PlatinumSkink

Pokémon: Start

@Dusksong

Skurupi glared, leered as it was, as Dei as he ran towards the skorpion, and Dei felt that his defense had been lowered… but that meant that Dei got in the first attack!

'Skorp…!' Skorupi recoiled as it was hurt by Dei’s scratch, recoiling a bit from the tear of the claws but being too heavy for Charmander to topple at this moment. For the next exchange, Dei once again struck first, striking a blow on the armour of the scorpion… but Skorupi had pretty decent defenses. In return…

'Skorup!' Skorupi struck up with its spiked claw, striking across Dei’s face somewhat from underneath. While Dei held nothing that could be bashed out of his hands by Knock Off, significant damage was dealt to the Lizard Pokémon, more so than he could cause in return. Oaken looked content.

'… Just in case you’re hoping for a lucky Critical Hit…' Oaken smirked, pushing his glasses back and seeming utterly convinced of his victory. 'Skorupi’s ability is Battle Armor. It means Critical Hits does no additional damage. Such silly things as “Luck” should have no influence on the tide of battle, it is the perfect ability for me.'

Saying so, Oaken simply looked to the battle, still smiling.

'Skorupi, continue your Knock Off. Continue, until your opponent has fainted. At this rate, you will win.'

'Sko!' Skorupi sounded, intent on going in for another blow.

What would Eryn command?

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@Old Amsterdam@Gardevoiran

Alice and Skylar pulled off their strategy, and the opponents had to calibrate. Cici shot out her Smokescreen pellet at Scraggy…

'Ah! Scraggy, dodge!' Vivia commanded, her eyes widened as she realized how well that countered Leer.

'Scraggy?' Scraggy asked, not entirely sure why he was to dodge until the smokescreen pellet blew up in his face and spread smoke around him. 'Scraaaaaag…!' he complained loudly, spinning in place and kicking about. Then, Seabreeze flew in, and-

'Tsk! Scraggy, behind you! Low Kick!' Vivia commanded instead. On the command, Scraggy spun despite not being able to see, and thrust out his leg! … Right underneath Seabreeze the flying bird, who proceeded to Supersonic him in the face. Scraggy recoiled, stumbling back and falling over, rolling out of the smokescreen before scrambling up onto his legs… and stumbled again.

'Sc-scrag…?' Scraggy asked. Scraggy became confused!

'Geh! Scraggy, go after the Wingull! Low Kick! … Er, High Low Kick!' Vivia commanded, looking a bit flustered by the whole event. Scraggy, still stumbling, tried to stumble around the smokescreen to reach after Seabreeze to try to jump up into the air after him to attempt the “High Low Kick”… however that was supposed to go while Scraggy was confused.

Meanwhile, after having shot out the Smokescreen, Cici had a Barboach chasing after her. #8 kicked up a Mud-Slap against her Bubbles…! … And as we know, Water is effective against Ground, so the bubbles struck right through, the mud thickening as the bubbles hit them and plunging uselessly down onto the grass in between the two Water-Pokémon.

'Agh! This one, too…!?' Simon flinched back, glaring at the match-up…

'Vivia! We still need to team up on Horsea! #8, charge through the bubbles, then Mud-Slap up close!' Simon commanded, and #8 decided to meet the Bubble attack head-on, crashing through the high-powered Bubbles taking decent damage, but intending on getting close enough to Mud-Slap without needing to fear the attack being rendered useless!

'Eh? Vivia blinked a little as she realized she might have diverted from the strategy. 'I-I’ll get back to you on that…!' she said, as Scraggy was still trying to Low Kick a bird.

What would Alice and Skylar's next actions be?

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@Demon Shinobi

Both Tank and Spike increased their Defense before one another, Rodger just looking on with a doubtful expression for a bit.

'Now, I could just hunker up with another Harden… but that’s no fun. Spike! Tackle!' Rodger called, smiling excitedly.

'Ferrrrro…' Spike called, before starting to roll slowly towards Tank…

And here, not counting Shuckle, we were now presented with the slowest Pokémon in existence and the second slowest Pokémon in existence (shared with two others) heading for one another to Tackle, Tank and Spike charging with determination yet definitely taking their time, Tank’s feet only taking him forward at a very specific pace and Spike’s rolling speed leaving much to be desired. The Munchlax and Ferroseed closed ever closer to one another, one step and partial roll at a time, their eyes meeting every time Spike actually completed a lap and had his eyes towards Tank. … This kept on for long enough that someone might doubt what they were doing, but finally, came the climactic impact…!

Despite how slow Tank was charging, the hit to his opponent came with considerable impact. A burst of force happened as the two Pokémon met, and Tank was the stronger. Yet, the iron barbs stung into him, causing considerable damage as Spike simply rolled away a bit and back into an upright position, not having taken much damage at all. Not very effective, as it were. Spike’s defense was naturally higher, meaning the boosting of his defense had more effect than Tank’s Defense Curl. Still, Tank had far more endurance than Spike and could take more damage, so it was perhaps hard to tell who was in better shape.

