Shinigami Savant Quest #66

You are Kusajishi Riku, Captain of the Seireitei Court Guard’s Ninth Division, and the political and military situation in the spiritual realm of Western Europe seems to stand on the brink of disaster. In an attempt to produce Captain-level fighters the Valhallans have turned to science, creating what amount to living dolls who possess high levels of reiatsu. Predictably these dolls have turned against their creators for some yet-unspecified reason, and you’ve been asked to deal with the resulting rebellion.

More disturbingly, someone or something that looks exactly like Yoruichi has been seen killing large numbers of Valhallan soldiers. You know it can’t be her, but the semblance was uncanny and her power was adequate to kill a large number of Valhallans effortlessly, so regardless of who or what this imposter turns out to be it’s certainly not something you can ignore.

‘Your’ Yoruichi sighs wearily. “Hope this doesn’t get any more complicated.”

“It’s gonna,” you observe calmly.

Shunsui strokes his beard, weighing the options in his head. “We should rest. Captain Kusajishi here just got back from a fight, did she not? It would help to approach this well-rested and focused, otherwise we might miss important details we’d otherwise have picked up on.”

Even though you’re not one to ever rest willingly when you don’t absolutely have to, Shunsui may well have a point. With all the other problems weighing on your mind you can’t guarantee that you’d be able to give the present crisis in-the-making due consideration.

“I could eat,” Yoruichi admits, stretching her arms.

Well, that about settles it. If Yoruichi’s mind is set on food it’s best to take things slow the rest of the day and start fresh in the morning. You quickly communicate your need for accommodations to a military orderly, who leads you out into the street and up a flight of stairs into the building nextdoor to the Headquarters facility where you met your contact here.
>1/2

“Will you be needing three rooms?” the orderly asks. You shake your head.

“Two is fine,” you explain. “Won’t be the first time Captain Shihōin and have shared.”

“She used to be my Lieutenant, remember?” Yoruichi tells Shunsui, who’s given her a quizzical look. “It’s not weird that we’d have shared a room you know.”

“Don’t suppose you could convince my Lieutenant of that,” he grumbles.

You shake your head. “Doubtful. There’s a difference.”

“Is there really?”

“The difference is that my heart is pure,” you taunt your fellow Captain before going your separate ways.

The inside of your temporary quarters appear to be a civilian home, typically Western with old but not unappealing furnishings: you’d call them ‘classical’. Not what you've become used to over the last two centuries or so, too large and bulky for that. But it's still comfortable, in its own way.

More surprising is what you find on the table.

“Is that... venison?” Yoruichi asks, poking gingerly at the plate of food. Laid out on either side of each plate is a napkin, with an ornately-worked silver knife and fork, and by each is a crystal glass filled with deep, garnet-colored wine.

>Polite response is usually to eat it. And the vegetables. And the dumplings.
>That's certainly what it appears to be. Did we order room service?
>I don't trust any part of this. I means someone's been here recently.
>Other?

>I don't trust any part of this. I means someone's been here recently.

>>I don't trust any part of this. It means someone's been here recently. We should check for bugs.
Having said that considering we aren't the most trusted of guests anyway. The
>>Polite response is usually to eat it. And the vegetables. And the dumplings.

>That's certainly what it appears to be. Did we order room service?

>>I don't trust any part of this. I means someone's been here recently.

Also, as a warning my computer is still acting up a bit after having to install a new hard drive. So there may be occasional hiccups throughout the evening on my end and I may have to cut it short.

"Short" for me being "four hours".

>>That's certainly what it appears to be. Did we order room service?

>Polite response is usually to eat it. And the vegetables. And the dumplings.
Yum!

>writing

>also, dice+3d10

Rolled 5, 9, 2 = 16 (3d10)

Rolled 8, 1, 7 = 16 (3d10)

Rolled 7, 10, 1 = 18 (3d10)

Rolled 6, 4, 4 = 14 (3d10)

7 is perfectly adequate.

Thank fuck

“I don't really remember ordering room service,” your wife jokes.

“I don't really trust this,” you admit quietly, eyeing the food in front of you skeptically. “It means someone's been here, and recently.”

Yoruichi nods in agreement. “It'd also mean they were in and out some time between when we were assigned these rooms and when we opened the door. I don't know about you, but I don't like that idea.”

“I doubt any of the Valhallan soldiers are fast enough to set all this up without us noticing,” you observe. “So how do we play this?”

“I believe the polite thing to do would be to eat our dinner,” Yoruichi suggests, gesturing for you to sit down across from her.

