(Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 4)

[DracoOmega]

>How big is this tunnel?

>Large enough for you to walk upright, you think, but only barely so.

[Oldmansour]

>Sniff the air and have a listen. What can we detect down that way?

[DracoOmega]

>Sniff the air and have a listen. What can we detect down that way?

>You can hear sounds of activity that seem to be coming from the tunnel, some of them close and some further away. You think at least a couple of them are moving in your direction, though these are still out of sight. On the olfactory front, you do seem to be getting closer to the unusual smell from earlier, but it would be hard to tell if it was coming from that tunnel in particular without tracking in that direction.

[Oldmansour]

>Come this far...
>Start down that tunnel.

[DracoOmega]

>Come this far...
>Start down that tunnel.

>You shift course towards the tunnel, letting your pursuers close the gap a little, though you've opened enough distance now that this shouldn't be a short-term problem.
>You dart around a pair of stalagmites and then skip over some rubble between you and the tunnel. As you close the last couple feet, another green spider emerges from the tunnel entrance. You can hear a second spider of some sort following close behind.

[Oldmansour]

>Is the little green one directly in our path?

[DracoOmega]

>Is the little green one directly in our path?

>It is essentially standing in the mouth of the tunnel. The entrance is no more than three or four feet wide, not nearly wide enough to pass by without giving the spider free reign to bite at your legs.

[Oldmansour]

>Can we estimate how far ahead we are of the spiders chasing us?

[DracoOmega]

>Can we estimate how far ahead we are of the spiders chasing us?

>You think they're around 20 feet or so behind you now. Perhaps a little more.

[Oldmansour]

>From what we've seen of the green one's speed, can we estimate about how long it would take them to catch up to us if we came to a stop?

[DracoOmega]

>From what we've seen of the green one's speed, can we estimate about how long it would take them to catch up to us if we came to a stop?

>You'd have a few seconds, you think, but not a whole lot more than that.

[Oldmansour]

>Slow down only as much as we need to get a good shot at that green one, then give it a face full of pitchfork.
>Assuming that works, continue on towards the tunnel.

[DracoOmega]

>Slow down only as much as we need to get a good shot at that green one, then give it a face full of pitchfork.
>Assuming that works, continue on towards the tunnel.

>The spider backs up a little as you bear down on it, withdrawing into the tunnel. You follow in after it and thrust your pitchfork at it, but the spider makes a low leap the moment you start the motion and narrowly passes underneath the tines, pouncing towards your leg.

[Oldmansour]

>Swing the butt end of the pitchfork up to catch it in mid-air and knock it silly.

[Hello Purvis]

Should have gotten to this earlier. No need to stab little ones, we have a pitchfork, just pitch 'em out of the way.

[DracoOmega]

>Swing the butt end of the pitchfork up to catch it in mid-air and knock it silly.

>You flip the butt of your pitchfork forward and into the leaping spider way, catching its underside as it nears your leg and sending it tumbling backwards down the tunnel. Unfortunately, it starts to right itself almost immediately as it lands.

[Oldmansour]

Pitch em out of the way, huh. Alright, let's give that a bash.

>Continue on forward, and try to, well, pitch the green one out of our way.

[DracoOmega]

>Continue on forward, and try to, well, pitch the green one out of our way.

>You dash forward and scoop up the spider with the pitchfork before it can fully regain its footing, then crouch and pitch it behind you. Without pausing to see how it lands, you keep on going.
>Another green spider darts out from around a bend in the tunnel, roughly 10 feet ahead of you.

[Oldmansour]

>Can we hear anything beyond that one?

[DracoOmega]

>Can we hear anything beyond that one?

>There definitely seems to be more activity in that direction; you think you can hear some chittering, for one thing, along with other sounds of movement. You don't think another is about to pop around the corner at any moment, though.

[Oldmansour]

>Well, this worked well enough last time.
>Close the distance and try to pitch this one behind us as well.

[DracoOmega]

>Well, this worked well enough last time.
>Close the distance and try to pitch this one behind us as well.

>Without losing your momentum, you rush the new spider and thrust the pitchfork forward to repeat your last maneuver. Unfortunately, you don't catch this spider as it's scrabbling to regain footing, and when you move to scoop it up, it leaps towards your face instead!

[Hello Purvis]

>Bring up the pitchfork anyways, and smack it from underneath while in the air, hopefully deranging it's rhythm.

[DracoOmega]

>Bring up the pitchfork anyways, and smack it from underneath while in the air, hopefully deranging it's rhythm.

>You quickly yank the pitchfork back and try to bat the spider from beneath. Unfortunately, it leaping from point blank range leaves little time or room to knock it aside in this manner and you only connect with the spider as it's mere inches away from your face. The blow knocks it off course somewhat, but you still feel a couple legs brush through your hair and across your shoulder before it smacks lightly into the wall beside you.

[Oldmansour]

>Give it a solid stab with our polearm, before it gets its legs under it again. One leap is all you get.

[Hello Purvis]

>Don't bother with stabbing, instead, if we can, use the pitchfork to sweep it aside and behind us, and keep our momentum up.

[DracoOmega]

>Don't bother with stabbing, instead, if we can, use the pitchfork to sweep it aside and behind us, and keep our momentum up.

>You bring the pitchfork around - just a little awkward in the confined space - and sweep the spider away and behind you, doing your best to keep up your momentum. As you run on, you hear the spider quickly right itself behind you and join its brethren in pursuit.
>After another dozen feet or so, you come to a branch in the path as the tunnel splits into two. One fork leads northwest, sloping mildly upward; the other leads northeast, sloping somewhat more strongly downward.

[Oldmansour]

>Sniff the air for the unfamiliar scent. Or any other scents, for that matter.
>Open ears, see what they tell us.

[DracoOmega]

>Sniff the air for the unfamiliar scent. Or any other scents, for that matter.
>Open ears, see what they tell us.

>You detect curious scents from both tunnels. The smell of spider is most dominant but there is definitely something else... The most unidentifiable smell is coming from the eastern tunnel, while from the western tunnel you catch hint of something smelling almost like... rancid meat?
>There seems to be spider activity in both directions, though neither of it immediately approaching you. You think there is more noise coming from the western tunnel.

[Oldmansour]

I'm willing to bet that the rancid meat smell is whatever's left of the cows, which means their larder.

>Take a couple seconds to glance down both tunnels, see if our eyes can see anything our other senses can't.