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Forum index » Chaotic Fiction » QU13E

[Trailhead] Splinternails.com 2014

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no_moon
Boot

Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 64

Quote:

ICUCME
Beware numbers, count onLies

This sounds like the coder's version of the Canterbury Ghost to me, tbh.

"YE OTIS GHOSTE.
Ye Onlie true and Originale Spook.
Beware of Ye Imitationes.
All others are Counterfeite."

Also, I had a thought that perhaps we are being mislead by capitalization. What if it it means "onlies" like "only" plural. That is apparently a word describing the singularity of something (for example, an only child)-- could it be we should be looking for singularities?

As for the concentric circles, those are actually on the tab next to any numbers if you open the qu13e website with Chrome.... I always thought they were meant to represent an eye, perhaps even an insinuation of an evil eye (from Turkey/Greece).

Also, from looking at the reddit posts, I am assuming this is our poke from the PM. Either that, or PM has given up on us. ;-;

Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2014 10:08 am

supersekretsrsly
Boot

Joined: 18 Jan 2013
Posts: 54

no_moon wrote:

Quote:

ICUCME
Beware numbers, count onLies

The concentric circle (judging by the other astrological symbols) is the solar symbol, it has significance in psychoanalysis among other fields.

And I agree that the PM hath forsaken us, users on reddit have received a response from qu13eSPLATqu13e.com, implying that certain emails have been blocked rather than responses refused outright. Let's see what some fresh eyes can come up with.

Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2014 1:03 pm

punkbass
Boot

Joined: 23 Apr 2008
Posts: 56

Random Martin

So, I thought I would share this for posterity, although I don't think it's going to be helpful for a while.

I've spent a LOT of time staring at the last picture, trying to find a glue in the letters that are crossed out. They are obviously significant, because the letters that are crossed out spell "randommartin"

Almost all the letters that are crossed out have numbers underneath them. I haven't found the numbers recorded anywhere (german wiki, redit) so I'll share what I found here: This is going to be a bit comprehensive because I'm not sure which route is the correct one.

So on my first pass, I got something like this:

r=18
a=1
n=6
d=7
o=78
m=345
m=345
a=17
r=8
t=?
i=5
n=6

Or some other variation. Looking at the numbers though, I saw a pattern. both 'r's have an 8 under them, both 'a's have a 1. Then I thought if 'r' and 'a' had a unique single digit under them, then maybe they are all supposed to have a unique single digit under them. Playing around with that idea yielded:

r=8
a=1
n=6
d=7
o=3
m=4
m=4
a=1
r=8
t=?
i=5
n=6

The 345 under the 'm' is pretty clear. First I assumed they were supposed to be there. Since the numbers are on the image marked with astrology, and the muse of astrology is Urania and her symbol is a globe, I thought perhaps the numbers were longitude and latitude:

+-81773345, +-34518056
+-34518056, +-81773345

The only two that seemed to resolve to anywhere that Google maps could recognize resolved in Clinton, South Carolina, USA and Ngari, Tibet, China. I'm recording them here in case anybody else gets a hankering to try this, but I think it's a dead end. I tried emailing Urania with these numbers just in case, and I never heard anything back.

So then I went back to assuming that m=4. Looking at that for a while, I realize that 81 is the country code for japan. Turns out 81-67344-1856 Does resolve to a phone number in osaka japan:

http://www.jpnumber.com/numberinfo_06_7344_1856.html

I'm not sure if this is a lead or not. Firstly, when I first found the number on this site (with no_moon's help) there seemed to be no phone calls for the last month in the history. Now it seems there are around three. It makes me wonder if now that the game has picked up again if somebody else has found this number and tried it? I'm assuming if ti was anything significant it would have been posted here.

Secondly, I bought some Skype credits and tried calling. Skype could never connect. I wrote it off as a dead end, but maybe that was a mistake. I wonder if I used a phone card and a pay phone if I would have better luck. Not sure when I would get a chance to try this (my current budget does not allow for investing too much in making international phone calls Smile

), So if anybody else wants to give it a shot, please try it. I would just ask that you post the results here, rather than somewhere else, like redit.

Anyway, other than that, I feel I have hit a wall on this image. I'm going back to guessing the third keyword. I have some leads for finding it, I'm going to research them this evening and post what I find here.

