Sword Quest X - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Kilgamayan]

> How is Tojiko holding up?
> How much space do we have above and below us when in an upright position in the tunnel?

> Splay our arms once again and lay flame talismans out with each hand.

[Hello Purvis]

> How is Tojiko holding up?
> How much space do we have above and below us when in an upright position in the tunnel?

> Splay our arms once again and lay flame talismans out with each hand.

>Tojiko is hacking away at things with reasonable efficiency. She seems to have gotten used to her new arms, though you suppose hacking through branches does not demand a great deal of finesse.
>There isn't a lot of space.
>You lay a new set of fire talismans, this time you aren't sure if there's any improvement in your dexterity or not.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Pull our arms back in, one pair at a time in the same order as before.
> Lean forward a bit so we're no longer completely upright, and as such aren't quite as close to the branch tunnel ceiling.
> Brace ourselves for further bizarre sensations, then elongate our torso several inches, keeping our existing extra pairs of arms at the same distance from our main pair of arms as they are now, and producing enough space on our side to make room for a fourth pair of arms below the current lowest pair. If we can feel these changes are causing physical damage to ourselves, then stop immediately and return to our regular torso length.
> If our torso elongation succeeds, once it is done, produce a fourth pair of functioning arms in our newly-created torso space.

[Hello Purvis]

> Pull our arms back in, one pair at a time in the same order as before.
> Lean forward a bit so we're no longer completely upright, and as such aren't quite as close to the branch tunnel ceiling.
> Brace ourselves for further bizarre sensations, then elongate our torso several inches, keeping our existing extra pairs of arms at the same distance from our main pair of arms as they are now, and producing enough space on our side to make room for a fourth pair of arms below the current lowest pair. If we can feel these changes are causing physical damage to ourselves, then stop immediately and return to our regular torso length.
> If our torso elongation succeeds, once it is done, produce a fourth pair of functioning arms in our newly-created torso space.

>You try to do this, and find that it seems to work. However, you also feel rather top-heavy as a result, it's a bit difficult to fly correctly or balance.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Would adding weight at or below our waist help with this?

[Hello Purvis]

> Would adding weight at or below our waist help with this?

>It may help with balance issues, but you suspect it wouldn't help with movement issues.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Tojiko has not looked behind herself at us since we started making this tunnel, has she?
> How far through the branches are we in the process of making this tunnel?
> Are we at least still holding our current flight pattern with some degree of success, even if it isn't perfect?

[Hello Purvis]

> Tojiko has not looked behind herself at us since we started making this tunnel, has she?
> How far through the branches are we in the process of making this tunnel?
> Are we at least still holding our current flight pattern with some degree of success, even if it isn't perfect?

>No, she has been focused on the task at hand.
>You've gotten a couple yards in by now.
>More or less, but you will be in trouble if you need to make any quick or precise movements.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

Okay, one more should do it. Don't want to go too crazy and become impossible to handle.

> Brace ourselves, mentally and physically, for even more difficult balancing.
> Elongate our torso a bit more, in the same manner as before, to create enough body space for a fifth pair of functional arms below our current four. Once this is complete, create said functional arms.

[Hello Purvis]

Okay, one more should do it. Don't want to go too crazy and become impossible to handle.

> Brace ourselves, mentally and physically, for even more difficult balancing.
> Elongate our torso a bit more, in the same manner as before, to create enough body space for a fifth pair of functional arms below our current four. Once this is complete, create said functional arms.

>You do so again, and very nearly flop over in midair by the time you're done. Your sense of balance is all but gone now.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Quick, thicken all parts of our lower body, particularly our legs, in order to add mass and start to rebalance ourselves.

[Hello Purvis]

> Quick, thicken all parts of our lower body, particularly our legs, in order to add mass and start to rebalance ourselves.

>You do so, and kind of feel yourself rebalance, but it's not quite right... There is also the issue that you cannot really stand up straight this clearing any longer, which will make balance all that much worse.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Could we hold our upper body straight upright if we crossed our legs in mid-air in something of a seated position?
> If we did this, how aerially immobile would we become?

[Hello Purvis]

> Could we hold our upper body straight upright if we crossed our legs in mid-air in something of a seated position?
> If we did this, how aerially immobile would we become?

>Presumably, at least.
>It would cost you a lot of speed and a fair deal of maneuverability.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> How far ahead of us has Tojiko gotten?
> Get into the cross-legged sitting position so we can hold our upper body upright.

[Hello Purvis]

> How far ahead of us has Tojiko gotten?
> Get into the cross-legged sitting position so we can hold our upper body upright.

>She isn't terribly far ahead.
>You take on a cross-legged position, and find...something like a center of balance. Sort of. You feel more precarious than anything, really.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Okay, here's where things get properly interesting.
> Reach our arms out by pairs in order; top arms out straight upward toward the ceiling, then upper middle arms out diagonally upward away from our body, then middle arms out straight horizontally, then lower middle arms out diagonally downward away from our body, then bottom arms out straight downward, to get hands on or very near to the walls, ceiling, and floor of this branch tunnel.
> Once all hands are in place, have each hand place a flame talisman on the tunnel walls.

