Ruins Expedition - Dated to Mid-week

[somnambulatory]

[Jinxie's feeling pretty good after that expedition to the Old City last week to calm down the raging Pokemon and stop the earthquake.  And she's always been curious about what kinds of things exist in the Ruins, so she's recruited her cousin and fellow spookygirl spiritualist Maya Fey to mount an expedition to go down there and look for interesting artifacts and Pokemon.  She's got her trusty companion Dokuro with her as usual, her Warp Band attuned to a full complement of five additional Pokemon, and her sleeves packed full of protective charms she stayed up all night making, so she's feeling as confident and ready as Jinxie Tenma ever gets.]

Are you ready, Maya?  Shi?

[Turning to Maya and her own Duskull, Jinxie nods at them both before looking toward the dark and mysterious entrance.]

((note for myself: Rex, Brownie, Sable, Wooster, and Goo are attuned for this log))

Comments

[bravenewmods]

[The entrance leads to another section of 'room' carved out of the rock, following which there is a clear 'exit' out of this strange area. The glow is ever stronger as they continue forward.

It will be obviously coming from down the stairs nearby when they exit.

Here, the writing and drawings are somewhat more intact, although it's still a bit unclear as to what exactly is being depicted. There are pictures of people, certainly, surrounding pictures of large... stones.]

[mastermedium]

What... are these?

[Inspecting the walls with her fingertips as well as her eyes, Maya scans over the area. What do these even mean?

She doesn't seem so interested in the exit yet; not when there's so many confusing pictures around.]

[somnambulatory]

Do you think these are evolution stones?

[Jinxie leans in, looking.]

...Really big ones?

[bravenewmods]

[The most intact picture is of an enormous blue, crystal-like stone. The people surrounding it are half its size and while the expressions on their faces are poorly depicted, they almost seem to be... afraid. The blue crystal is dotted with smaller yellow crystals throughout.

There is some scrawls in old script - but as before, there seems to be another type of text used as well...]

((This is not meant to be readable, before anyone spends five hours trying to crack it. =P It does say something, but it's not that interesting, anyway.))

[missleadingquestions]

I... dunno.

[For some reason, the looks on the people's faces seems to be what gets to Maya. She takes a step back, shoving her hands into her sleeves, and looks away from the crystal.]

I guess it's history or something. Not my department, I guess.

[Pulling at Jinxie's sleeve, she motions to the exit with her head.]

Shouldn't we get out before it gets dark?

[somnambulatory]

Oh... you're right. We've been down here for a while already.

[Jinxie nods, taking one last somewhat uneasy look at the cave paintings before proceeding toward the exit, motioning her Pokemon along with her.]

[bravenewmods]

[The stairs down lead to the intensely exciting and highly plot-relevant revelation of a Solrock that serves as the source of the illumination that had been visible from further up and that shall be totally skipped because Brandon asked me to do so. Upon being defeated in a long and difficult battle, it had yielded to the girls. Long had it lived in these ruins watching over some of its relics and artifacts. Something that had sensed them when they were peering down into the ruins? It couldn't say. In any case, perhaps it was time these relics once again saw the light of the sun pun not intended.

Maya and Jinxie will have incurred moderate injuries during this fight, but Jinxie will walk out with a Solrock willing to return with her to the city.]

[missleadingquestions]

...So... That was... an adventure.

[That's a good word for it... Rubbing at her shoulders, Maya pouts and stretches out her arms.]

I'm ready for dinner.

[Except when isn't she.]

[somnambulatory]

It sure was.

[Jinxie tilts her head from side to side.]

I'm exhausted.

[bravenewmods]

[The Solrock seems entirely unrepentant as it floats in a corner and continues to create light with its psychic power. The glow cast over this area will reveal a few things of interest -

The paintings and carvings on this floor are much clearer and much less damaged. The central stone pillar continues down through this floor, but has broken and crumbled. There is no apparent way forward or around it. Scattered amongst the rock debris are a few shining objects that reflect the gleam from Solrock's light.]

[missleadingquestions]

Wh--whoa!

What... what is all this stuff?

[Not considering her safety at all, Maya begins to explore the debris, pouring over it like a nosy child.

...Shi, of course, follows her like a worried older sister.]

