Session 17, VP1

Retreating to the cave they had spent the previous night in, our heroes did their best to push the sight of Gribb being eaten out of their minds. Gunnar wanted to rush back out immediately, but Bergie & Naivara managed to convince him to hide in the cave until the next morning. While holed up in the small cave, Eplina & Bergie put their medicinal skills to use on their injured friends.

The next morning, the group warily re-entered the canyon. There were no signs of Soltinmunnr to be seen or heard; it appeared he may have moved on for the moment. Cautiously, the party resolved to exploring the portions of the canyon they hadn’t reached. Recalling that they had run past a cave when they had been tracking Gribb, they made their way South. Eplina waited outside to keep an eye out for trouble, as our heroes descended into the yawning tunnel.

Inside, the floor was covered in odd, thorny vines. After travelling further for several minutes, a strange rattling sound began to make itself known from deeper into the cave. With a combination of Bergie’s flames & Peach’s electricity, the trainers shed more light in the cave.

Ahead of them, silhouetted against a cave wall, stood a humanoid figure. It resembled a scarecrow, and looked to have green skin. On either side of it were two tunnels heading in opposite directions. As the party drew closer, they could see the Pokemon was covered in thick spikes.

Their Pokedexes identified the creature as a Cacturne; the rattling sound was the Cacturne’s spikes being shaken as a warning to its fellows. An echoing rattling drifted in from a tunnel to the left, but no sound came from the tunnel on the right.

Gunnar decided to sneak his way left, towards the other rattling sound, as Bergie entered the tunnel on the right. Meanwhile, Naivara began to try and befriend the Cacturne, by having Lux perform a water dance. The fresh water seemed to strengthen the vines on the floor of the cave, as the Cacturne watched with growing interest.

Without making a sound, Gunnar found the tunnel opened up into a small “den” for more Cacturne. One of them was standing watch deeper into the cavern, but hadn’t managed to spot the trainer. Deciding not to awaken the horde of Pokemon, Gunnar snuck back to Naivara.

In the other tunnel, Bergie nearly fell downwards as the floor came to an abrupt stop. He managed to throw himself backwards to avoid the tumble, instead skewering his back on a few viny thorns. Once he had gotten his composure back, Bergie retraced his steps as well.

The Cacturne seemed very intrigued by Lux’s ability to make water, and attempted to pantomime something to Naivara. Gunnar arrived, watching as Naivara misinterpreted the Pokemon’s request, and had Lux further water the vines in the cave. After a few moments, Gunnar chimed in, letting Naivara know that he thought the Cacturne wanted to be watered.

Sure enough, it seemed invigorated by a quick spritz. Seizing her opportunity, Naivara asked the Cacturne to accompany her, and it readily agreed.

Bergie re-entered the crossroads room, and explained what he had encountered in his tunnel. Once they had reached the drop Bergie had found, Naivara released Flamon, asking him to fly around and light the way ahead. In his flickering orange light, they could see that the tunnel dropped into a small pond. The room containing the pond looked to be a dead-end. Leery of the still, black water, Bergie & Naivara were eager to get back aboveground. Gunnar had other ideas. Handing his two friends a rope, he turned and leapt into the water below.

Groaning, Naivara & Bergie lowered the other end of the rope towards the pond for Gunnar to climb out with. He took his time swimming around the small pool, looking for any way further. Finding none along the cave wall, he tried diving, but had trouble seeing through the silty water. Still, he could make out that there appeared to be something large laying on the floor below him; something large and breathing.

After a quick trip up the rope to make some “goggles” & grab his flashlight, Gunnar made another dive. With the beam of his flashlight, he was able to make out the form sleeping beneath the waves: an incredibly large Dunsparce.

Nearby, the remains of a tunnel boring in could be seen, explaining how something this size had ended up in such a small cave. Without hesitation, Gunnar drew a rune out from his pockets, and slammed it down on the Pokemon. His first attempt failed, but was not enough to wake the slumbering giant. Undeterred, he managed to successfully capture the Pokemon on his second attempt. Satisfied, Gunnar once again climbed the rope, and the trio made their way back to the surface.

Eplina was relieved to see them unharmed, and said that she hadn’t seen or heard Soltinmunnr while standing guard. With only one area of the canyon left unexplored, the group wound their way North-West. Nearly hidden behind a few boulders, they found a steep slope that descended below ground.

Near the mouth of the cave, footsteps could be seen leading in & out. The prints were clearly human, and seemed to have odd spacing, making the trainers think of Gribb’s staggering gait. With Eplina once more staying topside, our heroes began winding their way down the dark passageway. Although the floor descended at a steep angle, it was not enough to make moving onwards difficult. The tunnel continued in an unbroken line, turning several times, before opening up into a massive chamber.

Stalagmites & stalactites littered the area, making it difficult to see. Still, with their Pokemon’s help, the group was able to follow Gribb’s tracks further inwards. About halfway across the large cavern, the footsteps led into a small alcove formed between several stalagmites. Splashing sounds alerted the party that a pool of drying blood ran from the alcove to where they stood.

