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+ | Below is a summary of the story of Johnisdead. For a more detailed retelling of the story, click the "Full" tab above. | ||
+ | <ul> | ||
+ | <li> | ||
+ | Important names such as characters, websites, and entities will be <b>bolded</b>. | ||
+ | </li> | ||
+ | <li> | ||
+ | If something is <span class="altTooltip2">italicized and underlined<span class="tooltiptext2">Additional information can be found by hovering over text.</span></span>, hover over it for additional information. | ||
+ | </li> | ||
+ | </ul> | ||
+ | |||
<img src="http://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/6/66/Arc0.png" alt="" style="margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; display:block;" /> | <img src="http://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/6/66/Arc0.png" alt="" style="margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; display:block;" /> | ||
Some elements of Johnisdead's story builds off of [[Ben Drowned]] - an ARG created by Alex Hall in 2010. Many characters, concepts, and locations featured in Ben Drowned make appearances within Johnisdead. Because of this, the following section will contain a brief summary of Ben Drowned. | Some elements of Johnisdead's story builds off of [[Ben Drowned]] - an ARG created by Alex Hall in 2010. Many characters, concepts, and locations featured in Ben Drowned make appearances within Johnisdead. Because of this, the following section will contain a brief summary of Ben Drowned. | ||
− | <div class="storytitle"><h3>The Haunted Cartridge Arc</h3></div> | + | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/d/df/Storyhead1.png" /></p><h3>The Haunted Cartridge Arc</h3></div> |
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/5/5b/Elegychase.png"><p>Alex encountering the Elegy Statue in Majora's Mask.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>In 2010, a college student named <b>Alex Hall</b> obtained a tattered copy of <span class="altTooltip2">The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask<span class="tooltiptext2"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/6/60/The_Legend_of_Zelda_-_Majora%27s_Mask_Box_Art.jpg" alt="" /><br />The Legend of Zelda is a video game series created by Nintendo. Majora's Mask is an entry in the series that was released in the year 2000 for the Nintendo 64. This game is notable for its strange, foreboding atmosphere and odd characters.</span></span> from an <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Old Man</b><span class="tooltiptext2"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/f/fa/Inkblot.jpg" alt="" /><br />The Old Man was hosting a yard sale containing strange paintings like the one above. Not only did he give Alex the copy of Majora's Mask for free, he also said "Goodbye, Ben!" - a detail that would become important later on.</span></span>. Upon playing the game, Alex was greeted by a malicious entity calling itself <b>BEN</b>. BEN would follow Alex around the game world by manifesting as the <span class="altTooltip2">"Elegy Statue"<span class="tooltiptext2"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/f/fc/Elegystatue.png" alt="" /><br />The "Elegy Statue" is an uncanny effigy of Link - Majora's Mask's main character. It is summoned by playing a song called the "Elegy of Emptiness" on Link's Ocarina, though it normally does not move on its own.</span></span>. Unnerved, Alex began uploading these hauntings to his YouTube channel - <b>Jadusable</b>.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>As the hauntings continued, Alex's mental state began to deteriorate. He began suffering from paranoia and horrible nightmares. Alex's friend <b>Tyler</b> took notice of this and became concerned. The two drove back to the Old Man's house in an attempt to find some answers. While the Old Man was nowhere to be found, Alex learned that the Majora's Mask cartridge once belonged to a young boy named <b>Ben</b> who tragically drowned on <b>April 23rd, 2002</b>.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>When Alex returned to his dorm room, he discovered that BEN had entered into his computer via his recording equipment. Alex and BEN chatted with one another via <span class="altTooltip2">Cleverbot<span class="tooltiptext2">Cleverbot is a website where users can chat with a simplistic AI program. This AI program learns from its users and responds accordingly. However, the responses Alex was receiving were far too personalized and informed to be randomly generated.</span></span>. Here, Alex discovered that the malicious entity known as BEN was not the drowned child named Ben. Instead, BEN was simply using his name out of cruelty.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Days later, <span class="altTooltip2">"<b>TheTruth.rtf</b>"<span class="tooltiptext2">TheTruth.rtf was said to have been uploaded by Alex's dormmate - possibly his friend Tyler. However, this is questionable as other sources imply that Alex lived alone. It's possible that BEN himself uploaded TheTruth.rtf.</span></span> was uploaded to the internet - a compilation of notes that Alex had been taking throughout this whole ordeal. However, it soon became apparent that these notes had been tampered with by BEN. 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.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/0/0d/Storyhead2.png" /></p><h3>The Moon Children Arc</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/3/34/Kelsmaller.png"><p>Kelbris as he was portrayed on Youshouldnthavedonethat.net.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Not long after the upload of "TheTruth.rtf", players were led to a website - "<b>Youshouldnthavedonethat.net</b>". This was the home of the <b>Moon Children</b> - a cult that worshipped a moon goddess named <b>Luna</b>. The Moon Children were led by a figure simply known as <b>The Father</b>. As players explored the site, other strange entities made themselves known: A deceased Moon Child named <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Kelbris</b><span class="tooltiptext2"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/3/34/Kelsmaller.png" alt="" /><br />Kelbris was a former Moon Child who claimed to have heard Luna speaking to him. He was later killed via electrocution. Some speculate that he was murdered.</span></span>, an authoritative figure known as <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Mr. D</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Mr. D is an enigmatic figure as he was only mentioned a handful of times by the Moon Children. It's possible that he and The Father are one-in-the-same because they're both implied to hold some degree of power within the cult.</span></span>, and an entity wearing a gas mask calling itself <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Drowned</b><span class="tooltiptext2"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/5/57/Drowned.png" alt="" /><br />Given his name, it's implied that Drowned holds some connection to Ben - possibly being either his lingering spirit or BEN once again masquerading as him.</span></span>.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>The front page of Youshouldnthavedonethat.net was a blog where various high ranking Moon Children posted announcements. These Moon Children moderators were as follows: <b>Matt Hubris</b> "Ifrit", <b>Chris</b> "Nekko", <b>Spencer L.</b> "Duskworld23", and <b>Kevin F.</b> "Insidiae". Chris was the youngest of the moderators. Several posts of his detailed his excitement for his upcoming <b>Ascension</b> - 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 their souls inside electronic devices.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="float:left; margin-top: 0px;"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/c/cc/Alexsot.png"><p>Alex submitting the "Song of Time" to rewind time.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>The players began emailing Matt. He revealed that Ben was a former Moon Child who underwent a botched ascension - possibly explaining how his spirit became trapped within the Majora's Mask cartridge. Matt also revealed that a Moon Child named <b>Alex</b> had recently gone missing, implying that Alex Hall was somehow connected to the cult. Matt's emails became stranger and more concerning. He reported that an unknown assailant had begun relentlessly knocking on his door.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Further exploration of the site revealed a locked page titled <b>"The Truth"</b> and a countdown. As the countdown was about to reach zero, the missing Moon Child Alex emerged on the YouTube channel <b>TheLinkMissing</b>. Here, Alex uploaded gameplay of <b>"The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time"</b> showing Link playing the <b>Song of Time</b> 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. It was soon revealed that it was actually the deceased Moon Child Kelbris who was responsible for his disappearance.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Alex had given the players a powerful tool - 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 - the player's <span class="altTooltip2">"<b>Link</b>"<span class="tooltiptext2">Link is the main character of The Legend of Zelda series. As such, the main character affected by submitted videos throughout Ben Drowned and Johnisdead is also given the title of "Link". As the ARGs progressed, the title of "Link" would often change and be given to different characters.</span></span>. The players' current Link was Alex. Unfortunately, some poorly timed submissions quickly got Alex killed. Another ally named <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Rosa</b><span class="tooltiptext2"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/8/86/Rosa.png" alt="" /><br />Rosa was seemingly based off of a character named Rosa from the game Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines who appeared in an older video on the Jadusable YouTube channel. It's implied that this character had psychic abilities and could predict the future.</span></span>, Matt's sister who briefly spoke to the players through his email, also went missing after some poor player choices.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/c/c2/Storyhead3.png" /></p><h3>Ryukaki and Within Hubris</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/c/c7/Whforums.png"><p>The Within Hubris message boards.</p></div> | ||
+ | A final message from Matt was discovered on Youshouldnthavedonethat.net warning the players about BEN's manipulative nature. This message also contained a warning to one player in particular - <b>Kayd Hendricks</b>. Players quickly tracked down Kayd Hendricks' online account - <b>Ryukaki</b>. They learned that he had managed to obtain the login information for "The Truth" page from Rosa before she disappeared and that he was now being targeted. Ryukaki began uploading footage of strange hauntings around his home. Through these videos the headquarters of the Moon Children was revealed - a location simply known as <b>"The Orchard"</b>". 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 - <b>Within Hubris</b>. Within Hubris was a message board for the players to use in the upcoming third arc of the ARG. These boards held some secrets. Canon accounts for many characters were discovered in the member list - even minor characters such as Alex's friend Tyler. A locked board was also discovered named <b>"Wayward Horizon"</b>. This board was guarded by Kelbris 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. | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <img src="http://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/0/09/Arc1redone.png" alt="" style="margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; display:block;" /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | 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 worshipped a goddess 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... | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/2/29/Storyhead4.png" /></p><h3>YSHDT.com</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/1/18/Dougfish1.png"><p>The cult's meeting grounds - an old fishery in Florida.</p></div><p>Shortly after the deletion of Within Hubris, players created their own board to replace it. This incarnation of Within Hubris, dubbed <b>Newbris</b> and it served the community for many years to come. While Ben Drowned's hiatus continued, a new ARG was about to begin.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>In 2015, a user named <b>TheLaw</b> joined Newbris. Here, they directed the players to a strange website called <span class="altTooltip2">"<b>YSHDT.com</b>"<span class="tooltiptext2">YSHDT is an acronym for "You shouldn't have done that". This implied that YSHDT.com held some connection to Youshouldnthavedonethat.net.</span></span>. This website contained messages from a high school student named <b>Doug</b>. He had supposedly joined a cult and now regrets his decision. Further exploration led players to Doug's blog, <b>Letschasethemouse</b>, where they could directly communicate with him.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Players quickly realized that the Doug speaking on Letschasethemouse was actually a version of himself from <b>2009</b>. This version of Doug had only just recently joined the cult meaning that players still had a chance to convince him to leave it before the events seen on YSHDT.com came to pass. Unfortunately, Doug wasn't willing to leave. Other players took a different approach. One player, <b>Jacob</b>, managed to convince Doug to let him join the cult as well. He was referred to Doug's friend, <b>Mason</b>, and began undergoing an initiation process.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="float:left; margin-top: 0px;"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/8/8d/Patrem.jpg"><p>Patrem's appearance on Newbris.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Players began learning more about Doug's cult. Much like the Moon Children, they, too, worshipped Luna. However, unlike the Moon Children, this cult's headquarters was an old fishery in Florida - not The Orchard. Meanwhile, back on Newbris, players met a new character - <b>/Patrem\</b>. Patrem is Latin for "Father". He also spoke in an authoritative manner and held great knowledge. This all implied that he was perhaps 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 a cultist named <b>Vincent</b>. However, Vincent was completely unaware of Patrem's presence as it was only when he fell asleep that Patrem took control.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | As time went on, the players banded together on Skype and formed a group - the <b>Internet Detectives</b>. One night, <b>Drowned</b> suddenly returned and joined the Internet Detectives Skype group. Here, Drowned was seen hiding and cowering from Patrem. This implied that Drowned was indeed the deceased spirit of Ben - not "BEN", the malicious spirit that simply used his name. Meanwhile, the players met another friendly spirit - <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Helper</b><span class="tooltiptext2"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/6/65/Auxiliatis.gif" alt="" /><br />The players accidentally summoned Helper when they submitted a video of Majora's Mask featuring Link wearing a Postman's Hat. As such, Helper takes on the likeness of a friendly mailman from that game.</span></span>. With Helper's assistance, players inadvertently <span class="altTooltip2">stole Doug's mail<span class="tooltiptext2"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/9/96/NFrMqtG.png" alt="" /><br />The players accidentally stole Doug's mail in an attempt to retrieve his notes. These notes were implied to be important on YSHDT.com. They will come back up later on.</span></span>. This led to him complaining about an important religious package of his going missing in the mail recently. | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/f/fd/Storyhead5.png" /></p><h3>Mason and The Gray Man</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <p>One day, Doug was kidnapped by the cult. During his disappearance, Mason took control of his blog and began working alongside the players, confused as to why the cult suddenly turned against his friend. Mason began heading towards the fishery to get some answers. Meanwhile, the players asked Helper to assist him.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="margin-top: 0px;"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/3/35/Towerscreen.png"><p>The cell phone tower seen in videos on "M".</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Mason began sneaking around the perimeter of the fishery. At the players' suggestion, he threw a rock in an attempt to distract the guards. Unfortunately, this rock struck Helper, killing him. The guards took notice of Mason and he began to flee - but not before retrieving <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Helper's Hat</b><span class="tooltiptext2"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/e/ea/230px-Postmans-Hat.png" alt="" /><br />Helper's Hat is a crucial item. Taking on the appearance of the "Postman's Hat" from Majora's Mask, this item grants whoever possesses it special abilities. It's traded hands several times throughout the ARG.</span></span>. Helper's Hat is a magical item that grants one access to Helper's various accounts. These include a YouTube account named "<b>M</b>" and Helper's Newbris account. On his way home, Mason encountered a strange individual named <b>The Gray Man</b> who was interested in Helper's Hat. He offered to give Mason an <b>Eight of Clubs</b> playing card in exchange for it. Mason accepted, giving away Helper's Hat.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Strange videos began appearing on the "M" YouTube channel - presumably from The Gray Man's perspective. These mainly included footage of someone approaching a cellphone tower. Meanwhile, Helper returned - this time in the Internet Detectives Skype group. Because he is a supernatural entity, he was able to persist after death. However, without his hat, his powers were greatly reduced. Because of this, he tasked the players to retrieve his at from The Gray Man.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Eventually, Mason decided to confront the cult and demand to see Doug. On his way to the fishery he encountered <b>Rosa</b> who warned the players about events that were to come. Later that night, Mason posted a panicked message on Letschasethemouse. The cult had let him see Doug, but Doug was "different" now. Shortly afterwards, Doug regained control of his blog, acting as though nothing was wrong. The players were now given a choice - Doug or Mason.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/b/bc/Storyhead6.png" /></p><h3>Doug vs. Mason</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/f/f1/GOTYOU.png"><p>An image found on YSHDT.com revealing that the players' locations were being targeted.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>The players were given a choice on who would be their new Link - Doug or Mason. They ultimately chose Doug, believing it would give them more opportunities to hinder him should he reveal himself to be malicious. However, before they could formulate any sort of plan, Mason became trapped in a storm drain. With their Ocarina powers tethered to Doug, the players' only option was to explore YSHDT.com for clues. The website now contained images of Mason's storm drain. Strangely, a blinking device could be seen sitting next to it.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>One day, Mason suddenly joined the Internet Detectives Skype group. Something was off, however. Strangely, Mason spoke as though he were using an old DOS computer. He also claimed that he was speaking to the years from the present year - 2015. This Mason claims that he did not time travel but instead "survived". Before the players could learn more, they accidentally severed contact with him by entering the DOS command ".root". Back on YSHDT.com, players discovered what appeared to be some blueprints for a bomb device. One player showed these plans to Doug on Letschasethemouse. This resulted in him becoming enraged, repeatedly asking the players were they found the blueprints. After this, he ceased communication with them.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Having lost communication with both Doug and Mason, the players were at a loss. Ultimately, the GM of the YSHDT Arc, <b>The Man</b>, announced that the arc was now over. He also revealed himself to be the player <b>Dawn of a New Day</b>. While his arc was coming to a close, a new arc ran by another group of GM's was just about to begin. | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <img src="http://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/0/0c/Arc2redone.png" alt="" style="margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; display:block;" /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | 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... | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/f/f7/Storyhead7.png" /></p><h3>John is Dead</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/2/24/Foggyworld248.jpg"><p>The front page of Johnisdead.com.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Back in the Internet Detectives Skype Group, Drowned began speaking with the players. He informed them that three of their fellow players were gone. He proceeded to link them to a website - <b>Johnisdead.com</b>. This took players by surprised. <b>John</b> was the name of one of their fellow players during the previous arc. Patrem suddenly joined the Skype group in pursuit of Drowned. Drowned managed to escape as Patrem left the players with a cryptic warning - a powerful cultist named <b>Regiminis</b> was coming. Back on Within Hubris, a new user joined - <b>SKM</b>, a rogue hacker who had been working against the cult for many years. He revealed that the cult Doug and Mason joined wasn't the Moon Children but instead a rival group called the <b>Lunar Children</b>. Originally, the two cults had been one-in-the-same. However, at some point, a schism divided them into two separate groups.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>SKM informed the players that the three missing individuals were John, <span class="altTooltip2">Jacob<span class="tooltiptext2"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/8/8b/Jacobicon.png" alt="" /><br />Jacob was the player from the YSHDT Arc that was contacted by Mason and underwent an initiation to join the cult.</span></span>, and <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Tyler</b><span class="tooltiptext2"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/b/bc/Tyler.png" alt="" /><br />Tyler shares the same name with Alex's friend from Ben Drowned. At this point, it's unknown if this holds any significance. Regardless, at this point in the story, he seems completely unware of Alex and the events of Ben Drowned.</span></span>. John was dead and he had been since <b>November 11th, 2011</b> - an important date that the Lunar Children refer to as <b>Undecim Nocte</b>. Jacob was missing and had been since before 2011. Tyler was currently fine but SKM warned that the Lunar Children were beginning to target him. Also, due to Patrem's manipulation, Tyler's memory of the players and the ARG had been erased. SKM also explained that Johnisdead.com and YSHDT.com were both experiments by the Lunar Children. They were akin to Wayward Horizon - digital locations where the cultists housed ascended spirits.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>During this conversation, SKM formally introduced the players to Drowned. While SKM didn't fully understand him or his origins, Drowned was his faithful ally - an ascended spirit who would help him more files and alter websites. However, before he could explain more, the two were suddenly confronted by Regiminis who seemed to be in pursuit of Drowned. Before they fled, SKM and Drowned led the players to Tyler's YouTube channel where they would later be able to contact him - <b>Silentdork</b>.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/8/89/Storyhead8.png" /></p><h3>Silentdork</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="http://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/3/3a/Fourguys.png"><p>Clockwise starting from the top left: Tyler, John, Kevin, and Jacob.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Tyler began uploading videos to Silentdork. These were all old recordings of his friends - John, Jacob, and <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Kevin</b><span class="tooltiptext2">The Moon Child known as Insidiae from Ben Drowned was also named Kevin. This implied that the two were perhaps one-in-the-same.</span></span>. By using the YouTube comment section, players managed to contact Tyler and invite him to the Internet Detectives Skype group. Just as SKM said, Tyler had no recollection of the players or the previous events of the ARG.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>The conversations with Tyler were fairly casual. He revealed that he had a girlfriend from <b>Australia</b> named <b>Carla</b> who gifted him a <b>Crescent Moon Necklace</b>. He also confirmed that he lived in <b>Florida</b> - the same state as the Lunar Children. As for his friends, Tyler revealed that John's death was the result of a house fire. Meanwhile, Kevin's been missing since John's death. Tyler described him as somewhat suspicious. Kevin was cagey about his personal life, a member of an "obscure religion", and took a particular interest in Tyler's Crescent Moon Necklace. Tyler believes that Kevin stole his Crescent Moon Necklace at some point prior to his disappearance as it went missing around that time. As for Jacob, the last time Tyler spoke to him was in <b>2009</b>.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Over time, more and more strange things began happening to Tyler. He began witnessing odd things around town such as shadowy figures warping around and flyers detailing various moon goddesses. This culminated in a Lunar Child named <b>Daniel</b> stalking Tyler outside of his home and leaving a strange "<b>Beacon</b>" device in his yard. Fearing for Tyler's safety, the players attempted to warn him about the Lunar Children and told 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 could be seen by 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.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/0/0e/Storyhead9.png" /></p><h3>Lunar Children</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/d/de/Mattrknife.png"><p>MattR brandishing a knife.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Though the players had been cut off from Tyler, they had another avenue they could explore - <b>Lunarchildren.com</b>. This website was structured like a blog and saw occasional announcements posted by high ranking Lunar Children. These included a rich newcomer named <b>Ezekiel Thoth</b>, a man in a skull mask named <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Mat</b><span class="tooltiptext2"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/a/ac/Lcfmatt.jpg" alt="" /><br />Mat shares the same name with the Moon Child Matt from Ben Drowned - also known as Ifrit. It's assumed that they are one-in-the-same.</span></span>, and a tech-savvy member from Europe named <b>LiquidSaint</b>. LiquidSaint was actually SKM in disguise - he had apparently managed to infiltrate the Lunar Children and climb their ranks. It's believed that Mat is the same Matt from Ben Drowned, somehow having survived his ordeal from 2010 and leaving the Moon Children for the Lunar Children.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Lunarchildren.com revealed a great deal about the cult's structure and beliefs. Much like the Moon Children, the Lunar Children worship <b>Luna</b> and are led by <span class="altTooltip2"><b>The Father</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Though they share the same title, The Father of the Moon Children and The Father of the Lunar Children are two different characters. Patrem is NOT "The Father" mentioned during Ben Drowned.</span></span> - Patrem. However, the Lunar Children refer to him as <b>Father Vincent</b> since he is currently trapped within Vincent's body. The Lunar Children also practice <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Ascension</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: Ascension is a ritualistic suicide ceremony that promises an individual great spiritual power. However, in reality it seems as though it generally just results in an individual's soul becoming trapped within electronic devices or websites.</span></span>, though they have many different levels and classifications of it compared to the Moon Children.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>The lowest level of Ascension are <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Deviums</b><span class="tooltiptext2"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/5/5d/Old2.gif" alt="" /><br />Deviums generally manifest as distorted images and sounds. Many of the pages encountered on YSHDT.com and Johnisdead.com were actually Deviums attempting to communicate.</span></span> - spirits with little to no control or cognizance. <b>Eulogies</b> are ascended individuals with a higher degree of control - they can even physically manifest on occasion. The next level is <b>Finitor</b> - powerful ascended beings who possess control over time itself. These entities are incredibly rare and the Lunar Children are only aware of two in existence - one of which being Patrem himself. The final and most powerful level of ascension are the <b>Transcended</b> - also known as <b>The Four Giants</b>. The Transcended are said to be specifically chosen by Luna herself. They also retain their physical bodies upon ascension and exist to carry out Luna's will.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>It's believed that when someone ascends, their spirit enters into the <b>Parallelos</b> - a spiritual realm beyond our physical world. There are many different types of Parallelos. These include an empty shadow realm called the <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Nullspace</b><span class="tooltiptext2">The Lunar Children actually referred to the Nullspace by the name "Sub-Parallelos". However, for the sake of brevity, we will simply refer to it by another name that was revealed for it later on - the Nullspace.</span></span>, a dimension where non-ascended deceased spirits are imprisoned called the <b>Parallelos of the Dead</b>, a realm where ascended spirits reside called the <b>Parallelos of the Ascended</b>, and finally the location where Luna dwells simply known as <b>Luna's Realm</b>. The Lunar Children also believe that Luna possesses her own tribe of enigmatic servants known as the <b>Absque Fascie</b> that live with her in her realm.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="float:left; margin-top: 0px;"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/b/b7/Assimilating.gif"><p>Tenebris using John's spirit as a vessel.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>The website revealed several other important details. Firstly, Regiminis's ascension took place on <b>Undecim Nocte 2011</b> - the same day John died. There's also an entity called <b>Tenebris</b> mentioned on the website - a malicious trickster that uses other spirits as vessels. Another figure listed is the <b>Deuro</b> - an ascended spirit that the cult is forbidden from speaking about. "Duero" is Latin for "Burned", implying that this might actually be John. Not much is revealed about these two figures other than that Tenebris was using a Eulogy as a vessel up until Undecim Nocte 2011, at which point he lost control of it and then took the Deuro as his vessel instead - meaning that Tenebris is likely using John as a vessel.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Later on, SKM managed to contact the players via a secret chatroom on Johnisdead.com called <b>Safehaven</b>. Here, he revealed that he once had a younger brother named <b>Max</b> who used Within Hubris back in 2011. However, one day Max was lured out to a local park and kidnapped - presumably by Patrem. SKM has been attempting to take down the cult since that day. On Undecim Nocte 2011, SKM was investigating some Lunar Children-related websites when his monitor suddenly exploded. When he came to, he discovered that Drowned was now on his computer, thanking him for helping him "escape". This combined with Drowned's username and mannerisms imply that he is indeed the ascended spirit of <b>Ben</b>. On Undecim Nocte, Ben was able to escape his captor - <span class="altTooltip2"><b>BEN</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: BEN and Ben are not the same. Ben is the child who drowned. BEN is the malicious spirit who used his name while tormenting Alex. It seems as though before stealing Ben's name, BEN went by "Tenebris".</span></span>. This implies that Tenebris and BEN are one-in-the-same.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>To summarize: On Undecim Nocte 2011, Regiminis's ascension took place. During this ascension, Ben broke free from Tenebris's control and hid inside SKM's computer. Needing a new vessel for himself, Tenebris sought out John, who had just recently died in a housefire on that same night.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/9/90/Storyhead10.png" /></p><h3>Discoveries</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/f/f8/Back.gif"><p>One of the many disturbing Deviums discovered on Johnisdead.com.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>During this time, Johnisdead.com underwent some interesting changes. Players were linked to a program called <b>JanusVR</b> that allowed them to explore webpages as 3d environments. The main location for players to explore was a barren, distorted landscape called <b>Fakeworld</b>. The website also updated with a variety of redirect pages - pages that players would be randomly taken to when attempting to access a non-existent page. Players also discovered their first "hole" - a large directory of pages that players would have to work through one page at a time. This hole in particular contained images and videos related to <b>The Four Giants</b>. Here, it was revealed that <b>Kelbris</b> was actually the Fourth Giant.