The Discovery

[bravenewmods]

It has been said that great discoveries are rarely preceded by 'eureka', but rather, 'huh, that's funny'. The Delver who ended up in the rubble of the old buildings off the path into the Iron Mines would later insist that he thought the buildings were important all along. His companions would note that he was holding the map upside down when he had gotten separated from them.

Regardless of how it happened, sifting through the ruins would reveal an entrance - an opening into one of the largest and best preserved buildings ever discovered in the Old City.

...A mausoleum.

Rows after rows of vaults, each assumedly housing a coffin, though no one was terribly interested in cracking them open to verify. It was enormous - it took 30 minutes to walk from one end to the other and half that going by width. Though one of the original entrances was sealed in from the other side by solid rock, the other three opened into tunnels made by Pokémon, leading off to who-knows-where.

The discovery, made immediately after the earthquakes, was kept quiet for a bit before the Council deemed it important enough for an announcement:

Before a full assessment is made, the building should only be entered by experienced Delvers, Enlightened, and Trainers. Any native Pokémon, if they exist, are as of yet unidentified, although preliminary forays have shown signs of inhabitants within the building and connecting tunnels.

Of course... no one really doubted what kind of Pokémon would be discovered in a place like this, did they? As right they shouldn't.

In the middle of the night, they begin to make their presence known, following the human explorers back up to their homes... Some will be rudely awakened by the sounds of crashes and screams in their homes. Others will blearily blink awake and find themselves face-to-face with a disembodied head floating before them. They drift throughout the city, excited to have found a new haunt... It seems for the time being, the people of Union will have to deal with these nuisances - and hope they have strong hearts.

[For the next few days, the following Pokémon will make sporadic appearances in Union: Misdreavus, Drifloon, and Shuppet. They will generally be mischievous rather than aggressive, although you may feel free to NPC aggressive ghosts if you wish. They will become bored and return to their homes before the Contest begins, ICly. The ghosts native to Union may also become excited by their fellows and might stir up a bit of trouble: Duskull, Gastly, Golett, and Litwick. You may comment here to explore the Mausoleum or to initiate ghost scenarios as you wish. You may also make new posts in reaction.

Mods will not be responding to any threads unless a Player Plot of some sort is requested.

The area Mausoleum has been added to the Map/Wild Pokémon post.

Unrelated to these events, due to inconsistencies in mechanics, the abilities of the Caretaker profession are being adapted to the Enlightened Ability Mastery of Training. This announcement will be repeated in our next OoC announcement post, but it is effective beginning immediately.]

Comments

Jinxie Tenma - choose your own adventure

[somnambulatory]

[Action 1]

[Jinxie's used to having ghosts around, but these are ones she doesn't immediately recognize. Which of course means that she's panicking a little. She's got charms plastered all over herself as she makes her way through the city, but they seem to be having the opposite of the effect intended, and the ghosts that have floated up from the mausoleum seem to think it's hilarious to mess her. Nothing harmful, of course - lifting her ponytail and then ducking around the other side when she looks, leading her around corners and into dead ends before disappearing, floating out from behind stuff to scare her... even her Duskull gets in on the fun sometimes, letting other ghosts take his place and waiting to see how long it takes Jinxie to notice.]

[Action 2]

[Later on, once the ghosts have torn off all of Jinxie's protective charms and sufficiently freaked her out, she can be found sleepwalking through the city streets with a small contingent of them following her around. They all seem to be having a grand old time, floating along with Jinxie as she stumbles and shambles her way through the city like a zombie lord commanding an army of ghoulish creatures of the night. Anyone taking the time to listen will hear her whispering about curses and consuming the souls of the living... fun stuff.]

Action 2

[all_onis_are_true]

[What the flaming flippity flying heck.

Once the initial shock and confusion is replaced by the standard uncomfortable feeling he gets around ghost Pokemon, he follows the contingent at a safe distance. Is... she okay?

Takuro follows close by, watching with fewer shivers and more general confusion. Okay then.]

[somnambulatory]

I am Tenma Taro, the demon king... your souls are forfeit, worthless humans...

[Charming, isn't it? The ghosts think this is hilarious.]

