Flandre's Quest (Touhou) World - (Madness Quest)

[X] Lead a dinner discussion.
-[X] Compare magical girls across realities.
-[X] Interesting beasts and where to find them.
-[X] Magical tools and devices


"… Anyway," you say, suddenly sitting upright, "let's talk about magic!" You grin at the confused expressions around the table. "We've got representatives from several different world-formations, after all, so this is a great time to talk about how things work differently. Magic and how it works, and things like Devices and other tools like that Jewel Sword you wanted, Tohsaka, or that Carronade thing." Most of the people at the table give you puzzled looks, but Deis winces and shakes her head.

"You mean like how magic works and how it's viewed, right? Like that dinner in Mitakihara with Homura and the others?" Your smile fades a little as you think back to that time, and you nod at Lulu.

"Yeah, like that. Hm, -"

"I'll start!" Illyasviel raises her arm and wiggles her fingers, grinning cheekily. "Patchouli's been teaching me about magic, after all. Basically, it's bullshit." Several of the adults cough at her blunt explanation, and you're not alone in scowling at her - but her grin just intensifies, and she ducks away from Bazett's attempt to swat the back of her head. "No, no, just hear me out. Okay, so there's two basic thoughts on magic - magic is a power source, which is what magicians and mages use, and magic is the act of manipulating energy to create some kind of effect. Vampires, for example, use life energy to do just about everything, including their own magic, and not magic. A vampire magician has the ability to use magic to power things, of course, but it's almost always going to be more efficient to use life energy because that's what their bodies use to interface with things. As for what it does, and how - too many ways to list. Patchouli's at least a Master in I think six different schools, and she's competent in another seven or eight. About the only thing she doesn't touch is anything related to gods - devil-summoning, most kinds of divination, necromancy, contracts, elemental magic, and a bunch of other stuff, she has no problems with. But she just knows so many different ways to do the same thing -" Her voice starts rising with excitement, and you sigh. It seems she thinks Patchouli is just wonderful … although, considering that Patchouli gave her a new life, you can't blame her too much ….

"Calm down, Illyasviel," Tohsaka says, and looks at you as Illyasviel takes a breath. "So Patchouli's the top mage around here?" Illyasviel snorts contemptuously and you shrug.

"She might be the top magician, but that depends on your definitions. She's almost certainly got the most breadth of ability in Gensokyo, and as a magician she has a basically unlimited amount of power, but her personal fitness and weakness restrict her abilities in actual combat. A drawn-out duel is hard on her if she doesn't have access to all her resources." Illyasviel nods excitedly again.

"And she has lots of resources! Grimoires, defense tomes, golems, enchanted jewels, weapons, runestones -"

"Runes?" Bazett gives her an interested look.

"Yep. Most of them are little ones on the bookshelves - I was told they're mainly used for keeping track of locations - but other, larger ones, have passive protective effects or can be activated to create a bounded field or do something else."

"So where does the energy - 'magic energy' I guess - come from? You implied that it's distinctive from the energy of living things when you said vampires use life energy and not magic." Illyasviel frowns at the question, but you smile at Megane and lean forward.

"Belief, mainly. People - humans - believe that magic is real, so it is. But recently, over the past few hundred years, people haven't been believing that. So magic is fading from the outside world, and places like Gensokyo, where youkai and gods and magicians live, have to seal themselves away from the outside world. Some youkai have it easier - magicians are self-sustaining, and vampires can take energy directly from people - but most need constant belief to continue existing. So humans as a species are safe, because youkai need them to keep believing in them to keep existing." Tohsaka rubs her cheek.

"So … so mages - magicians - here practice actual magic, and not just magecraft?" She looks at Ilya and Illyasviel, ignoring the curious looks of the Mid-Childans, and Ilya nods.

"It seems to be the case. Magicians are immortal unless killed, magic does things that science can't replicate - the portals that Patchouli made, teleportation, spatial warping, and things like that." Tohsaka and Illya's bodyguards all give Ilya envious looks, but she just smiles mischievously. Nanoha looks at them worriedly.

"Er -" Tohsaka shakes her head and waves her hand.

"It's fine. Basically, it's a matter of what's possible and what isn't. If magic is possible in this world …. Well, we define magic as something impossible, a miracle. No matter how much effort you put into it, no matter how many resources you expend, you can't travel from one world to another - like that example with the paper earlier. You can't move from one page to another. Even seeing that there definitely are other pages is impossible. So that's 'magic'. Magecraft is something that can be replicated, something that can be done - healing an injury, for example." She frowns and falls silent.

"Certain tools can be created to utilize magic in limited ways - Sapphire and Ruby, for example, are capable of limited operations of the Second Magic, the operation of parallel worlds," Luvia continues. "But only the Second Magician can create them or things like them." Tohsaka - both of them - shake their heads minutely but don't speak up.

"Um … you said that teleportation was something that falls under the domain of magic, not magecraft?" Ilya nods at Fate, and Lulu giggles at the Enforcer's embarrassment.

"I'm not sure if you would love our world or hate it."

"Lulu, don't be rude to Flandre's guests." Lulu immediately straightens and nods energetically.

