[ ] Openly inform Keine and show your contempt for the spy’s amateur attempt.

Guess this option tells Yukari the MC will hold against her (I assume this with my limited knowledge of D&D, only have been reading the wikis recently). And judging her nature, she will avoid the harm's way.

Either way, a battle scene is OK too.

>Cirno, omelletes, ruffling hair

I am familiar with this.

Thread 1: >>123033
Thread 2: >>124226

Scrying magic would probably point to a magician, so if anybody it would likely be Marisa, Alice, or Patchouli. I don't see it being Alice, and I suppose it could be Marisa. If Patchouli heard something it could definitely be her spying on behalf of Remilia/Sakuya... and of course it could be Yukari. So that's like, one sort-of ally, two potential meddlers and one person who probably doesn't really care.

Then again who knows, maybe it could be Wriggle sending fly scouts out on a stake-out for her pal Cirno.

[ ] Inform Keine discreetly at the first opportunity.

Being rash while recovering from a hangover sounds like a bad idea to me.

[X] Openly inform Keine and show your contempt for the spy’s amateur attempt.

[x] Inform Keine discreetly at the first opportunity.
[x] The spies ignorance of his detection is valuable, no matter what their objective.

While we may have the element of surprise, she doesn't. Wouldn't want her catching anything meant for us. Any plays on words we can use? Language shenanigans? Obscure historical cues we've picked up during that transcribing session? I figure Keine is a sharp enough woman to pick up a subtle hint here or there. Not too familiar with DnD but if there is some magical thoughtspeak solution, I'd take that too.

[X] Inform Keine discreetly at the first opportunity.

As long a they don't know we know, they probably won't make a move just yet. Infinite Timestop is bad juju to fight.

>>124924

I forget; does her hat work for all languages, or only a certain few? If it's the former, we can try saying something in the most esoteric language we can think of; Far Plane dialects, perhaps.

>>124924
This.

Is not so stupid as I though. Let's try this.

[ ] Do nothing. The spies ignorance of his detection is valuable, no matter what their objective.

Take it easy, guys. We're not really hiding anything, and besides, we could do with some more publicity.

>“HEY! LISTEN!”
I see what you did there.

[X] Inform Keine discreetly at the first opportunity.
[X] The spy's ignorance of her detection is valuable, no matter what her objective.

Obligatory munchkin response:

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Detect_Scrying

>If the scrying attempt originates within the area, you also know its location; otherwise, you and the scrier immediately make opposed caster level checks (1d20 + caster level). If you at least match the scrier’s result, you get a visual image of the scrier and an accurate sense of his or her direction and distance from you.

We can find out who it is right now.

Oh, and as for the spells we prepared:
Teleport (Greater) X2
Forcecage
Discern Location
Mass Charm Monster
Dominate Monster


[X] Cast "Detect Scrying" to find out who it is.
[X] Cast Discern Location to find out exactly where she is.
[X] Cast Greater Teleport to teleport to her.
[X] Cordially greet her and introduce yourself.
[X] If shit hits the fan, Dominate Monster.

Polite intimidation.

[x] Politely excuse yourself.
[x] Cast "Detect Scrying" to find out who it is.
[x] Cast Discern Location to find out exactly where she is.
[x] Cast Greater Teleport to teleport to her.
[x] Cordially greet her and introduce yourself.
[x] If shit hits the fan, Dominate Monster.

[x] Inform Keine discreetly at the first opportunity.
[x] The spies ignorance of his detection is valuable, no matter what their objective.

[x] Politely excuse yourself.
[x] Cast "Detect Scrying" to find out who it is.
[x] Cast Discern Location to find out exactly where she is.
[x] Cast Greater Teleport to teleport to her.
[x] Cordially greet her and introduce yourself.
[x] If shit hits the fan, Dominate Monster.

[x] Politely excuse yourself.
[x] Cast "Detect Scrying" to find out who it is.
[x] Cast Discern Location to find out exactly where she is.
[x] Cast Greater Teleport to teleport to her.
[x] Cordially greet her and introduce yourself.
[x] If shit hits the fan, Dominate Monster.

[x] Politely excuse yourself.
[x] Cast "Detect Scrying" to find out who it is.
[x] Cast Discern Location to find out exactly where she is.
[x] Cast Greater Teleport to teleport to her.
[x] Cordially greet her and introduce yourself.
[x] If shit hits the fan, Dominate Monster.

[X] Inform Keine discreetly at the first opportunity.
[X] The spies ignorance of his detection is valuable, no matter what their objective.

Subtlety is better. Make the scrier underestimate you.

[x] Inform Keine discreetly at the first opportunity.
[x] The spies ignorance of his detection is valuable, no matter what their objective.

This is a hilarious story. Keep it up!

[x] Politely excuse yourself.
[x] Cast "Detect Scrying" to find out who it is.
[x] Cast Discern Location to find out exactly where she is.
[x] Cast Greater Teleport to teleport to her.
[x] Cordially greet her and introduce yourself.
[x] If shit hits the fan, Dominate Monster.

>>124932 here, changing vote.

[x] Politely excuse yourself.
[x] Cast "Detect Scrying" to find out who it is.
[x] Cast Discern Location to find out exactly where she is.
[x] Cast Greater Teleport to teleport to her.
[x] Cordially greet her and introduce yourself.
[x] If shit hits the fan, Dominate Monster

This write-in, I enjoy it.

/tg/ invades /th/
/tg/ WINS AT QUEST

Hilarity.

Oh God I lol'd.

>“I should probably be pissed at you,” Keine says as you drink, “but you just look too damn funny right now.”

If this isn't love, I don't know what is.

[X] Cast "Detect Scrying" to find out who it is.
[X] Cast Discern Location to find out exactly where she is.
[X] Cast Greater Teleport to teleport to her.
[X] Cordially greet her and introduce yourself.
[X] If shit hits the fan, Dominate Monster.

Sounds good.

[X] Cast "Detect Scrying" to find out who it is.
[X] Cast Discern Location to find out exactly where she is.
[X] Cast Greater Teleport to teleport to her.
[X] Cordially greet her and introduce yourself.
[X] If shit hits the fan, Dominate Monster.

This is a good bandwagon that must be banded and wagoned.

[X] Cast "Detect Scrying" to find out who it is.
[X] Cast Discern Location to find out exactly where she is.
[X] Cast Greater Teleport to teleport to her.
[X] Cordially greet her and introduce yourself.
[X] If shit hits the fan, Dominate Monster.

I love you writefag. This is the CYOA I've waited my whole life for

[x] Inform Keine discreetly at the first opportunity.
[x] The spies ignorance of his detection is valuable, no matter what their objective.

The other option is frikkin dumb you're just going to randomly teleport god knows where with who knows what waiting for you? The MC seems to be a tad arrogant, but not stupid.

[x] Inform Keine discreetly at the first opportunity.
[x] The spies ignorance of his detection is valuable, no matter what their objective.

I agree. Jumping at a totally unknown opponent with no preparation is pretty stupid. We don't have any enemy-specific spells prepared, no buffs up.
I suppose that we could scry the target location, buff up/prepare more spells as appropriate, and THEN teleport over, but that is giving our potential opponent a long time to react. Also, it's a lot of daily resources to spend on trying to tackle a potential problem solo entirely for our ego's sake.
Instead, we should take a route that uses our allies to help, and uses the minimum of resources.

>>124956
>>124955
What? We have a plan. Dominate Monster. One cast of that and we will have absolute control over her for TWO AND A HALF WEEKS (we're level 17, right?).

Hell, if even that doesn't work we could always teleport away and regroup.

>>124957
Oh, great. So we cast a spell on our opponent and hope she has no mind spell protection, hope that she doesn't shrug off the spell due to SR, hope she fails her will save. And that's assuming that she doesn't realize we have caught on (say, by noticing how we happen to leave the room right after the scrying spell starts) and prepares a trap for us to obligingly teleport into.
And if that fails, hope she doesn't try to stop us as we teleport away.

So really, we are banking on luck and/or our opponent being weaker than us in the first place.

Mostly valid points, but I still won't change my vote. After all, Keine showed surprise at our ability to teleport, so I conclude Yukari is the only person known to the rest of Gensokyo who has that ability. Only Yukari herself might expect a teleport.

>>124961
I agree, at base value relying on surprise doesn't work out too well consistently. But in this situation literally nobody in Gensokyo knows what we're capable of.

If suprise is the MC's biggest advantage, what's the point in blowing it in retaliation for a scrying attempt? You are playing right into the scrier's hands by showing them the extent of your power. And I'm pretty sure dominating someone powerful is grounds for getting "resolved". Or worse.

So we basically were prepared to be scryed upon this morning huh? Haven't even finished breakfast and its going to pay off. Talk about foresight. With a hangover no less.

[x] Inform Keine discreetly at the first opportunity.
[x] The spies ignorance of his detection is valuable, no matter what their objective.

This seems...safer.

>>124962
There are just as many unknowns for us about our opponent.
We are teleporting into someone who might want to kill us, who might not know that magic-users can learn to teleport (after all, there are multiple people who have some form of teleportation... Reimu can do that wrap-over screens thing, Daiyousei teleports short distances during her attack pattern, Yukari has gaps, Sakuya might as well be able to teleport, etc), who might be feasibly Dominated, and who might not be surrounded by allies.
If we randomly teleport up to someone who is only curious, we might get into a totally pointless fight... and we will be showing them that we can teleport, thus giving them more information than if we had just sat tight. If we teleport up to someone who isn't surprised that people can teleport, we will have no advantage of surprise. If we teleport up to someone who we can't use Dominate Monster on, we have no way of defending ourselves save running. If we teleport up to someone who has competent allies nearby, we will quickly regret going in with no buffs and no intel.

>>124966
Yes but that's boring.

>>124964

>So we basically were prepared to be scryed upon this morning huh?

Well actually... you weren't. One problem with this character is that, given the literally hundreds of spells in 3.0/3.5, our MC could be infinitely prepared for any situation. Unless I list every one of his 40+ prepared spells at the beginning of every day, (very cumbersome,) we could easily end up with an invincible boring hero.

But,, getting to flex our fa/tg/uy muscle (and the magic hax of the MC) is a big point of this CYOA by intent, so I'm going to be honoring the intent of the write-ins as much as possible. I have to walk a fine line here, but I'll err on the side of awesome.

>>124966
But we're not going there to fight. That's just for the worst case scenario. If we're cordial as fuck we should be fine.

>>124968
I'm the guy who made the spell write in, and that anon has a valid point -- its hard to make a really compelling case why a wizard would prepare Discern Location without already having an idea what he was going to use it on (Detect Scrying is a much lower level spell so its easier to handwave that). If you want to veto some or all of it I won't get buttmad about it.

