recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
1996

**1996** was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1,996th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 996th year of the 2nd millennium, the 96th year of the 20th century, and the 7th year of the 1990s decade.

* Johnny Truant works as an apprentice at a tattoo shop.
* Clara English breaks up with Truant.

## Late 1996.

* Several months before Zampanò's death in January 1997, the stray cats in Zampanò's apartment complex begin to disappear.

## Nov. 1996.

* Lude tells Truant of Zampanò and his impending death one month prior to the robbery.

## Dec. 1996.

* Johnny Truant's landlord evicts Truant. Truant couch-surfs for several weeks until finding a place in Hollywood, California.

### Dec. 31, 1996.

* Lude and Truant spend the last hours of the year "scouting for new bars, new faces, driving recklessly through the canyons, doing our best to talk the high midnight heavens down with a whole lot of bullshit."

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xii (2000).
2. ↑ Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xv (2000).
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xi (2000).
Bell of Cleansing

## Basic Information

A very useful accessory that makes you immune to all status effects. Status effects can be very dangerous and common in both games, so you will almost always get some use out of it. However, there are situations where other accessories are more useful, either because a stage lacks status inflicting enemies, or you need a different item for your current tactic/goal.

Otogi 2 in particular has some very useful accessories available, so relying on the Bell is not as important as in the first game.

## Stat Information

Accessories have a smaller amount of stats, including some hidden ones, that will be listed here.

Otogi 1

Price: 8,540 Weight: 420 Attack: 0 Defense: 0

HP Regen: -25 Status Recovery: 0 Status Resist: 0

Otogi 2

WIP

## Unlocking

Otogi 1

* Purchase from shop after Stage 18 Darkfire Cave.

Otogi 2

* Purchase from shop after Phase 7.
1998

**1998** (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1998th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 998th year of the 2nd millennium, the 98th year of the 20th century, and the 9th year of the 1990s decade.

## Oct. 1998.

### Oct. 31, 1998.

* Truant writes the Introduction to House of Leaves, covered in the blood of himself and someone else.
* Truant reports that he no longer can keep food down. In the middle of writing the Introduction, he prepares a tea with honey and milk on a hot pot for the warmth.
* Truant's studio apartment is destroyed no later than this date.
* Truant has moved into a hotel by this date.
* Truant purchases and loads a gun by this date.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xix, xxiii (2000).
La Poubelle

**La Poubelle Bistro** (Johnny Truant: **La Poubelle**) is a French restaurant at 5907 Franklin Avenue in Hollywood, California. Editor Johnny Truant states that he enjoyed "downing shots of whiskey" at this restaurant in the mid-1990s prior to reading The Navidson Record.

## References

1. ↑ Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xviii (2000).
1995

**1995** (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1995th year of the Common Era (CE) and *Anno Domini* (AD) designations, the 995th year of the 2nd millennium, the 95th year of the 20th century, and the 6th year of the 1990s decade.

## Publications.

* Daniel Bowler, "Resurrection on Ash Tree Lane: Elvis, Christmas Past, and Other Non-Entities" in *The House* 167-244 (New York: Little Brown 1995).

## References

1. ↑ Zampanò, House of Leaves 3, n. 2 (2000).
Charles de Gaulle Airport

**Charles de Gaulle Airport** is an airport in Roissy-en-France, France, northeast of Paris. It is one of the busiest airports in the world.

Johnny Truant refers to this airport in the Introduction when he says that his landlord woke up convinced he was Charles de Gaulle, and Truant quipped that while he did not look like an airport, Truant would not find a 757 landing atop him at all "disagreeable."

## References

1. ↑ Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xi (2000).
Soul Shrine

## Basic Information

Raikoh's starting weapon in both games. In the first game it appears to have poor stats and will likely be replaced with other weapons, however there is a bit of a trick with this. Otogi 1 had a repair system, and the Soul Shrine is badly damaged at the beginning, with an expensive repair cost. If you actually get it repaired, it has some of the best stats of the swords in the game, with a higher than normal attack, making it much more effective.

The second game did away with the repair system, so the Soul Shrine is more normal, offering better health regen and MP absorption but no outstanding attack or defense boosts.

## Stat Information

Otogi 1

Stats are compared by type and exclude the Moonlight Sword and Orchid Malevolence, with numbers in () showing the relative rank of that stat.

The Soul Shrine has average magical attack, the highest physical attack when repaired, and average defense.

Price: 0 (-) Attack: 150 (1) Weight: 210 (6) Starting Durability: 68 Durability Loss: Low

Magical Attack: 12 (3) Attack Modifier: 0 (=) Defense: 0 (3) HP Regen: 0 (3) Exp Gain: 0 (2)

Gold Gain: 0 (1) Status Recovery: 0 (4) Status Resist: 0 (4) 1st Jump Modifier: 0 (3) 2nd Jump Modifier: 0 (4)

Otogi 2

Soul Shrine is the lightest weapon, has the highest MP absorption, health regen, and status resist, the lowest physical attack, and mostly average stats otherwise.

Attack: 120 (4) Weight: 2.1 (1) Jump Modifier: 0 (3)

Max MP: +8 (2) MP Absorb: +22 (1) HP Regen: +16 (1) Status Resistance: +5 (1)

Physical Attack: +5 (4) Magical Attack: 0 (3) Physical Defense: +4 (3) Magical Defense: 0 (2)
Lude

**Lude** is an adult male living in California, but likely originally from the southern United States. Johnny Truant introduces Lude in the Introduction as a friend who told Truant about Zampanò and suggested burgling his apartment - the events of which lead Truant to discovering a copy of The Navidson Record.

