Serene Knowledge

Quid est veritas? Est vir qui adest.

There are no coincidences in this world.

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Turn out the lights. All of them. Shut your now useless eyes and focus on silence. Once you have blurred the noise around you, look inside. look deep into your heart for something that is not you. When you find it, ask its name. If it does not respond say to it "This is my body and I am king in it. You will speak." then ask again. Listen closely with ears you don't have to the voice you will hear faintly. Then pull it from its resting spot and fight it.



Remember this -
Should you ever despair of life so much that you want to die, you have the means at hand and yearn to end your life, you have written a suicide note to those you will leave behind and you are prepared to die-at that moment, stop. Cut away at the note until you end up with a piece of paper in the shape of a key. Go to a door. Push the paper key forward and turn your hand as if unlocking it.
The lock is real.
Open the door. There you will find it the other earth. The one that waits to replace this one when it dies. That death is inevitable, but in the meantime the other earth will belong to you.
Be warned: the other earth is very different from this one.




In North America, along what is the border of Oregon and Washington, is a small shed off of the highway and in the woods. Within is a spiral staircase made of grating, which descends straight down. If you walk all of the way down, you'll find yourself stepping out into an endless field of tall grass. There are many bones surrounding the bottom step of the stairs, and things move in the near distance. No one who has seen these things has come back to say what they are.




There's a small, inconspicuous building called "Padraic Willoughsby and Co." in the industrial district of Birmingham, UK. Its doors are locked and the windows are draped. However, on February 29th of every leap year, there will be a small plastic container outside the front door containing business cards. On the front of the card it says in large capital letters, "PADRAIC WILLOUGHSBY AND CO. ENGLAND'S THAUMATURGICAL SPECIALISTS". On the back, in nearly illegibly small type, it says "The blood of the innocent." Any night after midnight one can come to Paidraic Willoughsby and Co. and slide their card through the door. The door will instantly unlock. Inside there is an empty room with white walls. No light reaches this room, except for a small sliver from the other end of the room. When you approach this room you will find that it is actually another door. When you knock on it, a voice will ask "What makes a man become exalted?" If you respond with the phrase on the back of the card, the door will open and you will come into another room. Inside it you will find around five or more people, depending on the night, sitting around smoking and drinking brandy, all in late Edwardian dress. There is absolutely no conversation at all in this room and it is nearly silent except for the phonograph which plays the exact same record continually. If you attempt to speak to one of the patrons, they will promptly ignore you and pretend as if you were not there. Towards the south wing of the room you will find a large, round table, slightly different from the others. On it will be a quill pen and a document. The document shows your personal information: name, birth date, place of residence, criminal record, greatest fears, and more. At the bottom of the document is a long line that asks for your signature.



If you are watching television, and the signal cuts out to static, turn the TV off immediately. Sometimes, if you watch the static on TV for long enough, the static will suddenly pause. All sound in the room will cease; even the white noise of the TV itself will disappear. If this happens you must not look away from the screen. You will probably not notice at the time, before you lose your gaze on the TV, your body will freeze as well. Time around and with you have paused completely. Specks of the black and white dots slowly come to life, creeping slowly in seemingly random directions. Not static as you know it, but organizing themselves into a moving picture again in front of you. As the static returns to normal, and the white noise of the TV comes back, you will regain control of your body. You must never watch that television again. It will only play static, even when unplugged. If you watch the static any longer, these same events will reoccur, but with disastrous results. What exactly happens is unknown, as it is obvious that anyone that has been unfortunate enough to experience this has disappeared. It is rumored that if one continues to watch the static again, or during their experience, looks away, the white and black specs will slowly start to move again, but you will not. Your eyes will then be permanently fixated on the screen as you watch the picture come back to life, and what seems to be your station's signal return. You learn soon this is not the case, as all sound is still absent, and the picture on the TV shows a familiar surrounding: the room in which you sit. The only thing you see next is movement on the TV, as you see yourself from behind, and subsequently, the cause of your disappearance.



There's a dark forest deep in the heart of the Rockies, surrounded on all sides by mountains. In the center of the forest is a lake on the shores of which you will find a large black stone. If you swim out into the center of the lake, the stone will drag you down into the darkness. You will emerge from shadows in the alley of a frightening dark city of heavily arched roofs and buildings built on stilts. You must not talk to a single citizen of this city, or you shall be trapped there forever. The citizenry is horrid and mutated, and they will leer and curse at you, and their hideous and deformed women shall offer you unknown and horrible lewdness. At the edge of this city is a highway. Walk down the left side of the road against traffic, with your thumb out, and a man in a dark truck shall pick you up and drive you back the way you came. The city will be gone, and he will take you to any place on Earth as long as you can name it and there's a road there.



There are seven words in every Gideon's, hotel Bible, which that can't be found in any other bible. If you repeat those seven words to yourself while grasping the doorknob to your room, the door will open to any hotel room in the world. Of course, if you want to control where you're going, you'll need to know the Gideon's Key - one more inserted word, unique to each copy, which acts as an index for each room.


 
A secret society meets once every three years at a small diner in West Virginia. To join, you must come to the American Grill diner located in Cricket at 9:30 PM on September the twenty-first. The only uniform is a heavy overcoat and a green tie. Order an "Eggs and bacon platter with coffee." The waiter will tell you that the breakfast menu is unavailable. Reply, "Well, just the coffee then." You'll be allowed to stay after closing time for the meet. The meeting itself is a meeting of minds and philosophy regarding immortality. The society is called "The Socratic Method." They hoist their mugs at the beginning and end of the meeting and say "Death to Socrates." It's rumored a little hemlock is added to the first cup, and an antidote to the last.



If you wait at any given train station and keep watching a train will show up that is not on the train schedule. If you get on the train you will find that the inside of the train, despite what the train looks like on the outside the inside will be very elegant and old fashioned. The train is full of other passengers dressed very fancy and in an old fashion. There will be waitresses and waiters that will serve you. When the train makes a stop, you must get off then and there.
After you get off the train you will be in another train station, completely empty and decrepit. A man with a pocket-watch hanging by a chain will come up to you and simply say "you are late". At this point you must apologize for being late, then blame the train. You must not respond in any way other then this.
He will hand you his pocket-watch. By merely holding this watch you will be able to go to any train station. Once there, a train will arrive that can take you to any train station in any time or location that you desire. However, should you forget to wind the watch and it ever stop, never take that train again.
If you do, you will arrive in the train station once again with that man who gave you the watch-and this time he will not bother asking any questions.



There is a village somewhere in England that has not been inhabited for over twenty years. It has long since been forgotten off of most maps, and only has one road in and out of it. If you manage to find it, it will seem a peaceable enough place, the derelict buildings being overgrown and nature taking back the land for herself. However somewhere within the village is a vending machine which still has power. it will still have it's original look and sell ordinary brands of drink, but with extremely old packaging. Pay only in 0.10 pieces to buy this drink. When you recieve it, before drinking it, peer inside the can to check it's colour. If it is green, drink heartily as it will give you an unnaturally long lifespan and good luck in everything you do. If it is red, however, it will  spread a horrific pestilence over you, claiming one of your senses every ten years after you drink it.



At the edge of the Pacific Ocean, on an abandoned beach in the tropics, there is a large, smooth rock that sits just beyond the reach of the highest tides. It is not cracked or marked in any way and the smooth black stone reflects even the faintest of light. It's curved and formed in just such a way that if you are very careful, you can climb on top of it from the side, and stand on a flat area at the top. If you stand on the rock when the moon is full and shining and the water is at its highest point, you can see something in the sea below you. It will become brighter and easier to see. If you dive towards the shining object, there will be no splash, no sound; you simply disappear into the ocean. No one knows what happens after you disappear. Some come back, appearing somewhere else on earth, after what seemed to them a lifetime, but was only one day.



If you kill a person of the same gender at midwinter and then bathe in their blood two days later, you will live as long as the other person would have lived if you hadn't killed him.  Bathing in the blood of another gender will kill you and bring the person you killed back to life for as long as you would have lived.



Everyone has a ceramic egg, waiting to be found.



In the most deserted part of Wyoming, there is a restaurant. There are no roads leading to it and no signs advertising it. Upon walking inside, you will see that the entire place appears to be lost in the nine-teen-fifties, in every respect. Take a seat. When the waitress comes to get your order, make it a cheeseburger with mashed potatoes. Afterwards, a red-haired lady should ask you to dance to a tune on the juke-box. Find the song on it that has the same number as your current age, pick it, then dance. When the song ends, a flash of light with engulf the whole scene, and you will be standing outside your home the following morning. You now should have the power of clairvoyance for the remaining year.



Rumor has it that every Halloween during the hours of Two AM and Five AM, there exists a void. You must stand in front of a mirror in a pitch black room with your gaze fixated on the mirror. If you remain in the room when the moment arrives, you will feel a chill seize your body. Place your right hand on the mirror and whisper "I accept." If done correctly, in the mirror there will be a faint image of a fleshless infant with empty eyes. He will stare directly into your soul and you will hear the buzzing of flies and nervous whispering. You will not be able to make out the image in the mirror but you will be filled with unspeakable terror. The infant will ask you five questions about events that have occurred within your life. His voice will sound like the rubbing of sandpaper and will be devoid of all emotion. For each question that you answer incorrectly, one of your five senses will be consumed. For each question that is answered correctly, you will be able to recite the name of someone you know. That person will be found dead the next morning, after a night of unimaginable horror, with their flesh removed and their eyes missing.



At 12:17 am, on any given night, arises the opportunity to awaken an alternate soul. The most common way of viewing them is through a mirror.
It is through said medium that the process must take place. Begin at exactly midnight. By no light but that of a single candle, stand before the selected mirror. For ten minutes you must concentrate in silence, focused entirely on your reflection. Do not look away from the eyes; for it will be interpreted as weakness and you will be overcome. After ten minutes have passed you must draw blood to smear in a line across the eyes of your reflection. Doing so will blind it, and you will watch as your own features begin to warp. Slowly, gradually, they will mutate into a frightening creature-one beyond the comprehension of those who have not experienced it. You must not look away through the entirety of the change. Soon the writhing movements of the image will cease. By now an echoing, inhuman sound will resound all around you--the creature will begin to ease toward the mirror's glass. You must keep watching as it approaches. If you do not extinguish the candle at exactly 12:17, the creature will escape. Be warned, should you succeed; through any polished surface-be it mirror, wood, or window-your reflection will always be watching.



They say that somewhere in western America, there's a small motel on the side of the road. When you go inside, it's decorated in very common hotel attire, with the paneling and old fashioned key-lock doors. The thing is, there's a room in there for everybody. Everybody has a reservation for exactly when they show up, and the number of rooms available is always one more than the number of people there. One person to a room, that is the rule. Nothing else is known about it.



There is a house somewhere in China, built some time after the First Emperor had unified it. The house is built in treacherous terrain, and has not been seen by human eyes for some time. If you stay in the house, you'll notice something very strange. If you take measurements, you'll find that the inside of the house is larger than the outside. First it'll be a fraction of an inch, than an inch, then a foot, then a yard. There will be features from the inside that are impossible to find externally, like extra rooms and hallways. Going within these is safe, and you can see the outside, but strangely enough no one AT the outside can see you or the feature. Most people get out at this point, but their vision is forever altered; the world keeps distorting in dimensions and size in their eyes. Then there are those who choose to stay further, and have never been seen again. It is said that they occupy the parts of the building that only reveal themselves to those who stay longer.
 


There is a moment each leap year, at exactly three minutes past three on the morning of February twenty-ninth. If you possess the courage, await that moment in darkened room, with no other present. At that moment, the darkness will deepen. If you were to hold you hand directly before your face, you would not see a thing. But you must not do so. No, for that would be to waste the moment. Instead you must reach out, into that impenetrable darkness. And it will reach out to you. An unseen hand will grasp yours. You must not flinch away, nor tighten your grasp. To do so will only slough away more of the decrepit flesh that covers it and anger its unseen owner. Remain perfectly still, as the withered fingers move over your palm, tracing unknown patterns. Do not move an inch as it crawls slowly up your arm. And most of all, do not even breathe as it caresses your face, touching what cannot be seen. Should you remain still through this, the hand will be withdrawn and a voice will speak, so close you can feel its breath on your face, smell the scent of decay it carries. It will ask you for one simple piece of information: your name. Answer truthfully. Answer truthfully, and the presence will retreat, leaving only a whisper in the air as the darkness lifts. "It is done." From that day on, untold good fortune will be yours, and mysterious power. You will lack nothing, and have everything. But in a year, perhaps two, you will feel your skin begin to decay, and smell the sweet smell of death upon your breath...



Every 23,375 days, exactly at 12:04PM (at exactly 64 equal rotations of the planet) at zero degress latitude, and zero degrees longitude, the tide of the ocean will suddenly drop, a building roughly the size of three city blocks, covered with bas reliefs will rise suddenly from the depths. This building will then begin to sink immediately, and will submerge completely within 2 minutes. According the eyewitness accounts, the reliefs depict certain famous events in human history, including events that had not yet happened.
Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean is an island, surrounded by a swamp filled with the carcasses of fish and other, less recognizable things poking out of the mud. The mire extends as far as you can see. Every so often, the mud will dry enough under that you can walk on it; about a days travel from shore is a large mound, at the top of which is an immense canyon, the bottom of which cannot be seen, although if the moon is large enough you will be able to see the slope of the canyon, and eventually the bottom, which is covered by a strange body of water. Rising from the water is another monolith, covered in bas-reliefs.



It is said that if you mix a shot of whiskey, a drop of blood (one drop from each person), a pinch of salt, and a small amount of anointing oil. Mix with water from a fountain found while traveling, in a glass bottle, and smash it on the interstate in the evening or early morning. If the instructions were followed correctly, the way will become densely foggy. An unmarked exit will appear. If you pass it by, it will be closed to you for six years. If you take the exit, go half a mile down the road and you will find a small shop. The shop sells objects you will not find anywhere else and food which has mystical properties. Pay the proprietor only in metal coin.



All mirrors are actually windows to another world. This world cannot be reached, and shouldn't be reached, as all our mirror-selves are extremely malicious. They are only allowed to exist in the area reflected in the glass. There was a time, though, when it wasn't like this.



There is a certain road near Coburg, Germany which, if you drive down it alone in the rain, day or night, you will suddenly have a very real feeling of being completely lost. If you try to find a map, it will have mysteriously vanished.
If you continue forward down the road for more than a minute, you will find that you can't turn around, and everything behind you is pitch dark, and there are no other roads. Continuing down the road, you will come upon a fork with no signposts. In the middle of the fork, there will be a man, covered head to foot in various pieces of clothing. The only skin visible will be around his eyes, which will be a very sickly colour.
You must walk to the man, but stop at least three feet away. You must stand there silently, waiting for him to speak first. If you break the silence first, you will find yourself back on a main road, but you will die within 24 hours. If he speaks first, he will ask you what you require. Tell him that you need to know which road will take you to your destination. He will then ask you what you will offer  him in exchange for his assistance. You must offer him your loyalty and kneel before him. If you do this, he will close his eyes and bow in return, extending a hand to whichever path will lead you back to safety.



It is said that somewhere in a desert, there stands a single unwithering red rose. You may pick it, or, if you bring it ten rose petals-Three from a pink rose, two from a red rose and five from a white rose-on a new moon, a new unwithering rose will sprout and you may pick it. If you give it a black rose and blood from your wrist, whip made of a large, black rose will sprout.



In four different subway stations around the world, there are four different hobos.
If you speak to one for a while, they will start to recount tales of incredible treasure that they accumulated back in the 1800s.
Now, they could just be crazy bums, but...
All of their stories are exactly the same, in every detail.
Except for where they hid it.



If you need to get home quick , there's a special bus that only runs a north-south route. Tell the bus driver, "I need to catch the sun before it sets." You won't have to pay fare and he'll make a special stop along his route. Another bus will be waiting for you, heading west. After five minutes and fifty five seconds you'll end up in the town you were born, at sunset.



If you wake in the middle of the night, don't move. No matter how uncomfortable you get, you will eventually lose the urge to move.
Soon after, you will be awake, but you will be unable to move. You will not be able to feel the bed against your body, or your own breathing. As you do this, you are watching yourself fall asleep. In your mind, say to yourself: "I welcome the servant and the watcher."
Once your body falls asleep, you will be visited by two people that you know very well. If you have treated these people well, they will bring you a gift. This is a gift of the mind, which you must never misuse, or speak about.
If you have mistreated them, they will bring you something which you have never seen, but will recognize instantly. You will wake up and forget the object. You will see that object one more time.



During the spring of 1902 in the Dry Tortugas islands, a man was shot and the bullet protruded slightly from the back of his skull into a tree, which he had his back against at the time. As time passed and the three continued to grow, his putrefied corpse was lifted into the boughs as his skull was still attached loosely to the tree by the bullet. As time passed, the tree grew around the skeleton. If you can find this tree on one of the Islands, tap it three times with your heel, and your powers of evasion and you reflexes will be greatly enhanced.



There is a child in a hospital in Stoke-on-Trent, England. The child is a quiet toddler that remains in the nursery with all the other newborns. If you ask the staff, they will ignore you, but the tag on his arm is yellowed and marked 1948. He will not cry, only rock quietly. If you speak the name on his tag, his eyes will open and relate to you frightening knowledge.



In Council Crest Park in Portland, Oregon, at the top of the knoll there is a large paved circle enclosed by a short stone wall. The area has a couple dedications on it, and there is a massive compass of inlaid marble paved into the area, so you know which way you're looking. Stand on the west compass point and walk over to the wall it is pointing to. Now look at the stones that the wall is made of. Moving south along the wall, count 10 stones along the bottom row and then give the 11th stone a nice hard kick. As you will easily hear, this stone is hollow. The 11th stone is the only hollow one. Something is contained inside.



Go to any high traffic bathroom. It must be a high traffic bathroom; otherwise the room will not have enough latent residual energy to carry out the task. A hotel bathroom room is perfect. Make sure it is after 12 PM, and you have two clove cigarettes. The stronger the cigarette, the higher your success rate. Sit in the dark and begin smoking one of the cigarettes. Make sure there is a mirror present, and that you look at your reflection at all times. The burning cherry should provide just enough light for this. When you have smoked the cigarette within a 1/4 in of the filter, the room should be full of smoke. Your eyes will no doubt be watering, but d not blink. Do not take your eyes off of the mirror or your reflection whatever you do. To blink will make all you have done at this point for naught. You will begin to notice that your reflection will fade into black. The reflection of the cherry from your cigarette will begin to separate into two red eyes. The smoke in the room will begin to condense and before you even realize it has happened, a shade will be sitting on the ledge of the sink. He will ask you for a cigarette, which is why you're instructed to bring two. Give the shade his cigarette, which will light itself once he brings it to his withered lips. At this point, you can ask the shade any question you want, and he will answer true. Anything you could possibly think of. Be sure to keep an eye on how much of the cigarette he has smoked. When it gets to the point where it will only take a few more hits to kill it, the smoke from the other cigarette will begin to define more of his features, making him more material than etheral. At this point, stand up and snatch out his eyes in one sweeping motion. He should still be mostly smoke, so your hands should pass easily through his head. If you let him finish the cigarette he will attack you, almost surely taking your life in the process. The shade will begin screaming and cursing you and the hand holding his eyes will be burning intensely. Do not open your hand. Even though the eyes are disembodied, they can see if they are out in the open. Run to the light switch and flip it on. This will banish his physical form and send him back into the ether. Leave the room and wait until 3 AM to open your hand. The burning will be unbearable until then. You will have 4 burn marks on your palm when you open it, all cauterized and mostly healed. From then on you can never be in a dark room with a mirror, because the shade will be able to track you through the burns in your hand. Black hell dogs will now aid him, given his loss of sight, and they are far more terrible than the shade could ever be. You will now be given the ability to perform minor miracles. Your dreams will always be nightmares, but in them, you will be granted clairvoyance. You will never be able to see anything good, only the most horrific future events. A small price to pay for absolute knowledge.



Get on any passenger bus that travels a long distance; Greyhound is usually a good pick. Anything that's on the road for longer than 24 hours. Get a window seat facing west, then stare at the sun, waiting until sunset. Just before the sun touches the horizon, close your eyes. Hard. Do not turn away, don't look at anything else. Cover your ears if you have to. After a while, you'll notice that the bus has stopped moving. That's the signal that you can open your eyes. When you do, you'll see a gas station, illuminated only by a few flickering flourescent lights. There will be no sun, no moon, no stars in the sky. The convenience store will have its windows boarded up, but the sign will say 'Open.' If you feel you can't go through with it, get back on the bus, return to your seat, and fall asleep. You'll wake up at sunrise the next day, well on your way to wherever the bus was going. If you enter the store, the door will slam shut behind you. You will spend an unknown amount of time there, living out your worst nightmares made real. If you survive the ordeal without going mad, you will awake back on the bus, as it reaches its destination. Nothing will ever scare you again. Some say that after this ordeal, anything else simply pales in comparison. Others say that all that room contains, is all the fear you will ever feel in your entire life, and exposing yourself to it all at once keeps you from feeling any more. This, however, can only be done once. There are some exceptions to the ability, as well...



In the heart of the Rockies, lies a grove of trees growing in a perfect circle. A grove that, aside from this geometric oddity, appears perfectly innocuous from the outside. If one should step foot into this grove however, the inside with be as dark as any moonless night in those mountain woods, even on the brightest summer's day. Those who have mistakenly wandered into the grove are rarely in any condition to say what happens inside, many simply never come out. However, if you are very brave, or very foolish, you can attempt to camp within the grove. Go in with your eyes shut tight, lie down in your sleeping bag, and no matter what you hear, no matter what you feel, do not open them again. If you somehow manage to find your way to sleep before the grove takes your sanity or your life, you will awaken in the middle of the day to the light of the sun on your face in a the middle of a grove; a grove that, aside from growing in a perfect circle, and containing your heart's one greatest desire, is perfectly innocuous. If one should step foot outside this grove however, they will find the outside to be dark as any moonless night in those mountain woods.



In almost every building, there is one corner, one small enclosure that no one ever looks at. It's the corner in the basement that has been blocked by a disused sofa for years; the thin space in the attic between the wall and the stacks and stacks of crates full of junk you never use, but could never throw away. The space that never sees the light of day, or any other kind of light at all. Where darkness does not merely dominate, but practically oozes out from around the edges of its prison. No one knows quite how long a space must remain concealed for it to acquire this particular property, nor if there are any specific conditions it must meet. But it is a far more common occurrence than you might think.
In newer buildings, when this happens, the residents often report feeling cold when passing by, even in attics during the hottest of summers. Whenever contemplating taking a quick peek to see if there is anything actually there, an unnatural dread seizes them, and they leave the room quickly, if not quite running. Once left behind, the feeling passes, and it is quickly forgotten, or laughed off.
What actually happens in these forgotten sanctuaries of the dark? It is impossible to tell. For while many such corners have been exposed to reveal absolutely nothing, some brave souls have lost their sanity through nothing more than an ill-timed glance. The safest thing to do when encountered with such a phenomenon; close your eyes, rip away the area's covering in a single motion, then keep a tight hold on what you've pulled away. No matter what you hear or feel, do not get up, do not look around, and do not try to cover your ears. You might be one of the lucky ones.



An odd occurrence has been rumored to happen in a certain pub at night in southwest Germany. If you sit in the stool farthest from the door while one beside it is empty, order a round for yourself and offer to "buy one for the Baron". The bartender will without question or expression will pour 2 beers from tap. He'll place one beside you and the moment the other one hits the table the room will go dark and silent, save for the sound of footsteps as a man in uniform sits beside you.
It is believed that it is indeed Captain Manfred von Richthofen, although no one is sure because they can barely see their own glass, much less the person's face. No one who's told this story has had the nerve you touch him or risk insult, and the figure does not say a word. But apparently if you were to ask him "So sir, what's the condition at the front?" he would tell you startling details about the region's future and sometimes how they connect to the world as a whole. Those who lived long enough after the fact claim that these events took place the exact about of years from the date they asked as from the date Baron von Richthofen died in battle. Yet this cannot be confirmed, because every time the figure has been asked the question after 1964 he's only replied with a cold laugh.



A little known fact is that the Eisenhower Interstate system is built over major leylines. If specific conditions are met, weird phenomena will occur.  The first sign of this phenomenon is that you will lose all radio reception and electronic devices will cease functioning. Your heater will begin to only dispense cold air, regardless of setting. After the first mile of this, you will notice a fog growing at the edges of the road, and you will see no exits, regardless of whether they are supposed to be there. If you continue on, you will begin to see a pedestrian occasionally. Some of them will gesture that they would like or need a ride. Under no circumstances should you stop for them. If you see lights approaching from behind, and it is a hearse, do not let it pass you. After thirteen miles, the phenomenon will end, and you will be safe.



There is a doorway, one that can be any door, at any time. This door leads nowhere, yet there lies a realm of twisted reality to the opener. This door exists for everyone - some never encounter it in their lives, others unknowingly open it and step through. The problem is you can't tell if the door is open to you, until years after you step through it. You'll see them, and they'll finally see you.



"The Soft Places", the lands between dreams and waking.

INDEX

Around the world exist massive holes in the ground, the edges surrounded by a metal collar, and strange phenomena all about the areas they are located.

These are the Gates.

The gates have been known throughout ancient civilizations and tribes.

One man named Mel Waters has brought focus to them.

The two he has found have been dubbed "Mel's Hole(s)"

Mel asserts that, for years, locals had known about the "bottomless" nature of the hole, dumping garbage down the hole, including dead cattle, truckloads of old auto tires, and large appliances like refrigerators and TV tubes. When garbage was dumped in the hole, no sound of the object hitting the bottom was heard.

Mel claims he began a series of experiments with the hole on his property, including one where he lowered a piece of food into the hole-to detect if any water was at the bottom-at the end of progressively longer lengths of fishing line. His last attempt lowered the piece down to 80,000 feet.

At that point, in 1997, Mel sent a Fax to the Coast to Coast AM show describing the hole, and shortly thereafter appeared on the show.

Soon after the broadcasts, Mel claims that men he identified as government agents told him that there was a plane-crash nearby and that he could not approach the hole. He says that the government then offered to pay him a large monthly stipend to lease the land in perpetuity. These alleged payments are said to have continued from March 1997 through the beginning of 2000.

In December 1999, while on a bus to Olympia, Washington, Mel claims he witnessed an altercation between police officers and another passenger, after which he was taken off the bus to sign a police statement. According to Mel, the next thing he recalls is walking around San Francisco, twelve days later. He claims he had been physically beaten and his rear molars were extracted. An alleged IV scar on his arm convinced him that he had been drugged.

Mel claims that he later returned to the hole, at which time he was served with papers indicating that his ownership was now in question, due to modifications that had been made, presumably by the government tenants. Mel alleges that his assets were frozen for unstated reasons.

When he appeared on Coast to Coast, Mel Waters described the hole as being roughly nine feet across and at least 80,000 feet deep. He also claimed that it had numerous supernatural powers. According to Mel, a dead hunting dog thrown into the hole by a local was seen much later running through the woods, as if hunting with somebody else.

After his appearance on Coast to Coast in 2000, Mel claimed on a subsequent appearance that he had found a second hole. This second hole is alleged to be on public land in Nevada, under the management of the Federal Bureau of Land Management. According to Mel, the land nearby is used by Native Americans as well as "members of the Basque community" who were using the land for grazing sheep.

Mel described the second hole as being 9 feet in diameter, the same dimensions as the first hole. Mel claims that the Nevada hole has a solid metal liner, or "collar" sticking out of the ground, 2 feet high, 2 feet deep, with several notches in it.

Mel claimed that the alleged second hole's collar was composed of a substance with the following unusual paranormal properties.

• Mel claims that he dropped a box wrench on the metal collar, but that the impact did not make a noise. He says this implies that the collar absorbs the sound or energy.
• According to Mel, the hole is "solidly lined" with this metal as far as one can see into the hole.
• Mel claims that even in winter, the area around the metal collar is warm to the touch and will keep nearby tents warm. He says the collar is not hot to the touch, however.

According to Mel, local Basques say the hole has been there, in its current state, for their community's entire existence, dating back to the 19th century. He claims one man had personal recollection of the hole since he was young, over 70 years ago at the time of the interview (since around the 1930s). In addition to his claims regarding the Basque community and the second hole, Mel has also speculated about a Basque connection to the second hole: He claims he found a whale bone near the first hole, which he asserts could have Basque origins to a history of whaling in Basque culture.

Mel further claims that the hole occasionally emits a "black beam". He acknowledged that, "this is a contradiction, but a black beam of light, okay, comes from the hole. It lasts a very short time, but it just goes directly up to the sky... if you had a flashlight, and it was capable of throwing up a solid black..."

Mel claims that he and assorted Basque locals performed an experiment with the Nevada hole, in which they lowered in a bucket of ice they bought from the grocery store. Allegedly, one bucket of ice was lowered 1500 feet into the hole, and the other bucket of ice was kept at the surface as a control. By the time half the ice on the surface bucket had melted, the bucket in the hole was to be retrieved. According to Mel, the ice in the lowered bucket had not melted, and additionally, was no longer cold to the touch. He claims that the ice had been changed in an undefined way, and described it as having a texture like silica desiccant found in packaged food. As a further experiment, Mel claims they placed the alleged bucket of unmelted ice on a cooking fire, and instead of melting, the ice allegedly began to "burn." Mel Waters described the fire as "like that last flicker before you turn off [a gas stove]". Mel goes on to claim that this new substance could be used as a source of heat, saying that "one guy took some stuff home, he put it in his wood stove... and the thing's been keeping his place warm" for over three months (September to January). Mel claims this man also reported that steam from a nearby kettle was absorbed by the burning ice, and that the area surrounding the burning ice was always very dry. According to Mel, after a few months the stove with the burning ice crashed through the floor of the man's cabin for unknown reasons, and that the man returned weeks later to find the entire cabin collapsed into "wood dust." Mel attributed this alleged phenomenon to all of the moisture being sucked out of the wood by the burning ice.

Another experiment Mel claims to have performed on the hole involved lowering a living sheep to a depth of 1500 feet, resulting in the death of the animal and the appearance of a mysterious "seal-like" entity.

Mel claims that the sheep was led to the hole, but became agitated when it approached the hole and had to be stunned and placed in a crate. According to him, the sheep awakened as it was being placed over the hole and began trashing around in its crate and making "screaming" noises. The crate was allegedly lowered to about 700 feet, at which point Mel claims that the vibrations caused by the sheep's agitation could no longer be felt. He claims that when the cable had been lowered to its full length of 1500 feet, the metal collar around the hole began to vibrate. According to Mel, the sheep was left at this depth for thirty minutes before being winched back up the surface, where it was found to be dead. Mel claims that from an external perspective the dead sheep appeared the same as when lowered, but that inside, "the sheep looked like it had been cooked." In addition, Mel claims that he then observed a jellied blob that filled the body cavity where the internal organs normally would be, which he described as looking like a "huge tumor." According to Mel, the alleged "tumor" was removed, and the experimenters believed they saw some movement inside it. He claims that when the tumor was cut open, it released a "fetal seal," with human-looking eyes, connected to the tumor with an umbilical cord. Mel explains that the "seal" seemed to have a hold on those present, and that it and the human experimenters viewed each other for over two hours.

Mel claims that the seal seemed to him to be a being "filled with compassion," and that after nodding at the experimenters, it dove back into the hole. The tumor and sheep remains were allegedly bundled in a tarp and thrown back into the hole, thereby removing any evidence of the experiment.

Mel claims that he had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer prior to his experience with the seal, but that afterwards the cancer was entirely gone, with no evidence it had ever existed. Mel feels that he was healed by the seal-like entity from the sheep carcass.

