2024-01-14: Braving the Cavern of Crimson Crystals
- Log: Braving the Cavern of Crimson Crystals
- Cast: Elaine, Violet Salazar, Lan Lilac, Ida Everstead-Rey, Nina Chiyome, Hannah Curie
- Where: Cavern of Crimson Crystals
- Date: January 14, 2024
- Summary: Six Drifters are surprised by what they find in the Caverns.
=======================<* Cavern of Crimson Crystals *>======================= The Cave of Crimson Crystals is located north of Lavender Town, a hike through hilly country that makes it truly remote. Unlike many places on Energy Nede, it is not well-maintained or regulated, and only the bravest Pokemon Trainers try their luck here. The cavern is a twisting maze, with walls made of the famous red crystal -- which is sometimes sharp enough to cut -- and a number of powerful Psychic-type Pokemon calling it home. Among these is the elusive Psynard, a powerful and rare Pokemon that few have caught. BGM: Star Ocean: The Second Story - Endlessly - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEeJYAEMzBQ
DG: A party led by Elaine is now entering Cave of Crimson Crystals. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=========================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals *>=========================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Are You Okay!? *>========================
| Type: Entry | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You enter the Cave of Crimson Crystals, but you aren't alone. A group of
younger Pokemon Trainers -- the oldest is maybe fifteen, the youngest is
twelve -- are rushing out. Save for one very protective Rhyhorn, their
Pokemon are in their Pokeballs. But the oldest has a nasty gash on their
brow and is holding an arm.
"H-Hey!"
"Be careful! There's... there's something wrong with the Pokemon in there!"
"They attacked us!"
They might need some healing -- and you might want to be sure they're safe,
before you move inside of the cave proper.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down! and Tire:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Elaine has posed.
Cave Crimson Crystals is located roughly north of Lavender town, and is a bit of a trip out of the way for most visitors even with the Nedian high speed rail available since the closest stop would be Lavender Town. Meaning its a hike to get out to the cave. This means preparation is important! And Elaine is one to prepare.
Veevee rides atop Elaine's head in her usual throne, letting out a cry of 'Vee!' as she senses the rush of movement coming from the cave they're approaching. No sooner than that warning than several other Pokemon Trainers comes stumbling, running really, out of the cave followed by a rocky looking rhino known as Rhyhorn guarding their flank. Even as the trainers take a moment to catch their breath, the Rhyhorn never drops it guard facing the cave entrance.
"Oh, are you all alright?!" Elaine asks in shock at their condition, getting response of "H-hey! I, umm, now yes?" "Be careful! There's... something wrong with the Pokemon in there!" "They attacked us!". The chorus of answers makes Elaine blink, repearing "Attacked... you? But none of the Pokemon recorded here are that hostile..." she says, trailing off as she looks from the other Trainers to the cave.
With a shake of her head, Elaine focuses on the Trainers saying "First lets take care of any injuries or problems with you all so you can make it back to Lavendar Town safely." as she starts to look them over, making a mental check of what she has in her pack of infinite holding she might have to help.
DG: Elaine has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Are You Okay!?.
<Pose Tracker> Violet Salazar has posed.
Violet hauls her backpack off her back and retrieves her medical supplies. "Come here," she orders the 15-year-old trainer, before she examines their injuries. After a while, she says, relieved, "Nothing too serious...it looks worse than it is! You'll be fine! Go home, all of you, and rest!" Then she pauses and addresses the others. "What else can you tell me about the Pokemon in there?"
DG: Violet Salazar has used her Tool Merc Manual toward her party's challenge, Are You Okay!?. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"Oh no! Is everybody okay?" Lan may not be a born healer, but she did convince Loren to give her first aid lessons and has even invented some things on her own to supplement them. The greatest weapon in her arsenal against injury and morale loss, however, is something much simpler. The power of the Big Sister Aura. "Here, see? It's going to be all right..." She passes a bottle of FRESH WATER around, and offers some of her medical supplies, though Violet seems to have everything pretty well in hand.
She hopes their pet monsters are all right... If they're in the balls, that means they're safe, doesn't it??
If the monsters aren't supposed to be that hostile, what's making them upset? She was going to go in anyway to see the famous red crystals, but now Lan and the others may have a job in front of them that's suited to a team of Drifters! To that end, she starts folding the oracle paper from her hip pocket between her fingertips. The little symbols inside disappear and reappear as she counts under her breath. "...Please give me a sign," the blonde Baskar shaman whispers to any unseen nature spirits that might be feeling really helpful.
DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Paku-Paku toward her party's challenge, Are You Okay!?. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Long hikes are nothing strange, by Ida's standards; it's not often that a notable archaeological site happens to be a five minute walk from a nearby population center. (Guild Galad, her hometown, is a noteworthy exception.) Having heard of nebulous trouble in the Cave, Ida joined Elaine... and brought a friend with her from Ignas. Grey Lady was Ida's second animal companion, not counting the cat she grew up with. She's a dapple-grey mare, sturdy and solid, with a glossy coat and neatly-shoed hooves. She's been living it up at Ida's uncle's family home, with its rolling pastures and gardens and stable.
The Nedians might be confused to see some sort of weird Rapidash that's clearly missing the flaming mane and tail. Is it a Shiny? A weird Regional variant?
But this batch--these kids, stumbling out of the cave injured and scared--have bigger problems.
Lan takes point. Ida dismounts, grips Grey Lady's reins, and leads her up to the group. Her other hand already rummages around for her bottle of Heal Berries, and finds it. "Deep breaths," she says, putting on her best big-sister smile to reinforce Lan. "Lan's right. It's going to be okay." Grey Lady gives the Rhyhorn side-eye. Ida lets her hang back as she offers the brave beast a Heal Berry, hoping its instincts register it as 'food'. "You're brave," she says. "Grey Lady here is going to help you get them back to town. Okay?"
With the Rhyhorn healed and pacified, Grey Lady seems a bit less skittish; she nuzzles the twelve-year-old with her muzzle. "I'm counting on you, girl," Ida says. "Back to town. Wait at the spot for me." Grey Lady doesn't have a Pokemon's engineered intelligence, but she and Ida have a system. Which leaves...
Ida takes out her notepad, and turns to one of the less panicked-looking teens. "Can you tell us more about what happened in there...?"
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool ARMS Meister's Field Kit toward her party's challenge, Are You Okay!?. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Nina Chiyome has posed.
Nina's decided discretion might beneficial. She was kinda out with evidence of a (minor) crime and at a major incident so.. she's stumbled head first into another problem! "Why me?" She mutters, the quilava resting across her shoulders lifting her head and letting out a quiet little, "Quii" in response. "Eh."
She does look a bit embarrssed as she tries to check the kids out, admitting wryly, "I just used up the last of my stuff sorry sorry!" and at least trying to make sure nothing else is coming their way over the kids shoulders. Not that.. she's any older really.
She does have a few more bandages stuck to her. Probably doing something dumb in her free time!
The others though, she accidentally says, "Oh the weird people." Which gets a 'Quill...." from her pokemon. "Aliens. Right."
A hand goes up and she smiles, "Thanks for the help!" Trying to be supportive.
DG: Nina Chiyome has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Are You Okay!?.
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
Hannah is used to long hikes! She basically spent five years of her life on the road, after all, so perhaps she's already had her own version of a Pokemon Journey. She let Zephyr fly on ahead to scout the trail, and he perched at the mouth to the cave while waiting for the others to catch up.
She pauses, after a few moments. "Somethin's wrong. There's somethin' happenin' in the cave." She pushes on ahead, reaching the cave just as the kids stumble out, rushing to the nearest one. "Hey, easy there!"
