Kisume Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

Cover art~

>You are Kisume, Genoskyo's premier drifter, and you got husted by a mysterious farmer.
>You live underground, in a bucket, mugging people whenever you can. What meager amounts of money you make tends to go toward food and cheap liquor during your periodic forays into the Ancient City when things seem calm. Otherwise, you make your living scavenging in the caverns.It's not a glamorous existence, scraping along the bottom, but you're proud of it. You're making your own way through the world and that's something they'll never take away from you. You could have had an easy and completely boring life, once, but you decided to forge your own way and live like a proper youkai. You don't regret it. You're proud of the fact that you can live on the go, when so many other youkai have settled down. You're proud that you never stopped making a living as a bandit, even after the Hakurei Maiden established the spellcard rules. You don't have much, but you have your pride and you don't owe anyone anything. You'll never go back to Higan.
>You are able to be extremely patient, sitting in one place for hours without budging an inch. You tend not to keep more than you can carry in your bucket, though you're capable of carrying an awful lot. You have an fondness for old-timey slang, such as calling coins 'thin ones' and referring to your name as your moniker and so on. You have a distaste for settled life; though you don''t mind borrowing its creature comforts. In particular, you hate bureaucracy, paperwork, proper procedures, and the like. Thankfully that seldom comes up. You have a  distaste for open spaces, and a distinct preference for narrow or tight places. While you can be friendly, you're seldom polite.
>You had a run-in with a man dressed as a farmer who managed to deftly fling you into a wall. Upon waking you found yourself left in unfamiliar caverns and slowly worked your way back to the tunnels you know, running into a surprising number of faeries wearing canine ears and requesting that you give them riches. After some misadventures, you learned that the human went into the oni city, and seems to have disappeared.  You explored the unknown caverns, found an old side chamber with a fair amount of things to salvage and an angry evil spirit. You helped a faerie recover a pearl earring that fell in the river, and now have a favor to call in from the canine-eared faeries. Things were going rather well until you accompanied a tengu into the Ancient City and got into a fight with an oni musician...
>You have just broken the oni's spellcard. She is presently standing up after falling to her knees. The crowd of oni around you are roaring with cheers and jeers.  You presently have your only spellcard active.

> How drained is out card?

>Your card just it is about half-drained



>_

[GuyYouMetOnline]

>Drop the card, dash in, and apply bucket to face before the oni can recover.

[Hello Purvis]

>Drop the card, dash in, and apply bucket to face before the oni can recover.

>You cancel your spellcard and move in, turning your bucket to strike her in the face again. She loosk up toward you as you approach, grins, and crosses her arms in front of her. Too late to stop or change course, you slam into her arms with a jarring thump, and don't feel her give at all. Such is the problem with coming in from the side...
>"You think I was going to fall for that twice?" says the oni, "Better get yourself ready!"

>_

[ES-Anthy]

>Think fast, what can we grab and whip out fast out of our bucket.

[Hello Purvis]

>Think fast, what can we grab and whip out fast out of our bucket.

>You could probably pull out your Dirty Iron Knife quickly, but you are very aware of how foolish it would be to escalate from danmaku to actual fighting against an oni.  The Rusty Length of Rebar is also plausible, but it would take longer and has a good chance of escalation as well, though it wouldn't be certain like the knife would be.

>_

[ES-Anthy]

>Just how much with the rebar? We've already been using our bucket in this fight.

Personally I was thinking of taking the rebar and thrusting it at a horn either to jerk her head away or shove ourselves off of the oni faster

[Hello Purvis]

>Just how much with the rebar? We've already been using our bucket in this fight.

>It really just comes down to who you are dealing with and what you're planning. The less "sporting" it is, as much as anything like this can be considered sporting, the more likely it is to set your opponent off and render this bout a lot more dangerous.

>_

[ES-Anthy]

>Bah! Let bullets rip on her as we backup.  Something strong and face flooding in the oni's direction.

[Hello Purvis]

>Bah! Let bullets rip on her as we backup.  Something strong and face flooding in the oni's direction.

>You back away and spray bullets at the oni.  She leaps back as well, ducking through a gap in your random spray while grinning fiercely, and tosses a pair of diagonal lines of kunai-shaped danmaku toward you. They form a sizable X shape.