[all_onis_are_true]

[...seriously?

Hiroshi follows, trying to figure out how to handle this. If he just woke her up, she'd probably be pretty disoriented, but he can't just let her lead the ghost parade through town either. Hmm.]

[somnambulatory]

[If he looks closely, one of the Duskulls floating along in the parade has a small rectangular piece of paper with an intricate pattern drawn on it. It also happens to be the one floating closest to Jinxie herself.]

[all_onis_are_true]

[Hmm.

He looks down at Takuro. There's an unspoken communication between them: "Hey, you speak Pokemon, ask about that thing."

Takuro nods and lets Hiroshi hoist him on his shoulders before they head over. Takuro taps the Duskull on the shoulder. Hey. Hey. Hey whatcha doing.]

[somnambulatory]

[The Duskull laughs a little, explaining that Jinxie gets like this sometimes when she's worried about something or if she loses her charm.]

[all_onis_are_true]

[Takuro tilts his head. Her charm? Like a four leaf clover or something?]

[somnambulatory]

[No, like this one! It indicates the small strip of paper it's wearing on its forehead.]

[all_onis_are_true]

[Takuro ponders this. So if we get her a strip of paper like that, will she get better?]

[somnambulatory]

[Yup! It's probably lying around somewhere.

...Or you could just give her mine, it's the same kind anyway.]

[all_onis_are_true]

[Takuro scratches his head. Why don't you just give it to her yourself?]

[somnambulatory]

[Because this is funnier!]

[all_onis_are_true]

[Hiroshi starts for a second as Takuro suddenly falls forward on his head. The Axew pushes himself up, eyes rolled. Okay, well, can you give me yours and we'll stick in on her then?]

[somnambulatory]

[I guess so. We've had our fun.

And it hands the charm over.]

[all_onis_are_true]

[Takuro hands the charm to Hiroshi and sort of mimes what to do. Hiroshi stares in disbelief for a moment before somewhat reluctantly sticking the charm on Jinxie's head.]

[somnambulatory]

Cuuuurrrsss-

[And just like that, in mid-groan, Jinxie's eyes roll back to the front of her head as she blinks in confusion.]

...Huh?

[all_onis_are_true]

[...that actually worked.]

Back in the realm of the cognizant?

[somnambulatory]

Oh no... it happened again, didn't it?

[all_onis_are_true]

[Takuro nods, Hiroshi gapes.]

*Again?*

[somnambulatory]

...Uh huh. It happens when I lose my charm.

[all_onis_are_true]

[That must have been the slip of paper Takuro had Hiroshi stick on his head. Some sort of psychosomatic effect...?]

Your friend did not seem in much of a rush to stick it back on you himself.

[somnambulatory]

Dokuro thinks it's funny. He'd never let me get hurt, though.

[all_onis_are_true]

So he'd wake you up if you were about to walk somewhere you shouldn't then?

[somnambulatory]

Uh huh. Like if I was going to fall into one of the entrances to Old City or something.

[all_onis_are_true]

That would certainly be something worth stopping, yes.

[NOBODY should have to go to the Old City without realizing it.]

Have you seen a doctor about this condition?

[somnambulatory]

I don't think it's something doctors can help.

Action 1

[blade_psychic]

Usually Kuwabara tries to avoid ghosts - they creep him out, and sometimes are weirdly drawn to him. But now they're everywhere, so it's not like he had a way to get away from them. What was really strange was when he felt more of them concentrated in one area, with some other kind of spiritual power.

Turning the corner, he saw a small swarm of ghosts teasing and bothering a girl (wait, was that one of the people he talked to on the video... radio whatever?). He ran over, trying to shoo some of them away.

"Hey, miss, are you okay?"

Action 1

[somnambulatory]

[Unfortunately, just that isn't enough to snap Jinxie out of her sleepwalking trance. She continues to shamble and stumble back and forth, groaning and muttering curses under her breath.]

...cuuurse youuuuu...

Sorry for the ancient backtag

[blade_psychic]

[Kuwabara jumps what feels like several feet back, landing on his rear and pointing at the crazy, possessed girl.]

WUUAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGH!!!!!!

