> Use our mirror as a "substitute" and move it in front of us to block the magical blades that way we don't both get hit by one
> "Isn't there virtue in being clever with your magic? Sometimes it's more effective than raw power, but I'll let off the temperature gimmick if you protest"
> Stop the cold magic and instead focus on redirecting animation magic on areas that there is no blood, forcing her to spread it out more if she wants to regain control, additionally attempt to twist the knight's arm by rotating our animated sword from the edge to gain leverage
> "But I'll respond to your blades with some of my own"
> Throw many magical knives at her and instruct our mirror to fill in holes in our pattern with kunai
> Do not lose sight of the 3 blades :dodging or another "Deflection of Shield-Mirror" might beneeded.
> Make the magical knives&kunai double arch ,aiming in a way to reduce even more dodging room, to escape and imprint a throwing effect similiar to home-in
> Switch to actual home-in aiming for the injured side of Elis when they approach her ,if able of course.
//For stepping-up the Challenge,since Elis is doing that and "anticipating" leat the "Boredom Bar" goes up again , the experimental idea&planning of " mass animating the debris,enchanting and transmutating them ,as possible ,all/ most of them using them as gestalt/combinations from behind and sides "has its feasible potential ,or the basics of it has it at least th ; of course with keeping pressure&dustraction at the forefront and sides by Louise ,the Mirror and the Sword...wirh the Blood Possesed Armour dodged/avoided/stopped //
> You pull the mirror towards you; but the blast which was aimed at the mirror adjusts slightly as it shoots, clipping the frame. This; in turn, causes it to only just manage to deflect the blade aimed towards you enough that it cuts your sleeve.
> You ease up on the cold magic, and decide to fight Elis' Blood magic more directly. You manage to twist the knight's arm around by focusing the magic on that part specifically, although Elis in turn seems to focus on making the Knight itself move towards you, raising it's empty gauntlet like it intends to bring it down like a hammer.
> You conjure and throw several magical knives towards Elis; which fly around the suit of Armour. The vampire dosen't even pay attention to them, letting them hit her and dissipate, any damage they did do recovering nigh immediately. Your mirror dosen't fire kunai shots because it's still recovering from the glanceing blows it took and getting back into the right position. If it were to fire right now, in it's current staggered position and in front of you, it would hit you.
[First part of your post is basically what Tom said so I'm skipping that for redundancy's sake]
> You keep an eye on the other three blades, and once they fly past you, you just follow their magical signature. They stop; and turn back around. Pointing towards you, but not flying towards you yet. They seem to be on standby.
> Elis flicks her wand, and the three blades stick themselves into the ground around you, melting into it. As they melt; they form a rune beneath you.
> The rune has the Makaian sigil for 'Blood' in the center, and starts to glow, the scarlet edges of the rune bubbleing and starting to spread over the floor. At a glance you cannot tell exactly what sort of rune this is or exactly what it will do, but since the core sigil is 'Blood' you absolutely know whatever is about to happen will involve Blood.
> No particular change in the status bars this round; but I'll post them again and explain it for any new players:
(https://i.imgur.com/1iAgIpz.png)
> Louise's Purple Bar is a sort of HP/MP combination. If this empties and you have not brought enough time; you Lose; a Bad End occurs and you'll get booted back a bit to retry. Of course; you're fine losing if you have brought enough time. You're already dead anyway.
> Elis' Green/Red bar is 'Seriousness'. If she gets excessively bored [In which case she takes a 'get out of my way' attitude] or feels like she needs to step it up; this will rise.
> The Blue/Yellow bar is 'Boredom'. Basically; how much you're keeping Elis interested in fighting you, since the objective is to distract her from chasing Rumia. The higher this rises; the quicker Elis will become more serious.
> Elis does have a third bar for her Defeat Condition, but this is not the objective and thus is hidden and will only appear if you create a situation where you can actually defeat Elis. It is not intended to defeat Elis here, merely stall her. I will not be giving hints as to this condition either. Consider it a hidden bonus.
===
Any new players; I am happy to answer questions you may have. Asking questions to the GM is a free action!
> Blood wouldn't have anything to do with us, we don't have any! We can't let the knight step into the magic circle!
> Quickly dash out of the magic circle towards the side of the room
> Try and break the knight by using the leverage from the sword and parts Elis can't control, try and twist them in ways its not designed to
> Try and animate some fallen bricks behind Elis to form a sphere and hit her from behind, aim half of them at her wand
> Dash with our haste out of there and into the new room
> Oh she's summoning more blood to help with her rituals? No thank you!
> From the new room animate the bricks on the floor to reform a "brick wall" by rebuilding themselves near the ground, this is to prevent the blood from flowing into the new room. Make the brick wall a little over knee height, if we need something to "glue" the bricks to eachother or fill small holes use Ice.
> Shoot lasers into our mirror familiar (which would be behind her since we dashed into the new room) which should reflect them at Elis' back. Instruct our mirror to amplify the charge of the lasers it reflects
> Is it possible to dispel or modify that summoning rune or place another one on top or next to it for counterattacking?
> Besides ice and wind, what do we have at our disposal that could "interfere" with organic matter like blood?
> Start out with weak lasers, to lure Elis to take on the attacks like the previous ones, after that charge them up to a great extent but always Mirror-Reflected and aim-adjusted , with the help of Haste as well, to reach for blindsides.
>
> Is the " Arm-Sword" trailing behind us even if still in the previous room and what is position to all the involved subjects ?
> If possibile, after the proper positioning assessments, Move to be in the way of the" Lurching Armour " but in a way to receive it outside the " Blood Runeand keep it as a way to better clear the line-of-sight&fire, if necessary otherwise keep the line-of-sight&fire cleared as it is, and as a sort-of challenging distraction, on a different side from the "Mirror as to keep the attention off the " Mirrored Lasers "
> Yes around 90, the goal it to hit her from an angle she isn't expecting and disrupt whatever shes trying to do while also staying out of the bloody room.
