[AUTO EXAM] The Maze of Madness (Ignatius)

[Seiana_ZI]

THE EXAM: MAZE OF MADNESS (Y2 > Y3)




There's no note this time; you wake up in the middle of the night to find yourself standing at the entrance to an enormous maze. Towering hedges stretch on for what seem like forever, and you have no idea where at school you even are, but it seems like every time you try to step backwards, you can't. Your footsteps only carry you forwards, to the maze.

"Greetings," says a voice to your left, and when you turn you can see a pale haired man with sharp teeth smiling genially at you. "My name is Professor Zephron; I'm the Potions Professor here at school, and I'm here to guide you through your exam."

He gestures towards the maze. "It's simple, really - all you have to do is get through the maze. I'll be waiting on the other side with your certificate, so come find me, okay?"

And with a grin, he shifts into a monstrous emerald hellhound and darts away, deep into the maze.

Well. Guess you better get started!

THE EXAM

There are two parts to this exam! You must complete both in order to successfully complete it!


PART 1: COUNTING STEPS

You need to get to 30 steps in order to get to Part 2! At each milestone passed there will be a small status effect, so make sure you're reading them carefully!


• Roll 1d12 with each post to see how many steps you go!
  
• At 5 steps you realize the world has tipped and you are now walking upside down. It doesn't hurt, but it sure feels weird...
  
• At 10 steps you're right side up again, but it's like you're walking through thick mud, though you see none. Your legs feel heavier than normal.
  
• At 15 steps your legs feel okay, but now the maze keeps going in circles around you and it's starting to make you feel kind of sick...
  
• At 20 steps (thankfully) the world has stopped spinning, but you realize that somehow you've shrunk. Or maybe the maze has just gotten bigger.
  
• At 25 steps, you seem to be your normal size again, but it's so cold and so windy it's almost as though you're being pushed backwards.
  
• At 30 steps, you seem to have finally made it through almost the entire maze. In fact, you think you can see the door up ahead, except...
  
  Except....

PART 2: THE FIGHT

As you near the end of the maze, something huge blocks your way - a dark shadow that has been lurking ever since you started walking. It looms in front of you and seems to want to deny you passageway - but you've already come this far, you're not going to let a little shadow get in your way!


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Except as the shadow moves closer, it shifts form - and suddenly you're facing not a shadow, but yourself; except wispy tendrils of black are seen emanating from the fingers and toes, even the eyes upon occassion.

How...weird.


• Your shadow self has 50 HP.
  
• Use standard attack dice to kill it (2d8 - 6)!
  
• It does 2 autodamage for every successful attack. If you miss, you don't take autodamage!
  
• You are allowed to use FEARS!
  
  

Upon dissipation of your shadow self, you finally reach the end of the maze and burst through. An emerald colored hellhound sits beneath a nearby tree, looking as pleased as pie. When you walk nearer, he shifts form and the Professor comes into view again, raking blonde hair out of his eyes. There is a stack of parchments beside him; Certificates of Exam Completion.

"Congrats," he says pleasantly, and bends to pick up one of the parchments. He hands it to you with a smile. "Welcome to Hob level."  

[Seiana_ZI]

How the Jack did he get here?

It wasn't that Ignatius was not used to just somehow ending up in places by this point. Considering all the dreams that seemed to haunt a lot of them as students at Amityville, and the occasional events that caused them to just somehow end up somewhere, ending up somewhere he was not particularly familiar with was probably one of the least surprising things he could wake up to.

Still, how did he get here? Did someone pull him out of his bed?

The voice to his left was a bit of a relief, admittedly. Maybe he wouldn't have to puzzle this out himself. Wait -- exam? Did he forget to study again? Jackdammit. Would not have been the first time, really. Or even the fifth...

Wait, he just had to get through a maze?

Oh.

That was easy.

Ignatius accepted the exam assignment with a salute, saying, "Yes prof! I'll see you over there in no time flat!"

Perhaps he was being a little overconfident, but time would shortly tell on that, as he wasted no time dashing into the entrance of the maze.  

[Seiana_ZI]

The elemental was so ready to go that he didn't waste any time, charging in and turning in the first direction he came across.

That direction quickly flipped, at least partially. Ignatius glanced around, trying to figure out why it suddenly felt like he was upside down. He could feel the sensation of gravity weighing down on his head. Despite the pressure, though, he wasn't falling, so he shrugged it off and experimented a bit with the sensations as he walked. He swung his arms around, pulling them over his head and swaying them back and forth. Ignatius cackled, finding this apparently hilarious.

As he started to skip forward, experimenting with how it felt to sort of bounce upwards and then rubberband back, the sensation suddenly stopped and he snapped down, back to the ground. Well that was boring.

Ignatius resumed walking, but he suddenly found it much more difficult to move his legs. He hated being restricted. Ignatius glanced down at his feet, eyes widening.

Steps: 10/30  

[Seiana_ZI]

No. He would not be restricted! No one would stop him from moving.

They couldn't. They couldn't!

Ignatius, stressing to move his feet, pulled one forward, and then the other, taking a step forward. He continued, moving on to take another step, straining against an invisible force he couldn't see. It felt like his feet were being dragged through a swamp.

He had to get out of this. For once, his brain was not buzzing: that was all he could think about.

Steps: 12/30  

[Seiana_ZI]

Ignatius kept pushing, straining against the force that was pulling him back. He had to get out of this. He had to get out of this. He had to get out of this. He had to get out of this. He had to--

The elemental was pulling so hard to get himself out of the invisible muck that was determined to make himself captive that he nearly hit the ground running when the muck had disappeared. When he did get out, he ran so fast he nearly sent himself into a tailspin, moving in a circle.

