Stalkers RPG Main Action and Team Status [SEASON 4]

[Suicune's Fire]

Mistee will check Silcress's remains, for starters. Will get my action up in a bit!

You are notified of Silcress' fate, and make an effort to go and investigate what happened to his body where it was found at Salvage Keep. You make the trek across town until you arrive, while it is still dark. Nobody is around, and at first you're not sure where to find the body. You head up to the gate and notice something--a large box. Curious, you approach it and begin to feel something twist in the pit of your stomach. You brace yourself and open the box.

Inside are various body parts, many of them blown to bits and turned into pure mush. Only one of the heads are intact, jaw slack and blood splashed all over. The frayed wings are mostly still together as well, but it becomes quickly apparent that this pokémon was blown apart by Payload. Silcress' remains were stuffed into this box and delivered to his workplace, which you assume is also to his closest friends.

You move the lid back over the box, feeling sick to your stomach. Nothing else stands out to you about the remains, which comes to you as a marginal relief as you leave the scene and head back to report what you found.

{Silcress' Remains: <Technical>}

[Suicune's Fire]

Mistee will search Delta Den!

After the sun rises and you feel like the mental image of the morbid remains have dampened a bit in your mind, you head over to Delta's Den in the hopes that you can find something useful there. You note that it's relatively difficult to see anything inside the house itself, as all the windows have closed curtains obscuring them. You are determined to get in and take a look around however, and almost jump when Delta herself exists through her front door and makes her way down the steps to the veranda. She heads out in the direction of the Keep, and you take the opportunity to enter the house.

Once you're inside, you can immediately see that Delta does not own much. The furniture you find inside is necessary, but she seems to be using makeshift objects in the place of things like tables. The smell is a little stale, and there is very little light inside due to all the curtains being closed. You begin your investigation inside, searching through the least invasive rooms first before heading to her bedroom. The bedroom is messy and, again, does not contain much in the way of luxury. You resume looking through her things and eventually come across a large container that looks sturdy and not easily broken. You attempt to slice it with some leaves, but it does not seem to work. You take a look at the lock and think that it may be able to be picked, and a steel type also might be able to break it. You make a note, though you resign to the fact that you probably can't do anything about it at the moment.

{Hidden Side-Bag: <Security> / +Steel-type+} was noted in the Team Records.

You continue to scour the place as you head to another room, but find nothing of particular interest in the house itself. You head outside, interested to see if something further catches your attention out here, and eventually spot a set of double-doors fixed on an angle heading into the ground. You imagine this heads down to an outdoor bunker, so you open the doors and head down the steep slope below. When you get to the end, however, there is another door that looks to be sealed tight. There is a scanner on the side, but no information about what it scans. The only thing you can see is that this door, as well as the scanner panel, seems to be extremely scratched, like someone has used the tip of a sharp implement to carve erratic patterns into them.

{Solid Underground Door: Scratched Pattern Scanner} was noted in the Team Records.

You don't have the correct pattern at the moment, so you leave through the tunnel, and resume your search around the property. When nothing else piques your interest, you take your leave.


Mistee the Bulbasaur (M: Grass/Poison)

Health: 10/10 | Sanity: 8/8 | Purity: 10/10
Battle Stance: Flee
Perk: Technical
Trait: Charming

[HorusMyDude]

Looks like we got ourselves a good ol' fashion hoedown. Better to be part of it, then watchin' I always say.

Action: Interview Imeida.

[Truly]

I'd like to talk to Dee'Mang. From what I gather he's pretty young and I want to approach him like... an equal. I want to see if there's anything he really likes to do, anything he can teach me, and then maybe we can do it together while I get to know him. I don't want to pressure him too much about the Stalkers initially. Just talk to him about his friends, family, and maybe if the accident comes up in passing, we can touch on it.

Just want to make a connection here.

Kids see things, you know?

Also if he has anything really cool (an item, or something like that), it'd be pretty cool to see it. Though, I won't take it from him if he doesn't volunteer it.
Friendly friend stuff.

[Suicune's Fire]

I will investigate the scene of the crime

You head out to the scene of the crime, eager to investigate and try to find any leads at all. As soon as you get to the exterior of Salvage Keep itself, you notice that the box has been removed. You had heard from Mistee that this box contained the blown-up bits of Silcress' body, and you are glad to find that it is no longer around.

