Author Topic: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)  (Read 49008 times)

(Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« on: August 10, 2011, 06:45:14 AM »
>You are Nazrin, a newly inducted member of the Seeker's Guild. It's your third day on the job and you've already had a few misadventures.

>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've now returned to Easthaven to investigate a series of cattle disappearances there and have discovered giant spiders living in the woods north of town. After much searching, a tense battle, and many, many hills, you have finally found what may be an entrance to their lair.

>How far does the wall run? What does the general shape of the spider house seem to be?

>Given that it is the same wall that has run along the side of the gully all this way and continues into the distance, you would say it runs a very long distance indeed. The shape of the wall in the immediate area does not seem notably different than elsewhere along the gully.

>What does the air smell like down there, or can we tell through the brush?
>Can we hear any sounds of movement from behind the brush, any sounds of moo-ing?

>The air in general does smell somewhat more of spider than it did earlier, but it would help if you were closer.
>You hear neither sounds of movement nor mooing from that direction at the moment.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #1 on: August 10, 2011, 07:00:09 AM »
>Are we aware of the existance of trapdoor spiders?
>If so, examine the ground directly in front of the lair for any sign of incongruity or anything else out of place.
>In fact, do so anyway. Never a bad idea.
« Last Edit: August 10, 2011, 07:07:35 AM by Sourfang »

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Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #2 on: August 10, 2011, 07:10:17 AM »
>Do we have any beer on hand?
>Search for a rock, throw it in, hide. Peep to see if there are any guarding spiders.
>Are we aware of the existance of any spiders that could jump down and devour us?

<Nietz> Anyway, sex toys alone won't come up to 11k.
[18:48] <Warma> There must have been a new depth, where you've sunk as a person. Then you dug through that.

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Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #3 on: August 10, 2011, 07:19:17 AM »
>How large would we estimate the area covered is? House sized, guild-halled sized, block-sized, East-haven sized?*

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #4 on: August 10, 2011, 07:39:04 AM »
>Are we aware of the existance of trapdoor spiders?
>If so, examine the ground directly in front of the lair for any sign of incongruity or anything else out of place.
>In fact, do so anyway. Never a bad idea.

>You are aware of the existence of mundane-sized ones, though you don't think they're common in this part of the world. You shudder at the thought of one half as large as the giant spiders you tangled with earlier.
>Looking at the ground directly in front of the lair, you see signs of creatures having passed by there - some trampled grasses and such - but nothing you would consider otherwise incongruous. You feel relatively confident the concealment is natural, rather than spider-made. Either that or they're very, very good at it - a disturbing thought, certainly.

>Do we have any beer on hand?
>Search for a rock, throw it in, hide. Peep to see if there are any guarding spiders.
>Are we aware of the existance of any spiders that could jump down and devour us?

>None whatsoever.
>You scan about for a stone light enough to reach the distance, then hurl it towards the spot the spider appeared from and dart behind a nearby tree. You hear the rustle of the stone sailing through brush, followed by several light tapping impacts of stone against stone. You wait a moment. No other sounds of motion answer it. Poking your head out of cover, you see no sign of other spiders.
>You don't know about the jumping, but those larger ones looked plenty capable of devouring you.

>How large would we estimate the area covered is? House sized, guild-halled sized, block-sized, East-haven sized?*

>The plant cover runs unbroken for about 15 feet of gully wall, though you're unsure if it's even as tall as you are, and certainly not much taller.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #5 on: August 10, 2011, 08:02:08 AM »
>Perhaps a more direct approach, then.
>Slide back down into the gully.
>Poke the ground in front of the entrance with the pitchfork from as far away as we can manage.
>Assuming nothing reaches out to snag us, approach the lair cautiously, and have another listen for any signs of movement from the other side of the plant cover. Or anywhere else around.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #6 on: August 10, 2011, 08:08:43 AM »
>Perhaps a more direct approach, then.
>Slide back down into the gully.
>Poke the ground in front of the entrance with the pitchfork from as far away as we can manage.
>Assuming nothing reaches out to snag us, approach the lair cautiously, and have another listen for any signs of movement from the other side of the plant cover. Or anywhere else around.

