[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Mikaruge108]

Spoiler

When Terra asks if Gallade can help him learn a little about swordplay, Gallade starts thinking very carefully about that.  More on that later.

When Heart arrives, the first thing Nathan does is hand Heart his cloak with the golden heart sewn onto the back.  "Here.  I recommend putting that on before somebody starts asking questions about our strange attire."  When the collector says he found a Honedge after all, followed by recounting how and ending by saying he sent Honedge to the present time...well, he doesn't immediately say anything because Terra started discussing it with Heart.

Nathan listens quietly and carefully the whole time.  When they finally finish, Nathan says his piece.  Very, very quietly.  "...don't be so loud and boisterous about it, please...and don't let anyone in this time catch wind of that, Heart.  The King himself will probably deal with such treason personally if he starts hearing rumors about that.  Creshirean Aegislash are the quintessential representation of the right to bear authority.  Only those deemed worthy of holding that authority, be it King or Champion, can ever hope to evolve a Doublade into the Royal Sword pokemon.  Even in our time, that still holds true.  Only the Champion is permitted to use an Aegislash in official League battles.  Honedge and Doublade are fine for anyone to raise in our time.  But here?  Treason, no matter what stage of the evolution line you have.  Be very, very careful, Heart.  Creshire holds their Aegislash in much higher regard than Kalos does."

What Nathan doesn't say out loud is just how...significant Heart obtaining an Aegislash would be.  Heart's father had raised and trained Heart to go beyond his limits, be more than what his father had been...it'd probably be a little fitting and potentially a little comforting for him to have a symbol of leadership.  Particularly since he has to rebuild his clan from the ground up...

Then Nathan looks at everyone else.  "Everyone understand?  No talking about Heart having a member of the Honedge family in this era.  That could endanger him, plus us for associating with him.  The less we talk about it, the safer we'll be.  I don't think any of us want to end up dead, imprisoned, or worse because of this."

He looks back at Heart.  "...you can raise it without getting in trouble if you're careful about when you use it, just...don't get yourself...or us...in trouble with authority figures by doing so, alright?"

---------------

Now then, on to the soldiers.

First, Nathan sighs.  "...let me elaborate a little on what I said earlier, Shiva.  There is SOME oppression, I'm just...maybe being overly paranoid.  For the most part, if you could command pokemon well or were of a noble caste, you'd be treated well regardless of gender.  If you were a commoner with no skill with regards to commanding pokemon...no guarantees.  Heck, if someone like that was lucky and good looking enough, one of the 'better' lives they could have was being a personal slave/servant to a noble or even the King himself.  Again, with gender equality being factored in...mostly.  Males are still dominant in most of the areas you'd expect them to be.  Don't ask how I know all that.  It's a looonnnnggg story."

Then he points towards the camp, and is talking to everyone now.  "As far as those soldiers go...they're all minor nobles.  Every.  Single.  One.  And Terra's not wrong about them not being average.  They're what some researchers call Progenitors, and they make up about half of the population in this era if you can believe that.  Sarimanok claims their general capabilities are primarily due to his bloodline's influence...and he's not entirely wrong...but there are other factors too.  Not only did the Progenitors win the genetic lottery, they're also better fed and educated than the peasant caste.  Because of that, they're almost able to be classified as a separate species of human entirely.  They're tougher, stronger, bigger...and they have an almost innate ability to raise pokemon with ease (OOC: basically a +1 Empathy surprise specifically for raising pokemon)."

Another sigh from Nathan.  "...to be honest, I don't want to go anywhere near them if I can avoid it.  I don't want to go anywhere near those statues, either.  You said there were Ghosts in those statues and the gems on them seemed to be decorative, right, Spira?  I'm thinking the Ghosts might be there as sentries of sorts.  If someone were to tamper with those incredibly valuable gems...the Ghost would probably follow whoever did so, and then report back to someone and lead some soldiers to the culprit's hiding place.  Sarimanok's rather infamous for 'laying curses' on things and using 'magic', but there's almost always some kind of reasonable explanation for most of that kind of stuff.  He's also well known for using Magic Crystals, which were the basis of early apricorn based pokeballs.  Don't think they actually are magic, but it probably seemed like that to most everyone that didn't know any better.  Heck if I know exactly how a pokeball works."

A pause, then he continues.  "...peasants could be conscripted into the army too.  They were usually just expendable cannon fodder, though.  And punching bags for the Progenitors to train with.  I don't see any in any of those camps, though..."

One last pause.

"...well, welcome to 500 AD, everyone.  Or at least, we're in the general ballpark of that century.  Being 1500 years in the past...well, 1400 in your case, Spira...it's certainly going to be a...different experience, to say the least...we'll need to tread carefully, and second guess anything that seems even remotely out of the ordinary..."

Whew, that was a long lecture...

--------------

At some point, Nathan also introduces his stranger pokemon to Terra and Spira.  "Ah, right.  Terra, Spira, this is Charmeleon.  One of my few dragons, and one looking for an opportunity to prove his strength.  And the big guy behind me..."

Nathan points behind him at the big, scruffy looking dog that appears to be wearing a cape.

"...that's Ditto.  Currently Transformed into a Herolune, a rather rare and...heroic dog pokemon.  Just a quick question, Ditto, but are you able to detransform at the moment?"

Dittolune barks, focuses...then shakes his head.  Nope.

"...well, I suppose there's worse things you could be stuck as..."

----------------

After having giving Terra's question some thought...Gallade turns to Nathan to discuss something with his best friend.  He extends one of his blades, slashes at the air with it, then sheathes it, waves his hand around, and shrugs.  Nathan turns to Terra to 'translate'.  "...he's not sure how well that might go.  He could try if you really wanted to attempt to learn, but fighting with bladed elbow is a bit different from waving a sword around."

