Iku Quest Drei - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

You are Iku Nagae, Gensokyo's premier messenger and dancer, and the sky has fallen!
>You do not know how, or why, but Bhava-Arga has fallen from the sky and now hovers scant yards over the surface of Gensokyo. This has caused numerous problems. On top of this, Tenshi has run off after stealing the Sword of Hisou. This has made her a primary suspect in the eyes of many. including yourself at one point.
>You are an oarfish youkai in service to the Dragon Palace. As a resident of Bhava-Agra, you bear a status similar to that of a Celestial, and are considered a minor functionary in the Celestial Bureaucracy that makes certain the known universe runs as it should, with all the rights privileges, and duties that come with this position. You are in the service of The Dragon, who reigns quietly as the highest god of this realm, and is among the highest beings in the universe. It regards you well, and you think of it as a guardian.
>While your duties and position suggest your place is in Bhava-Agra, you have a tendency to roam to other places. You somewhat blame this on Tenshi Hinanai, whom you have unfortunately been charged with keeping out of significant trouble, and her tendency to visit Gensokyo whenever possible. You are well-know for your love of dance, and excellence in performing it; oftentimes you've been asked to star in performances given at the Dragon Palace. Others have styled you the Dance Empress, particularly those who would try to claim that title for themselves. You are, as far as you know, well regarded by everyone you know and are welcome practically anywhere in Gensokyo, save perhaps for Higan. The only real black spot in your days is periodically having to deal with Tenshi's chicanery.
>You have been tasked by The Dragon in dealing with this incident. You have taken some stock of the damage surrounding the fall. You have found that Bhava-Agra's food supply has been badly affected by these events. You have been tasked with delivering messages for Patchouli. You have had bad run ins with Marisa and Reimu; and nearly had one with Sanae. You have found Tenshi hiding in the Ancient City, became convinced of her innocence, convinced her to join you, and left her behind in the Human Village. You've discovered that the islands of Bhava-Agra do not cast proper shadows.
>You are currently speaking to a Celestial on a forested isle over the Forest of Magic, where one of Tenshi's siblings is staying.

> Would the Hinanai clan know if the Sword of Hisou had been stolen?

>You don't think they would know, unless someone told them.

>"Yes, I imagine there might be. I was with her when the islands fell, and again for some time since. I do not believe she is responsible for the current state of affairs, if that's what you're implying; I understand why people might suspect as much. As for her health, she also had an altercation with Marisa, but is in decent shape at the moment. With regards to the rest of the family, I have only met her mother, who is well."

>She nods. "That is good to hear. I'll make sure she knows."

>_

[Pesco]

> Post in new thread before parser.

No. It messes with the archiving. Because I say so.

[Kilgamayan]

It was only ever intended to be a one-shot gag anyway.

[DracoOmega]

>"Very good then. I am glad things seem to be as well here as can be expected, given the circumstances. I should return and continue my investigation into the cause of the fall. Thank you, and be well."
>Head to the human village

[Hello Purvis]

>"Very good then. I am glad things seem to be as well here as can be expected, given the circumstances. I should return and continue my investigation into the cause of the fall. Thank you, and be well."
>Head to the human village

>The Celestial nods. "Alright."
>You leave the island, and fly back toward the human village. It is more or less as it was before; some youkai and faeries around the island, and the people below going about their business.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Head to the tavern

[Hello Purvis]

>Head to the tavern

>You head to the tavern.
>Inside, you can see quite a few farmers and townsfolk at the tables and booths. There is a definite peach odor to the air, leaving you no doubt that at least some of them have been able to get a share of the spoils from Orchard Island; you notice a number of discarded pits on the edges of plates and such, too. Behind the bar is Nazrin, who seems to have been roped into Tenshi's job while Tenshi is gone. You've done this yourself on occasion, the owner seems reluctant to hire someone permanently for the task. At one of the booths, you see Parsee and Utsuho, the latter you know by reputation and sight rather than personally. Sitting alone at one of the tables is Byakuren, with a heaping bowl of rice in front of her. Near the door, you can see Hina and Alice dining together. Obvious exists are West.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Tenshi did say she'd meet us here, correct?
>Assuming so, go up to Nazrin.
>"I don't suppose you've seen Tenshi around here recently?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Tenshi did say she'd meet us here, correct?
>Assuming so, go up to Nazrin.
>"I don't suppose you've seen Tenshi around here recently?"

