Iku Quest Deka: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Kilgamayan]

> "I see. This is a relief to hear, and it actually makes me feel slightly better about asking the two outside world girls to search around the area near the gateway for our missing problem solvers."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I see. This is a relief to hear, and it actually makes me feel slightly better about asking the two outside world girls to search around the area near the gateway for our missing problem solvers."

>"Now, they might well invite themselves to have a peek," says Yukari. "But that's fine. They're both capable, if not precisely powerful. Makai isn't a thing to worry about at the moment, it's own citizens contain themselves very effectively with their own desires. This is rather that made that tourist agency slightly worrisome, it helped them work their way out once; it was quite possible they could do it again."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Do we recall this 'tourist agency'?
> "Oh, and while I am thinking about it, a present."
> Walk over to Yukari.
> Look around the area for potential prying eyes.
> If there are none, take our shawl, and wrap it around the screwdriver while it is still in our purse, then take the shawl back out (with the screwdriver still inside) and hand it over to Yukari.
> "If possible, I would like the wrapping back once you are satisfied with the contents."

[Hello Purvis]

> Do we recall this 'tourist agency'?
> "Oh, and while I am thinking about it, a present."
> Walk over to Yukari.
> Look around the area for potential prying eyes.
> If there are none, take our shawl, and wrap it around the screwdriver while it is still in our purse, then take the shawl back out (with the screwdriver still inside) and hand it over to Yukari.
> "If possible, I would like the wrapping back once you are satisfied with the contents."

>You don't recall anything about this.
>You wrap up Yukari's Screwdriver and hand it to her. She takes it the package, opens a gap the length of her forearm beside the table, and places it inside. She then withdraws your shawl and hands it back to you. "Thank you, Miss Nagae. I'm sure you found it useful."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Smile.
> "I'm sure you have heard this many times in the past, but you are a truly amazing being."

[Hello Purvis]

> Smile.
> "I'm sure you have heard this many times in the past, but you are a truly amazing being."

>"Most certainly," she says. "But what amazes you the most, I wonder?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Right now, I would say it is a combination of your knowledge and foresight."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Right now, I would say it is a combination of your knowledge and foresight."

>"I would encourage you to go on," says Yukari, "But I suspect that you have other things to ask, or things that need to be handled."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I actually do only have one other question. Once I have restored my home, I will need to free my people enslaved at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Given I have little-to-nothing to offer in exchange, what would you suggest?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "I actually do only have one other question. Once I have restored my home, I will need to free my people enslaved at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Given I have little-to-nothing to offer in exchange, what would you suggest?"

>"Well," says Yukari, "I daresay if Remilia is playing at being a hegemon of some kind, she will be most interested in negotiation simply to have an air of legitimacy, wouldn't you agree?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "That is most likely true, yes. I wonder if she could be successfully convinced to let my people go with no real recompense, though...perhaps the temporary control over our island and our people will have been enough for her tastes."

[Hello Purvis]

> "That is most likely true, yes. I wonder if she could be successfully convinced to let my people go with no real recompense, though...perhaps the temporary control over our island and our people will have been enough for her tastes."

>"Mmm, I doubt that she's been sated already," says Yukari. "I expect she'll try to wrangle some sort of concession from you. Despite all appearances, I don't think she's very interested in slaves in the long term. It's not her style."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Then I will have to produce something that can satisfy a vampire without smearing the spirituality of Bhava-Agra...how vexing."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Then I will have to produce something that can satisfy a vampire without smearing the spirituality of Bhava-Agra...how vexing."

>Yukari nods. "Yes, quite. But I'm sure Remilia understands that delays are often a part of diplomacy."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Sigh.
> "I suppose that is true as well. I guess I can ask The Dragon what Bhava-Agra has to offer her to free our people, once our home has been restored to its proper place."

[Hello Purvis]

> Sigh.
> "I suppose that is true as well. I guess I can ask The Dragon what Bhava-Agra has to offer her to free our people, once our home has been restored to its proper place."

>She nods. "I hope that is going well?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "It is probably the most interesting conundrum I will ever run across in my lifetime. I still do not feel like I am any closer to my ultimate task of restoring my land, but I have at least successfully restored the people whose shadows had been taken, and...I've somehow made some sort of small social connection with the perpetrator, despite not even understanding how. She wishes for nothing but complete isolation, and yet she gone from trying to hate me to death to freely sharing information and trust, and I cannot figure out why."

[Hello Purvis]

> "It is probably the most interesting conundrum I will ever run across in my lifetime. I still do not feel like I am any closer to my ultimate task of restoring my land, but I have at least successfully restored the people whose shadows had been taken, and...I've somehow made some sort of small social connection with the perpetrator, despite not even understanding how. She wishes for nothing but complete isolation, and yet she gone from trying to hate me to death to freely sharing information and trust, and I cannot figure out why."

>"I would think it's rather obvious," says Yukari. "You're probably her only friend."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Of course. She wants no friends. She wants nothing to do with anyone. What makes me different, I do not know."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Of course. She wants no friends. She wants nothing to do with anyone. What makes me different, I do not know."

>Yukari chuckles. "What's so shocking? You told me you didn't think she was a bad person and it seems to have turned out to be rather true, don't you think? It simply seems you made offers of goodwill in earnest, and she reciprocated. One would expect you to be ecstatic  it really is a triumph of your philosophy, is it not?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "It has occurred to me that she would not be where she is now without my philosophy overtaking hers, yes, but I wonder just how much she really believes in it. Near as I can tell, her actions are largely motivated by the mystery that is poltergeist death being the alternative."

[Hello Purvis]

> "It has occurred to me that she would not be where she is now without my philosophy overtaking hers, yes, but I wonder just how much she really believes in it. Near as I can tell, her actions are largely motivated by the mystery that is poltergeist death being the alternative."

>"Ah," says Yukari. "I never thought of that. Hmmm, that would explain the theft, wouldn't it?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Nod.
> "And it is one of the major reasons why I refuse to simply beat the shadows out of her."

[Hello Purvis]

> Nod.
> "And it is one of the major reasons why I refuse to simply beat the shadows out of her."

>Yukari nods. "Quite so."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Do you happen to know what becomes of a poltergeist when they die? Are they ferried across the river and judged, do they reincarnate as a lesser being, or do they simply cease to be?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Do you happen to know what becomes of a poltergeist when they die? Are they ferried across the river and judged, do they reincarnate as a lesser being, or do they simply cease to be?"

>"I am reasonably sure they are not ferried across," says Yukari. "Otherwise it wouldn't have been so exceptional that the Yama paid them any mind during the flower incident, don't you agree?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Nod.
> "This is a good point. And given their nature of coming into being, and how they sustain themselves...I suppose it is not unreasonable to think they would simply disappear upon death."

[Hello Purvis]

> Nod.
> "This is a good point. And given their nature of coming into being, and how they sustain themselves...I suppose it is not unreasonable to think they would simply disappear upon death."

>Yukari nods. "It seems reasonable. Though I would not rule out reincarnation into the animal realms."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Which one would you speculate is more likely, given we know she is a poltergeist of shadows?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Which one would you speculate is more likely, given we know she is a poltergeist of shadows?"

>"I don't bother myself to worry about such things," says Yukari. "It doesn't do much to affect the present either way."

>_