It's at this point that Gallade notices the images on Terra's shiny, new, medieval gear and points them out to Nathan, who hadn't really paid too much attention to them at first.

"...ummm...Terra, I think it might be better if you don't use those...I'm not sure it'd be a good thing if somebody thought we were part of Sarimanok's army because of all those eyes..."

Then he notices the pictures of what appear to be pokemon on the shield and helmet.

He blinks a few times.  "...Terra, what are those pokemon depicted on the helmet and shield?  That paint still looks fresh if I'm not seeing things..."

(OOC note: if Terra wants Nathan to elaborate on anything he said during the course of this post, he's free to ask)

Spira listens to the lecture intently, and when Nathan points out his Charmeleon and Ditto, Spira finds more fascination in the Ditto that can't control its Transformation.  When Nathan says that there are worse things that Ditto could have transformed into, Spira says "...like a Skuntank with IBS..." Spira then reaches into his bag and pulls out a textbook "A Concise Look at Ghost Pokemon, 6th Edition" reads the title, If Spira is asked why he has this book, he simply says that it was required reading for the gym he trained at. He flips through the book then stops at a page that has a sketch of Honedge on it. "So this is the pokemon that Heart caught. Interesting pokemon."

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

When Terra asks if Gallade can help him learn a little about swordplay, Gallade starts thinking very carefully about that.  More on that later.

When Heart arrives, the first thing Nathan does is hand Heart his cloak with the golden heart sewn onto the back.  "Here.  I recommend putting that on before somebody starts asking questions about our strange attire."  When the collector says he found a Honedge after all, followed by recounting how and ending by saying he sent Honedge to the present time...well, he doesn't immediately say anything because Terra started discussing it with Heart.

Nathan listens quietly and carefully the whole time.  When they finally finish, Nathan says his piece.  Very, very quietly.  "...don't be so loud and boisterous about it, please...and don't let anyone in this time catch wind of that, Heart.  The King himself will probably deal with such treason personally if he starts hearing rumors about that.  Creshirean Aegislash are the quintessential representation of the right to bear authority.  Only those deemed worthy of holding that authority, be it King or Champion, can ever hope to evolve a Doublade into the Royal Sword pokemon.  Even in our time, that still holds true.  Only the Champion is permitted to use an Aegislash in official League battles.  Honedge and Doublade are fine for anyone to raise in our time.  But here?  Treason, no matter what stage of the evolution line you have.  Be very, very careful, Heart.  Creshire holds their Aegislash in much higher regard than Kalos does."

What Nathan doesn't say out loud is just how...significant Heart obtaining an Aegislash would be.  Heart's father had raised and trained Heart to go beyond his limits, be more than what his father had been...it'd probably be a little fitting and potentially a little comforting for him to have a symbol of leadership.  Particularly since he has to rebuild his clan from the ground up...

Then Nathan looks at everyone else.  "Everyone understand?  No talking about Heart having a member of the Honedge family in this era.  That could endanger him, plus us for associating with him.  The less we talk about it, the safer we'll be.  I don't think any of us want to end up dead, imprisoned, or worse because of this."

He looks back at Heart.  "...you can raise it without getting in trouble if you're careful about when you use it, just...don't get yourself...or us...in trouble with authority figures by doing so, alright?"

---------------

Now then, on to the soldiers.

First, Nathan sighs.  "...let me elaborate a little on what I said earlier, Shiva.  There is SOME oppression, I'm just...maybe being overly paranoid.  For the most part, if you could command pokemon well or were of a noble caste, you'd be treated well regardless of gender.  If you were a commoner with no skill with regards to commanding pokemon...no guarantees.  Heck, if someone like that was lucky and good looking enough, one of the 'better' lives they could have was being a personal slave/servant to a noble or even the King himself.  Again, with gender equality being factored in...mostly.  Males are still dominant in most of the areas you'd expect them to be.  Don't ask how I know all that.  It's a looonnnnggg story."

Then he points towards the camp, and is talking to everyone now.  "As far as those soldiers go...they're all minor nobles.  Every.  Single.  One.  And Terra's not wrong about them not being average.  They're what some researchers call Progenitors, and they make up about half of the population in this era if you can believe that.  Sarimanok claims their general capabilities are primarily due to his bloodline's influence...and he's not entirely wrong...but there are other factors too.  Not only did the Progenitors win the genetic lottery, they're also better fed and educated than the peasant caste.  Because of that, they're almost able to be classified as a separate species of human entirely.  They're tougher, stronger, bigger...and they have an almost innate ability to raise pokemon with ease (OOC: basically a +1 Empathy surprise specifically for raising pokemon)."

Another sigh from Nathan.  "...to be honest, I don't want to go anywhere near them if I can avoid it.  I don't want to go anywhere near those statues, either.  You said there were Ghosts in those statues and the gems on them seemed to be decorative, right, Spira?  I'm thinking the Ghosts might be there as sentries of sorts.  If someone were to tamper with those incredibly valuable gems...the Ghost would probably follow whoever did so, and then report back to someone and lead some soldiers to the culprit's hiding place.  Sarimanok's rather infamous for 'laying curses' on things and using 'magic', but there's almost always some kind of reasonable explanation for most of that kind of stuff.  He's also well known for using Magic Crystals, which were the basis of early apricorn based pokeballs.  Don't think they actually are magic, but it probably seemed like that to most everyone that didn't know any better.  Heck if I know exactly how a pokeball works."

A pause, then he continues.  "...peasants could be conscripted into the army too.  They were usually just expendable cannon fodder, though.  And punching bags for the Progenitors to train with.  I don't see any in any of those camps, though..."

