Dual Pokemon Quest

[Blacksheep]

Escaping the Current: DC 16
Roll: 12
DC dropped by 2

Lee followed along the call. It was wavering, and thin, but he chased it up. Unfortunately the golett, as mixed in with him as it was, followed after the call too, blinding it and keeping him from fully surfacing.

[ ]Keep following the call
[ ]Focus on what Lee can feel
[ ]Fight the golett to pull apart
[ ]Write-in

 

[Space Jawa]

[X] Keep following the call

 

[Tascion]

[X]Write-in
-[X]Tell the story of somebody else's adventure, of two trainers meeting, and their four pokemon battling over who got to eat from a precious berry bush. The two pairs of pokemon squared off, and the two trainers had eyes that flickered in planning.
-[X]As they squared off, the dangerous metapod against a... ditto, and a wickedly powerful... uh, goldeen against a ferocious rattata-
-[X]Oh no! We don't have enough people to tell the story, whatever shall we do? (Wink at Sam, Oliver, and Uri)

 

[Blacksheep]

Escaping the Current: DC 14
Roll: 9
DC dropped by two

Lee continued to pull forwards, even as his soul bled through with the golett's.

Lee has been permanently marked by mingling with the golett. He is more sensitive to ghosts
[ ]Keep following the call
[ ]Focus on what Lee can feel
[ ]Fight the golett to pull apart
[ ]Write-in

 

[Space Jawa]

Despite Lee's initial fears, the distant call had felt like a bright, calming ray of hope.

It was increasingly feeling like a false hope.

He had tried very hard not to loose himself on the Golett he'd unwittingly entangled himself with. Unfortunately, the Golett's seeming inability to let go of him was pushing him to the brink.

[X] Keep following the call
-[X] Try to pull away from the Golett

 

[Blacksheep]

Everyone was excited to start acting out the new story. Sam very stubbornly claimed the role of rattata, as the most acceptable for a fierce dragon like himself to accept. Oliver had immediately claimed being the metapod, complete with flopping over on the ground, while Uri took on the ditto.

The shuppet was so excited for this, and when the shortage of actors came forward they shyly drifted forward holding up a doll. They could play the goldeen. They'd be great at it. Jaden cheerfully welcomed the shuppet in, and they began to play together. Oliver tried a few times to cuddle up to the shuppet. It was sadly only possible once the shuppet realized cuddles were being attempted and made itself solid enough to do so.

A priestess noticed the group over by the toys and walked over to interrupt them, only to notice the shuppet among them. She gave a small smile and left them be.

[ ]Keep playing games with the shuppet
[ ]Pause for stories
[ ]Snacks for everyone
[ ]Talk to the shuppet directly now it's played with everyone
[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

Escaping the Current: DC 12
Roll: 14

Faintly Lee could feel a warm hand on his. The steady beat of a heart called him. He struggled still in the golett's grip. He pulled as hard away from the golett as he could manage, and this time it landed. The golett's aura slipped away from him as if he was climbing out of a pool. He swam up, and up, chasing after the solidity of life and the feel of gritty sand. He opened his eyes to find Kate holding his hand over her heart so he could follow her heartbeat with a concerned expression on her face.

"Lee," Kate breathed. "Are you okay?"

"I went too deep," Lee confessed. And he could still feel the golett he had accidentally gone too deep in coming to see them.

[ ]Prepare to meet the golett in person
[ ]Focus on recovering from diving too far with Lee's team, leave Kate and Jasper in charge for a while
[ ]Try and explain what Lee saw
[ ]Write-in

 

[Space Jawa]

It was with a deep breath of air that Lee returned to the waking world. His breath remained heavy even after his initial answer to Kate's question. He may have escaped the deep, but it felt like some small part of him had been left behind.

"There's...small ones." Lee said between breaths, trying to live up to what he'd said he'd do and give Kate and Jasper an overview of the tower. "Keep the tower...together. It should be..."

He froze up for the briefest moment as he left an unsaid word hang in the air.

...safe​

That's what had nearly left his mouth. Except he couldn't bring himself to say it, not after having nearly lost himself.

"...we shouldn't have to...worry about it...crumbling." Lee continued, finishing the thought with more technically accurate terminology.

"Fossils...somewhere up top." Lee continued. "Somewhere...Vulpix...with eggs. Basement...big ones. Guards. Big door. Hiding something."

Having put out a barely passing list of noteworthy tower contents, Lee turned his focus to trying to recover.

