Nue Quest II: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> Turn to the red one.
> "It took me years before I was a passable jeweler. Don't worry about not being able to see a difference, most people won't. You could ask the jeweler in the human village about it if you want, though. And actually, if you go there, you'll get to meet another ghost like you three. She's working through a jeweler apprenticeship there."

>"Maybe I will," says the one in red, as she shifts the stones around. "I just might."
>"S'not ghosts..." mutters the white-haired one.
>"Oh, I've heard about that one!" says the blonde.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Turn back to the blonde one.
> "You have? Interesting. She used to be super shy, but it seems she's started coming out of her shell."

[Hello Purvis]

> Turn back to the blonde one.
> "You have? Interesting. She used to be super shy, but it seems she's started coming out of her shell."

>"It's just, people talk about her," says the blonde.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> So the white-haired one says they're not ghosts, huh? Do we know what they might be, then?

[Hello Purvis]

> So the white-haired one says they're not ghosts, huh? Do we know what they might be, then?

>Who knows? There's all kinds of different things for dead people.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Turn to the white-haired one.
> "You say not ghosts, eh? I gotta admit, I'm not too up-to-date on some parts of the animal kingdom. Pardon the ignorance, but what do you go by instead?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Turn to the white-haired one.
> "You say not ghosts, eh? I gotta admit, I'm not too up-to-date on some parts of the animal kingdom. Pardon the ignorance, but what do you go by instead?"

>"We're poltergeists!" she says, giving you a frown.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Huh. All right then. Learn somethin' new every day."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Huh. All right then. Learn somethin' new every day."

>The blonde nods. "Yeah."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "All right, then, I think imma head out to Hakugyokurou. The longer I linger here, the longer before someone takes a proper look at your new skylight."

[Hello Purvis]

> "All right, then, I think imma head out to Hakugyokurou. The longer I linger here, the longer before someone takes a proper look at your new skylight."

>"Okay," says the blonde one. "We'll, um, be here."
>"Clock's ticking~" says the white-haired one.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Have we spent our entire life in Gensokyo? Or were we alive before it came to be?
> Nod, then take flight and head east toward the mountain as the blonde's instructions. Keep a sharp eye out for small paths or large columns.

[Hello Purvis]

> Have we spent our entire life in Gensokyo? Or were we alive before it came to be?
> Nod, then take flight and head east toward the mountain as the blonde's instructions. Keep a sharp eye out for small paths or large columns.

>You were around well before it came to be, what with terrorizing the Emperor and such. You were still stuck in the the underground when the Great Barrier was established.
>You head eastward, leaving the poltergeists behind and heading into the mountains. They quickly become dense and irritatingly tall, forcing you higher and higher into the air in order to keep a relatively straight path. This makes it difficult to keep an eye on the ground below, you're certain that you cannot pick out any kind of small path right now. But then, as you draw closer and closer to the clouds, you can see them. Four columns extending from the earth and seeming to touch upon the very vault of heaven. It doesn't seem that they should even be able to hold their own weight, being so tall and slim. You have no idea how you didn't see them from a distance; maybe they were just too slender?

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> We gotta learn how to do that ourselves...
> Approach the columns.

[Hello Purvis]

> We gotta learn how to do that ourselves...
> Approach the columns.

>You don't think you can imitate a column like that. About the largest you can make yourself is a bit under Bykauren's size.
>You approach the columns. As you do, you can see a staircase ahead., past the columns. Dimly, you can make out an open gateway in the sky, but you're not certain what it's connected to, or what the stairs are rooted to.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> No time like the present.
> Begin flying up the staircase.

[Hello Purvis]

> No time like the present.
> Begin flying up the staircase.

You begin flying up the staircase. Soon, you become aware that you're someplace else, there's no way these stairs should be able to go so high, nor should there be any mountains at this elevation. The air grows cooler and the sky darker, there is a hint of some sweet odor you cannot identify. Soon the mountains flanking the stairs give way, revealing a lush green forest on both sides. The stairs continue upwards, toward a plateau where an immense wooden palace rests, sprawling in every direction for what seems like miles! Towers dot it, their pagoda-style roofs raising high into the air. All around you are white, vaporous wisps; the ghosts that reside here. Obvious exits are North, East, West, and South.
>Seeing all this, it takes you a few moments to notice that you are not alone on the stairs. A small, white-haired woman stands near the top of them, ahead of you. "This is no place for you," she calls down, her tone as natural as a greeting.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Give a pout.
> "Well, that's a fine how'dya do."
> Break into a grin.
> "Don't worry, I don't plan on staying. Just investigating a Gensokyo-wide crisis, seeing if it affected other realms."