Lude worked at a salon.

Lude tended to exaggerate.

Lude lived in the same apartment complex as Zampanò on Franklin Avenue in Hollywood, California.

## 1996.

Towards the end of 1996, Zampanò told Lude he was going to die soon, and Lude passed this information to Truant.

On December 31, 1996, Lude and Truant hung out together, driving and looking for new bars.

## 1997.

On January 5, 1997, Lude went out drinking with a woman he had met at his salon. He returned home on January 6, just after 7:00 AM, with "a severe hangover." Lude and another tenant "immediately" noticed Zampanò was not taking a walk through the courtyard, which Zampanò did every morning. Lude went to sleep. At duskfall, Lude and the other tenant reported Zampanò to the resident building manager, Flaze.

Flaze was upset by the prospect of seeing a dead body, and entrusted Lude with a key to Zampanò's apartment. Lude found Zampanò lying face down, dead of natural causes. After paramedics and police investigated and removed the corpse, Lude was left alone in the apartment.

A week later, the landlord scheduled a charity to remove the contents of Zampanò's apartment. Lude phoned Truant at 3:00 AM and the two robbed the apartment. Truant describes in stark detail Lude staring "with a wicked gleam in his eye," rattling his keys, and whispering things to Truant that now haunt him. Truant notes that Lude was completely un-disturbed by the "unsettling characteristics" of the walk to the apartment, and he eagerly recounted odd events surrounding Zampanò's death along the way.

## Commentary.

A lude is just shorthand for Quaalude, a drug first prescribed to treat insomnia. Lude was the man who directly led Truant into Zampanò's apartment and thus indirectly led Truant to insomnia.

1. ↑ Based on Lude's nickname "Hoss," used for Johnny Truant, a hypocorism popular among Americans from the south.
2. ↑ Sadly, we are never told what those things are. Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xiv (2000).

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xii (2000).
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xi (2000).
3. ↑ Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xix (2000).
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xii-xiii (2000).
5. ↑ Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xv (2000).
Stage 13 Valley of Flames

## Basic Information

A straight forward stage, only made difficult by the sheer toughness of the Ogres you need to slay. Do not underestimate them and try not to get cornered as they often come in pairs. Further in Blast Viper Heads will show up, they explode on death so try to launch them away when you need to kill one. You could even try to launch them into the ogres to deal them damage. However you decide to do it, cut down the ogres and you will complete the stage.

## Unlockables

* The Flame Staff is at the back of the burning cave to the west, you can abate the fire by breaking the large statues at either side of said cave.
Twin Dragons

## Basic Information

Seimei's second weapon is more balanced, favoring sustained spellcasting over raw damage, and with good magic defense.

## Stat Information

The Twin Dragons are the second lightest weapon, has the highest MP, MP absorption, and magical defense, the lowest physical attack, and average stats otherwise.

Attack: 76 (3) Weight: 1.2 (2) Jump Modifier: 0 (2)

Max MP: +23 (1) MP Absorb: +8 (1) HP Regen: -7 (2) Status Resistance: 0 (2)

Physical Attack: -11 (3) Magical Attack: +27 (2) Physical Defense: -8 (2) Magical Defense: +24 (1)

## Unlocking

* Clear Stage 13 Crimson Capital with Seimei.
Stage 14 Scarlet Path

## Basic Information

A race against the clock, shortly after the stage begins you will be inflicted by magic devouring spirits, quickly draining your MP and leaving you in a dying state. The only way to avoid this and beat the stage is to dash up the path, passing through divine arches which will restore some of your magic along the way. You must always be moving if you want to make it, so lighter weapons or ones that boost movement in some way are preferred. There are also two shortcuts along the path, visible on the map, which can help avoid some obstacles. The first is near the end of the winding ascent at the beginning, and the second is after the lava area behind some rocks. As long as you keep moving, and do your best to avoid or knock away enemies, you should make it to the top with enough life left to finish.
Darkness

## Basic Information

Tusna's first weapon is fairly balanced, with its biggest weakness being a subpar physical attack, making It reliable and easy to use for the early stages.

## Stat Information

Darkness is the lightest weapon, has the highest MP, MP absorption, status resist, and magical defense, the lowest physical attack, and average stats otherwise.

Attack: 110 (3) Weight: 2.3 (1) Jump Modifier: 0 (=)

Max MP: 0 (1) MP Absorb: 0 (1) HP Regen: 0 (2) Status Resistance: +14 (1)

Physical Attack: +6 (3) Magical Attack: 0 (2) Physical Defense: +3 (2) Magical Defense: 0 (1)
Chaos Wheel

## Basic Information

Suetake's first weapon is oddly balanced, with mostly average stats, ending up with no real weaknesses but no outstanding strengths either.

## Stat Information

The Chaos Wheel is the lightest weapon, has the highest health regen and physical defense, the lowest MP and magical attack, and average stats otherwise.

Attack: 77 (2) Weight: 1.3 (1) Jump Modifier: +16 (2)

Max MP: +13 (3) MP Absorb: +4 (2) HP Regen: -5 (1) Status Resistance: 0 (=)

Physical Attack: 0 (2) Magical Attack: +14 (3) Physical Defense: -4 (1) Magical Defense: 0 (2)

## Trivia

* This weapon, and to an extent all of Suetake's weapons, is based on a Dharmachakra, or wheel of dharma, a Buddhist symbol.
Dragon

## Basic Information

The dragon talisman, representing the House of Soryu, is a long-range homing spell, producing multiple small dragons when uncharged and a larger more powerful dragons when charged. The dragons have good tracking and can hit an enemy multiple times before dissipating, making it a very reliable spell and useful against hard to hit enemies.

