Session 18.5, VP1, Gunnar Solo

Guilt & fear weighed heavily on Gunnar’s shoulders as he took off at a run deeper into Frigga’s Temple. Behind him, a clattering rumble echoed, the sound of stones collapsing. He did not turn back to see the source of the noise, focused entirely on the path ahead. Realizing that he was alone, Gunnar slowed his run down to a stealthy gait.

He came across the entrance to one of the research rooms the group had spent time in earlier. After debating whether or not to shine his flashlight inside, he decided to continue onwards. Unfortunately, he stumbled over a small bit of rubble, making an echoing clatter. Shades began to lurch towards him from the research room.

Gunnar took off at a run, hoping to outpace the shadows, only to run into another pair further down the hallway. Caught between several of the possessed townsfolk, Gunnar used Mary & Skeldr to fend them off long enough to make a torch.

The brighter light combined with Skeldr’s efforts allowed Gunnar to push through the shades blocking the way forward. After recalling Skeldr, Gunnar shot forward as fast as he could, quickly careening around the corner. He knew that at the end of the hallway he would find the large storage room Bergie & Naivara had explored earlier.

From what they had said, there was a hole in the floor that led straight to the underground lake. His torchlight flickered as the wind rushed past him. Seeing more shapes in the storage room, Gunnar skidded to a stop. The sound of his pursuers was growing closer. With a group of at least 6 shades behind him, Gunnar took a quick count: there was another 8 in the storage room, milling around aimlessly.

Locking his eyes on the ragged hole in the floor, he took a deep breath. Gunnar lowered his head and charged forward, straight through the shadows in the storage room. A few of them managed to land glancing blows on him, but he pushed on. Blood dripping on the floor, he dove head-first into the hole, hoping that his friends had been correct that the lake lay below.

He plummeted face-first through the void for at least twenty feet. The cold water was both a shock and comfort when it swallowed him, dousing his torch. Feeling the ache of his wounds, Gunnar kicked to the surface, releasing Skalmvaer. The Narpoon gently pulled him along to the shore while Gunnar once more took out his flashlight.

More of the shades could be seen along the shoreline, making their way towards Gunnar’s light. One Skalmvaer made land, Gunna recalled her, & used a few healing items. Swapping in Skeldr, he moved towards a natural chokepoint around the lake. Using Skeldr’s Rock Blast to temporarily pin some of the shades in place, Gunnar engaged them in combat.

Though he took more injuries as a result, he was able to knock out & free 4 of the townsfolk from Gudbrund’s influence. Increasingly weary, but unwilling to give up, he made his way into the tunnel that led to the Nest Cave. Only a short way down the passage, he came across another quartet of shadows. Realizing he wouldn’t be able to keep fighting his way through alone, Gunnar instead decided to use his surroundings.

Earlier, he had noticed that none of the shades from the storage room followed him into the lake. Additionally, the ones surrounding the lake would wade through shallow portions, but wouldn’t enter an area deep enough to require swimming. With that in mind, he began to backtrace his steps down the tunnel, the shades charging after him. Upon reaching the underground lake once more, he released Skalmvaer and grabbed onto her. Staying in the deeper portion of the lake, Gunnar had Skalmvaer slowly swim them around to the side of the lake furthest from the tunnel.

Once the shades had followed them there, the pair took off like a bullet in the direction of the passage. Recalling Skalmvaer, Gunnar took full advantage of the head start to put some distance between him and the lake. When the floor of the cave began to transition to sand, he changed to a more cautious pace. Rounding the corner into a larger room, Gunnar’s light immediately drew the attention of more shadow-folk.

One near the back of the group had an odd, hump-like shape on its back, and made a cacophonous sound with every movement: he had found the shade of Saffa. Falling back on his previous tactic, Gunnar took off in the direction of the lake at a sprint. Swimming out into the waters once more, he had Skalmvaer use ranged attacks to target Saffa, & only Saffa. Once he had done enough damage to cause the shadows controlling her to retract into the gem in her forehead, Gunnar led the rest of the shades back towards the group he had waylaid before.

He rushed over to where Saffa had fallen as fast as he could. When he had knocked her out, she had fallen face-first into the shallow edge of the lake. Frantically, Gunnar dragged her ashore, and checked for signs of life. Saffa wasn’t breathing. Doing his best to keep calm, Gunnar performed a rudimentary form of CPR.

