Session 23, VP2

The MegaBot towered over our heroes. The sun glinted off of its steely hide, as it ducked low to the ground. Before the trainers could react, it spun rapidly in a circle, lashing out with a roundhouse kick. Though it was a solid hit, everyone managed to maintain their footing. Bronze managed to pinpoint weak points in the robot’s legs and head. The party focused their fire on the legs first, managing to slow the MegaBot down considerably. 

Despite the damage, the MegaBot continued laying out blow after hammer blow. When its head was cracked and ruined, the MegaBot declared that it was time to “get serious”. Bringing both of its beak-hands together, it began to manifest a gleaming sword of pure energy. Though static crackled across its form, it was clearly devoted to taking down our heroes. 

Even with this mighty power upgrade, the MegaBot was slowly forced to back into the shallows. Metallic shards scattered from it with every successful hit, and smoke began to billow out from each new crack. The MegaBot’s voice glitched and stuttered as it tried to speak one final time. Whatever threats it meant to levy went unheard as the party gathered together to launch a finishing blow. 

Every Pokémon the trainers carried burst from their Pokeballs. The group formed into a triangle, with Bronze at its front. Her cape fluttered in the sea breeze as she pointed at the faltering robot, letting loose a mighty battle cry: “Please make it go away! … … Laser!” As one, each Pokémon launched an elemental attack. The various Moves twined around each other, coiling like a drill. The energy keened as it bore straight through the MegaBot’s chest. There was a brief moment where the avenger stayed on its feet, before it collapsed face-first into the sand and surf. 

Without waiting a beat, our heroes all turned to Bronze, inquiring what she knew about the robot. This whole charade was obviously centered on her, for some strange reason. Quietly, she explained what little she had guessed. There was suddenly a small crackle, as the broken MegaBot’s speakers activated again. Its controller declared that they would return another day to “save Bronze”. 

A patch of water began to roil, roughly a mile away from shore. A tall, willowy woman, with a long, red braid, rose from beneath the ocean. She wore a full business suit, reminiscent of the kind Bronze wore when she arrived in Vanachrom. Attached to her arm was a sort of mechanical prosthesis, with what appeared to be a helicopter blade sprouting from its fist. The propeller whirred to life, and the woman zipped away into the distance. 

This, naturally, raised yet more questions for Bronze to answer. She appeared to have recognized the strange, sea-born woman. Her name was Talullah Yeas, the younger sister of one of Bronze’s co-workers. Why she was here, Bronze could only guess: the likeliest reason was that Bronze’s parents might have claimed she had been kidnapped, rather than face the embarrassment of their trophy child running away. 

Embla came to, and saw she was the only one of her retinue still at the beach. She looked ready to fight again, until Sylvie came over to check her for injuries. Confused, she guardedly answered a few questions from the party. It became quickly apparent that Embla and the others were purely “hired muscle” paid by Talullah to aid in “Bronze’s rescue”. Reinhold and Bronze took down her contact information, reasoning that it might be useful to have a mercenary available for hire in the future. 

As Embla left, Ariela groaned in hunger. Bronze rifled in her pack, pulling out the strange Purple Berry she had obtained from Rusty. Without hesitation, Ariela scarfed down the Berry. Something about it immediately disagreed with her; she began to suffer an intense bout of poisoning. This was the last impetus the group needed to leave the beach, which had been far less relaxing than they had initially hoped. 

After getting Ariela safely to the Halvorsson’s couch, the rest of the group paid a visit to the Southern Pokémon Center. It wasn’t difficult to discern that being at the run-down Pokémon Center was making Lauren more anxious. Once their teams had been healed and rearranged, the friends, asked Lauren if they would feel comfortable explaining what had happened. Hesitantly, they agreed, but asked if they could do so in his room, rather than in public. 

While the group was making their way back to Lauren’s home, they could see Riina, Hilde’s mother, headed towards the Pokémon Center for a work shift. Next to her, to their surprise, was Gyda. They hadn’t seen her since the Tournament in Seeder Grove, what felt like years ago. Gyda clearly noticed them and continued speaking to Riina in a hushed voice. Unwilling to engage with her for the moment, our heroes continued to the Halvorsson household. 

Ariela was not doing any better when the group arrived. Lauren’s parents whipped up dinner for everyone, as Lauren recounted their day at the beach. Their parents seemed to be skeptical of the tale of the giant robot but ended up trusting Lauren at their word. 

After making sure no one needed anything else, Erik and Leana retired for the evening. The party helped carry Ariela up to Lauren’s bedroom. Once they had all settled, Lauren began to explain what had caused them so much anguish the day prior. To give full context, they reluctantly opened up about bits of their history kept buried deep. When the tale was told, several of their friends moved to comfort Lauren. The trainers thanked Lauren for trusting them enough to be vulnerable, and stayed long enough to ensure Lauren would be able to sleep okay. One by one, they drifted off to rest. 

While on their morning run the next day, Bronze and Reinhold spotted an interested flyer in a nearby park; the Ohmslo Museum of Natural History was opening a new exhibit about “The Eight Swordthanes”. Something about this pulled at Reinhold’s interest. 

