Iku Quest Dos - A Z-Machine Adventure

[E-Nazrin]

>Does Parsee get pissed if people cross the bridge when she's not there? And would that be a problem of any significance, if she does?
>How well do we know our way through the city?

>Nod.
>"Right. Then don't be surprised if someone challenges you, or threatens to kidnap you. They're a little rough and can be eager test their strength, but they're pretty friendly overall."
>"If we do get into a fight, would you rather I try to help out to show my support, or stay out of it?"

Ace in the hole: She would have to fight through this anyway if she went to investigate Tenshi on her own - our presence makes little difference for getting through the oni city, advice aside.

[Hello Purvis]

>Hopefully we acquitted ourselves admirably, when such challenges arose?
>Continue into the city

>You've done well for yourself. At the same time, none of the city's heavy hitters have come after you. You imagine it'll be a matter of time.
>You cross the bridge. Glancing down toward the banks, you notice a red-haired youkai in a dark green dress on the banks, fishing along side a smallish youkai with purple hair and cool-colored clothing.

>Does Parsee get pissed if people cross the bridge when she's not there? And would that be a problem of any significance, if she does?
>How well do we know our way through the city?

>Nod.
>"Right. Then don't be surprised if someone challenges you, or threatens to kidnap you. They're a little rough and can be eager test their strength, but they're pretty friendly overall."
>"If we do get into a fight, would you rather I try to help out to show my support, or stay out of it?"

>Parsee probably does, but you don't think it would amount to anything.
>You know the west side pretty well. The east side, you have a general idea.
>You nod to Sanae and give her more warnings. "I was expecting that," she says. "And, I guess I'll handle things. It really gets tricky when there's two people."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Do we know these youkai by sight?
>Do they look like they'd be in a good position to have seen anyone else pass over the bridge? Assuming they've been there for any length of time?

[Hello Purvis]

>Do we know these youkai by sight?
>Do they look like they'd be in a good position to have seen anyone else pass over the bridge? Assuming they've been there for any length of time?

>You think one of them might be Orin.
>You suspect they could probably see people passing by.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I'm just going to go over there and ask them if they may have seen Tenshi come this way."
>Walk over towards them.
>"Excuse me, but I don't suppose you've seen a woman with long blue hair pass this way recently?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm just going to go over there and ask them if they may have seen Tenshi come this way."
>Walk over towards them.
>"Excuse me, but I don't suppose you've seen a woman with long blue hair pass this way recently?"

>You walk to the edge of the bridge and call down.
>"Yeah, why?" the red-haired woman calls back

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"It's very important that I find her. Do you know how long ago she passed by here?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"It's very important that I find her. Do you know how long ago she passed by here?"

>"Um, a little bit again, I think?"
>She confers with the other youkai.
>"Yeah, a little bit ago!"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"She was entering the city, not leaving it, correct?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"She was entering the city, not leaving it, correct?"

>"Yeah!"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Thanks!"
>Enter the city
>Keep an eye out for any hints of blue hair in crowds

[Hello Purvis]

>"Thanks!"
>Enter the city
>Keep an eye out for any hints of blue hair in crowds

>"No problem!" calls back to the red-haired youkai.
>You step through between the old stone columns of the gateway, from which two old wooden doors, covered with graffiti, hang open. Up ahead, you can see the bustling food market; where practically anything that can be fried is fried and put on a stick. Off to the west, you can see a side street running along the city wall that leads to the clinic maintained by the Myouren Shrine. You don't see any blue hair up ahead, but there's a fair crowd.
>"So where are we going?" asks Sanae.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Have we known Tenshi to come to the Ancient City much before?
>If so, can we think of places she might have gone to while she were here?

[Hello Purvis]

>Have we known Tenshi to come to the Ancient City much before?
>If so, can we think of places she might have gone to while she were here?

>You suspect she has. But you wouldn't have been there with her at the time.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"That's a good question. Beyond knowing that she entered the city, I'm not sure where she would have gone. I don't know if she's simply hiding from me, or if she's pursuing some other objective. Frankly, I would ordinarily suggest we split up to cover more ground, or that one of us stay by the gate to make sure she doesn't leave, but I understand the situation between us makes that difficult."
>"I'll see if I can get a wider view."
>Ascend, and gaze around the city. Can we see any signs of either Tenshi or other unusual activity?

[Hello Purvis]

>"That's a good question. Beyond knowing that she entered the city, I'm not sure where she would have gone. I don't know if she's simply hiding from me, or if she's pursuing some other objective. Frankly, I would ordinarily suggest we split up to cover more ground, or that one of us stay by the gate to make sure she doesn't leave, but I understand the situation between us makes that difficult."
>"I'll see if I can get a wider view."
>Ascend, and gaze around the city. Can we see any signs of either Tenshi or other unusual activity?

>Sanae nods.
>You ascend, and have a look around. No one especially Tenshi-like stands out. You don't see any crowds that strike you as unusual. Some at the market, some at the pub district. Not much activity around the warehouses or the distillery.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Descend
>"Well, no sign of her from here."
>Head in the direction of The Felt. Keep an eye out, as we walk.