>You decide to get more up close and personal with the foliage.
>You slide back down into the gully and approach the apparent entrance. Once you get within maximum pitchfork range, you prod the ground in front of the entrance several times. Nothing pounces out to grab at the tines, or you; the place is quite and still.
>You walk a little closer and have a listen. You don't hear any sounds on the other side of the foliage, nor notable ones elsewhere.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #7 on: August 10, 2011, 08:19:08 AM »
>Reach out with the pitchfork and peel back some of the plant covering the lair and have a look inside. How dark is it down there?

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #8 on: August 10, 2011, 08:42:06 AM »
>Reach out with the pitchfork and peel back some of the plant covering the lair and have a look inside. How dark is it down there?

>You reach out with the pitchfork and push aside some of the brush. Behind it there is a hole in the side of the gully, very roughly circular and perhaps four feet in diameter. Soil is gathered around the edges of it, but it looks like the interior is mostly rock. You can see inside for a couple feet before the passage twists and descends out of sight. It does look quite dark, and the smell of spider emanating from it is pungent. There's definitely more of them down there, somewhere.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #9 on: August 10, 2011, 08:51:01 AM »
>Do we have anything on hand that we can use as a light source?

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #10 on: August 10, 2011, 09:03:20 AM »
>Do we have anything on hand that we can use as a light source?

>You aren't carrying anything that readily lends itself to the task. You suppose it's not out of the question that you could improvise something, but you're not certain what.

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Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #11 on: August 10, 2011, 09:06:28 AM »
>You aren't carrying anything that readily lends itself to the task. You suppose it's not out of the question that you could improvise something, but you're not certain what.

>Inventory.
>What do we know about flammable things? Particularly tree resins and the like?

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #12 on: August 10, 2011, 09:54:22 AM »
>Inventory.

>Pitchfork (in hands)
>Prism Pendant (around neck)
>Seeker's Badge (pinned to chest)
>195 Val Razuan guilders
>Compass
>Traveling pack
>Traveling rations
>Canteen (mostly empty)
>Lockpicks
>2 kunai
>Picture of Sokrates
>Fuwafuwa Heart Droplet
>Mysterious rusty part
>Antique Val Razuan 1 guilder coin
>Dowsing rods
>Tie-dyed umbrella
>Spool of baling twine
>Oversized belt
>Hunting knife

>What do we know about flammable things? Particularly tree resins and the like?

>You do know of some tree resins that are suitably flammable and could identify a couple of said trees if need be.

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Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #13 on: August 10, 2011, 10:05:03 AM »
We could get a stick, wrap it in baling twine, and have a poorman's torch. Though we'd need to soak it in something so it doesn't burn too quick.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #14 on: August 10, 2011, 10:09:24 AM »
I'm afraid this is outside my expertise. Did you have anything in mind?

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Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #15 on: August 10, 2011, 10:14:39 AM »
Actually...

>Does the twine seem to be treated at all to avoid rotting?

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #16 on: August 10, 2011, 10:26:19 AM »
>Does the twine seem to be treated at all to avoid rotting?

>You believe so; it's not uncommon for baling twine to be treated with tar for that purpose.

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Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #17 on: August 10, 2011, 10:27:43 AM »
>Look around for some decent kindling.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #18 on: August 10, 2011, 10:31:43 AM »
>Look around for some decent kindling.

>There was a small dry and dead tree a short way back that you think could yield many twigs suited to that purpose.

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Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #19 on: August 10, 2011, 10:47:21 AM »
>Retrieve a medium-sized twig from dead tree. Grab a smaller one for later use.
>Construct poorly-made torch as best as you can.
>Find a chestnut, a particularly large one. Cut a small hole in it. They're said to repel spiders, but you don't know about supremely large ones.

<Nietz> Anyway, sex toys alone won't come up to 11k.
[18:48] <Warma> There must have been a new depth, where you've sunk as a person. Then you dug through that.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #20 on: August 10, 2011, 10:54:25 AM »
A chestnut? That's a new one on me, where's that come from?

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Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #21 on: August 10, 2011, 10:54:34 AM »
>Also gather a pile of tinder, wrap a bit of the tinder up with the twine. Make two of them.
>Once we have it all set up, find a good spot to set fire to the tinder, then use that to light the torch. Afterward, stamp out the tinder pile.

