3166/Touhou Kakudai Stage 2 - The Blocks of Home

Touhou Kakudai Stage 2 - The Blocks of Home
Date of Scene:	06 October 2015
Location:	The Flat Earth <FE>
Synopsis:	In another attempt at expansion, this time Louise takes her attempt at trying, things go better than expected!
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, 707, Sanary Rondel, 803, 847, 882, 884
Tinyplot:	Touhou Kakudai

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Steve (803) has posed:
    Day and night, the endless march of time in the Flat Earth, a world that experiences no seasons to give the cycle any variance whatsoever. At this particular local hour, the sun is just beginning to rise, vanquishing the terrible night as well as the creatures that crawl out into it, whether in search of prey or simple curiosity. As the first rays spray across the shallow terrain, beginning to illuminate the grassy, green plains bordering where a cobblestone keep stands sentinel against these threats, those very same denizens seek to escape the light. Some - the skeletons and green-skinned, shambling corpses - ignite instantly into flame, at least those unlucky enough to be able to escape back into the shadows. The unfortunate ones soon leave little more than dust, as we as piles of BONES and remnants of their FLESH. Yes, everything in caps from here on is lootable.

    It is about this time that a previously, seemingly solid wall at the side of the keep begins to ponderously yawn open. The distinctive sound of pneumatics, of all things, seems to hiss across the nearby area, as the rectangular blocks of stone slide back to reveal an opening, from which emerges Steve. Giving a stretch, and confirming there are none of the beasties that actually survive the sunlight nearby, he places his hands at his hips, and as part of his morning ritual, surveys his domain with some satisfaction. Fenced in farms, fields of wheat, carrots and potatoes being tended tirelessly by meter-high golems, and curiously, a brand new chicken coop seemingly constructed out of transplanted, scorched blocks that look like they were carved from a post-apocalyptic building. "Another beautiful morning in Steve's Land!"

Shinki (882) has posed:
    That beautiful day, the sun coming up. It brings a wonderful shade in the forest nearby as a small red glow appears in the deep of it upon a single large tree. A cheerful voice along with the voices of a gaggle of devil-winged girls is quiet inside this shaded area. "Alright, girls. She told us to go here next, do you think they may let us expand here? Let's also make sure we don't make the same mistake Sara did. We're here not for the humans but just to see if it's an expandable area."

    The gaggle of girls, twenty-five in all, give an affrmitave nod to the order from Louise, the girl in white. "Besides, I'm glad that she let us out of Makai to see this place, I've always wanted to see the world outside of home and now I get to! So don't screw it up." a stern, but friendly look is given to the girls once more from the white-hatted girl who's also dragging along a small black case on wheels. "And no taking things! That's how it went bad last time! And NO ATTACKING THE HUMANS!"

    Louise's face looks serious before she points to the sky, "Now, if everyone is okay, we'll set off in the sky soon."

Shinki (882) has posed:
        Stage 2 ~ The Blocks of Home.

        When the girl of white visits the blocks, what will become of the world?

Cocoa (884) has posed:
    "So this is your place, huh?"

    The violet-haired girl, 'Uriel', sits atop the keep wall, watching as the Sun's rays cleanse the land of undead. It's a beautiful sight, to be sure. Dressed as she was last time they met-- black, edgy clothes reminiscing one of a dark, vampiric magical girl outfit, complete with large bat wings, bloodied bandages around her wrists, ankles and neck, and clawed hands, though her right one is fairly huge, and red, less a human hand and more a demon's grafted onto a normal girl-- she hops down the wall, grinning, left (normal) hand on her hip, expectedly glaring the keep owner down.

    "Well! I'm here now. Aren't you going to give me a tour? It's a fine day for visitors, you know? I thought you just some lowly guy, but look at you, living in a fortified keep."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     There's something incredibly eery about this whole place, but it's hard for Sanary to put her finger on what it is exactly. It's not the strange cubeyness of it all, the golems standing guard over the farmland, or even the monsters bursting into flames at a moments notice.

     No, it's that strange doorway with all the loud noises coming out of it. It's enough to make the healer jump a bit, breathing a sigh of relief only after Steve actually comes out of that weird looking door.

     "Freaky... Thing. Uh. No offense, Steve. Just... Damn, that's /loud/." The healer, donning her lighter and significantly fuzzier Lagombi armor today, seems content to just look around for the time being, squinting every now and then with her lone eye to try and figure out just how that doorway even works. Granted, /nothing/ really looks right to her here, but..

     Well, she's gotta learn more about her allies somehow. What better way than to show up unannounced? Like that girl (Uriel) on the wall! "... Uh. Hey, there. You visiting Steve, too?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa needed to get away from the on going horror show on her native world. She'd spent the night with Zwei and Rory crunching data and going over what they'd lifed from a very shady company. So here she was having picked a random destation on the warp gate and was just out exploring, she wasn't foolish enough to go unarmed but she didn't have her weapons out at the moment. She was more curious about the fact there appeated to be wild pigs and sheep about which seemed to have no fear of her at all.

Steve (803) has posed:
    "Yeah, it is," comes the unflinching response to a certain edgelord, as naturally as though he were responding to some internal monologue. Funny, though, it isn't usually a female voice doing the narrating. It takes him a moment to put two and two together, and by then, Uriel has already made her descent and is staring him down. Just how long had she been waiting there? "Oh. Right, that warp gate is nearby," he quickly resolves, but doesn't seem to be too bothered by this. He's far more interested in the vampire claw chick, herself, resting a hand on his chin thoughtfully, before it dons on him, "Oh yeah, you were the ruler of that world from the other night." Somehow, he hasn't fully put into place that not everyone has their own personal world, yet. With not even a shred of modesty, or detecting any vein of sarcasm should it exist, he beams toward his cobblestone palace; which actually is the size and scale of a good-sized estate. "Built it with my own two hands! Well, the pickaxe and shovel helped. And, sure, since you're here, guess there's no harm. What was yer name again?"

