Rumia Quest - Innocent Wish

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

//Wouldn't our best bet be to send contingency to the human village?

//Attacking us there would bring everyone down in them.

//They also knew there was more than one of us.

//I know they knew. Still helps to have a second or even third body that would be difficult to find in case something happens to us.
//Also hiding amongst the human village wouldn't really work. I'm pretty sure humans would let youkai exterminators do their thing within their jurisdiction and not interfere.

[Tom]

// They could care less about Youkai

> They seem acquainted with Sendai so they'll meet sooner or later and show we didn't fight.
> Until then, we'll be on the run!

> "So the forest is sealed?  That certainly sounds like an incident!"

> Discreetly form some darkness under our feed and send it into the forest
> Moving around at the speed of light zigzag through the forest's shadows and see if we find something

[Neovereign]

//Fine then. So be it.

>Be concerned that we probably just gave them a go ahead to go after us by doing that.
>Discreetly create a new secondary body with the same "darkness mass" as Owl Rumia using the darkness within the ground below us as a cover for its creation.
>Name this new body "Contingency"

Contingency:
>Travel through the ground to the most remote corner of Gensokyo we can find or remember, preferably as far from the Hakurei Shrine as possible.
>When we arrive, look around.
>If it seems clear assume smol form.

// They could care less about Youkai

> They seem acquainted with Sendai so they'll meet sooner or later and show we didn't fight.
> Until then, we'll be on the run!

> "So the forest is sealed?  That certainly sounds like an incident!"

> Discreetly form some darkness under our feed and send it into the forest
> Moving around at the speed of light zigzag through the forest's shadows and see if we find something

> "I don't think it's like that. Well, if Reimu were here, she could break it if it was, right? Maybe we should've brought her." Marisa considers.

> You let out some darkness, heading away from the Hakurei Shrine, and more into the Bamboo Forest.
> You don't seem to be getting any deeper into the forest, however, even with your speed.
>_

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

//...was Contingency not created?

[Neovereign]

//...was Contingency not created?

> You let out some darkness, heading away from the Hakurei Shrine, and more into the Bamboo Forest.

//both were made and went their different ways. Ah, I should've put a comma after "and more", too. Or maybe it's understandable with this.

[Philosopher]

>Push out a rope size stream of darkness into the forest and observe what happens

>Try sending darkness through the ground

>Now throw a rock into the forest
>What was the difference between the three?

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

//So... I was rereading to refresh what we knew of what's going on in the bamboo forest before I wrote up my next actions and I came across this.

> "Alright, new plan. You gave us a great idea. For Ruukoto's guaranteed safety here, you're gonna guarantee that you're safe. Tests are now out of the question. We want your permanent confinement or suppression. Aren't you a genius, thinking up such?" The voice sounds proud.
> Ruukoto looks back deeper into the ruins, towards the voice in question.

//I think we may have f ucked up more than we thought by running...

[Tom]

// Ruukoto's their grunt/henchman, they care about her enough to repair her arm.  They were just lying to trick us into staying long enough to be exterminated

> Be discreet about said rope, do it out of Marisa's sight

> Laugh "What if you just blew a hole right into it?"
> On a more serious note "Well now that we know for-sure it's an incident want to go back and get her?"

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

//I don't know... I mean they did say that 1. she was not their friend, and 2. that they were using her. If they were actually telling the truth there, then we might've put Ruukoto in serious danger. Especially since they didn't look like people who would respect the spellcard laws with how they were acting.

//both were made and went their different ways. Ah, I should've put a comma after "and more", too. Or maybe it's understandable with this.

//Ah, I see. Yeah it was the lack of a comma there that threw me off, sorry about that.

Contingency:
>Have we arrived at our destination?

Prime:
>Wait on the other queued actions for this body until the parse after the next one, as the answer we get to the following question might make some of them unnecessary.
>EDIT: On second thought Phil's actions and Tom's amendment to the rope can be done in parallel to this, though do hold off on the dialogue for now.
>"Wait a minute... isn't getting lost inside this forest normal, and literally in the name? Or did you mean something else when you say that people can't get out or get anywhere?"

