Group RP Pokemon: Evolution Quest (IC thread)

The sound of the mandolin became more distant as Atelier took his leave from Steamington. Even though it was lunchtime, he wasn't feeling hungry and decided he would eat later in the afternoon or evening. He ventured out of the city, book and map in paw, and proceeded to the whereabouts. The Dragon King's lair - a lava lake - was situated in some kind of deep pit. It was just a matter of finding the right direction and navigating the roads.

 

Xuehua herself was pretty tired after all that time - so far, trying to combine Ice Shard with water did *not* work. It just kept freezing the water again. She'd tried different variations of the shape, but nothing quite seemed to work. Maybe it was time to change and start trying Water-Hail? It was frozen rain, after all...

 

The calculations led Atelier to the west of Steamington and to a rocky clearing with mine work. Among the rocks was a particularly enormous hole that was sizeable given how far away Atelier was standing. If it looked this big from far away, he could only imagine how big the lair was up close. Plus, he could feel the heat even from here.

 

Meanwhile, at an open diner near Aine's "stage", Blacky was having a quality time with his Leppa and Persim pie (as in a pie with both Leppa and Persim fillings). Aine's performance over there somehow reminded him of that one time when his Espeon mother told him about a day in a minstrel's life when they're not in the battlefield.

 

Stepping cautiously downward, Atelier made his way to the entrance of the pit that was the lava lake. The hole was enormous and as he got closer, he drew out his sword, just in case. He got closer to the edge of the pit, peeked downward, and saw it descend to continuing darkness. Only glowing lava from the lava lake was visible at the bottom of the pit, and traces of lava also lined the walls to provide limited light.

 

Another hour or so on and even her rain spell wasn't quite working right. Making one drop of water out of ice at a time was simple enough, but turning all the hail falling into water? This was going to be tough. But Xuehua drew the triangle again, and focused again. She'd just have to be tougher.

 

There was a flight of stone stairs that allowed Atelier to descend down into the pit. Not that he was going to venture too far, of course. He could risk getting attacked, and even then what would be more concerning was the lava. Sword drawn, he stepped down into the pit and let the glow of lava on the walls guide him. As he descended further into the pit, he found it was just getting hotter and hotter the further he went. He wasn't even a quarter of the way down, noting the first treasure room as he did, when he realised it was simply too hot. Hmm... That would be a problem indeed.

And besides the heat getting more intense, Atelier could also hear bubbling from way below. The sound of active lava was reaching his ears and he took that as a warning that the lava lake was becoming active. No wonder it was getting extremely hot! Glancing down, he saw the lava was rising from the lake below and knew it was time to go. Quickly, he turned around and left the to the ground above.

He also had to run for it too, not knowing how active the lava would become. The moment he hit fresh air, he ran for it, trying to get away from the pit to where he was before on the high ground. It would be safe there. After some time, he turned around and saw lava overflowing out of the pit, although they hardened to rock as they left the pit. Then the lava slowly descended downward back to the lake.

 

More water - not rain, but it was something. She just had to try ag- wait. Trying the same sort of thing over and over again... That was the more "cold brittle" approach, wasn't it? Not what a water spell was looking for. Maybe she had to try another approach.
The water she was summoning wasn't exactly rain - not even close. Maybe it would be what she was looking for later, but that would come in due time. Perhaps for now she needed a way to lighten it...

 

(Assuming Aine being in the tavern was at dinner time...)

Meanwhile, Blacky had spent the time between lunch and dinner trying to learn dual-wielding in a warrior guild. It might take some time to fully master it, though.

 

The sweat hadn't left Atelier's head. But now that he had a better measure of the next Dragon King's lair, he started thinking how the attack would play out. All that running and heat had made him hungry, and he was back in Steamington in time for dinner. Now it was just a matter of finding his companions.

 

Atelier hadn't realised how tired he was until he smelled the aroma of food upon entering the tavern. Noticing Aine was on break, he greeted her with a wave as he went to get some food. Then he could catch up with her in a bit.

 

Xuehua too had returned from the mage's guild, her training time having somewhat paid off. She could... infrequently create water now, perhaps only with the help of the orb, but still better than nothing! But to actually learn her first water spell... Now that would take a little longer. Nonetheless, she was ready to share her progress and hear everyone else's once they were gathered.

 

Welp, seems like Blacky was late to the party as he arrived right after Aine welcoming the group. Thanks to that, he quickly spotted a certain blue Sylveon on break. The Umbreon took a seat, then started reporting what he got.

"Well, for starters, the Moltres rumour is true," he stated. "But as I said, I'm no mage, so I passed on that one."

 

"Water spell in progress. Not sure if it's all me or also the Orb-" Xuehua gestured to her bag. "-but it's coming along. I wasn't able to do much else today, though."

 

"Eh. A progress is still a progress, right?" Blacky mused at Xuehua's report. She did say it's not that much, but that's still something.

And then the Umbreon swordsmon remembered more on his side. "Speaking of, I somehow got my earthly blade right this time," he said, then mentally added, ...and tried dual-wielding, but still eh.