Template:StorySummary

Below is a shortened summary of the story of Johnisdead. For a more in-depth recap of the story, select the "Story" tab above.

Prologue - Ben Drowned

Johnisdead builds off of the story of Ben Drowned - an ARG created by Alex Hall in 2010. Many characters and concepts from Ben Drowned are pivotal in Johnisdead. The following section contains a brief summary of the Ben Drowned ARG.

The Haunted Cartridge

Jadusable face to face with the Elegy Statue.

In 2010, a college student named Alex Hall was given an old, tattered copy of the game "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask" by a strange Old Man. Alex quickly discovered that this game was haunted by an entity calling itself BEN. BEN would follow Alex around the game world by manifesting as the "Elegy Statue" - an uncanny effigy of the player character Link. Alex recorded these hauntings and uploaded them to his YouTube channel Jadusable.

Alex's mental state began deteriorating. He began having nightmares about strange, masked cultists. One day, Alex and his friend Tyler attempted to visit the Old Man to get some answers. Unfortunately, the Old Man was nowhere to be found and his house was abandoned. However, Alex managed to discover that the game cartridge once belonged to a child named Ben who tragically drowned. When Alex returned to his college dorm, it was revealed that BEN had entered his computer by travelling through the wires of his recording equipment. The two conversed over Cleverbot. Through these conversations, Alex deduced that the entity calling itself BEN was not the drowned child - it was simply a malicious entity who stole the child's name out of cruelty.

Days later, a compilation of Alex's notes titled "TheTruth.rtf" were uploaded to the internet. It soon became apparent, though, that these notes had been tampered with by BEN itself. The players came to the horrifying realization that they had inadvertently helped spread BEN to every corner of the internet by downloading these notes, meaning BEN was now free to spread his malicious influence across the world.

The Moon Children

Kelbris's horrifying portrayal on YSHDT.

Not long after the upload of "TheTruth.rtf", the players were led to a new website - "Youshouldnthavedonethat.net". This website was the home of the Moon Children - a cult that worshipped a moon goddess named Luna. The Moon Children were led by a figure simply known as The Father. As players explored the site, other strange entities made themselves known: A deceased Moon Child named Kelbris, an authoritative figure known as Mr. D, and an entity wearing a gas mask calling itself Drowned.

The front page of Youshouldnthavedonethat.net was a blog of sorts where various high ranking Moon Children posted announcements. These Moon Children moderators were as follows: Matt Hubris "Ifrit", Chris "Nekko", Spencer L. "Duskworld23", and Kevin F. "Insidiae". Chris was the youngest of the moderators. Several posts of his detailed his excitement for his upcoming Ascension - a ritual suicide practiced by the Moon Children. Ascension was believed to spiritually transcend the participants, granting them immense power. However, in reality, all ascension seemingly did was trap the souls of the participants in electronic devices.

Alex submitting the "Song of Time" to reset YSHDT.

The players began speaking to Matt through email. Matt revealed that Ben was a former Moon Child who had a botched ascension. This explains how his spirit seemingly got trapped within the Majora's Mask cartridge. Matt also revealed that a Moon Child named Alex had recently gone missing, implying that perhaps Alex Hall "Jadusable" himself was somehow connected to the cult. Matt's emails became stranger and more concerning over time. He reported that an unknown assailant had begun relentlessly knocking on his door.

Further exploration of the site revealed a locked page titled "The Truth", as well as a countdown. As the countdown was about to reach zero, the missing Moon Child Alex emerged on the YouTube channel TheLinkMissing, where he uploaded gameplay of "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" showing Link playing the Song of Time on his Ocarina. Just like the song's effect in Majora's Mask, time reset to three days prior - the same announcements were posted to the front page of Youshouldnthavedonethat.net, the site underwent the same changes, and it seemed as though the players were saved from the impending countdown. However, Matt was now missing. Despite resetting the clock, the players were unable to save him, and it was soon revealed that it was actually the deceased Moon Child Kelbris who was responsible for his disappearance.

Alex had given the players a powerful tool, however - they could now upload gameplay footage of Majora's Mask to effect the world just as he had. These video submissions would mainly effect the the main character, who was often referred to as the players' "Link". The players' current Link was Alex. Unfortunately, some poorly timed submission quickly got Alex killed. Another ally named Rosa, Matt's sister who briefly spoke to the players through his email, also went missing after some poor player choices.

Ryukaki and Within Hubris

The Within Hubris forums.

A final message from Matt was discovered on Youshouldnthavedonethat.net warning the players about BEN's manipulative tendencies. This message also contained a warning to one player in particular - "KAYD HENDRICKS YOU ARE IN DANGER". Kayd Hendricks, or as he was known online, Ryukaki, was a player who was given the login information to the password protected "The Truth" page from before. Ryukaki began uploading footage of strange hauntings around his home, as it appeared as though he, too, was now being targeted by BEN and Kelbris. Through these videos, the headquarters of the Moon Children was revealed - a location known simply as "The Orchard". In Ryukaki's final upload, he gave the players the login information for "The Truth". Unfortunately, this login information was incomplete and players were still unable to access the page.

Shortly after this, a new website was revealed to the players - Within Hubris. Within Hubris was a message board for the players to use in the upcoming third arc of the ARG. These boards held some secrets, however. Canon accounts for many characters were discovered in the member list - even seemingly unimportant characters such as Alex's friend Tyler. A locked board was also discovered named "Wayward Horizon". This board was guarded by Kelbris himself and housed the ascended souls of Chris and Spencer. Unfortunately, before the third arc of Ben Drowned could truly begin, the ARG was placed on hiatus. Over time, activity on Within Hubris dwindled. The entire message board was later deleted in 2012.

Arc 1 - YSHDT Arc

In Ben Drowned, a college student named Alex came across a haunted Majora's Mask cartridge that contained a malicious spirit named BEN. This led the players down a rabbit hole where they discovered a cult called the Moon Children who worship a moon deity named Luna. Despite their best efforts, the players were unable to save the Moon Children from malicious entities such as Kelbris and Mr. D. With Ben Drowned on hiatus, players are left to their own devices...

YSHDT.com

Shortly after the deletion of Within Hubris, players created their own board to replace it. This incarnation of Within Hubris, dubbed Newbris by the players, served the community for many years to come. Unfortunately, Ben Drowned's hiatus continued. However, in 2015, a new ARG began.