Unnerved, they shined light into the space. At the far end, a nest of desert scrub could be seen, with a strange, dark blue fin sticking out of it. It took a few minutes for anyone to gather the will to move forward. Finally, without a word, the trio entered in lockstep, slowly approaching the nest. As they got closer, they could clearly make out rough scales lining the fin.

This detail, combined with the color, had them convinced they had found their prey at last. Yet, something seemed odd. Even though they now stood only a foot or so away from the nest, the creature within hadn’t stirred. It remained buried inside of the scrub, completely ignoring when Gunnar let out a cry of greeting.

With nothing else to try, Gunnar began to gently pull away the nest to reveal its contents. It took a few seconds for their eyes to make sense of what lay before them: inside of the nest was a pool of vital organs & shredded skin, broken bones & ravaged muscle. The Pokemon had been torn to pieces. As they struggled to keep their stomachs calm, our heroes used their Pokedex, and were able to successfully identify the remains as a Gible.

When they had first met Gribb, he had told them that he knew where to find Gible, and even had bracers made from one’s hide……it seemed he was not entirely a liar. Bergie could take no more of the ghastly sight, and trudged away towards the surface without a word. As Naivara watched in mute numbness, Gunnar seemed to perk up, as if he had noticed something. He crouched, and dug past the bones, blood slicking his hands.

With a gasp, he slowly stood, and turned to face Naivara & Peach. In his hands, he held two discarded Gible fangs. Each was flecked with small shards of gemstone, one red, the other blue. The information Gunnar had been given told that “the only Pokemon able to shatter a Sableye’s gems is Gible, with its mighty jaws”.

The fangs were small, barely 4 inches in length. Even so, could they somehow be used to fight Gudbrund & his sword? Storing the fangs in his pack, Gunnar motioned for Naivara to join him in heading back above ground.

The sunlight burned Bergie’s eyes as he left the cave’s darkness, but even the intense light could not clear the butchery haunting his vision. Eplina turned, startled, noticing that something was wrong. Bergie hesitantly explained what had been found below, & Eplina seemed upset, but not surprised. Although it was clear she was remembering how she had spoken against trusting Gribb, she held her tongue for the moment, seeing Bergie’s pain.

In a short while, Naivara & Gunnar rejoined them. Bergie & Naivara suggested that they continue to search the desert, in the hopes of finding a still-living Gible. Gunnar, on the other hand, believed they had found the best they could, and should head back to Drillsberg. Worried about what had been occurring in their absence, the group decided to return for now. Leaving from the Southern edge of the canyon, they began their return trek.

The party walked until the sun began to once more sink below the horizon. Seeing some small rock formations nearby, they aimed their footsteps in that direction. After investigating the exterior, the trainers managed to find a small hollow beneath the rocks, similar where they had found the Dunsparce some days before. Seeing that it was a tight fit, Naivara offered to explore it first.

There was enough room for her to crawl inside comfortably, but not enough to stand or crouch once inside. Four odd humps jutted out of the sand in the hollow, exuding a gentle warmth. Naivara could tell they were Pokemon, so she approached one to see if they were aggressive. As she gently poked it, one of the humps shook off the sand covering it, revealing a Torkoal. The Pokemon seemed relatively disinterested, but Naivara wasn’t sure if this was just due to grogginess.

Once she had crawled her way back out, Naivara recounted what she had found in the hollow. Before her sentence could be finished, Bergie was excitedly crawling into the space, eager to meet more Fire-types. Using his shoulder flames to offer warmth to the 4 Torkoals, Bergie managed to convince the Pokemon that the party wasn’t a threat.

Although the Pokemon did not become friendly, or allow the trainers to rest close to them, they had no objections to sharing the space. The heat radiating off of the Torkoal made the sand a comfortable balm against the cold of the desert night, & our heroes rested while they could. In the morning, they awoke to see that two of the Torkoal had left. While the others got ready to leave, Gunnar crawled to the hollow’s entrance to scout for Soltinmunnr. Unfortunately, it seemed the desert titan had passed by not too long ago: its large footprints could be seen around the rocks, and the cooling remains of two savaged Torkoal lay in the sand.

Taking a gamble, Gunnar darted out, and scaled one of the boulders to get a better vantage point. From there, he was able to see that Soltinmunnr’s tracks led off in a Westerly direction. Safe for the moment, he relayed what he had found to his friends. Worried for the safety of the remaining Torkoal, Bergie & Naivara managed to convince them to join them.

This taken care of, the party journeyed further South-West, aiming directly for the large cave the Trapinch had been nesting in. Their eyes peeled for signs of an ambush, they managed to reach their destination without any further brushes with danger.

Exhausted & mentally fatigued, they sat down in the mouth of the cave, out of the sun. They had been gone from Drillsberg for 5 days. Having given up on the desert for now, the time had come to establish a plan. In silence, each thought of what to do, as the sands of the hourglass continued to flow out of their reach.