The Dead Letters Archive, or simply Dead Letters, is a location in the Executive Sector of the Oldest House. [1]
Background[]
Dead Letters, opened during Zachariah Trench's directorship by a petition of Penny Bartwell (who subsequently became the head archivist), is a mail archive maintained by the Federal Bureau of Control for "dead letters" (mail deemed by the United States Post Office as unfit for delivery due to having little to no proper regulation efforts in them, such as return addresses and names). It functions as a database for researchers to investigate paranatural connections or topics which may be present in the letters. Many of the letters in question are often highly bizarre and conspiratorial in nature, with topics ranging from theories about airplanes being "fake" to a man claiming that Theodore Roosevelt and John Adams are helping him fix his lawnmower.
While much of the mail ends up possibly having no actual paranatural connections and are instead most likely just the ravings of crackpots, it can still be used to document the public perception of the abnormal. The archive's letters are sourced from the United States Postal Service, which gives the FBC letters which it marks as undeliverable.[1] The archive is also the location of a Control Point.
One notable incident in the Dead Letters Archive was the discovery of the Moving Letters Altered Item by Penny Bartwell in 2014. The Letters had, up to then, not been recorded as part of the archive's mail collection.[2]
Events of Control[]
Like with most locations within the Oldest House, The Hiss invasion in the Fall of 2019 caused Dead Letters to be corrupted by the Hiss. Jesse Faden first traverses Dead Letters during her search for the Hotline Object of Power, during which she cleanses the area after defeating a group of Hiss Guards, including an armored guard.[3]
Layout[]
Dead Letters is a rectangular space with five levels, of which the upper three are only accessible using the Levitate ability.
Ground levels[]
There are two exits on the ground level of Dead Letters. The southern exit leads to the Cafeteria, while the western exit (closest to the Control Point) leads to the Communications Dept.. There are two walkways along the east and west walls which connect the ground floor exits to each other, but they are only usable after the location is cleansed. Below the ground level is a lowered office space with various smaller rooms split off along the east and west walls, which contain Collectibles or secured units. Also note the poorly lit area underneath the southern stairs, where another Collectible and secured unit are located. The room in the northeastern corner near the Control Point is locked, requiring Clearance Level 2 to access.
There are three secured units through the ground levels of Dead Letters:
- In the dark section under the southern staircase
- In one of the offices along the west wall
- On top of the filing cabinets along the north wall; use Levitate or climb up the nearby bookshelf stairs
Upper levels[]
[Section needed]
Collectibles[]
A total of 8 Collectibles can be found on the ground floor of Dead Letters.
- Book Club: Penny - Lower level, in the east office below the Control Point.
- Dead Presidents - Lower level, in the west office below the Control Point.
- Fake Planes - Near Control Point, in the Clearance Level 2-locked room.
- Floppy Disk - In a room west of the Control Point.
- Machine God - Near southern exit, in southwest corner near the elevator.
- Missing Momma - Lower level, on the TV in the east office below the Control Point.
- Singing Fish - Lower level, in the southwest corner underneath the stairs.
- Trench: Dead Letter Approval - Lower level, in the southeast office.
Gallery[]
.png "Dead Letters (Book Club Penny).png (2.35 MB)")
.png "Dead Letters (Dead Presidents).png (2.68 MB)")
.png "Dead Letters (Fake Planes).png (1.91 MB)")
.png "Dead Letters (Machine God).png (1.83 MB)")
.png "Dead Letters (Missing Momma).png (3.29 MB)")
.png "Dead Letters (Singing Fish).png (1.29 MB)")
.png "Dead Letters (Trench Dead Letter Approval).png (2.82 MB)")
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Trench: Dead Letter Approval
- ↑ Letters Procedures
- ↑ Events of Unknown Caller