Sword Quest IX - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> Pull our sword back out and face the Saigyou Ayakashi again.

>You face the tree again. At this point, you can see one of its roots have been freed entirely, and lays passively on the lack of ground now.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Make our way toward said root, using the travel as an opportunity to gauge our current mobility.
> Once we get in range to do so, poke the root with the tip of our sword.

[Hello Purvis]

> Make our way toward said root, using the travel as an opportunity to gauge our current mobility.
> Once we get in range to do so, poke the root with the tip of our sword.

>You trudge toward the root. Thankfully, there seems to be a break in the falling blossoms at the moment, as you are definitely not as spry as you should be now. Approaching it, you poke it with your sword. It feels like wood, and does not seem to react.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Reach out with our noninjured hand to touch the root.

[Hello Purvis]

> Reach out with our noninjured hand to touch the root.

>You touch the root. It feels like proper cherry bark to you, and does not seem to react.
>Another root, a couple yards away, frees itself from the absence of ground and lays still.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Look upward. Do we have the time needed to analyze the Saigyou Ayakashi without getting ripped apart by falling petals?

[Hello Purvis]

> Look upward. Do we have the time needed to analyze the Saigyou Ayakashi without getting ripped apart by falling petals?

>Almost certainly not. You would need to do something about the petals, first.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Can we tell where the petals are coming from?
> Are there petals below the tree? Or are they landing on the tree and its roots?

[Hello Purvis]

> Can we tell where the petals are coming from?
> Are there petals below the tree? Or are they landing on the tree and its roots?

>They seem to be raining from the sky.
>They land on it as well, with no apparent effect.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Make our way underneath the trunk of the tree. Wrap our non-sword arm behind us around Meira as best as can be done and use the corresponding hand to brace Meira against us so as to lessen the stress on the knot in our sash.

[Hello Purvis]

> Make our way underneath the trunk of the tree. Wrap our non-sword arm behind us around Meira as best as can be done and use the corresponding hand to brace Meira against us so as to lessen the stress on the knot in our sash.

>You proceed under the tree, and try to brace your passenger as well as you can. It doesn't amount to much, but there is perhaps a slight improvement.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Check upward. How well does the tree serve as a petal umbrella?

[Hello Purvis]

> Check upward. How well does the tree serve as a petal umbrella?

>Not very well. Its branches are bare, and many the petals are spiraling and curving in ways that could get around it. But, it is better than nothing.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is this assessment factoring in the job that the trunk itself, as well as the roots, are doing in blocking petals?

[Hello Purvis]

> Is this assessment factoring in the job that the trunk itself, as well as the roots, are doing in blocking petals?

>Yes.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Ignoring Meira, are we as a person wider than the trunk of the tree?
> How long would it take us to study the nature of the tree?
> How long would it take us to study the nature of Meira?

[Hello Purvis]

> Ignoring Meira, are we as a person wider than the trunk of the tree?
> How long would it take us to study the nature of the tree?
> How long would it take us to study the nature of Meira?

>No.
>A couple of minutes, give or take.
>About a couple minutes.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Position our person so it is directly below the trunk of the tree. The idea is that petals should be unable to drop directly onto us, instead needing to come in from a side.

[Hello Purvis]

> Position our person so it is directly below the trunk of the tree. The idea is that petals should be unable to drop directly onto us, instead needing to come in from a side.

>You make your way under the tree, and look up to find nothing at all. It is as though it had simply vanished. However, you also cannot really see the falling cherry blossoms, either.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Strange!
> Poke our sword up to where the tree should be.

[Hello Purvis]

> Strange!
> Poke our sword up to where the tree should be.

>You do so, and meet resistance.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Pull our sword back and reach out to touch where the tree should be with our free hand.

[Hello Purvis]

> Pull our sword back and reach out to touch where the tree should be with our free hand.

>You do so, and feel something solid and rough.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Does it feel like the tree trunk?
> Does our cloak shield us from petals at all?

[Hello Purvis]

> Does it feel like the tree trunk?
> Does our cloak shield us from petals at all?

>Yes.
>You aren't sure yet, but you wouldn't count on it.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> This is probably our best chance to learn anything. Analyze the tree.

[Hello Purvis]

> This is probably our best chance to learn anything. Analyze the tree.

>You set yourself to analyzing the tree.
>There is no doubt this is the Saigyou Ayakashi; kind of. It definitely feels like what you have experienced from Meira, but something is off. You feel that it is struggling, and can feel that the transferal ritual is trying to take hold on it, but the life force seems to be effectively fighting against it, and struggling free.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is this the actual physical tree, or merely a seemingly-physical representation of its life force?
> If it is the latter, could we take it into ourselves?
> Assuming this Meira is the same way, if she is a seemingly-physical representation of herself, could we take her into ourselves?

> Does the uprooting of the tree represent its struggling and breaking free?
> If so, how might we re-root the tree?

[Hello Purvis]

> Is this the actual physical tree, or merely a seemingly-physical representation of its life force?
> If it is the latter, could we take it into ourselves?
> Assuming this Meira is the same way, if she is a seemingly-physical representation of herself, could we take her into ourselves?

> Does the uprooting of the tree represent its struggling and breaking free?
> If so, how might we re-root the tree?

>You believe it is more the latter.
>Perhaps you could take it into yourself.
>You don't know if you could do that to Meira, or how safe it may be.
>You believe that is precisely what the uprooting is.
>This is a question to be answered.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Might we learn more from further studying of the type we are doing now?
> Could we study Meira in our current positions?