>Inventory
>Skills
>Wait patiently for a hapless mook
>Be sure to tell them to say 'Rock'
>Relationships.>Accept yellow ring.
>How did we come to leave Higan?
>How long as it been since the gem incident?
>"Say 'Rock'!"
>Get the drop on him and liberate him of his possessions.
>...wait, why do we tell people to say Rock?
>That goob just jacked our bucket, didn't he?
>"Wawawawawawawawawawa!"
Wait, what does Kisume have to do with Higan? Was this stuff that came up in a previous quest?
Wait, what does Kisume have to do with Higan? Was this stuff that came up in a previous quest?
> First Nue and now this? Has underground gone mainstream?
> How exactly do we move with our bucket?
>Who are our parents?
>Cringe and open our eyes...
>Hang in there Kisume-san!
> Open our DEMONFIRE eyes
> Try that again. Open our DEMONFIRE eyes.
>An unfamiliar rocky ceiling? Don't we know our caves inside and out?
> Look at our dirty blouse, then back at the girl.
> "Do I look like I have any gold and gems?
> Attempt to get up.
> If she makes any threatening moves, put demon fire in her eyes.
> "Do you have any gold or gems?"
> Do we usually get faeries in the tunnels anyways?
> If not, ask where the hell she came from and what she's doing here.
> Put her aside for a moment. Where's the berk that ganked us?
> What is our usual relationship with faeries, then? do we just ignore them or do we mug them too?
The one Muffin made. This one (http://dizzy.pestermom.com/?p=thcomic126) I believe.
That's our Kisume for ya.
> Time to blow this joint, then. Give the faerie a sneer on the way out, and check the one ahead.
> We know these caverns, so we should know where the silver-haired guy was heading, right?
> Ooooh we can make some money off of that quartz can't we? try to break some off, but not enough to risk having the cavern fall on our heads.
> Once we're done, investigate the unfamiliar tunnel!
> Where do we even shop for food anyway?
> Doesn't look like we could gauge it out with our knife or rebar, so we'll just try to remember our way back here when we get a more appropiate tool for the job. It'll be our saved up treasure in case we get really unlucky with our muggings a some point.
> How hungry are we?
> Follow the descending tunnel up ahead to see where it leads to.
> Things are pretty desperate if we're thinking of hawking quartz. Gotta get some real shine on these boots...so to speak.
> Listen for the faerie, make sure she's not tailing us.
> Float gently and silently in. Keep an eye out for marks.
> Add quest: Get a new bucket. A pimpin' one studded with gems and gold.
> Or some new clothes. Where can a fella' get some clothes around here?
> Is this where the Oni Eater wandered about?
> Head back to the nice cramped space of the tunnels.
> Is there a place among the tunnels and caverns we particularly like to crash at?
> Do mom and, uh... mom ever visit us or even know where we are?
> Was there anyone visible in the large cavern?
> So how the hell could we have possibly gotten here? We clearly didn't go all that far in the grand scheme of things, and there was just some random fairy around us when we came to.
> Are there any obvious footprints in dust around here?
> Why would that guy carry us off somewhere and dissapear withou- wait, are any of our possessions missing?
> Make a mental note to beware of silver-haired humans in the future. Was there anything off about him when we jumped him?
>Do we hear any movement or anything else in the general vicinity? Take a moment to listen closely.
>If not, head cautiously in the direction of the Ancient City.
> How periodic are we talking? Wing flapping periodic? Longer, shorter?
> Do we recognize this as Yamame's skittering?
>Try to move to get a better look down the ravine, keeping to the shadows while we do so
> Ponder the possibility of blending in with the faeries and tricking them out of their food if we acquired similar canine ears.
> Wait what. Since when do faeries wear stuff like that? Have they started forming factions or subgroups or something?
>Do we recognize the mushrooms she's picking? If so, are they edible?
>For that matter, do scavenged mushrooms actually form part of our diet down here?
>Do we hear anyone else besides this fairy?
>Do we think we could be readily seen by her at the moment, if she looked our way? Particularly if, say, we called out to her?
> Do the canine ears on the hood look natural or decoratively artificial?
> Gank this mark. We've got a quota to hit, and no moonshine-haired human's gonna stop us.
>Ignore the fairy and just gather some mushrooms. No sense picking fights over something if there's lots of it around.
>How is the gold market in Gensokyo lately?
> "Sure I do. It's in the bucket, next to the fluffy elephants and the shinigami scythe."
> Mugger faeries? The Underground's going to hell.
> "Do you seriously get any gold from anybody blatantly asking for it like that?"
> Equivocating will probably just confuse her, and besides, she's thick enough that this'll probably work...
> "Say, what's with the ears, tiny?"
> Point at them just in case she's forgotten that she's wearing them.
> "Who's 'we'?"
>"Why are you faires so keen on getting gold all of a sudden anyway?"
>"Yeah, me, too."
> "But there's a problem, you see. Being rich will make you famous, and strong people will come to beat you up and take your gold!"
> "The gold thing was sarcasm, a joke. I don't have any. Why come to the underground to find gold, of all places?"
> "Hey, you wanna hear about the time I beat up an oni?"
> Grin.
> "Believe it. Oni may be big and strong..."
> Pull out our knife and admire it while grinning.
> "...but they believe way too much in fairness for their own good."
> Look back and the fairy. Wiggle the knife a bit in a showoffy manner (rather than a threatening one).
> "Oh, she was probably mad for what little time she was still standing."
> "Do I look flattened to you?"
> Shake head.
> "Lissen. If that oni sat on me I wouldn't be talking to you right now."
> Knock on our bucket with a fist.
> "Nope. See? Still solid."
>Facepalm
>Double facepalm.
>"I don't have any gold of any kind, and I'm not a ghost."
> Careful with those facepalms. Don't want to stab ourselves!
>Yes, drop the knife back in the bucket first.
> Pull our hands away from our face and look back at the fairy for a moment, look upward for a couple of moments, then look back at the fairy.
> Lean in a little bit closer and lower our voice.
> "All right. But you gotta keep this on the down-low, you hear me?"
> Facepalm, then pull our hand away to point upward
> "Okay. You've passed the first part of the test. There's some ghost gold up there, in the tunnel I just came from. There's another fairy up there with a hood like yours, but you might be able to get it if you hurry."
> She didn't even want to hear about the rest of the test? Well, whatever.
> Pick some more mushrooms, then head back up out of the ravine.
> Score.
> Finish making our way out of the ravine, then head east, back toward the Ancient City.
>And keep track of our route, so we know how to get back here.
> Keep heading east. Float over the water rather than trying to bounce through it.
