Archive of Our Own ^beta

Despite that, nothing seems to be catching your attention. At least, not until you, somehow, get to a large room on the third floor. What appears to have once been a desk litters the floor in chunks ranging from almost something useable to splinters. There’s a pretty snazzy looking chair toppled over in the corner and, when you stand it back up, you finally find something interesting hidden beneath.

It’s a book.

You sit down on the now righted chair and take a closer look at it.]

Name: A compendium of magical artifacts by [The author is missing, their name snuffed out by long scratches across the cover. You squint and try to push the hanging pieces of cover back into place, but there’s nothing you can do to parse it. Oh well.]

Description: A large hardcover book. It seems like the binding has been broken and fixed several times over. Some pages sit tightly while others are barely attached. There’s a bunch of little sticky tabs sticking out of the top in different colors and with little comments on them like ‘do not search for again’ and ‘talk to Skulker about this’. [You do a quick flip through the pages to try and get an idea of what’s inside.] The text inside is handwritten. Some of the ink is newer and some faded by time. Most of it appears to be legible at a glance. Some of the pages have pictures as well— some of which are hand drawn while others are from a camera. There’s random splotches of who knows what on some of the pages, but it all seems to be long dried.

Known Abilities: It holds information. What information and how useful it is has yet to be seen.

Location: Well, it’s in your hands now.

Notes: The book looks well worn and well loved. Why would someone leave this behind?

[You settle into the seat. It’s just as comfortable as you would expect from such an expensive looking chair. It will be good for a nice long perusal of the book in your hands. Who knows, maybe you’ll even find something interesting inside.]

Name: The Chaos Wand; The Wand of Many Effects; [The last name on the list is blue, shoved into the small area between the other names and description, and crossed out, but you can still make out what it says] The piece of shit that turned me blue

Description: The item looks like a piece of gnarled wood carved into the vague shape of a wand. The grip is only slightly more smooth than the rest. On closer examination of the shaft of the wand, there appears to be small symbols carved into every inch. Each symbol lights up slightly when pressed against organic matter such as skin, hair, blood and ectoplasm. It does not appear to react to inanimate objects such as tweezers or glass rods. 

Known Abilities: The wand is said to create random effects every time it’s used. Some notable effects that were recorded by other users include: the destruction of everything in a five foot radius sphere around the caster, turning several miles of desert into an ocean for three days, and the creation of small ectoplasm-based creatures that look like elongated Furbys. 

Location: [The first location is crossed out, but you can still make it out easily. The second is squished in the remaining space between the first one and the notes.] In my possession. Last seen in the mouth of what appears to be an unholy mix between a crocodile and a horse as the creature ran into the Infinite Realms [Infinite Realms? You haven’t hear of that before. Is it some kind of shop or something?]. 

Notes: Testing was performed in a laboratory setting with everything cleared out for a five foot radius around the testing area. Sensors and cameras were placed in order to get a record of the effects as some could be unnoticeable to the eye or dissipate too quickly for detailed inspection during the test.

Test 1: Time is 12:47 on [Despite everything else being perfectly legible, it looks like someone shoved their thumb into the ink of the date while it was wet and made it unreadable beyond the number 16 in the front.] . After an initial examination of the wand and writing down the initial observations, I moved to the middle of the room and waved the wand while pushing energy into it. The wand produced a thick yellow-brown smoke that immediately caused blisters to form. Going intangible prevented further injury and classified the gas as something purely earthen in nature. 

I have identified the gas as Sulfur Mustard Gas— military grade. The majority of what the wand produced dissipated into the surrounding air after five minutes and the lingering scent disappeared abruptly after ten. Unfortunately, the blisters didn’t disappear as well and were left to heal on their own. It appears that, while the direct effects of the wand can end after a certain duration, the consequences remain very real. Something to keep in mind.

Test 2: Time is 1:37 on same day. The blisters have finally healed, so I have decided to test the wand once more. The information I’ve gathered has indicated that the wand never does the same effect twice in a row, so no extra measures have been put into place. This time when I used the wand, a blob ghost appeared floating in the room not two feet from me. It was rather small and too weak to give off much of an ectosignature. As these are rather skittish creatures, I was unsurprised when it attempted to flee. Fortunately, the ghost containment shield was already active just in case of such an event. It bounced off the ceiling several times over while I watched. Unfortunately, when I looked away, the creature somehow managed to escape my sight. I am unsure if it managed to find a new hiding place or if it was transported back where it came from. [There’s another, smaller note in the margins next to the paragraph in blue, “I never did manage to find that blob.”]

Test 3: Time is 1:52 on the same day. Unfortunately I misjudged the range of the wand and one of the scanners I was working on got turned into an oversized egg. The egg is much bigger than any I’ve ever seen before and seems to have a more leathery shell than what one would expect from a bird’s egg. The shape is elongated and without a more rounded side. Perhaps it’s the egg of some kind of reptile? I will monitor the egg until it either returns back into my scanner or hatches. A flashlight behind the egg revealed that there is, in fact, something growing inside. No more tests for today, or at least not until I see the outcome of the egg.

[There’s a larger gap between this paragraph and the next than there was between the ones above. The writing is also sharper in the beginning before smoothing out as it goes.]

It took three days for the egg to turn back into my scanner. Unfortunately I had foolishly decided that after the first 24 hours that the egg was likely to be permanent and had placed it into an incubator. Both the incubator and the sensor are now damaged from the egg reverting back to its original form.

Given that the test on an item seemed to produce more interesting results, I pulled an ivy from the garden and placed it in a pot in order to test the wand on a living thing. The results were fascinating to say the least. The plant grew several times its size, even producing flowers that then wilted away and grew again four to five times in succession before the plant finally started going brown at the edges fading in until the entire plant was dead. Then, from the wilted stem of the plant, a ghostly version sprang into being. It is rather small and not affected by the accelerated growth of the living plant (see further description in the ghost plant compendium). I am unsure if the ghost plant is a continuation of the wand’s effects or a result of them. Thankfully, I have a greenhouse full of ghostly plants with various needs. I should be able to find a spot for it. [There was a greenhouse? You hadn’t seen it on your way in, but to be fair, you hadn’t spent much time exploring the wild field that surrounded the castle.]

After placing the flower in it’s new home I found it had a rather fascinating ability. When looked at directly, the plant appears to be a fully living, if ghostly, ivy, but, if looked at through a camera, it looks like the original dead plant. The actual wilted corpse was, of course, removed when I placed the ghost ivy in my greenhouse. Perhaps it’s suppose to be some kind of camouflaging effect? Or perhaps a ghost attractant? More data needed on what causes each form to appear. It seems likely that the plant is a result rather than a continuation of the wand’s effects. Unfortunately, if the last test was any indication, I may need to wait multiple days to get confirmation.

I next used the wand outside in the field behind my home. I was interested if there might be some other kind of targeted effect if I moved into a different area. 

There was a farting sound in the distance. No other effects were observable. Similarly, the next use did not appear to create an identifiable effect until I went back inside and found that my skin had been turned a bright blue. It does not wash off. Tissue removed grows back blue as well.

Given that the previous two uses caused effects that could not be immediately identified, I returned to my lab and the sensors. Unfortunately, the next use was much more dramatic than the previous two.

The wand produced what appeared to be a large reptilian creature reminiscent of an alligator or crocodile. It was as large as a horse and, similarly, had its legs positioned beneath its body— likely for increased terrestrial locomotion. The creature, upon forming in front of me, grabbed the wand from my hand, narrowly missing taking a few fingers with it, and ran into my portal to the Infinite Realms.

[The rest of the text on the page is in blue ink.]

It’s been three months. I don’t think the blue is going away. The ghost plant is still around and has taken over a third of my greenhouse. It keeps eating the other plants as it grows and is very annoying to prune back. There doesn’t appear to be any others of the plant in the areas of the realms I’ve explored, so it may be unique. Unfortunately it also seems to have consumed the book I recorded my observations in.

[You’re starting to think that the author was either writing this as some kind of writing practice or not totally human. You’ve heard of ghosts before, of course, but you didn’t think they were actually real. Maybe the author was just insane— that’s always an option. Given the fact that they, for some reason, bound their book completely out of order, it wasn’t out of the question.]

Name: The Orb of Ordered Thoughts; The Orb of Introspection; The Grandmaster’s Orb; The Fancy Disco Ball; Auntie’s Meal Ticket; Sally’s Orb; The Fancy Ball Thing; The Faction‘s Capture-The-Flag Prize

Description: It looks like an undersized disco ball. When held, each panel lights up with a different color. The colors start off scattered, but group together as the item is used and appear to represent the thoughts of the user.

Known Abilities: The orb allows a person to take a step back to categorize their thoughts within their own mind. According to those who have used it, the actual manifestation within their minds varies from person to person. 

Location: Either at the Temple of Introspection or Aunt Sally’s 24/7 Spa

Notes: The orb is, at the time of writing this, being fought over by two different factions- the Temple of Introspection and Sally’s 24/7 Spa. Both factions claim to have been the originator of the orb and are constantly stealing it from each other. 

According to other ghosts in the area, the temple has been there decades longer than the Spa. However, the disco ball design of the item dates it to much more recently. Either way, it seems like the orb is ripe for theft. Should a third party come by to take it, they would likely just continue to blame each other.

The temple only allows the most loyal followers of their religion (? Way of Un-life? Actual beliefs unclear.)

 [In the margins next to this part is a short note that says simply: ‘Asking clarified nothing.’]

Sally’s (none of them are actually named Sally???) Spa will rent the orb out to anyone who pays the fee. I have yet to attempt to use the item myself as it always seems to be in the Temple’s hands when I come by. 

In my opinion, the orb does much more good in the hands of the Spa, but I have decided not to get in the middle of this faction war.

[You get the feeling that there may have been an unwritten ‘for now’ at the end of that… ]

Name: The Factory Staff; Staff of Ghostly Earth

Description: The staff is the size and shape of an average walking stick with a round ball acting as a handle. As far as aesthetic, however, gaudy would be putting it kindly. The entire shaft appears to be made of rainbow glitter while, in contrast, the ball on top is swirled black and white stripes. This appears to be some kind of reflection of the personality of its two creators.

Known Abilities: The Factory Staff is the only known magical item that can be used to manipulate “land” in the infinite realms— including other ghosts’ lairs. It can break things apart, repair them, or even twist areas into something else entirely. The creators used it to rearrange their candy factory, but the staff has infinite uses for anyone willing to get their hands on it.

Location: Last seen in the possession of the Thieves Guild positioned in the Nexus between the Lawless Lands, the Factory District, and the Howling Depths [You… have no clue where any of these places are. Maybe they’re in the ‘Infinite Realms’ the author mentioned earlier?], however the guild master claims the item has already been sold and a cursory look through their vaults did not produce the staff. Unfortunately I was found and removed from the premises before I could look through the log books and find the current owner.

Notes: The Factory Staff originated in the Factory District, specifically Will and Charles’ Candy Factory. While eccentric, the duo were kind enough to let me see the item and demonstrate. They had a a soft spot for young ghosts— granted a young ghost refers to a recently deceased ghost and not one who actually died young. They were a weird pair. Unfortunately they were ended at some point more recently and the staff taken by the thieves guild. 

[The entry ends there. It feels like there should be more, but a glance at the next couple pages only shows more and different items. You still aren’t convinced that these are real, but if it is, maybe they lost the book before they managed to find it again?]

Name: Box of Free Cat(s)

Description: A seemingly normal cardboard box with the words ‘Free Cat’ scrawled across the side.

Known Abilities: It steals cats??? From somewhere??? Every time one is removed another one appears in the box. The cats appear relatively healthy and completely mortal. They also appear to be a large range of ages as some were very small while others had noticeable greying and scars.

