(Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 3)

[DracoOmega]

>Hold our position.
>Determine the direction the scent is coming from.
>How quickly can we climb a tree unaided?

>You stop moving.
>It's almost too vague to be certain. North-ish... probably somewhat to the east.
>That depends on the kind of tree and how obligingly arrayed its branches are. With a sturdy tree and good branches, you could climb it very quickly indeed if you put your mind to it. Sadly, the majority of trees in this area are stocky conifers, many of which have either spindly branches that would struggle to support your weight, or lack branches along most of the lower parts of their trunks entirely. There are a few that are more suitable, though not ideal. Still, you could probably make it up one of those fairly quickly, if you had to.

[Oldmansour]

>Which direction is the wind blowing? Is it possible to move in the direction of that scent while staying downwind to it at all times?

[DracoOmega]

>Which direction is the wind blowing? Is it possible to move in the direction of that scent while staying downwind to it at all times?

>There's very little wind at the moment, but what there is seems to be blowing roughly west. Since the sent is somewhere northeast-ish, this would put you downwind of it at the moment. But the breeze is so faint that you can't be confident it will stay that way.

[Oldmansour]

>Good enough for now then.
>Move in a northeasterly direction, keeping cover behind trees as much as possible.

[DracoOmega]

>Good enough for now then.
>Move in a northeasterly direction, keeping cover behind trees as much as possible.

>You decide that's good enough, and head in the direction of the scent, attempting to keep cover as best you can while you go. This is perhaps not too useful without knowing for certain where whatever you're trying to keep cover from is, but you do try to keep a low profile as you move forward. The scent grows more pronounced as you proceed, although it remains hard to place. It smells somehow... acrid.
>Aside from the smell, which you're fairly confident would be too faint at this point for humans to detect, the forest continues to look normal.
>As you move past another tree, something catches your eye: a piece of a dense white fibrous substance, caught on the edge of a low-lying branch.

[Oldmansour]

>Pause. Swallow. Then have a closer look.
>Does that substance appear to be spider's silk?

[DracoOmega]

>Pause. Swallow. Then have a closer look.
>Does that substance appear to be spider's silk?

>You pause and swallow, then have a closer look.
>It... does bear an uncanny resemblance to such, although the strands are considerably thicker than any you've ever seen. ...you're not sure that makes you feel any better.

[Oldmansour]

In retrospect, I question why I didn't think of that sooner.

>Well, gosh.
>Look around, especially in the trees, for higher concentrations of webbing.

[Hanzo K.]

Spiders, just great.
The one thing that could've turned out worse than ants. Ants are hive-minded, spiders are a lot cleverer than ants.
But going by past events...I have a theory, and my command should put some light on it.

>Spiders, just great.
>Be on the lookout for any abnormally large spiders, or people who look relatively spider-like.

[DracoOmega]

>Well, gosh.
>Look around, especially in the trees, for higher concentrations of webbing.

>This is certainly something, alright...
>You look around for more webbing. It is with a certain sense of relief that when you look up, you don't find the canopy above you strung thick with the stuff. In fact, you don't see anything you would describe as a web at all. A more careful search turns up another small piece against the surface of a rock, not far from the branch you found the first clump. It doesn't look like it was spun there so much as it came off of something else.

>Spiders, just great.
>Be on the lookout for any abnormally large spiders, or people who look relatively spider-like.

>Yeah, this is definitely great for at least one definition of great...
>You're certainly going to be keeping a sharp lookout for large spiders or spider-like youkai. For the moment, at least, there is still no sign of either.

[Oldmansour]

>Deep breath. Nothing else for it.
>Proceed on. Slowly.

[DracoOmega]

>Deep breath. Nothing else for it.
>Proceed on. Slowly.

>You take a deep breath, and steel yourself. This is what you're getting paid for, after all.
>You proceed forward slowly and carefully, keeping all your senses peeled for spiders of any kind, or any other sort of danger for that matter. The woods continue to be almost frustratingly unremarkable. You're not sure whether this is better or worse than walking into some sort of nightmarish webscape. At least that would put you closer to resolving all this.
>You make your way past more trees and brush. Is it just you, or are things getting quieter? ...no, you're fairly certain of it. The bird calls are fewer in number, animals scampering across the forest floor are less frequent. The scent grows stronger...
>As you draw nearer, you can distinguish several distinct smells among what seemed singular at a distance. There's something vaguely reminiscent of mundane spiders, though muskier, something faintly noxious, and something acrid. Much of the scent is coming from further east, but you think some of the latter is coming from very close to the south of you.

[Oldmansour]

>Look to the east, then south. What do we see?

[DracoOmega]

>Look to the east, then south. What do we see?