> Nom on a mushroom on the go.
> Loose stone being shifted about like someone is moving it around or like an avalanche?
> Put a hand on our knife, just in case.
> Float on over into the tunnel.
> Just to be sure: We've never seen fairies with canine ear hats before, have we?
> Ignore the fairies and continue west. They're probably just digging for gold and gems. Got nothin' to do with us.
>"No I'm not. You're imagining things."
> "I don't know. Can you?"
> "Let's see it then."
> Point at the other fairy.
> "Why don't you try it on her?"
> "Well, we gotta make sure you can do it first, right?"
> "You gotta help your friend practice, right? It's important work, too, so I'll leave you two to it. Can't have any imagination figments bothering you while you're working, of course."
> Point back the way we came.
> "I saw one in the wall of a tunnel back that way. You'll need to pass through the large chamber to get there."
> "Nay, just a few other fairies with those hoods on the way, you might want to hurry up if you don't want them to find them before you do"
> What does it look like we're "trespassing" into, anyway?
> Perhaps some sort of fairy hideout... proceed forward to investigate if the faeries leave.
> If they don't, tell them we sent the other fairies in the wrong direction and that they could still manage to find the stones before the others do if they're fast enough.
> How old are we?
> How long have we lived underground?
> Head down to said floor of said tunnel of said bats.
> Look around for anything unusual. The faeries were most likely digging for pretty stones, and we probably wouldn't say no to some of those...
> If nothing unusual presents itself, head north with the goal of reaching the tunnel to the surface.
> Huh. Yamame's place would be closer. Do we know if she's home right now?
> Head south regardless.
> Wave.
> "Hey, you see some white-haired guy go by recently?"
> (Do we like how bats taste?)
> "Sounds like him. What's his deal?"
> How unusual was that degree of fairy encounters in these tunnels, compared to average?
> "He's somethin' more than that. I was gettin' the drop on him, he flings me who knows where and next thing I know I'm waking up way to the west of here in some tunnels I haven't seen before."
> Point back the way we came.
> "You want me to show 'em to you? You'd get to meet those fairies with hoods along the way."
> Frown.
> "He moved on me. Caught the bucket and swung me around. He didn't beat me up so much as the wall I smashed into did."
> Does our bucket have a name?
From what this series has presented to far, it's fairly safe to assume humanoids don't try to eat other humanoids.
> Wave a hand dismissively.
> "Fine. Not like there was a lot for him to take if he wanted. Hell, it ended up working out, since I found some whitecaps on my way back."
> "Oh, and about the faeries, there was one there when I woke up, and I saw quite a few of them on the way back. All of them wearing these weird hoods with canine ears on them, have you been seeing any of them lately?"
> ...does Yamame eat fairies?
> "Anyway, old whitehead didn't bother you at all, did he? I wanna know how I got where I wound up, and I wanna know why some farmer guy was able to do what he did to me, or why he was headed toward the Ancient City."
> Offer her a whitecap or two as compensation for the times we've kinda leeched off of her before.
>"Impressed? At what?"
> Ask this first.
> "Weird. I'm gonna head down to the Ancient City to see if anyone there knows what's up with him. You wanna come?"
> "Sucks. Ah well. I'll let you know how it turns out."
> Do we know why she says 'buddy' and 'pal' all the time?
> "Thanks."
> Head northward back the way we came, with the ultimate goal of reaching the Ancient City.
> Are there any our-head-shaped dents they could have been chipped from?
>Does it look like those pieces of loose rock might have been a result of our tumble?
>Examine the surroundings for signs of impact and such.
>Different kinds than they were when we were here last?
>Oh, so it's just these loose rocks which are different from the REST of the cavern?
>Take a closer look at them
> Are the rocks shiny?
>Does anything seem at all unusual about them aside from their conspicuous difference from their surroundings?
>Are they positioned nearly exactly where we were before somehow ending up halfway across the underground, or just somewhere in the general area?
>Huh. How odd.
>Continue on to the Ancient City
>Go pick up one of the conspicuous stones and stow it in the bucket.
> Oh, no. Not her.
> Sneak past.
> Oh, no. Not her.
> Sneak past.
>Wait, maybe we want to ask if she saw that weird guy walk past?
>What sort of interactions have we had with Parsee over the years?
> We're right next to the city anyway, where we could get information from people who aren't snots, so let's just sneak past and come back only if we don't find info elsewhere.
> WITH A BUCKET TO THE HEAD
> We aren't openly hostile to her anyway so she doesn't really have any reason to stop us, does she? Either way, we could try to silently hover over to the very top of the cavern, provided it's big enough, and just fly over the bridge out of her sight.
> Then proceed to connect bucket with head. To establish superiority
> Why can't we just get past the bridge with a mere passing-by greeting on the way? What a pain.
> Proceed with the plan with caution.
> Also do we think she'd be mad enough to attack us when we come back from the city if she didn't see us go in?
> We ever been to Nue's place?
> Do we know anybody else in the city that we could casually visit and ask for info? if not let's hover around for a bit (out of the onis' reach) looking for Nue in the streets.
> How often are drunken and violent oni known to take to the skies? Maybe we can get to Nue's through the air and drop down on her front step rather than bounce our way through the streets.
You're kidding me. Damn it :(
I'll get started on those eventually but there's no way I'd be able to finish those before this one's over, and I really like Kisume Quest so I don't really want to quit. I guess I'll just leave the overlapping parts to you guys until I have a pretty clear view of what's going on.
I'll get started on those eventually but there's no way I'd be able to finish those before this one's over, and I really like Kisume Quest so I don't really want to quit.
> Let's take a look around hovering above the oni and see if we find her. If there's no luck, then head over to one of the oni merchants' to ask if they know where she might be.
> "Hey. You seen a white-haired guy come around here? Looks like a farmer?"
> Specify that this is a human we're talking about. Or at least he looked like one.
> "So you didn't see him doing anything funny?"
> "Howzabout where he was going?"
>Is the clinic in the general direction that was indicated?
> Wander over in that direction. We're not getting much of use out of this one.
>"How long ago do ya think that was, now?"
>Does our encounter with this mystery man feel like it was anywhere near a couple hours ago?
>For that matter, how long would it take one to get from our original lurking spot to the Ancient City, at a reasonable pace?
>Oh, we were actually fully unconscious at some point?Funny how you can misinterpret things you read...
>"Huh. Well, thanks."
>Move off a little in the indicated direction, and rise up high to get a better look at the overall city
>Can we see any unusual congregation of people? Or any spot where activity seems unusual in some fashion?
