> Relationships (other than the Princess)> After your plan to invert society was stopped for the next 10 days you became the closest thing Gensokyo had to an "outlaw". Various prominent figures did everything in their power try and capture you but you always had another trick up your sleeve. Even Shinmyoumaru turned against you, recruiting some of the strongest in Gensokyo to stop you, but with no results.
> To what extent can we apply our inversion abilities?
> How do we look?> You look better than ever~
> Do we know where the Princess is right now?> Well since she asked you to accompany her to the Full Moon Festival tonight, so you expect her to be either already be at the Hakurei Shrine or arrive sometime before the festival starts.
> If inverting more conceptual abstract things is similar to swapping an aspect of ourselves with an aspect of the target, have we ever tried inverting the Princess's size, so that she becomes our size and we become her size?> You've mostly experimented with swapping immaterial and logical concepts rather than physical properties. You don't believe it's beyond your abilities but it would require great amounts of magical energy, certainly more than you can channel on your own.
> Swapping concepts and properties, huh...> You ponder for a moment switching you roles in society with the shrine maiden's... You suppose it's possible but one's role is not only determined by their own beliefs, especially a faith based role like a shrine maiden's or a god's. Such roles rely more on how they're perceived in the eyes of others, specifically those who believe in them and provide them with faith. You'd have to reverse every last person's perception and memories of you and the shrine maiden to accomplish such a feat.
> Would it be possible to swap our role in society with the shrine maiden's, so that we're the invincible big boss of this land instead of her?
> How does the shrine maiden look, in comparison to us? Would we consider it a net positive or negative if we somehow switched her body type with ours?> Physically speaking you don't share many similarities with the Hakurei maiden, first of all she's not Youkai let alone an Amanojaku, she's taller than you and has different magical specialties and talents. The only visible similarity you can think of it that you both have red eyes.
> Or, perhaps a combination of those two ideas...could we outright swap bodies with the shrine maiden, perhaps? That might be enough to win us a cause-an-incident-without-getting-caught contest, if we can pretend to be the shrine maiden for long enough...
> Hmm...maybe she could be bribed into going along with it. We still have a lot of her stuff, and could return anything of hers to her that we don't particularly need. And if magical energy is a problem, she could probably provide a lot more...> You think of the possibility of bribing the shrine maiden to be an accomplice in your plan, but are terrified of what she'd do if she pieced together that you're the one who stole the shrine's valuables...
> How close do we need to be to a target that we're going to invert?It depends on the complexity of the inversion, the resistance targets might put up or the assistance they will lend.
> Who is running this contest, anyway?> No clue! You only just got here and saw it in the paper. Your gut is telling you you'll find out soon enough though...
> Finish ascending the stairs and make our way to the shrine proper. Is anyone visible outside?> You ascend the last steps and find yourself at the Hakurei Shrine Front Yard.
> Inventory> Inventory:
> How common is the knowledge that the shrine maiden was robbed of all her valuables?> Most people have always known her to be poor so you doubt they'd notice a difference other than maybe some trinkets and artifacts being missing from inside the shrine. The witch and oni certainly know since they're close friends but you're not sure who else she's told about it. You suspect she's kept it to herself in fear of losing followers, who'd trust a Shrine Maiden who's naive enough to let her shrine get burglarized by Youkai!?
> Approach the shrine maiden. Look pensive and mildly nervous with both our facial expression and our body language; if it looks like we're up to something immediately, the others might figure us out before we win this contest.> You approach the shrine maiden with a pensive expression, when she notices you she waves dismissively and explains "Unless you're here to help leave, we're not ready yet!"
> Lower our voice volume just a little bit.> After making an annoyed expression she starts leading you towards the side of the shrine before turning around to say "Well, if you're so eager to assist why don't you help us get ready for the festival tonight? I'm willing to discus whatever it is you want during the festival, and the sooner we set everything up the sooner it can begin."
> "If help is what you need, red-white, that can be arranged. 'Cause I need to talk to you. In private."
> "Don't want to wait until tonight. And I think you won't want to wait that long either."> She clearly shows no signs of urgency
> Dash off to the back porch regardless, to locate the mop and bucket. If we find them and verify that the bucket has water, grab them and return (with less dashing so as to not spill) to the front porch, and get to work on mopping.
> Do we still have that copy of the paper we read? If so, how visible is it on our person?> As you're not particularly interested in gossipy news you just left it where you found it.
> Where did the red-white get off to?> She's busy setting up fold-able chairs in the yard around the tables. The last two she's opened have fallen apart when she unfolded them...
> "Just here to see the red-white."> Marisa smirks
> Frown just a tad.
> "If I were 'up to no good', this is probably the last place I'd want to be."
> How salvagable are the chairs that have fallen apart?> They've completely fallen apart into pieces, the wood must have rotted. With that in mind you make a mental note to check your chair before sitting on it, in case yours is on it's last days as well.
> "Oh, really now? I might have a word or two with the Princess, then."> "She's just inside reading a book or something ze. I'm sure she'll be glad to see you as she mentions you quite often you know!"
> Begin gathering and setting up folding chairs, to make things easier on the red-white in that regard. If doing so would take us out of conversation distance with the black-white, excuse ourselves from the conversation with her first.
> When we get the opportunity in the course of setting up chairs, get up close to Reimu, close enough that we could converse with her in a very quiet voice.
> Once we do so, take on that very quiet voice.
> "If you keep this on the down-low, I think I can make all this not your problem. At least for a bit."> "Oh, so you'll finish the preparations out here? Great because I haven't even begun cooking!"
> "When I say 'all this', I mean all this. Tables, chairs, cooking, entertaining the kobito Princess, and whatever else. But we need to have that conversation first."> "Huh?"
> "Sort of, and it's a big ask, though I don't care about money. You saw that contest in the paper, right? I have a plan to win it, but I need your consent, and most likely a quick bit of your assistance."
> Grin.> She rolls her eyes
> "Oh, not quite as simple as that."
> Look around to make sure there are no eavesdroppers in the vicinity. If the coast is clear:> You're fairly certain everyone's too far and preoccupied to notice or care about your conversation
> "Just for the duration of the contest...I want to switch us. I become you, you become me, with no one else the wiser."> "That's your idea of an incident? As if no-one would notice! I'm obviously fairly taller than you and have longer hair. Besides, our voices are way too different!"
> "That's part of the switch, of course. I would look and sound exactly like you, you would look and sound exactly like me. We would basically be trading bodies."> Reimu tilts her head in intrigue "Switching bodies?"
> "With my abilities, of course. I would be glad to demonstrate, if we can get somewhere where no one can see us."> "Don't take this as a sign of me agreeing, but I'm genuinely interested in seeing what you mean by that?"
> Hold out an open hand to the shrine maiden.
> "Take my hand, and as long as you are willing, I can begin the process of switching us. It'd help if you actively wanted it to happen."
> Grin a little bit again.
> "If you need help with that last bit, you can think about how I'd be taking your place doing all the set-up and chores and Princess entertaining for tonight, while you could just...go off and do whatever you wanted, if you wanted."
> "You're substantially stronger than I am. I can't imagine I would be able to do anything negative to you if you didn't want it to happen. And I sure as hell don't want to be you forever, that's way too much responsibility and peace-keeping. Even just being you for the duration of the contest will be hard enough."> She sure looks looks disappointed at the description you just gave
> Look slightly taken aback, like we didn't consider that.> She cheerfully smiles and taps your forehead
> "I...figured you'd want your body back eventually. Uh...I guess I'd just have to think of something else if you end up refusing to change back?"
> Look relieved.> When you confirm that abilities indeed switch her look becomes hesitant again
> "Oh...phew, okay. You had me for a moment there~"
> "Anyway, yes, we'd be switching abilities as well. I figured we could give each other crash courses in what we can do and how to do it, especially if I need to solve everyone else's incidents to keep the guise up."
> "Huh...how lucky. But maybe that would be true of me too, then. Either way, I could at least train you on my abilities, to a degree."> "I guess you could call it luck?" she laughs
> "Well, if putting it off is really what you want...I figured part of the appeal would be that you could get out of doing today's chores if you wanted, though."> "Didn't mean to disappoint it's just I need to think about it some more. As far as tonight goes I'm like halfway done with the chores anyway."
> "...Maybe you could try me out for a trial period for today? And if you don't like it, we can switch back at the end of the day, rather than waiting out the entire contest. That's not great for me, but no one said winning the contest was going to be easy."
> How curvaceous is the shrine maiden?> Neither of you are particularly curvaceous. At least that's one less difference to worry about.
> What about us, for that matter?
> "Well, okay, if that's what you want. Head on back out there."> "I'll be in the warehouse or kitchen if you need me."
> Assuming she's not hiding anything major behind that sarashi, anyway...> "I won't say a word, like I said I'm interested in the idea~"
> "Of course. I'll go see her. Oh, and just to be sure, don't tell anyone about this. People knowing would defeat the whole purpose, y'know?"
> We'll leave her to have her drunken fun.
> Hakurei Shrine 1F [W]
> What's the title of the book?> You've no idea, you can just make out some very foreign looking symbols on the cover inside a lightly shimmering magic circle.
> Hakurei Shrine 1F Guest Room [E]Hakurei Shrine 1F Guest Room:
> "Hey, kiddo."
> Why were we traveling to this shrine in the first place, anyway? Was it just to see the Princess?> Shinmyoumaru had requested you accompany her to the Full Moon festival, you figure it must because it's intimidating for her to be around all the powerful Humans and Youkai.
> "Ooh, that's good, that's good. That'll be useful to have in our back pocket, once the contest is resolved."> She happily nods "Yep! With the power of Miracles we'll be unstoppable in our revolution to change Gensokyo!"
> Is Shinmyoumaru an adult or a child?> She has her moments, she can be very serious at times or very silly. In some ways she reminds you of that vampire who owns the Scarlet Mansion, only she's not bratty or overly spoiled. Shinmyoumaru gives you the impression of someone with a very sheltered upbringing who doesn't know how unfair and deceptive the world can be. Being a princess and wielding the power of Miracles she believes she's above consequences and gets very frustrated when even the slightest things don't go the way she'd planned.
> Do we know of a Wakasagihime?> Maybe you encountered someone like that when you were on the run, but it's been so long you don't remember. Maybe if you saw them you'd remember them?
> "Here's hoping. What do you want to do in the meantime, though? I think the red-white could probably use some setup help for tonight."> "How about we help her set everything up a bit? She's been a little grumpy lately around me, I hope I haven't been asking too much of her..."
> Follow!> "You mean during the incident? Well let's ask her"
> "Sure. Do you think it would help her if you made her bigger with the mallet, like you did before that one time? Maybe you could do it again if she wants."
> "Oh. Well, that answers that, I guess. Here."> You try and place her on your head but she protests, instead climbing to your shoulder.
> Pick the Princess up and place her on top of our head.
> "As long as you don't suddenly poof back to a bigger size while you're sitting there. Who was the blue lady that was in here earlier, anyway?"> The inchling thinks for a moment "Oh, that's lady Mima. Quite a mysterious figure, she's Marisa's mentor and training partner. She claims she used to live here twenty years ago but now lives with Marisa in the Forest of Magic"
> Examine the book in more detail.
> "Neat."> "It looks interesting indeed"
> Pocket the incomplete spell card, then set the book back down.> "Uhh, it's probably important to her, are you sure you want to borrow it? It wouldn't be hard for her to deduce who took it... Besides miss Mima is a nice lady, even though she's really strong she's never mean to me and even shows me what various star formations at night are!"
> Hakurei Shrine Front Yard [W]// Leaving the last action out since Shinmyoumaru raised an objection
> "Oh, you think it's hers? Given where it was, I figured she didn't know it was there."> She laughs "Yeah the insulation's so bad around here I end up unintentionally eavesdropping on her conversations with Marisa."
> "Huh. Well, shoot."> You slip the card back into the book ... just in time as you hear the front door rattle before ghostly Mima phases through it.
> Put the incomplete spell card back into the book where we found it.
> Shrug.
> "Honestly, I didn't know about that until just before I got here. Spotted it in a tengu rag just at the top of your steps."
> "We'll see. If I can think of something I'm confident would win, then probably."> "I'd like to know more details about this 'competition', like if I cause an incident with Marisa do we each have our wishes fulfilled? Or do we have to both decide on one? If you didn't notice the newspaper article seemed intentionally vague..."
> "Yeah. I mostly noticed it didn't say who was in charge."> "Indeed, it was written in such a way so that most people reading it would be fixated on the prize, instead of questioning the meaning behind it. What I don't understand is what those running this contest have to gain? Like in the times I've caused an incident I was always trying to accomplish something, like reminding everyone who the Evil Spirit Mima is by striking fear into Gensokyo! This just seems meaningless as the only one profiting would be the winning incident's culprit by having their wish granted."
> "Maybe there's a hint in there somewhere? Like, what are the 'ten desires' that got mentioned? Pretty sure I don't have exactly ten desires, at least."> "It might mean you get ten of your desires fulfilled? Or you're given a choice of ten and you have to pick one?"
> Frown a bit.> "I'm certain we'll be finding out more about it tonight, the article *did* mention gathering at the Hakurei Shrine Grounds after all. It'll be interesting to see who comes, and weather they came for the contest or festival... though we've no way of telling how honest they'll be about it"
> "Hmph. It does seem awfully suspicious. Makes me wonder if it's worth pursuing at all...I'm not really interested in putting my neck on the line just for someone else's amusement."
> "Of course. I don't even know how honest you're being about it."> She also grins
> Wink with a grin.
> "And you don't know how honest I'm being about it."
> "I guess everyone will know more tonight."> She nods in agreement
> Glance at Shinmyoumaru, then look back to the other two.> They nod in unison
> "...We'll let you do your thing in private. C'mon, Princess."
> Hakurei Shrine Front Yard [W] (closing the door behind us)> You exit the front door of the shrine and slide the door shut behind you.
> Head toward the shrine maiden, examining the new figure in the process.> You slowly head over towards the new figure, as you get closer you immediately notice some kind of phantom circling around her but neither of them seem alarmed by this fact. She also appears to be holding a small sword and has another giant one sheathed behind her back.
> Tilt toward Shin and lower our volume.> She whispers back "That's miss Youmu and she's somehow half a ghost. It might not seem like it but she's a really really good cook!"
> "Who's that?"
> How curvaceous is this half-ghost person?> Less than you are!
> "Huh. Maybe that gets us out of cooking duty?"> "Sure hope so, Reimu's cooking is uhh ... repetitive to put it nicely. She could just makes noodles every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner if you let her!"
> How is our cooking?> Quite decent actually! During the revolution Shinmyoumaru would demand all sorts of exquisite dinners befitting of a princess and royalty which you begrudgingly prepared in order to keep her satisfied and thus uninvolved with your work below.
> "What's with the phantom zipping around?"> She whispers "She's half a ghost, and that would be her other half. I don't understand it myself how someone can be both a ghost and alive at the same time."
> "Hoh...interesting. I wonder what she can do with it."> "It can pass through most objects and I've seen it shoot danmaku! Unfortunately it can't help her much with cooking because it can only interact with things magically and thus very clumsily. But even though she's half a ghost she's actually terrified of them! Lady Mima loves playing pranks on her and seeing her reactions~"
> "Oh, that doesn't bode well. Hopefully that doesn't disrupt dinner preparation."> "She probably has other things on her mind now considering what we heard earlier"
> "What's her deal?"> "Spoiled is an understatement, according to Reimu she's a Celestial but unlike those who've worked hard to become one she was just born as one. Her only goal is fighting off boredom apparently and no wonder she's here, she wouldn't dare miss out on an incident"
> "Sounds like someone unlikely to make it unsolvable, though."> "No doubt!"
