Pokemon Village Quest

[ayleid]

As the sun sets, you watch your people set up their tents, tiredness enforcing a sullen silence over the camp. You turn and behold the landscape, catching a glimpse of your patrolling partner. The twilight makes shadows dance among the trees and crags, a flock of bird Pokémon disappears over the horizon, and a thought occurs… this could be it!

"Berry for your thoughts?"

You turn and barely catch, in fact, a thrown berry. Your best friend gives you a cheeky smile before turning more somber.

"No Pokémon attacks today, but I don't like old man Takeshi's cough. He's not getting better, and the only reason there was room in the cart for him is that food's getting low."

"Yup… food's getting tight, so why do you have a spare Oran berry?"

"Don't think I missed you cutting your hand on that rock! Eat it, pal, we need our backup scout at 100% tomorrow! Hope you don't expect me to pitch your tent for you though."

You think about arguing but your hand is in fact still smarting under your glove and hasty bandage so you let yourself enjoy the medicinal berry. That's dinner sorted out, you guess. You'll even let the 'backup scout' comment pass. You are number one and everyone knows it!

"Seriously though, what's with that face you were making? Trouble? Anything specific?"

"No, no… Actually, quite the opposite. I think we've arrived. This could be the spot. Our new home!"

That gets you a raised eyebrow. "Well, someone's enthusiastic. There's water here, and no Pokémon nest, but I wouldn't call it perfect."

"No Pokémon nest, and few animal tracks, so it's not a hunting ground either. There's good forage around but not right here so the Pokémon shouldn't immediately attack if we set up and fortify. No berry trees, but with a little work the land will be good for crops. Room to set up, and even to expand eventually." You frown. "'Sides, is there such a thing as a perfect spot? Is it near enough we can get to it? We're all tired. Here is good enough and better than anything I've seen in a while."

You turn back to the sunset. Besides you, your friend thinks a long while on what you said, turning this way and that and eyeing the resources and features that caught your eye. They take long enough that you end up going down the hillock you used as an observation point to pitch your tent next to theirs while there is still some light. A few lanterns are set up to illuminate the obvious approaches to the camp and you really hope the designated sentinels will not have to wake you and your partner up tonight. Nocturnal Pokémon usually shy away from such organized groups, but one never knows.

Having a Pokémon each places you and your friend in a strange position in the informal hierarchy of this migration. Pokémon engender greed, wariness, and fascination. There is authority in having a magical beast taking orders from you, but also suspicion and a deep-seated fear. Pokémon partners have sometimes turned on their trainer or other Humans. Their utility cannot be denied however, and legends tell of ancient cities where Pokémon walked freely and peacefully among Humans.

The both of you -four with the Pokémon- are the designated pathfinders and scouts and are expected to be front and centre if something goes wrong, though few expect you to actually pacify hungry wild Pokémon like you did your partners. Humans cannot defeat the most powerful Pokémon, but such forces of nature are rare and even they cannot expect to take your supplies entirely without injury. Dissuasion is the best defence against Pokémon and your partners are a great help for that. This gives your voice weight, and the elders had been wondering for a while if it was not time to settle down. There have been more promising spots along the road, but competition would have been stiff to settle them. Pokémon and defence are your expertise, and you do not think anybody will really want to argue if you tell them that here is defensible enough.

As you finish setting up, footsteps come up behind you. You turn and are greeted by a more hopeful smile than you have seen in a while from your friend.

"You know… I think you're right. This is where we were meant to be. This is our home now!"


[This is a writing exercise for me. I will strive to update every 2-3 days, though a voting upset may lead to a delay.]

Spoiler: Initial vote

Please vote for a plan. Elements of the runner-up may be chosen to substitute for an option incongruent with the rest of the plan. If there is much interest in the future, I may switch to asking you to upvote plans instead of re-posting them.​

Where are you? [Choose your starting location; the names are references to help voters, you are setting up in an unclaimed place and may develop it in a completely different way than canon.

[ ] (Pallet Town) A wide meadow by a bay into which runs a small river, framed by forests and plains. Forage is good and access to both timber and the sea will be very precious, but Pokémon presence is on the heavy side. Expansion and farming are sure to incite constant aggression. The location is also quite exposed and the convenience of its natural harbour and resources is sure to attract some passage, both good and bad.

[ ] (Olivine) Cliffs and woods frame a prairie transitioning into wide beaches, irrigated by a river. Expansion will require some effort to tame the area, and there is a reason you did not set up in the plains up North: territorial herds of Pokémon will not accept interlopers, especially permanent ones. There is potential for farming there, though. In the meantime, the beaches and shallows offer fishing opportunities, though the reefs may prove problematic for bigger ships. They do mean less dangerous sea Pokémon attacks.

