Keine Quest (Part 2): Broken History

[Hello Purvis]

>"Shame."
>"Let's have a look along the rest of this tunnel."
>Go left! Keep an eye out for loose crystals.

[Kasu]

> Quickly check the compass.
> Keep to the wall.

[DracoOmega]

>"Shame."
>"Let's have a look along the rest of this tunnel."

>"Well, got no place else to be for the moment," Mokou comments. "Actually-" She moves back to the hole you exited from and places another fire barrier across it. "Given how long we were in there, I don't know if they stopped chasing us or not, but I'd rather be safe than sorry."

>Go left! Keep an eye out for loose crystals.

>You decide to turn left, and continue down the tunnel. It's nice and quiet, aside from the sound of water dripping, and a nice breather after all the chaos of the last chamber. It is still pretty cold and damp, though. You notice several more crystal deposits along the way, some of them a fair bit larger than the ones you saw earlier, although none are just lying around.

> Quickly check the compass.

>You take out your seeking stone and look at it. It appears to be pointing somewhere about 30 degrees to the right of the tunnel's direction.

[E-Nazrin]

>Do the maths. Figure out where we are relative to the compass' 'point' now, and what direction it is from there to Eintei.

[Hello Purvis]

>Keep going. Any signs of civilization?

[DracoOmega]

>Do the maths. Figure out where we are relative to the compass' 'point' now, and what direction it is from there to Eintei.

>Well, the stone itself should be pointing directly at Eientei, so if you could walk right into the rockface next to you, that would be grand. You don't have any good way to tell how far away you are, yet. Judging by the distance you've traveled from the entrance, you think you've still got a fair distance to go, yet.

>Keep going. Any signs of civilization?

>You continue down the tunnel. There are still no signs of civilization. After a while, the tunnel you're in intersects with another. A small trickle of water is flowing downhill from your right.

[Hello Purvis]

>Examine the intersection. Does it look like anyone's been around here?

[DracoOmega]

>Examine the intersection. Does it look like anyone's been around here?

>You see no signs of current or recent habitation

[Hello Purvis]

>Sigh, and look for the path that inclines upward the most, and take it.

[DracoOmega]

>Sigh, and look for the path that inclines upward the most, and take it.

>You sigh. When was the last time tonight that something you tried actually worked out, you wonder. The intersecting path to your right, with the water running down it, seems to be inclining upwards the most. You start walking that way. The path continues upwards and eventually curves slowly to the left. In the distance, you can see a couple more evil spirits flickering.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Who would have thought there's be so many of those things in Former Hell?"
>Onward. If they act up, invite Mokou to relieve stress upon them.

[E-Nazrin]

>Don't provoke them unless we have a usable escape plan for if they get pissy and call their friends again.

[DracoOmega]

>"Who would have thought there's be so many of those things in Former Hell?"

>"Well, can you think of a better place for them to be?" Mokou comments. "Well, other than nowhere."

>Onward. If they act up, invite Mokou to relieve stress upon them.

>You continue moving forward. Thankfully, these do not seem to act aggressively towards you, and you pass by without incident. You finally see the source of the water: a small crack through one of the walls. The tunnel curves past it, and there is no longer any water running along it in this section. You think you may have doubled back on yourself, now, but aren't certain. Eventually you emerge into a small chamber. There are three passages that exit this place, other than the one you just came from. One to your left, and two towards your right.

>Don't provoke them unless we have a usable escape plan for if they get pissy and call their friends again.

>Fortunately this was not an issue this time.

[Hello Purvis]

>Inspect intersection for any signs that people may have once been here.

[DracoOmega]

>Inspect intersection for any signs that people may have once been here.

>No obvious signs that you can see. But there would be no way to leave footprints here, either.

[Hello Purvis]

>Things like tunnels smoothed by feet, signs of worked stone, sounds, or dropped things.
>Take the one that leads upwards the most.
>Use compass to keep a relative sense of direction.

[DracoOmega]

>Things like tunnels smoothed by feet, signs of worked stone, sounds, or dropped things.
>Take the one that leads upwards the most.
>Use compass to keep a relative sense of direction.

>You see no signs of any of these things, unfortunately.
>There is only a slight difference in slope to the tunnels, but you decide the middle one rises the most and follow it.
>According to your seeking stone, Eientei is about 100 degrees to the right of where you're facing at the moment.