She pulls out a well-worn book, and quickly flips to the back, where she's added an appendix. (Editor's note: The appendix is a bunch of loose leaf paper jammed between the last page and the back cover.) She's been doing research, and making more notes to expand her trusty field guide, it seems.
"Not that, not that, or that..." she mutters as she checks one of the kids over while cleaning up a wound. A few bandages later and she's done. "There you go. Can y'all make it back to town safely? What exactly happened in there anyhow?"
DG: Hannah Curie has used her Tool Monteblanc's Manual of Mysteries, Mazes, and Monsters, 5th Revised Edition toward her party's challenge, Are You Okay!?. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
=========================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals *>=========================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Are You Okay!? *>========================
| Type: Entry | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You enter the Cave of Crimson Crystals, but you aren't alone. A group of
younger Pokemon Trainers -- the oldest is maybe fifteen, the youngest is
twelve -- are rushing out. Save for one very protective Rhyhorn, their
Pokemon are in their Pokeballs. But the oldest has a nasty gash on their
brow and is holding an arm.
"H-Hey!"
"Be careful! There's... there's something wrong with the Pokemon in there!"
"They attacked us!"
They might need some healing -- and you might want to be sure they're safe,
before you move inside of the cave proper.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, and Tire:_Exhaustion_Up! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
===================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals - Round 1 *>=================== =========================< Results - Are You Okay!? >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elaine 0 --(16)--> 16 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Violet Salazar 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Merc Manual 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ida Everstead-Rey 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass ARMS Meister's Field Kit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hannah Curie 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Monteblanc's Manual of Mysteries, M 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lan Lilac 0 --(8)--> 8 Pass Paku-Paku 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nina Chiyome 0 --(16)--> 16 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Elaine 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Tire(2) Effects: Enlighten(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Elaine has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Elaine has posed.
Between the six of them there, the group of younger trainers is quickly patched up and prepared to make the trek back to Lavender. Fortunately it's still early in the day for them. Unfortunately, Elaine isn't might help in this as the far more experienced adventurers from outside of Nede handle most of the care and treatment being more versed in it. Likely as much a matter of what they've been through as well as first hand experience.
It's after the group is helped that some questions come up. Two very important questions: One of the younger trainers points at Lady Grey and askes "What kind of Pokemon is that? It doesn't look like a Rapidash or a Mudsdale." while one of the older in the group about Elaine's age asks "That's a new type of bird Pokemon right? What's it called? What typing does it have? Where can I catch one?" his eyes almost literal stars at the thought of a new bird type Pokemon.
Elaine bites her lip, also looking at the two creatures brought over from FIlgaia with cursiousity, through she does say "We should try and start in on the cave, it goes deep and if the Pokemon are behaving strangely, we might be here a while."
DG: Lan Lilac has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals *>========================= ====================<* CHALLENGE - Round and Round Again *>===================== | Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information >---------------------------- The Cave of Crimson Crystals is fairly maze-like. There are pathways that curve around and go up and down, with stone bridges sometimes leading over them. The way the crystals shine and reflect tend to make the eyes tired. As you move through, you come around a bend, and come to... the same hallway you were in five minutes ago. Where did you make a wrong turn? And how do you make sure you don't again? ============================= Dungeon Conditions: ============================= | Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, Stupify:_Wits_Down!, and | | Tire:_Exhaustion_Up! | = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Once the young adventurers are set back off towards Lavender Town, they can all devote their full attention to figuring out the mystery of the cave. While something appears to be influencing her oracle paper, Lan isn't able to make much sense out of the answers she's being given. Oh well... that's the downside of relying on such a vague method! But an oracle paper is so much less heavy than a crystal ball, and so much less fiddly than tarot cards. And don't even get her started on ecstatic dance rituals! Those take for-eeeeeeever.
She keeps it in her hand as they all file into the cave, the many branching paths and reflecting crystals proving to be every bit as disorienting of a maze as they could find back on Filagaia or Lunar. "Uh..." Lan frowns at a particular fork in the path. It looks kind of familiar. "We didn't actually already come this way, did we?" she asks everybody, in the manner of someone who really, really wants to be wrong. "Did anybody think to bring some paper or a compass or a really long string...?"
Just because her first attempt at contact resulted in gibberish doesn't mean that the second try won't be the charm; Lan stands at the fork in the path and consults her oracle paper again. "We can't help if we can't find our way there. Can you help me find the way?"
DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Paku-Paku toward her party's challenge, Round and Round Again. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Violet Salazar has posed.
Violet had immediately noticed Grey Lady, and that she was well taken care of. If there's one thing Vi knows, it's horses and their care. She smiles at Ida as she loans the mare to the injured and startled trainers. The horse will be a definite help in getting them back to Lavender City quickly!
She nods when Elaine announces, "We should try and start in on the cave, it goes deep and if the Pokemon are behaving strangely, we might be here a while."
The group proceeds further into the caves, and Vi gasps at the crystals. They're beautiful, gleaming garnet -- and some have edges sharp enough to cut. So far, so good. They squeeze past a narrow passage, only to find themselves in the same cavern they'd been in five minutes ago. How confusing!
"Did anybody think to bring some paper or a compass or a really long string...?" Lan asks.
"I have paper!" she answers, turning to a blank page in her Merc Manual and fishing a pencil out of her backpack and beginning a crude map of the caverns. "But no compass! Anybody got one?" She doesn't have any string, either!
DG: Violet Salazar has used her Tool Merc Manual toward her party's challenge, Round and Round Again. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"Oh, she's not a Pokemon," Ida says, patting Grey Lady on her flank. "The world I'm from doesn't have them. She's a kind of animal called a horse. Her name's Grey Lady, and she'll be seeing you back to town." Ida gives her mount a reassuring rub on the muzzle, and Grey Lady sets off alongside the group of kids.
"This could be bad," says the martial artist, once the kids are out of sight. "It's normal here for kids that young to go off on their own--and while they have Pokemon with them..." A glance back. "Something tells me their Pokemon came off far worse than they did, because of it." A familiar green head pops out of Ida's pack.
"Caterpie," says Catastrophe Sal, antenna twithcing with alertness.
"If we have to fight feral Pokemon," Ida says, turning to Elaine, her tone hinting that she's still not keen on 'Pokemon Battling' as a general concept, "Sal and the sisters and I are counting on you for advice."
But the cave presents another problem. "Ugh," Ida says, after the first squeeze through only sends them back in a full 180. "Time to make marks." What sort of marks? Normally, Ida would use straw or bent twigs, but she has a handful of things she can leave that Pokemon probably won't eat. "Here," she says, carefully scattering a handful of screws--little, clearly Filgaian based on alloy profile, unappetizing--on the trail. "Breadcrumbs."
Nothing should eat them, right?
Ida hasn't encountered Magneton yet. Or any of the weirder Rock-types.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool ARMS Meister's Field Kit toward her party's challenge, Round and Round Again. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Nina Chiyome has posed.
Nina Chiyome is finding that she really really regrets not resupplying her bag of tricks and paints as they explore the caverns. This place is a confusing mess and her eyes are starting to glaze over. Blrg.
That said, she does have other things to focus on. Hannah's given a cheery wave as she hops up and down, "Heeeey" though that was as they entered. The horse is given a more scrutinizing look though. "Your Ponyta's not on fire." She says simply. That's clearly what it is. Just.. shiny. And not on fire. "Where's it from? Ground type?" Or something else maybe? She's not sure. Though it's revealed it's another one of those non-pokemon pokemon! "How do you take it places it doesn't fit then?" Which, you know. Is a useful part of a pokeball!