> No don't start with weak lasers, do normal powerful attacks
>We don't know any ice magic, do we?
>If we do know, would we be skilled enough in it to freeze the blood surrounding Elis?
// Great thinking, we did perform some cold magic before so it's possible we can freeze it given more energy
//( The Repeated&Boosted Commands are on my latest post) //
> If we can, drop both rooms into sub zero temperatures
> If we can quickly try animating her wand to fly out of her hand and onto our side of the room
> Attempt to dispel the runes
> Instruct our mirror to follow up with a barrage of erratic bullets
//Oh boy, I am going to have to get used to this. This posting system is daunting man. First time posting on this forum, and I only recently got in to Touhou, but I just finished bingeing this quest and now I wan't in.
> What material is the roof made out of? Do we have access to water summoning spells? If we flood the upper floor (or this one) will it leak and drip through the ceiling?
> Patchy told us that direct water magic cast at a vampire wont do anything, but if the water is flowing naturally, ie; flowing downhill due to gravity, it will become damaging to them.
//If we can flood the room we are in then Elis will be forced to play 'the floor is lava', which she may very well do anyways (touhous tend towards floating after all), but now it wont be a choice. This will also have a secondary effect of diluting any blood that is on the floor, or if we are lucky, washing away the magic circle itself.
//The big prize I am looking for however is creating a situation where water is falling from the ceiling in multiple places, forcing Elis to literally start dodging raindrops. This will hopefully force her to spend part of her "turns" dodging, making them take longer.
//How far into the fight are we btw? We have the bars for our magic and her mood, but we dont know how much time has passed, or how long our actions are taking each time we make them.
Just as a status update; I've been pretty ill last few days.
I'm starting to feel better, so hopefully I can update tomorrow.
Just as a status update; I've been pretty ill last few days.
I'm starting to feel better, so hopefully I can update tomorrow.
//Oh dear. It's not COVID, is it?
// Laudable Dedication but People's Health comes first, of course this is not limited just to Online&IT Activities , so I kindly and humbly advise to recover more thoroughly without straining yourself //
>We don't know any ice magic, do we?
>If we do know, would we be skilled enough in it to freeze the blood surrounding Elis?
// Great thinking, we did perform some cold magic before so it's possible we can freeze it given more energy
> If we can, drop both rooms into sub zero temperatures
> If we can quickly try animating her wand to fly out of her hand and onto our side of the room
> Attempt to dispel the runes
> Instruct our mirror to follow up with a barrage of erratic bullets
//I don't know if try and animating The Wand would work since when we tried to "snatch" it, as Sakuya during Time-Stop, it could not be moved //
> Fastly Ponder between what would be best between Sub-Zero Temperatures and an Extremely Cold Icy Wind,then go ahead.
>If we cannot Dispel The Blood Rune Outright,since we could be needing more time to analyze before doing it, use either the Sub-Zero Temperature or the Icy Wind the cover it with a Thick Ice Layer.
> If Lasers could be fired at this moment from the Mirror, Fire Them Repeatedly at Elis' to Hamper Her Progress, otherwise do so with Focused Bullets.
//Oh boy, I am going to have to get used to this. This posting system is daunting man. First time posting on this forum, and I only recently got in to Touhou, but I just finished bingeing this quest and now I wan't in.
//What material is the roof made out of? Do we have access to water summoning spells? If we flood the upper floor (or this one) will it leak and drip through the ceiling?
//Patchy told us that direct water magic cast at a vampire wont do anything, but if the water is flowing naturally, ie; flowing downhill due to gravity, it will become damaging to them.
//If we can flood the room we are in then Elis will be forced to play 'the floor is lava', which she may very well do anyways (touhous tend towards floating after all), but now it wont be a choice. This will also have a secondary effect of diluting any blood that is on the floor, or if we are lucky, washing away the magic circle itself.
//The big prize I am looking for however is creating a situation where water is falling from the ceiling in multiple places, forcing Elis to literally start dodging raindrops. This will hopefully force her to spend part of her "turns" dodging, making them take longer.
//How far into the fight are we btw? We have the bars for our magic and her mood, but we dont know how much time has passed, or how long our actions are taking each time we make them.
>feign that the blood spike did more damage than it actually did. Act wary of them.
>If she continues to probe us with them in response to see what effect they actually have on us, back away from them and attempt to freeze them as she makes the attacks.
//We have her interested in what we are now, that has captured her attention nicely, we should try throwing her mixed messages so it takes her longer to figure out what is going on.
> Look mildly annoyed "You could've ruined my beautiful dress!"
> In response to that attack lash out with a spray of water on her. Follow that by summoning an array of moving magic circle familiars that spray out water like sprinklers (not that we know what those are), try to go for as large volume of water as we can to dilute her precious blood on the floor. If we can use a little earth magic to muddy the water and taint her blood
> Our mirror familiar should stay guard and preemptively reflect/block any magic attacks aimed at us in retaliation to the water.
> Look mildly annoyed "You could've ruined my beautiful dress!"
> In response to that attack lash out with a spray of water on her. Follow that by summoning an array of moving magic circle familiars that spray out water like sprinklers (not that we know what those are), try to go for as large volume of water as we can to dilute her precious blood on the floor. If we can use a little earth magic to muddy the water and taint her blood
> Our mirror familiar should stay guard and preemptively reflect/block any magic attacks aimed at us in retaliation to the water.
>feign that the blood spike did more damage than it actually did. Act wary of them.
>If she continues to probe us with them in response to see what effect they actually have on us, back away from them and attempt to freeze them as she makes the attacks.
//We have her interested in what we are now, that has captured her attention nicely, we should try throwing her mixed messages so it takes her longer to figure out what is going on.
