Shards of a Broken Sun [Megaten/Shugo Chara/Exalted]

[quantum lurker]

If it were done, it would probably have to be done by Amu and Kana.

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No way that will work sadly: Real!Kana (any suggestions for better terms?) would likely be trying to figure out where Amu was because of the lighthouse effect Utau focused through Amu earlier, and I can't come up with a good answer to that question.

My intent here is to buy more time to ease Real!Kana into the idea (no way she will be receptive if she is that pissed off), not because it'll prevent it from devolving into a fight (that Utau/Amu will try and prevent them from killing each other in) - if it was that easy Persona 3/4/5 would have a lot less fights, but because doing the prepwork beforehand should make the acceptance process less problematic?

 

[PistachioCookies]

.....Admittedly, a slight drawback in bypassing the whole dungeon entirely is that we don't actually have an entirely clear idea of why Kana would be mad at her own Shadow, if in fact the pursuer is "real Kana" (which also isn't entirely certain). Normally, the dungeon would have left some hints.

Also, it's typically the other way around - it's usually the Shadow pissed off the non-Shadow version.

If we don't know why they are even at each others' throats, it's sort of difficult to try any sort of persuasion.

One of the questions we might be able to get an answer to is from asking the Shadow why "she" is mad. That might be worth asking, I guess.

I can only think of 2 questions that we are likely to get an answer to from the Shadow. One is who "she" is. The other is why "she" is mad. Though I'm not sure whether having the answers will really help much even if we got told.

 

[quantum lurker]

a slight drawback in bypassing the whole dungeon entirely

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In that case, why not stroll through the dungeon while we wait for the pursuer to catch up, and ask Shadow!Kana why she thinks "she" will be mad?

[X] Defend Kana
-[X] From... herself? From both herselves?
-[X] While we wait for her to catch up, look through the Abandoned Labaratory for clues, and ask the Shadow why she thinks "she" will be mad.
-[X] Amu: Whatever this place has done to her, this is still your friend. And with all the time you've spend tangled up in her thoughts, you may be the worlds greatest expert on Nanami Kana. Try to help her come to terms with herself, preferably without a fight. If that fails, at least try to keep them from killing each other.

 

[PistachioCookies]

Uh, I presume "she" is currently coming from the direction of the Abandoned Laboratory. We bypassed it by bringing Shadow Kana to the front, we are currently standing outside where the front door used to be. If we were to go in, I assume we would not only have to fight all the lesser shadows inside, we would probably run into "her" before we made it past the first room.

 

[quantum lurker]

I presume "she" is currently coming from the direction of the Abandoned Laboratory.

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If that is the case, why has "she" not already aggro'd onto Shadow!Kana way beforehand, yet knows enough to come here right now?
Is it a side effect of Lightsmithing at work here?

 

[PistachioCookies]

We know the whole location was already unstable and tearing itself apart. I'd presume that both Shadow Kana and her pursuer have been hostile to each other since the location existed and slowly killing each other, hence why it was destroying itself.

Utau seems to have dragged both out of the depths, with Shadow Kana just being faster to come out than her pursuer.

EDIT: The fog is also gone thanks to Utau's singing.

In Persona 4, the fog had a pacifying effect on Shadows. When it's no longer there (i.e. when it got displaced into Inaba from the Midnight Channel), that's when the kidnap victims got eaten by their Shadows.

It being suddenly gone is going to have some sort of effect on the occupants of the Abandoned Laboratory.

 

[quantum lurker]

We know the whole location was already unstable and tearing itself apart.

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It being suddenly gone is going to have some sort of effect on the occupants of the Abandoned Laboratory.

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If anything that's an argument to hurry up and meet her pursuer sooner, since Naoto clearly does not have problems with lesser or even 'moderate' Shadows?
Anyway, what do you think of the question "What do you think of your pursuer's personality/what do you know of your pursuer" instead of "Why is your pursuer mad at you"? Will it get more interesting answers, or will it degenerate faster into the equivalent of insults?

(Hopefully they don't have any other lightning spells - lmao at Amu dodging that based off what Naoto showed earlier, unless Lightning Grounding works here. While Amu can partially repair the damage with Biokinesis, all bets are off if Amu's neurons are scrambled due to the lightning)

 

[PistachioCookies]

Upon reading through that passage again, I think that Shadow Kana going "I can't explain, I just know" was also supposed to be her answer to Naoto's question about why "she" was going to be mad. So I don't think Kana's Shadow would be able to say why her pursuer is pissed either, it's just something she knows without being able to explain.

Probably would only be able to get any new information from asking who "she" is.

Though again, there's a open question of how helpful the answer would be. Would the Shadow be able to tell us anything that seeing "her" in person didn't immediately tell us?

....Also, what I want to know is, where does Yui come into this whole thing? The fog was hers, there was some bastardized legless version of her in the corridor, Amu and Utau could sense her. But she wasn't callable by Utau and now the fog is gone. If Utau coudn't reach her, she's probably not Kana's pursuer either (possible, but doesn't seem likely). And Abandoned Lab is probably Kana's domain.

