[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Iron]

"If they find it, they find it. If I were you and they come in here, I'd hide. I could put your book on Genesect somewhere they'll find it quickly and leave. Oh, and you could send your Pokemon through the Time Capsule to keep them safe, if you wanted."

"It's been a long time since we've been under siege!"

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

Alright. Sooner or later Slaking will find the key and hand it over, but with a stern look and a warning. "Be very sure you want to open that book before doing so! It looks like a powerful grimoire of some kind. Don't like Crocanaw's cartoonish look fool you. I get the feeling those dark threads tell the real story."



Slaking suddenly notices a dim light glowing above the closed marble doors. "We have visitors." He touches a panel and a one-way peephole opens. You can see an ARMY of Scimitars outside, each wearing a gauntlet. There must be fifty of the robed figures. They are examining the reinstated force field, the steps, the Apricorns, and the Guardians, careful not to touch anything. But some of the Scimitars are firing attacks with a wave of their hand - purple and red and greenish beams of power lancing out to strike the forcefield.

Eventually one knocks on the marble doors and you can see him mouthing, "Hello?"

The eldest Scimitars look like they are about to confront the Guardians.

Slaking: "Hehe, if they get your riddles wrong, they'll be sent right back into the shifting passages of Mt. Sentry. And that shifting will be hastened, and several Onix will be summoned by the vibration. Hooligans." He doesn't seem TOO worried, perhaps because his Library can't get any messier.

With Valder (Since Ven's been constantly hanging around them)!:

The researcher tenses up and looks EXTREMELY apprehensive when Slaking uttered the words 'powerful grimoire' and confirmed his underlying suspicious/fears about the Croconawimcon, but eventually they force themselves to relax with a heavy *Sigh* and turn towards Valder with a worried yet....accepting frown on his face.

"I don't know WHY you desire to unlock a tome of such......powerful secrets, but I trust you must have a good reason to do so. But please.....if you must...….do so with the utmost care Valder. The dangers and threat associated with TRUE grimoires of power are VERY real indeed, and I don't......I don't want you to suffer the myriad consequences of opening one without great reason for doing so. If you must, though.....so be it."

Ven says the last remark with a note of sadness and understanding, and leaves the matter entirely in their hands. Despite the group as a whole hardly interacting with them, he greatly cherishes Valder for everything they've done/went through together, and accordingly as their employer and FRIEND feels beholden to keep them safe and well provided. However, if they wish to tap the power of that tome......he will trust that they are doing the right thing and let them do so unhindered, and be willing to help them however he can should things go awry. Such was his duty as their employer.....and their friend.


With Slaking and the present scene!:

Once Ventus sees the literally ARMY of those vile and wretched Scimitars , his previous apathetic/reserved mood is flash frozen away in pure SHOCK, as he looked at the gathering with stunned disbelief. He expect their would be a sizable force of those blight sucking bastards trying to reach Antheneum and exploit its power, but THIS many and the powers he's witness......it was well beyond his expectations. 


For the first time he felt fear and a sense of hopelessness course through him at the prospect of fighting ALL of them, as no matter how much he bitterly HATES them all and desires to do most unpleasant things to them for all the unpleasant things THEY'VE done, their was absolutely no WAY he or the group could face them all in ANY sort of fight. He was remarklely swift to visciously clamp down and repress such traitorous feelings of his and tried to fully recompense himself, but judging by the his narrowed eyes and guarded posture he only had partial success in that endevour. Kinda hard to remain calm and cool when faced with unreasonable odds of survival/victory against a now MUCH more dominating enemy, though, so.....

Nathan's comment managed to snap him out of his torpor state, causing them to look at the boy with clear concern and very real FEAR for their wellbeing, before he mirror that expression for everyone else. His lips pursed in deep thought for a split second, before he turned towards the Slaking and quietly asked them: "......Are their places where we all can hide here, Slaking, if they are able to access Antheneum? I do believe any of us alone or together can handle THAT number of Scimitars without divine or....not intervention, and I don't want us to suffer their wrath or machimations in a futile effort to make a last stand against them. …If not, are their rules in place to prevent them from doing harm to us or anyone else in the library.....? Places such as these usual have 'Sacred Hospitality' protections in place, but if not.....then some good hiding spots for us would be most ideal for all of us, sir."

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

"If they find it, they find it. If I were you and they come in here, I'd hide. I could put your book on Genesect somewhere they'll find it quickly and leave. Oh, and you could send your Pokemon through the Time Capsule to keep them safe, if you wanted."

"It's been a long time since we've been under siege!"

