Each student ready to move from the first year to the second would find a nice, neatly printed letter taped to their door inviting them to participate in a "Non-Mandatory-But-Highly-Recommended-Anyway Test" (or NMBHRAT for short). A location was provided at the bottom of the note (a section of the grounds, just near the forest), and beneath that the words "Come at anytime."
Upon arrival, you would first notice that a peculiar house has been erected. It's not large enough to overshadow any of the dorms by any means; in fact, it seems rather tiny and shabby in comparison, with the door half stripped of its paint, the windows cracked and smeared with dust, and everything looks as though the merest touch will make it collapse.
At first you wonder if you're in the right place at all, but then you notice a little box sitting just outside of the house. Closer examination would reveal a note, written in a loopy handwriting perhaps familiar to some:
Welcome welcome to the House Please be quiet as a mouse The House will tell if you are good The House will tell if you are bad
Think you're up to face the thing? If you pass it, all will sing Do your best, oh fair student I hope your deaths you do circumvent
THE EXAM
THE HOUSE OF HORRORS
The smell is what gets your attention first; like smoke and old wood, it wafts across the air towards you, enticing you onward, pulling you forward, and you reach the little shabby house and the door half hanging off its hinges, practically begging you to come inside.
A sign posted outside reads "Welcome to the House."
At first, you're mildly concerned but upon knocking stepping inside, you realize that the house in question appears deserted.
Well, that's just creepy. But trying to go backwards only results in failure - the door has locked behind you. You're trapped inside, and now you must figure out how to get through the house in order to continue on your quest.
--------------------------------------------
TO GET THROUGH THE HOUSE:
There are THREE MAJOR ROOMS to the House of Horrors. In order to successfully pass through the House and receive your exam credit, you must navigate through all three rooms until you reach the exit, located after the very last room:
Cutthroat Kitchen
To get through the Cutthroat Kitchen, you need 10 steps. Roll 1d4 and add up the amount of steps you take (i.e. you roll a 3, that's 3 steps forward). You must get at least 10 steps. If you go over ten, that's fine, as long as it's at least 10.
Each number of steps rolled has it's own consequence: 1 - You open a door in the kitchen looking for the exit and promptly find yourself dunked by a bucket of icy water. Who left that there? 2 - You trip and fall into a vat of what looks like melted chocolate. 3 - You step in a pile of what looks like sticky glue on the floor and therefore get it stuck on the bottom of your foot/shoe for the rest of your trek through the House. 4 - For some reason, there is an entire bin of tiny bones that you somehow manage to knock over, which, of course, makes a terribly loud sound.
Lurking Library
In order to get through the Library, you'll have to find the right combination of books in order to find the combination. Roll 3d6, and follow the guidelines below:
- 1,1 OR 2,2 as two of the numbers - Looks like you've found some sort of...oops better put that back quickly before a certain cranky Librarian sees you looking at por - (try again) - 3,3 OR 4,4 OR 5,5 OR 6,6 as two of the numbers - You pull out a book, and then another, and to your relief you see that the door beyond swings open for you to slip through! (success) - 1,2,3 (doesn't have to be in order) - Somehow you get entangled in what looks like a long rope made of paper and spend several moments trying to break your way free, when you notice that in the process you've actually fallen out the door into the next room. How convenient! (success) - 6,6,6 Is that a giant spi - quick run for it - (start back in the first room) - 1,1,1 You try climbing a bookshelf, rather than pull books trying to find the secret switch, and wind up tumbling over the side rather ungracefully. But hey, look, the...nope, just a shadow (try again)
Bloodcurdling Bedroom
The Bloodcurdling Bedroom requires only one thing - picking the lock successfully to get through the door on the other side. Roll 1d100. You must get above a 65 to have successfully picked the lock. If you roll below, then your attempts were unsuccessful and you have to keep on truckin'.
Upon their exit from the house, a certain mischievousTrick or Treater can be found lounging in a tree on the other side, looking as happy as a pig in mud. He smiles down at you, his grin terribly self-satisfied, and tosses you a rolled up piece of parchment. Opening it, you see a certificate of Exam Completion.
"Congratulations," he says brightly, and flashes you a wink. "You're now a Knob."
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 12:01 am
Draven gave the doorknob another try. It rattled, but stayed locked. Honestly, he knew it would stay locked. He knew enough to know that when one walked into a house and a door locked behind you...you had to go forward, not back.
