Story so far

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The story so far...

On September 30, a strange email was received directing players to an even stranger website that contained two videos and various indications that “The End” was coming on October 13. The source code revealed a link to two mp3s that sounded like some unidentifiable tribal language. In the middle of the page, over a map of what might have been Greenland, A lizard or feline eye. The first video on the site showed an Asian man saying, “How are you going to live your life" with Chinese? txt below, aview of some African children with a text overlay "MAKE THE BEST OF A BAD SITUATION"...and then a blonde boy on a sailboat (an American flag displayed behind him) with a text overlay of NY TYLD DI LANTI.

It was discovered that playing the videos in tandem created the following message:

Think of the possibility that I have no future. How are you going to live your life? Enjoy every moment? Make the best of a bad situation? ....or fight for a future?

Over the next few days, new messages in the source warned players that, despite their efforts, the game, and our understanding, would begin on October 13th. On the 4th of Sept. the source code revealed Yshk Lanti’s email address. Players speculated about the origins of the mysterious language, but with no success. Soon, players received email replies from Yshk Lanti. Often, rather than answering direct questions, Yshk Lanti asked his/her own questions of the sender or sent cryptic, dismissive replies. Unprompted, however Yshk Lanti asked

Where is Hank?

in his email to Byrant.

Bryant replied with Quote:

Who and where is Hank? Why do I need to find him?

To which Yshk Lanti answered,

Hank is her father You must help him when the time comes

The site was updated with a string of words, (sorrow, suffering, throe, torment, torture, woe, wretchedness......affliction, agony, distress, dole, grief, heartache, heartbreak, hurting, misery, pang, rue) soon to become very familiar to those players who stuck it out thru October 13th. Yshk Lanti sent an email with the misspelled word “urself,” leading to http://746865656e64.com/u.html. The new page contained a 48 word synonym list for “Confusion

While we all waited on the edges of our seats, wild speculation abounded. Some believed the site was a launch pad for the final Series of Unfortunate Events book. Others believed that we would be told of a race of Lizard Alien overlords who would try to enslave us.

On October 11, the site changed to a brownish dinghy looking color. The site was now called “Ny Takma,” meaning “The End.” The familiar lizard eye in the middle of the page had turned yellow and there was a new flash with different symbols (maybe codes? Yes! It was!) under the eye. Immediately the faithful began decompiling the flash frames to reveal,

What would you do enjoy every moment with family that you love with friends who love you enjoying your hobbies a good book perhaps

Would you suffer and live as though life could not be better with nature and faith that beyond this life so much more exists

would you fight for your future fight for the future of those you love fight for those you never have met would you do things you so despise to give you yourselve one more day

Over the past week what have you done did you love your family settle for the suffering or fight for the future?

It quickly approaches the end Or the beginning 286 286 286 286 286 the day is upon us have you prepared

As October 13th grew nearer, the anticipation was deafening, as was the chatter on the boards. The faithful gathered in #nytakma to welcome the end together. What would the end bring? An explosion? A rocket? A site update? No one could be certain. Suddenly, the eye, it changed again! With only a few minutes remaining, the players expressed their love for one another and waited for a giant explosion. And what an explosion it was.

Zero hour passed and the site was updated to it’s current incarnation. The faithful players pounced on the new material like hyenas on a discarded impala carcass. The hex on the first tab was immediately translated, revealing more about Hank;

He fahered the hild depite her nknwn origns, genuinel lving he.


Using the missing letters from the decoded hex, players soon discovered the curiosity page, which provided coordinates to Hank’s location and the directive to ”find him and convince him.” Hmmm, we collectively wondered, can Hank be found within the Bermuda Triangle? Did he find a child in the sea? Is she the daughter of Atlantis?

A new hunt was on. In less than 24 hours Hank Morgan was located. http://hauntedhank.blogspot.com A lonely man, searching for answers in the Bermuda Triangle. What he found instead: mysterious recordings of a strange language. Like most men obsessed, Hank has lost many precious things in his search for understanding. His daughter, Kendra, now grown, resents his obsession with the sea. http://waterbaby-km.deadjournal.com/ She has struggled to forgive him, and has recently tried to reconnect with her father. She even joined Hank on his last trip into the Bermuda Triangle. Kendra may have good reason to resent Hank’s obsession. His wife, her mother, frustrated that her husband seemed to love the sea more than his own family, committed suicide. Still in mourning after 7 years, Hank turns to the sea for comfort.

