victory_road | Castle Prom 2020

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Castle Prom 2020

After arriving in Cerulean City and riding in one of a fleet of Cerulean Cape Shuckle Shuttle buses for an hour or so, the trees break and the road snakes along sea cliffs. In the distance, all can see a grand building rising up into sight, and excitement bubbles up within each and every heart as this year's mysterious, grandiose Prom location draws ever closer...

Welcome to the castle!

Their duo of hosts stand ready to welcome the characters when they arrive, assuring them that their luggage will be taken care of, and inviting them for a special tour of the castle, or would they rather first see their rooms, or perhaps even have a bite to eat? The choice is up to them.

THE CASTLE SIGHTS
The Outer Courtyard

For those wishing to get a breath of fresh air or looking for a place to perhaps engage in a little battling, look no further than the courtyard. Nestled safely within castle walls, the courtyard has been given a thorough renovation. The stones gleam like they have never gleamed before; a large fountain (certainly too new to have belonged to the original castle) stands at the center of the courtyard, the water gently cascading down over the marble figures of two nondescript and crowned humans, one holding a sword, the other a shield; wide-open doors welcome characters further into the castle.

The Stables

To the west lie the stables. Anyone interested in taking a ride along the cliff trails (or guests who just wants to see the horse Pokemon) is welcome to enter. The comforting smell of hay and wood hangs in the air, though any persons expecting to find familiar faces like Rapidash, Mudbray or Zebstrika is going to come off rather surprised.

Instead what they will find are snow-white, proud-looking equines. Their long, pastel-colored manes and tails have been brushed to perfection, occasionally adorned with braids and white flowers. Long, violet colored horns jut out from their foreheads, a spiralling pure white groove running along their length. Long fetlocks drift along the ground, rather like delicate pink clouds, almost giving the Pokemon the appearance of being stabled on air rather than something so common as hay.

Yes, anyone who has not yet had the pleasure of being able to admire the beauty and grace of the Galar Rapidash can look and ride their fill here. While the stable hands cannot allow anyone to actually keep one of the magnificent horses themselves no matter how much a guest is willing to pay, whenever their bosses aren’t looking, they certainly prove willing to provide characters with a Galarian Ponyta egg for a small price. (Limited to one per character)

The Kitchens

To the east lie the kitchens, and what kitchens they are! At all hours, characters will be able to smell the delicious aroma of a variety of sumptuous meals being prepared. In the mornings, the scent of fresh bread and breakfast fills the air, changing to the scent of pastries and later on more filling dishes as the day continues on, and fresh pots of tea are always on hand. Officially, the guests are asked not to enter the kitchen, as to not to disturb the many cooks working there. Unofficially, there are not exactly any guards, so if you really wanted to sneak in, you probably won’t get stopped.

The Dining Room

Adjacent to the kitchens awaits a large dining room. Tables have been set up in long rows with plenty of room for all with some to spare, and once someone sits down, almost as if by magic, they will soon find one of the waitstaff at their side, presenting them with an extensive menu. Order as much (or as little) as you like! The chefs will have it ready for you in a flash.

The Ball Room

The old castle ballroom has been done up to the nines, reflecting nothing but glory and splendor. Some delicate little tables and chairs stand at the sides of the room, for anyone who needs a quick break for their feet, but most of the polished marble floor is intended for dancing. There is a small chamber orchestra playing in a corner to provide everybody with only the classiest of tunes (though they do take requests for more modern music) and neatly dressed waitstaff with an uncanny ability to tell who is and isn't underaged flit through the crowd like black butterflies, making sure no glass goes unfilled.

The Inner Courtyard

The doors of the ballroom open wide onto a second, smaller courtyard at the back of the castle. Unlike the Outer courtyard, which was all stone, this smaller, Inner Courtyard is dominated by plants. The gardeners have done their very best to dress up the inner courtyard with plants and flowers of any kind - so many plants, in fact, that there is no room for battling out here. But if you wanted to take a breath of fresh air, wander around and look at the plants, or perhaps even try and find some of the small, secluded nooks created by the plant cover, you are more than welcome.

In between the lovely smelling blooms, characters will also be able to find bushes and small trees laden with unfamiliar berries! Small cards in the soil will explain exactly what kinds of berries they are and what effect they have, and characters are invited to pluck a few berries if they want. Just don’t get too greedy!

The new available berries are: Apicot, Salac, Ganlon, Petaya, Liechi, Lansat, Custap

The Library

Situated on the second floor is the castle's splendid library, a welcome respite for those less inclined to dance and frolic. Whatever books originally filled these weighty shelves are long gone, but their hosts have spared no effort in making reading material available to their guests. Among the shelves, guests will be able to find many books on the Galar region's history and myths. Some of these tales are already known over in this region (Who doesn't know the tale of the wise King Arthur and his oval table?) but there are also many more obscure and unknown fables and tales; the truly inquisitive may even be able to find some material on the two crowned fellows depicted in the main courtyard's fountain. It's almost as if Prom's esteemed hosts shipped over their whole personal library.