[Hello Purvis]

> Give a pout.
> "Well, that's a fine how'dya do."
> Break into a grin.
> "Don't worry, I don't plan on staying. Just investigating a Gensokyo-wide crisis, seeing if it affected other realms."

>You pout, complain a little, then grin. The white-haired woman, whom you now note is carrying a couple swords at her side, seems unimpressed. "Go on," she says.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "All of Gensokyo's currency has been turned into gems. I presume you visit there off and on, given how not difficult it is to get here from there. If you happen to have any spare change lying around here to be used for visits there, you might want to check it."

[Hello Purvis]

> "All of Gensokyo's currency has been turned into gems. I presume you visit there off and on, given how not difficult it is to get here from there. If you happen to have any spare change lying around here to be used for visits there, you might want to check it."

>"There's no need," says the swordswoman, frowning. "We've seen the results ourselves. Lady Yuyuko is not particularly concerned about it."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Raise our eyebrows.
> "Really? So it did reach this far. Impressive. Hmm. You say your mistress is not concerned. Do you know of the Yakumo kitsune?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Raise our eyebrows.
> "Really? So it did reach this far. Impressive. Hmm. You say your mistress is not concerned. Do you know of the Yakumo kitsune?"

>"The barrier between this place and Gensokyo is weak," says the swordswoman, as a ghost swirls around her. "And no, she is not. While we do have great wealth here, she doesn't really care about it. I am sure she finds the gems more pleasing. Personally, I am rather vexed that someone managed to penetrate our sanctuary so effectively."
>She frowns again. "I know her, yes. The Yakumo family has always been friends of ours."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "If it's worth anything, I don't think someone actually managed to enter your sanctuary. They may not have even entered your realm. There were two very unique victims underground. A satori youkai, who detected no one near her house when her money was transformed, and a mouse youkai dowser, who was watching her clinic's donation box all night and saw no one touch it in the time when this went down. This brings me back to the Yakumo kitsune, who managed to detect a very light sensation she couldn't readily identify right before this happened. Most of the people I've talked to did not feel this sensation. Only Byakuren didn't deny feeling it, and she only said she wasn't sure. Ran believes the origin of this event to not be of magic 'in any sense that we understand it', whatever that means."

[Hello Purvis]

> "If it's worth anything, I don't think someone actually managed to enter your sanctuary. They may not have even entered your realm. There were two very unique victims underground. A satori youkai, who detected no one near her house when her money was transformed, and a mouse youkai dowser, who was watching her clinic's donation box all night and saw no one touch it in the time when this went down. This brings me back to the Yakumo kitsune, who managed to detect a very light sensation she couldn't readily identify right before this happened. Most of the people I've talked to did not feel this sensation. Only Byakuren didn't deny feeling it, and she only said she wasn't sure. Ran believes the origin of this event to not be of magic 'in any sense that we understand it', whatever that means."

>She doesn't seem particularly reassured. "I see. So this was a more insidious thing than I thought..."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I've wondered about that myself. But everyone's cash turned into a collection of gems of roughly equal value. The act itself will probably do a good deal of damage to the various village economies, but ultimately little to no monetary value was lost. I have to wonder why whoever did this didn't just take the cash and leave nothing."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I've wondered about that myself. But everyone's cash turned into a collection of gems of roughly equal value. The act itself will probably do a good deal of damage to the various village economies, but ultimately little to no monetary value was lost. I have to wonder why whoever did this didn't just take the cash and leave nothing."

>She nods. "I wondered that as well. I'm not sure what was to be gained from this, aside from the infamy of stealing something from under our noses."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "If I may ask, was anything else stolen from you?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "If I may ask, was anything else stolen from you?"

>"Not that I'm aware of," says the swordswoman. "And a very thorough check was made."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "All right. Mmm. This...might be an unfair question, but I don't know much about you or your mistress. How likely do you think it is that she felt the same sensation as Ran?"