Location: Purrfect Partner Cat Cafe on Elm Street [You don’t recognize the name of the place even though it’s a lot more normal than any of the other names you’ve seen so far. You wonder if it’s nearby.]

Notes: The box was placed on my doorstep this morning. I assumed it was a prank from a certain annoyance as there was a white cat with yellow eyes inside. The cat appeared incapable of leaving the box under its own power and was meowing incessantly. When I removed the cat from the box to check for a collar of some kind, another cat appeared inside— this one fully black with green eyes that appeared to be much younger than the previous. I assumed that I had just overlooked the feline and brought the box into my home to check that there weren’t any other cats hiding inside before pulling that cat out as well. This cat also did not have any kind of tags and, when I turned to put the box outside once more, there was a third cat with long white fur, a flat face, and bright yellow eyes. Seeing as this cat appeared to be fully grown and the fact that I had already checked the box beforehand, I was forced to concede that this must be some kind of magical item. 

In order to test whether the box had a limit on the number of cats, I proceeded to pull out almost a dozen more before conceding defeat. I do not know where the cats came from and there didn’t appear to be any kind of identification on any of them. All of the cats, besides the two white ones, and the box were all donated to the cat cafe on elm street along with a generous donation to not ask questions and also to inform me if the box ever stopped producing cats. 

[The writing beneath that is sharper and pressed deeper into the paper, as if the person writing was annoyed] The box will apparently cease to produce cats if the cat is removed while the box is turned upside down. There is still no telling where the cats are coming from, but according to the cafe workers several apparently have signs of being part of trap and release programs and a couple have had chips with outdated information. The two I kept are not among those according to the veterinarian I took them to after learning of this. 

[You wonder how long it took the to figure it out, but there’s no time or date written down so it looks like that will remain a mystery. In other news, you may or may not be planning to visit a cat café the next time you get some time off. An actual street name and the name of the store means that you could theoretically confirm some of what’s written here. There’s even a picture of the cat café taped to the bottom of the page to prove that the place exists.]

Name: The Monocle of Potential Life After Death; Death’s Eye; The Wraith Glass

Description: It looks like a simple monocle. The metal holding the lens is old, tarnished and covered in scratches and dents. Some are even severe enough that there should be some blemish to the glass as well, but the lens is completely pristine and clear. The metal was likely added to allow the magicked glass to be worn without arousing suspicion rather than being part of the original creation.

Known Abilities: This item is known to reveal the Potential ghost of a living creature. There is no guarantee that the creature will actually form a ghost upon death. 

Location: [The first and second locations are crossed out with the second shoved into the space between the first and the notes and the third written on the bottom of the page with a large arrow pointing towards the location section.] In my possession. 

Currently in the possession of a particularly annoying, nosy, cheese obsessed ghost. (Need to get back when I have the chance.)

Unknown, potentially in Wilfred’s lair. 

Notes: The potential ghost, a wraith really, floats behind the creature and looks more like an illusion or a misty shape than a true ghost. They do not react to their surroundings and their features are subject to change and the potential form can often be more than half unidentifiable mist at any given time. The wraith becomes more defined and less misty the closer the creature is to death— Their features become sharper and the colors more vibrant. This does not mean that the creature Will die, only that they are close to it. This can be best witnessed within hospitals or veterinary offices where individuals often knock on death’s door, or even cross over momentarily, before returning once more. 

Upon the creature’s true and final death, the wraith will either become fully formed and apear to move and react to their surroundings or they will collapse completely into mist. Those that collapse have completely passed and cannot become ghosts anymore. The ghost can be viewed for as long as you have access to the body of the creature. The grave, though a ghost will always recognize where’s it’s body has been disposed of, does not produce the same effect. It must be a body. Similarly, the image can not be seen with anything but the naked eye. Cameras will not record or take pictures of the wraiths through the glass.

It is rather odd to see a ghost talking and reacting to things that are not there and I have been taking note of their features in order to potentially locate them later. I am interested to know if they formed in a similar location and how their deaths may have affected their core type or Obsession. While usually I would avoid being within hospitals at all costs, I have been spending several hours within them over the course of the week trying to identify patterns and form my hypotheses. Unfortunately, the ghost that shares my haunt [haunt? Is that what they call their home?] has decided that I have been spending too much time on my observations and has stolen the monocle while I was busy elsewhere. I will have to search for it later while he’s out.

[In blue text at the bottom, there’s what must be an update, though the ink seems just as faded as the rest. It must not have taken very long for the author to get caught.] Wilfred has decided to remove the monocle from the haunt and has moved it to some unknown location after catching me trying to find it. He says I was “being too obsessive and morbid over something that isn’t my Obsession”. I, of course, Informed him that I was motivated by scientific curiosity and that this could be used to further study how ghosts formed, but he refused to listen to reason. 

I’ll have to figure out some way of locating his lair and checking there at some point. He refuses to assure me that he still has possession of it, however, so the item may be lost in the Infinite Realms once more.

Name: Bottled Banshee Screams

Description: The bottles are sold in several different shapes and sizes. To ghosts, the actual screams appear like small ‘sheet ghosts’ like those in cartoons and the like. The main color of the screams are dependent on the ectosignature of the Banshee that produced the screams, but their inner mouths and eyes are always a bright ectoplasmic green. Humans, on the other hand, can only see an empty bottle. They are often kept as ironic ‘spooky’ decor for ghosts’ lairs as the actual effect of the item is nullified by the constant bombardment of ectoplasmic energy in the Infinite Realms.

Known Abilities: As can be assumed by the nature of the item, the screams trapped inside can be induced to actually produce sound by spikes in ectoplasmic energy brought about through ghosts forming, portals opening, and, interestingly, ghost hybrid transformations. The items must be in the human realm for this to work as the constant eternal energy of the Infinite Realms prevents spikes large enough for the bottled screams to register. They also start dissipating as they are ‘used up’. The screams register as sounds of great distress and can be heard for a range of several miles without dissipating in the slightest. This makes finding the item by sound functionally impossible.

Location: They can be purchased relatively cheaply from several different shops around the Factory District, at the Shell gift shop, and directly from the source down in the Waterway. [You can’t help but notice that the places they mention are either nowhere near the castle you’re sitting in or are just nicknames you don’t recognize. Maybe they’re all places in the ‘Infinite Realms’ the author mentioned earlier. Honestly, if it is all fake, it’s a pretty elaborate world they’ve created.]

Notes: I received a bottle from an acquaintance for the Winter Solstice. Whether they knew of its rather annoying effect in the human realm is unclear. Confronting them just resulted in laughter and explanation of where more of the screams could be bought from. After using up the first bottle in my own tests, and the rather ornate glass bottle was refilled with colored sand, I acquired a second bottle that looked just like a standard glass alcohol bottle. The bottle was then buried twelve feet below the ground in Amity Park’s [Oh hey, there’s a town in Illinois called Amity Park, maybe that’s where the author is?] public park in the center of town. Giving the area’s little protector is seemingly incapable of not responding to sounds of distress, this should work nicely as both payback for dying my poor cats bright orange and as a way to keep him busy from bothering me while I work on important business for the next couple days. 

The brat couldn’t manage to find the bottle before the screams were used up. Unfortunately, it only took a matter of hours for that to happen. I have either underestimated the amount of portals that open up around Amity Park in a given day or overestimated the brat’s ability to go longer than five minutes at a time without shifting form. As I had expected to have more time, I was not able to get through my business before he came by to acuse me of some nefarious plot or another. Perhaps next time I should plant several in different areas just outside each others’ effective area. It would, either extend the amount of time I have free or give me data on when and where portals are opening up around town. Honestly, if it is portals, that can’t be good for the long term stability of the area. Now, how to acquire the items without alerting the brat?

[You resolve to look up Amity Park when you get home. After all, there’s no way no one noticed and done a news story about someone screaming bloody murder for hours without being found. There’s a window in the back of the room and, when you glance out, you can tell that it’s starting to get later. You’ll have to start making your way home soon unless you want to be trapped here overnight. Navigating in the daytime was hard enough. There’s no working lights, just copious windows and holes letting in natural light. Still, you have time for a couple more entries before you go.]

[The next page you pick not because there’s a picture or the name looks particularly interesting, but because the page was torn in half and a good chunk of the notes are just Missing. Looking at the next page reveals a different item entirely- some kind of branch with healing properties. The page itself doesn’t look particularly old or new compared to the ones around it. You decide to read through just to see if there’s anything particularly interesting hiding in what little is still there.]

Name: The Nevermelt Ice, The Core of Frozen Death

Description: The item looks like little more than a small blue-white ice cube. It’s looks are deceiving.

Known Abilities: Said to be the core of the most powerful ice ghost in existence, the stories and writings all seem to agree that the ghost obtained the power of True Cold [there’s a little arrow pointing to a note to the side that says only ‘is this suppose to be some kind of old fashioned reference to Absolute Zero?’] by defeating the primordial spirit/being/aspect of Ice in the Aether that makes up the lowest bounds of the infinite realms. The ghost was said to be incapable of truly containing its own power and would freeze everything within its sight solid— even stars were no match for its might. 

Location: Currently held in Molten Core by the Living Fire clan of ghosts. [there’s another little arrow and note, this one saying, ‘I can’t tell if the “Living” bit is suppose to be ironic or not. Don’t comment on it just to be safe.’]

Notes: The item is rather underwhelming to see in person, to be honest. It looks no different than any other chunk of ghost ice. However, despite being stored in the hottest part of the ghost zone and surrounded by the Cage of Eternal Flame (see next page for more information), the ice causes an extremely noticeable drop in temperature in a fifty foot radius around it. Only an idiot would think of removing such a thing from its place. Unfortunately, the Infinite Realms seems to be chock full of them. The Living Fire Clan has a guard on it at all hours with a deliberately staggered changing of the guards. 

It was a surprise that I was able to get an audience with them, let alone see the item in person. I was also able to enquirer about the story behind the core straight from the current leader. I will try to replicate it as best I can now that I’ve finally made it home. 

The Ice core was apparently something of a loner or outcast among their peers, known for making trouble and escaping punishment. (They appear to be some kind of trickster archetype, though I am unable to discern if that was a later adjustment made to the story or if it was truly their personality.) They were often known as —

 [The page cuts off there. The fact that most of the story is missing, and right as the ice ghost is being named, is suspicious as hell. You also double check the next page again. ‘Branch of the Haven’, not ‘Cage of Eternal Flame’. This page looks torn, not deliberately cut out, so you doubt that it’s the author trying to edit out something they weren’t meant to write down. Somehow, despite already knowing that the book has several different sets of pages in various states of wear and tear, looks like it’s been rebound a few times, and seems like it’s pages got put back completely randomly, you still thought that connected pages would be kept together. Turns out you were wrong. You start flipping through the pages more carefully.]

[It takes you a while to find the page in question— it’s actually something like thirty seven pages Before the Nevermelt Ice page, oddly enough. You’re still kind of grumpy about it. All the pages seemed to have the right pictures with them, how had they managed to keep those together but not pages referencing each other? You knew the book wasn’t in order, but you had hoped that it would have at Least been After the Ice page. You’re starting to think it might be worth taking the book apart and rearranging some things when you finally decide to get out of this comfy chair, brave the busted up castle, and take it home in… probably less than an hour you decide after glancing out the window again. Finding this page took a lot longer than you expected. For now you just read the passage you spent all this time hunting down.]

Name: Cage of Eternal Flame, the Core of the Unfaltering Flame

Description: The cage looks like an old bird cage— round and tall with thin bars. The whole cage is pure flame and does not appear to have any kind of ‘door’. (Considering the cage’s captive is never meant to leave, it makes sense.)

