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]

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.

[bawcock]

Tauque... nock? [ Frustratedly rubbing his head. ]

Well, however you say it, it's a real mouthful.

[ He gives the chant one last glance before going off to check out the altar! ]

[umbralant]

[rip to anyone who decides to recite the chant, but that's not Erik's problem anymore, probably.

Anyways, the altar is pretty fancy and there's even a crystal chandelier above it! ...Which would probably be more stunning if it were actually lit up, but you take what you can get. Nevertheless, despite the splendor of the fanciful engravings on the altar and the nearby alcoves, it's pretty clear that this place was left more or less untouched. Still, there's one thing on the altar and it looks like a... vial of water?]

[pr159]

Is that a life bottle...?

[ Taking it just in case, I guess!

Checking out the wall carvings, anything of interest or is it all just religious figures he doesn't know standing around? ]

[bawcock]

[ a what ]

Isn't it a Yggdrasil Dew? They're rare, but sometimes you can find that stuff in places like these.

[ And should they really steal from a church? A glance to Seteth before wandering off toward the entrance. He's ready to make his way over to the other area since there isn't much more catching his eye here. ]

[umbralant]

[The wall carvings are all just religious figures that Rideaux probably wouldn't know about, yep!

Anyway, there's nothing else that obviously stands out in the chapel, if y'all wanna move on, feel free.]

[pr159]

[ Cool, let's do it. Chamber hall, here we come. ]

[bawcock]

[ Here we come!!! At a brisk pace because they've been down here longer than he'd like. ]

You know, I'm starting to think we should've split up after all. Sticking together like this isn't exactly quick.

[umbralant]

[Onto the chamber hall, then! Maybe even with a Seteth in tow. Either way, they'll have to go back near the entrance and into the hall with more of the scuffs and gouges in the floor. As they go through the hall, the gouges remain although the corridor widens a decent amount to show a decent size space filled with a lot of familiar sculptures and reliefs.

The hallway also continues on a little bit longer along with the gouges, so this might not be a bad place to split up, actually.]

[pr159]

If that's what you'd prefer, I won't object. Choose a place, then, and we can regroup back here afterward.

[baitless]

Yes, I agree. Do you mind if I take the sculptures?

[HI, SORRY, HE WAS SPENDING WAY TOO MUCH TIME TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO PRONOUNCE THAT SHIT]

[bawcock]

I don't mind if he doesn't. I'll just pop down the hall and take a peek at what's there—if I see anything important, I'll wave you over.

[ Heading down the way! Rideaux can come if he wants too, he's got his pick of locations here! Tell us, oh wise, guiding text! What's beyond the hall? ]