>That is what she said.
>You approach Nazrin. "What's your posion?" asks the mouse youkai.
>You ask her about Tenshi. "No luck finding her, huh? I've not seen her, sorry."

>_

[E-Nazrin]

curses as possible cause

Hina and Alice in the same location

SUSPICION.

>"I did find her, actually, but she didn't want to visit Bhava-Arga with me. We planned to meet up again here."
>"And before you ask, I'm fairly confident that she was not responsible for the Heavens falling."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I did find her, actually, but she didn't want to visit Bhava-Arga with me. We planned to meet up again here."
>"And before you ask, I'm fairly confident that she was not responsible for the Heavens falling."

>"Oh, okay," says Nazrin. "Well, I've not seen her. Maybe she ran off on you?"
>The mouse youkai nods. "Well, good thing I'm not running a pool on it. I would have put odds on her."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"You and most other people, I expect. Although Marisa's gone and gotten it into her head that it's some sort of conspiracy between us and the Lunarians. It would be nice if I had another prime suspect, but so far I mostly have a list of people who probably didn't have any hand in it, which doesn't seem likely to dissuade our resident incident solvers."

curses as possible cause
Hina and Alice in the same location
SUSPICION.

What's so suspicious about that? They're friends, right? This is not the first time we've almost seen them together. Besides, I think 'curse' was a fairly non-technical guess by Eirin. Although, if there's something you'd like to ask them, be my guest.

[Hello Purvis]

>"You and most other people, I expect. Although Marisa's gone and gotten it into her head that it's some sort of conspiracy between us and the Lunarians. It would be nice if I had another prime suspect, but so far I mostly have a list of people who probably didn't have any hand in it, which doesn't seem likely to dissuade our resident incident solvers."

>"Huh," says Nazrin. "Well, to be fair, Marisa's idea does make a lot of sense. Anyways, I got nothing to say on it, myself. If you guys didn't do it, I don't know who did."

>_

[E-Nazrin]

No, I'd rather not confront them based on that guess alone, even if I think Eirin's clever enough to guess at a somewhat plausible cause meant literally.

>... WOULD Tenshi run off on us?

[DracoOmega]

Remember, Tenshi may still be searching for that Tsuchinoko. We can't assume she's skipped town just yet.

[Hello Purvis]

>... WOULD Tenshi run off on us?

>She has before.

>_

[DracoOmega]

I can't really think of anything to talk to anyone else in the tavern about at the moment. Anyone else have anything they can think of before we head out around the granary to look for Tenshi?

[Kilgamayan]

Was Byakuren on our Patchy list or no? Or did we talk to her already?

[DracoOmega]

She was on the list, but we already spoke with her about it. In fact, we even reported her response to Patchy already.

[E-Nazrin]

>What do the Parsee/Utsuho and Alice/Hina duos seem to be doing?
>"I suppose I should check around the rest of the village for Tenshi. There was something else we wanted to do here that she might be up to, instead."

[Hello Purvis]

>What do the Parsee/Utsuho and Alice/Hina duos seem to be doing?
>"I suppose I should check around the rest of the village for Tenshi. There was something else we wanted to do here that she might be up to, instead."

>Hina and Alice seem to be enjoying lunch together and a conversation. Parsee and Utsuho are more quiet. Utsuho seems to be frowning into her meal.
>"Might not be a bad idea," says Nazrin.

>_

[nolrai2]

> Walk over to Alice and Hina "Hi.  I am sorry to bother you but do you know much about curses?"

