Yukari Quest III - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> Walk over to the boulder, and look over the edge.

>Having examined the lost frond, you are already close to the edge of the island. Peeking over the edge, you see nothing but the slowly shifting colors of the muted sky below.

>_

[Yaersulf]

>Make note of where we found the trail, return to where we left off, and continue around the edge in search of bridges.

[Hello Purvis]

>Make note of where we found the trail, return to where we left off, and continue around the edge in search of bridges.

>You make note of where you found the trail, and then resume searching. With the wanderings you've done, there aren't many places left to check. After a minute or so, you are certain there are no other bridges here.

>_

[Yaersulf]

>Head over to the bridge we found earlier, keeping an eye out for anything else out of the ordinary on the way.

[Hello Purvis]

>Head over to the bridge we found earlier, keeping an eye out for anything else out of the ordinary on the way.

>You make your way to the western bridge. Nothing else really catches your eye along the way.
>This bridge seems to be particularly long, angling upward a bit. To the western, some distance away, is a rather sizable island.

>_

[Yaersulf]

>Cross the bridge.

[Hello Purvis]

>Cross the bridge.

>You proceed across the bridge.
>It stretches into the western sky, slowly climbing upward. Thankfully, you don't feel the incline is particularly harsh, you wouldn't want to test traction in a situation like this. As the minutes stretch on, you find yourself trying to focus on the island ahead, and not the growls in your stomach or the dryness in your throat. It is quite large, easily dwarfing both of the islands you have seen thus far; you suspect it is probably a couple miles in diameter.  The north eastern side hosts a fairly healthy forest, while a mountain rises from the middle. As you get closer, you can see the south eastern part is home to a grassy field akin to the ones on the other island, save for small dots of floral color on it. Beyond the central mountain you can make out a rocky plain that seems to encompass most of the western part of the island. To the northwest, you can see what looks like a large, empty lakebed.
>As you set foot upon the island, a breeze from the southeast brings a soft, sweet smell to your nose for a moment. Then the breeze and the odor fade.

>_

[O4rfish]

>Approach field.

[Hello Purvis]

>Approach field.

>You approach the field. Stretching before you, the dots of color resolve into numerous flowers. The field stretches for well over a mile, flowers of various shades growing all over it. While they do not dominate the area, they are certainly a major factor, drowning out the occasional brush or weed. The air smells strongly of a mixture of floral perfumes, and you would normally expect a place like this to be a haven for bees. Yet, like every place else in this abyss, there isn't a single sign of animal life here. Glancing at the flowers that bloom near the edge of the field, you don't recognize any of them. You note that many of them bear resemblances to proper flowers, but the colors are wrong or the number of petals are off or the leaves are the wrong shape. When the breeze picks up, the field rustles audibly as waves run through the plants.

>_

[O4rfish]

>Sound of Music.
>Any edible plants we can recognize?

[Hello Purvis]

>Sound of Music.
>Any edible plants we can recognize?

>You do not need to hills to come alive. Nor do you need to march back into Germany after spending the whole movie trying to escape it*
>You don't recognize any of the plants, but some certainly resemble edible plants. There are some plants that look akin to roses, others to carnations, chrysanthemums, violets, and so on.

>_

[日巫子]

> Pick some flowers.
> Can we see to the edge of the field?

[Hello Purvis]

> Pick some flowers.
> Can we see to the edge of the field?

>You gather up a few flowers near the edge of the field, picking some interesting-looking ones that compliment each other nicely.
>You obtain: Handful of Flowers
>While picking the flowers, you note some remains of stems that suggest others have been picked beforehand.
>You can see the edge of the field, it seems to run along the edge of the island, then recedes to the west.

>_

[日巫子]

> Start walking west.
> How long do we think we can go before needing food and drink?

[Hello Purvis]

> Start walking west.
> How long do we think we can go before needing food and drink?

>You start heading westward.
>You already need food, having not eaten in well over a day. As for water, you are fairly thirsty at the moment, having not drank anything since last night, but you can still go for a while longer before you can really begin to feel it.
>As you head west, the mountain that dominates the center of the island looms before you. It reaches several hundred feet into the air, much of the lower portions of it are gently sloped and covered with grass and some trees, then becomes more sharply sloped and barren about halfway up before reaching a sharp peak. Here and there you can see a sharply inclined cliff, but aside from that the sides of it are not too sheer.  Beyond the mountain lies a parched and rocky badland that occupies the western part of the island, home only scatter scrub brush and dirt. While you can't see from this distance, you imagine that the wind probably creates a number of dirt devils there. To the northwest is what appears to be an empty lakebed, large enough that you cannot easily assess it's size from here.

>_

[日巫子]

> Would we be able to gap home from here, or would it be too dangerous?
> Head northwest.

[Hello Purvis]

> Would we be able to gap home from here, or would it be too dangerous?
> Head northwest.