In a later interview, Mel claimed the seal entity was now making regular visits to the Basque shepherds camping around the surface of the Nevada hole. He claimed that the seal was able to communicate with the shepherds through a portable radio. However, when recorded, Mel says that the result was only a series of unintelligible sounds, as one might hear in interference on a short-wave transmission.

Mel claims that a new species of bird has been spotted in the area of the second hole shortly after his alleged encounter with the seal. The bird was said to be bright red with a bluish beak and an estimated wing span of 14 inches. He claims that at least six individual birds have been seen in the airspace around the hole since the seal incident, but that no professional can name the species from a distance, and said bird has not been captured as of yet.

It developed into an urban legend, and gained the nickname Sun Bird. Mel claims that the so-called Sun Bird never lands, except near the rim of Mel's Hole. He speculates that the bird comes from deep within the hole and he claims that the locals believe that these birds are the cause of the sheep's death, and the tumor that produced the seal entity. Mel professes that he himself has shot at one of the birds, in an attempt to bring it down for possible analysis and perhaps dissection, but that after being hit directly twice, and tumbling twenty feet, the bird pulled out of the fall, and continued flying. According to Mel's story, no birds were seen until three days later. Mel reports finding two crushed bullets in his yard. He says it is inconclusive if they are the same two bullets shot at the bird.

Mel claims that a local Basque man volunteered to be lowered into the second hole, but that the man was convinced to reconsider by Mel and the other experimenters.

Mel expressed his wish to have his body thrown into the Nevada hole after his death.

The description of Mel's 2nd Hole in the Nevada desert bears a strong resemblance to the hole or bottomless pit believed in by The Manson Family and discussed in the various court proceedings. Manson preached that a bottomless pit with mystical powers existed in the Death Valley area. The Manson pit figured prominently in his end times predictions.

INDEX

Though written about in fiction occasionally, the mirror box is quite an old invention. Being inside of one can be enlightening or traumatizing for the witness who bears its burden. The procedure is simple, though finding and preparing the materials required might take some time.

The materials to construct the box are:

-Six square metal sheets, slightly taller than the witness. The length should never exceed the height of a witness with raised hands. One of them should be larger than the rest by at least the thickness of the sheets themselves. The material should preferably be made of graphite or lead alloy for the most prominent effect.

-Five nearly perfect, aligned mirrors, sealed upon the metal plates. Each of the 5 will form the sides and bottom of the inner box. One larger mirror should be attached to the large metal plate, which will be used for the top.

-A simple light source of pure white or bright yellow. The light source should emit in almost all directions. Candles can be used, but carbon dioxide and monoxide poisoning is a problem. The light source should not be planted upon the mirrors or receive any outside energy. Construction techniques are left up to the witness.

-Two or three alarm clocks. An extra alarm clock of any kind is also needed. Watches are alright, but not suggested due to the small type face and hands.

-Wear simple clothing.

-Do not bring any other objects. Witnesses have often crowded the box, causing it to become either useless or highly dangerous. This includes jewelery, food, weapons, or religious materials such as beads and crucifixes.

-An assistant is required to help the witness in and out of the box and get help in case of emergencies. The assistant should be trusting and as strong willed as the witness.

-Two ladders

-Several Blankets, water, medical remedies, and a first aid kit.

When the box is complete and ready to use, prepare the alarm clocks to ring around ten minutes after the witness' planned entrance. Depending on the material used for the box itself, the time of day will not matter, but a night during a new moon is suggested. Despite intuition, sound does not play a large role in the event.  The witness should use a small unattached ladder to enter the box. The top should already be placed upon the box, with an opening large enough for the witness to enter. Once inside, the witness should be handed the light source and the clocks (one should be kept with the assistant). The outside assistant should ask sincerely whether the witness is alright. Once confirmation is given, the top should be moved to seal the box. The witness may turn on the light source once the box is sealed. At any point should the witness ask to leave the box (if soundproof, tapping should be used), ONLY the top should be opened. The witness may do it themselves, since the top of the box should be easily reachable. Once ten minutes are up, ALWAYS remove the top, regardless of what the witness says. Some witnesses may plead to stay inside the box, even suggesting great danger should it be opened. The assistant should never trust those pleas. Suffocation is only one of many concerns should the witness stay too long in the box. Once the top has been slid opened, place the second ladder in the box to allow the witness to leave. If the witness has any serious wounds, or discoloration, call for medical help.

Should you happen to meet a witness, never trust what they say about their experience, and never ask them for the time or where the antumbra meets.

INDEX

Black-Eyed People (sometimes called Black Eyed Children) are young people, often children, with eyes that are solid black and no differentiation between sclera, pupil, or iris. Those who report encounters with them often feel that the children were somehow supernatural and very dangerous. Often, the reports talk of a meeting with one or two unusually confident and eloquent children who attempt to talk the victim into letting them into their house to use a telephone, to be safe from something, or often try to talk someone into giving them a ride home. Often, people begin to agree to their requests, even though they will be vaguely unsettling, until it is realized that their eyes are completely black. As soon as they can tell, the children become very angry and insistent. Some people who have encountered black-eyed people feel that the children may have been using some form of low-level mind control to get them to comply.

Experiences involving the black-eyed people generally do not explain the cause of the children's eye color or the origins of the children themselves. Some imply they could be ghosts or demons, specifically vampires: the encounters frequently emphasize that the children must be voluntarily admitted or invited into the house or car in question, and in this way are reminiscent of some vampire legends.

INDEX

Shadow people (also known as Shadow men, shadow folk or shadow beings) are said to be shadow like creatures of supernatural origin that appear as dark forms in the peripheries of people's vision and disintegrate, or move between walls, when noticed.

Reports of shadow people are similar to ghost sightings, but differ in that shadow people are not reported as having human features, wearing modern/period clothing, or attempting to communicate. Witnesses also do not report the same feelings of being in the presence of something that 'was once human'. Some individuals have described being menaced, chased, or (more rarely) attacked by shadow people. There have also been reports of shadow people appearing in front of witnesses or lingering for several seconds before disappearing. Witnesses report that encounters are typically accompanied by a feeling of dread.

Most accounts of shadow people describe them as black humanoid silhouettes with no discernible mouths, noses, eyes, or any expression whatsoever, though purported witnesses have also described child-sized humanoids or shapeless masses. Some reports also include glowing red eyes. Generally, they are described as lacking mass, though their specific nature varies from a two-dimensional shadow to a vaporous or distorted three-dimensional form. Their movement is often described as being very quick and disjointed; they may first move slowly, as if they were passing through a heavy liquid, and then rapidly "hop" to another part of a witness' surroundings. Some witnesses describe this movement as though the shadow entities they have seen "danced" from one wall to the next, or as moving around the room "as if they were on a specific track".  Some accounts differ from the above and instead describe a completely black creature with red eyes, a cloak, and a gentleman's hat. This variation has become known as "the hat man".

INDEX

Sephiron are creatures with a killing lust, sometimes also mistaken for "white shadow people".
They usually hunt in packs of three or four, have cat-like eyes, and a very smooth stride which can almost give the appearance of floating.

Their existence is due to an exposure to a plant which releases spores as a natural defense. It causes any nearby herbivores to obtain a light skin rash, followed by swelling of the cerebrum, which in turn is shortly followed by death.
Humans, however, are affected more severely. The swelling ceases at a certain point, causing the infected to slowly lose sanity. At two days after exposure, they will obtain an urge to kill, but it is controllable at this point. They will sub-consciously begin to scout local neighborhoods, planning murders. Within three to five days after exposure, their eyes will change and give off a cat-like appearance, as well as the change in stride. After eight days, the disease can become contagious. Any contact with the rash will spread the condition. After eleven to fifteen days, they will become aware that they cannot control themselves from killing and seclude themselves.

In this period of seclusion, they will begin to admit a strange pheromone. While humans cannot smell it, dogs, and other infected are able to sense it, and will be drawn to it. The infected will wait until all those with the condition are drawn to it. When gathered, frequent homicides will occur. At this point, the condition is no longer contagious. The rash is gone, and they will simply continue to kill until they are disposed of.

INDEX

There were 2538 of these, but 2000 were lost. They must never come together.

Holder of the End

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the End". Should a look of child-like fear come over the workers face, you will then be taken to a cell in the building. It will be in a deep hidden section of the building. All you will hear is the sound of someone talking to themselves echo the halls. It is in a language that you will not understand, but your very soul will feel unspeakable fear.

Should the talking stop at any time, STOP and QUICKLY say aloud "I'm just passing through, I wish to talk." If you still hear silence, flee. Leave, do not stop for anything, do not go home, don't stay at an inn, just keep moving, and sleep where your body drops. You will know in the morning if you've escaped.

If the voice in the hall comes back after you utter those words continue on. Upon reaching the cell all you will see is a windowless room with a person in the corner, speaking an unknown language, and cradling something. The person will only respond to one question. "What happens when they all come together?"

The person will then stare into your eyes and answer your question in horrifying detail. Many go mad in that very cell, some disappear soon after the meeting, and a few end their lives. But most do the worst thing, and look upon the object in the person's hands. You will want to as well. Be warned that if you do, your death will be one of cruelty and unrelenting horror.

Your death will be in that room, by that person's hands.

That object is 1 of 538. They must never come together. Never.

Holder of the Beginning

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls herself "The Holder of the Beginning". A small smile will work its way over the persons mouth, almost seeming to say, "You fool.”

You will be taken down a hallway, seemingly leading out into a place it shouldn't. This place will seem to exist nowhere in the institution, but it will. The hall will be silent, even if you try to make noise. Screams will die before leaving your mouth, footsteps will be muffled. Your guide will simply point to the door.

If you enter, you will find a cozy room, full of a pleasant, though unidentifiable, perfume. There will be a pretty lady sitting, holding nothing. No sounds will be made in this room, no matter how hard you try, except for one question. "Why were they separated?" The lady will then explain, in detail, the reason. It will be every horrific event in history, every beating, every war, and every rape. Everything. Then, all will fall silent. It is up to you to do what you will with this information. That lady is Object 2 of 538. It is up to you if they should be joined or not.

Holder of Eternity

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution or you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Eternity". A sigh might escape the worker as they look upon you with the utmost pity. They will take you down a flight of stairs into what should be the basement of the building, and yet isn't.

As you press deeper and deeper into this under layer of the institution a chorus of screams will begin to be audible. Softly at first, as if from a great distance, but the closer you get to the end of the hallway, the louder it becomes until it drones so loud that it seems to consume all other noises, until you begin to claw at your own ears in pain. The worker will show you a door, covering both their ears. As swift as they can, they will unlock the door and run, leaving only you in this cramped, dark hallway.

This is your last chance to run. If you decide to continue, and open the door then the piercing wail will end abruptly, leaving your ears ringing. The room is coated in an almost tangible, all-consuming darkness but for the far end of the room. There, manacled to the wall is an emaciated figure, covered in raw lashes. He stares directly at you, with a grin plastered to his face despite festering wounds and a scalpel still half-protruding from his chest. Now is your only chance to save yourself, and the only way is to ask "Who created them?”

He will cackle, in a manner befitting the death throes of an animal before responding. His tale will be the most horrific tale you have ever heard, beyond such primitive concepts such as pain and death, into the very essence of wrong. Of evil.

It is up to you to end this man's life, to release his terrible burden. Remove the scalpel, and he will shudder once in agony before falling silent forever.

That scalpel is Object 3 of 538. It is up to you if the rest should be protected or destroyed.

Holder of Nothing

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Nothing". Should a look of sheer, primal disgust mar the workers expression, you will then be taken to a separate building, which appears to be an old, wooden outhouse. Inside will be a seemingly endless corridor far, far longer than the length of the outhouse.

There will be no sound in the corridor. Attempting to make any at the wrong time is a grievous, grievous mistake. You will notice the lights in the corridor get brighter and brighter as you make your way down towards the end, becoming nearly blinding. If at any point the lights go out, QUICKLY shout out "No! Stop! What you are doing is wrong!" while backing away. If the lights do not come back on, bolt for the door you came in through. It should still be open and hopefully you aren't far enough down the hallway for them to close it on you. If they manage to close it, hell itself would be preferable to what you will suffer.

If the lights come back on, return to walking forward down the corridor. Upon reaching the cell, the worker will open the door for you while glaring at you in disgust. Inside the cell will be a mad pastiche of colors, arranged in several harlequin-like formations. You must not be distracted by them; for at the center of a room is a naked young woman, slathered in blood and bound by strips of human sinew. If you take your eyes off her even for a moment, she will destroy you utterly. She will only respond to one question. "What were they when they were one?"

She will then stare into your eyes, and speak the answer in incredible detail. It will be unlike anything you have ever heard and you will be on the verge of both ecstasy and agony at her mere words. It is not uncommon for most to lose themselves in the euphoria. The worst thing you can do, however, is look upon the tattoo on her chest. It will pull at your mind to gaze upon it, but you mustn't. If you do, you will be hers.

She will flay you alive and add your mutilated flesh to her bindings, and you will remain trapped with her, fully conscious, for the rest of time.

That tattoo is object 4 of 538. They desire to be one again. But they mustn't.

Holder of Light

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, close your eyes and ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Light”. You will be guided to a single door leading to a long winding hallway. You will be told to open your eyes. The hallway will be complete darkness, narrow enough only for you to feel the walls and navigate yourself forward.

If at any moment along the way the lights should come on, shut your eyes immediately and quickly make your way back to the door you came in. If your eyes stay open for more than a second, what you see will force you to instinctively tear them out.

If the lights stay off however, you will make your way to the end of the hall and another door. If there is a light from under the door leave immediately, what you came for is not there. If there is no light from under the door, carefully turn the handle and enter.

The room will be completely dark, aside from the lone candle in the center. What little light it brings reveals an outline of a cloak hovered over it. The man underneath the cloak is completely still. If you say anything, the man will tear out your eyes and devour your soul, and you will be forced to take his place under the cloak for the rest of eternity. There is only one question that the man will respond to, “What can protect us from them?”

If you proceed to ask this question, a piercing scream will ring out from the candle and a series of lights will illuminate the room, revealing the images of the most horrifying thoughts, fantasies and memories from all consciousness throughout history. Most people cannot handle this event, and will go insane or die instantly. However, if you should somehow manage to survive this, the man in the center of the room will rise slowly and put his hands to your head. You will be forced to look at his face. His face appears young, with the exception of two large cavities where his eyes once where. At this point you must not look away or you will be forever forgotten in time. He will then open your hand and place a small, round object into your right hand. You will be left feeling no pain, but the horrifying images will be burned into your memory for all eternity.

The eye you hold in your hand is object 5 of 538. The awakening has begun; they must not be brought together.

Holder of Song

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit "The Holder of Song”. You will be guided to a single door leading to a long winding staircase. It will seem to take you up higher than the building should stand. There will be a door at the top of the stairway that opens into a dim hall.

Heat will wash over you. Proceed down the hall, and at one point, it will suddenly get much colder. When this happens, you must stand perfectly still and make no sound. If you hear a baby crying, turn around and run away. The baby's cry will follow you. If you hear it for the rest of your life, you're lucky, for when it stops, your first-born child has died.

If there is no cry and the heat returns, proceed to the door at the end of the hall. Open it.

The room will be awash in green light. In the center will be an old woman turning a music box that produces no sound. Her legs have both been severed at the knees. When you speak to her, you must look her in the eyes. She hides a spear fashioned from the bones of her legs, and if you break eye contact, she will impale you and leave you in agony to bleed to death. She will respond to only one question. Ask her, "What was the song they used to play?"

The old woman will begin singing. The song is in a different language, but the melody is beautiful; serenity will wash over you. You will be presented with the image of children playing and singing. Things will turn grimmer. The children will begin fighting, then killing, then disemboweling each other with sharp rocks. The image will continue of children spreading death and destruction more horrific than you could ever have dreamt. But still, you will remain calm and peaceful. You will see a naked boy drenched in blood, singing with delight as he runs through a hellish wasteland, pursued by unspeakable monsters. They find him, and mutilate him utterly. Still, the song will continue from his dead lips.

An intense pain will stab at your chest. Your heart will feel like it is about to explode. But still, you must not break eye-contact with the old woman; if you do, an exploding heart would become your happiest dream. If you don't shift your gaze, the pain will cease. The woman will stand up (you will know not how) and place the music box in your hands.

The music box is object 6 of 538. When its song plays again, they will all come together.

Holder of the Path

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Path". The worker will try his best to keep a look of indifference while handing you a key, which he explains belongs to an unused supply closet in the building. If only it were that simple. Upon locating and unlocking the door you will find a narrow and winding road suspended in an endless void; only occasionally disrupted by the massive outlines of things best left unsaid.

To fall off the path is to be thrown out of reality itself. A nightmarish eternity of unconceivable horror awaits anyone who either stumbles into the void by their own error, or is dragged off the path by the timeless monstrosities that reside on the outskirts of creation. If you should ever feel as if you are being watched while traveling through this piece of oblivion, the best chance you have is to immediately freeze in place and hold your breath. Continue to do so until either your audience loses interest and moves on or moves in to claim you. If the latter, feel free to scream as hard as you want.

Eventually the path will end at a door, and upon opening it you will find a small, dirt-caked room. Propped up against the far wall will be a heavily emaciated corpse, with what‘s left of it‘s skin long since blackened with necrosis. There will be nothing else unusual about it unless you approach it and ask one question: "How did they acquire guardians?"

If said line is spoken, the “corpse” will begin to stir. A subtle red glow will come from its eye sockets as it lifts its head and begins to whisper the long and macabre history of the holders. It will speak of unholy pacts and unspeakable atrocities. Within time its tale will touch upon every form of evil known to man or God, and then a few more. Furthermore, if given the title of any holder, it will reveal its history and the meaning of the object that it protects.

Well, almost any holder. You see, it will never go into detail about itself. This is because the ghoul hopes that its visitor will not question why it seems to be lacking an object. In truth is that its piece was somehow sealed inside the creature’s skull, and the ominous light in its eye sockets is actually that of the object’s shining through.

That object is 7 of 538. And its holder will do anything to keep you away from it.

Holder of Wealth

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Wealth." The worker will raise one eyebrow. Ask a second time, and the worker will shrug and take you across the street, where an opulent mansion awaits.

The mansion was not there before, but do not preoccupy yourself with the mansion's origin. Its owner would rather not scare you away.

Inside the front door, there is a grand staircase, spiraling up across the foyer. The walls are covered with fine paintings, and a large marble statue rests on a pedestal by the base of the stairs. The statue's eldritch features evoke an image of a truly horrific beast, a creature at once both alien and evil. Admire it all you want, but don't touch it. Touching it will wake it, and it hasn't eaten in a while.

Ascend the staircase. As long as you touch nothing, you are in no danger. Don't panic. At the top of the stairs is a small, unassuming wooden door. It will open for you, if you are not afraid.

Standing there, behind a large desk of what appears to be mahogany, there stands a man with a pointed goatee and short, cropped, gelled hair. He wears a suit that at once appears to be made of human flesh and Italian silk. He may speak, and at great length. He will talk about his amazingly beautiful house, and the lovely statue of his concubine resting downstairs. Do not interrupt him, and do not answer any questions he may ask. When he is finished, steel yourself, and confidently ask, "May I have my salary?"

He will proceed to explain to you, in great detail, the value of life. He will talk of things worse than death, and he will tell you exactly what he expects you do to do. The fabulous interior of the room will rot away, and the floor will turn from French weave to feces. His own appearance will become unimaginably cyclopean and ungodly. He will then fish out a small bank note from the inside of his human suit and hand it to you.

That note is object 8 of 538. Its holder is counting on you to spend it.

Holder of Wisdom

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Wisdom." The worker will chuckle and you will be guided to an empty room. The worker will hand you a key and tell you to wait some time in the room until you hear a bell ring. Then you have to lock the door, wait until a second ring and unlock it.

It will open all by itself and reveal a long hallway, with all colors you may or may not know painted onto the walls, ceiling and floor. Follow the hallway until you hear a little girl singing. Stop, close your eyes and stay where you are until the girl finishes the song, even if you think that it will drive you mad. If you do move, run. Run back to the door where you came from, as fast as you can. Jump through the window of the room where you waited before and you might live. Should you be unable to reach the window in time, a horrible creature will drag you back into the hallway where you will die a death that is as horrible as the creature that caught you.

If you do not move and the song ceased, you are free to turn around and leave forever, or walk deeper into the hallway, until you reach a door in the shape of a human. Open this door with the same key that was given to you earlier, walk inside and close it behind you. In the middle of the room you will see a desk with a bright candle and behind the desk will sit a man, with his face hidden by the shine of the candle. Walk closer, but always keep the flame between you and the man's face, for you will surely feel the urge to empty your stomach should you witness how he looks like.

Stop when you are five steps away from the desk. The man will raise his hand and gesture you to come closer, but do not step any further than this. Close your eyes and ask him one question, nothing else. "Who will bring them back together?" You will hear the man rising from his chair and he will begin to pray. It will be a language you will not understand at first, but after two minutes, you will hear a name. Should you hear 'Anubis', then pray that your death will come quickly. If it is 'Thor' you hear, you may open your eyes. The man's head will be on the desk, cut off of the body, but still talking. After another three minutes, he will stop and begin to tell you how you will die. He will describe every tiny detail of your horrible death, and you will be unable to move. He will also describe who kill you and why he does it.

Finally, the man will stop talking. His head is object 9 of 538. It is up to you what you do with the knowledge of your death, for it now is inevitable.

Holder of Forbidden Tongues

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of forbidden Tongues". The worker should bow before you, and then give you an urn. Now walk into an empty place inside the institute, preferably an unused supply closet. There, where nobody is watching you, open the urn and look into it.

Raise your head again. You should find yourself on a wooden stairway that leads downwards into a corridor. Go down the stairs, as there is no turning back now. After a while, you will hear something that sounds like a chorus, sung by monks, speaking a foreign language. Immediately cover your ears with your hands. If you hear too many words, a hideous creature will haunt you for the rest of your mortal existence. As soon as you reach a door, the chorus should stop. If it doesn't, quickly turn around and shout "TACITE!"- This is the Latin Word for "Silence". Now the chorus should stop at last; if it doesn't, pray to every god you have ever heard of for a quick death, and hope they listen, for if they don't, the singing will grow louder and louder until it drives your soul insane.

Step through the door. Inside a person is waiting for you. A masked monk in a red cloak. He will greet you in Latin with "Salve!” Do not say anything and wait a few seconds until he puts on the light. There will be inscriptions on the walls, on the floor and on the furniture. The Monk will stand at the wall on the other end of the room and wait for your question. Don't try to read the words on the Walls. If you do, you will, within seconds, go insane. Walk to him and ask him only one question. "In which language were they talking?" That and nothing else. He will then hand you a book and disappear. Do not open the book. If you do, you will release horrible demons that will torture you for an eternity. After you got the book, turn around and there should be two urns on the table. One will take you back to the place you call home. The other one will drag your soul into pitch darkness.

It’s up to you if you pick the right one or not.

The Book is Object 10 of 538. Do not dare to ever read it.

Holder of Life

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Life". The worker will try to suppress a groan and you will have to ask again. He will then lead you to an operating room that looks just like any other you might or might not have seen in your life. The worker will give you a scalpel and then leave you alone in the room, locking the door behind him.

You will have to wait. Wait for almost an hour. Then the door will open and several people will enter the room, including a pregnant woman. The woman will lie down on the operating table; the other people, who will look like doctors, will prepare everything for the child's birth. While they do that, you will be able to ask the woman one question. Ask "How can they be reassembled?” nothing else, or the doctors will begin to skin and disassemble you. You will be fully conscious while they do this.

If you have asked the right question, the woman will begin to scream, the child is about to be born. You will have to wait until it's over, and one of the doctors will give you the child, moving his mouth, but without sound coming from his lips. As soon as he finishes 'talking' and smiles, you will have to throw the child to the ground and ram the scalpel into its head, else it will smash your rib-cage and rip your heart out with inhuman strength.

If you have thrown the child to the ground in time, it will, despite the scalpel in its head, answer the question you have asked earlier. It will speak with a demonic voice that might drive you mad. While it is talking, the other people in the room will vanish without leaving a trace. After the child finishes talking, it will simply die and the door of the room will unlock. You are now free to go, if you have not been driven mad by the voice.

The dead baby is object 11 of 538. Dare you not remove the scalpel?

Holder of Death

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Death". The worker's face will turn white as if he just saw a ghost. He will then guide you to a wooden door and leave you afterwards. You will have to knock thrice.

Should you hear an old man saying "Come.", you may enter and will find yourself in a forest. If you hear a young man saying "No, thank you.” run. Run and leave the city, the country as fast as you can, for unspoken evil will haunt you, should you stay.

Now that you are in a forest, look up to the sky. If it is day, follow the sun. If it is night, follow the moon. Follow them, and do not leave the path you have taken, no matter what kinds of beauty or horror you might see. Should you ever leave the path; your soul will be tormented for eternity after the body has died a horrible death. You will, after some time, notice that you are walking to a mansion. Ignore it; keep walking, for it is an illusion made to confuse you.

Finally, you will reach a small wooden hut. Enter the hut and immediately turn around, should you desire to over live the sheer horror you will experience by looking at the man who now is behind you. Ask him a question. "What will end them?" He will begin to talk with a voice that is gentle and kind as well as brutal and deadly. Listen carefully to what he says, as you might soon be the only one knowing their destiny. As soon as the man finishes his small tale, he will ask you to turn around, as he wants to give you a gift.

Do not do this. Instead, walk backwards until you reach something hard, a desk. Close your eyes and partially turn your body so you can reach out to the man and take the gift. When it touched your hand, close it and walk back to the door you came from. As you open it, say the words "We will meet another day" and walk out. You will be back in the mental institution.

Now, open your hand and look at the gift. The bone-finger is object 12 of 538.

Holder of Darkness

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask with no hesitation to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Darkness." The worker will mock you but you have to stay as calm as possible. Keep asking him until he stops denying and withdraws from his counter to guide you through the corridors. As his behavior changes radically, stay on guard, for if you start hearing one single tiny sinister hiss, you should turn around and flee as far as you can, covering your ears, because the time was bad. If you do not escape in time, the faint sound will turn into a dreadful growling, that will soon merge into a continuous shriek of sheer pain, until madness floods you and leaves you to die in a deafening agony.

If the warden remains silent, he will lead you to a closed door with neither handles nor lock. As he pushes it open effortless, you will see an ascending winding staircase which can’t possibly lead to any upper floor of the establishment. The door will close behind you and you will not be able to push it back. Past this point, climb and do not turn back, or you will fall into a bottomless pit only waiting for a living prey to chew upon. Do not count the steps, for knowing how much there is will drive you into insanity. One will then creak, and so you should stop. Another door should appear on your left. If it is on your right, then pray for a swift passing.

Enter slowly into the room, and a total obscurity shall fall unto you. You will be required to walk straight forward, for slipping will only lead you to be devoured by the roaming and unknown creatures observing you with blinded purulent eyes. You will know you have arrived when coldness grips you. At that very moment, freeze, or you will die by the hands of the holder who is standing right in front of you. In complete darkness, even closing your eyes will not prevent you from his horrid appearance. It will form into your mind as the most outrageous monster ever conceivable, and madness will try to creep into your brain as worms over a decayed corpse. His fulminating breath and constant mumblings would be enough to make you cry, but be advised to not utter anything louder than a weeping, for you might wake what must not be awaken. The only question you will be able to whisper without being torn apart should be “What do they fear?”

You will feel movements all around you, as shudders animate your opponents. You will hear what nameless and incurable diseases will strike the world if they were to be frightened, the countless terrors their own fright will unleash on those with a weaker mind than theirs. Amidst the atrocious enumeration of the endless sores the world will suffer, you might hear the simplest, almost ridiculous, yet, implacable and certain truth they all fear. Do not move again. And when your head is about to implode, it will stop. If you are still able to move, you will find a door in front of you which leads you outside of the ward. There, in the open, in the grass, a broken hourglass will wait for you.

You are free to pick it up. It is object 13 of 538. Your knowledge of theirs fears is up to you to share, but you might not want to use it as a weapon against them.

Holder of Dance

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. Reach for the reception and ask if you may visit someone who calls itself “The Holder of Dance.” The clerk will shrug it off while telling you to go to the next theatre down the road. If you obey her, you’ll then discover she has sent you to see “The Lord of the Dance”, and that she hasn’t understood properly your question. So ask for it twice. Her face will at last light up as she gets it right. “Silly me” she’ll mutter, and then “fool of you, too” when she starts walking toward a long hall. You’ll pass through the garden, onto a small brick-built reserve, while being gazed upon by the mental patients around you. Heavy chains will be running athwart the rusty metal door. A key will be handed to you, and everyone will back up into the building, closing doors and windows and shutters. You’d be left in the silence of your own demise. You can still go away, but from the inside now raises an appealing sound. Calling you, tempting you. Your mind must not flicker, or it will be lost, forever swallowed in a false sense of bliss while you’re left to be shredded alive.

As you control yourself and enter the place, a wide descending flight of stairs awaits to be taken. Echoes of commotions reach your ears in troubled moans, where you can’t tell if they’re from pains or pleasures. You’ll come to an underground level, with fluttering or broken neon’s lights. It would look like a corridor, with multiple doorless rooms. Then, they’ll start coming out. Shallows and diaphanous figures, slouching aimlessly. They’ll be ghosts of different shapes and different ages and different sex and in different states of decay. On the other side of the room, far away – but it won’t be far enough, you’ll think in panic – stands a shape with a point of light. It will be your only chance to ask “What makes them dance?”

You’ll then see the dead all around you shaking nervously, and the silhouette afar coming near. The naked body of a female will be walking for you, half-beheaded, her throat pumping and gurgling blood, while her head bended on the side start talking in a disembodied voice the mayhems she witnessed and accomplished. You will see slaughter and rotting battlefield full of corpses, as a rhythm grows in you. You’ll want to dance with the dead all around, but you must not yield into it. You’ll have to suppress the beating of your foot. And to not let your heart goes in cadence, for when the dance will stop, so will it. The bare bloody lady will tell you more as she approaches you, tales of carnages and tortures that was theirs joys when they were one. In her left hand she’ll be stroking her turgescent manhood at you, while in her right flagging hand will hang an old squared lantern shining a pale blue.

The Lantern is object 14 of 538. Its holder will not let it go easily.

Holder of the Past

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Past". At the last syllable of your sentence, his eyes should open wide and stare at you as if he was attempting to see past your skin into your soul. Don't ask any questions, because he won't speak to you, and in the case that he does, you will wish he hadn't. He will take you down a long hallway and you will walk with him for what will seem like hours. Stare STRAIGHT AHEAD the entire time, for if you look at the floor, walls, or ceiling of the hallway, you will run into a dead end and the worker will pursue you with a hellish bloodlust until you are completely disemboweled.

After exactly 350 paces the worker will stop, turn around, and pull a watch out of his pocket. He will turn the dial backward one hour and at that point, you will have one hour to complete your task. If you don't, then there are no words to describe your fate at that point. The lights will go out for exactly 3 seconds, and when they turn back on, you will be in a room with no doors and a red-tinted skylight shaped like a pentagram. This will cast a blood-red star in the middle of the room where a splintered cherry table with two seats will be. Sitting at the seat closest to you, look up. Look down again, and a man with long, dirty black hair will be face-down on the table. He will answer to one question: "Where did He once stand?"

The man will speak of a place that has no place on any map, but will describe the room in painfully grotesque detail. Pay very close attention, he will enumerate exactly how many of what horrible object hang from spears protruding from the walls. You have the rest of the hour to find the room and sit in His throne. If you fail, I suggest you become armed; heavily.

His Throne is object 15 of 538. If brought together, he may once again return.