With the party at a split, she says, "Could.. mark something somehow. I don't have my paint with me or I'd just spraypaint arrows." And other things. Lots of other things. Not like they'd ever find it though!
"Although.. I could get my sneasel to gouge maybe? I think she'd be upset at risking chipping her claws though. Eventually she just points, "We went left last time. I think... maybe." Her vote's the other way clearly.
DG: Nina Chiyome has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Round and Round Again.
=========================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals *>========================= ====================<* CHALLENGE - Round and Round Again *>===================== | Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information >---------------------------- The Cave of Crimson Crystals is fairly maze-like. There are pathways that curve around and go up and down, with stone bridges sometimes leading over them. The way the crystals shine and reflect tend to make the eyes tired. As you move through, you come around a bend, and come to... the same hallway you were in five minutes ago. Where did you make a wrong turn? And how do you make sure you don't again? ============================= Dungeon Conditions: ============================= | Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, Stupify:_Wits_Down!, and | | Tire:_Exhaustion_Up! | = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
The youngsters, perhaps predictably, have a lot of questions about Gray Lady and Zephyr. Zephyr, of course, is happy to be receiving so much attention and puffs up his chest with a happy chirp before taking off his perch and doing a loop and a tight corkscrew dive in the air.
"Well I'm glad y'all are feelin' better," says Hannah with a sigh. "That's Zephyr. And he ain't a pokemon, 'cause he doesn't come from Nede. He comes from Filgaia, where me'n Old Lady over there are also from. He's a red-tailed hawk, and he don't really have any typin' or powers or--"
She pauses.
"Okay, he does, but that's a whole separate thing that don't apply in most cases an' why am I tellin' you all this okay you kids should run along now n' keep safe and we'll figure out the trouble stick to the trail an' I hope you all have a good day!" Hannah starts to rush through that explanation as she realizes exactly what it is she's saying and does a combination of trying to rush the kids along and move to the cave entrance.
Zephyr, however, hangs behind to do some more tricks for the kids.
"Zephyr!" she shouts. "You can impress'em later."
Zephyr huffs at Hannah but flies over to perch on Hannah's shoulder.
It is here that Hannah realizes giving Zephyr commands and having them followed may not be the most convincing thing in the world to the group of kids. Oh well.
She nods as Ida says she'll be counting on Elaine for advice, if it comes to battling. "I got Caterpie and Weedle, but... I ain't been battlin' with 'em a lot."
She gaves Nina a smile and a nod. "Howdy, Nina. How you holdin' up?" Meeting a Hellion is... probably a super intense way to be introduced to Alien weirdness.
The caves are, indeed, twisty, and Hannah catches herself rubbing at her eyes a few times. She brought her book out again--turns out there's plenty of blank paper in the back, which she's using to try and construct a map as they go along. "You doin' any better, Zephyr?"
Zephyr chirps softly.
"Was afraid of that..." No sense sending Zephyr ahead to scout. Not with the caves being as disorienting as they are. "I'm makin' a map," she says to Lan. "Or I'm tryin' to, at least." She looks to Violet. "Normally I'd count on Zephyr's sense of direction instead of a compass, but Energy Nede ain't agreein' with him on that point."
<Pose Tracker> Elaine has posed.
Elaine gives a little sigh, following up on Ida and Hannah's answers with a "Please don't ask to much further? Visit Professor Oak for more." with a little shake of her head.
Elaine shakes her head, saying "No... This cave system shouldn't be so difficult to navigate I heard. At least, no more difficult than Mt. Moon or Diglett Cave. What is going on?" the teen asks noone in particular, to which Veevee response with "Ee ee!" in an encouraging voice. The bright crimson reflections are at least for Veevee entertaining even as they cause everyone else issues.
"Mmm, would you like to lead us Veevee?" Elaine askes her partner, reaching up to the Eevee to pick her up and place her on the ground. "Show us the way! You can do it Veevee." she cheers on her Eevee. It seems a little silly, but Veevee is a very smart Eevee. "At the very least, I have an escape rope talisman if we truly need to leave in a hurry." she offers helpfully.
DG: Elaine has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Round and Round Again. DG: Hannah Curie has used her Tool Monteblanc's Manual of Mysteries, Mazes, and Monsters, 5th Revised Edition toward her party's challenge, Round and Round Again. Enlighten! Party Wits boosted!
=========================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals *>========================= ====================<* CHALLENGE - Round and Round Again *>===================== | Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Wits | Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information >---------------------------- The Cave of Crimson Crystals is fairly maze-like. There are pathways that curve around and go up and down, with stone bridges sometimes leading over them. The way the crystals shine and reflect tend to make the eyes tired. As you move through, you come around a bend, and come to... the same hallway you were in five minutes ago. Where did you make a wrong turn? And how do you make sure you don't again? ============================= Dungeon Conditions: ============================= | Bad_Luck:_All_Stats_Down!, Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, Stupify:_Wits_Down!, and | | Tire:_Exhaustion_Up! | = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
====================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals - Round 2 *>==================== ======================< Results - Round and Round Again >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elaine 16 --(16)--> 32 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Violet Salazar 8 --(8)--> 16 Pass Merc Manual 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida Everstead-Rey 8 --(8)--> 16 Pass ARMS Meister's Field Kit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hannah Curie 8 --(8)--> 16 Pass Monteblanc's Manual of Mysteries, M 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lan Lilac 8 --(8)--> 16 Pass Paku-Paku 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nina Chiyome 16 --(8)--> 24 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Elaine 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(1)|Stupify(2)|Tire(2) Effects: Enlighten(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Elaine has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"They're a lot younger than even we are when we leave the village," Lan notes to Ida. "It's really, really safe here most of the time, from what I've heard." She hasn't had to fight a single monster since arriving! And so far, all the Pokemon that she's met in the wild have only been curious, shy, or playful. "It feels a little unreal, doesn't it? Someplace so calm that even little kids can go wandering!"
One by one, everybody offers ways to mark their path, which is way better than anything Lan brought to the table! Apple, apple, fire, rock... the spirits are still having translation issues, clearly.
They get turned around one more time (it wasn't Veevee's fault!) but between the trail of 'breadcrumbs' and a freshly-drawn map, they make it deeper into the caverns.
DG: Violet Salazar has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals *>========================= ===========================<* CHALLENGE - Lunatone *>=========================== | Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information >---------------------------- You come to a ramp that slopes downward, leading to a lower level in the cave -- and a natural choke point. A Pokemon has taken advantage of that, floating down below: a Pokemon of rock, shaped like a stylized crescent moon, with two pink eyes. It turns to look up at you -- and then the Lunatone vibrates. Several rocks -- in this case, sharp red crystals -- lift off the ground, and then fly straight at you like missiles! ============================= Dungeon Conditions: ============================= | Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, | | Stupify:_Wits_Down!, Tire:_Exhaustion_Up!, and Wound:_Combat_Down! | = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Violet Salazar has posed.
At first Violet thinks Hannah is talking about her when she hears the term "Old Lady." Then she realizes she's talking about the mare. Hannah begins her own map, and Violet lets her. "Will you make the map, then?" she asks. Vi is no cartographer. Then Elaine puts her Eevee down to see if she can lead the way. Who knows? Maybe she can...Pokemon had all kinds of unusual powers.
The party enters the next cavern and snakes across a bridge, only to be ambushed by a Pokemon! This one evidently has the power to levitate crystals -- and it sends some sharp, sharp ones directly at the adventurers! It would be a shame to kill it. But there may be no other choice! If they don't kill or disable it, it will keep sending shards at them!
<Pose Tracker> Elaine has posed.