One last pause.

"...well, welcome to 500 AD, everyone.  Or at least, we're in the general ballpark of that century.  Being 1500 years in the past...well, 1400 in your case, Spira...it's certainly going to be a...different experience, to say the least...we'll need to tread carefully, and second guess anything that seems even remotely out of the ordinary..."

Whew, that was a long lecture...

--------------

At some point, Nathan also introduces his stranger pokemon to Terra and Spira.  "Ah, right.  Terra, Spira, this is Charmeleon.  One of my few dragons, and one looking for an opportunity to prove his strength.  And the big guy behind me..."

Nathan points behind him at the big, scruffy looking dog that appears to be wearing a cape.

"...that's Ditto.  Currently Transformed into a Herolune, a rather rare and...heroic dog pokemon.  Just a quick question, Ditto, but are you able to detransform at the moment?"

Dittolune barks, focuses...then shakes his head.  Nope.

"...well, I suppose there's worse things you could be stuck as..."

----------------

After having giving Terra's question some thought...Gallade turns to Nathan to discuss something with his best friend.  He extends one of his blades, slashes at the air with it, then sheathes it, waves his hand around, and shrugs.  Nathan turns to Terra to 'translate'.  "...he's not sure how well that might go.  He could try if you really wanted to attempt to learn, but fighting with bladed elbow is a bit different from waving a sword around."

It's at this point that Gallade notices the images on Terra's shiny, new, medieval gear and points them out to Nathan, who hadn't really paid too much attention to them at first.

"...ummm...Terra, I think it might be better if you don't use those...I'm not sure it'd be a good thing if somebody thought we were part of Sarimanok's army because of all those eyes..."

Then he notices the pictures of what appear to be pokemon on the shield and helmet.

He blinks a few times.  "...Terra, what are those pokemon depicted on the helmet and shield?  That paint still looks fresh if I'm not seeing things..."

(OOC note: if Terra wants Nathan to elaborate on anything he said during the course of this post, he's free to ask)

Spoiler

"If my memory dont fail, Diggersby are Normal/Ground Pokemon. So they are immune to Eletric and Ghost attacks, and they have a couple of resistances. Damn, thats gonna be a difficult thing. But I can deal with that. I pretty strong and sturdy myself, and I have some couple of pokemon capable of deal damage against them."

Heart smile wide open. "You damn right my big guy friend! The ghost sword I caugh its indeed Ghost/Steel. A Honedge. They can evolve 2 times: Doublade, a double blade pokemon. And his final form: Aegislash a sword and shield pokemon. His final form its special because they can change forms into Shield Form or Blade Form. One is focus in attack power and the other in defences. Its a damn strong pokemon. But they only can wield by a trainer wortly of him. Guess I will have to work quite a bit in my training with him."


Heart give the same glare to Terra, but with a more smile one. But not less confident. "I wouldnt want different my friend. If there is something I do is push my limits. I perfect understand Terra, but I still want spar with you when got the chance. Gonna show you why they call me the PUNisher."

The mountainous man had nothing to comment on the rare collector's alluding to their battle plans, other than a nod of his head. He knew them to be a competent and Skill combatant, and so wasn't too worried about his match ups against the King's Era trainers. 

Similarly, he didn't have much else add about the newly revealed Aegislash line itself, beside offering a smile/nod + grunt of approval to show his support of his friend's efforts. However, the simple monk was quick to frown and point a finger accusingly at the pun lover, looking rather......admonishing?

"Language. Cursing is not proper. *Shakes head* Shows you are ignorant, and.....uncouth. That is what my Mama taught me, *Nods* ."

Huh. Guess the monk's mother raised him with good manners, and did a good job of it too given who he is and the life he choose. Nathan and maybe Shiva probably wouldn't be surprised, but everyone else most likely wouldn't expect that out of him.

Lastly, Terra evenly held Heart's determined gaze with his stony own , peering deeply into them to gauge the true measure of their words. Several tense seconds like this passed......until he broke it off with a closed eye chuckle, before grinning back at them, respect now shining through his expression. 

"Good. That is how a trainer should be: willing to do anything to better himself, and his Pokemon. No matter what. We will spar when you are ready. Come ready and prepared.......or be ready and prepared to be beaten."

Spoiler

When Terra asks if Gallade can help him learn a little about swordplay, Gallade starts thinking very carefully about that.  More on that later.

(...)

Then Nathan looks at everyone else.  "Everyone understand?  No talking about Heart having a member of the Honedge family in this era.  That could endanger him, plus us for associating with him.  The less we talk about it, the safer we'll be.  I don't think any of us want to end up dead, imprisoned, or worse because of this."

He looks back at Heart.  "...you can raise it without getting in trouble if you're careful about when you use it, just...don't get yourself...or us...in trouble with authority figures by doing so, alright?"

---------------

Now then, on to the soldiers.

(...)

A pause, then he continues.  "...peasants could be conscripted into the army too.  They were usually just expendable cannon fodder, though.  And punching bags for the Progenitors to train with.  I don't see any in any of those camps, though..."

One last pause.

"...well, welcome to 500 AD, everyone.  Or at least, we're in the general ballpark of that century.  Being 1500 years in the past...well, 1400 in your case, Spira...it's certainly going to be a...different experience, to say the least...we'll need to tread carefully, and second guess anything that seems even remotely out of the ordinary..."

Whew, that was a long lecture...



--------------

At some point, Nathan also introduces his stranger pokemon to Terra and Spira.  "Ah, right.  Terra, Spira, this is Charmeleon.  One of my few dragons, and one looking for an opportunity to prove his strength.  And the big guy behind me..."