Upon returning to find their friends making their way through breakfast, the group decided to discuss their plans moving forwards. Several ideas were lobbied forth, of destinations both near and far. Eventually, it was decided that they would stay in Ohmslo for a few more days, at least until Ariela had recovered from her persistent case of poisoning. Then, they would head northeast, towards Sol’s Bed. For now, they prepared for the day and set out together for the museum. The museum was already slightly crowded when our heroes arrived. Though entry was free, several of the group put some Monies in the donation box. Although there was much to be seen and explored, both Reinhold and Kuze seemed intensely drawn to the new exhibit. Maintaining the Buddy system, the group stuck together; they were in no rush and wanted to support their friend. 

Passing through a large doorway, they found themselves at the Swordthanes exhibit. The large room had eight sections delineated out, one devoted to each of the supposed ancient bloodlines associated with the myths of the blades. Some of these sections had murals, tapestries, and statues; other sections contained archaic family trees and relics. One section even claimed to have a “reforged” version of the ancient Dynjaljoss blade. 

Though the room was crowded, everything seemed to become silent for Reinhold as he approached a tapestry bearing a family crest he recognized. Though the art was hundreds of years old, there was no mistaking the fact that the figure depicted bore a striking resemblance to Reinhold himself, as if he were an echo brought forth from ancient times. The family name this section was devoted to was Adelbrand. In a haze, Reinhold excused himself for a moment. Slowly, he made his way to the bathroom, where he stood, looking in the mirror. His friends spoke quietly in the Swordthane exhibit, unsure what had happened and how they could help. 

After a few moments, Reinhold returned to the group. Just as Lauren had the night before, he explained a bit more of his own history to his friends. Given how entwined the Adelbrand myth was to his upbringing, seeing these relics struck a chord within his chest. During his recounting, several of the group noticed that a woman appeared to be staring at Reinhold from across the room. None of them recognized her: the woman appeared to be middle-aged, with a hard-travelled look to her face. She was well dressed in modern clothing, but something about her eyes seemed…dangerous. 

Reinhold waved to the woman, hoping to ask why she had been staring at him. When she realized she had been made, the woman quickly turned on her heel, and made for the exit. Our heroes followed in her wake. They found her standing at the bottom of the museum steps, lost in thought. When Reinhold got her attention, she drew herself up to her full height, nearly as tall as Lauren. Her demeanor was coarse, and borderline aggressive, but the group politely did their best to introduce themselves. Eventually, Reinhold brought up the name “Aegson”, causing the woman to narrow her eyes. 

Just as she seemed about to tell the group to leave her alone, another woman’s voice called out from the top of the steps. She appeared to be both a member of the museum staff, as well as the stern woman’s wife, checking on her after the speedy exit. The coarse woman softened a bit, telling her that she was fine, and to go back inside to work. Thankfully, this seemed to defuse the tension somewhat. The woman introduced herself as Sollaug and motioned for the group to follow her somewhere more private. 

In silence, the group found their way to a somewhat secluded section of a nearby park. They settled into the nearby benches, waiting for Sollaug to speak. Though still coarse, she was much more amenable in her temperament. From her, the group learned that the Swordthane myths held more truth than the public realized. Sollaug herself was a descendant of the Ormstunga bloodline, the Dragon Swordthane. She would not elaborate on it but had evidently fled from her “legacy” nearly three decades ago. Until the museum began working on this new exhibit, she hadn’t had reason to even think about the history of the swords. 

The relics and stories being put on display seemed to act as a candle-flame to those with ties to the ancient bloodlines: Reinhold was not the first Adelbrand Sollaug had encountered in recent days. Cursing Aegson’s name, Reinhold explained what little they knew of him. Sollaug had refused to speak with him when he came to her for information and had not seen him since. 

More than anything else, she endeavored to drive home one thing above all others: in her opinion, these colorful stories and tales meant nothing. She saw the blades, and their wielders, as evil, malevolent forces in Vanachrom. 

There was a pause as our heroes considered what they had heard so far. In a resolute voice, Reinhold quietly asked Sollaug if it was possible to destroy these blades, would they to be found. Though she could not verify it as fact, she had been told that the only way to destroy one of the blades was for the other seven to unite against them. Yet, according to history, five of the eight swords had been sundered. Anything more than that, Sollaug knew not. 

The group thanked her for hearing them out, and for the knowledge she had imparted. As she made ready to leave, Reinhold asked for her contact information. She appeared extremely hesitant, but acquiesced, with a threat: Sollaug had gone to great lengths to keep her ties to the Ormstunga bloodline hidden from her wife and children. If the party did anything to jeopardize that…  

Before she could finish the warning, Reinhold swore to her that the party would keep her secret. After staring deep into Reinhold’s spirit, Sollaug curtly nodded, and walked off. Though the day was still young, there was now much on our heroes’ minds. Was Sollaug’s opinion of the Blades correct? Why did she abhor them so strongly? And what had Aegson hoped to learn from her? 

Their time for reflection was cut short, as a high-pitched, electric wail sounded from somewhere nearby. It took Lauren a second, but they recognized the sound: it was a security alarm, coming from the museum. The group shared a dark look, and quickly got to their feet. Sollaug’s words echoed in their minds, as they began to run back to the museum…