> Distance ourselves from the Blood Spike and be prepared to dodge around or fly above them while feigning, convincingly and not exaggerating, to have suffered pain and fatigue and not just being oddly damaged.
> While still acting, always in a convincing and not exaggerated manner, pained, fatigued and wary in Facing&Avoiding Blood Attacks, retailate with the Planned Water Sprays and Earth Sprouts, also causing Mud Floods, Position the Mirror for Block&Bounce and even Unleash,as soon as capable, Focused Bullet Barrages and Lasers.
// As long as we keep coordinating, the acting is convincing enough and we can make the most out of it, including for Experience, this should be nifty //
// Don't advance time
> Could we animate her wand to grab it? Or can we think of some other way to get it in our possession
> Do we think she's capable of somehow summoning it back if we obtain it?
> Could the mirror still reflect/powerup one of our own lasers/light magic? Could we achieve two things at once and recharge it while at it (since it'd be powering up from our own magical energy)
> How powerful a water blast can we summon upon her?
>Is that our only mirror or are we able to summon replacements if necessary?
> Do we think we can collapse the room upon her and bury her in the rubble/debris?
> Could we somehow blow a hole into the side and let the outside miasma sea flood in?
> If we somehow break her wand do we think it she can mend/repair it on the spot?
> Could we freeze her into a block of ice?
> Is there anything made out of silver in our or her room?
> You feign that the blood spike did more damage than it appears as you prepare some water magic, four spheres of water forming around you which begin to launch blasts of liquid towards the Vampire.// How abou this and adding upon it ?//
> Elis raises a barrier of blood from below her, which blacks the water easily, with the blood of course being thicker.
> As you prepare some earth magic to combine with the water magic, Elis opens a hole in her guard and shoots a projectile from her wand, which quickly fies towards you. Luckily; the mirror was already in position to intercept it; and the comet-like blast bounces off it back at Elis, erupting into a shower of stardust on impact.
> This actually seems to have had enough power behind it to briefly stun the Vampire, causing her to stagger in mid-air, and the blood barrier to splash back to the ground. However, you can sense that reflecting that blast drained quite a bit of energy from the mirror's wards. You're not sure if it'll be able to reflect something like that again without being recharged.
// Stopping your actions there due to a situation change.
> Do we think we can collapse the room upon her and bury her in the rubble/debris?
> Could we somehow blow a hole into the side and let the outside miasma sea flood in?
> If we somehow break her wand do we think it she can mend/repair it on the spot?
> Could we freeze her into a block of ice?
> Is there anything made out of silver in our or her room?
// How abou this and adding upon it ?//
> Could a Full Force Focused Blast throw Elis back in the first room and on the Debris or close enough?
> Could we manage a quick further Dispel of the Blood Rune, in succession?
> In succession, Could we close-in to "Reinfoce&Animate the Debris" to "Repeat-Bombarding" her and even upgrading it to
" Chain-Bombarding " with putting it together with added Focused Lasers&Bullet Barrages from us and the Mirror?
> If we come back to the first room we should bring the Animated Sword at our side and keep distance&avoidance from Elis Blood Possessed Armor .
//Do we have a (Slow) spell? Like the opposite of our (Haste) spell?
> Blast Elis to the wall with considerable force, if possible try to aim the blast so she hits head first or loses her wand (if the wand falls knock it further away from her with a rock or something)
> Cast a slowness debuff on her immediately after we blast her to buy us some extra time for the next steps
> Start dispelling the runes immediately after
> If we have any time left (slow spell?) try and recharge our mirror's lost magical energy
> Be ready for an Elis counterattack (unless the blast knocks her out), by bringing our already animated sword between us and her ready to intercept anything thrown at us
//Can we buff ourselves against magic damage? Do we know anything about the type/effect of the magic that she is casting? I play a lot of pokemon, do we have any kind of Light screen/Reflect type spells?
>Cast [Insert Defensive Self Buff Here]
//Edit: Did we create the wards on our mirror? If so, is there any way we could enchant something to reflect a large attack one time even if it fails afterwards? Say, something capable of reflecting whatever Elis is brewing up here? I know we probably dont have the time to set it up at this point for this particular attack, but if we could dodge or tank this one and then set it up for the next one that would be great.
// OOC Info: Elis' MP bar is also ticking down like ours with her spell casts right? She doesn't get to repeatedly cast for free does she?
> If any of this is outright impossible due to the room layout being unfavorable or our mirrors being too small to be convincing don't attempt this
> Quickly create a bright flash or spark to temporarily blind or obscure Elis' darkness accustomed vision. Besides she's more focused on the spell she's about to cast than tracking us
> While she's blinded summon our largest basic mirror in front of us and dash to the side, preferably behind some of the remains/outcroppings of the half destroyed wall between us and Elis
> Immediately after dashing angle the mirror so we can see Elis through it (which means she can see us through it). Or better yet if we can make our mirror magically show our image do that instead
> Make our eyes glow so she can see "us" clearly in our old location (through the mirror) with her impaired (but recovering) vision
> Have our magic mirror float in front and to the side of the substitute mirror and shoot aimed shots at her to both distract her and make it look more convincing that we're still there
> Let her fire at the disposable mirror we substituted for ourselves and waste her charge shot
> The setup would look like such if words are confusing:
[attachment=1]
>Would it be possible to animate the flames from the fires into familiars? (If not, then whatever they're attached to?)
// thinking maybe surprising her with kamikaze familiars that would hopefully set her on fire in the process.
> How many burning tomes could we animate and control, taking into account both our ability to control many at once and keeping our remaining energy at safe levels.
>would it be possible to create a single gestalt familiar out of several of them, or would that be functionally the same as controlling several familiars
>how much of the bar would a single book, either as a familiar or simply flung cost? If negligible, then how many could we manage before the bar actually begins to drop?
