[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Iron]

Freddi: "Those bums put sacks on our heads and duct-taped us all up. Couldn't hear much. I know they talked about the Skull Ruins, unsurprisingly. Like I told Jenny, I thought I heard them mention a 'lake,' but Bobbi thinks they were talking about a 'big gory snake.' Like an Arbok I guess."

Bobbi: "I caught a glimpse of the scene as we were being bound. I saw them separating Thrawn from the camper dweebs. I bet they took him somewhere else from the Scouts."

Elminster: "There are back ways into the Skull Ruins. No one knows all the entrances. Most of them dead end into single chambers and don't connect to the main ruins. There are many many many places they could hide a prisoner there. As for their victim, I don't have much hope for him. Sounds like he was lost above the Kadabra Chambers. That's a series of rooms I've never dared to enter. They're covered by a crumbling ceiling, guarded by a very long drop, tons of dangerous Psychic Pokemon as well as the usual Ruin denizens. Oh, and sometimes Unown, which can be as dangerous as anything in large numbers. The Unown are said to spell out "KADABRA," hence the name, though no one has ever actually caught a Kadabra in there. It's a hard place to find on purpose, but an easy place to stumble into and break a leg...or spine...or neck. And there are weird rumors about it, where people are captured by roving bands of violent Pokemon and never released, no bodies ever found. It's said you can make a pact with the devil down there. Or fairies. Every culture has had a different myth about the Kadabra Chambers. Usually revolves around some arcane rules - you know, like if you eat the fairy food you owe them something. Bargains. They say time runs strangely in the Kadabra Chambers. They say you can still find fossils there from any era, and strange machines from the First Technical Society. But my question is, how would anyone know? No one's ever returned from the Kadabra Chambers."

[Dragonstrike]

Spoiler

Freddi: "Those bums put sacks on our heads and duct-taped us all up. Couldn't hear much. I know they talked about the Skull Ruins, unsurprisingly. Like I told Jenny, I thought I heard them mention a 'lake,' but Bobbi thinks they were talking about a 'big gory snake.' Like an Arbok I guess."

Bobbi: "I caught a glimpse of the scene as we were being bound. I saw them separating Thrawn from the camper dweebs. I bet they took him somewhere else from the Scouts."

Elminster: "There are back ways into the Skull Ruins. No one knows all the entrances. Most of them dead end into single chambers and don't connect to the main ruins. There are many many many places they could hide a prisoner there. As for their victim, I don't have much hope for him. Sounds like he was lost above the Kadabra Chambers. That's a series of rooms I've never dared to enter. They're covered by a crumbling ceiling, guarded by a very long drop, tons of dangerous Psychic Pokemon as well as the usual Ruin denizens. Oh, and sometimes Unown, which can be as dangerous as anything in large numbers. The Unown are said to spell out "KADABRA," hence the name, though no one has ever actually caught a Kadabra in there. It's a hard place to find on purpose, but an easy place to stumble into and break a leg...or spine...or neck. And there are weird rumors about it, where people are captured by roving bands of violent Pokemon and never released, no bodies ever found. It's said you can make a pact with the devil down there. Or fairies. Every culture has had a different myth about the Kadabra Chambers. Usually revolves around some arcane rules - you know, like if you eat the fairy food you owe them something. Bargains. They say time runs strangely in the Kadabra Chambers. They say you can still find fossils there from any era, and strange machines from the First Technical Society. But my question is, how would anyone know? No one's ever returned from the Kadabra Chambers."

"...time running strangely, huh...well, if anything, I think their victim can handle himself.  Just walking into the Ruins isn't for those without confidence in their ability to fend off the locals, after all.  I also briefly questioned one of the people who jumped us, and their target seemed to be equipped to handle Ghost and Psychic types from what I got out out of him.  Honestly, I'm more concerned for the baby pokemon that were with him..."  Hearing that time might run strangely in those chambers has ironically given Nathan just a liiitle more hope that everything will be okay.  He certainly knows first hand how long time can drag on in strange places...would it be all that surprising if time was running more slowly for Marco Warren after getting driven into those chambers?  It'd certainly explain why he supposedly hadn't gotten out of there by 2017...in any case, though, it's a clue, and a good one at that.  Nathan's going to have to try and get a permit to explore the lower levels of the Ruins in 2017, that's for certain...'

Big gory snake and a lake...hmmm..."What about Chicory Lake?  It's certainly far enough out of the way to hide out there.  None of the major routes even go near it.  And it might be easy to mistake the syllables for what Bobbi heard."  And Nathan knows something these guys don't: the guys who built the Water Scimitar base in Wineberry walked all the way to that town from the Chicory area.  He'd probably bet $1000 that either Thrawn or the Campers were taken there.  Seems like it might be the Water Scimitars main base of operations or something...

