[ACTION | Caverns Expedition Log]

[antiseptic]

Log Deputy: Rei antiseptic and Charles makeitquick
Participating Characters: Jade Curtiss, Imogen Moreno, Flynn, Chris Ramirez, Ezreal, Melaka Fray, William Flemming, Varun "Banzu" Elmas, Eren Jaeger, Armin Arlert, Elhaym van Houten (Elly), Ondorus Univir, Lux Crownguard...possibly more! Feel free to gatecrash the party at any time.
Plot Description: A group of intrepid explorers set out in search of an iron mine. Things probably don't go as expected.
Warnings/Notes: Possible violence?

QUICK LINKS: Pre-exploration mingling | Travel | Arrival at Caverns | Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3

Overview:
At 6AM, the group will be meeting at the city gates, where there'll be some time for mingling and last minute emergencies before they set off.

The group will travel east through the Verdant Forest for around half a day before reaching the Caverns. It will be freezing with a few flurries of snowfall. Try not to get lost! Or disturb hibernating Pokemon, for that matter.

At the Caverns, Jade will split everyone up into three groups. Group 1 will consist of Elly, Eren, Armin, Ondorus, Chris. Group 2 will be Jade, Melaka, Banzu, Flynn. Group 3 is Imogen, Ezreal, Flemming, and Lux. These groups aren't fixed, and characters are free to protest and try move around! Ideally, each group will end up with at least 4 members just for safety's sake.

Aaand after that, the exploration begins! At first there'll be nothing but caves and tunnels, but it shouldn't take very long for that to change...


Misc notes: Feel free to go wild with thread-jacking! The mods recommend not strictly enforcing a post order since things will probably stall that way. Also, if anyone wants a random wild Pokemon bonding encounter going in the mountains during any of this, just respond to the Map post as usual!

If you need to ask any questions, the quickest way to get in touch with me will be through PMs.

Comments

Splinter encounter - for Jade and Melaka. The rest of the group may assist as desired

[bravenewmods]

As the team is moving through the caves they hear something... odd.

It sounds like the cry of some Pokemon, as well as the thudding of small feet on the cave grounds.

[antiseptic]

[Jade comes to a stop immediately, lowering his flashlight so it shines on the ground directly before him for fear of inadvertently alerting the Pokemon they had heard.]

[Barely above a whisper:] I don't suppose anyone has any idea what Pokemon that could be?

[makeitquick]

Aron?

[ But they sound a little harder than that. She frowns too, reaching for a weapon at her waist - in this case a short sword ]

[bravenewmods]

Suddenly, a Sandshrew comes flying by, riding on the back of an Aron running full tilt. They do not appear to notice you.

[makeitquick]

"What."

She wasn't even ready to fight something like that. That was just absurd.

[antiseptic]

[He casts an amused glance at Melaka.]

Well, you were partially correct.

[Now comes the question of how to proceed. Having the guidance of Pokemon would be helpful, but they'll have to attract their attention first.]

[Quickly, he focuses, throwing up an illusion of a solid wall of stone in the Pokemons' path in an attempt to get them to turn back.]

[bravenewmods]

[The Pokemon come screeching to a halt. They then look at Jade reproachfully WHY DID YOU DO THE THING HUMAN!?]

[makeitquick]

You even know what the mouse looking thing is?

[ She has never seen one of those before in her life - and in spite of herself, she's actually very curious. After all, you don't see something riding an aron all the time either. She puts aside her weapon to better just look at them ]

[antiseptic]

[He shrugs helpfully, both at Melaka and the Pokemon. Now that he had the Pokemons' attention, he allows the illusion to fade away.]

My apologies for disturbing you, but we're in need of some guidance. Would you two know where we can find iron?

[He conjures up an image of iron ore just to show what he means. All the while, he's busy trying to think of what he can use to charm the Pokemon to their side.]

[bravenewmods]

[The Pokemon both stare at the image for a bit, then the Aron shuffles forward and attempts to eat it. It looks very betrayed when its teeth go through it.]

[makeitquick]

[ ... Snort. That was almost cute, and she can't help but think that in spite of herself. Melaka crouches to get more level with the both of them ]

So, you're hungry.