Known Abilities: The cage is said to be made from the core of a fire ghost that somehow managed to take on the primal essence of fire and win. They were the only creature that could stand up to, and finally beat, the ghost known as Frozen Death. Their fire is said to be the hottest in existence and they could burn the entire Infinite Realms to ash were it not for, originally, their will and protection-based obsession. Now that they have been reduced to nothing more than a containment device, however, it is only the opposing element of the cage’s occupant that keeps the fire in check.

Location: Currently held in Molten Core by the Living Fire clan of ghosts. 

Notes: While the ghost “Frozen Death” is spoken of with nothing but malice and anger by the fire cores that guard the cage, the “Unfaltering Flame” appears to be like a deity or hero to them. Their accounts of his exploits tend to be much more flattering despite how often they seem to include the ghost accidentally burning things around them and being forced, both by circumstance and other ghosts, to fix their mistakes.To me, it seems as if both ghosts, fire and ice, were out of control and could only be brought back into control of themselves around each other. It would be nice to be able to speak with an ice core clan to see if they have any stories of the duo that might give a more complete picture, but unfortunately the Yetis are the most powerful and oldest of the ice ghosts in this part of the Infinite Realms and they don’t seem to like me for reasons beyond my understanding. Perhaps there could be some kind of library in this Sector unaffiliated with either group. I will have to look into it later.

[Disappointingly, there doesn’t seem to be any more of the story written down or any other reference to the parts of the Nevermelt Ice notes that were ripped off. Now that you know that the pages are scattered worse than you had first thought, you think you might actually be able to find it elsewhere as you look through the book. Of course, even if you don’t find it, there’s plenty of other items in the book to keep your attention.]

[Despite telling yourself that you wouldn’t keep looking for more information on the Nevermelt Ice or the Cage of Eternal Flame, you can’t help but pause at the next page that mentions fire. Interestingly, the page has a ton of soot and char along the edges, as if the author had been burning things as they wrote.]

Name: A Purification Crucible, A Bowl of Purifying Flame, A Forge Fire Construct

Description: Despite being referred to as a bowl more often than not, the crucible is actually a somewhat complex looking glass-like container. It has a wide basin on top where the solid metal sits while it is being heated by the fire held within the main chamber. The liquid metal then flows into the small holes at the bottom of the  basin and is drained past the fire and out of the spout at the bottom of the device.

Known Abilities: The Forge Fire/Purifying Flame burns at a high enough temperature to melt any metal while some magic placed upon the holding chamber prevents the heat from escaping the device at any point besides the basin where the materials are introduced. The fire removes any organic impurities in the metal, including those introduced to create alloys such as ectoplasm or carbon. The only downside is that the fire also absorbs some of the metal as it drains in order to remain lit, giving only about 95% of the introduced metal back, and must therefore be used regularly.

Location: These a can be obtained in Olympus from the Temple of Hephaestus. I currently have one in my possession.

Notes: I first heard of these from an engineering obsessed ghost while we were discussing  the difficulties of acquiring untainted metals in the Infinite Realms. Actually purchasing one of the devices was actually a bit more complex than expected. The temple would not accept any kind of money. Instead they requested an item I had crafted myself in their temple as payment. It took longer than expected, and several rather rude comments from some of the temple’s acolytes, but I managed to produce an acceptable item and was able to return home with my own crucible.

Attempting to determine how hot the fire actually burns has been fruitless as the fire melts all the probes and the temperature cannot be measured from any other point besides the basin. Interestingly, touching the basin does not immediately burn upon being touched, but will if you let your fingers linger for a couple moments. This device could likely be utilized to harvest trace metals out of organic materials— granted it would not be very useful unless the amount of metals was unusually high or there was a large amount of organic material that needed to be disposed of.

For now, a simple feeding system reintroducing the same metal in a cycle until it’s used up can theoretically keep the flame running while I am otherwise occupied. I have  a prototype setup in my basement lab currently along with a sensor monitoring the output that will alarm when it gets too low. This device promises to be very useful in my future projects.

[A basement lab? You wonder if it’s still down there. There were a lot of rooms you couldn’t or hadn’t touched in your original wander around the place. Perhaps the entrance was still down there somewhere. Now that you knew some of what to expect, you could come back with tools and the like. Maybe you should come back the next time you get time off work and try exploring more carefully. Even if all the ghost stuff is fake, there could still be some cool things down there.]

[Checking the sky outside, it looks like you still have time for one more page before you need to leave. You only manage to flip through a couple pages before a loose page with pen drawn pictures of some kind of wasp or hornet catches your eye. You pull it out to try and read the notes when the name of the item on the page behind it catches your eye— it looks like the page below goes with the picture in your hand.]

Name: Barbs of the Parasitic Ghost Wasp, Spines of Pestilence

Description: The barbs are initially very pale and almost completely clear at the pointed end. They are approximately 1 to 2 cm long depending on where the barn snaps off the wasp. As they are exposed to ghost derived ectoplasm, however, they begin to darken with the color of the host’s ectoplasm. The barbs then seem to undergo a softening or melting until they become the larval form of the creature. That the larvae is also the same color as the host’s ectoplasm— likely a sort of camouflage to prevent detection by more intelligent ghost species.

Known Abilities: The barbs are best described as a primary or secondary reproductive method for the large parasitic ghost wasps. The easily latch onto and pierce into ghosts’ ‘flesh’ with little to no sign beyond mild irritation. Once imbedded in a ghost’s skin, it’s likely already too late. If the barb is not fully removed, then any pice left behind will still form a larvae, albeit one that that takes much longer to reach full size.

Location: The wasps appear to be native to the heated section of Foggy Swamp and the Infected Plains beyond. DO NOT GO THERE [The words are darkly bolded and underlined several times over seemingly frantically.] According to Skulker, some ghosts attempt to collect and sell the barbs under the name Spines of Pestilence as a way to torture one’s enemies. Avoid these ghosts at all costs as they often end up the victims of their own greed and spread the creatures into otherwise safe areas.

Notes: I first became aware of these items and the creatures that produce them while assisting Skulker. They had once more decided to make an excursion to Foggy Swamp in an effort to catch the elusive Earth Core Salamanders that reside there. As with every time they have tried hunting in the Swamp, I received a distress signal from their suit saying that it had been broken beyond Skulker’s ability to repair it in field. 

Upon reaching the swamp, I found that the distress signal was coming from much deeper in than I expected. The Swamp itself, despite the fog preventing sight beyond a few feet, is actually rather safe to traverse as long as you do not attempt to touch the ground. I was therefore unconcerned and quickly made my way to where the beacon was signaling from. I found myself on the edge of Foggy Swamp and the plains area beyond that I later learned was called the Infected Plains by the ghosts that live in the area.

While searching the area for Skulker, as the beacon was not with the rest of the suit, a large (at minimum 4 to 5 feet long) lizard ghost ran into me, knocking us both to the ground with the lizard landing on top of me. Thankfully we landed on solid ground rather than the muck that covers large swaths of the Swamp. Or, at least, lucky for me. With the lizard on top of me, I was unable to identify the source of the sudden buzzing that filled the air. The lizard panicked and attempted to flee, but it was quickly captured by a ghostly wasp only slightly smaller than the lizard. 

The lizard struggled, of course, but went limp upon being stung by the wasp’s oversized stinger. Thankfully, the creature was content with its catch and did not attempt to come after me. Rather it turned and flew off towards the plains. At this point I was concerned that Skulker may have been captured by another of the creatures and widened my search to include part of the plains. This is when I saw the Pupae. Large, bulbous, and white, the only reason I even considered going near the thing was because of the dimly glowing ghost core sitting on the ground next to it. It is not often that a ghost becomes so reduced without completely fading away, after all. I was still examining the core— fully intact if a bit dull and grey around the edges— when the pupae split open and released a second of the wasp creatures I right next to me. 

Thankfully I was able to notice the creature before it noticed me and I flew towards the Swamp once more. After all, the lizard from earlier had been heading that way and, given that I had never seen these particular types of ghost before, I assumed that they were somehow repelled or at least more easily lost in the fog. Despite being freshly ‘hatched’ and likely disoriented, the wasp managed to catch up just as I was getting to the edge of the swamp. It just barely managed to latch onto my cape before who should appear but the very ghost I had been searching for earlier. Skulker managed to stun the creature just long enough for me to remove myself from its grasp and get past the edge of the Plains. Skulker dragged both of us deeper into the Swamp until the Plains were out of sight.

I demanded answers and Skulker gave them to me, though not before pulling several clear barbs out of my cape and demanding to know if I had been grabbed anywhere else. As it turns out, the barbs that had been left in my cape were one of the Parasitic Wasp’s reproductive methods. When introduced to a ghost’s ectoplasm they become larvae that burrow beneath the ghost’s ‘skin’ and consume them from the inside. The core I found was the only thing left of the poor sod that ‘birthed’ the wasp that had chased me. With the core undamaged, the ghost will reform, but unless they’re fast enough to escape the Wasps’ hunting grounds, they will just be doomed to be repeatedly infected until their core gives out completely or, more mercifully, they’re consumed by a hungry adult Wasps. I was very, Very lucky.

I was able to convince Skulker to allow me to take the barbs home to experiment with. Dropping spilled ectoplasm in several jars, one filled with my own and the rest with donated ectoplasm, I watched the barbs transform quickly from slim spikes to bulbous round creatures the same color as the ectoplasm they were created from. The stronger the ghost who donated the ectoplasm, the faster the creatures formed with the fastest taking just over an hour and the slowest just under five. Once the ectoplasm in the jar was consumed, all the larvae became lethargic save one. The one formed from my own ectoplasm was aggressive and persistent, throwing itself at the sides of the jar, mouth opening and closing in some kind of threat or perhaps out of hunger, every time I entered the room. It continued this behavior right up until the last hour of its existence. 

I also chanced handling one of the more docile ones in order to examine how much damage the creatures could take before perishing. Out of the creature’s seven segments, all but the last behind the head can be removed without destroying the creatures. It is actually rather terrifying how hearty the creatures are. The fact that they seem to secrete a kind of numbing agent from their bodies just makes it worse. I have scanned myself several times over the course of my experiments just to double check that none of the barbs actually managed to implant within my own body. The thought of the creatures burrowing inside my flesh and consuming me from the inside with out my knowledge haunts my nightmares.

I have taken the liberty to attach some of my notes to this page. The rest I will share with Skulker since the fool still hasn’t managed to catch one of those damned salamanders and refuses to stop hunting in the area until they get one. They have also been informed that I will Not be assisting them if they stray too close to the plains again.

[You shiver in your seat. You don’t think you’ll ever look at wasps the same way again. Brushing at your arms, you close the book with a snap. Thats enough book time for today, you think.]

[The sun going down and your curiosity satisfied for now, you finally start picking your way through the dilapidated halls. You quickly realize that either you have no idea how you got up to the third floor in the first place, or the way you had taken only worked one way. Still, you somehow manage to make it back to the first floor without breaking your neck or losing your prize.

Once you get down to the first floor, finding a way out becomes much easier with all the holes and broken windows everywhere. Honestly, you’re a bit surprised you haven’t seen any signs of homeless people taking over the place. It’s pretty big and probably better than spending the night under an overpass or something.

The field surrounding the place is almost as tall as you are and it’s a bit hard trying to get your bearings as the grass threatens to swallow you whole. Still, as you slowly make your way around the perimeter of the castle trying to find the path you made coming in, you manage to catch sight of the greenhouse the author mentioned in the chaos wand entry. You wonder if that “ghost plant” is there, growing out of control without someone keeping it tamed. You want to go check it out, but the sun is getting lower and you still have a long trek home... 

