Slytherclaw's posts

Prologue

It's uncomfortably warm. As you slowly come to, that's the first thing you're aware of. Your neck is sweaty and hot where your head lolls against your arm and you're not sure if your cheek is slick with sweat or drool. Either way, as you open your eyes and peer around the shadowy classroom, you're mentally cursing your long sleeved uniform top. The heater had broken the week before, just when it had started getting warm again, but since it was still technically winter, the school was refusing to turn it off—or let the students wear the summer uniform.

Not that it mattered, you suppose, after today. This is, after all, your last day of school. Your last day of uniforms, your last day of gym (and ugh, didn't that sound like a fun way to end the day when you were already sweaty and gross), and your last day of sitting behind books and dreaming about being able to go out and actually do something.

At the front of the shadowy classroom, a bulky TV stands on a rolling cart with too many wires and far more remotes than the single TV and outdated VCR ever needed. It casts a flickering light onto your classmates as a video rolls across the screen. Your teacher had given up trying to actually teach at least a week ago, outside of covering some safety tips for the big day tomorrow. The video playing isn't anything new--your nap hadn't prevented you from learning anything valuable. This is, you think idly, at least your third or fourth viewing. On the screen, a native woman discusses the Hoenn-Geode war. Images behind her flicker on the screen at various talking points--maps of the two countries with colored overlays showing territory disputes, famous pictures of battles you've seen a hundred times, and, as she moves onto the effects of the war and Geode's sovereignty, a few moving clips of the military and the capital city.

"...it was this structural vacuum caused by the removal of Hoenn's support after the signing of the Moonstone Treaty that most historians agree led to the start of what would become Geode's modern military-centric infrastructure. It's generally agreed that the positions taken by that early military were meant to be temporary—eventually, a police force of natives should have taken the place of local law enforcement, for instance. Queen Valda undoubtedly did not expect that her emergency system would still be in place over three centuries later. But as time went on..."

You yawn, glancing away from the screen. You've lived in Geode long enough to have the story of its independence war memorized. Literally, you've taken at least one exam a year on the topic since you were six. Above the door, the clock reads 1:49pm. Only ten minutes to go—and there's movement around you as your classmates start quietly packing up their things already. Come to think of it, you realize, you don't think you've ever actually seen the end of this movie, only the first hour or so until whichever period ends.

You snort, observing your classmates. Your class size is...



While you're lost in your thoughts, the bell rings. It's a loud, clanging noise that you swear you have nightmares about, sometimes. But it means you have five minutes to get to your next—and absolute final--class. Thankfully, your locker is on the way, and you pause really fast to grab your gym clothes. Your locker is nearly empty—you took most of it home with you over the past week, to make things easier. All that's left are a few notebooks, the textbooks you have to return, and a thick manila folder that you grab after a moment's hesitation.

As expected, your gym teacher mostly just checks that everyone is dressed for gym before releasing you into the yard for 'free gym'. Going by his bored expression, he doesn't want to try and force a bunch of sixteen year olds to do anything, either, especially not the day before the coming of age ceremony. As you grab a seat in the open grass, you can hear your classmates chattering on excitedly about what they still have to pack and what they've heard about the ceremony from older siblings. A few discuss their future partners--some more idealistically than others. You open your folder, ignoring the chattering--paperwork for the ceremony tomorrow is unmarked, where you've been putting it off for the past few weeks. Now, you think, is as good a time as any. You've heard horror stories about kids who hadn't filled it out in time not being allowed to get their pokemon. You don't think that's true, given the legal requirements and all, but is it really worth taking a risk to find out?

Some of it is important stuff, basic identification, medical records, that sort of thing. Some of it is a lot more personal—you think, maybe, there are going to be some sort of getting to know you games with the first year trainers? You can't think why else this information would be on the sheet, but you fill it out anyway...

Characters, Lore, and Setting

Character Sheet

What's this? Your character sheet appears to be blank!
We must be rolling up a character!

Welcome to The Geode Islands!