Nathan points behind him at the big, scruffy looking dog that appears to be wearing a cape.

"...that's Ditto.  Currently Transformed into a Herolune, a rather rare and...heroic dog pokemon.  Just a quick question, Ditto, but are you able to detransform at the moment?"

Dittolune barks, focuses...then shakes his head.  Nope.

"...well, I suppose there's worse things you could be stuck as..."


----------------

After having giving Terra's question some thought...Gallade turns to Nathan to discuss something with his best friend.  He extends one of his blades, slashes at the air with it, then sheathes it, waves his hand around, and shrugs.  Nathan turns to Terra to 'translate'.  "...he's not sure how well that might go.  He could try if you really wanted to attempt to learn, but fighting with bladed elbow is a bit different from waving a sword around."


It's at this point that Gallade notices the images on Terra's shiny, new, medieval gear and points them out to Nathan, who hadn't really paid too much attention to them at first.

"...ummm...Terra, I think it might be better if you don't use those...I'm not sure it'd be a good thing if somebody thought we were part of Sarimanok's army because of all those eyes..."

Then he notices the pictures of what appear to be pokemon on the shield and helmet.

He blinks a few times.  "...Terra, what are those pokemon depicted on the helmet and shield?  That paint still looks fresh if I'm not seeing things..."

(OOC note: if Terra wants Nathan to elaborate on anything he said during the course of this post, he's free to ask)

While the use of some terminology and a little complexity of Nathan's treatise on the Aegislash line was lost on Terra (Mainly the word 'Treason' ,and why exactly it was barred from League Battle usage by everyone save the Champ), the overall message was not, especially with the dire warning they issued at the end. His expression went firm and hard like the mountains, and his posture became Alert and rigid as he listened, a growing sense of concern and apprehension replacing the happiness and curiosity he felt over Heart's capture.

'.....Honedge are THAT special and important? Enough that the soldiers and Sammy would.......punish us all badly? Just because Heart caught and own one? *Shakes head* ......Not good. Not good at all. Hm......but Heart said he sent them back to our time, though. Maybe.....we won't get in trouble, if we are careful? *Expression darkens, as he tilts his head down* ....I hope so. My duty is to protect them......but can't from the King and his kingdom.....'

After having a moment of silence to dwell on the grave new, the simple monk looked up at the scholarly trainer, and gave them a solemn nod of his head.

"Understood. Will not talk about.....it at ALL while we are in the past. Promise."

That was that for the man.  He wouldn't do anything to endanger the lives of his charges, and would sooner sacrifice himself than let any disastrous misfortune to befall them all - something which all the group but Spira could attest to....

(...)

Like with Nathan's lecture on Aegislash, parts of his explanation of The King Era were not entirely well understood by the rugged wanderer (Genetic Lottery, Sammy being related to all those soldiers, etc.), but he got the gist: Life was rough in past unless you were Noble or strong, Soldiers and people like them were super human, Ghost were in statues and Sammy had 'magic powers' (Both of those facts sent a shiver down his spine), and the group was way back in time. It was a dizzying amount of information being dumped on him at once, and unlike his exploration of the campsite he didn't have that same connection that kept him from being overload. 

Still, he managed by focusing on the main points he garnered, and relegating the rest to long term memory to chew over/question about later. Get the general details now, and worry about the complexities later, or in other words: K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid).

As such, Terra only had a few things to comment on after the boy finished speaking: The matter of the peasants, and what the heck were they going to do now.

"Uh....their are peasants. Have their own camp, little bit away from soldier's. Went over their to help them out after seeing.....how bad off they were. *Shakes head* Didn't know it was THAT bad, though... ....Hope they will be alright."

If his tone was anything to go by, he was genuinely worried about the commoner's well being and safety, despite them having no connection to the mountain of a man or a sense of duty/bond to motivate him to feel that way. Hmm....

"......*Shakes head* Never mind. *Looks at Nathan first, then everyone else* Nathan.....everyone.....what do we do now? We are......trapped in this time. Have no way to get back to our own. Only have Bill to help us out, and.....he can not do much. Not now....*Shakes head* ....maybe not ever. So....we need to plan our......next actions. Carefully. Hm....Do we stay near soldier's camp for the night? Or leave now, and.....make some distance from them? And.....should we continue going to Tezeal Valley? Or go..... somewhere else? Like a place that could......help get us back to our time, or.... safe location until we are......moved again? *Shakes head* Don't know....not yet. Need to think more. But.....maybe you all have.....idea of what to do?"

Thus spoken, Terra falls into silent contemplation, leaving the rest of the group with several important question that he himself had no answer for. At least, not now.....

(...)

Later on, once everything was settled, he was more than happy to be introduced to the red dragon and lunar doggie, offering them both a warm smile and plenty of marshmallows!

"Hello Charmeleon, Ditto. Nice to meet you. Here, have some sweet treats, if you want."

*Looks over at Nathan*


"Know about Ditto.....but not about Charmeleon or Herolune. You also said that Ditto.....is stuck as Herolune? Can you tell me more about them, and that? Please?"

(...)

He took a moment's pause of his own to think over Gallade's response, and then gave them a nod of his head.

"Yes, I do. Never know if Skill with weapon could help.....or save a life. *Bows* Please, teach me what you can, Gallade....."

Nathan's concern over the Eyes he requested Sir Artist to paint was meet with a small amount of confusion - "Uh....okay? Can wash off purple eye if they are a problem. Only had them added because I though they would increase armaments value...." - but their question about the Legends that adorn his helm + shield provoked a tilt of his head before realization dawn on him.

