Puzzles and pictures
While most Delosians slept last night, there was a stir of excitement across the New World as selected streamers played with a puzzle sent to them by AGS. We often critque the New World Marketing crew but I think they deserve a massive shout-out for this one – fun, intriguing, engaging. But what does it all mean?
Update – to view progress on piecing the puzzle, jump ahead to the next article.
Contents
Figuring out the clues
Watching streamers try to figure out a puzzle live on camera is pretty entertaining, if you like that kind of thing. Definitely had their audiences engaged in trying to help work out the clues.Â
A mystery box
Select content creators including Baggins, Ya Boi Willy, Trick Trick, Jay Oddity and Ginger Prime were given instructions about when to open the box they received, and you can watch Baggins and his audience try to figure it out for about an hour and a half in this twitch VOD. It was great to see the streamers get together in a voice chat to share their clues and put the story together.
A deck of cards, similar to the Major Arcana of the Tarot, was sent to each streamer, along with a hidden blue light torch and a card that contained a clue:
Remember. There are often more sides to a story than you assume. Every piece of the story contains a piece of the answer. But only the entire story, seen in the right light, and from the right point of view, yields the truth.
Once the cards were ordered according to the roman numerals of the Major Arcana, the players figured out that they should shine the blue light on the edge of the deck. Glowing symbols and numbers of lines were revealed, with different streamers getting their own combinations.
They finally figured out that the clues lead to a website – thereisaprice.com – which contains the cards laid out in a specific order based on the numbers at the top of each card, and another clue:
Well done, traveller. You have parted the first veil. But as with all things...the truth may be plain to see today, but remain yet to be understood until the experiences of tomorrow.
Considering AGS asked the streamers to open the box at a specific time and date, the reference to “the experiences of tomorrow” could mean there are clues in the new Outpost Rush map preview.
The Major Arcana, with a twist
This beautiful deck of tarot cards, with a distinctly New World theme, may hold more clues than our streamers and their viewers were able to fathom. The imagery looks like it links to lore within the game, and some of the cards hint at the visuals of Nighthaven we saw in the Season 10 Annoucement article.
The cards
The website provides a large image of all the cards and if you open this in a new tab, the URL reads thereisaprice/forendlesstime.jpg. We have split this into individual cards and ordered according to the roman numerals.Â
There is a price .... for endless time
There are some interesting choices here, for example the Devil is a unique representation, and Sun speaks to a purity within the heartgem of the Soulwardens. The shadowy forms, gothic towers, and pale haired humanoids suggest a confirmation of the vampiric theme of Nighthaven. Is the winged creature a Vampire? Or something more ethereal?
Two Unique Cards
Upon examination, two of the cards do not belong to the Major Arcana and appear to be unique to the New World tarot.
The Echo
This seems to have something to do with time, just as the name of the image file does.
Rebirth
Is this just referring to the eternal isle of Aeternum and the fact that no-one ever really dies?
What do you think it means?
I think we’re going to need our Loremasters on this one! What do you think? Are there clues in the cards? Are they just a beautiful way to introduce us to the theme of Nighthaven? What else can you see in the pictures?
Join the discussion on reddit or post your thoughts in the comments below.
Less than 3 weeks to Season 10! Can’t wait!
4 Responses
My take on The Echo and Rebirth cards is that they represent respawning.
In the eternal isle of Aeternum, when one dies, they either get reborn purely, or reborn corrupted, as an echo of themselves.
This is a fundamental way that azoth works to respawn creatures – if your soul is good, you respawn the same or better, but if your soul is bad, you respawn even worse.
The menacing clock hands feel like they could represent the trap of time on the isle, as one is never really free, even after death. They signify the eternal suffering that corrupted and lost characters endure.
I think that the flying creature of the Rebirth card could represent a life moth, although it is shaped differently, I still think the connection can be made. It seems like the character is reaching beyond their sunset and into better days and further life.
Yes, I love the way you’re connecting these new cards back to the essence of Aeternal philosophy.
I feel like the two figures in Card 19 are represented further down a timeline in Card 23. That either he is trying to capture her freed spirit – or letting her go.
Ooh yes, I definitely see the wings on both figures, with the one in Rebirth (card 23) also looking like the winged creature in The Fool where a little dog would be in a traditional deck. The foreground figure in Temperance (card 19) also looks like the figure in The Emperor (card 4) and seems to be sitting on a throne, so perhaps he is the “powerful king” from the Nighthaven announcement.