Riddle game - Something for you scientists

[SpeedyKupad]

i sent a new one just now. what are your thoughts?

 

[ffutahw]

Got your PM and responded. Tried a new tact, but just got gibberish again.

Results so far:
<So far, words I've gotten _close_ to with pathing I've tried have been 'initiate' (several spaces off for some letters) and 'incubus' (no more than one space off of each letter, and sort of in theme with the riddles thus far, but one character too short.). The actual results have still been gibberish however.>

 

[MelodyKitn]

I'm awake and headed to work... someone pm me the gist of the past five pages of posts, cause it's going to take me a while to wake my brains up ^^

*hugs everyone as she almost falls off the rafters*



aww.. but I had that on my lil' note book...
*checks the notepad (source) on the floor...*

Just didn't know what to do with it...

 

[SpeedyKupad]

i need to focus again...

*takes a walk while wondering which road to take and how many steps to make*

*whistling*

 

[ffutahw]

Melody- Theres a new hint in the source, it isn't much but it is something. Other than that, we've tried different methods of pathing our way through the grid, and have even tried moving the entire grid (centering it around x) through several paths. Still nothing solid yet.

 

[ffutahw]

I had a left field thought and thought perhaps we were meant to REMOVE the letters we encountered on our little path, but that didn't shed any more light than anything else I've done, so it's a buried idea too.

 

[SpeedyKupad]

i get a strong feeling that we still don't have the right set of numbers. the directions doesn't matter much to me now cos if that's the problem then it will be easier to adjust. any ideas on this?

boxcutter: how about changing the alphabet to numbers?

 

[ffutahw]

I'm thinking we're getting closer, but at an exponentially slower rate.

 

[ffutahw]

Still nothing conclusive...

 

[SpeedyKupad]

yup, we're definitely doing the right thing now. but we have to make a few changes on each step one by one in order to hit the right one. either we change directions, the number of steps. those two are the only ones not certain now. are we to count everytime from x or just start there then connect the dots.

 

[ffutahw]

I just had a crazy thought that I'm going to try...

 

[ffutahw]

Nope, failure. rrz, quit there. If only it was like a maze that we could eventually solve just by continually turning left

 

[SpeedyKupad]

my letters are still over the place

 

[ffutahw]

my letters are still over the place

It's frustrating, because I'm forming words in the general vicinity of where my paths take me, but nothing actually on my path. That could be a clue in and of itself, but none of the words I've seen this way have actually worked.

 

[SpeedyKupad]

its funny, i know how you got INCUBUS.

edit: that's what you call word hunting

or playing a game of boggle. 4 pts.

edit: but then they're not directly in contact so minus 1 pt.

 

[ffutahw]

my path got the first 4 letters and kind of looped around the last three :-/ frustrating isn't it!

 

[Boxcutter]

Incubus - An evil spirit believed to have sexual intercourse with women as they sleep.

Do you really think I would use that as an answer? haha.. I'm surprised there's even a word for such a thing

 

[ffutahw]

Thats only one translation of an incubus, where its seen as the male counterpart of the succubus. The most true to the mythos version of the word refers in general to evil spirits who drain their victims life essences while they sleep; attributed to crib death among other things.

 

[Boxcutter]

I suppose succubus and incubus is the same thing then, if you use that definition? Or is there still a difference between them even though you leave out the sexual intercourse with men and women respectively?

 

[ffutahw]

I suppose succubus and incubus is the same thing then, if you use that definition? Or is there still a difference between them even though you leave out the sexual intercourse with men and women respectively?

In the sexual aspect of things, succubi are usually associated with seduction as opposed to incubi who apparently take unwilling victims. In fact, some writers have portrayed succubi and incubi as the same demon, able to choose male or female form at will.

But the 'evil seductress' persona existed before the terms succubus and incubus, and that's where the succubus came from, as opposed to the incubus which has its roots as an incorporeal spirit.

I minored in mythology in college, it's always fascinated me :D

 

[MelodyKitn]

Okay, so mini grid, we're thinking compass?... Hmm...

*flies to the rafters to think*

Let's see...