The cult's meeting grounds - an old fishery.

In 2015, a new user joined Newbris - TheLaw. TheLaw showed the players a strange website he discoverd - YSHDT.com. This site contained messages from a high school student named Doug who has joined a cult and now regrets his decision. Through further exploration of this site, the players discovered another website - a blog named "Letschasethemouse". This blog was owned by Doug himself and the players were able to speak to him through the comment section of his blog posts. It was quickly revealed that the Doug the players were speaking to was actually a past version of Doug from 2009. This version of Doug had only just recently joined the cult and still seemed to regard them as friends. Despite their efforts, the players were unable to persuade Doug to leave the cult.

Patrem as he appeared on Within Hubris.

Other players attempted to join Doug's cult in order to learn more info. Only one player was accepted - Jacob. Doug referred Jacob to Mason - a fellow cultist and friend of Doug's who handles new recruits. Jacob spoke to Mason through email, where he was asked to preform strange rites in order to gain admittance into the cult. Back on Letschasethemouse, Doug revealed the headquarters of the cult - an old Fishery in Florida. This seemed to imply that the cult Doug is a part of isn't actually the Moon Children, as their headquarters was The Orchard.

Back on Newbris, a new user joined the forums - /Patrem\. Patrem means "Father" in Latin, and this user often spoke in an authoritative manner. He also seemed to possess great knowledge of the cult. This all seemed to imply that Patrem was the leader of Doug's cult. It was soon revealed that Patrem was no longer human - he was now a timeless, ascended being trapped within the body of another cultist named Vincent. However, Vincent was completely unaware of Patrem's presence, as it was only when he fell asleep that Patrem took control.

Meanwhile, the players had come together form a group to solve this new ARG - the Internet Detectives. The Internet Detectives mainly conversed over Skype. One night, Drowned returned for the first time since Youshouldnthavedonethat.net and joined the Internet Detectives Skype group. Despite his name, Drowned acted nothing like the malicious entity known as BEN. Instead, Drowned cowered before Patrem and begged the players for help. This added further credence to the idea that BEN is not the drowned child named Ben - BEN is simply a malevolent spirit that stole his name. Based on his mannerisms, it seemed more likely the Drowned was the spirit of the actual drowned child named Ben.

Based off some hints discovered on YSHDT.com, the players deemed it necessary to steal Doug's school notes. To do this, they submitted a video of Link wearing the Postman's Hat item in Majora's Mask and checking a mailbox. This resulted in a new entity introducing themselves to the players - a friendly deliveryman spirit named Helper. Helper delivered Doug's mail to the players, revealing that they had inadvertently stolen his mail. Doug later confirmed this in a blog post on Letschasethemouse where he complained that a special "religious package" of his had gone missing.

Mason and The Gray Man

One day, Doug made a blog post that contained a single message - "Help". Doug had been kidnapped by the cult. Amid Doug's disappearance, Mason gained control of Doug's blog and began chatting with the players. Mason still regarded Doug as his friend and was confused as to why the cult would suddenly act out against him. He began working alongside the players in an attempt to save Doug. As Mason headed towards the fishery, the players asked Helper to assist him.

The cell phone tower seen in videos.

As Mason snuck around the fishery's perimeters, the players suggested he toss a rock to distract the guards. Unfortunately, this rock ended up hitting Helper instead, killing him. The guards then noticed Mason. Mason managed to recover Helper's Hat before fleeing the premises. Helper's Hat seemed to hold special properties. Whoever possessed the hat gained control over Helper's various accounts, including a YouTube channel titled "M". On his way home, Mason encountered a strange individual simply known as The Gray Man. The Gray Man seemed interested in Helper's Hat and offered to trade Mason an Eight of Clubs playing card for it. Mason accepted the trade, giving The Gray Man the hat.

With Helper's Hat in The Gray Man's possession, strange videos of someone approaching a cell phone tower in a park began uploading to the M YouTube channel. This seemed to imply that The Gray Man was doing something involving this cell phone tower, though the players had no idea what it meant at the time. Meanwhile, in the Internet Detectives Skype group, Helper suddenly returned. Helper is a special entity that seemed to persist beyond conventional death. Unfortunately, now that he was no longer in possession of his hat, his powers were hindered greatly. He asked the players to recover his hat for him, meaning they would have to get it back from The Gray Man.

Later, Mason decided to take another trip to the fishery to try and save Doug. On his way there, Mason encountered Rosa, who gave him and the players a brief warning for events to come. Despite this, Mason continued towards the fishery. Later that night, Mason made a panicked post on revealing that the cult let him see Doug, but Doug was "different" now. Shortly after this, Doug resumed control of Letschasethemouse, acting as though nothing was wrong. The players now had to choose who to believe in - Doug or Mason.

Doug vs. Mason

An image found on YSHDT.com showcasing the locations of various players being targeted.

The players were given a choice on who would be their new Link - Doug or Mason. The players ultimately chose Doug, believing that they would have more opportunities to stop him using their Ocarina powers should he turn out to be malicious. Unfortunately for the players, however, something unexpected happened - Mason became trapped in a storm drain. With their Ocarina powers only affecting Doug, their only choice was to explore YSHDT.com for clues. YSHDT.com now contained images of the storm drain. Strangely, a blinking device could be seen resting next to the storm drain.

Back in the Internet Detectives Skype group, Mason suddenly began speaking to the players. Something was off, however. This Mason spoke as if he were using an old DOS computer. He also claimed that he was speaking to the players from the year 2015 instead of 2009 as he was before. Mason claimed that he didn't time travel, but rather that he "survived". Before the players were able to learn more, however, they accidentally severed all contact with Mason by entering the DOS command ".root".

Back on YSHDT.com, the players discovered what appeared to be blueprints for some sort of bomb device. The player ARGdov posted these bomb plans on Letschasethemouse. This caused Doug to go insane, repeatedly asking "WHERE DID YOU GET THAT" and ceasing all communication with the players.

With communication halted with both Doug and Mason, the GM of the YSHDT Arc, who had previously been going under the moniker "The Man", approached the players and revealed that the arc was now over. He revealed himself to be the fellow player Dawn of a New Day and stated that while his arc has now come to a close, another arc would soon begin heralded by a new team of GM's.

