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

[Neo Emolga]

Well recent events it only seems fitting to go search (39) XSHO Freighter 413 for clues

When the morning arrives, you join ChiChi and head toward the XSHO Freighter, but while she talks to Ohu, you decide to investigate the freighter itself.

When you see the large steel freighter ship for yourself from the outside, it seems to have been in service for at least a few years and while there is some wear and a few small rust spots, its still in generally good condition and likely has at least ten more years of life to it.

You explore the upper deck and while there are plenty of metal shipping containers of varying shapes, sizes, and conditions, you still don’t find anything that raises any alarms at first. But the deeper you go into what some of these containers are holding, you find signs of smuggling contraband items in containers that are not so obvious and it has you going on full stealth once you realize what you might have come across. Packages of illegal drugs, weapons, and the like are definitely kept in some of the more secretive locations that would evade scrutiny from any kind of surveyor. You also think some of these items may be stolen or counterfeit and weren’t part of the ship’s original manifest. But while these may be crimes, they’re not related to the Stalkers themselves. None of their dark signatures seem to be here.

When you explore the lower deck, you find more of the same and it has you wondering what really became of that Morgrem. Was that really an accident, or did they, like you, find something they shouldn’t have and someone needed to keep them quiet for good? You can see why Malco opened up this investigation based on this suspicion, but with him dead now and the issue with the Stalkers becoming a more severe priority to the town’s local law enforcement, you shudder to think no one may ever get to the bottom of this and discover the real truth, even if this potential murder may be unrelated to the Stalkers themselves…

As you navigate your way along the cold, metallic floors of the dimly-lit ship, you then arrive at the freight lockers, and it’s here where you suddenly feel a Stalker’s presence. One of the lockers that looks like it hadn’t been used in a while has suddenly been tampered with relatively recently and to any crew member, they never would notice this and feel the Stalker presence. You inspect it closer, using a nearby metal stool to boost your hedgehog like body up to take a detailed look. From what you can see, it seems like this locker was unused for a while, and then someone stowed away something in here, locked it, and then even destroyed the lock itself so the door could not be opened through conventional means. Essentially it was a different take on “locking it and throwing away the key.”

The lock seems too damaged to try and pick as you imagine the tumbler mechanism has been severely crushed and not even your best picks and tools could work around the damage. Meanwhile, it looks like the whole mechanism would need to be gutted out and replaced as it seems to be well beyond repair.

But as you consider this, it does give you an idea and maybe that’s exactly what you need to do. Given the firm steel doors of these lockers, you think a precision fire-based tool like a blowtorch that can specifically target this lock itself might just be exactly what you need.

{Broken Freight Locker: Fire Source} has been noted in the Team Records.

As tempting as it would be to simply grab a fire Pokémon to do the job, you fear any kind of flamethrower attack or such might be too much and anything inside could potentially be damaged. This would need to be done precisely and carefully with an almost surgical-like precision. And while you try to look around for a blowtorch nearby that might do the job, you don’t find anything that could that. The closest thing you find is an old lighter that would never get the job done before it burnt out.

You make a note of it, detailing the damage and what components of the lock would need to be targeted to dismantle it and get the door open. With that written down, you decide to be on the lookout for some kind of precision fire-based tool that might be able to handle this lock. But in the meantime, it does get you wondering what’s inside and what one of these Stalkers didn’t want you to find…

You don’t find anything else of note on the ship itself, so you decide to head back to Benni’s, joining up with ChiChi as you both prepare for tonight.

Lewisia the Shaymin (S: Grass)

Health: 16/16 | Sanity: 20/20 | Purity: 24/24 | Dodge Rate: 40%
Perk: Security
Reincarnation Forms: Gallade, Arctozolt, Galarian Rapidash, Mawile, Hisuian Typhlosion
EQUIPMENT:

• Defense Armor: +|A| Sentry Armor+ (2H)
• Jewelry: <Empty>

[Neo Emolga]

Night has fallen in Seabourne Town
Submit your Day 5: Night Cycle Actions now!

