Descent

[bravenewmods]

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.))

Comments

[myfedorarocks]

[Flemming jerks at the Phantump's move as a rock hits him, causing him to take a step back. Edwin himself is getting agitated, pawing at the ground.]

w-wait a second! Elly's got a good idea.

[bravenewmods]

[Phantump, of course, has managed to smack the one blowing raspberries with the Confuse Ray because karma works out that way. It wobbles around in place for a few moments as rocks go flying haphazardly around it; the other four Carbink cluster around it in concern and make more angry muffled noises through the Reflect.

Diplomacy doesn't seem to be a strong point here.]

[antiseptic]

[He seems unfazed by Phantump's sudden move, even if he's actually mildly annoyed. Still, the situation isn't entirely unsalvageable.]

If we intend to try, now would be an excellent time to do so.

[He's already readying his Warp Band, but at the same time also preparing to send out a psychic attack. Just in case.]

[reborn_love]

Let's try, then.

[Elly nods, then she holds her band out -- and waits a couple moments, to synch with the others. A blast of light fires out for the Carbink that's making a raspberry at them.]

[antiseptic]

[He acts a second after Elly does, aiming for a different Carbink, trying to communicate their goodwill and remorse for the actions of the Phantump.]

[bravenewmods]

[Elly will receive no particularly useful response from the Carbink aside from a headache, given that it's still in the throes of Phantump's poorly timed Confuse Ray.

Jade's attempt is marginally more successful, though what he'll pick up on is an intense amount of indignation and displeasure.

They don't belong here.

Besides, it's too dangerous for anything to go up ahead.]

[makeitquick]

[ Ugh. Mel has now recovered enough to set her nose back into place, and while she's got some blood to show for it, she can bonk Sneak on the back of the head before following their lead and shooting her own warp beam out. Even if she personally just wants to beat them all up and move on.

Which may or may not project over ]

[bravenewmods]

[The third Carbink seems slightly more hesitant. This one is not a leader; it only does as it is commanded. Its heart may be more easily swayed, but then, it also has little sway of its own over the others.

What do they even want?]

[antiseptic]

[Danger? What sort of danger? He'll also try to send soothing, placating emotions towards them as he asks.]

[bravenewmods]

[Jade will hear the distant echoes of a resounding cry that's suddenly cut off by a roar and a dull squelching noise. This memory is accompanied by a flare of anger from the Carbink he's communicating with.

That sort of danger.

Whatever they were doing here, they needed to leave.]

[reborn_love]

[Elly frowns at that, then she looks at Jade. She hesitates.]

Sir, the only way through this route might be forcing our way... I don't like that, but...

[Sometimes it's necessary.]

[antiseptic]

Perhaps so, but we may be running headlong into even greater danger. [Whatever it is that managed to completely crush a mountain Pokemon must be quite powerful. In which case, they'd have enough to deal with without a group of angry Carbink on their heels.] Let's try some more diplomacy first.

[He'll address the Carbink again: Perhaps we can help eliminate that danger. If you would just let us through...]

[makeitquick]

[ Okay, so this one is hesitant that she hooked up to. You know what, she taps a fist into her palm and.

Gonna convince the others to let us through? The implication being that they will get through anyway if it doesn't.

... Intimidation, basically ]

[bravenewmods]

[Jade's Carbink scoffs. As if they didn't know they were dangers in and of themselves. The mines had been peaceful until the day creatures like them had showed up. Then everything went to hell.

Melaka's Carbink looks frightened at this before it begins to glance around uncertainly. The Reflect would hold, right? Well, it only lasted a few turns but if they just kept layering them on each other there's no way they would get through. They might as well just try to find another route... It's not like this is the only way past...

Elly's Carbink will recover from its Confusion after this. .........Elly will receive the mental equivalent of a raspberry which mostly involves ha-ha! ha-ha! repeated over and over.

But the remaining two Carbink suddenly begin to squeak! ...And in the distance, the rumbling of the earth can be heard... Accompanied by a faint roar.

