Quote Originally Posted by sammy0295 View Post
Search (51) The Sunshine Farm (ABANDONED).
As the night looms overhead, you head out and make your way west toward the Sunshine Farm. It’s a short trot for you as you make your way from the Beachwood Farmstead to the vacant side of Seabourne. As you cross the fields, you begin to see the darkened, forgotten remnants of what used to be fields of vegetation, flora, and life… now decaying as former husks of themselves.

As you come before the abandoned Sunshine Farm, you now see what used to be Benni’s western neighbor now lies as a broken, vacant derelict. What became of Kayto the Delcatty after being financially destroyed is all but a mystery, but now the Sunshine Farm barely stands as a crippled reminder of how cruel the world can really be. All of Kayto’s dreams, passions, and desires… the eviscerated remains are before you. Rusting empty silos, once bustling with produce and passion, now hollow metallic husks that have lost their soul. And Kayto’s homestead… where the heart once was. Once, it was Kayto’s dream house. And then the dream ended, was gutted, and then stripped from the dreamer… only to become this sad, hollow nightmare… where the dream went to die.

Outside, the house itself looks sad, the way a pet misses their owner that never came home one day. Splintering wood, peeling paint… the vacant porch chairs that haven’t seen their owner for years when in times past, Kayto spent many a sunny afternoon here with friends and family. As the chilling night wind breezes around you, you can almost imagine glimpses of the memories that time and reality swept by…

…and now there is emptiness.

You search the outside yards first, not sure if any of the Stalkers have been using this place for their nefarious deeds, but you feel this place is well out of sight and scrutiny. Any one of them may have seen this melancholy place as an opportunity rather than a place to lament. But what you find are empty dead fields, dead flowers that were choked, strangled, and then overtaken by weeds before everything died from a lack of sustenance. You can almost feel their pain as the grass type that you are, but already what little life they once had has been long gone. What your hooves fall upon are the shattered remains of it all.

The area around the house is no better. In another time, Kayto would have seen you, welcomed you inside for a chat, or even make refreshing lemonade for you both to enjoy on her porch. You’re exactly the kind of Pokémon and friend she would have loved to meet, and you would be welcome any time you wanted to drop by. You both would have watched the sunset from her porch, smiling and enjoying the summer days with cool drinks and memorable company and comradery.

…But you came too late. And now everything is gone.

Instead, you head inside, using your nose to nudge your way past the old, lowly wooden door as you enter the foyer of the house. And you almost can’t help but wince when you gaze upon the inside. All of Kayto’s belongings are still here, caked with dust, dirt, and they’re falling apart. You can instantly see she loved art, loved bubbly creativity and color. And she would have been horrified to see all of her possessions now… faded, broken, fallen. The dusty shelves, the discolored and ruined paintings, broken knick-knacks that once gave the room life, love, and color. And Kayto had stories to tell about all of them… where she bought them or who gave them as a gift, how they cheer her up even on a rainy day. She could have talked for hours about any one of them. And now they sit in silence…. waiting.

But she’s never coming home.

Kayto’s kitchen and dining room tell a similar tale. You can easily see she loved to cook. You find a vast array of cookware and kitchen tools, and you find almost a miniature library of cookbooks. You imagine them as they once were, not as the rusting pots and pans or moldy books they are now, but as they used to be, pristine and new with Kayto happily wanting to use them and get creative. The broken tiles, the collapsed table, the fading walls… for a moment, you imagine them before the collapse, and the vision almost plays out before your eyes as your imagination goes back in time… a happier time.

It seemed as though she had company often, friends and happy gatherings with warm company, delicious food, and a place for everyone at her impressive dining room table. For a moment, you can almost imagine it, the splintering table restored, the dusty candleholders now shining brightly with warm, inviting candlelight. There would have been a place for you here, a seat at the table just for you to join Kayto and her friends, friends that would become your own. Lively stories, laughter, and good food for everyone to love and share as Kayto was more than proud and generous to share it with you and all the others…

…But you came too late. And now everything is gone.