>>Building off of that, how much would the bar drop in the latter case?
Of their other weaknesses, a stake through the heart and fire seem to be the only ones we have access to, and I dont think we have much in the way of fire magic.//We have a bunch of burning books in the area. I'm currently trying to see if it would be feasible to launch a swarm of them at her in a kamikaze attack to see if she'll ignite. Or otherwise weaponize them against her
//I feel like that would be a lot easier to see coming allowing her to dodge. We need to hit her with something to lock her movements.//Well, that's the reason I said swarm. If we overwhelm her with sheer numbers there will be a greater chance of at least one connecting. Especially if (assuming low cost) we can direct them on separate paths to flank her, etc.
//What I mean is that, we should use the surprise opportunity we have to snare her so that our follow up attack with the books will have a better chance to do lots of damage.//Oh, fair enough. My main concern though is energy cost (mostly on the snare/immobilization spell, assuming we can cast one in the first place, since Rai said animating or flinging every book in the room, without any extra effects like what I asked about in my last set of inquiries, would have negligible cost) since our HP/MP bar is so low right now.
> Has the structural integrity of the castle weakened after all the explosions? Could we level the entire castle by further damaging it?
> Can we see her or at least somehow figure out when she turns around to leave? (she'll surely gloat for some time over her "victory" given how big her ego is, giving Rumia & Friends more time)
>can we make familiars explode or otherwise destroy themselves and scatter their remains? If so how much would that cost?
>would we be able to do something similar with just flinging the tomes, assuming its possible? Would it cost the same?
>speaking of, would flung tomes home in on their target or would we need to turn them into familiars to achieve that effect?
> Stall for additional time by letting her gloat over her victory
> Summon a tiny familiar with minimal energy that will just point towards Elis (like Rumia's floating compass but minus the darkness), make it discreet and hide it behind the fire to our left
> The moment the familiar moves/spins (she moves) shotgun her with all the books we can animate in this room. Discreetly use a mirror to guide the books onto Elis
> After the impact create another flash and dash back to where we were standing before she "vaporized" us
> Immediately fly upwards as fast as we can and out of the room we were in using the hole in the roof that was made earlier
> Drop the animation/familiar on the knight, arm and sword and reclaim any energy we had lent to them
> Once upstairs if she hasn't given into the chase taunt by saying "Oh my, the great Elis gives up in frustration!?"
> Using basic animation fling debris down into the hole we came up from
> Inspect new room, are there more exits we can get her to chase us through?
>Bring the remaining flaming books up behind us so she hits them when she passes through.//Didn't we use all of them up already? Plus even if there are some remaining they'll be on the floor below us and thus unable to assemble behind us in time. Not to mention we don't even know if she'll actually pass through us or not.
//We are a phantom of sorts right? Shes attempting to hit us with her physical strength here. Do we need to dodge? Or will she pass right through us? If its the latter:
>Bring the remaining flaming books up behind us so she hits them when she passes through.
> Elegantly dodge her tackle diagonally with our haste and respond by hitting her with a powerful spray of water
> If we have time dispel the familiars and reclaim their energy
> "Running away? I call that a height advantage!"
// Looks like an AoE attack we won't be able to dodge, might as well go all out on her now
> Do we think we could use up all our energy for a magical explosion of our own and level the fortress with our combined blasts? (Mayina style)
> If so do we think we could take her out with us?
> If we think we can either bury her in the rubble or take her out with us proceed to explode
// Looks like an AoE attack we won't be able to dodge, might as well go all out on her now
> Do we think we could use up all our energy for a magical explosion of our own and level the fortress with our combined blasts? (Mayina style)
> If so do we think we could take her out with us?
> If we think we can either bury her in the rubble or take her out with us proceed to explode
>We would still technically be able to survive this given our undead nature, right? Or will this actually end us if we tried it?
> Her explosion should take out her castle on its own then, so that'll do
> Assume we've stalled for enough time and phase through the walls with our ghostly abilities to get out of there and fly back towards our mansion in Vina to recover
> On the way out enhance our defenses to lessen the blow from Elis' oncoming explosion and drop low, flying just above the miasma
> Use any remaining magic to go invisible, hide or otherwise disappear from Elis and leave her wondering as to what happened to us
> If we can absorb any magic from the liquid miasma surrounding Elis' fortress do so, if not just focus on getting back to Vina
// Just as a heads up; quite busy the next couple of days. I'm working in healthcare and receiving training [relating to a promotion]. But this training requires me work late shifts to be able to be trained due to the overall workload.
I am unlikely to be able to update until Friday.
> Her explosion should take out her castle on its own then, so that'll do
> Assume we've stalled for enough time and phase through the walls with our ghostly abilities to get out of there and fly back towards our mansion in Vina to recover
> On the way out enhance our defenses to lessen the blow from Elis' oncoming explosion and drop low, flying just above the miasma
> Use any remaining magic to go invisible, hide or otherwise disappear from Elis and leave her wondering as to what happened to us
> If we can absorb any magic from the liquid miasma surrounding Elis' fortress do so, if not just focus on getting back to Vina
// The battle system is more than fine with adding more "status bars "as needed by the Encounter,Objectives,Variations,etc. //
// As a hopefully good suggestion:about Objectives,if possible,they should be added as well alongside their own sort of "progress/status bar" ;except of course in the case where they and/or their " progress/status bar" start off as hidden and remain that way either because they must remain mysterious or because the players have not yet meet enough requirements/managed enough progress before and/or in-battle //
> Quickly "unsummon" our Mirror Familiar to keep it from this Overwhelmingly Ruinous Attack .
> While retreating back to Vina, look back to see what we can about the Castle-Fortress,the Bay,Elis and hopefully nothing at all indicating Rumia and her group.