[ ] (Blackthorn) An isolated plateau among tall peaks. Runoff streams and falls feed a series of clear pools and the access points are easily defensible. Stone is not the only thing in abundance: these mountains are filled with interesting minerals. The natural hot springs could alleviate the lack of timber for heating. The plateau is well-sized, and while you hope to one day expand to the point it will feel constraining, the adjacent valleys and plateaus will give you options eventually and forage for the time being. Food is the issue here, and the reason few Pokémon seem interested in the place to begin with. The soil is fairly poor and the terrain is hilly. It will take some work to feed your people, let alone new arrivals. Hunting and fishing weaker Pokémon and mundane animals will help, but while the plateau itself is barely contested there seem to be powerful Pokémon around. Best keep your head down…

[ ] (Fallarbor) In the forested foothills of a chain of mountains cutting you off from the sea, a series of clearings has grabbed your attention. Abundant runoff streams, timber and forage will make things easy in the short term. The looming volcano in the Southeast is a hazard, but not an immediate one: it is too far away for lava flows to reach you. On the other hand, the volcanic ash makes the whole area downright luxuriant! There is a lot of potential for farming. The peculiar environment is home to some very weird Pokémon however, and they may not take kindly to deforestation.

[ ] (Shalour) A striking seaside location, the main feature of which is a peculiar island that is connected to the mainland beach by sand banks during low tides. Few Pokémon seem to be interested in the island itself, perhaps viewing it as a trap. However, you see the potential to fortify it to make it safe from all but the most powerful land Pokémon, and the shallows will put off the bigger seaborne ones. The woods of the mainland will offer plentiful timber though transporting it will require some ingenuity. Once some of it is cleared up farming will be possible, with fishing and foraging tiding you over in the meantime. Water might be tight though. Rainwater lingers in pools on the island -which could be expanded into actual cisterns- and in the peculiar cave to the south -which is unfortunately a Pokémon hotspot. Otherwise all you see are minor, unreliable streams and ponds.

[ ] Write-in (no desert or other environments where access to forage and water cannot be assumed, however you may choose a location where there never was canonically a settlement)]


Who are your people? [Where did your settlers come from and why are they here?

[ ] Refugees: it is a harsh world out there. Natural disasters, Pokémon rampage, war… It is not uncommon for entire settlements to be razed, their survivors scattered in the wilds. Your people are one column of such refugees, your best having already sacrificed themselves to give their loved ones this last chance at survival. Hope has been rising of late though. You did survive, and made your way to relative safety. It will be hard but you know that you can rebuild. You must, and you will! (Bonuses: +20 children, 'Code of laws' technology. Maluses: discontent will be rising and morale falling until you have had time to give proper due to the dead)

[ ] Outpost: your hometown has grown big enough to gather the resources and people necessary to set up a distant trade outpost. These eager colonists are ready to settle in a new area to build what will be hopefully a thriving new settlement. Some of them are glad to keep ties to their greater hometown, and of the safety net this provides. Others relish their newfound independence, and will balk at attempts to establish the roads and trade agreements that were the original point of your endeavour. (Your hometown will quickly know where you are, speeding up technological and economical exchanges, however they have expectations of your settlement being subordinate to theirs. Bonuses: 'Hunting tactics' technology, good preparation means more food and enhanced rolls against initial hazards. Maluses: victory cannot be achieved unless you surpass your hometown in both size and renown)

[ ] Shipwreck: the expedition was proud and hopeful, a scientific endeavour aimed at mapping a bit of terra incognita. But a freak storm has tossed you around and slammed you on unknown shores. Experienced seamen and inventive scholars have managed to cobble together a convoy out of the remains of your ship but your trek has revealed that you are far from home indeed. Finally, your homesick people have accepted the frightful truth: they are stranded in these wild lands and must now settle there. (Bonuses: 'Wind and water' technology, 'Full status of women' technology, future research on low-tier Engineering and Society technologies will be faster, less constraints on your starter Pokémon. Maluses: lower initial productivity and general health, both you and your best friend start with the 'stressed' affliction (-1 Stewardship, Intrigue and Health; -10% fertility, -10 on combat rolls))

[ ] Write-in (bonuses in such will be a suggestion only, I will have final say)]


Who are you? [Write-in for name, gender, appearance, age (older will give more bonuses according to background, younger has more room to grow) and background (I will assign an Education Trait based on it). Choose for yourself at least two CK2 virtues (Chaste, Temperate, Charitable, Diligent, Patient, Kind, Humble) and one compatible sin (Lustful, Gluttonous, Greedy, Slothful, Wroth, Envious, proud); up to two additional virtues can be selected at the cost of selecting an additional sin for each. Be aware that while circumstances can change them, your character will not act in contradiction to their traits so you may be trading initial optimization for roleplaying flexibility.]


Who is your Pokémon? [Vote for a first stage Pokémon, the more powerful single-stage Pokémon lines such as Skarmory or Absol may be disallowed, as well as any pseudo-legendary lines and Psychic- or Dragon-types; nickname possible but not mandatory. Assuming a Pokémon repartition roughly similar to canon (with some leeway for Bug-types), it must be somewhat plausible that a pre-industrial kid ran into the Pokémon: no Tauros in Hisui]


Who is your best friend? [Write-in for name, gender, appearance, age and background (background must be at least somewhat coherent with yours); choose one virtue and one sin, the rest of their traits will be rolled for or chosen in accordance with their background; their Pokémon will also be chosen semi-randomly]