[WHMZakeri]

Oi. I don't know why I even bother.
It just occured to me last night as I was sleeping. Do we know for certain that we want to lead an incident solver to Tenshi? I've been harboring an idea in my head that Tenshi has actually gone out to try and stop the cause of the Islands decent all by herself. I think it's likely that (since it fit very well with the naritive so far), so Tenshi busting might actually make things worse.

in any case, it's far too late to say or do anything about it now. I'll just hope I'm wrong.

[Hello Purvis]

>Descend
>"Well, no sign of her from here."
>Head in the direction of The Felt. Keep an eye out, as we walk.

>You descend again.
>"You there there's someone we can ask?" Sanae says, as she starts to follow you down the street.
>Will you take the long way toward The Felt, or a shortcut?

>_

[WHMZakeri]

>"Do you mind if I ask a few things while we walk?"
>"Have you found out anything about the incident so far?"
>"Who have you 'spoken' with so far on what's happened?"

[DracoOmega]

I'm not planning to just sic Sanae on Tenshi either. I'm neither convinced of Tenshi's guilt or total innocence. But Sanae, at the very least, was less aggressive than Reimu. Reimu started attacking us before we'd barely opened our moth. If Tenshi is innocent, it doesn't have to come to blows with anyone. We're back at the negotiating table. And if Tenshi actually has any new information, that could help with negotiating. And frankly, if Tenshi is innocent, and it still turns into a battle for whatever reason, I'd place better odds on Iku(without spellcards)+Tenshi vs. Sanae than Iku(with spellcards) vs. Sanae.

>"There's a couple people I know down here. Whether or not they would have seen anything, I don't know."
>What shortcut is this?
>Do we know Nue? If so, where is her tavern located along this path?

[Hello Purvis]

>"Do you mind if I ask a few things while we walk?"
>"Have you found out anything about the incident so far?"
>"Who have you 'spoken' with so far on what's happened?"

>"Sure," says Sanae.
>"Not much," she says. "I spent most of the time trying get through the tengu panicking and such."
>"Well, I met Suika on the bit that fell on the mountain. She was pretty angry. After that, I went toward the town, ended up getting attacked by faeries. Cirno said that you were there, so I decided it was more likely you were more likely to visit the forest than anything to the north, and I checked around. Then I met you."

>"There's a couple people I know down here. Whether or not they would have seen anything, I don't know."
>What shortcut is this?
>Do we know Nue? If so, where is her tavern located along this path?

>She nods.
>It would take you through some back alleys along the more run down parts of town.
>You do know of Nue and her establishment. She is the opposite way of The Felt, on the other side of town.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Head to the Felt along the shortcut
>"Some of Bhava-Agre fell onto the mountain itself? I... hope no one was seriously hurt."

[Hello Purvis]

>Head to the Felt along the shortcut
>"Some of Bhava-Agre fell onto the mountain itself? I... hope no one was seriously hurt."

>You take a side ally, and avoid the marketplace entirely.
>"Well, Suika was really upset," says Sanae, "But aside from that, no. It hit the side."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"That's comforting. I'd hate to think anyone on the surface was injured by this as well. I've already seen more than injuries among those who live on the islands, including some people I know quite well. And much of our harvest may be spoiled on top of this, to say nothing of the property damage."

[Hello Purvis]

>"That's comforting. I'd hate to think anyone on the surface was injured by this as well. I've already seen more than injuries among those who live on the islands, including some people I know quite well. And much of our harvest may be spoiled on top of this, to say nothing of the property damage."

>She nods. "So, who are you looking for, to help out, I mean?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, right now I'm just checking one of the places I frequent when I'm down here. If Tenshi isn't laying low, it's even possible she'd go there at some point. But more likely, I may simply see someone I recognize, there. It is a popular gathering place. If that doesn't work, I may check with the Myoren Clinic, or even Yuugi. She may know someone to ask, at any rate. Really, I have only the barest idea where Tenshi would be, down here. Or even why."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, right now I'm just checking one of the places I frequent when I'm down here. If Tenshi isn't laying low, it's even possible she'd go there at some point. But more likely, I may simply see someone I recognize, there. It is a popular gathering place. If that doesn't work, I may check with the Myoren Clinic, or even Yuugi. She may know someone to ask, at any rate. Really, I have only the barest idea where Tenshi would be, down here. Or even why."

>She nods. "Why wouldn't she be laying lay, though, if she's running away? Especially with all the stuff going on?"
>You walk through a rather run-down area. Most of the buildings here are in fairly lousy shape. You don't know if it's due to the oni just not caring for them, or if it is because they were cause in the middle of a riot. Thankfully, though, there isn't that much traffic here.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"If she's laying low, then I'm going to have a very hard time finding her in a place this large without help; someone who knows it better than I do. As for why she mightn't be, well... Tenshi's not the most subtle person. If she was honestly uninvolved, which I'm not prepared to rule out entirely, she may not realize the magnitude of what happened."
>Continue to keep our eyes peeled for anyone as we proceed.

[Hello Purvis]

>"If she's laying low, then I'm going to have a very hard time finding her in a place this large without help; someone who knows it better than I do. As for why she mightn't be, well... Tenshi's not the most subtle person. If she was honestly uninvolved, which I'm not prepared to rule out entirely, she may not realize the magnitude of what happened."
>Continue to keep our eyes peeled for anyone as we proceed.

>Sanae nods.
>There are couple of oni here. Most of them seem to be going about their business, but you notice one, a short one with dark hair and two horns, seems to be watching you.

>_