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Players also discovered two new YouTube channels. The first channel was <b>Vincent Adams</b>. As the name suggests, this channel belonged to Patrem's current host, Vincent. Here it was revealed that Vincent was partaking in some sort of sleep deprivation experiment - possibly as a subconscious attempt to combat Patrem's nightly possessions. The other channel discovered was <b>Lostmemory423</b> - a YouTube channel belonging to Drowned. This channel featured videos showcasing SKM's journey to the fishery after meeting Drowned in 2011 - presumably so that he could later infiltrate their ranks as LiquidSaint.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Several days later, Patrem began speaking with Tenebris on Within Hubris. Here, it was revealed that Tenebris was willing to give John's spirit to Regiminis if he can capture Ben for him. This explains why Regiminis and Patrem had been so eager to capture Drowned in the past - they were attempting to trade him for John's soul. Shortly after this, Tenebris revealed that he had stolen the players' <span class="altTooltip2">Ocarina powers<span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: The players' Ocarina powers (sometimes simply called "The Ocarina") refers to their ability to submit songs, videos, and images from The Legend of Zelda series to affect the world of the ARG.</span></span> and given them to the Lunar Children. This was showcased in a video where Mat was seen submitting the song "<b>Bolero of Fire</b>" on some unknown message board. The next day, Tyler uploaded a video showing a fire that had broken out at his workplace. This happened again a few days later when the Lunar Children submitted the song "<b>Song of Storms</b>", 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.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="float:left; margin-top: 0px;"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/5/5b/Para6.png"><p>Doug's appearance as one of The Four Giants.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>On his way home from work, Tyler decided to take a shortcut home through the woods. Here, he stumbled upon the dilapidated ruins of the fishery. A few days later, the players were contacted by <b>Rosa</b>. She reveals that her disappearance in 2010 was the result of Kelbris confronting her - much like her brother Mat. However, instead of killing her, Kelbris warped her into the Parallelos where she encountered Luna. She warns that the Lunar Children are intending to sacrifice Tyler on <b>Undecim Nocte 2015</b> to summon Luna. She also explains that the players' Ocarina powers are an extension of Luna and are managed by Tenebris, explaining how he was so easily able to transfer them to the Lunar Children.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Rosa claims that Tnebris was "imprinted upon" by the Majora's Mask cartridge when he was trapped inside it with Ben - confirming that Tenebris and BEN are the same entity and also explaining the various Majora's Mask symbolism found throughout the cults. Rosa also revealed the identity of one of the four giants - <b>Doug</b>. This implies that when Doug was captured and "changed" during the previous arc, he had actually been transcended into one of the Four Giants.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>The next day, Tyler returned to the fishery. Here, he was confronted by Doug, who now took on a green, distorted appearance. The following week, Tyler was tormented by constant knocking sounds on his home and strange calls from John's old phone number. He was eventually urged to visit Kevin's old home by a page discovered on Johnisdead.com. Angered and fed up with the cult's recent provocations, Tyler decided to go to Kevin's house to confront them. However, upon stepping outside, Tyler was captured and taken to the Lunar Children's new headquarters - a large building in Ohio known as <span class="altTooltip2"><b>The Spire</b><span class="tooltiptext2"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/0/09/Spire.jpg" alt="" /><br />The Spire is a large building in Ohio that the Lunar Children began using as their main headquarters after the fishery in Florida fell into ruin.</span></span>.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>The beginning of November rolled around. Tyler was in the Lunar Children's possession and the players had no Ocarina powers to save him with. Thankfully, Drowned came to the players' aid and helped them gain access to the Lunar Children Forums - the location where their Ocarina powers were being held. During this process, Drowned revealed his true identity - he wasn't simply the deceased spirit of Ben but instead a fusion of both Ben and Max, meaning that SKM had been unknowingly working alongside his brother the entire time.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <img src="http://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/d/d4/Arc3redone.png" alt="" style="margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; display:block;" /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>In the previous arc, players were introduced to their new <span class="altTooltip2">Link<span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: Link is the main character of The Legend of Zelda series. As such, "Link" is often used as a title for the current main character of Ben Drowned or Johnisdead. They're generally the individual that the Ocarina powers affect most directly.</span></span> - Tyler, a young man living in rural Florida. Tyler is being targeted by the same cult that Doug and Mason were a part of, the Lunar Children - an off-shoot of the Moon Children. 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.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Players discovered that the malicious spirit calling itself BEN was actually an entity named Tenebris. Tenebris had been using Ben's spirit as a puppet up until Undecim Nocte 2011 - the date of the ascension of a Lunar Child named Regiminis. On this date, Ben broke free from Tenebris's control and fused with the spirit of another child named Max. The result of this amalgamation took on the name "Drowned" and hid away in the computer of Max's brother - a hacker named SKM. On that same night, a friend of Tyler's named John died in a housefire. Needing a new spirit to use as a vessel, Tenebris began puppeting John much like how he did with Ben.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>The players are now pitted against Patrem, Regminis, and The Four Giants - four powerful ascended beings, two of which have been revealed to be Doug and Kelbris. 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.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/8/8c/Storyhead11.png" /></p><h3>Undecim Nocte 2015</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/c/c2/Thing.jpg"><p>Tyler's Crescent Moon Necklace.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>The Lunar Children Forums housed a variety of new and interesting characters. The players were introduced to the <b>Elder Children</b> - high ranking Lunar Children who manage the cult. In addition to <span class="altTooltip2">Ezekiel Thoth, Mat, and LiquidSaint<span class="tooltiptext2">These were the three Lunar Children seen posting announcements on Lunarchildren.com. Ezekiel Thoth is a rich newcomer to the cult, Mat is assumed to be the same Matt from Ben Drowned, and LiquidSaint is secretly SKM in disguise.</span></span>, this group also included two new characters named <b>Jinn</b> and <b>Kuu</b> - two Elder Children who oversaw the cult's library in The Spire. Players also discovered two unused accounts for the Moon Children <b>Spencer</b> and <b>Alex</b>. | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Lower-ranking Lunar Children were found casually chatting on the forums as well. These included an artist named <b>SheepDog</b>, a singer named <b>Harry</b>, a cultist living at The Spire named <b>Igaluk123</b>, a new recruit named <b>Tsukuyomi</b>, and an assassin for the cult named <b>Eddie</b>. However, the two most interesting users was an old man named <b>Jeremy</b> and his son <b>Hunter</b>. Jeremy was originally a Moon Child who later joined the Lunar Children. He also claims to be the brother of the <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Old Man</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: The Old Man is the individual who gave Alex the Majora's Mask cartridge that contained Ben and Tenebris during Ben Drowned.</span></span>. Jeremy says that the Moon Children lied about the date of Kelbris's death - he didn't die in 1998 but was instead killed a few years later in 2002 by <b>Mat</b> as a part of his initiation to join the Moon Children. This accidentally resulted in Kelbris's ascension.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Players also discovered that Hunter was being offered a rank among the Elder Children - he just had to carry out one final task for them. However, before the players could learn more, most of the the Lunar Children Forums were deleted. All that was left was a single board where <span class="altTooltip2"><b>The Ocarina</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: "The Ocarina" refers to the Ocarina powers possessed by the players - the ability to submit songs, images, and videos from The Legend of Zelda series to affect the world of the ARG. This board was where the Lunar Children were using these powers after they were stolen away from the players by Tenebris.</span></span> was being housed. Here, the players were able to briefly speak with Jeremy. Despite being a member of the Lunar Children, Jeremy was quite friendly. Something was off, however. Jeremy mentioned that the clocks in his house seemed to have stopped and that his home was much darker than normal. It was soon revealed that Jeremy was actually killed and ascended by his son Hunter in order to become an Elder Child. Before he faded away, Jeremy warned the players about Tyler's fate. With Undecim Nocte drawing near, the players used their powers and successfully rescued Tyler from the Spire.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Shortly after this, Tyler escaped to <b>Australia</b> to take refuge with <b>Carla</b>. Meanwhile, the Lunar Children were in a state of panic. In a rant written by Thoth, it was revealed that Hunter was meant to play some key role in Undecim Nocte 2015 involving Tyler's <b>Crescent Moon Necklace</b>, yet Tyler had somehow regained possession of it. While the players weren't exactly sure how Tyler's necklace was relevant, they believed that it was dangerous for him to retain possession of it. To ensure his safety, the players summoned <b>Helper</b> and asked him to steal Tyler's necklace. They also had him deliver Tyler a <b>camera</b> so that he may recover any footage taken while at the Spire and upload it to Silentdork.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/e/e0/Storyhead12.png" /></p><h3>Regiminis</h3></div> | ||
<div class="storybox"> | <div class="storybox"> | ||
− | < | + | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/f/f1/Kevin.png"><p>Regiminis as seen on Silentdork.</p></div> |
+ | <p>In December of 2015, Tyler contacted the players via Skype. He revealed that Carla was actually a paranoid former Lunar Child who was keeping Tyler locked in her home. Before he could say anything else, Regiminis hijacked Tyler's account and claimed that he was now heading to Australia himself. After this, Tyler went radio silent for many months. When he finally returned, he was once again back in Florida and still trying to process what happened in Australia. It also now seemed as though he was being haunted by Tenebris.</p> | ||
− | </div> | + | <p>Meanwhile, Drowned contacted the players once again. He revealed that SKM's task to join the Lunar Children back in 2011 was to travel to <span class="altTooltip2"><b>The Orchard</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: "The Orchard" was the headquarters of the Moon Children briefly mentioned by Kayd during Ben Drowned.</span></span> and record some footage there. While there, SKM also discovered a stolen copy of the Lunar Children's holy book - the <b>Libro Lunarus</b>. Drowned explained that SKM later returned this book to the Lunar Children, further gaining their trust.</p> |
+ | |||
+ | <p>Drowned informed the players that both he and SKM were currently in Regiminis's possession. He reiterated that Regiminis was going to hand the both of them over to Tenebris in exchange for John's soul. The reason why Regiminis required John's soul is because John had inadvertently become Regiminis's <b>Conduit</b>. 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 then 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.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="float:left; margin-top: 0px;"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/4/4b/Family.jpg"><p>Hank and Ben - Father and Son.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Drowned revealed what was inside the <span class="altTooltip2"><b>briefcase</b><span class="tooltiptext2"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/c/cd/Doc9.png" alt="" /><br />The briefcase in question was gifted to SKM after he carried out his initial tasks for the Lunar Children in 2011 to gain their trust. It was seen at the end of a previous video on Lostmemory423.</span></span> given to SKM - a <span class="altTooltip2"><b>gas mask</b><span class="tooltiptext2"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/2/28/Img403.jpg" alt="" /><br />It's implied that these gas masks are given to new Lunar Children recruits. It would soon become a staple of SKM's appearance, however.</span></span>. Strangely, Drowned seems to have some conflicting memories of this event. There appears to be an alternate recollection of events where SKM was gifted not only a gas mask but a copy of the Libro Lunarus as well. Drowned claims that this never happened and that someone has messed with the timeline. Drowned also finally revealed Regiminis's true identity - <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Kevin</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Kevin was one of Tyler's friends seen in his old uploads from 2010. He supposedly went missing in 2011 around the time of John's death. He was said to be a part of an "obscure religion" and was accused of stealing Tyler's necklace - all hints that he was a member of the Lunar Children.</span></span>.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Using their Ocarina powers, players managed to rescue SKM from Regiminis. Sadly, Drowned wasn't so fortunate. Regiminis traded him away 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. He also revealed the identities of The Four Giants - Doug, <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Alex</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Within Johnisdead, it's generally assumed that the Alex known as "Jadusable" and the Alex mentioned by the Moon Children are the same person. Apparently, some point after his experiences with the haunted Majora's Mask Cartridge, he was ascended into one of The Four Giants.</span></span>, <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Spencer</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Spencer was one of the Moon Children moderators found on Youshouldnthavedonethat.net during Ben Drowned. Apparently, he was later ascended into one of The Four Giants.</span></span>, and Kelbris, whose real name was revealed to be <b>Hank</b>. Another video was uploaded after this - <b>5646</b>. This video contained a message from John warning Tyler about Kevin and Tenebris. Near the end of this video, Tyler comes across a <b>briefcase</b> containing a camera - presumably the one the players asked Helper to deliver to him.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Back on Lunarchildren.com, a new page was discovered that contained a photo of Ben and Hank. Here, it was revealed that Hank was actually <b>Patrem</b>. This meant that Hank, Patrem, and Kelbris were <span class="altTooltip2">all the same person<span class="tooltiptext2">Hank was originally a Moon Child. In 2002, he was killed by Matt. This must have resulted in a unique ascension that resulted in both the creation of the timeless ascended spirit Patrem and one of the Four Giants simply called Kelbris.<br /><br />To put it simply: Hank was ascended, resulting in the creation of two separate entities - Patrem and Kelbris.</span></span>. This page also implied that Hank was Ben's father. Ben's mother and Hank's wife, <b>Diana</b>, was dead. This photo was taken on Ben's birthday in 2002 and 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 a horrific cataclysm that wiped out most of the Lunar Children at the Spire.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/1/10/Storyhead13.png" /></p><h3>The Moon Children</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/f/f4/Yshdt.jpg"><p>The front page of YSHDT.net.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Shortly after the destruction of the Lunar Children, players discovered that the Moon Children's website had returned - <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Youshouldnthavedonethat.net</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: Youshouldnthavedonethat.net is the website used during Ben Drowned. It took on the appearance of a blog and featured announcements from various Moon Children. Using their Ocarina powers, players had the ability to reset the website to how it appeared three days prior.</span></span>. For the sake of brevity, we'll simply refer to Youshouldnthavedonethat.net as <span class="altTooltip2">YSHDT.net<span class="tooltiptext2">Youshouldnthavedonethat.net / YSHDT.net isn't to be confused with YSHDT.com - a website used by the Lunar Children seen during the YSHDT arc.</span></span> here. It seemed as though the players were interacting with the past. YSHDT.net was operating similarly to how it was back in 2010 during Ben Drowned. It was once again running on a <span class="altTooltip2">three-day cycle<span class="tooltiptext2">During Ben Drowned, players were forced to "reset" YSHDT.net every three days. This resulted in the website reverting back to how it appeared three days prior. Each "cycle" contained small differences from one another.</span></span> and it featured many of the same announcements seen in 2010. There were some differences, however. For example, during this current cycle, it seems as though <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Chris</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: Chris was the youngest of the Moon Children's moderators. He was also ascended during the events of Ben Drowned.</span></span> had lost the Moon Children's <b>testimonials</b>. He also mentioned that Mat was going to host a party on Sunday - the final day of the three-day cycle.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>As players investigated YSHDT.net, they came across various chatlogs between its users. One chatlog between the Moon Children <b>David</b> and <b>Rem</b> revealed that <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Mat</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: Mat was one of the Moon Children's moderators seen posting during Ben Drowned. He was Rosa's brother and also went by the name Ifrit. At some point, he left the Moon Children and joined the Lunar Children.</span></span> was actually Ben's adoptive brother. This meant that Hank was Mat's step-father. Players were also briefly able to communicate with <b>Spencer</b> who spoke in <span class="altTooltip2">strange, cryptic messages<span class="tooltiptext2">It's assumed that the players in this moment were speaking with Spencer's present ascended self - not his self from 2010.</span></span>. Spencer explains that on the day of Mat's party, Mat was confronted by <b>Kelbris</b> who "changed" him somehow. After this, Mat proceeded to kill the other Moon Children, transcending Spencer and <b>Alex</b> into two of the Four Giants in the process. Spencer also implies that <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Mr. D</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Mr. D was an entity briefly mentioned during Ben Drowned. Not much was known about him other than that the Moon Children consider him an authoritative figure within their cult.</span></span> and "The Father" are the same person and that their true identity is Tenebris. This would mean that the leader of the Moon Children was actually Tenebris all along.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>As the cycles progressed, players slowly uncovered more information. They learned that even though Tenebris currently possessed Drowned as his spiritual vessel, he was also still searching for a <span class="altTooltip2">physical vessel<span class="tooltiptext2">It's implied that Tenebris originally planned on using SKM as their physical vessel before the players managed to rescue him.</span></span>. They also uncovered the Moon Children's lost testimonials. One of these was written by Hank in the year <b>1990</b> - the same year Ben was born. It's revealed here that he, <span class="altTooltip2">Jeremy<span class="tooltiptext2">As discussed earlier, Jeremy was originally a member of the Moon Children. This testimonial was written at a time before he left to join the Lunar Children instead.</span></span>, and <span class="altTooltip2">Jeremy's brother<span class="tooltiptext2">As discussed earlier, Jeremy's brother is the Old Man who gave Alex the Haunted Majora's Mask cartridge in Ben Drowned.</span></span> were all good friends and members of the Moon Children at some point.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>YSHDT.net began experiencing strange corruptions. Various different cycles and timelines began mixing into one another. The front page displayed two messages from <b>Tyler</b> - one where he's about to head off to college and share a dorm room with Alex and another where he's too busy to go to college with Alex. This seems to be acknowledging the conflicting details surrounding whether or not Alex actually had a dormmate during the events of Ben Drowned and whether or not this supposed dormmate was his friend <span class="altTooltip2">Tyler<span class="tooltiptext2">Tyler was briefly mentioned as Alex's friend during the events of Ben Drowned. It's unknown if he's the same Tyler from Johnisdead, though it's possible that this is the case.</span></span>.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Eventually, the players manage to contact Jeremy and chat with him. Jeremy reveals that he's speaking to the players from the present - 2016. He was currently in the <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Parallelos</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: The Parallelos is a strange realm that exists beyond our physical world. The Lunar Children believe that this is where most ascended souls go upon their ascension.</span></span> after being killed and ascended by his son <b>Hunter</b>. He also reveals more information regarding Hank's past. Hank's wife <b>Diana</b> passed away while giving birth to Ben in <b>1990</b>. Eight years later in <b>1998</b>, <span class="altTooltip2">Hank<span class="tooltiptext2">During this period, Hank was going by the name Kelbris. "Kelbris" seems to be an alias that Hank was using at the time - a common practice amongst the Moon Children.</span></span> began hearing whispers from what he believed to be Luna. This is how he learned about Ascension. However, when he told the other Moon Children about this, it was considered blasphemous. After this, Hank left to form the Lunar Children. Mat, who had been neglected by Hank since Ben was born, resented his step-father and killed him in <b>2002</b>. As discussed earlier, this inadvertently resulted in his ascension, creating both <b>Patrem</b>, who still ran the Lunar Children, and <b>Kelbris</b>, the fourth giant. Since this proved what Hank was claiming about ascension, the Moon Children covered up his death and instead claimed he died four years prior in 1998.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/0/05/Storyhead14.png" /></p><h3>The Truth</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/7/71/Kelbrisspeak2.png"><p>Kelbris expressing his regrets.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Jeremy informed the players that they needed to enter the locked page on YSHDT.net - <span class="altTooltip2"><b>The Truth</b><span class="tooltiptext2">The Truth was a page on the original YSHDT.net back in 2010. It was locked behind a password and never opened. However, part of the login information was given to Kayd by Rosa before they disappeared.</span></span>. It was said what whatever lied inside of The Truth was incredibly powerful and would give the players an opportunity "kill" Tenebris. Later on, players discovered a chatlog between Rem, <b>Kevin</b>, and <b>Seth</b>. During this conversation, Rem is referred to as <span class="altTooltip2">Kayd<span class="tooltiptext2">Kayd, also known as Ryukaki, was the player from Ben Drowned who was given the login information to The Truth by Rosa. Unfortunately, shortly after this, he was hunted down and presumably killed.</span></span>, implying that the two are the same and that Kayd had been a member of the Moon Children all along.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Another conversation later on revealed that the Kevin seen in the Moon Children who went by the name "Insidiae" is indeed the same Kevin who was friends with Tyler and would later go on to become Regiminis. It's implied that Kevin and Seth were both undercover Lunar Children spying on the Moon Children in 2010. Other chatlogs fully confirmed that the Alex who was a member of the Moon Children was the same Alex that was given the Haunted Majora's Mask Cartridge - which has since gone missing. At some point, Alex was told that he was to infiltrate the fishery as some sort of "test". While doing so, he stole a copy of the <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Libro Lunarus</b><span class="tooltiptext2">This is the same copy of the Libro Lunarus that SKM retrieved from The Orchard one year later in 2011.</span></span>.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Over time, YSHDT.net became more unstable. Jeremy contacted the players using a ritual known as the <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Circle of Three</b><span class="tooltiptext2">The Circle of Three is a mysterious ritual. In this situation, it seemingly allowed Jeremy to speak with the players more clearly and securely. It simply involved Jeremy selecting three different players to contact.</span></span>. The players selected for this were Spanosa, Velvet, and <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Greth</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Greth is a prominent player from 2010 who posted several important submissions. They will become more relevant later on.</span></span>. Here, Jeremy informed the players that the more they use their Ocarina powers, <span class="altTooltip2">the more powerful Tenebris becomes<span class="tooltiptext2">This is likely due to the fact that The Ocarina powers originate from Luna and Tenebris as discussed earlier.</span></span>. He also explains that the Kevin seen on YSHDT.net isn't speaking from 2010 like most of the others. Instead, he's <b>Regiminis</b> from the present day attempting to control the website and break into "The Truth", hoping to steal its power for himself. Jeremy tells the players that soon the final cycle of YSHDT.net will begin and they will finally have an opportunity to enter "The Truth".</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>As the final cycle began it was revealed that the spirits Regiminis was attempting to rule over had rebelled against him. The players used this opportunity to speak to Kayd's spirit 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 Mat.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <img src="http://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/b/b5/Arc4redone.png" alt="" style="margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; display:block;" /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>In the previous arc, players successfully rescued Tyler from the Lunar Children. Sadly, Drowned wasn't so fortunate. He was captured by Regiminis and traded off to Tenebris in exchange for John. With Regiminis in possession of John's spirit and Tenebris once again in control of Ben via 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.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Hank was Kelbris's original name. He and his wife Diana were Moon Children who later adopted Mat. In 1990, Diana gave birth to Ben, sadly passing away during the process. 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 form the Lunar Children. On April 23rd, 2002, Hank ascended Ben. This resulted in him becoming a puppet for Tenebris as the two were trapped within the Majora's Mask cartridge. Shortly after this, Mat, who had long been neglected, killed Hank as a part of his initiation into the Moon Children. This resulted in Hank's own ascension, creating both Patrem and the giant Kelbris in the process. Kelbris later approached Mat in 2010, "changing" him somehow. Mat then proceeded to kill the rest of the Moon Children, transcending Alex and Spencer into giants as well.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Most of this was explained by Jeremy - a former cultist and brother of the Old Man who handled the Majora's Mask cartridge. Unfortunately, Jeremy was ascended by his son Hunter in an attempt to join the higher ranking Lunar Children. Thankfully, the Lunar Children ceased being a thread on April 23rd, 2016. After supposedly failing to capture Tyler a second time, The Spire was destroyed in a mysterious cataclysm, wiping out most of the cult.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Not long after this, Youshouldnthavedonethat.net returned - the Moon Children's old website. It appeared and behaved how it did back in 2010, once again going through various different three-day-cycles. Here, it was revealed that Tyler, Kevin, Alex, and Kayd 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 due to Regiminis forcing the website through countless cycles in an attempt to break into the locked page known as "The Truth" and take whatever power laid inside it for himself. However, the spirits of the website eventually rebelled against Regiminis, allowing the players to enter "The Truth" instead. Here, they were able to "kill" Tenebris.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>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. 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.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/f/f4/Storyhead15.png" /></p><h3>New Beginnings</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="http://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/1/15/Tylertalkk.png"><p>Tyler addressing the audience.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Rolling into <b>2017</b>, players discovered that Johnisdead.com had reverted back to how it appeared when they first discovered it. In addition to this, several videos uploaded to Silentdork seemed to imply that Tenebris was still alive. While the players managed to keep Regiminis out of "The Truth" and temporarily defeat Tenebris, the threats that these two posed were still very real. Meanwhile, back on YSHDT.net, journal entries from a Lunar Child named <b>Hope</b> began appearing on the front page. These journals explained that Hope and two of her friends managed to survive the cataclysm at The Spire. However, the three of them were now experiencing some strange reality-warping effects. For example - while The Spire seems to be destroyed from everyone else's perspective, the three of them could still enter it as if nothing was wrong. For the time being, Hope and her friends decided to live in the now abandoned Spire.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>In November of 2017, Tyler uploaded a video where he addressed the viewers for the first time in over a year. Here, he reveals that his memory issues have worsened. He claims to have been involved in some sort of accident in <b>2016</b> that resulted in him falling into a coma. When he awoke, he was wearing a strange <b>Bullet Necklace</b> of unknown origin. In addition, Tyler confirms that he was once in possession of the <b>briefcase</b> containing the camera seen in "5646", but he's since lost it. On April 23rd, <b>2018</b>, Lunarchildren.com updated with a new announcement. The website was now being ran by an individual named <b>José</b>. José had tracked down and recovered the <b>Lunar Children Servers</b> for the sake of his friends. Shortly after this, Tyler was seen browsing Lunarchildren.com when he suddenly heard a loud bang outside his home. As he went outside to investigate, he discovered a <b>Detour Sign</b> in his yard. This sign contained strange reality-warping properties. Whenever Tyler would touch the sign, he would be teleported to a random location around the woods surrounding his home.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="float:left; margin-top: 0px;"><img src="http://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/7/78/Pxbbq.gif"><p>Greth under Patrem's influence.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Around this time, the player <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Greth</b><span class="tooltiptext2"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/b/b9/Greth.png" alt="" /><br />As mentioned earlier, Greth is a fairly prominent player within the community. They were fairly active and made several important submissions during Ben Drowned. They were also one of the three players selected for the "Circle of Three" during the previous arc.</span></span> began uploading videos to a YouTube channel named <b>Greth Vlogs</b>. While these videos initially seemed to be unrelated to Johnisdead, players quickly began to notice various oddities within them. These included sudden flashes of various figures - mainly an individual wearing a silver alien mask, someone wearing a white fish-shaped mask, and a green-tinted entity stalking Greth from afar. Over time, Greth began suffering from a severe case of insomnia and memory loss.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Believing these issues to be a result of his new home, Greth decided to go on a hiking trip. Walk trekking through the woods, Tyler suddenly teleported in-front of Greth - a result of him touching the Detour Sign. The two later met up and began hanging out. Here, Greth and Tyler asked each other questions about the cults and their experiences with them. It seems as though Tyler had been doing his own research into the cults and their histories. Tyler also claims to have made contact with José.