Under the guise of flirting, we should be able communicate to Keine the situation. Thus we have an excuse to grab DAT ASS. Seriously, we are being served breakfast on the bed. Shouldn't we make the most of it?

>>124969
This is Gensokyo. A lot of the time, a person's first reaction to something sudden and potentially dangerous happening will be "danmaku the fuck out of it". We might not get a chance to be polite, unless we purposefully set things up so as to not surprise the scryer.

>>124970

I'm very glad to hear that, but I don't want to discourage you from your savvy write-ins. They keep things moving, which is important.

>>124973
>“Shapechange, then.”

I think we'll be fine. Worst worst worst case we can always turn into a dragon or something.

>>124975

Yes, let's turn ourselves into a GOD. Wonderful idea, that won't cause any heads to turn or attract any attention.

Chill out guys

>>124976
A god, you say?
Okay, we need to get our familiar here or make a new one, and shapechange into a Sarrukh...

>>124976

You can't abuse Shapechange to grant yourself Divine Ranks.

Western dragons don't look anything like Eastern dragons, and people haven't started freaking out about the one we slew by crashing an airship into and then left its corpse in a field. You'll still be terrifying, but then that's what you want if you're shapeshifting into a dragon.

If we do decide to confront our spying friend, maybe split the action into two parts, first Scry/Locate then ask Keine if she knows anything about this suspicious purple-haired/blonde that you have located.

If it's Yukari, well, fuck, she's going to come screw with us sooner or later anyway. If it's Patchouli, at least there's some time to plan -- oh fuck Sakuya appeared out of nowhere but at least you're not fighting on her turf. Heck, it could be Marisa spying on behalf of Aya, which might be even WORSE because Aya.

Mostly I don't want to teleport into who knows ville because Cirno and Keine are awesome and jumping into a fight without knowing everything there is to know about an enemy just seems, well, un-wizard like.

[x] Inform Keine discreetly at the first opportunity.
[x] The spies ignorance of his detection is valuable, no matter what their objective.

You guys are dumb, just saying.

[x] Inform Keine discreetly at the first opportunity.
[x] The spies ignorance of his detection is valuable, no matter what their objective.

Possibly with >>124972's methods.

>so you may suggest 3 7th level spells, 2 8th level spells, and a ninth-level spell, if you so wish

What about a 6th level spell? Or maybe a Metamagiced 6th level spell?

Anyway we need Issac's Greater Missile Storm.

As for some level 8 spells, how about Maze and Bigbsy's clenching fist, or Prismatic Wall

>>124953
I don't like this write in. Why? Because it uses 4/6 spells we prepared for the day god dammit!

I do apologize if I'm wrong though, as I never played whatever 3.5E magic is.

>>124993
>3 7th level spells, 2 8th level spells, and a ninth-level spell
>look up Wizard 17, aka lowest level for straight Wizard 9th spell level
>1 9th level slot per day, 2 8th, 3 7th
>lines up perfectly with what Demetrious said
>take peek at bonus spell chart

WizardMC has 22 or 23 int, giving him 6 cantrips, 6 first level spells, six second level spells, and five third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, in addition to the 3 7th, 2 8th, and 1 9th. While we aren't going to be machinegunning anything past 6th level spells, the MC DOES have a ton of ammo at his disposal, with potentially limitless power given our ability to dive into splatbooks, the availability of in-story time. and Demetrious' willingness to essentially have Batman in Wizard form.

[x] >>124989

[X] Cast "Detect Scrying" to find out who it is.
[X] Cast Discern Location to find out exactly where she is.
[X] Cast Greater Teleport to teleport to her.
[X] Cordially greet her and introduce yourself.
[X] If shit hits the fan, Dominate Monster.

[x] Inform Keine discreetly at the first opportunity.
[x] The spies ignorance of his detection is valuable, no matter what their objective.

[x] Inform Keine discreetly at the first opportunity.
[x] The spies ignorance of his detection is valuable, no matter what their objective.

>“What the hell do those elephants eat?” you wonder aloud.

>“Elephants?” queries Keine’s voice from somewhere overhead. “What the hell is an elephant?”

>“Ask a dwarf sometime,” you reply to the floor. “Their invective approaches poetic fluidity when that query is put to them. Please give me some water or perhaps a swift death. Help.”

Plenty of D&D players, but no DF? For shame.

[x] Inform Keine discreetly at the first opportunity.
[x] The spies ignorance of his detection is valuable, no matter what their objective.
I hope I didn't vote yet

>>125004
Better elephants than carp.

>>124992

Spells metamagic'ed up to 7th, 8th or 9th are perfectly fine.

>>125008
That'd be subject of a nightmare...

>>125008

Better carp than undead carp.

>>125019
Better undead carp than slime oozing Titans

>>125020

better slime oozing titans than a horde of cats.

[X] Inform Keine discreetly at the first opportunity. (Won by a narrow margin.)
[X] WIZARD RETALIATION MISSION (saved for future use.)

After a few moments, you conclude there’s nothing you can do. You didn’t prepare Detect Scrying this morning (you had no idea that anybody in Gensokyo was even capable of it,) and you don’t think you have a scroll of it in your chest, either. You can limit the damage, though, if you can let Keine know before she says anything.

Or you could even do something... proactive.

“You sure have an interesting way of studying,” Keine comments. “Study hall at that ‘academy’ of yours must have been, ah, invigorating.”

“Says the woman who uses magical attacks in her lesson plans,” you reply.

Keine acks, her fork clattering onto her tray. “Who told you that!?”

“Cirno might have mentioned it last night,” you reply placidly. Belatedly remembering your wardrobe, you reach up and untie the fucking magical belt from your head. Fantastic thing for the scryer to see; they really caught you at your best. “Giddyap, boy,” you call, and your chest obligingly trots over. You toss the belt inside, and use the pretense to snag a quill and a scrap of parchment, slipping them into the sleeve of your robe.

“Well, I only use spellcards when I’m teaching the youkai, or fairies,” Keine says. “Like Cirno. Only way to get their attention, sometimes.”

Making a mental note to ask what the hell a “spellcard” is, you continue digging into your breakfast It really is quite excellent, magical sensors be damned. You keep on hoping it’ll move off to inspect another room, but it remains right where it is. The temptation to Dispel the fucking thing is tempting, but you’ve got something better quite literally up your sleeve.

“Can’t imagine you having trouble getting attention,” you comment innocently, and Keine elbows you in the ribs. You set your fork down, and let the writing apparatus slip onto the tray. Making sure your other arm blocks the Scrying sensor’s view, you swiftly scribble something in Draconic-

Don’t let on- scrying spell in room. Play along.

“You’d be amazed how a history lecture can make one invisible,” Keine mutters. You turn a little, and slip your hand, with the note, into hers. She turns to look at you in compete surprise. She’s blushing a little, presumably from your comment, and for a long moment her surprised blue eyes look into yours.

You didn’t notice how close she was sitting....
... and then she feels the note in your hand, and takes it, breaking the physical contact. She glances at her palm discreetly.

“I don’t bite, you know,” you say amused, for the benefit of the spying magician.

“It’s just...” Keine says uncertainly, and you get the feeling she’s a little flustered. No matter; she doesn’t have to do much.

“So I was thinking we could go shopping today. I’d like to pick up a few things, starting with some clothes. Think you can show me where the clothing shop is, in town?”

“Uh, sure,” Keine says, playing along as instructed. “I’ve got no problem with it.”

“Around noon, you think?”

”Sounds fine,” Keine says.

You nod, and make innocuous small talk for a few minutes until you sense the magical sensor disappear. You give it another long minute to make sure, then slam your fist into the mattress firmly.

“It’s gone,” you say.

Keine’s reaction is immediate. “GOOD! Oh, gods-damned bastard! Who was it? You have any idea?” Clearly your benefactor is furious at the violation of her privacy.

You shrug. “No idea,” you apologize. “There’s a spell that’d let me know, but I didn’t prepare it today. I’ll be ready tomorrow, though.”

“Damn!” Keine declares, and sets her tray aside, on the bed. “Of all the- the- that whore! How did you know?”

“Not the first time it’s happened to me,” you say casually, consolidating the dirty dishes onto one tray. “If you know what to look for, and have worked with magic a while, spotting the magical sensor is easy. Easier if you’re smart, and I’m pretty damn smart.”

Keine looks at you with poorly-concealed skepticism, and you imagine her replaying your actions in Gensokyo, starting with I AM ZUUL and ending with getting plastered with her liquor.

“I’ve also done a lot of scrying myself,” you add hastily.

“You spy on people?” she asks dubiously.

“Not people, usually, just places,” you clarify. “So I can see what I’m jumping into. Or even, so I can jump in. That instant transport spell I used earlier? You need a clear image or description of the destination for it to work. Scry can do that for you. Common tactic, they call it a ‘scry-and-die.’ Scry your foe, teleport in and whomp his ass.”

“Wait, could they do that now!?”

“Relax, toots,” you say, carrying the dishes to the kitchen with Keine following. “I wasn’t expecting scrying, but I’ve got more then enough firecrackers ready today.”

“Mmmhmm,” Keine says, muted, and takes a teapot off the stove, pouring a cup for each of you. “It’s just so... unsettling, knowing somebody out there can spy on me at any time.”

“I sure hope they try,” you say, smirking. “If my style of magic is really that under-represented here, then our mysterious spy probably hasn’t learned the first bitter lesson of scrying.”

“And that is?”

“Scry-and-die works even better in reverse,” you say, smirking wickedly. “You see, there’s a spell that detects scrying attempts, and can even give you a mental picture of your eavesdropper, but it requires overcoming their own spell and turning it against them. There’s many spells to shield yourself from scrying attempts; and the only one that can overcome them easily requires the caster to know what they’re looking for. So most casters turn themselves into a wombat or something so even if their spell is wrested from them, their victim gets no information they can use to retaliate.”

You take a sip of your tea. To your surprise, it’s quite excellent. “Except, no matter what, casting Scry leaves a magical trail from the subject right back to the caster, and there’s no way to obfuscate that. If you turn the spell on them, you’ll always know their direction and rough distance...”

“... and Gensokyo isn’t very big, comparatively,” Keine finishes.

“Ayup.” You sip your tea. “And there’s only so many culprits. No matter what, if they try it again I’ll be all over them like gay on an elf.”

“What the hell is an elf?”

“Remember what I said about elephants?”

Keine shakes her head, letting the question go. "So, wait, what was all that about playing along? And shopping?"

“Well,” you say, pouring yourself more tea, “now our spy thinks we’ll be at the clothing shop at noon.”

“... you set her up?”