Arc 2 - Johnisdead Arc

In the previous arc, players were introduced to Doug and Mason - two high school students who had recently joined a mysterious cult led by an entity named Patrem. Patrem was a timeless, ascended being trapped within the body of a cultist named Vincent. Doug was kidnapped by the cult, resulting in Mason defecting and siding with the players. Unfortunately, the players were unable to save either Doug or Mason, and the arc came to a close. Meanwhile, the mystery behind the cult, Patrem, and Drowned continues...

John is Dead

The front page of Johnisdead.com.

Back in the Internet Detectives Skype group, Drowned began speaking to the players. He informed them that three of their fellow players were now gone. The players were then linked to a new website - Johnisdead.com. This took players by surprised - John was the name of one of their fellow players during the previous arc. The players' conversation was cut short, as Patrem joined the Skype group in pursuit of Drowned. While Drowned managed to escape, Patrem left the players with a cryptic warning - a powerful cultist named Regiminis is coming.

Shortly after this, a new user joined the forums - SKM. SKM was a rogue hacker who had been working against the cult for many years. He revealed to the players that the cult that Doug and Mason joined - the cult that Patrem is in control of isn't the Moon Children - it's actually a completely separate cult called the Lunar Children. Originally, the Lunar Children and the Moon Children were one in the same. However, at some point, a schism divided them into the two separate entities they are now.

SKM catches the players up to speed on what exactly is happening. The three players who are now gone are John, Jacob, and Tyler. John is dead, and has been since November 11th, 2011 - a night the Lunar Children refer to as Undecim Nocte. Jacob is currently missing - SKM doesn't know what happened to him, only that he went missing at some point before 2011. Tyler is currently fine, but the Lunar Children appear to be targeting him for some reason. Also, due to Patrem's influence, Tyler's memory of the players and the ARG has been erased. SKm explains that Johnisdead.com and YSHDT.com are experiments by the Lunar Children. The sites are like Wayward Horizon - the house the spirits of ascended cultists, but on a much larger scale.

During this conversation, SKM formally introduces the players to Drowned. He explains that while he doesn't fully understand him, Drowned is his faithful ally - an ascended spirit who helps SKM move files and alter websites. Before SKM can explain more about the Lunar Children's history, he is confronted by Regiminis, who seems to be in pursuit of Drowned. Before they flee, SKM and Drowned link the players to Tyler's new YouTube channel where they will soon be able to contact him - Silentdork.

Silentdork

Clockwise starting from the top left: Tyler, John, Kevin, and Jacob.

Several days later, Tyler began uploading videos to Silentdork. These videos were old recordings of his friends - John, Jacob, and a new character named Kevin. The Moon Child Insidiae from Jadusable's ARG was also named Kevin. At this point in the story, it was unknown whether or not these two characters were meant to be the same. The players were able to make contact with Tyler through the YouTube comment section. Here, they managed to convince him to join their Skype group./p>

The next day, Tyler began chatting with the players over Skype. Just as SKM said, he had no recollection of them or the events of the first arc. These conversations were fairly casual. Tyler revealed that he had a girlfriend named Carla who lived in Australia. Tyler would often mention a prized crescent moon necklace that Carla gave him many years prior. He also revealed that he indeed lived in Florida - the same location as the Lunar Children. The players began asking about Tyler's friends. He explained that he was all alone now, unfortunately. He explained that John's death was the result of a house fire in 2011.

As for Kevin, Tyler described him as somewhat "cagey", revealing that Kevin was a member of some "obscure religion", further implying that he is the Moon Child Insidiae. Tyler also claimed that he believes Kevin is responsible for stealing the necklace Carla gave him, as it disappeared after Kevin appeared to take special interest in it. Kevin's current whereabouts were unknown, however, claiming that he disappeared sometime around John's death. As for Jacob, the last time Tyler spoke to him was in 2009.

As time went on, strange things began happening to Tyler. He began witnessing strange things around town, such as shadowy figures warping around and flyers detailing various moon goddesses. This culminated in a Lunar Child named Daniel stalking Tyler outside of his home and leaving a strange "Beacon" device in his yard. Fearing for his safety, the players attempted to warn Tyler about the Lunar Children, telling him everything that had happened so far. Unfortunately, due to Patrem's manipulation, none of the players' images and files they were using as proof would appear for Tyler. Believing that the players were simply pulling a cruel prank on him, Tyler severed contact with them and left the Internet Detectives Skype group.

Lunar Children

The front page of Lunarchildren.com.

Meanwhile, players discovered the Lunar Children's website - Lunarchildren.com. The front page of this site was structured like a blog. Here, three high ranking Lunar Children would occasionally post announcements - Ezekiel Thoth - a newcomer from a rich family, LiquidSaint - SKM undercover pretending to be a Lunar Child, and MattR - a cultist wearing a skull mask. Matt was also the name of one of the high ranking Moon Children, Ifrit. Players were unsure whether these two characters were one in the same, however.

MattR brandishing a knife.

The rest of Lunarchildren.com contained a variety of pages detailing various Lunar Children beliefs and terminology. The Lunar Children, much like the Moon Children, worship a moon goddess named Luna and they are led by a figure known as The Father. The Father in this case is Patrem, who is currently trapped within Vincent, so the Lunar Children often refer to him as Father Vincent. The Lunar Children practice ascension just as the Moon Children did. However, the Lunar Children have many different classifications of ascended beings.

The lowest ascended being is a Devium - a spirit with little to no control that is trapped in an eternal state of torment. Deviums often manifest as strange images and sounds, such as the ones found on Johnisdead.com. The next level of ascension is a Eulogy. Eulogies are a moderate amount of control, and can even manifest physically on occasion. It's possible that Drowned could be classified as a Eulogy, or something similar. A Finitor is an incredibly powerful ascended being who has control over time itself to some extent. Finitors are incredibly rare - the Lunar Children only know of two in existence. Since he can manipulate time, Patrem is considered a Finitor. The final and most powerful ascended being are the Transcended. There are only four transcended beings in existence. They are known as the Four Giants. The transcended are said to retain their physical bodies upon ascension and they seem to have other unique properties as well.

