[ORP] Making History

[Blood_Goddess]

(Rosie - Dith)

Rosie accepted the hug from her giant friend, squeezing him tightly for a few seconds before they moved apart once again. "I was interested when I heard, but Rodney was so excited about it that it kind of gave me the push to this decision" She explained with a smile, glancing over in the direction of the cousin who was leaning over a display, adjusting his glasses as he read over the text.

When the tools were pointed out by Dith, and the man gave a brief explanation as to the belifes the Kodoan's had on the tool explained, Rosie and Northern learned forward, Rosie with a keener interest, reaching up to pull her hair from falling into her face so she could identify the carvings on the tools better, blue eyes widening in something of surprise. "So- They seemed to have had a pretty good understanding of pokemon then?" She tilted her head back up to Look back at Dith.

Northern however, just looked confused "Does it work like that?" She asked "Does that help?"  

[BelaLucina]

Lural

[Eden - Mau & Illustrations]

The way the man spoke, and the glasses he wore, reminded Eden of a teacher she had had back home in Lumiose. Perhaps that's why she had thought he was familiar; it was unlikely she had seen him around anywhere.

She thought about the question he had asked her, chewing her bottom lip thoughtfully. "Hmm..."

Of course she wanted to say that she hoped Arceus was still here, but she didn't want her silly fantasies to run away with her. She wanted to come off as calm and educated. "It's more likely Arceus moved on after receiving aid. Unless it had a reason to stick around, I don't see why it should have." This was also probably the truth Eden thought sadly. She turned to face the man now, her curiosity getting the better of her. "What do you think?"  

[Magician Arcana]

( Adam | Site Reconstruction - Kadota )

Busted. Adam smiled politely and tucked the phone away, "Sorry Ma'am. I'll keep that in mind." Writing was difficult to explain in words, but the rest Adam imagined he could chat about casually. Especially if he grabbed a program.

Meandering away from the writing exhibit, he heard an oddly familiar deep voice. Who was that...? Frowning to himself, he wove between the crowd of observers before making it to the Site Reconstruction.

That dude! Adam grinned and clapped Kadota on the back, "Yo! Long time no see. Remember me?" Chances were he didn't, they met so briefly. Still, Adam longed for some company, "Pretty cool s**t, isn't it? The writing is amazing... Woah, this is the village? How did they figure any of this out?" Adam mused aloud, now reading the information on the plaque.

Kadota-banchou

 

[Kadota-banchou]

Magician Arcana

The familiar clap on the back was met with an immediate smile. If there was one thing Kadota was good about, it was faces, and Adam was distinctive as heck anyway. "Hey, yeah, I remember you. Adam, right? Where've you been for the past few weeks?" He hadn't seen the other guy in the trainer center lately.

"I don't know how they figured out the writing or any of that, but this stuff isn't too hard. Less technology means you gotta work with what you have. So it's pretty easy to figure out they'd put all their farming close to the water and on the south side for more sun. Then you tuck the houses up into the ridgeline so that they stay more temperate. Less sunlight, so less heat, and less exposure to the cold." Some of the bigger homes had even been built into the side of the mountain.

"What's got me interested is this piece here," he pointed at a large half-bowl shaped depression, situated between the farm plots and the rest of the village. "Looks like they had some sort of amphitheater or something, but it isn't labeled."  

[Magician Arcana]

( Adam | Site Reconstruction - Kadota )

"'s right! You're... Kadota. Dota." Adam beamed, pleased to be remembered, "Oh, been busy. Life and s**t, y'know?" Dating a cute guy, trying to make sure his roommate/best friend didn't get killed... You know. Life. Adam listened to Kadota's explanation with open admiration.

"Damn, you're smart. I've never thought about this s**t, so it's all confusing as hell." Adam repeated what the other had said, trying to commit it to memory, "I'm sure he'll get it, though, even if I screw stuff up."

An indentation? Adam nodded slowly, "Weird. Why would they leave it out of the explanation? Do they think it's unimportant or maybe they don't know?" Leaning in closer, he squinted at the picture, hoping it would make more sense with a closer angle. Unsurprisingly, it did not.

"You know, the writing part says that they put all their stuff in terracotta pots and were found in a place of religious significance." Adam leaned back and shrugged, "Maybe that was where it was housed?