“Indeed. Now we just need to decide between laying a trap or simply being absent from expected locales.”


“Hmm.” Keine says. She swirls her tea around her cup pensively for a long, silent minute. “Pretty good act... with the note and everything.” She laughs. “Flirting so it’d look natural when you slipped it in my hand. Pretty clever.”

[ ] “I’m just glad I got you the damn note before you headbutted me for being fresh.”
[ ] “Well I could’ve dropped it on your tray, but it was fun watching you blush.”
[ ] “Good thing you sat next to me on the bed; it would have been impossible otherwise.”
[ ] "Wait, Act?"

[X] “I’m just glad I got you the damn note before you headbutted me for being fresh.”

Christ, only a second update in this thread and already it's 1/5 of the way to 250. Damn, this thread has... A LOT OF DISCUSSION!

[ ] “I’m just glad I got you the damn note before you headbutted me for being fresh.”
[ ] “Well I could’ve dropped it on your tray, but it was fun watching you blush.”
[ ] “Good thing you sat next to me on the bed; it would have been impossible otherwise.”
[ ] "Wait, Act?"

Logic dictates that the whole set feels like they'd work as one longer answer if you tweak them a bit.

Honesty says it's just me being selfish. Conjure us a wall of text?

[X] "Wait, Act?"
KEINEKEINEKEINEKEINEKEINEKEINEKEINEKEINEKEINE

[X] “I’m just glad I got you the damn note before you headbutted me for being fresh.”
I guess that +6 intelligence really pays off.

[X] “I’m just glad I got you the damn note before you headbutted me for being fresh.”

[x] “Good thing you sat next to me on the bed; it would have been impossible otherwise. ”

[X] “I’m just glad I got you the damn note before you headbutted me for being fresh.”

[X] “Good thing you sat next to me on the bed; it would have been impossible otherwise.”

Why stop flirting now?

[x] “Well I could’ve dropped it on your tray, but it was fun watching you blush.”

[ ] “I’m just glad I got you the damn note before you headbutted me for being fresh.”
[ ] “Well I could’ve dropped it on your tray, but it was fun watching you blush.”
[ ] “Good thing you sat next to me on the bed; it would have been impossible otherwise.”
[ ] "Wait, Act?"

[X] “Good thing you sat next to me on the bed; it would have been impossible otherwise.”

looking at the votes, this might just end up as another AGGROPEASE
...which is not a bad thing in the least.

[X] "Wait, Act?"

[x] >>125040

[x] “Well I could’ve dropped it on your tray, but it was fun watching you blush.”

Cute.

[x] All of the above

[x] “I’m just glad I got you the damn note before you headbutted me for being fresh.”
[x] “Well I could’ve dropped it on your tray, but it was fun watching you blush.”
[x] “Good thing you sat next to me on the bed; it would have been impossible otherwise.”
[x] "Wait, Act?"

[x] "Wait, Act?"

[x] "Wait, Act?"

Out of curiosity, just how old is our protagonist? Or are you leaving it up to the individual reader to decide?

[X] “I’m just glad I got you the damn note before you headbutted me for being fresh.”

>>125027
>all of the above
>conjure us a wall of text

Oh yes. Yes, I would love to. I try not to influence anon's vote, but I'd be quite okay with this.

>>125054

Canonically, twenty-eight or so, though he looks a bit older in his full getup. And yes, that is very young for a 17th-level wizard. It's a clue to the kind of life he's led.

[x] "Wait, act?"
After the headbutt or whatever
[x] Notice Keine's remarks of 'that whore!' and 'set her up?'. Inquiry about our potential opponent(s).

[x] “I’m just glad I got you the damn note before you headbutted me for being fresh.”
[x] “Well I could’ve dropped it on your tray, but it was fun watching you blush.”
[x] “Good thing you sat next to me on the bed; it would have been impossible otherwise.”
[x] "Wait, Act?"
Hey if the writer says it's fine...

[x] “I’m just glad I got you the damn note before you headbutted me for being fresh.”
[x] “Well I could’ve dropped it on your tray, but it was fun watching you blush.”
[x] “Good thing you sat next to me on the bed; it would have been impossible otherwise.”
[x] "Wait, Act?"

Screw the taboo! This story is the time.

[x] All of the above

>>125059

What he said.

[x] “I’m just glad I got you the damn note before you headbutted me for being fresh.”
[x] “Well I could’ve dropped it on your tray, but it was fun watching you blush.”
[x] “Good thing you sat next to me on the bed; it would have been impossible otherwise.”
[x] "Wait, Act?"

Wall me.

[x] “I’m just glad I got you the damn note before you headbutted me for being fresh.”
[x] “Well I could’ve dropped it on your tray, but it was fun watching you blush.”
[x] “Good thing you sat next to me on the bed; it would have been impossible otherwise.”
[x] "Wait, Act?"

Wall incoming? Count me in!

[x] “I’m just glad I got you the damn note before you headbutted me for being fresh.”
[x] “Well I could’ve dropped it on your tray, but it was fun watching you blush.”
[x] “Good thing you sat next to me on the bed; it would have been impossible otherwise.”
[x] "Wait, Act?"

Wall time!

[x] “I’m just glad I got you the damn note before you headbutted me for being fresh.”
[x] “Well I could’ve dropped it on your tray, but it was fun watching you blush.”
[x] “Good thing you sat next to me on the bed; it would have been impossible otherwise.”
[x] "Wait, Act?"

Tally-ho, bandwagon!

[x] All of the above

This story just continues to improve, or else maintain its already high standards. You've done a brilliant job, Demetrious.

>>125079
Same. I really like the characters, despite the fact that we've only seen a few. I especially like that Cirno is childish instead of retarded.

[x] “I’m just glad I got you the damn note before you headbutted me for being fresh.”
[x] “Well I could’ve dropped it on your tray, but it was fun watching you blush.”
[x] “Good thing you sat next to me on the bed; it would have been impossible otherwise.”
[x] "Wait, Act?"

[x] “I’m just glad I got you the damn note before you headbutted me for being fresh.”
[x] “Well I could’ve dropped it on your tray, but it was fun watching you blush.”
[x] “Good thing you sat next to me on the bed; it would have been impossible otherwise.”
[x] "Wait, Act?"

>>125082
Well put. I don't like retarded Cirno either.

[X] WALL’O’TEXT

“What act?” you reply automatically, the intellectual prowess you were bragging about a moment go abandoning you completely.

Keine stares at you, wide-eyed, for two long heartbeats.

“Ohrightthat,” you blurt out. “Yeah! Yeah. I’m just glad I got you the damn note before you headbutted me for being fresh.”

She blinks, then shakes her head, smiling a little. “Against your skull? Marginally effective. I would have broken a few fingers, instead.”

“What uncharacteristic restraint from the spellcard educator.”

“Ha!” Keine objects, hands on hips in mock affront. “Says Zuul, the soaring drunk witch beater!”

“I was thinking on my feet!” you protest weakly.

“I’m not sure I’d call it thinking,” she says dubiously, pouring you both some more tea. “I’ve seen village children come up with more creative ways of passing notes in my classes.”

“Yeah, I know all the tricks from the Academy, I was just never good at ‘em. Do they fold notes up real tight and slide them along the floor?”

”They do. I can identify the skitter of folded missives from a mile off, now,” Keine says, chuckling.

“A fine example. The first and last time I tried it, I overshot and put the note right under the head mage’s foot.” You shake your head slowly at the memory. “Honestly, it’s a good thing you sat next to me on the bed; I’d never have slipped it to you otherwise.”

“Buh-” Keine tries suddenly, then closes her mouth. “The table. I mean, I know the- your knees hurt, kneeling at the table. So I sat. On the bed.” She closes her mouth, lips pressed shut tightly. Her cheeks are starting to flush again.

“Right,” you reply awkwardly. “I knew that.” You decide to shut the fuck up and drink your tea.

Keine turns to the kitchen counter behind her and begins stacking the breakfast dishes in the sink. She turns the tap on. “Guess I should have expected it,” she says, her voice normal again. “You’re always playing it fast and loose. I guess I’m lucky you didn’t set the bed on fire to make a smokescreen.”

You simply can’t resist going for the kill. “Well, I could have dropped the note on your tray, but it was too much fun watching you blush.”

Keine doesn’t turn from the sink. “I didn’t blush,” she says in slightly strained tones. You crane your head a little to get a look at her cheeks.

“Don’t look now~” you singsong lightly, and dance away as she swipes at you backhand.

“I’m not!”

“She is,” Cirno confirms from the doorway, still rubbing sleep from her eyes.

“Cirno!” Keine hisses from the side of her mouth. You beam at the little fairy in delight.

“Yesterday he was checking out your-”

“-bitch I will slay you,” you swiftly interject in strained, level Sylvan.

Keine looks sidelong at Cirno, still keeping her flushed face turned away from you. “What? What’d he say?”

Your cold eyes bore into Cirno.

“Good morning?” she tries.

“Oh... what were you saying?”

Your jaw muscles tense slightly as Cirno cuts her gaze at you.

“...books?” she says, in the most insincere tone she can manage. Your glare heats up, and the hints of a smile play at the corners of Cirno’s mouth. Damn it. That pint-sized popsicle’s got your number now, all right.

“Right,” Keine says dubiously.

“Right, so, I must perform my morning ablutions,” you say.

“Sure, I’ll make Cirno breakfast,” Keine says, daring to turn to address you face-to-face. Her cheeks are still a little pink. “And I was only blushing because you embarrassed me!” She scolds you with a waving spatula. “Just because you’re shameless doesn’t mean I am!”

“I’m still funny, right?”

“Funny looking,” she says, smiling. “Now shoo.”

You shoo. Stepping out the back door, you trot to the nearby bath-house and wash up. The bathhouse has running water, like the kitchen. It’s odd, this juxtaposition of expensive magical conveniences- the coldbox in the kitchen, running water- with the inconvenience of mundane design.

When you’re done, you step outside, towards the outhouse, and stop abruptly. You slowly pan around, examining the entire area.

“Okay. That's weird.”

You swiftly step back inside the house and run to the kitchen, where Cirno is sitting on the counter happily wolfing down breakfast while Keine puts on more tea.

”Hey, Keine.”

“Yes?”

“There’s a slight issue outside. By which I mean your house is fucking surrounded by ghosts.”

“WHAT!?” she cries, sprinting to the door and opening it a crack. She peeks outside, and swiftly shuts it.

“Uh, yeah, ghosts. Everywhere. What.” Keine says disjointedly.

How shall we start the day?

[ ] Query the spirit visitors for their purpose.
[ ] Well, they’re just hanging out. Wait and see what they do.
[ ] I wanna cast... Magic Missile... (AGGRESS)
[ ] Casually exit the house.
[ ] Dynamically exit the house.