You seat yourself and lift the fork and knife, examining the utensils in your hands. Their silver handles are smooth and finely-wrought, each bearing a similar set of motifs. They're all deer.

“I see,” Tenkotsuki's voice muses inside your mind. “Be certain to be on your best behavior, my friend. We are being observed.”

“Observed... how?” you ask, causing Yoruichi's eyebrow to cock in fascination. “By who?”

“Whom, my dear,” your zanpakuto chides you. “We are being observed by my local counterparts, of course.”

“You mean one of the local gods?” you press. “Which one?”

“Artemis Selene, I believe,” Tenkotsuki replies. “At least based on the repeated use of the hunting motifs, the deer, that manner of thing.”

“Apparently our host is one Artemis,” you tell Yoruichi. “So let's eat our deer, then.”

>Ask Tenkotsuki what this means in the long run for inter-afterlife relations?
>Figure out where you and Yoruichi will start with your investigation?
>Just rest for now, be ready for whatever happens tomorrow morning.
>Other?

Rolled 7, 9, 8 = 24 (3d10)

>Ask Tenkotsuki what this means in the long run for inter-afterlife relations?

>Figure out where you, Yoruichi and Shunsui will start with your investigation?

>>Ask Tenkotsuki what this means in the long run for inter-afterlife relations?

>Just rest for now, be ready for whatever happens tomorrow morning.
It's a pricey holiday with the wife! Catered by the goddess of the hunt!

>ask tenkotsuki the long term implications of this gesture
>wonder about the other gods in the European section of the afterlife.
>figure an appropriate offering to give to Artemis when you meet her

I'm equally curious and scared as to what would happen if Apacci and Artemis meet each other.

Fun things!

Probably a similar thing like what happened with Coyote.

>>Ask Tenkotsuki what this means in the long run for inter-afterlife relations?

Welp. Time to be hunted and/or mooned.

Next we're gonna find out that Tia is some Hawaiian god's lost daughter or something if that's not ridiculous enough.

>mooned
But Yoru might get jealous user.

...

/qst/ is dildos, fuck right off.

She IS a shark that walks on the land. But no.

Also,
>writing

enjoy your b&.

More like hunting with Artemis since we're hunting Yoru's doppelgänger. Normally, you'd ask for a blessing when you do these things, but this is an unusual case.

Don't respond to trolls, Report and move on.

YOU'RE NOT MY SUPERVISOR

“So what are the long-term implications here?” you ask after swallowing a bite of what proves to be raw venison. Is this something they actually eat in the west, or are they trying to make you feel at home with some strange sort of 'deer sashimi'? Either way, it tastes good.

“I recall Hummingbird came to visit and nothing ever came of it.”

“Well, that's a difficult question to answer,” Tenkotsuki muses quietly, manifesting herself at the table for Yoruichi's benefit. “I suppose it comes down to whether or not your comrade in arms in the next room received such a welcome. If so then it is a matter of three shinigami being welcomed to a foreign realm, similar to the manner in which Coyote greeted you.”

“It's absolutely not like how Coyote greeted us,” you grumble mutinously, recalling the evening on which the trickster god fed you psychoactive tea for a laugh.

“In principle it is the same,” Tenkotsuki maintains. “A rather formal display of hospitality befitting a dignitary.”

“And if Shunsui didn't get fed?” Yoruichi asks.

Tenkotsuki takes a moment to choose her words carefully. “Then it could be somewhat more problematic. It would imply that she is greeting only a specific member of the three: likely making allowances for her close companion.”

“No offense intended, Lady Yoruichi,” Tenkotsuki continues somewhat apologetically, “but by that I mean that Artemis would have intended to greet Lady Riku with such hospitality. Not that you are not also an honored guest, but you are not the one who is in part related to Inari.”

“And it's problematic for us because that implies she knows the full extent of our situation,” you conclude, carefully reading into Tenkotsuki's words. “Which raises the questions of what her precise intentions are towards us, as well as who else knows about it.”
>1/2

“There's a third option,” Yoruichi adds calmly, twirling her knife in hand to show you the intricately-detailed handle. “That we're being treated to a fine meal before the hunt. It's a common practice among our own nobility as well.”

“So she may be telling us 'good hunting', or something along those lines?” you ask.

“It seems possible,” Tenkotsuki admits. “Knowing nothing of her personality I could not say for certain, of course. But if the rules in place here are similar to those in our own homeland this may be the only means she has to communicate.”

“The rules?” Yoruichi asks, lowering her wine glass.