Holder of the Future

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to see someone who calls himself the "Holder of the Future". If the attendant offers to show you the way do not follow him, for he is not the true guide and will only deliver you to madness. The true guide will fall silent and hand you a sheet of paper on which the way forward is written in lines of blood and fire. Concentrate on this and walk forwards. As long as you do not waver you will pass through the desk and the man and find yourself in a long disused hallway. Once it was opulent with colors and promise, but the walls are now stained and the carpet black with filth. Images will flash at the windows as you pass, out of the corner of your eye you may see long dead friends beckoning or lovers far past offering themselves to you again. Voices will whisper to you that through the windows are second chances to make things right. They will tell you that you can choose again and never set yourself against them. Do not look up from the paper in your hands, for if you do you will see what is just outside watching you. No god can help you then. It cannot be known how long this hallway is, some say that you have to pass all your possible futures, some say that it grows shorter as the time of the uniting comes closer. For all our sakes, may you find the hallway longer than you can bear.

Only once you reach the end may you lift your eyes, but never look behind you. Open the door in front of you into a ballroom, once bright and elegant, now covered in the same filth and despair. Move forwards into the gloom until the door is lost behind you and all chance of escape with it. Walk with care, the Holder watches you even now. Your path forward once stood in the center of this room, but the center has not held and the way has drifted. If it has drifted too far then you may never find your way, you will spend the rest of your life wishing you had given yourself to the temptations offered before. You will spend a long, long time wishing that. If you are fortunate, you will find one point in the room where the little light remaining fades away completely. Find that place, close your eyes and wait, no matter what happens next. If you have pleased the Holder, your ears will be filled with the sound of a cats purr, and you will feel it twining around your feet.

You must keep your eyes closed until a voice asks you "What will you do with them?" Any answer will turn the purrs to snarls and set a thousand razored claws to your throat. The voice will ask again, insistent this time. Only after it has asked for a third and final time may you open your eyes. If your god has not yet abandoned you, you may still be able to.

In front of you will be a woman lying on a bed. Once, long ago she was beautiful, now she is naked and obese, her skin pockmarked with bedsores and blooms of syphilis. Around her cluster hundreds of cats, with one standing at your feet. Speak only to him; tell him "I will do what I must". He will then teach you the language of the cats; they will tell you a secret that was never meant for human ears. Never reveal it until the times comes when you have nothing else to give, for cats are jealous creatures and delight in the pain of their victims.

That secret is the 16th of 538, and I may speak no more of it.

Holder of the Present

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask with no hesitation to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Present." The worker will look at you vaguely; you have to ask him again. Once the worker understands your question he will lead you through a door into a hallway that looks like it's an extension of Hell itself.

In this hallway you will find noting but darkness and the feeling of unimaginable horror. If you should hear a shriek coming from the left of you, start running towards the door you just came from or you will be devoured by demons yelling incomprehensible babble from mouths awash with vile poison.

If you should hear a shriek coming from the right of you, start running towards the door that your path leads to. Ignore the worker and keep running until you reach the door. If you should hear another shriek coming from anywhere around you, close your eyes and pray to the gods that your death will be a swift one.

Should you not hear a shriek, just follow the worker until he unlocks the door at the other end of the hallway. He will now ask you to enter, and he will leave.

In this room you will only find two things: a naked girl whose left hand is a mangled stump, seemingly torn to shreds by an otherworldly maw, and the rusted key chain she is holding. You must look at the key chain and may not avert your eyes from it. You can say nothing, except ask her this one question: "Why do they belong together?"

Now move eyesight to the face of the girl. She will look at you and tell you the most gruesome story of the present, how this present has come to be, how it is now and eventually how it will be. The girl will slowly move towards you, do not move, and stay still until she is but one footstep away from you. She will put the shredded piece of rot that was once her left hand on your shoulder. She will then whisper into your ear, "The time has come, and now you must die." Do not react to this statement. Just keep staring into her eyes and eventually you will feel something being pushed into your hand.

The key chain is object 17 of 538. Only the keys that are meant for it can be put on it, and all other keys shall be repelled.

Holder of Passion

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask with no hesitation to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Passion." The worker will blush and daydream; you will have to ask two more times until he finally nods and gestures you to follow him.

He will lead you into a hallway. You will hear a muffled diesel engine, but for the moment, it does not matter. Ignore it for now. Instead, listen to any whispering you hear. If it stops, it is vital for your sanity that you shut your eyes, for a horrifying creature will emerge from the ground and after a short time leave through the ceiling.

Should you hear the whispers in unknown languages until you and the warden reach a door made from stone, you are safe. Now, listen to the engine. If it keeps running, proceed and open the door. Do not even try to imagine what happens when the engine stops; nobody has ever been able to tell after it has stopped.

Now, if the door has been opened, the worker will leave you alone. Enter the door and walk straight forward until it closes. Now, you have to say the words "Excuse me, I'd like to learn from you.” If you did anything wrong, you will be dead before you even realize it, so do not worry much about this. Should nothing happen for several dozen seconds, you may resume walking. Do this until you reach a heart that is as big as your head. Do not touch it, instead, turn around. You will see either the most beautiful woman or the most horrific creature your eyes have ever witnessed. The latter only appears if you have touched the still-beating hear. Its sight alone will almost drive you insane and haunt you for the rest of your life.

Should you see the woman, look at her eyes, nowhere else, even if she does not wear any clothes. The beauty will literally blind you and you will be forced to wander around in her realm until the end of your life. If you are able to keep looking at her eyes, you may ask one question: "Are they alive?" The woman will suddenly moan soundly and lay down on the ground, beginning to satisfy herself. You must now quickly close your eyes and hold your ears shut with your hands, as her moaning will slowly destroy your mind and body, should you hear it clearly.

After some time, you will feel someone touch your right shoulder. You may now open your eyes and lower your hands. Do not turn around to whoever touched you. Instead, look at where the woman was. She will now be gone, only ash is what is left of her. Search within the ash for her uterus. Take it and close your eyes. Open them again after you felt something cold touch your head. You will be back in the mental institute, behind the warden who guided you to the stone door.

The uterus is object 18 of 538. It has one child left to bear.

Holder of Innocence

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask with no hesitation to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Innocence." The worker will say nothing, but a single tear should fall from her eye.

She will guide you to a forgotten hallway in an abandoned wing of the run-down institution. She will not enter the hall with you, but will only look into your eyes with a cautious hope, her own expression seeming to beg for salvation. Should you enter the hall, you will not see much, save for the dirty, broken fragments of what were once beautifully carved ivory statuettes. Before long, you will hear a soft whimper from the other side. Pay close attention, for if the whimper stops, then all hope is already lost. There is no use in running away.

As you turn the handle of the simple wooden door on the other side, a warm and cozy light will greet your face. You will find yourself in the bedroom of a young girl of eight and a half years. The girl herself will be sitting cross-legged on the floor at the foot of the bed, her only garment an open night-robe, exposing the entirety of her pure body. She is the source of the tortured whimpers, and nothing you say to console her will end her torrent of stifled wails.

Only, if you ask her “What happened when it was first created?” she will become silent to glance up towards your face. Her beauty will render you breathless, and if you are still capable of any thought it will be only the realization that in her you see everything in this world that you truly love. Suddenly, you will realize that the girl is bleeding from her nether regions as a grotesque phallus emerges from the petit orifice between her legs. The object will pulsate with its own life, and you will find that it is hypnotizing you. Do not look away, for you do not wish to try its patience.

Soon, the room will disappear before your eyes, and you will be standing in the most serene clearing you have ever witnessed, and all of nature’s fauna that you recognize will go about their lives around you, with no fear of anything, not even death. Suddenly, though, a shadow will fall over the meadow, and you will witness the forest all around burst into a pillar of flame. What happens next, no man can dwell on for long before going insane, but in the strength of the human mind you will endure. In the end you will hear screams and moans and groans, but what will overcome you more than anything are the quiet whimpers, the stifled cries, of all the sullied innocents of the world that was. You realize that these cries will continue to be heard all across the globe until the world’s end. None can endure those near-silent pleas and still maintain the slightest hope for the future.

The illusion will fade, and you will find yourself back in the room. You will find the girl lying dead on the floor, her face a mixture of agony and horror, her already decaying body feeding the now towering phallus and giving it a sinister glow.

That is object 19 of 538. If you touch it then it will be yours, but if you let it master you then it will use your body to seek and assemble all the pieces, no matter what the cost.

Holder of Deception

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Deception." The worker will look at you with an expression of shock on her face. Then, with superhuman speed she will attack you with her baton. If you are not knocked unconscious by the first blow, flee the city, for they will know what you are after.

When your consciousness returns, you will be in a magnificent courtyard on a starry night. There will be a great stone staircase that appears to ascend to the heavens themselves. Climb this staircase, but never look behind you. If you do, the stairs will begin to crumble and you will plummet into the void for an eternity.

After what will seem like days of climbing, you will come to a landing overlooking a great marble amphitheatre styled in the ancient Greek fashion. Descend to the bottom of the amitheatre. An old man in opalescent robes will be waiting for you on a dias in the center. This storied old man will be lecturing as if there was a great crowd - however, you must not listen to him, for not a word he speaks is true. If you are drawn in by his charismatic speaking, your mind will be completely subjugated by his deception and you will be his slave for eternity. He will only react to one question: "What is the only truth you are permitted to speak of?"

The man will look down at you with a look of great sadness. He will then impart on you a story that will shake the very foundations of your soul with great sorrow, but will leave you knowing one important truth: the number itself is not as it seems. He will then motion you towards an exit from the amphitheatre, and continue his lecture. Turn away from him quickly, for you will now be able to see the legions of horrific, twisted demons sitting on the seats of the amphitheatre. Do not gaze towards any of them longer than a moment, or else they will tear you apart and add you to their collection of souls. Walk to the exit as quickly as possible. There will be a great grimoire on a stand next to the door. Take the grimiore and exit through the door. You will find yourself in the back alley behind the asylum.

The grimoire you clutch, with its pages firmly strapped shut and locked with a great steel padlock, is object 20 of 538. If you wish to see past the deception and reunite them, you must find the key.

Holder of Rage

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Rage". The person will appear shy as they show you to a door, and then walk away. When you enter the door, you will be looking down a staircase that descends into darkness. As you descend the stairs, you will begin to hear screams. The screams will come from a throat of indeterminate origin.

If the screaming stops at any time, shout to the darkness "Resume your business! I do not wish to intrude!" If the screaming does not come back, there is nothing you can do, for you will be dead before you know what happens. If the screaming continues, you may move on.

Eventually, you will see light coming through the cracks in a door. Go through this door and you will be in what appears to be a medieval dungeon. Hollowed out skulls filled with candles serve as lanterns, and skeletons line the walls. There will be a wooden table in front of a fire inside a fireplace. On this table is the severed head of a 4 year old girl, staring ahead with glassy eyes.

Step up to the table and look the head in the eyes. In a clear, commanding voice ask "Who will stop them from coming together?" The head will look you in the eyes and tell you the tale of a man. She will tell you his entire story, from his violent birth to what he is doing that very moment. His deeds will be recounted in horrifying detail. He is a murderer of which the likes have never been seen, and he is just as mad.

If at the end of the story, the head tells you "He is listening to our conversation," you will be dragged out of the room and never be heard from again. You will experience all of the most horrifying things ever conceived, and you will kept alive until you have experienced them all.

If she tells you he is elsewhere, he is now looking for you. He will not stop until you are dead or the objects come together. She will tell you to pick her up. Pick the head up by the hair and look at the table where she was. Sitting there will be a needle, covered in dried blood, semen, pus, and countless unidentifiable substances.

That needle is object is 21 of 538. The hunt has begun and the clock is ticking.

Holder of Chaos

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit the one who refers to himself as "The Holder of Chaos". The clerk will begin to shake his head and pound his fists upon the desk. Ask him thrice more and he will stand up quietly and lead you to a room with only one door, the one which you entered through. You must close your eyes, if you don't you will forever be stricken blind and the only thing you will see is a constant sight of utter chaos.

If you have closed your eyes in time, after an hour of standing in confusion, you will hear a soft voice call out, "Do you have them?" Do not answer this question. Instead, stomp your foot upon the floor seventeen times, you may then open your eyes. If you see a long, stretching field in front of you, then you have succeeded in the first half of your endeavor. If you see a fiery plain of death and mutilation, then it is too late for you. You will be devoured by your own thoughts of your greatest fears.

Walk towards the setting sun in the grassy field for one hour until you reach a tree with no leaves on its branches. As you get closer you see that the tree is constructed out of bones and it is surrounded in a pool of blood. Submerge yourself fully in this blood, and when you surface once more, you will feel a bone hand press something into your palm, it is a small vial. Drink from the vial and you find yourself standing in the lobby of the mental institution.

This vial is object 22 of 538. The hour is nigh and the demons are calling.

Holder of Hate

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit the "Holder of Hate." The attendant will give you a firm handshake, look you straight in the eyes, and say "It took you long enough." They will hand you a key to room 532 and tell you to go down the left hall.

As you walk down the hall you will hear insane cackling. Should it stop, yell "I do not fear you!" If it does not begin again, run as fast as your legs will carry you. Should it continue, keep walking. Stop when you reach room 532. The door will be covered in scratches, gashes and all manner of burns.

There will be a small, strangely unscarred glass panel in the door. Peer inside. If there is a figure standing with his back to you, retreat as quietly as you can. If the room is empty, unlock the door and enter. A red light will be shining out of the sole window in the room. Should you gaze out of this window your eyes will soon burst from your sockets and your screams will be your only utterance for all eternity. The room is small, the walls covered in blood, and a small cloaked figure sits in the middle. It will respond to only one question: "Why do they hate?" The figure's cloak will fly into the air revealing a grotesquely disfigured being. It will answer your question in horrific detail. Upon finishing the story it will collapse, as if a tremendous burden has passed from its shoulders, and crawl into the corner. You will begin to hear strange, unearthly shrieks from beyond the door. They will be getting nearer by the second. Your only hope is to wrap yourself in the cloak and hurl yourself out the red window. If you were not followed you will wake up on the lawn of the hospital the next day, wrapped snugly in the cloak.

The cloak is object 23 of 538. It will hide you from their hate.

Holder of Love

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit the one who refers to himself as "The Holder of Love". The legends of this Holder have been lost to all time, for no one has ever returned. Fear the love of the end times. If you can steel yourself to press forward alone and without guidance to meet this guardian, and ask the correct question, you will be rewarded with an object of protection both divine and demonic. You may survive the quest yet.

This object is 24 out of 538. It longs for the company of the rest.

Holder of Creation

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit the one who refers to himself as "The Holder of Creation". The clerk will look into your eyes, horrified, before standing up. She (and only a she) will lead you to the maternal ward, and push you into a locked door, which you will glide through. Once inside the door, there will be two doors, one to the left and one to the right. You must chose the one with which you are more accustomed to, with hand of guidance will lead you. You must touch the door handle, if light emits from the window, you must enter. If it doesn't, you must run into the other room, as far as you can, and you mustn't turn back for two weeks, sleep where you drop and do not trust anyone. Do not enter the sunlight, for if you shall you shall be destroyed where you stand.

Should the light emit from the window, enter cautiously as the room is filled with fetuses who have died, and young who never had the chance to live. There will be a young mother laying in the corner with a baby whose eyes which see eternity.

Face the baby, look directly into his eyes. You must ask him the question, "For why have we been sent here?"

The baby will move, and it will wrap around you, binding you and rending you into 5 pieces, yet you must take no heed to the pain or you will never be returned to your real form. After rending you, he will stare into your eyes, and you will see the beginning of the cosmos, instantly burning into nothing but ash and returning outside, exactly 1 day before the incident. You will have a book in your hands.

This object is 25 out of 538. This book yearns to return the other objects to it, and within holds the knowledge with to do so.

Holder of Time

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Time". The worker will act like he doesn't know what you're talking about, first treating it like a joke, and then threatening to call security. Persist for long enough, and he will ask if you want to see a doctor.

If you say no, you will be killed instantly. Many who have spoken to the Holders choose this, for it is the ultimate mercy compared to the horrors you face. There is no other escape.

If you say yes, you will be bathed in brilliant blue light. You must remain perfectly still, or else you will be cast out of time, both frozen in an instant and aware of the eternal burn of entropy, and forever experiencing every moment of your decline into insanity all in one moment.

Remain still until you hear a sound, an ethereal blend of musical and metallic. It will increase slowly, the sound and light seeping into your mind and carrying you away with it. If you survive with your sanity intact, you will long for that sound for the rest of your life.

When the sound and light fade, you will find yourself in a large room made of metal. One man will stand in the center of it, his appearance and clothing constantly changing. He will speak constantly, telling stories about every time and place in the whole of the existence of the universe. He will not stop speaking unless he is asked, "When will they come together?"

He will stare at you and hold out his hand as he shifts through different appearances. You will feel an overwhelming temptation to take his hand, though part of your mind will fear what awaits you if you do. If you take his hand, you will experience each of his stories as though you lived them, and in the millennia that pass before he releases you, you will fall into insanity.

After his thirteenth shift into a new appearance, the man will answer your question, and a small key will appear in his hand.

The key is object 26 of 538. Pray that you never find what it unlocks.

Holder of Famine

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls herself "The Holder of Famine." The attendant will glare at you and mutter darkly under his breath, but otherwise ignore your request. Tell him, "I can sate her appetite," and he will raise his eyebrow incredulously, but arise to lead you up the hall, before leaving you to fend for yourself.

The hall you begin in will slowly become a new hall, utterly different from the orderliness of the institution you were last in. The walls will be full of pockmarks, the floors littered with emaciated bodies and mutilated corpses. The attendant will pay no mind to the death around him as he leads you up, and it is best for your own sake that you behave the same way. There will be a trapdoor before you, made of rotting wood and rusting iron. Open it cautiously, and look down into the darkness.

If blood-red eyes stare back up at you, IMMEDIATELY scream to it, "I am not yours!" If the eyes disappear, it is safe to proceed. If the creature begins to growl, close your eyes and pray for a quick death, as unlikely as it will be.

Once you finish descending into the darkness, the trapdoor will close and lock above you, leaving you alone in hellish silence. Do not move an inch, do not talk, do not breathe; eventually, as your vision swims, candles will be set aflame at your feet. It is safe, for now.

The candles will light a trail for you. Venture off of the trail, for any reason, and you will be consumed by the darkness the light holds at bay. The road will be long, and you will grow weary and hungry; shun anything offered to you from the creatures passing in the dark. To even look at these gifts is to invite death.

At the end of the road, the candles will have aligned themselves in a circle about the radius of a grown man's leg. In the center will be a small table, with a white linen tablecloth and a silver platter set upon it. Behind it will be the corpse of an obese woman, hanging motionless from the noose about her neck. Her stench will assail your nostrils and the putrid sight of her rotting, mutilated body will cause you to falter, but you must continue forward. As you approach, you will notice two chairs. One will be beautiful, made of mahogany and gold-plated. One will be far uglier, made of rotting wood and covered in insects and stains. Use neither, and your soul will remain in your possession.

As you stand before the corpse, you must ask, loudly and clearly, "Why were they consumed?" The corpse will immediately raise its hands to its stomach, ripping it open before you. The wound will bleed saliva, the ribs will form sharp, malevolent fangs, and a massive tongue made from her intestines will loll out from the mouth-gash. The corpse will begin to speak, in a dry, harsh whisper of the horrors and magnificent cruelties performed in the times before times. As she speaks, you must stare at her stomach, and you must not move or speak. To do so would consign you to her pet's ravenous greed.

Once she has finished speaking, she will ask one of two questions. If she asks, "Did you enjoy my banquet?" then you are too late and the piece is lost, as is your life and all hope. Your failure will result in a death so horrific, painful, and excruciating that even the tormented souls of the damned would pity you. If she asks, "Are you my latest meal?" then respond, quickly and earnestly, "I wish to dine with you."

The corpse will be silent, and after a long wait, a shiny, red apple will roll up the gory tongue onto the silver platter. Do not eat it.

This apple is Object 27 of 538. It is the only thing that can satisfy their hunger.

Holder of Clarity

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself “The Holder of Clarity”. The worker will begin to chatter on to about their life, making inside jokes and references to only which they understand. All the while, they will walk in a weaving motion to the recreational area of the building. They will slide open a hatch beneath a table and suddenly fall silent with a grim look upon their face. You will look down into the hole, and you will see a vast number of lights flashing on and off, and you will feel berated and confused, but you must go in.

This hall seems to have no start and have no end, the lights flashing sporadically, and you will find that tiny flying objects flit in front of you, in your eyes and nose and mouth. The air will fill with a horrible all consuming buzzing noise that does not allow you to hear even your own screams. You must only walk on, and if for any reason, the objects stop moving or the lights hold their glow, you must yell out, “They shall not know I’m here, as I have covered my tracks!” If the calm stays, you are too late, as it has already begun.

If the horrible bewilderment returns, you must forge on. In your wanderings, you will meet a door. You can feel its handle and allow yourself in. The room will be eternal, only the floor holding your mind in tact.

There will be a man with his entire form ran through with long nails and stakes, every inch of his form secured. His mouth is held open, pins forcing his lips up to his face, a stake buried in the back of his gaping mouth. His tongue will write and flop at your arrival, his eyes searching over you in a panicked state.

He will respond to only 1 question, “Why do they take form?” His eyes will affix onto you and his tongue will hold still. In a gargling, horrible speech, he will recite to you the creation of every object, and the purpose of each. The description will force you to vomit upon every sentence, and the tale leaves most mad.

You will find a rusty and worn fillet knife in your hand. You must remove his writhing tongue with his pathetic and gurgling screams echoing through your soul. He will seem pathetic and you will want to help him, but do not, or you will replace him.

His tongue is Object 28 of 538. They will meet, only you shall know why.

Holder of Frost

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls herself "The Holder of the Frost". If the worker shivers unnaturally, you will be lead to a hallway that shouldn't exist where it does. The worker will wave you down the hall, and, once your back is turned, will shake his head and mutter "the poor fool." The hallway will get colder as you proceed; but do not make any attempt to warm yourself. If you do, heaven help what will become of you.

If at any time, the cold ceases and the hallway becomes warm, you must quickly shout "Stop! This is not the answer!" If the warmth persists, run. Run as fast as you can for the exit. If you do not make it, then the fires of Hell shall consume you. If you do make it, do not stop running. Flee the asylum, the city, the country; for the hellhounds have your scent, and they do not rest.

If the cold returns, proceed down the hallway until you come to a door made of solid ice, and knock three times. If a soft, womanly voice beckons you to enter, open the door. If a gruff, male voice tells you to leave, pray for a quick demise.

Inside of the door, you will find a room made of ice, with frozen stalagmites and stalagtites giving it the appearance of a massive maw. In the center of the room will be a veiled, ivory-skinned woman. Do not look at the woman directly, and say only one thing: "What caused their hibernation?"

She will tell you her story, a story of destruction and devastation, war and famine, life and death, and of a deep slumber. The story will chill you to the base of your existence, but do not ever look directly at the woman. If you do, your soul will be frozen for all eternity.

When she is done, she will remove her veil, but you must not gaze upon her. Her beauty would shatter your mind. If you keep your eyes away from her, she will cup her hands over yours, and whisper into your ear: "The ice age is over. What will you do?" The world will explode in white, and when it subsides you will be outside of the institution. In your hands will be a large, crystal snowflake.

That snowflake is Object 29 of 538. The ice age is over; they are starting to thaw.

Holder of the Flame

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Flame." The worker will stare impassively at you for many minutes before pointing, silently, to a door behind you. The door was not there, and anyone else around you will not notice it. Approach the door and close your eyes, before grasping the knocker. You need knock only once. If the metal suddenly cools in your hand, run. Run far away, and keep running. Only hope that you have escaped, for the alternative is a horror only the souls in hell can comprehend.

If the knocker grows warm, hold onto it tightly, even when it begins to sear into your hand. Eventually, the pain will stop. Once this has happened, open your eyes. You will be in a small garden, illuminated by the light of a full moon, and surrounded by ivy-covered stone walls. To your left will be a pond. Do not look directly into the water, lest the multitude of terrors lurking within capture and drown you again and again for the rest of eternity. To your right will be a funeral pyre, not yet lit, slickly dark with a flammable fluid.

Take exactly 5 steps towards the pyre. Do not ask why. You will find the corpse of a castrated male child, his arms folded over a vial of quicksilver. Say nothing but the question "What caused their immolation?"

The corpse will not move, but the pyre will ignite of its own free will. As will the bushes, the grass, the trees, and the flowers all around it. The flames will shift colors, from the normal colors of fire, to the red of freshly spilt blood, to the green of infection and disease. The plants will shriek in agony as the walls surrounding the garden are consumed. The pond will dry out, the water itself burning with a blistering heat, as the souls of the damned rise upward in the steam, howling their litany of curses upon you.

As the first curse reaches your ears, you must summon your courage and begin to laugh. Loudly, spitefully, arrogantly, but not softly. If the curses become more vehement, you are safe. If they stop, then throw yourself on the pyre to escape a fate far worse.

In the midst of the tempest, the corpse will calmly sit upright, consumed entirely in flames, and will proffer you the vial. You must continue to laugh, and cross your arms. You must not accept this gift now.

The corpse will open its mouth, and if you are lucky, what you will see in its depths will not leave you laughing in madness for the rest of your mortal life.

The vial will drop, shatter, and spill its contents upon the blackened remains of the grass as the flames die down. Everything will be silent. At your feet will be a new flower, its stem hard and spiny, its petals painted with the colors of hellfire and damnation. Pick it, and you will find yourself away from the garden and back in front of the door.

This flower is Object 30 of 538. It will burn itself deep into your soul, and ignite the fires of madness.

Holder of Silence

If you have gotten this far, and done everything correctly, you are the Holder of Silence.

The silence you hear is object 31 of 538. No one can save you, if you are not the seeker.

Holder of the Speed

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask for something called "The Holder of the Speed." The worker should become motionless. Look around yourself; if everything else became motionless, you are in the right path. What would happen if you weren't is still unknown for this one who writes.

You will notice that moving around and breathing will become gradually, but increasingly difficult; this is expected, for the air slowly becomes motionless. You should explore carefully the halls surrounding you, thinking about your first great failure; but be aware that, if you take too long, you will suffocate.

Your objective is to find a child who still moves, amidst all the surrounding statuesque shapes. The child will approach you with a ball, hand it over to you. Pay attention to how the ball is held. The child will then declare 'You're it'. And then run outside the room, always giggling.

What you will have to do is to return the ball. Careful to not be fooled by the voice echoing within the halls, for wasted time means you're closer to death by asphyxiation. As time passes the air will become harder to cut trough, requiring greater strength; warmth will slowly leave your body, droplets of water will pierce your skin. Much likely, you'll be blinded, deafened and similarly mutilated during this chase. Vision will be impaired as everything slowly darkens, as even light itself were eventually reaching a stop.

It is certain that you will find the child in one of the hallways, under a beam of light; it could be coming from a window, a lamp, or any similar light source. You should return the ball in the same way it was given to you, and attempt to escape, giving continuity to the game.

If you succeeded, the air won't be heavy anymore. You will notice every place you ran past will be damaged in some degree. Depending on where you finished your ordeal, you will have to give many explanations to the facility's administration, and somehow avoid imprisonment.

If you failed, the child will once again hand you the ball as soon as you're reached, will declare 'You're it', and dash trough the corridors. You will probably die pierced by the air's humidity and suffocated before can reach the infant a second time.

Your newfound agility is Object 32 of 538. Do not mention the child to anyone.

Holder of Wind

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Wind." The receptionist will then walk off, as if you weren't even there. Follow the receptionist. After five minutes of what seems like aimless walking the receptionist will begin to whistle. If it is a tune you recognize, then continue to follow. If you do not recognize the song, try to remember the better times of your life as from there out you will know nothing but the endless pain of your own personal Hell.

If you find yourself humming along to the tune, the receptionist will turn to you and point you to a room on your left. Enter the room. Inside is a wide prairie filled with endless, knee-high grass. The first thing you notice is a warm, gentle breeze playing over your face. In the distance, you hear a faint whispering sound. If you do not hear the whisper, run out the door and close it behind you or the peaceful prairie will become your final resting place.

If the whisper persists, close the door and it will disappear. Follow the whisper as best as you can. After a few steps, a young man will rise out of the grass, clothed in simple farm clothes. This man knows only the answer to one question. "What carried them away?"

The man will tell you a lazy tale. A story filled with illusion and deception, dulled by his accent. You will start to become tired and may want to lie down and sleep for a while in the comfy grass, but do not. For if you do, you will never awaken from your slumber.

Once the man is done rambling, he will ask you a question. "Do you really want it?" The laziness induced but the scenery will make you want to say no, but resist and take the wind chimes he offers you. The door you came in will then appear in front of you, allowing you to leave in peace.

These chimes are object 33 of 538. When the wind causes these chimes to sound, another object is near, as is the end of all hope.

Holder of Oblivion

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Oblivion." If the attendant stares at you and swallows audibly, follow him to a room deep within the building, far deeper than you thought possible. The attendant will open the door and give you a fearful look. If you are brave, enter the room. If you are craven, flee now.

Inside the room, there is only a chair. Sit down in it. If at any time you begin to feel fear, get up and leave. You are still free to escape. If you choose to stay, you must sit and wait until the lights in the room flicker. Do not stand. Do not get up. If you are not sitting down then the lights flicker, then you will plummet into the void between worlds, a meal for its grotesque denizens.

When the lights flicker, you must shut your eyes immediately. Gazing upon the void will destroy your mind. Only when you hear a man clear his throat may you open your eyes. You will be in a dark dungeon, bound to the chair by a web of ebon chains. Surrounding you will be heads impaled upon blood-soaked pikes, and standing before you will be a man wearing an executioner's uniform. Stare him in the eyes; do not move your gaze and do not show even the slightest tinge of fear, for if you do, he will add your head to his collection.

The only thing you may speak without being beheaded is the question, "What will they bring?" The executioner will laugh an inhuman laugh, and then the impaled heads will begin to speak. They will speak of horrors, of executions, of their individual ends, but you must not move your gaze from the executioner, or you too will be speaking of your death. Eventually, he will speak of his own end, of what they brought to him. When he finishes, he will remove his cowl, revealing a skeleton's face. With a cackle, he will wave his hands, and the world will plunge into darkness.

When the light returns, you will be sitting peacefully in the lobby of the institution. In your lap will be the executioner's cowl.

That cowl is Object 34 out of 583. You have seen what they bring, will you stop them?

Holder of Fear

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Fear". If the time is right, the attendant will lead you to a closet with no floor. With a malicious grin, the worker will shove you into the hole and close the door.

As you fall through the abyss, you cannot feel any fear. If you do, you will immediately hit the spike-ridden bottom of the pit and meet a gruesome death. If you remain resolute, your fall will eventually slow and stop, leaving you in a room soaked in darkness. Into the darkness, you must speak only one thing: "What is their weapon?"

Immediately the room will be illuminated. Surrounding you wills everything that you fear, and in the center will be a creature who will take the appearance of your greatest fear. Not even once can you flinch or shrink away from this creature, or it will dismember you in the most painful way possible.

You must stare at your greatest fear while it tells you its story in excruciating detail. It will tell you of all the fears in the world, from the tiniest to the greatest, in all of their horribleness. When it is finished, the creature will ask what you fear. Now you must confess all of your fears to the creature, without looking around the room. If you miss even one, you will be consumed by your own terror, leaving nothing but a shell remaining.

If you confess all of your fears, the creature will scream, and the scream will send you hurtling through the wall behind you. When you stop moving, you will be across from the closet you entered earlier, and in the closet will be a mirror.

That mirror is Object 35 of 583. It reflects your greatest fear, and that is their weapon.

