Yukari Quest II - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Yaersulf]

>Oops...
>Guess we have to go forward now, so let's get our bearings and do so.

[Hello Purvis]

>Oops...
>Guess we have to go forward now, so let's get our bearings and do so.

>Well, no one was hurt, probably.
>You continue forward. as the corridor continues deeper into the crystalline mass. Soon, you see another corridor merging into this one from the left, seeming to come from roughly the same direction as this one. Further ahead is another corridor, merging from the right.  A little ways beyond that, you can see the corridor widening into what seems to be a chamber of some kind.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Can we still hear the dripping?
> Can we even hear our own footsteps?
> If not, knock on the crystal and listen for a sound.

[Hello Purvis]

> Can we still hear the dripping?
> Can we even hear our own footsteps?
> If not, knock on the crystal and listen for a sound.

>You don't hear the dripping anymore, but you do hear your footsteps.

>_

[Yaersulf]

>Peer down the corridor to the left.
>Peer down the corridor to the right.
>Peer down the corridor to the left, and shake it all about.

[Hello Purvis]

>Peer down the corridor to the left.
>Peer down the corridor to the right.
>Peer down the corridor to the left, and shake it all about.

>You peer down the left corridor, and see it slopes sharply upward, and turns away to the right.
>Checking the other corridor, it meanders away, going so far that you can't really see the end.

>_

[Yaersulf]

>Hopefully it has an end.
>Investigate the chamber.

[Hello Purvis]

>Hopefully it has an end.
>Investigate the chamber.

>Keeping cautiously optimistic, you proceed onward.
>The tunnel widens a little, then opens up to a vast chamber. Immediately your eyes are drawn upward to a lattice of crystalline stalactites hanging from the ceiling.  There are dozens of them, easily hundreds feet overhead, extending downward. As they do, they, branch into more stalactites, which branch into even more. Where the individual stalactites meet, they fuse together to make crystal bridges and platforms. From those, new stalactites extend. They weave together to form an intricate lattice, some parts of it large enough to support a small room, and others near the bottom so tiny that you could easily wrap them in your hands.  Somewhere up above, you can see a faint glow, but you cannot make out what the source is. You can sense a gap somewhere up there, as well. As the lattice continues downward, more and more of the stalactites fuse together, until mere feet over the floor the entire mass comes to a single point at the center of the room. 
>Below, the floor curves downward, smooth as the sphere that you had entered from.  Near the bottom is a pool of clear water, perhaps a knee deep at its lowest point.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Are there any paths within this chamber that lead upward so we can make use of the features we've seen above us?
> How difficult would it be to approach the pool without slipping into it due to the curved surface of the floor?

[Hello Purvis]

> Are there any paths within this chamber that lead upward so we can make use of the features we've seen above us?
> How difficult would it be to approach the pool without slipping into it due to the curved surface of the floor?

>You don't see any obvious ways upward like that.
>The curve is reasonably gentle, you don't think you should have any problems.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Does it seem like the pool formed from drips from the giant central stalactite?
> Are we still wearing our socks?
> How wet does the ground look between here and the pool? Wet socks are mighty unpleasant.

[Hello Purvis]

> Does it seem like the pool formed from drips from the giant central stalactite?
> Are we still wearing our socks?
> How wet does the ground look between here and the pool? Wet socks are mighty unpleasant.

>It seems to be so. You think you might be glimpsing a tiny bit of water on the point just above the pool, but it's too far away to be sure. You suspect the results of opening up that border probably shook the water off.
>The floor mostly looks dry, but it seems a little wet near the edges of the water. You are still wearing your socks.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is our improv toga long enough that it brushes along the ground?

EDIT:

> How long are our socks?

[Hello Purvis]

> Is our improv toga long enough that it brushes along the ground?

>It is a little bit longer than knee length.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

Okay. I'll probably get looks for thinking of this but I swear i considered like three or four other optioms first before this one even occurred to me. We don't want the socks to get wet, so they need to come off our feet, but they also need to go somewhere secure that keeps our hands free, and this seems like the best bet for that.