Were that genuinely possible.

[X] Give a basic overview of the tower contents Lee discovered.
-[X] Focus on recovery, let Jasper and Kate take lead for now.
--[X] Try to keep a comfortable distance from any Golett (and Golurks)

 

[Tascion]

[X]Write-in
-[X]Now that Jaden's told some stories, others can tell stories too. Mentally nudge Sam to tell a story, either a real one or a made up one. Then offer to let the others tell a story too. When people run out of stories they want to tell, then break for snacks.

 

[Blacksheep]

Jaden was really on a roll here. He turned to Sam to start the next story, which Sam was more than happy to do with a game of tag. The shuppet was startled by this and hid at first, before getting into the spirit and using a plushie to run around and play with them with. The pokemon had a fantastic time with that, quickly turning Jaden's idea of story telling into a busy mess that Jaden was sure they were only getting away with because no one else was nearby and it was the pokemon who started the game.

Jaden rounded everyone up for snacks and handed out treats for everyone. A charcoal cookie for Sam, nuts for Oliver and Uri to share, and some berries for the shuppet. Jaden of course got chips. The shuppet sat down happily to munch and join in on the snacks with everyone, clearly fully comfortable with the group now.

[ ]Make plans to come back at night to hang out more with the ghost pokemon
[ ]Ask shuppet about what it's like living in the shrine
[ ]Ask if the shuppet wants to come with
[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

"Small ones?" Kate looked to Jasper hoping for some clarification. Unfortunately Jasper didn't have a clue what Lee was talking about either. It was obvious that the guy had exhausted himself peering through the tower and learning what he did. Whatever was in the basement was probably what Team Magma was after, though the fossils held an interest of their own. What it was that cared for the tower and patrolled it as guards was more of a mystery. Lee didn't seem to have a name for them.

Kate set her vulpix to sit on Lee and give him something warm to hold while they talked about what to do further. Their pokemon spread out around the area double checking that everything was clear. The entrance area they were resting in thankfully seemed to be empty of any traffic at the time. It was only a few minutes later that a golett stomped into the area and curiously peered up at them.

"Oh, small one!" Kate gasped in delight and instantly approached the wild golett. "Hello there." The golett blinked at her and let out a soft clicking sound. It scanned over her with its yellow eyes before looking to move further in. Jasper quickly stepped in sending his houndoom forward. "No, our friend needs rest." The golett made a stuttering sound and stopped staring at them.

[ ]Tell them to let the golett in
[ ]Ask them to send the golett away
[ ]Hide from the golett
[ ]Ignore what's happening
[ ]Write-in

 

[Space Jawa]

The Vulpix - Enat, had Kate called it? - was a nice turn after the mess that had happened in the current. It did leave Lee a touch disappointed that he'd be unlikely to acquire a Vulpix of his own anytime soon - he wasn't so cruel as to try to break up the family currently living in the tower and he didn't expect they'd have time to search the desert for others before having to make for civilization to report on Team Magma - but as far as current troubles went right now it was about at the bottom of his list.

[X] Trust Kate and Jasper to take care of it
-[X] Kate seems pretty good at this kind of thing, she should probably be able to figure something out
-[X] Focus on recovering with Enat (?) the Vulpix (and Archer and Crunchbite, of course)
--[X] If Lee absolutely needs to get involved, try to stay limited to giving the Golett a look that makes clear that Lee's not interested in getting any more acquainted with the Golett than they already are.

 

[Tascion]

[X]Ask shuppet about what it's like living in the shrine
-[X]If the shuppet is okay with the questions leading around to where is adventure in the area, pursue that line of questioning. If not, see what the shuppet want to talk about.

 

[Blacksheep]

Jaden asked the shuppet about what it's like living in the shrine. Unfortunately it became very rapidly clear that there was the same problem talking with the shuppet as there was with the absol and the sableyes. The shuppet was very enthusiastic about talking, but Jaden couldn't understand it beyond the fact that the shuppet was happy about it.

Asking about where they could have an adventure had more success. The shuppet immediately lit up and spun around before flying off somewhere. It darted back towards the group frequently so they could follow it easily. Jaden was fast to follow, even as it got colder as they followed the shuppet. Uri hung in the back. The air seemed to get thicker as they went, almost like going into mist, or a cloud, except it was dark. There weren't walls to bump into at least.

Uri stopped suddenly and urgently told Jaden to turn back. The shuppet paused and turned back as if asking why they stopped.

