[inkflamewriter]

Mentioned the feathers to The Watchman...

Quote:

The feathers are a name alone... find other names that match them... different peoples call things by different names - if only you had an idea where they were from... The Watchman

Then the Prince of Wales and the three versions of the motto on his crest:

Quote:

Many serve - but yes, the Prince served us well. As such his title and that which you have noted was given to what you seek. Though the words you used are a motto, not a name or noun; look there now. As for the strength and conscience - it seems ironic that what you now seek stem from both? When you find the immortality granter, you will know it by its names. Until then - you seek, you find. You do not find - it was not meant to be... The darkening is getting too much now - we rest to reserve our energies for the dawn in one day... The Watchman

[inkflamewriter]

Quote:

Subject: 32 hours remain yet we have not been tickled by any answer you have come up with... We must reckon Forest's energy with our own at the time of balance. If humanity cannot save him by then - then he will remain forever with us... We so desire to show you the plant you seek, but we are bound by our rules... We have tried to "send a message through colorful images, full of sound, to express the beauty of the creative life and create a virtuous space in the world for all humans to feel better" but we will soon run out of time - as will you... Be like the botanist we mentioned - look close at the gate and follow the trail... soon... The Watchman.

Honestly, I'm starting to see the connection between things, but not how they lead to an energy source.

Edit: The quote was spoken by this person: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vu_Thi_Hoang_My

The part that stuck out at me:

Quote:

Vũ Hoàng My, which translates in English to "Golden Feather of a Bird"...

[punxtr]

"The denarius is believed by scholars to have been a Roman soldier's daily pay."

Forest was made from dead soldiers.

[ddl]

If we are to go from Wales to India, this may be a possible link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashtriya_Indian_Military_College

Has the feathers again.

Edit: And perhaps, following the etymology clue, oriel comes for aureus.
Which was a form of currency in the Roman Empire.
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aureus

[inkflamewriter]

I noticed the email had a bunch of letters underlined. Unless I'm reading it wrong, it says this:

Quote:

etymology of pen

Well, this is it:

Quote:

pen (1) "writing implement," c.1300, from O.Fr. penne "quill pen, feather," from L. penna "feather," from PIE *petna-, suffixed form of base *pet- "to rush, fly" (see petition). From the same base comes suffixed form *petra-, source of Skt. patram "wing, feather," Gk. pteron "wing," O.C.S. pero "pen," O.N. fjöðr, O.E. feðer (see feather). In later French, this word means only "long feather of a bird," while the equivalent of English plume is used for "writing implement," the senses of the two words thus reversed from what they are in English. The verb is late 15c., from the noun. Pen-pal (also pen pal) first recorded 1938, gradually replacing earlier pen-friend (1933). Pen-and-ink (adj.) is attested from 1670s. Pen name is recorded from mid-19c.

The thing I noticed was the relation to the word "feather". With the mention of Wales, it kinda made me think of this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_of_Wales%27s_feathers

That's the very same thing that shows up on the gate of Oriel College. Add to that this quote that just stuck out at me:

Quote:

Since a key factor in the English army's defeat of the French was the use of Welsh archers, it may have been Edward's pride in the men of Wales which led him to use a symbol of their victory as his emblem. The motto is German "Ich Dien" (= "I serve"), which is a near-homophone for the Welsh language phrase "Eich Dyn" meaning "Your Man", which would have helped endear the young Black Prince to the Welsh soldiers in particular.

[punxtr]

Food for thought on the latest email:

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/oriel#Etymology (location?)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yalungur (Aussie myth)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jatayu (Hindu God)

This: "J. I. M. Stewart - Scottish author whose pen name was Michael Innes."

Just got started.

"In the Hindu culture these windows and balconies projected from the street front, providing an area in which women could peer out and see the activities below while remaining invisible."

"Oriel College, Oxford took its name from a balcony or oriel window forming a feature of a property which occupied the site the college now stands on."

[Lystella]

New email from the Watchman:

"Subject: 5 days and counting..." wrote:

numbers wanted: 4,5,6 numbers not wanted: 88 or 3* Though 3 steps from three congruent shapes are required... 3 regions will help follow the three steps not the the three magi... The Watchman

Some hidden OOG text:

Spoiler (Rollover to View):

[OOG - the next week is going to be busy IRL - this, therefore is the large 'nudge' which I'm going to give you rather than respond as the Watchman throughout the week - I may do that as well but unsure due to time constraints... You have until 5 days time... tick tick tick. Will Forest be saved - up to you....]

Also a Word doc attachment.

=-=-=-=

EDIT: Based on both the document and email, I think we're looking at the constellation Aquila.
Then again the red herring picture must have meant something.


