Tengu Reporter Quest (Touhou) (World 7 - Wheel of Time)

Attend the ceremony.
- Until Emroy's attack, then go cover the attack.


"I think I'll watch over Giselle when the attack starts," you say before taking a long swallow from your cup of brandy. Hatate chews twice before your words seem to register, because that's when her eyes widen and she starts to open her mouth. Strictly regimented politeness intervenes before you have to, however, and she gulps, swallowing everything before focusing on you again.

"So I – I'll be covering the wedding ceremony? From start to finish?" Her fingers curl, like a tanuki's grasping paws, and her eyes sparkle.

"I'll be there for the start, but when the attack comes I'll slip out to watch." Hatate's enthusiasm dims only slightly, and you smile lazily. "Of course, since I'll be missing the most important part, I can hardly write anything about it …." Hatate's eyes widen and you wince at the thin squeal that comes from the back of her throat. Her wings flutter, more akin to trembling than flapping, and you quickly lean forward and place a fingertip on her forehead. "Calm down, Hatate." She takes a deep breath and leans back, wings relaxing, then nods.

"R-Right, sorry. Um, um, clothes, should we wear anything particular, or …?" You chuckle and shake your head.

"Did you bring anything particularly appropriate?" She blushes and hangs her head. That's on you more than her, though – you were the one who oversaw the packing. So she doesn't have anything to be embarrassed about. Not that you expected to attend a god's wedding …. "We'll just have to rely on our natural appeal." Hatate claps a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing, and you shake your head.




You wake up with the dawn and look at Hatate's sleeping form. You can't see it in this light, but her wings – and yours – should gleam iridescently in the sun. The crows are still huddled together on the table, and you bow your head to them once again in thanks; they aren't much help for the rest of your bodies, but they were enormously useful for making sure your wings were properly cleaned and organized. A gentle tapping at the door draws your attention, and after a moment's thought you walk over and open it. A skinny acolyte stiffens to attention, holding a basket confidently at her side.

"Will the Emissaries be needing a bath this morning? We have soaps you can use, if you wish." She holds the basket up for you and explains the different properties. You select one that reminds you of cypress and pine, and she tells you that hot baths will be brought up shortly. You wake up Hatate, and by the time she's fully aware the baths are waiting … and by the time you're both finished, a light breakfast is arriving. After you're both dressed and have finished eating, you start to leave, only to run into Mora, dressed in oddly somber formal robes.

"Ah, you're up, you're up!" She bounces happily, her attitude at odds with the impression given by her outfit. "Aah, you're so pretty! Come on, come on, we have to get started!" You pat the young high priestess's head and follow her out of the hotel, but she doesn't lead you to the main temple. Instead, you climb into a carriage and it carries you up, away from the temple.

"Er, how is this ceremony going to proceed?" Mora giggles at your question.

"The first part is the procession, of course! Normally, it would start outside the city, but everything is being rushed and we're starting as close as we're allowed to. After that – wait, you're coming, aren't you?" She pouts at you, lower lip stuck out and trembling.

"None of that, Mora, you'll ruin your makeup. And I'll watch for part of it, but that note that arrived last night was apparently a warning from some of Emroy's followers that they'll be trying to crash the party. Hatate will stay and watch the whole ceremony, but once the fighting starts I'll watch Giselle. Hatate will stay and watch to the end, though." Mora pulls a small silver mirror from a pouch in the carriage and checks her face for smudges.

"Granny would be mad at me if I messed it up already …." She puts the mirror back and looks at Hatate. "Well, I think if someone's going to miss the ceremony, she should have to wait until later to figure out what happened. What do you think, Hatate?" Hatate freezes indecisively, but you just chuckle.

"Fine, fine, don't tell me. You'll just have to write a good article." That doesn't exactly do wonders for Hatate, but Mora laughs before reining herself in and checking her makeup again. The carriage stops, and the three of you get out. You float a little to see above the rest of the crowd, drawing a frustrated noise from Mora, who's even shorter than you are, but she does let you lead the way toward Giselle. The Apostle is finely dressed as well, silk robes and sheer veils. The small cart she's standing by has a stone table on it, and Rory lies flat on it, chains wrapped around her body and limbs separately, all binding her tightly. Her face is covered with a bridle-like contraption, covering her eyes and forcing her mouth closed. Mora bows to Giselle, then climbs onto the cart.

"Hello, Rory! Everything is going well, and in a few hours you will be properly wed to Hardy. Aren't you excited?" The Apostle squirms as much as she can and growls, and Mora laughs and pats her head. "Good girl! Everything will be just fine, so don't you worry." You sidle up to Giselle as Hatate takes pictures of the crowd and Mora and Rory.

"So what's your job during all this?" She grimaces and gives you a one-armed shrug.

"Look pleasant. Normally I'd be doing her job, but since there's going to be a fight …." You nod, and she looks at you nervously for a moment. "Um, will you …?" You nod.

"Yes, once Emroy's followers get here I'll watch you." She grins, trying to not show her relief.

"Good, good! I have to show – I mean, it'll be good for you to see an Apostle properly fighting!" Oh? So she's looking to prove something to you after her embarrassment at Rory's hands? Well, it'll be something to watch, at least. She puffs up her chest and flaps her wings, grinning. You look around for Hatate, still studying the crowd, and give them your own inspection. Many people are wearing their finest outfits – or very nice ones, anyway – and you raise an eyebrow at Wincarnis's presence. Then again, he does seem to despise Rory, so maybe he's hoping his coreligionists fail? "What's that doing here?" You turn back to the Apostle and hop back as she swings her scythe at the cart. Indignant squawks echo her failure.

