Lucius Cypher

Keratia: Tales of the Arisen One

Nito bandito, please give me a straight Int check to see how fast you can read this book. It's got at least a hundred pages, so you'll be here for at least an hour if not more.

Keratia: Tales of the Arisen One

The acolyte seemed disappointed, shaking his head. "I see. Well, I understand your hesitation. Tis an important decision to make after all. In any case I do not mind if you wish to read these books, however I must ask that you only read them here, in the temple, for safe keeping. We once allowed the villagers to take books to read at their own leisure however after many valuable books were lost we cannot allow any to be taken anymore. And naturally, please do not damage the books. These texts are fairly new but paper is a fragile thing." He left the two tomes on a small desk nearby. "When you are done, you may simply leave them on the table. I would not want you to risk harming yourself trying to climb the ladder whilst putting the tomes away. They can be quite heavy."

Keratia: Tales of the Arisen One

The acolyte seemed surprised. "A dragon? A dragon hasn't been spotted in at least sixty years, not since Duke Erod himself slew the beast. He too slew a black dragon, but..." The acolyte looked around and managed to find at least two books relevant to what you were looking for. Both were about the duke based off the titles on their ridges. "I'm afraid that information about dragons themselves can only be found at larger churches, and I know for certain that only members of the clergy are allowed to research such beasts. Here we only have these two biographies about the duke, one penned by the lord himself, and another written more about his reign than the man. I'm sure the might have some insight about this dragon at least." The acolyte tried to think of what else could work and had an idea.

"Well... Suppose if you too became an ordained member of the church, you may be allowed to read their tomes at the city. Tis no easy task of course, but you seem a capable sort."

Keratia: Tales of the Arisen One

“Hmm. Those places don’t sound familiar, but 2019? That’s surely ancient! Many of our records don’t even stretch back further than a thousand years. But perhaps...” The acolytes flipped to a specific page before going to the ladder and climbing up to a book shelf. As he listened he looked down and you and nodded. “Dreams and visions are often one and the same, yes. Was there anything in this dream which may be relevant?”

Keratia: Tales of the Arisen One

“Hmm. While kidnapping others and putting them through a harrowing journey does seem like something the fey would do, they aren’t so spontaneous as to never leave some trace of their handiwork. A calling cards of sorts, such as a strange marking or some other hint to show the unfortunate victim that they have been influenced by the fey. If there isn’t anything like that, then that simply widens the culprits. Hmm...”

The acolyte picked up a large tome, flipping through the pages. “Do you have any other details? Where this person came from perhaps, any visions they had since they arrived? Do they perhaps have any affinity with a creature either mundane or mythological? Every bit helps.”

Keratia: Tales of the Arisen One

“A strange incident you say? Well, that’s rather vague, but I’m sure we could help. If you’ll just follow me.” The acolyte would lead you to a room on the corner. Inside was a small library of books, so many that a ladder was needed to reach some of the books on higher shelves. There were three chairs in this room, one between each book selves save the one spot where the door is.

“Those who follow the Maker have always assisted people throughout the world with their problems, where they’re mundane matters of the heart or exorcisms to eliminate diabolical entities. Now, could you give me more information about this ‘strange incident’? Perhaps we have a record of such an event happening before!”

Keratia: Tales of the Arisen One

After putting your books away, it was a bit of a hike to the church. There was two ways to get there: the main road, which was the longest but had the most space, and a small alleyway staircase that was quick but narrow. Either way will see her to her destination. Compared to the other builds made of wood and molded stone, the church stood out with it's grey bricks, glass windows, and the large bronze bell at it's highest tower. Painted on the stain glass was the open-hands/wings symbol. The doors were huge and heavy, but soon she would get inside. Surprisingly calm right now. You would only notice two people: a man standing by an altar praying, and a younger man lighting some candles. If you had to guess, the man at the altar was the head priest. You may infer as much since he wears a fancy hat while the other man wears a cap.

Despite the windows the church was oddly dark, illuminated only by a few windows too high to lighten up the entire building, and the candles being lit by the other priest person. The candles sat at tables which had various small statues on them, each depicting the church's presume holy symbol with a book resting on them. It may have some religious significance. Soon the lesser priest spots you, and he blows out the long candle he was using to light the other candles to come greet you. He does a very strange greeting, holding his left hand to his heart while raising his right hand slightly above his head. "Greetings young lady. Welcome to the Maker's Church. How may this humble acolyte assist you?"

Keratia: Tales of the Arisen One

"Of course. Still plenty of time before I close up shop, usually a bit before the afternoon bell. Even if you don't feel like cooking, I also sell some salted fish and preserved fruits, great for long trips. Ah, and I suppose if you're really interested, you could always try to catch some fish down by the beach. Bring whatever you catch back to me and I'll smoke and salt em for ya, so long as you let me keep a few for myself."