Winning plan:
[X] Plan: Everyone Likes Pokemon enough to make a plan
-[X] (Blackthorn) An isolated plateau among tall peaks. Runoff streams and falls feed a series of clear pools and the access points are easily defensible. Stone is not the only thing in abundance: these mountains are filled with interesting minerals. The natural hot springs could alleviate the lack of timber for heating. The plateau is well-sized, and while you hope to one day expand to the point it will feel constraining, the adjacent valleys and plateaus will give you options eventually and forage for the time being. Food is the issue here, and the reason few Pokémon seem interested in the place to begin with. The soil is fairly poor and the terrain is hilly. It will take some work to feed your people, let alone new arrivals. Hunting and fishing weaker Pokémon and mundane animals will help, but while the plateau itself is barely contested there seem to be powerful Pokémon around. Best keep your head down…

-[X] Shipwreck: the expedition was proud and hopeful, a scientific endeavour aimed at mapping a bit of terra incognita. But a freak storm has tossed you around and slammed you on unknown shores. Experienced seamen and inventive scholars have managed to cobble together a convoy out of the remains of your ship but your trek has revealed that you are far from home indeed. Finally, your homesick people have accepted the frightful truth: they are stranded in these wild lands and must now settle there. (Bonuses: 'Wind and water' technology, 'Full status of women' technology, future research on low-tier Engineering and Society technologies will be faster, less constraints on your starter Pokémon. Maluses: lower initial productivity and general health, both you and your best friend start with the 'stressed' affliction (-1 Stewardship, Intrigue and Health; -10% fertility, -10 on combat rolls))

-[X] Who are you?
--[X] Name: Hunk
--[X] Gender: male
--[X] Appearance: Hunk expy from Voltron Legendary Defender
--[X] Age: 18
--[X] Background: Science Caste, the leaders of your society back home.
--[X] Virtues
---[X] Patient
---[X] Dilligent
--[X] Sin
---[X] Envious

-[X] Who is your Pokémon?
--[X] Eevee

Eevee, because with so many other options cut off, this is about the only option left for the thread to choose however they want to adapt.

-[X] Who is your best friend?
--[X] Name: Shadow Meadow
--[X] Gender: female
--[X] Appearance: Kiriko expy from Overwatch
--[X] Age: 17
--[X] Background: Homegrown bodyguard for you.
--[X] Virtues
---[X] Charitable
--[X] Sin
---[X] Proud

 

[ayleid]

Spoiler: Author's ramblings

Well, here we are. Apologies for the delay. First I let myself get stuck in a research rabbit hole then... I got inspired. Marlin's winning plan of combining the Blackthorn location with the shipwreck origin was fantastically inconvenient but when I tried to figure out how it all could have happened the remaining details of the setting let themselves be filled in naturally. The chapter is longer than I expected and still contrived but it introduces a lot of things I thought I would have to add later on.

One thing I... massaged a bit is the names. Your people will be using both Japanese and English names and, as needed, terminology. This will allow me to cling as close as possible to the winner plan and be convenient in other ways. To not complexify even further the setting with explanations for why 'Hunk' and 'Shadow Meadow' are acceptable names I made the first a nickname and changed the second to just 'Kage'. Sorry Marlin!

One thing you might want explained but I will not be explicitating in the Mechanics: your actions for the turn. You always get a general action and barring extreme circumstances or weird builds you will get another action linked to your education trait. Exceptional characters and circumstances might give you more actions to play with. When the quest advances to a monthly scope your actions will mostly get wider in scope rather than more numerous, but we're not there yet.

Finally, I will be updating the Informational threadmark as soon as possible, but that might require two rounds of edits, I've got a busy day. A map is in the works for you to have a visual aid but that's time-consuming, do not expect it today.

Thanks for your patience, enjoy the chapter!

Turn 1 (July, Year 1)​

Your eyes snap open and for a moment disorientation grips your muddled mind. What woke you? Then bleary eyes notice the light filtered by the tent and you let yourself relax.

Moving through mountains was the source of many inconveniences, and how it messed with the sunrise was about the pettiest. You are pretty sure you had managed to awaken at about the same time as usual, which means you have a moment to take stock of your physical state and your tasks for the day. And to squeeze tighter the ball of fluff that kept you warm during the night.

Day 26 of the experiment, you muse wryly. Eevee has yet to tear out my throat during my sleep.

Taking with you the strange Pokémon, so different from any existing mammal yet otherwise superficially mundane, had been a bit of a gamble at first. You were still feeling optimistic about returning home at that point and catching samples of the local Pokémon felt like a way to give a silver lining to the whole dreadful situation. It's not like she had put up much of a fight: the little Pokémon had apparently fallen on hard times, which is why she had attempted to root through your supplies in the first place.

Then the reality of the flight through the mountains had settled in and keeping a live sample had become impossible to justify. There had been calls to put the creature into the dinner pot but in the end it is always hard to do that to something you painstakingly nursed back to health, even through the bars of a cage. Just letting her go was basically a whim, yet it paid off in a surprising fashion. That evening the critter was back in camp, still skittish but not outright hostile, and she had brought a dead rabbit.

Since then the two of you had slowly acclimated to each other's presence. Letting the creature shelter into your tent was a step too far for even the most stoic of your fellow travellers but there was that downpour that night, and she looked so pitiful with her matted fur that… well, never mind that. She was friendly, warm, and fluffy. So fluffy…

Welp, time to get going.

