Cramped into the far back corner of Ledovflot Small Storage C lies a roll top desk. It bears a rudimentary lock that baits a would-be thief into a false sense of security, hiding the more dangerous incendiary device trigger within. Upon successfully opening it, the following items can be discovered:
The letter
This letter is found still tucked into the typewriter. It is unfinished, its neat typewritten text ending abruptly. A plaintext version of its contents must have existed at one point—it would be an absurd exercise to type directly into ciphertext. That document, however, does not appear to reside in the desk.
Flaw Rc1tnfu,
1hjwg ps rzeo I mfxl nty vvli 4q2, asi hvr ymc1 I fr vyuq4 uvrw4. Vyuxy kz a wftl rjxq2rhj ku tmjul lfyg ka4x cud N kkud r4ullk 2k1h stpl tt xrhrj. N ypsm N evuqi uhy ymc1 I mfxl kjuv 6oz np 1hj icyk ktt 6ozw q4n gjplfny, d2t ymc1 wtznk bj f npe. Zsvpl xtol rjhgut j1gutx, N o2sy fftiy yjht N xqtemty oawgqyei yjl srfnsexy kukqnpn tmfv 6oz hq2li mc3e gjgu tzwpld. Ymtvulm c 3ew4 qsd kwklni N ihisjf zorj esuj np1o Yttztjnp’z mtyk3ex mgye. Ny uootp ol. I mff 1htziot Xzotew’x Dyefyj h mtwg tistt vboje1i1j. K’3e sjgkei yq sotp vv uszu2aq fnsijx vv btqu1ew yjl fnscucjx. Voewj kz a qnpl ok htldny wudjw voe fqkhs Hfp Iewo c1 Lf Gcuqzj G1rfsilrj. N jhvj qgmt mnu pdjsvpf4npn pfugys ns q2r zxwhl ktiny ijck dwtr. 2sj nv sigjthlq4, K jawj nptyqg hbtzv 1hj kkuashklrx. Xglk tzv E ok
The letter is encoded using a pre-established cipher between Karl and Mattias using the key: “CHAFF”.
Dear Mattias,
There is much I have not told you, and for that I am truly sorry. Trust is a rare resource in these late days and I find myself with none to spare. I wish I could say that I have kept you in the dark for your own benefit, but that would be a lie. Until some recent events, I must admit that I somehow harbored the smallest inkling that you could have been turned. Through a very old friend I gained some clue into Torstein’s motives here. It shook me. I had thought Summer’s Breath a more minor objective. I’ve needed to look to unusual allies to bolster the finances. There is a line of credit under the alias Cän1 Berj at La Banque Étrangère. I have left his identifying papers in our usual foggy dead drop. Use it liberally, I care little about the financiers. Seek out eight
The typewriter has been left at the end of a line, awaiting a carriage return. The ink on the page has long set, the ribbon drying out.
La Banque Étrangère is within the Foreign Zone, along Sweep St.
The ciphers here are using the Vigenère Cipher with an alphabet of:
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1234567890
and preserving punctuation. In reality, the cipher is rather weak and had been broken by mathematical cryptanalysis at this point in history. Instead of subjecting you all to the perils of even moderately advanced cryptography, we’ll keep the Vigenère as a stand-in. The key word will also serve as an analogue to a more complex key exchange. An Alberti Cipher, with its variable wheels and chosen shift/increment/period choices would have been a more realistic candidate:
The bird
Occupying much of the table top, a well preserved crow body bound in twine has been placed within two concentric rings of salt. The outer circle has been breached, as if someone had run a finger through it inwards in a few places. The whole setup is covered by a glass cloche. The glass has a slight haze to it, as if it once held smoke that left the inner surface stained with residue. Its eyes are closed.
The rest
These are tucked into the nooks and crannies of the desk’s numerous drawers, or pushed off to the side:
- A small bin of ash.
- A cord lighter.
- A cipher encoding device. It is set to the key “COLDDAWN”.
- A pencil case. Inside:
- Two pencils.
- A fountain pen.
- 3 ink refills (two black, one blue — hard to see).
- A train ticket on the 10:15 express, for
January20th. - An antique brass ring bearing a stylized O inscription in its face.
- A coat check claim tag, from the upscale restaurant Operakällaren2.
- Many pages of blank paper.
- Extra ink ribbons for the typewriter.
- Tobacco.
- Registration papers for a small sailboat named Golden Fields.
- 2 packs of toothpicks.
Disassembly
At the conclusion of session 06 Vanja systematically deconstructs the desk in their newly acquired warehouse space. Along with being sure that the hidden firebombs are disarmed, this process reveals some previously hidden items:
A small piece of paper, torn out of a pocket-sized notebook. Mattias can recognize Karl’s handwriting:
the island has no summit .it does not rise
rise-> underground? boat useless? fuck
Two plain paper envelopes, each with a hand-written title:
Ash in apartment,
September. Left flue open?
Ash in apartment,
October. No fires — [ ] get alchemist to check
A clipping from a scholarly article (trimmed to highlighted passages):
Towards a clarified record of Aleutessian Steppe Peoples
Bensch–Borels, Ranora, and Knottern
Summarandning University Press[…] and from what were these horse-riders fleeing? Record is sparse. Cross examination [reveals] it may have been expansion from the proto-morning glory empire. […] Their great westward march concluded upon reaching the
Balticsea where they met staunch and coordinated resistance from an assembly of viking tribes. […] Protracted engagements lasted from 90 B.H.E through 88 B.H.E all along the eastern coast of theBalticsea. […] The Aleutessian’s were finally defeated, and their customary horsehide throne—topped with their king’s severed head—was taken as prize. […]