[Iron]

Spoiler

Freddi: "Those bums put sacks on our heads and duct-taped us all up. Couldn't hear much. I know they talked about the Skull Ruins, unsurprisingly. Like I told Jenny, I thought I heard them mention a 'lake,' but Bobbi thinks they were talking about a 'big gory snake.' Like an Arbok I guess."

Bobbi: "I caught a glimpse of the scene as we were being bound. I saw them separating Thrawn from the camper dweebs. I bet they took him somewhere else from the Scouts."

Elminster: "There are back ways into the Skull Ruins. No one knows all the entrances. Most of them dead end into single chambers and don't connect to the main ruins. There are many many many places they could hide a prisoner there. As for their victim, I don't have much hope for him. Sounds like he was lost above the Kadabra Chambers. That's a series of rooms I've never dared to enter. They're covered by a crumbling ceiling, guarded by a very long drop, tons of dangerous Psychic Pokemon as well as the usual Ruin denizens. Oh, and sometimes Unown, which can be as dangerous as anything in large numbers. The Unown are said to spell out "KADABRA," hence the name, though no one has ever actually caught a Kadabra in there. It's a hard place to find on purpose, but an easy place to stumble into and break a leg...or spine...or neck. And there are weird rumors about it, where people are captured by roving bands of violent Pokemon and never released, no bodies ever found. It's said you can make a pact with the devil down there. Or fairies. Every culture has had a different myth about the Kadabra Chambers. Usually revolves around some arcane rules - you know, like if you eat the fairy food you owe them something. Bargains. They say time runs strangely in the Kadabra Chambers. They say you can still find fossils there from any era, and strange machines from the First Technical Society. But my question is, how would anyone know? No one's ever returned from the Kadabra Chambers."

"...time running strangely, huh...well, if anything, I think their victim can handle himself.  Just walking into the Ruins isn't for those without confidence in their ability to fend off the locals, after all.  I also briefly questioned one of the people who jumped us, and their target seemed to be equipped to handle Ghost and Psychic types from what I got out out of him.  Honestly, I'm more concerned for the baby pokemon that were with him..."  Hearing that time might run strangely in those chambers has ironically given Nathan just a liiitle more hope that everything will be okay.  He certainly knows first hand how long time can drag on in strange places...would it be all that surprising if time was running more slowly for Marco Warren after getting driven into those chambers?  It'd certainly explain why he supposedly hadn't gotten out of there by 2017...in any case, though, it's a clue, and a good one at that.  Nathan's going to have to try and get a permit to explore the lower levels of the Ruins in 2017, that's for certain...'

Big gory snake and a lake...hmmm..."What about Chicory Lake?  It's certainly far enough out of the way to hide out there.  None of the major routes even go near it.  And it might be easy to mistake the syllables for what Bobbi heard."  And Nathan knows something these guys don't: the guys who built the Water Scimitar base in Wineberry walked all the way to that town from the Chicory area.  He'd probably bet $1000 that either Thrawn or the Campers were taken there.  Seems like it might be the Water Scimitars main base of operations or something...

"We can send a unit there tomorrow morning. Any other questions? I'm supposed to bring these folks to Nurse Joy ASAP."

[Dragonstrike]

"We can send a unit there tomorrow morning. Any other questions? I'm supposed to bring these folks to Nurse Joy ASAP."

Nathan shakes his head.  "Nope, no more questions I need to ask.  I think I've contributed all that I can, unfortunately.  That, and I need to get back on the road now.  Been delayed long enough.  Time waits for nobody, after all."

Now then, time to hopefully get away from the more public areas before the lurch happens...it'd be hard for anyone to explain why people just vanished in front of their eyes, after all...best avoid causing a scene if at all possible...

Nathan's also kinda interested in seeing what the threads connect to this time...could they connect to Thrawn and his Arcanine?  The campers?  Juni?  Nathan's dad and the baby pokemon? (That could easily be another reason Marco vanished for 3 years if the Kadabra Chambers aren't interfering with the threads due to time displacement or something...)

So many possibilities...so many things he could potentially manipulate...

Oh, and I'd like to discreetly swap Shinx for Grid with the PTC before the lurch happens if at all possible.

[Iron]

You make the swap just in time to feel a LURCH.

There's a thick bundle of threads connecting you to Shiva, Terra, and Spira. You can haul on that to bring yourself closer to them physically.

There's a silvery thread heading toward Lake Chicory! It definitely feels like Thrawn's calm presence.

You don't see any thread that could be the campers, or any of the enchanted Pokemon except Arcanine, who is connected lightly to Shiva.