## Stat Information

Talismans have a smaller amount of stats, including some hidden ones, that will be listed here.

Otogi 1

Lvl 1

Price: 2,280 Uncharged Power: 100 MP Cost: 100 Attack: 0

Defense: 0 HP Regen: 5 Status Resist: 0 2nd Jump Modifier: 0

Lvl 2

Price: 4,880 Uncharged Power: 250 MP Cost: 500 Attack: 0

Defense: 0 HP Regen: 10 Status Resist: 0 2nd Jump Modifier: 0

Lvl 3

Price: 10,350 Uncharged Power: 350 MP Cost: 1,000 Attack: 20

Defense: 0 HP Regen: 15 Status Resist: 0 2nd Jump Modifier: 0

Otogi 2

WIP

## Unlocking

Otogi 1

* (Lvl 1) Dropped by a Staff Raven Yasha in Stage 2 Forbidden Mansion.
* (Lvl 2) Purchase from shop.
* (Lvl 3) Clear Stage 24 Forest of Wind in less than 2 minutes.

Otogi 2

* (Lvl 1) Available from the start.
* (Lvl 2) Purchase in shop.
* (Lvl 3) Purchase in shop.

Otogi 1Otogi 1Otogi 1Otogi 2Otogi 2
Stage 6 A Clouded Moon

## Basic Information

A boss stage where you need to reach the rocks at the end of the bridges to start the fight. Which is made more difficult by the hazard for this stage, true to the level name the moon gets clouded over periodically, causing small fireballs to appear all around you and impede your movement. This even has an effect on the boss once you begin fighting them, with her becoming invincible while the moon is obscured. Besides these concerns, the fight is not too difficult itself.

## Unlockables

* The Needle of Fury accessory can be obtained by clearing the level in under 1 minute, with the hardest part being reaching the boss quickly enough to have enough time left to beat them, after that your best bet is a Phoenix magic combo to slay her before she becomes invincible.
Raven King

## Basic Information

A boss enemy, the Raven King has two attacks, a ranged spread of feathers that can be partly reflected like a spell, and a mid-ranged drill tackle with his bladed arm. The drilling attack is more dangerous than the feather knives, so pay attention to what attack he is telegraphing. Other than that it is a straight-forward fight.
Stage 5 Prison of Stone

## Basic Information

* Purification: 4
* Affinity: Raikoh 6, Kintoki 2, Tsuna 4, Sadamitsu 1, Suetake 0, Seimei 2.

Time to investigate a magic prison underground, sounds simple, but the Stone Golems and Sentinels that guard said prison do not appreciate your presence. Despite this, they are not much of a threat, needing large numbers to be of any issue, and even then they can be combo attacked easily. Do watch out for the spores though, the inflict MP Drop unlike the ones from the first game.

When you do make it to the bottom of the prison, you are instructed to break the chains, this summons a horde of the Stone guards which you must fight until a cutscene plays to end the stage. Do not get overwhelmed and keep swinging, with as many of them as there are you will always be hitting something.

## Unlockables

* The Belt of Good Omen can be found in the last room before the prison pit, guarded by the only two Skeletons of the stage.
* The Ogre Gourd can be obtained by preforming a 3,000 hit combo, if that seems particularly absurd or impossible to you, do not worry, it is pretty absurd but thankfully not impossible. Equip Kintoki with the level 1 Chimera talisman you can purchase from the shop, and whatever other gear lowers his magic power the most and make your way to the end of the stage. Because Kintoki is so bad at using magic, and the uncharged Chimera spell does such low damage to begin with, you can spam it on the horde at the end without killing any of them (unless you over-leveled), allowing you to get the combo you need. Just do not forget to melee now and then to get some MP back, since you will likely run out before reaching 3,000.
Isabelle

**Isabelle** is the name of a woman "occasionally mention[ed]" by the author Zampanò. According to editor Johnny Truant, Zampanò mentioned her and six other women only when he was "disconsolate and for whatever reason dragged back into some dark tangled time." Truant believes the seven women were previous romantic interests.

## References

1. ↑ Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xxii (2000).
Stage 22 The Frozen Lake

## Basic Information

* Purification: 13
* Affinity: Raikoh 6, Kintoki 3, Tsuna 4, Sadamitsu 2, Suetake 1, Seimei 1.

Kudara returns, which implies that he survived the events of the first game, and apparently found another centipede demon, Adara, to be his "queen". So now you have to fight them both, or not, if you do not wish to fight them you can dodge attacks until Seimei finishes her spell in the background and reseals them.

If you do want to slay the pair, it might be tricky. Kudara is still weak to physical attacks, but his magical attack, the lightning strike, has gotten even stronger, and he is immune to magic now. Whereas Adara has weaker, but more rapid magic attacks, hits much harder physically, and is immune to melee attacks. Worse, which one decides to dive down into range once they are both active is largely random, so the one you are after might ignore you. If you do manage to slay one of them, then you are locked into the fight and must eliminate the other as well. At that point, the biggest issue will likely be running out of MP, but it should doable if you are efficient.

## Unlockables

* The Wrath weapon can be obtained by defeating Kudara and Adara.
Thoughtography

**Thoughtography**, also called projected **thermography**, **psychic** **photography**, **nengraphy**, and ***nensha*** (Japanese: 念写), is the claimed ability to "burn" images from one's mind onto surfaces such as photographic film by psychic means. In the 1960s, it was claimed that Chicago resident Ted Serios, a hotel bellhop in his late forties, used psychokinetic powers to produce images on Polaroid instant film.