Kadota-banchou

 

[Shaddaling]

(Lex | Sacred Artifacts)

Sporting a long silver gray duster, Lex was sporting black, on more black. Black jeans, simple black turtle neck. A simple silver chain with a set of coins dangling off of it. He had on a pair of wire frame reading glasses, and his usually white silvery hair was dyed jet black and actually tamed. A pair of normal purple eyes studied the artifacts as he worked a pencil over a art pad, sketching the wartortal statue and scrawling notes. If one looked very close, it would be noted that one of the eyes was a replacement. His usual earrings had been removed, though he kept his headphones, toe tapping with the beat as he looked all in the world like an art student.  

[TawnyAngel]

[Dith: Rosie]

Dith grinned at Northern and shrugged. "I don't think so but they believed in it." People believed in all kinds of things but he'd never had much truck with mysticism or religion, though he was perfectly happy to respect the beliefs of others so long as they weren't hurting anyone.

"I guess they did," Dith continued to Rosie with a small shrug. "Perhaps they had pokemon actively intervene with some of these prayers? To have a Leafeon tend to the ground with them perhaps. I suppose we'll find out more with the lecture though! It should be interesting, there's not much real interesting history of pokemon where I come from... least not as far as I know."

______________

[KO: Inspecting bottles]

Having made a few notes about the jewelry KO moved on, drifting past the rather crowded site reconstruction display to the bottles. There seemed to be some kind of marking on their surfaces; KO bent to study them and scanned for some kind of explanation too.  

[insidiousEnigma]

[Zacharie examining the Utensils]

Zacharie wasn't really one for natural history museums, but he did have a certain amount fascination with how people used to live.
...Okay, he was really here because it was suggested that he attend if he had the day off. He was trying to become an Agent here, he had to put forth some effort!

"Banette..." The teen nodded his agreement as he peered down at the utensils that had been used for medicine. "Well, the mortar and pestle looks like they're in good shape. I wonder how old they are..." He circled around the display case in search of an information plaque but came up empty handed. "Hmn...well if they were for medicals usage they have to have been made before 1779." Jabari gave him an odd look. "For pharmaceutical usage the mortar and the head of the pestle are usually made of porcelain while the handle of the pestle was made of wood. They were known as Wedgewood mortar and pestles and they originated in 1779. So if these were made for medical usage they had to have been made before then." He concluded with a firm nod. Jabari just stared at him for a moment before lightly hitting him, "Banette!" He cackled as he ducked out of the way of Zacharie's swatting. "I am not a nerd!"  

[insidiousEnigma]

[Drayce checkin out the Jewelry.]
((Italic speech = French))

"Look Purrito, look!" Drayce gasped, all but pressing their face against the glass that protected the jewelry from the outside world. "Espurr." The pokemon wedged a small hand between his trainer's face and the glass and pushed lightly. "Right, right. Don't wanna get the glass all dirty. Sorry!" The trainer laughed loudly as they plucked the fluffy pokemon off of their head and cradled him against their chest. "I bet Smaug would like all've those pretty, shiny trinkets, dontcha think?" At the withering look they received, the red-head couldn't help but let out another bark of laughter.  

[Suudonym]

[Lex]

The information about the artifacts read: These artifacts are distinctly similar to ones found in other places in Kodo, and we know them to have spiritual connotations. Tools such as these were usually housed in shrine-like buildings where they would be used by the community's holy man in various rituals. The Wartortle sculpture was used in times of drought to ask for rain. The cord of claws and teeth was crafted by the holy man to distribute the the community's members; they would then hang it in their homes as a protective ward thought to keep wild pokemon from attacking.


[KO]

The placard explained the meaning of the glyphs: From the writing on these bottles, it is known that they were used to store products created from berries, including jams, wines, juices, and dyes. It is likely that the bottles were painted with pigment to indicate what kind of berry the contents were made from.  

[Suudonym]

About ten minutes before the lecture was scheduled to begin, a member of the museum's staff removed the rope barrier blocking off the adjacent room. At the same time, a soft chime indicated that the intercom had been turned on, and a cool, female voice spoke out across the room, "The presentation for the exhibit 'Unlike Blood' will begin in ten minutes. Those attending, please proceed to the annexed auditorium. I repeat..."