Time Remaining:
CLICK HERE

(Wednesday, July 27, 2022 12:00:00 PM)

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

[DayBreak]

"Y'know, I may as well take a crack at this. Gonna be heading off to (5) Jade Acres Park. Besides, I'm not exactly too keen on putting myself out there tonight, considering I just had my soul twisted into a pretzel, and even then I just barely died on account of my weakness to the Psychic Scream."


"Once I start doing interviews and looking around again, I'll grab the necklace from our storage. But for now, I've got something I need to do. Sides, I'm assuming more Tatsujin will allow us to move around these rituals faster, even if I don't understand a lick of any of it. Plus, it'll give us insurance in case Scy and ChiChi are struck down, since I can imagine the Stalkers aren't too pleased with us now that they know of our existence." ... Lyric you're completely missing the fact that you'll be painting yet another target on your back. Not to mention, it's partially your fault.

[Dial-up modem sounds]

".... Wait, when in the name of Xerneas did Scy become a freaking Tatsujin?!"


(If I don't respond on the Day 6 Morning cycle, just assume Lyric's taking another trip to Jade Acres Park. Internet's been on the fritz lately and I have no idea when it'll cut out.)

[C0L0R3D]

Heck yeah, back into adventure! So then, I think I’m willing to wander into the night and look into one very peculiar thing - unhatched bird eggs! No, I’m not making any omelettes. That’s a low blow, even for me.

[Investigate the Blackstone Mansion! You know, the one with the Swellow-Swanna blood pact.]

[Chakramaster]

It may not be the best time to go investigating here, but at least there shouldn't be many people here at this hour either.

I'll search (15) City Hall. Just to see if anything jumps out.

Then I'l head back for some good sleep.

[Neo Emolga]

"Y'know, I may as well take a crack at this. Gonna be heading off to (5) Jade Acres Park. Besides, I'm not exactly too keen on putting myself out there tonight, considering I just had my soul twisted into a pretzel, and even then I just barely died on account of my weakness to the Psychic Scream."


"Once I start doing interviews and looking around again, I'll grab the necklace from our storage. But for now, I've got something I need to do. Sides, I'm assuming more Tatsujin will allow us to move around these rituals faster, even if I don't understand a lick of any of it. Plus, it'll give us insurance in case Scy and ChiChi are struck down, since I can imagine the Stalkers aren't too pleased with us now that they know of our existence." ... Lyric you're completely missing the fact that you'll be painting yet another target on your back. Not to mention, it's partially your fault.

[Dial-up modem sounds]

".... Wait, when in the name of Xerneas did Scy become a freaking Tatsujin?!"


(If I don't respond on the Day 6 Morning cycle, just assume Lyric's taking another trip to Jade Acres Park. Internet's been on the fritz lately and I have no idea when it'll cut out.)

As the night arrives, you feel a kind of uncanny nostalgia enter you as you return to the Brionne form you once had many years ago in a previous lifetime. It only feels odd for a minute or two, but eventually it all comes back to you with ease as if you were simply putting on an old set of clothing you haven’t worn for a very long time.

With the moon in the dark skies overhead, you make you way along the dark and dusty roads toward Jade Acres Park, intent on investigating the dream well that exists there, hoping to inherit some of its Kurosuōbā and be more connected to Yume. This mystery is slowly starting to reveal its true nature, but you feel as though there’s a universe so far beyond into it that you could spend trillions of years inside of that realm and still not discover everything. As an even more profound thought… it may be impossible as the realm is ever-growing… ever-changing forever, deep into the infinite expanse. Anyone with a love for wanderlust and exploration would be ensnared by it and might never realize that in the time they were gone, eternity passed on by in the world of the living as though it was nothing more than a simple evening sleep before the dawn of a new day.

As you enter the forest, you feel that sense of reassurance and peace, as though you have stepped into a placid haven away from the sins and crimes of the world gone mad that lies just outside. The breeze blows through the trees, causing a gentle rustling in the branches and leaves that sounds like the whispers of secrets. It almost makes you wonder if the Funsui well is having an effect on this small forest, as though Yume is slowly spreading into this mysterious place.

When you arrive at the Funsui well, you see the small clearing, hidden among the trees like it is its greatest secret and could easily be the material of myth and legend. The well with this crystalline basin and purple-colored ornamental roof stands before you, almost inviting you to approach like it’s an old friend you have become reunited with. You draw closer, climbing the wall of the well with your flippers before boosting yourself up and leaning over to peering into its mysterious cyan-colored waters.

