[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Dragonstrike]

"Don't let a little thing like bad timing get you down, eh eh eh. The ends of the earth, eh? Is that all? You couldn't have come to a more remote location. Surely that qualifies, eh?"

More and more of his attention is being drawn from his "art."

"...well, the message Mesprit gave me was...vague.  It...didn't exactly say if Kirlia and I have to do anything specific when we reached the 'ends'...I don't know if we can wake Mesprit if we were to return to it now..."

Heart was almost red in rage. "So you sir was the one who sent that Pokemon to attack us huh? I hope it was funny for you, because some of my Pokemon friends faint because of your Pokemons, and there is other thing sir: No one, and I say, no one threats my friends with some hellish ambush." Heart was really piss of with that guy who sent the pokemon. He was some position he would attack the old men with or without pokemon, but he dont because of one reason: He feel the power this old man have and is a old person. But he is going if needed.

"Heart...have at least a little respect for him, please.  We're not here to fight him.  At least, I hope we aren't supposed to..."

If Nathan's tone and emotions were to get any colder and more serious, Nathan might just give himself frostbite...

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Oh. Way too quickly for Shiva's taste, that work she watched in anticipation - such skillfulness in the whirls! - has been hardened and the vanished. Though, this was quite a show she enjoyed, so she made sure to give that eremit an appreciating look as he turned towards the group. I like!

Oh, but Shiva also noticed that worried glances from Ventus. Now to...think about it, she pretty much knew WHY he gave her those glances... One part of her felt sorry that she put him into distress/fear for her being, a very small part praised her for such boldness to follow her own curiosity instead. Luckily, LUCKILY nothing bad happened! For now though, she'll stay close to the familiar dark oddball of researcher and gently took his hand to hold it in hers if he'd like, simply to show that she's there, safe, unharmed and next to him. She even faced him with a faint smile and tilted head for a few moments as if to SHOW him 'Look! I'm alright!'. Kyuu has meanwhile returned to his Master as well, she gentky picked him up to hold him close to her, occassionally stroking through his grey fur with her free hand. She just...wanted to keep him by herself, after he went away from her to Orthros on his own.

"Don't let a little thing like bad timing get you down, eh eh eh. The ends of the earth, eh? Is that all? You couldn't have come to a more remote location. Surely that qualifies, eh?"

More and more of his attention is being drawn from his "art."

Cool. He does speak and understand common.

...Nathan mentioned Mesprit, him doing so now earned him a wondering glance from her. Right, there was something 'bout that, back in Stair when meeting up with Dagny.(Hopefully she's alright!) 'The Pokemon of Sentiments'... That certainly was a matching description for that one Legend. 'The spirit cannot free itself...' Hmm. She'll mostly leave Nathan speak here, but there are a few things that interest her personally.

One of those was "...Your little...test? Oh, you mean these Pokemon we battled there at the cliff? We defeated them in the end... That Beartic of yours seems to have an additional Ground Type, the Kabutops probably had a THIRD Type as it took immense damage from my Grass Type'd attacks. Say, crafty eremit from the ends of the earth, is that your work? That clay, even the mere shards of it, emit a feeling of power when being touched, as if the soaked up to what you exposed to them..."

[Iron]

Heart was almost red in rage. "So you sir was the one who sent that Pokemon to attack us huh? I hope it was funny for you, because some of my Pokemon friends faint because of your Pokemons, and there is other thing sir: No one, and I say, no one threats my friends with some hellish ambush." Heart was really piss of with that guy who sent the pokemon. He was some position he would attack the old men with or without pokemon, but he dont because of one reason: He feel the power this old man have and is a old person. But he is going if needed.

"Eh, eh, eh, Heart! I'm an old man, and a very busy one. If I let anyone who wanted something in this cave, I'd never get anything done! And I would have no time for five young trainers coming all the way from Arrowroot Village! Fret not. My tests are usually quite safe. Eh, eh, eh!"

"Mesprit is not a very pragmatic Pokemon. It cares nothing for how pressing matters might be. If you're not ready for Mesprit, there's no other way to force it to help you. Likewise, you have no hope if you must fight me, eh eh eh!"

"Eh, Shiva, I do have a blessing of Earthpower I can grant to my Pokemon. That bear Pokemon was not mine, but I found myself a little short for a fair fight. If you bring teamwork to challenge my domain, I must bring teamwork in response! Eh, eh, eh! Surely, Heart, you wouldn't expect the secrets at the ends of the earth to be unguarded? Surely, that would be ridiculous!" Poik!