> Have a glance down the stairs to see who else is coming.> You glance down the stairs and don't see anyone else coming for now.
> Follow the shrine maiden and the half-ghost, then.> The shrine maiden and half ghost head inside the shrine and you follow.
> Did the phantom go inside with the human body, or was it left outside?> It phased through the door after she shut it
> Try preparing an application of our inversion abilities, to be used on Youmu, that switches her phantom from being part of her humanoid body to being part of our humanoid body. (Do NOT actually perform the inversion just yet.)> You mentally plan out such a switch and realize it would require considerable amounts of energy as you can't think of anything comparable to replace the phantom with. It would be easier if hypothetically you had a half phantom or even a ghost familiar of your own.
> Hmmm...> In terms of magical energy it would again be comparable to switching sizes with Shinmyoumaru. However the complexity of such an inversion is beyond anything you've done before meaning you can't guarantee success without experimentation.
> What about switching species, so that we become a half-ghost and she becomes an amanojaku? Could we try setting that up?
> Alternatively, consider the possibility of replacing the phantom with ourselves, so that we become half of her existence.> While your previous thought could theoretically work if you had a phantom of your own to swap their physical manifestations with, replacing the phantom with yourself is outright impossible since one's existence can only be affected as a whole. Switching places with the phantom would be identical to trying to invert your species.
> Grah. We'll have to brainstorm ideas later for either making that phantom part of us or grafting us onto her existence, then.> More likely the former than the latter
> Open the door and step back inside as well.> You slide the door open and step back inside to find Reimu and Youmu busy preparing various snacks and doing some light cooking. You hear them mention something about having less than thirty minutes left until sunset.
> Make our way into the kitchen (though obviously without getting in the way).
> "Yo. Need some help?"
> "You got it."> You ask Reimu about washing your hands but she only points at a bucket of strong sake in which you dip your hands. She explains that unlike the village the Hakurei Shrine doesn't have running water due to it's elevation being above the village's water tower, and that the faucet in her kitchen is just for show.
> Clean our hands and get to work on said spring rolls.
> Once we've begun, glance over at the half-ghost.> She glances at you for a moment
> "Don't think we've met before. How's it goin'?"
> "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the name you just dropped."> She looks surprised at your response
> "I can imagine. But no, I haven't. I did also say I didn't think we'd met before, after all."> "Oh well, besides Lady Yuyuko a lot of other interesting and important people also come to the Hakurei Shrine's festivals. Judging by the fact you're here I'm guessing you're influential too in some way, though I'm embarrassed to say I don't know you or at least don't remember you."
> "Seija Kijin, amanojaku extraordinaire."> Before you manage to get a word in the celestial you know as Tenshi comes barging in
> Could we invert the celestial's sense of taste, so that things that would normally taste good to her would actually taste bad to her, and vice versa?> You focus and manage to invert Tenshi's taste, albeit temporarily as you didn't swap it with your own.
> Undo the inversion we just did.> You undo the inversion on the celestial's taste. You can hear her outside furiously drinking water trying to wash the taste away...
> Glance back to Youmu while still working away.> "Huh could there be there some bad aftertaste?" Youmu murmurs after seeing Tenshi run out
> "Anyway, you are?"
> How small is Shinmyoumaru, anyway? If we needed to, could we hide her in a pocket? Or in our mouth, in an emergency?> She's about the size of a small doll you think? Shinyoumaru wouldn't fit in your pocket unless you found a way to have bottomless pockets that is! Same goes for your mouth.
> Could we invert someone's size by trading it with someone else's other than our own? For example, could we invert the celestial's size by trading her size with Shinmyoumaru's, thereby making Shinmyoumaru the same size as the rest of us while that celestial becomes tiny?> With your current knowledge of your ability you'd have to first trade sizes with Shinyoumaru and then switch your new size with the celestial.
> "Charmed. And no, there's no bad aftertaste. She just didn't understand the problems she was causing for our host. Now she does."> "Ah, I see"
> Could we pocket her (or pop her in our mouth) if she curled up into a ball, perhaps?> She might be able to partially fit into your pocket if she curled up but she'd be noticeable. It might be possible for her to hide behind or around something else that partially fits in your pocket though?
> Glance over to Reimu, then back to Youmu, then back to her work.> Reimu twirls a spell card on her finger "Agreed~"
> "And if she forgets, then she'll be reminded again, in a less pleasant manner."
> "So what's with the phantom? Can you do stuff with it?"> Youmu looks over at the phantom you mention "Oh this? Everyone calls her Myon but she's actually a part of me, and to be exact half of me!"
> "...Are you saying that orb has hands?"> Youmu looks confused "No, it can simply push or pull small objects from afar. I'm not a full phantom so I've had no need to learn advanced telekinesis."
> "Whoa, nifty. I wouldn't mind having one of those myself."> She looks at you curiously "Huh? I don't think there's a way to become a half-ghost but maybe you could get a phantom or ghost familiar?"
> Chuckle.> She laughs "I'm already employed, and I doubt Lady Yuyuko would be too pleased to find out I became someone's familiar"
> "You mean I can't just have you?"
> How could we make someone our familiar?> Non-sentient beings you summon are automatically considered your familiars, like danmaku familiars.
> What would having a familiar entail?> You had researched familiars deeply during your incident as you wanted to make the shrine maiden your familiar to eliminate her as a source of problems.
> "So I just have to negotiate with her then, is what I'm hearing."> "If she were to allow it I couldn't object, but beware she drives a pretty hard bargain! I would not be surprised if she ends up making you her familiar..."
> Are there other benefits to making, say, the shrine maiden and/or this half-ghost our familiars beyond their general obedience? Do we get access to their abilities as well, perhaps?> Yes you do gain access to their abilities at the cost of having to share magical energy with them.
> "I guess we'll just have to see later."> The half ghost chuckles and nods in agreement
> Finish up food prep.> You finish preparing the spring rolls after a few minutes.
> If we make someone our familiar, can we summon them to our location at any time? If so, could we then unsummon them, and if we did, where would they go?> Independent beings who become familiars can't be summoned unless you (or they) know some type of teleportation magic. Only simple danmaku familiars can be summoned but in a loose sense, it's more like they're created on the spot and destroyed when they run out of energy or collide. They're almost mechanical in nature as they're conjured to perform a task, like clockwork.
> Did the shrine maiden ever discover we wanted to make her our familiar?> No, her appearance at the Shining Needle Castle was unexpected as you had no idea she was investigating a strange problem with her purification staff. You managed to wear her down during your fight and then had the idea to start the process when she was weak and fighting Shinmyoumaru but it mysteriously failed. If your incident had continued another month you had planned to knock her out and attempt to turn her into a familiar with the promise of the faith of Gensokyo if they were successful. If that failed you were prepared to try alternative methods to coerce her into accepting such as hypnosis, mind control, brainwashing and other underhanded techniques...
> "Sure. Anything else need doing?"> Reimu points at the door "Just make sure that celestial doesn't try to do something funny"
> Do we actually know hypnosis/brainwash/mind control techniques, or at least where we could learn/employ them?> You were going to learn the basics said techniques over that next month and you would've had the Mallet's assistance if everything had gone according to plan. Your library in the Shining Needle Castle is chock-full of books that even Gensokyo would find taboo. Good thing that floor of the castle looked like a dump and thus wasn't thoroughly investigated after the incident.
> If we were to invert the sizes of a large person and a small person (presumably one of which is us), are we only capable of doing an exact switch? Or are we capable of fudging things a little bit so that, say, the previously-small person gets even more of the previously-large person's size and ends up larger than the previously large person was originally?> Not as far as you know, the trait is either fully flipped between them or not. The effects of magic usually vary proportionally depending on how much energy was put into the spell being cast but your ability doesn't feel like magic, it's more like cheating reality itself. Using your ability feels more like trying to shatter something, as energy is channeled nothing appears to happen until a critical point is reached after which a weak point appears causing cracks to form and start progressing mentally.
> "Uh, I'll do my best."> You head out the door Reimu was pointing to and end up in the Hakurei Shrine Back Yard.
> Head out the door.
> "Yo, what's up with you?"> "Those rolls! I don't know what that half ghost put in 'em, they that off real tasty but then this foul aftertaste kicks in making you wish you had never thought of eating one."
> "Were they done cooking?"> "The one I grabbed sure looked done!"
> Shrug.> "Whatever" she waves dismissively
> "Maybe it wasn't."
> "They got it covered, apparently."> "So then what brought you here? I haven't seen you in Gensokyo before..."
> "Just came to visit a friend that's been staying here for a bit."> You pat Shinmyoumaru
> Lightly pat Shinmyoumaru on the head.
> "Didn't even know about that contest until I got most of the way here."> She smirks "Well I wasn't planning on participating either, I'm just here to make things more interesting..."
> Raise an eyebrow in suspicion.> "Wouldn't an easy win be just plain boring though? An event like this doesn't come around every day ya know, might as well make the most out of it"
> "Sounds exactly like what someone with a plan to win would say."
> We probably already know and don't really need to ask, but how curvaceous is this celestial?> Probably best you've seen so far
> Are we capable of inverting multiple things at once? For example, could we invert several people's sizes at once?> Of course, you only need to constantly maintain an inversion when it's unbalanced like when you inverted Tenshi's taste without switching it with your own.
> "Hmm. I can see the appeal of a free-for-all, yeah."> "So let's get down to business, are you gonna be an instigator or an investigator?" she asks
> Is she 'the best we've seen so far' just relative to who we have directly examined, or does that include that ghost as well?> Yes it includes Youmu
> Is she 'the best we've seen so far' just relative to who we have directly examined, or does that include that ghost as well?> If you switch with Shinmyoumaru you'll be tiny and if you then switch with say Tenshi you will be the celestial's size and she will become inchling size. As far as you know traits can't be mixed or stacked.
> If we were Shinmyoumaru's size, and we inverted several people's sizes at once by switching them with our own, would they all be Shinmyoumaru's size, and would we end up their combined size, several times larger than we normally are?
> "Depends on whether or not I come up with anything good."> "Heh, well just know I'll put an end to anything I find out to be an incident"
> What about the other ghost, the one with the book?> Better than hers too!
> If we attempted to invert several people's sizes at once, what would happen?> Inverting one person's size is hard enough to need assistance from something like the mallet, you'd require double that energy to perform two simultaneous reversals.
> "Does that mean you're going to put an end to those spring rolls?"> "Maybe, can't have everyone getting sick just as the fun's about to start can we?"
> "I dunno if that's a good idea while the shrine maiden is still prowling around in there."> "She'll have to leave once guests start arriving which should be any minute now!"
> Are there any other new arrivals?> You can't see from the backyard
> "You gonna watch for those guests? Doesn't seem like we can see much from here."> Tenshi agrees "Indeed, how about we go out front and greet everyone."
> Follow!> She nods and you follow her around the shrine, passing by the warehouse to the front yard.
> Lower our voice as well.
> "Of course."
> Do the two newcomers look familiar at all?> The fairly tall blonde lady looks vaguely familiar, you might have had a run in with her when everyone was chasing you down. You defeated countless small fry back then so for her to stand out sh probably had interesting attacks.
> Hang back, watching the steps to see who else arrives.> Slowly walking and almost tripping on an invisible "last step" at the top of the staircase is a green haired shrine maiden who is staring intensely at some box she's holding in her hands, completely oblivious to her surroundings. If a tree were to magically appear in front of her she'd surely walk right into it!
> Is the celestial still immediately right next to us?> Yes but she noticed the doll on the donation box and has gone to take a look at it
> If not, turn our head toward Shinmyoumaru and whisper "Who're the newcomers?"> You whisper to Shinmyoumaru and she tells you "The really tall one is the Lady Yuyuko the half ghost mentioned, she never misses a festival and her appetite is something you'll have to see for yourself to believe!"
> "What about the green-haired one?"> Shinmyoumaru thinks for a moment before telling you "That's Sanae, she owns that miniature shrine to the right of the Hakurei Shrine. She supposed to be a shrine maiden but she's fascinated by Youkai more than anything, and like Reimu likes their company. Oh and she's also from the outside world which is why she has these things called technologies she uses occasionally, in fact I think she's holding one right now"
> What does the box the green-haired shrine maiden is carrying look like?> It's pretty small you can't tell exactly from this distance but it appears to be made out of two halves, one horizontal and the other angled somewhat vertical
> "Weird. Wonder what it does?"> "No idea, she stares at it a lot though"
> How curvaceous is the green-haired one?> About equal to Reimu
> Is there any immediately available place to step out of view?> Yeah you're on the north side of the shrine between it and the warehouse, you can just return to the backyard as no one's noticed you.
> So the celestial has her bested in that regard?> Yeah she tops everyone you've seen so far. But even then she's below average compared to the women of the village.
> What is the celestial up to, anyway?> When you were in the front yard the peculiar doll on the donation box caught her attention and she was inspecting it closely.
> Make our way toward the steps, to take a look down it to see if anyone else is coming.> You discreetly walk towards the stairs leading up to the shrine and spot an old looking man taking his time climbing the steps while carrying some kind of metal bucket.
> What's in the bucket?> Probably some kind of liquid, there's a lid on it with a cap
> Hmm, no one interesting.> You return to the backyard, walk around the pond and out the gate in the back where you were previously trying to convince the shrine maiden to switch roles. This should be secluded enough for you to practice your abilities uninterrupted.
> Find some out-of-the-way play and hunker down for a bit, waiting for something interesting to happen here. Maybe work on seeing if we can fudge things with our ability a bit instead of doing rigid straight-up swaps, or seeing if we can figure out how to swap some aspect with multiple targets at once, gaining the corresponding aspect from all of those targets at the same time. In particular, after making our way into the trees so we're reasonably out of sight, try flipping our size with Shinmyoumaru so we're tiny, and then practice changing sizes with multiple objects at once.
> Did the mallet shatter? Or is it still okay?> Certainly not, you're both still holding it from opposite ends
> "Whoa. That's, uh, new."> Shinmyoumaru looks around trying to gauge her scale compared to the world before noticing how small you've become
> "I'm glad you're enjoying it..."> "I've never been this big before! I was still short compared to most Youkai with the Mallet! T-This is a-amazing~"
> Look around. Are there a meaningful number of medium-sized things, like rocks or bushes, or even shorter trees? We're not interested in objects our (current) size, but we're also not interested in trees that are much taller than an average humanoid.> Before you have a chance to look around she picks you up and puts you on her shoulder
> "Ack!"> She pats you on the head and you sit down
> Have a seat in our new location.
> THEN try to look around for those things.> From your new vantage point you look around for things about the average size of a person and see a couple freshly planted trees and an interesting rock formation.
> Try practicing switching our size with both of those trees at once.> You start channeling the Mallet's residual energy into inverting the size of the trees but oddly weak point does not appear. It feels like something's there but it's less like a weak point and more like a wrinkle in reality, a subconscious imperfection. It's like that feeling you get when you try to describe a dream and know it happened but can't describe it...
