FINAL INVESTIGATION

[strangerpeople]

FINAL INVESTIGATION


[Fifteen X-Passes. Six weeks. Freedom at last.



But it's not the end. Of course it's not. There are questions to answer, and souls to save. And now that the group is outside, they can see where they are.

They are inside a massive cavern, illuminated in an eerie green light, standing on a stone path. On one side is the ship-or rather, a massive, ship-shaped tangle of bloody branches, the trunk-like roots snaking out and into the river its buoyed on, as well as into the ceiling of stalactites. Said river is wine dark, but it's clearly not water. No-it is blood.

And on the other side of their little pathway? A root-encrusted palace. It sits over a labyrinthine city, bathed in emerald, and all is eerily silent save for some sounds coming from within the castle. It's clear the infestation somehow started here. And it is here that answers are likely to be found.

The doors are right in front of the group-and they are already open, covered in branches. From the outside, it seems little more than a ruin. Once everyone goes in, though?




It's even worse. The tree has taken over. Whatever lives here is no longer in charge. There's no easy way to disentangle the Qilphoth from this place. But there is life here, somehow. You can see figures entangled within the roots as you explore. And-they are still, somehow, alive. More than alive. They are beings that bleed ichor instead of blood-beings of incredible divinity and power. They are gods. And they are hostage to the tree, forever and ever, trapped in induced ennui, unless something is done.


So welcome, Strangers, to the House of Hades.]







[Once you enter, the investigation shall begin.


Good luck.]



((OoC: And here are team assignments!))

Comments

AREA 6

[strangerpeople]

[autonomousthought]

[Listen. Reuniting with the dead is great and she's happy for everyone, but surely they don't have unlimited time? She certainly doesn't, and neither does Gai. Hermes, too.

And she feels like she'll shatter if she stays in the big group any longer. She pauses only long enough to let Kira and Makima know where she's going. And then she's driving off to see what she can see.

So. What can she see?]

[strangerpeople]

[Huh. It looks like some kind of weapons room of some kind.]

[autonomousthought]

[Okay she will get out of the car to explore. A weapons room, hm?

Are there weapons actually present? How many? What kinds?]

EVIDENCE

[strangerpeople]

[There are six weapon slots, but only five of them seem to be present, and all of them look...dulled, somehow.]

[autonomousthought]

[Does the lineup match the picture?

She's gonna go poke one no matter what - the one on the far right, or if that's the missing one, then the one third from the right.]

[strangerpeople]

[Yes. However-not that Ritsu would technically know this, but the missing one is the one furthest to the left of that set up in the picture, so.

The one on the far right is pokeable.]

[autonomousthought]

[Okay, poke poke...and if nothing terrible results from poking...

She's gonna try picking it up. Is this a thing she can do?]

Later

[yesorwoof]

I'll help you load those weapons into the car. With my ability they'd be of pretty good use.

[She feels so bad* that Ritsu ended up with all the heavy things... But lifting is also hard for Makima with her amputation... They can do it!! Or make Kira do it!?

* Makima may not sincerely feel bad.]

[autonomousthought]

I'd appreciate that... I think a few weeks ago I might have managed all of them.

[This body was pretty jacked before it was all falling apart. Though, speaking of jacked...]

Do you think Kira-san would be willing to help, too? I don't want to aggravate your injury too much.

[yesorwoof]

Oh, you're right. He will be willing to help.

[She smooths down her clothes and prepares to walk back out.]

I'll go get him.

[onychomance]

[And after they are finished in the garden, here he comes. At her behest.]

Hm... that chariot you're towing seems like it has plenty of space. What do you want to take with you?

[autonomousthought]

I am partial to ranged weaponry. Makima-san said the others will be useful with her ability, though.

[None of us are from RPGs. We are looting the room anyway.]

[onychomance]

So in other words... everything that isn't nailed down, I suppose.

[It's the escape room spirit! Though Kira is going to cast a glance at Makima wondering why she couldn't have just used her dang telekinesis, but assuming there are weight limits, he'll go ahead and approach the weapon that needs the most muscles to lift.]

[onychomance]

[Kira and Makima roll into this area too. There's a lot of clues to be found here, okay?]

Another armory....

[strangerpeople]

[There's also the downstairs part, which they probably zoomed by coming to this place!








Or someone forgot to mention it was there and it came first in terms of infrastructure. Meow meow.]

[onychomance]

[Ritsu certainly does seem to have that covered. Kira will turn back, dismount, and head on down. He'll dissipate the bike once Makima is off.]

[strangerpeople]

[Welcome to the (other) bedroom, Kira. It's not a weapon room, but. It's not bad!


Let's get investimagating, shall we?]

[yesorwoof]

Hmmm.

[Makima disembarks. Does any of this look the same as the alchemy lab she briefly visited...? There was a pentagram on the floor there... Were the type of candles the same...]

[strangerpeople]

[Nope.

Actually, this looks a lot like a teenaged or college-aged boy'a room than anything else.]

[yesorwoof]

[The lush bearskin rug does not scream teenager to her. Not does the mysterious pool. However, the bed is a bit quaint and gets those gears turning in her head. These are the things Makima is poking at.

It's a gamble but... She might even be able to recognize Zack's scent. She's no bloodhound that can go running on a trail with just a pen held under the suspect's armpit, but if the begging is that adolescent in nature, she can try to get some confidence in a guess.]

[onychomance]

[Kira's eye is attracted to the enormous mirror. To think that this all started with him panicking over Kosaku's stupid face... He'll investigate near there.]

[strangerpeople]

[There is darkness in the mirror. Power, too. You can feel it emanate from it.

That said, there's a long scroll on the desk that might catch his attention.]

[onychomance]

[He can feel the power... if this is a magic mirror, Kira wonders if he could see his real face again if he stepped up to it. It's tempting, though he's not sure how much it could do for him, so he goes over to read the scroll before trying.]

AREA CLEAR

[strangerpeople]