Landsverd Site A-06 "Prism Hollow"

[Jackie Cat]

Mystery Dungeons are found all over the world, in just about every hidden place, whether natural or not. Large ones can dominate a local microbiome or significant landform. Small onces can occupy a haunted room in an old house – some basement with dimensions that no longer match its floorplan. A 'mon could fall into one that's yet unknown and have trouble getting out. A rift could even remain undiscovered indefinitely. And sometimes, those that make use of such a secret rift are content to let their dungeon's existence go unreported.

How many Mystery Dungeons are there in the world, really? No-one knows. And maybe no-one ever will.​

---

"Fuckssake. Anyone find anythin' yet?"

"If they'd found somethin', they woulda said somethin'."​

"Maybe that's true of yerself, but folks stay their tongues all the damn time! We need clues, damnit! What's your Betel fella sayin', anyway?"

"Oh, uh, I asked if we were in the right area a few minutes ago. It should be close?"
​

"Yeah, I already got that much."

"Then I'd venture you're adequately apprised."​

​

The journey had been simpler for the Wayfarers, who were capable of using Betel's Waypoint network. They'd made their way to the nearest town well ahead of Brisa and Jesse, who'd needed to travel by more mundane means. The problem wasn't really in the threat of being waylaid by hostile forces, or getting lost, so much as the sheer distances involved in cross-continental travel, and the size of the Landsverd estate where this Covenant facility was supposedly located.

Even after rendezvousing and hiking to the property Jesse had identified, the party were faced with a considerable search to perform. Even Betel's ability to identify dungeons was of limited use, given the small number of local Wayfarers to help strengthen their 'signal'. They'd already run into a few false positives – a 'fool's dungeon' inside a hollow tree fit for a single-person hideout, and a river that looped back on itself if followed downstream off the beaten path. They had yet to rule out the possibility of a dungeon inside the grand house itself to which the general area of land belonged – but Jesse insisted that the facility was a natural dungeon and not born from a residential structure.

"...yer Betel pickin' up anythin' yet? Startin' to think this thing's fuckin' subterranean."

"Ain't that somethin' you should know already? What d'you want us to do, fuckin' dig fer— Hang fire. Think I've got somethin'..."​

​

Jesse abandoned his fruitless assaying efforts and hurried through towards Brisa's voice, stumbling across trees roots with perhaps less agility than he was used to. The forests here were mixed ones, giant broad-leafed oaks and chestnuts sharing space with spruce-fir conifers standing tall and blue-green through the deciduous canopy. The earth here was hilly and untamed, resistant to settlement and civilisation.

"You catch that scent, or is it just me?" called Brisa, as she nosed at a log-shelter built flush with an exposed, rocky hill-flank that hung over it like a hood. It was a sturdy little structure of stone and mortar, full of roughly-chopped logs and branches fit for winter firewood.

"Mid-winter and it ain't been touched," she remarked, drily. "In quite some time, I'd say. There's fuckin' moss and fungus here as has grown into the cracks. I reckon this kindling's been sittin' around fer well past a year."

Jesse peered at it, rubbing at his muzzle. "Sure, I see that. But if it's an entrance, won't they have disturbed it in their comin' and goin'?"

Brisa shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Can't hurt to see what's 'neath all this either way."

A few effortful heaves later, and the Luxray had brought the contents of the log store tumbling out of their places, exposing... a crack in the hill-face behind the shelter. One large enough for a pokémon her size to squeeze into.

"C'mon over here!" she called to the Wayfarers, searching nearby. "Let's see if Betel can sense anythin' down this way, huh?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade had been largely silent for the journey, alternating between being lost in thought and doing her best to not think too hard about what they were about to do. This was what her time on Forlas had all been leading too. Whatever they did after this, this was what'd brought her here.

And so with Virga patrolling the estate from the air, Jade set herself to the task of mechanically searching the forested grounds for any sign of a dungeon entrance.

After some time, Jade's ears flicked towards Brisa's voice as she pushed her way through the thicket and ran over to the cabin. A bunch of firewood had been shoved away from the wall, now spilled out across the dusty floor of the cabin's interior. She gingerly stepped over the logs, pulling her scarf closer to herself as she crouched down and peered through the crack in the rock face.

"Maybe they'll be able to get a better read on it if one of us goes in," Jade murmured. And then, without waiting for an answer, she slipped through the opening, paws braced against the rocky surface. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, picking up a faint something on the other side. So it wasn't just a dead end...

'How about it, Betel?'

 

[Jackie Cat]

Brisa dutifully stepped aside for Jade.

In her head, in the telepathic link, Betel's voice whirred and clicked – a little clearer, lately. If a touch distracted.

Yes... Yes, there is a Mystery Dungeon not far from you! Plausibly, its entrance could be the orifice before you. I suggest you enter, and descend towards the rift.

Once this was relayed to Brisa, she wasted no time in pushing forwards.

"Alright, this is our best lead. I ain't waitin' around to lose whatever advantages we got. You'd best follow."

The Luxray pressed herself through the gap in the earth, her eyes glinting as she peered ahead with her x-ray vision. Soon she passed the tight space and found a wider passageway, heading downward...