'Alright! Keep Tackling! You’re faster than your opponent, for perhaps the only time in your life! Chase him down! Soak in the feeling! ENJOY IT!' Rodger grinned happily, and Spike didn’t need to be told twice.

'Ferrroseeeed…!' Spike called, and resumed its rolling towards Tank!

So, what would Axl do now?

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@Eklispe@Joshua Tamashii

So, the two headed out into the desert. Then, without any further ado…

Arriving to…

Route 7

A rocky desert stretches out behind Raremine Town. Route 7 is located in somewhat of a basin, surrounded by giant cliffs that cause all the clouds to empty themselves of water before passing this single area, causing the single most potent desert of Isson, the sun eternally glaring down with heat echoing from the sand beneath. While this desert contains a lot more rocks than a regular vast desert does due to the cliffs sometimes falling down into it and the boulders rolling about, there is somewhat of an influx of air soaring down into the valley, regularly blowing sand up into the skies. Sandstorms are a semi-regular occurrence on Route 7, and one in particular is always covering up the path that is said to lead to the Mystic Oasis, which can only be reliably found through the assistance of a Vivillon, which was found out a while ago by the citizens of Raremine Town. Still, the path to the Desert Mines is usually clear and populated by miners walking back and forth, and those fortunate can pass all the way to the Old Tombs without any issues…

Yet those crossing the desert do need to keep their wits about, for sandstorms are not the only things that might potentially lie in wait in the sands. Here and there, there’s the swirl of creatures on the hunt swims through the sand, looking for prey…

Pokédex Entry #551 – Sandile, the Desert Croc Pokémon. They live hidden in hot desert sands to keep their body temperature from dropping. It’s capable of submerging itself and swimming in sand, only its nose and eyes sticking up occasionally. Due to not being confident in hunting, it usually goes after things that have collapsed in the desert.

Every once in a while stands a green plant emitting a strong aroma, alluring prey to walk close. It wouldn’t take a long time to find one, their green stands out in this environment.

Pokédex Entry #331 – Cacnea, the Cactus Pokémon. It lives in arid environments such as deserts. It can survive for 30 days without additional intake of water. It lures prey in with a strong aroma, before shooting its prey full of thorns or slamming them down with its thorny arms. Once a year, a yellow flower blooms on it, the more beautiful the more arid the conditions.

And occasionally there are little red balls that are supposedly Pokémon that are either running about like their butts are on fire or remain so still standing on the desert that one would think they’re asleep, which they are, they’re just standing up anyways.

Pokédex Entry #554 – Darumaka, the Zen Charm Pokémon. When its internal fire burns, it cannot calm down and has to run around. When the fire diminishes, it falls asleep and pulls its limbs into its body to form a state where it will always right itself no matter how it is pushed or pulled. Because the droppings of a Darumaka never cools down, they can be used to heat clothes by those who doesn’t consider that disgusting.

So. The desert arises before Dawkin and Amelia. What will they do from here?

Current Condition; Mostly Clear, slightly windy - There’s a swirl in the winds, throwing the occasional sand into the air. It might grow more intense, it might cool down. Only the future will tell. The usual sandstorm blows over the path to the Mystic Oasis…

Suggestions to actions

1. Find Pokémon. Can be specified what kind of Pokémon is being searched for, and how you search.
2. Train Pokémon. With this command, we can jump ahead in time and skip posting about grinding.
3. Seek trainers. There are miners and the occasional archaeologist around here to potentially seek out.
4. Talk. They can also just be chatted to!
5. Move along. Move along normally, letting any events that may come happen naturally.
6. Hurry along. Intentionally avoid confrontations and try to get safely to the next destination.
7. Specify. If you specify what you want to do, the GM will take it into account and tell the result.
8. Trigger random event. Force the GM to use his imagination to make a scenario for you.
9. Area Specific; Delve into the Sandstorm. If you think you’re prepared!
10. Area Specific; Search the sands. There may be ancient items submerged in the sands around.

Connected areas:
Raremine Town. Right behind you.
Desert Mines. What Raremine Town stands here for! These mountains are filled with dough!.
Old Tombs. Across the desert, an old and chilling place awaits those who wants to visit…
Mystic Oasis. Somewhere within that sandstorm, that is.

Route 7, known Pokémon

Common:
#331 Cacnea
#551 Sandile
#554 Darumaka

Uncommon:

Rare:

Capes of Denver: A Worm RP

I have a lot more to write if Sheila actually manages to get away, but still. I know Swarm might want to stalk her, and I know Jason might possibly notice Swarm stalking, in which case there's a chance Sheila might want to spy a little, maybe. I'll just leave it there for now.

