Touhou - Revolution in Retrospect (IC)

[Stelas]

... that would do it, wouldn't it? A red-white shrine maiden, and a white-red one. A practically-minded human Marisa, and a somewhat hedonistic Magician version. Alice, having left Makai to follow her feelings to Gensokyo, and-- well, now that she knows what sort of thing to look for, the connection between herself and Lidell becomes more obvious than ever. Given it started out at 'the girl is a lifesize doll and there's only one doll fanatic around', that's saying something.

For just a moment, she wonders if Mokou's double is going to be a small pile of ash in the corner.

Her hand has risen to her mouth, covering it as she stares dully at the floor in a long moment of thought; she can sense more than see Marisa's glance towards her, meeting it after a moment with a quiet frown. "... then... my apologies," she huffs after a long pause, folding her arms as she looks back to the pair. "But our Reimu is missing as well, and so... that means we're in the same position as you. You can see why we'd be upset," she grumbles awkwardly.

Still, something doesn't seem quite right. Even if Reimu met her other self - what about the traces of blood they found? What exactly was happening to Reimu to get her so worried about the Hakurei lore? It doesn't seem likely that Patchouli would have any of the answers on that front, but... well, she's always been useful as a sounding board to bounce things off. "... it might be important, so I'll be right behind you," she decides after a moment. "I simply want to pick Patchouli's brain a little about some of the other things."

[Merilan]

Asarim looked at the shard, and then admitted, "It feels a bit familiar, but... no, I can't really say. 'Anti-light'? If even you Magicians can't figure it out, then the only place to turn would be a spiritual sort, right?"

Lidell looked to Patchouli, still high on her elation of finding another teddy bear lover (or so she's led to believe). "Huhu, you should have seen her last month. She was complaining again, 'this is supposed to be a youkai shrine!' but none of the villagers would hear anything to the contrary." She rolled her ball jointed wrists around, as if to make a shrugging gesture. "Such a strange sort, that one."

[banthesun]

Nitori turned to Patchouli, and nodded, "That sounds like Reimu! Wait, was the whole youkai thing deliberate? She's always a little rude to me, so I thought she was trying to get rid of us so the humans could come back... I hadn't really been listening to news from the shrine, though. Did something happen?"

[Ascension]

A shrine for humans that youkai won't stay away from... a shrine for youkai that humans won't stay away from... yes, that fits.

'Although our world's seems more plausible,' Patchouli assures herself, with the inherent chauvinism of a person confronted with an alternate (and therefore, obviously, lesser) reality.

"Reimu disappeared, Kappa," she says to Nitori, then drifts closer to her and adds, in a softer voice, "Ours and theirs. That's what happened. Thus the confusion... and thus, also, why the danger on your mountain is being neglected."

She glances at Marisa, and at Remilia, and feels just a twinge of... jealousy? No, no, that can't be right. But she feels a twinge of something.

"The shrine maiden is close to their hearts."

[Luceid]

"Somethin's strange, though." Marisa ruminates, or... at least, drawls something approaching a moment of reflection. "My reflection over there, big an' handsome, is even kinda reflecting my name. Not quite, but... pretty near." she glances from one departing invader to the next, "Same with teddy-bear over there. But Reimu's still Reimu, and pretty dang close to what we know of her. Like she's, uh... well, kinda--"

This is where things run into a bit of a hitch: Marisa is no expert in alternate realities. However, there is always a mundane analogy close at hand to make a fool of herself with.

"Kinda like maybe she's closest to the mirror, so less details are gettin' changed around in the reflection... maybe?"

Patchouli's glance catches Marisa's eye. She has no way of knowing the pyjama-magus is feeling a flicker of jealousy somewhere inside of her, removing her hat and gruffly sighing right quicklike. "It's not that I'm tryin to brush Nito-Nito off, things just keep changin' like crazy in here. Now I've got all kinds of confusing theories 'bout alternate worlds to scribble down on top of it!"

No amount of fanning herself with the hat will restore her cool factor for the scene, alas.

[Merilan]

Asarim glanced between the others currently assembled in Voile, then brushed at her hair and her hat for a moment, as if in a mirror of Marisa's movements. "Well, it looks like you've got enough on your own plates, so what do you say we go our own ways and try to find our shrine maiden in different directions? Beats just standing there talking about what-ifs."

