[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Iron]

When Nathan approaches the Gauntlet she has been WAITING at so long, Shiva only greets him with a slight (not crazy) smile, seemingly saying 'Welcome in its presence!', before turning to the Gauntlet again.

"Is everyone ready then? I'll count down to 3 again and then we TOUCH it! Come on, Lilith!~

"1.....
2......

Spoiler

.......*super-dramatic 3*"

Nathan can't bring himself to smile back at this point in time, unfortunately.  Shiva's making him a little too nervous and worried at the moment.

Still, none of that is related to the Gauntlet itself.  There's curiosity there instead.  Wonder.  And maybe just a little fear of the unknown.

This is a historic moment, plain and simple.  The only question that remains is how it will be remembered...

Are you also touching it? At this distance you would hear about half of what the voice said. If you're touching it, I'll add more.

[Dragonstrike]

Are you also touching it? At this distance you would hear about half of what the voice said. If you're touching it, I'll add more.

Yes.  Shiva did say she wanted to do it together with everyone who wished to do so.  So Nathan is doing it at the same time.  Kirlia and Solomon are free to join in as well if they wish.

[Nylon]

After having opened the door, Valder waits for the others. He looks at the Gauntlet with curiousity, he had heard about it before, but thought it was only some carved stone. Valder will inspect it if Theo wants to, otherwise he'll  wait for others (Nathan mostly) to come.

(Zzz, going to bed)

[Lord Windos]

(...)

Ventus doesn't hear it. He sees everyone's heads jerk up involuntarily/in surprise and look toward the Gauntlet, but he cannot sense why that might have occurred. He still senses only the same powers as when the forcefield first came down.

Valder doesn't quite make it through the door before this happens, though he finds that his immense strength is enough to open it alone.

The researcher in question eyes narrow practically into slits as the scene played out, knowing he was missing crucial details as Shiva, Nathan etc. interacted with the Guantlet, but believing it absolutely bode nothing but ill for his friends. Never the less, they didn't seem to be 'excessivley' and/or 'overly' affected by that THING, so Ventus just closed his eyes and let out a displeased/uneasy grunt as he marshaled his iron Will and wrangled his fears/paranioa back tightly under control, putting away his rebar but still having Apsis Pokeball in hand. No matter how freaked out or distrustful of everything connected to Antheneum, he couldn't always be wired and fraught with tension while exploring the mystical place or interacting with the group, no matter how much it gave him the hebe jebes....

After he was done with that, he followed straight after Valder and into Antheneum proper, give a WIDE berth around The Gauntlet as he did. He didn't want to be in its presence any longer than the bare minimum, and all he just wanted to do at this point was get into the library, safeguard it against the Scimitars, and then get out. The pursuit of long lost secrets Knowledge or valuable tech/loot was far from his mind , and if they ever were in it they've been thoroughly stamped out by this point.

[Spiritmon]

Heart touch too the gautlet. Did he feel anything else or what?

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

V..... Voic........ A Voice within her head and mind..... Usually hearing one so clearly would either scare one to the core or cause one to highly question their sanity (or both), but not in Shiva's case. Oh no... She has gotten used to such a thing long ago and made peace with it. She could not silent things within her. Why should she? Still, she's mentally fine aside from her flucctuating mood swings, depressive traits put aside here.

That feeling of being uplifted... It felt SO pleasant, if she could she'd grant Lilith a dear smile here as it reminds her on floating under her Telekinesis. Ah, they have to repeat this once again... Or find a medical institute where they are conducting this sensory deprivation.......Haaaaaahhhhhh....

That Cottonwood Tree - why did it appear so graphically within her mind? This was way more vivid that her infamous imagination could picture it, almost as vivid and real like that Zoroark's.... No, this was JUST as real as everything the black fox has shown her more than once. Things were so innocent back then when she was younger... But, she enjoyed this Tree. Remembers it and the white fluff growing on it... How she has practiced 'Skirl of the Southern Wind' right there under its guard and spend some peaceful time despite back in Stair things were so serious - she allowed her to do so. Now, she felt like she could pluck one of the cottonballs right from the air to hug it for no other reason than nostalgia.

Way too quickly the scene faded however, and that feeling of POWER washed over her. Shiva didn't flinch, even if she wouldn't be paralyzed. She said she would welcome this might and any change it'd bring - now was not the moment to be scared and deny what she promised. Her already open beyond the ordinary mind, that figurative Castle of her Mind - the inhabitants there were probably starring up to the sky in wonder and amazement as another extension has been added, completely with tower and gargoyles. To say that Shiva herself enjoyed this to the upmost and tried to catch this feeling with every fiber of her being would yet be underestimated.

Shiva doesn't know if the Voice would hear or even answer, but still a long and honest 'Thank You' began to echo from within her. She'll accept this gift.... This experience, being able to share such a moment with her precious and gothlike Psychic Type, this vanishing of her exhaustion and replacement with vigor -

- she will never forget this moment.


(Is she able to take her hand from the Gauntlet or is something preventing her from doing so? Ah, and I guess now her semi-mad state is replaced with some pure calmness.)

[Iron]

Theo is more interested in the interior of the Library. He seems excited about something inside.



When Nathan and Heart touch the Gauntlet, they likewise gain 1 Will point and have all their exhaustion removed.

