Fragment Five: Brachursis
Overview
After a much-needed break from solving the first four fragments and unlocking the Flora Key, all were excited to see a post from Deirdre Green, in which she discussed her ongoing struggles with setting up a publishing company. Some recruits noticed that the post had been updated with a page Deirdre found in her copy of The Wolf and the Wild.
On the page was a story about a man’s experience with certain magical creatures. The page described a man as he followed insect-like creatures, which made a sacrifice to the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. It appeared that someone had used the page to add their own drawings and information, as well as to add new parts to the story. The drawings included vine-like tendrils, a vine-covered gate, dots, and dashes.
The recruits quickly deciphered the dots and dashes on the page to spell out ‘ichthywara’ and after some clever Photoshopping, the website address title ‘thecagliostro .com’ was discovered, based on the patterns found in the vines drawn on the gate. This led the recruits to a website featuring only a ‘C,’ with what looked like coiling snakes within it. Not knowing what to do with the word ‘Ichthywara,’ recruits placed the word after the website URL, which led them to a file transfer website. A password was needed to access further sections of the site, and the recruits had no such password. All matters of dissecting and rearranging the story were tried. After using a magimystical word provided by the Book of Briars to some of the recruits, the Book gave a clue mentioning leaves, tendrils, and flags. One recruit suggested Flag Semaphore, since the leaves at the bottom of the page were too perfectly placed in cardinal directions. After a few attempts, and repositioning the page, recruits were able to decipher that the leaves actually spelled out the word ‘equicorun’ in Flag Semaphore. This turned out to be the password to the File Transfer website on thecagliostro .com.
The file transfer had log-in information to an email address, giving the recruits access to the account. The majority of the e-mails outlined a working relationship between a woman named Lauren and a person going by the name The Cagliostro, who was a renowned magician known for performing shows for the elite of society. Within one e-mail, a recruit noticed the word ‘Brachursis,’ which turned out to be the fifth fragment.