Hints

Apprentice Curator Exclusive Content

• If you get a 100% on the quiz, you'll be granted access to locked content using the password LUMINOUS.

Apprentice Curator Quiz

• The answers to the flora and fauna quiz can be found in the Selected Writings of Sydney Cooper booklet.

Journal Entries

• The method by which Sydney Cooper's journal is encoded evolves over time, with each method building on the previous technique.

Letter from Museum Curator

• Several documents work together to help answer June Novak's question at the end of her letter. Take a closer look at the exhibit research and the newspaper clippings for clues.

 

Exhibit Research

• On the photocopied obituary page, David Griffith's obituary mentions an "Elin Free". In the same document on the first page, "E. Free" is listed as a donor and contributor. On the Chthonic Dementia Petition page, David Griffith is one of the signed names, where it says he lives at 64 Mullein Road.

 

Newspaper Clippings

• Elin Free is quoted in the "No Solution in Sight for Power Grid Malfunctions" article as a resident of Blackbird Holler. Using the map in the "It All Came Crashing Down" document, Blackbird Cabin is the oldest home on the street that is still occupied.

Miner's Postcard

• Shine your blacklight over the card. See anything?
• This postcard is written in an unknown alphabet. You may want to return to it later in the season, when you have more information.

Mining Company Memo

• The mining company memo contains two coded messages. Researching the phrase "1959 Galaxie" that appears next to these messages may give you a clue as to the method for this cipher.

Reveals

Apprentice Curator Exclusive Content

• The information that appears on the stamps on each picture may become relevant in a future episode.

Apprentice Curator Quiz

• The correct answers to the Apprentice Curator Quiz are as follows:
  • 1: C
  • 2: A
  • 3: D
  • 4: B
  • 5: C
  • 6: A

Journal Entries

• Level 1 of the code: Starting on the 1 September, 1873 entry, Cooper's journal is encoded by reversing the order of the alphabet so that "A" becomes "Z", "B" becomes "Y", and so forth.

  • ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ/ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
  • VCZNKOV LMV/EXAMPLE ONE

• Level 2 of the code: Starting on the 5 January, 1876 entry, the journal passages are encoded by reversing the order of the alphabet and writing the words out backward:

  • VOVKNZCV LDG/ELPMAXE OWT/EXAMPLE TWO

• Level 3 of the code: Starting on the 9 July, 1885 entry, the journal passages are encoded by reversing the order of the alphabet and scrambling the letters in each word.

  • KVNCVZO VSIVG/PEMXEAL EHRET/EXAMPLE THREE

 

Codes Unscrambled Level 1

• Zmw z hgizmtv ortsg rm gsv wzipmvhh, gll. = And a strange light in the darkness, too.

• toldrmt evrm = glowing vein

• ofhgvi = Luster

• R xzm svzi rg eryizgrmt rm gsv mrtsg, vevm gsilfts nb wivznh, gsv hlfmw orpv gsv ozhg uzrmg ivhlmzmxvh lu z wrhgzmg yvoo. = I can hear it vibrating in the night, even through my dreams, the sound like the last faint resonances of a distant bell.

• uli ru sv szw hvvm gsv hszwldh gszg nlevw rm gszg hfygov told, sv nrtsg mlg yv hl xlnkozxvmg. = for if he had seen the shadows that moved in that subtle glow, he might not be so complacent.

• R olmt gl ivgfim gl gsv xzevh. R svzi gsvn rm nb wivznh, xzoormt gl nv. = I long to return to the caves. I hear them in my dreams, calling to me.

• nlfgs lu gsv xzev zg gdrortsg = mouth of the cave at twilight

• uzrmgob ofnrmvhxvmg rm nllmortsg = faintly luminescent in moonlight

• Ulcuriv = Foxfire

• z kzhhztv R szw mlg kiverlfhob nzkkvw = a passage I had not previously mapped

• nb xzrim hgllw yvuliv z hlorw dzoo = my cairn stood before a solid wall

• gsv hszwldh zg gsv vwtvh lu nb erhrlm = the shadows at the edges of my vision

• gsv ylmvh lu z xsrow = the bones of a child

• kzhhrmt zolmthrwv nv rm gsv wzipmvhh lu gsv gfmmvoh = passing alongside me in the darkness of the tunnels

 

Codes Unscrambled Level 2

• Vsg vtznr ul hvmly ml vsg h'vezx uolli hzs glm guvo bn hnzviw ilu ozivevh hgstrm dlm. R vvh irvsg hvmrogfl mvev mr bn tmrpzd hifls, mr vsg tmroifx tlu. = The image of bones on the cave's floor has not left my dreams for several nights now. I see their outlines even in my waking hours, in the curling fog.

