The Unknowable
Books are not only paper and ink; books are portals, portals to the realm of knowledge and wisdom. By deciphering the patterns of symbols composed of written letters, a man makes a contact with a different reality, exposing his mind and soul to whatever may be found in it. Most books are harmless and even benign, leading their readers safely in the realm of knowledge to useful hoards of information or pleasant experiences. However, there are dark and dangerous places in the realm of knowledge, inhabited by things that man is not meant to know, literally. And exposure to them might be deadly.
The Unknowable is an entity dwelling in the abstract dimension composed of all the knowledge in the universe. It has no shape or form conceivable by humans, and as its name implies, almost nothing is known about it. Few scholars have ever heard about it, and of those who have, even fewer have survived; for even speculating about its existence might be fatal.
The Unknowable guards some of the darkest, most secret databases of information in the realm of knowledge, like a dragon watching its hoard (or a protective computer program). Normally, few creatures ever get near those places; only the rarest arcane texts and ancient books contain the clues leading to this obscure knowledge. When such a text is found and being read, however, and a human mind is coming close to the discovery of the guarded information, the Unknowable will notice and attack. As the reader is struggling to understand what he reads, the Unknowable penetrates his mind, seeking to destroy it and prevent it from stealing away its secrets.
The Unknowable attacks by projecting its power through the written letters of the text as it is being read by the intruder. It uses patterns of letters to implant post-hypnotic suggestion in the reader's mind, commanding him with irresistible force to commit a suicide.
An unsuspecting reader might be completely unaware to the assault on his mind; he might read on carelessly, giving the Unknowable enough time to plant the suggestion deep inside his mind. Soon after finishing the reading, the reader will simply walk away, and shoot himself in the head, or soak himself with gasoline and ignite it. More sensitive and experienced readers might feel that there is something alien and terribly dark in the text they read, and detach themselves immediately from the book, shutting it close and perhaps even burning it down. Those measures of protection are futile, however, for once the Unknowable had analyzed the mental patterns of the reader's mind, it can locate his presence immediately in any area of the realm of knowledge. The Unknowable can now attack the intruder's mind through any written text. Every text the intruder reads may become a mental portal, through which the Unknowable can assail his mind - whether it is a book, a letter or a newspaper. As long as the text contain enough letters (and not many are required), the Unknowable can project the pattern that forms the self-destruction suggestion. Sooner or later, the reader will succumb. The only way to remain safe is to avoid any written text of any type. Some of the rare souls who came upon the Unknowable and survived, live now a reclusive existence, trying to distance themselves from any kind of written letter. Some might keep their house permanently darkened, move to a primitive, illiterate society, or even blind themselves.
As the Unknowable is extremely zealous about protecting its secrets, it might not stop with the death of the original reader. Reading his mind, it learns about any friends or contacts of the intruder, to whom he might have passed some of the information leading to the discovery of the secrets (such as the location of the book containing them, or the key of deciphering them). Having learned about them, the Unknowable sets out to destroy them as well, using again the portals made by written texts they expose themselves to as means to penetrate into their minds. And so, the mysterious suicide of an arcane scholar or wizard might be followed by an even stranger chain of suicides by his colleagues, friends, and investigators sniffing on the scene, without any apparent reason. Everyone who tries to solve the mystery might make himself the next target of the Unknowable, without even suspecting it. Only characters lacking the ability to read, such as analphabetic or blind characters, may approach this mystery without direct risk.
Since knowledge of the Unknowable is such a dangerous thing, one can only speculate about this being's origin and nature. Is it a sentient entity, perhaps with a super-genius intellect, or a kind of sophisticated magic/psionic program, created by who knows what beings? What could be the secrets it guards so jealously? And could it be that its influence on our world is much greater than we suspect? Could it be that any written text on existence is already being used by it to manipulate our thoughts, emotions and memories, with complicated post-hypnotic suggestions, and other mental influences? Like a spider it might be lurking in the centre of the web of information, getting more influence as written word is spreading across the world, granting it access to the mind of all human beings.
You might ponder about those questions, but don't search the answers in any text; for if you ever find them, it might be the last thing you ever do.
[The idea was inspired by a short sci-fi story I read (I forgot its name, it was in one of the Hugo-Award-Winners enthologies), in which a similar entity existed on the net. So while you read those lines, you might already be targeted…]
Henry Morton's Horror Books
Henry Morton was a popular Mordentish author, who disappeared mysteriously. The reader of one of his books will find within a haunting plot unfolding around a character, which has disturbing similarities to the reader's own character. The hero of the story always finds himself or herself dragged into a dark, creepy chain of events, leading him inevitably to a horrid end. The end of the story is always missing from the book, and there are some blank pages instead, which probably leaves the reader rather frustrated. Soon after finishing the book, the reader will find himself, to his horror, getting complicated in a chain of events similar to the one in the book; all his efforts to break out of it, will only carry him deeper along the plot's line – and toward the terrible end! The only way to escape is to write a feasible good end for the story on the blank pages in the end of the book, which would make this end manifest in reality. Shortly afterward, the book will disappear, on its way to another unsuspecting reader.
Book of Absorption
This magical book contains a wealth of arcane and magical knowledge, which has been absorbed directly from the minds and memories of wise people, and was transferred into written language. A reader trying to get access to this knowledge must make a contest of wills against the book, which tries to "read him back" at the same time; if the reader wins, he has attained the desired information. If he loses, the book absorbs his knowledge instead, draining all the memories and information from the reader's mind. The knowledge absorbed will appear as new pages in the book, and the reader shall be left with a blank mind, without any memory.
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In this opportunity, I am proud to announce the birth of my 5th offspring - my daughter Tipheret! Her name means "glory", and some of you might be familiar with its kabbalic connotation. I know there are members on this forum who are older than myself, but I bet therer's nobody here who has so many children!