[Lord Windos]

Oh, but Shiva also noticed that worried glances from Ventus. Now to...think about it, she pretty much knew WHY he gave her those glances... One part of her felt sorry that she put him into distress/fear for her being, a very small part praised her for such boldness to follow her own curiosity instead. Luckily, LUCKILY nothing bad happened! For now though, she'll stay close to the familiar dark oddball of researcher and gently took his hand to hold it in hers if he'd like, simply to show that she's there, safe, unharmed and next to him. She even faced him with a faint smile and tilted head for a few moments as if to SHOW him 'Look! I'm alright!'.

Ventus gave her an unamused, still quite worried, but now much tense/stress look that plainly told them: 'We will have words about this display of reckless behavior, Shiva....'

Heart was almost red in rage. "So you sir was the one who sent that Pokemon to attack us huh? I hope it was funny for you, because some of my Pokemon friends faint because of your Pokemons, and there is other thing sir: No one, and I say, no one threats my friends with some hellish ambush." Heart was really piss of with that guy who sent the pokemon. He was some position he would attack the old men with or without pokemon, but he dont because of one reason: He feel the power this old man have and is a old person. But he is going if needed.

"Mesprit is not a very pragmatic Pokemon. It cares nothing for how pressing matters might be. If you're not ready for Mesprit, there's no other way to force it to help you. Likewise, you have no hope if you must fight me, eh eh eh!"

The empath bit back a sigh and resisted the urge to grind his teeth, as while interacting with magical/'magical' practitioners in any way other than 'unpleasently' was like pouring salt and lye into an open wound, it was a necessity at this point. That, and contrary to most of the mages/archmages he's had the 'good fortune' to encounter, this old man was answering their questions in a rather straight forward manner and acted affably enough (if slightly eccentric/irritably, but that may be just Ven's opinion) , so speaking with them shouldn't be too bad....right?

"I don't believe we received your name, sir. Would you give us the honor of reveling it to us, or would you prefer it remain unknown to us? On another matter, the reason we have journied to the Tusk is that Stair City is under assault of a tenacious Vines that have emerged from the Skull Ruins nearby, and we seek your aid or advice in halting their advance and/or eradicating them. The city doesn't have long for this world before its completely subsumed and destroy by this invasive threat, so ANYTHING that can help us put an end to them poste haste would be a boon to have, if you can provide it."

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Ventus gave her an unamused, still quite worried, but now much tense/stress look that plainly told them: 'We will have words about this display of reckless behavior, Shiva....'

Shiva cuddled up into the side of his green tweed sweater and gave him pure Baby-Doll-Eyes in blinking from the rim of her glasses, playing the most cutest, most innocent and most fluffy Swirlix one could imagine.



'Very busy'... Uhum... That must be a life up here in the cave, a cave up in a special mountain at a special point of the region, faaar away from civilization and probably unreachable without either bone-aching effort and steely determination (paired with a good portion of love for taking risks) or the help of the Incarnate and an important quest to save a city from being devoured by ancient vines. Honestly, this freedom must be splendid! It was pretty lonely here though, or so Shiva felt. On the other hand, this totally was the kind of terrain a person could settle down to become an eremit and develope these... Earthpowers?! Does that mean the Pokemon having soaked up this powers are able to comman the earth to their will? Well, this explained Beartic's second Ground Type. Neat. Later, she'll definitely has to calculate with Earth Lore book whether this Tusk was on a power spot. The Skull Ruins are, but what about the ends of the earth?

She awaited the eremit's answer to Ventus' request on any advice or help on how to stop these Vines from further raging before she'll ask something about a Claydol.

[Iron]

"Eh, eh, eh, if you haven't guessed my name, I shan't reveal it to you! I say to you, Ventus Zachariah, that this encounter may be your last chance to understand your fate plainly! So cease your trembling, whether it be anger or fear no man can tell! The others of my order can no longer communicate with you. So either turn aside from your path, or, if all is as you would desire it, use well this chance to learn more about the nature of the Earth! I am no mage, Ventus, but perhaps that is not your only reason for distrust."

"As for the vines, that concerns all of you. Eh, eh, and even myself, for I expect the vines are the awakened result of an old alliance between myself and another. Perhaps it is thus my duty to take care of them, if someone worthy asks. Tell me, has someone been digging in the old ruins?"

