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

[Neo Emolga]

Oh dear! Oh my! I was so caught up thinking and chatting I forgot to hop to it! Or... Hover, I suppose.
I'll go have a diplomatic debrief with Mortek, and see if Taiyou left anything behind that might help us... Avenge her? Maybe that's the wrong word for it. But still!

With the night looming overhead, you head out into the stale air. You make your way due south directly toward Mortek’s home, but you imagine it won’t feel homely in the slightest and you’re expecting not to get a warm welcome considering the situation. Still, you know for a fact that the Stalkers will prey upon weakness.

Answers will be your weapons…

…and you need them now.

When you arrive at Mortek’s residence, you find him outside all alone… brooding in the darkness. Frankly, you’re not surprised to see him this way, but at least he isn’t suicidal. While he’s not one to get emotional, the death of Tayou was more personal that he would expect and now he is feeling pain that he didn’t think was possible. Where she once was, there is now emptiness and a void. That crushing effect never goes away easily, if ever at all.

You softly approach, but he already knows you’re here. You almost expect him to attack out of rage, distrust, or even as a result of the pure insanity that has started to take him over. But no, instead, he continues to brood, his breathing growing heavier and more labored, his eyes almost never blinking.

“You know they’re still out there, Mortek,” you tell him, knowing with him, it’s better to be blunt.

You know it’s how he would have approached this conversation when Tayou was still alive…

…or if he had never met her.

But he is silent. He doesn’t make eye contact and instead continues to look at the moon, barely visible beyond the clouds… as if the moon is his hope and the clouds are all the darkness, anger, and frustration he feels, encroaching in on that hope and light in his life. You sense he’s losing it and it’s taking him off the path.

He is still on the outside, but inside, he is quaking as his emotions of fear, anger, frustration, and determination wage a four-way war with his mind and soul as the battlefield. And war, as you know, is costly for all sides… for all those involved. You sense he is very good at hiding these feelings and this ravaging emotional warfare, but you know this needs to stop before it consumes him and there’s no going back…

“MORTEK!!” you shout at the top of your lungs.

There is silence, but you look into Mortek’s eyes and it seems there is now a ceasefire. The armies have been called to stand down and fall back, because an unexpected fifth force has entered the battlefield… and this force has more cunning, determination, and possesses power far beyond what they could ever comprehend in this lifetime. This fifth force of raw, unbridled tenacity is…

…you.

“I don’t suppose you have some kind of miracle that might bring her back?” he asks, still avoiding eye contact.

But you know the truth.

You don’t need to, because deep in your heart, she has already been reborn elsewhere, starting over. She’s holding on, trying once again, somewhere out there among the stars in a new life, a new body… one of her choosing to see how much she can accomplish with it. She isn’t truly gone.

But you’re still here and there’s still work to be done. So for now, you ignore the question, because both of you already know the answer and the question had no purpose beyond letting Mortek cope with the grief… the denial, the anger, the bargaining, the depression…

…the acceptance.

“We can’t make this different,” you answer him. “But with what little time we still have left, we can make it different for those around us. This town. These Pokémon. Because it’s not over for them. They can still survive.”

“I’m not expecting you to fight,” you continue. “I just need to know what you know about them. The mission your wife started. The one we’ll continue. I need to know the details. Nothing is too small. Nothing should be overlooked. Even the slightest thing can be important.”

What do you know about the Stalkers…?

“I know they’re hiding among us,” Mortek tells you, looking down at the dry dirt that rests before him.

“I had to talk to Verio who recently lost his son,” Mortek continues after taking a deep breath. “I didn’t feel so alone after that. He told me about the Demonic Instruments he found, and how they were deeply imbued with evil. The same source of evil that has been killing everyone lately. But there was something else that I saw that he seemed to have overlooked. I’ve seen that face before. Depression, doubt, he must have been missing it this entire time and needed a second set of eyes.”

