The order of text is important in these kinds of ciphers. For example, if I decrypt the words from the rtf-file this way:
"Yzaaxai, iobk xmrgz, qok vgnw ch zjbgc. rrxaarv." It translates to
"Secrets, like coins, are easy to steal. lwzrhkf"
However, by changing the order like so:
rrxaarv. Yzaaxai, iobk xmrgz, qok vgnw ch zjbgc. It translates as
lwzrhkf. Btjuccz, phln rvllb, hvd fjhf wm baizm.
So the coins-are-easy-to-steal text becomes unreadable if it is not the first text in the cipher. However, rrxaarv translates as lwzrhkf regardless of whether it is put at the front or at the back of the sentence. I don't know enough about cryptography, but I am guessing that it is because it is tied to the key somehow?
Nevermind, I just tried with another random string, and it also gave the same decryption in both positions. So the decryption is periodic with "period=Secrets, like coins, are easy to steal". I find that facinating, but I don't understand it. Kinda like space.
The key to the JOU card does not translate our string, unfortunately.
Jovian: That would imply that the key to the Secrets cipher is a factor of the code. Interesting, is it not?
You still may be on to something, though. The name of the file is 'Where do we start?', right? Maybe that means that we don't start the translation with the key until a specific point in the code?
Hrm...
Follow-up: Huh. The code is 23 characters long. Interesting that it's a prime number. *sigh*
The "turning Image into .zip container" is a really old trick, I did it when I was in Primary school to give my teacher a HUGE .doc file (It was something like 2GB) by first doing the .doc file about some random thing (I think it was a Minerals Presentation) then putting 2 copies of Wolfenstein Enemy Territory into a .zipfile, which I then packed into the .doc file. The Process is reproducable with these instructions.
(Oh, I cant post links yet cause this is my first post on this forum...)
I noticed the huge file size when I downloaded the image to search for clues in paint.net(The image of that size should be like 20-30kB) and I remember seeing this kind of trick being done in other internet puzzles. Before I could post it anywhere though, people had it figured out already. I am no cryptography expert, but I do know my filesizes when I see them.
Has anyone tried "reversing" the ciphers? I am too lazy to do it cause you'd have to do it manually, but the unsolved binary/morse code inside the .rtf code could be reversed. What I gathered from the Vigenere(?) cipher, the ciphered message should change because this is not normal "replacement" cipher. I am currently trying to do something with the .rtf, see if I can get any other programs to respond to it.
And oh, btw, my twitter @SalaHyena has been in use for quite a while, so I am not part of the conspiracy.
I have tested reversing all of the values and applying the Vigenere cipher. Nothing.
The "turning Image into .zip container" is a really old trick, I did it when I was in Primary school to give my teacher a HUGE .doc file (It was something like 2GB) by first doing the .doc file about some random thing (I think it was a Minerals Presentation) then putting 2 copies of Wolfenstein Enemy Territory into a .zipfile, which I then packed into the .doc file. The Process is reproducable with these instructions.
(Oh, I cant post links yet cause this is my first post on this forum...)
I noticed the huge file size when I downloaded the image to search for clues in paint.net(The image of that size should be like 20-30kB) and I remember seeing this kind of trick being done in other internet puzzles. Before I could post it anywhere though, people had it figured out already. I am no cryptography expert, but I do know my filesizes when I see them.
Has anyone tried "reversing" the ciphers? I am too lazy to do it cause you'd have to do it manually, but the unsolved binary/morse code inside the .rtf code could be reversed. What I gathered from the Vigenere(?) cipher, the ciphered message should change because this is not normal "replacement" cipher. I am currently trying to do something with the .rtf, see if I can get any other programs to respond to it.
And oh, btw, my twitter @SalaHyena has been in use for quite a while, so I am not part of the conspiracy.
Why did you give your teacher Wolfenstein? (and have they made a follow-up to the '92 classic?)
The name of the file is 'Where do we start?', right? Maybe that means that we don't start the translation with the key until a specific point in the code?
Very interesting. I tried both gvyjthqxgr and rrxaarv as keys on the "UQKIKUIPXRGRHLVGCAHMIUT" string and deleted characters from the front to see if something made sense. Sadly not.
But what we have at the moment is that hint, isn't it? The filename, and then the contents? They must surely be related somehow.
Couldn't the size of the image be due to the mask etc.?
There must be more in the .rtf file, it's 200kB still! For one image!
