Seija Quest 4

[Kilgamayan]

> Given where her hands and arms were positioned, what might she have been holding?

[Tom]

> Given where her hands and arms were positioned, what might she have been holding?

> Her hands were positioned as if offering something at a shrine. You'd guess it can't be something gigantic but something large enough to need two hands to hold.

[Kilgamayan]

> Indicate the dent in the ground.
> "Whad'ya think might've made that, Princess?"

[Tom]

> Indicate the dent in the ground.
> "Whad'ya think might've made that, Princess?"

> The princess hops down to the ground and crawls near the indent to take a good look at it. Then she moves a few steps away and whacks the ground with the Miracle Mallet, leaving a round indent that slowly fades as it's power drains. "Definitely not a mallet!" she laughs, scratching her head.

[Kilgamayan]

> "It might've been something Yakumo dropped when she got put here. But it's hard to think of what that might be, given how she was posed."

[Tom]

> "It might've been something Yakumo dropped when she got put here. But it's hard to think of what that might be, given how she was posed."

> The princess nods "From the time I spent at the Hakurei Shrine I don't remember Miss Yakumo striking me as someone who'd carry valuables around to show off."
> Sanae returns from the market as Shinmyoumaru finishes and asks "What have you been able to uncover so far?" before eagerly explaining her findings "Several merchants reported seeing miss Yakumo yesterday walking towards the plaza at sunset when they were cleaning their stalls. Furthermore no one recalls seeing her leave before it got dark."

[Kilgamayan]

> "So she may not have left the village? We've come to learn that she spotless have known she's not allowed to be here overnight."

[Tom]

> "So she may not have left the village? We've come to learn that she spotless have known she's not allowed to be here overnight."

> Sanae thinks for a moment "That she knew of for certain. Yet there's a little known loophole in the rule."
> Pointing towards the forge and school she explains "Ever wondered how Kogasa or Keine live in the village? The exact wording goes something like 'One must have a residence to remain or enter the village past sunset'. Now the way it's worded can be interpreted two ways; in the outside world residence is a type of status one earns after living somewhere for a long time, but here it literally means 'residence' as in a house or place to stay. So renting a room at the Inn *technically* gives you a residence! In fact that is how Tenshi opened the casino!" in an over enthusiastic tone as if announcing a big discovery.

[Kilgamayan]

> Are we aware of any subordinates Yakumo might have?

> "Will the innkeeper tell us if she stayed here last night?"

[Tom]

> Are we aware of any subordinates Yakumo might have?

> "Will the innkeeper tell us if she stayed here last night?"

> You've seen her accompanied by a fox Youkai occasionally. Perhaps some kind of assistant?

> Sanae nods "Certainly, given the situation."

[Kilgamayan]

> "Let's head there, then."
> Head to the inn.
> Along the way: "By the way, I remember Yakumo sometimes having a fox youkai in her company. Has anyone heard from her?"

[Tom]

> "Let's head there, then."
> Head to the inn.
> Along the way: "By the way, I remember Yakumo sometimes having a fox youkai in her company. Has anyone heard from her?"

> She nods "You'd think Ran would race to get here upon hearing of a statue resembling her master being discovered. In fact her absence was my first hint of something fishy going on here and could mean one two things: Yukari and Ran are totally in on this and the statue itself is the incident along with the mystery surrounding it, or Yukari really did get turned to gold and she's having difficulty reaching us as a result."

> With the eagerness of a trivia show contestant Sanae explains "She's actually a Shikigami if you didn't know, meaning she shares magical energy with Yukari and thus could be experiencing... how should I put it.. withdrawal symptoms without it. Kind of like what you'd experience if you visited the outside world for too long!"

[Kilgamayan]

> What do we know about shikigami?

[Tom]

> What do we know about shikigami?

> Shikigami are... complicated. You studied this subject extensively at the height of the revolution, as a potential pathway towards possess certain key figures that were certain to oppose the cause, yet you needed their (apparent) support to legitimize your new world order. A common misconception is that Shikigami are familiars, however the term actually refers to the technique of granting spirits a physical manifestation through possession, and receiving their allegiance in return. True familiars (referred to as strong familiars in literature) are speculated to be exceedingly rare and would require power greater than what Youkai can attain given their lifespan. The authors of the books you were studying were divided into two camps. One side compared true familiars to creating consciousness out of nothing but magical energy, and the other side speculated such a thing could be achieved by primordial entities which manifested at the dawn of supernatural beliefs given unyielding dedication to this feat. Weak familiars on the other hand are rare but not unheard of, they're basically Youkai or spirits with an existing physical manifestation that pledge allegiance to a stronger entity and share magical energy.
> Back to Shikigami, you were investigating the possibility of empowering friendly spirits to possess opponents, and while this would've worked against Youkai it does not work on humans (or anything that can exist without magical energy). Which included your two greatest threats, the red white and the not-so-ordinary witch.

[Kilgamayan]

> "So no one has heard from her? Hmm."
> Whatever we did to get into that zone where we could see people's spiritual cores or whatever, do it again. Then check what Sanae's core is.

[Tom]

> "So no one has heard from her? Hmm."
> Whatever we did to get into that zone where we could see people's spiritual cores or whatever, do it again. Then check what Sanae's core is.

> "Suspicious, right!?" she agrees.

