Session 69

The mayor sizes up the party, waiting for their reply. Much of the crowd's cheering has died down, as many of them await it too.
Sam Spade turns to look at the water.
Sam Spade: "I wonder how many before us tried to come here and failed?"
Max Thorn: "And what happened to the failures."
Esme: "My guess would be 'several'."
Sam Spade turns back to the mayor.
Sam Spade: "Something very much wants people to stay away from the islands."
Mayor Machamp: "And what's that?"
Linnea: "That's right…we healed the Wailord up after an incident with a massive whirlpool."
Sam Spade: "I don't know. It felt like…"
Sam Spade bites her lip and shakes her head.
Max Thorn: "Something, or some/one/…We encountered some pretty dangerous spontaneous whirlpools on the way here."
Mayor Machamp: "Like what?"
Mayor Machamp: "What did it feel like?"
Sam Spade: "…Like one of the Tower."
Sam Spade: "Lugia, maybe. More like Ho-oh, though."
Esme: "The erupting pillars of boiling water definitely pointed more towards the Fire-type, I'd say."
Mayor Machamp: "Ho-Oh? But Ho-Oh's been trying to GET people here, safely."
Mayor Machamp: "That's what his champion said."
Linnea: "Well, something's different."
Sam Spade blinks
Sam Spade: "Huh. Interesting."
Sam Spade: "…Do you think we could meet this champion?"
Max Thorn: "His champion being…?"
Mayor Machamp: "Been a while since we've seen her, though. We figured she'd be busy. Heck, you've probably met her, if you're from Amoda."
Linnea: "…Ah."
Sam Spade: "Quite."
Sam Spade: "Ignacia, I assume."
Mayor Machamp: "Kind of tall, flame hair - I think she styles it - yeah, Ignacia. Then you have met her?"
Sam Spade hesitates for a split second. Those who know her may recognize it.
Linnea: "Yyyyyyyy-you could call it that."
Sam Spade: "We have. She's currently serving as a member of Team Jaeger."
Max Thorn: "We have interacted, yes."
Linnea: "I don't think you so much 'meet' Ignacia as 'experience' Ignacia."
Mayor Machamp: "Ha! Yeah, Ignacia's a character. So she recruited a team to help her out?"
Esme stares blankly.
Esme: "How long has it been since someone's been here?"
Sam Spade: "Kind of?"
Mayor Machamp: "Years. We heard of some trouble over in Amoda, then…" He makes a flat line with all four hands. "…nothing. Is she alright, do you know?"
Sam Spade: "The last time we saw her, she was very angry, but understandably so."
Max Thorn: "In…a manner of speaking, but that's not something I'd want to discuss in public."
Linnea: "She's in, uh…she's quite safe."
Sam Spade: "…That said I think every time we've seen her she was at least a little angry."
Sam Spade: "Was she an angry person here, or did that come later?"
Linnea: "And this is why I say you experience her."
Mayor Machamp: "That's good to hear. Oh, hey, umm…I hate to ask about more trouble, but, uhh…some time ago there were some…rebels, you might say. Headed to Amoda. They'd probably cause trouble if she and they met. Umm…you ever hear of a Stormcloud group?"
Linnea: "Unfortunately."
Esme: "Ugh."
Mayor Machamp: "I…see. Do you know if they've run into her, or this Team Jaeger she recruited?"
Mayor Machamp: "And if so, is that why Amoda's cut off now?"
Esme: "They've met, but…"
Max Thorn: "I don't precisely know why you're cut off from Amoda, but we're here in part to figure that out."
Sam Spade: "Huh."
Sam Spade: "Funny thing, they encountered each other right before the last time we saw her."
Sam Spade: "…And they were probably a good part of why she was extra-mad."
Mayor Machamp: "I can believe it. How'd it go?"
Sam Spade: "Lots of explosions, lots of mess."
Sam Spade: "Also a Team Jaeger researcher left while Ignacia was responsible for keeping her safe."
Mayor Machamp: "Ha! Lots of explosions, that's her style alright!"
Mayor Machamp: "Did Ignacia find this researcher later?"
Sam Spade: "Heh. Funny thing…"
Sam Spade: "…Apparently the researcher is here now. Somewhere on Gaela."
