bravenewworld | Descent

Entry tags:

Descent

Iron Mines:
The trip to the eastern mountains is punctuated by the continuing aftershocks. After each one, it may be tempting to glance back at Union to see if any of the towers have fallen yet. The expedition parties move with incredible speed, knowing that the fate of their City hangs on the line.

When they reach the mountains, guided by the coordinates given of the 'strange radio signal', the parties will find that many of the normal entrances and routes have been blocked by cave-ins. In contrast, however, a gaping hole has opened up where none existed before. As this seems to be the easiest way to gain access, the parties slowly lower themselves in...

They will find themselves in the long-sought iron mines.

But there are so many twisting turns and tunnels, it will be impossible to stay together and make any sort of progress. Each group will have to take their own paths from here...

Old City:
Each of the twelve entrances down into the Old City take a different meandering route through the ruins. Though several are blocked off by this time, there are still many potential paths to take. The state of the Old City is poor, being underground as it is, and occasional soft rumblings are certain to cause unease. As the report states, however, there is enough of an interval between quakes that it should be possible to investigate safely.

It would be unwise to venture down alone, but it is impossible, too, for everyone to stay together if they wish to make headway.

Union:
The wild Pokémon continue to come out of the Old City, though the frequency has been somewhat lessened. Rubble lines the streets and though no towers have collapsed as of yet, some seem to be dangerously close and certainly nobody should be staying inside of them. As stated, the towers in Sector 3 are the worse off and construction crews work frantically to attempt to restabilize the foundations of these buildings.

The injured are innumerable, the number of casualties is as of yet unknown, and the chaos and panic is difficult to fend off.

There is a great deal of work to be done.

((Please post below with your groups - in the first comment, please note the members of your group, where you are, and whether or not you intend to keep a threading order. Regardless of threading order, mods will be responding at least once every 24 hours to keep the event moving. Groups should be three to four people in size.

At this time, all characters entering the iron mines will be able to choose to bond with a free extra Pokemon listed under 'Cavern' in the Map and Wild Pokemon post. Please respond there if you intend to make use of this. Characters who have already claimed a free Old City Pokemon may not do so.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Hearing their comments isn't a good sign. It's not only them, but Edan is feeling restless and anger, like there is a weight forcing on his wings and he doesn't like it. Another Kindred Soul Enlightened, she can really feel the tensions and emotions.]

Nobody make any loud noises.

[The tight spaces, the signal, just everything in these tunnels is not an enjoyable feeling. She continues to lead the way through the tunnels, ready to face anything.]

[Apollo continues to leave himself open as he walks in silence, trying to filter anything useful out of the storm of emotions. He notices the sense of the unnatural now that Lucas points it out and he's mentally braced enough to not be overwhelmed, but he's hesitant to project anything into that mess until he has some idea of how all those Pokémon might react to a further disruption.]

As if on cue, not long after Quinn says not to make any loud noises, a loud roar rips through the caverns, followed by the sound of massive feet stomping through the tunnels. The emotional state of the Pokemon quickly changes from aggression to terror.

A-Ah.....

[Lucas wobbles a little as the roar echoes through the caverns, his face blanching.]

That's...

[It sounds... familiar in a way. A terrible, gut-wrenching way.]

That... do you think... it's related to that signal?

Signal or not... They're scared.

[Yet she can't stop herself from going forward. Where did this signal's source even come from? Did someone build it in secret in the mountains or was it technology from long ago waking up one more? Did Pokémon activate it by mistake?

So many questions.]

Get ready, everyone. We might get close to something...

[The surprised squeaking noise Jinxie makes in reaction to the roar is swallowed up by the roar itself, but she's noticeably shaking after the sound has finished reverberating through the area.]

Th-they're not the only ones.

[But she's committed to this, and she's going to see it through. Dokuro floats a little closer to Jinxie now, putting a wispy hand on her shoulder.]

[The moment the roar sounds, Deerling is huddling next to Apollo's legs, having moved so fast that one could be forgiven for thinking that he used Teleport. Hippopotas keeps moving, but more out of inertia than an actual desire to continue. Apollo does his best to mentally calm the two of them and is a little proud of Deerling for not immediately requesting to be transported back to Union.]

Be prepared to run or fight if we have to. Whoever that was probably won't be easy to calm down.

Down a tunnel to the right, the group hears the sound of something banging on the wall, followed by another roar. It's very close. A flock of terrified Zubat fly down that tunnel, passing around the group without even stopping.

Ah --

[Lucas freezes once again at the sound of the roar.]

We... We have to go stop it. Whatever it is.

[His voice speaks intent but his feet are frozen.]

I... can heal, so I'll come to you if something happens. ...We'll be OK.

Sh-should we call our other Pokemon...?

[Jinxie is similarly rooted to the floor, shivering even more now.]

[She stops right in front of the Zubat swarm flying, waiting to move on when the swarm passes.]

... Do we dare follow where the Zubats came from? Or continue to go straight?

