Kisume Quest III - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> "...Eh, let's go for it."
> Start digging through the pulsing papers."

>You start to dig into the moving papers, pushing them aside as quickly as you can. You can feel them quivering with each thump, which are you certain is coming from just in front of you.
>"I think it's coming-" the mouse youkai starts to say, then suddenly the papers around you begin to collapse out from under you!

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Quick, float up!

[Hello Purvis]

> Quick, float up!

>You float up as papers collapse into a sinkhole under you. You hear someone cry out below.
>"-...from just ahead and below you," the mouse youkai finishes lamely.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Look down into the hole. Is that person visible?

[Hello Purvis]

> Look down into the hole. Is that person visible?

>You look down into the hole and see a short blonde woman in a red dress, buried up to her kneels in paper and carrying a pickax that is also partially buried in paper, looking up at you through a well-lit hole in the wall. "That wasn't supposed to happen..." she mutters.
>"What happened?" says the mouse youkai, "Who is that?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Do we recognize this woman?
> If not, can we at least tell what race she is?

[Hello Purvis]

> Do we recognize this woman?
> If not, can we at least tell what race she is?

>You do not. You are pretty sure she is human.
>"Did we find the great paper mines?" she says, Then she frowns. "No, that's not right. You don't mine paper." She glances over. "Do you? No? I didn't think so either..."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Uh, who are you and how did you get down there?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Uh, who are you and how did you get down there?"

>"I was making a new tunnel," she says, frowning. "But why are you there?"
>She starts to work to free her legs from the paper, struggling a bit against the unexpected weight.
>You hear the mouse youkai's footsteps approaching from behind.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Because I was shopping. In this shop."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Because I was shopping. In this shop."

>"What kind of shop is filled up with paper like this?" says the woman as she manages to wrest one of her legs from the paper avalanche.
>"This one," the mouse youkai says, as she comes to your side.
>"Oh," she says. "Do you have any doors?"
>"What?"
>"I'm going to need a door for this," she says.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "You still haven't told us who you are."

[Hello Purvis]

> "You still haven't told us who you are."

>She looks at you for a moment, then says, "Oh, that's right. Sorry, it takes a moment to switch horses."
>She frees her other leg, and climbs up the pile of paper and through the hole in the wall. You can see she has red ribbon in her hair tied into a bow, and is wearing a red vest over a white shit. A small cream-white cat follows her out.
>"I'm...Ellen," she say, frowning for a moment as she pauses. "Sorry, sorry, haven't had to remember that for awhile. Who are you?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Kisume."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Kisume."

>"I'm Nazrin," says the mouse youkai. "Um...what were you doing?"
>Ellen looks at Nazrin for a moment. Then she says, "Oh, right. I was installing a water wheel. I suppose I'll have to go a different way for that now..."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "That green-haired woman was right. There sure are more extraordinary humans than there used to be."

[Hello Purvis]

> "That green-haired woman was right. There sure are more extraordinary humans than there used to be."

>Nazrin chuckles.
>"Why are you referring to yourself in third person?" Ellen says.
>The cat has seat on the paper, looking around in what seems to be something between obliviousness and bewilderment.

>_

[Hanzo K.]

>"Different one. I'm not the only person out there with green hair."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Different one. I'm not the only person out there with green hair."

>"Oh, I thought we were still talking about ourselves," she says. "Sorry, it's slow to switch horses. And it's been forever since I last talked to someone. So why do you have so much paper in your store?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Something exploded, or somewhat."
> Look to Nazrin.
> "You wanna tell her? You know a lot more about it than I do."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Something exploded, or somewhat."
> Look to Nazrin.
> "You wanna tell her? You know a lot more about it than I do."

>"About a billion books exploded down here," says Nazrin. "Take all the paper you want."
>Ellen looks between the two of you. "I don't think I've seen books ever do that," she says after a minute. "And I've seen a lot of books!"
>Nazrin shrugs. "Magic is weird."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "So, uh, you look like a reasonably young human. What do you do with yourself that you've done it for so long, you had to stop and remember the moniker?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "So, uh, you look like a reasonably young human. What do you do with yourself that you've done it for so long, you had to stop and remember the moniker?"

>"Magic is not weird!" Ellen says after a moment, starting to waggle her finger at Nazrin.  "There's nothing weird at all about it! It's one of the best things, I'll have you know!"
>"Okay, okay," says Nazrin, raising her hands. "Nothing weird about magic at all."
>Ellen then looks to you, and frowns. After a moment, she says. "Oh, sorry about that... Um, it's just I've not had to remember it in a long time, so it's a little slow to come back. A lot of things are like that."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I see."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I see."

>"Oh good," she says. "That's why I moved down here, it got awfully hard to deal with people. That and my studies, where it was helpful."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "How long have you been down there?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "How long have you been down there?"

>She pauses for a moment, then shrugs.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Look at Nazrin and raise an eyebrow with a slightly bemused expression.

[Hello Purvis]

> Look at Nazrin and raise an eyebrow with a slightly bemused expression.

>Nazrin shrugs too, then looks to Ellen. "Sure you're not a mole youkai?"
>"How rude!" Ellen says, scowling.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Look to Nazrin again.
> "Should we take her to the human village or something?"