Sam Spade: "Hey, if you don't mind, I have a question."
Sam Spade: "Are other places cut off, too? Or is it just Amoda?"
Mayor Machamp: "Oh. …oh, I see! Then you're here trying to find this person to help Ignacia out?"
Mayor Machamp: "Hmm…we never did get much traffic other than from Amoda or Dojji, and Dojji usually via Amoda."
Sam Spade: "I think everyone wants to know that she's paid for her crimes."
Sam Spade: "Ah. So Amoda being cut off basically means everything is cut off. Which makes me wonder if we ran into problems coming here because we were arriving at Gaela, or leaving Amoda."
Mayor Machamp: "I don't *think* we've had a visitor from elsewhere since Amoda was cut off, but I can have someone check the records if you want." He looks to the crowd. A noctowl salutes and dashes off.
Max Thorn: "Is there, um, an office or a conference room available we could talk in? There's a lot of history to go over."
Mayor Machamp: "Sure, sure." He faces the crowd. "Our guests want to talk in privacy. Make way, we're going to Town Hall!"
The crowd parts like a sea, then begins to disperse.
Max Thorn: "Much appreciated." He hops down from the wailord (assisted by Antheia, telekinetically), followed by Antheia and Ammy. Antheia looks a little nervous, but Amaterasu looks happy to meet new people, tail a-wag.
The mayor leads the way into town. Close examination confirms what the party saw from afar: while mostly like any sizable human city, this place is constructed with pokemon citizens in mind too - primarily meaning fittings large and small; only the most titanic of pokemon, like that wailord sitting back at the harbor, would have trouble navigating this place.
Esme sighs. "Time for a long, informative, maybe a little awkward talk." She makes a note to snap a few photos while they're on the way.
Sam Spade: "This place is amazing. Nothing like Amoda." Chicklet is following at her heals, while Noiseless perches on her shoulder. Malta is circling in the sky.
Linnea: "This place is really impressive…"
And, sure enough, there are pokemon citizens right alongside human ones. Not a pokeball in sight, though there are a number of open-use arenas, light sparring apparently one of the most popular sports. Correspondingly, there is a higher density of medical facilities, though none with the usual pokemon center branding.
Max Thorn: "I'm moving here when I retire. Assuming I'm allowed to."
Sam Spade: "You'll never retire, Max."
Max Thorn blows a raspberry at Sam, playfully of course.
Among the many varied sights: a ditto street magician/artist doing transformations and impressions to please the crowd; a power plant where electric pokemon apparently just walk up and practically donate excess energy for the good of the town (and a paycheck, so not a pure donation); and grass, ground, and water pokemon tending a vertical garden with a total agricultural output rivaling large farms on the footprint of a small office tower.
That last one also has a constant bubble of human technicians, judging by their movements and that every last one of them wears a tool belt and carries an electronic clipboard.
Esme whistles, taking notes.
Mayor Machamp: "Oh, hey." He nods toward the technicians. "That reminds me. What do you use for communication back in Amoda? If you've got something compatible, we could upgrade them to work with our network while you're here. If you're looking for a researcher from Amoda - I'd like to say you'll find her at our…'university' is your word for it, but I'm pretty sure we've had no visitors from Amoda before you recently."
Mayor Machamp: "Which means, if she's in Gaela, your researcher is on another island."
Mayor Machamp: "If she's not underwater, but…" He sighs.
Max Thorn: "Oh, we know she's here in Gaela. Arceus wasn't exactly specific, though."
Esme: "We figured she wouldn't be where the most people are."
The mayor freezes, then turns and looks Max in the eye, his expression a mix of wonder, hope, and intimidation. "You. Met. Arceus?"
Max Thorn: "And Shaymin, yes."
Esme nod nods. "Mmhm. A few others, too."
Mayor Machamp: "I'd ask you to prove it, but…" He resumes walking. "…the security scanners check for that anyway. If they left you with anything, that is."
Max Thorn: "Give me a withered plant, and I'd be more than happy to."
Max Thorn: "(…I doubt I'd be able to do it more than once this week, though.)"
