[attr="class","rafaeltext"]



Surveying the dig site imperiously, Rafael kept a slight furrow in his brow and his mouth turned down at the corners to communicate to the dig team his displeasure at the disruptions. Boulder after boulder, delay after delay, plus the dry desert air was wreaking havoc on his sinuses. He understood that these things were the natural consequence of archaeological digs but it would not do to let the team think they could slack off. With the Artega Foundation recently expanding its efforts to Hoenn, this excavation was meant to kick off a long and prosperous tradition of Artega's patronage of history and curiosities in the region.[break][break]

Noble stands at Rafael's feet, keeping watch over the dig site as well. Rafael is content for him to watch, though he does not know what exactly the Snivy is watching. Noble's tail flicks at Seraphine's approach but he remains focused on the site as Rafael turns to smile at his guest.[break][break]

"Mistress d'Aureville, truly a blooming rose amongst the desert sand," Rafael turns and kisses the air on each side of the woman's face. "I can see the beginning of the walls, just as we noted in the sketches the historians had provided. I am certain we will keep you busy once the entryway is unearthed," he says, his deep voice audible over the sounds of hammering and conversation that fill the air.[break][break]

Turning and walking toward a table placed beneath the cool shade of a tent, Rafael pulls on a pair of white gloves before offering a second pair to Seraphine. Delicately, he pulls a tarp away to reveal a cracked stone slap with a tile mosaic pressed into the weathered stone. "This was found near the entrance to the ruins is estimated to be. It will have to be restored by experts of course, but even in this state I find it quite striking," he says without looking at the woman. Turning to give her an appraising look, he asks "You are highly respected in this area, what are your impressions?"

[break]

[attr="class","rafaelooc"]
[break]

NOTES

Mission: Digging Yourself Into a Hole

BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","seratest2text"]


Slipping on the fine white gloves, Seraphine leans in to get a good look at the mosaic tile Rafael has revealed to her. Without looking away from the artifact, she beckons Lumière over to her, who floats down closer to offer an additional source of light. "How very curious!" She muses, voice laced with excitement. "This reminds me of patterns that were identified on tiles found at the Solaceon Ruins in Sinnoh." She points to a specific portion of the tile where several colorful diamond shapes surround a pale crescent. "This here. It's almost identical to what was found in Sinnoh. But they say that the Solaceon Ruins are home to artifacts from the region's past - when it was called Hisui. Why would the same patterns show up here, in Hoenn?" She cocks her head curiously, expression thoughtful, dark violet hair falling over her shoulders. Did it have something to do with the recent time-space distortions - or so the League called them - that seemed to be happening lately...she'd read about a small one appearing not long ago during Slateport's popular Splashfest concert and causing all kinds of chaos. And yet, this tile was still covered in remnants of dirt and gravel - clearly it had been underground recently, not falling out of the sky. She shakes her head, puzzled.[break][break]
Before she can express any of her theories to Rafael, however, she feels the ground beneath her feet shake slightly. It starts as a gentle groaning of unrelenting rock, but soon begins growing into a more violent rattling. She has to take hold of the side of the table to keep from falling. "Rafael, is that your men's machinery?" She asks, concerned. If so, they must be unearthing something quite large indeed...

[attr="class","seratest2ooc"]
[break]

NOTES

+ Mission: Digging Yourself Into a Hole [break]
+ Seraphine's Outfit[break]

BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","rafaeltext"]



The growing tremors fill Rafael with aggravation as they shake the table but rage briefly flashes in his eyes as Seraphine mentions heavy equipment. If some lazy ass foreman damaged priceless artifacts trying to excavate with heavy equipment, Rafael would give future archaeologists some more bones to dig up in this benighted desert. It was Noble's defensive posture that clues him in that something else was wrong.[break][break]

