Nue Quest 7 - Serpent Isle: A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> Use our getting shielded in the gut as well as out previous backward momentum to propel us a little further backward, giving us a little time to catch said breath.

>You do the aerial equivalent of stumbling back, and take a moment to get your breath back. As you do, Sir Kay advances, moving toward your  left, shield raised as usual.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Circle to the right while stashing the sword handle away in our purse and finally getting a proper two-handed grip on the trident.

[Hello Purvis]

> Circle to the right while stashing the sword handle away in our purse and finally getting a proper two-handed grip on the trident.

>You stash away the Broken Sword Handle as quickly as you can, trying not to slash up the paper umbrella peeking out of your purse, and get a proper grip on your trident. Much better.
>You drift to right, circling away from the knight. He slows, and seems to be considering you at the moment.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> We are right-handed, correct?
> Which hand is closer to the head of the trident?

[Hello Purvis]

> We are right-handed, correct?
> Which hand is closer to the head of the trident?

>You are right-handed, and have your right hand closer to the head of the trident.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>If he's taking a moment to consider, maintain our defensive posture and shift a little laterally and backwards, without actually changing our relative distance too much. Ideally, move just a little closer to the fence.
>Attempt again to summon a bubble rain without making it obvious that we're doing anything other than sizing him up for another strike.

[Hello Purvis]

>If he's taking a moment to consider, maintain our defensive posture and shift a little laterally and backwards, without actually changing our relative distance too much. Ideally, move just a little closer to the fence.
>Attempt again to summon a bubble rain without making it obvious that we're doing anything other than sizing him up for another strike.

>You move back. Sir Kay follows, keeping a fairly leisurely pace. You draw a bit closer to the fence, the two of you having moved a bit.
>You have no difficulty summoning a bubble rain without telegraphing it; or at least you think you aren't. You're not doing anything obvious, in any event. As the spheres manifest in the sky, Sir Kay raises his shield over his head.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Without looking up?

[Hello Purvis]

>Without looking up?

>He did not look up. But you imagine he could see at least some of the spheres without needing to, given how spread out your typical barrage is.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Does his shield provide any effective guard to his front in its current position?
>Does this position expose that arm to us in any useful fashion?

[Hello Purvis]

>Does his shield provide any effective guard to his front in its current position?
>Does this position expose that arm to us in any useful fashion?

>You don't think it could be very useful unless he lowered it. His armpit is exposed.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Slowly move in, with our trident extended and angled a little towards his sword.
>Wait to time this just as a few bubbles close in on him from above:
>If we can manage it, launch a small burst of frontal danmaku generally towards his face. Enough for a minor distraction is fine, if concentration is an issue
>Simultaneously, move forward quickly, and make a brief feint towards his weapon with our trident
>Before we come too close to actually engaging it, quickly switch target to the exposed armpit and give a good thrust

[Hello Purvis]

>Slowly move in, with our trident extended and angled a little towards his sword.
>Wait to time this just as a few bubbles close in on him from above:
>If we can manage it, launch a small burst of frontal danmaku generally towards his face. Enough for a minor distraction is fine, if concentration is an issue
>Simultaneously, move forward quickly, and make a brief feint towards his weapon with our trident
>Before we come too close to actually engaging it, quickly switch target to the exposed armpit and give a good thrust

>You inch forward, and launch some danmaku. Sir Kay moves to the side, raising his sword arm to guard his face. This puts his right hand and weapon largely in the way of his left armpit, while exposing his right. He manages to avoid most of your shots. while his armor deflects the few that hit. So far, his shield keeps him safe from the rain of bullets.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>If the right is exposed, instead of the left, go for that one instead
>But toss just a few more danmaku in the facial direction as we do, to make him think twice about pulling his arm completely away from it

[Hello Purvis]

>If the right is exposed, instead of the left, go for that one instead
>But toss just a few more danmaku in the facial direction as we do, to make him think twice about pulling his arm completely away from it

>You move for his right armpit, launching a few quick danmaku first.
>Sir Kay keeps his arm up, moving away from the danmaku, while you strike at his exposed armpit.  He seems to have anticipated this, as he  moves forward, and steps around the blow, bringing himself uncomfortably close and well past your trident's effective range!

>_

[DracoOmega]

>So our trident head is actually past him now, and he's more or less alongside us?

[Hello Purvis]

>So our trident head is actually past him now, and he's more or less alongside us?

>Past him, and he's more directly in front of you.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Pull the trident back, and at the same time shift the haft up towards his sword arm to block any blow he might try to launch while he's inside our effective range

[Hello Purvis]

>Pull the trident back, and at the same time shift the haft up towards his sword arm to block any blow he might try to launch while he's inside our effective range

>You draw back your weapon to defend, while Sir Kay is already in motion. His blade comes fast and hard, and bites deeply into your shoulder before you can snap your shaft up to block it. The two weapons connect hard, nearly jostling the trident out of your grip as the world seems to flash as though you were standing in the middle of a lightning bolt, and everything hurts. Still, you prevent him from cleaving much further than your shoulder, but the damage done is bad enough. Through the fog that seems to have come from nowhere, you see him draw his weapon away. You're not sure if he's going to strike again or what, but that part of your mind that's still working despite the pain knows that he has a perfect opportunity.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Pain or no pain, now's not the time to let him get in a second hit.
>Dash back and take to the air, bracing ourselves against it.

[Hello Purvis]

>Pain or no pain, now's not the time to let him get in a second hit.
>Dash back and take to the air, bracing ourselves against it.

>You dash backward and into the air, trying to keep your mind together. The pain rivals what you felt this morning, upon smashing that statuette.
>You've put some yards between yourself and the knight.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Seriously? That bad from just a slash?
>Glance at our shoulder. How bad is it?

[Hello Purvis]

>Seriously? That bad from just a slash?
>Glance at our shoulder. How bad is it?

>You are pretty shire he got it deeply.
>But looking at your shoulder, it is perfectly fine. The cloth of your dress has been torn a bit, but you see no kind of wound or blood. It certainly hurts like you had it nearly slices in half...

>_

[DracoOmega]

>What about the wound we received earlier in the fight, on our torso? How does that look?

[Hello Purvis]

>What about the wound we received earlier in the fight, on our torso? How does that look?

>You finally look there, and find the same thing; it clearly hurts, but there seems to be nothing that would have caused it to hurt.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Try to carefully touch the 'wound'. Does it react to our contact like we would expect a wound to do so, or does this cause no noticeable change in it?

[Hello Purvis]

>Try to carefully touch the 'wound'. Does it react to our contact like we would expect a wound to do so, or does this cause no noticeable change in it?

>You touch the sore area, and it reacts roughly as if you touched a sprained muscle or a very terrible bruise; it hurts worse for being bothered.

>_

[DracoOmega]

Well, I'm almost inclined to think this calls for a time out. I admit it's possible Kay is doing this deliberately somehow, but he hasn't so far demonstrated any supernatural abilities. If this is somehow related to the sword or even Rinnosuke's curse, however, he may have no clue what's going on or that we're feeling seriously injured now, despite not being visibly injured. Either way, I feel like this changes things and it might be a good idea to actually stop and ask him whether he's doing this and/or why. It's not like we can't stay out of range while doing so, if it comes to that.

[Kilgamayan]

Go for it.

[Kilgamayan]

Actually, in thinking about, I suspect the damage he's doing is faith-based. We are youkai, after all.