[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

Stealth: (2)(6)(5)(4)(6)(1)(5)(6)(1)
Alert: (6)(2)(2)(4)(4)(6)

Heart scouts ahead and comes back with a report. The coal gives way to strange, narrow tunnels whose ceilings are pierced by extremely hairy roots. In places, the tunnels are made entirely of thick root mats. Little glow-in-the-dark ferns grow from the roots now and then.

When Ventus gets to these roots, he recognizes them as a rare family of ferns. They're called the Tochu Ferns, of which there are thousands of species, none of which are prolific at all. He's never heard of so much root mass in one place, and he is not familiar with this particular species. All roots of this family can be brewed into restoratives, but the process is very time consuming. The brew must be stirred constantly and mixed in with other ingredients at particular intervals and the temperature monitored carefully. You really have to baby it. Luckily, the other ingredients are fairly common and cheap - fiber, phosphorous, fixed nitrogen, iron dust.


Since Heart was successful in his scouting roll, the mandatory encounter will now be avoidable. He noticed lots of Grass types among the roots - mostly Shroomish and Paras.

Spoiler

Heart with success in his scout mission and proud tell the other the information. "I back people! And come back with neat information. There some strange coal ahead. The coal gives way to strange, narrow tunnels whose ceilings are pierced by extremely hairy roots. In places, the tunnels are made entirely of thick root mats. Little glow-in-the-dark ferns grow from the roots now and then. Also, there is some horse of Grass Pokemon ahead. To be more specefic, Shroomish and Paras. We can avoid them if we go to another path to not have conflict. But since we gonna face whatever the Scimitars might throw to us, I think we should use that opportunity to train a bit (aka farm some good XP). I think thats a good chance to bring Abbandon and Rose to battle. Safeguard can help us quite a lot." Then Heart look to Ventus. "Uh, if you permited of course Ventus. Also, I might need some extra pair of hands to deal to train too." Then Heart look to Shiva. "How about we take care of these pokemon Shiva? Youre pokemon could use some extra training. Not they are weak, but more power is always welcome."

Mechaninc: Team Heart/Shiva vs Shroomish and Paras. But wait the aswear of Shiva about what to do.

However much of a piss poor mood Ventus was currently in right now, even he wasn't about to disregard the rare collector's report of the multitude of Mushroom Pokémon lying in wait he had the good fortune to discover before the group stumbled upon them. Given that he's the extremely proud brother of Michael and a knowledgable Pokémon Researcher, he was more than aware of the dangers that were posed by just an individual Paras/Shroomish with their noxious Status Moves, and was extremely glad that neither he nor anyone else was forced to deal with them . 'The sheer drain on our resources treating the Status alone would have made them a nightmare to fight, so I'm grateful Heart spared us the necessity of engaging in such a costly mass brawl. The very thought of getting set upon a band of territorial Mushroom Pokémon without preparations ......*Shudders* ' he thought, wincing as images of Paras and Shroomish dosing them all with Spores, Stun Spore, and Poison Powder before dragging them off to add them to a compost pile to wither away and add their nutrients in. By Reshirim's Flames of Truth, thank them they were all spared such a horrid fate!

When Heart and subsequently his girlfriend decided to go challenge the whole lot of them anyway, the empath nearly halted in his tracks to give them both increadulous stares at how monumentally stupid that decision was. That is, until the pun lover immediately revealed they were going to use his child Abaddon to completely neuter the main threat they posed to them, which instead only resulted in him briefly stumbly mid step before straightening up and pretending like he had not had a minor panic attack at the idea of them fighting all those mushies. When the man asked permission to use the Blue Demon, they were given an almost immediate nod of approval from Ven, before he said with a fairly impassive expression and a dully serious tone with bare hints of concern in it: "You have permission to use Abaddon as you see fit Heart, so long as you take great care of them and not unnecessarily endanger their lives. My suggestion for facing the swarm of Mushroom Pokémon is to stealthly summon my child to your side and have them cast Safeguard on both you and Shiva's team, before returning them for another heavy hitting Pokémon like Koa. Abaddon fairs less well against large groups of enemies, and his Shadow Tag ability might prove a detriment if some of your foes wish to escape and spare you the trouble, so I'd recommend against using them in that fight except to cast Safeguard prior to engaging them, or only for one Round and then immediately switching to another Pokémon bar that."