> Elegantly spin around and T pose holding the spear out for Patchouli!>Take care not to accidentally hit her or anyone else with the spear while we do this.
>"We're back!"
>Turn to Patchouli
>"...are you okay?"
> Before that
> Elegantly spin around and T pose holding the spear out for Patchouli!
> "Ta-da~!"
> You spin around, weilding the spear, and say 'Ta-da!'.
> You note the lance feels rather heavy in your hands, despite it's size being right for someone like you, and you being a Youkai, so easily able to wield a spear of this size if it was normal.
> You then show concern for Patchouli.
> "It's my illnesses..." she wheezes. "Using that level of magic really... took it out of me..."
> "Lady Patchouli is quite unhealthy, even on the best of days." Koakuma remarks. "It's to the point she cannot even utilize two of her seven elements most days."
> "It was the least I could do for Lady Remilia..." Patchouli coughs.
>Don't leave the room yet.
>"So how has everyone been while we were gone? Anything unexpected bad things happen?"
//@QM: Would Mystia have been able to hear any distress calls from Alice during that time considering how the dolls were initially paired? Or is our magic required only for outgoing messages?
>Notice Kogasa's behavior. "Kogasa? You seem awfully focused on the spear... Ah! Does it have some kind of secret surprise aura that only you can detect?!"> Add onto that "Or any improvements you'd like you discus with Remilia? Considering your experience with metalworking"
> Add onto that "Or any improvements you'd like you discus with Remilia? Considering your experience with metalworking">Do we even know about her metalworking abilities?
// Of course, she's told us she's a blacksmith which comes in handy considering she's an umbrella. Additionally she told us that she repairs Reimu's persuasion needles, but doesn't get paid since Reimu can't afford it. We learned about this shortly after we met her//Did we?
// Here's your evidence, one-hundred percent backed by//Alright.sciencelinks:
// First mention of blacksmithing: http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php?topic=21454.msg1408558#msg1408558 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php?topic=21454.msg1408558#msg1408558)
// Fixing Reimu's needles: http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php?topic=21454.msg1408616#msg1408616 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php?topic=21454.msg1408616#msg1408616)
// Why she became a blacksmith: http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php?topic=21454.msg1408618#msg1408618 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php?topic=21454.msg1408618#msg1408618)
// Even Mystia knows this: http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php?topic=21454.msg1413704#msg1413704 (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php?topic=21454.msg1413704#msg1413704)
// Yeah at this point we've played as everyone from our group except Cirno, Daiyousei and Mayina//I don't think we've ever played Wriggle. However, I do think we did Kogasa at one point, though I can't exactly recall when.
// 8) HAPPY HOLY EASTER ;D !!! //
// What do you all think about the Elis fight outcome ? Has it turned out in an an advantageous stalemate? //
> Wait before departing to Remilia's.
> To Patchouli : " And you have done it very nicely,both on accounts of sensing us in and calling us back".
> Wait for her to recover enough:'' Should I take this to Miss Remilia now or...?"
> Once the response is given,go to back to our group,ask if everything was fine here,thank Mystia and the others for keeping an eye on Maiyna and on Riga,ask Mystia for the Riga Communication Doll .
> Proceed to Remilia's,unless Parchouli suggest somewhere else.
>Don't leave the room yet.
>"So how has everyone been while we were gone? Any unexpected bad things happen?"
//@QM: Would Mystia have been able to hear any distress calls from Alice during that time considering how the dolls were initially paired? Or is our magic required only for outgoing messages?
>Notice Kogasa's behavior. "Kogasa? You seem awfully focused on the spear... Ah! Does it have some kind of secret surprise aura that only you can detect?!"
>Inspect Gungir for surprises
> Add onto that "Or any improvements you'd like you discus with Remilia? Considering your experience with metalworking"
// Well,"Alice-Rumia Doll Comm. Line" does only function with the 2 of them but anyone close enough could hear it once activates depending on voice volume and (Mystia's advantage) hearing while skilled enough individual are able to ( Dangerous if Hostile Makaians come across it )trace it back to where Alice is and eventually to her //
> Now that it comes to mind... Koakuma took an Outside World Magic Book for Patchouli while we took a Rusty Makaian Knife when in Elis Castle...
> Did both of us,of course by also looking at what Koakuma is carrying, manage to take them back here?
[Apologies for delays; busy work busy work]
> "It is not difficult to be able to sense when my familiar is holding an artifact of great power." Patchouli says modestly. "Even an apprentice magician should be able to feel power such as that."
> "Yes, you should return Gungir to Lady Remilia as soon as possible." Patchouli answers.
> Mystia returns the small communication doll to you.
> "Well; Sumi's been all curious, he's been a grouch, and Daiyousei has mostly been stopping Cirno from being... well... Cirno." Mystia answers.
// Yes, while Riga is tuned to your magic to send, receiving is done from Alice's end.
> Kogasa shakes her head.
> Kogasa shakes her head, but this time she answers. "How can an item of such power not have become a Tsukumogami? It's clearly old enough, and powerful enough to do so. It even feels like it has some sort of will of it's own... but it's not a Tsukumogami... it's like nothing I've seen before... it feels like it could spring to life and force a Karakasa like me to kneel before it like some sort of ruler and I wouldn't be able to resist. An item like this... for a lowly umbrella like me to be in it's presence, it makes me feel.... unworthy to be near it, but I don't want to move away either. It's... strange."
> The Karakasa seems entranced, or in awe. Patchouli seems to summon a piece of paper and scrawls down something, as if taking notes.
> You check your pocket and find the rusted knife. Koakuma sees you doing this and brings the book out of a large pocket as well, giving it to Patchouli; who almost seems to pounce upon it, open it, and begins reading.
> How big and shaped is the rusted knife and what could it be used for?