Nothing for Marco, but Shiva is also connected to the leader of the Baby Pokemon, who seems relatively happy in the foothills of Mt. Sentry.

A few police, including Corporal Furrow and Officer Jenny.

A thread connecting you and Shiva to Dizzy, who is radiating determination.

A thread connecting Shiva to an Egg near the campsite - best not to pull that one!

And finally, yes, there is a connection to Geordie (in jail) and Juni (a few miles from Thrawn's thread).

[Dragonstrike]

Spoiler

You make the swap just in time to feel a LURCH.

There's a thick bundle of threads connecting you to Shiva, Terra, and Spira. You can haul on that to bring yourself closer to them physically.

There's a silvery thread heading toward Lake Chicory! It definitely feels like Thrawn's calm presence.

You don't see any thread that could be the campers, or any of the enchanted Pokemon except Arcanine, who is connected lightly to Shiva.

Nothing for Marco, but Shiva is also connected to the leader of the Baby Pokemon, who seems relatively happy in the foothills of Mt. Sentry.

A few police, including Corporal Furrow and Officer Jenny.

A thread connecting you and Shiva to Dizzy, who is radiating determination.

A thread connecting Shiva to an Egg near the campsite - best not to pull that one!

And finally, yes, there is a connection to Geordie (in jail) and Juni (a few miles from Thrawn's thread).

Good.  Everything's in place now.  Time to pull some strings and do what needs to be done.

But first, some observations.

  - Nathan's not sure why there's an egg connected to Shiva.  Whatever she's doing with it, she never told anyone to Nathan's knowledge.  Yeah, he has a good feeling that he better not pull that thread...but it's mostly because he doesn't want to potentially piss Shiva off...he doesn't like having to tiptoe around her all the time, though, to be honest...for all he knows, he could piss her off by either leaving the egg or not...

...best leave it.  If she knows about it and wanted it to come, she would have told him, right? At least, he thinks she would have...

  - The baby pokemon are an interesting observation.  Or the leader is, anyways.  They're not in the Ruins.  They're closer to Mt. Sentry's slopes than the Ghost infested castle.  And that means...

Marco Warren probably got out, and got all the baby pokemon that had been looking for him to safety as well.  It's a huge relief for Nathan, to be honest...

But then that begs the question: where did he go after that?

And did he know he'd made an enemy of Almanac and the Scimitars?  Had he already done so before he'd even started poking around in the Skull Ruins?

In any case, Nathan sees no reason to tug on that one.  It'd probably just make Buneary worried about the rest of its friends.


  - No campers, but Thrawn's there!  Excellent!  (well, for Thrawn, anyways.  Not so much for the campers...)  And given that the Water Scimitars probably have an underground tunnel system connecting their bases in Wineberry and Lake Chicory in 2017, Nathan thinks it's reasonable to assume that the police didn't manage to find that base and raid it...

...which means Thrawn's in for a bad time if Nathan doesn't tug on that thread.  Arcanine's there, too, so there's no need to worry about separating the two of them for three years, either...

  - Police are there.  Makes sense.  Is there any reason to tug on that thread?

Maybe.  Hmmm...

Nah.  Thrawn's probably enough law enforcement for what Nathan intends to do, right?  Besides, he shouldn't yank on a thread if he doesn't need to.

  - The sheer determination that Nathan's feeling from Dizzy's direction...yeah, that Absol is doing something important now.  And not just that.  This is his chance to infiltrate Almanac and the Scimitars' operations before the labs where they experimented on Ralts and who knows how many other pokemon are fully constructed...

He won't get another chance like this.  And whoever that Hans Smith is...Dizzy seems to trust him.  Hopefully it's not misplaced and he's in good hands...Dizzy would probably get mad at Nathan if he pulled on that thread...

And there's something else, too...Nathan has a feeling that if he DID pull on that thread...hmmm...

Yeah, better leave it.

  - Nathan's expression darkens a little when he sees the threads connected to that random Scimitar and his leader, Juni.  The grunt's in jail.  Good.  He can stay there for all Nathan cares.

Juni, however...

This is why he grabbed Grid.  Just in case he got an opportunity to do this.

He is NOT going to let Juni get away.  She may have escaped from the police force in 2014, but nothing's saying they caught up to her when they investigated Lake Chicory.  Particularly if they didn't find the Water Scimitar base there.

He's tugging on that thread.  

No, he's yanking on it if it won't break the thread.  Nathan has no desire to be gentle with her, even if she can't feel any of this.




Nathan tugs on the threads connecting him and Heart to the rest of the party so that they can all end up back in the middle of Route 13 instead of somewhere around Cress City.  Hopefully.  Then he gets to work on manipulating the other threads.  He'll have to explain this to Detective Thrawn later...but that's fine.  He deserves more than a fair explanation after getting jumped...and who knows?  Maybe The P.I. can help find Marco in 2017 now that there's a lead, however loose...