Elaine follows Veevee who follows everyone else! Veevee successfully leads Elaine through the maze! Berries for rewards are demanded and given. It's while Veevee is getting her just treat that trouble strikes. A Lunatone appears! Elaine's pokedex chimes out "Lunatone, the Meteorite Pokemon. It was discovered at the site of a meteor strike 40 years ago. Its stare can lull its foes to sleep."
"That's not suppose to be here." Elaine says, staring at the Lunatone and then dodging to the side as crystal chunks come flying in. "And it shouldn't be that aggressive!" she yells as she pulls a pokeball off the strap of her pack and tosses it up saying "Kukyu! Use Assurance!" as a very angry white puffball of a monkey takes the field, screeching in angry as it charges right at the Lunatone.
DG: Elaine has used her Tool Multiple Pokeballs toward her party's challenge, Lunatone. Fanfare!
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
Hannah nods to Violet when she asks about the map. "Got it!" She and Zephyr keep talking amongst themselves as they try to navigate, and eventually they make it through... only to be ambushed by a Moon-shaped pokemon.
"Zephyr!"
The red-tailed hawk squawks and takes off into the air to give her a better battlefield view, and Hannah pulls out a crest graph from her pocket. It's blazing a bright blue whispy blue as Hannah rushes to the front of the group. "Don't touch the ice!" she shouts as she slams it down. A tidal wave of ice surges forward, sharp, jagged spires jutting up to intersect the levitated shards.
And ice also surges back up her arm, trapping her in place for a moment. "Oh, consarn it! Someone catch that thing 'fore it sends a second round!"
DG: Hannah Curie has used her Tool Crest Graph Pouch toward her party's challenge, Lunatone.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
The rock is floating.
"Hey, the rock is floating," Lan pipes up, because while this does happen sometimes, it's usually Lan's fault. (She's meteor-themed, it happens.) But the worst part is that apparently it can also make other rocks float, and it's using that power for evil!! Will Lan finally get a taste of her own medicine, as a hail of rocks hurtle towards her?!
She raises a hand towards the ceiling of the cave system, where a starry night sky has appeared. A dozen of them twinkle extra brightly, before falling towards the pokemon and the floating crystals in a rain of tiny space rocks. "Meteorain!"
And if one should happen to bounce off of the poor Pokerock and stun it, well...
Privately, Lan feels a little bad for it already. it's the kind of ugly that's so bad it loops around to being cute.
DG: Lan Lilac has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Lunatone.
=========================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals *>========================= ===========================<* CHALLENGE - Lunatone *>=========================== | Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information >---------------------------- You come to a ramp that slopes downward, leading to a lower level in the cave -- and a natural choke point. A Pokemon has taken advantage of that, floating down below: a Pokemon of rock, shaped like a stylized crescent moon, with two pink eyes. It turns to look up at you -- and then the Lunatone vibrates. Several rocks -- in this case, sharp red crystals -- lift off the ground, and then fly straight at you like missiles! ============================= Dungeon Conditions: ============================= | Hw:_???, Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, | | Fanfare:_All_Stats_Up!, Stupify:_Wits_Down!, Tire:_Exhaustion_Up!, and | | Wound:_Combat_Down! | = Digger 2.0 ==================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"Yes," Ida says to Lan, "but that was before the Ten Wise Men came back." She chews on her lip a little, in worry. "Which means we have to find out what's turned these Pokemon aggressive--before more children get hurt."
Lan notes the floating rock. Catastrophe Sal notes the significance of this. "Caterpie!" she cries, her snake-tongue-like horn sticking straight up in alarm. Ida's head whips to glance at the Lunatone, and she leaps to the side, ducking behind a crystalline pillar as crystal shards embed themselves in the floor. Those could've been in one of them.
"Kukyu, cover your eyes!" Ida shouts, pulling something roughly Pokeball-sized from her belt. She lights the flare grenade, and hucks it at the Lunatone from behind cover. It detonates with a thunderous BOOM and blinding FLASH, but shouldn't do more than stun and disorient the enemy Pokemon. Hopefully. Does a Lunatone have sight and hearing as organic beings know them?
Then, Ida throws something else to Lan: an actual Pokeball. "Wait until it's weakened," she says, "and then throw this at it!"
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Flare Grenade toward her party's challenge, Lunatone. Embolden! Party Combat
boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Violet Salazar has posed.
"Oh, consarn it! Someone catch that thing 'fore it sends a second round!" Hannah shouts, as her ice-spell takes effect. Elaine releases a white fluffy monkey-Pokemon to deal with the Lunatone, while Lan chants "Meteorain!" Lan's counterspell works, and her mini-meteors shatter the crystals flying toward the party! Ida sets off a flare grenade, which is enough to startle the Lunatone for a moment. Vi silently coordinates with Lan, who is aiming a Pokeball, by fishing a Sturdy Slug out of her case and tossing it at the Lunatone, aiming for just behind it. She's hoping to distract it -- maybe if she can break its concentration even more, it won't be able to send any more crystal shards -- long enough to catch it, anyway!
DG: Violet Salazar has used her Tool Sturdy Slug toward her party's challenge, Lunatone. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round!
=========================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals *>========================= ===========================<* CHALLENGE - Lunatone *>=========================== | Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information >---------------------------- You come to a ramp that slopes downward, leading to a lower level in the cave -- and a natural choke point. A Pokemon has taken advantage of that, floating down below: a Pokemon of rock, shaped like a stylized crescent moon, with two pink eyes. It turns to look up at you -- and then the Lunatone vibrates. Several rocks -- in this case, sharp red crystals -- lift off the ground, and then fly straight at you like missiles! ============================= Dungeon Conditions: ============================= | Hw:_???, Embolden:_Combat_Up!, Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, | | Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Fanfare:_All_Stats_Up!, | | Stalwart:_Exhaustion_Down!, Stupify:_Wits_Down!, Tire:_Exhaustion_Up!, and | | Wound:_Combat_Down! | = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Nina Chiyome has posed.
Nina Chiyome pulls out her notebook when they spot that lunatone. She doesn't know what it is offhand. She doesn't have a handy pokedex and caves are notoriously bad for hitting up whatever passes for a search engine, but she knows what it looks like and can look it up later now!
She guesses it's a rock type and a.. ??? because psychic seems obvious, but she knows Mawile and who'd guess that one's typing!
She throws out her sneasel, which gives her something of a funny look, but she replies, "Best I could think of" apologizing in advance. This is really making her re-think her team a bit, at least when she gets to Pewter.
She does however begin to make hand gestures while chanting something before muttering, "Deep Mist" and blowing into her hand. The puff of a cloud rapidly spreads. Seeming to linger around the lunatone to reduce its accuracy. It's not a tournament, cheating's fine. Hmph.
"H-hey I'm not a child and I'll be fine!" Clearly she falls in the right age range and takes some offense to being grouped in even if she's not actually grouped in.
"Hannah you should teach him to say his own name, it'd be a funny way to mess with people." She hurridly changes the subject. She's not a kid and she's not actually a little worried about everything and-
"Wild pokemon" She adds just as quickly to Ida. "Feral sounds meaner somehow." Also you know, she barks out, "Sucker punch" to her Sneasel, which you know, already was on the move and probably had the same idea.
DG: Nina Chiyome has used her Tool Deep Mist toward her party's challenge, Lunatone. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round! Liability! Failure will result in extra Exhaustion!