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Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #22 on: August 10, 2011, 01:18:28 PM »
The smell of chestnuts repel spidars. Or so they say.

>Get Flint to light the tinder, if unable to, do it the old fashioned way by rubbing it until it bursts into flames. Or something along those lines.

<Nietz> Anyway, sex toys alone won't come up to 11k.
[18:48] <Warma> There must have been a new depth, where you've sunk as a person. Then you dug through that.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #23 on: August 11, 2011, 03:42:06 AM »
>Find a chestnut, a particularly large one. Cut a small hole in it. They're said to repel spiders, but you don't know about supremely large ones.

>Unfortunately, you haven't seen any chestnut trees in the area at all.

>Retrieve a medium-sized twig from dead tree. Grab a smaller one for later use.
>Construct poorly-made torch as best as you can.
>Also gather a pile of tinder, wrap a bit of the tinder up with the twine. Make two of them.
>Once we have it all set up, find a good spot to set fire to the tinder, then use that to light the torch. Afterward, stamp out the tinder pile.
>Get Flint to light the tinder, if unable to, do it the old fashioned way by rubbing it until it bursts into flames. Or something along those lines.

>You walk back to the dead tree and tear a few suitable twigs free, then use the hunting knife to scrape shavings for tinder. Then you select a pair of solid fresh branches for the base of the torches from a nearby tree and strip the excess foliage from them. You wrap numerous rounds of the baling twine around the head of the two branches, working some tinder in, then knot them securely. They look more than a little crude, but they might just work.
>Lighting them takes a little more effort. You fail to find any flint nearby, though you do manage to dowse out a suitable quartz after a minute or two of searching; it should serve the purpose nearly as well. You chip away at it until there is a sharp enough edge to strike sparks from steel and then set to work, trying to coax fire from quartz and hunting knife. This takes more than a couple tries, but eventually the tinder catches alight and you hold a torch against it. After a few uncertain moments, the head starts to smolder and fire slowly grows to engulf the twine. You think you may be in business. You stamp out the rest of the burning tinder on the ground.

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Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #24 on: August 11, 2011, 03:50:35 AM »
>Let's head into that spider house.
>But do we wary for new spiders being around along the way.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #25 on: August 11, 2011, 04:03:30 AM »
>Let's head into that spider house.
>But do we wary for new spiders being around along the way.

>You return back to the tunnel entrance, keeping alert for any newcomers that have decided to appear. A cautious assessment suggests the place is still as empty as it was earlier, thankfully.
>Passing through the wall of brush while carrying a lit torch and without setting the whole thing on fire takes some finesse, though you eventually manage to move enough aside with the pitchfork to clear a safe path. The flame of the torch casts flickering light against the rock walls of the interior. You step inside.
>The air inside feels stagnant and smell strongly of spider and several other unidentifiable things. There isn't a lot of room in here; the low ceiling forces even you to crouch a little. A few feet ahead of you, the tunnel curves downwards and twists to the left and out of sight.

Hello Purvis

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Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #26 on: August 11, 2011, 04:04:43 AM »
>Follow the tunnel. Be sure to let out ears do some work, too.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #27 on: August 11, 2011, 04:17:03 AM »
>Follow the tunnel. Be sure to let out ears do some work, too.

>You proceed further into the tunnel, keeping your senses peeled. Beyond the first turn, the tunnel continues to descend and twist, growing sometimes wider, and sometimes even narrower. After a frustratingly short time, it becomes difficult to tell where you are in relation to the entrance beyond 'dozens of feet lower'. There is little visible sign of habitation, and the ground is too firm to leave trails.
>After a little while, you think you hear movement ahead. Glancing in that direction, you note what looks like a small side tunnel - the first such thing you've seen - intersecting with yours about 12 feet ahead.

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Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #28 on: August 11, 2011, 04:29:48 AM »
>Draw closer to that side tunnel and listen. Don't expose ourself to the opening, but get close to it.
>Be ready to make a jabbing weapon of that torch.

Re: (Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)
« Reply #29 on: August 11, 2011, 04:32:05 AM »
>Speaking of that torch, are we capable of carrying it in our tail?