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Unfortunately, Greth's insomnia only worsened over time. Fearing for his health, the players used The Ocarina to put him to sleep. Unfortunately, this backfired, as it was suddenly revealed that Patrem had been residing within Greth all along. With Greth finally asleep, Patrem was now in full control of his body. Not long after this, the players discovered a new website - <b>Astralobservatory.net</b>.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/1/1f/Storyhead16.png" /></p><h3>The Astral Observatory</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/0/0b/Tyhadi.png"><p>Tyler holding a photo of Hank and Diana.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>The <b>Astral Observatory</b> 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 <b>Nocta</b>, who seemed to have knowledge of Johnisdead.com and the players. Nocta claims that Johnisdead.com was somehow responsible for Astralobservatory.net going offline a few days prior, completely erasing the <b>Astral Observatory Forums</b> in the process. Fortunately, a few days later, the forums were recreated. Here, the players were introduced to several new characters - <b>Moonman</b>, the resident troll, <b>Yuukichan</b>, an anime and paranormal fangirl, <b>NotAHoax</b>, a man obsessed with political conspiracies, and <b>Samuel Charleston</b>, a mysterious old man who hadn't made any posts. Players quickly began chatting with and befriending these users.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>However, something was off about the Astral Observatory. The forums possessed a locked board titled "<b>The Truth</b>" that the players were warned to not to try and enter. Discussion regarding Johnisdead.com was hushed and considered taboo. Also, some members of the Astral Observatory seemed to have some knowledge of the players. This all seemed to imply that the Astral Observatory was more connected to the Lunar Children than what was first believed. It's likely that the various forum members were holding secret conversations regarding the players and Johnisdead.com - possibly within the locked "The Truth" board.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Meanwhile, Tyler began hosting a livestream on Silentdork. During the stream, he showed off several items that he found outside his home. This included a photo of Hank and Diana, a red demonic mask engraved with the letter "R", and a gas mask. Tyler also mentioned that he had lost the Bullet Necklace. Halfway through the stream, Tyler hears noises coming from outside and leaves. While he's gone, <b>SKM</b> sneaks into the room and retrieves the gas mask. He also returns the Bullet Necklace, asking Tyler to look after his brother for him. This implies that SKM somehow managed to recover Max's soul and place it within the Bullet Necklace.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>On <b>Undecim Nocte 2018</b>, players began sharing some of their favorite songs on the Astral Observatory Forums. Nocta himself chipped in, uploading one of his favorite songs to his YouTube channel. Strangely, this channel was named <b>Kevin Hendricks</b> - seemingly implying that Nocta was somehow related to both <b>Kayd</b> and <b>Kevin</b>. The video itself also contained dark footage of what appeared to be Tyler at some sort of ritual.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/a/a3/Storyhead17.png" /></p><h3>Covert Disclosure</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/8/81/Whois.png"><p>The entity wearing the silver alien mask.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>While the players were struggling to discern what exactly was in Nocta's footage, they were suddenly messaged by <b>Moonman</b>, who provided them with a clearer version of the video. He also offered to give them more information regarding the Astral Observatory if they could provide him with a secure location to do so. In response, the player <b>Wolfcat</b> created the <b>Safehaven Discord Server</b>.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Here, Moonman confirmed that Nocta was indeed the same Kevin known as Regiminis - at least to some degree. Moonman also revealed that he himself was <b>Greth</b> from an alternate timeline. In fact, the entirety of the Astral Observatory was from an alternate timeline - the <b>Astral Timeline</b>, as opposed to the players' <b>Prime Timeline</b>. Moonman stressed that something sinister was taking place somewhere within the Astral Observatory. However, before he could elaborate, Nocta suddenly joined the Safehaven Discord Server and confronted Moonman. The two had a brief argument as Nocta accused Moonman of only having seen one side of the story. Shortly after this, Moonman was attacked by the entity wearing the silver alien mask seen on Greth Vlogs. Thankfully, the players were able to ward it off.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Back on the Astral Observatory Forums, a new character arrived - <b>Kaiden Zoromichi</b>, a snide gamer and avid roleplayer. Kaiden originally had an account on the old Astral Observatory Forums before they were destroyed. Meanwhile, over the course of a few months, the player ARGdov managed to slowly gain Nocta's trust. This eventually culminated in ARGdov being granted access to "The Truth" board. Unfortunately, not much was found here as it had recently been purged by Nocta. However, there was one empty thread titled "<span class="altTooltip2"><b>Internet Detectives</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: The Internet Detectives are the main player group participating in Johnisdead.</span></span>", implying that Nocta had been spying on the players.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="float:left; margin-top: 0px;"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/7/79/Alexgif.gif"><p>Alex's transcended self.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Moonman was surprised to see ARGdov giving access to "The Truth" so quickly. He took this as a sign that Nocta was desperate for new members for some reason. As a response, Moonman began assisting the players even more. He managed to hack into Greth Vlogs and leak a video of someone walking through a trail in the woods - a location that's implied to hold some connection to the <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Parallelos</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: The Parallelos is the spiritual realm beyond our physical world. The Lunar Children believe that spirits arrive there upon ascension. This wooded trail was implied to be connected to the Parallelos as the video featuring it was later renamed "Joyous Parallelos".</span></span>. Meanwhile, <b>Yuukichan</b> began acting strangely. She seemingly unintentionally <span class="altTooltip2">manifested a page<span class="tooltiptext2">Yuukichan was attempting to upload some photos of her supposedly haunted childhood home. When she was unable to, she became frustrated. Not long after this, the images all appeared on a page on Johnisdead.com, implying her frustration somehow manifested them on the website.</span></span> on Johnisdead.com by her will alone. When asked about this in more detail, Yuukichan simply repeated the phrase "The woods" countless times. Concerned for Yuukichan's safety, Moonman revealed that there existed an even more secretive section of Astralobservatory.net called the <b>Subspace</b> - a directory where genuine cult and magic based discussion takes place. Unfortunately, Moonman has since been locked out of the Subspace due to his treachery against Nocta.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>On April 23rd, <b>2019</b>, several videos were uploaded to Greth Vlogs and Silentdork. These included footage of someone bowing before the <b>Majora's Mask Cartridge</b> in what appeared to be a ritual of sorts. Meanwhile, Tyler could be seen wandering around his yard - seemingly in a trance. Later on, <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Alex</b><span class="tooltiptext2">The Alex speaking in this moment was a green, distorted, malicious version of himself. This is because, much like Doug, Alex has been Transcended and is now one of The Four Giants.</span></span> informed the players that Tyler had been taken somewhere, though he didn't elaborate where exactly. Before the players could process all of this, Astralobservatory.net began heavily distorting due to a cyber attack initiated by Moonman. This allowed the players to view a previously inaccessible thread that confirmed their worst fears - Yuukichan had been ascended.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <img src="http://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/6/69/Arc501.png" alt="" style="margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; display:block;" /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>In the previous arc, players discovered that their fellow Internet Detective Greth had started a YouTube channel named Greth Vlogs. Here, various malicious entities could be seen stalking him. This culminated in the reveal that Patrem was now dwelling within Greth and slowly possessing him. Meanwhile, Tyler began doing his own research into the Lunar Children. This led to him discovering that the cult's servers had been recovered by an independent investigator named José. While the Lunar Children no longer existed, Tyler was still encountering oddities in his every day life. This included him coming to possess a Bullet Necklace of unknown origin and a Detour Sign appearing in his yard. Whenever he touched this Detour Sign, Tyler would be teleported to a random location.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Later on, players discovered a strange organization called the Astral Observatory. Though this initially seemed like a harmless internet community it quickly became apparent that it held some connection to the Lunar Children. Its leader, Nocta, went by the name "Kevin Hendricks" - implying that he held some connection to Regiminis and Kayd. The other members of the group included a troll named Moonman, a fangirl named Yuukichan, a conspiracy theorist named NotAHoax, and an edgy roleplayer named Kaiden Zoromichi. Moonman began assisting the players and communicating with them in private. Here, he revealed that the entire Astral Observatory was from an alternate timeline - the Astral Timeline as opposed to the players' Prime Timeline. This came with the reveal that Moonman himself was the Astral Timeline version of Greth.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Moonman also informed the players about the Subspace - a secret section of the Astral Observatory that contained various cult secrets and esoteric knowledge. Unfortunately, the Subspace was locked behind a password. The clock was ticking - one of the Astral Observatory's members, Yuukichan, had already been ascended. It was also implied that Tyler had recently been taken somewhere, meaning malicious forces were once again on the move.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/e/ef/Storyhead18.png" /></p><h3>Beginning of the End</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="http://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/6/6f/Hello.gif"><p>Tyler in the Parallelos.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>In July of <b>2019</b>, strange videos began appearing on Silentdork. These seemed to be from an entity calling itself <b>IIIII</b>. This being actually contained two separate entities that sometimes fought for control and spoke over one another, making them somewhat difficult to understand. While one entity spoke calmly via runes, the other seemed outright malicious, craving destruction. These entities would later be dubbed the "<b>Rune Entity</b>" and the "<b>Mask Entity</b>" respectively. The Mask Entity seemingly wanted to kill Tyler and end everything. They also revealed that Tyler was currently somewhere within the <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Parallelos</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: The Parallelos is a spiritual realm that exists beyond our normal, physical world. It's believed that ascended spirits and other entities reside there. It's also implied that space and time work quite differently in the Parallelos.</span></span>.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Meanwhile, another older member of the Astral Observatory arrived on the forums - <b>IsocelesAssassin</b>. Strangely, IsocelesAssassin seemed to possess the ability to use <span class="altTooltip2">The Ocarina<span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: The Ocarina refers to the players' ability to submit songs, videos, and images of The Legend of Zelda series to affect the world of the ARG.</span></span>. Players were then introduced to another new character - <span class="altTooltip2"><b>GHOSTBABEL</b><span class="tooltiptext2">GHOSTBABEL is a character that originated from one of the player Greth's other ARG's. Her full backstory from that ARG isn't relevant to Johnisdead - only the fact that she's a somewhat malignant but ultimately helpful ally.</span></span>, a spirit that dwelled within computers. Despite her condescending, aggressive demeanor, GHOSTBABEL was a loyal comrade of both IsocelesAssassin and the players. Here, she revealed that IsocelesAssassin was actually the Astral Timeline version of the player CircleHunter. She also revealed that she was a spirit that resided within computers and was capable of moving around data at will - much like Drowned.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>GHOSTBABEL informs the players that their main objective is to enter the <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Subspace</b><span class="tooltiptext2">The Subspace is a secret section of Astralobservatory.net that's implied to contain the group's more secretive cult-based discussion and knowledge.</span></span> on Astralobservatory.net. GHOSTBABEL, IsocelesAssassin, and an as of yet unmentioned <b>Hacker Group</b> are currently formulating a plan to help the players gain access to it. Before she departed, GHOSTBABEL left the players with a startling revelation - most of the <span class="altTooltip2">Internet Detectives<span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: The Internet Detectives is the main player group participating in Johnisdead.</span></span> were dead in the Astral Timeline. When Moonman logged in, the players hounded him with questions. He revealed that shortly after the events of The Truth Arc in early 2017, Nocta joined and befriended the Internet Detectives. However, he suddenly left in early 2018. Not long afterwards, most of the Internet Detectives were killed by a traitor, leaving only Moonman, IsocelesAssassin, and a Spanish user named <b>Yugi</b>. In mid-2018, the three of them infiltrated the Astral Observatory in an attempt to stop Nocta.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="float:left; margin-top: 0px;"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/7/7c/Crescent.gif"><p>Moonman trapped within the website.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>It was around this time that players discovered that Johnisdead.com was now locked. Not long afterwards, Moonman was attacked and somehow trapped within a pocket of the Parallelos. GHOSTBABEL offered to assist the players in rescuing Moonman if they could provide her with <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Helper's Hat</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: Helper's Hat is a magical item that originally belonged to Helper. It seemingly grants one control over Helper's Within Hubris account and the "M" YouTube channel. It also greatly expands Helper's abilities. It was last seen during the YSHDT Arc in The Gray Man's possession.</span></span>. She revealed that the Astral Timeline version of Helper's Hat was currently in IsocelesAssassin's possession. However, GHOSTBABEL desired Helper's Hat from the players' timeline, and she claimed she knew where to find it.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>GHOSTBABEL hacked Astralobservatory.net and allowed the players to enter a small section of the Subspace. Here, the players found their timeline's version of Helper's Hat. Strangely, it seemed to be guarded by a dead version of the player CircleHunter. However, the players had no time to dwell on this. Holding up her end of the bargain, GHOSTBABEL destabilized Astralobservatory.net, allowing the players to locate Moonman within the Parallelos. Unfortunately, due to several misplaced submissions, the website went offline. Thankfully, GHOSTBABEL revealed that she would be able to restore Astralobservatory.net, though there would be some consequences.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>GHOSTBABEL was successful - Astralobservatory.net returned and the players were able to recover Moonman. Upon his return, Moonman said the experience was horrifying but he knew the players were coming to save him. Strangely, Moonman also mentioned that when GHOSTBABEL restored the site he witnessed the arrival of an unknown "<b>orange entity</b>".</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/d/dc/Storyhead19.png" /></p><h3>The Five Lines</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/9/95/Sleeproom.gif"><p>One of the many rune-based images posted by the IIIII account.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Meanwhile, in the <b>Internet Detectives Discord Server</b>, the IIIII began chatting with the players. Here, the IIIII entity was seen speaking through what was originally Tyler's out-of-character non-canon Discord account. Through fractured conversations, it was revealed that "IIIII" doesn't just represent two entities but instead five - one for each line. The Rune Entity claimed that "The 2nd", or "II", was behind something called "<b>Nullstorms</b>". They also revealed that "The 3rd", or "III", was currently sleeping somewhere within the Parallelos. The Mask Entity would repeatedly taunt the players and refer to itself as the "true father". Meanwhile, the Rune Entity referred to the players as their friends and would try to assist them. One night, the Rune Entity was attacked by the Mask Entity. After saving him, the players asked the Rune Entity exactly who they were. Unfortunately, the Rune Entity was interrupted as they answered "I'm another-". | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>In the Safehaven Discord Server, IsocelesAssassin began chatting with the players. He claimed that the Astral and Prime Timelines were both very similar to one another. One obvious difference is that the Astral Timeline version of Greth, Moonman, was never possessed by Patrem. Instead, someone else was possessed by Patrem. However, IsocelesAssassin is unable to reveal who it was. He also believes that their version of Tyler has been captured, though he doesn't know where or how. Moonman also mentions that he was absent through a portion of The Truth Arc. This resulted in the player <b>Mugen Kagemaru</b> taking his place in the <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Circle of Three</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: The Circle of Three was a ritual enacted by Jeremy. It involved the gathering of three players - an act that allowed him to communicate more effectively and securely. In the Astral Timeline, Greth (Moonman) was unable to participate. Instead, the player Mugen Kagemaru took his place within the Circle of Three.</span></span>.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="float:left; margin-top: 0px;"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/2/2d/Phsmoll.gif"><p>A depiction of the entity described by Yuukichan.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Oddities continued manifesting in the Internet Detectives Discord server. Similar to Tyler and IIIII, Greth's out-of-character non-canon Discord account suddenly became active as well. It began posting cryptic messages about "<b>Aggregation</b>" and "<b>The Meta</b>". Greth's out-of-character account would even occasionally chip in during canon conversations with other characters, spreading even more confusion. When asked who was speaking through this account, it simply answered with <b>"Greth"</b>. This "Greth" was a malicious trickster that was implied to be separate from both the Prime Timeline Greth and the Astral Timeline Moonman, implying that perhaps a third timeline was now involved.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>In October of 2019, Yuukichan's spirit began communicating with the players in the Safehaven Discord server. Here, she spoke through broken, cryptic sentences in an attempt to warn the players about the arrival of a malicious entity. She warned that some sort of event would occur on <b>Halloween</b>, telling the players to prepare. Oddly, Yuukichan singled out the player <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Wolfcat</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Wolfcat is a player who had been present throughout all of Johnisdead and Ben Drowned. They created the Safehaven Discord server and chatted with most of the users on the Astral Observatory Forums.</span></span>, asking if they were safe.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/5/58/Storyhead20.png" /></p><h3>Deceitful Individuals</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/f/f6/PH2.gif"><p>An image of Pumpkinhead.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>On October 30th, 2019, an event known as the <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Pumpkinhead Gamejack</b><span class="tooltiptext2">A "Gamejack" is an event in which a player pretends to be a canon character within an ARG and tricks players into believing that they're a part of the story.</span></span> began. This was a period in which the player Wolfcat pretended to be overtaken by a malicious entity called <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Pumpkinhead</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Pumpkinhead was the name of an entity that appeared during an ARG created by the player Wolfcat. This ARG took place within a Minecraft server owned by the Internet Detectives. Within it, Pumpkinhead was a malicious spirit that was somehow connected to the death of Wolfcat that proceeded to use his spirit as a puppet.</span></span>. The players Jos and CircleHunter also joined in on the gamejack - believing it to be nothing more than an innocent prank. During this period a new user joined the Internet Detectives - <b>Erika</b>. She appeared to be a Johnisdead fangirl who would often express her excitement of seeing Tyler in upcoming videos.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>The gamejack continued until November 9th, 2019 when Tyler seemingly broke character and banned Wolfcat. Tyler was seemingly enraged at Wolfcat for having gamejacked the ARG. While the players were still reeling from the fact that nothing revealed during the gamejack was canon, Erika began attempting to get Tyler's attention. However, Tyler was still infuriated. He proceed to insult Erika repeatedly before she finally left the server.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Not long afterwards, Tyler uploaded a video to Silentdork announcing that the ARG was over and that none of it was real. However, just as players expected the video to end, it continued. The Mask Entity proceeded to go on an enraged rant about how it wished everything would end already. This all seemed to imply that the Tyler acting aggressively towards Erika and Wolfcat earlier was actually the Mask Entity - not Tyler himself. After a few minutes, the video proceeded to show what happened to Tyler on April 23rd, 2019. Tyler was attacked by Patrem puppetting Prime Timeline Greth's body and was forced to escape by using the <b>Detour Sign</b>. However, this time the sign teleported him to the <b>Parallelos</b>. Here, Tyler encountered a strange white, mannequin-like entity standing atop a bridge.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Over time, Wolfcat and Erika both rejoined the Internet Detectives. This led to the players discovering Erika's YouTube channel - <b>Emerald Heart</b>, which contained a music video themed around the ARG. Strangely, this video contained footage that the players had not yet seen. Players began accusing Erika of being a canon character - something she vehemently denied. Instead, she claimed that she simply received her footage from another YouTube channel - <b>Quiet Family</b>, a channel that supposedly belonged to SKM's brother <b>Max</b>.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="float:left; margin-top: 0px;"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/1/17/Erika_more_complette.jpg"><p>Erika's avatar.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>While the debate over whether or not Erika was canon raged on, the malicious <b>"Greth"</b> using Greth's out-of-character non-canon account once again became active. This version of "Greth" finally provided a name for himself - "<span class="altTooltip2"><b>BUP</b><span class="tooltiptext2">BUP is a mischievous trickster with malicious intent. Because of this, they often utilized memes and jokes in strange ways. For example, the name "BUP" itself was simply an alias that originated from a meme involving the character Toad from Super Mario 64.</span></span>". Despite their meme-like nature, BUP was an incredibly powerful version of Greth who held great knowledge of the ARG itself, possessed the ability to take over GHOSTBABEL's account, and retroactively kill off characters if they wished.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Two of BUP's acquaintances joined the Internet Detectives. The first was <b>The Producer</b> - a friendly entity that seemed to be focused on endlessly producing content for BUP and the others. He seemed familiar with the players and often partook in casual conversations with them. The second was <b>TheLaw</b> - an entity that seemed to lack much freewill and instead often described themselves as a tool belonging to BUP. TheLaw is the same entity that first kicked off the ARG back in <b>2015</b>, having led the players to <b>YSHDT.com</b> on Within Hubris.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>The Producer claimed that, in a way, the IIIII entity was their leader. This seemed to imply that IIIII, BUP, The Producer, and TheLaw were all somewhat similar entities that held great knowledge over the world of Johnisdead. The also possessed the ability to affect its reality in powerful ways. In reference to IIIII, Erika claimed that the lines themselves are likened to five separate layers of being and that they can mean different things to different people. She makes reference to the "<b>Kabbalah</b>" to better explain this.</p> | ||
+ | </p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/d/d3/Storyhead21.png" /></p><h3>Familiar Faces</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="http://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/8/8e/Latest%3Fcb%3D20200327085132.gif"><p>Tyler partaking in Alex's trial in the Parallelos.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>On January 3rd, 2020, <b>SKM</b> contacted the Internet Detectives and revealed that he was now trapped within the <b>Parallelos</b> as well. He is currently living in a tent in some woods near a strange building. He describes the Parallelos as incredibly dark - he can only see when he views things through cameras or other devices. He also claims to have heard strange voices inside his head.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>A few weeks later, another familiar character returned - <b>Vincent</b>. He explains that just before the cataclysm occurred at <b>The Spire</b> in <b>2016</b>, he was freed from Patrem's influence and was able to escape. However, at some point after this he was pulled into the Parallelos. After a long, exhausting journey, he was about to accept his fate as a large <b>Nullstorm</b> approached him - a large storm of darkness and tendrils. Vincent claims that these tendrils were actually parts of an <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Absque Fascie</b><span class="tooltiptext2">In the past, the Lunar Children described the Absque Fascie as Luna's loyal followers that dwell within her Parallelos. However, Vincent implies that the Absque Fascie are far more powerful than initially described - even dwarfing Patrem in terms of power.</span></span>, which Vincent claims is far more powerful than the Lunar Children originally let on. Before Vincent was destroyed, he was rescued by an <b>"Angel"</b>". This "Angel" warped Vincent out of the Parallelos and led him back home.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Back on YouTube, Tyler's journey through the Parallelos continued. He is seen making contact with the white mannequin-like entity on the bridge before being shown lying in a hospital bed. While this is happening, <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Alex</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: The Alex seen speaking on Silentdork is his post-transcended self who is a member of The Four Giants.</span></span> mentions placing Tyler through some sort of "Trial" as a test. Meanwhile, Greth returns to Greth Vlogs. He seems completely unharmed and unaware of Patrem's control. However, it now seemed as though he would occasionally fall under BUP's influence. Later on, BUP showcased a strange cassette to the players - "<b>Ascended E-girl</b>". This cassette contained imagery relating to <b>Yuukichan</b>. Shortly after this, Yuukichan asked the players to free both herself and someone called <b>"AW"</b>" from their dungeon. This "AW" entity was represented by an image of a spirit trapped within a bottle.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="float:left; margin-top: 0px;"><img src="http://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/d/d9/Watchingaltar.gif"><p>A figure believed to be Synchron.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>A few weeks later, <b>Patrem</b> became active on Within Hubris for the first time in years. He now spoke in a much more nuanced and humbled tone and answered questions with cryptic riddles. Patrem praised a great mage named <b>Synchron</b> who he claimed spoke in symbols while casting at an altar in the "fourth world". This all sounded extremely similar to the <b>Rune Entity</b>, perhaps implying that the Rune Entity, Synchron, and "IIII" or "The Fourth" were all the same person. He also mentioned "<b>The Dark One</b>" and implied that the <b>Mask Entity</b>, Tenebris, and "I" or "The First" are all the same as well. Patrem also references <b>The Machine</b>, which he claims to be within.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>On April 20th, <b>2022</b>, IsocelesAssassin, GHOSTBABEL, and Moonman all met with the players in the Safehaven Discord server. Here, they were finally ready to enact their plan to get the players into the <b>Subspace</b>. With the help of the aforementioned <b>Hacker Group</b>, a <b>Data Bomb</b> had been constructed for the players to use to break open the Astral Observatory. However, something was wrong. After the Hacker Group transferred the Data Bomb to GHOSTBABEL, everyone was shocked to see that the file was missing. Instead, it had been replaced with an orange, distorted image of the player Wolfcat.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="margin-top: 0px;"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/b/b2/Thebomb.gif"><p>The Data Bomb used to access the Subspace.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Pumpkinhead suddenly unveiled himself, revealing that he was canon all along and simply pretending to be the player Wolfcat. The entire Pumpkinhead Gamejack was a ploy to make it seem as though he was not a threat and completely <span class="altTooltip2">non-canon<span class="tooltiptext2">Ever since the Pumpkinhead Gamejack, the player Wolfcat (Who was secretly Pumpkinhead in disguise) had been omitting details relating to himself from the Johnisdead Wiki. His avatar was also slowly growing darker and more menacing.</span></span>. After this, the Safehaven Discord server began distorting. Within it, players discovered a previously hidden chatroom that contained conversations between Pumpkinhead and Wolfcat dating back to <b>2019</b>. Here, Wolfcat pleaded with Pumpkinhead to not harm his friends. It was also revealed that Pumpkinhead was using Wolfcat as a puppet - something that allowed him to better copy Wolfcat's mannerisms and fool the players. Wolfcat seemed to disappear from these conversations around the same time BUP released the <b>"Ascended E-girl"</b> cassette - much to Pumpkinhead's dismay.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Pumpkinhead proceeded to delete the Safehaven Discord server, leaving the players scrambling. Thankfully, GHOSTBABEL managed to use Helper's Hat to contact the players via the "M" YouTube channel. Here, Helper directed the players to the location of a second "<b>Data Bomb</b>" - Doug's old blog, <b>Letschasethemouse</b>". The player ARGdov retrieved the bomb and used his access to "The Truth" Board to post it on the Astral Observatory Forums. This distorted the website, finally granting the players access to the <b>Subspace</b>. Here, the players discovered several repurposed Lunar Children teachings such as the Parallelos. They also learned about the concept of <b>Aggregation</b> - the process of someone fusing with their other selves across space and time. The Subspace also contained various chatlogs from members of the Astral Observatory. These revealed that IsocelesAssassin and <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Yugi</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: Yugi is the third Astral Internet Detective who survived alongside IsocelesAssassin and Moonman.</span></span> had hatched some sort of plan to undermine Nocta at some point. Players also discovered a timer counting down to April 23rd, 2020. When the timer hit zero, it transformed into a link to <b>Johnisdead.com</b> - players once again finally had access to the website.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <img src="http://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/4/41/Arc502.png" alt="" style="margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; display:block;" /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>In the previous section, players were introduced to several powerful beings who held great knowledge pertaining to the world of Johnisdead. These included a malicious version of Greth named BUP, a friendly artist named The Producer, a steadfast underling named TheLaw, and a series of entities using a single account named IIIII. The different I's within IIIII all seemed to represent different characters and ideas. "I" seemingly represents Tenebris, whereas "IIII" represents a powerful mage named Synchron. At this point, the identities of the other I's are unknown.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Players discovered that Tyler had been attacked by Patrem puppetting Greth's body. This resulted in Tyler accidentally warping into the Parallelos after touching the Detour Sign. Tyler was now on a terrifying journey through the Parallelos and is currently being forced through some sort of trial by Alex. Meanwhile, players met the Astral Timeline version of the player CircleHunter - IsocelesAssassin. He's assisted by a spirit named GHOSTBABEL, who begrudgingly assists the players. Through their conversations, it was revealed that the Internet Detectives in the Astral Timeline were all killed by a traitor.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>A new entity arose to torment the players - Pumpkinhead. For months, Pumpkinhead covertly worked against the players while pretending to be the fellow player Wolfcat. Meanwhile, a user named Erika joined the Internet Detectives - an individual whose canonicity was hotly debated. Erika had access to footage of Tyler that was seemingly brand new, leading to many labelling her as a canon character. However, Erika vehemently denied this, claiming that she simply obtained this footage from a YouTube account belonging to SKM's brother Max named Quiet Family.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Several other characters returned as well. SKM contacted the players and revealed that he was now in the Parallelos as well. Vincent also returned, explaining that he was freed from Patrem's influence just before the cataclysm in 2016. Though he managed to escape, he briefly fell into the Parallelos before later being rescued from it by an | ||
