Session 82

From inside the pokeball…heat, and flame, like unleashing a miniature sun inside the cavern. It is Ho-Oh, slightly torn apart, slightly melted, but a pulsing green-red aura is containing the parts, trying to keep them attached.
Sam Spade: "Max, can you…?"
Linnea: "Ugh… I wish I hadn't guessed right…"
Sam then drops the empty pokeball on the ground and smashes it.
Max Thorn raises his hands, sending forth Shaymin's green flame to meld with Ho-Oh's within a second of the great bird's release.
That gets Ho-Oh's full attention, eyes fixed on Sam, as if trying to pierce her soul while Max works.
Sam Spade: "We're here to help. Ignacia is nowhere near here." She hesitates. "Probably."
Sam Spade: "You won't be going back into a pokeball."
Max Thorn 's muttering all the while, a mantra of healing and rebirth, as he opens the way for Shaymin's rejuvenating energies.
Linnea: "We don't even got any on us."
Esme coughs.
HoOh: "IiI sssENSE theee usURper…not here." He glares at Sam. "What. Are. YoU?"
Linnea turns to Sam, and grins. "You know, that's a really good question, actually."
Chicklet darts in front of Ho-oh and tries very hard to glare, though she's obviously scared.
With Ho-Oh distracted, Max finds his work somewhat easy - even if it will take a while. Ho-Oh was in there for a while.
Chicklet: "She's a friend!"
HoOh: "Friiiend?"
Sam Spade: "I'm a human. I think."
Max Thorn lets the mantra go, since his practical experience combined with Ho-Oh's distraction makes it easy enough that he can start to divert a bit of attention to other matters.
Max Thorn: "I was right. I hate being right."
Sam Spade: "….Um. Why…do you wonder what I was?"
HoOh: "YoooU are nnnot the u-u-SURper. Yo-o-ou RELEASED me. Why?"
Sam Spade: "Why would I not?"
Linnea: "'cause we're good people that do good things."
Sam Spade: "I mean - Chicklet here, she *wanted* to come with me. She has a pokeball because she chose to."
HoOh: "Be-e-caaause it takes courage, and effort, t-to even come here. Most humans request m-m-my power of ressurection. Do-o-o you not seek to revive someone?"
Sam Spade blinks
Esme: "…That /is/ a thing you do."
[OOC] Max Thorn: for some reason, one of the Digimon songs is playing in my head right now, except s/Digi/Poke/.
Sam Spade: "No. No, we came here because Lugia has been angry."
Linnea: "Seems like you could use it more than anyone else, beg pardons for my impertinence."
[OOC] WC GM: Some of them apply, yes.
Sam Spade: "We came here because Ignacia did more damage than just binding you."
[OOC] Max Thorn: o/~ Hey pokemon, hey pokemon, monster friends of all the boys and girls o/~
HoOh: "Y-y-yooou, seek revenge, and justice."
Sam Spade: "We came here because we knew that you were imprisoned in a manner that is simply cruel."
Max Thorn: "Justice. Revenge is for plebes."
Sam Spade: "We seek peace."
Sam Spade: "We seek a better world."
Linnea stifles a laugh at Max.
Esme wiggles her shoulders. "…Yeah more or less."
HoOh: "Ha!" He shakes himself, soaking in Max's relayed energies to boost his own aura, then seems mostly whole aside from several ruffled feathers, which he idly sets to setting right. "Peace is for the dead. But a better world…and you seek to confront the usurper." His beak briefly flicks to point at Esme for a moment. "And I can smell HER upon you. You have her blessings."
Linnea: "Wait, what?"
Linnea slooooooowly turns to Esme. Back to Ho-oh.
Esme: "Pre-tty sure it's a good part of the reason we made it this far. The mademoiselle sends her regards."
Ho-Oh then looks at Max. "And you are of the one who brings fuel." Then Linnea. "You are the…musician's. Hmph, you are rarities indeed."
Max Thorn lowers his hands, Shaymin's green flames fading as Ho-Oh's recovery completes. He seems tired, but this time it's about comparable to a long day's work, unlike last time.
Sam Spade: "Heh. They were pretty freaked out when they scanned us at the University, I gotta say."
Ho-Oh looks at Tim, and blinks. "I see." He looks to the rest of the party. "You even bring a sacrifice for love, to set MewTwo right."