After giving his advice, the sociologist proceeded to ignore and tune out both Shiva and Heart, as he was not in the mood for any form of banter or small talk with ANYONE right now, except maybe his Pokémon/family. Speaking of which, Malphena was still lingering around her master's side with an distinctly charinged and grumpy look, as EVERYONE'S attitude in the group and especially her master's was a great big highly grating buzz kill for her. Add to that she couldn't even go over and tease Ralts and that horrid boy they call a master unless Calam decided to intervene or they were too moody to appreciate her jollity, and the end result was that she was itching for just about ANY target she could vent her frustrations on. Needless to say, she wasn't too much of a happy camper right now.....


The rare collecter's inclusion in his report of odd ferns and their root balls also piqued the researcher's interests, as they distinctly sounded like some hithero unknown subspecies of the Tochu Fern that his.....mother taught him about (which caused a small plumment in his already dire mood as his thoughts briefly lingered on her). As the group traveled to the described local he got visual confirmation of this, causing a smigen positive increase in his mood as he well remember the medicinal properties these plants had that he could later brew Healing Items out of. Of course he also noticed the Snivy wandering around and acting like a caretaker to the plants, which for a small moment reminded him of other Grass type Pokémon acting like shepards to plants, causing him to grimace in distaste at the memory and possibility of this being more than just a strange coicendence....

Just as he was about to order Malphena to freeze them solid out of paranoid concern, Nathan had invariably managed to attracted its no doubt worried attention just by plodding along the plant chocked tunnel with Swiftfire, leaving all the valuable roots completely unguarded! No one to waste a golden opportunity, Ventus set about to collect as many Tochu Roots as he possibly could in the time window granted to him, summoning Michael to have him assist in the task. Between the herb/medicine lore bequeath upon him and his brother's natural connection to plants and his extra pair of 'hands', they should be able to harvest an ample amount of root for later Healing Item crafting!

Order: Give Heart explicit permission to use Abaddon, offer him advice, before having Ventus collect some Tochu Fern root with Michael assiting him and Malphena acting as sentry/guard while they harvest! Hopefully having a Grass type with hands help with the harvesting will increase the amount of Root I get from this, but if not its should at least speed up the process some!

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Calmly, attentively and the food meant for the Grass and Grass/Bug Pokemon ahead still in her hands, Shiva let her gaze wander over the mats of thick roots further ahead the tunnel.

After a little, she shutters, freezes at the spot and almost stumbles back, looking as if she has seen a nightmare having come true in front of her.

Thankfully, she didn't FALL back, but staggers visibly and makes her way behind Heart as SWIFT as possible, not wanting to look ahead once more. There, she huddles up once again in distress, quickly puts the Pokemon food away, then holds her head in both hands and concentrates on her breath in order to calm down again, still an expression of shock on her.

Only after maybe half a minute she's capable to speak in full sentences or at least comprehensible segments, and she only gives Heart a fearful look before she averts her gaze to the ground again. "H.....Heart..... These Paras and Shroominsh... There are many. I didn't count... But they're territoral, aggressive, not timid at all..... Can't come close. Won't come close, nope! Seem unafraid of coverning me in spores if I'd do. Poison me, paralyze me, put me to sleep, then Paras will slash me open to suck the blood.... They're dangerous. Dangerous, you hear!!! Should leave 'em alone. Should avoid them all together, Safeguard may protect from the spores.... But if it'd fail, fade, or the Paras start slashing....  Nope. Nononononono.... I don't want to. Better stay safe.... You scouted ahead to spot them beforehand, thank you... We shouldn't provoke them if we can avoid them. Really not...."

Not moving otherwise, Shiva gazes upward as if looking for something she has seen before... "Ah! See these Ferroseed up there? You have fire with you, if you want to defeat something, it'd be better to defeat these...... Do not worry for me. I'll collect some of these ferns meanwhile...."



----------------------------
Mechanics:
True, now that it's clear that these Paras and Shroomish are indeed rather dangerous and you extra scouted ahead to spot them, it'd be better if we avoid this Encounter all together as it's no Mandatory anymore, @Spiritmon. Forgive me, but I don't want to join anymore and you taking an Encounter meant for 3 charas alone is outright calling for chaos, deep wounds and many Healing Items spent that would be more useful in different scenes. That Druddigon I faced alone was for 2 charas, and Shiva made it only with enduring lots of lethal wounds and exhaustion, XP can be gathered anytime. If you want, we could take an Encounter against a strong foe together later?

I don't want to battle these Ferroseed either, so that Encounter is free for you. I'd rather not join in your Amoonguss-Encounter either, @Lord Windos, unless you'd want help in defeating it without Ven and Shiva sharing many words (or words at all). I'd do a concealed Training Session that'll involve gathering some of the glow-in-the-dark-ferns instead, just need to come up with which Pokemon and how they train.