> That book from Makai really seems to have piqued Parchouli interest,uh.
> To everyone in our group :" Well,let's go and make another visit to Miss Remilia".
>Go in front of Remilia's room,announce who we are and the Gungir-Retrieving has been successful ,enter politely,if allowed,present it to her with a flourish and give it back to her or place it where indicated.
>How common are earthquakes in gensokyo?
>"Do you think it's a natural one?"
>We should probably do a check in with Alice and Wriggle to see if they're holding up well. (This is more of a mental note. Don't actually do it yet unless someone else says to go ahead.)
>"Think it's one of those celestial whatchamacallits like what was in the newspaper a few years back?"
> Gesture to Remilia "May I?"
> Create as large a demarcation sphere as we can possibly can around Remilia
> "Would this suffice?"
> If she agrees then go outside with her and check out what happened!
> "I understand"
> Hand the spear over if we haven't already
> "We'll check out what's going on outside and help Meiling"
> Bow before leaving
> On the way out discreetly activate Alice's doll and whisper "We're back from our little excursion in Makai, everything alright at Eientei?"
>Specifically ask Alice "Did anyone over there happen to feel an earthquake?"
> "Could it be ... the barrier? We need Reimu!"> leave out the "we need Reimu" for now. We shouldn't jump to conclusions before we inspect.
>"What in the world....?!"
> "Could it be ... the barrier?"
> Fly up at full speed towards the cracks to inspect them closer
> If we sense any danger stop flying and let ourselves fall (as it's faster) back towards Misty lake
>Fly back down.
>"Did any of you see something fly past me just now?"
> "Well standing here won't change anything, lets spread out and tail them">Hold on this at least for one parse session.
> Gesture to Mayina to pick him up, try a different way that looks less awkward this time
> Follow in the same general direction, flying just above the tree canopy ready to dive down if we feel like they've noticed being followed. Maintain distance from everyone else so they don't see a clump of youkai behind them.
// The rest of our group probably don't know any more than we do about that thing. Also were only going to observe and report we're not going to get involved so it doesn't matter if the thing is stronger than us//its already long gone though. We only know what direction it was going in
// Also that thing has already flown way past us and we can ask that question on the way, if we delay we may lose track of it and never find out where it went. If they think we need Reimu we can deviate from our course or double back
// It might change direction and we miss it and end up going somewhere pointless, time is of the essence here
//its already long gone//Ask yourself: Does it make logical sense that we'd be able to witness something that passed us at a very high velocity, that is therefore already far out of sight when we start going after it, change directions? :V
// Fine delay a turn, parse actions as is
> While getting ready to flight to the Hakurei Shrine,wave goodbye to Meiling and ask her to relay a message on our behalf to Remilia,when possible of what we discussed and also one about :" the Makaian who has already aided us at the start of the Heretical Makaians Invasion has been the biggest help to retrieve her Gungnir".>Wait on these for the same reasons given for waiting on Tom's. The other actions in Branneg's post are fine.
> If Louise told us to still being secretive ,specify she prefers anonimity,but if she did not reveal her name.
> In any case keep our eyes and senses open&aware the for anything odd to the North-West and say to our group to do the same .
> Depending upon Meiling's news, other possibile ones from our group and our decision the current Fly-By Destination is either North-West to pursue the Creature or the Hakurei Shine or possibly...?
> Quicky warn and describe to Meiling what we felt coming through the Tear in the Barrier,with a great power and flying extremely fast,adding eventual insights by Mystia and especially Mayna .>Don't explicitly state that it's a tear in the barrier. That still hasn't been completely confirmed and we won't want to cause unnecessary panic if it turns out it isn't the barrier.
>"Yeah. And it felt really, really powerful too... do you think it could be dangerous?"
>"Whatever it was, it had some kind of tails, and I think I saw, white, blue and gold? Mayina, do you know of anything from Makai that has those colors and is really fast?"
> After the responses make a gesture and ask for everyone to follow you in front of the Mansion's Gates and to Meiling .
> Quicky warn and describe to Meiling what we felt coming through the Tear in the Barrier,with a great power and flying extremely fast,adding eventual insights by Mystia and especially Mayna .
> Specify it zoomed from fairly close to the Mansion to the North-West and ask if she knows what or who could be in that direction.
> While getting ready to flight to the Hakurei Shrine,wave goodbye to Meiling and ask her to relay a message on our behalf to Remilia,when possible of what we discussed and also one about :" the Makaian who has already aided us at the start of the Heretical Makaians Invasion has been the biggest help to retrieve her Gungnir".
> If Louise told us to still being secretive ,specify she prefers anonimity,but if she did not reveal her name.
> In any case keep our eyes and senses open&aware the for anything odd to the North-West and say to our group to do the same .
> Depending upon Meiling's news, other possibile ones from our group and our decision the current Fly-By Destination is either North-West to pursue the Creature or the Hakurei Shine or possibly...?
// Okay now that I've reread more yes it might not be the barrier since we've had no indications leading up to an assault on the barrier.
// Heretic YgMg is loafing around in Vina, heretic Elis is/was busy fighting Elis and is probably throwing a temper tantrum, Mayina is dying of boredom at the mansion and Donita has probably forgotten about the whole affair, safe to say they're occupied. So barring there being more heretics we don't know about (maybe) or a third party (unlikely) it's possible that this is something else entirely.
// As for what could it be the suspects are Tenshi, Suika, the Nuclear Reactor / oni underground (cause earthquake), maybe Fladre with her ability
// The one indication we have that it's the barrier is that the flying thing was described like Ran but then again why would Ran be flying when she can just teleport...
// If it ends up being the barrier since no one was going to attack it the only other explanation is that something happened to Reimu and it's manifesting the damage on the barrier...