>How much of the city can we see from this vantage? At least, how much of it can we see well enough to notice if there was something notable going on there?
>Move forward such that we can get a better look at some of these blind spots, without straying too far into the heart of the city, and giving the brawls and anything else of that nature a wide berth
>Shrug
>Head back to the clinic
>Float on over
>"Heyya. You seen a human guy with white hair around the city today?"
>"I got a bone to pick with him. Jerk knocked me out and dumped me halfway across the underground."
>"What'd she have to say about him, anyhow?"
>"Long as she's not in the mood to start swingin' at me. I'll be quick."
>"Dagnabbit. You sure she didn't say anything else?"
>Grumble a little
>"Better not be needin' your services after this..."
>"Anyway, where is she?"
>"Thanks."
>Head on in, and look for said oni. Make sure not to get too close if she's really in the mood to swing at someone.
>Approach said oni, staying out of arm's reach
>Quietly: "Hey. I hear you saw a human wandering around town today?"
>"Did you see where he was going or what he was doing?"
>"Yeah, he's some kinda weirdo. What part of town was this, anyhow? And how long ago?"
>About how far and in what direction is the warehouse district from here?
>Is that a part of town we've typically avoided?
>Eh, well that just means we make sure to stay out of anyone's way.
>"Thanks, pal."
>Exit the clinic
>Nod
>"She says she saw the guy over by the warehouses, being chased by some knucklehead. Which is about what you'd expect for a human wandering around down here."
>Are we at all self-conscious about our lack of stuff worth stealing?
>"Beats me. He's some kind of weirdo, though, to be wandering around here like that. Ol' greenface back there said he didn't even look scared. 'course, you'd probably have to be kinda weird to bother dragging me into the middle of nowhere, too."
>"You're tellin' me. And he still owes me for that knock upside the head!"
>"Anyhow, gonna go take a look for myself. Have fun sweepin'."
>Head in the direction of the warehouse district, from a safe elevation, and take a look around.
>Try to spy out an oni that doesn't look either particularly busy or cranky
>Do we know how oni in general would regard our mugging of people? Is there enough beating involved not to invoke the 'theft' clause?
>Head over to the sack-carrying oni, approaching openly enough for her to see us coming before we get there
>You definitely notices you, and watches you as you close the distance between the two of you. "Whaddaya want, kid?" she says.>At least that knock on the head didn't cause us to lose our self-awareness.
>At least that knock on the head didn't cause us to lose our self-awareness.
>"You seen a human wandering around here today?"
>"What've you heard?"
>"That's it? He just up and walked away?"
>"Did she say where he went?"
>"Alright, thanks."
>Fly off over to the other free oni we noticed earlier.
>"Don't suppose you've seen a human wandering around this way, today?"
>"Well, I've a bone to pick with him, and I heard he passed somewhere near here a little while back."
> "Did he mention what he was doing around here?"
>"Well, long as I can get my two cents outta him first. Thanks."
>Head in the indicated direction
> Gulp and try to keep our composure. Don'tlooksuspiciousdon'tlooksuspicious.
> Approach an oni that doesn't look extremely unfriendly and ask him who the oni that chased the guy down were. We kinda need to know if we want to figure out anything new.
> Try not to paru over her clothes.
> "I'm lookin' for this white-haired human and heard he got chased around by some of the oni around here. Do you know who they are and where I could find 'em?"
> Ah, yeah, we've heard of that oni before, better start looking for her. "What does Kita look like?"
> What business could that guy have had with the deva's warehouses? this is getting more and more troublesome.
> "Got it, thanks a bunch!"
> Head over to the Deva warehouse's vicinity, we'll probably be able to tell when we're there by the amount of dagger stares on us, and look for Kita.
>Float on over
>"You Kita?"
>"Kisume; I live out in the tunnels. I hear you saw a human lurking around here earlier?"
>"Do you know where he went of to, after?"
>"Someone? You know who?"
> Have we ever worked with streetears before?
> Okay, this is officially more trouble than it's worth. Someone will beat him up eventually.
> "Awright, then. Seeya."
> Make our way back to the bridge.
> Oh, right.
> Float up fairly high, then head forward "across" the bridge like how we crossed it the first time.
> Head on back out to Yamame, then.
> Is the fairy's tone particularly angry?
> Does she have one of those canine hoods?
>So, she's stuck in a web, yet doesn't seem especially bothered by this?
>Are her wings free?
>Float on over a little closer
>"Heyya."
>Can we make out what the fairy is saying if we pay closer attention?
>So she doesn't seem to be talking about anything of particular note that might be happening elsewhere, or on the surface? Or something related to why all those fairies might suddenly be looking for gold and jewels?
>"You can say that again...."
>"Couldn't find that guy, after all. Wandered off somewhere into the middle of the Ancient City, and I'd had enough asking oni for directions for one day. Wierdo's probably gonna end up with one of 'em calling dibs, and I'm not about to fight 'em to get my own two cents in."
>Were the rocks we found by our spot different in type than the rocks found in these tunnels in general or just those near that spot?
>"This is probably gonna sound like a strange question, but.... have you seen any loose rocks around here that look kinda outta place, lately?"
> "Funny. 'Cause I found some loose granite from where that knocked me out."
>"Well, they weren't there before that weirdo knocked me out, for one. And they didn't come off the walls near there, neither."
> "Nah, pretty normal. Here, have a look."
> Toss her a chip.
>"Didn't look that weird to me."
>Take one out and show her.
>"But you can have a look-see yourself."
> Headbump.
> Headbumping Yamame would probably leave us worse off. Maybe we shouldn't.
> He probably means we're playing mahjong with her and the fairy
> "It's ain't so much about 'em being normal, but about 'em being completely out of place where I found 'em"
> "I guess you're right. I'm still kinda curious about how they got there, though, maybe that guy brought them with him when he dragged me over to that random place in the tunnels"
> "Oh, this fairy you "caught" could be useful, actually"
> Head over to the fairy and see if we can get her attention
> "...too?" check surroundings for any other possible recipients of this so-called "story", just in case she might not be nuts.
> Figures, she's nuts.
> "Uhm, no, I'm not really fond of stories, but hey, y'know what you could tell me about? Those weird fairies that are running around here with canine-eared hoods lately. Do you know anything about 'em?"
> "Yeah, they're odd, I'm not even sure if they live here, they were just suddenly all over the place today"
> "Oh, and how'd ya even end up here?"
> Okay this is amusing
> "Down what hole?"
> :3
> Once we've had enough flailing fairy for the day, ask her if she wants to go back.
> Do we think we could pull her off Yamame's web on our own?