You don't even make it three steps before your feet pull you towards the glass building. To be fair, you wouldn’t have even come here in the first place if it wasn’t for your unquenchable curiosity.

Despite the glass roof, the inside is too dark for you to make out beyond the impression of overlapping plant matter. The metal struts between the glass panes is rusty, but solid. It takes a moment to find the door and even once you find it, it still takes a while to muscle it open under the mass of what is probably highly overgrown plants. Your assumptions are proven correct when, finally, the plants holding the door give way and you almost face plant straight onto the floor.

….Well, if the ghost plant is here, it looks like the camouflage ability works on you because all you see is dead ivy covering every square inch of space. Any other plants are long dead and buried. If there is another book hidden in here, your going to need some serious gardening tools to find it. For now, you back away from the door and return to your search for the way home.

You finally find your earlier path in once you’ve made it three fourths of the way around the building. If you had just gone the other direction to start with you probably would have been on your way home by now. On the other hand, you probably wouldn’t have found the green house. Either way, you find yourself jogging over trampled grass as the sun starts setting and casting long shadows on your path.

You mark the way as best you can. It was only chance, after all, that your nature walk led you here. You’d need more than chance to find it again. 

The walk is long and by the time you reach your home, the sun has basically set. You really cut it close. As soon as you get inside, you set the book on the counter and start making dinner. You just make something quick— you need to get to bed soon so you’ll be up on time to get to work in the morning.  As you eat, you also write down all the little things you need to look up when you get the time— Amity Park, the Infinite Realms, Purrfect Partner Cat Café, and… who exactly had owned the castle. For some reason you feel like it should be obvious— it was a huge castle and not that far out from town after all—, but you jut can’t remember.

You go to bed that night with the book on your nightstand and your mind swirling with questions.]

Name: Scythe of Bountiful Harvest

Description: A standard sized harvesting scythe. The shaft appears to be made of some kind of dark material, potentially a type of ectoplasmic metal or some kind of alternate to wood that I do not recognize, while the handles and the blade are all made of what appears to be ectoplasm infused copper. There appears to be plants growing from the shaft, though the older pictures drawn of the item show a much more bountiful covering than what currently exists.

Known Abilities: When this scythe is used to harvest food, the amount reaped multiplies tenfold. The replicated food is all an exact copy of the original down to the smallest spot, blight, or disease. It seems to take the energy required to create the extra food directly from the wielder as well. 

Location: Found in the abandoned Temple of Gluttony in the Lower Wastes, it now resides in my tool shed. 

Notes: I found this item during my exploration of the Temple of Gluttony. This appears to be one of the items they used to help keep the holder of Guttony’s Eye from decimating the food supply of the area. [You think you’ve seen that name before on one of the pages you passed over earlier. Another connected page maybe?] 

Currently the scythe appears to be much diminished from the images and descriptions of it found in the temple’s texts. There are only a few sparse flowers clinging to the shaft and its glow is almost non-existent. I find it likely that the energy utilized to create the replicated food was also used to keep the magic bound to the staff. It has been a long time, centuries even, since its last recorded use and, if this is indeed the case, the scythe has held up remarkably well.

I have decided to bring it home and use it in my yard. Do I need ten times the amount of cut grass hanging around? No. But it seems a shame to let such a useful item go to waste just because the original creators no longer need it. Perhaps I will be able to find some other use for it later.

[There’s a note at the bottom a that has a bit bigger gap in it than the gaps between the rest, so it was probably added a bit later.]

The plant created by the Chaos wand breaks most cutting devices I attempt to tame it with, but the scythe works wonders to keep it contained. Thankfully I have also found a use for the ivy in my experiments and can actually utilize the excess ivy created by the scythe. Anything beyond what I can use gets burned in my crucible to keep the fire going. The scythe itself has also blossomed beautifully now that it has returned to being used regularly, though the flowers are now all the color of my ectoplasm.

[Oof, good thing you learned about the plant destroying tools Before you went back to the castle with your own. If you can find this tool shed, maybe you can prune everything back far enough to find that other book the author mentioned— assuming this scythe doesn’t just knock you flat.]

Name: Pendent of Eternal Hunger, Guttony’s eye

Description: The pendant is described as being shaped like an eye that hung on a thick leather rope. The pupil took up most of the eye with only a sliver of dark blue around the edge. Inside of the pupil, there were dark grey teeth that partially blended in with the pupil from afar, but became very apparent up close.

Known Abilities: This item is or was very Very cursed. It caused unending, gnawing hunger in the holder and could not be removed unless willingly taken by someone else. The holder would often eat anything and everything in their vicinity to try and quell the hunger, but would not gain weight. Instead, they would slowly waste away to skin and bones. Living holders would not die of the hunger as long as they continued to eat even if the ‘food’ in question would not normally be compatible with life. Ghosts, on the other hand, could quickly end themselves by becoming too preoccupied with eating to fulfill their Obsessions.

Location: Either still in the possession of a ghost only known as the Lindworm or destroyed. Preferably the latter.

Notes: The item was apparently the cause of a huge famine in the far past when it came into the possession of a novelty obsessed ghost who was fixated on trying out as much and as many types of foods as possible. Because of this, there was apparently a whole faction of ghosts that had banded together and traded the item between themselves in order to prevent this from happening again. I first became aware of the item while exploring the ruins of the Lower Wastes for information on ghost hybrids. The sector was known for having once held a very large number of ghosts who could slip between the Human Realm and Infinite Realms at will and is currently one of the most persistently unoccupied sectors of the Infinite Realms. 

The faction, who called themselves the Acolytes of Gluttony, has long since disbanded, but their texts and images still persist in what was once their home along with many of the tools they created specifically to cope with the unending hunger brought upon by Gluttony’s Eye.

 According to their records, the pendent was passed between holders for decades with each of them taking the brunt of the amulet in turn. Then, one day, an outsider came by that promised to take the item from them and destroy it. There aren’t many recorded details, but the ghost— apparently one that either took the form of a Lindworm or according to one of the diaries left behind— was able to remove the necklace from the holder at the time without touching it. The holder stopped feeling the effects and the other ghost was similarly unaffected. Unfortunately the records end soon after that point, but even beyond the amulet, the texts left behind are a fascinating insight into Pre-Pariah Dark ‘life’ for ghosts. 

It seems that, just as in the human realm, the sectors were previously defined by the groups of ghosts that took over the area rather than the current setup where sectors are defined by “bubbles” of energy that surround a certain amount of space. It makes me wonder if the way ghosts formed in the past was different. Currently new ghosts are more likely to form in sectors that have lost most of the ghosts that use to exist there and where the ‘bubbles’ are thin. It is something to study more later. Perhaps once I finally manage to retrieve the Wraith Glass from Wilfred’s lair.

[With the references to other items you’ve seen, you think you’re starting to get a rough idea of the order of some of the pages. If you do actually end up unbinding and rebinding the book, that will be pretty useful. You add it to the notes you’ve taken.]

[Now that you have the thought of putting the book back in some semblance of order on your mind, you find yourself looking for other items that mentions places or items you’ve seen before. It only takes a couple pages to find one such entry.]

Name: Mask of Crushing Depths

Description: A dark blue full face mask with no eye or mouth holes. The front is flat when not in use, but melds to whatever face it is placed onto. Unlike some items, this one is limited to human size and shape so it cannot be used on non-humanoid ghosts or animals. 

Known Abilities: When worn, the item transports the wearer’s consciousness to a place in the bottom of an ocean while their body remains where it is. While their consciousness is in the bottom of the ocean, the person experiences everything that entails, including the sensation of drowning and overwhelming pressure. This will often cause physical distress, thrashing, unconsciousness, and even death if used on living humans. 

Location: The Thieves Guild appears to use the item as a torture device against those who attempt to steal from them, especially against fire cores who tend to have much worse reactions to being surrounded by water.

Notes: This particular item was amongst the things I saw while searching for the Factory Staff. The item was being used on another ghost when I encountered it. The ghost was a fire core closer in type to the Living Flame clan than Ember, where their body was fully formed of fire. As I watched them place the item on the ghost’s face, the effects were immediate and violent. The ghost struggled against their bonds while the flames of their body flickered and went low. The captors left the mask on them until the ghost went limp. Upon removal, the ghost was gasping for breath and begging. 

Given that I was also trespassing, I did not stick around to find out that they’d do next. The guild does not take kindly to traitors, or to unaffiliated intruders, and I have to assume that the ghost’s fate was not an enviable one. The information about the mask’s workings was helpfully placed in the item’s usual storage location. Unfortunately, I was still looking through the items near that area when they came to return it and I was forced to retreat with several of their guards giving chase.

Name: Love’s Obsession, Aphrodite’s Fedora [Theres a small note at the side saying, “some of the newer ghosts have taken to calling it the Hat of Unending Thirst.”]

Description: It is a Fedora style hat. The color is mostly black with a darker grey trim ribbon. The only sign of it being something more is a pink heart pinned to the ribbon on the front left.

Known Abilities: It is a “love” charm that Aphrodite uses for her own entertainment. Rather than the usual type that attracts others to you, it magnifies your own feelings for your crush/lover/spouse a hundred fold. Wearers are lovestruck and unable to focus on anything beyond the object of their affection. When combined with Aphrodite’s ability to compel others into attraction to her, she can, and often does, use it as a way to force others to throw themselves at her for her own ego. The wearer cannot remove the item themselves, so they are stuck making fools of themselves until she finally decides to remove it. It is, supposedly, twice as effective on those who have love based Obsessions to the point of overloading them, but they are also immune to her usual compulsion by the nature of their Obsession. 

Location: Aphrodite’s Temple in Olympus

Notes: I became aware of this particular item on my first and only visit to Aphrodite’s territory in Olympus. I have been to Olympus several times, mostly while seeking specific items. Just as in the myths, the ghosts that were once the gods of old tend to be rather temperamental and set in their ways. It is best not to spend too long lingering lest you catch attention you don’t want. Unfortunately, I was rather distracted while making my way to Hephaestus’s temple and flew into Aphrodite’s instead. 

Given how different their circles of power and taste are, it was not difficult for me to realize that I had gone into the wrong building. I went up to a woman standing to the side and fretting over some flowers and asked if she knew the way to Hephaestus’s area from there since I had apparently gotten lost at some point. She paused, looking rather annoyed and asked if I knew who she was. I didn’t recognize her, but given the number of ghosts I interact with, I apologized, told her I did not, and asked if we had met somewhere.

She got angrier and said that she was Aphrodite and that I was in her temple. Honestly, she was not nearly as pretty as the myths implied. I don’t know why everyone seems so enraptured by her looks. Or rather, I didn’t until I was informed of her ability to compel attraction in others some hours after the events transpired. I apologized again and informed her that I had only passed through before and therefore hadn’t had a chance to see any images of her around. She seemed to calm down at that and invited me to walk with her through the temple. I was not interested, but seeing as my task was not time sensitive and that continuing to be in her bad graces could be bad for my future health or endeavors, I agreed to join her on her walk.

She spent some time showing me around and pointing out, or rather boasting, about all of the paintings and sculptures of her that were strewn across every inch of free space. Honestly, much of the artwork seemed like it was portraying a completely different, more aesthetically pleasing, person, but I kept those comments to myself. She finally circled over to where she was keeping this particular item. It was amongst several other pieces of clothing so I did not think much of it. She was showing off some of the other pieces as gifts from desperate admirers before pulling the hat out and telling me that it would probably look much nicer on me than it did on her. She requested I try it on and, considering I was trying to get back into her good graces, I agreed.

