[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Iron]

Slowking holds up his hands in front of him and shakes his head contradictingly.

Lore:
(4)(1)(2)(3)(5)(6)(5)(3)(3)

You suddenly recognize some of these lines as being from an ancient and rare book, of which only a few pages survive. No one realized it was about the Atheneum. It is simply titled, "The Gauntlet," and was thought to be written by one of Sarimanok's distant ancestors and re-translated every few hundred years.

[Dragonstrike]

Slowking holds up his hands in front of him and shakes his head contradictingly.

Lore:
(4)(1)(2)(3)(5)(6)(5)(3)(3)

You suddenly recognize some of these lines as being from an ancient and rare book, of which only a few pages survive. No one realized it was about the Atheneum. It is simply titled, "The Gauntlet," and was thought to be written by one of Sarimanok's distant ancestors and re-translated every few hundred years.

"...wait...now that I think about it...some of this sounds...familiar..."

Nathan flips through his journal just to double check.

"...yup, here it is.  'The Gauntlet', written and re-translated over hundreds of years...some of these lines sound very similar to the last known version of it..."

...

"...so...I suppose you're quoting an old copy of that text which somehow survived the wear and tear of hundreds of years?"

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Humm. That message ends up being recorded as well, and it's one that Shiva struggled to understand at first as it - at the first thought - went against what the wise Pokemon spoke formerly as well as her assumption. At the second thought that came to her as she only mustered the Slowking more - it made sense.

"You mean.... That the Stone comes first, then the Veil, and in it comes the Gauntlet, the Stone of the Stones (to her, the Relic Stone!) , before we'll face these statues and enter.....Atheneum.... That's what I am understanding from your lyrics, and I'll keep it in mind. Will prepare properly, keep my eyes and mind open for signs that we're at one of these objects and places. I thank thee again for your shared wisdom, elusive Slowking..... May you have a safe life, Slowking that has seen Atheneum with its own eyes, shall we not be blessed with another meeting with you."

What intrigued Shiva personally much and deeply, was the mentioning of Apricorn fruits. These, down here? She shouldn't wonder anymore of what was hidden here beneath Mount Sentry, but...she still does. One thing's for sure, she'll try whatever was possible to get her hands on at least one of these, preferably....a kind that is said to be extinct in the wild. In the wild OF THE SURFACE, that is.... Fufu.

[Iron]

When you say Slowking has seen Atheneum with his own eyes, he again makes the negatory gesture.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Huh! "No? I've been sure that you've seen this place from your words.... Please be forgiving to me for assuming this, and allow me to be thankful that you've prevented me from following this thought." She bows again to the wise Slowking. When she rise again, she does face it with a slightly worried expression. "But...do allow me to ask and do excuse me for prying, but does that mean that Pokemon...are not welcome within Atheneum? I cannot imagine that they're not... But maybe not ALL Pokemon are allowed in? DO Pokemon dwell within this elusive place, among the elementals, wise Slowking? Do you.....happen to know this, or will we see when we're there?"

With a mildly suprised glance over to Nathan, she also turns to him: "You...recognize the lines it speaks, Nathan? Please, if there's more that might be relevant to us, update us others of what 'Then Gauntlet' says... You too, Valder."

[Dragonstrike]

With a mildly suprised glance over to Nathan, she also turns to him: "You...recognize the lines it speaks, Nathan? Please, if there's more that might be relevant to us, update us others of what 'Then Gauntlet' says... You too, Valder."

"It's a really old book.  Like, really old.  Hundreds of years.  Probably dating back to the First Kingdom, even.  It's believed to have been written by one of Sarimanok's ancestor's, and it's been re-written countless times...but in the present day, we only know what a select few pages of it say...unfortunately, I don't really know too much more about this than the rest of you...best I could say based on what Slowking is saying is that whoever authored The Gauntlet visited Atheneum and recorded some of their experiences afterwards, but never mentioned it by name in the text..."

...

"...if there's an intact copy of The Gauntlet down here...that'd be...well, a revolutionary discovery, really...or maybe..."

...

"...maybe there isn't an intact copy, though. Maybe..."

...