“It’s his daughter, Kammia,” Mortek grunts, looking away for a bit before looking back to you. “She found something that looks like it has taken some kind of hold on her. A dark fascination of sorts that might have targeted her child curiosity. It seemed to be some kind of flower terrarium, and she was more than happy to show me, despite being someone of a personal stranger to her father. She thought it might cheer her up and she just happened to find it laying around, which had me feeling suspicious. I looked at it and from an initial glance, nothing seemed wrong at first. Roses, lilies, tulips, all in clusters, but the more I thought about it and the more I remembered it, the more the image burned into my brain.”

“There’s something wrong with it. Something unnatural. I don’t know what exactly it is and I didn’t feel it at first until something pushed me to hold it in my claws and it made me feel uneasy. I could only give it back to her, but something still doesn’t feel right about it. Who made it and how did she find it? It’s construction and design doesn’t… it just doesn’t seem like it was ever from here. Like it’s alien in nature or is some kind of fake or counterfeit, but I knew if I said something, they would have thought I was raving mad…”

You then look to him, assuring him there’s nothing wrong with feeling this way.

“Three months ago, if you told them about the things they’ve already seen and heard about with what these Stalkers have done, they would have said it was all insane,” you tell him, assuring him there’s nothing mad about any of this. “There are things… dark things beyond the construction of anything that’s possible and attainable here. We’ll look into any of them.”

#1 Mortek the Garchomp has become Compliant.

“One more thing…” he tells you. “Ressi. She told me she had a dream where she murdered Sanfer, and it sounds like the work of Edifice. She thinks it had something to do with a strange prism-like object she found, but I don’t think they’re related. The problem is Hashani and Terron had the same dream from what I’ve heard and they never mentioned anything about a prism, even after I asked them specifically about it. But that prism… she showed it to me and I had never seen anything like that before in my life. Unlike the terrarium, what I saw seemed foreign and enigmatic, but at least not nefarious. But I still have no idea where it came from or what it’s for.”

“I’ll keep an eye out if I see anything else,” Mortek tells you. “But I agree with the others that something seems wrong with the coast guard. They haven’t been replying to me either and I have reason to believe they’ve been compromised by these Stalkers or at least by something trying to aid them. Malco… he was the only one I had correspondence with now he’s gone. Along with so many others. And now the coast guard is completely unresponsive.”

“Thanks for reaching out, but now I need some more time,” He looks away with a sigh. “After being unable to sleep or eat, I haven’t been up for talking after the whole incident but something you said… just seemed to help get my head out of the fog…”

You nod, understanding where he’s coming from. You tell him goodnight before you start heading back toward Benni’s farmstead. The air doesn’t seem quite as stale on the return trip, as if it got easier to breathe.

You feel it’s no coincidence…

ChiChi the Tatsujin Tapu Lele (M: Kūsho)

Health: 16/20 | Sanity: 20/20 | Purity: 10/20 | 10/10 Kurosuōbā | Dodge Rate: 30%
Perk: Diplomacy
Reincarnation Forms: Corviknight, Milotic, Aurorus, Espeon, Alcremie
EQUIPMENT:

• Defense Armor: <Empty>
• Jewelry: +|J| Blessed Armband+ (1S, 1P)

[Neo Emolga]

#47 Krish the Mienfoo has been murdered by the Stalkers.

While Yanza didn’t know the victim personally, it never made this easier. Especially when it involved a young child. And it didn’t look like the Mienfoo died peacefully either. He had been choked and suffocated until he died from lack of oxygen. And even after death, his face had been smothered by black pain… as if erased.

“…Fallow…” Yanza muttered.

They had seen this before. The Stalker that takes the lives of children, leaving dead bodies of those that didn’t even get a real chance in life.

“You still think this is the work of that Pelliper? Drestan?” Dantus asked her, remembering she had been pursuing this Stalker specifically. “I read that report you had written up. It’s a lead, but I don’t think it solidifies the claim. We need more evidence.”

But Yanza had given up on due process. She had already met the Savants and knew they were taking a different path. Something she didn’t quite understand, but they were fighting the beast with the only things that could kill it. This was beyond her level of understanding, and it irked her that she wasn’t in a position to do more.

