It had been a long, long night; the Royal Investigators were exhausted. The puzzles set by Skaros, whilst eventually being broken by many in places, were too hard for all but two dedicated investigators. And even they had to resort to calling in heavy back up to get to all of the clues. One was swearing with hatred for the Spymaster towards the end, but the safety of the Kingdom is no business for the lazy and the weak… thus Skaros was unmoved by the hate.
But the Spymaster still felt a swelling pride, and was that even a little tear in his eye he brushed away when Iljian, of the Duchy of Trinsic, and the Lady Jen stepped forward to claim their eternal fame as the first Official Cryptologists of the Kingdom?!
As the challenge had proven so useful, Skaros decided to leave it up for a while yet, moving the clues into his own tower. You must use the four books to find the 5th and final one. For those who wish to follow those who have been before, or just wondered what the solution was, details are below (you will need to be on the post itself to see the spoiler tags)
BOOK 1 CODE:
sgd ehqrs bktd hr mns ezq eqnl ld
ehmc hs vhsg sgd gdko ne zmmzadk kdd
ehmc hs vhsg sgd gdko ne zmmzadk kdd
Spoiler
BOOK 2 CODE:
nk xpfwtx dtz btzqi qnpj yt uqjfxj
lt bmjwj dj ljy itbs ts ymd psjjx
lt bmjwj dj ljy itbs ts ymd psjjx
Spoiler
BOOK 3 CODE:
tbxi nwi scteh dv ldc trpae nzrdg gtwidcp cx
tbnwg sgpw zrdg hxwi vcxkadh cd tcds aatl
tbnwg sgpw zrdg hxwi vcxkadh cd tcds aatl
Spoiler
BOOK 4 CODE:
ujlw cglrl uqxkm fpryln uq dtdgp j lpra
ujh qgax qcux ju tkptqk uq iawlquap fm
Spoiler
PUTTING ALL 4 BOOKS TOGETHER:
Spoiler
“*smiles*
As ye changed the letter, turn the pages
As ye read the code, now hold the book.
The book of beasts is not the wisest of sages
But the other three hint at where to look.”
This also threw people, as they’d forgotten how they decoded the books, and didn’t quite make the connection from the clue to how many clicks you needed to make per book. They were;
BOOK 1: The letter was changed by 1, thus 1 click forward to pages 2 or 3.
2.) Ter Mur
3.) Ilshenar
BOOK 2: The letter was changed by 5, thus 5 clicks forward to pages 10 or 11.
10.) The Stygian Abyss
11.) Ankh Dungeon
BOOK 3: The letter was changed by 5, but the code was read backwards, so 5 clicks backwards to pages 10 or 11 again.
10.) Underneath the unmade bed of the…
11.) Is hidden behind rubble near to the…
BOOK 4: The letter changes in the Book of Beasts were incremental, and Bob suggests there’s no way to narrow down the page with its answer then; but with the prior code we know it has to be a mob in either Ilshenar’s Ankh Dungeon, or Ter Mur’s Stygian Abyss’, either near a bed or rubble. Whilst a few of the Beasts are indeed in the Ankh dungeon, there aren’t many beds around either. And which do you think it’s really going to be?
I mean, really going to be?
Yes, it’s near to the Slasher of Veils!
And there was one final sneaky trick; it was named “An Harpsichord Roll” to be disguised as the rubbish the Slasher leaves behind as he slaughters the local wildlife. But if you looked closely and saw it was in fact a book, you were rewarded with the following message;
“An Harpsichord Roll,
By Skaros The Spymaster.
Or… perhaps not! Well done oh keen eyed Investigator, ye hath found Skaros’ final book! Remember ye need 5 in total, but if this be your last, quickly copy it and return to my tower!
Perhaps ye be the first to return and shall gain eternal fame for thy cryptological skills!
Signed
XxX
Skaros the Spymaster.”
It took just over 4 hours to crack all the codes and find the books for Iljian and Jen. But the challenge shall remain for those who wish to see if, although they can’t be the first to do so, they can at least be the fastest!
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