Iku Quest Cztery: A Z-Machine Adventure

[DracoOmega]

>"Um, excuse me, but are you looking for something?"
>Be ready to dodge, if she reacts the same way she did to Lunasa.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Um, excuse me, but are you looking for something?"
>Be ready to dodge, if she reacts the same way she did to Lunasa.

>"You took my book, didn't you!" she cries.
>She is practically glaring daggers at you, you suspect she might try something drastic at any moment.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I haven't even seen a book anywhere around here, I swear. When did you notice it missing?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"I haven't even seen a book anywhere around here, I swear. When did you notice it missing?"

>"None of your business!" she says, raising her hands in an obvious preparation to fire.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Put hands up in a disarming gesture
>"I'm sorry! I was only trying to be helpful!"

[Hello Purvis]

>Put hands up in a disarming gesture
>"I'm sorry! I was only trying to be helpful!"

>You try to calm things down.
>"Where is my book?!" the poltergeist cries, her hands still raised.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"I have no idea, I swear!"
>"I might be able to help, if you let me."

[Hello Purvis]

>"I have no idea, I swear!"
>"I might be able to help, if you let me."

>"How!" she says. "And why were you following me!?"

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"How? A second pair of eyes, perhaps? Or, if you tell me what you know happened to it, I might be able to try to figure out where it went."
>"As for why I've been looking for you, well... I'm searching for the answer to a mystery. I'd hoped there might be a chance you knew something. I just wanted to talk to you about it."

[Hello Purvis]

>"How? A second pair of eyes, perhaps? Or, if you tell me what you know happened to it, I might be able to try to figure out where it went."
>"As for why I've been looking for you, well... I'm searching for the answer to a mystery. I'd hoped there might be a chance you knew something. I just wanted to talk to you about it."

>For a moment, you almost think you see her expression soft a little. Then she opens fire, sending a wave of purple bullets in your direction. It shouldn't be difficult to slip between them, but going around entirely may be a better course.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Did we get all of that out before she opened fire? If not, at what point did she interrupt us?
>Shift around to the side of the bullets
>"Why are you shooting at me?!"

[Hello Purvis]

>Did we get all of that out before she opened fire? If not, at what point did she interrupt us?
>Shift around to the side of the bullets
>"Why are you shooting at me?!"

>You got as far as "talk to you"
>You shift around the wave, and find that she is rapidly closing in on you. Some of the shots hit the trees with a rather meaty thump.
>"You know too much!" she shouts, throwing another wave of bullets at you as she closes in; this one is more like an undifferentiated cloud.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Shift backwards quickly. Try to keep a fairly wide distance between us and don't let her close it.
>As we do, angle away so that the cloud will pass us by
>"Know too much about what?! The problem I've had all day is that I know too little!"

[Hello Purvis]

>Shift backwards quickly. Try to keep a fairly wide distance between us and don't let her close it.
>As we do, angle away so that the cloud will pass us by
>"Know too much about what?! The problem I've had all day is that I know too little!"

>You back away and angle away from the cloud. You feel a sharp impact against your back; you sidled into a tree!
>She does not answer your entreaty, closing in on you behind the wave of bullets. A few of those bullets are poised to hit you.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Quickly glance behind us, and slip around the tree we just hit, so as to evade the bullets
>Is there some break in the trees above us that would permit a relatively speedy ascent to less crowded territory?
>In general, how crowded is the area we're in?
>How close is the poltergeist to us?

[Hello Purvis]

>Quickly glance behind us, and slip around the tree we just hit, so as to evade the bullets
>Is there some break in the trees above us that would permit a relatively speedy ascent to less crowded territory?
>In general, how crowded is the area we're in?
>How close is the poltergeist to us?

>You look back, then slip around the tree; the wave goes right past you; hitting the tree hard enough to send splinters flying.
>You don't know, but they don't seem so dense as to prevent it.
>It's crowded enough you can move around, but there is a good chance you'll find trees in your way in one direction or another in the course of a normal fight.
>A few yards and closing fast, while drawing her arm back!

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Drawing her arm back fist-like? Or in the sense of reading to launch more danmaku?
>Take another quick glance behind us, and find open room to retreat along
>Dash backwards in this direction, while keeping an eye on her
>"Would you please stop? I don't want to fire at you, but I will if you keep this up. I just came to speak with you."

