Chapter 3:
The Oasis
After defeating Iralious, you are granted his badge, and with it permission to travel to the lands that wait beyond the castle walls. Even Iralious himself doesn’t know the full extent of what lies beyond the gates, as he’s only left his castle once, but tells you of his acquaintance who resides in a far off oasis and points you in that direction to continue your journey.
Leaving the castle, you find yourself back in the desert. Following the map given to you by Ahbi and Iralious’s dierctions, you forge onward.
After about half a day of walking, you feel yourself getting tired. You realize that you should have stocked up on supplies before leaving the castle. After walking for a few more hours, your hunger and fatigue get the best of you as you start having hallucinations. You see what seems to be a giant ball of steel chasing you. You try to run from it, but it seems like you’re running slower and slower with every step. Eventually, you stop running altogether and you collapse and the ball of steel makes its approach toward you. You black out.
As you start coming to, you immediately notice the change in your surroundings. The seemingly infinite landscape of golden sand had transitioned into a lush, green atmosphere full of trees that protect you from the harsh rays from the sun. You also feel yourself being carried by something. Further inspection leads you to realize the ball of steel that was following you earlier is carrying you. This ball of steel turns out to be a Registeel and walking along side it appears to be a person.
“Awake, are we?” the person asks. “We can exchange formalities when we to the Oasis,” the person replies.
As they say that, light pours into your eyes as you are greeted by the pleasant sight of the numerous trees, countless houses, and massive body of water that acts as a centerpiece to what seems to be a functioning city.
“Here we are,” the person proclaims as the registeel comes to a halt in front of a sizeable house. “Come inside and I’ll tell you more”
As you walk inside the person’s house, they lead you to a table and have you sit. Then they start introducing themselves.
“Well, I guess this is as good a time as any for introductions. My name is AlphaSlash and I am the hokage leader of Sodride city. The name is a portmanteau of sodium and chloride, the chemical elements of salt.”
You are about to ask why, but Alpha keeps going
“You are probably wondering why. Long ago, our ancestors used to reside in a different part of the Delta region in a city that had a giant lake in the middle, sort of like this one. This lake has an especially high concentration of salt, as it contained all of the salt accessible in the Delta region. Our people were tasked with the duty of fairly distributing salt across the region for people to use how they saw fit. Due to the scarcity of the salt after the Great Tilt, however, many cities and settlements sent agents to try and steal salt from the lake. This started a small-scale salt war amongst the people of the Delta region. Having lost both their homes from the collateral war damage and their reason for being after the lake was gone, our people roamed the Delta region and eventually stopped in a place with a gaping hole in the ground. Viewing this hole as the void left in their lives by the loss of the salt lake, the people started crying. They cried hard and often for many days and nights. Eventually, their tears were enough to fill this hole with water. Upon trying to drink this water, the people realized that it was salt water. The salt from their tears had created a new salt lake and filled the void in their lives. Overjoyed at having regained their place in life, the people started building a town around this newfound oasis, which would later be named Sodiride city.”
Again you want to interrupt… “I know it is kinda long, but it’s our history,” AlphaSlash replies, “So, with that out of the way, I guess we can get onto the challenge.”
“...” You still can’t get a word in.
“Yes,” AlphaSlash replies, “ it's the new way we distribute salt in the Delta region. Any outsider able to make their way to our city is granted the right to challenge the Salt Captain for usage of the salt lake.”
You have so many questions to ask Alpha, and right as you are about to raise your hand, he keeps going.
“The salt captain is the chief overseer of the salt distribution in the Delta region. In addition, the salt captain must be able to protect the salt lake from invaders as to not repeat the mistakes of our ancestors and avoid upsetting the gods. In these regards, wouldn't it be fitting for the salt captain to also hold the mayoral position within Sodiride City?”
“Regi,” Registeel says as it takes its position standing behind Salt Captain AlphaSlash.
“Enough talk, lets battle now. May the hax ever be in your favor.”
Leaving the castle, you find yourself back in the desert. Following the map given to you by Ahbi and Iralious’s dierctions, you forge onward.
After about half a day of walking, you feel yourself getting tired. You realize that you should have stocked up on supplies before leaving the castle. After walking for a few more hours, your hunger and fatigue get the best of you as you start having hallucinations. You see what seems to be a giant ball of steel chasing you. You try to run from it, but it seems like you’re running slower and slower with every step. Eventually, you stop running altogether and you collapse and the ball of steel makes its approach toward you. You black out.
As you start coming to, you immediately notice the change in your surroundings. The seemingly infinite landscape of golden sand had transitioned into a lush, green atmosphere full of trees that protect you from the harsh rays from the sun. You also feel yourself being carried by something. Further inspection leads you to realize the ball of steel that was following you earlier is carrying you. This ball of steel turns out to be a Registeel and walking along side it appears to be a person.
“Awake, are we?” the person asks. “We can exchange formalities when we to the Oasis,” the person replies.
As they say that, light pours into your eyes as you are greeted by the pleasant sight of the numerous trees, countless houses, and massive body of water that acts as a centerpiece to what seems to be a functioning city.
“Here we are,” the person proclaims as the registeel comes to a halt in front of a sizeable house. “Come inside and I’ll tell you more”
As you walk inside the person’s house, they lead you to a table and have you sit. Then they start introducing themselves.
“Well, I guess this is as good a time as any for introductions. My name is AlphaSlash and I am the hokage leader of Sodride city. The name is a portmanteau of sodium and chloride, the chemical elements of salt.”
You are about to ask why, but Alpha keeps going
“You are probably wondering why. Long ago, our ancestors used to reside in a different part of the Delta region in a city that had a giant lake in the middle, sort of like this one. This lake has an especially high concentration of salt, as it contained all of the salt accessible in the Delta region. Our people were tasked with the duty of fairly distributing salt across the region for people to use how they saw fit. Due to the scarcity of the salt after the Great Tilt, however, many cities and settlements sent agents to try and steal salt from the lake. This started a small-scale salt war amongst the people of the Delta region. Having lost both their homes from the collateral war damage and their reason for being after the lake was gone, our people roamed the Delta region and eventually stopped in a place with a gaping hole in the ground. Viewing this hole as the void left in their lives by the loss of the salt lake, the people started crying. They cried hard and often for many days and nights. Eventually, their tears were enough to fill this hole with water. Upon trying to drink this water, the people realized that it was salt water. The salt from their tears had created a new salt lake and filled the void in their lives. Overjoyed at having regained their place in life, the people started building a town around this newfound oasis, which would later be named Sodiride city.”
Again you want to interrupt… “I know it is kinda long, but it’s our history,” AlphaSlash replies, “So, with that out of the way, I guess we can get onto the challenge.”
“...” You still can’t get a word in.
“Yes,” AlphaSlash replies, “ it's the new way we distribute salt in the Delta region. Any outsider able to make their way to our city is granted the right to challenge the Salt Captain for usage of the salt lake.”
You have so many questions to ask Alpha, and right as you are about to raise your hand, he keeps going.
“The salt captain is the chief overseer of the salt distribution in the Delta region. In addition, the salt captain must be able to protect the salt lake from invaders as to not repeat the mistakes of our ancestors and avoid upsetting the gods. In these regards, wouldn't it be fitting for the salt captain to also hold the mayoral position within Sodiride City?”
“Regi,” Registeel says as it takes its position standing behind Salt Captain AlphaSlash.
“Enough talk, lets battle now. May the hax ever be in your favor.”
Meet AlphaSlash, The Salt Captain
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