> Does that wrinkle "feel" like anything? Can we get any sense of any properties it might have?> After trying to sense it's properties you get the feeling it must hint towards some kind of weak point but you lack the knowledge or ability to interpret it. Like an exposed thread which when followed leads to an end from which it can be unraveled.
> Can we try following it to its end?> You try and channel your energy onto the thread much like a weak point to see where it will lead, however it's vastly out of focus. If you were to compare the inversion to shattering a sheet of glass this thing feels like it's on another layer?
> Try inverting our size while focused on this thread, then. Let's see what happens!> No weak points appear!
> Are we still channeling the mallet energy?> Yes but you don't think it'll be able to provide energy much longer
> Can we use the mallet to increase our own energy supply?> Certainly, but it'll revert just like Shinmyumaru's size if it runs out of energy (You're kind of doing that right now)
> Stop trying the inversion.> You stop the inversion, however you learned that whatever that thread lead to must have been impossible or impractical to invert?
> "Grah...it's not working..."> Shinmyoumaru tilts her head "Huh what's not working?"
> "I'm trying to switch my current size with multiple other things at once. I need to look further into this...I might have an idea. Sorry in advance for what I'm about to do."> Her eyes widen in surprise "Huh?"
> Switch our size and Shinmyoumaru's size back so they are how they normally are.> You channel the mallet's energy to invert your size with Shinmyoumaru and quickly find the weakpoint. Immediately upon shattering it you become your normal size again and Shinmyoumaru reverts to her inchling size while your locations also switch, with her sitting on your shoulder and you standing where she was.
> Oho, interesting...good to know we have continued resources, at least.> She hesitates a little but agrees "O-Okay I trust you"
> "All right. Stay close to me, and don't worry. This won't take very long."
> Place Shinmyoumaru on the ground next to us.> You place Shinmyoumaru on the ground and try the inversion again this time a little slower so you're more observant during the process. You channel energy as usual and slow down once the weak point appears so that you can 'observe' what's happening. With the cracks progressing slower you're able notice what feels like an 'echo' after each crack, as if there's a second 'pane of glass' cracking in sync but out of focus somehow?
> Then prepare the size inversion once again, so that we and she switch sizes. Before we actually perform it, though, see if we can determine what aspect of it previously caused us to also switch locations.
> Are we able to locate the part that corresponds to a location switch? Or is it all too abstract for that?> You continue focusing on the 'second pane' and manage to clarify it a little. It actually feels like two parts breaking in sync, thus giving the initial impression of one! You wonder what these additional parts actually define... Are these interlocked weakpoints what makes inverting someone's size so difficult as to need the mallet's assistance?
> Try breaking just one of them. If we can, pick the one corresponding to the first plane.> You try to break one of them but the primary one ends up shattering instead. You ponder if you should have abandoned that inversion and started over with location as the primary objective?
> Grunt in irritation.> You quickly undo that inversion, swapping sizes and locations with Shinmyoumaru once again.
> Undo that inversion. Then try starting over with location as the primary objective instead, as we considered. See what our other options are in that process.
> Could it be mallet energy use, perhaps?> You consider that as a possibility but doubt it, your intuition is telling you it's also related with your size and position somehow since it was breaking in sync with them. You ponder what else might have changed when you swapped sizes with little Shinmyoumaru.
> Undo that inversion.> You undo the inversion once more to focus on the third part. Shinmyoumaru is getting visibly disoriented at this point
> Then prepare the size inversion with Shinmyoumaru again, but focus on the third variable. Could it be that are we are swapping our possessions?
> Would it be possible to shatter just that third variable, leaving the other two alone, and then shatter just the size inversion variable?> Judging from what you've seen so far no, they're interlocked meaning breaking one breaks all three. Additionally while you're able to sense the other weakpoints you've only been able to break the one you started focusing on from the beginning.
> Based on how they are interlocked, do we think we could separate them?> You aren't aware of a method to do so. Maybe it's something worth asking about or researching?
> "Huh? Uh, sure, yeah, just gimme a moment."> "O-okay"
> So we are not presently aware of any way to separate the location switch effect from the size switch effect?> No but it's something worth investigating or asking about
> When we most recently became small and ended up noticing the shrine festivities getting further underway, were we looking in a different direction when we were big just before that switch?> Yes, Shinmyoumaru was looking at you (and by extension behind you).
> Try setting up the size inversion between Shinmyoumaru and ourselves one last time, but this time, while preparing it, check to see if the third variable might be orientation.> You prepare the inversion once more, this time focusing on orientation and a weakpoint appears! Furthermore it exhibits the same oddly symmetrical breaking pattern, confirming it's identity as the previously unknown third variable.
> And there are no other variables? There is just size, location, and orientation?> None that you can perceive...
> Now that we've identified orientation, does it now appear possible to separate one of these variables from the other two?> You haven't been able to separate them so far but now that you identified orientation as one of the variables an idea comes to mind...
> Are we perhaps capable of willing any one of those three variables, if not more than one, to stay locked in place while we shatter the weak point for the other(s)?> That's beyond your ability, but with one of the variables being orientation a different ability comes to mind...
> Detailed list of abilities> Trademark Inversion Technique: A gimmick found in many of your spell cards where everything turns up side down! It's effectiveness in combat can vary depending on the spatial perception of your opponent and the amount of landmarks your target can use to reorient themselves. An example of an ideal conditions would be cloudy night with no moon, whereas an ineffective scenario would be midday in the village.
> Try inverting (not just turning over) the orientation variable.> You decide to try using two of your abilities at once, normally this would require significant efffort but with the mallet's blessings anything's possible. As the orientation weakpoint comes into focus you decide to try and flip the imaginary glass pane itself and to your surprise you manage to shift the weakpoint around!
> Where is the weakpoint located now?> It's shifting upward but slowing down and becoming .. thinner?
> Give it a moment to see if it disappears entirely.> You wait a moment and it does indeed become so thin it ends up disappearing... before slowly reappearing while starting to accelerate downwards
> Let go of the size inversion effort entirely without performing it, just to reset things.> You stop focusing on the orientation.
> Set up the size inversion between Shinmyoumaru and ourselves once again. Once it is set up, invert the orientation AND position variables.> You decide to set up a size inversion this time and bring it in to focus, you've gotten quite quick at finding it after all these attempts. With the other two variables identified you try and flip them. This causes the orientation part to shift upwards and momentarily disappear like before but the position part doesn't seem to be affected...
> If the above is successful, when the weak point disappears, try finishing off/applying/whatevering the size inversion on its own.> Waiting on this part since there's new information available
> Let go of the size inversion, then set it up again.> No luck, your flip side ability must only be able to affect the orientation part?
> This time, try flipping the location variable first.
> Hmm...
> Try flipping orientation, which we've established we can do.
> Then try inverting the size and position variables from connected to disconnected.
> "Wah!"> Shinmyoumaru jumps in surprise and picks you up in her hand
> Settle gently down to the ground, feet down.
> Can we do out fancier tricks if we have the mallet? Or does it have to be in kobito possession?> Only the inchling princess can grant miracles with the mallet, but you still like holding it regardless. You're able to use the Replica Miracle Mallet however in spells or as a magically enhanced blunt force weapon.
> Would we be able to do what we've been trying with the Replica Mallet?> Not to the extent you've been experimenting with so far. You can probably perform one inversion if there's not too much resistance but don't know if you'll have enough to undo it or if it'll recharge the replica.
> "Ergh. Yeah, I'm okay. How about you?"> "That last switch felt oddly more disorienting than usual, be careful Seija!"
> "Sorry."> You find a nearby tree that's roughly Shinyoumaru's size to try to swap it's properties and the same thread as last time appears that prevented you from continuing.
> Look around for a reasonably-sized rock or bush or tree, something inanimate that is roughly Shinmyoumaru's current size.
> if we find such a thing, set up a size inversion with it, and, during the setup, flip the orientation variable. Then examine the two remaining variables.
> Oho...> You hover and quickly undo the inversion to return to Shinmyoumaru's hand.
> Catch ourselves before we faceplant into the ground.
> Then undo that inversion so we go back to Shinmyoumaru's hand.
> Then try targeting two different trees at once and inverting our tiny size with both of theirs at the same time, flipping the orientation variable as needed.> Now you try the same thing with two similarly sized trees but the mallet isn't able to provide you with enough energy.
> Try it using both the regular mallet and the replica mallet.> You pull out the replica mallet and channel it's energy
> Crud...> You return the trees to their original positions/sizes and become small once more in Shinmyoumaru's palm.
> Undo the inversions until we are back to being tiny in Shinmyoumaru's hand.
> How are the two mallets doing for energy at this point?> The real miracle mallet seems to have regained enough energy to perform one inversion
> "Bah. I'll figure that out more later."> "Great, I was getting real disoriented there for a moment!"
> Look up at Shinmyoumaru's face.> She takes the bowl she's wearing on her head off and pulls a lid out of her robes
> "You should probably get over to the party, huh? You got anywhere on your person you can hide me? I'd rather people not know I can do this."
> Is the lid currently large enough for us to get into?> The bowl is large enough for you to get into comfortably even if you slide the lid over to hide.
> If so, and we got into it, would Shinmyoumaru be able to put it back where she got it?> She'd have to carry it instead of wearing it as a hat
> Could we fit inside the lid, though?> The lid itself is mostly flat, Shinmyoumaru has used it as a shield in the past. You doubt you could use it to hide unless it was like on a table and you hid under it?
> Look to the lid.> A little confused she puts her 'hat' back on
> "That might work. You should put your hat back on, though, so no one gets suspicious."
> Climb into/onto the underside of the lid and try flattening our body against it.> You climb under the lid and lie down. You reckon someone would have to look from the sides or below to spot you.
> "Okay, you can put the lid back now. I'll keep myself pressed up against it."> She looks at you for a moment "You sure about this?" then puts the lid back in her robes near her waist.
> Where are we now?> You're hiding in Shinmyoumaru's robes around her waist behind the bowl's lid.
> "Yeah, that works. Thanks for the assist."> You move around and reposition yourself behind the robe so that if the lid were to be removed you'd still be somewhat hidden.
> Scoot around inside Shinmyoumaru's robes a bit, enough that we get fully behind her robes, pressed directly up against her body, but still 'behind' the lid. (If we need to scamper out from 'behind' the lid to get around the inner fold of her robe to do this, that's fine.)
> How much of Shinmyoumaru can we see from here?> Not much
> Pat Shinmyoumaru's body a couple of times, then try to hold our position so as to avoid tickling her too much more. If we need to shift for comfort, though, then it needs to happen~> "A-ah that tickles!" She laughs when you try patting her.
> Keep an ear out for whatever goes on next, since we presumably can't see anything where we are.> If you look out top of the lid you can see vague outlines but yes you'll primarily be relying on sound to tell what's going on
> Quick, dash our way over to where the crowd has gathered!> You quickly walk over to the front yard where you see several of Gensokyo's most prominent figures watching a fierce danmaku match in the sky above! Things sure have started out exciting!
> What does the green-haired lady look like?> It's a little hard to see through all the bullets but she appears to be wearing a red dress and is also holding a pink umbrella.
> Shuffle our way over to Reimu. Hopefully she'll let us know about what we missed if we're nice to her...> You make your way over to the shrine maiden who immediately notices you
> "Er, sorry. Lots of huge strange people is......"> Reimu nods understandingly
> Shake our head.
> "Anyway, what did I miss? Who's winning up there?"> "The flower Youkai's spell cards are clearly more elegant but she's getting tired whereas the Celestial shows no signs of exhaustion and combined with the fact she's so stubborn she'll never give up it's hard to say who's winning..."
> Nod head vigorously.> "Well everyone arrived shortly after you left"
> "Did I miss anything else?"
> Scurry into the shrine after Reimu.> You stop her right as she was about to slide the door shut.
> "Do you want help with that? I can help you with that!"
> "Oh. Um, okay..."> You tap the lid and feel a pinch immediately after. At least that doesn't tickle!
> Turn back to the party.
> Place a hand over where the lid is in our robes and lightly tap it once while looking over who is here.
> Have we ever used the mallet to change our body in any way? If so, how long did it last?> Other than changing your size no
> How loose or form-fitting is our robe?> It's a little loose
> Is it still the case that nobody is paying attention to us?> Sanae and Rinnosuke appear to have noticed you as they aren't paying as close attention to the match above and are instead having a conversation.
> How long did changing our size last?> It depended on the mallet's energy and if you were also using it for other things. With Seija having done all that experimentation it's most likely drained now.
> Did the pinch from Seija hurt at all?> Not really, it was just surprising
> Is there a way to get permanent effects out of the mallet?> Not that you know of, the mallet functions on some kind of balance system where it extracts it's price once it runs out of energy by taking away what it granted. You learned this the hard way when the mallet ran out of energy when you most needed it in your fight with the shrine maiden, which you blame the downfall of your revolution.
> Make our way around the crowd closer to the group on the other side, to see who is in that group.> You walk around the crowd to take a look at who's on the other side and recognize Marisa, Sakuya, Remilia, Patchouli, the teacher from the village and someone who looks like a pharmacist next to a short lady in pink robes.
> Is that it for the other half of the crowd, or are there any others?> That's everyone you can see
> Is there anyone we know that isn't presently here?> Well you know lots of people who aren't here, though as for people you'd expect to see here but aren't there's Yukari's helpers Ran and Chen
> Watch the fight for a while.> You decide to relax and watch the fight for a while
> Glance over to see if Sanae and Rinnosuke are still chatting.> They're still chatting Sanae looks pretty excited after being shown something in Rinnosuke's palm.
> Inch> You discreetly find a spot nearby to sit and grab a spring roll and a glass of sake while listening to their conversation.lingour way back closer to them, to see if we can hear what they're talking about.
(> How much of the activities can Seija hear?)> You believe she can hear about as much as you can, maybe slightly less.
> How did the spring rolls come out?> Very tasty! You don't think you've ever had better in fact!
> Get closer to the conversationalists.> You use a stray bullet as an excuse to move over to another table and listen more easily.
> Have we been to the outside world?> ... You oddly can't remember?
> Keep watching the fight.> The celestial is now standing on a floating pillar twirling her sword while a magic circle forms and the sword starts charging up energy. The flower youkai takes this chance to ... duplicate herself and take aim with her umbrella(s)!
> Do we know how to get to the outside world? If so, are we capable of it, assuming the help of Seija and the mallet?> You have a vague understanding that there's another world outside the boundaries of Gensokyo. According to Seija the barrier itself is unlike any other, there's no invisible wall or force field blocking your progress. Instead you can travel indefinitely in some direction but upon turning back you'll realize you haven't actually gone far. It doesn't help that there's a haze or fog that gets denser as you travel further out.
> That conversation still sounds way over our head...probably best to just keep watching and snacking. Maybe we can ask Sanae about it later, though.> Indeed, Rinnosuke is now on a monologue about "electron guns" and "deflector coils" producing sharp images? How can an image even be sharp, this is nonsense!
> Weird...it might be nice to get to the outside world if we can, even just once, if only to see what it's like...> Perhaps you can find a way to slip through if you learn about how the barrier works in detail. The shrine maiden is an expert on barriers but you doubt she'd care to help you, after all it's her duty to protect it and bypassing it might harm it. Perhaps there's others who know about it, you can also just experiment with it in hopes of uncovering it's secrets.
> Keep watching the fight.
> Keep watching. Maybe this'll be the end?
