Nue Quest: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Kilgamayan]

> "I'm thinking this will be a good additional test of discipline. Doubly so now that you've suggested aiming for my head. Once I'm done, maybe they'll want to aim for it less. Or maybe they'll want to aim for it more. Who knows? But if Yuli was any indication, I have faith in their willpower and your teaching methods that they won't let it be a factor."

[Hello Purvis]

> "I'm thinking this will be a good additional test of discipline. Doubly so now that you've suggested aiming for my head. Once I'm done, maybe they'll want to aim for it less. Or maybe they'll want to aim for it more. Who knows? But I have faith in their willpower and your teaching methods that they won't let it be a factor."

>"I meant the head of the trident, you dope!" says Tenshi. "I said go around it, not aim for it!"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Oh. My bad. Well, still, this should a decent discipline test regardless."

[Hello Purvis]

> "Oh. My bad. Well, still, this should a decent discipline test regardless."

"I don't get it," says Tenshi, frowning. "Um, you're not going to do anything weird, are you?"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Tenshi, when have I ever done anything weird?"
> How's the reconstruction coming?

[Hello Purvis]

> "Tenshi, when have I ever done anything weird?"
> How's the reconstruction coming?

>"All the time!" she says.
>You've just about got the face pretty well. You just need to reshape your jaw and cheeks a bit, and do the hair. You probably won't be able to talk while doing the former.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Chuckle a bit.
> "There's a bit more to me than that. I do what I do for business exchange or my own entertainment. You're getting a freebie sparring partner because I like you, but you're getting what I'm doing now as a little bit of those other two things. Speaking of, this next part means I can't talk. I heard Nagae isn't talking these days either. If'n you don't mind, could you tell me what happened?"
> Get to work on the jaw and cheeks.

[Hello Purvis]

> Chuckle a bit.
> "There's a bit more to me than that. I do what I do for business exchange or my own entertainment. You're getting a freebie sparring partner because I like you, but you're getting what I'm doing now as a little bit of those other two things. Speaking of, this next part means I can't talk. I heard Nagae isn't talking these days either. If'n you don't mind, could you tell me what happened?"
> Get to work on the jaw and cheeks.

>"Yeah, she did some things she's not proud of during the whole deal with Bhava-Agra falling," says Tenshi. "Felt she used her words incorrectly and stuff. So she decided the best thing would be to deny them to herself for a little while. I dunno how long, until she's satisfied I guess."
>While Tenshi speaks, you work on remodeling your face. The minor chances before were negligible, but reshaping bones is difficult to ignore. It causes strange numb sensations and has a sort of feeling you associate with twitching uncontrollably. But you finish soon enough, and the sensations fade.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Frown.
> "Huh. I wonder if our little picture-taking escapade was partly responsible for that. I hope not, I'd feel kinda bad I encouraged her to do something that contributed to her feeling that down on herself. Even if the idea was hers."
> If the face is set, do the hair.

[Hello Purvis]

> Frown.
> "Huh. I wonder if our little picture-taking escapade was partly responsible for that. I hope not, I'd feel kinda bad I encouraged her to do something that contributed to her feeling that down on herself. Even if the idea was hers."
> If the face is set, do the hair.

>You get to work on the hair. This is easy, if a bit time consuming.
>"Eh, probably," says Tenshi. "But maybe not? She was really into it. And-" she frowns, as you make your hair the proper color. "Hey! What're you trying to look like me for!"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Grin again.
> "Didn't I tell you? This should be a good discipline test."

[Hello Purvis]

> Grin again.
> "Didn't I tell you? This should be a good discipline test."

>Tenshi scowls. "Fine, whatever."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Finish the hair off, if we haven't already.
> Put the mirror away, then turn to the group of non-Tenshi celestials.
> "How do I look?"

[Hello Purvis]

> Finish the hair off, if we haven't already.
> Put the mirror away, then turn to the group of non-Tenshi celestials.
> "How do I look?"