> You attempt to focus once more on what differentiates the alive from the inert and time seems to stop as everything around you fades to ghostly outlines. Looking towards Sanae's outline you see a mirror in the shape of a star with a ghostly snake curled around it's points that's reflecting the image of a frog.
> Huh, you noticed her snake and frog hairpins, but didn't know their meaning was this deep.

[Kilgamayan]

> Since we didn't check earlier, what does our core look like, and what does the Princess's core look like?

[Tom]

> Since we didn't check earlier, what does our core look like, and what does the Princess's core look like?

> You're not sure what the proper name is for these things, but your symbol looks like a transparent sphere that appears to invert whatever is shining through it. Shinmyoumaru's is too difficult to identify from her unusually dense outline, perhaps this is just because she's smaller than you.

[Kilgamayan]

> Are Sanae's 'core' (for lack of a better word) and our 'core' in motion, without unknown sigils spinning around them?

[Tom]

> Are Sanae's 'core' (for lack of a better word) and our 'core' in motion, without unknown sigils spinning around them?

> These 'essences' appear to be animated in a way, like yours changing whatever shines through it, and Sanae's mirror showing a gentle breeze with autum leaves flying around in it's reflection.

[Kilgamayan]

> Leave this state of perception without altering anything and return to normal.
> "It would certainly be nice if we could find her, yeah. But I think it's the latter situation, and the statue is Yakumo."
> Explain the spiritual 'core' situation to Sanae, including how Yakumo's is surrounded by those sigils.

[Tom]

> Leave this state of perception without altering anything and return to normal.
> "It would certainly be nice if we could find her, yeah. But I think it's the latter situation, and the statue is Yakumo."
> Explain the spiritual 'core' situation to Sanae, including how Yakumo's is surrounded by those sigils.

> You let your mind wander and everything returns to normal.
> "As time goes on I'm becoming more convinced of the latter as well. Still holding out hope it's some stunt of the Yakumos."
> Your explanation piques Sanae's interest "So you're saying some symbols you don't recognize have surrounded Yakumo's... 'soul'? What a unique ability! It's so... abstract in a way? Like Youkai are created from human beliefs, which are typically very specific. Say, particular animals, nature like seasons and weather, or desires like health, youth, or luck are where a lot of Youkai originate."
> "What else can you see with your ability? Can you describe how you see it? How everything looks?" the shrine maiden rapid fires questions with the excitement of a little kid hearing about something for the first time!

[Kilgamayan]

> "Uh, well, this isn't really my specialty, to be clear. I can do it, but it's not what I can do, it's simply a thing I can do. If that makes sense? I don't know if I'd be able to see other metaphysical things, is what I'm saying. Anyway..."
> Generally describe what we just saw, including how it looks and such. Include details on what Sanae's 'core' looked like, but leave out details on ours or the Princess's.

[Tom]

> "Uh, well, this isn't really my specialty, to be clear. I can do it, but it's not what I can do, it's simply a thing I can do. If that makes sense? I don't know if I'd be able to see other metaphysical things, is what I'm saying. Anyway..."
> Generally describe what we just saw, including how it looks and such. Include details on what Sanae's 'core' looked like, but leave out details on ours or the Princess's.

> Sanae eagerly listens to your explanation, asking the occasional questions here and there, though surprisingly not so much about the 'cores' but more on how the world and specifically people's outlines looked. Your description of what her 'core' looked like put a glowing smile on her face.

> "What *is* your specialty then? I bet it something really abstract, like perception, or imagination? Maybe judgement, or intuition, or equality? Did I get close at least?" she tries to guess which Shinmyoumaru finds funny.

[Kilgamayan]

> Historically, how have we answered this sort of question?

[Tom]

> Historically, how have we answered this sort of question?

> Your answer... usually depended on what you were trying to achieve. On occasions where you were trying to impress through shock and awe you'd invent titles like "Goddess of Exchange" or "Keeper of Balance". While you're neither a goddess or guardian deity, such names made it easier to gather support for your cause, with the powers at be even welcoming you into their inner circle sometimes (thinking they could control you... oh how good it felt to finally turn the tables!). On the occasions where you had to play the villain to rally the masses against a common threat (that you'd slowly 'unmask' as someone high in the hierarchy) you'd go with being a witch, an Oni, a demon, or make up a story about a nightmarish beast that lives in the shadows or an assassin that stalks the night. Sometimes you'd even play both! A benevolent goddess by day and necromancer by night...

[Kilgamayan]

> "Mmm...I'm a bit of a private person when it comes to things like that, admittedly. But you can think of me as a keeper of balance."

[Tom]

> "Mmm...I'm a bit of a private person when it comes to things like that, admittedly. But you can think of me as a keeper of balance."

> "A keeper of ... balance?" she repeats, a little disappointed with the mystery as you both step into the Inn.
> Keine immediately notices the shrine maiden "Ah, miss Kochiya! I assume you'll be staying with us in the village to investigate? Your room can be ready by this evening, but I suggest you check in fast as only three rooms remain."

[Kilgamayan]

> Look to the Princess.
> Quietly: "We intended to go back to your place, right?"

[Tom]

> Look to the Princess.
> Quietly: "We intended to go back to your place, right?"

> The shrine maiden nods and approaches the counter while you hang back for now.

> Shinmyoumaru whispers back "But what if we miss out on something big? Everyone's probably here and the castle is kind of far away and isolated..." Is there a hint of worry in her voice? Nah, it's just your imagination.