[Branneg Xy]

> If the Darkness is unable to proceed further in,try to pass alongside the Inner Perimeter of the Bamboo Forest.

> If possible,send another Shadow!Double to the Hakurei Shrine ,to Reimu, in order to let her know the situation at the Bamboo Forest ,and..

>...nearby there was a delicate situation.with an Hostage,Ruukoto involved...

> ... if our latest acquaintances were to show up as well,it would be a good opportunity see how they explain and justify themselves  in front of the Hakurei Shrine Maiden.

// The "Dual " in question is "Gatekeeper
SinGyoku" https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Highly_Responsive_to_Prayers/Characters
and  related to the Hakurei Shrine,but Rumia does not know this...yet //

// In this case Reimu could also vouch for Rumia and,if insufficient,we could also ask her to contact,or how to contact, Sendai a more complete guarantee//

// At the very least Ruukoto is showing genuine safety concerns toward Rumia's Shadow!Double ,and implicitly does Not Approve Violent Methods in general,according to

...

> "No. This is not my friend. But I'd also like to make sure you're safe. Preferably in a different way than how they're trying."
...

//

//Although we should not delay too much in returning,when accompanied and/or better prepared,to the "Ruins" ...Ruukoto was innocently being used by SinGyoku as an Hostage-Leverage to make a new,untrustworthy,potentially powerful&dangerous Youkai surrender  and thus it is quite unlikely she is suffering reprisals just for an "unaided escape".//

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

> If possible,send another Shadow!Double to the Hakurei Shrine ,to Reimu, in order to let her know the situation at the Bamboo Forest ,and..

>...nearby there was a delicate situation.with an Hostage,Ruukoto involved...

> ... if our latest acquaintances were to show up as well,it would be a good opportunity see how they explain and justify themselves  in front of the Hakurei Shrine Maiden.

>Do only if there is majority agreement among the other players.

//While I'm not entirely opposed to sending a body to Reimu, doing so would mean revealing that we can make multiple bodies to her, especially if she asks why we aren't with Marisa. I'm not sure if either of you would want to reveal such information to Reimu so soon, I mean, she's probably bound to find out eventually, but it's still revealing one of our cards in a sense...

//And even if we do, I'm not sure if we should inform her about the potential hostage situation immediately... If we do end up sending a body, we should probably ask if she needs any help and otherwise act natural to see if the duo would dare attack us in Reimu's presence.

//There's also the possibility that they're somehow already there and possibly convincing Reimu to turn against us with false information.

[Tom]

// In response to Branneg's post:
// We do not negotiate with enemies!  If we're meeting the cave group again we're doing so on neutral ground, going back there is like waltzing into an obvious trap.  They show no intention of following the rules and would gladly make us their pawn, who's to say something similar didn't happen to Ruukoto.  With the power of the Darkness Youkai they could easily destroy Gensokyo for good by plunging it into eternal darkness.

// In response to Evil_Nazgul's post:
// You bring up a point them possibly trying to brainwash Reimu, let's bug the place so we can listen in

> Instead of sending a body to Reimu use the darkness under the floorboards/crawlspace of the shrine to listen in on what's happening there

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

> Instead of sending a body to Reimu use the darkness under the floorboards/crawlspace of the shrine to listen in on what's happening there

//Only problem with that is that they knew not all of us was there, so it's possible they might detect our bug and rat us out to Reimu, would would then proceed to become sus because to her it would look like we were spying on her. Being more honest and sending a full body would be more ideal.

//Though a good compromise could be to send a bug first and then if it verifies that they are not already there have the bug turn into a body. But then again if they are already there they could, again, potentially rat us out immediately...

[Tom]

// If they're already there they're going to rat out our body-splitting ability anyway.  We're rolling the dice here in hopes they're either not there or don't notice a tiny speck of darkness in the already dark space below the floorboards

// If they're not already there sure let's turn into little Rumia and tell Reimu to hurry over the bamboo forest where we need her help.  This'll make her harder to find and help Marisa at the same time
// EDIT: Better plan, instead of showing up in person we'll leave a message in darkness-writing which we've already shown we can do.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

// If they're already there they're going to rat out our body-splitting ability anyway.  We're rolling the dice here in hopes they're either not there or don't notice a tiny speck of darkness in the already dark space below the floorboards

// If they're not already there sure let's turn into little Rumia and tell Reimu to hurry over the bamboo forest where we need her help.  This'll make her harder to find and help Marisa at the same time

//I suppose you have a point, though let's not actually drag her to the bamboo forest until we truly confirm what's wrong with it and whether or not we'll need actually need Reimu.