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

Calmly, attentively and the food meant for the Grass and Grass/Bug Pokemon ahead still in her hands, Shiva let her gaze wander over the mats of thick roots further ahead the tunnel.

After a little, she shutters, freezes at the spot and almost stumbles back, looking as if she has seen a nightmare having come true in front of her.

Thankfully, she didn't FALL back, but staggers visibly and makes her way behind Heart as SWIFT as possible, not wanting to look ahead once more. There, she huddles up once again in distress, quickly puts the Pokemon food away, then holds her head in both hands and concentrates on her breath in order to calm down again, still an expression of shock on her.

Only after maybe half a minute she's capable to speak in full sentences or at least comprehensible segments, and she only gives Heart a fearful look before she averts her gaze to the ground again. "H.....Heart..... These Paras and Shroominsh... There are many. I didn't count... But they're territoral, aggressive, not timid at all..... Can't come close. Won't come close, nope! Seem unafraid of coverning me in spores if I'd do. Poison me, paralyze me, put me to sleep, then Paras will slash me open to suck the blood.... They're dangerous. Dangerous, you hear!!! Should leave 'em alone. Should avoid them all together, Safeguard may protect from the spores.... But if it'd fail, fade, or the Paras start slashing....  Nope. Nononononono.... I don't want to. Better stay safe.... You scouted ahead to spot them beforehand, thank you... We shouldn't provoke them if we can avoid them. Really not...."

Not moving otherwise, Shiva gazes upward as if looking for something she has seen before... "Ah! See these Ferroseed up there? You have fire with you, if you want to defeat something, it'd be better to defeat these...... Do not worry for me. I'll collect some of these ferns meanwhile...."



----------------------------
Mechanics:
True, now that it's clear that these Paras and Shroomish are indeed rather dangerous and you extra scouted ahead to spot them, it'd be better if we avoid this Encounter all together as it's no Mandatory anymore, @Spiritmon. Forgive me, but I don't want to join anymore and you taking an Encounter meant for 3 charas alone is outright calling for chaos, deep wounds and many Healing Items spent that would be more useful in different scenes. That Druddigon I faced alone was for 2 charas, and Shiva made it only with enduring lots of lethal wounds and exhaustion, XP can be gathered anytime. If you want, we could take an Encounter against a strong foe together later?

I don't want to battle these Ferroseed either, so that Encounter is free for you. I'd rather not join in your Amoonguss-Encounter either, @Lord Windos, unless you'd want help in defeating it without Ven and Shiva sharing many words (or words at all). I'd do a concealed Training Session that'll involve gathering some of the glow-in-the-dark-ferns instead, just need to come up with which Pokemon and how they train.

Heart could understand Shiva fear about these Pokemon. There is no need about taking such terrible risks, even more with the Scimitars following the group. Engaged in unecessary battles would be dangerous. Heart give Shiva a understable look and talk again. "I understand Shiva. Indeed there to many of them. Even with both of us together, it would to much dangerous for us to go in that path...Let's avoid that encounter. If these Pokemon cause us problems, the combine of all six of us: You, me, Ventus, Nathan, Valder and Mr. Finder might be enough to take care of these Pokemon. I fight those Ferroseed then."

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Heart could understand Shiva fear about these Pokemon. There is no need about taking such terrible risks, even more with the Scimitars following the group. Engaged in unecessary battles would be dangerous. Heart give Shiva a understable look and talk again. "I understand Shiva. Indeed there to many of them. Even with both of us together, it would to much dangerous for us to go in that path...Let's avoid that encounter. If these Pokemon cause us problems, the combine of all six of us: You, me, Ventus, Nathan, Valder and Mr. Finder might be enough to take care of these Pokemon. I fight those Ferroseed then."

That understandable look from Heart is met and returned for roughly 1 second with a distressed look of her own, as the image of being overwhelmed by these Paras is still vivid in her mind. However, his words of rather avoiding coming too close to them and the Shroomish were a pleasant melody to poor Shiva, a tune that almost immediately soothed her to some degree. She stopped almost hyperventilating, but will continue to breath deeply calmly until she was fine again. The graphic image of being molested by these spores faded to black, and she made it to get up again to adress Heart with some words of thankfulness.