Public controversy surrounding the photographs' authenticity was overshadowed in the 1990s by the appearance of *The Navidson Record*.

## References

1. ↑ Zampanò, House of Leaves 3, n. 3 (2000).
Mystical Beads

## Basic Information

One of the first accessories obtained in both games, it provides a simple attack boost in Otogi 1, however in Otogi 2 it only boosts physical attack. It can be useful early on when you have lower stats and less equipment, but is often replaced by later accessories when they become available.

## Stat Information

Accessories have a smaller amount of stats, including some hidden ones, that will be listed here.

Otogi 1

Price: 1,320 Weight: 20 Attack: 20 Defense: 0

HP Regen: 0 Status Recovery: 0 Status Resist: 0

Otogi 2

WIP

## Unlocking

Otogi 1

* Found in Stage 5 Palace of Gold.

Otogi 2

* Purchase from shop.
Stage 20 The Golden Sea

## Basic Information

* Purification: 13
* Affinity: Raikoh 4, Kintoki 0, Tsuna 2, Sadamitsu 9, Suetake 6, Seimei 2.

The ghouls are determined to lay waste to the new capital for good and have brought a large airship force with them to see the task done. You are in the sky itself for this stage, so mind your footing or lack thereof. You must break the two large ships to move on, so make your way to them and start heavy attacking them.

Once those are broken you will be treated to a cutscene of an even larger ship raising up in front of you, and as if the size of the ship was not enough of a threat, that is Nayuta pinned to its bow. The ghouls actually dug that thing up out of the old Immortal Court just to use it as a weapon. You can not let that happen, so track down and break the four medallions on the huge ship, one on the lower back, one on the upper middle, and two on the front, to destroy the ship before Nayuta can prepare its spell.

## Unlockables

* The Magic Flute can be found on the back of the huge ship above and to the north of the lower medallion.
* The Black Wings weapon can be obtained by completing the stage in under 2 minutes and 30 seconds, Sadamitsu makes this task much easier, just make sure to rush the large ships as fast as possible since those are the only ones you need to break.
Black Swallow

## Basic Information

This late-game paired weapon is particularly powerful, not just for its higher attack, but for its high magic attack. The Black Swallow actually has maxed out magical attack like most of the magic staves, making it the best for spellcasting among the paired weapons.

## Stat Information

Stats are compared by type, with numbers in () showing the relative rank of that stat.

The Black Swallow have the highest magical attack, the highest physical attack, and average defense.

Price: 15,000 (6) Attack: 125 (1) Weight: 150 (1) Starting Durability: 89 Durability Loss: Low

Magical Attack: 25 (1) Attack Modifier: 0 (=) Defense: -10 (4) HP Regen: 0 (3) Exp Gain: 10 (1)

Gold Gain: 10 (1) Status Recovery: 15 (3) Status Resist: 15 (2) 1st Jump Modifier: 36 (1) 2nd Jump Modifier: 36 (1)

## Unlocking

* Slay the hidden Death Serpent in Stage 23 Canyon of Death.
Chapter II

The beginning suggests that the film was intended by Will Navidson to be a pastoral documentary about moving to the country with a family and funded by the Guggenheim Fellowship & NEA Media Arts Grant. It does not continue in that trend.

The House is located on Ash Tree Lane in Virginia. Will drinks lemonade on the porch while watching the sun set. No traffic noise makes it hard for Chad Navidson to fall asleep. No stores like "Bloomydales" for Daisy Navidson. Karen Green felt that their relationship was troubled by Will's career and prompted this move.

There is discussion about the Hi-8s with motion detectors that Navidson installs in almost every room -- except the three bathrooms -- in the House. Also the Hi-8 that he gives to Karen Green. Navidson himself carries two 16mm Arriflexes and 35mm cameras.

A portion of Karen's Hi-8 shows her making candles with Chad & Daisy using egg cartons, wicks, plaster of Paris, and crystal wax. During this portion, she seems anxious that Will isn't around. When he returns, she becomes indifferent, accepts a brief kiss, and tells him that the heater\* stopped working sometime last night.

An interlude contains Johnny Truant discussing a time with Lude and a fictional story about being a Pit Boxer and an exotic bird smuggler.

Will's distance from his family is discussed. Principally, this is around the temporal nature of his career as a photojournalist, but additionally about his obsessions. One of these obsessions -- Delial -- comes up often enough that Karen is upset when he mentions the name. He evidently has not discussed who Delial is with anyone -- Karen, photojournalists, or friends.

The rest of the film centers around the positive moments of a happy family. Chad is able to sleep. Daisy's finger heals. The heater is repaired. Karen & Will have a chance to embrace meaningfully. It is noted that these sequences were edited as part of the release after the fact and that it would take less than a year for everything to change.

## Topics Explored

* Duality of Purpose
* First use of Zampanò, Johnny Truant, and The Editors fonts on the same two pages (8 & 9)
* A forward reference to Chapter V, Footnote 67 about "the question of lengthy narrative descriptions in what is purportedly a critical exegesis" references Maus Fife-Harris. This is the beginning of a rejection of received wisdom.
* A suggestion that Johnny Truant edits things according to his own whims. He claims that it initially said "heater", but he changed it to "water heater".
* A suggestion that we tend to expect things to return to normal, but they don't.
* Sexism in critics characterizing Karen as a slut and Will as too self-deprecating.
* Distance of a photojournalist and coping with rigors of being a witness to human tragedy.
1997

**1997** (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1997th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 997th year of the 2nd millennium, the 97th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year of the 1990s decade.