The memories… they come to you in the form of visions. The moment you were born, the places you traveled to, the things you felt, and it seems to know your secret… that you’ve lived several Pokémon lives upon different worlds throughout the universe and throughout the duration of time. All the emotions you felt all these times… it makes you feel so alive to suddenly feel the happiness, sadness, fear, anxiety, and aspiration of all these lives in such a short amount of time… all to realize these bodies you’ve inhabited are simply vehicles for your spirit, like a pilot in a plane or a driver in a car…

Lyric has inherited 5 points of Kurosuōbā…

Do you remember visiting Yume, Lyric…?

You have the feeling like you’ve known all this time, but just didn’t have the words to explain it. Whenever you decided to lay your head down and sleep. The places you saw, the dreams you experienced… these were the places your soul had seen while your body lay dormant, waiting for its pilot to return. Without that living spirit, you already know what happens. The body simply decays and fades to dust while the spirit lives on.

Yume is to inspire all of creation, to see what the subconsciousness of your mind can create given unlimited and unfathomable power to forge, craft, and design… and to take that inspiration into the world of the living. Just because we are sleeping does not mean we are not creating… exploring… experiencing… believing… in anything and everything that can possibly be…

“…Imagination…” you mutter.

A force far, far more powerful than knowledge. Where knowledge is simply comprehending and leveraging what exists, imagination is the pathway and soul of discovery… to what could exist and what will exist in a far more infinite potential. It is as though the universe suddenly makes sense to you, a profound and vivid realization that only very few recognize. It’s all about creation… infinite… endless creation… what was started at the beginning of time… and what will continue forever…

For the longest time, you thought dreams were simply miniature mysterious adventures during your sleeping hours that seemed to serve little to no practical purpose… not until the mystery was understood and recognized. And to those that achieved lucidity… the power they hold within Yume can make them gods of the realm, perfecting the power and craft that their soul and spirit desires. Just because we are sleeping doesn’t mean we aren’t creating, and you then realize that all the places you saw in your dreams and the people you saw in them… they’re all there in Yume…

…you created them…

You break your gaze away from the waters of the well, realizing it is getting late, although you feel like you’ve traveled for millennia across infinite expanses in only these last few hours. You feel as though your mind has been opened further, recognizing the connection of Yume to this realm and all that live within it.

As you head back to Benni’s farm, you realize there is still a journey to undergo, but you’ve taken those first steps of what is clearly a never-ending journey, but more of a goal of at least preparing for that eternal realm. Even beyond the universe of infinite creation, there is another in a mirror universe, one only seen by the dreaming souls of the world, a place that not even the Demoni can find… a sanctuary of creation known as Yume…

You almost chuckle at the thought of it… the Demoni… so ignorant and oblivious to what Yume is and the power the living can yield from its infinite possibilities…

…truly they have no idea what is coming for them…

Lyric Winterheart the Brionne (M: Water)

Health: 20/20 | Sanity: 20/20 | Purity: 20/20 | 5/10 Kurosuōbā | Dodge Rate: 30%
Perk: Diplomacy
Reincarnation Forms: Brionne, Mega Ampharos, Hisuian Goodra, Latios, Amaura
EQUIPMENT:

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

[Scytherwolf]

I'll take a look over at (19) Overlook Apartments.

[Neo Emolga]

Heck yeah, back into adventure! So then, I think I’m willing to wander into the night and look into one very peculiar thing - unhatched bird eggs! No, I’m not making any omelettes. That’s a low blow, even for me.

[Investigate the Blackstone Mansion! You know, the one with the Swellow-Swanna blood pact.]

As the night arrives, you head east toward the Blackstone Mansion, home of Basol and Kurita, a Swanna and Swllow that couldn’t bear children and were later found dead in what appeared to be a suicide pact. As you have only the basics of the story that went on here, you decide to see if there’s anything missing and while you feel the situation surrounding Basol and Kurita might not be directly related to the Stalkers, it still seems unusual. You’re not ruling out the possibility of the house having its own dark secrets that not even the avian couple knew about.