"Yes, Mama! Um, I'm sorry, everyone. But teleportation is a widespread magical skill in our world. It's even possible to replicate it technologically, although the normal energy-to-mana conversion process is a bit unwieldy for that … um, hold on, let me try to explain this properly." She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes for a moment, then smiles and opens her eyes. "So, 'magic' is the process of shaping energy, called mana, into certain effects through the use of spells. Mana is both naturally occurring in the atmosphere, in very small amounts, as well as being producible by mages and knights by an organ called a linker core. Zest and Vita, being Belkan Knights, have higher outputs than mages, and so you'll see that they eat more to provide more nutrients for their linker core to generate mana. Additionally, mana can be stored in cartridges for burst effects, although that knowledge was lost during the Saint King Unification War, and recently was it able to be safely utilized by Mid-Childan-style Devices. Spells - the method of shaping mana into a given effect - require large amounts of calculation, so most mages and knights will have Devices to assist them." She releases her breath and looks at her mother for approval, sighing with relief at Megane's smiling nod, and Nanoha and Fate both clap quietly. You smile, too, of course, and she blushes when she glances at you. You turn toward Deis.

"Deis, how about you? Do you have anything to add?" She scowls at you, but her relief comes from an unexpected yelp from Bazett, of all people.

"Hey! What - get off!" You look over and squeal excitedly and clap your hands, distracting everyone else from the small creature on her lap. Before you can do much more, however, the creature vanishes - now it's held to your right.

"Thank you, Sakuya!" You take the wolpertinger from her and set it on your lap, facing you, and play with its forepaws. After a few seconds you look up - even Vita is staring at you, tribble temporarily forgotten. "What?"

"Er … what is that?" You look at Tohsaka.

"It's a wolpertinger," you say proudly, and turn it around to face the table. It immediately starts sniffing your plate, wings twitching nervously, and you pet it gently between the antlers. "I used to have some as pets, but they died, and Remilia couldn't find any more for me. Hehe!" It leans up onto the table and starts scarfing down a small chunk of venison. "Actually, that's a good thought. Does anyone know about any interesting creatures? I don't think there are that many in Gensokyo … of course, I don't get out much …." You frown down at the wolpertinger for a moment, then look up at the others. Nanoha and Fate seem to be having a conversation, and Lulu pouts at her mother - there's probably a conspiracy of silence, at least until Nanoha and Fate decide how much you should know.

"Nothing much that I know about - kind of like with you, I guess, most phantasmal species either died off or went into hiding." Tohsaka actually looks like she's trying to think of something, but just shakes her head helplessly.

"What about that place we went to? With the dragons and trolls and people who don't know the difference between a spoon and a fork?" Everyone gives Agito a confused look, but you scowl unhappily.

"Skyrim, yes. But we can't go back there. I guess I killed a dragon, or something, that made another dragon angry, so now the portals are blocked. Patchouli was pretty upset about it." Your thoughts darken as you recall the reason you want to go back there - and the wolpertinger hisses angrily at you. "Sorry, sorry," you say, relaxing your fingers and scratching it soothingly between its wings.

"Hm, well, if you're willing to brave Fou-Lu, that world has some pretty interesting things. The dragons, of course, slimes of all sorts, fairies even dumber than the ones here -"

"Liar." She shakes her head, smiling.

"I'm not. Stupid things starve to death because they're too stupid to do anything on their own. I'm not sure how they've managed to survive - it has to be either some kind of time dilation or they keep finding people dumb enough to help them." You keep watching her, unable to believe that anything could be dumber as a species than fairies …. "But, like I said, showing you would mean risking meeting Fou-Lu, and that's not happening."

"Who's Fou-Lu? Ex-boyfriend?" You frown at Illyasviel, but Deis just sighs and shakes her head.

"He's a god, a dragon, summoned to rule the Empire. Oh, the dragons all have their own specialties - they make sure some aspect of the world exists as it should - but he's different. He was summoned specifically to rule, and the only reason anyone in that world has free will is because the summoning was botched and only part of him came through. Now that he's woken up, everyone around him basically can't resist him, and if he ever gets his full power, he can do whatever he wants." She looks down at the table bitterly, and you shrug at the questioning looks you receive. Regardless of whether it's true, it's what Deis believes, and you're not going to second-guess her … at least not right now, and not without actual evidence and reasoning. Maybe you should ask Patchouli or Remilia about Deis's fears sometime? The wolpertinger suddenly struggles lightly in your grip, trying to squirm out of your hands. Maybe you should let it go …?


What do you do?

[ ] Let the wolpertinger go - you're not Vita, after all!
- [ ] Follow it.
- [ ] Keep talking about things.
- - Subject(s)?
- [ ] Investigate!
- [ ] Take Lulu and Ilya outside.
- - [ ] Actually, take everyone and listen to the Prismrivers' concert for a bit.
- - [ ] Walk through the gardens with your friends.
- - [ ] Other?

[ ] Keep the wolpertinger - it's not as snuggly as Ilya or Lulu, but it's still cuddly
- [ ] But it obviously wants to go somewhere. See what it wants.
- [ ] Keep talking about things.
- - Subject(s)?
- [ ] Investigate!
- [ ] Take Lulu and Ilya outside.
- - [ ] Actually, take everyone and listen to the Prismrivers' concert for a bit.
- - [ ] Walk through the gardens with your friends.
- - [ ] Other?


DM Note: For the purposes of not cluttering up the voting section too much, here are some options for Investigate!
- [ ] Aya and her friend.
- [ ] Verossa and his hangers-on.
- [ ] The twins and their dates.
- [ ] Alice and her new dolls.
- [ ] Reimu.
- [ ] The jealous girl with white hair.