[ ]Ask why Uri wants to turn around
[ ]Listen to Uri and turn around
[ ]Keep following the shuppet
[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

Lee carefully ignored the golett, focusing instead on the softness of the vulpix Etan and petting her. The vulpix was more than happy to play up her cuteness for Lee. Archer was happy too, letting out occasional quiet hoots from his perch on Lee's shoulder. Crunchbite was much more focused on digging a hole in the sand beside Lee, for whatever mysterious reason the trapinch had.

The golett was clacking a lot as it stared between Kate and Jasper and where Lee was sat. Eventually the golett retreated, clearly very reluctant to do so. The pair relaxed and turned back to sit beside Lee. "Alright, let's take a break," Jasper declared. He started preparing some camp food while Kate fussed over the pokemon and just had fun being a goof with them. They stayed relatively quiet in their activities to give Lee space to rest up in. He was clearly exhausted after all of that.

They slept in the Mirage Tower, and woke up the next morning fresh. "So are we gonna head out and leave the desert from here?" Jasper suggested.

[ ]Suggest grabbing fossils to sell
[ ]Suggest checking the basement for what the gang wants
[ ]Agree with leaving
[ ]Write-in

 

[Space Jawa]

It was a wonder what a good nights rest did. While there still lingered a certain uneasiness in the back of his mind, both it and his body felt renewed when he awoke.

It also put him in much better position to give Kate and Jasper a better picture of the situation.

"I don't think we can leave yet." Lee replied to Jasper. "This is far bigger than...well, it's far bigger than what I think any of us expected it to be when we first decided to come here."

"I don't doubt Team Magma is going to keep searching for this place. I'm guessing that they'll probably find it. Eventually. At the very least, we need to see if we can find why they want it before they go, either make sure it's safe where it is or else make sure it's not here when they arrive."

"Also..." Lee said, pausing out of a kind of nervous hesitation. "...this is admittedly going to sound crazy, but when I was searching the tower, and discovered the fossils, well...I think I detected some lingering, leftover spark of life hiding inside. I think it would be a good idea to at least give them a look."

While Lee didn't say as much, part of him also hoped they'd cross paths with the Vulpix in the tower again. Not to catch them, or try to steal their eggs, but rather in a long-shot hope that maybe - just maybe - they might know where other Vulpix could be found that might have interest in joining Lee in his journey.

Maybe they wouldn't, maybe they would but it would be too much of a detour, but it was at least worth a shot.

[X] Suggest physically exploring the tower.
-[X] At minimum, investigate the basement.
--[X] Investigating the Fossils would be good too.
---[X] If we cross paths with the Mirage Tower Vulpix again, see if it's possible to learn from them where other Vulpix that might be receptive to joining Lee could be found.

 

[Tascion]

[X]Ask why Uri wants to turn around
-[X] Check what's up, and why? Adventures are supposed to be a little scary. Sometimes things are too dangerous to explore yet, but right now things don't seem that way. If you're seeing something dangerous, can you explain it? If not, we'll trust you to decide if it's appropriate danger for an adventure or just actually too dangerous.

 

[Blacksheep]

Jaden frowned and asked Uri what was wrong. Adventures tend to be a little scary and tricky. This seemed quite safe at the moment. Just dark and chilly. But maybe Uri was seeing something more?

The shuppet came forward and whirled around, trying to urge them forward.

Death, Uri told Jaden gravely. He saw death.

[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

Jasper let out a slow breath. "You're sure we can handle whatever's down there? It won't end with us running for our lives again?"

"We do that plenty," Kate reminded Jasper. She turned and smiled at Lee. "Yeah, let's check that out. The fossils too."

Jasper gave a fond smile of his own to his girlfriend, and the group set out into the tower. Ancient murals were carved into the walls as they went, depicting a tale of a group of ancient people toiling away, and a great stone golem that worked alongside them. The wealth depicted grew greater as they descended, then changed to battles.

As they walked goletts drifted by, busy looking after the tower.

[ ]Greet the goletts
[ ]Ignore them
[ ]Try to avoid them
[ ]Write-in

In the depths however, were golurks, and they stared forbodingly at the group that approached. A guard pair stepped forward and the sound of heavy stone came through the air, along with a heavy sense of duty. The golurks would know what the group sought below, and why.