> They should be called text-and-perhaps-emotes-in-exceptional-cases adventures!
> Well she doesn't really seem bothered by her situation much so I guess we should just leave her there and move on.
> ...move on to what?
> How hungry/tired are we?
>This parser's so mean, yo! (http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/698393) D=
> Yamame will probably release her soon whether she wants to or not in order to keep her sanity.
> "Oi, Yamame, I'm gonna go check something!"
> Wave and make our way back to the tunnel where we unsuccesfully jumped that farmer fellow.
> Try to find our way to the tunnel we ended up in when we woke up and keep an eye out for anything looking out of place, including granite.
> Take the path that seems the safest/easiest for a human to travel through.
> Hmmm, let's go with the one through the Ancient City. Does it involve getting past or particularly close to Parsee?
> So Parsee must've seen the guy if he carried us over through this path... well, as long as she was there when it happened.
> Follow the path until we get to the river, then float over to the bridge to give the "bridge princess" a visit.
> Meh, who wants a purse when you can have a bucket?
> "Uh, yeah, I was kind of in a hurry earlier. I was just wonderin' if you saw this white-haired human guy loitering about today, specially down there near the river"
> Wonder if all that rail-leaning ever leads to her falling off her own bridge.
> What negative experiences have we had with Parsee before the last 12 hours?
> Picture the falling scenario unless we feel that such a thing would lead us to laughing right in her face, in that case save it for later amusement.
> "So he wasn't dragging... uh... a bucket with him along the river? to be honest, the guy caught me by surprise and knocked me out, and by the time I woke up I was in a completely different tunnel" point over in the direction of the side cavern by the river "so he probably dragged me over there, and I figured you couldn't possibly have missed him if he'd been running around the river dragging me around. So in the end he just passed through here empty handed? did he say anything?"
> "And I take it he never did come back out after that, right?"
> "Yeah, from what I heard earlier he's probably gotten chased down by some oni by now. Anyway, this narrows down my search a little bit so I better get goin'"
> Backtrack all the way to the tunnel where we jumped the guy and take the other, more unpleasant route, looking out for anything suspicious or out of place.
> "Nah, I'd rather talk to him personally. Thanks anyway"
> Wave and let the princess get back to her sophisticated reading.
> Backtrack all the way to the tunnel where we jumped the guy and take the other, more unpleasant route, looking out for anything suspicious or out of place.
> Did it not do so before?
>If possible, cover our nose with a sleeve and proceed.
> Float along south. Do it slowly; no need to disturb the bats present.
> Check the floor for remains of dead bats or similar, if the human carried us through here then he must've stepped on some of them whether he liked to or not.
> Huh.
> If he didn't seem to go through either of these two paths, maybe the guy could actually fly? perhaps he wasn't human after all...
> Let's continue on until we get to where we woke up, just in case.
> East
> Do either of them have canine ear hoods?
> What's a ganode?
> "The what now?"
> Look at the non-running-away fairy.
> "What's her problem?"
> And she doesn't have a hood to go with them?
>"Not that I know of."
>"What's a 'ganode', anyways?"
> "Don't know it either. But your friend does, so I figured I'd ask."
> "I didn't even know this was your house."
> Frown.
> "I think I took a wrong turn at Albuquerque."
>Have we been out this way before?
>If so, how long ago? And was it occupied by fairies then?
>How often do obvious signs of fairy habitation like this come and go, though?
>Point at the canine ears she's wearing
>"What's with the ears, anyway?"
>"Where'd ya get 'em?"
>We've really never seen any fairies wearing them before today?
>"Doesn't count for what?"
>"A legion? Sounds fun! Where do I go to sign up?
>Not that we actually want to sign up, but she doesn't need to know that.
"And where's Cobalt Skies?"
>"Would you tell me where the secret base is not?"
> "Well, you could tell me a whole bunch of places that are near the secret base but aren't the secret base. Then you would be telling me where the secret base is not."
>From our knowledge of the tunnels around here, can we think of a spot that would be somewhat close to all of these named places (or something potentially matching their description), without being immediately near to any of them?
> Then let's work off the one we had the least immediate idea about. What dirt patches are we aware of?
> Nod.
> "I see. And what direction are those in?"
> Do we have any idea what is generically north of here?
> And from which direction did we just come to get in this room? West?
> "So toward the large ravine room, then?"
> "Oh, right, okay. I'll leave you to your stuff, then."
> Head on through the tunnel the eating fairy ran through earlier.
> "Boo."
> "Depends. What's a ganode?"
> "But what if it knocks your socks off?"
> Nod.
> "That's a good idea. Anyway, no, I haven't seen anyone other than your friend back there looking through stuff."
> Shrug.
>"I took a wrong turn at Albuquerque. You know how it is."
> "The important thing is that I'm not there right now."
> "So why aren't you wearing canine ears like your friend?"
> "Does that mean you know where the secret base is?"
> "Huh. I was in there earlier. Wonder how I missed it."
> "Guess so. Anyway, I'll leave you to your ganode hunt."
> Float on over and into the gestured eastern tunnel.
> The one that asked us for ghost gold, or the very first one we saw when we woke up?
> Do our best to ignore her and continue on through the tunnel.
> "Yes, you do."
> "Not yet."
> "Not yet."
> Point back into the tunnel.
> "Unless you wanna count the quartz in the wall over there."
> Could we have blasted that quartz out of the wall, maybe?
> What about prying it loose and/or smacking it around with the rebar?
> "Yeah, I can imagine. That'd be all I know, though."
> "Sounds good to me."
> Stare at her. Silently.
> Does the chamber have any other exits?
> "Oh. That's easily fixed."
> Head out the other chamber exit.
> Water, eh? Check it out.
> How are we seeing in the dark, anyway?
Ah, in mine hubris I have missed the start of another z-machine adventure! Proceed as you were, gentlemen.
> Any obvious exits beyond the way we just came?
> Head back north up to the most recent fork, then take the southeastern tunnel.
> So this might qualify as the 'dirt room'?
> Which plants in particular are edible? Maybe we'll have a really good meal tonight.
> Wonder if Yamame knows about this place...
> Don't want to just up and grab everything; gotta leave some stuff so it'll regrow faster.
> Grab two apple-sized gourds, a stalk of cave wheat, and one of the spice herbs.
> Between this and the mushrooms, how does this compare to what we normally have for a nightly meal?
> Pick a couple of the thick stew leaves too, while we're at it.
> So how were we begotten by two women, anyway? Or do biological rules not apply to youkai reproduction?
> Did we just call both of them 'mom', then?
> This should be a good enough haul for the time being. Head northeast.
