FINAL TRIAL

[bathymetric]

Eventually, the investigation ends. You have time to move your supplies (and Jimmy Buffetts) off the ship, but it's a hike up to the lighthouse. You're only going to be able to bring what you need.

All that's left is to hope that you have that, after all of this.

The jungle that stretches out into the distance is eerily quiet as you make your way up to the lighthouse - enough time to wonder, certainly, what awaits you in there. Will The Captain finally show you his true face? Can he? There's only one way to find out... time to make your way inside.

Unless you're Magica, the lobby (so to speak) of the lighthouse might be a little overwhelming: piles and piles of pirate treasure to the sides of the room, with a raised, dark glass cylinder in the center. Around that cylinder are a series of makeshift podiums, ready for you all to stand together one last time.

Standing in front of that cylinder is The Captain. Not to get too into details, but though natural processes are slowed, Jack's body isn't exactly in perfect shape, and still moves in that unnerving puppet-y way he has each time you've seen him.

"Welcome... to your-!"

Is what he manages before there's a pair of very loud noises behind you - the first a massive blast of water that draws your attention just before a massive explosion on the side of the SS Swift detonates moments later, sending a blast of energy outwards - which pauses, for a moment, before almost reversing into an implosion that sees all traces of the ship sucked into the aether. A pirate ship you've never seen before sails behind it, visible for just a moment before the doors slam closed.

"... I'll be with you in a moment. Don't go anywhere."

And The Captain leaves the room fast. So fast, in fact, that he... leaves Jack's body behind, though it's too quick to get any kind of good look at him. Ignoring... that, looks like you guys have some time to talk things over! Better make it count.

Comments

[cethflayn]

[Oh eugh he's slowly rotting, great. It's tempting to kick the dead body, but-]

Mister Davy Jones has been the one putting all of those puzzles into place for us - the one in the "mini-golf" room and the like. It is his way of helping us without breaking the rules of his employ, and of hiding the information he could give from the Captain.

[Just going to bring out all the papers she found so you can take a look, too.]

He also said that we were free to take what we needed, so I decided to bring these along. Mister Davy Jones was keeping notes on us, but not malicious ones. He likes us, and would like us to overcome this. He also assumes someone else was giving Jack information on himself, and all the rituals in place! But even he is not sure who that is. He speculates briefly if it might be someone named "Teach", but is unsure.

There is also a song I have never heard of on this sheet. He never played it for us before.

[You can read over the investigation log to confirm that this is all Flayn found, but boy she feels it's important!]

[ltcommandroid]

Likely Edward Teach, the notorious pirate commonly known as "Blackbeard".

[Not that he has any idea if it's that guy or not, either.]

May I see the music? [he's just curious tbh]

[scythegun]

He certainly does know how to put together a good puzzle!

[And this is more or less what he was suspecting, so he's glad to have that confirmed.]

It seems he was preparing just as we've been; once we're done here, we'll need to thank him for his assistance.

[ahelpingpaw]

[Being here makes Filbo be really nervous. This is it. It's hard to think today may be the day everyone else dies if something goes wrong -- and frankly, there are so many ways it can go wrong. Oh well. Nothing to do but go ahead and do all they can to not let that happen]

So...uh, leaving aside the--the rotting corpse right over there?

[He's going to try really hard not to look at Jack's body, ew. Filbo takes out a couple photos and talks, speaking without his usual hesitation]

Data and I looked all over Jack's room. That ghost probably didn't use it since Jack died, we all know why. There was a really strange setup on one of the tables. I took this photo here, you'll see what I mean. [He passes the photos around] The gun you'll see there was aiming at this stand. What used to be there is not clear, but whatever it was must have been important enough to warrant a security system like this one.

I also found out how much money Jack spent acquiring the ship and a silver key. These documents prove it, but other than the price there's something out of place on the back of this one here. Jack probably wrote it, it says 'Dreamed about that stupid underwater city again. Still can't remember the name.' If anyone found references to a city like that one it'd be great to know.

[cethflayn]

...What is that?

[Someone's country outlaws autopsy on chests and her own heart is a spherical rock and what is this]

I did get a snow globe of what looked like an underwater city, but that is...outside, in my bag.