The effects were immediate. As soon as the hat was placed upon my head, all I could think about was my lovely Maddie and the idiot that had taken her from me. When Aphrodite attempted to pull my attention to her, all I was capable of doing was telling her about how I had been unable to locate either Maddie or Jack so far and asking if she knew where they went. I am… Unsure how long I spent talking, only that it was long enough that, when she ripped the hat from my person, she was rather livid.

I was quickly removed from the temple by her followers and told I was not welcome ever again (not something I am unhappy about, mind) and that I would be attacked if I tried. I, being utterly confused at that point, just continued on my way. I did not actually learn about the nature of the item until I asked one of the Acolytes at Hephaestus’s temple about it. Obviously it doesn’t work correctly on hybrids. As much as I would love to explore why that is, studying the item is not worth having to deal with that harpy again. It will just have to remain a mystery I guess.

[“Didn’t work correctly” huh? The item seemed pretty straight forward to you, but whatever lets the author sleep at night you guess. You add the names to your list of things to look up, though without last names you don’t have much hope. The author calling themself a hybrid explains some of the odd phrasing in some of the earlier entries you’d read through and explains why they would be looking for information on hybrids. You wonder if hybrids are common.]

Name: Obsession’s Canvas

Description: In it’s resting state, the item is a bright white 16 by 24 inch canvas. The gallery that holds the item keeps it reclined about chest height for easy use by visitors. Despite the hundreds of thousands of ghosts that have thrown their ectoplasm onto it, the canvas remains pure white and, when in use, it’s colors remain bright.

Known Abilities: When a ghost places some of their ectoplasm on the canvas, the energy will be absorbed and the canvas reveals an image representing the ghost’s obsession. Though the item can theoretically be used by humans to show their greatest desire as well, it’s place in the ghost zone makes that difficult to test.

Location: The Gallery of the Damned keep this particular item in their ‘interactive art’ exhibit.

Notes: The Gallery of the Damned is a rather funny place to visit. Unlike others in the area which focus on things ghosts miss in the human realm, this gallery touts itself as more of a celebration of ghosts and their current existence. Some are landscapes of the most fascinating or beautiful parts of the zone. Others are images of different types and species of ghost interacting in various ways or showing off particularly flashy abilities. There are paintings, sculptures, and even more mobile exhibits powered by magic or ectoplasm or both. The Interactive Art exhibit is primarily the third option, with all sorts of toys and gadgets that play on ghosts’ most basic abilities. It is the perfect place for a day trip to study ghost culture.

The Obsession’s Canvas is one of the most popular and well known pieces in their Interactive exhibit. Ghosts come from all around to try it out. While all ghosts feel their Obsessions, they can sometimes be difficult to parse, especially those that are not anchored in particular items or places. The effects of the item last approximately five minutes give or take a couple based on how strong the ghost and how much ectoplasm was shed. The images range from distinct to abstract, though the ghosts in question appear to always understand the references. 

Despite the open nature of the gallery, or rather because of it, the item is functionally always in use and cannot be accessed without a multi day wait. It is easy enough to witness however. Unfortunately, there is no photography allowed in the gallery so I am unable to truly study the images in my own time. I was also, because of the nature of my work, unable to stick around long enough to be able to try the canvas out myself. No matter, I already know what I’d see. 

[You can’t help but pout a bit. A picture of what the canvas showed would have been really cool. Plus maybe it would have given you some idea of who the author was beyond the little tidbits they’ve been dropping.]

Name: The Fatal Veil, Fate’s Promise

Description: It is a seemingly innocuous piece of translucent grey cloth. It is only just long enough to cover one’s face, no matter how big that face might be.

Known Abilities: The item allows the wearer to witness their death from a third party perspective, even if the death has not happened yet. It’s almost as if the wearer is seeing things from the eyes of the grim reaper. According to the ghosts of people who wore the item before their deaths, the events came to occur exactly like what they saw no matter how hard they tried to prevent those events from coming.

Location: The item is currently in the possession of some kind of dual-realm Death cult. They don’t call themselves a cult, but the group is a high control group built around learning of and attempting to prevent the deaths of the living half.

Notes: I have been long interested in the events of my death or, rather, which events count as my true death for the purpose of my creation as a ghost hybrid. The cult was apparently similarly interested and sought me out both in the Infinite Realms and in the Human Realm. Several of their numbers had to be removed from my place of business before they got the hint that I was Not interested in joining their cult. At that point I had not yet met the ghost side of the group nor had any of them explained anything about what, exactly, they were trying to get from me. Their sales pitches focused more on ‘join us and learn the secrets of death’ which I was and am already studying with my exploration and experimentation in the Infinite Realms. 

Once they realized that they would not be able to contact me on the human side of things, they began to harass anyone they could find that they believed may have contact with me. By the time I was made aware of this, they had already gotten on the bad side of the majority of Academic’s Row, a significant portion of the leaders of the Shell, and had been banned from several other, smaller places that I frequent for various odds and ends.

However, one of the less identifiable members was able to finally get ahold of me during an outing to the Spark Fang market place and was able to explain the item at the base of their group. I will admit that I was tempted to go along with it if only to get ahold of the Fatal Shroud. However, the cultist was one of the younger ones and easily gave up information about what was expected from members. I was able to trick them into getting lost in the crowd and have avoided the area outside of the yearly festival. They still occasionally come to bother me, but they are easy enough to chase away.

[A cult? You hope they aren’t still stalking around the area. You hadn’t noticed any sign of life in the castle, but that didn’t mean that no one else had been around. You had been around after all. You resolve to bring mace with you when you go next. And then if you find the scythe, you’ll have a weapon at least.]

Name: Cloth of Restoration, Fix-it Cloth

Description: This cloth comes in many different colors and patterns. The fabric is rather thick and well made.

Known Abilities: The cloth is used to mend items, though not in the way one would expect. The cloth only has to be draped over the ripped or broken item and it will slowly use itself to repair whatever is wrong, though not always in the way you expect or prefer. [There’s an arrow pointing from ‘itself’ to a note on the side saying, “it appears that the non-cloth repairs use up the cloth’s energy while cloth fixes uses the cloth itself. The non-cloth repairs appear to require more cloth to fix issues of similar size.”] It can even be used to mend wounds in a pinch. The mending process slowly uses up the cloth and if the cloth is fully utilized before the item is fully mended, the item will stay in in its half mended state.

Location: The cloth can be purchased from several places including the Fire Fang marketplace, several shops in Olympus, and a very small shop at the edge of Dreaded Guise. There are several different versions of the fabric and I find that the best quality is from the Dreaded Guise shop.

Notes: I was given a few square feet of this cloth as an apology from Skulker after a run in with one of their various captured ‘pets’ shredded this book. Some of the pages were partially or fully destroyed in the process and I have been attempting to re-record the information I still remember. The cloth given to me was dark green in color and, as instructed, I placed the pages in order beneath the cloth, including a bundle of new paper to replace the pages that were lost. It took several hours to finish repairing this book during which I pulled the cloth up to see what was happening beneath and photograph the effects. The cloth appears to work from the inside out, repairing the endpaper and backing first, followed by the greyboard case and spine, before finally fixing the outer covering.

Despite the repair material being cloth, the paper and the greyboard remained the same type of material they should be. The outer cloth, on the other hand, changed to match the color and texture of the cloth used. The majority of the cloth I was given was utilized to repair my book. I did not leave any of the ruined pages in the book while it was being repaired, but since I still had some of the cloth remaining, I placed one of the ripped pages beneath it to see what would happen. The page itself mended, but the words remained lost. It is an interesting visual effect, but ultimately useless for the purpose of saving the information for later.

Given the number of items I keep that are often damaged by visitors, both ghostly and human, I have acquired several bolts from the different places that sell it and experimented with the different colors and grades of fabric. The better crafted versions work faster, but overall every bolt appears to work as described. 

[Huh. You find your fingers rubbing against the gouges in the cover of the book and playing with the loose flaps of cloth. The cloth was long enough that any name that had been beneath Should still be there, but if this cloth had been used… 

You toss the idea aside a moment later. You may not know what had happened to cause the gouges, obviously, but you have a hard time imagining that the book just Happened to scatter pages around that just Happened to land beneath this magic cloth even if it could explain why everything was so messed up.

Except… the author Did say they had several bolts of the stuff hanging around…]

Name: Abandoned Doll, Linsey the “Living” Doll 

Description: The doll is… not the most attractive item to exist. While it may have once been a somewhat cute doll, the ‘skin’ is patchwork with different colors of fabric overlapping in seemingly no distinct pattern. The hair is thin and cut in a ragged bob and the bright black button eyes are skewed. It looks almost as if a child created and or maintained the doll.

Known Abilities: The doll can speak, move, and wander from its ‘home’ as it pleases in order to drag undsuspecting ghosts to the dollhouse that acts as its home (See Haunted Dollhouse for more information.) [Another one with a connected page and, when you check the next page, another one that is missing it’s other half. You’ll have to look for it.] There is no core within it that can be sensed and it cannot use any of the three basic ghost powers— flight, invisibility, and intangibility. It acts as an extension of the actual ghost, almost like a semi-autonomous clone.

Location: The doll wanders around the Factory district. It could theoretically go farther, but there are enough ghosts in the area to fool that it doesn’t try.

Notes: I came across the creature while I was exploring around the Factory District to try and get a sense of what was made where and who sold what. I first became aware of it when I heard someone, or rather something, crying. Given the nature of the Infinite Realms, I was hesitant to potentially walk into some kind of situation that I wouldn’t be able to extricate myself from, but my curiosity ended up getting the best of me. It took a bit to find it, but eventually I found the doll stuck on a small piece of debris. Upon seeing me, it spun a story about being separated from it’s family and asked to be returned home. Because it had a weak ectosignature attached to it, I assumed that the doll was a ‘haunted doll’ like those they sell in the human realm— a ghost child or particularly simple ghost trapped in the doll form. Given that I had only been exploring the area and there could potentially be some kind of award, I agreed.

The doll asked to be picked up. I asked why it didn’t fly, the doll admitted that it couldn’t. I assumed it was a side effect of being trapped in a doll and didn’t question it further. I picked it up and the doll led me back to its home. Despite the fact that the doll had declared itself lost, it was able to direct me easily. Again, I brushed this off and assumed it was just the ghost’s inherent knowledge of its lair and that the lack of flight was the only reason it hadn’t gotten home earlier. During the flight, we talked and it told me it’s name was Linsey. When I tried asking more about how it had gotten out there, it’s story was jumbled and contradicted itself multiple times. Despite telling me it had been separated from its family earlier, it said it had been abandoned by its parents and then that it lived with them in their little house. I was starting to get a bit uneasy, but I could justify the jumbled mess as being the result of a child ghost mixing up its life and afterlife.

I was a bit surprised to find that the doll had meant ‘small house’ literally. It’s home was a dollhouse— a large one, but a dollhouse nonetheless. I did not see anyone nearby, but the doll was excited to return home. It jumped from my grip to land on the top of the dollhouse’s stoop. It then tried inviting me in. I decided to indulge it and then immediately regretted it as, upon touching the house, I found myself pulled inside. The feeling of being shrunk down was uncomfortable to the point of pain and I ended up passing out before the effect finished shrinking me down. (See Haunted Dollhouse page for more details.) 

During my time within the house, the doll sometimes acted as an extension of the ghost and sometimes seemed to act of its own accord. As I wrote above, it seems to act as a semi autonomous clone, but unlike a clone, the ghost seemed unaware of some of the doll’s actions or if the doll was injured in some way. I suspect it may be some kind of parasitic/symbiotic relationship, but I am unsure what, exactly, causes the doll to exist as it does as, upon meeting the actual ghost, it became very obvious that the thing didn’t truly have a core of its own though it’s ectosignature was different enough from the ghost’s to be noticeable. 