They were dealing with the Demoni here, and there wasn’t going to be any kind of due process that would make sense given the situation. But in the meantime, Yanza took a closer look at the body and something caught her eye besides the Mienfoo’s corpose. It appeared to be a key with a heart at one end, and it looked like it had to belong to some kind of rudimentary lock. Like something a child would use.

[Heart Key] has been added to Yanza’s possession.

“They might know what this is about…” Yanza thought to herself.

“I already know it’s Drestan…” Yanza growled. “If it were up to me, he’d be behind bars, rotting there for the rest of his god-forsaken life.”

Dantus was about to interject with trying to make a point about keeping law and order intact, but then even now it got him wondering… just what would it take to get to the point where they had to forsake the rules for basic survival? Did it have to be now, or would he risk waiting until it was too late? When was the right time?

He was going to have to be responsible for that answer with the way things were going…

Doom Tracker:
7/15

[Neo Emolga]

Morning has arrived in Seabourne Town
Submit your Day 7: Day Cycle Actions now!

Time Remaining:
CLICK HERE

(Sunday, September 4, 2022 10:00:00 PM EST)

@C0L0R3D @Chakramaster @ARandomTool @EmeraldSky @sammy0295 @Scytherwolf @Noblejanobii @Lychee @DayBreak

[Scytherwolf]

Guess I'll search the (25) Seabourne Office Plaza exterior.

[DayBreak]

(Lyric is going to interview Velay the Buizel with Diplomacy, specifically regarding his collection of Artifacts, and even more specifically, the Medallion Llanas told them about)

Lyric had confirmed their gut feeling regarding Korak, and now they knew full well that the Nidoking was not to be trusted. Now it was time to follow up on the lead Llanas had given them. They were quite interested in this Velay character she'd mentioned, as well as the medallion. First off was getting info on the guy himself. They quickly ate their meal and helped Benni out with some minor chores. As they were heading out, they looked to the other Savants and tapped their necklace.

"Guess my gut was right after all, loathed as I was to admit it. Korak's true face is Edifice. So now we know one of the Stalkers' identities. I'll leave the necklace in storage tonight. I've got someone to talk to first."

Guessing Velay would be on his ship at this hour, the Water-type set off towards the Flying Ace to talk with him. Internally, they hoped he'd be willing to show off some of the stuff he's found, and maybe Lyric would be able to make sense of some of it.

"Morning," Lyric called out to the Buizel, giving a wave. "Name's Winterheart! I heard you're a salvager, and I was wondering if you've picked up any trinkets that're... particularly interesting."

Lyric knew all too well the desire for adventure, somewhat sure they'd at least attempted it before promptly being flat on their face (figuratively and literally). While they did feel a bit guilty about not being able to help support him, they'd hopefully at least get some insight on that broken medallion the Primarina had mentioned.

[Chakramaster]

I'm gonna buy a little more time here. Think there's a little more to uncover before we get to cracking and finishing things around here.
We just have to hurry before too many more innocent lives are taken! (38) The Righteous Rider

[C0L0R3D]

Phew! Now I’m in better shape, let’s get back to digging for info. My target this time is that Holly Home place, as I feel it may hold a link to Drestan somehow... whole kid thing and stuff? Maybe? Guess I’ll have to see.

[Lychee]

I still haven't exactly healed myself, so I'm not tempted to go get that horrible terrarium off a child. Instead I think I'll follow up on a slightly safer lead, and diplomatically ask Ressi the Grotle if I could hold onto that prism for a while. It sounds like a component we might need!

[Neo Emolga]

Guess I'll search the (25) Seabourne Office Plaza exterior.

With the arrival of the new day, you get up early and Benni share some of her fruit and berry danishes and breakfast pastries with you, along with some freshly squeezed berry juice. After enjoying the deliciousness of them, it feels refreshing and invigorating before you head out and decide to investigate the Seabourne Office Plaza to see if there’s anything hiding there. It doesn’t seem like the most threatening area in town, but that doesn’t rule it out as it being a place that has its own dark secrets.

