(Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 3)

[Hello Purvis]

Giant spiders might.

And legs are huge and pains in the ass. And if there's any intelligence behind these, is going to probably take further offense at them being cut up.

Also: If there aren't any more spiders coming by the time we're done recuperating? It suggests we've dealt with the worst and out to press onward until confronted again.

[Oldmansour]

Well, what else could we use for evidence? Apart from the smoldering wound on our shoulder.
On the other hand, Ichirin would probably take our word for it, and she's the one paying us. We'd probably only need to bring back proof if we wanted to enlist backup, and I'm not sure that's necessary.

And I'm afraid I disagree with the thought that the worst is over. For all we know, these three were just sentries, and the bulk of the swarm is somewhere else. There's still that stronger smell we haven't investigated, as well. I'm convinced we haven't seen the worst this quest can throw at us, and I don't want to be caught unprepared a second time. I don't think we should investigate that other scent source until we go get some more gear. A weapon with some reach, like a pitchfork. Some bailing wire for our kunai, so we can retreive them more easily; we've seen how that can be an issue with so limited a supply.
I know, I don't want to spend any more time on this quest than is necessary, but I believe this is necessary.

[Kips McKipzerson]

Um.

The evidence is on our shoulders, our kunai, And our ankles. I doubt we need to bring back any parts of a freaky spider.

[Hanzo K.]

Normal spiders lack tendons, but giant ones might have 'em.
That said, since these are only about the size of a normal dog, we should be able to cut one of the legs off, it shouldn't be much more of a hassle than say, those boxed cats.
Particularly if we coil it into a hoop.

And yeah, the worst is definitely not over. I may not be a spider expert, but I am Genre Savvy.
If there's a spider's nest mentioned or hinted at, the hero will have to go there eventually.
That having been said, we shouldn't linger too long, this here's spider country.

And we're gonna need backup for the rest of the investigation in this area regardless, we won't be able to fight at 100% until our shoulder gets fixed up, and heals.
So we need someone to make up for that, and give support.

[Narouge]

The worse is not done. these are social spiders, and as every game tells you, spider hives always have a queen which is the best guarded, or strongest. We need to gear up and get healed up like sour says.

the spider blood all over us should also help the case well. I mean we got gore all over us.

Also i just remembered there a goddess around, at the very least she been around the block for a while.

>Think about a bath or shower that could be back in home right now.

[DracoOmega]

>Okay, now that the adreneline is passing, and we can realize just how painful that wound is, let out the scream that's been building all this time.
>Once that's passed, have a listen for any sounds of running water.
>Look at the legs on the two different spiders. Can we remove one of them with the tools we have without enormous difficulty?

>You let out a half-curse half-cry of pain through gritted teeth. Though the acid seems to ended its work on your flesh, the burning rawness left in its wake isn't a whole lot better at the moment.
>You take a moment to listen for the sound of running water. Unfortunately, you don't hear any, nor had you for some time now. There's the river back the way you came, although that's a fair ways away by this point.
>You size up the spiders' legs. The spitter's are considerable smaller in diameter than the other spiders', but you're fairly certain you could hack either of them off, given a bit of time to work at it.

>Before we get into corpse mutilating, take a few minutes to just listen for other spiders.

>You take another few minutes to listen carefully to the surrounding wilderness. You do hear the occasional sound of distant movement, though nothing notable nearby and nothing that sounds conclusively unusual for the forest - at a distance, you don't think you could distinguish a spider moving through foliage from some other more mundane creature.

>Do these spiders yield contaminated meat when butchered?

>Since 0.8, but you lack rPois at the moment, making the question rather moot.

>Think about a bath or shower that could be back in home right now.

>You think back to some of the comforts of civilization, like a hot bath. Man... that actually sounds really nice, right about now. Get all this gunk off of you... Your shoulder would probably sting like hell, but it probably ought to be cleaned anyway.

[Hello Purvis]

So, I suspect we took out the main forces. If the wound doesn't look too bad, I say we press on. We do have Youkai restorative abilities, so it's not going to cripple us, I'd think. If we run into more bad times, we can retreat.

>Examine the wound. Do we feel we can recover from it. Does it seem like we can do anything more to treat it here? How is our first aid skill?

[Oldmansour]

I'm beginning to have doubt about there being a sentient intelligence at work here, at least a humanoid one. If there were, I think it would have ordered these three to back off before we aced them.
But I also think Kips and Narogue are right in that bringing back a limb may be a little redundant. And probably more trouble than it's worth.
I'll be at work for the next few hours, so if anyone wanted to move things forward, feel free. I still reccomend going back for more gear first, but Purvis is right as well in that we can run if we meet anymore spiders. Might be nice to know where the lair is, too, so we know where it is in case we have to come back.

[DracoOmega]

>Examine the wound. Do we feel we can recover from it. Does it seem like we can do anything more to treat it here? How is our first aid skill?