[She's suppose to "lead" this group as much as she can, but fear is breathing right on her neck. She only has two Pokémon on her, the other not called by her side just yet for reasons. She would personally go down the Zubat tunnel, but she isn't on her own right now. Her group's feedback is important, even if they are just as nervous as she is.]

[At Jinxie's comment, Lucas pauses for a moment before he presses a few buttons on his Warp Band. ...There is a small flash of light before a Teddiursa appears.

...At the sound of the roar reverbating throughout the tunnels, it immediately clings to Lucas's leg and refuses to let go.]

Um.

[The Swadloon that appears next will decide to wrap itself in its blanket-leaves and refuse to come out.]

We... should follow. That's why we're here, right? To find the cause of the quakes...

[He pets his Pokemon anxiously.]

I-I think we should follow too.

[Jinxie brings her Warp Band up as well, summoning her other Pokemon - a Klefki, a Houndour, a Mankey, and a Grimer. The Houndour starts to whine and hides behind Jinxie's legs, the Mankey appears to be hopping mad and ready to throw down with whatever's making all that noise, the Grimer seems as happy and unaffected as ever, and the Klefki just jingles back and forth nervously. Her Foongus is the lucky one this time and gets to stay home, as she has no room on her band left to attune it.]

It's okay... there are a lot of us here. We'll keep you safe.

[It's important to reassure a nervous team.]

[Apollo isn't displaying any fear, appearing to remain a bastion of calmness in the face of this unknown threat. In reality? He's a bit nervous, but as far as he can tell they're dealing with a Pokémon, which means that they can talk to it, fight it, and if necessary kill it. It may be an unknown, but it's a known unknown, and that keeps him from getting too scared.]

Even if whoever that is has nothing to do with the earthquakes they're obviously scaring everyone who lives here. If we can stop them then the people who live here might think better of humans and become friendlier to us. It's worth the risk.

The banging grows louder, and as a result tremors begin to shake the cave.

Either path can take us to the same spot or different locations. It would be a wise idea to follow to the source of the Zubats, but I only asked since everyone's feedback is important here.

[She presses a few buttons on her own Warp Band, a Pikachu summoned by her side. Quinn remembered the moment in her life when she learned fear for the first time. That memory is still very clear to her in her head. Right as he appeared, the Pikachu's ear went down to cover his ears as the noise is bothering him too, jumping up to Quinn's free arm.]

It's alright, Jas. We got a good group with us. Let's go.

[The tremors doesn't help one bit, but a feeling in her gut just tells her to keep on going. Now moving off the first path, she leads the group down the tunnel to the right to investigate what scared the Zubats.]

[It is a little harder to move with something clinging to your leg, but Lucas will manage to carry along behind Quinn. After a moment or two, Teddiursa squirms up Lucas's body to end up on his back.]

[Jinxie slowly proceeds down the passage behind Quinn, her entire Pokemon entourage huddled closely around her for protection as they continue along. For whatever it's worth, she'll be keeping her senses open just in case the source of the problem has anything to do with the Psychic or Ghost types.]

[Apollo brings up the rear as best he can with Deerling keeping so close. He's still keeping his mind open in case he can sense anything more specific than the current flood of emotions.]

As the team emerges, they find themselves on an elevated cavern. Below, there is an enormous Pokemon pacing around a giant machine. The machine appears to be sleek in design, it looks very new and very advanced. The Tyrantrum is pacing around it and slamming it's head into the machine in rage. It appears to be in pain.

Ah --

[Lucas follows along into the cavern behind Quinn before he stops.

...Stops entirely. Stops moving, stops breathing, stops thinking. His Swadloon falls from his suddenly limp arms and bounces to the floor as he stares, his eyes wide in disbelief, at the creature running around on the cavern floor.]

That's...

[He takes a small step back; the world suddenly seems to have become very unfocused.]

It can't be...

There it is...

[There is always a big difference between seeing a Pokémon species in person and seeing a species in a book. Edan and Jasper are both speechless just like Quinn is right as she entered the cavern with the group. It's like this beast was sent down by the Gods themselves all those years ago to destroy humanity. Now, here it is, suffering in pain and rage at the machine. It surprises her that the machine is in new condition, so it must have been built recently... Right?]

We found the machine, but that Pokémon... We have to get passed it.

[Even with people and Pokémon surrounding her, just coming face to face with that giant dinosaur just stuns her.]

It's hurting... shouldn't we try to help it? O-or calm it down?

[Even though she says that, Jinxie is as white as a ghost. Quite literally, even - all the color has drained from her face, leaving it as pale as her Duskull's mask.]

I can... try to communicate with it. I mean, I can do it without the Warp Band and all of that, but I fear that it's in so much pain that it might not listen to us.

[She sets her lantern down, now holding the Pikachu in her arms properly, who is really shivering against her chest like a very scared child.]

[Jinxie nods slowly.]

Uh... uh huh. So can I. But you m-might be right...

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