Iku Quest P?t: A Z-Machine Adventure

[DracoOmega]

>"Well, I'm afraid that's all I have to trade."
>Put the photos back
>"I guess I'll simply have to take my chances. Have a pleasant day."
>Continue forward, over the fallen logs. Although, keep an eye out for movement beneath them, or in the trees around us

[Hello Purvis]

>"Well, I'm afraid that's all I have to trade."
>Put the photos back
>"I guess I'll simply have to take my chances. Have a pleasant day."
>Continue forward, over the fallen logs. Although, keep an eye out for movement beneath them, or in the trees around us

>"Maybe it's be smarter if you just left, then," says the faerie while shaking her head. "It's reaaaaally danger around here without a guide, and they don't work for free."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Leaving is in fact exactly what I intend to be doing. And since the exit is this way, I should be on my way."
>Continue forward, over the fallen logs. Keep an eye out for movement beneath them, or in the trees around us, or even from the fairy herself.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Leaving is in fact exactly what I intend to be doing. And since the exit is this way, I should be on my way."
>Continue forward, over the fallen logs. Keep an eye out for movement beneath them, or in the trees around us, or even from the fairy herself.

>You move forward, keeping an eye pretty much everywhere at once. This isn't terribly effective, as it's hard to look in many directions at once. But, this also means you are not entirely caught off guard when the forest suddenly comes alive with danmaku, coming from both sides of the road at once!
>"See, you can't even take free advice!" you hear the faerie shout, dimly over the sounds of a dozens, maybe hundreds of shots at once.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>How far back and ahead of us does the fire extend? Could we dash in either direction to miss the first volley?
>If so, move quickly in that direction
>Otherwise, were there any breaks in the trees above us?
>If there's any path up at all, even one that would scrape us up a little, ascend!
>Shield our head with our hands, if needbe
>Otherwise, try to glance for any breaks at all in the fire that we could use to dodge around some of it. Does it seem less concentrated at any point?

[Kilgamayan]

>How far back and ahead of us does the fire extend? Could we dash in either direction to miss the first volley?
>If so, move quickly in that direction
>Otherwise, were there any breaks in the trees above us?
>If there's any path up at all, even one that would scrape us up a little, ascend!
>Shield our head with our hands, if needbe
>Otherwise, try to glance for any breaks at all in the fire that we could use to dodge around some of it. Does it seem less concentrated at any point?

> While doing all this, begin building a charge for a flash.

[Hello Purvis]

>How far back and ahead of us does the fire extend? Could we dash in either direction to miss the first volley?
>If so, move quickly in that direction
>Otherwise, were there any breaks in the trees above us?
>If there's any path up at all, even one that would scrape us up a little, ascend!
>Shield our head with our hands, if needbe
>Otherwise, try to glance for any breaks at all in the fire that we could use to dodge around some of it. Does it seem less concentrated at any point?

>They seem to be covering the whole much of the immediate area, but it may be lighter around the edges.
>The tree cover isn't very heavy, this place is nothing compared to the Forest of Magic. But there are bullets there, too.
>You fly upward! Along the way, you take a couple hits from the reckless ascent, but compared to the Brocken Spectre's shots, they're more taps than anything. Unfortunately, you've been through enough lately without any real rest that taps are worrysome.
>You are some yards from the ground now,. The fire here crisscrosses in a way that you can pick it apart, but you can already see a lot more bullets coming toward you.

> While doing all this, begin building a charge for a flash.

>You start to build up a charge.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Keep that charge coming. Try to draw on the air, if we can, since we noticed the air itself being pretty charged.
> Can we make out any individual attackers?
> Where are the incoming bullets the thinnest?

[Hello Purvis]

> Keep that charge coming. Try to draw on the air, if we can, since we noticed the air itself being pretty charged.
> Can we make out any individual attackers?
> Where are the incoming bullets the thinnest?

>You keep gathering energy to yourself. It is coming a little more quickly here than back in Gensokyo.
>You can't, you're a little far away, and they are hiding among the trees.
>They seem to be thinnest below you now, and are rapidly getting thick everywhere else.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Are we above the canopy? Or just higher off the ground?
>In either case, keep quickly ascending, and try to shift a little to the west. Ideally, try to move past their effective range, such that our attackers are also forced to relinquish their cover.
>Try to shift around any shots that come unnervingly close to us, if we can, but focus on getting actual distance, where such evasions would let the rest of the cloud catch up with us too much

[Hello Purvis]

>Are we above the canopy? Or just higher off the ground?
>In either case, keep quickly ascending, and try to shift a little to the west. Ideally, try to move past their effective range, such that our attackers are also forced to relinquish their cover.
>Try to shift around any shots that come unnervingly close to us, if we can, but focus on getting actual distance, where such evasions would let the rest of the cloud catch up with us too much

>You are above the canopy.
>You continue to ascend, and find the fire is getting worse; it seems that your assailants have expected this. You crash into several bullets in the process.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>How could new fire have already ended up behind us?
>Can we see any navigable paths away from the cloud of fire?