> Is it the doll from earlier in the day?> Yes it appears so.
> Is Alice paying attention to it now?> Yes, very attentively.
> Look to Alice.> A little flustered she responds "What? No! It looks nothing like mine! I only just noticed it!"
> "Hey, Alice, is that one of yours?"
> Can we use the mallet to identify things?> Not in any way you know of
> Does mallet use have any verbal or somatic requirements?> You have to tap it on the object which you want to affect, like for example tapping bullets to make them huge.
> Well, shoot.> You feel two slight pinches in response
> Lightly tap our robe where the lid is twice, then listen to the doll continue.
> Scowl.> You'll show it what revolution means!
> Mutter under our breath: "Little nuisance incidents...?!"
> Let's see where this goes.
> Wait, what's behind it? The shrine building?> Yeah, it's sitting on the donation box
> Make for the inside of the shrine while still listening to what the doll has to say.> You were about to walk into the inside of the shrine when Reimu and Suika slide the door open wondering what's causing all the ruckus.
> Let Reimu and Suika go by, then head inside after they get out of the doorway.> Reimu and Suika leave to go look at what's on the table as you head inside
> Make our way to whatever room is on the inside that shares a wall with the wall behind the donation box.> You're already in the main room and the donation box is just outside the doors behind you
> So the doors to the inside are directly behind the donation box?
> Can we sense anyone else inside here? Are we even capable of doing that?> You don't feel anything odd in here but no you don't have any kind of special senses.
> Could we give ourselves an ability to sense entities with the mallet?> You could certainly try, though it would drain the mallet's energy by some amount
> Reopen the doors, so we can see the doll.> You slide open the doors enough to see the doll watching over the crowd as they look through various cards on the table.
> Then tap ourselves with the mallet and make a wish to be able to sense entities.
> Can we sense the entities that we can see? The doll, the crowd, etc.> No... Maybe you should have been more specific what type of entities you wish to sense, like living, dead, supernatural etc?
> Frown deeper.> You head on over to the table with the cards on it and see everyone furiously swapping cards around. There's a pile of them on the table and they look like blank spell cards.
> Stow the mallet.
> Head around the doll to the table with the cards on it.
> Furrow our brow.> You find a spot at the table between Yukari and Alice and start looking at the cards on the table, which are all blank but people seem to be looking through them regardless.
> If there is room to squeeze in and get a closer look, do so.
> Take one no one is looking through and examine it.> You pick one up to examine both sides of it, it's just a blank spell card
> "Um...uh..."> Yukari takes initiative and places her card in your hand while taking yours ... but you soon realize it's just another blank card, as empty as previous.
> Look back and forth between them frantically. This is suddenly overwhelming!
> "I-I'm not used to this many people...!"> "M-Me n-neither!" Alice agrees
> Look at the card that is now in our hands.> It looks no different from the previous card, blank and empty on both sides
> "And these all look the same to me! Is everyone else here is in on a joke at my expense or something?"> Yukari whispers "Judging by the looks of some here it sure feels real..."
> "Huh? Uh, sure?"> You swap with Alice who goes cold almost immediately upon looking at her new card, quickly taking a few steps back.
> Hand our card to Alice.
> "Huh?"> You take a step back and the brightness intensifies to the point you can make out some writing on the card.
> Take a step back and examine the card further.
> Shinmyoumaru Sukuna - Inchling Princess
> Species: Inchling
> Height: Extremely Short
> Weight: Very Light
> Physical
>> Strength: About the average strength of humans, which is impressive for an inchling
>> Vitality: Considering her small size, subatomic hitbox and barrier sphere she can summon around her she's quite resilient!
>> Dexterity: Proficient with various weapons including the Shining Needle Sword
> Spiritual
>> Perception: Easily notices details but doesn't think much of them
>> Charisma: Being a princess she's pretty charismatic and can influence others to join her cause
>> Loyalty: Very trusting, strongly believes in her friends
>> Ego: For an inchling her unyielding determination to help the weak is very impressive
> "Whoa, who wrote this?!?"> Yukari looks at you a little confused "So I can assume you've found your needle in this here haystack?" before returning to swapping cards with the rest of the group
> ...Seija's probably going to have a card too! But we can't let anyone know where she is...> You put the card away in your robe and return to the table to pick up another card ... which is disappointingly blank.
> Look around the table for any other blank cards that don't seem to be attracting any attention.
> "Er, here."> You switch cards and see ... nothing
> Hand the card over.
> Take a second step back, and try to read it.> This card brightens even slower than yours but eventually becomes readable under the right angle, it reads:
> Seija Kijin - ???
> Species: ???
> Height: Fairly Short
> Weight: Fairly Light
> Physical
>> Strength: ???
>> Vitality: ???
>> Dexterity: ???
> Spiritual
>> Perception: ???
>> Charisma: ???
>> Loyalty: ???
>> Ego: ???
>> Extra: ???
> "Huh."> You slide both cards into your robes behind the lid so Seija can hopefully look at them, this earns you a slight pinch
> Take our card and Seija's card and stick them both in our robes, sliding them behind the lid and behind the inner robe fold so Seija can see them (and probably get knocked into by them).
> Then resume looking through the other blank cards.> You resume looking through the rest of the cards and one by one everyone's expression changes from one of confusion to one of surprise, fear or anger as they start staring daggers at the doll which produced the cards in the first place
> Huh...ours wasn't so bad. Wonder what everyone else got?> They're all blank, you pick up a few of them but nothing changes ... perhaps the doll didn't know who was coming so it made extras?
> Look at the other cards on the table.
> Slide the remaining cards into our robes.> The doll almost telepathically notices you trying to pilfer the remaining cards and immediately starts staring daggers at you
> Offer them toward the doll.> "Oh those? Just leave them on the table in case there's some late arrivals to our little game. Some of you live under a rock and might've missed the papers. You can freely inspect them but please don't take ones that aren't yours, it's rude, impolite and unfair to those who've yet to find out!"
> "Oh, did you want these back?"
> Look more confused.> "I'll answer your question with another question, what is fairness?"
> "You're asking us to incite an incident, but are worried about being rude, impolite, or unfair?"
> Put the extra papers down on the table.> You return the cards to the table
> "Uh, sure, whatever."> Speaking of vampires Remilia approaches the doll and asks "High Stakes Incident Showdown? Meh, more like another one of those 'fake' competitions the Tengu newspapers love so much... They always say there's prizes but I've never met anyone who's won!"
> Wait to see if anyone else has anything else to say. We've shoved ourselves into the spotlight too much already...> With no further questions posed the doll backflips onto the roof of the shrine
> Do we know an Iris??> Nope, never heard of the name before either. But then again dolls are frequently given strange names.
> "...Well, that sure happened..."
> Does Reimu have a card?> You see her holding one in her hand. She and Suika must've picked them up while you were inside experimenting with entity sensing.
> "Maybe, but you got a card too, didn't you?"> She looks at the card and happily tells you "Indeed, but there's nothing in here people don't already know about the Hakurei Shrine Maiden!"
> Pull out our card and look at it again.> You pull out your card to look at it. It's initially dark but quickly regains it's shimmer and shows the same things as last time.
> Frown slightly in puzzlement.> You wait warmly while everyone quietly discusses the possible involvement of the Tengu in this unprecedented affair!
> Look up and see what others have to say.
> How does the moon look?> Beautiful
> Are people leaving, or is the party still going?> The only one who appears to be leaving is the village's schoolteacher, she mentioned something about not wanting to get too carried away from the booze and be late to work tomorrow.
> Run after her before she leaves.> As she starts walking down the shrine's steps you decide to run after her... but by the time you arrive she's gone!
> Bah...> Alice, Yukari, Yuyuko and Youmu are approaching the steps with the half ghost carrying a Mahjong set.
> Is there anyone in our immediate vicinity?
> Oop! Scoot out of their way.> You move over for them sit down on the steps where Youmu starts setting up a Mahjong game. After a moment of doubt where a tile was believed to be missing they find it and Yuyuko begins.
> Oh...if they're gonna play a game, we shouldn't bother them.> You decide not to bother them, but take a moment to admire Yuyuko's talent in mahjong! She's already through half her stack while everyone else is still figuring out the top layer. Impressive!
> Look back at the main shrine grounds. What's everyone else doing?> Sanae and Rinnosuke are likely still discussion things beyond your comprehension.
> What is our current relationship with the Scarlet Devil Mansion, given how attempt to upturn the world order went?> They weren't too keen on the idea of the weak ruling over the strong but as Remilia jokingly mentioned they too had 'plans' for Gensokyo... They're actually pretty friendly and like having tea with you when they visit the shrine. Reimu has told you that Remilia sees a lot of herself in you, especially with you being a princess and all.
> As long as they don't hold any grudges...> You doubt they hold a grudge, though you can't be absolutely sure since you don't read minds
> Head in their direction.> As you approach you overhear some of their conversation
> "Oh! Uh, um, yes, hello."> Remilia smiles back
> Give a quick, mildly flustered bow in return.
> "I-I'm sorry, I just wandered over here to see what you all were doing. If I'm interrupting something, I can go away..."> The vampire looks like she's about to say something when Sakuya speaks "We were just speculating about the doll we met. If you have any theories or insights you're welcome to share them with us."
> "Um, I can't really think of anything immediately, beyond thinking it was really weird how angry she got when I picked up the blank cards no one else was taking..."> Surprised by your comment Patchouli says "Really? It must really want to give everyone a fair chance at winning this 'competition'..."
> Adopt a thinking expression.> The librarian contemplates your idea for a moment and responds "An excellent question, little princess!"
> "...Maybe it'll come back if someone makes like they're trying to take the cards?"
> "Mmm...why not try to take one, maybe?"
> "Oh, that didn't happen before, I don't think..."> "Five flames? Is that a hinting who's card this is?" the maid remarks
> "Maybe? Or maybe it's some sort of warning...?"> Remilia takes a look around and remarks "A warning to what? I don't see that doll anywhere?"
> Shrug.> Remilia rolls her eyes in doubt
> "Iuno. I just know that that looks like it's counting down something, and that it didn't do that earlier."
> "Oh. Hey, how come it didn't do that before?"> The doll laughs "Well it it would have been unfair if you weren't warned not to take them!?"
> "It was someone else this time, though..."> The doll tilts it's head while looking at you "Wasn't it your idea to take one though? Or did you forget already!"
> Has Patchouli found whatever she's looking for yet?> She picked up the card and is discreetly inspecting the paper
> "I meant why didn't the fire thingy happen the first time, if it was supposed to be a warning?"> The doll shakes it's head "I already warned you last time you tried to take one! Unless you think a spontaneously combusting card also counts as one!?"
> "Uh...that all sounds a bit above my pay grade, so to speak..."> Patchouli explains "You need not worry for the matter is simple; Marisa has been quote on quote borrowing from my library for years and my intention was to teach her a little lesson about returning things"
> "I, uh, see...I hope you find something useful to know."> Mima casts what a vaguely familiar spell the shrine maiden uses and soon after you notice a very slight shimmer surround the table in the shape of a sphere.
> Let's sneak away from this conversation and head back inside the shrine.
> "Oh, hey. Everything okay?"> Somewhat startled she turns around "Oh didn't hear you come in"
> Nod.
> "That's me, yes. Not normally this big, though, ehehe~"
> Is Mokou abnormally tall for a human, that we can tell?> She's not particularly tall, atleast not when compared to everyone else present.
> Given her current circumstances, could Seija switch our height with Mokou's height, that we know?> You know very little of Seija's abilities, you believe she probably could but it'd be hardly noticeable
> "Oh, well, y'know, my mallet can do some pretty amazing things when it wants to."> "Oh you mean that hammer thing on your waist? What else can it do? Do you think you could make someone big smaller?"
> Who would we need to tap with the mallet for Seija to flip our heights?> You'd need to tap Seija
> "I assume so. Do you wanna try it? We could swap heights, which would make you at least a bit smaller."> She hesitates at first but then nods in agreement
> "Okay, let's try it..."> You discreetly maneuver around the bowl lid and tap Seija with the mallet who responds with a pinch
> Hold one fold of our robe open just enough that we can reach into it with the mallet with our other hand (but without showing off anything inside), and gently tap where Seija is, wishing to swap heights with Mokou (and hoping Seija will do it for us).
> "Wah!"> You sway a few steps but manage to avoid falling
> Catch our balance!
> What is the difference between our two heights?> Barely noticeable just like before only swapped
> "Uh...not sure. The mallet must have done more than I expected..."> "Hmph. Guess you can't control your powers either..."
> "Yeah, the mallet just...does wacky things sometimes."> "Hey no worries, one time I was helping the village clear some farmland and almost torched that green haired lady's flower garden..."
> "Oh, yikes, that sounds like it could have been really bad!"> "Yeah... I would've died a thousand deaths for every flower damaged..."
> "Anyway, thanks for agreeing to do this. It's nice to be taller than people for a change, ehehe~"> "Hey glad to be of help"
> Did we know about this competition before Seija showed up?> Nope, you were just expecting Seija to accompany you at the Full Moon Festival
> "That thing? Uh, honestly, I didn't even know about it until people started talking about it. I was just here for the festival..."> She's surprised "Huh? I guess you don't read the Tengu papers then"
> Frown a bit.> She comments "Indeed it said you could have any desire fulfilled, so maybe there's something more important to you than being taller?"
> "I would have to think about what I'd want that badly. Being bigger than everyone all the time would be really nice, but maybe that's not aiming nearly high enough...What are you shooting for?"
> How curvaceous are we, again? (Be willing to look down at ourselves to double-check, though don't spend a ton of time ogling ourselves all over.)> There's certainly room for improvement
> Look back up.> Mokou notices and chuckles
> "Revenge? That's already a better idea than anything I can think of off the top of my head. Uh, assuming you're not out to get me or any of my friends or something."> Surprised by your response once more "No no why would I have anything against you? There's one in Gensokyo I've had an eternal feud with..."
> "Oh, her? I don't think I'd met her before today. What did she do?"> With a piercing glare "Doomed me to a fate far worse than the hell of blazing fires"
> "Oh. Uh, wow. ...That's rough, buddy."> "Seeing you're not opposed to the concept of revenge are you willing to help me?" she questions
> "Aren't you trying to win so you can get that revenge, though? If I win, wouldn't that mean you don't win?"> "Well you see..." she pauses
> "Huh...well...I mean, if you don't mind not winning...I'll take whatever help I can get."> "Excellent, it's good to have allies at times like this" she asserts
> Nod vigorously.> "I doubt it, that pharmacist has eyes sharper than a Tengu!"
> "Makes sense. I wonder if someone very small could spy on them without being noticed..."
> "Hrm. Do you know how to turn invisible, maybe?"> "Why are you asking me? You're the one with the mallet!" she laughs
> Could WE turn invisible, maybe? Could the mallet do that?> You don't see why not, though it'd be terrible if it suddenly ran out of energy exposing you.
> Would being invisible continually drain magic from the mallet?> Yes much like making someone big using the mallet. Once it runs out it extracts it's price and undoes the effect while it recharges, depending on how drained it was there might be an opposite effect like in this case a shimmer or glow.
> "Ehe, I guess that's true~"> Mokou has an idea "What if you only went invisible when out in the open and conserved it's energy by hiding behind or under things?"
> "Mmm...I think I should be able to make a person invisible. And small, too, if that would help. But being invisible would be a constant drain on the mallet...and I don't know when it would run out and make the person visible again."
