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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: General » ARG: DaemonWorks
[SOLVED!] The Marduk page
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rowan
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Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 1966

 		[SOLVED!] The Marduk page
New thread cuz the last one was getting kinda long.

I didn't get very far with this, but from first glance it appears that it's encrypted again - the same numbers keep appearing over and over. I'm uploading what little I have so I can work on it at home without having to redo stuff.
spacing.txt
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txt

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Filename  spacing.txt 
Filesize  36.15KB 
Downloaded  301 Time(s) 
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 7:01 pm
Last edited by rowan on Wed Jan 26, 2005 3:11 pm; edited 1 time in total
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JoeUser
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 		Here's what I got:
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
The girl went to the plain of grasses and chased the
antelope, but could not catch the fleet beasts. In
despair she sank to the ground and wept bitterly. But
then a jackal trotted up to the girl and spoke to her.
"Despair not, fair maiden," it said. "I shall teach
you to run and hunt the antelope."
Qm rey gdvhdj jylr eyp frq nduq, dlb rey cfpj pdl
daryp rey dlryjmny, vedqyb reyk bmul dlb hfjjyb reyk.
Rey ijmmbqrdflyb cfpj pyrsplyb ufre eyp rpmnefyq, isr
rey osyyl udq lmr qdrfqafyb. Eyp dlcyp nmfqmlyb rey
tfdlbq rey cfpj vdppfyb. "Refq fq flrmjypdijy!" rey
osyyl vpfyb. "Xms ksqr nfvh ytypx kdccmr apmk rey kydr
iyampy fr vdl iy ydryl!"


Not sure what's up with that second part, it doesn't appear to be a ROT

After that is another encoding (sheesh!)
encode.txt
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 7:33 pm
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rowan
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Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 1966

 		For the part thats not a rot, it's a simple substitution - no keyword that I can see.

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
So the jackal lent her its paws, and the girl ran after the antelope, chased them down and killed them. The bloodstained girl returned with her trophies, but the queen was not satisfied. Her anger poisoned the viands the girl carried. "This is intolerable!" the queen cried. "You must pick every maggot from the meat before it can be eaten!"

abcd... = fdgahijkblmnopqrstuvwc?ye?

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PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 10:31 pm
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rowan
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Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 1966

 		Okay, got the next decoded one. I used the simple substitution from the previous solve, then played with the ascii codes (with the -4 as well)

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
partial codeword: eightplsfv

on the right track but this next one may be hard

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PostPosted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 11:25 pm
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JoeUser
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 		This next one is pretty tough...

Using the eightplsfv keyword, I subbed in the values and split them up into 3-digit numbers. I figured it would be easier than each person having to mess with the data.

The range of the numbers is big, so I don't think it's a simple "add/subtract this number" pattern. Offhand I see both 007 and 228.

I tried to find a candidate for space, and 160 looked pretty good. 160 - 128 = 32 (space), but I'm not sure how to apply that to everything else.
numbers.txt
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 12:06 pm
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rowan
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Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 1966

 		Part of me is wondering if maybe there isn't 2 or 3 different texts interlaced in this next part. There are 42 different sets of numbers - so there is either a whole bunch of capital letters/puncuation/numbers, or there is a different scheme going on for each possible part.

Frequency analysis
Code:
007   215   
011   13   
020   14   
024   1   
029   1   
033   290   
037   10   
046   18   
050   1   
051   1   
055   3   
059   205   
060   8   
068   2   
072   102   
085   25   
086   14   
090   1   
098   19   
103   1   
111   9   
116   1   
124   18   
130   2   
137   242   
142   2   
150   352   
160   150   
163   35   
173   3   
176   48   
181   1   
186   8   
189   33   
202   118   
207   1   
215   28   
228   653   
237   30   
241   71   
250   31   
254   42


228 is by far the most frequent number, but setting that as a space would mean you would need to subtract 196 from everything and that makes it a mess. I'm still working on some ideas, will let you know if I get anywhere.[/code]

---

edit: while 228 appears through the entire block, 160 only appears in the first half - so at the very least the 2nd half is yet again in a different encryption scheme.
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 12:56 pm
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rowan
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Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 1966

 		Yay! I got the first part at least, and I figured out how it is encoded.

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Actually, I solved this using simple substitution tricks. Since 160 only appeared in the first area, I figured it had to be a space. Then I guessed that the first three letters were The - after that it fell into place.

The girl tried to clean the maggots from her prize, but they squirmed away before she could grasp them. Despair struck her again, but then a dark bird alighted on her shoulder. "Fear not, fair maiden," it said. "I shall show you how to catch those slippery maggots." So the bird lent its beak to the girl, who quickly prised the maggots from the cold flesh. She presented her work to the queen, but the sorceress was still not satisfied...