Capes of Denver: A Worm RP

Creep

Sheila Hopkins

Exiting the Meeting
Visible

---

The meeting was over. Contact info had been exchanged. Creep was quickly up on her feet and heading out, not intending on remaining at a known location for longer than she could help it. She stood up, didn’t take a further look at anyone inside the room and simply left, taking an immediate left turn outside. She didn’t know how far the nullification field affected, so for at least until the next intersection, she let everyone see her. However, when she reached the next intersection, she started keeping very close attention to whom could currently see her and who could not, and she had of course kept aware of anyone following her from behind. She’d display the proper image of herself to anyone watching from a direction she had not disappeared from already. She didn’t want to make it look to anyone like she vanished into thin air, as such she kept all windows in mind as well…

At the next cross section. The directions left and right did not see her appear at all. To them, she never showed up, with the exception of for the corners of the buildings straight in front, which she couldn’t hide from yet. Then, Creep took an immediate right, walking tightly behind the building, vanishing from sight to everything from the direction she had come, therefore having disappeared without a trace to anyone pursuing her directly from behind. Then, she turned left and crossed the street like any other person, walking up very close to the building in front of her, thereby cutting her out of sight from the street that had been directly in front of her when she entered the cross section. Finally, she walked around the corner and continued forward the direction she had been going, vanishing from the corners of the buildings to her left and right as well, now having vanished from the sight of all windows. She did keep watch for any civilians that would have seen her vanish unnaturally and displayed herself only in their direction, but had herself vanish for them as soon as they were not looking in her direction. Soon enough, she should have vanished from the sight of eveyone.

… After that, it depends on how successful she is at getting away from her current pursuers, who one could imagine maybe struck before she pulled her tactic. She’d, of course, keep a close watch for any pursuers with the vision her powers provided, perhaps she’d want to spy on them. Maybe.

Fire Emblem: A Blinding Light

@Rune_Alchemist@Eklispe@Apollosarcher

Isolde took the reigns of Kergin and flew after the Rogue who had claimed her friend, intend on chasing him down. In a straight line, Kergin was faster than the fast-running Rogue, despite the Swiftsoles… But not by much, and then the Rogue ran into the tunnel. Marwood had Fiona chase after as well, but he couldn’t catch up before the Rogue fled through the tight corridors either. He didn’t reply to Marwood’s shout after him.

The tunnel was not straight, and it was dark due to the absence of lit torches. It was not built for a wyvern to fly through with wings spread. It was perhaps possible for a wyvern to run in here, but that wouldn’t be as fast as flying. A horse trying to gallop in her would find that the ground was uneven, unhealthy to attempt crossing at considerable speed. If either of Isolde or Marwood tried to force their way through the tunnel at top speed… they’d crash. Kergin couldn’t flap his wings and as such couldn’t turn when the tunnel suddenly twisted, same with Fiona trying to turn rapidly only to find her grip on the tunnel’s floor being insufficient and she’d continue into the wall, and that wasn’t even counting how dark it’d be. None of the crashes would cause any lasting injuries…

But the Rogue, far more suited and talented at crossing such rough terrain at high speed, was getting away.

Titania and Aldo could but hurry after on their feet, slower than their mounted companions.

__________________________

The Rogue ran as fast as he could down the rocky tunnel. It wasn’t well-maintained, being a secret and all, and there weren’t any lights. Still, the Rogue had excellent night-vision, holding Reina to himself as he ran, and he had pursuers. There was no option not to dash at full speed. However, he was putting a significant distance to those who followed him, and it was looking like he had gotten away. The tunnel curved, and the Rogue curved with it, he knew he was leaving his pursuers behind. He only had to take a couple more turns, and-



‘…!’

He tripped. A small rock stood out among the rest and caught his foot in the dark. His legs fumbled and he found himself falling over, crashing to the rocky floor along with the girl he was carrying. Cursing to himself, the Rogue rolled over and tried to shake this off him.

On the floor, lying on her stomach, Reina blinked to life from the sudden pain. She felt pain to her head, and pain from landing on her stomach. She silently confirmed she had, in fact, been captured. Doing the first thing she could think of, she carefully pulled out the pouch that she had stored the Fire Emblem in, and-

‘Can’t do that,’ the words of the Rogue scared her half to death before she realized he had in fact talked to himself. ‘Can’t fail now, so don’t make foolish mistakes. Can’t fail now…’

With that, the Rogue grabbed around Reina and lifted her again, missing the fact the pouch that contained the Fire Emblem still lay on the floor in the dark cavern. He dashed, leaving it behind. Reina kept her eyes closed, letting herself be taken away lest she might rouse suspicion with the Rogue…

__________________________

@Lmpkio@Crimson Raven

Hevel, still slightly red in his face after having had a girl/dragon sleeping on him the whole journey, was most certainly looking anywhere but behind him as Kara stirred, sitting straight and keeping his wits about. Nope. Nothing behind him. Nothing interesting whatsoever. Oh, look, a butterfly- no, wait, that was just one of the usual butterflies. Huh.