## Jan. 1997.

### Jan. 5, 1997.

* A volunteer visits Zampanò, and he dictates "long discursive passages," amends written pages, and restructures a chapter.
* Zampanò composes his warning note.

### Jan. 6, 1997.

* Zampanò dies.
* The final stray cat in Zampanò's apartment complex disappears. The cats had been vanishing since late 1996.

### Jan. 7, 1997.

* Lude goes out drinking with a woman he met at "his salon." Lude returned to the apartment after seven in the morning and noticed Zampanò did not take his morning walk. "A single mother" also noticed Zampanò's conspicuous absence. The mother went to work; Lude went to sleep.
* A prostitute is murdered in a hotel, "torn to pieces," with "parts of her used to paint the walls and ceiling red."
* At dusk, Lude and the single mother reported Zampanò's absence to the resident building manager, Flaze. Flaze, obviously disturbed by the near-certainty that Zampanò was dead in the apartment, gave his copy of Zampanò's apartment key to Lude to have him handle the problem.
* Lude discovers Zampanò dead, lying face down on the apartment floor. Police and paramedics investigate and determine the death to have been from natural causes. By late that night, paramedics have removed the body, leaving Lude alone in Zampanò's apartment.

### Jan. 8, 1997.

* The landlord posts a notice of abandonment for Zampanò's apartment.

### Jan. 15, 1997.

* The landlord declares the contents of Zampanò's apartment to be worth less than $300, and he calls a charity to remove the contents.

### Jan. 16, 1997.

* At 3:00 AM, Lude calls Johnny Truant to rob Zampanò's apartment.
* At 4:00 AM, Lude and Truant rob the apartment.
	+ Truant discovers the pages of The Navidson Record.

## Footnotes.

1. ↑ Editor Truant notes that Zampanò's letter (January 5, 1997) was written the day before he died. *See* Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xix (2000).
2. ↑ Roughly a week after the landlord posts a notice of abandoment. *See* Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xiv (2000).

## References

1. ↑ Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xxii (2000).
2. ↑ Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xix (2000).
3. ↑ Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xv (2000).
4. ↑ Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xii-xiii (2000).
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xiii (2000).
6. ↑ Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xi (2000).
7. ↑ Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xvi (2000).
Dominique

**Dominique** is the name of a woman "occasionally mention[ed]" by the author Zampanò. According to editor Johnny Truant, Zampanò mentioned her and six other women only when he was "disconsolate and for whatever reason dragged back into some dark tangled time." Truant believes the seven women were previous romantic interests.

## References

1. ↑ Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xxii (2000).
Stage 6 Valley of Mist

## Basic Information

* Purification: 4
* Affinity: Raikoh 6, Kintoki 0, Tsuna 2, Sadamitsu 11, Suetake 3, Seimei 2.

The Ghouls are back, and they brought a naval force with them this time. A protection mission, you must destroy the ships before they break through. There are two waves of the small ships which can be broken with a single heavy attack to the large gong-like medallions they carry. And three larger ships which require three heavy attacks each.

Sadamitsu is by far the best character for this stage, with her raw speed and mobility allowing her to catch the ships rapidly. Breaking small ships with precise heavy slams from the air will let you move from target to target with the most speed. And for the big ships, trying to wedge yourself between the medallion and the ship itself can let you mitigate the pushback from successful heavy attacks, letting you follow-up quicker. Keeping this in mind and avoiding unnecessary fights with the ghouls themselves will ensure victory for you.

## Unlockables

* A Mercy Orb Glyph is hiding at the end of the left shore from the bridge you start on, try to fight it after breaking the first large ship and wiping out the second wave of small ships to give your enough breathing room.
* The Needle of Fury can be obtained by beating the stage under 2 minutes and 30 seconds, this is surprisingly difficult, and really only possible with Sadamitsu. You will have to be dashing from ship to ship as fast as possible and breaking them with a single perfect strike to have a chance at this one. You will also need to break the large ships as fast as possible as well, too much lost time on one of them can ruin an otherwise good run. This will take practice and more than a few tries most likely, so do not get frustrated.
Stage 28 Ethereal Palace

## Basic Information

The penultimate stage, a boss rush against tainted versions of previous foes, one for each elemental House. Wind Slashers to the south, Soul Caller to the west, Raven King to the north, and a Blackwing to the east. Pick your poison and face your foes, though I will call special attention to the room in the south. In order to get to the Wind Slashers you will have to break a series of barriers using the bodies of the Stone Glyphs that spawn there, which can be a bit of a chore as you line up the right heavy attacks, just be ready once you release the Slashers at the end of the room.
Zampanò's volunteers

The author **Zampanò had a number of volunteers** who assisted him in the preparation and production of The Navidson Record. The volunteers served as "readers," as Zampanò was completely blind in later life. These readers were drawn from:

* The Braille Institute
* USC
* UCLA
* Santa Monica College
* Community centers

Many of the volunteers were found by editor Johnny Truant in the course of his research. None claimed to know Zampanò well, but many had opinions on the man.

## Maus Fife-Harris

A UC Irvine Ph.D. candidate in Comp Lit (p.55) She advised Zampanò that large chunks of narrative are inappropriate for a critical work and claimed that she would mark him down if he were one of her students. She protested when he wanted her to write a block of narrative. Exasperated, she once asked hum "Why won't you listen to me? You're writing like a freshman." to which he replied "We always look for doctors but sometimes we're lucky to find a frosh."