> Instead of sending a body to Reimu use the darkness under the floorboards/crawlspace of the shrine to listen in on what's happening there

>+1 vote for this.
>Additionally, if this is parsed:
Hakurei Blob:
>What is going on in the shrine? Are the ones from the ruins present? If so, listen in. If not, standby.

//EDIT: Somewhat unrelated, but just had an amazing thought if we're unable to make a full small form body from that tiny blob when we decide to reveal ourselves: Pocket Rumia!

[Tom]

// Then we can join the Koakuma/Medicine/Suika/Alice group who have little versions of themselves or dolls following them

[Philosopher]

// I am in favor of showing up to Reimu with a shadow body

// The less we withhold from Reimu the less ammo they have to destroy Reimu's trust in us.

//Reimu's laziness is a godsend.  Until we do something she shouldn't attack us.

[Tom]

// There's no reason not to test the waters with a speck first, that'll give us a parse or two to think about a game plan.  We can decide after if we appear in sealed form or leave a message in writing

[Neovereign]

>Push out a rope size stream of darkness into the forest and observe what happens

>Try sending darkness through the ground

>Now throw a rock into the forest
>What was the difference between the three?

// Ruukoto's their grunt/henchman, they care about her enough to repair her arm.  They were just lying to trick us into staying long enough to be exterminated

> Be discreet about said rope, do it out of Marisa's sight

> Laugh "What if you just blew a hole right into it?"
> On a more serious note "Well now that we know for-sure it's an incident want to go back and get her?"

//I don't know... I mean they did say that 1. she was not their friend, and 2. that they were using her. If they were actually telling the truth there, then we might've put Ruukoto in serious danger. Especially since they didn't look like people who would respect the spellcard laws with how they were acting.
//Ah, I see. Yeah it was the lack of a comma there that threw me off, sorry about that.

Contingency:
>Have we arrived at our destination?

Prime:
>Wait on the other queued actions for this body until the parse after the next one, as the answer we get to the following question might make some of them unnecessary.
>EDIT: On second thought Phil's actions and Tom's amendment to the rope can be done in parallel to this, though do hold off on the dialogue for now.
>"Wait a minute... isn't getting lost inside this forest normal, and literally in the name? Or did you mean something else when you say that people can't get out or get anywhere?"

> You send three different sort of scouts into the forest.
> All three fail to get anywhere. In fact, the rock practically hits a wall.
> "Of course this isn't the regular stuff. That'd be losing your way within it. You'd get lost inside the forest. The fact that you can try to go in but don't make it, yet always be able to come right back out like you never went in, is the opposite of getting lost.

> You're still trying to get further, as it still seems possibile to go-
> Oh right, that's the barrier. Then yes, you're as far as you can get.

> If the Darkness is unable to proceed further in,try to pass alongside the Inner Perimeter of the Bamboo Forest.

> If possible,send another Shadow!Double to the Hakurei Shrine ,to Reimu, in order to let her know the situation at the Bamboo Forest ,and..

>...nearby there was a delicate situation.with an Hostage,Ruukoto involved...

> ... if our latest acquaintances were to show up as well,it would be a good opportunity see how they explain and justify themselves  in front of the Hakurei Shrine Maiden.

