FINAL INVESTIGATION

[bathymetric]

Good morning, passengers. You've made landfall.

The ship arrives at the shore of the island early in the morning, suddenly grinding to a halt for the first time in weeks. A ramp is lowered directly onto the beach, and The Captain almost immediately hops down it, laughing the whole while as he does. Jones stands on the ship, not following, and The Captain addresses you:

"Don't take too long! We have business in that lighthouse, you and I."

Without another word, The Captain heads towards a path on the beach that heads lighthouse-ward, but not before turning back again.

"And Jones! Head to your ship and ready the crew for when this is over."

Jones seems... not quite content to do this, whatever it is, but after a minute or so for any last conversation, he vanishes into a wall.

With both of your captors no longer on board, the ship is quiet. Its engines are stalled, the journey over. If you wish to survive the day, you're going to have to go onto that island and face The Captain once and for all.

But first... there are some areas you definitely haven't explored yet! If you're going to go in with all the information you need, might be time to take advantage of this situation...

Comments

[bathymetric]

[ THE FINAL BOSS OF UNKNOWN SEAS- god no we would never expect any of yall to solve a sudoku to get evidence.

Well, whoever tried this sudoku didn't get far... and if the scribbles are any indication, got very frustrated very quickly. ]

[jibunwo]

[awww, either jack or some horrible green fire ghost has a short temper? if only there was a horrible insufferable noodle goblin child that loves pissing people off!]

[What else have we got in this mess, either math-related or otherwise? Anything kicking about in the drawers?]

[bathymetric]

[ if only!! can you imagine??

There's plenty in the drawers, actually - the first thing he'll find is a picture frame, turned upside-down. ]

[jibunwo]

[well THAT'S certainly not ominous! He'll just take that and flip it right back over--what've we got in the frame?]

[bathymetric]

[ It's a poorly-painted replica of this image! ]

[jibunwo]

...Oh, please don't tell me someone procreated with that.

[sorry, lulu]

[If he were to take it out of the frame, are there any secret picture goodies hidden in here?]

[bathymetric]

[ Nothing relevant, but there is an embarrassing first attempt at this same image on the back. ]

[jibunwo]

[hahaha get dunked dumbass]

[Anything else relevant in or around the disaster desk?]

[bathymetric]

[ rip in fuck jack

There are a couple more things in the desk! First off, there's some blueprints for a machine of some kind! ]

[jibunwo]

[Well, that's probably fine. Would someone with moderate experience in mecha piloting machinery be able to discern what kind of machine we're looking at? A vehicle, an engine, some nebulous third option?]

[bathymetric]

[ It seems to be a machine that, if the notes are to be believed, allows for interdimensional travel. With a signature down below from our good pal R.L.

Getting a good look at it, though, you can see how it works. ]

[jibunwo]

[This entire thread is handing too much power to the wrong people.]

[How, in broad strokes, does it work? Like, are we talking 'human sacrifice', '1.21 jigawatts', or just 'minor blackout for a city grid'?]

[bathymetric]

[ None of the above, actually! The basic principle is pretty simple, nonsense quantum physics aside - interdimensional travel is possible through the power of persons or large objects already displaced from their dimension of origin. Hence the trouble: to travel between dimensions, one needs someone or something already taken from another dimension. ]

[jibunwo]

[...well THAT's sus as hell. Let's pack that up too if that's all there is to be learned from it at the moment, then continue rifling through all the Captain's shit.]

[bathymetric]

[ There's a book helpfully titled Dark Rituals For Unfathomable Power And You! in one of the drawers! Might be handy. ]

[jibunwo]

[are you f--]

[he's going to take this before magica sees it]

[bathymetric]

[ Valid.

There's a bookmarked page, if that interests you. ]

[jibunwo]

[WHY, AS A MATTER OF FACT, IT DOES]

[he'll just crack that open and take a look at whatever dark arcane secrets we're learning today

[bathymetric]

THE RITUAL OF WATER AND LIGHT

If power o’er life and death ye seek
And of the earth and rot ye reek
Then if ye be brave
But fear ye the grave
Then I pray yer guts be not weak

First seek ye souls thirteen times two
And make of them a drafted crew
But choose carefully
For there be rules, ye see
And qualifiers I must give to you:

[ Well, that's probably promising. ]

[jibunwo]

[excuse him while he mentally counts their original number in his head...yep! he hates this!]

[Hit me with those terms and conditions, baby. What else we got?]

[bathymetric]

First ye must needs a saint
And a mortal tormented by fate
A hedgehog, a flower
A clown who won’t cower
And a man who’s in coin worth his weight

A man brought back from the dead
A boy with a price on his head
A man of mettle, one of chalk
One who has to demons talked
And two lovers with something unsaid

One who fights for their nation
And one who seeks a rise in station
A globe-trotter
One who treads water
And a bird experienced in divination

A mother, two sisters, the friend of a brother
One whose body hides yet another
One from a north
One from a south
And one by another’s shadow covered

[ There's a last bit, but this gets its own comment, I feel. ]

[jibunwo]

...That's alarmingly specific.

[who the fuck requires a hedgehog in their arcane ritual]

[much less explicitly a magic fucking bird]

[bathymetric]

[ Sure is!

There's a conclusion to the ritual below, it seems, if you're interested. ]

[jibunwo]

[while i spend twenty minutes crowdsourcing a poetry class, let's take a look at that grand finale]

[bathymetric]

Take you these score and six souls
And thrust ‘pon them the roles
Of prisoners of thee
For in that role you see
They will help grant ye your goals

To end ye this ritual fast and true
Fire and blood will see ye through
But failing that
Don your finest hat
And patience will be your power’s glue

Set them to kill one another a while
And ‘scape judgement in a fair trial
Interfere ye not
Let simmer the pot
And ye shall take reward from their guile¹

When brave ye the deadly triangle
And find ye the destined isle
Proceed to the tower
And within reasonable hour
A vote will the power ye seek from the island wrangle