    Especially since he already had company that was more planned, in the form of Sanary. Recognizing her as the one that was curious about his pigs, he gives her a more familiar grin, "Being loud lets you know how important something is, Sanary! When I open the gate, I want all those beasties to know they better crawl back under their rocks." He doesn't let on that he just hasn't figured out how to actually make them quieter, but it's of litte consequence. Instead, he's right on to that tour Uriel spoke of, which conveniently is also his morning routine. Cobblestone walkways, conspicuously aligned to precise metrics, lead around the grounds. First, the tamed flock of sheep, which stare out at all three with thoroughly unintelligent eyes from their fenced pen, bleeting. Also inside the enclosure, a small humanoid creature that appears to be made of straw wanders around, clipping the sheep with a pair of iron sheers, as another scoops up the WOOL leavings and deposits them into a nearby wooden box. "I used to have to do this by hand," he recalls. "It's so good having minions to do your legwork."

    He remains blissfully unaware, partially thanks to his current company, to take notice of the nearby incursions. But the non-human denizens of this world do take notice. In Kotone's case, the local wildlife seem to wander around without any real aim, though the sheep do sometimes stop to nibble on some of the grass - chewing curiously square meter patches of it, as though on instinct. In the wooded areas, that provide shade, some still unburned skeletons' bones clank. They seem uncertain about the new visitors, or at least as indecisive as a walking pile of bones can, but apparently recognize they are close enough in nature to not attack the devil world's tourists. Perhaps they see them as colleagues of a sort? Regardless, no fights break out, immediately. It is seemingly a good place for a vacation, or maybe even a consulate.

Shinki (882) has posed:
    With the tourism plan in place, Louise gives a smile and a nod, "Alright, let's take to the air. I didn't get my intel from this place but, she said it was stranger than home so let's give it a look. Now remember, no attacking the humans unless they do so first." and with twenty six nods, said twenty six bodies take off into the air above the tree tops and take a brief look around, "Alright, we're going to head north. This forest area, she'll like to use... and those mountains. Akumakami castle would go great there, wouldn't you think?"

    Various girls nod in agreement and chatter amongst themselves as they fly off, a few looking downwards towards the 'village' ahead where Steve and gang are. "Louise, it looks like this place is inhabitated already. Should we go say hi?" Louise shakes her head lightly, "We can lower altitude but let's not bother them. If they say Hi or invite us down, we'll go down okay? And we'll make another pass by later too."

    The girls slowly fly over the fortress, a few of the devil winged girls giving a happy wave to the inhabatants. "No fighting them, right?" "No." "Okay... Say, what happened with Sara?" "We will not talk about this... let's check everywhere okay, see how good this land is for Her."

Cocoa (884) has posed:
    "I'm a visitor, that's right. I met this lovely gent when he visited one of my worlds, so I thought I'd return the favor and see what all the hype is about. I have to say any world where you wake up to the sight of the undead bursting into flames is pretty damn cool," Uriel answers Sanary, before chiding Steve.

    "Ruler? Don't confound me with some boring king or emperor, psht. I'm Uriel, the warrior! I fight Phantom's wars for him. I don't rule, that doesn't sound any fun at all." She inspects the keep, as Steve explains he built it himself, and she follows along, wide fanged grin on her face as Steven explains why being loud is important.

    "Damn straight. Being loud is how you get REAL challengers to come at you, and all the chaff stands aside in fear. By hand, though, man, that sounds like a huge pain. Minions really are great."

    Uriel's eyes gaze over at the sudden flock of flying girls, though she seems neither concerned nor affected. "Things just got even better! Are you trying to impress me with an air show? If more worlds did that maybe I'd spare one once in a while."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Sanary really couldn't fault his logic there. Come to think of it, just about every important person she knew was really loud at least some of the time, right? It only made sense that the main entrance was the same way. "Yeah, makes sense. Although with all that fire, you might not even need the warning." She laughs lightly and follows along for that tour, pausing to stare at the humanoid shearer as it gets to work on that wool.

     The blockiness is still something she'll need to get used to. "Wish I had minions. Well, aside from the one. More... Practical ones, I guess." She leaves that at that, although her hand does reach downward briefly to make sure her phone's still in her pocket.

     The sight of those flying girls definitely doesn't go ignored, though, and she raises a hand to keep her eye partially shielded from the sun as she looks up at them with an amused grin. "Hey there! You.. Uh. You part of a field trip or something?" She doesn't look like she's itching for a fight, at least, although the gunaxe strapped to her side does indicate that she's not defenseless, either.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Shortly after Steve mentions 'about two dozen flying girls' on the broadband, Xiaomu strolls through the warpgate. According to him, all they're really doing at the moment is flying around - which makes it somewhat easier for the sage fox to spot them; she just has to look up at the right part of the sky.

... hm. Yeah, they look kind of familiar to Xiaomu. She might look kind of familiar to them, too, if any were on Sara's ill-fated venture. Keeping a watchful eye on the flock of devil girls, Xiaomu sets out to follow them from the ground, splitting her attention so she doesn't go tripping over a fence or through a tree or into a field or anything. The oddly squared-off nature of the landscape notwithstanding, this seems like a pretty nice world ...

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     Coming out of that warpgate after Xiaomu is Konoe, donning her Shinra uniform. "....What kind of place is this?" She mumbled aloud, arching a brow in confusion. A look upwards brings to her eyes the various flying girls mentioned the radio. "Huh." She started after Xiaomu, keeping her eyes on the flock.

     After a couple seconds, she spoke up. "Should I follow them from the air?" She asked, keeping her eyes on the sky casually as they walked.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa little vacation seems to be side tracked it seems as there's something else going on. Steve who after she checks the signal source discovers that Steve is on the same world as she is. This is getting curious she has to admit. She might as well check it out, the laws of nature are strange in this worlds she notices how aimless the animals seem to be which is odd to her. she also pauses at the sounds of the undead. She's not going to pick a fight if she doesn't have to. She does catch sight in the distanc eof Xiaomu and Konoe.

She'll leave the strange local life behind making note to come back to look into things here later, but for now? There seems to be dolls to find. She'll sprints at a rate a normal human on her world would be unable to match as she aims to catch up with the pair calling out as she closes.

"Hey! Xiaomu?! Konoe? Might as well work with you two on this if you don't object."

