Session 12, VP2

 The remaining hours of the day passed slowly as our heroes rested. When sundown approached, they made their way towards the top of the cliff steps with Donner in tow. Below on the docks, most of the townsfolk could be seen gathered for the lantern ritual. Though the words were whipped away by the ocean winds, the party could tell that most of those gathered seemed receptive to Flugil’s speech. The weight of the watering cans full of the repel reminded the party that their job would take them elsewhere. 

In the moment when the last of the sun was visible, the magic hour, Lauren spotted a flash of movement at the western edge of the docks. One of Hragn’s associates had fired a flaming arrow straight up into the sky, the flames tinged a deep purple. Recognizing this as a call to action, Lauren led the group as they ran towards the Pokémon Center. The barely audible hum of voices came from the alley behind the Pokémon Center, where Sylvie had seen Hragn talking with his men. Cautioning silence, Bronze snuck her way into the alley to see what was happening. Although she was unable to make out what they were saying in their hushed tones, Bronze could hear the scrape of metal on metal as weapons were sharpened. Notably, Hragn himself was nowhere to be seen. 

After Bronze relayed what she had learned to the rest of the group, the worry in the air became palpable. Recalling Donner’s earlier display of his abilities, the trainers asked if he may be able to search for Hragn’s mind. Although he didn’t share the party’s faith in his abilities, Donner closed his eyes, entering a trance. Minutes passed, and an anxious shiver seemed to run through Donner’s whole form. He opened his eyes with a snap. Shouting that they needed to move now, he took off at a sprint towards the Varfjell Fields. Our heroes quickly outpaced him due to his limp, only stopping when they had reached the pack of Puphest and Barghound. 

The details were difficult to make out from this distance, but three silhouettes could be seen moving around at the far end of the pack. Bronze hefted a rock as she made her way into the huddled canines. Sylvie gathered the watering cans and arced around on the right to come at them from the side, while Reinhold, Lauren, and Donner charged straight through the Pokémon. Ratcheting back her arm, Bronze let the rock fly, aiming for a spot on the other side of the silhouettes to distract them. 

As the three men turned towards the sound, Lauren and Donner took swings at the ambushed men on either side, while Reinhold dropkicked Hragn in the middle. The three townsfolk recovered their bearings, Hragn raised his fists in a boxer’s stance as the other two hefted clubs. Oddly, all three appeared to have been carrying watering cans, similar to the ones the party had in tow. Battle quickly commenced. Lauren, Bronze, and Sylvie released Pokémon to aid them. Meanwhile, Reinhold and Donner took on their foes with naught but their strength of arms. Hragn attempted to tackle Reinhold to the ground but was unable to drag him down. In response, Reinhold brought a powerful elbow down into Hragn’s back, forcing him to let go. The man across from Lauren was unable to land on hit on their wiry form. In frustration, he lashed out at Oli instead, narrowly missing. Flush with fury, Lauren threw a punch up into the man’s chin. He stumbled backwards, falling backwards. His head conked onto Jasmine’s hard shell, knocking him out. 

On the other side of the fight, Donner and his opponent traded punches. Still recovering from when he was assaulted but two days ago, Donner was clearly struggling. The man he fought managed to land a solid blow directly into Donner’s face, sending him sprawling into the wet grass. Seeing this, Sylvie rushed over to render first aid. Seeing that the man was rushing towards Sylvie as she healed Donner, Bronze had King slam his claw into the man’s head. He immediately buckled and fell to the ground. With Donner patched up, Sylvie ran to the Western side of the Puphest swarm, and began pouring the repel out in the grass. As Hragn and Reinhold exchanged words, the group was finally able to figure out why the townsfolk had watering cans of their own: the heady scent of kerosene wafted up from the grass. It seemed Hragn’s group was planning to encircle the Pokémon in a ring of fire in the night. Thankfully, our heroes had arrived before the gas could be spread any further than the small patch they currently fought in.  

Bronze made her way towards Sylvie, to help apply the repel. On her way, she could see more shapes coming towards the Puphest from town, all of them carrying torches. With lightning-quick reflexes, she recalled King and released him in the middle of the approaching folk. The sudden appearance of a bloodthirsty crab in their midst caused the group to cry out in alarm. King squeezed mud through his claw to douse several of the torches before the men could react. Lauren and Donner took up watering cans, as the pack began to move towards the East. 

Seeing the torchlight in the distance, Reinhold took another swing in Hragn’s direction: this time, he aimed for the gasoline can Hragn was hefting. The force of Reinhold’s chop burst the can open, dousing both men in the acrid kerosene. In a low voice, Reinhold pointed out that now the two of them would go up in flames if the torchbearers reached their destination. Stunned, Hragn was visibly weighing his options in his mind. Not willing to die for this, he acceded to Reinhold, and said he would tell his men to stand down. The two of them approached the panicked group of men currently beset by King, and Hragn told them to pack it in. Beaten and defeated, the townsfolk strode back towards Ever Dam. 

With the pack on the move, our heroes trailed them, sprinkling more of the repel as they went. It took a couple hours of walking through the night, but in time, they reached the beginning of Angeyja’s Sands. The Pokémon milled about as the last of the repel ran out. The Puphest and Barghound were clearly a bit confused, but did not seem aggressive; they appeared not to piece together the scent of the repel with the party directly. Slowly, in ones and twos, the dogs began to split from the swarm. As they left pawprints in the sand, their forms began to disappear in the night. In a short while, all of them had wandered away, the only sound left the gentle lapping of the ocean waves on the shore. 

Exhausted, but elated, the party sat themselves down in the grass, looking out over the ocean. The stars were bright in the sky above, like eyes watching the group’s efforts. They breathed a collective sigh of relief. Slowly, small specks of light in myriad colors began to drift upwards from the distant shape of Ever Dam. With their mission completed, the trainers sat back, soaking in the sight of the changes they had wrought. 

