Sam showed us the police report from Dale's accident.
The guides emailed Dale today indicating that he passed the mythosphere grid puzzle. We still haven't solved it. Even Wes seems to have figured it out and has given us a clue on one of his bumper stickers --- "The solution is to see both the symbols and the grid."
April 2nd
Diandra and dmax finally solved the grid puzzle! We get a quote from T.S. Eliot's Burnt Norton which leads us to www.mythosphere.org/tseliot.html. The pages says
"Meanings and mystery are hidden in the patterns that weave the tapestry of life, we find what we seek. What do you seek? seekers@mythosphere.org"
While waiting for a response to what we seek we found an update on the Aglaura library page. There's going to be an art auction for local Aglaura talent on 4/27. One of the featured artists is going to be Sarah Wyatt.
Also, Sam put up a map of the locations of the recent grafitti in Aglaura, including some copycat graffiti.
Finally, the seekers respond to our emails. It seems we received different emails depending on what we said we were seeking. The emails say a guide will be in touch soon.
April 3rd
Mayor Dobbs and JD Willingham hold an online press conference to answer questions about the graffiti. THe graffiti locations, when plotted on a map, make up the same pattern as the graffiti symbol itself. Because of this they aren't worried about any more occurances. Dawn Prufrock enters teh conference and announces that there has been some trouble at Dale's house. Someone showed up at Dale's posing as policemen. When Dale got suspicious, he called the police department. Dawn said that when the police arrived Dale was gone and everything looked fine.
Later in the afternoon, Tracie Schmidt from Channel 8 gave a news report about a house fire on Winton Pond Rd. in Aglaura. Dale's house (which is on Winton Pond Rd.) was the house on fire and was completely destroyed.
We, of course, were worried about Dale until Sam told us that Dale had spent the night at his house.
April 4th
Sal Marzano sent an email to Dale telling him that they were at his houe looking for him. He tells Dale that if he was the who arranged to have those other guys give them trouble at the house, it was a big mistake. Were these other guys the ones who were pretending to be policemen? Were they the "dead eyes" that have been looking for Dale?
April 6th
The guides finally got in touch with Dale and the rest of us. Dale's message says,
"What you seek lies in a place you cannot go. Yet still, your request necessitates a journey. Be prepared to come to us at a moments notice. Your guide will be in touch soon with a destination."
The rest of us got one of four different responses from the guides.
April 8th
Twelve of us started to receive items from Dale in the mail today. These items seem to be from the package that Dale received at his house that was addressed to Maeghan. He thought that someone was after these items so he sent them to us for safekeeping.
April 9th
Dr. Michelle Kendra emailed Dale today. She was worried that Dale might have been hurt in the house fire, but is happy to hear that he is okay.
There also have been some changes to the Ash Grove Park website. The internment list and the park layout were added. Two pictures were also added of the layout of a garden in the cemetary here and here. This puzzle was quite complex, so you can see the solve here.
April 11th
The Hollow Needle website was updated to include pics of the contents of the trunk that was found in the old library. It included an illuminated manuscript, some paintings done by Sarah Wyatt and the book A Day in Fairyland.
April 12th
Dale received a new email from the mythosphere guides ...
Subject: It Is Almost Time
Date: 12 April 2003
I'll be nowhere,
I'll have no night,
I'll have no day anymore:
I shall be a man without identity.
It is almost time.
your guide
Sam also emails him telling him that he is starting to feel uncomfortable working for the Aglaura Borough. He's been trying to find some information that we have been looking for, but everything is suddenly locked up.
April 13th
We started getting emails from "our" guides today. Seems we are still being divided into groups.
April 14th
Dale also got a chance to sneak into his office and called Passion. He said he was going to try to get us more information on his recent research soon.
We also received news from Dr. Kendra that she has hypnotized Dale.
Dale also got a chance to sneak into his office and called Passion. He said he was going to try to get us more information on his recent research soon.
April 15th
Danman_d got a call from Dale. He said that he had gotten into his office and gotten some files that he needed. He said he would upload them soon.
The Aglaura Library site was updated to include the story behind Sarah Wyatt. Seems she was one of the children who mysteriously showed up in town after the raid of Ashram. She was taken in by the Wyatt family. The story also tells of the Willinghams and how they bought the Wyatt house and renovated it. The walls were reportedly covered in paintings and drawings by Sarah.