=========================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals *>========================= ===========================<* CHALLENGE - Lunatone *>=========================== | Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information >---------------------------- You come to a ramp that slopes downward, leading to a lower level in the cave -- and a natural choke point. A Pokemon has taken advantage of that, floating down below: a Pokemon of rock, shaped like a stylized crescent moon, with two pink eyes. It turns to look up at you -- and then the Lunatone vibrates. Several rocks -- in this case, sharp red crystals -- lift off the ground, and then fly straight at you like missiles! ============================= Dungeon Conditions: ============================= | Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, Hw:_???, Embolden:_Combat_Up!, | | Enlighten:_Wits_Up!, Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, | | Fanfare:_All_Stats_Up!, Hw:_???, Stalwart:_Exhaustion_Down!, | | Stupify:_Wits_Down!, Tire:_Exhaustion_Up!, and Wound:_Combat_Down! | = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Ida whips something at her and Lan catches it without thinking. It's one of those little monster capsule things! A Pokeball. She turns it over in her hands thoughtfully. "Oh, great idea! It can't hurt anybody if it's inside this, right?"
That's so smart!
Mist surrounds it, something shiny and metal pings to the ground behind it, and that's after Ida's flashbang goes off right next to the poor weird rock. If she doesn't safely catch it, it might actually get beaten up...! Lan waits for the clearest shot she can hope for, and... tosses the pokeball at it!
The ball bounces off it with a 'pon' sound as the mechanism opens, before hovering in midair and sucking the Lunatone into itself in a flash of light. Click!
=========================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals *>========================= ===========================<* CHALLENGE - Lunatone *>=========================== | Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information >---------------------------- You come to a ramp that slopes downward, leading to a lower level in the cave -- and a natural choke point. A Pokemon has taken advantage of that, floating down below: a Pokemon of rock, shaped like a stylized crescent moon, with two pink eyes. It turns to look up at you -- and then the Lunatone vibrates. Several rocks -- in this case, sharp red crystals -- lift off the ground, and then fly straight at you like missiles! ============================= Dungeon Conditions: ============================= | Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, Embolden:_Combat_Up!, | | Exhaust:_Exhaustion_Up_On_Failure!, Stupify:_Wits_Down!, | | Tire:_Exhaustion_Up!, and Wound:_Combat_Down! | = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
===================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals - Round 3 *>=================== ============================< Results - Lunatone >============================ Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elaine 32 --(0)--> 32 Pass Multiple Pokeballs 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Violet Salazar 16 --(0)--> 16 Pass Sturdy Slug 2 Combat Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ida Everstead-Rey 16 --(0)--> 16 Pass Flare Grenade 2 Combat Effects: Embolden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hannah Curie 16 --(0)--> 16 Pass Crest Graph Pouch 3 Combat Effects: Efficient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lan Lilac 16 --(0)--> 16 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nina Chiyome 24 --(0)--> 24 Pass Deep Mist 2 Combat Effects: Cleanse and Liability ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Elaine 40 --(20)--> 60 Pass Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Stupify(1)|Tire(1)|Wound(2) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Elaine has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Violet Salazar has posed.
Nina releases her Sneasel and calls up a bank of fog. Good idea! If the Lunatone can't see them, it can't hit them with more crystals! Half-blinded by fog, disoriented by Ida's grenade, and distracted by Violet's Sturdy Slug, the Lunatone is easy prey for Lan's Pokeball! It disappears with a satisfying *pop!*; The way is clear!
But eventually Lan will have to deal with an angry Lunatone...
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals *>========================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - Making a Door *>========================= | Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information >---------------------------- As you walk down this path, you round a bend and find a spot where it used to be a Y-shaped intersection. You can spot where one path curves back where you came from... and you think you remember where it would have attached. That leaves the other path, where there is a wall of rubble blocking it. It looks to be a recent cave-in: red crystals and pulverized rock make a debris field from ceiling to floor. You'll need to bust through to get there. ============================= Dungeon Conditions: ============================= | Embolden:_Combat_Up!, Tire:_Exhaustion_Up!, and Weaken:_Brute_Down! | = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida's lips tighten as Nina chastens her. "I know," she protests, "but I've never seen one this aggressive! Elaine said it shouldn't be this aggressive! Is there something in its territory that's causing this, or...?"
The Pokeball captures its target, and then internally reformats itself to replicate a nice, spacious cavern with plenty of room to fly around and a hole in the roof to let artificial moonlight through. Ida breathes a sigh of relief."Congratulations," she says, to Lan.
With the Lunatone safely balled--and, presumably, relieved of whatever was causing its aggression--the team ventures slowly down the ramp, around the jagged crystal shrapnel. At the bottom, the ramp leads to another fork... one branch of which clearly loops around in a circle. The other is blocked. "We're going to have to clear this out," Ida says, donning a pair of work gloves from her pack. She starts shifting the smaller chunks of crystal, trying to clear enough room for the others to deploy equipment. Sal spits String Shot at a chunk of rock almost as big as she is, and then starts to drag, bracing against Ida's back for leverage. She's helping!
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Making a Door.
<Pose Tracker> Violet Salazar has posed.
Ida starts to make a door the hard way. "I have grenades," Violet protests as she rummages around for them in her pack. "They should at least soften the debris up a bit. Everybody stand back!" She tosses several grenades into the middle of the rubble once everyone has retreated to a safe distance. "No reason to take the hardest path!"
DG: Violet Salazar has used her Tool Grenades toward her party's challenge, Making a Door. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round! Liability! Failure will result in extra Exhaustion!
<Pose Tracker> Elaine has posed.
Elaine smiles as Lan catches the Lunatone, and nods. "Well done.". "I'd offer more information on what Lunatone's like and such, but... there isn't a lot known about them. They really did only just start showing up several decades ago." she says to Lan. Meanwhile, the white puffball of a monkey charges up to and stomps around in front of her demanding attention and praise for its hard work. "Yes yes, well done Kukyu. Very good." she tells him. "Through, what was a Lunatone doing here anyways?" she wonders out loud.
Surveying the results of the fight through, she sighs and eyeballs the cave and passages. "Kukyu, use Strong Push on the chunks of crystal too big for us to move please? Get those out of the way." she asks her mankey who lets out a whooping noise and runs off to the biggest of chunks in the way. Kukyu places both hands on the chunk, braces itself and then pushes forward with a grunt. After a second, the entire chunk starts to move it looks!
DG: Elaine has used her Tool HM - Strength toward her party's challenge, Making a Door. Strengthen! Party Brute boosted!
=========================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals *>========================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - Making a Door *>========================= | Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information >---------------------------- As you walk down this path, you round a bend and find a spot where it used to be a Y-shaped intersection. You can spot where one path curves back where you came from... and you think you remember where it would have attached. That leaves the other path, where there is a wall of rubble blocking it. It looks to be a recent cave-in: red crystals and pulverized rock make a debris field from ceiling to floor. You'll need to bust through to get there. ============================= Dungeon Conditions: ============================= | Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, Embolden:_Combat_Up!, Hw:_???, | | Strengthen:_Brute_Up!, Tire:_Exhaustion_Up!, and Weaken:_Brute_Down! | = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
Hannah mutters to herself as she tries to pull her arm free of the ice, then sighs. "... Y'all go on ahead. I'll catch up. Zephyr'll go with you." But she does spare a moment to smile (a bit awkwardly) at Lan. "Congrats on catchin' a pokemon. Was that your first one?"
Still, for anybody who insists on hanging back (or happens to glance back when Hannah's not looking), Hannah solves her predicament... by breathing fire onto her arm. And it's an awful lot of fire, too, splashing outwards into the cave walls, so it even covers her feet and legs.
She seems completely fine afterwards, though.
Hannah has no problem catching up to the rest of the group--somehow--and hangs back when grenades and other force are used, then goes to help Ida with clearing things out by hand. She's pretty quiet and a bit moody after that magical mishap.
DG: Hannah Curie has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Making a Door.
<Pose Tracker> Nina Chiyome has posed.