Slowking dont need to say twice. "Gargryph, Netune, Caesar, Typhon, Hypno, Percival. Return now! Sorry, but we must keep you all safe. We will meet again I promised." Heart then bring out two of his Pokemons: Gustav and Rose, ready to fight. "In case anything happens we should be prepared." Using XP point of Rose, Gustav and Viktor to teach these moves: Calm Mind (58 XP), Swords Dance (25 XP) and Ingrain (13). We will might need these moves soon. "Rose, prepare the Calm Mind. Gustav, prepare Swords Dance. We better be very much buff in case those Scimitars really came."

[Lord Windos]

After Ventus made his subdued inquiry to Slaking, he shuffled over to Shiva's side with that same look of tense apprehension painted across his face and quietly took one of her hands and gripped it tightly, both as an gesture of comfort to her AND himself. Right now he is avoiding directly gazing at his mi amore out of lingering unease + he didn't want her to see how vulnerable he was an invariably that feeling over to her (anymore than she is feeling right now, anyway), but its clear as day he's concerned and attentive for her sake.

'.....I wish I could do more for her, be the braver, more tolerant man that I have always inspired to become. Curse my dreadful, pitful nature...….curse my weakness and failure in my duties to her.....'

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Slaking suddenly notices a dim light glowing above the closed marble doors. "We have visitors." He touches a panel and a one-way peephole opens. You can see an ARMY of Scimitars outside, each wearing a gauntlet. There must be fifty of the robed figures. They are examining the reinstated force field, the steps, the Apricorns, and the Guardians, careful not to touch anything. But some of the Scimitars are firing attacks with a wave of their hand - purple and red and greenish beams of power lancing out to strike the forcefield.

Eventually one knocks on the marble doors and you can see him mouthing, "Hello?"

The eldest Scimitars look like they are about to confront the Guardians.

Slaking: "Hehe, if they get your riddles wrong, they'll be sent right back into the shifting passages of Mt. Sentry. And that shifting will be hastened, and several Onix will be summoned by the vibration. Hooligans." He doesn't seem TOO worried, perhaps because his Library can't get any messier.

Rather carefree, Shiva was just browsing nearby shelves for additional information about Ginger Town's Spring Festival to add them to her freshly bound notebook of Shaymin while Luxi and Cottonee played on the table, as THAT opening from noble Slaking arrived her ears.

Instantly, she froze in shock and disbelief, dropping a promising scroll she was just picking. The casuality, joy and peacefulness she was feeling (and enjoying) here within Atheneum has been wiped from her mind in an instant, what remained were......Fear. Terror. Hate. Wrath. Disbelief how they've made it so far....

......and a pure and shining light that was nothing more than the HOPE that things will be well. That they won't enter, that their all riddles were good enough and IF they'd make their way in here anyway, it'll be swift and without huge trouble for them all.

Slaking's attitude of remaining calm for the most part did well to ease her a little, but Shiva didn't make it to make a single sound. The fear was paralyzing, and she was only half-present as she rather hasted shoved all the things about Shaymin + her personal stuff that she has spread on the table into bagpack, not leaving the tiniest hint that she and the group were residing here. "Delphox", she adressed her magical fox with a serious and blank expression, "please chant for me. For us. You, too, Chi... Let your both's Lucky Chant fill this library with blessing, that's the least we can do." Once that has been fulfilled, ALL of Shiva's Pokemon are withdrawn - except Dizzy. Mission NOT YET complete.

All she now wanted was to hide among the others at the safest place possible according to wise Slaking, enjoying Sacred Hospitality - right now, she didn't feel bad for taking the coward's course of action and play 'There's none here'. If these Scims found them all - may pure Reshiram and wishful Zekrom have the greatest amount of mercy with them.

After Ventus made his subdued inquiry to Slaking, he shuffled over to Shiva's side with that same look of tense apprehension painted across his face and quietly took one of her hands and gripped it tightly, both as an gesture of comfort to her AND himself. Right now he is avoiding directly gazing at his mi amore out of lingering unease + he didn't want her to see how vulnerable he was an invariably that feeling over to her (anymore than she is feeling right now, anyway), but its clear as day he's concerned and attentive for her sake.

'.....I wish I could do more for her, be the braver, more tolerant man that I have always inspired to become. Curse my dreadful, pitful nature...….curse my weakness and failure in my duties to her.....'

How wonderful - how ironic. Shiva has wished for Ventus' closure and assurance that he still cares for her like he did before after having succumbed to the Gauntlet's call and become more than human - she may have also wished that the circumstances were different, as she could literally feel how he was trying not to shiver when she returned his grip of his hand.

She avoided looking into his face for more than a second for the same reasons he had and remains highly tense and silent, but she very carefully wrapped her other arm around his waist to pull him close. She's relieved that he definitely understood that even the faint thought of fighting/confronting that ARMY of Scims there was plain madness - now, they could only wait and hope for the best while providing a certain sense of safety to one another.

[Iron]

Lucky Chant is a great idea.

"It's a big Library. I'll show you some good hiding places."

