[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Iron]

Spoiler

After putting the pokeball and the potions, Heart decided to walk for a while. It seems he couldn't get much information about Almanac, so a idea came to him. He decides to go to the library and get some ancient information. Perhaps anything about ancient history and about what might be inside the Skull Ruins or about anything that king Saminarok. 

Action: Go to the library and get information and books about King Saminarok, the Skull Ruins, and anything about the Ancient history about the city.

There's a whole room of books about that stuff. 

"The Depths of the Skull Ruins, by Fossil Maniac Occi"

There are layers upon layers of ancient construction in the Skull Ruins, much of it predating Sarimanok. This historian believes that to go as deep as it's possible to go, one must explore not the city's center of commerce, but the fathomless dungeons of Sarimanok's castle.

We know of the seemingly endless Barrow Downs, haunted with ghost Pokemon (and possibly even by ghosts!), where lay the valiant dead of the revolution. 

We know of the weird subterranean halls, akin to the Ruins of Alph in Johto, where strange hieroglyphs sometimes appear. Despite needing a permit from the League to enter.

We know waters run beneath these layers, where oh-so-very few have dared to explore.

We suspect more masonry and artifacts could be discovered below our radar's reach if we could but find the paths.




"Stepping Stones: A Collaborative History of Stair City"

Stair City can't truly be considered ancient, for it's less than a millennium old. There was a small villa here before the first masonry was erected. However, the stairs carved into the mountains are from civilizations preceding anatomically modern humans. We know almost nothing about them.

From the beginning of the new Pokemon League, Stair City served as a capital of innovation and excitement. Crime is kept low despite the large population, for Team Rocket and its ilk never made much ground here. The class struggle takes its place, from the old "robber barons" and "bandit kings" to today's technovariety of upper crust. Always the working class of Stair City have both admired and simultaneously clashed with the heiresses and self-made landowners. 



"Inside the Skull of Sarimanok the Great"

A complex figure to be sure, Sarimanok. Surely Creshire was never wealthier than under his rule. Pokemon were stronger. Inventions came more rapidly. Much of the current League technology owes its origins to items invented by King Sarimanok and his unique Pokemon. 

Yet there are many today that spit at the very sound of his name. King Sarimanok came to believe the ends justified the means. As one might expect, this lead to glorious ends, at the cost of the citizens he came to see as resources. 

Even when his power was at its peak, Sarimanok was revered in song, story, and poll. It is said he never made one man sad unless it made two men happy. 

Personally? I think the source of King Sarimanok's power was leverage. Or the multiplication of force. This lend to nigh-endless resources for the man, and we benefit from that philosophy today. When was the last time your Pokemon was infused with bounteous healing energy, all for free? 

What benefits do the Trading Machines offer, even to providing us with unique species not seen before Sarimanok's time? Granted, some species such as Alakazam and Steelix can appear in the wild, but what of Scizor and Electivire? They would not exist without the trading machine.
Even more interesting are species such as Politoed, who were never seen in the wild until Sarimanok's reign, and are now almost plentiful.

Though seemingly all-powerful, Sarimanok voluntarily crafted a functioning parliamentary democracy, and even sometimes did what the Prime Minister said.

"Huh. That Sarimanok must be a great ruler in his time. Consider that ancient times, he must be great. Hmm, if I recall well, three thousand years ago, there was the great pokemon war, who many pokemon die in Kalos. I must know if Sarimanok reigh was before, during of after that era. Perhaps I should take a look the lineage of Sarimanok to see if he have descendants or something. That way I can find someone to undestand what is truly inside that ruins. And perhaps theres might a old map from that ancient times, to compare with actual, and look that small villa. I have a feel there might secrets behind that villa, I just dont know why. And I might begin to search something about the Pokemon League history, so have references from the present time."

Sarimanok is actually pretty recent, around 700 years. (The comparison on Earth would be to Viking times).
He was the last reigning king in a line of royal blood lasting five thousand years, going way back to the earliest anatomically modern humans in Creshire! As an island region, it was settled later than some regions. Those settlers also found aboriginal groups, whose ancestors can occasionally be found.

Sarimanok left several bastard children of both genders. Also a prince who was actually sent to Unova at birth as part of a hostage situation. 
His most famous bastard was named Vigil, who ended up fighting for the League during the revolution. He lived in the northern mountains and trained Fire types. 

The villa would have been on the south end of Stair City, but no one knows precisely where. May or may not be within city limits.