Resolving Stalkers Season 5

[Neo Emolga]

Interesting. Also I'm asking this much is because we're getting the chance to unearth everything way, WAY earlier then what it would normally be so my brain was like:

I see this as an absolute win!

So yeah.. I'm just gonna be asking about these routes if that's fine by you. If so, then hippity hoppity Exclude's route is soon to be my property. What the profanity will that erasing twit have?

This is the full extract from my Stalker notes, but yeah, here's the whole kit n' caboodle. I get pretty detailed when I flesh this stuff out:

EXCLUDE – Shas the Chimchar

Spoiler:

Backstory
Throughout most of his childhood, Shas has been left out. Bullied, thought of as ugly, stupid, and naïve, he was left out of school gatherings, had very few friends, and found himself alone despite hating that sense of loneliness. As if life wasn’t bad enough, the OMEN strike resulted in both of his parents and his sister getting killed and now he is alone. Even in difficult times, the surviving children and adults have done nothing for him and he’s been barely able to survive on his own, relying on the refugee food bank to keep himself alive.

EXCLUDE showed itself to Shas.
For the longest time, Shas had kept his frustration and despair bottled up. His parents always tried and taught Shas to be a good boy and work hard, but given his situation now, it seemed pointless and he had begun to believe that good Pokémon were just destined to suffer. And he was almost willing to accept a life of suffering until Exclude revealed himself.

It wasn’t hard for Exclude to enrapture Shas. Exclude spoke to Shas and encouraged him to get angry and get payback rather than just submit to despair. It started with a few exercises of stealing food from a Plusle and punching a Meowth that got in his way. At first, it got him to be even more hated, but that’s when Exclude went into the next stage.

How EXCLUDE twisted Shas's expectation
It was payback time. Exclude had fully taken over Shas, much to his nefarious delight, though in this case, Shas didn’t mind it, as if letting Exclude take over the wheel was perfectly fine to him. Shas wished for everyone else to feel the same way he felt. Left out, alone, and treated unfairly.

And that was Exclude’s specialty.

Murder process and signature
Exclude smothers victims with a heavy, black ichor that envelops around them and carries it into nothingness, leaving only a few small black puddles and blots behind. It’s often impossible to tell who was the victim, if there was a victim. These blots appear all along Exclude’s route even in places where there was no victim, so you would never be able to truly tell if, when, and how it happened and to who.

The creepiest feature of Exclude’s murders is there are no details. There is no crime investigation because no one finds a murdered victim. The Doom Tracker just goes up by one with a mysterious and dark ominous message, and what’s more is the victim isn’t marked as “DEAD” on the reference sheet. Instead, they’re simply deleted, wiped, and gone as if they were never there to begin with while the remaining civilians get renumbered. Even the notes that were part of the team record (interviews, roles, items obtained) are wiped as well. If they held any key items, those items get moved over to a civilian that best replaces them and hasn’t been interviewed yet.

Font:
Rush

Summary of story/route:
Exclude’s route involves a lot of Purity damage and traps are common as well. A common theme on Eclude’s route is blackness. Pictures, objects, and things are very often blotted out with blackness and heavy, black ichor. Touching it is soul-burning and agonizing and it’s definitely not something you want to have your last bit of Purity lost to.

Memento: Happy 7th Birthday Card. It’s from Shas’s mother, father, and sister, wishing Shas a happy birthday. To Shas, it was his best birthday and he’s held onto it ever since, even long after the rest of his family passed away. This is all he has left as evidence of the memory, but it’s been a long time since he’s looked at it. On it are encouraging messages from his family, how they’re proud of him and wish the best for him.

Getting this particular memento is much tougher, but the reward is significantly higher as Shas feels more strengthened by this than other Stalkers.