Linnea: "Hey, that's right."
Linnea: "Though, we've needed the time to really sit and connect."
Sam Spade: "…Sacrifice?"
Max Thorn blinks, and side-eyes Lin for a moment.
Linnea: "I mean…"
Linnea: "I've not had a connection to my muse as much as you have, Max."
Linnea: "I've not been able to exert any of her powers, yet."
Ho-Oh then points a wing at Sam. "Which gets back to my question. You are obviously no mere human, to have come here and freed me despite your companions. So again: what are you?"
Linnea: "A hero?"
Sam Spade blushes.
Sam Spade: "…Wait. Despite? *Despite* my companions?"
Sam Spade: "Why…would you think that they would be working against me?"
Max Thorn: "Hey. We three" -Max gestures to himself, Lin, and Esme- "would have gladly done what she did, but she had the ball first."
Sam Spade: "…Is there some reason that Lugia would want you buried and lost? Or Meloetta? Or Shaymin?"
HoOh: "They would sooner gain the glory, and my boon. Why you and not them?"
Linnea: "Kweh?"
Sam Spade: "…Because we are a team?"
Sam Spade: "We all work together. Pretty well, actually."
Max Thorn: "Not interested in glory. Glory's for fools who think the world's opinion is more important than justice."
Linnea: "…I just wanna live my life while I have it. I don't wanna screw up anyone elses' unless they're hurting people."
Esme: "I've got enough favor for one lifetime, honestly."
Esme: "Way more than I expected, that's for sure."
HoOh: "And you intend to accompany them until this quest is complete?"
Linnea: "I would hope so!"
Sam Spade: "Well yeah?"
Ho-Oh sits back. "I see." Then, in a near-blinding blaze of fire, he plucks out one of his ruffled feathers and thrusts it, base first, at Sam. "It's dangerous to go with them. Take this!"
Linnea: "What."
Sam Spade: "Alright? Thank you…"
Sam Spade takes the feather.
In Sam's hands, the feather is like a towering greatsword, easily taller than she is - but only for a moment. It soon fades into red-white sparkles that travel around her hands, up her arms, and fade entirely into her skin before they reach her shoulders.
Linnea: "Then, this is…?"
Linnea: "No way!"
Sam Spade: "Uh. What was that?"
Max Thorn: "You just got a Blessing."
Max Thorn: "Whether you *use* it is, of course, up to you."
HoOh: "Indeed. If you are here to help set things right - I sense the damage that Lugia's rage has caused. She always did have a temper, but she left it behind when she fled these islands."
HoOh: "Have you ever fought a disembodied temper tantrum before?"
Linnea: "Uh…"
Sam Spade: "No. No I do not believe we have."
Linnea: "Depends on what your criteria are."
Sam Spade: "Which means this will be a new experience?"
Esme: "Is it like an angry sea of ghosts?"
Esme: "Because it sounds kind of close, and we /have/ fought that."
Max Thorn glances at Ho-oh, then to Sam. "So. You can reach beyond the gates, and give life to those who've lost it."
HoOh: "'An angry sea of ghosts'. Close enough."
Max Thorn: "…I think, anyway. But only if that's what you want."
HoOh: "Her fury nests where she once did. Can you find your way there?"
Linnea: "An embodiment of rage? Isn't there an eastern concept of that?"
Linnea: "Ari…something."
Sam Spade: "We can, yes."
Sam Spade bows low to Ho-oh.
HoOh: "Then…" He stands up, the cavern far more than large enough to accommodate his full wingspan - as if it was selected for this quality, among others. "…I shall meet you there. I shall attempt to draw it out into a form you can fight."
In a single bound, Ho-Oh whooshes out, out of sight even before clearing the cave entrance.
Sam Spade: "Heh. The high priest is going to be…displeased."
Linnea: "Hoo-boy…"
Max Thorn: "He made his bed, let him lie in it."
Sam Spade: "Indeed I shall."
Sam Spade: "…And given his age and power, I think I might even refrain from poking him. Still, it's time we were on our way past all the things he left to keep Ho-oh bound here, yes?"
Esme: "…There is another way out of here, right?"
Tim: "…has anyone seen Petri?"
Sam Spade: "….No. No, I haven't."
Linnea rubs at her temples. "…"
Max Thorn sighs.
The party's pokedexes beep.
Linnea checks hers. "Yes?"
