The narrator of a story titled for one these institutions cites from Aelius Lampridius in finding "some distorted echo" of a local custom in Elegabalus giving seashells to his dinner guests. Spies and astrologers gather at a latrine named Qaphqa in that story titled for one of these, which opens with its narrator describing how he lacks an index finger and has, like most of the city's residents, been to prison. In a story, one of these institutions affects with men with 
The narrator of a story titled for one these institutions cites from Aelius Lampridius in finding "some distorted echo" of a local custom in Elegabalus giving seashells to his dinner guests. Spies and astrologers gather at a latrine named Qaphqa in that story titled for one of these, which opens with its narrator describing how he lacks an index finger and has, like most of the city's residents, been to prison. In a story, one of these institutions affects with men with symbols of Aleph, Gimel, and Beth and is eventually taken over by a mysterious agency called (*) "the Company." Jorge Luis Borges wrote a story about one of these institutions "in Babylon." Getting rid of one of these institutions is likened to wanting to live in caves by Old Man Warner in a story which Summers' coal company supplies a black box to use in one of them. For 10 points, a scapegoat is chosen with what kind of system in a Shirley Jackson story?
The narrator of a story titled for one these institutions cites from Aelius Lampridius in finding "some distorted echo" of a local custom in Elegabalus giving seashells to his dinner guests.
 lottery [or lotteries; accept "The Lottery in Babylon" or "The Lottery"]