[An Espurr, clinging on to his back until now, pops up over his shoulder and pats his cheek reassuringly]

I live for ancient backtags

[somnambulatory]

I will devour your souls... foolish humans...

[still shambling]

[blade_psychic]

AAAAUUUUuuuuuhhhhh

[After a while Kuwabara realizes she's just shambling forward and muttering, and doesn't seem to be attacking, or... trying to steal anyone's soul. He manages to get to his feet, with his knees still shaking and his face twitching nervously.]

H-hey. Hey, you evil spirits, leave her alone! Get out of heeeere!

[With another shout, he runs toward the crowd of ghosts behind her, and starts swinging his fists wildly to try to chase them away. One Gastly is particularly surprised when it gets bopped in the face instead of passing harmlessly through.]

[somnambulatory]

[All of the ghosts scatter save for one - a Duskull with a charm stuck to its forehead, which starts floating in front of Jinxie's face protectively.]

[blade_psychic]

[The Espurr continues to watch from over his shoulder, while Kuwabara plants his feet.]

So you're the ringleader, huh? You better leave that lady alone, and undo whatever possession or mind control or weird thing is going on here!

[somnambulatory]

[The Duskull shakes its head, holding up a hand while it peels off the charm and slaps it onto Jinxie's head. She stops in place, blinks her eyes a few times, and shakes her head before speaking normally.]

H... huh? What happened? Where am I?

[blade_psychic]

You were walking down the street, with a whole bunch of ghosts following you! I think this creepy ghost was trying to possess you or use you to steal people's souls or something!

[He's pointing very angrily at the poor Duskull]

[somnambulatory]

Huh...? You mean Dokuro?

[Jinxie turns to look at the Duskull, tilting her head to the side. In response, it tilts its head to the opposite side. And then they both look back at Kuwabara.]

[blade_psychic]

Yeah, it was totally leading this pack of ghosts and you kept saying things like you were going to curse me or devour my soul!

[wait...]

...you don't still want to devour my soul, right?

[somnambulatory]

Oh... I must have passed out again.

[Jinxie sighs, glancing over to Dokuro.]

It's all right. Dokuro is my friend. He was just teasing me.

[blade_psychic]

You mean you just do that when you're asleep?

[That was hard to believe, but she didn't seem at all surprised]

[somnambulatory]

Only when I lose my charm.

[Pointing to the little slip of paper Dokuro put on her head.]

[blade_psychic]

[Kuwabara glares at Dokuro. It's harder to feel emotions when he's... well, freaked out, but he doesn't feel any malice from the ghost pokemon.]

Well... as long as you weren't in any real danger I guess it's okay.

[And then he remembers why he was upset]

...but you know, you really could have scared some people like that.

[somnambulatory]

[Yup, Dokuro doesn't want to cause Jinxie or Kuwabara any harm. He's just playing around.]

I-I'm sorry...

[She's definitely looking embarrassed and chastised.]

Action 1

[celebrity_commentator]

[There are certain advantages to Rise's Enlightened abilities. One of them is knowing that most ghosts can't bother her, Toyo, or her new friend Kiki...at least with same-type attacks.]

Hey, stop picking on her!

[That's her strong recommendation to the Shuppets currently messing with Jinxie's hair as she passes, anyway.]

[somnambulatory]

Rise!

[Jinxie immediately breaks out in a run toward Rise as she hears the other girl's voice, covering her head with her hands to try to avoid the Shuppets.]

[celebrity_commentator]

[Rise has already called upon her Pidove. The bird looks slightly terrified, but that's normal for a Pidove.]

I don't care about ghosts, but I really can't stand bullies. Kiki, please get them to go away.

[After just a moment of terrified what-the-hell-trainer stare, Kiki sighs a bit and blows the Shuppets off course with some frantic wing-flapping.]

[somnambulatory]

Whew...

[Jinxie lets out a long sigh of relief, bowing her head gratefully.]

Thanks, Rise.

[celebrity_commentator]

It's no problem. Hair-pullers are the worst.

Except hair bubble gum...putting-in people.

[somnambulatory]

Thank goodness they didn't do that.