Got to beat those redit guys, or get them to join us. So far all they are finding is trout anyway Razz

Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2014 1:09 pm
Last edited by punkbass on Sun Sep 14, 2014 3:53 pm; edited 1 time in total

no_moon
Boot

Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 64

Re: Random Martin

Quote:

Firstly, when I first found the number on this site (with no_moon's help) there seemed to be no phone calls for the last month in the history. Now it seems there are around three. It makes me wonder if now that the game has picked up again if somebody else has found this number and tried it? I'm assuming if ti was anything significant it would have been posted here.

Regarding the numbers listed, it's the number of times someone accessed that website, not the number of times the phone number was called. I'm pretty sure about this.

While fresh eyes are very good and I look forward to what they discover on reddit, I think there's a bit of a disadvantage considering the English wiki for the game is down and the German wiki hasn't been updated with any of the information from 2014 at all....

As for the solar symbol, that's a possibility, definitely. With all the mythological references, it could mean Helios or Apollo. The former has a story of tragedy between father and son associated with him, so might be more apropos. The latter, however, has connections to the absinthe bottle.

Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2014 1:37 pm

supersekretsrsly
Boot

Joined: 18 Jan 2013
Posts: 54

Re: Random Martin

punkbass wrote:

Anyway, other than that, I feel I have hit a wall on this image. I'm going back to guessing the third keyword. I have some leads for finding it, I'm going to research them this evening and post what I find here.

Got to beat those redit guys, or get them to join us. So far all they are finding is trout anyway Razz

This is a great line of inquiry and it's entirely possible it's right (I mean, it's a number in Japan) - but I suppose the number would be six years old now. That's quite a long time for RM to keep it in his possession, particularly it it wasn't his real number and he just kept the sim card around for qu13e.

I'm also not keen on letting the Reddit guys steam ahead Razz

, but let's see what they can do.

Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2014 7:35 pm

no_moon
Boot

Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 64

Re: Random Martin

Quote:

Agreed that it's a great line of inquiry. It isn't a number that would need a sim card, though, because it's a land line. Japanese cellphone numbers and landlines have different area codes. If it was a cellphone. I wouldn't have been able to pinpoint where it was being used....

Re: reddit, I'm interested in seeing what they come up with, but I also think that it's a huge amount for reditors to read to catch up, even on what we've discussed for 2014. There's the German wiki, which will be helpful to them, but it contains no new clues....

Since we've been spinning our wheels, it might also be helpful to organize what we found that doesn't/didn't work, so we can establish new paths for inquiry?

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 12:54 am

punkbass
Boot

Joined: 23 Apr 2008
Posts: 56

What we know about the third key word

So, I remembered earlier on today a message from Random where he said the third keyword was already found, but we didn't know it yet. I went back to do some digging to find all the clues about the third keyword from Random Martin and try to put them in one place (you know, like a wiki would do, but I did some research today and am not sure where to start on that Smile

)(yet)

Getting the obvious out first, we know that Iriguchi [entrance] and Jitensha [bicycle] are two of the three keys. The first two keys seemed to pretty much be found at the same time that Melpomene first said that she needed three keys. At first she would respond:

melpomene wrote:

Iriguchi [entrance] is one of three.
Jitensha [bicycle] is one of three.

XXX isn't, sorry.

where XXX is some incorrect guess.

Eventually, she changed the response to:

melpomene wrote:

Iriguchi [entrance] is one of three.
Jitensha [bicycle] is two of three.
XXX is not, sorry (one plus two is three)

melpomene wrote:

1+2=3

After a few incorrect guesses she said:

melpomene wrote:

If you're having trouble finding the answers from the clues, try finding the clues from the answers.

Once we found that three of the page titles numbers could be translated to "kokonotsu", and kokonotsu and kokonotsudoki were submitted, melpomene would attach this to the end of her responses:

melpomene wrote:

Kokonotsu [ nine ] is not, sorry (but your questions are beginning to look more like the answer)

So far looking through the forum, it looks like kokonotsu [nine in classical japanese] and kokonotsudoki [midnight in WWII era and older japanese] are the only two to receive this response. 10:30 and san [three] did not get this response, ruling out that it's not just any number.

Also, note that the pictures whose page titles spell kokonotsu are:

hg01as bicycle
g10sha poem containing Iriguchi
agsixh bottle of absinth

(something I just realized, ALL of these images are related to jitensha in some way)

This post sums up quite nicely the next clue in it's entirety:

Jubilus wrote:

Delusional wrote:

Sent this email...

I wrote:

A bit of research tells me that Bicycle Entrances are not uncommon in japan as a path to Subway/Train stations.

I may require a transfer to get to my final destination but perhaps you can tell me if this route is a good start.... or If I should just take a cab.

and received this....