She smirked to say, lowering her hat, "We were gonna check on the Sanzu River next. Make sure she's not queued up and rearin' to go to any kinda afterlife... you never know."

[CecilHoshino]

Meiling folds her arms as the two now start to drift away again. It was quite a...spirited discussion since they kept them from leaving the first time. "If our goals and intentions are similar, whether or not our missing shrine maidens are exactly the same, perhaps it is best to leave the River to you, while we investigate the Mountain? If nothing else can be done here, might as well head to the next place, and it'd be quicker to do separate investigations and compare notes, later. It was certainly easy enough for you to find us now, hopefully it'll be easy to find us again if you need us."

Never you mind the bug Nitori planted on one of Lidell's teddy bears, of course...

[Stelas]

For a moment, Alice flusters at Patchouli's closing comment, feeling her cheeks heat as she rides wholeheartedly on the coattails of the compliment by quietly assuming she's included as part of it. Not that she'd ever admit that to anyone, or countenance it publicly, or-- huff! The motion makes her fold her arms and turn away for a moment, and it doesn't help to see her fingers have automatically worked to draw Shanghai into a mirroring pose.

"... I wonder," she mutters to herself after she's done with her pout and in the wake of Marisa's comment, hiding her face as best she can behind her fringe and a hand while her colour cools. "Perhaps the Hakurei Maiden is a constant, even if the shrine isn't? Alternatively, you could say that the shrine is what marks the boundary between Gensokyo and the Outside World - what's to say it doesn't mark the boundary between other Gensokyos as well? If that were the case, well-- there's only one keeper of the shrine."

"In any case," she adds, planting a hand on her hip as she summons the rest of her composure around her. "That isn't a bad plan. In fact, it would suit our current purposes quite well to check with someone of a more spiritual bent. Finding Yukari or someone closely connected to Gensokyo might be something of a tall order right now - but we could always start by visiting the Moriya Shrine, instead," she suggests, as her tone shifts towards lecturing. "It would probably be wise to get their blessing - and any other information they can offer - before heading up into the mountain proper."

"What do you think?" she adds with a glance towards the inventor in blue. "We've dragged you this far out of your way, after all."

[Mokou-tan]

Mokou gives a bit of a shrug and steps away, willing to let the magician go. There was no use keeping the mirrored pair here any longer. "I told Keine I'd check out the mountain anyway... We found a bunch of injured Tengu dropped in out of nowhere and I'm kind of in the best position to go there out of the village's normal group." The immortal slowly makes her way to Nitori and pats her on the head. "That'll satisfy you, right?"

[Ascension]

"One moment," Patchouli cautions Mokou, and not just because the incendiary immortal flying off at any significant speed might be devastating to her collection, "before we- ah, before you leave Voile, I would like to examine that... black shard. Cross-reference it against my books. That's our best chance to identify it, if it has ever been seen in Gensokyo... or, indeed, in much of the outside world... before now."

[Mokou-tan]

Mokou gave the black shard a light toss to Patchouli, not even fully looking at the pajama Magician. "Knock yourself out, I'm pretty sure it's inert by this point."

[Merilan]

Girls are investigating, please wait warmly ... ...

Patchouli can tell this is no stone she's ever seen before. It's of a material unlike what Magicians use. It's a stone full of contradictions, being ultra-dense yet lightweight, and having a jet-black matte finish that nonetheless looks quite shiny and polished from certain angles.

Looking it up in the library, and furthering what she came to the conclusion of yesterday, she's fairly certain of one thing: This shard, just a piece out of a larger whole, only tells one half of the story. There is an opposite, out there. What kind of stone would it be, and if so, what would happen were it to be brought together?

Remilia huffed and folded her arms, her leathery bat wings fluttering cutely behind her to accompany her petulant gesture. "Well, now that those intruders are out of the way, you'd all best get going, right, like Patche said? I'm worried about Reimu too, but I can't exactly go out like that!"

She seemed so pleased, perhaps because they've broken their days-long silence. "Patche, how about we have some of Koakuma's tea?"

I'm compelling Her Own Woman? and asking whether or not Patchouli would really let this stand. So arrogant, so self-sure that she'd go nowhere; who is she to think she's some kind of available asset all the time? Besides, there's a genuine mystery to be solved here, and a fascinating one too -- not only of the stone and its other half, but also the story of the other halves of Marisa and Alice... and perhaps... herself? A wealth of knowledge awaits... outside Voile.

