Iku Quest Dos - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

>Nod
>"I guess all I can say is to hold tight, and that we're working to address the problem as best we can."

>Would a celestial village have a sort of communal gathering place, akin to a tavern? If so, did we see one as we flew in?

>"I know," says the celestial.
>Most communal meeting places tend to be in attractive outdoor areas. These end up being fairly similar to taverns, as sake is most often exchanged in such places. You imagine the town square would normally be such a place, but circumstances seem to have disrupted it.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>And we're not fortunate enough to see any signs of any Hinanai that we recognize among the gathered people?
>Or would that be unfortunate, since that would imply that were probably involved in the fight?

[Hello Purvis]

>And we're not fortunate enough to see any signs of any Hinanai that we recognize among the gathered people?
>Or would that be unfortunate, since that would imply that were probably involved in the fight?

>You ponder whether or not is it fortunate that you haven't seen any members of the Hinanai clan here. A glance around doesn't reveal any familiar faces.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Thank you."

>Return to Eirin
>"I'm going to head off to continue investigating, now. I thought should give you fair warning that the last I saw Marisa, she was groping around the bamboo forest after me. I don't think I was particularly close to Eientei, but I don't really know where she is now, either. I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't, either, to be honest."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Thank you."

>Return to Eirin
>"I'm going to head off to continue investigating, now. I thought should give you fair warning that the last I saw Marisa, she was groping around the bamboo forest after me. I don't think I was particularly close to Eientei, but I don't really know where she is now, either. I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't, either, to be honest."

>"Sorry I couldn't tell you more," says the Celestial, as she tries to nod to you, and winces.
>You return to Eirin, who is examining a conscious celestial with several danmaku wounds, and warn her. "I'll keep it in mind. We'll gracefully surrender. I imagine seeing the Princess would mollify her, if nothing else."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I wish I knew what would mollify her on our end of things. She seemed rather insistent on giving me a 'well-deserved beating' as she put it. It would be nice if someone realized that I can't just snap my fingers and make the islands ascend. But things are as they are. I simply hope I don't encounter her again until I've made a breakthrough with this."
>Head off to the lake, looking for signs of habitation

[Hello Purvis]

>"I wish I knew what would mollify her on our end of things. She seemed rather insistent on giving me a 'well-deserved beating' as she put it. It would be nice if someone realized that I can't just snap my fingers and make the islands ascend. But things are as they are. I simply hope I don't encounter her again until I've made a breakthrough with this."
>Head off to the lake, looking for signs of habitation

>"Further evidence would definitely be useful," says Eirin. "Until then, avoiding her would be a good idea. Good luck!"
>With that, you depart and leave the town, heading for the southern edge of the island. The lake here is rather small, nothing compared to the Misty Lake outside of Scarlet Devil Mansion. Still, it's crystal clear waters allow you to see down to the very bottom of it, where a great deal of seaweed can be seen. There are a couple houses hear and there near it, but one stands practically on the lakeshore.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Fly down to said house and knock on the door

[Hello Purvis]

>Fly down to said house and knock on the door

>You descend toward the house. It is a very simple place, merely a square with a roof, a door, and some windows. It's about the size of your suite back at the Dragon Palace, perhaps a little smaller.
>You knock on the door. With your first knock, it opens inwards with a creak of weak protest.
>Inside, you can see books are everywhere, strewn about the place randomly, along with fallen shelves. A fair amount of dust swirls in the air. In the middle of it, sitting serenely on the floor in a lotus position, is a celestial in worm clothing. Her hair is a mess, and her face and arms are smudged with dirt. She has several bruises, and a nasty-looking cut on her right arm that is slowly oozing blood. She does not seem to notice this, or you.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Could anyone's meditation truly be that focused?
>Well, disturbing her or no, she really ought to have that wound tended...
>"Excuse me?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Could anyone's meditation truly be that focused?
>Well, disturbing her or no, she really ought to have that wound tended...
>"Excuse me?"

>You have no idea...
>This is a point. Bleeding is probably not useful to anyone but Remilia.
>"Yes, Messenger?" she says in a raspy voice.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"You... realize you're injured, don't you?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"You... realize you're injured, don't you?"

>"That is fine," she says, her voice is so hoarse it's a little hard to understand what she is saying.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Don't you think your wound should be tended to?"
>Does it sound hoarse in the 'in pain' sense, or the 'really dry' sense?

[Hello Purvis]

>"Don't you think your wound should be tended to?"
>Does it sound hoarse in the 'in pain' sense, or the 'really dry' sense?

>"It'll be fine," she says.
>In the sense of being dry and raspy.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Are you... certain you're ok with things as they are?"
>"Also, are you aware of what has happened with Bhava-Agra?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Are you... certain you're ok with things as they are?"
>"Also, are you aware of what has happened with Bhava-Agra?"

