(Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)

[DracoOmega]

>What if we used two spiders at once as a shield from the acid? Would that provide total cover? Or at least cover from everything except a tiny drop or two, we've proven that a couple drops doesn't do that much damage.

>Two spiders obviously provide more surface area than one, but would likewise be more awkward. There is the issue of getting their bodies pressed tightly enough together with all the legs in the way, particularly given you wouldn't have more than a moment to do this. Otherwise you might well be left with a gap in the middle of your barricade - likely the last place you would want one.

[Hello Purvis]

Seems the best way is to get as many kunai in the air as possible. Go for body shots; hopefully we can pierce it's acid sac.

[Oldmansour]

>Get close to the left side of the tunnel, draw a kunai.
>Dash forward, throwing kunai at the spitter, hard.
>Be prepared to dodge to the right at the first sign of it returning fire.

[DracoOmega]

>Get close to the left side of the tunnel, draw a kunai.
>Dash forward, throwing kunai at the spitter, hard.
>Be prepared to dodge to the right at the first sign of it returning fire.

>You press yourself against the left side of the tunnel then dash forward, kunai poised to throw. The moment the spitter fully rounds the corner and exposes its head, you take your shot! The spider shifts its mouthparts as the kunai flies towards it. You hear a coarse squishing sound followed almost immediately by a cohesive blast of acid from its mouth.
>You leap to the right, then notice that the blast seemed aimed not directly at you, but rather at the incoming kunai. The blob of viscous fluid engulfs the projectile and while your blade cuts through it, the impact is enough make it wobble off course. Your shot veers wide and jabs shallowly into the spider's abdomen, its acid coating slowly dripping off onto its body. The rest of the volley splatters against the wall and floor, a safe enough distance away from you.

[Oldmansour]

>If that melts, gonna be trouble later. Still we know it can't fire one shot after another.
>Close more ground, pull our last kunai, and take another shot at its head.
>Observe the kunai stuck in its' side, to see if it is immune to its own corrosive attack.

[DracoOmega]

>If that melts, gonna be trouble later. Still we know it can't fire one shot after another.
>Close more ground, pull our last kunai, and take another shot at its head.
>Observe the kunai stuck in its' side, to see if it is immune to its own corrosive attack.

>You keep running forward, past the small puddle of acid on the ground, then draw your other kunai and let it fly! The spitter attempts to back up from the projectile, but your weapon meets its mark nonetheless. The spitter lets out a strangled gurgle as the blade sinks into the middle of its head, it's legs fumbling at the ground.
>You give the other kunai wound a glance, but can't tell for sure whether the spider's carapace is affected by the acid or not, at least not without a closer inspection. A sharp odor in the air, however, suggests that your weapon is not faring so ambiguously.

[Oldmansour]

>Of course. Already lost one kunai, why not another.
>Come to within stabbing range and intorduce the spitter to our friend Ptichy.

[DracoOmega]

>Of course. Already lost one kunai, why not another.
>Come to within stabbing range and intorduce the spitter to our friend Ptichy.

>You close the rest of the distance and bring the pitchfork around to thrust. Or... attempt to, but find your shoulder isn't bending right. Grimacing, you pull the haft up with the other hand and thrust one-handed at the spider as it makes a feeble effort to back further away. Less force, perhaps, but still enough. You feel a moment's resistance and then its exoskeleton gives way. The tines puncture deep into its head and mouth; acid starts to seep onto the ground below from the holes in its mouth.

[Oldmansour]

>Quickly snatch the second kunai out of its head, then skip backwards away from the acid.
>How's our other kunai looking?

[DracoOmega]

>Quickly snatch the second kunai out of its head, then skip backwards away from the acid.
>How's our other kunai looking?

>You yank the kunai free again, then step quickly away from the spider.
>It still looks largely ok, although you can see some signs of corrosion on the blade, particularly along the edge.

[Oldmansour]

>Do our kunai have anything we can use to hook our pitchfork into and retreive it without getting close to the acid? Like a hoop and the end of it?

[DracoOmega]

>Do our kunai have anything we can use to hook our pitchfork into and retreive it without getting close to the acid? Like a hoop and the end of it?

>Your kunai do have a ring on the base of the hilt. You're pretty sure you could snag it with the pitchfork, if you tried.

[Oldmansour]

>Try, then.

[DracoOmega]

>Try, then.

>You bring the pitchfork up and try to thread one of the tines far enough into the kunai's ring to pick it up. Your stiff arm makes this more awkward than it would otherwise be, but you eventually slip a tine through and pull the kunai free.

[Oldmansour]

>Does it look safe enough to touch?

[DracoOmega]

>Does it look safe enough to touch?

>There is still acidic goo coating most of the surface. It is much thicker near the tip, where gravity has caused it to pool, but you can see a thin sheen extending even to the ring at the other end. The texture of the metal below looks coarser than earlier and slightly pitted. Parts of the edge are worn and rather dull, though you could sharpen most of that back into shape if you got it clean. The tip itself seems to have escaped most of this, perhaps by virtue of having been embedded in the spider?

[Oldmansour]

>Move back to the nearest little one corpse, and place the kunai on the ground.
>Unsheathe hunting knife and cut off one of its little green legs.
>Use that leg to scrape the acid off our kunai.

