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

… What are you doing? You're a reporter! If this is Japan, then there must be a Hakurei Shrine. See if Gensokyo exists.


No. No, no, that's wrong. The first thing is to gather information, and the thing you can confirm most easily is where you are. You fly even higher, high enough to start looking at the geography of the land. To the south is ocean, very close, and it follows the land to the east, curving north, and to the southwest. Inland, you see plains, and forests, and mountains, and you narrow your eyes as you start to recognize where you are. You look down, looking, and after a few seconds you find Edo Castle. The Imperial Army is trying to lay siege to it, but even with the oni-like beings that serve them as living siege rams, you don't think they'll be able to break through. Not before you get back, not until the defenders have run out of powder for their guns.

"A-Aya? What's that?" You follow Hatate's pointing finger as a human flying machine chases down a squadron of wyvern-riders. Seconds later, after two of the wyverns dart between buildings on different sides of the street they're on, something flashes out from the machine and the middle wyvern falls apart, its neck and left wing becoming separated from the rest of its body. Another flying machine follows the first, and you find yourself snapping several pictures of the machines and the falling wyvern.

"... Like I said, they don't need our help," you mutter, shuddering as you put your camera away. Hatate looks up at you, but you simply turn toward where Gensokyo should be. This close, even the slowest tengu should be able to get there in a matter of minutes, and Hatate's not that slow, so there's no need to carry her along; if you were going someplace like Hokkaido, that would be one thing, but from here, you can go at a speed she can manage without wasting much time.

"Where are you going?" You force yourself to not roll your eyes at the near-panic in her voice.

"We are going to see if Gensokyo exists here. We're above Edo right now, so it's not far." She looks down, confused.

"Edo? This …? But -" You clear your throat and her head whips back toward you. She jerkily nods and flies up to your height, just a bit behind you, and you start flying. West, and a bit north, to the mountains that shelter Gensokyo. "Edo – I've been there, it doesn't look like that!" Now you do roll your eyes; humans change, and humans change things and places. Besides, the new look makes sense, since steel and glass burn a lot less readily than wood and paper, and someone seemed to have a grudge against the place.

As you come up to the mountains that shelter Gensokyo, you scowl unhappily. These mountains aren't the forsaken wilderness that you remember. There are well-traveled paths, maintained roads leading to permanent stations, even hotels scattered among the foothills and mountains. You glance back, and Hatate is looking around worriedly. She has to recognize where you are, and the significance of the human presence around it. There. The Hakurei Shrine … or what should be the Hakurei Shrine. You withdraw your wings and plummet, aiming for the clear steps so you aren't noticed by the humans wandering around the shrine grounds, and Hatate follows you. She looks frightened now, not just worried, and you pat her shoulder, smile, and tap the necklace you're wearing. She looks down at her own necklace, takes a breath, and nods. Even if your reassurance didn't work, at least now she looks more composed, and the two of you walk up the steps, so familiar to you, and pass through the torii gate.

It's noisy, like a flower-watching festival, but no one here is a youkai. Too many of them have cameras, and are speaking some language other than Japanese, babbling excitement and curiosity. There are several people dressed as shrine attendants, two men and three women, not just Reimu. None of the attendants you can see look like her, either; oh, they could be related, but their features are different enough. Initially, you and Hatate are unnoticed, and you walk toward the donation box. You've rarely seen Reimu's donation box completely empty; even during slow seasons, when youkai would make sure she had food and drink, there would often be at least some money that showed up. She would be so shocked if she could see this one, though.

"What are you doing here?" You look at the little girl huddled behind the donation box, not exactly dirty – she looks rather like someone cleaned her quite recently and thoroughly, for that matter – but giving off the impression of someone who spends their time in mischief. You smile, but her glower only deepens.

"Are we not allowed to be here?" The girl presses more tightly against the donation box, still glaring at you, but another young woman comes out of the shrine.

"Hana! There you are." You look up at the newcomer, dressed as a shrine maiden, and looking like she could be Reimu's sister – her much younger, much softer sister. She looks at you, blinks for a moment, then shakes her head and smiles before bowing. "Oh, my apologies. Welcome. My name is Aoi - ah, I hope my sister hasn't bothered you." She steps forward to pull the girl against her, but Hana squirms away, then shelters behind her sister.

"You shouldn't be here! Tengu aren't allowed here!" Her voice is quiet enough that no one else hears her hissing at you, but Aoi pales, flustered.

"H-Hana! No, don't say things like that!" She pulls Hana in front of her, probably to try and get her to apologize, but you just chuckle and shake your head.