[Hello Purvis]

> Okay, here's where things get properly interesting.
> Reach our arms out by pairs in order; top arms out straight upward toward the ceiling, then upper middle arms out diagonally upward away from our body, then middle arms out straight horizontally, then lower middle arms out diagonally downward away from our body, then bottom arms out straight downward, to get hands on or very near to the walls, ceiling, and floor of this branch tunnel.
> Once all hands are in place, have each hand place a flame talisman on the tunnel walls.

>You have some difficulty stretching them all out, it's rather like making a fist, then trying to extend your ring finger alone. Still, you manage it after a moment, and place ten talismans on the various branches.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Bring our arms back home, one pair at a time, in the same order they were sent out.
> Once everyone is safely home, float along down the tunnel.

[Hello Purvis]

> Bring our arms back home, one pair at a time, in the same order they were sent out.
> Once everyone is safely home, float along down the tunnel.

>This is a messy process, but you manage to bring them back in without getting too tangled, then proceed further. Tojiko seems to be setting a good place.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> If we maintained our current pose, would there be any vertical room to stretch further, either above or below us?

> Place another ten talismans in the same one-pair-of-arms-at-a-time manner as the last time.

[Hello Purvis]

> If we maintained our current pose, would there be any vertical room to stretch further, either above or below us?

> Place another ten talismans in the same one-pair-of-arms-at-a-time manner as the last time.

>There would be, but you imagine the problems would only get worse.
>You place ten more talismans, having to take time to affix them all correctly.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

Hmm, if we've found a reasonable pose, and we have the room...

> As before, bring our arms back home, one pair at a time, in the same order they were sent out.
> Before moving on, however, stretch our upper body up and out again until we have the space to create another pair of arms, and then create just that. Check the room we have once thus is done, both above and below.

[Hello Purvis]

Hmm, if we've found a reasonable pose, and we have the room...

> As before, bring our arms back home, one pair at a time, in the same order they were sent out.
> Before moving on, however, stretch our upper body up and out again until we have the space to create another pair of arms, and then create just that. Check the room we have once thus is done, both above and below.

>You bring your arms back, then try to add another pair. The process goes well enough, but you feel very unsteady now, and should not make any sudden movements.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is flight still possible?
> How much have we stretched at this point, if we can even tell?
> Check the room we now have above and below us.

[Hello Purvis]

> Is flight still possible?
> How much have we stretched at this point, if we can even tell?
> Check the room we now have above and below us.

>Very slowly.
>...A lot. You have more than twice as much torso as you're supposed to now.
>There's not a lot of room left.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Conjure up a large metal sheet that is a bit more than our current height (extending down to the current bottom of our legs, rather than where they would be if they were hanging loose) as well as our current width while being an inch thick, and keep it fixed in the air right behind us so as to catch us if we wobble and start to topple in that direction. It should have a bit of a curve to also prevent us from sliding off in one direction or the other, should we end up leaning up against it.
> Once this is done, perform one last upper body stretch with the remaining room, and get one last extra set of arms on our incredibly elastic torso down below all of the rest of them.

[Hello Purvis]

> Conjure up a large metal sheet that is a bit more than our current height (extending down to the current bottom of our legs, rather than where they would be if they were hanging loose) as well as our current width while being an inch thick, and keep it fixed in the air right behind us so as to catch us if we wobble and start to topple in that direction. It should have a bit of a curve to also prevent us from sliding off in one direction or the other, should we end up leaning up against it.
> Once this is done, perform one last upper body stretch with the remaining room, and get one last extra set of arms on our incredibly elastic torso down below all of the rest of them.

>You do so, and find yourself needing that sheet as you wobble a bit and fall back.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> That's okay, that's exactly what the sheet is there for. Have the sheet hold our supertorso upright.
> Now the real fun begins! Reach our arms out by pairs in order; top pairout straight upward toward the ceiling, then the next pair out upward and somewhat to the left and right, then the next pair out left and right and somewhat upward, then the next pair out straight to the left and right, then the next pair out to the left and right ans somewhat down, then the next pair out downward and somewhat to the left and right, then the last pair out straight downward, to get hands on or very near to the walls, ceiling, and floor of this branch tunnel.

[Hello Purvis]

> That's okay, that's exactly what the sheet is there for. Have the sheet hold our supertorso upright.
> Now the real fun begins! Reach our arms out by pairs in order; top pairout straight upward toward the ceiling, then the next pair out upward and somewhat to the left and right, then the next pair out left and right and somewhat upward, then the next pair out straight to the left and right, then the next pair out to the left and right ans somewhat down, then the next pair out downward and somewhat to the left and right, then the last pair out straight downward, to get hands on or very near to the walls, ceiling, and floor of this branch tunnel.

>This takes a considerable amount of effort, much more than simply reaching out to a thing should. Your fourth set of arms barely even moves at all for a few moments, before awkwardly spasming. But, with some work, you get them all extended.

>_