Reisen Quest Another: A Z Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

>"I wouldn't try diving beneath a frozen lake in any event," says Eirin. "But, I think it's obvious we're going to have to try to do something. That thing has attacked you four times today, and sooner or later you'll have to sleep. Of course, I'll stand guard over you, but that will only serve us for so long before it gets lucky..."

>_

[Kasu]

> "Hah..."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Hah..."

>"Quite," Eirin says, sighing. "I'm sorry to have to dump all of this on you now, but I can't imagine it would do any good to keep it from you. I'll leave it up to you to decide what to do about it. While you do, how are you feeling? I'm told that suzuran pollen got involved, but you seem to have handled that already."

>_

[Thaws]

>"About that... I'm sorry for using the antidote without permission."

>"I also gave Yorihime some of it as well, I was told by Lady Kaguya that it would not be a problem even if she recovers."

>"Regarding that matter, what are we going to do with her now?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"About that... I'm sorry for using the antidote without permission."

>"I also gave Yorihime some of it as well, I was told by Lady Kaguya that it would not be a problem even if she recovers."

>"Regarding that matter, what are we going to do with her now?"

>"You never need my permission to help the sick, Udonge," Eirin says, reaching over and tousling your hair a bit. "And yes, it was the proper thing to administer to Yorihime. She may be driven, but she won't pretend she wasn't defeated, and that it couldn't be done again. As well, it would be very embarrassing for us to not treat one of the regents when it's perfectly within our capacity. It wouldn't do to be seen undermining the current authority of the Capital any more than necessary."
>She has a seat on the examination bed, and shakes her head. "As for what to do about this, that is difficult. We've established the Capital cannot expect to extend its influence here by force alone. We've also decisively proven that we do not them to guard us; or at least that it's beyond their capacity to do so. The difficulty is that this will only contribute to the general unrest that's been persisting the Apollo Invasion. We've established it's unacceptable for them to simply extradite people from Gensokyo, but we are going to have to do something to try to satisfy them if we don't wish to appear to be supporting the unrest. I think we may be able to let her personally inspect some things, and satisfy herself that there is no lasting damage that we can find. I want to extract some sort of guarantee from Patchouli that she won't meddle in such things again, but she is rather reluctant to consider such things. To be honest, I don't know if any of that will satisfy everyone."

>_

[MysTeariousYukari]

> Think back to what time it roughly was when the Apparition attacked during the Yorihime fight, as well as our previous encounters.
> "Eirin, roughly at what time did the Apparition attack when we were leaving the Underground. I think we may be able to predict when it will strike next. As you said, it has appeared before me four times today, thus it's next appearence is only a matter of time. If we can figure out when it will show up next, we can capture it with these" *hold out the talismens/what Reimu gave us to capture the Apparition*

[Hello Purvis]

> Think back to what time it roughly was when the Apparition attacked during the Yorihime fight, as well as our previous encounters.
> "Eirin, roughly at what time did the Apparition attack when we were leaving the Underground. I think we may be able to predict when it will strike next. As you said, it has appeared before me four times today, thus it's next appearence is only a matter of time. If we can figure out when it will show up next, we can capture it with these" *hold out the talismens/what Reimu gave us to capture the Apparition*

>Unfortunately, you have no real way to check the time. But it doesn't feel like there was a regular interval to it at all. This also discounts how much time it might have spent stalking you.
>You show her the Talismans. Eirin takes them and examines them. "Hmm. If I am reading these correctly, it wouldn't affect the thing unless it was a ghost, or a think from Makai. We've ruled out the former, how sure are you about the latter?"

>_

[MysTeariousYukari]

> "It's... hard to tell really. But no matter what it is, these are worth a try. If it was mostly physical, we would have killed or ruined it by now, living or mechanical respectivly, so that means it's form is only physical enough to touch us and objects, but immiterial enough that standard magical attacks like Danmaku won't cause any real lasting or visable damage."

[Hello Purvis]

>Eirin nods. "There is logic in that. Hopefully, you'll be able to drive it off if the seal fails. But, if it comes from that shrine, we may be able to catch it while it is weakened. Presuming we can get to it, of course."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Did the Scarlet Devil Mansion appear on the second or third maps? Disregard, I forgot Remi wasn't around 580 years ago.
> Ponder what the kappa might know about the underwater shrine.

[Hello Purvis]

> Did the Scarlet Devil Mansion appear on the second or third maps? Disregard, I forgot Remi wasn't around 580 years ago.
> Ponder what the kappa might know about the underwater shrine.

>You ponder if the Kappa know anything about the shrine. Upon reflection, you aren't sure if they even bother with the lake.

>_

[MysTeariousYukari]

> Look at the map searching for other places we might know of, such as the Yakumo Manor or Hakugyokoru/Yuyuko's Really Big House.
> Try to find the rough locations of where we encountered the Apparition, look for patterens or such.

[Hello Purvis]

> Look at the map searching for other places we might know of, such as the Yakumo Manor or Hakugyokoru/Yuyuko's Really Big House.
> Try to find the rough locations of where we encountered the Apparition, look for patterens or such.

>You idly look over the maps for other familiar locations. You find that the latest one has some reference to Hakugyokurou in a vague sense in...generally the right location, marked, "Here there be the dead, travel not" Really, these maps are pretty vague and useless; but they were made back in the bad old days, when travel was exceedingly dangerous.
>You consider the places where you fought the Apparition.  The first time was in the Forest of Magic, but you think it had been following you since you got to the northern outskirts of the human village. The second time was in the middle of the Forest of Magic. The third time was just underneath the peak of Youkai Mountain. The last time was just outside of Eientei. If it is bound to the lake in some way, it seems to be able to travel.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Has anyone arrived yet for tonight's feast?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Has anyone arrived yet for tonight's feast?"

