[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Both muscular man and fabulous fish alike were quick to notice Shiva's distress to the creepy statues/surroundings, and both press close in their own ways to comfort the woman with/without her prompting, with Terra laying a hand on her shoulder and squeezing it, and Lazuli carefully maneuvering his tail fin to lightly pat her on the back with it. Never fear, The Beauty and The Beast is here to protect you from all the scary, horrible things in this nebulous cavern....
(...)
However, when the Fairy woman leans down to inspect and subsequently pluck a Deyo Flower for herself, the mountain of a man couldn't help but grimace, staring apprehensively as she handled the 'forbidden' flower with (to him/Ven) unwarranted and worrisome fascination. Oh yeah, Ven told him too that Shiva had an 'uncanny fixation' on the Deyos despite him frequently warning her so about them, and said that he had to 'stop her from being bewitched by them, should worst come to pass....'

Despite those orders, Terra hesitated and ultimately resisted the urge to intervene and tell her to drop and stop playing with the flowers, though he still look on with clear discomfort and unease.

Why?

Well......it was for the simple reason he didn't want to risk estrange himself from Shiva even more. He had already caused her unhappiness several times these past few days due to his occasional failure to socialize well with her, so for now he decided to 'play it safe' and just be watchful, instead of disturbing her. It didn't sit all to well with him (as it was his job to protect the group/Shiva, and he was blatantly ignoring a potentially 'risky' situation), but sometimes one must choose to do the right thing in a touchy situation, rather than what is correct....

When Shiva felt a hand being laid on her shoulder in this situation, she at first tensed up badly, let out a toneless and swallowed 'Eeeeek!' and tried to flinch away to free herself from the grasp. The statues didn't seem to like being stared on or must have noticed her discomfort and decided to play a trick on her, King Sarimanok caught her, he's more alive then ever ! >o<; Delphox by her side protectively bared his teeth upon the assumed 'attacker' and let his burning basswood stick flare up, ready to engulf them in some mystical flames. Kidnapping Master? Not as long he's present, hmpf!

Though he and also Shiva recovered very quickly upon noticing that it's only Terra, letting out a breath of relief before thankfully leaning into his and L.Lazuli's touch while turning away from these CREEPY statues, but not taking her eyes from them ONCE.

(...)

She was thankful as she found the Deyo Flowers to distract herself a little, but as soon as she packed one of these unique plants away she noticed that the mountain of a man was...not too happy with that action of hers despite not showing it openly. 'Right'... she thought to herself, 'Ven must have...told him about these flowers since he was so opposed and wary about then, no doubt. Well... Worry not, my love... I'll take care.' A mental nod of approvement emphasized that.

Still she felt somewhat bad about not being able to resist and just leave the flowers alone, which showed in her throwing an apologizing look over to Terra, well aware that it's his task to protect them and she was practically 'putting herself into potential danger' on purpose by taking on Deyo with her. It's securely sealed in the glass though, here's hope that it won't 'do' anything to her or her Pokemon... 'Please don't tell Ven about it, he... I.... I'm sorry...', she silently seemed to ask.



*Onward to the inside of the Cave!*

The TM is pinkish, presumably Fairy type. The Stardust is all collected in one place, so it won't take an entire Encounter, but it will take a little time. Maybe a half hour.  Same for the TM: You know where it is, so freeing it will just take five minutes or so.

Huh, if the TM is sporting that color, it naturally allures Shiva's interest. There is only one TM known to man that codes a Fairy Type move, may it be that one...? Or something unique as this was an ancient cave where astral things were vivid, after all...!

Well, whatever it is, she desired to find out, which can only be done by breaking it free from that wall. In order to do so, a familiar blue fae rabbit is summoned to the scene again, chriping at her Master as soon as having materialized.

"Alright then... Delphox, please light the wall properly with your wand. Azu, look.... You see this pink disk here? *pointing to it and prodding it* I'd like to have it, so please hit the wall with a careful and held back Rock Smash, repeatedly if needed. Tanuki, listen - as soon as Azu did that, you headbutt a spot beneath the disk to set it free, please. Understood? Yes? Perfect, go for it!" If Terra wishes to help as he has shown interest in the disk as well, he of course can do so, it'd be appreciated.

(If an Accuracy Roll is needed for Rock Smash and Headbutt, it's 4 Dext + 2 Fight + 2 Brawl = 8d6, no Damage as we hold back.)

If that can't be done without taking big risks or somehow doesn't work, she'll ask for the pickaxe Climbing Tools or similar among the group and frees it that way while Azu lends her a Helping Hand (9d6 in Accuracy) and Tanuki helps with Headbutt until the TM is fred.

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Once that's done, Shiva does take the time to collect a bit of Stardust laying around in a small pouch since it does not cost an Encounter; not to sell though but to keep for herself as she just likes that silky touch of this dust. Maybe if she's broke it can be sold, but not for a while now.

As a side effect, she's waiting for Heart having cleared things with a Meowth, not going deeper until he comes along as well.