Well, if the filesize is a clue to us to start checking for extras included in the image- if the card-image they included was normal size, then the HersamAC.png-file would also be normal size wouldn't it? Hence less of a chance that someone would look inside it?
I mean, if they just used a small image of Dack and placed it inside Stealer of Secrets with a small .rtf-file; would the total size of the stealer of secrets image in that case be large enough to warrant suspicion? Perhaps they used a large file-size for the Dack image precisely so that the Stealer of Secrets image would appear suspiciously large? I am only guessing of course.
Yes, well they could've packed the Dack file full of useless content, but Why have 30kB .rtf file and 197kB dack-file? What if the .rtf file actually has something in it we just haven't noticed? If they just wanted the file to be large, they could've thrown all of the "payload" to Dack-file.
I just typed some gibberish in word:
Hello hello.
12134 1232154
MKMKMKMMKM
and saved it as a rtf-file. It turned out to 30kb. When opening the rtf-file in an editor, it counted >30,000 characters with loads and loads of lines of:
{\f348\fbidi \froman\fcharset186\fprq2 Times New Roman Baltic;}{\f349\fbidi \froman\fcharset163\fprq2 Times New Roman (Vietnamese);}{\f681\fbidi \froman\fcharset238\fprq2 Cambria Math CE;}{\f682\fbidi \froman\fcharset204\fprq2 Cambria Math Cyr;}
etc. etc. etc
Seems like this was just added to the Dack Fayden wiki page today:
Theros
Following rumors that the Boros Legion had acquired a weapon that might upset the balance of peace on Ravnica, Dack broke into Sunhome to take the weapon from them. Unfortunately, he could not locate it before a number of angels located him. Rather than tipping his hand, he grabbed the first thing he could and leapt out of the window, quickly losing pursuers in the crowds below.
However, the random relic he had grabbed proved to be far more than he could have expected. It spoke to him, tempting him with secrets that he could scarcely imagine. Using his gift, he was inundated with images and power of a vast and ancient being, but despite that, he was no wiser. Only two things became apparent. The gauntlet was incomplete, and its other half lay elsewhere.
His travels took him to Theros.
Oh, well, .rtf is just really wasteful format. I did find something interesting though.
I was looking at the .rtf in notepad. I found rxaarv in there. What is strange is that if I open the .rtf in OpenOffice or Wordpad, it adds and extra r to the front.
tl;dr
.rtf file contains rrxaarv
Open it in notepad, the file only has rxaarv.
Try the ciphers with that(If you want)
That's certainly odd. I see the same thing. It didn't do anything with the "UQKI KUIP XRGR HLVG CAHM IUT"-string sadly. Neither is there a difference in the string of 1's and 0's which could have changed the morse code.
And more info in the summaries of the other comics. Coincidental timing up the wiki update; all of the comic book plots could be incorporated there, but haven't yet.
I know the "colors" are pretty much set in stone by now by the one guy that said it fades to red. But what if Dack is BlueRedGreen? Just for the heck of it.
I don't know if the colors mean anything, but thought I should let you know.
Can't be. Three-or-more-color gold cards don't have colored pinlines. If you want a planeswalker, compare Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker.
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary Melek, Izzet Paragon Oona, Queen of the Fae Bruna, Light of Alabaster Gisela, Blade of Goldnight Rhys the Redeemed Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord Sen Triplets The Mimeoplasm WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary Melek, Izzet Paragon Oona, Queen of the Fae Bruna, Light of Alabaster Gisela, Blade of Goldnight Rhys the Redeemed Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord Sen Triplets The Mimeoplasm WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary Melek, Izzet Paragon Oona, Queen of the Fae Bruna, Light of Alabaster Gisela, Blade of Goldnight Rhys the Redeemed Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord Sen Triplets The Mimeoplasm WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
The order of text is important in these kinds of ciphers. For example, if I decrypt the words from the rtf-file this way:
However, by changing the order like so:
So the coins-are-easy-to-steal text becomes unreadable if it is not the first text in the cipher. However, rrxaarv translates as lwzrhkf regardless of whether it is put at the front or at the back of the sentence. I don't know enough about cryptography, but I am guessing that it is because it is tied to the key somehow?
Nevermind, I just tried with another random string, and it also gave the same decryption in both positions. So the decryption is periodic with "period=Secrets, like coins, are easy to steal". I find that facinating, but I don't understand it. Kinda like space.
