ARG/November 2019-February 2020

**← Previous (July-October 2019)**

**Book 2 →**

## November 3, 2019

Sabocup continued. The first match of the day involved speedrunners Kuningas and Ischbinder in an Any% category race, with Minous and Soleil as commentators. The Shopkeeper dropped by once again to offer some comments in the Twitch chat.

The commentators explained the lore relating to Soldier's death and how it would have been preventable if Ninja had sent Quarble within 10 seconds of the death. After hearing that explanation, Nufakas expressed regret for failing to meet The Shopkeeper's expectations. The Shopkeeper forgave her.

 **Nufakas** | monkaS @LeShopkeeper

Soleil pointed out that the real Shopkeeper had arrived in the Twitch chat.

As Kuningas explored the Sunken Shrine, Minous talked about how the location was one of his least favorite levels in the game. The Shopkeeper revealed her plans to add a Shopkeeper story to the Sunken Shrine after the conclusion of Sabocup.

As Kuningas backtracked through Bamboo Creek, Minous fulfilled his promise to sing the official lyrics of Bamboo Creek. He was welcomed by a standing ovation for his singing performance.

## November 4, 2019

Sabocup continued, and Thierry's casual Linear runthrough was streamed, to serve as the benchmark time to beat for the casual prize pool. It was encouraged for the viewers to ask Thierry many questions about the game in order to distract him from his runthrough and to make the benchmark easier to clear for casual players. During his runthrough, Thierry addressed a few ambiguities related to the ARG.

**Power to the Player**

Thierry explained that the ARG is shaped by the players. He was concerned that perhaps that those participating in the ARG were not aware that their actions mattered and had real consequences to the ARG. So he reaffirmed that players' choices in the ARG do have an impact. He also explained that the community's interest in the ARG is what drives it to continue moving forward.

**Books from The Archives**

Thierry referred back to the voting event from February 4, 2019, in which players were given an opportunity by The Archivist to see an excerpt from one of three books (NINJA/THE ALCHEMIST/BARMA'THAZEL). There was also a secret fourth voting option, which if selected, would have allowed players to see the title of the next video game way ahead of time. During that vote, the majority of players voted for the "NINJA" book and so received an excerpt from it. Thierry gave more information about the information residing in the unselected books, and the big lore tidbit of the "NINJA" book that had gone unnoticed.

**"THE ALCHEMIST" Book**

Thierry explained that choosing "THE ALCHEMIST" book would have revealed The Archivist's name.

**"BARMA'THAZEL" Book**

During the ARG, small hints related to Barma'thazël's special power were given.

* Barma'thazël had a special power before he lost an eye.
* A person with 6 letters in their name disabled Barma'thazël's special power.
* The last Messenger before The Bowman was petrified by Barma'thazël.

Thierry confirmed that The Bowman was the one to shoot an arrow to take out Barma'thazël's eye. If the "BARMA'THAZEL" book was chosen, that's when this lore tidbit would have been revealed.

**"NINJA" Book**

Thierry explained that although each choice relating to the book vote would have revealed something impactful, the "NINJA" book, in a way, was the "correct" choice, as it contributes to the "bigger picture" at hand. The presented excerpt from the "NINJA" book describes Ninja within Howling Grotto, with the final sentence stating "AS HE WOULD EVENTUALLY FIND OUT, RIGHT BELOW HIM LAY" before the excerpt cuts off. This was actually a hint related to how Ninja had no idea how important something right below him was, that being the Sunken Shrine. The reason why The Archivist wanted to introduce players to the world via The Messenger as the first game was because he visited the Sunken Shrine. The Sunken Shrine along with the Corrupted Future are the two main elements he wanted players to focus on.

**Sunken Shrine**

There is an empty room to the right of Sunken Shrine. Something was meant to be inside that room but was cut from the final version of the game. Thierry hinted that, if the ARG plays out properly, the community may end up seeing what this would have been.

**Aephorul**

A viewer asked about Aephorul's identity, but Thierry stated that The Archivist spoiled this one already. Thierry continued on to say that it involves some dark stuff so it wouldn't be appropriate to discuss it, opting to skip the question.

