Author Topic: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure  (Read 49352 times)

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Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« on: April 05, 2013, 06:26:57 AM »

>You are Yukari Yakumo. Your day has been awful and there is no sign of it improving.
>You are the youkai that stands at the threshold, old as civilization and a witness much of human and youkai history. Indeed, you have been a significant force during much of the latter. Your deeds are many: You have name charted the stars for youkai-kind, you have lead an invasion that shook both heaven and earth, even if it had ostensibly failed to conquer the moon. You have dwelt on the edge of human society, sometimes reaching out to influence it in small ways. However, there was a point when you realized that you had to make a decision, whether you wished to exert your power over all, dominate them, and rule openly (or fall in the attempt), or take a more relaxed role and live as you pleased. You chose the latter with little hesitation. You have watched both humans and youkai throughout history, as youkai took early control over the unseen parts of the world and were slowly driven further and further back as humanity grew in power, technology, and arrogance.
>Eventually, it became necessary to find a new place for the youkai to live, and you took an active role in helping to forge that place with the aid of the Hakurei bloodline and The Dragon itself. Now you watch over that land, serving as both a quiet (and sometimes not so quiet) guardian and observer of its ultimate fate. Already, it has challenged some of your wildest expectations, for both the land itself and its inhabitants...
>More mundanely, you dwell with your shikigami and dearest companion Ran, as well as her subordinate shikigami Chen in a modest fashion, enjoying each day as it comes. Despite your rather fearsome status, which you cultivated as carefully as you care to, you have some friends among others as well. As well, you have a number of rivals; well, something like rivals; that you covertly keep an eye on. However, for the most part, you are content to merely flummox them from time to time, when you pay them any mind, you didn?t get as far as you have by letting things stress you unnecessarily. Your true duty is to maintain the integrity of the barrier that separates Gensokyo from the rest of the world, and make certain that nothing untoward gets in. You?ve had mixed success with this, when you are fully honest with yourself...
>You spent a lovely day yesterday, conversing with Yuyuko, playing with Maribel, plotting a mahjong tournament, and frolicking with Ran. Then it all went downhill when you awoke and found yourself naked in an unfamiliar cavern, bereft of all your possesses, most notably the tools you use to hone and refine your abilities, save your bedsheet. Having little other option, you wrapped yourself in the bedsheet and taken to exploring. You discovered over things; an immense yawning chasm that terminates into darkness, strange roots that give you a bad feeling and physically harm you to touch, chambers of glass, a place filled with half-finished sculptures, and a place where the borders were about to collapse into themselves. Most notably, you've found that the borders here are very odd, rather akin to a pile of trash than proper borders, and ever swirling and difficult to properly prise for gaps. With some effort, you found one of your tools, which had been somehow split into intangible lights.
>Eventually, you found a gap to take you away from there, but you weren't able to hold it open long enough and fell between the borders, where you were displeased to note they were just as crude as they were elsewhere. Eventually finding your way out, you came to a seemingly-endless field of fluffy frond-like plants, eternally waving in the breeze. Above, the sky gave way to absolute nothingness, not even emptiness could exist in such a place. Finding the borders to be the same here as elsewhere, you wandered the fields, finding more of those horrible roots and eventually weaving a hat out of fronds to test how well they weave. You found a fold in the borders here, and followed it to find several gaps, after using is to strengthen the borders here a little. One gap leaves back to the caverns you awoke in, and another scattered and unusable. While going to investigate a third, you found a silver door in the middle of the plains while opened to a black emptiness that was home to a crystal mass large enough to rival a palace. You have taken to exploring it, and found your way into a tunnel that leads into it. You've begun to hear water, which is welcome, but it keeps fading in and our as you follow the winding tunnel...

>Okay, so then the "left" is the direction the sound comes from?

>You think ahead is a better descriptor.

>_
« Last Edit: July 13, 2013, 02:59:31 AM by Purvijiri »

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Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #1 on: April 05, 2013, 09:41:59 AM »
>Sing "Yesterday"
[9:49:09] <Purvis> Generally not, but your mother may be an exception.

Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2013, 01:03:21 AM »
>Continue down the tunnel.

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Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #3 on: April 06, 2013, 01:28:04 AM »
>Continue down the tunnel.

>You continue onward. The tunnel curves leftward and the  sounds disappears entirely. Soon, you see a notable distension of crystalline matter ahead, and can just barely hear the sound, so faint you couldn't tell what it was if you hadn't already.

>_

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Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #4 on: April 06, 2013, 02:37:34 AM »
> Approach the crystals.

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[21:12] <OneLoveOnePurvis> *Black as hell and bitter as love. That is coffee.*
[17:42] <Amra> Himiko's one of the people that's really cute but sometimes art shifts into like hard jojo-style
[17:42] <Amra> as she does something out of character

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Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #5 on: April 06, 2013, 02:50:55 AM »
> Approach the crystals.

>You are pretty much surrounded by crystal. But taking a closer look at the distension, you are quite certain it is identical to the one that you examined earlier.

>_

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Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #6 on: April 06, 2013, 03:05:54 AM »
> Keep going, we might be able to hear the water louder again.

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[21:12] <OneLoveOnePurvis> *Black as hell and bitter as love. That is coffee.*
[17:42] <Amra> Himiko's one of the people that's really cute but sometimes art shifts into like hard jojo-style
[17:42] <Amra> as she does something out of character

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Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #7 on: April 06, 2013, 03:17:32 AM »
> Keep going, we might be able to hear the water louder again.

>You continue to follow the tunnel as it begins to curve toward the right, and it does indeed become louder. Up ahead, the tunnel curves leftward again.

>_

Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #8 on: April 06, 2013, 04:50:10 AM »
>Is it louder than before?

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Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #9 on: April 06, 2013, 05:43:17 AM »
>Is it louder than before?

>You don't think so. It feels no louder than before.

>_

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Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #10 on: April 06, 2013, 01:54:28 PM »
> Does the sound of water become louder when we're going right or left?

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[21:12] <OneLoveOnePurvis> *Black as hell and bitter as love. That is coffee.*
[17:42] <Amra> Himiko's one of the people that's really cute but sometimes art shifts into like hard jojo-style
[17:42] <Amra> as she does something out of character

Hello Purvis

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Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #11 on: April 06, 2013, 08:35:52 PM »
> Does the sound of water become louder when we're going right or left?

>It seems to start just become the tunnel curves to the right. Then it suddenly ends just before the tunnel begins to to curve to the left.

>_

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Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #12 on: April 07, 2013, 02:02:01 AM »
> Keep going, keeping an ear out for the watery sounds.
> Do the curves in the tunnel seem to follow any kind of pattern?

☆ Check my profile for links to my sites! ☆
[21:12] <OneLoveOnePurvis> *Black as hell and bitter as love. That is coffee.*
[17:42] <Amra> Himiko's one of the people that's really cute but sometimes art shifts into like hard jojo-style
[17:42] <Amra> as she does something out of character

Hello Purvis

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Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #13 on: April 07, 2013, 02:38:37 AM »
> Keep going, keeping an ear out for the watery sounds.
> Do the curves in the tunnel seem to follow any kind of pattern?

>You keep going. The corridor curves leftward for a distance, then starts to curve toward the right up ahead. As you pass by a notable distension of crystal in the walls, you can hear the sound again.
>They seem to make a rough S shape.  You think you've been going largely forward, just tacking right and left the whole time.

>_

Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #14 on: April 07, 2013, 08:33:14 PM »
>Try going back to the previous distention, we aren't stuck in an infinite corridor are we?

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Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #15 on: April 07, 2013, 11:05:24 PM »
>Try going back to the previous distention, we aren't stuck in an infinite corridor are we?

>You turn around and begin to backtrack toward the last distension that you passed. The sound fades again, and the corridor begins to straighten out. After a few moments, you can see the pit that you climbed down to get into this tunnel up ahead. There seems to be some merit to your suspicion.

>_

Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #16 on: April 07, 2013, 11:18:29 PM »
>At least this one is devoid of gelatinous cubes, damnable GM cliches!
>Sit down for a second and wrap our head around the wasted time.
>Sigh.