Max Thorn checks his.
Esme: "Mmm?"
Petri Via Text: "Not that I mind helping Ho-Oh, but he could have asked before borrowing me. We seem to be heading for Lugia's Roost. If you could please - screw it. HELP!"
Sam Spade: "I am very not surprised."
Esme: "Oh good! Chaperoned."
Max Thorn: "…She made her bed, too."
Linnea: "At least she's surviving."
Max Thorn: "Anyway, shall we? This cave is a bit depressing."
Linnea: "Certainly."
Tim: "We were going there anyway. C'mon, Sands!"
There is only the one exit to this cavern - at least, without digging through rubble and slag.
Fortunately, Ho-Oh took care of the traps. The loose ceiling is now fused into place (the glass column and its shiny but cheap prize smashed), the smashing platforms melted and inoperable, and even the paint of a false spike pit mostly charred off.
Max Thorn: "Oh, good. I was dreading having to deal with them in reverse."
There are a number of pokemon gathered around the entrance, animatedly talking to one another. They match up with the skeletons seen earlier; said skeletons are no longer in evidence.
Esme: "He sure did a lot when we weren't looking! Not complaining of course."
Linnea: "…that's actually kind of…"
Linnea: "I don't even know how to feel about that."
Max Thorn: "What, him undoing the pointless destruction of lives?"
Sam Spade: "Excuse me? He told us we have to meet up with him at Lugia's Roost, and that means we have to get back to the Port - can you take the train back to the temple once we get off?"
Unfortunately, the train is now slagged. Though the caboose can be unhooked, to roll back downhill under gravity.
Sam Spade: "….Or not."
Sam Spade: "Well, at least they know who to talk to for a replacement, I guess."
The ressurected pokemon do not yet appear to have noticed the party.
Esme sighs and goes to detach the nonfunctional portions. "I rescind my lack of complaint."
Max Thorn: "Assuming the apparatchiks would allow the import of a new one, anyway."
Sam Spade: "From the Port of the Sand? I think they'd be up for that."
Sam Spade: "No one ever said that was a gift from on high."
Max Thorn: "His priest sure tried to play it as one, though."
[OOC] WC GM: Hopping in the caboose and rolling away?
[OOC] Max Thorn: Sure, unless we want to talk to the revived.
Sam Spade puts her fingers to her lips and blows a piercing whistle.
Sam Spade: "Hey! We're taking the caboose back to town. If you want a ride…"
The pokemon look up, talk a bit more, shrug, and board.
Sam Spade: "So…do you think Captain Skitty will be there when we get to the wailord?"
There are…quite a lot of them. The staraptor and the unfezant ride on the roof, wings extended.
Linnea: "Prolly."
Esme shrugs!
Newton's laws apply just as well with a lot of mass, though, and soon the caboose is rolling downhill freely, no brakes or engines or anything. A good 25 kmph soon becomes 50.
Sam Spade: "…Also can we stop this thing?"
Esme: "…Technically!"
Then 100. Then 150. Then the party thinks it is 200 but it is hard to measure.
Linnea: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH."
Sam Spade: "…Can we survive stopping?"
The switch passes in the blink of an eye.
Esme: "Th-theoretically?"
Now at least the caboose is on level ground and no longer accelerating.
As much.
Max Thorn: "It's okay, I can stitch us back together," Max says stoically.
It is still slightly downhill from here, to the temple or to town.
Esme: "And you'll probably be fine, you just got a whole Ho-Oh feather and everything."
Esme does take this opportunity to look for something to slow the descent, though. Gravity doesn't care about destiny.
There are the flying pokemon on the roof. Or Esme could make something, from materials on hand or the walls of the caboose.
Esme: "Mmm. Could you guys get the roof-riders to give us a little air resistance?"
Esme: "And I'll uhh… Try to bang out a hand brake that won't tear my arm off at this speed."
Linnea thumps at the roof, and bellows out - "HEY! UP THERE! USE YOUR WINGS IF YOU GOT 'EM! GIVE US SOME WIND T'SLOW US DOWN!"
[OOC] WC GM: A brake that won't break you.
[OOC] Linnea: Command?
[OOC] WC GM: Sure!
Linnea rolled up 4d6: 16 (5 4 5 2)
Linnea sees the wings stretch out over the car. They try to twist, but at this speed do not seem able to flap back.
