Sword Quest VIII - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> How is her footing?
> Where is her sword?

>It doesn't seem great, but she is finding it again.
>Close to her torso, held horizontally.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Step back and take up the defensive stance again. Let's see if she tries drawing on that power again.

[Hello Purvis]

> Step back and take up the defensive stance again. Let's see if she tries drawing on that power again.

>You step back and take a defensive stance; she does much the same, regaining her footing and resuming the stance form before. As far as you can tell, the aura of death about her hasn't changed.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Let her advance.

[Hello Purvis]

> Let her advance.

>Meira falls back into her prior stance comfortably, then seems to delay for a moment. Playing defensive and sizing you up.

>_

[Suwako Moriya]

> Let the small grin creep back onto our face.

[Hello Purvis]

> Let the small grin creep back onto our face.

>Your smirk is answer with a low attack, coming at a curious angle that is difficult to read.  It looks as though its coming for your left side, but something feels off.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Can we tell what feels 'off'?
> What could possibly 'feel off' about a sword stab, anyway?
> Is she crouching while stabbing, or is she fully upright?
> How are her hands holding the sword? Maybe that will give us a clue as to what feels off.

[Hello Purvis]

> Can we tell what feels 'off'?
> What could possibly 'feel off' about a sword stab, anyway?
> Is she crouching while stabbing, or is she fully upright?
> How are her hands holding the sword? Maybe that will give us a clue as to what feels off.

>Something about how she is delivering it.
>All kinds of things could feel off; it could be poor technique, it could be a technique you have not seen, it could be there is something supernatural going on that you don't have the time to parse before the attack lands, it could be that your eyes have simply caught it at an angle you haven't really noted yet and it's messing with your perceptions.
>She is standing.
>She is holding it with one hand. To get more detail than this would require examining her hands while a sword is coming at you.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

Oh dear, blind luck parry time.

> How low are we thinking here? Stomach, hips, knees, feet, something else?

[Hello Purvis]

> How low are we thinking here? Stomach, hips, knees, feet, something else?

>Stomach to hips, you think.

>_

[Suwako Moriya]

Ergh. Might as well go with my super-risky idea, though I want to check one thing first.

> Is the sharp edge of her blade more pointed upward or downward?

[Hello Purvis]

> Is the sharp edge of her blade more pointed upward or downward?

>Upward. That's what's odd! You almost didn't notice it, it's so unusual to stab with the sharp edge upward.

>_

[Suwako Moriya]

> What might a sharp-edge-upward stab mean? Presumably she has the option to follow-up by swinging the sword upward if the initial stab fails. Might it mean anything else?

[Hello Purvis]

> What might a sharp-edge-upward stab mean? Presumably she has the option to follow-up by swinging the sword upward if the initial stab fails. Might it mean anything else?

>You aren't sure, but it could well signify a less mundane kind of attack as well.

>_

[Suwako Moriya]

Crap, that's not the direction I wanted from the sharp edge.

I don't think we can get away with another parry to the left, she'll be expecting that. Parrying to the right is probably out if she's aiming to the left, and parrying upward is out if she's aiming low. Guess that leaves only one thing to do!

> Parry by bringing our sword down hard on top of hers and knocking her stab down, forcing it down as much as we can in the hopes that we can get her blade to go between our legs.

[Hello Purvis]

> Parry by bringing our sword down hard on top of hers and knocking her stab down, forcing it down as much as we can in the hopes that we can get her blade to go between our legs.

>You bring your sword down on hers as hard as you can, smacking it downward. You tense  as it keeps travelling downward, and passes between your legs.

>_

[Suwako Moriya]

> Were we able to force it all the way to the ground, even if just the top of it?
> Can we tell what her reaction to this development is, or are we not looking there at the moment?

[Hello Purvis]

> Were we able to force it all the way to the ground, even if just the top of it?
> Can we tell what her reaction to this development is, or are we not looking there at the moment?

>No, you've forced it down to midway down your upper legs.
>You aren't looking there right now.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is the sharp edge of Miko's sword still pointed upward, or has it shifted to one side or the other (either due to Meira's handiwork or simply due to the blades clashing)?
> Do our shoes have any sort of raised heel, even just a small one, or are they completely flat?

[Hello Purvis]

> Is the sharp edge of Miko's sword still pointed upward, or has it shifted to one side or the other (either due to Meira's handiwork or simply due to the blades clashing)?
> Do our shoes have any sort of raised heel, even just a small one, or are they completely flat?

>It is still pointed upward.
>There is a very slight heel to them.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Okay, we've got two hands on our blade, she probably only has one on hers and is probably physically weaker than us. Let's take advantage of this.
> Force her blade down with ours by pushing downward and a bit toward her to make it harder for her to regain control of her blade.
> While doing this, keep a keen eye on how her sword is oriented, in the event she tries to twist it one way or the other and slice toward a leg.

[Hello Purvis]

> Okay, we've got two hands on our blade, she probably only has one on hers and is probably physically weaker than us. Let's take advantage of this.
> Force her blade down with ours by pushing downward and a bit toward her to make it harder for her to regain control of her blade.
> While doing this, keep a keen eye on how her sword is oriented, in the event she tries to twist it one way or the other and slice toward a leg.

>You apply pressure as she struggles against it, and successfully keep the blade in place.  She has definitely turned it a bit rightward.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Keeping it in place? Does that mean we weren't able to force it downward at all?
> Can we at least see her feet/legs from our current position?

[Hello Purvis]

> Keeping it in place? Does that mean we weren't able to force it downward at all?
> Can we at least see her feet/legs from our current position?

>Not yet, anyways.
>You can kind of see one of them.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Reangle our blade a little bit so the left side is higher and the right side is lower, with the goal being keeping our blade perpendicular to hers. Continue applying downward force on her blade, with a little bit of pressure back to the left to prevent her blade from moving to the right.

[Hello Purvis]

> Reangle our blade a little bit so the left side is higher and the right side is lower, with the goal being keeping our blade perpendicular to hers. Continue applying downward force on her blade, with a little bit of pressure back to the left to prevent her blade from moving to the right.

>You adjust your blade, and forces hers down a little more, as low as you can get it, you think, without bending down.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> How much downward pressure would we lose if we were to lift a foot off the ground?

[Hello Purvis]

> How much downward pressure would we lose if we were to lift a foot off the ground?

>A fair amount, due to needing to keep your balance.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

Well, that eliminates the option of stepping on the blade by hooking the sharp edge into our heel.

> Based on where Miko's blade is relative to us and our prior knowledge of its length, do we think Meira might be in kicking range?