>"Medicine came shortly before you did," says Eirin. "But I think it's a bit early to expect many people. Oh, and Sakuya came with me. She's taken charge of the kitchen."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "What about Youmu? I'm wondering if Yuyuko will know anything about this shrine."

[Hello Purvis]

> "What about Youmu? I'm wondering if Yuyuko will know anything about this shrine."

>Eirin nods. "She returned with me as well. I should have implied it more strongly. And, hmm, I don't know; I suppose you could do worse than asking Youmu. She's in the kitchen as well, I think."

>_

[MysTeariousYukari]

> "Going out on a limb here, in more ways then one, but do you think Yukari Yakumo would know anything about the shrine?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Going out on a limb here, in more ways then one, but do you think Yukari Yakumo would know anything about the shrine?"

>"It's possible," says Eirin. "She was certainly around then. I actually considered consulting her on the gems beforehand, but Patchouli tells me she is hibernating now, so it won't be an option for a few weeks yet."

>_

[Thaws]

>"Maybe Ran would know about the shrine? She was investigating the gems herself before I showed up actually, and she's probably one of the oldest beings in Gensokyo, being a Kitsune."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Maybe Ran would know about the shrine? She was investigating the gems herself before I showed up actually, and she's probably one of the oldest beings in Gensokyo, being a Kitsune."

>"I wouldn't say the one of the oldest," Eirin replies, "But she might know something. I doubt she would have connected it to the gems, however, unless you have a reason to think she wouldn't have told you?"

>_

[MysTeariousYukari]

> "Can not believe I didn't think on it further sooner. If I remember correctly, she was studying the Gems and asked me to gather them for study. Could she have known about the shrine when she sent me to gather the Gems?"
> "I'm going to need to speak with her either way though. Who knows, she may actually know something that we don't, she does live with one of Gensokyo's greatest and oldest, Yukari, after all."
> "Oh, and since I survived a battle with Yorihime..." Give Eirin a big hug and kiss.

[Hello Purvis]

> "Can not believe I didn't think on it further sooner. If I remember correctly, she was studying the Gems and asked me to gather them for study. Could she have known about the shrine when she sent me to gather the Gems?"
> "I'm going to need to speak with her either way though. Who knows, she may actually know something that we don't, she does live with one of Gensokyo's greatest and oldest, Yukari, after all."
> "Oh, and since I survived a battle with Yorihime..." Give Eirin a big hug and kiss.

>"I think I just answered that." says Eirin to your first question.
>"I wouldn't get your hopes up too much," says Eirin. "As I said, if she knew a lot, she likely would have told you something to the effect of minding the lake. Or it might have dissuaded her from seeking the gems out altogether. But I imagine she might have seen it."
>You give Eirin some affection. She smiles and returns your hug with enough ardor to make your shoulders hurt again. "I'll admit," she says, before returning your kiss, "that I was a bit worried, even when it became clear you had succeeded in securing Kanako's assistance. But you did well, I'm proud of you."

>_

[MysTeariousYukari]

> "I can't say it was easy defeating her, even with these Gems and the power they offer. I promised I would come back to you alive, didn't I? When was the last time I made a promise to you or Lady Kaguya that I could not keep? Past stopping the intruders during that incident, that is."
> Continue with the hugs and kisses, hope that no one intrudes this time.

[Zemyla]

> Remember that we have to go over to the Moriya shrine and tell them that we succeeded.

[Janitor Morgan]

> Continue with the hugs and kisses, hope that no one intrudes this time.

A bit early to be celebrating, isn't it? We need to make sure the Apparition won't crash the party, and then we can shower Eirin with affection.

[Hello Purvis]

> "I can't say it was easy defeating her, even with these Gems and the power they offer. I promised I would come back to you alive, didn't I? When was the last time I made a promise to you or Lady Kaguya that I could not keep? Past stopping the intruders during that incident, that is."
> Continue with the hugs and kisses, hope that no one intrudes this time.

>"Well, we won't hold broken vows against you that we ourselves couldn't keep," says Eirin, as she sighs and relaxes a bit more into your embrace.

> Remember that we have to go over to the Moriya shrine and tell them that we succeeded.

>They would probably appreciate not having to be on guard anymore.

>_

[Kasu]

> "I'm sorry Eirin, but there are some loose ends I'd like to tie up before the feast.  May I take my leave?"
> If permitted, bid Eirin farewell and head for the Moriya Shrine.

[MysTeariousYukari]

> Give Eirin one last kiss before leaving though.

[Hello Purvis]

> "I'm sorry Eirin, but there are some loose ends I'd like to tie up before the feast.  May I take my leave?"
> If permitted, bid Eirin farewell and head for the Moriya Shrine.

> Give Eirin one last kiss before leaving though.

>"If you must," she says, kissing you one last time. You decide not to let her have the last word on the issue and give her one last one yourself.
>You bid her farewell, and leave Eientei once more. You make your way through the bamboo forest, passing by Yuugi and a handful of Oni carrying several sizable kegs. Along the road to the shrine, you pass through kappa town and tengu town and find many of their residents are out watching the lights in the sky.
>As you reach the Moriya Shrine, you find Sanae and Wriggle sitting on the front porch, talking among themselves over steaming mugs of tea. Wriggle has exchanged her wind priestess outfit for something more typical of her, though with longer trousers and a proper cloak rather than a cape. Sanae waves to you as you enter the shrine grounds.

>_