## The actress.

One **volunteer**, an actress, spent the summer of an unknown year reading to Zampanò. She recounted finding him one morning weeping and in a deep depression. She fixed him tea, and he said that his tears were from "old heart-ache matters." However, Zampanò declined to reveal his paramore's name. The actress took Zampanò to be a romantic.

## The student.

Truant met a former student volunteer who believed Zampanò to have been "certifiably mad."

## The last volunteer.

An unidentified woman was the last to work with Zampanò. She visited him on January 5, 1997, writing and editing The Navidson Record. He dictated "long discursive passages," amended written pages, and restructured a chapter.

Addressing Zampanò's graphomania and inability to finish a writing project, this woman told Truant, "[W]hatever it was he could never quite address in himself prevented him from ever settling. Death finally saw to that."

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xxi (2000).
2. ↑ Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xxi-xxii (2000).
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Johnny Truant, "Introduction" in House of Leaves xxii (2000).
Skylarks

## Basic Information

With good overall stats and a unique attack, the Skylarks are one of the best paired weapons in the game. Performing the light-light-light-heavy combo, instead of just doing a normal heavy attack, throws the Skylarks around you for a wide-range heavy attack.

## Stat Information

Stats are compared by type, with numbers in () showing the relative rank of that stat.

The Skylarks have the second highest magical attack, the second highest physical attack, and the second highest defense.

Price: 8,950 (5) Attack: 120 (2) Weight: 220 (4) Starting Durability: 100 Durability Loss: Medium

Magical Attack: 16 (2) Attack Modifier: 0 (=) Defense: 0 (2) HP Regen: 15 (1) Exp Gain: 0 (2)

Gold Gain: 0 (2) Status Recovery: 7 (4) Status Resist: 7 (3) 1st Jump Modifier: 0 (2) 2nd Jump Modifier: 0 (2)

## Unlocking

* Clear Stage 19 Golem's Ravine in less than 1 minute and 45 seconds.
Stone Deity

## Basic Information

A ranged enemy, after they have caught sight of you, they will shake a bit before launching a spread of light bullets at you. Surprisingly, you can actually reflect most or all of the spread just like other spells. Overall they are not very threatening, but can interrupt you easily if there are many of them firing at you.
Weapons

One of the three types of equipment, weapons are your main source of stats and serve as your primary means of offense in the games.

## Otogi Myth of Demons Weapons

The first game has thirty-three weapons in total, split between four main categories with a few outliers. Weapons are listed by these categories, with the unique weapons explaining themselves in their personal pages.

Swords: The most basic and numerous weapon type, offering the standard move-set.

* Fanblade
* Helmet Splitter
* Locust Wing
* Moonlight Sword
* Orchid Malevolence
* Punisher
* Soul Seal
* Soul Shrine
* Sword of Voracity
* Thunder
* Training Sword

Heavy Weapons: Larger weapons that have a slower, harder hitting move-set.

* Demon Crusher
* Golden Dragon
* Heretic's Blade
* Indigo Fang
* Sword of Binding

Staves: A similar weapon type to the swords, but with more focus on wide strikes and horizontal heavy attacks. Also has a sub-type focused on magic spells.

* Butterfly Staff
* Chimera Staff
* Double Dragons
* Dragon Point
* Dragon Staff
* Flame Staff
* Holy Staff
* Ogre's Horn
* Phoenix Staff
* Staff of Duality
* Three Winds

Paired Weapons: Dual wielded weapons that offer a faster, multi-hitting move-set.

* Black Swallow
* Jaws of the Mountain
* Rune Scimitars
* Skylarks
* Twin Flashes
* Twin Rays

## Otogi 2 Immortal Warriors Weapons

The second game has nineteen weapons split between the six characters. Unlike the first game move-sets are determined entirely by character and not by weapon.

Raikoh

* Divine Blade
* Falling Star
* Moonlight Sword
* Soul Shrine

Kintoki

* Blazing Axe
* Crimson Axe
* Red Lotus

Tsuna

* Darkness
* Thunder
* Wrath

Sadamitsu

* Black Wings
* Scourge
* Shrieking Blossom

Suetake

* Chaos Wheel
* Divine Punishment
* Eight Truths

Seimei

* Nature's Balance
* Twin Dragons
* Twin Moons
Stage 7 Restless Sea

## Basic Information

An escort mission functionally, you must protect the ship from the Kesan while it transports you to the boss. The Kesan are not a direct threat, lacking any attacks, but if enough of them board the ship it will sink from the weight. So getting rid of them is imperative, but do not launch them into the sea, they will just jump back out, better to slay them outright. About halfway through the trip a ghostly ship will come into view, if you board this ship and heavy attack the bell at its front all of the Kesan currently on your ship will be slain instantly.

At the end of the trip you will face the Great Kesan, it will summon more Kesan and try to sink your ship as well. Not that it matters, since after it shows up the ship is no longer needed as long as you can slay the creature.

## Unlockables

* Slay 30 enemies to obtain the Dragon Point, a straight forward task as long as you focus on eliminating Kesan entirely, as well as take out the occasional Serpent that shows up.
Stage 3 Mountain Gates

## Basic Information

There are three mirrors to destroy, one to the west guarded by Mages, one is hidden in the dried up waterway going through the middle of the stage, and the last one is behind the tower at the northeast of the map. A fairly quick and easy stage if you know where to go and do not get bogged down by too many enemies at once.