They may, in fact, have shipped over their whole personal library.

Pull up one of the plush armchairs, grab a book, and make yourself comfortable by the roaring fire! There's more to read here than you can finish in a lifetime!

The Bedrooms

Upstairs, guests will find all manner of bedrooms to choose from, from smaller rooms meant for a single person, to large ones for couples, to even larger ones for characters that would like to spend the night with a few friends. One thing holds true for them all: these rooms are seriously extravagant. Decked out in the finest of antique furniture like large canopy beds, solid wooden chairs, tapestries, and rugs, the decor brings to mind bygone centuries. There are even hearths in every room that can be used to light a small fire; while the rooms are all wired for electricity, unfortunately, central heating was a bit outside of the realm of possibility.

The Tower

Not all of the towers have undergone restoration, but the grandest, largest of them has. It will take some real stamina to climb all these stairs, but if they do, characters will be rewarded with two things:

First of all, their two hosts have seen fit to create a small miniature museum inside the Tower’s chambers. Paintings, tapestries, and artefacts have been brought over from the Galar region to be put on display. All the artefacts brought over depict moments from Galar’s rich history, including paintings of ancient kings and queens, an actual knight’s armour, chalices, swords tucked in velvet under lock and key, and richly woven tapestries that for some reason seem to depict knights battling giant Slugma.

If you still have energy after the climb to get here, you can continue on to the very top of the tower. From the tower’s high vantage point, it seems the entire Kanto region is on display in the incredible view. The ocean stretches out along the horizon, but closer to home, characters will be able to behold wild forests and cliffs, the green lush routes of Cerulean Cape itself and at night, millions and millions of stars twinkling up overhead.

And all the rest...

Beyond those sparkling rooms and done up corridors lies... the rest of the castle. The parts of the castle not quite done with their renovations are roped off, but nothing is stopping guests from exploring if they so wish - especially if they are interested in finding those rumored lost treasures or traps.

While the rest of the castle shines, these parts of the castle feel almost haunted. Dust and derelict dominates the rooms, old broken furniture covered in dingy white sheets and creaking doors adding to the atmosphere. Did the eyes of that painting just move? Why is there a weird draft coming from that wall? What was that strange ominous creak coming from behind you? Are there any dungeons? Wait, did you just hear someone crying in a far off room?

Jeez, no wonder they say this place is haunted.

The Rocky Beach

The main attraction outside of the castle, besides the hiking and riding paths, is a small stretch of rocky shoreline accessible just outside the main courtyard and down a surprisingly sturdy set of stone stairs. While it's a crummy place to lay out and get some sun, it is littered with bits of detritus from the sea. Shells, whole or broken, peek out between smooth pebbles and the rare piece of sea glass, and at low tide clumps of seaweed lay draped over the craggier outcroppings. Nothing is stopping you from fishing or poking around in the shallows for Pokemon, but you're more likely to find an interesting souvenir than a new friend...

AVAILABLE POKEMON
Naturally, this wouldn't be a Pokemon Prom without some Pokemon to catch! All catchable Pokemon range between the levels of 10 to 30. The Pokemon in the castle mostly haunt the unfinished section, but feel free to have the occasional encounter in the renovated sections too!

Castle

Impidimp; Gastly; Haunter; Litwick; Lampent; Duskull; Shuppet; Sinistea; Misdreavus; Honedge; Doublade**; Dusclops**; Polteageist***; Gengar***;

Courtyard

Butterfree; Cutiefly; Ribombee; Beautiful; Vivillion;

Rocky Shore

Binacle; Staryu; Wimpod; Frillish; Krabby; Kingler**; Jellicent**; Slowking***;

During the characters' stay, they might suddenly find their room a mess, as if a small tornado went through their luggage. They might even find themselves missing some incidental items or articles of clothing, nothing necessarily valuable or significant, but it sure is weird. This is... probably the work of the castle's Pokemon, right?

TREASURE HUNTING
While your shuttle bus slowly trundles towards the castle, the driver will regale his riders with local stories and legends, chief among those the legend of the castle itself.

You see, the castle was built by a relative of Bill (you know, the Pokemon storage system inventor?), but no one has lived in it for years and years because it is haunted. No, not haunted by Ghost types. That would be rather common and hardly worthy of note, wouldn't it? No, the castle is haunted by the ghost of Bill's great-great-great-uncle, and rumor has it that he is so possessive of the castle and its contents that he will kill all who enter.