[jibunwo]

...Well, that was weird.

[he has Given Up on logic.]

Let's see...to begin with, I found a book of math puzzles, or what was left of one. Regardless of if Jack or our new friend was working in it, they were quickly frustrated. Next I found a picture frame with this in it- [He'd produce the badly-painted photo replica.]

Following that, I found the blueprints for a machine geared towards interdimensional travel, signed R.L. It turns out that travel between dimensions requires something already taken from another dimension--kind of like an anchor point, I suppose? I'm not the tech developer and I can't very well call Rakshata, so I'm working on assumption.

Most damning was the book titled Dark Rituals For Unfathomable Power And You, in which I found a poem not only describing our exact situation, but each and every one of us line by line. There was a footnote to it as well, but that page was missing.

[A pause, and then.]

Also, no one knows where the vending machine came from.

[cethflayn]

[All the technobabble also goes over Flayn's head, but she will come look at the poem.]

...Those are incredibly specific requirements.

[ahelpingpaw]

Wow, this is..really specific! Way too much.

[He can't even tell who half of these fits who, but the ones that do are very precise. Wow]

I guess it'd be very difficult to get all of these people from the same world? But if you have access to infinite worlds out there it might be really easy.

[scythegun]

[Glances over the poem.........]

My, I'm impressed he managed to fit these exact specifications.

[THANKS HE HATES IT A LOT, ACTUALLY]

Did anyone find a strange machine on the boat?

[Maybe it wasn't on the boat at all, though??]

[sivard]

Do you want to take a look at the poem I found to see if it matches the missing footnote?

[magycks]

Okay, first off, rude.

[sivard]

[Well, that's... grim. What a nice thing to have to look at while they talk things through.]

Jones had a room he appears to have been forced to use, it looks like it had been repurposed from something else, behind the theatre. Probably a closet of some kind.

The bed was kind of strange, though. It hadn't been used in a long time, which I guess makes sense given how often Jones was available. He seemed like he was using the bed to store empty bottles of alcohol. I'm not exactly sure what he was doing with them, but it looks like he threw one at a screen the Captain used to speak to him and then shoved the glass into a corner. Lelouch found out how to operate it from the Captain's side, but I'll let him talk about that.

I also found a couple of items.

[He sets a book down in front of him.]

This is all about pirates, but there are several pages missing, and most of the remaining pages have been crossed out.

[But that's not all! He pulls a scrap of paper out of the book. It looks like he's just kept it there, not that it was in the book when he found it.]

There was also this ominous poem tucked behind the screen.

[cethflayn]

Do you think your poem could be related to the one Lelouch found?

[jibunwo]

There was a button hidden under his desk--by the look of it, it opened up both a camera feed and communication. I'd estimate it was the controls for the entire PA system as well as a direct line to Jones specifically.

[scythegun]

[Yeah, that icon is perfectly describing what Yeager's face is doing here. The riches in this room are great and all, but like, we've got bigger things to worry about. And while he'd certainly like to go examine what the hell just happened to the ship, we have an opportunity now.]

We need to make sure to discuss everything before he returns - I found some things that will be very important for dealing with him.

The area I examined backstage in the theatre was the prop room. The majority of the props were rather unimportant and hadn't been used in quite some time. There was a table and chair in the back that had seen use, however; on that table was a book titled "The Code of the Brethren Court: Being a Code of Conduct for Business and Ship-Bound Life Set Down By the Pirate Lords Morgan and Bartholomew, Transcribed From The Pirata Codex By An Anonymous Listener Present At Its Inscription".

[Sure, we're in a hurry, but we definitely have time for him to say the entire title of this stupid book. Don't worry about it.]

Within it was a bookmark - a blank piece of sheet music with Davy Jones' handwriting reading "He is as beholden to this text as any other who sailed the seas in his time. He will honor this, if you demand it." The book itself was discussing the rules of demanding negotiations and cessation of hostilities from an opponent. In other words, we need to invoke the right of parley.

