Sword Quest XI - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> Groan a bit and rub our eyes to help the process along.
> "Is everyone well?"

>"What in the heavens is that?!" Futo cries out in response.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Crap.
> Look up through the haze for something with wings.

[Hello Purvis]

> Crap.
> Look up through the haze for something with wings.

>It's not hard to spot. It's at least a hundred feet long, with a wingspan at least half again as much. Its body is long and sinuous, covered in oily black scales. A kind of dark purple light seems to shine between them. Its wings remind you of a bat, the webbing glowing faintly. Its head is vaguely snakelike, with longer jaws and whiskers trailing from it; purple light shines from its eyes and its mouth. You notice small arms that almost seem like an afterthought, tipped with claws that glitter purple. It seems to almost swim through the air, only beating its wings once as you watch it. You can hear the whisper of its desires even from here, and what you can catch does not give you the impression this is a benevolent creature.

>_
>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Where is it looking?
> Where is it going?

[Hello Purvis]

> Where is it looking?
> Where is it going?

>It seems to be surveying the horizon, and is going in slow circles.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Do we have any idea what this thing is?
> "Oh my, that's not good..."

[Hello Purvis]

> Do we have any idea what this thing is?
> "Oh my, that's not good..."

>It looks somewhat like a dragon. You've never seen one before.
>"What do we do, Crown Prince?" says Tojiko

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I must find out what it is and what it wants, and if it is as malevolent as its desires suggest, I must put a stop to it before it causes trouble."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I must find out what it is and what it wants, and if it is as malevolent as its desires suggest, I must put a stop to it before it causes trouble."

>"Ah..." says Tojiko. "Well, then."
>"I expect you'll be quite happy I seized this rod after all, then," says Seiga, as she comes out from around her tree.
>"How shall we approach this, Crown Prince?" Futo says.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I think I will approach it and attempt communication. The three of you should stay back, out of rangge, but be ready to approach upon my call. Surrounding it would be best; wherever I am situated, Futo should be to my left, Tojiko to my right, and Seiga opposite me, on the other side of this creature."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I think I will approach it and attempt communication. The three of you should stay back, out of rangge, but be ready to approach upon my call. Surrounding it would be best; wherever I am situated, Futo should be to my left, Tojiko to my right, and Seiga opposite me, on the other side of this creature."

>"On your word, then," says Tojiko.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Good."
> Deep breath.
> "And...I am deeply sorry that I have brought this upon all of you."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Good."
> Deep breath.
> "And...I am deeply sorry that I have brought this upon all of you."

>"Let's save that sort of thing for later, shall we?" says Seiga.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Give a small smile.
> "Of course. Best of luck to all of us."
> Take flight and head toward the head of the creature, keeping some distance and not coming at it too quickly.

[Hello Purvis]

> Give a small smile.
> "Of course. Best of luck to all of us."
> Take flight and head toward the head of the creature, keeping some distance and not coming at it too quickly.

>You head toward the flying colossus, and can hear its desires strongly. While it looks like a dragon, you are reasonably certain it is not.  While it has desires, you can't feel much in the way of intelligence behind them. Rather, it seems to be a thing acting on something like instinct, like a hive insect or a fish. Mmm, no, that's not quite right either. It may lack even that.
>As you approach the circling behemoth, it focuses its eyes on you, glittering pits of purple energy that they are.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> What ARE its desires?

[Hello Purvis]

> What ARE its desires?

>They are kind of a jumble to read. It doesn't seem to have any kind of desire toward life or death, this you can see clearly. It definitely has a desire to destroy. There's also a desire to find something critically important to itself. A need to lash out at anything. It's greedy, but you aren't certain what it wants. It may not be certain either.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Look it in the eyes.
> "Who are you?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Look it in the eyes.
> "Who are you?"

>You look it in the eyes as well as you can, and it does not seem interested in answering. Rather, it seems to be flying toward you, opening its maw to reveal immense sharp teeth, and a purple glow emanating from its throat as it closes fast!

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Zoom upward!

[Hello Purvis]

> Zoom upward!

>You zoom upward, and the behemoth smoothly arcs upward to continue following you. Given its speed, you suspect you'll have about ten seconds before it reaches you.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Does the purple mouth glow seem to be fire, or some other mouth projectile?

[Hello Purvis]

> Does the purple mouth glow seem to be fire, or some other mouth projectile?

>You have no idea, but it doesn't seem to have changed at all. It resembles the glow coming between its scales.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> When we fire explodey bullets, how long do they take after we fire them before they detonate?

[Hello Purvis]

> When we fire explodey bullets, how long do they take after we fire them before they detonate?

>A couple seconds.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Pull out sword out and point it at the wyrm.
> "Cease this at once!"

[Hello Purvis]

> Pull out sword out and point it at the wyrm.
> "Cease this at once!"

>You point your sword at it and shout. The behemoth doesn't sway from its path.
>Five seconds.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is it flying faster that we can fly?

[Hello Purvis]

> Is it flying faster that we can fly?

>Hard to tell, but it is very fast!

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Keep heading upward, shooting some danmaku forward as we travel up to see if the creature makes any effort to avoid it.