> Giggle quietly at the phrase "Momma Komachi".
> Have a look at the western hollow.
> Do we have use for salt crystals?
> Hmm, we might have to leave our bucket behind on this one. Though it did get jacked that one other time...
> There haven't been any signs of sentient life recently, have there?
> How quickly could we retreat to Yamame's, then return here? Maybe we could leave it with her for a bit, or bring her back with us if her web nonsense is finished.
> Could we perhaps rip some salt crystals out of the wall and bring them back to our regular spot before smashing them or selling them? The granite might help for the former, at least.
> Did we have even the generalest of ideas for how far along she was in her web repair work?
> Use the granite to chisel out a couple of decent-sized salt crystals.
>Do we think we could fit in there with our bucket? If not, could we fit in without it?
>Why are we slower without the bucket?
> Did the small tunnel look dry enough for creeping purposes?
> Let's take it slowly, then.
> Float into the opening as far as the bucket can reasonably go, just to see if we can see anything new around the westward bend.
> Descending down? Yeah, we're going to want Yamame on-hand for this.
> Return to the ravine room by retracing our bounces/floating/whatever, then return to Yamame's place via the path we took out of the ravine room the first time (the one that didn't go through a fairy 'house'.
> "You still workin' on those?"
> Does Yamame know about our legs?
> "Well, when you get the chance, I need help lookin' through some of the tunnels I was in earlier. Found some good stuff, but I ran across one small one the bucket won't fit through."
> Pull out and hold up a salt crystal.
> "It's a small opening in a chamber with a bunch of salt crystals. I'm guessing it's not picked through very often if there are still that many crystals there. Given the opening's fairly small and the way the tunnel winds, I'd bet it's picked through even less."
> "I'm not leaving my bucket alone for longer than I have to. Not after it got jacked that one time. So you could either explore the small tunnel, or guard the bucket while I do it. If I go down it, there are more salt crystals there you can help yourself to if you want, and there's another larger tunnel I haven't looked through yet if you get bored."
> "No clue. But there's enough fairies about and a bunch of 'em are into some fairy group activity nonsense thing, so who knows where they might wander and what they might think if they see it unattended. All I know for sure is that you ain't jackin' it and you can give what for to anyone that tries."
> "Need a hand with it?"
> "All right. This way."
> Retrace our way back to the salt crystal chamber, again avoiding the faerie 'house' from before.
> Is she talking about the small tunnel the bucket couldn't fit through or the unexplored tunnel to the north?
> "There's water running in the area, yeah. One of the forks before the soil chamber led right to it."
> How large is Yamame compared to us?
> Can we at least look her level in the eye, or do we need to float up a bit if she's standing?
> How wide does the lower half of her dress get?
> Could we both fit in the bucket?
> Have we ever actually tried hiding inside Yamame's dress?
> Gesture to the small opening.
> "Stilll not sure about that, though. You wanna check a bit into the north tunnel to be sure it heads to water while I take a look-see into there?"
> Hey, she's an established weirdo. Besides, she has no problem getting up close and personal with everyone, she hardly has a leg to stand on in objecting if we need her to hide in that manner for whatever reason.
> "'Kay. Lemme get as close as I can before giving up the bucket. Don't wanna have to maneuver without it more than necessary."
> Float the rest of the way over to the opening.
> How close is her face to ours?
> How much free space is there to move our arms?
> Turn around and look up at Yamame.
> "Pretty much. This is about as far as the bucket'll go."
> Extricate from bucket (and Yamame), proceed into hole.
> May as well. Float through, slowly and carefully.
> How well can we control such a descent?
> Head down to the chamber below as best we see fit to not drop ourselves fifteen feet and land on our head.
> This must be the secret base.
> Is there any obvious place to sit?
> Are there any obvious exits?
> Is there anything in the pots?
> Head all the way inside to get a better view of the place. We can sit or lie down on the table in a bit if we need to.
> No, lie down on the table. We're going to need energy to get out of here.
> Still no obvious exits?
> How does the floor look? Could we reasonably skitter along to investigate things around the place up close?
> What's our family name? If we've disavowed it, what was it before we left?
> Do we have pockets?
> Give ourselves a few moments, enough to rest up properly, then make our way toward the side of the room with the broken wood and clay. Skitter along the floor if the path wouldn't be too dirty; float over otherwise.
> Examine pots on the way. If there are empty ones, consider ad-hoc bucket replacement.
> Roll to the left!
> Naw, let's throw good old high-adventure physics at it:
> Let it get close, then grab a clay pot and catch the skull in the pot.
> Then close the pot. This bit's important.
> Naw, let's throw good old high-adventure physics at it:
> Let it get close, then grab a clay pot and catch the skull in the pot.
> Then close the pot. This bit's important.
>Couldn't we just turn the pot upside-down?
>Couldn't we just turn the pot upside-down?
> Yeah this.
> Is danmaku known to break clay pots?
> How is the danmaku spread?
> Roll back to the left, aiming ourselves for those gaps.
> Use one hand to grab the pot around the lip and swing it opening-first at the spirit in an attempt to catch it.
> Quick! Bring the pot to the floor mouth-side down to 'seal' the opening so the spirit can't get out!
>Keep a tight hold on it! That thing is staying put!
> So we can't stand. Can we reasonably kneel?
> Have we ever had any interest in getting our legs healed?
> Sit on the pot to keep it pinmed to the ground.
> How did our legs come to be this way, anyway?
> Nothing for it, then. Hold on tight to the pot until the shaking stops or the thing breaks out.
> Look around the room. Is there anything fairly heavy present?
> Could we move ourselves toward the stone while dragging the pot along the ground with us?
> Do it, then. Make our way over to the stone.
> Can we clamp our legs around the pot?
> Wrap our legs around the pot for long enough that we can pick the stone up and set it down on top of the pot.
> Extricate ourselves from around the pot. Let the stone do the work holding the spirit at bay.
> Do we need to rest again? Make our way back to lying on the table if so.
> If we do not need to rest, or once we have been able to rest, make our way back over to the pile of stuff the spirit first came out of.
> Anything look interesting on the surface of the pile?
> If not, carefully start digging through the pile, looking for anything noteworthy. Don't want no cuts or splinters on our hands.
> Loose coins? Snatch those up.
> What is our opinion of hats?
> A wok? Sweet. Acquire.
> Hopefully we can worm our way back up the shaft with that wok without too much difficulty. That could be useful for cooking later, or maybe selling.
> Move a little bit toward a different part of the pile, then keep digging to see what else we can find.
> Hmm. The noh mask is probably not that useful, but the other things...
> Examine metal disk.
