Nitori Quest - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Kilgamayan]

> "Wow..."
> Aim our travel for heading home specifically. We'll have to check ourselves out!

[It's Purvis!]

> "Wow..."
> Aim our travel for heading home specifically. We'll have to check ourselves out!

>You settle down in front of your warehouse. Now that you're aware of it, you can feel your ponytails swaying behind you the rest of the trip.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Cool!
> Enter our home, find our mirror, and give our new self a good look-over.

[It's Purvis!]

> Cool!
> Enter our home, find our mirror, and give our new self a good look-over.

>You head inside and quickly find mirror in your bedroom.
>Your ponytails now extend down to your calves. You're going to have to be careful around moving machinery and the like. Now that you've no longer have the wind whipping past your face, you can feel them sway quite a bit more than you usually can when you move your head.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Gently move and tilt our head around in random ways, to see how the hair movement feels.

[It's Purvis!]

> Gently move and tilt our head around in random ways, to see how the hair movement feels.

>It's a curious feeling. Not exactly weighty, but kind of. You'll have to get used to it.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Do we at least look cuter, as hoped?
> Leave our house and head back to where we set up shop earlier, in the hopes that Aoi is still there.

[It's Purvis!]

> Do we at least look cuter, as hoped?
> Leave our house and head back to where we set up shop earlier, in the hopes that Aoi is still there.

>You think so, at least!
>You make your way back toward the festival, and to the Prismrivers stage. You find that while things are winding down in the human village, they're still in full swing here. The Prismrivers are playing at full force, their new percussionist moving like a woman possessed to keep up with the keyboardist. The two stands you were sandwiched between are still there, both with a healthy line.
>Along the way, you've definitely gotten a few surprised looks from various kappa.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Do they look surprised in a positive, neutral, or negative manner?
> Give the various kappa we pass by a sizeable smile.
> Could we leave a note with Aoi without disrupting her business?

[It's Purvis!]

> Do they look surprised in a positive, neutral, or negative manner?
> Give the various kappa we pass by a sizeable smile.
> Could we leave a note with Aoi without disrupting her business?

>Some positive, some neutral.
>You probably can give her a note.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> From a respectful distance, write a note:
> "When you're done for the day, if you have the time, please swing by my place. I have a request/proposition/opportunity I want to chat with you about."
> Then leave the note somewhere out-of-the-way-but-still-noticeable on Aoi's cart.

[It's Purvis!]

> From a respectful distance, write a note:
> "When you're done for the day, if you have the time, please swing by my place. I have a request/proposition/opportunity I want to chat with you about."
> Then leave the note somewhere out-of-the-way-but-still-noticeable on Aoi's cart.

>You keep your distance, then scribble out a quick note and leave it on her cart's countertop. Without bothering her as she prepares a few cucumbers for her customers.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> ...Did she see us place it?
> If not, blink, then pull it back, sign our name to it, and re-place it.
> Then head to the gambling den.

[It's Purvis!]

> ...Did she see us place it?
> If not, blink, then pull it back, sign our name to it, and re-place it.
> Then head to the gambling den.

>You quickly append your name to the note, then depart.
>You leave the festival behind, and start to make your way around to the northern side of the mountain. The place isn't terribly far away, a little ways further up the mountain. The pathway there is well worn, making it easy to find the place though you haven't been there. The building itself is just a small place, not even as large as your warehouse, with a simple and unassuming paper doors. A few windows are propped open, and you can hear a babble of voices inside. The only think noteworthy is a silver smoking pipe hung by the door, shaped like a dragon's head.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Have we been in here before?

[It's Purvis!]

> Have we been in here before?

>You have not.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Enter!

[It's Purvis!]

> Enter!

>You open the door and step inside.
>The interior is more spacious than you expected, as there is no furniture, just a a few scattered low tables and a few candelabras to provide light. There's a few yamawaro scattered about, as well as some tengu of the crow and white wolf varieties. A few other youkai are peppered among the crowd, you notice a couple of tanuki in particular, but you get the feeling there the clientele is on the lighter side today. In particular, you only see a couple of kappa here; most of them are probably at the festival.
>A tall woman with long purple hair tied in a ponytail with a yellow bow, approaches you. Dressed in a red jacket with a darker red top, and a layer purple skirt and carrying a long smoking pipe, she is easy to distinguish from the rest of the clientele. "Welcome," she says. "What amusement would you like me to direct you toward this evening?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

>Anyone here that we recognize?
> Look up at her.
> "Uh...I was hoping to offer an event for people to gamble on."

[It's Purvis!]

>Anyone here that we recognize?
> Look up at her.
> "Uh...I was hoping to offer an event for people to gamble on."

>There might be. You think you recognize your neighbor Miori among the kappa here.
>"Oh?" she says, raising an eyebrow. "I did not expect that. What do you have in mind, I wonder?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Well, so, I'm going to be in a rocket launching contest with the Scarlet Devil Mansion within the next day or two. We're competing to see who can bring back the most valuable object in our respective explorations of space, with value judged by a neutral third party."

[It's Purvis!]

> "Well, so, I'm going to be in a rocket launching contest with the Scarlet Devil Mansion within the next day or two. We're competing to see who can bring back the most valuable object in our respective explorations of space, with value judged by a neutral third party."

>She purses her lips, then takes a slow puff from her pipe. Blowing the smoke off to the side, she eventually says, "I may have understood about half of those words. Could you perhaps say it one more time, a little more simply? As I understand, you are in some kind of competition with Scarlet Devil Mansion? A treasure hunt?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "More or less, yeah. It's taking place in space."

[It's Purvis!]

> "More or less, yeah. It's taking place in space."

>She takes another puff from her pipe, less slow and deliberate this time. "Intiguing. And you would like me to run odds on it?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Nod.
> "I can give you whatever details I have that you might want."

[It's Purvis!]

> Nod.
> "I can give you whatever details I have that you might want."

>"The best I can give is an even 50/50 odds," she says. "I doubt anyone could divine the likelihood of either of your plans working to perfection, before we can start to speak about what treasures you may find. I am not sure how my clientele will take to it."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "That's fine by me. If you're looking to spruce things up a bit, you could always have different things to bet on aside from the winner, like who comes back first."

[It's Purvis!]

> "That's fine by me. If you're looking to spruce things up a bit, you could always have different things to bet on aside from the winner, like who comes back first."

>She gives a nod. "I was about to suggest just the same. There a small difficulty in that I do not know what would be valid to open stakes upon. And how long should we expect this to last?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Patchouli requested three weeks, so you'd have that much time from first launch. We did agree on allowing for returns to Earth, so you could open bets on how many returns we each make, or who makes more. Flight crew are also allowed, so you could open bets on who specifically finds the winning object. Though I don't know who will be in their crew, and I haven't even finalized mine, so you'd probably need to make that one a 'known person versus the field' bet."

[It's Purvis!]

> "Patchouli requested three weeks, so you'd have that much time from first launch. We did agree on allowing for returns to Earth, so you could open bets on how many returns we each make, or who makes more. Flight crew are also allowed, so you could open bets on who specifically finds the winning object. Though I don't know who will be in their crew, and I haven't even finalized mine, so you'd probably need to make that one a 'known person versus the field' bet."

>She gives small nods as you talk, taking another puff on her pipe. "I fear it's still over my head," she says, letting smoke trail from her mouth in a thin wisp, "but I understand within three weeks, it will be done one way or the other. The crew part, perhaps we can open that once you've set off? Whether or not you return in the interim, hm. What do you think the of that likelihood would be?"

>_