Nue Quest 9 - Ascension: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> Quick, dive down so it can pass over us!
> While we're diving, swing the sword in an arc above our head (presumably from right-to-left, given I'm guessing the sword has been in our right hand) in an attempt to slice the horn as it passes by.

>You dive down, which proves to be a sound strategy as the monstrosity's horn stops coming, followed by the other horn coming from the opposite direction, passing uncomfortably close to you.
>Lashing out with the sword. you feel it connect solidly with the horn. The impact runs down your arm, you barely have time to register it before the behemoth passes under you and you feel yourself tumbling in its wake again!

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> All right, that's one hit we've definitely scored on it, and it still hasn't hit us, despite another close call. We may just be too small and agile for it!
> Break our fall like the previous two times. When we land, start tracking the beast again.

[Hello Purvis]

> All right, that's one hit we've definitely scored on it, and it still hasn't hit us, despite another close call. We may just be too small and agile for it!
> Break our fall like the previous two times. When we land, start tracking the beast again.

>You try to rally your hopes. It's not touched you; though a realist part of your mind can't ignore that it keeps knocking you from the air.
>You break your fall again, landing in the soft grass and letting out a breath that you just realized that you were holding the entire time. The behemoth is turning around in midair, having covered some distance since you passed it. A small sensation of relief comes over you, having survived, but it does not last. That monster will continue to come after you, you know that it won't stop unless you can stop it.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> That's already a better attitude than the 'oh woe is mean I'm finished' bullshit we had going earlier. Keep it up, you got this!
> Does either horn appear to have been affected by the sword slash at all?

[Hello Purvis]

> That's already a better attitude than the 'oh woe is mean I'm finished' bullshit we had going earlier. Keep it up, you got this!
> Does either horn appear to have been affected by the sword slash at all?

>You certainly feel more assured.
>You cannot tell if you had any effect at all, but you remember that it felt like hitting the side of a cavern wall, leading you to suspect any damage would be minimal.

>_

[Solais]

Idea drop: Would it be possible to fly under the belly of the beast in a quick rush, avoiding its legs and cutting up its downside?

[Kilgamayan]

Edit: Changed my mind.

> How are we feeling from a physical standpoint? Tired or still plenty of fight left?
> Take flight and start charging at the beast again. This time, transfer the sword into our non-dominant hand, unsheath our trident with our remaining free hand, and hold it behind us in a ready-to-throw grip.

[Hello Purvis]

> How are we feeling from a physical standpoint? Tired or still plenty of fight left?
> Take flight and start charging at the beast again. This time, transfer the sword into our non-dominant hand, unsheath our trident with our remaining free hand, and hold it behind us in a ready-to-throw grip.

>You're fully in fight or flight mode. It'll be a bit before you really have worry about being tired.
>You shift the sword to your offhand, and draw out your trident and grip it so that it is ready to throw. You fly at the behemoth, while it approaches you. While it is moving quickly, this time it does not seem to be charging at full speed.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Weird. Maybe it's intimidated now, by our lack of demonstrable intimidated...ness. That would gel with our current operating theories...
> How good an aim are we throwing our trident while flying toward the intended target? What about throwing strength?

[Hello Purvis]

> Weird. Maybe it's intimidated now, by our lack of demonstrable intimidated...ness. That would gel with our current operating theories...
> How good an aim are we throwing our trident while flying toward the intended target? What about throwing strength?

>You wonder if you've managed to give it pause for a moment.
>You are pretty good with a thrown trident, good enough that you could spearfish successfully. You really aren't sure about throwing strength, but you imagine it's adequate to spear most things you'd come across.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

Hmm.

> Adjust our grip on the trident so that it's more of a swinging grip than a throwing grip as best we can. Pull the trident in front of us if we need to.
> Keep on jetting for the beast, aiming ourselves once again right between the eyes.