Per contact from Dr. Kendra, Dale is quite angry at Bruce for committing him and doesn't want him to know anything about what is going on in his sessions with Dr. Kendra. She is having some trouble with this since Bruce has a legal right to know because of the power of attorney.
April 16th
Dale received a new email from the guides...
Subject: A Leap Of Faith
Date: 16 April 2003
The Full Pink Moon shines above. Your path has been
determined. All it requires is
a leap of faith
mswpraefgithelos
edsqxneghdiltmvo
ssuveboijnlmprrb
nelliflxgttmnpqa
sitorfneleaguide
The EOTW site has also been updated to include the following
"It's Spring and the goat-footed balloonMan whistles far and wee"
Wes
This is an excerpt from the e.e. cummings poem In Just.
The library page is also updated to include the auction items to be put on the slate at the upcoming local artist show.
Irene_adler also noticed today that one of the names listed on the Ash Grove site is Seisdedos which means Six Fingers in Spanish. Is this a reference to Digitalis?
April 17th
We discover Dale's new site http://www.cluesearch.com from an email from Sam Greene and a new bumper sticker from Wes. It seemed at first look to function like any other search engine site. We soon discovered that Dale was directing us toward some specific sites. One site that we found was http://www.missingmanuscript.com. On the site we find a picture of the manuscript from the trunk found in the old library. We emailed the author of the website telling him that we know that the manuscript pages he has pictures of are in Aglaura.
April 18th
Dale received a new email from the guides titled "a leap of faith"...
We have not heard from you again. Did you understand?
Perhaps you weren't counting on
a leap of faith
mswpraefgithelos
edsqxneghdiltmvo
ssuveboijnlmprrb
nelliflxgttmnpqa
sitorfneleaguide
Dashcat solved the puzzle and got "Seisdedos on Beltaine". Seisdedos is the last name on the headstone on plot #84 in Ash Grove. Spec is that Dale is going to have to be at that spot when the guides call.
April 19th
The guides sent us all one of three emails, depending on which group we were placed in - red initiates, blue initiates or other. The red initiates email sent us to http://www.mythosphere.org/fortune.html and the blue initiates email sent us to http://www.mythosphere.org/regardie.html. These pages give us the new email addresses to use - redinitiates@mythosphere.org and blueinitiates@mythosphere.org. The other group which we have been calling the white group, gets a message that decodes to
your journey is by another path
to help the one who goes beyond
when called you must find a way
without you he cannot come back
April 20th
We got a reply back from the author of the missing manuscript page, who we find out is Colin Penrose. He thanked us for telling him about the manuscript page in Aglaura and showed us some more pictures of the Fourth Book here. He is going to contact Phyllis from the Hollow Needle about acquiring the page from the trunk.
Dale also emailed several of us and gives us a link to the movie that Wes took of the strange disc he found here. He says he is still on the run and is avoiding the "dead eyes" and that those of us with one of the twelve items he mailed out should watch out for them.
April 21st
Dale received another email from the guides titled "Prepare" with a quote from Robert G Ingersoll.
From the voiceless lips of the unreplying dead
There comes no word; but in the night of death
Hope sees a star, and listening love can hear
The rustle of a wing.
your guide
April 22nd
The red and blue initiates received new emails from the guides today. When solved, red's sent us to http://www.mythosphere.org/teilharddechardin.html and blue's sent us to www.mythosphere.org/bahaullah.html. They both ask us what lesson we have learned.
April 23rd
The white team received an email from the guides titled "step by step":
seeker
A %@dw v%g %$z *rcmz@ ,
Vx xx@gz pxv sa ^&y^b,
W&t sa zb%l w*cc
X v@w rds^g #du-r.
a guide
Dale received a strange email that at first look seemed just like odd spam. Cemgate at unfiction decoded the spam using the site spammimmic and found the hidden threat "keep running bastard, maybe we'll start with your friends instead "
April 24th
We heard from Dr. Kendra about Dale's hypnotism and found out that much of his session was unintelligible. She has some "experts" working on it. Dale also mumbled alot in what seemed to be another language during the session.
We contacted all of Dale's friends (Wes, Sam, Dr. Kendra, etc.) warning them about the spam threat that Dale received, yet there is still much spec as to who would have the technical know-how to send a threat in such a manner.
The white team received another email from the guides...
Our last message goes without response; is this the help you need?
djsdbsfhobupobu
a guide
This puzzle was quickly solved by ROT-ing and we get "circaregnatonat " which is latin for "It thunders through the realm", a excerpt from a Thomas Wyatt poem. This gives us http://www.mythosphere.org/wyatt.html. Here we see a poem by wyatt with the "WORDS" bolded twice. Is this a new puzzle solution or a hint on how to solve the first puzzle the white group received?
