Template:StorySummary

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

Prologue - Ben Drowned

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

The Haunted Cartridge

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

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

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

The Moon Children

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

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

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

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

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

Ryukaki and Within Hubris

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

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

Arc 1 - YSHDT Arc

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

YSHDT.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mason and The Gray Man

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

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

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

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

Doug vs. Mason

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

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

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

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

Arc 2 - Johnisdead Arc

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

John is Dead

Drowned began speaking to the players in the Internet Detectives Skype group. Drowned informed the Internet Detectives that three of their fellow players were now gone. The players were then linked to a new website - Johnisdead.com. This took players by surprise, as John was the name of a fellow player during the previous arc. Patrem then joins the Internet Detectives Skype group in pursuit of Drowned. Fortunately, Drowned manages to escape. Patrem leaves the players with a cryptic warning, claiming that someone named Regiminis is coming.

Back on Newbris, a new user named SKM joins the forums. SKM is a hacker who has been opposing the cult for quite some time. He reveals that the cult Doug and Mason joined - the cult that Patrem is in control of isn't the Moon Children. It's actually a separate cult called the Lunar Children. SKM reveals that the three players who are now gone are John, Jacob, and Tyler. SKM confirms that John died on November 11th, 2011. He also reveals that Jacob has been missing since before 2011. SKM states that Tyler is still safe, however, but his memories have been altered and he doesn't remember the players. SKM also reveals that Regiminis is one of Patrem's highly acclaimed followers.

SKM flees Newbris as Patrem returns. The players turned back to Johnisdead.com. Here, they were linked to a new website - Lunarchildren.com. This site was presumably once the Lunar Children's main gathering spot online. However, the site was currently being hacked by SKM. Shortly after this, the players met up with SKM on a secret chatroom hidden on Johnisdead.com titled "Safehaven". Here, SKM explained that the players will soon be able to get back in contact with Tyler through his new YouTube channel Silentdork.

SKM begins answering many of the players' questions. SKM claims that both YSHDT.com and Johnisdead.com are akin to Wayward Horizon, but on much larger scales. This seems to imply that both websites actually house the souls of ascended spirits, which likely explains the strange imagery found on them. SKM explains that while the Lunar Children were inspired by the Moon Children in this specific aspect, the two are actually at odds with one another. The Lunar Children was created from a schism within the Moon Children, explaining the similarities between the two cults.

SKM reintroduces the players to Drowned. Drowned has been assisting SKM for several years now. SKM admits that he doesn't fully understand Drowned, but he is a faithful ally. Drowned is revealed to be an ascended spirit, as SKM is able to transport them through USB ports and have them alter pages on Johnisdead.com. The Lunar Child Regiminis has been hunting for Drowned for quite some time now, for some reason. Near the end of the chat, Regiminis enters the chat room, causing Drowned and SKM to flee.

Silentdork

Several days later, Tyler began uploading videos to his YouTube channel Silentdork. These videos were old recordings of his friends - John, Jacob, and a new character named Kevin. At this point, whether or not this Kevin was the same Kevin who went by Insidiae in the Moon Children was unknown. The players made contact with Tyler through the YouTube comment section. Here, they convinced Tyler to join the Internet Detectives Skype group.

The next day, Tyler began chatting with the players over Skype. Just as SKM said, he had no recollection of them or the events of the first arc. These conversations start off fairly casual. Tyler reveals that he has a girlfriend named Carla who lives in Australia. He is hoping to visit her by the end of the year. Tyler also reveals that he lives alone in a trailer surrounded by woods in Florida - the same location as the Lunar Children. Tyler also shares a photo of the remains of John's house. John presumably died in the housefire. Tyler also spoke about his friend Kevin. He claimed that Kevin was a member of some obscure religion, further implying that Kevin may indeed be Insidiae of the Moon Children. However, Tyler claimed that the last time he spoke to Kevin was shortly before John's death in 2011, so his current whereabouts, much like Jacob's, are unknown. Just as well, Tyler revealed that the last time he spoke to Jacob was in 2009.

Later that night, players discovered that Lunarchildren.com had changed. SKM's hack was no longer in effect, so players were now able to view the actual cult website. At this point in time, all that was available to them was an announcement by a user named MattR detailing some technical difficulties with the website. It is believed that Matt R and Matt Hubris are the same person. This would imply that Matt survived his encounter with Kelbris in 2010 and joined the Lunar Children.

