[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

[makeitquick]

[ Melaka ends up tapping the large boulder a few times with her axe. to listen for whatever sound it might make it. Eventually she decides to think nothing of it and collect one or two of the glowing stones for herself. They might be worth something ]

[outtahere]

[Banzu, meanwhile, pulls out a geologist's hammer and tries to break a couple samples off of the boulder.]

[stardunes]

(Internal screaming commences.)

Ondorus takes out a few in each hand, checking to make sure the amounts are equal as Star takes the bag back. He then steps forward, holding his hands up and out such that the berries in his hands...well, they might be visible. They're definitely smellable.

[bravenewmods]

[The Steelixes both gobble the berries. And not Ondorus's hands, fortunately! They suddenly look much more jolly! Those who can understand them will hear the following.

Honey the adorable hairless Mankey just gave us some rare ones!

Oh don't I know sweetie! They were absolutely scrumptious. We must thank the hairless Mankeys!

[stahlflugel]

Eren is so relieved he almost faints. Instead he just falls back on his butt and lets his head fall back against the wall of the cavern with a light "clang".

"They said they liked the berries, and they uh... want to thank us? And they called you 'hairless Mankey'," he adds with a snicker.

How bizarre. Eren loved berries as much as the next Pokémon, but it was amazing how relished they were by certain species.

[reborn_love]

"H-Hairless Mankey," Elly stammered.

"Um, good, then, we--we could definitely stand to not fight two of them." She sighed, leaned back against the wall -- without the clank -- and nodded, before she looked at Armin and Ondorus. "Good work, with the berries."

[tinytactician]

It's not funny. It's totally not funny.

...yes it is Hairless Mankey is hilarious. Cue some "very-relieved-to-be-alive"-esque giggling from Armin. "W-Well, I'm glad all's well that ends well."

[antiseptic]

Hmm, possibly.

[And that's all he'll say for now as he continues to examine the Nosepass, wondering if there's any significance in what he's noticed.]

[stardunes]

Noooo he heard that...

As embarrassed as Ondorus is, being angry at the Steelix doesn't even cross his mind. He coughs lightly and bows, still looking and sounding kind of...shaky.

"They're - hardly rare at all, sir and madam - common in our homeland. You overestimate us. Thank you...very much, for allowing us passage."

[bravenewmods]

["Common you say!"

"Honey we should go with them!"

"I agree sweetie, but I call dibs on the little cute one!"

One of the Steelixes wraps itself around Ondorus and the other slithers up and encircles Armin. Congratulations, you have both been adopted by Steelixes! Ondorus's is male, Armin's is female, both are level 15.]

Splinter Encounter for Banzu

[outtahere]

[Banzu and Spur-Mesh, his Klink, are following the rest of the group through a tunnel, glancing at the walls regularly to see if they contain anything that could be iron ore. Neither of them have any intention of separating from the group; if they see something interesting they'll call for a stop rather than running off on their own.]

[myfedorarocks]

Flemming nods, turning towards Lux. "Sounds like a good idea to me."

[indy_wannabe]

"All right, just be ready. That's definitely Pokemon fighting over there, I don't want to bring them down on our heads."

Ezreal will move stealthily forward with Spark at his side, preparing to fend off attackers if necessary.

[ladyofluminosity]

Lux nods, unlatching and pulling her staff from her pack. Channeling, she sends a ball of prismatic light down the pathway, hitting one of the stalactites hanging overhead. She quickly moves into the shadows, staff held at the ready.

[makeitquick]

With the light in place, a fair sized battle will be revealed. It's a battle between several rock type pokemon and several ice type pokemon. Specifically, the rock side is largely composed of Roggenrola and Arons (though there may or may not be a single Onix there too) and the ice side is made of Swinub and Snorunt. While there are a far few injured or knocked out on both sides, it is clear that the rock side is losing - they are being backed into a corner because of the abuse of wide-hitting ice moves which put them at a type disadvantage.

A few of the pokemon notice the newfound light source, but most of the are invested in the battle.

It is worth noting that the ferocity of the battle has knocked down a few stalactites.

[myfedorarocks]

Ice types. Flemming hesitates. He has an affinity with ice types, but he also isn't foolish enough to break up a fight. Edwin at his side paws at the dirt, clearly perturbed by the fighting Arons. Edwin himself was still young enough to have not seen much in the way of combat.

"This is getting dangerous," he murmurs.

[indy_wannabe]

"We don't have a lot of time. We need to break this up and fast, they're gonna bring the cave down at this rate. Lux, I think your new friend might be needed to draw a line. If we go in together we might be able to put a stop to this. It's dangerous, but being caught in a cave in is arguably moreso."

He's already calling Prickly, Scout, and his own Roggenrola, Smasher, which Lux at least can be sure he didn't have when he came in.

[for_realsies]

Brighteyes twitches his ears a few times and runs off down the tunnel, the way they came. Only to return in a few moments on the shoulder of Imogen, making little Eevee noises as his partner walks, rather comfortably, with her eyes closed. Her eyes will adjust back to normal soon enough, but for now she'll let her partners see for her.

"My guess is that they're from the peaks, like Coldwave is. Something's up there and it's got the locals nervous. Some of them found their way down here and haven't been able to go back." Imogen figured some explanation of the problem would help. Coldwave, currently, is hiding behind some rocks about three paces back, but still within sight of the group if they look past Imogen. This was definitely something in the bad column, and the bear wanted nothing to do with it. Imogen continued, "We need to separate them and try to figure out what's going on. I'll never get anyone to talk while they fight."

[ladyofluminosity]

While it was not her first choice to go in, Ezreal was probably right--nothing would happen unless someone acted. "Okay, Martha, bring us in." Climbing back up, the Onix offered its tail out for the others to climb up.

They needed someone to charge in? Why not the biggest freaking thing in this joint?

NPCing which I hope is an apt time yooo

[makeitquick]

When the Onix gets closer to the group, the rock types all look up at the Onix as someone else who is native here, a potential ally. And the ice types all seem immediately wary. The fighting does stop... but only for a moment. Several of the Swinubs on the side of the ice-types decide to strike first, launching some powder slows at new group.

For the people who can hear the thoughts of pokemon, while most of them are absorbed in the battle at the moment, the rock types appear to be defending their home and the ice types appear to have fled out of their home, and gotten in this fight as a result. That's all that can be clearly discerned up in the midst of the fighting, though.

[bravenewmods]

[Banzu will see a Carbink come wafting by. It doesn't seem to have noticed him.]

[outtahere]

[The group is trying to keep reasonably quiet, but they're still making enough noise that this Pokémon should have noticed them. If it was interested in fighting it'd probably be paying more attention to its surroundings, or so Banzu's thinking went. Glancing it over, it looks to be at least partly made of rock, so he wonders if it's anything like an Aron and eats inorganic substances. If that's the case, it might have some idea if there's iron in these caverns.

While he'd acquired a Warp Band when he'd started looking into making a trip to the Old City, he hadn't gotten around to trying out any of its functions aside from the network. Now was a perfect opportunity to try another one out. The Carbink had almost passed him by when he thumbed on the linking function and aimed the Warp Band at it without stopping walking, getting right to the point as soon as a connection was made.]

Hey. Do you know if there's any iron in these caves?

[bravenewmods]

[The Carbink turns and gives him a bit of an odd look.

Probably.]

[outtahere]

[Hearing someone else's voice in his head is a bizarre experience, and his step falters for a moment before he replies.

You tell me where?]

[bravenewmods]

[Blink blink

I dunno.]