The World We Know

Robin hadn't really gotten the chance to spend much time with her fellow Windrose members, and that was a shame. They were rather kind to her, paying her for her subpar papers and giving her a place to stay. The least she could do in thanks was continue her work. The Absol was... pretty intimidating, she couldn't pretend otherwise. He was her boss! And her ticket into Windrose! She wanted to prove that she was worth the trouble, and one form of that came in exploring mystery dungeons. "Thank you for letting me join you, Deimos, sir." She chimed, her voice smooth, but her paw trembling with nervousness. She had to make a good impression. Please don't screw it up, Robin... Windrose was at least a nice place to sleep. She didn't want to get fired.

"I've been working on another paper lately." She started, a hint of genuine enthusiasm creeping into her voice. It would be her magnum opus, there was no doubt about it - if she didn't fuck up such a golden opportunity, at least. Would they even believe her, or would she just get laughed out? She had her flower and the mysterious purple seed as proof, but... she could easily look like a conman, and her excitement shifted back to anxiety again. Maybe she could weigh how much the Absol believed in it, to see if submitting it would be a good idea?

"Have you ever heard of the Echo World?" Robin hadn't, not before falling down the rabbit hole herself. But once she'd started searching for accounts, they started to trickle in, one after another. Secretive anecdotes, reassurances that Robin gave that yes, of course they would be anonymous. They'd been too scared of being branded as madmen. But in Rainfront, Grassveil, even Aileron, the stories were similar enough to start drawing suspicion.

Not to mention her own personal encounter with the place. But she was just another point of data in a larger pattern, and she knew that. "I've been doing some research into it lately. Mostly just asking about town, but I have to admit that it's interesting." She said neutrally, giving herself space to either backpedal if Deimos dismissed it or agree it might be real if he didn't.

"The idea of it, at least, I mean. A place where the world doesn't work as we know it... maybe that's not so dissimilar to Mystery Dungeons in the end. What do you think, sir?"

Robin's Energy: 9
(25 - 16 from entering = 9)

For his daily trek out adventuring this time, Deimos had chosen the mountain range that he'd only briefly checked over in the past, intending to strike far deeper than the outskirts like last time. Though having originally planned to head out alone to satisfy his ever hungry curiosity he'd accepted a request from one of the scouts, the icy fox, to accompany him on the jaunt. Despite being the one that informed her of the organization to begin with along his many little adventures, in truth he didn't know her particularly well. Getting to know a fellow scout better AND having fun exploring at the same time? No complaints here!

Quietly nodding in response her to gratitude, he gave her free reign to speak her mind, not being some form of tyrannical superior who'd chew someone out in an instant for the smallest mistake or daring to speak their minds. Windrose had been good to him, so it was only natural to return the courtesy to his fellow members. The very least he could do would be to listen to their questions and qualms. He hoped his enthusiasm would be infectious.

"A piece on the Echo World... I confess i don't know a great deal about it, only fragments and rumors at most. A world where nearly anything can happen and all law's of nature shatter and are remade constantly and even the flow of time is reduced to a roiling river, completely unstable. Intriguing concept. Dungeon's themselves are still mostly bound by the laws of nature and time is constant. Perhaps the Echo World itself is a destabilized dungeon, or one that would have formed naturally but some great power thwarted it, reducing it to it's current condition." He remarked in response with a soft chuckle, having only heard small fragments and quiet rumors of the locale after exploring such a great deal. It would be a complete lie to say that such a domain didn't intrigue him.

"Just another place... That i'll have to find a way to enter and see with my own eyes" He spoke, chuckling softly after pausing for a moment, glancing down to the earth. Here should be good enough. 'Come, talon of shadows' echoed through his mind as he went to invoke Shadow Claw, however despite his intentions of only calling forth a singular one for leaving a trail, he felt a strong well of energy burst forth from within, travelling from his abdomen and down to his right paw. Instead of just a small claw, his largest one yet manifested, nearing two metres in length and pulsing vigourously with ghastly energy. Uh... Oops?

Letting off a soft chuckle, he turned and slashed a deep X into the side of the mountain, displaying far more destructive force than he intended. It was just supposed to be leaving a trail to retreat with!

