Nue Quest 4th Ignition: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> "I would guess she probably would have tried to do all three in a row, rather than having to backtrack. She was also coming from the Bamboo Forest. You know the layout of the forests better than I do - would she have been approaching you first or Kourindou first if she came from the bamboo?"

>"Um, probably Kourindou," says Mystia. "It's further west. Unless she didn't go to Kourindou first?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "She didn't mention anywhere else. She actively stayed away from Marisa and Alice's houses, didn't visit Wriggle, and didn't make it to Turtle House. She made it to Kourindou and walked by your stand. I don't know of anyone or anywhere else important in the forest, and the only other person she mentioned was a karakasa she 'doesn't bother with',. so presumably she didn't visit the karakasa either. Are there any other notable locations in the forest?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "She didn't mention anywhere else. She actively stayed away from Marisa and Alice's houses, didn't visit Wriggle, and didn't make it to Turtle House. She made it to Kourindou and walked by your stand. I don't know of anyone or anywhere else important in the forest, and the only other person she mentioned was a karakasa she 'doesn't bother with',. so presumably she didn't visit the karakasa either. Are there any other notable locations in the forest?"

>"Um, what's notable?" says Mystia. "There's a lot of little places that are nice to laze around. There's the lake, there's a few mushroom fields, some places with berries..."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Ah! She did say she 'just intended to enjoy the grass on her feet, a nice stream' and 'maybe hunt for a berry bush or some wild horseradish later.'" Does a place where she could do those things sound familiar?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Ah! She did say she 'just intended to enjoy the grass on her feet, a nice stream' and 'maybe hunt for a berry bush or some wild horseradish later.'" Does a place where she could do those things sound familiar?"

>"You can find them all over," says Mystia. "But I'd go to the eastern part of the forest if I were looking for horseradish and grassy places."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Anyone notable out that way?"
> "Where would that be relative to you and Turtle House?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Anyone notable out that way?"
> "Where would that be relative to you and Turtle House?"

>"Um, not really.  Just a couple scattered farms that have only gone up recently to try to gt business from the kappa."
>"It'd be closest to my stand, and furthest from that house," says Mystia. "I'm not that far east, but kinda on the east part of the forest."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "And you haven't seen anything unusual in the forest recently, have you?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "And you haven't seen anything unusual in the forest recently, have you?"

>She shakes her head. "It's been a quiet summer."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Can we mentally parse a map of the Forest of Magic, in terms of Kourindou, Mystia's stand, Turtle House and the area Mystia says would be good for horseradish and grass?

[Hello Purvis]

> Can we mentally parse a map of the Forest of Magic, in terms of Kourindou, Mystia's stand, Turtle House and the area Mystia says would be good for horseradish and grass?

>You think so.  If the place Mystia mentioned is to the east, then Mystia's stand would be closet to it, then Kourindou, then Turtle House. Kourindou would be further south than the other two places, but not hugely so.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> And the Bamboo Forest is to the west of all these establishments?

[Hello Purvis]

> And the Bamboo Forest is to the west of all these establishments?

>Yes, by some distance.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I wonder why she'd miss Turtle House but still get to you and Kourindou, if she was coming from the Bamboo Forest."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I wonder why she'd miss Turtle House but still get to you and Kourindou, if she was coming from the Bamboo Forest."

>Mystia shrugs. "Maybe she went for the eastern forest first?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Possibly. Guess I should probably investigate the horseradish to the east, as well as the path from Kourindou to Turtle House."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Possibly. Guess I should probably investigate the horseradish to the east, as well as the path from Kourindou to Turtle House."

>"I go to that place sometimes," says Mystia. "It's not a terribly interesting place if you're not foraging."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "One other thing I should mention...I did as Tewi about you specifically, in terms of who owed this force a favor. She said...she was almost certain you were one, and that she didn't see how you could have avoided it."

[E-Nazrin]

>So basically, we're dealing with some sort of nigh-omniscient force of nature that would be able to ask a favor of everyone in Gensokyo.
>Do we know anyone fitting that description?
>Considering how much of a point she made about this being something beyond normal scope, do we know of anything that would make sense for that in the context of this incident?
>Do we know of anyone/any way that people would be made to forget about previous legitimate favors that they've promised, in case this isn't a matter of Tewi being purely intimidated? Or a way of intimidating through more than direct violence?
>What do we know about the creation and maintenance of Gensokyo as a whole?
>What do we know about Reimu's powers?

I'm most suspecting a Rinnosuke-Yukari tag-team at this point. C'mon, Tewi even hinted that she stopped by Korindou. Rinnosuke would obviously want money/financial control, and Yukari might be stupid enough to consider rebuilding and subjugating Golden Silver for another Lunar invasion. And it's about time that Reimu IOU got resolved. That or some other OC eldritch horror to continue the Beegiyas-Golden Silver line, in which case all bets are off (except for the broken sword).

Failed crack theories: Shikieiki's ability to make post-death threats about going to Hell, or the jeweler-thief in the village as a massive prank-heist to steal for fame instead of gain. But those are missing a good motive and method, respectively.