As you leave Benni’s farmstead and walk across the long, dusty expanse between the farm and the mansion, the ground feels oddly dusty and cold underneath your Snivy feet. All the while, the light from the moon is only minimal, and this area of town is eerily quiet.

When you arrive at the mansion, you feel an odd, dark familiar feeling of this feeling very much like a traditional haunted house. No lights are on, and you can see the weathering of the wooden walls, molding, and the paint peeling off in unsettling chips.

You search around the exterior, getting a better idea of the wear and tear that this has suffered through over the years of being abandoned for so long. The whole time, you think if there’s a possible curse going on here, as not even the grass and weeds seem to grow all that well around here. Anything that tried has dried out and died. The stone path through the gardens has begun to fade away under the dust and dirt, the old fountain by the back looks like it hasn’t had water in it for over a decade, and the hedges had overgrown out of control before they died, leaving dead and misshapen masses of overgrowth. In the dark, they make intimidating shapes, almost looking like ghouls and abomination monsters.

You don’t find anything of significance out here, so you decide to check the interior. You start with the front door that looks like the lock simply rusted and crumbled over time. You reach out with your green hand and you open the door, hearing the old wood and rusty hinges creak. You then step inside into the foyer, which doesn’t seem overly huge, but it leads to many other rooms of the house, including a living room to the right, a dining room to the left, and then the kitchen toward the back while the upstairs leads to the bedrooms.

However, everything is dusting and dingy. Moonlight comes through the windows and it allows you to see at least somewhat in the dark, and what is allows you to see are the decaying memories of years past. Dust covering over furniture, chairs that have been empty for ages, lights and candles that haven’t seen illumination for years. It makes you wonder what it all must have looked like when it was all new with a newlywed couple ready to start a family…

…but never could.

And yet they planned. You find what must be one of the most heart-wrenching sights to behold when you climb the stairs to the bedroom floor.

A baby’s nursery… a lonely and empty crib caked with dust and baby toys that never felt the loving embrace of a young child’s attention and curiosity. And the walls playfully and once colorfully painted in a myriad of cute themes like a grassy flower field and dreamy clouds. Now the colors have faded, and the paint is chipping off of the walls like a dream that’s crumbling apart.

Meanwhile, the rest of the floor is cold and dark as well. The master bedroom and bathroom lie vacant, with Basol and Kurita’s belongings all still there, waiting but forgotten. And yet, even after all this time, you can’t understand why.

But it isn’t until you attempt to make your way into the basement cellar that you discover something… horrific. Upon the now bloodstained cellar door, you find a massacred Pidgeot with her wings ripped off and her mummified body gutted and merged into a grotesque lock mechanism. Upon the neck of this poor creature, there are three holes marked with a demonic symbol. You look at them closer, and suddenly they twitch, jitter, and almost spring to life, screaming into your mind…

…Broken…

…Crippled…

…Traumatized…

Some of these feelings felt familiar.

This Pidgeot… she used to be free, she used to be happy. And it was as if… something or someone just absolutely loathed that beyond anything else.

EXONULL…

{Corpse of the Free: Hole of the Broken AND Home of the Crippled AND Hole of the Traumatized} has been noted in the Team Records.

“The fangs…” you mutter, feeling that familiar dark sensation.

The holes seem like just the right size for the fangs that were found earlier and are back in storage at Benni’s farmstead. In fact the only one that’s missing is the one that resembles the broken.

Still, while you don’t have all three fangs at the moment, you’ve got no choice but to turn back and come back later once you have them. But as you look up one more time at the Pidgeot, you still have the feeling that whoever Exonull is had an absolute hatred for this poor bird.

As you leave the mansion behind and head back to the farmstead, you can only wonder what lies beyond that locked door. All signs seem to suggest it leads to an even bigger hatred, and for the first time, you almost feel thankful and fortunate not to have wings…

Colored the Snivy (S: Grass)

Health: 16/16 | Sanity: 20/20 | Purity: 16/24 | 6/10 Kurosuōbā | Dodge Rate: 40%
Perk: Diplomacy
Reincarnation Forms: Morelull, Palpitoad, Mega Audino, Pidgeot, Cinccino
EQUIPMENT:

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

[Lychee]

"I think it's high time we talk to the leaders of this town... And I'm pretty sure that's Mortek or Taiyou, but I'm not entirely sure!"