**Book 2**

Sabotage Studio received Book 1 from The Archivist, which was translated into Sabotage Studio's first video game, The Messenger. Thierry revealed that Sabotage has received Book 2 from The Archivist, and it's thicker than Book 1.

## November 7, 2019 (Discord)

The Clockwork Concierge gave Kammesennin another scroll to deliver to the community, "Archivist\_Scroll\_3.png." This initial document contained a typo, so a new scroll named "Actual\_Archivist-Scroll\_3.png" was delivered shortly afterwards.

## November 7, 2019 (Twitch)

Sabocup continued. The Linear NG+ semi-finals between Breadpan and Kammesennin commenced, with Kasayev as the commentator.

As the two racers simultaneously approached the Leaf Monster boss fight, Kammesennin entered the shop in order to grab the Windmill Shuriken, but Breadpan surprisingly did not. Because Breadpan had the normal Energy Shuriken instead of the Windmill Shuriken, he was unable to 1-cycle the boss fight, and Kammesennin took the lead in the race.

 **LeShopkeeper** | To be honest I don't mind the alone time

Dagem asked The Shopkeeper about the "ultimate pen," in reference to the second-to-last line of Archivist Scroll 3 in which it stated "THE SHOPKEEPER'S PENULTIMATE APPEARANCE DRAWS NEAR."

 **LeShopkeeper** | So let's make the best of it, shall we?

As the two racers made their way through Bamboo Creek, Kyleberry asked The Shopkeeper on her opinion about Chinese food (in reference to Bamboo Creek's official lyrics). The Shopkeeper revealed that she secretly likes Chinese food.

 **LeShopkeeper** | I act like I don't to spite Rainbowdreagoneyes, but I in fact do like Chinese Food

Kyleberry assumed that The Shopkeeper would be retiring, and Soleil bade her farewell. The Shopkeeper replied that she did not plan on permanently leaving.

 **LeShopkeeper** | Hey I'm not saying I won't be back

Kyleberry apologized for his lack of shopping. The Shopkeeper told him not to worry about it.

 **LeShopkeeper** | As long as you do you kyle

Kammesennin defeated the Arcane Golem, yielding an exclamation from The Shopkeeper.

Kammesennin completed his Linear runthrough, winning the first race of the set. In standard fashion, members in the Twitch chat commented "GG" (good game) to congratulate the completion of the runthrough.

 **LeShopkeeper** | GG

## November 15, 2019

The community gathered a total of 7,500 Time Shards, which was enough to afford the final shop upgrade (Beach Oracle). However, despite November 15 being a Friday, The Shopkeeper did not make an appearance.

## November 16, 2019

Spiderbenb asked when the community should expect the next arrival of The Shopkeeper.

## November 21, 2019

The Clockwork Concierge announced that the 6th opening of the shop would occur November 22.

 **Clockwork Concierge** | Perhaps I should do this in the Ninja Village channel...

 **Clockwork Concierge** | The Shop will open tomorrow at 3PM EST!

 **Ninetales** | I'm betting that the *secret* shop item will cost 10k shards as that's the most logical price after 7.5k shards.

## November 22, 2019

The 6th opening of #the-shop text channel arrived. Vitto won The Shopkeeper's challenge and was selected to be "The Messenger." He participated in the third and final chapter of the text adventure and purchased the only available upgrade in the talent tree, "Beach Oracle" (second live Sabotage Q&A). After Vitto left, Rainbowdragoneyes entered the shop and showed off a preview of a unique music track for Queen of Quills.

 **Clockwork Concierge** | \*blushes in clockwork\*

## November 24, 2019

Note: The original text chat log for the Twitch stream was erased, so there is some paraphrasing in replacement of actual chat messages.

The final match of Sabocup commenced, an Any% category + Picnic Panic speedrun between TwoCPlus and kasayev. The Shopkeeper dropped by to watch the event. She arrived somewhat late, around the time that the speedrunners were in Glacial Peak.

