Reisen Quest Still: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> Screw the Fairy Slingshot, where's the Silk Shot when we need it?

>The Oni Eater slips away while you ponder this.
>You cancel the Spellcard, as the Oni Eater is now firmly out of range.

> Also chase after the creature and "aim" for the cilia instead with everything we're firing

>You chase after the Oni Eater, firing off a few shots. They do not achieve much, before the monster slips out of sight. Apparently it can cover a lot of ground with all of those legs, when it wants to.
>You enter the vaulted chamber again. The lone Oni Manacle seems undisturbed, and at a glance, there doesn't seem to be any place for the Oni Eater to be hiding here; the rocky columns are not thick enough for it to hide effectively. You suspect, assuming it isn't in here, that it either went South, to the chamber with the creepy shadows, or west into the unknown.

>_

[Thaws]

>Head off to the chamber with creepy shadows!  :ohdear:

[Kasu]

> Consider the possibility of leaving and trying to get Mokou to come with us now that we know it's weakness.

[Hello Purvis]

>Head off to the chamber with creepy shadows!  :ohdear:

>You head south and return to the shadowy chamber.
>The chamber seems to be undisturbed, though you take your time checking the shadows before your enter. Walking into it, although the shadows leave you a bit wary, you see no sign of the Oni Eater. Presuming it has come through here, it might have gone southeast toward the echoing chamber, or it may have gone northwest toward parts unknown. You are not sure it came this way at all. Obvious exits are North, Northwest, and Southeast.

> Consider the possibility of leaving and trying to get Mokou to come with us now that we know it's weakness.

>You could theoretically leave and try to convince Mokou to help you. But she probably won't be amenable to coming underground to begin with, and you don't want to really consider the price she might ask.

>_

[Kasu]

> Check northwest for recent activity.

[Serela]

>It'd be a good idea to find the Gem and get the hell out of here. We haven't been Northwest yet, so if we don't think (or can't tell) if the Oni Eater went that way, we should go there.

[Hello Purvis]

>It'd be a good idea to find the Gem and get the hell out of here. We haven't been Northwest yet, so if we don't think (or can't tell) if the Oni Eater went that way, we should go there.

>You head northwest.
>The corridor is a short one, though you notice a rusted oni manacle along the way. As you draw close to the end of the corridor, you hear the sound of rustling, which you recognize as the the Oni Eater's legs moving. It is ahead.

>It'd be a good idea to find the Gem and get the hell out of here. We haven't been Northwest yet, so if we don't think (or can't tell) if the Oni Eater went that way, we should go there.

>You know it is there now. But this is also one of the ways that you have yet to explore.

>_

>_

[Serela]

>If the other voices agree, declare Lunatic Sign: Visionary Tuning (+Red Gem) as a sneak attack on the Oni Eater. Get a little closer before declaring if needed.

I'm kinda hoping it'll just freak out and leave the room.

[Hello Purvis]

>If the other voices agree, declare Lunatic Sign: Visionary Tuning (+Red Gem) as a sneak attack on the Oni Eater. Get a little closer before declaring if needed.

I'm kinda hoping it'll just freak out and leave the room.

>You consider Lunatic Sign: Visionary Tuning. If you have time to set it up, you could be quite devastating against a creature that large. But it takes a few moments to really get going, not to mention that you have to stay fairly close to the familiars to keep them going. It could work beautifully, but if the Oni Eater is able to react quickly enough, you might be in real trouble.

>_

[Kasu]

> Risk it.  We need to take this thing out as fast as possible.

[Serela]

>Dooooo iiiit

[UncertainJakutten]

>Sure, give it a shot.

[Kasu]

> Keep the Bottled Wind on hand too just in case.

[Hello Purvis]

> Risk it.  We need to take this thing out as fast as possible.

>Dooooo iiiit

>Sure, give it a shot.

> Keep the Bottled Wind on hand too just in case.

>You prepare the spellcard in one hand, and take your Bottle of Wind and hold it in the other for quick deployment, then head into the chamber.
>This chamber is huge, easily dozens of yards long and equally wide, large enough that your Blue Gem is unable to light the whole thing.
>You waste no time is declaring Lunatic Sign: Visionary Tuning, letting the power of the Red Gem flow into the spellcard. Familiars begin to appear at the edges of the room, some yards ahead of you, creating orderly lines of bullets. The Red Gem's has not taken effect yet, but you can feel its power flowing.
>You see the online of Oni Eater clinging to the far wall, the glow of its cilia visible in the darkness. You also start to hear a lot of metallic rattling around you.

>_

[Kasu]

> Check for source of rattling.
> Brace for impact if necessary.