 

[SpeedyKupad]

*wondering if melodykitn is still reading chapter 153*

boxcutter: do you think we're a bunch of idiots for not getting this?

*points at melodykitn*

oh, there you are!

 

[ffutahw]

At any rate, it's lunch time here. I'll be back soon, hopefully refreshed. Good luck while I'm gone!

 

[ffutahw]

*wondering if melodykitn is still reading chapter 153*

boxcutter: do you think we're a bunch of idiots for not getting this?

I doubt it. He himself said that this one was hard, after all.

 

[SpeedyKupad]

I doubt it. He himself said that this one was hard, after all.

yeah, i know. i was just kidding. I'm about to sleep soon.

 

[Boxcutter]

ffutahw: I've done some reading about incubuses and succubuses now. most sources claim they have something to do with sexuality and intercourse but as you say, some of them also tell me that incubuses are also considered to be the draining-type of demons who will slowly drain your soul.
the succubus however, seems to only be involved in sexual matters.

 

[MelodyKitn]

I thought succubi use sexual matters as a means of drawing a man's soul?...

Oh well.. I tried to flip through the posts, but it's a lot to catch up on Speedy x.x

My mind is swamped... let me try again...

 

[Boxcutter]

so the plurals are succubi and incubi? i got the notion that Incubi is the word for the attacks that these demons commit, but I suppose that page was a little off, since most other pages use the ending "i" for the plural form

 

[SpeedyKupad]

got a new word! IPIDUQNO. at least i tried something slightly different now. will try to do several variations on this.

edit: darn, that wasn't even close to becoming a word!

 

[MelodyKitn]

I almost had the word RESCUEME... but instead it was RESCSNRE

*sniffles*

 

[SpeedyKupad]

I almost had the word RESCUEME... but instead it was RESCSNRE

*sniffles*

mine wasn't that far-- RINFMPNO i was trying to find a way on how to make it INFERNO

 

[SpeedyKupad]

that's it! I am going to bed. hope you guys solve this within 8 hrs so i can just get sneaky and pm you all for hints.

catch you later! :zzz:

ps. box: don't give away too many hints until i get back.

joke

 

[MelodyKitn]

*kneels on the floor in front of the pieces, little arrows drawn on the ground with dust and dirt, papers scattered and strewn all about*

Compass... compass... but how many steps?

*she mumbles as her wings furl and unfurl in frustration*

I know where to go... but how do I get there?...

*she stops and looks up at her sleeping comrades and smiles. Tilting her halo, she looks back down and gets to work, ever more intending on trying to help get herself and her new friends out of this entranceway to nab the relic and on their way to face Dracul himself...*

 

[ffutahw]

Boxcutter -> Succubi and Incubi have different roots; they are seen now as the male and female of the same type of demon, but while the succubus originated as a seductress, whereas the incubus originated as a life draining spirit.


As to the riddle, I had some more thoughts at lunch which may get us somewhere or may just give us more gibberish.

<
These two thoughts are only vaguely similar.

The first was sparked by Boxcutters hint to look at the small grid as a game controller. While a compass needle points north regardless of how you turn it, a game controller remains in the position you hold it in, and only rotates when you rotate it. With that in mind, suppose you rotate the grid with "you" as you follow the path on the larger grid. Meaning, if you start with "A" which is a diagonal move up and to the left, rotate the smaller grid so that "D" is now in the upper left corner, while "A" is in the middle left, always keeping "D" pointed in the last direction you turned. This would create a wholly different type of path than anything we've used before, which is frustrating considering all of the number combinations we've already tried, but may get us somewhere.

The other idea is that the small grid in fact is a compass of sorts, but rather than always pointing North, the compass always points in the direction of the X; in other words, we rotate the small grid so that the same character is always facing the X after each step we take. The difficulty here is in determining the initial orientation of the compass. There are two possibilities here, and the first of those is the simple one we've been following before; D indicateds north. The other is that the small grid is already pointing at north where it is pictured on the image itself. That makes 'J' the initial 'north' in this case.>

I'm going to start working with these ideas for now.

 

[MelodyKitn]

Ffhut.. I'm boggled.. (I think I understand now)

(And could you point out what page the whole controller idea came from... I can't find the post)