Object 271

The Holder of Relaxation

In any city, in any country, go to any smoking shop you can get yourself to. Ask to see someone who calls himself "The Holder of Relaxation". Should he sigh and say he cannot help you, place either the Coin of Greed or the Coin of Trade on the counter. The clerk will pick up the coin, inspect it, and put it in the register. He will then hand you a small, plain-looking hookah from under the counter along with generic tobacco and charcoal.

Return to your home and place the hookah in an area of prominence near your most comfortable chair. Light the hookah, get comfortable, and take one long pull on it. The room will begin spinning and you will find yourself falling asleep. At this point, your only chance of turning back would be to let yourself sink into sleep. You will wake as though nothing happened. If, however, you are determined, you must force yourself to stay awake and stand up. Exit your house and walk to the house of your nearest neighbor. The distance between your houses will seem to stretch on for miles and you will find yourself getting wearier and wearier as you go. Do not stop to rest or the distance to either house will stretch on infinitely and you will be stranded.

If you manage to reach the neighbor's house, open the front door. You will find yourself in a dimly lit hallway filled with demons slumped against the walls; do not scream, as they are asleep and it would be quite bad to wake them. Remove your shoes and proceed absolutely silently until you reach a small door. Open it just far enough for you to squeeze through and shut it carefully. You must not let the door make any noise, lest you wake the demons in the hall and become trapped in this chamber.

As soon as the door is closed, you will hear a stirring directly in front of you and see an immensely fat man on what appears to be a giant bean bag beginning to wake up. He will see you as a disturbance to his peace and begin inhaling to scream for his guards. Before he can scream, kneel before him and say, "I am sorry to have disturbed you, I only seek peace." If he accepts your plea, he will beckon you to sit beside him. If he motions to his left and you accept, you will fall into a sleep of constant, unimaginable nightmares. If he motions to his right and you accept, you will fall into a sleep of constant bliss, but still never to wake.

Instead, stay kneeling in front of him and ask him, "Do they ever sleep?" He will let out a sigh and tell you that you never find the answer you seek, and to rest instead. Stand still and do not accept or he will become consumed by his chair and you will take his place. He will eventually relent and tell you to leave him in peace so he may sleep alone. Continue silently holding your ground and he will then reach behind him to grab a hookah, similarly sized to the one you obtained earlier, except covered in intricate etchings and silver work. He will take a pull on it then offer it to you. Accept and inhale.

As you inhale, your mind will become more filled with images of all of the Objects and where they currently are. Beware, though, as you may see images of what other Seekers use the Objects for, being anything from orgy to mass slaughter, or even possibly both. If you manage to maintain your sanity through this, sleep will begin to fall over you. Don't fight it this time. You will wake up in your chair as though no time had passed at all, except next to you will be the new, more intricate hookah.

Whenever you smoke from the hookah, you will temporarily forget everything you know about the Holders and Objects, allowing you the closest thing to relaxation a Seeker is able to experience.

The hookah is Object 271 of 2538. You must decide if He may finally sleep.