[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Dragonstrike]

*Flashback, Minor Edition!*

Ventus couldn't help but close his eyes let out a fond chuckle as the boy revealed that Ritual was a part of today's celebration, with Lucifer (who was all snuggled up in Ven's sweater atm) letting out small shriek of realization himself, before they let out a happy croon and looked up fondly/meaningfully at his brother in all but blood.

"Oh now? Well, I guess I don't have to worry about that after all. Its certainly odd to me that their is a platonic analogue to Valentine's Day here in Cheshire, but I suppose that makes it all the more amazing for me to learn of it! I'm curious to know what sort of gift you shared with Kirlia, though, as I vaguely remember the two of you seemed to be in especially good spirits last night after I woke up from my nap. As for gifts for your other Pokémon, spending quality time with them should more than suffice, and their is nothing wrong with give them belated gifts should you be unable to give them the care you think they deserve this day."

Flashback End!*

"...wait, you...huh?"

Well, that certainly threw Nathan for a loop.  He wasn't expecting Ventus to have actively tried something that's often regarded as incredibly mystical and considered almost otherworldly on occassion...

As for the question Ventus posed...Kirlia chuckles in response and motions that they'll show him later.

*Flashback end?*

[Iron]

Shiva could feel that she was about to faint over the cuteness of this dragon nibbling her hand. It didn't hurt at all.

She also makes a played huffing-expression. "No? Now, I guess I need to teach you to not just claim things as your own when it's not, lil' one! You're interested in loot, however? Well then... How about GEMSTONES, precious and shiny and even too many to count? I'd bet they look good on you." From her stuff, a handful of the stones collected after successfully having defeated the ghostly Sableye is drawn, Shiva demonstratively lets them trickle down from one of her hands to the other. "Where these come from, there are way more. Shiny and sparkly things... Don't dragons enjoy to horde wealth? My wealth will be your wealth, and I'll look out for more to fill your needs - but only if you'd join. I'm not going to make a trip to gift you wealth I've gathered, and it's way more fun to farm it together!~ Look..." She holds out one particular stone. "This one's even called 'dragon's eye'."


"Maaaybe there's even jadeit among my collection - the pure form of jade."


When Luxi isn't looking, Shiva also draws her Almanac and holds it out to this unknown Pokemon.  Maybe... She didn't even know the name of this Pokemon, but maybe the Almanac can scan it and tell her? Why has she never tried something like this before?

"Scanning....Luxi, the Lucky Pokemon. A Dragon/Fairy type from Tandor. Ability is Super Luck. They have a combination of draconic and fey traits. Their second form evolves from Luxi with some unknown method, and then further using a Shiny Stone or one of Almanac's patented alternatives. The easiest way to tame one is to offer it high volumes of valuable items and food."

Ooo, gems. Luxi starts gathering them with its paws, creating a good spot to sit among them. An almost catlike instinct. Sitting with three legs closely together and the fourth one upraised, surrounded by a circle of gems, and with an orchid growing from its back, Luxi looks very happy.

When you offer to gather wealth as partners, Luxi seriously considers the offer, though it was considering leaving before!

Empathy+1
(6)(6)(4)(2)(5)(3)(6) = 6
Will
(6)(4)(4)(5)(2)(1) = 4

Under those conditions, Luxi will come along! It wants to hold at least one of those valuable items (not the orchid) while in the Poke Ball.

Luxi was caught!

Luxi is slightly undersized, so -1 HP (2HP instead of 3HP), but extra tough, so it has +1 Defense. 
For Shiva it will have 6HP but reduce 5 dice from every attack.
Ability is Regenerator, but when it reaches 5 Happiness it will also gain the benefits of Super Luck.
3 Happiness, 2 Loyalty, 3 Disobedience.
Lucky Chant, Charm, Metronome, Focus Energy, Fairy Wind, Swift, Dragon Breath. 

Shiva gains 2XP. 

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

For roughly a minute, Shiva just STARES at the text her Almanac shows, throwing a glance over to this (until now) unknown Pokemon, then glances back onto the screen with a massive frown, disbelief in her eyes behind the glasses and a headshake given to the device, before something within her seemingly fell into place with a 'ting', echoing in the silence of her mind. It sounded faintly like if a coin fell onto stone. Inevitably, Shiva's had began to tremble, one time so strongly that she was threathened to drop the Almanac into the Tall Grass. Well, Luxio she knows - but not a Pokemon without the 'o' at the end! That wasn't really what caught her however. This...small Pokemon.............was BOTH a dragon AND a fairy. A fairydragon!