Holder of Faith

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, close your eyes and ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Faith”. The worker will look at you in abstract confusion, shake his head and go back to his work. If you wait for 3 full minutes, he will sigh and walk you to a custodian’s closet. He will lead you inside, and lock you there. The door will not open, and it will be pitch black. Slowly the darkness will begin to scribe in the brightest of white words in a language you have never read, and voices you have never heard speaking the foulest of blasphemies your body can withstand.

Should the writing ever stop, fall to your knees and clasp your hands, screaming every prayer you know. If the writing does not continue, curse the god that has put you into existence.

If the writing does continue, Stand quickly and race down the tunnel. There the tunnel will open up into a large dome, and you will see a young girl in white, staring at you with her hair fallen down into her face. Do not look at your hands, or they will peel the flesh from your bones. She will respond t only one question, “Why do they fear?”

She will look up to you and her mouth with blurt out every wrong that has occurred in the name of a god, and some that you must believe happened beyond your reality. She will then fall to the ground screaming in horrible agony as she is consumed by a white flame.

That ash is object 36 of 583. It will one day be mixed with yours.

Holder of Confusion

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Confusion." The worker will initially ignore you, but if you wait for one full minute, she will rise and motion for you to follow her. After following her down a series of dimly lit hallways, you will come to a dead-end corridor with no doorways. The worker will motion to the end of the hallway, and promptly leave you without a word.

You must walk to the end of the hallway, without speaking a word. Once you reach the end, place your hands upon the wall to reveal that it is an illusion which you may walk through. If you are scared, or unsure of what is behind the wall when you step through, or have any doubts at all, you will simply walk off of the plane of existence forever, never to be heard from again.

But if you believe in yourself, and believe answers lie beyond the wall, when you step through you will appear in a bright white room, with many paths. Some lead into the distance, others appear to lead nowhere at all, yet others appear to defy understanding, and lead to suffering that only the most damnable of all souls can comprehend.

The path you seek is the one that lies ahead of you. It appears to continue on for eternity. While walking, you must say nothing, no matter how long the trip appears to take, and should the room begin to darken halfway through your trip down the path, your only option is to sit down and weep silently, for you are now nothing more than nourishment for the most grotesque and cursed demon of them all.

However, if the room remains almost unfathomably perfect white, your trip down the path will be without peril, and you will safely come to a door. At this point, you need do nothing, as the door opens to you to reveal a room that appears to be impossibility. It is not big, but not small. Not lit, but not dark. It appears to be everything, and nothing. Equals and opposites are meaningless in this room. It is said that most who enter are driven to a maddening insanity and begin to claw their own flesh off, or disembowel themselves with their bare hands, all while laughing manically. Never dying, this will be their fate for eternity.

Should you manage to not be driven by insanity, you will notice a nondescript figure standing in the center of the madness. It appears to be human, yet at the same time, something much more hellish. You will not be able to comprehend this entity visually, but you must not repulse at its sight, nor can you say anything to it. It will begin to speak to you many events. Some of which you know are true. Others you know are lies. Some which you are unsure of. The entity will become increasingly agitated that you are ignoring its nonsense. You MUST refrain from saying anything at all, until the entity falls silent briefly, and then asks;

"What would you do, if they were all brought together?"

To this, you must very firmly reply:

"Everything that you would do. Including what you wouldn't."

The entity will stare at you blankly for a moment. If it doesn't believe you, it will simply walk away, and leave you there, forever in darkness. If it does believe you however, it will reach its hand out and give you a small, seemingly immaterial glowing object. This is the "Beast's Resolve."

That is object 37 of 538. No matter how indecisive you are, no matter how unsure the world becomes, you alone must know what to do if they all come together.

Holder of the Word

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution in you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Word". The worker will motion you to follow him and say "Come". Do not follow him. Instead, wait until he returns, which will take 10 minutes. He will the say "Excuse me." and walk to the toilet. Again, do not follow, walk behind the desk where the worker was. When you stand there, look down and the ground will be ripped open, you will fall.

Do not let any word or scream escape your mouth, for when it does, you shall fall for an eternity, with unspoken creatures slowly consuming your body and soul. You may gasp, but not more. Now, wait until you hear someone shout "Am I fiction?” Do not answer, but be aware that your fall will soon stop. You will slow down at first, eventually stopping only centimeters above a metal surface. Stretch your foot to touch it and you will fall these few centimeters. Now, listen. You will hear a word. Remember it, for you will need it soon. Now, after you have heard it, begin to walk until you reach a marble door. Say the word you have heard loud and clearly. Should you have forgotten it or say the wrong word, your body will slowly and painfully be turned into marble. Afterwards, a demon that looks like the person that is most dear to you will emerge from the ground and shatter your marble body, only by saying the word you have forgotten.

Should you have spoken the right word, the door will fall apart and you may step through. Be careful, do not step back, and do not stop until you have reached a statue made from the purest diamond you have ever seen. Touch it not, or you will take its place while freeing the hellish creature inside it. Ask one question, "How will they be awakened?” Ask it thrice and the statue will move it head to look at you. Do not look back, instead, stare at its chest. "Excitate." Now close your eyes. Ignore the burning feeling you feel in your forehead and wait until it is gone. Open your eyes again. You will find yourself in the lobby of the institution. Always remember the word you've heard. It will show its power when you have found all objects, and only then, only when you say it.

It is object 38 of 538. Utter it only once, when the rest have come together.

Holder of Absence

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Absence". Should the person at the front desk try to convince you that the person you wish to visit is no longer there. Ask to visit their cell nonetheless. At this point the receptionist shall show a look that can only be defined as emotionless. The receptionist will lead you down a long wall with many doors on either side until you reach an iron door with one barred window on it. They will open the door for you but lead you no further. Beyond the door is darkness, nothing more.

As you step into the darkness, the door will slam shut behind you. You are now trapped and the only way to go is forward. You cannot see the ground, or the roof, or the walls. Be aware, you may be walking for a very long time, possibly days. As you walk you will begin to feel cold and empty inside. You will feel as if your soul has left your body and left you as a shell. In time you may hear footsteps that echo loudly. STOP IMMEDIATELY, and wait. If the footsteps do not stop, you must sit down and wait until they do. If they begin to grow even louder, then you will surely perish by an unimaginable horror. If the footsteps do stop, you must press forward until you reach another iron door, illuminated by a light behind it. Open it and step inside.

Inside will be a pitch black room. Only a small circle of light of the floor can be seen, lit by a small candle. Behind the light will be a chair with a coat on it. Approach the chair but do not sit in it, no matter how long you have been walking. Wait until the candle burns out. When it does, reach out, and take the coat. The next time you blink you will find yourself in front of the desk in the mental institution or halfway house. Reach into the right inside breast pocket of the coat and pull out a singed sheet of paper with red ink. DO NOT READ THIS INK or the Holder of Absence will become present and destroy you with unthinkable pain and anguish.

This paper is object 39 of 538. Keep him absent. Keep them from coming all together.

Holder of the Abandoned

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Abandoned". The attendant will look up at you with lonely eyes, and lamely motion for you to follow her. She will lead you through a maze of corridors. Do not look back and keep on her heels or you will be forever lost in this maze. She will show you a door, crumbling with age. She will then suddenly vanish abandoning you in this maze, push forward or be lost forever.

After you open the door you'll be confronted with a hedge maze of slowly dying bushes. Follow your gut as you navigate or you'll be lost forever in this maze. Listen carefully though, every step you make will ring loudly through the still air. If the sound stops stand still and don't make a sound. If you hear a buzzing sound shout out, "Go back, I do not need your help!” If the buzzing persists then fear for your life, run relentlessly. If they catch you then you'll be gnawed by every problem that has ever plagued mankind for all eternity. If you escape then count yourself lucky.

Eventually you'll make it to the end. Before you will stand a golden gate, knock once and only once. They will swing open for you. Slowly enter the courtyard. Inside you will find a beautiful man in his late forties wandering around aimlessly. Ask him this and nothing else, "Where were they abandoned?” If this man attacks you then count yourself lucky. You will never see the end of this. If not then he will tell you. He will tell of every hidden crevice, every basement lair, every corpse, every madman's mind, every evil place that these things have tainted. You will go insane. If not then you are truly destined to finish this to the end. This man will have left you by the end of this slideshow. In his place you will find a map and a broken watch. The watch shows how much time you have left in this race.

That map is object is 40 of 538. Use it or not, but the knowledge has escaped, and you're not the only one that holds it.

Holder of Solitude

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. As you approach the front desk, keep your gaze on the floor. Should your gaze wander then you have already failed. At the desk do not move or shift your gaze until the worker makes a sound, recognizing your existence. Without upturning your eyes, ask her for the being known as "The Holder of Solitude". As these words leave your lips a great gong will ring, shaking the very ground you stand on. Once the ring of the gong turns to silence you can finally observe your surroundings.

You will find yourself under a strange sky in a vast and morbid wasteland, only a cold stone path leading towards the horizon. The instant you become aware of this lifeless wasteland, you must start moving; for they know you are there. And they do not take well to outsiders.

Should clouds gather in the sky and darkness encroach on the path during your crossing towards the horizon; shut your eyes and kneel. No mortal have ever let his stare rest upon this worlds inhabitants. As you kneel, you must plead: “I do not know you, nor have I any wish to. But my path is here, and I must follow it.” After you have uttered these words, await their judgment. Should they choose to allow your presence you will feel them retreating, should they decide otherwise, then this was not your fate. Hope that they end you quickly.

At the end of your path awaits an obsidian pillar, perched atop it an obsidian gargoyle is regarding your approach. The gargoyle will only stir to the sound of one question: “Who shall perish?” Once these words are spoken the gargoyle shall descend upon you, and his wings will envelop you in darkness. There he will show you the lives of all human beings as stars in the darkness, and as stars you will watch them flicker and die. For eons you shall watch the deaths of those who came before you and those yet to come. And you shall experience their loneliness as you watch them die, sensing how utterly separated they were from each other.

This shall continue until your sanity shatters or until only one light remains. And so the gargoyle shall speak: “Your end is not mine to reveal to you, and it is not what you seek.” These words will echo inside your head until the day the task is completed. Once again you must shut your eyes; lest you keep your gaze on the last remaining light and the gargoyle will devour you. As you shut your eyes you will feel as being hurled through dimensions, spinning endlessly until solid ground is only a vague memory. At that moment you will be thrown to a stone floor, and it will be as being born again, as returning into the light after eternities in darkness.

And once you open your eyes you will look around at a gargantuan, withering ballroom, the cracked marble floor covered with dead leaves. At the far end of the room you will see a light, calling you. As you advance towards it you will be able to make out something hung upon the wall. A dark kite shield decorated with macabre symbols, the symbols seemingly alive and pulsating. You need only to take it off the wall to claim it.

The moment the shield leaves the wall you will be back at the front desk where the worker is staring at you intently. She knows what you have started.

The shield you hold in your hands is object 41 of 538. Pray that it can protect you from what is to come.

Holder of the Star

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit the one who refers to himself as the 'Holder of the Star'. The worker will stare into your eyes with a smug look of contempt for several seconds. If he does not see your heart's resolve in your eyes, he will laugh arrogantly. If he does, flee, or guards shall take hold of you and lock you in a cramped cell where you will hear the man's laughter in waking and sleeping as long as you live. If he sees the determination in your eyes, he shall stand and guide you down a hallway. He will stop at a cell door and will hand you the key, saying nothing and walking away. With key in hand, grab the handle and turn it slowly, it is not locked.

Instead of a cell behind the door, there is a hall, dimly lit. Enter the corridor, close and lock the door behind you. As you walk down this hallway, you will hear the laughter of children playing mixed with the heart warming chants of foreign monks. Quickly the laughter will turn to screams, and the chants to curses. As long as you hear these terrible noises you are safe, but if your courage sways, and the slightest fear overcomes you in this corridor, the sounds shall stop. And if this happens, shut your eyes and pray that what hideous creature that was just awakened will take your life in its first bite. If you survive this corridor, you shall reach a small locked door. The lights will dim around you until all you can see is the door when all is dark, use the key you were given and unlock the door. Enter through the door into a small, pitch-black cell. In the cell there is a hooded man in red robes. He holds a candle and keeps his eyes closed while chanting. He sits in the middle of a pentacle drawn in glowing red blood. The stench it produces will cause you to gag, but dare not do anymore than that. Before the man is a smoldering rock. Do not stare at the stone directly for too long, or the burning from the rock shall envelope your mind and send your body into a fiery eternity. Instead stare at the candle and listen to the old man.

He responds to only one question: "What must be done to complete their task?" The man shall stop chanting, and will tell you five names and five questions. He shall inform you that you must learn on your own which match with each other. He shall then dab his forefinger in the blood of the pentacle and will draw on the wall a formula. A key, plus a Book, plus a Quill, plus a Word scrawled in a way that it is illegible, yields an open book with three ovals drawn around it. He shall chuckle warmly and return to his seating place. He will hand you the still burning stone and from behind his robe he shall pull out a still beating heart. With all your might, crush the organ until it no longer quivers. Inside the meaty mesh you will find an antique fountain pen. When you look back up, you will find the old man dead, with a look of serene content upon his face. Pay this man the final honor of closing his eternally glassy eyes, and leave the room. The darkness will over sweep you and when it lifts, you will find yourself outside of the hospital.

The pen you will find to never require refilling of its red ink. Though the ink never stinks of it, you will realize that it is your blood that drains through the pen onto paper. If you should ever let this item be destroyed, a horrific, slow death shall occur. As long as you hold this item, you shall hear whispering chants in the back of your mind until you die or do the item's bidding.

This pen is object 42 of 538. It wills you to write in the cursed tome with your own blood. It is your choice to continue their work, or to destroy the chance of the objects coming back together ever again.

Holder of Earth

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Earth". The worker will laugh loudly, drawing the attention of only one other patron. The worker will remain seated, but the person whose attention he drew will call you over. Do not ask him anything as he leads you to a disused broom closet deep in the asylum. He will open the door for you and wait for you to enter first; do not do this, or the stairway inside the door will disappear and you will plummet endlessly through the ice-cold black. Instead, tell him "I would not dare see these sights before you". If he believes you, he will nod slightly and enter, and you should follow him. If he does not, be thankful that you are deep enough into the asylum so that no one can hear your screams.

As you descend the stairway, you will hear beastly yells coming from all sides, but primarily from above you. Keep your eyes trained to the darkness below you (for the man will have vanished in the darkness, though you will be able to feel that you are not alone). You must never look up, or the demons and hell spawn watching you, mocking you, will descend, rending your flesh from your bones, draining your blood, ripping your muscles and sinew in all too long of an instant.

As you climb down, you will find the atmosphere becoming more and more tomblike, and though you will still be able to hear the demons above, it will seem as though there is finally a ceiling overhead. You must still take the utmost caution never to look up. After an impossibly long amount of time, you will set foot on solid, soft ground again. If the demons from the stairwell have stopped their yelling, you will not live to see the ground. If they have not, you will wish they had, for now is your opportunity to ask the only question to which the darkness will respond. You must ask firmly, "How can they be stopped?"

When you do, ghastly wails will emit from below you, though you will still be able to feel the ground under you. You will be able to sense the gentleman who led you here turn around. His eyes will pierce you, though you will not be able to see them. You must never look down or otherwise falter your gaze from the darkness immediately in front of you. The wails will continue, wordless at first, but a strong male voice will lead them into speaking in unison. They will tell you of the one thing that can prevent the result of the objects coming together, but it will be interlaced with every last consequence of doing so. They will tell you of the sky raining fire, of rivers running red with your blood, and they will tell you so much more.

When the consequences are finished, the lights will suddenly go on. The man who led you here will be gone. In his place will be an object that you will not be able to see in this place, lest it drive you completely insane. You must close your eyes as soon as the lights come on and feel around blindly on the floor for the warm, rough texture of the object. If you do not close your eyes, you will see what the ground is made of: Disemboweled human corpses, all missing their eyes, though their mouths still breathe. If you look at this sight and are not driven mad immediately, you will become one of them, joining the satanic earth.

If you take the object successfully, though, you will be transported to the exterior of the asylum, where you may open your eyes.

The volcanic stone is object 43 of 538. Though you know how to stop them from coming together, you will not be able to.

Holder of War

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. Gaze at the ceiling with a bored expression as you walk up to the front desk, and with a voice that sounds like it is halfway across the world ask to see the "Holder of War". You will get a light tap on the shoulder; it is now safe to look down. The attendant will smile politely and begin walking, giving a speech that sounds almost mechanical as he describes the history of the asylum. Do not react to his speech- it is insanely bloody and filled with rather graphic descriptions, but reaction at this point means a one-way trip to hell.

After some time of walking, you will come to an elaborately carved door of mahogany and gold. Stop in front of it. Keep your bored expression on your face, possibly adding a blank grin, but do not react as the worker grabs you by the back of your shirt, or he will change his grip and you will be without your head.

The worker will pitch you through the door, and you will hear it slam shut behind you. You are on what might have once been fertile farmland but is now a ravaged, blasted battlefield. Soldiers clad in two colors- a horribly bright, yet somehow stained, white and a filthy, sickening black- are battling in the most horrid manners possible, fighting with rifles, cannon, swords, bows, all the weapons of war that have existed since the dawn of time.

Do not shrink from this battlefield, or the soldiers will notice you, stop their quarrels, and turn upon you with a ravenous hatred, for you are what they have been fighting over, and in their fevered, battle-crazed minds, that means that you are the cause of all their bloodshed.

Also, do not try and go back through the door. It has fallen flat in the mud, pushed over by a screaming infantryman wielding a bayoneted rifle. If you let him get the better of you, he will rip you to pieces in seconds, but somehow not manage to kill you. The pain of the experience will undoubtedly drive what is left of your mind mad.

Instead, drop your bored expression and put a grim, determined one on your face. Walk in measured, military-style steps straight ahead until you see a three-story tall structure of blasted concrete that might have once been a command bunker. Do not turn around while doing so; the armor has arrived to the field, and if you stop, or change your pace, the tanks will run you down.

Once you have entered the bunker, do not give any notice to anyone who makes a request of you or tries to talk to you, no matter how desperate they seem. They each think you are the enemy, and the moment you respond, you will be rewarded with a knife to the face. Instead, go straight up the stairway in front of you, to the second level of the bunker. As you mount the stairs, a crash will be heard behind you- that's the fire doorway sealing as a flamethrower detachment attacks.

On the second level, there is only one man, sitting at a desk, yelling into a phone. The stairs to the third level are a mass of twisted concrete. The man at the desk wears the stars of a general, but does not seem to notice that the phone, as well as all those on the level, are dead.

Walk up to him, salute, and in your finest military voice, yell "SIR!" He will snap around to stare at you. If he thinks you are not worthy of his army, he will slowly dismantle you with his hands, and you will join him in his oncoming death. If he thinks you are worthy, he will nod and stare pointedly at you. He does not like slackers, so quickly ask him your question.

The only one he will respond to is "Where do I go, Sir?"

He will tell you. He will tell you in such detail, such HORRIFYING detail, that you will be tempted to strangle him. Do NOT try it- he is a far more experienced fighter than you could ever hope to be, and should you break salute, you will meet an extremely messy demise. When he is done, he will say "at ease", and hand you his pistol. This is your cue to drop salute. Take the sidearm and put it in your holster- if you did not have one before, you do now.

An explosion will suddenly decimate the far wall and atomize the general. Through the hole you will see, on the horizon, the long, thin shape of a missile rising.

Shut your eyes tight and open them for nothing. The sounds of horrid battle will fade away, until out of the silence, a single gunshot rings out. Open your eyes.

You are standing in the middle of a field of waving wheat. Somehow, you know that this is where the horrific battle you walked through will take place. And you also know, somehow, that you will be in the general's place.

The pistol he handed you is object 44 of 538. Learn how to use it- it has one clip left. If you fire the last shot at the right time, you will avoid the fate of the general. If not, you will join him.

Holder of Peace

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. Storm up to the front desk with a look of rage on your face, and demand to see a person who calls himself "The Holder of Peace" immediately. The attendant will recoil, and ask you to speak softly. Do not comply with his request- if anything; speak louder- for the anger in your voice is all that keeps the chains locked on the door behind the desk. Should you lower your voice, the attendant will duck, and what comes out of that door will dismember you in an instant but leave the pain behind for all eternity.

Keep the anger in your voice- the attendant will duck under his desk and point with a quivering finger down a hall to the right that was not there before. Immediately turn and stomp off down the hall. Do not look over your shoulder, for should the attendant catch you- and he will- he will casually lean back and flip the lock off the door behind him.

Walk until you find a door with a beautiful mother-of-pearl inlay design. Throw it open, but take the rage off your face IMMEDIATELY- the ones inside do not appreciate such anger.

With a peaceful look across your face, enter. You are in a beautiful, open-aired temple, with ivy curling up the marble pillars and beautiful mosaics embroidering the walls. The door will lock behind you. Do not try to open it, for it never will, and the monks in brown robes you see wandering about will do anything to get you to stay- even if it means your death.

Wander around. No matter what language you speak, the monks speak it too. They're friendly, and all of them would love to chat, but politely decline. Tell them you must speak with the Head of the Order.

Eventually you will be directed to a man sitting at a chessboard. The figure across from him is hooded and wearing armor. Do not attempt to speak to him, or your death will be far worse than any vision of hell that man could conjure up. Instead, turn to the man in the now-familiar brown robes. The game is one away from checkmate.

Bow, and ask nicely "Why do they gather, Father?"

He opens his mouth as if to speak. But the figure across from him lets out a demonic howl of rage and draws a sword. It is beautifully crafted, but seems somehow stained with an unthinkable evil. With a yell, the figure will kick you down and begin systematically slaughtering the other monks. They will try to fight back, but they have only staves, and the sword the madman wields is so sharp that it slices through the pillars like a knife through butter.

As you are watching this, the monk will make the final move in the game. The man in armor will swing around, and then run at you with the sword upraised.

If you were rude or did something wrong, you will be rent at the atomic level by the blade of the sword, and the pain will never cease. However, if you were polite, the Head Monk will step in front of you and jam the black king into the right eye of the warrior.

Pay no heed or sympathy as he falls to the ground, screaming, or the Monk will whirl around and do the same to you with the white king. Instead, focus on the Head Monk, who has now turned around to face you.

He will tell you why they gather. It is a long tale, so fraught with bloodshed and horror that it may well snap your mind. But if you survive its telling, he will reach under the table with the chessboard and pass you a scabbard richly jeweled and inlaid with gold. Though you have never seen it before, you instinctively know that it matches the sword the warrior was wielding a moment ago. Do not hesitate- take it, walk over, pick up the madman's sword, wipe it, and sheath it. Buckle it on as well- you will have need of it.

Move to leave, but before you do, the good Father will halt you and gesture towards the now-unhooded face of the warrior. He was handsome, but pay no heed to that. The one thing you should be focusing on is the fact that the black king is gone. Look up at the Father, who will nod and say one word; "Regicide".

A flash of light will blind you, and when your sight returns you will be standing on the curb two blocks down from the asylum. Step back onto the sidewalk- you don't want to have an accident.

The sword you now wield once belonged to the white king, and is object number 45 of 538. The black king is running from the scene of his murder, and the white king's sword longs for vengeance.

Holder of the Mirror

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit the "Holder of the Mirror". The Attendant will look at you strangely, as if you had spoken in a different language. Ask again, until they finally understand, and they will lead you deep into the institution without a word.

They will lead you to a plain iron door, unlocking it and motioning for you to enter the dark hallway beyond. They will stay behind, never uttering a word, never making eye contact with you. Once the door closes behind you the hallway will be lit by an ethereal light, to reveal the walls of the hallway made of mirrors. The reflections stretch out to infinity on either side of you, but none of them show your reflection; they show the reflection of those who came before you. Each reflection shows another who sought the holder, each shows how they died. Try not to look at their faces as the beasts devour them, try not to look at all, just walk in a straight line. If you look, if you watch, the beasts in the reflections will see you too; and they will come for you.

If ever the light begins to dim, if you begin to lose your way in the darkness, close your eyes tight and say firmly, without fear, "The ones you seek have gone before". If the lights return, you are lucky, and the creatures that stalk you have let you alone. If it goes dark, do not run. There is no point, not in fleeing, not in praying for a swift death. They will catch you, and your end will stretch out to eternity.

At the end of the impossibly long corridor, you will find another door, with hot white light shining around its edges. Knock on the door, and you will be allowed entry. Standing in the center of the octagonal room will be a figure, merely a silhouette in the half-light of the chamber.

He will pay you no heed, until you ask him the question, "What do they reflect?” Any other question, and he will fill your every pore with a thousand needles, flaying your hide and letting it fly in salt winds as he tortures your mind into insanity, ensuring you live eternally with him in the chamber, merely a shade of what you once were, every moment of existence a mad agony.

If you ask him the right question, however, he will answer you, in details that will chill you to your bones and turn your heart to stone. He will tell you what the holders mean, why they exist, and what is to come.

After he tells you this, he will step into your vision, revealing who he is. You will see yourself, except instead of eyes your copy has shining silver mirrors in its sockets. As you watch, unable to move in horror, your copy will dig one of the mirrors out, blood spilling thick and fast.

You will hand yourself the bloodied shard, and then you will find yourself back, outside the institution.

This bloodied mirror is object 46 of 538. It will reflect what has been, and what is to come.

Holder of the Center

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Center." The worker will meet your gaze suddenly, and close his eyes. He will point his finger in a random direction; follow his direction as given, and your soul will be sundered from your body, for demons unimaginable to do what they will with both. You must go in a straight line in the opposite direction instead. Whether or not it was there before, you will come to a nondescript metal door. Enter, and you will find yourself in a circular room, the walls lined with doors. Save for one, they will be identical. The other doors will call for you to open them, but you must only open the unique one, lest you wish to sacrifice your sanity.

When you open the unique door, you will come to a perfectly spherical room, perhaps a hundred feet in diameter. The surface around you will be solid, but will appear to shift around, as if made of mercury. Do not fear falling as you step through the door, as gravity will hold you to the surface. Walk straight ahead. You are free to look around you for now, but do not stray from the line you walk, or the surface will liquefy below your feet. It will not harden until you are fully submerged, and your lungs filled to the brim, and you will remain where you are for eternity, never dying, and forever choking on the cursed metal. Continue in this manner until you have gone full circle and returned to the door. Stand on the door, and look straight up. What you see at the center of the room, equidistant from all points on the surface, is what appears to be human, but at the same time, does not. It will be shapeless and sizeless, yet somehow recognizable, despite having no front or back, no top or bottom, no left or right. Try not to comprehend what you see or your mind will literally ignite where you stand. Stare at it for five minutes without breaking your gaze, and it will turn to face you. You will understand when it happens. Look away before then, and it will consume you before you know what has happened, though you will feel unimaginable pain before it ends. When it faces you, you must ask it one question, for it will respond to no other: "Where will they meet?"

The entity will answer in the voices of all who have ever lived speaking in unison. It will speak of all who have sought them before you, and it will tell you in every last graphic detail how they met their fates. As it speaks, the surface of the room will slowly begin to glow and turn the color of blood, and shape itself into a tapestry of the faces of those of whom the entity speaks.

When the answer has been given, you will feel the palm of your right hand burn with the fires of a thousand suns, but do not look, for this is where they brand you. To look upon the mark now will cause it to become a hole, through which you will bleed out of reality itself, your every molecule spread across an oblivion filled with horrors no mortal tongue, real or imagined has ever had or will ever have words for; all that can be said of this place is that even the souls of the damned in the most torturous pits of hell would pity your fate. If you have maintained your eye contact with the entity the entire time, it will shrink into its central point, and when it is as nothing, all will go black. When you regain your sight, you will be in the alley behind the hospital. It is now safe to look into your hand.

The mark is number 47 of 538, and it is where they will come together.

Holder of Sacrifice

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Sacrifice". A look of bliss should then come over the workers' face, and they will ignore you. Request twice more. You will then be taken by another staff member to the highest floor in the building, then one higher. It will be in an unused, pitch-black section of the building. You will hear an unending groaning reverberate off of the walls from the area furthest from you. It is of utmost importance that you listen where the sound echoes from. Should the source of the noise change, stand still for 5 seconds, and extend your right arm, displaying your palm towards the darkness. If you feel what seems to be thousands of the most wretched bugs in existence crawl across your arm, do not flinch, do not cry out. If you do either, there is nothing that will save you. If the feeling ceases, then proceed further. Upon reaching the end of the hall something will trigger the lights. The light shall reveal thousands of corpses formed together as the floor, as to show the sacrifices one must make to achieve ownership of the object. A door will be to your right. Open it.

Once you cross through the threshold of the door, you will arrive in an office. A man will be facing you, sitting in a chair on the opposite end of the room. He will speak on a cell phone dripping with blood, but his voice is nonexistent. However, once you ask him the question, he will pause. "Why have I been chosen?"

He will then hold out the bloodied phone to you. Take it, and listen. A raspy voice shall describe the purpose of the objects, and why you have been chosen, and you shall shake uncontrollably.

This phone is object 48 of 538. Those who can bear to listen, receive the truth.

Holder of the Grail

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Grail." As soon as your words reach her ears, the worker will suddenly have a blank stare on her face. If you stare at her, you may suddenly lose all grasp of reality. You should avert your gaze, and ask your question again. A blunt object will smash into your head from behind, and all will go black.

When you wake up, you'll be in a dark room. A compass stands on a pedestal in the middle, pointing the directions for all eternity.

If you go south, you'll find a well. If you look inside the well, a stream of demons will emerge and eat you. This is far worse than it sounds, as your consciousness does not vanish, and you will have the experience of being digested in fifty different places for countless millennia. If you go north, you'll find a door with a strange marking on it. If you place your hand on this mark, you'll see an image of Satan. Satan will tell you to enter the door.

Inside, you find a forest. If you go into the forest, you'll find a lake. Quickly, if you turn away, you'll escape from sudden death, for the lake is but a mirage, masking a creature far more horrible than anything from your worst nightmare. If you keep going and suddenly turn left, you'll find a pool of blood. There's a man in the pool of blood, and he asks for your soul. If you give him your soul, he'll get up. This man has the wings of a devil, but his voice is that of an angel. When he smiles at you, if you do not turn away, your soul will be lost forever. When the man walks up to you, he'll say "Thank you" and will give you a grail with Satan's blood in it. And suddenly, in a single second, you wind up in the kitchen of whatever place you call home. Be thankful- if you had done something wrong, the man would still be holding your soul, and the pain of such a separation is an experience you do not wish to go through. Put the cup in the freezer- it should be kept cold, lest it ignite once more the fires of hell on the earth.

This grail is object 49 of 538. If you drink his blood, you will either go mad or become the anti-Christ. Only fate can decide.

Holder of Twilight

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls them self "The Holder of Dusk". You must search for "The Holder of Twilight" only when the sun is high in the sky, lest you never see the sun again. The Front desk clerk will usher you into a small room with a skylight facing south. There will be a chair in the center of the room with the sun shining upon it. You must turn the chair one-hundred and eighty degrees to make it face away from the skylight and then sit upon it, lest the light will sear flesh and melt your eyes.

You will sit there motionless until a door at the opposite end of the room, under the skylight, opens. Wait until you hear the soft angelic sound of a lady whispering your name in your left ear. If you hear no voice after hearing the opening of the door, say aloud "Hello, Darkness, my old friend." and the voice should respond. If no sound comes forth at this point, then say "I've come to talk with you again." If you still do not hear your name. Stand up and slowly walk to the north door. Do not turn around or make any sudden moves. The creature that lurks behind you will only attack those that she speaks not to or gaze upon her before they are called. Do not stop walking until you see the sun again, and you may survive.

