-= OUBLIETTE =-

[ಠ_ಠ]

Thinking back to the lizard's words about "the worst" happening. Does this mean you can survive your own death here?
Also think about longer term goals than just survival. Should you try and find a group? Some kind of civilization? Aimlessly explore?

See if you can activate the computer to get some info.

[SHIVERS]

>EQUIP PALETTE

Palette: fadedbells has been equipped.


>LEXICON

Palette - A collectible object which will display information from the Oubliette in different colors when equipped.




From what you've learned about all this, you can surmise that the palette functionality itself is what was restored, along with not needing commands to know certain information. Most likely, picking up that palette caused it.
You aren't exactly sure why that worked, though. 



You check the rest of the room more thoroughly, but you don't really find anything:

The filing cabinet is predictably empty, the copier won't turn on, and the computer is... broken. 
The monitor has been busted in the front, and there's no response from the computer when you press the power button, anyways.







You stop and think about what the charade said to you.

You aren't sure if you can survive your own death here, and you definitely do not want to find out.
Maybe that's what they meant - you can't really say for sure - but why risk it?

As for goals in the longer term...

If you wanted to find someone else, you could probably go after the charade you met earlier, despite them not seeming to want much to do with you.

They also mentioned that exploring will almost always bring you somewhere new, and they did say there are other people around. You might find others by just finding new places to go, but you can't really be sure.





...You also have this gut feeling.
It's small, but it's been there since you woke up:
You don't think this place can possibly be all there is to the world.
Where is it drawing all this from if it isn't?

This couldn't have all just been built...
...probably.
You don't really know, honestly.
But this place doesn't feel... 'natural', whether it was built or created or... however it came into being.

Not that you'd really know what that looks like, either.
And if it isn't natural - if there's more somewhere else - maybe you could get there... find a way out of this.

There'd have to be one... 

...Right?







You sit down on the floor of the office.







You don't know.
There's too much you don't know.



Maybe you shouldn't have started thinking about this.

You don't feel great...







All you know is that you have to do something.

You don't want to just sit here.

Show ContentSTATUS:

HEALTH: FINE
CONDITIONS: N/A

Show ContentSELF:

CURRENT PALETTE: fadedbells

Show ContentINVENTORY:

COLLECTED PALETTES:
primarypremiere (Default) 
fadedbells

Show ContentCOMMAND LIST:

[TETHER] - Used to bind weapons, tools and items to yourself, placing them in your "inventory" at the Oubliette. Tethering is limited to your item space.
[RECALL] - Used to pull forth items from your inventory into your hand in order to use them.
[LEXICON] - Used to define unknown terms. Current lexicon is incomplete, but may be automatically updated as new information is gathered.
[EQUIP PALETTE] - Used to equip different palettes for STATUS, SELF, and INVENTORY.

[knux400]

Time to let off some steam.

EQUIP PALLETE default
EQUIP PALLETE fadedbells
EQUIP PALLETE default
EQUIP PALLETE fadedbells
EQUIP PALLETE default
EQUIP PALLETE fadedbells

Beatbox at the same time to create your own personal rave.

Once we're feeling a bit better, we should try following the charade. They seem to know what they're doing, and they might help us figure this place out a bit more.

[skinstealer]

seconding following the charade- even if you end up finding someone else who's less hostile and a better choice to travel with on the way, it's a proper start

[Ignispark]

Thirding following the charade. Currently the best lead as far as further data goes.

[ಠ_ಠ]

it might do to keep a note of where you've been and approximate layout for future reference. see if theres a pen and some paper around.

[SHIVERS]

You don't really feel up to messing around at the moment, even though the thought does cross your mind.
Right now, you just want more information, and following the charade will probably get you that.

Or, at least, you think it's your best chance.



Before you leave, you take the time to search the desk for a pen and paper.
You end up finding a pencil, but no paper anywhere in the office, unfortunately.

It's better than nothing.
You toss it into your pocket for now.





With all that out of the way, you step out of the office and leave the library through the southwest exit, finding yourself in the hallway you spotted earlier.

There are some rows of lockers here, but you don't think you really have time to rifle through them.
There's a few classroom doors in between the locker rows, while heading down all the way down the hall to your right would lead to another set of exit doors, marked by a red sign.

Just to your left is the gate from before; seems you've looped around it.
The other exit doors you spotted are just across from it, at the end of a short hall.



It's been a while since the charade left, but you still try a cursory search for which way they might've gone.

You seem to be in luck, though, as your keen eyes notice a very faint trail of blood on the dark blue carpet, most likely from the hellhound they killed.
It leads around into the short hall on your left, all the way to the exit doors there.



If you're sure you want to follow them, then you know where you're going.

Show ContentSTATUS:

HEALTH: FINE
CONDITIONS: N/A

Show ContentSELF:

CURRENT PALETTE: fadedbells

Show ContentINVENTORY:

COLLECTED PALETTES:
primarypremiere (Default) 
fadedbells

Show ContentCOMMAND LIST:

[TETHER] - Used to bind weapons, tools and items to yourself, placing them in your "inventory" at the Oubliette. Tethering is limited to your item space.
[RECALL] - Used to pull forth items from your inventory into your hand in order to use them.
[LEXICON] - Used to define unknown terms. Current lexicon is incomplete, but may be automatically updated as new information is gathered.
[EQUIP PALETTE] - Used to equip different palettes for STATUS, SELF, and INVENTORY.