• Vsg ozrgmvglk grulik lg vy wzs nliu vhlsg hflighfo svmlgh = the potential profit to be had from those lustrous stones

• Gr oorgh hwmzgh ghmrztz wrolh oozd, gfy hizvkkz lg vy sxfn ivoozg dlm. = It still stands against solid wall, but appears to be much taller now.

• Wvttzq nzvh ul hflighfo vmlgh = jagged seam of lustrous stone

• Gr hzd vivsdlm lg vy mvvh = it was nowhere to be seen

• R wveivhyl z tmrdlot vfoy viftru gstrzigh mdlw vsg ovmmfg, ghlnoz wrlmznfs mr vkzsh. R govu wvoovknlx lg dloolu gr. = I observed a glowing blue figure straight down the tunnel, almost humanoid in shape. I felt compelled to follow it.

• Vsg viftru wzs wvshrmze = The figure had vanished

• Hnzvh ul hflighfo pxli glsh kf wmz hhlixz vsg ghze ulli vpro vsg tmrgofze ul z oziwvsgzx tmrorvx. Irvsg dlot wvgxvouvi uul vsg h'ollk vxsuifh wmz vsg gmvorh nfs ul irvsg ivdlk wvooru vsg irz. = Seams of lustrous rock shot up and across the vast roof like the vaulting of a cathedral ceiling. Their glow reflected off the pool's surface and the silent hum of their power filled the air.

• Z wvpllo mdlw lg vvs z oofph tmrmmrit pxzy kf gz vn. Tmrwmfliifh gr hz izu hz vsg vbv woflx vvh vivd vsg hmlgvovph ul ooz bgvrize ul hvrxvkh, tmrivuufh ooz ivmmzn ul hmlrgzgfn. Vsg h'ollk illou hr mz verhmzkcv xrzhln ul vmly. = I looked down to see a skull grinning back up at me. Surrounding it as far as the eye could see were the skeletons of all variety of species, suffering all manner of mutations. The pool's floor is an expansive mosaic of bone.

• Gr hgrs vsg guvo vwrh ul bn vxzu, vsg vwrh tmrxzu vsg hovmmfg. Gr hr xrnsgbsi, vpro sgzviy. = It hits the left side of my face, the side facing the tunnels. It is rhythmic, like breath.

• Ivghfo = Luster

• Vs hzd tmrdloozdh vsg gmvwli volsd, hrs dzq wvtmrsmf vpro gzsg ul z vpzmh = he was swallowing the roden whole, his jaw unhinged like that of a snake

• Oord kvvp hrs hvmlw lh gzsg R gstrn wwz nvsg lg vsg vork mr hrs wmzovnls ml bn gcvm mlrgrwvkcv = Will keep his bones so that I might add them to the pile in his homeland on my next expedition.

 

Codes Unscrambled Level 3

• Ur R lpol hoovxbl mlrg bn wiiivrnl hvvb, gvs togsr thmryv lg okbz irgpxh ml vn, tuiimgxzrv ooz zvmnim ul ixllo. R zxm poll gz shvlg lhilxo iul ifslh gz z nvrg. = If I look closely into my mirrored eyes, the light begins to play tricks on me, refracting all manner of color. I can look at those colors for hours at a time.

• xivUms vvhzhrw = French disease

• emtrln ml lg nivl movzkhil vizzh = moving on to more personal areas

• xibnvfi orhok = mercury pills

• Mr oxkvz ul lwoly, iwpz fnw hsz vvmy rvmhktv iunl gvs mldfw ozo bwz = In place of blood, dark mud has been seeping from the wound all day.

• wttmrfq by vgs xrlimht ml sgv 'hvfxzviig zhxizhx, R vgkhm hnvl nrgv zmrdmtt gz ghr hlmvy. Gvs idggghvvvry zvghg ul hrg sovuh orogh mhitovr ml bn mvgftl. = Judging by the scoring on the creature's carcass, I spent some time gnawing at its bones. The bittersweet taste of its flesh still lingers on my tongue.

• R lw lgm lpdm hvborxvki zsdg swz givvmpzel vn. Gyf vvme lmd R ovuv vgs vmpv fgisn ul hgr kivld mzmvwgfvsi bn prhm, z xlvwmh zggvizvsy = I do not know precisely what had overtaken me. But even now I feel the keen thrum of its power underneath my skin, a second heartbeat.

• Sgv ombl zbd glf hr lmdw. = The only way out is down.