(Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 3)

[DracoOmega]

>Sigh quietly. How vexing.
>Continue on, but give a wide berth to the area that sound was coming from.

>You sigh quietly. This is about the last time and place you'd want to hear noises without sign of their cause.
>You continue onward, taking a detour from the direct route to leave a wide distance around the place it seemed to be coming from. You make it about 50 feet away when you hear more sound of quiet motion to the west. The original spot is still quiet, although roughly within sight, through the trees.

[Hello Purvis]

>Look westward. Can we tell where that motion may be coming from, or how large of a thing can be concealed?
>Ready a kunai. In fact, ready two.

[DracoOmega]

>Look westward. Can we tell where that motion may be coming from, or how large of a thing can be concealed?
>Ready a kunai. In fact, ready two.

>You look westward. Frustratingly, you don't see anything in that direction either, at the moment. You can tell fairly specifically where the sound is coming from; it's perhaps 30 or so feet distant. There is enough foliage and trees blocking line of sight in that direction that it's possible a larger spider could be concealed, although if the source of the noise is large, it's extremely quite for its size. It's quite quiet, period, actually.
>You've kept one kunai at the ready since your break at the stream. You draw a second to accompany it.

[Oldmansour]

>Glance up. Can we see anything in the branches of the trees above us?

[DracoOmega]

>Glance up. Can we see anything in the branches of the trees above us?

>You glance up at the trees above you. You see nothing among the branches that shouldn't be there. You don't hear any noise coming from above you, either.

[Oldmansour]

>Find a decent tree to climb, then climb it.
>Look westward once we get a better vantage point.

[DracoOmega]

>Find a decent tree to climb, then climb it.
>Look westward once we get a better vantage point.

>You find a suitable tree nearby and make your way up its branches.
>Once there, you look west again. This doesn't give you as far a vantage as you might hope, given how the land continues to rise up in that direction, still crowded with trees. If you keep moving forward, you're going to have a rather more strenuous hike on your hands soon. You still don't see anything out of place. The sound stops.
>Wait, there it is again! Just as you're about to mutter in frustration once more, you finally catch a faint hint of motion on the other side of a bush. There is a small spider creeping through the undergrowth about 25 feet away. Well, 'small'; it's funny how an encounter like you had earlier can change your perspective on such things. It's around the size of the first spider you chased and seems to be roughly similar in kind. Its coloration makes it blend in quite well with its surroundings; if it hadn't been moving, you're pretty certainly you wouldn't have spotted it at all.

[Oldmansour]

>Which direction is it moving?
>Is it the only spider we can currently detect?
>Are we agile enough to leap from one tree to another?

[DracoOmega]

>Which direction is it moving?
>Is it the only spider we can currently detect?
>Are we agile enough to leap from one tree to another?

>It is moving vaguely southeast, somewhat in your general direction, although not directly towards you.
>For the moment, you believe so, but you wouldn't be able to detect similarly quiet movement at much further than the distance this spider is from you now.
>That depends on how suitable the tree in question is as well as how close. Although the forest is fairly dense in most places, a great many of the trees aren't particularly suited for climbing and even less so for leaping onto - they simply don't present clear branches at the right height. That being said, there are one or two nearby that you might be able to attempt this on, if you were so inclined.

[Oldmansour]

>Are any of those in the direction we're traveling in?
>If so, make a leap for one of them.

[DracoOmega]

>Are any of those in the direction we're traveling in?
>If so, make a leap for one of them.

>Neither are directly in the direction you were traveling, but you decide one is close enough.
>You position yourself, aim for a clear branch, and leap, reaching your arms out to grab onto your target. You grasp your hands firmly onto the branch as you sail within reach, making a dull creaking noise and rustling the leaves heavily as they shake with the sudden force. You push your feet against the trunk for purchase, then hoist yourself up onto the branch.

[Oldmansour]

>Nin nin!
>Look westward again.
>Can we hear any running water sounds?
>Check beneath us and around as well for any spider signs in the immediate vicinity.

[DracoOmega]

>Nin nin!
>Look westward again.
>Can we hear any running water sounds?
>Check beneath us and around as well for any spider signs in the immediate vicinity.

