of blade, or the blue tentacle-like wings can grab stuff?
>Launch a stream of danmaku towards his shielded face; force him to keep himself guarded. Also try to scatter enough outside the primary target so that they could catch his right side if he exposes himself in his strike.
>Let him close just a little and get ready to react to his attack.
>If he moves to slam us with the shield first, leap a little back and towards the side with his sword, giving us better access to his weapon and his more exposed side.
>If he attempts a slash, either before or after said shield attack, try to grab the sword blade between the tines on our trident.
>If a thrust, attempt a similar maneuver, while pushing the weapon away from us and shifting our body in the opposite direction.
>If the angle of attack doesn't give us a reasonable shot at doing either, at least attempt to parry the attempt.
>Angle our trident aside to shift the downward slash towards the same side of us as his shield, letting the sword's momentum lead the blow down while shifting our own body in the other direction.
>Quickly, with the trident still in the process of deflecting the slash, use a burst of flight to flip ourselves off the ground and launch a swift kick at his head.
>Keep our height just a little elevated, and quickly shift our position to circle around past his right side towards his back, scattering a trail of danmaku at him as we move.
>Keep our trident angled downward and prepare to grab or deflect any blows towards us.
>If we manage to get behind him (ideally), or at least far enough from the shield and a frontal position (otherwise), thrust our trident towards his exposed neck. Make sure to stop the blow short of doing any real damage if we do actually land it.
>How much of a curvature can we readily give to our danmaku's path? Could we launch a spread such that they converged from different vectors, and not all frontally?
>What terrain obstacles are there in the nearby vicinity?
>About how high are these fences?
>Are we able to spawn danmaku from the sky falling down at pretty random angles?
>If so, can we do simple actions like attacking with our trident while keeping the danmaku firing?
>Back up with a burst of flight again, attempting to set up falling bubble danmaku from the sky. If Sir Kay gets too close before we succeed, stop danmaku and prepare to defend. Otherwise, observe Sir Kay's reaction to bubble rain, prepare to strike if he's distracted.
>We are holding our trident with our right hand, right?
>If he is following up with a stab with his sword, attempt to stab his sword from sideway to trap it in the trident's prongs.
>Hold onto the shield with our left hand, push his shield down and use the reaction force to jump up (levitate if necessary) to a height higher than the fence, and deliver a kick to the side of his head with our right foot.
This doesn't look good. :ohdear:
>So basically, Sir Kay is squeezing us against the fence with his shield, while his right hand stabbed his sword onto our left side? Is he still holding onto the sword probably even if we knocked his arm away?
>Summon some quick danmaku at his face.
>If he raises his shield to block his face, place elbows on the top of the fence for support, the fold our legs up and step on his waist, and extend legs, kick him away with all our strength!
> How are we feeling psychologically?
>For that matter, do we have any sense of how deep the injury was?
>As a youkai, how effectively can we shrug off physical wounds?
> Mental check: Does he have substantial leg coverings?
> Is our wounded side the same side as our trident hand or our broken sword hand?
>If his attention seems divided between the us and the rain of danmaku, let's press the attack
>Another burst of danmaku towards his face, ideally positioned in such a way that his shield cannot block both it and the shots from above.
>If we can see a opening for a trident strike at a joint or to treatening one at his exposed face, take it, but don't attempt without a clear shot; focus more on defense.
>If he moves forward to pin us, or attempts to otherwise engage frontally in a way that would be difficult to parry, instead fly off the ground and deposit ourselves on the other side of the fence behind us. (Obviously still attempt to deflect an incoming sword attack while doing this). Err on the side of lifting off sooner, rather than later.
>Go for the shield arm!
>If the blow connects usefully, try to take advantage of his weakened grip and knock the shield forcefully away with our other hand. If opportunity and angles are favorable, try to knock it in the direction of being over the fence, but otherwise don't be too picky; just try to get it out of his hands.
>Use flight to evade upward if he attempts to strike back at us at the same time, with enough lateral movement to aid in this dodge, depending on the angle of the incoming strike.
>If he's trying to withdraw to a better position, keep up the danmaku pressure to force some of his guard away from the openings
>Then strike at the opening in his leg with our trident
>Be ready to evade an incoming strike in the previously mentioned manner if it is not positioned such that it would be easily parryable
>Are we able to spawn danmaku from the sky falling down at pretty random angles?
>Summon a quick bubble rain and then go for the strike
>About how much space is there between him and us and the fence now?
>"You're not so bad, yourself."
>"You're not so bad, yourself."
>Shift laterally, towards his right, attempting to rotate the line of engagement so that the fence is no longer directly behind us.
>If he moves to bash with his shield and we have room to do so, dive to the left with a burst of flight and try to scatter a blast of danmaku at his exposed side. If possible, follow this in with a thrust. Prepare to engage a counter from his sword on the attempt.