Also, I'm glad anon likes the story so much. I'm very surprised by the response it's gotten. This last update should have been last night's update (I try to update every night,) so I'll be updating again late tonight.

[X] Dynamically exit the house.
[X] Query the spirits as to the status of their prostitute mothers

[X] Dynamically exit the house.
[X] Query the spirits as to the status of their prostitute mothers

>>125124, you sir are a gentleman and a scholar, as is anyone who supports this vote. My monocle says so.

[x] Dynamically exit the house.
[x] Query the spirits as to the status of their prostitute mothers

[x] Query the spirit visitors for their purpose.

[X] Dynamically exit the house.
[X] Query the spirits as to the status of their prostitute mothers

DYNAMIC ENTRerr EXIT..try...!

[x] Dynamically exit the house.
[x] Query the spirits as to the status of their prostitute mothers

Keine route is go?

[x] Dynamically exit the house.
[x] Query the spirits as to the status of their prostitute mothers

ZOMBI GOASTS LEAVE THIS PLACE

[X] Dynamically exit the house.
[X] Query the spirits as to the status of their prostitute mothers

>>125130

BUT THIS IS OUR KEINE'S HOUSE

[x] Dynamically exit the house.
[x] Query the spirits as to the status of their prostitute mothers

I ain't afraid of no ghost!

And damn it Youmu you’ve been slacking again haven’t you!

[X] Dynamically exit the house.

The ghosts probably can't remember their mothers, making the taunt ineffective. Otherwise I'd be all for it.

[X] Dynamically exit the house.
[X] Query the spirits as to the status of their prostitute mothers.

Oh, god. This option.

>“You’re always playing it fast and loose. I guess I’m lucky you didn’t set the bed on fire to make a smokescreen.”

That is funny.

[x] Dynamically exit the house.
[x] Query the spirits as to the status of their prostitute mothers

In before the ghosts are th Prismiver and/or Yuyu&Youyou

[X] Dynamically exit the house.
[X] Query the spirits as to the status of their prostitute mothers.

>>125130
>>125132

I giggled. I'd vote, but I think we know what won at this point, and I'm not into those whole tidepissen gaems.

[V] Query the spirit as to the status of their prostitute mothers
[C] Well, they’re just hanging out. Wait and see what they do.

How 'bout this?

[X] Dynamically exit the house.
[X] Query the spirits as to the status of their prostitute mothers

Fuck, we should have taken some levels in Cleric.

[x] Dynamically exit the house.
[x] Query the spirits as to the status of their prostitute mothers

>>125147
Not sure I want to risk exploding Myon and killing Youmu in the process...

>>125147
You never split your caster levels like that. Prepare a few anti-undead spells if you see the need. I think there's a prestige class that gives you undead turning based on arcane caster level, too.

>Keine stares at you, wide-eyed, for two long heartbeats.
>“The table. I mean, I know the- your knees hurt, kneeling at the table. So I sat. On the bed.” She closes her mouth, lips pressed shut tightly. Her cheeks are starting to flush again.

I have no regrets, this is my only path.

>>125156

My whole life was Unlimited Keine works.

>>125156
If this is the only one path, why are there three routes?

>>125158
He said, this is MY only path. Per example, I'm more of a Marisa guy myself. Although I can't complain at the current situation.
Also:
>“There’s a slight issue outside. By which I mean your house is fucking surrounded by ghosts.”
Pure gold.

[x] Query

[X] Well, they’re just hanging out. Wait and see what they do.

Sup, ghosts?

[X] Dynamically exit the house.
[X] Query the spirits as to the status of their prostitute mothers.


“Yeah, everywhere. Maybe you should put some sage down with the weed killer next time,” you say, peering out at the specter-covered lawn. Unfortunately there’s not much you can conclude simply from their appearance; all your dealings with such entities has taught you that their visual manifestations are a crapshoot.

You have learned, however, that they’re best not trifled with.

“Can you handle them?” Keine asks.

“No way to tell,” you say cautiously.

Keine draws a scroll from her pocket, and snaps it open to its full length, a good four feet. She speaks a few mystical words, the scroll glows, and when she pulls the scroll away with her left hand, a sword is revealed gripped in her right.

“Because I’m pretty sure I can handle them,” Keine says firmly.

This must be the Keine the townsfolk know, the guardian of the village. “You can never guess how strong they are,” you caution. “Depends on what they were like in life. And with this many...”

Cirno stumbles out of the kitchen, finishing up a piece of toast, and says something in Japanese. She must have left her hat in the kitchen.

“God damn it.” Ghosts be damned, you take a moment to storm over to your chest, and dump your various accouterments into your magic pocket. Keeping the Extend Spell rod in your hand, you cast the Tounges spell you prepared earlier. “Okay, Cirno. What’d you say?”

“Just asked what’s going on,” she repeats. As soon as she’s spoken, a ghost phases through the wall beside her.

“Eeeaaah!” she exclaims, leaping backwards in alarm and falling flat on her ass. She scrambles backwards into the kitchen.

“Something strange in the neighborhood,” you reply dryly as another specter floats through the sidewall. Cirno screams as the first spook advances on her, cornering her in the kitchen. Raising her hands, she sends a blast of ice shards and freezing air at the apparition so potent you can feel the ambient temperature drop on your side of the room. The ghost doesn’t waver, but the sheer energy gives it pause.

Keine nimbly springs forward, out of the reach of the second ghost, and bisects Cirno’s aggressor with a neat vertical slash. It wavers and seems to disappear.

“Hey,” Keine says to you, “I was thinking- want to get the fuck out of the house?”

“Abscond with alacrity? What an excellent suggestion,” you reply, and rip a scroll of Magic Weapon out of your pocket. Laying hold of the dining table, you cast the spell on it as Keine deals with the second ghost. You heft the enchanted table with all of your enhanced strength, and carry it to the front door. Two more specters float in with casual torpidity.

“CIRNO!” you bellow in Japanese. “WE ARE LEAVING!”

“My hat!” Cirno declares belatedly, dashing into the kitchen and emerging with Keine’s spare hat clutched tightly in her hands. More ghosts are crowding in from all directions, and Keine is backing up to you with her sword held in a low guard.

“If you’re going to do something, do it now,” she says tersely. “Or I will. And please don’t trash my house.”

“Righto,” you say, and open the front door. The lawn is absolutely lousy with spooks; twice as many as when you first looked. You forcibly hurl the table over the lawn, some of the spirits flinching and bouncing away from it a distance, like helium balloons lightly tapped. The force effect usually used to enhance sword blades isn’t terribly effective on them, however, and some spirits let the table pass through with no ill effect. Trusting your hand forth, you cast Magic Missile.

“SKIDDLYBOP-BADOW!” you roar, and a torrent of glowing missiles of pure force dart forth, knocking down or vaporizing several ghosts standing too close for comfort. “Come on!” you call to your companions, and rush through the narrow corridor you’ve created to stand on the center of Keine’s lawn.

“What now?” Cirno cries, twirling around in alarm at the pack of ghosts slowly closing.

”Up!” Keine declares without hesitation, latching onto your wrist and hoisting you airborne, with Cirno close behind. As you expected, the ghosts simply begin to rise after you in lazy pursuit.

Looking down, you take careful aim- and cast. A small glowing bead of light streaks from your open palm, strikes the ground in the middle of the horde of ghosts, and detonates. A wall of flame whoompfs outwards, a strange eldritch purple tinting the angry orange of the flames. Your pursuers writhe for a moment, and then there’s nothing but a burning tree and smoldering grass.

“EAT IT, YOU ECTOPLASMIC SLIME-SUCKING GOASTS!” you cackle gleefully. “Your mommas still servicing bearded devils for five coppers a pop? Lemme know when you get back from HELL!”

As you gain altitude, you see more ghosts from outside the blast radius, as well as ones from the back and side yards converging on the house; but you seem to have gained enough distance to escape their lethargic attention.

After a few minutes, you and your companions land near a cornfield on the outskirts of town. You flex your arm a little to get out the soreness of dangling by one appendage.

Keine’s sword has somehow disappeared. She huffs with relief and slumps to the ground. “By the Dragon... what the hell was that?”

“A ton of ghosts!” Cirno offers helpfully. The brim of the big hat on the little fairy forces her to tilt her head back to see anybody; it looks like she jammed it on tightly to keep it secure in mid-air.

“No shit,” Keine replies with uncharacteristic brevity. “And you,” she says, looking up at you. “What was that?”

“Yeah,” Cirno says. “My ice magic didn’t work so well, how did your fire do it?”

“Transdimensional fireball,” you reply casually, brushing off a little invisible dirt from the sleeve of your robe. “Scorching dipshits both incorporeal and tangible.”

“Actually, I was referring to the “ectoplasmic slime-sucking goasts” Keine says sardonically.

“Psychological warfare. Don’t knock it.”

Keine smiles at you. “Well, I just got driven out of house and home, but even if I won’t have dinner, it’s nice to have a show.” She sighs and rubs her forehead miserably. “Still, what the hell are we supposed to do now? Where will we sleep, with my place owned by crazy ghosts?”

“You won’t be sleeping outdoors, trust me,” you reassure her. Looking at the sky, you guesstimate the time by the sun. “Until then... we’ve a few hours till noon. We could still keep that appointment with our mysterious spy, if you want.”

[ ] Let’s lay in wait for them near the house. They’re likely to visit to snoop or ambush, and if the ghosts are still there it’ll be amusing to watch.
[ ] Let’s go to the clothing shop. They’ll probably be staking it out, and it’s safer to confront them in public on neutral ground.
[ ] Forget that, let’s find somebody who can shed light on this whole “dead rising” bullshit post-haste.

>“Psychological warfare. Don’t knock it.

MY ASS.


[x] Forget that, let’s find somebody who can shed light on this whole “dead rising” bullshit post-haste.

I guess it's a little OOC to ask for help, but it's still better than randomly summonning spell around, like a jackass.


Pic unrelated, the original was too large.

>“Something strange in the neighborhood,”
oh god i laughed.
[x] Forget that, let’s find somebody who can shed light on this whole “dead rising” bullshit post-haste.
To the Netherworld!

>“CIRNO!” you bellow in Japanese. “WE ARE LEAVING!”

pic related

[x] Let’s go to the clothing shop. They’ll probably be staking it out, and it’s safer to confront them in public on neutral ground.

Nice to get some new duds before you confront your ghastly antagonist.

[x] Forget that, let’s find somebody who can shed light on this whole “dead rising” bullshit post-haste
Heh

[x] Let’s go to the clothing shop. They’ll probably be staking it out, and it’s safer to confront them in public on neutral ground.