Steve (803) has posed:
    "Hmmm," the miner-wizard considers Uriel's words. "Yeah, I guess there kind of have to be people worth ruling, to be a ruler." He'd never really considered it, that way. Certainly he is the master of his domain, but after the novelty of pranking (to various degrees of severity and injury) the only other humanoid life native to his lands, it kind of wore thin. They're little more than another resource to him, now, than his subjects. After spacing for a scant moment while pondering this fact, he begins pacing over toward the cow pasture. It is thankfully a lot cleaner than one might imagine a livestock paddock to be like, in most other worlds, once again likely owed to the pair of golems that work tirelessly. While leaning against the fence of it, he further reflects, "Wasn't that much of a pain, really. I've done this kind of thing so many times, over and over, that a house this size takes me maybe three or four nights. I work on the little details later." Uriel might remember him carving out blocks of the hellish landscape she had helped create, as if it were the most natural thing to be doing. "You did mention your boss before. I'd say they have good taste." That doesn't seem directed at Uriel, exactly, but more at her handiwork.

    "Minions really are great, though," he responds to both, since Uriel had made the point about ruling earlier. This is different, though! "They don't complain, no matter how tedious the work. I have to make the instructions really simple for them, but that just means there's less room for error." One of this pair of golems seems to be wearing what looks like a bowtie, maybe an attempt to personalize it. Or maybe Steve just likes bowties. He's about to resume the tour of the facility with the chickens, with their home now hewn from Uriel's own handiwork, when he spots something peculiar. Certainly, he's seen errant bats in the day time before, when they wander out of their caves or from under darkened trees. But never quite this many. And never any that look like girls and young women. He places a hand to shade his eyes, as if unbelieving at first, before Uriel and Sanary also remark on them. "Nope, those aren't anything of mine. Honestly never seen anything like that happen here, before." Then again, he isn't really sure what things have been unleashed, since he performed the 'Ritual of Unificiation'. He pauses, calling out over the public frequencies, "Anybody lose two dozen flying girls?"

    That was the prompt for several new entries into his world. Not that he minds the company, since there is plenty of space, but something he heard over that same public space does give him pause. "Hmm. If they're devils, I wonder if I could cut a deal with them, later. But first, I want to know why they're even here." He calls out to the newcomers, and the one he hadn't noticed before, from across the plain, before pointing up, "Over here!" As if Xiaomu and Konoe needed any indication from here of where the 'problem' is.

Shinki (882) has posed:
    Louise and the Girls take another look down, there's a few people looking up at them. "Well, this was inevitable." Louise mutters, giving a wave down before the group speeds up their flight and dissapears along the horizon. It takes a few minutes as the girls speed back in from another biome, rainwater dripping off the wings and clothes of the menagerie. "There wern't any storm clouds there!" "And it went from nice and sunny weather to rain everywhere!" "Girls, I think I see some white stuff on the ground in the distance..." "What kind of crazy place is this? She said it was strange but really?!" The devil-winged girls squabble amongst themselves as Louise gives a sigh, fingers pressing into her forehead as she shakes her head.

    "Perhaps we should ask them what's going on." comes one of the girls, glasses on head. "Naturally, we should have don..." and one of the other girls gives a swift head chop to the glasses girl.. "Hey, Louise has a plan for everything... but maybe we should go see what's going on." as she gets some stares, she says the only word that comes to mind. "What...?" Louise shakes her head once more and dives down, a curious touch as she lands then kneels down to put her fingers through the grass, nodding. "This land is okay. Let's see if we can't talk our way in this one." the rest of the devil-winged girls soon land and slowly start approaching the settlement. Twenty six hands raised in greeting as they come along.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"If you want to," Xiaomu answers Konoe. "Try to be non-threatening, though; last time I saw those girls they were pretty hostile towards Fayt, but it doesn't look like they're out to make trouble this trip. - Oh hey, Kotone!" The sage fox grins, waving to Kotone as she approaches the Shinra pair. "No reason to object here ..."

Steve calls out to them; Xiaomu waves back, and - well, the devil-winged girls seem to be heading in Steve's direction, so Xiaomu just picks up her pace a bit. She noticed the girls landing in the grass, so she circles to one side to give them a polite margin.

She also waves in passing, but doesn't slow down by much; she sort of wants to get to Steve (and his initial guests) ahead of the pack of devil-winged girls.

Cocoa (884) has posed:
    "That's a trade-off. If your minions are too smart they can betray you. It's important to have mindless minions! And if something is so important, you should do it yourself, not trust minions. You'd miss out on a cool fight that way, anyway." Uriel answers Steve, eyes keeping on the flock of winged girls in the sky. She's musing, thinking, definitely trying to reach a decision on something.

    "That's a shame though, putting a show on just for me would have been swell." Red eyes scan the area and the skies; heroes have claimed to be responding. That could sour her fun.

    "Well, come on! Let's go say hi, see what they want. They might know some fun games we can play." Or have fun goals she can help with. Really, she'll take either.

    Uriel strolls over to where the girls are landing, likely betting on the fact her own appearance probably lets her bleed in with her fellow winged demons and make a better first impression. Not that she cares if they don't immediatly cooperate, she'd just try to make them.

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     "Alright. I'll do that then." She nodded and left the ground without any fanfare, lifting into the air. Kotone's greeting earned her a look and a wave. "Oh, hello Kotone-san." Another nod. "Sure. I don't have a problem with that." A small smile was given at the end before she looked towards Steve and the approach of the various devil girls.

     Okay.

     With that, Konoe flew forward, taking care to keep her speed low and not alarming. She arrived shortly, and remained aloft in the air, several inches off the ground. "Hello." The bakeneko bowed slightly at Steve. "Is this your place? Are you the one who asked about these..." She looked towards the approaching winged girls. ...Devils? Vampires? Both were likely, based on a cursory glance. "...girls?" She finished her question, keeping her expression even.

     Old impulses urged her to get the ofuda ready, but she pushed the feeling down, keeping her hands free of weapons or tools.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa seems pleased that Xiaomu and Konoe.

"Thank you both, it's better than working at cross purposes ont his, right?"

She bows slightly to the pair before she notices Steve's arrival. She turns to the man and bows a bit to him as well. As Kanoe and Xiaomu ask most of the qwuestions she was going to anyhow. She does keep pace with them well enough.

