unforum

[SLUSHO_ZOOM!]

Norene

[SLUSHO_ZOOM!]

Models=Artifacts

[Bartock]

Well this looks interesting enough for me to dust of the old log in and jump righ back into the world of args.

Im currently at a loss as to where to go next, I think the key is having someone go look at that exhibit.

[Ript]

Did no one else see early on, with rands blog, that emerly asked him to stay away from unknown #2. But the wierd part is that he asked him about what color node it represents.

I just now realized that the cave map is almost identical to the node construct on Norenes bookshelf. And after inverting the map, that node is white.

Dont know if this lends a hand to the rest of where rand has been for a week, but I hope he e-mails me back.

[Ript]

Sorry for the double post, but it's been a whole week and nothing on any site for this has changed and no e-mails replied to.

Did this game end before it really got started?

Ript

[enaxor]

[Pepper]

a visit to the panorama

[Trillian]

Welcome to UF & welcome to the thread, Pepper!!
As you've probably noticed, there hasn't been any interaction with the characters for quite a while and this ARG looks more dead than alive at the moment. It would be great if you would find something that brings it back to live! We still don't know what the "Examine Norene's office" comment on Peter Harbeson's site means. Maybe there'll be some items or picture's from Norene's office at the exhibit? Some further explanation regarding those models would also be interesting, but that's just my 2ct.
I've never had the chance to visit any RL locations for an ARG and I envy you a lot. Good luck & have lots of fun at the panorama!

[Pepper]

Thanks for the welcome, Trillian! It was a very fruitful visit, and I think I got quite a haul of info to share!

The exhibit featured a lot documents and diorama's that explain some of the history and mythology of this thing, introducing many key concepts and characters.

We learn that Giuseppe Cognomi is an Italian scientist who joins a maritime expedition on the Scopritore in 1681. The ship is blown off course off the Cape of Good Hope and ends up on South Georgia Island. Cognomi and 3 other sailors are marooned on the island after the Scopritore leaves the island in a hurry. Two of the four sailors are said to die before they learn that the boat had left, while the third reaches the shore to find the boat gone and later dies.

Cognomi appears in Italy in the year 1684 with a fantastic story of his experience among the Linian society. People dismiss his detailed descriptions of an untouched culture living in the Antarctic as tall tales, and Giuseppe Cognomi falls into relative obscurity.

Some people are inspired by Cognomi's stories of the Linians, including the Austrian musical prodigy Gaston Frederic (b. 1709, d. 1743) who reads Cognomi's books and spends many tortured years attempting to recreate the haunting sounds of the Ori people of Linians.

His masterpiece is "Le Detroit d'Oridou", but there was little appreciative audience for the "experimental" sound among his contemporaries in Vienna.

There was one person who apparently appreciated Frederic's music. Senator William Hoover (b. ???, d. 1898) was oft cited in the exhibit and is clearly a central character, having amassed a secret collection of Linian artifacts. One of Hoover's most prized artifacts was called the "Emergence Mnemonic", which was "thought to contain details of his [Cognomi's] journey out of the Linian Sea."

Hoover was said to have used his authority as a US Senator to arrange "scientific expeditions" to Antarctica that were in fact efforts to discover the route up a "sub-glacial river" to the Linian sea.

Senator Hoover was unable to journey to Antarctica himself due to his advanced age, but he retained the services of Benjamin Smyth (b. Detroit, 1861, d. ???), an up and coming Naval officer, to travel in his stead.

Smyth leads an expedition (it is unclear if there was just one or many missions) and is said to have suffer to a controversial death. According to Norene Byrnes later research, witnesses saw Smyth enter an ice cave on the Antarctic coast after he murdered two of his men because they "discovered Smyth's true motivations." [[what those motivations are is unclear in the context of the exhibit piece, which accompanied portraits of Hoover and Smyth]] The implication to me appears to be that Smyth did not die, but rather traveled through the cave to the Linian sea, and I suppose the murder of those two sailors could have something to do with the rift between the Society for Linian Studies and Benjamin Smyth Antarctic Institute.

Years later, Norene Z. Byrnes (b. ???, d. 1986) begins to study Cognomi's writings, and is connected to Senator Hoover's estate where she discovers his collection of Linian artifacts and papers. She is considered the foremost Linian scholar of the 20th century, and proposed the idea of a sub-glacial environment warmed by volcanoes and heat vents. We are told that surveys of Antartica during the 20th century confirm that if there were no ice on Antarctica it would have an interior sea matching Cognomi's drawings.

Via Norene we learn more about Linian society. Two separate groups are described, first the Candrians who are responsible for the stick and ball shapes. These are all examples of Candrian Mnemonics, which are meant to remind the 'reader' of places, ideas or events in a contextual way. According to the exhibit, "without context, the mnemonics are indecipherable to us. Their meaning is intrinsic to the experience of their creators." Candrians live on one of the islands in the Linian Sea, and their form of language is supported by the seeds of a local tree that is harvested for mnemonics. It is said to use "chemosynthesis" instead of photosynthesis to grow.

We are also told about the Ori people from beyond the Oridou strait in the north of the Linian sea. We are told that the strait of Oridou is only open rarely when volcanic activity is high and causes an ice wall to retreat. The Ori are an exotic part of Linian culture, and are known for their skill at music and fishing. It is Ori music that Gaston Frederic tries to mimic in Vienna.

So that's a lot of information. There's a little bit more than this, too, but I think that the general storyline presented here is pretty robust. The maps, sheet music, photos and other materials were also quite useful. I've tried to post what helpful pics I got, but the quality isn't great on most of these.

If the next step is taking a closer look at Norene's desk, I am afraid that I might have to go back. The photograph of Norene above features her at her desk, but it might not be clear enough to make out the clue. I suspect it could have to do with the Candrian mnemonic on her desk, although I haven't yet come to figure out how to imagine the context of the colored spheres, maybe somebody else can figure it out. I also have some other pictures of Candrian Mnemonics if people want me to post them; funnily enough the "Emergence Mnemonic" which was said to be so valuable was actually damaged at the exhibit, it was stored in a box on top of one of the diorama's, so I couldn't snap a picture of it, although there is a representation of it on the William Hoover plaque above.

Here's hoping this overflow of info includes a shot in the arm for the game!

[Arcas]

That's great stuff Pepper. Thanks.

[enaxor]

[Trillian]

Awesome report & pics, Pepper! Thanks for all your effort!

[enaxor]

I sent an email yesterday asking a few questions about the Research Assistant position.

[degravedi]

The latin on the image of Cognomi in "The Tragedy of the Vessel Scopritore" reads:

[degravedi]

I had sent an email to BSAI asking about the job opportunities on their contact page and just got a response.