She began to chuckle to herself, as that sensation sank in rather slowly but steadily. She'd never expected such a Pokemon species to exist... Well, not outside her imagination or fairytales at least. "Hehe.... Ven will be amused."

Packing the 'Pokedex' away then, she looked up just right to see this....Luxi having gathered in between all the gemstones! Awww, alone this sight was worth a fortune on its own! Even more touched she was as the Pokemon carefully nudged her as she reached out with her hand again to pat it, before it rubbed itself against her hand. So soft.... So...dear, she'll struggle to not go unconscious from this cuteness.

"I'll take that...as a 'yes' from your side. You won't regret this choice of yours, I'll make sure. Now...let me find a Ball for you come along... Huh? Oh no, that's just a cosmetic act! Usually humans nudge a Pokemon with something like this Pokeball to register it to it, it'll serve as their safe haven. Inside, if I believe the reports, you'll find a replicate of just the same area that we are surrounded now - with a few additional features that you can discover on your own. I can introduce you to the others of my own group that I'm traveling with later (Maybe when it'll be time to camp or so), alright? Maybe think of a nickname for you as well, 'Luxi' sounds a bit off to me. Let's see...." *rummaging sound* "Ah! See, I knew I've spotted one of these when collecting the gemstones earlier. For you to hold, as promised."

A pure and very rare jadeit is given to Luxi to hold, before its registered to a Safari Ball.

Maybe Shiva will get a Premier Ball from the Department Store later to give it a more 'special' home.



For now, Luxi also stays with her, as Bergmite (WITH the Soothe Bell) is sent to Bill's PC, by now Shiva should have gotten used to that this works to perfection even this deep down the earth.


Unless there's anythingelse, she's ready to move on and returns to the others with a pleased smile and a feeling of having gotten superlucky today - first Gothy agrees to the ritual, then such precious orchids, then even a unique Pokemon to care for! Maybe the stars wanted to make up to her that she couldn't live out today's holiday among all her beloved own Pokemon.

[Iron]

As you journey on, still struggling against the powerful gravity, you're finding ever more Slakoth and Slowpoke. Some of them are carrying thin chips of mica. Lots of water is dripping from spots on the ceiling, creating lots of stalactites. Some of the leaks have been worked into lovely stonemasonry pools.

Now and then you find a Vigoroth marching ahead, or a Slowbro in a pool, offering leadership to the younger forms.

You come to a place where the walls are lined with living Elder Unown, spelling out the longest message you've seen so far.

on one wall and
on the other.
https://i.imgur.com/GyHHGcL.gif (easier to read)

Reading these cryptic writings is a little Slowking without a tail. He keeps one claw on the wall for balance. The nub of his tail twitches when you get close, but otherwise he seems to be deep in concentration.

"Yea, forever changed.
Reformed by the Gauntlet.
Empowered by destiny.
Ye who pass the Veil..." mutters the Slowking out loud.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Yes, definitely getting closer to the sought out destiny, given the increasing rate of Slowpoke and Slakoth... It fills Shiva with determination. And relievement... And a good portion of anticipitation, it can't be...that far anymore... How many kilometers down the earth may the by now be, she wondered again? Haahh... A slight pity there was no method to know.

These Unknown caught her attention for sure, but only because she's never seen the real ones outside of books, and even less these curious elder ones. A hopeful glance was given to Nathan - he probably doesn't need a hint to these or a kind ask to translate what they were spelling there.


While he did so, she was totally fine with listening to what that Slowking spoke........ Wait a moment. It SPOKE? How curious! She mustered it in stunned amazement from a safe distance, wondering whether it's safe to carefully and friendly approach.

If it is:

If it is, she'll kindly ask "H....hello, precious Slowking. It's not hard to guess of which precious place you're taking about there.... This precious place is our destination, we've endured a lot and more to come this far. We've proven ourselves. But... allow me to ask, what is this Veil you're mentioning?"

(I guess I'll leave it at that for then and will turn in for the night.)

[Dragonstrike]

Doesn't take Nathan long to translate the long one, (maybe) surprisingly to everyone else. Only takes him 1-2 minutes.

"ALL WHO PASS THIS WAY ARE FOREVER CHANGED.  That's what the first one says...guess that means we're close..."

The second one is a little harder, but he picks it up somewhat quickly again, adding notes to his journal in the meantime (a sudden flash of Insight allows him to solve what had stumped him before!). Maybe 2-3 minutes?

He doesn't think Ventus is going to like this second one.

"...MORE THAN HUMAN..."

...

"...no going back after this, I suppose..."