Almost immediately, those wearing press badges began to file into the annex so that they could get good seats.

((The lecture will be posted in one hour!))  

[insidiousEnigma]

[Zacharie- heading towards the auditorium]

"Sounds like it's time to head in." Zacharie grumbled, stuffing his hands into his pocket as he gave the display case one last glance. "Banette, baaaaaaneette." Jabari sat lazily on his trainer's shoulder as he headed towards the auditorium. "I know that this isn't really our type of lecture, but I'm sure it will be interesting in its own way. Perhaps this will open your eyes to the wonders of natural history." He laughed at the look Jabari gave him before shrugging his shoulders as he squeezed in between a few press people to go find a seat near the front. "Well, you never know." He snickered, plopping down into a seat in the center of the third row and pulling a notebook and a few pencils from his backpack.  

[insidiousEnigma]

[Drayce- chasing Purrito towards the auditorium Rosie and Dith]

Drayce really didn't have any plans of going into the lecture. They had a hard time sitting still for things that they liked to do, they highly doubted they'd be able to sit through a lecture about history. Drayce was much more interested in the here and now. "C'mon Purrito, lets go climb some trees out-" They glanced down at where their Espurr used to be held securely in their arms to find him gone. "Eh?!" They looked around wildly before spotting the little, purple-y fluff scurrying off towards the auditorium. "Purrito, wait!" They exclaimed, hurrying after their pokemon and nearly colliding with a rather large blonde man only to practically trip over a small, blonde girl! "Ehhh, sorry, sorry!" They absently patted the small blonde girl's head as they tried to see where Purrito had gotten off to. "Wait..." They blinked owlishly before finally looking down at the person they had bumped into. "I'm real sorry! Are ya hurt? Didn't meanta bump inta ya, Purrito ran off and you're small so I didn't see ya when I saw your friend first!" They rambled.  

[Suudonym]

At the time that the lecture was scheduled to start, one side of the annex's double doors was shut so that a sign could be placed upon it: Presentation in progress. Within the auditorium, a short, stout woman moved to the podium at the front, adjusted her glasses, and straightened a few papers. She then spoke, her voice easily carrying throughout the room, "Welcome, and thank you for joining us today. My name is Caroline Walsh, and I'm the curator of the Jinko Regional Natural History Museum. It's not infrequently that Kodo's archaeological teams find and donate intriguing items to our collection, for example fossilized pokemon or unusual crystal formations, but on rare occasions, they find something truly special - something like what's brought you all here today, the pieces from our exhibit, 'Unlike Blood.' With our knowledge of the history of pottery and language in Kodo as well as modern dating techniques, we were able to trace the items back to the 15th century. This is consistent with what we already know about indigenous civilization in Kodo."

With a quiet hum, the projector whirred to life, illuminating the screen as the theater's lights quickly but smoothly dimmed. A large picture of the archaeological site, artistically rendered to show how it would have looked when the community was in its prime, was displayed, and the woman turned partially to guide the audience's attention to it. "Using this information, we were able to create a visualization of what the space once looked like. As with most post-archaic Kodoan architecture, the buildings are primarily wooden - the archaeological team also discovered evidence of this. One building, however, incorporated stone bricks in its construction, which is notably unusual for architecture produced by this culture."

The projector clicked softly, and the image on the screen changed to show an array of tools and utensils, many of which were displayed in the exhibit in the other room. "Something else of note is that this community, like some others that have been discovered in the past, used tools that are primarily benign in nature: mortars and pestles, crude kitchenware, agricultural tools, and so on. Interestingly enough, not a single weapon or hunting tool was found at the site. The most popular theory as to why this is is that these Kodoans relied on pokemon for self-protection and for hunting. However, this site in particular lends much credibility to an alternate theory: that many Kodoans had a primarily, if not entirely, vegetarian diet." The projector proceeded to an image of the site as it was before the excavation began, and the curator used a laser pointer to emphasize certain areas, "As you can see, a great deal of the vegetation in this place is edible, including a variety of berry trees and vegetables. In fact, before the archaeological team began its study, the area was overgrown with them. It may be that these Kodoans kept a diet that completely excluded pokemon."

