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

[voidseeing]

The long and the short of it is that we're trying to kill this tree. From what we know, the only way to do so is via the evolved forms of the powers we were given when we arrived here-- the Devil Arms. And we probably won't be able to take down the tree without attacking its heart.

[lovedthemost]

[Brain listens, and nods]

I see. Moriarty did explain the Devil Arms to us, and how their powers would need to be enhanced for their proper usage.

As for the tree's heart...do we know anything about it, aside from that it is our target?

[voidseeing]

[Gai shakes his head.]

I know what it looks like and I'd recognize it if I saw it again, but that's about it.

[lovedthemost]

So it could be anywhere.

[there's a whoosh of air, like a huff]

However, theoretically, if the roots are here, it shouldn't be that far. If we're lucky, that is.

[he sighs]

Pity. If I had my poison, it would be no trouble to spread it from the roots.