You search the upstairs, where Kayto’s bathroom and bedroom are. As you can tell, Kayto wasn’t intent on fancy arrangements. All she wanted was a nice, happy, and cozy home. And she had it here. An inviting bathroom to wash up and a cozy bedroom filled with the things she loved most. At the heart and center of the room was a cozy cloth pink plush mat that was easy to fall asleep with and have pleasant dreams on. Now, dust and dirt covers everything, the colors on the paintings and the walls have faded. The once cheerfully-painted ceiling made to look like a cloudy sky has gone gray with water damage blotches everywhere… as if the illusion of a peaceful and dreamy cloudy day looks like one where a thunderstorm is about to break out.

You head back downstairs. At first, you believe it was spared. That it was left alone, undefiled.

But then you found the horrible truth. Upon getting to the bottom floor, you find the door that leads to the downstairs cellar where Kayto brewed wines, ciders, and all kinds of other fresh fruity beverages with her produce that she sold and generously shared with friends.

In the darkness of the cellar, you find a wooden hatch that goes further underground. A second sublevel that you weren’t expecting in a house like this.

And there was something else you weren’t expecting either…

@Insidious Siphon Spirit – GRASS (4 Health Damage, 4 Purity Damage)@ Trap 40% Evasion Test: 85 out of 100: Failed!

You overlook the dark, hungry, and ungodly vegetation that surrounds the hatch. The shadows concealed them, the dark corners of the room made the perfect cloak. And now that you’re here, they desire to f̣̭̽̄ē̤̳̫̳̹͕̄͒ͫͨͤe̯̫̝̲d̰̮͍̩̞͔ͦ̆̋̈́̉̐ͥͅ.

Sam has suffered 1 Damage to Purity (Halved, Resistant to Grass) (2 Sanity, 1 Purity Damage Absorbed by +|J| Ruby Pendant+ (2S, 1P)

But so much of their effort goes in vain. You tightly resist against their demonic, sapping vampirism, and even your ruby pendant suddenly glows with a protective red light that shields your soul and mind like a valiant, adamant guardian. The dark influence barely gets a lick of your conscience as you back away. It coils back to surround the hatch once more, disappointed at the lack of sustenance it was hoping to leech from your mind and soul, not expecting a Deerling like yourself to have such strong and protective defenses.

And then it comes to you. The presence of the Stalkers. One of them did find this place, having no sympathy for the dream that its previous owner tried to build. As you guessed… they saw an opportunity, and they definitely took it. This entire area of the cellar reeks with a repulsive Stalker stench…

And then you see the mantle in the shadows of the darkness, a mount of twisted roots and briar thorns. There is a missing piece here… and then suddenly it makes sense to you. Your eyes get used to the shadows and before you lies the Hall of the Impaler. The hall of thorns is shut for now, but you remember what’s missing. The wreath of thorns. The last missing piece in this dark chaos of thorns and briars.

@{Hall of the Impaler Hatch: Blood Wreath Offering} Insidious Siphon Spirit - GRASS – (4 Health Damage, 4 Purity Damage)@ has been noted in the Team Records.

What lies ahead seems agonizing and dreadful, but even in this dark place, there may be hope and answers. Sometimes the deepest truths are in the darkest places. You have the feeling no one besides the Stalker responsible for this twisted, thorny madness has been here in a long time.

You turn around, not having the solution now, but you swear you’ll be back to get to the bottom of the dark secrets that lie here. What will defeat these Stalkers…

…persistence and determination. Those will be the keys to your victory.

As the moonlight begins to fade, you head back to Benni’s farmstead. There is still life and hope here, and you will do anything to keep it alive.

Sam the Deerling (S: Normal / Grass)
Health: 16/16 | Sanity: 20/20 | Purity: 23/24 | 2/10 Kurosuōbā | Dodge Rate: 40%
Perk: Repair
Reincarnation Forms: Nidorino, Krabby, Blaziken, Ralts, Delcatty
EQUIPMENT:
  • Defense Armor: <Empty>
  • Jewelry: +|J| Ruby Pendant+ (2S, 1P)