"Thanks.... I-if there were only a few, I'd agree to defeat the for a more free path... But yes, there are too many and we two dealing with 'em alone might harm us more than it's worth it. Good luck with these.....Ferroseed...." The species name Shiva spoke out in a weird tone. It couldn't be determined why simply by that - in secret, she had some sort of difficult relatioship with these Pokemon. It and Ferrothorn are actually cool and useful Pokemon, that much she knows - she likes them, but them whippining one with thorny steely vines when enraged was a scary aspect for her.


Well, well... Now, with everyone busy, it was time for the fae-enthusiast to get busy herself. Taking a last deep breath, she summoned her Gothitelle to her side in the familiar while light, followed by Azumarill. With a gentle and open body language, she adressed these two. "Alright.... Ehm, well, Lilith, you see these ferns growing from the roots up there, faintly glowing in the dark?" *points to them* "I'd like to gather some of them... Please help me out to do so, can you use a Telekinesis on me to lift me up high enough? ..... Ah, you will? Thank you. Much." (If this is something that goes against her nature for any reason or Gothy is otherwise opposed to it, please let me know.) "Azu, you please stick close to Lilith, and take care that nothing disturbes her while she keeps her psychic power up. I'd rather not...suddenly fall down..."

With that said and arranged, Shiva closed her eyes in anticipation for that Telekinesis - she doesn't see how Lilith opens her arms and her eyes glow green again, before the same glow surrounds her Master. That was when Shiva opens her eyes again - she pays great attention to how being affected with a Telekinesis feels. Pleasant? Disturbing? ...It felt...interesting, but not dangerous. Way different from teleporting, but in both cases the psychic power was tangible for her. (Or so I think. Any additions, Iron?)

Swiftly, she was high enough to touch the celing of the cavern, and within reach of some of the ferns. With a small smile, she reached out to cut off a piece of the hairy roots to put it into a small glass jar with a scew cap, comfortably to wear in her hands. Next came a few of the leafy ferns, Shiva carefully selected those which were glowing the most. When adding some of her Poochyena's shielddust, the jar will become a nice portable light source - it won't provide much light, but it'll provide a comfy feeling. She'll appreciate it during breaks or sleep to cope with the stress and darkness and to not become depressed, and maybe these ferms (not the roots) will be useful otherwise/later.

Speaking of Poochyena, the butterwolfly was still out, and has wandered over to Slurpuff meanwhile. This white and pink Pokemon looked like a dog, how weird and intriguing! Yena ends up interacting with the fairydog in a friendly way, sniffing the air several times to show that he too has a keen sense of smell - not so keen as Slurpuff or Growlithe, though.
Meanwhile, Azu was paying close attention to the surrounding - hmpf, but there was nothing that'd disturb the black and white Psychic Type beside her, so she turns her attention to upwards instead. Soon, she has found something to do instead - summoning a portion of bugs with Infestation in a pattern on the ceiling/the roots! She manages to make a heart, a star and some wavy lines to express her Water Type.


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Mechanics:
No Encounter from the list, this is a Training Session for Lilith, Azu and Yena combined with Shiva collecting some ferns for a small portable light and to analyze or use them for crafting them later.

[Iron]

2. Name: Snivy
Challenge: easy
Bid start: 1
Cap: 1 (2)
Notes: Trotting along the hairy vine, taking care of it. Not hostile unless you attempt to harm the roots.

Mt. Sentry Root Biome: Jungle Japes Caves - Donkey Kong 64

Nathan is absentmindedly thinking about something after his conversation with Valder.  He, Ralts, and Calam are still trying to keep a careful eye on Solosis, though. Swiftfire's still out for warmth and light.

Of course, walking past with a fire horse is probably going to earn Nathan some attention from Snivy, even if Swiftfire has been ordered to be careful not to burn the plants.  Nathan definitely doesn't want to set fire to the entire tunnel...

Yes, your prediction comes true. Snivy stands at attention and pushes gently on a high vine, which unrolls in Nathan's direction. Snivy trots down until it's a few feet above Swiftfire, and hisses at Nathan with a scolding gesture. It makes no attacks, but it does seem to be summoning a certain amount of power. 

[Iron]

Heart strides up to the Ferroseed and challenges them to a battle. They descend on sticky vines and look ready to spar.

[Iron]

Gothitelle lifts Shiva up. With Shiva's eyes closed, she can imagine she's just floating free from the earth. The cave walls and indeed all matter disappears. Very relaxing to the right kind of person. Shiva's actually heard tell of a Creshire practice of sensory deprivation, where trainers float on psychic power with eyes blindfolded in a soundproof room. Apparently this leads to interesting meditations and colorful, peaceful hallucinations.

