LogFAQs > #890362649

You compliment the toad on its eyes. You thank it for its help. You tell it how excited you are to be at the school, but while you are winding it up for the "can you escort me to the checkpoint?" a shout and a fountain of blood somewhere across the courtyard distract it. It actually hops away while you are still speaking.

The nerve of the thing! Fuming, you join the labyrinthine line.

As the line inches through the courtyard, you get a good look at your fellow first-years. Beautiful, ugly, and nondescript, mostly human, some definitely not, a few you can't figure out. Some of them have too many teeth. There are a few glowing red eyes and cloaks in every shade of black. Some of them are clearly villainous, but most of them look like you: young and ready to learn.

The line grows behind you, until at last you come into sight of the checkpoint: a row of harried-looking upper-class students who have set up screening stations beside a series of twisted iron arches. Beyond the arches is only darkness, and from somewhere, faint and blood-chilling, you can hear the sound of screaming.

Over the arches is an inscription carved into a block of stone that has been carefully mounted into the wall. It does not match the other stones and looks very old. When you first caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of your eye, you didn't even recognize the letters, but now you look directly at it, you find that you can read the ancient inscription:

ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE

In smaller text beneath it, a newer sign reads:

Additional prohibited items and concepts include purity, altruism, gentleness, moderation, doubt, fairness, magical artifacts, doomsday devices, and over 3 oz of true love. Antimatter must be carried in a transparent container. For a complete list of prohibited items, visit our website. Prohibitions and penalties are subject to change without notice.
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Shake