When someone is ascended, their spirit enters into the Parallelos - a dimension beyond the physical world we are familiar with. The Lunar Children believe there are many different layers to the Parallelos, such as a "shadow realm" of our physical world that can be used for teleportation called the Sub-Parallelos, a location where non-ascended spirits are housed upon death known as the Parallelos of the Dead, a realm where ascended spirits freely dwell called the Parallelos of the Ascended, and Luna's personal Parallelos simply called Luna's Realm. The Lunar Children believe that a race of ancient, faceless servants known as the Absque Facie exist alongside Luna in her realm to help carry out her will.

Some important information pertaining to specific figures within the Lunar Children mythos is also revealed through these pages. Regiminis is already known as a high-ranking ascended Lunar Child. While not much is revealed about it, it is said that the date of his ascension was Undecim Nocte 2011 - the same day John died. An malicious entity known as the Tenebris Link is listed. Tenebris is said to be a trickster and a troublemaker who uses other entities as vessels of sorts. Another figure called the Deuro is also listed - an ascended spirit that the Lunar Children are forbidden from speaking about. Considering that "Deuro" is Latin for "BURNED", it's likely that the Deuro is actually John since he died in a house fire. Not much is revealed about these two figures other than that Tenebris was using a Eulogy as a vessel up until Undecim Nocte 2011, when he lost control of it and then took the Deuro as a vessel instead.

Tenebris using John's spirit as a vessel.

More information regarding these two was divulged by SKM, who managed to set up a chat room on Johnisdead.com titled Safehaven where he could freely speak to the players. SKM shared his history with the Lunar Children. He explained that his brother Max was once an avid user on the original Within Hubris forums back in 2011. Unfortunately, Max was lured to a nearby park by Patrem, resulting in his disappearance. Since then, SKM has been attempting to uncover Max's location and take the cult down.

On Undecim Nocte, 2011, SKM was investigating some Lunar Children-related sites when his computer suddenly exploded. When he came to, SKM discovered that Drowned was now on his computer. Drowned offered to help SKM by giving him coordinates to the fishery so he could continue his investigations. Drowned claimed that SKM somehow allowed him to "escape". This coupled with Drowned's username and mannerisms all seems to imply that Drowned is indeed Ben and that on Undecim Nocte he was able to escape his captor - BEN. This means that BEN is actually Tenebris. Shortly after this, it was also confirmed that Tenebris is indeed currently using John as a vessel, as a distorted video of John was found on Johnisdead.com titled TL.webm - TL, or "Tenebris Link". So, to summarize, on November 11th, 2011, Regiminis's ascension took place. During this ascension, Ben broke free of Tenebris's control and hid in SKM's computer. Searching for a new vessel to use, Tenebris found John, who had just recently died as a result of a house fire.

Discoveries

A screenshot of Fakeworld.

Johnisdead.com underwent some interesting developments. Players were linked to a Virtual Reality web browser named JanusVR. This program allowed users to explore supported webpages as 3d environments. One page on Johnisdead.com contained a 3d world for players to explore - Fakeworld, a dark, glitchy landscape containing disturbing images. In addition to this, a large number of Redirect Pages were added to the site - pages the players would be taken to if they attempted to access a page that did not exist. These psychedelic pages would later become a staple in Johnisdead. Further exploration of the site led players to their first "hole". A "hole" is a large directory that players must work through one page at a time, solving puzzles and finding hidden secrets to progress. This hole contained visages of the transcended - the Four Giants. The first giant was portrayed as a disturbing face with static eyes. The second giant was shown to be a pig-like creature. The third giant appeared to be a fish of sorts. The fourth giant was Kelbris himself. All of these portrayals were tinted green.

A "Devium" manifesting as one of the many disturbing images found on Johnisdead.com.

Further exploration of Johnisdead.com led players to a link to a new YouTube channel - Vincent Adams. As expected, this channel belonged to Father Vincent - Patrem's unknowing host. Here, players found several videos containing music tracks created by Vincent. He seemed to be partaking in some sort of sleep deprivation experiment in an attempt to spur on more creativity in his music. Another YouTube channel was discovered no long after Vincent's - "lostmemory423". This channel actually belonged to Drowned, as "lostmemory423" was an alias they would occasionally use. This channel contained videos showing what appeared to be SKM journeying to the fishery after being given its coordinates by Drowned in 2011.

Several days later, Patrem began speaking with Tenebris on Newbris. As expected, Tenebris was using John's old Within Hubris account, since he was now using John as a vessel. Through this conversation it is revealed that Tenebris is offering to give John's spirit to Regiminis if he can capture Ben for him. This explains why Regiminis and Patrem have been so eager to capture Drowned in the past - they are attempting to recover John's soul. Shortly after this, Tenebris revealed that he had stolen the players' Ocarina powers and gave them to the Lunar Children. This was shown in a video where MattR was seen submitting the song "Bolero of Fire" on what appeared to be a message board of sorts. The next day, Tyler uploaded a video to Silentdork showing a fire that broke out at his workplace. This happened again a few days later when the Lunar Children submitted the song "Song of Storms", resulting in a sudden torrential downpour of rain around Tyler's location. The Lunar Children were now on the attack and they have the players' most powerful weapon at their disposal.

Later on, another video was uploaded to Silentdork. On his way home from work, Tyler decided to take a shortcut home through the woods. Here, he stumbled across the fishery. As he explored the fishery grounds, a green figure could be seen watching Tyler from afar. The next day, players discovered that the "Safehaven" chat room had returned. However, instead of SKM waiting for the players, it was Rosa. Rosa informed the players that after they spoke to her through Matt's email in 2010, she was confronted by Kelbris, just like her brother before her. She claims that she was not killed, however - instead, she was thrust into a chaotic realm within the Parallelos.

Rosa claims that the Lunar Children wish to capture Tyler so that they may sacrifice him in a ritual on Undecim Nocte 2015 to summon Luna. She stresses that the players must recover their Ocarina powers. She explains that the Ocarina powers are actually an extension of Luna herself that are managed by Tenebris, which explains how he was able to take them from the players and give them to the Lunar Children. Tenebris, Rosa explains, was "imprinted upon" by the Majora's Mask cartridge he was trapped within alongside Ben. This explains why Tenebris often speaks through and abides by rules set out by the game Majora's Mask. Finally, Rosa revealed the identity of one of the four giants - Doug. This meant that when Doug was captured and "changed" by the cult in the previous arc, he was actually transcended into one of the four giants.

