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

[strangerpeople]

a tIme of GrEat chANge.

[zephyranthe]

[So like a time of great turbulence, then... It's a little familiar to her.]

Are we talking the good kind of change or the bad kind of change?

[strangerpeople]

iT dOEs noT mAttER. SiMply that TheRe is ChANge.

...

mAy I aSk yoU SomeTHing, cHilD?

[zephyranthe]

[?]

Sure. Go for it.

[strangerpeople]

dOes the emPerOr liVe?

[zephyranthe]

[Huh.]

What's the emperor's name?

[strangerpeople]

ThEy uSe ALeXis.

aRe thEy alIVe?

[zephyranthe]

[Welp, that's that.]

Yup. They're stuck here with us now, too. I haven't seen them in awhile though.

[strangerpeople]

...thEn...PaArthurNaX's sOUl...I uNDerstAnD nOw.

...

DelPhinE uNdeRStanDS nOw. gOOd.

aH...mAy yOU gRanT uS oNe lASt reQuEsT?

[zephyranthe]

[???]

I don't get what you just said.

[But okay whatever, surely it'll never come up again, right??]

It depends on what it is.

[strangerpeople]

PaaRtHURnaX...hIS SouL anD mINd arE dEaD. HiS boDy beInG usED lIke tHiS...aN iNSult. AnD wE lIvE in a sTaTe bEtWeen liFe aNd deAth, lIkE tHis. It iS hEll and... sOrrOW. We hAvE no cOntroL. No mOveMenT. No SleEp.

We AsK FoR reLeAse.

[zephyranthe]

...So you want to be killed? Right now?

[Assuming she's totally read the situation right, anyways.]

[strangerpeople]

iT is aLl we WanT. WhAt we hAvE wAnTed sIncE wAkinG tO tHiS nIghtMare. No tHaLmOr fOrcEs ouR moVeMenT nOw.

We wIll mAkE nO reSisTanCe.

[zephyranthe]

[She's got a hand on a dagger, and her eyes are only on what's left of a monster they all had a hand in slaying. It's a pitiful sight to see, and maybe death's the only thing left for something like this, if they can't save it. But still. She pauses.]

Sorry, I can't make that decision on my own. The others probably have questions they want to ask... and we're all in this together. Once everything's done and over with, then we'll see what to do with you guys then.

Hopefully you can sit tight for a little longer.

[strangerpeople]

...vEry weLL.

[That is fair and what are they going to do, eat her? They can't move, save for lolling their head a little to indicate a...nodding...type...thing.

Either way, they aren't going anywhere.]

[zephyranthe]

[Shoosh shoosh, it's okay Nord guy. Maybe they all need a headpat too no.]

I have one last thing to ask, too. D'you know what a Snow-Throat is?

[strangerpeople]

[The hand might sink into their skin just a...warning]

ThIS...is sNow-tHrOAt. A tOweR, a pIlLAr...wE aRe inSiDe itS sTonE. THe tHRoaT oF tHe WorLd...

[zephyranthe]

[gross man she ain't dealing with that]

Weird that they needed a reminder, then.

[Although that person could've just been captured from elsewhere and taken here, too. ...Actually uh. Does the not-dragon corpse still have hands sticking out of it because she might. Compare the handprint on the page. For a match.

Yup.]

[strangerpeople]

[None of them match..]

[zephyranthe]

[Welp, can't say she didn't try.]

I'll see if I can come back with the others.

[OKAY let's get that last evidence point for now though. Let's try to escape the cave?]

[strangerpeople]

[Hope Fie isn't running - she will smack into a barrier which covers the mouth of the cave.]

[zephyranthe]

[She isn't running because she learned from Jr.'s stunt that you should never just go running into entrances without checking first. But when she touches the barrier, is it just solid? It won't shock her or anything like that, right.]

[strangerpeople]

[It's just solid. Transparent, but solid nevertheless.]

[zephyranthe]

[Cool beans. Is there anything else around that's suspicious?]

[strangerpeople]

[Nope! We're all set here!]