The next section after that looks to be another simple substitution.


The actual encryption for the first part is quite clever.
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Once I had all the letters, I noticed that the was a difference of 12 between sucessive letters. From that, I was able to come up with a formula:

1: Take the ASCII number and multiply it by 12. Call the result X.
2: If X > 256, then subtract 256 until X < 256.
3: Add ASCII number and X. Call the result Y.
4. If Y > 256, subtract 256. End result is the Marduk Code.

Two examples:

Line Feed is ASCII code 10
10 * 12 = 120
120 < 256
10 + 120 = 130

T is ASCII code 84
84 * 12 = 1008
1008 > 256 (1008-256-256-256 = 240) 240 < 256
84 + 240 = 324
324 - 256 = 68

I'm uploading a text file with what each letter would be in Marduk.

marduk_key.txt
Description  Marduk Key
 txt

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Filename  marduk_key.txt 
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 4:41 pm
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rowan
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Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 1966

 		Next section

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
"Foolish child!" the queen cried. "Larvae birthed in an animal killed during a hunt are powerful in magic! And you discarded them without thought? Pick up every maggot from the ground and bring them to me!" The girl quickly looked for the white maggots, but they had squirmed away into the soil. In desperation she clawed at the ground, tears mixing with the dirt. Her tears then awoke creatures sleeping beneath her...

I might have made an error somewhere - I have 2 v's that came out as w's. Either that or the Queen speaks with a lisp. I went back and double checked, and I did make an error. I'm uploading the last coded bit as a text file.

The key: chi?klmnbopqdrsetufagvwxy?


Onto the next part...
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 5:03 pm
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rowan
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 		Quickly glancing at the new part, I can get a partial codeword to convert it back into numbers

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
marduk????

I'm left with the letters g i n v. Uploading spaced text with the letters partially changed into the numbers.

partial-keyword.txt
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 6:47 pm
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rowan
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 		Don't ask me how I did it...I'll figure that out later, but the first half translates to:

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
"Do not give up now, fair maiden," spoke the worms of the earth. "We shall teach you the ways of the hidden places, so you may find what you need." And so the girl learned that the maggots she sought...birthed in violence, chosen with knowledge and culled by precise effort...had sprouted in the ground, like seeds, bearing dark fruit...


After that is another garbled mess. But first I need to figure out the trick to the first part.
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 7:10 pm
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JoeUser
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 		Excellent job! Can you post the remaining encoded part? I wouldn't want to duplicate efforts if we can avoid it.

PostPosted: Tue Jan 25, 2005 9:17 am
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JoeUser
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 		Doh, just read on the wiki about step seven:
Quote:
Step Seven: Use the following method to determine the letters.
Take normal ASCII code and multiply by 12. Call result X
Add ASCII code and X together. Call result Y.
Y must be between 0 and 256. Subtract 256 from Y until it is within range.
Y is the Marduk code.


If you multiple ASCII code by 12, then add ASCII code again, you're really just multiplying ASCII code by 13. Remember the keyword "eight plus five"?

So just mutiply by 13, then keeping adjusting by 256.

Edit: Oh, and the other keyword was "modulus 256", which means take the remainder when you divide by 256 (the same as subtracting 256 until you get a number < 256).

PostPosted: Tue Jan 25, 2005 9:26 am
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rowan
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Posts: 1966

 		Okay, I've attached the last little bit as a text file. I still don't know what numbers ingv stand for - I just ended up solving the first part using frequency analysis. I'll try to figure out how it was supposed to be solved this morning.
soclose.txt
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:54 am
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JoeUser
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 		OK, just wanted to mention the Japanese portion:
Quote:
mukashi mukashi no hanashi desu...

roughly means (I think) "a story from long, long ago".

I haven't been able to find a source for it though; maybe a Sumerian myth?

PostPosted: Tue Jan 25, 2005 5:42 pm
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vidstudent
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 		Basic analysis suggests:
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
It looks for all the world like it relates to a Fibonacci sequence. There's a small problem, though, and I'll get to it shortly.

15i = k
155 = l
153 = m
152 = n
151= o
150 = p

Looking at the above numbers' last digits bottom to top, we observe that 1+2=3 and 2+3=5. My guess from that would be that i=8, as 3+5=8.

But, for that to be true, this next bit should come out with different numbers.
134 = r
13g = s
13n = t
13i = u = 138?
135 = v
133 = w

3+5=8, but 5+8=(1)3...which is not n, because we just *used* that. Also, 8+(1)3=(2)1, but 1 is also taken. Still, 3+1=4....

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 8:55 am
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