Less than a minute later, the party rounds a corner and finds an impressive-looking building - by the already-high standards of this city. Three stories tall, domed roof (with a few windowed entrances for flying pokemon) over a cylindrical base, people and pokemon streaming in and out the series of double-door main entrances. The mayor leads the party to one of the less crowded ones.
Just inside the door is what looks like a large metal detector. "There are," the mayor begins, frowning as if biting off a bitter herb. "…pokedexes, in Amoda, right? This is the same technology but put to better use, and better for it!"
Sam Spade: "Um. What use is it that you put them to?"
Linnea: "Is it now? I admit myself curious."
An arcanine on a stool mans the scanner displays on the side. "Hey there. Show our visitors what you see when I go through," the mayor asks, to which the arcanine just salutes and turns a flat panel monitor just enough so the party can see.
Max Thorn: "Personal data assistants, yes."
Max Thorn eyes the scanner.
Linnea peers curiously.
As the mayor walks through the detector, a standard image of a machamp comes up - with none of the usual biographical data, but outlines of various items on the mayor's person, including a focus sash that seems to have been rewoven into something approximating a bulletproof vest.
Linnea: "That's -really cool-."
Also highlighted is the hidden pistol tucked into the back of the mayor's belt.
Max Thorn: "…I see."
Esme narrows her eyes. "Well that's…neat! Very neat…"
Mayor Machamp: "Alright, now you try it. First off, you who said you had…'talked' to Shaymin."
Max Thorn: "As you wish." Max steps through the scanner.
The arcanine tilts the scanner's display back so only he can see it - and nearly falls off his chair.
Mayor Machamp: "Well?"
Sam Spade: "Heh. And they didn't believe you."
Linnea: "Man, now I wanna check something."
Linnea steps through the scanner, as well.
…the party has never heard an arcanine speak human language before. This one has a bit of an accent. "Y-yes, sirrr! Shaymin sign detected!"
Sam Spade: "…Huh. Does it only list the one that changed his hair color?"
Esme: "I mean, I imagine the average person wouldn't believe like, 90% of what we go through."
Sam Spade: "Or does it list the ones we've all talked to?"
The arcanine recenters, only to nearly fall off again. "M-m-meloetta sign!"
Max Thorn: "Arceus didn't touch me, though. Shaymin did. That's probably the important part."
Linnea: "Mm-hm."
Sam Spade: "I was wondering. Because I definitely hugged Lugia, but I don't know if that shows."
Sam Spade follows Max and Linnea through the scanner.
Antheia and Amaterasu follow Sam through, one after the other.
The arcanine just whimpers upon seeing Sam's results.
Sam Spade: "Um."
Linnea: "…Okay, what's up with Sam?"
Sam Spade: "I really want to know."
Max Thorn peers over the arcanine's shoulder.
Sam Spade: "Can I see?"
The security booth is set up so no one except the security officer can see unless the officer is sharing the results - which he current is not.
Sam Spade: "Maybe it would explain why that pichu from Stormderp hates me so much."
[OOC] Max Thorn: Shame.
Max Thorn: "Nah, that's probably just a personal vendetta."
Esme: "I wonder if it's going to pick up all my weird gear? Or all those shards I've been eating…" She joins the parade through the scanner.
Arcanine: "What. The. NINE?!?!?"
Max Thorn: "Sure picked /something/ up."
Linnea: "That's concerning."
The arcanine stares, jaw dropped, at Esme after she exits the scanner.
Arcanine: "Lugia sign! A-and!"
The mayor holds up a hand. "Enough. I get the picture. Our visitors really are all that and more than they seem."
Esme: "Wait, really?"
Mayor Machamp: "I can't even say I'm surprised by this."
The mayor looks Esme straight in the eyes. "Especially you. Of course Lugia would send her champion."
Sam Spade: "I really would like to see what you saw that freaked you out so much…"
Esme: "What."
Linnea: "Mweh?!"
Sam Spade looks tearfully at the arcanine.
Mayor Machamp: "It's alright, you can tell her. It was nothing, wasn't it?"
The arcanine nods.
Sam Spade: "…Aww."
Sam Spade: "…Wait."
Sam Spade: "Why would that make you whimper?"
The mayor siiighs - then blinks. "You don't know what that means, do you?"
Sam Spade bites her lip.