// The "Dual " in question is "Gatekeeper
SinGyoku" https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Highly_Responsive_to_Prayers/Characters
and  related to the Hakurei Shrine,but Rumia does not know this...yet //

// In this case Reimu could also vouch for Rumia and,if insufficient,we could also ask her to contact,or how to contact, Sendai a more complete guarantee//

// At the very least Ruukoto is showing genuine safety concerns toward Rumia's Shadow!Double ,and implicitly does Not Approve Violent Methods in general,according to //

//Although we should not delay too much in returning,when accompanied and/or better prepared,to the "Ruins" ...Ruukoto was innocently being used by SinGyoku as an Hostage-Leverage to make a new,untrustworthy,potentially powerful&dangerous Youkai surrender  and thus it is quite unlikely she is suffering reprisals just for an "unaided escape".//

// In response to Branneg's post:
// We do not negotiate with enemies!  If we're meeting the cave group again we're doing so on neutral ground, going back there is like waltzing into an obvious trap.  They show no intention of following the rules and would gladly make us their pawn, who's to say something similar didn't happen to Ruukoto.  With the power of the Darkness Youkai they could easily destroy Gensokyo for good by plunging it into eternal darkness.

// In response to Evil_Nazgul's post:
// You bring up a point them possibly trying to brainwash Reimu, let's bug the place so we can listen in

> Instead of sending a body to Reimu use the darkness under the floorboards/crawlspace of the shrine to listen in on what's happening there

//I suppose you have a point, though let's not actually drag her to the bamboo forest until we truly confirm what's wrong with it and whether or not we'll need actually need Reimu.

>+1 vote for this.
>Additionally, if this is parsed:
Hakurei Blob:
>What is going on in the shrine? Are the ones from the ruins present? If so, listen in. If not, standby.

//EDIT: Somewhat unrelated, but just had an amazing thought if we're unable to make a full small form body from that tiny blob when we decide to reveal ourselves: Pocket Rumia!

// I am in favor of showing up to Reimu with a shadow body

// The less we withhold from Reimu the less ammo they have to destroy Reimu's trust in us.

//Reimu's laziness is a godsend.  Until we do something she shouldn't attack us.

> You send more darkness into the ground, having it travel to the Hakurei Shrine, and checking from under the floorboards.
> Reimu seems to be at the front of the shrine, sitting down like she was after she removed your ribbon.
> You hear a loud noise, like a bang, from the direction of the ruins. Such seems to startle Reimu a bit as well.
>_

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

//Hopefully that wasn't Ruukoto suffering critical damage... But then again, considering she literally contains a nuclear reactor, if that happened it would probably be a much bigger bang.

Contingency:
>Have we arrived at our destination? (Repeat this check each parse until the answer is yes, notify when this occurs.)

Prime:
>"Oh..."
>Perform actions held in abeyance (Tom's dialogue, assuming no changes are to be made to them by the original poster.).

Hakurei:
>Do only with approval.
>>Manifest as a smol form nearby with a concerned look. If we fail, due to lack of sufficient darkness, manifest as an adorably tiny version of our smol form, still sporting a concerned look.
//I feel like we should say something if this gets approved but not sure what.

[Tom]

// Yeah, we'd be playing Fallout Quest if that were to happen

Contingency:
>Have we arrived at our destination? (Repeat this check each parse until the answer is yes, notify when this occurs.)

// It hit the barrier so we've arrived at our destination

> You're still trying to get further, as it still seems possibile to go-
> Oh right, that's the barrier. Then yes, you're as far as you can get.

> Perform queued actions

> Take a quick look/scan to ensure there are no suspicious owls or animals watching the shrine, if there's nothing continue
> Manifest a realistic (and cute) as possible small form on the steps leading up to the Hakurei Shrine and run up toward Reimu in a hurry.  While pointing towards the Bamboo Forest tell her some curse is blocking entry and that this is absolutely an incident.  If she gives us an excuse to be lazy remind her she's the only one who can easily and safely dispel it without risking burning down the forest in the process.  If she notices anything about our form explain that if we can make letters/writing appear it's only natural we can make ourselves appear

[Philosopher]

>"Any ideas. . .on how to get inside?"

>"Because, " Throw a shadow sun hat at the forest. "I don't."

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

// It hit the barrier so we've arrived at our destination

//I thought the barrier hitting was part of our bamboo forest probing actions.

//Would still like confirmation from QM just to be sure.

[Neovereign]

//I thought the barrier hitting was part of our bamboo forest probing actions.

//Would still like confirmation from QM just to be sure.

//Cont reached it's destination. The barrier was Gensokyo's own.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

//Ah, in that case...

Contingency:
>Look around.