[Hello Purvis]

>How could new fire have already ended up behind us?
>Can we see any navigable paths away from the cloud of fire?

>Up was not behind you, nor was west.
>There is now very little fire directly below you, and not much to the east.

[DracoOmega]

>What sort of form is the fire coming in? Just bursts of straight danmaku, all mixed together?
>Can we get an estimate of approximately how many creatures must be firing upon us? Or is the cloud too meshed together to even guess?
>If we fly east at top speed, does it look like we could probably outrun the body of the cloud entirely, before their fire adjusts to us? Or are the bullets too fast / covering too much area?

[Hello Purvis]

>What sort of form is the fire coming in? Just bursts of straight danmaku, all mixed together?
>Can we get an estimate of approximately how many creatures must be firing upon us? Or is the cloud too meshed together to even guess?
>If we fly east at top speed, does it look like we could probably outrun the body of the cloud entirely, before their fire adjusts to us? Or are the bullets too fast / covering too much area?

>Much of it is straight, some is definitely curved.
>It's too tangled to guess.
>If you go east at top speed, you think you can outrun it, there isn't much coverage in that direction.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Head east at top speed, keeping an eye on the source of the danmaku, as we get a chance while dodging in front of us, in order to adjust to any sudden changes in angle of fire
>From our height, and we tell broadly how far the forested area extends in all directions?
>Can we see the mountains Yumeko mentioned?

[Kilgamayan]

>Head east at top speed, keeping an eye on the source of the danmaku, as we get a chance while dodging in front of us, in order to adjust to any sudden changes in angle of fire

> Keep charging while doing this.

[Hello Purvis]

>Head east at top speed, keeping an eye on the source of the danmaku, as we get a chance while dodging in front of us, in order to adjust to any sudden changes in angle of fire
>From our height, and we tell broadly how far the forested area extends in all directions?
>Can we see the mountains Yumeko mentioned?

>You head east! The fire is not too bad here; you are able to weave through it without too much trouble.
>The forest extends north and south about as far as the eye can see; it goes west a couple miles before ending at the mountains that Yumeko mentioned.

> Keep charging while doing this.

>You keep at this. You should be at maximum capacity rather soon.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>How far east does the forest extend?
>How concentrated an area is the fire issuing from?
>Does its source appear to have shifted at all in pursuit of us? Or can we not tell?

[Hello Purvis]

>How far east does the forest extend?
>How concentrated an area is the fire issuing from?
>Does its source appear to have shifted at all in pursuit of us? Or can we not tell?

>Not much more than a couple dozens yards.
>You glance around, and see fire coming up from all over the place. Are there people all over in the forest that are just shooting into the air at random? The makes it hard to tell if the source has shifted.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>So, there's fire issuing from parts of the forest that we're not even close to? And whose shots don't even seemed to be aimed at us?
>Do parts further north or south, at least, seem to be free of this?

[Suwako Moriya]

Idea: Try letting off a bolt aimed at where some fire is coming from, but a good distance away from where we are. This could misdirect whoever's firing into the air into thinking we're somewhere we're actually not.

[DracoOmega]

>How distant from ourselves can we call down bolts of lightning from the sky?

[Hello Purvis]

>How distant from ourselves can we call down bolts of lightning from the sky?

>With any accuracy, sans spellcard, they would have to be in within a few yards. After that, it gets to hard to be accurate, and you run the risk of causing unintended consequences.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>By unintended consequences, does that mean possibly starting forest fires?
>Eschewing accuracy (simply 'somewhere over there'), how far away could we call one down without much risk of said unintended consequences?

>So, there's fire issuing from parts of the forest that we're not even close to? And whose shots don't even seemed to be aimed at us?
>Do parts further north or south, at least, seem to be free of this?

[Hello Purvis]

>By unintended consequences, does that mean possibly starting forest fires?
>Eschewing accuracy (simply 'somewhere over there'), how far away could we call one down without much risk of said unintended consequences?

>Forest fires shouldn't be a problem, as long as you don't put too much intensity into your lightning.
>You could theoretically call down one just about anywhere you can see; but the further away it is, the more likely it is going to go wide, and by a greater amount. Once you get it dozens of yards away, it can go dozens of yards wide. As well, it will consume more of your stored energy.

>_

[Suwako Moriya]

> Is there fire coming from immediately below us?
> Is there still a thick wall of fire blocking our access further west?

[Hello Purvis]

> Is there fire coming from immediately below us?
> Is there still a thick wall of fire blocking our access further west?

>There doesn't seem to be any coming from immediately below.
>Yes.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Do north and south, into the distance, look roughly the same in terms of scenery?
> Is there more fire coming from the north or the south?

[Hello Purvis]

> Do north and south, into the distance, look roughly the same in terms of scenery?
> Is there more fire coming from the north or the south?

>Yes, and more fire seems to be coming from the south.

>_