Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Yaersulf]

>Create the weak gap between two of the more amorphous shapes.

Am I doing this right?

[Hello Purvis]

>Create the weak gap between two of the more amorphous shapes.

>You are able to do this easily. You could probably create a strong gap from it, as well.

>_

[Yaersulf]

>Use two of the "hands" for the strong gaps.

[Hello Purvis]

>Use two of the "hands" for the strong gaps.

>You are able to find a spot where two of the hands almost seem to come toward each other, and use that border between them to place another gap. You can't see anything suitable but the hands themselves to serve as a second strong gap, though there are potentials to divide the hands from other things.

>_

[Yaersulf]

>Could we use the gap between one face and another (i.e. a corner)?

[Hello Purvis]

>Could we use the gap between one face and another (i.e. a corner)?

>You could with a square column, but this one is circular.

>_

[Yaersulf]

>Well I guess the gap between a hand and the rest of the pillar with have to do then.

[Hello Purvis]

>Well I guess the gap between a hand and the rest of the pillar with have to do then.

>You feel it will suffice.
>You apply the three gaps, begin to force the gap within the pillar open. As you do, the pillar itself sudden begins to lurch and shift, emitting a low grinding kind of noise. You step back as the stone warps and twists like warm clay in the hands of a sculptor. The top flares open and outwards, as the sides pull away and begin swell into a number of strange bulges that curl into themselves. This draws stone from the middle, causing it to open up and turn the whole column into a kind of strange, unsteady-looking arch. The base of it seems to melt, as a number of small blunt nubs rise from it. The gap itself opens in the middle of the arch, its edges touching the stone in some places.
>The borders here still feel quite odd, but they don't seem to be quite as distorted as before.

>_

[Yaersulf]

>Things don't normally react like that when we manipulate their gaps do they?

[Hello Purvis]

>Things don't normally react like that when we manipulate their gaps do they?

>While the proper application of gaps can distort an object's physical form, it takes quite a bit of finesse to do it; let alone do it without harming the object in question. You would like to think you would also recognize such a thing upon feeling it, and you don't believe you felt anything like that from the column amidst its weirdness. Then again, you don't really know what you felt from it...

>_

[Yaersulf]

>Poke our stick through the gap as a test.

[Hello Purvis]

>Poke our stick through the gap as a test.

>You poke your stick through the gap, and don't feel it getting torn from your hands or anything of the nature. Pulling it back, it seems to be in proper condition.

>_

[Yaersulf]

>Well then, cautiously step through.
>We had a tool which let us peer through gaps didn't we?

[Hello Purvis]

>Well then, cautiously step through.
>We had a tool which let us peer through gaps didn't we?

>You had a mirror, that lets you ascertain that the other end of a gap is safe to travel through.
>You step through the gap. The first thing you notice is a sizable shrine before you, and that you are standing in the middle of a well-kept stone pavilion.  The shrine is two stories tall, about the size of a large house. Its walls painted white and red, while its widely flared roofs are covered in tiles that are a dark enough green to look back at a glance. Four red pillars hold up an overhanging roof that protects the paper doors in the front from the elements, while a deck with a red railing runs along the wall and seems to ring the whole building.
>Past the far edge of the pavilion, you can see a number of curious chest-high plants that look something like a mix between seaweed and cacti; long straight blades that are still and right, coming to a point at about your chest level.  Beyond them, some hundreds of yards away,  you can see what seem to be immense, pillar-like edifices that stretch to the heavens. Looking upward, you see that they branch off numerous limbs that are adorned with  green...leaves?
>Your eyes snap back to the ground, examining the plants more closely for a moment. It is not quite like some curious combination of cacti and seaweed, but rather quite like mundane grass that has been scaled up many times its proper size. Similarly, the edifices in the distance, upon closer inspection, seem to resemble trees that have been given the same treatment. Overhead, you can see a gap in the gigantic trees, which reveals a familiar pastiche of colors in the sky.

>_

[Solais]

Why I have this feeling that the stone object was actually Reimu (I mean it had "hands" and a "yin-yang symbol") and now Yukari is inside her?

I'm just an observer, just wanted to share this thought. Carry on.