[Tom]

// Also reworded my action to say curse instead of barrier

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

> Manifest a realistic (and cute) as possible small form on the steps leading up to the Hakurei Shrine and run up toward Reimu in a hurry.  While pointing towards the Bamboo Forest tell her some curse is blocking entry and that this is absolutely an incident.  If she gives us an excuse to be lazy remind her she's the only one who can easily and safely dispel it without risking burning down the forest in the process.  If she notices anything about our form explain that if we can make letters/writing appear it's only natural we can make ourselves appear

>Only if approved:
>Add: "A-Also what was that noise...?"
//If we didn't react to such a loud an obvious noise nearby she would probably become suspicious. But then again we know very well who could possibly be responsible and therefore playing dumb initially might come back to bite us.

[Neovereign]

//Hopefully that wasn't Ruukoto suffering critical damage... But then again, considering she literally contains a nuclear reactor, if that happened it would probably be a much bigger bang.

Contingency:
>Have we arrived at our destination? (Repeat this check each parse until the answer is yes, notify when this occurs.)

Prime:
>"Oh..."
>Perform actions held in abeyance (Tom's dialogue, assuming no changes are to be made to them by the original poster.).

Hakurei:
>Do only with approval.
>>Manifest as a smol form nearby with a concerned look. If we fail, due to lack of sufficient darkness, manifest as an adorably tiny version of our smol form, still sporting a concerned look.
//I feel like we should say something if this gets approved but not sure what.

// Yeah, we'd be playing Fallout Quest if that were to happen// It hit the barrier so we've arrived at our destination
> Perform queued actions

> Take a quick look/scan to ensure there are no suspicious owls or animals watching the shrine, if there's nothing continue
> Manifest a realistic (and cute) as possible small form on the steps leading up to the Hakurei Shrine and run up toward Reimu in a hurry.  While pointing towards the Bamboo Forest tell her some curse is blocking entry and that this is absolutely an incident.  If she gives us an excuse to be lazy remind her she's the only one who can easily and safely dispel it without risking burning down the forest in the process.  If she notices anything about our form explain that if we can make letters/writing appear it's only natural we can make ourselves appear

>"Any ideas. . .on how to get inside?"

>"Because, " Throw a shadow sun hat at the forest. "I don't."

//Ah, in that case...

Contingency:
>Look around.

> As you are at your destination, you look around. There aren't any landmarks here.
> With nothing out of the ordinary, you take the appearance of your small form.

> "Hmm... Maybe we can go in backwards?" Marisa speaks. "Nah, that's just stupid."

> You scan the surroundings of the shrine, before making yourself a form and running up to Reimu.
> You explain the situation, to which she sighs.
> "Of course... Alright, I'll at least check it out... It probably isn't an incident though." Reimu stands up.
> There's another loud sound, this one, much closer. Actually, right next to the two of you, in fact.
> Accompanying it is a gust of wind and the appearance of the man from before, holding a yin-yang orb.
> "Nope. Not hearing it. I already have something to do." Reimu frowns.
> "...May I ask what?" The man blinks, letting go of the orb as it begins to float beside him. Once more, he puts his hands together, just like you saw him before.
> His attention hasn't in the slightest drifted towards you. You almost think he can't even see you, let alone notice you... It's just on Reimu.
>_

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

Hakurei:
>Do we have the same amount of "darkness mass" as we do with our smol form normally, or are we maintaining our smol form with the small amount of darkness that was the original tiny blob?
>If it seems like the latter, wonder if the density of our darkness is the reason he isn't noticing us.
>Regardless, wonder if it's also possible that our proximity to Reimu is masking us somehow.
>If he notices us quickly place Reimu between him and ourselves.

Prime:
>"Hmm maybe? Oh, by the way, I just tried something out with my powers to see if it would work and it did! Miss Reimu is on the way."

Contingency:
>Explore the immediate area. Be mindful of our proximity to the barrier, wouldn't want to accidentally bump into it or anything.
>How's the environment look? If it's scenic enough ponder possibly building a cabin or something here. If we had to retreat here in an emergency a shelter would be nice to have...

[Tom]

// Let's go full Minecraft out here
Contingency:
> Or maybe a cliff we could find a cave in?  Or a thick forest we could build a hut within?