[banthesun]

"Ohhh, so it's a different Reimu, named Reimu!"

"Or... not?"

As soon as one Magician cleared up Nitori's confusion, it seemed another added to it.

"I guess it's some metaphysical thingy-ma-whatsit," she conceded. "I'm much better at mechanical matters. I'll let you figure out what that means."

Being patted on the head by that immortal didn't suit Nitori well at all. Maybe she was just being friendly, since she was apparently still a human, but it felt like she was looking down on her as a kappa. The indignity mixed with shock at what Mokou had mentioned, leaving Nitori flustered.

"What, there were injured tengu in the village? Why didn't you tell me? We don't have time to sit around having tea now!"

[Ascension]

It would be easy to let go of this. So easy. Nothing out of Patchouli's comfort zone. All she has to do is relinquish the shard, let those more adventurous souls fly off toward danger, and sit down for a nice, soothing cup of tea. No strain, no discomfort, no peril. Just life as usual, life as it seems it has always been, stretching on into a predictable future.

But...

She can still feel the weight of the bag she packed for travel, digging into her shoulder. And the mysterious shard in her hand almost feels like an even heavier burden. Can she really pass up such a puzzle? This isn't an invitation to some distasteful brawl or raucous party. This is a true mystery, with metamagical implications. Does she really want to just read about it later in Bunbunmaru, or hear it secondhand from Meiling and Sakuya? And if she stays...

Remi...

Suddenly a quiet evening of smalltalk with Remilia feels like a steel trap closing around her. She's so close to falling back into a pattern she might never break out of. It's a pattern she's long called 'friendship,' but is this... is that really what it is?

Well, there's one way to find that out, isn't there?

A friend is understanding when her friend needs space, isn't she?

She clenches her hand around the black shard. Its jagged edge, its incompleteness, digs into her palm. Her mind is made up.

"I'm afraid the kappa is right, Remi," she says, "We won't have time for tea."

There is some pity in her eyes when she looks back to the Scarlet Devil, but she can't allow herself to indulge it. Not now.

"Please allow Koakuma to keep you company while I and the gardener are away. If we should find Sakuya or your sister, I will be sure to send them home."

She drifts up toward the open window. Someone will have to shut it after Asarim and Lidell, and it is the most direct route outside anyway.

"To the mountain shrine, then?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Accepting that compel, obviously. Aww, poor Remi. Everybody's leaving her.

[Merilan]

"I'm afraid the kappa is right, Remi," she says, "We won't have time for tea."

Remilia whipped her head with quickly widening eyes, whatever measure of haughtiness quickly dashed. "W-wait, what--" she found herself blurting before anything else, then stepped up as the most pajama-ed Magician started to hover towards her open window. It felt... unimaginable! Unthinkable, even! That lump at her throat was back, and worse than ever, and she reached for the hem of her robe and narrowly missed her.

She silently drew down afterwards, her head hung low. "You can't go... you can't go, Patche! Who'll--" she paused and tried to not sound terribly mopey, though she was rapidly failing at that. She fidgeted, fidgeted, fidgeted, and grabbed at her poofy mob cap and yanked it down.

It wasn't until she floated to the window that she finally blurted out: "I'll be lonely without you!"

[Ascension]

Patchouli knows she can't look back at the vampire again, or else her resolve would desert her. Just the sound of the Scarlet Devil's desperation itself is hard enough to bear.

"Yes... yes, you will," she murmurs, in an odd, wistful tone.

She flies up, out of the window, and vanishes into the sunlight before she begins to cry.

[CecilHoshino]

Meiling gapes in silent alarm as Patchouli makes her exit. She certainly wasn't expecting the librarian to...leave her library! (Then again, with Marisa on the investigation team, her books were probably fairly safe in her absence). Recovering from her alarm, she instead turns her attention to her mistress, and... Her heart went out to Remilia; with Sakuya and Flandre missing, and now Patchouli and herself leaving to go find them, and Reimu, that really did leave Remilia all alone, save for Koakuma and the Fairy Maids. Two thirds of the...well, the family they had, here, gone in one afternoon. (Well, a third earlier, and a third now, but, details).