[antiseptic]

Or simply gluttonous.

[Jade takes a step closer, half-crouching besides Melaka and making the illusion vanish with a quick thought.]

But, if the two of you are hungry, we have some berries to spare.

[...All Pokemon like berries, don't they? Even the iron-eating ones. He refrains from using more illusions this time, instead reaching down into a pouch and carefully taking out a small handful of berries.]

[bravenewmods]

[Both Pokemon chow down. While doing so, the Aron notices Melaka and trundles over to her, sniffing at her leg]

[makeitquick]

[ Oh. She has just been watching it but-- Oh. She glances down at the Aron. She's never been particularly empathic. So she has to wonder what the thing wants. She's in thicker boots and thicker pants (which limit her flexibility) but whatever. No idea what's interesting there... ]

What, no metal there.

[antiseptic]

[Jade almost casts another illusion of iron at Melaka's direction, but thinks better of it; this is a serious matter after all. He approaches the other Pokemon instead. A new species? Even if they won't help in the search for the mine, he'd still like to take it back to the Union to study.]

[Carefully, he activates his warp band, using a quick illusion to mask the beam of light it fires towards the Sandshrew.]

[bravenewmods]

[The Aron continues to sniff at Melaka, before nuzzling up to her leg and giving her a look that clearly says "food?"

As Jade activates his Warp Band, he gets a strong wave of emotion from the Sandshrew. In unison, he feels his own belly rumble in empathy with the Sandshrew's belly, which is also rumbling]

[makeitquick]

[ ... Food? Is that what it's asking? She doesn't have food. There's no metal on her boots or her person for that matter barring a few buttons and her axand - ... Well, there were berries. She too has rations too. And so with a sigh, she slips a hand into her jacket and pulls out three persim berries. she holds them out, a bit hesitantly, to the small lizard thing.

Fixated on this, she doesn't seen see what Jade's up to

[antiseptic]

[He can't hold back a wince as the hunger suddenly hits him, and pulls out another berry to give to the Sandshrew. He'd rather not use so much in case they encounter more Pokemon, but...]

[He also quickly directs a feeling of inquiry towards the Pokemon: why are you so hungry?]

[bravenewmods]

[The Aron starts snarfing and nuzzles up to Melaka's leg.

Meanwhile, as the Sandshrew eats, it sends back an answer.

"You try finding berries in a giant cave"]

[makeitquick]

... Sheesh. If an Aron's this hungry, there might not be metal here.

[ She says this somewhat bitterly (because it would be bad if this exploration was for nothing) but when he turns back to Jade to get his insights, she sees that his warp band is activated and oh. ... She glances back at the Aron at her leg and then looks at the warp band on her wrist. She's never bonded with any pokemon before. But this one is practically all over her. It's clearly stupid too - it let that rat thing ride on it. She is conflicted a while here, if she should even try to click the warp band active ]

[antiseptic]

[The connection won't hold for long, so he doesn't answer Melaka yet.

I see. He's glad it isn't something more sinister. Perhaps you'd like to move to another place, then? There are lots of berries where I come from.

And he conjures up an illusion of berries. Lots and lots of berries.]

[bravenewmods]

[Sandshrew stares hungrily at the berry illusion. Aron does too, and starts tugging on Melaka's pant leg and pointing at it]

[makeitquick]

That's not real, you know. [ Muttered mostly under her breath, she taps the Aron in the head. One hand goes to nudge at the warp band on her other wrist. And while she intends to just move it around on her wrist to think, she ends up activating it mostly on accident, resulting in it's beam launching in the direction of the Aron, seeing as how she just bopped it ]

[antiseptic]

[If you bond with me, you can have all the berries you like.]

[He spots the beam of light out of the corner of his eye, but trusts Melaka would be able to handle herself.]

[bravenewmods]

[Sandshrew nods enthusiastically, nuzzling up to Jade.

As Melaka opens a link with it, the Aron immediately attunes to her Warp Band. Looks like she's not getting rid of it even if she wanted to.

Sandshrew is level 16, Aron is level 15, the rest of the attributes can be decided as desired]