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 Jan 01, 2015 8:12 pm
For Harrow, "Non-Mandatory-But-Highly-Recommended-Anyway Test" actually did translate to Mandatory -- because there was no way, at this point, he could back out. There was nowhere to back out to, nowhere he could go but up, no task he could complete but this one, the one in front of him. It came as both a relief and, in its way, a sentence dropped on his head.
It left his mouth dry, for sure, and all the dryer when he finally arrived at the place.
It was creepy. Too creepy, he thought, making Harrow shift, adjust his tie and then regret putting the damned thing on. Maybe he would have been wiser to dress comfortably, but since this was an important circumstance, it seemed to him that it needed some pomp. Some importance.
Some style. Some fashion.
He licked those dry lips and reached out to take a note on a small box outside of the house, and read the words written on it.
A dire warning. A dangerous situation. What else should he have expected? Harrow looked up at the house and then slowly, uncomfortably, followed an unpleasant smell into the house.
The door closed behind him and he jumped several inches off the ground, disturbing a fine layer of dust.
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?
Harrow had no choice but to move forward, and so that was where he began: taking a step into the house in an attempt to find out where next to go. The kitchen seemed like a good start, even if it had the same dust-covered, run-down quality as the rest of the house, so he turned in a careful circle within its confines.
When his eyes landed on the door, he frowned. But what other options did he have, but to move forward with the test?
He cracked it open, and immediately regretted his decision, as a bucket tipped and doused him in water. Not just water, but cold water. Icy, in fact, enough to sap his breath away.
Shocked, he stood shivering for a bit.
and be blue rolled 1 4-sided dice:
2Total: 2 (1-4)
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 8:34 pm
Steps: 3/10
Quote:
You trip and fall into a vat of what looks like melted chocolate.
Still shaking, Harrow turned in place to survey the kitchen -- maybe to see if there was anyone watching, or a camera set up, to see if this was actually a practical joke instead of an actual exam. He wouldn't put it past his fellow classmates to set him up in this manner. In a way, in fact, he thought it was more likely than an actual promotion --
And that was when his foot caught in the water and he slipped, skidding forward into a huge vat of melted chocolate.
He couldn't even make a sound: just sit and gasp for air as his fancy clothing was ruined.
You trip and fall into a vat of what looks like melted chocolate.
It took some doing to get out of the vat, a struggle to swipe away the worst of the filth and, with some effort, remove a now-sodden tie that was beginning to choke him. Harrow had really like this shirt -- a fine pale pink, embroidered with tiny crossed scythes -- and now it was ruined. Maybe he could dye it black. That would solve the problem.
He tossed his tie, and took one step.
Again, he lost his balance. And he almost avoided it, but not quite -- this time tumbling into the chocolate face first.
and be blue rolled 1 4-sided dice:
3Total: 3 (1-4)
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 9:30 pm
Steps: 8/10
Quote:
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.
On the edge of tears, this time, Harrow swiped gook from his face and turned in place -- hunting for something, anything, he could use to wipe away the worst of the chocolate from his face, and his hands, and his chest.
It was a kitchen. He found a dish towel, small favor, and set to scrubbing himself down to something approaching clean, head turned to search for another way out of here. His eyes landed on a door, and he took a step in that direction.
He stuck. His shoe squeaked, came off, and frustrated, he turned to look down at it. He wasn't sure what it was stuck in, but it took some effort to pry it loose and put it back on his foot.
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.
Every step he took, now, came with a stick and a squish. His clothing clung to him uncomfortably, pulling here and pressing there, cold from the chocolate and stiff as it started to solidify again. He was in no way elegant, or together. His exist was going to be unattractive and embarrassing.
With a sigh, he started toward a door -- stumbling only briefly, sticky shoe catching the edge of a box and knocking it sideways to clatter wildly across the floor.
Harrow froze for only a moment, then took off: out of the kitchen, and away from whatever might come to investigate the ruckus.
and be blue rolled 3 6-sided dice:
3, 6, 5Total: 14 (3-18)
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 9:54 pm
The library. Soaked and filthy, covered in chocolate and with one shoe still making a squelching sound with every step, Harrow moved slowly in among the books. Here there was no other door, and while perhaps he could have just gone back to the kitchen -- well. There was no way that was happening. Not today. He just wanted out.
And so he investigated. Pulled a book here and a book there to have a look at their covers, head cocked to the side, and somewhere he thought he heard a clicking. He looked up at the sound, and then at the shelf, and an idea slowly dawned on him.
There were secret passages at home, triggered by just the right book, or just the right artifact. He just had to pull the right ones, and maybe the fireplace would open, or the shelf would turn, or --
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!
Harrow did have some experience with this sort of thing, so his efforts to go through the library were methodical, and familiar: halfway pulling on each book to see if it had any effect, listening for the telltale click or feeling for the telltale rumble.
He found two books. The third pulled out, all at once, tumbling from the shelf and exploding in an avalanche of paper. Harrow found himself caught in it all at once, tangled hopelessly, fighting against a surprisingly-strong wrap of paper rope.
The sword was useless: half-melted and malleable, not even sharp enough to cut through paper, it seemed, when Harrow was this scattered. It just bounced off.
He was lucky, though: dumped, all at once, the rope receding, and leaving him somewhere unfamiliar. Harrow turned in a slow circle, foot squishing and sticking, frowning at the unfamiliar surroundings.
and be blue rolled 1 100-sided dice:
71Total: 71 (1-100)
Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 10:24 pm
A bedroom, with only one doorway out, and that made Harrow fidget for a bit. He could bust the door down, if his sword behaved properly -- but it didn't. So maybe there was, here, also some kind of hidden switch, secret door, magically-triggered lock.
He spent the next hour touching absolutely everything in the bedroom, and prying up his shoes twice, to no success.
He spent ten minutes trying to hack down the door with, essentially, a rubber club.
It was no use, so he sat in front of the door, sticky and flaking chocolate as he moved and very, very frustrated.
Harrow was not a young man who'd ever tried to pick a lock, and so it was a long time before the idea came to him: staring through the keyhole to the world outside and his eventual escape from this shithole of a haunted house, catching glimpses of old and poorly-designed hinges. He tipped his head, slowly, and looked around the place again, more frantically, this time.
Hairpins. A pen, he could take apart, out of one pocket. A handful of supplies that could serve.
It would take him a frustratingly long time, each tumbler falling away in turn, but as it happened, Harrow couldn't help but take a certain pleasure in the act. It was exactly the kind of thing he enjoyed: nit-picky, specific, required focus and organization. He would learn as he went, keeping each place in his mind, until finally the door came open.
This time, he did let out a whoop of pleasure, rising to stand and almost falling again as his shoe stuck to the ground --
But he was done. Able to step out of the house and into the woods, where some smug b*****d handed him an envelope like a pardon.
Exam completed. He had done it, and now could move onto the next stage at Amityville.
No more visits from his father for a good long time, he hoped.