[There’s another newer section written below.]

I saw the doll again while going to visit Charles and his partner for business advice. [Oh, so this one must have been before the whole staff thing. Looks like the author had known them better than the staff entry had implied.] The little thing stopped crying as soon as it saw me and yelled at me to go away because I was, in its words, a ‘big meanie’. It was hilarious, especially when I asked if it was sure it didn’t need help getting back home and it started trying to get away from me my jumping between floating rocks and the doors to other ghosts’ lairs while I followed and attempted to ask how it worked, Really, I don’t know why it was so upset, I had just done as it and its owner had asked.

[Just did as they asked, huh? Did the author steal their candy or pop their balloon or something? Okay, now you Have to find that other page. It sounds familiar enough that you go back to the beginning of the book to see if it’s there.]

Name: Susie’s Dollhouse

Description: It is a fairly well sized dollhouse. There are all the necessary rooms inside, including two bathrooms, a kitchen, two bedrooms, a living room, and an attic. It may be modeled after an actual house, potentially even the house that little Susie lived in while she was alive. There was much more detail on the inside than expected, though part of that may just be Susie’s influence on the ‘building’ rather than an inherent part of the dollhouse.

Known Abilities: The house can shrink ghosts down to fit inside. Anything inanimate apart of or within can become invisible, intangible, or fly around according to the owner, Susie’s, will. The colors of the house can’t change as far as I was able to see, but they Can bleed into each other, creating disorienting effects. The walls can bleed red fluid, though whether it’s Susie’s or the house’s ectoplasm color or just an attempting to mimic blood is unknown. The water in the house works despite not being hooked to anything. It is honestly difficult to tell where the house ends and the child begins, but when Susie manifests fully apart from the house, she has a distinctly different ectosignature than the house, which also has a different signature from the doll. All three are close enough to mistake for one another if they aren’t in front of you. I’m not sure the exact mechanism that created either of them, but neither the house or the doll seem to have cores.

Location: Out in the factory district. [There’s a little note in blue at the side that says, “It floats around, because it was not in the same place the next time I went past the area.”]

Notes: Upon waking, I found myself on a couch in what appeared to be the living room while the doll, now the size of a small child compared to me, loomed over my face. I am not ashamed to admit I flinched upon seeing such a horrible visage as the first thing after passing out. The doll welcomed me to the house and said ‘they’ wanted to play with me. When I asked who ‘they’ referee to, Susie revealed herself by speaking from the walls of the house. It was not far from talking to the AI i’ve been attempting to train to assist me, so it was not difficult to roll with the odd communication method. The girl and doll both seemed somewhat put out about my lack of response, but still told me that I had to play with them or they wouldn’t let me leave.

Honestly, my first impulse was probably the same as however many ghosts had come before me: escape. Of course, after years of dealing with my younger sister before her passing, I knew how determined young girls could be about their games. Better to just play along for a while and gather information that way. Things started simply enough. The girl wanted to play house with me acting as the unwilling parent. Of course, it quickly dissolved into her doing anything and everything she could to get a reaction out of me.

Rolling with the random assortment of, for lack of a better word, happenings, was not always easy, but the more issues I calmly worked through, the more frustrated the child became. She finally manifested herself in the middle of the ‘living room’ what felt like hours later, stomping and pouting. She was green skinned with bright pink hair and almost bulbous blue eyes. It was almost worth the whole situation just to see how annoyed she was about me not running and screaming around the place like what, apparently, the majority of her other ‘playmates’ did. [You snort. You can just imagine the tantrum the little girl threw about not getting her way. You’d seen plenty of little cousins yelling and stomping over not getting what they wanted over the years.] She accused me of being boring and said she didn’t want to play with me anymore. Then, I was forced out of the dollhouse and released back into the Infinite Realms. Growing back to normal size was just as distressing as the initial shrinking, but I was able to return home as soon as I returned to normal size.

Honestly, as long as you don’t make a fuss about the walls oozing blood or the seemingly normal food turning into random assortments of either rot, organs, or both it isn’t that hard to get her to give up. The other ghosts I later asked about their own experiences with the dollhouse were really much too dramatic about the whole thing. 

[It sounds like that little girl watched a few too many horror movies to you. Creepy children movies were the Worst.]

Name: Mask of Many Forms, the very painful and now very broken mask created by a completely inept costume designer.  [You can’t help but snort a bit. The author didn’t even pretend to cross that one out.]

Description: The mask, before I put it on, was a simple brown mask in the shape of a cat. It was so stupidly simple I almost mistook it for a plate with ears like those ones they make for children and advertise all the time. After I put it on it melded To My Face and had to be torn off in strips.

Known Abilities: The mask was suppose to allow the wearer to change their shape into something different from their usual form at will i.e. from a mostly human shape into a animalistic or fully animal shape. In practice, it forced me into the shape of a damned cat.

Location: The Garbage where it Belongs.

Notes: The Shell’s costume department occasionally throws costume parties as an excuse to show off their skills. I was invited by Ember to support one of her designer friends. Ember decided that we would each pick out an item for the other to wear. I found her a pumpkin pin that turned her head into a pumpkin’s. She gave me the paper plate monstrosity. Being as this was a semi-professional party where ghosts were showing off the best of their abilities, I assumed it was just a tongue in cheek design. It was not. The magic felt like skin being melted off and my bones cracking to bits as I was shrunk into a smaller shape against my will.

When the shift was done, I was stuck in the shape of a horned black cat. I was unable to communicate with Ember or the other partygoers in that form, so it took a while to find the creator of the mask. Once I found him, I Persuaded him to assist me with removing the mask. The sensation of the magic being removed was just as unpleasant as the original feeling. The organizers for the party were apologetic and allowed me to remain in the party without trying on any of the other items. I will no longer be letting Ember pick out the items I wear at these parties.

[At the bottom, there’s a little note in sparkly pink, “Here’s a pic of the party for you Plazzy!” right over some old broken tape. As you go looking for tape to replace what broke, you finally notice how late it’s starting to get. After getting the picture back into its spot, you close the book and put it and your notebook on your desk next to your computer. Determined to actually start looking things up tomorrow after work, you finally start getting ready for bed.]

Well, the castle was the closest. You should be able to find it on a map, get the address, and then look up public records. Easy. It doesn’t take long to pull up M—Maps on the computer and start at your own address. From there you just scroll out a bit and scoot along the path you had taken for your nature walk.….

That. Wasn’t right? When you reached the spot where the castle was, there was only rubble strewn across the ground. You tried checking how long ago the satellite took the picture, but for whatever reason it didn’t seem to want to load. There was No way the castle had just collapsed in on itself after two days, right? Shit, you still had the rest of the week before you’d have enough time to go back and explore. You could just pop over after work tomorrow though, just to make sure.

Despite the rubble, you can still get the address. From there you plug it into the public records search engine and start scrolling. There’s a record of sale about twenty three years back. When you click on it, the details only partially load— or maybe they weren’t put into the system correctly. You can see the company that sold the place, but not who bought it. Going back to the search, it looks like they got it from Wilfred Meyer, the first owner of the Dairy King Company some ten years before that. Pulling up another tab and searching for the company reveals that they went out of business not long after selling the place. There’s no website for them and you aren’t sure it would be worth looking any of the workers up considering how long ago it happened. Plus, even if they did remember, it would probably be considered pretty rude or weird to call them up out of the blue. So, the castle was a dead end, but the name Wilfred Was familiar. It was the name of the other ghost the author said had lived in the castle.

You weren’t sure if it meant anything beyond the old guy who use to have the place deciding to haunt it after death. Since there was no other sign of them being anything beyond roommates, you write the name down for later and move on to the next thing.

So out of the other three, the Cat Café had the most concrete information attached to it with both a street name and a business name. ‘Jack and Maddie’ were probably a dead end— especially if the author had been talking about not being able to find them. Amity Park was a bit broad, especially without the author’s name. The closest you had to a name at this point was ‘Plazzy’ and you were pretty sure that wasn’t their actual name. You hoped it wasn’t their actual name.

…It looked like ‘plazzy’ was slang in Liverpool for something fake. So it was either an insult or a nickname. Considering ‘Ember’ was apparently a friend of some kind, you were pretty sure it was just a nickname. Of course you had no clue what kind of name that nickname could be referring to, but you wrote down your observation anyway.

Okay, back to the café. You type in the name of the place along with the street name and, thankfully, it comes up as the first search result. You open up the page excitedly and end up spending more than a couple minutes scrolling through their pictures of the different cats. Then, on a picture of a little chubby calico, you see the Free Cat box from the book. It’s a little roughed up, but you recognize the writing on it from the picture and it’s still upside down. Now that you have some tiny seed of proof, you’re determined to go visit. You click over to the reservation page, might as well get some kitty time while you’re there, but then your eye catches on the address. It’s in Amity Park, Illinois.

You’re torn between being excited that your seemingly separate pieces of information have connected and despair because you kind of wanted to see the kitties. That’s way too long of a trip for you to take just to visit a cat café. It’s also interesting because, if the author was writing while they were in Illinois, then why was their book in Wisconsin? Like, having a doorstep implied they were living over there. Maybe it was temporary?

Glancing over at the time, you sigh and decide that that’s enough computer time for now. Your snack earlier wasn’t enough and now your stomach is growling again. Maybe it would be better to look through a few more entries tomorrow to try and see if there’s any more info for you to gleam.]

Name: Primordial Fang, Primal Fang

Description: It is a rather long, thin yellow-white tooth with a dark line going vertically through the center. It is almost completely straight and despite insistence that it’s a canine, I find it much more likely that it is a huge villiform tooth since it lacks the curve found in canines. Given that it’s almost three inches long and that these type of teeth are generally fairly small on earthen animals, the creature it came off of likely would be larger than wise to fight with.

Known Abilities: When a ghost is stabbed by it, they are forced into a more primal or animalistic form based on their species. These ghosts appear to have a harder time forming words or converting complex information. This is at least partially because they become increasingly aggressive the longer they have it in. I believe it might actually be the result of some kind of venom rather than a magic, but unfortunately I was unable to confirm before it was taken from me.

Location: Skulker took it so they could make their hunts more interesting. Otherwise, they can rarely be found in ghosts that travel in and out of some of the much deeper sectors

Notes: Skulker ‘invited’ (dragged) me along on one of their hunts. We went rather deep into the lower sectors of the Realms and into areas I do not usually explore on my own. The sectors this far out tend to hold more ancient and violent ghosts, though it isn’t nearly as far out as exists. The quarry was some kind of water/liquid core goat. I was brought in case the ghost was able to destroy Skulker’s suit and because I have the ability to utilize enough of an electrical charge to stun and, in the case of water cores, potentially do some damage. When we got to the area and started searching for the creature, we found ourselves beset upon by a much more aggressive goat than expected that was also several times the expected size.

In the ensuing scuffle, we were able to subdue the creature and in the process, the fang was dislodged from the goat’s flank. The goat shrank back down to the expected size as soon as it was removed and while Skulker bagged his prey, I took a look at the fang. I found the dark stripe the most interesting part, but Skulker stopped me before I could attempt to split the tooth open to get a better look. They immediately took the item from me and started boasting about exactly how it would enhance their hunts and how hard it was to find them. I allowed them to hold onto the fang for the duration of their rant as we returned to their lair since attempting to take it back would lead them to stop explaining the item. 

