AI Hunter Chronicles: Energized (Season 1)

Episode 51: House of Leaves

The contestants awaken suddenly from their beds at near midnight, or at least some of them. Bolnin attempts to exit her room to see what exactly is going on, as does some of the others, she would expect, only to find that the door has been magically locked from the outside. Of course. Bolnin can't sleep that night, so she stays up until the sun shines once again over the estate. So far, nothing has happened, and Bolnin hears no one outside in the halls. Curious, she goes to check her door, and finds it unlocked. Bolnin opens the door, half expecting the walls to be coated in the blood of everyone, but no, it is completely empty. Still groggy, she goes downstairs to enter the dining room.

Then she sees the hole.

It is massive, not enough to take up everything, but enough to be noticable, and to fit a whole person down it. Bolnin takes a look down it, and sees that there is a stone floor just below it.

Yelxidor: Bolnin?

Bolnin turns around and sees Yelxidor, just heading down the stairs with Riarlias and The Escapist.

Bolnin: There's a hole here.

Yelxidor: I see that.

The three of them join Bolnin in looking at the hole. They are eventually joined by everyone else, Baermur, Nethcyra, Koorfuran, Luvrek, Is, Tempest, Farrat, and finally Noflithe.

Noflithe: Well, this explains the loud noise last night.

Nethcyra: Should we just jump down?

The Escapist: Honestly, if it's not been covered up by now, I don't see why not.

One by one, the contestants drop down into the basement below the manor and look around.

Luvrek: Is this some sort of dungeon?

The Escapist: Seems like it. Why it would be exposed like this is beyond me though.

Is: I believe that we are in some sort of cell.

Is approaches the bars of the cell and looks for the door out of it. Much to their surprise, it opens without an issue.

Baermur: Wait, did our hostess forget to lock her prison cell?

The Escapist: More likely that she unlocked it after whatever was being held down here broke free.

The Escapist looks up, noticing that the hole goes up into the ceiling as well, much to his surprise. They exit the cell and search the dungeon.

Nethcyra: Hey! I found our weapons!

Everyone runs over to where Nethcyra shouted. Sure enough, right there in the cell was the weapons that were confiscated when they first arrived, as well as a few extras. 

Farrat: Looks like we have something to kill her with now.

The Escapist: That's good, but I suspect something is up.

Tempest: Maybe it was just, like, pure luck?

The Escapist: No, that's too sloppy for her. Nothing she does is good, but when it comes to setting things up, there is some sort of reason to it.

As if to answer their question, a voice suddenly rings out telepathically in their heads.

Niki.chr: Hello everyone! So, quick change of plans, our final challenge is today. I know, I know, you were all hoping for some more games to get more money for the pot. I know that my husband was, he wanted to have a game specifically to torment one of you, but I digress. So, you are all probably wondering, "What in the world is our final challenge?" Well, I'll tell you. See, there are still two Assassins among you, and a prize pot of about 3,432 GP up for the taking. If all the Marks can figure out and kill the Assassins, they walk away with that money split evenly amongst the survivors. However, if the Assassins kill all the Marks before that, they get the money. Oh, and to make this all the more interesting, and to protect myself from players who may not want to play by the rules, I enchanted the manor with a set of non-Euclidean runes, or runes that disobey what you all conceive are the natural order of things. More halls, more corridors, looping chambers, etc. As you may have noticed, all your weapons and more are available, and all combat spells have been restored. Good luck!