You see, even when he was alive, this man's enormous hoard of wealth was only outmatched by his enormous amount of paranoia. He was so paranoid that others would come to steal his wealth that he built his castle high upon the cliffs where no one could approach it undetected. But that wasn't enough to settle his fears! He started to hide his multitude of treasures all around the castle, and he built many traps and secret passages to protect them. It's said he was so fiercely protective of his money that he refused to leave the property even after his death, and his spirit still haunts the castle to this day. Many who have tried to find his treasures have disappeared.

That is what the rumors say, at least.

In any case, feel free to explore those abandoned halls and ruins for these supposed long-lost treasures. Better check for hidden rooms and passages behind old bookcases, trap doors covered by thick dust-riddled carpets, and perhaps even a hidden vault or two in the castle basements. Players are free to go absolutely wild in coming up with secret passages and hidden secrets for their characters to find.

Now, as for the treasures characters can find during these explorations, they can broadly be divided up into two categories.

The first category of treasures are common treasures. These are small, fairly common items that can be sold after prom for a small amount of Pokedollars each (think 100-200p), or they can be kept as a memento. Generally, these are small items that could easily fit inside a character's pocket and won't necessarily be well hidden. Characters are allowed to find as many of these common treasures as they want.

Examples of common treasures would be items like pieces of antique silverware, broken mirrors, small figurines, old books damaged by the passage of time (but perhaps still readable in some places), or parts of worn and threadbare tapestry.

The second category of treasures are rare treasures. These are properly hidden items that can either sell for quite a bit of Pokedollars after prom (think 5000-6000p), or can be used in-game. In order to allow of an element of surprise, every character that wants to participate in finding some rare treasure is allowed to comment once to a special RNG comment to find out exactly what they will find. Each treasure will consist out of somewhere between two and four items, the exact number of which will be left up to chance.

For any questions, please refer back to the previous OOC post.

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[Ah. Right. This.]

I'll be twenty in November. I joined the army when I was twelve. Though, technically, the first three years I was a trainee. When I was pulled here, I had been a member of the Survey corps for a bit over a month.

[And already he had seen two massacres! Not counting the one he saw long before he ever joined the army.]

Jesus fucking Christ.

My God, Armin, what was going on that had you enlisting that young?

Edited 2020-05-01 01:57 (UTC)

It's a bit of a long story.

[Though it is actually fortunate they are on a beach, even a mostly rocky one. It means Armin can use a piece of driftwood to draw three rough circles on the ground, each enclosing the others.]

First I'll have to tell you have I grew up. I grew up in a world that believed that most of humanity had been eradicated a century ago. In fact, we believed we were the only living people still left on the planet and what saved us was the fact that we lived behind the Walls.

[Armin points at his rough drawing with the piece of driftwood.]

Each Wall was fifty meters high and I'd say about fifteen meters thick, and they completely enclosed all our territory. I grew up here, in a small border town called Shiganshina.

[Here he points to the most southern point on the outmost wall.]

The reason why we lived behind the Walls and why nobody was ever allowed to leave is because the world outside the Walls was titan territory. Titans are... or at least, the way we understood them at the time, huge mindless monsters. Most titans are anywhere between three and fifteen meters tall, though exceptions exist.

[He adds another drawing, one of a rough, humanoid shape.]

Titans roughly resemble humans physically, though that is where the comparison ends. As I said, they are huge. They also don't require any nourishment as far as we can tell -- in fact, they don't even have a true digestive system-- and derive their power from the light of the sun. Their intelligence varies somewhat, but all are incapable of communication. In fact, for the most part they are driven by only one desire and that is to devour every person they come across.

My God.

[That's-- fuck. That's completely and utterly horrifying. Steven just stares down at the drawings in the sand.]

So... were you part of some kind of... peace-keeping taskforce or something? One that kept order within the walls? A military cop?

[That's still fucking early to enlist, though, even if Armin was just a glorified policeman.]

[Armin shakes his head.]

There is more.

When I was ten, titans attacked the Wall around the town I grew up in. I told you the Wall was fifty meters tall, right? That's why, even with the titans roaming outside, most people felt absolutely safe. Because they believed that no titan could ever breach the wall.

They were wrong.

When the titans attacked, they were led by a titan we call the Colossal Titan. It's sixty meters tall, tall enough that I saw it on that day, peering down at us from over the wall before he [a slip of the tongue] destroyed the gate. We lost all of Wall Maria that day. [Armin draws an X over the southernmost point of the wall.] With the gate destroyed, titans could flow into our territory for the first time in over a hundred years. Those that could, fled behind Wall Rose, but we lost a lot of people that day. And a lot of our farming land.