[ ]Write-in

 

[Space Jawa]

Traveling into the depths, Lee Hinsu was taken aback by the murals on the wall. It was quickly dawning on him how much more there was to the tower than he'd gleamed from even his short time in the current. He imagined an archeologist having a field day with this place, and had it not been for several unfortunate mitigating factors, he could have easily seen wanting to stay far longer and investigate its mysteries far more in depth himself.

Unfortunately, those several unfortunate mitigating factors did in fact exist, including several that kept passing them by.

[X][Goletts] Try not to pay them any more attention than is necessary to keep a safe distance from them.

Then there were the big ones. Somehow, it hadn't quite dawned on Lee until just now that actually coming down here would require actually confronting larger versions of the things he was currently trying to avoid. It made things especially...awkward, and Lee especially nervous.

[X][Golurk Depths] Let Jasper and Kate take lead.

 

[Tascion]

[X]Death is always around us, Uri. A paleontologist once told me that the fossils she digs up weigh less than the dead remains of once living things unintentionally used in making the building, in the sandstone blocks, some of the concrete, the rubber and plastics from oil, and so on. Being afraid of dead things is not understanding that the world exists because of all the life that came before what is here now. Then I asked if us getting better at building things means that we'll eventually get fast enough to use up all the fossils and then we would start making stuff out of bones and bodies, and she gave me a piece of candy and asked where my parents were. I guess my point is that we know there is death here, even our new friend and guide is proof of that. We shouldn't be afraid just because there's death. We should be ready to be afraid because of what caused that death. And if it turns out that we need to be afraid, Sam will light it on fire and then we'll run away, or maybe we'll fight and win. We're a team though, and just because some of us want to go doesn't mean we're going to. I think we're prepared, but if you're sure we're not ready then we'll turn back now. Are we ready for this adventure, Uri? Also, the same goes for you, Sam and Oliver.

 

[Blacksheep]

Uri listened to Jaden's ramble about death and adventure as patiently as he could before pressing forward again with what was ahead: death. Not something that caused death, not something that was dead. Crossing the boundary would bring them into death.

Sam was fully confident he could fight whatever death was there, assured of himself in the way that young ones who haven't faced true death or pain are. Yes he had lost battles, but death was far away and couldn't touch him. Oliver was more nervous, but he was fully willing to trust the human who had brought him so far and helped him grow. They had done plenty of things Oliver had considered dangerous before, and they had turned out fine, so surely Jaden knew what he was doing.

The shuppet came back and spun around Jaden rapidly, again trying to urge them forward.

[ ]Turn around
[ ]Ask the shuppet if they can explain where they're going
[ ]Write-in

 

[Blacksheep]

Kate stared fearlessly at the golurks. She actually looked really excited about seeing them, and probably would be trying to hug one if Jasper hadn't caught her and trapped her in a hug himself. He glanced at Lee and noticed how he had gone pale. Whatever had gone wrong when Lee had been 'investigating' the Mirage Tower the way he had been had really left him badly shaken. That left Jasper to take charge, something he was not particularly fond of. He let out a sigh.

"Some idiots want to come here and try to take whatever's in the basement. We want to make sure it's safe," Jasper told the golurks.

The golurks took in Jasper's words. Again they responded with a strange sense that wasn't quite words, but overlaid them with a sense of duty. Only the worthy would pass. Only the worthy could open the door. Those who would steal would not pass.

[ ]Ask to check the door just in case
[ ]Turn and head for the fossils
[ ]Turn and leave, that's enough of the goletts and golurks
[ ]Write-in

 

[Space Jawa]

Lee was torn. Part of him wanted to let the matter lie. The other half refused to.

But could they actually depart the tower unless they'd at least tried? Maybe they just needed time to think about it.

[X] Give the room a look over for signs of information to help figure the place out.
-[X] Then go investigate the Fossils, we want to do that anyway; we can come back here after we're done with the Fossils.
--[X] We can use the time going to the Fossils and back to brainstorm the door situation.
---[X] If we cross paths with the Mirage Tower Vulpix again, see if it's possible to learn from them where other Vulpix that might be receptive to joining Lee could be found.

 

[Tascion]

[X]Ask the shuppet if they can explain where they're going
-[X]We can't go on without better understanding what we're getting into by proceeding. We're really into adventure, but not so much actually dying. It's not our thing, and Uri's observation of what lies ahead persuasively suggests that us that going forward isn't safe.
-[X]Maybe we're just being overly cautious, but we trust each other. As much as we liked sharing stories with you, we're still learning about ghost pokemon and the possible dangers.