(As for the last bit: Summoning a god of money and asking what the fuck is going on might be an okay investigative route even though Reimu wouldn't like it)

EDIT THE THIRD: Oh yeah, and whoever's behind it may have been the one who pickpocketed Tewi at the village, so that she would be scared into hiding instead of being a useful informant - people who were there at the time would be plausible suspects.

[Sophilia]

Yeah, my suspect is Yukari as well.  I think this mysterious contract that binds everyone within the Hakurei Border...is the Border contract itself, and guess who (with the Dragon) made that one.  Yukari also has access to the outside world, which gives her a nigh-infinite source of books to transmute.  Either her gappiness or her Border screwing could have replaced the money.  If previous Quests are any indication, she does hold a lot of debts to call in.  And then there's the curious incident of the Ran in the village.  Why did she sense something when no one else, save gods, did?  I still lack a motive to place to her, but the "why" is always the last thing to come out anyway.

Of course, there's also the ever-present possibility of Tewi being completely full of shit and trying to make the unknown afraid of itself.  Which appears to be working.  Other crack suspects of mine include Keine history-hax, Makai shenanigans, and Reimu.  But whoever our opponent is, it is someone who clearly needs to be introduced to our new friend, Mr. Excalibur.

[Rin Kagamine]

I bet it's another OC

[Hello Purvis]

> "One other thing I should mention...I did as Tewi about you specifically, in terms of who owed this force a favor. She said...she was almost certain you were one, and that she didn't see how you could have avoided it."

>"Huh," says Mystia.  She frowns. "That's...um, you're sure?"

>So basically, we're dealing with some sort of nigh-omniscient force of nature that would be able to ask a favor of everyone in Gensokyo.
>Do we know anyone fitting that description?
>Considering how much of a point she made about this being something beyond normal scope, do we know of anything that would make sense for that in the context of this incident?
>Do we know of anyone/any way that people would be made to forget about previous legitimate favors that they've promised, in case this isn't a matter of Tewi being purely intimidated? Or a way of intimidating through more than direct violence?
>What do we know about the creation and maintenance of Gensokyo as a whole?
>What do we know about Reimu's powers?

>So it seems. At least if Tewi is being honest. Whomever is behind it, though, would be pretty skillful to do what they've done.
>There's always Yukari. As far as you know, she is pretty much just a step down from The Dragon.
>You aren't sure what sort of things would make sense in this context.
>You've heard stories if people manipulating memories and such, but they are largely just stories. As far as you know, you've never heard anything solid about a magician, god, youkai, or so on whose ability is to manipulate memories.
>You've heard the creation was an act of Yukari, The Dragon, and some ancestor of the Hakurei line. You're not sure if it needs maintaining, though you imagine it would be reasonable.
>You don't know much about Reimu's powers. You imagine she could probably invoke gods and purify things, but you've never seen her do the former. Honestly, she's probably the most brute-like shrine maiden you've ever encountered. Most would use incantations, barriers, and such to keep youkai at bay with varying degrees of success. You imagine, if she were born in an older era, she would have gone out and hit things with a club with talismans pasted on it.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Do we know where Yukari lives?
> "It's what she said. If it's true, I'd rather not risk your safety or freedom, which is why I'm a bit reluctant to admit this much to you. Especially given how close to your home they got her."

[Hello Purvis]

> Do we know where Yukari lives?
> "It's what she said. If it's true, I'd rather not risk your safety or freedom, which is why I'm a bit reluctant to admit this much to you. Especially given how close to your home they got her."

>You do. It is somewhere in the fields between the town and the forest.
>Mystia nods. "I'll keep it in mind."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Roll up Tewi's dress tight and give it a good wringing while talking.
> "I'm not gonna claim to know what this force has in store for either of us, if anything. But if you ever feel like you need to hide, feel free to hit up my place underground. Can't guarantee total safety, but it shouldn't be the first place they look for you."

[E-Nazrin]

>Do we know any way that someone would be able to contact the Dragon?

If we're going to need backup that badly...

[Hello Purvis]

> Roll up Tewi's dress tight and give it a good wringing while talking.
> "I'm not gonna claim to know what this force has in store for either of us, if anything. But if you ever feel like you need to hide, feel free to hit up my place underground. Can't guarantee total safety, but it shouldn't be the first place they look for you."

>You wring out that poor dress.
>"Um, I don't think a city full of oni is much safer," says Mystia. "But, I appreciate the thought."

>Do we know any way that someone would be able to contact the Dragon?

>You are aware of Iku Nagae's status as a Messenger from interactions with her. But, you're also aware that a being of that rank is very unlikely to want to talk with you, or likely anyone else in Gensokyo.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Except for that one time she did want to talk to us about her ghostie.
> Unless we're internally referring to The Dragon.
> "Out of curiosity, do you know the ghost that works at the jeweler's in the human village?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Except for that one time she did want to talk to us about her ghostie.
> Unless we're internally referring to The Dragon.

>You are.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Out of curiosity, do you know the ghost that works at the jeweler's in the human village?"