"Humm yes what information do you have on them?"

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     "Ruling sounds tricky. All the extra... Stuff involved. Nah, minions are definitely easier. Doesn't hurt to have 'em around for the tougher fights, though."

     At least Sanary's got that sorted out already. Besides, she's still trying to figure out how to even GET them in the first place! But that's a detail to be figured out another time.

     "Is that what they are...? Ah. I can't even tell from here." Still squinting to try and get a better look at the flying girls, the healer eventually starts approaching that landing gaggle. They're definitely a strange looking bunch, but... Well, what /isn't/ strange here, anyway? Granted, she's probably just as strange looking to them in her half-armor half-winter coat outfit, but at least she's not flying around yet.

     "Uh. Welcome, I guess! Not from around here, I'm guessing?" Wearing that broad grin again, her attention shifts from the devil girls to Konoe, Kotone, and Xiaomu, her head tilting slightly at the human-faced cat... Something. "This is Steve's place, yeah. Are they yours?" Like Konoe, she's keeping her hands free of any weapons and even her shield for the time being. There's even a nod of recognition given to Xiaomu!

Shinki (882) has posed:
    The girls stop a bit of the ways, all twenty six staring at Konoe. A few of them whisper to Louise... "Be careful, that Miko looks familiar..." "Isn't that Reimu?" "What's Reimu doing..." "Be ready for a danmaku fight..." "Did someone bring any money to donate? Or tea?" Louise shakes her head and ahems.. "Girl's. Be quiet!" Louise steps forward and smiles, such a warm welcome from the group, and the devil-girls take a look at Uriel and smile. "Hey, you look nice! How are you?" "Yeah, where are you from, I haven't seen you around our home before." "Who made you?" "Don't ask that!"

    "Don't mind my girls, we're what you could call tourists. I've wanted to see outside of our home for so long and since that event happened, we get to go look at new places to see what will also suit home and expansion. We're not looking to take over anything, but a mutual cohabitation of places. At least, that's what our Master wants. I just want to see a lot of places and tour around." Louise grins, giving a curtsey. "I'm Louise, it's a pleasure to meet you all."

    A couple of the girls roam around, poking at one of the squared trees, pokepokepoke... "This tree looks weird, don't you think?" "This whole place is weird... but if Louise can see about it, maybe it won't be such a bad place to try and expand home into. She'll be happy if we can."

Steve (803) has posed:
    Mindless minions. He'll just avoid talking about his experiments in grafting zombie brains onto these same sweet, obedient golems. Ones that have had varying success, to date, and that managed to leave him a little doubtful about his own direction. Just a little, though. "Damn straight," Steve continues, a bit more forward when it comes to sending minions into battle in his stead. That is something that simply won't be done. "I have one or two in the base, just in case something sneaks by the rest of my defenses, but I prefer a hands on approach for everything else." Somehow, one is likely to get the impression he doesn't mean diplomacy. It's not exactly his strongsuit, given how he had no highly intelligent interactions prior to his engaging the multiverse. BUT...these winged girls that showed up haven't been exploding his buildings or trampling his crops, yet, so he's willing to give it a try. Or even better, let other people soften them up a bit first.

    At the approach of Xiaomu and Konoe, timed precisely just ahead of the troop of devil worlders, he gives a light scratch of his beard stubbled chin, before giving a broad and friendly grin. "The name's Steve. Welcome to my turf! Hope it isn't too disorientin' for you. Some people find it a bit weird, for some reason." After the introductions, he once again turns a wary, yet somehow appraising eye toward the approaching winged maidens. "These girls just showed up a while ago. Like Uriel over here is wonderin', I just want to know what they want, really. If they can be reasoned with. You get the idea. If they're hostile, I got no problems if you help deal with them accordingly, but they haven't been acting that way." He gives a shrug of his shoulders, allowing those considerably more experienced with talking with devils to do their thing. He'll save his own prospective business for when he knows what he's actually dealing with. That does leave him some time to remark to Sanary, "Ruling stinks, most of the time. I decided to declare myself king of one of the villages, once. It got old fast, and didn't leave me much time for hobbies."

    As the girls finally close in, and they begin speaking, he turns to them again. He's quiet for the moment, seeming to regard the one that appears to be their leader, though the group seems a little...chaotic, with a mind of its own. Hey, that's HIS tree, damn it. He doesn't snap at any of them, though, unless they start doing anything particularly disruptive, like trying to pack around one of his golems like it's a teddy bear. "The name's Steve," he offers. "And it's my world you've shown up in." After that brief introduction, he'll let the devil whisperers have their turn, and hopefully they can get to the bottom of this. Uriel, these are your people, aren't they? Do something!

Cocoa (884) has posed:
    "It's cool! I'm not from around here, I'm from some dumb Earth number whatever whatever, it's gone now though. Phantom made me! He's my boss. Well, he's not my father, but he gave me my powers, close enough?" Debatably that big bearded man has been a better father to her than her real father, but Uriel won't go into that.

    "Hello Louise! I'm Uriel. I'm also a visitor! So you guys want to live here? This is a pretty square place. Well, that guy over there is the owner," she says, motioning back towards Steve with her left hand. She looks back at him, shrugging. "Hey, you mind worldmates? They want to build stuff here I guess. Take it from me, empty worlds are super boring. I've seen a bunch, and all! The part leading up to them emptying is super fun, but when you get close to it being done there's nobody left to mess with."

    Why do complicated when you can do simple?

    Though, Cocoa would've never thought herself a defuser of situations like this. Hrm, no, this just can't do. Should she do something drastic?

    "You guys were complaining about a shrine maiden right? I've had my run in with a few, they've always been jerks." Her eyes move to Konoe, and then back to the demons. "Maybe you should just take what you want instead of asking!"

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"Pleased to meet you, Steve, Uriel, Louise," Xiaomu greets the others, bowing politely to them (and to Sanary as well). "My name's Xiaomu. - And I've seen weirder worlds than this one," she adds, grinning briefly at the native master craftsman. She ought to ask him what kinds of hobbies he has, but ...