You step out the door and the air feels better today than it did yesterday and it does seem like more Pokémon are out and about. After heading south and making the walk there from the farmstead, you decide there’s really only enough time to search the exterior. The interiors of the office sections will need to wait until later.

At first, the exterior grounds don’t seem to be that much in disarray. They seem as though they were still being maintained until only fairly recently, and you imagine it’s mainly because whoever the landscaper is might have prioritized their life before their work and have fled town or are still in hiding trying to protect themselves. Either that… or they were recently killed…

The plants and shrubs seem to be a bit overgrown, but in general they’re still in good health and don’t look like they’ve become diseased. The stone paths and walls seem to be in good condition as well. Closing your eyes and using your Savant senses gives you a clue and feeling as though the Stalkers haven’t been here. But you still get the feeling that something else that’s surreal has been around.

You manage to track it down as another mysterious presence when you get to the back of the Brixel building. It’s easy to mistake a very old-looking metallic hatch as an abandoned underground maintenance area, and it seems most Pokémon have completely ignored it and haven’t been curious enough to mess with it. Instead, you use your armored hands to scrape away the dirt and debris and there’s definitely more to this hatch than what meets the eye. Had it not been for your heightened senses, you feel you definitely would have missed it as well.

The entrance to an underground vault is here, and you’re familiar with this kind of presence. At one point, Black Moon was using this and it bares similar markings and essence, but age and the weather have made it easy to overlook. It also seems like this vault existed here long before these office buildings did.

You try to open it by pulling on the metallic latch, but it seems like there’s a major missing component. There’s a rectangular slit that looks like it was supposed to contain a highly mechanized key of some sort, and it almost seems familiar…

{Shadow Vault: Vault Key Mechanism} has been noted in the Team Records.

You then realize you have the mechanism key back at the farmstead, but it’s still in pieces and in need of repair. Once completed, it should be able to slide and lock into the slit and then allow the door to be opened. In fact, you believe you may not even need to pull on it and it should be powered enough to slide open on its own once the mechanism is in place.

After another brief look around, you don’t find anything else that seems to stand out as suspicious, but you are wondering what exactly that old vault is hiding, and if it’s possibly connected to the Black Moon Weapons.

If it is… you know you’re going to want to get in there as soon as possible…

Scy the Tatsujin Heracross (M: Kūsho)

Health: 20/20 | Sanity: 14/20 | Purity: 19/20 | 10/10 Kurosuōbā | Dodge Rate: 30%
Perk: Repair
Reincarnation Forms: Heracross, Scyther, Centiskorch, Snom, Volcarona
EQUIPMENT:

• Defense Armor: <Empty>
• Jewelry: +|J| Diamond Necklace+ (2S, 2P)

[Neo Emolga]

(Lyric is going to interview Velay the Buizel with Diplomacy, specifically regarding his collection of Artifacts, and even more specifically, the Medallion Llanas told them about)

Lyric had confirmed their gut feeling regarding Korak, and now they knew full well that the Nidoking was not to be trusted. Now it was time to follow up on the lead Llanas had given them. They were quite interested in this Velay character she'd mentioned, as well as the medallion. First off was getting info on the guy himself. They quickly ate their meal and helped Benni out with some minor chores. As they were heading out, they looked to the other Savants and tapped their necklace.

"Guess my gut was right after all, loathed as I was to admit it. Korak's true face is Edifice. So now we know one of the Stalkers' identities. I'll leave the necklace in storage tonight. I've got someone to talk to first."

Guessing Velay would be on his ship at this hour, the Water-type set off towards the Flying Ace to talk with him. Internally, they hoped he'd be willing to show off some of the stuff he's found, and maybe Lyric would be able to make sense of some of it.

"Morning," Lyric called out to the Buizel, giving a wave. "Name's Winterheart! I heard you're a salvager, and I was wondering if you've picked up any trinkets that're... particularly interesting."

Lyric knew all too well the desire for adventure, somewhat sure they'd at least attempted it before promptly being flat on their face (figuratively and literally). While they did feel a bit guilty about not being able to help support him, they'd hopefully at least get some insight on that broken medallion the Primarina had mentioned.

