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

[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?]

[strangerpeople]

[There is also a paper with some stuff on it. More reading from that fun person who made that pamphlet, yay!

There is also a response that never got sent out, too.]

[poorlovefool]

The Balanced?

[Eric blinks, hard. That first one was tl;dr and he'll just toss it in his bag with the pamphlet]

Futaba's got some explaining to do...

[OR IS IT THAT SILVER GUY?

Well. Anything else?]

[strangerpeople]

[There is another paper on the desk.]

[poorlovefool]

[INTO THE BAG WITH IT anything else else?]

[strangerpeople]

[There is one more paper on the desk.]

[poorlovefool]

[He looks at the bow in his hand, which is apparently THE Bow. (It's back in the hands of a lowly creature.)

Another glance around the room while he's at it.]

[strangerpeople]

[There is a chest next to the desk, actually...]

[poorlovefool]

Oh hey. Is this saving the best for last?

[Chest means treasure! Let's get that sucker open!]

[strangerpeople]

[Not exactly.

There's a glowing horse's skill, and two large jeweled scrolls, sequestered within.]

[poorlovefool]

[Do you mean a skull?? Anyway, the scrolls... hmm. Hadn't they heard of something like that before? Maybe he'll take this chest and its contents over to that place.]

[strangerpeople]

[Yes, a skull, oops.

But, with that, Eric has found everything in this room!]