Seija Quest

[Tom]

> "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."

[Kilgamayan]

> "Seija Kijin, amanojaku extraordinaire."

[Tom]

> "Seija Kijin, amanojaku extraordinaire."

> Before you manage to get a word in the celestial you know as Tenshi comes barging in
> "Somehing smells good~  Hey hey these look tasty!"
> She grabs the first (half) baked roll she finds, tries it and gives you the thumbs up
> You notice Reimu's patience appears to be running thin but Tenshi is feigning ignorance

[Kilgamayan]

> 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?

[Tom]

> 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.

> She was about to grab another one before stopping suddnely.
> She looks at Youmu in shock
> "What'd you put in here!? It's poisoned I tell you!!"
> She then runs out the back door in panic.

[Kilgamayan]

> Undo the inversion we just did.
> Glance back to Youmu while still working away.
> "Anyway, you are?"

[Tom]

> 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.
> "Anyway, you are?"

> "Huh could there be there some bad aftertaste?" Youmu murmurs after seeing Tenshi run out
> "Oh I'm Konpaku Youmu, the gardener of Hakugyuokuru~" she says happily

[Kilgamayan]

> How small is Shinmyoumaru, anyway? If we needed to, could we hide her in a pocket? Or in our mouth, in an emergency?
> 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?

> "Charmed. And no, there's no bad aftertaste. She just didn't understand the problems she was causing for our host. Now she does."

[Tom]

> 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"
> Youmu doesn't really understand so she just nods in agreement

[Kilgamayan]

> Could we pocket her (or pop her in our mouth) if she curled up into a ball, perhaps?

> Glance over to Reimu, then back to Youmu, then back to her work.
> "And if she forgets, then she'll be reminded again, in a less pleasant manner."
> Nod our head slightly toward the phantom.
> "So what's with the phantom? Can you do stuff with it?"

[Tom]

> 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.
> "And if she forgets, then she'll be reminded again, in a less pleasant manner."

> Reimu twirls a spell card on her finger "Agreed~"

> "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!"
> She explains "Phantoms can't interact with the physical realm so they have to rely on magic.  Kinematic magic lets them apply simple attractive or repulsive forces on various objects, but they lack the fine motor control the living possess.  Such magic is known to the common-folk as Telekinesis and it's not widely learned by the living due to it's difficulty and situational applicability.  For a phantom however that's *all* they have!  Some have gotten so proficient you'd have a tough time figuring out they're just pretending to hold what they have in their hand."

[Kilgamayan]

> "...Are you saying that orb has hands?"

[Tom]

> "...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."
> She takes a coin out of her pocket and rolls from her end of the countertop towards Reimu and you.
> As the coin is about to roll into the sink she says "Let me demonstrate" and snaps her finger
> The little ghost she calls Myon flies over the sink and the coin magically diverges from your predicted trajectory.  Not only does it manage to avoid falling into the sink but it circles around fully and returns to her palm.
> She frowns "But I can't for example roll spring rolls with telekinesis, that's too complicated and I'd just end up dropping them or flinging them off the table..."

[Kilgamayan]

> "Whoa, nifty. I wouldn't mind having one of those myself."

[Tom]

> "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?"

[Kilgamayan]

> Chuckle.
> "You mean I can't just have you?"

[Tom]

> Chuckle.
> "You mean I can't just have you?"

> She laughs "I'm already employed, and I doubt Lady Yuyuko would be too pleased to find out I became someone's familiar"

[Kilgamayan]

> How could we make someone our familiar?
> What would having a familiar entail?

> "So I just have to negotiate with her then, is what I'm hearing."

[Tom]

> How could we make someone our familiar?

> Non-sentient beings you summon are automatically considered your familiars, like danmaku familiars.
> For someone else to become your familiar you most likely need their consent and assistance in channeling your magical energy into them. Weaker beings require less energy.

> 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.
> The familiar would be able to use your abilities in some form since they'd have your magical energy within them and vice versa. Additionally they'd have a hard time disobeying you unless what you say really goes against their instincts or principals. For example a Vampire familiar would still seek out blood regardless if you told it not to since it's their instict to do so. Furthermore familiars are very resilient because of their shared energy and vitality.

> "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..."

[Kilgamayan]

> 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?

> "I guess we'll just have to see later."

[Tom]

> 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

[Kilgamayan]

> Finish up food prep.

[Tom]

> Finish up food prep.

> You finish preparing the spring rolls after a few minutes.

> Reimu and Youmu want to work on fried tofu and don't think they need help on this one.
> The blue ghost Mima has been reading her book uninterrupted the entire time you were working on the spring rolls.  Next to her Marisa has been cleaning some octagonal box and occasionally scribbling some notes down.
> You haven't seen Tenshi since she ran outside after eating a spring roll.

[Kilgamayan]

> 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?
> Did the shrine maiden ever discover we wanted to make her our familiar?

> "Sure. Anything else need doing?"

[Tom]

> 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"

[Kilgamayan]

> Do we actually know hypnosis/brainwash/mind control techniques, or at least where we could learn/employ them?

> 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?

> "Uh, I'll do my best."
> Head out the door.

[Tom]

> 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."
> Head out the door.

> You head out the door Reimu was pointing to and end up in the Hakurei Shrine Back Yard.
> The celestial is sitting on the steps eating a peach and hears you slide the door open.

> "Ugh even these peaches taste better than those rolls!  And I never thought I'd be saying a good word about these..." as she pounds her fist on the floorboards.

[Kilgamayan]

> "Yo, what's up with you?"

[Tom]

> "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."

> "Is this the way to treat the eldest daughter of the heavens above!?" she complains

[Kilgamayan]

> "Were they done cooking?"