>In both directions, you see trees and then some more trees, dotted with perhaps a bush or a brightly flowering plant, ignorant of how it clashes with the current atmosphere. You see no obvious indication of anything unusual in either direction at this distance, although your sight lines are poor with the trees as dense as they are.

[Oldmansour]

>Bloody hells....
>Grip kunai tighter in our main hand, then turn to the south, advancing as stealthily as we can manage.

[DracoOmega]

>Bloody hells....
>Grip kunai tighter in our main hand, then turn to the south, advancing as stealthily as we can manage.

>This is not what you thought you were getting into when you went out searching this morning...
>You grip your weapon more tightly then advance to the south, trying to be as stealthy as possible. You slip quietly past a few more trees as you zero in on the scent. ....and what is that?
>Ahead of you is a tree. This is unremarkable in and of itself; after all, there are countless trees in all directions. And in fact, this tree is not particularly distinctive among them. What is rather more distinctive is the large sickly-looking scar in its truck, scooped out raggedly as if the wood had been eaten away by something. Small plants crowd around the base of the trunk, except at that one spot, where their stalks end abruptly, withered and death. There is a distinct acrid scent in the air, and you're pretty sure it's coming from there. You do not think you like the implications of this at all...

[Oldmansour]

You're the expert, Hanzo. Does this look like a spider's lair to you?

>About how large is that hole?
>Are there any spiders, unusually large or otherwise, skittering around it? Or signs of webbing, for that matter?
>Are we familiar enough with the smell of decaying/rotting meat to describe the acrid scent as such?

[Hanzo K.]

Webbing or no, I'd say so.
Spiders sadly, are not my area of expertise, I'm more of the sort who studied the insects that swarm.
Like Ants and Bees.

>Just how sickly-looking is said scar?

[DracoOmega]

>About how large is that hole?
>Are there any spiders, unusually large or otherwise, skittering around it? Or signs of webbing, for that matter?
>Are we familiar enough with the smell of decaying/rotting meat to describe the acrid scent as such?

>It is an irregularly-shaped, broadly circular depression. The upper edge is fairly smooth, though the lower one is more ragged, with several thin channels of ruined wood extending below it. The whole thing is perhaps a foot and a half wide, and a couple inches deep.
>The only sign of spiders or webbing is a small web spun between two branches, higher in the tree. It looks remarkably ordinary.
>It definitely smells nothing like rotten meat. It is not nearly so putrid, though still unpleasant, and there is a sharper edge to the scent. It reminds you a little of industrial solvents.

>Just how sickly-looking is said scar?

>The wood in the depression looks withered and darkened, almost dead. There is a similar, though subtle effect in the wood immediately surrounding the scar. The rest of the tree still looks quite healthy, though.

[Hanzo K.]

Let's recap all this shall we?

• We've found out that some sort of abnormal insect(possibly spider) swarm has been carting off cows for whatever reason, possibly for food.
• we've found a tree that's got a hole gouged in it, and is possibly a nest for one of the responsible creatures.
• The area near the tree reeks of industrial solvents, and to me, solvents means acid of some form, such as chlorine.

Anything else we want to add to the list? Because I vote that we mark the place in our memory, and then hightail it out of here to get backup.
Even Cirno would be useful.

[Oldmansour]

Still, made of sterner stuff than I. Insects ain't for me, blood.

>Damn thing looks diseased, almost. A solid core of sickness. Wish we'd brought a torch...
>Is there any sign of movement at all inside the hole?

I don't think we should leave just yet. At least not completely. Remember, we were picking up something to the east of us as well. I think we should leave this hole alone, for the moment, and go investigate the other smell. THEN, we can hightail it out of here, depending on what we find.

[Kips McKipzerson]

>Do youkai ever use their abilities for small things, like a poison-youkai making cleaning things like bleach?
>What kinds of youkai are there? Is there an extinct kind?
>Can normal spiders make these smells and scars?

I just want to get it set in stone that there's some kind of spider youkai out there, not any sort of normal group. Also no, I dont want said youkai to join our party; Spiders are fucking freaky deaky man.

[Oldmansour]

Oh, I don't know. Yamame's not too bad. Well, not normally, anyway. Heavens only know what this Yamame is like. Assuming of course we ever meet her, because I'm not 100% she's out here, just because we've found evidence of giant spiders. 90% certain, perhaps, but not 100%.

[Hanzo K.]

Works for me!
I may be able to tolerate most insects, but Spiders are one of the few sorts I can't stand.
Oddly enough, I'm only mildly bugged by scorpions, which are related to spiders by the way.
See, I know a decent ammount about all insects and arachnids, but I know a considerable deal more about Ants in particular.
I'd have to look at a few things, but that tree looks like the work of a particularly nasty spider.
Given how there's youkai...it might be a feral Tsuchigumo...But if we can help it(might be a dude, might be a dudette) like Ichirin helped us...