As you emerge into the morning air, you reflect that today you might not have to pick up your tent. It's a small one that you did not have to share even before Eevee really started following around, and since then you have been… suggested… to pitch it outside the loose wagon circle that the rest of your people are sheltering inside of. That train of thought leads you to consider said wagons wistfully. It has been a pain and a half to push them up these mountain paths but they allowed you to carry precious tools and supplies with you, along with all those that had been injured in the shipwreck. And even now their proud origin shines through. This elegantly carved centre board was once part of the bow of the Endeavour. And those axles were made from salvaged pulleys and spars.

Now it is time to dismantle these wagons back into spare parts and hopefully into more permanent structures. It is not going to be an easy sell, but it's been some time since actual progress had last been made and by now the need to just stop should have eclipsed the last hopes of returning home.

A rustle on your left draws your eye towards the other tent that sits outside the wagon circle. Kage, your fellow pathfinder in this sorry expedition, emerges from the low-slung canvas in as dignified a fashion as she can manage. Teasing her about her tousled short black hair and rumpled abbreviated kosode can wait another day, preferably when she does not have the excuse of short nights and a lack of spares. Your cargo pants and green vest are more hard-wearing but you know you don't look any sharper right now.

"Morning Hunk" she says.

"My name is Hank" you shoot back reflexively, but at this point you have lost hope of ever shedding the nickname. Your parents gave you an unexpectedly prescient name, thick eyebrows, a square jaw and a heavyset frame. They also gave you a big appetite that has made the current privations an even bigger ordeal.

Kage whistles, making Eevee flick her ear, and the reason for Kage being pushed outward alongside you swoops in and alights on her outstretched arm. It is a black bird with a curiously wide crest, a 'Murkrow' according to her cries. Kage pets her feathers and whispers greetings and instructions in her ear. You suppress a pang of jealousy. It is unfair to Eevee to wish she could fly, the mammal had made herself useful in numerous ways during their climb. All the same, Murkrow is the best scout you could have wished for, identifying resources, hazards and paths from the air and dutifully guiding Kage to or around them. She has been very pleased of the edge her new partner gave them, and has been increasingly boastful about it. You could not help but retaliate, and the resulting games of one-upmanship were honestly refreshing compared to the awkwardness that prevailed between you before the expedition.

On paper, Kage's family are retainers of your own, an arrangement that came about when your great-grandfather, scion of one of Fuchsia's founding clans, took in their children after a famine had led the parents to starve to death. Kage herself had been encouraged to make her own way and make use of her talents in a scouting or exploration team, but instead she decided to uphold the tradition. You are not sure though why she decided to follow you around instead of your brother, the actual heir. Damn genius didn't need the help you suppose. In any case, you never knew quite what to make of her and then you had felt horribly guilty when her following you onto the Endeavour left the girl -just one year younger than your eighteen- stranded with you and the rest of the survivors.

Then, shortly after your arrangement with Eevee became permanent, she emerged from the underbrush with a proud smile, a number of cuts and scratches, and a bird Pokémon in tow. Nobody was quite sure what exactly possessed her to take a chance on a wild Pokémon, but even if the stunt marked her as a weirdo and had her pushed to the outskirts of the camp, all but the most sceptical of your people have found reason to praise the added utility.

Now if only she wasn't so smug about it…

Murkrow takes flight with a chirp of acknowledgment and you two Humans turn towards the firepit at the center of the camp. A couple tents have already been taken down, but breakfast has now stopped all activity. The morning meal has become an informal assembly, where plans for the day are hammered out. Which means that you need to step up and make your proposal now before they gird themselves up for one more day of increasingly pointless hiking.

"Showtime."

Kage simply nods and follows you a couple steps behind. Eevee stays behind to meticulously groom herself, knowing that she makes other people nervous and that you will bring her breakfast anyway. Not that the meal is anything to write home about -you suppress yet another pang of homesickness. As you line up to get served, you see that today's fare is yet again a porridge of wild oats and miscellaneous additions.

Grub secured, rather than join the other scholars as is usual you sit across the highest-ranking survivors of the expedition. First Mate Takeshi and Navigator Suzie were seasoned sailors, which unfortunately means that they are as out of their depth as anyone else on this landward adventure. At this point using their titles makes them wince so you have stopped doing it. All the same, the sailors are used to taking orders from Takeshi and Suzie was the only one around with even a notion of how they might get back home. These two and the senior researchers make up the informal council that you will have to convince if you want to stop the convoy, and you know that these will be the easiest to bring to your point of view.

"Good morning Hank." She is about the only person in the expedition to use your actual name, which makes her your favourite.

"Hello young man.

-Suzie, Takeshi, good morning. Can we talk while we eat?

-Sure, what about?

-That discussion we had the other day, Suzie. About Mount Silver and our next steps."

The navigator grimaces at that, and everyone in earshot -they are not even trying to act like they are not listening- glances at the peak. Backlit by the rising sun it looms far above the plateau you have set up camp on, a black cone crowning a chain of mountains you have been trying to cross for a month and a half now. Damningly, it looms in the south-east of your position meaning that by now the plan is to go around its north face. A desperate plan that seems ever more impossible as supplies have gotten scarcer and your people weaker.

The Endeavour had been a carrack, a new type of ship and the crowning achievement of Fuchsia's shipbuilders. After its maiden voyage a mapping expedition had been ordered by the merchant and scholar guilds ruling the burgeoning city. The ship had been turned westwards and there was hope the shores of Cinnabar Island could finally be fully mapped. Then… disaster.