Once she speaks your name to you, it is safe to stand up and gaze upon her. She has the body of a goddess and the eyes of a demon. She is the great succubus Lillith. If she offers her hand to you, take it. She will lead you to a place deep and dark away from the light of the sun and offer you to sit upon a heart shaped bed, the only piece of furniture in the chamber. Sit upon it and she will thrust herself upon you. The pleasures she will show you will drive you to the brink of insanity and cost you your immortal soul. Kindly refuse her offer, and bow deeply to her, and you may be safe.

At this point, ask her "What is the purpose of light", her face will become solemn and she will grow silent. Then ask her "what is the purpose of darkness". She will remain silent. Now you must look her in the eye and ask, "What is the truth of blindness" and she will explain the natures of the twilight and the shadows. She will describe how light and darkness need each other to function. Listen to her carefully and do not speak. She will then guide your hand to her stomach. There you will pull out a perfect sphere made of opal and pearl. Thank her, and back out of her chamber slowly.

The opal and pearl bead is object 51 of 538. It will make light in the darkness and darkness in the light every time you place it in your palm. They must never come together.

Holder of Disgust

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Disgust". The worker's face will turn a bit green and he will excuse himself and then walk to the nearest toilet. A female warden will appear besides you and ask you to follow her. Obey her, for now.

She will lead you to a simple door with a number on it; you might remember it from somewhere else. Almost as if you've been here a long time ago. I will not tell you what the number on the door will be, but if it is not the right one, your fate will be one of eternal pain and nausea. Should the number be the right one, you will find yourself in a room that looks much like a person's stomach. You will see food being digested, wandering into the lower tracts of the digestive cycle. It will look much more horrible than you've ever imagined.

Simply wait until you see a door falling into the "room", and then do your best to enter it. If you are not successful, you will slowly be digested, just like everything else in here.

Should you have managed to enter the door, you will find yourself in a room with white and pure walls. Those are one of the few things that do not drive this Holder mad. You are not, so be prepared to run as fast as you can. Approach the Girl in the middle of the room and ask her: "What do you consider pure?" She will stare at you and open her mouth, trying to speak. But she will be unable to and instead vomit onto the floor. Close your eyes for as long as you hear her emptying her stomach.

Once you do not hear anything, open your eyes again and walk to where the girl was. Take the pills at your feet.

These pills are object 52 of 538. Eating one will cause you to vanish similarly as the girl did.

Holder of the Anvil

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit the "Holder of the Anvil". A moment, an hour, an eon will pass as you see every failure reflected in his eyes. You will see the ending of things - daughters tearing strips of flesh from their mothers with hooks of steel and bone, fathers feasting on the eyes of their sons – and you will know that you have given them their torment. Their anguish will be your own and the only way to escape is to let your cry join theirs but give no sign or the attendant will turn away and all hope with it.

An eon, an hour, a moment will pass and the attendant will drop his eyes in defeat, turn and open the door behind him. Follow him with care, he is treacherous and will leave you in dark places where your screams will never be heard, your bones never found. At the end of this path, when the skulls of infants crunch beneath your feet, you will find a young man chained to a ragged iron slab. Your guide will turn and offer you a hammer in one hand, a blade in the other. Take the blade to abandon your search and beg for quick end. It will not be given. Take the hammer, drive it into his young mans head with all the strength you can and more. Although he is innocent, allow no mercy for mercy has abandoned you. Cover the skulls at your feet in the gore and the blood. When their debt has been paid you will delivered once again to the world. The hammer will still be in your hand, the blood will never wash off. Its thirst has been satisfied for now.

That hammer is object 53 of 538. It will only be used once more, to split the world and find the secret heart that beats within. Pray that yours will not be the hand that wields it.

Holder of the File

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of The File". Should a look of pain and worry come over the face of the worker, you will be taken deep within the facility.

Beyond a myriad of twists and turns, far more than there should be in a building of this size, you will be taken to an old-style jail cell. Within will be darkness, and one single noise. The rasp of a file against metal. Should at any time the rasping stop, QUICKLY turn and run. Run as far and as fast as you possibly can, and don't worry about taking the wrong path. Getting lost in the depths of this facility is the least of your worries.

Should the rasping continue unabated, however, walk up to the bars and stick a hand into the darkness. You will feel an object placed into your hand. If it feels warm, drop it and fall to your knees in prayer. Pray you were fast enough, so that when you look up you will still be outside this cell. If you were too slow, an eternity of filing will never get you past those bars again.

Should the item feel cold, however, voice one question aloud into the cell and pull back your hand. The only question to receive an answer will be "Which side are they on?"

You will feel the file in your hand begin to move. As it shreds your skin and wears through your bones, you must concentrate not on the pain but on your question. The file with rasp away your flesh and bone until nothing left of your hand remains. Should you make it through this ordeal without giving in to the pain; you will find the answer to your question in your mind. Your hand will be whole, and once more you will be outside the facility; a cold and rusty file clutched in your hand.

Many go mad with this knowledge; some use the file to repeat the process in an attempt to remove the words from their heads. If you manage to endure, you will find yourself among those at the reunion.

That file is object 54 of 538. It will smooth your way to the reunion, but cannot help you from there beyond.

Holder of the Grand Pivot

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Grand Pivot." They will try to talk you out of it, to turn you away, but if you insist, they will concede defeat and accept your request, if only to get you to leave.

You will be taken down a set of stairs, seemingly to lead into a moldering basement. There is no elevator and the staircases are lit by ancient bulbs encased in rusted wire frames. There will be a sound as if someone is constantly coming from above or below, but I wouldn't suggest looking back. The steps are worn and rounded, and the walls wet and somehow seeming to wriggle. Your guide will simply point to a door at the base of the stairs, a windowless iron door.

If you enter, you will find what appears to have been a padded room, with the walls, floor, and roof bare, exposing cold metal. There will be a repulsively fat man sitting, reciting the Lord's Prayer. The man will only acknowledge one question. "I am a man of the Lord, what turns upon the pivot?" The man will explain in a thick Russian accent what will occur when the post and pre halves join. It will be a by-the-minute account of the exact day, save the last 5. He will then return to reciting the Lord's Prayer. If you ask to see the pivot, he will violently attack you; you might notice his pared-away nails and the small, revolting bulge under his jumpsuit. If you claim to be the smith, he will remove the pivot from his jumpsuit while crossing himself.

This is the centerpiece of the 538, the 55th item at the core of them all. They all turn upon the pivot, and now that you possess it, so do you.

Holder of the Truth

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask politely to visit someone who calls himself “The Holder of the Truth". The worker will nod slightly, and then turn back to what he was doing. He will not respond if you ask him again, but do not dare ask him a third time, for if you do he will show his true form to you and rend you into strips of flesh on the spot.

Turn to leave. The door has vanished, but there is a trapdoor in the floor that did not exist before. Open it. Preferably with something long; that gives you a better chance of escape should they be waiting for you on the other side. If they are, run; run as far into the asylum as you can. Find a window and jump out, for all the doors are barred or banished. Once you get out of the window, flee as far as you can, preferably crossing as much water as possible, for while it will not stop them, it will slow them.

If they are not waiting, jump through the trapdoor. You will land in a splendid library. People in exquisite and elaborate dress are everywhere, chatting, reading, and relaxing. DO NOT touch any of them or attempt to choose a book, for that is the trigger, and you do not want to pull it.

Look around- you have all the time you need. Eventually you will find a gray-haired man sitting at a desk, stamping an endless pile of books with an old "returned" stamp. Do not attempt to touch him or the books, for if you do all the pleasant people will reveal what they REALLY look like, and if you are driven mad in an instant by what you see then, consider yourself lucky, for you will not feel the pain as they set upon you in a vehement rage.

Instead, ask the librarian one question and one question only. "Which one holds His law?"

The librarian will look up. His eyes are a color not native to this Earth or even this galaxy; they are a color so impossible that you may be driven mad simply by their gaze. Steel yourself, and stare directly into his eyes. DO NOT BREAK EYE CONTACT, or he will look back down, not wanting to view the scene as the other patrons set upon you. He will tell you a name. It is a long one, but he will give you a card to help remember it. Before you turn to look for the book, ask if he will check it out in advance. He will nod, and stamp the card.

Do not bother looking for the book. It has already been stolen from the library, and you must find it. Close your eyes and say three words: "Find the thief."

Do not open your eyes for ten seconds, for if the prior adventures have not driven you mad, what you see then will.

After ten seconds have passed, open your eyes. You will be across the street from the asylum, still holding the card.

That card is object 57 of 538. You have checked out the book; it is now your duty to return it.

Holder of Lies

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Lies". The worker will nod cheerily, then get up and gesture for you to follow him. So will about seven other people in the area. Ignore them all- they strayed from the True Path, and now their only want is to bring others to join them.

Walk up to the desk and look under it. There will be a button, flashing rescue orange, labeled "In Case of Emergency". Press it twice, then jam the stool the worker was sitting on underneath it- this button is all that holds the door open, and you do not want it to slam shut on you.

Get up and turn around. There will be a brushed-steel door labeled "The True Path" in front of you. It is the one truth in this place; ignore all the others; only the True Path leads to the liar.

Go through the door. You may well be driven insane by your position- walking on the roof of a hallway that leads in an impossible direction, on its side, painted in an eye-jarring and impossible color. Ignore the visions- the only thing that is true is the path beneath your feet.

You cannot shut your eyes at all here, lest you never manage to open them again. Endure the madness of your position, to say nothing of the sights that will come in a moment, and start walking. The hall's ceiling is tiled in red and white. Keep your feet on the red tiles or you will fall through, straight into the madness beyond, and from then on you will only have one purpose- to bring others to join you.

Eventually, after what seems like an eternity, you will find yourself in front of a plain wooden door. Open it and walk in.

You find yourself in a 1930’s style office. A man in a black trench coat and a fedora hat is hunched over a pile of papers on the desk, muttering and scribbling. A gun sits on top of a paper-loaded bin labeled "In". Pictures line the back wall, showing the man in a number of places, but you'll notice some things common about all the photos; one, the man never shows his face; and two, everyone in the photos other than the man appears to be in unimaginable agony.

Edge your hand towards the gun, but touch nothing- this man does not enjoy being disturbed. Steel yourself, and then ask into the air, "Where was He when they gathered last?"

Grab the gun QUICKLY, and then fire at the man until you run out of ammunition. If you don't, or if you miss, he will grab you and show you what his face really looks like. You do NOT want to see that- when you do, you will appear among the photos on the wall, and you will see why the others there were in agony.

However, if you succeeded, the man will slump over his desk in mid-lunge, dead. A single envelope will flutter to the floor. If you honestly want to know where He was, grab this envelope- the message inside will tell you. But the contents are extremely volatile, and you may find that your mind can not handle the knowledge.

Don't try and read it now- you have no time. Drop the useless gun and run. Run as fast as you can manage, for without its guardian, the True Path is beginning to stray, and you do not want to be there when that happens.

When you see the steel door, lunge for it. If you were too slow, you will be trapped as a confused worker removes the stool, and you will be tortured endlessly until you agree to replace the man you killed. However, if you were fast enough, you will appear in the lobby, on one of the couches in the rest area.

Quickly, get up and run to the green armchair- the object is calling, and there are others who want it as well. Throw the cushion off the seat.

You will have revealed a skeleton, twisted in a position of horrible agony. In his arms, he holds a book bound in navy blue and embossed with gold. The name is embedded in silver on the front- it's a long one.

This book is object 58 of 538. You have found His law, but it is entirely up to you if you should follow it.

Holder of Madness

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Madness". The worker will bow formally, with his hand tucked under his chest, and motion for you to follow into a waiting room. He will leave, and the lights will go out. When they return, thirteen seconds later, you will be in a dirty hallway with cuneiform scratching on the walls.

As you walk, the scratches will gradually change, to resemble an alien writing, attempting to decipher the writing will send you into a writhing agony for the rest of your mortal days. As you reach a black orb, shimmering with liquidity, you must speak, "We are all mad, for you are the bringer." And the orb will come to resemble a doorway, enter. If the Orb begins to rotate, you will be dragged into the nether.

In the following chamber, made of twisting black coral, stands a figure, ever changing. In him, her, it, you will see all men, all women, children, animals, creatures, beasts, horrors that exist. It will not recognize your presence, unless you extend your left hand, and say, "I swear an oath to Koth, may the Tower ever stand." At that time, he will cease his changing, long enough to place his hand on yours, and your soul will be torn out of your body, and placed within a humanoid skull, resting to his left.

Touching that skull will bring you to the foyer of an ancient temple, lying in the sands of Mesopotamia. You will then open your eyes and find yourself standing outside of the institution.

The skull is object 61 of 538. It must converge once more.

Holder of Salvation

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask with no hesitation to visit someone who calls herself “The Holder of Salvation.” The clerk will give a knowing smile and beckon for you to follow. You will be led outside to an old and run down well with quite a few stones missing, and the clerk will give you a key before returning to his post.

If you should look into the well, you will find that an old, rusted ladder descends into its seemingly endless depths. Should you choose to climb down; you will hear the wind as it blows past you. It may sound to you like a heavenly dirge, or the hellish wails of the damned. There is no way of knowing which you will hear. Should the wind stop at any time, freeze, even if it leaves you hanging by one hand, for it means that an unspeakably hellish creature has entered the shaft. If you stay perfectly still, and are very lucky, you will feel the wind of its passing. However, if you should hear its bestial growl, you would be wise to let yourself fall, and hope that the bottom of the shaft reaches you before the creature does.

After the beast has passed, wait a good minute before continuing your descent. You will soon lost sight of the opening to the shaft. Don’t bother trying to light up the shaft, for this darkness swallows all light. After what will seem like an eternity, you will reach the bottom of the shaft, and remember the touch of light, as there is a single candle down here.

As you look around, you will see that you are in a small room, only slightly wider than the well shaft you just survived. There will be a single wooden door, nondescript and aging, across from where you landed. Don’t bother looking for the ladder, for it has disappeared. Approach the door and knock thrice, lightly. Should you hear nothing, pray for a swift death, for there is no escape from what awaits you now. However, if you should hear a woman’s voice say “Come in dear, I have been waiting for you” then open the door and slowly enter.

You will find yourself in a room no bigger than a closet. A beautiful young woman sits across from you, on what will appear to be an aged chest. She will only answer to one question: “If they are brought together, what can save us?” She will then proceed to describe, in horrifying detail, the only way to stop them once they are united. Many give up hope in this room, but you must not let that happen. For if you do, the woman will reveal her true form, and your death will be both long, and painful beyond mortal comprehension. If you should survive, the woman will let loose an unearthly wail and disappear, leaving only the chest. The key you were given earlier will open it.

What lies in that chest is Object 62 of 538. It is up to you whether it should join its kin.

Holder of Damnation

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask with no hesitation to visit someone who calls themselves “The Holder of Damnation.” The clerk will frightfully deny any knowledge of such a thing, but will covertly slip you a toothless key with a “∞” engraved upon it, and point you down a certain hallway. At the end of this hallway is a perfectly nondescript door, but for the doorknob. It is made of a stone that is blacker than the deadest night, and should you touch it, you will feel as if your very life force is being drained away.

Upon entering the door, you will be in a brightly lit hallway. The walls are lined with drawings, drawn in the style of a child, depicting the dreams of such a child. Do not look at these pictures, for their pleasant face is merely a façade, hiding their true nature. Should you gaze upon them, they will surely be the last thing you shall see, for your eyes will be the first to go. The ceiling of this hallway drips blood. If you were to look up, and believe me, this is something you do not want to do, you would see the disemboweled corpses of hundreds, nay, thousands of children, impaled to the ceiling by their own bones.

Should you reach the end of the hallway, you will find a massive iron door. At eye level, there will be a small sliding plate. Take the key that was given to you earlier and hold the toothless part in your hand, with the “∞” uncovered, and pointing directly at the plate. Close your eyes and give one sharp knock on the plate. You will hear it slide back. Resist any temptation to look, for it will be the end of you. Wait ten seconds, count them off carefully. If the key does not change, run. Run as fast as you can and only stop when your legs can go no farther. If you feel the key change, however, wait until you hear the plate slide back into place and open your eyes. In its place will be a massive padlock. Unlock it with your newly changed key, and quickly enter the room, closing the door behind you. The Holder of Damnation despises the light.

You will be in a dark room. There is no light whatsoever, but you will hear labored breathing from the farthest corner. Do not move closer, and do not speak. The only words that will not result in your death are: “Who was the first to bring them together?” Should you ask, you will hear a voice, neither male nor female, speaking in your mind. Soon it will give up on speech, and the images it creates in your mind will be horrifying. Do not scream, whatever you do, for it will see this as a sign of weakness and end your existence in such a way that only the criminally insane could understand. If you whether it’s “tale,” you will notice that specs of light have appeared all throughout the room. A hiss will fill the room, and elevate to the most horrific scream you will ever hear as each point of light explodes, lighting up the room. When the light dims, you will see the charred remains of the Holder in the corner. Do not move in for a closer look. Dead dogs can still bite, after all. At your feet you will find a small velvet bag. It contains a flawless crystal star.

That star is Object 63 of 538. If it is allowed to shine, its light will drive all that see it mad.

Holder of Nature

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get to. When you reach the front desk, cover your ears and ask the worker to see the one who calls himself "The Holder of Nature". If you didn't cover your ears, pray to any and every god you know for relief of what comes next. The worker will stand and begin yelling in an unknown language, in a voice more filled with evil than Satan or any of the demons in his legion. To hear this voice clearly would corrupt your mind instantly leaving you to suffer a pain far greater than the fires of hell for the rest of your life. Even with your ears covered, your head will feel as if it were in flames whilst the worker speaks his evil tongues. When he is finished, wait ten seconds before uncovering your ears, for evil still lingers in the air. After ten seconds, uncover your ears, and put your hand to your forehead saying, "In the beginning." As you finish saying this, the worker will open his mouth and a portal appears. Should you step through this portal fearfully, he will close it when you are only halfway through, trapping your soul in the dark abyss that connects the dimensions for all eternity.

If you make it through safely, though, you will find yourself in a garden. A garden more beautiful and lush than any forest or jungle known to man. In front of you, you will see a path. Follow it, but do not stray, for if you do the beasts of the garden will attack and begin to slowly tear the layers of your body off over a span of nearly 1,000 years.

After what may seem anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 weeks of walking, you will come upon a quaint home. Knock on the front door, and if you should hear a voice saying, "Come in.", leave. Exit through the portal and flee the country, for now he knows your scent. If you should have heard a voice saying, "Enter.", you may open the door and go in.

Inside, you will see an old man in a rocking chair, reading by the fire. He will only respond to one question, "What started it all?" The man will begin to change his shape right in front of you. The wrinkles on his face and arms will begin to fade, and his muscles will begin to take shape, as if he were getting much younger. He will stand and ask you to come to him. Don't. As much as he may tempt you to, do not. When he asks you this, stare directly into his eyes, and without breaking eye contact, inquire once more, "What started it all?"

Once you say this again, the fire will jump from the fireplace and surround the man. He will begin to speak, in a voice as loud as the roaring sea, yet as soft as a gentle breeze. He will explain the beginning of life, the items, and the entire universe. When he is finished, the fire will reside, and the man will be gone. In his place will be a marble on the floor. This marble is as red as fire, yet as blue as the sea. As clear as the wind, but as black as the earth. Do not try to comprehend this marble, for it will twist your mind into madness.

Close your eyes and pick up the marble saying, "The river cooleth the raging flames, the wind corrode the mighty earth." Open your eyes and you will be in the bathtub of the place you call home.

The marble is item 64 of 538. Will you bring them together?

Holder of Agony

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution or you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit something which calls itself "The Holder of the Agony". The person behind the counter's eyes will widen in surprise, as if they didn't understand why they recognized the name. They'll sputter for a moment, but their facial expression will soon change to a drawn, furrowed, pensive scowl. They will shudder, turn away, and refuse. You must ask again, and continue asking in a calm, soft voice, even if they weep or scream. Eventually, the life will leave their eyes, and they will lead you, with a shuffling gait, to a room with no apparent number just down the hall.

The worker will open the door for you. As you enter, the door will close behind you. The room will smell of rusting metal and blood. You won't be able to see much until the same door you entered through opens and the gray light from without illuminates a lanky, cloaked figure entering the room. When the door shuts, it will be darker than before.

Immediately, you will feel the cloaked figure press itself against your body. Its bony limbs will jab your ribs and stomach as it says, "I know you". Its voice will reverberate through your entire body, and you will feel every type of discomfort - like you're being watched, being molested, like your foot fell asleep, like you're dizzy, nauseous, impatient. Stand perfectly still. Make no sound, except to ask: "Why are they in pain?"

It will reply, in its gut-wrenching hiss, "I will hold you here for all time, and every night, I will mutilate you, rape you, and murder you." You will have no time to brace yourself or think, and especially no time to move, before you feel a wicked, jagged blade thrust into your abdomen and come out the other side. You will feel its rough surface grating against your organs. Do not move. Do not speak. DO NOT SCREAM.

The voice will continue. "I will murder everything you love, and make them see your face as their killer. I will ruin everything you find beautiful. I will twist your mind until you are as grotesque and perverted as the rest of us." It will not stop, even as fiery, acidic pain lances through your nerves from the blade in your gut. The pain will stop your breath and perhaps your heart, but you must remain perfectly still. More of the blades will pierce your body, in soft places, in impossible places, and the voice will continue hissing its deadly vows, its baroque tortures that become so creatively inhuman and meticulously soulless that you will be in danger of losing your mind.

Stillness is your only defense. If you move, the blades, growing in number from one to five to thirty to a hundred or a thousand, if only you had a chance of counting, will tear away in every direction, forcing every chunk of your flesh and nerves to stay conscious and aware as they are rent apart again and again forever. Stay still, even as your entire body is wracked with agony that couldn't possibly exist; you would be wishing for a reprieve of snake bites on your eyes and razor blades in your nerves.

You must listen to the voice carefully, for eventually, it will say one of two things.

If it says, "This glory is reserved for those who have proven themselves," then I can offer only my condolences. Your eternal suffering will be so insanely horrible that anyone on earth who has seen your face or heard your name will have nightmares of your agony even after they have passed on to the afterlife in Heaven or Hell. Your soul will be a wasted husk.

If it says, "Your whole existence of forever is untouched by this agony," you must reply, quickly and confidently, "The agony fills us all until they have stopped hurting." For every second it takes to muster your reply through the haze of unbelievable pain, you will suffer from another unique and unerring agony for the rest of your life. If you cannot speak, you will never know another moment without torture, and each day you will consider the prior day's pain to be the tickle of a feather.

If you reply correctly, everything will stop - the pain, the hissing - and you will feel the figure, once pressed against you, crumbling into nothingness. Lift the cloak and you will find a leather pouch. Open it only if you want to know what it would be like for the world to be torn asunder by a plague that even Hell wouldn't condone.

This tortured dust is object 65 of 538. Don't run, or you'll never know.

Holder of Greed

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Greed". If a look of ravenous hunger comes over them, run from the institution, for if you do not, you will be eaten alive in the most painful way possible. However, if a look of tired want comes over them, they will take you to a cell in a corridor that wasn't there before. The walls will be made of fine gold and silver, but do not touch it, lest they devour your soul.

As you walk, if at any time you hear the sound of coins jingling, stop and yell quickly, "All that glistens is not gold!" If it continues, you are damned for all eternity, and there is no point in running. However, if it stops, continue.

Eventually, you will come to a gilded door. The worker will open it, and close their eyes as you enter. As you enter, the door will close behind you. Inside is an exquisite palace, crafted of ivory and gold and wonders that no mortal man has ever built or conceived. Do not dwell too long, as if you do, the world will open under you, and you will be eternally trapped in a world of filth and squalor.

If you continue, the palace around you will slowly and increasingly drip blood, until a torrent of blood rains down on you. Continue, and never look back, and do not stop. Eventually, the blood will stop, and you will be in a room filled with gold bricks and treasure. Sitting in a throne of platinum will be a corpse, which will respond to only one question: "What do they lust for?"

It will stand up, and begin telling of every want, every desire, and every theft. If you manage to keep your sanity, the corpse will motions towards the treasure when it finishes with its story. However, do not take any of the gold or treasure. Instead, look for a small, copper coin, inscribed with an unknown language. The second you touch it, you will be back in the institution, as if nothing happened, with the coin in your hand.

That coin is 66 of 538. It is worth nothing and everything.

Holder of the Cosmos

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. Get the front receptionist's attention and ask to visit someone called "Holder of the Cosmos". He will look you up and down. If he mutters and walks away stay in place - he will return momentarily. Upon his arrival he will unlock a trapdoor beneath his desk and motion for you to follow. He will lead you down an ancient, creaking staircase made of wooden planks. It remains somehow suspended in an impossibly large room, the sides or bottom of which you will not be able to fathom. The only light will be from the quickly receding entryway. Vast, hulking shapes lumber will in the darkness - I recommend that you do not make any noises louder than the gentle squeaking of the bridge.

Your guide will remain only a few steps ahead of you, but in the oppressive darkness his features remain unclear. You will be descending the stairs for what seems like an eternity. During this time, do not let your thoughts wander. Focus entirely on your objective - the Keeper of the Cosmos. As you sink farther into the blackness, wooden planks swaying beneath your feet, your guide's form may seem to shift. It is not a trick of your eyes. If he stops at any time, throw yourself from the bridge immediately - an eternity of falling would be preferable to his torment.

However, should he continue to move, you will eventually begin to feel a wind pick up. Far below you, the tops of trees will become visible. Above your head, a vault of stars and clouds. To your sides, a vast and unimpeded horizon, save for one structure far to your right. As you descend further, you can see it is a mansion with a small dirt road leading from it. This part of the descent is incredibly peaceful and will last for several hours. Enjoy it, but do not under any circumstance look back from where you came. The rickety staircase will collapse and you will plummet to your death.

Eventually you will reach the bottom of the stairs. They will have deposited you in a thickly wooded forest, a few yards from a dirt road. Your guide will stop moving. In the sparse shafts of moonlight filtering down between the trees, you will notice that he has changed considerably. Where once stood a man now stands a hellish, hulking beast. He will begin to turn. You must run. The staircase you recently descended will have disappeared. Your only choice is the road. The demon is slow, but he will not relent.

Run. Run until your lungs burn and your chest heaves. Run until your throat is slick with blood. Until you cannot run any longer. Give up hope. Fall to your knees. Weep. You will feel the demon's breath at your heels, and you will mumble a prayer into the dirt road as you see your life flash before your eyes. At that very moment, as you have lost all hope, a gunshot will roar into the void of the darkened forest road. The demon at your back will have been slain.

This next moment is crucial. No matter how winded you are, you must stand up and immediately say: "Who is their enemy?" If you wait a split second too long you will be blown to bits in a similar fashion to the demon. However, if you are fast enough, an elegantly dressed gentleman on a horse will trot out of the darkness a few steps down the road. He appears rather young and is holding an ornately crafted, 18th century pistol in his right hand. He has several large tomes strapped to the saddlebags of his horse and bits of script in a foreign language are visible pasted, in a fashionable way, to various bits of his clothing. He will slowly approach you, making no move to dismount, but visibly interested in your appearance. You must hold his gaze until he disappears in the opposite direction. Following this exchange your exhaustion will suddenly catch up with you, and you will find it increasingly difficult to stay awake. Give in to your weariness and sleep.

You will awake the next day in your bed, clutching a rough piece of paper. On it, in an elegant script, are written the words: "You are a fool."

That man is object 67 of 538. He defends the cosmos from their revival. Now that he knows your intentions, he will do anything to stop you.

Holder of the Negative

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. Get the front receptionist's attention and ask to visit someone called "Holder of the Negative". If the receptionist adamantly refuses to help you, immediately turn, leave the institution behind and take the fastest possible route home. After a fortnight of hiding you will know whether their trackers have found you. However, if the receptionist merely nods at you with a stony expression and gestures for you to follow, do so. He will lead you to a seemingly innocent-looking hospital room and leave.

As soon as the door locks, push the bed aside to reveal a decrepit wooden trap door underneath. Use the bed to block the door - the clock is ticking and the sentinels are already on their way. Open the trap door to find a dusty and grimy gray metal coffin in a shallow pit dug into the floor. Open the locks on the side and lift the lid. If the coffin is empty, lay yourself inside and close both the trap door and the coffin lid. If there is somebody already in there, well - I would recommend trying to snap your own neck before the coffin's previous resident does.

You must lie inside the coffin for exactly four minutes and thirteen seconds. Until this time, DO NOT OPEN THE LID. What would come to pass if you did is beyond the description of mortal men. When the required time has passed, you may knock twice on the metal lid. If there is no answer, knock thrice more. If the coffin trembles slightly in response, you may push the lid off. If the coffin remains silent, you know your life expectancy is now a minute at best.

Push the lid aside to emerge in what seems like the dark, blasted remains of a bizarre underground machine shop. The blotched, ocher metal walls and the gray dust of time over the disengaged, quiet computing devices speak in their own way about the hundreds of thousands battles which were planned, organized and miserably lost in the very same room you are now sitting in. As alien and intricate the machinery may be, don't dally. Rise to your feet and reach your right hand out to find a wall. Fumble around until you find a metal lever sticking out of it - it's roughly at your shoulder level. If the room starts to emit an increasingly loud whirring, DO NOT PANIC. Instead, call out sternly into the blackness: "It's the last piece of knowledge we require." If the whirring dies down, continue your search. If it doesn't, the machinery will engage in their last integration routine with you as their target. When you find the switch, throw it.

The last operational generator will start up with a painful whine, powering little else but the few good light fixtures around the floor. In the core of the still dim room, you will see a huge, brass-colored and impossibly complex mechanical device which most closely resembles a crossover between an opulent metal throne and a Victorian-era life support system. Amidst the zigzagging tubes, pipes, valves, cogs and plates you can see a gaunt, inhumanly frail corpse barely clinging on to its life. As intimidating as the throne may be, enter the creature's presence and matter-of-factly utter the query: "Who scattered them for the first time?"

Your question sparks a new light in his milky gray eyes, and with the spite and frustration of countless generations in his raspy, mechanically amplified voice he will recite to you all of the stories, all tales of vain heroism, every broken union and all of the heart-wrenchingly disappointing failures of all of those who came before you. His contagious despair will punch through your skin, slither past your flesh and pierce through your bones, but take heed not to lose your focus - he is still their slave and his corrupted side will readily consume you if given the opportunity. He will tell you of those who first knew of their convergence, how they scattered the objects and broke their unholy union and what made those first fail and perish.

When he is done, he will slowly and painfully extend his hand out to you from within the metal shell. Do not take his hand. Instead, cross your arms across your chest and exclaim: "Your flawed routines are not mine to embrace!” Leaning against one of the mysterious devices is a thin, two-pronged metal staff. Grab it, and using all the power you can possibly muster, drive it through the only exposed vital part in his body - his head. His death will be swift.

When his rotten body and the infernal device lie silent, reach inside the metal shell protecting the body and fumble around the inner workings of the machine. As soon as your hand hits a part pulsing heat, yank it out. It should come off easily. Retreat as fast as you can back into the zinc coffin - you have killed the only entity which upheld the order of the place and it won't be long until the room is going to unmake itself and crumble into the void. Slam down the lid, close your eyes, and if you are lucky, you will near-instantly drift off into sleep.

When you wake up, you will wake up in your own home, in your own bed, tightly hugging a warm chunk of metal to your chest. You would be wise to get rid of the coffin around you at earliest opportunity.

This corrupted golden gear is the object 68 of 538. You now know how your predecessors failed. Now it's your responsibility to make sure their errors are not repeated.

Holder of the Sky

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Sky". The receptionist will ignore your existence completely, and you will collapse on the floor. You will wake up in a torrent of soundless rain, the silence will be unbearable, and there is no environment, what you walk on is solid air in a tempest.