So, in summary:

Threads Nathan's tugging on: Thrawn, Arcanine, and Juni.

Threads Nathan's NOT tugging on: Egg, Buneary, Dizzy, Grunt Scimitar, and the Police



I do have one question though, @Iron.  Is it possible for Nathan to attempt to Ambush Juni with Grid upon touchdown since she's currently an unassuming target?

[Lord Windos]

(As a follow up to Dragonstrike's Question, can Terra's Meowth Tommy also have a chance to Ambush Juni with Taunt? He never did recall his Pokemon before, during, and after the Police investigation. Right now I imagine he was chilling/enjoying Angie's company, and seeing if everyone else wanted to hang out with them too, while the feline was busy doing its own thing.)

[Iron]

LURCH!

The four party members, Arcanine, Thrawn, and Juni all tip into a pile. Their Pokemon are there too, so it'll take a sec to get sorted out. Since Nathan is controlling the threads and has mega Dex, he lands on his feet and manages to get Juni slightly offset from the rest of the pile where she'll be an easy target. +1 to dice roll on that ambush.

Only Grid is in a good position to ambush Juni, because unlike Nathan, Terra has no way of knowing a Lurch is coming.

You find yourself on the valley that'll eventually become Route 13. Volcanoes loom on the north side, and you see rainforest trees in every other direction. There are signs of human habitation, and even a thin track just south of Route 13's location in 2017. There's a funny little arched cave on the lip of the volcano above you: it opens into the caldera and also onto the sideslope, so you can walk into it.

You're seeing signs of landclearing amid the tropical trees. Teazel Valley in the southwest has started to dry out, and there don't seem to be any trees there at all. You're probably about a thousand years ago.

Almost everywhere you look are tall sentry towers of wood and stone, giving the land the appearance of a giant's chessboard. Right now, you're standing in their blindspot, since no threats normally come from the volcano.


You sense Fire and Rock Pokemon on the volcano, and you'd imagine there'd be Tropius and other Grass or Water types in the rainforest area.

Nathan's PTC stops blinking immediately upon arrival in this time. Now, it's just shining constantly with that adamant light.

[Dragonstrike]

Spoiler

LURCH!

The four party members, Arcanine, Thrawn, and Juni all tip into a pile. Their Pokemon are there too, so it'll take a sec to get sorted out. Since Nathan is controlling the threads and has mega Dex, he lands on his feet and manages to get Juni slightly offset from the rest of the pile where she'll be an easy target. +1 to dice roll on that ambush.

Only Grid is in a good position to ambush Juni, because unlike Nathan, Terra has no way of knowing a Lurch is coming.

You find yourself on the valley that'll eventually become Route 13. Volcanoes loom on the north side, and you see rainforest trees in every other direction. There are signs of human habitation, and even a thin track just south of Route 13's location in 2017. There's a funny little arched cave on the lip of the volcano above you: it opens into the caldera and also onto the sideslope, so you can walk into it.

You're seeing signs of landclearing amid the tropical trees. Teazel Valley in the southwest has started to dry out, and there don't seem to be any trees there at all. You're probably about a thousand years ago.

Almost everywhere you look are tall sentry towers of wood and stone, giving the land the appearance of a giant's chessboard. Right now, you're standing in their blindspot, since no threats normally come from the volcano.


You sense Fire and Rock Pokemon on the volcano, and you'd imagine there'd be Tropius and other Grass or Water types in the rainforest area.

Nathan's PTC stops blinking immediately upon arrival in this time. Now, it's just shining constantly with that adamant light.

Ambush time!  We'll worry about the rest of that later! Nathan has Juni exactly where he wants her, and he's focused mostly on her right now!  "Grid, don't let the blue haired woman get away!"

If a roll for the actual ambush is needed, it's 6* Dex + 3 Survival + 2 Stealth = 11 D6 base

Spider Web!
Acc: 6* Dex + 3 Survival + 2 Stealth = 11 D6 base again!
Eff: All currently active foes (read, Juni) become Blocked until Grid is removed from the battlefield!  No Teleportation for you today, Juni!  You'll have to KO Grid before you can even try!

[Iron]

Spider Web
(6)(3)(4)(3)(5)(1) (5)(2)(5)(5)(5) +1

Juni is entirely shrouded in Grid's webs. She glares at you from beneath a mass of sticky threads and struggles to free her hands enough to cast a spell. You hear a click coming from her belt, too.

Btw, the Rainbow Relic is of course blinking lilac again.

The rest of the party will be ready for battle at the same time Juni is, so feel free to post some actions.