[x]>>125186

[x] Let’s go to the clothing shop. They’ll probably be staking it out, and it’s safer to confront them in public on neutral ground.

[x] Let’s go to the clothing shop. They’ll probably be staking it out, and it’s safer to confront them in public on neutral ground.

now I'm curious, what was up with that sword?

[x] Forget that, let’s find somebody who can shed light on this whole “dead rising” bullshit post-haste

It seems like a bit of an aside to deal with the clothing shop appointment, when we have a house infested with goasts. The latter seems to be the more pressing issue right now, even without the metagaming standpoint. The clothing store thing can stand to be delayed or cancelled with little consequence, while the ghost thing is kind of a major problem that should be dealt with quickly, particularly since no one knows if they intend to attack the rest of the village or do something else just as troublesome. Keine should be aggravated that we even suggested buying clothes just after escaping such a direct invasion on her home.

>>125197

Because some of her spell cards involve the Imperial Regalia of Japan:

Land Sign 「Three Sacred Treasures - Sword」
Land Sign 「Three Sacred Treasures - Orb」
Land Sign 「Three Sacred Treasures - Mirror」

As a result she's often depicted with these objects, especially the sword.

>>125200
So that sword is the Ame no Murakumo of the Kushinada legend? Hell yes.

[x] Forget that, let’s find somebody who can shed light on this whole “dead rising” bullshit post-haste

>>125201

Debatable. Kourin canonically has the genuine Kusanagi in his care, reconstructed from shards that he fortunately swindled from Marisa before she could recognize them. The nature of his power proves that he has the real deal.

Keine, on the other hand, summons the sword during one of her spell cards. Presumably it just reflects her ability to handle history - she draws the other two imperial treasures as well. You might be able to claim that she's summoning the actual Kusanagi, especially since her version of the sword more accurately reflects its original shape than the one Kourin has, but given that she only draws it for her spell cards, it seems more likely to be a reproduction based on the historical data of Kusanagi.

Basically, Kourin has the real Kusanagi apparently reconstructed as a katana, and Keine has either some sort of temporally displaced original, or a copy.

[x] Forget that, let’s find somebody who can shed light on this whole “dead rising” bullshit post-haste

[x] Let’s go to the clothing shop. They’ll probably be staking it out, and it’s safer to confront them in public on neutral ground.

[x] Let’s go to the clothing shop. They’ll probably be staking it out, and it’s safer to confront them in public on neutral ground.

[X] Let’s go to the clothing shop. They’ll probably be staking it out, and it’s safer to confront them in public on neutral ground.

[x] Forget that, let’s find somebody who can shed light on this whole “dead rising” bullshit post-haste

[x] Forget that, let’s find somebody who can shed light on this whole “dead rising” bullshit post-haste

>Keine draws a scroll from her pocket, and snaps it open to its full length, a good four feet. She speaks a few mystical words, the scroll glows, and when she pulls the scroll away with her left hand, a sword is revealed gripped in her right.

That's it, I'm going full Keinefag now.

>Basically, Kourin has the real Kusanagi apparently reconstructed as a katana, and Keine has either some sort of temporally displaced original, or a copy.

Right, well, to be safe, nobody disjunction the sword.

It could be bad.

[x] Let’s go to the clothing shop. They’ll probably be staking it out, and it’s safer to confront them in public on neutral ground.

[x] Forget that, let’s find somebody who can shed light on this whole “dead rising” bullshit post-haste

Drrr forgot my comment, but yeah seriously umm why would be go shopping when we're in the middle of a mass haunting? Unless we have the attention span of a two year old.

>>125227
Disjunction spells- the only guaranteed way to screw up EVERYBODY's day when artifacts are FUCKING EVERYWHERE.

[X] Let’s go to the clothing shop. They’ll probably be staking it out, and it’s safer to confront them in public on neutral ground.

We have an appointment, and I shan't be missing it for ghost-busting , it can wait. Besides, to properly bust ghosts, we need a vacuum, and I don't believe we have one.

>>125203
I thought Marisa gave it to him after he pointed it out in the pile of junk in her house. Kourin's sword may have warped properties due to being in a pile of magical stuff while Keine's seem to be a summoned historical rendition.

>>125234

Eh, looks like it was somewhere between. What he actually noticed was a beat-up sword made of hihi'irokane in her huge collection of ordinary iron scraps, but he asked for the entire pile of scrap in payment for modifying her miniature hakkero. I misremembered that, sorry.

Either way, something is up with the sword since it isn't the right shape. It was stored with normal items, but... eh, if it can get as battered as it did, it wouldn't shock me if it could break. It's probably been reforged at least once.

>>125230
MC and Keine discussed clothes shopping while the scrier was watching, and we're using that to lure them out.

>>125247

Yes see I did read the story, but this was you know before the entire area was infested with the spirits of the dead which seems a now rather more pressing and immediate issue that should be dealt with first rather then just ignored to suddenly wander off and do something entirely different.

>>125230
>Drrr forgot my comment, but yeah seriously umm why would be go shopping when we're in the middle of a mass haunting? Unless we have the attention span of a two year old.

It's called taking things in stride. You're not Reimu; if you freak because of every little incident, you're going to blow all your spells and probably develop high-blood pressure. Those ghosts aren't going anywhere, and we have the number of the guy responsible. Scrying you, then summoning a hoard of ghosts into the household of the eminently capable guardian of the village? Yuyuko/Mima/whoever is likely to get off on any hasty action on your part. Have faith in your own economy with magic and at the end of the day, she'll be the one caught exhausted with her pants down.

And as far as attention span is concerned, you imbibed Dwarven ale last night and rode an animated chest of holding through the town square with an ice fairy in tow, because you were bored. So yeah.

>>125250
Spies are more important than ghosts.

>>125237
Things that Marisa's gathered... normal? Sounds unlikely.

>>125230
What >>125251 said. Also:

>Drrr forgot my comment, but yeah seriously umm
Can you please not write like this? You sound like a preteen valley girl.

>>125251
>Those ghosts aren't going anywhere
We don't know that. For all we know, they intend to attack the rest of the village. We can't stand idly by and go off to waste time buying clothes, especially with the reputation of the village protector at stake.

>and we have the number of the guy responsible. Scrying you, then summoning a hoard of ghosts into the household of the eminently capable guardian of the village?
We don't know that. They could be two completely separate incidents, and it's not logical to group them together with what we know about either situation: nothing. The ghost invasion comes first, because it is a risk for everyone in the village. The clothing store thing is just a risk for us, and I'd wager that Keine would rather focus on protecting her fellow townspeople from the immediate threat of undead creepers than counter-spy on someone who might not even appear anyway.

>>125255

She says as much. From the way they talk about the collection, it's something she started when she was just a child, probably before she ever developed any interest in magic. She doesn't even intend to use the scrap for anything - she says outright that collecting it is the purpose before using it, and calls it her "iron scrap treasure," so she probably doesn't even care whether it does anything.

Basically, it's just Marisa being a magpie.

>>125269
>We can't stand idly by and go off to waste time buying clothes

Why the fuck not? You're a 17th-level mage. You can do pretty much whatever you want.

>especially with the reputation of the village protector at stake.

Being seen in the company of an outsider who tore through the village last night on a drunken bender I have to think is going to be worse for her reputation than not exhausting herself by busting an endless legion of vaguely malign ghosts. If there was any real risk to her reputation here, she'll just conceal the history of recent events. If she hasn't already.

>We don't know that. They could be two completely separate incidents, and it's not logical to group them together with what we know about either situation: nothing.

Yes, everything may be a coincidence. The events could entirely unrelated. Maybe causality is just the observation of a constant conjunction of impressions across many inferences. Or maybe there's a person in Gensokyo who uses a form of scrying clearly identifiable with proper magic, who is likely to keep tabs on Marisa and hence have observed your altercation, who would be intrigued more than most Touhous by your Outsider magic, and who can control the spirits of the dead. But if you have a more parsimonious explanation than 'it's all a coincidence' please share.

>The ghost invasion comes first, because it is a risk for everyone in the village.

If it's a true risk, Keine is going to take care of it on her own. She's certainly more than capable. But I don't think it is a danger, because despite the large concentration of ectoplasmic entities, they weren't actually doing anything. In Gensokyo, ghosts are typically far less powerful than true ghosts in D&D, which usually have multiple character levels on top of a powerful template. The biggest danger of ghosts in Gensokyo is that 1) they're cold, and 2) in large numbers they can affect your mood (although it's not always a bad thing; Akyu mentions they can be used to treat psychiatric disorders). Think true neutral Allips or Cursed Spirits in a setting where every NPC has PC classes & intrinsic magic abilities.

>The clothing store thing is just a risk for us, and I'd wager that Keine would rather focus on protecting her fellow townspeople from the immediate threat of undead creepers than counter-spy on someone who might not even appear anyway.

She doesn't need her arm twisted in order that she do her job. And she is doing her job, because she's keeping a watchful eye on the biggest danger around: You.

And visiting a clothier is a 'risk'? You think you're going to be ambushed by Raggamoffyns?

>>125269
It should be mentioned that we haven't exactly been dropped into a helpless town here, the average humans of Gensokyo are stronger than the average youkai. And if something really gets going and becomes a problem, Reimu will stamp it out with extreme prejudice.

>>It's called taking things in stride.

"Taking things in stride" does not mean "ignore blindly obvious issues right in front of you and just do something else" That's called willful ignorance and or stupidity.

>>You're not Reimu;

Indeed Reimu actually deals with problems once they directly affect her, but apparently we don’t care enough to do something about them even when the problem has overrun the residence of our main ally whose shown us nothing buy kindness.

>>if you freak because of every little incident, you're going to blow all your spells and probably develop high-blood pressure.

So “current residence overrun by swarm of ghosts” is “a little incident” while “someone magically spies on you for a few minutes” is “OMFG WE MUST INVESTIGATE THIS POST HASTE!” Also who’s “Freaking out” exactly? I was unaware that “go see if anyone has some idea why the hell ghosts are overrunning our house “ counted as “freaking out”.

>>Those ghosts aren't going anywhere,

You have no way of knowing this, at all.

>>and we have the number of the guy responsible.

No we don’t.

You have absolutely zero proof they’re related. Actually logic would seem to say they aren’t because why would the guy spying on you want to force you out of that location? If his goal is gaining information having you stay in a location he knows and can keep and eye on is much more logical. A ghost attack forces you out and sends you who know where making further spying difficult.

If his goal was recon and then an attack then this is a pretty limp wristed ambush the ghosts were vaguely aggressive, but they didn’t exactly rush you with intent to kill.

