Kisume Quest VIII - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Kilgamayan]

> Wait, so this wave is a giant wall of bullets that covers at least several yards in both directions?

[Hello Purvis]

> Wait, so this wave is a giant wall of bullets that covers at least several yards in both directions?

>Yes.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

Christ.

> How far down does it stretch?

[Hello Purvis]

> How far down does it stretch?

>It seems to fill up most of the hall at a glance. You probably don't have time to estimate its dimensions right now.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Man, that's all sorts of unsporting. Isn't undodgeable danmaku taboo?
> Hastily retreat at roughly a 45-degree angle back away from the wall's movement but also in the lateral direction that is toward the gap. Hopefully we're fast enough that we can make it.

[Hello Purvis]

> Man, that's all sorts of unsporting. Isn't undodgeable danmaku taboo?
> Hastily retreat at roughly a 45-degree angle back away from the wall's movement but also in the lateral direction that is toward the gap. Hopefully we're fast enough that we can make it.

>You suppose that this one falls into the realm of something that can theoretically be dodged.
>You retreat back, and try to give yourself some extra time to get into the gap, as the wall of bulls comes your way. Thankfully, Sariel drawing back as she has left enough space between the two of you that you're able to make it to that gap with a bit of time to spare. Looking inside, you see it makes a tunnel within the way that zigs and zags like a lightning bolt; was the original wave this large? You also see Kasen ahead of you a bit, skimming close to the floor and already working to navigate her way through it.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> So we never saw how our most recent attack turned out, huh?
> Zag on through the opening like we did before, without worrying about firing back for the time being.

[Hello Purvis]

> So we never saw how our most recent attack turned out, huh?
> Zag on through the opening like we did before, without worrying about firing back for the time being.

>You saw it vanish into the onslaught of purple shots, and lost track of it after that.
>You head into the opening, then have to take a hard right to keep clear of the wave, then an equally hard left. Still, you feel reasonably confident. It will be hard to make forward progress this way, but you are confident you ride it out for the time being.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Eh, it is what it is.
> Slug on through to the end, though grab a hold of the granite again before we get out just in case Sariel tries to surprise us up close.

[Hello Purvis]

> Eh, it is what it is.
> Slug on through to the end, though grab a hold of the granite again before we get out just in case Sariel tries to surprise us up close.

>You grab your Small Piece of Granite and prepare. Some yards ahead, you can just barely see Sariel through all the flack, leveling her wand ahead of herself. Every so often, you get a glimpse of Kasen, ahead and below you, hovering through the gauntlet just as you are. You slowly begin to crawl forward, but each inch is hard won, and it brings closer than you would like to the waves of danmaku around you. Trying to gain ground like this is going to leave you prone to a mistake.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Then take it easier getting through. Our goal is to get through unscathed, not get through as fast as possible.

[Hello Purvis]

> Then take it easier getting through. Our goal is to get through unscathed, not get through as fast as possible.

>You slow down, and take your time. You feel a bit more comfortable now; as much as you can in the middle of a gauntlet of pain. One thing you quickly note is that Sariel doesn't seem to be particularly mobile while conjuring this attack.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Let go of the granite.
> Next time Sariel is visible, fire a rapid one-after-the-other-straight-line series of arrowheads (as opposed to the wide-spread horizontal and verticcal lines from before) at her torso area.
> Do we know how to throw a shuriken properly?

[Kilgamayan]

> Post edited, sorry!

[Hello Purvis]

> Let go of the granite.
> Next time Sariel is visible, fire a rapid one-after-the-other-straight-line series of arrowheads (as opposed to the wide-spread horizontal and verticcal lines from before) at her torso area.
> Do we know how to throw a shuriken properly?

>You let go of the granite and fire on Sariel. It is rather difficult to throw out a straight line while you are dodging for your life, but you do your best and end up firing while strafing. It's difficult to see the results through the heavy curtain of bullets, but you do see her move a bit, and at one point catch her losing rhythm with her wings for a moment.
>You have never thrown a shuriken, and have no real idea how.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

Oh good, glad I caught that now.

> The zig-zag walls haven't been interrupted, have they?

[O4rfish]

>Does a wooden bucket take damage from danmaku?

[Hello Purvis]

> The zig-zag walls haven't been interrupted, have they?

>Not as of yet.

>Does a wooden bucket take damage from danmaku?