>_

[ES-Anthy]

>Is the bottom of the x open enough for us to drop and slide through it? If so go for it, if not go high.  Either way fire a strong beam/line of bullets right between the eyes

[Hello Purvis]

>Is the bottom of the x open enough for us to drop and slide through it? If so go for it, if not go high.  Either way fire a strong beam/line of bullets right between the eyes

>There is just enough room to slip beneath the X; the bottom of your bucket scrapes against the cobblestones and the top of your hair just brushes against a couple of the kunai. But you make it through without any problem.
>The oni is already moving, taking to the air as you slip through the X.  You send a line of bullets at her, but are almost too slow, one manages to clip her in the foot as she rises.   Her response is to send two more sets of lines at you, a horizontal and a vertical one that form into a cross shape and fly directly at you.

>_

[ES-Anthy]

> Pursuit upwards while avoiding the cross, trying to stick as close as possible to the center of the cross.  Continue with the vulcan danmaku spam on her.

Kilga edit: Only added the >. Everything else untouched.

[Hello Purvis]

> Pursuit upwards while avoiding the cross, trying to stick as close as possible to the center of the cross.  Continue with the vulcan danmaku spam on her.

>You follow upward, slipping around the cross and keeping as close to it as possible and continue to fire on the oni. She is a bit difficult to hit, as your shots are a bit too slow. Thankfully, she doesn't seem to be especially fast herself, but she is too fast to simply aim at her before she evades your shots.
>As you slip around the cross, she sends another X-shape of Kunai danmaku toward you, and seems to preparing to make another cross shape, if you are reading her hand positions correctly.

>_

[ES-Anthy]

>Keep with dodging close to the center of the crosses while attempting to pit some lead on our shots.

[Kilgamayan]

> So she's got plus signs and Xs. Do we have any preferred designs of our own, or do we just fling stuff every which way and hope something hits?

[Hello Purvis]

> So she's got plus signs and Xs. Do we have any preferred designs of our own, or do we just fling stuff every which way and hope something hits?

>The patterns that come most easily to you are largely variations of the pinwheel pattern. The problem is that you're not quite able to make enough shots to make them truly deadly unless you're close. You do have a knack for making shots of two differing speeds, which you like to use in your pinwheels to have a faster shot lead from a slower one and spread out your pattern a bit more quickly and possibly catch the careless.

>_

[ES-Anthy]

>Start shooting some slow bullets from a central point outwards then start firing some fast ones from the outside in, dispursed lines work if that's the best we can dish out.

[Hello Purvis]

>Start shooting some slow bullets from a central point outwards then start firing some fast ones from the outside in, dispursed lines work if that's the best we can dish out.

>You start with the pattern you are most comfortable with, barely having to think about it and sending shots in every direction. The change in pattern catches the oni off guard as she sends the next cross toward you, a couple of the shots catching her in the torso and shoulder and bringing a grunt from her lips.
>The danmaku X is practically on top of you now!

>_

[ES-Anthy]

>Backside aerial slide to avoid the center cross while continuing to give her peppering fire

[Hello Purvis]

>Backside aerial slide to avoid the center cross while continuing to give her peppering fire

>Please describe this move in more detail, so that the parser may parse it properly.

>_

[ES-Anthy]

>Start to move opposite of the incoming cross of danmaku, then start to direct the vector somewhat off center so we line up with one of the empty spaces of the cross.  While commencing this maneuver continue to pepper her with the danmaku spread we have going now.

[Hello Purvis]

>Start to move opposite of the incoming cross of danmaku, then start to direct the vector somewhat off center so we line up with one of the empty spaces of the cross.  While commencing this maneuver continue to pepper her with the danmaku spread we have going now.

>You slip around the cross, and find the next X already looming in your face.
>The Oni continues to rise upward and away from you. She easily slips around your spray, exploiting the gaps without too much trouble with the distance she's gained. She sets up another cross-shaped swarm of danmaku and sends it flying toward you in the wake of the X bearing down on you.

>_

[ES-Anthy]

>Focus more on continuing to dodge the X's and Crosses.  Try to advance towards her while dodging close to the centers of the crossed danmaku, but not to a suicidal-y dangerous range.