> Would the glass bottle fit inside a pocket or the wok?
> Pocket the bottle, then. That could come in useful.
> Do we have an opinion of scarves?
> Could the sword hilt fit in the wok?
>If the sword hilt is of reasonable make, it may fetch a fair price. Pocket it!
> Obtain the scarf by putting it on.
> Looks like this has been picked clean through. Head back to the first part of the pile and continue digging over there.
> Gather our newfound stuff (aside from the scarf we're wearing) so that everything but the wok is pocketed. Put the money in the bottle if need be.
> Look around the room for piles of anything else that might be worth digging through.
> Make our way over to the chest of drawers.
> Set the wok aside on the ground for the moment.
> Open the bottom drawer.
> Does it have an obvious title?
> Is it the only thing in the drawer?
>Can we read?
>Either way, open it to a random page and take a look.
> !
> Take it. Maybe we can make up a second one someday.
> How long have spellcard rules been around?
> Do fairies have spellcards?
> Now that the spellcard is out of the way, check out what's on the pages.
> Huh.
> Put the book next to the wok and open the top drawer. If we can't see inside the top drawer form the floor, then float our way to the top of the chest and sit on it, looking down into the drawer from above.
>The book could be quite valuable to the right people, but do we know any of the right people to whom it would be quite valuable?
Well, now that we have it, what do you want to do with it?
> Can we tell what kind of wood the chest is made of?
> Could we get any leverage at all to pry it open with the rebar?
> Do so, and try to pry the drawer loose, if not outright open.
> Oh crap, we did, didn't we? Damnit.
> Would it be possible to rescale the tunnel with the book and the wok in hand?
> Taking the wok and the book with us, return to the tabletop and lie down to recover whatever energy we need for the trip back up.
> Once we feel ready for it, take flight and head back up the small tunnel.
> "Hoy."
> Get a better sitting position as she comes.
> "Yeah. No growing food down there, but a bunch of other stuff. Enough that I wanna make a second trip."
> "You sure you can't get down there? There might be some stuff you like, too."
> Drop everything new but the money and the scarf into the bucket.
> "Shame. I guess I can tell you what I find, and you can ask for whatever you might like. Just remember I only got so many hands and pockets."
> "Thanks. Anyway, there was..."
> Orally list everything notable we didn't take.
> "Consider it yours. And it's not like we can't share the wok. Just make sure you clean it when you're done using it."
> How nice are we normally to Yamame? Do we feel particularly obligated to her for helping us make sure our bucket doesn't get jacked?
> "Mmmkay."
> Pull the rebar out of the bucket.
> "Gonna go back down for a second run. Have a look through that book in the meantime, if you like. Looked like a novel to me, but the 6 on the spine makes me think it could be part of a set."
> "Back in a bit."
> Make our way back down to the room as before, resting on the table again when we get there. Make sure to check in on the spirit pot.
> Would adjusting the position of the rock help to keep it balanced? Once we're rested enough to move decently again, do so.
> After the pot rock is taken care of, head over to the drawer amd try to pry it open with the rebar.
> Pocket the rebar and open the drawer with our hands.
> Is the bottle closed?
> Can we tell what the liquid is?
> Pick up the bottle and inspect the label.
> How did the scarf's yellow compare to Yamame's hair and outfit? Might it go well on her?
> Wonder how it got here. There aren't any oni shackles around, are there?
> Is 43 years a proper age for shochou?
> Bring the bottle over to the rock table and set it down there, then investigate the clay pots that don't have evil spirits in them.
> Pinch the coins, of course.
> Inspect the kitchen knife, as well as the hammer if we can find it again.
> Could we reasonably pocket the hammer and the shochou and carry the knife while wearing the mask?
> Grab the hammer and the knife and scoot our way over to the mask so we can inspect it.
> Could we hold the knife and the mask in the same hand, perhaps?
> Anywhere left in the room we haven't looked yet?
> All right, self, let's get this show on the road.
> Pocket the screwdriver, then take both the mask and the kitchen knife in one hand (preferably with the knife pointed away from us) and the alcohol in the other.
> Take one last rest on the table, then once we're ready, head back up to Yamame.
> "Yeah."
> Offer the hand with the mask and the knife.
> "Mask's yours, like you wanted. Put the knife in the bucket."
> Once the knife is in our possession, have a seat on the ground, like we did before.
> Nod.
> "Just gimme a moment. Not used to traveling like this, is all. What's the book about?"
> "'Swhat oni used to do, I guess."
> Rest up until we feel better, then get back in the bucket.
> "So much better now. Anyway, only got a couple more things. You already saw the kitchen knife, and then there's these."
> Pull out the hammer and hold both it and the shochou up.
> "The shochou was in a cabinet drawer that was stuck. No idea when or how it got there. 'Sabout 43 years old."
> How much is in the bottle? Would it be reasonable to split?
> Mental assessment: What say we give Yamame the mask (which we didn't want), the scarf, and an offer to split the shochou? How would we feel about that as 'repayment' for coming out here with us and watching our bucket to make sure fairies didn't get at it?
> What about if we also made her promise to bring us back some alcohol the next time she comes away with some decent stuff from the Ancient City?
> That may be, but we gotta know there's more to an exchange than the immediate benefits. Yamame knows full-well we didn't actually have to get anything for her at all. Such an exchange would solidify trade rapport. We're on her mind a little more than we were before. Maybe next time she gets us stuff unprompted, like we did for her this time.
> Investment it is, then. Though we certainly don't have to split the bottle 50-50.
> "Sure is. Tell you what? You got your mask, and since you watched my stuff, I'll toss you the scarf, too. It'll probably look better on you than on me anyway."
> Shake the bottle a little bit.
> "And I can be convinced to share some of this, if you share some of the next bottle you come away from the Ancient City with."
> Well, there we go. It worked out in the end.
> "Suit yourself."
> Gesture to the other tunnel.
> "Did you check out where that went?"
> "Figured I'd take a look around the place where I came to after I got got. Then the tunnels just kept going and going, and I found myself here."
> "Nah. Heard he was running all over the place in the Anciet City for who knows what reason. Don't wanna go on no wild goose chase, and some oni probably got to him by now anyway. Sure glad I decided to do this instead."
> "Most likely. Wanna take a look at that other tunnel, 'slong as we're here?"
> "Let's go, then."
> Bounce on down the as-of-yet unexplored tunnel. Be mindful of that kitchen knife, though.
> Could we keep going north?
> Could we turn east?
> So heading east would involve floating over the river?
> Turn to Yamame.
> "Looks like you were right about the river. What do you think about what to do next?"