Doug's appearance as one of the Four Giants.

The next day, Tyler decided to return to the fishery. Here, he was confronted by Doug, who was now a smiling green-colored entity due to his ascension. The following week, Tyler was hounded by constant knocking sounds on the walls of his house. He also began receiving strange calls from John's old phone number containing distorted voices and noises. Tyler was eventually urged to visit Kevin's abandoned home by a page on Johnisdead.com. Angered and fed up with the cult's recent provocations, Tyler decided to go to Kevin's house to confront them. Here, Tyler was captured by the Lunar Children and taken to their current headquarters - a large building in Ohio known as The Spire.

A new video was uploaded to lostmemory423 showing SKM exploring the fishery - presumably after carrying out some mission for the Lunar Children to gain their trust and infiltrate their ranks. Here, SKM is shown being gifted a briefcase for successfully carrying out his mission. The beginning of November rolled around. Tyler was in the Lunar Children's possession and they had no Ocarina powers to save him with. One day, Drowned contacted the players over Skype. He helped the players gain access to the Lunar Children forums while also revealing his true identity - he wasn't simply Ben, as the players had expected - instead, he is a fusion of two spirits merged together: Ben, and SKM's deceased brother Max.

Arc 3 - The Truth Arc

In the previous arc, players were introduced to their new main character - Tyler, a young man living in rural Florida. Tyler is being targeted by the same cult Doug and Mason were a part of - the Lunar Children, an off-shoot of the Moon Children. Tyler is currently living alone after his friend John died in 2011. Tyler's other friends, Kevin and Jacob, have also been missing for quite some time. Through investigation of the cult's websites, Johnisdead.com and Lunarchildren.com, players discovered that Tyler was to be sacrificed in a ritual taking place on Undecim Nocte - November 11th.

It was later revealed that John died on Undecim Nocte 2011 - the date of the Lunar Child Regiminis's ascension. BEN, who was revealed to be a malicious entity named Tenebris confirmed to be using Ben's spirit as a puppet, was also present on this night. Tenebris lost control of Ben, who had fused with the spirit of a deceased child named Max. From that point forward, Max and Ben's fused spirit was named Drowned. Drowned hid away in the computer of a hacker named SKM - Max's older brother, who was currently tracking the cult to avenge him. Meanwhile, in search of a new puppet, Tenebris captured John, who had died on that same night.

Now, the players are pitted against Patrem, Regiminis, and the Four Giants - four powerful ascended beings, two of which have been revealed to be Doug and Kelbris respectively. The players are not alone - their allies include Rosa, Drowned, and SKM, who has successfully infiltrated the Lunar Children. However, Tyler has been captured by the cult and the players' Ocarina powers have been taken from them. As Undecim Nocte 2015 approaches, the players search the Lunar Children forums for answers.

Undecim Nocte 2015

As the players searched the Lunar Children forums, they were introduced to a variety of new, interesting characters. Players discovered several Elder Children - high ranking Lunar Children who manage the cult to some extent. These Elder Children were as follows: Ezekiel Thoth, MattR, LiquidSaint, and two new individuals who oversee the cult's Library at the Spire - Kuu and Jinn. Searching through the member list revealed two interesting accounts that went unused - accounts for the Moon Children Spencer and Alex.

The Libro Lunarus, as seen on Johnisdead.com.

Lower-ranking Lunar Children were found chatting casually on the forums as well, such as an artist named SheepDog, a singer named Harry, a Lunar Child living at the Spire named Igaluk123, a new recruit who wishes to read the Lunar Children holy text the "Libro Lunarus" named Tsukuyomi, and an assassin for the Elder Children named Eddie. The two most interesting members of the forums, however, was an elderly man named Jarilo and his son Hunter. Jarilo was originally a Moon Child who later joined the Lunar Children. He is also the brother of the Old Man who gave the haunted Majora's Mask cartridge to Alex in 2010. Jarilo claimed that the Moon Children lied about the date of Kelbris's death - he didn't die in 1998, but in 2002 when he was killed by Matt. Jarilo reveals that Matt killed Kelbris as an initiation into the Moon Children, and that this accidentally resulted in Kelbris's ascension.

Players also discovered a post in which it was revealed that Hunter was being offered a position as an Elder Child if he carries out one final task for the Lunar Children. Before the players could learn more, the majority of the Lunar Children forums were deleted, leaving only a single board. Here, the players were able to speak to Jarilo directly. Something was off, however. Jarilo mentioned that the clocks in his house seemed to have stopped, and that his residence was much darker than normal. It was soon revealed that Jarilo was actually killed and ascended by his son Hunter as a part of his initiation to become an Elder Child. Jarilo warned the players about Tyler's fate. With Undecim Nocte drawing near, the players discovered that they could once again use their Ocarina powers on the Lunar Children forums. Through a combination of the Song of Soaring and the Stone Mask, the players successfully rescued Tyler from the Spire.

Shortly after his escape from the Lunar Children, Tyler left Florida to visit Carla in Australia. Meanwhile, the Lunar Children were in a state of panic. In a rant written by Thoth, it was revealed that Hunter was supposedly meant to have some key role in Undecim Nocte 2015 involving Tyler's necklace, yet somehow Tyler had regained possession of his necklace. While the players weren't exactly sure how Tyler's necklace was relevant, the believed that it was dangerous for him to retain possession of it. To ensure his safety, the players summoned Helper on the Lunar Children forums and asked him to steal Tyler's necklace. They also had him give Tyler a camera so that he may recover any footage taken while at the Spire and upload it to Silentdork.

Regiminis

A few weeks later in December of 2015, Tyler made contact with the players over Skype for the first time in many months. Tyler was asking the players for help. It was discovered that Carla was actually a paranoid former Lunar Child who had locked Tyler in her home. Before Tyler give the players more information, his messages were interrupted by Regiminis, who revealed that he was heading now heading to Australia himself. After this, the players didn't hear from Tyler for many months. When he finally uploaded another video, though, it was implied that he was still trying to process what exactly took place back in Australia. It also now seemed as though he was being haunted by Tenebris.