 **LeShopkeeper** | It's the opposite with these guys, I went away to make a batch and ended up missing half the run

Someone asked The Shopkeeper what flavor popcorn she was eating.

Five minutes passed, and The Shopkeeper continued to enjoy eating her popcorn.

As the speedrunners watched the Soldier cutscene, a few chat members blamed The Shopkeeper for Soldier's death.

 **LeShopkeeper** | My NDA contract is very strict, but rest assured Soldier played his part

Someone asked how The Shopkeeper was doing.

 **LeShopkeeper** | I always underestimate the effects of it travelling back in time to hit your palate a second time

pupatree asked The Shopkeeper a personal question related to The Iron Hood.

 **LeShopkeeper** | @PUPA555 not really, just an annoying "HAHA"

Justin asked The Shopkeeper about a game-related glitch involving the "6" key with the PC version of The Messenger. The Shopkeeper directed him to talk to game programmer, Sabout.

 **LeShopkeeper** | @Justin1407 ask Sabout

Someone asked The Shopkeeper if she had any stories to share.

Gooberbarbarian asked The Shopkeeper about speedrunning.

 **LeShopkeeper** | @gooberbarbarian you have no idea who I really am, do you?

Someone mentioned something along the lines of, "everybody asks who is Shopkeeper but nobody asks how is Shopkeeper." Someone else followed with something along the lines of, "when is Shopkeeper." Shopkeeper agreed to the "when" statement with a caret.

Gooberbarbarian asked The Shopkeeper about magical kitchen appliances.

 **LeShopkeeper** | @gooberbarbarian no, Colos & Suses brought their kettle

Stéphanie worried that The Shopkeeper was lonely since the speedrunners were doing such brief shop visits, but The Shopkeeper assured her that she preferred doing less work.

 **LeShopkeeper** | @Mrs\_Stephanie I'm paid a flat fee per run, so less work is all good with me

TwoCPlus and kasayev finished the Picnic Panic portion of the speedrun, marking the conclusion of Sabocup. Heartwarming words were spoken by the commentators, the speedrunners, and members in the Twitch chat, thanking Sabotage Studio for hosting Sabocup. The Shopkeeper responded in turn.

## November 28, 2019

SaboSav finished forging a special trophy called the Sabocup for the winner of the Sabocup tournament, TwoCPlus.

## November 29, 2019

The "Sabocup Runner" Discord role was pinged for the trophy reveal video.

## December 4, 2019

Clocko joined in congratulating Ninetales on getting accepted to his top college.

## December 6, 2019

The first raffle for winners of the Sabocup casual prize pool was held. The Clockwork Concierge revealed that "Sinclair" is a name he strives to be worthy of as a butler.

## December 9-11, 2019

The second raffle for winners of the Sabocup casual prize pool was held. Simultaneously, dad jokes were told in the #ninja-village text channel.

## January 1, 2020

The Clockwork Concierge wished the community a happy new year's.

## January 2, 2020

The Clockwork Concierge held a quiz, which revealed The Iron Hood's true name and resulted in the community obtaining "The Letter O."

## January 6, 2020

The Shopkeeper returned to help write Camand's story, and the Clockwork Concierge kept others from interrupting. The Clockwork Concierge gave a status update on his apprentice, Manfred. Wentworth was briefly mentioned as well before the Clockwork Concierge had to go to a meeting.

## January 8, 2020

The Clockwork Concierge shared a free Steam code for The Messenger. He also dropped a spoiler related to the name of an unknown character, and hinted at the existence of "Project Solstice."

 **Soleil** | I think you were the only one who saw it.

## January 10, 2020

The Archivist and #the-void text channel came back briefly. He chatted with the Clockwork Concierge and revealed that he was recruiting three Voidwalkers instead of just one. He mentioned a person named "Headmaster Moraine," a character previously unknown up to this point in time.

 **Clockwork Concierge** | Oh, I hope the ARG people are here...

## January 13, 2020

The Clockwork Concierge announced the upcoming Sabotage Q&A.