Once we got back to their lair, I requested to look at the tooth some more while they were busy putting the goat away. They agreed and I tried to see if there was some kind of opening at either end of the tooth where venom could be released. I will admit that I was curious what form I would take upon being stabbed with it, but Skulker returned before I was able to find out and took the tooth from me again. Attempting to argue got me nowhere and attacking was out of the question, so I returned home without it. Still, considering the number of ghosts that visit Amity, there’s a small chance that I may be able to barter for one at a later date.

[Okay, Amity gets a lot of ghosts. You remember there being mention of a ghost hybrid protector earlier. Maybe you should add that to your next search. If ghosts were common, maybe you could find news or a forum or something that would lead you closer to what you wanted to know.]

Name: Fountain of Lost Sight

Description: The fountain is Interesting to look at. The whole structure is made of some kind of blue-grey stone. There is a large basin at least 12 feet in diameter with a tall platform with in the center that spews multicolored liquid. The outside of the basin is covered with circular slots, many of which were filled with eyes. The ones that are filled have ‘eyelids’ keeping the eyes in place. I don’t know if it’s an inherent part of the fountain or if they were added later. Neither answer is pleasing.

Known Abilities: This fountain appears to show the user whatever the owner of the eyes ‘donated’ to the fountain are looking at. This appears to include a being that may be able to look into the future.

Location: Found in the Observants’ domain. 

Notes: I observed, pun not intended, this item while I was searching for their jail area. The collective was distracted by a few of Skulker’s pets that I ‘borrowed’ for the occasion. I doubt I would have even caught a glimpse of the item had they not been. It appears to be one of the items they use to hold power over the many sectors, and ghosts therein, that defer to them. When I looked within the basin, I could see images formed in the water. Several moved as the presumed owner of the eyes looked around. There were a few areas I recognized, but none of the ghosts were familiar except for one towards the center. In that image, I could see what what appeared to be a screen featuring what was undoubtedly an older version of Daniel with a white streak through his hair fighting what appeared to be the Ancient of Slumber, Nocturn. 

Unfortunately, I couldn’t linger long in case the Observants tried fleeing into the fountain area. I will be attempting to look into this item more later.

[Daniel? That’s a new one. You add it to your list of names to look up. Based on the context, you think it might be the name of the protector the author mentioned earlier.]

Name: The Last Dragon Egg (as far as I am currently aware)

Description: The egg is about two and a half feet long, leathery, and a pale green color. The egg is warm and when lit from behind, a small dragon can be seen growing inside.

Known Abilities: Dragons have long since been considered extinct. The egg holds the last known member of the species. Because of the inherently magical nature of the creatures, the fetus(? I am not sure the actual terminology)  [There’s an arrow and note at the side that says “it appears that a young dragon was called a drakeling.”] is able to going into a kind of stasis until environmental conditions improve. Returning it to the Human Realm should allow the egg to come out of stasis and to actually hatch at some point.

Location: Currently, the egg is in the hold of a collector in the Infinite Realms. I am looking into more information on the species to see if it may be worth bringing it home and attempting to hatch the creature.

Notes: I have been considering what I saw in the Mirror of Potential Fate and spending more time in the Infinite Realms thinking things through recently. I found the collector and the egg during a weekend trip as far into the depths of the Realms as I could get. The collector seems to be more interested in novelty than hanging onto older items, so they offered to trade anything they’d had for longer than a century in exchange for something new from the Human Realm. Considering my connections, that’s an easy wish to fulfill, so I decided to browse through the items the ghost was willing to get rid of. That was when I found the egg. 

I have seen mentions of dragons when I’ve done research on other topics, enough so to recognize the egg for what it was and to know that they’ve been extinct for a long time. I was able to check the egg and found that it does hold a young dragon within and the creature did appear to still be alive as far as I could tell. I told the ghost that I would come back at a later time with something to trade and left.

Now that I no longer intend to stay in Amity Park or deal with the Fentons anymore, it might be better to find something else to focus on. A high needs pet with unusual requirements would be a rather large distraction and, should Daniel decide to harass me once more at some point, the dragon would be able to take care of itself in a way my cats can not. However, I need to do more research to make sure that the creature would not immediately turn on me upon hatching or do more damage than what I can deal with.

[There’s a note lower down in blue ink.]

After consulting literature in the Infinite Realms rather than what I could find in the Human Realm, I have decided against it. They are not, as I had expected based on Western depictions, just large, dangerous animals, but rather highly intelligent, sapient creatures that were known to create complex magical instruments. Having spent two decades as the only one of my kind, I find myself unwilling to put another creature through such a thing. Perhaps I could tweak my cloning research and reconsider later, but for now it is not to be. I am not sure whether to be disappointed or relieved and that, more than anything, says that I am making the right choice by not trading for the egg. I intend to go back again. Hopefully I will find something else of interest amongst their collection.

[You resist the urge to cheer as you scribble down the surname. That’s just what you were looking for. Plus now you have confirmation that the author came back to Wisconsin at some point more recently. It doesn’t explain the busted up castle, but it does explain how the book got over here. You also make note of that item the author mentioned. Hopefully a description of it is somewhere in here.]

Name: The Shards of Destiny’s Lure

Description: There are exactly 100 shards of Destiny’s Lure at its breaking, though that amount is likely far reduced at this point. Each shard is a different shape and size, but all of them share the same pearlescent sheen. When the shards are brought together, they merge into a single, unbroken piece. The full lure is said to be about the size of a softball.

Known Abilities: While each shard does not in itself have a power, the full Lure calls the Primordial of Fate (assuming it hasn’t been defeated and it’s power taken by another). The Lure only lasts long enough to ask the creature a single question before shattering again. The process of shattering also scatters the shards around the Realms once more.

Location: These shards can be anywhere and everywhere across the realms, though there are dedicated teams of ghosts that put great effort into finding as many as they can.

Notes: I found a shard while exploring the Lawless Lands. It was rather small and embedded into the side of one of the staircases to nowhere that punctuate the landscape. I likely wouldn’t have found it were it not for the ogres trying to attack and eat me. I was able to ask around Academics Row for an explanation after losing the ogres. I figured it was just an interesting crystal or fancy rock. For now I have the shard locked away in my ghost-proof safe.

[The next note is written in red ink.]

I managed to find a second shard while wandering through the Lower Wastes. This time I recognized the shad immediately. It was slightly smaller than the other, but, as I was told by the geologist in Academics’ Row, the shards immediately merged upon touch into a larger form without seam or sign that it was once two. I will keep an eye out for more.

[The next note is in blue.]

I managed to barter for a fairly large shard from a ‘junk seller’ down in the darker depths of Olympus. Based on the size, it may actually be multiple shards in one. I seem to be accruing quite the collection.

[The newest, darkest comment sticks out like a sore thumb next to the more faded text above.]

Despite my resolve, I still don’t know how to reach the point I saw in the second image I saw in the mirror. I have decided to start collecting the Shards of Destiny more purposefully. If nothing else it gives me a goal to reach instead of the aimless wandering that I have been doing since I returned home. In addition, the larger my collection grows, the more the shard hunters will be lured in so I can claim theirs for my own.

[First the cult, now the shard collectors. How many groups was the author tempting into attacking them? You’re starting to wonder less about why the castle was destroyed. Hopefully the pictures online were wrong, but you wouldn’t be completely surprised if they weren’t.]

[The next page you flip to takes a while to find and you actually notice a couple blank pages as you go. Looks like even the pages that weren’t written on got mixed with the others.]

Name: Gladiator’s Manacle

Description: These are paired metal shackles that have a singular gem embedded into each shackle. The color of the gem appears to be arbitrary or, rather, the logic behind it is not immediately obvious.

Known Abilities: The manacles are used to suppress a ghost’s three basic abilities in order to force them to use either their physical traits or their more powerful and showy attacks.

Location: The manacles are primarily found and used in the Olympus Coliseum. They are apparently rigorously guarded and maintained by those who run the Coliseum’s battles.

Notes: I do not often leave my usual route in Olympus as the more powerful ghosts tend to be Touchy. However, while I was visiting Hephaestus’s Temple, a couple of his acolytes that I have a more casual relationship with invited me with them to the Coliseum to watch one of the older and stronger acolytes fight. The fight itself was fascinating, but I and a couple of the others found ourselves derailed by hypothesizing about how the manacles worked. Honestly, after the Banshee Screams failed to get me the free time I needed, I was half tempted to remake these to use against Daniel. They would last much longer than the — Maximus [There’s a big blotch of ink or something over the first word of the name. Even trying to read it from the indentation doesn’t seem to work. That’s odd since the author usually leaves things legible even when they cross them out, but maybe their pen malfunctioned.] Unfortunately, I can’t know if the item works correctly on hybrids. Not to mention that the brat has more powers than sense and I imagine he’d just end up causing More issues than he already does should he be limited in such a way.

[You find yourself a bit disappointed that there’s no new information lurking in this entry, but you guess not every entry can tell you all that much. Hopefully the next one has more.]

Name: Fairy Wings, Wings of Accelerated Flight, Racing Wings

Description: While not attached to a ghost, they look like a pair of capsules linked by a small bar. These capsules come in all kinds of colors that reflect in the full wings. Upon being placed on the ghost’s back, they grow and morph into their full size. Their full appearance is usually a ‘fairy’ type wing that don’t take up too much room, but there are also other types and specialized ones can even be commissioned.

Known Abilities: Since ghosts have flight as an inherent ability, wings are usually a purely aesthetic appendage and injury of such no more inhibits their flight than injury of their hand or foot. These, on the other hand, are a kind of additive item that enhances that ability. The wings increase one’s flight speed by 20-50%. The increased speed does not, however, come with the ability to handle that speed and watching people run face first into obstacles is apparently part of the fun. While activated, the wings are functionally part of the ghost wearing them, including tactile sensation and pain if harmed. I am unsure if they can work for humans as even in my human form I still have access to my powers. The item can be removed simply by pulling up on the connecting bar and unsticking the device from one’s back.

Location: These are most common several sectors over in an area known as the Raceway. As expected by the name, the denizens are mostly obsessed with Racing and everything that comes with it. There are several different groups that create these items with various levels of customization.

Notes: I found the Raceway while working on expanding my map of the sectors. I spent some time wandering through the area to get a sense of the culture and the goods that they sold in the area. During this time, I observed several different races and a wide range of different wing types as well as their placement on and removal from the racer’s backs.

Since they were items, I inquired about getting a pair custom made for myself. It would make flights between states easier and give me something to experiment with later. Unfortunately, the ones I ordered won’t be ready for months. As I was looking at examples, however, I found a pair of bright white fairy wings with green accents that were available for sale. They reminded me of Daniel and his birthday IS coming up soon. The only question now is how to get him to accept them without too much of a fuss.

[There’s a bit bigger gap between the paragraph above and below.]

As it turns out, giving Daniel his present was easy. The boy has always been rather quick to attack so I just had to go out for a flight and he came to me. I slapped the wings onto his back and they activated immediately. All it took was a couple taunts and the boy was attempting to chase me across the town. It was hilarious. I even managed to get a picture of him running straight into a building. I was going to remove them for him after a few minutes, but after the brat punched me I decided to leave them on him. He can figure out how to take them off himself.

[You stare at the picture. So this is that other half ghost. Well, they look pretty human so you guess that tracks. You wonder how long it took for him to get the wings off.]

Name: The Coup Cleaver, The Final Guillotine, Sir Choppy

Description: The Guillotine looks much like one would expect. It has a wooden structure holding up a large angled metal blade, and the whole thing is large enough to cut off heads. The only indication that the item is something special is the greenish sheen to the cutting edge.

Known Abilities: Ghosts are rather mailable creatures in that pieces removed from them can usually be reabsorbed and regrown or simply reconnected at the point of removal. This device prevents that ability. Any piece of a ghost removed remains removed. Of course, as long as the ghost’s core remains, the ghost itself will not perish, but this is one of the few ways to completely remove core from ghost without harming the core.

