[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Iron]

Selkid rise up to pop the sugary treats into their mouth. The queen just smiles her tiny enigmatic smile and demonstrates how her new moves are flickering over her fingertips or surging in her trident.

The two Slowking are not hostile to each other, but they're not acting like friends either. This is a solitary species, so no surprise there, plus you have two unique and powerful exemplars here.

Cosh: "Follow me. The Shield is right this way." He floats upward into the crumbling ceiling near the Well, where several tombstones meet. Nathan also sees two more Trainer skeletons, with empty backpacks and belts.

"The ghosts hid the Shield where only they can reach it... or so they think." He walks up to a particular wall, which bears a faint outline of a diamond-shaped treasure chest. You see him make adjustments on his Gauntlet, then he goes through the motions of a quick spell and steps right into the wall. He comes out tugging a massive shield by its tip. Returning to the group, he sets the point of the Shield on the ground and steps back - the Artifact stays magically upright, balanced on its point. It spins slowly about its axis.

The Shield is made mostly of black steel with many spikes all over it. Tiny fires burn at each point. There is a white checkerboard pattern which gleams with its own light, and a thorny crown emblazoned on the broadest part. In one corner, a purple Eye is stamped - a later addition. There's no visible handle, but whenever Cosh's hand passes near, a golden band appears and reaches out for his arm. He pulls away each time, though he can apparently safely carry the Shield by its perimeter.

"As per our agreement, your party will carry the Shield and our party will carry the next Artifact. Whoever carries it long will begin to bond with the thing, and it's no easy matter to switch the bond without a full arcane intervention. This Shield, our research says, allows a Trainer and one companion to weather any attack, quite indefinitely. I suppose you might use it on one Pokemon instead of a human companion, as we had planned to do. There are limits to its power - it can't prevent attacks from too many different sources, a limit we think around a dozen. It can't prevent some few powerful moves that bypass such defenses, but it can easily stop ordinary moves like Brick Break. An example is Rock Smash - it would stop the damage, but not the weakening effect - or vice versa, at the choice of the wielder."

In other words, a trainer, and a Pokemon chosen at the start of each round, is immune to either ALL damage or ALL debuffs.



"Choose who will bear it. It matters not to me. The rest of us will begin our descent into the Well, for that is where we must go next."


Flying or rappeling down, you discover, as Cosh already knew, that the Slowpoke Well is more than an ordinary pit. It expands hugely in all directions, similar to what you saw above in Syrentide's lair. Little islands, coral reefs, weird watery contours. It looks like navigating will be a bigger challenge than fighting off enemies, though you do see strange chompey creatures in the depths.


All Encounters optional.

1. Name: Sharpedo* and Carvanha*
Bid start: 2
Cap: 2 (2)
Challenge: Easy
Fighting these is optional, but you do see a pale fin patrolling the water in front of the way forward.

2. Name: Binacle Horde
Bid Start: 1
Cap: none
Challenge: Moderate

3. Name: Frillish/Jellicent Horde
Bid Start: 1
Cap: None
Challenge: moderate
Notes: The only light source in the cavern is their eerie glow. Some also float above the water.

4. Name: Cloyster
Bid start: 1
Cap: 1
Challenge: Super easy, no XP

You also find a floating treasure chest, risen up from the depths and covered with barnacles and a few Binacle and Shellder. It contains 3x Aqua Jet TMs of an ancient style, 4x $5k nuggets, and ten Apricorns bleached of all color (they'll act like normal Pokeballs).



Up ahead beyond these encounters, the water flows through some featureless guardian statues, rapidly down a shallow stone shelf, and then RAMPS off into the darkness, beyond which you cannot see, into a huge waterfall sparkling with Jellicent light and sediment. You'll have to figure out how to deal with this obstacle.