Esme: "I mean, given the accuracy of your other scans…I guess?" She anxiously tugs at her own hair. "…I like my color though."
Sam Spade: "….No. No, not a clue."
The mayor points one hand at Max. "Shaymin touched." Another at Linnea. "Meloetta touched." A third at Esme. "LUGIA'S champion." And his fourth at Sam. "…and an apparently untouched who still travels with them."
Sam Spade: "…Wait. Did nothing show up on the screen when I walked th-ah."
Sam Spade: "Heh. Well, we'll see."
Mayor Machamp: "There are legends and stories of this. Historical records show them to have come true time and time again. We can only assume there is some pattern to this that makes them true. Which means it's probably true once again, in your case."
Max Thorn: "Just means it hasn't manifested yet, Sam."
Linnea: "Curiouser and curiouser."
Sam Spade: "And now I'm worried you'll spoil it for me, so I suppose we should just head on?"
The mayor glances at Max. "…yes. 'Has not yet manifested' is a good summary."
Esme: "Hey, I like being spoiled!"
Looking at Esme and shrugging, the mayor replies, "While we can't identify her power just from that, there have already been signs if the pattern holds - probably ones you have not noticed, ones you take as just your friend being herself."
Mayor Machamp: "What is she really good at? What does she *do*?"
Esme: "Hrm."
Mayor Machamp: "And while you're thinking about that…" He waves the party along, into a large conference room.
Linnea steps thataway, Mia and Lulim following.
[OOC] Max Thorn: Kinda curious what the scanner had to say about Ammy, but Max isn't going to ask if the arcanine's not going to react.
The room has space for two large pokemon, a dozen medium-sized, or a horde of small to sit around a long table. Reconfigurable display panels line the walls. Various telecommunication equipment pokes up out of the table's center, though the lights indicate it is not in use.
Max Thorn picks a seat. Antheia and Ammy flank him.
[OOC] WC GM: Amaterasu was not the pokemon the guard reacted to the most. That would be Lucrece.
[OOC] Max Thorn: I figured.
[OOC] Sam Spade: Whaaaat!? They responded to Porygon Jesus!? Who would have thought!
Max Thorn: "Anyway…here's what's been going on with Amoda over the past several years…"
Luc chirps, bubbling up next to Alexis, who stands back at the wall. Esme continues lounging on Gervais, who doesn't seem to mind, for now.
Mayor Machamp: "Ah, before you do that. Mind if we record it?"
Mayor Machamp: "There's a looot of my citizens who'd like to go over your every word with a fine toothed comb."
Max Thorn: "…Sure, go ahead. Everyone else needs to know, too. I just figured there'd be less interruptions this way."
Mayor Machamp: "Better if they interrogate a recording than you."
Max Thorn: "Precisely my thinking, yes."
The mayor pushes a few buttons on the table's equipment. Red LEDs soon spring up along its length. "Alright, we're recording. Ahem. This is your mayor speaking. After all these years, we finally have visitors from Amoda, and they wish to tell us what has been going on over there."
Nodding to the party, the mayor continues, "Please introduce yourselves, with your, ahem, touch-granted titles - don't be shy, this is for the record."
Max Thorn: "Max Thorn, professor in training and Shaymin's Messiah."
Linnea: "Linnea Maylithos, chosen of Meloetta, path as of yet unknown."
Sam Spade: "Samantha Malakowski, private investigator. Please, call me Sam."
Esme: "Ahem! Esme Duval, of the Fontaine-Duval Estate. Engineer, Thaumaturge…and Champion of Lugia, I suppose."
Mayor Machamp: "Thank you. And now, your story if you please?"
Max Thorn consults his PDA. "Ah…I think we'll begin with the MewTwo wars, since they feature rather heavily in Amodan and Dojjin history, and are a big part of what's led us here and there, and all that." Max offers a succinct version of events there, then segues into the trainers' travels.
[OOC] Max Thorn: Without mentioning that we're trainers, mind you.
[OOC] WC GM: Anyone else chipping in?
Esme: "I think that's most of it, including the Dojji adventures…"
[OOC] Max Thorn: I'd assume they would, at least for things Max isn't getting quite right or wasn't there for.
