Sword Quest VIII - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> Have our halves switch sides so that ghost is on the left and human is on the right again. Better to attack blindly than to block blindly!
> Have both halves dash toward Meira again, putting a little bit of space between them as before, though a little bit less than last time so as to hopefully avoid another ghost half whiff.

>You dash toward Meira, switching sides with your doppelganger. She puts some distance from you before bringing her horse around, and charging again. This time, she seems to be angling toward your ghost half.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Our ghost half is on the left of our human half, yes?
> Meira's sword hand is her right hand, yes? This would put our ghost half on Meira's sword side?

[Hello Purvis]

> Our ghost half is on the left of our human half, yes?
> Meira's sword hand is her right hand, yes? This would put our ghost half on Meira's sword side?

>Yes, and yes.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Veer a little bit to the left with both our human and ghost halves, to help get our ghost half out of the way of being trampled.

[Hello Purvis]

> Veer a little bit to the left with both our human and ghost halves, to help get our ghost half out of the way of being trampled.

>You veer a bit to the left, and Meira continues to bear down on your ghost half. She is definitely aiming to run it over, and is getting close.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Can we 'dissolve' our ghost half with a thought? Or does it have to run out on its own?

> Keep veering left with both halves until Meira is about a second away from running over our ghost half.

[Hello Purvis]

> Can we 'dissolve' our ghost half with a thought? Or does it have to run out on its own?

> Keep veering left with both halves until Meira is about a second away from running over our ghost half.

>You can.
>You keep veering, and Meira closes in. You...think you can dodge her.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> At our current paths of travel, will Meira get in slashing range of our human half?

[Hello Purvis]

> At our current paths of travel, will Meira get in slashing range of our human half?

>She will. She does seem to be holding her sword over her lap, rather than at her side, with her off hand low, you note.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Does she have the sword positioned so it can be easily grabbed with either hand?

[Hello Purvis]

> Does she have the sword positioned so it can be easily grabbed with either hand?

>No, she is still holding it with her right hand.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> What might her current posture mean, then, from a swordfighter's perspective?

[Hello Purvis]

> What might her current posture mean, then, from a swordfighter's perspective?

>You suspect it means she might strike or parry at either side. It seems unlikely she might have developed some technique to exploit this position, but you cannot entirely rule it out if she is drawing on the Saigyou Ayakashi's power.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Sharpen our ghost half's leftward angle just a tad, while holding the course steady with our human half.

[Hello Purvis]

> Sharpen our ghost half's leftward angle just a tad, while holding the course steady with our human half.

>You do so, and meet Meira. The horse just misses your ghost half.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Have our ghost half do another sweeping upward diagonal slash at Meira's side. Our human half, however, should perform a direct stab at Meira's other's side.

[Hello Purvis]

> Have our ghost half do another sweeping upward diagonal slash at Meira's side. Our human half, however, should perform a direct stab at Meira's other's side.

>You ghost half slashes at Meira, but the motion is interrupted when her foot snaps forward and catches it squarely on the chest, leaving a fierce ache. You stab at her, and she moves her sword across herself to block it. However, your quick attack serves you well and you manage to score a reasonably good hit on her side. Still a flesh wound, but a nasty one which draws out a pained grunt.
>The horse speeds away again.

[Kilgamayan]

> In the name of an honorable sword duel, how 'fair game' is attacking the horse? (Though perhaps her kicking us and attempts to trample us have already somewhat devalued the 'honor' of this duel...)

> Now that the horse is gone, give our ghost half a visual inspection where we were kicked.

[Hello Purvis]

> In the name of an honorable sword duel, how 'fair game' is attacking the horse? (Though perhaps her kicking us and attempts to trample us have already somewhat devalued the 'honor' of this duel...)

> Now that the horse is gone, give our ghost half a visual inspection where we were kicked.

>Honorably speaking, it's considered pretty poor sport. At the same time, coming at someone without a mount with a horse is already pretty poor sport. As well, it's kind of understood on the battlefield that things happen. It's significantly more honorably to unseat the rider than aim for the steed, but things happen.
>Looking over your ghost half, it doesn't seem particularly harmed. It was just a kick, you suppose.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Will we be able to get another pass out of a humanoid ghost half? Or is the timer about the run out?

[Hello Purvis]

> Will we be able to get another pass out of a humanoid ghost half? Or is the timer about the run out?

>You should be able to get another pass.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Turn around, switch sides again, and resume dashing pursuit of Meira and her horse.

[Hello Purvis]

> Turn around, switch sides again, and resume dashing pursuit of Meira and her horse.

>You pursue after Meria as she turns around. This time, however, she does not charge after you. Rather, she urges the horse forward at a trot.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Do her body language and, if we can see it, her facial expression suggest anything about her intentions?

[Hello Purvis]

> Do her body language and, if we can see it, her facial expression suggest anything about her intentions?

>Her facial expression doesn't reveal much, but she still hasher sword ready, which suggests she isn't giving up the fight.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Raise our head(s) a little and observe with clear interest while slowing down a tiny bit, but otherwise continue running. Slightly fan out our two halves while running like we did during the previous dash.

[Hello Purvis]

> Raise our head(s) a little and observe with clear interest while slowing down a tiny bit, but otherwise continue running. Slightly fan out our two halves while running like we did during the previous dash.

>You fan out to the left as Meira continues to approach, and begins to bank toward your right.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> This would be towards our human half, yes?
> Is she banking harder than she has been in order to run part of us over?

[Hello Purvis]

> This would be towards our human half, yes?
> Is she banking harder than she has been in order to run part of us over?

>Yes, and yes.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Pull our human half a little to the left and continue running.