[Hello Purvis]

>Focus more on continuing to dodge the X's and Crosses.  Try to advance towards her while dodging close to the centers of the crossed danmaku, but not to a suicidal-y dangerous range.

>You focus on closing the distance between the two of you, and are gain a bit on her; she just isn't as fast as you while backing away. You slip by the X and Cross that follows it, grazing closely to their centers. This isn't too difficult.
>You close about half the distance that was between yourself and the oni. She grins as she unleashes another wave of danmaku, this time making three motions and creating pattern that looks like a mixture of the cross and X; an asterisk sort of shape.

>_

[ES-Anthy]

>Quick question, can our bucket take some danmaku without much damage? On that subject, what about anything we can pull out of the bucket?

[Hello Purvis]

>Quick question, can our bucket take some danmaku without much damage? On that subject, what about anything we can pull out of the bucket?

>Danmaku doesn't harm your bucket. But it has harmed you through it in the case of sufficiently powerful stuff, such the Black-White's danmaku. Usually, though, if something is hitting your bucket, there's a good chance there are shots close enough hit you around it.
>You inventory contains:
>Dirty White Robe
>Your garment of choice
>Spare Dirty White Robe
>In case the other one gets intolerably dirty
>Wooden Bucket
>Your home, your bed, your life. You keep all of your stuff there!
>Length of Rusty Rebar
>When danmaku isn't enough...
>Empty Sack
>It used to hold some rice, but you've eaten it all. Currently holding Whitecap Mushroom x15
>Wooden Chopsticks (used)
>You should wash these off
>Dirty Tattered Blanket
>A way to keep warm, a way to dry off, and a cushion! What more could you ask for?
>Small Iron Pot
>You cooking companion, when you actually have something to cook.
>Dirty Iron Knife
>Made with real metal!
>Horror "Well-bucket-dropping Monster" (Half expended)
>Your spellcard, it rains death from above! You've...not had a lot of luck with it.
>Whitecap Mushroom x15
>These can be eaten!
>Small Piece of Granite
>An oblong, inch-long piece of sparkly granite.
>Apple Gourd x2
>A gourd with delicious paste inside.
>Stalk of Cave Wheat
>A stem with edible seed pods that can be made into flour
>Kasha Paw Leaves x5
>Leaves with rounded edges that can be used for spice.
>Broad Leaf x2
>Tough until boiled; perfect for soups and stews of all kinds.
>Salt Crystal x2
>Fist-sized natural formations of salt.
>4☼
>This is 4☼
>Old Wok
>A cooking pot shaped like a flat cone.
>Empty Glass Bottle
>It has a cork.
>Sword Hilt
>Shaped like a metallic disk with a hole in it.
>Yellow Scarf
>A long, silken scarf. It is in fairly good condition for living on a cave floor for who knows how long.
>Blank Spellcard
>Just ready to be inscribed with all sorts of chaos.
>Book: ?6?
>A novel about an oni and her human captive.
>Bottle of Shouchu
>It is 43 years old!

>_

[ES-Anthy]

>Well, lets 'drop' in the bucket at her, or to be more specific, flip around to go bucket first at her while keeping our arms and other bits in tight enough to use it as a proper shield through the asterisk style danmaku!

[Hello Purvis]

>Well, lets 'drop' in the bucket at her, or to be more specific, flip around to go bucket first at her while keeping our arms and other bits in tight enough to use it as a proper shield through the asterisk style danmaku!

>Will you make any effort to slip around it, or are you merely going through it in a straight line from your current position?

>_

[ES-Anthy]

>Straight through the closest section from our current position.

[Hello Purvis]

>Straight through the closest section from our current position.

>You charge, flipping your bucket toward the oni and trying to withdraw into it. You feel the shots hit your bucket, thankfully none of the shots penetrate through it. Still, a couple strike your arms, feeling practically like actual kunai cutting into your flesh!
>Pushing past the attack, you catch the oni in the middle of setting up her next one. She raise her arms to block and tries to move away, but it is too late. You slam firmly into her torso with a solid thud, and knock her back with a loud, pained curse.

>_