I might be bugged by spiders, but if it's to help someone(or something) become a better person like Ichirin helped us, then I'm all for it.

[Oldmansour]

Given how there's youkai...it might be a feral Tsuchigumo...But if we can help it(might be a dude, might be a dudette) like Ichirin helped us...

I might be bugged by spiders, but if it's to help someone(or something) become a better person like Ichirin helped us, then I'm all for it.

Seconded. Couldn'tve said it better meself.

[DracoOmega]

>Damn thing looks diseased, almost. A solid core of sickness. Wish we'd brought a torch...
>Is there any sign of movement at all inside the hole?

>It does look pretty nasty, yes. Although a torch in a wood this dense would probably be a worse cure than the disease...
>None that you can see, and the way the depression is shaped would provide little cover to conceal anything.

>Do youkai ever use their abilities for small things, like a poison-youkai making cleaning things like bleach?
>What kinds of youkai are there? Is there an extinct kind?
>Can normal spiders make these smells and scars?

>It depends greatly on the type of ability, but some youkai have certainly applied theirs to small scale and commercial enterprises.
>There are innumerable kinds of youkai. Aside from the major races like the tengu, kappa, or oni, there are animal youkai, tsukomogami born from all manner of object, manifestations of ideas or conceptions, and others that defy classification. You imagine someone has probably made efforts to catalog this, although your own knowledge is less comprehensive. The Grand Academy would likely have the most encyclopedic records on this topic, such as they exist. As for the matter of extinction, certain complications are raised when considering this with regard to youkai. While there are major groups that can be clearly defined, many youkai are idiosyncratic, perhaps not belonging to any specific species in the same way that animals do. If one individual died, there might perhaps never be another youkai with quite their nature. Would it be appropriate to say that this type of youkai went extinct at that moment? Many kinds of youkai are born spontaneously, without need of anything resembling a biological parent. Would this mean a type of youkai could rebound from their own extinction? Perhaps extinction is an applicable concept only for those youkai which are distinctly defined as a single race? At the very least, you know of no major type of youkai which has died out entirely.
>You've certainly never encountered any that could. Then again, you've never encountered any abnormal spiders that could, either.

[Oldmansour]

Dammit, Draco, I never thought I'd be contemplating 'temporary extinction of youkai semi-races' when this started. You are good. And thank you, Kips, for posing the question that elicited that lengthy response. Clever boy.

>Mark this location in our mind, then head off to follow the scent from the east.
>Carefully! Place is creepy.

[Hanzo K.]

>Did the hole in the tree look like someone could fit in it? Perhaps a child, or a sufficiently small adult?

I'm thinking it's the same story as us almost, animal(arachnid in this case) becomes a youkai, carves out a small home to reside in, and starts hunting.
We probably didn't get that far because we had ichirin, but if this is indeed a new youkai, then they'll need someone to show them the ropes about things like Ichirin did for us.
I know I'm sounding like a broken record on that, but I feel it bears repeating.

[Kips McKipzerson]

>There are innumerable kinds of youkai. Aside from the major races like the tengu, kappa, or oni, there are animal youkai, tsukomogami born from all manner of object, manifestations of ideas or conceptions, and others that defy classification. You imagine someone has probably made efforts to catalog this, although your own knowledge is less comprehensive. The Grand Academy would likely have the most encyclopedic records on this topic, such as they exist. As for the matter of extinction, certain complications are raised when considering this with regard to youkai. While there are major groups that can be clearly defined, many youkai are idiosyncratic, perhaps not belonging to any specific species in the same way that animals do. If one individual died, there might perhaps never be another youkai with quite their nature. Would it be appropriate to say that this type of youkai went extinct at that moment? Many kinds of youkai are born spontaneously, without need of anything resembling a biological parent. Would this mean a type of youkai could rebound from their own extinction? Perhaps extinction is an applicable concept only for those youkai which are distinctly defined as a single race? At the very least, you know of no major type of youkai which has died out entirely.

That's deep man. Like, really deep. I've actually never thought of it this way before...

>Head off and keep wary.

[Hello Purvis]

At the least, we need to confirm what happened to the cows. It could turn out to be an amusing case of monkey see, monkey do with a newly minted spider youkai. Or more mundanely, something that's hungry.

Given it's only come at night, only targeted cattle, and left people alone, I would not make the presumption what we're dealing with it going to be innately hostile. But I can imagine a whole lot of scenarios where assuming that and coming in with a weapon with make things degenerate pretty quickly.