Yukari Quest VI - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Kilgamayan]

> "Actually, if we're going to find firewood first, I don't have to leave you here alone for that, do I?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Actually, if we're going to find firewood first, I don't have to leave you here alone for that, do I?"

>"No, of course not," says Maribel. "But aren't you carrying some?"

>_

[Serela]

>...are we?

[Hello Purvis]

>...are we?

>You've gathered nothing in the way of such supplies. Maribel must be assuming you did.

>_

[Serela]

>"...actually, I haven't. I was thinking of where to find something suitable."

[Hello Purvis]

>"...actually, I haven't. I was thinking of where to find something suitable."

>"That's really surprising," says Maribel. "With not having to actually carry things, I figured you would have grabbed all the survival stuff you might have thought about when convenient. But, well...I guess I can go without if it's going to be a pain. Just be sure to come back, alright?"

>_

[Serela]

>Give Maribel a hug. "Sorry, dearie. See you soon!"
>BOSS GAP TRAVERSING TIME

[Hello Purvis]

>Give Maribel a hug. "Sorry, dearie. See you soon!"
>BOSS GAP TRAVERSING TIME

>You give Maribel a hug. While a little off guard at first, she returns it. "You better."
>And with that, you turn to enter the gap. After properly and cleanly opening it with your screwdriver, you then stabilize the gap as best you can with your hourglass to keep it from immediately falling apart and use your vise grips to firmly affix the opposite end.  Then do your best to use the borders there to isolate away the roots themselves with your wrench and step through. 
>As you step though the gap, you can feel there is a problem; it is opening too far on the opposite side, which will cause it to shatter before you have completely stepped through.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> What tools do we have that can stop this growth?
> If we pulled back out, would that prevent the shattering?

[Hello Purvis]

> What tools do we have that can stop this growth?
> If we pulled back out, would that prevent the shattering?

>Your tools are:
>Yukari's Screwdriver.
>Seemingly a basic screwdriver. With this, you may prise open gaps with much more precision and delicately than you can alone.
>Yukari's Hourglass
>This basic timekeeping device assists in maintaining gaps. With it, you can leave gaps open for longer, and without having to physically concentrate on them.
>Yukari's Wrench
>A simple-looking wrench with an adjustable head. This aids you in moving a gap from one place to another while preserving it.
>Yukari's Mirror
>A hand mirror. With this, you can open a gap to an unfamiliar place safely, and eliminates the possibility of opening a gap somewhere that would be dangerous.
>Yukari's Pliers.
>A basic pair of pliers. These assist you in narrowing and closing gaps with far greater ease and speed than you can alone.
-Yukari's Vise Grip
>A simple metal tool designed to hold a thing in place. It is designed to assist you in taking disparate gaps and drawing them closer together.
> Yukari's Magnifying Glass
>A lens with a handle. This tool allows you to examine gaps and potential gaps much more closely, greatly broadening the range of options you have to work with.
>Yukari's Tape Measure.
>A length of material with precise markings of length. With it, you can use it bridge distance much more quickly and easily.
>No. You have about a fraction of a second to fix this before it becomes a problem.

>_

[O4rfish]

>Activate Pliers to narrow the gap, but don't close it.

[Hello Purvis]

>Activate Pliers to narrow the gap, but don't close it.

>You do so, and stablize the gap long enough to finish stepping through.
>The reek of earth and soil assaults your nose, and you can feel the force of the roots bearing down upon you before you can see them. Even though you know what they are, even though they have only ever been a passive, if potent, threat to you, it is hard to keep the fear in check. Never can this entity, for lack of better terms, be allowed to come close to Gensokyo.  The roots rise around you, uneven walls of dense bark-laden tendrils that reach upward toward some unseen firmament. At some points the roots branch, creating fingers that reach toward each other and intertwine into a kind of roof far above.  The ground is covered with them as well, irregular clumps and loose rows of roots that rise from the ground and sink back into it; you cannot help but imagine it as some horrible paradox of a graveyard. Almost certainly, they lurk just beneath your feet as well. The air is still and overpoweringly reeking of earth. Everything is silent, but you almost think you can catch something just outside your range of hearing.
>There is a clearing in the root forest ahead; a kind of tunnel or path between them. Roots grow densely among  it, but you should be able to follow it.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> How's the pseudogap holding up?
> What's the lighting like? Could Mary see here?
> Is the maybe-sound coming from the tunnel?

[Hello Purvis]

> How's the pseudogap holding up?
> What's the lighting like? Could Mary see here?
> Is the maybe-sound coming from the tunnel?

>The gap seems to be...you wouldn't call it fine or intact or holding steadily, but it is there and you can make can make it work.
>There is no light here.
>You aren't sure, at least not at first. But as you check over the gap to make sure something is still there. you can just hear...something in the distance. A sort of noise, almost too low to hear, a sort of distant sound that dances on the lowest range, like the final aftershocks of a terrible earthquake.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Let's start heading down the tunnel, then.

[Hello Purvis]

> Let's start heading down the tunnel, then.

>You make your way toward the tunnel. Picking your way through the tangle of roots is a slow and nerve-wracking process, but little actively interferes save for your own trepidation.  Once in awhile, you can hear something in the darkness. Always distant, never from the same direction, and never the same kind of noise. Once there is a kind of metallic creaking to the left. Another time, a distinct sort of crystalline crash noise from the right. A third time is a sort of gurgly, almost yet not quite vocal noise from far behind. It doesn't help with the oppressive atmosphere, and the distinct knowledge that this place is incredibly deadly; every time before, there was dead silence...
>Within a few minutes, you make it to mouth of the tunnel.  It seems to incline downward. The tangles roots overhead descend downward as well, while the ground hosts many mote roots, some curling upward from the ground entirely, their widths varying widely from barely  as large as you thumb to wider than you. Above, you can hear another noise for a moment, a kinda of warbling, whistling noise that you can only describe as synthetic; nothing alive or natural could make it.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> What COULD have made it, then?
> How steep is the incline? Will we be able to keep our footing as we walk, or will we need to slide down?

