[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Iron]

The sociologist hesitate for a brief moment, before asking them: "......Is there anything I could do to free you from such an ornous burden, and help you move on? Or at least provide you some form of comfort as you travel these tunnels, if I or the others of my group can't help."

"Ventus...normally my men and I are slain whenever the Sableye find us. We die our gruesome deaths over and over. Disemboweled by shadows. Our bones gnawed by sharp teeth. Our bodies wasting away, dwindling, and starvation taking us even as our flesh fills the Sableye. 

You have provided more comfort this day than we could ever wish for. It is enough."


His brother pipes up. "There ain't nothing to be done for us specters. We know we shall wander these tunnels, until the world changes. Excerskisms, in-scents, true names, they ain't every worked and they never shall. We thank you for offering, though."

[Iron]

"The songs of Captain Bridge's men are legendary. We had little else to do while we waited for starvation and shadow to take us. We shall try your idea, though I expect we may be beyond such things. It cannot hurt. We shall leave you now. The sight of my gift brings unpleasant memories."

He cups Shedinja in his palms and places the weird bug on the wall. He and his men salute one last time and vanish as mist rises up again.

[Dragonstrike]

You pick up $15,000 worth of beautifully cut gems. They seem real enough to every test you can make. Nathan can identify them as the type commonly found in Bridge's Gem Mine (mostly garnets).

Hoo wee, that's a lot of dough!  Enough for every member of the party to get $3000 worth apiece!  Add on to that that Swiftfire's been plinking metal off of the stones with Payday throughout the week, giving Nathan another $1000 worth of valuables on the spot!

"The songs of Captain Bridge's men are legendary. We had little else to do while we waited for starvation and shadow to take us. We shall try your idea, though I expect we may be beyond such things. It cannot hurt. We shall leave you now. The sight of my gift brings unpleasant memories."

He cups Shedinja in his palms and places the weird bug on the wall. He and his men salute one last time and vanish as mist rises up again.

Nathan sadly waves goodbye to them as they vanish.  He can't help but shed a few tears for their plight...

"...don't worry...the world will change eventually, Private..."

Well then...let's see what Bridge's gift is...the thing that would have changed so much for him and his men...

[Iron]

Azumarill rolls the stone away singlehandedly, and Michael is able to keep it from rolling back into place. In a little niche in the wall, you now see a strange contraption the size of a wrestling champion's belt.

The Ancient Machine - Tom Waits "Underground"

From a glass cylinder comes a mess of wires, stones somehow braided in with them, shifting components of steel and clay that move and rotate without being touched. The slow, steady, ticking pattern is mesmerizing. Ventus has to physically hold onto Lucifer as this hidden treasure is revealed.

Decorated clay nodes orbit the heart of the device. Tiny clay clockwork beings, like teensy tiny flying Golett or rolling Magearna, flit about the surface of the nodes, bearing clay modules. Fine wires, no bigger than a hair's breadth, guide them on their way. Some of the nodes ripple with self-organizing modules of their own; no automatons necessary. Heat emanates from the object, like internal furnaces of great power.

Reconfigurable traps allow the entire device to be attached to any being of any shape.

The glass cylinder is translucent and floating a few inches above the ground. It's rocked back and forth by some invisible, violent force within. Tiny chips and tiny cracks appear periodically on the surface, only to heal faster than they are caused. A fine roiling dust is all that occupies the cylinder.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

As true as the unquestionable danger a battle against vicious foes, the shared pain when having seen a party member being attacked by them but also the encouraging sense of having made it and suceeded over the enemy were, as true was the reward of the battle - gemstones! And by all means, way more than the eye could see! Once more Shiva staggered and took a blind step back while not averting her gaze from the all the way-too-real-loot, while Azumarill has already brought her hands to her mouth and gasped herself in awe. These were way more beuatiful than these white quartz crystals from earlier, oh boy!

Boldly picking one from the heap, the blue fae rabbit turned around and offered it to her Master with a smile and an expression of 'LOOK AT THAT! How....beautiful!' - in a slow manner as if being afraid that all of this was just a halluzination of an Encounter, caused by the claustrophobic tunnels or the messed up biorythm, Shiva accepted one of these gemstones from her Pokemon. It indeed felt very real in her hand, and gave her another boost of rightness. A feeling of...truely and unmistakably having deserved this loot!

On the screen and via a controller, it all was safe and well, but the real experience was a much different thing, as she now firsthandedly went through. It all happened for real, and for looong Shiva will remember this run-in with the ghost brigade of brave Captain Bridge.


