Maribel Quest Latterly - A Z-Machine Adventure

[DracoOmega]

>Walk a little towards the faerie
>Wave
>"Good morning! How's it going?"

My personal thought was just to see if there's going to be much resistance to our presence. If there is, we can come back later. But we may not have a fight on our hands, just because Lemon Drop thought we would

[Kilgamayan]

That works. It may not be a bad idea to tie up a couple of loose ends, and potentially gain some new allies while we're at it (thinking Yuka primarily for this). I can think of a couple of other ways to hold that promise while still enlisting help.

[Hello Purvis]

>Walk a little towards the faerie
>Wave
>"Good morning! How's it going?"

>You walk into the forest a little bit, and wave to the faerie. She doesn't wave back.
>"Shhh," she says softly, "I'm a ninjer."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Get a little closer and speak quietly back: "What are you watching for?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Get a little closer and speak quietly back: "What are you watching for?"

>You get a bit closer. "You're not supposed to see me," she says back in a stage whisper.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Point our right index and middle fingers straight up, in front of our face.
> "Ninjas can see other ninjas."

[Hello Purvis]

> Point our right index and middle fingers straight up, in front of our face.
> "Ninjas can see other ninjas."

>"I'm a ninjer!" She says, frowning at you.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Sorry, must be the accent. I'm a ninjer as well. This is why I can see you, and why you can see me."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Sorry, must be the accent. I'm a ninjer as well. This is why I can see you, and why you can see me."

>"Oh crap!" she says, and darts off toward the west.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Shrug
>Hope she didn't just go raise an alarm
>Continue cautiously westward

[Hello Purvis]

>Shrug
>Hope she didn't just go raise an alarm
>Continue cautiously westward

>You shrug and continue westward.
>The forest clears up a little bit ahead, and you can see a fairly large group of faeries gathered ahead. They remind you of the first group you saw, back when you first emerged from the underground.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>What do they seem to be doing?
>Do any seem to be looking in our direction?

[Hello Purvis]

>What do they seem to be doing?
>Do any seem to be looking in our direction?

>To a large degree, gathered and talking, and you think a few are playing games. However, you also note the self-proclaimed ninjer talking with a comparatively tall blonde faerie in a red and white dress, gesturing in you general direction.
>The blonde faerie looks in your direction. Followed by a couple others.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Smile and look non-threatening
>If a bunch of them suddenly seem to turn aggressively towards us, be ready to turn tail and run

[Hello Purvis]

>Smile and look non-threatening
>If a bunch of them suddenly seem to turn aggressively towards us, be ready to turn tail and run

>You smile and try to look nonthreatening.
>The blonde faerie points in your direction and shouts, "She's breakin' in!"
>A number of them leap to their feet and start in your direction, which is all the prompting you need to turn tail and run. You hear danmaku fire behind you.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Run back towards the lake
>Try to dash around the trees to use them for cover

[Hello Purvis]

>Run back towards the lake
>Try to dash around the trees to use them for cover

>You run back toward the lake.
>You dash around a few trees, but you're not sure how effective they are, but you see a few shots whiz uncomfortably close past you and smack into the ground.
>You emerge into the open region of the lake!  You are pretty sure you're still being chased, given the oval-shaped shot that just zipped past your shoulder.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>How far is the mansion from here?
>Are there any closer buildings?

[Hello Purvis]

>How far is the mansion from here?
>Are there any closer buildings?

>The Mansion isn't too far from here.
>That cabin to the east may be a bit closer, if you fly directly over the lake.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Try flying as quickly as we can towards the mansion
>Keep an eye out behind us, and try to take evasive maneuvers against danmaku as necessary. Don't fly in a perfectly straight line for any length of time

[Hello Purvis]

>Try flying as quickly as we can towards the mansion
>Keep an eye out behind us, and try to take evasive maneuvers against danmaku as necessary. Don't fly in a perfectly straight line for any length of time

>You fly toward the mansion as fast as possible, cutting over the lake.
>Looking back, you see a fair amount of danmaku coming in your general direction. Most of it, you think, you'll have nothing to worry about. But a few come perilously close. You bob and weave a bit, happy for the practice you had earlier, and manage to evade without too much sweat.
>As you draw close to the gates, the pursuit ends, and the faeries that haven't bled off already return toward the western forest.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Land
>Catch our breath
>Curse ninjers

[Hello Purvis]

>Land
>Catch our breath
>Curse ninjers

>You land, and catch your breath. Stupid ninjers.
>"Hey," Meiling calls, "You okay, kiddo?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>If we're still kinda far away, walk into reasonable talking distance
>"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Evidently they don't like visitors much. I was trying to talk to Dai about the disappearing maids, but I couldn't even get close before a whole pile of them started firing on me."

[Hello Purvis]

>If we're still kinda far away, walk into reasonable talking distance
>"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Evidently they don't like visitors much. I was trying to talk to Dai about the disappearing maids, but I couldn't even get close before a whole pile of them started firing on me."

>You walk over to a comfortable talking distance.
>"Yeah, they'll do that sometimes," says Meiling. "Don't worry, it's probably not personal. Look like you kept on your toes well enough to get out, though."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, I know it's not really personal, but that doesn't change the fact that I still think she's the best one to talk to about this problem, from what some other faeries told me. So I'm probably going to have to figure out some other way in...."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, I know it's not really personal, but that doesn't change the fact that I still think she's the best one to talk to about this problem, from what some other faeries told me. So I'm probably going to have to figure out some other way in...."

>"Well, if you gotta do it right now," says Meiling, "Try to get in good with them. Mind you, that can be a huge headache. Or, try waiting awhile? Faeries get bored and change their minds pretty easily. Give it some time and maybe they won't mind so much."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Kinda hard to get in good with them if they start shooting at you before you're close enough to talk to them. But yeah, I'll probably just try coming back later, and do a few other errands in the meantime. See you around!"
>Head back towards the village

[Hello Purvis]

>"Kinda hard to get in good with them if they start shooting at you before you're close enough to talk to them. But yeah, I'll probably just try coming back later, and do a few other errands in the meantime. See you around!"
>Head back towards the village

>"Okay," says Meiling. "Have a good one!"
>You take to the air, passing over the forest, and return to the village. The nice, long flight does a lot of sooth your frazzled nerves from having a gang of faeries chasing you, and you are able to largely put your worries away for a little while. Soon, the rustic town is in sight.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Head back to the blacksmith that we borrowed the trowel from