FINAL INVESTIGATION

[umbralant]

FINAL INVESTIGATION

Time continues to pass. And before long, it's the end of the week once again. Maybe it feels strange to call it that when there's such little sense of time besides the changing phases of the moon, and maybe the exact day doesn't even matter to you anymore. But regardless of the day, regardless of the month, regardless of the year, one thing is certain:

The time for preparations is over.

Because as the moon in the sky shines blood red, it becomes clear that all of the fog and the tremors were nothing but omens for what was to come.

And so, on Friday morning, Survivors will find themselves waking up to the sensation of energy practically buzzing through the air, prickling and tingling on skin like static electricity. Those who venture outside will also find that the fog that's creeped up in the recent days has been dispelled entirely, which includes the impassable kind that once hid a number of the buildings. Despite this, the tremors themselves do not lessen, and in fact, the earth itself seems to be vibrating with this energy as well.

The feeling will only get worse as the day progresses, and those who have been marked by the manifestations may feel more restless than normal.

The clock is ticking and there are some new areas to explore. No one's coming to save you, so there's nothing to do but to save yourselves, right?

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Comments

[baitless]

...I would prefer not to risk it. There is no telling what is waiting for us at the bottom, after all.

[he's warning you about stairs, bro.]

[pr159]

And even if that weren't the case, I'm not cutting myself open so that you can surf down the stairs.

[bawcock]

Okay, I maybe didn't think that part through.

[ You both get a Pass. Also, are they at the bottom yet?? What's at the bottom so bro can stop warning us about stairs. ]

[umbralant]

[Wow, it's a long walk, they can afford to enjoy a little more conversation and stairs--

Okay fine. Either way, the Lux swords and the GHS are enough to light the way, so they'll have no real trouble along the way considering the stairs are pretty straightforward. It's monotonous, but eventually they will find themselves in a relatively open chamber with a bunch of visitor's signs and a map mounted on the wall. There are some electric lights that have been strung up on the ceiling and there are even benches and brochures and the like available, so it's obvious there was a thriving business here at some point.

However, there's a couple of passages that look to have more scuffs and gouges on the floor than the others. One leads to St. Kinga's chapel and the other leads to a chamber hall. Either way, there's quite a bit to see around here, so feel free to live out the touristy dream or cut to the chase.]

[baitless]

...so, do you want to split up, or should we try and stick together?

[...he might pick up a brochure just to look through it...]

[pr159]

As much as I'd like to get through this quickly, it would probably be most prudent to stay together in case anything happens.

[ Though he's also okay with "whoops didn't realize that ceiling had caved in on you" as an excuse not to risk himself for someone else, so. Either way. ]

[bawcock]

[ He'll leave the brochures and decision-making to Seteth and Rideaux, meanwhile he... wanders off to look at things. Like areas with scuffs and fewer scuffs. ]

Since we're sticking together, how about we go this way? [ He gestures in the direction that'll take them to St. Kinga's chapel! Can he make out anything interesting about it from here? Also, do those brochures come with any maps?

You know, in case Rideaux gets separated on account of the cave-in he totally didn't realize was coming. ]

[umbralant]

[The brochure does indeed include a map, so they won't get lost as they try to make their way over to the chapel or wherever else they want to check out. It also talks about how there's various sculptures and reliefs on display throughout the mines, which were made by the miners as they carved the place out. There's talk of an underground lake and a salt mining museum too.

In short, there's theoretically a lot of potential places to check out in their tour here, and they're free to, although how significant they'll end up being is kind of up in the air.

Either way, beyond the scuffs that show that the area was traversed somewhat recently, there's nothing off about the path to St.Kinga's chapel; furthermore, unlike the other passage, there aren't any gouges or anything there, it's mostly just some disturbed earth.]

[baitless]

I think it will be an interesting look, at least.

[...he sounds kind of excited to check out the chapel... look. religion's neat.]

Very well, let us proceed to the chapel first. It does sound as though there are plenty of places to look.

[so! he'll head over to the chapel!]

[pr159]

[ church nerd ]

A lot more than I was expecting for a place that calls itself a mine. This will probably take longer than we planned.