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Oh right... "Then, crafty eremit, can you tell us where you know OUR names from? And yes, it seems like someone - or something - has awoken within the Ruins, now commanding Tangrowth over Tangrowth to cover all that's alive and not-alive in nasty Vines. Say, a Claydol, known to be made entirerly of clay and older than the stones... Have you ever seen or even created one? The one we saw wore a stony crown..."

[Spiritmon]

"The same questions as her, and another one: Why did you send your pokemon to "test" us. Why you interest in testing us? Strengh or something? And how you know our names?"

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

"Eh, eh, eh, if you haven't guessed my name, I shan't reveal it to you! I say to you, Ventus Zachariah, that this encounter may be your last chance to understand your fate plainly! So cease your trembling, whether it be anger or fear no man can tell! The others of my order can no longer communicate with you. So either turn aside from your path, or, if all is as you would desire it, use well this chance to learn more about the nature of the Earth! I am no mage, Ventus, but perhaps that is not your only reason for distrust."

Ventus grew even more tense, stressed, and wrathful at the archmage-or whatever the Kyurem damn hell this old man was - so soundly rebuked him and dared to dictate to him what his final destiny, to lecture him on topic most foul! "Very well then, sir. Forgive me, however, if I choose to ignore you 'advice' and remain as I am, for no one decides my fate but myself, and certainly not a nebulous stranger. I'd rather be dashed on the rock of the Great Divide than follow whatever path you or your 'order' envision for me, or learn from you about topics mankind is better off remaining ingnorant of. Now if you would excuse me, I will take my leave of your presence, as I no longer desire your company, nor do I want to interfere with my companions efforts to entreat your aid," the researcher tersely replied, his voice filled with barely contained anger, before he turned away from the old man and walked towards the entrance of the cave. Fighting with them was a futile effort, and he didn't want to possibly lose his temper and do something he couldn't take back (And prevent getting their aid in eradicating the Vines), so he choose instead to leave now. He would refuse their advice and reject their offer to 'enlighten' him , as the researcher believed they had less than nothing of value to say when it pertains to himself....

Order: If its possible, Ven's going to leave the eremit's company, take a Metagross and exit the cave while waiting on everyone else to finish their business with him. He wants nothing to do with the old man now, but he doesn't want to cause problems for the group, so he's just going to take his leave. If he can't leave the cave for some reason, he'll get as far away from the eremit and stopper his ears with his ear plugs and completely block his mind to outside influences.

[Dragonstrike]

"Eh, eh, eh, if you haven't guessed my name, I shan't reveal it to you! I say to you, Ventus Zachariah, that this encounter may be your last chance to understand your fate plainly! So cease your trembling, whether it be anger or fear no man can tell! The others of my order can no longer communicate with you. So either turn aside from your path, or, if all is as you would desire it, use well this chance to learn more about the nature of the Earth! I am no mage, Ventus, but perhaps that is not your only reason for distrust."

"As for the vines, that concerns all of you. Eh, eh, and even myself, for I expect the vines are the awakened result of an old alliance between myself and another. Perhaps it is thus my duty to take care of them, if someone worthy asks. Tell me, has someone been digging in the old ruins?"

...that was a sort of odd reaction from Ventus...Nathan did catch what the old man had said, though...

...were the other members of this 'order' cross with Ventus or something?

...

...Nathan was afraid to ask...beings like this...you didn't want to cross them...ever...

...

...Nathan chooses to try his best to ignore it for now and move on...

"...I have suspicions that Almanac is doing something in the Ruins, sir.  I spoke with some Unown earlier...well, kinda...and they were...fearful, but a little proud when I asked them about what they thought of what was going on in the Ruins...Almanac's also apparently been conducting research on manipulating the Unown.  They had a camp blocking Route 4's entrance to Stair City, and they apparently stated they were researching the ruins.  I don't particularly want to point any fingers on so little evidence, but...I've not come across anything that says there might be another explanation so far..." (as I recall, Heart's not told Nathan about the drill yet, so...)

"The same questions as her, and another one: Why did you send your pokemon to "test" us. Why you interest in testing us? Strengh or something? And how you know our names?"

"...I do believe he just said that he can't let just anyone visit this place, Heart.  Does he really need to give any better reasons?"