Nina Chiyome gives a cheerful thumbs up when the pokemon is captured. She uh, also tried to play a sound on her phone as something of a gag. Probably from a show she watched as a kid, but the sound that comes out was something completely different and she stops to look at her phone with a pout-y look. "Hey that's not what I clicked on." While muttering and fiddling before giving up. "Fine. Well congratulations!" She only sounds a little disappointed that she wasn't able to play the sound.
She looks to Elaine, "Thank you!" when she states the name. Scribbling it in her little notebook. One of these days! (She totally left without grabbing one if they were available. Oops.)
Hannah being stuck in ice is given a look. Then she nudges the Quilava at her shoulders, "Go help her out Poppy." Before crouching down so the explosive bager can you know, thaw the girl out!
As for clearing rubble? She looks at her hands and states flatly, "I just did my nails too." holding them to show off all the paint. She's clearly joking. There's another series of gestures with quiet chanting followed by a simple, "Power up!" and then she claps her hands and gets.. a non-flashy buff. What? She's a ninja. She does start dragging the rocks out of the way, focusing on the bigger ones while the power up lasts!
DG: Nina Chiyome has used her Tool Power Up toward her party's challenge, Making a Door.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"Yes!" Lan cheers. They're safe now, and the floating rock can calm down for a little while inside floating rock jail. Then she can let it go once they've fixed everything!
Lan still has cold feet about the idea of having to permanently care for another living creature, which is hilarious when you realize that she has kept an entire Loren Voss alive for weeks at a time.
"Thanks, Ida! That was such a smart idea. Maybe we can do that to everything here that's mad." She holds the Pokeball in both hands like it's something dangerous or delicate and follows the others deeper. "Lunatone... like Lunata!" she hums cheerfully. "I wonder if they'd get along? Are they really that mysterious?" Elaine seems to think that they're not well-known. Oh no, what if they're hard to take care of?! "Oh, uh, yeah, it's my first time catching one. I didn't want to drag any of them around with me since I don't ever stay in one place, you know? Don't you need a yard to have a lot of pets?" Oh no, if she tries to set it free are they going to be upset with her?!
It's a lot easier to focus on the blocked tunnel ahead. "Heads up, coming through!" That stance, that raised hand... is she going to call down another meteor shower?
Lan's hand swoops down from the heavens to point right at the blockage. "O you of long distance, O you of yearning!"
People may want to scramble out of the way; in her enthusiasm, Lan has summoned Rigdobrite. She will be extremely apologetic about it.
DG: Lan Lilac has used her Tool Surprise Meteor toward her party's challenge, Making a Door. Strengthen! Party Brute boosted!
=========================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals *>========================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - Making a Door *>========================= | Type: Exploration | Dungeon Ability: Brute | Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information >---------------------------- As you walk down this path, you round a bend and find a spot where it used to be a Y-shaped intersection. You can spot where one path curves back where you came from... and you think you remember where it would have attached. That leaves the other path, where there is a wall of rubble blocking it. It looks to be a recent cave-in: red crystals and pulverized rock make a debris field from ceiling to floor. You'll need to bust through to get there. ============================= Dungeon Conditions: ============================= | Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, Strengthen:_Brute_Up!, Tire:_Exhaustion_Up!, | | and Weaken:_Brute_Down! | = Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
===================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals - Round 4 *>=================== =========================< Results - Making a Door >========================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elaine 32 --(5)--> 37 Pass HM - Strength 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Violet Salazar 16 --(5)--> 21 Pass Grenades 2 Brute Effects: Cleanse and Liability ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ida Everstead-Rey 16 --(23)--> 39 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hannah Curie 16 --(23)--> 39 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lan Lilac 16 --(5)--> 21 Pass Surprise Meteor 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nina Chiyome 24 --(5)--> 29 Pass Power Up 3 Brute Effects: Efficient ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Elaine 60 --(20)--> 80 Pass Conditions: Tire(2)|Weaken(2) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Elaine has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
The problem with a lot of these crystals--as demonstrated by Lunatone earlier--is that when they break, they get sharp. Real sharp. Sal manages to haul her chunk of rock out of the way, but Ida ends up handling a piece that's not as stable as it looked at first glance. With a high-pitched crunch, part of it shatters. Shards slice into her gloves, and the biggest chunk lands on her foot. Ida bites back a curse, drops what's left of the rock, and flexes her foot, grimacing. Thank Granas for steel-toes.
Hannah, likewise, has a bit of trouble finding a fragment that won't do that thing Ida's just did. She clears out some of the smaller bits, making an avenue for the Power Up-buffed Kukyu to SMASH through. (Kukyu would probably do it anyway. Mankeys, man.) If there was anything left to cause trouble, the twin impacts of Violet's grenades and Lan's meteors see to it. The way is clear.
DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has drawn a new Challenge.
=========================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals *>=========================
================<* CHALLENGE - Paradox Pokemon - Scream Tail *>=================
| Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You come to the room deepest inside of the Cave of Crimson Crystals. It is a
large, roughly circular room -- and there is a nest of straw, with some
fabric, in the corner. A metal sensor is built into the wall. This is where
wild Psynards make their home...
...but they're not visible right now.
They have, in all likelihood, hidden. But why would they hide from a
Jigglypuff? A small, round pink Pokemon sits alone in the center of the
Psynard nest. It turns, slowly; red-tinted shadows play across its face...
...revealing a long, red-tinted lock of hair...
...and large fangs...
...and golden eyes.
https://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/f/f5/0985Scream_Tail.png
It is not a Jigglypuff. It opens its mouth and /SCREAMS/, powerful psychic
force /slamming/ you backward, and then launches at you. And before it can
be struck down -- or strike you down -- it vanishes in a burst of golden
light.
What was that...?
OOC: Note that you cannot capture the Scream Tail.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, Strengthen:_Brute_Up!, |
| Suffer:_Exhaustion_Up!, Weaken:_Brute_Down!, and Wound:_Combat_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
As the official field assistant of Professor Oak, Elaine has... almost certainly heard of the Cave of Crimson Crystals' importance as a habitat for rare and endangered Pokemon. The most famous, of course, are the Psynards, which use it as a nesting site--they brood their eggs deep within the cave. If the rest of the Pokemon here are unusually aggressive, what's happened to the Psynards...?
Beyond the rockfall lies a stretch of cave gouged with talon-marks left by generations upon generations of Psynards. It widens, eventually ending in a large, circular room pockmarked by depressions in the dusty floor. Many of them have been built up with rocks and crystalline shards. From this angle, it's impossible to tell if any of them are being used at the moment. But one thing's sure: there's no adult Psynards here.
Only a spherical pink Pokemon, seemingly minding its own business.
Eleanor's Pokedex speaks up, but there's something... off, about its modulated voice. "J--Jigglypuff. The. Balloon. Poke-Poke-Pooooookhhhhrke-mon."
The Pokedex is a highly sophisticated scientific instrument, built to collect biometric data from Pokemon in the field in real time. It's an essential tool for monitoring populations of Pokemon, especially endangered ones, like Psynards. Jigglypuff is the best-fit for what it's picking up, but it's wrong. It's WRONG.
Ida is already palming a second flare grenade as she stares at the creature, her whole body tight with tension. Sal sways back and forth on her shoulder, mimicking the snake she resembles.
"Wh--" "eyyyyyyyes wave-wave-wave-waver, it sings it sings it sings--" BEEEP. ERROR.
The thing turns, slowly, the light from the ever-present Crimson Crystals casting its angry, golden eyes--and its enormous fangs--in a bloody glow. It takes a breath, inflating slightly in a way that WOULD be comical if not for the ear-piercing, mind-shredding SHRIEK it lets loose with, moments later.