"Not looking to take over anything, huh?" the sage fox asks Louise, leaning casually on her monk staff. "Well, that's a nice change from the other girl I met leading some of these girls around. You know a Sara by any chance?" she asks, affecting a casual air.

Of course, even if they DO know Sara, that doesn't necessarily mean negotiations are doomed; Xiaomu's got nothing against these girls if they actually come in peace this time. If it was Sara's idea to get all rough-and-tumble at Fayt's place, well, Sara doesn't seem to be here, so maybe things'll go smoother.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Sanary grins at Uriel, turning back momentarily to face her. "Ah, don't worry about it. Pretty sure Steve's the only one from around here, anyway." She even gestures at her own outfit to emphasize that, eventually looking back towards the gathered group with another laugh.

     "Taking stuff's always good! Obviously, not from him or... You know. Right in front of people, but yeah." Another laugh, and Xiaomu's introduction reminds her of what she's forgotten to do herself. "Oh. Name's Sanary. Confederate, healer, sometimes asskicker. Good meeting you all." Is she putting herself at risk outing herself as a Confederate this easily? Maybe. Does she care? Nope.

     "Yeah, there's a lot of weird stuff everywhere. This one's actually kinda nice aside from the monsters catching on fire and whatever those green things were."

     She hasn't seen any of those things since coming here. How strange.

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     Konoe nodded to Steve, but frowned at the chatter of Louise's group. She could hear nonsense like 'Is that Reimu?' 'Get the donations out!'. One of her eyes inadvertently twitched. With a subtle flourish of a hand, several ofuda appeared in between her fingers, ready to deply.

     But she didn't throw them just yet. As much as these girls annoyed her already. Cocoa was not helping either, the miko's gaze settled on her for a moment, and briefly, she considered doing something stupid.

     Nah.

     "......."

     Well, she wouldn't throw the first stone. If they said they weren't here to take over, then she'd stay her hand. For now.

     But there was something she really needed to say.

     "For the record; I'm not Reimu. Don't mistake me for her again." That truly was annoying.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa doesn't think much on minions one way or the other she's more curious about. She looks to Sanary for a moment then looks out ahead at the girls staring at them for a ln moment that's a lot of girls if you could call them that then again Kotone really is a doll in the techinal term at this point. Or might be seen as a golem dpeenng on how one sees it she does wonder but she's looks to Steven bowing slightly.

"I see, fair enough they might be exploring as for the ruling part? I have to agree. Also my name is Kotone Yamakawa."

Shinki (882) has posed:
    Louise looks back towards her group... two are ... "HEY Get back in line girls! Stop poking at that tree! Do I need to send you back?" she mutters. "DOn't mind them, they're naturally curious. And a bit antsy. BUt it's okay, we're not interested in actually fighting with anyone." a turn towards Uriel, "Sara tried that, it didn't work too well..." she shakes her head, "She did look cute when she was six inches, however but I'm not here for a fight at all." a quick glance at Konoe, "Not Reimu, huh? Good, you don't have her same 'Oh, it's a youkai, must exterminate' disposition then." as she turns towards Xiaomu, "Of course, I know her. She tried to take over this upside down castle with a weird mage in it.. got pushed back by a few people. Oh well, I don't think she'll try that again at least."

    A couple of the devil winged girls float over towards Sanary, giving her a look over, "Asskicker?" they question curiously, as Louise sighs, "So..." she looks between everyone, "Steve..." a look at Xiaomu, "Fox...", "Uriel...", "Sanary...", "Not Reimu...", "Kotone." a smile then comes back on her face, "It's a pleasure to meet you all. So maybe we can come to some sort of agreement over this then?" Louise questions, as the devil-winged girls slowly form a half circle around Louise, the others joining back into place before a smile crosses on all twenty six girls faces.

Steve (803) has posed:
    "What's a shrine maiden, and who's Reimu," Steve wonders, off-handedly and not really waiting overlong for an answer? There are more important things afoot, like devils standing on his lawn! Normally, he might be pissed off that Cocoa is possibly sabotaging efforts to talk sensibly between the groups, since he is beginning to form his own plans in his head. On the other hand, he also isn't one to stand in the way of a troublemaker stirring things up. He'll do his best not to let his internal conflict show, instead clearing his throat, "Well, seein' as I have a vested interest in this place, since I live here, I'm in a good position to consider this." That is, if they're honest about their intentions. He thinks he read something about devils being tricky, but since he is clearly a super genius, they won't outmaneuver his keen mind and intuition. He makes a good show of deeply pondering this, scratching at his stubbled chin again. "Good to meet, everyone."

    "It's true I have plenty of land I'm not using right now, this Master of yours has a good eye. But, it's still *my* land," he notes this with no uncertainty, "And as you seem to understand, Louise, I'm not going to let you have camping trips on it for free. I'd need something in exchange, and some agreements." As if on cue, another golem exits his keep and begins waddling in all its three foot tall majesty toward the crowd. This one seems to have a bit more autonomy than the ones tending the livestock and farms, but still has only a single task in mind. That is delivering a blank book and quill pen to its master. It is also wearing glasses, which is curious, since they seem to have recesses in their 'face' instead of actual eyes, so they can't possibly serve any real function. He begins scribbling something down, while remarking to one of Sanary's comments, "Don't know why. The skeletons and zombies always burn up in the sun. Guess it's some kind of extreme allergic reaction?"

    It's not answering that, that has really given him pause, though. It's the barely restrained energy he can feel from those girls that are in Louise's company, as if they are anticipating something. Maybe something that isn't the agreement. If they're trying to intimidate, it is lost completely on him, but he *is* curious to a fault. "...hmm." He glances again to Konoe, in particular, "They seem to know you, or somebody like you. How does a 'shrine maiden' usually conduct negotiations?" He's got that thinking look to him, since something about this energy and tension between them has given him an idea, "You demonstrate that, and I might waive some of the original conditions I was thinkin' of."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"Hmmm ... is the sun in this land a source of particularly holy power?" Xiaomu wonders, giving the sun a curious look overhead. "That would explain it burning off roaming undead. - And I did give my name, didn't I?" she asks Louise. She's pretty sure she *did*.

