+ CLUE POST +

[vitaelamorte]

Come on, guys. It's not an Eway party without puzzles.


Here's how it's going to work! Your characters have received invitations to four different parties that will be spread out over the course of the event. Each party log will contain a clue that will be the beginning to one of FOUR puzzle paths, leading to FOUR possible outcomes, including:

• Two routes that lead to who it was that invited everyone to Wonderland, given out in two different ways.


• One route that does not give the answer, but does reveal some interesting Background Information about Wonderland.


• And one route that is a red herring route that does not lead to anything useful at all.

We are NOT telling you which route is which, so you're just going to have to solve them all and find out for yourselves when you get to the end! Each route has 3 steps (except for the last route, which has 4) and will work like this:

ICLY: Your characters will find clues and attempt to solve them! Clues will regenerate after five minutes, so if for example, one character or group of characters finds a note with a clue on it and takes it with them, the note will re-appear for others to find. They'll (hopefully) solve the clues to find the next step of the route and so on and so forth until eventually they figure out where the clues are leading them. They may need to ICly seek out others for assistance if they do not have the knowledge or skills to progress further, and it is entirely possible that they may get ICly stuck on one route, and may need to change to a different one. If they stick with it though, they will be rewarded with information...unless they got the red herring route, of course.

OOCLY: These puzzles are a TEAM EFFORT. As each log is posted, we will post the first clue of each route whether the previous route has been solved or not (so on the 1st the House Party Route will start, and on the 3rd the Throne Room Party route will begin even if the House Party route has not been 100% solved, and so on until all the routes have been started). When you think you have solved a clue, reply to that clue on this post. If you're right, we will reveal the next clue in that route, and if you aren't then you can keep trying. We encourage you to use each puzzle route's thread for OOC collaboration and shouting ideas at each other, and even begging for clues if you're really stuck. Clues will NOT be revealed ICly until they are solved OOCly. For example, if puzzle route A's first clue leads to the roof it does not, nice try, the clue will not APPEAR there until someone solves the clue OOCly – this is partly to prevent spoilers, and partly to allow people to go about their lives in-game without having to retcon and be like “oh and there was a huge clue in the background of this thread”. We encourage EVERYONE to try their hand at the puzzles, whether their characters are working on that route or not. The routes will get solved faster with multiple people working on it as a big team, and we hope that it'll be a lot more fun that way!

PLEASE KEEP AS MUCH TO THIS POST AS YOU CAN - we know you guys love Plurk, but you'll be doing puzzles alongside people who haven't been in the RP scene in years and may not have access to puzzle-solving happening exclusively on plurk.

We are releasing the puzzle routes in order from hardest route to easiest route (in our opinion, as puzzle makers), since by nature there will be less time to work on the routes released last. If you have any questions about how the puzzle routes will work or anything along those lines, please bring them to the FAQ POST. If you have questions about specific riddles or need to demand hints, please keep those questions to their puzzle path threads so everyone can easily find the answers!

That should be about it! We'll begin releasing the first clues as each log goes up, and we wish you all the best of luck with our maddening puzzles! ♥

Comments

+ HOUSE PARTY ROUTE +

[vitaelamorte]

Invitation | House Party Log

[ On the second floor of the second mansion, a wall at the back of the disco is covered in dark splashes of paint. Every minute or so the disco spotlight stops on them, revealing a brief flash of hidden symbols. ]

[fireheaded]

ok someone on plurk said it was sudoku which... i should have realized.... but i cant take the credit for finding out it was sudoku i was completely clueless. i first thought it was some kind of cipher or something LOL but if im good at anything its sudoku so!!! the parts that are labeled "HERE" are labeled 6241 when the sudoku is solved! heres the solved sudoku puzzle:



maybe its a room number to go to?? idk...

[vitaelamorte]

[ Is there a particular room you'd like to go to? ]

[chardismastic]

HEYO wow that was bigger than expected.

This is what Alex (uncalendula) came up with so far and would post herself so here I am to dump it in

[goodwoofjames]

Should we try floor 8 room 5 just to be safe?

+ THRONE ROOM PARTY ROUTE +

[vitaelamorte]

Invitation | Throne Room Party

[Each table has playing card centerpieces - all featuring the Queen of Hearts, naturally. However, each card has something curious on the back:]

Re: + THRONE ROOM PARTY ROUTE +

[drummeintheface]

I AM CHEATING IMMEDIATELY

Re: + THRONE ROOM PARTY ROUTE +

[vitaelamorte]

[YOU WERE SPECIFICALLY TOLD NOT TO DO THAT!!]

Re: + THRONE ROOM PARTY ROUTE +

[drummeintheface]

ON A SERIOUS NOTE. I think we're probably meant to include the ON and HE from "Don't cheat!", since they line up with the other letters. I'm trying anagrams since that's at least a THING I can do, but it's probably another cypher

[nonscriptum]

Hello I am here now and looking so handsome and also my Playfair Cipher opened????