Regiminis, as seen on Silentdork.

Back in the Internet Detectives Skype group, Drowned contacted the players once again. Drowned shared another video with the players - IMG_1426. This video showcased the mission SKM had to carry out to gain the Lunar Children's trust - explore the Moon Children's headquarters, The Orchard, and record footage of the masks that were left behind there. Near the end of this video, SKM found a copy of the Lunar Children's holy book inside one of the buildings in The Orchard - the Libro Lunarus. Drowned explained that SKM later returned this book to the cult, further gaining their trust.

Hank and Ben - Father and son.

Drowned informed the players that both he and SKM had been captured by Regiminis. He reiterated that Regiminis was going to hand both of them over to Tenebris in exchange for John's soul. Drowned explained that the reason Regiminis required John's soul is because John had inadvertently become Regiminis's Conduit. A "Conduit" is someone who was killed as a result of someone else's ascension. The Lunar Children believe that if an ascended spirit uses a conduit as a vessel, they will gain greater powers. This implies that John's house burning down during Undecim Nocte 2011 was somehow a result of Regiminis's ascension.

Drowned shared a video with the players revealing what was inside the briefcase given to SKM seen in previous videos - a gas mask. However, Drowned strangely seems to have conflicting memories regarding this event. Another video was shown where SKM opens the briefcase to find not only a gas mask, but also a copy of the Libro Lunarus covered in notes warning him not to open it. Drowned claims that this never happened and that someone has messed with the timeline. Drowned also finally revealed Regiminis's true identity to the players - Kevin, Tyler's friend who disappeared shortly before Undecim Nocte 2011.

Through a series of submissions, the players were able to save SKM from Regiminis. Unfortunately, they were unable to save Drowned, who was given to Tenebris in exchange for John, completing the deal. A few days later, a new video was uploaded to Silentdork - Regiminis. This video contained a taunting message from Regiminis directed at Tyler and the players. The identity of the four giants is confirmed as being Doug, Alex, Spencer, and Kelbris, whose real name is revealed to be Hank. Later on, another video was uploaded to Silentdork - 5646. This video contained footage of what appeared to be Tyler walking along a strange, green boardwalk while John warned him about Kevin and Tenebris. As Tyler reached the end of the boardwalk, he came across a briefcase containing a camera - presumably the one players asked Helper to give him back on the forums.

Back on Lunarchildren.com, a new page was discovered containing a photo of Ben and Hank. Here, it was revealed that Hank was actually Patrem, meaning that Hank, Kelbris, and Patrem were all the same person. On top of this, it was revealed that Hank was actually Ben's father. It's implied that Ben's mother Diana was dead. This photo was supposedly taken on Ben's birthday in 2002, as it's implied that Hank had just gifted him the Majora's Mask cartridge his soul would later become trapped in. About a month later, Lunarchildren.com updated with several new posts dating back to April, 2016. These posts revealed that the Lunar Children attempted to capture Tyler a second time sometime around April 23rd, 2016. They were unsuccessful, however, resulting in some horrific cataclysm wiping out most of the Lunar Children at the Spire.

The Moon Children

Shortly after the destruction of the Lunar Children, players discovered that the Moon Children's website, Youshouldnthavedonethat.net, had returned. The site appeared nearly identical to how it did in 2010, and it once again operated on a three day cycle. In addition to a series of new announcements, the front page contained a video titled again.wmv - a video calling out various player groups from Jadusable's ARG. In a post from Chris, it's revealed that a page containing various Moon Children testimonials had recently been lost. Chris also mentions that some sort of party was going to be held by Matt on Sunday - the final day of the three-day cycle.

The front page of YSHDT.net.

As players investigated the site, the discovered various chatlogs between Moon Children. One chatlog between David and Rem revealed that Matt was actually Ben's adoptive brother, meaning that when Matt killed Hank, he was actually killing his step-father. Players also discovered Spencer's email address, where they were able to briefly interact with him. Spencer mostly talked through strange, cryptic messages - that is, until players submitted the Zora's Mask. This seemed to allow Spencer to speak normally, implying that transcended individuals such as Doug and Spencer are simply being used as vessels for the true Four Giants. Spencer revealed that on the day of Matt's party, Matt was confronted by Kelbris, who "changed" him somehow. After this, Matt proceeded to kill the other Moon Children, transcending Spencer and Alex in the process. Through these conversations it was also implied that Mr. D is actually Tenebris, who Spencer described as a parasite that feeds off of and utilizes the bodies and souls of others. This would mean that the leader of the Moon Children was actually Tenebris all along.

Players slowly uncovered more pieces of information as the first and second cycles came and went. Players discovered that, in some cycles, Tenebris was using SKM's body as a vessel. In others, it was seemingly implied that Tyler himself was somehow being used by Tenebris. When the third cycle began, players discovered the previously missing testimonials page. Here, two interesting names were revealed - Jeremy Jarvis and Hank Hubbard. Jeremy is actually Jarilo - the friendly elderly Lunar Child players met on the Lunar Children forums, whereas Hank Hubbard is the same Hank who would later become known as Kelbris, later leaving the Moon Children to form the Lunar Children. Hank's testimonial was written in 1990 - the same year Ben was born.

Later on, the site underwent some heavy distortions. On the front page, two messages from the same person - presumably Tyler - were posted. One message seemed to be discussing how Alex wished to share a room with him, but he was currently too involved in some sort of internet game to bother. Another message seemed to be Tyler asking Kevin if they could hang out before Tyler heads off to college, where he was already sharing a room with Alex. This seemed to imply that multiple timelines are somehow involved.

Eventually, players are able to make contact with Jeremy and once again chat with him directly. Jeremy revealed that he was speaking to the players from the present - 2016, whereas most of the other entities on the site were speaking as if it were the year 2010. Jeremy confirmed that "Mr. D" stood for "Mr. Drowned", which was supposedly meant to represent his future possession of Ben, fully confirming that Mr. D was Tenebris. Jeremy also explained a bit more about Hank's history. He revealed that Hank's wife Diana died while giving birth to Ben in 1990. Eight years later in 1998, Henk, who was going by Kelbris at the time, began hearing whispers from Luna herself about ascension - something the other Moon Children believed was heresy. Following this, Hank left the cult to form the Lunar Children, leaving behind his neglected son Matt, who, as has been revealed previously, killed Hank in 2002. Hank's death resulted in him ascending into both Patrem and Kelbris simultaneously, which proved his previous testimonies about ascension. Jeremy claims that the Moon Children lied about the date of Hank's death to cover up this fact.

