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

[yesorwoof]

[She watches him finish his entire enormous laugh with a smile that, while calm, is perhaps slightly less utterly empty and placid than usual. Then:]

Yes, it's gotten pretty quiet towards the end. I still don't know whether they have more torments planned. There are quite a few hands that have been playing with us like dolls.

[hatesdeerstalkers]

Of course - aren't there always those with ulterior motives playing the game, higher up?

[You can hear the grin, though he shrugs.]

Oh, I'm sure there's something unpleasant planned - but I'm more than certain we can overcome it, together. We've come this far, after all!

[yesorwoof]

[Delta hasn't revealed himself yet, but Makima has wondered if fate actually is on their side. Charon is, after all.]

There was someone manipulating those men's memories... Wasn't it actually a tactic that brought all of us together? I don't like to say that the evils of this world fear nothing more than a unified front. Chainsaws are certainly more effective against devils. But at least now that we're sharing information, we'll be able to do something.