From Out of a Dream [Quest]

[wonderandawe]

Something else?
It's a guardian, alright, to protect the archives. As long as no damage is done or anything taken, it will do nothing.
Try answering it with, "NO WORD WILL BE LOST. NO WORD WILL BE TAKEN. NO WORD WILL BE DESTROYED" and it should be appeased for a time.

Let's do that.

((Oh man. Shit is going to hit the fan when we do take something.))

[The Unsung Hero]

This sounds good actually.

Ditto ten characters

[semicasual]

"{No word shall be lost}" you answer, relaxing your guard. "{No word shall be taken. No word shall be destroyed.}"

The creature tilts its head towards you, as if listening, but does not respond.

Nuo's eyes flick from you to the creature and back again. "What's it doing?"

You shrug. "Nothing. I don't think it'll do anything unless you break one of the rules it keeps chanting."

Nuo, unconvinced, keeps her guard up. "...Would you stake your life on that?"

"Heh. I'll stake your life."

"Veeery reassuring."

Nuo sidesteps into an aisle and starts walking away, periodically turning to look behind her. You follow, also keeping one eye on the guardian creature. It follows a few feet behind you and sweeps the floor where you walk. "{LET NO WORD BE LOST,}" it chants.

You all wander through the archives, your way brightened by the candles on the guardian's hat. Nuo leads, turning this way or that based on whatever she gleans by reading the shelf-markings. Eventually she stops in front of one section that looks just like every other section to you. "Here, I think..." Nuo mutters to herself and starts running her hand along the shelf, peering at the collection of scrolls and bound books. Then she pauses and pulls a leather-bound volume from the shelf. "Wait, what's this doing here?"

You look over her shoulder at the book in her hands. "What is it?"

"'The Gate to Heaven', but we aren't in the right section..." Nuo opens the book and turns a few pages. "...Nevermind, this is about the brothel."

"{LET NO WORD BE TAKEN!}" bellows the guardian. There is a noise like a thunderclap and suddenly the creature disappears, then reappears next to Nuo. It raises its broom in both hands.

Nuo, alarmed, takes a step back and bumps into you.You push off her, giving you both some space.

• "Nuo, put it back!" Clearly, the guardian is angry because she broke a rule.
• Lunge at the creature. If you thought this fight was avoidable before, you know better now.
• Try to distract it. Perhaps making a mess of the shelves will draw its attention to you.
• Something else?

[L'het'esh]

While it is tempting to let the Guardian sweep Nuo off her feet, for all her nuisance value it is Nuo that will be the guide to the Gods Otgonbayar wants to talk to.
Lunge at the creature isn't quite right, it's more like Cleaver time.
And after this (the archives), no more distractions

[semicasual]

(Any other votes?

I'm getting the sense that when I post these updates is pretty important as far as viewings are concerned.)

[The Unsung Hero]

Oh yeah! I meant to come back to this. "Nuo, put it back!" I want to see where this goes. If it comes to blows though, yeah, Cleaver is the way.

[wonderandawe]

Put it back, Nuo! That is not the book we are looking for. If we are going to fight, we should fight for a useful book.

((Sorry, been swamped with work and that silly survey. I forgot you updated the quest.))

[Jairain]

Have her put it back the grab it again as I cut the spirit in half from behind, yay distractions and sneak attacks!

[semicasual]

"Nuo!" you bark. "Put it back!"

Nuo only hesitates for a fraction of a second before shoving the book back onto the shelf. That is enough time for the guardian creature to twist its broom. There is a slight click, and the shaft splits apart to reveal bright, sharp steel..

There is a pregnant pause while you and Nuo watch the creature. It watches back, its previously-hidden sword halfway drawn. Then, finally, it sheaths the weapon and resumes its passive watch. "{LET NO WORD BE DESTROYED.}"

"Well, that's an issue," says Nuo with a sigh, "If it won't let us read anything, what choices does that leave us?"

"One," you answer grimly. "Give me a second to get in place, then pull something off the shelf again."

She does not take her eyes off the guardian. "...Right."

The aisle is just barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side, and the guardian is standing right in the middle. Nuo makes space for you to get around her. You walk past her, then shove your way past the creature - unavoidably but also deliberately pushing it to one side. The moment you brush against it, it glides out of your way, moving to the side of the aisle. There it waits, its one eye facing towards you.

You turn around, look at Nuo and nod. Nuo nods back and grabs the book on 'The Gate To Heaven' again. The guardian's head swivels to her. Then you attack.

Water turns over your hand while you step forward, swinging into a reverse grip. You turn and throw out your arm, putting all the weight and muscle you have into one piercing strike. The blue blade punctures the creature's robe right where you would imagine its heart to be... and there is nothing underneath. The fabric and paper start to fold in on themselves. Then the creature vanishes again with that same thunderclap noise.