And while she knows a few shrine maidens, she's not especially acquainted with this 'Reimu,' so she's not going to comment on that subject. The sidelong confirmation that Sara is indeed a familiar name to Louise (and company) is just quietly filed away; it's good to see that somebody with more sense is part of the expedition this time.

"Anyway, Louise, the line of work I'm in *does* discriminate between friendly and unfriendly youkai; we only worry about exterminating the ones that can't be dealt with more peacefully," she adds. "I can't say that for everyone in every world, but at least Shinra focuses on trying to protect both humans and youkai from each other. It's easier to keep an oni from going on a rampage than it is to stop the rampage once it's started, right?"

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     'Not Reimu'

     Well okay, that was right, but the way it was said still annoyed her.

     Oh well.

     Steve was given a glance and Konoe briefly answered. "A shrine maiden is someone, typically a reigious figure, that serves a god and uses spiritual powers to defeat youkai and perform various rituals and prayers."

     That was the simple explanation.

     Her unamused gaze settled back on Louise and her troupe, fuda still held at her side. Steve's question is met with another glance in his direction, followed by an even answer, in a no fun tone. "Shrine maidens typically don't negotiate with youkai." She raised the hand holding the ofuda in front of her, in a ready to throw position.

     "They exterminate them." The fuda she was holding burst into flame. "If you want me to demonstrate that, then I will."

Cocoa (884) has posed:
    "Oh? You should try harder then. Or maybe you didn't have someone strong enough on your team. You girls seem fun, maybe I'd be willing to punch for your team for a while." The big, red clawed hand is raised and wiggled a bit, in demonstration. "Haha. Punch. Maybe I should have said claw or maul." Uriel remains upbeat, turning to look at Steve when he produces both a golem and attempts to set things towards a peaceful heading.

    "Oh, I know! You should have the girls agree to kick the ass of anyone who comes to bother you for you. You'd be letting them stay on your land in exchange for muscle! When you're bored you could poke at their enemies right back, too. You'd gain a source of entertainment!"

    Uriel truly sees it this way. Having demons on your land means you get to deal with the heroes coming after them. It's a renewable source of fighting and fun!

    As Konoe threatens the demon girls, Uriel's grin widens, almost maliciously. "Ooh, ooh! Feisty! You have bark AND bite! My my, are both parties going to let the other walk all over them?" She turns towards Louise. "Shrine maidens just want to kill you. You have to kil them first." Spin, twirl, right back to facing Konoe. "Ah, but demons just want to start trouble, don't they? I bet these ones have awful malicious goals here. Maybe they want to suck the life out of the land!"

Shinki (882) has posed:
    Louise nods, "Ah, sorry Xiaomu. I admit to getting distracted by your amazing hair." she grins, and turns back to Steve, "It's... a long story, but I'm interested in hearing what you have to say for exchange. She's not one to pass up on anything reasonable." with a nod she turns to the golem that makes its away over and eyes the book and with a nod, "Of course, I don't expect you to give it away for free now. My girls here are good at labor." cue balking from the majority of the devils behind her.

    A pause is given, a light nod to Xiaomu "Of course, and I'm sorry Sara gave you trouble there, Xiaomu. I'm ... preety sure..." said in a not so sure tone.. "she meant well... but." a shrug is given, "But you are right, it's easier to stop a rampage before it starts." The balking stops, however, when Steve mentions demonstrating what a Shrine Maiden can do as all twenty five of the devil-girls step in front of Louise and stare at Konoe. "We're here on a peaceful mission for our Master but, I don't mind playing with the cat." "Uriel, you want to join us in beating down a shrine maiden?" "I'm antsy for a danmaku battle!"

    Louise frowns, have negotiations stopped in place of wanting to danmaku? She sighs a bit and pulls a couple of the devil-winged girls to the side... In a low whisper. "Go tell her to increase the defenses at the castle... especially if this Shrine Maiden's going to do things. Or pair of shrine maidens..." a pause "I'll see if we can get Uriel on our side too..." the two devil-winged girls give a nod and take flight, heading back towards the forest at a fast pace, Louise moving to step forward. "While I'm sure my girls would love to take care of some annoying pests, I was hoping to get discussions without the use of fighting... though, I don't mind a demonstration of our capabilities.." a turn to Uriel, "And possibly a demonstration of kin... I would like to do that when this isn't hinging on if we can stay and expand here or not..." a pointed look to Konoe, "Put the ofuda away."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa looks to the girls for a moment smiling a little bit at them she seems curious about this.

"I'm afraid I do not know of any Remiu I'm afraid though you eem to know of me I'm flattered. I'm generally not worth noting."

Modesty or self confidence issues who know? She is curious about all the girls though seriously she's not quite seen anything like them. 5R
"I admit my skill with magic is more knowing I shouldn't touch something."

She looks a bti sheepish and she pauses as neogations have now hit the point of damaku? That is a term she knows of. Though they seem to want to expand. She debates about what to do next...

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     That's a vaguely familiar name. Not Reimu, not... Reimu? When was the last time Sanary heard that name? She furrows her brow as she tries to zero in on where she had heard the name, pausing momentarily to grin at the devil girls. "That's right~ Not all the time, of course, but if I have to." The healer even pats her gunaxe as reassurance. "But don't worry. I ain't gonna hurt anyone here unless someone does something stupid."

     Or start a fight, even. Then again, if it doesn't involve her nor looks like it needs stopping... It would be fun to see just what those danmaku users are really capable of. Her face shows the slight signs of a grin starting to form as Uriel eggs Konoe on, eventually just breaking out into a playful grin as she looks towards the former.

     "Hey, hey. This land is still pretty nice, at least. Can't have anyone messing it up too much if there's any plans to live here. Then again..." She pauses, looking from devil girls to Uriel to Konoe, then breaks out into a relaxed laugh while flexing a completely-fuzz-armor-covered arm.

     "Long as none of you winds up dead, I can fix you up enough to get you back somewhere for proper treatment."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Xiaomu sighs, takes a step or two to her side, and tilts her monk staff so that it's crossing right in front of Konoe. "You're a member of Shinra too, remember?" she says quietly to the catgirl. "Shrine maiden or not, flying off the handle is gonna make me look bad as your senior, so power down unless they actually take the first shot at us. Otherwise we're *all* going to get plunged into paperwork hell when we get back, even if this is another world entirely than the one our organization's based in."