Ida doesn't even have time to swear. She flies off her feet, and barely manages to turn her careening flight path into an awkward roll across the cave--rather than a one-way ticket to a cluster of extremely sharp crystal projections. Sal flies free of her shoulder. Ida sways to her knees, her ears ringing, the world spinning. Disoriented, she doesn't notice the two Pokeballs at her feet snapping open.
One burst of light resolves into Marigold, a smallish Eevee; she nuzzles aggressively against Ida's legs, and the world starts to resolve. The other, larger Eevee--Mademoiselle Aurora--takes form between Marigold and the Scream Tail, every strand of fur on her upright in a bristling, intimidating GROWL. Sal comes to her senses a moment later, and glances down at...
Ida's flare grenade.
Catastrophe Sal used String Shot!
Sal affixes the grenade to one long thread, and flicks her head, using the string line like a whip. The grenade sticks to the Scream Tail's head.
"Pi! Caterpie!" she shouts, as Marigold nuzzles into Ida's arms, clearing away the psychic interference.
<Pose Tracker> Violet Salazar has posed.
As the psychic blast hits, Violet throws up her arms to protect her face and SHRIEKS as the Scream Tail leaps towards her. She doesn't see it disappear, and eventually takes her arms away, puzzled. She hears Elaine's Pokedex start to give a reading and fizzle out. She doesn't have time to react to Ida's rolling across the floor and Pokeballs opening. "What was THAT? Did anyone catch it?"
DG: Violet Salazar has used her Tool Sturdy Slug toward her party's challenge, Paradox Pokemon - Scream Tail. Stalwart! Party shielded from some Exhaustion this round!
=========================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals *>=========================
================<* CHALLENGE - Paradox Pokemon - Scream Tail *>=================
| Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You come to the room deepest inside of the Cave of Crimson Crystals. It is a
large, roughly circular room -- and there is a nest of straw, with some
fabric, in the corner. A metal sensor is built into the wall. This is where
wild Psynards make their home...
...but they're not visible right now.
They have, in all likelihood, hidden. But why would they hide from a
Jigglypuff? A small, round pink Pokemon sits alone in the center of the
Psynard next. It turns, slowly; red-tinted shadows play across its face...
...revealing a long, red-tinted lock of hair...
...and large fangs...
...and golden eyes.
https://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/f/f5/0985Scream_Tail.png
It is not a Jigglypuff. It opens its mouth and /SCREAMS/, powerful psychic
force /slamming/ you backward, and then launches at you. And before it can
be struck down -- or strike you down -- it vanishes in a burst of golden
light.
What was that...?
OOC: Note that you cannot capture the Scream Tail.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, Stalwart:_Exhaustion_Down!, |
| Strengthen:_Brute_Up!, Suffer:_Exhaustion_Up!, Weaken:_Brute_Down!, and |
| Wound:_Combat_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Elaine has posed.
Elaine blinks as her Pokedex begins to bug out. "What?" she askes, turning her attention away from Veevee and Kukyu who have already gone on guard against the Pokemon ahead as their trainer messes with her device. By the time the Pokemon shrieks, Elaine's well distracted and caught off guard! Kukyu and Veevee are not through. Brace through the scream, both race foward after moving to attack as Elaine finally gets a grasp on the situation.
"Right. Pokedex later." she says stowing the device away and examining the Pokemon. "It looks kinda like a Jigglypuff, but that coloration is most certainly probably a Fairy type also. Steel and Poison mobes should be super effective." she calls out, even as she pulls out a THIRD Pokemon! "Aisu! Use Steel Claw!" she calls out, a blue icy Sandshrew appearing curled up as if it had been sleeping moments ago before called out. It even yawns as it stands up before racing to join the other two, blue claws flashing a silvery color as it slashes at the Jigglypuff like Pokemon.
DG: Elaine has used her Tool Multiple Pokeballs toward her party's challenge, Paradox Pokemon - Scream Tail. Fanfare! DG: Ida Everstead-Rey has used her Tool Flare Grenade toward her party's challenge, Paradox Pokemon - Scream Tail. Embolden! Party Combat boosted!
<Pose Tracker> Nina Chiyome has posed.
Nina Chiyome grins as she shows off by you know, proving she's not a kid by moving big things and not hurting herself. There's some degree of pride there that she can't really get past that will eventually get tempered out. maybe.
She spots the.. funny looking Jigglypuff and the associated glitchy mess of a pokedex has her hesitating. She'd been about halfway to throwing out her Mawile when the scream causes her to stumbl and cover her ears. The ball is hurriedly thrown and she yells out (Louder than intended) "Go Mari!" With the idea of trying to at least keep it from screaming again. The Mawile looks around, ready for a fight. Nina already halfway through casting Deep Mist again when the Screampuff just up and books it.
The mist chases after it at least! As does the Mawile once the shock of the thing just running off to at least get a bite of it. Because marshmallow. (Also you know, rare and capturable!)
DG: Nina Chiyome has used her Tool Deep Mist toward her party's challenge, Paradox Pokemon - Scream Tail. Cleanse! All negative effects will be cleared at the end of the round! Liability! Failure will result in extra Exhaustion!
=========================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals *>=========================
================<* CHALLENGE - Paradox Pokemon - Scream Tail *>=================
| Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You come to the room deepest inside of the Cave of Crimson Crystals. It is a
large, roughly circular room -- and there is a nest of straw, with some
fabric, in the corner. A metal sensor is built into the wall. This is where
wild Psynards make their home...
...but they're not visible right now.
They have, in all likelihood, hidden. But why would they hide from a
Jigglypuff? A small, round pink Pokemon sits alone in the center of the
Psynard next. It turns, slowly; red-tinted shadows play across its face...
...revealing a long, red-tinted lock of hair...
...and large fangs...
...and golden eyes.
https://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/f/f5/0985Scream_Tail.png
It is not a Jigglypuff. It opens its mouth and /SCREAMS/, powerful psychic
force /slamming/ you backward, and then launches at you. And before it can
be struck down -- or strike you down -- it vanishes in a burst of golden
light.
What was that...?
OOC: Note that you cannot capture the Scream Tail.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, Embolden:_Combat_Up!, |
| Fanfare:_All_Stats_Up!, Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, Hw:_???, |
| Stalwart:_Exhaustion_Down!, Strengthen:_Brute_Up!, Suffer:_Exhaustion_Up!, |
| Weaken:_Brute_Down!, and Wound:_Combat_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
And at the bottom of the cave, they find... "It's pink," Lan says, because yes thank you Lan that is very helpful. Is this another Pokemon that's been driven to rage by whatever's wrong in this place? An electronic voice pipes up from Elaine's Pokedex, and Lan can't help but jump a little. It's creepy! it's SUPER creepy!! "Is, is it br--"
It feels like every hair on her body is standing up, she feels frozen in place as that thing slowly turns around to stare at them. Bright golden predator's eyes, fangs almost certainly dripping with gore!*; It inhales; Lan gasps a single breath--
The scream knocks her off of her feet.
Instinct takes over. Lan's body twists in midair, the hand still holding Lunatone's Pokeball brought close to her chest to protect it, the other thrown out for balance, and both soles skidding across the cave floor as Lan works desperately to not go tumbling ass over teakettle. She slides to a halt bent low to the ground, and as the demon creature rushes towards them she goes down to a three-point crouch, twisting at the hips to strike out with a heel in an awkward but forceful low kick.
She may also shriek a little bit in fright, Lan isn't paying attention.
*It was just normal drool
DG: Lan Lilac has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Paradox Pokemon - Scream Tail.