A nauseating circle.

Ignatius suddenly skidded to a stop, holding onto his head once he did. Why did everything seem to be spinning?

Steps: 17/30  

[Seiana_ZI]

Ignatius was starting to pick up on something, though. If he wanted these ailments to go away, he just needed to keep moving.

That likely included the nausea too, right?

Cracking his knuckles, Ignatius straightened his back in an attempt to fight the urge to vomit, pushing himself further into the maze. He took another turn when he spotted another path, hoping that perhaps this was a way to get out of the circle.

That was when he noticed the walls seemed to be rising around him, or perhaps he was just shrinking. That didn't seem very likely. Perhaps he was going downhill, but the walls were remaining at the same level. It didn't feel like he was going downhill, though...

Steps: 21/30  

[Seiana_ZI]

Despite feeling so tiny, it still wasn't all that hard to step forward, so Ignatius didn't care. He shrugged, took another turn, and continued on.

Right into a buffeting cold wind.

Ignatius turned his head away instinctively, raising an arm to cover his face. What was this all about? Was he getting towards the end? Maybe the end was a tornado. Was there a wind mage down there, or was there just a storm outside? Storms were nice. As a lightning elemental, Ignatius had an instinctive appreciation towards storms.

Steps: 29/30  

[Seiana_ZI]

And then it stopped. Everything stopped, and he thought he saw a door...

Ignatius reached out, but soon found himself touching something else instead. A shadow? ... He should have known it wouldn't be that easy, honestly. Ignatius stepped back, crossing his arms over his chest and quirking a brow.

"Alright, do I need to ask nicely?"

There was a hearty laugh from the shadow that sounded eeriely familiar. Well, that was besides for that fact that his voice sounded a lot different when it wasn't coming from his own head, anyway. Wait. What? The shadow mimicked him, arms crossed, but with black tendrils coming from his hands and feet.

"I have to get past... myself."

There was probably some allegorical message here. Ignatius didn't really care. He just had to prove he was the better Ignatius.

"Alright, let's go."

Steps: 30+/30  

[Seiana_ZI]

Ignatius' first instinct was to do as much damage as creaturely possible for his first attack, and so he charged up his lightning, bringing his hands close together to start to form electricity between them.

Then, he stared down the shadowy Ignatius, a smirk on his face.

"Alright."

The blast that came from his hands sent the shadow reeling, even as it pushed him back a tad in turn. That was always the risk in the FEAR methods he used, but he didn't particularly care, rather pleased with the amount of destruction he had caused.

The shadow had managed to swipe back at him, but the shadow didn't do nearly as much to Ignatius as he had done to himself. To show how proud he was of this fact, he stuck his tongue out rather immaturely.

HP: 27/40
Damage: 10 + 8 + 12 = 30 dayum son
(Damage to Self from Gambler's Chance): 11
Shadow HP: 20/50  

[Seiana_ZI]

Still gloating a bit, Ignatius charged up his fists, this time moving to sock the shadow self with a bit of a charged punch, if he would.

It didn't do as much damage as his first hit for perhaps obvious reasons, but Ignatius still managed to do quite a bit, causing the shadow to reel once again. It didn't seem willing to give up just yet, but Ignatius really didn't seem to care much about that.

He was owning!

HP: 25/40
Damage: 11 - 6 = 7
Shadow HP: 13/50  

[Seiana_ZI]

Ignatius was overconfident normally, but the amount of damage he was doing to the shadow was perhaps making that even worse.

He knew a goofy kick would not do much damage to his shadow self, and in fact, he got thrown off with almost as much force, but Ignatius didn't care. This was fun. He would lose. Yes! He, himself, would lose! To him!

HP: 23/40
Damage: 8 - 6 = 2
Shadow HP: 11/50  

[Seiana_ZI]

After a minute, though, Ignatius decided he was done playing.

This time, he lifted his leg, charging some of his electricity to his foot. Then, after bouncing up and down as if to confuse his enemy, he slammed his foot into the stomach of the shadow, sending it flying backwards.

Ignatius knew he was almost done for, and he found it fantastic.

HP: 21/40
Damage: 16 - 6 = 10
Shadow HP: 1/50  

[Seiana_ZI]

The elemental was probably gloating way too much though, because the shadow found a way to struggle back up and push against him, knocking him back in turn.

Oh, the shadow wasn't dead yet.

Ignatius rubbed his shoulder vaguely as he attempted to balance himself out, staring his rather pissed shadow self straight in the eyes. Alright. Time to actually dissipate him.

HP: 19/40
Damage: 0
Shadow HP: 1/50  

[Seiana_ZI]

Determination took over victory on Ignatius' features for just a moment, as he reeled his arm back and threw a punch straight into the shadow's face.

He could have swore he heard a gasp as it dissipated.

"HA!" Truly victorious this time, Ignatius stamped on the spot where his fake shadowy self had once stood, a grin on his face. In fact, forgetting the door was even there for a moment, he did a bit of a touchdown dance, spinning in place and wiggling a bit. It took a few moments to remember to exit the maze.

"Right."

Brushing himself off, he strolled out and waited patiently for the professor, or as patiently as a fidgety, hyperactive guy could, which was really to say not at all. Luckily for him, the nearby creature soon showed himself to be the professor, a certificate of exam passing in his hands.

He was a hob now.

Ignatius whooped, "Jack yes!" and ran off to go celebrate his victory ... even if it was an odd time of day.

HP: 17/40
Damage: 11 - 6 = 5
Shadow HP: -3/50 (I misadded earlier by one but he's still ded anyway)