>It takes another minute to finish it out; Tenshi has a lot of hair, much more than you tend to keep around. It's a little uncomfortably heavy.
>Putting away the mirror, you face Tenshi's followers and ask for their opinion.
>"It's a rather good likeness," says one of them. The others nod.
>"A little much around the bust," another adds, drawing a nasty look from Tenshi.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "This is just a quickie facial. I could do the whole body if given time to study, but I don't have the time right now, and it sounds like you lot don't either."
> Give the trident another flourish and resume our initial defensive stance, trident again at mid-range. Adopt a neutral expression.
> "And that's not why we're here, is it?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "This is just a quickie facial. I could do the whole body if given time to study, but I don't have the time right now, and it sounds like you lot don't either."
> Give the trident another flourish and resume our initial defensive stance, trident again at mid-range. Adopt a neutral expression.
> "But that's not why we're here, is it?"

>"You better not!" says Tenshi. Then she looks toward her followers. "You guys going to get her, or what?"
>You five her other five followers approaching you. They are also spreading out. This is going to be difficult, you can't really be five places at once, even if they are amateurs.
>"Don't worry too much about getting her by accident," says Tenshi. "She can take it, she's a youkai."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

Tagging out for someone that actually knows how to fight.

I would feel bad about the situation, but it appears it would have happened regardless. <_<

[Kilgamayan]

> Are they trying to surround us, or are they just forming a sort of line?

[Hello Purvis]

> Are they trying to surround us, or are they just forming a sort of line?

>They are definitely trying to surround you.

>_

[Fightest]

>They are definitely trying to surround you.

>_

> Well this seems just a smidge unfair. Well, whatever.
> Can we do extremely quick shifts with our transformation ability without really fixing where they go or making it look decent? Like make bones bend where they're not supposed to? (I can't remember if this was addressed.)
> Either way, don't let them surround us. Pick the most unsure-looking of them and just charge while they're getting into position, give them a solid blow to the stomach, get behind their back, and press our back against theirs. Always move along with them to maintain this back-to-back position - that'll make it easier to fend off the rest, what with them having to come from the front.

[Hello Purvis]

> Well this seems just a smidge unfair. Well, whatever.
> Can we do extremely quick shifts with our transformation ability without really fixing where they go or making it look decent? Like make bones bend where they're not supposed to? (I can't remember if this was addressed.)
> Either way, don't let them surround us. Pick the most unsure-looking of them and just charge while they're getting into position, give them a solid blow to the stomach, get behind their back, and press our back against theirs. Always move along with them to maintain this back-to-back position - that'll make it easier to fend off the rest, what with them having to come from the front.

>This is most certainly unfair. You have the inkling it's exactly why Tenshi ordered it.
>You can theoretically do those kinds of things, but not fast enough to be useful.
>You charge at the least prepared-looking Celestial, the second one on the right. She cries out and tries to bring her sword to bear, but you slip through her defenses and bat her firmly with the head of your trident. She stumbles, and you are able to move past her.
>The others are moving quickly now, trying to surround you.

>_

[Fightest]

>You can theoretically do those kinds of things, but not fast enough to be useful.

> Darn. Is it within the scope of this game for us to become able to do so?

>You charge at the least prepared-looking Celestial, the second one on the right. She cries out and tries to bring her sword to bear, but you slip through her defenses and bat her firmly with the head of your trident. She stumbles, and you are able to move past her.
>The others are moving quickly now, trying to surround you.

>_

> We're going to have to get tricky.
> Rotate our celestial by pinning her foot with our trident and then bodily pushing backwards so that she is facing one of her allies, then unpin foot and continue pushing backwards to have the two collide.
> Always continue pressing up against the back of our celestial.
> Start channeling Jackie Chan.
> Keep trident in right hand, slip our left arm up the back of the shirt of the celestial at our back, and through her right sleeve.
> Wrench forward with our left arm. We've got to make that joint hurt so we can use it later without impediment.
> Then step back and just a bit around and swing our left arm back and across - see if we can use our celestial to smack the one she'd just collided with, ideally with her sword.

[Hello Purvis]

> Darn. Is it within the scope of this game for us to become able to do so?