In the silence a huge mass of people dressed in complete darkness will appear and begin approaching you, do not fear. Take off your shirt and wrap it around your dominant hand and walk at them. Do not speak. When you get close hold your arm forward and simply fend aside anyone who is in your way, should your skin contact any of them, the silence will be broken and you will become visible to them, and that would mean the end.

Going through you will see a man in scarlet; he will be the only one standing still, and the only one that can see you. An empty circle will oddly form with you and the man inside, the rest continuously walking. Stand and wait, once the man raises his hand you must immediately break the silence. “How many will perish when they are brought together?”

The men will all stop and rhythmically face towards you, all of them eyeing your every move. Once they are all facing you, you must then ask “And how many will be there to fight back?”

They will laugh. All but the one in the red cloak will laugh. Their cackling will resonate throughout the space you stand on, but you mustn’t give in. Resume asking, “And how many will be there to fight back?” Their laughter will grow and they will begin to fade. Once all but one are no more, ask one last question to the scarlet man, “Where will we be safe from them?”

The man will bow before you and fade, the only thing left will be his scarlet red cloak.

This cloak is object 71 of 538. When worn it brings you back to this space, the only place safe when they are brought together.

Holder of Sanity

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Sanity". The receptionist will look at you strange, but you must keep asking the same question, and nothing else. Eventually, she will call for a "doctor" and you will be taken to the room in the furthest corner of the institution. Beware, for after this point, there is no turning back, and if you wish to leave then, tell the doctor that you are sorry, and must not have taken your medication today, and leave. Run as far away as you can, outside of the city limits, outside of the country limits, for cowards are not spared if caught. If you continue on, you will be put into a straight jacket and locked in a padded room.

After a few days that seem like months, you will start to hear voices. Hundreds of them, all talking about how their lives were ruined. Their stories may drive you mad, and you would have to stay there for all eternity, for in your padded room, there is no death, only torture. If the voices stop talking, close your eyes tight, and shout at the top of your lungs, "I WILL NOT SHARE YOUR STORIES." If the voices continue to be absent, pray that the pain you will next feel will not be so bad, however unlikely this is. If the voices continue talking, single out the voice that speaks of the very hospital you are in, listen to his story, and open your eyes. You will not be in the cell anymore, but still in a straight jacket. Instead, you will be in what seems like an endless void, the only thing separating you and the void a glass box.

A man will appear in front of you, and ask if you have any questions. He will respond to one, and only one question. Ask "What drove them to insanity?" He will go on in horrifying detail about the lives and deaths of them. During this time, a large black dot will appear to be moving through the void, but you must not focus your sight on it, for it will shatter the glass box, leaving you to fall into infinite for all eternity.

Once the man is finished his story, he will remove the straight jacket from you, and bid you farewell, and you will be standing outside the institution.

The jacket is object 72 of 538. May you never wear it again.

Holder of Winter

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Winter". Should the receptionist begin to cry, you're at the right place. You will appear in a cold street in the middle of fall after a storm. Begin walking down the street. The houses are all dark and the twilight is forever. It is good to hear the cicadas and birds chirping, for if they stop you must run. Any direction will do, as long as it's down the street. If the cries continue again stop. Do not go off the road, the thing in the woods hates company.

If you see a single black crow on the electric wires in the distance you must seize movement. Everything will become silent and they will know you have seen it, do not worry about running. The crow will begin flying at a horrendously slow pace toward you. Once you spot its green eyes you cannot avert your gaze from it, for if you do time will accelerate to mid winter and you will be unable to move, you will freeze to death slowly in the snow.

Once the crow lands it will begin acting as if you aren't there and begin pecking at the ground, you must ask it one question and one question only with your gaze still at its eyes, if it turns you stare at its head. "What will we gain by bringing Winter?"

The crow will continue pecking at the ground, but you will stare at it. It will suddenly begin staring directly at you as if into your own soul. The time will feel immeasurable and the late fall's cold will get to you but you will not avert your gaze. The crow will caw once and begin to fly away but you will not lose sight of it, you will give chase. You will come up to a forest and the crow will fly through, you will stare at where it last disappeared and pass through the trees.

You will come to a clearing and you will find the crow long dead and rotting, the only thing left is one of its lucid green eyes. You will be filled with painful visions of yourself gouging out your own eye to replace it with the crow's. It will end; you will realize you are back on a busy street in your neighborhood, the eye in your hand.

That eye is object 73 of 538. It can see into people’s hearts and show their true self, and they must never come together.

Holder of the Mark

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Mark" he will freeze, as though he knew this moment was coming for a long time and was very afraid it had finally come. He will stutter and tell you there was no such man here, but be insistant. He will eventually yield and after looking around to see if anyone else is here he will beckon for you to follow him. He will lead you along corridors of increasingly smaller size, until you eventually have to stoop. He will point you to a door at the end of a corridor so small you have to crawl to. It will be perfectly normal except for a large exclamation mark in the centre and a smaller question mark on the doorknob. This is your last chance to turn away, and if you have the slightest hint of doubt in you I recommend you do so. If your will is strong, open the door gently and pull yourself through. You will be in a ornate hall, covered with wall paintings depicting famous historical dictators and murderers, butchers, rapists and serial killers. Do not linger on them, for the souls of the people reside in those pictures and the twisted hate of their life has been amplified in their death, waiting to reach out and rend you limb from limb, delighting in your slow painful death. When you finally reach the end of the hall, there will be a small wooden box with an insignia on it that is old and faded you will feel a sharp tingle go up your spine as you behold this item, and then a voice behind you will say: "Beautiful, is it not?" You must reply: "As the full moon." If he is not satisfied with your response, pray he doesn't make you one of his paintings and instead gives you a painless death, but if he is satisfied, he will say: "You ask?" You MUST say exactly "How do we destroy them?" He will laugh and say he doesn't know, but will simply state, "You're bound to think of something.". You will then wake up in the nearest bathroom, your eye in excruciating pain. As the pain recedes, you will see your pupil has now taken the shape of the mark on the box back in that room.

That mark is object 74 of 538. It will let you behold the ultimate truth.

Holder of Divinity

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you get to the front desk, ask to visit "The Holder of Divinity". Repeat this two more times before the worker responds. He should stiffen, looking straight upwards for a few seconds before looking back down at you with eyes of an indescribable color. You must then follow the worker, keeping your eyes on the ground, tracing his footsteps as exactly as you can. If you do not follow well enough, you will never find your way again.

When the worker stops, turn around and look up from the ground. Resist any urge to look behind you from this point on. You will find yourself facing a door, with a hideously shaped red dagger stabbed into the center. Grip its handle, and an incredible pain should slowly creep up the skin of your arm, then across your whole body, sinking deeper and deeper into your body. If at any time you release your hold on the dagger, the pain will never go away, even after you die. Once the pain reaches your heart, you should feel a sudden surge of demonic strength. Rip the dagger from the door and it will swing open.

You must run through the doorway and through a long, arched hallway, which will open into a strangely lit circular room. Go straight for the man in the center. He will be kneeling, facing away from you, deep in prayer, completely in shadow but surrounded by a golden glow. If he finishes his prayer, you will be damned for all eternity.

Once you reach him, press the dagger to his throat and ask the question, "What do they teach?" He will begin to sing in answer. Do not try to comprehend his words; in your state they would destroy you. Listen only for the word "sacrifice". As soon as you hear this word, stab the dagger into his throat. His blood will seep onto the dagger, transforming it, and light will fill the room. You will find yourself standing on the roof of the building you started at, holding a pure-white feather.

That feather is object 77 of 538. Protect it at all costs, for its fate is now your own.

Holder of the Rails

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you get to the front desk, ask to visit "the holder of the rails". Should a look of doubt and fear come over the officer's face, you are in the right place, if a look of greed and lust come over the officer's face, run out of the station and keep running, you will hear an inhuman sound behind you, like the sound of a rabid dog chasing you. Keep running until that sound disappears or until you pass out. When you awaken, the officer will be gone and a new one will be in that officer's place at the station. While running, do not look back, for if you do, the now distorted and gruesome face of the officer will send paralyzing fear through your body and you will be caught, raped, and fed upon for the rest of eternity, feeling everything.

The officer will take you to an elevator. Before the doors open, close your eyes. When you hear a bell, wait 5 seconds, and then take 3 steps in. Make a 180 degree spin, and keep your eyes closed. The officer will get on with you and press a button. You will never know what floor you will end up on, so don't fret. The same thing will happen. You will be riding on the elevator for hours, going straight down. You will hear a bell and the doors will open. The officer will say, "Is this where you want to go?" Do NOT answer; do NOT open your eyes. After a while, the officer will sigh and the doors will close. You will go down another floor and a buzz will ring out instead of the bell. The officer will say, "End of the line." Take 7 steps out and wait 30 seconds before opening your eyes. You will be in a long, dark hallway with old white, filth-caked walls. Blood will be oozing upward on the walls. Pay it no heed and walk. Walk swiftly, but don't speed walk or run. The demons hiding in the shadows love fast objects, and your scent will slowly drive them wild with hunger.

When you get to the end, there will be a door with no knob. Push it open and you will be standing at the top of an escalator. It seems to go down into endless darkness, but don't let your mind waver and don't let your bravery falter. You've made it this far. There is no turning back. Should you hear a voice urge you to come down, ride the escalator all the way down. It will take you 7 days. If you hear a scream come from behind you, walk down the escalator at a normal walking speed. Count the first 20 steps in an indoor voice. Once you say '20', stop counting, but don't stop walking. You will hear loud footsteps behind you, matching your footsteps, sometimes a bit slower, sometimes a bit faster. Do not slow down, do not speed up, do not look behind you, and do not speak. The footsteps will sound like hard sandals hitting metal and you will become very annoyed. Still, keep your pace and do not falter.

After about 20 minutes of walking, you will reach the platform. The footsteps will end and you will feel a presence right behind you. Turn around to face your follower. If it is a female apparition with a scarf on her head, you are safe for now. If it is a male apparition that stands at least 2 feet taller than you, throw yourself onto the tracks and the train will come instantly and end your life.

The female will smile at you and lean up to kiss you. Let her. She will thank you for accompanying her down the long escalator ride. At that time, ask her, "Where do I go?" She will gasp and move away and beg you not to continue. She will confess her love for you and wrap her arms around you. Ask her again, with sternness in your voice. "Where do I go?" If she pulls back and pushes you onto the track, pray that the train comes and takes your life before the woman calls forth her small demons. As small as they may be, they will enter your body and eat you from the inside out.

Should she pull away and cry, caress her cheek and tell her you love her softly. She will begin to tell you in a riddle like manner where the last and strongest holder is. Ask her this, "How will I know when it happens?" When she opens her mouth to answer, the train will come, blowing its horn and awakening all of the demons from your worst nightmares. They will begin stampeding down the escalator, rage flaring in their monstrous eyes. Run as fast as you can to the front car of the train. Those doors will be the only doors that open, and they'll open for anyone. The apparition is in the driver's seat, looking at you with sadness in her eyes. Don't stare into her eyes, for they will enchant you and cause you to forget your mission. The demons will rip you apart slowly and each day, you will heal just for it to happen again.

Reach over the apparition and press the only button. It will make the train move and seal all the doors. Now, it is safe to look at the apparition. Ask her the question again. "How will I know when it happens." she will begin to blink in and out of existence and finally fade away, smiling. Her spirit is now free. Now, however, the station around you will begin to crumble and the train is speeding out of control. The lights will turn red and a gruesome demonic voice will answer you.

"When the sun shines at night, And the moon lights up the day, When the Devil runs to Heaven, And God hides away, When the plagues return at once, And all of the first born sons die, When thunder flashes and lightning rains, And the Earth becomes the sky, When fire cools and water burns, When clouds surround and the mountains churn, When screams are silent and silence becomes sound, When angels fall from the melting ground, The Legion will arise."

The voice will speak slowly and you must run to the very last car into the control room and pull what looks like a jewel studded level down. Once you pull it down, pull it out of the panel and you will see it's a dagger. Where the button was in the first control room there will be a heart. Stab the heart and close your eyes. Scream out as loud as you can, "I FIGHT FOR THE SOULS THAT WERE LOST IN THIS TRAIL! THIS MOTION IS FOR THEM!" Drag the dagger down the hear and a loud screech will be heard. Your eyes will open and you will be arriving at the station closest to you home. You will be sitting in a random seat with the dagger in your lap. Since it's illegal to carry weapons on a train, you may want to conceal it as you leave. There will be a red taxi with wings on the door and a horn on the hood. Go to it, put your hand on the handle of the door and close your eyes. Get in, don't speak, don't open your eyes. Count to 10 in your head and open your eyes. You will be on your couch at home. If you look on your nightstand, you will see a picture of yourself and that apparition while she was alive. You two will be in a playful embrace and suddenly, sadness will wash over you. You will suddenly think you have just lost the love of your life, the love you never had. Look at the dagger. It is up to you whether to use it.

That dagger is object 78 of 538. It will only pierce one heart: the heart of its owner.

Holder of Simplicity

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you get to the front desk, ask to visit "The Holder of Simplicity". Should the worker utter a single, piercing shriek, place his hands on his ears and close his eyes, you have come to the right place and should feel free to ask again. But, if he simply ignores you and writes something down, your life is doomed; you will instantly become completely aware of everything that has to happen for each action you make to occur, from stepping on an ant to blinking. After you ask the second time, the worker should instantly calm down and ask you to follow her.

She will lead you on a roundabout path, heading through the seemingly endless halls of the school. Count the number of right turns you make- after seven right turns, casually slip into the shadows and let the worker continue walking. Should you fail to do this, you will never get another chance to leave, and those endless halls will swallow you up forever.

If you succeeded in losing the worker, stick your hands in your pockets and look around for a bulletin board. There will be a morass of colorful announcements tacked to it, with an array of eye-catching pictures and descriptions of incredibly exciting activities. Do not be strayed by these- they are trying to hide the one you are looking for. Look for a plain white sheet of paper almost completely covered by the others. Take note of the room number, then look at the time of the activity it advertises. The date will always be today's, but if the time has already passed, then you are too late- they have caught you, and nothing you can do will keep them away.

If the time is later than what it is right then, start searching for the classroom. None of the wall-mounted directories are the same, and the numbering system is horribly random. You will likely never find the place, and will be lost searching for it among the endless halls while the hunters circle in.

If by some miracle you do manage to locate the room, ready a weapon and prepare yourself. If you didn't make it before the listed time, the door will slam and lock, and nothing will ever convince it to open for you again. If you make it in time, take the door at a run, weapon ready.

A heavily decorated Biology classroom will greet you. The room's paint job is disgusting- rancid, vile colors drip freshly slathered from every surface. Posters line the walls, emblazoned with pictures of impossible, unholy creatures. Books in dark, lost languages lie scattered on the floor. Yet the room is empty- almost. At the far end of the room, a student sits hunched over one of the unspeakable creatures from the posters, frantically dissecting it with a long-bladed scalpel.

You must ask him the right question, or he will smash the creature aside and turn to find a new subject to dissect- you. At the top of your lungs, scream to him "Why did it not happen then?"

The student will scream, horribly, and whirl around. Time will seem to slow, and in one second he will tell you the hours-long story of why it did not happen then, and all the things that have gone wrong because of it. When he finishes, the creature on the table will whirl up and attack him, tearing him to shreds in seconds. His calculator will fly from the melee- grab it quickly, but dare not to open it. With whatever weapon you have, target the thing's head and aim to destroy, or it will do the same to you. Whirl for the door- the rest of the class has arrived. They all brought their dissection kits today, but you've ruined their only subject- and now they want you to replace it.

Battle your way out of that classroom. The topography has changed. Where once endless, grotesquely painted halls stretched, a single, bare concrete walkway stretches across a pit of flames to a steel door. Fight your way over there- do whatever it takes to get through that door. The moment you grab the handle, everything will turn white. Shut your eyes.

Count to five, then open your eyes again. You will be holding the handle of the locker room door at the last school you ever attended. Open it and walk into the locker room. Pull the student's calculator from your pocket, turn it on, and press the key labelled "ENTRY".

A number will appear. Toss away the calculator and find the locker with that number on the door. It will be unlocked- open it.

The whetstone inside is object 81 of 538. When used on any blade, that blade will never again grow dull, and nothing will be able to resist its bite. It is for the blade that will help you destroy Him.

Holder of Corruption

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you get to the front desk, ask to visit "The Holder of Corruption." The attendant behind the desk will look down, and then begin to scream. Close your eyes tight, you won't want to see what they are doing. When the screaming stops, open your eyes.

You should be in a small, dark room, with wooden walls. There will be a solid looking door of copper and wood behind you. Walk up to the door, knock twice, and open it. You will be standing in the place you call home, but horribly distorted. You will recognize it, but it will be difficult to find your way. Everything will be decayed and rotting. Insects, rats, and all kinds of horrible things wander the house. The house will be buried deep underground, dirt blocks the windows, making it pitch black. You had better have brought a light. If not, the walls won't exist, and you'll wander for the rest of your existence, in the darkness, unable to die, or to feel weariness.

If you did bring a light, however, you are in luck. Quickly find your way to your parents room. On the bed will be a twisted visage of both of your parents, in one body. They will be naked, and smeared in horrible substances, filth, feces, blood, vomit, everything possible. They will be horribly gibbering your name. You cannot react to this at all. If you do, you will join them as one, and your mind and body will break slowly over thousands of years. You will know only torment, and the torment of all others to ever die.

Instead, resolutely stare them in the eyes, and ask them "Why did this come to pass?" At this point, they will split into two separate bodies, and tell you from beginning to end, then from end to beginning at the same time, why it came to pass. It will be a horrifying tale, because it will seem it is your fault these things happened. You will most likely go mad from guilt. If you do not, however, the two bodies will produce an hourglass, and place it on the floor. Thank them, and gently pick it up with both hands.

You will wake up in the place you call home laying on the floor in the most windowed room. It will be 3:32 in the morning. No light will come from the windows till the morning comes.

The hourglass is object 83 of 538. When the sands of one end run empty, then it will begin. Don't let this happen.

Holder of Dreams

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Dreams". The person behind the desk shall stare at you with piercing eyes, tell you such person is not there. Ask him or her, where can you find him, and you’ll be granted with a key, with a number attached to it.

Walk out from the building, into the street, and go north. If the street doesn’t go neither north or south, go east, when turn north once you notice a street at your left. Keep walking until you see a hotel. Maybe you never heard of it, maybe you never realized it was there, but this is your destination. Enter the hotel, and speak to nobody, answer no questions directed to you by the one in the lobby or other guests. Look at the number attached to the key, and find the bedroom’s door where the key belongs. Once you find it, open the door. Enter the hotel bedroom, and close the door.

You’ll want to wait until, at least, sunset, when the first stars show up in the sky. Turn off any possessing mobile phones, don’t turn on the TV, have no objects which can be make sounds. Without changing clothes, lay down in the bed, and close your eyes. Even if you’re not asleep, your mind will drift away, and you’ll be sleeping soon. Think of good things while waiting with your eyes shut, because if fear or bad thoughts emerge, it might be too late. They know you’re there.

If all goes well, you’ll wake up in the next morning. Leave the hotel with no explanations, return home, and resume your life, but be prepared. You did, without knowing, a pact. Accepting to take this path granted you horrible consequences.

3 people you know will die in the following days. They will die in horrible, disgusting ways you couldn’t imagine it was possible. React no more than what is normal to a human. Go to their funerals, mourn for them. Keep moving with your life. Do not attempt to return to the hotel or back to the asylum, or it will be all over, and you will wish you had died the same way your friends did. It would have been less horrifying.

After one week, 7 complete days, you will see, for sure, the death of the 3rd person. There will be no way to avoid it. It will be the person next to you in the 7th day, and no matter how much you’ll try to stay alone in the day, that person will still come to you, without guessing his/her fate. It will also be the person you most care for, doesn’t matter how he/she appeared, the person will be there. When it happens, while you’re unable to save the person, you cannot turn around or close your eyes, or you’ll suffer the same fate. It will be as the entire legion of Hell came to consume your friend into pain, agony and despair until his/her last breath.

You must not scream, or react. Just watch. When all is over, when there’s nothing left but the mutilated corpse of your friend, you’ll feel an hand tap your shoulder. Do NOT turn around, or the boned hand will grasp your neck, and death will be slow and painful. The figure behind will ask “Did you enjoy?”

Do not answer. Instead, ask “How can I protect my dear one?”

The hand patting your should will rise and point at the corpse. Approach it, and you shall see a faint light coming from inside the now decomposing chest. Reach for it, and remove a small silvery trinket from your flesh. Once you do this, you’ll hear a pitched scream, and the ground under your feet will vanish. Keep holding the trinket tightly, DO NOT LET IT GO, as you fall into the darkness.

You’ll wake up in the hotel bedroom. Check the calendar. Those 7 days were a dream. Nothing happened at all, your friends and family are safe and sound. But you’ll have the trinket in your hands.

The trinket is object 84 of 538. Give it to the one you most care for- it might well be their only salvation.

Holder of Sorrow

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Sorrow." The worker will frown and bite his lip. Hesitantly, he will lead you deep within the facility until you reach a rusted, charred iron door. He will open the door for you, and you must enter in the darkness in complete silence. Once you are inside, the worker will quietly close the door shut and bolt it locked.

You will hear the many screams of tortured souls within a few meters of you. Should the screams stop at any time, QUICKLY scream at the top of your lungs “I do not feel sorry for you!” If they do not resume, hope for a quick death, as it is useless to run. However, if the screams return, continue walking forward in darkness. Keep walking until you see a dim light glow in front of you. Once this happens, IMMEDIATELY halt and stare at it.

You will be tempted to look upon the faces of the tormented beings hanging on the walls, and they will plea for your help. Do not answer their cries, for if you avert your eyes from the light, your mind will instantly be shattered and you will reflexively begin to gouge your eyes out.

The light will reveal a man standing with his back to you, and his presence will cause the screams around you to subside. He will only respond to one question: “Who will be spared when they come together?” He will whirl around to meet your gaze, and answer your question with excruciating detail. Do not interrupt his speech. What would happen if you did could not be described by the most sick and twisted criminal in the history of the world.

When he is done, he will hand to you what appears to be an ordinary rock. He will back away from you, the glow of the mysterious light fading away. The words will begin to ring in your mind, “He who is without sin shall cast the first stone.” Close your eyes and count to ten. When you open them you will be standing in front of the front desk in the institution.

The stone is object 85 of 538. It can only be thrown when they come together.

Holder of the Lens

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself into. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Lens." The attendant will not acknowledge your request at first, but you must continue to ask. When she raises her head, she will give you a questioning look, and ask if you are sure. If you have any doubt in your mind that you will not succeed, turn away quietly and never return. If you have no doubt of your impending victory, then give her a single nod. She will smile softly and lead you through a door behind the desk.

The door will open into a steel-gray hall, straight and narrow, barely wide enough for the two of you to traverse. Large mirrors, spaced at odd intervals along the walls, will reflect the two of you along the path; you must look in every one of them as you pass. Should one of the mirrors show that the attendant has disappeared, begin to pray, for you will not be long in this world. However, should it be you missing from the mirror, stop and turn to face it. The attendant will turn around and push it aside, revealing a darkened room. Make sure to thank her before you step inside; the powers in this place do not tolerate a rude visitor.

The mirror will slide silently back into place, coating the room in darkness, and a voice will begin to mutter nonsense words to itself for an indeterminate time. Should they stop, you must state calmly, "I am only here to see a friend." If the voice returns, it will not be a whisper, but a roar of anger that will shred your body, leaving your soul to be slowly consumed by the Holder; if the room begins to light up, then you have intrigued him.

You will find yourself in a small, dimly-lit room, with only a single chair in the center of the light. Stand still, do nothing until a voice asks you to sit, then do so. The Holder will ask you many questions, and you must answer them truthfully, and not make any attempt to clarify their details, no matter how damning they might be. Lying to him will bring out his demon, and you want to avoid that for now.

When he is finished, he will thank you for your honesty, and tell you that he wishes to know why you came. Ask him, "May I see your face?" The Holder will laugh kindly, and a pair of glasses will drop into your lap. Take the time to think of the one thing that means the most to you, and put the glasses on.

Now you will see the room in whole, oozing pestilent blood from every inch of every surface, save the small ring of illuminated floor. Do not stand until the holder asks you to, and when he does, leap up onto the seat of the chair immediately. The light will go out, and blood will rush to fill the gap, but you will still be able to see through the lenses. Look directly ahead of you, and politely ask to see the Holder's face again.

The blood that forms the wall will part like a curtain, and a figure will emerge. If it is anything but the figure that you pictured in your mind before donning the glasses, quickly remove them and throw them aside. If you are fast enough, the darkness will part to reveal the doorway of the institution you came to; count yourself amongst the most fortunate. Should you be too slow, then your blood will be added to the room's- very, very slowly.

If, however, it is the object, step down from the chair. Your feet will touch the blood, but you will not sink. Take five steps forward and halt. The object, whatever or whomever it may be, will move to match your distance. Take three more steps, and wait for the object to move again, then take a single step. This time, when the object moves, you must ball up a fist and strike it with all of the strength you can muster. Hold nothing back, and press your fist through it. The surface will give way and shatter as glass, revealing a floating skull, with chunks of putrid, rotting flesh still clinging to its visage.

Pull your hand back immediately, and do not examine the wounds on your hand. Bow and thank the Holder as politely as you can. He will then ask, with horrid breath, if you wish to see your face. Politely decline, and begin to turn away. A hand will place itself on your shoulder, and the Holder will insist. Now, ask him, "How do they see?" The hand will then forcefully shove you down, and you will sink into the bloody floor. As you pass, press a hand to your face, and keep the glasses from falling away. They are all that protects you.

You will see scores of images, ghastly and demented, pass by your vision as you descend. In all of this, you must not avert your eyes in any way from these scenes, scarring as they might be, for one of them is you. As you pass your own mutilated image, reach out and touch it. The sea of blood will dissipate, replaced by complete darkness. When a door appears, open it. The light will be blinding, but you will find yourself safe, walking away from one of the institution's restrooms. Remember to say "Thank you," for the Holder has enjoyed your company.

The glasses you wear are object 86 of 538, the Eyes of Clarity. When the time comes, you can see what they see.

Holder of Youth

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Youth." The attendant will choke back a childish giggle and rise from her seat, motioning for you to follow. Do so, but do not show any emotion other than annoyance, for there are creatures watching you, waiting for a chance to erase your mind and make you do their foul bidding.

The attendant will lead you through the facility, skipping merrily along and turning down hallways at a whim. Do not bother trying to remember the path, for it will soon be irrelevant. After what will feel like hours of walking, she will turn into an empty room and halt abruptly, announcing that you have arrived. Follow her in and shut the door firmly, then move aside. She will wait, rocking gingerly on her heels, then bounce towards the door, opening it with little more than a grin.

Through the door, there will be a lush meadow, teeming with vibrance and life. Follow your guide through the frame and stop when she does. She will then glance around nervously, and lean towards you with apprehension in her eyes; she will speak a single, whimsical word, then depart, leaving through the door and closing it. You must make sure not to forget that word.

Walk forward with rigid, stoic paces, keeping an angry visage upon your features; the guardians here know you do not belong, but will be too afraid to strike... for now.

Continue walking until you reach a ring of flowers, and step inside it. They will all wilt suddenly, with the exception of one small portion. Go in that direction, and that direction only, for 44 paces, then stop, turn to your right, and walk another 44 paces. When you stop for a second time, turn completely around. You should be in a dense, verdant forest. If you are not, then the guardians have mustered their courage, and no power in this place will try to save you.

When you arrive, immediately take three steps backwards; you should come to rest against a large tree. Vines and branches will snake over your body and hold you there, but do not struggle. No matter how tightly they constrict, you must not show your pain, but keep glaring forward, lest the tree decide to crush you on itself. When the growth stops, several children will burst from the bushes, laughing and playing, oblivious to your presence, and form a ring around the tree.

As they begin to dance around it, they will sing in pleasant voices, a silly children's' song, making the trees around them shudder with laughter. Whatever you do, do not speak or soften your face, but wait until the children pause and sit to catch their breath. One of them will finally notice you, and ask what you are doing there. Tell them that you wish to see Father, and they will gasp as one. Should they begin to giggle, then your death will arrive soon, by creatures which no words could ever describe.

Sternly tell them again that you wish to speak with Father, and their leader will hang his head glumly, muttering acquiescences to you. He will stand and walk away, leaving all the others around you. They will begin to speak, to themselves and you, but you must not look at them, listen to them, or even think about anything they might say to you; they only seek to break your stoic mask and flee their punishment. If their words should ever cease, then growl at them, "Stop pouting about it and enjoy yourselves." You must sound as menacing as possible, and they will resume talking; no one knows what happens if they remain silent.

When the other child finally arrives, he will sit back down, and a tall, wizened figure will emerge from the thicket. He will stare at you, a gaunt, annoyed face that should match your own, and demand to know why you came here, of all places. Glare at him and ask, "Does it truly matter?" The figure will sigh darkly, and begin a long-winded rant about the follies of youth; stay silent, for he will not take kindly to interruptions. When he finally winds down, he will ask again why you are here. Ask him, "What were they before this?

The old man's eyes will flash with understanding, and he will sit on a nearby stone and begin to speak. He will tell you, in every possible detail, what they were in a time before time, when there was still a shred of goodness within what they kept. He will explain, with a heavy voice, the calmer times, and tell you of the events that sparked their fall. Every slight, every delusion, every crushed dream will be laid bare by his words. As the old man speaks, the lush green around you will give way to blackened, dead soil, rotting trees, and foul, half-rotting vegetation; do not change your expression, and hold your gaze on the old man.

The story will end with "See what they have do to my children?" The small figures that sat around you will now be festering corpses, all eying you with gleams of sadness in their putrescent faces, begging for release. They will all stand, and trot towards you, with their Father telling you that their hunger must be sated. Now, in your loudest voice, scream the word you were told when you arrived. Should you have forgotten, or mispronounce it in any way, then you will spend the rest of eternity as the dead children's' meal.

Speak it correctly, and they should all fall to the ground, clutching their ears shut, and the constricting briars from the tree will shatter. Take the largest piece of wood that you can find, run toward the old man, and stab him in the neck with it. As he chokes on his own blood, he will hold a single rose aloft. Take it from his hand, as darkness will surround you, forcing you to choke and die like him.

When your lungs feel as though they shall burst, you will find yourself at the door to the place you call home, gasping for air and clutching the flower in your clammy hand.

That rose is object 87 of 538, Forlorn Remembrance. It stands for the purity that once was, and never shall be again.

Holder of the Chosen Seeker

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution house you can get yourself into. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls themselves "The Holder of the Seeker". A bored look will stretch across their face and they will ask you, "Friend or Family?" as they shuffle through their papers. Answer promptly, but calmly, that you are "The One Who Seeks". They will shoot you a look that will make you feel as if you were already committed. Perhaps you should be if you are actually considering this voyage. The clerk will dismiss you, claiming to have no time for pranks. Do not press the issue. You will only be escorted out by the guards, and your attempt will be ruined. Leave at once, and place your hand on the door of the building. Many who have sought this Holder distinctly remember weeping bitterly at this point, though I doubt you will need to. Scream at the top of your lungs, with a voice enough to shake the stones "I KNOW THAT THEY ARE REAL! DON'T LET THIS END HERE!"

You will feel a hand on your back. Perhaps she will touch your shoulder or arm, or perhaps she will tug on your pant-leg. Turn to face her, although she will not be there. You will find a run-down shack directly across or down the road from you. If a forbidding air seems to push you away from it, you know you have found the place. If you wish to spare yourself the innumerable horrors of the 2537 objects, turn back now. No-one will think the less of you. However, if you are brave, steel yourself and knock upon the plastic-siding door.

