Phobonomicon

Item Number: 2296
Description ID: 98351252
(view in-game)

Phobonomicon
Plural: volumes of the Phobonomicon
Included in this massive tome are 700 phobo names, everything from the common stuff that everyone's heard about, to the made up stuff like anatidaephobia or, even better, hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia.

Reading this ancient tome (did I mention it was ancient? Because it is; hard to be a tome without being ancient) will give you more information than you could possibly ever need, want, or use. But I'm sure you'll figure something out with it.

October 2014 Item of the Month

Miscellaneous Item
Item cannot be auto-sold
Usable

Grants you a permanent skill when used. (Skill is retained across retcons.)
Shares a daily counter with other 'nomicon skills

How Obtained

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The Wok of Stars

• Available for 10 silver stars during October 2014.
  

When Used

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If you don't already have the skill:
You pore over the book, learning the fears and weaknesses of everything from supervillains to space aliens to inanimate objects. With this, you'll be able to dress your enemies up as their own worst fears!

Wait, what?

You have acquired a new skill:
Fearsome Disguise

If you already have the skill:
You make your way back through the book, glad it's all about other people's fears.

Notes

• When bought: The shopkeeper hands you an ancient tome decorated with a monstrous face. The 10 silver stars fall from your shaking hands. Damn. That is one scary book.

References

• The name of the item refers to the Necronomicon, a fictional book in H.P. Lovecraft's writings. The purchase message refers to the depiction of the Necronomicon in The Evil Dead.
• The first paragraph refers to John Hodgman's book The Areas of My Expertise, which contains a list of 700 hobo names. The second paragraph contains a reference to John Hodgman's book More Information Than You Require.
• According to Gary Larson's The Far Side, anatidaephobia is "The fear that somewhere, somehow, a duck is watching you". The term "hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia" appears in several satirical articles as a word meaning "fear of large words".

Item of the Month
Preceded by extra-dimensional taffy puller	October 2014 Phobonomicon	Succeeded by electropharmacological encyclopedia