"Oh! Hm.....those are the Legendary Pokemon, Child of Garlic and Kazesidhe *Points to each respective image as he names them*. Child of Garlic convinced Sammy's grandfather to free peasants, and Kazesidhe is one of the four Legendary Beast that serve Ho-oh, all of them.....represent.....sacrificing friendship....I think. They are.....the Legendaries of Commoners. *Nods* Had an Artist paint them on, after he told me about them and Xerneas, Landorous, and Cobalion, the Legendaries of Royalty, Kingdom, and Knighthood."

Spurred on by this Lore recital, Terra recounted something else too, and in turn pulled out the Sack of Soot and presented it to the boy.

"That......makes me remember. Found this.....bag full of ashes while exploring campsite. *Shakes head* Don't know what to do with it.....but maybe you do? You are clever and smart. So.....you want it?"

Heart look at the Terra about what he say about Cursed language with stunned look....then he let it out a little chuckle. "Dont worry big guy. I not ignorant or uncouth. But I get it what you say. I will avoid say cursed words from now on." 

Heart to signature that give the monk a punch on his shoulder. What result in indirect hurt a little Heart hand since he put more strengh than necessary. Heart try to hide the pain with a nervous smile but a tiny tear was rolling in Heart eye. He hopes Terra dont notice that.

"You gonna ba surprised Terra. I not a super martial artist like you, but I may give some decent spar with you."

Heart also take the brown cloak and put around his body. "Hmm its look cool this cloak." Heart turn his back and see the golden heart sew in the back. "I think this symbol looks cool in this cape, since my name is Heart and all."

When Nathan lecture then about the danger of be killed by the king itself for having a Honedge Heart mentally sight in relief for having send Honedge to the future. And the thing about only the Champion be permitted in hold a Aegslash in Official Battles, was so much stunned but at the same time give Heart a determination look. "Heh. Then that pokemon looks like a super duper important pokemon. Interesting! I was gonna challenge the pokemon League anyway, but now I have more reasons in challenge the Pokemon League. I might need to challenge Chuckles right away when we finish our bussiness in our adventures. I need to beat as much Gym Leaders I can to finally be able to challenge the Pokemon League. I not gonna take easy against any of you. Including you Shiva!" Heart give Shiva a determined look to catch her attention. "Dont forget you are my rival Shiva. I going to give all my strengh the League when everything over." 

Heart also look back to Nathan and nod his head. "Understood Nathan. I going to be very careful to not talk about that when we still here in this place. I gonna be very careful." When Nathan tell them about those Soldiers, Heart open a smile. "A different species of humans? Looks interesting to me! More reason to challenge them!"

(Currently Heart team is: Rose, Koa, Gustav, Patrat, Viktor, Golett, Typhon and Kecleon.)

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Before Heart meet the other, he have written the symbols from the stones. Just in case Shiva might want for the cleanse tags.
(...)
When Heart return he talk to Shiva. "Hey Shiva, I have find some strange stuff back where I found the HoneEdge. Its looks like some sort of protection against ghosts or something. I remember you was making the cleanse tags so maybe those symbols might help since you have the materials?"

Turning to Heart with a questioning look when he addresses her, Shiva perks up with mild interest as he opens up about having found 'strange stuff' - that describtion could practically mean anything, good and bad. Dizzy uses this moment to snatch the Weavile Feather off her hand to joyfully chew on it. The mentioning of Honedge though quickly brings her back into her meek and subliminally fearful attitude, she's trying hard to not show something of that openly.

She asks if he has copied the symbols and requests to see them if he does, she stares at them longly. Could it be, the spirit of a Pokemon here...? "I... guess they indeed are needed for the creation of a Cleanse Tag, good find. I'm sorry, but I don't have any enchanted pieces as a raw material anymore - I only bought one in Arrowroot Village for my own Tag. You'd have to buy or get a hold of that on your own somehow, then I'll be able to craft you one. In case I'll stumble over something, I'll let ya know, a....alright?"

"Oi, Shiva, I found this seed earlier," Toya hands the seed back to Spira, "You seem to have a at-one-with-nature vibe to you, figured you might know something about it." Spira then hands the seed to Shiva, his fingers accidentally brushing her hand.

(Haha, 'accidently brushing her hand' is an adorable image!)

Once again Shiva is addressed and once again Dizzy uses the moment to swipe the feather directly out of his caretaker's hand, he contently lets the young Eevee nibble on the 'prey' as well this time. She herself doesn't say anything at first, just stares at the spectral breeder with a suprised, embarrassed and insecure expression but eventually gifted him a small smile - she must be taking 'at-one-with-nature-vibe' as a compliment.

Before she could reply a single word Spira was already placing the seed into her hand, she shudders a bit as it causes a weirdly eerie sensation within her and her hands even begin to tremble a bit as a response to that feeling. Though that was NOTHING when he accidently brushed her hand, as this caused her unintentionally flinch away with a swallowed "Eeeek!" and stare at him even more with a very faint blush. Cottonee just chuckles delightfully over this as she enjoys this mischief to the utmost!~

"I, eh, well....", she eventually stammers as she averts her gaze, "thanks for...letting me investigate it, I never saw...such a thing before, h-have you, Cottonee?" The fluffball shakes her wooly head and tabs on this pitchblack seed out of pure curiosity.

(+1 Nature for Shiva for 18xp as said, depends on Iron what she can tell about this seed.)

Spoiler

(...) When the collector says he found a Honedge after all, followed by recounting how and ending by saying he sent Honedge to the present time...well, he doesn't immediately say anything because Terra started discussing it with Heart.