> "Oh, uh, yeah, sure."> Fortunately you put your card in a different fold and thus avoided mixing it up with Seija's
> Pull our card out (but NOT Seija's) and offer it.
> Fujiwara no Mokou - Figure of the Person of Hourai
> Species: Immortal
> Height: Fairly Short
> Weight: Average
> Physical
>> Strength: The strength of a physically fit human.
>> Vitality: Untouchable, she'll just revive afterwards
>> Dexterity: Competent with hand to hand combat, clumsy with weapons
> Spiritual
>> Perception: Excellent Spatial perception, afterall she's the guide for the Bamboo Forest of the Lost
>> Charisma: She doesn't try to be especially charismatic
>> Loyalty: Trusts friends and humans, has become suspicious of Youkai after she heard about the Trial of Guts.
>> Ego: Very determined, does not like giving up
>> Extra: Runs a Fried Chicken stand near the Bamboo Forest entrance path
> "Wow, yours is kinda judgmental, huh? I mean, mine is too, but I feel like mine had a politer tone toward me than yours has toward you."> She comments "Indeed! After that moon princess is eliminated that cursed doll is next..."
> Look back to Mokou.> "Oh don't worry about it!" she dismisses
> "Sorry yours is like that..."
> Follow Mokou!> You follow Mokou outside, being careful to slide the door shut behind you
> "What's that?"> Mokou laughs "Oh this? Something you can afford to do as an immortal..."
> "Yeah, no kidding. It's like whoever did it is doing it to cause an incident of ruining the party."> She nods in response while enjoying her 'cigar'
> "Maybe she's taking orders from someone else? I can't think of anyone that knowledgeable that wasn't here tonight, though."> Intrigued she responds "Wait so you think someone here is actually responsible? Hadn't thought of that!"
> "I mean...maybe the doll is acting on her own, and got all this knowledge by herself? But that just seems so unlikely."> "I have a hard time believing that, hasn't that Alice girl been trying her whole life to create sentient dolls but failed to do so?"
> "Yeah. It definitely feels like someone else is responsible."> She whispers "Well I like to think of myself as someone who doesn't jump to conclusions, that's what shrine maidens do..."
> "I can't judge about jumping to conclusions, I did kinda ask Alice outright if the doll was one of hers."> Mokou comments "It's not just that she's a puppeteer, something else too tripped my suspicions earlier..."
> "Can we even read each other's cards without each other's permission? That might muddy things up a bit..."> Intrigued she responds "Well my theory is the owner needs to hold the card for it to glow but why not experiment a little?"
> "That seems like a reasonable theory..."> She nods as she looks at the glowing card on her lap and ponders what to experiment with next
> Pull our card back out, and set it on the ground between us. Go back and forth between touching it and not touching it.> You cycle between touching and not touching the card and observe that it glows brighter the longer it's held and dimmer the longer it's left alone.
> "Not sure. Maybe some sort of magical inertia? Is that even possible?"> Mokou ponders for a moment then comments "I don't see why not, though that still doesn't explain why sometimes take longner than others, maybe there's another hidden factor involved? What could've changed about the card since we first picked them up?"
> "Maybe the cards know we have them now?"> "I guess that's possible, but I have my doubts."
> "You thinking in terms of reading other people's cards? We might have another option in that regard..."> Intrigued she asks "Huh? What might you have in mind then?"
> "Well...before I propose it, let me test something first, okay?"> She nods
> Pick up Mokou's card and push it up against her hand.> You pick up the card and push it towards her hand, after which the familiar writing starts glowing
> "Ah, sorry, Card System Person, I'm not trying to take the card."> Mokou looks confused
> Let go of the card.> "Oh! You could go back to your inchling form to try and read it! That sounds pretty risky though..."
> "That's good, though."
> Breathe and lower our voice.
> "Okay, Miss Mokou. What I'm thinking is that someone gets really small and sneaks into the clothes of someone we want to spy on. The small person rides along to the target's home nd hides until the target goes to sleep. Then the small person can sneak out and push the card into the sleeping target, and read it when it lights up."
> "Well...I could. But the crowd has seen me this size tonight. If I suddenly disappear, they might get suspicious, and keep an eye out for me at my usual size. I think it would be easier if it was someone else, someone that the crowd wouldn't think to keep an eye out for being tiny. Especially if I'm still this size."> Confused she asks "But who else can become that tiny?"
> "Anyone, if they're willing. ...Including you."> Surprised she asks "Wait, I had no idea you can make me tiny!?"
> "Oh yeah, it should be totally doable. You could even hide in the bottom of my robe until I distract the target long enough for you to sneak out from mine and into their clothing."> Excitedly she responds "Alright then it's settled!" and tosses her cigar into the pond after taking one last puff
> "I can take care of that for you. I will warn you, though, you might suddenly find yourself someplace strange. If that happens, don't worry, I'll know where you are, and I'll retrieve you right away. Okay?"> With a little hesitation she responds "Uhh o-okay let's try it"
> Nod.> You feel a slight pinch immeidately after saying that
> "Okay. To make Miss Mokou inchling-sized..."
> Grab the mallet again, reach into our robe with it, and tap Seija, hoping she gets the hint to flip her size with Mokou's size.> You reach into your robes and tap Seija with the mallet who responds with another pinch, before appearing infront of you in Mokou's spot with a slightly annoyed expression.
> Slightly annoyed is probably Seija's default expression anyway. We'll deal with her in a moment.> That is indeed so
> Look down at our robe, still continuing to speak with a quiet voice.> Mokou responds "What is this!? Am I in your pocket?"
> "Miss Mokou? Are you there?"
> Reach into our robe and try to lightly pat Mokou once.> You manage to find Mokou behind the bowl lid and pat her lightly
> Then feel for where we left Seija's card and pull it out, handing it over to Seija.> Next to the bowl lid you find Seija's card and notice it has 5 glowing flames on it. Upon handing it over to Seija though the flames disappear and the normal writing reappears.
> "Nah, just inside my robes."> "O-Oh I see"
> Look to Seija and silently nod our head toward the door.> Seija nods understandingly and heads inside the shrine before quietly sliding the door shut behind her
> We got nothin' to hide. Head toward the sounds of those footsteps.> Before you reach the door Reimu slides it open and enters before closing it once more.
> Wave a hand dismissively, but also take on a casual tone.> Still somewhat annoyed she responds "Fine. You better not be pillaging my supplies in here alone, I'll have you both evicted from the shrine if I find anything missing!"
> "She's fine. Didn't you see her wandering around earlier? Just as tall as everyone else?"
> Join her in the kitchen.> In response Reimu pulls a giant persuasion needle out from her sleeve to pat you down but comes up empty handed!
> "Around. Thinking about the situation where no one could interrupt me. And if you're worried about me stealing stuff, you can just pat me down or something. Or check yourself out for contraband or whatever after we switch with each other."
> "So, uh...am I staying here, or what?"> "Y-you can come out now, I-I was just making sure no-one saw you transform, that's all."
> How does she look, from our perspective?> Like a giant! No wonder Shinmyoumaru hates being small!
> "Thanks. So you're gonna chat up Alice, and I'm going to slip into her dress from under your robe, then?"> She smiles "That's the plan!"
> Whoa, whoa, whoa! Chase after her and get up under and inside her robe before she gets too far away!> You chase after and manage to jump back into the one of the folds in her robe, this time finding a single spell card in that particular fold.
> Are we actually under Shinmyoumaru's robe, in that we we entered the inside of it from below the bottom? Or did we simply jump into a pocket or something similar?
> If we ended up in a pocket (or something similar), is there a way to maneuver ourselves through the robe to be inside it (so that we could see the flesh of her legs), or is our path to the inside totally blocked off by the fabric?
> How close are we to the bottom hem of her robe, then?> With Shinmyoumaru sitting down you're pretty close to the bottom
> Take a quick peek around to make sure no one is looking our way. (Hopefully we're under a table or something to make hiding easier!)> You're sitting the steps leading up to the Hakurei Shrine. While there's no table it's fairly dark and everyone's focused on on mahjong.
> If no one seems to be looking our way. Scramble out of the fold and zip our way under the bottom hem of her robe, so we're properly underneath-inside it.> You find a moment and slide out of the fold, climb down a few steps and hide at the bottom of Shinmyoumaru's robe
> Take a general look around, to get an idea of what we're going to be dealing with for a while.> Taking look around you see the netherworld princess to your left, who has finished solving her stack of mahjong tiles and to your right you see the Youkai known as Yukari who's about halfway through the last two layers in her stack. Across from Shinmyoumaru Alice is watching their game while occasionally drawing or taking notes in her notebook. You doubt anyone other than them would be able to spot you as you're all sitting a couple steps down from the hill's summit.
> Is there anywhere on the inside layer of the fabric of this robe where we look like we could more easily secure ourselves to it, if/when Shinmyoumaru starts walking again?> There is not
> How close is Alice at present?> If you were at your normal size you'd say a couple steps away
> Is there anything in the way of cover between our current hiding place and Alice?> Well you'd want to stay clear of the netherworld princess as she's somewhat translucent and slightly illuminates the area around her, but you could certainly use the youkai for cover. Another thing that comes to mind is the stairs themselves, if you climb a few steps down and crawl close to the inner corner of the step you doubt you'd be seen.
> Wait, so is Shinmyoumaru sitting at the mahjong table with the other three women?> There is no table, you're all sitting in the steps leading up to the shrine's red gate
> Take the approach of climbing a few steps down and crawling close to the inner corner of the step, then.> You climb down the hugging the inner corner of the step manage to make it across to Alice's side.
> Briefly check in again, to see (a) if we caught anyone's attention, and (b) where Alice's attention is directed now.> You stand up to quickly check your surroundings
> Scoot back up toward Alice, aiming for getting entirely underneath her dress. Make sure to not touch her if we can possibly avoid it.> With Alice sitting at an angle on the stairs you manage to slip under the dress by climbing a few steps near her feet
> Float up a bit so we're completely off the ground, and someone would have to actively be peeking up Alice's dress to see us.> You float up slightly off the ground
> Then look around and take stock of our surroundings, of our new fabric hideaway that will be our home for the next several hours.> Like Shinmyoumaru's dress there's no good places to hold so you'll have to hover the entire time increasing your chances or inadvertently bumping into Alice and getting found out...
> Could we grip the fabric of the inside of the dress at all, maybe?> She'd certainly notice something tugging her dress
> Alternatively, is Alice wearing anything else under here we could possibly hold onto without risking touching her, like some sort of ribbon?> You see nothing of such
> What if we gripped onto a part of the dress near the bottom hem, where her dress is at its loosest, and we're very liable to not touch her if we don't try to do so? Do we think she would notice even that?> Without being able to see where she's going you'd be unable to sync your flying speed and orientation as to not tug her dress
> Do we weigh enough to have our extra weight be noticeable if we just held on for the ride as she flew somewhere?
> Well, shoot.> You don't find any spare doll outfits in your hiding place. Speaking of puppets you remember occasionally seeing lesser dolls wander the perimeter of the shrine keeping a watchful eye.
> Look around our hiding place once again, this time searching for any spare doll outfiits Alice may have on her person.
> Staying otherwise hidden under Alice's dress (turning ourselves upside-down if need be), take a peek out from under the bottom hem to see if we can spot any dolls on patrol.> You take a look outside for any dolls
> Ergh, two? We can't risk taking one out if there's another to alert her.> You wait and watch as the dolls fly up and stop near Alice for a second before continuing towards the shrine. You also take a quick look around for more dolls but can't spot any.
> Let them come without heading out to interfere. Keep looking around for more dolls in the meantime.
> Do we have space to float upward to stay hidden?> You try floating upward to see if you can hide
> Have we seen anything we probably shouldn't have seen while looking around in here?> Other than her thighs thankfully no. You doubt she's as physically fit as you are.
> Based on the position of Alice's legs and lower torso, is she likely looking down the steps, or in a different direction?> She's looking towards Shinmyoumaru or parallel to the individual steps
> If we wanted to look before we left, could we move to be able to see without bumping into her? Or is there not enough room?> You could move to see what Alice is looking at
> Is she looking in the direction this lone doll is coming from?> No, far from it; she's looking at the Mahjong game
> If we wanted to get a look at Alice's unmentionables before we left, could we move to be able to see without bumping into her? Or is there not enough room?> You'd have to push the dress up a bit which has a chance of attracting unwanted attention
> What if we tried to move between her legs and look straight ahead, rather than trying to see from the side? Or are her legs too close together?> She's sitting with her legs crossed, there's practically no space between
> Take a quick glance around. Do we have any options available to us to make it more likely we'd be able to get a look without drawing attention to ourselves?> You take another look around but don't see anything that'd help you achieve your goals
> The lone doll that's headed this way - how far away is it?> It's just about reaching the bottom of the stairs, where it's likely to look up and spot you
> Given Alice is sitting on the stairs, and is presumably looking at the table, would she be looking to her left or to her right?> They don't have a table so they're just using the steps. She's looking to her left
> Is that doll still searching the woods, or does it appear to be set on the stairs now?> It's moving towards the stairs but is still looking around while doing so
> Based on how close the doll is to the stairs, do we think we have enough time to attempt a quick look at Alice's unmentionables before skedaddling, or do we need to bolt now in order to not get caught?> It'd be a gamble, Alice might notice or the doll might see you fleeing the scene of the crime
> Bah, not worth the effort, then.> You're certain there will be more chances to take a peekWe can get an even better view later if this works out anyway.
> Exit our hiding place and slide down a stair, keeping close to the step so as to make it harder to see us. Then head to Alice's right, along the wall the stair forms.> You slide out of your hiding place and crouch near the inner corner of the step to stay out of view. Then you carefully crawl across to the wall of the stair behind Alice
> Is there a point horizontally where the stair stops and the ground begins?> Just over the the short wall at the end of the step, which also functions as a storm drain.
> Check in on that lone doll again.> The doll is heading up the stairs but has it's attention to the woods on the side
> How is the grass/foliage beyond the edge of the step off the to the side? Could we reasonably hide in it?> There's tall grass to the sides you could hide in
> If we simply went straight down the stairs toward the doll, would we have any cover to hide from it?
> Get into the grass, then, and begin our descent through the grass toward the doll.> You dive into the grass and quietly float towards the doll which is currently looking at the woods on the other side of the stairs
> How far 'down the steps' away from Alice are we?> Like 2-3 floors worth of stairs
> Is the doll within reach?> A quick jump from your position would put it within reach
> Jump out and try to grab it from behind and pull it back toward us into the grass!> Waiting for the perfect moment you jump out and grab the doll! Unaware of what's happening it fights back by kicking and punching as you pull it back into the grass. You wrestle in the grass and almost subdue it when it manages to elbow you in the guts, sending you rolling down the steps. Still disoriented from your fight the doll tries to flee towards the forest.
> Get up and chase after it!> You quickly get up and give chase! You follow the doll through the woods and up towards the Hakurei Shrine's warehouse where it turns the corner and you lose track of it around the back yard.
> Did it seem like the doll ever looked at us to see who attacked it?> No and the moment it got free it started running away
> Turn around that same corner. What can we see?> You turn the corner and spot the gate at the far end of the yard swinging as it it was just opened. Simultaneously you swear you also heard another door slide shut.