Notably, there was a page stuck in the front cover of the book with more information about Davy Jones himself. This one actually seemed to be legitimate and confirms what we've speculated on before; Davy Jones was once a human pirate, and he caught the attention of Calypso and they fell in love. Calypso granted him his current duties - ferrying the souls of the dead who pass at sea - but on the day she promised to meet him, she didn't show. Most notably, Davy Jones is nearly immortal save for his heart - but he is also limited, he can only set foot on dry land for one day every ten years. It's very unlikely that that day is today.

[So basically, we're probably going to have to solve all of this ourselves; we can't exactly rely on Davy Jones to bail us out.]

Mr. Jones also left us a note on the back of that page - "If you wish to handle your vengeance against the Captain on your own, he's yours to deal with. If you wish for aid in breaking his spirit once you have defeated him, look to the fool's chest in this room."

The fool's chest in question had items for juggling in it, but buried underneath that was this.

[It's a small copper tricorn and for some reason it fills you with a sense of unease, but like, don't worry about that. Yeager's holding onto it and this whole situation is making him uneasy enough as is!!!]

There was a note as well. This is to be used in some sort of weapon. There are four pieces - the base, something gold, and something silver are the other three. He suspected one of those was elsewhere on the boat and one of them is here - did anyone find anything silver or gold that may be important?

The note went on to say that when he is defeated and weakened we need to assemble the pieces and the staff will tell us what to do. Also rather important: under no circumstances should one person hold all three component pieces at once until you assemble it. I have two of them, this tricorn and the base.

[It... looks like a piece of wood? A piece of wood that's been carved weirdly with a very precise series of thicknesses.]

Another gift to us from Mr. Jones; he carved this from the bed located in his room.

[That's why he was breaking the bed while you guys were talking to Lelouch!! Just normal investigation things.]

I'm sure I don't need to say it, but we need to be careful. This information will be valuable to us once we're in a position to use it - but we need to keep it quiet. We can't let him know what we've found.

[At least in regards to this; having some idea of how to defeat him is definitely not something he needs to know.]

[cethflayn]

[OH, FLAYN SHOULD KNOW WHAT PARLAY MEANS]

Then we shall invoke such a right when he returns!! And...we must have terms for him to comply with, must we not? We ought to decide on those so that he has no room to do his nefarious deeds!

[sivard]

I wonder if the pages you found came from the book I have. Can I take a look?

[ltcommandroid]

I searched Jack's desk and the surrounding area. He had blueprints for the surveyor robots, as well as Jimmy. And possibly others of his kind. He also had the plans for the Swift herself. The main thing of note here is this "top secret and super dangerous" room that we have been unable to access.

[He's spreading out all this stuff on his podium as he speaks - he brought it all with him, so just ask if you wanna see anything!]

There was also a file on Jack's daughter, Angel. He believes her to be deceased, but his main priority after conducting this ritual was to find her. She had the power to manipulate energy and digital spaces.

I have also brought his audio logs. You may listen to them if you want, but most of this is not useful. [there was so much noodling over titles] The most notable one is this last tape - he had some distrust for his partner, the "voodoo specialist". They also had to travel back in time to attempt this ritual, though that seemed clear from the level of technology he had available.

[cethflayn]

[I know Flayn's all over the place but-]

Angel, you said? That - that was carved into the gazebo! I remember finding it!

[jibunwo]

That's probably who the painting in his office was depicting. I had a bad feeling it might have been his child, all things considered.

[magycks]

Right, so, box-sans-heart aside — I have good news and bad news. The good news is I found, deactivated, and secured all of our voodoo dolls, you're welcome. The bad news... well, it depends on how much you care about your predecesssors' graves being desecrated. Honestly, given everything else, can't say it's in the top ten of my priorities, but that's just me!

It seems Jack, or whoever's behind the wheel now, used a recipe from a book called Remedies for Ailments and Enemies to create the dolls. It's also where he got the cold remedy Lelouch found a while back. [ She whips the relevant page out with a flourish, setting it on her makeshift podium, before addressing Flayn specifically. ] You're going to love this — the third one doesn't even rhyme. To reduce the vast and fascinating world of image magic to the barest of bones, no pun intended, the recipe goes as such:

Something of the head, something of the thread,
Something of the body, something of the dead.