[Kasu]

> Quests

[DracoOmega]

Honestly, as curious as I am about what Utusho's sad about, I can't see context for Iku to inquire, given that she doesn't know her at all, and has only unpleasant memories of Parsee.
With regards to Hina and the curse issue, if we do have cause to speak with her about it, I think it would be better done when we're not interrupting someone's meal. We do know (roughly) where she lives, after all.

[Hello Purvis]

> Walk over to Alice and Hina "Hi.  I am sorry to bother you but do you know much about curses?"

>The two look over toward you. "That would be a very suspicious thing to ask, if it were anyone but you," says Hina. "But yes, I know a great deal about curses. What would you like to know?"

> Quests

>You quests are:
>The Sky Has Fallen
>Bhava Agra has descended into Gensokyo. The Dragon has tasked you with finding out why and fixing it. You have discovered something is very awry with its shadow.
>Magician's Invitational
>Patchouli has asked you to deliver invitations to various magicians in order to form a circle. You have Renko and Mary left to invite.
>Tsuchinoko vs Oarfish
>You have been tasked by Minoriko to deal with a Tsuchinoko that has been seen near the granaries near the human village. Tenshi was supposedly looking into this for you.

>_

[Dormio Ergo Sum]

>"Firstly, I must apoligize for intruding on your meal."
>"As you are most likely aware, the islands of Bhava Agra have fallen from the skies."
>"I have noticed that they are not casting shadows as one would expect them to and have been informed that a possible cause for this may be a curse."
>"I know it may not seem like much of a lead, but it is the only one I have so far and was wondering if you could assist in my investigation whenever it is convenient for you."

Feel free to change whatever part of this you want or to omit it completely if you don't agree.

[DracoOmega]

>"Firstly, I must apoligize for intruding on your meal."
>"As you are most likely aware, the islands of Bhava Agra have fallen from the skies."
>"I have noticed that they are not casting shadows as one would expect them to and have been informed that a possible cause for this may be a curse."
>"I know it may not seem like much of a lead, but it is the only one I have so far and was wondering if you could assist in my investigation whenever it is convenient for you."

Feel free to change whatever part of this you want or to omit it completely if you don't agree.

Seems mostly fine to me, but I'd change that last bit a little. Less 'assisting the investigation' than 'answering a few questions'

>Change that last line to: "I don't really understand the mechanics of such things, and I realize it isn't much to go on, but I was wondering if you might have an opinion on the issue. Could a curse cause such an effect? Would you be able to detect the presence of such a curse?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Firstly, I must apoligize for intruding on your meal."
>"As you are most likely aware, the islands of Bhava Agra have fallen from the skies."
>"I have noticed that they are not casting shadows as one would expect them to and have been informed that a possible cause for this may be a curse."
>"I know it may not seem like much of a lead, but it is the only one I have so far and was wondering if you could assist in my investigation whenever it is convenient for you."

>Change that last line to: "I don't really understand the mechanics of such things, and I realize it isn't much to go on, but I was wondering if you might have an opinion on the issue. Could a curse cause such an effect? Would you be able to detect the presence of such a curse?"

>Alice peaks out of the window by the booth as you mention this. "Huh...she's right, have a look, Hina."
>Hina glances out the window and frowns. "My, so it is. Mmm, well...it's hard to say what exactly the curse would be, were it a curse. There are so many that have very similar or identical effects, but through different castings or causes. If a curse were to affect someone's shadow, I would think that means it has strongly marred their soul. And, I would like to think I could detect a curse like that... I don't feel anything strange in the air, but I've not actually bothered with any of the islands myself. I suppose it could be extremely localized, but that would be unusual."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I apologize for asking this, but might it be possible for you to take a brief look at the island in person, at some point when you're free?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I apologize for asking this, but might it be possible for you to take a brief look at the island in person, at some point when you're free?"

>"I suppose I could, if it won't take too long," says Hina. "Did you have one in mind?"

>_