The gatekeeper quietly approaches the miserable vampire, crouches down to meet her level, and places a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Ojou-sama," she says, to get her attention. "Miss Patchouli has been your friend for a very long time. You know she wouldn't do this just to hurt you. But you probably know why, exactly, she feels like she has to do this." Maybe. Meiling's only spit balling, here. "I know that, in my case, I wanted to go and find Miss Sakuya and Flandre Ojou-sama because I wanted to prove I was still useful to you." And, well, because she was ordered to, but, details. "Maybe Miss Patchouli is thinking the same thing, although perhaps more to herself than to anyone else."

She clenches her fist over her heart. "I promise, I'll keep looking for Miss Sakuya and Flandre Ojou-sama, and bring them home. Until then, I know it'll be lonely, but will you be alright, here, at the mansion?" She almost wants to invite Remilia to come with them; it's been a long time since she got to be the one carrying the sun blocking parasol. But, from the sound of things, not only does Patchouli need fresh air, she needs...space.

[Luceid]

Is it any surprise that the Magician of Love can feel the air grow thick with emotions, as the Scarlet Devil watches all of her company take their leave? Resigned to a mansion empty of companionship, indeed, the sight of Remilia's fears taking root and robbing her of her haughty energy isn't a pleasant one. For Marisa, whose rambunctious attitude solves as many problems as it creates, it's rough going.

"Off to the mountain, yep." she agrees with Patchouli, in the moments before the pyjama'd magus drifts away into the sunlight with tears going unseen. The extent of the impact upon her, in turn, is something the blonde just isn't privy to.

What she can see and deal with, on the other hand...

"Well, we'll be takin' our leave. But we'll be back in a jiffy, and throw a huge party for ya when we return!"

... is actually best left to Meiling, isn't it? Even if Marisa is familiar with the Mansion and its inhabitants, really, she's still an outsider by comparison. Best not to try and give platitudes where others have heartfelt feelings to comfort with. And so, in a roundabout way of describing very little, the lowercase-m magician tugs that floppy hat back onto her head and soars on out of the window without much ceremony at all.

Well, she ruminates to herself despite the casual smile on her face. Wonder how much worse this is gonna get before it gets better, huh?

[Merilan]

Remilia's face dropped at that.

She watched Patchouli fly and disappear into the remnant of the sunshine that seemed more foreboding than ever, as if to tell her that she can't follow to where the librarian was going.

Meiling and Marisa's words almost seemed as if they fell on deaf ears as the Scarlet Devil stood there, littler than ever, while the ever-expanding arches and mezzanines and shelves of Voile seemed to threaten to swallow her whole.

"... just go," was the most she could go, sounding -- sounding, well, terse. The best she could afford for the gatekeeper at the moment. "Just go..."

Ironic, then, that this was one of the most lifeless her voice got, from a being intended to be lifeless in the first place. She took a few steps... then ran off towards the entranceway of the library, to escape deeper into the manor.

She forgot her cap, laid down on the floor.

Now that Remy is thoroughly curling up into a sobbing blob, I'd like to pitch forward a wrap for Stage 1 and move on to the next scene, with closing posts from everyone too! Objections barring, we'll be transitioning to Tengu Mountain.

Some mechanical upkeep:

1) You gain a minor milestone, which brings one of the following benefits:

• Switch the rank values of any two skills, or replace one Average (+1) skill with one that isn’t on your sheet.
• Change any single spellcard for another spellcard.
• Purchase a new spellcard, provided you have the refresh to do so. (Remember, you can’t go below 1 refresh.)
• Rename one character aspect that isn’t your high concept.

2) Patchouli and Nitori can create their Bond with Reimu to represent the investigation. Ban, if you'd like to PM me if you have any ideas or need to draft off some ideas, please let me know.

(At this point, you may establish a Bond with Hakurei Reimu to add to your list of bonds. Describe what your current relation to the shrine maiden is, and create an Aspect related to that. As the Bond that represents your investigation's efforts into this incident, you gain a +2 to Investigate rolls related to this incident.)

[Stelas]

Alice can't say she's entirely surprised at Patchouli's decision, in the end. It's the mirror image of her own situation, a loner feeling an impulse to get up and out into the wider realm of Gensokyo, or perhaps just do something other than roll around in a paddle pool in the midst of a gigantic library. (Seriously, wouldn't Koakuma object to that? She's surely not that biased of a librarian, is she? complains the more analytical part of Alice's brain, even at a time like this.)

