-= OUBLIETTE =-

[1011686]

"I could do with a rest. Um, please don't kill me. I'll answer any questions you want, and you don't have to tell me anything about who you are or what you're doing. But, I could really use some help, even if just to figure out where to go next."
>Lexicomn: Hellhound, charade, camouflage.

[knux400]

"I can't be much of a threat if I don't have basic knowledge, right? I didn't even know what a carate was until now!" (I spelled charade wrong on purpose, it helps the authenticity of the 'I'm dumb' argument)

[SHIVERS]

>LEXICON

Hellhound - A hostile creature that acts as a bounty hunter, pursuing those that owe a debt. They will track their quarry endlessly, ignoring others unless they become an obstacle to their target.
Charade - A subspecies of unworldite. Experts in concealment and stealth. Use their abilities to blend into the environment and patiently avoid detection. Possesses qualities of both reptiles and insects, and, oddly, appear in a variety of bright and vibrant colors.
CHARADE: Camouflage - An ability specific to charades. Change patterning as well as hide spatial definition - appearing flat or nonexistent - to blend into surroundings, becoming practically invisible.



"Yeah, I could do with a rest," you admit honestly. If it weren't for the adrenaline, you don't imagine you'd be on your feet very long.
"Um, please don't kill me. I can't be much of a threat if I don't have basic knowledge, right? I didn't even know what a carate was until now!" They scoff and chuckle quietly. "Anyone can be a threat."

"I'll answer any questions you want, and you don't have to tell me anything about who you are or what you're doing. But, I could really use some help, even if just to figure out where to go next."
There is a long pause, then you feel the knife release your throat.



You turn to see the charade become visible once again, seeming to gradually slip into existence as a flat, blurry image before their definition suddenly 'pops' in.
They are a bright, almost eye-straining yellow-green with marks of vibrant blue strewn about. They appear as a lizard with a ridged head and long, curly tail, but strangely possess a chitinous hide rather than scales, and sport small, beautifully-patterned, butterfly-like wings on their back.



They keep the box cutter gripped tight in their claw, as if expecting you to change your mind and attack them at any given moment. 
Their weapon still appears ordinary despite you knowing otherwise.

"Fine. I can spare a minute or so to talk and answer some questions, but then I'm getting out of here:  There's bound to be more hellhounds around."
"But I don't trust you, and I am not your mentor. If you really are new, then I don't have time to hold your hand. Not knowing what you're doing makes you a liability. You need to pick up on how to survive, and fast."

"Now... If you're new, then how'd you get here? Where did you come from?"

[ಠ_ಠ]

"I woke up in a room, went through a trapdoor onto a road, and walked it until I got here."

"Where are we and what's going on?"

[1011686]

"I woke up on the floor in a room with a chest, a glass box, a wardrobe, some other stuff, i don't know if that matters to you. I chose some clothes, and then I left through a trapdoor. After that i was on a highway, out there (points in direction of highway). I walked towards the parking gate building, and found the knife inside, along with a lot of blood. There was a trail that led into a tunnel, so I followed it, and that's how I got into this place. Where are we, anyway? Why does everything seem so, abandoned? What happened here?"
>Lexicon: unworldite, unworld, mentor(maybe this is a thing???)

[SHIVERS]

>LEXICON

Unworldite - A species category, consisting of Lamps, Charades, and Argils. Alienlike beings with otherworldly qualities. Relatively uncommon. It is unknown whether they are truly foreign or not.

"Unworld" not recognized as a definable term or phrase.
"Mentor" not recognized as a definable term or phrase.



"I woke up on the floor in a room with a chest, a glass box, a wardrobe, some other stuff; I don't know if that matters to you. I chose some clothes, and then I left through a trapdoor. After that I was on a highway, out there," you point vaguely eastward out of the library, in the general direction of the classroom where you entered from the highway.

"I walked towards the parking gate building, and found the knife inside, along with a lot of blood. There was a trail that led into a tunnel, so I followed it, and that's how I got into this place."

"Where are we, anyway? What's going on? Why does everything seem so... abandoned? What happened here?"



Your eyes adjust to the dark a bit more, and you can now see that the charade is wearing a sand-colored military-style jacket with several wing patches and a high collar, along with olive green pants sporting many pockets. 