Location: Down past the lower edge of the Factory District, there is an old-looking Sanatorium. It does not appear to be a consciously made lair but a collective of impulses forming something semi-solid and mailable to outside influences similarly to the stairs to nowhere over in the Lawless Lands. Unfortunately those same impulses seem to have created denizens within the structure as well.

Notes: The Guillotine has a long and sordid history in the zone. Prior to Pariah Dark’s reign, there were numerous different groups and governments and, as in the Human Realm, the leaders sometimes needed to be Removed. The Guillotine features often in the histories of different sectors and especially in some of the more destroyed areas that haven’t quite recovered from Pariah’s attacks. One notable example is the current leader of the Far Frozen’s Yetis who lost the ‘flesh’ of his arm to the Guillotine during the uprising that put him in leadership. 

The Guillotine is among the many items that was thought to have disappeared during Pariah’s reign. I recently came across it while traveling from the Factory District to the Raceway. The Sanatorium was partially embedded into a ‘wall’ similarly to the Shell, but unlike the Shell there were no signs of ghosts in the area— no doors, none flying past, and no signs or markers indicating the name of the place. I will admit I was curious.

At first glance, the building was just as empty as it seemed. Nonsense was scrawled onto walls using some unknown method that had dripped down the walls and dried into a dark crust. Items such as beds and chairs were ripped into, in disarray, thrown across the place or any combination of the three. I made it several hallways in before finally encountering one of the denizens. 

The creatures were not ghosts, that much was obvious. They were uncomfortably solid and could move through the walls while also being able to stretch and morph their forms in anatomically impossible ways. Usually only humans can go through walls in the Infinite Realms, so it was quite unnerving to have them jump from the walls without any warning. The creatures actually led me to the Guillotine on their own and attempted to use the device on me. I was able to fight them off, thankfully, but not without becoming injured in the process. Given my accelerated healing, the broken arm should fix itself in a couple days, but it is enough of an inconvenience that I do not intend to return to that place anytime soon. I am not surprised that the item has remained hidden there for so long, but that doesn’t explain how the space was created or how the item got in there in the first place. Perhaps the space was created by one of Pariah’s underlings or even Pariah himself. Perhaps I should make one of the historians in Academic’s Row aware of the place so they can investigate. That way I can learn the information without putting myself in harms way.

[The text below was written in red ink.]

Daniel has been prodding at me since he saw me wearing a brace to keep my arm stable while it healed. As annoying as the brat has been, I did inform him that he should avoid that building as best he could. Given his confusion about where and what the Factory District was, I probably didn’t need to bother. I did manage to speak to one of the “exploratory historians” as they call themselves and informed them of my find. Last I knew they were still planning their outing.

[There’s not really any new information that you can look into. You’re not sure how much more there is to find anyway. Still, you decide to continue on.]

Name: The Seal of the Infinite Realms, The King’s Seal

Description: Due to Pariah’s size, the Seal is five or six times larger than a human version of the same thing. The handle appears to be made of a dark wood with a greenish sheen while the actual imprint portion appears to be made of a black metal. The literature says that, when used, the seal would drip with the same acidic green color of unaligned/neutral ectoplasm.

Known Abilities: While a Human Realm king’s seal is meant to be used to show the kings approval on paperwork, Pariah’s Seal is a bit more Literal. The item allowed him to seal anything and everything he wished. It could prevent doors or letters from being opened by anyone he didn't approve of, it could bind the powers of magical artifacts and prevent their use, and he could even use it to bind the minds of the ghosts that made up his army. 

Location: The item is held by the historians of Academic’s row. The only reason they’ve gotten away with keeping it is that the item can only be used by Pariah.

Notes: The Seal was said to have been created by the Infinite Realms itself upon Pariah Dark’s coronation. Because the Ring of Rage and Crown of Fire were displayed proudly when Pariah razed the rebelling sectors of the Infinite Realms, the Seal often went unnoticed despite the key role it took in subduing his enemies and adding them to his army. 

I only became aware of the item when telling the historians of Acedemic’s Row about the Coup Cleaver. It has been theorized by the keeper of the item that the reason the item wasn’t as well known was because Pariah could use it to seal their tongues and prevent knowledge of it from leaving those under his control. The item is fascinating to look at as the imprint seems to move as its looked at while pictures of it always show the same image.

I wonder if the item could potentially change alliance should a new king be crowned or even if one had access to both of Pariah’s items of power. The power in any one of those items, let alone all three, could be catastrophic in the wrong hands. The Ring is currently in Pariah’s coffin with him, the Crown is currently in my possession, and the Seal is here. Given that I keep the Crown with me at all times to prevent its theft, I can say definitively that the crown alone is not enough to activate the Seal. As I do not currently have any reason to utilize the Seal and because tangling with Pariah, even with only one of his items of power, is much more dangerous than I could handle currently. Taking the crown was difficult enough when he was still somewhat hindered by his centuries of sleep. Now that he’s been recently awakened, I don’t doubt he would react more quickly and violently from the start. Not to mention I haven’t been able to recreate Maddie and Jack’s power suit. Not that I couldn’t if I tried. It just hasn’t been necessary to concentrate on.

[A power suit? So they’re like inventors or something? That’ll help you make sure you have the right people just in case ‘Fenton’ was referring to someone else. Glancing at the clock, you can see it’s getting late, but you still haven’t found the mirror entry. You’re getting close to the end of the book so you figure you might as well keep going.]

Name: The Mirror of Unforgiving Past, The Suffering Mirror, The Soul Eater

Description: The item looks like a common hand mirror made of silver. There appears to have been a name on the back at one point but it has been worn away by time and the desperate scratches of the victims tricked into peering at the glass.

Known Abilities: The mirror forces you to relive the your worst memory over and over again. Each time feels like it’s happening again for the first time. There is no healing or getting over the event through repetition, only misery and suffering that the mirror pulls into itself to fuel its own power. There is a way to extract the excess misery, so I find it likely that the item was created by a creature similar to Spectra as a way to streamline their feeding efforts. Looking at it while it has another trapped under its spell allows you to see what they are seeing without being caught yourself, but once the mirror is free you should avoid looking into it at all costs.

Location: Buried as deep into the earth as I could handle.

Notes: I came across this item on accident. I had been heading home from an outing in the Infinite Realms when I noticed a ghost I was trying to avoid passing by. I darted into an alternate path and ended up coming across a ghost clutching the mirror and crying loudly. The ghost was completely unresponsive to anything besides the mirror so I glanced over their shoulder. In the mirror was an image of the ghost being attacked by what appeared to be their family. When the image started replaying from the start again, I tried taking the mirror from the ghost. 

I only had a moment to watch the images fade away before the mirror captured me in its grip. I went through that Event three times before I was ripped back out. The very ghost I had taken the mirror from had taken it in turn from me. Once I was aware enough to comprehend that the ghost had taken the mirror, they shoved the mirror back into my hands glass down and fled. I contemplated just throwing the thing into the deepest pit I could find, but then there would still be a chance of the thing coming back up at some later point. Instead, I tucked the cursed thing into my cape and took it home. Once there, I phased down as deep into the earth as I could handle and left it there to melt away.

[Oof. Your glad that mirror is somewhere it can’t hurt anyone anymore. Your a bit curious what the author’s worst memory was, but you understand why they wouldn’t write it down.]

[Its almost the last page in the book, but you finally find the entry the other ones were referencing.]

Name: The Mirror of Potential Fate, The Ephemeral Glass

Description: Despite the name, the item large pond-sized pane of glass embedded into the floor rather than a traditional mirror. It is surrounded by cracked stone that appears to have once been an expansive mosaic. The mirror itself is unblemished and smooth. It looks like a dark pond when not in use, but lights up with a subtle glow when approached. The surface is solid when touched and there is no telling how thick the glass actually is.

Known Abilities: As the name describes, the mirror shows the person who touched it an image of what their future holds if they continue on their current trajectory. This image is in no way set in stone, as I noted with my own viewing, but can change a dependent on one’s thoughts and intentions.

Location: I found this item in a lair that appeared in the middle of the Twisted Caverns, the sector that bridges the area between my portal and Academics’ Row.

Notes: Despite having passed through this area of the Twisted Caverns hundreds of not thousands of times in the past two decades, I have never seen a hint of this lair’s existence before today. Lairs are known to move in their own circuits dependent on their sector and the movements of other lairs, but one as old and sizable as this one should not have appeared from nowhere. It was in shambles, though the remnants tell of an open, colorful tower full of light. The mirror was on one of the middle floors though, based on the size and furniture int he area, it was likely the ‘main’ floor. There was no description on the item itself. Rather, there were some books and notes in a side room just off the one holding the mirror. They were practically illegible for the most part, but I was able to piece enough of the information together to have a rough idea of how it worked and it’s name.

When I approached the mirror, the edges lit up with a soft, multicolored light while the center darkened to a point that it almost appeared as a window into the deepest depths of an ocean or a cavern in the earth. Still, I kneeled next to the edge and placed my hand on the glass. It was oddly warm, almost alive in a way, but much more solid than it looked. The whole glass lit up in light much brighter than before and then, an image resolved in front of me. 

I could see myself, out in space approaching a large green, glowing asteroid. The image of me attempted to touch it, only to flinch back and away. There was no sound, but it was not difficult to realize that the asteroid had harmed that version of myself in some way. As that me turned, so did the view. I could see Jack inside some kind of space ship version of their Infinite Realms exploration vehicle. There was some kind of dialogue between the image of me and him and then he turned around and left me the image of me in space. I could see the ship getting further and further away and, with it, the other me’s chances of returning to earth. It is not quite possible to describe the mix of rage and distress that the image gave me. To be left in the vacuum with no chance of return or mercy? It was a fate worse than most I could imagine.

And according to the mirror, it was what would happen if I remained in my current trajectory. It was, and is, an unacceptable outcome for me. I refuse. It is not possible to truly remove a ghost’s obsession, but I have survived this long carrying the burden of it unfulfilled, I will continue to survive. I acknowledged that perhaps in the future, once Maddie has inevitability passed and become a ghost, I could try again. As it stood, I would not have even that hope should I continue my time in Jack’s vicinity. 

Almost as soon as the thoughts had run through my head, the image in front of me changed. I could see myself in my home, laughing at something and… smiling. Genuinely. In a way I haven’t been able to in a long, long time. I was not able to see who or what had caused that but. I want it. It’sThere is not much I wouldn’t do to achieve that level of contentedness in my life. That, even more so than the image of myself being trapped in space cemented my resolve. I will leave Amity and return to Wisconsin as soon as possible. I may not know what caused the asteroid or the second abandonment, but it seems that putting distance between myself and Jack will be key to my continued well being. I will also be putting more funding towards my company’s space division, just in case such a thing becomes a larger issue.

I think It seems I don’t I will resign from my position as mayor once I complete this entry. My Wisconsin home has been rebuilt since I’ve been here, so that won’t be an issue. I will just have to find something to occupy my time in the interim between putting in my resignation and returning home.

[You close the book, not quite sure what to think. The author had a company, a castle, and worked as a mayor apparently. That isn’t nothing. In fact that would usually generate at least a couple news stories, you’re sure. You feel like you should be able to figure out who this person is, but nothing rings a bell beyond the vague feeling of familiarity. The rest of the entry, the mirror’s images and all that?, you aren’t sure how to feel about that. It seems really sad, especially when you know that their home is destroyed and their stuff scattered. You can’t help but wonder, as you stash the book and your notebook away once more and get ready for bed, if they had ever managed to reach that happy point they saw in the mirror.]