> "All right, yeah, go ahead. Thanks again."
> Float on eastward.
> Didn't think faeries has the ingenuity or patience to fish...
> Is the faerie wearing a canine ear hood?
> Best to let her be. If she wants to scare the fish by talking to us, let her.
> Continue eastward.
> Put a finger to our lips for a moment in a shushing way and lower our voice.
> "Careful. Don't wanna scare the fish, do you?"
> "The fish in the river."
> Touche, faerie stupidity. You win this round.
> "What's with the fishing pole, then?"
> "What thing?"
> Oho.
> "Really? Just lying in the river?"
> "Wow."
> Float on over and take a look.
> how do we feel about hypothermia?
> how long are our arms?
> Does the earring have any sort of loop on it?
> How rusty was that kitchen knife again?
> "Yeah, I could probably get that out. What's it worth to ya?"
> Raise an eyebrow.
> "It's give and get in this world, you know."
> Put on a thoughtful face.
> "Of course, if I get the earring and I got to hold onto it, I could certainly give you something else valuable of mine. You'd end up with more than what you started with, at least."
> ooo info!
> "Hmm. That is a problem, yes. Maybe we should ask Cobalt Skies what the legion can do for me if I get them that earring."
> "Do you know where she is?"
> "I don't know where the base is, though. It's a secret base, remember?"
> "That works."
> How long are our sleeves, and how reasonably do they roll up?
> "All right, let's take a look here."
> Position ourselves on solid ground as close to the earring as we can.
> Roll up one sleeve, grab the kitchen knife, and try to catch the earring on the point of the knife to hook it and pull it back up to us.
> "Let's go find your Cobalt Skies, eh?"
> "You got somewhere safe you can put it? Don't wanna drop it in the water."
> "And you're sure you won't get scared and drop it? I ran into an evil spirit about this far away from the city earlier. There might be more around. Who knows?"
> Nod.
> "That's what I was thinking."
> Pocket the earring.
> Follow through the air.
> Pull out the earring.
> Put out our other hand toward the smaller fairy in a 'stop' indication.
> "Whoa, there. We still need to work an exchange out, right?"
> Anything distinctive about Cobalt Skies?
> Raise an eyebrow.
> "You brought me here so we could work out a deal. I hope you're not trying to cheat me."
> Frown.
> "Of course not."
> Pull out the kitchen knife again.
> "If I wanted the earring that badly I wouldn't need to cheat either of you for it. I'd just use this instead."
> Which one said this?Cobalt, by the sound of it. Mushroom is busy cowering.
> Which one said this?
> Put the knife away, you're frightening the poor thing!
> "Ah, never mind. So what do you need the earring for?"
> "Aaaaaaaand..."
> Put the knife away, you're frightening the poor thing!
Why is this a problem again?Why scare her when we can simply stare?
> "You tell me."
> Blank look.
> "Oh, okay. Say, what's with the hoods?"
> "They're pretty nifty. Where'd you get the design?"
> "What do you mean, always?"
> "But how long is always?"
> "I know what it means for me, but I don't know what it means for you. Did you have them at the dawn of creation?"
> "Lots and lots of years ago. Probably millions of years."
> "That's a pretty damn long time. Oh! Have you found the room with the table and the rubble pile yet?"
> "Oh man, you should really check it out! I heard you had a secret base, but I can't imagine any bases secreter than that place. The tunnel to get into it is really small, even the blonde spider woman can't get into it, but you faeries would be able to no problem."
> "If you want, I can show you. Even if you like this base better, there's probably some stuff in the other place you could bring to this one."
> "It's right off the room with all the salt crystals in the walls."
> "Why? What's wrong with it?"
> Frown.
> "Huh. I didn't see anything bad there. Unless you count the spirit I trapped in a pot, I guess, but that was easy to deal with."
> "I didn't find those things, but I didn't search through all of the rubble, so there might be some there."
> Shrug.
> "Your call."
> "Told ya, we gotta work out an exchange. And we already had the talk about cheating, so let's not do it again."
> Sigh.
> "Look. Stabbing you in the face is quicker and easier than cheating you. Have I stabbed you in the face?"
> "And what about earlier, when you and I were alone? Did I stab you in the face then?"
> "No, not to go here. I could have taken you out and left with the ring without needing to come here at all."
> "If you're willing to cut a deal, I don't care which of you takes it."
> How do we feel about handing over the earring just to shut her up?
> "That's the problem. I don't really know."
> Shrug.
> "Eh, you know what? I'm in a good mood from the haul I got from that room with the table and the rubble. Here."
> Offer the earring toward Mushroom Drop.
> "This isn't worth the aggravation."
> "Last time I checked, she does."
> Well, at least we got a fairy I.O.U. out of this. That's better than nothing...maybe.
> Nod.
> "Can do. Thanks. Enjoy your new-found treasure."
> Enough of this tomfoolery. Head back to our normal waiting place near the entrance to the outside.
> Head to the chamber where the people watch the fissures.
> If this is that farmer again...
> Hold perfectly still and wait for the person's approach. When they come into view, note whether or not we recognize them.
> On top of that, what do we know of tengu?
> Didn't Nue tell us something about a tengu several months ago?
> Do we remember anything she said?
> So a tallish, black-haired tengu like this one? Aside from the couple of days thing, clearly.
> Why did we consider finding Nue earlier again?
> Could be worth asking her...though that has the obvious implication of losing the opportunity to get the drop on her.
> How have we fared for ourselves so far today compared to the average day?
> Yeah, we gotta figure out where we can unload that kitchen knife. Don't need it bouncing around all over the place near our very unprotected-from-stab-wounds body.
> Since we've done this well so far today, maybe we can let one mook off the hook, if there's a chance she's related to Nue somehow...
> "Hey, you! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXsIkt1JVNU)"
> Drop down, aim or anyplace that isn't uncomfortably close to the tengu.
> "This might be outta left field, but are you going to Nue's place?"
> "Because I wanna get there too, but I don't know where it is and I ain't wandering aimlessly around city streets crowded with punch-drunks. I like my face in one piece."
> "She mentioned some tengu to me several months back. Supposed to hook up 'within the next couple of days'. Never saw one go by, but you're the first tengu I've seen come through here ever, so I figured it was worth an ask anyway."
> "Nah, I can follow if it's not an issue. If you know about where her place is then you're already loads better than blindly wandering."
> "Oh, I go into the city sometimes. I just go to places that I know where they are. Being there at all isn't the issue, spending a lot more time there than I have to is."
> Bounce on along. Be careful not to fall in any of those fissures, though.
> "Exactly. 'Swhy I keep out here. No inebriated fists coming my way for no reason."
