Author Topic: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)  (Read 48121 times)

(Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« on: September 18, 2011, 08:05:13 AM »
>You are Nazrin, a newly inducted member of the Seeker's Guild, and you are returning from the most grueling mission of your short career.

>While investigating a series of cattle disappearances around the village of Easthaven, you uncovered a nest of giant spiders. Your subsequent investigation of their lair proved a harrowing experience, earning you a multitude of injuries and costing you most of the weapons you brought with you, some of which were borrowed in the first place. You killed a dozen giant spiders, but encountered more besides, as well as a hatchery filled with eggs and juveniles. On top of this, you never managed to locate any living cattle. You expect none are likely to be found there anymore.
>In the process of your search, you encountered a spider youkai who attempted to take revenge for her fallen kin. Your attempts to make peace were rejected, but after a long and arduous confrontation, you managed to injure her heavily and force her to flee. You still hope that some of your entetries may eventually get through to her, or things may go very badly in the future.
>One of the few bright spots of the trip, and likely the reason you are still alive at all, was your discovery of an artifact katana that seems to possess great power against spiders. Its history and exactly how it ended up inside a spider's domain in the first place are still unknown.

>In your previous endeavors, you found and retrieved a cat for a witch named Ellen and were rewarded handsomely for your efforts. You found two stay cats for a group of fairies to adopt as pets. You got into a fight with an oni who was attacking a man outside a restaurant, and assisted Orange in arresting her. You found and delivered a lost fruit shipment to the Melon Bowl in Braston, retrieving it from Cirno, a self-styled swordsman who had driven its rightful owner off in the name of defending her fellows from harm. In the process, you met another fairy named Honeysuckle Dewdrop and adopted her as a sidekick of sorts, with the promise that some day she might be experienced enough to be a sidekick to Cirno. You left her the tutelage of Marisa, who promised to at least try and teach her a few things.

>You are currently under open sky after finally making your way out of the caverns and back onto the surface. Unfortunately, you are also injured, extremely weary, nauseous and believe you are developing a fever...

>Put it out of our mind. Time for fever later. We can be sick once we put some distance between our rodent-backside and all those legs. And we will be sick...
>Look about for anything we can use for a suitable walking stick, and grab it if there is one to be found.
>From where we are, can we figure out where it was that we left that kunai we threw into the ground way back when?
>If that location is more or less in line with the route back to town, head towards that discarded weapon.
>If it isn't, then just back to Easthaven. The sight of a building would be very welcome about now.

>You try to put your many ills out of your mind. This is still no place to rest, so close to the spider caverns. Once you get back to Easthaven, there will be a soft bed and all sorts of comforts awaiting you. You're not sure you have ever been so eager for the embrace of that sleepy place.
>You scan about for a walking stick, selecting a dead fallen branch of roughly suitable size and stripping a few of the excess branches from it. It's not great, but it'll do.
>You have no idea where you are beyond 'among the hills these caverns are in'. The kunai you left in the ground could be in any direction from your current position. You're fairly certain you could find it if you followed your original trail, though.
>For that matter, you can't tell the direction of Easthaven beyond 'somewhere between south and west'. These hills stretch for quite a ways, and you have no easy way of knowing whether you're even close to the entrance you used the last time.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #1 on: September 18, 2011, 08:23:24 AM »
>Okay, then, point ourselves between south and west and start walking.

Aya Squawkermaru

  • "You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war." - William Hearst
  • Relevant quote is relevant.
Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #2 on: September 18, 2011, 04:31:57 PM »
>Also, be on the lookout for sounds of the river. If we find it again, we can use it to orient ourselves.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #3 on: September 18, 2011, 11:24:57 PM »
>Okay, then, point ourselves between south and west and start walking.
>Also, be on the lookout for sounds of the river. If we find it again, we can use it to orient ourselves.

>You point yourself in the general direction of Easthaven and start walking, keeping an ear out for any sound of the river - encountering it in the forest would be a sure sign that you've gone too far west.
>You slowly work your way down the hillside, taking care not to stumble - this proves to be a more difficult task at this point than you care to admit. Your legs feel weak and unsteady and you sense of balance is... uneven and dulled. Still, you descend into the denser woods at the base of the slopes without incident and keep trudging forward. Despite yourself, you find your pace steadily slowing. Though you long for the comfort of Easthaven with every sinew of your injured body, each step is simply too taxing to speed up. It feels like someone coated all your limbs in lead and then made you run a marathon while sleeping. Your breathing feels labored and your mind is dull and somewhat dizzy. Trees and rocks blur together into a seemingly endless tableaux, and you lose all track of how far you've come. Have you been walking 10 minutes? Or was it 30?
>You touch a hand to your forehead and still have just enough presence of mind to be alarmed at how hot it is.