"Incoming!" he shouts, his commanding voice carrying through the tent. In a flash, he is out of the tent and into the hot desert sun, letting loose his Sigilyph from her pokeball with a negligent flick of his wrist. The site is in chaos, with workers scrambling away from anything that might collapse during the quake. A particularly violent shock rocks the sands and a nearby embankment collapses, burying an excavation where stone tablets had been exposed just an hour before. Sigilyph lets loose a jarring cry as it swoops forward, a curving reflect shield of hazy light springs up in front of Rafael as the ground heaves upward, spraying blasts of sand and chunks of rock into the air.[break][break]

The violent tremors stop abruptly as sand from the blast rains down, filling the air in choking clouds. Small pebbles continue to ping off the shield for a time until Sigilyph lets it fade away. Rafael strains to see the extent of the damage, but only the pained cries of injured workers are discernable in the aftermath of the explosion. "Sigilyph, air slash!" he commands, and the blast of air cleaves the cloud of sand in twain. Standing within a crater at the center of the dig site are two massive Excadrills, their angry eyes scanning for new targets as their steel blades flex and shudder.

[break]

[attr="class","rafaelooc"]
[break]

NOTES

Mission: Digging Yourself Into a Hole

BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","seratest2text"]



Goodness, this was turning out to be quite the ordeal.[break][break]
Excitement over the mysterious Hisuian artifact momentarily forgotten, Seraphine turns to her Lampent. "Let's help, Lumière," she urges, and the little ghostly lamp Pokémon bobs up and down in the air in agreement. The two of them rush to Rafael's side, arriving to find a pair of nasty-looking pissed-off Excadrills readying another round of brutal attacks. Rafael's Sigilyph seems to be holding them at bay, but she would need help. Seraphine points at the Excadrills with a perfectly manicured finger.[break][break]
"Lumière, confuse them!" The master artist commands. The Lampent quickly hovers over to Sigilyph and sends a well-aimed CONFUSE RAY at the pair of ground Pokémon wreaking havoc below. Hitting them squarely in the chest, the two massive mole-like Pokémon stumble forward, temporarily dazed.[break][break]
The dig site is an absolute disaster, and Seraphine feels a surge of frustration - what of the other artifacts that had been in the process of being uncovered? Had any survived the devastation? What of the workers? Hearing cries of pain, Seraphine does not hesitate to pull out another Pokéball from the fashionable fanny-pack attached at her waist. She releases her Galarian Ponyta, Crème, who looks to her mistress with an eager expression.[break][break]
"Find the injured workers, and use a Heal Pulse to stabilize them," she directs the small pastel horse. With a determined whinny, Crème leaps into the fray in search of those in need. Hopefully with the confusion, the Excadrills would not be able to impede her.[break][break]

[attr="class","seratest2ooc"]
[break]

NOTES

+ Mission: Digging Yourself Into a Hole [break]
+ Seraphine's Outfit[break]

BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","rafaeltext"]



From the corners of his eyes, Rafael catches glimpses of the devastation. He overhears Seraphine's plan to help with the injured, but the air is still thick with cries of pain. He eyes the two Excadrill, standing there in the center of the chaos, blank looks in their eyes as if they are unaware of the damage they have caused, confused as to why they had torn so violently into his dig site. Assholes.[break][break]

His Sigilyph rotates toward him, waiting for his next command with anticipation. "Crush them," he gives her the command without a hint of hesitation or cruelty, only with confidence. She soars forward, closing the short distance to the two confused pokemon, who watch the avianoid pokemon approach with curious looks. Rafael watches impassively as the air seems to warp around the pokemon in psychic waves that focus around their heads. The two Excadrill slump over lifelessly, so silently that it seems at odds with the clamor of their surroundings.[break][break]

Grabbing the arm of a foreman rushing past, Rafael commands the man to see that the bodies of the Excadrill are removed before work commences again. Picking up Noble and placing him on his shoulder, Rafael, Sigilyph, and the Snivy head toward the group of people that are beginning to surround Seraphine's Ponyta.

[break]

[attr="class","rafaelooc"]
[break]

NOTES

Mission: Digging Yourself Into a Hole

BY GUNSMILE