Hank is often accompanied on these trips by his faithful friend John. Friends since before Kendra joined the Morgan family, John is very protective of the girl, even threatening bodily harm to any man who…you get the idea. He’s also very protective of Hank, so be careful how you approach him. A bit of a drinker, and a wiz with computers, john can often be found online. He prefers to flirt with the female players, however.

True to his word, Hank posted a recording of the mysterious language on his blog. Players tried to transcribe the recording and sent their transcriptions to Yshk Lanti for verification. Yshk Lanti corrected our mistakes and we added to our growing lexicon of weird words. More and more signs pointed to Atlantis. A bust of Plato, the first author of the Atlantis myth. Larimar, known as the Atlantis Stone. An email signed “For Atlantis, Yshk Lanti.”

Players speculated that the larimar stone on the curiosity page was stegged. We turned to Yshk Lanti for help. As is usual with Yshk Lanti, instead of a direct answer, we were given a puzzle. A new page, http://746865656e64.com/twosides.png A math problem? Are you kidding me? Thank god for brute force attempts. The password for destegging: esetula. We were given a note book page with more strange writing on it: http://www.dropshots.com/photos/194231/20061014/235849.jpg (the puzzle was eventually solved the correct way, and Yshk Lanti allowed the winner to ask one question that he/she would answer directly. Caterpillar asked:

What significance does Hank’s foundling daughter hold for the Lanti?

Yshk Lanti replied,

This is a very good question, though I must admit I expected you to ask me to translate some Lanti for you or even who I am. I can answer this question. She is not of Hank’s blood, her significance lies in what she can do for us rather than what she can do for the Lanti. I hope this answer is to your liking, and yes I am indeed here on Earth

Meanwhile, back on the original numbers site, the Yshk Gai tab updated with a poem. The same poem was quoted on Kendra’s deadjournal, with one word changed. Now, instead of the phrase “Love, still I be burning in thy stove,” we read “Aristos, still I be burning in thy stove.”

Soon, players were blessed with a chat with John and Hank. Hank informed us that he had found someone to translate his recordings!

Esteemed Citizens I regret to inform you that there has been a dire mistake made in an effort to continue the advancement of our civilization, we have brought spite and fury upon us from the visitors

All hail the glorious Bryan, translator of underwater languages! But who was this Bryan and how was he able to succeed where so many brave and intelligent Ufers had failed? Should we be looking for Bryan?

After more than a few nudges from Yshk Lanti, it was established that yes, we should look for Bryan. But Bryan who? The only information we had on him was the he liked antiques and languages. Maybe he was in Mississippi. More nudges from Yshk Lanti and YES! Yes of course! Bryan Aristos, antiques collector, linguist, trekkie. http://www.bryanaristos.com Again, back on the numbers page, an update. The Yshk La tab now contained another passage in Atlantean. Hurray! At last, a translator for our mysterious language. Immediately Bryan was asked to translate a number of different passages. But Bryan wouldn’t just roll over and translate every word we have. Instead he wanted to teach us about the language so that we can translate it ourselves. Little by little the Atlantean passages are translated, but there is still much to work on.

One bit of the Atlantean language interests Bryan, however. He asks about the atlantean references to Hank and Kendra. An obsession and a daughter not his own; this does not have any connection to atlantean myths. But, do we trust Bryan and tell him about Kendra? After all Yshk Lanti seemed to suggest that Bryan was covered in blood. More suspicions about Bryan have popped up in the last few days.

In all of the furious searching for Bryan, it was easy to forget about Hank. But recent events in Hank’s life would bring him back to the forefront. On the 29th, Hank returned from another of his trips to the triangle. Sitting down to blog about his trip, the lights suddenly go out. Closer inspection reveals that the breaker has been switched off. Believing that it is John’s idea of a Halloween prank, Hank turns the power back on and returns to the house. The door is ajar. Hank clearly remembers closing the door when he left to check the breaker. Footsteps, running out the back, but Hank is too late. Someone has stolen his notes.

Then, November 2, a message was discovered in the picture on the Yshk La page. A sort of jig saw puzzle with the final image of a cliff next to the ocean. An upside down seal displaying what looked like the ark of the covenant and a goddess sitting on it. Someone on the cliff….a strange crucifix at the top of the cliff. Additionally, a picture in ASCII of a hand containing the words “Bryan, blood, suspect(s), Kendra, must, meet, Bryan.” The bottom of the image contained a message in binary, saying “do not let them see the images.” Who are “them?” Where is was this picture taken? What is up with that strange seal? Who is that goddess? Should Bryan and Kendra meet?


src Last update: November 3, 2006