Nue Quest 9 - Ascension: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> Maneuver ourselves a bit forward and to our left (her right), then resume digging through the paper.
> "Good thing Alice made it back here. We in the town didn't know where she vanished to."

>You start to dig through the paper. On one hand, it doesn't really seem like Eirin should be stuck under it at all, it's just paper after all. But after tossing aside a few hundred sheets, you start to realize that it gets rather heavy quickly.
>"Yes, it is fortunate," says Eirin. "I can handle this rather well, but Patchouli is a bit more frail than I am."
>She then lowers her voice. "It's also rather fortunate that the problem was fixed before she could grab the money and run."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Raise an eyebrow in Eirin's direction, but keep silently digging.

[Hello Purvis]

> Raise an eyebrow in Eirin's direction, but keep silently digging.

>"I didn't notice until Patchouli told me, but she was eyeing it rather intently while you were here," Eirin says quietly. "I to understand that it is not the first time she attempted such things."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Lower our voice to the same volume.
> "Huh. Yeah, I guess that makes sense, from what I remember of being down here earlier."

[Hello Purvis]

> Lower our voice to the same volume.
> "Huh. Yeah, I guess that makes sense, from what I remember of being down here earlier."

>"Quite," says Eirin. "So your timing must be applauded."
>You hear the paper slipping and crunching behind you, before Mamizou kneels down near you and starts to help. "Sorry," she says, "My skirt was giving me some trouble, and I didn't want to hurt the frame."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Don't worry, it's fine. Sorry this isn't the view it was an hour ago, I know how much you liked it."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Don't worry, it's fine. Sorry this isn't the view it was an hour ago, I know how much you liked it."

>"Variety is the spice of life," says Mamizou, working in a shrug as she shifts more paper aside.
>It doesn't take too long to free up Eirin's arm enough that she move it. The task is made a bit more difficult by the mud you've tracked onto some of the pages, and the rainwater that you sometimes drip on the pages. Thankfully, it's easy enough to toss those aside. With her right arm free, Eirin is able to assist you in getting her other arm uncovered. In the meantime, you hear Patchouli groaning, and look over to see Petite and Alice are lifting her out of the paper avalanche.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Where the hell did he get all this, anyway?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Where the hell did he get all this, anyway?"

>"He's been collecting books for some time," says Patchouli, after Alice and Petite set her down. She starts to massage her limbs. "I imagine there's some pamphlets and such mixed among them as well. It's respectable, but it really doesn't compare to the library I maintain."
>Eirin chuckles a little.
>"I'd suspect Yukari may be behind it," says Alice. "It's known that the two of them have some kind of dealings."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "If this is what he's been doing with stuff she's been giving him, I wonder what she'll have to say to him after he regains sentience."

[Hello Purvis]

> "If this is what he's been doing with stuff she's been giving him, I wonder what she'll have to say to him after he regains sentience."

>"I doubt she cares," says Eirin. "She's quite marvelous at not caring when she takes the notion."
>"Regains sentience?" Alice says, frowning as she and Petite approaches you.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Yeah."
> Gently jerk our head back in the direction of the doorframe.
> "You remember me taking off for south of town after I left you at the tavern? We had a little meeting of the minds in the field. He lost when his shattered. Pretty much a veggie right now. Would still be lying there on the ground if Byakuren didn't pick him up and take him somewhere."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Yeah."
> Gently jerk our head back in the direction of the doorframe.
> "You remember me taking off for south of town after I left you at the tavern? We had a little meeting of the minds in the field. He lost when his shattered. Pretty much a veggie right now. Would still be lying there on the ground if Byakuren didn't pick him up and take him somewhere."

>"Is it alright?" says Alice.
>"Here, we'll take over," Petite says, as she reaches the spot where Eirin was buried.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Stand up properly in an appropriately ginger fashion to avoid making our back madder than we have to.
> While standing up, give a small dismissive handwave.
> "He'll be fine. Suwako wasn't concerned, so I'm not concerned."

[Hello Purvis]

> Stand up properly in an appropriately ginger fashion to avoid making our back madder than we have to.
> While standing up, give a small dismissive handwave.
> "He'll be fine. Suwako wasn't concerned, so I'm not concerned."