>It typically doesn't, but it also tends not to perfectly guard you, either. Danmaku can generally find its way around the edges and hit you unless all of it is going perfectly straight and its not too dense.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Seems a decent bet that these walls are going be more or less the same dodge sequence every wave. Let's take advantage of this!
> Make a mental note of where Sariel is the next time we see her, then start firing off a steady stream of arrowheads in her direction while strafe-dodging, keeping this stream up even when we can't see her. Don't be too concerned about precision line-drawing or pinpoint accuracy since we don't want dodging concentration to lapse, but we should always at least attempt to aim at our mental location of Sariel. Her wings are big and bulky enough that we should connect quite a bit. Our aim can be adjusted each time we see her, too.

[Hello Purvis]

> Seems a decent bet that these walls are going be more or less the same dodge sequence every wave. Let's take advantage of this!
> Make a mental note of where Sariel is the next time we see her, then start firing off a steady stream of arrowheads in her direction while strafe-dodging, keeping this stream up even when we can't see her. Don't be too concerned about precision line-drawing or pinpoint accuracy since we don't want dodging concentration to lapse, but we should always at least attempt to aim at our mental location of Sariel. Her wings are big and bulky enough that we should connect quite a bit. Our aim can be adjusted each time we see her, too.

>You set yourself to firing on Sariel when you see her and keeping it up when you cannot, then adjusting your aim when you can.  The storm of danmaku around you makes it very hard to see what effects your having, until the wave of shots comes to a stop. Sariel retreats back further, and you can see her wings bear a few burns, and her robes are damaged in a couple places. She points her wand in your direction as she flies back, you can see white energy gathering around its tip.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Where are we in the hallway relative to the ceiling, floor, and walls?
> Anything visible from Kasen lately?

[Hello Purvis]

> Where are we in the hallway relative to the ceiling, floor, and walls?
> Anything visible from Kasen lately?

>You are presently about in the middle of it.
>Kasen is near the wall to your left, a little ways ahead of you.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Float to the right and a little bit forward with some expediency. There should be more lateral movement than forward movement.

[Hello Purvis]

> Float to the right and a little bit forward with some expediency. There should be more lateral movement than forward movement.

>You float ahead and to the right, keeping a wary on Sariel. The whitish energy splits from her wand, forming into two familiars that begin to  curve toward the walls and toward your direction. Having moved to the right, one of them is coming toward you at a reasonably brisk pace.
>Kasen keeps close to the floor and sends a wide spiral of orange arrowhead danmaku toward Sariel. Sariel starts to back away from this.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Fire a horizontal line of arrowheads at Sariel by sweeping a hand from our right to our left. Hopefully that'll mess with her dodging of Kasen's shots, if nothing else.
> Once that's done, float upwards and take note of the familiar headed towards us changes its flight path accordingly.

[Hello Purvis]

> Fire a horizontal line of arrowheads at Sariel by sweeping a hand from our right to our left. Hopefully that'll mess with her dodging of Kasen's shots, if nothing else.
> Once that's done, float upwards and take note of the familiar headed towards us changes its flight path accordingly.

>You fire a horizontal line of arrowheads at Sariel, then move upwards. Thankfully, the familiar doesn't follow you and passes underneath.
>Your attack doesn't quite match the speed of Kasen's to coordinate with it, so it does not manage to interfere with her efforts to slip through Kasen's spiral. She does have fl over your line of bullets afterward, though, while Kasen sets up another attack, this one involving a number of intertwined bullet snakes.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is Sariel setting up another sort of attack?
> Can we see what the other familiar did?

[Hello Purvis]

> Is Sariel setting up another sort of attack?
> Can we see what the other familiar did?

>It doesn't seem like Sariel is doing anything at the moment except for keeping defensive.
>The other familiar, from what you saw, followed a course similar to the one you just dodged, but on the opposite side of the hall. You think both of them are somewhere behind you now.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Start heading forward, firing another horizontal wave of bullets as we go by sweeping a half from left to right this time.
> Once we're done firing, take a peek behind us to see what those familiars are doing.

[Hello Purvis]

> Start heading forward, firing another horizontal wave of bullets as we go by sweeping a half from left to right this time.
> Once we're done firing, take a peek behind us to see what those familiars are doing.

>You throw another line of bullets as you go forward. As you do,  Kasen's own attack draws close to Sariel, the intertwined bullet snakes beginning to fan out in multiple directions and trying to get around Sariel. You aren't immediately sur ehow well your attack will coordinate with it.
>Glancing back, you see both of the familiars and generating a huge fountain of slow, numerous kunai-shaped shots in blue and orange.

>_