FINAL INVESTIGATION

[killerwaves]

FINAL INVESTIGATION

No announcement, or gruesome discovery greets you today, but you probably don't need to be told that it's time to make a move given the ominous change in the atmosphere, and in the weather itself. Sometime in the night, the stormclouds have moved in, darkening the length and breadth of every island and blotting out both the sun and moon -- it seems your summer vacation has ended. What's worse, if you're looking carefully as the stormfront rolls in, you'll spot the telltale shimmer of the distortion; not just low down on the sea or landbound as it usually is, or even up in the heights as with the waterfall.

No, these seem intertwined with the clouds themselves, descending from the heavens like divine catastrophe. Louder than any thunder or lightning -- the telltale rumbling pitch of the dimensional warping is overlaid with the watery wailing you heard last week, but much closer. Multiple whirlpools have opened up around Sungem's Peak, while snaps and booming across the water belie the safety of the other islands.

Attempting to travel away from the main island will tell you the following: several of the railways have been beset and partially destroyed by both whirlpools and aerial distortions. If you manage to get far enough to see the other island destinations: the peak on Kingfisher's Retreat seems a lot lower than before. The planetarium has vanished from Dodo's Outlook. And there seems to be a small tornado cresting the back of Seagull's Playground. Is that a go-kart caught in the whorls???

Beneath the storm-driven sky, the haven of Sungem's Peak carries an audible din of future tidings as well: what whirlpools haven't set upon the ways off the island have shaved off at least some of the shoreline and, judging by how loud they are, the singing fish are not having a good time. The disturbances in the water are enough to have the tide itself receding from the shore, farther than it's ever gone: to the point where the continental shelf is exposed, baring parts of the sea floor and the island that haven't been accessible until now.

While the dead have provided you with a map, it's not a GPS; you'll still need to navigate your way into the inner workings on the island and confront whatever challenges you find, along with your two administrators.

Hopefully the encouragement of those beyond the grave will be enough to buoy you as you descend into the depths of the island, since it's just you, and the scream of the waves.

(( OOC: Welcome to your final investigation! While we will provide AREA CLEARS, the choices you make here will affect end game. Good luck!))

Main Nav

code

Comments

[killerwaves]

[ There are no signs that anything else is here with them, not even a fish bot. One room is safe from the bot bonanza, apparently. The cages intersect the ceiling, so no worries about looking up.

For now.

Anyway! As soon as she gets close she will notice something right away, that's probably familiar, and that's a splatter of blood in the entranceway to the open cage. ]

[necrotiem]

[Why yes, that is a terribly familiar sight, thank you!]

Seems there was trouble here without us, [Waltaquin announces to the group, just in case trouble persists.

Grimoire in one hand, she will approach the ajar cage door and try and peek inside, opening it further if that is necessary.]

[killerwaves]

[ The door opens... to a mostly empty room.

Clearly something unhappy happened here, but there's not enough blood to be truly alarming, just a little. The setup for this cage has a water bowl, a food bowl, some straw bedding, and a tuft of fur. ]

[necrotiem]

[:nyafleck:

Is it liger fur?]

[killerwaves]

[ ...the fur is pink. So what Walt is probably thinking? Yeah. Considering she saw this exact shade at the go-karts a week ago. ]

[necrotiem]

[Well, that is troubling, but it also explains the destination of their wayward Athos...

She should be thankful it didn't jump on her this time.

All right, we'll collect that fur and do a quick turnover of the bedding itself, looking for anything that might have gotten buried or left behind.]

[killerwaves]

[ There's a very chewed up ball here, like someone made a really bad attempt at placating a wild animal with a dog toy. Nothing else of note! ]

[necrotiem]

[lmao holy shit

ok Yew is back so I'm gonna give any remaining exploration not covered by the Boys to Psyche while I get ready for raid.

TAG TEAM.]

[chrysaline]

[ How about a look around the nearby area outside the cage? Is the blood splatter localized, or are there any other traces of Athos?

...And, are the other cages looking nice and sealed? ]

[killerwaves]

[ The blood is localized to this cage only.

The other cages look nice and sealed! ]

[chrysaline]

[ Hm, hm. And... any telltale sounds that would indicate if they're occupied or just closed and empty? ]

[killerwaves]

[ No sounds, this lab is quiet (yay!). It's easy to disengage these, with a very obvious green button outside each cage. ]

[chrysaline]

[ Just. Calling over a warning to the others before she does something wild: ]

Doctor Baizhu, Billy! I want to make sure there's nothing in the other cages. Let me know when you're finished with the other things, just in case.

[necrotiem]

[]

I await the results eagerly!

[solutionary]

[Let's do it!!]

[chrysaline]

[ By popular demand: inadvisably and with ambiguous timing, Psyche is going to go through and begin to press buttons.

One at a time! And verifying the contents of any cages first! She will not free more than one Mineta occupant at a time. ]

1/????

[killerwaves]

[It looks like... there aren't any occupants! Most of the cages are empty.

However...]

[killerwaves]

[... At the very end of the row, there is one cage with something in it.

How well is Psyche watching her feet stepping into the cages?]

[chrysaline]

[ Well... she wasn't looking up (unfortunately?) because she's been keeping her eyes out for any monsters on the floor of the cages, assuming they'd be sleeping since it was quiet. So. Moderately well?

help ]

:)

[killerwaves]

[There's a singular, round, purple sticky orb on the floor.]

[chrysaline]

[ Oh... and if we tiptoe around the grape of regret, is there anything else in the cage? Did Zelkov's son and/or Zelkov's son's other parent not warrant a dog toy? ]

[killerwaves]

[The anonymous grape subject here did not warrant a dog toy or anything else! That seems to be the only trace of the occupant.]