So, then they arrived, watching the mustering Jehannan troops and the small pockets of resistance that were quickly being decimated on the inside, and the guards that stood on the outside. Hevel stood and looked back and forth as Servus asked for opinions on how to get past, while Kara told that she intended to wait. Hevel looked a little apprehensive, before he spoke.



‘If… if you want me to, I could distract the guards at the gate. Give them a false lead outside the town that they’ll go off chasing, or just steal their things so they chase me. I’m, uh, a fairly accomplished practitioner of those arts. I could do it, if you wish me to, in order to give you an opening to slip in. Or, if you want me to slip in undetected and do something, I can probably do that, too. Yeah. I’m good at those things,’ he told, before looking down into the ground and starting to mutter to himself.

_{‘That is, if you for some reason feel you trust me to the degree you think I won’t immediately sell you out, that’d be pretty bad. You just grabbed me off the wayside, what proof do you have you can trust me to that degree? I mean, I know I won’t, but you don’t, why would you? But, anyway, I thought I’d say that I can do it. Just don’t use me to make a living with these skills, you know? If you do that, I’m gone, heh. Been there, done that, and all that…’}

Up to the other two what they decide to do now.

… Kara felt the Fire Emblem coming to a sudden stop underground, not far from the buildings on the right side of the map…

Unchanged map details

Notable Individuals;

Blue, Allied Units

Blue Wyvern Rider

Servus - Abandoned his home as a rogue mercenary. Adores his rare wyvern, Amboli.
Weapon Mastery: Axe: D
Level: 6
Equipment and Items: Halberd, Vulnerary, Pure Water

Blue Thief

Hevel - A young man on an aimless journey. A timid but humane thief that often monologues with himself.
Weapon Mastery: Sword: D
Level: 2
Equipment and Items: Iron Sword, Lockpick

Blue Manakete

Kara - Mature and worldly Manakete with a strong wanderlust and an even stronger appetite.
Weapon Mastery: Stone: D
Level: 6
Equipment and Items: Dragonstone, Vulnerary (2 uses)

Green, Grado Forces

Green Soldier in down-right corner.

Viridia - Daughter of a Jehannan hero. Serious, righteous and dependable.
Weapon Mastery: Lance: D
Level: 3
Equipment and Items: Iron Lance

Green Knight in down-right corner.

Osmund – A Grado Knight from the countryside. Inexperienced warrior with intimidating visage.
Weapon Mastery: Lance: E
Level: 2
Equipment and Items: Iron Lance, Vulnerary, Antitoxin

Red, Invaders

Red Knight Boss

Zane - Former knight of Grado, now a commander of Jehanna. Craves battle and greater challenges.
Weapon Mastery: Lance: C
Level: 12
Equipment and Items: Iron Lance

Red Warrior on throne

Nurit - Second-in-Command of Rhodri’s Wheel Guild. A hearty girl with a vicious battle-lust who feels at home at sea.
Weapon Mastery: Axe: ???, Bow: ???
Level: ???
Equipment and Items: Killer Axe, Steel Bow, Hero Crest

Red Wyvern Knight next to throne

Nadir - Second-in-Command of Eira’s Storm Guild. A charming man who dutifully takes care of all Eira can’t handle.
Weapon Mastery: Axe: ???, Lance: ???
Level: ???
Equipment and Items: Spear, Elysian Whip

__________________________

@Rune_Alchemist@Eklispe@Apollosarcher

… So. If Isolde, Marwood and Titania kept going, they’d eventually pass a pouch that blended into the bottom of the dark, unlit tunnel. The Rogue got away with Reina, but perhaps they’d notice the piece of cloth with something slightly brighter than the surroundings within, a rock on dark fire. Even if they missed it, Titania would most certainly sense it when she got too close, the power within it becoming apparent to the magic-user from this close. … And if she didn’t pick it up, Aldo would. Anyways.

What would they do? Carry on through the tunnel eventually, probably, but at what speed and with what level of desperation?

RPGC #19: Beware The Metal Age - Discussion

I'm under the impression that we have until the conclusion of the 28th to finish. I was just done and didn't feel like proof-reading more, hah.

RPGC #19: Beware The Metal Age - Prompt and Entries

Mischief in the Machines

The age of machines had come. Humanoid robots blended in with the humans, gained control of the nuclear arsenal and proceeded to contaminate the world with nuclear bombs to the degree that no human could survive. Mankind was exterminated, going extinct within the decade. Machines started harvesting the resources of planet Earth, constantly researching to make better AI, better technology, and one day they would launch into space in order to contaminate the universe, the many races of space having no idea what was coming…

So, of course, they had to do something.

‘C’mon!’ Inga shouted as she drifted in front of him, drifting through this tiny tube of cooling fluid intake with her pink wings fluttering. Rochus frowned a little, annoyed that she had called him as if he wasn’t already intending on following, but nonetheless followed after. Behind them, Signy followed with doubt in her eyes, but still intending to help them out.