+ | "angel".</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Allies from the Astral Observatory and an elusive group of hackers worked together to create a "Data Bomb" for the players. This was to be used to break into the Subspace on Astral Observatory. Unfortunately, just before the players were about to use the bomb, Pumpkinhead revealed himself and stole it. Thankfully, GHOSTBABEL was able to direct the players to a second Data Bomb, allowing the players to post it on Astralobservatory.net and break into the Subspace. Here, they learned about the concept of Aggregation - the process of an individual fusing with their other selves across time and space. Players also discovered a countdown to April 23rd, 2020. When it reached zero, players gained access to a completely revamped Johnisdead.com</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/8/8e/Storyhead22.png" /></p><h3>Digital Labyrinths</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="http://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/c/ca/Parallelosjid.gif"><p>The new front page of Johnisdead.com.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Johnisdead.com had been completely reworked. The site now contained a series of "Paths" players could explore - long strings of distorted roads and highways that led to hidden pages. One of these led to what appeared to have once been a holding cell for <span class="altTooltip2"><b>José</b><span class="tooltiptext2">José is the person who obtained the Lunar Children servers in an attempt to investigate them during the previous arc.</span></span>, likely implying that he had been ascended. The cell contained a playing card and a message revealing that some of José's scripts on Johnisdead.com would eventually activate on their own, assisting the players. Further exploration revealed that José was actually <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Yugi</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: Yugi is the third Astral Internet Detective who survived alongside Moonman and IsocelesAssassin.</span></span>. These pages contained chatlogs in which Nocta asked Yugi to travel back in time and enter the Prime Timeline so he could recover the Lunar Children servers.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Meanwhile, <b>BUP</b> began sharing more of his backstory. He once owned an organization called the <b>Astral Observatory</b>. However, this organization was completely different from the one the players were familiar with because BUP actually originates from an unknown third timeline. This means that the Astral Observatory owned by Nocta in the Astral Timeline simply stole the name of BUP's original organization from this unknown third timeline and repurposed it. BUP also claims that one of the reasons why he's so powerful is that he ascended himself.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>After a while, TheLaw began conspiring with the players to combat BUP. It was soon revealed that TheLaw held some connection to the player <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Dawn</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Dawn, also known as Dawn of a New Day, was the GM of the first arc of Johnisdead - the YSHDT Arc. During this time, he went by the alias "The Man".<br /><br />Also, as a reminder, TheLaw is the entity that kicked off the events of the ARG by linking the players to YSHDT.com.</span></span>. The players noticed that Dawn hadn't been active lately and began fearing for his safety. TheLaw assisted them in breaking into his desktop using a remote program. Here, the players learned that Dawn was a member of a sun-worshipping cult called the <b>Sun Children</b>. Dawn held the title of <b>The Dawn</b>, which granted him various powers from his god, <b>Helios</b>.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="float:left; margin-top: 0px;"><img src="http://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/e/ec/Empti1.png"><p>One of the many strange Janus worlds discovered on Johnisdead.com.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>By searching through Dawn's old files, players gained access to a new page on Johnisdead.com. This page contained a digital recreation of <b>The Spire</b> that could be explored using <span class="altTooltip2"><b>JanusVR</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: JanusVR is a program that was briefly used during the Johnisdead Arc. It allows users to explore webpages in the form of 3D environments.</span></span>. Players also discovered that the <b>Fakeworld</b> Janus Room from 2015 had returned, now acting as more of a hub world for various other Janus rooms.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>The Spire contained a variety of chatlogs from Lunar Children met during The Truth Arc. These conversations implied that <b>Hunter</b> went missing shortly after <b>Undecim Nocte 2015</b>. This was also around the time <b>Mat</b> went missing as well. Players also discovered a hidden attic that contained cryptic drawings - some of which implied that the version of Wolfcat that was being used as Pumpkinhead's mask was his deceased, Astral Timeline self. The Spire also hid links to a variety of other hidden Janus worlds on Johnisdead.com.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/d/df/Storyhead23.png" /></p><h3>Regrouping</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/3/3d/Help.jpg"><p>The storm drain that Mason died in.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>After months of silence, players finally managed to regain contact with their allies on the Astral Observatory, which had since been abandoned by Nocta. Here, IsocelesAssassin reveals that he was actually "<span class="altTooltip2"><b>The Gray Man</b><span class="tooltiptext2">The Gray Man was the enigmatic figure from the YSHDT Arc who gave Mason a playing card in exchange for Helper's Hat.</span></span>". A few years prior in 2018, the Astral Observatory picked up some transmissions from the <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Hacker Group</b><span class="tooltiptext2">The "Hacker Group" refers to the secretive group of hackers that worked alongside IsocelesAssassin to create the Data Bomb for the players.</span></span>. IsocelesAssassin managed to contact the Hacker Group in secret. Here, he learned that they were from a third, separate timeline - just like BUP.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>IsocelesAssassin and the Hacker Group formulated a plan together. IsocelesAssassin used The Ocarina to go back in time to <b>2009</b>. Here, he retrieved <b>Helper's Hat</b> from Mason in exchange for a playing card. These playing cards were oddities that were found near the bodies of deceased Internet Detectives in the Astral Timeline. After this, IsocelesAssassin installed a <b>Transmission Device</b> atop a <span class="altTooltip2">cellphone tower<span class="tooltiptext2">It's implied that this cellphone tower is the same one seen in videos on the "M" YouTube channel - videos that would have been from IsocelesAssassin's perspective as he possessed Helper's Hat.</span></span>. Despite his best efforts, IsocelesAssassin was unable to prevent Mason's death. However, he was able to store Mason's soul in a device he was given by the Hacker Group. IsocelesAssassin and Mason travelled together until <b>2012</b> when they were attacked by <b>Regiminis</b>. Fortunately, Regiminis seemed a bit weaker than normal, giving IsocelesAssassin the chance to escape <span class="altTooltip2">back to the present<span class="tooltiptext2">The reason why IsocelesAssassin possesses the Astral Timeline's version of Helper's Hat is because he still retained possession of it from his time as The Gray Man in 2009.</span></span>. Unfortunately, Mason was left behind - still trapped within the device.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="float:left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/8/80/Dead.gif"><p>The dead version of IsocelesAssassin used as Pumpkinhead's vessel.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>IsocelesAssassin points out some strange differences between the Astral and Prime Timelines. Firstly, <b>SKM</b> in the Astral Timeline is a malicious, bloodthirsty entity that's constantly hunting down <b>Max</b>. Secondly, <b>Drowned</b> did not exist in the Astral Timeline. Instead, Max took his place in assisting the players. Also, Helper never assisted the players on the Lunar Children Forums. Finally, the video "Regiminis" was never uploaded in the Astral Timeline. IsocelesAssassin believes that Nocta wanted <span class="altTooltip2"><b>José</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: José is Yugi - the third Astral Internet Detective who survived alongside IsocelesAssassin and Moonman. At Nocta's request, he went back in time and entered the Prime Timeline to retrieve the Lunar Children servers as seen during the Astral Arc.</span></span> to retrieve the Lunar Children servers in the Prime Timeline in order to further link the two timelines. However, he never intended on actually carrying this out. Instead, he hoped to investigate the servers himself. Unfortunately, José's treachery was discovered and he was locked inside the Parallelos as punishment.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Meanwhile, players continued chatting with various entities on Discord. Here it was revealed that The Producer was actually a powerful version of <b>Wolfcat</b> - similar to the connections between BUP and Greth - or TheLaw and Dawn. Not long after this, Pumpkinhead returned - now expressing his boredom in having to wait for his <span class="altTooltip2">"Mask"<span class="tooltiptext2">"Mask" in this sense refers to a vessel. Pumpkihead's previous mask was the Astral Timeline version of Wolfcat, who disappeared around the time the "Ascended E-Girl" album was released.</span></span> to return. In the meantime, he decided to take the spirit of another character as his mask - a dead version of <span class="altTooltip2">IsocelesAssassin<span class="tooltiptext2">This dead version of IsocelesAssassin was previously seen in Subspace guarding the Prime Timeline version of Helper's Hat. At the time, the reason for their existence was unknown.</span></span>.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>A few days later, Erika was preparing to share another music video with the players. Just like before, this video also contained an abundance of never-before-seen footage. However, before the players could process all of this, Pumpkinhead interjected and shared a link to the new <b>Johnisdead Wiki</b>, which clearly listed Erika as a canon character with all of her conversations logged. Shocked and saddened by this, Erika lamented the fact that she could no longer pass herself off as "real". She then said her goodbyes before leaving the Internet Detectives.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/c/c1/BUPattack.gif"><p>Dawn being attacked by Greth.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Further exploration on Johnisdead.com led players to a Janus room where the <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Dawn</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: Dawn was the GM of the first arc of Johnisdead - the YSHDT Arc. During this time he went by the name The Man. Earlier, it was revealed that he's actually a member of a cult called the Sun Children and holds the title of "The Dawn", which grants him special powers.</span></span> was being held captive by malicious spirits. The players quickly freed him, allowing him to escape his machine-like imprisonment. After this, Dawn began travelling to Florida to retrieve a holy book that once belonged to the <b>Sun Children</b>. Not long after this, the video <b>Konvergenz</b> was uploaded to Silentdork - a fairly long video that covered a variety of different plotlines.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Within this video, <b>TheLaw</b> can be seen being attacked and killed by a strange, blue, frog-like entity - presumably a beast sent by BUP to punish TheLaw for his betrayal. After this, Tyler's journey continues. As Tyler lays in the hospital bed, the camera suddenly zooms into the heart monitor next to it. Here, he comes across a shopping cart containing his clothes and the <b>Majora's Mask Cartridge</b>. Upon touching it, Tyler is once again confronted by the white mannequin-like entity. Tyler is then warped to a hotel-like location - <b>Alex's "Hall of Fame"</b>. Here, <b>Erika</b> begins speaking to Tyler, helping to guide him through the hotel. The two are suddenly attacked by <b>Regiminis</b> as they flee into an elevator, ending the video.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Meanwhile, Dawn completes his long trek to Florida. Here, he finally recovers the Sun Children's holy book - though not before he's attacked by a sword-wielding Greth - presumably possessed by either BUP or Patrem. The two engage in combat with Dawn barely managing to ward them off. Strangely, before this video ends, the players are given a "<b>Rook</b>" chess piece - seemingly representing Dawn himself.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/2/2f/Storyhead24.png" /></p><h3>Virtual Expeditions</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/e/ef/Pumpkinheadtravel.png"><p>Pumpkinhead travelling through the Parallelos.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>On June 20th, <b>2020</b>, Pumpkinhead began challenging the players with his new <span class="altTooltip2">mask<span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: Pumpkinhead's current "Mask" or vessel / puppet was a dead version of IsocelesAssassin of unknown origin.</span></span>. Pumpkinhead was initially impervious to damage due to the "<span class="altTooltip2"><b>Mirror Shield</b><span class="tooltiptext2">The Mirror Shield is a piece of equipment from The Legend of Zelda series. It is used to block and redirect attacks at enemies. Pumpkinhead was seen equipping it in the leaked conversations in the Safehaven Discord server from 2019.</span></span>". However, the players quickly disarmed him, scaring him off into hiding. Pumpkinhead took refuge in a pocket of the Subspace called the "<b>Sanctum</b>". He also locked away the Astral Observatory Forums in the process.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>The Sanctum was a massive labyrinth of pages. The players encountered many different puzzles that required the use of different submissions via <span class="altTooltip2"><b>The Ocarina</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: "The Ocarina" refers to the Ocarina powers possessed by the players - the ability to submit songs, images, and videos from The Legend of Zelda series to affect the world of the ARG.</span></span>. Unfortunately, the players' various submission options had been locked away by Pumpkinhead. As such, they had to slowly unlock them as they progressed through the Sanctum. Aiding them was the wandering spirit of <b>Mason</b>, who tried explaining more of his travels with IsocelesAssassin in <span class="altTooltip2"><b>2009</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: IsocelesAssassin went back in time to 2009 under the identity "The Gray Man". Here, he captured Mason's departed soul in a device and the two travelled for a few years before being separated in 2012.</span></span>. However, this only complicated things as it seemed as though Mason was experiencing conflicting memories - one scenario where IsocelesAssassin escaped back to the present and one where he was killed by Regiminis. The players were also assisted by <b>Pursan</b> - a mysterious entity who struck a deal with the players and offered them a map of the various webpages on the website.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="float:left; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/c/c7/Sanctum.png"><p>The map of the Sanctum received from Pursan.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Upon completing the Sanctum, the players regained access to the Astral Observatory Forums. Pumpkinhead was forced to flee, allowing the dead version of IsocelesAssassin that was being used as his mask to be freed. This version of IsocelesAssassin began sharing more of his story. In the timeline he hailed from, SKM only found a <b>Gas Mask</b> in the <span class="altTooltip2">briefcase<span class="tooltiptext2">This is referring to the briefcase that SKM was given after completing his Lunar Children initiation in 2011. He was originally only meant to receive a gas mask. However, according to Drowned in 2016, there is a conflicting recollection of events where he was also gifted a copy of the Libro Lunarus.</span></span> - not the Libro Lunarus. IsocelesAssassin also claims that Mason was the one who created the <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Transmission Device</b><span class="tooltiptext2">This refers to the Transmission Device that IsocelesAssassin was given by the Hacker Group to install atop the cellphone tower in 2009.</span></span> - something that seems impossible.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Just like what was described on the Astral Observatory Forums, the two were attacked by Regminis in 2012. However, this version of IsocelesAssassin was killed, leaving Mason alone trapped in his device for years. During this time, <b>Helper</b> arrived and retrieved his hat from IsocelesAssassin's corpse. Meanwhile, Mason eventually managed to manifest a physical body around the device. On April 23rd, <b>2016</b>, he charged The Spire and used his device to presumably blow it up - likely causing The Cataclysm that wiped out the Lunar Children. This video ends with this version of IsocelesAssassin and Mason being represented by two <b>Pawn</b> chess pieces.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/b/b6/Iaandmason.png"><p>IsocelesAssassin approaching the cellphone tower with Mason's device.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Back on Johnisdead.com, players discovered more Janus worlds to discover. Here, they met several digital entities that lived in these worlds. These included the brothers <b>Stackoverflow</b>, <b>Trapped</b>, and <b>Halicord</b>. They also met a docile manta-ray-like entity named <b>Prominence</b>. These entities led the players to The Spire Janus room where they discovered the could now access the upper floors of the building. Here, they found a variety of bedrooms belonging to the <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Elder Children</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: The Elder Children are simply higher ranking members of the Lunar Children who oversaw various aspects of the cult.</span></span>. These rooms also contained secret chatlogs between the Elder Children.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>These chatlogs revealed that it's possible that <b>Hunter</b> deliberately gave Tyler back the <b>Crescent Moon Necklace</b> on <b>Undecim Nocte 2015</b> - possibly sabotaging the cult. It's also revealed that <b>Mat</b> would often communicate with <b>Tenebris</b> in private despite this being highly forbidden. Other conversations reveal that <b>Regiminis</b> killed <b>Helper</b> in <b>2016</b> when he was travelling to deliver the Crescent Moon Necklace to the <span class="altTooltip2">players<span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: The players asked Helper to do two things for them back in late 2015 - deliver a camera to Tyler and steal his Crescent Moon Necklace. It now seems as though the reason he never carried out the latter was because he was killed again.</span></span>. After this, Regiminis returned the Crescent Moon Necklace to the Elder Child named <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Jennifer</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Jennifer originally went by the name Jinn on the Lunar Children Forums. She was said to have overseen the library at The Spire.</span></span>, who hid it away somewhere secure. Players also discovered that <b>Mat</b> was a member of some other cult called the <b>Order of Metatron</b>, though no further details are given.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Over time, even more Janus rooms were discovered - many of which linked back to the ever-growing <b>Fakeworld</b>. One of the newly discovered Janus rooms was a recreation of the <b>Fishery</b>. Here, players discovered a link to a video from <b>2014</b> that featured <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Vincent Adams</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: Vincent Adams was a Lunar Child who unknowingly became Patrem's host after 2011. He was finally freed from Patrem's influence in 2016.</span></span>, who was shockingly revealed to be <b>Jacob</b> - one of Tyler's friends who went missing in <b>2009</b>. This implies that Jacob completed his Lunar Children initiation from <span class="altTooltip2">Mason<span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: Jacob was the player from the YSHDT Arc who was contacted by Mason and invited to partake in several initiation rituals in order to join the Lunar Children. This all implies that Jacob completed the initiation and actually joined the cult - hence his disappearance.</span></span>and joined the cult - later becoming known as Vincent.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/2/2f/Storyhead24.png" /></p><h3>Bits and Pieces</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="http://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/a/ad/Moonmanataccked.png"><p>Moonman while under the surveillance of The Jaeger.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p> <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Kaiden</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: Kaiden is a member of the Astral Observatory Forums who enjoys video games and roleplay.</span></span> set off on a journey of his own. Feeling responsible for Yuukichan's death, Kaiden hoped to redeem himself by investigating the deaths of the Internet Detectives in the Astral Timeline. He investigated the homes of the players Scout and Wolfcat, finding them both abandoned. He discovered a playing card in each home though - a "Two of Diamonds" and "Seven of Hearts" respectively.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Meanwhile, a series of concerning videos were uploaded to Moonman's YouTube channel. It seemed as though he were now being haunted by the <span class="altTooltip2">entity<span class="tooltiptext2">The figure wearing the silver alien mask was seen previously stalking Greth in several videos on Greth Vlogs. It also attacked Moonman once before.</span></span> wearing the silver alien mask. Shortly afterwards, this entity joined the Astral Observatory Forums and finally revealing their name - <b>The Jaeger</b>. The Jaeger claimed that Moonman was in their possession and that soon an <span class="altTooltip2">aggregation<span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: Aggregation is the process of an individual merging with their other selves across space and time.</span></span> would take place. Fearing for his safety, the players used their powers to warp Moonman to the safety of <span class="altTooltip2">IsocelesAssassin's<span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: The version of IsoclesAssassin that the players are all familiar with is still alive. The version of him that was dead and being used as Pumpkinhead's puppet is assumed to be from a different timeline and his origin is still currently unknown.</span></span> home.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>While IsocelesAssassin helped Moonman recover, he gave the players their next objective. They were to search Johnisdead.com for a signal sent out by the <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Hacker Group</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: The Hacker Group is the enigmatic group that assisted the players by creating the Data Bomb that was used to break into the Subspace. After Pumpkinhead stole the Data Bomb, their connection with the players and the Astral Observatory was severed.</span></span> on Johnisdead.com and enter it into Astralobservatory.net. Upon doing this, IsocelesAssassin and GHOSTBABEL were finally able to connect back to the Hacker Group who began speaking with the players on the Astral Observatory Forums.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>The Hacker Group was revealed be from the mysterious third timeline that BUP originated from. Their members included this third timeline's version of <b>Mason</b>, <b>Spencer</b>, and an unknown third member. In this third timeline, a terrible cataclysm destroyed the world around <b>2011</b>. The three members of the Hacker Group were barely able to escape with their lives. This timeline had other oddities as well - for example, The Four Giants were supposedly never transcended, explaining how this version of Spencer was still alive. The Hacker Group also revealed that the Prime Timeline version of <b>SKM</b> worked with them in the past, having briefly contacted them in <b>2014</b>.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; float: left;"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/5/54/II.gif"><p>Tyler being represented as "II".</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Back on Discord, BUP revealed more of his backstory. He confirmed that his original timeline is indeed the same one mentioned by the Hacker Group. BUP realized that his world was ending and underwent an elaborate ascension in order to escape it. He also revealed that he is already secretly aggregated to Moonman and has the ability to take control of him at any given moment. Fearing for the safety of his friends, Moonman decided to distance himself from them and left the safety of IsocelesAssassin's home. After this, players were shown a video of Moonman travelling through a section of the <b>Parallelos</b> called <b>The Shortcut</b>. Meanwhile, <span class="altTooltip2"><b>IIIII</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: IIIII is the enigmatic account shared by multiple entities. Each line seemingly represents a different person or idea. IIII, or "The Fourth" represents Synchron. I, or "The First" represents Tenebris.</span></span> made several cryptic posts in Discord that seemingly revealed the identity of "II" or "The Second" - <b>Tyler</b>.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/0/0f/Arc3part3.png" alt="" style="margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; display:block;" /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>In the previous section, Johnisdead.com returned. Now a sprawling labyrinth of webpages, players had to utilize the program JanusVR to explore various 3D environments hidden within them. Meanwhile, players learned more about the histories of the various members of the Astral Observatory. They discovered that José was actually a member of the Astral Timeline's version of the Internet Detectives who went back in time and entered the Prime Timeline. Once here, he obtained the Lunar Children servers in an attempt to study them. Unfortunately, he was supposedly tracked down and locked away within the Parallelos as punishment.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Around this time, IsocelesAssassin made contact with an enigmatic group of hackers who hail from a third timeline. This third timeline underwent some sort of major cataclysm in 2011. It's also the timeline that BUP originated from. With their help, IsocelesAssassin went back in time to 2009 under the alias of "The Gray Man" and set up their Transmission Device atop a cellphone tower. While there, he rescued Mason's spirit by capturing it in a device. The two journeyed together until 2012 when they were attacked by Regiminis. While IsocelesAssassin managed to flee, Mason was left behind. By 2016, Mason managed to manifest a body and charge The Spire, supposedly initiating the cataclysm that destroyed both it and the Lunar Children.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Meanwhile, players made several startling discoveries about their allies. They learned that their fellow player Dawn was actually a member of a sun-based cult called the Sun Children. He held the holy title of The Dawn, which granted him special abilities. Players also discovered that Erika was indeed a canon character. Shortly after this reveal, she was seen guiding Tyler through the Parallelos as he explored Alex's "Hall of Fame" - a strange hotel. Here, Tyler is seen narrowly escaping Regiminis as he completes Alex's trial. Finally, the players also discovered that the true identity of Vincent Adams was Jacob - Tyler's friend who went missing in 2009.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Further exploration of Johnisdead.com revealed that Mat was actually a member of another cult called the Order of Metatron. Mat and Hunter both went missing shortly after Undecim Nocte 2015, which the latter was implied to have knowingly sabotaged. The entity wearing a silver alien mask was revealed to be called "The Jaeger". He began haunting Moonman, taunting the players about an upcoming Aggregation. Fearing that he'll become possessed by BUP and hurt his friends, Moonman set off on his own. Kaiden was also exploring around this time - journeying to the various homes of the deceased Astral Timeline version of the Internet Detectives. Strangely, at each location, Kaiden found a playing card...</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/f/f4/Storyhead15.png" /></p><h3>Digital Worlds</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/0/0f/Stainedglassdoortop.png"><p>A depiction of Erika discovered in the fishery.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Upon exploring Johnisdead.com, players discovered another Janus room. This one seemed to be a recreation of the fishery before it fell into ruin. Here, it was revealed that part of the fishery was once used as a convenience store - presumably as a cover operation. Players also discovered a fairly old church near the back of the fishery that contained depictions of Synchron and Erika. This room seemed much older than the others and it was supported by four large, black cornerstones.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Players also discovered several journals from <b>Father Alphonse</b> - the Lunar Children's former "Father" before Vincent obtained the title. Father Alphonse was investigating a strange cube obtained from the fishery. Upon further examination, he discovered that this cube was actually an incredibly complex machine of unknown origin. While observing it, Alphonse was greeted by an entity calling itself <b>Arawn</b>, who reveals that when an individual undergoes a <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Finitor</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: Finitors are very powerful types of ascensions. The Lunar Children only knew of two that ever existed - presumably Patrem and Tenebris.</span></span> ascension, two entities are created - a pure essence and an empty shell. Arawn claims to be the leftover "empty shell" of someone's finitor ascension, though he does not reveal whose. Arawn also began teaching Alphonse about aggregation. The results of this are unknown, though Alphonse's final journal implies that he's now somehow trapped within the <span class="altTooltip2">Janus worlds<span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: Janus worlds refers to the 3D digital environments that players can explore by using the program JanusVR.</span></span>.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Alphonse's journals also implied that the Janus worlds themselves were a part of <b>Project Bifrost</b> - a Lunar Children experiment. It's implied that the Janus worlds are built with a substance called <b>Spiritus</b> - a substance that hasn't been fully explained quite yet. Not long after this, players met a Lunar Child named <b>Jason</b> in the Janus worlds who took part in Project Bifrost. He implies that most of the other participants have long since disappeared and he complains a bit about the project's overall lack of communication and organization. Towards the end of the conversation, Jason goes into a sort of trance and disappears.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Around this time, players began learning more about <b>The Library</b> - an enigmatic location in the Parallelos that seems to hold a great deal of knowledge pertaining to both Johnisdead and the players. The Library is overseen by <b>The Keeper</b> - a title that's presumably passed on from one individual to another.