[OOC] Sam Spade: For instance, Sam's opinion of Stormderp would be made clear.
Mayor Machamp: "Alright, thank you. That concludes this recording." He pushes another button, and the LEDs wink out.
The mayor folds both pairs of hands, half-closes his eyes for a moment, and sighs. "Right. Cue the downloads in three, two-" There is a sudden commotion of voices outside. "…aaand they get faster all the time. Heh."
Sam Spade: "Huh."
Sam Spade: "That was pretty fast."
Mayor Machamp: "So before we continue, I want to reassure you that there are no further active recording devices in this room, and while we can hear outside, this is soundproofed so they can't hear us."
Esme: "…Uh huh."
The mayor reopens one eye and sends an accusatory glance across the party. "You're trainers, aintcha?"
Sam Spade: "Maybe?"
Linnea: "I suppose there's no use trying to hide it any longer."
Sam Spade: "The Trainer's League, what's left of it, thinks so."
Sam Spade: "Same for Team Jaeger."
Sam Spade: "Hell, Ignacia's a trainer - and a gym leader at that."
Mayor Machamp: "I ain't talking about the league, or whatever Ignacia's passing herself off as. I'm asking what YOU view yourselves as."
Linnea: "An adventurer, at this point."
Sam Spade frowns.
Mayor Machamp: "Do you. Personally. View yourselves as pokemon trainers?"
Sam Spade: "I ain't taken a pokemon by force yet. We're stronger together, and that's all there is to it."
Linnea: "… when it comes down to it? Nah. I'm just a person."
Chicklet chirps and hides behind Sam.
Max Thorn: "Not the label I'd choose. I'm a researcher first and foremost, and I'd much rather have friends than individuals subordinated due to technology or other means."
Linnea: "My pokemon are my close allies and comrades."
Mayor Machamp: "Good. That's good. And you, Esme?"
Max Thorn: "…and, honestly, Gaela is the kind of society I'd like to see in Amoda. And Dojji, as it rebuilds."
Esme: "Hmm…How I introduced myself earlier is more in line with my personal take." She tugs on Gervais' ear. "He's been my precious choux since I was little! Luc and Alexis are my close assistants! They're always free to do what they wish though."
The mayor smiles, reopening his other eye. "Good. I figured there was no way the first ones back wouldn't have something to do with…that culture. I couldn't help but notice the, ah, signs of something removed from what I assume are your pokedexes, and I thank you for taking such measures."
Sam Spade leans back and thinks.
Sam Spade: "Honestly, the fact that we don't have permanent jobs, that our journeys are subsidized, that we're encouraged to explore? Yeah, it was probably a given."
Mayor Machamp: "Or the law does, anyway. Penalties for trying to catch a citizen that way vary by means and circumstance. Sometimes it's allowed, worst case it's the death penalty."
Linnea: "No joke…"
Mayor Machamp: "So in my official capacity as the legal head of this here government…" He grins like a predator. "…thank you for complying with the law."
Esme: "No worries about that, here!"
Max Thorn: "Wouldn't want anyone tagging along who doesn't want to, anyhow."
Sam Spade: "Like I said. If they want to come with me, I'm not gonna stop them. If they don't, I'm not gonna make them."
Mayor Machamp: "Now, about that communications upgrade. I don't know how much you know about our infrastructure, but what isn't on the islands is underwater. But ever since Lugia left, they've been increasingly closing themselves off down there. I mean, they'll still talk and - especially - relay signals, but I don't think we're getting more than half our citizens back until Lugia returns."
Sam Spade: "…And I don't know when that'll happen."
Max Thorn: "We're working on it, though."
The mayor looks at Esme. "I figured. But you're here to find that researcher. First things first."
Sam Spade: "Yup."
Mayor Machamp: "Hand me your pokedexes and I'll put in the configuration myself. I'm one of the few here who's familiar with Amodan technology. I, err, 'escaped' from Dojoholm as a kid."
Max Thorn slides his down the table to the 'champ.
Max Thorn: "Must've been an interesting experience."
Sam Spade does so, as well.
Linnea places her device on the table.
The mayor carefully pokes at Max's pokedex, with slightly oversized hands, but soon slides it back, then repeats the process for the others offered. "Oh, that's a story for another time. Or never. Got an image to maintain, you understand."