## Unlockables

* The Rune Scimitars can be obtained by performing a 20 hit combo or more, this is probably easiest by the mirror in the northeast, where quite a few enemies can be gathered together.
Stone Glyph

## Basic Information

An interesting enemy, and one you are partly familiar with if you have been seeking out the hidden enemies holding the Mercy Orbs. However, unlike those Mercy Glyphs, these are much more dangerous, both of their attacks, a spinning attack and non-status fireball, cause surprisingly high damage. Try not to get surrounded, as they are very aggressive and will combo you if they can.
Stage 24 Tower of Hate

## Basic Information

* Purification: 14
* Affinity: Raikoh 4, Kintoki 5, Tsuna 7, Sadamitsu 2, Suetake 1, Seimei 1.

What is left of the part of the capital the ghouls managed to destroy has been taken over by an Archer Demon Fox. The tower they have constructed to siphon the souls that died here must fall, so slay the fox, simple enough. The boss fight is not too difficult, the fox likes to hyper dash around, breaking lock-on, so he can snipe at you with his arrow attacks, but is otherwise not much stronger than the Sword Demon Fox boss was. Try to stay away from the cursed pool of water though, MP draining spirits rise out of it constantly.

Of course, after he falls the sore loser has to complicate things by corrupting the land, causing a mass of Skeletons to spawn. This part is likely why Tsuna has the highest affinity here because over 100 skeletons will be spawned by the end of this and you can absolutely get surrounded and comboed to death by them if you do not keep them at bay. Focus on heavy attacks to spread the enemies out and do not forget to use your arial mobility to reposition if you need to. Beyond that keep slaying skeletons until the stage ends.
Stage 1 A Peaceful Grave

## Basic Information

* Purification: N/A
* Affinity: N/A

The first stage, you will briefly control Seimei before the stage proper on a new playthrough, letting you get a feel for one of the new characters. Once you reach the tree at the end, you will take control of Raikoh after a cutscene, and are tasked with fighting your way back out through some Raven Yasha. They are no threat at all, and should make for easy work.
Houses

The magic in the Otogi games is influenced by a system of elemental houses, one for each cardinal direction. All of the player's spells belong to one of these four main houses, and depending on the character, may influence their elemental alignment.

Each house is both strong against, and weak to, its opposing element. For example, attacking a Byakko (Earth) aligned enemy with a Soryu (Wind) spell will do more damage, but you will also take more damage from Byakko spells while Soryu aligned.

## Element Reference

Byakko (Earth) <|> Soryu (Wind)

Suzaku (Fire) <|> Genbu (Water)

## Houses of Void and Oryu

Besides the main houses useable by the player, there are two additional houses that only enemies can belong to. The uncommon House of Void, and the very rare House of Oryu. Void-aligned enemies take reduced damage from all of the main houses, making magic attacks less effective when fighting them. It is unknown if their spells do more damage to the player. As for Oryu aligned enemies, they seem to be immune to spells altogether, which makes a certain amount of sense, as they are often said to posses immense or divine power in the story.

## Trivia

The magic house system is based on an amalgamation of Onmyōdō divination and the Japanese elements. With each of the main houses represented by one of the "Four Gods", the Azure Dragon of the East Seiryu (Soryu is an archaic version of the name), the Vermilion Bird of the South Suzaku, the White Tiger of the West Byakko, and the Black Tortoise of the North Genbu.

As for the extra houses, Void is only a concept in the Japanese version of the elements, and Oryu, the Yellow Dragon of the Center, does not normally exist in the Japanese system at all. But Onmyōdō is partly based on the Chinese systems from which the "Four Gods" are from, so the fifth god is sometimes translated over as a different being along with the rest. And since the houses in Otogi are mixed from both, Void and Oryu coexist in the game.
Stage 11 Spirit Wood

## Basic Information

Somewhat similar to the last stage, reach the end and break the cursed rock. This level is smaller, but the enemies are more numerous, in particular the Wood Deities. Breaking the rock is not too difficult, but after it is finished a flood of enemies will swarm you. Try not to get juggled into walls and beat back the swarm to finish the level.

## Unlockables

* The Jaws of the Mountain are hidden in an alternate upper path, you can see it in the center of the map, and you will know you have found it because a lot of Stone Deities are huddled around the weapon.
* The Training Sword can be obtained by reaching a combo of 400 hits or more, which is one of the harder and more absurd requirements for an unlock in the game. The easiest way is the swarm of enemies at the end, with the biggest problem being that the enemies are likely to die before you reach the combo count you need. The best way to fix this is to not only lower your attack as much as possible, but to use a magic staff to reduce striking damage even further. This will let you light attack the Wood Deities without slaying them quickly. After that, you will just have to keep trying to reach a 400 hit combo without getting interrupted. You will likely need a couple attempts.
Holy Staff

## Basic Information

A striking staff. With good stats and similar traits to the Locust Wing, this is one of the better weapons in the game, able to comfortably clear most stages.

## Stat Information

Stats are compared by type, with numbers in () showing the relative rank of that stat, and staves are split between striking and magic focused.

The Holy Staff has above average magical attack, above average physical attack, and average defense.

