Session 6, VP1

Awaking refreshed after their midnight encounter, the party checked their campsite for any evidence of what had occurred. No arrows could be found, and the bodies of the Centimics' were gone. Gunnar had Bjargulf track the Centimics' scent, leading the party to the Northern base of the mountain. They found that their mysterious savior seemed to have piled the dead Centimics there as a statement of some kind. The party then buried the Centimics, and Gunnar marked their burial site with a sign that read "Garhdin of teh Dseecd".

After a brief discussion, they decided to follow the coastline towards Sol's Bed. Upon reaching the edge of Sindri's Kiln, the ashen, petrified forest surrounding Sol's Bed, they decided to camp, and wait until morning to complete the last leg of their trek. As the beautiful sunset ended, they saw an awe-inspiring sight: from deep within all of the petrified trees, dim orange embers slowly waxed and waned at random. Veins of low light seeped across every inch of the trees, and the barren land looked as if it was full of dancing fireflies.

In the morning, the party entered Sindri's Kiln, slowly making their way through the knee-high covering of soot and ash. After a few hours, they arrived at the base of Sol's Bed. The dormant volcano was easily three times the height of Bor's Rest. Its surface had been scoured during the volcano's last eruption, leaving no plant life of any kind on its sides. There were no trails: the climb would be a strenuous hike up craggy terrain.

After much effort, they finally came within view of the rim of the caldera, which Skeldr rolled over, disappearing from view. The party ran after him. When they crested the rim, they saw a massive caldera, so large it would take at least an hour to walk its rim. Instead of being filled with water, the caldera was oddly full of thick ash. Skeldr had left a trail indicating that he had rolled straight into and under the deep bowl of soot.

Gunnar tied his rope around his waist, gave the end of it to Naivara, and dove in after Skeldr. Naivara tried her hardest, but the rope immediately slipped through her grasp. As she and Bergie stood uncertain and anxious on the edge of the "lake", they saw a large brown dorsal fin break the surface. Quickly, the Pokemon speed towards then, launching a small wave of gravel and ash where they had just been standing. The dorsal fin slowly disappeared beneath the surface once more.

Worried for Gunnar's safety, Bergie decided to go into the "lake" after him, but couldn't quite recall what direction Gunnar had gone in. Meanwhile, beneath the waves of ash, Gunnar had reached the rocky bottom of the caldera, 30 or so feet below where he had entered. The current of some large creature began circling him intently. Gunnar attempted to grab hold of it, but the Pokemon slipped away.

Suddenly, a large tongue wrapped around Gunnar's leg: Skeldr had found him! Gunnar had Skeldr use Rollout to slowly pull the two of them back to the surface. As he breached the surface, Gunnar saw that Naivara had been moving around in the "shallows" to draw the large Pokemon's attention. Bergie wandered lost and terrified across the bottom of the caldera. The layers of soot enveloping him slowly began to make it harder to move and breathe.

In a panic, Bergie used Flame Wheel, which succeeded in causing a geyser of ash revealing his location: roughly the center of the "lake". Gunnar used Mary to Bulldoze a path into the lake, clearing away some of the soot. Then, he recalled Mary, climbed to top of the caldera's slope, and sent out Skeldr. Wrapping himself tightly around the rocky Pokemon, he ordered it to once again use Rollout, this time into the "lake", using the descending curve of the caldera to gather speed. As Gunnar disappeared into the "lake" Naivara saw the dorsal fin begin to turn and follow him.

In response, she ordered Westie to attack, drawing the creature's ire. As Naivara and Westie duked it out with the Pokemon, Skeldr slowly ran out of momentum before coming to a stop. Desperate and feeling increasingly claustrophobic, Bergie threw out Bloom, and had her use Whirlwind towards the surface. The Drilleak's wind carved a thin tunnel to the surface: too small to escape through, but big enough to help Bergie get fresh air. Gunnar switched to Mary once more, having her use Bulldoze and Mud Sport to clear enough soot to get a bead on where Bergie was.

Fighting through the waves of ash, Gunnar suddenly managed to grab onto Bergie's shoulder. Taking a gamble, Gunnar recalled Mary, and released Skeldr. After bracing himself, he told Skeldr to use Sandstorm. The massive gusts of wind emanating from the center of the caldera launched all of the soot into the clouds overhead. A large shape flew up into the air, before landing in a heap by Naivara, revealing their assailant to be a massive Relicanth. Naivara quickly threw a Pokeball and managed to catch the Relicanth on her first try.

As Skeldr began to tire out, Gunnar helped Bergie head for the rim of the caldera. Eventually, when they had made it halfway, Skeldr lost his control of the Sandstorm, and all of the soot began to crash back down. With a burst of speed, the party managed to make it to the rim just before the soot slammed back into the crater. Naivara slapped Bergie for rushing in after Gunnar and making things worse. The trio caught their breath......when suddenly they felt the volcano begin to shake underneath them.