Now I may talk like a valley girl apparently, but even my feeble intellect seems capable of seeing that the ghost problem is rather more pressing. This ignores that there is no guarantee at all you’d find any trace of the spy at the store. Actually I have to question what exactly the plan was in that regard anyway given you have no idea what you’re even looking for? I doubt the spy would arrive wearing “This guy is totally not a spy” T-shirt or something, or hell why would they go in person? Plus we know they can do remote viewing they could easily just use another spell and you still learn jack all.

>>Scrying you, then summoning a hoard of ghosts into the household of the eminently capable guardian of the village?

Proof that the incidents are related…?

>>Yuyuko/Mima/whoever is likely to get off on any hasty action on your part.

I don’t consider investigating a swarm of ghosts infesting my house “a hasty action” I consider it common fucking sense.

>> Have faith in your own economy with magic and at the end of the day, she'll be the one caught exhausted with her pants down.

Nothing about the option to deal with the ghosts involved “blow them all right fucking now!” It said investigate what caused it, this doesn’t imply some massive use of magic. You’re just twisting it to that in order to try and make it seems unreasonable.

>> And as far as attention span is concerned, you imbibed Dwarven ale last night and rode an animated chest of holding through the town square with an ice fairy in tow, because you were bored. So yeah.

There’s a rather serious difference see if you can spot it. (Hint: it involves the fact you weren't under attack by mother fucking ghosts)

>>125286
You're right. We have no way of knowing what the ghosts are there for, whether they intend to do harm or actually do much of anything at all. Who sent them, how to get rid of them en mass.

The best lead is that the scryer is perhaps the only person outside of Cirno n' Keine that knows we're at the house.

Why is everyone getting so buttmad ITT?

Why the update rate drops dramatically everytime a story gets popular?

>>125292
My theory is that it's not actually due to popularity, two other factors being the deciders:
1) Writer has a good idea and blows his wad early, not taking into account that writing a CYOA is a marathon, not a 100m race.
2) Writer starts getting second thoughts, gets too self-critical up to the point of crippling his ability to write.
This shit happens to EVERY SINGLE STORY, not just the popular ones. You'd think the writers would have wisened up to this already, but eh.

>>125295
Writer's Kidney Stone is a writer's mortal enemy

[X] Forget that, let’s find somebody who can shed light on the whole “dead rising” bullshit post-haste.


“Actually, I think we should look into these ghosts, first,” Keine says. “I can’t have hostile spirits marauding around my village, and it’s the more immediate threat, anyway.”

“I don’t know about that,” you argue. “First, those ghosts were ambling around like they were drugged; and in my experience hostile spirits have a little more hustle if they’re trying to waste you in the first place. That makes me think something induced them to come after us, specifically. And it’s a little too convenient how the undead boogaloo started not twenty minutes after the scry.”

“Then if they are related,” Keine replies, “looking into the ghost attack should narrow down the possible culprits.”

You ponder that a moment. “Well, this is your home,” you admit. “I’ll defer to your judgment on this one. But how exactly are we going to ‘investigate’ this?”

“We should talk to Youmu!” Cirno interjects. “She’d know!”

“Who’s Youmu?” you ask.

“She’s a HMMPH!” Cirno exclaims as Keine’s hand clamps firmly over her mouth.

“Youmu is a young woman who’s experienced in these matters,” Keine says cheerfully, holding a squirming Cirno quite firmly. “As is her mistress. Especially her mistress. But they’re kind of hard to reach on short notice.”

“How hard?” you ask, raising an eyebrow. “There’s few places a Wizard can’t go.”

“In the netherworld,” Keine says. “The realm of spirits and ghosts.”

“Spirits and ghosts...” you say thoughtfully. “That’d be what I call the ethereal plane... accessing the ethereal plane is child’s play for me, really. I’ve even got a spell ready now that can do it.”

“Well in that case, we can...” Keine’s voice trails off as she notices Cirno mutely pointing upwards. Craning your heads back, all three of you look up to see a small wispy cloud moving through the sky.

“Gods aid us, a cloud,” you say flatly.

Cirno just sighs and whacks you with her hat. “No, dummy, look closer!”

You look.

“... fuck me,” you say. “A pack of ghosts?”

“That’s probably Youmu herself leading them,” Keine says. “Hold on, I’ll try to flag her down.” Without further ado, Keine takes to the air in pursuit of the spirit squadron. You stand, and are watching her climb to altitude when something hard and fast impacts your shin.

“Aauarrgh,” you comment, hopping away from Cirno. “What the hell was that for, dipshit!?”

“You were trying to look up teacher’s dress!” Cirno declares, cocking her foot back for another kick.

“Slander!” you protest, immediately wishing you’d thought of it yourself. “Besides, everybody in town has probably seen it anyway.”

“Teacher isn’t- you take that back!” Cirno objects, hands planted on her hips. “After she feeds you and helps you and-”

“You too,” you observe. “I mean, everybody in this place seems to wear dresses or skirts, and everybody flies everywhere, so...”

Cirno’s angry expression melts away as she considers it.

“You haven’t... flown over anybody recently, have you?” you inquire innocently.

Cirno’s face pales, and her hands automatically pull down on her skirt. “N-no! I always check! Always!”

“Oh dear,” Keine’s voice says from somewhere above you. “What did you say to her now?”

In light of your conversation about dresses and flying, you decide to keep your back turned till Keine lands. “Nothing important,” you say airly. You hear the soft impact of Keine’s feet touching earth, and turn. “Just...”

It’s the girl from your dream. The hair, the green dress, the twin swords at her waist- there’s no mistaking it. She’s standing next to Keine, carrying herself stiffly. She bows slightly to you.

“Hello,” she says. “I am Youmu Konpaku, gardener of Hakugyorou and keeper of the dead. Who might you be?”

You stare into the girls deep blue eyes, and a cold chill grips you as you remember watching the life fade from them, her fragile frame going limp as the last breath ghosted past her lips...

“... Uh, right, sorry,” you say, suddenly realizing you were staring. You give her your name. “Wizard of the seventeenth rank, dragonslayer, et cetera.”

Youmu frowns in confusion. “What is this... ‘et cetera’?” she asks, cocking her head to one side.

“Not important,” you say. “Anyway, Keine said we should seek your counsel. You see-”

“Keine?” Youmu asks, raising an eyebrow and glancing at Keine. “You’re on a first-name basis with Ms. Kamishirasawa?”

“We’re friends,” Keine says firmly.

“But if he’s the dragonslayer,” Youmu says, confused, “then he’s only been here two days.”

Keine bites her lip and grimaces at Youmu. “We were hoping we could seek your counsel,” she says, changing the topic.

“Well I’d love to help,” Youmu says reluctantly, “but I was escorting some ghosts back to the netherworld...”

“Listen, sweetheart,” you interject, the drug-out formalities grating on your nerves, “we just had a pack of spooks try to escort us to the goddamn netherworld, without our bodies, so if you want to do any ghostbusting, you might want to start with them.”

“What!?”

You and Keine briefly sketch out the events of that morning, including the scrying attempt and the odd behavior of the ghosts.

“This is bad,” Youmu says, nervously squeezing the grip of her sword. “I’ve never heard of spirits acting like that, or attacking people in such numbers. We should investigate immediately.”

Keine cuts her eyes towards you and smiles slightly, and you shrug subtly. Okay, okay, you had a point. “Well,” you ask, “where did you plan to start?”

“Well, we could go back to Ms. Kamishirasawa’s house right now, take a look from a distance,” Youmu offers. “Or you could come with me to Hakugyorou and talk to my mistress.”

“Your mistress?” you ask.

“Yes. Ms. Yuyuko Saigyouji. She’s a ghost herself, so-”

“Ghost?” You take a step back. “Your mistress is a spook?”

“Show some respect!” Youmu shouts, thrusting a finger at you. “Ms. Saigyouji is the princess of the netherworld!”

“Princess?” you repeat skeptically. “How can you be ‘Princess’ of the ether?”

“She was made the steward of the netherworld by a death god,” Youmu replies hotly, “and she’s incredibly powerful. She could kill you just by thinking it!” She snaps her fingers to illustrate the brevity.

“Yes, all-powerful,,” you say, rolling your eyes. “That’d explain why packs of crazy homicidal ghosts are wandering freely through Gensokyo.”

“Ha-!” Youmu starts, and bites her lip as her cheeks flush a little. “That’s... that’s not her fault.”

“Because it’s summer, right? Those damn screen doors never latch right, do they?”

“No!” Youmu shouts, taking a step towards you, her fists balled at her sides. “It’s... it’s my job to bring them back to the netherworld. And I haven’t been fast enough.”

“Oh...” you say thoughtfully. “So you’re a ‘Gardner’... a gatherer of souls, then?”

“Uh, no,” Youmu replies, surprised. “I realy am Ms. Saigyouji’s gardener. I maintain the grounds at Hakugyorou.”

You turn to Keine, and address her in Draconic. “So. We’ve got one ghost demigod who can’t fence in her own yard and sends the household help to do the job, and one teenaged gardener who hunts ghosts with swords when she’s not working for one. Top notch. Just who I want backing us up against a horde of bewitched, hostile spirits.”

Keine approaches you and puts a hand on your shoulder. “Youmu is competent,” she says, “though a little prone to hero worship. We need her help.”

You sigh, relenting. “Right, I know I’m being a bit harsh, but-”

“You can’t help it? I’ve noticed,” Keine says, smiling. “Just trust me on this one.”

“Okay.”

“What are you two talking about?” Youmu asks.

“Teacher is telling him to stop being a jerk,” Cirno summarizes, and Youmu smirks a bit.

“Thank you, peanut gallery,” you grumble.

“We’re not really going back to the house, are we?” Cirno asks. “The ghosts might still be there... and what about the spy? It’s getting closer to noon...” The fairy hugs herself tightly, apparently still not over the shock of the close encounter with the ghost in the kitchen.

She’s got a point, you think, but we’re ready and reinforced now, and we might still get a look at the spy if we don’t go running off through the ethereal plane. On the other hand, we could ask an actual ghost while the spooks and the spies have fun murdering each other.

[ ] Return to the house with Youmu so she can witness the spooks, or their handiwork, first-hand.
[ ] Go to Hakugyorou with Youmu and get Yuyuko’s input on the matter first.
[ ] Wait, what the hell is that blobby thing floating behind Youmu?
[ ] Write-in?

>>125295

As a writer, I can confirm that both of those are common causes of story-death. I've got a ton of half-finished stories on my hard drive...

... and that's one reason I'm doing a CYOA with as frequent updates as I can possibly manage, because it forces you to stop over-thinking and just write. I used to read Megatokyo, so I'd rather kill myself then inflict that bullshit on anybody.