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/f/f4/Storyhead15.png" /></p><h3>Paranormal Company</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/2/25/Wtlogo1.png"><p>WireTalk's logo and motto.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>On Halloween, <b>2021</b>, a video was uploaded to Silentdork that announced a scavenger's hunt that was to take place on Johnisdead.com. This video seemed somewhat artificial and it featured a different version of <b>Tyler</b> wearing a business suit named <b>Mr. Silent</b>. This video's description claimed that both it and the scavenger's hunt event was hosted by a company named <b>WireTalk</b>. WireTalk began putting their name and company terminology on a few other videos found on Silentdork - presumably attempting to take ownership of them.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Players were also introduced to the <span class="altTooltip2"><b>OFA Group</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Players called this group the "OFA Group" because of they often shouted the motto "One For All".</span></span> - three individuals who were working alongside something called "<b>Decoy</b>" while fighting back against WireTalk. Both the OFA Group and WireTalk spoke with complicated terminology that was difficult to understand. The OFA Group implied that WireTalk is somehow connected to <b>Mat</b> - supposedly they view him as a "side-experiment" of sorts. The OFA Group revealed all of this while on the run - they were constantly posting and deleting messages while trying to stay out of WireTalk's grasp.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="margin-top: 0px; float: left;"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/0/08/A_40b4ab388a28de80719dcbda88efc37a.gif"><p>Max's Discord avatar.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>On February 22nd, <b>2022</b>, <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Max</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: Max is SKM's brother. He was originally kidnapped and presumably ascended by the Lunar Children. At some point, his spirit was fused with Ben's, creating the entity known as Drowned. Eventually, Ben and Max split apart. After this, SKM placed Max's spirit inside of Tyler's Bullet Necklace for reasons unknown.</span></span> joined the Internet Detectives. His spirit currently resided inside a computer in the Parallelos. This computer was sitting in the same building near <span class="altTooltip2">SKM's tent<span class="tooltiptext2">Earlier, it was revealed that SKM was now in the Parallelos as well. He was living in a tent in the woods near a strange building.</span></span>. Max claims that there's a man in the building with long hair who speaks Latin into a machine. There's also another person in the same room as the computer who's sleeping on the bed. He also confirms that he has access to the <b>Quiet Family</b> YouTube channel, which he used to help <b>Erika</b> with her music videos. He also occasionally visits the Janus worlds - some of which he implies are simply digital recreations of real locations.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Max recollects how he was kidnapped in <b>2011</b>. He claims that he was lured out to a local park by <b>Patrem</b>. Here, several cultists hopped out of a van and captured him. Once Max was taken to the fishery, Patrem seemed completely taken aback by his presence, implying that Patrem was not the one who organized Max's kidnapping. Instead, it seemed as though someone had been impersonating Patrem in an attempt to undermine him. Patrem seemed genuinely remorseful regarding Max's involvement and promised to protect him. Unfortunately, as the night progressed, the cultists forced Max into a strange box where he was presumably ascended later fused with <b>Ben</b>, becoming <b>Drowned</b>.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Max revealed that there was currently a wire connecting SKM's tent to the building he was in. He feared for SKM's safety, noting that he seemed to be losing his mind a bit the last time he checked on him. Not long after this, players were able to get a closer look at SKM's tent. Here, it was revealed that SKM was working alongside a friendly spirit named <b>George</b>. SKM also had several notes around the tent containing some of his observations within the Parallelos. These included feminine spirits with glowing eyes and three large spheres surrounding a saturn-shaped object next to a fourth sphere.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/f/f4/Storyhead15.png" /></p><h3>Complex Communication</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/1/1b/Libin.png"><p>The interior of The Library - one of the locations Max enjoys spending time in.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>The players continued chatting with Max. Here, he mentions that SKM has been acting more strangely recently - possibly due to WireTalk's interference. He speculates that the company might somehow be puppetting his body. Alternatively, the OFA Group might somehow be puppetting him in an attempt to work against WireTalk. Max also implies that most of the Janus worlds based off of real life locations are actually housed within machines. These machines are implied to physically be in these real life locations somewhere - allowing Max to travel there. He goes on to explain that the Parallelos itself is all connected via machinery. The players also begin speculating about <b>Erika</b>. Shortly after this, players discovered a Discord server where it was revealed that Erika is actually Tyler's <span class="altTooltip2">tulpa<span class="tooltiptext2">A "tulpa" is a sentient entity that one can create within their own mind through a variety of mental and spiritual methods.</span></span> - or at least heavily related to them.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Later on, players manage to contact the OFA Group within Janus. Here, the OFA Group explains that they are fighting against WireTalk from within the company. While this presumably grants them more information, they have to be far more careful regarding their operations. They also warn that the world of Johnisdead isn't what the players think it is. They explain that WireTalk travels to many different "things" and sucks out the soul of realities. Supposedly WireTalk entered the world of Johnisdead shortly after it's creation - at which point they entered into some sort of shaky alliance with an as of yet unknown group. As they begin running out of time, the OFA Group warns the players that there's another faction at play - one they simply call "<b>The Old Men</b>".</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>The next day, another WireTalk-related video is uploaded to Silentdork that once again featuring <b>Mr. Silent</b>. He was accompanied by many different versions of Erika named <b>Mrs. Moon</b> - presumably all aligned with WireTalk as well. WireTalk announces that a feature-length <b>Johnisdead Movie</b> will be uploaded later in the year. The video is suddenly hijacked by the OFA Group who leak a few video clips to the players.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>A few months later, players were introduced to a new character - <b>Edwin</b>. Similar to Erika, Edwin's relevance and canonicity was quite confusing at first. He had an odd way of speaking and an overall playful attitude. Edwin claimed that Erika is his sister. He also has a brother, though he doesn't reveal who they are. He also referred to the Internet Detectives Discord server as a "brain chip" and a portal, claiming that whenever he spoke within it, it produced an "echo" effect.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storytitle"><p><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/f/f4/Storyhead15.png" /></p><h3>Past Enemies</h3></div> | ||
+ | <div class="storybox"> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/0/0c/Image_2022-11-08_131312107.png"><p>Nocta's drawing of The Shortcut.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>On October 12th, 2022, Astralobservatory.net was attacked by a malicious entity named <b>Hotspot</b> - a version of <b>Regiminis</b> from the Hacker Group's timeline. This entity took on a very skeletal appearance and had been relentlessly chasing the Hacker Group. This attacked wiped out the Astral Observatory Forums. Needing to maintain the website for continued communication, <b>GHOSTBABEL</b> sacrificed herself to stabilize Astralobservatory.net. This resulted in the website taking on a completely new appearance.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>GHOSTBABEL was now completely merged with the website. Fortunately, she retained some sentience and could occasionally briefly communicate. She used her newfound status to comb through the website's files. Here, she uncovered a series of restricted journals that documented someone who was suffering from amnesia. This individual awoke in a strange hospital in early 2017. Upon escaping it, they found their way back to their old home in <b>Florida</b>. Here, they stumbled upon <span class="altTooltip2"><b>The Shortcut</b><span class="tooltiptext2">The Shortcut is a section of the Parallelos that was previously seen in a video on Greth Vlogs.</span></span>, which seemingly acted as a hub world connecting various different locations. The Shortcut is laid out as a circular creek surrounding some woods with a quarry in the center.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>This individual senses a vague sense of familiarity with the <b>Lunar Children</b>. This eventually leads them to the <b>Internet Detectives</b>, whom he quickly befriends. They are eventually confronted by a figure wearing a large, silver mask - possibly <b>The Jaeger</b>. This figure begins continuously appearing in their dreams - along with the name <b>Nocta</b>. They eventually take on the name of "Nocta" themselves, believing it to have possibly been their name before their amnesia. This implies that these journals are detailing Nocta's past before he created the Astral Observatory in <b>2018</b>.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Meanwhile, BUP returns and taunts the players, revealing that two other <b>Greths</b> were about to <span class="altTooltip2">aggregate<span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: Aggregation is the process of an individual merging with their other selves across space and time.</span></span> together. BUP claims that his overarching goal is to aggregate to every single version of Greth in existence. Shortly after this, <b>Patrem</b> returns to <b>Within Hubris</b>. Here, he acts much more similarly to how he did in <b>2015</b> - condescendingly talking down to the players. He also implies that the Patrem speaking calmly and openly about <b>Synchron</b> was not himself. Regardless, this version of Patrem claims that he'll soon be meeting <b>Luna</b> in her Parallelos.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="storyimg" style="float:left; margin-top: 0px;"><img src="https://johnisdead.withinhubris.com/images/5/50/Pathetic.png"><p>Regiminis mocking Patrem.</p></div> | ||
+ | <p>Shortly after this, a video was uploaded to Silentdork. This video opens with <b>Moonman</b> exiting The Shortcut and arriving in Tyler's yard. Here, he's attacked and captured by The Jaeger. Moonman is then forced into an aggregation with <span class="altTooltip2"><b>Greth</b><span class="tooltiptext2">Reminder: Greth is the Prime Timeline version of Moonman. Greth is currently hosting Patrem within his body.</span></span>. This results in Greth's memories playing out on-screen. We see Greth in <b>2016</b> travelling to the <span class="altTooltip2">pond<span class="tooltiptext2">During The Truth Arc, the player Greth received some coordinates that supposedly led to the location where Hank's body was buried - a pond near the fishery. Until now, it wasn't revealed whether or not he actually went to these coordinates.</span></span> where <b>Hank</b> was supposedly buried. After this, we see a disheveled Greth entering Tyler's home and capturing him. We then see Greth partaking in some sort of ritual in which he hands off the <b>Bullet Necklace</b> to someone. Greth, now seemingly acting normally, finds the <span class="altTooltip2">white fish-like mask<span class="tooltiptext2">The white fish-like mask is a mysterious mask previously seen in Greth's possession on Greth Vlogs. It's purpose is currently unknown.</span></span> as he leaves Tyler's yard.</p> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <p>Just as the video is about to end, <b>Kaiden</b> can be seen running on-screen, presumably rescuing Moonman. He later confirmed this on the Astral Observatory Forums, claiming that Moonman is safely with him and <b>NotAHoax</b>. After this, <b>Regiminis</b> uploaded a video to Silentdork taunting Patrem. He claims that Patrem is now dwelling somewhere in the Parallelos after the aggregation between Greth and Moonman failed. Regiminis also implies that he's aggregated himself - possibly with <b>Nocta</b> and <b>Hotspot</b>. Meanwhile, WireTalk continued occasionally uploading videos delaying the aforementioned <b>Johnisdead Movie</b>. In each of these videos, Mr. Silent mental and physical health deteriorated.</p> | ||
+ | </div><br /><br /> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div style="float:left; display:none;"> | ||
+ | <span class="altTooltip2">TEXT_HERE<span class="tooltiptext2">TEXT_HERE</span></span> | ||
+ | <div class="storyimg"><img src="IMG_HERE"><p>CAPTION_HERE</p></div> | ||
+ | <span class="altTooltip2">TEXT_HERE<span class="tooltiptext2"><img src="IMG_HERE" alt="" /><br />TEXT_HERE</span></span> | ||
− | + | </div> | |
+ | __NOTOC__ |
Latest revision as of 18:09, 2 October 2024
Below is a summary of the story of Johnisdead. For a more detailed retelling of the story, click the "Full" tab above.
- Important names such as characters, websites, and entities will be bolded.
- If something is italicized and underlinedAdditional information can be found by hovering over text., hover over it for additional information.
Some elements of Johnisdead's story builds off of Ben Drowned - an ARG created by Alex Hall in 2010. Many characters, concepts, and locations featured in Ben Drowned make appearances within Johnisdead. Because of this, the following section will contain a brief summary of Ben Drowned.
The Haunted Cartridge Arc
Alex encountering the Elegy Statue in Majora's Mask.
In 2010, a college student named Alex Hall obtained a tattered copy of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
The Legend of Zelda is a video game series created by Nintendo. Majora's Mask is an entry in the series that was released in the year 2000 for the Nintendo 64. This game is notable for its strange, foreboding atmosphere and odd characters. from an Old Man
The Old Man was hosting a yard sale containing strange paintings like the one above. Not only did he give Alex the copy of Majora's Mask for free, he also said "Goodbye, Ben!" - a detail that would become important later on.. Upon playing the game, Alex was greeted by a malicious entity calling itself BEN. BEN would follow Alex around the game world by manifesting as the "Elegy Statue"
The "Elegy Statue" is an uncanny effigy of Link - Majora's Mask's main character. It is summoned by playing a song called the "Elegy of Emptiness" on Link's Ocarina, though it normally does not move on its own.. Unnerved, Alex began uploading these hauntings to his YouTube channel - Jadusable.
As the hauntings continued, Alex's mental state began to deteriorate. He began suffering from paranoia and horrible nightmares. Alex's friend Tyler took notice of this and became concerned. The two drove back to the Old Man's house in an attempt to find some answers. While the Old Man was nowhere to be found, Alex learned that the Majora's Mask cartridge once belonged to a young boy named Ben who tragically drowned on April 23rd, 2002.
When Alex returned to his dorm room, he discovered that BEN had entered into his computer via his recording equipment. Alex and BEN chatted with one another via CleverbotCleverbot is a website where users can chat with a simplistic AI program. This AI program learns from its users and responds accordingly. However, the responses Alex was receiving were far too personalized and informed to be randomly generated.. Here, Alex discovered that the malicious entity known as BEN was not the drowned child named Ben. Instead, BEN was simply using his name out of cruelty.
Days later, "TheTruth.rtf"TheTruth.rtf was said to have been uploaded by Alex's dormmate - possibly his friend Tyler. However, this is questionable as other sources imply that Alex lived alone. It's possible that BEN himself uploaded TheTruth.rtf. was uploaded to the internet - a compilation of notes that Alex had been taking throughout this whole ordeal. However, it soon became apparent that these notes had been tampered with by BEN. 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 Arc
Kelbris as he was portrayed on Youshouldnthavedonethat.net.
Not long after the upload of "TheTruth.rtf", players were led to a website - "Youshouldnthavedonethat.net". This 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
Kelbris was a former Moon Child who claimed to have heard Luna speaking to him. He was later killed via electrocution. Some speculate that he was murdered., an authoritative figure known as Mr. DMr. D is an enigmatic figure as he was only mentioned a handful of times by the Moon Children. It's possible that he and The Father are one-in-the-same because they're both implied to hold some degree of power within the cult., and an entity wearing a gas mask calling itself Drowned
Given his name, it's implied that Drowned holds some connection to Ben - possibly being either his lingering spirit or BEN once again masquerading as him..
The front page of Youshouldnthavedonethat.net was a blog 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 their souls inside electronic devices.
Alex submitting the "Song of Time" to rewind time.
The players began emailing Matt. He revealed that Ben was a former Moon Child who underwent a botched ascension - possibly explaining how his spirit became trapped within the Majora's Mask cartridge. Matt also revealed that a Moon Child named Alex had recently gone missing, implying that Alex Hall was somehow connected to the cult. Matt's emails became stranger and more concerning. 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" and a countdown. As the countdown was about to reach zero, the missing Moon Child Alex emerged on the YouTube channel TheLinkMissing. Here, Alex 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. 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 - 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 - the player's "Link"Link is the main character of The Legend of Zelda series. As such, the main character affected by submitted videos throughout Ben Drowned and Johnisdead is also given the title of "Link". As the ARGs progressed, the title of "Link" would often change and be given to different characters.. The players' current Link was Alex. Unfortunately, some poorly timed submissions quickly got Alex killed. Another ally named Rosa
Rosa was seemingly based off of a character named Rosa from the game Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines who appeared in an older video on the Jadusable YouTube channel. It's implied that this character had psychic abilities and could predict the future., 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 message boards.
A final message from Matt was discovered on Youshouldnthavedonethat.net warning the players about BEN's manipulative nature. This message also contained a warning to one player in particular - Kayd Hendricks. Players quickly tracked down Kayd Hendricks' online account - Ryukaki. They learned that he had managed to obtain the login information for "The Truth" page from Rosa before she disappeared and that he was now being targeted. Ryukaki began uploading footage of strange hauntings around his home. Through these videos the headquarters of the Moon Children was revealed - a location simply known 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. Canon accounts for many characters were discovered in the member list - even minor characters such as Alex's friend Tyler. A locked board was also discovered named "Wayward Horizon". This board was guarded by Kelbris 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.
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 worshipped a goddess 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
The cult's meeting grounds - an old fishery in Florida.
Shortly after the deletion of Within Hubris, players created their own board to replace it. This incarnation of Within Hubris, dubbed Newbris and it served the community for many years to come. While Ben Drowned's hiatus continued, a new ARG was about to begin.
In 2015, a user named TheLaw joined Newbris. Here, they directed the players to a strange website called "YSHDT.com"YSHDT is an acronym for "You shouldn't have done that". This implied that YSHDT.com held some connection to Youshouldnthavedonethat.net.. This website contained messages from a high school student named Doug. He had supposedly joined a cult and now regrets his decision. Further exploration led players to Doug's blog, Letschasethemouse, where they could directly communicate with him.
Players quickly realized that the Doug speaking on Letschasethemouse was actually a version of himself from 2009. This version of Doug had only just recently joined the cult meaning that players still had a chance to convince him to leave it before the events seen on YSHDT.com came to pass. Unfortunately, Doug wasn't willing to leave. Other players took a different approach. One player, Jacob, managed to convince Doug to let him join the cult as well. He was referred to Doug's friend, Mason, and began undergoing an initiation process.
Patrem's appearance on Newbris.
Players began learning more about Doug's cult. Much like the Moon Children, they, too, worshipped Luna. However, unlike the Moon Children, this cult's headquarters was an old fishery in Florida - not The Orchard. Meanwhile, back on Newbris, players met a new character - /Patrem\. Patrem is Latin for "Father". He also spoke in an authoritative manner and held great knowledge. This all implied that he was perhaps 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 a cultist named Vincent. However, Vincent was completely unaware of Patrem's presence as it was only when he fell asleep that Patrem took control.
As time went on, the players banded together on Skype and formed a group - the Internet Detectives. One night, Drowned suddenly returned and joined the Internet Detectives Skype group. Here, Drowned was seen hiding and cowering from Patrem. This implied that Drowned was indeed the deceased spirit of Ben - not "BEN", the malicious spirit that simply used his name. Meanwhile, the players met another friendly spirit - Helper
The players accidentally summoned Helper when they submitted a video of Majora's Mask featuring Link wearing a Postman's Hat. As such, Helper takes on the likeness of a friendly mailman from that game.. With Helper's assistance, players inadvertently stole Doug's mail
The players accidentally stole Doug's mail in an attempt to retrieve his notes. These notes were implied to be important on YSHDT.com. They will come back up later on.. This led to him complaining about an important religious package of his going missing in the mail recently.
Mason and The Gray Man
One day, Doug was kidnapped by the cult. During his disappearance, Mason took control of his blog and began working alongside the players, confused as to why the cult suddenly turned against his friend. Mason began heading towards the fishery to get some answers. Meanwhile, the players asked Helper to assist him.
The cell phone tower seen in videos on "M".
Mason began sneaking around the perimeter of the fishery. At the players' suggestion, he threw a rock in an attempt to distract the guards. Unfortunately, this rock struck Helper, killing him. The guards took notice of Mason and he began to flee - but not before retrieving Helper's Hat
Helper's Hat is a crucial item. Taking on the appearance of the "Postman's Hat" from Majora's Mask, this item grants whoever possesses it special abilities. It's traded hands several times throughout the ARG.. Helper's Hat is a magical item that grants one access to Helper's various accounts. These include a YouTube account named "M" and Helper's Newbris account. On his way home, Mason encountered a strange individual named The Gray Man who was interested in Helper's Hat. He offered to give Mason an Eight of Clubs playing card in exchange for it. Mason accepted, giving away Helper's Hat.
Strange videos began appearing on the "M" YouTube channel - presumably from The Gray Man's perspective. These mainly included footage of someone approaching a cellphone tower. Meanwhile, Helper returned - this time in the Internet Detectives Skype group. Because he is a supernatural entity, he was able to persist after death. However, without his hat, his powers were greatly reduced. Because of this, he tasked the players to retrieve his at from The Gray Man.
Eventually, Mason decided to confront the cult and demand to see Doug. On his way to the fishery he encountered Rosa who warned the players about events that were to come. Later that night, Mason posted a panicked message on Letschasethemouse. The cult had let him see Doug, but Doug was "different" now. Shortly afterwards, Doug regained control of his blog, acting as though nothing was wrong. The players were now given a choice - Doug or Mason.
Doug vs. Mason
An image found on YSHDT.com revealing that the players' locations were being targeted.
The players were given a choice on who would be their new Link - Doug or Mason. They ultimately chose Doug, believing it would give them more opportunities to hinder him should he reveal himself to be malicious. However, before they could formulate any sort of plan, Mason became trapped in a storm drain. With their Ocarina powers tethered to Doug, the players' only option was to explore YSHDT.com for clues. The website now contained images of Mason's storm drain. Strangely, a blinking device could be seen sitting next to it.
One day, Mason suddenly joined the Internet Detectives Skype group. Something was off, however. Strangely, Mason spoke as though he were using an old DOS computer. He also claimed that he was speaking to the years from the present year - 2015. This Mason claims that he did not time travel but instead "survived". Before the players could learn more, they accidentally severed contact with him by entering the DOS command ".root". Back on YSHDT.com, players discovered what appeared to be some blueprints for a bomb device. One player showed these plans to Doug on Letschasethemouse. This resulted in him becoming enraged, repeatedly asking the players were they found the blueprints. After this, he ceased communication with them.
Having lost communication with both Doug and Mason, the players were at a loss. Ultimately, the GM of the YSHDT Arc, The Man, announced that the arc was now over. He also revealed himself to be the player Dawn of a New Day. While his arc was coming to a close, a new arc ran by another group of GM's was just about to begin.
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 with the players. He informed them that three of their fellow players were gone. He proceeded to link them to a website - Johnisdead.com. This took players by surprised. John was the name of one of their fellow players during the previous arc. Patrem suddenly joined the Skype group in pursuit of Drowned. Drowned managed to escape as Patrem left the players with a cryptic warning - a powerful cultist named Regiminis was coming. Back on Within Hubris, a new user joined - SKM, a rogue hacker who had been working against the cult for many years. He revealed that the cult Doug and Mason joined wasn't the Moon Children but instead a rival group called the Lunar Children. Originally, the two cults had been one-in-the-same. However, at some point, a schism divided them into two separate groups.
SKM informed the players that the three missing individuals were John, Jacob
Jacob was the player from the YSHDT Arc that was contacted by Mason and underwent an initiation to join the cult., and Tyler
Tyler shares the same name with Alex's friend from Ben Drowned. At this point, it's unknown if this holds any significance. Regardless, at this point in the story, he seems completely unware of Alex and the events of Ben Drowned.. John was dead and he had been since November 11th, 2011 - an important date that the Lunar Children refer to as Undecim Nocte. Jacob was missing and had been since before 2011. Tyler was currently fine but SKM warned that the Lunar Children were beginning to target him. Also, due to Patrem's manipulation, Tyler's memory of the players and the ARG had been erased. SKM also explained that Johnisdead.com and YSHDT.com were both experiments by the Lunar Children. They were akin to Wayward Horizon - digital locations where the cultists housed ascended spirits.
During this conversation, SKM formally introduced the players to Drowned. While SKM didn't fully understand him or his origins, Drowned was his faithful ally - an ascended spirit who would help him more files and alter websites. However, before he could explain more, the two were suddenly confronted by Regiminis who seemed to be in pursuit of Drowned. Before they fled, SKM and Drowned led the players to Tyler's YouTube channel where they would later be able to contact him - Silentdork.
Silentdork
Clockwise starting from the top left: Tyler, John, Kevin, and Jacob.
Tyler began uploading videos to Silentdork. These were all old recordings of his friends - John, Jacob, and KevinThe Moon Child known as Insidiae from Ben Drowned was also named Kevin. This implied that the two were perhaps one-in-the-same.. By using the YouTube comment section, players managed to contact Tyler and invite him to the Internet Detectives Skype group. Just as SKM said, Tyler had no recollection of the players or the previous events of the ARG.
The conversations with Tyler were fairly casual. He revealed that he had a girlfriend from Australia named Carla who gifted him a Crescent Moon Necklace. He also confirmed that he lived in Florida - the same state as the Lunar Children. As for his friends, Tyler revealed that John's death was the result of a house fire. Meanwhile, Kevin's been missing since John's death. Tyler described him as somewhat suspicious. Kevin was cagey about his personal life, a member of an "obscure religion", and took a particular interest in Tyler's Crescent Moon Necklace. Tyler believes that Kevin stole his Crescent Moon Necklace at some point prior to his disappearance as it went missing around that time. As for Jacob, the last time Tyler spoke to him was in 2009.
Over time, more and more strange things began happening to Tyler. He began witnessing odd 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 Tyler's safety, the players attempted to warn him about the Lunar Children and told 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 could be seen by 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
MattR brandishing a knife.
Though the players had been cut off from Tyler, they had another avenue they could explore - Lunarchildren.com. This website was structured like a blog and saw occasional announcements posted by high ranking Lunar Children. These included a rich newcomer named Ezekiel Thoth, a man in a skull mask named Mat
Mat shares the same name with the Moon Child Matt from Ben Drowned - also known as Ifrit. It's assumed that they are one-in-the-same., and a tech-savvy member from Europe named LiquidSaint. LiquidSaint was actually SKM in disguise - he had apparently managed to infiltrate the Lunar Children and climb their ranks. It's believed that Mat is the same Matt from Ben Drowned, somehow having survived his ordeal from 2010 and leaving the Moon Children for the Lunar Children.
Lunarchildren.com revealed a great deal about the cult's structure and beliefs. Much like the Moon Children, the Lunar Children worship Luna and are led by The FatherThough they share the same title, The Father of the Moon Children and The Father of the Lunar Children are two different characters. Patrem is NOT "The Father" mentioned during Ben Drowned. - Patrem. However, the Lunar Children refer to him as Father Vincent since he is currently trapped within Vincent's body. The Lunar Children also practice AscensionReminder: Ascension is a ritualistic suicide ceremony that promises an individual great spiritual power. However, in reality it seems as though it generally just results in an individual's soul becoming trapped within electronic devices or websites., though they have many different levels and classifications of it compared to the Moon Children.
The lowest level of Ascension are Deviums
Deviums generally manifest as distorted images and sounds. Many of the pages encountered on YSHDT.com and Johnisdead.com were actually Deviums attempting to communicate. - spirits with little to no control or cognizance. Eulogies are ascended individuals with a higher degree of control - they can even physically manifest on occasion. The next level is Finitor - powerful ascended beings who possess control over time itself. These entities are incredibly rare and the Lunar Children are only aware of two in existence - one of which being Patrem himself. The final and most powerful level of ascension are the Transcended - also known as The Four Giants. The Transcended are said to be specifically chosen by Luna herself. They also retain their physical bodies upon ascension and exist to carry out Luna's will.
It's believed that when someone ascends, their spirit enters into the Parallelos - a spiritual realm beyond our physical world. There are many different types of Parallelos. These include an empty shadow realm called the NullspaceThe Lunar Children actually referred to the Nullspace by the name "Sub-Parallelos". However, for the sake of brevity, we will simply refer to it by another name that was revealed for it later on - the Nullspace., a dimension where non-ascended deceased spirits are imprisoned called the Parallelos of the Dead, a realm where ascended spirits reside called the Parallelos of the Ascended, and finally the location where Luna dwells simply known as Luna's Realm. The Lunar Children also believe that Luna possesses her own tribe of enigmatic servants known as the Absque Fascie that live with her in her realm.