And then the horizon slowly begins to drop.
Esme jams a Blue Shard between her teeth and attempts to cobble something together from what's in the car. "If dis do'ent 'ork I'm 'ust 'onna 'ull da stunt 'om da 'ailord again."
Linnea: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH."
Esme rolled up 6d6+1: 23 (6 1 1 4 5 5) (Tech-Tech Fruit Go?)
[OOC] WC GM: What exactly are you trying to make?
[OOC] Esme: honestly given we're just free rolling, something to create some drag
[OOC] WC GM: Something like a parachute?
[OOC] Esme: Woiks!
FOOMF! The paneling, rapidly stitched together with lines, shoots out the back and holds. The sudden jerk shakes off the flying pokemon. The caboose soon stops ascending - there is a moment at the apex where everyone is riding on air - then freefall, limited by the chute.
The caboose crashes back onto the rail line, still rolling. The parachute stretches out behind, slowly slowing the vehicle as the carved walls of the temple courtyard come into view.
Up ahead, pokemon notice the incoming train and scatter to get out of the way.
Passing the courtyard gates, the caboose is still doing at least 50.
Linnea: "FFuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK."
The caboose follows the rail line up to the turnabout at the very end. Taking a sharp turn at speed is ever not recommended; although it is a slow enough derail to cause nothing more than bumps and scrapes, the caboose still ends its run on its side, skidding up to the salamence (still in the same spot, apparently contemplating his beration), who gently stops it with one foot.
Esme: "OOF."
Sam Spade: "That is the dumbest design I have ever heard of."
Sam Spade: "If you want to replace it, go talk to the Port of the Sand. Or steal a better one."
Sam Spade: "…And now we need to get back to the Port so we can meet Ho-oh at Lugia's Roost."
Max Thorn: "Ow."
Esme pulls herself up. "Yup. Trains on the list after Ghosts now."
Max Thorn: "Poorly-designed ones, anyway."
Max Thorn looks thoughtful for a moment, then shrugs and flickers greenly as he tosses green fireballs to Sam, Esme, and Lin. Their minor scrapes & bruises are gone now.
Linnea: "UUuuuuuuugh."
Max Thorn climbs out of the caboose and drops down to the ground.
Salamence: "Port of the Sand makes better ones?"
Max Thorn: "They will soon."
Linnea: "ANYONE could make a better one."
Esme: "Except the Psyducks."
Max Thorn taps an inquiry in to his 'dex; can he connect to Karen's network from here?
Linnea: "… except the Psyducks."
Max's pokedex picks up a local signal, which can relay messages to addresses at Port of the Sand. He does not have Karen's address, though.
The salamence looks over the temple grounds, and raises his voice slightly. "Engineers."
The volbeat and illumise soon pop up, saluting in mirror image - seemingly practiced - poses. "Reporting!"
Salamence: "We return to the port. Our friends know how to replace this train. Get what information you need from them before we arrive." He kneels down, motioning with his head to his back.
The volbeat and illumise quickly board.
Sam Spade hesitates for just a second, then follows.
Max Thorn sends a general inquiry in that direction, regarding the possibility of producing a proper train to modern standards.
Max Thorn boards as well, looking preoccupied.
[OOC] WC GM: Esme and Linnea hopping on too?
[OOC] Linnea: Yep!
Linnea clambers aboard.
Esme hops on and leans in a corner. "The long day continues."
The salamence launches up the moment all are on board, Tim and Sands having wound up in something akin to a saddlebag.
Volbeat: "So…we ask Karen, right? And her trainees?"
Max Thorn: "Yup. Give it some time, though; they need references in order to do it right."
Linnea: "And for Melo's sakes, don't rush it."
Volbeat: "I heard she tried to train those psyducks and wasn't seen in public right afterward, as if she was embarrassed by the result."
Esme: "…I'd believe it."
Max Thorn: "…I'd hide, too, after something like that."
By the time the salamence sets down outside town, the sun is almost touching the horizon again…and the party's stomachs remind them they missed lunch in all the shenanigans.
Linnea: "Uuuuuuwuuuuuhhhh."
Volbeat: "The food court is different by night. C'mon, it'll be my treat for all you've donne."
[OOC] WC GM: *done
Sam Spade: "That…would be very nice."
Linnea marches along in a zombie-like state.