It will slide back, revealing a beautiful woman in an elegant dress. Her eyes will be dark-ringed from lack of sleep, and red from crying for so many years. So many years. And those brown eyes were so vivid once. She will ask you if you truly believe in them. Tell her the truth, for if you are lying to her this day she will know. Your quest will end here. If you do tell her the truth, and she likes your answer, then she will invite you in. Remove your shoes once inside. She is a neat freak and would be angry if you tracked anything on the carpet. Yes, the inside of this ramshackle place will be opulent, bedecked in marble, gold, silks, and fine woods. Some exist here who remember building this for her.

Touch nothing as she escorts you into her lounge. Especially touch not the crystals. One inside the lounge, sit at the low table as she reclines opposite you. This table is shaped as a bagua, with a crystal ball in the center and feet made from effigies of the other objects. Do not look at them. Do not touch the ball. There will be time for this yet. She will ask you questions. Deep questions about your dark secrets. Questions that will lay bare your every sin and failure. If she begins to cry, know this: She weeps for you, and she weeps for herself. Do not console her.

After a while, she will touch the crystal ball. Do so as well. She will ask your name. Give it in full. Your name will drift away into the crystal ball. She will ask your birthdate. Give it. It too, will drift away. She will ask you for your titles, your pseudonyms, your signon names, your nicknames. All will float away from you and into her crystal ball. When she bids you rise, do so, and follow her to her bedchamber. Here, she will lay out clothes on the bed and step outside, still clutching her crystal ball. Strip yourself naked in front of the mirror. Do not leave a single ring on your finger, or in your ear. You must be bare of all but your skin. Throw your clothes into the unlit fireplace. Dress yourself in the clothes that she laid out for you. Your fate will be sealed by the colors of the garments.

Lay down in the bed. Do not lay on your side or on your stomach, for if you do, you will lay there for all eternity, never able to sleep, but experiencing every nightmare there ever was or will be in every moment. Lay still for four minutes and thirteen seconds. If you stir, she will not come. When she does come she will be wearing the same clothes that you are, and her raven black hair will be deftly brushed. Her makeup will be done to a tee, and she will look ever so beautiful. This is your last glimpse of true beauty before your long journey of horror. She will toss your shoes into the fireplace and light it, burning all of your clothes and belongings. She will then lay down next to you in the bed, smoothing back your hair as a mother might her child. Watch in stillness as hundreds of grotesque servants enter the room. Do not look them in their pain-wracked eyes. Do not listen to their sullen murmurings. For if you do, they will make sounds that will slowly and painfully melt your every bone. They will then take your frameless form from the bed and consume you alive, inconsiderate and unworthy person you are.

As long as you do not do these things, and you allow her to pet you, and you stay absolutely still, you may watch as these servants in their black clothing bring in your every belonging and throw it into the fire. Do not weep for the loss of these things. The worst is yet to come. When all your things have burned to cinders, she will roll over and straddle your waist. She will then poke and prod your muscles and nerves. At times she will seem to poke at your very marrow. She will then rise to her full hight and say, "You know what it is you must ask. Ask it."

Ask her "Am I the One Chosen to Seek Them?"

This may yet be your last moment with your mind, heart, soul and body intact. She will likely begin to cry. Ever harder. Her tears will splash down on your chest. She will begin to massage her tears into your skin. If at this point her nails dig into you, know that your every lie this day has been discovered. Foul creature, how could you lie to her? Her tears will leak into your veins and dissolve your will into a screaming husk, and you will serve to carry people's belongings for all eternity, but never have any of your own.

If, however, she bends over and kisses you on the lips, and your white garments touch hers, know that you have been chosen. She will tell you of the Holders who have been lost to documentation. She will tell you the proper order in which to approach the Holders, so that you may seek Them. And by seeking Them, seek Him. She will then whisper into your ear your new name, your name as the Chosen Seeker. Know that every person who knows of you will not remember any name, pseudonym, nickname, or signon you gave them. Only your name as the Chosen Seeker. If you stand at the footsteps of any mental institution or halfway house and ask the wind to bring you the Bride of the Seeker, her home will appear for you as a haven from your troubles.

You are now object 90 out of 538, the Chosen Seeker of the objects. Whether you seek to gather them or destroy them, we who have gone before you pray for your soul.

Do not let us down.

Holder of Honour

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Honor." The attendant will look up from his papers and hand you a thick Tarot card. Should you be given the Moon card, then know you are ready to face this trial; however, if the attendant passes you the Devil card, turn away, and do not return until you have lived through another of the Holders' ordeals. Only with their infernal strength will you survive this task.

If you remain, the attendant will ask you to check the church at the end of the street, and return to his paperwork. Leave the building and walk leisurely down the street, and enjoy what may be your final moments alive. When you reach the end of the road, you will see an old, dilapidated structure that may have been a house of worship a long time past. Enter the door carefully, lest the frame collapse on you.

You will be surrounded by light, and taken to the place where the objects you have gathered lay before you, along with two doors. Know now that if you lack the cloak, the Beast's Resolve, the shield, or the sword, then take the door on the left and leave, for you are doomed to fail. If you possess one or more of these items, then choose one and enter the door to your right.

You will pass into a hellish expanse of wasteland, its horizon surging with infernal flames and showers of blood pounding the barren ground beneath your feet. Far in the distance, a tall structure juts out, its stark and polished whiteness blaring its presence to everything here. And, rest assured, you are not alone.

You will only have a handful of seconds to take in these sights before a horde of demons begins to rush towards you. If you carry the cloak with you, drape it over yourself and walk towards the building; the creatures are an extension of the Holder, who sees you through their hatred. Otherwise, arm yourself with the plain sword that appears at your feet, as the king's blade will not come free should you wear it. The demons are numerous, but frail; they exist only as a thought, and one stroke will cleave them apart.

No matter how you do so, it will take a very long time to reach the structure, but you will never find yourself tired from the exertions of moving or fighting - conflict is the food of life here, and you are part of its source. When you climb onto the first step of the entrance, the endless swarm of creatures pouring from its doors will finally halt, and the crowd that eagerly pressed against itself to flay you will calm and watch your every movement as you ascend to the large, opulent doors. They will part as you walk, forming a silent, vigilant ring that urges you toward their keeper.

The inside is just as lavish as its outer shell, dressed in fine fabrics and frescoes, beautiful statues, and beautiful mosaics inlaid into the floor. The Holder's minions will form a solid path from which you should not dare deviate; they are much more resilient here, within their home. Follow your only sensible option for as long as it leads you but do not turn back or make to leave. Your passage will lead to a spacious and stark room, dotted only by a throne and two figures; a naked, brown-skinned woman reclining in the seat, and a pale man bedecked in armor, kneeling on the floor in front of her.

State without fear that you have come to answer the challenge. With a grin from the woman, the knight will rise, don a helmet, and bring sword and shield to bear. Should you possess the sword, the blade you were given will morph into a round shield, and your own weapon will let itself be drawn. Should you lack the shield, the knight will toss one to you, letting it slide to a halt at your feet. One way or another, when you have equipped yourself properly, a suit of half plate will form around you, and the knight will charge.

Now, it is up to you and your skills. If you chose the sword, know that his armor alone will not save him, as the king's blade will batter and eventually pierce the heavy metal. If you opted to take the shield, then do not fear the knight's blade, for it cannot break the hellish protector. But whatever you decided, be aware that the knight is a very formidable opponent; he will use any means he can to defeat you, whether it be his blade, his shield, or punishing, steel-hardened strikes from his hands and feet. To best the knight, you must cleave his sword arm from his body; only then will he yield, kneeling to you and ignoring the mangled, bleeding stump.

If you are victorious, the woman will rise and walk towards you. Kneel, and hold your weapon tight in your hand. She will tell you "Obey the strong; destroy the weak." Now, ram the blade through her gut and wrench it upwards. As her body slumps to the floor, sheathe your blade and offer the knight his missing arm. As he holds it back to the wound, his armor will shatter, revealing him to be a humanoid figure with fire-blackened skin, golden hair, and deep amethyst eyes that bore into your soul.

He will compliment you on your fight, and on seeing through his master's illusion. He will speak, in length, of the measures that were placed in this realm to guard the object here, and how he extended them through himself. When he finishes, he will permit you to ask one question. You must request of him, "Why do you follow Him, my lord?"

The Holder will seat himself as he tells you, in a gravely voice that holds the weight of ages of vows, how he fought his way into His favor, and describe, in painful detail, how he fought Him and lost. The words will take shape as the hell knight speaks, burning the images of the entire story into your memory. The Holder will explain the agonizing torture he suffered, and you shall feel his pain as he speaks. If your mind cannot endure this, then you will take the dead woman's place as the Holder's next decoy, but if you persevere, then the Holder will tell you the vow he took to escape the unending torment.

When this is finished, he will stand and offer you the only remaining piece of his armor; the gauntlet is still pristine, despite the battle. Replace yours with the one you are offered. Then, the Holder will advise you to arm yourself again, for you must fight your way to the entrance of his home. Only when you are ready will he order his minions to attack.

If you chose to carry the Beast's Resolve, it will manifest itself now, surging though your body and lending you the strength of the most fearsome of demons. Otherwise, it will be a long and savage battle to the front door. If you manage to reach the foyer alive and rend through the frenzy around you to the door, white light will surround you, yanking you across dimensions and dropping you outside the wrecked church. Everything will be gone, your chosen object returned to its place of holding, but the knight's gift will remain.

That gauntlet is object 91 of 538, the Hand of Obedience. Though he cannot aid you, the knight hopes that you will free him from his servitude.

Holder of Salmacis

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution. Go immediately to the front desk and ask the clerk to let you visit "The Holder of Salmacis". Should they look you up and down, judgingly, you have come to the right place. Stand perfectly still. The janitor will come and escort you into an adjacent hallway and through a door. Once through the door, he will take you by the shoulders and ask you if you have met with the Holder of Passion. Answer honestly. If your answer is no, he will shove you out the door. Run fast and run far. Do not stop until the sun sets twice, for every plant in the city will wish to crush your body to bloody dust.

If your answer was yes, he will take you deeper into the complex. You will hear a variety of screams, both male and female. If you were to look into the doors of the hall, you would see in each a man and a woman, sewn together in every grotesque manner. Do not look in those doors. If you do, you will be taken into one of them and sewn to another person without anesthesia, and they will forever struggle to pull away from you, tugging at the seams until your skin threatens to tear.

Since you did not look in, the janitor will take you to the end of the hall. He will take you through another door, and take you by the hand. He will ask if you have met with the Holder of Innocence. Answer honestly. If your answer is no, he will glare at you angrily and smash your head against the door until your brains cover you. This hall will not allow you to die from this, and instead you will lay there for all eternity without the ability to move or ponder anything beyond your own pain.

If your answer was yes, he will take you down this new hallway. It will appear to wind and twist, like a serpent coiled around a cylinder. Do not be fooled. This hallway is straighter than any arrow. Step off the true path and you will fall for all eternity. When you reach the end he will ask you one last question. "Have you met with the Holder of the Triskelion?" Do not answer! This is a trick, one that will cost you your life unless you discover its secret. There is no Holder of the Triskelion. Instead, you must hold up either Object 5 or 13: The Eye of Light or the Shattered Hourglass of Darkness. If you say anything or hold up any other object, even those in the deepest pits of hell will weep for you.

He will take you within this final door and lock you inside. This room will be pitch black and empty, save for the door, a chair, and an antique clock. Sit in the chair and pat your inner thighs thrice. Turn the chair to face the clock, then stand and move the hands of the clock back four minutes and thirteen seconds. The door will slide away and reveal a hallway different from the one you were in before. This forgotten hallway will appear run-down, save for the ivory statuettes of both men and women flanking you along the walls. Though beautifully carved, these statuettes will have their faces wracked with the pain of child-birth. Yes, even the male statues will have distended bellies from a child their bodies should never be able to bring to term, and they cannot push them from their bodies. Do not touch these statues.

Run now, down to the end of the hall. Do so quickly, for time has begun again and your window is short. At the end, you will find a chainsaw with a diesel engine. Start it up. Slash and carve away at all the statuettes. do not let a single one survive, and do not let a single shard of them touch you. If you failed in this, the statuettes will grow to full human height and set upon you, and will do every manner of unclean act to you. When they are finished, you become just as them. Forever giving birth, forever defiling, never free. Pray this is not your fate and you still have time to return to the room with the clock from whence you came.

Sit in the chair and face the clock, but do not let the chainsaw stop running. The clock's gears will fall down, forming a mouth full of gear-teeth. This mouth will pucker. Lean down and kiss it. Be sure your eyes are closed and your kiss is passionate. Accept its porcelain tongue in your mouth as would a lover. If you do not, those same gears will pulverize you slowly. Do not stop kissing if arms wrap around your shoulders, or porcelain legs around your waist. This is the Holder of Silmacis.

She will appear as a perfect doll woman, a mannequin correct in anatomy down to every inch. All save for a bracket just above her nethers. Do not stare at this bracket. Stare only into her eyes. "Only the Seeker of Holders should have made it this far," she will say, "Are you the Seeker?" Tell her the truth. For your punishment if you are not will pale in comparison to the seven hells visited upon you for lying. If you are the Seeker, she will begin to talk. She will tell you of her twin sister, the Bride and Holder of the Seeker. She will tell you of her many surgeries. She will tell in vivid detail of her slow transformation into a living doll. Each cut and seam made without anesthesia. Do not listen, or your body will undergo the same surgeries as she speaks them. Instead, squat down and pat your inner thighs once per second, 253 times. When you have done this, she will be done speaking. Ask her, "How may I deliver our last hope?"

She will smile at you and reach up, grabbing unseen handles in the ceiling. She will lift herself into the air, but her legs and waist will not come with her. Now you must complete the body. Place into the pelvis Object 18, the Uterus of Passions. Attach to the bracket Object 19, the Phallus of Innocence. She will then descend and reattach. Quickly, hold her close to you, for a circle of sharp blades will fire up from the floor, carrying with it crimson silk.

Do not let go of her. Ignore the searing, slicing pain in your legs and abdomen. Clutch her close. Ignore the spray of blood from your chest. If you were to let her go now, this pain would be yours eternally. She will then step back, and drop to the floor. Her pelvis will be missing, and her breasts will be gone. She will be dead. The searing pain in your loins and chest will subside, but do not look down! If you do so now a madness beyond all others will take you. The silk ring will twist and twirl, tightening into rope with you still inside. Do not panic. Do not struggle. When it seems you will be crushed, the silk will slip around you. You will find yourself Standing before three doors. Two Will be restroom doors. One will have a strange mark.

Take the center door with the mark. You will find yourself in a restroom, similar to a men's restroom, but sweet smelling, and with a dispenser for feminine hygene products. Go into one of the stalls and look down. The pelvis you constructed in the Holder of Salmacis, as well as her breasts, are now yours. Become acquainted with your new body. When you are done, leave the restroom, and you will find yourself in the lobby of the mental institution.

Her pelvis is object 92 out of 538. With it, you may bear the child of Passions and Innocence. Whether you taint it with Light or Darkness is up to you.

Holder of the Self

In any city, in any country, go into any mental institution you can get into. Go to the front desk and ask to see the one who calls them self "The Holder of the Self". They will cock an eyebrow at you, then throw a bit of whatever they were eating at you and call you an idiot. Repeat your request and they will relent. They will take you behind a door and waive you to an examination table. They will then leave, shaking their head at you.

Take off your clothes. Lay back on the table, your arms at your side, and your legs slightly spread to the edges of the table. At this moment, dozens of monstrous hands will burst from the table, grasping with their jagged, filthy nails onto your body. Struggle all you like, you are theirs now. They will begin kneading your skin, pushing and twisting, tickling and caressing. More will erupt from under you, pushing into your back with their knuckles. If at this point you cannot stand the treatment, if you are far too disgusted by their attentions, merely say "I reject this test. End it." They will pull at your extremities, ripping you apart joint-by-joint. This will be mercy.

If, however, you can stand this, say "I relax in your care, bring me to the object, O’ Holder." At this point, five arms will erupt from the bed. Two will cover your eyes. Two will grasp your mouth and hold it as open as it can be. You will taste the salt and grime on their fingers. The last one will hold a bit of sweet fruit. It will dangle it across your tongue, and its juice will drip into your mouth. You will want to hold this fruit in your mouth for a day, and then begin to chew for the rest of eternity. Do not bite it. Do not savor its flavor. This is a trap. If you give in to this sweet fruit, your corpse will be as a sweet fruit for the million hands of the Holder.

If you pass this test, you will be rewarded. The hands will transform as they knead you. They will be as soft and delicate as a young maiden's. Their nails will be perfectly trimmed and manicured. The smell of elegant perfume will gently waft across your nose. It will not be very powerful at all, but tantalizing. You will hear a chanting from inside your mouth, in a voice that is not your own. This is, was, the sweet fruit. It has now dried up into a small, ashy stone. It will chant of the heroes who tasted its brothers and sisters of yesteryear. Relax, for now the Holder is pleased with you.

When your relaxation has drifted you off into a state of utter bliss, the ash-fruit will be withdrawn from your mouth. The hands that held open your mouth will grip your throat tight enough that you cannot escape. The hands that closed over your eyes will open, but only far enough to see straight ahead. The hands that once caressed you will hold you tightly, almost painfully. you will be tilted into a vertical position and the long eye-stalks of the Holder will poke into your limited view. They will watch you: some of them critically, some of them angrily, some of them sympathetically, and some... some will look at you lewdly. Say to it, "May this body offend your eyes, oh Holder. Bring me the object." Pray that this is true, for if it is not, the Holder will rip out your arms and eyes, and you will forever experience life through it.

If you are indeed offensive to its eyes, you may still count yourself unlucky, for your quest will not end this day. From between your legs will erupt a pair of arms. Held in their hands will be a massive, jagged, ornate key. It will stab you in the chest, and rip out from you a glowing light. The wound where it plunged into you will be gone. The key will be tossed away.

The sphere of light will consume the key. It will take on a form identical to yours, and will dim until it is your exact twin. Your twin will discuss with you all manner of things. What it will say, none may know, except that to answer its questions and respond to its statements will slowly erode your every mental defense. Be perfectly honest with it, in precise and full detail. If you wish to laugh, laugh. If you wish to cry, cry. If you are enraged, yell. Hold nothing back. Focus only on your twin. Do not look at the eyes or hands, no matter what they do. Do not listen to the whispers coming from the hands on the side of your head. If you do, you will be crushed, and your twin will drink deeply of your blood.

When your twin is done with their conversation, it will revert to being a key. A small key. At that point, the hands by your head will say "Speak, for you have faced yourself." Ask it only one question: "Who are we to Him?" The hands will hold your neck absolutely still. You will not be able to move your head. The hands will close over your eyes and mouth. You will be unable to speak or see. The hands will spread your arms and legs as far as they might be spread. You will not be able to move. You will feel something slimy sliding along the inside of your thighs. You will be unable to protest. At that point, the Holder will describe to you every single evil thing that He has done to humanity and every evil thing He will do to humanity. He will describe in vivid detail how each of the objects will be used to discover and create new evils to perform and enact. Then he will describe, to your horror, the results of these evils. He will tell you tales of the husks of humanity as they spend the rest of eternity reenacting His work, writhing in an agony beyond all imaginable hells multiplied together. And then, beyond it all, he will tell you of the abominations reserved by Him for you, to be heaped upon you by those innocents you once held dear. Then, he will tell you what humanity is to Him. This knowledge alone may kill you.

Without warning, the hands wil stretch you, pulling you apart until you think you might break. Then it will fold you at each of your joints until you are rolled in a ball. It will pull and stretch and twist your body every which way, and your body will scream in pain as the Holder discovers new ways to contort your body without destroying it. Then it will dump you on the floor. You will be fully clothed, and in your pocket will be a small, jagged, ornate key. You may leave at any time.

That key is object 94 out of 538, the Key of the Inner Self. With it, you will discover the inner truths of any person or objects. May it never discover the truths of The Others.

Holder of the Purpose

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Purpose”. A look of pained depression will cross his face, and he will stand up and walk out of the room. Follow him out and down the hall. Eventually he will unlock a set of chained double doors, beyond them is another hall. The worker will go no further and will point you down the hall and go back to his post. Enter, the lights further down the hall won’t seem to be working and as you reach it, the double doors behind you will slam close, you will hear the rattle of chains on the other side.

Walk down the dark hallway, it will seem longer then the breadth of the entire building. Soon, you notice torsos on long chained hooks all around you. Even now they still live, their cries rake your ears. No words escape their lips, they know no language. All they know is pain. Their eyes have been torn out and stream red tears of blood. Their hearts are exposed and still beat even with the cold metal chain impaled through it and their chest. Their arms end in bloody stumps at their elbows, and their bodies end at the base of their rib cage. They flail their stubs of arms: their heads squirm crying for release from their cruel fate. Black, unnatural birds with curved needle talons and sharp barbed beaks circle above. The birds feast on these bodies in small tortured portions. You see that thousands of birds feast. Do not touch them; be as quiet as you can. If they notice your presence they will cry for their keeper and you will join the ‘men’ in their tortured existence for eternity in pain.

You near the end as you pass the bodies. Their cries will stifle behind you as you walk. The moment your ears hear silence, yell “I only wish to know!” If a cloaked figure with huge terrible black wings appears in front of you holding something, it is already too late. The keeper of the birds has found you. The chain he reveals in his hands will be the one you hang from to feed his children. But if a bridge is revealed to you, cross it quickly. Across the bridge, there is a man with no face dressed in white. His body is sickly pale and bony. He holds a pair of scales made of white gold. It has beautifully perfect designs. The craftsmanship put into making the scales is beyond your comprehension. Do not stare at it long. Look directly at him where his eyes would be and ask only one thing, “What is their purpose?”

He will hold up his scales in front of him and answer you. His explanation is not meant for human ears. The faceless man will defile and rape your mind as he forces it to comprehend the magnitude of the universe and all things, physical and planar, real and ethereal. You will scream as your one singular being is weighed against all things. This torturous mind raking will delve into your soul and go on for what seems like hours… days even. His explanation coerces you to realize how insignificant you really are, how nothing will change in the grand scheme if you had never been born. For a brief moment, you understand the work and craftsmanship put into the scales. Your mind will be nearly torn asunder by the comprehension of this beauty… of this perfection. You don’t want to look away from it, for its enticing allurement steals your breath away. Meddle your will power and look away.

When he finishes, most go insane from the maddening explanation, some sink into an inconsolable depression as his words echo in their minds forever. The faceless man calls the keeper for these people, they are fated to join the rest on chains. But if you manage to stand in front of him, look back into his face and then kneel before him, he will hand you the scales.

The scales are object 95 of 538. It has the power to weigh one's soul against all things. Do you carry a fate that can make it balance?

Holder of the Second Seed

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself into. Ignore the attendant and talk to everyone in any visiter's area. Learn their stories, why they are there, what their relationship is with the person they are visiting with is, what they would give to have it all turn out okay, and if they know "The Holder of the Second Seed". After you are done, their should be a single person waiting there that wasn't there before, a sweet looking thing with cold eyes. A definite form is undetermined at this point. Upon talking to him/her, s/he will ask you about these people you have talked to. At every wrong answer, s/he will make the condition of the person you answered wrong on noticeably worse.

Upon your finishing this quiz, s/he will open a bathroom door and ask you to join him/her. The door should lock behind you. The bathroom will be nothing special at the beginning, same florescent lighting, same mirrors, same tiled floor and ceiling. S/he will pull you into a stall and lock it closed. At this point you shouldn't say anything if you value your sanity. S/he will start to talk about the history of the medical practice. In grotesque detail s/he will tell you about every ailment, every experiment, every person who considered him or herself a doctor, every tiny adjustment made to a medicine because of the expiration date. This will last for days, so don't feel bad about falling asleep, she'll just start where she left off when you fell asleep. At any point, you can leave the stall, but the bathroom door will remain locked. You must listen to her story in full before you are allowed to leave.

At the end of her long and droning explanation of medicine, you can leave, but then you lose any chance of getting the object. S/he will then ask you what you've came for. You should reply "I seek only that which can stop the others" or "I seek to join them in His presence". S/he will react to the former and the latter differently.

If you chose the former, then s/he will try to kill you on the spot. With his/her bare hands, s/he will break the glass and try to stab you with a shard. You must get a piece and try to get him/her first. If you do, aim for the head, but not the eye. S/he will nextly apologize for her actions, if you survive. You must save his/her life using anything you know, which is now quite a bit. If you do not, your soul will be lost and left to wander the building. Upon saving her life, s/he will then do all in his/her power to make you stay of your own will. Many go mad trying to resist, others try to kill her again and others still end their own lives. If, by the end of her treatment you still live freely, you will be forced to look it's true form straight in the eye. Any reaction that shows weakness will keep your mind, body and soul tortured throughout eternity. You will feel lost in it's eyes. It gazing at every sin you had ever committed, every travesty, every little bruise and bump. If you waver, you are never leaving that room whole. The bathroom door will open, and you will be free to leave.

If you choose the former, however, you will be rewarded by a visit with any or many other Holders you have encountered in the past. You will find yourself restrained in an old field, all things dead or dying, and you will be sent through their tortures again and again until death is a happy illusion. After they have had their fill, the Holder of the Second Seed will question you again on any random person in the visiting area. Any wrong answer and the problems of the people in the institution are yours now, but they go free at least. Then you will have 2 options again. The first is to leave and go pick up the object. The other is to be relieved of the illnesses you now have. The second involves a series of electro convulsive therapy sessions and several surgeries sans-anesthesia. The process may drive people madder, but if you are tough enough, you will survive and be healthy again. You will be free to leave.

When you go to bed that night, you will hear a soft word from him/her. When you wake up, you will find a large dark book with instructions on how to grow plants that should have never existed. This Book contains how to grow and cultivate the Seeds of certain plants to breed the First Seed.

This book is object 98 of 538. They must never be brought together. Never.

Holder of the Soul

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Soul". Should a conspiratorial look come over the workers face he or she will raise one finger to his lips in a gesture of silence and hand to you a small glass ball.

Should you chose to look at this glass ball you will see that half of it is pitch black, the black of deepest night, while the other half is made of the purest, soft, golden light of a happy summer day. The funny thing is that no matter how hard you stare you will never be able to tell which half is which.

Now is your last chance to leave. Should you throw down the glass ball it will shatter and you may leave and continue a normal life, but never again will you have this opportunity. Should you decide to continue enter any door that you see. You will find yourself at the beginning of a path.

The path itself is made of the cheapest of stone squares. They barely fit together and weeds spring up between the cracks, but it is not the path that will attract your attention. To the right of the path you will see scenes of happiness, joy, and love. However, if you look closely you will see that these scenes are not nearly so pure as they seem. To the left of the path you see scenes of misery, deprivation, and hopelessness. However, if you look closely you will see that things are not as bad as they seem.

You must follow the path. It will curve into both sides its starting position, but never will it fully enter either set of scenes. Should you be fooled by either of the scenes and step off the path you will be stuck in the scene forever more, never to leave. Take care not to trip.

Should you reach the end of the path you will find a large oak door. The door will have no hinges, knob, or any sort of decoration. Speak aloud the phrase “The Sides are the Same” and the door will disappear. Say anything else and the door shall not move.

Upon entering the room you will see nothing, but feel as though you are being watched from all sides. Say to the invisible presences “I walked down the Middle”. Should you say anything else half the invisible presences will rip you to pieces.

If you spoke the correct phrase you will hear the presences. Half will scream, boo, or hiss. The other half will begin to try to tell you of your foolish mistake. However, if you listen carefully you will hear a small applause. Close your eyes and walk towards this applause. When all sound stops you will find yourself outside the door you first entered holding the glass ball.

That glass ball is object 102 of 538. Now you must judge for yourself which side is black and which is white. There is no wrong answer.

Holder of the Red

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution or halfway house you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Red” The worker will nod and pull out a dusty old notebook and hand it to you. She will then point out a door labeled “No Entry”. As you enter the door, take a look at the notebook. It will seem completely blank at first but upon further inspection, a random page will have four numbers written in red ink. Memorize the numbers and continue down the hall. Eventually you will reach a red wrought iron door. There will be a number lock in the center of the door with four spaces. The door is slightly warm to the touch. Enter the number you memorized. Enter the wrong number and a violent end awaits you.

Inside several red lights hang from the ceiling, casting everything in a semi-dark yet seeable shade of crimson. The walls are covered in children’s toys, dolls, and model trains. Walk forward... inside a small boy will be crouching with his back to you. He will respond to only one question, “Who can control them?”

You will be answered with giggles from the child. He will turn around and stab you with a needle attached to a strand of thread. Let him do so, stopping him will only make the pain much worse and last eternity. The sewing needle will pop out your back, and he will pull on it, letting the thread become coated in a thick layer of your blood. Once done, he will begin to gracefully sew. Wait and do not speak... do not move... do nothing to draw attention to yourself. Before long, you will have a small blood red doll in the shape of a human. The doll has no face or any other distinguishing features but the craftsmanship is perfect. Protect it as though you were to protect your own life. Whatever happens to it also happens to you.

That Doll is object 108 of 538. Do you control the objects? Or do the objects control you?

Holder of Humility

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit "The Holder of Humility". The attendant will bow their head, grasp your hand and lead you down a pure white hallway. You must keep your hand within the attendant's hand, if you wish to live. As you walk down the hallway, you will hear a piano playing faintly in the distance. Should the song stop playing, whisper "You missed a key." If the song ceases to play, the hallway will turn pitch black, not even a miracle will save you from what you will then experience. Should the song keep playing, continue down the hallway until the attendant lets go of your hand and runs ahead. Don't bother chasing after them.

Walk forward five steps, then turn to the left, you should see a lone doorknob on the wall. If there is no knob, you will be wandering an endless hallway for all eternity. If there is a knob, turn it, and enter the room. The melody of the piano will be consumed by silence within the desolate room. As you enter the room, shut the door behind you, it should lock you inside. The room is small, the walls and floor covered with droplets of water, a clean bed with a pillow, both covered in clean white sheets, a digital clock with the time 3:00pm, an old black grand piano, and a bare mirror hanging on the wall. Look at your reflection in the mirror, you should see yourself as you are, and the room as it is. Stare straight into your eyes, ask nothing but this question: "Why have they no humility?" Your reflection shall then smile, and back away. You will witness yourself killing the child once inhabiting that room, with swift stabs, punches, tearing the child apart limb from limb, and a gunshot to the head. A silent scream pierces the disturbing silence. The mirror shall then break into seven pieces. The room you are in has become the exact image of the room within the mirror. Droplets of water now blood, and a mutilated body now lay in the once clean bed. The grand piano now old with the keys broken and scattered, and the digital clock looks like it was thrown against the wall.

A vague, yet familiar bullet shines on the now bloodstained pillow, next to a gun. The body will speak to you, telling you to stay within the room, but do not let this bother you. You must shoot yourself with the bullet, allowing it to enter your heart. Excruciating pain will consume your body, don't hesitate to scream. If you are lucky, you will wake up alive and well in a hospital bed of the hospital you visited. The time will be 3:00pm and a slight scar will be upon your chest. Check under the pillow your head is laying upon.

The diamond bullet is object 110 of 538. Would you dare kill to keep the objects apart?

Holder of Masochism

In any city, in any country, go into any mental institution you can get into. As soon as you enter through the double doors, stop. Realize your intention of finding the Holder of Masochism, and then approach the front desk. Do not ask anything, and wait for her to look at you. She will look at you, with a face bearing help and trust. As quickly as she looked at you, she will turn her head down and continue with her work. Anything that you say will be interrupted by her, so just make a quick gasp and then she will say "I know who you are looking for. I cannot help you." Then wait 5 seconds, and barge behind the table. You need to have an intention to do this, though. Look for a large drawer on the top left of her desk. It is the confiscation drawer. You will reach in, and find a razor. Stand before her, and make a semi-large cut on the top part of your forearm. Make any reaction you want, as long as you make the cut deep enough to gush blood. She will watch as you do so, observing as a child would to their parents. She will then turn around, and grab a key off of the wall. The number is on the key. This will confuse you so, as she offered you a key to a person you are willing to find. The key is rusty and chipped at the grip, as the others are polished and shine with pride. Head up the stairs, and look for the room.

