Dungeons & Danmaku (Touhou)

[Fri]

"Well, I remember that the mysterious stranger gave us some kind of magic item that can lead us to the mansion. You bring it, right kana?"

[Terraoblivion]

"I think the mansion is on the other side of the lake. Just follow the guards who attack us for trespassing. I think that's how you usually find things while resolving incidents."

[Fri]

"Well, let's go then. You could have half of my potion if you like." says Gonzaemon. He drinks some of the potion and tiptoes at the edge of te lake to test it. When he knows that the potion works, he then stands there, waiting for everyone to do the same before continuing their journey.

"Yu... Yu?" The yukkuri tries to do the same. "YUUU!" it panics as it simply drown like a bag of bean. With a few jumps it manages to land on top of Gon's head and it perches there for the rest of their journey on the lake.

[potatocubed]

Aisling knocks back her potion in one.

"Mmm, fruity."

She grabs up her sword and hops onto the surface of the lake.

"Alright, best get moving before it wears off. Wouldn't want to have to swim." She eyes the yukkuri. "Or sink like a sodden sack."

[Poison_Fish]

Raitan chugs her potions and chucks the bottle.

"auuu.. normally I'd just fly there, but this weather sucks!"

She hops up onto the water and starts walking behind Aisling

[Silver Coin]

Kana looked at the bottle curiously, seeming to pause for a moment to think about it, then simply shrugged and downed the whole thing. A few steps were enough to confirm that it worked.

"Forward!"

And she charged off into the fog.

[Terraoblivion]

Rather than ask if Gon had actually meant her, Elena just grabbed the other half of the potion and stepped out on the water. It was not like falling into it would be a real problem. Humming, for a lack of better word, she followed the redcap into the mists.

[Tengu_temp]

Kaoru's laziness sense and business sense ding both at once. She takes her potion out, but instead of drinking it she waves the closed vial in the air.
"Hey! Who wants to give me a piggyback ride and split the money we get from selling this thing?"

[Rolaran]

After a few minutes, the shore has fallen behind the party in the fog. The water is unnaturally still; aside from the ripples caused by the party's footsteps there seems to be no motion at all on the lake. In contrast, the wind above is whipping the clouds of fog around at a fever pitch: from directly underneath, they appear to churn and roll like angry steam.

Unfortunately, the fog combines with the still surface of the water to make navigation nearly impossible. There are no landmarks, just banks of identical fog on all sides, surrounding a smooth-as-glass stretch of water indistinguishable from any other point on the lake...

[Fri]

"Um, anyone know how long the potion will last?" Gonzaemon eyes the others nervously.

[Silver Coin]

Kana shrugged.

"I don't know. So I suggest we start running."

[potatocubed]

"How big can one lake be? It never looked this size from the shore."

Aisling keeps travelling in an arbitrary direction. *splik splik splik*

[Poison_Fish]

"Let's go this way!!!!!!!!!" Raitan points in a direction for them to go in and marches.

Spoiler

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Nature to orient ourselves in the right direction (1d20+7)[8]

[Terraoblivion]

"I could go ahead and scout. I'm good with water...

But shouldn't we just try to go straight ahead? It's just a lake, we'll get to the other side at some point...

Why didn't we just walk around instead of across? Can any of you even swim?"

Managing to hold a full discussion with yourself about the same topic that the others were also talking about was actually pretty impressive. Elena managed it though.

[potatocubed]

"Dunno if I can swim. Never tried. I'm sure it can't be that hard." Says the girl carrying the big, heavy sword.

[Rolaran]

Raitan begins running into the fog, at nearly a right angle to the direction the party was following. A few moments later, she somehow runs in from the side exactly opposite where she left, barreling into Kana.

[Poison_Fish]

Raitan topples on top of Kana. She sits up and gasps. "I MUST HAVE GONE SO FAST I CIRCLED GENSOKYO!!!" she doesn't take note of who she landed on.

[Tengu_temp]

Kaoru's disappointed. Nobody wanted to share her business plan? How boring. It seems she had to chug the potion down after all.
"Swimming? Ho ho, no. My feathers wouldn't like that." Kaoru makes an X sign with her arms. "Let's just get to the other side of the lake - it can't go on forever, can it? And I'm pretty sure we have someone who can track on water here."