>You crane your neck back and try to examine your shoulder as best you can. It's... a mess, to say the least. The wound covers an area a little larger than your hand, stripped clean of skin and almost a little sunken-looking in places. The flesh is raw, bloody, and caked with dirt. There are even a few tiny bits of leaf stuck to it. That being said, you can definitely heal from this and much worse, although it would help if you could clean it. While it doesn't really pose any long-term harm to you, you wouldn't be surprised if you could still feel it in the morning, although the skin should have regrown before then.
>You have rudimentary first aid skill, but no equipment on you for it.

[Narouge]

ok order of business one. clean that wound. I also vote go back for gear. At teh very least some string or something to pull are kunai back with, even if we coudl take the spider on now. i rather make it less tedious for now then having to require are kunai. That should getting basic care to the shoulde, such as bandages to keep stuff out of the wound, before heading back in to the lair.

>head back to he river from before to clean the wound.
>how much help could the village have for are shoulder? like bandage it?

EDIT: and another thought came to me.

>Frist Oni, then ice fairy with a big sword, now giant spiders that shoot acid, whats next? Huge dragon cats?

[Hello Purvis]

>Don't go back just yet. If we're going to recover anyways, then right now it's a non-issue. If we don't strike while the iron is hot, all sorts of things could be done to make things much worse by the time we get back.
>Let's try to pick the little bits of leaf out of it. Those can't be good...
>Get some distance away from the carnage, keeping wary for more possible spiders, and see if we can catch that odor we were following before all this went to shit.
>Also check our kunai for damage.

[Narouge]

>ignore what purvis said

Most us want go back and least get healed up. or get better gear. your the only one who wants to go on at this very moment. That is why i said clean the wounds. so we have time to put it to a vote.

[Hello Purvis]

This being said after the facts that it wasn't actually bad were revealed. Also, I'm just information gathering at this point; the reason I said to move was that the smell of gore would overpower just about everything else and make further checking futile there.

>Resume as previous said, it doesn't really commit to anything at this point save getting more information.

[Narouge]

ok then. i just didn't want you jumping into a spider pit, where everyone else in the part as it where rather not yet.

[Hanzo K.]

I too think that we should at least clean it out if we're gonna go any further.
Even with Youkai Regeneration, we don't want an infection do we?

[Hello Purvis]

Getting the leaf bits out out ought to do the best. The problem is, the nearest water source is a distance away. In doing that we, would lose a lot of time, during which any spiders still about, if they are about, would be able to organize for us much better. Right now, if there are still any, they are going to be either unsuspecting or in disarray. We should take advantage of this while we can.

Not to mention, they're going to have to have some water sources, not to mention all this flora, so I'd be highly surprised if we didn't find a creek or spring somewhere with a little looking. So there's also a good probability that we'd find a place to clean anyways, possibly faster than doubling back would.

[Hanzo K.]

Yeah, but the odds are, that if there is water there, it's likely gonna be right in their nest.
And if there's one thing I've learned, water found in a giant spider's nest is not gonna be the safest water to be muckin' about with.
Sure, we might lose some time, but better safe than sorry. Besides, we aren't going to go into the nest. If anything, we're just going to scout it out.

[Hello Purvis]

Well, we're already safe, is the point. We already know the wound is going to heal up nicely. And, there's typically dozens of water sources in a forest. So, what're we're doing is trading an advantage we can't ever get back ever for something that is nice, but can be put off. And likely be served anyways by going forward. Given the situation, it's best to plow on ahead and exploit it within reason.

[Narouge]

the thing is. the time your saying their taking to prepare for us. where taking to prepare for them. in other words, the point moot. what will they do? build more webs? position spitters from where we can't to to where we can't see +1? Move the big spiders into better formations? Assuming they even do anything, or that there a large intelligence behind this.

We didn't come here to fight a large group of giant spiders, as a result we got acid all over are shoulder and splashed over two different areas. the two large spiders would been down much faster if we could just yanked the kunai out them and chucked them again. If where really lucky something to wrap around their "heads" and cut thought their necks with as we stab them. A pitch fork also sounds nice, it be able to stab into the giant spider far deeper then are kunai and with a  range to.

Their spiders. i see it as far more advantageous to go back and be prepared and keep are wounds cleaned. then what tiny difference the spiders knowing something killed other spiders.

if these where humans or yokai or something. i be considering your idea. but their spiders that proven to not be intelligent, or most likely led by something that human like intelligence like sour said.

BIG EDIT: the point that we have a  surprise on them now is moot. the first spider got away and we never say it again.

[Hello Purvis]

...I have no idea what you were trying to say with half of that. But what did make sense don't actually counter anything I said. We have this chance before they can prepare. What can they prepare? More sentry types. Better ambushes. Things that would be a lot more disadvantageous than the situation now. So yes, moving now is the best option.

Also, Hanzo, something I've noted: they fought to the death. Animals don't fight to the death most of the time. This highly suggests there's an intelligence behind them. The other possibility is children. I don't know if we can discount the latter or not, but I am inclined to. Normally spiders aren't very much parent types, but who knows with giant spiders? I think an organizing intelligence is very likely. Especially given multiple species working together.