[knux400]

Follow the blood trail, it seems to be our best lead right now. Obviously be careful, though. Keep weapons at the ready in case something pops out.

[SHIVERS]

You'd almost forgotten that you were still holding Rustbringer.
It's heavy, even in its pipe form, but you've gotten so used to the weight it feels almost natural.

You raise it as you step through the first set of exit doors, deciding to keep yourself low to avoid being seen through the doors' little windows.

You raise your head to peek outside, and notice some trees past a chain-link fence, swaying in the breeze the rain brings.





Not seeing any threats, you push through



...into a nearly pitch-black, concrete stairwell.

Baffled, you glance to your side to find you can somehow still see the rain and trees through the little window on the open door you're holding.

You'll have to be mindful about that from now on.









Just like when you entered the school for the first time, no light crosses the threshold with you.
Granted, there wasn't much to cross, but the emergency lights could've provided some solace if you'd found a way to prop the door.

Not much you can do about that, though.


It's much too dark to see whether or not the blood trail continues, but the stairs only go one way:

Up.



You squint, but can't see the top of the stairway at all, it's only black past a certain point.



Hopefully, your eyes will adjust as you go.














You hesitate, clinging onto the door handle as you realize you'll barely be able to see once you let go.

Part of you doesn't want to, feeling more apprehensive than you believe you should.

Reaching out with the pipe, you find a wooden railing to your side.
With a steady breath, you let go of the door handle and switch to the railing, keeping your pipe ready for anything in your other hand.

You start making your way up the stairs, your boots echoing back at you.



The door shuts quietly behind you.

You don't turn to look, though, fearing that the image of the exit being shut off will deter you from continuing.



Instead, you focus on every step.




































After walking up what must've been three or four flights of stairs at least, you finally reach the top of the stairwell.

You're more than happy to step through the door.










The entryway doesn't look inviting at all.
It's short - your head nearly brushes the ceiling. There's a little wooden table with a single red candle atop it, resting in a bronze candlestick.
The candle is out, but you can see a tiny trail of smoke rising from it, drifting upwards in a straight line.

The floor is... marble, you think, or some other kind of cut, amber-colored stone.
It's shaped into rigidly-patterned squares of graduating size, the exact same material making up the walls.





You take a step and wince, that single footfall sounding far louder than it should.

Everything feels louder.

The hall is devoid of sound save for the ones you make.

Like your breathing.

You hadn't been paying attention to it before, but you now hear every draw and release in excruciating detail.






Steeling yourself regardless, you leave the entryway, having to duck to clear the alcove as you step into a truly colossal hall.


While the floor here is similar to the entryway - albeit on a significantly-increased scale - the walls and ceiling are radically different in structure:
The stone wall juts outwards menacingly in seemingly-random spots, with some extending inwards upwards of ten or eleven feet, you guess.
The ceiling is just the same, though the square 'spikes' look dramatically longer, as much as you're able to tell from the eighty or so feet of distance you stand below it.





One of your ears starts ringing, interrupting your thought process.
You tap it carefully with a claw until it stops, getting back to what you were doing.












The wall in front of you catches your eye, and you're not sure how you missed it until now.

It's a truly immense window of patterned stained-glass.
On it, various abstract shapes in red and orange surround an intricate center depicting an odd, golden symbol.
The symbol is strangely complex to the point that it looks almost three-dimensional; interlocking squares and various jagged shapes creating an effect that's unnerving to look at.

The light coming through the giant window shifts around bizarrely, casting liquid-like patterns across the vast floor of the room that feel almost... alive.
















...You feel sick.

Something about this place is drawing in an uncomfortable emotion you can't quite process.
It's welling up in the pit of your stomach, nailing itself there.

Your skin is crawling.









Now thinking about ways out, you spot four doors available to you:

-The one in the entryway behind you, which you came through to get in here.
-One to the right of the entrance, fairly close by.
-And two more at the other end of the room, one on the left wall and one on the right.



Some Oubliette functionality has been restored.
You may now view your current location in STATUS.

Show ContentSTATUS:

HEALTH: FINE
CONDITIONS: N/A
LOCATION: PEERLESS BELFRY

Show ContentSELF:

CURRENT PALETTE: fadedbells

Show ContentINVENTORY:

COLLECTED PALETTES:
primarypremiere (Default) 
fadedbells

Show ContentCOMMAND LIST:

[TETHER] - Used to bind weapons, tools and items to yourself, placing them in your "inventory" at the Oubliette. Tethering is limited to your item space.
[RECALL] - Used to pull forth items from your inventory into your hand in order to use them.
[LEXICON] - Used to define unknown terms. Current lexicon is incomplete, but may be automatically updated as new information is gathered.
[EQUIP PALETTE] - Used to equip different palettes for STATUS, SELF, and INVENTORY.

[knux400]

The stained-glass window is looking at us funny. We should break it. Take the candlestick and fling it at the window as hard as you can.

[Ignispark]

Head to the other end of the room and left! Always good to pick a direction that feels lucky, even if its just to get away from the window in front of you. Taking the candlestick might also be useful, as a source of light.