April 25th
We received an email from Dale which explains the spam threat email a bit better. Dale taught Sal about the spammimmic site back when they were discussing their "financial arrangements". The Marzanos therefore know that others are accessing his emails (apparantly from emails we sent to the Marzano's telling them so) and wanted to threaten Dale without anyone else knowing it.
Through another email from Dr. Kendra we learned that there perhaps was something going on between Bruce and Diana. Dale said during one of his sessions that Diana used to bring up Bruce quite alot when they were fighting. This, along with Bruce's commitment of him, would obviously affect Dale's current feelings about Bruce.
April 27th
Another item from Dale showed up in the mail today. We had previously thought that we had found all 12 of the items he sent out. This would make 13. Dale did say in chat once that he couldn't remember if there were 12 or 13 packages that he sent out.
April 29th
The white team still hasn't figured out their message from the guides, so the guides sent them a clue.
The path that must be followed is binding even to us.
Guidance must come from those
who have found their way.
And still the need is urgent. Here is what can be said:
step by step
one key to start it all
one message of four lines
each line of many words, as steps along the way
each step a new key revealed
the guides
The clue was enough for the team to find http://www.mythosphere.org/novalis.html with the message - The need to contact you may soon be critical.
Do you have a means of more immediate access?
initiatesseekers@mythosphere.org I guess the "white team" is called "the seekers" by the guides?
Some others received a new message from the guides -
The door for the one who seeks opens tomorrow at sundown. Upon the next sun's setting, his way must be found by those who help, or he cannot return.
the guides
Dale also received a new email from the guides -
Subject: Your Path
Date: 29 April 2003
At dusk tomorrow the way will open. With each step you take,
the harder it will become to return.
Only the beacon of faith and concern from those who would
help, can light your path back.
Have you gathered them close?
your guide
April 30th
Tonite Dale went to the Ash Grove Cemetary as instructed by the guides. While we were waiting to hear news from Dale, the white group received an email from the guides -
Subject: Benign Shakespeare
93269 94792 58911 76997 54322
29936 49959 44996 98181 36372
59991 68999 89723 46521
a guide
As many were working on that puzzle, I received a phone call while I was at work from Dale at 6:56pm CST. (I had sent him my cell phone number and told him that he could call me while I was at work if he needed anything) I answered my phone and Dale asked for Michelle (that's me :) ). I told him I was her. He said that he was on the outskirts of Ash Grove Park and that he forgot which plot it was that he was supposed to go to. I told him that it was either plot 84 or plot 87, that I couldn't remember which since had forgotten my notes at home. He said that 84 sounded right and I told him that's what I thought it was too. He said that he might try to call someone else a little bit later on, to let us know how he is doing and if anything had happened. I told him that he should be careful and he told me not to worry, that he would be. We forwarded this info to Sam who sent Wes out to the cemetary to look for Dale.
raynardm received a call later in the night from Dale also. "Amanda, this is dale, dale sprague. I cant seem to find the right headstone...I thought i knew it but I...wait! Somebody's coming. Damn. I think tis those guys Wes was warning us about. I need...shit! What is... ? there is a light up ahead, I'm..I have to go..(urgent) BYE!"
Meanwhile, the guides sent the white group a hint for the Benign Shakespeare message...
Subject: Your Message
A visIOn oF the Whole IS possiblE Only IF iT is ASsUmed that humAN HistORY hAs meaning.
the guides
Lazarus Long finally got the puzzle answer - STEGANOGRAPHIA, which when entered on cluesearch.com led us to http://www.mythosphere.org/trithemius.html. The site shows the following poem...
The one who seeks may lose his way
Along darkened paths at end of day
To light the way of his return
The wood of nine the guides must burn
Oak and ash and willow tree
Birch, fir, apple, the second three
Hawthorn, hazel, and wood of vine
In order complete the sacred nine
From where love was lost his path begins
In darkness seek the aid of friends
At tomorrow's dusk, the fire burn
Where love once lived, and he shall return
We emailed Sam with this new info, who in turn tried to call Dale's phone. He unfortunately couldn't get through. Dale and Wes are going to start looking in Aglaura for the wood of the nine different trees.
For konamouse's account of April 30th's events, see this post. Also, a transcript of the chat from the day can be found here.