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Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #17 on: April 07, 2013, 11:27:05 PM »
>At least this one is devoid of gelatinous cubes, damnable GM cliches!
>Sit down for a second and wrap our head around the wasted time.
>Sigh.

>Those things taste great!
>You have a seat and sigh. You probably spent a good ten or fifteen minutes following that. However, now that you've confirmed it, you can probably deal with it.

>_

Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #18 on: April 07, 2013, 11:28:13 PM »
>Try to pinpoint the exact location that it loops.

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Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #19 on: April 07, 2013, 11:38:34 PM »
>Try to pinpoint the exact location that it loops.

>You can't really feel it out without being there, given how bad the borders here are already, but you're reasonably certain it would be close to where the sound becomes something you can identity and before it vanishes.

>_

Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #20 on: April 07, 2013, 11:40:38 PM »
>Search around there manually.
>Do we think we can manipulate the border between then end of this loop and the beginning of itself?

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Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #21 on: April 07, 2013, 11:58:49 PM »
>Search around there manually.
>Do we think we can manipulate the border between then end of this loop and the beginning of itself?

>You make your way back down the corridor, passing by the now-very familiar lump of crystal and following the sound to where it was most clear.
>You can certainly affect the border, once you find it. Normally, you'd be able to straight it out easily, but in your current state your options are a bit limited. Without your wrench and your vice grip, you won't be able to perfectly smooth it out. However, since you have your screwdriver, you can easily prise open a gap between the edges of the loop and cause them to more probably resemble three-dimensional space. This will be messy, and you'll want to take some precautions, space doesn't react well to this kind of thing and you'll want to be positioned close to the border so you aren't caught in the middle of it.
>Ah, there it is, You find the wrapped border close to the place where you looked around and noticed the floor was full of small folds and distensions. The border is indeed wrapped upon itself, rather messily at that; there's a few holes where you could reach a hand through to the other side if you knew where to look. This isn't surprising, unless one makes such a thing intentionally and knows what they are doing, it tends to be sloppy; when these occur in nature they tend to be rather easy to break through. You feel you can forgive yourself for not noticing it immediately, given how unusual the borders here are in general. Much of it isn't even immediately 'visible', you can just get a feel that it extends for some distance past this physical location.

>_

Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #22 on: April 08, 2013, 12:00:57 AM »
>Pry at it gently and see how it reacts.

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Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #23 on: April 08, 2013, 12:56:27 AM »
>Pry at it gently and see how it reacts.

>You pry at it a little, and find that it gives as easily as you expect. You don't feel anything bad in the immediate region.

>_

Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #24 on: April 08, 2013, 01:33:46 AM »
>What are the risks of just ripping it open and running through?

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Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #25 on: April 08, 2013, 01:45:24 AM »
>What are the risks of just ripping it open and running through?

>You honestly don't know the full extent of the risks, as you cannot read the full extent of the border with things as they are now. But, you imagine if you opened it and ran through, you ought to be fine.

>_

Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #26 on: April 08, 2013, 01:49:22 AM »
>Well then, open it (though not quite rip) and run through quickly.

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Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #27 on: April 08, 2013, 02:05:52 AM »
>Well then, open it (though not quite rip) and run through quickly.

>You separate the border with as much finesse as you can. Immediately, you hear a high-pitched, tense whine echo throughout the tunnel, sounding like nails across glass. You run forward as fast as you can, praying that you can keep your footing on the uneven floors. The whine grows in intensity, setting your teeth on edge so badly that you notice it even while running at top speed. Then a deafening shatter follows, so loud that you stumble and nearly fall.
>Everything is is quiet in the aftermath. Or...perhaps you have gone deaf?

>_

Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #28 on: April 08, 2013, 02:13:06 AM »
>Get up and look around, specifically behind us.

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Re: Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #29 on: April 08, 2013, 02:18:36 AM »
>Get up and look around, specifically behind us.

>You look around. Ahead of you, the tunnel seems fine; continuing roughly forward and downward.
>Behind you, looking up the incline, you see the tunnel comes to an end some yards behind you, opening up to darkness.

>_