>You look westward again. You can't see much that you couldn't see a moment earlier. The spider has stopped moving, however. It seems to be facing in your direction.
>You do not.
>You look about the tree and the nearby landscape. You see no other signs of spiders at the moment.

[Oldmansour]

>How clear a shot do we have at that spider?
>How much distance is there between us and that spider?

[DracoOmega]

>How clear a shot do we have at that spider?
>How much distance is there between us and that spider?

>There are a few other limbs of the tree partially obscuring the view, but you think you have a passable shot through an opening in it.
>Around 20 feet or so.

[Oldmansour]

>Too far away.
>Is there another tree we can jump to in that direction?

[DracoOmega]

>Too far away.
>Is there another tree we can jump to in that direction?

>You decide the distance is too far at the moment.
>There only trees directly closer to the spider are either too far away to reach from where you are or too short. There is one about 45 degrees off that direction, but it should still put you at least a couple feet closer to the spider. It's not as suitable to leap to as this one was, but probably still doable.

[Hello Purvis]

Let's not snipe the spider. Better to just let it wander off.

>Do we recall any distinctive physical features of the spitter?

[DracoOmega]

>Do we recall any distinctive physical features of the spitter?

>It was slate gray, and had a very large bulbous abdomen for its overall size, with knobby angular legs. The one you are currently looking at does not resemble it particularly.

[Oldmansour]

If it wanders off, so be it. But if we can get a clear headshot, we should take it. One less spider now is one less that can bushwhack us later, or swarm us when we find the lair.

>Does the one in front us resemble the small spider that led us into that ambush?

[DracoOmega]

>Does the one in front us resemble the small spider that led us into that ambush?

>Its coloration is somewhat more muted, but it does indeed look quite similar.

[Hello Purvis]

Given there is very likely someone intelligent behind them, taking aggressive action will probably kill our ability to make a peaceful resolution. Right now, we can claim ignorance and self defense. It'd actually help in such a case if we can claim to have seen one and let it go.

[Oldmansour]

Then how would you suggest we deal with this one? Stare at it until it gets bored and wanders off?

>Make a leap for that tree.

[Kips McKipzerson]

Then how would you suggest we deal with this one? Stare at it until it gets bored and wanders off?

>Make a leap for that tree.

>Disregard this.

It doesnt see us, And I'm pretty damn sure we can make a safe path around it. We dont need to go through any more trouble today. Also, Remember how much trounle we had with one spider. You make it seem like a headshot will kill it instantly, And we'd be perfectly fine after.

[Oldmansour]

Because we would. The spitter was nearly dead after one headshot, and that wasn't even a clean hit. This one doesn't even look to be as tough as the spitter. So yes, I do think one clean headshot would take it down, we'd be fine and clear to continue on, and have one less spider at our backs that can jump on us.

Unless you've got a better idea, Kips?

[Hanzo K.]

I say we just shadow this one, if it leads us to someone intelligent that we can talk with, then there's hope yet for these eight-leggers.
And if memory serves, the type of spider that I assumed the one spider that we first found was could act almost chameleon-like in respects to colors.
So it's quite possible that this is the very same one from before, just "wearing a different outfit" so to speak.

[Oldmansour]

Reasonable enough. For now.
Just for the record, though, I have serious doubts there's any sentient life out here other than us. Maybe I'm wrong, though. We'll see.

>Observe the spider from our current position.

[Hello Purvis]

We've seen the equivalent of wolves, hyenas, and jackals cooperating. I think Nazrin can probably ICly assume there's something behind it. Different species don't tend to do this unless there's a guiding intellect behind them.

[Narouge]

Just for the record, though, I have serious doubts there's any sentient life out here other than us. Maybe I'm wrong, though. We'll see.

Same. I firmly believe this is just a social spider hive. I also think that by the time we head up there it be to late to avoid a few things. Ambush predators after all.

Also  members of the same race of insects can look like completely different races. Just cause they don't look the same and have different skills dose not mean their different races.

[DracoOmega]

>Observe the spider from our current position.

>You continue to observe the spider. It remains motionless, not unlike the last time this sort of thing happened, albeit with your vertical positions reversed.