Stalkers RPG: Dustwoken - Main Action and Team Status [SEASON 1]

[Neo Emolga]

Cracking his knuckles, he writes down notes on his glove with a particularly nice fountain pen he totally didn't just steal from the Lycanroc why would he do such a thing.

Afterwards, as the sun goes down, he checks them.
"...Yup, ink runs when you have sweaty hands. Oh well, in any case, you know what they say... "THE NIGHT TIME IS THE RIGHT TIME..." to do dirty business in stolen goods. Time to talk to our local fence..."

Diplomacy-Talk to #35: Vocco the Wigglytuff.

After the sun sets, you decide to have a conversation with Vocco the Wigglytuff, and already knowing a bit about how he operates gives you the edge in building your reputation about him. He isn’t too hard to find as his large shape and pink and white skin result in him standing out by the entrance to the Twinbank Apartments, where you know he lives.

When you approach him, you politely introduce yourself, but keep your tone down low, as if you’re going to engage in a shady conversation. You take on the persona of a thief and scoundrel yourself, speaking in hushed tones, keeping your sentences brief, and that you make this more about business. He seems to take a liking to your approach and lightly looks to his left and right to make sure no one is within earshot.

#35 Vocco the Wigglytuff has become Compliant.

“So, you’ve come looking to buy something?” he asks you. “As long as you don’t tell anyone where you got it. And trust me, I have ways of finding out who’s got a fat mouth around here.”

“No,” you smile with a guile composure. “I’ve been told what you have is valuable, but a smart buyer never completes the transaction on the first visit. First, we negotiate, but before that, I want to know more about you. Tell me about yourself. And your ‘suppliers.’ And by suppliers, I mean Sarkkan, Caily, and Kabi.”

“Ha, what, are they accusing me of stealing from them again?” he laughs. “Did they finally get evidence? I doubt it! Please don’t tell me they hired you to investigate me, because then you’re both dumb.”

“They didn’t hire me,” you tell him. “Does it look like any of them could? They have nothing to pay me with and I don’t work for free. I’m onto something with the three of them but I don’t have what I need, yet. Help me help you. I think one of them might be a Stalker. And dirt found on them means eyes are taken off you. So tell me what you know.”

“Fine, but these Stalkers are just a dumb rumor. What, are you afraid of them like they’re the boogeymon or something?”

“No,” you firmly tell him, standing collecting before you toss a lie his way. “I had a personal connection with one of their victims. Details you don’t need to know about. But let’s just say there’s a blood debt I intend on cashing in on.”

You just show your silence, and suddenly he feels a bit taken back. You make it clear you mean business and it’s something you take seriously.

“The deal is Kabi hasn’t been worth anything as a ‘supplier’ lately,” he informs you. “Haven’t been for a while now. She’s hiding her stuff somewhere new but I haven’t figured out where, yet.”

“She’s also been spending more time away from campus and her apartment. Totally not like her, usually. I don’t know whether she’s found new friends or a new place to unwind but frankly, I don’t give a damn. It’s easier without her around anyway.”

“Caily, on the other hand… she’s hilariously clueless. She misplaces her things along so it’s not hard to pluck a thing here and there. She might have rich parents out of town.”

“If you ask me, I don’t think Caily is any kind of ‘Stalker’ or murderer,” Vocco giggles. “She’s way too much of an imbecile. You’d think by now she would have gotten her head out of her ass, take a breath of fresh air, and have a big brain moment, but no, she’ll never wake up. She’s the kind of Pokémon a Stalker could take out and she’s never know what happened. You sure wouldn’t see me getting any kind of sympathy on if that were to happen.”

“And of course there’s Sarkkan,” he rolls his eyes. “Sarkkan and Kabi used to be friends but I think Kabi got tired of him or something. I mean let’s face it, they’re nothing alike and it seems like every passing day their friendship turns more and more into a rivalry. They used to be study buddies and hung out, but I don’t see what a freaking wolf sees friendship in a butterfly. That’s the kind of thing that was doomed from the start. She’s more the instigator when it comes to that whole relationship.”

“Anyway, enough about that,” Vocco replies to you. “I’ll show you the goods for now, but it’s only a sample preview.”

He then shows you a few of his most proudest possessions, and you only act interested before seemingly going on auto-pilot. Most of jewelry and baubles aren’t worth incredibly much, but he does have a way of overselling his wares, pointing out their uniqueness and rarity as opposed to speaking the truth that it’s all only metals and stones that just happened to be rarer than all the others.

After yawning, he decides to head off to sleep and doesn’t even mention farewell. You see that the night sky is now fully active, so you decide to turn around and head back to Benni’s farmstead.