Esme all but rolls off. "Aliments. Oui."
Difference one: candle-lit and white-cloth-draped tables. Difference two: waiters bringing the food to the tables, the stalls surrounding the area roped off and only visited by waiters. Difference three: a score-card-like bill for each table, on which the waiters mark their deliveries. And of course the darkening night sky with stars starting to emerge, as well as more nocturnal pokemon.
Max Thorn: "…Huh."
Sam Spade: "Very different indeed."
Linnea: "So it turns into a finer dining experience?"
The illumise giggles. "More elegant dining for more elegant pokemon, so they say."
Esme: "Mm. Elegant." She slumps into a seat, and rests her chin on the table.
The volbeat rolls his eyes. "I think that's just playing to the day-sleepers' egos. But if it sells, I can't complain too much."
Max Thorn: "Well, I'm not going to argue, but…just a sec." He gets out a couple of brushes and hands one to Antheia. The other, of course, he applies to Amaterasu as Antheia grooms herself. He puts a little ribbon on one of Amaterasu's ear-horns when he's done, and helps Antheia with another one.
A krokorok in a tuxedo waves a small steak under Esme's nose.
Esme: "Buh-"
This is the same cloned stuff from this morning, but more thoroughly spiced and cooked - and thus, aromatic.
Linnea just stares at it like it's the finest feast. After what she's been through…
Esme adjusts herself, sitting up and nodding to the waiter. "Merci!"
The waiter plates it up for Esme, then another for Linnea, before leaving a platter of them on the table and stamping the bill.
Max Thorn makes sure Antheia and Amaterasu get their meals before he does, and then settles in.
All in all, the experience is basically dim sum, by those who have barely heard of dim sum but are eager to do it well.
Toward the end of the meal, Sands - having apparently excused himself mid-meal - wanders up through the crowd and whispers to Tim, who frowns.
Tim: "Looks like getting to Lugia's Roost will be a bit more difficult."
Sam Spade: "Oh?"
Tim: "The wailord's gone. Our camp's lined up on a pier for us to pick up, but the pokecenter's missing."
Esme: "No ride, huh?"
Sam Spade: "Well. That…would make things tricky."
Tim: "I guess this was the end of the line for Mel-uh, 'the musician', and the wailord was only along for her."
Max Thorn: "Or she had business involving the pokecenter."
Linnea: "That's… hmm."
Tim: "That, or she didn't wait up for us."
Max Thorn: "Ah well. We can /probably/ commission a boat…"
Linnea: "But could we trust it?"
Max Thorn: "Do we have a choice?"
Linnea: "… Nah, not really."
Volbeat: "Commission a boat? I…maaay know some folks who could bang a hull together overnight, if you want."
Sam Spade: "I think he meant hire."
The volbeat looks to his wife, who shakes her head and giggles.
Max Thorn: "Yes. Hire."
Illumise: "You head into danger, yes? I can see it in your eyes. No *normal* ship in Gaela is armed, but my husband wishes to equip you thusly."
Illumise: "It will not last long, but it should be seaworthy to get you in, and out, of danger and then to Amoda. Do not trust it beyond that."
Illumise: "You have met the crafters he is thinking of."
Max Thorn pinches the bridge of his nose.
Max Thorn: "Are these the same people who wanted to lick the battery?"
Esme: "Not riding anything built by the Psyducks."
Linnea: "Yyyyyeah."
Illumise: "The same. Or you can hire a boat - few will head near Lugia's Roost, but the crazier captains may."
Linnea: "I can't believe it's come to this."
Illumise: "I saw Ho-Oh's flight. Your timing was no coincidence, yes? That is where you seek to go?"
Sam Spade: "It is."
Esme: "…Knew I shoulda taught Gervy Surf."
Sam Spade: "Ho-oh told us to meet him there."
Tim: "Could we all fit on Gervaise?"
Esme: "Haha! No."
Tim: "Oh! Or maybe you could, I dunno, call up a wave for us to ride on?"
Max Thorn: "…I mislike where this is going."
Linnea: "What, like islanders do?"
Tim: "Like champions of Lugia do…maybe? I don't know how that works."
Esme: "Maybe? I'll be honest, I haven't really tried much of… any of that. Other than poking at the barrier thing."
Esme: "…and that tornado on accident. So Maybe+?"