There are chests big enough to hold a person, piles of books in gigantic heaps, and lots of furniture big enough to hide under or behind. Plus there's the ropeworks in the ceiling.

The chants fill the air as the eldest Scimitars, in the robes of the deepest blue, pop in to face the Guardians.

*roll1*

One pops out again, carrying a tuft of orange hair in his gauntlet and wearing a grim expression of victory. An Apricorn pops open and he snags the Klefki rudely. He waits.

All your riddles are indeed things that will trouble the Scimitar's psychology. Good job on those. The one about Espeon and Umbreon will apply a -1 dice penalty, the one about Ralts a -3 penalty, and the rest a -2 penalty. Smallest penalties will roll out first.

*roll2*

When the second Scimitar reappears, her Guardian just slides down out of sight. No Klefki is forthcoming.

*roll3*

The third Scimitar also fails.

That means 1 success, 2 failures, and 3 riddles to go. They'll have to get each and every one right.

I'll pause a moment here in case you want to react to this progress.

[Nylon]

Valder hadn't really thought opening a tome like this would matter, but after hearing the warnings of his boss and The Librarian, Valder decided he wouldn't open it. It was never a condition, nor something he was interested in.
 He looks in the direction of the earth-scimitars, wondering what to do. Blast some fire in their faces for good measure?

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

Slaking suddenly notices a dim light glowing above the closed marble doors. "We have visitors." He touches a panel and a one-way peephole opens. You can see an ARMY of Scimitars outside, each wearing a gauntlet. There must be fifty of the robed figures. They are examining the reinstated force field, the steps, the Apricorns, and the Guardians, careful not to touch anything. But some of the Scimitars are firing attacks with a wave of their hand - purple and red and greenish beams of power lancing out to strike the forcefield.

Eventually one knocks on the marble doors and you can see him mouthing, "Hello?"

The eldest Scimitars look like they are about to confront the Guardians.

Slaking: "Hehe, if they get your riddles wrong, they'll be sent right back into the shifting passages of Mt. Sentry. And that shifting will be hastened, and several Onix will be summoned by the vibration. Hooligans." He doesn't seem TOO worried, perhaps because his Library can't get any messier.

Rather carefree, Shiva was just browsing nearby shelves for additional information about Ginger Town's Spring Festival to add them to her freshly bound notebook of Shaymin while Luxi and Cottonee played on the table, as THAT opening from noble Slaking arrived her ears.

Instantly, she froze in shock and disbelief, dropping a promising scroll she was just picking. The casuality, joy and peacefulness she was feeling (and enjoying) here within Atheneum has been wiped from her mind in an instant, what remained were......Fear. Terror. Hate. Wrath. Disbelief how they've made it so far....

......and a pure and shining light that was nothing more than the HOPE that things will be well. That they won't enter, that their all riddles were good enough and IF they'd make their way in here anyway, it'll be swift and without huge trouble for them all.

Slaking's attitude of remaining calm for the most part did well to ease her a little, but Shiva didn't make it to make a single sound. The fear was paralyzing, and she was only half-present as she rather hasted shoved all the things about Shaymin + her personal stuff that she has spread on the table into bagpack, not leaving the tiniest hint that she and the group were residing here. "Delphox", she adressed her magical fox with a serious and blank expression, "please chant for me. For us. You, too, Chi... Let your both's Lucky Chant fill this library with blessing, that's the least we can do." Once that has been fulfilled, ALL of Shiva's Pokemon are withdrawn - except Dizzy. Mission NOT YET complete.

All she now wanted was to hide among the others at the safest place possible according to wise Slaking, enjoying Sacred Hospitality - right now, she didn't feel bad for taking the coward's course of action and play 'There's none here'. If these Scims found them all - may pure Reshiram and wishful Zekrom have the greatest amount of mercy with them.

After Ventus made his subdued inquiry to Slaking, he shuffled over to Shiva's side with that same look of tense apprehension painted across his face and quietly took one of her hands and gripped it tightly, both as an gesture of comfort to her AND himself. Right now he is avoiding directly gazing at his mi amore out of lingering unease + he didn't want her to see how vulnerable he was an invariably that feeling over to her (anymore than she is feeling right now, anyway), but its clear as day he's concerned and attentive for her sake.

'.....I wish I could do more for her, be the braver, more tolerant man that I have always inspired to become. Curse my dreadful, pitful nature...….curse my weakness and failure in my duties to her.....'

How wonderful - how ironic. Shiva has wished for Ventus' closure and assurance that he still cares for her like he did before after having succumbed to the Gauntlet's call and become more than human - she may have also wished that the circumstances were different, as she could literally feel how he was trying not to shiver when she returned his grip of his hand.

She avoided looking into his face for more than a second for the same reasons he had and remains highly tense and silent, but she very carefully wrapped her other arm around his waist to pull him close. She's relieved that he definitely understood that even the faint thought of fighting/confronting that ARMY of Scims there was plain madness - now, they could only wait and hope for the best while providing a certain sense of safety to one another.