[Hanzo K.]

That's what i was thinking from the get-go.
These may not have been bright, but what's stopping later ones from being clever little bastards? All the more reason to come back when we're prepared.

[Hello Purvis]

And they're prepared as well, and have a home turf advantage. Simply put, there is no better time to act. It'll just be worse when we come back. Especially since we can retreat if things get hot, resupply as you suggest, and come back better informed as well as better supplied.

[Narouge]

ether way. in the end. Three of us say go back and get geared. to just you who wants to go now.

[Hello Purvis]

You and Hanzo are not three people. Nor, really, has Hanzo come down definitively against; as we're still discussing things. And there's still information to be gathered before a final decision can be reached. So watch warmly, and let Sour have his say rather than saying for him.

[Narouge]

he did. before. look at his post. -.- he said he was for going back for gear.

[DracoOmega]

>how much help could the village have for are shoulder? like bandage it?
>Frist Oni, then ice fairy with a big sword, now giant spiders that shoot acid, whats next? Huge dragon cats?

>There certainly would be basic medical supplies in the village; you know that Ichirin herself keeps some. Also, if memory serves, Minoriko is well-versed in herbal remedies. She might have something that would dull the burning while it heals.
>If you have to take down huge dragon cats before this job is done, you don't know there's enough money in all of Easthaven to afford your fee...

>Let's try to pick the little bits of leaf out of it. Those can't be good...
>Also check our kunai for damage.

>You gingerly try to pick out the bits of leaf that you can see. This manages not to sting too terribly, although it's hard to be certain you've got all of them; the position of the wound makes it hard to see all of it without a mirror or something.
>You inspect your kunai for damage. Aside from the gunk on them, the blades seem to be in good shape.

>Don't go back just yet. If we're going to recover anyways, then right now it's a non-issue. If we don't strike while the iron is hot, all sorts of things could be done to make things much worse by the time we get back.
>Get some distance away from the carnage, keeping wary for more possible spiders, and see if we can catch that odor we were following before all this went to shit.

>You consider backtracking to the river to clean your injury, weighing this against potentially giving any other spiders more time to anticipate your arrival in their domain. For the moment, you decide to just scout and see if you can find the scent you were originally tracking.
>The smell of the corrosive residue and slain spiders is too strong to have any hope of picking it up from here, so you try to put some distance between you and the battlefield. Your zig-zagging pursuit of the first spider threw off your sense of position somewhat, and the battle itself did not help this. Still, you think the trail you were walking earlier was broadly south of here. You head that direction, keeping a wary ear out for any more spiders lying in wait.
>You actually cover a fair bit of ground before you get even a hint of the earlier scent. You think your nose is a bit oversaturated with the sharp acrid scent of the acid as it ate away at your skin so close to your own nose. Even with a fair distance put between you and the carnage, you can still smell that first on every breath. You think your tracking abilities are going to be impaired for a little while, at least. That being said, you think you may have picked it up again. It's less pronounced, but it matches your general sense of where you were traveling originally. You believe you're still some distance to the north of your original path, although you can't be certain of this.

[Narouge]

it also seems it be harder to detect the scent. huh. getting wash down will least help with that. hopefully.

[Hello Purvis]

Indeed. Aside from picking a direction, Scent is what we have. That said, just picking a direction has a pretty good chance of yielding some clues. BUT!

>Do we recognize this area at all?
>If not, do we have faith we can find it again?
>How well do know the course back; aside from "Go <a direction> until we hit some large thing we recognize and adjust from there."

[DracoOmega]

>Do we recognize this area at all?
>If not, do we have faith we can find it again?
>How well do know the course back; aside from "Go <a direction> until we hit some large thing we recognize and adjust from there."

>Not specifically. It's fairly nondescript, but your gut says that you didn't pass by it on your way after the spider, nor along your original route towards the scent.
>Unless something turns you about, you're comfortable enough in your navigational ability to retrace your way back to the general area if you walk off.
>You don't know specifically where you are. At worst, you should eventually hit the river if you move west, and you will certainly reach the pastures outside Easthaven if you keep moving south.

[Hanzo K.]

Well, it'd be a wise idea to get geared up before further investigation, as I, and others have iterated.
And plus, with the acid overworking our scent-based tracking ability, I'm seriously convinced that going much further with things as they are now will not be a sound idea.

Long story short, I'm with Sour and Nar here on this. We should at least get the shoulder fixed, if not at the least cleaned off. And at the least, get something to help our combat odds, should it come to that.
Like how Nar and I think Sour were suggesting a Pitchfork and some of that twine stuff for our Kunai.

Here's my idea for combat potential boosting, But it hinges on how many Kunai we have, and if we can fling groups of them at once.
My idea is to affix the twine stuff, or something stronger, to all our Kunai. And then getting a new attack method by flinging a group of Kunai at a single foe, or a larger group of foes.

>How many Kunai do we have in our possession, in addition to the two we used on the spiders?
>Are we capable of flinging more than one Kunai at once?