"You really are brand new, then." 
"Look, I don't have time to sit here and explain everything to you. I'm not even sure how I would even if I had time. But I'll tell you what I have time for, and I have advice that'll be more useful to you, anyways."



They take out a cloth from their pocket and begin cleaning it. "From the top: this knife you found is mine. You found it where I dropped it."

"As for where we are and it being abandoned:  We're in the school, which - just as almost everywhere else here - connects to many other places. Seem is the operative word with what you asked. Things always seem 'abandoned' because of the labyrinthine nature of this place combined with how incredibly vast it is, but there are others."
"More importantly: exploring around will just about always bring you somewhere new. But if you're smart, or if you have help, you can still map it out. I suggest you do so if you don't want to end up going in circles."



"As for what happened and what's going on:  nothing out of the ordinary. This is just how things are here. I said it already, but let me be perfectly clear:  you need to figure out how to survive."



"Now... I think I know where you came from. Haven't seen one myself, but just know that you'll end up back there a lot, which is more useful than you can imagine. Almost none of us here have the luxury of one of those. Don't take it for granted."

"Speaking of..." They reach into one of their numerous pockets and pull out a large, old-fashioned brass key. It looks fairly plain, with its only distinguishing feature being a circle etched into its bow. 
Additionally, they pull out a silver coin with a simple sword motif displayed on its side.
"These are useless to me, so you may as well use them." They watch as you teeter on your feet. "...Before you pass out, anyways."



Rather than handing them to you, they place both on a nearby book cart and back away, making their way to the southwest exit.

"Last thing, which is the most important piece of advice I can give you:  The worst may happen while you're here - given your inexperience, it's probably inevitable - but just don't make a habit of it. Learn and do better. Recklessness still has consequences."

With that, they head out the door, leaving you alone.



You are beyond exhausted. 
The key and coin are on the cart just in front of you. 

[ಠ_ಠ]

oh so we're in hell

take the coin and the key and put the key in the door and lock it and then pass out

[knux400]

Greeeeat. Take the KEY and COIN and stick them in our pocket or something, then find a safe place to pass out for a while.

[SHIVERS]

You place the silver coin in your pocket, but the second you pick up the brass key, it disappears into thin air as a plain wooden trapdoor appears on the floor just a few steps ahead of you.

[1011686]

Go through trap door, then lie down and rest, try not to fully pass out though.
I dont know if we can only lexicon terms after we've seen them used, but im gonna try a bunch of stuff to see if we can learn anything else about this place/world.
>Lexicon: planet, sun, star, the school, highways, aliens, country, labyrinth, coin, key
Oh and this might count as metagaming (metasuggesting?), so you can discount it if you want, but
>Lexicon: Oubliette

[SHIVERS]

>LEXICON


Oubliette - A safe place.[Definition missing or incomplete.]

"Planet", "Sun", "Star", "The school", "Highways", "Aliens", "Country", "Labyrinth", "Coin", "Key" not recognized as definable terms or phrases.



You open the trapdoor below you, seeing nothing but black inside.
You drop through.

Immediately, you feel wind rushing across your body as you fall, ruffling your clothes.



You feel yourself picking up speed,
but your vision is blurring,

starting to fade  to      white 











































































































































Moments later, you open your eyes to find yourself standing back in the familiar room with the wardrobe, the trapdoor, and other various objects.

On the ceiling, another trapdoor is now present next to the one with yellow and black stripes.
This one looks like a green chalkboard, with an image of a pencil drawn on it in white chalk. 



While you look up at it, you lose your balance and stumble.
You catch yourself on the table in the corner, feeling quite tired.
Though, oddly, this feeling slowly seems to fade.
In no time at all, your fatigue is gone entirely, your body now feeling refreshed.



You feel something shift in your pocket, looking down to see the silver coin escaping and floating up into the air, spinning.
It freezes for a few seconds, then pops out of existence.

Suddenly, a tiny chest - only about the size of your palm - appears on the table in front of you, along with a paper note.

[ಠ_ಠ]

it dont seem very safe
grab everything
try and open the ceiling door

[1011686]

Don't leave yet.
Open the chest and read the note. Also, [STATUS], [INVENTORY] (i think we might have an opportunity to change what we have tethered here).
And, I know we kind of are Metus, so I don't know if we can even ask them like, self-reflective questions, but:
Think about/consider what language the note is written in.