[Hello Purvis]

> Adjust our grip on the trident so that it's more of a swinging grip than a throwing grip as best we can. Pull the trident in front of us if we need to.
> Keep on jetting for the beast, aiming ourselves once again right between the eyes.

>You charge your grip on the trident and continue toward the behemoth as it trots through the air toward you.
>You get closer and closer to it, and it does not change its speed. The air is getting hard to breath again, and your heart hammers in your chest. You make a beeline for it's head, trident at the ready. Then suddenly its face raises up out of your view and all you can see is an expanse of fiery and bloody red, and an immense hoof is coming at you much too fast!

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> From which direction is it coming?

[Hello Purvis]

> From which direction is it coming?

>Ahead and slightly above.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Dive downward and forward (with a slight bit more downward than forward) while stabbing our trident upward and forward! Hopefully we can get it in the foot.

[Hello Purvis]

> Dive downward and forward (with a slight bit more downward than forward) while stabbing our trident upward and forward! Hopefully we can get it in the foot.

>You move downward and forward, practically dropping toward the ground. The enormous hoof passes just over your head, You stab upward, and feel the tines of your trident connect with something tough and kind of leathery, then it is nearly ripped from your hand! Looking up, you can see the behemoth has reared up to strike at you with its hooves. A fraction of a second later, you see its leg shift a bit.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> From our perspective, did it try to clobber us with a left side hoof or a right side hoof?

[Hello Purvis]

> From our perspective, did it try to clobber us with a left side hoof or a right side hoof?

>It would be the one on your left.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Dash to the left! As we're moving, swing an overhand slash with the sword at any hooves that come too close for comfort. Not our dominant hand, but it is what it is.

[Hello Purvis]

> Dash to the left! As we're moving, swing an overhand slash with the sword at any hooves that come too close for comfort. Not our dominant hand, but it is what it is.

>You move leftward, slashing out with the sword. You do not have time to see if it connects before your back is suddenly on fire and the world is spinning! You quickly become aware of a powerful dull ache racing through your back and toward pretty much everything. You are dimly aware that you are falling, and can see something largel and red moving out out the corner of your eye. It hurts to breath.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Which side of us is the red thing on?

[Hello Purvis]

> Which side of us is the red thing on?

>Hard to say, with the world spinning.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

And now we remember why I don't do combat!

> Try pulling up!
> If we don't or can't pull up in time, when we hit the ground, try to roll ourselves to the right enough that we're on our back and can see upward.

[Hello Purvis]

> Try pulling up!
> If we don't or can't pull up in time, when we hit the ground, try to roll ourselves to the right enough that we're on our back and can see upward.

>You try to pull up, and soon manage to get your flight reasonably under control. This is somewhat hampered by the fierce ache running through your back, and everything else. You don't know how you were hit, but you would be surprised to find nothing broken. You suspect a lesser youkai or human might not have been able to walk away from this at all.
>The behemoth is circling, has circled behind you!

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> How close is it?
> Has it gone back to full speed?

[Hello Purvis]

> How close is it?
> Has it gone back to full speed?

>It is very uncomfortably close.
>You don't think so. You've yet to look; it's large enough you don't need to look to see it from the corner of your eye.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Whirl to face it, then speed back upward while watching where it goes.

[Hello Purvis]

> Whirl to face it, then speed back upward while watching where it goes.

>You spin around, and instantly regret it as renewed aches explode through your back, then elsewhere. You dimly realize that your left hand is empty, you must have dropped the sword somewhere.
>You see angry red as you turn around; the behemoth is coming right at you! You back away, and thankfully the monstrosity isn't up to full speed yet. But it is close enough, and tosses it's head, sending a horn coming in toward your right!

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is it coming in horizontally?
> Is it coming in straight from the right, or from the diagonal front right?

[Hello Purvis]

> Is it coming in horizontally?
> Is it coming in straight from the right, or from the diagonal front right?

>It seems to be coming diagonally  from the front right. It is not quite horizontal.

>_