[Energy: 47-16 = 31] [Super Luck roll for Shadowclaw: Nat 20]

“Deimos! Robin! Wait up!” Russell called out, fluttering after the pair. He was very very late… but he had a good reason! Along with him he had brought their newest member of the Windrose Scouts, a Porygon by the name of Tec. The poor ‘mon had been idling in the library, so Russell had thought it would be nice to ask him if he wanted to come along. Of course, that had meant he’d not met up with the others as he’d intended to until way later.

But finally! They’d caught up.

Russell turned back to Tec, hoping he hadn’t pushed the Porygon too hard trying to catch up to the others. He admired Tec’s curiosity but didn’t yet have a good idea of his limits, having only known him for a short while. “How are you doing, Tec?” he asked, checking in. Russell himself had only been to Black Mist mountain once before, but he had not aimed for the peak. He hoped the thinning atmosphere as they climbed wouldn't be a problem.


Russell's Energy: 19
35 - 16 from entering

So he did believe in it? Or, at least, he sounded open to the possibility? That was interesting. She wasn't sure how to make her confession that she had seen it with her own eyes. She swallowed hard, staring down at her paws, only to practically jump out of her skin when her boss just about exploded half the mountain. Oh. That was... intimidating. Was that supposed to be a hint for her to be quiet? Was he annoyed, maybe? Was this supposed to be some kind of demonstration of power to scare her? It'd worked, if so, Robin offering a strained smile as she plodded after him.

Oh dear. What did she do now? She was still trying to answer that question to herself when a third voice broke through the air, followed by a fourth answering in an odd monotone. She turned back to face the two of them, greeted by a strange pokemon she had never seen before, and... oh Arceus, that was her other boss, wasn't it? She was so dead.

"I am fine." Tec answered flatly in response to Russell's question.  "Porygon do not require rest." He informed the Mothim, hovering alongside him dutifully. Two new pokemon were ahead of them - the white fox looked like an ice type, with the snow crystals glistening along her pelt. The larger one was a bit harder, but he decided a dark type was most likely, with the dark horn protruding from his forehead.

"Hello, Russell!" Robin greeted as the two of them approached, managing to keep her panic on the inside. "It's nice to see you two! Will you be joining us?"

"Yes." Tec answered, confirming her suspicion with a nod.  "We have come to help make new discoveries on the Black Mist Mountain."

Tec's Energy: 13
(19 max - 16 from entering = 3)
(3 + 10 from Oran Berry = 13)

"Sorry about that... my ability activated. Was just meant to be a small one for leaving a trail. Of all the times for it to activate" Deimos remarked with a soft chuckle as he observed the frosty Fox's reaction, doing his best to explain that the display of strength wasn't in any way due to her. Not being able to control exactly when Super Luck activates is a blessing and a curse. Sudden bursts of power in a fight can catch people off guard, but can equally cause problems when using moves for utility instead.

Coming to a halt, the spectral talon deformed at his command, reforming to a much shorter set, more in line with his original train of thought than the monstrously long blade prior. Carefully tracing a deep X into the ground below, the claws vanished a moment later as he glanced back to the new arrivals.

"Welcome aboard then. I haven't been to the peak before admittedly so i'm more than curious to check it out. Now this... This should be fun." Deimos remarked, chuckling once more once the leader and newbie arrived. Though he couldn't deny the great deal of excitement and joy that investigating new regions brought him, Russel always seemed to be a bit more excitable out of the pair. Gotta stay out of exploring junkie mode today!

"Just going to try my luck. Been a while since i've used one of these." Deimos spoke as he carefully took a sphere from his bag, providing plenty of time for the two to catch up. He proceeded to smash it without hesitation, triggering the Trawl orb.

Blade12 carried out 10 launched of one Black Mist Mountain :

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"They don't?" Russell asked, surprised. Tec would know his own limits better than anyone, but someone not needing rest was such a foreign idea that it was a little hard to imagine. "Hmm. Well, if you want to rest, even if you don't need to, let us know! There's no harm in a little break every now and then, even if its just to take in the scenery."

Tec promptly answered Robin's question as the duo caught up and Russell nodded alongside him, confirming their intention to join the mountain expedition. He smiled to Robin and Deimos in turn, "I am curious about the peak myself! There are all sorts of tall tales told about it. It'll be exciting to confirm which are true." Russell swayed from side to side in the air, bursting with energy for their exploration. He'd been to Black Mist Mountain once before, but hadn't seen very much of the location, so a lot of this was going to be new to him! New sights to see~ It was always a little thrilling to learn about somewhere new. "It's really a shame how misty it is up there though..." He mused, shading his eyes with one hand as he glanced up at where the peak of the mountain would be located beneath the fog, "I bet if it was clear, we'd be able to see for miles!"