The strong currents around the Seafoam Islands were known in abstract, but they had caught the carrack just as a freak storm had gathered. Sailing further east towards deeper waters had been the Captain's decision at the time, a sensible enough one, but then the knot of Gyarados had come to the surface, attracted by either the ship or the storm. Powerful Pokémon were forces of nature, and a dire demonstration of the fact was given to them as the sea serpents' infighting had fed and twisted the storm. The redoubled and chaotic winds and currents had tossed the ship to and fro like so much driftwood, and then they were thrown on the reefs of unknown shores and the comparison had become reality.

Hunk did not blame Suzie or the others for the decision to travel north and upwards. There was no passage east that they could find, not with their supplies and wounded. They had found a pass north -away from the fucking Gyarados- and had hoped to figure out a way east. None had been practicable though and now here they were. Their dogged determination and Fuchsian stubbornness had carried them more than a thousand metres up and farther north than most maps of the Kanto coast went.

"We finally found a way east" Suzie finally remarks. "It seems too soon to say if those paths will lead us north or south but we may finally find our way through these mountains. Was that not the plan to begin with?

-What we found are game trails, footpaths at best. Lugging the wagons through is gonna be a bear and a half and I'm not sure how far we will be able to keep them. Also… you know the nomad legends. Mount Silver is home to very strong Pokémon, and the paths seem to go in that direction. Even if we can avoid running straight into it, it's months of travel through the foothills. Forage will be even scarcer. We tried our best and if we decide to go through with it I will be at the vanguard as usual. But it's a bad plan Suzie, it's just that until now we couldn't see just how bad.

-Hold on, what are you saying?" Takeshi is visibly alarmed but his interruption is itself cut short by the nasty cough he has developed lately. You press on so you can put your arguments out there before he or a bystander tries to argue details with you.

"On the other hand, going back to the wreck to try to force our way east is still a bad idea. We've been talking about it all the while we were climbing up here. It's all cliffs and torrents where these damned mountains meet the sea! No way to take the wagons with us. The road will be dangerous and we will have to walk it with what and who we can carry on our backs. Our wounded are mostly healed now, but we have sick instead.

-Koff, koff… Yeah, thanks for pointing it out. So this is it then? What's your idea? Koff… Going back down just to plop ourselves down near the wreck and wait for rescue?

-There is no chance of that" Suzie answers, her tone lowered by the weight of her words. "As far as Fuchsia is concerned the Endeavour was lost with all hands and passengers. They are not going to commission another expedition past Cinnabar for years at the earliest. What are we to do down south, stand on the cliffs hoping a rogue merchant or seaborne nomad passes by? What are the odds of that? And what about the odds that they can actually reach Fuchsia with a message? We here do not have the know-how or manpower to build a ship capable of making that route, and Fuchsia will not know to try.

"We cannot go further." Gasps sound out from the peanut gallery but her voice strengthens as she lets herself get lost in hashing out your options. "We cannot wait for rescue either. We need to regroup and recover and down by the wreck is a terrible place for that. Any spots we could settle down in are infested with Pokémon. Hank and I noticed a couple of nice locations while we were climbing up here that we could hunker down in for a while. Actually…" she surveys the sheer drops and cliff walls that cradle your current location before facing you again. "Actually, this plateau is enticing. It is safer than anything we have seen on our way up. We could make something of this place. Let us debate about it now."

A dreadful silence follows. A sailor breaks it, spitting to her side and cursing before voicing her displeasure. "Izzat it then? We're givin' up, is what you're saying!

-We're not giving up," you say. "But this last stretch of road made it clear that at this point we have only bad options left. We should talk about it, decide together which is the least terrible of those. I know it's hard. We have people waiting for us home. Children." Old man Takeshi meets your gaze. "Families." Your eyes sweep the sailors and many of them flinch before looking away. "Friends." This time you look upon your colleagues, fellow scholars, most of which bow their heads as if in mourning already. "We all want to go back home to Fuchsia but we must face the facts: we haven't found a safe route and it's clear now that it will be at best months or years before we see our loved ones again, if any risks we take pay off. We owe ourselves, and them, to figure out how we might best ensure we see them again, at all."

Someone behind you is starting to sob. You make sure not to turn back and see who.

Takeshi clears his throat, choked by more than his usual cough. "Well we're in a rough patch all right. Look, Hunk, Suzie, I'm just talking for myself here but I refuse to be a burden to you young ones. If there's any way east at all it still might be worth considering it even if I…"

Kage is the one to chime in then, her voice soothing yet firm. "We are not leaving you behind. None shall be left behind. But the wagons will not carry us much further east if at all. Our ailing and our food can be carried. Leaving our other supplies behind however carries great risks. What if another month down the line the way forward is even more impassable? Could we then find shelter wherever we have arrived? Could we make it with simply what tools we could afford to carry?"

She settles back down but the point is made. Going north up the mountain was a bet to begin with, one you all have lost. This plateau is a poor consolation prize to your homesick people, yet any way forward carries yet greater risks. Any one person here might have felt obliged to bet their own life on the slim chance of seeing home again, if they were alone. But you have a makeshift community here that none are eager to throw away on a roll of loaded dice.