"Hold on, hold on," you say, ignoring her scowl and scooting forward. "Well, now, what are you guys doing here? Lonely already?" The crows hop onto your arms and croak at you. You look back at the glowering Apostle. "They just want to hang out with Hatate and me. Can they do that without making you upset?" Hatate slides next to you and takes one of the crows onto her own arm, cooing at him and scratching the side of his beak, while the other crow clambers onto your shoulder and turns his gaze on Giselle as well.

"... Fine, fine. They're usually associated with Emroy, but if you're willing to keep eyes on them it should be fine." Hatate gives a relieved sigh, but you just chuckle and look back at the crowd.

"So who's keeping an eye on the high priest of Emroy over there?" Giselle blinks in confusion, and she and Mora both follow your eyes and scan the crowd. Mora harrumphs when she sees him, and a moment later Giselle growls.

"That … fat-brained limp-limbed – a moment, please." She stomps forward, the crowd parting for her and the great scythe, and you chuckle as she tears into him verbally and sends him scurrying away fearfully. Quiet applause breaks out, and Giselle starts to bow before seeming to remember herself and merely nodding sternly to the spectators.

"Emroy is allowed observers, but they're only allowed to wait in the temple itself. They can't participate in any manner," Mora says as the Apostle makes her way back to the cart. As the crowd fills out, they point out who the important personages are and where they're from. There are few priests of other gods present, although they could, like Emroy's, be waiting in the temple. Rory, of course, lies on her table uselessly, no longer bothering to react to Mora's prodding.

Eventually, a pair of pure white, starved-looking horses are hitched to the cart, and the procession begins. Mora and Giselle walk along next to the cart, with the highest-ranking priests and priestesses of Hardy following after. Musicians start playing, flutes piping and horns braying discordantly in your ears – and then the women start. You and Hatate both flinch as a group of women in tattered rags start wailing, shrieking, clawing at their faces and breasts, pulling their hair out. Hardly anyone else seems to bat an eye. Hatate winces and slips behind you, her wings rising to try and cover her ears, and you angle yourself for a good shot of the women. Then it hits you, and you laugh and shake your head. Of course worshipers of the god of the dead would have a marriage celebration that resembles a funeral procession. And of course Mora probably figured you wouldn't think of it and so deliberately didn't tell you. Hatate looks at you like you've gone crazy, but you just shake your head, adjust your hat, and keep moving along with the procession. It is a good joke, after all, and you can tell her after you've seen her article, if she hasn't figured it out by then.




The procession, apart from the wailing and the awful 'music,' is fairly boring. About what you'd expect from a glorified walk through the city for the purposes of showing off Hardy's prize. Then you get to the temple itself, and the funerary comparison becomes even more exact: there's a slowly-growing bonfire by the main altar, and an effigy of Rory – probably an effigy of Rory – lying on a bier next to it, while the real one lies on her table behind it. A number of people are sitting near the altar, and as the temple reaches capacity, Mora is the first to rise and speak – for Rory, who is overcome with emotion and cannot say what must be said for the wedding to proceed happily. Hatate scowls at your nod.

Mora's speech isn't particularly long, and after speaking of Rory's delight in the coming days and her gratitude for the well-wishers, she sits at a chair by Rory's table. The next speaker talks of Rory's early accomplishments, her victories, and the acts that drew Hardy's attention to her. As he finishes speaking, Mora responds, thanking him in Rory's name, and fuel is added to the bonfire. The speaker symbolically adds to the fire as well: a worn axe, to show that Rory is drifting from servitude to Emroy.

As the next speaker drones on, however, Giselle stiffens, and, nodding at something unseen, makes her way to the temple entrance. You tap Hatate's shoulder to let her know you're going and slip out, easily catching up to Giselle as she flies south and east. "Want me to do anything?" Her head twitches to the side, but your attention is high in the sky: two dragons and a dozen of the smaller wyverns circle, waiting.

"Just watch," Giselle says. "Nothing else; no matter what, don't participate." You look at her, and she blushes and shakes her head. "It's … it has to be done in a certain way. I wish Mouto and Towato could just burn them all, but …." She shakes her head again, white hair coming unbound from its braid as her veils fall. And after all that work …. You look out, past the city, and in the distance you can see a group of creatures flying toward Belnago. You can't tell much more than that, though; their formation is too ragged. Giselle frowns at you, looks at where you're looking, and peers intently. "Is that them?" You nod absently.

"Not on wyverns," you say. "Birdlike creatures, most of them. Kind of a lot, too …." In terms of bodies, the intruders seem to have at least a four-to-one advantage, but of course actual dragons should count for a bit more. Giselle frowns and scans the landscape, as well as higher in the sky – the intruders, curiously, are coming in low, instead of using a higher altitude for easier soaring and the ability to dive into the middle of the city. Giselle nods, and her squadron above breaks formation, the black dragon flying toward the intruders with half the wyverns fanning out. The intruders, however, react … curiously.

Two large eagle-lion hybrids veer up, as if to challenge the dragon, while the other beasts fan out, keeping their altitude low – and their riders begin dropping off. Giselle's jaw drops as the warriors begin making their way into shops, residences, and with a little effort, the wind brings the sounds of people shrieking and warriors calling out to Emroy. Giselle stops – stops flying – and you reach out to catch her arm, and as the shock of the drop catches up to her she squares her shoulders and flares her wings. Her scythe lashes out. "They – they can't – they're breaking the rules!" She wrenches her hand free and flies toward the marauders as the dragons and wyverns begin tearing apart their opposite numbers. And looking up, you see a wave of horse-mounted marauders descending toward the city.


What do you do?

[ ] Just keep out of the way and record what happens.

[ ] Attempt to interview some of the attackers.

[ ] Stay near Giselle.

[ ] Other?