[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Coming to the grim, stark truth, Ventus struggled not to sigh in abject sorrow and let his own stress with the situation weigh down on him like a Hippowdon, before he told Nathan : "Good. We are ready to head out then. Everyone, let's stick together, and we will pull through this to the end. Let's go."

Oh how glad Shiva was to hear that! They have been down the entrance way too long, it felt like a small miracle to her that none on the Scimitar's side has been alerted by now.

This all heading-down-the-Water-Scimitars-Base isn't going as expected, at all, and if things will go like that in the Skull Ruins or the possible HQ of The Almanac... well, it won't be pretty at all. But currently, there was no time to think about that, they were down here, and had a clear aim to follow. It was also clear that they shall follow that aim together, at least to her, it seems that Nathan just has to get that, whether he likes it or not. If he has to go through all that emotional distress to get it, so be it then, it's a lesson necessary to be learned by this young Trainer.

She had just enough of that by now, while she was a very understanding and compassionate person to those she cared for - she cared for Nathan a lot, still - it has its borders and it was not her job to heal a person from breakdowns or pre-experienced issues. She's not a therapist. And if he wanted to surivive and progress on the mission, he was supposed, no, EXPECTED him to not break down now. If that is done by blocking out his emotions, it was alright. It wasn't hard for her to seperate her own problems from those Nathan currently had.

She made haste to gently wrap one of her arms around one of Ventus' arms again, for safety, comfort and just to notice when he moves on, before she spoke in an encouraging tone and purely hoping that THIS time, they indeed move on. "With that settled, I agree with you, let's get going together, alright?"

[Iron]

You feel your way along the walls, until the tunnel opens up. The masonry goes from slick bricks to rough cinderblocks. Around the corner, you glimpse a tiny light: it's coming from a tiny emergency stove, one of those little disks that you light and they put off a small fire for a few hours.

Insight + Survival + Alert:
(3)(5)(2)(5)

The group's average stealth:

3 Dex + 3 Survival
(3)(6)(1)(3)(4)(1)

You were definitely too loud arguing earlier, then. Or perhaps it was your footfalls, stumbling in the dark, which give you away.

Huddled up near the stove, against a wall, is an unfamiliar man in a familiar robe. His hands also appear to be gauntleted, like a knight. He is scruffy, unshaven, and seems pretty dirty by what you can tell in the dark. You can see no farther in the room; just this fellow's front side. He's looking in your direction with wide eyes.

No one senses any Pokemon in the room, aside from the party's. You're pretty sure you are outside the circle of firelight.

The man's right hand is spread in your general direction in a gesture of warding.

[Lord Windos]

The researcher let out a growl that would befit even the mightiest Dragon types at the sight of the fully aware Scimitar guard, and quickly commanded both his and Valder's Pokémon to subdue him ASAP. "Raphael, use Yawn on him, while you Valder summon Ghastly and have him use Hypnosis before he has a chance to react and sound the alarms! Raphael, get up to them and block them off from escaping as well" Ventus furiously whispers to his Pokémon and mercenary, hand darting into his bag as he pulled out one of the hard Sticks he had picked up earlier. He never had the chance to sell them, so he might as well arm himself if he had to get within melee range of the vile wizard!

Order: Raphael will use Yawn on him and get in his way so that he can't run off, while Ghastly (If Valder isn't around to issue the command himself) will use Hypnosis on them himself for added insurance. If its possible, I'm willing to spend a Will Point so that Hypnosis hits on the Scimitar, if the ghost will follow my commands like his master. Let's hope things turn out well...

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Great... They indeed alerted the enemies already. It also wasn't that hard to guess why. Thanks.

Thankfully, there also was a tiny light to at least see something now, perfect that it wasn't coming from them, but from the stove-thingie. It looked very vintage to her.

However, maybe suprsingly (or not), Shiva managed to stay all calm. And as silent as even possible currently, awaiting the hopeful success of putting this Scimitar to sleep before anything more can happen. Better diminish the treath safely and silently now!

[Dragonstrike]

Nathan, for his part, isn't really surprised.  Or scared.  Or feeling much of anything, really.  So what's the logical thing to do? Why, whisper an order to Kirlia, of course.

"Kirlia, if that plan doesn't work, be ready to attack as many times as you can manage with Confusion."

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Nathan can whisper as much as he wants, Shiva will still hear him as long as he's close-by. He has his second chance granted, nevertheless she'll keep a cautious eye on him and his actions from now on. Actually that was relucant to say since the silence down here was real, she only caught up only occasional dripping of water on stone.

Very very quiet, she responded to Nathan, in the normal soft tone. "It's actually not allowed to use Pokemon moves on people, especially with a move that deals damage, regardless whether they're the foe or not. Both me and Ven had some run-in with the Rangers and a fine already. However... Maybe this time we'd get off scot free. Or not, we'll see about that later."

It was clear that she was absolutely relucant to be bothered with more fines or more Rangers.

[Nylon]

Valder frowned. He whispered "I am sure all of you are, but please be catious. Pay attention to his smallest movements".

Theo is ready for a "potential" battle.

[Lord Windos]

Valder frowned. He whispered "I am sure all of you are, but please be catious. Pay attention to his smallest movements".

Theo is ready for a "potential" battle.

(I would appreciate if Valder sent out his Ghastly as ordered and have them use Hypnosis, so that we don't have to even FIGHT him in the first place. Or was that just an assumed action? I rather not have the whole Scimitar base Alerted, instead of just this guy.)

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

"We will, Valder. At least as best as possible in the faint light. To me, he looks not alerted in the state or raising alarm just yet, just as Ghastly expressed - he may think we belong to his Clan."


------------------
Mechanics:
I'll await whether putting this Guard to sleep works out before giving further orders or send a Pokemon for battle, since I'd prefer not to raise any alarm and deal with the Guard silently from the darkness.

[Iron]

I think you'd be able to stave off combat for one round in order to see if Yawn works. It's dark; he can be seen but you cannot.

So I'll roll that first thing.

Yawn
2 Dex + 2 Fight + 2 Canalize -1 darkness penalty

(2)(4)(2)(3)(5) No problem; the man was sleepy anyway.

Scimitar falls asleep.

His hand brushes the survival stove's base as he dozes off, sending the fragile light dancing and flickering.

Theo and Kirlia stand ready to attack if the man shows signs of fight, but he looks to be asleep for now.