>>125291

I don't mind it at all. I'm glad the choices I offer are interesting enough to argue over; my worst fear is offering []Boring Choice []Boring Choice [X]Obviously Best Choice, because then it's CHOO CHOOOO~

[ ] Wait, what the hell is that blobby thing floating behind Youmu?
[ ] Float away from Youmu's view, silently.
[ ] Prestidigitation : draw a face and write 'I kill goasts' on myon

Myon's half-human. I hope that's enough to satisfy the condition for coloring it.

[x] Obviously Best Choice Wait, what the hell is that blobby thing floating behind Youmu?
[x] Float away from Youmu's view, silently.
[x] Prestidigitation: draw a face and write 'I kill goasts' in your mother tongue on Myon
[x] Return to the house with Youmu so she can witness the spooks, or their handiwork, first-hand.

Make sure no one understands the words!

[x] Wait, what the hell is that blobby thing floating behind Youmu?
[x] Return to the house with Youmu so she can witness the spooks, or their handiwork, first-hand.
And now I'm paranoid and terrified of running into the "kill Youmu" choice. Waaaah.

>>125286
You're not wrong, but you do need to chill. And use more commas. But mostly chill.

There are really three possible scenarios here as I see it:

A) Scryer and ghosts are unrelated. This seems like a really implausible coincidence to me, but if it were the case, ghosts trump spy.
B) Scryer attacked us using ghosts with the intent to kill/injure. If this is the case they'll be more cautious now that their first try has failed miserably, and may not try anything at all. Besides, it's doubtful that they were planning on showing up in person at the clothing store anyway.
C) Scryer attacked us using ghosts without the intent to kill/injure, i.e. to disrupt our schedule. This strikes me as an intriguing possibility (around which I have build a crazy, unsupported theory which I don't think I'll share just yet), and seems more likely than A or B to me at the moment.

Still, the question here is between going to the clothing store and setting up a counter-ambush for an attack which may not happen or dealing with clearly defined and solvable problem. The scryer will probably scry again before attacking, so I say we wait for that and take care of more pressing matters now.

[X] Go to Hakugyorou with Youmu and get Yuyuko’s input on the matter first.

>“Gods aid us, a cloud,” you say flatly.

OK, I lol'd.

>“Because it’s summer, right? Those damn screen doors never latch right, do they?”

Twice.

[x] Wait, what the hell is that blobby thing floating behind Youmu?
[x] Split up!
-[x] Keine is more used to dealing with this ghost princess and her servant. She should go with Youmu and diplomatize.
-[x] You (and Cirno) can go solve the actual problems in anticipation of an understanding between Keine and this Saigyouji character. You have your own form of diplomacy for witless clouds of ether and magical hacks who spy on you.

I have full confidence in Keine's ability to effect a mutually acceptable solution, with or without your presence. I also have full confidence that going with her will be a colossal waste of time, entreating with one of Gensokyo's most eminently undead layabouts and then possibly her gap youkai friend and her servants, involving many subtle or not-so-subtle threats, sizing each other up, and so forth. Whereas if it's just Keine alone, it'll be more 'hi, how are you', 'good, would you like an orange', 'no, i would like your ghosts out of my damn house'.

I also think the scrier is likely to act more freely if you're alone, or nearly alone, rather than in the company of the guardian of human village and humans in general. It's pretty obviously you that she's interested in, and not Keine. Unless she's Keine's stalker, in which case you're going to kick her ass anyway.

This may not seem the cleanest or most to-the-point course of action, but it's the solution in which you appear the most to Keine as problem-solver rather than a problem-maker. Think, it's not only the spy whose observation you're under.

>>125308
Oh, and [X] Obviously Best Choice Wait, what the hell is that blobby thing floating behind Youmu?

[x] Go to Hakugyorou with Youmu and get Yuyuko’s input on the matter first.

[x] Wait, what the hell is that blobby thing floating behind Youmu?
[x] Return to the house with Youmu so she can witness the spooks, or their handiwork, first-hand.

Piercing the strikethrough

[x] Wait, what the hell is that blobby thing floating behind Youmu?
[x] Return to the house with Youmu so she can witness the spooks, or their handiwork, first-hand.

My favourite option, yes.

Question: Wish/Resurrection can't revive the undead. So can we only half revive Youmu if she dies (which seems likely)?

This is an important consideration.

>>125317

Half-Ghost is probably one of those odd templates. I'd we wouldn't need to. After all, rejuvenation. Can't always kill a full ghost with even a freakin' Wish, a half-ghost should be revivable, or rejuvenate on their own, if it's only corporeal death, and not something hax.

[X]Split up, Cirno, Keine and Myon head back to the netherworld to talk to Yuyuko, meanwhile MC and Youmu go to check up on the ghosts, and then catch up later.

[x] Return to the house with Youmu so she can witness the spooks, or their handiwork, first-hand.

[x] Return to the house with Youmu so she can witness the spooks, or their handiwork, first-hand.
-[x] Prestidigitation: draw a face and write 'I kill goasts' in your mother tongue on myon that floating thing.

> “So. We’ve got one ghost demigod who can’t fence in her own yard and sends the household help to do the job, and one teenaged gardener who hunts ghosts with swords when she’s not working for one. Top notch. Just who I want backing us up against a horde of bewitched, hostile spirits.”
Sure, it sounds ridiculous when you put it like that

>>125275

>ambushed by Raggamoffyns?

So I just googled that.

Pic related.

[x] Wait, what the hell is that blobby thing floating behind Youmu?
[x] Split up!
-[x] Keine is more used to dealing with this ghost princess and her servant. She should go with Youmu and diplomatize.
-[x] You (and Cirno) can go solve the actual problems in anticipation of an understanding between Keine and this Saigyouji character. You have your own form of diplomacy for witless clouds of ether and magical hacks who spy on you.

I like this option the best.

[X] Wait, what the hell is that blobby thing floating behind Youmu?
-[x] Prestidigitation: draw a face on that floating thing.
[X] Go to Hakugyorou with Youmu and get Yuyuko’s input on the matter first.

[x] Wait, what the hell is that blobby thing floating behind Youmu?
[x] Split up!
-[x] Keine is more used to dealing with this ghost princess and her servant. She should go with Youmu and diplomatize.
-[x] You (and Cirno) can go solve the actual problems in anticipation of an understanding between Keine and this Saigyouji character. You have your own form of diplomacy for witless clouds of ether and magical hacks who spy on you.

>>125320
>Half-Ghost is probably one of those odd templates. I'd we wouldn't need to. After all, rejuvenation. Can't always kill a full ghost with even a freakin' Wish, a half-ghost should be revivable, or rejuvenate on their own, if it's only corporeal death, and not something hax.

There's a half-ghost ('fetch') template in one of the Dragon magazines. The fetch can project a incorporeal, ethereal image while his physical body is in a trance state for an indefinite amount of time (think that bed-bound guy in Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust). Perfect flight. Telekinesis. Immunity to drain & ability damage. Crit resistance. Slow (1/4 normal) aging. Detects as undead of half HD, and is partially vulnerable to turning/rebuke attempts, but they do not have the undead subtype. There is a small chance on death that they arise as a full, undead ghost over time.

TL;DR: The only think you have to worry about resurrecting Youmu is Yuyuko deciding she likes her company better as a full ghost.

[x] Wait, what the hell is that blobby thing floating behind Youmu?
[x] Return to the house with Youmu so she can witness the spooks, or their handiwork, first-hand.

If we avoid Youmu, SHE CAN'T DIE! Brilliant!

>>125340
What if she died because we avoided her.

>avoid Youmu

Monster.

[x] Wait, what the hell is that blobby thing floating behind Youmu?
[x] Return to the house with Youmu so she can witness the spooks, or their handiwork, first-hand.

So a quick count shows 'return to the house' winning with 6 votes, with 4 people voting to split up, letting Keine visit Yuyuko. Would those who voted for returning to the house be okay with the "split-up" option, seeing as they're not mutually exclusive?

>>125357
That's fine with me. I'm >>125304 if you want to consider this to be a vote change.

>>125357

Yeah, sure.

>>125322
Here, I switch to
[x] Wait, what the hell is that blobby thing floating behind Youmu?
[x] Split up!
-[x] Keine is more used to dealing with this ghost princess and her servant. She should go with Youmu and diplomatize.
-[x] You (and Cirno) can go solve the actual problems in anticipation of an understanding between Keine and this Saigyouji character. You have your own form of diplomacy for witless clouds of ether and magical hacks who spy on you.

Alrighty then, splitting up it is!

>>125367

Hooray!

>>125357
No. Splitting up never works.

>>125374

Exception: It does when you're bustin' ghosts.

Keine: "I think we'd better split up."
Youmu: "Good idea."
Wizard: "Yeah... we can do more damage that way."

[X] Split up!
[X] Return to the house with Youmu.
[X] Wait, what the hell is that blobby thing floating behind Youmu?
[X] Graffiti Myon (saved for later.)

“No,” you say to Cirno. “We aren’t going anywhere. Me and Mrs. Coon-poo here-”

“Konpaku,” Youmu corrects you irritably.

“Whatever. We’re going back to the house, and you and Keine are going to talk to the Ghost Princess.”

“Wha-why!?” Cirno objects, stomping her bare foot on the ground.

“I thought you were afraid of the ghosts?”

“I- I ain’t afraid of no ghost!” Cirno says, furrowing her brow as she crosses her arms. “I’m the strongest, dammit!”

Youmu leans over and whispers to you: “She’s afraid of ghosts, so you suggest she go talk to a ghost princess?”

Oh. Right. “Okay, Cirno, you can come with us.” The little fairy nods with finality.

“Are you sure about this?” Keine asks you. “I mean, you’re still pretty new to Gensokyo, and, I mean-”

You raise your right hand. “I solemnly swear not to vaporize, annihilate, or fry anybody who isn’t really asking for it.”

Keine tries to suppress a grin and fails. “Well I was going to put it diplomatically... I suppose it’s too much to hope that you won’t unduly antagonize any powerful people, as well?”

“Too late,” mutters Youmu.

“She said powerful,” you reply airily. “Gardeners are fair game.”

“Keine?” Youmu says in a strained voice.

“Hmm?”

“Don’t take too long.”

She smirks. “I’ll try not too.”

“Uh, one more thing,” Youmu says uncertainly. “How are you going to get into the Netherworld, without me to open the gate? Gods know it isn’t that difficult these days,”- she says this part with a note of irritation- “but it could delay you.”

“I know how get in,” Keine says. “Including a few ways you don’t.”

Youmu regards her with open mystification. “What.”

“Did you forget what my day job is?” Keine asks, winking at her. “I’d better get going. You three stay safe. And you-” she states, thrusting her finger at you, “you stay out of fights.” She turns and takes to the air without further ado.