Tenebris using John's spirit as a vessel.
The website revealed several other important details. Firstly, Regiminis's ascension took place on Undecim Nocte 2011 - the same day John died. There's also an entity called Tenebris mentioned on the website - a malicious trickster that uses other spirits as vessels. Another figure listed is the Deuro - an ascended spirit that the cult is forbidden from speaking about. "Duero" is Latin for "Burned", implying that this might actually be John. Not much is revealed about these two figures other than that Tenebris was using a Eulogy as a vessel up until Undecim Nocte 2011, at which point he lost control of it and then took the Deuro as his vessel instead - meaning that Tenebris is likely using John as a vessel.
Later on, SKM managed to contact the players via a secret chatroom on Johnisdead.com called Safehaven. Here, he revealed that he once had a younger brother named Max who used Within Hubris back in 2011. However, one day Max was lured out to a local park and kidnapped - presumably by Patrem. SKM has been attempting to take down the cult since that day. On Undecim Nocte 2011, SKM was investigating some Lunar Children-related websites when his monitor suddenly exploded. When he came to, he discovered that Drowned was now on his computer, thanking him for helping him "escape". This combined with Drowned's username and mannerisms imply that he is indeed the ascended spirit of Ben. On Undecim Nocte, Ben was able to escape his captor - BENReminder: BEN and Ben are not the same. Ben is the child who drowned. BEN is the malicious spirit who used his name while tormenting Alex. It seems as though before stealing Ben's name, BEN went by "Tenebris".. This implies that Tenebris and BEN are one-in-the-same.
To summarize: On Undecim Nocte 2011, Regiminis's ascension took place. During this ascension, Ben broke free from Tenebris's control and hid inside SKM's computer. Needing a new vessel for himself, Tenebris sought out John, who had just recently died in a housefire on that same night.
Discoveries
One of the many disturbing Deviums discovered on Johnisdead.com.
During this time, Johnisdead.com underwent some interesting changes. Players were linked to a program called JanusVR that allowed them to explore webpages as 3d environments. The main location for players to explore was a barren, distorted landscape called Fakeworld. The website also updated with a variety of redirect pages - pages that players would be randomly taken to when attempting to access a non-existent page. Players also discovered their first "hole" - a large directory of pages that players would have to work through one page at a time. This hole in particular contained images and videos related to The Four Giants. Here, it was revealed that Kelbris was actually the Fourth Giant.
Players also discovered two new YouTube channels. The first channel was Vincent Adams. As the name suggests, this channel belonged to Patrem's current host, Vincent. Here it was revealed that Vincent was partaking in some sort of sleep deprivation experiment - possibly as a subconscious attempt to combat Patrem's nightly possessions. The other channel discovered was Lostmemory423 - a YouTube channel belonging to Drowned. This channel featured videos showcasing SKM's journey to the fishery after meeting Drowned in 2011 - presumably so that he could later infiltrate their ranks as LiquidSaint.
Several days later, Patrem began speaking with Tenebris on Within Hubris. Here, it was revealed that Tenebris was willing to give John's spirit to Regiminis if he can capture Ben for him. This explains why Regiminis and Patrem had been so eager to capture Drowned in the past - they were attempting to trade him for John's soul. Shortly after this, Tenebris revealed that he had stolen the players' Ocarina powersReminder: The players' Ocarina powers (sometimes simply called "The Ocarina") refers to their ability to submit songs, videos, and images from The Legend of Zelda series to affect the world of the ARG. and given them to the Lunar Children. This was showcased in a video where Mat was seen submitting the song "Bolero of Fire" on some unknown message board. The next day, Tyler uploaded a video showing a fire that had broken 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.
Doug's appearance as one of The Four Giants.
On his way home from work, Tyler decided to take a shortcut home through the woods. Here, he stumbled upon the dilapidated ruins of the fishery. A few days later, the players were contacted by Rosa. She reveals that her disappearance in 2010 was the result of Kelbris confronting her - much like her brother Mat. However, instead of killing her, Kelbris warped her into the Parallelos where she encountered Luna. She warns that the Lunar Children are intending to sacrifice Tyler on Undecim Nocte 2015 to summon Luna. She also explains that the players' Ocarina powers are an extension of Luna and are managed by Tenebris, explaining how he was so easily able to transfer them to the Lunar Children.
Rosa claims that Tnebris was "imprinted upon" by the Majora's Mask cartridge when he was trapped inside it with Ben - confirming that Tenebris and BEN are the same entity and also explaining the various Majora's Mask symbolism found throughout the cults. Rosa also revealed the identity of one of the four giants - Doug. This implies that when Doug was captured and "changed" during the previous arc, he had actually been transcended into one of the Four Giants.
The next day, Tyler returned to the fishery. Here, he was confronted by Doug, who now took on a green, distorted appearance. The following week, Tyler was tormented by constant knocking sounds on his home and strange calls from John's old phone number. He was eventually urged to visit Kevin's old home by a page discovered on Johnisdead.com. Angered and fed up with the cult's recent provocations, Tyler decided to go to Kevin's house to confront them. However, upon stepping outside, Tyler was captured and taken to the Lunar Children's new headquarters - a large building in Ohio known as The Spire
The Spire is a large building in Ohio that the Lunar Children began using as their main headquarters after the fishery in Florida fell into ruin..
The beginning of November rolled around. Tyler was in the Lunar Children's possession and the players had no Ocarina powers to save him with. Thankfully, Drowned came to the players' aid and helped them gain access to the Lunar Children Forums - the location where their Ocarina powers were being held. During this process, Drowned revealed his true identity - he wasn't simply the deceased spirit of Ben but instead a fusion of both Ben and Max, meaning that SKM had been unknowingly working alongside his brother the entire time.
In the previous arc, players were introduced to their new LinkReminder: Link is the main character of The Legend of Zelda series. As such, "Link" is often used as a title for the current main character of Ben Drowned or Johnisdead. They're generally the individual that the Ocarina powers affect most directly. - Tyler, a young man living in rural Florida. Tyler is being targeted by the same cult that Doug and Mason were a part of, the Lunar Children - an off-shoot of the Moon Children. 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.
Players discovered that the malicious spirit calling itself BEN was actually an entity named Tenebris. Tenebris had been using Ben's spirit as a puppet up until Undecim Nocte 2011 - the date of the ascension of a Lunar Child named Regiminis. On this date, Ben broke free from Tenebris's control and fused with the spirit of another child named Max. The result of this amalgamation took on the name "Drowned" and hid away in the computer of Max's brother - a hacker named SKM. On that same night, a friend of Tyler's named John died in a housefire. Needing a new spirit to use as a vessel, Tenebris began puppeting John much like how he did with Ben.
The players are now pitted against Patrem, Regminis, and The Four Giants - four powerful ascended beings, two of which have been revealed to be Doug and Kelbris. 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
Tyler's Crescent Moon Necklace.
The Lunar Children Forums housed a variety of new and interesting characters. The players were introduced to the Elder Children - high ranking Lunar Children who manage the cult. In addition to Ezekiel Thoth, Mat, and LiquidSaintThese were the three Lunar Children seen posting announcements on Lunarchildren.com. Ezekiel Thoth is a rich newcomer to the cult, Mat is assumed to be the same Matt from Ben Drowned, and LiquidSaint is secretly SKM in disguise., this group also included two new characters named Jinn and Kuu - two Elder Children who oversaw the cult's library in The Spire. Players also discovered two unused accounts for the Moon Children Spencer and Alex.
Lower-ranking Lunar Children were found casually chatting on the forums as well. These included an artist named SheepDog, a singer named Harry, a cultist living at The Spire named Igaluk123, a new recruit named Tsukuyomi, and an assassin for the cult named Eddie. However, the two most interesting users was an old man named Jeremy and his son Hunter. Jeremy was originally a Moon Child who later joined the Lunar Children. He also claims to be the brother of the Old ManReminder: The Old Man is the individual who gave Alex the Majora's Mask cartridge that contained Ben and Tenebris during Ben Drowned.. Jeremy says that the Moon Children lied about the date of Kelbris's death - he didn't die in 1998 but was instead killed a few years later in 2002 by Mat as a part of his initiation to join the Moon Children. This accidentally resulted in Kelbris's ascension.
Players also discovered that Hunter was being offered a rank among the Elder Children - he just had to carry out one final task for them. However, before the players could learn more, most of the the Lunar Children Forums were deleted. All that was left was a single board where The OcarinaReminder: "The Ocarina" refers to the Ocarina powers possessed by the players - the ability to submit songs, images, and videos from The Legend of Zelda series to affect the world of the ARG. This board was where the Lunar Children were using these powers after they were stolen away from the players by Tenebris. was being housed. Here, the players were able to briefly speak with Jeremy. Despite being a member of the Lunar Children, Jeremy was quite friendly. Something was off, however. Jeremy mentioned that the clocks in his house seemed to have stopped and that his home was much darker than normal. It was soon revealed that Jeremy was actually killed and ascended by his son Hunter in order to become an Elder Child. Before he faded away, Jeremy warned the players about Tyler's fate. With Undecim Nocte drawing near, the players used their powers and successfully rescued Tyler from the Spire.
Shortly after this, Tyler escaped to Australia to take refuge with Carla. Meanwhile, the Lunar Children were in a state of panic. In a rant written by Thoth, it was revealed that Hunter was meant to play some key role in Undecim Nocte 2015 involving Tyler's Crescent Moon Necklace, yet Tyler had somehow regained possession of it. While the players weren't exactly sure how Tyler's necklace was relevant, they believed that it was dangerous for him to retain possession of it. To ensure his safety, the players summoned Helper and asked him to steal Tyler's necklace. They also had him deliver Tyler a camera so that he may recover any footage taken while at the Spire and upload it to Silentdork.
Regiminis
Regiminis as seen on Silentdork.
In December of 2015, Tyler contacted the players via Skype. He revealed that Carla was actually a paranoid former Lunar Child who was keeping Tyler locked in her home. Before he could say anything else, Regiminis hijacked Tyler's account and claimed that he was now heading to Australia himself. After this, Tyler went radio silent for many months. When he finally returned, he was once again back in Florida and still trying to process what happened in Australia. It also now seemed as though he was being haunted by Tenebris.
Meanwhile, Drowned contacted the players once again. He revealed that SKM's task to join the Lunar Children back in 2011 was to travel to The OrchardReminder: "The Orchard" was the headquarters of the Moon Children briefly mentioned by Kayd during Ben Drowned. and record some footage there. While there, SKM also discovered a stolen copy of the Lunar Children's holy book - the Libro Lunarus. Drowned explained that SKM later returned this book to the Lunar Children, further gaining their trust.
Drowned informed the players that both he and SKM were currently in Regiminis's possession. He reiterated that Regiminis was going to hand the both of them over to Tenebris in exchange for John's soul. The reason why 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 then 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.
Hank and Ben - Father and Son.
Drowned revealed what was inside the briefcase
The briefcase in question was gifted to SKM after he carried out his initial tasks for the Lunar Children in 2011 to gain their trust. It was seen at the end of a previous video on Lostmemory423. given to SKM - a gas mask
It's implied that these gas masks are given to new Lunar Children recruits. It would soon become a staple of SKM's appearance, however.. Strangely, Drowned seems to have some conflicting memories of this event. There appears to be an alternate recollection of events where SKM was gifted not only a gas mask but a copy of the Libro Lunarus as well. Drowned claims that this never happened and that someone has messed with the timeline. Drowned also finally revealed Regiminis's true identity - KevinKevin was one of Tyler's friends seen in his old uploads from 2010. He supposedly went missing in 2011 around the time of John's death. He was said to be a part of an "obscure religion" and was accused of stealing Tyler's necklace - all hints that he was a member of the Lunar Children..
Using their Ocarina powers, players managed to rescue SKM from Regiminis. Sadly, Drowned wasn't so fortunate. Regiminis traded him away 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. He also revealed the identities of The Four Giants - Doug, AlexWithin Johnisdead, it's generally assumed that the Alex known as "Jadusable" and the Alex mentioned by the Moon Children are the same person. Apparently, some point after his experiences with the haunted Majora's Mask Cartridge, he was ascended into one of The Four Giants., SpencerSpencer was one of the Moon Children moderators found on Youshouldnthavedonethat.net during Ben Drowned. Apparently, he was later ascended into one of The Four Giants., and Kelbris, whose real name was revealed to be Hank. Another video was uploaded after this - 5646. This video contained a message from John warning Tyler about Kevin and Tenebris. Near the end of this video, Tyler comes across a briefcase containing a camera - presumably the one the players asked Helper to deliver to him.
Back on Lunarchildren.com, a new page was discovered that contained a photo of Ben and Hank. Here, it was revealed that Hank was actually Patrem. This meant that Hank, Patrem, and Kelbris were all the same personHank was originally a Moon Child. In 2002, he was killed by Matt. This must have resulted in a unique ascension that resulted in both the creation of the timeless ascended spirit Patrem and one of the Four Giants simply called Kelbris.
To put it simply: Hank was ascended, resulting in the creation of two separate entities - Patrem and Kelbris.. This page also implied that Hank was Ben's father. Ben's mother and Hank's wife, Diana, was dead. This photo was taken on Ben's birthday in 2002 and 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 a horrific cataclysm that wiped out most of the Lunar Children at the Spire.
The Moon Children
The front page of YSHDT.net.
Shortly after the destruction of the Lunar Children, players discovered that the Moon Children's website had returned - Youshouldnthavedonethat.netReminder: Youshouldnthavedonethat.net is the website used during Ben Drowned. It took on the appearance of a blog and featured announcements from various Moon Children. Using their Ocarina powers, players had the ability to reset the website to how it appeared three days prior.. For the sake of brevity, we'll simply refer to Youshouldnthavedonethat.net as YSHDT.netYoushouldnthavedonethat.net / YSHDT.net isn't to be confused with YSHDT.com - a website used by the Lunar Children seen during the YSHDT arc. here. It seemed as though the players were interacting with the past. YSHDT.net was operating similarly to how it was back in 2010 during Ben Drowned. It was once again running on a three-day cycleDuring Ben Drowned, players were forced to "reset" YSHDT.net every three days. This resulted in the website reverting back to how it appeared three days prior. Each "cycle" contained small differences from one another. and it featured many of the same announcements seen in 2010. There were some differences, however. For example, during this current cycle, it seems as though ChrisReminder: Chris was the youngest of the Moon Children's moderators. He was also ascended during the events of Ben Drowned. had lost the Moon Children's testimonials. He also mentioned that Mat was going to host a party on Sunday - the final day of the three-day cycle.
As players investigated YSHDT.net, they came across various chatlogs between its users. One chatlog between the Moon Children David and Rem revealed that MatReminder: Mat was one of the Moon Children's moderators seen posting during Ben Drowned. He was Rosa's brother and also went by the name Ifrit. At some point, he left the Moon Children and joined the Lunar Children. was actually Ben's adoptive brother. This meant that Hank was Mat's step-father. Players were also briefly able to communicate with Spencer who spoke in strange, cryptic messagesIt's assumed that the players in this moment were speaking with Spencer's present ascended self - not his self from 2010.. Spencer explains that on the day of Mat's party, Mat was confronted by Kelbris who "changed" him somehow. After this, Mat proceeded to kill the other Moon Children, transcending Spencer and Alex into two of the Four Giants in the process. Spencer also implies that Mr. DMr. D was an entity briefly mentioned during Ben Drowned. Not much was known about him other than that the Moon Children consider him an authoritative figure within their cult. and "The Father" are the same person and that their true identity is Tenebris. This would mean that the leader of the Moon Children was actually Tenebris all along.
As the cycles progressed, players slowly uncovered more information. They learned that even though Tenebris currently possessed Drowned as his spiritual vessel, he was also still searching for a physical vesselIt's implied that Tenebris originally planned on using SKM as their physical vessel before the players managed to rescue him.. They also uncovered the Moon Children's lost testimonials. One of these was written by Hank in the year 1990 - the same year Ben was born. It's revealed here that he, JeremyAs discussed earlier, Jeremy was originally a member of the Moon Children. This testimonial was written at a time before he left to join the Lunar Children instead., and Jeremy's brotherAs discussed earlier, Jeremy's brother is the Old Man who gave Alex the Haunted Majora's Mask cartridge in Ben Drowned. were all good friends and members of the Moon Children at some point.
YSHDT.net began experiencing strange corruptions. Various different cycles and timelines began mixing into one another. The front page displayed two messages from Tyler - one where he's about to head off to college and share a dorm room with Alex and another where he's too busy to go to college with Alex. This seems to be acknowledging the conflicting details surrounding whether or not Alex actually had a dormmate during the events of Ben Drowned and whether or not this supposed dormmate was his friend TylerTyler was briefly mentioned as Alex's friend during the events of Ben Drowned. It's unknown if he's the same Tyler from Johnisdead, though it's possible that this is the case..
Eventually, the players manage to contact Jeremy and chat with him. Jeremy reveals that he's speaking to the players from the present - 2016. He was currently in the ParallelosReminder: The Parallelos is a strange realm that exists beyond our physical world. The Lunar Children believe that this is where most ascended souls go upon their ascension. after being killed and ascended by his son Hunter. He also reveals more information regarding Hank's past. Hank's wife Diana passed away while giving birth to Ben in 1990. Eight years later in 1998, HankDuring this period, Hank was going by the name Kelbris. "Kelbris" seems to be an alias that Hank was using at the time - a common practice amongst the Moon Children. began hearing whispers from what he believed to be Luna. This is how he learned about Ascension. However, when he told the other Moon Children about this, it was considered blasphemous. After this, Hank left to form the Lunar Children. Mat, who had been neglected by Hank since Ben was born, resented his step-father and killed him in 2002. As discussed earlier, this inadvertently resulted in his ascension, creating both Patrem, who still ran the Lunar Children, and Kelbris, the fourth giant. Since this proved what Hank was claiming about ascension, the Moon Children covered up his death and instead claimed he died four years prior in 1998.
The Truth
Kelbris expressing his regrets.
Jeremy informed the players that they needed to enter the locked page on YSHDT.net - The TruthThe Truth was a page on the original YSHDT.net back in 2010. It was locked behind a password and never opened. However, part of the login information was given to Kayd by Rosa before they disappeared.. It was said what whatever lied inside of The Truth was incredibly powerful and would give the players an opportunity "kill" Tenebris. Later on, players discovered a chatlog between Rem, Kevin, and Seth. During this conversation, Rem is referred to as KaydKayd, also known as Ryukaki, was the player from Ben Drowned who was given the login information to The Truth by Rosa. Unfortunately, shortly after this, he was hunted down and presumably killed., implying that the two are the same and that Kayd had been a member of the Moon Children all along.
Another conversation later on revealed that the Kevin seen in the Moon Children who went by the name "Insidiae" is indeed the same Kevin who was friends with Tyler and would later go on to become Regiminis. It's implied that Kevin and Seth were both undercover Lunar Children spying on the Moon Children in 2010. Other chatlogs fully confirmed that the Alex who was a member of the Moon Children was the same Alex that was given the Haunted Majora's Mask Cartridge - which has since gone missing. At some point, Alex was told that he was to infiltrate the fishery as some sort of "test". While doing so, he stole a copy of the Libro LunarusThis is the same copy of the Libro Lunarus that SKM retrieved from The Orchard one year later in 2011..
Over time, YSHDT.net became more unstable. Jeremy contacted the players using a ritual known as the Circle of ThreeThe Circle of Three is a mysterious ritual. In this situation, it seemingly allowed Jeremy to speak with the players more clearly and securely. It simply involved Jeremy selecting three different players to contact.. The players selected for this were Spanosa, Velvet, and GrethGreth is a prominent player from 2010 who posted several important submissions. They will become more relevant later on.. Here, Jeremy informed the players that the more they use their Ocarina powers, the more powerful Tenebris becomesThis is likely due to the fact that The Ocarina powers originate from Luna and Tenebris as discussed earlier.. He also explains that the Kevin seen on YSHDT.net isn't speaking from 2010 like most of the others. Instead, he's Regiminis from the present day attempting to control the website and break into "The Truth", hoping to steal its power for himself. Jeremy tells the players that soon the final cycle of YSHDT.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 Regiminis was attempting to rule over had rebelled against him. The players used this opportunity to speak to Kayd's spirit 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 Mat.
In the previous arc, players successfully rescued Tyler from the Lunar Children. Sadly, Drowned wasn't so fortunate. He was captured by Regiminis and traded off to Tenebris in exchange for John. With Regiminis in possession of John's spirit and Tenebris once again in control of Ben via 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. He and his wife Diana were Moon Children who later adopted Mat. In 1990, Diana gave birth to Ben, sadly passing away during the process. 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 form the Lunar Children. On April 23rd, 2002, Hank ascended Ben. This resulted in him becoming a puppet for Tenebris as the two were trapped within the Majora's Mask cartridge. Shortly after this, Mat, who had long been neglected, killed Hank as a part of his initiation into the Moon Children. This resulted in Hank's own ascension, creating both Patrem and the giant Kelbris in the process. Kelbris later approached Mat in 2010, "changing" him somehow. Mat then proceeded to kill the rest of the Moon Children, transcending Alex and Spencer into giants as well.
Most of this was explained by Jeremy - a former cultist and brother of the Old Man who handled the Majora's Mask cartridge. Unfortunately, Jeremy was ascended by his son Hunter in an attempt to join the higher ranking Lunar Children. Thankfully, the Lunar Children ceased being a thread on April 23rd, 2016. After supposedly failing to capture Tyler a second time, The Spire was destroyed in a mysterious cataclysm, wiping out most of the cult.
Not long after this, Youshouldnthavedonethat.net returned - the Moon Children's old website. It appeared and behaved how it did back in 2010, once again going through various different three-day-cycles. Here, it was revealed that Tyler, Kevin, Alex, and Kayd 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 due to Regiminis forcing the website through countless cycles in an attempt to break into the locked page known as "The Truth" and take whatever power laid inside it for himself. However, the spirits of the website eventually rebelled against Regiminis, allowing the players to enter "The Truth" instead. Here, they were able to "kill" 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. 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
Tyler addressing the audience.
Rolling into 2017, players discovered that Johnisdead.com had reverted back to how it appeared when they first discovered it. In addition to this, several videos uploaded to Silentdork seemed to imply that Tenebris was still alive. While the players managed to keep Regiminis out of "The Truth" and temporarily defeat Tenebris, the threats that these two posed were still very real. Meanwhile, back on YSHDT.net, journal entries from a Lunar Child named Hope began appearing on the front page. These journals explained that Hope and two of her friends managed to survive the cataclysm at The Spire. However, the three of them were now experiencing some strange reality-warping effects. For example - while The Spire seems to be destroyed from everyone else's perspective, the three of them could still enter it as if nothing was wrong. For the time being, Hope and her friends decided to live in the now abandoned Spire.
In November of 2017, Tyler uploaded a video where he addressed the viewers for the first time in over a year. Here, he reveals that his memory issues have worsened. He claims to have been involved in some sort of accident in 2016 that resulted in him falling into a coma. When he awoke, he was wearing a strange Bullet Necklace of unknown origin. In addition, Tyler confirms that he was once in possession of the briefcase containing the camera seen in "5646", but he's since lost it. On April 23rd, 2018, Lunarchildren.com updated with a new announcement. The website was now being ran by an individual named José. José had tracked down and recovered the Lunar Children Servers for the sake of his friends. Shortly after this, Tyler was seen browsing Lunarchildren.com when he suddenly heard a loud bang outside his home. As he went outside to investigate, he discovered a Detour Sign in his yard. This sign contained strange reality-warping properties. Whenever Tyler would touch the sign, he would be teleported to a random location around the woods surrounding his home.
Greth under Patrem's influence.
Around this time, the player Greth
As mentioned earlier, Greth is a fairly prominent player within the community. They were fairly active and made several important submissions during Ben Drowned. They were also one of the three players selected for the "Circle of Three" during the previous arc. began uploading videos to a YouTube channel named Greth Vlogs. While these videos initially seemed to be unrelated to Johnisdead, players quickly began to notice various oddities within them. These included sudden flashes of various figures - mainly an individual wearing a silver alien mask, someone wearing a white fish-shaped mask, and a green-tinted entity stalking Greth from afar. Over time, Greth began suffering from a severe case of insomnia and memory loss.
Believing these issues to be a result of his new home, Greth decided to go on a hiking trip. Walk trekking through the woods, Tyler suddenly teleported in-front of Greth - a result of him touching the Detour Sign. The two later met up and began hanging out. Here, Greth and Tyler asked each other questions about the cults and their experiences with them. It seems as though Tyler had been doing his own research into the cults and their histories. Tyler also claims to have made contact with José.
Unfortunately, Greth's insomnia only worsened over time. Fearing for his health, the players used The Ocarina to put him to sleep. Unfortunately, this backfired, as it was suddenly revealed that Patrem had been residing within Greth all along. With Greth finally asleep, Patrem was now in full control of his body. Not long after this, the players discovered a new website - Astralobservatory.net.
The Astral Observatory
Tyler holding a photo of Hank and Diana.
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, who seemed to have knowledge of Johnisdead.com and the players. Nocta claims that Johnisdead.com was somehow responsible for Astralobservatory.net going offline a few days prior, completely erasing the Astral Observatory Forums in the process. Fortunately, a few days later, the forums were recreated. Here, the players were introduced to several new characters - Moonman, the resident troll, Yuukichan, an anime and paranormal fangirl, NotAHoax, a man obsessed with political conspiracies, and Samuel Charleston, a mysterious old man who hadn't made any posts. Players quickly began chatting with and befriending these users.
However, something was off about the Astral Observatory. The forums possessed a locked board titled "The Truth" that the players were warned to not to try and enter. Discussion regarding Johnisdead.com was hushed and considered taboo. Also, some members of the Astral Observatory seemed to have some knowledge of the players. This all seemed to imply that the Astral Observatory was more connected to the Lunar Children than what was first believed. It's likely that the various forum members were holding secret conversations regarding the players and Johnisdead.com - possibly within the locked "The Truth" board.