> Take off our socks and put them on our chest, one sock on each. Hopefully we don't end up permanently stretching the elastic too wide...
> Once we're satisfied with how secure the socks are (i.e. they won't just slip off if we lean forward; bunch them up as necessary so that there isn't a substantial portion of sock dangling from either one), make our way carefully down to the water.

[Hello Purvis]

> Take off our socks and put them on our chest, one sock on each. Hopefully we don't end up permanently stretching the elastic too wide...
> Once we're satisfied with how secure the socks are (i.e. they won't just slip off if we lean forward; bunch them up as necessary so that there isn't a substantial portion of sock dangling from either one), make our way carefully down to the water.

>You consider this for a moment, but there's no way you're going to fit those around your chest without ruining them and possibly hurting yourself. You content yourself with stuffing them down the front of your makeshift toga and letting them be held in place by the pressure. It's not perfect, but it should do as long as the knots hold.
>You make your way down to water. It is clear and pleasing to the eye, rippling slightly from what you imagine is the aftermath of the border unsealing.

>_

[Yaersulf]

>Cup a small amount of water in our hands and try it.

[Hello Purvis]

>Cup a small amount of water in our hands and try it.

>You kneel down and gather some water into your hands, finding it to be nearly icy cold.  Bringing it to you lips, it is clean-tasting and is enough to waken the parched feeling you've been ignoring over the past few hours.

>_

[Yaersulf]

>Drink our fill.

[Hello Purvis]

>Drink our fill.

>You do so, slaking your thirst and cleaning out your mouth. It is rather pleasant water, if you had a proper vessel you wouldn't mind this at all.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Are there any obvious exists beyond the one that we used to enter the chamber?

[Hello Purvis]

> Are there any obvious exists beyond the one that we used to enter the chamber?

>Looking around a bit more, you can see another tunnel to your left, and another on the wall opposite of the one you came in. Both are level with the ground.

>

[Kilgamayan]

> How wide is the room, and what is the shape of the base?

[Hello Purvis]

> How wide is the room, and what is the shape of the base?

>The chamber is roughly circular, and easily close to a hundred feet in diameter.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Walking around the pool, make our way out of the chamber using the opposite-side exit.

[Hello Purvis]

> Walking around the pool, make our way out of the chamber using the opposite-side exit.

>You make your way around the pool and into another tunnel. It is rather similar to the last one you followed, sloping down into the pool chamber from above.  You walk up the slope. the cold crystal none too pleasant against your bare feet. Ahead, you can see several tunnels branching into this one; two on the left and three on the right. You can't see much further head from this angle, the slope obscures your view.

>_

[Mr. Sacchi]

 This is a bit off-topic, more of a question to the players themselves.

I've nearly finished reading everything on the A-Z Machine and caught up to start actively playing this quest, but I kinda skipped over Ran Quest and Barren Path, are these two particularly important? I'm more concerned about Ran Quest since... This is Yukari Quest and all. Plus, AFAIK, Barren Path has been largely retconned aside from Patchy and Reisen Quests.

Ah yes, and...

> Congratulate the parser for this series.
> No, seriously, I knew the A-Z Machine was good just by lurking through Iku Quest, the rest of the series still exceeded all expectations. I'm still pretty over the fact that the Broadsword from Nue Quest was on Kourindou since Patchy Quest and I'm still mulling over the fact what would've happened had players got it sooner.

[UncertainJakutten]

Ran Quest was a side thing, and while it is relevant to Z-Machine canon, it's less so. It is, however, a shorter one, and I think it's a good read  (totally has nothing to do with me being the one to finally finish it)! Barren Path is far far less necessary because it isn't canon, though it's kinda hilarious, if you can get past facepalming at literally everyone.

[Kilgamayan]

Barren Path is pseudo-canon because it is directly responsible for the side adventure of Patchy Quest (the one that triggered the main Reisen Quest issue) being available as a thing at all.

You don't really need to go through it, though, and it's kinda embarrassing for the player base anyway.

EDIT: Ran Quest is also worth reading because there's about a 0.1% chance we'll ever see Yuki and Mai again.

[t0k]

> Take the leftmost tunnel.