>>47726570
“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?

>>47726618
>I don't trust any part of this. I means someone's been here recently.

>>47726618
>>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.

>>47726618
>That's certainly what it appears to be. Did we order room service?

>>47726618
>>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".

>>47726618
>>That's certainly what it appears to be. Did we order room service?

>>47726618
>Polite response is usually to eat it. And the vegetables. And the dumplings.
Yum!

>writing

>also, dice+3d10

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

>>47726855

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

>>47726855

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

>>47726855

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

>>47726855

>>47726862
7 is perfectly adequate.

>>47726916
Thank fuck

>>47726916
“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)

>>47726855

>>47727147
>Ask Tenkotsuki what this means in the long run for inter-afterlife relations?

>>47727147
>Figure out where you, Yoruichi and Shunsui will start with your investigation?

>>47727147
>>Ask Tenkotsuki what this means in the long run for inter-afterlife relations?

>>47727147
>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!

>>47727147
>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.

>>47727359
Fun things!

>>47727359
Probably a similar thing like what happened with Coyote.

>>47727147
>>Ask Tenkotsuki what this means in the long run for inter-afterlife relations?

Welp. Time to be hunted and/or mooned.

>>47727423
Next we're gonna find out that Tia is some Hawaiian god's lost daughter or something if that's not ridiculous enough.

>>47727457
>mooned
But Yoru might get jealous anon.

>>47727489
/qst/ is dildos, fuck right off.

>>47727470
She IS a shark that walks on the land. But no.

Also,
>writing

>>47727489
enjoy your b&.

>>47727457
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.

>>47727537
>>47727547
Don't respond to trolls, Report and move on.

>>47727596
YOU'RE NOT MY SUPERVISOR

>>47727546
“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

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>>47727672
“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?

>>47727689
>>
>>Yes... you did mention that Divinity is complicated. Care to explain further?

>>47727689
>Yes... you did mention that Divinity is complicated. Care to explain further?

>>47727689
>>Yes... you did mention that Divinity is complicated. Care to explain further?

>>47727689
>>Yes... you did mention that Divinity is complicated. Care to explain further?

>>47727689
>>Yes... you did mention that Divinity is complicated. Care to explain further?

>>47727689
>Yes... you did mention that Divinity is complicated. Care to explain further?

>>47727689
>I'd assume there's a “hands-off” approach?

>>47727689
>Yes... you did mention that Divinity is complicated. Care to explain further?

>>47727689
>So the "hands off" approach is the only means in which divinities are allowed to communicated with the mortal.

>>47727689
“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

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>>47727924
“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?

>>47727939
>>Who put these laws into effect? Who enforces them?
>>So where do we fall in terms of these “rules”?

>>47727939
>>Who put these laws into effect? Who enforces them?

>>47727939
>Who put these laws into effect? Who enforces them?

>>47727939
>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?

>>47727939
>>Who put these laws into effect? Who enforces them?
>>So where do we fall in terms of these “rules”?

>>47727994
Ragnarok, too.

>>47727939

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

>>47727939
>Who put these laws into effect? Who enforces them?

>writing

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>>47728113
“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?

>>47728243
>>What you're saying is they're not “Guards” at all: they're “Wardens”.

>>47728243
>So who IS the Soul King, and why would he be bound by arbitrated “rules”?

>>47728243
>What you're saying is they're not “Guards” at all: they're “Wardens”.

>>47728243
>>What you're saying is they're not “Guards” at all: they're “Wardens”.

what a twist!

>>47728243
>What you're saying is they're not “Guards” at all: they're “Wardens”.

>>47728243
>>What you're saying is they're not “Guards” at all: they're “Wardens”.

>>47728243
>So who IS the Soul King, and why would he be bound by arbitrated “rules”?

>>47728243
>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”.

>>47728243
>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

>>47728331
Yea, but Kisuke's not exactly the most trust worthy - and is also kind of an ass.

>>47728359
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.

>>47728359
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.

>>47728467
oh dear. hope you get well soon. You didn't get hospitalized did you?

>>47728467
“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)

>>47728585

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

>>47728585

>>47728585
>dice+3d10

>>47728596
Well then.

>>47728596
Awww yis!

>>47728596
WELP. WE GOT THIS IN DA BAG.

>>47728596
Awe jea.

>>47728596
Oh baby. There's nothing Riku can't smell.

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

>>47728585

>>47728645
we smell how aroused Yuruichi is

>>47728659
Too lewd, anon!

>>47728659
>>47728645
we also smell Artemis's favorite fragrance scent

>>47728621
>>47728627
>>47728631
>>47728637
>>47728645
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.

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>>47728596

queen is kill. by sleepy drugs.

>>47728898
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

>>47728913
Are you on a laptop with a touchpad? Your palm might be hitting it when you type. Disable the touchpad's click functions.

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>>47728913
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?

>>47728990
>>So that means whatever we're looking for didn't come from Valhalla?
>What could have lead to denser reishi than other regions have?

>>47728990
>>So that means whatever we're looking for didn't come from Valhalla?
>>What could have lead to denser reishi than other regions have?

>>47728990
>What could have lead to denser reishi than other regions have?
This reminds me of a term called Godeater.

>>47728990
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?

>>47728924
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.

>>47728990
>>So that means whatever we're looking for didn't come from Valhalla?

>>47728990
>So that means whatever we're looking for didn't come from Valhalla?

Makes sense for our Quincy counterpart to notice the reishi levels, thriving only on a minimal amount of the stuff to manipulate.

Though, why Hollows still roam around kinda had my head scratching. Is it the population numbers? Or were the wars just the exception for why plenty of them congregated?

