Iku Quest Cztery: A Z-Machine Adventure

[DracoOmega]

>Raises her foot?
>Quick, where is our shadow, relative to her?
>If her movement is bringing her inside or towards it, quickly move so that she isn't. If this means relinquishing our hold on her, do so.

[Hello Purvis]

>Raises her foot?
>Quick, where is our shadow, relative to her?
>If it's anywhere near her, quickly move so that it isn't. If this means relinquishing our hold on her, do so.

>You notice that she is standing right on it.
>You have to dive aside to get your shadow away from her, relinquishing your hold on her arm. As you do so, you feel a sharp pain in your leg, like you just took a kick.
>You land on your side hard, you right leg aching. The poltergeist approaches you; or more precisely, your shadow. Her prior confidence seems to have melted away into rage again.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Quickly get back to our feet
>Get some distance and try to move around her such that our shadow is behind us, rather than in front of us
>Throw a bolt of lightning at her as we strafe around

>"So it was you. Why have you done all this?"

[Hello Purvis]

>Quickly get back to our feet
>Get some distance and try to move around her such that our shadow is behind us, rather than in front of us
>Throw a bolt of lightning at her as we strafe around

>"So it was you. Why have you done all this?"

>You quickly get back to your feet, and try to open up some distance; as you do, she stomps on your shadow again, and it feels like you just got kicked in the gut! The pain is enough to keep you from calling up any lightning for the moment.
>"Where is my book!?" she shouts at you, drawing her hand back again.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Didn't we dive our shadow out of her range the first time?
>Regardless, try to get our shadow away from her. If there's any trees nearby we can use to block our shadow, do so. Stagger or dive towards them if we need to.

>"I told you, I don't know!!"

[Hello Purvis]

>Didn't we dive our shadow out of her range the first time?
>Regardless, try to get our shadow away from her. If there's any trees nearby we can use to block our shadow, do so. Stagger or dive towards them if we need to.

>"I told you, I don't know!!"

>She doesn't seem to have just stood there in the meantime, and you had to stand up.
>You stagger toward a largish tree, the poltergeist moving after you. The tree takes your shadow well, keeping it off the ground and away from the poltergeist.
>"Tell me where it is!" she shouts back, and she rains her hands and fires more danmaku at you; this time a moderately cohesive line of shots directed at your torso.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Shift aside from the shots, keeping close to the tree, and making absolutely certain not to expose our shadow
>Counter with a spread of lightning orbs
>"No matter how many times you ask that, I don't know the answer!"

[Hello Purvis]

>Shift aside from the shots, keeping close to the tree, and making absolutely certain not to expose our shadow
>Counter with a spread of lightning orbs
>"No matter how many times you ask that, I don't know the answer!"

>You hug close to the tree, and find that you'll have to either expose your shadow from moving back, or move away from the tree and allow more of it to fall on the ground between you and the tree.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Which of these two options places the shadow further from the poltergeist and least accessible to her?
>For that matter, is the tree to our back, or our side?
>Which direction is our shadow falling on, relative to both us and the poltergeist?

[Hello Purvis]

>Which of these two options places the shadow further from the poltergeist and least accessible to her?
>For that matter, is the tree to our back, or our side?
>Which direction is our shadow falling on, relative to both us and the poltergeist?

>Moving away from the tree would probably make it harder for her to get to it, but either way gives her an opening.
>The tree is at your left side at the moment; as is your shadow. The poltergeist is just ahead of you, so it would be on her right side a little.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Shift to our right to move out of the way of the incoming shots
>Launch a spread of lightning orbs at the poltergeist as we do so, aimed to cover both the poltergeist and the gap we're opening up with our shadow
>If the poltergeist manages to close into melee range despite this, lash at her legs with our scarf. If we can catch her mid-stride, and cause her own momentum to trip her, all the better. Shock upon contact, whether a successful grapple or near miss.

[Hello Purvis]

>Shift to our right to move out of the way of the incoming shots
>Launch a spread of lightning orbs at the poltergeist as we do so, aimed to cover both the poltergeist and the gap we're opening up with our shadow
>If the poltergeist manages to close into melee range despite this, lash at her legs with our scarf. If we can catch her mid-stride, and cause her own momentum to trip her, all the better. Shock upon contact, whether a successful grapple or near miss.

>You shift to your right and avoid the shots with easy, leaving about a yard and a half between you and the tree.
>You try to cover both the opening and the poltergeist with some orbs. She moves between them, and rather than closing in, stops and sends another messy wave of shots in your direction. You may be able to move between them, but if you want to assuredly dodge them you will have to move further from the tree.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Quickly glance about. Can we see another tree that would offer similar cover, and which we can get to while backing away from the poltergeist?
>If so, shift back that way, while keeping our eyes on her.
>Launch another wave of orbs as we retreat.
>If not, launch another wave of orbs from our current position and attempt to dodge between the incoming fire without opening up a larger gap between us and the tree
>Be ready to go for her legs if she gets close enough

[Hello Purvis]

>Quickly glance about. Can we see another tree that would offer similar cover, and which we can get to while backing away from the poltergeist?
>If so, shift back that way, while keeping our eyes on her.
>Launch another wave of orbs as we retreat.
>If not, launch another wave of orbs from our current position and attempt to dodge between the incoming fire without opening up a larger gap between us and the tree
>Be ready to go for her legs if she gets close enough

>You take a quick glance, and notice another such tree a bit to your left and behind you some distance, but the way looks moderately clear. You shift toward it, exposing your shadow and sending off another volley of orbs. The poltergeist stands there, glaring daggers at you and letting you escape for the moment.
>You reach this new tree safely. She still hasn't followed you, though she is still watching.