>The tunnel continues featurelessly for a while, and then has a fairly pronounced rise and swerves to the left. You emerge into another vast chamber. You don't know if it's the same as the one where you had your encounter with the swarm of evil spirits, but it's similar. You seem to be on a ledge running along one side of the chamber, around 100 or so feet off the ground. You can see quite a few clouds of spirits hovering around, some nearby, and others in the distance. None of them seem to have taken notice of you, yet.
>"Aww, dammit!" Mokou exclaims. "How many more of those things can there possibly be down here?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"There's no way this could be the same chamber, we had to have gone up more than this..."
>Watch them spirits, and examine what we can see.
>"But...if it is, this is a way better position to deal with them now. And it means we're not nearly so lost anymore."

[DracoOmega]

>"There's no way this could be the same chamber, we had to have gone up more than this..."

>"Yeah, you'd think," Mokou agrees. "Of course, it could have, too. Who the hell knows, down here. Would be nice if we could see more of the place."

>Watch them spirits, and examine what we can see.

>The spirits still just seem to be milling about. You cannot see any wall other than the one you're near. The ledge seems to run to your left for a short way, and out of your light radius off to the right. The terrain on the ground looks similar to the previous large chamber, although you don't notice any lava trenches.

>"But...if it is, this is a way better position to deal with them now. And it means we're not nearly so lost anymore."

>"Progress is progress," she agrees. "And we have a sheltered and small around the corner to retreat to if necessary. Much better terrain if we have to start shooting things, again."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Mokou, are you going to be running out of those talismans anytime soon? A marker would be nice."
>Head out along the ledge. Ledges are hard to get lost on.

[DracoOmega]

>"Mokou, are you going to be running out of those talismans anytime soon? A marker would be nice."
>Head out along the ledge. Ledges are hard to get lost on.

>"Nah, I'm good. What did you want me to mark, though?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Put one one by the entrance. So if we get lost, we'll know we've been this way."
>Head rightward along the ledge.

[DracoOmega]

>"Put one one by the entrance. So if we get lost, we'll know we've been this way."
>Head rightward along the ledge.

>"Good enough for me." She tosses one by the entrance.
>You head right along the ledge for a fair distance. Eventually, you see another opening to your right, looking similar to the one you exited from earlier. The ledge seems to end a short distance after that.

[Hello Purvis]

>Enter the tunnel
>Have Mokou mark the floor, so we know we entered it, as opposed to exited.

[DracoOmega]

>Enter the tunnel
>Have Mokou mark the floor, so we know we entered it, as opposed to exited.

>You have Mokou leave another marker, indicating the direction you entered the tunnel, and proceed. It extends forward for some distance, then winds down and around to the right. You emerge into a small chamber that looks suspiciously like the one you just exited a few minutes earlier. There are three exits. One close to your right, another across the room from you, and a third a fair ways to your left.

[Hello Purvis]

>Mark the wall where we exited.
>Take the path we think would take us back to the blue crystal hallway we escaped into.
>Mark the floor.

[DracoOmega]

>Mark the wall where we exited.
>Take the path we think would take us back to the blue crystal hallway we escaped into.
>Mark the floor.

>You have Mokou mark that wall that you just exited, and then take the tunnel that you think eventually leads back to the crystal deposits. The tunnel continues to descend and curve, and you eventually see a stream of water trickling out from a crack in the wall to your left. If this is a different path, it looks pretty much identical to the way you came in here.

[Hello Purvis]

>Does the water seem clean? If so, have a drink. Spelunking is thirsty work.
>Then continue back to the glowing tunnel and go the other way one we reach the opening we made.

[DracoOmega]

>Does the water seem clean? If so, have a drink. Spelunking is thirsty work.

>The water seems fairly clear, although the flow isn't very large. Still you try cupping a little bit in your hands and taking a drink. Ick, it tastes a little earthy. You cough.

>Does the water seem clean? If so, have a drink. Spelunking is thirsty work.
>Then continue back to the glowing tunnel and go the other way one we reach the opening we made.

>You continue along your current tunnel, descending for a fair distance, and reach the intersection with the wider glowing tunnel. You turn into it and keep walking.
>"Why're we going back this way, anyway?" Mokou asks after a little while.

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm hoping to be thorough. We never went the other way from that hole we made. So far, most of the paths seem to twist back into that big chamber. I'm hoping this doesn't."