You begin to search the area, hoping that no clues have been blown away by the soft wind over the course of the night, into the early morning. The first thing that catches your attention is a message carved into the earth with something: a weapon, a claw, or a even a stick. In capital letters reads,

"I BURIED MY SOUL IN THE BASIN."

You shudder, unsure what this means, but somewhat disturbed by it. The only thing you manage to find is traces of black powder here and there--you imagine this is used in Payload's explosions. You keep your distance from the message and continue searching, but find nothing more. Not a trace of blood can be found, and you can only assume that Silcress was killed elsewhere and brought here afterwards.

Nothing else stands out to you, so you leave the scene, hoping the wind blows the dirt-carved message away.

[Suicune's Fire]

I will check the Shila Education exterior

It's well after the sun has risen before you decide to depart the clubhouse again and take some time to search Shila Educations, the local school. As you're heading close, you notice that a few pokémon are making their way into the buildings: an Alolan sandshrew, a tepig, a miltank, an archeops, and some other pokémon you do not recognise. You imagine some of these are students, and some are staff. You also note the form of a small bird pokémon with a large teardrop-shaped head perching upon a large billboard outside the main building. The Alolan sandshrew stops and seems to exchange words with the pikipek, and you see the pikipek shaking his wings wildly. The ice type abruptly turns and vanishes into the building, leaving the pikipek to flutter off away from the school.

Once everyone has entered the buildings, you start to search around the exterior in search of anything useful. At first you don't find much, except a few splinters.

Added $36 SP$ to Lita's Inventory.

It's not until a little while longer that you come across a shed that you cannot get into. You shake the door a few times and try to find some other way in, but you cannot seem to. You attempt to pick the lock, but it seems to be more advanced than ones you are able to break open, so you sigh and leave it for now, figuring that you can return once you have a key.

{Sports Shed: Shed Keyhole} was noted in the Team Records.

The remainder of the school's outer buildings and grounds do not yield anything particularly exciting, so you depart, glad that you at least scavenged some splinters.


Lita the Pikachu (S: Electric)

Health: 8/8 | Sanity: 6/8 | Purity: 12/12
Battle Stance: Fight
Perk: Security | Abilities: Clairvoyance
Trait: Nimble

[Suicune's Fire]

You guys are so lucky to have a Chu like me around! Glad I can always do my best to help!

I'll use my medicine perk to heal Neo for 4 points of Purity, then heal Nicholas for 3 points of Health, and Lita for 1 point of Sanity.

You know that your companion, Neo, has recently ventured out into the hellish corruption that recently plagued Trinket Tower and, leaning into to your skills, make a point to hold him back before he leaves for the day and offers him some healing. He is grateful, and you get to work attempting to mend some of the spiritual damage he suffered.

Sparkstrike the Pikachu restores 4 points of Purity to Neo the Emolga.

Neo the Emolga (S: Electric/Flying)

Health: 8/8 | Sanity: 8/8 | Purity: 10/12
Battle Stance: Fight
Perk: Repair | Abilities: Forge
Trait: Lucky

Next you focus on Nicklefool, who you also manage to stop before he leaves. You keep him in place as you work on his health, which has taken a bit of a hit.

Sparkstrike the Pikachu restores 3 points of Health to Nicklefool the Mr. Mime.

Nicholas "Nicklefool" Foligan the Mr. Mime (M: Psychic/Fairy)

Health: 10/10| Sanity: 8/8 | Purity: 9/10
Battle Stance: Fight
Perk: Diplomacy
Trait: Charming

Lastly you focus on Lita after she arrives back from her search. You begin to work on her mental wellbeing, knowing how incredibly important it is for everyone to have a level head while they partake in such taxing work.

Sparkstrike the Pikachu restores 1 point of Sanity to Lita the Pikachu.

Lita the Pikachu (S: Electric)

Health: 8/8 | Sanity: 7/8 | Purity: 12/12
Battle Stance: Fight
Perk: Security | Abilities: Clairvoyance
Trait: Nimble

When you are all done, you feel exhausted. It really takes it out of you to use your knowledge and gift like that. Sometimes it feels easier to just focus on mending the one thing, but spreading yourself thin across three different patients, restoring three different aspects of your companions, really drains you. You take the rest of the day to restore yourself, glad that you were able to help.