And so the debates go, long past the usual hour of departure, as points and alternatives and risks are discussed in a tedious back-and-forth before the decision is ultimately agreed upon. The convoy will stop here, gather strength and supplies, and continue scouting expeditions until either a safe path home or another way to contact Fuchsia is found.

Your people's mood as they start breaking down the wagons is very mixed. On the one hand the sheer relief of finally settling down after all that desperate climbing buoys them, yet on the other, despite paying lip service to the possibility, they have essentially given up on seeing their families again. There will be a settlement on that windswept plateau, but it is not yet named and it will be a long time before any of you are ready to call it home. The possibility had been raised before on the march, yet was each time swiftly dismissed. The finality there is in marking areas, planning structures and turning wagon floors into lean-to shelters is heart wrenching.

As ever, the solution to melancholy is work and so every valid traveller gets on with their tasks. Yours and Kage's is to better assess the access points and their surroundings. There will be time for actual scouting later but in the meantime you identify the immediate vulnerabilities in your position.

The convoy came up the path south and a gentle slope there makes a wide route that is the most obvious gate to your plateau. West and north you are protected from interlopers and the worst of the winds by sheer cliff walls. Streams flow and fall down them to bring you fresh water in the form of a series of pools that connect and converge to make up a stream you had been marching along for a week now. Would it be possible to dig up part of the slope to create a moat fed by the stream? That would be a longer-term project than you are ready to suggest right now.

These cliff walls do have interesting features. One particular pool in the western area is not fed by any obvious source but the tepid and sulphur-smelling waters hint at some geothermal activity. The area seems very stable so you suspect it is a last remnant of whatever geological event formed these peaks. This could be of use considering winter is about five months away. You can make up possible paths up the cliffs but they should be easily monitored. Northeast the cliff wall is broken by something of a small valley that could become a redoubt.

East is where things get concerning as at least two game trails, those you had been discussing at breakfast, scale a low crest to lead into a rocky vale. Mount Silver looms as the backdrop to that landscape, and while the foothills are unwelcoming to say the least you suspect that strong Pokémon live there and may want to come up these paths at some point to get water, food or for any other reason. This will need seeing to.

As the two of you, and your Pokémon, survey the area, between your people digging ditches and planting stakes, you see the group of children being monitored by the adults too weakened by the trip to do heavy work. 'Children' is a bit misleading here: they are not of age by the custom of your people but the youngest is ten and four of them are fifteen, set to become adults in under a year. These are the deckhands and apprentices that everyone figured it was safe to bring on the Endeavour's second, presumably safer, trip.

Settling down seems to have inspired the older ones to demand being given 'real work' again, but as before nobody is willing to let the children outside the camp just yet. Instead they are put to work fixing ropes, weaving baskets and assisting with carpenter work. All the while, their minders discuss their trade and their lore with them, trying to continue their education in the absence of books, paper and pencils. You suppress a flash of misplaced annoyance. You have your own tasks. All the same, you know that come evening when everyone gathers around the fires you won't be invited to help with the classwork despite being a full-fledged scholar yourself. Even if Eevee is downright affectionate now, it is simply not done to let children interact with Pokémon and their minders lest they get into their head that every creature they see can be tamed.

As night falls on your now well-fortified encampment the cries of roaming Pokémon make the hundred Humans huddled there feel ever more alone and vulnerable.

On the morning, the early survey results having been shared all around, the brunt of your workforce embarks on the first of hopefully many large-scale ventures: more fortifications.

The small valley up north, really more of a large hollow, has no tracks leading in or out of it and is thus deemed safe enough to warrant only a row of stakes, pending further investigation. The passages up the western cliffs, as well as one of the eastern trails, have been deemed not worth the trouble for the meantime and are being blocked off.

The remaining path and the road south are being fortified to Distortion and back. The ditches and stakes are only to be expected, as well as the beginnings of dry stone fences. That your fellow former Fuchsians see fit to plan to have three or five rows of them bordering a winding gated path, on the other hand, is concerning. The deadfall traps, finally, strike you as misguided overkill.

Those last obstacles are unlikely to kill a Pokémon strong enough to barge through the rest of your defences, though they might make it angrier. Either way, a Pokémon will not know what to make of them at first, which would be a positive if they were intended for hunting but instead means that they do not have any potential for deterrence, which is always the first criterium when considering anti-Pokémon defences. Not only are they inefficient but they are single-use before requiring another round of back-breaking work to reset them and they even represent a liability in the meantime: a potential hazard that takes a long time to set up and, as you can see, forces the rest of the crews to work around them.

Part of the problem, you muse from your vantage point, is that there is no one around to make them do something more productive. Both Captain Umi and Head Scholar Wallace perished with the Endeavour and no hierarchy was formalized after the wreck, the sailors taking cues from the rest of the people during the trip overland rather than upholding the gutted chain of command. The elders lead the morning debates, but when it comes to assigning tasks and jobs the volunteer system prevails. With how on edge everyone feels, a lot of people volunteered to the fortification effort this morning and now they have worked themselves into building a fortress, and in such an inefficient way.

Your own objections were raised, noted, and overlooked. Should you try and talk to some people, get them on your side for the next time such an issue arises? You are no leader but you figure you would do at least as good a job as anyone currently on the plateau. That said, getting some general influence would be a totally different matter compared to getting your pathfinding experience acknowledged. You are a scholar of the guild, but a neophyte one without a specialization yet.