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

Health: 20/20 | Sanity: 20/20 | Purity: 20/20 | Dodge Rate: 30%
Perk: Diplomacy
Reincarnation Forms: Hisuian Zoroak, Mr. Rime, Decidueye, Gardevoir, Aegislash
EQUIPMENT:

• Defense Armor: <Empty>
• Jewelry: <Empty>

[Neo Emolga]

Attachment 2012
I'm feeling a little shaky tonight...

Attachment 2013
But it definitely sounds like Bennis friend the Drapion has got something on their mind, and doesn't want to talk about it. Could be anything, but could also be a clue!

Attachment 2014
I'll go talk them out of whatever foul mood they're in!...Or sympathize. And ask about that weird flower... There, now I'm motivated!

Talk to 4 Raboa the Drapion ♀ and use Diplomacy

Having heard a bit about what happened between Raboa and Benni, you decide to see what the story is from Raboa’s side. And you feel confident you can talk her out of whatever is really bothering her.

The main focus you intend on targeting is how all of a sudden it seems. Surely Raboa has a reason for it.

You find Raboa outside not at the Kako Industries Farm, but instead by the Seaport Lofts where she lives. And you can easily see this is not a clean or nice apartment building. You could easily see yourself getting tired of seeing the garbage everywhere all the time and that certain furnishings are breaking down and falling apart. But Pokémon that are struggling financially just have to put up with it…

As you realize, Raboa has no actual ownership of the Kako farms. She’s only a worker there and you figure that might be one reason among many that daily things like that eat away at her. Besides her, you can see she’s already had a few bottles of hard cider and you imagine she’s feeling the effects.

You introduce yourself and it seems Raboa is a bit perturbed that you’re interrupting what really just seems like brooding to you. And then you ask her if everything is alright.

“No. No, in fact that’s a stupid question. Nothing is ‘alright,’ can’t you tell or are you-“

You instead sit besides her, showing you’re intent on giving her time to speak, vent, complain, or simply speak her mind. You can tell she didn’t expect this from a total stranger and it seems like it’s something she hasn’t felt for a while. Not since she’s started pushing everyone back. Including Benni.

“I want to know what’s hurting you,” you tell her.

…

#4 Raboa the Drapion has become Compliant.

You make it clear you know, but you’ve shown you’re not angry with her and you’re not confronting her over what she did to Benni.

“Everything… everything hurts,” she tells you bitterly. “Every day I wake up wondering ‘gee, I wonder what god-forsaken thing is going to piss me off today’ and I probably won’t be ready for it. I’m never ready for it.”

“Was it always like this?” you ask her, empathizing with Raboa. “Or did this only just happen recently?”

A cold breeze suddenly gusts by as you look to Raboa intently. All the while, it’s deadly quiet as the only light around you seems to be from the moon and an old streetlamp.

“N-No, it wasn’t…”

…

It wasn’t until you came across that thing. Wasn’t it? That “flower.”

Your eyes say it all, and your innate psychic power is able to probe into Raboa’s memories and emotions. The answer is clear to you that no, no it wasn’t always like this. That thing did it to her.

“It’s like I… I know I want… but I… I-I can’t…” Raboa mutters, but is unable to piece together the emotions she feels.

“Give it to me,” you assure her. “You know it has done nothing good for you. You only hold onto it… because it wants you to. Don’t think about it, just get rid of it like you’re ripping off a bandage. It has to be quick or it’ll try to stop you.”

“I…”

She does as you say, but what happens next is not what you expect. Instead of handing it over, she tosses it into the air, the only way she can quickly free her dark bondage to it. Instinctively, you try to catch the jet-black flower in the hopes that it doesn’t break and shatter on the ground.

And you successfully catch it, but…

@Horrific Defilement – DARK (6 Purity Damage)@ Trap 30% Evasion Test: 99 out of 100: FAILED!

…

…

Have you always been happy, Chichi? Have you?

H̺͎̩ͤ̐ͥa̫͕̯̣̟̲̗̠̟Ve̯̻̬̤͈ ̭̮̗̲̰̲ͫ͊͆̋̌͗Ỳ̺̥̬̰̝̀͛̿ͥo̰͋U͈͔̮̙͙͔͓̖̭͎?̎́͑̏ͩͬ̍̍ ̽̚

…

“I… deserve to be happy.” You think to yourself. You know you’re not wrong, but…

…

…

“Like ȟ̬̩͉̙̄ͣ͋e̫̙̮͙̰̦̯̦͓̭̭ͩͯ̅̆ͯ̈̌̇ͨͤͧl̯̪̥̤̩l̈́̓̍͐̽̒̍̒͑ͤ̔ ̖̙̤͔̤̝̼͖̹̫̝̗̙̪̼͆̆ͤ̉ you do.”

ChiChi has suffered 3 damage to Purity.