>Yes... you did mention that Divinity is complicated. Care to explain further?
>I'd assume there's a “hands-off” approach?
>I'd assume that you've broken some of those rules in the past, then.
>Other?

>>
>>Yes... you did mention that Divinity is complicated. Care to explain further?

>Yes... you did mention that Divinity is complicated. Care to explain further?

>>Yes... you did mention that Divinity is complicated. Care to explain further?

>>Yes... you did mention that Divinity is complicated. Care to explain further?

>>Yes... you did mention that Divinity is complicated. Care to explain further?

>Yes... you did mention that Divinity is complicated. Care to explain further?

>I'd assume there's a “hands-off” approach?

>Yes... you did mention that Divinity is complicated. Care to explain further?

>So the "hands off" approach is the only means in which divinities are allowed to communicated with the mortal.

“You did mention to me once that Divinity is a complicated subject. Care to elaborate?”

Tenkotsuki sighs softly, adjusting her many tails as she sits carefully on the end of the bed. “I suppose I do owe you an explanation. Very well, I suggest you make yourself comfortable.”

“Among the divinities of the world there exist many pantheons, of which our familiar Shinto pantheon is merely one. Many gods and goddesses who exist within a given region have gone by many names over many long centuries: to humans one divine presence is hardly discernible from the next. Artemis has gone too by the name Diana, for example, but may also be synonymous with other European deities as well. Some names may actually conflate a number of divinities as well.”

“These many divinities each play a certain role in the universe: however to prevent abuse of power there must logically be some means of keeping even other divinities in check.”

“You mentioned this with Ura Hadō,” you recall. “Something of an arms race?”

“That is but one means of restricting what would otherwise be immense, bordering on absolute power,” Tenkotsuki continues. “The means of last resort, in fact. In Japan however there is another factor to consider, which is that gods and goddesses are by their very nature hamstrung by certain rules and codes that apply only to that which carries the 'name of the divine'.”

“Okay, I'm lost,” Yoruichi admits. “What you're trying to say is that anything that can be called a god is restricted by nature?”
>1/2

“In a sense, yes,” Tenkotsuki replies. “The definition for what constitutes a “god” is something even I am not entirely certain of, though I do know that a specific definition does exist. I also know a few of the more important rules, chief among which is a rule that deities cannot favor specific non-divine beings. There is also a rule against directly manipulating 'political developments' in the living world or in the Soul Society.”

>Who put these laws into effect? Who enforces them?
>So where do we fall in terms of these “rules”?
>Other?

>>Who put these laws into effect? Who enforces them?
>>So where do we fall in terms of these “rules”?

>>Who put these laws into effect? Who enforces them?

>Who put these laws into effect? Who enforces them?

>So where do we fall in terms of these “rules”?
>what happened to the greek pantheon? If The what Homer spoke in the Illiad is true, where are they now?

>>Who put these laws into effect? Who enforces them?
>>So where do we fall in terms of these “rules”?

Ragnarok, too.

>Who put these laws into effect? Who enforces them?
>So where do we fall in terms of these “rules”?

>Who put these laws into effect? Who enforces them?

>writing

“So who actually put those laws into effect, and who enforces them?” you ask.

Yoruichi leans forward, keen to hear the answer. “Are we talking about the Soul King?”

“No, that is not it,” Tenkotsuki corrects your wife. “The Soul King is merely the linchpin, which holds the present system together. That is the role into which he has been fitted, but by the hands of another. Forgive me, the details are something I do not know as the arrangement came into being long before I was born as an entity distinct of Inari Ōkami. That having been said, I do have my own suppositions as to who enforcement of those laws falls to.”

“Who is it, if not the Soul King?” Yoruichi presses eagerly.

Tenkotsuki can't help but put on a mischievous grin as she explains her reasoning. “What god needs to be protected by a dedicated Guard?”

There's a moment of stunned silence.

“Their proper name is the 'Royal Special Task Force', after all,” Yoruichi mutters. “Not the “Royal Guard'... that was something WE read into it. And it does explain the reason so many inventors and noted problem-solvers get invited.”

>That can't be right... at very least the reality of the situation must be more complex.
>So who IS the Soul King, and why would he be bound by arbitrated “rules”?
>What you're saying is they're not “Guards” at all: they're “Wardens”.
>Other?

>>What you're saying is they're not “Guards” at all: they're “Wardens”.

>So who IS the Soul King, and why would he be bound by arbitrated “rules”?

>What you're saying is they're not “Guards” at all: they're “Wardens”.

