Big Trouble in the Big House

[divus]

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[divus]

[The disembodied voice's only response is an almost incoherent sob that it's "so dark, too dark." It seems like it's no longer even speaking full sentences, wavering in and out. It doesn't sound threatening at least? It just sounds sad and kind of horrified.

Regardless, even as Zoe and Ray get closer they'll only find a wall, though stepping through that space will also instill a brief sense of terror through them. The room will feel too dark suddenly, and the door upstairs will begin to close.

Connor, on the other hand, will definitely find jars of preserves but also boxes of what look like little golden-brown squares? They look soft to eat. Those may be worth investigating.]

[tootsiepop]

[Nice. He'll take one of the pastry boxes, looking it over with the intent of sampling one of the golden-brown squares. It's while he's prying one of the boxes open that he notices the room feels a teeny bit darker than before — and he looks up in time to see the door closing on them.

...

Hm. Would he even get close enough to hold the door open if he ran for it, considering all the junk laying around? Thanks for having the messiest basement, Cunning.]

Hey! I don't mean to alarm you. [Uh.] But the door—

[As in, it's totally the right time to be alarmed.]

[selfimmolates]

[UH

there's a moment of panic—ray's first instinct is to bolt for the door—but the cogs in his head are still turning. He whirls around, but holds himself back.]

"There's no way out." Which means the way we came from doesn't count. We haven't messed up yet—there was no signal, like that roar in the previous room.

Maybe we're supposed to find another way. Bring light.

[requiemed]

[Likewise, there’s a moment of panic for her, half because of that sudden spike of terror and half because of the door. She turns back and takes a step towards it, but when she hears Ray, she pauses.]

Like... A secret exit or something?

[divus]

[Connor: I don't mean to alarm you.
Ray and Zoe: alarmed.

Anyway, so maybe don't sample the food in the box yet as the door swings shut and sends them into the dark sans the LED light. The boxes are stacked up and in the way, and the voice seems to whisper one last thing before stopping entirely.

"The earth...underneath."

Ray seems to have the right idea, as does Zoe, though there's no indication of where they should be looking. Another light source will help, but that's if they can wade their way through boxes and jars. They can move them, or they can just break everything. It's a choice, really.

They can also try the door again, actually.]

[tootsiepop]

[Now that they're submerged in complete darkness, his LED spins yellow — processing speed kicking up. Finding a secret exit is good and all, but. Hm.]

Or we could confirm that the door is, in fact, locked.

[He's stealing one of the pastry boxes either way, though.]

[selfimmolates]

You do that, then. You're the one with a light, anyway.

[ray will focus on moving around any boxes he can feel in the dark.]

[requiemed]

Don’t burn yourself again.

[She’s carefully starting to push some boxes aside, too, as she addresses Ray.]

What do you think it meant by the earth underneath?

[divus]

[If Connor goes to check, the door is, in fact, locked. Ray can move the boxes, as can Zoe. As they're pushing boxes around, they'll find they slide over the floor but as they move a box each (Ray's third, Zoe's fourth), they'll feel the boxes sink into the ground a bit in a small depression in the floor. Looks like they're locked in somehow, lining up to begin forming a path.

A small shred of light appears on the floor around them as well.

Luckily the door doesn't burn Connor, but the doorknob falls off.]

[tootsiepop]

[...

Guess he's just going to pocket that doorknob, huh. Time to return to the others, and in the most casual tone:]

The doorknob fell off

[Seems normal.

He'll help with moving the boxes now, though! What's up, mystery light.]

[selfimmolates]

[deadpan:]

Fascinating.

[unlike the glowing lock from before, light now is promising maybe so he'll keep moving boxes.]

[requiemed]

[Hm.]

Do either of you know if Cunning is into video games?

[Either way, she’s helping push these boxes.]

[divus]

[As they continue shuffling around boxes, more lights begin to show up in the floor as the boxes lock into place. It's definitely a pattern even if it isn's too obvious yet.

Once the last box is in place...they'll find that the path actually brings them face to face with a wall. Hm. The room is more lit up now and they've boxed themselves into this pathway, but at first glance there doesn't seem to be anything.]

[tootsiepop]

[WALL... There doesn't seem to be anything at first glance, but would there be anything of special interest if one were to feel around the wall?]

I wouldn't know... But it's a possibility. There was an arcade game in the other room, wasn't there?

[Though their friend the leopard got hungie for nuggies before they could do much. :/]

[selfimmolates]

Yeah, he is. He's been filching stuff from Merriment's Game Room.

[knocks on the wall?]

[requiemed]

...You know, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised by that, but I kind of am.

[While they both check out the wall, she’s kneeling slightly to run a hand over the path they’ve made, seeing if anything on the ground feels strange.]

[divus]

[A few things happen.

1.) Connor finds a small hole in the wall as if something, say, doorknob-sized and shaped could fit there.
2.) Ray knocking on the wall will render a hollow sort of sound as if there's something empty behind the wall.
3.) Zoe's hand will come across what feels like some string sticking out from the bottom of the wall. It seems to lead into whatever's behind the wall itself.]

[tootsiepop]

[Hm.

So what if he just

wordlessly

tries to stick the doorknob in and twist.]

[selfimmolates]

[ray lets out a low whistle, because connor did well!! congrats!! probably. watch the doorknob do nothing.

also he has his hand on his dagger hilt just in case.]

[requiemed]

[Time to hold onto this string just in case! She has nothing else to contribute this tag round.]

[divus]

[The wall opens into a perfect door-shaped opening. YAY! This means that the three of them can venture forward.

It's dark as shit, but if Connor shines his robo-LED on the ground he'll see that the string seems to lead them forward. There's nothing for Ray to attack yet. So. They can either follow the string into the unknown, or they can figure out how to get out through the original door.]

[tootsiepop]

[Nice.

Connor's gonna be a pal and shine his LED on the ground, taking note of the string. This seems like a very safe, unspoopy path to follow.]

I'd like to see where this leads, if it's all the same to you.

[Let him nyoom.]

[selfimmolates]

[nothing's jumped out at them yet, so ray is going to remove his hand from his dagger—and get his gun back out.]

Might as well after all that effort.

[requiemed]

Yeah, let’s go for it.

[She lifts the string up slightly so it’s easier to see as they go.]

[divus]

[This is a very nice, non-spoopy path! There's even a very helpful string to guide them! As they venture forward the wall, again, seems to slide closed and trap them inside. They're now in a tunnel and seem to follow a string that started out white and slowly seems to turn red. It's not blood, it's just fading from white to pink to a solid red to guide them.

As they walk, they'll also hear the walls begin to shift around them, and eventually they hit a point where the string...runs out...

...hm.

They have three paths to pick from their current point. The left, the right and the center don't seem to have any noticeable differences.

Pick a path.]