Cirno glances at you, then at Youmu, who’s still biting her lip and squeezing the handle of her blade, and rolls her eyes.

“Well we’d best be goooaaaAAAST!” you declare, spotting something white and ghosty swirling around Youmu’s feet.

“... what is your damage?” Youmu asks, staring at you. You simply give her a ‘duh’ gesture and point energetically at her feet. From a safe distance.

“Who’s afraid of ghosts now?” Cirno mutters.

“That’s not a ghost,” the blue-eyed girl scolds. “I’m half-phantom.”

You blink.

“Bullshit.”

Youmu nearly chokes. Of all the things she expected you to say, that wasn’t it.

“Listen,” you say. “I’ve seen owlbears. Those would be fucking owls mixed with bears. I’ve seen giant Jello cubes that will eat your ass whole. I’ve seen, and I shit you not, I have seen psychic moles. I’ve seen flail snails, and once, during an incident I’d rather forget, I met a half-dragon, half-troll, lycanthropic fiendish snail!”

You pant with rage as Youmu stares at you, warily gripping her sword hilts.

“And I have never. Ever. Seen a fucking half-phantom. It is manifestly unpossible.”

“Bu-but-”

"That’s your familiar,” you say grimly, slamming the door on the entire absurd affair. “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Now let's get."


*****


Your new trio decides to walk back into town, following Cirno’s surprisingly mature observation that flying folks are easily spotted from a distance. You suspect she’s still upset over your earlier point about flying and skirts, though.

“Has Keine ever met your mistress?” you ask as you sidestep a horse cart trundling down the road.

“I don’t think so, no,” Youmu replies. “They should get along well, though, judging from how she deals with you.”

“How so?”

“Ms. Saigyouji...” she sighs, searching for the right words. “She... shares your sense of humor. To a degree,” she qualifies.

So you’re not the only one who finds Youmu’s serious-business demeanor irresistible. Interesting.

“Honestly, I’m surprised at how she puts up with you,” Youmu remarks. “I don’t get out of Hakugyorou that much, but even I know that Kamishirasawa doesn’t take kindly to rudeness.”

“Hey! I’m...” you trail off as Youmu shoots you a dark look that screams I fucking dare you.

“... okay, got me there,” you admit. “Still. Keine is a stickler for manners?”

“Oh yeah,” Cirno says seriously. “She hates it when people blow past her in the street without at least saying hello, and if you call somebody else in class names- bam!” she exclaims, mimicking a headbutt. “Down you go!”

“Huh,” you wonder. “She doesn’t seem that upset by it with me.”

“Mysteries never cease,” Youmu grumbles. “Cut the chatter, we’re almost there.” She draws her swords and holds them in a loose ready stance. You reach into your robes and produce your wand of Lightning. Youmu glances at the thin wooden wand dubiously, but says nothing. You put a hand on Cirno’s shoulder to keep her by your side, on your left. Youmu takes the right.

“You see a spook getting close,” you tell Cirno, “just waste it.’ She nods, biting her lip to keep it from quivering.

As your trio clears the neighbor’s shrubs, the small schoolhouse comes into view across the small lawn. Youmu walks along the border of the property to get a good look past the schoolhouse without getting too close. Pointing with her sword, she indicates the blackened front lawn and still smoldering tree.

“What the hell did that?” she asks.

“He did,” Cirno says, tugging your robe.

Youmu glances at you again, this time with surprise, and returns to the task at hand. Seeing no spirits, she strolls up to the lawn, and kneels on the blackened grass. She seems to be looking at something....

“Youmu, what do your phantom eyes see?” you ask.

“This,” she replies, and strikes the ground with the hilt of a sword. The ground seems to ripple, and a ghostly radiance begins writhing. Cirno squeals and darts behind you.

“Relax,” Youmu says absently. “It’s one of the ghosts your friend blasted. This one is reconstituting himself.” She rises to her feet and gives the spirit a minute to manifest itself. After a few seconds, it’s regained a semblance of spookiness, and spotting Youmu, it reaches for her.

There’s a wink of light, a whisper of steel, and Youmu is returning her shorter blade to its sheath. A slice of space through the spirit’s middle is knitting together again. “Speak, spirit,” she says.

“Ooooaaaaahhh!” the ghost exclaims. “BoooaaaAAAH MY HEAD HURTS LIKE A BITCH,” the sprit exclaims, rubbing it’s phantasmal cranium. “What the hell...”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Youmu asks.

“I look up, and there’s this huge fucking airship-”

“No, the other last thing,” Youmu says impatiently.

“Oh,” the ghost says. “Uh... it was...” he snaps his fingers, thinking... “... red eyes. And something chanting, in my head.”

“Red eyes?” you ask. “Does that help us any?”

“Everybody has red eyes,” Cirno says. “Hell, even she does when she’s fighting.” She points at Youmu.

“Thank you,” says Youmu to the ghost. “You can go now. I’ll be by to lead you to the netherworld if you get lost.” The spirit floats away, and Youmu turns to you. “Well, you were right about them being controlled,” she says. “That narrows it down to magic of some sort, I suppose.”

“What an astute observation,” says a cool voice behind you.

You snap around, hurling Cirno behind you bodily even as the long dagger leaves your hand, tumbling through the air-

-and stopping two inches away from Sakuya’s nose.

She turns the blade around in the hand she used to snatch it from the air. “Nice balance,” she comments.

“It’s a gram heavy in the handle.”

She gives you a small smile, and gently tosses the weapon back to you. “Hello, Youmu,” she says politely. “Sorry to interrupt your work.”

“No problem,” she replies, looking a bit confused at the maid’s appearance. “We were just finishing up.”

Sakuya favors you with that cool little smile again. “I don’t believe I properly introduced myself,” she says. “I’m Sakuya Izayoi, head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. And I know who you are.”

[ ] “You know nothing of Zuul!”
[ ] “The dragonslayer? Oh, yes, that’s me. Sorry about that, he threatened a good friend of mine and I got a little peevish.”
[ ] “Sir not appearing in this yard.” (ABSCOND)
[ ] “Quite a first impression I made, I see. What business have you with me?”

[x] “Sir not appearing in this yard.” (ABSCOND)

[x] “You know nothing of Zuul!”
-[x] Raise your hands dramatically.
--[x] Be on guard for any tricky business.

>"That’s your familiar,” you say grimly, slamming the door on the entire absurd affair. “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Now let's get."
Gold.

Not voting just yet.

[X] “You know nothing of Zuul!”

>I suppose it’s too much to hope that you won’t unduly antagonize any powerful people, as well?
I forsee that in under 10 updates we will have a fight with Remilia.

[x] “The dragonslayer? Oh, yes, that’s me. Sorry about that, he threatened a good friend of mine and I got a little peevish.”

[X] “You know nothing of Zuul!”

[X] “You know nothing of Zuul!”

[x] “The dragonslayer? Oh, yes, that’s me. Sorry about that, he threatened a good friend of mine and I got a little peevish.”

[X] You know nothing of Zuul! What do you want?

[x] “You know nothing of Zuul!”

[x] “Sir not appearing in this yard.” (ABSCOND)

In theory, you could lock down both Sakuya's time magic and her physical combat skills with Forcecage, then lay an Anti-Magic Field over it. Without AMF, Sakuya would probably be able to affect local space-time and reduce the duration of Forcecage or any other spell to nothing.

I still think that's very much a long shot. I'm more interested in getting an invitation to SDM. I'm wary of heading in there, but we need to rule Patchouli out as the scryer (though she's obviously not responsible for the ghosts). We still have Greater Teleport and Discern Location, which if use on the Voile Library, allows us to bypass other, less important, more dangerous parts of the household. And if Patchouli is expecting us, then we don't have to revert to such high-level spells in order to get a good enough mental picture to teleport directly. And of course, we can use them to ABSCOND at any time we need.

[x] “Quite a first impression I made, I see. What business have you with me?”

It's okay to take a vanilla choice every once in a while.

[x] “Sir not appearing in this yard.” (ABSCOND)
Meh, I wanted him to meet Yuyuko.

[X] “The dragonslayer? Oh, yes, that’s me. Sorry about that, he threatened a good friend of mine and I got a little peevish.”

Let's not be a complete ass to everyone we meet now, alright?

[x] “Quite a first impression I made, I see. What business have you with me ?”

>>125412
>“Huh,” you wonder. “She doesn’t seem that upset by it with me.”
KEINEKEINEKEINEKEINEKEINEKEINEKEINE--

[x] “Quite a first impression I made, I see. What business have you with me?”

[x] “Sir-not-appearing-in-this-yard.” (ABSCOND)

[X] “Quite a first impression I made, I see. What business have you with me?”

This is awesome and you should feel awesome.

[X] “You know nothing of Zuul!”

>"That’s your familiar,” you say grimly, slamming the door on the entire absurd affair. “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Now let's get."

This entire section was pure gold, dear sir.

[x] “The dragonslayer? Oh, yes, that’s me. Sorry about that, he threatened a good friend of mine and I got a little peevish.”

[x] “Sir-not-appearing-in-this-yard.” (ABSCOND)

[x] “You know nothing of Zuul!”
-[x] "But fair's fair, sometimes I wonder if I do as well."

[x] “You know nothing of Zuul!”

[x] “You know nothing of Zuul!”
-[x] "But fair's fair, sometimes I wonder if I do as well."

I like this one. Keeps our jokey playfullness without being _too_ rude.

[x] “Quite a first impression I made, I see. What business have you with me?”

[X] “Sir not appearing in this yard.” (ABSCOND)

[x] “Sir not appearing in this yard.” (ABSCOND)

Monty python references are Out Of Character, but... considering the references he already did ("what do you ghost eye sees?"), let's sit on that.

[x] “You know nothing of Zuul!”

[x] “Sir-not-appearing-in-this-yard.” (ABSCOND)

[X] “You know nothing of Zuul!”

[x] “You know nothing of Zuul!”

[x] “Sir not appearing in this yard.” (ABSCOND)

Please sir, may I have some more?

[x] “Quite a first impression I made, I see. What business have you with me?”

[x] “You know nothing of Zuul!”
-[x] "But fair's fair, sometimes I wonder if I do as well."

Yeah. This is the one, true path.

Don't forget to create a new thread, Demetrious.

There are six updates in this thread.

One day soon nothing but this story will be on the front page.

>>125475

>>125475


NEW THREAD

>>125518

>>125505

The same thing was said about GH. 300 posts with three updates. An arlier one with two updates.

Unfortunatly, it died, since most of the psots were shitstorming all over the place. Here though, there is real discussion and D&D sutff that goes over my head, sot her eis hope.