"No, no, it's fine. We are tengu, after all – see?" Aoi looks up at you, frightened, and Hatate hisses behind you as you raise one leg. "Who else but tengu would wear tengu geta?" Aoi stares, shocked, then holds one hand to her chest as she tries to keep from overreacting. You can see the questions dancing in her eyes, but she's much too well-brought-up to ask them.

"I … thank you, Miss, but you really shouldn't encourage her." You bow politely and she takes a calming breath. "Um, anyway – I, I mean -!" You chuckle as she blushes shamefully, and Hana actually growls at you.

"We just came here to look around a bit, actually. Is there any place we shouldn't go?" Aoi takes a moment to recover and nods.

"Mm, please don't enter the shrine itself, not without permission from one of the elders." You nod, then look around, as if considering the other people around.

"Are we allowed to go behind the shrine? I've heard that the gardens of shrines are more beautiful than other gardens." Aoi smiles.

"There isn't much of a garden, I'm sad to say. There's a pond, and of course there are the trees … would you like me to show you?" You bow respectfully and she leads you and Hatate around the shrine, Hana sticking by her side and never ceasing to stare suspiciously at you. The shrine grounds are much the same as the one you know by heart. There are little differences – there are more people here, and they care for the place more diligently, and the variety of plants is quite different – but it's much too similar to be a coincidence. But then you walk past your guide, studying the trees. You saw the preparations for the Barrier's erection, if not the ceremony itself, and none of the trees that were planted are there.

You can't feel the boundary. You can't sense any power. None of the conditions are right. There are too many humans who don't believe around here. You turn around, but Hatate has already figured it out as well. There's no Gensokyo in this world – at least, not here. If there is a Gensokyo, it's not a Gensokyo you would know or recognize.

"... What is wrong?"


What do you do?

[ ] Go back through the Gate and destroy it.
- [ ] Give the Japanese a bit of unnecessary help and clear out some of the larger concentrations of the Empire.

[ ] Go back through the Gate, but don't destroy it.
- [ ] Go to Belnago and see if you can pick up something for Patchouli.
- [ ] Go back to the Mansion.

[ ] Other?


NOTE: Because I'm sure someone noticed it, and I'm not sure I'll find a good place to slip it into the story: yes, Aya's been shot before. Basically, someone in the late 16th century decided that guns were so good at killing people, he'd give a shot at filming a live-action version of Princess Mononoke. After a little success dealing with small fry, the tengu found out and decided to deal with him. Aya and a few other tengu intercepted him and told him to knock it off, and Aya purposefully let him blow a hole in her chest – and then went and butchered the fifty or so of his followers before telling him again to knock it off and going home.

Go back through the Gate, but don't destroy it.
- Go to Belnago and see if you can pick up something for Patchouli.


You ignore Aoi for a moment, then look back at Hatate. "I think we'll go back now, head to Rondel." Hatate sighs and changes her grip on her bag as you start to walk past her.

"W-wait! Um, please, I mean -" You stop and look at her, one eyebrow raised, and she grinds to a halt, flustered. "I – I mean, you … you were looking for something, maybe …." You chuckle and shake your head.

"Gensokyo – the Gensokyo we know, anyway – would have been here. Since it isn't … well, maybe there's another Gensokyo somewhere, around some of the other mountains – Ishizuchi, Akan … but, well, those are all maybes. Maybe there just isn't a Gensokyo here to discover. So we're leaving, because we have other business to attend to." Hatate's shoulders slump, and Aoi splutters, still baffled, and you smile at her and little Hana. "I told you, didn't I? We're tengu." Your wings erupt from your back, and Hana huddles behind her sister, eyes wide and mouth hanging open as she stares in awe. For her part, Aoi collapses, falling almost bonelessly to her knees. You finish turning away and fly into the air. A moment later, Hatate catches up to you, frowning.

"Why did you do that, Aya?" Her words are perfectly formal and polite, but her tone is irritated, a little angry, and you look back at her as you finish climbing to a reasonable height.

"Because if there are tengu in this Japan, they might have an information network, and it's possible that someone will come across a shrine maiden near Yatsugatake claiming to have met a pair of tengu looking for Gensokyo. And if that happens, and we do move to Falmart, then we should have an easier time finding our relatives here." Her expression softens, and you decide that you won't tell her that you also did it because it was fun. No need to annoy her again.

"So we'll leave the Gate open?" You sigh, make a face, then nod.