With a sigh you turn your back to the fortification work and cast your gaze back to the plateau. Your people may not trust Eevee, but they have come to trust you somewhat on the matter of the local Pokémon. All the walls and stakes in the world will not protect your people from Pokémon that can just bypass them, or those that are already behind the walls to begin with. With that in mind, you will have to keep mindful of any such possible threat.

Bug and flying Pokémon are the obvious considerations. As long as you do not let them set up nests on the plateau itself and you hide your food stores, they should not dare bother you. As for species, you recognize some that were known to live near Fuchsia like Caterpie, Paras, a few Weedle, Spearow, some Pidgey and at night the ever-present Zubat. There are also indigenous species that your people had never seen before climbing up that mountain pass: spider and ladybug Pokémon, and rarely a grey bird with red wings that never got close enough for you to get a good look at. There are also nocturnal owl Pokémon you occasionally disturbed during your trip up that you know are 'Hoothoot'.

The larger pools are also home to some waterborne Pokémon that are known quantities: Krabby, Goldeen and Magikarp. As long as you are careful about the first two, the third and the more mundane fish should provide some meat. The pools and population are too small for the Goldeen and Krabby to evolve, by your reckoning.

Then there are the burrowing Geodude, who you are content to ignore and be ignored by since they eat mostly rocks and you don't; and the Rattata, because of course it would be too much to ask for to be able to get away from the rats. Admittedly those are not the leading rodents on the scene. The plateau is occupied mostly by a native species of marmot Pokémon, the 'Sentret.' Their population is not out of control but they are burrowers, and seemingly very social, which means that you have little chance of ridding the plateau of them entirely and they could quickly become a problem if your people try to hunt them for meat or disturb their dens.

The Sentret are the most immediate problem, and not only for the obvious reasons. Another consideration is that while you were on the road, you passed other populations of these rodents and you are very sure some of them were hitting on Eevee -which is a fascinating data point on Pokémon mating behaviour. Your partner is thankfully a proper lady and rebuffed their advances, but now that you are set up here you wonder if you should not deal with the Sentret before Eevee has time to actually get attached to one of them… What will happen if she has to choose between you Humans and a mate?

"Hey, Hunk!"

As you are busying yourself mapping the concentrations of Sentret and the locations of their main burrows, an urgent cry interrupts you. You turn and face Masaki hurrying towards you, and you let yourself grimace. The man is probably the best carpenter here and usually unflappable. Him running to get you means trouble. You finger the club at your hip.

"Hey, Masaki. Is there a problem?

-Think so, yes. Come with me!"

You let yourself be dragged a small distance away to one of the bigger northern pools, fed by both small falls and a bigger stream. On the far side of the pool, you see another former sailor, Alan, hugging the wall carefully to come back to dry land without falling in or getting doused.

"Look there, Hunk. Where Al is coming from."

You eye up the rock, following the wall starting from Alan's back, searching for anything alarming. Then you see it, a crack in the rock.

"Is it a cave?

-Yup. Step up this way, get another angle. It's wider than it looks. Al drew the short straw so he had to go look if it's occupied. I asked him if he was seeing any Pokémon, yelled the question across, and he flapped his arms and shushed me best he could at a distance. Guess that means it's not empty.

-Darn. How did you notice it in the first place?

-We were surveying. Reeds right here could be used for some paper." Oh, that would be nice! "And the stream over yonder looks convenient to set up a water mill.

-A mill?" That, however, leads you to raise a confused eyebrow. "I didn't think we had that much grain to grind?

-You're thinking too small Hunk! A mill would be good. We could grind grain, acorns, apricorns, rocks for ore, those reeds… we don't have a saw blade for it and no forge yet but someday we might use it to cut lumber. Best we start early on that, yeah?

-Alright, I get you. We could use a mill, though maybe not right now…"

By then the two of you and Alan have reached each other and the former sailor is quick to get to the point.

"Boss. Hunk. There are Zubat. There's a load of them in there. Saw one flutter, and a lot of guano. And Zubat don't leave no tracks but I saw some by the entrance. There's been something slithering between that hole and the pond, dunno what."

The silence following that proclamation seems dejected. You decide to break it, addressing Masaki.

"So… there's a cave full of Zubat and possibly worse right across our main source of water.

-Yup.

-If whatever's in there is dangerous, we might have to pack right back up and go find some other digs.

-Yup.

-We don't have any speleologists and I'm somehow the ranking explorer here, which means it's gonna be up to me to stroll into the Zubat nest and see if there's something worth running away over.

-Aa-yup.

-Balls."

You give yourself a minute to think before coming up with a course of action.

"Alright, here's what's going to happen. Tonight I'll be placing a couple lanterns and a grate at the mouth of the cave and I'll settle down on the far shore. Masaki, can you help me put some staves together into a grate?"

He frowns. "Sure. Then what?

-Then I'll see what happens. That cave may have more than one exit. Zubat won't try and run into the grate if they have other options. If they don't we'll know we can't avoid dealing with whatever is in there. Whether the bats bust through or turn back though the other residents will know something's up. Alan, did the cave go up or down? Hear any sloshing in there?

-Aye, I get what you're askin'. It was going down, it's at least half flooded in there.