[Terraoblivion]

"We have a hunter..." Elena didn't seem entirely convinced by Kaoru's logic. Water was water whether they could walk on it and she knew it well enough to know that it have any branches to break or kept footsteps. At least not on the surface. "We should just keep walking until we reach the shore or guards from the mansion. Really, it should be easy."

[Rolaran]

((Left a message in Fri's message box, he hears something.))

There's something odd about the water; anyone not wearing footwear notices that it is becoming noticeably colder.

[Fri]

"Wait. I heard something this way." Genzoemon raises his hand and stops. "Come, anything will be better than walking aimlessly and waiting for the potion's effect to end."

Gonzaemon leads the group to where he hears the sounds from. Sounds kinda like something gliding. Will it be the mansion?

"Is it just me or it's getting kinda chilly?"

[Rolaran]

A few seconds later, it becomes obvious- the water isn't just cold, it's literally freezing. There is in fact a thick, clear layer of ice over top of this area of the lake- and it doesn't take very much effort to guess at the culprit.

The source of the gliding noises is Cirno. Apparently being grounded by the wind hasn't bothered her too much; she seems to have gotten a pair of skates from somewhere and is happily skating in circles.

When she sees the party, however, she brakes to a stop and grins wickedly."Raitan! So you, too, have come to challenge the strongest! And I see you brought some backup. Well, that won't matter! Just the other day, I beat up that bunch of mischievous fairies three-to-one! And just now, I beat up one who was singing too loud! You don't scare me!"

[Silver Coin]

Kana smiles. A fight! Or not. Better focus. Stepping in front of the group, she addressed Cirno directly, "Right. Now uh...which direction should we go if we want to 'challenge the strongest'?"

[Tengu_temp]

"Hey, it's a tiny fairy! Just what we needed. We're going to the Scarlet Devil Mansion - do you know where that is, tiny fairy? Don't worry, we're so weak and afraid of you that you shouldn't bother to even fight us. That'd be a total waste of your time." Kaoru's face is not an expression of fear. More like good-natured laziness, if anything.

Youkai Lore: (1d20+7)[19]

[Rolaran]

Cirno blinks in confusion. "What... which direction? I'm right here, aren't I?! You already found me!"

At the mention of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Cirno gasps. "Oh, I know where it is, but why would you wanna go there? That place is scary! Er, I mean, not that I'm afraid... or anything like that!"

[Silver Coin]

Kana was sceptical. Strongest? Really? She was tempted to test her skills really. The previous encounter had been easy. Hopefully this one will be just a little more challenging...

Glancing around at her party members, Kana looked for a sign. If anyone else agrees, this should be quite fun.

[Terraoblivion]

Reaching the ice, Elena stomped her foot on it a couple of times. "Just like back home...reminds me why i left. It's freezing there. All the time. And then the Germans come and start complaining about it too!" Her outburst seemed about to complain when she noticed Cirno. "Oh, hi there. You're to blame for making this like how it was back home? Do you have something to do with the fog as well, it's quite inconvenient."

[Poison_Fish]

Raitan giggles "Puahahahahahaha, strongest doesn't mean the wisest!!"

She points to her sherpa hat and fur boots. "It's not cold at all!! I feel nothing, Hehehehehe"

Raitan falls onto the ice and starts laughing more then suddenly stands back up sharply "THAT'SREALLYCOLDSTOPIT".

She points her finger in an accusing manner while wrapping her arms around herself to warm up, generating static electricity. "You'll fix this right now and get us to our destination!!! I'll have to beat sense into you again!!!"

[potatocubed]

"The strongest?" Aisling, never having met Cirno before, seems confused. "First, you're a fairy. Second, you're tiny. Third, you're a... tiny fairy."

"Thanks for the raft, though. Now all we need is an oar and some directions, and we're set!"

[Rolaran]

Cirno looks a little offended. "Yeah, of course I did this! I mean, the ice of course... I don't know about the mist. But I figured it'd be okay, since there'd be nobody else out on the lake with the sky like this. So it's your fault for running around on the lake when I didn't expect it!"

Suddenly Cirno stops, momentarily lost in thought (to be fair, for Cirno it is unfamiliar territory). "Yeah, come to think of it, you shouldn't be out here at all. It's practically trespassing! So if I fight you, that's just me defending myself from dangerous intruders!"

Cirno strikes a pose. "That settles it! Time to teach you some manners! I'll fight all of you at once, as punishment for bothering me, and that'll prove that I'm the strongest! What do you think of that, huh?"