The Truth

Before Jeremy departed, he informed the players that they needed to enter the locked page on Youshouldnthavedonethat.net - a page that had been locked since 2010, The Truth. It was said that whatever was inside the page was incredibly powerful - a change to "turn off" Tenebris. Later on, players discovered a chatlog between Rem, Kevin, and Seth, who Kevin referred to as "Mase". Here, it was revealed that Rem was actually Ryukaki, meaning that he had connections to the Moon Children the entire time. Later on, another chatlog between Seth and Kevin was discovered in which it was revealed that Kevin was indeed the same Kevin who would later become known as Regiminis. Kevin and Seth were both infiltrating the Moon Children at the time. In this chatlog, Seth expressed that while he's happy to hear that Matt has "changed" sides to the Lunar Children, he is concerned about Kelbris. Kevin attempts to quell these concerns by claiming that the story of the Four Giants is a lie, which is quite odd.

Other chatlogs fully confirmed that the Alex who was involved with the Moon Children was the same Alex who ran the Jadusable YouTube channel. Here, it was revealed that, at some point, Alex infiltrated the Lunar Children and stole a copy of the Libro Lunarus for the Moon Children. This was implied to be the same copy that SKM discovered while exploring The Orchard a year later in 2011. Over time, Youshouldnthavedonethat.net became more unstable. Jeremy contacted the players using a ritual known as the Circle of Three - a ceremony in which three players are brought together to stabilize contact with Jeremy. These players were Spanosa, Velvet, and Greth.

Kelbris expressing his regret.

Jeremy informed the players that the more they use their Ocarina powers, the more powerful Tenebris becomes - likely due to the fact that the Ocarina powers are an extension of Luna and himself. Jeremy also explains that the Kevin seen on Youshouldnthavedonethat.net, Insidiae, isn't Kevin from 2010, but actually the players' current 2016 incarnation, Regiminis. He claims that Kevin is forcing the many incarnations of Moon Children souls on the website through countless cycles in an attempt to break into "The Truth" and steal its power for himself. Jeremy tells the players that soon the final cycle of Youshouldnthavedonethat.net will begin, and they will finally have an opportunity to enter "The Truth".

As the final cycle began, it was revealed that the spirits Kevin was attempting to rule over had rebelled against him. The players used this opportunity to speak to Kayd, who finally gave them the full login information for "The Truth" after all these years. When the players entered "The Truth", they were met with images of the Four Giants and a poll giving them the option to "Kill" Tenebris. The players voted yes, resulting in the Four Giants disappearing from the page one by one, leaving only Kelbris. Before he departed, Kelbris expressed regret for what he did to Ben and how he treated Matt.

Arc 4 - Astral Arc

In the previous arc, players successfully rescued Tyler from the Lunar Children. Sadly, Drowned wasn't so fortunate, as he was captured by Regiminis and given to Tenebris in exchange for John. With Regiminis in possession of John's spirit and Tenebris once again in control of Ben through Drowned, the two were now more powerful than ever. Regiminis, who was discovered to actually be Tyler's missing friend Kevin, revealed identities of the four giants- Doug, Alex, Spencer, and Hank.

Hank was Kelbris's original name. Hank and his wife Diana adopted Matt, but neglected him most of the time. In 1990, Diana gave birth to Ben, but sadly passed away while doing so. Years later, in 1998, Hank began hearing whispers from Luna telling him about ascension. The Moon Children saw this as blasphemy. Dejected, Hank left the cult to create the Lunar Children. On April 23rd, 2002, Hank ascended is son Ben, resulting in him becoming a puppet for Tenebris and trapped within the Majora's Mask cartridge. Not long after, Matt killed Hank as an initiation of sorts into the Moon Children. This resulted in Hank ascending as well, transforming into both Patrem and the giant Kelbris. Kelbris later approached Matt in 2010, "changing" him somehow, which resulted in him going insane and killing the other Moon Children - transcending Alex and Spencer into giants in the process.

Much of this was explained to the players by Jeremy - a former cultist and the brother of the Old Man who handled the cartridge. Jeremy was fairly amicable towards the players. Unfortunately, these interactions were short-lived, as Jeremy was soon killed and ascended by his son Hunter, who was told to do so to join the Elder Children - a group of high-ranking Lunar Children. The Lunar Children ceased being a threat, however, when they failed to capture Tyler a second time on April 23rd, 2016. This resulted in a major cataclysm occurring at the Spire, presumably wiping out most of the remaining Lunar Children.

With the Lunar Children out of the picture, the Moon Children's website, Youshouldnthavedonethat.net suddenly resurfaced. Here, it was revealed that Tyler, Kevin, Alex, and Ryukaki all had prior connections to the cults. However, it was difficult to garner much from this, as many characters seemed to be speaking from alternate timelines. This was because, as explained by Jeremy, Regiminis was attempting to force the Moon Children to experience countless cycles of Youshouldnthavedonethat.net in an attempt to break into a locked page called "The Truth" and take whatever powerful force is within it for himself. However, the spirits Regiminis had been tormenting for so long eventually overthrew him, allowing the players to enter "The Truth" instead, where they were able to temporarily "turn off" Tenebris.

After all was said and done, the Four Giants slowly left Youshouldnthavedonethat.net one by one. Before he disappeared, Kelbris expressed regret for what he had done to his children, apologizing for his misdeeds. Now, with the Lunar Children gone and the Moon Children put to rest, our characters are left to pick up the pieces and face new threats.

New Beginnings

Returning back to Johnisdead.com, players discovered that the site had reverted to how it looked when they first discovered it. On Silentdork, several videos were uploaded that seemed to imply that Tenebris was still alive. While the players had managed to keep Kevin away from "The Truth" and temporarily defeat Tenebris, these threats were still at large. Back on Youshouldnthavedonethat.net, however, something strange occurred - a former Lunar Child named Hope began writing journals on the site's front page. These journals explained that Hope and two of her friends survived the cataclysm at The Spire, but they were now experiencing some strange reality-warping effects. One such example is the fact that The Spire seems to still be standing to them, despite the fact that Hope claims that it had exploded. For the time being, Hope and her friends have decided to live inside The Spire, seemingly having no families worth returning to.