// A lot of things don't make sense so let's indeed use a turn to learn more
>"Is that so? Do you know if it's dangerous or not? Do you think it knows anything about the sky cracks?"
// What if this is Mima trying to get Hakurei's attention for a fight? Having lived for years near the shrine and Reimu she'd certainly know about the barrier
> "Well its long gone now..."
> Discreetly sidestep away while everyone's busy gawking at the sky and ask Alice "Hey, are you seeing what we're seeing in the sky? Could you ask Eirin if she knows anything about it or if she can find out with her science magic?"
> Also communicate "Could you also ask Wriggle if she can track a being with multiple tails called a Kitsune with her bug familiars?" explain the direction of the unknown region of Gensokyo we saw it fly towards
>"Thanks, Wriggle."
>Look to our companions, "So... Do you think Ms. Reimu is going to do anything about this? I mean, this is kinda like an incident on top of an incident, right? Unless they're related... Mayina, would anything in Makai that you know of be powerful enough to crack the sky like that?"
> To Alice "Alright, stay safe and let us know if you find anything"
> Look at Mayina "Like maybe your former contractor?"
> Look at Meiling "Do you following her to wherever it was she went would provoke her?"
// You're right Remi might have something to say about the situation or thank us for retrieving her spear>Do parse the dialogue though (Both tom's "I suppose if we stay far behind and don't get in her way she won't mind then, lets follow" as well as my question to Meiling.)
> Actually yes, cancel the current actions and report back to Remilia with the situation
// Alright so composed actions for easy parsing
// Could we request and update to the Character Relations (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kXTuH60F-0z7iCl90DyS22gwYSK44igteW8LRz_J0KM/edit?usp=sharing) to help us on our decisions?
> "I suppose if we stay far behind and don't get in her way she won't mind then"
> Point in the direction we saw the thing fly towards
>"Assuming we can catch up at least... Hey, Miss Meiling, do you know if there's anything significant in that direction that could narrow down where the kitsune could've possibly went?"
> After Meiling's response report back to Remilia and explain the situation, also ask her about the Kitsune and what lies in the direction it flew towards
>"Yukari Yakumo? Who's that?"
//Edit: OOC, but isn't the geyser supposed to be close to the Hakurei Shrine in canon?
// The Geyser Control Center is directly under Youkai Mountain, suggesting the Geyser Fields are around that area or even on the mountain. It would also make sense from a simple standpoint regarding water. A large amount of water wells up from Youkai Mountain for the source of the Great Waterfall and River the Kappa live in. The Geysers being in that area work too.//In SA the geyser is near the Hakurei Shrine and Reimu and Marisa make a spa out of the resulting hot springs that form around it.
> Remilia looks a little surprised.
> "I would have thought you'd know of her, although I suppose she is rather lazy and doesn't make herself known too much. She's an ancient youkai, older than Gensokyo, who even had a hand in creating it. She is someone I would not even oppose given the chance."
// The Geyser Control Center is directly under Youkai Mountain, suggesting the Geyser Fields are around that area or even on the mountain. It would also make sense from a simple standpoint regarding water. A large amount of water wells up from Youkai Mountain for the source of the Great Waterfall and River the Kappa live in. The Geysers being in that area work too.
We don't have a map of Gensokyo in canon anyway, so I can take some liberties and assumptions.
> Precise with gratitude that " Rumia,Kogasa and Koakuma Trio" - briefly introduce Kogasa " as an Umbrella Tsukomogami who Surprisingly Talented Blacksmith Youkai" - with the Great Aid and cool aid of the Smart and Loyal Miss Patchouli and ,in Makai,as well another Great Aid ,who is the same at the start of the Heretical Makaians Invasion as " Materializing Blurs ", in stalling and goading Elis .>Don't do this.
> If Louise's secrecy still remains valid ,specify she prefers anonimity, non-intrusiveness and de-fusing this Multi-Dimensional Incident mainly on Makai-Side,but if she did not, do reveal her name still citing the reasons beforehand.
//In SA the geyser is near the Hakurei Shrine and Reimu and Marisa make a spa out of the resulting hot springs that form around it.
> "Would she have anything to do with the cracks in the sky or be able to help?"
> Just in case this whole thing is an Elis Illusion (Mayina hinted that someone skilled with illusions might be behind this) take a very good look around the room for any oddities, do we feel like we're being watched or is someone watching Remilia's javelin?
// Ta-da?! :o "Simpler and more to -thepoint "command and actions for parsing :) //
> Specify we have heard bits& pieces about Yukari but more on the vague side, so we here with a desire to learn and help forward about the " what &
> " Mhmh! This Ran heading over to Geyser Fields ? What could be now...ooh-aah under or above them or close-by them in a material or methaporical sense ? "
> Visualize&Think:... anything encountered,heard or peeked even recently : the over North-West Direction,Geyser Fields,Youkai Mountain's Geysers zone, adiacent routes :o 8) .
> Precise with gratitude that " Rumia,Kogasa and Koakuma Trio" - briefly introduce Kogasa " as an Umbrella Tsukomogami who Surprisingly Talented Blacksmith Youkai" - with the Great Aid and cool aid of the Smart and Loyal Miss Patchouli and ,in Makai,as well another Great Aid ,who is the same at the start of the Heretical Makaians Invasion as " Materializing Blurs ", in stalling and goading Elis .
> If Louise's secrecy still remains valid ,specify she prefers anonimity, non-intrusiveness and de-fusing this Multi-Dimensional Incident mainly on Makai-Side,but if she did not, do reveal her name still citing the reasons beforehand.
//Also I checked that link to the touhou wiki describing geography. I did not see any mentions of the SA geyser being next to youkai mountain.