Melpomene wrote:

An interesting observation.

Maybe that's why the answer reminds me of...a subway ticket?

Maybe...causing confusion was his specialty.

This is what a subway ticket looks like.

At one point, a question was asked about the third work and the response was:

melpomene wrote:

Whoever said it was a word?

Ok, and with all that said, here is where it really get's interesting. RikaLeigh really seemed to make some awesome progress. First she got this response:

melpomene wrote:

Neither terehon [telephone] nor ENtrance+JitenshA=enja are three of three.

But there's a sound that rings somewhat familiar.

And then this:

melpomene wrote:

In a word, yes and no; not 109, but closer than one might guess�

And this:

melpomene wrote:

Rika,

He told me to wait for a sign that someone had understood his message. If they did, they'd understand the secret to my key.

I don't exactly know the answer to his riddle, save only that I'll know it when I can see and hear its ring.

I'm sorry for such an ambiguous reply, seems Random always has the last good bye.

Ok, on a side note, now I am really wondering about the phone number I found. I have already emailed Random Martin about it. If it's part of the game and he knows we found it, maybe he can set it back up or something? But I agree with SSS, it's not likely that he would have kept a phone number to a phone that never rings for the last six or seven years.

Anyway, labfly seemed pretty certain that it was Random, or splinternails, who sent her this message:

Quote:

I understand your skepticism, labfly, but really..? Oh well, if only to honor your loyalty to our master.

Although she may not realize it, Rika Leigh has solved the current Qu13e puzzle. Nevertheless, she (and you) will never reach the next level because Melpomene is dead.

The secret you are looking for will disappoint you, because it's really not a secret at all.

THE splinternails and Random Martin were once friends, then enemies...it's what they've now become that concern the rest of us...

Still interested?

I don't know, it's strange reading this again. While Rika did seem to have one of the best guesses, this message seems a little bit un-like Random's writing. I think this was also a message from a character named splinternails in a game called immortal.night? I mean, labfly seems pretty convinced, and labfly does have connections to Random in real life.

Anyway, to this Rika shared any information she had that might be interesting. Concerning the key word, she had emailed melpomene with this:

RikaLeigh wrote:

agsIXh = ags09h
g10sha
hg01as
=====
1019

1019? I'm just playing around with loose ends that have had no resolution, and I noticed that nothing has ever been done with the image names. Is 1019 progress or way off base?

to which melpomene responded

melpomene wrote:

There are answers within your answer.

You need only to understand what and why.

Keep this secret to yourself, danger otherwise.

And that's all I got. Hopefully collecting all these thoughts in one place is helpful. I'm rather intrigued by the image names. This morning I asked Random if hg10as is the third key. I have a few other guesses for after he responds, but I'm trying to avoid inundating him with emails again...

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 2:01 am

supersekretsrsly
Boot

Joined: 18 Jan 2013
Posts: 54

Interesting thought trail PB.

What's interesting is what Melpomene said about a similar word:

Quote:

kokonotsudoki [12:00, noon, midnight] is not one of the three, but it's beginning to look more like the answer.

For kokonotsudo Melpomene said the questions were beginning to look more like the answer, this is a lot more vague that it seems. It could refer to activity on the forum, the chain of reasoning leading to 9, the level of inquisitiveness...

But for kokonotsudoki Melpomene answers that the word itself is beginning to look like the answer. So potentially we're looking at an archaism or something related to time.

Quote:

This is what a subway ticket looks like

Any idea where this image came from? The digits 1019 feature as the year and day on that ticket.

Quote:

Maybe that's why the answer reminds me of...a subway ticket?

Hmm well accounting for kokonotsudoki, I suppose a subway ticket is time-bound, with specific dates and times for use. This clue is no doubt extremely vague.

Quote:

In a word, yes and no; not 109, but closer than one might guess�

Curious.

Quote:

No_moon said it was a landline - perhaps it would be worth a few more calls? They won't be able to know who called as Skype numbers come up as blocked, so don't expect a call back. If you do, avoid getting to voicemail as that's when it incurs a charge.

Quote:

Anyway, labfly seemed pretty certain that it was Random, or splinternails, who sent her this message:

Well whoever wrote the message was American, as is RM, so there's that.

Who sent that message?

Quote:

There are answers within your answer.

You need only to understand what and why.

Keep this secret to yourself, danger otherwise.

Well this tells us something. There are answers within your answer... Ha.

Quote:

agsIXh = ags09h
g10sha
hg01as

One of those answers is as no_moon observed, g10sha, or jitensha. Answers is of course plural and that's just one of them.