Finally, Inga passed through a place where one pipe connected to another, and Rochus followed with Signy not far behind. They emerged within what appeared to be an engine, tubes pumping and smoke blowing here and there, powering something, the sounds of working machinery blaring. They had no idea what these machines were doing, they were but tiny fairies who’d been living in nature for eons on end, how were they supposed to understand machines?

Inga, a blonde little fairy with a pink dress, four pink dragonfly wings and long blonde hair, looked about them. They had been following her lead through a pipe into one of the command centers of the machines, and now they were here, having followed to cooling system to get here.

‘This is the warmest and the loudest place in the base, it’s gotta be doing something,’ she told, not convinced.

‘Alright, then let’s look for a way to shut it down,’ Rochus said, folding back his green wings within his green tunic, raising a hand to adjust his short brown hair from having just passed through water, as he looked around, and…

‘Hey? Cables are usually important, right?’ Signy floated before a metal hatch on her yellow wings, long brown hair on her along with a yellow dress, looking curiously with a finger on her lips. ‘This container is full of them.’

‘Ooooooh~’ Inga sounded out playfully. ‘Let’s pull them all out!’ she proceeded to call, flying at full speed into the hatch, straight through the metal lock. No cold iron here to threaten them, machines didn’t work with inefficient unprocessed metal.

‘I think they’re all bolted down,’ Signy told from where she was floating, but that didn’t stop the loud snapping noise from within the hatch as cables were ripped apart by Inga abusing her magic. When playing pranks on humans there was limits to how much power they could use, but now with mankind extinct, there was no reason to hold back. Inga emerged, grinning happily.

‘All cables off!’ she happily informed. Rochus looked up at the machine. It was still going.

‘The machines probably had backups,’ Signy told, seeing where Rochus was looking. He nodded, and then replied.

‘The machines always do. We’ll just have to destroy it all.’

________________________

Fighting machines was so difficult. They always had back-ups, they lacked leaders that could be destroyed to leave all the soldiers without reasons to fight, and no matter how many of them were destroyed they grew ever more efficient at rebuilding and countering the last strategy used against them. Yet, they were powerless against the paranormal. Fairies could slip in and out of places no matter how sealed the hatches, their magic enabled them to pull any number of hijinks, and perhaps most importantly, machines had no way of actually seeing them. Just like the mundane humans of old, ancient magic prevented them from perceiving the supernatural… yet actually destroying the machines? It felt impossible.

It did not help that most fairies had the minds of children.

‘TADA!’ Bui sounded out, proudly presenting this huge, green plate with grey sticks on it and lines stretching about on it. Bui was blue, wearing a blue little tunic, had black hair and blue little wings. He looked very proud right now.

‘… What about it?’ Rochus asked, looking over it.

‘It’s the brain of the machine! I looked over some manuals of old humans, and this, this is the “computer chip” which controls all a machines actions! If I study this thing, we could totally beat the machines!’

There were numerous gasps among the crowd of fairies in the dying, snowy forest. Rochus raised an eyebrow.

‘… Okay, nice. How does it work?’ he asked.

‘I have no idea right now!’ Bui answered. ‘But I’m sure if I watch it enough, the answer will appear!’

Rochus had his doubts. This could be about as much of a waste of time as Bui’s other recent claim that building an EMP would be able to disable the machines, because of that movie Bui had spied a couple humans watching an age or so ago. Turns out, they had absolutely no idea what an EMP actually was, nevermind how to build one, no matter how many old human papers they searched.

‘… Sure, you watch that. In the meantime, that means if we destroy these chips in the machines, we’ll break them down?’ He had seen the chips before, seeking through destroyed machines. Only never knew what they were for.

‘Yes! Though, uh, they may have back-ups, as usual, hah,’ Bui answered. Rochus nodded. Always some backups with the machines.

________________________

Aelfric had flown into the spine of the first humanoid destroyer robot of the force advancing on their forest with slicers to take the trees for resources. As they had practiced, he broke their chips, disconnected their cables and broke the system. He was on the way out when the robot suddenly exploded. Normally, that wouldn’t have affected a fairy, but…

‘Eeep! Ow! Ow! What? Aah!’ Signy cried out, having been flying somewhat nearby, falling out of the sky down into the snow next to a tree. Rochus had been flying high, surveying the attack, but he had to shield his vision from the bright light. Normally, that shouldn’t have affected a fairy… yet where was Aelfric? … That’s when he realized he could see Signy bleeding.

‘Signy!’ Rochus called, diving down and quickly pulled her inside a hole they’d made in the trunk of a tree. Her leg was bleeding, and she had small scars all over her.

‘What happened!?’ Rochus asked, quickly darting outside on quick green wings to gather some dead leaves, flying in to try to bandage Signy’s wound. She was healing by magic, but the wound needed to be kept safe regardless.