Esme passes her along. "Of course."
Mayor Machamp: "Diablo still posing over there?" He finishes up with Esme's pokedex.
Sam Spade: "I think so?"
Max Thorn: "He was when we went through, yeah."
The pokdexes light up with new connections. As the mayor said, there are dots of underwater cities here and there, enough to keep connected anywhere within Gaelan waters. They scatter here and there in the pocket between the four islands and Lugia's Roost, with a very few to the west and north of the island the party is presently on.
Max Thorn ponders, then plots, as best he can, the whirlpools the party encountered.
Mayor Machamp: "Heh, I figure he'll be running strong until death itself pries his gym leadership from his old, leathered hands."
Sam Spade: "…Do you know what it is that's got the people in the underwater cities locked up tight?"
Mayor Machamp: "I told you: Lugia's absence."
Mayor Machamp: "Don't quite know if it's mourning, or if Lugia opened the way, or what."
Mayor Machamp: "I do know there're reports of those who tried going there, who couldn't get in. And reports of those who tried going there, who are now missing." He glances at the party. "I'd suggest not going missing."
Max Thorn: "Wasn't planning on it."
Sam Spade: "Sounds like a suggestion I'd be glad to follow."
Mayor Machamp: "I mean, if you want to look into that too? Talk to old Slakes, at the university."
Max Thorn: "I swear, every time I go anywhere my todo list gets longer and longer…" Max mutters.
Mayor Machamp: "You'll find him in the chemistry department. Professor of Mixology, he calls himself. Honestly I think he just went into it to find new ways to get everyone drunk."
Esme perks. "So where's the university?"
Mayor Machamp: "Check your maps." He nods to the pokedexes. "Seems Amoda finally discovered auto-update-mapping. Guess we managed to export that before things closed off."
Linnea: "… Hmm."
Max Thorn: "…As far as I'm aware, that's been a thing for years even before Team Jaeger took charge."
Esme: "Th…that was awhile ago."
Indeed, the party's pokdexes now have a detailed map of the island. The university is buried in, and around, the peak of the tallest hill at the island's center, not entirely unlike Onix Peaks but at a much lower elevation.
Linnea: "Whoa…"
The layout of the university is reminiscent of Scale Mount…it rapidly becomes apparent that much of the higher tech and learning here has been ripped off of Amoda, despite any proud claims to the contrary.
Max Thorn: "So…anything else you want to ask about before we head back out?"
Mayor Machamp: "No, no, that recording has done us a great service. I should ask you, if you have any further questions of me before you go. But I do wonder if you will be heading to the univeristy. If so, I'll have word sent to Slakes, to expect your arrival. Just as guests from Amoda, you understand."
Sam Spade: "That would be very kind of you."
[OOC] WC GM: Anything else here, or heading to the uni now?
[OOC] WC GM: The uno uni, even. :P
[OOC] Linnea: Nothin' from me
[OOC] Esme: Chug a lug
[OOC] Max Thorn: Nothin' from me.
While there are no taxis up the hill, the walk is scenic, to say the least. The city proper stretches a way from the coast, but even once the party passes the suburbs, the area is clearly still inhabited - less by people, more by pokemon.
It takes Max a while to plot all the information, but the whirlpools are far beyond the outermost underwater city.
Max Thorn: "…well, I sure can't blame the underwater cities for the whirlpools."
It does not look like the whirlpools are constraining the cities - in fact, tracing them and assuming there are more in a line, Max gets the distinct impression of a fence one might put at the outer reaches of one's lawn - or grazing area, if the cities are but livestock, the islands being the largest members of the herd.
Sam Spade: "Maybe, sure."
Sam Spade: "But we might be able to blame the underwater cities *on* the whirlpools."
Max Thorn: "How do you figure?"
Sam Spade: "Well, you have to travel through the ocean…whirlpools…"
Max Thorn: "If the whirlpools were sited anywhere near the underwater cities, maybe."
Soon the party is on an uphill dirt road, passing between massive orchards of berry trees, pokemon here and there tending to or harvesting them.
Esme: "Been awhile since I've seen a berry farm."
Then there is an open field to the left, digletts and dugtrios swimming through the dirt.