In November of 2017, Tyler uploaded a video in-which he addressed the audience directly for the first time in over a year. Here, Tyler explains that his memory issues have worsened. He claims he was in some sort of accident in 2016, resulting in him being in falling into some sort of coma throughout the duration of The Truth Arc when Youshouldnthavedonethat.net was active. When he woke up from his coma, he was wearing a strange bullet-shaped necklace of unknown origin. In addition to this, Tyler confirms that he was once in possession of the briefcase seen in the video "5646" that contained the camera. Unfortunately, he has lost the briefcase and its whereabouts are currently unknown.

Several months later on April 23rd of 2018, Lunarchildren.com updated with a new announcement. The site was now being ran by someone simply referred to as TheArchiveGuy - someone who tracked down and recovered the Lunar Children servers for the sake of his friends. Shortly after this, Tyler was seen browsing the site in a video upload when suddenly he heard a loud bang on the side of his trailer. When he went outside to investigate, Tyler discovered a Detour Sign sitting in his yard. This Detour Sign had strange properties - whenever Tyler attempted to leave its vicinity, it would teleport him back in-front of it. Whenever Tyler would touch the sign, it would teleport him to a random location around the woods.

Greth Vlogs

Around this time, a player named Greth began uploading vlogs to a YouTube channel named Greth Vlogs. While these videos were originally believed to be unrelated to Johnisdead, players quickly began to take notice of strange happenings within them. Strange, figures could occasionally be seen in the backgrounds of these videos, such as a figure wearing a silver alien mask, another figure wearing a white fish-like mask, and what appeared to be a green-tinted entity representing one of the four giants stalking Greth. Over time, Greth began suffering from a severe case of insomnia, and there seemed to be lapses in his memory as well.

Believing these recent issues to be a result of his new home, Greth decided to take a hiking trip through the Floridan wilderness. While trekking through the woods, Greth came across Tyler, who had just been teleported by the Detour Sign. The two later met up again and began hanging out together. Here, Greth and Tyler ask each other questions about the cults and their experiences with them. It seems as though Tyler has been doing some research of his own into the cults and their histories. Tyler also claims that he has made contact with "TheArchiveGuy", revealing that their real name is José.

Unfortunately, Greth's insomnia only worsened. Fearing for his health at this point, the players submitted the song Goron's Lullaby in an attempt to help him fall asleep. This backfired, however, as it was then revealed that Patrem was now residing inside Greth. Now that the players had put Greth to sleep, Patrem was in full control of his body. Not long after this, a new website was discovered to be linked on Johnisdead.com - Astralobservatory.net.

The Astral Observatory

The Astral Observatory appeared to be a site for those who believe in conspiracy theories, the paranormal, and other such things to gather and discuss their beliefs. The site was ran by a user named Nocta. Nocta seemed to have knowledge of Johnisdead.com and the Internet Detectives. Nocta says that Johnisdead.com is responsible for Astralobservatory.net going offline, claiming that somehow bandwidth was stolen from them. This supposedly erased Astral Observatory's forums and caused the site to go offline.

Fortunately, a few days later, the Astral Observatory forums were recreated. Here, players were introduced to several new characters - Moonman, the resident troll and Vaporwave enthusiast, Yuukichan, an anime fangirl who is interested in the paranormal, NotAHoax, a man who is obsessed with political conspiracies, and Samuel_Charleston, a mysterious old man who hadn't made any posts. Players began signing up for the forums and chatting with the users there, quickly becoming friends with them.

Something was off about the Astral Observatory, however. The forums contained a locked board titled "The Truth" that Nocta warned players to not to try and enter. Talk of Johnsidead.com was hushed, as if it were a taboo subject Nocta did not want users discussing - even Moonman seemed to question Nocta's narrative of the site stealing Astralobservatory.net's bandwidth. In addition to all of this, the Astral Observatory members seemed to have some knowledge of the players - Yuukichan revealed that she knew they were related to the story of "Ben Drowned", implying some discussion about the players was taking place among the Astral Observatory members in a secret location - possibly in "The Truth". Just as well, in an announcement posted on the front page, Nocta warned the other Astral Observatory members to welcome the players with open arms, but to also keep a close eye on them, seemingly hoping to somehow indoctrinate the players to their cause.

Meanwhile, back on Silentdork, Tyler began hosting his first livestream. During this stream, Tyler showed off several items he found outside his home - a photo of Hank and Diana, a red, demon-looking mask, and a gas mask. Tyler also mentioned that his bullet-shaped necklace has recently gone missing. Halfway through the stream, Tyler leaves his room. During this time, the lights begin flickering as SKM enters the room. SKM takes back the gas mask, revealing that it was his. He also returns Tyler's bullet necklace, implying that he has somehow recovered Max's soul and placed it within the necklace itself.

On November 11th, 2018, players began sharing some of their favorite songs on the Astral Observatory forums. Nocta himself chipped in, linking to an upload of the song Sky Children by Kaleidoscope hosted on his own channel. Strangely, this channel was named Kevin Hendricks. This seems to imply that Nocta is somehow related to both Ryukaki and Kevin. The video itself was also strange, seemingly showcasing dark footage of a ritual involving Tyler.

Covert Disclosure

As the players were struggling to discern what exactly was taking place in Nocta's footage, they were suddenly messaged by Moonman, who presented them with a clearer version of the video. Moonman offered to give the players more information regarding Nocta and the Astral Observatory should they provide him with a secure location to do so. The player Wolfcat then created a Discord server titled Safehaven, named after SKM's various secure chatrooms from 2015. Here, Moonman began revealing more information about the Astral Observatory.

Moonman claimed that Nocta was indeed the same Kevin known as Regiminis - in a way, at least. He wasn't sure exactly how the two were related, exactly - only that they are.

((WiP))

Meanwhile, back on the Astral Observatory forums, a returning Astral Observatory member joined the forums - a snide gamer and avid roleplayer named Kaiden Zoromichi.