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

LATER, AFTER THE SNACK BREAK:

[poorlovefool]

[That was refreshing, now what's up with this weapon]

Re: LATER, AFTER THE SNACK BREAK:

[strangerpeople]

[Its a golden bow that seems to glow with the very light of the sun. Not blindingly so, but it feels warm and comforting.]

[poorlovefool]

[Warm and ... comforting?

Odd properties for a weapon to have, aren't they?

He picks it up in one hand, makes some sparkles in another, comparing the properties of his own light to it and looking it over curiously for any other details.]

[strangerpeople]

[It is beautiful. It also seems to have two quivers of arrows to accompany it.

Inspect?]

[poorlovefool]

[You know it. Are they also glowy and comforting?!]

[strangerpeople]

[Only one of the quivers has arrows like that.

The other quiver is...well. The arrows are dark, red, and feel otherwise cursed and foreboding. That particular quiver is also almost empty.]

[poorlovefool]

[Okay then! We have the sparkle arrows and the darkle arrows. How many darkle arrows are left exactly? And ... is there anything around to shoot with these?]

[strangerpeople]

[There's several dozen sparkle and maybe two darkle.

There is plenty to shoot at, but maybe look around and see what else you find before you start shooting arrows of unknown origin? You could put someone's eye out on accident!]

[poorlovefool]

[Someone? Like who? Was this someone just tapping their foot in the corner while he and Jr ate their food? Eric's trigger happy, don't test him!!

For now he's going to pick up a sparkle arrow and touch its tip to a darkle arrow's tip to see if they corrupt each other or something. Because he wants to take these with him and it'd be more convenient if he could just dump the darkle in with the sparkle.]

[strangerpeople]

[Uh.

The darkle starts to corrupt the sparkle, darkening and reddening it.]

[poorlovefool]

[Well. At least that confirms why they're being kept in different quivers.... and if they need more darkles they will have a way?! He's just gonna put this in the dark quiver then.

He will put some serious thought into the handling of these arrows later when he takes them, but for now let's look around the rest of the room. He'll rummage around the bed and cushions and take a glance at that flag.]

[strangerpeople]

[There is a diary under the pillows.]

[poorlovefool]

[Oh, huh. He never had a sister to annoyingly snoop through the diary of... even though it's hidden just like that, he probably shouldn't get that sense from the owner of a room like this anyway.

So, first, whose name is on this diary? Just so he knows whose wrath he may invoke.]

[strangerpeople]

[This belongs to someone named Elenwen.]

[poorlovefool]

Shit. It figures...

[Okay, never mind about waiting, he's going to grab those quivers now just so he'll know where they are. He'll just sit on the bed with all this shit under his arms and crack it open.

Well, it serves her right, doesn't it?! What did she write? Did she mention any of the Titled or m a y b e people who are important to them?]

[strangerpeople]

[Well, she seems to find...one person important...]

[poorlovefool]

[THIS IS TOO MUCH IMPORTANCE ON ONE PERSON. AND THAT IS COMING FROM ERIC.

He has so many regrets, and not enough time for this shit.]

Ugh. Okay, what else... there has to be something...

[He'll look around to see if there's anything else nearby, particularly of use to him.]

[strangerpeople]

[LIES THEY ARE IMPO--we.

I mean.

There are some items on a well-appointed desk, actually, if he wants to look!]

[poorlovefool]

[He will look. He is In Too Deep not to look. What are these items?]

[strangerpeople]

[One of them is a knife-like object.]

[poorlovefool]

[Hmm. How large is that? Is it sorta like his letter-opener, at a glance?]

[strangerpeople]

[Halfway between a dagger and a sword, it looks like.]

[poorlovefool]

[Then what sets it apart from an actual, you know, knife? He picks it up and examines it to see if there's any weird feelings coming from it as with the bow.]

[strangerpeople]

[There is the feeling of calling and longing that comes from it. What do you miss?

You feel it, holding this.]

[poorlovefool]

[As if it were possible to miss Mira more. He'd cut off his arm using only this knife if it could bring her to his side.

...Okay, maybe this knife did make his feelings stronger, that's pretty metal.

Still, he'll put it in his breast pocket by his heart, because he's in full Zero Escape carry everything mode and that's the best place for something that reminds him of Mira.

What else is on the table?]