Playfair is a pretty simple shifting cipher, although this particular message seems to be double (maybe triple?) encrypted. Using the standard Playfair grid, our letters become the following:

NC → HX
VI → YF
HO → IN
EZ → ZU
TP → UO

And maybe including:
ON → PO
EA → AB

Notes Here. This gives us the full HXYFINZUUO with potential additional POAB because I'm not ruling out the Potato Child's suggestion that "Don't Cheat" might be part of the missive.

where my decipherers at

[nonscriptum]

It should be noted that I did run this through Atbash, and through every shift in the Caesar cipher, and got nothing that looked coherent, so people should take this and run to the hills with it!

[drummeintheface]

:|a I'm still pretty sure it should be HE if it's included, not EA. It seems to line up, and ON and HE are both the third and fourth letters of the words.

+ BEACH PARTY ROUTE +

[vitaelamorte]

Invitation | Beach Party Log

[There is a message in a bottle stuck in the sand. The message inside reads:]

SO YOU'VE SNUCK OFF FROM THE ARTY
AND FOUND A CUE RESERVED FOR SMARTIES
CAN YOU LOOK ISIDE THE LINES
AND FIND ALL F THE HIDDEN SIGNS?
THEY'LL POINT YOU TO YUR DESTINATION
TO THE ONE WHO SENT THE INVITATON

[normandysbest]

okay so obviously we've got some missing letters here, in order, P, L, N, O, O, and I.

[demonstrate]

indoor pool...? or in pool...

[eyething]

Loopin

In Pool

Pool In

In Loop

...this feels unhelpful.

+ FOREST PARTY ROUTE +

[vitaelamorte]

Invitation | Forest Party Log

[ ...Are you the curiously perceptive, or the perceptively curious sort? If so, then you might also notice the small bird sitting on a branch nearby, and spot the little message someone must have tied to its foot. If you approach carefully and patiently, the bird will allow you to pull the scroll from its leg, and you will be able to read the following very, very tiny words: ]

i am who makes you cry
i am the reason for your smile
i bring the dead to life
and grant you eternal youth
i am created in an instant
but remain for the rest of your life

give me away to receive the next clue.

i don't know what im doing

[readytocomply]

Is it a memory/memories?

Re: i don't know what im doing

[mypartnerintime]

Oh snap I should've refreshed before I commented XD

Re: + FOREST PARTY ROUTE +

[mypartnerintime]

I'm gonna go ahead and guess that it's a memory? Is it possible to give up memories to the bird?

Orrrr to the vendors? Maybe the vendors will trade a memory for the next clue...

I missed the last route completely, I'm not missing this one lkjsdnvlas

+ SOLUTIONS +

[vitaelamorte]

Of course you can read everyone's complete puzzle journeys in the individual routes' threads, but here is a recap of all the main steps, for everyone who just wants a quick summary, or reference for their characters' IC adventures.

+ HOUSE PARTY ROUTE +

[vitaelamorte]

[ The route begins on the second floor of the second mansion, where a wall at the back of the disco is covered in dark splashes of paint.

Characters who stay in the area long enough will notice that, every minute or so, the disco spotlight stops on the splashes, revealing a brief flash of hidden symbols. ]

↓

[ Reveal the splashes for the SUDOKU GRID that they are, solve the puzzle for the provided numbers, and check where the letters HERE overlap with the numbers 1865 aka. room #865 on the first floor, aka. Alice's Room. ]

+ THRONE ROOM PARTY ROUTE +

[vitaelamorte]

[ The route begins in the throne room on the Mirror side, where each table is adorned with playing card centerpieces. All of them, naturally, feature the Queen of Hearts.

However, each card also has something curious written on the back: ]



↓

[ What's 'Don't cheat'? It's a really great advice for this whole route, but it's also another way of saying PLAY FAIR, and wouldn't you know, there's a cipher for that!

Use the QUEENOFHEARTS as its key, and you get to ED IS TU OX OG, which, all backwards implications considered, should send characters outside on the Mirror side. ]

+ BEACH PARTY ROUTE +

[vitaelamorte]

[ This route starts on the beach, where interested characters will be able to find a message in a bottle written in the sand.

The message inside reads: ]

SO YOU'VE SNUCK OFF FROM THE ARTY
AND FOUND A CUE RESERVED FOR SMARTIES
CAN YOU LOOK ISIDE THE LINES
AND FIND ALL F THE HIDDEN SIGNS?
THEY'LL POINT YOU TO YUR DESTINATION
TO THE ONE WHO SENT THE INVITATON

↓

[ The missing letters spell out PLNOOI. Unscrambled they read IN POOL, which is exactly where the next clue awaits. To the indoor pool! ]

+ FOREST PARTY ROUTE +

[vitaelamorte]

[ This route starts in the forest, where some characters may notice that the small bird sitting nearby carries an even smaller message tied around its little foot.

Characters who approach the bird carefully will be allowed to pull off the tiny scroll, and find the following message written on it: ]

i am who makes you cry
i am the reason for your smile
i bring the dead to life
and grant you eternal youth
i am created in an instant
but remain for the rest of your life

give me away to receive the next clue.

↓

[ The riddle refers to a memory, and where is the one place in Wonderland where you can trade memories for something else? The Vendors, of course! ]