When you find the room, the door is already open. It is only cracked ajar, so simply step back and kick the door with all your might. The door should swing with force and power as the door handles lodges into the weak and decrepit wall. Quickly, all you will see in a man on a bed, shaking and convulsing violently. There are some things on the shelf beside him, but pay no attention. The man will look much burnt from head to toe, and possesses no eyes, nose, or ears. Even though he is missing these parts of his face, he can hear, smell, and especially, see you. The first glimpse he catches of you, he will stop shaking and lay calmly. You must walk up to him, kneel down, and look where his eyes should be, yet actually are. You will ask only one question, "Do they feed off our pain?". Calmly, he will point to the shelf. On the shelf lies a propane torch, a pair of pliers, and a small piece of metal in the grasp of the pliers. If you had not read this, you would not know what to do, and the man would strangle you, as your last dying vision is of what he used to look like. You will take the propane torch, turn the knob, and light the piece of metal within the pliers until it is white-hot. He will then turn over on his bed, revealing an ink template of what he wants you to burn onto his back. You must burn this all onto his back, and miss nothing. If you stop burning, and you have missed a part, he will then turn the propane torch onto your face.

After you are finished, give him the tools and face your back to him. You will feel his hand go gently across your back, and then feel your shirt burn away and turn to ashes. His hand will brush off the ashes, and then proceed to burn into your back, from a template that suddenly and mysteriously appeared on your back the moment you entered the building. You can also make any reaction you want, for it pleases and eroticizes him. But do not jump away in pain, or refuse to have him burn this demonic insignia in your back, or he will do it will a knife and cut you deeper than you would have ever imagined. Just let him finish, then stand up, blow him a kiss, and walk down to the front desk. From there you will ask the woman that you want your razor back. She will hand it to you, and you will walk out of the mental institute, noticing your cut has been stitched up.

You leave the mental institution with a curse. All pain to you is pleasurable and addictive.

The key is object 111 of 538. The only way to remove the curse is to remove your heart, and replace it with the key.

Holder of the Heathen Child

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. Enter the elevator, but make sure that you are alone when you do so. When you are in the elevator, take a note of the buttons available to you and remember the count of the floors, for remembering this information will mean the difference between salvation and eternal suffering. Press the button for the highest floor available, and wait for the elevator to arrive at its destination. Do not get off the elevator at this floor, and make sure no one gets on. You must then wait for the elevator to be called to another floor. If no one is there to enter the elevator when it stops, flee the building as quickly as you can and don't stop running until you have crossed a running body of water, else your body will be ripped from your soul by the unseen. If there is a person entering the elevator, tell the person who enters the elevator: "I am here to see the Holder of the Heathen Child." The person will seem confused by your statement. Repeat it. After the second time, a look of weathered acceptance will cross the person's face, and they will push a floor button on the elevator keypad. At this time you must press the button of the first floor you entered the elevator on and pray that you are allowed to return there. If the elevator stops first upon the floor you selected, this is your last chance to leave.

When the elevator arrives at the floor the other person selected, the doors will open and the occupant will get off. The walls of this floor are made of a leathery substance sewn together with human entrails, and a low moaning permeates through a grated metal floor. When you step onto this floor, you will immediately feel grasping hands about your ankles, attempting to pull you to the ground. Do not fall, for they will force you through the grates. The other person will run ahead of you and down the hall. You must catch this person and force them to the ground to feed the grasp, or it will quickly overpower you. At the end of the hall lies a massive door carved with runes from a language you have never seen. Do not enter this door, for beyond it lies naught but twisted madness. From the center of this door protrudes a head, who at first seems motionless statue. You must knock six times at this door, after which the head will awaken. You will be forced to stare into its gaze as its mouth gapes open, and inside its mouth you will see images of nameless horrors and creatures whose very memory will mutilate worlds. If you survive this, you are allowed to ask one question of the head: "Who serves the child?" Any other sound from you, and the head will devour you as it did the others. The answer will come swiftly and unbearably painful into your brain, and the face will vomit the bones of a small child. Take these bones, and proceed back to the elevator. Outside the doors, you will see many panels of buttons for the elevator. Press only the true button of the floor that you originally entered the elevator on, for any other means death. Enter the elevator.

The Heathen Child you now hold is object 113 of 538. Beware the servant.

The Holder of Reincarnation

In any city, in any country, go to any mental hospital you can get yourself into. While you slowly approach the front desk, place and keep your hands in your pockets or the usher cannot guide you to the Holders's realm. If an usher has taken your hand, when the clerk at the front desk raises his head from underneath his hat you will notice a deathly look has taken over. Do not be distracted by this, you have seen worse. Stare into his face and tell him you are the doctor here to revive the Hold of Reincarnation. A chilling smile will wash over the clerk's face and a wave of new life will bring the flesh back to his moonlit bones. He will rush from his seat and signal you to follow him through the standard-sized double doors. For the love of Him, do not split the doorway... please...

Once past the doorway, you and your clerk-turned-usher will begin walking down the hall of a familiar high school. The doors will alternate their numbers from one side of the hallway to another, beginning with 0. The usher will begin to make conversation with you around door number twenty. Any number before that are the chances you have to turn away from what is about to happen. If you choose to continue, the usher will begin to make conversation with you. Do not deny him the company or he could open any wrong door for you, each which contains a horror from it's respective numerical dimension, and it's impossible for him to throw you into a door between zero and three. The conversation will go on for eternity until you remind yourself what you're here for. Once that has been realized, the door numbers will start skipping around randomly. Soon, door 538 should appear, get ready. Five more doors down, door 114 will appear. When it does, ask the usher to open the door across the hall. The usher will be pleased to feed you to the school decorations, but do not give him such pleasure. When he opens the door, close your eyes and scream as loud as you can, then force him into the hell that awaits him. If you dare look inside or go in his stead, the events that unfold until the end of the search will set you onto the path of Mephisto reborn. You will be tasked with destroying the true Searcher and you will live your life in regret, misery, confusion, and a never ending cycle of agonizing death and unredeemed rebirth; the latter being what He goes through without the rest of Him. Shit, they have pierced my home, read carefully!

Once the door shuts, remember the last words of the usher, which should resemble something like, "Foolish Searcher! Do you really think the Keepers are your allies!? HAHAHAHAHA!!!" This will weigh heavy on your soul and your imagination will begin to feed off it. You will realize that you, who search for the objects, are the Searchers. But who are the Keepers? What are you really unlocking here? Keep these questions fresh as you open classroom 114. When you turn the doorknob and open the door, gasp and with your eyes wide open, absorb the sunlight that kiss your cheeks, you'll need Her power in the ridiculously close future.

The usher-turned-clerk will rise from a sarcophagus in the middle of the room, but focus on the open window. The usher will be humming a most familiar song you once heard from an old woman. The usher will draw the blinds with little hesitation and while he's doing that a young woman's voice will fill your head in Her dying moments. She'll tell you about Him. What He has done to the cosmos and They did to stop him. She will tell you that the 538 objects in this realm must never come together and to seek out the Keepers. She will tell you many things in this moment, but the last will be the most important, be sure to etch this into your heart and memories. "The Holder of Legion is a lie... you can cha-" and darkness will silence Her benevolence from you mind. Close your eyes and open your heart.

The clerk will cease his humming and stare at you through the stale blackness of undeath with anger and evil searing within his hollow eye sockets. When you feel the sting of living pride hit you, it is time to take action. Ask the cleark, "What is the time of my death?" He will instinctively look down to his watch, when he does, open your eyes and burn him into the ground with the light you have stored. Do not hesitate to flame every inch of him, including his atrocious garments. If you do not obliterate him, his anger and evil shall become your own and the answers you seek will never come to you... and your own thoughts will never come to you... and her voice will never come to you.

Where his hallowed garments once hung from his hollowed bones should be a floating necklace of bone with a caduceus hanging to the end of it. Grab it.

This was buried with Her and she came back, it was with Her. Now it is yours and it's powers are unfathomable; you cannot die through natural means anymore. Know the Keepers now know of your existence.

The living caduceus that hangs at the necklace is object 114. This item was at the death and the rebirth. It has some more work to do and you must not fear death.

The Holder of the Syzygy

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Syzygy." The secretary will not believe you in the slightest, but be resolute and if necessary ask to speak to the foreman. He will arrive in time, and will also mock you, saying he's never heard of such a person. Be patient and he will eventually consult the records, the color draining from his face when he finds the name in his papers.

He will then lead you onto another floor, but he will demand that you wear eye protection. You should have the Eyes by now, and though this is not their true purpose, only they will suffice for this occasion. If you do not have the Eyes, you will be wasting your time and your life. Put on the Eyes before following him.

The foreman will lead you to the oldest and furthest section. There will be seemingly endless rows of boxes and crates here, but do not break stride and do not examine the labels and destinations on any of them. You will find them to be years, even decades old, with strange destinations and even stranger contents, but they are valueless in your quest. Instead, keep your eyes fixed on the foreman. He will be eager to lose you around the next row of musty cardboard pallets.

After what might seem like a day's worth of walking down neverending aisles, the foreman will stop before a single, massive crate. It is wooden but does not appear to be made from individual planks, instead, it looks as though carved from a single massive piece of the darkest wood imaginable, almost black. Set into the box is a door.

If the crate emits a high pitched wine, a kind of buzzing noise, or seems to vibrate slightly, then you can breathe a quick sigh of relief that what is inside is still what you seek. But if the air by this box is filled with only silence, or any other sound, then what you seek within has been destroyed, and you may now search the crates nearby for some instrument to end your life, for you have no hope of leaving this modern labyrinth.

You will find the door unlocked; you need not even knock before entering. You will then be standing in complete darkness; only the Eyes will reveal the true nature of the space you are now standing in. You will find yourself standing near the center of a massive web of rings, all centered around a small dais with a reclining chair, not unlike a dentist's chair. The difference in function becomes terrifyingly apparent as you approach--the chair is surrounded by hundreds of scalpels, each on its own articulated arm, poised above the chair. Strapped in to the seat is a mannequin made of the same dark wood the crate was fabricated from. Where the face of the mannequin should be, however, is carved a divot like a bowl.

Use one of the scalpels to cut yourself and add a few drops of your blood to this bowl. Immediately, the mannequin's body will turn from wood into flesh, and its appearance will be yours. You should stand back as the scalpels descend, making a frenzy of cuts on your doppelganger's body. You will hear your own screams, the flesh that is sliced will be yours and not yours. At this moment, the rings will shift in the vast darkness around you, eventually ceasing in their alignment at some point. Some will remain frozen in the air above or below you, while many others will settle themselves in a neat row on the horizon. The number of marks on the mannequin-you's flesh is the number of the objects you have gathered; the rings show your progress the same way.

The mannequin-you will curse and plead for you to stop the pain or end its suffering, but you must coldly ask it, "When will they align?" The not-you will beg, plead, and grovel for mercy as the scalpels slowly start to descend, crying for you to stop it, but you must say nothing and must not look away. This time, the blades will make five hundred and thirty-eight slices, all but flaying the mannequin-you to ribbons. The rings will now all be aligned on the horizon, and a long light will land on the dais, showing you the way home.

Before you leave, take from the ruined chest of the mannequin-you a small leather-bound book. Then follow the light until you find yourself outside the factory once more.

The star atlas you now hold is object 117 of 538. Now you have the knowledge of when they will align, though not the means to see them.

The Holder of Cowardice

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Cowardice". As the last syllable leaves your lips, the worker will immediately and roughly grab the collar of your shirt; let him, do not resist. He will shout incoherently at you while shaking you angrily. After some time of this, he will appear to calm down and let you go. He will beckon for you to walk down a staircase that was not there before. Walk down the stairs, even though they are impossibly dark.

You will emerge into what appears to be a small garden. The worker will tell you to wait here, and will then go back the way he came, leaving you alone in the garden. Wait in that garden; feel free to stroll around it all you like and make yourself comfortable. After a long while - hours, perhaps - two men will appear where you are not looking. One man is tall, brawny, and handsome in a proud, heroic way, and wears a suit of knightly armor. The other is a mouse of a man: scrawny, balding, nearsighted, lacking any kind of posture, lacking a chin, and clad in a threadbare brown suit. Once you have laid eyes on these two men, remain still and betray no movement as they stare at you. Eventually the knight will make a gesture that indicates you may speak. At this gesture, ask one question: "If we stop now, what is the price?"

Once the question is asked, the scrawny man will suddenly tackle the knight with immense strength and proceed to rip him apart with savage ease, using just his bare hands. The knight, in spite of his heroic and powerful appearance, will be helpless against the fury of the scrawny man, who will first tear away the knight's breastplate, then rip into the knight's body, spattering everything in the garden with blood and gore. When this happens, stand still and watch the entire meaningless slaughter, no matter how horrible the knight's cries of pain and pleas for mercy. Once the knight has been thoroughly rent asunder - he was a large man, so this will take a long time - everything - the garden, the scrawny man, and you - will be soaked red with the knight's blood. Then a young, beautiful girl, no older than seven years old, will appear. She is the knight's daughter. The blood-drenched scrawny man will gesture to her; he wants you to kill her in the exact same manner he killed the knight. Do it, or else the scrawny man will consider you in league with the knight, and you will be butchered next.

Set about slaughtering and ripping apart the little girl with your bare hands as the scrawny man wanted. The girl will not offer any physical resistance, though her crying and whimpering will be unbearable. As you commit this violent and senseless deed, the scrawny man will crouch down next to you and whisper into your ear, telling of every instance in human history where courage resulted in pain in death, and where cowardice only made matters worse. He will explain, in excruciating detail, the true consequences of courage and the true cost of cowardice. Once the little girl has been reduced to a lifeless red pulp by your own bare hands, the scrawny man will be seen to smile. He will pick up the dead knight's blood-spattered breastplate and hand it to you, then with a warm, friendly countenance gesture you to leave. Go through the door through which you came and make your way back to the institution. Once you have made it back, I suggest you find a way to clean yourself, your clothes, and the breastplate, as all are still coated thickly with the knight's blood.

The breastplate is Object 119 of 538. Now that you know the price of cowardice, the only choice you have is to soldier on.

The Holder of Midnight

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask very politely to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Midnight". The worker will give a solemn, knowing nod and beckon you to follow him.

He will lead you down a long hallway and eventually gesture for you to enter a door. Do not enter this door. Instead, enter the door on the exact opposite side of the hall. You will come upon another hallway. At the door you entered will be a man who is almost identical to the worker who led you, except this one is a mirror-image version, with all features reversed. Ask once again for the Holder, and this mirror worker will give a solemn, knowing nod and beckon you to follow If you say anything else after this point, then this mirror world will collapse upon you, erasing all evidence that you ever existed.

The worker will take you back to the front desk and gesture for you to exit out the front door. Do this, and you will find yourself in an impossibly vast room. It will be impossible to determine the room's appearance or features, as it is filled with impossibly bright lights - too bright for your vision to adjust, so that the entire room appears to be a blaze. Just walk forward on ground that feels like sand.

Start walking in any direction into the room. Everything should be completely silent, but if at any point you hear a high whistle, like the sound of a teapot, then stop immediately and shout with all the ferocity you can muster, "I can see what I must do!" It is best you not know what eternal horrors await you should the whistling continue.

If the whistling stops, however, then you are to proceed as you were. Eventually, no matter which direction you walked, you will come upon a small area of the vast room where the lights, by some impossible means, are not so blinding. Sitting in a meditative cross-legged position in the exact middle of this area is a peaceful-looking thin man wearing but a loincloth. He has not a single hair on his entire body, but it is his head that is truly unusual. He has no nose or ears, and his mouth has no lips, so that it is just a slit on his placid face. His eyes have square pupils, like those of a goat. This man will have his arms held forward and his hands clasped together as though hiding a small object between them. He will stare at you impassively until you ask one question: "What lies in the depths of His heart?"

The man with the goat eyes will give a knowing but benign grin, then open his hands. Darkness will flow out from them like a mist, very slowly filling the room. It is crucial that during this time you stare intently into the man's goat eyes, for otherwise you will be consumed by this darkness forever.

As the darkness overwhelms the light, it will reveal the true forms of the goat-eyed man and this vast room. The man is a truly nightmarish specter, more bone than flesh, his countenance no longer suggesting peaceful benevolence but rather a dark and violent hatred. You will see in the distance the immense walls of this room; they are made up of a collage of anguished faces. These are the souls of every Seeker who has ever failed the test of any Holder. The visions of the man and the room will overwhelm you sight as a loud crackling sound, like that of a raging fire, overwhelm your ears. No matter what, though, you must keep your gaze fixed upon the man's eyes. After what seems like an eternity, the assault on your senses will stop abruptly, and the room will revert back to its light-filled state, the man once again a tranquil meditator. The goat-eyed man's arms will be outstretched, presenting a little brown bag. Take the bag gently and give a respectful bow before turning to leave. Go back the way you came: back through the mirror world and into the hallway of the regular world.

The gelatinous substance in that bag is Object 121 of 538. Never open the bag.

The Holder of Prestige

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Prestige".

The worker should assume a bland, neutral demeanor as he leads you down an endless maze of hallways that seem to bear an increasing degree of disrepair. If at any time you hear the mournful sound of an organ playing, continue walking and think clearly to yourself, 'There is no status'. If the organ continues after you think this, it's best you close your eyes and not know what hits you.

If the organ's music stops, continue following the worker as before. He will lead you along this maze for an eternity, before coming to a door that seems impossibly clean and well-maintained, especially in comparison to its decrepit surroundings. Thank the worker, then enter this door. Inside is what appears to be a very stylish, very modern, very cosmopolitan high-rise apartment. A party is going on, the guests wearing the finest and most expensive clothes as they drink and fill the air with their loud chatter.

Now you must find the host, who is the man dressed as a woman. He is much harder to identify than you would ever imagine, but you must find the right man, for getting the attention of anyone else at the party will prompt all the guests to play a game that revolves around tearing you to pieces with their bare hands. Find the man dressed as a woman, however, and get his attention - make sure you have his FULL attention, for he is rather sociable, but flaky, and might chat with other guests before you have the chance to say anything more - and ask one question: "Are they proud of what they do?"

Upon uttering your question, the entire apartment will fall abruptly silent. The music, as though on its own volition, will shut off. Everyone will look at you, but their faces will be impossible to read. The man dressed as a woman will shift his weight uncomfortably at your question, but will then invite you to go with him to another room so he may answer your question in private. Refuse the offer. He will insist, but you must remain steadfast in refusing the offer, for your life's sake.

If your will is strong, he will give in and answer the question. He will tell of many, many stories, starting with the nauseating, continuing with the maddening, and finishing with those that may well drive you to suicide. By the time he is done with his answer, he will have collapsed and begun to cry. The guests will appear startled and troubled by their host's state. Use this as your chance to get as close as you can to the door through which you came. You will need as great a head start as you can achieve, for as soon as they shake themselves from their surprise the guests' hands will transform into long, grisly claws, which they will use to attack you en masse in the cramped apartment. Get out of the apartment as the guests conduct their onslaught like a pack of raptors.

If you make it out the door and shut it quickly behind you, you are safe. You can even open the door again and find that it no longer leads to the apartment, but to an empty cell.

Go home, and in roughly three weeks you should receive a package in the mail. It will be a small, bronze statuette of a man with no head nor hands, and inscribed in an indecipherable, yet elegant-looking, language.

That statuette is Object 124 of 538. There is no longer any cause for boasting.

The Holder of Loyalty

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. When you reach the front desk, ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Loyalty". Should a proud look come over the worker's face, you are in the right place. Should the worker glare at you, run for dear life, as you were deemed unworthy by the Holder or the object you seek is no longer there. Do not stop for anything. Those that are after you do not know the meaning of rest as they will hunt you down relentlessly until they find you and when they do, well, regret is always ends up at the end of the line.

Should you be deemed worthy by the Holder, you will be taken down a hallway that wasn't there before. In many of your previous adventures you are sure to have experienced much deception as the Holders try and try to lose you and protect their items. As the worker leads you down to your destination, you must harbor no wariness to the worker's intentions. You will get what you came for, if and only if you are worthy and your thoughts are pure.

After following the worker for what seemed like an eternity, you will come to non-descript door. The worker will open the door for you and leave you to be on your way. Should at any time during your walk with the worker you harbored thoughts of possible deception, 2 blood-red eyes will stare at you from the opened door. No use crying for help now, even the highest of powers are incapable of saving you. But if you were loyal to your intentions, beyond the door there will be a battle taking place. Go in and the door will shut itself behind you and you will find yourself in the middle of a war. You will then be captured by soldiers speaking in a language that is not of this earth. There is no use resisting, as they are capable of inflicting pain that is worse than anything you can ever imagine.

After they take you to their camp, you will then be accused of being a spy and will start torturing you. At this point they will try to make you confess and you must conjure up all your strength and try to weather this storm. Then the soldiers will turn into all the people you have ever scammed, squandered, and betrayed. They will then continue to pound on you not only physically, but also mentally as they remind you of every wrong the you have ever done to them. Many give up at this stage, and now they pay for their treachery with the lowest of the damned.

You must endure this until the soldiers' superior officer appears. You can tell by the uniform and wolf-like creature that accompanies him and also the officer takes the form of the person you love the most. Once the Holder reveals himself, with all your remaining energy shout out, "Would you ever suspect me?!" At this point the other soldiers will stop, and the commanding officer will then narrate every betrayal in history, the pain it caused, and the destruction it resulted into. He will then go on to explain the true benefits of loyalty, along with the thin and dangerous line it runs beside fanaticism. If you did not go mad before, those who are not destined to finish this journey will surely crack at knowledge that the world will never be ready for. After the officer's story he will then say, "Do you pledge your allegiance to Him?" Swiftly and with resolve answer him, "I stay true only to myself."

If the Holder doesn't believe you, your ordeal earlier will continue, adding to your misery his pet wolf will gnaw on you like a tasty bone for all eternity. But if the Holder believes you, he will punch you in the gut, and as your consciousness wanes, you barely hear him say, "We will meet again."

When you wake up you will be outside the mental institution without a scratch on your body. Sleeping beside you will be the wolf-like creature that was accompanying the officer earlier.

That wolf is object 131 of 538. You dare not wish to betray the trust it bestows on you.

Holder of Wrath

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. Go to the receptionist and ask to see "The Holder of Wrath". The receptionist will pick up the phone, dial a number, and say "They're here.” A few more seconds will pass and she will direct you to a flight of stairs leading down. You may descend as far as you like; every floor leads to the same place.

When you enter the doorway leading to the floor of your choice, you will see only a single light, at the very end of a long hallway. Walk towards the light, but whatever you do, do not walk to the end of the hallway. Feel along the walls until you reach the third door on the left. Do not enter any other room, as you will not leave should you do so. Once you reach the third door on the left, enter this room, and hold both your arms outstretched, palms forwards. The one person who makes you the angriest will appear before you. You must embrace them in a loving hug and whisper into their ear "I feel nothing but peace." At this point, they will hand you a small vial of blood.

The blood in the vial is object 528 of 538. Use it when they find you.

Holder of the Lost

In any city, in any country, go to any mental institution you can get yourself to. If it is raining, you stand a chance. Go into the parking lot, and find the girl who stands dry despite the downpour. Ask her "Where are the Lost?" She will show no emotion and merely turn and walk away. Follow her. After several days of walking, she will lead you into a dense wood, and beneath a huge tree. She will reach between the roots, into a pile of leaves and retrieve a small locked box. Do not worry if you do not have a key. No key fits the lock.

The woman will open her mouth, and her words will echo in your mind, never falling on your ears. She will speak to you of the burden she has carried since they were separated. She will then speak of something that will strike the most intense and unbearable of fears. Even those who have faced and survived the most horrifying of the Holders will feel their knees turn to gelatin upon hearing it. Many Seekers are scared enough to give up their journey for the Objects and fall into depression, and many, if not most, end their lives. If you can withstand her tale, nod and say "I will carry the burden." She will then rip the flesh from the smallest finger on her left hand and stick the bones into the keyhole on the box. When it opens, you will see a tarnished silver chain holding a shining garnet pendant. That pendant contains the single remaining atom of each of the 2,000 lost objects. When you take your eyes from the pendant, it will be around your neck, and you will be back at the place you first spotted the Holder.

That pendant is Object 537 of 538. Only now may they be reunited.

Holder of Legion

In any country's capital city, go to the building where the country's leader works. When inside, locate the visitor's desk and ask to visit someone who calls himself "The Holder of Legion". The worker's expression will freeze and he will ask you to leave. Do not obey, instead keep asking, about once a minute. After some time, maybe minutes, maybe hours, the worker will finally give in. By this time, he will be close to crying, probably even collapsing due to the pressure you're putting onto him by the mere mentioning of this Holder's name.

Depressedly, he will rise and take you into a part of the building that no-one else even seems to notice exists. It looks exactly like the rest of the capitol would- in a thousand years. The walls are cracked and sagging, the support pillars are buckled and leaning dangerously, the paint is faded and almost completely peeled off the walls, the pictures are torn, faded, and hanging askew, and the carpet underfoot is rotted and full of bugs. You will be taken deep into these hallways, deep down below the surface. The worker will take you to a door further below than any other in the building, possibly even a hundred meters below the basement. This is where your last chance to turn back is. Should you decide to go into this door, your fate will be sealed, and there will be no chance of ever leaving alive. Turn back if you want to find other pieces. If not...Well, then ask the worker to unlock the door. He will beg you to leave, tears flowing over his cheeks, and he will, if you keep asking him to open the door, try to scream at you. But he should give in if you are determined enough. He will open the door.

Enter, and it will be closed behind you, and locked. Now is no turning back, and no matter what you do, you will eventually die. The beings creeping in the shadows of the room have already begun to leech your life from your body and you will feel older with every second. Run as fast as you can to the door on the other side of the room and enter it. The beings here are simply minor demons, not even capable of scaring the smallest child. Follow the red path you see and you will soon reach a wooden door.

Knock thrice. If you are lucky, someone will ask you to stay where you are. Your death will be a quick one. Should he instead tell you to enter, do so. Your feelings do not matter, nothing matters after you have entered this room. Here, you will see them, all behind a kind of force-field that repels anything coming to close. You will see two thousand of them, precisely two thousand. Or rather: One thousand and nine-hundred and ninety-nine. The last of them is held by the person in the middle of the room. But you will also see things that cannot be described by human words. Things that show that this very room could be a tiny part of hell. Things that might drive you mad if you look at them for too long. Walk closer to the one in the middle, him, her, and it. It does not matter what the being there is. Ask him: "Why do you hide them?” He will answer you. He will tell you how he got his first one and then proceeded to look for all those others you see around you. The tale might drive you mad, it might kill you, it could do anything to you. But in the case that nothing happens, he will ask you to take his object. It is attached to his chest, but do not even come close to it. Tell him the following: "I came to see, not to touch. You may now let me leave."

He will then laugh. He will laugh even worse than the devil, more evil than anything in the world. He will then say a simple sentence. "Your fate is sealed." The object on his chest will begin to glow and you will feel pain. Then madness. And finally, death.

You have three choices here. One is to accept your fate, and descend to the lowest level of hell for eternity. The second is to kill him, promptly and speedily, but to do so is to destroy the final object, and to end your search forever.

The third is to produce the first object.

If you do, he will scream and attempt to attack you. Do not worry- he can't get past the object. Eventually he will begin to melt, as he dashes himself against the field generated by the symbol of madness you hold in your hands. Do not open your eyes until no more sound is heard.

Toss the first object away and look. Where the thing once stood, a single, large diamond-like object lies twinkling on the floor. Grab it.

It will embed itself in your chest, becoming part of you as much as your heart or your brain.

You are now the final object of the 2538.

INDEX

"They must never come together. Never." -Holder of the End

1. Not every mental institution does in fact work. Although, it is unknown what makes one usable or not. It seems that the longer one has been around, the greater chance of it being usable. Abandoned institutions can work as well, but require searching on one's part, to find the right passages.

2. The Objects have nothing to do with mental institutions themselves. The institutions are just placeholders in this reality. (Reference lost)

3. The Objects are not in their original form. What they are now is just a representation. Before, they were something else, and their change was for very simple reasons. It may have been due to their impending death. (Objects 82 and 87)

4. The Objects were created by Him. The event destroyed the world. This was a conscious effort by Him. (Objects 3, 19, and 101)

5. The Objects can be destroyed. (Objects 12 and 74)

6. The Objects can be stopped. Doing so however will cause a cataclysmic event. (Object 43)

7. The Objects were placed in a state of hibernation, and have yet to awaken. (Objects 29 and 38)

8. Several failed attempts were made to destroy the Objects. This includes immolation, shattering, consumption. One attempt to destroy them almost succeeded. (Objects 27, 30, 88, and 109)

9. The Objects have emotional processes, including fear, hate, pain, and greed. (Objects 13, 23, 65, 66, 79)

10. The Objects do not kill everyone when they are gathered, although the innocent are the first to suffer. (Objects 51, 85, and 89)

11. The Objects have been gathered on more than one occasion. They are destined to be brought together by a person again. (Objects 9, 11, 26, 58, and 63)

12. The Objects have been scattered on more than one occasion. They were once scattered by a person, at a tower, which now serves as a prevention method from them reuniting. (Objects 2, 61, 68, and 100)

13. The Objects have a task for which they are intended, both individually and as a group. These tasks have yet to be completed, and they have been abandoned. (Objects 28, 40, and 42)

14. A Chosen Seeker will deliver our last hope by gathering select Objects. (Objects 48, 90, and 92)

15. People other than the Chosen Seeker will seek the objects, potentially to gather them.

16. The Chosen Seeker collecting all of the objects is not the same as them coming together in any other way.

17. The Chosen Seeker is not a gay man or straight woman, as they are given a bride during their quest. (Object 90)

18. The Holder of the Cosmos is the enemy of the Objects. He will stop at nothing to stop the seekers, although he might not be able stop the Chosen Seeker. (Object 67)

Object 10, The Babel Book of Forbidden Tongues: Contains the knowledge of how to speak all earthly languages, but also sets your path in stone. You must continue your Quest after reading it.

Object 17, The Rusty Keychain: Holds only the keys meant for it, while all other keys are repelled. Possibly meant to hold Object 26 and subsequent keys.

Object 20, The Grimoire of Truth's Deception: Is locked, possibly requiring Object 26 to open. Contains information necessary to gather them all together, by seeing through the deceptions of Object 58.

Object 25, The Book of the Creations: Like the Grimoire, this green book contains information that will help you gather the objects together. What kind of information is unknown, but since it is part of creation, it may help you to deal with the stories you hear from the Holders, as some of their tales might kill you or drive you mad.

Object 26, The Key of Time: Might open the lock on the Grimoire. Might open another object. It doesn't really say, except that you probably shouldn't go looking for what it opens.

Several Objects, such as the Past, Truth, and Lies, mention a person known only as "Him" or "He". He is always capitalized, which may well suggest a god or someone of near-equal importance, but who He is has not yet been discovered. The Objects themselves also provide support to the theory of this "He" holding immense power- they include things such as a throne and a book of laws. Since many of the objects refer to Him, it can be assumed he is intricately connected with the objects, their creation, their gathering, or the results of the gathering.

INDEX

I’m home.
I’m all alone.
I need some hot coffee right about now.
There were three jovial Welshmen, as I have heard.
One said it was a ship. The other, he said, wished the chimney would blow away.
And I felt worse than I’ve ever known, all alone.

-The King of Wolves

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