[DracoOmega]

>Move back to the nearest little one corpse, and place the kunai on the ground.
>Unsheathe hunting knife and cut off one of its little green legs.
>Use that leg to scrape the acid off our kunai.

>You move back to one of the dead green spiders and let the kunai fall on the ground beside it.
>Then you unsheathe the hunting knife, still sticky with spider blood, and cut one of its limbs off.
>You attempt to use this leg to scrape off the remaining acid. This, too, is a little awkward, but you manage to clear off some of the larger remaining globs. The thin sheen that remains along the surface of the kunai is going to be hard to remove this way, although it does seem to be slowly dissolving as it eats away at the metal.

[Hello Purvis]

>Do we have a good thick rag to clean it off with?

Might have to leave it behind.

[Hanzo K.]

Judging from the effects, it's not a very lethal poison I'd say.
However...it's the sort of poison that spiders who like to have live prey use.
For example, Shelob from LoTR.

"This one's not dead. She just gives 'em a little prick with 'er stinger, and they go limp as a boned fish. likes 'em warm she does."

Quote may not be exact, but I haven't read LoTR in a while.

As for the Kunai, I'd say we might be able to find someone back in the village who can fix it.
We just need to find a way to carry it.

>Well, there's nothing for it. We'll just have to take it in for repairs after all this.
>Would there be someone capable of doing such repairs back in the village, like a blacksmith? Or are we capable enough normally?

[DracoOmega]

>Do we have a good thick rag to clean it off with?

>About the only things you could muster in the vein at the moment are the umbrella and your own clothing.

>Well, there's nothing for it. We'll just have to take it in for repairs after all this.
>Would there be someone capable of doing such repairs back in the village, like a blacksmith? Or are we capable enough normally?

>The damage doesn't seem too terrible, considering, but it's definitely the worse for wear for the encounter.
>There is a blacksmith in the Easthaven, and even better ones in Braston, although your weapons are only of common make; you imagine any competent smith could fix them up. You knew well enough how to sharpen your kunai and otherwise care for them, but lack the metalworking skill to make any more complex repairs to them.

[Oldmansour]

Using it again might not be as viable as it was before, but I'd really rather not abandon it. That would leave us with only one, after all. Damaged or not, we may need it again, and like Hanzo said, nothing stopping us from getting it fixed later.

>Tear off a strip of material to wipe the rest of the blade clean, then drop it before the acid burns through.

[DracoOmega]

>Tear off a strip of material to wipe the rest of the blade clean, then drop it before the acid burns through.

>Figuring your outfit is already a lost cause, you tear another strip of material free and use it to try and wipe the residual goo from your weapon. Predictably, the acid immediately sets to work on this as well, but you manage to clean off a little more before you feel holes being eaten in the cloth and abandon it. You can still see traces of gunk upon the kunai, here and there  - you doubt you could get all of it without a proper wash - but you think you could pick it up now. It might sting to hold, but you don't expect it would cause any significant damage.

[Oldmansour]

>Does it appear safe enough to attempt a quick repair job? And do we have the tools to do so?
>If yes to both, sweep the tunnels around us with our ears to make sure there's still nothing coming. If there's not, try to put more of an edge back on this thing.

[DracoOmega]

>Does it appear safe enough to attempt a quick repair job? And do we have the tools to do so?
>If yes to both, sweep the tunnels around us with our ears to make sure there's still nothing coming. If there's not, try to put more of an edge back on this thing.

>You don't have a sharpening stone on you, and while you don't hear any more spiders approaching at this very moment, the process would take long enough in any case to make you wary of trying it in here.

[Oldmansour]

>Par for the course.
>Pick it up with our left hand, let whatever aci'd left take care of whatever glue might be left.
>Have a more careful look down that side tunnel, burining away any residual webbing that might still be obscuring our view/passage.

[DracoOmega]

>Par for the course.
>Pick it up with our left hand, let whatever aci'd left take care of whatever glue might be left.
>Have a more careful look down that side tunnel, burining away any residual webbing that might still be obscuring our view/passage.

>You did not pack for spot acid-repair, sadly.
>You pick the kunai up with your left hand, finding it easier to simply put your whole body into the motion rather than fight with your arm to bend properly. You fingers fumble a little as they grasp at the handle, but it feels secure enough in your hand once you pick it up. Gripping it does sting, but probably no moreso than unpleasantly hot water, and the sensation starts to fade quickly.
>You go back to the side tunnel and set to clearing away the rest of the webbing. With a frown, you note that your torch has burned down significantly from when you lit it, although you think you can get a little more use of it before you need to light the second.

>Shortly enough, the barrier gives way entirely. Looking through, there appears to be a small chamber on the other side of the tunnel, no more than 10 feet away. You can't see much of it through such a narrow space, though you think you see thick webbing along the visible wall, not unlike what was blocking the passage.

[Oldmansour]

>Wait for whatever residue is left of the webbing to cool enough not to burn us, then...
>About how badly would our useless arm affect our crawling speed?

[DracoOmega]

>Wait for whatever residue is left of the webbing to cool enough not to burn us, then...
>About how badly would our useless arm affect our crawling speed?

>You wait a bit to let the residue from the webbing cool, although most of it seems to have been simply consumed by the flame.
>It would probably slow you down a little, but not cripplingly so.

[Oldmansour]

>Is that arm numb as well, or simply useless?
>If we don't hear anything on the other side of the tunnel, start crawling through.