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
Jovian: That would imply that the key to the Secrets cipher is a factor of the code. Interesting, is it not?
You still may be on to something, though. The name of the file is 'Where do we start?', right? Maybe that means that we don't start the translation with the key until a specific point in the code?
Hrm...
Follow-up: Huh. The code is 23 characters long. Interesting that it's a prime number. *sigh*
I have tested reversing all of the values and applying the Vigenere cipher. Nothing.
Link to cubetutor:
http://cubetutor.com/cubeblog/10113
Why did you give your teacher Wolfenstein? (and have they made a follow-up to the '92 classic?)
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
Very interesting. I tried both gvyjthqxgr and rrxaarv as keys on the "UQKIKUIPXRGRHLVGCAHMIUT" string and deleted characters from the front to see if something made sense. Sadly not.
But what we have at the moment is that hint, isn't it? The filename, and then the contents? They must surely be related somehow.
Couldn't the size of the image be due to the mask etc.?
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
They are part of the same image offset by 110 pixels and rotated 180 degress.
As far as I can see @Houtians has not had a banner updated lending to that account not being part of the Conspiracy.
I do not recognize the art for this card. Hopefully someone will!
@Houtians Seems to be a red herring so I personally throw out all information relating it to known stuff
Link to cubetutor:
http://cubetutor.com/cubeblog/10113
Well, if the filesize is a clue to us to start checking for extras included in the image- if the card-image they included was normal size, then the HersamAC.png-file would also be normal size wouldn't it? Hence less of a chance that someone would look inside it?
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
I just typed some gibberish in word:
and saved it as a rtf-file. It turned out to 30kb. When opening the rtf-file in an editor, it counted >30,000 characters with loads and loads of lines of:
I think it's as simple as that.
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
Theros
Following rumors that the Boros Legion had acquired a weapon that might upset the balance of peace on Ravnica, Dack broke into Sunhome to take the weapon from them. Unfortunately, he could not locate it before a number of angels located him. Rather than tipping his hand, he grabbed the first thing he could and leapt out of the window, quickly losing pursuers in the crowds below.
However, the random relic he had grabbed proved to be far more than he could have expected. It spoke to him, tempting him with secrets that he could scarcely imagine. Using his gift, he was inundated with images and power of a vast and ancient being, but despite that, he was no wiser. Only two things became apparent. The gauntlet was incomplete, and its other half lay elsewhere.
His travels took him to Theros.
That's certainly odd. I see the same thing. It didn't do anything with the "UQKI KUIP XRGR HLVG CAHM IUT"-string sadly. Neither is there a difference in the string of 1's and 0's which could have changed the morse code.
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
And more info in the summaries of the other comics. Coincidental timing up the wiki update; all of the comic book plots could be incorporated there, but haven't yet.
Nice! And just when I thought I was going to have a relaxing night they start throwing out more coded stuff haha.
What was the method of decipher?
EDIT: Never mind. Same as before
Link to cubetutor:
http://cubetutor.com/cubeblog/10113
Can't be. Three-or-more-color gold cards don't have colored pinlines. If you want a planeswalker, compare Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker.
Reprints of FTV:20 in Conspiracy confirmed.
Check out http://www.mtgbrodeals.com/author/john-murphy/ for my EDH articles!
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
Now I want that just to see what kind of ridiculously absurd abilities it would have
+5 : Draw 10 cards. Dack Fayden does 10 damage to each opponent.
-2 : Win the Game.
-8 : Win the Event.
30 starting loyalty.
Reprint Stasis!
Control needs more love.
EDH:
WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW
WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzwOQ3r5rsw
i tried with my phone but it wouldnt read it
That's where all this Dack stuff originated
Reprint Stasis!
Control needs more love.
EDH:
WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW
WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
EDIT: Latest tweet was tweeted 20 minutes after the TWENTY tweet, maybe its a countdown?
Effe @Elavals · 13s
TDLNMLUK
Which is Nineteen.
Edit: Yay, I got nath'd
And yeah, it's definitely a countdown. Probably something new revealed around midnight at this rate?
Reprint Stasis!
Control needs more love.
EDH:
WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW
WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
Could something be forthcoming at 8 o'clock?
i am still curious about the rtf-file. It would suck if the contents were only there to throw us off the track.
EDIT: I typed this when none of the above posts about the countdown were visible on my phone. Nevertheless, I am still curious about the rtf-file.
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)