[ But sure, he'll follow. ]

[bawcock]

[ super church nerd ]

Actually, why is all this stuff in a mine anyway? A Goddess Statue would be one thing, but a whole chapel?

[ Walking along with the group! ]

[baitless]

Hmm. I did read the texts for the local religion, and it said that an actual place of worship isn't necessary, but people do like to have a space for it. It may simply have been the intersection of artistic expression and spiritual devotion.

[pr159]

I suppose if the workers down here were the observant sort, it would also make sense to build a place to facilitate that, since they may have had to stay underground for a while at a time.

[ though once he actually sees it it will seem like a bit much for that ]

[bawcock]

Huh. Guess that makes sense.

[ It sure will! Hopefully they're coming up on it now. ]

[umbralant]

[As they walk along, they will soon notice that whatever tracks and scuffs that there was on the ground will soon be untraceable as the floor transitions into something more solid and polished. And even in the dim light, some of the carvings on the wall stand out rather obviously, although they likely won't be recognizable unless any of them are super familiar with Christian iconography by now.

Either way, it's not a ridiculously long walk over unlike the stairs down to the shaft and what greets them is a very large, wide open space that's honestly difficult to illuminate in full due to the sheer size of it all. But from the looks of it, this is the chapel, as the place is more or less a dead end on its own. The altar is at the far end of the hall and there is more religious imagery on the walls, but the space seems mostly empty save for a stray table left along the side.]

[baitless]

It would be more efficient, I suppose.

[...this is very neat... Seteth is okay at Christianity least. He could pick Jesus, Mary, and Joseph out of a lineup, anyway!! But uh, yeah, what's on the table....]

[pr159]

[ Rideaux knows nothing about Christianity and he's going to keep it that way. ]

...Well, this seems a little excessive if it were intended just for workers, so I'll concede to that "artistic expression" theory.

[ Yes, let's check out the table. ]

[bawcock]

[ What polar opposite these two are!! Kinda figures this is the group that'd get a church, huh?

Erik... has nothing to contribute to this conversation so yeah, echoing let's check the table! ]

[umbralant]

[So, if you all recall from the previous weeks there was a thing about the 'daemonologie' books being missing from the tarot shop.

...Well, it looks like they all ended up here, because there's a whole stack of them on the table! Most of them are relatively untouched, but there's a couple of books up front that look like they have dogeared pages. One looks like it talks about summoning demons and one looks like it talks about how to deal with them.

Hm!]

[baitless]

[why the fuck is this in a church.

sigh. okay. let's... read the demon summoning page...]

[pr159]

[ And he will flip over to the dealing with them part after that since that seems potentially very relevant... ]

[bawcock]

[ And he'll read over under their shoulders! ]

[umbralant]

[Why indeed!!

Anyways, the summoning page is a lot of details and written in a pretty archaic fashion so it's a pretty dense read overall, but there's a section that's highlighted that talks about human sacrifice being one of the main ingredients, which... lbr, probably isn't really surprising at this point considering pretty much everything that has happened so far. There's also a lot of other things about the exact steps and all, but unless they're interested in actually summoning their own demon, it's probably not all that important to go through them. Lastly, there's some bit about the contract leaving a physical mark on both parties, but not much else beyond that.

As for the section that talks about dealing with demons, there's yet a lot of exposition about different cultures and their means of dealing with demons, but there's one specific ritual for banishing demons that's highlighted in the text. It states that ingredients of water, salt and oil are needed, with the instructions and chant as follows:]

The oil and salt must be lit in an appropriate vessel while a ritual chant is recited before the demon. When the chant has been completed, extinguish the flames with the water, and offer one’s blood into the vessel. Only then the ritual holder guide the demon back whence it came.

Ritual chant:
Tauqesnoc odommoc ae xe piuqila tu isin sirobal ocmallu
noitaticrexe durtson siuq mainev minim da mine tu.
Auqila angam erolod te erobal tu tnudidicni ropmet domsuie od des
tile gnicsipida rutetcesnoc tema tis rolod muspi merol.

[baitless]

[he's going to finish his portion and then look at Rideaux's portion......]

...But... how are you supposed to pronounce any of that?

[pr159]

[ Shrugs, taking photos of the pages in both sections for future reference!! ]

As well as you can, I suppose.