Heart it's not any kind of leader. He never was. But he always a person who can't handle see a friend (human or Pokemon) be in problems. Heart approach Shiva with a respectful manner and spoke. "Shiva, there are times when the world try to take you down and discouraged you putting danger in the path. It's times like this we must endured ourselves and go fowarfo no matter what. Hope it's the first thing to born. We must remain with faith and pray to those Scimitars not come. But in case they come...we have the choice of run or fight. We will survive. If the choice will run we will run, and if our choice be fight, well..."

Heart make a determined face and smile. "I will fight. If there is no other option. It's because my ancestor was a knight, but because that's my choice. I will do my best to stop those Scimitars, and I will use all my strength for that. And you Shiva? What you wish more than anything?"

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

Lucky Chant is a great idea.

"It's a big Library. I'll show you some good hiding places."

There are chests big enough to hold a person, piles of books in gigantic heaps, and lots of furniture big enough to hide under or behind. Plus there's the ropeworks in the ceiling.

The chants fill the air as the eldest Scimitars, in the robes of the deepest blue, pop in to face the Guardians.

*roll1*

One pops out again, carrying a tuft of orange hair in his gauntlet and wearing a grim expression of victory. An Apricorn pops open and he snags the Klefki rudely. He waits.

All your riddles are indeed things that will trouble the Scimitar's psychology. Good job on those. The one about Espeon and Umbreon will apply a -1 dice penalty, the one about Ralts a -3 penalty, and the rest a -2 penalty. Smallest penalties will roll out first.

*roll2*

When the second Scimitar reappears, her Guardian just slides down out of sight. No Klefki is forthcoming.

*roll3*

The third Scimitar also fails.

That means 1 success, 2 failures, and 3 riddles to go. They'll have to get each and every one right.

I'll pause a moment here in case you want to react to this progress.

Heart hide in that places Slowking have told. He prepare himself in case those Scimitars come. He once again told Rose and Gustav to prepare his Buff moves: Calm Mind and Swords Dance.

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

By no means is Shiva good at climbing and all the adrenaline will likely not help her keeping herself in the ropework, so unless Ventus insists on hiding up there, she'll drag him behind a massive pile of books because if they need to defend themselves, Shiva's Psychic Types can utilize them as projectiles (via Psyshock, Telekinesis and a Double Team-Kinesis-Combo) to use the moment to either fight back or escape.

(...) He looks in the direction of the earth-scimitars, wondering what to do. Blast some fire in their faces for good measure?

Seeing how Valder gazes at them in wonder, Shiva unintentionally joins, trying to figure out from the previous run-ins with Scimitars to which element they've belonged. (I'm not quite sure whether she can, maybe by the simply color of their robes? EDIT: Ah, deep blue... She'd guess these are Water Scimitars.) Rather quietly and serious, she asks Valder whether "...You seem to know things about them we don't, Valder... Maybe once, when being back at the surface, you can tell/teach me how to recognize their 'element' by looking at them as well... There are more elements than Water and Earth. Could you?"

Heart it's not any kind of leader. He never was. But he always a person who can't handle see a friend (human or Pokemon) be in problems. Heart approach Shiva with a respectful manner and spoke. "Shiva, there are times when the world try to take you down and discouraged you putting danger in the path. It's times like this we must endured ourselves and go fowarfo no matter what. Hope it's the first thing to born. We must remain with faith and pray to those Scimitars not come. But in case they come...we have the choice of run or fight. We will survive. If the choice will run we will run, and if our choice be fight, well..."

Heart make a determined face and smile. "I will fight. If there is no other option. It's because my ancestor was a knight, but because that's my choice. I will do my best to stop those Scimitars, and I will use all my strength for that. And you Shiva? What you wish more than anything?"

Shiva has become something like the inofficial leader due to being able to stay mostly calm in serious situations and keep the group together in times of conflict, so she opts to not let her massive fear and worry overwhelm and paralyze her. She needs to remain strong and able to decide pragmatically - she just HAS to. She WANTS to. Ventus' closure and the two Lucky Chants from her Pokemon help a lot in that.

That determined and smile from Heart however - she didn't like it AT ALL. Not a single bit, she only looks at him in shock and shakes her head with force, messing up her hair even more. "You sure you want that? One against like 50, and 50 SCIMITARS even. Heart, that doesn't just border to suicide, that IS suicide. And not a pleasant one even, I.... I...don't want to imagine what they'd all do with you if you try to fight them. Please, don't do anything that you might regret later.... But... do what you feel is right."

Concerning what she wishes more than anything, Shiva doesn't directly answer that right now: At least not in words. Nope, in response to this question from Heart she strengths herself in posture and mimic and squeezes Ven's hand a little more.