Meanwhile, Tyler began hosting a livestream on Silentdork. During the stream, he showed off several items that he found outside his home. This included a photo of Hank and Diana, a red demonic mask engraved with the letter "R", and a gas mask. Tyler also mentioned that he had lost the Bullet Necklace. Halfway through the stream, Tyler hears noises coming from outside and leaves. While he's gone, SKM sneaks into the room and retrieves the gas mask. He also returns the Bullet Necklace, asking Tyler to look after his brother for him. This implies that SKM somehow managed to recover Max's soul and place it within the Bullet Necklace.
On Undecim Nocte 2018, players began sharing some of their favorite songs on the Astral Observatory Forums. Nocta himself chipped in, uploading one of his favorite songs to his YouTube channel. Strangely, this channel was named Kevin Hendricks - seemingly implying that Nocta was somehow related to both Kayd and Kevin. The video itself also contained dark footage of what appeared to be Tyler at some sort of ritual.
Covert Disclosure
The entity wearing the silver alien mask.
While the players were struggling to discern what exactly was in Nocta's footage, they were suddenly messaged by Moonman, who provided them with a clearer version of the video. He also offered to give them more information regarding the Astral Observatory if they could provide him with a secure location to do so. In response, the player Wolfcat created the Safehaven Discord Server.
Here, Moonman confirmed that Nocta was indeed the same Kevin known as Regiminis - at least to some degree. Moonman also revealed that he himself was Greth from an alternate timeline. In fact, the entirety of the Astral Observatory was from an alternate timeline - the Astral Timeline, as opposed to the players' Prime Timeline. Moonman stressed that something sinister was taking place somewhere within the Astral Observatory. However, before he could elaborate, Nocta suddenly joined the Safehaven Discord Server and confronted Moonman. The two had a brief argument as Nocta accused Moonman of only having seen one side of the story. Shortly after this, Moonman was attacked by the entity wearing the silver alien mask seen on Greth Vlogs. Thankfully, the players were able to ward it off.
Back on the Astral Observatory Forums, a new character arrived - Kaiden Zoromichi, a snide gamer and avid roleplayer. Kaiden originally had an account on the old Astral Observatory Forums before they were destroyed. Meanwhile, over the course of a few months, the player ARGdov managed to slowly gain Nocta's trust. This eventually culminated in ARGdov being granted access to "The Truth" board. Unfortunately, not much was found here as it had recently been purged by Nocta. However, there was one empty thread titled "Internet DetectivesReminder: The Internet Detectives are the main player group participating in Johnisdead.", implying that Nocta had been spying on the players.
Alex's transcended self.
Moonman was surprised to see ARGdov giving access to "The Truth" so quickly. He took this as a sign that Nocta was desperate for new members for some reason. As a response, Moonman began assisting the players even more. He managed to hack into Greth Vlogs and leak a video of someone walking through a trail in the woods - a location that's implied to hold some connection to the ParallelosReminder: The Parallelos is the spiritual realm beyond our physical world. The Lunar Children believe that spirits arrive there upon ascension. This wooded trail was implied to be connected to the Parallelos as the video featuring it was later renamed "Joyous Parallelos".. Meanwhile, Yuukichan began acting strangely. She seemingly unintentionally manifested a pageYuukichan was attempting to upload some photos of her supposedly haunted childhood home. When she was unable to, she became frustrated. Not long after this, the images all appeared on a page on Johnisdead.com, implying her frustration somehow manifested them on the website. on Johnisdead.com by her will alone. When asked about this in more detail, Yuukichan simply repeated the phrase "The woods" countless times. Concerned for Yuukichan's safety, Moonman revealed that there existed an even more secretive section of Astralobservatory.net called the Subspace - a directory where genuine cult and magic based discussion takes place. Unfortunately, Moonman has since been locked out of the Subspace due to his treachery against Nocta.
On April 23rd, 2019, several videos were uploaded to Greth Vlogs and Silentdork. These included footage of someone bowing before the Majora's Mask Cartridge in what appeared to be a ritual of sorts. Meanwhile, Tyler could be seen wandering around his yard - seemingly in a trance. Later on, AlexThe Alex speaking in this moment was a green, distorted, malicious version of himself. This is because, much like Doug, Alex has been Transcended and is now one of The Four Giants. informed the players that Tyler had been taken somewhere, though he didn't elaborate where exactly. Before the players could process all of this, Astralobservatory.net began heavily distorting due to a cyber attack initiated by Moonman. This allowed the players to view a previously inaccessible thread that confirmed their worst fears - Yuukichan had been ascended.
In the previous arc, players discovered that their fellow Internet Detective Greth had started a YouTube channel named Greth Vlogs. Here, various malicious entities could be seen stalking him. This culminated in the reveal that Patrem was now dwelling within Greth and slowly possessing him. Meanwhile, Tyler began doing his own research into the Lunar Children. This led to him discovering that the cult's servers had been recovered by an independent investigator named José. While the Lunar Children no longer existed, Tyler was still encountering oddities in his every day life. This included him coming to possess a Bullet Necklace of unknown origin and a Detour Sign appearing in his yard. Whenever he touched this Detour Sign, Tyler would be teleported to a random location.
Later on, players discovered a strange organization called the Astral Observatory. Though this initially seemed like a harmless internet community it quickly became apparent that it held some connection to the Lunar Children. Its leader, Nocta, went by the name "Kevin Hendricks" - implying that he held some connection to Regiminis and Kayd. The other members of the group included a troll named Moonman, a fangirl named Yuukichan, a conspiracy theorist named NotAHoax, and an edgy roleplayer named Kaiden Zoromichi. Moonman began assisting the players and communicating with them in private. Here, he revealed that the entire Astral Observatory was from an alternate timeline - the Astral Timeline as opposed to the players' Prime Timeline. This came with the reveal that Moonman himself was the Astral Timeline version of Greth.
Moonman also informed the players about the Subspace - a secret section of the Astral Observatory that contained various cult secrets and esoteric knowledge. Unfortunately, the Subspace was locked behind a password. The clock was ticking - one of the Astral Observatory's members, Yuukichan, had already been ascended. It was also implied that Tyler had recently been taken somewhere, meaning malicious forces were once again on the move.
Beginning of the End
Tyler in the Parallelos.
In July of 2019, strange videos began appearing on Silentdork. These seemed to be from an entity calling itself IIIII. This being actually contained two separate entities that sometimes fought for control and spoke over one another, making them somewhat difficult to understand. While one entity spoke calmly via runes, the other seemed outright malicious, craving destruction. These entities would later be dubbed the "Rune Entity" and the "Mask Entity" respectively. The Mask Entity seemingly wanted to kill Tyler and end everything. They also revealed that Tyler was currently somewhere within the ParallelosReminder: The Parallelos is a spiritual realm that exists beyond our normal, physical world. It's believed that ascended spirits and other entities reside there. It's also implied that space and time work quite differently in the Parallelos..
Meanwhile, another older member of the Astral Observatory arrived on the forums - IsocelesAssassin. Strangely, IsocelesAssassin seemed to possess the ability to use The OcarinaReminder: The Ocarina refers to the players' ability to submit songs, videos, and images of The Legend of Zelda series to affect the world of the ARG.. Players were then introduced to another new character - GHOSTBABELGHOSTBABEL is a character that originated from one of the player Greth's other ARG's. Her full backstory from that ARG isn't relevant to Johnisdead - only the fact that she's a somewhat malignant but ultimately helpful ally., a spirit that dwelled within computers. Despite her condescending, aggressive demeanor, GHOSTBABEL was a loyal comrade of both IsocelesAssassin and the players. Here, she revealed that IsocelesAssassin was actually the Astral Timeline version of the player CircleHunter. She also revealed that she was a spirit that resided within computers and was capable of moving around data at will - much like Drowned.
GHOSTBABEL informs the players that their main objective is to enter the SubspaceThe Subspace is a secret section of Astralobservatory.net that's implied to contain the group's more secretive cult-based discussion and knowledge. on Astralobservatory.net. GHOSTBABEL, IsocelesAssassin, and an as of yet unmentioned Hacker Group are currently formulating a plan to help the players gain access to it. Before she departed, GHOSTBABEL left the players with a startling revelation - most of the Internet DetectivesReminder: The Internet Detectives is the main player group participating in Johnisdead. were dead in the Astral Timeline. When Moonman logged in, the players hounded him with questions. He revealed that shortly after the events of The Truth Arc in early 2017, Nocta joined and befriended the Internet Detectives. However, he suddenly left in early 2018. Not long afterwards, most of the Internet Detectives were killed by a traitor, leaving only Moonman, IsocelesAssassin, and a Spanish user named Yugi. In mid-2018, the three of them infiltrated the Astral Observatory in an attempt to stop Nocta.
Moonman trapped within the website.
It was around this time that players discovered that Johnisdead.com was now locked. Not long afterwards, Moonman was attacked and somehow trapped within a pocket of the Parallelos. GHOSTBABEL offered to assist the players in rescuing Moonman if they could provide her with Helper's HatReminder: Helper's Hat is a magical item that originally belonged to Helper. It seemingly grants one control over Helper's Within Hubris account and the "M" YouTube channel. It also greatly expands Helper's abilities. It was last seen during the YSHDT Arc in The Gray Man's possession.. She revealed that the Astral Timeline version of Helper's Hat was currently in IsocelesAssassin's possession. However, GHOSTBABEL desired Helper's Hat from the players' timeline, and she claimed she knew where to find it.
GHOSTBABEL hacked Astralobservatory.net and allowed the players to enter a small section of the Subspace. Here, the players found their timeline's version of Helper's Hat. Strangely, it seemed to be guarded by a dead version of the player CircleHunter. However, the players had no time to dwell on this. Holding up her end of the bargain, GHOSTBABEL destabilized Astralobservatory.net, allowing the players to locate Moonman within the Parallelos. Unfortunately, due to several misplaced submissions, the website went offline. Thankfully, GHOSTBABEL revealed that she would be able to restore Astralobservatory.net, though there would be some consequences.
GHOSTBABEL was successful - Astralobservatory.net returned and the players were able to recover Moonman. Upon his return, Moonman said the experience was horrifying but he knew the players were coming to save him. Strangely, Moonman also mentioned that when GHOSTBABEL restored the site he witnessed the arrival of an unknown "orange entity".
The Five Lines
One of the many rune-based images posted by the IIIII account.
Meanwhile, in the Internet Detectives Discord Server, the IIIII began chatting with the players. Here, the IIIII entity was seen speaking through what was originally Tyler's out-of-character non-canon Discord account. Through fractured conversations, it was revealed that "IIIII" doesn't just represent two entities but instead five - one for each line. The Rune Entity claimed that "The 2nd", or "II", was behind something called "Nullstorms". They also revealed that "The 3rd", or "III", was currently sleeping somewhere within the Parallelos. The Mask Entity would repeatedly taunt the players and refer to itself as the "true father". Meanwhile, the Rune Entity referred to the players as their friends and would try to assist them. One night, the Rune Entity was attacked by the Mask Entity. After saving him, the players asked the Rune Entity exactly who they were. Unfortunately, the Rune Entity was interrupted as they answered "I'm another-".
In the Safehaven Discord Server, IsocelesAssassin began chatting with the players. He claimed that the Astral and Prime Timelines were both very similar to one another. One obvious difference is that the Astral Timeline version of Greth, Moonman, was never possessed by Patrem. Instead, someone else was possessed by Patrem. However, IsocelesAssassin is unable to reveal who it was. He also believes that their version of Tyler has been captured, though he doesn't know where or how. Moonman also mentions that he was absent through a portion of The Truth Arc. This resulted in the player Mugen Kagemaru taking his place in the Circle of ThreeReminder: The Circle of Three was a ritual enacted by Jeremy. It involved the gathering of three players - an act that allowed him to communicate more effectively and securely. In the Astral Timeline, Greth (Moonman) was unable to participate. Instead, the player Mugen Kagemaru took his place within the Circle of Three..
A depiction of the entity described by Yuukichan.
Oddities continued manifesting in the Internet Detectives Discord server. Similar to Tyler and IIIII, Greth's out-of-character non-canon Discord account suddenly became active as well. It began posting cryptic messages about "Aggregation" and "The Meta". Greth's out-of-character account would even occasionally chip in during canon conversations with other characters, spreading even more confusion. When asked who was speaking through this account, it simply answered with "Greth". This "Greth" was a malicious trickster that was implied to be separate from both the Prime Timeline Greth and the Astral Timeline Moonman, implying that perhaps a third timeline was now involved.
In October of 2019, Yuukichan's spirit began communicating with the players in the Safehaven Discord server. Here, she spoke through broken, cryptic sentences in an attempt to warn the players about the arrival of a malicious entity. She warned that some sort of event would occur on Halloween, telling the players to prepare. Oddly, Yuukichan singled out the player WolfcatWolfcat is a player who had been present throughout all of Johnisdead and Ben Drowned. They created the Safehaven Discord server and chatted with most of the users on the Astral Observatory Forums., asking if they were safe.
Deceitful Individuals
An image of Pumpkinhead.
On October 30th, 2019, an event known as the Pumpkinhead GamejackA "Gamejack" is an event in which a player pretends to be a canon character within an ARG and tricks players into believing that they're a part of the story. began. This was a period in which the player Wolfcat pretended to be overtaken by a malicious entity called PumpkinheadPumpkinhead was the name of an entity that appeared during an ARG created by the player Wolfcat. This ARG took place within a Minecraft server owned by the Internet Detectives. Within it, Pumpkinhead was a malicious spirit that was somehow connected to the death of Wolfcat that proceeded to use his spirit as a puppet.. The players Jos and CircleHunter also joined in on the gamejack - believing it to be nothing more than an innocent prank. During this period a new user joined the Internet Detectives - Erika. She appeared to be a Johnisdead fangirl who would often express her excitement of seeing Tyler in upcoming videos.
The gamejack continued until November 9th, 2019 when Tyler seemingly broke character and banned Wolfcat. Tyler was seemingly enraged at Wolfcat for having gamejacked the ARG. While the players were still reeling from the fact that nothing revealed during the gamejack was canon, Erika began attempting to get Tyler's attention. However, Tyler was still infuriated. He proceed to insult Erika repeatedly before she finally left the server.
Not long afterwards, Tyler uploaded a video to Silentdork announcing that the ARG was over and that none of it was real. However, just as players expected the video to end, it continued. The Mask Entity proceeded to go on an enraged rant about how it wished everything would end already. This all seemed to imply that the Tyler acting aggressively towards Erika and Wolfcat earlier was actually the Mask Entity - not Tyler himself. After a few minutes, the video proceeded to show what happened to Tyler on April 23rd, 2019. Tyler was attacked by Patrem puppetting Prime Timeline Greth's body and was forced to escape by using the Detour Sign. However, this time the sign teleported him to the Parallelos. Here, Tyler encountered a strange white, mannequin-like entity standing atop a bridge.
Over time, Wolfcat and Erika both rejoined the Internet Detectives. This led to the players discovering Erika's YouTube channel - Emerald Heart, which contained a music video themed around the ARG. Strangely, this video contained footage that the players had not yet seen. Players began accusing Erika of being a canon character - something she vehemently denied. Instead, she claimed that she simply received her footage from another YouTube channel - Quiet Family, a channel that supposedly belonged to SKM's brother Max.
Erika's avatar.
While the debate over whether or not Erika was canon raged on, the malicious "Greth" using Greth's out-of-character non-canon account once again became active. This version of "Greth" finally provided a name for himself - "BUPBUP is a mischievous trickster with malicious intent. Because of this, they often utilized memes and jokes in strange ways. For example, the name "BUP" itself was simply an alias that originated from a meme involving the character Toad from Super Mario 64.". Despite their meme-like nature, BUP was an incredibly powerful version of Greth who held great knowledge of the ARG itself, possessed the ability to take over GHOSTBABEL's account, and retroactively kill off characters if they wished.
Two of BUP's acquaintances joined the Internet Detectives. The first was The Producer - a friendly entity that seemed to be focused on endlessly producing content for BUP and the others. He seemed familiar with the players and often partook in casual conversations with them. The second was TheLaw - an entity that seemed to lack much freewill and instead often described themselves as a tool belonging to BUP. TheLaw is the same entity that first kicked off the ARG back in 2015, having led the players to YSHDT.com on Within Hubris.
The Producer claimed that, in a way, the IIIII entity was their leader. This seemed to imply that IIIII, BUP, The Producer, and TheLaw were all somewhat similar entities that held great knowledge over the world of Johnisdead. The also possessed the ability to affect its reality in powerful ways. In reference to IIIII, Erika claimed that the lines themselves are likened to five separate layers of being and that they can mean different things to different people. She makes reference to the "Kabbalah" to better explain this.
Familiar Faces
Tyler partaking in Alex's trial in the Parallelos.
On January 3rd, 2020, SKM contacted the Internet Detectives and revealed that he was now trapped within the Parallelos as well. He is currently living in a tent in some woods near a strange building. He describes the Parallelos as incredibly dark - he can only see when he views things through cameras or other devices. He also claims to have heard strange voices inside his head.
A few weeks later, another familiar character returned - Vincent. He explains that just before the cataclysm occurred at The Spire in 2016, he was freed from Patrem's influence and was able to escape. However, at some point after this he was pulled into the Parallelos. After a long, exhausting journey, he was about to accept his fate as a large Nullstorm approached him - a large storm of darkness and tendrils. Vincent claims that these tendrils were actually parts of an Absque FascieIn the past, the Lunar Children described the Absque Fascie as Luna's loyal followers that dwell within her Parallelos. However, Vincent implies that the Absque Fascie are far more powerful than initially described - even dwarfing Patrem in terms of power., which Vincent claims is far more powerful than the Lunar Children originally let on. Before Vincent was destroyed, he was rescued by an "Angel"". This "Angel" warped Vincent out of the Parallelos and led him back home.
Back on YouTube, Tyler's journey through the Parallelos continued. He is seen making contact with the white mannequin-like entity on the bridge before being shown lying in a hospital bed. While this is happening, AlexReminder: The Alex seen speaking on Silentdork is his post-transcended self who is a member of The Four Giants. mentions placing Tyler through some sort of "Trial" as a test. Meanwhile, Greth returns to Greth Vlogs. He seems completely unharmed and unaware of Patrem's control. However, it now seemed as though he would occasionally fall under BUP's influence. Later on, BUP showcased a strange cassette to the players - "Ascended E-girl". This cassette contained imagery relating to Yuukichan. Shortly after this, Yuukichan asked the players to free both herself and someone called "AW"" from their dungeon. This "AW" entity was represented by an image of a spirit trapped within a bottle.
A figure believed to be Synchron.
A few weeks later, Patrem became active on Within Hubris for the first time in years. He now spoke in a much more nuanced and humbled tone and answered questions with cryptic riddles. Patrem praised a great mage named Synchron who he claimed spoke in symbols while casting at an altar in the "fourth world". This all sounded extremely similar to the Rune Entity, perhaps implying that the Rune Entity, Synchron, and "IIII" or "The Fourth" were all the same person. He also mentioned "The Dark One" and implied that the Mask Entity, Tenebris, and "I" or "The First" are all the same as well. Patrem also references The Machine, which he claims to be within.
On April 20th, 2022, IsocelesAssassin, GHOSTBABEL, and Moonman all met with the players in the Safehaven Discord server. Here, they were finally ready to enact their plan to get the players into the Subspace. With the help of the aforementioned Hacker Group, a Data Bomb had been constructed for the players to use to break open the Astral Observatory. However, something was wrong. After the Hacker Group transferred the Data Bomb to GHOSTBABEL, everyone was shocked to see that the file was missing. Instead, it had been replaced with an orange, distorted image of the player Wolfcat.
The Data Bomb used to access the Subspace.
Pumpkinhead suddenly unveiled himself, revealing that he was canon all along and simply pretending to be the player Wolfcat. The entire Pumpkinhead Gamejack was a ploy to make it seem as though he was not a threat and completely non-canonEver since the Pumpkinhead Gamejack, the player Wolfcat (Who was secretly Pumpkinhead in disguise) had been omitting details relating to himself from the Johnisdead Wiki. His avatar was also slowly growing darker and more menacing.. After this, the Safehaven Discord server began distorting. Within it, players discovered a previously hidden chatroom that contained conversations between Pumpkinhead and Wolfcat dating back to 2019. Here, Wolfcat pleaded with Pumpkinhead to not harm his friends. It was also revealed that Pumpkinhead was using Wolfcat as a puppet - something that allowed him to better copy Wolfcat's mannerisms and fool the players. Wolfcat seemed to disappear from these conversations around the same time BUP released the "Ascended E-girl" cassette - much to Pumpkinhead's dismay.
Pumpkinhead proceeded to delete the Safehaven Discord server, leaving the players scrambling. Thankfully, GHOSTBABEL managed to use Helper's Hat to contact the players via the "M" YouTube channel. Here, Helper directed the players to the location of a second "Data Bomb" - Doug's old blog, Letschasethemouse". The player ARGdov retrieved the bomb and used his access to "The Truth" Board to post it on the Astral Observatory Forums. This distorted the website, finally granting the players access to the Subspace. Here, the players discovered several repurposed Lunar Children teachings such as the Parallelos. They also learned about the concept of Aggregation - the process of someone fusing with their other selves across space and time. The Subspace also contained various chatlogs from members of the Astral Observatory. These revealed that IsocelesAssassin and YugiReminder: Yugi is the third Astral Internet Detective who survived alongside IsocelesAssassin and Moonman. had hatched some sort of plan to undermine Nocta at some point. Players also discovered a timer counting down to April 23rd, 2020. When the timer hit zero, it transformed into a link to Johnisdead.com - players once again finally had access to the website.
In the previous section, players were introduced to several powerful beings who held great knowledge pertaining to the world of Johnisdead. These included a malicious version of Greth named BUP, a friendly artist named The Producer, a steadfast underling named TheLaw, and a series of entities using a single account named IIIII. The different I's within IIIII all seemed to represent different characters and ideas. "I" seemingly represents Tenebris, whereas "IIII" represents a powerful mage named Synchron. At this point, the identities of the other I's are unknown.
Players discovered that Tyler had been attacked by Patrem puppetting Greth's body. This resulted in Tyler accidentally warping into the Parallelos after touching the Detour Sign. Tyler was now on a terrifying journey through the Parallelos and is currently being forced through some sort of trial by Alex. Meanwhile, players met the Astral Timeline version of the player CircleHunter - IsocelesAssassin. He's assisted by a spirit named GHOSTBABEL, who begrudgingly assists the players. Through their conversations, it was revealed that the Internet Detectives in the Astral Timeline were all killed by a traitor.
A new entity arose to torment the players - Pumpkinhead. For months, Pumpkinhead covertly worked against the players while pretending to be the fellow player Wolfcat. Meanwhile, a user named Erika joined the Internet Detectives - an individual whose canonicity was hotly debated. Erika had access to footage of Tyler that was seemingly brand new, leading to many labelling her as a canon character. However, Erika vehemently denied this, claiming that she simply obtained this footage from a YouTube account belonging to SKM's brother Max named Quiet Family.
Several other characters returned as well. SKM contacted the players and revealed that he was now in the Parallelos as well. Vincent also returned, explaining that he was freed from Patrem's influence just before the cataclysm in 2016. Though he managed to escape, he briefly fell into the Parallelos before later being rescued from it by an "angel".
Allies from the Astral Observatory and an elusive group of hackers worked together to create a "Data Bomb" for the players. This was to be used to break into the Subspace on Astral Observatory. Unfortunately, just before the players were about to use the bomb, Pumpkinhead revealed himself and stole it. Thankfully, GHOSTBABEL was able to direct the players to a second Data Bomb, allowing the players to post it on Astralobservatory.net and break into the Subspace. Here, they learned about the concept of Aggregation - the process of an individual fusing with their other selves across time and space. Players also discovered a countdown to April 23rd, 2020. When it reached zero, players gained access to a completely revamped Johnisdead.com
Digital Labyrinths
The new front page of Johnisdead.com.
Johnisdead.com had been completely reworked. The site now contained a series of "Paths" players could explore - long strings of distorted roads and highways that led to hidden pages. One of these led to what appeared to have once been a holding cell for JoséJosé is the person who obtained the Lunar Children servers in an attempt to investigate them during the previous arc., likely implying that he had been ascended. The cell contained a playing card and a message revealing that some of José's scripts on Johnisdead.com would eventually activate on their own, assisting the players. Further exploration revealed that José was actually YugiReminder: Yugi is the third Astral Internet Detective who survived alongside Moonman and IsocelesAssassin.. These pages contained chatlogs in which Nocta asked Yugi to travel back in time and enter the Prime Timeline so he could recover the Lunar Children servers.
Meanwhile, BUP began sharing more of his backstory. He once owned an organization called the Astral Observatory. However, this organization was completely different from the one the players were familiar with because BUP actually originates from an unknown third timeline. This means that the Astral Observatory owned by Nocta in the Astral Timeline simply stole the name of BUP's original organization from this unknown third timeline and repurposed it. BUP also claims that one of the reasons why he's so powerful is that he ascended himself.
After a while, TheLaw began conspiring with the players to combat BUP. It was soon revealed that TheLaw held some connection to the player DawnDawn, also known as Dawn of a New Day, was the GM of the first arc of Johnisdead - the YSHDT Arc. During this time, he went by the alias "The Man".
Also, as a reminder, TheLaw is the entity that kicked off the events of the ARG by linking the players to YSHDT.com.. The players noticed that Dawn hadn't been active lately and began fearing for his safety. TheLaw assisted them in breaking into his desktop using a remote program. Here, the players learned that Dawn was a member of a sun-worshipping cult called the Sun Children. Dawn held the title of The Dawn, which granted him various powers from his god, Helios.
One of the many strange Janus worlds discovered on Johnisdead.com.
By searching through Dawn's old files, players gained access to a new page on Johnisdead.com. This page contained a digital recreation of The Spire that could be explored using JanusVRReminder: JanusVR is a program that was briefly used during the Johnisdead Arc. It allows users to explore webpages in the form of 3D environments.. Players also discovered that the Fakeworld Janus Room from 2015 had returned, now acting as more of a hub world for various other Janus rooms.
The Spire contained a variety of chatlogs from Lunar Children met during The Truth Arc. These conversations implied that Hunter went missing shortly after Undecim Nocte 2015. This was also around the time Mat went missing as well. Players also discovered a hidden attic that contained cryptic drawings - some of which implied that the version of Wolfcat that was being used as Pumpkinhead's mask was his deceased, Astral Timeline self. The Spire also hid links to a variety of other hidden Janus worlds on Johnisdead.com.
Regrouping
The storm drain that Mason died in.