-Alright, whatever other Pokémon are in there, if they are more dangerous than the Zubat they'll investigate the commotion at the entrance and I'll get a look at them. Otherwise, they might write off the pool, use other paths to go outside or just be content with the water they already have in there. It's not a sure thing and if tonight is calm I might need to ask other people to keep guard for a couple more nights, to make sure. But if nothing gets mad that this way out is blocked that makes that cave a problem for another day.

"We might need to use another pool for drinking water though, in case the guano seeps. And find another stream for the mill."

Masaki nods, apparently pleased with your determination.

"Alright Hunk, it's a plan. Try to block off that cave, see what happens. Only problem I see is that if whatever's in there does get angry they'll come out and see you right away. You fine with it?

-It's a small cave, I'm not expecting a Snorlax. Someone has to take the risk I guess.

-You're a good lad, Hunk. I'm glad to see you step up and do your part to keep us all safe. Also, dibs on your tent if you get eaten.

-Damnit boss! Dibs on his spare boots."

Why are you still speaking with these two gogglers, again? Ah right, because all your actual friends save Kage are back In Fuchsia. Now you've brought down your own mood.

The night you spend then is miserable. You do not dare sleep and staring at the lantern-lit cave is even more boring than that time your teacher had you watch his plants all day for any signs of burgeoning. You do not dare set up your tent either, just in case you have to get up fast and run for the hills, so you are just huddling under three blankets with your partner. Eevee at least is getting some sleep and keeping you warm.

Day 27… 28 now of the experiment. Not only is Eevee still uninterested in tearing out my throat, by now she whines when I don't scratch behind her ears before sleep.

It is a dull night that leaves you sleep-deprived for the next day but that is good news in of itself: nothing saw fit to contest your blocking off the exit. The Zubat and other residents of the cave have alternatives. The plateau is still safe.



Decisions for the week!

1 general action:

[ ] Get political! (attempt to befriend people and get more recognition than as a scout; may result in bonuses for initiating future large-scale projects)

[ ] Scout out your surroundings (priorities are the small valley up north and the less immediate vicinity of the east and south exits; may scout out accessible resources and pressing threats)

[ ] Joint scouting mission (also requires a follower action; you do not dare venture too far alone, but some backup would allow you to go some distance and back in a week, or to cautiously investigate a dangerous location)
-[ ] The cave by the pool
-[ ] East, towards the foothills of Mount Silver
-[ ] South, backtracking your trail to see what you may have missed (up to a third to half of the way down)

[ ] Combat training (you know your way around your club, but the rough seamen that make up about half of your population have a lot to teach you; learning to coordinate better with Eevee in combat is also a priority, you lack a clear understanding of her abilities; synergizes with the combat training of any follower)

[ ] Try and get some support and initiate a large-scale project (you can get it on track in a week as long as at least some people are interested, then your population will keep working on it; spending actions on an ongoing project might drum up interest and raise its priority; any of your followers supporting you on this will give you bonuses both on initial progress and in getting people motivated for it)
-[ ] Fortification work (the projected scale is unreasonable but maybe you just want them to get it done with faster)
-[ ] Farming (what most people not working on the fortifications intend to spend their time on this week: levelling hillocks, fencing fields, removing rocks and drawing furrows, gathering seed grain from the immediate surroundings… there is a lot to be done and maybe you can lead by example and draw more people to it)
-[ ] Get rid of the Sentret population (as it stands the farming work will have to be done around their main burrows to limit conflict, but they are a present threat to your crops; try to drive them out by sabotaging their burrows and weathering their retaliation)
-[ ] Build a mill (harnessing the power of the streams around you has many uses, you might want to get started on that; or you might want to wait out your first winter and see which streams will not freeze over…)
-[ ] Write-in

[ ] Write-in (including attribute-specific actions below)



You are a proficient scholar: 1 Learning action:

[ ] Further your education (you are a neophyte, unspecialized scholar; as you get more practice your education trait might eventually develop but asking your peers to teach you will hasten the process; you have still a lot of progress to go and will not succeed with a single action)

[ ] Study the local flora (many local plants are unknown to you, though now you have settled down the botanists among your people will start a trial and error process to figure out what is edible and what can be cultivated; Eevee, who can eat just about everything Humans do and can sniff out her favourites, would allow you to speed up parts of this process)

[ ] Study the local Pokémon (get some names for the unknown species, figure out the basics of their behaviour; other attributes will help you acquire samples, live or not)

[ ] Write-in



You have 1 follower (they mostly do their own thing but will follow your lead for specific tasks)

Kage's action:

[ ] Further her education (Kage is a proficient scout and trapper, but she could still use some more training; the lack of teachers in her favoured disciplines will make her progress even slower than yours)

[ ] Combat training (she has a mean throwing arm and is quick on her feet but she could use practice coordinating with Murkrow)

[ ] Joint scouting mission (see above)

[ ] Help you with a large-scale project (see above)

[ ] Tracking threats (Kage has stealth training and Murkrow has a bird's eye view: set them on finding the most dangerous-looking tracks around and identifying the region's apex predators)

[ ] Write-in



Also : hello

Dromeosaur

To be frank I was getting that impression. It would not be fair to the readers I do have to just leave, but we are still just starting out. If participation stays sparse and/or those who do vote say they would not mind switching over to Spacebattles, I might consider moving the whole quest there. Can I get some opinions on that please?