Tense moments slipped by, the footsteps of the shades slowly making their way around the lake the only sound. Finally, Saffa’s body was wracked with coughs, and she weakly opened her eyes in confusion. Before the rest of the pursuing foes could catch up, Gunnar released Mary, & helped Saffa climb astride her.

The trio took off down the tunnel to Nest Cave as quickly as Saffa could handle. When they had reached a point where they no longer heard anything chasing them, they took a brief rest. Saffa began to ask several questions, but Gunnar explained that they should be quiet until they reached safety. Although groggy & dazed, Saffa nodded her agreement, and followed along.

Slowly, the dim light of Gunnar’s flashlight began to be replaced by the growing light of the moon from further up ahead. The floor beneath them was entirely sand now, and they were only minutes away from Nest Cave. They rounded the last corner of the passage, and came to a complete stop.

Wavering slightly in the wind, an unnervingly-tall shadowy form stood before them. Unlike the possessed townsfolk, this creature seemed to have no physical form inside of it; Gunnar recognized that this must have been one of the 5 spirits that had followed Gudbrund out of his tomb. He made sure Saffa could stand under her own power before having her dismount from Mary.

The spirit turned to face them, threats in Elder Vanic whispering from its writhing mass. Saffa released her Furret, Trixie, as Gunnar swapped out Mary for Bjargulfr. While they did so, the spirit’s arm changed shape, morphing into an ichorous lance. Realizing that this foe was potentially beyond him, Gunnar drew forth the Ruby Gible Dagger. Its powers surged through him, and he steeled his spirits for battle.

Blows began to be traded in a flurry. The miasmic form of the spirit made it impossible to tell how much damage the trainers were successfully landing on it. However well they were faring, it quickly became apparent that the spirit was getting increasingly angry.

Saffa had been using Trixie to boost Bjargulfr’s attacks against their foe, something the spirit had not ignored. Its torso gave an inhuman twist as it changed targets, skewering Saffa through her left bicep. She let out a ragged cry of pain in response, and slumped back against the cave wall. The blood trickling from the wound was tinged with shadows, and flowed much slower than it should have.

Gunnar yelled for Saffa to move further back as he pressed himself into the spirit’s space. Every time he landed a hit with the Dagger, he felt himself weakening: a trade-off for the fact that the spirit was wounding itself every time it struck him in turn. Still, each second the battle drew on was inexorably wearing Gunnar down.

He swayed on his feet, his vision losing focus. One more solid attack from either of the two would be Gunnar’s last. Sensing victory, the ragged spirit coiled itself up to let loose one final strike to fell the hero.

As death keened around the lance’s head, a new voice overpowered it: realizing his trainer was about to die, Bjargulfr threw back his head and let loose a mournful howl. The moonlight’s glow waxed brighter, & seemed to swirl around the Rockruff, engulfing him in a silvery sheen. There was a rush of wind as the Pokemon shot forth, straight through the spirit. The shadow screamed in anguish before shattering, its liquid shards slowly disintegrating into dust. Gunnar shielded his eyes, the flowing moonlight too bright before him.

With the danger gone, the glow slowly dimmed, revealing an unfamiliar shape within: Bjargulfr had evolved. The wolf padded its way over to Gunnar, and used its new size to help support him on his feet. Saffa let out a weak cry of victory, before slumping to the ground, unconscious & bleeding out.

Unsure what to do, Gunnar took out some of his rags & twine, binding her injury as best he could for the moment. With Mary’s help, the trio entered the Nest Cave. As expected, it was full of sleeping Trapinch & Vibrava. Gunnar dug in Saffa’s pack for the Flygon costume he had commissioned from Takav, & slipped it on.

Taking up Saffa’s Ragglewaithe, he attempted to mimic how Bergie had befriended the Pokemon in the desert, to no avail; if anything, the sound annoyed several of the nearby Pokemon, causing them to move further into the cave.

Feelings of failure & success warred inside him. He had found and freed Saffa, but she was now severely injured & dying. He had reached the Nest Cave, but was unable to get the Pokemon to follow him. He had survived his reckless mission, but now stood completely alone, hours away from Drillsberg. He could not do this on his own. And so, his fingers trembling, he took out his Pokedex, and dialed Bergie’s number.