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
The Psynard's den should be--should!--perfect grounds for Zephyr to fly around in. Psynards are known for their flight, after all, and they're not likely to pick a cramped environemtn where they can't express that natural ability of theirs.
But Zephyr isn't zooming ahead, having stopped and retreated to Hannah's shoulder before the party reached it. He lets out a distressed squawk, and Hannah nods. "I know. Don't much like it myself."
It's a room that should be full of creatures and yet isn't, despite all the evidence of nesting and generatins leaving their mark.
The hairs on the back of Hannah's neck stand up as Elaine's pokedex starts to glitch out. She glances at it. "Is that supposed to do that...?"
And then the creature turns. Hannah and Zephyr both startle: Hannah takes a half-step back, and Zephyr takes to the sky. "Stay back," she shouts. She is, by all admission, a sorceress, and yet she is actually charging forward to protect the rest of her group.
Or maybe it's to keep them out of the range of her magic.
Scream Tail has other plans though, it seems, unleashing a Psychic wail that blows her back like a wall of force. She isn't ready for it, hasn't had a chance to ground herself or take a stance, and she goes tumbling with a pained grunt.
There is a pained screech from overhead, as is knocked out of the sky.
The sorceress strains as she pushes herself up, diving forward to catch Zephyr at the last minute, tucking into a roll while clutching the hawk to her chest. She's still panting hard from that psychic blast, eyes squeezed shut as she tries to block out the extra sensory stimuli.
"I gotcha buddy!" Did she do that blind?!
Like Ida, Hannah's pokeballs have also shaken loose: in this case, a Caterpie and a Weedle both emerge into this terrifying situation.
"Caterpie!" "Weedle!"
"Try to slow it down!" she shouts, as she pulls out her Winter's Grasp crest graph again. Caterpie tries to use a String Shot to slow it down, Weedle is frantically firing off Poison Stings whenever it can get a shot, and Hannah...
Is taking a deep breath, trying to steady and calm her nerves before she cracks her eyes open.
The surge of ice that rushes for Scream Tail is no less sharp, and creul and deadly, but for this moment it is focused directly on the Pokemon--and her arm remains free for a second attempt, if needed.
DG: Hannah Curie has used her Tool Crest Graph Pouch toward her party's challenge, Paradox Pokemon - Scream Tail.
=========================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals *>=========================
================<* CHALLENGE - Paradox Pokemon - Scream Tail *>=================
| Type: Final | Dungeon Ability: Combat | Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
You come to the room deepest inside of the Cave of Crimson Crystals. It is a
large, roughly circular room -- and there is a nest of straw, with some
fabric, in the corner. A metal sensor is built into the wall. This is where
wild Psynards make their home...
...but they're not visible right now.
They have, in all likelihood, hidden. But why would they hide from a
Jigglypuff? A small, round pink Pokemon sits alone in the center of the
Psynard next. It turns, slowly; red-tinted shadows play across its face...
...revealing a long, red-tinted lock of hair...
...and large fangs...
...and golden eyes.
https://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/f/f5/0985Scream_Tail.png
It is not a Jigglypuff. It opens its mouth and /SCREAMS/, powerful psychic
force /slamming/ you backward, and then launches at you. And before it can
be struck down -- or strike you down -- it vanishes in a burst of golden
light.
What was that...?
OOC: Note that you cannot capture the Scream Tail.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, Embolden:_Combat_Up!, |
| Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, Suffer:_Exhaustion_Up!, |
| Weaken:_Brute_Down!, and Wound:_Combat_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
===================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals - Round 5 *>=================== =================< Results - Paradox Pokemon - Scream Tail >================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elaine 37 --(0)--> 37 Pass Multiple Pokeballs 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Violet Salazar 21 --(0)--> 21 Pass Sturdy Slug 2 Combat Effects: Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ida Everstead-Rey 39 --(0)--> 39 Pass Flare Grenade 2 Combat Effects: Embolden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hannah Curie 39 --(0)--> 39 Pass Crest Graph Pouch 3 Combat Effects: Efficient ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lan Lilac 21 --(0)--> 21 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nina Chiyome 29 --(0)--> 29 Pass Deep Mist 2 Combat Effects: Cleanse and Liability ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Elaine 80 --(35)--> 115 Pass Conditions: Fright(2)|Suffer(1)|Weaken(1)|Wound(2) Effects: Cleanse|Embolden(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Elaine has successfully explored Cave of Crimson Crystals!
=========================<* Cave of Crimson Crystals *>=========================
==========================<* CHALLENGE - Meteorite *>===========================
| Type: Discovery | Dungeon Ability: Conclusion | Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information >----------------------------
The inside of the Psynard nest is currently empty. As it happens, this isn't
an entirely natural place. You didn't have time to properly appreciate that,
but there are several cameras and other sensors mounted in the walls to
monitor the nest. Clearly, Nedian authorities are carefully monitoring this
endangered species' survival.
The Psynards appear to be out at the moment.
In the corner, you catch something that glimmers -- with a strange, silvery
and gold light. It's metal from a meteorite, which must have fallen here
ages ago. It looks like the sort of thing that could make some very powerful
equipment.
============================= Dungeon Conditions: =============================
| Cleanse:_All_Effects_Removed!, Embolden:_Combat_Up!, |
| Fright:_Combat_Down!_Agility_Up!, Suffer:_Exhaustion_Up!, |
| Treasure:_Exploration_Up!, Weaken:_Brute_Down!, and Wound:_Combat_Down! |
= Digger 2.0 ===================================================================
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"Aurora!" Ida shouts, to the brave Eevee standing between her and the Scream Tail. Aurora's back is arched; her fur is puffed out, her ears twitch, her teeth are fully bared. There's nowhere they can run that the Paradox Pokemon can't chase them. The best play, in the Eevee's eyes, is to hamstring its offense before it can do that again.
It works. The Scream Tail hesitates a moment--and that's long enough for Elaine, Nina, and Hannah to deploy (however accidentally, in Hannah's case) their own Pokemon. Aurora suddenly has backup; Aisu charges in and lands a Steel Claw, swatting the Scream Tail away like a Blitzball. Violet's slug clips the flashbang Sal glued to the Scream Tail's upper body, and a thunderous BOOM erupts as the tiny gunpowder charge inside goes off. The Scream Tail flies through the air, towards Elaine. For a moment, it looks like it's about to Faint; its eyelids droop as it races at her head--
WAIT NO IT'S USING REST, SHIT
Lan straight-up KICKS it before it can smash into Elaine's face. Foiled, the Scream Tail ricochets away, puffing up in consternation and letting loose with another SHRIEK, this one less devastating than before. Hannah's Caterpie snags it in mid-flight as it caroms off a few crystalline stalactites, offering Weedle the perfect setup for Poison Sting. Ice encases part of it a moment later, its flesh... stretching oddly, rather than shredding.
Ida comes at it next, having collected her wits; Aurora and Marigold are right behind her, each primed for a Take Down alongside their Trainer's fist. There's a TRIPLE IMPACT...
And the Scream Tail goes sailing right into the jaws of Nina's Mawile. The mist sweeps in. Mawile is visible in silhouette, jaws working, an oddly-elastic noise accompanying each crunch. It's like trying to chew Silly Putty. It is nevertheless Super Effective.
And then, a flash of bright gold Symbols washes through the cave, and the Scream Tail is gone. (Alas, poor Mari gets no snack, but she definitely deserves a Berry for her efforts. Probably a few Poffins.)
"...Is everyone all right?" Ida says, her face pale.
The good news: this part of the cave is completely empty. There's no sign of Psynards, dead or alive, meaning it's probably just unoccupied by any brooding pairs. The other good news: the slab of meteoric iron and exotic metals embedded in the wall.