Seija Quest 3

[Kilgamayan]

> "Oh, um, no,  that's okay. But thank you for offering! No, I just wanted to ask how far away from the village I hafta be to not be bad."

[Tom]

> "Oh, um, no,  that's okay. But thank you for offering! No, I just wanted to ask how far away from the village I hafta be to not be bad."

> Your question raises an eyebrow "I'm not particularly fond of the way the village treats outsiders either, so I saw nothing, heard nothing and met no one!"
> She then gazes off into the distance towards the village.

[Kilgamayan]

> "...Oh..."
> Blink.
> "...Hey, who are you little friends, by the way?"

[Tom]

> "...Oh..."
> Blink.
> "...Hey, who are you little friends, by the way?"

> "That's Shanghai and Hourai!  They're magical puppets." she explains while pointing at them.  To you they look nearly identical, the only difference being 'Shanghai' having a slightly lighter colored bow.
> The puppets back at you in sync.

[Kilgamayan]

> "Wow! That's quite an impressive talent of yours."

[Tom]

> "Wow! That's quite an impressive talent of yours."

> "T-Thank you!  I run puppet shows in the village every weekend at sunset if you would like to see Shanghai and Hourai perform." she explains.

[Kilgamayan]

> "Ooh, that does sound fun...I'll tell my friend about it when she returns to get me!"

[Tom]

> "Ooh, that does sound fun...I'll tell my friend about it when she returns to get me!"

> She nods happily.

[Kilgamayan]

> "Anyway, I won't stop you again. Go do your thing!"

[Tom]

> "Anyway, I won't stop you again. Go do your thing!"

> The puppeteer returns to gazing at the river below.

[Kilgamayan]

> Let's move in the opposite direction of the bridge, say, 20 meters.

[Tom]

> Let's move in the opposite direction of the bridge, say, 20 meters.

> Unfamiliar with what a meter is you decide to float some distance away from the bridge.

[Kilgamayan]

> Might as well get back to waiting and passively sensing for bad energy sources.
> Ponder what we learned in that bookstore while we wait. Does 'Darkness' mean anything to us/make sense in the context of our compatriot? (Obviously do not dive into backstory we cannot currently access.)

[Tom]

> Might as well get back to waiting and passively sensing for bad energy sources.
> Ponder what we learned in that bookstore while we wait. Does 'Darkness' mean anything to us/make sense in the context of our compatriot? (Obviously do not dive into backstory we cannot currently access.)

> The energy source is there somewhere?
> You think back to the bookstore and what you learned, only to be interrupted by a surge of powerful magical energy!  In the distance you see the puppeteer speaking to one of the small figures, only now there's three of them.

[Kilgamayan]

> Ooh, interesting! Creep a little closer to get a better idea of what's going on (making sure to not let the portal we made out of our sight, since we need to stick close to it).

[Tom]

> Ooh, interesting! Creep a little closer to get a better idea of what's going on (making sure to not let the portal we made out of our sight, since we need to stick close to it).

> You slowly float closer and observe that there is yet another blonde figure there.
> "Delivered the materials?" the small figure asks.
> The puppeteer lady nods.
> "Powder too?" the small one asks.
> The lady nods once more.
> "Excellent, here's your prize...  May it serve you well on your quest." the small figure explains before handing a disc-shaped object to the puppeteer, which she clutches tightly.
> "Ta ta then!" the small one says before speeding off towards the village and disappearing behind the buildings.

[Kilgamayan]

> !!! An illicit exchange of some kind?!?
> ...Oh, but we aren't really in a position to do anything about it, are we? We still have a fairy persona to maintain. Not to mention we don't actually know how well-suited we are for fighting at this size.
> Hmm. We'll have to tell Seija about this as soon as we can restore communication. In the meantime, turn away and pretend like we didn't see anything because something else was much more interesting for us to look at. If we can look away by looking at the portal, stare at that for a bit; otherwise, pick a random branch high in a tree and stare at that for a bit instead.

> For reporting-to-Seija purposes, what distinguishing features did the small blonde have?

[Tom]

> !!! An illicit exchange of some kind?!?
> ...Oh, but we aren't really in a position to do anything about it, are we? We still have a fairy persona to maintain. Not to mention we don't actually know how well-suited we are for fighting at this size.
> Hmm. We'll have to tell Seija about this as soon as we can restore communication. In the meantime, turn away and pretend like we didn't see anything because something else was much more interesting for us to look at. If we can look away by looking at the portal, stare at that for a bit; otherwise, pick a random branch high in a tree and stare at that for a bit instead.

> For reporting-to-Seija purposes, what distinguishing features did the small blonde have?

> The magical field appears to have dissipated.
> Indeed there *is* the issue of maintaining your fairy persona, and being small.  On the bright side smaller targets are harder to hit!  It's not uncommon for demons you're fighting to cast a minifying spell on themselves to become very annoying to track amid all the projectiles.  Anythings on the table really, and you've seen just about everything.

> You turn around to gaze at the portal, pretending to be intrigued and prodding at it with a stick.
> Footsteps approach from behind.

> She looked similar to the puppets Alice introduced to you?

[Kilgamayan]

> Turn and have a look.

[Tom]

> Turn and have a look.

> It's the puppeteer lady from before!
> "Huh?  What this you've found?" she asks while hesitantly approaching the portal.

[Kilgamayan]

> Oh shoot.
> "Uh...magic!"

[Tom]

> Oh shoot.
> "Uh...magic!"

> One of Alice's puppets prods it with a lance.
> "Magic indeed..." she comments while inspecting it closely before taking a step back and clutching the grimoire in her arms tightly.
> She chants a spell which reveals a purple mist eminating from the portal.
> "Ancient magic..." she clarifies in a surprised tone before looking behind her back and around the area for anyone nearby.

[Kilgamayan]

> Oh shoot.
> Do we know what the purple mist means?
> Can we dissipate the portal without calling attention to ourselves?
> If we dissipated the portal, could we re-open it?

[Tom]

> Oh shoot.
> Do we know what the purple mist means?
> Can we dissipate the portal without calling attention to ourselves?
> If we dissipated the portal, could we re-open it?

> No, you've never seen a demon or mage use such a spell before!
> Of course!  You could dispel it and pretend to not know what happened!  After all what would a fairy know about powerful ancient magic!
> You could reopen it without issue.

[Kilgamayan]

> "Whoa...how ancient?"
> Dispel the portal.

[Tom]

> "Whoa...how ancient?"
> Dispel the portal.

> "Long before this world was created..."
> You dispel the portal, causing a huge plume of purple mist to burst outwards from it!
> "What in.." you hear the puppeteer exclaim.
> You lose sight of eachother in the thick purple mist!

[Kilgamayan]

> Squeak in fright.
> Fly up to a branch in a nearby tree to hide.

[Tom]

> Squeak in fright.
> Fly up to a branch in a nearby tree to hide.

> You try your best to squeak in fight like the demons you hunt down do.
> ... and speed towards a nearby tree and get lost in the thick canopy.

> You are now Seija Kijin the rebellious Amanojaku.
> Who have just arrived in the Shining Needle Castle's Foyer.

[Kilgamayan]

> Let's track down the Princess to (show off our new size, and) let her know a guest is incoming.

[Tom]

> Let's track down the Princess to (show off our new size, and) let her know a guest is incoming.

> After a good half an hour of searching you find Shinmyoumaru in the observatory, studying a device that shows various spheres rotating around a glowing orb and taking measurements.