 

[Cresselia92]

During their search for the dungeon, Silver and Kotone had been mostly stuck together, like two magnets gravitating toward each other. He didn’t want Kotone to get outta his sight, and she felt significantly more at ease and safe when Silver was close to her.

Silver took the lead of the couple, studying carefully their surroundings and keeping a good supply of venom flowing through his claws. While they didn’t find many obstacles so far, he definitely wasn’t going to take any risk. There was way too much at stake and no room to make mistakes. He wasn’t going to fail. Not this time. He couldn’t afford to.

Kotone had taken that matter seriously, too. She left her trademark hat back at the Haus, not wanting for such a dear garment to be damaged during their mission, and in its place she wore a simple silk scarf, wrapped like a hood on her head and around her neck. She also stayed mostly quiet, so that nothing potentially dangerous escaped her sharp hearing.

And then, they found something promising: a suspicious hole. Neither teen hesitated in following Jade through the narrow passage and later into the larger corridor, their eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness. A nice perk of being crepuscular species.

“This place is so creepy…” Kotone whispered, clutching the piece of scarf around her neck and her nose twitching. "Reminds me a lot of those dark, tight tunnels in Mt. Mortar."

“This is some kinda pseudo-prison. It’s not supposed to be fancy or pretty,” Silver whispered back, keeping his gaze focused ahead of them.

“Yeah, yeah, I know that!” she huffed, moving her paws to her ears and rubbing their tips for comfort. “But from a place called Prism Hollow, I would’ve expected it to be more... gemston-y, ‘s all.”

Silver rolled his eyes. That was what bothered her? For all he cared, they could be walking in the presidential palace and be welcomed with a luxurious red carpet and an orchestral fanfare, but it wouldn’t have changed anything. A gilded prison was still a prison.

Regardless, they were now into enemy territory, and while they didn’t have any trouble so far, it was best to not push their luck.

“D’you hear anything noteworthy or suspicious about this tunnel?” he asked, barely loud enough for the others to hear. While Brisa was able to look through physical obstacles with her gaze and the canids in the group could sniff stuff out, there could be something like a trap or some creature that was invisible to the eye — be it naked or X-rayed.

Kotone hummed softly, lowering her hood just enough to let her ears slip upward. “Not sure, lemme check real quick…”

The Buneary fully engaged her prey-driven senses, with her rapidly rotating ears scanning and analyzing any sound that caught her attention. Were they truly alone or…?

Kotone used Foresight!

 

[Jackie Cat]

Lyra's perception sharpened abruptly, the dungeon's details becoming clear to her. This was merely an entrance, the shallow lip of the rift, and it was not wholly untouched – the rock beneath her paws had been trodden before, the dust of people and their tools left behind. Above her head... there. Cables and pipes, to supply those below with water, power, fresh air. Hard to notice in the dark.

Jesse coughed into his fist, and lit a series of small will-o-wisps that orbited his head, illuminating the way somewhat. Immediately, the walls of the cave glittered and sparkled, a million tiny fragments of crystal embedded in the rock now scintillated with reflected light. Some Foresight-induced hunch would tell Lyra that the crystals further down would be much, much larger.

After some time, the party exited this tunnel and emerged in a clearly artificial environment – what looked like an abandoned office, or something of that nature. Jesse casually felt for a light switch, and found one – desks and crates and construction equipment lit up in the meagre yellow glow of the lightbulbs overhead.

"Some kinda pre-fab," muttered Jesse. "Simple construction. Lanterns like to make everythin' fancy, but this shit's basically a fuckin' cargo container filled with junk. Ain't seen use lately, though."

Ahead, Brisa was staring through the wall.

"There's a cave past the door," she said. "And another buildin' with... at least three pokémon inside, opposite end of the cave. Livin' pokémon, I should say."

"See anythin' else?"

"Some kinda crystal formation... with some device I don't recognise strung up to it. Plus there's power runnin' between here and there, and then elsewhere in the dungeon. Looks like they've laid a lotta cable."

There was a crackle and peal of a primitive tannoy system.

"Hey! Whoever's over there in the annex, who are— That is, identify yourselves!"

The voice sounded puffed-up, anxious, more than a little on edge.

"Wait, that's not important right now— Get over here! Cross the cavern and enter the main block, and you'd damn well better be quick about it!"

Brisa sniffed. "No problem with that here. Y'all?"

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade's eyes flicked around at the glittering walls, the Meowth part of her brain wanting to get a closer look, to stop and hunt for gems. She ignored it, pressing on until she emerged into an artificial space, what looked like a portable, temporary lab of sorts. This one had been abandoned a while ago, though, judging by the dusty, disheveled state of things. Jade had just knelt down to rifle through some fallen paperwork scattered across the floor when a distant rumbling caught her ear.

What was...?

"Wait, that's not important right now— Get over here! Cross the cavern and enter the main block, and you'd damn well better be quick about it!"

The sudden buzz of electronic speech grabbed her ear. The voice sounded anxious, almost fearful. The rumbling from deeper in the cave continued. Her ears caught the metal chnk of a mechanized door unlocking, behind her, and she whirled around to see the entrance to the main block, across the cavern.

She stood there, tail flicking for a moment, mind racing. There'd be answers this way probably. Good enough. That was what got her to make a dash for the door.