Still, for all that she might be able to rationalize it, it's still a shock to see the purple-pajama'd Magician floating up towards an open window like some odd fairy tale, leaving the vampire's words in her wake, and Alice finds herself watching the process in an almost reverent silence, unwilling to speak until Patchouli has actually left the library proper into the wide open world.

"... don't worry. We'll take care of her, and make sure she's returned safe," she finally says, turning towards the vampire as she summons a warm smile and an understanding tone to her voice. A shame that it doesn't work at all, as the vampire has already bolted by the time she's worked past her surprise to get the words out, leaving her with only a surprised note and then a weary sigh as she follows Marisa. "Ah... haah... well, what is it they say? 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder'... perhaps?"

[CecilHoshino]

Meiling can only watch, heart heavy and nearly broken, as Remilia took off in tears. "Ojou-sama..." Even though she was going to be travelling with Patchouli, Meiling was starting to feel...very lonely, herself. This whole mansion was spiraling out of control...Sakuya and Flandre needed to come home, and soon.

"Ideally, yes..." Meiling mutters in response to Alice's words. She gently picks up Remilia's cap... She wonders if she should rush after her to return it, or at least leave it by her bed. But...perhaps, if Flandre needed some proof of how much Remilia was hurting without her, this cap would suffice. Or maybe she could use it as a sort of badge, as proof of her connection to the Scarlet Devil, should the need arise.

Besides, perhaps, when this was all over, Remilia could scold her for running off with her employer's hat, helping bring her back to her old self. Meiling was willing to take that lump. So, she rises to her feet, putting the cap away in convenient "hammerspace," and turns to Nitori and Mokou.

"I'm ready. We shouldn't keep the magicians waiting, and we've wasted enough time away from the mountain as is."

[banthesun]

"Uh, we fixed your room at least! Uh, I hope you enjoy that!" called Nitori after the vampire. It wasn't the most comforting thing to say, but she wanted to help her look at the bright side.

Still, this wasn't her problem. That lay ahead. Nitori adjusted the straps on her backpack, then took off in the direction of the mountain...

[Merilan]

Youkai Mountain -- Gensokyo's largest mountain and volcano.
It was primarily inhabited by the kappa and tengu, which have since centuries long past formed their own society.
Save for the Moriya Shrine and other pockets of interest around it, humans generally did not dwell long upon its slopes.
Normally, it was a beautiful mountain of resplendent lakes and waterfalls, possessed of the brilliance that endeared even Gods.
But now, something else was stirring within.
A heavy storm had been pouring down non-stop, and the dark ambience of anxiety accompanied the rain...

---

By the time the group arrived at the foot of the mountain, just past the Great Youkai Forest, the rain had really taken its toll. It was difficult to see past perhaps twenty feet, given that the banks of mist had also rolled in at some point -- and no doubt they would only become worse and worse as they went further up the mountain.

The primary path up the forest -- the one Marisa took on her first quest up here -- would take her up the mouth of the river to the Untrodden Valley, where she and Reimu first encountered Nitori. But there's a lot of exposure to the elements out here, and with the infighting that had already been confirmed, the journey may not be anywhere near as smooth as the first time...

Nitori knows of an Alternate Route up the Mountain, though it might be more difficult for the rest of the group. If they followed the path down and took a turn into the forest, they would eventually enter a cavern system that ran alongside one of the spring's underground streams. They'd receive shelter, and possibly hide from the tengu patrols, but it's no doubt a more demanding journey due to the upwards climb.

The scene aspects Driving Rain and The Mountain is in Unrest are active here -- you can't see any patrols at the moment, but you know it's wiser to expect company as opposed to none.

The aspect Driving Rain is also imposing a Fair (+2) difficulty on any tasks primarily involving movement, especially flying.

[banthesun]

For Nitori, being soaked to the bone was only helping lift her mood further. She was excited to see what was causing it, and to have the chance to save the mountain. Aya had only asked her to bring back one hero, and now not only had she got Marisa to come, but four others as well! Sure, apart from the doll-mistress, she wasn't too familiar with any of them, and she hadn't even heard of the one in green before, but five was clearly better than one! That was sure to impress her! Marisa was one of the people Aya had asked for, so Nitori privately decided that she was in charge. She had more experience in solving incidents, after all!

"Do you want to go straight to the tengu village, or is there something else you want to do first? Visit the shrine or something?"