She was just about to turn around and thank them all - but they have already vanished. That was the way of things, she gave a very last salute to them which they weren't able to see anymore, holding back a toneless sob in this farewell.

Her part worth 3000$ is securely packed away in the wodden crate of her stuff, safely contained now to be brought to the surface.

[Dragonstrike]

Nathan's not surprised by what was behind that door.  It doesn't lessen how awestruck he is, though...

"...guys...that's a Rock Smash HM...if Bridge had had that move...if the League hadn't broken the only copy they had in an attempt to replicate it...they could have tunneled their way out of the caves easily...it's no wonder it hurts for him to look at it..."

Nathan looks very closely at it...does it look like it can be removed from its location?

[Spiritmon]

Heart takes his part of the money. After buying so many healing items, he need some money after the journey of this cavern. "Well, guess we finally going to somewhere. Neat."

[Iron]

Nathan's not surprised by what was behind that door.  It doesn't lessen how awestruck he is, though...

"...guys...that's a Rock Smash HM...if Bridge had had that move...if the League hadn't broken the only copy they had in an attempt to replicate it...they could have tunneled their way out of the caves easily...it's no wonder it hurts for him to look at it..."

Nathan looks very closely at it...does it look like it can be removed from its location?

Yep. It's almost floating under the power of the cylinder. It's not strapped to anything currently.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Wait a moment.... At first, Shiva actually had no real idea what that device meant to be, even less what it's purpose is, all she knew from looking at it in awe, fascination and wonder was that she absolutely didn't manage to avert her gaze from it.

Her head practically jerked to Nathan as he revealed what this intriguing gift was, and without even knowing it, her speaking has become a whispering. "That.... is one of the truely legendary HMs, sought out in Chreshire for their unique power? How.... And why.... And how did it came here...?"

She can't help it - reaching out, she HAD to touch the floating glass cylinder with only the lightest touch of her fingertip, as if assuring that this wasn't an illusion. Curiosity killed the cat, but curiosity also meant learning.

[Lord Windos]

The sociologist hesitate for a brief moment, before asking them: "......Is there anything I could do to free you from such an ornous burden, and help you move on? Or at least provide you some form of comfort as you travel these tunnels, if I or the others of my group can't help."

"Ventus...normally my men and I are slain whenever the Sableye find us. We die our gruesome deaths over and over. Disemboweled by shadows. Our bones gnawed by sharp teeth. Our bodies wasting away, dwindling, and starvation taking us even as our flesh fills the Sableye. 

You have provided more comfort this day than we could ever wish for. It is enough."


His brother pipes up. "There ain't nothing to be done for us specters. We know we shall wander these tunnels, until the world changes. Excerskisms, in-scents, true names, they ain't every worked and they never shall. We thank you for offering, though."

*Flashback!*

Ventus expression grows grim as he hears they typical fate of Captain Bridge and his men, and the brother's kindly dashing any hopes left him feeling hollow and forloan. However, he refused to let him be crippled by the horribleness that was their geas and demoralize them in the process, instead offering them a solemn nod and staring each and every soldier in the eye, his own filled with hopeful determination for them all.

This naturally lead to his others comments, and the only possible advice/aid (The Songs and Poetry) he could offer the men.

*Flashback End!*

"The songs of Captain Bridge's men are legendary. We had little else to do while we waited for starvation and shadow to take us. We shall try your idea, though I expect we may be beyond such things. It cannot hurt. We shall leave you now. The sight of my gift brings unpleasant memories."

He cups Shedinja in his palms and places the weird bug on the wall. He and his men salute one last time and vanish as mist rises up again.

He watched the doomed soldiers fade away from sight, returning their salute with a crisp one of his own as he gave one last farwel to them all.

"Stand tall, my friends. May you all find salvation somday....."

While Azumaril and Michael were busy removing the boulder from Captain's Bridge treasure trove, Ventus approach the Shedinja , looking both anxious and hopeful as he address them, crossing a arm on his chest and bowing his head.

"Shedinja, I would like to thank you for the good word you offered for my shake, for if it wasn't for that I have no doubt Captain Bridge or his men would not have look so kindly upon all of us. Now, I have you know I have been pursuing you since we first 'meet' , as I have an ardent interest in you and your species. The later is because so little is known about Shedinja, and the former.....well, I simply feel a connection between us since I am in some way responsible for your very existence. So I would like to ask......would you be willing to join my family? I promise that I will take great care of you like the rest of my Pokémon, and will accept you wholy and completely regardless of any nebulous qualities you posses. What do you say, Shedinja?"

Order: Give one last good bye to Bridge and Co, and then ask if Shedinja is willing to join Ventus's team/family. Simple said, and hopefully simple done.