> We're going to have to get tricky.
> Rotate our celestial by pinning her foot with our trident and then bodily pushing backwards so that she is facing one of her allies, then unpin foot and continue pushing backwards to have the two collide.
> Always continue pressing up against the back of our celestial.
> Start channeling Jackie Chan.
> Keep trident in right hand, slip our left arm up the back of the shirt of the celestial at our back, and through her right sleeve.
> Wrench forward with our left arm. We've got to make that joint hurt so we can use it later without impediment.
> Then step back and just a bit around and swing our left arm back and across - see if we can use our celestial to smack the one she'd just collided with, ideally with her sword.

>You have been doing this since the Heian Age, at least. You're reasonably sure, barring some kind of extraordinary event, that you've reached the acme of your shapeshifting skills in that regard.
>You try to pin the celestial's foot. Unfortunately, with her being behind you, you can't really see her feet. Trying to ascertain where they are, she starts to break away from you, by moving forward.

>_

[Fightest]

>You try to pin the celestial's foot. Unfortunately, with her being behind you, you can't really see her feet. Trying to ascertain where they are, she starts to break away from you, by moving forward.

>_

> None of that. Bonk her on the head to instill nausea. Then proceed as above.

[Hello Purvis]

> None of that. Bonk her on the head to instill nausea. Then proceed as above.

>You turn and hit her on the head! Wile this does dizzy her, it does little to keep her from stumbling away. You should be able to keep up with her, but you're not sure if you can keep up with her movements.
>At the same time, the others are largely in position, having you mostly surrounded and closing in.

>_

[Fightest]

>You turn and hit her on the head! Wile this does dizzy her, it does little to keep her from stumbling away. You should be able to keep up with her, but you're not sure if you can keep up with her movements.
>At the same time, the others are largely in position, having you mostly surrounded and closing in.

>_

> Hm.
> Keep close to the dizzied celestial. She's more of a danger to her allies than she is to us at the moment, provided we're careful she doesn't grapple us.

If we can't pull off the sort of stuff I described in my earlier post, then we're simply not skilled enough to win this. I can and will attempt to do as much damage as possible, however.

mostly surrounded

> Trip up the dizzied celestial just enough that we can shove her in the direction of the opening.
> Follow closely, using her as cover on one side, stabbing at feet that come too close from the other. We have to get out of the surround.

[Hello Purvis]

> Hm.
> Keep close to the dizzied celestial. She's more of a danger to her allies than she is to us at the moment, provided we're careful she doesn't grapple us.
> Trip up the dizzied celestial just enough that we can shove her in the direction of the opening.
> Follow closely, using her as cover on one side, stabbing at feet that come too close from the other. We have to get out of the surround.

>You keep close to the dizzied celestial, shove her toward the opening, and move as the celestials do. You go around her to the the left, and jab at the celestial you tries to close in on you. Holding the celestial to the right off, you managed to break free of the their encircling maneuver.

>_

[Fightest]

>You keep close to the dizzied celestial, shove her toward the opening, and move as the celestials do. You go around her to the the left, and jab at the celestial you tries to close in on you. Holding the celestial to the right off, you managed to break free of the their encircling maneuver.

>_

> Spin our celestial around, just to keep her disoriented, send her stumbling into the nearest celestial, follow up from behind her with a blunt-end jab to the solar plexus to the crashed-into celestial.

[Hello Purvis]

> Spin our celestial around, just to keep her disoriented, send her stumbling into the nearest celestial, follow up from behind her with a blunt-end jab to the solar plexus to the crashed-into celestial.

>In escaping, you have left the dazed celestial behind. And hitting someone in the solar plexus from behind would require you to be Yukari.

>_

[Fightest]

>In escaping, you have left the dazed celestial behind. And hitting someone in the solar plexus from behind would require you to be Yukari.

>_

> I meant from behind the dizzied celestial. Poking out, as it were, and, well, poking forward.
> That said, if we've lost our celestial, then retreat away from the group, and start to pace in a lazy circle around them, forcing them to reorient.