(18) Graybench Industrial Warehouse

[AG0143 Module]

(27) Vinatech Sterilization Plant

{Damaged Sublevel Door: Replacement AG0143 Module AND +Electric Type+}

{Upper Ledge: +Flying Type}

[#872 Key]

(35) Keepers™ Self-Storage Center

{Storage Unit #872: #872 Keyhole AND <Repair>}

[Happy 7th Birthday Card]

Exclude's Stalker Route



In general, Exclude’s route isn’t too heavy on puzzles and just has one really tough one, but it makes up for it by having a lot of steps involved and generally requires more typings to be involved. It’s likely going to mean Emissaries will need to switch it up or get Escorting involved. In the meantime, the players will find some rather creepy blotted out pictures along the way instead. Along the way, Exclude’s route doesn’t do any Health or even Sanity damage. But it does do MASSIVE Purity damage.

To make it to the final Chamber of the Divided Zero, players need to collect three medallions. [Medallion of Oblivion], [Medallion of the Void], and [Medallion of Erasure].

PATH OF THE MEDALLION OF OBLIVION

This path isn’t too complicated. Players will first need to get into the Ethereal Chamber, which is only accessible to Ghost types. They’ll get the Hollow Soul Stone, which then gets placed into the Missing Soul Statue, which then produces the Medallion of Oblivion.

(46) Ashen Park (ABANDONED)

{Ethereal Chamber: +Ghost Type+}

[Hollow Soul Stone]

(23) The Becker Building (ABANDONED)

{Missing Soul Statue: Missing Soul Stone}

#[Medallion of Oblivion] Black Expurgation Presence (10 Purity Damage)#
=The Blotted Depiction=

PATH OF THE MEDALLION OF THE VOID

Similar to the Oblivion’s path, this path takes the same kind of structure, although with some more Purity damage along the way. So a bit more hazardous. If they’re not careful with making sure they’ve got high Purity to spare, some players may end up dead from this!

(76b) The OMEN Crater – OMEN Crater Northwest, Ruined East Residential District (ABANDONED)

{Rubble Ravine: +Ground Type+}

#[Cold Black Key] Black Expurgation Presence (5 Purity Damage)#

(83) Exacta City Treatment and Desalination Plant (ABANDONED)

#{Gateway to Nothingness: Cold Black Keyhole} Black Expurgation Presence (5 Purity Damage)#

#[Medallion of Erasure] Black Expurgation Presence (10 Purity Damage)#

PATH OF THE MEDALLION OF ERASURE

While lighter on the hazards compared to Void’s, this one is trickier for the sudoku puzzle parts. Thankfully, the puzzle doesn’t cause Purity damage either. It’s just more unsettling.

18. Mika the Boltund

Puzzle Graphic: =Blotted Sudoku Part 1=

(5) Electrical Substation

Puzzle Graphic: =Blotted Sudoku Part 2=

16. Princess Samona the Amaura

Puzzle Graphic: =Blotted Sudoku Part 3=

Finishing the sudoku will create the [9-Digit Code 1993381627] item.

(29) MoonCrest Corporate Offices (ABANDONED)

{Empty Tumbler Number Lock: 9-Digit Code}

#[Medallion of Erasure] Black Expurgation Presence (10 Purity Damage)#
=The Smothered Depiction=

IT ALL COMES TOGETHER

The end of Exclude’s route has black, black, black everywhere as if the Rolling Stones got their way. Whoever does this better have their Purity in good shape and better make sure those Medallions are disarmed, or they’re getting swallowed. Disarming the door itself is also needed or the @@ will just outright kill you. :x

(48) The Cobal Estate (ABANDONED)

#{Chamber of the Divided Zero: Mark of Oblivion AND Mark of the Void AND Mark of Erasure} Black Expurgation Presence (10 Purity Damage)#

@Endless Sea of Existence Purged – (15 Purity Damage)@
THE INFINITE BLACK – [Exclude’s Phylactery]

Puzzles:


Fully visible sudoku puzzle (Reference only, or in case they really get stuck and need a hint after collecting all three parts)


=Blackened Sudoku Puzzle Part 1=


=Blackened Sudoku Puzzle Part 2=


=Blackened Sudoku Puzzle Part 3=


Final solution to the Blackened Sudoku Puzzle after Parts 1, 2, and 3 are combined and the puzzle is solved. The 9-digit code that gets created will be 193381627

Graphics:


=The Blotted Depiction=


=The Smothered Depiction=


THE INFINITE BLACK

Let me know if you want to see the others!