This morning, you grab some fresh fruit that Benni has provided everyone for breakfast. Once you finish and you help Benni with the cleaning and tiding up, you decide to take off the Dreamwatch Necklace and leave it back into storage. With all of that taken care of, you decide to pay Velay the Buizel a visit to see what he knows.

As expected, you find Velay reorganizing some of the supplies and storage crates on his ship, the Flying Ace. It still looks like he’s got a lot of work to do, but he’s more than happy to take a break for a chat and to catch his breath. Already, it seems like the water otter has been up early to get some of this much needed work done.

“Morning,” you call out to him after waving. “Name’s Winterheart! I heard you're a salvager, and I was wondering if you've picked up any trinkets that're... particularly interesting.”

He turns around to look at you, and does a double take when he first sets eyes on you.

“Whoa!” he exclaims, taking a few steps back in shock. “You’re… glowing! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Brionne that glows before! Is that some kind of curse or magic spell!?”

…

You almost forgot about that, but you decide to brush it off with a smile, although you imagine it would be hard to explain the whole story about that.

“I mean… ah, my bad, I hope that didn’t come as rude,” Velay tells you, feeling a bit bashful and ashamed. “I just remembered there was an Ampharos named Julby that glowed in a slightly different way, but it turned out she was really sick with a medical condition that was causing unintentional electric discharge. Hopefully it’s nothing like that and you’re feeling ok! I won’t ask, though!”

He takes a step back, trying to recompose himself and scratches his head bashfully with his paw, looking a bit embarrassed. He then takes a deep breath and tries to start over, remembering your original request.

“Ok, starting over, it’s nice to meet you, Winterheart!” he tells you with a smile. “My name’s Velay and you’re right, I’m a scavenger, always looking for adventures and forgotten treasures! I’m hoping one of my finds someday can make me rich, but I’m more in it for the mystery and excitement! It’s definitely my passion to explore forgotten shipwrecks to find lost artifacts and forgotten bounties! Money is nice but the adventures are the best!”

…

And then he goes a bit quiet…

“Although…” he winces, looking a bit embarrassed again, “I haven’t found that treasure trove yet and I’m a bit broke. Ah… yeah, you see, this ship is my home, too, and I don’t even have enough to pay for a rent advance. At least when you live on a ship like I do, you don’t have to pay that kind of thing.”

“I’ve also been stuck here because of the Stalkers,” he sighs. “Malco ordered everyone to remain docked, including me. I was only trying to unload some of my artifacts and sell them to the Baywill Museum and Gallery, only they didn’t quite fetch the price I was hoping for. And I was hoping to be on my way soon after that. But now I’m not allowed to go and I recently heard Malco was killed, so I’m getting a bit worried here.”

You then remind him to ask if he’s found anything interesting, and he begins to think over his remaining inventory and finds. You then mention the conversation you had with Llanas and you let him know you’re a friend of hers.

#50 Velay the Buizel has become Compliant.

“Of course!” he smiles. “Any friend of Llanas is a friend of mine. We just met a few weeks ago, but she’s been really nice and fun to talk to as we’ve been passing the time.”

“There were a few things that I didn’t sell to Baywill because I’m convinced I can get a higher price for them elsewhere! Hey, I’m sure of it! I found a few pearl necklaces that I’m trying to repair and make presentable again up as well as cleaning up some old coins that I found. Hey, in this profession, you need to be pretty good at cleaning and restoration, and that’s quite a bit of work, but it’s fun!”

“And there’s a piece of this strange, broken medallion I found before, but I’ve been so busy that I forgot where I put it on this ship…” Velay replies, looking around and shrugging. “You know, I’ve tried like crazy to find the other pieces of it to see if I can put it back together, but I haven’t had much luck. It was a dull silver color and had this strange black X marking on it. Or maybe it’s a cross? I don’t know, but even if I found it, I can’t sell it to Baywill anyway because they don’t buy any broken or dirty things and I’ve already got my work cut out for me, so I might just need to scrap the idea of trying to find the other pieces to put it back together and restore it to turn a profit.”

