[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Dragonstrike]

"You're forgetting some details about those locations, Ventus.  They're tourist destinations as much as ones of historical and spiritual significance.  The Skull Ruins..."

Nathan shakes his head.

"NOBODY goes to the Skull Ruins.  Nobody except archaeologists, historians, and the uninformed.  And aside from that last group, they don't ever visit the Barrow Downs on the surface.  Nobody's found anything there but more graves than anyone has cared to count...the graves of those who perished in the final battle against Sarimanok..."

[Lord Windos]

"There are parts of the tower or those ruins that many dare not tread without sufficient reason, though you are right those locals attract the occasional explorer, unlike the Skull Ruin here. Well, beside those Almanac researchers infesting the dreadful place, anyway. I heavily doubt those Ruins contain nothing but graves and the bodies intured within them, but given the care and great caution your people treat the past and the necrotic nature of this forboding place, it does not surprise me that nothing has been turned up in the past few centuries. Of course,with my roots as an Opulecidian traditionalist, I can quite keenly understand why the average Cheshirian would hardly want a thing to do with the place. The weight of its history alone is almost suffocating..."

[Dragonstrike]

"There are parts of the tower or those ruins that many dare not tread without sufficient reason, though you are right those locals attract the occasional explorer, unlike the Skull Ruin here. Well, beside those Almanac researchers infesting the dreadful place, anyway. I heavily doubt those Ruins contain nothing but graves and the bodies intured within them, but given the care and great caution your people treat the past and the necrotic nature of this forboding place, it does not surprise me that nothing has been turned up in the past few centuries. Of course,with my roots as an Opulecidian traditionalist, I can quite keenly understand why the average Cheshirian would hardly want a thing to do with the place. The weight of its history alone is almost suffocating..."

"...*sigh*...it's not jut superstition, remember? I've told you this before, Ventus. Those who have explored their depths rarely come back with their sanity and/or memory intact.  If they come back at all.  If you think Celestial Tower is filled with ghosts, the Skull Ruins make it look like a joke.  Also, I never said the archaeologists came up completely empty handed.  There was one strange text they found written on a tablet.  Of course, nobody's got a definitive answer for what it means yet..."

Nathan's still staring at the ruins while he's talking about them...can't see much of them right now...but the barrows start there, just out of sight...that, among other things, gave him quite a chill...

Speaking of which, it is COLD up here. BRRRRRRRR...Nathan might be wearing a jacket, but he's starting to shiver a little...living at the base of an active volcano his entire life hasn't helped his cold tolerance levels any...it's a wonder he hadn't been shivering like crazy back in Zamboni's gym...must have been the excitement that countered it then...

[Lord Windos]

Nate's implicit attitude of 'Anything in Cheshire is better/worse than other regions' was starting to wear thin on the Unovian researcher tolerance, as no matter how fastidious the boy was about stating the significance of the Skull Ruins, he was not fond of his own Landmarks being degraded in the progresst. Especially since he's explore both sites extensively in the past on and off research assignments, and is acutely aware of the menace/aura of misfortune that surrounds these types of places! Since he didn't want to fuss at them while up in the mountains (or period, really), Ventus choose instead to remain silent after that point, staring at the hallowed ground while devising and revising his plans on not only for the group to extract themselves from the Divide, but also for their inevitable trip to the Ruins....

The empath was distracted from plotting by Nate's feelings of discomfort/unease, so he turned to observe what was the matter with them, and discovered that they were shivering like a Grass type hit by an Icy Wind! "Oh Nate, I should have had the foresight that you would fair poorly in the highland temperatures here! I have some of my sweaters that you can slip into if that would help any, or I could release Haneal and have them act as a heater for you if you want. I know you have Swiftfire to warm yourself, but I thought I would offer my aid still."