Russell watched eagerly as Deimos used his trawl orb. Orbs were quite special objects. No one knew how they were made, but they had such varied properties. The Mothim waited, glancing around to see if it would summon anything. Quite suddenly, an orb bonked Russell on the back of the head. "Ouch!" he cried, rubbing at his head. He turned to see the orb skitter across the ground and come to a halt near the remains of the trawl orb, accompanied by two other orbs and a seed. Glancing over them, Russell identified the one that had hit him as a trapper orb. "Do you know what these two are?" he asked, pointing to each of the remaining orbs. The Mothim was unafraid to admit he had not encountered them before.

Solilo carried out 10 launched of one Black Mist Mountain :

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It was hard even for Robin to be too on edge as the atmosphere relaxed. Alright, so her boss didn't seem to dislike her? That was good. She'd stay on her best behavior just in case. She nodded in response to his explanation, glad that she hadn't accidentally made him angry. "I haven't seen the peak, either. I wonder if there's anything strange to find up there." She wondered aloud. Mystery dungeons especially were full of odd anomalies, things happening without an easy explanation. Houses twisting their rooms about in the Forgotten Chateau, descending into Mobius Strips the further one went. That was just one example of many.

It would be nice if they could clear the sky, but... wouldn't she just summon more clouds? She fought down that bit of anxiety, telling herself that it didn't really matter. It was too misty anyways, so it was a moot point. She squashed that trickle of discontentment as best as she could, not wanting to ruin the mood so soon. She watched the items trickle in from that magnetic pull from Deimos' orb. It was definitely an odd phenomena. She wondered if they would ever discover how it worked?

Robin squinted down at the orbs, trying to identify them. "I don't think I've seen them before..." She added, shifting her paws. Tec had floated forward, poking one of the two mysterious orbs with his beak. Not hard enough to break it, but enough for it to roll an inch or two before settling back into a divet in the ground.

"I have never encountered this object. We have already made a new discovery." Tec chimed in. "This expedition is going well." The Mothim's question had been... hard for him to wrap his head around, and he still hadn't fully processed it, poking at him in the back of his mind. Why would he want to rest? It wasn't that he disliked the thought. He didn't mind doing nothing. But he felt no particular draw to it, either.

He wrote it off as just a particularly odd order. Russell had voiced a desire to see the mountaintop clear of fog. Tec wondered if he was capable of doing that? He didn't have any ideas as to how he might accomplish such a thing.

"Hey, Russell, Deimos," Robin started, curiosity overcoming her anxiety for the moment. "You said there are stories about what's at the top of the mountain... would you mind sharing some of them? I've never heard any." She admitted, her ears pricked.

Tec's Rolls:

Venusian carried out 10 launched of one Black Mist Mountain :

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Robin's Rolls:

Venusian carried out 9 launched of one Black Mist Mountain :

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"Don't worry Russ, misty is my specialty." Deimos remarked with a soft chuckle as he glanced away from the shattered fragments of the orb and to the ever familiar Boss. After wandering through the vast ocean of mist in the Pricklemist Hill region, both in terms of exploration, resting and combat, using his peculiar senses to the guide the way forward had become a bit of a specialty. "Just don't start any fires or set off any kind of bright lights. They're easy targets amongst misty areas, betraying your locations to others, be they friendly or otherwise." he remarked, before witnessing an orb strike the flying type on the back of the cranium in order to answer his call. Oops?

Waiting for a few moments to confirm that there were no more objects on an impact trajectory with the fellow scouts, Deimos turned his attention to the small assortment of items that had answered the call. Suddenly bombarded for requests for information about the items, He wracked his brain, trying to think back to the different books in the library that he often skimmed through while at home. "The seed is one that causes blindness, i know that much. Hmm... It's been a while since i last read up on orbs but i remember there being an encylopedia on the various different types discovered in the second floor that i skimmed through. If i'm remembering them correctly, one is a Trapper orb. I don't recall the exact names of the other two but if i recall correctly they were in the movement domain." Deimos explained after the relevant information formed out of his memories.

"As for rumors about the peak. I haven't been there personally but i wound up coming to this region with a friend before and heard murmurings that the peak can have some form of effect upon the mind. Not having been there, i don't have any first hand experience." he remarked in response, before scooping the items up into the purple bag by his side.