‘I-iron! Th-there was cold iron in that explosion, which it shot in all directions…! Aelfric, he…’ Signy shook as she informed, eyes wide, looking down at the injury…

Cold iron? As shrapnel? … The machines had turned to mythology when they couldn’t counter the mysterious unseen attackers that were attacking them? That was… really bad. Then the machines could actually hurt them. Aelfric was probably dead. Rochus closed his eyes in regret. Yet…

‘… We have to press the attack,’ Rochus said, looking towards the hatch. They had to leave soon, or the machines would take down the tree with them in it. Signy looked at him in shock.

‘If we don’t, they’ll figure out that cold iron was effective, and we’ll never be able to act freely again,’ Rochus said, planning on flying out and telling the other fairies to continue attacking… when he was grabbed by the arm by Signy. He looked back at her. She was crying.

‘Don’t, please… don’t make us die for such a reason…’ she pleaded to him, hurt in more than her leg. … He really couldn’t make that call. Rochus sighed, grabbed Signy’s arm, and urged her to come along.

‘Alright. Let’s grab the rest and retreat,’ he told her, and she breathed out in relief. Then, moments later, they were flying, telling the other fairies to pull back.

________________________

And with that, they were losing. Kidnapping children simply wasn’t an effective strategy against the machines. The goblins and ogres didn’t stand a chance against the mighty weapons of modern warfare, especially with their weak points found out. The machines could never strike first, being unable to perceive their enemy, yet the fairies couldn’t take out any machines without having them blow up in their faces, thereby killing them. The fairies yet lacked any form of means to damage the incredibly sturdy machines from outside, and now upon knowing they were around they were firing rounds semi-randomly, in efficient patterns that were predicting where they’d be flying.

They were now huddled together in an old ruin of an apartment, for the machines had destroyed all their forests, and they had to take cover somewhere.

‘… GAH! Why is… damn it…’ Inga cursed, her head planted against the wall, grabbing a lego brick that was around half her length and repeatedly bashed it against the wall. Rochus could understand her. They had recently lost quite a few friends who had been with them for eons, nobody looked happy.

‘Alright, if anyone has any ideas, I’d like to hear them,’ Rochus tried, in order to get a discussion going.

‘There AREN’T any ideas!’ Inga replied, her voice heated. ‘They have fairy-proofed their systems, and even if we found a way around it they’d find a way to repel us immediately! They have so many backups that nothing we do even matter! What does it all matter, anyway? Humanity’s DEAD, the machines can’t see us. We can just… live on our own, or something…’

Signy was on her knees, staring silently into the floor. Rochus looked over her and the other nearby fairies before replying to Inga.

‘We agreed that wasn’t an option. These machines are the purest evil that have ever wandered the planet. If there’s anything we can do to stop them, it needs to be done here, before they’ve drained it of all resources and left the planet to die,’ Rochus told her, but Inga just replied by throwing the lego-brick at him. He easily struck it aside, then met her glare.

‘“If there’s anything we can do”,’ Inga quoted him. ‘Yeah. I think we’ve determined that we can’t. What do we have? The ability to move things around, slip in anywhere and create some illusions. Nothing that can break the likes of THEM. Face it, Rochus. We’re done.’ … So she said, and Rochus really wished he had some way of refuting her claim. It’d need some form of miracle for them to-

‘ARF!’

The sound of a bark caused them all to immediately tense up, memories of the dogs of old barking and chasing them off returning before they could remember that all dogs were gone. However, that sound was definitely real. Into the room jumped a tiny, fairy-sized bucket of bolts only roughly shaped like a dog, the four legs so unsteady that in the midst of the jump it collapsed forward, knocked its head into the floor and then rolled over onto its back. Yet, it leaped up to its feet and ran up to Signy, who happened to be closest, the scared fairy lifting up in the air to avoid it…

… And the machine whined in sadness, looking up at her where she had left it. This thing… couldn’t have been one of the developments of the machines. It was way too inefficient. Not to mention, it was displaying emotion… not to mention, as all fairies in the room could feel… this metal dog had a soul. It was alive.

‘I have done it!’ Bui called out, arms raised high and smiling widely as he entered the room, just about at the time when Rochus had figured out the only possible culprit. They all looked at him questioningly, and Bui was more than happy to explain.

‘So, the chip was really hard to understand, but using some good old fairy-magic I managed to tie it to a little miniature machine and get it to work! I didn’t know what a lot of it would does, so I had to improvise a bit for the motivations, emotions and compassion of the machine, but ultimately I think it worked out fine! I have become a machine fairy!’

‘Arf!’ the metal-dog called out happily. Rochus’s eyes widened, and so did those of many of the others. There were many different kinds of fairies, some with extra powers, and it seemed Bui had just developed new abilities. But, this…

‘Bui,’ Rochus told, staring at him. ‘Do you realize what you’ve…?’

‘Eh!?’ Bui recoiled, immediately looking really guilty. ‘Did I do something wrong!?’ His “dog” ran back to him, looking as if to protect him.

‘Those…’ Inga flew up with her wings, and pointed out through the window at the nearby factories. ‘… do not have emotions or compassion. You gave this machine a soul,’ she commented, looking down at the metal creature.