Hello Purvis

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  • Hello Jerry
Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #4 on: September 19, 2011, 02:00:05 AM »
>Well, it's not going to get any better without us.  Proceed and try to find a familiar landmark. Don't think too hard, just pay attention to the scenery.
>Use the sword as a walking stick to help drag us along.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #5 on: September 19, 2011, 02:32:10 AM »
>Well, it's not going to get any better without us.  Proceed and try to find a familiar landmark. Don't think too hard, just pay attention to the scenery.
>Use the sword as a walking stick to help drag us along.

>You keep trudging forward, hoping to keep enough awareness about you to recognize any familiar landmarks. Otherwise, you let your mind drift; truly, you are uncertain whether you could stop it even if you tried. You mechanically make your way past a blur of nondescript wilderness; nothing among it stands out as distinct. You are uncertain at this point whether you haven't crossed your old path or whether you're simply too disoriented to recognize it. Soon enough you find yourself needing to consult your compass regularly simply to keep moving in a straight line.
>You try using the sword as a walking stick and do find it helpful for a time, but as your balance worsens, it becomes a danger in and of itself. Resting your weight against it in the wrong way results in nearly driving it into your own leg. After that, you stick with just the branch that you gathered for such a purpose. It's a little more awkward, but at least it isn't sharp.
>You can feel you consciousness fading in and out; you've found yourself walking periods with your eyes nearly closed now, becoming aware of this only after tripping over rocks or exposed root. You don't know where you are and barely know where you're going; everything all looks the same.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #6 on: September 19, 2011, 02:45:37 AM »
>Stop long enough to take a drink from canteen, then pour some water over our head. Can't stop now, might be spiders...
>Press on. As best we can.

Hello Purvis

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  • Hello Jerry
Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #7 on: September 19, 2011, 02:51:46 AM »
>Talk to ourself.
>"Orange better not have taken my food...Swear I'll break her in three places if she touched that cupboard. Maybe I'll make 'em deal with cats, that's what I'll do. See how they like it..."
>Keep it up. Speech forces some level of wakefulness!

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #8 on: September 19, 2011, 04:27:26 AM »
>Stop long enough to take a drink from canteen, then pour some water over our head. Can't stop now, might be spiders...

>You stop briefly to take a drink from your canteen, gulping the water greedily and then pouring some more over your head. The feel of its cold touch against your burning forehead is almost blissful. You wish you could rest here, but even in your current state, you know it isn't safe.

>Press on. As best we can.
>Talk to ourself.
>"Orange better not have taken my food...Swear I'll break her in three places if she touched that cupboard. Maybe I'll make 'em deal with cats, that's what I'll do. See how they like it..."
>Keep it up. Speech forces some level of wakefulness!

>You press forward, mumbling to yourself as you walk in the hope that it might keep you awake. Words pass your lips, though their meaning seems strange and alien. Why were you talking to yourself again? Your tongue feels thick and heavy and the words start to slur together. Just another few feet and you can be home. Just another few feet and you can... where were you going, again? You feel yourself falling. You never hit the ground.

>You fall, and fall, and fall, until you wonder if you have spent your whole life falling. Broken fragments of sensation tug at the edge of your awareness; voices, sometimes faces, all jumbled and unrecognizable. You feel like some of them are important, but you don't know why. There was something you were supposed to do... Why can't you remember? It's hot; almost too hot to breathe. You need water, but you can't move. Flashes of pain and combat and fear and hatred assail you. And more voices. Why can't you understand them?
>You feel yourself carried away as if by a river, endless and inexorable. You have spent years adrift upon upon it, discordant cries wailing at you from beyond its banks. You want to cover your ears but your limbs are wrapped in silk. And then you fall beneath its surface and drown. And drown. You have spent whole lifetimes drowning, the water in your lungs thick and sticky, like tar. There is no air in the universe; it has all been squelched and you are condemned to gasp for breath until the world ends. Fragments of a thousand splintered faces swirl around you like pieces of a broken mirror, their forms twisted and mocking. From their mouths stream a cacophony of voices: hope and fear and grief and anger and every emotion still allowed to exist compressed into a single sound and damned to be repeated for all eternity. It's too much. It's far too much.You want to scream but your lungs are full of sand.
>You have forgotten who you are. You have forgotten why this even matters. There is nothing in existance but this place, this endless void of dissonance and half-remembered lives. And then the universe slowly falls dark around you. At last, you have been allowed to die.

>Dimly, you become aware of your own consciousness. You can see.... is that the underside of a bunk bed? Your limbs are leaden and you feel deeply weary and disoriented. Something seems to be wrapped tightly around your right hand; you're unsure what it is. Orange light streams into the room from somewhere behind you.

Aya Squawkermaru

  • "You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war." - William Hearst
  • Relevant quote is relevant.
Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #9 on: September 19, 2011, 04:31:20 AM »
>Try to sit up, slowly.
>Look around, and try to orient ourselves.
>Do we remember who we are now?