After the last of the lanterns melded into the dark, the weary party made their way back towards town. Upon reaching the Pokémon Center late into the night, they threw themselves into bed for well-deserved rest. Was the thunder in the night real or dreamt? From what well did the comforting wave of calm draw from? Could the scents of the forest have made their way so far across the open plains? And how could the weight of dusty history seem so real in the present? 

Waking from vivid, but pleasant, dreams, our heroes went through their morning routines. Once they were all refreshed, they decided to pay Flugil a visit, to discuss how the ritual had gone. The gyms doors- and windows- were all open when the group approached. Flugil was swimming laps when they entered and waved to them in greeting. The lingering smell of the repel’s crafting was still faintly noticeable, but it seemed airing out the gym had helped disperse it. 

Flugil climbed out of the pool, and swapped stories with the party. The air at the ritual had been tense, hopeful but unbelieving. Finding the Puphest and Barghound gone in the morning light went a long way towards convincing the populace of the ritual’s effectiveness.  

Eventually, Flugil said she had something for the party in return for all the aid they had rendered to the people of Ever Dam. Reaching into a pouch at her waist, she drew forth four copies of her gym’s badge: the Undertide Rune. Additionally, she awarded them team with a hefty sum of Monies. Joking about how they would have to have a proper gym battle sometime in the future, Flugil once more thanked the party for all of their help. With a cheerful wave, our heroes made their way out of the gym, and over to Ulmar’s cabin. 

Through his kitchen window, the party could see Ulmar cleaning up after breakfast. He happily welcomed them inside after they knocked on his door, setting the table for tea. Ulmar laughed as the group caught him up on how well everything had gone the night before, glad to see the Pokémon moved along peacefully. 

Discussion eventually turned towards the books the group had left with him. Although he hadn’t been able to do much, Ulmar was able to discern that the torn-out chapter of the archaeological text referred to the town of Drillsberg. With a new direction to point their travels, the crew bid Ulmar a warm goodbye as they collected the books. 

Bronze insisted on returning the books to the library; she made sure place them neatly in a book cart and log their return in the check-out book. This done, and with their packs light, the party paid a visit to the market they had stopped at before their trip out to sea. When they had visited before, only a small handful of stalls were set up, and no one else was in attendance. The reception had been cold, and the prices seemed oddly high. 

Now, the market appeared to back in swing. Vendors called people to their stalls in friendly voices, as townsfolk milled about, speaking in jovial voices. Visiting a few different sellers, the group restocked their supplies for their pending journey. With their bags heavy and their wallets light, they found a spot to show each other their purchases. Feeling someone’s eyes on them, Lauren and Sylvie looked around in confusion. Standing to the side of the Pokémon Center, a familiar figure was waving in their direction: Perthro, the odd merchant they had met in Seeder Grove. Smiling as they realized Bronze had yet to meet this colorful character, our heroes wove through the crowds in Perthro’s direction. 

As was his wont, Perthro greeted them all by name in his stilted voice. When the party explained Perthro had gifted them their Pokédexes, Bronze pulled out her Johto model. Perthro seemed intrigued by the foreign device and made Bronze an offer: if Bronze would let Perthro examine the Pokédex, he would gift Bronze a bracer for carrying Gym Runes. Bronze happily put on her new piece of equipment, and Perthro returned the Pokédex none the worse for wear; in fact, he had spruced it up, by replacing all of the menu icons with pictures of himself somehow. 

Suddenly, he shifted his stance, clasping both hands behind his back and standing up straight. In a tone much more put-together than the group had heard before, he explained “the time for games is over. Now is the time for not-games.” In a roundabout method, he explained that he had come to request something of the heroes. A job of dire importance that must be taken seriously. When the party agreed to help, Perthro pulled an ornate wooden box from his satchel of oddities. He placed it gently on the ground and pushed it in the trainers’ direction with his foot. Lauren picked up the box, hearing a rattling sound coming from inside as it moved. After looking to Perthro for permission, Lauren opened the lid of the box to reveal its contents. 

The interior of the box was lined with a faded dark velvet. Side by side, two objects lay loose in the box: two hilts, seemingly crafted from bone and wrapped in leather. Shards of gems flecked throughout the hilts, one all in red, the other blue. The hilts were relatively short, with no cross-guard; clearly these were for something closer to a dagger than a full-sized sword. 

Perthro explained that he wanted the group to deliver these items to someone. When pressed for more details, he merely explained that the party was “already on the path” and would know the recipient when they found them. As payment, he said that the group would be allowed to keep one, and only one, of the hilts upon delivery. He also promised more substantial rewards if his request were carried out. Our heroes accepted readily, and Perthro thanked them. Hefting his satchel, he turned and began walking out into the Varfjell Fields without another word. 

Lauren placed the wooden box into their pack for safekeeping. Feeling like they were done with Ever Dam for the time being, the party took stock to ensure they were ready to set out. Together, they agreed they should pay a visit to Donner before they left. Inside the Pokémon Center, Donner was found resting in his room. His spirits were high, and he seemed happier than the group had seen him since they met a week ago. After discussing the events of the night before, Sylvie and Lauren spent some time asking him where he planned to move onto next from Ever Dam. Unsure, he shrugged his shoulders, with no real plan for a direction. 

Not wanting to leave him in town, where Hragn and company might seek reprisals, they invited him to join them in their trip towards Drillsberg. Donner didn't want to be a burden and asked if they were certain. When the group insisted that he had proven himself a good friend, he gratefully accepted the offer. And so, with pride still burning in their chests from the work they had done for Ever Dam, our heroes hefted their packs and set back out into the wilds of the Varfjell Fields.