She pauses, giving Louise an apologetic smile while her staff continues barring Konoe's way. "Yeah, I take some pride in my hair, so I guess I have a vested interest in not getting it all frizzed up by a firefight if it can be helped. On the other hand ..."

She pauses, considering. "Danmaku battles are kind of Gensokyo's national sport, from what I've heard, so if we're all agreed on this being a FRIENDLY match instead of shots fired in anger and subsequently in self-defense? I guess I wouldn't *entirely* mind showing off what I can do. And you ladies wouldn't have to worry about the trump card I pulled out against your buddy Sara, either."

Which is actually the complete and utter truth: she only did that by tapping into Fayt's accumulated chaos magic, and since *he's* not here ...

Steve (803) has posed:
    "Oh, no need to kill or exterminate them, or whatever," comes the miner's next words, in reply to Konoe. Perhaps to Uriel's disappointment! It's not that he is overly attached to his uninvited guests, but it won't be that great for him if there's noone left to actually sign on the dotted line. He resumes scribbling his thoughts into the book, after that, continuing to chat all the while. The tensions don't seem to bother him - in fact they're quite interesting, and a lot better than the tour he was going to give a bit earlier! Pointedly, seemingly to Louise, he continues, "I'm admittedly more interested in material resources. You girls are devils, if I'm hearing right? You have anything that's a good source of magical power, by any chance? Though, if you want to help defend the place, I won't complain." The golem, this one seemingly made of wood, meanders around Steve's lower legs, sometimes stopping to tilt its head up at one of the others in the vicinity, before resuming its patient milling.

    He has no doubt that his house would remain standing no matter what they start slinging around. Beneath the cobblestone veneer, he has reinforced it with a certain secret ingredient which definitely is more interesting than a certain volcanic glass. Okay, so there is obsidian. Regardless of that, it *is* true that the farms are a good deal less protected, and the last thing he wants to deal with today is rounding up escaped farm animals and golems. "You got a point, Louise. Let's get the ground rules laid down today, then your girls, the shrine maiden and Uriel can have your own kind of negotiations. Sound good?" He finishes jotting in his book, and paces past the front line negotiators to offer it over to the hatted devil tourist. It's a fairly simple agreement: Non-aggression and non-interference, build their settlement a suitable distance away, and supply interesting research materials. It contains some riders about more mutually beneficial material exchanges, if they prove themselves against this 'shrine maiden'.

    After that, he steps back to give her time to consider it, or carry it off to this Master of hers, crossing his arms behind his head. "You're just full of good ideas, Uriel. I need to see what devils are made of before I enter into anything too serious, though. Closest I've seen are these ghost things in the Nether." A somewhat helpless shrug is given to Xiaomu's own theories of his world's nature, and its interaction with the undead. "I've been studying them, off and on, when I can get good samples, or even better, capture one." Probably a clue of what some of those 'hobbies' mentioned earlier were, to the astute. "If I figure it out, I'll let you know. The giant, skinny jerks don't seem to like it, either, but it doesn't seem to do a thing to the creepers or giant spiders." With Sanary's and Xiaomu's basic agreement-in-principle to all this, he does grin with unrestrained satisfaction, "Well then, it's a date! I'm looking forward to this." He wins either way, so it's hard not to.

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     'No'

     ...Is what Konoe would have said, if Xiaomu didn't go and inject LOGIC into the situation. Sigh. "...Fine."

     The fuda she was holding simmered down, and then with a casual flourish of the hand, they disappeared. "...But if they do something strange, I'm going to blow them up without asking anymore questions." That was a threat and a promise.

     But for now, angry cat would be held back by her SENIOR leash.

     Hmph.

     At least Steve was happy with all this.

Cocoa (884) has posed:
    "I have no idea what half the stuff you just said means," Uriel says to Steve, "But your world sounds like it has really weird creatures in it. And really AWESOME ones too. Oh also the part where I'm right, that's kind of a given."

    Then she turns towards the demons, giving a nod. "Sure, I'll fight someone for you guys sometime. It better not be a weakling though, as Phantom's vanguard I only like to play in the big leagues! I'm a monstrous, evil person, you know, I have a reputation to uphold."

    The dark magical girl (vampire? demon?) casually flips a hand through her hair, turning her attention back to Konoe. "Oooh? You've been talked out of it? How boring. That's just what to expect from 'heroes' though, going all limp when it's time to act, but acting all tough before then."

Shinki (882) has posed:
    Louise gives a bright smile and nods towards Steve, taking the book in hand as he approaches. "Oh,. so you know of Gensokyo?" she questions Xiaomu, then turns to Konoe, "You're definately from Gensokyo..." a small frown before turning back to Xiaomu, "I wouldn't mind a friendly match, and we can do it here in this world, away from Steve's home too. Even if it's not lethal, lasers and the like, you know..." a pause and a mouthed 'thank you' is given to Xiaomu at stopping Konoe.

    The devils speak up and nod, "We're devils, yes. You need magic?" a pause, looking over between them all before the Glasses Wearing Devil is pushed forward. "She can be a good servant if you need, a familiar mind you. She's good at danmaku too so if you need help defending yourself in this 'Nether' place too. And she can gather! A real bookworm she is." Meanwhile, the glasses wearing devil frowns slightly at being forcefully volunteered for a familiar role. She wasn't summoned, she wasn't magically bound... but this.. "Oooh sisters... you're not going to like me when I am angry..." "Oh, relax, he'll take care of you."

    Louise looks to Konoe and nods, "I'm not going to do anything strange and lets see. All of this sounds very amiacable, and I'm sure my Master can provide something magical for you to use, Steve. As for other negotiations, we'll be glad to schedule those at a later time too. Isn't that right, Uriel?" she gives a bright smile to Uriel, "I definately want to see what you can do, and maybe you can join me back at my Master's castle." As for Kotone, she gets a nod, "Well, you /did/ introduce yourself earlier, and I'm sorry we haven't been giving you the attention you deserve. Perhaps we can work something out in private later? Maybe we can have a few plots of land in your area too!"