[Hello Purvis]

>Drawing her arm back fist-like? Or in the sense of reading to launch more danmaku?
>Take another quick glance behind us, and find open room to retreat along
>Dash backwards in this direction, while keeping an eye on her
>"Would you please stop? I don't want to fire at you, but I will if you keep this up. I just came to speak with you."

>More fist-like, but not quite.
>You retreat away diagonally, slipping between the trees. Unfortunately, you are finding that moving backwards it not quite as swift as moving forwards; your assailant closes the distance between you.
>"You know too much!" she shouts, and swings her fist at you!

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Duck and sidestep her fist
>As we shift, lash out at her arm with our scarf and try to grab it
>If it fails to make full purchase, but still contacts, send a shock down it
>If it grabs her, and she moves to attack with the other arm, or fire more danmaku, shock her

[Hello Purvis]

>Duck and sidestep her fist
>As we shift, lash out at her arm with our scarf and try to grab it
>If it fails to make full purchase, but still contacts, send a shock down it
>If it grabs her, and she moves to attack with the other arm, or fire more danmaku, shock her

>You duck away from her fist, then send your scarf out to grab her arm. She does not to seem to have anticipated this at all, and you grab her arm firmly, throwing off her attack and causing her to cry out with rage.
>She comes at you with her other arm, and you send a shock down it, anticipating her action enough that your shock is able to ruin the attack before it began. She cries out again, this time in a much higher pitch.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"That's enough! You can stop and talk with me, or I can do that again."
>Be ready to repeat the shock if she does anything aggressive

[Hello Purvis]

>"That's enough! You can stop and talk with me, or I can do that again."
>Be ready to repeat the shock if she does anything aggressive

>"No!" she cries, quickly grabbing your shawl with her other hand, and throwing her herself against it.
>Her tug is a lot less than you anticipated, to be honest; poltergeists must not actually weigh much. But you still feel your scarf being wrenched from you.
>You try to electrocute her again, but you do not have much of a charge ready at the moment. The effect isn't enough to really throw her off like last time, but does cause her attempts to tug away your shawl to slacken for a moment.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Tighten our grip on our shawl with the hand that lashed it
>Fire a burst of danmaku at her torso with our other hand; take advantage of her limited mobility
>How close are we to a tree with trunk no more than a handspan or two around?

[Hello Purvis]

>Tighten our grip on our shawl with the hand that lashed it
>Fire a burst of danmaku at her torso with our other hand; take advantage of her limited mobility
>How close are we to a tree with trunk no more than a handspan or two around?

>You tighten your grip. As you do, she moves to the left, flanking you and making it a bit more difficult to tag her with off the cuff danmaku. Your grip is wrenched a little bit, but you still have a good hold on your shawl.
>Many of the trees here are about that thick; the one you bumped into a moment ago is just ahead of you and than size.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Try to shift our position towards a nearby tree, without either directly dragging against her, or letting ourselves get closer than we already are
>Move such that the length of scarf between our arm and hers is across the tree trunk, and try to shift around it, using the tree as a brace against her efforts to disarm us
>As we attempt to shift, take any opportunity that presents itself to toss some danmaku in her direction

[Hello Purvis]

>Try to shift our position towards a nearby tree, without either directly dragging against her, or letting ourselves get closer than we already are
>Move such that the length of scarf between our arm and hers is across the tree trunk, and try to shift around it, using the tree as a brace against her efforts to disarm us
>As we attempt to shift, take any opportunity that presents itself to toss some danmaku in her direction

>You approach the tree. As you do, she continues to circle you; she will soon go behind you if you do not attempt to stop her or turn to face her.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Turn ourselves to keep the poltergeist in direct line of sight, as she moves

[Hello Purvis]

>Turn ourselves to keep the poltergeist in direct line of sight, as she moves

>You turn to face her, moving to intersperse the tree between the two of you. She continues to circle; and will soon will have gone in a half circle from her prior position. You think she is also giving you a little slack, as well.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Giving us a little slack? Does that mean she's stopped trying to pull the scarf from us?
>Does she seem to be doing anything else?

[Hello Purvis]

>Giving us a little slack? Does that mean she's stopped trying to pull the scarf from us?
>Does she seem to be doing anything else?

>It seems so. And, she is grinning in a way you don't like as she move completes her half-circle and raises her foot.

>_