Gathering your bravery, you decide to head back to the Pleasant Waters Harbor, but this time to investigate the lone “Silent Song” ship. After what you experienced before, you set your mind and spirit to be ready for anything. The moon is high and it lightly illuminates the ground below with its faint glow. Rather than seeing it as eerie, you see it as hopeful, and that light can pierce through even in the darkest of places, driving back the cowardly shadows.Originally Posted by DayBreak
The journey southwest almost plays as it did before. For now, you’re not worried about the deranged clockwork door you came across earlier despite its disturbing apparatuses and the hideous noise it made. As soon as you arrive at the harbor, you head directly for the ship itself, still being pushed and buffeted by the waters. You see the moon reflecting off the waves as your blue clawed feet set foot on the wooden docks. It’s very quiet tonight, but you can still hear the waves below and all around.
You hear the creaking noise of the ship once again…
“Runnn..” the moaning sound creaks out.
No.
Despite the weathered condition of the wooden ship itself, you board it, taking care to watch your step to make sure the wood you step on looks strong and stable enough to support your weight. You imagine it’s been years since anyone has been here, but nonetheless, you keep watch on every shadow, trusting none of them. Despite your heart racing, you investigate the deck, leaving no corner of the ship overlooked.
You don’t find anything of value on the deck itself. Anything that’s made of wood is splintering and most of the metal components have become worn and rusted over. You then investigate the bow and the stern, but you don’t find anything that raises any red flags. All there is here are frayed ropes, broken tools, and splintered crates and buckets.
You then decide to head below deck to see if there’s anything here. You look around in the dark and dimply-lit corridors and see most of the ship has been stripped clean of anything useful, leaving only the broken, rusting, and splintering remains behind. You get the impression this ship was once used as a small cargo freighter, but clearly those days are long behind it now. The barrels left behind are incapable of holding anything liquid with the amount of wear they have taken and the crates look like they could easily break and collapse if anything over twenty pounds was stored within them. Clearly if there was anything salvageable on this ship, it’s been taken away.
It isn’t until you get to the back of the cargo hold that you come across something you were not expecting to see.
And you realize you’re not alone on this ship…
“Noo…” the voice moans. “Please… just let me die already…”
You remain quiet, not sure if this is some kind of illusion or trick considering what you experienced before at the harbor itself. You steel yourself, preparing for anything as your heart pounds in your chest.
“Why…?” the voice asks. “Why do this…? Haven’t I suffered enough…?”
You soon find out where the voice is coming from. You do a double take to see before you… a Starly has been crucified to the back wall of the ship’s cargo storage area with his spread wings and feet having been nailed against the wall. What strikes you as especially disturbing is the blood-soaked white and gray bird absolutely should be dead given the condition of his ravaged and broken body, but still lives… somehow.
You sense some dark, foul work has been done here. This Starly’s corpse has been seemingly reanimated, similar to a zombie, locked in an undead state between life and death. But unlike the zombies you traditionally know, the poor bird’s personality and consciousness is still there and he’s not out to devour the flesh of the living. Meanwhile, you see the poor bird has been permanently blinded on top of all the additional misery he’s been put through.
“Who… are you?” you ask.
The very sound of your voice suddenly makes him lurch. It seems as though the only visitors he’s had on this ship is the Stalker who did this to him.
“Ralon… oh help me… help me… whoever you are…” he moans. “It’s… E-Exonull… Exonull did this… to me…”
Eẍ̱͎͙̥̩̮́̽͊̑̿͑o͉̮̹̮̳n̟̥̓̔u̗̱̳̗̲̹͗ͥ̾̇͌̋l̗̳̖̉̉̄̐ͅl̯̲ ͓͇̤͉͚…
The very Stalker known to have a deep loathing for flying Pokémon. The very one that murdered Scy just last night. And what you see before you is nothing but pure, heartless cruelty. You feel pure anger gather in you, making you restless until you see justice for the heartlessness has been done here.
“What can I do?” you ask Ralon.
“Exonull… is trying to kill my whole family, using me as bait!” he cries out. “Exonull taunts me every night about it. You need to warn my dad Verio and my mom Farshira not to try and search for me. And tell my sister Kammia and my brother Krago the same! Tell them… I’m gone…”
“What about you?” you ask. “What… happened to you?”
“I… I can’t live like this, my body is in… so… much… pain…” he cries. “I shouldn’t… even be alive. I need… I need… my spirit… it’s been chained to this dead body. There’s only one way to break the link…”
“And what’s that?” you ask.
“…A stake to the heart…” Ralon tells you. “Not just any stake. It was driven through my heart before, but a dark encryption was put onto it. It locked my spirit in my body… and I can’t… die. It… has to be driven back in to cut the link… and… and allow me… to pass away.”
“What about Exonull?” You ask, hoping to get the identity of the Stalker that did this. “Who is Exonull? They need to be stopped!”
“I… wish I knew for sure, but my eyes are gone…” Ralon tells you regrettably. “Exonull’s voice… sounds feminine. Young. I… don’t know much else… I’m sorry. Everything… hurts so… much…”
“It’s fine,” you tell him, “that’s already a big help. Just don’t give Exonull any clue anyone else was here. I’ll find this encrypted stake. Do you have any idea where it might be?”
“I… I don’t know…” Ralon weeps. “She could have hidden it anywhere. Please… please hurry…”
{Crucified Starly Effigy: Stake Sacrifice} has been noted in the Team Records.
“Just hold on… I’ll be back…” you assure him.
“You’ll be home, soon.”
Home. A second chance in Afterhaven, to be born again and away from this dark, forgotten place. A chance at a new life awaits Ralon if you can find this encrypted stake… and free him from this terrible pain.
You head up and back on the docks of the Pleasant Waters Harbor, heading back to Benni’s farmstead… trying to figure out where this stake could possibly be in Seabourne…
Lyric Winterheart the Nidorina (M: Poison)
Health: 20/20 | Sanity: 20/20 | Purity: 14/20 | Dodge Rate: 30%
Perk: Diplomacy
Reincarnation Forms: Brionne, Mega Ampharos, Hisuian Goodra, Latios, Amaura
EQUIPMENT:
- Defense Armor: <Empty>
- Jewelry: <Empty>
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05-22-2022, 05:59 PM #11Cheers and good times!
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