 **Clockwork Concierge** | I even heard it rumored that Soleil and Kamme may join through the power of voice chat!

## January 14, 2020

The Clockwork Concierge informed the community that obtaining the "Ninja" Discord role would no longer be possible after obtaining 10,000 Time Shards. He also mentioned that the Q&A would begin in 30 minutes, and later provided a clarification about the Q&A and the Tidal Wave of Lore.

 **Clockwork Concierge** | I have been busy preparing it for quite some time, actually.

## January 16, 2020

The Shopkeeper tested out the Clockwork Concierge's microphone (dialogue boxes) for the first time, rather than speaking in plain text.

 **The Shopkeeper** | ...

## January 17, 2020

As the community inched closer to reaching the 10,000-Time Shard threshold, the Clockwork Concierge removed the ability to nominate other users for the "Ninja" Discord role, and the ability to earn Time Shards through daily interactions. A few hours later, through the gradual joining of new members, the Time Shard goal was reached.

## January 20, 2020

The Clockwork Concierge announced when The Shop would reopen.

 **Clockwork Concierge** | Indeed, The Shop is scheduled to open this very Friday, around 2PM EST.

## January 21, 2020

The Clockwork Concierge's advertising module ran amok.

## January 22, 2020

The Clockwork Concierge posted a free Steam code for The Messenger, which was eventually claimed.

## January 23, 2020

The Clockwork Concierge informed the community that the final Shop opening would occur the next day.

 **Clockwork Concierge** | Please hype with moderation.

## January 24, 2020

Since the community gathered 10,000 Time Shards, The Shopkeeper came by for her final visit. Camand was selected to be "The Messenger," and she asked about "The Letter L" and "The Letter P." She touched the cabinet after being encouraged to by the community, getting swiftly booted. After a Discord-exclusive cabinet rant, The Shopkeeper invited all users with the "Ninja" Discord role into #the-shop and told the final story. After finishing, everyone was removed, and The Shopkeeper gave a sad farewell before #the-shop disappeared forever.

 **Dagem** | P and L are huge actually

 **Lojical** | Checking actions is most important so we can figure out what to prioritize

 **The Shopkeeper** | We can also move on if you prefer.

 **Lojical** | Camand can see us talking, he just can't talk in here

 **Kammesennin** | Idk, he seems to wish to handle business rather than smalltalk.

 **camand** | Is there any way to retrieve the letter L, and why is the letter P on the shelf?

 **Soleil** | We're missing 2 letters that will help form the word "AEPHORUL" which will summon The All Mysterious Archivist

 **The Shopkeeper** | Anything else I can do for you?

 **Sol** | The FINAL UPGRADE remains to be bought.

 [various community members agree]

The Shopkeeper spoke in dialogue boxes for the remainder of her time.

## January 27, 2020

The Clockwork Concierge announced that The Void could not be opened, and that he feared The Archivist might not be able to return. He said that he would need an ingredient from The Void, and the community suggested the "Voidmender" Discord role, which the Clockwork Concierge agreed just might work. He gave the Voidmenders 24 hours to decide whether or not to give up their roles.

 **Boud** | Just passing by. @FrankyDess told me about what was happening. I am willing to sacrifice my voidmender role. Godspeed, messengers!

## January 28, 2020

The majority of the Voidmenders agreed to sacrifice their roles and informed the Clockwork Concierge on their decision. The sacrifice established a portal to The Void, which was then stabilized by the community chanting words of power.

The Archivist appeared, and three community members, Babushka, Stéphanie, and Soleil, were given the "Voidwalker" Discord role. Unable to leave The Void, and revoked the ability to speak in any other text channel, they were tasked with discovering the answers to three very important questions proposed by The Archivist before they were allowed to leave The Void. The Voidwalkers wandered around The Void and posed many theories.

## January 29, 2020

The Voidwalkers pondered more questions before The Archivist returned to answer some questions about alchemy. He explained that the Corrupted Future was a glimpse at what must be prevented from happening. He left, saying they were ready to learn about Dwellers.

The Void showed each Voidwalker one unique piece of the two-page excerpt from a book known as the "Seeds of Evil," which contained information on Dwellers. Voidwalkers Soleil and Babushka shared the first two pieces of the "Seeds of Evil" document, allowing the first page and a portion of the second page to be deciphered.