And what of Iriguchi? Well, it's in hg01as. There's only one image with this title, the image of the bicycle. There on the wall written in clear Japanese is Iriguchi - the only place it appears in qu13e.

So now the final word of mystery... agsIXh. It's not necessarily there, as 'answers' could just mean two.

We'd need to mentally brute force it but I've got a good idea employing 1 + 2 = 3 as a guide. Could be Kokonoka (the 9th day of the month). Perhaps this is written on subway tickets. The Japanese use the YMD format for time, which could explain why Riga solved the puzzle without knowing it. 1019 could be interpreted as 10/1/9 - the 9th day of October, 2010. Sangatsu Kokonoka is a famous Japanese song which could explain the relation to telephones - it's a ringtone.

Pretty sure RM has me on a blacklist so secrets can't be kept.

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 5:14 am

no_moon
Boot

Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 64

All of this is great, punkbass!! Am thinking about the ticket stuff now. And I'd like to know too-- was that a random googled photo or a photo provided by rM?

Quote:

Hmm well accounting for kokonotsudoki, I suppose a subway ticket is time-bound, with specific dates and times for use. This clue is no doubt extremely vague.

Nope. Subway/train tickets require only that you enter at the station where you bought the ticket and use the ticket sometime the same day you bought it. You may purchase it for the amount required to get to your destination, or you may purchase it for the least amount possible and pay the difference upon arriving at your destination.

Subway tickets are different from JR tickets are different from private train line tickets, but if you have SUICA or PASMO these days, you can use it for all including transfers.

Quote:

Anyway, labfly seemed pretty certain that it was Random, or splinternails, who sent her this message:

Dunno if rM is British or American... but he seems to speak in various tones of voice, so it could be him. I think.

Quote:

We'd need to mentally brute force it but I've got a good idea employing 1 + 2 = 3 as a guide. Could be Kokonoka (the 9th day of the month). Perhaps this is written on subway tickets. The Japanese use the YMD format for time, which could explain why Riga solved the puzzle without knowing it. 1019 could be interpreted as 10/1/9 - the 9th day of October, 2010. Sangatsu Kokonoka is a famous Japanese song which could explain the relation to telephones - it's a ringtone.

That particular ticket reads 19.8.10. In Japanese, some things, especially bureaucratic stuff, is written in terms of the year of the current Emperor's rule. So the 19 refers to Heisei 19 (19th year of the Heisei Emperor's rule), which is 2007. So translated it would be August 10, 2007. Ticket says 20:10, so purchased at 8:10pm. It was on JR going from Shinagawa station, for 150 yen, which means it was purchased to travel only 2-3 train stops away. (150 doesn't get you very far)

1019 might be 2010 but it also could be Heisei 10, which was 1998. Since the Kokonotsudoki is archaic, might do to stick with the more traditional reading of the dates.

Kokonoka is used mostly when refering to scheduling. For example:
Me: "Hey are you free on the 9th (kokonoka)?"
Him: "No, sorry, the 6th (muika) is better."

I've not used kokonoka in another context nor seen it used besides reading out calendar dates....

What if WITHIN the word is the answer. The word "koko" means "here." "Kokono" means "here is." There's a lot of that floating around in English "eye hide hear" and whatnot.

Quote:

Pretty sure RM has me on a blacklist so secrets can't be kept.

Ditto that. Not sure whether to be frustrated or bemused. Obviously we have kept at this, have gone at it from many angles, and have an attention span for it, so there should be value in continuing to include us, but whatever. I'm not giving up that easily.

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 6:02 am

supersekretsrsly
Boot

Joined: 18 Jan 2013
Posts: 54

http://qu13e.wikia.com/wiki/Qu13e%20Wiki?wiki-welcome=1

I've set up a quick Wiki page that anyone can edit above - it would be a great place to store our progress.

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 8:02 am

Randomeis
Unfettered

Joined: 25 Aug 2004
Posts: 426
Location: AL

Such a fun rabbithole to get lost in.
Once you enter the world of this arg you may leave it but it never leaves you.

_________________
Nothing, nothing, my friend; what I have told you: I am not sure of anything, I know nothing . . .
Can you imagine that I not even know the date of my death?
-- Jorge Luis Borges jjj.ybfg.rh/677ps

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 9:11 am

punkbass
Boot

Joined: 23 Apr 2008
Posts: 56

Welcome back Randomies!