My best friend's mother died in the attack. Debris from the wall fell down on their house and she got pinned underneath. If it wasn't for Mr Hannes, Eren and Mikasa would've died too. He's the one who carried them away when they kept trying to get her out from under the house.

[What he doesn't say is that the only reason Hannes even knew Mikasa and Eren were there was because he had gone to find him.]

Jesus fucking Christ.

[Yeah, no, Steven is pretty thoroughly appalled by this.]

I know-- I know it doesn't help one bit, but. God, Armin, I'm so sorry.

[Just... what Armin would have seen that day. What Armin had gone through. Steven had felt like he'd lost everything, but there'd always been a chance to get most of it back if he'd just-- stopped listening to the Winter Court, accepted what he was and what he wanted, and killed his goddamn fetch.

Armin... would never be able to get any of that back.]

Edited 2020-05-02 01:28 (UTC)

That is part of why I joined. When his mother died, Eren vowed revenge. He wanted to destroy every single titan. I mean, he had always idolised the Survey Corps. I remember he dragged me and Mikasa to watch them each time they rode out on a mission. But when his mother died, really, the only thing he could think about was destroying every single titan.

[To the point of forgetting that one thing they had originally talked about joining for.]

That's part of why me and Mikasa joined. If Eren was going to join, so were we. We only had each other left, after all. So we worked the fields as refugees for two years and then joined the moment we could. Many kids our age did. If nothing else, if you were in the army, you were sure you'd get fed.

[Maybe not spectacularly fed, but few nonetheless.]

But for me, I also had another reason for joining. Ever since I was a child, I've wanted to see the world outside the walls. Information about the outside world was strictly forbidden, but my grandfather had a hidden book full of information about what was outside the walls. I wanted to see all of it -- the ocean, the volcanos, the seas of ice and sand. Joining the army was the only way to accomplish that, so I joined.

It's a little selfish, I guess.

Not that selfish, really. I mean, just because you wanted to see something outside the wall too doesn't invalidate wanting to stay with your best friends and supporting Eren in his goals.

Still, god, fifteen seems way too fucking early to be sent out to fight, even if you're fighting giant monsters, not other people. Maybe especially if you're fighting giant monsters.

[Not unless you're in a giant robot, his mind prompts because of course it would, he watched way too much anime with that kind of theme.]

We chose to fight. Nobody forced us.

[Maybe it wasn't what Steven was implying, but Armin had heard the sentiment often enough. And he understands that for people who come from more peaceful worlds, the decision to fight is one hard to fathom, but it was something he decided. He had agency in the situation. It would've been so easy to drop out during training (many had) or never start it at all, but he wanted it.]

I know, I know. Just-- it's still young. You'd have still been in school in my world.

That would've been nice, but unfortunately, it wasn't an option. Maybe if I would've been from the Interior...

[Though probably less school in that case and more private tutor.]

Yeah. [Steven's quiet, staring down at the drawings in the stand.] I'm glad you're here, Armin. And not back in your world. Where you can explore without having to fight giant monsters. And become the marine researcher you were meant to be.

Same. When I first got here, I couldn't help but feel I should try and get back as soon as possible but now I don't really want to leave anymore. It's selfish, I know, for a soldier who swore to protect humanity, but... I just really like this world. It feels more like a home than my world ever did.

[After a moment, Steven nods.] I ought to want to go home too, [he says quietly.] To-- take my life back. Maybe I still do a little, but.

But I like being able to, mm, be myself more here. To not feel like I have to keep everything compartmentalized, even if it's made things kind of emotionally messy.

[Armin gives Steven a bit of a wry smile.]

Unfortunately, I think 'emotionally messy' sort of describes the human condition.

[He laughs.] Yeah. It does. [And-- he's human, isn't he? Now he is. Before Arcadia he was too, really, even if he'd thought of himself as an alien or a monster a lot of the time.

After a moment, he gives Armin a smile of his own.]

I'm glad I met you. I think sometimes you help me get my head on straight too.

[Even if it was in a completely different way than Jack did.]

[Armin's smile turns more bashful.]

I'm glad I met you too. And that's what friends are for, right? To help each other.

Definitely.

Oh! [And he'll rummage in his coat pockets.] I brought your HMs back. Thanks for letting me borrow them.

Ah, thank you. [And into Armin's pockets they will go.] If you ever need them again in the future, just let me know.

I will. Although eventually I'll try to get to those gyms myself, so I won't have to borrow them anymore.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Castle Prom 2020

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billy mays voice BUT WAIT THERE IS MORE (TRAUMA)

shut up billy

we've only just started uncovering the trauma iceberg.

YEAH I CAN SEE THAT

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