…

You forget everything for a moment. What you’re even doing here, what time it is, and part of your mind even manages to get you to think you’ve forgotten that you’re being watched and that there are eyes and t̘̔͝hǐ̠̙ͯͩͅñg̋͊ͪ̋͐s̆̍̏ͦ̄ͤͦ ä͉nd̻̲̮ ̷̲̮̭͚͙ͩ͆ͤ͐͆it̳̮̕’͔̲̟̈́̌̑s͍ ͯ͒̒ͧ͐͏alͬ̓̐͗̒͊̓ͦ̌́ͨr͑̄͆ͩeǎ̺͇̫͇͔̩͇͙̫̹̺̽̐̿̈́͂̏̆ͮ̀͗dy ̘͔̼̠̩͖̬ ͕̞̼͍̥̘̃̔͆͒̈̚g̫̗̝̺̮͔̖̫̺̱̫̳̪̹̏̃̍͒̓̓̀͊͌̑ͨ̇͐̌ot̲͙̤͓͇̜ͅ ̩͔̪̟̰̩ͅt͒ͯͪ͒ͨ̾ͯͩ̈́ͤe̼̖̹͔̩͈̳̯͙͛̃ͣ̾̈͗̒ͤͣn͗̄ ̱̱̘̫̗̮̝̹͕̗̙̜̦̠̐̃̈́̋ͯ̓͋̀͋̐͌̓̌ͩͯͅf̯̭̦͔̤̔͋̿͆̈ͣͥ̐̍̓̒̃ͭͅ ͕͖̬̣͚̦̟a̔̋̾̎ͯ̋̃r͔̼̟̰̞͍͙̯̼̭̟̙̩̒̉̏ͮ͂̋̃͐͐̍ͯͦͨ̚ͅ ̂͊͗̓̒̈́ͣ̆̎ͤ́̐̆̾b͂͐̈ͭ̎eỵ̪̭̝̞͍̪͚ő̭̪̭̘ͨͭ͑̈́̐ͣ̉̔̉̎̐̎̾̋ ̹͓̞͕̜̖͚̟̠̟͍nḋ̰͚̥̝͈͚̤͉͍͕̳͑̇͑̌̍̾͂̋̍͛ ̮̠̜̰̝͚ͤ̌͆ͪͩ̚s̥̤͇̘̹̤̤̬̹̙̺̹͔͕̠ͧ̐̅ͦ͛̄͗̂͊̽̏̓̓͗̚ja̖̲̯̖͙ ̻̣͍͇̲f̥̯͔͎̭͈ͅjͮ͌̈́ͩ͑̐͋ ̳͙̖̝͉͈̗̜̮̪͇̠̾ͧ̃͋ͧͪͧ̋̅̓ͯ̚ ̠̯̘͓̫͙̳̅̽ͮ̈́̋̓͑i̮̩̤͓͓͓̩͇͔̯̘͇̬ͨ̄̒̐̎̉͐̔͛̃̑̒̈̚ͅoͦ̆͌ͦj̠ ̹̫̦̥͍̞a͕͙̮͔̭͔̺̺͇̳̹͚;̣̙̯̥̮ͫͭͣ̆̅e̩͇̍̾a̙̗̖͔͖̣̤̮͔͚̭̺̯ͅ ͖s̫̙̮͉͕͑͒̅ͧͩd̪̝̗̫̲̖͙̯͈͚͙̲̭͖͈

ChiChi has suffered 3 damage to Purity.

@[The Blackened Rose] Horrific Defilement - DARK – (6 Purity Damage)@ has been added to the Team Inventory.

…

… “Are you okay?”

…

…

No. No. You think. None of you are real. You’re all just… dead things. You, him, her, everybody. What are all of you thirty… fifty… a Ḧ̷̗͉̱̠̭̭̱͚̯̞̺̑ͣ̍́ͥ͆͐ͬ͒̂͘͟Ǘ͖̯̗͕͛̈́̚N̵̋̅͝҉̞̮D͐́ͤͩ̀̚ ̨̘̳͍̱̱͈̰͕͕͇̬͔͚͈͋́̇͆ͫͬ̊̚̕R͟͡E̪̰̮̖̣͙͇D̷ͭ̾̌̕͞ years from now…?

…

Ỵ̤͎͚̫͎͕̹͚͓͖̱̤͔o̘͇͉̗̫̗̰u’̯̖͔̩̤̱̙̣͓̖͎r̳̦̩͇̬͈̘̤͚̺̦̥ͅ ̪̙e̳̘̦ ̖͈̲͍̱͙̻̫̮̬ͅa̘̥̣̙̳̰̜ll̤̼͔̖͓ ̣͔͕͈̠̙̦͖̱̜̞̱ͅj̻̩̹̯̞̺u͖͇͇̠̭̬̟st͖̦͇͚͉͙ ̪̭͓̫̭̫̺̯d̹̱̲͇̭͇̬̯̳̥̗e̖a͙͎̼̲̤̫̱̦̭ͅd t̜̠̳͚͇̞̹̻̫̙̜h̺̗̣̱̲̰̘̟̳͈̳̹͎̞̝i̘̙̤͙̗n̫̬͉̖g̳̞̙̜͖̖̞̘͓͔ ͎ͅs͈̥͈̩͖̤̮̰̯͕̪̳̮…̰”

…

You leave and head back home for the night. Ha ha you think. No, that’s a lie. Benni’s home is not my home.