Nathan listens quietly and carefully the whole time.  When they finally finish, Nathan says his piece.  Very, very quietly.  "...don't be so loud and boisterous about it, please...and don't let anyone in this time catch wind of that, Heart.  The King himself will probably deal with such treason personally if he starts hearing rumors about that.  Creshirean Aegislash are the quintessential representation of the right to bear authority.  Only those deemed worthy of holding that authority, be it King or Champion, can ever hope to evolve a Doublade into the Royal Sword pokemon.  Even in our time, that still holds true.  Only the Champion is permitted to use an Aegislash in official League battles.  Honedge and Doublade are fine for anyone to raise in our time.  But here?  Treason, no matter what stage of the evolution line you have.  Be very, very careful, Heart.  Creshire holds their Aegislash in much higher regard than Kalos does."

What Nathan doesn't say out loud is just how...significant Heart obtaining an Aegislash would be.  Heart's father had raised and trained Heart to go beyond his limits, be more than what his father had been...it'd probably be a little fitting and potentially a little comforting for him to have a symbol of leadership.  Particularly since he has to rebuild his clan from the ground up...

Then Nathan looks at everyone else.  "Everyone understand?  No talking about Heart having a member of the Honedge family in this era.  That could endanger him, plus us for associating with him.  The less we talk about it, the safer we'll be.  I don't think any of us want to end up dead, imprisoned, or worse because of this."

He looks back at Heart.  "...you can raise it without getting in trouble if you're careful about when you use it, just...don't get yourself...or us...in trouble with authority figures by doing so, alright?"

---------------

Now then, on to the soldiers.

First, Nathan sighs.  "...let me elaborate a little on what I said earlier, Shiva.  There is SOME oppression, I'm just...maybe being overly paranoid.  For the most part, if you could command pokemon well or were of a noble caste, you'd be treated well regardless of gender.  If you were a commoner with no skill with regards to commanding pokemon...no guarantees.  Heck, if someone like that was lucky and good looking enough, one of the 'better' lives they could have was being a personal slave/servant to a noble or even the King himself.  Again, with gender equality being factored in...mostly.  Males are still dominant in most of the areas you'd expect them to be.  Don't ask how I know all that.  It's a looonnnnggg story."

Then he points towards the camp, and is talking to everyone now.  "As far as those soldiers go...they're all minor nobles.  Every.  Single.  One.  And Terra's not wrong about them not being average.  They're what some researchers call Progenitors, and they make up about half of the population in this era if you can believe that.  Sarimanok claims their general capabilities are primarily due to his bloodline's influence...and he's not entirely wrong...but there are other factors too.  Not only did the Progenitors win the genetic lottery, they're also better fed and educated than the peasant caste.  Because of that, they're almost able to be classified as a separate species of human entirely.  They're tougher, stronger, bigger...and they have an almost innate ability to raise pokemon with ease."

Another sigh from Nathan.  "...to be honest, I don't want to go anywhere near them if I can avoid it.  I don't want to go anywhere near those statues, either.  You said there were Ghosts in those statues and the gems on them seemed to be decorative, right, Spira?  I'm thinking the Ghosts might be there as sentries of sorts.  If someone were to tamper with those incredibly valuable gems...the Ghost would probably follow whoever did so, and then report back to someone and lead some soldiers to the culprit's hiding place.  Sarimanok's rather infamous for 'laying curses' on things and using 'magic', but there's almost always some kind of reasonable explanation for most of that kind of stuff.  He's also well known for using Magic Crystals, which were the basis of early apricorn based pokeballs.  Don't think they actually are magic, but it probably seemed like that to most everyone that didn't know any better.  Heck if I know exactly how a pokeball works."

A pause, then he continues.  "...peasants could be conscripted into the army too.  They were usually just expendable cannon fodder, though.  And punching bags for the Progenitors to train with.  I don't see any in any of those camps, though..."

One last pause.

"...well, welcome to 500 AD, everyone.  Or at least, we're in the general ballpark of that century.  Being 1500 years in the past...well, 1400 in your case, Spira...it's certainly going to be a...different experience, to say the least...we'll need to tread carefully, and second guess anything that seems even remotely out of the ordinary..."

Whew, that was a long lecture... (...)

All that talking about the scary steely Ghost Sword Heart is so proud about makes Shiva more and more nervous, cold shudders run down her spine and she found her hands trembling faintly as she clutches the scarlet feather she has conquered back from Dizzy and young Eevee. The former takes it between his teeth and pulls on it every now and then but never makes it to wrest it from his caretaker. Eevee mostly watches attentively with his brushy tail wagging in joy while his parents have streched out to bathe in and soak in moonlight. The sight of this all brings some calm of the mind to the natural fae enthusiast.

She shrinks a little in startle as she feels Nathan gazing at everyone eventually, including her. Once everyonelse has given their words and promise to keep quiet, Shiva does speak up rather hesitantly. "I.... I won't tell, promise... I'll just be quiet about it, pretend not knowing about it. Ho... Honedge and its evolutions are....... c-creepy..." Her voice breaks here, she doesn't dare to say that she'll take care to not get too near or at best not near this Pokemon AT ALL in the first place. She's fearful that it'd make short shrift of Yena and her fairies or grows interested in her vitality in a much greater degree than her smol Litwick, so she'd feel better to just avoid its presence at best as possible. She's much to shy to state that however.

How Nathan eventually continues concerning what role gender does play in this current society does catch Shiva's interest again, she throws curious glances between him and the campers over there in the distance while listening and does not speak up until he has finished. How gender doesn't really matter and it's more a bout how you're able to command Pokemon and which house you originate from is rather satisfying to hear for her, she wouldn't call this 'sexist' anymore. Actually, this almost makes sense to her! Treat and raise Pokemon well, earn their loyalty and you're good - Shiva gets the feeling that she personally would be accepted in that case, only battling well against strong foes may be a bit of a weakpoint. But even then, she has aces in her sleeve and would give her best regardless!