>You stand up and do your best to keep your back from protesting; Mamizou lends you a hand as she notices, which aids considerably in keeping your back mildly angry rather than going on a raging tirade.
>"Suwako was involved?" says Alice. "That's interesting."
>"So, does this mean we can expect him to recover properly?" Patchouli says, as she kneels down to massage her legs. "Or have we merely stopped him this time?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Given the circumstances, I would be very surprised if he did it again. And yeah, Suwako showed up after I put the giant red ox back down where it belonged. I don't envy what it has in store; I imagine what I did to it pales in comparison to what she's capable of doing to it should it act up."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Given the circumstances, I would be very surprised if he did it again. And yeah, Suwako showed up after I put the giant red ox back down where it belonged. I don't envy what it has in store; I imagine what I did to it pales in comparison to what she's capable of doing to it should it act up."

>"Come again?" says Patchouli.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Oh, Alice didn't tell you about the giant red ox? I assumed that was why she left the village."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Oh, Alice didn't tell you about the giant red ox? I assumed that was why she left the village."

>"I didn't quite have time," says Alice, frowning.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Look around at the scattered papers before returning focus to the group.
> "Mmm. I suppose with the circumstances...well, it is what it is. Anyway. There was a primal god of oppression in that sword. It helped me shatter Rinnosuke's will, but then it tried to get me to kill him, so I told it to bugger off. Didn't take too kindly to that and came out of the sword on its own. We had a couple of playful little tussles before I yelled at it to get back in the sword hard enough that it actually did. Suwako has it and the sword now, and she knows a hell of a lot more about it and its nature than I ever well, so that sounds like the best place for it."

[Hello Purvis]

> Look around at the scattered papers before returning focus to the group.
> "Mmm. I suppose with the circumstances...well, it is what it is. Anyway. There was a primal god of oppression in that sword. It helped me shatter Rinnosuke's will, but then it tried to get me to kill him, so I told it to bugger off. Didn't take too kindly to that and came out of the sword on its own. We had a couple of playful little tussles before I yelled at it to get back in the sword hard enough that it actually did. Suwako has it and the sword now, and she knows a hell of a lot more about it and its nature than I ever well, so that sounds like the best place for it."

>"What do you mean when you say primal?" says Petite.
>"She means that it was very primitive," Patchouli says. "Hm. Intriguing. Well, if you've contained it, then there's nothing to worry about."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Yeah, I think everything is all set."
> Look over at Petite.
> "Except for your apparent lack of a pet tengu, since I didn't see one upstairs. Sorry about that."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Yeah, I think everything is all set."
> Look over at Petite.
> "Except for your apparent lack of a pet tengu, since I didn't see one upstairs. Sorry about that."

>"What!?" Petite cries, looking up from her work, "She got away?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Looks like it, unless you hid her somewhere. Probably for the best, though. Suwako said there would be another incident if you tried to keep her."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Looks like it, unless you hid her somewhere. Probably for the best, though. Suwako said there would be another incident if you tried to keep her."

>Petite groans.
>"You weren't keeping her anyways," says Patchouli, as she stands and stretches. "We have enough problems without a mouthy tengu lingering around."
>"Oh I'd keep her mouth occupied," the familiar says.
>"Yes, I'm sure it would be a full thirty seconds of golden silence," says Patchouli. "Fetch my umbrella, once you free Miss Yagokoro. It's time to return home."
>"I think it's buried in the corner," Petite says. Patchouli groans.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Do we still have Alice's umbrella?
> Who presently owns the second tiger umbrella, assuming Mystia possesses the first?

[Hello Purvis]

> Do we still have Alice's umbrella?
> Who presently owns the second tiger umbrella, assuming Mystia possesses the first?

>You do still have Alice's umbrella. Mamizou currently has the one you appropriated.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "They sell umbrellas at Shou's, if you need another one."

[Hello Purvis]

> "They sell umbrellas at Shou's, if you need another one."

>"I have more at home," says Patchouli.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "A shame. Oh! Speaking of Shou's umbrellas, where did Mystia end up?"