Sparkstrike the Pikachu (S: Electric)

Health: 8/8 | Sanity: 8/8 | Purity: 9/12
Battle Stance: Fight
Perk: Medicine
Trait: Lucky

[Suicune's Fire]

/late

But the action submission period is now closed! Thanks for submitting.

[Suicune's Fire]

I'll go to (37) Valley Graveyard and have a look around.

You come to the Valley Graveyard, a stone's throw away from the town's sacred temple. As you get progressively closer, a creeping sensation starts to crawl over your skin. A sick feeling seeds itself in the bottom of your stomach, and you can immediately tell that something is wrong. Although the garden itself surrounding the graveyard is beautiful, something feels off. You steel yourself and head in, ensuring to keep your eyes peeled for anything that could catch your attention.

With every step of your paw, you feel the darkness around you growing colder. Whispers begin to enter your mind, and soon enough, every time you take a step, you feel the ground heą̩̩͎̘t̘̣͕̼̬ ̣͉̗͚͕̝̰̀up. The mixture of different temperatures throws you off, and your mind begins to cloud with innumerable thoughts. Your joints begin to ache and your ears twitch with discomfort as more voices prod at you from all angles, insisting horrific things and twisted thoughts. You feel your muscles tense, and your legs carry you faster through the grounds as the tombstones around you seem to enlarge. Shapes curl around the sides of the tombstones, reaching out to you and moaning louder. You grit your teeth, attempting to shake free the influences around you as you break into a run.

You continue racing through the graveyard, the ground turning to fi͕ͫ̒̔̾̎͜re, then goo, then b̻̍ͤ͜ͅu̠̝͙̫̫͚͑͑̓ͪ̑ͯṙ̔͆ͣͬ̓̚͘n̳ͩ͟in͆ͣ͏͍̤̗͇̝̻g̟̊͛ ͕̻̣ sand, then grating ice. The forms around you reach out, s̨c̪̙̺̰̟͇ra̫͍͍͈̹̜̺tc̨̲̺͕͉̲ͅhi͖͚̪n̛̖g̨͈̹ ̠͇̖͇at y̼̥̠̝͡o̪̙̰̟͜u̷̪͔̗͖̤r̻͎̥͈͖ ̕s̫̝͍̰̙̙̲k̞̪̪͙̦̪i̴̱̺ǹ̯ and pulling at your ears, t͏̤̦͇̣̺͚ail and spiked fur. Your breath̢͖ is laboured and you begin emitting howls of pain and pa̭̳͈̹̓ͫ̊̇ͤnic, only to be stifled by the mobs of shadowy figures str͔̤̤̗̫ͨ͜etching in front of you and s̴͋t̸̗̙̖͂ͩro̝͎͓̝̤̅ͤ͒k̳̲̣̙̍i̞͖̮͚ͥn̴̥̝̗͇̹̰̓ͅg̨̈̇ͫ ̻̲ ̨̻̥͍̙̞ͥ̑ͦͨy̯̘̩͓̠̾͌̑̇̂ő͑ͦ̿͢uŕ̋ͫ̌͌̊́ ͇͖̞̝̳͍̼̏́ͨ̉̅͠f̮̟̜̠̭͈͌͌̄ͩ̒ac̘̟̆̔ͥe͓̫͈͉ͅ.

Arrow the Jolteon suffers 3 points of Purity damage.

All at once a tombstone lurches out at you, screa̭̳͈̹̓ͫ̊̇ͤming in a high-pitched, piercing voice that buries itself into your ear cavities and threatens to deafen you. It slams down on top of you, pinning you against the ground. You panic, trying frantically to scramble away, but the earth begins to open up only a few metres from you, swallowing everything in its path. It's heading straight for you, and fear completely overtakes you as it rapidly nears. You try to shriek, but your throat cannot produce a scrap of sound, and all you can do is wait until the hole swallows you in one go.

It finally reaches you, but as it passes under you, you don't fall; instead, it seems to suck the lif̥̠͛̍̓̐͞e from you bit by bit. You feel̮̳͇͇͉̠ your life sö̴͉ͤͮ̈̇̋̎ͅurce being pulled from your body, and you fl̦̹͔̃ͣ̓͊̍̉̚a̛͕̭͖͍̟̻̭ͯ͒ͥ̿͋̑i̩͖̤̳̠̩̱̍̒͗ͦ͗͢l ̣̘ͣ̌̓h͈̻̤̬ͯ̽̎͛͂op̡̑el̫̀̇̅̃̽͞e̛̤̖͕͇̲sͩ̇̓̈s̿ͮ̍l̐ͭ̈͋̚ ͊҉̫͔͔̗͖͇y̖̳̰̬̫ͭ̒͂ͩͭ ̸̦͉̅̅ͤ̊ͥ̈́ as it continues while you remain locke̘̻̝ͣd in place.