Concerning the subway tickets, the ones in the image in the quote above were from a random Google search. The picture WAS NOT provided by Random. Sorry if that was misleading.

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 11:09 am

no_moon
Boot

Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 64

Quote:

Concerning the subway tickets, the ones in the image in the quote above were from a random Google search. The picture WAS NOT provided by Random. Sorry if that was misleading.

Then it's just the Heisei years that matter? And the price of the ticket. Probably. The train line may or may not be the Yokosuka line. It could also be the Tokaido line. Both offer green cars (the double-decker car from the photo), but one is underground and one is above ground. I can't tell from the photo where it is.

1019 = January 9, 1998.

[edit]
For reference on how to convert the years of the Emperors' reigns to the Western calendar:
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~watson/ref/mtsh.html

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 11:27 am

punkbass
Boot

Joined: 23 Apr 2008
Posts: 56

supersekretsrsly wrote:

No_moon said it was a landline - perhaps it would be worth a few more calls?

I tried calling again this morning. Same thing. Won't even connect.

supersekretsrsly wrote:

Who sent that message?

a character on a game called immortal night (I think) who was going by the name of splinternails.

supersekretsrsly wrote:

And what of Iriguchi? Well, it's in hg01as. There's only one image with this title, the image of the bicycle. There on the wall written in clear Japanese is Iriguchi - the only place it appears in qu13e.

Not quite. The poem in g10sha spells Iriguchi if you read every other line of the poem. This is part of why I wonder if the three keys are somehow hidden on each of these three pictures.

Jitensha - pictured in hg01as, name of g10sha, written in japanese on the absinthe bottle in agsixh
Iriguchi - written on the column in hg01as, hidden "between the echoes" in the peom on g10sha, maybe in agsixh???
Third key word - maybe in hg01as???, maybe in g10sha???, maybe in agsixh???

Maybe? not sure...

weird though, agsixh seems like you could call it absinth, if you really used your imagination

9=ninth
agsninthh
is there any way to justify pronouncing a 'g' like a 'b'?

no_moon wrote:

What if WITHIN the word is the answer. The word "koko" means "here." "Kokono" means "here is."

If this were the case, then "tsu" would have to mean something relevant. Googling tsu, it seems like it's just a shortened form of kanji? Maybe you could clarify a bit more on that, no_moon?

Here is the last email I sent to splinternails. Please compare it to any emails you may have received last night and see if it means anything to you:

punkbass wrote:

I'm trying to follow a trail that RikaLeigh left behind.

The third key is related to the images whose titles spell "kokonotsu", hence the reason why when people asked you if it was the third key you said it was beginning to look more like the answer.

You also said that RikaLeigh had found the answer when she was playing with the names of the kokonotsu images. You told labfly that the answer wasn't a secret, and you've told many of us that 1+2 is 3

iriguchi and jitensha are both in a single image named hg01as

Is hg01as the key?

Also you mentioned that terehone had a familiar ring, are you looking for a phone number? I found this number in gs10ha:

81-6-7344-1856

I've tried to call, but nobody answered. Are you by chance looking for this number?

Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 8:12 pm

no_moon
Boot

Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 64

I wonder why that number doesn't work.... Although admittedly the 345 seems like it should be relevant, and it isn't if it's a phone number. I'm sorry that it won't connect for you and that costs money, though. Very frustrating indeed.

Quote:

I agree with this assessment. I also thought it kind of looked like absinthe, but there's no other connecting strands in the other two pictures to support absinthe as the 3rd word. Like punkbass said, the other two words are echoed through the other pictures.

Good catch on the Iriguchi being hidden in every other line of the poem! Smile

I didn't think to look at it like that.

The only thing I can think of g=b would be some kind of stringed instrument or chords.... And with the other letters, that doesn't seem the case. Sad

But trying to find music somewhere in here might not be a bad idea. We still have to connect the doors to the wumpires....

Quote:

If this were the case, then "tsu" would have to mean something relevant. Googling tsu, it seems like it's just a shortened form of kanji? Maybe you could clarify a bit more on that, no_moon?

Are you sure the tsu is relevant? From what I read, "kokonotsu" itself wasn't the answer. That's one reason I removed it. Besides that tsu can be small tsu, which cuts a word short but has no sound.

Tsu, yes, is related to kanji, but only insofar as it is derivative of kanji radicals. A very long time ago (or so I'm told), all katakana and hiragana were created using pieces of kanji.

Also, it seems like there's very little (if no) action going on at reddit. I wonder if they are waiting for us to update the wiki some more...?

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 1:03 am

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