"Yeah, I think so. It won't take much to destroy it if it comes to that, after all, and it's only a single point of contact. Since there are youkai that want to coexist with humans, it might be worthwhile to … I don't know, serve as border guards, or something." It's a bit more overt than most would like, but it could work. Set up a few rules of behavior so that humans know they can fight against youkai, but let them know that attempts at extinction are a fool's errand. Maybe see if Yuuka wants to set up shop at Alnus? "In any case, that's the sort of wide-scale, long-term change that we probably shouldn't be doing. Yes, the fact that what appears to be the modern Outside World is connected to Falmart makes it less suitable for us, but it can be dealt with if that's what Tenma wants." Hatate nods and you turn your attention back to the approaching Edo. Pictures are always useful, even if these probably won't be seen by anyone except Tenma and the other higher-ranking tengu, but maybe someone will recognize something you don't. And, of course, you'll want evidence that this is Edo, and the castle is quite recognizable.

Three of the flying machines are patrolling over the wall when you get there. Two are the same as the sleek war machines that were hunting the wyverns earlier, but the third is larger, wider – an armed transport, perhaps, based on the guns sticking out of the sides. Whoever is in charge of the Empire's forces, at least in this area, has learned not to underestimate the firepower … or thinks he has. While he is certainly quite out of bowshot, and at the far end of even most stone-throwing vehicles, the defenders' guns should still be able to reach them. That they aren't shooting … they could be conserving ammunition, or merely preserving the element of surprise. Reconnaissance complete, pictures taken, you and Hatate speed toward the Gate, watching the bewildered Imperial soldiers ransack stores, examine the fallen Japanese, and generally act as though they have already won and are merely consolidating their hold on the city. You shoot through the city, darting low to just over horseback-height, and hurtle over the soldiers constructing a small outpost outside the Gate. You rush through the Gate, launching yourself almost vertically once you're back in Falmart, and as you level out and slow down once you're high above the usual wyvern ceiling, Hatate catches up to you, eyes bright and a small smile on her lips.

"So, what's the plan?" You watch the changing terrain.

"You're the one who investigated the place," you respond. "You said there were barriers around some areas?" She takes out her notebook, flipping through the pages.

"Let's see …. If we just walk in, we'll be in the area where all the normal people and the trainees live. We might be able to find a student who has some beginner books, or see if that duelist-girl knows where we can find some. On the other hand, a large part of the city is dedicated to the more entrenched scholars. They definitely have libraries, and we can probably find something Patchouli would be interested in fairly easily. But those are protected, and even though the ones I checked didn't seem very powerful, that doesn't mean there aren't more dangerous protections." You nod; of course there could be, it's only sensible that your outermost layer or two be something weak, more of a gentle warning than even a warning shot, if only to keep from killing animals and people who aren't trying to get at you specifically.

"Hmm. Let's wait until we get there. I'm inclined to go after the scholars, though." Hatate nods, and you wonder which she would prefer. She'd probably prefer to buy one, but if books are as uncommon as they seem to be, that's out of the question. You might be able to barter, a service for a book, but that goes against your principles – Hardy's a god, she doesn't count – and is probably going to be more work than just theft or assault anyway.

Rondel matches your vague memories fairly well. Humans and non-humans crowd the streets, so anyone attempting a snatch-and-run would probably have to settle for a snatch-and-try-to-push-through-a-hostile-crowd instead. There aren't any walls for the outer city, but the inner region … rather, the other part of the city is encircled by massive stone walls similar to those of the capital city. That would be the citadel of the scholars, or whatever they call it here. Flashes of light from a rooftop draw your eye, and you stare at the bland fight. Footbound, the duelists display none of the flair and beauty of danmaku, none of the strategy of forcing your opponent into a smaller and smaller area … none of the density of a fairy's danmaku. Hatate shakes her head. "It's really not very impressive, is it?"

"No, it's not," you reply, then glance at her. "Do you know where that duelist-girl is?" Hatate frowns thoughtfully, then shrugs.

"It's probably not too difficult to find her. I don't know where she lives, but if we go to where she fights, someone should be able to help us at least get in the right direction." She gives you a curious look, but you just rub your chin as you consider your options. Beating up the duelist-girl would probably be the easier option, but you'd have to settle for whatever she has or can get her hands on relatively quickly and easily, which might not be much since she's stuck out here. Going after a scholar would almost certainly yield quite a crop for you to harvest for Patchouli, but runs the risk of you having to put in actual effort … and if there's more to these magicians than you've had reason to suspect so far, it might actually be almost dangerous for Hatate.


What do you do?

[ ] Find the duelist-girl, and duel her for a book.

[ ] Break into the scholar's citadel for books.
- [ ] Right now.
- [ ] Wait until dark.

[ ] Other?