> Head to and through the gate!> You head through the gate and find ... a scattered mess of doll parts!? Screws and springs litter the area near the fence forming a trail leading to a pile of mechanical body parts.
> Look shocked and confused.> The doll floats over slowly and points at it's mouth before waving a "no" gesture
> Beckon the new doll over hurriedly.
> Take on a low volume.> It nods and gives you the thumbs up!
> "No idea what happened here. We should find what did this."
> Are there any clothes left over from the doll parts?> You look around for the doll's clothes. You manage to find a shoe, no two shoes on it's feet and nearby the lower half of it's dress still on the leg parts. Close by you manage to find a small spear still in it's mechanical hand's grip and a couple ribbons on it's intricately decorated head. You're still missing the top part of it's dress .. wait it's just behind you toward the gate. Strangely you notice there's no torso piece on it though?
> "No torso piece...?"> Somewhat confused the doll points at it's own chest
> Look around for footprints or other tracks.> You spot two pairs of footprints coming out from the direction of the shrine, making a circle or two on this side of the gate then heading back towards the shrine.
> "Stuffing in the footprints... someone must have torn it up in a hurry."> The doll nods
> Pick up some of the stuffing and offer it to the active doll.> It politely declines the stuffing
> "Here. Maybe you should pack yourself some. Don't want to just leave this stuff lying around."
> What does the active doll seem to be made of? Is it all fabric and stuffing, or is there any wood involved?> The head, hands and feet all appear to be made out of wood. You can't tell what it's torso is made of so that must be where the stuffing lies?
> Frown a bit and gesture at the ruined doll.> It picks up a screw and points at the countless other screws scattered around the door
> "C'mon. We don't want to just leave all this around. What if someone else sees it? If we pack it into you, it'll keep others from finding it, and you can bring it back to Alice later."
> "Sure, those too."> You try putting some screws in the doll's torso but find it's incredibly solid.
> Pick up a screw and try shoving it into the doll's torso, reaching around any clothes that might be in the way.
> "Oh. Uh, do you have any openings anywhere?"> It shakes it's head then points at it's chest before forming a circle with it's hands
> Do we have any idea what this might be referring to?> You don't speak doll but whatever it is it's pretty adamant about it...
> "...uh...do you...have some sort of hinged opening in your torso?"> It shakes it's head as if saying "no"
> "...Um, okay. How about you demonstrate on me what you're suggesting be done?"> It picks up several springs and collects them in a pile. It then points at the pile and it's chest before scattering it once more with a punch.
> Hold our arms out horizontally to our sides.
> "You...think this doll exploded?"> It shakes it's head in denial then points at itself
> "Ugh, I still don't get it. How about this. Do you think this doll was attacked..."> It responds with one finger and nods
> Hold up one finger.
> "...Or did this to itself?"
> Hold up two fingers.
> "Okay, good. Do you think it was ripped apart by hand..."> It thinks for a moment, then holds up one finger again!
> Hold up one finger.
> "...or magically destroyed..."
> Hold up two fingers.
> "...or some other method?"
> Hold up three fingers.
> "Or does it not matter?"
> Shrug our shoulders.
> Nod.> It floats over to the doll's clothing and parts to inspect it closely before raising one finger again
> "Okay. Do you think it was a humanoid..."
> Hold up one finger.
> "...or some sort of beast..."
> Hold up two fingers.
> "...or do you have no idea?"
> Hold up three fingers.
> Frown.> You don't recall seeing anyone head this way while you were smoking on the back porch.
> "Hrm, okay. Maybe it was someone here...?"
> Do we remember anyone else heading this way after the grand announcement was over?
> "Oh, and as for all this material...do you think it's not possible to fit it inside you?"> It holds up three fingers then points at the screws it scattered earlier
> Hold up one finger.
> "Or is it perfectly possible, and you just don't want to?"
> Hold up two fingers.
> "Or is there something else to it?"
> Hold up three fingers.
> "Do you have some screws in you as well, holding you together?"> It shakes it's head in mild annoyance
> "...Are you worried that you'll explode if too much gets put inside you?"> It nods repeatedly upon hearing you mention this
> "Oh. Well, I'm certainly not saying we should shove things into you willy-nilly and hope for the best. If we're careful about it, then I'm sure you'll be fine. Unless you'll, like, automatically explode no matter what or something."> It nods at the last statement
> "Wait, what? Really? That's ridiculous. Why?"> It picks up some stuffing and compacts it into a very tight sphere, then shows you how tightly packed it's own stuffing is.
> "...Can I at least look for myself?"> Hesitantly it agrees, showing you the tightly packed stuffing near it's shoulder
> Get up close and have a closer look at the general area. How does the shoulder construction look?> It's extremely well built, the craftsmanship is far beyond anything you've ever seen before. The shoulder is very tight, everything's been measured to fit exactly and there's no empty space.
> What is holding the stuffing in place?> Her clothes primarily
> Can we actually touch the stuffing directly? Or is it sealed off?> Yep you sure can
> If we can touch it, try pushing our hand into it a bit.> You check the stuffing and try pushing your hand into it. Immediately you feel something dense and firm, like a tightly spun ball of thread.
> "Wow."> It shakes it's head once more in denial, instead picking up parts and throwing them into a nearby shrub
> Look up and down her outfit.
> "...What if we combined your clothes with the leftover clothes scattered about here? Then you'd have a lot more space."
> Frown.> It points towards the front yard then at the pile before pointing at the moon then at the horizon
> "Well, that seems like a waste of Alice's material."
> "Oh well, you'd know better than me, I guess."> The doll grabs the fallen doll's lance and begins heading towards the Hakurei Shrine
> Wait to see if the doll resumes throwing the ruined materials into the nearby shrub. If it does, sneak up behind it, and try to rip its head off from behind!
> Quickly follow along behind it, making note to see if it turns around to look at us. If it doesn't, and we're able to catch up to it, attempt ripping its head off from behind as previously described.> You follow along and find the perfect opportunity to strike! With the phoenix's strength you punch the doll in the neck so hard it's mechanical head is sent soaring towards the shrine!
> Grab the body, and pursue that flying head! We don't want to lose a perfectly good wig!> Grabbing the body you realize it's a lot heavier than expected and will slow you down.
> Let it fall to the ground, then, it shouldn't be too hard to find again. The head is the higher priority; chase after it.> You chase after the still flying head which slams into the shrine's door and loudly falls onto the back porch. Upon reaching it you hear footsteps coming from the inside of the shrine.
> Is there space under the porch where we can hide? Or is it fully solid?> There certainly is space beneath the floorboards but how to access it is beyond you.
> Are the sides of the porch open, or boarded off?> The sides of the porch have an X shaped wooden mesh barrier. Even with your small size you doubt you'd fit through the holes.
> Is there anything on the porch that could be hid in?> There's a mop and bucket to the side of the door
> Is the mop in the bucket, or to the side?> The mop is outside the bucket and the bucket is upside down
> Grab the doll head, and then rush over to the bucket.> You grab the head and slide it under the rim and before also crawling under the bucket.
> Set the doll head down, lift the bucket enough that both we and the head can fit underneath, give the head a light tap with a foot to roll it under the bucket, get under the bucket ourselves, and let it back down gently. Secure the head again once this is done, using a tiny bit of fire to light our way if need be.
> Does it smell like gas?> You don't know what that is or what it smells like
> Also, have a listen to keep track of whoever that was coming out of the shrine.> A voice you don't recall having heard before asks "Shimyoumaru is that you?" before taking a few steps out onto the porch
> Use a tiny flame to light up our surroundings slightly, long enough to at least get a bearing on where that head is and secure it.> You ignite a tiny flame momentarily to find the head which is actually right next to you!
> Extinguish it immediately, and gently secure the head.> You grab the head and extinguish the flame, noting it seemed to weirdly linger for a moment after the source on your finger was gone
> Listen for the person some more.> The person continues in a mildly annoyed tone "Iris is that you? Show yourself you filthy doll!"
> Keep waiting in silence until the person gives up and wanders off (or something else of note happens that warrants our immediate attention).> You keep waiting patiently
> Wait a few more seconds, listening intently, to make sure we hear that person's footsteps recede back into the shrine interior.> You wait until the person walks away from the door and you can't hear their footsteps anymore
> Quietly get out from under the bucket, taking the head with us.> You grab the head and leave the bucket behind
> Look around to make sure no one is present. If we are indeed alone, go back over to the headless doll body we punched out earlier.
> Drag the head and body back over to where the other mess of exploded doll parts was.> You drag the doll out of the yard through the fence gate and then put on it's clothes. You're not a fan of long dresses but it'll do
> Then strip the new doll of her clothes and put them on ourself.
> How is the hair attached to the head? Could we reasonably remove it and use it as a wig?> The hair actually is a wig, so you could just put it on right away
> Do so, then. Full doll disguise for us!> You fully disguise yourself as a doll!
> Make sure to retrieve the lance as well, taking it on as a weapon.
> Adopt the expression style the dolls have in our experience, and then fly back to where Alice is out front in a hurry.> You adopt the most bland, boring and passive expression you can possibly come up with and float back around the shrine towards Alice.
> Have the players engaged with us at all?> They've taken notice you're watching but haven't said anything in particular.
> Where did Seija get off to?> You last saw her head into the shrine after swapping sizes with Mokou
> Did Alice seem to notice Mokou going into her dress (assuming Mokou did indeed to that, as was the plan)?> Alice didn't notice Mokou sneak into her dress earlier
> Take on a curious tone. (We don't want to sound accusational.)> Your question startles her a little
> "Hey, Alice, what's with all the dolls? Like that one."
> Point at the one heading for the base of the hill.
> "Oh, that's a good idea. Any luck yet?"> Disappointed she responds "Nothing yet..."
> "Oh. Shoot..."> Alice nods and returns to sketching something in her notebook
> Have we seen Reimu lately?> You ran into her earlier when she was making tea ... where she threatened you with a needle! As if you'd ever steal food from this dump...
> If we wanted to switch various properties with Reimu, enough that we would be her and she would be us, would we require the mallet for that? Or could we do it on our own?> You'd need the mallet to alter your physical appearance and the countless sub traits that entails. Without it you'd be limited to switching your motivation, luck, mood, etc.
> Crimony, and we even helped her with food prep earlier...> Years of poverty have hardened her into the heartless miser she is today...
> Where did that inchling get off to?> No idea! After she was done using your magical "swap abilities" she ran off to the front yard.
> Did we ever figure out what that noise was out back?> You initially thought it was Shinmyoumaru and then suspected Iris but there was no one to be seen out there.
> Weird. Well, whatever. Head out to the front yard as well.> You leave the guest room and decide to head out to the front yard to find Shinmyoumaru.
> "Urgh...what the fire truck...?"> You stand up and take a moment to compose yourself, after which you immediately notice the scale of the destruction caused.
> Clear our senses and stand up.
> Hastily walk over and retrieve our stuff.> You run over to your stuff and quickly pick it back up
> Then poke our head through the amanojaku-shaped hole and get a closer look at the destruction.> You approach the Amanojaku shaped hole and take a look through it!
> "Crimony!"> You attempt to run through the wrecked shrine to investigate the front yard.
> Run through the wreckage to the source of the explosion, to take stock of the front yard area.
> Do we know what will happen if the fire reaches the sake barrel?> It'll probably take out a third of the shrine...
> Which is closer to the fire advancing on it, the device or the barrel of sake?> They're both about equal distance from the fire
> Are the fires closer to their "targets" or to us?> They're closer to you
> To no one in particular: "RUN!"> You leap with all your oni level strength, shattering several floorboards in your landing and disrupting the liquid's trail!
> Dash toward and beyond the trail of fire heading toward the sake barrel, and try to disrupt the line of liquid by spreading a second of about with our foot before the fire gets there.
> How close is the other line of fire to the device?> It'd take another leap of about the same distance to reach it
> If we did so, would we get there in time before the fire reaches the device? If so, take that leap and disrupt that line of liquid!> It's about halfway there so you figure you can make it! With another impressive leap the planks below the liquid's trail are shattered, stopping it just short of the foreign looking device.
> Look around for any other trails of fire along lines of liquid leading to places or things that they definitely should NOT be allowed to get to, such as more sake barrels or weird unknown contraptions.> There's an already ignited pool under the table but other than that there's no more trails
> Try flipping the pool under the table from lit to unlit, to see if that puts out the fire.> You try and sense the "fire" in the puddle and a weak point appears. Interacting with it is really strange, applying force to it certainly shrinks the flames but makes you feel uncomfortably hot!
> Are we ourselves now on fire?> No
> Undo what we just did to the fire.> The fire returns to it's previous height and you stop feeling hot
> Then, using what we practices earlier, take a look at several fires around us, detect their weak points, and try flipping to trade temperatures with all of them at once.> You sense several weak points in the small fires around you attempt to swap temperatures with them. As a result some small fires end up burning brighter and some big ones shrink and eventually extinguish.
> How do we feel, temperature-wise, as a result of the swapping around?> You must have ended up swapping last with a small fire since you only feel slightly warmer, and even that's fading fast.
> So we ended up having to do one at a time instead of taking a whole bunch at once, huh...> It all felt like it happened in the same 'instant', as in there was never a moment where you felt the intermediate swap temperatures.
> Let's try something a little simpler. Take a look at two of the (now) larger fires, find their weak points like before, and try to swap both of their temperatures with our temperature at the exact same time.> The one fire shrinks to a small pile of coals with no apparent effect on the other. You feel a surge in temperature, like you just walked into a hot spring on a cold snowy night.
> Try flipping the second fire's temperature, then, to see what happens.> Nothing happens, you still feel melting hot and it continues to burn as before.
> Bah, whatever. Try enduring our new temperature for a few moments, to see if it goes down naturally.> It's slowly subsiding but very uncomfortable
> Are there other rooms where we can't immediately see if there are fires going in them or not? If there are, head into one.> You check the guest room and find no evidence of fire, only a couple trinkets have been knocked off the shelves and onto the ground.
> Head back to the main area, then, and help the others with fire control, doing our best to not put any more holes in the floor. Add in temperature flips to put out fires more quickly once we cool off enough for it to be meaningful and useful to do so.> You return to the main room and help put out the few remaining fires. Despite your best efforts a few of the burnt floorboards end up breaking, causing Reimu to give you a death glare every time. It takes a couple of minutes but the four of you manage to extinguish every last coal in the room. About the same time you feel your temperate return to normal.
> "Ugh, my everything."> Several others walk in and ask the same question
> Lean up against a wall.
> "What the hell did that?"
> "Assuming it was even someone here that set it up."> "Now that's someone who's asking the right questions!" an unnaturally cheery voice remarks
> Look around for the source of the voice. If it's that dumbass doll that just blew us up...> None other!
> How much of a crowd is around us?> You're standing near the entrance next to the crowd
> How much of a crowd is around Iris?> No one, she's standing on a table in middle of the room where everyone can see her
> Are people generally closer to us or to Iris?> The crowd right next to you is closest
> Move so we're more within the crowd, with several people around us.> You blend in with the crowd
> "Was that you that blew me up, then?"> The doll laughs "Wha-wha-what? Little old me? I would never!"
> How close are we to the inchling? Is she even present?> Knowing how shy she is she's probably hiding towards the back of the crowd
> Have a look for her to locate her.> You stand on your toes to look around and spot someone wearing a bowl on their head towards the back of the crowd.