Arrow the Jolteon suffers 3 points of Purity damage.

You finally manage to break free and take off, trying to dodge the swiping and biting of the merciless dark entities around you. Through the moaning and groaning, you hear something that catches your attention: a whinnying sound. You frown, unsure what this could be, but sure that it sounds different from the monstrosities closing in around you. The thought of something tangible drives you forward until you come between two half-destroyed tombstones and your eyes fall to a small, brown pokemon shivering in the dirt. You rub your eyes with a paw, uncertain whether what you're seeing is real or not.

"H...hello? Are you real?" the pokemon asks in a young voice. You almost cannot believe your eyes as you realise that this is, indeed, a real pokemon. A mudbray. "Please...help me out of here. I'm scared! I...I hurt my leg." You look down, noting the somewhat mangled appearance of the mudbray's front left leg.

{Shivering Mudbray: <Medicine>} was noted in the Team Records.

You cringe, knowing there is nothing you can do for him right now. You tell him that someone who can help him will be back, and he protests a little before resigning to your answer and softly saying that he will be waiting.

Although you feel awful for the poor mudbray, you know you cannot withstand this torturous environment for much longer, and elect to depart immediately. You look over your shoulder at the mudbray as you come to the graveyard's boundaries, then turn and race off back toward the clubhouse.


Arrow the Jolteon (M: Electric)

Health: 10/10 | Sanity: 8/8 | Purity: 6/10
Battle Stance: Flee
Perk: Security
Trait: Nimble

[Suicune's Fire]

I'm going to check out #54b Clutch of Decaying Houses: Collapsed House to see if there's anything strange going on in this little neighborhood.

Hey, a few renovations could make this a nice home again!

You return to the bunch of houses that you have been told are mostly uninhabited. The first one was a pleasant experience, though you do not expect this to continue. Nevertheless, you are interested to see what this area holds, and know that whatever you find will be helpful in your fight to rid the world of Stalkers however you can.

You head on into one of the more collapsed houses. It smells dank and old inside, mostly reeking of things long dead and layers of mould. You also swear you keep hearing things here and there, but you determine that it's also very likely that it's probably just because you're alone, and you feel on relatively high alert. You weave between the remains of a wooden walls, getting a face-full of cobwebs at one point, and occasionally use sparks of electricity to light your way.

In one of the more intact rooms of this mostly collapsed building, you see something on one of the only standing walls in the light of the rays of sun streaming through cracks of old wood. You move closer, coming to some kind of mural with disturbing depictions of headless pokemon. In the centre are two physical objects, and one indent for a third. An inscription down the bottom seems to be written in some kind of substance, reading:

Like an empty canister of fuel. Like a broken fence post. Like bloody bandages covering a wound. I, too, will be replaced and forgotten.

You look above the writing, noting that there is an indent in the wall that looks to be the shape of a fuel canister--according to the inscription. What looks to be a rotting leg seeping blood sits at the right-hand side of the mural, with a broken fence paling taped in the middle. Curious, you reach out and take off the fence paling, noting that indent for it in the wall where it sat, and set it on the ground. Perhaps, with a little bit of work, you could mend it...

{Carving of Barrenness: Canister Shape, <Repair>, Wounded Leg} was noted in the Team Records.

And you do. Once it's done, you set it back in the indent, and you hear something click. You stand still, waiting for something to happen. After a while it becomes apparent that this is a three-piece puzzle, and you're rather unsure how to solve the first and last parts. Perhaps a literal fuel canister would suffice for the first one, and a bandage of sorts for the leg... Then it hits you. Someone picked up a gauze roll a while back, and you think that attaching that to the rotting leg, though disgusting, might trigger the puzzle's next step.

You figure that this is all you can achieve here for the moment, and search the rest of the area before you leave.


Neo the Emolga (S: Electric/Flying)

Health: 8/8 | Sanity: 8/8 | Purity: 10/12
Battle Stance: Fight
Perk: Repair | Abilities: Forge
Trait: Lucky