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #10 on: September 19, 2011, 04:35:24 AM »
>"...Mother?

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #11 on: September 19, 2011, 05:00:35 AM »
>Do we remember who we are now?

>Unless something's changed since the last time you were conscious.

>Try to sit up, slowly.
>Look around, and try to orient ourselves.

>You attempt to sit up. While your weariness makes this require a surprising amount of exertion, you manage it well enough.
>Then you look around and try to orient yourself. This... looks like your room, at the orphanage. And-
>"....Nazrin?" comes a tentative voice from beside you. Though her tone is strangely subdued, after all these years you could recognize that voice anywhere. Kneeling at the side of your bed, her hands clasped together in meditation, is Ichirin.

>"...Mother?

>Ichirin looks at you for a moment, her expression strangely hard to read. You can see glimmers of surprise and uncertainty and deep emotion flicker across her eyes and feel more than a little self-conscious, despite yourself. Then Ichirin throws her arms around you and pulls you tight against her.
>"Oh Nazrin..." she says, her voice wavering just a little.

Hello Purvis

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  • Hello Jerry
Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #12 on: September 19, 2011, 05:11:26 AM »
>Look at Ichirin, start to piece together how we ended up here...
>"Oh crap! How long was I out!?"

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #13 on: September 19, 2011, 05:13:14 AM »
Add before that:
>Close our eyes and bask in the sensation. Then hug her as well, as best as we can.
>"I made it..."
>And when the memories come running back to us; the spiders, the darkness, the river, the youkai, the gas, the long, lonely trip to the sunlight, the fever that claimed us, the nightmare that wracked us. And the fear, the fear of facing our death at every turn. Then we can cry a little, in Ichirin's arms.
>"I really made it."

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #14 on: September 19, 2011, 05:33:29 AM »
>Close our eyes and bask in the sensation. Then hug her as well, as best as we can.
>"I made it..."
>And when the memories come running back to us; the spiders, the darkness, the river, the youkai, the gas, the long, lonely trip to the sunlight, the fever that claimed us, the nightmare that wracked us. And the fear, the fear of facing our death at every turn. Then we can cry a little, in Ichirin's arms.
>"I really made it."

>You close your eyes and accept the embrace. It... feels like home. Though you trained for years so that you could leave this place, never before have you felt more glad to be here. You bring your own arms up to return her hug, only to again notice the odd binding around your right hand. Is that... a hilt you can feel your fingers still wrapped around? You decide to simply hug her with one arm for the moment; that question can just a bit.
>You quietly breathe an acknowledgment of your own existence as the memories of what you've been through floor back to you. You knew what you were getting into when you became a Seeker; you've always known it. And yet... perhaps no matter how much you were aware of the risks, you hadn't truly known it. But you made it back. Despite it all, you made it back. You're determined to emerge the stronger for all that you've been through, but for just this moment... you allow yourself to cry. You can hear Ichirin softly sobbing as well.

>Look at Ichirin, start to piece together how we ended up here...
>"Oh crap! How long was I out!?"

>You remember the chain of events clearly enough to figure out what likely happened. You have no idea how close to Easthaven you were when you passed out, but someone must have found you and brought you here. Whatever sickness you contracted... was clearly very acute.
>"You've been unconscious for..." Ichirin turns her head and looks out the window. "Just over two days now."

Hello Purvis

  • *
  • Hello Jerry
Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #15 on: September 19, 2011, 05:35:24 AM »
>Ah hell.
>"The spiders! Where?"

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #16 on: September 19, 2011, 05:40:20 AM »
>Ah hell.
>"The spiders! Where?"

>Dammit! You can't afford to have spent all that time unconscious!
>"No one's been hurt while you're been asleep," Ichirin says, smoothing the back of your hair with her hand. "Don't worry."

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #17 on: September 19, 2011, 05:46:35 AM »
>Try to calm ourselves down a bit, but that answer of hers doesn't mean there hasn't been any trouble at all.
>"The spiders... Has there been any sign? I don't know if they followed me, I was so sick...."
>Oh, yeah. Sick.
>"The sword... If it's tied to my hand... Did you do that?"

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #18 on: September 19, 2011, 06:28:06 AM »
>Try to calm ourselves down a bit, but that answer of hers doesn't mean there hasn't been any trouble at all.
>"The spiders... Has there been any sign? I don't know if they followed me, I was so sick...."

>"Don't worry about the spiders," she says. "The Prismrivers volunteered to scout the nearby woods and I've asked Unzan to patrol above the village. No one's seem any of them come here in the last two days."

>"The sword... If it's tied to my hand... Did you do that?"