>You would need to find or replicate your Astrolabe to gap home at all right now. Navigating between worlds is impossible otherwise.
>You head northwest, toward the empty lakebed. As you approach it the grasses become more and more sparse, giving way to bare dirt and rocks. The breeze picks up dust in small waves from time to time, requiring you to turn your face away or get a mouthful of silt. The lakebed itself, as you get closer, is an oblong sort of bean shape, perhaps a mile across at the longest point and three quarters of a mile at the shortest. Its banks slope gently downward, perhaps a hundred or so feet before leveling off. As you reach the shore, after perhaps a half hour of walking from the edge of the flowery field, you note that there is a sizable hole in the middle of the lakebed.

>_

[日巫子]

> Inventory
> Carefully start making our way into the lakebed.  That hole might have something good in it.

[Hello Purvis]

> Inventory
> Carefully start making our way into the lakebed.  That hole might have something good in it.

>Your inventory contains:
>Bedsheet
>Your silken bedsheet.
>Socks and Undergarments.
>Some of your lost clothing.
>Yukari's Screwdriver.
>Seemingly a basic screwdriver. With this, you may prise open gaps with much more precision and delicately than you can alone.
>Piece of Materia Prima (Small)
>A hand-sized glob of the one element from which all flows.This could be shaped into a boggling array of things.
>Yukari's Hourglass
>This basic timekeeping device assists in maintaining gaps. With it, you can leave gaps open for longer, and without having to physically concentrate on them.
>Yukari's Pliers.
>A basic pair of pliers. These assist you in narrowing and closing gaps with far greater ease and speed than you can alone.
>Red Shoes
>You never thought you?d miss these.
>Piece of Material Prima (miniscule)
>A fingernail-sized glob of the one element from which all flows.This could be shaped into a boggling array of things.
>Yukari's Tape Measure.
>A length of material with precise markings of length. With it, you can use it bridge distance much more quickly and easily.
>Bundle of Flowers
>A collection of a dozen or so unidentified flowers taken from a garden on a floating island. Some resemble edible flowers.
>You make your way down the sloping lake bed, intent on investigating the hole. As you close in on it, you can start to make out slowly swirling pastiche of colors through it.

>_

[日巫子]

> Get a little closer to the hole, but don't go right up to it.  Stay a few meters away.
> Can we see any shapes in the colors?  Or does it just look like a mess?

[Kilgamayan]

>Does it look like the sky?

[Hello Purvis]

> Get a little closer to the hole, but don't go right up to it.  Stay a few meters away.
> Can we see any shapes in the colors?  Or does it just look like a mess?

>Does it look like the sky?

>You get closer, but keep a safe distance away. One thing that you note along the way is that the lake bed is not nearly as dusty as the badlands around it; the soil sill has a little moisture and softness to it.
>Examining it, you determine it looks precisely like the sky. No particularly shapes within the colors jump out at you.  The hole itself seems to be a yard or so thick, solid rock the whole way through, and several yards across. You imagine this should hold your weight nicely. The hole is a rather irregular and blob-like shape. Though it, you can see the colors shift silently from one to the other.

>_

>_

[O4rfish]

>So, it looks like an ordinary hole in the floating island that caused the lake to drain out, and the sky doesn't look closer than otherwise? Or it looks like some sky at the bottom of a well?

[Hello Purvis]

>So, it looks like an ordinary hole in the floating island that caused the lake to drain out, and the sky doesn't look closer than otherwise? Or it looks like some sky at the bottom of a well?

>It seems more like the former from here.

>_

[日巫子]

> Are there any signs indicating what caused this hole to be formed?

[Hello Purvis]

> Are there any signs indicating what caused this hole to be formed?

>You look around, trying to understand how this hole was made. The rocks within the hole do not show any sign of being broken recently, their surfaces are smooth and unmarred. This suggests to you that the hole might have always been here. Which is strange in comparison with the relative moistness of the dirt in comparison to the badlands beyond the lake. You don't see any signs of scorching or the like that might suggest an explosion powerful enough to break rock. This poses a question of whether there was ever anything covering the hole at all...
>While examining the dirt, you note there are some faint footprints around it.

>_

[日巫子]

> Where do the footprints lead?
> How big are the footprints?  Do they suggest their owner was wearing shoes, or barefoot?  If shoes, can we tell what kind?

[Hello Purvis]

> Where do the footprints lead?
> How big are the footprints?  Do they suggest their owner was wearing shoes, or barefoot?  If shoes, can we tell what kind?

>The ones you see seem to be walking around the hole. They are rather faint and weathered by the wind, but you can easily tell that they are the footprints of  barefoot person, large enough to be an adult (presuming they aren't some kind of youkai with abnormally large or small feet). Judging from their shape, you assume the person was a woman with fairly broad feet. They are a bit smaller than your own, suggesting a smaller person than you.

>_

[日巫子]

> And the footprints are only around the hole?

[Hello Purvis]

> And the footprints are only around the hole?

>Looking around a bit further, you can find others, leading to and away from the hole. They are a bit more faint and difficult to find in comparison, you get the feeling this person lingered here for a little while.

>_