EDIT 2: Going back to the quote with images in the "One Last Chance" document (when quote is not upside down)

1. The first image is Wales. (see this picture)
   
2. The middle image is India.
   
3. The third image is the Roman Empire. (see this picture)

EDIT 3:

Quote:

Once you have this first step, you take two more steps, one in each area's language and find what grows there. Easy as 1,2,3...

• For Wales, this might be the image referring to the motto from Oriel College's gate being the same motto on the herald of the Prince of Wales (see summary on this page).
  
  
• For the Roman Empire, "Aquila" is a Latin word.

EDIT 4: So I guess what's left is to find a connection to India from what isn't solved yet and maybe find something Welsh from the Oriel College related clues.

[inkflamewriter]

In answer to your question, if I recall correctly, this is the only thing we have on the three steps:

Quote:

Once you have this first step, you take two more steps, one in each area's language and find what grows there. Easy as 1,2,3...

Three steps being the three regions?

I think it's fairly certain that you're right about the gate, but I'm going to go way out on a limb here and say that maybe one step is to follow the stars? Did we ever decide which constellation it was?

[punxtr]

Brainstorming: Okay, so, we have to find this gate. Then enter in the side that bears "I serve", but only after speaking the right language, or password?

Can anyone remember what the three steps were, again?

Gate image (I'm looking...): http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Oriel_College_Main_Gate.jpg
Door to the hall (Lantern looks like my image sort of): http://www.pbase.com/mallymal1/image/68483402

Still nothing sure.

OOG: Lol, we're gonna kill this guy! If anyone could please step up to the plate?

[inkflamewriter]

ddl wrote:

Watchman to punxtr wrote: 'I serve' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriel_College,_Oxford#Coat_of_arms Wikipedia wrote: On the main gate, a painted carving of the badge of the Prince of Wales, a symbol often adopted by members of college. The German motto "Ich dien " means "I serve." Connection??

And here we go again...he's stressing the same terms, with two new ones:

Quote:

look gate i serve

There's something we're still missing about Oriel College. He keeps stressing "I serve", but this time he refers specifically to the gate, which has the carving on it.

Also, awesome job, punxtr!

[punxtr]

Okay, let's get my thoughts together.

Quote:

Man, in thy draughts let reason be thy guide, and not the craving of perverted lust; So honest nourishment will be supplied, and strife of tongue be trampled in the dust

This was inscribed on a maplewood mazer. People believed one of these (Nanteos Cup) to be the Holy Grail. If you drank from the Holy Grail, you would be granted eternal life. The dots I connected, like a Mystic Rose, form the image I posted a while ago.

THere is also to consider this:

Quote:

The stars have not yet thrown their spears to one another yet we note - for one would mention it at least in passing... Yet you move to the next and the next and the next - rather than seeing the whole. Like one country leading to another...

Which means we should understand the importance of those regions in that image. What immediately comes to mind are the three Eastern Magi: Balthassar, Caspar, Melchior. Are any of those stars? Not sure. But it brought up my previous research about the Star of Bethlehem:

Quote:

According to the Gospel of Matthew, the Magi found Jesus by 'following' a star, which thus traditionally became known as the Star of Bethlehem. Various theories have been presented as to what this phenomenon refers to, since stars do not visibly move and therefore cannot be followed.

Oh yeah, I think I'm on the right track about that image... connect the dots on the newest image: http://punxtr.tumblr.com/post/10297620397/mysticrose

[inkflamewriter]

Apologies for the double post...

Italicized words: look gate i serve

The words on the image are as follows:

Quote:

aHR0cDovL2JpdC5seS9uRHd4U2M= These are the reflections of the first days; but when the lapse of time proves the reality of evil, then the actual bitterness of grief commences. Yet from whom has not that rude hand rent away some dear connection?

Spoiler (Rollover to View):

The quote is from chapter 3 of Frankenstein. The code is base64 and decodes to http://bit.ly/nDwxSc, which is a countdown timer leading to September 23 at 9:04am

[inkflamewriter]

punxtr wrote:

Wait, what three images?

The three separate continents on the hidden image in "one last chance".

Also, new email and picture:

Quote:

Subject: Art for when you while away the time... Dear Friends of the Forest We wish to remind you that your time proceeds, regardless of whether you stand at a gate and look around you - or get distracted by quests of knights past. We question whether you serve Forest to the best of your capacity though... In the Mean time, some art to keep you aware. Enjoy. The Watchman, releasing the golem for potentially his last few days - IF any can explain why we should...

[punxtr]

Wait, what three images?

[ddl]

The Holy Grail is believed to have been a mazer(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanteos_Cup), which is the same type of object that is at Oriel College with the text from the image.

Speaking of the image, I was trying to figure out what they were. The second seems to be India, and the third(and last) appears to be focused on the Mediterranean Sea. I can't figure out the first one though. Anyone have an idea?

Watchman wrote:

They all passed immortality almost every day as they sought their disciplines

I am inclined to believe this line refers to the mazer at Oriel.