Surely as the Sun must set once Ris'n, and a Flame Expire once ignited, so must Death come to all Things. What profit ye to Evade of the End of All? For do not all things, Gods and Demons and Mortals alike, know Death finally? Yet sage, wizard, priest, and philosopher alike deny this one simple Truth. Those who wish to be thought wise tell fools and dreamers of realms beyond Death, paradises and hells Eternal, so that every Mortal and Immortal Mind might content itself with the Contemplation of Existence everlasting.

Now, it is a simple Exercise in Reason to calculate that no State of Being can, in fact, last Forever. It is a meaningless and empty Concept. Nothing is truly Infinite; and thus, Shadows of Life after Death cannot be Infinite either. If Nothing can Endure forever, than the only thing that is truly Limitless is, of course, Nothing; and the closest any Being can come to Nothing, having once been call'd forth from Oblivion at the beginning of its Existence, is the Cessation that must come at the End of its Days. And so would it not be far more profitable, more astute, to instead Contemplate the Cessation that is bound to descend upon All?

To this very End have I, Acererak, devoted Centuries of Thought. No Mystery have I left unplumb'd; no Investigation have I foregone; no Truth have I shrunk from in Fear. In this Tome I now commit to Those Who Follow the Things I have Learn'd about Death, the Door that Lies Open beyond the Grave, and the One unfailing path to Existence Eternal. If ye Quail at these Words, fearing

the Wrath of Gods or the Hatred of Men, shut now this Book and go blindly into the Oblivion that Awaits ye. But if ye Blanche not in the Face of Darkness, in the Emptiness that exists Outside all the Things that Are, I shall shew ye how I have Defeated Death and I shall teach ye how ye might Exist when all Life is Dead, all Gods forgotten, and the very Stars Cold in their Dusty Graves.

For there shall I Abide Eternal...

...by the Making of the Amulet shall I come to Know thee; thy Heart shall be Mine to Read, thy Hand mine to Command, thy Soul mine to Devour. Look ye here; Thirteen Words have I Recorded for Thirteen Amulets. These then are the Words I give to ye:

When ye read this Booke, and forge thine Amulet in my Image, takest Thou one of these Words for Thine Own, for by this Means shall I know that Thou follow'st Me. And when the Last Word is taken, then Shall the Purpose of this Booke be accomplish'd. Come before the Devourer with no Amulet, and Oblivion shall be Thy reward; Observe the Strictures I have Demanded, Speak the spells I have taught ye, and mine Essence shall Open the Door of Nothingness to thee. By my Dust shall Oblivion know Thee and let thee pass; and by thine Amulet shall I know thee and Stay my Hand. Forget Not that my Essence doth Dissipate with each Passage of the Door, and must therefore be Replenish'd...

...Come thou then to the Place I have Made, the House of the Door, where my Shell must Abide against thy Coming. With Horror and Madness my Demesnes shall be Defended, yet if thou art Diligent in thy Observance of my Commands, Skill'd in the Power, and Certain in thy steps, my House shall be Open'd to Thee, and thou shall Pass the Door in the Face to the City that Waits. For my Pow'r Extends across many Worlds and many Times, and in Each have I craft'd a House for my Door, and in the City that Waits do these Doors Meet. Seek there the Keys to the Final Void, and then shall thou come to my Fortress of Conclusion...

...Divinations have I Cast'd, and I See that Eons Uncount'd must Pass before All these Things are Compleate; Long must I labor in Toils beyond the Circle of the World, Ere I Find the Nine Hundredth Death to complete my Apotheosis. If ye Aid me, if ye Serve me, I shall Reward ye Handsomely. Become Death in my own Form, I shall Stay my Hand ever against ye; as my Satrap Worlds shall Ye have to Devour. For, in the End, I shall Devour All, but Great and Dark shall be thy Satisfaction when Universes ye Destroy in my Name. Thou Serv'st me already in Thy Heart; the Reading of the Booke has Mark'd Thine Soul. Now must ye choose whether to Fall as Chaff, worthless to me, or to Rise as the Grain I have Sewn, Ages before thy birth.