[Hello Purvis]

> What COULD have made it, then?
> How steep is the incline? Will we be able to keep our footing as we walk, or will we need to slide down?

>You honestly don't know. You suspect perhaps something from the outside word, they certainly love to make things that create artificial noises. However, you don't suspect any such thing is at play here.
>The incline isn't too steep, but you will need to be careful, as you cannot just walk down it like a normal hill. Losing your balance would almost certainly be catastrophic.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Let's just wait and worry about these sounds once we find the source.
> Start gently stepping down the hill.

[Hello Purvis]

> Let's just wait and worry about these sounds once we find the source.
> Start gently stepping down the hill.

>You begin to gingerly pick your way down the hill. It is slow going, but you prefer this to risking touching one of the things. However, you have a moment where you heart practically stops when the edge of your dress snares against some bark for a moment.  The sounds continue as well; a sound like the distant rending of metal that seems to almost but not quite sound like an outside world alarm siren, from somewhere left and above. An echoing sort of rattling sound, from at least some dozens of yards to the ring. A high-pitched, artificial sounding noise that oscillates above you. Some distant noise that sounds almost, but not quite like muttered speech; you are sure it is not, yet your ears almost want to believe there's something to be picked out from it; like trying to focus on a single voice in the babble of a crowd.
>Some minutes pass, as you work your way down and the floor levels out again. The upward-reaching roots give way, opening to an immense chamber. You seem to be in the middle of some kind of bowl-shaped valley; stretching hundreds of yard in every direction. From the center of it extends many roots, some of then thicker than any tree you have ever seen, reaching toward some non-existent sky then curving back down to the earth hundreds of yards away, forming the outer walls of this place. More roots immense roots cut through the ground itself, extending from that central point and writing through it like the path of an serpent frozen in motion. Curiously, there are not too many smaller ones here; the ground is surprisingly clear of them.  Destroy this, the entire chamber feels as though it's pressing down upon you, eroding away at your being like a sandstorm. You wonder if a lesser youkai could even survive in this room...
>There are more sounds as well. A kind of roaring noise, like echoes of wind in a distant cavern, yet the air is still. A sort of noise that sounds almost like an impossible deep voice, making utterances that are almost like syllables. A shockingly clear yet artificial feminine voice echos from somewhere, making a single utterance before falling silent, "Tih" You cannot see or guess at a source of any of these noises.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Are there any obvious exits from this chamber, aside from the entrance we used?

[Hello Purvis]

> Are there any obvious exits from this chamber, aside from the entrance we used?

>You aren't sure. The chamber is so large, and the walls of roots so irregular that you cannot easily tell a small recess in them from an actual tunnel, while the larger roots along the ground obscure much. You can't see any nearby, at least.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Nothing for it, then.
> "Hello?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Nothing for it, then.
> "Hello?"

>You call out, but there is only the dull roar of distant wind, and the echoes of your own voice.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Make our way toward the center structure of roots.

[Hello Purvis]

> Make our way toward the center structure of roots.

>You proceed further inward. Compared to the previous regions of this place, travel is reasonably easy. However, you can feel the force of the roots bearing down upon you like the heat of a great furnace; your breathing grows ragged, you are even sweating! But still you soldier onward. The central roots loom larger and larger in your view, and you can become to see the complicated of smaller roots within them. As well, there are more noises. A sort of glutteral gargle, as though a deep-voiced man were suffocating. A kind of glassy ringing noise, brief and ephemeral.  A sudden, sonorous crash, as if a piano had fallen to the ground and died with a single thunderous note. A high-pitched woman's voice, uttering "Tih"
>As you you reach the base of the first root, practically feeling light-headed from the awful presence of the thing. The roots beyond it are tangled and running wild, exploding out in all directions, branching and reaching and branching again. In every direction, coming from what seems to be a central point ahead. You think you can see a glimpse of metal.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> We'll give 'em 'Tih'.
> Investigate this metal glint. Maybe it's our astrolabe?

[Hello Purvis]

> We'll give 'em 'Tih'.
> Investigate this metal glint. Maybe it's our astrolabe?

>You proceed further in.
>The roots here dominate the floor. They stretch and arc from above. They're everywhere. Each step is a struggle, both to find a place to stay, and to keep your nerve. You want to leave. You want to run away as fast as you can. Every instinct tells you to go, to leave this horrible place and never come back. More sounds come, but you barely even register them now. Your face is drawn taunt, your every muscle tense, as you pick your way forward.
>Ahead, you can see, a glint of metal, suspended by roots several feet in the air. Brassy and flat, small enough to fit in your hand, it is undoubtedly your last missing tool. The roots are not entwined around it, rather, they seem to be stretching away from it, reaching out in every direction. Your astrolabe seems to be half embedded within it.  It feels like you're standing in a furnace, the force of this thing is so oppressive; you find it hard to even stand!

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Back off a little bit, give ourselves some breathing room.
> Does it seem like the astrolabe is the source of the roots?

[Hello Purvis]

> Back off a little bit, give ourselves some breathing room.
> Does it seem like the astrolabe is the source of the roots?

>You back off a little, and you don't want to stop. It's so difficult to stop...
>You aren't sure. You do feel this may well be a point of origin, but it is just a feeling. Is the presence of your astrolabe related? You cannot tell.

>_