>"I would rather they not happened," says the Celestial, Miyu if you've pegged her correctly, "But they have. Things carry on, as will I."
>"I have deduced," she says, the last word practically unrecognizable from her raspy tones.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Things carry on, true. But would they not carry on better if you tended to yourself? Have something to drink, perhaps?"
>"In any case, I've come here because I've been told you know a great deal of lore. I don't suppose there is anything in what you've read to suggest what may have caused Bhava-Agra to fall?"
>"Additionally, we have noticed that the islands cast very weak shadows upon the ground below. Much fainter than should be the case for such solid objects this close to the surface. Do you have any idea why this might be?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Things carry on, true. But would they not carry on better if you tended to yourself? Have something to drink, perhaps?"
>"In any case, I've come here because I've been told you know a great deal of lore. I don't suppose there is anything in what you've read to suggest what may have caused Bhava-Agra to fall?"
>"Additionally, we have noticed that the islands cast very weak shadows upon the ground below. Much fainter than should be the case for such solid objects this close to the surface. Do you have any idea why this might be?"

>"Distractions," she says, some of the syllables barely audible.
>"I know a couple things," she says. "But I cannot answer that at the moment, Messenger."
>She is quiet for a moment. "Curious," she rasps after a moment. "I had not noticed this. Mmmm. This is not promising. An object that casts no shadow can hardly be considered an object at all."

>_

[E-Nazrin]

Don't try to reason with her too much. Crazy hermits will be crazy hermits, and if they're doing it well enough to near enlightenment, they probably know how to do it better than we do.

>"Why can't you answer it at the moment, if I may ask?"
>"What could cause an object to cast a weaker shadow?"

[DracoOmega]

Just because they're a crazy celestial hermit doesn't mean they're doing it the right way, ya know.
But more seriously, my conscience has a hard time leaving her bleeding and dehydrated, although I realize there's probably not much we can do to convince her she ought to care about such things. It kind of feels like it treads the border of negligence vs. disrespect, if you know what I mean?

[Hello Purvis]

>"Why can't you answer it at the moment, if I may ask?"
>"What could cause an object to cast a weaker shadow?"

>"Because I don't know," Miyu rasps. "But the shadow suggests something, don't you think?"
>"It leads me to suspect that something vital was taken."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Some part of the islands that keeps them afloat, perhaps?"
>"Do you have any idea what that might be?"
>"Do you know anything about the physicality of the islands themselves?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Some part of the islands that keeps them afloat, perhaps?"
>"Do you have any idea what that might be?"
>"Do you know anything about the physicality of the islands themselves?"

>She gives a raspy chuckle. "So many questions, Messenger. Yes, it would certainly be something that keeps the afloat. As for what it may be, I cannot correctly say. Likely the force that separates the Deva Realm from the Human Realm. And these islands are as physical as any other."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Sorry, I don't mean to disturb you unduly, but solving this matter is an urgent responsibility of mine. I'll try to keep it as brief as possible."
>"Do you have any idea how this force could be taken?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Sorry, I don't mean to disturb you unduly, but solving this matter is an urgent responsibility of mine. I'll try to keep it as brief as possible."
>"Do you have any idea how this force could be taken?"

>She gives another dry chuckle. " Ask too many questions, and you may get too many answers, Messenger. Then how will you reason?"
>"Magic, I presume," she says. "How it could be beyond that, or why, I'm not sure."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Certainly too much information can impede one's ability to reason, but too little is at least as harmful, is it not? Since, at the moment, I know very little, every clue is precious."
>"Do you have any suggestion for where I might be able to investigate this further?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Certainly too much information can impede one's ability to reason, but too little is at least as harmful, is it not? Since, at the moment, I know very little, every clue is precious."
>"Do you have any suggestion for where I might be able to investigate this further?"

>"If you can't find some of them yourself," the celestial says, "Then what good are you to anyone?"
>"Two places I would look," she says, her voice so dry you wonder why she hasn't broken out into coughing fits yet.  "First, I would consider those who deal in shadowy arts. Secondly, I would look for other things or people with the same problem."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>That was... rather harsh
>"I haven't seen any of the second yet, to the best of my knowledge, but I will remain attentive for such things. In any event, thank you for your assistance, and I apologize again for disturbing you."
>"...are you sure you're alright? With the injuries and such, I mean."

[Hello Purvis]

>That was... rather harsh
>"I haven't seen any of the second yet, to the best of my knowledge, but I will remain attentive for such things. In any event, thank you for your assistance, and I apologize again for disturbing you."
>"...are you sure you're alright? With the injuries and such, I mean."

>She didn't have to say it like that. You really are trying your best...
>"It is alright," she rasps. "And you are welcome."
>"They'll pass with time."

>_