Murasa Quest Continues 3 - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Kilgamayan]

> "I do still feel a little strange, admittedly, but the arm flopping is probably unrelated. Do I look any different?"
> Try opening our eyes again, but slowly and just a little.

[It's Purvis!]

> "I do still feel a little strange, admittedly, but the arm flopping is probably unrelated. Do I look any different?"
> Try opening our eyes again, but slowly and just a little.

>"Not to me," she says. "Maybe a bit roughed up. But you were also passed out on the forest floor, so that's to be expected."
>You open your eyes again. It's...not so bright. In fact, it's actually dark out. What happened before? Maybe you just weren't used to being able to see again.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Slowly open our eyes all the way open.
> "...It's dark? Why was it so bright when I tried to open them earlier...?"
> Uh...try sitting up.

[Branneg Xy]

>You push, you push! You can almost feel your fingertips! Once last heave! You can practically hear watering crashing around your ears, ears that you can also feel!
>...
>...
>...
>You feel something warm blanket you, and a distant voice says, "Hey, you okay?" You feel...funny.

>_

>Turn & Answer trying to sincerely smile,and of course "keep keeping 'ourselves together":"As long as I keep myself together I should be fine,thank you"

>Feeling Funny?How so?Where so?

[It's Purvis!]

> Slowly open our eyes all the way open.
> "...It's dark? Why was it so bright when I tried to open them earlier...?"
> Uh...try sitting up.

>You are in the middle of a forest, which you presume is the Forest of Magic. The canopy overhead is reasonably thick, but Fall is patently thinning it out. You seem to be laying under a tree; now that you're more aware, you seem to be resting your head on some kind of thick leafy plant.
>"Yeah, it's been hours," Tojiko says, sitting beside you. "I didn't see any brightness."
>You try to sit up. Logically, you know this motion is normal and natural, but it certainly doesn't feel like anything you should be able to do at all; like some kind of strange contortionists' trick from something that doesn't have all of their bones. However, you succeed. The blanket that Tojiko presumably put over you kind of falls away. Ah, this isn't a blanket, it's a coat draped like a blanket.

>Turn & Answer trying to sincerely smile,and of course "keep keeping 'ourselves together":"As long as I keep myself together I should be fine,thank you"

>Feeling Funny?How so?Where so?

>You body doesn't feel like its yours, you think. Not that something else is controlling it, but rather the feeling of having limbs and sensory organs and defined boundaries is just so alien. It's getting better, though. Beyond that, you feel...okay? Different in some way you cannot put your finger on, but okay.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Of what we can see of ourselves, do we look any different?
> Is anyone else around?
> Is Tojiko within easy reach?
> How does the coat look?

[It's Purvis!]

> Of what we can see of ourselves, do we look any different?
> Is anyone else around?
> Is Tojiko within easy reach?
> How does the coat look?

>You are mostly covered by the coat. But you don't look any different.
>You don't see anyone around. But faeries can be sneaky and this is their home turf.
>She is within reach.
>It's quite nice, actually. A long coat with gold trim and shoulder details.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "How weird. Must have been some sort of side effect of what happened."
> "It does seem you're right, though. Forest of Magic, no one around..."
> Smile a bit.
> "I'd say we're certainly not in public anymore. Which means I get to do this."
> Try to lean over and give our fellow ghost a hug.

[It's Purvis!]

> "How weird. Must have been some sort of side effect of what happened."
> "It does seem you're right, though. Forest of Magic, no one around..."
> Smile a bit.
> "I'd say we're certainly not in public anymore. Which means I get to do this."
> Try to lean over and give our fellow ghost a hug.

>You lean over, and give Tojiko a hug. Or rather, you try. Your balance isn't quite what it ought to be yet, so rather than give a hug you just sort of fall against her. "H-hey!" she says, sounding a bit irritated. But she holds you, and doesn't protest when you wrap your arms around her. "You weren't in that much danger, were you?!"

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Me personally, I don't really know. It's complicated. But that's not what this is about."
> Sigh.
> "I'm sorry. I got you involved in this when you didn't have to be, and you had to experience whatever it was you experienced as a result."

[It's Purvis!]

> "Me personally, I don't really know. It's complicated. But that's not what this is about."
> Sigh.
> "I'm sorry. I got you involved in this when you didn't have to be, and you had to experience whatever it was you experienced as a result."

>"Look, it's like I said," Tojiko replied. "The Crown Prince would have been displeased if I had just walked away at this juncture. Mind, I don't think she's going to be thrilled I was as useful as a bag of busted hammers."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "I mean, getting you involved with all of this in the first place."

[It's Purvis!]

> "I mean, getting you involved with all of this in the first place."