> "Worst comes to worst, I'll go up."
> Take to the air ourselves and continue following.
> "I wanna find out about some human guy that came down here earlier, and I suspect she's well-informed enough that she might know something."
> "No clue. But I've got a bone to pick with the guy for flinging me into the wall earlier. If something's happened to him already, good."
> "No worries. No bridge princess either, by the looks of things."
> Can't blame her, really.
> Do we know anything about the relationship between tengu and oni?
> "Looks like I'm not the only one looking for this guy."
> Give the oni a small wave.
> "Oy. Don't come out here often, no."
> "Yeah. Don't usually have business around here. But we got business with Nue today, so here we are."
> How well does our bucket take danmaku damage?
> Quick memory check: is there anything to either of our sides?
>Dodge right; get ready to rise when the inevitable second wave comes.
>Do we feel confident enough to start blasting back with some non-spell Danmaku ourselves? Or are there a lot of possible targets behind the oni? We definitely don't want to hit anyone else and start a bigger fight.
>Commence diving bucket attack!
>At the last second before coming into her reach, veer aside and danmaku her in the face.
>Fire a basic danmaku spread, then zoom in behind it and apply bucket to face.
> Whatever happened to Well Bucket "Flying in a Well" and Well Bucket "Well Destructor"?
> What happens if we lose this battle?
> How does the diagonal spread cross our field of vision, top-right to bottom-left or top-left to bottom-right?
> Do we have momentum in any direction at present?
> While still moving forward, shift up and to the left in an attempt to avoid both the diagonal spread and the vertical spread.
> During this process, fire off a diagonal stream of yellow arrowheads that's top-left to bottom-right from our perspective toward the oni.
> If we successfully make our way around the current two streams headed our way, veer our flight path back to such a way that we're trying to smash into the oni bucket-first.
> How are we holding onto the bucket?
> How well can we swing ourselves around in the bucket mid-air?
> What about swinging ourselves around a bit but remaining on the same flight path?
> Does that include swinging ourselves along a vertical axis, rather than just either of the horizontal ones?
> Keep our forward momentum going, streaking toward the oni, while rising up a little bit, enough that the kunai bullets will smack into the bucket rather than us.
> Smash bucketfirst into the oni's head!
> Quickly reorient. No oni worth her booze would be knocked out by that, sadly.
> Once we've reoriented ourselves, assuming doing so is socially permissable, fire a spread of green arrowheads at the chest region of the fallen oni in a line perpendicular to her torso. Only do this if she is not obviously unconscious, though.
> What's the ambient noise of the crowd like?
> Details of our own spellcard.
> Produce Horror "Well-bucket-dropping Monster", but don't declare it just yet.
> While pulling the card out, chance a glance around for the tengu.
> How mobile are we during our card?
> How long does our card take to recharge itself?
> How wide is the spiral radius of the flight paths?
> Float to our left a bit, keeping focus on the bullets headed our way. Let's see if their flight path changes at all.
> The new bullets are heading our way and not the old ones?
> Is this stream of bubbles steady so far?
> Float straight upward for a couple of seconds, then stop moving upward and head to the right for a couple of seconds. Pay attention to how steady the stream is.
> Aimed? So those shots eventually deviated from their spiraling flight path, or they kept following their paths and just happened to cross ours?
> Either way, does this mean those bubbles in particular are headed toward where we were and not where we are?
> How strong is the laser our card uses?
> Well, as long as no bullets are headed at our current position immediately, fire a horizontal spread of yello arrowheads in the oni's direction.
> How fast is the laser from Well-bucket-dropping-Monster once finally in motion?
> For all the spiraling these bubble bullets have been doing, they've never doubled back on themselves, have they?
> Are there any shots still headed at where we began her card?
> Are there any shots headed right at us aside from the ones she just fired?
> How soon after we declare our card does our laser start firing?
> How rapidly does our laser fire?
> 'Drop'? Does that mean we need to be above the target for the bullets to head their way?
> How much room do we have to our right?
> What about the left?
> Declare our own card, facing towad the oni so as to aim the laser and lesser bullets at her. In particlar, the laser should be aimed at her torso.
> From what direction is it coming?
> Do our seconday card bullets pour out automatically, or do we have to activate them manually?
> Hop to the left! Unless we're still in the air, in which case just float to the left. Try to keep facing the oni while doing so, which will probably end up making our movement more of a strafe.
> If we do what we do best from above, then let's get there!
> While ever-so-slightly drifting to the left, start floating upward. After about a second and half, stop drifting left and starting heading forward toward the oni while still moving up. Keep facing the oni at all times while doing this.
> Yes, lasers and lesser bullets as normal.
> Let's keep moving, then.
> Continue our flight arc by flying up and forward, increasing forward speed while decreasing upward speed, like we're tracing a circle in the air with the oni as the centerpoint. Keep firing while fly, as well.
> How well can we fly backward?
> What is to the left and the right in terms of buildings and crowds?
> Then what's straight ahead of us?
> So if we're going straight ahead, where there's open air, and the side of the building is on our left, how is it in the way?
> How far can we tip ourselves over in the bucket looking down below it before we start to risk falling out?
> So we can keep heading straight in front of us without worrying about running into any structures?
> So she was firing ahead of us instead of at us?
> But if we're almost directly above her and we keep moving forward, wouldn't we start moving away from her?
> Oh, so we're more or less tilted that 90 degrees already and are facing the ground?
> What's to stop us from dropping straight down on top of her head bucketfirst? Are we too large for our bucket to provide cover from bullets coming from below?
Hmm.
> How quickly can we deactivate and reactivate our card?
> Worse than if we just kept it running without it really firing at anything in particular?
> If we can fire off one more laser while still facing downward, do so.
> If we can't, or once we have, right ourselves and continue our circling path, now moving down and away from the oni. Make this trip at a faster flight speed than we took going up, though.
> Once we get close to the ground, turn around and get the oni locked in our sights again.
> Given the present speed of the bullets, do we feel comfortable enough in our flying-backwards speed that we think we can outrace them?
> Let's follow the flying-backwards backing-away flight path, then.
> So from our starting point, we arced 'forward' and left, and just now arced all the way over the oni, turned around to keep facing her, and have almost completely finished our flight path back down to the ground. This means our starting point is in front of us and to our left, yes?
> Are we a faster flying side-to-side than backward?
> Change course! Circle-strafe to the left, like what we were doing earlier, except at a faster speed. Keep facing and firing at the oni in the process.
> How far are we from her?
> How drained is out card?
>Shank her and the tengu in the spleen, steal all coins