[Hello Purvis]

> Check for source of rattling.
> Brace for impact if necessary.

>You take your eyes from the Oni Eater and look around for the source of the metallic rattling.
>You see that there are quite a few Oni Manacles and chains in this chamber, they are starting to move about.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Eyes back on the Oni Eater.

[Kasu]

> Crap.  Ponder the possibility that the Oni Eater can use elemental metal magic.

[Hello Purvis]

> Eyes back on the Oni Eater.

>You look back to your opponent. It is just sitting there for now, waving its cilia about.

> Crap.  Ponder the possibility that the Oni Eater can use elemental metal magic.

>It's certainly doing something to those manacles and chains, much as it did to your Crescent Pin and money.
>The rattling becomes a great deal louder, out of the corner of your eye, you can see several of the manacles and chains suddenly flying toward the ceiling.
>Your spellcard's first shifting effect first shifting, causing the bullets to move around the edges of the chamber and grow ever more tangled. At the same time, balls of flame shot from the familiars and travel in straight lines toward the far side of the room; one of the slams close to the Oni Eater's, causing it to shift position.

>_

[Kasu]

> Keep up the offensive.

[Hello Purvis]

> Keep up the offensive.

>You try not to worry about all the pieces of metal that have suddenly taken to the air, and focus on maintaining the spellcard. Just a few more moments...
>The rattling stops for a moment, then just as suddenly resumes and is quickly getting closer!

>_

>_

[Kasu]

> Dodge as best you can.  If it gets too hard, unleash the Bottled Wind on the metal.

[Hello Purvis]

> Dodge as best you can.  If it gets too hard, unleash the Bottled Wind on the metal.

>You take a fraction of a second to assess the metal coming at you, then throw yourself to the ground! Most of the metal passes over you, but a sharp pain flares across your back where one of the chains strikes you on the way down.
>Your spellcard wavers a bit, with your concentration broken, but you are able to restore it quickly enough despite the ache in your back. The metal slams into the floor with a cacophony of jangles, then slides along toward the opposite of the chamber. Now all the metal is gathered on one side of the chamber.
>Your spellcard shifts again, weaving the patterns together ever further. The Oni Eater draws away from the fireballs, and moves toward the open center of the mess. Soon, it won't have anyplace to run.
>You see that it is holding it mandibles wide open now. You're not sure what to make of this gesture.

>_

[Kasu]

> Try to aim some danmaku into its mouth.

[Hello Purvis]

> Try to aim some danmaku into its mouth.

>Unfortunately, the spellcard takes up most of your concentration. You are unable to add anything of that nature to it unless you choose to break it.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Divert Red Gem flame power from the spellcard to normal firepower and have it shoot fire at the Oni Eater's mouth.
> If we cannot do this without breaking the spellcard entirely, then forget that plan and start slowly circling the Oni Eater instead, ideally getting/staying out of the way of where its mouth is aiming.

[Hello Purvis]

> Divert Red Gem flame power from the spellcard to normal firepower and have it shoot fire at the Oni Eater's mouth.
> If we cannot do this without breaking the spellcard entirely, then forget that plan and start slowly circling the Oni Eater instead, ideally getting/staying out of the way of where its mouth is aiming.

>You withdraw the Red Gem's power from your spellcard, and direct it toward firing upon the Oni Eater. There is some delay as it gathers power; you sense that this gem is not not made to affect things over a distance easily.
>As it does so, you do your best to circle away from the Oni Eater while keeping your spellcard intact. As it is clinging to the far wall, you cannot circle too far from it. But you note, in the glow of its cilia, that its eyeless head is following your motions.
>You hear a lot of metal jangling to your right.
>The Red Gem produces a fireball and sends it flying at the Oni Eater's Mouth. The monster seems to sense it coming, as it skitters up the wall, into the path of several of your card's bullets. It squeals as one of them slips between its segments, but it manages to slip around the fireball entirely.

>_

[MysTeariousYukari]

> Have the Red Gem continue it's assault, and try to have it fire at a faster rate, even if it has less power per fireball.

Those cilia-things seem to work as the Oni Eaters eyes and they seem to be how the Oni Eater is so dangerous, it can manipulate metallic objects to some extent with those things.

[Hello Purvis]

> Have the Red Gem continue it's assault, and try to have it fire at a faster rate, even if it has less power per fireball.

>You try to coax the Red Gem to fire more quickly.
>Before you can really confirm whether or not it succeeds, you hear the metallic jangling to the right get a whole lot louder.

>_

[Thaws]

>Attempt to redirect the metal attack by making the Blue Gem move away from you and near the cilia of the Oni Eater so it can detect its motion.