[Automated Exam] House of Horrors (Estel)

[Luridel]

(( Journal link: Here. ))

THE EXAM: HOUSE OF HORRORS (Y1 > Y2)

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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'.

 

[Luridel]

Estel stepped outside of her dorm room, turning to shut the door gently behind her. To her surprise, there was an envelope taped to her door. She peeled the tape off, opened the envelope, and read the letter.

"Is this... oh, am I supposed to..."

Exams! At last! She was so ready for this.

Probably.

She ducked back into the room to glance at herself in the mirror, briefly - clean and presentable, good! - before bolting out and up the stairs of the ghost dorm.

She knew her way around the school grounds quite well by now. The sight of the house made her slow down. Was this where she was supposed to be? Estel inched closer, leaning down to read the note on the box.

She could do this. Totally.  

[Luridel]

Estel pulled open a door and saw... was that a kitchen?

It was the most impressive kitchen she had ever seen. She looked around - there were multiple doors, all identical. And according to the note outside, she had to be quiet.

Well. She could do this.

She took one step, and then another, and then another... right into a puddle of... Ugh, what was that? It was stuck to the bottom of her shoe.

(( STEPS TAKEN: 3 ))  

[Luridel]

To her dismay, as she made her way further into the kitchen, she managed to knock over a huge bin of tiny bones. They poured across the floor, rattling as they fell. Estel winced. So much for 'quiet as a mouse'...

She froze, looking around for a little while. There was no indication that she had failed the test, however, so after a moment she kept on going.

(( STEPS TAKEN: 7 ))  

[Luridel]

For that matter, the kitchen was empty. Was she supposed to make her way through to find an instructor? Or was there something in a room she would have to take away as proof?

She would find out, she supposed.

This time, it was her other foot which she put down on another sticky patch of floor. Shaking her head, Estel let herself float an inch above the ground. Problem solved.

She realized that, without consciously knowing it, she had been walking towards one particular door. Trusting her instincts as a wisp to guide her, Estel opened that door and stepped out into a dark hallway. She shut the door gently behind her and went along the hall until she reached a library.

(( STEPS TAKEN: 10 ))  

[Luridel]

The library only had one door at the far end. She made her way around the stacks, wondering what the catch was. There had to be a catch, right?

The door was locked. That was it. She would have to find a way to open it...

Estel returned to the shelves, pulling out random books and looking at them.  

[Luridel]

Maybe she could find a book on how to pick locks! That would be helpful... but of course she didn't have any tools for that. It seemed like trying to float through the door would be cheating, and she didn't want to fail the exam on a technicality. She had probably already lost points for knocking that box over back in the kitchen.

Estel froze, blinking at one of the books she had pulled off of the shelf without paying too much attention. Flushing, she shoved it quickly back onto the shelf. Not about lock picking!  

[Luridel]

She was determined to pass this exam. She had studied so hard - of course, the books she had studied had absolutely nothing to do with opening a door in a library, but that was beside the point. Teachers in this school were unpredictable, she had learned that much.  

[Luridel]

She was going to get out of this library - no matter what! Estel hurried from shelf to shelf, plucking out book after book and replacing them neatly when they weren't what she was looking for.

To her shock, the door behind her swung open. To her knowledge, she hadn't done anything, so she examined the shelf a bit more closely. A secret lever - cleverly hidden. How embarrassing... she hadn't had to pick the lock after all.  

[Luridel]

As Estel stepped through the open door and into another corridor, the door slammed shut behind her. She sighed and went on through the hallway until she reached a bedroom. Again, there was only one door on the far wall... this one equally locked. Was she supposed to find a hidden switch in here? Would the House do that to her twice?

Looking around, Estel spotted a set of lock picks on the bedside table. She smacked her forehead, hard. She should have grabbed a book while she'd had the chance.

Gathering the picks, she went to go make an attempt anyway.  

[Luridel]

As she had expected, she had no idea what she was doing. Estel crouched down by the lock, trying to rationalize it out. She knew that keys had distinct ridges on them, which was why you couldn't fit keys in the wrong keyholes. Maybe if she just kept poking at the lock, she would figure it out eventually.

After several minutes of struggling, the lock clicked open. Astonished, Estel put the lock picks politely back where she had found them and went through the door... to the outside.

She received the proof of her advancement with astonishment. She had passed... and she was now a second-year student!