>Ichirin frowns a little. "You... got much worse when it was taken away from you, so we put it back. There is some aura about it that helps push back the disease... at least a little. It mightn't be necessary anymore; I'm not sure."

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #19 on: September 19, 2011, 06:45:28 AM »
>"Yeah... Found out that little benefit myself. Neat little sword, this. Really saved my tail. 'course, we'll have to see how I... do without, soon."
>How's our breathing? Or nausea? Or that weight on our chest? And we must be starving, for that matter.
>"So... Two whole days, and no sightings?"

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #20 on: September 19, 2011, 06:52:45 AM »
>"Yeah... Found out that little benefit myself. Neat little sword, this. Really saved my tail. 'course, we'll have to see how I... do without, soon."
>How's our breathing? Or nausea? Or that weight on our chest? And we must be starving, for that matter.
>"So... Two whole days, and no sightings?"

>Ichrin frowns slightly and takes a slow, deep breath, then nods.
>Your breathing feels mostly ok; your lungs feel a bit sore and raspy, but your airflow seems fine. You are perhaps slightly nauseous, but this is subsumed in a general sense of weariness and ill-health. Nothing feels profoundly wrong with you, although you wouldn't mind just lying here for a while. Logically, you expect you should be starving, but don't have much appetite.
>"I believe the Prismrivers did encounter some in the forest," she says, "but they've left the village alone."

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #21 on: September 19, 2011, 07:17:54 AM »
>Small sigh of relief. "Well. That's not as bad as it could have been."
>Glance over our body, see how our wounds are healing up.
>"Suppose the next question is, how did I get here?"

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #22 on: September 19, 2011, 07:42:40 AM »
>Small sigh of relief. "Well. That's not as bad as it could have been."
>Glance over our body, see how our wounds are healing up.
>"Suppose the next question is, how did I get here?"

>Ichirin nods, her brow creased with concern. "Indeed. After what happened to you, we've all been vigilant. We don't know what you encountered after you left that second time. Lunasa didn't want to risk venturing too deep towards their lair without hearing what you'd found, first, though some of the villagers have been getting... restless."
>You glance over your body to take stock of your injuries. You are dressed in new and clean bedclothes and the wounds on your arms seem to be mostly healed, though there is still some sign of the deeper ones. You can't see your shoulder at the moment, but it feels like the bandage has been removed from it and you feel no pain there.
>"The Prismrivers found you," she says. "The evening of the day you went missing. When you hadn't shown up by the time their concert was over, they went to look for you. You were in... bad shape," she says, frowning. "But you'd made it almost all the way back to the pasture. I'm just glad they found you when they did."

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #23 on: September 19, 2011, 07:54:55 AM »
>Nod at that sentiment. "I'll buy em a drink when I'm up and about."
>"So, I managed to get that far on my own. Heh." Manage a small smirk. "I'm made of stern stuff." Chuckle, then cough.
>"Hey.... When I was out, did I... talk, in my sleep?"

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #24 on: September 19, 2011, 08:00:24 AM »
>Nod at that sentiment. "I'll buy em a drink when I'm up and about."
>"So, I managed to get that far on my own. Heh." Manage a small smirk. "I'm made of stern stuff." Chuckle, then cough.
>"Hey.... When I was out, did I... talk, in my sleep?"

>Ichirin gives you an odd look, then slowly nods.
>A smile brushes against Ichirin's face, though you can see sadness still in her eyes. "You are a very brave person, Nazrin. And a very strong one. Never doubt it."
>"Nothing anyone could understand," she says, shaking her head.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #25 on: September 19, 2011, 08:18:34 AM »
>"I remember.... Well, doesn't matter. Was only a dream." A really disturbing one...
>"Tell me, and this might sound strange, but... Has anyone seen a blonde-haired youkai with the spiders?"

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #26 on: September 19, 2011, 08:22:30 AM »
>"I remember.... Well, doesn't matter. Was only a dream." A really disturbing one...
>"Tell me, and this might sound strange, but... Has anyone seen a blonde-haired youkai with the spiders?"

>Ichirin smiles gently and pulls you close again for a moment, but says nothing.
>"A youkai?" she says, frowning. "No, nothing like that."

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #27 on: September 19, 2011, 08:24:41 AM »
>Do we feel awake and aware enough to give Ichirin the gory details of our encounter with the youkai?

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #28 on: September 19, 2011, 08:27:17 AM »
>Do we feel awake and aware enough to give Ichirin the gory details of our encounter with the youkai?

>You think you could, as long as it didn't involve too much running around.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 5)
« Reply #29 on: September 19, 2011, 08:34:25 AM »
>"I found more than just giant spiders down there. There was a youkai down there, too. A spider youkai. It was actually her that did the most damage to me. Of course, I did almost as much damage to her, but I've no idea how fast she heals. She hated me so much, I'm almost surprised she didn't chase me out of that god-forsaken hole."