"Th.. thanks for sharing this, Nathan. Yes, how one's treated well or not depending how well one raise, treats and trains one's Pokemon does make sense... And as said, I haven't spot anything that'd point towards women being treated differently while exploring the camp. All's well, I guess..."

After that, she rather quickly drifts away and tunes out as she observes the happenings at the camp or the Eevee family. A few sentences she does catch up from the boy's lecture concerning the soldiers and co., but she doesn't say or show much of a reaction towards it. History is still not her thing and something she does not really care about. Doesn't mean it's against him, this topic is just... not of her interest. Means he also misses what Pokemon are painted on Terra's armor. Next!

(...) "......*Shakes head* Never mind. *Looks at Nathan first, then everyone else* Nathan.....everyone.....what do we do now? We are......trapped in this time. Have no way to get back to our own. Only have Bill to help us out, and.....he can not do much. Not now....*Shakes head* ....maybe not ever. So....we need to plan our......next actions. Carefully. Hm....Do we stay near soldier's camp for the night? Or leave now, and.....make some distance from them? And.....should we continue going to Tezeal Valley? Or go..... somewhere else? Like a place that could......help get us back to our time, or.... safe location until we are......moved again? *Shakes head* Don't know....not yet. Need to think more. But.....maybe you all have.....idea of what to do?"

Thus spoken, Terra falls into silent contemplation, leaving the rest of the group with several important question that he himself had no answer for. At least, not now..... (...)

Only when the same mountainous man does gaze at her Shiva awakes with a bit of delay from her soft-slumber and returns from her own thoughts back to the current planet. She needs a moment to gather herself and progress why he was looking at her, eventually she gets what's the matter: What to do now...! Sooner or later she has expected this question to come up, she has thought about this a bit while wandering through the camp.

She's even fine to share with a careful tone what she has imagined or feels right to do in this case. "Terra, while it's night indeed and the campers will turn in for the night soon, we have been transported here during breakfast... I'm not tired in the slightest. Are you? We, I mean... We're probably here for a reason, but nothing has shown about that by now, there must be hints or something in that direction. How about we wait until the people have gone to sleep and it's safe for us to depart as well? In direction of Teazel Valley and Elanor I mean, maybe along the way we'll find out more. We COULD wait and follow them to the Altar of Fame, get a glimpse of the place that are only ruins in our time, but... why and what  for...? It does feel too dangerous to me."

[Dragonstrike]

I have one more note concerning Honedge and its evolutions, but only Shiva and Gallade are able to really sense this:

Nathan is terrified.  He's admitted the statues and the soldiers are giving him the creeps, but it's a bit more than that.  The Skull Ruins and the Ghosts that live there and what Sarimanok is said to be capable of doing...but he's trying to put on as brave a face as he can and not show that on the outside.  Reading about the dangers is one thing.  Actually experiencing the dangers...that's something else entirely.

Even though Shiva's scared by Honedge, Nathan is more intimidated by them than she is.  As a symbol of authority, they cut a rather imposing image, and they have a reputation for being merciless as wide as the oceans themselves.

Nathan might be literally in his element...but he feels a little like he's out of his depth.

Maybe knowing she's not alone in feeling scared about the current situation will help Shiva feel a little better. Or maybe not. I'm not really sure which it might be, tbh. *shrug*

--------------------

As Nathan nods to Terra to explain a little more about Charmeleon and Herolune (though he comments, "A little bit later, but sure."), Ditto looks a little offended at being compared to a no-good Skuntank.  He's not sure what IBS is, but...he's fairly certain that's not a very flattering comparison...

"...it's not quite like that, Spira.  There's...some kind of pattern to Ditto's Transformations...I think?  And it can still detransform and turn into other pokemon most of the time, but...not always.  Seems to be a rare occurrence, though."

--------------------

Terra's comments about their being a peasant camp somewhere in that mess gets a curious look from Nathan.  "...huh.  Must be stragglers or something...if they were soldiers as well, there'd probably be a more noticeable number of them, in that case..."

--------------------

Heart's...eagerness to challenge the soldiers is met with a...questioning gaze from Nathan.  "...Heart, there's something else we all need to keep in mind:  There aren't nearly as many healing machines in this time as there are in the modern era.  In 500 AD, they were only a recent invention and hadn't been popularized and reverse engineered for public use.  If your pokemon take serious damage, it's going to be hard to heal them without expending some items on doing so.  We should probably avoid unnecessary battles."

--------------------

Gallade considers Terra's earnest request carefully, then nods back.  Provided they can find time to do so, that is.

"...maybe the artowork increase the value?  I don't really know, to be honest.  Just...try not to give off the impression we're associated with the King's Army.  I really would prefer to avoid them if possible..."

"...Child of Garlic?  Kazesidhe?"  Nathan takes a closer look at both pictures...starting with the one on the helmet.

"...you have got to be kidding me...Garlikid is a pokemon that exists after all?  *sigh*...gosh darn it..."

He doesn't elaborate further on that comment, and examines the shield next.  "...wait a sec...this looks...familiar..."

He has to think for a moment about it, but then he remembers where he saw something like that.  "Oh!  That's the pokemon I saw depicted as the East Wind!  There's no mistaking it!  It looks more...mechanical than that picture did, though...hmmm...it's definitely a member of the Legendary Beasts, though...maybe that picture was just worn down because of age..."

Wait a second...Kezesidhe?  Wheels for feet?  East Wind?  That all sounds familiar, too, but for an entirely different reason...

