Chamber's College
"Uh, sure. I know what you mean," Tox remarked sheepishly, before turning his mind fully to the abstract, adding, "After all, who can say it wasn't a murder made to look like a suicide? No one seems to have considered that." Tox suddenly realized this disturbing speculation wasn't helping their current situation. Luckily his current interlocutor didn't seem to mind.
"All the more reason not to be wandering off alone," she said, turning to Tox now wearing a long coat and scarf to brave the outdoors with. "By the way, what's your name? You're a new student, aren't you?" she asked.
Tox had just opened his mouth to tell her when the wall he had been leaning on started moving. It was a column carved out of the stone wall, but it was clearly more than that since it had rotated 45 degrees since Tox had slid off of it. As the cylindrical feature slowed, it ended abruptly revealing a surprising absence full of shadows that bored deep into the wall. The column itself was only a half, the missing parts exposing the passageway beyond now that it had turned.
"Are you alright? I didn't know about this one. My name's Janet." She didn't seem to surprised by this discovery.
"Tox Newlock. Nice to meet you. I think I'm going to have to take a look in here." Tox peered into the darkness, which, except the sound of dripping, was devoid of anything that could be sensed.
"Alright, but because it's only fun with freshmen," Janet said. She had a candle lit in no time.
"I'm a junior, actually," Tox amended.
"Not here. At Chamber's you start over from the beginning. No number of years at other schools could prepare you for this place. Even for the faculty. What is it?"
Tox came to a stop when they were some distance down the passageway, and took her hand that was holding the candle. It was a few moments before Janet saw what Tox did, and with the light from the candle raised properly, they could read these words written on the wall:
Follow campus motto: bottoms up MacWollof!
"Someone's joke. The graphiti is rampant here."
"The very subject of my thesis," Tox pointed out, still considering the message. Then he figured out why it sounded so strange.
"It's a palindrome. Same backwards as forwards, see? Ever heard of anyone named MacWollof?"
"No," said Janet, who seemed only mildly interested.
Tox lead the way again.
"Where is this passage going? Is there a whole network or do they just connect the buildings?" Tox was full of questions as they continued exploring.
"This is probably one of the Deceptive Architect's projects. Who knows where it goes? Are you having fun?"
"I'm sure I am on some level, but I'd just like to figure out what's going on. See, there was this girl with the gas lamp who-"
"Oh, don't mind her. She's one of them," Janet explained with what she must have thought was adequacy.
"One of who?" Tox asked, now beginning to get incredulous.
"The Chambers. Her name is Lindsay Chamber, she's one of the descendants who are always looking over our shoulders, making sure we don't blacken the family name."
"Does she...have a pet bird?" Tox ventured.
"What?"
"Nevermind. Look, we've got stairs," Tox pointed out. Indeed, steps appeared ahead of them, but they quickly split into two cases.
Janet appeared nonplussed.
"All the more reason not to be wandering off alone," she said, turning to Tox now wearing a long coat and scarf to brave the outdoors with. "By the way, what's your name? You're a new student, aren't you?" she asked.
Tox had just opened his mouth to tell her when the wall he had been leaning on started moving. It was a column carved out of the stone wall, but it was clearly more than that since it had rotated 45 degrees since Tox had slid off of it. As the cylindrical feature slowed, it ended abruptly revealing a surprising absence full of shadows that bored deep into the wall. The column itself was only a half, the missing parts exposing the passageway beyond now that it had turned.
"Are you alright? I didn't know about this one. My name's Janet." She didn't seem to surprised by this discovery.
"Tox Newlock. Nice to meet you. I think I'm going to have to take a look in here." Tox peered into the darkness, which, except the sound of dripping, was devoid of anything that could be sensed.
"Alright, but because it's only fun with freshmen," Janet said. She had a candle lit in no time.
"I'm a junior, actually," Tox amended.
"Not here. At Chamber's you start over from the beginning. No number of years at other schools could prepare you for this place. Even for the faculty. What is it?"
Tox came to a stop when they were some distance down the passageway, and took her hand that was holding the candle. It was a few moments before Janet saw what Tox did, and with the light from the candle raised properly, they could read these words written on the wall:
Follow campus motto: bottoms up MacWollof!
"Someone's joke. The graphiti is rampant here."
"The very subject of my thesis," Tox pointed out, still considering the message. Then he figured out why it sounded so strange.
"It's a palindrome. Same backwards as forwards, see? Ever heard of anyone named MacWollof?"
"No," said Janet, who seemed only mildly interested.
Tox lead the way again.
"Where is this passage going? Is there a whole network or do they just connect the buildings?" Tox was full of questions as they continued exploring.
"This is probably one of the Deceptive Architect's projects. Who knows where it goes? Are you having fun?"
"I'm sure I am on some level, but I'd just like to figure out what's going on. See, there was this girl with the gas lamp who-"
"Oh, don't mind her. She's one of them," Janet explained with what she must have thought was adequacy.
"One of who?" Tox asked, now beginning to get incredulous.
"The Chambers. Her name is Lindsay Chamber, she's one of the descendants who are always looking over our shoulders, making sure we don't blacken the family name."
"Does she...have a pet bird?" Tox ventured.
"What?"
"Nevermind. Look, we've got stairs," Tox pointed out. Indeed, steps appeared ahead of them, but they quickly split into two cases.
Janet appeared nonplussed.