After months of silence, players finally managed to regain contact with their allies on the Astral Observatory, which had since been abandoned by Nocta. Here, IsocelesAssassin reveals that he was actually "The Gray ManThe Gray Man was the enigmatic figure from the YSHDT Arc who gave Mason a playing card in exchange for Helper's Hat.". A few years prior in 2018, the Astral Observatory picked up some transmissions from the Hacker GroupThe "Hacker Group" refers to the secretive group of hackers that worked alongside IsocelesAssassin to create the Data Bomb for the players.. IsocelesAssassin managed to contact the Hacker Group in secret. Here, he learned that they were from a third, separate timeline - just like BUP.
IsocelesAssassin and the Hacker Group formulated a plan together. IsocelesAssassin used The Ocarina to go back in time to 2009. Here, he retrieved Helper's Hat from Mason in exchange for a playing card. These playing cards were oddities that were found near the bodies of deceased Internet Detectives in the Astral Timeline. After this, IsocelesAssassin installed a Transmission Device atop a cellphone towerIt's implied that this cellphone tower is the same one seen in videos on the "M" YouTube channel - videos that would have been from IsocelesAssassin's perspective as he possessed Helper's Hat.. Despite his best efforts, IsocelesAssassin was unable to prevent Mason's death. However, he was able to store Mason's soul in a device he was given by the Hacker Group. IsocelesAssassin and Mason travelled together until 2012 when they were attacked by Regiminis. Fortunately, Regiminis seemed a bit weaker than normal, giving IsocelesAssassin the chance to escape back to the presentThe reason why IsocelesAssassin possesses the Astral Timeline's version of Helper's Hat is because he still retained possession of it from his time as The Gray Man in 2009.. Unfortunately, Mason was left behind - still trapped within the device.
The dead version of IsocelesAssassin used as Pumpkinhead's vessel.
IsocelesAssassin points out some strange differences between the Astral and Prime Timelines. Firstly, SKM in the Astral Timeline is a malicious, bloodthirsty entity that's constantly hunting down Max. Secondly, Drowned did not exist in the Astral Timeline. Instead, Max took his place in assisting the players. Also, Helper never assisted the players on the Lunar Children Forums. Finally, the video "Regiminis" was never uploaded in the Astral Timeline. IsocelesAssassin believes that Nocta wanted JoséReminder: José is Yugi - the third Astral Internet Detective who survived alongside IsocelesAssassin and Moonman. At Nocta's request, he went back in time and entered the Prime Timeline to retrieve the Lunar Children servers as seen during the Astral Arc. to retrieve the Lunar Children servers in the Prime Timeline in order to further link the two timelines. However, he never intended on actually carrying this out. Instead, he hoped to investigate the servers himself. Unfortunately, José's treachery was discovered and he was locked inside the Parallelos as punishment.
Meanwhile, players continued chatting with various entities on Discord. Here it was revealed that The Producer was actually a powerful version of Wolfcat - similar to the connections between BUP and Greth - or TheLaw and Dawn. Not long after this, Pumpkinhead returned - now expressing his boredom in having to wait for his "Mask""Mask" in this sense refers to a vessel. Pumpkihead's previous mask was the Astral Timeline version of Wolfcat, who disappeared around the time the "Ascended E-Girl" album was released. to return. In the meantime, he decided to take the spirit of another character as his mask - a dead version of IsocelesAssassinThis dead version of IsocelesAssassin was previously seen in Subspace guarding the Prime Timeline version of Helper's Hat. At the time, the reason for their existence was unknown..
A few days later, Erika was preparing to share another music video with the players. Just like before, this video also contained an abundance of never-before-seen footage. However, before the players could process all of this, Pumpkinhead interjected and shared a link to the new Johnisdead Wiki, which clearly listed Erika as a canon character with all of her conversations logged. Shocked and saddened by this, Erika lamented the fact that she could no longer pass herself off as "real". She then said her goodbyes before leaving the Internet Detectives.
Dawn being attacked by Greth.
Further exploration on Johnisdead.com led players to a Janus room where the DawnReminder: Dawn was the GM of the first arc of Johnisdead - the YSHDT Arc. During this time he went by the name The Man. Earlier, it was revealed that he's actually a member of a cult called the Sun Children and holds the title of "The Dawn", which grants him special powers. was being held captive by malicious spirits. The players quickly freed him, allowing him to escape his machine-like imprisonment. After this, Dawn began travelling to Florida to retrieve a holy book that once belonged to the Sun Children. Not long after this, the video Konvergenz was uploaded to Silentdork - a fairly long video that covered a variety of different plotlines.
Within this video, TheLaw can be seen being attacked and killed by a strange, blue, frog-like entity - presumably a beast sent by BUP to punish TheLaw for his betrayal. After this, Tyler's journey continues. As Tyler lays in the hospital bed, the camera suddenly zooms into the heart monitor next to it. Here, he comes across a shopping cart containing his clothes and the Majora's Mask Cartridge. Upon touching it, Tyler is once again confronted by the white mannequin-like entity. Tyler is then warped to a hotel-like location - Alex's "Hall of Fame". Here, Erika begins speaking to Tyler, helping to guide him through the hotel. The two are suddenly attacked by Regiminis as they flee into an elevator, ending the video.
Meanwhile, Dawn completes his long trek to Florida. Here, he finally recovers the Sun Children's holy book - though not before he's attacked by a sword-wielding Greth - presumably possessed by either BUP or Patrem. The two engage in combat with Dawn barely managing to ward them off. Strangely, before this video ends, the players are given a "Rook" chess piece - seemingly representing Dawn himself.
Virtual Expeditions
Pumpkinhead travelling through the Parallelos.
On June 20th, 2020, Pumpkinhead began challenging the players with his new maskReminder: Pumpkinhead's current "Mask" or vessel / puppet was a dead version of IsocelesAssassin of unknown origin.. Pumpkinhead was initially impervious to damage due to the "Mirror ShieldThe Mirror Shield is a piece of equipment from The Legend of Zelda series. It is used to block and redirect attacks at enemies. Pumpkinhead was seen equipping it in the leaked conversations in the Safehaven Discord server from 2019.". However, the players quickly disarmed him, scaring him off into hiding. Pumpkinhead took refuge in a pocket of the Subspace called the "Sanctum". He also locked away the Astral Observatory Forums in the process.
The Sanctum was a massive labyrinth of pages. The players encountered many different puzzles that required the use of different submissions via The OcarinaReminder: "The Ocarina" refers to the Ocarina powers possessed by the players - the ability to submit songs, images, and videos from The Legend of Zelda series to affect the world of the ARG.. Unfortunately, the players' various submission options had been locked away by Pumpkinhead. As such, they had to slowly unlock them as they progressed through the Sanctum. Aiding them was the wandering spirit of Mason, who tried explaining more of his travels with IsocelesAssassin in 2009Reminder: IsocelesAssassin went back in time to 2009 under the identity "The Gray Man". Here, he captured Mason's departed soul in a device and the two travelled for a few years before being separated in 2012.. However, this only complicated things as it seemed as though Mason was experiencing conflicting memories - one scenario where IsocelesAssassin escaped back to the present and one where he was killed by Regiminis. The players were also assisted by Pursan - a mysterious entity who struck a deal with the players and offered them a map of the various webpages on the website.
The map of the Sanctum received from Pursan.
Upon completing the Sanctum, the players regained access to the Astral Observatory Forums. Pumpkinhead was forced to flee, allowing the dead version of IsocelesAssassin that was being used as his mask to be freed. This version of IsocelesAssassin began sharing more of his story. In the timeline he hailed from, SKM only found a Gas Mask in the briefcaseThis is referring to the briefcase that SKM was given after completing his Lunar Children initiation in 2011. He was originally only meant to receive a gas mask. However, according to Drowned in 2016, there is a conflicting recollection of events where he was also gifted a copy of the Libro Lunarus. - not the Libro Lunarus. IsocelesAssassin also claims that Mason was the one who created the Transmission DeviceThis refers to the Transmission Device that IsocelesAssassin was given by the Hacker Group to install atop the cellphone tower in 2009. - something that seems impossible.
Just like what was described on the Astral Observatory Forums, the two were attacked by Regminis in 2012. However, this version of IsocelesAssassin was killed, leaving Mason alone trapped in his device for years. During this time, Helper arrived and retrieved his hat from IsocelesAssassin's corpse. Meanwhile, Mason eventually managed to manifest a physical body around the device. On April 23rd, 2016, he charged The Spire and used his device to presumably blow it up - likely causing The Cataclysm that wiped out the Lunar Children. This video ends with this version of IsocelesAssassin and Mason being represented by two Pawn chess pieces.
IsocelesAssassin approaching the cellphone tower with Mason's device.
Back on Johnisdead.com, players discovered more Janus worlds to discover. Here, they met several digital entities that lived in these worlds. These included the brothers Stackoverflow, Trapped, and Halicord. They also met a docile manta-ray-like entity named Prominence. These entities led the players to The Spire Janus room where they discovered the could now access the upper floors of the building. Here, they found a variety of bedrooms belonging to the Elder ChildrenReminder: The Elder Children are simply higher ranking members of the Lunar Children who oversaw various aspects of the cult.. These rooms also contained secret chatlogs between the Elder Children.
These chatlogs revealed that it's possible that Hunter deliberately gave Tyler back the Crescent Moon Necklace on Undecim Nocte 2015 - possibly sabotaging the cult. It's also revealed that Mat would often communicate with Tenebris in private despite this being highly forbidden. Other conversations reveal that Regiminis killed Helper in 2016 when he was travelling to deliver the Crescent Moon Necklace to the playersReminder: The players asked Helper to do two things for them back in late 2015 - deliver a camera to Tyler and steal his Crescent Moon Necklace. It now seems as though the reason he never carried out the latter was because he was killed again.. After this, Regiminis returned the Crescent Moon Necklace to the Elder Child named JenniferJennifer originally went by the name Jinn on the Lunar Children Forums. She was said to have overseen the library at The Spire., who hid it away somewhere secure. Players also discovered that Mat was a member of some other cult called the Order of Metatron, though no further details are given.
Over time, even more Janus rooms were discovered - many of which linked back to the ever-growing Fakeworld. One of the newly discovered Janus rooms was a recreation of the Fishery. Here, players discovered a link to a video from 2014 that featured Vincent AdamsReminder: Vincent Adams was a Lunar Child who unknowingly became Patrem's host after 2011. He was finally freed from Patrem's influence in 2016., who was shockingly revealed to be Jacob - one of Tyler's friends who went missing in 2009. This implies that Jacob completed his Lunar Children initiation from MasonReminder: Jacob was the player from the YSHDT Arc who was contacted by Mason and invited to partake in several initiation rituals in order to join the Lunar Children. This all implies that Jacob completed the initiation and actually joined the cult - hence his disappearance.and joined the cult - later becoming known as Vincent.
Bits and Pieces
Moonman while under the surveillance of The Jaeger.
KaidenReminder: Kaiden is a member of the Astral Observatory Forums who enjoys video games and roleplay. set off on a journey of his own. Feeling responsible for Yuukichan's death, Kaiden hoped to redeem himself by investigating the deaths of the Internet Detectives in the Astral Timeline. He investigated the homes of the players Scout and Wolfcat, finding them both abandoned. He discovered a playing card in each home though - a "Two of Diamonds" and "Seven of Hearts" respectively.
Meanwhile, a series of concerning videos were uploaded to Moonman's YouTube channel. It seemed as though he were now being haunted by the entityThe figure wearing the silver alien mask was seen previously stalking Greth in several videos on Greth Vlogs. It also attacked Moonman once before. wearing the silver alien mask. Shortly afterwards, this entity joined the Astral Observatory Forums and finally revealing their name - The Jaeger. The Jaeger claimed that Moonman was in their possession and that soon an aggregationReminder: Aggregation is the process of an individual merging with their other selves across space and time. would take place. Fearing for his safety, the players used their powers to warp Moonman to the safety of IsocelesAssassin'sReminder: The version of IsoclesAssassin that the players are all familiar with is still alive. The version of him that was dead and being used as Pumpkinhead's puppet is assumed to be from a different timeline and his origin is still currently unknown. home.
While IsocelesAssassin helped Moonman recover, he gave the players their next objective. They were to search Johnisdead.com for a signal sent out by the Hacker GroupReminder: The Hacker Group is the enigmatic group that assisted the players by creating the Data Bomb that was used to break into the Subspace. After Pumpkinhead stole the Data Bomb, their connection with the players and the Astral Observatory was severed. on Johnisdead.com and enter it into Astralobservatory.net. Upon doing this, IsocelesAssassin and GHOSTBABEL were finally able to connect back to the Hacker Group who began speaking with the players on the Astral Observatory Forums.
The Hacker Group was revealed be from the mysterious third timeline that BUP originated from. Their members included this third timeline's version of Mason, Spencer, and an unknown third member. In this third timeline, a terrible cataclysm destroyed the world around 2011. The three members of the Hacker Group were barely able to escape with their lives. This timeline had other oddities as well - for example, The Four Giants were supposedly never transcended, explaining how this version of Spencer was still alive. The Hacker Group also revealed that the Prime Timeline version of SKM worked with them in the past, having briefly contacted them in 2014.
Tyler being represented as "II".
Back on Discord, BUP revealed more of his backstory. He confirmed that his original timeline is indeed the same one mentioned by the Hacker Group. BUP realized that his world was ending and underwent an elaborate ascension in order to escape it. He also revealed that he is already secretly aggregated to Moonman and has the ability to take control of him at any given moment. Fearing for the safety of his friends, Moonman decided to distance himself from them and left the safety of IsocelesAssassin's home. After this, players were shown a video of Moonman travelling through a section of the Parallelos called The Shortcut. Meanwhile, IIIIIReminder: IIIII is the enigmatic account shared by multiple entities. Each line seemingly represents a different person or idea. IIII, or "The Fourth" represents Synchron. I, or "The First" represents Tenebris. made several cryptic posts in Discord that seemingly revealed the identity of "II" or "The Second" - Tyler.
In the previous section, Johnisdead.com returned. Now a sprawling labyrinth of webpages, players had to utilize the program JanusVR to explore various 3D environments hidden within them. Meanwhile, players learned more about the histories of the various members of the Astral Observatory. They discovered that José was actually a member of the Astral Timeline's version of the Internet Detectives who went back in time and entered the Prime Timeline. Once here, he obtained the Lunar Children servers in an attempt to study them. Unfortunately, he was supposedly tracked down and locked away within the Parallelos as punishment.
Around this time, IsocelesAssassin made contact with an enigmatic group of hackers who hail from a third timeline. This third timeline underwent some sort of major cataclysm in 2011. It's also the timeline that BUP originated from. With their help, IsocelesAssassin went back in time to 2009 under the alias of "The Gray Man" and set up their Transmission Device atop a cellphone tower. While there, he rescued Mason's spirit by capturing it in a device. The two journeyed together until 2012 when they were attacked by Regiminis. While IsocelesAssassin managed to flee, Mason was left behind. By 2016, Mason managed to manifest a body and charge The Spire, supposedly initiating the cataclysm that destroyed both it and the Lunar Children.
Meanwhile, players made several startling discoveries about their allies. They learned that their fellow player Dawn was actually a member of a sun-based cult called the Sun Children. He held the holy title of The Dawn, which granted him special abilities. Players also discovered that Erika was indeed a canon character. Shortly after this reveal, she was seen guiding Tyler through the Parallelos as he explored Alex's "Hall of Fame" - a strange hotel. Here, Tyler is seen narrowly escaping Regiminis as he completes Alex's trial. Finally, the players also discovered that the true identity of Vincent Adams was Jacob - Tyler's friend who went missing in 2009.
Further exploration of Johnisdead.com revealed that Mat was actually a member of another cult called the Order of Metatron. Mat and Hunter both went missing shortly after Undecim Nocte 2015, which the latter was implied to have knowingly sabotaged. The entity wearing a silver alien mask was revealed to be called "The Jaeger". He began haunting Moonman, taunting the players about an upcoming Aggregation. Fearing that he'll become possessed by BUP and hurt his friends, Moonman set off on his own. Kaiden was also exploring around this time - journeying to the various homes of the deceased Astral Timeline version of the Internet Detectives. Strangely, at each location, Kaiden found a playing card...
Digital Worlds
A depiction of Erika discovered in the fishery.
Upon exploring Johnisdead.com, players discovered another Janus room. This one seemed to be a recreation of the fishery before it fell into ruin. Here, it was revealed that part of the fishery was once used as a convenience store - presumably as a cover operation. Players also discovered a fairly old church near the back of the fishery that contained depictions of Synchron and Erika. This room seemed much older than the others and it was supported by four large, black cornerstones.
Players also discovered several journals from Father Alphonse - the Lunar Children's former "Father" before Vincent obtained the title. Father Alphonse was investigating a strange cube obtained from the fishery. Upon further examination, he discovered that this cube was actually an incredibly complex machine of unknown origin. While observing it, Alphonse was greeted by an entity calling itself Arawn, who reveals that when an individual undergoes a FinitorReminder: Finitors are very powerful types of ascensions. The Lunar Children only knew of two that ever existed - presumably Patrem and Tenebris. ascension, two entities are created - a pure essence and an empty shell. Arawn claims to be the leftover "empty shell" of someone's finitor ascension, though he does not reveal whose. Arawn also began teaching Alphonse about aggregation. The results of this are unknown, though Alphonse's final journal implies that he's now somehow trapped within the Janus worldsReminder: Janus worlds refers to the 3D digital environments that players can explore by using the program JanusVR..
Alphonse's journals also implied that the Janus worlds themselves were a part of Project Bifrost - a Lunar Children experiment. It's implied that the Janus worlds are built with a substance called Spiritus - a substance that hasn't been fully explained quite yet. Not long after this, players met a Lunar Child named Jason in the Janus worlds who took part in Project Bifrost. He implies that most of the other participants have long since disappeared and he complains a bit about the project's overall lack of communication and organization. Towards the end of the conversation, Jason goes into a sort of trance and disappears.
Around this time, players began learning more about The Library - an enigmatic location in the Parallelos that seems to hold a great deal of knowledge pertaining to both Johnisdead and the players. The Library is overseen by The Keeper - a title that's presumably passed on from one individual to another.
Paranormal Company
WireTalk's logo and motto.
On Halloween, 2021, a video was uploaded to Silentdork that announced a scavenger's hunt that was to take place on Johnisdead.com. This video seemed somewhat artificial and it featured a different version of Tyler wearing a business suit named Mr. Silent. This video's description claimed that both it and the scavenger's hunt event was hosted by a company named WireTalk. WireTalk began putting their name and company terminology on a few other videos found on Silentdork - presumably attempting to take ownership of them.
Players were also introduced to the OFA GroupPlayers called this group the "OFA Group" because of they often shouted the motto "One For All". - three individuals who were working alongside something called "Decoy" while fighting back against WireTalk. Both the OFA Group and WireTalk spoke with complicated terminology that was difficult to understand. The OFA Group implied that WireTalk is somehow connected to Mat - supposedly they view him as a "side-experiment" of sorts. The OFA Group revealed all of this while on the run - they were constantly posting and deleting messages while trying to stay out of WireTalk's grasp.
Max's Discord avatar.
On February 22nd, 2022, MaxReminder: Max is SKM's brother. He was originally kidnapped and presumably ascended by the Lunar Children. At some point, his spirit was fused with Ben's, creating the entity known as Drowned. Eventually, Ben and Max split apart. After this, SKM placed Max's spirit inside of Tyler's Bullet Necklace for reasons unknown. joined the Internet Detectives. His spirit currently resided inside a computer in the Parallelos. This computer was sitting in the same building near SKM's tentEarlier, it was revealed that SKM was now in the Parallelos as well. He was living in a tent in the woods near a strange building.. Max claims that there's a man in the building with long hair who speaks Latin into a machine. There's also another person in the same room as the computer who's sleeping on the bed. He also confirms that he has access to the Quiet Family YouTube channel, which he used to help Erika with her music videos. He also occasionally visits the Janus worlds - some of which he implies are simply digital recreations of real locations.
Max recollects how he was kidnapped in 2011. He claims that he was lured out to a local park by Patrem. Here, several cultists hopped out of a van and captured him. Once Max was taken to the fishery, Patrem seemed completely taken aback by his presence, implying that Patrem was not the one who organized Max's kidnapping. Instead, it seemed as though someone had been impersonating Patrem in an attempt to undermine him. Patrem seemed genuinely remorseful regarding Max's involvement and promised to protect him. Unfortunately, as the night progressed, the cultists forced Max into a strange box where he was presumably ascended later fused with Ben, becoming Drowned.
Max revealed that there was currently a wire connecting SKM's tent to the building he was in. He feared for SKM's safety, noting that he seemed to be losing his mind a bit the last time he checked on him. Not long after this, players were able to get a closer look at SKM's tent. Here, it was revealed that SKM was working alongside a friendly spirit named George. SKM also had several notes around the tent containing some of his observations within the Parallelos. These included feminine spirits with glowing eyes and three large spheres surrounding a saturn-shaped object next to a fourth sphere.
Complex Communication
The interior of The Library - one of the locations Max enjoys spending time in.
The players continued chatting with Max. Here, he mentions that SKM has been acting more strangely recently - possibly due to WireTalk's interference. He speculates that the company might somehow be puppetting his body. Alternatively, the OFA Group might somehow be puppetting him in an attempt to work against WireTalk. Max also implies that most of the Janus worlds based off of real life locations are actually housed within machines. These machines are implied to physically be in these real life locations somewhere - allowing Max to travel there. He goes on to explain that the Parallelos itself is all connected via machinery. The players also begin speculating about Erika. Shortly after this, players discovered a Discord server where it was revealed that Erika is actually Tyler's tulpaA "tulpa" is a sentient entity that one can create within their own mind through a variety of mental and spiritual methods. - or at least heavily related to them.
Later on, players manage to contact the OFA Group within Janus. Here, the OFA Group explains that they are fighting against WireTalk from within the company. While this presumably grants them more information, they have to be far more careful regarding their operations. They also warn that the world of Johnisdead isn't what the players think it is. They explain that WireTalk travels to many different "things" and sucks out the soul of realities. Supposedly WireTalk entered the world of Johnisdead shortly after it's creation - at which point they entered into some sort of shaky alliance with an as of yet unknown group. As they begin running out of time, the OFA Group warns the players that there's another faction at play - one they simply call "The Old Men".
The next day, another WireTalk-related video is uploaded to Silentdork that once again featuring Mr. Silent. He was accompanied by many different versions of Erika named Mrs. Moon - presumably all aligned with WireTalk as well. WireTalk announces that a feature-length Johnisdead Movie will be uploaded later in the year. The video is suddenly hijacked by the OFA Group who leak a few video clips to the players.
A few months later, players were introduced to a new character - Edwin. Similar to Erika, Edwin's relevance and canonicity was quite confusing at first. He had an odd way of speaking and an overall playful attitude. Edwin claimed that Erika is his sister. He also has a brother, though he doesn't reveal who they are. He also referred to the Internet Detectives Discord server as a "brain chip" and a portal, claiming that whenever he spoke within it, it produced an "echo" effect.
Past Enemies
Nocta's drawing of The Shortcut.
On October 12th, 2022, Astralobservatory.net was attacked by a malicious entity named Hotspot - a version of Regiminis from the Hacker Group's timeline. This entity took on a very skeletal appearance and had been relentlessly chasing the Hacker Group. This attacked wiped out the Astral Observatory Forums. Needing to maintain the website for continued communication, GHOSTBABEL sacrificed herself to stabilize Astralobservatory.net. This resulted in the website taking on a completely new appearance.
GHOSTBABEL was now completely merged with the website. Fortunately, she retained some sentience and could occasionally briefly communicate. She used her newfound status to comb through the website's files. Here, she uncovered a series of restricted journals that documented someone who was suffering from amnesia. This individual awoke in a strange hospital in early 2017. Upon escaping it, they found their way back to their old home in Florida. Here, they stumbled upon The ShortcutThe Shortcut is a section of the Parallelos that was previously seen in a video on Greth Vlogs., which seemingly acted as a hub world connecting various different locations. The Shortcut is laid out as a circular creek surrounding some woods with a quarry in the center.
This individual senses a vague sense of familiarity with the Lunar Children. This eventually leads them to the Internet Detectives, whom he quickly befriends. They are eventually confronted by a figure wearing a large, silver mask - possibly The Jaeger. This figure begins continuously appearing in their dreams - along with the name Nocta. They eventually take on the name of "Nocta" themselves, believing it to have possibly been their name before their amnesia. This implies that these journals are detailing Nocta's past before he created the Astral Observatory in 2018.
Meanwhile, BUP returns and taunts the players, revealing that two other Greths were about to aggregateReminder: Aggregation is the process of an individual merging with their other selves across space and time. together. BUP claims that his overarching goal is to aggregate to every single version of Greth in existence. Shortly after this, Patrem returns to Within Hubris. Here, he acts much more similarly to how he did in 2015 - condescendingly talking down to the players. He also implies that the Patrem speaking calmly and openly about Synchron was not himself. Regardless, this version of Patrem claims that he'll soon be meeting Luna in her Parallelos.
Regiminis mocking Patrem.
Shortly after this, a video was uploaded to Silentdork. This video opens with Moonman exiting The Shortcut and arriving in Tyler's yard. Here, he's attacked and captured by The Jaeger. Moonman is then forced into an aggregation with GrethReminder: Greth is the Prime Timeline version of Moonman. Greth is currently hosting Patrem within his body.. This results in Greth's memories playing out on-screen. We see Greth in 2016 travelling to the pondDuring The Truth Arc, the player Greth received some coordinates that supposedly led to the location where Hank's body was buried - a pond near the fishery. Until now, it wasn't revealed whether or not he actually went to these coordinates. where Hank was supposedly buried. After this, we see a disheveled Greth entering Tyler's home and capturing him. We then see Greth partaking in some sort of ritual in which he hands off the Bullet Necklace to someone. Greth, now seemingly acting normally, finds the white fish-like maskThe white fish-like mask is a mysterious mask previously seen in Greth's possession on Greth Vlogs. It's purpose is currently unknown. as he leaves Tyler's yard.
Just as the video is about to end, Kaiden can be seen running on-screen, presumably rescuing Moonman. He later confirmed this on the Astral Observatory Forums, claiming that Moonman is safely with him and NotAHoax. After this, Regiminis uploaded a video to Silentdork taunting Patrem. He claims that Patrem is now dwelling somewhere in the Parallelos after the aggregation between Greth and Moonman failed. Regiminis also implies that he's aggregated himself - possibly with Nocta and Hotspot. Meanwhile, WireTalk continued occasionally uploading videos delaying the aforementioned Johnisdead Movie. In each of these videos, Mr. Silent mental and physical health deteriorated.