> Wave Shinmyoumaru toward us.> You wave for Shinmyoumaru to approach and she slowly tries to make her way to you
> Look back at Iris with an irritated expression.> Iris grins
> Look at Reimu.> Reimu looks absolutely furious!
> Whisper to Shinmyoumaru: "Gimme a tap, then get ready to grab."> Shinmyoumaru gives you a light tap with the mallet, filling you with energy
> Once this information is relayed, look back to Iris.
> Then, using what we learned when experimenting with Shinmyoumaru earlier, try to trade our position and orientation with Iris, without also trading sizes.
> Try swapping all three variables, then. We can deal with getting our size back later.> You suddenly swap location, orientation and size with Iris, ending up on the table where she was standing.
> "Get her!"> The shrine maiden darts for the now life-size doll, pinning it by the neck and whispering "Fix ... shrine ... now!"
> Who are the closest people to us now?> Yukari and Remilia since they were speaking to the doll before you swapped positions
> Hop off the table and head toward them.> Yukari kneels and offers a hand for you to sit on while also patting you on the head
> "Hey, could you two grab hold of me? Uh, maybe not quite that roughly, though."
> "Er, thanks."> She holds you up and turns to look at Iris who's on the floor under Reimu's grip
> Have a seat on the hand.
> "Get a good hold of me, though, okay?"
> Can we still see Iris from here?
> Can we see Shinmyoumaru from here?
> Trade with Iris again, making no effort to focus on any of the three variables more or less than any others.> You swap location, orientation and size with Iris once more and end up pinned under Reimu's iron grip.
> "Oh, crap! She's gonna blow!"> In a moment of panic Yukari leaps towards the door, knocking Reimu and Shinmyoumaru off of you.
> That smell...did we smell that in the donation box?> You haven't been near the donation box since the guests arrived so you wouldn't know
> Sigh (as best we can, assuming Reimu is still choking us).> She was knocked off by Yukari leaping over you
> "Sorry, red-white. I did what I could."
> If we TRS swapped with a target that had other objects inside it, would those other objects go with the target? For example, if we swapped with Mima's book, would the bookmark have gone with it?> Affecting the container would certainly affect the contents, but not vice versa
> Do we have an upper limit on the difference in an aspect between ourselves and a target when attempting to swap that aspect with that target?
> "So."> The green haired shrine maiden thinks for a moment before saying "I remember seeing Tenshi walk up to it moments before it exploded!"
> Sit up.
> "Did anyone see anyone playing with the donation box today?"
> Shake our head.> Patchouli comments "That would make you suspicious, I've never even seen you before and you just happen to appear moments before the box explodes..."
> "She did, but her hands were full with a food tray. I was coming out here from the opposite direction and we nearly ran into each other."
> "Pretty stupid timing on my part if that were true."> Tenshi remarks "You know, she has a point... If I knew about the donation box exploding which I didn't I would've wanted to get as far away as possible"
> Roll our eyes.> Everyone slowly scatters and starts inspecting various parts of the shrine
> "Ugh."
> Look around at the floor for any more of that flammable liquid.
>> If we find some: say "This stuff seems as good a starting point as any" and give it a whiff.
> From what we recall earlier when the shrine was on fire, did the lines of sake appear randomly scattered, or perhaps specifically arranged to lead the flames toward the device and the Oni Killer barrel?> The lines of liquid appeared to be leading directly towards the table in the center of the room, you suspect there's a very slight natural curve/sag to the floor that makes them do so.
> Was/Is the Oni Killer barrel leaking?> The Oni Slayer barrel is still slowly leaking from it's seams. The trail of liquid ends in one of the holes in the floor you created.
> What did that unknown device look like?> It's a large cylinder with a wide base and 3 legs. It appears to be made of metal on it's top and bottom thirds, with the middle third being made out of thick glass. The top section has a grill of holes shaped in intricate floral patterns.
> Is that unknown device a brazier, perhaps? Do we even know what that is?> You've seen various brazier designs over your years in the outside world but none looked like this.
> Do the lines appear to be natural, then, as opposed to poured out by someone?> The lines are quite straight with no splashes which would point towards them being natural
> Go around checking each of the lines of sake on the floor, to see if any of them have a source that seems suspicious.> You investigate the other lines of liquid on the floor and find the trail beginning from the foreign looking device smells different. This trail smells foul but sweet at the time time while also burning but ... in a good way?
> Get up next to it and inspect it more closely.> You stand the previously tipped over device, stopping the slow leak from a hole on it's side. It's deceivingly heavy, as if it's made of cast iron and warm to the touch. There's a button on it's side with a star shape engraved on it.
> "Hey, Hakurei, what is this thing, anyway?"> Reimu comments "It's like a fireplace, only you don't have to fill it with logs every few hours! Oh and there's no chimney to clean!"
> "Oh. Sounds like I was probably right to divert the fire from getting to it, then."> Rinnosuke nods "Absolutely, this stuff is incredibly hard to extinguish once ignited"
> "...You know, this incident is supposed to be the destruction of this shrine, right? Even if we don't figure out who did it, would it matter if we could fix the damage before the time limit is up?"> Reimu thinks for a moment
> "You'll need to get repairs going regardless. Might be worth beginning the planning now, at the very least."> Reimu nods before heading over to Suika to discuss repairs
> "How easy are these heater things to tip over, shopkeep? I'm pretty sure I didn't collide with it when I went flying."> He gives it a push and it rocks back and forth
> "So it could have been knocked over just by the explosion..."> "It is very likely"
> Grunt in mild irritation.> You head outside to inspect the donation box and find Tenshi and Patchouli the spot where it lay.
> Head to where the donation box was, and inspect what remains of it.
> Have a look at that residue.> You take a look at that residue but can't make much of it
> Wrinkle our nose.> The librarian comments "Indeed, though I'm surprised you recognize it's smell... Considering gunpowder's quite rare in Gensokyo..."
> "Eugh. Gunpower and...something else."
> "What're you thinking?"> "Hmph, you seem to already know about gunpowder so I guess it wouldn't hurt to explain"
> Take on an equally quiet tone.> "Indeed, the culprit must've needed had some way to delay it's ignition or remotely activate it. Though I'm not yet sure how it's related to this scent."
> "So someone used a foreign substance to light the stuff? Would it have been time-released, or some sort of remote trigger?"
> "Might be worth roping in someone else with knowledge of esoteric stuff beyond our respective purviews."> "Perhaps, though everyone who'd know about these chemicals are potential suspects who might try and mislead us"
> Recall: Wasn't Shinmyoumaru working with someone that suspected Alice?> Knowledge acquired: Shinmyoumaru's Suspicions: Shinmyoumaru was working with someone who suspected Alice being behind the 'High Stakes Incident Showdown' competition.
> How is Patchouli's figure compared to ours (if we can tell without gawking)?> She's sitting on the ground so you can't tell
> How tall is she compared to us?
> "Mmm...I think I overheard others suspecting her earlier..."> "Well I guess she's the obvious suspect"
> Can we at least see her bust size?> You're sure she'd be doing a better job at showing off if it was anything impressive
> "Oh, she probably has an alchemical background, doesn't she?"> "Indeed, she might even be able to identify this second substance that's been troubling us"
> You're sure she'd be doing a better job at showing off if it was anything impressive
> Do we know about Sanae's outside-world background?> You know she only recently moved to Gensokyo from the outside world
> Look around. Can we see the pharmacist?> Yes she's over by the table with the spell cards, casually looking through them
> "Do you suppose the green-white would know how to do this? She may have mysterious outside world knowledge."> It certainly sounds possible
> Did Patchouli say that, or did we just think it to ourselves?> She just said that
> If we just thought it to ourselves, wait for an answer.
> How large is the torii gate at the top of the stairs leading to the front entrance of the shrine?> Fairly large, it's as wide as the steps leading up to it and tall enough that if you were to stretch your arms under it you wouldn't reach it unless you jumped
> "Hmm..."> You head over to the table with the spell cards where the pharmacist is sorting through the deck on the table
> Let's...start with the pharmacist. Head over to where she's sitting.
> Are there any larger torii anywhere on the shrine grounds?> No, the Hakurei Shrine can barely afford one faith gate as it is...
> "Hey, you busy?"> "Not in the moment, is there something you need?"
> "We've found some unusual substances where the donation box was. We've identified one, but not the other. Think you might know?"> "Unusual substances?"
> "Sure. This way."> You lead the pharmacist back to where a donation box used to lie
> Lead the pharmacist back to the donation box remains.
> Do we know what a lighter is from our time out there?> You've heard some people refer to a flint striker as a "lighter" in the outside world.
> Frown.> A little worried she says "Unless it was stolen from Eientei or brought from the moon I'm not sure?"
> "How could that have gotten here? That's definitely something not very many people here are going to know about..."
> "Unless...?"> "The only person I can think of with consistent stock of outside world items would be that shady Kourindou store..."
> We didn't notice any sort of line of fire or liquid leading to the box right before it exploded, did we?> You doubt there was anything there but your attention was on Tenshi at the time so you could've missed something.
> "That's...quite possible..."> "It might be worth asking him about it then. Is there anything else you found that you'd like a second opinion for?"
> "Do you think it could've been set off remotely? A lighter isn't really something used at a distance..."> She ponders your suggestion then shakes her head
> "I didn't think so. But the celestial's hands were occupied, and there wasn't anyone else at the box...so how could it have gone off?"> "Someone could have used something like a fuse? Giving them enough time to leave without it seeming suspicious..."
> Nod.> The librarian nods "I'll ask around if anyone was seen near the box"
> "A fuse would be possible. But there's only so much space in that box without it doubling back on itself...if that's how the responsible party did this, they would have had to have been really close to the box not very long before the explosion, and they would have had to have been acting strangely around it."
> "Ooh, that's a good idea."> The doctor sits down near the librarian to look closely at the box remains
> Look to the librarian.> "I don't mind company but we'd be able to cover more ground working independently."
> "Want me to join you?"
> "Oh, yeah, I suppose that's true."> The librarian gets up to leave but only takes a step before apparently noticing something
> Double-check our inventory.> Inventory:
> "Oh, uh, yeah. I got my stuff back, though."> "Oh so it must be Tenshi's then"
> Pick up the spell card on the ground.> You pick the card up but it's blank ... before five glowing flames slowly appear on it.
> "Whoa, what? What's with these fires?"> The librarian's eyes widen "Ah! The card isn't yours then! Quickly, run to the round table and lay it by the other cards!"
> Dash over to the table and slap the card down on it!> With the strength of an oni you make it to the table in a single leap, nearly shattering another floorboard in the process
> "Gods, what the hell...what would that have done?"> The magician comments "Based on previous experience the card would've ignited shortly after the last flame disappeared..."
> Has the magician stood up yet?> Yes she's slowly walking towards you but clearly can't keep up with your pace
> "Wow. Kinda cruel to whomever it belonged to, huh?"> She responds "It only happens if you're not the card's owner. Think of it as an anti-theft system of sorts..."
> Now that she's up and about, how's her figure (without gawking)?> About average you'd say
> "Well, I mean, if something happens to the card in the process..."> "Oh they're entirely fireproof. The same way my books are, it's almost like that Iris stole my enchantment spell..."
> "Oh. Huh, fairly clever."> She rolls her eyes "Guess this doll's thought of everything..."
> Come to think of it, let's look at ours.> Unsure how these cards work you hold it out in one hand like a spell card in hope something happens...
> Seija Kijin - ???
> Species: ???
> Height: Fairly Short
> Weight: Fairly Light
> Physical
>> Strength: ???
>> Vitality: ???
>> Dexterity: ???
> Spiritual
>> Perception: ???
>> Charisma: ???
>> Loyalty: ???
>> Ego: ???
>> Extra: ???
> Frown a bit at the card.> The librarian laughs "Clever comment or two about your personality or physique?"
> Then look around for where Shinmyoumaru wandered off to.> Shinmyoumaru is over near the warehouse talking to some doll
> "I'm not pleased, that's for sure. I assume you didn't appreciate the contents of yours either? Gimme a moment."> She nods understandingly
> Walk over to where Shinmyoumaru is.> You walk over to the inchling princess and notice she's talking to a tiny white haired doll that looks somewhat familiar
> "Hey, Princess?"> "Oh! Didn't see you there Seija"
> "No worries. D'you mind showing me your card, though?"> "Umm, sure Seija"
> Shinmyoumaru Sukuna - Inchling Princess
> Species: Inchling
> Height: Extremely Short
> Weight: Very Light
> Physical
>> Strength: About the average strength of humans, which is impressive for an inchling
>> Vitality: Considering her small size, subatomic hitbox and barrier sphere she can summon around her she's quite resilient!
>> Dexterity: Proficient with various weapons including the Shining Needle Sword
> Spiritual
>> Perception: Easily notices details but doesn't think much of them
>> Charisma: Being a princess she's pretty charismatic and can influence others to join her cause
>> Loyalty: Very trusting, strongly believes in her friends
>> Ego: For an inchling her unyielding determination to help the weak is very impressive
>> Extra: Has a somewhat of a height complex
> Point at the 'Extra' part.> She frowns "Oh, I hadn't noticed it! That doll is mean..."
> "Well, that 'Extra' bit is rather rude."
> "Did it look like this before?"> She nods then turns to the doll next to her and whispers
> Show her our card.
> Shrug.> She looks at the card suspiciously
> Pocket the card.
> Do we know what she might be thinking about?> Unfortunately you're not a mind reader
> "Hmm?"> Nervously she says "N-nothing, it just got me suspicious for a m-moment."
> "I dunno what you're talking about. But it's not like I can control what that card thing says."> "Y-you're right! I-i apologize for even thinking such!" she says nervously
> "Eh, no worries. I get that everyone's got eyes on everyone else right now."> "No, I was with Alice on the steps leading up to the shrine watching lady Yuyuko and Yukari play mahjong"
> "We're looking into what happened with the box, though. Did you see anyone get lose to it, maybe do something to it, not too long before it went kablooey?"
> What do we know about how mahjong is played?> You know the basics, during the revolution Shinmyoumaru insisted you play mahjong with her sometimes.
> Would it make sense for only two players to be playing it, then?> An ever popular variant in Gensokyo works with two players, in fact thats what you and Shinmyoumaru played.
> "Was there anyone else with you?"> "Well a couple of Alice's dolls floated by but other than that it was just the four of us"
> Don't those two have attendants? The fox and the sword girl?> Youmu usually accompanies the ghost lady. You don't remember anything about a fox though.
> "So the ghost didn't have her half-ghost attendant?"> "No, she was probably still busy preparing and serving food. Remember she helped make the spring rolls."
> Hrm, okay. Mental checklist: Who have we seen at the shrine today, not including Iris?> Based on those you've seen and those Shinmyoumaru has mentioned you come up with the following list: Shinmyoumaru, Reimu, Marisa, Mima, Yuuka, Tenshi, Alice, Youmu and the ghost lady she accompanies, Yukari, Mokou, the village school teacher, the green haired shrine maiden, the owner of Kourindou, the pharmacist and her pink friend, the vampire and librarian that live in the red mansion and their maid, an ice fairy and her blonde friend.
> Based on those you've seen and those Shinmyoumaru has mentioned you come up with the following list: Shinmyoumaru, Reimu, Marisa, Mima, Yuuka, Tenshi, Alice, Youmu and the ghost lady she accompanies, Yukari, Mokou, the village school teacher, the green haired shrine maiden, the owner of Kourindou, the pharmacist and her pink friend, the vampire and librarian that live in the red mansion and their maid, an ice fairy and her blonde friend.