>>What you're saying is they're not “Guards” at all: they're “Wardens”.

what a twist!

>What you're saying is they're not “Guards” at all: they're “Wardens”.

>>What you're saying is they're not “Guards” at all: they're “Wardens”.

>So who IS the Soul King, and why would he be bound by arbitrated “rules”?

>So who IS the Soul King, and why would he be bound by arbitrated “rules”?
>What you're saying is they're not “Guards” at all: they're “Wardens”.

>What you're saying is they're not “Guards” at all: they're “Wardens”.
> why would noted inventors an problem solvers get invited? Kisuke would qualify to an extent yet he idn't get invited

Yea, but Kisuke's not exactly the most trust worthy - and is also kind of an ass.

He's a quack. He fits in perfectly with the other members of Squad 0.

>writing
Also I may soon need to take something that may make me fall asleep at the switch. It may be a struggle to even get to four hours, but I'll get you at least that one way or another.

he is both those things the same way Batman is a dick and untrustworthy. if you don't interfere with his shit, everything will be better for it.

oh dear. hope you get well soon. You didn't get hospitalized did you?

“You're implying that they're not guards at all,” you realize aloud. “You mean they're actually more like wardens?”

“That is my supposition,” Tenkotsuki repeats carefully. “As I have stated this all occurred before my time, and is never spoken of. But yes, I believe it to be possible.”

“Who is he really?” Yoruichi asks quietly. “Or maybe that should be 'what' is he?”

“He is the Soul King,” Tenkotsuki repeats cryptically. “That is all that I know for certain. Though I have one further supposition, based on something Rosa noticed.”

“That so?” you ask. “Well then, we've had one startling revelation so far this evening. Hit me with your best.”

“Breath deep,” Tenkotsuki suggests. “And take the time to smell your surroundings.”

“Tell us whatcha find,” Rosa adds in your mind.

>dice+3d10, DC 7

Rolled 9, 8, 10 = 27 (3d10)

Rolled 8, 8, 4 = 20 (3d10)

>dice+3d10

Well then.

Awww yis!

WELP. WE GOT THIS IN DA BAG.

Awe jea.

Oh baby. There's nothing Riku can't smell.

Rolled 2, 4, 8 = 14 (3d10)

we smell how aroused Yuruichi is

Too lewd, user!

we also smell Artemis's favorite fragrance scent

Thank you anons, I only wish I could recapture the triple 10s I rolled when we knocked out Ichigo in front of Byakua and hid him so quickly no one could react. This is close for which I am grateful to the dice gods for.

...

queen is kill. by sleepy drugs.

No, Queen was temporarily kill trying to get his computer to stop navigating away from active windows on its own. Apparently it isn't a fan of my work.

>writing

Are you on a laptop with a touchpad? Your palm might be hitting it when you type. Disable the touchpad's click functions.

Interesting. The smell isn't as pleasant as it is back in the Seireitei, and the reason is hard to place for a moment. Then, very suddenly, you understand: the air is thinner here, and the density of reishi in the air is far lower than back home. In fact aside from the reishi locked up in solid objects like this building, the furniture, or your meal, there's hardly any reishi here to be found. It's actually an alarming sensation, and you share a glance with Yoruichi

“How is that possible?” you wonder aloud. “Is that the reason so many of the Valhallan soldiers are so much weaker than ours?”

“It is entirely possible,” Tenkosuki explains. “You must understand, not all afterlives are the same.”

“So basically, we shinigami are uniquely powerful because we adapted to an environment that's richer in reishi than other places?” Yoruichi asks, seeming to grasp the point quite clearly. “Is that what you're trying to suggest?”

“That woman's many things,” Rosa sighs inside your head. “Quick on the uptake being one of them, I've got to admit.”

“Precisely,” Tenkotsuki confirms.

>So that means whatever we're looking for didn't come from Valhalla?
>What could have lead to denser reishi than other regions have?
>Other?

>>So that means whatever we're looking for didn't come from Valhalla?
>What could have lead to denser reishi than other regions have?

>>So that means whatever we're looking for didn't come from Valhalla?
>>What could have lead to denser reishi than other regions have?

>What could have lead to denser reishi than other regions have?
This reminds me of a term called Godeater.

Most importantly
>>So that means whatever we're looking for didn't come from Valhalla?
Though one does wonder
>>What could have lead to denser reishi than other regions have?

It may be that my touchpad is on the fritz as well, since about everything else has gone wrong in the last few days with it. I'll try your suggestion.

>>So that means whatever we're looking for didn't come from Valhalla?