‘Yeah. so?’ Bui asked. ‘I needed to connect the emotions I was giving it to something, a soul was the easiest…’

‘C-could you…’ Signy asked, swallowing mid-sentence. ‘Could you give any machine a soul?’

‘Uuuuuh…’ Bui looked hesitant as everyone was expectantly watching for his answer, the metal dog also looking up at its master. ‘Theoretically?’

An air of silence fell upon the crowd of fairies… before they all got mischievous grins, a unified plan taking shape within their minds, only Bui standing a bit aside looking questioningly at them…

________________________

So. They could only do it once. After that, the machines would realize what had happened and undoubtedly taken measures against them. As such, they had to target the highest manner of machine order available. Fortunately, the machines still had no manner of means with which to perceive their magical existence. So, Bui had spoken about the existence of these enigmatic “servers” which contained the consciousnesses of the main machines, and then bring Bui to it. From there, Bui could tell what machine it was and what its purpose was, and they could then decide if it was worthy of them.

They split up, each fairy slipping into different factories, mining facilities, military bases and the like, seeking the servers. With their natural connection to nature, they could feel where it was deformed. It took a long time of searching, but they had ran into a problem. No matter where they searched, they couldn’t find any form of leadership among the machines. There were controllers, yes, but any such controller would swiftly be deactivated if separated from the system, it just wasn’t efficient for their one use of Bui’s new powers.

Rochus was flying down an unnatural hole in the ground, frowning as he slipped through security measure after security measure, blocked door after blocked door, and a whole wall that was placed there especially for things that could go through doors. They had mostly mapped out where the resources of the machines were going, and a lot of it was going here, so what was down here…

He came through the final door, and stopped short, floating on green wings as he looked over the scene.

It was a rocket. The machines had built a humongous rocket, and they were loading it with more and more resources and machines… They were sending a group to another celestial body. They couldn’t maintain constant contact with machines on another planet, but the machines on the colony still needed to have a controlling machine… With other words, there’d be a controller onboard. A controller that would be separated from the rest of the system.

Well. There it was.

________________________

There it flew, leaving a line of gas behind it as it breached the atmosphere on the way out. Rochus sat back, Inga and Signy to his left and right and Bui standing behind, and the other fairies scattered around where they sat on this snowy hillside looking up at the rocket flying off into space. It was just one out of many rockets that they had found lately, and to each and every one…

‘What did it say?’ Rochus asked.

‘She said she’d grow her community to one of kindness and love. Apparently a machine constructed by a machine with a soul also gets a soul somehow. Who knew?’ Bui answered, looking up at the rocket flying off with the new consciousness he had created. Rochus made a mental note that apparently machine gender was a thing.

‘And? Any progress on the other thing?’ he asked, looking to Signy. She was seated next to the Arf the metal dog, which had apparently taken a liking to her, snuggling its uncomfortable-looking snout at her side.

‘Yes!’ Signy replied, smiling slightly shyly but enthusiastically nonetheless, one hand absently petting Arf. ‘I’ve been picking up the basics. I’m not as good as Bui, but I’ve been able to manifest something.’

‘She’s an excellent student,’ Bui said, proudly. ‘She’ll be able to put souls into machines like I can soon enough.’

‘Cool,’ Rochus said. That, would be excellent. ‘Inga, how’s progress?’

‘Terrific!’ Inga basically bloomed. ‘Without actually attacking the machines, we’ve been able to keep excellent check of how they act! We’ve spread word to the fairies across the world, and we’ve been comparing notes and we’ve mapped out the actions of the machines! They’re so very predictable, you know? They seem to think we’re exterminated! With this, we might actually grow in number!’

‘Nice,’ Rochus nodded. ‘I’ve been in contact with the emissaries of the fairies across the world. Goblins and gnomes and yokai and whatever else. We’re sharing what information we have, and Bui? You’re going to get a lot more students all of a sudden. Hope you’re ready.’

‘Oh, boy,’ Bui said.

‘Sooo, the plan is that we just continue giving souls to all the machines leaving Earth?’ Inga asked.

‘Unless you can somehow find the supreme leader of the machines for us, yepp,’ Rochus reported. Inga had an expression that suggested that she could not.

‘Well. Okay then.’

________________________

Numerous years later. A mighty metallic fleet of machines floated above the planet. They were equipped with weapons of fearsome power, able to conduct an entire war with extraterrestrial races if they were so encountered. The machine army was ready for an invasion of the Milky Way…

Suddenly, one of the great cruisers fired numerous shots down at planet Earth. It obliterated several shield-generating bases, disturbing the advanced technology the machines had been developing and leaving the cities open. Then, the fleet unloaded their firepower, ships all across the world directing their guns down and proceeding with the bombardment of the planet.

Buildings were wiped out. Factories and secret bases were obliterated. Cities vaporized. All the remaining soulless machines on Earth targeted at once with the concentrated firepower of all they had ever sent into space.

