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((OOC: OK, the story I've come up with is a little long, so I decided to split it in two to allow for an intermission of some kind. My only suggestion is not to make a fight out of it))

"Oh, not at all", Lancelrock said. "This is an old legend about how the Geode Fields earned their characteristic glow. The legend goes that, many centuries ago, the Geode Fields were as dark as the rest of the caves that lay below the Majestic Mountains, for the crystals didn't glow at all. During that time, the Dark Corridors were even murkier than they are today, and they had another name: they were called the Terror Halls. That place was ruled by the evil king Fiendrake, who was at war with one of king Quarrex's ancestors. Using the darkness as cover, Fiendrake's ghost minions raided Quarrex Kingdom in a regular basis, spreading terror throughout the land. Again and again, their forces were repelled by our brave soldiers, but they were never fully deterred.

Things had gone on like this through decades, since no king ever tried to lead a full-scale attack against the other, as both sides were fairly equal in strength and an all-out confrontation could potentially have had disastrous consequences for all. But finally, one day a group of brave Geodude knights, who happened to be all brothers, got tired of the status quo, and decided to do something about it. They had heard about a beautiful and mysterious gem called the Rainbow Opal, an ancient stone of great power, which had the ability to shoot magnificent beams of light of all colors, depending on the emotions of its wielder. That light was so potent, that the ghosts of the Terror Halls would surely flee at the very sight of it. The gem could therefore act as a guardian for the whole kingdom.

There was a problem, though. The gem was guarded by an old and greedy Midasty who lived in a secluded cave near the Higher Passages, and he was definitely not going to give it away so easily. Nonetheless, the brothers convinced the king that the idea was worth giving a try, so he gave them his blessing to embark on the perilous journey, and provided them with gold and diamonds that the kingdom's workers had found over time in their excavations, hoping to be able to strike a deal with the fearsome dragon, as we've always been people of honor who do not fight unless it is really necessary.

The Geodude then christened themselves the Brotherhood of the Shining Gem, and advanced through the Geode Fields and into the Higher Passages. After many adventures that I'll omit for the sake of brevity, they finally reached Midasty's lair. To their surprise, the old dragon seemed overly content with giving them the gem in exchange for their riches. The brothers did so, but once they had given Midasty the treasure, it showed its true nature and attacked them instead of fulfilling its part of the deal. Outraged by this foul act of treachery, the brothers fought back, and eventually managed to defeat Midasty by finding the weak spot in its golden coating. Even after victory, they left the riches to the dragon, in order to show it their honesty and commitment to the deal they had made, as a final lesson of sincerity".

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that", Lancelrock said. "This supposedly happened centuries ago. If the dragon is still there, then it is probably too old to be of any harm; if it didn't learn the lesson that is. Anyway, as I was saying…"

((OOC: If you don't feel like reading the story, it can be skipped. Just continue from the next OOC))

"…Triumphant, the brothers returned to Quarrex Kingdom and installed the Rainbow Opal atop a large tower, protected by the Royal Onix Guard. Each time ghosts arrived looking for trouble, the opal was called into service, its light multiplying in the numerous crystals creating a spectacle much like we see here today. As expected, the light terrified the ghosts, who swiftly returned to the dark passages whence they had come. After a while, they finally stopped going at all.
Of course, that wasn't the end of this conflict. Enraged by his subordinates' reluctance to raid the Quarrex Kingdom, king Fiendrake decided to take matters into his own hands and launch an attack in person. Few of his subjects were loyal enough to follow him, but he wouldn't allow himself to give up for such an insignificant setback. Determined to destroy the Rainbow Opal, he advanced with his small army towards our citadel.
The light once again shone to protect our kingdom, but although this did scare off the majority of what was left of Fiendrake's forces, he and his most trusted generals refused to be hindered by it. They managed to get through our defenses and even the Onix Guard, until Fiendrake finally reached the top of the tower of the opal, where the king Quarrex of that time and the Brotherhood of the Shining Gem were waiting for him. They fought for hours on end, until Fiendrake, with all his cunning, managed to gain the upper hand and steal the Rainbow Opal. Overjoyed by this victory, Fiendrake proceeded to show his power by trying to destroy the opal with his bare hands. He failed, however, and instead, out of anger, he did something unthinkable that finally proved to be his undoing. Claiming that no one was ever going to see the gem again anyway, he put it between his foul jaws and swallowed it whole.
Right after he did this, Fiendrake fell prey to an excruciating pain, and filled with horror and confusion he tried to escape towards the Terror Halls. But he had only arrived to the Geode Fields, when beams of light suddenly started to burst from his body, which became bloated in a grotesque way. Then, in a sudden explosion of light, Fiendrake with all his evil disintegrated into oblivion.
The explosion produced a pulse that run throughout the whole cave system, imbuing the crystals with the power of a thousand suns. When things settled down, the opal was nowhere to be seen, but in its place all the crystals of the Geode Fields shone with the same multicolor light. Our people were delighted by this unexpected turn of events. The permanent light drove all ghosts away once and for all; and since Fiendrake didn't have any heirs, the Terror Halls quickly fell into anarchy, until eventually any sort of organization its inhabitants once had disappeared completely. Thus, peace reigned in Quarrex Kingdom ever since. Well, until this wretched day, of course."

((OOC: End of main story))

After a few seconds of silence, Lancelrock added the following: "There is an epilogue to this story, however. It is said that the light of the crystals was much more potent back then than it is today, and that their glow has been declining in intensity decade after decade. It is prophesized that one day the glow will extinguish and the ghost army will return to get revenge upon my people. This takes me to something I haven't told you yet. A few weeks ago, a weird pokémon came to our kingdom. Its name was Lobutus and it knew a lot about our culture, including this story. It convinced the king that the time of the prophecy was soon to arrive, and it was appointed Chief Advisor. I have strong suspicions that Lobutus is behind all this. Now I think we'll never know, though, since I didn't see it anywhere. It may have run away before the fight, or else it's now trapped behind the fallen columns".

Unbeknownst to Lancelrock, however, Lobutus was not very far from them. In fact, it had been following them all the time using its camouflage abilities, and now it was tailing the group with a new mission bestowed upon it: to find out whether the Dy'mn Stream represented a genuine threat to Exodus or not. Until then, Lobutus was to remain unseen.

"Fiendrake and Midasty are two powerful Dragon-type pokémon", Lancelrock replied. "Fiendrake is a purple floating serpent with two enormous arms but no legs, yellow crests on its head and tail, and a single horn on its snout. Midasty is green and tall, with red scales covering its back and tail, and in turn with a belly covered in various kinds of treasure. As for your second question, I'm afraid we haven't even reached the middle of the road yet. You'll know when we get there, though, as there is an unmistakable landmark: at that point, the Geode Fields become partially flooded by a subterranean river that runs along the rest of the path, eventually leading outside and flowing into the Dy'mn Stream itself. A clan of Quagsire lives in the shores of that river. They're very nice pokémon, and assuming they didn't have any problems with the shadows, they will surely be glad to help us travel through the rapids, which should also make our journey faster. Let's see..."

Lancelrock checked the walls and ceiling of the cave. For a split second, he almost caught a glimpse of the hidden Gork, but like Ure-yo he quickly dismissed the thought.

"... well, judging by the size and concentration of the crystals in this place, and considering the pace we've maintained, I'd say we only have one more hour left before we reach the river."