[Yaersulf]

I suspected that the shrine might have something to do with Reimu, but woah, that's pretty crazy.

>To the shrine's front door!

[Hello Purvis]

>To the shrine's front door!

>You approach the shrine's front door, walking up a couple of steps to deck. The doors are painted red, and contain many rows of small rectangular panels. The paper itself is without decoration. As far as you can tell, the doors do not seem to be barred.

>_

[Yaersulf]

>Open the door and peer inside.

[Hello Purvis]

>Open the door and peer inside.

>You slide open the doors and peer inside.  Through the doors, you can see a large room, likely meant for oratory and devotional service. A finely woven straw rug covers the floor, while the walls are made of paper panels. Aside from this, you don't see much of anything, no statues or pictures or any suggestion that this shrine is devoted to anything. You can see a couple hallways in the back, and another set of doors opposite of this one.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Head on in, and may our way to and through the second set of doors.

[O4rfish]

>"Hello? It's Yukari~"

[Hello Purvis]

> Head on in, and may our way to and through the second set of doors.

>You make your way inside, and through to the opposite set of doors.  Despite being a shrine, you don't feel anything like faith in this building. A proper shrine ought to have something like that, and as a youkai you are quite sensitive to such things.
>Entering the second room, you find it is a large chamber dominated by a dais, upon which a boulder rests. A couple of plain paper screens run along the bare side ways, and you can see places for hanging shimenawa and the like. The ceiling here is higher than in the previous room, taking up both floors and giving you a view of the ceiling rafters. The boulder itself, occupying a space reserved for a devotional item, seems entirely mundane. Nothing as been done to purify it or mark it as a sacred item, now has anything been done to establish its dais as a sacred place that you can see or feel. You cannot immediately sense anything special about it, either. At the far end of the side walls, you note two sets of paper doors that blend well with the panels beside them.

>"Hello? It's Yukari~"

>You announce your presence, and receive no answer.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Head to and through those paper doors. Maybe they're hiding something!

[Hello Purvis]

> Head to and through those paper doors. Maybe they're hiding something!

>You make your way through the left set of doors, and find a yourself in a narrow hall that seems to stretch along the length of the entire shrine. There are a few open doorways, leading into rooms that you imagine run along the outer wall of the shrine. The hall comes to an end near your right, where a narrow staircase leads downward. At the far end, you can see a staircase leading upwards. The walls here are as plain as the rest of the shrine, leaving the place to feel oddly soulless.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Head toward the down staircase, but peek into each of the rooms with an open door. Stop moving toward the down staircase if we see anything notably unusual for a shrine.

[Hello Purvis]

> Head toward the down staircase, but peek into each of the rooms with an open door. Stop moving toward the down staircase if we see anything notably unusual for a shrine.

>You route to the staircase only takes you by one room. Peeking into it, you see it it contains a low table, some empty shelves, and little else.
>Making your way downstairs,  the stairway makes a half turn at a tiny landing, then proceeds downward. Below, you can see the basement appears to be one large room. The floor is bare stone, dusted with a kind of large and annoying gritty dirt. There are some shelves here, which are empty, and a couple of trunks. The walls are made of rough natural stones that have been stacked and mortared together, likely serving as a structural support for the shrine above. On the far side of the room is another door, which leads to a hallway that inclines downward. You can sense something in the air here, a kind of force that seems to emanate from...something.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Check the chests trunks for unusual growths items.

[Hello Purvis]

> Check the chests trunks for unusual growths items.

>Inside you find a sleeping Kisume who is not too happy to be awoken and is all too happy to kneecap you over the Yumemi thing. YOU FUCKED UP
>You open the trunks, and find nothing inside of them.
>Wandering around, you can feel that sense of power in the air grow stronger as you move away from the stairs, and weaker as your approach the chests along the nearby walls. It seems strongest as you check the one on the far wall.

>_

[Yaersulf]

>Walk along the far wall until it feels its strongest.

[Hello Purvis]

>Walk along the far wall until it feels its strongest.

>Following along that wall, you stop stop in front of the corridor. It inclines downward sharply, and you can't quite see where it ends.

>_