You decide to inquire further about it, letting Velay know you’re trying to find something that might match that description.

“Hmm, I know it’s around here somewhere…” he looks around, trying to recall where he last saw it. “I mean if it’s something you really want, I’m totally cool with you having it since I just don’t have the time to work on it and I’ve kind of given up on trying to find the rest of it. I’ve got so much stuff that needs reorganizing…”

He sighs, feeling a bit bad that he can’t hand it over because he can’t quite find it, but it seems he’s convinced it’s still somewhere on the ship. He can’t sense the resonance of it like you can, so a search for him might take days while for you, it might only take a few hours.

“Say… could I ask a favor?” Velay asks you, looking a bit bashful like he’s been hiding something that’s been bugging him. “I know this might sound wrong, but I’ve had to resort to searching some of the abandoned places around town to see if there’s any lost treasures or things like that. I feel bad, but I’m really low on cash right now and I had to sell some of my furniture just to buy food, so any kind of silver or gold trinket that might have been left behind would be really nice.”

“Well… eh… I decided to check out the Colbyi Estate,” Velay confesses, flushing with embarrassment. “It’s a short walk from the harbor and you can even see it from the back of the ship. Well… eh heh, I thought it was an abandoned, creepy old mansion and I wanted to check it out in case there were some long-lost forgotten jewels or things like that in there. I did some searching around and I didn’t realize it was actually inhabited and Colbyi was only just upstairs, sleeping. I must have woken him up and I heard him come storming down and heard him shouting, so I fled!”

“Okay, I know, I shouldn’t have done that,” Velay winces. “I usually only check out abandoned shipwrecks and abandoned caves and coves, so I’m not used to this kind of thing. Still, there was something in his fancy den that seemed really weird. It was a really nice, white chest with the depiction of a smiling and cheerful Audino painted on it. I tried to take a peek inside the chest, but I couldn’t get it open, and when I looked at the lock, I saw there was missing rectangular metal slot that looked like it was for some kind of key or something. Now, in my time dealing with locked containers and doors, I’ve seen all kinds of weird locks that do all kinds of gimmicks to prevent theft, so this was normal. But there was something odd going on with this lock. There was this gross, black oily stuff all over it, and with this oil, I saw the words ‘sin, sins of all’ and it was the creepiest thing ever. And I got to thinking either Colbyi did that himself and he’s really off the deep end and could be a Stalker, or he did not and someone else did that inside his house. Either way, both of those possibilities really creep me out and I’ll admit I’ve lost sleep just thinking about it but I can’t tell any of the police investigators that I was trespassing like that only Colbyi’s property.”

“Maybe… check it out if you can?” Velay asks sheepishly. “I know it’s trespassing, but I’m thinking something weird is going on with that chest and maybe there’s something you might be able to find that sheds some light on this whole Stalker situation. Like I said, I’m not the best at sneaking around and I had to dash out of there before I could look into it further. If Colbyi really is a Stalker, we gotta know so the police can do something. Hopefully you can take a better look while that old guy is snoozing. It might be for his own good if he’s innocent but someone else has been snooping around his house and messing with his stuff.”

“Well, that’s all for now,” Velay shrugs with a smile. “Thanks for dropping by to visit, it was a pleasure to meet you, Winterheart! Feel free to stop by anytime and I’d gladly invite you for some coffee… if I can get the machine working again that is. Or if I can get a little dough to restock my tea supply. But hey, chats without drinks are okay, too!”

You smile as you tell him goodbye and give him your best wishes as you head back to the farmstead, though what he mentioned about the Colbyi Estate and what Colbyi might be hiding does have you concerned…

Lyric Winterheart the Tatsujin Brionne (M: Kūsho)

Health: 20/20 | Sanity: 20/20 | Purity: 20/20 | 10/10 Kurosuōbā | Dodge Rate: 30%
Perk: Diplomacy
Reincarnation Forms: Brionne, Mega Ampharos, Hisuian Goodra, Latios, Amaura
EQUIPMENT:

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