The Geode Islands, or Geode for short, is the name of a homebrew pokemon region that I've been working on and writing in for several years, with at least three years of dedicated projects. Here on Voltra, Geode is the name of a sandbox Quest I will be running for your possible enjoyment and entertainment. In Geode you take the role of a young trainer at the very start of their trainer journey. Your decisions will guide them on their path, and determine their future. With thousands upon thousands of choices, that future is limited only by our collective imaginations--what road will you lead us down?

FAQ ↓

What is a Quest?
A Quest is a type of interactive storytelling/roleplay game system made popular on sites such as Sufficient Velocity, /tg/, etc. As a collective group of players and readers, you follow along with the story being written by a Quest Master (QM), and between chapters, are given choices to make by vote. At the end of a voting period, the story is updated following the choices that were made. Think of a Quest as a collective choose your own adventure book. For more information on quests, see Sufficient Velocity's Guide.
In this case, Geode is a Character quest, meaning you follow and control one character, with a Majority Wins voting system, meaning that the options that get the most votes will be selected. Additional types of votes may occur in the story, such as Plan Votes, which are votes that require several options to be selected together. These special votes will be described in the post they are offered, and otherwise may be ignored.

This Quest seems familiar. Have you run it before?
I did actually once before attempt to run Geode as a quest. Largely, it failed because I wasn't active on the site I attempted to run it on, and it ended up just slipping my mind. I don't imagine that this will be the case here, but on the off chance I don't think I have the time to keep up with this, I'll do my best to make that clear and close this thread. Alternatively, if you are active in the PTU community, Geode has been mentioned by me quite a bit as it's my homebrew setting that I run my campaigns in.

Do you have time to run this game?
I think so. Or rather, I have other obligations that are related to this game, and I'm actually hoping that by making this a side project, I'll have renewed interest in my main games--think about the setting and characters from another perspective than usual will be helpful in helping me collect ideas.

What system does this quest use?
Geode will be using a heavily modified version of Pokemon Tabletop United for character information and abilities. This is largely on my side and not super relevant, but if you wanted to follow along, most of my decisions will be based on this.

Are there dice involved?
Yes! I'll be doing most of my rolls in a roll20 or with my own dice, depending on where I am. If I ask someone to roll for me otherwise, I'll accept a screenshot from any online dice roller.

How do I vote?
To vote for a choice, please use the following format:
[x] (Vote Choice)

Can I discuss options?
Yes! Please feel free to chat about the current state of the game, current choices, etc, as you'd like between updates. I'll make a post to note when I'm about to start an update, after which votes will no longer be able to be cast.

What types of pokemon will there be?
Literally any of them that you can think of, and then some. I use a lot of shinies, regional variants, type shifts, and more--so you may see a lot of pokemon you might not necessarily recognize--even if you think you do!

I just found this quest--can I play too?
Yes! Anyone can choose to join and participate or not participate in the quest whenever they like!

I have another question not listed here.
Please feel free to ask any questions you may have in this thread. Thank you!

*flops in after work*
bluhhh.
What up, potternerds?

@Yuracye: How do you feel about the upcoming mercy changes?
@Apollo Im Burning: I'm a sucker for Mercy's Nike or Witch skins, Zenyatta's Skullyatta and Ra skins, and Soldier's Grillmaster skins, haha. I'm super hype for the halloween event tho.

Hahaha, it isss! And I'll be happy to bring a few more items in once you and Fozzy do the hard work cropping for me x3
Ill only take this one off when I can put your braids on~

Whatttt? That's what I see the most of! Lots of black with orange/grey/green/purple designs haha

Haha, makeup is the one thing I can't keep up with, sadly. But I'm definitely picking up some more cute tee shirts and pjs and hnggg.

Haha, cheaper until we add a few more commons, which are definitely on their way o3o

Hey, Nia! Welcome to Voltra. C:
What was your home site where you saw us?
Ohh, and what's gotten worse with age?
How old are you?

Having lots of ooc chats to plot and mutter together is always good. We've seen SO MANY pbp based games die in our community because of a lack of good OOC or way to nudge people to remind them when it's their turn.