Nathan is sent back to a memory he didn't know he had, being pushed along in a stroller through what appears to be Celebi Park in Cress City. Everything, from the gravel crunching underfoot to the swaying of towering trees, combines to become a forest as quintessential as the oldest of primeval old-growth (Which would be Earthstar Forest, in Creshire).
He smells popcorn and other treats one might find in a city, and realizes that a forest as beloved and well-stewarded as this one is still a forest, still held sacred by the Pokemon of Creshire.

When Nathan embarks upon his out-of-body experience, he sees that the one pushing him in the stroller is a much younger Marco Warren, Nathan's mom at his side. And there's Uncle Oscar, with a thick mustache you don't think he has anymore, and brown hair down to his shoulders.

"Accept these gifts, Nathan. Pay them forward, even as you look backward."


Heart's journey is quite unique. He wanders through a mosaic of all the greatest forests he's explored all over the world, from the buggy rainforests of Tandor to the guarded Pinwheel Forest. To one side, the mossy trunks of Eterna Forest. Looming overhead, the massive trees of Petalburg Woods. There's a fresh clearing just like the one where you encountered your Phantump. And the patch of thick Tall Grass surrounded by dense trees, perhaps taken from your memories of Ilex Forest, that patch glows with the most power of all. Somewhere nearby, a shrine is hidden...

"Accept these gifts..." and here the voice calls you by the name you were born with. "You have been to so many places where I have traveled. As Heart, I hope you will spread your gifts far and wide.


This all takes place over a mere moment. You find yourself able to manipulate your visions, exploring whatever is nearby, and you feel it is real knowledge you gain. But the knowledge, it is of the past, not the present. For Shiva, only a month ago. For Nathan, a short lifetime ago. For Heart, many years at once, the strongest memories he's collected as he traveled the world collecting Pokemon.

[Iron]

Yes, you can remove your hand, and you still feel invigorated.

"You are quite welcome, Shiva," says the voice. All hear this, though the other statements by the Voice so far have been muffled to all but their intended recipient. (Ventus still doesn't hear anything). Valder hears that one as he enters the Library.

[Dragonstrike]

When Nathan and Heart touch the Gauntlet, they likewise gain 1 Will point and have all their exhaustion removed.

Nathan is sent back to a memory he didn't know he had, being pushed along in a stroller through what appears to be Celebi Park in Cress City. Everything, from the gravel crunching underfoot to the swaying of towering trees, combines to become a forest as quintessential as the oldest of primeval old-growth (Which would be Earthstar Forest, in Creshire).
He smells popcorn and other treats one might find in a city, and realizes that a forest as beloved and well-stewarded as this one is still a forest, still held sacred by the Pokemon of Creshire.

When Nathan embarks upon his out-of-body experience, he sees that the one pushing him in the stroller is a much younger Marco Warren, Nathan's mom at his side. And there's Uncle Oscar, with a thick mustache you don't think he has anymore, and brown hair down to his shoulders.

"Accept these gifts, Nathan. Pay them forward, even as you look backward."

...

...that's an old memory.

...

...he didn't know that he'd ever been outside Trillium before...

...and that's what Uncle Oscar looks like?  Or, used to?  Wow...

...

...it's so...surreal, experiencing the past...experiencing something he can no longer remember...

...it's...kinda happy, but also a little sad.  This is the first time in three years he's seen his dad, technically speaking...

...

...and it definitely gives him a deeper appreciation for the presence of pokemon in their lives.  It's quite a gift, even by itself, having such powerful and friendly companions that everyone can rely on...

...

...Nathan does wonder who's speaking to him (and presumably everyone else) right now...hmmm...

"...I will...whatever these gifts are, I hope to use them to do good...do right..."





...and then he's back in front of the Relic Stone, looking just a little dazed.

...forests, memories...a powerful, natural presence...and to top it all off, it all lines up with what he knows of Orre's Relic Stone...

...and the voice also answers Shiva's words of thanks...hmmm...

"...wait...is the one speaking to us...is that...are you...Celebi?"

Nathan's not noticed that Ventus can't hear the mysterious voice.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

"You are quite welcome, Shiva," says the voice.

That Voice thanked her..... It replied.... It's so friendly and kind, that Shiva could not help but shed only a few tears of raw and pure joy over this. Call her over-emotional if you like, as that's actually a real trait of her. Before they could fall down and touch the Gauntlet however, she was suprised that she was able to simply remove her hand from the Gauntlet and wipe them away from her cheek with the sleeve of her beloved Ranger's cloak.

That massive vigor, that MIGHT, remained. Shiva felt like she would and could attempt to unroot these Apricorn Trees surrounding the shack, but her love and respect of nature prevented her from such an action. She only wanted the fruit, not the whole tree! (How should she carry it to the surface at all?)

With amazement, she at first stared at her hands upon removing it from the Gauntlet, then down at the Gauntlet again, her breath turning shallow again and her heartrate increasing again. What an experience after all... What an experience.

Things felt calm, SHE felt so calm. Things were fine... Things were alright. All is well... Where formerly Shiva was rather rambunctious, now it seems to be replaced with a pure feeling of zen. Enlightment. She was at peace with herself.

Closing her eyes and taking another very deep breath, she eventually waved over to Lilith and Cottonee who has been resting on her head the whole time, and turns towards that curious shack she was also starring at formerly. The tone of the voice the spoke with was somehow light, whispered, as if spoken by a Medium. "Come on, you two... Let us take a look at this cabin and what surrounds it. The trees, the lake... And WHY time is still or slow around it..."

Means, she will not enter the shack right away, but explore it's outside at first until she had enough.