Max Thorn: "Scale Mount has some, but nothing this extensive."
Linnea: "It's gorgeous, might be nice to spend some time in…if we weren't so busy."
A quick check of the map shows the orchards go on for dozens of kilometers, well past the horizon.
Linnea: "Sheesh…!"
Up ahead, the orchards cut out entirely, for what appears at first to be open, grassy fields. A quick inspection shows several green-tinted windows buried in the grass.
Esme: "Eh?"
Linnea: "Underground houses…?"
Max Thorn: "I…think we're here?"
Over in one spot with less windows, a feast is going on - several pokemon and two humans with a large number of berries and a BBQ grill, one of the humans apparently teaching a magby how the grill operates, the two of them roasting berries and sliced berries for the rest of the group to consume.
Linnea: "Ooh…"
The other human appears to be gently lecturing the feasters, who are taking it slow; the munchlax is applying obvious will not to simply gulp down every edible thing.
Up ahead the road dips into the hill, terminating in a large door guarded by a large marowak.
Esme checks her map. This it?
The entire top of the hill is claimed by the university, down to the edge of the orchards.
Unfortunately, the university's internal map was not included in the updates.
Esme: "Guess we're here!"
Max Thorn: "I guess they don't want just anyone knowing their way around the place."
Max Thorn heads over to the marowak. "Amodans to see Slakes, please."
Facilities such as medical centers are noted, but not the departments.
The marowak twirls her bone club and points it at the party, speaking in an oddly high-pitched voice considering her bulked-up muscles. "So YOU'RE the ones! Hmph, you don't look like all that. Follow me; I was sent to take you right to Mister Beer Cannons."
Sam Spade: "Beer…Cannons?"
The marowak opens the door and walks in, gesturing with her bone club for the party to follow.
Max Thorn does precisely that.
Linnea: "I'm already interested."
Marowak: "He's a blastoise, you see, who's been looking into…alternate ammunition."
Sam Spade: "Ah."
Linnea: "Well, maybe not like that…Yikes…"
Max Thorn: "I…see."
Marowak: "He studied chemistry and practiced…uggh, they joke that he's a cyborg now, but he's not all robo-wanna-kill. Just crazy-wanna-get-you-drunk."
Marowak: "Ah…none of you are allergic to alcohol, I hope?"
Linnea: "Nah, I'm fine."
Marowak: "If you are, stay very close to me when we arrive."
Max Thorn: "Only in large quantities, but that's true of everyone."
Marowak: "I can only shield so much area."
Esme: "Should be ok!"
Sure enough, this university is a bit more warren-y than Scale Mount, but not that much more.
Twists and turns, down a couple flights of stairs, some walls made of dirt instead of stone, serious air conditioning once far enough underground, and soon enough the party is looking at a door labeled, "Professor Slakes, Mixologist" .
[OOC] Max Thorn: "Please tell me a lopunny wasn't responsible for designing this place." :V
[OOC] WC GM: "There are tales of the architect back when this university was founded, but that was a long time ago."
Max Thorn knocks on the door.
The marowak moves to knock on the door, but Max beats her to it. "Professor? I've brought your guests." Then backs off into the large corridor. Fortunately, or not, there is nobody else present.
From inside comes a gravely voice. "Excellent." The door creaks open…
A visibly aged, yet unbowed by time, blastoise waddles out, cannons deployed. "WELCOME!" His left cannon fires a burst of confetti and ribbons that rain over the party, along with a few fireworks that go off overhead. "Aaand…"
The marowak begins spinning her bone club overhead quickly, like an umbrella.
Slakes: "HAVE A DRINK!" His right cannon fires a liquid bomb, that bursts mid-air to rain over the party.
Linnea: "Oh my."
Sam Spade ducks under the umbrella.
Linnea: "You know, I think 'have a drink on me' works out better as a song, not an actual concept…"
Very soon, the corridor (for all save Sam) begins to tip and sway in a pleasant way.
Linnea: "Hmmmmmmmmmmn."
[OOC] WC GM: Max, Linnea, and Esme acquire the status condition Tipsy-Drunk. Slakes' concoction is potent.
Max Thorn: "…Shoulda brought a poncho."