So what happened to Yui?

 

[quantum lurker]

Probably would only be able to get any new information from asking who "she" is.

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So you think approaching this from side-angles as I mentioned above won't work either?

If so, might as well ask "what did you see along the way here/what were you doing before I called you over" while waiting I suppose?

 

[PistachioCookies]

I think asking about "her" and who "she" is could get us some sort of answer (that isn't "I don't know"). In that sense, it might work.

I don't know how much use the answers would be, given that as soon as she finishes telling us, "she" is probably going to show up in person and then we are going to get first-hand observation anyway.

It's possible we might get something only the Shadow could have told us. Or we might not. Not really possible to guess.

EDIT:

...Although, given our lack of a Navigator, it might be possible the option to ask questions MIGHT have been to meant to give us an opportunity to glean information on elemental or combat weaknesses on the pursuer in anticipation for an upcoming fight with them.

 

[quantum lurker]

....Also, what I want to know is, where does Yui come into this whole thing? The fog was hers, there was some bastardized legless version of her in the corridor, Amu and Utau could sense her. But she wasn't callable by Utau and now the fog is gone. If Utau coudn't reach her, she's probably not Kana's pursuer either (possible, but doesn't seem likely). And Abandoned Lab is probably Kana's domain.

So what happened to Yui?

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On the other, there's a medium chance she'll get entangled with the scenario. Utau is very much capable of forming a Shadow Self of her own, and I'm not convinced that would simplify the situation.

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This probably happened to Kana, yeah, but as you mentioned that still doesn't explain Yui being MIA now.

to glean information on elemental or combat weaknesses on the pursuer

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Problem: Unless we refer to the off-screen conversation of indeterminate content and pretend we talked about this then, we don't know about this IC. If anything, I'd expect a "I dunno" answer from the Shadow for that sort of questions?

Besides, what are we going to do with that information even if we get it- blast possibly real Kana with it?
It'd be better to ask about the pursuer's "spell list" if you are aiming for that angle, but...

 

[PistachioCookies]

Problem: Unless we refer to the off-screen conversation of indeterminate content, we don't know about this IC. If anything, I'd expect a "I dunno" answer from the Shadow that way?
Besides, what are we going to do with that information even if we get it- blast possibly real Kana with it?

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Assuming elemental weaknesses do exist, Naoto would presumably know about them. She'd be the one doing all the blasting, she just did that to the thing that looked like a menacing shadow standing over a girl.

Without knowing who Kana's pursuer is, I can't even guess who Naoto might end up blasting.

It'd be better to ask about the pursuer's "spell list" if you are aiming for that angle, but...

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We might be able to get this information if we asked "what would 'she' do if 'she' got mad".

....Speaking of not being able to guess who Naoto would blast, I have this sinking feeling that trying to defend Shadow Kana might elicit an incredulous reaction from Naoto. Her experience usually involves beating up the Shadow, not the non-Shadow version of the person.

Of course, if my own theory is right, we're just going to get 2 Shadows staring each other down and then Naoto will have a different problem entirely.

 

[quantum lurker]

In order:
1) Yes, Naoto blasting Shadow!Kana that heavily is a failure condition as far as Amu and Utau are concerned, so let's not ask that question?
2) That seems like a good question, could easily have the result of "I dunno, but it's not gonna be good", but that's true for most questions.
3) Well, you can't have the Shadow re-integrate with the person if the Shadow is super dead right?
(And given her present "glowing eyes" company and her comments about Shadows behaving in new ways I think she would be able to roll with it after a while, hopefully)
4) Mexican Standoff time if that's correct I suppose?

-and the shadow looming behind the child raised a sharp claw to cut through the girl's head in a single motion-

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I wonder if this is a literal event that occured before in the past, or just metaphorical, or just Yui's fears manifested?
(Anything you think we can use Ragged Crossroads on right now?)

 

[PistachioCookies]

I wonder if this is a literal event that occured before in the past, or just metaphorical, or just Yui's fears manifested?
(Anything you think we can use Ragged Crossroads on right now?)

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Might be able to use Ragged Crossroads on Shadow Kana itself, though if we only have time for a single question.... hmm...

@Baughn - Does Utau have enough time and skill to perform Ragged Crossroads on Kana's Shadow?

 

[quantum lurker]

The base difficulty is 1, but increases if the anchor wasn't ended at a precise time, or if the anchor isn't an unchanging object [the rest of the quote has been snipped off for brevity]

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Likely to be DC 3, we need a Stunt to decrease the DC for this or for Shadow Kana to have speed drawing skills?
We'd probably have a better chance using it on the scorch marks, but will there be any useful information there/is it emotionally charged enough?

 

[PistachioCookies]

Likely to be DC 3, we need a Stunt to decrease the DC for this or for Shadow Kana to have speed drawing skills?
We'd probably have a better chance using it on the scorch marks, but will there be any useful information there/is it emotionally charged enough?