    Meanwhile, in Louise's head, o O (I'm a much better negotiator than Sara...)

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Xiaomu *SMILES* at Uriel, "Oh, you have no idea what you're dealing with, do you? Konoe, hold my staff for a sec ..."

And if the catgirl does indeed hold onto Xiaomu's staff as requested, the sage fox tries to grab Uriel and wrestle her into a submission hold. Only a somewhat painful one, it could be a LOT worse if Xiaomu wanted to really hurt her.

Konoe Kanno (847) has posed:
     Konoe casually takes Xiaomu's staff and watches with a cheerful smile on her face.

     This would do.

     This would do fine.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     That seems to have gone a lot better than it could have. Not as explosively as she was somewhat hoping for, but still well since there's something for everyone! Steve's land is safe, the devil girls have a new sort of home, Xiaomu has Konoe under control, Kotone might have her own negotiations coming soon, and Sanary's got someone to potentially scout for the Confederacy. All in all, a very good day as Sanary wastes little time in getting to work, slipping a notepad out of her armor to jot something down quickly.

     "Make sure not to leave me out of this! Not to.. You know. Fight or whatever, but I wanna watch." She laughs softly and tears off a piece of paper, scooting over to slip it to Uriel. "My contact info. There's some people I think you'd get along with pretty well, so give me a call." She grins slightly as she says that, pausing for a moment before continuing.

     "... To get paid, I mean. For doing what you.. I think you like doing?" Never hurts to clarify. "Or if you've got nothing else to do, I can just introduce you to 'em directly." The fact that there's some people that might not take kindly to her blatant attempts at recruiting doesn't seem to bother her one bit, although she does glance around a few times just to make sure she's not about to get stabbed in back again.

     "Goes for any of you who don't have a steady employer, really. Might be able to find something for every-" And then Xiaomu's going after Uriel. Well, it'd just be impolite if she didn't start cheering them on. Which she totally does, of course.

Steve (803) has posed:
    Oh, irony. When it attacks Steve, it does so with bite. In the very same hour he praised his mindless golem minions, he's being offered a properly sentient familiar. This is...a bit unusual, but he also just admittedly he knows little about demons, though he is at least vaguely cognizant of what a familiar is. "Huh...," he trails off, at the other girls' insistence. He gives another scratch at his cheek, "Well, you look like you're capable enough, and I do have a lot of spare bedrooms I built and never had anyone to actually move into them." This kind of arrangement might not be too bad. Already over the awkwardness, he reaches out a hand to give a pat to the top of the devil girl's head, "Don't worry about a thing. You got a name?" Golems certainly are useful, but someone that has a brain that didn't belong to a zombie, he can certainly find work for. Maybe managing the library. ...he tenses up, somewhat, at the sudden lunge. But mostly on instinct. Both those girls can probably handle their own affairs. He won't care too much as long as they don't damage anything--nah, he probably won't care much even then.

Cocoa (884) has posed:
    "It seems you're getting your wish sooner rather than later," Uriel asides to Louise, before suddenly raising her right hand. The large, clawed, demonic red hand suddenly grows to roughly the same size as the girl it belongs to. That's a bit over five foot tall. The rest of her body doesn't grow to match the new hand, though.

    "Please! If you're going to be challenging me, at least have the courtesy to stay ARMED!" The word play is entirely intentional.

    She swipes the massive hand forward, to try and block Xiaomu. She has no interest in getting tackled to the ground (much less having her limbs forcefully bent in ways they shouldn't!), so the fox is free to talk to the hand. The big, lethally sharp, reality-cutting hand. Because that's a thing, if people can even pick up on it-- as she swipes the weapon in its horizontal arc, reality sustains some damage.

    Xiaomu will definitely be able to hurt her by damaging the hand (and a punch from the fox would leave more than a bruise), but that'd put her unfortunately close to a melee pusher's weapon. It turns out Uriel is frighteningly stronger than her build suggests. That and the clawed hand is pretty damn sharp too.

Shinki (882) has posed:
    The Glasses Wearing Devil gives a bit of a bow. "Well, it seems I have no choice. I do not have a name but if I was to pick one of my own I would choose Izumi." she bows once more, "May we work well together, Master." she picks herself up and turns around, staring at the other devil-winged girls. A pull down on an eyelid and a tongue sticking out and off she goes into the house. "I'll make my room up, Master." and with that, she dissapears. Meanwhile the other girls, push theirselves in between the two. "HE..hey! Louise just made a deal, let's settle this later when NOT on his property. We'll go build something to do this in right, okay? We do need to go back and tell our Master what just happened here so if you'll excuse us..." Twenty one of the girls leave, leaving the newly minted servant and the one trying to break up the fight. "I'm all for a good danmaku battle and fight but, a promise is a promise... and Louise is scary when she's mad..."

    Louise shakes her head and signs in the book, handing it back. "I'm glad we could come to an agreement, Steve."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"Just reminding you that the good guys aren't always that nice," Xiaomu answers Uriel. She *was* going to try and get around that massive claw, but the flock of devils interpose themselves and she backs off. She reclaims her staff from Konoe, though. "Anyway, good meeting all of you, especially you, Steve, and you, Louise!"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa :gets it that it's a give and take and hearing they are demons of some sort sets Kotone a bit on edge but they done nothing yet. She's clearly taking in everything here and she's got some better idea of what's going on. She makes note of the nether and ghosts.

"Humm it looks like things are settled then, right?"

She nods to Xiaomu and thinks this has been an learning experance. 5R
"Yes it has been good to meet you all in person."

Cocoa (884) has posed:
    Interference!

    Uriel loses her grin, the massive claw hand lowering and returning to its 'normal' size, still being some three times larger than her actual human hand. "If your idea of not being nice is disarming yourself to charge the obvious evil general boss fight lady with a big ass claw hand in melee, I bet the nice heroes live longer," she spits out, with some disdain.

    But things haven gotten boring.
    And RESOLVED.

    "How dull. Steve, dear! Let's resume that tour of your keep, shall we? I don't have time to deal with this. I really need a Quirky Miniboss Squad to handle these things for me." This completely disregards that she and M are actually Phantom's Quirky Miniboss Squad in the first place. Oops!