So...out of curiosity, how does Solomon react to the talking Slowking?  This might even be the owner of that tail Nathan found earlier...

[Iron]

Solomon has his eyes narrowed at the Slowking. These scholars guard their secrets jealously from each other.

"The Veil is here and anon.
That Veil which separates Up from Down.
Beyond the Stone it lies.
And the Stone beyond is the source of the change."

He turns to look at you now as he says this. The stump of his tail is pressed against the wall for balance. He's just stared at the wall for the 5 minutes of translation. The Unown form an arc behind him, like a doorway, still spelling their two messages.

His speech sounds old, though still recognizably Common. The structure and intonation makes it sound like he's quoting something.

"Verily, the scholars say, tis hard to resist
The call of the Gauntlet, column of stone
For this failure of human Will
Must all who yield be changed.

Yet the doorway alone, though not of this earth
Does nothing so bold as afflict sad mankind
With the touch of the Elder, of Legend, of Time.
And unlock the treasure of limits anew."

[Dragonstrike]

Spoiler

Solomon has his eyes narrowed at the Slowking. These scholars guard their secrets jealously from each other.

"The Veil is here and anon.
That Veil which separates Up from Down.
Beyond the Stone it lies.
And the Stone beyond is the source of the change."

He turns to look at you now as he says this. The stump of his tail is pressed against the wall for balance. He's just stared at the wall for the 5 minutes of translation. The Unown form an arc behind him, like a doorway, still spelling their two messages.

His speech sounds old, though still recognizably Common. The structure and intonation makes it sound like he's quoting something.

"Verily, the scholars say, tis hard to resist
The call of the Gauntlet, column of stone
For this failure of human Will
Must all who yield be changed.

Yet the doorway alone, though not of this earth
Does nothing so bold as afflict sad mankind
With the touch of the Elder, of Legend, of Time.
And unlock the treasure of limits anew."

Completely understandable.

Nathan listens very carefully to what's being said...thinking about it, trying to solve the puzzle of what it might mean...not that it should be difficult, it's just...really Old Common.  Nobody on the surface has spoken like that for centuries...

He does have one question for the tailless Slowking: "...which definition of the word 'gauntlet' are you using, if I may ask? The metal glove, or the dangerous situation?"

[Lord Windos]

The moment the group Encounters the tailless Slowking and the familiar runic forms of Old Unown, Ventus fell into respectful silence as he let his companions interact with the scholar before himself. Shiva's unadulterated affable kindness would do better to open up them up than his engraciating yet overly curious come ons (in his opinion), and Nathan + Solomon were the resident historians of the group that would better piece together what it and the messages on the wall than his efforts, so for now he left it to them to do the socializing, understanding.

However, when the messages were translated with some trepidation on the boy's part, the researcher's face tightens up and loses its regular passive serenity, becoming utterly inscrutable. The tail-less Slowking's elaboration of the Old Unown messages sparked a certain sense of cautious intrigue within him, but still he remains silent and experssionless and let the others continue speaking without his input. That, and he really doesn't have that much of an idea of what to day to and/or about the Slowking and the ancient text/recital, so he decided it was best if he said nothing at all for now....

[Iron]

Spoiler

Solomon has his eyes narrowed at the Slowking. These scholars guard their secrets jealously from each other.

"The Veil is here and anon.
That Veil which separates Up from Down.
Beyond the Stone it lies.
And the Stone beyond is the source of the change."

He turns to look at you now as he says this. The stump of his tail is pressed against the wall for balance. He's just stared at the wall for the 5 minutes of translation. The Unown form an arc behind him, like a doorway, still spelling their two messages.

His speech sounds old, though still recognizably Common. The structure and intonation makes it sound like he's quoting something.

"Verily, the scholars say, tis hard to resist
The call of the Gauntlet, column of stone
For this failure of human Will
Must all who yield be changed.

Yet the doorway alone, though not of this earth
Does nothing so bold as afflict sad mankind
With the touch of the Elder, of Legend, of Time.
And unlock the treasure of limits anew."

Completely understandable.

Nathan listens very carefully to what's being said...thinking about it, trying to solve the puzzle of what it might mean...not that it should be difficult, it's just...really Old Common.  Nobody on the surface has spoken like that for centuries...

He does have one question for the tailless Slowking:  "...which definition of the word 'gauntlet' are you using, if I may ask?  The metal glove, or the dangerous situation?"

"The Gauntlet rises like a fist from the Veil.
Clenching the thunderbolt of Time, it waits.
Within it, Elder powers nest
And Earthpower a nauseating wave."