[somnambulatory]

Are these what you were guarding, Sunny?

[Jinxie glances to her Solrock, which she apparently named just now.]

Do you want us to bring them back with us like you said before?

[bravenewmods]

[Solrock gives the mental equivalent of a shrug. They had made it this far and defeated it. It wouldn't stop them from removing these things as long as they could ensure that it would all be taken care of the way it ought to be.]

[mastermedium]

[Slipping on a bit of the rubble and landing smack on her bottom, Maya looks over at Jinxie.]

Well, I dunno what else we could do with it. I mean-- not that we can bring it all back.

[She definitely doesn't have a pokemon in her warp band that could help with that.

[somnambulatory]

[Jinxie leans over to offer Maya a hand up, looking at her own Warp band.]

Rex is too big to fit back through the passages, but some my other Pokemon can help us carry things out. It'll be useful to have them around in case we run into trouble on the way back, too.

[And out come Brownie and Goo, since they're the only ones with arms.]

Be careful with this stuff, okay you two?

[Goo, as usual, is perpetually happy to be doing anything at all. Brownie gives an irritated huff, stamping its feet a little before walking over to the pile, eliciting a small sigh from Jinxie.]

Well, this should be enough.

[bravenewmods]

[Brownie and Goo will find that the vast majority of the rubble isn't really all that interesting, although perhaps a scientist will be able to get something out of this rock fragments.

However, two particular pieces, the ones reflecting light, are studded with little bits of golden amber. Half visible, protruding out one rock, is some sort of claw, while another bears the faint imprint of roots.

Did they want to take a look at the paintings?]

[missleadingquestions]

[They sure do. Mostly because Maya is nosy as hell.

Without prompting, she steps forward to investigate the paintings, this time not actually touching them.]

...I guess we should probably tell people about this when we get back, huh.

[somnambulatory]

We'll decide what to do with these when we get back, too.

[Gesturing to the fossils.]

Let's make sure to remember as much as we can about these paintings.

[bravenewmods]

[They might be able to do even better than that. Some of the rock slabs have broken off entirely with their paintings intact. They have been placed carefully on the ground right beneath where they ought to go. Solrock or some other Pokemon was probably responsible for that.

If they lift up the pieces to fit them in place, some sort of story will become clear...

The creature standing over the blue ball from the first floor has returned. The artist seems to be indicating that it is moving around little green and brown pieces on the blue ball. The next panel shows the creature standing before the large stones from before - one blue, one brown, one grey. Now that it's a bit more clear, the large stones seem more humanoid in shape as well. A bit like roughly hewn statues, very angular and geometric.

The creature and the three stones are next seen being surrounded by the people with the fearful expressions. Each is depicted in turn being attacked and chained...

That is all for this wall.]

[mastermedium]

[With the paintings in place. Maya steps back from the wall with a rather concerned frown.]

...Y'know... Remember what I said about history books? I think these might be it...

[somnambulatory]

...What's on the next wall?

[This definitely is concerning.]

[bravenewmods]

[Sadly, they can't see the next wall to the right or even the end of this current wall since their path is blocked by the crumbling stone. On the wall directly behind them right now, though, more pictures continue.

There has obviously been a gap in time, though, since the first visible picture seems to depict the creature standing guard over some cowering humans...]

[missleadingquestions]

Um... Y-y'don't think Sunny knows what that is, too?

[somnambulatory]

The world!

[It's a sudden shout of realization as Jinxie looks back to the previous painting.]

Don't you think this big blue-green ball is probably our world? And the big figure is probably a Pokemon god, right?

[She looks at Sunny for confirmation or denial.]

And then these three big things are probably other Pokemon it created...

[Moving along to the current wall.]

...but the humans were afraid of them, so they fought and enslaved them. That's what the chains are!

[And she glances to the Solrock again.]

Is that right? Is that what happened?

[bravenewmods]

[Solrock blinks at Jinxie, though its face doesn't offer much leeway to make expressions.

Does she really think it was around a millennium ago? And if she does, does she really think it would lose to two little girls and their ghosts?

Whether or not Jinxie's interpretation is correct, the remaining pictures continue to depict happier scenes... of the figure being worshipped and the figure being revered. ...But the last area is blank.

Underneath it, there is a final message.]