Not that he was excited about that prospect. Surely this meant danger. The poem he'd found even said something about "death".
It had to be a test. The same poem had addressed him as "student" and the original note had shown up on his door. He supposed it was about time for his final. He'd lost track of things with that break he'd taken and all. But he'd been good, he'd been back at school and working.
And now he was in a house, trapped in it, even. An old, dusty, smelly, abandoned house. Spectacular.
"I suppose it could be fun to explore it, though." After all, if it was a school sanctioned event, how terrible could it be?
Draven shrugged, then turned and walked across the small room, steps growing more determined as he went. He could do this.
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Grifferie rolled 1 4-sided dice:
4Total: 4 (1-4)
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Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 12:12 am
Opposite the front door was a slightly more sturdy door, one Draven slipped through a little hesitantly. It looked like the kitchen. A decent kitchen at that. But nothing seemed too out of the ordinary, at first glance.
There was a door directly opposite him. The only other way in or out of the room. Alright then. He'd just head over there and then continue on. It really was the only course of action.
"Just gotta move..." he told himself. It was easier said than done. He really was expecting something to jump out at him. It was far too quiet in the house. Something just had to be waiting for him.
Giving his feathers a slight ruffle and setting his shoulders, Draven took one step, then another. Slow steps. Hesitant steps. Quiet steps. So far...so good.
His wing brushed a bin as he eased past it. It must have been precariously set, because it toppled, it's contents clattering to the floor. It was an oppressively loud sound, a stuttering sound, a sound that made Draven jump even as it made his feathers stand on end. It was the sound of hundred of tiny, thin bones hitting floor and sliding past one another.
His heart was fluttering in his chest as the sound died. Did anyone hear that? Surely they had...if there was someone else in here with him. And those bones. Little bones.... Bird bones?
He didn't want to look any closer.
Quickly, lightly, Draven stepped out of and away from the tiny pile.
4/10 steps
Grifferie rolled 1 4-sided dice:
2Total: 2 (1-4)
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 9:55 pm
He wanted away from those little bones and out of this room and it's house quick. It was entirely possible that something was coming to get him, and he didn't want that.
Too bad he didn't make it more than two more steps before tripping over his own feet in his quiet haste. Arms flailed, wings flapped. "Araha!" he screeched as he fell.
He missed the counter, but next to it, in it's shadow, lay a tub full of something. Draven didn't know what, and he had just enough time to wonder what it could be before he was in it.
He landed with a splat! There was more sloshing and the sound of something thick hitting the floor, coupled with the sound of wings and the thud of limbs against plastic and floor as Draven tried to right himself.
It was everywhere, on his arms, down his front, on his face, in his hair. The smell was familiar, though. Just like that portal Mayaa had dragged him through. Chocolate. He was in a tub of chocolate.
"Great."
6/10 steps
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1Total: 1 (1-4)
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Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 10:09 pm
As he climbed to his feet, trying to brush himself off, he noticed a door directly behind the tub of chocolate.
"Hmm." He looked from the new door to the door he'd been headed for. This new door was hidden, whereas the other door had been obvious. This new door was behind a chocolate trap, whereas the other door was a straight, clear path. The demon's eyes narrowed as he thought about it. Clearly one of the the doors was bait.
"Hm." He wore something of a self-satisfied smirk as he reached out towards the near door, the hidden door. It probably looked ridiculous considering his upper half was covered in chocolate, but he didn't care. He had figured this room out. It was all about the path less--
SPLASH!
Shockingly cold water washed over him, a bucket clattering to the floor. Draven gasped, a bit too shocked to do anything else. Before him, the doorway opened up to a brick wall. This door was the bait. This door had held the trap. A bucket of ice water.
It didn't even help to wash the chocolate off. In fact...it kind of helped to harden it.
Draven tried his best to wipe the mess off. "Gross."
7/10 steps
Grifferie rolled 1 4-sided dice:
1Total: 1 (1-4)
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 10:54 pm
Draven gave his wings another shake and sighed. He hated being covered in chocolate. It was gross. And the water didn't help.
Plus, he felt kinda foolish for falling for the wrong door. Not something he was likely to admit, but he really did. He should have known the closer door was a trap.
"Stupid door," he said, slamming it closed.