[SHIVERS]

>STATUS
HEALTH: FINE
CONDITIONS: N/A

>INVENTORY
SPACE USED: 4/6
ITEMS:
Safety Glasses
Calamity Pendant
D.A.R.
Walkie Talkie Set



You reach your claws over to the little chest and attempt to pry it open, but no matter how hard you try, it doesn't budge. In fact, you can't even lift it off the table, as if it's bolted to it.

Instead, you pick up the note and read it:

"Oubliette Armory Chest:
Imagine one personal weapon, and it will appear inside.
Intended for personal use only. Please do not share your personal weapon.
Take care not to lose your personal weapon.
One-time use per token."



You try and think about what language the note is written in, but all you can really surmise is that you can read it. 
As you ponder this, the note disappears in your claw.

The chest still sits in front of you.

[ಠ_ಠ]

imagine a heavy iron pipe

[1011686]

What about one of those canes with like, a hidden sword blade inside them. If we're going to get a weapon we should get one that's versatile and has multiple uses.

Also, can we just, manually check why we have an asterisk next to our mettle stat? Like, can we just know what situations it changes from a score of 0 in, and in what direction? Or do we have to find that out from experiencing physically taxing situations for ourselves? If the former, do so, if the latter... idk. I'll think about how to find that out.

[cosmo]

seconding hidden sword cane

[knux400]

How about a shield with six spikes on its edges? Sort of like a certain superhero's shield, but kind of snowflake-shaped.

[SHIVERS]

You have no idea what the asterisk next to your stat means, and you can't think of any command that might help you figure it out, unfortunately.




You close your eyes and attempt to focus, though your thoughts get a bit jumbled up as you feel the box pulling from you.
When you open your eyes, the chest has grown larger, longer and slimmer.

Not wanting to waste any time, you unlatch and open it, only to find an ordinary iron pipe, about three feet long.
You find yourself confused until you place a claw on it, and suddenly feel the strangest sensation.

It's as if this weapon is something you are already familiar with. Not necessarily experienced in its handling, but as if it was something you crafted yourself. You know every inch of it now - and all of its secrets - as details begin to race through your head...




To any other observer, it looks like a reddish-brown, rusty iron pipe. 

As a weapon, it's quite heavy, and the curve at its end is thicker than the rest of it, making it great for bludgeoning, if a bit slow. Simple, but effective if you have the time and room to swing. You also imagine since the curved bit at the end protrudes, it could potentially pull something towards you from afar. 
Beyond that, it'd seem otherwise useless.

As you grasp it, however, you know that simply releasing a tiny latch towards the top of it will allow you to pull its top up and out into a crude, yet sharp iron sword; the same rusted look as its 'scabbard'. It's a single-sided blade, and a bit hefty; meant for chopping strikes. It's lighter than its full pipe form, however, adding to the weapon's versatility.

Incredibly, you know the weapon has one last trick up its sleeve. A hail mary of sorts.
If you were to press in the latch and hold it rather than simply slipping it over to release the blade, the pipe itself would somehow begin to shorten, compressing back into itself until you were only grasping a handle. After a few seconds, it would contort and pop outwards into a rusty iron shield with six spikes on its edges, directed away from the wielder. The shield would whir as the spikes began to spin around its outside, turning itself into a veritable circular saw, shredding anything that may come into contact with it. Though, this transformation process is a bit slow, and it produces a very loud noise, sure to alert anything nearby.
You think about the inspiration behind wanting a shield, but realize you couldn't possibly hope to throw this with how heavy it is.

All-in-all, the weapon is cumbersome, but undeniably versatile.
Using it just as a pipe would be effective for hitting something with plentiful force despite its slowness, or just if you needed some extra reach to snag something.
The blade is faster to swing, and great for cutting pretty much anything.
And the saw... saw-shield would be great at protecting you while also damaging anything that got too close. ...If the noise doesn't scare it off first.



You look down at it in your claws.

It dawns on you how incredibly dangerous this weapon is - for its enemies, and even potentially its wielder, if you aren't careful - and you can't help but find yourself intimidated just from holding the thing.

Still, it feels like yours now, somehow.

The note did say 'personal weapon', after all.
Though, you wonder if something like this could really suit you.

[ಠ_ಠ]

cool weapon

imagine nice leather gloves in the wardrobe so we dont get tetanus swinging this pipe around