>_

>_

[DracoOmega]

>About how much distance is there between us now?
>Does the poltergeist seem to be doing anything other than glare at us?
>Do we have a relatively clear line of fire?

>"What will it take to convince you that I don't have your book? Is that why you attacked the others, earlier? Did you think they'd taken it as well?"

[Hello Purvis]

>About how much distance is there between us now?
>Does the poltergeist seem to be doing anything other than glare at us?
>Do we have a relatively clear line of fire?

>"What will it take to convince you that I don't have your book? Is that why you attacked the others, earlier? Did you think they'd taken it as well?"

>There's a good six yards or so between the two of you.
>At first, it doesn't seem so, but looking more closely, you see her shadow is moving and changing.
>You do.
>"They knew to too much," she says, her voice a growl.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Does Aya's camera flash?

[Hello Purvis]

> Does Aya's camera flash?

>Yes.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Does her shadow appear to be extending out towards ours?
>If she herself is remaining stationary, call down a bolt of lightning on top of her
>Then, if the shadow is approaching us, find another suitable tree and retreat a little bit more

[Hello Purvis]

>Does her shadow appear to be extending out towards ours?
>If she herself is remaining stationary, call down a bolt of lightning on top of her
>Then, if the shadow is approaching us, find another suitable tree and retreat a little bit more

>No, it seems to be contracting. It really doesn't look like a person at all anymore. More like a sizable rock.
>You call down a bolt from the blue. It strikes her full on. She winces, but doesn't seem to be especially perturbed by it. That's unusual...

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Launch the strongest, most concentrated danmaku we have in our repertoire at her, whether they're slow or not
>Continue to carefully watch both the poltergeist and her shadow. Be ready to react quickly if there is any sudden change in status

[Suwako Moriya]

The fairies did mention a rock with no shadow, didn't they?

Bet this means she can imitate Nitori and Kogasa, too.

[Hello Purvis]

>Launch the strongest, most concentrated danmaku we have in our repertoire at her, whether they're slow or not
>Continue to carefully watch both the poltergeist and her shadow. Be ready to react quickly if there is any sudden change in status

>You give her your best. Unfortunately, concentrated means it is not particularly hard to step around, which she does. She's smiling again, a kind of smile you don't really like, as she begin to approach.
>The poltergeist is approaching. Her motions don't seem to be quite as fluid as before. Her shadow has stopped moving, and most definitely looks like a large stone.

>_

[DracoOmega]

The fairies did mention a rock with no shadow, didn't they?

Bet this means she can imitate Nitori and Kogasa, too.

Quite possibly. My concern is that, if she's manifesting an actual part of these people that was taken from them, injuring her while she's doing so might actually be harmful to them.


>Launch a fragmenting orb of lightning at her, timed to divide around the point it would get near her
>Try to keep our distance as she approaches, using trees as previously

[Suwako Moriya]

If her motions aren't as fluid, it may be time to out-agile her. I'm guessing the shadow metamorph grants both strengths and weaknesses.

Sorry I can't help more, but I'm extremely limited availability for the next 12 hours.

[Hello Purvis]

>Launch a fragmenting orb of lightning at her, timed to divide around the point it would get near her
>Try to keep our distance as she approaches, using trees as previously

>You prepare and send out another lightning orb, while she closes some of the distance; jogging toward you. She does not bother to dodge it; the lightning touches her, and doesn't seem to do much to her.
>You draw back; there are three trees you consider to be good candidates. One is nearby and a bit toward the right; west if you have your directions proper. Another is directly behind and to the north amidst a fairly thick stand of trees. The third is a bit to the east, and some distance away.

>_

[Suwako Moriya]

Some more musings, since I have the time.

- Aya's camera could be good for a temporary blinding if she gets too close. Given she's a rock right now, physical strikes to ssensitive areas may be the best action plan, such as poking her in the eyes.
- This girl is powerful, well-equipped and determined, but she's also simple and emotional. This will ultimately be a battle of wits more than anything else, because we're not going to win a slugfest. An idea I had was to taunt her while using book puns; hopefully getting her madder will cause careless mistakes and overly direct attacks, and a constant annoying reminder that her book is missing should do that trick nicely. I know we've been reluctant to do certain things throughout the game, but we're all in on this fight. We've seen what happened to Nitori and Kogasa - that cannot happen to us, both for our sakes and Gensokyo's.

[Hanged Hourai]

>Can we use our scarf as a drill?

[Hello Purvis]

>Can we use our scarf as a drill?

>You do know this technique, but you have to be fairly close to use it well; and if you want to get the most out of it, it takes a few moments of preparation and leaving yourself open.

>_

[Suwako Moriya]

>In which direction is our shadow falling?
>And presumably this girl is coming at us from that same direction?
>How long does it take to prepare Aya's camera for picture-taking?


Suggestion: Get around her so our shadow is not in her range.