Price: 13,000 (5) Attack: 122 (2) Weight: 210 (3) Starting Durability: 99 Durability Loss: Low

Magical Attack: 19 (2) Attack Modifier: 0 (=) Defense: 10 (3) HP Regen: 32 (1) Exp Gain: 0 (=)

Gold Gain: 0 (=) Status Recovery: 15 (1) Status Resist: 15 (1) 1st Jump Modifier: 30 (1) 2nd Jump Modifier: 25 (1)

## Unlocking

* Clear Stage 15 Sea of Fire in under 2 minutes and 45 seconds.
Needle of Fury

## Basic Information

A very powerful, but double-edged sword type of accessory. With a large increase to attack and making your strikes unblockable, it can be used to brute force your way through enemies that normally do not take much physical damage. However, your defenses get halved and you can not use any magic, leaving you very vulnerable if you can not dodge and disabling the powerful magic combo attack. So use with caution.

## Stat Information

Accessories have a smaller amount of stats, including some hidden ones, that will be listed here.

Otogi 1

Price: 5,670 Weight: 10 Attack: 32 Defense: -32

HP Regen: 0 Status Recovery: 0 Status Resist: 0

Otogi 2

WIP

## Unlocking

Otogi 1

* Beat Stage 6 A Clouded Moon in less than 1 minute.

Otogi 2

* Beat Stage 6 Valley of Mist in less than 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
Stage 24 Forest of Wind

## Basic Information

A desolate piece of Stage 12, and host to one of the harder boss fights in the game. The Wind Slashers, Kamaitachi in all but name, will gladly combo you to death, dealing high damage while inflicting you with multiple statuses, including curse, which pretty much guaranties your death if you can not get away from them. The Bell of Cleansing is highly recommended for this reason alone. As for actually slaying them, attacking physically is difficult, as they are fast, invisible most of the time, and can interrupt your combos easily with contact damage. Unless you are over-leveled, you are unlikely to deal enough damage this way, so you are better off using spells. Luckily they are weak to Dragon, the homing spells. That said, even dragon spells can lose track of them, so it will be an uphill battle no matter what.

## Unlockables

* The Staff of Duality can be found on the top of the outside of the stomp tunnel at the northwest of the area, which is easy enough to find, but getting there in one piece with the lightning fast Wind Slashers hounding you the whole way can be difficult, so try to slay one or two of them before going after the weapon.
* The level 3 Dragon talisman can be obtained by beating the stage under 1 minute and 39 seconds, once again, the dragon magic combo set-up is best here, though you might want to keep the Bell of Cleansing on to avoid being silenced. Unfortunately, even with this, slaying them all quickly can be hard, not because you can not do enough damage, but because this set has lower defense and they might kill you before you get them. So it might take a couple tries, just do not worry about your MP and spam dragon, combo or otherwise, until you get them all.
Blast Viper Head

## Basic Information

A rather passive enemy, it has some clumsy attacks, a bite and a tackle. The tackle can launch you, but the damage by itself is minimal. The real threat of them is the explosion when they die, if you can not launch them away, than you will need to dodge away from them immediately when they are slain to avoid taking damage and being inflicted with the fire status.
Blaze Ogre

## Basic Information

The underworld version of the Vengeance Ogre, just as strong and now possess a meteoric fireball for ranged attacks. This fireball is just as damaging as their overhead slam and should be avoided as much as possible, thankfully it does not cause any statuses. Also highly resistant to physical attacks, requiring magic to eliminate quickly.
Sword of Binding

## Basic Information

A guaranteed unlock as you progress the story, this weapon is surprisingly useful, as its attacks indeed reduce enemy's defenses, making them vulnerable to follow-up attacks. With the right equipment this can make for a devastating set-up.

## Stat Information

Stats are compared by type, with numbers in () showing the relative rank of that stat.

The Sword of Binding has average magical attack, average physical attack, and the second highest defense.

Price: 4,400 (3) Attack: 120 (2) Weight: 390 (1) Starting Durability: 87 Durability Loss: Medium

Magical Attack: -25 (2) Attack Modifier: 10 (=) Defense: -20 (2) HP Regen: -20 (4) Exp Gain: 0 (1)

Gold Gain: 0 (1) Status Recovery: 10 (1) Status Resist: 10 (1) 1st Jump Modifier: -5 (2) 2nd Jump Modifier: 0 (1)
Ogre's Horn

## Basic Information

A striking staff. An attack focused staff, the Ogre's Horn is an effective if risky weapon, able to strike down enemies easily, but breaks down quickly and offers the worst defenses of the staves.

## Stat Information

Stats are compared by type, with numbers in () showing the relative rank of that stat, and staves are split between striking and magic focused.

The Ogre's Horn has average magical attack, the highest physical attack, and the lowest defense.

Price: 13,600 (6) Attack: 144 (1) Weight: 350 (5) Starting Durability: 89 Durability Loss: High

Magical Attack: 5 (3) Attack Modifier: 0 (=) Defense: -20 (5) HP Regen: -10 (4) Exp Gain: 0 (=)

Gold Gain: 0 (=) Status Recovery: 5 (2) Status Resist: 5 (2) 1st Jump Modifier: -15 (5) 2nd Jump Modifier: -15 (5)

## Unlocking

* Seems to be a random drop from slaying Blaze Ogres in Stage 18 Darkfire Cave.
Providence Mirror

## Basic Information

A last resort type of accessory, activating when dropping to around 1/3 of the user's health, the boosts are high enough to give you a good chance of making a comeback.

## Stat Information

Accessories have a smaller amount of stats, including some hidden ones, that will be listed here.

Otogi 1

Price: 2,500 Weight: 40 Attack: 0 Defense: 0

HP Regen: 0 Status Recovery: 0 Status Resist: 0

Otogi 2

WIP

## Unlocking

Otogi 1

* Found in Stage 16 A Chilled Moon.

Otogi 2

* Clear Forest of Havoc Stage 5 Last Stand.