The lead Carbink suddenly stiffens and cries out a few orders. In the blink of an eye, the Carbinks scatter down a side passageway, leaving the exploration party stuck behind the Reflects awaiting whatever it was to come.

The roar grows louder and the rumbling gets stronger.

((Gonna try and speed things up a bit!))

[antiseptic]

[At least the Carbink are gone. First thing, though, they'll have to dismantle the Reflect in their way. It'll be a hindrance if there's a fight coming up.]

I'll send Duskull to see what's coming. The rest of us should focus on destroying this barrier.

[A quick command later and Duskull phases through the barrier, turning invisible as he does so, floating silently towards the source of the rumbling.]

[makeitquick]

[ Oh and she was just making progress. But if there's a barrier in her way, she is going to start to punch it, to break it open. Yes, a special attack might be better, but she's a fighting type... ]

[antiseptic]

[Although Jade is more proficient in special attacks, he isn't sure how to take apart the barrier using his powers. He's keen to try, but in the interests of saving time, he has Sandshrew help out by striking the barrier with rocks and fast, powerful slashes of its claws, while he summons his spear out of nowhere and repeatedly slams the butt of it against the Reflect.]

[reborn_love]

I can help, sir.

[That prompts a smile from Elly that is not exactly proud. But it's something close. She raises a hand -- and a few fireballs hurl from her hand and above it. Then, ice shards began flying after; a few bolts of lightning follow.]

[Spellcasting, GO.]

[bravenewmods]

[The barrage of attacks breaks through! As Melaka's Carbink had noted, the Reflect needed to be continually layered on to hold; within a matter of a few minutes, the psychic barrier cracks and dissipates.

They can choose to scatter down the side passage that the Carbink absconded through or they can continue towards the rumbling.

Duskull will drift through some tunnels and walls and emerge into a large cavern - there is a large dinosaur-like creature there throwing a tantrum and attempting to butt its way into a tunnel through which it doesn't fit. There is something strange at the other end, a machine of some sort. At this point, Duskull will find that it becomes bombarded with a highly unpleasant noise that causes both physical and mental pain. Sticking around could prove hazardous to its health.]

[antiseptic]

[Duskull speeds back into the cavern just as they begin to break through the barrier. Jade stops his attacks in order to quickly communicate with his Pokemon through the Warp Band, and despite his distaste for explaining, will relay what Duskull had found:]

There's a tunnel with a machine of some sort that creates a noise painful to Pokemon. It must have aggravated some of the Pokemon here; there's a large Pokemon attempting to break through the tunnel to destroy the machine.

[He hesitates for a moment.] The Pokemon might be quite dangerous, given its size. [And now, he'll turn to Melaka once again.] How do you think we ought to proceed?

[reborn_love]

If the machine is driving the Pokémon wild, then... we need to shut it down, sir. But if we could study it, that might be good.

[But, she doubts, they can't talk to those Pokémon easily, with the machine going full bore. She looks at Jade.]

We should shut the machine down, first and foremost, I think, sir.

[antiseptic]

And how should we deal with the Pokemon right outside?

[But if he's honest, he's more concerned with the machines as well. Could they have been remnants of the world before the Saviour's time and somehow activated by the first earthquake? It seems unlikely.]

[myfedorarocks]

[The machine could be valuable. So valuable, Flemming hesitated before speaking up.]

If we could shut it down and figure out how it's assembled, it could be very good for the city.

If not, at least there will be scraps for Edwin.

[reborn_love]

It seems like we might be hard pressed to tackle that Pokémon. But maybe we could make a trap. If one of us could blast through the floor to make a pit, or lead to a lower level...

[If there are any.]

[antiseptic]

That would make far too much noise. Still, you may be onto the right track. Melaka and I could create a diversion, while you and Dr Flemming...

[He looks at Flemming thoughtfully.]

Do you think you can shut down the machine?