Interview Tayou the Salamence with Diplomacy

[Neo Emolga]

It may not be the best time to go investigating here, but at least there shouldn't be many people here at this hour either.

I'll search (15) City Hall. Just to see if anything jumps out.

Then I'l head back for some good sleep.

After the night falls, you finish eating your vegetable pot pie dinner and head out, drifting south as you float through the air to head toward Seabourne City Hall. The moonlight faintly lights the way and it’s just enough to make out most of the things in the dark, though anything that’s in the shadows needs a closer look.

When you arrive, you behold the large, old building that has been a major part of Seabourne since its very beginning, although now, especially in the dark, it almost seems imposing with its tall columns, gray stone walls, and molding ornamentation that casts strange and eerie shadow shapes upon the ground and along the walls. It almost seems spidery and enigmatic in nature in a way that the original founders never intended. But part of you wonders if this kind of imposing visage took hold only recently…

You search the outside grounds and exterior and though the bushes and the surrounding property are in good shape, something still seems off about it all. You have the feeling perhaps it might make more sense in the daylight, but for now, at night, it leaves you with an uneasy feeling, like suddenly detecting a cancer before it has any kind of profound visible appearance before the naked eye.

When you arrive at the back of the building, you see a nicely-carved stone and metal mural that looks to have been carved and crafted several decades ago by a skilled artisan Pokémon. It depicts a scene of community, time, and belonging, with a vivid depiction of the town’s founding history and the Pokémon that were a part of its past, currently part of its present, and the ones that will be part of its future, bearing in mind the old and fully-evolved Pokémon, the young Pokémon in their basic and baby forms, the middle-aged, and many other demographics of all Pokémon types and natures coming together in harmony, all crafted in stone with the Pokémon demographics depicted on metallic medallions roughly the size of a small dinner plate.

It all seems normal and like an impressive work of art on its own until you discover it has been tampered with. Where you find the inscription “the young, the youth inherit the future,” the medallion has been removed. Upon closer inspection, it looks like it was pried out with force. The edges of the stone are chipped.

As you get closer, you can sense Stalker presence as well. And if that wasn’t enough, there’s a strange, oily ichor-like substance where the medallion used to be.

{Mural of Time: Indentation of Youth} has been noted in the Team Records.

You’re not sure why the Stalker responsible for this vandalism even did this in the first place, but you concur that somewhere this missing medallion was stashed away and likely might be used for some darker purpose. But you can’t fully understand why they selected this kind of object. You’re wondering if the Stalker is trying to send a dark message, perhaps to incite fear. Or perhaps they’re hiding something like they usually do. You also don’t dismiss the fact this could be a work in progress and they might return in time, but for now, you wonder if putting the medallion back might reveal something, once you find it.

Upon investigating the inside, you find this is where both Mortek and Tayou work. The interior is well-kempt and quite clean, although tonight there is no one around as the building is closed and will resume operations tomorrow morning. There is a lot of fine furniture here, but the plain white walls seem unusually bare and lack décor that might make the place feel a bit more inviting. From what you can tell by reading a few of the documents regarding town policy, Mortek seems distrustful of most of the Pokémon in this town, and Tayou, who is supposed to be the law enforcement overseer of Seabourne, seems to be missing in action when the current time is dire and has left Dantus and Yanza to deal with most of the fallout of this situation on their own. Had it not been for you and the other Savants, you have a feeling the chances of this town surviving with these two at the helm are between nil and slim…

As it starts to get late, you decide to head back and return to Benni’s farmstead to get some sleep. But after tonight’s investigation, you have a feeling you are now understanding exactly how these Stalkers were able to infiltrate into this town and dig their evil roots into it…

Chakra the Jirachi (S: Steel / Psychic)

Health: 14/16 | Sanity: 11/20 | Purity: 15/24 | 8/10 Kurosuōbā | Dodge Rate: 40%
Perk: Security
Reincarnation Forms: Pikachu, Pachirisu, Minccino, Victini, Mudkip
EQUIPMENT:

• Defense Armor: +|A| Guardian Armor+ (4H, 2P)
• Jewelry: +|J| Sapphire Amulet+ (1S, 2P)