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I was actually thinking of using it on Shadow Kana's school uniform.

You remember, Kana doesn't go to school.

So that school uniform is either imaginary, in which case Kana dreamt it up at some point and we might get insight into why she did based on what she would be wearing if she hadn't faced circumstances that made her want a school uniform so badly.

Or else, that school uniform isn't imaginary. It was what Kana wore at some point in her life. And we might get some insight into why she's still wearing it as a Shadow, based on the cases in which she wouldn't have been wearing it.

If her pursuer is the "real Kana", this will give us information on her. If her pursuer isn't the "real Kana", it's useful information for later on.

 

[quantum lurker]

The number of viewable timelines appears to depend on how inevitable the events leading up to the anchor's creation were.

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I think you are slightly misunderstanding how Ragged Crossroads work: It gives you sight into a set of alternate circumstances that would still have led to the item's creation (which may be at an entirely different time point from present reality), and you can draw conclusions from what is shown and what isn't shown if you are very careful about it.

Great idea though, that should be a DC 2 at worst, it's worth trying at least.

a girl that resolved into existence like a pixelated picture

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Gotta say, this is a very strange line: How does that work again?

 

[Baughn]

How much of the girl being menaced by the shadow did Utau see? Does she remember what it was wearing or the color of its hair?

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Barely anything. Though whoever it was, she was much shorter than Kana.

Does Utau have enough time and skill to perform Ragged Crossroads on Kana's Shadow?

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Not… really. I'll let you try it, but at +1 difficulty for the time pressure and stress. Though remember, she can throw up to 2WP in.

Gotta say, this is a very strange line: How does that work again?

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Ever seen a progressive JPEG load in?

 

[quantum lurker]

but at +1 difficulty for the time pressure and stress.

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Which makes for a total difficulty of 3, I assume? (If we go with the RC on her clothes idea Pistachio mentioned, that is.)
Are our WP totals of the party the same as before?

Anyway. For further discussion: It's obvious that Amu bringing her Shadow away would have bad consequences, but what consequences, exactly might they be? Very much drawing blanks for that one here.

Ever seen a progressive JPEG load in?

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No, but now I have after looking it up. Very interesting implications, but I need to figure out what they are first
(Hopefully the Dreamlands don't have the AI analogue of Hallucinations?)

 

[Baughn]

Which makes for a total difficulty of 3, I assume? (If we go with the RC on her clothes idea Pistachio mentioned, that is.)
Are our WP totals of the party the same as before?

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Yes, and yes. Nothing especially straining happened in between.

No, but now I have after looking it up. Very interesting implications, but I need to figure out what they are first
(Hopefully the Dreamlands don't have the AI analogue of Hallucinations?)

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Not the AI equivalent, no.

 

[PistachioCookies]

Anyway. For further discussion: It's obvious that Amu bringing her Shadow away would have bad consequences, but what consequences, exactly might they be? Very much drawing blanks for that one here.

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Well for one, it's sorta questionable whether Shadow Kana would be able to exist properly outside the Dreamlands. Teddie needed to pump iron for a long while to create a body that could exist in the real world. She might not actually be able to exit the Dreamlands by whatever exit Amu takes, in which case we'd basically have to leave her stranded in there somewhere. That's the main concern.

If she could exit into the real world, Kana's pursuer probably can too. So her pursuer will still be coming after her. It's just, now we're fighting in an actual house instead of a dream haunted house.

...Also, Utau notes she looks and sounds different from the Kana she met before. The rest of the Scavengers would probably notice the difference (glowing yellow eyes, anyone?). She might not have access to the same abilities as non-Shadow Kana either.

 

[quantum lurker]

So DC3 with a pool of Per + Inv + RC huh. It's Stunt writing time, since we can't have this vote be settled so quickly, it's unnatural

 

[PistachioCookies]

So DC3 with a pool of Per + Inv + RC huh. It's Stunt writing time, since we can't have this vote be settled so quickly, it's unnatural

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Those odds are terrible, Utau gets 5 dice if she's using the Dumpty Key (assuming it gives her a boost to Ragged Crossroads). Adding in the extra dice for the stunt still puts the odds at a coin flip 50% or so.

I can't see any way to get more than 8 dice without burning WP and it's probably not a good idea to burn WP when we're going to probably end up in a fight anyway, regardless of what information we dig up.

And that 8 dice is only if our stunt is worth 2 points.

....Unless Naoto counts as an exceptional assistant for this and is worth 2 dice instead of 1?

 

[Baughn]

For Ragged Crossroads? Nobody counts as an assistant at all. Amakawa might work, or Hibiki, but that's about it.

 

[PistachioCookies]

Ergh. So not even 1 dice for having an assistant. In that case, just getting to 8 dice would require Utau to use Intelligence instead of Perception, if that's possible for Ragged Crossroads.

@Baughn - Does Amu know how Kana's name is written in kanji?