Level 427

## Level 427: "The Woodrooms"

### Description:

Level 427 is a labyrinthine complex of simplistic hallways and rooms composed entirely of wood. Although the level is pungent with the smell of rot, the wooden material that comprises Level 427 does not appear capable of undergoing decomposition, nor does it appear to be decayed. The numerous hallways and rooms of the level are mostly devoid of furniture, save for occasional instances of tables, dressers, and other similarly wooden furniture.

Each area of Level 427 is dizzyingly similar to the last, only set apart by minor details such as the type of wood used or the quantity of ceiling lights. Alongside the confusingly repetitive architecture, Level 427 is plagued by a constant, mechanical whirring and ticking behind its surfaces. This ambience emanates below floors, behind walls, and above ceilings, and is paired only by the quiet hum of the ceiling lights and the occasional floor creak. Due to the sheer emptiness of the level, otherwise faint sounds often combine with one another to form an uneasy, yet quiet ambience that echoes throughout the many rooms.

With few visual or auditory indicators to distinguish rooms, progressing from area to area can gradually become arduous and confusing to wanderers. Level 427's repetitive and confusing layout is often compounded by random, unlocalised reshuffles in structure and furniture arrangement within the affected areas. These changes are often subtle, merely limited to variations in the type of wall paneling used and the addition or removal of certain doors. This typically leads to significant incongruencies in the level's layout, such as doors opening into flat walls or not opening at all.

Gradually, however, these minor shifts in layout often compound the further one explores, with some rooms shifting their entire structure or becoming inaccessible altogether. It is believed that this change in architecture is surprisingly Euclidean in nature, as these physical shifts are attributed to the machinery heard behind many surfaces. This theory is somewhat upheld by the notion that the whirring and ticking sounds seem to become louder when changes in architecture take place.

This theory is also upheld by the fact that no entities have been observed in Level 427, despite occasional muffled sounds of creatures that are oftentimes audible behind walls. It is believed that Level 427's structural shifting inadvertently separates not only wanderers from potential entities, but also wanderers from other wanderers. Not only are there no exiting reports of wanderers encountering others within Level 427, groups that enter the level together are often inadvertently seperated due to the nature of its environment. Once individuals are apart, it appears to be impossible for them to rejoin with one another, as explored routes often shift and diverge from one another.

Whilst a rare occurence, having only been found hours into previous explorations, there have been reports of wooden vents, grates, and holes in the lower portions of certain walls. They typically appar in corners that are difficult to spot, though appear to form in more obvious places the longers wanderers travel. These abnormalities lack any sort of light behind them, obscuring what is on the other side. However, it is possible to climb inside a select few of these vents or holes if wanderers encounter one large enough.

Behind these holes are vast, narrow mazes of support beams, moist and leathery clumps of insulation, and a vast amount of small, slackened wires. This change in environment is complemented not only by an increase in the frequency and pitch of the mechanical whirring and ticking, but also by an increasingly rancid smell of humid decay, nearly deterring one from entering the back portions of the level. However, as the normal portions of Level 427 lack escape options, many wanderers turn to the vents for an attempt to find freedom.

While most of these crawlspaces simply comprise of the gaps in between each room, traversing deeper into them eventually reveals the presumed inner workings of Level 427 itself. In these sections, the previously muffled mechanical whirring is replaced by a much louder and more obtrusive ticking sound, originating from a deep network of rotating, wooden gears.

Many of these gears disappear into even depper, darker crevices of the level. Each gear steadily rotates in tandem with the others in its transmission, creating a hazardous environment as they often catch clothing or fingers in their sturdy wooden teeth. Nothing further has been found past the networks of gears, with even their Euclidean location in the level still unknown, save for occasional chunks of organic viscera scattered between the teeth of faraway gears. It is unknown where these distinctly come from, due to an inability to find other individuals even inside these back portions. However, these chunks typically disappear when brought within deeper crevices.

Once within these extremely deep portions of Level 427, it is almost impossible to leave the intricate underbelly of wooden gears and cogs, making it almost inevitable that one will catch the ends of clothing, tips of fingers, ot strands of hair in their many teeth, a potentiality exemplified by the face that wanderers have to bend, vault, and creep between gear-trains. It is unknown what amount of people who enter these recesses come out alive or unscathed. However, it is always possible that the scatterings of viscera are enough of an indication of how many do not return.

Several wanderers find themselves tempted into these back areas, presumably after finding themselves unable to find an exit elsewhere. Those who have returned simply describe exploring the back portions of the level as innately intriguing, almost beckoning them forth until reaching the wooden transmissions beyond the support beams and insulation. However, no individual who has walked past this point has returned to share their experiences or explain why they contuined to delve deeper within.

### Entrances and Exits:

Access to Level 427 is done primarily within Levels 44 and 368, all of which contain rarely appearing wooden doors that appear identical to wooden doors frequently prevalent on this level. However, these doors disappear in Level 427 upon their use, making them impossible to use as an exit.

Exiting Level 427 has proven incredibly difficult for wanderers, with no known exits in its main areas. Instead, individuals can only exit through rarely appearing, oftentimes blocked wooden doors that lead to Level 3, Level 19, or Level 922. It is known, however, that these doors do not appear in the geared areas of Level 427, meaning that those who go deep enough are almost condemned to not return, as is frequently the case for many.