Tim: "Well, we should decide on how we're getting there. Any other ideas?"
s Icecylee
Linnea: "Too far to teleport."
Max Thorn: "I stand by 'hire a boat'."
Sam Spade: "Seems like the best idea to me…"
Esme: "Finding a crazy captain, then?"
Max Thorn: "In the morning, though."
Sam Spade: "Do we really want to keep Ho-oh waiting?"
Linnea: "Nope."
Max Thorn: "…Sailing at night to Lugia's Roost is going to greatly reduce the number of captains willing to make the trip."
Sam Spade: "That's okay, we needed crazy anyway."
Tim: "We should get our stuff first, though."
Max Thorn: "Yes."
Volbeat: "I'll pay the bill if you want to get going."
Sam gets to her feet and bows to the volbeat.
Sam Spade: "Thank you very much for your help, for showing us around, and for the meal."
Volbeat: "Thank you very much for your help."
Esme drags herself up. "It is all very appreciated!"
Linnea: "Thanks… we should probably get searching."
The volbeat nods to the party, then his gaze lingers on Sam. "Is it me, or…did you get hotter since this morning?" This earns him a jab from the illumise.
Sam Spade: "Why thank you!"
Sam Spade blushes prettily.
Max Thorn stands, and bows. "Thank you, most graciously, for your hospitality."
Volbeat: "Ow! I meant temperature-wise, not…" The illumise shushes him with paw gently applied across lips.
Tim: "We should probably get out of here." He walks off quickly.
Max Thorn nods, and follows Tim.
Down at the shoreline - sure enough, no wailord, and the party's camp minus pokecenter is arranged along the pier the wailord had been next to.
A gyarados towers over the pier. "You! Are you the ones from Amoda?"
Max Thorn: "Yes…?"
Sam Spade: "…Yes?"
Chicklet grabs Sam's legs and stares up at the gyarados.
Gyarados: "The town thanks you for your donation."
Sam Spade: "…The, ah, healing equipment?"
Gyarados: "The same. It will aid a lot of lives."
Max Thorn: "Do you have individuals capable of keeping it in service? If not, I can probably make a visit to train someone."
Gyarados: "I've heard of some psyducks who know about that sort of thing."
Max Thorn: "…You don't want them anywhere near it for maintenance."
Gyarados: "But what about you? Are you staying long?"
[OOC] WC GM: *swap lines
Max Thorn: "We have a trip to make, to Lugia's Roost. After that…" He glances to the other three.
Gyarados: "…what do you want at Lugia's Roost?"
Esme: "Meeting Ho-Oh."
Max Thorn: "Ho-Oh is waiting for us there, to help soothe Lugia's rage."
Sam Spade: "Apparently when Lugia went to Amoda she left her anger here."
Gyarados: "Ho! That is a bold claim! And what will you do once you get there and there's nothing?"
Sam Spade: "Nothing? Did…did Ho-oh not come this way?"
[OOC] WC GM: Is the party on the pier, or holding back?
[OOC] Sam Spade: On the pier, I think
Max Thorn: "I think you presume too much, Mx." He glows greenly, borrowing Shaymin's power. "We serve Shaymin, Meloetta, Lugia, Ho-Oh, and Arceus in this."
Gyarados: "Did he? I heard about that, but I was resting my eyes at the time."
Gyarados: "Hmm. HMM. Interesting. How about a bet? I'll tow you there, and if you're lying I'll leave you there. Even if you're telling the truth I'll probably back off and leave you there. Deal?"
Sam Spade: "Well, I can't blame you on the backing away and leaving us there. But…do we have anything we could fit on and you could tow?"
The gyarados crunches through the pier behind the party. "Like this?" He then gets out some rope - from a backpack painted to mesh with his scales, so it looks at first like some cybertech concealed body compartment - and lassos the front pilings, the far end secured in said backpack.
The pilings groan as the gyarados tugs, slowly giving way.
Linnea: "… Are they going to tow the pier?"
Esme: "I think he's towing the pier."
Max Thorn pinches the bridge of his nose. "May I have your name, so that when someone asks where the pier went *I* don't get blamed for it?"
Linnea: "This day has gone straight past Stupid into Extra."
Max Thorn: "Please. This entire journey has been extra."
Gyarados: "Call me Gary."
Linnea: "…somehow that's a very ominous kind of name."
[OOC] WC GM: +1 trainer level for clearing the island.