>If we otherwise get engaged before we've freed ourselves room to maneuver, dodge upward.
> Say this with a small smile, since he can't understand us.
>Fly up and over the slash, tucking our legs away from the blow and continuing leftward.
>Bring our trident down towards his sword as we do, to block any attempt to shift it to follow us.
>Bring ourselves around so that the fence is to our right and there's a little distance between us
>Whatever became of those bubbles?
>Wait for his trust to be committed (but early enough for us to have time to perform the following properly)
>Fly upward
>Simultaneously, thrust down with our trident to catch his stab and push it down towards the ground. Ideally pin the blade between its tines.
>With trident held in position, pivot around in the air and fire a blast of frontal danmaku at his head
>It was noted that setting up a heavy danmaku rain requires a fair bit of concentration. Is that just to start or also to maintain? If we had a few moments to spare, could we create a bubble rain that would last at least a short while, and then be able to follow that up with melee while it continues?
>About how much ground area could we expect to reasonably cover with a rain that allows us to be active?
>Would additional prep time let us boost the size/density of this field, or is it primarily a limitation of what we can maintain while active?
>Are we in a position to catch his sword from below, while flying over on top of him in the process?
>If so, attempt a parry while on the move up and over
>Launch a burst of danmaku at his head once we get a clear shot
>Just to clarify, this needn't be so much flying past him from above, as flying so that we have a shot at him from above, while still being in trident range. Does this change anything?
>Dash back and laterally away from the blow, sending out a burst of frontal danmaku as we go, if we can see any opening at all for it to hit something other than armor
>Deposit ourselves on the other side of the fence from Kay
>Concentrate on forming a bubble rain encompassing a roughly circular area with the fence in its middle. Large enough that it couldn't be trivially stepped outside of, but small enough to make it usefully dense
>Quickly rush him with our trident. If we could get the blow in range before he can draw his sword once more, aim for the most obvious opening. Otherwise, aim for a joint in the arm and attempt to prevent him from fully freeing his weapon.
>If we still have any ability to do this while the rain is active, simultaneously launch a quick frontal burst towards his face while we charge, aimed from low enough that he couldn't shield himself from both it and the rain simultaneously.
>Go for the arm! Thrust our trident at the exposed joint.
>Does our trident still have purchase against him, or has he pulled back from the contact entirely?
>How exposed is the hilt of his sword in his current position?
>And how well-positioned does his arm look to actually reach it?
>Go for another strike at the same target
>If it gets purchase, add our other hand to the trident haft (effectively gripping both the hilt and the trident simultaneously) and add some more force to it.
>Be ready to quickly move aside if he tries to somehow ram / clip us with his shield
>Was that his right or our right? In other words, did his hand move closer or further from his sword?
>How far up the haft is he gripping?
>How close are the tines to him, and towards what part of him?
>How exposed are his face and sword hilt?
>Is our danmaku still raining?
>Presumably we can't be injured by our own danmaku, right?
>Try to force the trident back to the mark we were aiming for, shifting ourself and our grip on the trident forward in the process for better leverage, but be wary of stepping into easy shield bash range
>However, be ready for him to release his grip on the weapon and go for his sword
>If he does this while his arm is in a position where we cannot readily follow up simply by stabbing him in the joint once he releases and we're close enough to have a chance of this working (and without the shield being too much in the way, although it's already if we can't SEE what we're reaching for), quickly release one of your own hands off the trident and lunge it towards his hand. Ideally, try to get our hand on the hilt before he can, but otherwise simply grasp our hand on his and prevent him from drawing it free.
>Take to the air, dashing up and backwards and angling to the side, pivoting our whole body away from his charge. Let our hands slide back along the trident haft rather than attempt to pull it free from his grip, though make sure we don't get it ripped away from us entirely.
>Falls to the ground? Like, prone?
>Is he still holding onto the trident?
>What are our relative positions at the moment?
>Try to give our trident a yank and free it
>Can we see any parts of him that are exposed from his current position?
>Quickly, try to get in a trident thrust at an exposed side before he can really rise again. Take care not to actually drive this in far enough to do serious damage if we manage to make it past all the armor, but keep our weapon pressed against it if we can.
>Lowering his shield? Does that mean his face is exposed now?
>Is his sword still sheathed?
>What is the position of that arm? Do we have a clear shot at it again?
>Or anywhere else, for that matter?
>Launch a quick burst of danmaku at his face, and simultaneously shift a little to the left and strike with our trident towards his sword arm. Even if we don't have an obvious opening in his armor to aim for, at least try to interfere with him freely drawing his weapon, and leaving our trident well-positioned to parry
>Take a step back, ourselves, and resecure our grip
>Where is the fence in relation to the two of us now?
>Keeping our trident extended in a defensive position, start to conjure another bubble rain extending in a rough circle from a little behind us to slightly on the other side of the fence behind Kay.