With eyes wide open, the feeling is very different. Shiva couldn't feel it, but Gothitelle's Telekinesis doesn't keep you very stable. You're in no danger of falling, but at times you are askew relative to the floor or walls. Sort of teetering back and forth, though Gothitelle would never drop you.

Shiva obtains glowing fern in a jar. It looks great in there, enshrined on a small lump of dirt and roots. It will glow and stay alive if it's misted once a day.

Gothitelle and Azu gain 1XP.

Yena is having a little competition with Slurpuff, though he knows he'll lose. When he can't even count the number of Shroomish ahead, Yena gets a little competitive, opens his mouth to get better use of his scenting glands - and starts glowing with gray light! He's faced enough challenges with his teeth, and now he's trying to face one with his nose. When the light clears, a much larger and hairier canine stands there. Beautiful, long, leathery wings run along Yena's back, like a dramatic cape or mane, and he howls as he flexes them for the first time! They are huge now, two semicircular wings making a circle about 4' in diameter, emblazoned with pastel colors vaguely resembling a face. The wings are more like Masquerain's now, but Mightyena can still Shield Dust himself with them.

Congratulations! Your Poochyena has evolved into Mightyena!

[Dragonstrike]

Yes, your prediction comes true. Snivy stands at attention and pushes gently on a high vine, which unrolls in Nathan's direction. Snivy trots down until it's a few feet above Swiftfire, and hisses at Nathan with a scolding gesture. It makes no attacks, but it does seem to be summoning a certain amount of power. 

Nathan backs up slightly in surprise, but still tries to stay close to Swiftfire since it's still kinda chilly.  "Hey, I don't want to set fire to anything.  Just...c-c-cold.  And it's d-d-dark, too.  Swiftfire here wouldn't be present if I thought she'd set fire to the surroundings.  She can trim her flames a l-little more though if it'd make ya more c-comfortable."

Nathan (who's still kinda shivering due to the lower temperature) looks at Snivy curiously.

"...have you...always l-l-lived down h-h-here?  Not where I would have expected to find a pokemon that usually soaks up s-sunlight, to be honest."

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

I guess Shiva does indeed count to the person who'd find the feeling of floating free from the earth very relaxing, or at least she has dealt with enough Psychic Types to not find it uncomfortable. If all matters do become unimportant, then all her problems do either... If she finds a place, house or medical institute further along the journey where this sensory deprivation is practiced, she'll certainly try it out - peaceful colorful halluzinations and interesting meditations sound rather tempting and unique to experience.

Azumarill can easily mist the jar with a well-channeled Water Sport - feels like a mini-terrarium in a jar now.

She was just securely closing the jar as that....grey light was catching her eye, and at the sight that it came from where her tiny butterwolfly was standing she was startled positively as this could only mean ONE thing - evolution. E...Evolution! She would have never expected Yena to reach the next stage that soon, or soon at all.... Immediately, she grews a bit insecure as Mightyena are known to only listen to experienced Trainers. Having become a 'Trainer' only almost two moths ago, she wasn't sure wether she could be called 'experienced'. But that was stil the special Poochyena she has met there on Route 4 and trained to protect her from Ghost Types - will he remember, or would he rebel if she'd come close to him now?

There was only one way to find out, and that was being brave just this time. Lightfooted, Shiva lands back on the ground, and Lilith ends the Telekinesis almost the same moment. Both she and Azu earn their thanks, before they get withdrawn into their comfy Balls, and with a careful (but not 'afraid') manner she makes her way to her new and bigger butterwolfly, she jar with the glowing fern still safely in her hands - now he really deserves this calling, and he looks incredibly beautiful and intimidating with these bigger wings. As soon as she's within his range, she knees down to be around eye level of Yena and lets him sniff on her hand at first - she didn't got the feeling that he'd bite as he did and even licked over her hand. This sensation allured a small and timidly proud feeling within her, and she picked up a stone the size of her hand from nearby to offer it to Yena with the words "You're a precious Mightyena now... With you by my side, I feel more safe. Obey, and you will be rewarded.... Now, please show me your new bite force - do you think you can crush this stone to dust?"

Yena will try - and learn Crunch for amazing 0xp. With this Pokemon in her posession....she feels a bit more ready to face Chuckles. Solosis-Spies, beware - this hyena will show no mercy when meeting one of you.

[Iron]

Ventus and Michael tug away at the root masses while Nathan has the Snivy occupied.

3 survival + 2 medicine +1 grass type = 6d6
(5)(2)(4)(5)(6)(1) - Ventus obtains 4 units of Tochu fern root. Enough to make 2 to 4 Potions - if he has enough down time to devote to it.