…ṱ͔he ̟̯̼͍̼ͅde͓͍͙̘̬a͈̣̳͍̤ḍ̤ ̜̫̙̫͓̟̞̮͕̰̺̲̣̣h̪̯͙̺͔͕̗̲͍̝͍̣a̯̠͍͎̩̯͕v̦̮̗̪͙̲̫e n̞̤͙͓̪̳̲̪̺͔̦ͅọ̞͙̭̮ ̼h̞͔̪͔̳͔͕͈̣͕̮̼͎͕o̰͖̥͓̣̪̭̞̟̹͕ṃ̹̮̘͕̘̥̬e...̥͇

ChiChi the Tapu Lele (M: Psychic / Fairy)

Health: 20/20 | Sanity: 20/20 | Purity: 14/20 | 6/10 Kurosuōbā | Dodge Rate: 30%
Perk: Diplomacy
Reincarnation Forms: Corviknight, Milotic, Aurorus, Espeon, Alcremie
EQUIPMENT:

• Defense Armor: <Empty>
• Jewelry: <Empty>

[Neo Emolga]

I will take a risk and search Birthright Chapel

As the eerie moon hangs overhead in the night sky, you decide to head south through town and head toward the Birthright Chapel, just before the shoreline. It’s a bit of a long walk through town, which you notice doesn’t seem to be too lively at night. Some areas of town that have closed up for the evening make you feel a bit uneasy, resulting in you walking a bit more briskly on your two yellow feet.

When you finally get to the chapel, you find it to be quite eerie. The chapel looks quite run-down with its stone walls cracked and crumbling, it’s wood features splintering in a few places, its stained-glass windows have been caked with dust and dirt, and in general, you’re surprised this location is even still being used.

You decide to search around the chapel grounds and you find that vandalizers have been here fairly recently, painting “temple of the false god” in red paint over the two wooden doors of the main entrance and “burn the blasphemers” in noxious-looking black paint on the side stone wall wall. You also see some of the windows were recently broken and trash and excrement are scattered about as well as evidence of blatant disrespect. A nearby statue of Arceus has also been damaged with the head broken off and stolen while the rest of the body has been smeared with excrement and black paint. Despite your search, you don’t find anything that seems to be unusual on the outside, though you feel a sense of scorn for whoever did these acts of vandalism.

Quietly, you enter the lonely chapel to see what’s going on inside. The main gathering area is on the shabby side with wooden pews of various sizes in only fair condition. The wood sealant is chipping off in many places and some of the pews have been roped off due to them being too damaged to be used. The walls and ceiling have a few pieces of artwork to honor Arceus, but many of them have faded over the years and the colors now seem pale. A lot of the candle fixtures and ornamentation has seen many years of use and it shows.

As you go into the back area, you notice this is where the pastor Junlus the Accelgor keeps his supplies to perform services, such as ritual plates, a holy book, ceremonial jugs, candles, and other supplies. His living area is further in the back, but it’s very small and quaint. You find it consists of only two rooms, his small bedchambers and his kitchen area where he prepares meals. Downstairs, Kulsso the Rampardos, a servant of the Birthright Chapel, resides in an even smaller studio apartment situation where his living and dining area only consists of a single room. Besides his bed and the most basic furniture like his dresser and lampstand, there isn’t much here besides a few comic books and a small backpack of finishing equipment. You imagine he doesn’t spend much time down here and only uses this area mainly for storage and for sleeping.

As you prepare to head out, you find an odd-looking lockbox tucked into the corner of the storage area that almost seems out of place. It’s made of an odd, crimson-tinted stone that doesn’t seem to be related to any of the other ceremonial equipment here, but still seems to be some kind of ritual related lockbox.

You try to open it, but it seems to be locked. You examine the keyhole and you feel confident you might be able to pick this with your lockpicks, but it might take a bit of work…

{Stone Lockbox: <Security>}



You’re quite curious to know what exactly is in this strange, almost otherworldly lockbox…

Maya the Pikachu (S: Electric)

Health: 16/16 | Sanity: 20/20 | Purity: 24/24 | 5/10 Kurosuōbā | Dodge Rate: 40%
Perk: Security
Reincarnation Forms: Gardevoir, Alolan Ninetales, Meloetta, Baile forme Oricorio, Cinderace
EQUIPMENT:

• Defense Armor: <Empty>
• Jewelry: <Empty>