>"Well, I helped, didn't I?" Tojiko says.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "You did, you did."
> Let go and try to right ourselves back into a normal sitting position.
> "But yeah...you remember that whole Formless One deal? I don't know if it was the one responsible for whatever we saw that was so terrifying, but...I'm pretty sure it attached itself to me when I went too far into those weird rooms, and turned me into the water itself. Or...something."

[It's Purvis!]

> "You did, you did."
> Let go and try to right ourselves back into a normal sitting position.
> "But yeah...you remember that whole Formless One deal? I don't know if it was the one responsible for whatever we saw that was so terrifying, but...I'm pretty sure it attached itself to me when I went too far into those weird rooms, and turned me into the water itself. Or...something."

>You let her go and sit back, you have to lean against the back of the tree, but you aren't helplessly leaned against it.
>"...What." Tojiko says.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> "Yeah."

[It's Purvis!]

> "Yeah."

>"No no, you don't get to say that and not elaborate," says Tojiko.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Chuckle.
> "Right, right."
> Relax a bit against the back of the tree, pulling the coat a bit back over ourselves like a blanket.
> "So, first..."
> Recount our encounter with the other Minamitsu, including what we know about who she is. Mention that we're pretty sure Tojiko and her crew weren't around yet when that happening, uh, happened.

[It's Purvis!]

> Chuckle.
> "Right, right."
> Relax a bit against the back of the tree, pulling the coat a bit back over ourselves like a blanket.
> "So, first..."
> Recount our encounter with the other Minamitsu, including what we know about who she is. Mention that we're pretty sure Tojiko and her crew weren't around yet when that happening, uh, happened.

>You settle back and start to explain. Tojiko looks at you like you're a lunatic as you explain, but she doesn't raise any objections.
>"I saw...a worm-ridden corpse," she says, not quite looking at you. "My worm-ridden corpse..."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

I think I might have asked this once before but I don't remember for sure, so

> How much of the backstory of Toyosatomimi's faction do we know, particularly in regards to the construct of their bodies?

[It's Purvis!]

> How much of the backstory of Toyosatomimi's faction do we know, particularly in regards to the construct of their bodies?

>You know they are immortals via ritual, but you don't know much more than that.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Grimace.
> "Yikes. That sounds very unpleasant, to put it mildly."

[It's Purvis!]

> Grimace.
> "Yikes. That sounds very unpleasant, to put it mildly."

>"I knew, the moment it caught me, it was going to be me..." she says.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Nod.
> "I got the same feeling from mine, that it would all be over if it caught me."
> "...Is it something you'd feel comfortable expanding on? I sorta know where mine came from, but like I said, I don't think you all were around for that incident. You don't have to if you don't want to, of course, I'm only wondering if you think talking it out might help at all."

[It's Purvis!]

> Nod.
> "I got the same feeling from mine, that it would all be over if it caught me."
> "...Is it something you'd feel comfortable expanding on? I sorta know where mine came from, but like I said, I don't think you all were around for that incident. You don't have to if you don't want to, of course, I'm only wondering if you think talking it out might help at all."

>"I would if I could," Tojiko says. "I just knew it was another me, from...elsewhere."

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Nod a couple more times.
> "Makes sense. Let's stick a pin in that, then, rather than dwell on our hyper-specific nightmares. From there..."
> Recount our miraculous overcoming of our other self, as well as everything that happened after that, ending with waking up here in the forest. Make sure to include our theories about the Formless One and its behaviors and motivations that we devised along the way.

[It's Purvis!]

> Nod a couple more times.
> "Makes sense. Let's stick a pin in that, then, rather than dwell on our hyper-specific nightmares. From there..."
> Recount our miraculous overcoming of our other self, as well as everything that happened after that, ending with waking up here in the forest. Make sure to include our theories about the Formless One and its behaviors and motivations that we devised along the way.

>You're going to have to elaborate on those theories yourself, I can't have them for you.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> This player meant everything that was deduced in-thread, like how the Formless One attached itself to us somehow, how its seemingly-singular goal was to flow and that its target was Gensokyo, and so on. Apologies for being unclear.

[It's Purvis!]

> This player meant everything that was deduced in-thread, like how the Formless One attached itself to us somehow, how its seemingly-singular goal was to flow and that its target was Gensokyo, and so on. Apologies for being unclear.

>You're gonna have to elaborate on them yourself, I can't share realizations you've had.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

Well that's concerning.

> "From there, I did manage to overcome, uh, myself somehow, but I ended up getting lost in the process of her chasing me. I wandered around semi-blindly, before eventually...hearing something through the water. Hearing, and eventually feeling, tasting, and pretty much every other sensation you can think of. My guess at this point is that I was swimming through memories everyone had of where that other me came from. It got more and more oppressive as I pushed on, eventually feeling like I was in someone else's body, even, someone a little bit shorter. Then...I'm pretty sure the Formless One latched onto me, and took over mentally."