> Which 1 of those were in the surroundings of The Box AND we did not talk about this situation yet ?// Characters met by Shinmyoumaru or other party members aren't included
>”Ms Knowledge, I am interested in drawing parallels now, what writing metaphor would you best use to describe our current peril?”> "Hmm..."
>if else “I am a different person now, but maybe not for long, consistency is not my speci’ forte”
“Ms Knowledge, you must summon the avatar of ruination, that has red eyes, black hair, the same colour as mine. The ritual must be performed by Ms Kirisame, and shall remain unseen by the Red Garment White Miko, herself entangled by kerosene threads to be unaware of her blue nature”> You do not know of such an entity (or what an Ayakashi is) and merely end up stuttering as if trying to say something but fogetting what it was
“The exact way to achieve this is because spring rolls are being traded and trees and are growing in the Ayakashi, again, Ms Konpaku should be well equipped to provide us with the hardware”
>Inspect EVERYTHING> You doubt you'll have enough time to inspect everything, Iris only gave you until sunrise to solve the incident, and that includes convincing trying to convince the shrine maiden who the culprit is and defeating them in danmaku duels if necessary...
> Print our current list of knowledge and items> Inventory:
> Try to mess with the settings, stack, combine, and scan the persons/objects multiple times>
> Borrow other persons and scan the human beings against other objects// Can't really understand the action so parsing with generic flavortext
> Speak whatever needed to achieve said aim// Actions need to be more specific than to be valid. Parsing generic "goal oriented" actions is risky as it leaves a lot of room for interpretation by the QM. You might get radically different results/actions than you expected!
> "No, she was probably still busy preparing and serving food. Remember she helped make the spring rolls."
> Knowledge Acquired: Spring Rolls - The ghost lady's assistant Youmu helped prepare and serve the festival's spring rolls
> "So the ghost didn't have her half-ghost attendant?"
> " So,would it be useful if I go check what the Ghost lady and her Attendant have noticed on their part"> Shinmyoumaru, Patchouli and Eirin nod
> If approved, look for them.> You walk around the front yard and find Lady Yuyuko first over by the warehouse to the left of the shrine.
> Approach the 1st one found and tell her ,since you are investigating to solve this incident,if they have noticed any "peculiarities" sorrounding the Party and the Aftermath at the Shrine...especially around That Box.
> Compare them with the "peculiarities"we already know of.
>Try to create new stacks or primary labels from the Mysterious Spell Card stacks, examine it closely for each character> After your meeting with the ghost princess you walk over to the table and inspect some of the remaining cards for familiar names or places but they all remain blank...
>Udongein Reisen
>Shinmyoumaru
>Eientei
>VIVIT
>Izayoi Sakuya
>Marisa Kirisame
> Shinmyoumaru, Patchouli and Eirin nod
> You walk around the front yard and find Lady Yuyuko first over by the warehouse to the left of the shrine.
> "How may I help you miss...?"
> Shinmyoumaru (who appears to have followed you) exclaims "Seija!"
> You ask what she knows about the event and box...
> "I'm afraid I don't know much about that box~ I arrived late because of some pesky fairies on the way here and even then I stayed mostly on the shrine's steps playing mahjong with Yukari! Other than that silly celestial somersaulting onto our mahjong tiles I can't say I saw much related to the incident~"
> She begins to float away but stops "Perhaps you should ask my assistant Youmu? She got here much earlier and even helped with the preparations I hear~"
> After your meeting with the ghost princess you walk over to the table and inspect some of the remaining cards for familiar names or places but they all remain blank...
> You suspect they might only reveal their contents when held by their owners?
> Look for the Ghost Lady's Assistant " Youmu".
> Approach and hail her,present ourselves and say we are investigating this Incident...
>...and right now we are focusing on finding clues about That Box and Its Related Event .
> You take a look around and find miss Youmu inside the Hakurei Shrine looking at a couple of broken floorboards (which you shattered earlier)
> She asks "I wonder who or what's strong enough to completely shatter the floor here? I mean the shrine is old a decrepit but it'd take an Oni to obliterate them..."
> Recall how we were able to " completely shatter" that couple of floorboards> You're very strong, even by Youkai standards!
> Go to her,greet her,present ourselves ,explain how we manage "the complete shattering"...> You tell miss Youmu that you just happen to be quite strong for someone your size. "Haha, I guess you can't judge a Youkai by their looks alone! I guess that answers my question"
>...all this by highlighting the context that we investigating to resolve this incident...
>...and right now we are focusing on gathering clues and witnessing about "The box and its Event".
> "Hmm?"> You stick your head in the floor and use a bullet to illuminate the area, it's mostly empty but in a faraway corner you see something green lying on the dirt below.
> Is the hole large enough that we can pass through it? If so, slowly float-descend through the hole and check around for what Youmu saw. If not, simply peer into the hole to find what Youmu saw.
> "Oh, you're right."> It's small and cylindrical, you reckon about a foot in length.
> How large does the object appear to be?
> "Hey, can you grab a hold of me? Wrap your arms around my waist or something."
> "I'm going to get you that object, so we can check out what it is. This might surprise you, but just make sure to not drop it or something."
> Switch properties with the green cylindrical object, so that we are its size in its current location and it is our size in our current location.
> "I'm going to get you that object, so we can check out what it is. This might surprise you, but just make sure to not drop it or something."> You focus on the green cylindrical object and quickly shatter it's weakpoint and end up lying on your back underneath the floor! Looking up you immediately notice a hatch / door directly above you!
> Switch properties with the green cylindrical object, so that we are its size in its current location and it is our size in our current location.
> How large of a fit is this "Underfloor Passage" to cross,to what directions,comparing them to aboveground, does it extend to or branches out?> It's large enough to crawl around in and perhaps store things here
> Does it appear or has signs to be trodden,artificially excavated or enlarged or at least "adapted" in particular places ...maybe around the place of the "green cylindrical object"?> There appear to be no signs of recent activity down here (other than that green cylinder)
> Ugh, we just said to not drop it...> You didn't hear a banging sound so maybe she set it down because it was heavy and then it rolled around?
> Try opening the hatch above us. If we're unable to do so, try exiting this underground area via the hole we looked at the object throuugh.> You push on the hatch above you and it opens with some resistance, however you cannot see anything as there's some kind of rags and sheets on top of it?
> Close the hatch, but keep track of where it is relative to the floor (which is our ceiling at present).> You close the hatch and estimate it's located towards the back of the shrine and somewhat to the left (relative to the front).
> Move back to the hole we first saw the object through, making note of where the hatch is relative to the hole, and try passing back up through the hole. If we succeed, have a look at what Youmu's up to with the object.> You float back up through the hole in the floor with ease due to your small size and spot Youmu sitting on a giant piece of bamboo, trying to keep it from rolling around.
> Is she sitting on the center, or on one of the sides?> She's sitting roughly in the center
> "Thanks for the assist. Now, can you stay there for a moment, and hold your hands out in front of you, together with palms up? Like you're making a bowl with them."
> "It's a talent of mine."> "What an unusual Youkai!"
> Fly over and land in Youmu's hands.> You land in Youmu's hands and reverse the swap you performed previously. You end up lying face up on the ground where the bamboo was with Youmu sitting on you.
> Then switch properties with the bamboo she's sitting on, bracing ourselves for the sudden weight that will be on top of us (though she's small enough and we're strong enough that it probably won't be too much of an issue). If we are able, try to finagle it so we end up lying face-up.
> If the switch is successful, watch Youmu to see what she does next. Do our best to not make any noise.
> On what part of us is she sitting?> She's sitting on your stomach
> How easily could we grab her with both arms?> Quite easily!
> Wrap our arms around her stomach area in a not-quite-hug.> You try hugging Youmu which surprises her, causing her to jump up and accidentally step on you! You instinctively react by firing a barrage of badly aimed spammy rice bullets but Youmu quickly sidesteps out of the way and looks around to see if anyone saw what happened!
> If she looks at us, give her a grin and say "Hi."
> Are we still holding onto her, at least?> She jumped out of reach when she was surprised
> Huh, she must be reasonably strong herself, then...> Indeed, you didn't expect someone so light to be that strong. You wonder what her spell card says about her strength...
> Huh, she must be reasonably strong herself, then...> You dust yourself off, making sure there's no marks where she stepped on
> Get up and dust ourselves off, making sure to give a few extra swipes to where we got stepped on.
> "It's fine, it's fine. You can pay me back later. So whatcha got there?"
> Step over to her and stand next to her (so we and she are both 'facing' the same way), and examine the bamboo that is hopefully till in her hands.
> Is it actually bamboo? Or is it perhaps an outside world object?> It looks like a real piece of bamboo and has a sweet but foul smell similar to the residue you found near the donation box.
> Give it a quick sniff to help identify it.
> Given Youmu is looking at us through it, could the bamboo have been used to pour something into something else, or perhaps as the barrel of some sort of explosion-launch projectile?> It could easily be used to help pour liquids! You also theorize it could be used as the barrel of some kind of primitive cannon? Though it'd have to be closed on one side for that to work...
> Frown at the smell.> "Huh you did? Where?" She puts the bamboo piece in her pocket for safe keeping.
> "I smelled that earlier...hmph. Keep that thing close to you, and then hold still. I found something else under the floor where that bamboo was that we should check out."
> "'l'll bring you there. Now, like I said, hold still."> You quickly grab Youmu in an underarm carry.
> Get behind Youmu. Then, maneuvering as needed, try to scoop her up into a one-armed underarm carry, positioning her so that she is facing the same direction we are and has her back pointed toward the ceiling.
> Tighten our grip just a little bit, to keep her pinned in place but without hurting her.> You tighten your grip slightly and she stops squirming as much
> Grunt a little bit from the exertion of holding her while she squirms.
> "Bringing you to what I found, while getting my payback for you stepping on me."> "B-but I apologized!"
> Chuckle a bit (in a good-natured way rather than a devilish way).> You chuckle in a good-natured way (which you find a little difficult as an Amanojaku to do..)
> "You did, but I wanted to do this anyway. Besides, think of it like this; now I do all the work, while you get to just hang along for the ride."
> "Hey, don't be so down. How about I use my ability in your favor later, to make it up to you? Once the immediate crisis is resolved, of course. We need to go investigating in the meantime."> "I'm not sure if I should be worried..."
> Taking note of where the hole we came out of is, where the bamboo was underground relative to the hole, and the mental mapping we've already done, set off for the part of the shrine where we think the hatch in the floor must be, toting Youmu along with us. (Make sure to not bonk her on things as we go!)> You walk towards the back of the shrine trying to trace where the hatch is and end up in the little room Shinmyoumaru has been living in.
> How is Youmu taking being toted around?> She doesn't seem to be protesting it much but your arm is slowly tiring out
> Look around for a pile of linens or something similar.> You don't see any linens around so you push the futon aside and reveal a hatch below! That must be why it looked so uncomfortable!
> If we don't see any, try nudging the futon aside with a foot.
> Could we use our ability to, say, flip our arm from tired to invigorated?> You sure can! Your arm feels as good as after a good night's sleep now.
> "There."> "Oh!? I guess Reimu could hide her valuables down there?"
> Position ourselves so as to angle Youmu so she's looking right at the hatch.
> "I saw the bamboo was right below a hatch. I bet whoever had it chucked it in here to get rid of it."
> Frown.> In a disappointed voice she complains "I'm the only one preventing Reimu from convincing Lady Saigyouji to donate the Netherworld's treasures to the Hakurei Shrine..."
> "After you just said something not-so-nice about our host?"
> "Oh, is that happening right now? I can take you to them if you need to put a stop to it."> "No but I must watch Miss Saigyouji when Reimu is around!"
> Don't actually leave yet; wait for her response first.
> What's the largest individual object in this storehouse?> Youmu was right, this storehouse is particularly bare with there being only a futon and a small table Shinmyoumaru used.
> Is it larger than Youmu?
> Is the futon at least larger than Youmu? If so, by how much?> It's somewhat larger than her, so that one can sleep comfortably
> "Okay, okay. But don't leave yet."> You set Youmu down on her feet and she crosses her arms in contempt
> Set Youmu down on her feet.
> "I'll keep my word from earlier. Just between you and me, have you ever wanted to be a different size? Like, taller or shorter?"
> "Would you like to be taller, then?"> "Yes!! But can you really make that happen?"
> While speaking, fold the futon once or twice, and then pick it up and hold it in place at our side so that it is more or less standing tall and upright. Let the bottom rest on the floor for the sake of stability.
> With the futon as upright as it is, is it taller than us?> It's slightly taller than you
> "I can indeed. You might want to close your eyes for this, it could get dizzying otherwise."
> Wait a second to give her the opportunity to do so if she wishes.
> Then do a three-way property swap, where we swap ourselves with Youmu, then swap ourselves with the futon, and then swap ourselves with Youmu again. The end result should have us in the same place at the same size as when we started, but with Youmu and the futon swapped.
> Do we no longer have the energy to do that sort of swapping, then?> You doubt it, unless you're undoing said inversions to return the Mallet's energy
> Are we now holding onto Youmu, given we were holding on to the futon previously?> Yes, you're holding her shoulder
> "Have a closer look at the room around you, silly. Did it look this small before?"> She takes a look around
> "Mhm. And if we find the right object, I could make you even taller than this, if you wanted. What do you think?"> "Thanks for the offer but people might notice if I become much taller!"
> "What's the problem if they notice? Who cares what they might think?"> "I don't mind what most people think, but Lady Yuyuko..."
> "Well, I guess you would know her better than I would. But is she really the type of person that would get upset if you were suddenly taller?"> "Not at all, she never gets upset! But she's always encouraged me and told me that being small makes you harder to hit in danmaku..."
> "...Huh, I guess that is true. Hmm, well, I could make you smaller instead..."> "Can I stay as tall as I am right now for the rest of the night? I don't want to tire you out if this magic is difficult to sustain!"
> "Oh, there's no sustenance necessary for me at this point."> "Ahh! I'll have to see how wielding a blade feels now that I'm taller!"
> Gesture up and down at Youmu.
> "This is just you now. I could undo it and get the magic back, but it's a one-time use instead of a constant drain."
> Does she have her swords with her?> No
> "You've got all the same proportions, so in theory, it shouldn't be much different. I imagine you're more of an expert on the matter than I am, though."> "I hope so..."
> Glance outside.> "I'd be too easy of a target to hit in a duel though..."
> "I still think it'd be worth going even taller, though~"
> "Are you expecting to have any duels tonight?"> "I must always be ready to defend the Saigyouji house's honor!"
> "Well, think of it this way. Even if you're a larger target, you'll also be faster and stronger, and more durable, which shold more than make up for it."> "Sure I'd be stronger but the only thing limiting my speed is the air's resistance and being bigger would make it ever harder to overcome"
> Well, all right, suit yourself."> She thanks you for helping her before heading off to investigate more of the shrine leaving you with mixed feeling as an Amanojaku.
> Sigh and shrug.
> "Such a shame..."
> Quick! Before she leaves, swap ownership of Youmu's ghost half so we get it!> You quickly try and swap ownership of Youmu's ghost half! You gain a chilly phantom that circles around you along with intricate knowledge of swordsmanship and Lady Yuyuko's culinary interests...