SPLASH!
Draven yelped and jumped as yet another bucket fell down upon him. This time the bucket hit him in the head before clattering to the floor.
Dazed, Draven looked up. He didn't know how but the door had rigged itself with another bucket. Opening and closing the door seemed to be it's trigger.
Draven set about wiping water off of himself...again.
8/10 steps
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4Total: 4 (1-4)
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Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 11:00 pm
He eyed the door warily before turning away. He wanted to keep moving. Those buckets had been loud, and now that the sound had died away the house seemed very quiet again. It had always been quiet.
If there was something else in here with him it knew very well where he was. It--
He slipped. Whether it was in the water or in the chocolate or in a slimy mixture of both he didn't know. All he knew was his foot slid, and when he tried to catch himself with is other foot the sliding didn't stop. All it did was tilt him, to the side.
There was another flail, a crash, and then the musical clatter of tiny bones as Draven toppled another bin full of them.
They fell with him, around him, and he felt them crunch under his hands as he tried to right himself. This, brittle... they might actually be bird bones. A gasp of horror escaped Draven as he scurried out of the mess.
He definitely wanted out of this house. Or at least the kitchen.
He half crawled, half ran, and 100% scurried to the exit door. He cast one nervous glance at it's top before opening it and stepping through.
He found himself in a library. Books on every shelf, and shelves along every wall, except for where the door was. Draven looked around and then very, very cautiously (but still quickly) moved toward the door. Nothing hindered him. No accidents. It was too easy.
Far too easy. The door was locked. But...it was the only way out, wasn't it? Maybe the key was hidden somewhere... Draven gasped. Hidden. All the coolest mystery movies had bookshelves that hid doorways. And how did one open them? Why, but picking up books.
Draven's grin was wide as he moved toward the nearest bookshelf, chocolate covered hand outstretched.
He pulled out one book. It had a black cover and inside... Draven felt himself blush as he hurriedly closed that book. Not that one. That was not part of the secret combination. Surely not.
Trying not to think about what he'd just seen, Draven reached out for another book. This time one that actually had words on the cover. Screaming Skies it said, with a silhouette of a witch on a broom underneath. He raised an eyebrow at it, wondering what it might be.
Putting the books back, Draven ran his fingers over the books on the shelves. Maybe this one? It looked innocent enough. A nice green book, with gold letters. Forest Dreams it said.
Draven couldn't resist just seeing what it was about...
Oh.
It seemed to be about forest nymphs. And things. Things that made him blush again.
"Not that one either," he said to himself, quickly putting it back.
Maybe if he went over to this shelf, over here, across the room. All of the titles on this shelf seemed safe.
Bruteball-a Beginners Guide... Caring for Your Herpicorn... An Essay on the Relation Between Humans and Potatoes, and many more titles that seemed to say 'education'. Yes. Perhaps something here...since this whole house thing seemed to be school oriented.
Draven picked up a hefty tome titled, How to Study and Enjoy It, and then another along the same vein, Scare-tactics: A Starter Guide to Using Fear. Bother were bound in matching black, with orange lettering.
They even looked like they might be interesting.
But Draven was much more interested by the sound of a door swinging open. The door that had previously been locked now stood there, waiting for him to walk through it.
With a smile, Draven set the books down and did just that.
Comfortingly, it was like something out of a nightmare or horror movie. A little bit of ruffle and frill to say it was a child's room, a bed with plenty of room for something to hid under, a closet, door stuck ajar, a dresser with a large mirror on top of it, and even a rocking chair in the corner.
And there, next to the dresser was another door. One that was clearly the way out of this room.
The room was given not one, not two, but three cautious looks. Nothing seemed to be in it, nothing seemed to be moving. The carpet under his feet made his steps quiet...nothing echoed. A quick look under the bed revealed nothing but shadow. Surely if something was in this house and going to attack him, it would have already. When he was flailing around in the kitchen.
No. Now it was just him and this room. And the locked door.
He jiggled the handle a few times, and then looked around.
How convenient. The dresser had several instruments on it...of the type that might help him pick a lock. Maybe. That was how it happened in all the cool movies. There were paper clips, and nail files, and bobby-pins... Draven reached for one of those. Bobby pins always worked in door locks, right?
He stuck the prongs in the lock and jiggled it around. Surely it would work.