[CecilHoshino]

Now Meiling was seriously regretting not asking Remilia to come along; it would have at least given her an excuse to get the parasol, even if Remilia did decide to stay home. As it was, her qipao was soaked through, and her hat and her pants were heavy with rain water. It's all she can do to keep her teeth from chattering. She looks towards Nitori, amazed that the kappa didn't seem bothered at all. ...No, not amazed. Not surprised, but taking a bit of comfort in that at least one of them was in good spirits. "Whichever one gets us out of this rain faster," was her response. "It was a mistake not to bring a change of clothes..."

[Ascension]

Active runes shine from the pages of the spellbook that lies open in Patchouli's hands. Despite the stormy scene, she floats in an odd island of calm, as the falling rain, guided by her magic, bends its path to avoid her. Her spirits, though, are still thoroughly dampened by the weather, even if her pajamas are dry. This sort of unpleasantness is precisely (one of the many reasons) why she prefers to remain indoors.

"This weather is dreadful," she complains, "Is the mountain often like this? No wonder you don't get many visitors."

[banthesun]

"Huh? Dreadful? Isn't this fun?" Nitori's ponytails flicked water as she turned to reply, emphasising her words. "I wish it was always like this! But the water would was away all the dirt, and it'd all be flooded before to long, and that wouldn't be good for everyone else. So I guess we have to stop it, before the mountain collapses."

In response to the gate guard's question, Nitori explained, "Well, the river's a pretty direct route up the mountain, just follow it, and then you'll find the tengu village after you've climbed the waterfall! Uh, if you do want to get out of the rain, well, there's a cave that leads up around the back nearby, but that's a much longer detour..."

[Luceid]

Marisa Kirisame lacks the subtlety of Patchouli's spiritual manipulation, and the water-friendly nature of Nitori's very being (and clothing) for the coming journey. As such, the closest thing she has to protection from the driving rain is her hat, and even that's begun to look a tad sodden. Questions could probably be raised, at this point, as to whether she knows a speck of useful magic at all! She gazes longingly towards Patchouli('s aura of pleasant dryness) and swallows a sigh before it can escape her lips. Nobody needs the aural cue of 'this sucks' at this point, nor is that the kind of image she wants to project.

"I swear, last time I came a-knockin' around here it was a lot nicer than this. I'm gonna need five to dry off whenever we stop off somewhere..."

The magician squints as she whacks her hat gently, spilling a thin sheet of rainwater in the process. That ought to hold for a few more minutes, at least. "Anyway, I'll be okay in the rain. Dunno about everyone else, but I'm just thinkin' on what you said earlier..." she muses Nitori's way, hovering nearby on her trusty ride. "I mean--if anyone's home at the shrine, y'know, checkin' on the local Gods might be a handy idea. Then again, I still owe 'em for the last time I stopped in for a bite..."

Marisa folds her arms while sitting up and makes an indecisive kind of noise, waggling to and fro in her flight path.

[Mokou-tan]

Mokou may not have had any "special" tricks for dealing with the rain, but she did have a way to deal with it. With a smirk, the air around her instantly heated up beyond water's boiling point. Anyone who looked at her could see the haze of the heat and the steam from the instantly vaporized water drops.

"I don't see what the problem with rain is. Just get close to me and you'll dry off quick... Or you'll get second degree burns or so... I forget exactly how frail you people are... Anyway, either order is fine by me, I have to check out the Tengu for Keine no matter what, so I'll let you guys lead on." The immortal maiden kept her hands in her pockets and was rather casual about all this, not even seeming worried about getting caught.

[Stelas]

"I tend to agree with Marisa, as far as seeing the gods on the way up is concerned... if we can obtain something that says they're allowing us on the mountain, that would probably be helpful. Still, I suppose we've got to start the ascent somewhere," she sighs, looking out from under her own form of shelter - and throwing Marisa a bone, with an amused little sigh. "Though I can't say I have anything particularly against caves."

Ever the most practical of Magicians - or magicians - all it took on the way over was a wave of her hand to send some of her dolls winging their way home for supplies, and now the dollmistress has a heavy shawl and cloak around her shoulders, and an umbrella held in one hand that is doing its best to fend off the rain. In its wake, she's drawn lower to the ground, preferring to actually set down rather than remain in high winds. "... still... whichever you think would be best, I suppose. Somehow, I imagine getting caught trying to circumvent the tengu would be just as bad as going straight through them."