You feel the movement behind you, hear the sword being drawn. Instinctively, you twist and raise Fire behind your head. Something hard and sharp immediately strikes your blade. You strain to keep it from pushing down to your neck. Finally, you manage to push back enough to turn your body, letting the guardian's sword slide free and away from you.

Now you and the guardian are facing each other. It is holding its long, thin, single-edged blade out ahead of it like a duelist. It still grips the rest of its broom-sheath in its other sleeve. For a instant, it stares at you enigmatically. Then it pulls back one sleeve and throws you a short swipe with its sword. You parry with Fire again, but the force of the hit still shakes your grip, stings your hand. You counterattack with Water. The guardian deflects the hit with a well-timed whack of its broom hilt against your wrist, then counters your counter with a vicious jab.

You trade several successive strikes - the creature is fast, but not quite fast enough to break your guard. On the other hand, it has a definite edge on you in reach, and not just because of its longer weapon. The guardian's sleeve-arm bends stretches like it has no bones. Its sweeps are nothing like any human or animal you've known - graceful, directed flailing. You find it difficult to guess how it will move, so you have to stay reactive and can only spare enough focus for a weak offence.

This cannot last. You have to change the flow of the fight somehow.

• Jump back, drop the short swords, draw Cleaver, and make an all-out attack. Solid or not, it has to die if you cut it into enough pieces. You'll just have to hope that it won't disappear again and that you won't destroy anything important when you're cleaving through shelves.
• Throw your swords at it, draw Reaching Fist, and fight on the run while you probe for weak points. This creature has to be vulnerable somewhere. Maybe the candles, or its eye, or those paper talismans. Even just disarming it would help.
• Switch to Vortex and try to hold it off as long as you can. You'll have a longer-reaching guard with your three-section staff. You don't need to kill this guardian to win here - you only need Nuo to find what you need and get out.
• Something else?

[Jairain]

Reaching fist, also lets burn some essence! Might as well be awesome, not like anyone can see us in here anyways.

[L'het'esh]

Alas, Reaching Fist needs some room to work. Back up to the end of the aisle, where it meets the corridor. And you want Reaching Fist instead of Vortex so the sickle can cut the paper talismans, robe, etc.

[semicasual]

You take a step back, raise your swords, and fling them both at the guardian before it can advance. Without waiting to see if they hit, you start to ready Reaching Fist, uncoiling the chain, gripping the sickle in one hand and the weight in the other. Instead of dodging or deflecting the blades, however, the creature vanishes again. Your swords clatter onto the stone floor some distance away.
You curse, focus your senses, try to guess where the next strike will come from. The archive is ominously quiet. You cautiously walk into the corridor between aisles to give yourself more space. From there, you can faintly hear Nuo, walking softly one aisle over. There is also the soft hissing of the archive's weird lights. Besides that, there is nothing.

Then, a familiar sound booms behind you. This time you expect it, and are turning to face your attacker almost before the noise hits your ears. You catch the guardian's descending sword in your chain, breaking its momentum. The chain loops around the blade once, gripping and pulling it as you continue your turn. You stretch out with your sickle, just managing to catch the sleeve gripping the sword's hilt. Then you haul back, ripping the guardian's 'arm' and flinging the blade away. You pull out of your spin with a long step away, turn back to the guardian, and give Reaching Fist a swift wind-up. The weight is flung with as much force as you can muster, aimed at the creature's head.

The stone impacts the guardian's face, dead center. In slow motion, its head starts to cave in on itself, deforming around the crushing weight. Then, oddly it stops. There is a brief pause in time while you take in the spectacle of a slack chain leading from your hand into the creature's mask, candle-lit hat sagging over disheveled robes.

In the next instant, you feel the chain suddenly pull taut. You instinctively brace yourself so as not to be dragged forward, but instead you find the guardian rushing at you. The creature draws itself in, swallowing the chain as it goes, and before you can let go or defend yourself the guardian's robes envelop you. Surprisingly thick fabric drapes over your entire upper body, then wraps around and pulls tight over your chest, holding down your arms and crushing your lungs. Dense cloth covers your face, stuffs up your mouth and nose. You feel your own chain entangling your neck.

You kick, roll, struggle, and try to breath. The body of the guardian seems to press harder and harder on you. You start to feel dizzy, your limited vision getting fuzzier.

Something pulls away the chain on your neck for a moment. You hear Nuo shout something indistinct. In that brief window, You suck in a little air, and with it all the power you have.

• With supreme muscle control, you slip free of the entrapping guardian.
• With a surge of new found strength, you tear your way out your restraints.
• With the expertise of hundreds of battles, you shift your grip on the sickle and cut through what holds you.
• With a sudden, uncanny insight, you draw on your Blessing to bind the guardian just as it binds you.
• Something else?

[L'het'esh]

okay, let's go with the Blessing. It's not like Nuo is going to do anything useful...

[wonderandawe]

I can't decide between Blessing and Muscle control.

[Ferryman]

With a sudden, uncanny insight, you draw on your Blessing to bind the guardian just as it binds you.