FINAL INVESTIGATION

[strangerpeople]

FINAL INVESTIGATION

[It is time.

The chill which had come from the now-open, unnumbered room has now begun to seep into the rest of the Depths. It seems to call to the Titled, beckoning them to come forward and to face whatever is now beyond that door.

Fie and Rubedo were right - that room was, indeed, the exit to the Depths. And at the end of the staircase is a door, which the Skeleton Key can very easily open. A few seconds later, the door at the top of the stairs opens.

And the city within the cave below is revealed to them, as they stand on a platform high above the ground.



The ruin still looks as new as it did the day it was built. The air here is cold mountain air, though the only light seems to come from one massive building carved into the very rock of the cave. There is nothing coming from the mouth of the cave save for snow.

On the door they just came through is a single parchment of paper which reads "LEINALZIND OUTER DISTRICT." Each building, they will find, is labelled similarly. Which means there is only one conclusion.

Welcome to the city of Leinalzind, Titled. And good luck, teams.

You will need it.]

Comments

[lightnen]

[ Who would have thought there was a city so close by? Let alone in a cave .

He's decided after a brief look around that there's gotta be a good place to start and as such, goes toward the second building. Raising an eyebrow at the sign, Killua shook his head and pushed forwards, opening the door and peering in.

With him is his two hunting daggers and instead of his usual tank top he's sporting a long sleeved shirt which comes in handy since it's cooler here. ]

Heeey! Anyone still alive in here?

[ That's certainly one way to go about this wasn't it? ]

[strangerpeople]

[There's not much of a reply of the human sort but he will hear a noise. But more like pitiful whining.

Continue?]

[lightnen]

[ Oh. Okay. That's totally not weird or creepy or anything.

Either way it's enough for Killua to venture inward, trying to find the source of that whining. Where was it coming from? ]

[strangerpeople]

[It's coming from further inside the room. Not only that but the smell is pretty bad.]

[lightnen]

[ This is enough to make him wrinkle his nose a bit, attempting then to breathe through his mouth so he can reduce how much of that smell he's taking in.

Venturing into the room further, what was it that he was going to find in here? ]

[strangerpeople]

[For starters, he will take notice of the cages and torture implements while walking around. And they're not clean with all the blood around.]

[lightnen]

[ Suddenly he's kind of glad it's him here, seeing all this stuff as while it doesn't phase him? The others would be probably pretty repulsed by it all.

His senses are on alert, not wanting anything to take him by surprise.

It's kind of sickening either way, just how unsanitary the torture implements were. Though he is going to peer into the cages to try and see if anyone was in here and if they were actually alive.

Not likely but hey. Worth a shot. ]

[strangerpeople]

[There isn't anyone in the cages but it may be a good idea to take note of how many cages there are: fifteen]

[lightnen]

[ That's definitely something worth noting. Considering there was fifteen of them from the start and here there was fifteen cages, it was kind of disturbing.

He's going to try and look around to try and find the source of that pitiful whining he'd heard when he'd first poked his head in here. Surely there's a source for that, right? ]

cw: possible indications of animal abuse

[strangerpeople]

[There is - a pack of half-starved, sick dogs, all stuck in cages. When they see Killua, they go insane, banging against the cage and yelping with glazed eyes and aching bellies.]

[lightnen]

[ Despite all his senses being on alert, it didn't quite prepare Killua for the dogs that started banging against the cages abruptly, not initially having seen them before now.

It took only one look at how crazed they were acting, yelping in such a desperate manner while trying to get to him that he could tell these dogs weren't at all taken care of well.

Did that mean those implements could have been used on the dogs too? ]

...If I had anything I could give you, I would have already. Can't believe they're treating animals like this.

[ Shaking his head, Killua turned his attention from the poor dogs and looked around the room, seeing if there was more to this or if he'd found everything here besides the dogs here. ]

[strangerpeople]

[Still a bit more to explore, I'm afraid. Remember that terrible smell? Well it just got worse due to the unmoving body he can see past the dogs.]

[lightnen]

[ Well. That certainly explained the smell. He frowned a bit before sighing and moving a bit so he could try and get a better look at that body from where he stood.

Was there anything discernable about it? Such as gender, injuries and so on? ]

CW: Suicide Implication

[strangerpeople]

[He can see that the body is male but without any noticable injuries physically. Unless he wants to sniff the dead man's mouth.

But there is something next to the body: a note]

[lightnen]

[ Keeping an eye on the caged dogs, he finally ventured closer and was able to get a closer look at the body. The guy didn't seem to hold any actual physical injuries, but it was the note that got his attention.

Carefully he knelt down to pick up the note so he could read it, expression soon turning a bit unreadable. It was clear what had happened here but there were still some terms he was unfamiliar with. ]

Unmaking? What could he even mean by that?

[ Killua stood up, folding the note so he could take it with him; only because it seemed like it could be a piece of the puzzle they may need later. If only because of the names written within the note itself, since they were probably of importance.

Probably tied into Alexis or something along those lines. Well maybe not them specifically but their world. ]

Guess I can't blame him if it got too much...

[ Well. With this done, he's going to see if there's anything left to note about this place as he didn't want to miss a thing. ]

[strangerpeople]

[Still a bit left to go! But there is two pieces of paper that could be interesting...]

[lightnen]

[ Putting that note into his pocket, Killua spotted the two pieces of paper nearby and walked over to inspect them. Just what made them stand out? ]

[strangerpeople]

[The first one happens to be this while the second looks like a pamphlet titled 'How to Deal with Dwemer'.

The only thing it says is basically says they are Dwemer, remember they have technology, so pretend to understand their babbling, but remember you're still superior to them. All for the greater good. But something good to take notice.]

[lightnen]

[ An experiment?! Manipulating souls?! That was definitely unnerving all on its own, and that list had a bunch of important looking names on it.

Just what the hell was going on?!

Going to take that first one with him. Kind of glad he had somewhat deep pockets in his shorts and that this was all just paper. The pamphlet is odd all on its own but he can't ignore it, mainly due to that part where it said "all for the greater good" but what exactly was that? ]

Tch...There better be answers to all of this stupid mess. It doesn't all make sense..

[ Going to sigh and turn his attention back to the room. There was so much to it, but if there was anything else to find, he would do it before leaving. ]

[strangerpeople]

[Just one more item he will find: a sealed vial labeled 'torpor' on the bottom. It might be best to bring it with you.

And with that, the room is clear! Good job!]