The next image to be displayed was of a collection of parchment like those in the exhibit, laid out and photographed with a care that allowed their contents to be seen more easily than the curling originals they had as a part of the collection. "As you may have noticed," the woman continued, indicating the words with her laser pointer, "even the writing on the parchment is done with a dye created from berries. These parchments were found sealed inside terra cotta pots like those on display, which kept them preserved all this time. The jars themselves were clustered in one area of the site: in the place where the building reinforced with stone once stood. Also within the area were pieces of jewelry and artifacts that we know to have spiritual connotations, for example the Wartortle totem, which was used by a community's holy man to ask for rain. Given the evidence, we can safely assume that the partially stone building was one of importance, most likely a spiritual building such as a shrine of some kind. Thus, we could also conclude that these papers are of spiritual significance, and upon translating them, we found that to be true.

"This series in particular," the curator continued, "tells a story: One day, a huge, pure white Rapidash came to them seeking refuge after suffering a grievous injury. Awed and honored by the presence of the Rapidash and humbled by its request, the Kodoans gave it sanctuary and care, treating it kindly until its wounds had healed. When it recovered, the Rapidash was so grateful that it blessed them with a gift that would better their ability to commune with pokemon. This myth explains why so much post-archaic Kodoan writing refers to pokemon as 'unlike blood,' the name we chose for this exhibit. Enabled to work together with pokemon, they came to think of them as equals, thinking of them essentially as humans in a different form, or 'same of mind with unlike blood.' Not only does this further our understanding of early Kodoan mythology, it also gives us an idea of how the people of this region first began to form relationships with pokemon."

The projector moved on to another image, this one the illustration of Arceus. "As you can see," the woman said, folding her hands at her waist, "the pokemon that the Kodoans encountered was by no stretch of the imagination a white Rapidash. Rather, it was the legendary pokemon Arceus, thought of in many regions as the original creator of this world. The fact that these people were able to capture Arceus's likeness so clearly suggests that the pokemon must have indeed come to them. One theory submits that Arceus, like some other legendary pokemon, was able to speak to the humans in their own language, and the experience left the Kodoans with a new opinion of the innate humanity of pokemon. Another more radical theory posits that Arceus literally gave people the ability to understand pokemon in the same way that pokemon understand us. This theory is much more far-fetched, though its supporters propose that this may be the origin of the extremely rare ability to understand pokemon that some special individuals occasionally demonstrate."

The curator paused to change the image on the projector, next displaying a map drawn in the same style as the other post-archaic works. Rather than a traditional map of the entire region, however, the parchment showed only three areas clustered together. "Kodo's archaeologists are hoping to learn more about this matter by investigating this map, discovered in the same jars as the other pieces. We know from these symbols," she pointed out the glyphs in question, "that the areas pictured here are the mountains, the shore, and the plains. Incidentally, these locations coincide with sites where other early Kodoan artifacts have been found in the past. The archaeologists currently studying this map hypothesize that these locations indicate other communities where the story of the 'white Rapidash' was passed on, thus spreading the concept of partnership with pokemon throughout the region.

"Naturally, if there are more of these terra cotta pots elsewhere in the region, it will be no simple matter to locate them; archaeologists have already discovered just about everything that could be found easily. Because of this, we feel it's safe to rule out the area around the Calamus Plains - the wooden architecture wouldn't stand a chance with the storms that have battered that area for the last few centuries, and in all likelihood, anything of value has already been washed away or destroyed beyond recognition. The northern shore, however," she gestured to the place in question with the laser pointer, "is much more promising, as coastal erosion may have washed important artifacts into the ocean, where they would then be preserved by the seawater. If this is the case, though, it does not bode well for the discovery of more parchments, as they would inevitably have been destroyed."

With a quiet click, the image displayed on the screen disappeared, the projector grew silent, and the room's lights gradually increased to their original brightness. "We're extremely excited to learn more about this spectacular development in our understanding of Kodo and its history, and I'm sure many of you share that feeling. It's my hope that the exhibit 'Unlike Blood' and this presentation have kindled your interest and curiosity about the history, mythology, and culture of our region. At this time, I'll be accepting any questions you might have."