Back on Skype, Tyler began chatting with the players once again. He claimed that strange things had begun happening to him. Firstly, the power in his house went out. After that, he began heading towards Kevin's abandoned home to take some photos, only to get stopped by a strange, seemingly-teleporting man. When he got back home, Tyler found a flyer detailing various moon goddesses. At this point, it was clear that Tyler was now being targeted by the Lunar Children. Tyler also points out a necklace he can be seen wearing in one of his videos - a crescent moon necklace that was gifted to him by Carla. He claims that Kevin always seemed particularly interested in it. Back in 2011, he lost this necklace. He seems to believe that perhaps Kevin stole it.

A few days later, Lunarchildren.com updated once again. The site now contained pages detailing the cult's various terms and beliefs. Undecim Nocte is the term used by the Lunar Children for referring to November 11th. They believe that this date holds spiritual significance and they hold special ceremonies on Undecim Noctes. It is revealed that Regiminis's ascension took place on Undecim Nocte 2011, implying both that Regiminis is an ascended being and that John's death may be a result of Regiminis's ascension. A species known as the Absque Facie is also referenced - a tribe of faceless entities that are loyal to Luna.

Another entity called the "Deuro" is listed, though the only information given is that it is referred to as a "taboo eulogy". It is important to note that "Deuro" is Latin for "BURNED", implying some connection with John. An entity called the Tenebris Link is also described here. The Tenebris Link is said to have used something referred to as the "first eulogy" as a vessel after taking its name as its own. This sounds similar to BEN, who took Ben's name. It is said that on Undecim Nocte 2011, the Tenebris Link lost control of the "first eulogy" as its vessel and instead began using the "Deuro" as a vessel. The players would not understand what exactly this all meant until later on.

The players later met up with SKM in the Safehaven chat room once again. Here, SKM explains his history with the Lunar Children. SKM reveals that his brother, Max, was a user on Within Hubris back in 2011. Sadly, Max was lured to a nearby park in Florida where he was presumably kidnapped by Patrem. After this, SKM began tracking down the Lunar Children in an attempt to discover what exactly happened to his brother. He reveals that on Undecim Nocte, 2011, he was browsing a website connected to the cult when his computer suddenly "exploded". When he came to, Drowned was now on his computer. Drowned claimed that SKM had somehow saved him. To repay him, Drowned gave SKM the coordinates of the fishery so that he could continue his investigations.

SKM also claims that he's grabbed the definition of "Eulogy" from the Lunarchildren.com files. A Eulogy is an ascended spirit with a moderate amount of control. This means that the Deuro is actually an ascended spirit that the Lunar Children are forbidden from speaking about. This also implies that the Tenebris Link was somehow using the first ascended eulogy as a vessel. SKM also explains another term commonly used by the Lunar Children - Parallelos. Essentially, the Lunar Children believe that there are different layers of reality and alternate dimensions known as "Parallelos". Supposedly, when someone ascends, their spirit enters into the Parallelos. Near the end of this conversation, Drowned uses another one of his aliases - Lostmemory423.

A few days later, Lunarchildren.com updated once again with another term - Devium. A Devium is a level of ascension below a "Eulogy". Deviums are the lowest tier of ascended beings. They seemingly have little to no control and are trapped in a state of chaotic emotions. It's implied that the strange images found on Johnisdead.com are actually Deviums attempting to manifest themselves. The next day, a Lunar Child operative named Daniel began harassing Tyler by tossing objects at his house. Tyler pursued Daniel through the woods, though he was unable to catch him. He later found a strange device sitting on an old truck in his yard.

The next day, Johnisdead.com underwent some interesting developments. Players were linked to a Virtual Reality web browser named JanusVR. This program allowed users to explore supported webpages as 3d environments. One page on Johnisdead.com contained a 3d world for players to explore - Fakeworld, a dark, glitchy landscape containing disturbing images.

Due to the Lunar Children becoming more and more hostile towards Tyler and increase in activity, the players decided the best course of action would be to fully explain everything to Tyler. Unfortunately, the players' attempts to prove their claims were thwarted by Patrem, who seemingly held some sort of control over Tyler's devices and perception. Whenever the players attempted to show Tyler proof of their claims, something would go awry. Tyler believed that the players were attempting to pull some cruel prank on him. Shortly after this, Tyler cut off contact with the players and left the Internet Detectives Skype group.

Discoveries

Johnisdead.com underwent a massive change. A large number of Redirect Pages were added to the site - pages the players would be taken to if they attempted to access a page that did not exist.