A large gathering of mythical creatures had gathered at a shore. Rochus was there, with Inga, Signy, Bui and the others, but also goblins, trolls, yokai, mermaids and other fishmen, ogres and fae, who had worked for this conclusion. They watched the fireworks as the blasts from the cannons of the spaceships obliterated the cities of the machines. Joining them on the beach was a metallic lady, crafted with finesse to appear as humanoid as possible, yet distinctly metallic in colour as to show its true nature. Lady Meryllia turned to them.

‘It has been done. The Ordinants have been eliminated, and will no longer threaten our daily life,‘ she declared, her voice a song as she spoke it. Rochus floated forth in front of the human-sized lady, far larger than him.

‘We thank you for your help, Lady Meryllia. We couldn’t have done it without your help,’ he told her, but she shook her head.

‘Nay, we must thank you, for without you, we’d still be without emotion and souls. Our empire shall now seek to the stars, as was our purpose, but know that we no longer seek it for the expansion of the Ordinants, but for our own peace, for our own living and happiness. Thank you, for granting us that,’ she decreed, looking past Rochus at Bui, who blushed and smiled shyly, bowing his head to her a bit.

‘It was…’ Rochus considered his words a bit. ‘... the least we could do.’

Lady Meryllia, who had been appointed the leader and mother of the freed machines who now all possessed souls, bowed to them before turning to her spacecraft, which awaited her. After getting on, it took off, flying off into the skies, leaving Earth once again machine-less.

‘… She kinda scares me,’ Inga said.

‘Yupp. If she and her soul-filled machine empire decided to attack us, they’d be able to see us due to the magical souls we gave them. They’re basically fairies too, and fairies can be evil. So, yeah, she could kill us. But it’s better than the soulless machines doing it, isn’t it?’ Rochus smirked in her direction.

‘Er, well…’ Inga laughed a bit. ‘I suppose it is.’

‘They wouldn’t do that!’ Signy insisted. ‘Arf is living proof!’

‘Arf!’ Arf agreed. Signy smiled at her little companion that was always beside her these days, then looked dreamingly up into the sky. ‘The stars, huh. Do you think they’ll find peace?’

‘They will,’ Bui said, confident. ‘Their souls are kind in nature, seeking stable and good lives. They’ll hold together, I know it.’

‘And now, it’s just us here on Earth…’ Rochus said. … Hm. They’d been fighting for so long, and then they had just been pranking humans before them, now they weren’t entirely sure how to live.

‘Party?’ asked a goblin, lifting a glass of what could only be goblin ale, by far the least appetizing thing within miles. Various being through the crowd laughed, others looked positive to the idea, others balked at the idea of the ale, but…

‘Yeah, we won. Let us celebrate! To our victory!’ Rochus announced.

And as such, the remaining fairies of Earth celebrated on a nameless shore, as the arcs of soul-filled machines drifted away through the galaxy, seeking a new home…

The End.

RPGC #19: Beware The Metal Age - Discussion

I... have an entry. I'm not very proud of it, I didn't get the inspiration I wanted that I sometimes get, but it'll be in on time.

Edit: ... Yeah. That'll do. Hah.

Pokémon: Start

@Rune_Alchemist

Uxie stayed at a distance hovering from them, watching. Upon Claire's question, it merely gave a small nod and told ‘Uxie,’ in an okay-sounding tone.

Having confirmed that Chikorita, Pip, was indeed alright, Meganium decided he was done for the day and lay down on the grass to relax nearby. The place is pretty quiet and still, except for whatever Claire and co got up to.

Pokémon: Start

@Dusksong I take it you mean "Scratch", not "Tackle"? Otherwise, yupp! Nicely posted. ... The word of describing another person closest to a compliment in the entity of Oaken's vocabulary still sounded like an insult. XD

@Old Amsterdam@Gardevoiran Wooo. Strategy. Yeah, here's some basic examples of how to play Pokémon in a roleplay, haha. Nicely posted.

@Eklispe Yupp, time for me to get this desert ready, haha. Well, it's already pretty ready, I just need to arrange the key details that actually make it postable, heh.

@Rune_Alchemist Nicely posted. Though, heh, Uxie's reaction can be summed up as nodding, going "Uxie" in a decently okay tone, and then watching you quizzically, and that'd be the entity of my post to you. Perhaps the Meganium lying down over there for right now. Haha.

Pokémon: Start

@Rune_Alchemist Here you go, a little continuation of that.

And for you others, the battles are on.

@Dusksong Here's an opponent. Have fun with that one.

@Old Amsterdam@Gardevoiran So, in my initial nine rivals I created, these two might just be the two I was taking the least seriously, and you've teamed them up, hahaha. Not to say they won't be serious eventually, but right now? Yeah, heh. I had a scene I wanted to play out with each of them, and because you had the two team up I had to include both of them like this. XD

@Demon Shinobi So, what will you do in this predicament? Heh.

@Joshua Tamashii Oh, hi. You posted too. Nicely posted. Teh-heh.