When Terra also mentions Xerneas, Landorus, and Cobalion are members of the Royal Trio and which values they each represent, Nathan almost immediately writes that down.  He doesn't say anything about it, but given how quickly he whipped out his pen and journal...

And finally, the bag of ash.  "...actually, yeah, I do know of something I could do with it.  I'll have to check if there's enough ash in there first, though...but yeah, I'll take it."  *yoink*

--------------------

And now, the cherry on top: what we're doing next.

"...I'd honestly prefer to just...keep going towards the valley at the soonest opportunity.  I agree that we're probably here for some specific reason, but...honestly, nothing in this area is jumping out at me and saying that's what we're here for.  Let's just...keep going.  Something will probably happen eventually, whether it's trouble or we return to where we came from."

And he thinks to himself, '...and I'd much prefer to be farther away from this army and the castle if at all possible...'

[Iron]

EDIT: She'd investigate this weird black seed Spira has found with much interest and share everything she might know about it, but doesn't ask to see it or so despite maybe she has spotted huge and creepy Dusknoir holding something that looks like a seed. It's up to @Mikaruge108 if he wishes to show it or not, she's none who'd push it. The black color reminds her faintly on Nightshade's Worry Seeds, this one here though gives her an eerie feeling just by holding it - such a curiosity by Mother Nature broadens her horizon and she gains her 4th point in Nature Speciality for 18xp.

Nature Roll: 6 Insight + 3 Knowledge + 4 Nature = 13d6

If Spira does not let her see the seed, she gains the point by investigating some plants near the camp she has never seen before, must be some ancient or extinct kind.

"Oi, Shiva, I found this seed earlier," Toya hands the seed back to Spira, "You seem to have a at-one-with-nature vibe to you, figured you might know something about it." Spira then hands the seed to Shiva, his fingers accidentally brushing her palm.

13 Nature Dice. This is a rare item, -3, and you need 3 successes.

(4)(6)(4)(4)(1)(6) (6)(2)(1)(6)

Shiva knows precisely what this is. I like Terra's name for it, Midnight Seed, but more properly they are a strange seed that grows a strange plant which grows strange Pokemon Eggs! These Eggs can hatch into baby Pumpkaboo : ) 
One Midnight Seed will grow 1d6 Eggs in a week, and then the vine will die, leaving a spot of fertile soil.

With that successful roll, Shiva also knows how to whip up an Incense out of natural materials and 3 Craft successes that allows this Midnight Seed to be planted in non-Creshire regions. 

It grows best in swamps but it'll grow anywhere if you water it.

[Iron]

Ok, so we have two votes for traveling West after the army sleeps.


For the soot, it's enough to make one glass item. I don't know if I gave you exact numbers way back on Route 01.

[Lord Windos]

(In the middle of making a post, but Terra's vote is traveling east as well post haste, since after hearing Nathan's/Shiva's assessment of the situation he ends up agreeing to that course of action. So make that 3/5, which makes it the majority vote. That means things can progress, unless everyone wants to wait around for Spirit and Mika to cast their votes too.)

(Also, I'm fine with flashing back to my post, so don't wait on me now!)

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

As her blushy and shy embarrassment over this unintended touch by his hand slowly settles and Shiva brings her attention back to this strange seed radiating this eerie feeling, she soon gasps - she has indeed seen such a seed in particular in a book telling about the most unusual and rare plants! This one somewhat remained in her memory due to the fact that it grows real Pokemon Eggs that hatch into real small Pokemon, something that she has never heard before.

She shares everything to Spira with excitement and quickly hands the seed back either to him or to Toya, whoever gets it first. "Spira, you.... You have a liking for Ghost Types, haven't you? This seed's a great find, since if planted in a swamp or raised with enough water it'll grow into a plant that'll then grow into Pokemon Eggs that can and hopefully will hatch into cute small Pumpkaboo!~ Though only once as once the Eggs are collected the plant will unforunately die. ^_^; For... for planting it outside this region though you'd need a special Incense for some reason, should be not too hard to whip one up... maybe. If needed."


(Might get to Nathan's post later or tomorrow due to busy. In short, knowing that she's not the only one who's afraid of Honedge does calm her mind though and she'd give Nathan a discreet compassionate glance.)

[Mikaruge108]

I vote to head west as well, soon as Spira finishes talking to Shiva/@PhantomUnderYourDesk about the Pumpkaboo generator seed/ Midnight Seed.

[Mikaruge108]

As her blushy and shy embarrassment over this unintended touch by his hand slowly settles and Shiva brings her attention back to this strange seed radiating this eerie feeling, she soon gasps - she has indeed seen such a seed in particular in a book telling about the most unusual and rare plants! This one somewhat remained in her memory due to the fact that it grows real Pokemon Eggs that hatch into real small Pokemon, something that she has never heard before.

She shares everything to Spira with excitement and quickly hands the seed back either to him or to Toya, whoever gets it first. "Spira, you.... You have a liking for Ghost Types, haven't you? This seed's a great find, since if planted in a swamp or raised with enough water it'll grow into a plant that'll then grow into Pokemon Eggs that can and hopefully will hatch into cute small Pumpkaboo!~ Though only once as once the Eggs are collected the plant will unforunately die. ^_^; For... for planting it outside this region though you'd need a special Incense for some reason, should be not too hard to whip one up... maybe. If needed."


(Might get to Nathan's post later or tomorrow due to busy. In short, knowing that she's not the only one who's afraid of Honedge does calm her mind though and she'd give Nathan a discreet compassionate glance.)

"Thank you for the info on that." He leafs through the textbook again this time stopping at Pumpkaboo. "Huh apparently has been seen in four sizes, and is rather easy to train, until it evolves." "Do you happen to have any planters or anything like that to grow it on the go?"