"...that's what Slowking learned upon evolving. You have the whole book completely memorized, don't you, Slowking?"

[Iron]

Huh! "No? I've been sure that you've seen this place from your words.... Please be forgiving to me for assuming this, and allow me to be thankful that you've prevented me from following this thought." She bows again to the wise Slowking. When she rise again, she does face it with a slightly worried expression. "But...do allow me to ask and do excuse me for prying, but does that mean that Pokemon...are not welcome within Atheneum? I cannot imagine that they're not... But maybe not ALL Pokemon are allowed in? DO Pokemon dwell within this elusive place, among the elementals, wise Slowking? Do you.....happen to know this, or will we see when we're there?"

With a mildly suprised glance over to Nathan, she also turns to him: "You...recognize the lines it speaks, Nathan? Please, if there's more that might be relevant to us, update us others of what 'Then Gauntlet' says... You too, Valder."

"Atheneum! Library of Kings! 
Empowered by Pokemon, served by Pokemon, guarded by Pokemon.
An endless maze of sovereign texts, and only one who knows the path.
To knowledge, to knowledge, to knowledge!
"

He nods at Nathan. His guesses are correct.

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

(...)

When she rises again, she faces it with a small, but definitely warm smile (despite the cold) and holds non-intimidatingly eye contact for a little longer than normal before she speaks up once more: " Forever changed... More than human... Know that my mind is open and that I'll welcome this change with figurative open arms. If Atheneum calls for us, then I cannot and WILL not deny its call, but follow it till the end." Her gaze intuitively wandered to her chosen partner, an older Sociologist/@Lord Windos, and it remained fixated on him as she just looked him rather deep into the eyes. No fear was within hers. She has decided...and can't take this decision back anymore. Change, enlightment, being more that she is is what this fae enthusiast desires. She does utterly understand that Ventus himself may be opposed to it - but the question is that if his most dear and closest person is so determined and does not react to his stiffness of voice that she unmistakably picks up, is he willing to give this 'change' a chance? No change and no other happening can rip these two, enthusiast of fairies and nature and seeker for a better bond between human and Pokemon, apart anymore, that he should know. She'll ALWAYS stay by his side, and subtly expects the same from him. He won't be........alone. 

(...)

Judging from the deeply disappointed and resigned yet accepting stare Ventus straight back into her eyes, his opinion and choice to reject The Gauntlet's 'change' (Read: Corruption and bastarditation to him) was not going to EVER be altered, and that he'd wished that his dearest girlfriend shared the same opinon/choice as him but knows that is not to be and is willing to try and 'accept it' for hers and the other's shake. Its his deepest belief that being 'transformed' by that........thing will lead to nothing but a ruinous, despair or madness filled existence for himself and the others, and even if that wasn't the case (Likely) he's STILL was ardent in his desires to remain purely as he was for moral and idealistic reasons. To be human was to be weak and limited compared to Pokémon or other more wicked supernatural beings, yes, but it also meant to hold infinite potential for growth, expansion, and self evolution. Changing any part of that into something that was not that screamed of blasphemous horror  that bordered on the unjustifiable to him, which combined with the fact that this belief (Among other things....) was inspired by witnessing his mother slowly and quickly become perveted/changed by those evil Fairies and his all too well established hatred, fear, and/or parnioa of the arcane, supernatural, magical, or sufficiently strange.....

.....Well, its fairly obvious what his choice would be, in hindsight.

The researcher knew his fears/hatreds were creating a deliberate divide between himself and the group at large once again, and that they are without a doubt interfering with his judgement and perception of what's being told, but he just couldn't embrace that supernaturalness like the rest of them. Not even for Shiva. Its as he had said earlier: 'Think of me of a fool for my choice......but I rather be that than anything I am not.'

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Eeek! Shiva slightly flinches away of the sudden increasement of eager within the Slowking's quotes, but calms almost instantly again and meets it with an interested gleam within her gaze. "Only one who knows the path? Elusive and wise Slowking, if this hints to one particular Pokemon that acts as some sort of leader or caretaker of Atheneum... If you happen to know more about this 'one', can you please tell me more of it?"

[Iron]

Slowking shrugs. He doesn't have any passages to answer that question.