>But be ready to stop if necessary to parry an attack mid-process.
>Leap backwards and ready the trident to catch another blow
>The haft of our trident is metal, correct? And, by extension, sturdy enough to parry sword blows with, yes?
>Duck and shift to the right, under the blow, bringing our tines up to catch the slash in the process.
>Try to shift the haft to guard crosswise against the shield blow
>Simultaneously use a burst of flight to effectively flip ourselves up and away from the blow
> Did he have any sort of grip on our trident before we got hit?
> Use our getting shielded in the gut as well as out previous backward momentum to propel us a little further backward, giving us a little time to catch said breath.
> Circle to the right while stashing the sword handle away in our purse and finally getting a proper two-handed grip on the trident.
> We are right-handed, correct?
> Which hand is closer to the head of the trident?
>If he's taking a moment to consider, maintain our defensive posture and shift a little laterally and backwards, without actually changing our relative distance too much. Ideally, move just a little closer to the fence.
>Attempt again to summon a bubble rain without making it obvious that we're doing anything other than sizing him up for another strike.
>Without looking up?
>Does his shield provide any effective guard to his front in its current position?
>Does this position expose that arm to us in any useful fashion?
>Slowly move in, with our trident extended and angled a little towards his sword.
>Wait to time this just as a few bubbles close in on him from above:
>If we can manage it, launch a small burst of frontal danmaku generally towards his face. Enough for a minor distraction is fine, if concentration is an issue
>Simultaneously, move forward quickly, and make a brief feint towards his weapon with our trident
>Before we come too close to actually engaging it, quickly switch target to the exposed armpit and give a good thrust
>If the right is exposed, instead of the left, go for that one instead
>But toss just a few more danmaku in the facial direction as we do, to make him think twice about pulling his arm completely away from it
>So our trident head is actually past him now, and he's more or less alongside us?
>Pull the trident back, and at the same time shift the haft up towards his sword arm to block any blow he might try to launch while he's inside our effective range
>Pain or no pain, now's not the time to let him get in a second hit.
>Dash back and take to the air, bracing ourselves against it.
>Seriously? That bad from just a slash?
>Glance at our shoulder. How bad is it?
>What about the wound we received earlier in the fight, on our torso? How does that look?
>Try to carefully touch the 'wound'. Does it react to our contact like we would expect a wound to do so, or does this cause no noticeable change in it?
> Have we ever been attacked with faith before? If so, was it a physical pain like this is?
> Look back and forth between the 'injured' shoulder and Sir Kay with an expression of pained confusion.
> Resheath the trident and pull the sword pieces back out, being as gentle with the 'injured' shoulder as we can.
> Connect the sword.
> "So why am I not gushing blood like a fountain right now?"
> "Huh. Guess I'm just used to our stuff being non-lethal, and I've never seen anyone take a blade hard to a limb without seeing that limb come right off. I think our two homes may be more alike than the language barrier would suggest."
>"Besides, danmaku doesn't hurt any worse than it looks, but I'd swear right now that you almost took my shoulder off, if I couldn't look at it. How're you doing that?"
>Grin a little
>"I'll take that as a compliment. Too bad I had a large part of my best stuff drained away by that man I mentioned earlier, or you might've seen something really impressive."
>With a more serious expression
>"But while we're at it, what was that 'the sword preys on my mind now' bit about, anyway? What exactly was the point of all this supposed to be?"
>"That's fine and all, and I'm as game for a little sparring as the next fellow, but I still don't see what that has to do with you deciding to attack me all of a sudden."
> "Oh. Aha, of course. Well, if Princey here tried to get in my head, I didn't notice."
> How are our shoulder and side feeling?
> Try to roll the 'injured' shoulder a little bit to test it out.
> Wince regardless.
> "Fight to win, I assume?"
> How adept would a seed be at adding the sensation of extreme cold?
> Would it make the illusion more or less fragile if we wanted to localize a temperature change as opposed to have the temperature change affect the entire object? Or would it not make a meaningful difference?
> Have we been able to tell how he holds his shield?
> Could we give a seed instructions to 'remember', such that it knows what it is going to do but does not actually go about its business until we tell it to later?
> Would slapping a seed onto the desired object risk damage as opposed to letting to wriggle its way into the object?
> How difficult would an appearance-of-having-turned-into-ice illusion be?
> What about a red glow that would visually imply extreme heat?
>This_player's_space_bar_and_return_key_on_his_phone_now_crash_text_input_programs_for some_unknown_reason.
>Please_parse_underscores_as_spaces_from_this_player_for_the_forseeable_future.
>Of_what_material_is_his_shield_made?
>What_about_turning_an_object_a_solid_color_like_black?
>So_how_about_changing_his_shield_to_cold_and_solid_black?
>Would_we_need_to_whisper_to_the_seed_that_whole_time?