In other words, hair, clothing... various fluids, and bones. Not our bones, obviously — our ancestors'. I removed the thread component, rendering them harmless, but beforehand they were very much online.

Also, judging by the liquor cabinet, he's been making his own moonshine out of kerosene, rum, acetone, acid, red food dye, and stevia? And drinking it. Either Jack was made of stronger stuff than we thought, or he really doesn't care about the integrity of his current vessel's internal organs.

cw: fucked up fire emblem shit, wee-woo

[cethflayn]

[Okay look Flayn listens to Magica all the way through, but the moment she says "it depends on how much you care about your ancestors' graves being desecrated" Flayn is gripping the sides of her podium until her knuckles go white.]

...Magica, I need the doll of myself. Now.

[bathymetric]

[This is all going splendidly, isn't it? It sure would be a shame if some ghostly moaning suddenly sprung from the shadows, reverberating through the rafters above you all.]

Confound it all! Ohhh, I'll see that they're run through and keelhauled for this!

[That is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the Captain's voice coming from the vague direction of "above you."

Watch out, Lelouch, as multiple somethings is landing on your head??]

By the way, Jones asked me to pass these along. Said you be forgetting them, or something.

[jibunwo]

What th-

[OH GOD WHAT?!]

1/2

[bathymetric]

How did- Jones. I should've known that barnacle brain was setting something up! It's just so hard finding good help these days...

[There's a hard chunk as the floor shifts beneath everyone's feet, rattling the mountains of treasure around you and scattering it about. Ancient mechanisms are at work, slowly but surely, raising the room upwards.

It's a slow process, but your platform eventually reaches its destination: the top of the lighthouse. You stand now in a glass dome, overlooking the island, and the docks, where the SS Swift appears to be sinking?

The dark cylinder in the middle of the room glows faintly. The air tenses with anticipation.]

Grr, fine! The laws of parley have come into effect! Just as well, I be seeing so more sense in carrying on with this charade. So, I suppose without further ado...

2/2

[gangrenousgut]

[A collection of green mist and smoke falls from the ceiling, collecting in one corner of the room with surprising speed, coming together, forming something... physical.

It all comes together in the shape of a man. Or, rather, something that was once a man. Now decomposing, but positively overflowing with a powerful energy.]

The great pirate LeChuck answers yer terms.

[He grins at the small group of survivors with a rictus grin.]

Let us talk.

[Parley, START]

[gangrenousgut]

[From the windows of this great lighthouse, LeChuck watches as his undead crew is being, ever so slowly, rounded by not simply some pirates... but Jones' own men. It boils his congealed blood, to be perfectly honest.

Fists clenched, he turns away from the window... the picture of calm overtaking his expression.]

...Well, seems that's not working out how I hoped. Not happy about that.

[From LeChuck's waist he pulls a long cutlass that glows in the faint light of his own powers.]

It's time for our final round of negotiations. I'll start: Your souls for my prize!

[LeChuck advances on you]

[FINAL BATTLE, START]

[jibunwo]

[LELOUCH IMMEDIATELY PULLS OUT A GUN]

What's the saying about knives, again?

The Ritual Concludes

[bathymetric]

[ While all of this has been very exciting, you're not at the peak of the mountain just yet. LeChuck is in no condition to vote, but a vote is still needed. The dark glass in the middle of the room thrums with power.

You all know, as with The Ultimate Insult, what your options are. As the remainder of the score and six souls of the ritual, you cannot truly claim the power over life and death. But you can certainly deny LeChuck that power.

You know that all you have to do is hold your hand to the glass and vote:

Do you wish your captor dead here and now for his failure, or will you just end the ritual here?

Thought to be clear, should you pick the second option: what you do with him once you leave this room is up to you. ]

[jibunwo]

...Here's...what I think.

[he's trying to at least sit up for the moment, okay]

We hand him over to Jones, along with the heart. But we...try to bargain with him for the others we've lost. Surely he has...some power to either return them to us or...tell us how to get them back properly.

An even trade, and besides that he deserves to deal with LeChuck as he wants.