Afterwards, The Archivist gave the community an undeciphered version of his "Tidal Wave of Lore" document, covered in alphabetic runes. Despite the document excluding all letters of the alphabet except for the letters A, E, P, H, O, R, and U, the community quickly began collaborating together, using various techniques and strategies in order to decode the remainder of the document.

## January 30, 2020

The community deciphered the entirety of the Tidal Wave of Lore in only 5 hours, surprising even The Archivist. It contained information on the backstory of The Alchemists, Aephorul and Resh'an (The Fleshmancer and The Archivist respectively). Voidwalker Stéphanie returned and shared the remaining piece of the "Seeds of Evil" document, allowing it to be fully translated.

The community's successful collaboration at translating the Tidal Wave of Lore unexpectedly hastened the closure of The Void. Voidwalker Babushka used the opportunity to ask The Archivist a question regarding him and his ability to interact with The Void, and The Archivist indulged, explaining the origin on his Vial of Time.

Each of the three Voidwalkers were required to correctly answer one of three important questions proposed earlier by The Archivist. If a Voidwalker answered his question correctly, they were allowed to ask one question of their own. Voidwalker Soleil correctly answered The Archivist's important question regarding eclipse magic, and she asked The Archivist for more information regarding how he became locked out of The Void, an event that occurred at the beginning of the ARG. The Archivist answered her question, and Soleil left The Void.

 **Lich** | They are already prepared

 **StarHawk** | Also just look at this lol[note: this image shows that The Archivist was displayed in the middle of the other community members and was not put near the top of the list like The Clockwork Concierge and others]

 **Soleil** | Thanks for all the welcome backs, Franky, starry, Vitto, StarHawk, Malik, Resident Ace, TK, Passion, Kamme, and anyone else I missed because I'm blind

## January 31, 2020

Voidwalker Babushka correctly answered The Archivist's important question regarding time travel and alternate timelines, and she asked The Archivist for more information on Guardian Gods. The Archivist answered her question, and Babushka left The Void.

Following suit, Voidwalker Stéphanie correctly answered The Archivist's important question regarding World Eaters, and she asked The Archivist for more information on timelines already lost to World Eaters. The Archivist answered her question and then gave her the opportunity to ask another question. Stéphanie asked for more information on The Shopkeeper's identity, which The Archivist answered, and Stéphanie left The Void.

The Archivist gave Voidwalker Stéphanie a copy of the entire Tidal Wave of Lore and announced that Headmaster Moraine would be taking over the ARG. He then left, potentially forever, bidding farewell to the community. A few minutes after The Void faded out of existence, each Voidwalker received a piece of a vision, known as the "Echoes of The Void." When the three pieces were combined, it formed an image of a bookshelf from The Archives. Books on the left side of the bookshelf were about Book 1, The Messenger, and books on the right side were about Book 2, Sea of Stars. Stéphanie posted the entirety of the Echoes of The Void with the book spines fully translated, and then BillCipher44 brightened up the left side of the image, which revealed a hidden book, labeled "QUILLSHROOM."

 **Soleil** | Book 1 stuff (The Messenger):- QUILLSHROOM- SHOPKEEPER- QUARBLE- NINJA- 1 Book 2 stuff:- 2- ZALE- VALERE- MOONCRADLE VILLAGE- SERAI- ERLINA

## February 3, 2020

The "ARG" Discord role was made available to all community members instead of just those with the "Ninja" Discord role, allowing anybody to choose to be notified when "@ARG" is used.

## February 7, 2020

The Clockwork Concierge announced that Project Solstice would be ready next week and that Kammesennin would now be part of the SaboTeam as the Community Manager.

## February 11, 2020

The Clockwork Concierge wished Moshy a happy birthday.

## February 13, 2020

The Clockwork Concierge announced that Project Solstice would launch the next day. He also replied to a theory StarHawk proposed, calling it "wild."

 **Clockwork Concierge** | Now that is a wild theory StarHawk.

**← Previous (July-October 2019)**

**Book 2 →**