If there was nothing else she wanted to do with Yerro, he would return to manning his spot behind the counter. His shop was decently stocked now that she had some time to look it over. Unlike what she might've experienced in her world, many of these vegetables felt somewhat warm and soft, since they weren't refrigerated or kept moist. Still they looked edible enough, similar to what you might expect at a farmer's market. There was a section where Yerro's salted fish was kept, from mackerel to trout, as well as clay jars with fruit preserves. There was even some fruit wine for sale.

If she was done shopping, there was still plenty of places to go. The church was still available and up the hill. Yerro more or less gave her a sidequest to go fishing if she wanted to get some free smoked fish. And of course she had these books she could spend time reading as well. Just a quick glance would let her know that whoever wrote these books has a much better grasp of english than what she had seen on those notice boards, though a few questionable grammatical and spelling choices here and there would remind her that this world's english is not entirely like her own.

You are the Mon

Hey guys I did a thing. So for the sake of expediency, feel free to sorta zoom pass this meditative part. Right now it's early morning, so by around lunch time you guys would get the hang of "emptying your mind". That is to say, you're able to focus on a single thing instead of letting your surroundings distract you. Once you get to this stage you'll manifest your hidden power. Feel free to choose any element for your hidden power except normal. As far as it's stats, we're using the most recent gen so it has a base power of 60, base accuracy of 100, and it's a special attack.

I'm sure you'll have questions and such IC, and I imagine for all of you, it won't come easily or naturally. So feel free to ping me here for IC questions and comments and I'll respond IC using Seraph. She'll also drop some more lore about how moves and such work in this verse.

Edit:

And one more thing, for those of you lacking hand-like appendages, when you finally manifest your Hidden Power the orb usually materializes somewhere around your forehead. For anyone else with arms or similar things, they tend to materialize between your hands. Once you get a better grasp on using special attacks you can manifest them from different areas, such as one hand, from your mouth, etc.

You are the Mon

As the party laid down to rest, the warmth from the flame, their blankets, and the cushions would ensure a restful sleep. Even the rain which had once threaten to chill their bodies or even drown them in a torrent of water became something more akin to a lullaby. But not all was normal tonight. As they slept everyone would get a strange dream. A vision of the forest outside, almost as if they were running full speed. They would spot a black dog snarling viciously at them as flames shot from it's mouth. They would then see a strange warrior leaping from the trees to kick them, only for you to narrow dodge. And finally you'd see a mansion. A massive place made of stone, brick, wood, and glass. Compared to the humble home you're in now this place was a veritable fortress. In a lightning's flash you could see three round figures standing behind a glass window on the top floor. And then you'd wake up.

You'd be awoken by the sound of Munchi dropping a log into the fire. Some of you may wish to continue resting once you figure there was no threat, but it would seem that the rest of the household was also active. Merc simply came into the room and picked up the rock that Muchi had been sleeping with while Honey and Seraph prepared a light breakfast made from yesterday's leftovers. There was unfortunately not enough to make it as thick as last night, and today's stew was very watered down. Additionally in order to conserve supplies, instead of being given small loafs of bread, everyone only received a toasted slice. Still food was food.

Once everyone had eaten up, Seraph goes over the plans for today once more. "The rain still hasn't let up, but that's no surprise. Still we can train in this weather. Outside Mr. Merc and I set up a few targets to practice with. Once we're done practicing, Honey will head into the forest to do some foraging. Feel free to go with her, as for myself I'll be staying here with Mr. Merc and Munchi to defend the house, and try to salvage anything around the farm. When you're done, just meet me outside." Honey would also volunteer to clean up your dishes as Munchi finished off what leftovers wouldn't be good to keep anymore. Outside Seraph stood with a makeshift umbrella made of a large leaf on a stick.

"Now since you're young, I'll try to keep this simple. Today I'll be teaching you how to use a move called Hidden Power. Just about every pokemon can learn Hidden Power, though some are more adapt to it than others. It's a special attack, so those of you who rely more on physical strength might find it lacking. Still if you're facing those ghost pokemon, it's better than nothing." Seraph held her hands close to her chest, and with great ease she was able to create a small blue colored orb in her hands. "The unique thing about Hidden Power is that each user has a unique element when they use it. Some of you might have a fire element, some of you might have a dark element. It's not always similar to your actual pokemon's element either, for example mines is water. Now manifesting your Hidden Power is... Complicated, but at the same time once you get a hang of it it's very easy. First you need to focus. Calm your mind. You mustn't think of anything, not even about Hidden Power. You need to empty your thoughts first, and once you do you've taken your first step to harnessing this power."