// And yet the control center is under Youkai Mountain in Hisoutensoku. That said; entirely possible the Underground just spans under the entirety of Gensokyo. Attempting to apply common sense to Gensokyo's Geography is a fool's errand.//Actually that's easily explained. That just means that the hell of blazing fires is directly underneath Youkai mountain. The heroine in SA does traverse a long distance underground from the Hakurei Shrine geyser to get there anyway. Plus the control center is related to the geyser itself in name only, really. As its really more the control center for Okuu's fusion reactor.
// The underground most certainly spans the entirety of Gensokyo, there's an entire oni city down there which is larger than the surface village, in addition to the hell of blazing fires, an entire nuclear reactor (its not just the main reactor core room, the supporting machinery room are likely far larger) and a futuristic elevator that connects the reactor core to the Moriya Shrine on top of youkai mountain. Its entirely possible there's multiple hot springs given than the vents connecting it to the surface could simply be angled so they end up in multiple places.
// The one by Youkai Mountain probably just happens to be the largest and thus was named "the hot springs" but that doesn't prevent the pond behind the Hakurei Shrine (where Genji lives) from becoming a smaller hot spring
> "If the kitsune already went to alert her of the situation then it'd be a waste to follow her. She'll most certainly come to where the cracks are to try and fix them"
> When Remilia excuses us leave and while in the hallway discreetly activate our communication doll
> "Hey Alice we left your house in a hurry because of Sakuya's injuries, is there anything you'd like us to get you from your house in case things get rough? Like your dolls" *whisper* "or that item I brought"
> Realize Elis kind of rudely interrupted us and Alice never got a chance to read her mother's letter.
> "If the kitsune already went to alert her of the situation then it'd be a waste to follow her. She'll most certainly come to where the cracks are to try and fix them"
> When Remilia excuses us leave and while in the hallway discreetly activate our communication doll
> "Hey Alice we left your house in a hurry because of Sakuya's injuries, is there anything you'd like us to get you from your house in case things get rough? Like your dolls" *whisper* "or that item I brought"
> Realize Elis kind of rudely interrupted us and Alice never got a chance to read her mother's letter.
> Tell Alice also about the cracks in the sky after the tremor and that a certain Ran Yakumo,who have we heard about by Remilia ",was going at high-speed to the North-West of the Mansion and that over there we now know there is the Geyser Fields near Youkai mountain,as told by Remilia.
> Ask her if she or anyone else at Eientei knows more about what could be important North-West from the Mansion and about that Geyser Fields.
> Would it take relatively long to reach the foot of Youkai Mountain from the Mansion or from any point we know of close enough around the mansion and close enough to Youkai Mountain ? If not we could try to check the situation around those Geyser Fields or at least the way to them...
// Yes she certainly knows that, we told her and she could hardly believe she had shown herself to or cared aboutstage 1 bosseslowly youkai like Rumia. They don't exactly seem like a model family so Alice might have personal reasons to not be too interested in it
> Discreetly whisper to Alice "What if lady Shinki knew something was going to happen and had information about it? It seems unusual that she'd send a letter now, but its your choice. Its a gamble but as you're probably aware we're not exactly the strongest magicians capable of fixing the sky ourselves, we still want to help any way we can though!"
// Even if we go to the Geyser Fields, Nameless Hill or Mayohiga we can't actually do anything, Rumia & friends are just Stage 1 and 2 bosses and will just end up being spectators to whatever Ran will do.
// Shinki might have known something was going to go down in Gensokyo and sent the letter to warn Alice, so there could be useful information in it for Alice like how to deal with this situation or avoid it.
// We should not go there nor as mere spectators nor getting over our head but still as a Teamwork Group of 5 with some utility and some surprises ( 6 when Wriggle is reunited with at Eientei and of course - Mayina ) ,moreover thanks to an " Expedition There " we can relay & receive counsel about all the important and/or uncommon happenings without missing them not just to Alice but also to ,through her,all Eientei and to some extent additional forewarning the Bamboo Forest of the lost,maybe through the occasional Earth Rabbit, maybe by Tewi or Reisen ; as long as we are careful not to show the the Riga Comm. Doll around Skilled Heretical Makaian ,especially when the " Doll. Comm. Lnk Riga-Tallinn is Active .//Gonna side with Tom on this one since the main issue involves Makai and the letter might offer some insight.
// Shinki's letter to Alice certainly has its own kind of utility and priority but there are more signs and hints both in-universe and out-universe that the true utility and priority should first be to check and interact around the Geyser Fields and from there then the "Letter Reveal" ; of course I agree the "Expedition" should be limited considering the Interactions should be proportioned to Rumia's Group we have the "Letter Retrieval,Alice's Reveal and Wriggle's Reunion "//
> Cancel previous actions (other than informative of course)
// Actually on second thought I believe we should pursue Ran over going to Alice's house. Like Alice said we can do that later whereas whatevers going on in near the border might be gone or we might be too late.
> Tell Alice "You're right but lets not forget about it"
> Head outside to the gate if we haven't already
// I agree since the "timing and opportunity potential"seems far greater and stricter in Ran Trail's up to around Youkai's Mountain/Geyser Field than Shinki's Letter at Alice's Cottage (also notice that Alice deemed it secondary to protect her Grimoire in a safer location and,always at Eienteo, escorting the Unconscious Sakuya for Treatment:cirnotan:(Copy-Pasted 3 Times Post by the Same Purpose).
> Greet Meiling and say,since at the Mansion things seems resolved and looking up,we are setting off to keep on helping to resolve this Incident.
> Start to take-off to follow that Kitsune's Trail while also be alert for any signs of her or other particular signs during the Fly-By.
> Look briefly to our group as well,checking up the actual composition and say in both a chipper and pensive tone :" Well,well,it seems our Next Route is keeping our senses sharp in following through a Kitsune's Trail till our Next Stop the Geyser,right?"
> Rapidly Take Off being on Trail,Path,Watching out for " Investigatiness & Resolution".