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Nate's implicit attitude of 'Anything in Cheshire is better/worse than other regions' was starting to wear thin on the Unovian researcher tolerance, as no matter how fastidious the boy was about stating the significance of the Skull Ruins, he was not fond of his own Landmarks being degraded in the progress.

Shiva could only silently agree on this... Like, Chreshire was great, but she still loved her home region! As for the Skull Ruins, they surely gave her stuff to ponder about, but she didn't voiced them just now and prefered to wait for the others having finished their things. All while Azurill cuddled up close to her, honestly delighted that Master brought her to such a pretty place.

She wasn't cold since she had that scarf and, in case, that Ranger's Cloak to keep her warm.

[Dragonstrike]

Nathan stammers out a response.  "I...I'll be...fine.  Just gotta...keep moving..."

Kirlia just gives Nathan a look that says 'really?'  He grabs a sweater from Ventus and gives it to Nathan.  Then pulls the warm gloves out of Nathan's bag as well.

Nathan reluctantly puts it all on at Kirlia's insistence...he's still feeling a slight chill, though...

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Nathan reluctantly puts it all on at Kirlia's insistence...he's still feeling a slight chill, though...

At that sight, Shiva had to hold back yet another coy chuckle. "Sorry - But looks good on you, even if it's oversized. I should have taken tea with me, but couldn't have known we'd take the mountains... Maybe continuing our path  when everyone's ready will warm you up a little more? IS everyone ready? I surely am."

[Lord Windos]

At that sight, Shiva had to hold back yet another coy chuckle. "Sorry - But looks good on you, even if it's oversized. I should have taken tea with me, but couldn't have known we'd take the mountains... Maybe continuing our path  when everyone's ready will warm you up a little more? IS everyone ready? I surely am."

Ventus passes the sweater to Kirlia with nary a visible humerous reaction (Though he was still slightly amused!), more than happy to be of aid to his often vitriolic/stubborn friend, before he responded to Shiva's inquiry. "Raphael has fully recover from escorting us up the Cliffside, and the path ahead is clear as these tarn's waters, so let us proceed onwards my friends!"

[Iron]

Machop grins and accepts the makeshift satchel. It looks pretty natural on him. Machop helps the party down back to the ledge where their journey lies.

From here, a large portion of your journey will involve descent. Grid and Apsis are the best resources for this, but Swiftfire is still helping Shiva when the slopes are more walkable. You begin the laborious process of climbing up the narrow peaks only to be forced to descend a high cliff or long slope. You don't come within sight of any more tarns, though presumably they are around somewhere. It's hard to see; you can't even see the Almanac blockade from most areas and must rely on Lucifer/Raphael to scout ahead.

Indeed, Lucifer is getting progressively troubled on his mission to detect Pokemon. Whatever he saw is getting nearer and nearer.

Then, just as the last of you has dropped into a broad defile cutting an arc through several peaks, a somewhat familiar dust cloud looms on the horizon. From out of the dust comes the thunder of hooves and the lowing of Tauros. Against the speed of this horde of quadrupedal Pokemon, your climbing ability is useless. Running upward (retreat) or downslope (advance) is your only realistic path at this moment.

Unless someone has brilliant plans for escape, the Running is upon you!
I'll roll 2d10 for each of you, and that's the quadrupedal Pokemon you'll encounter. You can still run away from it, catch it, battle it as normal.
Everyone will get 2 encounters. You can request more if you have more Vitality (the request doesn't have to be in character - it could mean you stumble into another battle in all the chaos).
You can use your Dexterity points to move up and downward in the list.
http://pokemonuranium.co/forum/showthrea...7#pid25007

You're in a little canyon that is a bit tighter than Main Street.

[Dragonstrike]

All Nathan says is, "Oh shoot...not again...better get ready to run...Shiva, stay with Swiftfire!  Swiftfire, make sure she gets through this okay! Calam, Kirlia, you're with me!" Grid ends up clinging to Nathan's bag in slight fear since the stampede could easily smoosh him if he were on the ground...