>>47728990
>>So that means whatever we're looking for didn't come from Valhalla?
>>What could have lead to denser reishi than other regions have?

>>47728990
>What could have lead to denser reishi than other regions have?

>>47728990
>So that means whatever we're looking for didn't come from Valhalla?
As expected of Yoru.

>>47729121
THEY CAME FROM BEYOHND THE VEIL

>>47728924
Didn't really solve anything. If I so much as brush the touchpad it behaves as if I'd clicked on the desktop.

Anyway,
>writing

>>47729263
“So that implies that whatever it is we're looking for can't be native to Valhalla,” you conclude.

“That doesn't necessarily mean that the dolls we'll be fighting weren't made here,” Yoruichi warns you quietly. “This only has to do with what could have developed here naturally. But unless they made my doppelganger too and didn't tell us, yes. It means she had to have come from elsewhere. Probably the Seireitei, assuming our reiatsu is as similar as our faces.”

“How could this have happened?” you muse. “What force could have led to a region with higher ambient reishi concentrations?”

“Any number of things,” Rosa replies. “In fact, Japanese mythology is full of possibilities.”

“I could not tell you which of those really happened as mortals recorded them,” Tenkotsuki admits. “I am a relatively young goddess, recall.”

“It's also possible that it has nothing to do with the gods,” Yoruichi points out. “After all barring extraordinary events, by far more hollows are sighted in Japan and eastern Asia than anywhere else in the world. And as it happens, that's where the concentrations of reishi are apparently the greatest.”

“Possible,” you admit, “but none of us can really say for sure. Ultimately we're not even sure why Hueco Mundo and the Soul Society exist separately, right? So why should we expect to figure out this specific bit of weirdness either?”

“Point taken.” Yoruichi admits.

>This isn't getting us anywhere. It's time to rest now.
>We should speak with Shunsui before sleeping.
>Other?

>>47729499
>>We should speak with Shunsui before sleeping.
If for no reason other than to find out what he was fed.

>>47729499
>This isn't getting us anywhere. It's time to rest now.

>>47729499
>We should speak with Shunsui before sleeping.

>>47729499
>We should speak with Shunsui before sleeping.
At least we can confirm if he got a good venison dinner before retiring. Because if he didn't, then we would know what's Artemis's intentions in the inter-afterlife diplomacy.

>>47729499
>This isn't getting us anywhere. It's time to rest now.

>>47729499
>We should speak with Shunsui before sleeping.

>>47729499
>We should speak with Shunsui before sleeping.

>>47729499
>>We should speak with Shunsui before sleeping.

>>47729499
>This isn't getting us anywhere. It's time to rest now.
Relax with the Yoru.

>writing

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86 KB PNG

>>47729752
You decide that before sleeping it would make sense to share some of your preliminary findings with Shunsui, so you head to his room. After being ushered in to sit at the table, you ask him whether he's eaten. He frowns, contemplating the reason behind your question.

“Well,” he begins, scratching at his stubble, “an orderly brought by a couple of bacon sandwiches and some decaffeinated tea, if that counts as eating. Why?”

So he wasn't presented with a fancy meal by Artemis. That narrows down the possible diplomatic implications to some variation of “she knows” as Tenkotsuki had been concerned. You don't explain the reason for your question to him, instead choosing to focus on what you've managed to put together about the state of affairs here in the Valhallan realm. You make sure to include Yoruichi's assessment of where her doppelganger likely came from.

“Troubling,” Shunsui admits. “I'll admit I was starting to wonder why the air felt so thin here, but to think that our second Yoruichi might've come from the Seireitei...”

“You have any thoughts on how that could be possible?” you ask.

He nods sternly. “A few, but I'll need Captain Ukitake's help in checking those leads. If you don't really need me here I can call for extraction tomorrow morning.”

>That should be fine.
>You can have someone else do it, right?
>Not comfortable with that. We could use you here.
>Other?

>>47729973
>Not comfortable with that. We could use you here.

>>47729973
>>Other?
Let him go and send gin in his place

>>47729973
>>47730026
That's a decent idea.

>>47729973
"We could swap you for Komura or something if Central 46 thinks we need a watchdog"
Pun very much intended.
Also, has Bambi started to train Uryuu yet? Because we should totally get that rolling. Its been pushed back so much its getting silly.

>>47729973
>That should be fine. However if you could either come back, or send a replacement that would be good.

>>47729973
>Not comfortable with that. We could use you here.
>Other?
On a place that lacks reishi, the doppleganger Yoru or the Valhallan failed experiments should stand out like a lit bonfire. Could use another experienced pair of eyes for spirit sensing stuff. Or leave Riku for that and have an extra fighting arm on standby for backup.

>>47730154
>>47729973
supportan

>>47729973
>Not comfortable with that. We could use you here.

It'd look bad politically. He was specifically assigned to join us to keep an eye on us, and then for Yoruichi to be alleged in attacking the place, and our watchdog being sent back to the Seireitei based on something we told him without any proof involved? It looks bad to anyone suspicious of us, which includes a lot of people right now.

>>47730452
Alright, I actually passed out briefly there the medicine is starting to hit HARD. I'll see what I can do about running same time Sunday.

Archive page is up, and thanks for playing! Sorry it couldn't last a usual time tonight.

>>47730524
Alright boss. Thanks for running!

Take care of yourself, and hopefully there's less PC problems over the next sessions.

>>47730524
Thanks for writing Queen!

>>47730524
Thx for running King.

>>47730524
thank you for running!

>>47730524
Thanks for running, it was fun while it lasted.

>>47730524
Thanks for running! I like the god stuff so far.